#I think I have the right to at least say some things here on this app
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isa-ghost · 2 days ago
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I fully agree with this (/genuine). And I do wish people would stop using it because of the historical-and-still-current context behind the phrase.
But I am curious about what OP's opinion is about a take I see a lot in defense of using the phrase as a quirky (perhaps even cringe) positive phrase. I've seen loads of people say "well over time words/phrases/images can get a new context behind them that overwrites (but doesn't erase) the previous bad one. It takes power away from the people who use [thing] in a derogatory way." Basically the same kinda logic we use when reclaiming slurs, I guess? Maybe that's too extreme of a comparison though, I dunno. Another example I thought of is how Tupperware is (was?) a company, but we call *all* plastic containers similar to that Tupperware, which completely diminished the company's sway over product competition since it became a blanket term. I'm probably oversimplifying that a bit but it was another interesting educational post I read on here ages ago. I tried looking for it on my blog but the only thing that came up was the post about how they went bankrupt.
Anyway, to an extent I agree with the idea of "new positive context," but like with basically everything, I think there's nuance to it. I think there are times where changing the context behind something simply doesn't work and/or shouldn't be the route people go down, period. And of course there are instances where people abuse the idea and use it as justification for shit they shouldn't. Same kinda deal as "death to the author."
But also the internet (and perhaps younger queers in general in this case?) has a terrible habit of completely disregarding important context or at the very least not acknowledging/respecting said context to the degree they should, if they do so at all. And I'm as sick of that as plenty of other people are.
So I guess that is to say I can see both sides of the argument and am curious to hear if OP (or anyone else) has some additional info that I lack? If there's things about this I can be taught beyond "hey this is an ongoing issue, stop enabling the people who seek to use it to harm us by using it like it's something cute and quirky," I'd really like to learn what those points may be. Especially because then I could take those myself and further spread the word by educating people just like OP.
I think once upon a time I was actually a "we can reclaim this with a new positive context and take the power away from the people who use it to do harm" person myself but then I came across posts like this one and actually put some real thought into the topic and changed my mind? (I say that with uncertainty because I don't actually remember ever explicitly agreeing with takes in favor of the positive context use). Which is another reason I'd appreciate further discussion about why this is a case where "new positive context" shouldn't be the way people go about it. The stronger the argument for it, the better or whatever, right?
Also I'd like to provide a precautionary clarification that I'm asking OP/anyone else here if they have additional insight instead of "googling around" or something myself because I personally tend not to trust stuff like that since misinformation is so rampant, especially with how common the use of ai-generated bullshit is. It's also, in my opinion, better to hear things directly from people you Know for certain are from [group] or have experience with [thing]. I digress.
i fear the battle is lost at this point but i still flinch every time i see "gay panic" used as a cute positive phrase. Like let's go on say wikipedia.org for a second and try typing that one in folks
edit: i caved and looked in the notes and my god you people are stupid. Stop talking about this like it's ancient history. The gay/trans panic defense is quite literally still legal in the majority of the US. Look at this map since you apparently don't have wikipedia or like any kind of search engine on your computers
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p0orbaby · 2 days ago
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Request😍: y/n and alessia or leah (you decide! find your tumblr side and aaalll the stories of them. It leads to jealous alessia/leah bc of y/n being with other girls (like getting jealous when your partner cheats in your dream). Reader has to handle the situation and in the end manages to make less/leah focus on all the fluffy/spicy stuff there is about them. If you want to make it smutty (what we all love hehe): they eventually get inspired by tumblr and choose another story (you can decide which of all the good alessia/leah x reader smut on here) to reenact. Thank you!!! (If you dont want to write this feel free to repost for another writer, also you can switch the roles who is jealous, i dont care:)
i amended this a little, pls don’t hate me
it would be harsh to call this a crack fic but i honestly giggled the whole time writing it 🤭
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You find Alessia on the sofa, her face illuminated by the blue glow of her phone screen. At first, you think she’s watching one of those oddly specific TikToks she loves—something about cats playing table tennis or an American teenager ranking their favourite crisps. But then you notice the furrow in her brow, the way her teeth tug at her bottom lip. Her expression is equal parts confusion, disbelief, and mild offence.
“Everything alright?” you ask, setting your keys on the counter.
She doesn’t answer immediately, which is a bad sign. Alessia always greets you the moment you walk through the door, even if it’s just to ask what you’ve brought for dinner. Instead, she tilts the phone slightly so you can see the screen.
“Do you know about this?” she asks, voice clipped.
You lean over, squinting at the screen. The webpage is clunky, its layout straight out of 2012, and the title reads something absurd like ‘Sunlit Smiles and Shadowed Hearts’. Your name is prominently featured in the summary, alongside a few other recognisable ones.
“It’s fanfiction,” she says, answering the question you haven’t asked yet. “About you”
You blink. “About me?”
“And other people,” she adds, her tone sharp now, like the edge of a too-clean knife.
The penny drops. “Wait—what?”
She sits up straighter, turning the phone to face you fully. “Look. This one has you with… God, Tooney. And this one—oh, this is just brilliant—you’re married to Ona. Married! Like we’re just some passing fling”
You bite the inside of your cheek to keep from laughing, which, given her expression, would be a tactical error. Alessia doesn’t do jealousy often, but when she does, it’s like an overdramatic romcom villain plotting their revenge.
“Well,” you say carefully, “at least they’ve got good taste?”
“Good taste?” she repeats, incredulous. “One of these has you sneaking off with Mary behind my back during a post-match interview!”
“Creative, though,” you offer.
She glares at you, tossing the phone onto the cushion beside her. “This isn’t funny”
“It’s a little funny,” you say, sitting down next to her.
“It’s not,” she insists, crossing her arms. “Do you know how many of these there are? And how many don’t have me in them at all? Like I’m just some side character in your life?”
You try to suppress the grin tugging at your lips, but it’s no use. “Less, you do realise this is all made up, right? None of it’s real”
She huffs, her cheeks pink now. “I know that. But still. It’s insulting”
You reach for her hand, gently uncrossing her arms. “Alright, let’s look at it this way. I’m obviously very popular. Isn’t that a good thing?”
“Not when you’re popular with everyone except me”
“Oh, come on,” you tease, squeezing her hand. “I’m pretty sure there’s stuff about us too. The fluffy, romantic, borderline inappropriate kind”
Alessia hesitates, her gaze flicking to the phone. “You think so?”
“I know so,” you say confidently. “Because we’re the superior couple. Clearly”
That earns a small smile, though she tries to hide it. “You’re an idiot”
“And yet, here I am, fully committed to proving my devotion,” you say, reaching for her phone. You type in a search, scrolling through pages until you find what you’re looking for. “See? Right here. This one’s about us”
She leans over, peering at the screen. Her eyes scan the words, and slowly, her frown starts to fade.
“This is… cute,” she admits reluctantly.
“Exactly,” you say, draping an arm around her shoulders. “So, no more being jealous of fictional versions of me, okay? They don’t get to go home with you. I do”
She turns to look at you, her expression softening further. “Fine. But I’m still not over the Mary thing”
You laugh, pressing a kiss to her temple. “Noted. I’ll make it up to you”
“You better,” she mumbles, but there’s no real bite to her words anymore.
It’s only later, as you’re cooking dinner together, that you catch her sneaking glances at her phone again, her lips twitching with the beginnings of a smile. If she’s reading more of those stories, you don’t mention it. Some battles are better left unpicked.
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frownyalfred · 3 days ago
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Hi. I'm not a canon purist and enjoy some fanon content very much, but I do think people in the fandom should at least familiarize themselves with the canon content and source material. It's easier to break the "rules" so to speak and experiment with canon when you know what that actually is. I've noticed a lot of fans that are only familiar with fanon criticise content that doesn't line up with what they believe to be canon but isn't. The Red Hood for example. I've seen writers who portray him as the violent criminal he is in much of the canon be completely decimated by Jason fans who only know fanon and the retconned version of Red Hood and completely deny canon even exists and refuse to even glance at the comics. Transformative works are important and playing in the sandbox is for everyone but fandom literally cannot exist without canon. Canon is important and people can do whatever they want with it but they should respect it enough to at least look at it.
Hi anon, I'm going to hold your hand as I say this, and I will say it as gently as I can: This is still a form of canon purism.
We can absolutely agree that readers shouldn't berate or abuse writers for how they choose to portray characters in fic, whether that's a more canon-faithful characterization or a popular fanon version. If readers don't like how a character is portrayed, we should encourage them to hit the back button instead.
I want to draw your attention to some of the words you used in your ask above: "should" "respect" "decimated" etc. Those are some strong words to describe how you think people need to behave, in order to exist in fandom. Of course, there is no fandom without canon source material -- I'm not denying that. But with such a wide and varied canon, the DC fandom has examples of the Red Hood you mention above, AND the "retconned" version you also reference. Both are canon, as in actually, officially, canon. WFA is canon, and that Red Hood looks very different from the Red Hood you describe.
Now, I think your issue is that you enjoy a certain version of canon, and you're frustrated that the fandom doesn't also, as trends ebb and flow, enjoy that canon as much as you do. Again, I want to acknowledge that just because a certain version is popular, it doesn't give folks the right to berate authors for writing a different version. But again, I don't think that's what we're really talking about here. From your ask's tone, I think you're suggesting that people should, in order to participate in fandom, read that older canon, that different version, or as you say, "glance at it" before enjoying or writing the fanon version.
Guess what? They actually, really, really, don't have to. It sounds like you have some issues with judging your fellow fandom members who don't read what you do or reference certain canon. But the magic of this fandom is, you can enter it at any point. We're a big pool, and if someone's entry point is the Lego Batman movie and that's it, that's still valid.
Fandom stems from canon, yes, but I almost never hear people talk about movies, or web comics, or other media when they talk about "required reading." It's always a comic. I really wish people would reflect on that before suggesting it as the one true path to being a fan.
The other thing I don't see asks like these reference ever is the reality that sometimes a fandom outstrips its canon material, and that that's an eventuality in some spaces. Fanon interpretations become popular, and people write about those specific characterizations or scenarios. They ebb and flow, like I mentioned, and some are more canon-faithful than others. Some completely reject canon, and again -- it's still fandom. It doesn't make it better or worse than a more canon-faithful fic. It's just different.
I had a couple asks about this topic a few weeks ago, and I'm assuming you haven't read those or you likely wouldn't have sent me this ask. But in them, I discuss how sometimes we need to suck it up and be unhappy that canon-faithful fics aren't as popular in a fandom at a specific time, and stop punishing fellow fans for writing and enjoying those fics. And we really need to stop shitting on them publicly on Tumblr.
Because often, what you're really saying is that you wish more people would write more canon-faithful fics, and stop writing ones about fanon topics you don't enjoy or think are accurate. And to that, I again say, there is nothing you can or should do to change that behavior from others. If you want to read it, write it, enjoy it, etc, do it yourself. Build the comic-faithful community here, write fics and promote challenges, create a discord channel and discuss your "required reading" there.
We are all writing and reading fanfiction at the end of the day. It is a great equalizer in many ways. My silly Lego Batman fic is just as valid as a canon-faithful rewrite of a certain Batman issue. One is not better than the other, or more deserving of respect. You will never get me to admit otherwise on this blog.
tl;dr: people should absolutely not berate authors who choose to write canon-faithful characterizations. however, there are layers of judgement and disdain many DC comics canon-faithful authors/readers have for their fellow fans that I think we need to examine critically in order to coexist respectfully.
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13uswntimagines · 1 day ago
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All In My Head (Alessia Russo X Singer!r)
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Part III of the Safe Harbor Universe. Find other parts here
Summary: Being Sick on tour sucks, but that doesn't mean that you want your team to inform your girlfriend. She has her own career to think about. The problem is that honesty is rule number 1 in your relationship.
Warnings: there is mention of a D/s dynamic, but nothing is super explicit. Alessia is referred to as daddy.
Authors note: Yes the ending is a cliffhanger. But this has honestly been in my drafts since like August, so i wanted to put it out. I'm considering a Pt. 2, but it will depend on if people want it. I really hope you enjoy it, and let me know what you think.
You sighed heavily, leaning against the stadium's cool stone wall and twisting the bracelet around your wrist. 
Which stadium, you couldn’t remember. It didn’t matter, really. They all looked the same after a while anyway, blurring together in the never-ending cycle of rehearsals, performances, interviews, and meet and greets. 
All your life seemed to be was performing and promoting music you weren’t even excited about anymore. It was a nonstop grind filled with late nights and early mornings, with almost no time for your well-being. 
You almost wished your girlfriend had implemented a rule that placed a limit on how much you could do. At least that would give you the power to say no. 
You did your best. 
You squeezed in as many phone calls with your girlfriend, Alessia as you could, but she had her own commitments with the Lionesses as they prepared to defend their European championship.
Most of the time you ended up passing out over FaceTime, and waking up to texts telling you she loved you. 
You understood. You both had careers and obligations. You both had to make sacrifices to get to do the things you loved. 
It was… intense, but for the most part, you enjoyed it. You loved playing for the fans. You would deal with all the promotional bs just so you could interact with the people who loved your music as much as possible. 
They deserved that. 
And this tour had been going far better than the ones you had been on before it. You were holding it all together far better than you had in the past. 
Or it had been. 
It all started with a slight tickle in your throat in the city before last. A whisper of huskiness that went away with a nice steam session and some tea. 
It was easy to ignore in the beginning. 
Then you played 4 shows back to back last weekend. 
By the end of the 3rd show, you knew you were screwed, you could barely muster a horse whisper. Alessia had commented that you sounded like a chain smoker, your first sign that she was seeing through you, but you assured her you would be fine. You even joked that you had enough throat coat and grether's pastilles to turn her off for a year. She let you soothe her worries. 
You pushed on, powered my menthol lozenges and Honey, and you made it through the 4th show. 
It would have been fine. It shouldn’t have mattered that your ability to make any sound at all was hanging on by a thread. The 5 days off you had should have been enough to set everything right.
Except you didn’t have 5 days off. 
It was filled with promotional performances for a new album and interviews about how well it would accompany the movie it was attached to. If someone else asked you about how it felt about the possibility of an Oscar nod, you were going to scream. Or rip all of your hair out or both.
The tickle had turned to hot nails, and nothing - not the steam machine or tea and honey - had the power to soothe it. 
You sounded like you were talking through gravel, and your team had been hesitant to even let you go on tonight. 
Alessia definitely would not have, if she knew how bad it really was. You started avoiding her two days ago after you couldn’t make it through a sentence without a crack, and you couldn’t continue to blame the low whistle that accompanied every one of your breaths on allergies. 
You knew going in that performing tonight wasn’t a great idea, but you refused to let the fans down. There were only 4 shows left. Surely you could make it. 
The entire show felt like a battle. 
You had to fight for every note. For every breath. 
Your lungs felt like they were on fire and your throat was raw before you even got to the piano set. 
It took everything in you to hide the thinness in your voice. To prevent every sound from cracking as you forced each lyric out. 
It was…rough to say the least. 
But you made it- even if it was only by the skin of your teeth. 
You were shot by the time you did your final bow and disappeared backstage. You ignored the cold Gatorade being pressed into your palms, knowing it would only aggravate the glass shards in your throat, and shrugged off Steven and Clint. 
You didn’t need their concern, you needed to escape the roaring in your ears. The pounding in your chest. 
So you took turn after turn until you were in an abandoned section of hallways. 
You sighed, grasping at your throat as you slid down the cool wall, pulling your knees to your chest and pressing your forehead into the rough material of your costume to drown out the pounding in your head. Your fingers tangled in the hair at the back of your head and you groaned. 
The sound felt like hot coals in your throat, and it made your chest ache. 
You feared that no amount of steam, or tea, or pastilles would stop it this time. 
The cold bricks of the stadium felt nice against your skin, leaching the heat from your body, though it did nothing to help the fire in your chest. 
A fire that was quickly moving past the gray areas in your agreement with Alessia, and into a place that your daddy would definitely have something to say about. 
You were treating your limits with her like a tightrope, carefully toeing the edge. Except with the way you felt, you knew you were about to topple one way or the other. 
You ignored the sounds of clicking shoes coming closer, hoping that whoever it was wouldn’t see you. That they would leave you be to pull the cracked pieces of yourself back together. 
But your team knew better than to leave you to your own devices.
“Y/n?”
You tensed at the soft hand on your shoulders, and the sound of shifting clothing as someone settled on the ground beside you. 
“You ok, kid?” Natasha asked softly, running soothing circles on the top of your shoulders. 
You let out another breath before you pulled your face from its hiding spot, resting your chin on your knees. “I’m ok. Just wanted some quiet,”
You frowned at the horse whisper that left your lips, and the flair of pain that accompanied it. 
Natasha hummed. 
She had been part of your team from the beginning, back when you were a dumb 16-year-old, long before Pepper, Tony, Steve and the rest of the crew had joined, and she knew you nearly as well as Alessia did. 
She raised an eyebrow at you. “Just some quiet?” 
You knew that wasn’t what she was actually asking. 
The question went much deeper. 
She knew about your… dynamic with Alessia, and she had seen the striker take care of you in various ways. She was asking you what you needed. 
You nodded, looking away from her, afraid that she would see through you. 
“I needed a minute,” You said, your voice barely a squeak. “It was all too much, and I wanted to be alone before I got pulled into something else,”
She made a low sound at the familiar explanation. “And this has nothing to do with how you sound like you’re gargling rocks?”
You grimaced. “Nothing at all,”
She hummed. “So you’re not in any pain at all?”
“Nope,” You breathed out, the p the only clear part of the word. 
“Y/n,” She sighed. “I know you have an… aversion to admitting when you’re not… at the top of your game, but pushing yourself isn’t going to help anything. You don’t have anything to prove here,”
You ran a hand through your hair and rolled your eyes dramatically at her. She chuckled at the action. 
“There are only 3 more shows,” You said. “I can make it 3 more shows,”
“And how would Alessia feel if she knew you were going to put your comfort aside for 3 more shows?” Natasha asked softly. “And not just your comfort, your health. You sound like shit,”
You huffed at the mention of your girlfriend, your fingers instinctively finding the braided bracelet that never left your wrist. 
You knew how she would feel. You could practically hear what she would say. I expect you to take care of the things that belong to me. I expect you to treat them with respect and give them the love and care they deserve. 
“I’ve got it all under control,” You rasped, wincing at the action. 
It was Natasha’s turn to roll her eyes. “Sure you do. Since you have it all under control, you’ll stop ignoring your girlfriend,” She pulled the device out of her back pocket and balanced it on top of your knees. “She’s been blowing up your phone all day. I think she’s worried,” 
You stared at the phone, and as if on cue, it buzzed again with a new message. 
Alessia was going to be furious with you, and your daddy would be on another level entirely. 
She was usually the one to take the reigns when you were set on driving yourself into oblivion for the benefit of everyone else. But she wasn’t here. 
You sighed heavily. 
You knew that if you told her, she would drop everything. She would move heaven and earth if that was what you needed. 
You didn’t want that. 
She needed to focus on her game, and that meant that you couldn’t be a distraction. You would not disappoint her. Not when you were so close to finishing. 
“She needs to focus,” You mumbled, your voice straining. “She’s gotta impress Sarina to make the team. It’s important,”
“I think you forget that you are also important,” Natasha argued back softly, patting your back before carefully pushing herself to her feet. “I’m going to have Pepper cancel the meet and greet. You’re in no shape to meet fans. I should also have her call a doctor, but I already know you’ll fight me on it,” 
You frowned. You never sold meet and greet tickets, choosing to instead have your team select fans at each show. 
“But-“ 
She held up her hand before you could argue. “That isn’t up for debate. Get rest tonight, and we’ll assess tomorrow in the morning.”
Your jaw clenched, but you nodded, knowing there was no arguing with her. 
“I know the world thinks you’re superhuman, but it’s ok not to be indestructible,” She said, softly. “You need to remember to be Clarke Kent sometimes too. There’s a reason Lois fell in love with him first,”
With that, she walked away, leaving you alone with your thoughts. 
The silence of the empty hallway wasn’t as welcoming as it had been. It didn’t quiet your thoughts like it had. 
Instead, it felt suffocating. Like the walls were closing in on you, trapping you in your misery. 
You sighed another painful breath, before you grabbed your phone, reading the top notification, longing not to feel so…alone. 
Hey babe, caught the end of your show on a random livestream. Are we still on for our FaceTime tonight?
You let your head fall back, thumping the wall. 
Everything in you longed to say yes.
But you couldn’t. You wouldn’t. 
It was still nice to fantasize about seeing her. About hearing her say ‘Hello my little one,’ with a soft smile that brought out her dimples. If you closed your eyes you could almost feel the pressure of her fingers on the back of your neck, running through the baby hairs that lived there. ‘I’m here, and I’ve got you,’
You let your mind linger there for a long second before you forced your eyes back open. 
It took you three tries to type out your reply: sorry darling, I’m super tired. Rain check?
And you paused, your trembling finger over the send button, knowing you shouldn’t send it, but hitting the little blue arrow anyway. 
It was awful but necessary. 
You let out another long, ragged breath before you forced yourself to your feet and shoved your phone into your pocket, so you didn’t have to see her reply. You leaned heavily on the wall, no longer enjoying how it sucked the warmth from your skin, but using it to stay upright as the entire hallway tilted to the side. 
You should go back to your dressing room before Steve sent out a search party. Dealing with Nat was one thing, dealing with the overprotective instincts of Steve, Clint, and Thor was another. 
You didn’t have the mental capacity for that, and maybe your dressing room couldn’t make you feel like there was a rope on your lungs, dragging out your soul.
*****
You were not particular about a lot of things when you were on tour. You didn’t care about the size of your hotel room or the cars you were shuttled around in. You didn’t request overly expensive foods or special bubbly waters. 
The only thing on your rider that you were very specific about was your dressing room. 
It was your sanctuary away from the noise. A place you would spend more time in than your hotel room. 
It was important to you that it was always the same. Lit with twinkling fairy lights, the comfy gray couch that followed you on every tour stop standing near the table with your kettle and vocal steamer, and a diffuser already filling the room with the soft scent of lavender and honey. 
It filled your lungs the second you stepped through the door, wiping away the burning ache that accompanied every breath for just a second. Reminding you for one fleeting moment of the honeysuckle of Alessia’s favorite shampoo (the reason she picked the essential oil blend to begin with), before the knives returned to your chest. 
You rubbed your knuckles over your sternum to quell the feeling, stumbling over to the couch and collapsing into it. 
You pressed your nose into the soft gray material, wishing that you had grabbed the bright red sweatshirt you stole from your girlfriend when you last saw her. The smell of her perfume was beginning to fade, but it wasn’t gone yet, and there was a distinct longing in your stomach to be close to her. Even if you were the reason there was any space to begin with. 
You could hear your kettle bubbling next to you, and you knew you should make yourself some tea to soothe the sharp edges in your windpipe, but the thought of moving felt like too much. 
Instead, you sunk into the couch, your arm dangling off the cushion, your fingers brushing the ugly red carpet. 
You felt your phone buzz in your pocket, and you didn’t have to look to know who was texting you. Still, the urge to see what she would say was too great for you to ignore it. 
It took all of your strength to move your heavy arm to your pocket and pull out your phone. Your fingers fumbled over the screen as you squinted at the device with the eye not pressed into the couch. 
The light made the throbbing in your head worse, and the words written on the screen made your lungs constrict.
Ok, my love. Are you sure everything is alright? This is the 3rd time this week.
You could almost hear the worry in her voice. See the suspicion in her blue eyes. 
They never failed to see through you. To strip away your exterior and leave you vulnerable and raw beneath them. It never made you feel exposed, even in the beginning when the two of you decided to extend your dynamic beyond your bedroom. Instead, you felt seen and safe. 
Sometimes she liked to have to work for your submission. She liked to peel away each layer of you one by one until you were a trembling mess beneath her. Open and vulnerable in a way no one else ever got to see you. 
Other times, you gave your submission willingly, stripping off your public persona like a dirty shirt and allowing her to envelop you in her warm comfort. 
How much you wanted that. How much you needed it. 
It was a desperation that filled your entire being. 
Before you could process what you were doing, you had already pressed her contact photo and brought the now-ringing phone to your ear. 
You laid the device on the side of your head and let your arm go back to dangling. It was too heavy to hold. 
It only rang twice before her voice filled your ears. 
“Hey my love,” She said, worry and relief mingling strangely in her tone. “I’m so happy you called me. How are you?”
Her voice washed over you like a soothing wave, like a balm on the sharp edges of your nerves, though it did little to help the fire in your lungs and throat. 
You pressed your nose into the couch, pretending that it was her shoulder for just a second. That the honey and lavender surrounding you was her perfume. That she was here. 
“Y/n, are you there?” She asked, and you opened your mouth to respond, but the words just wouldn’t come out. 
You couldn’t force any sound, beyond a low whistle past your inflamed throat. Your lungs crackled with each breath. 
Your inability to make sound didn’t bother you as much as it should have. 
“Y/n? Did you butt-dial me?” Alessia asked again, and you could almost feel her running her nails through your hair, gently scratching your scalp. “I’m worried,”
The words were said with too much force, not at all the soft murmur your brain had been waiting to hear. 
It shook you out of your haze just enough for you to reach up and grab your phone, clicking the decline button too fast. 
You let the phone drop to the floor with a low thump as it immediately began to ring again. 
Your fingers twitched above the screen, but you didn’t have the strength to reach for it, even as it lit up again with your girlfriend's contact photo. 
Well, it was a photo of the two of you. You were curled up in her lap, in one of her blue UNC sweatshirts that were too big, and she was kissing the side of your head. 
It had been taken after a particularly grueling day in the studio. It was Alessia’s turn to host team bonding night. You didn’t remember exactly who took the picture, Leah or Lotte, maybe, but it was one of your favorites.
What the camera didn’t catch was that your arms were not in the sleeves. Instead, they were tied with intricate knots behind your back, hidden by the sweatshirt. 
It was something the two of you often did, and it was one of her go-to's when you were starting to spiral out of control. 
A part of you longed for the feeling of the knots now, and her fingers twisting the soft rope against your skin. 
Sure, the weight of your bracelet was nice, but it wasn’t enough. 
You let out a wheezing breath that crackled and hurt. 
If you asked, she would be here. She would wrap you up and pull you from your free fall. 
It took you a long second to remember why you couldn’t have that. 
Alessia had a job to do, and you wouldn’t stand in the way of that. 
The phone buzzed again against the ugly carpet, the little voicemail icon flashing. You doubted you would be able to resist calling her back if you listened to it.  
Still, you had to do something. 
So you flicked the screen with one finger, going to your messages, and typing out words that felt fake, even to you. 
Sorry, I’m ok. Just tired. I’ll call you tomorrow after the game. Love you.
You clicked send before you could overthink it though, or your trembling fingers could betray you and type out the truth. You laid your head back down on the couch, curling into yourself as a painful cough forced its way past your lips. 
You weren’t sure how long you laid there, shivering before there was a soft knock at the door, and then the little click as it opened. 
A part of your brain hoped that it would be Alessia. That she had read your mind and somehow teleported to whatever city you were in. 
But the feeling of gentle fingers on the top of your shoulders told you that it wasn’t. 
“Y/n?” Natasha asked, very close to your ear, and you blinked up at her. 
You didn’t remember closing your eyes. 
“Hm?” You hummed, the sound raw and painful. 
“Let’s get you changed, and then we can go back to the hotel and you can sleep,” She said, placing a hand under your armpit and guiding you to a sitting position. 
The tiny movement had coughs ripping past your lips. 
She held you steady with one hand and grabbed you a change of clothes with the other. 
“Easy,” She breathed out, carefully unbuttoning your shirt and pulling it from your sweaty skin. 
She left you shirtless for a long second as she disappeared into your bathroom, and the cool air of the dressing room felt nice on your overheated skin. 
It didn’t bother you. Natasha had seen you in far less clothing than your sports bra and underwear. 
She returned only a moment later with a towel, using it to dry you off before she slipped a light blue t-shirt with a foot on the back over your head. 
The pants took a little more wiggling, but eventually, she was able to get you out of your costume and into a pair of sweats that were far too big for you.
She slid a pair of Converse onto your feet, scooping up your phone and tucking it into her pocket. 
“Let’s get you to the car,” She guided you to stand, keeping an arm wrapped tightly around you. 
“People?” You asked, leaning more of your weight onto her as she pulled you towards the door. 
You missed her eye roll. 
Of course, all you were worried about right now was who would see you, and what they would think. 
“Not here,” Natasha reassured you gently, opening the door. “Only when we get back to the hotel,”
You made a low, painful sound as she half-carried you into the hallway. 
You still had time before you had to pull yourself together. 
******
The city lights blurred into a distorted kaleidoscope of colors during the short ride back to the hotel. 
The cool glass felt nice against your temple, though it did little to ease the throb in your head or the lava in your throat. 
The feeling of eyes watching you for any wavering in your resolve also wouldn’t go away. You couldn’t be sure if it was worry (that you would puke all over the car or pass out), or concern about what the fans would think when you pulled up to the hotel. 
The whirring of the engine wasn’t loud enough to block out your racing thoughts, but any music was too much for you to handle. 
You were drowning. 
Every breath hurt, but you didn’t know if it was because of the physical pain or the anxiety gnawing at you. 
You didn’t like to upset people. You didn’t like to disappoint them. 
You were a people pleaser to a fault, and this wasn’t the first time you had self-destructed to meet everyone’s expectations. 
But at the end of the day, the person you wanted to please most. The person you wanted to not disappoint the most was Alessia. Was your Daddy. 
You knew you were failing, but you didn’t know how to stop.
The car came to a stop in front of the hotel far too quickly, and not for the first time, you were thankful that the dark tint kept you hidden from public view. 
“Ready, kid?” Steve asked, turning around in the driver's seat to look at you. 
You nodded once, reaching forward and grabbing the sunglasses facing the wrong way on his head, and pulled them over your own eyes. 
You took a deep breath before Clint opened your door, painting your signature smile across your features. 
You didn’t wave when you got out, too focused on keeping yourself upright, as Steve’sarm wrapped around you on one side and Natasha’s did the same on the other. 
You felt safe tucked between them, though they did nothing to shield you from shrill screams and cheers that met you as soon as your feet touched the ground. They amplified the pounding behind your eyes, and the way the crowd pressed around you made it even harder to breathe (not that you thought that was possible). 
You did try to flash the crowd smiles as Natasha and Steve guided you through, Clint protecting your back, and you were thankful your eyes were hidden, despite it being nighttime. 
You never wanted the fans to see the… fakeness. The lie.
You let out a breath you didn’t know you were holding when the hotel doors slid closed behind you, placing more of your weight on Steve as Natash called the elevator. 
“You’re burning up kid,” Steve murmured, shifting to get a better grip around your waist. 
You made a low sound, that turned into a full body caught that nearly had you doubling over. “Is that your way of calling me hot Stevie? What would Tony think?”
The words came out garbled, cracking with every syllable as you tried to talk through the coughs. 
Steve’s arm tightened around you to keep you upright. 
“I think he would say that you are sick,” Steve sighed at the mention of his husband, your publicist, taking more of your weight as another round of coughs wracked you. 
You pushed off of him as soon as you could breathe again, even if it felt like sucking air through a straw filled with needles, and swayed your way toward the elevator. 
It binged open as soon as you reached it, and you stumbled inside, gripping the metal bar on the back wall for support, and resting your forehead on the cool wall. 
You could feel the heat of your skin leaching into the surface, but it did little to quell the pounding in your ears or the feeling like everything was tipping on its head. 
Your fingers instinctively found the braided bracelet, running over the soft leather strands. 
However, this time, it didn’t ease the bubbling anxiety and fire in your chest. 
“We’re almost there, and then you can rest,” Natasha said softly, and you felt both her and Steve’s eyes on you as you leaned further into the wall. 
The movement of the elevator was starting to make you nauseous, but you didn’t think you could voice that even if you wanted to. Not with how raw your throat was. 
It took you a second to realize the elevator had stopped, and it wasn’t until Natasha gently touched your shoulder that you began to move again. 
You let Steve guide you out of the elevator and into the hallway. 
Natasha had the door to your suite open before you even got there, and Steve half-carried you to the bed, settling you on the fluffy white comforter. 
Your fingers tangled in the expensive sheets as you fought to keep yourself upright. 
“Do you want to take a shower?” Natasha asked you softly, kneeling in front of you and carefully undoing your sneakers. 
You shook your head slowly, smothering another cough. “Sweatshirt,”
The croaky word hurt as it left your lips, barely audible and surrounded by more lung-crunching coughs. 
But they understood, Steve, passing you a bright red sweatshirt from your bag. 
You brought it to your face and collapsed back onto the bed, breathing in the perfume that clung to the material. 
It burned as it filled your senses, but you could pretend that it soothed the edges of glass in your throat and lungs. You could pretend that it was her taking off your shoes and tucking you in. 
You could pretend that it was all ok and that she wasn’t going to be livid when she found out. Not that you were sick, but that you hadn’t told her immediately. 
You knew you would take whatever punishment she decided you deserved with no questions. She could be rather creative when she was annoyed with you. 
“Let’s get you settled properly,” Natasha said, shifting you on the bed so your head was on the pillows, as Steve moved the covers and tucked them around you. “Rest now, and we’ll deal with the rest in the morning,” 
You groaned, sending more flames down your airway, rolling over and pressing your face more firmly into the sweatshirt. 
You heard the distinctive sound of your phone being plugged in, and the click of the door. 
And then you were alone. 
More alone than you had been in a very long time. 
Even if it was all your own doing, you hadn’t been this disconnected since the beginning of Alessia’s college career, and your first tour with Taylor. The infamous break in your relationship. Even though neither of you had actually experimented with anyone else, and you had texted and called nonstop, you had been hesitant to push too far, to ask for too much. 
You blew out a long breath into her sweatshirt, ignoring the little needles that followed the air, eyes fixed on the phone on your bedside. 
It buzzed again as if it knew you were thinking about it. 
You reached your hand out, pulling it close so you could look at it, but it was still plugged in. 
The movement had the screen lighting up with a string of messages. The one at the top made your heart hurt.
Please don’t ignore me, my Little One. I’m worried.
It said, and you could almost hear the inflection in her tone. You could almost see her eyes softening, and feel her fingers brushing your hair behind your ear. 
You closed your eyes, pressing more deeply into the sweatshirt under your head. 
Your fantasy world was far nicer than the reality you were in, and the universe wouldn’t end if you stayed in it until morning. 
********
Your night was… hazy, filled with half-dreams that were increasingly difficult to distinguish from real life. As the morning light crept its way further and further across the ceiling, you leaned into the sweatshirt slowly losing its smell, one eye peeking out to track its progress. 
It felt like a timer. A countdown clock on the imagined feelings of soothing hands on your back and whispered reassurance that everything would be okay. 
Soon enough the door would open and you would have to be you again. You would have to pretend like each breath you took didn’t feel like a bear was mauling your lungs, and your brain wasn’t a freight train threatening to escape from your skull. 
You would have to deal with the incessant buzzing of your phone that had kept you on the edge of real sleep all night. 
You would have to face your girlfriend. Your daddy. 
You were not looking forward to it. Any of it. 
The only thing that you were semi-excited about was watching your girlfriend play, even through a screen. That had been your only saving grace back when she was in college before the two of you got back together, and you knew it would be your only saving grace now. 
You sighed, rolling over, the sweatshirt falling from its bunched-up place against your cheek, and reaching for the phone still on the corner of the bed next to you. 
It buzzed again as your fingers caught it, and brought it closer so you could see the screen. It was filled with notifications. 
Some were from the group thread you shared with your manager, assistant, and publicist. Some were emails from people you were collaborating with. 
But the majority were from Alessia. 
You couldn’t help but click on the thread. 
You knew it was a mistake immediately. 
Good morning little one. I’ll have some time if you want to FaceTime before the game. I miss you, and I’m worried. You don’t usually ignore me.
It was like an arrow straight through your heart. 
A direct hit to your will. 
You swallowed hard, ignoring how badly it burned, and typed out a message. 
I miss you too. Good luck today. You’re going to do amazing
You dropped your phone after you hit send, deciding that finding the starting 11 wasn’t important anymore, and stared up at the ceiling through half-lidded eyes, pulling the comforter more tightly around you despite the sweat breaking out across your chest. 
You thought it would help the hollow feeling slowly taking over your insides, or the dull throb that accompanied each breath. 
It did not. 
You let your eyes slide back closed, deciding that the light hadn’t transversed far enough across the ceiling for you to need to be awake yet. Not when the pull of sleep was so strong, and the comfort of your half dreams was too difficult to resist. 
“You know I don't like it when you hide from me,” Alessia’s voice said sternly, as though it was right next to your ear, and you felt fingertips graze your lips. 
You didn’t open your eyes. Even amongst the haze that was filling every crack in your brain, you knew she wasn't here. She couldn’t be here. Not when she was back in London about to play some team you couldn’t remember. 
“I know,” You rasped out.  
The fingers gently pulled at your bottom lip before they circled back towards your cheek, and a thumb brushed across your closed eyelid. 
“And you’re still doing it?” She asked, and you felt the air of each word on your ear. 
You shook your head, turning it slightly, hoping to feel her nose bump hers. “You need to focus on the important things,” 
You didn’t come into contact with her, though you knew you should have with the way you shifted. 
“And you are not important to me?” She asked her voice hardening in the way it only did when you were about to receive a punishment. 
An involuntary shiver ran down your spine, and your eyes opened automatically. 
You sucked in a painful breath, blinking blearily at the face above you.
“I didn’t mean to startle you,” Natasha said quietly, even as your eyes darted around, searching for your girlfriend. “It’s 1, so you need to wake up so we can make a decision about tonight,” 
“Less?” You asked, your voice barely a whisper when you saw that Natasha was the only other person in the room with you. 
Natasha frowned, brushing your hair away from your forehead. “She’s in London, remember? The game against Luxembourg starts soon,” 
Your eyebrows pulled tightly together. You hadn’t remembered that they were playing Luxembourg. 
“She’s starting?” 
“No,” Natasha shook her head. “It’s mostly the young ones starting since the over-under is plus 20 for England,”
Your nose scrunched, and you forced yourself to sit up. “She has to play,”
None of this would be worth it if she never touched the field. 
“I think Serina is using this as more of an identification camp,” Natasha countered, stepping in to help you sit up. “The girls need rest after doing both the Champions League and regular play these last couple of weeks,”
You grunted though it sounded more like a pained wheeze than a grunt. 
Alessia’s schedule had been nearly as insane as your own for the past few months. It was part of the reason you were so… reluctant to bother her with something as trivial as a tickle in your throat. 
“Maybe you should take a page out of her book,” Natasha added. 
Your nostrils flared immediately at the implication. 
Your job was so much less physical than Alessia’s. You didn’t do anything to deserve rest like she did. 
The pressure you both face to perform was inherently different.
She didn’t let down millions of people every time she rode the bench. She wouldn’t crush the dreams of thousands of people if she didn’t take the pitch. 
But still, you could already hear her argument ringing in your head. 
I expect you to care for the things that belong to me as deeply and completely as I do. That includes yourself. Your needs matter, and I will not allow you to disregard them.
“No.” You rasped, none of the bite you meant appearing in the word. 
“Yes,” Natasha countered, shifting the pillows behind you before you leaned back. “There is no way you can perform tonight,”
You huffed, and crossed your arms, glaring at the city beyond the large window to the right of the bed. “People paid-“
“To hear you sing. Not hack your way through a set,” Natasha cut you off. “They’ll be more disappointed if you give them a show that’s not your best. Reschedule the last 3, so they’re worth what they paid,”
Your glare only deepened, and your eyebrows pulled very tightly together as you processed what she was saying (taking a few extra minutes to cut through the thick fog in your brain). 
You knew she was playing on your sensibility. You thought ticket prices were disgusting, and had fought to lower them as much as you could. You had made your show longer in retaliation, so the fans got what they paid for. 
You wouldn’t give them a sub-par show. 
You didn’t look at her but nodded once. 
“I’ll have Tony write a statement. Do you want to approve it before it goes out?” She asked, her voice gentle. 
You shook your head, your lips pursing. 
“We’ll release it then, and I’ll call a doctor so we can get you some real medication,” The redhead continued, ignoring the deep frown pulling at your features. 
It wasn’t that you were trying to be difficult. You just knew what would happen the second the people staked outside of your hotel caught sight of a doctor. 
But now you felt like you didn’t have a choice, and not in the fun way.
“Fine,” You muttered, a hacking cough following it. 
Natasha patted your back until the coughing stopped, and you relaxed back against the pillows. “I’ll take care of everything. I’ll have food sent up, you just watch the game and try to get more sleep before the doctor gets here,”
You huffed but didn’t protest as she tucked the blanket tighter around your torso. 
“I know you’re unhappy with all of this, but it is what it is, and we need to look after your health too,” She sighed, turning and bustling around the room, flipping on the television to the game and grabbing a mug you hadn't noticed from the dresser by the door. “Drink that, and I’ll be back in a bit,”
You didn’t respond as she placed the mug on the table beside you, and disappeared through the hotel room door with a soft click. 
You wanted to groan. To yell. To throw the mug across the room, but you knew it wouldn’t help. 
The other part of you wanted your guitar, not that you were sure your fingers were strong enough right now to actually play.  
You closed your eyes, tilting your head back on the pillows. 
It wasn’t long before you felt fingers in your hair, though you hadn’t heard the door open again. 
You instantly knew who it was, though her perfume was suspiciously missing. 
“You look like you got hit by a bus,” She murmured, her breath brushing across your nose. 
Your eyes fluttered open, meeting her blue, except it was two shades darker than you remembered, the same shade as the old UNC jersey she was wearing. 
“I’m fine,” You croaked, the sound pulling a hacking cough from your lungs that burned as it left you. 
“Ah yes, because you sound just fine,” She huffed, her nails scratching lazily at your scalp. “You don’t need to hide from me,”
You blinked slowly, and her form shimmered slightly beside you. “‘M not. ‘M right here,”
“Rule one is honesty for a reason,” She countered, her hand pausing. “You’ve not abided by that.”
You swallowed around the glass in your throat at the confirmation of what you already knew, and your eyes closed again as the heavy weight of it settled on your mind. 
You had broken the most sacred rule and you were in trouble. It wouldn’t just be a punishment you would have to take. It would be regaining her trust that would take the longest time. 
It was a fragile thing, and you had shattered it. 
You forced your eyes open again, determined to say something- anything- that would make it better, except when you did, she was gone. 
You blinked heavily at the empty bed beside you. The space she had been seconds ago. 
You wanted to shake your head, but with the freight train pounding in your skull, you knew that was a terrible idea. 
“This is a very different starting eleven for England, but it’s what we expected. The only change of note is that Alessia Russo is unavailable for this game.” 
Your eyebrows furrowed at the television, flashing the starting lineup for the game. 
Natasha said Alessia wasn’t starting, but you expected her to at least be on the bench. 
You closed your eyes and let your head fall back. 
What was the point of suffering alone if Alessia wasn’t even going to play?
You weren’t sure anymore.
******
“I’ve got her,” 
You stirred at the familiar voice, and the feeling of gentle fingers running through your hair and the bed shifting next to you. The scent of lavender and honey wrapped around you like a comforting blanket, pulling you closer to consciousness. 
Your eyebrows pulled tightly together before your eyes flickered open, meeting the familiar blue of your girlfriend. 
“Hey there,” She said softly, her thumb smoothing out the crease between your eyebrows. “How are you feeling?”
You opened your mouth, but nothing but a low hacking cough came out. 
“Easy, little one,” Alessia shushed you softly. “Just relax. I’m here, and I’ll take care of you now, ok?”
It was painful how real she felt. Painful how much you wanted to believe she was here with you. 
“Trouble,” You mumbled, coughing violently afterward, unable to stop yourself from leaning into her hand. 
“I think we should make it your middle name since you seem to find it so often,” She murmured, running her hand again through your hair. “But no. You’re not in trouble. Not right now,”
You made a low, wheezing sound, shaking your head, despite the waves of nausea it sent to your stomach. “Real daddy disagrees,” 
She frowned. “Real daddy?”
You swallowed hard, forcing words past your stolen vocal cords. “Not here. In Luxembourg. Won’t fool me again,” 
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” She said, her nails dragging against your scalp in the way she knew you loved. “Natasha called me last night, and I got on the flight as soon as I could,”
It took a few extra seconds for her words to filter through the unpleasant haze in your brain. Even then, they didn’t make sense. 
Hell, her entire demeanor, including the softness in her features as she looked at you, didn’t make sense. 
You explicitly told Natasha not to call her, and you couldn’t process her going against that request. Not when Alessia had a game to play. 
“My brain is making you up,” You wheezed after another long second. 
She breathed out a half chuckle. “While your brain is brilliant, I wasn’t conjured by it,” 
You made a low, husky sound that could only be incredulity. 
Her thumb again smoothed the space between your eyebrows. “What will it take for you to believe you’re awake?”
You blinked heavily at her, your shoulders lifting and falling. 
She shook her head. “You’re too much,”
“No,” You mumbled, the crease between your eyebrows pushing against her finger. “‘M a good girl,”
“Yes. You are always my good girl, even when you’re being a stubborn pain in the ass,” She agreed fondly, leaning down to press a kiss to your too-warm forehead. “Sleep. I’ll be here where you wake up, and maybe you’ll actually believe you’re not dreaming,”
“Promise?” you asked. Sounding small, as exhaustion pulled at you. 
She hummed. “I promise,”
Her fingers kept their soft rhythm in your hair as your eyes fluttered closed, and you shifted to press your nose into her shoulder, breathing in her perfume with each rattling intake from your lungs. It surrounded you, soothing the burning in your chest, and soothing the sharp edges in your throat. 
For the first time since the lingering tickle started, you actually felt at peace. You felt calm enough to let yourself truly relax. 
It would suck when you woke up and Alessia was gone, but doing anything other than allowing your mind to linger in this delusion felt unbearable. 
Instead, you allowed yourself to sink into the overwhelming pull of exhaustion. 
And you swore you heard an “always,” before sleep pulled you under. 
Even if this alessia didn’t turn out to be real, you trusted her. And as angry as you wanted to be at Natasha and Steve for calling her, you knew she was exactly what you needed. 
She always would be, even if she was just made up in your mind. 
268 notes · View notes
orangeblossomsintheair · 8 hours ago
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HONEY YOU’RE FAMILIAR | MV33
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summary : For a second, he thinks about turning around. Walking out. Pretending he never saw you, because what’s the point? It’s not like he can just waltz up to you and say, “Hey, sorry I ghosted you for no reason other than I’m emotionally constipated. Want to get a drink?”
wc : 5k
an : writing this to distract myself from my other wips? ..i would never.. 😦 also i wrote this at 12 am so let this not be a place of judgement :))
Max sometimes forgets how small Monaco is.
It’s easy to do when most of his memories of the place are a blur of fast cars and glittering parties. He spends most of his time racing through the streets during the Grand Prix or holed up in a hotel room overlooking the harbor.
When you’re constantly traveling the world, hopping between paddocks and podiums, the compactness of Monaco barely registers. It’s a speck on the map, a gilded bubble he never really bothers to think about until it’s right in his face.
But sometimes, like tonight, he’s reminded.
Monaco isn’t a city, not really.
It’s a playground. A handful of streets strung together like a necklace, choked with Lamborghinis, Rolls-Royces, and yachts so big they could be small countries. It’s a place where everyone knows everyone.
Or, at the very least, they know of everyone.
The millionaires gossip about the billionaires. The bartenders know who tips in cash and who never tips at all. Even the stray cats probably have dirt on the local royals.
It’s not just small in size. It’s tight.
Wealth wraps around this place like a noose, strangling it into exclusivity.
There are no dark corners to disappear into, no sprawling suburbs to lose yourself in.
Just a few restaurants, a few clubs, and a few streets where the same people circle each other like they’re on a carousel. If you’re here long enough, you’ll eventually run into everyone you’ve ever met.
Even the ones you’ve been trying to avoid.
Max doesn’t think about that when he walks into the bar.
He’s not in the mood for deep reflection or existential dread. He’s here because Daniel said he needed a drink, and when Daniel Ricciardo says you need a drink, you listen.
That’s how Max ends up at some overpriced lounge that smells like vodka and ambition, standing under soft, warm lighting that’s trying too hard to make the place feel classy instead of claustrophobic.
He’s nursing a beer, half-listening to Daniel tell some convoluted story about a failed date and a stolen Vespa, when he hears it.
A voice.
Your voice.
It’s the kind of thing that cuts through the noise without him even realizing why. It’s not loud or particularly distinct; it’s not like you’re screaming or making a scene. But it’s you. The way you talk, your cadence, the rise and fall of your words. It’s all so achingly familiar that it grabs him by the throat and yanks.
Max freezes. His drink doesn’t make it to his lips.
The years fall away in a blink, and suddenly, it’s like no time has passed.
He’s twenty-two again, still figuring out how to smile for cameras, while you’re draped over the back of his couch, talking absolute nonsense about whether or not the cars in Cars have insurance or not.
He doesn’t even realize he’s turned to look until he spots you.
You’re standing at the bar, laughing as you say something to the bartender. It’s loud, and Max can’t hear you properly, but he can feel you.
The way you lean casually on the counter, the tilt of your head, the way you wave your hand to punctuate whatever you’re saying. It’s so painfully, annoyingly you.
And God, you look good.
For a second, all he can do is stare. You haven’t seen him yet, thank God, because Max Verstappen does not know what the hell to do with himself right now.
You look different.
Not in a drastic way, just… grown.
Your edges are sharper, your presence more refined, like a photo that’s come into focus after years of being a little blurry. But the core of you is still the same. It’s in the way you throw your head back when you laugh, like the world isn’t slowly crumbling under the weight of climate change, billionaires, and whatever Kardashian family drama is brewing this week.
And suddenly, Max is thrown back years.
To a time when you were his person. The one he called when things went sideways, or when he won, or when he was just bored and needed someone to hear him rant about understeer.
You were his best friend.
No. The friend. The one. The only one who ever really got him. And then…Well, then he was an asshole.
He tries to tell himself that you two drifted apart.
People do that, right? It’s life. Except that’s a lie, and Max knows it. You didn’t drift; you held on like a freaking tow hook. You tried—texted him, called him, showed up to races, tried to remind him there was a world outside of 300 km/h and tire degradation.
Max doesn’t know what to do with this. With you. He’s not used to seeing ghosts in real life, and you might as well be one now.
Max debates his next move. He could just… not. Pretend he didn’t notice you. Slip out quietly, finish his drink somewhere else, and avoid whatever emotional grenade this is about to be. That would be the smart thing. The logical thing.
But Max has never been great at logic.
For a second, he thinks about turning around. Walking out. Pretending he never saw you, because what’s the point? It’s not like he can just waltz up to you and say, “Hey, sorry I ghosted you for no reason other than I’m emotionally constipated. Want to get a drink?”
But then you glance over your shoulder.
And your eyes lock.
He doesn’t have time to decide whether to stay or bolt
You see him.
And Max realizes he’s fucked.
For a split second, he thinks you might look away, maybe pretend you didn’t see him either.
He’s not sure if he’s hoping for that or dreading it. But then your face lights up, and the look you give him isn’t what he expects.
It’s warm. Familiar. Like you’re genuinely happy to see him.
His chest tightens. Max isn’t sure what he thought he’d see. Resentment, awkwardness, indifference, maybe.
But this? This disarms him completely.
You wave, and before he knows it, his feet are moving.
“Maxy,” you say as he approaches, your voice carrying that teasing lilt that could only ever be you. It knocks the breath out of him, so familiar and effortless it almost hurts. “Long time no see.”
Max freezes for the briefest of moments, the nickname hitting him like a slap and a hug all at once. Maxy. No one’s called him that in years. Not his family. Not his team. Not anyone.
No one except you.
“Yeah, uh, long time,” he manages, scratching the back of his neck in a gesture so awkwardly familiar it almost makes you laugh. He looks like he’s 17 again, shy and unsure.
Before either of you can say more, Daniel sidles up next to him, a beer in hand and an amused eyebrow raised as he glances between the two of you. “Know her?” Daniel asks, his voice dripping with curiosity.
“He does,” you reply smoothly before Max can fumble an answer. Your smirk is playful, but there’s no bite to it, just that same easy warmth Max hasn’t felt in what feels like forever. “I used to keep this one in line. Back when he was all awkward interviews and tragic haircuts.”
Daniel barks out a laugh, glancing at Max’s meticulously styled hair. “Tragic haircuts? Wait, this-” he gestures wildly at Max’s head, like it’s some architectural masterpiece “-is the improved version?”
You’re already laughing, and it’s the kind of laugh Max hasn’t heard in years.
He groans, dragging a hand over his face, though the corners of his mouth are betraying him with a faint smile. “Don’t encourage her,” he mutters to Daniel, but his tone is far too soft to have any weight.
It’s stupid how easy this feels. How natural. Max isn’t used to easy anymore.
Daniel, bless him, is soaking it all in.
“So?” he says, giving Max a teasing nudge. “Aren’t you going to introduce me, or do I have to guess?”
“I was getting there,” Max grumbles, shooting him a half-hearted glare before looking at you. For a moment, he falters. He doesn’t know what to call you. Acquaintance feels too cold. Stranger would be a lie. And friend? That feels like stepping too far into a past he’s not sure he’s ready to face.
“An old friend,” you offer, saving him effortlessly, like you always did. “And you must be the famous Daniel Ricciardo.”
Daniel grins, full of boyish charm. “Guilty as charged,” he says, tipping his beer in a mock toast. “And let me just say, I already like you. Great taste in insults.”
“Flattery will get you nowhere, Ricciardo,” you say, though your smirk says otherwise.
The three of you fall into an almost absurdly natural rhythm, as though you’ve all been doing this for years. Daniel’s effortless charisma bounces off your sharp wit, and Max finds himself smiling more in five minutes than he has in weeks.
Maybe months.
It’s like the weight on his shoulders has lifted, just for a moment, and he can breathe again.
You’re mid-story when he realizes he hasn’t felt this light in ages.
“So there I was,” you’re saying to Daniel, gesturing dramatically, “dragging Max out of his hotel room because he was refusing to face the world after a bad race.”
“I wasn’t refusing to face the world,” Max interjects, but there’s no real heat in his voice.
You give him a look that could level a building. “You were lying on the floor eating Haribo like it was your last meal,” you say, deadpan. “It was tragic. Genuinely tragic.”
Daniel’s cackling now, nearly spilling his beer. “Please tell me there are photos of this.”
“Sadly, no,” you reply with mock disappointment. “But the image is burned into my brain forever. It was that bad.”
Max groans, shaking his head, though the grin tugging at his lips is impossible to hide. “Why did I ever let you into my life?”
“Because no one else could handle you,” you fire back, and it’s so quick, so natural, it makes his chest ache.
Daniel takes a step back, still laughing. “You two are too much,” he says, pointing at the two of you like you’ve just performed a comedy sketch. “I’ll leave you to it. Don’t get too emotional without me, okay? I’m going to find another beer. Or maybe a Vespa to steal. Who knows?”
You watch him disappear into the crowd, still grinning. For a moment, the two of you are left standing there, and the noise of the party seems to fade just slightly.
“Daniel’s fun,” you say, breaking the silence.
“He is,” Max agrees.
When the music starts bumping up again, the two of you are faced with a whole other problem entirely.
“So, you’ve been busy!” you yell, leaning across the sticky bar top, your voice barely cutting through the bass thumping around you.
“What?” Max shouts back, leaning closer.
“I SAID, YOU’VE BEEN BUSY!”
“I CAN’T HEAR YOU!”
“I KNOW! THAT’S WHY I’M SHOUTING!”
“WHAT?”
You throw your hands up in exasperation, but he just smirks, clearly enjoying this.
So you double down.
“DO YOU WANT ANOTHER DRINK?” you bellow, miming holding a glass.
“WHY ARE YOU YELLING ABOUT DRINKS?” he shouts back, baffled.
“BECAUSE IT’S TOO LOUD IN HERE!”
“WHAT?”
This back-and-forth nonsense goes on for an impressively ridiculous three minutes, the two of you getting progressively louder, until Max finally groans, shaking his head like he’s reached his limit.
He steps closer, leans in like he’s about to shout something else, then just presses a warm, steady hand to the small of your back. “Come on,” he says, not even bothering to raise his voice this time.
“What?” you yell, still committed to the bit.
He doesn’t answer. Instead, he starts gently steering you toward the stairs, and you stumble a little, caught off guard by the unexpected physical contact.
“Where are we going?” you shout, craning your neck to look at him as you climb.
“UPSTAIRS!”
“WHY?”
“BECAUSE I VALUE MY HEARING!” he fires back, glaring at you over his shoulder.
“OH, NOW YOU CARE ABOUT YOUR HEARING?” you tease, but he ignores you, his hand still firm and insistent on your back as he guides you upstairs.
The VIP section is quieter, tucked away from the pulsating bass and the sweaty chaos of the main club floor. Max had slipped a word to a bouncer—who nodded in a way that made you roll your eyes—and now you’re here, sinking into the plush leather of a semi-circular booth with a ridiculous view of the dance floor below.
The second you step into the VIP area, the relative silence hits you like a warm blanket. You blink, adjusting to the sudden absence of aggressive EDM, and turn to Max, who looks much too smug for your liking.
“Smuggled into VIP like I’m some sort of black-market item,” you tease. “Careful, Verstappen. This is how egos start.”
“You’re welcome,” he says dryly.
“For what?” you shoot back. “The privilege of not getting tinnitus at 27?”
“Yes,” he replies smoothly, sliding into a nearby booth like he owns the place. “You’re lucky to know me.”
“Oh, absolutely,” you deadpan. “My life has improved immeasurably since you dragged me up here. I’ll write a thank-you card.”
“Make sure it’s handwritten,” he quips, signaling a waiter for drinks. “And don’t skimp on the stationery.”
“You’re ridiculous,” you say, rolling your eyes but you’re smiling, and he knows it.
He chuckles, leaning forward slightly. “Hey, if you’re going to criticize, at least admit this is better than shouting at each other over terrible music.”
You glance around the room, all dark wood and dim lighting, where a few scattered people are having hushed conversations or staring down at the dance floor with an air of superiority. “Alright,” you admit, “it’s not terrible. But the crowd up here…”
You nod toward a guy at the next table wearing sunglasses, inside, and sipping champagne like it’s water. “Is this your scene now? Bottle service bros and indoor eyewear enthusiasts?”
Max glances at the guy, smirking. “Not my scene. But I figured you deserved something better than sticky floors and overpriced tequila shots.”
You laugh. “Wow. I feel so special. Nothing says friendship like a quiet room and a drink I can’t pronounce.”
“Admit it,” he says, leaning back again. “You love it.”
“I love judging it,” you correct, grinning. “Big difference.”
Max watches you for a moment, shaking his head with an almost fond expression. “You haven’t changed at all.”
“And you’ve changed too much,” you shoot back, gesturing at his ridiculously put-together outfit. “Look at you, Verstappen. Fancy haircut, custom clothes, actual social skills. Who are you?”
“First of all, the haircut is functional,” he retorts, mock offended. “Aerodynamics.”
“Oh, of course. Wouldn’t want your hair slowing you down at 300 kph,” you say, pretending to be serious.
“It’s a real thing!” he insists, laughing now. “If you knew anything about racing-”
“If I knew anything about racing?” you interrupt, your voice rising in mock outrage. “Excuse me, I was there when you had to Google how to talk to the media without sounding like a robot. You think I don’t know the intricacies of racing, Maxy?”
“Don’t call me Maxy,” he groans, dragging a hand down his face.
“Oh, I’m definitely calling you Maxy,” you say, delighted. “I might even get a custom T-shirt. ‘Maxy’s Biggest Fan.’ I’ll wear it to a race.”
He narrows his eyes at you. “If you do that, I’ll steal your phone and delete every embarrassing photo you’ve ever taken of me.”
“Bold of you to assume I don’t have backups,” you say smugly, sipping your drink.
“Unbelievable,” he mutters, shaking his head, but there’s a grin tugging at the corners of his mouth.
For a moment, the two of you fall into an easy silence, the noise of the club below fading into the background. You glance at Max, noting the relaxed set of his shoulders, the way he’s fiddling with the label on his beer bottle—a habit he’s had for as long as you can remember.
“So,” you say, breaking the quiet, “what’s the most ridiculous thing you’ve bought since you became all… you know.”
“All what?” he asks, raising an eyebrow.
“You know,” you say, waving a hand vaguely. “World Champion. Multi-millionaire. Guy who smuggles old friends into VIP sections.”
He chuckles. “Ridiculous? I don’t know… probably the private jet.”
You stare at him, deadpan. “The private jet is the least ridiculous thing about you, Verstappen. Try again.”
“Fine,” he says, thinking for a moment. “I bought a sauna for my house. Didn’t use it for six months.”
You burst out laughing. “A sauna? For what? Post-race existential crises?”
He groans, rubbing his temples. “It was a bad idea, okay? I thought it would be relaxing.”
“Did it come with, like, a tiny man who throws water on the rocks for you?” you ask, grinning.
“No, but now I kind of want one,” he admits, laughing.
“God, you’re the worst,” you say, shaking your head, but your tone is full of affection.
“And you’re jealous,” he fires back.
“Of your unused sauna?” you say, raising an eyebrow. “Yeah, I’m absolutely consumed with envy.”
The two of you dissolve into laughter and the conversation continues.
Next thing you know it’s 3 am and you and Max are stumbling out of the club, too giggly for both of your sakes.
Daniel had hopped on to another place hours ago so it’s just you and him.
The cool night air hits you like a slap, but instead of sobering up, it just makes you giggle harder.
Max freezes mid-stumble, his head lolling back like he’s auditioning for Les Mis on the world’s worst stage. “Why’s the air so aggressive?” he slurs. “Feels like it’s… pushing me. Rude.”
“Why’s the ground so spinny?” you counter, stumbling sideways into him.
“'Cause you’re bad at walking,” he accuses, latching onto your arm like a barnacle while swaying dramatically.
“You’re bad at walking,” you fire back, immediately tripping over a shadow and nearly eating pavement.
“You can’t even walk straight!” Max protests, laughing as he catches you before you faceplant.
His arm slides around your waist, steadying you in the most unsteady way possible.
“You’re the one spinning,” you argue, slurring every other word. “Maaaybe you should ju- just stay still for once in your life.”
“Oh, because you’re the expert,” he fires back, wheezing as you nearly trip again. “Where- where are you even staying at?”
You squint at him, trying to focus. “Uh… good question.”
Max stops dead in his tracks, turning to look at you with a mix of disbelief and amusement. “What do you mean good question? How do you not know?”
“I don’t rememb- ber,” you admit, cackling as if it’s the funniest thing in the world.
Max groans, dragging a hand down his face. “You’ve got to be kidding me. You’re just- what? Homeless now?”
“Homeless for the night,” you correct, wagging a finger at him like that somehow makes it better.
Max laughs so hard he has to pause, doubling over slightly. “How- how do you forget where you’re staying?”
“’S not my fault!” you defend yourself, leaning heavily against him. “The hotel has, like… a name! A boring one! And too many floors!”
Max groans so loudly it echoes off the buildings. “Oh my God. You’re homeless now. You’re a wandering drunk with no home.”
“I'm trying a new lifestyle,” you say, grinning. “Like… nomadic, y’know? Spiritual.”
“Yeah, okay, Buddha, let’s find you a real place to sleep before you start befriending rats,” he mutters, dragging you down the street.
“I like rats,” you say cheerfully. “They’re just misunderstood.”
“You’re misunderstood,” Max shoots back. “Come on. You’re crashing at my hotel. I can’t leave you out here to, like, adopt a possum or something.”
“I don’t wanna!” you whine, digging your heels into the ground.
“Tough!” Max barks, throwing his arm around your shoulders to keep you moving. “You’ll thank me in the morning when you’re not spooning a garbage can.”
You groan dramatically, slumping into him. “Maxxyyy, I’m tired. Can’t I just sleep on a bench or something?”
“Nooo. No benches. Benches are gross. You’ll get, like… pigeons on you.”
“Pigeons are my friends,” you declare solemnly, as if this is a hill you’re prepared to die on.
Max shakes his head, clearly trying to stay serious but failing miserably. “Okay, Dr. Dolittle, you’re not sleeping outside.”
You groan again, dragging your feet even as he starts pulling you along.
“Stop whining,” he slurs, swaying as he tries to walk in a straight line. “It’ll be like- like a sleepover! Like when we were five.”
“Sleepovers at five were better,” you mutter. “Less… you.”
“Excuse me?” Max stops, glaring at you like you’ve mortally offended him. “I’m the best sleepover buddy. I let you steal my Haribo once.”
“You hid the Haribo under your pillow!” you counter, poking him in the chest.
“’Cause you’re a thief!” he says, grinning as he pulls you toward the street corner.
“Am not,” you huff, pouting.
“Are too,” he replies, but his tone is teasing as he hails a cab.
When the cab pulls up, it feels like the world is tilted just enough that the ground might collapse under your feet at any moment. You both tumble into the backseat in a fit of giggles, your laughter echoing off the darkened streets.
It’s the kind of laughter that’s born of a little bit too much alcohol and a whole lot of absurdity. You could’ve sworn you heard a streetlight flicker in disbelief at the sound of your shared joy.
“You smell like tequila and poor decisions,” he mutters with a lazy drawl, his words slow but somehow still cutting through the haze of the night.
Max flops dramatically against you as if the very act of sitting upright requires more effort than it’s worth.
His head lands squarely on your shoulder, and for a split second, you’re both tangled in the shared warmth of a really questionable decision.
He looks up at you, eyes half-lidded, and grins like a kid who just got away with stealing candy.
Max’s eyes widen in mock outrage. “I did not!” He shoots up from your shoulder like you just insulted his very existence, but the motion sends him veering dangerously toward the cab door.
You’re already shaking your head before you even speak, the words spilling out one over the other. “You smell like someone who wore Axe in high school.”
He catches himself at the last second, gripping the seat like it’s a lifeline.
Max is practically in tears from laughing, his snort-laugh echoing off the walls of the cab as he tries to argue that Axe is, in fact, a perfectly fine product, just poorly misunderstood by society.
By the time the cab pulls up to Max’s hotel, you're both deep into a discussion about whether Axe body spray could be classified as a biohazard in certain quantities.
It’s a ridiculous debate, fueled by far too much tequila and a complete disregard for logic, but it’s the most fun either of you have had in ages.
The cab screeches to a halt, and Max stumbles out first, holding the door open for you with the kind of exaggerated flair you’d expect from someone who probably practices his dramatic entrances in front of a mirror.
As he pays the driver, his wallet slips from his hands not once, but twice, and he’s already apologizing profusely, his face flushed from the alcohol and his own clumsiness.
Finally, he gets the wallet sorted, tucks it back in his pocket, and reaches down to drag you out of the cab like you’re a piece of luggage.
You’re both barely standing, teetering back and forth on your feet as if gravity itself is conspiring to make the night even more ridiculous.
“Your palace has really ugly carpet,” you mutter, laughing as you trip over the offending fabric, your feet not quite able to keep up with your brain’s idea of where they should go.
“Welcome to my humble abode,” Max says, throwing his arm out grandly to gesture toward the hotel lobby like he’s unveiling the Louvre.
The marble floors, polished to a shine, the sleek, understated furniture… none of it compares to the visual assault that is the ugly carpet underfoot.
Max snorts, his hand steadying you as you almost face-plant into a particularly gaudy potted plant. “You’re banned from the palace,” he retorts, giving you a playful shove.
You recover, and together, you stagger toward the elevator, which, for some reason, feels like an obstacle course in itself.
The elevator doors open with a dramatic ding, and Max promptly starts jabbing the wrong floor button in a series of random, very confident moves.
Each one is a miss, but he keeps at it, as if this were somehow part of the plan.
Max grumbles under his breath but finally, miraculously, hits the correct floor button. He turns to you with an exaggerated wink. “See? I told you. Genius.”
You lean against the wall, your body shaking with laughter as you struggle to breathe through the giggles.
“This is why they don’t let you operate machinery,” you manage to gasp, watching him fumble with the buttons in disbelief.
You raise an eyebrow, patting him on the head condescendingly. “Sure you are, buddy. A true mastermind.”
When the doors finally open, you both stumble out, holding on to each other uselessly.
The elevator ride is a blur of jokes and half-baked insults as you both fight to keep your composure.
Max leans against the wall with a smug look, clearly reveling in his victory over the elevator button.
“Jesus. You okay there, Einstein?” you tease, leaning casually against the wall and watching him drop the card once more. You can’t help but laugh.
At the door to his room, Max proceeds to fumble with his key card in a way that can only be described as tragically incompetent.
The key card slips from his fingers twice, and each time, he lets out a string of expletives in a garble of Dutch and English.
“Shut up,” he mutters, his voice already tinged with frustration. “Technology’s hard.”
“This bed is softer than my hopes and dreams,” you mumble, your voice muffled by the comforter as you stretch out like a starfish.
Finally, after what feels like an eternity, the door swings open, and Max stumbles inside with the grace of a rhino on roller skates.
He turns to face you with a theatrical sigh. “There. I did it. Happy now?”
You’re already halfway to the bed, your shoes flying off in opposite directions, one ending up by the dresser and the other getting lodged under a chair.
With a dramatic thud, you collapse onto the bed, your body sinking into the soft, luxurious comfort like it was the only thing holding you together.
“Nope,” you reply, barely lifting a finger to indicate where his side is. “Your side’s over there,” you say, pointing vaguely toward the edge of the bed, but it’s clear from the way your eyes are barely staying open that you’re not in any shape to play the “bedroom politics” game.
Max, predictably, flops down beside you with the subtlety of a sack of bricks, his arms and legs sprawling out in every direction.
“Move over,” he grumbles, his face smooshed into the pillow.
“Too bad,” Max grunts, grabbing your pillow from beneath your head and smushing it over his face. “This is a dictatorship, and I’m the dictator.”
For a brief moment, it feels like nothing’s changed at all.
“Goodnight, Haribo hoarder,” you slur, your words trailing off into nothing as sleep drags you under.
The last thing you hear before you fully fade into unconsciousness is Max’s muffled laugh, and you can’t help but smile.
—-
Max stretches, or at least tries to. His arms flail in an uncoordinated spasm, which results in a series of awkward grunts and a pop from his back that sounds like a joint trying to jump ship.
Max’s eyes snap open, and for a second, everything is blurry.
He blinks a few times, the weight of his eyelids making it feel like he’s wading through molasses.
A dull ache sits in the back of his skull, a reminder of the questionable choices he made the night before.
He groans, dry, scratchy, the kind of noise that only belongs to mornings where you regret both your life decisions and your snack choices.
He’s still in his room. So far, so good.
Nothing seems out of the ordinary... except for that persistent feeling in the air that something is off.
For a second, he considers staying perfectly still, hoping his body will remember how to function like a normal human.
But then—
There’s something warm beside him. Something... alive.
Max freezes, eyes snapping wide open. His breath catches in his throat as he tries to process what’s happening. The warmth next to him isn’t the soft comfort of a pillow.
It’s... a person.
A person in his bed.
What the actual hell?
His brain goes into overdrive, trying to make sense of the situation. His mind races through a thousand thoughts in a second, each one more ridiculous than the last.
Did he... did he end up getting a stranger drunk last night? Did someone break into his room to cuddle with him?
Max’s eyes dart to his left, and it hits him like a freight train.
The person is you.
You, sprawled across the bed, fast asleep, your hair tousled and your face peaceful, completely unaware of his mounting panic.
“I need to call Daniel..”
For a moment, Max just stares, brain failing to catch up.
How did this happen? His head starts swimming. His mouth goes dry. His first thought is that he’s dreaming..except, no.
This is far too real. He’s not that lucky.
246 notes · View notes
georgeweasleyslostearhq · 2 days ago
Text
SHOULD HAVE KISSED YOU
Pairings: Eddie Munson x Fem! Summary: when made to participate in a school fundraiser, Eddie finds himself actually having fun. Warnings: none PART 2 ANYONE?
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"Mister Munson, you have to be a part of this school!" Principal Higgins exclaimed to the boy sitting on the other side of the desk, protesting
"I've been apart of this shitty school for 6 years" Eddie hummed lowly
"what was that?" the older man raised and eyebrow, his hands on his hips as he looked down at the rebellious teen in front of him
"what do you want me to do?" he got in response
"Miss Kelley is holding a fundraiser- u-an auction, of sorts.. you'll be participating"
Eddie frowned "an auction? what you want me to go up and hold items for people to bid on?"
"you'll be the item"
Eddie scoffed "what's that supposed to even mean?"
he stared at the principal and almost laughed, was this a joke? he fails a few times and is now being punished
"it means you'll go up and girls will bid on you- a date with you"
oh Eddie definitely laughed at that, does he think he's funny? he must because that was the funniest thing Eddie's ever heard
"yeah, right" he snorted
"Mister Munson, do you want to graduate this year?" Higgins asked rhetorically.
this wasn't a joke, this was serious
"what's a stupid fundraiser going to do to help me graduate?!" Eddie raised his voice before looking away when the man scolded him
"well, lucky for you, Edward, this school will do just about anything to get rid of you-" The older man started before getting cut off by Eddie
"-How flattering" he hummed
"-so, we'll be granting you with extra credit if you do this, and if you get at least a C in Miss O'donnells, it will be enough for you to graduate" the man finished, crossing his arms
"what type of fundraiser activity is that anyway! I'm no help, I can assure you no body is bidding on me, Higs" Eddie rolled his eyes
"well, lucky for you, you don't need to be bidded on to participate, just showing up is enough"
"this is ridiculous" Eddie mumbled, slumping down in his chair
there was no way he was going to do this.
"oh please, Mister Munson, It's not the end of the world, just a simple date to the fun fair is the most you'll do" Mister Higgins shook his head, deciding this was the end of the discussion.
he shooed Eddie out of his office after telling a few simple details about the night he should be ready for
"and please, have some school spirit" he said before closing the door behind Eddie.
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You sat in the school gym with your friends when Miss Kelley announces the boys up for auction
you had already seen the list a week prior and and had no interest, unlike your friend, Becky, who was more than excited to bet on a handsome mister Mike Lewenski.
your opinions on the fundraiser were mixed.
although a great way to make a few bucks, it was more of a way on telling which girl liked who. but even so, if they won the guy, it's a free date without the definite rejection most of them would face if they had just asked the guy out
so, while it saves a few rejections here and there, and could be seen as a trial run for a relationship, it's also a pit of thirsty women who want to dig their teeth in to a free date with a cute guy, especially if it's Gary McKlaren.
so to say you were the least interested was correct, but you were open to any changes if proven wrong.
The boys walked in the Gym single file and lined up behind Miss Kelley
you snorted at the sight of Eddie Munson 2nd last in line
you had browsed the list at least 3 times, you think you'd notice his name on the paper on the notice board. he must have been a last minute addition, which is pretty smart if you look at how many girls there are in school ready to bid.
but Eddie Munson, the freak? were they having a laugh?
you'd spoken to the guy a max of 5 times this year, he wasn't actually as bad as people made him out to be.
you weren't friends though; you wouldn't go that far. you'd be metaphorically killed if you were associated with him, so God forbid that ever happening.
Eddie huffed, looking out to the Gym seats.
he'd rather be doing anything else right now other than being at school, on a saturday afternoon, ready to be humiliated in front of what looks like 100 girls he's never spoken to (and doesn't plan to)
he frowned at the outfits the other boys had dressed up in, adorned in button up shirts and trousers, some even had a bowtie around their necks.
He mentally shook his head at the effort, because as they all dressed up fancy, like the organisers of this stupid even told them to, Eddie was still dressed in his normal attire, Black jeans and a dio shirt, his leather jacket hiding the cut off sleeves Eddie had fixed it up with. it's not like he was here to impress anyway
he would be here for 30 minutes max before driving back home alone.
"lets bring up our first boy of the evening, shall we. Toby Glover, everybody!" Miss Kelley claps.
She went on to describe the boy, hobbies, likes and interests before looking out to the crowed
"starting the bid at five dollars!" she smiled before a girl put her hand up, then a few others
Toby was baught at 20 dollars to Tracy Dekert.
then the next boy was up. Dylan Mantella.
it took a few seconds for a girl to put her hand up. but then another one did.
Dylan was bought for 10 dollars by Gracie Moore.
Jason Carver stood tall as he took a step closer, immediatley being bought by Chrissy for 5.
Then it was Mike Lewenski.
"He likes to play Football and the band Queen" Miss Kelley smiled
Becky's hand flew up as soon as the teacher announced 5 dollars, and glared at the girl on the other side of the bleachers when she outbidded her
"15!" Becky yelled out before the other girl said "17!"
they went back and fourth a few times before the other girl huffed and ran out of money
Mike was bought for 23 dollars by Becky, who cheered beside you
Then it was Gary McKlaren.
Miss Kelley didnt even get to describe his hobbies before a bidding war broke out. at least 10 girls fighting for him
yeah, he was popular. it made sense
Gary was bought for 50 dollars by Denise Weller.
Brian Gibley was bought for 5 dollars
Matthew Schneebly was bought for 25 dollars
and then Thomas Smith stood there for a few moments
that was when 2 girls put their hand up
you weren't sure if that was out of pity or they were just too shy to put their hand up, But Thomas looked like a whole bunch of weight lifted off of him when he was bought for 8 dollars
"now we have the...lovely Mister Edward Munson!" Miss Kelley announced, she looked nervous as she said his name, trying to find a praise but had to lie through her teeth
Eddie stood forward and clicked his tongue, looking out dully to the seats of girls and young women.
"E-Eddie likes um- Metal music? and uh- is a owner of a club" she spoke, she didn't know anything about Eddie, only that he was a satanist.
"5 dollars?" She announced with a tight smile, looking out to the crowd
you looked down at Eddie from your seat
his hands were in his pockets, he definitely didn't want to be here, but you could tell by the silence in the room he was...insecure?
you looked around the room, did no girl want him? did no girl see anything in him?
surely there was one girl to look past the scary demeanor of his figure and see something to like, but the only thing to hear was an awkward cough
you frowned, you felt bad, you really did.
Eddie looked down at his feet when Miss Kelley spoke into the mic "no bidders?" she asked as if she didn't know no body wasn't going to buy him
you closed your eyes and slowly lifted your hand.
it was just because you felt bad
"oh, we have a bidder! 5 dollars going once, twice, SOLD!" she banged her gravel on the wood. surprised.
Eddie munson was bought for 5 dollars. by you.
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Eddie was surprised when you put your hand up.
but Eddie was very Surprised to see you walk up to him afterwards, a smile on your face, a tight one, he knew it wasnt real
"hey" you greeted
Eddie looked at you confused, like you had grown two heads or that something was wrong with you, but he replied nonetheless
"hi" he said
you looked around the hall, seeing the floods of single girls walk out of the hall, glaring at you with the same look Eddie had a second ago.
"so um-" he licked his lips, sighing
"we don't have to go on the date.." you spoke in a rush, looking back at him
of course, Eddie thought to himself, of course you wouldn't want to go on a date with him
Eddie kicked himself for thinking you would for a split second.
"if you don't want to" he shook his head
this was awkward.
so awkward
"it's not that I.. don't want to. i do...but you- you probably have better things to do so..." you hummed, rolling on your ankles as you looked away from him
"I dont...and I don't want you spending money on me for nothing.." he mumbled sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck.
you were probably the first girl to talk to him, Willingly, without buying drugs- the first girl to be nice to him to his face.
Eddie doesn't get that often, or at all for that matter, so you were...special. you could say. to him.
you weren't friends, you probably didn't want that. and he doesn't blame you, but it still hurts deep down, where he wont admit it
"it's fine.. it would be embarrassing to be the only person who didn't get bought so..."
yep, that was the only reason you bidded on him, you both thought to yourself
"yeah, I guess you're my saviour, then" he joked, though he didn't find any humour in it
Because you had told him you bought him out of pity, thats not funny or you being nice, thats just sad.
you agreed to the joke and looked around, the hall was empty now, all the girls gone, a few out to their date and all the rest on their way home, alone. some going to the fair with their friends.
"I'll uh- see you next week then?" you stepped back, going to walk away
"I thought you wanted to go?" he frowned
"i thought you didn't?" you raised an eyebrow
"eh.. i feel like i owe it to you, besides i think Principal Higgins and Miss Kelley will be there and if they don't see us- or at least me there, I won't get my credit cause i left you" he shrugged
that was it, it was just for the extra credit
"ok, sure" you nodded
─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───
you walked side by side into the fun fair, you were a little nervous to say the least but it's not like you were gonna be here for a long time
Eddie had said he owed you and just wanted to be seen, so he'd probably just say a quick hello to the principal and spend five bucks on a quick game before calling it a day
that seemed fair, though.
he brought you over to the little games with various toys hung on the wall
"you wanna play a game? i'll try to win you a bear or somethin'" he looked down at you, pointing to the stall where you shoot at a few cans to win
you shrugged when you met his gaze, his big brown eyes full of the bright colours from the lights flashing from the games, the yellows and reds illuminating his face as he turned to you.
he looked pretty good
"sure" you replied shortly, looking away from him, letting him guide you to the line.
his hands were in his pockets as he looked around briefly. it made you wonder if he wanted to be here.
but on the inside, Eddie was almost shitting himself, cause here he was, in the line of a game with you next to him. this was a date, unadmittably his first date- if it even counted
and it's not just because it's a date, it's because it's with you, the only girl- bloody hell- woman that's ever been nice to him. to look at him like he's not a freak who sold his soul to the devil.
and God, did you have to look so pretty good?
he looked away when you tucked a strand of hair behind your ear and stepped forward, it now being your turn
the guy spoke enthusiastically, explaining the rules as Eddie picked up the fake gun.
you took the time to scan over the plush toys, the big bat hanging upsidedown from the roof of the stall made you smile.
you smiled at Eddie as he lifted the gun to his face, squinting his eyes before shooting his first shot.
your eyebrows raised at his shot, impressed as you stood beside him
Eddie lowerd the gun, putting another pellet in the gun when he caught your gaze, looking over at you awkwardly
you blinked and smiled tightly at him before looking away "did- sorry did you want to shoot?" he frowned, now noticing that he should have let you play- or at least asked you
"oh no, it's ok I uh- I don't know how to shoot a gun" you breathed, letting out a dry chuckle
"it's pretty easy, here" one of his hands let go of the gun to each out for your own hand.
you let him take your hand and you tried to hide the blush rising quickly on your cheeks, looking away as he pulled you closer
he stood behind you, his broad chest against your back as he instructed you, you held the gun with his hands over yours, his arms wrapping around your frame to help you
"Just look through this little hole right here." he pointed to a little circle on the top of the gun, and you slowly raised the gun to your face, quinting to look through the hole.
"aim it" he told you
you lined it up with the can and he took one of your fingers to place it on the trigger.
the feeling of his hot breath fanning on your neck sent shivers down your shine as it contrasted with the cold brisk air, but you were so hot right now.
did he have to be so close to you?
he waited a second before he pressed on your finger, pressing down on the trigger, shooting the gun.
you closed your eyes as the loud bang and the feeling of him pressing up against you. Why did you like it?
"ahh good try, you just grazed it" Eddie spoke, mumbling something that you couldn't here before you opened your eyes
you could see a little dent in the can but it hadn't toppled over or fallen, signifying a miss.
you shoulders dropped and your frowned, looking over your shoulder to see Eddie smiling softly
"you'll get it this time" he reassured you, lowering the gun
you shook your head "i'll let you do it, you obviously know what you're doing" you flushed, smiling before stepping to the side to get out of his hold
it was then when Eddie realised that he was manhandling you and his eyes slightly widened. Had he made you uncomfortable? he really hoped he hadn't. he dropped his hands and let you slip away from in-between him and the gun and looked away sheepishly
you finally felt like you could breathe as you let out a deep sigh you didn't know you were holding
why was he making you feel this way?
Eddie put another pellet in the gun and shot it effortlessly before he put the last one in.
he didn't even flinch at the loud bang! noise it made when he shooted, or lost his footing, he was a natural.
you don't know what you expected though, he looked like the kind of guy who knew how to shoot a gun, he had that look to him
you didn't want to say it but- he did have the dangerous kind of look to him, but throught the few talks you've had with him, you would hightly doubt he would even shoo away a stray cat if it made home on his porch.
he put the final pellet in and aimed it before shooting it, you watched as it bounced off the bar and fall back to the ground.
you smiled and clapped when the guy announced a winner
"so..what will it be for the lovely lady?" he said looking at you as you stood forward.
the long haired metalhead looked over at you, nodding to the wall of toys.
you opened your mouth, and your eyes landed on the bat again, pointing up at it "the bat?"
the man smiled and got the bat down, passing it to Eddie as you backed away to get out of the line, which was small but growing impatient.
Eddie followed after you and handed the bat to you.
"here ya' go" he smiled.
the bat was even bigger than it looked, bigger than your head, at least.
you brought it up to your chest and thanked him before walking awkwardly away from the stall
"you're pretty good with a gun" you said break the silence between you and him, the blush on your face appearing again as you looked over at him
"yeah? well.. my dad taught me when I was younger so... had a good teacher I guess" he let out a breathy chuckle, kicking his feet.
of course. everyone knew the stories of AL Munson. so your weren't surprised when Eddie told you he made him go hunting with him before he got sent to prison
"made me shoot more than just tin cans.." He shighed
you hummed, walking towards the enterance before Eddie stopped you
"Where are ya' going?" he asked, a deep frown covering his features as he looked around
you grew confused too "I- I thought we were leaving?"
Eddie's face dropped at your words, looking down "oh. I mean if you want to. I just thought- I- I was kinda havin' fun. with you so..."
Eddie was having fun with you; it wasn't a lie. he didn't want to leave just yet, he wanted to play a few more games and if he got lucky, get to know you more. he doesn't know exactly why but he knew he liked being with you tonight
but it's probably because it's either this date with you, or a lonesome date between him, his couch and a cold can of beer.
you stepped back to him and smiled "I am too... I just thought- but yeah, let's go"
the sky turned dark as Eddie and you played a few more games and shared a fairyfloss stick.
you were having fun, laughing and getting embarrased when you got shoved closer to Eddie when a few kids ran past you to the rotating tea cups.
"sorry" you mumbled, stepping away from the metalhead as he tensed up at the contact.
"'s'okay" he smiled, noticing the way you hugged the bat plush in your arms
it was night time- and winter. So were you cold?
so he asked you "d'ya want ma'jacket?"
he frowned when you shook your head quickly "no it's ok, don't worry"
you felt your cheeks grow hot again as he began taking his leather jacket off, exposing his biceps arms that were adorned in dark tattoos.
the bats caught your eye.
you had seen them before, of course, but they made you frown
you looked down at your bat plush toy and hid your face in it sheepishly
when it caught your eye, you didn't know why you were drawn to it the way you were
it reminded you of something, but at the time you picked it, you just couldn't pinpoint it
but now, looking at his tattoo, you realised it was that and you grew embarrassed, did he think you wanted it because of him? well technically you did- no, no you just liked it...right?
"it's ok, really" you shook your head as he handed it out to you
"Please, I don't want you to be cold" he pleaded
he was such a gentleman, you don't get why people did see that, there was something clearly wrong with society to shut out this beautiful specimin of a man like him, he's just so kind and gentle. no- snap out it.
you squeezed the fluff of your plush as he draped it over your shoulders, smiling
"what about you?" you wondered
he only shrugged "m'fine" he looked down, putting his hands in his pockets "as long as you're warm"
you chuckled softly as you looked around
"ferris wheel?" he asked after a beat
you looked to the ferris wheel and nodded "sure"
you let him guide you and you smiled as you got the line
the fair music filled your ears as you slowly moved up the line.
the line was pretty long, trying to see the lights from above and the kids thinking they can see the whole town from the top. they were wrong but let kids be kids, you thought.
when you reached the front, you stepped up and Eddie quickly handed the guy a few coins, letting your guys on. you sat down, your bat plush sat on your lap as the guy pulled the bar down, letting it click before leaving you with Eddie in the closer proximity
your shoulder to shoulder with Eddie when it began to move. going backwards
you looked over at him and smiled sheepishly before looking away
he cleared his throat before pointing to the bat you were cuddling
"do you like bats?" he questioned
you looked down and shook your head
"no..not really. I just thought he was cute" you shrugged
he hummed "have you named him?"
you giggled "no, not yet" you looked at him, finding a teasing smile on his lips and you furrowed your eyebrows.
"I don't- It might be childish, but I don't have a lot of them..." you soft quietly, fiddling with your fingers as the ferris wheel went up again
"No.. I.. I don't think it's childish.. I have a uh- I have a bear on my bed.. Ozzy... so. it's cute" he nudged your shoulder softly
you smiled, still a little embarrassed but it made you feel better that he admitted that.
you think it was cute.. that he of all people slept with a teddy bear, you feel as though you've learnt a lot about him today
it's almost like this wa a real date.
it made you hope he thought it was a real date too.
"do you..like bats?" you pointed to his swarm of bats tattooed on his arm
he looked down and nodded
"yeah I guess.. it's more of that they are seen for good luck and uh..protection.. I guess" he mumbled the last bit
you raised your eyebrows "really?" you tilted your head
"yeah.. don't know where i found that but I though i needed it so..."
"cool" you nodded
his eyes met yours again and you saw his adams apple bob in his throat as he looked at you
your bench stopped at the top as fireworks began exploding in the sky, painting the sky in all different colours, but you didn't look away from Eddie, for some reason, your eyes stayed on him
the sprays of colour reflecting in his eyes as he looked back at you. you wonder if he could see the fireworks in your eyes too.
"thank you, for today.. I've had fun" you spoke, wanting to ease this tension in the air.
"Yeah.. I've had fun too... with you" he said
you didn't know what was happening. why butterflies filled your stomach and made you feel sickly.
Eddie was shitting himself again, the look in your eye made him so weak he was happy he was seated. you looked so pretty in this light. it almost made him want to thank Mister Higgins for making him do this. but after this, he woudn't have any reason to talk to him unless it's to tell him he'd be graduating.
he can't explain how he felt in this moment, but all he knew was that he really wanted to kiss you.
but you don't want to kiss the freak? no matter how many times you've told him you don't see him as one, that's what he is, what he always will be.
Besides. You did this out of pity, right?
Amd it's not like he likes you, right?
but all Eddie can think of as he forces himself to look away is that he wants you to like him
he wants to know why he feels this way, why the burst of colour in the sky wasn't the only fireworks in the air tonight.
he had taken you home after that, sadly saying goodbye as he drove you home, the only sound in his van being the metal music he set to low as he thought about how much of an idiot he is.
all while you had felt completley embarrassed, and if you're going to be honest, a little angry, though you're not sure why
you wanted him to kiss you, but why? you didn't like him like that, this was just because you felt bad
but you wanted him to like you.
I should have kissed him, you thought as you walked into your home.
I should have kissed her, Eddie thought to himself as he drove off.
─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───
anyone want a part 2?
─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───
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jjkarmy091 · 2 days ago
Text
Second Best- Jungkook (part 8 )
Summary: Being friends with someone who has your heart it’s already hard, let alone when that special someone ends up falling in love with your best friend, the one you think would never make anything to hurt you . Will you be able to ignore it and move on? what will happen when everything gets too much for you to handle?
Genre: Friends to lovers; angst; body insecurities; bullying; friend betrayel;
Pairing: Jungkook x female!reader
Wordcount: 5.781
Author's note: It took me a lot but here it is. Got so many blocks writting this and I'm not satified with it. It doesn't matter how many time I write and rewrite it, it feels like it's never good enough but I tried my best so please go easy on me. Hope you like it and let me know if you want a next chapter or not. Also: I'm sorry for any mistakes
Love you loads <3
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When Y/n woke up the next morning she could swear her head was gonna fall off. It was one of those headaches it makes you wanna clung onto the bedsheets and never leave ‘till the next day. Flashbacks of the night before went through her brain but she brushed them off. She wanted to enjoy the few days she had taken, yet she’s still thinking about the same. She thought she was doing a good job but Taehyung’s words didn’t really help too, she definitely was going to face Sewoon with all these facts. Y/n always chose kindness over anything else but would all of that have gotten her anywhere? Looking back, she had serious doubts about that. 
Getting up from the bed and heading to the bathroom she notices everything is still very quiet which means Lisa is still asleep. Y/n wants to do something nice for her so she decides to make a huge breakfast once she knows that food is Lisa's undoing and starts preparing things without making too much noise (or at least trying to). Everything’s almost ready when Y/n listens to steps aproaching the kitchen/living room area as she pours some orange juice in Lisa’s cup saying good morning. Lisa looks at her and smiles, answering her back and sitting down.  
“what’s all this?”  
“It’s just a way to thank you for being such a great person to me. I know I've been hard to handle these last days but I want you to know that I truly feel grateful for everything you’ve done for me so far. If it wasn’t for you I don’t know how things would’ve ended up for me, I’d probably be crying in my room, thinking how much I suck because the guy I’m in love with doesn’t love me back” 
“I told you Y/n, it’s completely fine. I always liked you. You bring such a positive vibe and you’re so kind and fun to be around. It’s good to be around you and if I can help you somehow I will.” A few minutes of silence passed until Lisa asked what she was dying to know. “Did you talk to him?” Y/n stops suddenly, swallows hard and shakes her head.  
“No” 
“care to explain why?” 
“I’ve been thinking about your words and you’re right! I have to stop being a pussy and be real with myself and my feelings, not for others but for me. All this mess started because I'm always comparing myself to others all the time. I was so scared that Sewoon and Jungkook would meet and I was the bridge for them to start something. I allowed this. If only I wasn't so afraid and had more confidence in myself maybe it would be me in Sewoon's place and that kills me inside Lisa. For once in my life it would have been simple and sincere and I'm the only one to blame for this."
"What makes you think he was never interested in you Y/n? Because from what you told me it seemed to me that he was quite into you” 
"He definitely wasn't Lisa, you're confusing things. He found my attitude towards him funny when we first met, I don't know. But he never showed any signs, he never said anything and I was afraid of destroying the friendship we were building by saying something. He even used to go on dates. At the end he would go to the coffee shop and we would talk about it and stuff.” 
Lisa frowned “So he went on dates but never hooked up with them afterwards? a boy in his prime, with basic needs and would always come to you afterwards? You never found anything weird?” 
“For what he told me he had just gotten out of a complicated relationship. I think he was more interested in meeting new people, go out for a bit, clear his head.” 
“and come back to you in the end” Lisa mocks while Y/n throws a piece of bread at her, hitting her in the forehead. “Don’t be annoying” 
“Y/n you may not understand much about boys but I do and that's not normal for someone who don't have feelings for you. At best, he would go home.” Y/n drank some of her juice. "stop it! if that was true he wouldn't have gone straight to my supposed best friend. Why would he do that if he was interested in me?  The way he looked at her, how he said she was the best thing that ever happened to him and that he would never be able to love anyone the way he loves her. Not to mention what he did for Sewoon. She told me some things and all I could think about was how I wish it was me instead. I hoped it was me but I'm a coward, that's why I'm still here, 23 years old and a virgin. Even in that regard, Sewoon was lucky.” Y/n looks at her plate, trying to avoid eye contact with Lisa, knowing that would be enough to make her start crying but kept talking
“How she described the way he touched her, grabbed her, how he -- in short, everything. There was this one time she couldn't stop talking about how and where they did it so I invented that I was super busy and couldn't talk so she could leave and I could cry in peace. I swore never again.” 
“After everything Tae told you do you still think things are as Sewoon says?” Y/n didn’t answer, instead she got up and started taking the dishes onto the table, washing them. Lisa got up too, leaving her plate in the sink "always listen to things with a hint of doubt but specially with your heart." Y/n decided to change the subject. 
“What are we doing today?” Lisa laughed “let’s introduce you to this place the right way. See something else than snowboards” With this they got ready for the day. Lisa already knew the place with the palm of her hands so she knew what and where to go with Y/n.  
Even tho her mind was still in another place she actually found herself enjoying their time there. She enjoyed it so much that she didn't even notice the days passing by until the day for them to leave had arrived. Although the first days were complicated now she didn't mind staying another day or two but there were things to fix that she was eager to mend and she wouldn't find the so needed peace she wanted until everything was cleared up.
On their last day there Lisa suggested to go for a hot chocolate where they found Tae and his friend once again. They saw each other a lot during their staying and ended up clearing everything up and agreed that Sewoon was a NO topic. That night they went to a club all together and Y/n remembers having so much fun and getting so drunk that she ended up on top of Tae's friend. (Not the way you guys are thinking, pervs ;)
Y/n already had too much to drink and once they were stepping out of the club she tripped and Tae's friend was there and tried to hold her only for Y/n to bring him down with her. All of them laughed and they even took a picture of them both on the floor in a suspicious position. She just hoped any of it would end up on social media, at least for now because she knew either Sewoon or Jungkook would see it, but of course things never go the way she wanted them too. On their way home Y/n got a notification on instagram saying Taehyung tagged her in a photo so she opened it and saw a set of pictures, the first being Y/n, Lisa, Tae and his friend with drinks on their hands and Tae's arm around Y/n's waist and the second just a photo of Y/n and Tae making a funny face among with other random pics with the caption “Glad to see an old flame again. Loved these days with the best people. Let's repeat it next year” Fuck
She still had two days before going back to work and a few hours' journey ahead of her and the last thing she wanted was to end these wonderful days in an anxiety attack at an airport far from home because of a set of pictures.
It was a peaceful trip, they both took the opportunity to sleep and rest during the flight since when they arrived they had a lot to do. Y/n agreed to move to Lisa's house just as she had proposed. One night before going to sleep she spoke with her landlord and canceled the lease so she had little time to organize her stuff and take them to Lisa's. As soon as the plane landed they looked at each other and smiled, grabbed their things and slowly walked out of the airport where Lisa's father was waiting for them. As soon as they got into the car, Lisa said 
“I'm sad it's over but I'm happy we're getting home. I honestly love traveling but the moment I get to my space and make myself comfortable at home is always the best of all. Speaking of it, we still have to get your things. How about we go to my house, unpack, have lunch and then pack the rest of your stuff? Unless you're tired”
“I agree with you Liz, nothing feels better than the comfort of home, and yes, I was thinking the same. I still have two days before going back to work so I have to make the most of it. Right now, i just really want to eat I’m starving and I can’t function without food” They both laugh. Lisa asked her father to turn on the radio and as soon as he did, Tate mcrae's new song started to play. Needless to say they started singing with all their power until they arrived at Lisa's house. Y/n didn't remember having that much fun, not even with Sewoon and she had known her for years.  
After arriving at the place, her father said goodbye to them and left their bags at the front door so they could unpack them. They decided to order Taco Bell and while they waited for food and for the washing machine to stop, they sat down on the sofa. Y/n was looking at her phone until she heard herself say 
“I don’t know what to do” Lisa gets confused and kept her silence in order for Y/n to say something else, getting comfy on the couch. It took her a while to speak again.
“I-  we got back to reality and I can't ignore the fact that I never spoke to Jungkook again ever since that day. It's making me nervous because my mind is racing 1000 percent, I mean, imagine he no longer wants to talk to me or listen to what I have to say.. In hindsight I should have said something to him but I was so hurt. Furthermore, I received a message from Sewoon asking what the hell I was doing with Tae without telling her. Let's just say it wasn’t a very nice message. What should I do Lisa?” 
“First of all breath Y/n. Being like this won't get you anywhere. Second: I honestly think you should send a text to Jungkook, tell him that you need to talk to him and that you know that ignoring him wasn't the right choice but that there are a lot of things he doesn't know and that it's difficult to explain. Ask him to meet, preferably in a place other than your work because it will draw a lot of attention on you. You still have time to get back to work, make the most of it before - " Before Lisa finished, the washing machine was heard making its characteristic sound and Lisa apologized and said she'd be right back while Y/n continued sitting on the sofa looking stupidly at her phone. Lisa was right, she couldn’t drag this anymore.
“Hi Jungkook, how are you? I hope you’re doing well. I’m doing good. I know i probably kept you up at night, or maybe you didn’t even think of me but still I’m writting this to give you some heads up on why I disappeared the way I did. Truth is, I had a lot going on these last few months and I know that’s not an excuse and I was on the wrong for not replying to your texts but honestly I didn’t know what else to do. I was in a real mess. I still am and the way I thought it was possible to get out of this chaos inside my mind was to escape my reality and move away. I'm sorry, I know I should have said something but I'm ready to explain everything to you now, if you still want to.  
I love you.” 
During the rest of the day Lisa helped Y/n move her things to her new place. The fact that she didn’t have a lot of things made it easier. After that, they went grocery shopping and ended up passing by Y/n’s work and decided to walk in being greeted for her co-worker Sana 
“Ohh well well well. Who do we have here? Good evening lady and welcome back! thought you’d never show your face around here again. I already miss you, how are you doing? And most importantly, when will you return? I'm so tired of putting up with the boss alone, everyday he gets more and more annoying” She says making Y/n and Lisa laugh. 
“It’s been wonderful having some days to actually rest, sad to see it end” Yn says with a smile. “How’s it going around here?” 
“Pretty much the same you know. Had your really hot friend coming over everyday at the same hour he used to come. I guess he didn’t believe me when I told him you took some days off. Weird you didn’t, you guys were so close and were together all the time I thought you’d end up together after he broke things off with Sewoon. The last time I saw him was two days ago with her actually. They came here together.” Y/n’s heart stopped for a second and she had a hard time breathing all of a sudden 
“Together how?”  
“Like I said they came in here together, sat at that table over there and chatted for a while. It was a very busy shift and I was alone here so I couldn’t see or hear a lot. When it calmed down I looked at them, Jungkook was holding her hand and saying something to her while she looked like she was crying or about to. Then I couldn't understand anything else because several customers came in at the same time. When I noticed, he was already coming to pay and Sewoon was at the entrance waiting for him. That day he didn't say anything, he looked somewhere behind me but didn't speak, he just smiled, paid and left but I couldn’t see if he went alone or with her. I’m sorry”  
Of course this was going to happen, all she had to do was disappear for a few days and they wouldn't waste time getting on top of each other. She was so stupid. Was she really worthless? Lisa looked at her worriedly but didn't say anything, simply ordered two drinks while Y/n thanked her and looked out the window. If she had known, she would have enjoyed the trip even more without thinking about those two. She felt bad about leaving Jungkook in a vacuum and he was very much entertained. She always had a tiny bit of hope but what for? Sana had left to prepare their order when Lisa spoke 
“Don't pay attention to it Y/n. It could be many things, you don't know. If he really was with her why was he always coming over and asking about you?” 
“Because that’s what friends are supposed to do Lisa! They worry about each other, which makes sense given how I left the club that night and the fact that I didn't say anything to him in the following days made him think that something bad had happened to me. Everything friendship based.. Maybe that's why he didn't answer me, because he's with her. Sewoon must have shown him the photos we took with Tae on vacation. He was sure I was okay so he moved on with her, again.  
Lisa didn't have the chance to say anything because their order was given to them and they said goodbye to Sana and made their way to the car. Lisa started driving and to get home they had to pass by Y/n's old house. As they approached the road Y/n saw someone she knew very well, Sewoon and next to her was Jungkook in front of her old appartment. As if they could see her, Y/n leaned as far back as she could against the seat.  
""Lisa, for all that is most sacred to you, please don't stop here, don't look, don't do anything other than move as quickly as possible. Don’t ask me anything just go!" 
Always the second, never the chosen, as always. 
-------------------------------------------------------------- 
As they get to their now shared apartment Y/n tells Lisa that she's not hungry and if she doesn't mind she's going to rest because it was a very long day and that tomorrow is the last day and she wants to take the opportunity to organize the rest of her things and relax. Lisa says she doesn't mind at all, that she also feels the same and is going to rest, specially because the next day she has a last minute meeting.
Y/n tried to make Lisa not notice it but she's not stupid. As she drove past Y/n's old building she saw the silhouettes that bothered her so much and all she had to do was put two and two together upon seeing her reaction. The only thing she wanted was to park and give Sewoon a good slap and tell her everything she had been holding back so far.  
After getting home both went to their rooms. Y/n couldn’t get any sleep. She tossed and turned but sleep was far away.  Y/n looked at her phone and still no text or call from Jungkook. Why was she stupid and sent him a text? Clearly he wasn't worried at all, not even an "ok" he had responded. Suddenly she felt her eyes blurry and that was when she realized the tears rolling down her cheeks. She thought she was worth more, even if it was just in terms of friendship. After some time lost in her own thoughts, she decided to put on her headphones and try to get some sleep and managed to do so after a few hours. 
The next day, when she woke up it felt like she had been hit by a bus. Lisa had also gone out to deal with some matters at work, at least she remembered mentioning something about it. Once alone, Y/n had decided to stay in bed. Honestly she wasn't in the mood to do anything else and wanted to take to relax since she was going back to work the next day. Willingness? none. It was going to be hard but the way things were going neither Jungkook nor Sewoon were going to show up there or so she thought.
The next day her alarm went off and Y/n got ready for the day. She was going to do a double shift today since Sana was off, so she was on her own. For some reason she was nervous, it seemed like it was her first day again so her anxiety was on the roof. 
As incredible as it may seem, as soon as she arrived she saw her regular customers greeting her and telling her how much they missed her (most of them elderly people who used to frequent the shop even before she worked there and who had loved her since her first day) relaxed her immediately. Everything went very well. During her break Lisa went to see her and they chatted and drank coffee before going back to do the other part of the shift. Until then, everything was going perfectly. No sign of people she didn't want to see, she hadn't had any rude customers and her boss was in a very good mood. It was all too good to be true since luck is not something that goes on her side. 
Y/n was getting ready to close the shop and at that point she was usually alone. She was putting the chairs on the table when she heard the entrance bell signal that someone else was there with her. When she turned to inform the customer that they were closed, she came across someone she didn't want or even expeected to see.
In front of her was Jungkook with wet hair and helmet in hand. He seemed agitated, confused and angry. Very angry. Y/n couldn't help but notice the dark circles under his eyes as if he hadn't slept in days. She stopped on the spot, what would she say or do? They hadn't seen or spoken to each other for almost a week and the atmosphere was tense and she just wanted to disappear. 
He looked at her with such an intense gaze that she had to turn away while saying "we are closed" and pretended to keep doing what she was doing. 
"Really? After days of complete silence while i was worried sick about you. After leaving without any kind of warning? After that stupid fight on the club and sudden departure with someone that neither Sewoon nor I knew, that's all you have to tell me? we are closed? Are you for real?” 
Y/n stopped doing what she was doing but kept her back to him. It’s a good thing he couldn't see her because her hands were like jelly, shaking so much that she thought she was going to faint right there, however continued to act tough and ignored him, took a deep breath and started walking to the counter until she felt a hand grab her arm.  
“Y/n please stop shitting me. I’ve been going crazy these last few days because of you and you act like you don't care. I don't know what's worse, your attitude or the fact that I don't recognize you at all" and with these words Y/n turned around and looked at him with tears threatening to fall. She released herself from Jungkook's hand and turned completely towards him. She was on the verge of bursting. 
“You. Out of all people YOU are the only one who can't say that. I did everything for you Jungkook. I was always there for you when you needed me, remember? I knew when you were good, when you were sad, when it wasn't the best time to talk and when you wanted to say something but didn't know how. You needed me and I was there but when it was the other way around, were you there for me? Did you care at all?” she sighed “All this because I didn't answer to some calls and texts from you? You were so worried about me that you were always tied to Sewoon, don't tell me you were also worried about me when you were inside her. Be honest Jungkook, you only remembered me when it suited you. Admit it, when it comes to me you don't think twice." 
Jungkook didn't say anything, he looked at her as if she had just stuck a knife into him. He expected everything but this version of Y/n. He had noticed for some time she was different but he never asked her because he didn't want to bring up the subject that was bothering her hoping she’d be the one to open up to him yet it seems like it was a bad decision to wait. Maybe he should have talked to her when he noticed it, he knows he was stupid but he wasn't going to give in now. He was about to speak again when Y/n continued her speech.
“Things weren't supposed to be like this but everything is already ruined so what I'm about to say won't make a difference and honestly I'm tired of staying silent so as not to hurt other people and try to please them. That's why I'm in this shit right now, so here it goes.” Y/n looks him straight in the eyes and more tears run down her face, it's now or never. 
“I’m in love with you Jungkook”
As soon as the words left her mouth, a sob came out as well. This is where it ends and she knows it. His expression changed from angry to pure shock. She knew him very well, but at this moment she couldn't read his thoughts, everything was so confusing, he seemed so confused and she didn't understand why. She was breaking and to avoid even more suffering said
“Please let's not talk about this anymore. Things are pretty obvious and we don't need to drag this out any further. I need to close this Jungkook, I'm tired and I need--" 
“How long Y/n? How long have you felt this way?” Jungkook's look was anything but disappointed. It was a look she couldn't decipher and she also didn't know if she wanted to. Y/n looked down and replied 
“ A few months after we met and started hanging out more” Jungkook turned around and placed his elbows on the counter and his hands resting on his head.  
“And you never thought to tell me? Don't you think that would be a good thing to do?” he sounded so mad. “All this time you had feelings for me and you never said anything, never showed any signs and now I'm the bad guy for moving on with my life? And why you’re talking about Sewoon? We broke things off a long time ago and you know it. You were there!” 
“Ohh please Jungkook, anything but that. I'm not blaming you for anything, in fact, I even supported you, remember ? it was ME who introduced you to Sewoon  because YOU wanted me to! Even if I told you earlier what would change? Every time you came to me it was either because you just had a dinner date or someone had asked for your number. You love to say I'm always on your mind, I guess that I wasn’t on it those nights. I'm just the girl you would share things with and ask for advice, you don't have to be very smart to see that.” 
“Is that why you left without saying anything?” Y/n looked at him and when he saw that he wasn't getting a response, he went to her and got so close that she could see all the moles on his face, some that she hadn't even realized he had.  
“Y/n answer me. It's the least I deserve.” Even though there was some distance between them, Y/n felt trapped so she decided to move away a little, hitting her back on the counter. 
“Yes. After our conversation at the club and the way I saw you look at Sewoon I realized that there was no chance for me, not that I didn't already know, but I got the confirmation that day and the way you were more interested in going to her than hearing me confirmed my guesses once again, yet it was when you went to her and you kissed in the middle of all those people that my heart was left in pieces. I looked at you and instead of being happy that my best friend was back with the girl he's in love with, I just wished it was me in her place. I had to get out of there before everyone saw me break." Y/n cleaned some tears that were running down
"In Sewoon's eyes I'm already pathetic, but in yours? I preferred to die than to know you had that image of me. I went to the bathroom and that's when I met a friend from school, we ended up talking and exchanging contacts. She asked me if I wanted a ride and I took the opportunity to leave, that's when you found me. That night I spent at her house and she made me an offer and invited me to go traveling with her. For my mental health I accepted and only God knows what it cost me not to have said anything to you and I'm really sorry for that, I know it wasn't the right thing to do, but Jungkook you didn't care either because when I texted you back you never answered me. You can't judge my actions after having done the same thing.”
“You could never be pathetic y/n. I've always said how much I admire the way you are and I keep praising that, I would never get that impression of you. I know you went on a trip with Lisa and two other boys, Sewoon had shown me pictures of you, that's why I don't understand Y/n, none of this adds up. And I never received any text from you because unlike you, every day I checked if you had come to work, if you sent anything or if Sewoon knew anything about you. That's the reason I was with Sewoon a lot more these last few days. It's sad that I only found out that you were back because I saw your friend here yesterday, I recognized her from those photos, so I went to her and asked her about you. She told me you were coming back to work today and to show up around this time because you'd be alone. I was crazy looking for you, wondering if you were in a dead end, that's when Sewoon called me saying you were okay, hanging with some guys you probably met there. She also sent me the pictures, that's when I calmed down.”
Y/n didn't know which part made her more shocked, if the fact that Lisa spoke to Jungkook or knowing Sewoon sent the photos to him and omitted the fact that they both know the boy in question.
"Oh my god. After all this time Sewoon is still keeping you in the dark. Well just so you know the guy who posted the pictures is Sewoons ex-boyfriend, the one she left you for. Remember when she broke up with you? Yeah it was because of him. There are definitely things you should clarify with her, as she changes everything that corresponds to reality. Things that don't concern me at all and to be honest I'm tired of this conversation, it doesn't matter anymore. Things happened and it's ove, so if you don't mind it was a complicated day --” She didn't expect Jungkook to get so close to her but the truth is that they were centimeters away from each other and that was making her even more nervous and uncomfortable. She tried to get around him but he put his arms on either side of Y/n's body, trapping her there.  
"Did it work? Did you forget about me there? Did any of those guys help you forget me?”  Y/n had no response, she was completely surrendered to looking between his eyes and lips. She wasn't brave enough to grab him and kiss him, specially since he was still fooling around with Sewoon or so she thought, even tho the denied it. Still she wouldn't feel good doing that even if Sewoon hadn't been the best friend, so she did what she does best, avoided the interaction.  
“"I had fun and regardless of things I don't owe you any kind of explanation. I finally learned my lesson and you're not the exception, Jungkook. You're the rule and I don't give second chances to get me hurt, not even to you. I don't want to continue in this agony every time I see you and ask myself why others and not me? It took me a long time to get there but I finally managed to understand that as long as I don't like and accept myself as I am, neither will others and for that reason I ask you not to come here again. This is a closed subject and one that I want to bury.”  
“We’re not done having this conversation Y/n, I have to tell you some-”  
“Yes we are Jungkook, don’t you get it? I just told you I’m in love with you. My best friend who’s in love with my other best friend, who's still into her ex boyfriend. Did you even hear what I said about Sewoon?"
" I don't care about Sewoon,Y/n. Don't you fucking get it? All this time the only person on my mind was you. I tried really hard not to call you because why would I need to know where you were or who you were with. In your eyes I dated your best friend but in my eyes the only thing that connected me to her was you."
"Lisa has been fixing something she didn’t break because of how weak I was to stand for myself. I’m tired of being this innocent and naive girl everyone can step on. I'm not blaming you Jungkook, you didn't know and things turned out this way and it's okay. It's over and I think it's the best for you and me. I’ll be here if you need something but right now I don’t want to be around you. I need to fix myself before being there for you or Sewoon again and if you really care about me you’ll respect that” 
“Y/n, you're not understanding I--"
“Please Jungkook, just go. Let me do this for me and maybe we can talk about this in the future and laugh about it.” He didn't say anything else, he swallowed hard, shook his head, picked up his helmet and left, slamming the door loudly and that's when y/n collapsed. 
"I love you Jungkook. I love you so much but I can't be your second option." Y/n said as she slid down the wall, succumbing to the pain of something she never had.
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tags: @esposadomd @joonlover1207 @eegyo @furrywonderlandwolf @minghaosimp @differentrunawayperson @nikkinikj @jksusawife @jk97bam @cryingoverpixelsetc @bhonbhon @lostinneocity @almostpurplelady @meowforluv @imagine-this-motherfucker @jk-190811 @cryingoverpixelsetc @11thenightwemet11 @rinkud @ayatie97 @jk-190811 @shaku1995
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dxrlingluv · 2 days ago
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Player || Lee Myung-gi
Series : Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4 : Red Light, Green Light
Description : In which you desperately try to outrun a terrifying robotic doll in the deadly children's game of Red Light, Green Light, where one wrong move means certain death.
Lee Myung-gi x Fem!Reader
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The possibility of only 1 player winning this game is high, but with the option to call off the game at anytime, there's a higher chance that you and Myung-gi would be able to get home safely with minor injuries and money that you both can combine to call off his debt.
"But then... If the majority of the players voted to continue the game..." You scrunched your brows as you continue to listen to the guards.
"Excuse me! Move it!" You looked to see an old lady moving her way to the front frantically as she approached the guy that has glasses and curly hair.
"Stupid idiot!" She slapped the guy's arm.
"Ma?!"
You gasp, his mother? What could have happened that made them both go here? His mom looks too nice to even have debts.
"Mom, what are you doing here?!" He yelled, checking his to see if she was hurt or anything.
"That's what I was gonna ask you!" She yelled back, clearly angry at her son. Her son looked around in embarrassment.
"What on earth do you think you're doing here?!"
Watching their argument made you miss your own mom. She often yell at you for doing things for her. She only wants you to study hard, but you can't help but feel bad that she's doing everything around the house. You felt guilty that you were just eating, sleeping, showering, and studying all day. You wanted nothing but to take her pain away from her but just like you, she's also stubborn as hell.
You smiled softly from the memories as you chose not to stick up your nose on the mother and son business. But what caught your attention was the reason she was here.
"What's gotten into you, old woman?!" Player 007 yelled.
"Oh, you wanna know why I'm here, huh?!" She yelled back. "To pay off my ungrateful son's debt!"
You felt bad, as you are experiencing something like she is experiencing right now.
Looking around, you tried to find Myung-gi again, but to no avail, he seems to disappear from where he was before.
"If you wish to participate in the games, then please sign the player consent form." The square guard announced.
Player 196 grabbed your arm and dragged you off to form a line. She pulled you in front of her then hugged your shoulders.
"We're gonna make it out from this games, alright?" She enthusiastically said. You nodded in response with a smile.
After signing the consent forms, 196 grabbed your arm again and pulled you to the side. (Please pretend that Myung-gi isn't behind her, just pretend that Myung-gi is at least 3-4 ft away from ya'll lol)
"196, your name is Kang Mi-na, right?" You asked with a raised brow.
She looked back at you with a cute smile, "Yeah? You like it?" She asked playfully.
You laughed and nodded. "Yeah! Do you mind if I call you Mi-na?"
You both sat down on a random bed side by side. She then shook her head, "No, I don't mind. In fact since you're so cute, I'll even let you call me nicknames."
You stared at her with widened eyes, "Oh! Thank you for saying that. I think you look beautiful too." You complimented, your cheeks turning slightly blushed at her compliment.
She looked at you with narrowed eyes and a pout, "I like you. We're friends now." She said as she side hugged you. "What about you?"
"Hm?"
"Your name, what's your name?"
"... L/n Y/n," you mumbled, holding her arm, "but you can call me anything you want."
Sho looked at you with a genuine smile, "Hey, once we get out here, let's drink some soju and go at theme parks, okay?"
"Okay!"
After Myung-gi signed the form, he moved to the side but was immediately greeted by Thanos and another guy with the number 124. They claimed that they got scammed by MG Coin and thanks to Myung-gi, they bonded together.
"Didn't those fuckers who made that shit-coing flew to the philippines with all the cash they took?" Player 124 scoffed, "What are you doing here? They ditch you too?"
"So what exactly do you want-?"
Before Myung-gi could finish, Thanos harshly grabbed a hold pf his nape with fury on his face.
You turned your head after hearing all the gasps from. Curious, you turned to look at what's happening but couldn't see anything from the people barricading the view.
Cautiously, you made your way behind the lines in order to see what was happening. You have a nagging feeling on your chest that something was wrong and you wont risk that feeling.
Player 196 followed you closely behind, constantly asking you where you were going and what you're doing.
"You'd be a fucking idiot!"
Was all you heard at the moment. That voice sounded familiar so you fastened your movements. "Excuse me." You mumbled to anyone who's at your front.
You finally made it to the corner and you saw purple hair and... unexpectedly, your boyfriend.
As Thanos was about to throw a punch at him, player 124 stopped him. "Who, chill, bro! Time out, time out, time out!"
Then without wasting a second, you approached them but before you could, player 196 grabbed you. She shook her head, silently telling you not to intervene.
Thanos let go of Myung-gi and after a second, he turned back and walked away. Leaving Myung-gi alone.
As he neared you and Player 196, he winked. Player 196 did the bother to bat an eye.
Myung-gi scoffed, but his face softened when he finally saw you looking at him.
196 let go of your arm. As if it was an instinct, you ran up to myung-gi, grabbing his face and checking if he had any injuries.
"Myung-gi! Are you alright? Shit! I was so worried." You frantically exclaimed, constantly grabbing his face, shoulder and arms.
"Y/n.."
You ignored him as you just continued ti ask him and check him.
"Y/n!"
That made you stop.
You looked at him. "Myung-gi..."
He looked at you sternly, "What are you doing here?" He grabbed your arms gently, "You're not supposed to be here!" He whispered yelled.
"I-" You couldn't form any words.
Just then, the square guard spoke again. "If all players are done signing the consent form, we will move on to the first game."
After taking a quick picture for identity, everyone climbed up the stairs to move on to the first game.
Once everyone was there, you were greeted with huge green doors, the doors opened and everyone immediately went in only to see a large empty area, and a huge doll with two guards beside it.
Myung-gi gripped your hands tight. "Don't do far from me, okay?" He told you with worry laced on his voice.
You nodded, "Okay, I promise, I won't."
The doors behind loudly closed, and soon followed an automated voice of a woman. "Welcome to the first game. You will be playing Red Light, Green Light."
"Seriously? A kid's game?" Myung-gi muttered, his hand still on yours.
"I wouldn't call it as just "a kid's game". There's something fishy going on here." You muttered back at him as you continue listening to the automated voice.
"Everyone!" A guy suddenly yelled.
You looked at the front, 'What is it now?'
"Everybody, you need to pay attention! Listen up!" He yelled loudly. Everyone quieted down.
"I'm gonna tell you something and you gotta listen close!" He continued, "This isn't just a game, it's more than that. If you move after "red light," you're going to be shot!!!"
Everyone chuckled at that, finding it funny that someone can joke about that at this hour.
However, you and Myung-gi looked at each other. It sounds ridiculous, but he looks too sure about it.
'What if...'
"I swear, if they catch you moving, you're gonna be killed! They're gonna shoot you because there's guns in the walls!"
"There's no way that it's true." Myung-gi mumbled.
"He reminds me of when my dad was drunk and he thought he saw aliens above the sky," you chuckled, letting go of Myung-gi to hug yourself as it was starting to get colder.
'When is this game gonna start. Seriously?'
"What is this bullshit?"
"I think he's just trying to freak people out! Then he wouldn't have to share the money. He could win all of it."
"Hey, you bastard, you're not fooling us!"
The doll moved and that made everyone stop their murmuring.
Then it shouted, "Green light!"
Everyone immediately ran.
"Red light!"
Player 456 moved his hand to motion for us to stop.
Myung-gi spoke not far from behind me, "y/n, be careful"
You hummed, not wanting to move in fear that whatever this guy was saying is true.
No body moved, as 456 instructed us clearly.
"Green light!"
Moving a few steps to the front, Myung-gi took hold of your hand.
"Red light!"
"FREEZE!"
You flinched, shocked from the louder shout of the guy. At this point, he'll be the one to kill you.
You held still, the bad feeling on your gut still evident.
"Green light!"
Few steps to the front.
"Red light!"
Player 456 shouted, "Hold Still!"
Not even a few seconds passed, "green light!"
"Red light!"
"Green light!"
"Red light!"
The exchange between player 456 and the doll has becoming ridiculous now, but no one has been eliminated yet, so you were thankful for him.
A few more green light, red light and no one was still eliminated.
Until, "Red light!"
BANG!
Everyone flinched, you moved your eyes in search for whoever got eliminated.
You gasped, tears threatening to run out of your eyes.
Player 196!
You continued to stare as blood pooled around her head, having been clearly shot in the head.
Beside her was Thanos who stared in shock but refuses to move a muscle, in fear of being next.
Suddenly, people started panicking after seeing the dead body, they tried their best to run away from the field and onto the green doors, but to no avail, they all got shot.
Myung-gi held your hand tighter.
Continuing the game, player 456 instructed everyone to move behind someone bigger as the doll wont be able to see if you got covered even if you move.
Myung-gi moved you behind him as he himself moved behind someone.
"Green light!"
"Red light!"
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
"Green light!"
"Red light"
"Green light!"
"Red light!"
You groaned, feeling dizzy all of a sudden.
"Y/n! Are you okay? Just- just hold on a little longer..." Myung-gi spoke as you clutched his jacket.
"Green light!"
"Red light"
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
"Green light!"
"Red light"
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
As if time slowed, you jumped to the pink line, signifying that you now passed the game.
You clutched your stomach as Myung-gi immediately went to comfort you. You couldn't help but cry as everything is going down hill now.
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
"It's okay, I'm here. I'm here."
Myung-gi said, as he continue to pat your head.
"Don't worry, I won't leave you. It's okay."
BANG!
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ravenstargames · 13 hours ago
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✦ LOST IN LIMBO — 2024 WRAP-UP + 2025 MILESTONES
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And here we are, after the holidays! Another year has come to an end and this one was simply incredible. You can anticipate what our most important milestone was for 2024, but there has been a lot going on this past year that maybe we all have forgotten. So let's see what these four friends have accomplished this year, and what's coming for a 2025 that already looks promising!
Good news is that we achieved every goal we set up for this year! Isn't that awesome?! We published our first demo, hosted our very first casting call (and it was nuts!) and so much more! Let's see it :3
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✦ OUR STUDIO, RAVENSTAR GAMES, WAS OFFICIALLY FOUNDED ON JULY!
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Let me tell y'all that when you finish college, keep studying because it turns out the job market is absolutely devastated and cannibalized, and then have an existential crisis, the last thing you think about is saying "fuck it we ball" and open a studio. I mean, we are literally four people with no stable jobs (well, Kayden is an exception) and with no previous experience making a game entirely by ourselves.
So this was a huge step for us. A scary one. A terrifying one, and still is. But we've survived so far, so let's hope we can still do just that—survive at least long enough to start living. Calling this our job would be a dream come true, but there's still a long road ahead until that!
✦ WE SUCCESSFULLY FUNDED LOST IN LIMBO ON KICKSTARTER!
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And you were right if you thought this was our most important milestone of the year!
Honestly, I low-key thought we weren't gonna make it. As I said—four people with no budget, paying for what we couldn't do ourselves with what our grandmas give us on Christmas—what were the chances anyone would be interested in helping us fund our game?
But we still had to do it, because making it this far and not risking not being funded would be madness. So there we were, opening Photoshop with tears in our eyes, watching our mediocre bank accounts get obliterated and working on the Kickstarter graphics with nothing but glitter and Jesus.
Also, we were asking for a lot of money and it was our first project. We've seen firsthand a lot of projects fail, a lot of people being scammed, and a lot of projects not going like the audience and devs wanted. So I thought we were a bit doomed.
Well, turns out there are people who believe in us and our project, so I was proved wrong. Maybe our graphics were really cool in the end, huh? I worked my ass off on those! /silly
So 980 people donated almost 60k euros and on September 27th, Lost in Limbo became officially a thing. Which is wild. I don't think I believe it still, honestly.
Of course, not everything went smoothly! As first timers we made a lot of mistakes, but we knew we were going to mess up something. Sometimes it was us, sometimes it was Backerkit or Kickstarter...Truth is watching a million YouTube tutorials, reading articles or learning about other devs' journeys doesn't make you ready to run a Kickstarter. There's some stuff you can only learn while running it!
So we ordered our merch, had our 🎉first delay🎉 because we made a mistake with our pins, and managed to deliver our digital goodies to our backers without blowing up (almost) anything.
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✦ WE FUNDED OUR VERY OWN SOUNDTRACK!
And it'll consist of 19 original tracks by our wonderful composer Tomás Palazzi! 💜
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✦ WE RELEASED OUR FIRST DEMO!
And overall, people seem to enjoy it! In fact, we recently reached +10k downloads and +71k views on itch! T^T
Of course, getting our demo out there was nerve-wracking, but we received a lot of love, and that includes wonderful and constructive feedback from a lot of folks who love our project and want it to succeed in its best form. Incredible content creators played our demo, reviewed it—and we've met amazing and stunningly creative people in the process!
However, as with anything you publish for others to see, not everyone is going to like it, and I think as a team we needed to also be exposed to that. There have been negative reviews that have helped us improve, and some others that have made us realize that our game, just like any other, isn't for everyone, and that's okay—our game isn't perfect and it won't ever be, and that's okay. As creators and creatives, accepting the critiques that help us improve is as important as letting go of the ones that contribute nothing, and to accept there are some things we don't want to change.
Of course there have been nasty or rude reviews, (most of them private) and albeit there were very few of them, but that was guaranteed. We try to have a few laughs at those!
✦ WE CREATED OUR OWN DISCORD SERVER!
And it's brimming with life!? We are almost 400 members and I may be biased, but it's full of amazing, supportive, and incredibly creative people. It feels so strange to see people talk daily about your game, about your characters—theorize, laugh, ask stuff...I can only hope our members feel at home as much as we do, because even if we can't interact with everyone all the time, just reading y'all makes us extremely happy :')
✦ WE STARTED WORKING ON OUR EXTENDED DEMO!
And it's going great! The script is doing better than expected, even if I'm editing more stuff than I originally planned. Implementing feedback we received during our survey is helping me improve the pace, storytelling and dynamism of the script. I'm an overthinker so I know I'm most likely editing / adding more stuff than I planned, but so is the way of the west.
Raquel has (as you all know) been working on the reworked sprites, and for now there's 4/7 done! 💜 We also have finished one of the new backgrounds and one is close to being done. That's 2/3!
Also, thanks to y'all buying extra stuff via Backerkit, we've managed to raise a bit more money and have been able to commission Airyn for help on the extended demo, as well as Allie (our editor) and the wonderful, the Ren'py Jesus, Feniks, to help us with our programming adventures! So technically we didn't reach our second stretch goal (outsourcing) but the extra coins have allowed us to hire some help!
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That's all for 2024! Phew! Now, our plans for 2025 are quite simple (me when I lie).
First of all we want to ship our Kickstarter merch (more on that on a Kickstarter update coming soon!)
Finish production for our Kickstarter artbook
Release our Extended Demo
For now, we are aiming for a June 2025 release of the prologue, and the first chapter of every route will follow soon after.
Open our Patreon!
We have to think about this thoroughly, plan it, and make sure we can offer quality stuff worthy of your support. Some of you have asked a lot about a Patreon but we want to make sure we make it right!
On a personal note—this year I have been working on my OCD, as last year, and booked with two therapists. My therapist (the one who diagnosed me last year), and a different one specialized in OCD. This year has been full of highs and lows, but I'm in a much better headspace than I was last year, to the point of my meds being lowered! ✌️
I also enrolled for my PhD program like a month ago, and I got accepted after a lot of college shenanigans that almost became my villain arc. So this year is going to be funny for me!
Every member of the team has had their personal issues to deal with this year. Mental health, family, etc. It hasn't been an easy year for us, but I'm happy to say we've been there for each other.
And I think that's all! Overall it has been an insane year. Very productive, very nerve-wracking, and incredibly awesome. We can only hope this year is as good as 2024 if not even better, both for us as people and for our game. We hope your 2024 has been good, and we also hope you are excited to make 2025 a year you can be proud of; but most importantly, a year in which you can take care of yourself, be at peace with who you are, discover new things about yourself, and crave a path to the future you want to live!
Talk to you all soon! 💜
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livinghalfway · 1 day ago
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Younger Years Pt. 4
Masterlist
Summary: Damian gets temp de-aged to 6yrs old; cue him asking where his twin is. This is how everyone finds out about Danny's existence Word Count: 2088
Explaining to them what Talia had said did not make the situation any better. While her information had been helpful it wasn’t nearly enough to calm the storm that raged in them. If anything caused the winds to roar even stronger. They had to know what happened in that room, and the only one that knew was currently 6 years old. Which meant everyone would just have to wait; something this family was never good at especially when it came to personal matters. 
“Talia doesn’t know what really happened to Danyal. Ra’s could have just lied to her, and made Damian swear to never tell her the truth. We all know how much he idolized that man. It would have been easy for Ra’s to convince him it was for the best.” Tim suggests as he types hurriedly at the computer. 
“If Talia thought for a second that he had done something like that it would have come to light by now.” Bruce counters, “Ra’s would still have needed help getting Danyal out of Nanda Parbat, and one of them would have most definitely let it slip to Talia if he had done that.” 
“Which is why Ra’s would have everyone involved killed before they could have done so.” 
“Tim-”
“Crazier things have happened Bruce; multiple people in this family have come back. Why not Danyal?” Tim looks away from the screen for but a second as he interrupts Bruce before focusing back on the screen. A clear sign that he doesn’t want to continue talking about this. 
Bruce leaves Tim to continue his investigation; a part of him hoping that Tim is right. He could never admit that though. It would just be that much more crushing if proven wrong. So he turns attention to Dick, who is still near the med bay ready to rush in if need be.  
“Chum, why don’t you take a rest? Damian is perfectly fine right now, and you look like you need a break.” 
He knew that the reveal of Danyal’s death would hit Dick partially hard as someone who was very protective of his younger siblings. It wouldn’t matter to him that Danyal died before he even knew of his existence. Bruce expected Dick to be consumed with sadness right now. He wasn’t though he was overcome with fury. 
“A rest Bruce? We all just found out that Damian’s twin is dead; that Ra’s did something to make sure Damian wouldn’t tell anyone. And you want me to take a rest?” Dick eyes burned into him as he spoke. “I’ll take a rest once I know what that psychotic old man did.” 
Bruce knows Dick well enough to read between the lines of what his son is saying. He’s angry at Ra’s, yes, but Dick’s angry at himself too. He’s probably wondering why Damian never felt comfortable enough to mention such a big part of himself to them. 
“And we’ll make sure Damian knows that whatever Ra’s said or did was wrong, but you look exhausted right now. At least let me bring a chair over here for you to sit in.” Bruce calmly states to his eldest son. 
It looks like his words haven’t calmed Dick in the slightest, but before he can speak up again a chair is being pulled up next to Dick by Jason. “Jesus Christ Dick, just sit down already. And that’s me agreeing with B on something so you should know that it's not just the old man saying some b.s.” 
It doesn’t take much for Jason to force Dick to take a seat; one hard shoulder shove and he was collapsing into the chair. After which Jason pulls his own chair up next to him. “I’m gonna need you to put an end to this little pity party in the corner, Dickiebird.” 
“I’m allowed to be upset, Jason. We just found out that our brother is dead, and I should have been able to do something. 
“You think I don’t get that? The only difference between us right now though is that I was there; I could have done something to save the kid if I had known.” 
“Jaylad-” 
“No Bruce, if Dick here wants to blame himself for not doing something then he can blame me too.” Jason gives Dick an annoyed look then turns his head towards Bruce, “You’re free to get out of here old man. Can’t believe I’m the one that’s gotta talk some sense into Dick here.” 
He really doesn’t want to leave this conversation where it’s currently at, but when Dick gives him a nod he knows that he should withdraw. Bruce does make a mental note to ask about how the discussion went later; for now though he’ll do as they want.
So for now he moves on to check on his final son, Duke, before doing so though Bruce stops by his office once more for a moment to just sit and think. Once there it doesn’t take long before he is reaching into the bottom drawer where he keeps a bottle of whiskey hidden away. When he doesn’t feel it though Bruce knows that Alfred must have taken it. 
Of course Alfred knew he had it; that man knows everything that goes on here. 
It’s for the best that it’s gone anyhow he doesn’t need to be repeating past habits from when he lost Jason. That’s the last thing this family needs right now; not when there are still so many questions that need answers. 
In the end it’s Duke who seeks him out first. A mere 10 minutes goes by where Bruce is sitting in silence before a few light knocks echo against the walls around him. After announcing that the person knocking entrance Duke almost hesitantly approaches him. His habit of always tapping his fingers on whatever he was holding a dead give away for how nervous his son must be feeling right now. 
“Hey B,” Duke started, “everyone seems to be going through it right now huh?”
“It would appear so. What about you chum? How are you doing with all this?”
“I’m … not fine, but I know that that’s ok; I don’t think anyone wouldn’t be somewhat affected by the recent news. I actually wanted to talk to you about something else though if that’s ok.” 
Bruce takes a quick steady breath preparing himself for whatever this conversation may bring. “Of course, what did you want to talk about?”
“About what’s going to happen afterwards; when we find out the truth from Damian. Because- If Danyal is … dead then I think asking Damian about who Danyal was as a person, and setting up a memorial of sorts might help everyone with their grief.” 
“That,” his throat feels tight, “that sounds like a wonderful idea, Duke. I’m sure Damian- everyone would appreciate having a setup for Danyal in the manor.” 
Duke seems satisfied with his answer, and with a small smile makes his way out of the office. Before he leaves though he says one last thing, “I’d also make time to call Cass and Steph to give them an update on this before they get home.” 
After that the silence once more takes control of the room while Bruce thinks about the what if’s and the could have been. 
He’s not sure what the future holds for them now, but Bruce does know that whatever comes they’ll deal with it; together. That means he can’t keep sitting here in sorrow; he can’t fall apart again. 
“It’s time to get to work,” is his last thought as he leaves to make his way back to the cave. 
-
The rest of the day seems to go by in a blur, and not in a good way. Damian spits fire anytime anyone steps into his room. He has only willingly allowed Alfred inside to deliver food to him, and even that was met with cautious anger. 
At the very least Damian isn’t trying to escape; some piece of evidence they showed him must have convinced him that what they were saying was the truth. That conclusion is a double edge sword though as now Damian for sure knows that Danyal is gone. Why else would his brother not be here?
Red Hood and Red Robin are the only ones that go on patrol when the time comes. Dick refuses to leave his station at the med bay door knowing that Damian could be transferring back to himself any time now, and Bruce doesn’t want to leave him by himself if that does happen tonight. The two don’t talk much while alone in the cave, but Dick does allow Bruce to momentarily take his place at the door while he takes a moment to refresh himself. 
While it doesn’t actually happen that night the family is definitely in for a surprise when they check in on Damian the next morning, and find the now normal 14 year old boy asleep on the bed. 
Everyone had to hold Dick back so that he wouldn’t wake him up, and in the end it was Alfred who finally managed to convince him to let Damian rest without interruptions. Unfortunately for the sleeping child though this only gives the rest of the family more time to think about what they’re going to ask, and heaven knows he already has a lot to answer for.
-
Damian feels himself slowly waking; his body feels stiff and slow when he attempts to sit up, but otherwise fine. He knows he must be in the med bay since the last thing he remembers was being on patrol with Nightwing and encountering a blinding light. 
When enough of his strength finally returns to him he cracks his eyes open to see his father and brothers all looking at him with varying degrees of concern. Whatever happened must have been a lot bigger than he had originally thought if they are all here with him.  
Slowly he rubs a hand across his face and groans out to everyone in the room, “What happened?” 
No one says anything for a few beats. In fact they all seem to avoid meeting his eyes entirely. Eventually though his father clears his throat before speaking in a voice far too soft and gentle, “Well chum, you got hit with a spell while on patrol. It- It reverted you back to your 6 year old self.”
Oh. 
Oh no. 
That was probably the worst thing he could have been told right now as Damian thinks back to what he was like at that age; to who had been by his side since birth. There is absolutely no way that his long gone other half wasn’t mentioned, or brought up in however long he was in his younger state. 
“I’m frankly surprised to see you all still standing. I was very dedicated to the league at that age.” He’s not going to admit to anything just in case he is wrong though. Danyal is not someone who Damian is ready to speak about. His twin, his brother, and his biggest regret; he’ll never forgive himself for being so brainwashed by Ra’s that he allowed Danyal’s death that day. That he was prepared to do it himself because the older man said it was for the best. 
“You did manage to break Jason's nose!” Duke lightly chuckles as the mentioned man throws a glare, but otherwise remains silent. Followed by more deafening silence from everyone else. 
Dick is the one that finally brings up the elephant in the room, “Dami … who’s Danyal?”
Why did he have to be right about them knowing? Ready or not it seems the truth about Danyal was coming to light it seems. “Danyal was my twin; the other half- the better half of me. I understand that now.”
His eldest brother gently grabs his hand, and holds it in a firm embrace of comfort. He’ll allow it for now. “And what happened to him?” 
Damian can’t keep his past hidden anymore, and Danyal deserves to have his story told. “When we were 10 Gran- Ra’s took Danyal and I away from our studies early one afternoon. He said that he had a couple lessons of his own that he wanted to teach us personally.” 
For one it was a life lesson, and for the other a death sentence. 
… 4 years ago …
“Damian, Danyal, come. You two are about to learn what it truly means to be an Al Ghul.”
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meowgumi10 · 1 day ago
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“Not so loud princess”
Princess reader x thief sukuna
Royal au
CW: smut, name calling/pet names (slut,honey), weapons mention, tiny bit of knife play, virgin reader, porn with a plot
I’m not the most amazing at writing smut and idk how to use punctuation (also this is not edited) but enjoy!
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Sukuna a well renowned thief in the criminal world,he had gotten a high level job: to steal some royal jewels. He was used to high level jobs but he had never attempted to steal from the royal palace itself, though it should be very interesting.
You, the princess had just gotten into bed after a long night of dancing and chatting with many other debutants and Noblemen. You sigh as you settle into your soft bed, your eyes fluttering closed as you drift off
Sukuna had calculated perfectly how to steal some jewels and be out of there without being noticed. He was going to sneak into the princess’s bedroom and keep her quiet with a knife as he took a few necklaces and earrings, maybe even a tiara if he’s lucky. He snuck past guards and maids doing some overnight work. He slowly opened your window,seeing your sleeping form and smirked to himself thinking this would be easy. His crimson eyes scanning the large room as he stepped into it, despite his very large frame he was as quiet as a mouse.
His well adjusted eyes looked through your various drawers and stands full of jewellery.He finally saw some earrings with giant Diamonds in the centre, just as he picked them up he was hit in the head with something heavy; he hit the floor and grabbed the back of his head “fuck” he groaned as he looked at what hit him. You stood over him in your cute little cotton night gown,a pure gold candle holder in your hands as you stood in an attacking stance “What are you doing here scum?!” You say trying to hide the shake in your voice. Sukuna almost laughed at the sight in front of him “relax princess, I’m not here to hurt you” he says getting up, he towered over you but you didn’t waver your stance or determination, “you’re not the dainty little thing people describe” he chuckles and steps closer “shut up! Answer your princess, what do you want?” You say slightly lowering your ‘weapon’. He scans over your form “just here for a few trinkets, you have so much you wouldn’t mind if I took one or two right?” He said pulling the large dagger out of his thigh garter. You lower the candle holder and step back “okay take some…just don’t kill me” you mumble in defeat.
He stepped closer and dragged the blunt edge of the blade along your collar bone, the feeling the cold metal against your exposed skin made you shiver “I won’t kill you princess” he whispers, you whimper softly “please don’t hurt me” you mumble; he chuckles and retracts the dagger, he turns and grabs a few pieces of jewellery before stuffing them in a pouch, he turns to leave but you stop him. “Is that it?” You ask, he looks over his shoulder at you “what do you mean? You wanted me to hurt you or something?” He says with an eyebrow raised, “no…it’s just, you have the princess here in nothing but a nightgown and you’re just going to leave?”
He grinned and turned around fully “I didn’t know her royal highness was a slut” he chuckles and walks closer, he was so massive. You swallow and look up at him, your nipples were poking through the thin cotton of your nightdress, it outlined your hips perfectly “besides…you couldn’t handle me princess” he smirks. You blush softly “you’re an ass” you mumble; he suddenly grabs your face in his large veiny hand causing you to gasp softly “what was that princess? You should speak up” he says leaning down, his breath fanning on your lips. You bite your lip soft and look up at him, his tattoos were attractive to say the least and his piercing red eyes made you feel naked. “N-nothing” you mumble.
He pulled his dagger out again and hooked the tip of it under a button of the top of your night gown “maybe I should take extra payment…this is a dangerous job you know?” He says popping the button off. Your chest rises and falls with your heavy breaths, you don’t reply and just watch the blade that’s so close to your skin, yet you’re not scared… your pussy is throbbing in a way you’ve never felt before. “Do you even know what sex is princess?” He chuckles, you blush deeply “yes!…it’s how you make babies” you say shyly, he chuckles again and pops the second button, getting a clearer view of your breasts.
You let your nightgown slip off your shoulders and pool at your feet, your panty-clad body on display for him. He tucks the dagger away and sets his hands on your hips, walking you back onto your bed “will you be gentle?” You whisper, “Mm…fine” he mumble and starts to unbutton his shirt. His muscular and tattoo filled torso revealed to you, he looked like a Greek god, your breath became even heavier and your chest rose and fell even quicker. Your eyes trail down to the pink path of hair that disappeared into his pants. “See something you like, your highness?” He says lowly with a boyish smirk in his face, your hands reach out to tentatively unbuckle his belt, he chuckles again “quite the eager little thing aren’t you?” He says helping you take his pants off. In one swift motion you pull his pants and boxers down together, your jaw almost drops when you see the size of his cock.
It seemed about 8 inches and quite thick, it was veiny and the tip was bright red, his cock stood tall and proud as it dripped with pre cum “do i turn you on that much?” You ask as you look up at him. “Hm…give it a taste honey” he says, you look back down at his cock and give his fat tip a kitten lick. He groans and puts his large hand on your head “that’s a good girl” he praises.his pre cum tasted a salty but for some reason you liked,you wrap your lips around the head and suck softly, your tongue swirling around it. He groaned and cursed under his breath, watching how your lips wrapped around him, it was so erotic;Before he got carried away he pulled your head away “lay back princess” he orders. You lay back on your bed and let your legs fall open, he can see the outline of your gushing pussy perfectly through the thin fabric or your cotton panties, “what the people say is right…you are fucking perfect” he mutters and runs his thumbs along your clothed slit making you moan softly. He peels your panties off to reveal your beautiful pussy, your clit hard and twitching, your virgin entrance practically calling his name.
He kneels down and buries his face between your legs, making you gasp out a moan, your hand instinctively going to hold his head as he licked between your folds. “Fucking delicious” he growls against your pussy, you let your head fall back as your fingers tangled in his hair, he sucked on your clit and lapped up your juices hungrily. You gasp and moan,never having felt like this when you slipped your fingers into your panties at night.He slipped a thick finger into your tight hole, your inner walls clenching around his finger “Virgin pussy is always the best” he murmurs, the sound vibrating onto your pussy. He started to pump his finger and in and out of your tight hole as he kissed and licked your clit, his large hand pinned you down by your pelvis to stop you from squirming, but it’s only made the pleasure more intense. Your moans and whines filled the room, you couldn’t even care about anyone hearing you, this man who’s name you didn’t even know was making you feel like you had discovered Pandora’s box and opened it.
He added another finger and starting scissoring your pussy open, twisting his fingers as he pumped them in and out, his tongue never stopped moving on your clit. You looked down at him with hazy eyes as he devoured you “so good- hah!~” you manage to get out, he smirks against your pussy and looks up at you “sukuna” he mutters against your clit. He pulls his fingers out and licks them clean “don’t be too loud” he says as he strokes himself, you’re still panting and feel like everything is moving so fast “s-sukuna?…” you whisper as you look up at him with lustful eyes, “yes ,princess?” “Will it hurt?” He would almost believe you were an innocent young girl if you hadn’t been the one to seduce him in the first place. He spread your pussy lips and looked at your hole “yeah…but the good kinda pain” he says. You swallow nervously and take a moment to really scan his face “you’re quite handsome, sukuna” you say softly, he looks at you as he keeps stroking himself “why thank you princess…you’re not so bad yourself” he smirks.
You didn’t know what it was about him, his voice? His tattoo? That scar that didn’t scare you as much as it should’ve? Perhaps it how he spoke, the soft purr in his deep voice that made your heart skip a beat? Either way you knew one thing, this criminal shouldn’t be near you, let alone be defiling you in such a manner.
He set one of his knees onto the bed, the other planted on the floor to brace him as he lined himself with your entrance, his dark red eyes looked into yours as he slowly pressed his tip into your small entrance. You gasp and whimpered, your hands immediately going to grip his bulging biceps, “relax” he whispered again your shoulder. He pressed kisses along your shoulder, that were surprisingly soft, he growled as he continued to push in; your tight walls squeezing him like a vice, he wasn’t sure if it was the thrill of fucking the princess or if you were just that perfect but he had never felt this good. He pushed in, inch by inch, he kissed you to stop you from crying out and whimpering so loudly; his tongue invading your mouth and not leaving a spot untouched as he claimed you fully. Your back arched off the bed and your nails dug into his skin as he bottomed out with a grunt, he left opened mouth kisses down your throat and along your collar bone as he allowed you to adjust to his size “if you fit into my pouch, princess,I’d steal you away right now” he whispers against your skin. “Sukuna…this is” you could barely finish a sentence, your whole body was feeling things it had never felt before, he ever so slowly started thrusting in and out, “oh…oh god!” Your nails left crescent shaped marks on his biceps. he started moving faster, his massive cock stretching you out impossibly “ah! Sukuna~!”, he put his hand over your mouth “shh…Not to loud princess”. Your loud moans and cries were muffled but the loud squelching of your pussy being pounded into was not, the sound of skin against skin filled the room, his climax was building up quickly and so was yours.
Your eyes started to roll back as he pounded in and out of you, “fuck…look at me princess, look at this scum of a man as he ruins your pretty pussy” he moans, nipping your ear, your breath was hot against his palm and your nails were almost making his back bleed as you clawed at his skin. His other hand reached down to rub your clit, your legs started to shiver at all this new stimulation, your pussy spasmed around him. You felt like your head was spinning, you looked up at him and moved his hand from your mouth, yanking him down for a kiss once more. You never felt anyone’s touch, anyone’s comfort but this? You hoped he’d sneak in and rob you every night if that’s what it took; the way your tongues tangled, how your bodies moved against each other it was addictive.
You were so close, so so close to gushing all over him. You break the kiss desperately, before you can speak he cuts you off “let go…cum for me” and just like magic you do just that. You bit down on his shoulder and creamed all over his cock that was still pounding into you, the way your walls squeezed around him threw him over the edge. He pulled out and came on your stomach like a gentleman. You were panting and whimpering softly as you laid back on your bed, your hair a mess and a thin sheen of sweat over your body, he’d never seen a more beautiful sight “that…that was so amazing” you whisper to him “it was” he whispers back and wipes his cum of your stomach with a tissue.
You sit up a little as you watch him get dressed “ what will you do with my jewels?” You ask curiously, he glances at you as he buttons up his shirt “I give them to my handler, he gives me a nice big payment and I get called for more jobs, that means more money” he says, “so…you’ll come back?” You ask hopeful, he chuckles “sure princess, just don’t tell on me alright?” He smirks; before you’re able to answer he disappears into the night.
You flopped back onto your bed and try to process what just happened, hoping he would keep his word and really come back.
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peterm4rker · 3 days ago
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(𐙚⋆.˚) ghost of you
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🕸🕷✮⋆ [taeyong x reader] ...୨♡୧... wc. 1.8k w. death, mention of drunk driving, grief, alcohol consumption, lmk if you find any more! angst ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁 .ᐟ
hey siri! play "ghost of you" by the 5 seconds of summer
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january 27th, 2025 - 6:48pm
hey baby, i've been trying to reach you but i'm guessing you fell asleep... anyways, i have to go now, but i'll call you tomorrow, same time as always… i love you and i miss you more than i could even express. you’re my everything, remember that always… i’ll talk to you soon, okay? i'm dying to hear your voice… i love you so much, rest well my love.
january 28th, 2025 - 7:02am
yn? please answer me… your mom just called and i- this is some type of sick joke, isn't it? i refuse to believe it, i know you're just asleep, you’ll call me tomorrow, right? please, i just… i need to hear your voice again, i need to know you’re safe. i love you, baby, please be okay, please, please be okay.
january 29th, 2025 - 6:37pm
doyoung called me yesterday. uhm, when the phone rang i thought it was you for a second, i even saw your name on the screen… i guess not sleeping does that to a person. he told me he went to see your mom at your house and that he didn’t want to believe it either… we all love you so much, you know, and we miss you even though you’re barely gone... i’m going to my superipr’s office today, i need to go home to see you one last time… i love you, you’re forever my everything and i hope you know that.
january 30th, 2025 - 6:34pm
hey, baby. i got back home last night… everything is just the way you left it. i can still feel you here, i couldn’t even move to your side of the bed. there's a half drunk coffee cup on the table, it has your lipstick on it still… am i wrong for not wanting to wash it yet? i know it’s a little disgusting, but i can't get rid of it, not yet at least… anyways, i’m going to your brother’s house today to check up on him, your mom says he wont talk to anyone… i hope he’ll talk to me. i love you, baby, i miss you.
february 3rd, 2025 - 6:39pm
i dreamt of you last night, it was the first time i’ve gotten more than a single hour of sleep since you… since you left. you were there like you have been ever since i met you in that practice room so long ago. you remember that, right? when you dropped hyuck off and i spilled my soda on you? yeah, we were back there. you told me not to worry, that everything is fine. it felt different than it did before, though, because you were crying and holding my face like you do when you try to make things better… nothing is fine, yn. you’re gone, and a world without you simply cannot be anything but fucking awful. 
february 3rd, 2025 - 6:45pm
oh, and i forgot. i went to see hyuck but i didn’t get him to talk… he was on your childhood bed, the one with the pink covers… he hasn’t gotten out of your room for anything but the bathroom, so your parents are very worried. i’m gonna try to make it better, okay? i’ll help him because i know it’s destroying you to watch this from up there… i love you, always.
february 5th, 2025 - 6:33pm
hey, my love. i just got off the phone with my superior… he said i can stay home and we’ll issue when i can resume my service. i begged him to let me go back, you know… i need to be okay, i need to be busy so i don't think about you every second of every day; but he said i need to grieve in peace, so now i'm stuck here again. i’m staying with doyoung because every time i step foot at our house i feel like i’m dying inside, although i told him it’s because it’s closer to your parents, just in case they need me. i know he knows the truth, but i have to be strong, you know? they all lost you too. i love you, ill talk to you soon.
february 7th, 2025 - 3:56am
why did you have to leave me, yn? why did you decide to walk when you knew hyuck could take you to work? why on earth did you do that? i’m so mad, not only at you, but at everything. i’m mad because you shouldn’t have walked, i’m mad because some fucking asshole decided to drunk drive at five in the fucking afternoon. i’m mad because i wasn’t there… i should’ve been there to push you out of the way and then maybe it would be you sitting here at home feeling like nothing makes any sense anymore. you should be here, with me, dancing around the kitchen like we always did when we got drunk. now i’m dancing with a fucking ghost… i love you so much, but i’m so fucking mad at the world for making you leave me.
february 7th, 2025 - 6:47pm
hey angel… uhm, i’m sorry for this morning, i was really drunk and everything kind of came crashing down on me… i’m cleaning up right now because i left a mess when i came back. i shattered the coffee cup and your lipstick is gone, which made me cry like a fucking baby… i also found my old zeppelin shirt, the one you stole the first night you ever slept over. i remember you sent me a picture of you wearing it the day of the accident, it’s even my wallpaper still… but yeah, i miss you, baby, and i’m not mad at you.
february 20th, 2025 - 6:32pm
hi baby, sorry i haven’t reached out in so long, i’ve been busy trying to get my shit together… i talked to your brother today, i finally got him out of the house and we went to the park. we ate those coconut ice creams you liked so much and sat by fred the statue, hyuck cried the entire time. we talked about you, all the happy memories and how fucking funny you were, always cheering us up in our worst moments… we also talked about the big fight we had when he found out we were dating. remember that? he tried to fist fight me when he was 14 even though i was so much bigger than him. i guess he was right then, though. we were too young and dumb to know things like love. but I know better now, and i have loved you ever since the very first second i saw your pretty face.
march 17th, 2025 - 6:57pm
hello, baby, long time no see… i just got out of your memorial… your parents asked me to talk because neither of them can bring themselves to, so i did and i don't think i’ve ever looked as pathetic in my life… i can’t stop crying, even now that it’s long over… everyone was here, you know, even sion and them. i think you would’ve hated it, you always despised seeing people cry… i’m taking hyuck to our house tonight. he said he needs to be surrounded by you, so he’ll stay with me until we’re both better. you should see him now, how disarmed he is… it scares me a lot, what if i don’t do as good of a job at cheering him up as you would’ve? i mean, i can’t even get myself to stop feeling like i’m being crushed, how the fuck am i supposed to help him?... i don’t know, but i promise i’ll figure it out. i love you, ynnie, forever always.
april 27th, 2025 - 6:35pm
hey ynnie, i’m back here again… it’s been four months since you left, and i’m beginning to think it won’t get better. i thought i was, really, that’s why i stopped calling. but i went out with the guys today, and yuta broke down because he saw your name in his contacts… we all miss you so fucking much, yn. it feels like a huge part of life is missing without you by my side and it’s drowning me. i feel like i’m holding onto you like an anchor in the middle of the ocean, but i don’t want to let go… i don’t know how to. i miss you every single day; when i walk through the market, when i clean, when i watch tv. you’re fucking everywhere, and i don’t know how to appreciate that yet, it just makes me feel worse than i already do. still, it’s not your fault… nothing ever was and now nothing ever will be. i love you, just as much as i always have. 
may 16th, 2025 - 6:46pm
hey, my love. uhm, this will be the last message for a while, okay? i started going to the therapist, and he said it might be better for me to find another outlet than this one… i think he might be right, i don’t know what i’ll do the day this number gets reassigned… anyways, i wanted to let you know, even when i know you’re watching me from wherever you are. i love you, yn. i want you to know that even if you’re not here for me to tell you. i love you, i love you, i love you, i will never stop loving you.
january 27th, 2026 - 6:48pm
hey, ynnie… it’s been a while, huh? i know you’re probably scolding me from up there for calling this number again after so long, but i need you to understand me on this one. i don’t call with hopes that you’ll answer anymore, i gave up on that a long time ago… i found other ways to talk to you, and i’m sure you know that because i’ve seen the way your star flickers sometimes when i go talk to you every night. everything is better, as you know. haechan is back on his feet, he’s touring again with dream… he’s shining again, and i know it’s because you’re right by his side… your parents are better too, your dad is smiling again. everybody's learning how to live without you, even though we hate it so much… anyways, it’s very fitting that you sent that new dance coach today, she kind of reminds me of you. the boy’s said the same thing, too. still, she’s not you. and i know that’s not fair, no one could ever be you or even close… but still, it makes me miss you even more... dancing is starting to make me happy again, though my feet don't dance like they did with you... well, this turned into a pretty long message, i’m sorry for that, i’ll leave you to it and talk to you tonight, okay? i love you so much, rest well my love.
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★ blue's corner ;; hey... im sorry ! i wanted to start the year with something special, and taeyong is the answer to everything in my life... i'm also forever in love with 5sos and this song in particular so i hope you enjoyed !! ★ taglist ;; @neozon3nha @winwintea @spacejip @dudekiss3r @yizhrt @lyvhie @morkiee @astrasng @taroddori ★ back to the masterlist. ★ please do not copy, adapt or steal any of the content !!! ★ divider by @roseraris
© peterm4rker, 2025
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nina-ya · 1 day ago
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IT'S ALMOST CHRISTMAS EVE!! QUICK, GIVE US YOUR UNHINGED HORNY THOUGHTS ABOUT ONE PIECE CHARACTERS BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE!!!
IT IS WAY PAST CHRISTMAS EVE OH MY GOD THIS GOT LOST IN MY DRAFTS LMFAOOOOOO I HOPE ITS NOT TOO LATE anyways horny thoughts!! Law's hands work you as if he is dissecting the very essence of your desire. He never rushes, he never needs to. Law revels in the art of control, in his ability to unravel you one careful stroke of his fingers at a time until you are begging for release. "Stay still," is something you have heard him say to you many times before, but with the way he moves his hands ensures you can't obey. The way he has memorized your body with clinical precision gives him the upper hand here. He has memorized the way you gasp and whine out when he rubs your clit with the right amount of pressure, or the way you squirm under his touch when he curls those inked fingers inside of you and hits that one spot that has you seeing stars. It's also in the way you let out that shaky breath, pleading for more as his hands roam your body, circling the sensitive nub of your nipple, wrapping around your neck and giving it a soft squeeze, holding your hands above your head as he ruins you. He just can't help but have the upper hand! There's a wicked satisfaction in his smirk when you fall apart again and again under his touch, his name quickly becoming the only word you know as you chant it like a mantra.
The reflection of the mirror captures everything: the way Zoro towers behind you, his broad chest pressed against your back, one of his hands wrapped around your torso while the other keeps your thighs spread. His gaze wouldn't be on the mirror, rather it's on you as he watches the way your body moves, the way his cock sinks into your greedy hole with each thrust of his hips, the way your lips part with soft gasps and moans that only spur him on. He would murmur things like "Look at yourself," "Look at how beautiful you are for me," as one of his hands slid up to your chin, tilting your face forward until your eyes met in the reflection. "Do you see how good you look? How good you are for me?" it's one sinful sentence after the next and each of them has your body arching against him, seeking more. And that mirror reflects back to you each inch of your vulnerability on display, every mark he has left on your skin. "Keep watching," he would instruct, "I want you to see what I see- how incredible you are" And when your legs start to shake, his grip tightens as he presses a kiss to your shoulder, murmuring "You're doing so good for me." "You're perfect. Mine." and he would keep going, pushing you until you are gushing around him. And he wouldn't stop- not yet at least- he needs to watch you unravel on him just one more time so he can commit this moment to memory.
Luffy is driven by an insatiable curiosity and a need to hear every sound you can possibly make. He grins like he's won a game each time you gasp or moan, every broken syllable of his name just pushing him further. He would murmur "That's it" with that laugh of his as he pushes you to your limits and then some. His favorite thing to do is unravel you with his mouth. After all, you are his favorite meal. He will suck your clit, lap at your juices, spread you wide for him and devour you until you are nothing but a boneless mess splayed out on whatever surface he decided to take you against that day. Luffy doesn't stop until he's sure you've given him everything- every very, every tremor, every shuddering breath. And when you think you've reached your limit, he grins wider and says "Again?" as if the idea of stopping is unthinkable.
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faygosoda · 1 day ago
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A/N: Chat I had to do smth cute but also slightly angsty JS NOT TO THE POINT WHERE READER DIES AGAI
Title: My Gift To You
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Yeah, playing a dumb kids game with a random suited stranger that had soo much money in his suitcase in the subway was probably the dumbest thing you’ve ever done.
Who would have expected to be kidnapped under a bridge and brought to a gigantic place full of so many other people?
Nobody.
But at least you won against that random dude eight times before he seemed as though he got upset and ended your streak, giving you a small card before leaving and telling you to call to play games for some money..
I mean talk about human trafficking..
So here you were, standing in a crowd of people as debts got named off and people were show on screen and- wait what the fuck?
Hyun-Ju.
Your- dude that’s your girlfriend.
Uhm hello what the fuckkkk..
You’d think you would be able to see her tall self through the crowd but all of these people were blocking the way n shouting obscenities left and right.
Why was the love of your life here of all places?
Wait- nevermind, you know why.
The surgeries duh.
Idiot.
That was the same reason you were here for so why wouldn’t she also be here for that as well.
Tch.
You wish she would’ve told you instead of scting all suspicious and distant.
Then again you didn’t say shit to her though but thats different cause it just issss.
Too lost in your thoughts, you hadn’t realized that the guards had finally shut up, the crowd of people breaking apart slightly which gives you the chance to find your girlfriend.
You move through the crowd, eyes catching the tall figure and short hair of your lover whos back is slightly turned away from you, hands clasped together showing her hesitance.
Hyun-Ju looks around, observing those around her, thoughts spiraling before a hand clasps down on her shoulder which causes her eyebrows to slightly furrow and turn to the person that held her and-
Oh my.
“..(Name)! What are you doing here?” Her eyebrows were raised in surprise, her lipstick covered lips forming a small ‘o’ shape.
“Your surgeries.. I wanted to help out, but I should be the one asking considering I haven’t been seeing you as often lately but all of a sudden you’re here.” You squint at her, head tikted as you held strong eye contact with her.
Hyun-Ju sighed, a hand coming up to caress your cheek as she spoke while the other landed on your waist, giving you a squeeze.
“My love, I’m doing this for my surgeries as well, and for us. That’s why I’ve been so distant.. I’m sorry. It’s no excuse though and I promise I will make it up to you.”
Damn. She had you wrapped around her finger superrrr tight..
You huff, leaning into her hand, lips pursed as you nod. “It’s okay.. kinda. I missed you a lot Hyun-Ju and I- I honestly thought you were maybe kinda.. getting tired of me.”
Your words come out mumbled, eyes flickering down as you mess with the hem of her zip up.
“I know it’s probably stupid-“
“No, no it’s not. I should have been honest with you. I truly didn’t mean to make you think that Sweetheart, I love you and I’ll never leave you again..”
She kisses your cheek and then your lips, a small smile on her face before she pulls away, her hand still remaining on your hip.
Sadly, the lovely reunion is cut short by the guards speaking about photos..
Didn’t know it was selfie time.
You and Hyun-Ju move, following the rest of the players while holding hands to stay together.
<><><><><><>
Photos had been taken already and it was time for the first game.
Hyun-Ju and you hadn’t let go of each other besides for picture taking, having took never leaving each other again very seriously.
Hand in hand you both moved through large doors into an arena filmed with.. sand?
“Sandbox..?” You mumble, Hyun-Ju humming as she thought.
“I don’t think so.. look at that big doll at the end of the room.” She points, your eyes following in that direction, landing on a tall and gigantic doll-like robot.
“Oh…. Ew.” That earns you a snort from your lover who kisses the top of your forehead with the shake of her head.
A sudden voice is heard through out the arena, explaining the game.
“Red light green light? Oh I’m good at this! It’ll be easy!” You smile, laughing.
Yeah uhm it wasn’t easy.
Numerous times you had tripped, not only hurting your hands and knees but landing in puddles of blood.
Blood from the others players around you.
Dead players might you add.
As of now you stood behind Hyun-Ju, hands shaky and throat tight from everything going on around you.
What the fuck was happening????
Your hand held the hem of Hyun-Ju’s shirt tightly, squeezing your eyes shut as the doll indicated to stop.
So close to the line.. just fifteen steps away.
So close yet so far from death.
You wanted to go home, see your family, see your friends, listen to music, eat something, lay in bed with the love of your life who was holding up with this way better than you were.
Eight steps away.
Then, you’re grabbed by the sleeve, pulled in front of someone as the robot says “green light!”.
Hyun-Ju’s shaky breath hits the nape of your neck, her hand tight on your arm as she hold you in front of her, moving you along.
“Red light!”
Four steps away.
It feels like eternity when the doll rings out “green light!” And your pushed past the line, your girlfriends body making contact with your own as she sughs in relief, her hold still tight but not in a painful way but instead in a way that shes praying this is the first and only round of this sick and twisted game.
You let a breath that you didn’t even know you had left in you, head turning to her with eyes full of tears, about ti say something until shes dashing right across the line and back into the peripheral of that stupid pig-tailed doll.
“HYUN-JU!”
It’s a pathetic cry, already knowing that when your girlfriend makes up her mind there’s no way of changing it.
You watch as she runs towards to males, one already injured and the other assisting.
Your heart beats in your chest as the seconds go down, frozen in your spot as all three freeze, Hyun-Ju and the other man that helps the injured man shake in fear.
Five seconds left.
You’re gonna be sick.
Please you can’t lose her you can’t you can’t you fucking can’t
They make it over the line though, falling on the floor and a sudden ‘BANG!’ Rings throughout the arena.
The injured man was taken out.
Is it bad that you felt relief that it wasn’t Hyun-Ju?
You don’t know and in the moment you don’t give a fuck as long as she’s alright.
You rush to her aid, arms wrapping around her tightly as your ears ring.
She’s okay.
You’re both okay.
You both WILL BE okay.
You’ll get out of here and go to Thailand and- and everything will be okay.
The end!
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A/N: I finished this up during basketball practice LOL hope u guys like it!! PLS SEND IN MORE REQUESTS I ONLY GOT 2 RNN💔😒
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sun-kissy · 8 hours ago
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fairytale | j.p.
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james potter x reader
summary: james takes you to the amusement park on your birthday
cw: fluff!! so much fluff
a/n: i’m dedicating this to my lovely friend rese, @foodiegoogie, happy birthday <333
James’ eyes narrow as he looks at the little signboard on the cotton candy booth. “You’re sure you don’t want the Mickey Mouse shaped one? Like — absolutely sure?”
You tsk, crossing your arms over your chest. “Enough of the whole Mickey Mouse agenda, Jamie. Look at us.”
You do jazz hands towards yourself. James has to admit you’re right — you’re wearing a headband with the iconic round ears, and his sweatshirt has a picture of the happy-go-lucky rodent on it.
“Okay, okay,” he relents. “Can we at least get the heart-shaped one?”
“Nope.”
“Why not?”
“Because,” you boop his nose teasingly. “It’s my birthday. I think you should let me choose.”
The booth vendor stares blankly at the two of you.
James pretends to pout, but he’d easily let you choose, birthday or not. He doesn’t think he’d ever have the heart to say no to you. “Fine then, go on and pick.”
He takes pride in making you beam so brightly. You turn to the vendor excitedly.
“Can I please get a…” you pretend to think with the tip of your finger tapping your chin. “Hmm… a heart-shaped one, perhaps?”
James grins, bending down to stamp a kiss to your cheek. “You naughty minx.”
“Hey!” you say between giggles, leaning away as he tries to pepper your face with kisses. “That’s not a nice thing to say to the birthday girl.”
He wraps his arm around your waist to hold you in place, giving you a firm peck on the lips. You happily oblige.
“I’ll say anything I want to the birthday girl, cos she’s my girl,” James murmurs into another quick kiss before straightening up and taking the cotton candy from the vendor.
You roll your eyes. But it’s no use, you know you probably look as giddy as you feel. “Flirt.”
James grins proudly. He steers you towards the rides with a hand on the small of your back. “Which one should we go on next?”
You and him had been here all evening. Because you’d been talking about going to the amusement park for weeks, he thought he’d surprise you by getting tickets for your birthday. You weren’t exactly surprised — your boyfriend wasn’t very subtle about it, his own excitement slipping out a lot in the days leading up to it. But you were happy; that’s all that James needed.
You tear some cotton candy off the stick before handing it back to him. “What about…” you ask between stuffed mouthfuls of the sugary cotton, “That one?”
James turns to look at the rollercoaster you’re pointing at, and has to refrain from outwardly gulping.
It’s big, really big, and black, sort of like a metal beast with its fangs to the sky. He feels a shudder go through him at the thought of being flung off those tracks.
“Um…” he scratches the nape of his neck nervously. “Are you sure, sweetheart? I’m not sure if — if you can handle it.”
“Me? Or you?” you snort, looping your arm through his and pulling him towards the attraction. “Relax, babe. We’ll be fine. Unless…”
You pull him to a stop and squint at him, glaring. James gulps. “Unless you’re scared?”
“Nope! No, nuh-uh. Not scared at all. That monst — rollercoaster’s got nothing on me,” he blurts out immediately and puffs out his chest.
You grin, giving him a congratulatory pat on the shoulder. The two of you join the queue outside the entrance.
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You didn’t think James was secretly just a teenage girl. But judging by the pitch of his screams on this rollercoaster, maybe he was.
Laughter bubbles out of you as the wind rips through your hair, twists and turns pulling your stomach in every direction possible. You turn to look at James.
He’s positively terrified, hands in the air and shrieks getting louder by the second. It makes your laughter worse.
The rollercoaster finally screeches to a halt. You hop off and wait patiently for James to stumble out.
“God,” he groans, immediately wrapping his arms around you as soon as he gets close. He makes another pained sound as he leans forward to rest his forehead on your shoulder. “That really was something.”
You giggle, rubbing his back consolingly. “You okay? You were so brave up there.”
“So brave, wasn’t I? So brave,” he mumbles, as if to convince himself.
“Very brave,” you nod, easing him off you and gently steering him away.
James mutters some incoherent agreement, leaning against you and pressing a kiss into your hair. You pat his back and squeeze his hip encouragingly.
“So,” he mutters as he straightens up, as though dreading it, “What next?”
You take a glance around you. You were too preoccupied to notice it before — but the sun had begun to set, sky losing its light. Maybe it was time to let James get a taste of the love he so easily showered you in.
You turn to him. “You choose.”
He blinks. “Really?”
“Really.”
“Oh, my sweet girl,” he coos and kisses your cheek, marveling at how red you instantly turn. “This is why I love you.”
You pout. “Because I let you choose a ride on my birthday?”
“Exactly,” he grins unapologetically, intertwining your fingers in his before pulling you in the direction of whatever he had in mind. You sigh and follow behind.
“Here we are.”
The two of you come to a stop in front of a looming, lit-up, circular structure, and your smile widens. “Ferris wheel?”
“Ferris wheel,” James confirms.
“You’re so cliché.”
“You love it,” he chuckles. He takes you to an empty cabin and helps you in.
James gets in next to you. His arm goes around your shoulder and open palm on your lap, like he always seems to be doing these days. You take his hand.
The wheel starts up, cabin moving upward. You turn away to look outside and feel your heart swell with something like love at the sight.
Beautiful is too less of a word for it. The sky is painted in hues of pink and golden, straight out of a movie. There’s so many people down below. They get smaller and smaller. The amusement park is adorned in lights and liveliness and laughter; and you think you might just be looking at the closest-to-textbook-definition depiction of love.
That’s until you hear James’ voice from beside you. “Y/n?”
“Hm?” you mumble, eyes fixated on the sinking sun.
“I love you.”
James told you this a thousand times an hour, twenty four hours a day. But something about the way he just said it made you turn around to look at him, and you’re glad you did, because the view was even better.
He’s looking at you like you’re the only thing that mattered, like the loveliness of the sunset didn’t stand a chance against yours. And you want to melt. You want to melt and you want to kiss him and you wish you could do everything all at once; there was just too much love in your heart to be shown through one singular gesture.
Instead, all that comes out is a soft, “Oh.”
James smiles wider.
“I love you too,” you babble, and you know you sound like a lovesick fool. You can’t bring yourself to care. “I love you too, James. So much.”
He doesn’t even give you a second to recalibrate before his hand is on your cheek, lips gently pressing onto yours.
It didn’t feel like a fairytale kiss — like you were a princess, and there were fireworks in the background. It felt like home.
Like his lips had found their safe haven on yours, because you’d definitely found yours in him. James kisses you like he loves you, and you know he does. You know because he says it, because he’s holding you like you’re the most special girl in the world.
You may not have been a princess that night — or any night, for that matter. But you got to be James’ for now, maybe forever. What more could you want?
You pull back, breaths mingling in the loved air for a few moments. James grins and leans in for another one, which you happily give.
“I love you, sweetheart. Happy birthday,” he murmurs, hands threading through your hair as he presses a sweet kiss to your nose.
It really was a happy birthday.
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bwat5-blog · 2 days ago
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Breaking The Cycle: Silco and Jinx's final talk
**Spoilers For Arcane**
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The relationship between Silco and Jinx is wonderfully complex and dark. Father and daughter, teacher and student, but also haunter and haunted.... People love both of these characters and rightfully so. Even Silco who I have been so harsh on is a wonderful character in his own right. Brilliant, well spoken, and so tragically twisted he cannot see how lost he has become. Jinx, for her part, is the story of a little girl whose mind is ripped apart by the violence around her, and how through her own strength as well as the love and support of those she meets along the way reclaims her soul in the face of overwhelming loss.
What I want to talk about today is this discussion between "them" in the second to last episode of the series. I have done so in a few small ways over the last few weeks but never as a focus. And every time I have been surprised to read some of the thoughts and responses to this scene. So, to that end. I thought it merited a good focused look. To any who take the time to read, thank you so much. I hope you get something out of this like I do!
How We Got Here:
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Okay, we are here to discuss that scene, but that is almost at the end of the show. I have written quite a bit about both Silco and Jinx, and their relationship. Therefore I am not doing a complete and total deep dive here regarding their past. But, as I like to say context is our friend. So to understand this moment, let's at least do a quick rundown of what lead to it.
Silco, Vander and Felicia were all very good friends in Zaun when they were young. Silco and Vander were the primary architects for the idea of Zaun but Felicia was very close with them. Silco and Vander swore an oath to create a safer Zaun for Felicia's unborn child, who of course is Vi.
Sometime after Felicia's death during their revolutionary activities, Vander blames Silco and almost kills him. Leading to their complete parting of ways, Silco losing an eye, and Silco completely reinventing himself from that pain and anger.
Taking revenge, Silco abducts Vander and causes the deaths of Sheriff Grayson and Benzo. During the attempted rescue of Vander, he tries to have Vi killed, and through his actions causing the scenario to begin with is responsible for the deaths of Vander, Mylo and Claggor.
Silco takes Powder for his own and raises her as his daughter. Teaching her to weaponize her pain and anger until she starts going by Jinx and becomes a part of his operations, spreading Shimmer and fear and death throughout the Undercity.
Silco is killed during Jinx's mental breakdown while trying to convince Jinx to kill Vi instead.
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Now, a few things of note moving forward regarding their relationship that are very important:
Silco Did Love JInx- Despite the darkness of their meeting. I do think Silco loved Jinx as his daughter. He is shown to be very patient and defensive of her. He is extremely distraught when she is dying on the bridge after her fight with Ekko and even more so when it seems Singed may have killed her.
That Love Was Completely And Totally Toxic- As I stated in the beginning of this document I am not doing a whole run-down on their relationship again demonstrating Silco's influence. But for a quick example; Silco knows Jinx carries a tremendous amount of unresolved trauma over losing her family. She thinks Vi is dead. Silco finds out Vi is alive and the only thing he tries to do is kill her before she can find Jinx, to prevent losing her himself.
Jinx Loves Silco- At the end of the day, regardless of how their story together began, Silco matters to Jinx. She was with him during her formative years. She was so young when Connal died she probably barely remembers him. And she has mentally distanced herself from Vander as a father figure to protect herself. (I'm not saying she doesn't care. See almost all of season two as proof that she does. I'm just saying they don't have the same bond as they might have if things had gone differently. That's all).
Life Without Him:
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In the wake of Silco's death, Jinx is alone. She and Vi are worlds apart, Vander is dead, Silco is gone, and the people of the Undercity fear her. But as the story develops she starts to come back to life, little by little. Growing "closer" with Sevika, Isha coming into her life. These things and more slowly start to open her world in a way that is more than death and destruction, especially when she reconnects with Vi.
But we do see hints of how Silco's legacy influences her.
Life With Isha-
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In the months since the battle against Vi and Caitlyn, Jinx has found a measure of piece in living quietly with Isha. She stays out of the public eye. She has not fought against the Noxians or Enforcers. Her whole life is with this little girl who quite literally fell on her. And while of course there are bigger things at work, and we understand that this small world she has made for herself cannot last, we need to remember how we left things with Jinx. On her back, urging Vi to kill her. So how does Silco's memory intrude?:
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Sevika comes in, wanting Jinx to take part in their upcoming rally. And when Jinx refuses Sevika grows frustrated:
S- "Silco spent his whole life trying to rally the undercity together.. stupid joke that it is, you have the chance to pull it off."
J- "I told you, I'm not interested".
S- "Do you know how much he sacrificed to protect you?!.. he believed in your potential". (As soon as she slams her fist down Jinx starts breathing heavy, glitching, eyes wide)
J- "well then he shouldn't have died!"
Cut to Silco's former office...
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"Still giving me the silent treatment"
We listen as Jinx speaks to the open air, spinning Silco's old chair. What it basically comes to is she feels she probably owes him being that symbol (the idea of her owing him anything is completely outrageous but we aren't going there right now), but is afraid of losing what she has with Isha. She says he should speak up if he wants her to be his rebel leader otherwise, he really is gone. And there is no reason for her to stay.
Isha Taken-
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Isha being taken at the rally is what drives Jinx back into the world against her will. Back into the violence and the death. And why did Isha attend that rally? Sevika came and spoke of Jinx's responsibility. Of Silco's sacrifice. Now, let me totally clear. Isha is a wild-child and was already doing stuff at the checkpoints and painting images for the rebellion. I am not putting this on Sevika in turns of blame. My point, is that it all comes back to Silco. Silco's shadow slithered into her peace and now, it's gone. And as we see, in this moment he is not comforting, or reassuring as a specter. He is another mocking demon in a moment of loss.
So what does this all mean:
The death of Silco, while incredibly emotional and traumatic for Jinx, was the beginning of her freedom. Even in death, Silco's reputation, his legacy, his actions, they all cast a shadow over Jinx that she cannot get away from. The people of Piltover see the monster Silco made her into, the people of Zaun see her as his heir. The one who can unite the Undercity in glorious revolution. All she wants is to be with Isha....
She can't get away from it. And through plot, and visual story telling the show is NOT vague about this. "Still giving me the silent treatment" implies she has tried to talk to him since his death. When does she finally see him? When she is angry, and scared for Isha, and pushing back against the shadows in her mind.
I am willing to admit that it's probably just my dislike of him (again as a villain he is amazing but I'd chuck him in a meatgrinder in person). But the way I see that image above is that after Jinx tearfully said he needed to speak up or it would mean he was really gone in his old office.. here he is laughing at her in a moment of darkness and rage.
"Haha, you wanted me. Here I am"..
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In the Bunker:
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J- "go away.. you're too late" S- "oh, it's a hell of a place. It says something about the late Marcus that he found imprisoning your sister to be a greater mercy than killing her" J- "killing isn't mercy" S- "a spark of rebellion still burns inside that husk, I see. No. Killing is a cycle. One that started long before Vander and me. And one that will continue long after the two of you. J- "I'm done running in circles' S- We build our own prisons. Bars forged of oaths, codes, commitments. Walls of self-doubt and accepted limitation. We inhabit these cells, these identities, we call them us. I thought I could break free by eliminating those I deemed my jailers. But... Jinx.. I think the cycle only ends when you find the will to walk away".
Okay, we come at last to the scene I really wanted to dig into here. Jinx is in the Kiramman bunker, not Stillwater as some folks seem to have missed. She has lost Isha. She has just spoken with Caitlyn, she is quiet, and weak, and sounds so.. so exhausted. Her hair is undone, she isn't eating, and she has been picking at the skin of her fingers. She is truly in a very dark place.
But it is so.. so different than the darkness we are used to from her. There is no glitching, no fits of rage or empty pained laughter. For all the pain she is in and the clear, crushing depression, there is also a clarity she has not really ever shown. She apologizes to Caitlyn in her way, she finally can see how much Vi loves her and how much she loves Vi in return. In giving up, in surrendering all of those horrible battles in her mind and laying them down because she intends to end her life, she is seeing things more clearly than she has ever been able to. And it is in this state we get the above exchange.
Now, I have seen some various gripes about this across several places. Here are a few:
Silco has been reduced to being a pro-piltover mouthpiece.
By hearing it from Silco we are seeing jinx hasn't really progressed.
The scene doesn't make sense because Silco would never say this.
Regarding the accusations of character assassination of Silco:
Silco as his own character, including his own story, beliefs, ideals and values, is completely and utterly irrelevant to this scene. This is not about what he would or wouldn't do if he were alive, because he isn't. At the risk of stating the extremely obvious, Jinx is alone in this place. But even as far as she has come her mind is still not whole. So in this terrible moment of loss and pain as she is on the cusp of a realization that will change her life forever, who Silco was does not matter. He is simply the pencil her mind is using to write the lesson in a way she can understand.
Regarding the accusation that seeing him means Jinx has not learned or progressed:
This moment is without a doubt, one of the most important moments in all of Jinx's development to me. She is seeing Silco because for better or worse she views him as a father figure. He has become the lens through which she at least partially views the world.
Remember this?:
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When Vi was hurt, and alone , and wanted so badly to give up it was Vander she saw and heard in her mind. So as Jinx is processing this revelation, that she doesn't want to keep being this person anymore. She doesn't want to keep killing, to keep running in circles, to be a revolutionary or a terrorist anymore and she just wants it all to stop this conversation is how her mind does this.
Take away Silco from this moment and what are we left with: Jinx realizing that the only way for the horror to end is to walk away.
Let the message come from Silco in its way: Jinx's mind freeing itself of Silco's influence and what she feels she owes him because he is telling her it's okay to walk away.
CONCLUSION:
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In this moment, Jinx is essentially, giving herself permission to turn away from the pain and death of her history. Away from the guilt of who she has been and even away from the corrupting tendrils of Silco's legacy. She applies this same lesson to what she does with Vi, giving Vi permission to start living for herself again and stop dwelling on the pain of their past.
Now of course, what she does with Vi is based in love, and right now she has come to believe that she herself is not worthy of said love. There is no good version of her in her mind. And thankfully she is able to be pulled out of that darkness by Ekko. But what we are seeing here regardless of her plans, is the clarity to realize that as long as she and Vi stay shackled to their pain, it will just keep repeating over and over.
Thank you for reading, have a a great day!
**Y'all I know I repeat this every time but I think it's important. So much of Jinx's story is impacted by her mental health especially the state she is in during this part of her story. I AM NOT in any way, shape, or form a mental health professional. I am just a fan doing my best to understand what I think is one of the best stories and one of it's best characters in my lifetime. Thank you**
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