#I think I'd actually burn up and melt so bad if i was stood next to JP 😩🥵

[julians-muscles-and-tits]

[seokwoosmole]

The King's Affection Ep 13-14 Thoughts

1. Jung Ji-un. This man deserves major praise. He really has become one of my favorite kdrama characters. Throughout the show, it's been proved how selfless he is and how he always puts Dami first. She has just revealed a major secret to him, that she is in actuality, not a man, but a woman – and honestly speaking, anyone would be extremely shocked if they were in Ji-un's place. Because yes, this is shocking to him from a lover's standpoint because he had fallen for a man but it's also shocking as a subject who has now discovered that the Crown Prince of Joseon isn't even a prince, but a princess. And he doesn't freak out (at least, he does a good job at not showing it). He puts any questions, concerns, etc. aside, takes like 10 seconds to process, then just moves on by taking care of her wound and gathering wood to start a fire. And I love the way Ji-un handled the conversation between him and Dami after he had taken some time to think for himself (that also stood out to me – he didn't act confrontational by bombarding her with questions or run away, he simply took some time by himself to think and when she approached him, he welcomed her company). I enjoyed that he made no dismissive comments about his feelings towards her when he thought she was a man. He apologized for not realizing the truth sooner, not because he was sorry for having feelings for a man, but because him knowing that she was a woman might have made it easier on her and she'd have someone to confide in and one less person to have her guard up around and make an effort to hide her secret in front of. His thoughts about the whole situation had nothing to do with his personal feelings but how Dami felt. His reassuring clarification that "nothing has changed for me. It is you that I am looking at. And that is all I need." made it ever better. And also him assuring her that she doesn't owe him an explanation?? I just loved him even more. He understands that her predicament is clearly complicated and has been extremely hard on her, and that is all he needs to know. He doesn't ask for any reason or explanation for anything. Her being with him now is enough.

2. Honestly, I could write entire essays about Jung Ji-un but I won't. I'm moving on...to Kim Ga-on. To be honest, even though they've given us small glimpses into his life and his father, I still feel as though I don't know him very well. But I desperately want to!!! He's such a mysterious and complicated character, I can't help but be intrigued by him. I'm hoping in the next set of episodes, we can get a proper dive into who he is. I want the whole run-down👏🏽

3. Okay I know I said I'd stop talking about Ji-un but that tree cuddle scene??? This casual talking of what their future together will be like??? My heart is melting...

4. Okay when Yoon Hyeong-Seol (had to look up his character name lol) was tied up and did that water trick I was like YES MY MAN. And when Hyun walked in??? MY OTHER MAN

5. Ji-un getting Hwi an outfit to match his? Coincidence? I think not. Man wrote a fancy quote on a piece of parchment as a grand metaphor for his loyalty and gratitude. Jung Ji-un is not above couple outfits.

6. Who was Dami in her past life and whose bad side did they get on because her life sucks. First her family tries to kill her for being a girl so she lives out in the mountains as an orphan, then her home burns down and she becomes a palace maid, then her brother dies, has to say goodbye to her first love/childhood friend, is forced to live her brother's life as the crown prince, her mother dies, and now her father too?? Homegirl can't catch a break. If she doesn't get a happy ending I'm wreaking havoc.

7. UGHHHHHH. Ji-un coming into the palace after losing Dami. Literally just the day before they were talking about moving in together and cooking meals and whatnot and now their love is even more impossible than it was before and even though he's begging her to leave the palace with him, he just keeps looking at her wound and points out that it's not fully healed and asks to tend to it. At the end of the day, she is his number one priority no matter what. I so feel for Dami here though because she looks so pained (more so than when she was wounded) because she so badly wants to be with Ji-un. Props to Park Eunbin because even though she did have dialogue here, she didn't have to say anything for me to know exactly what she was feeling. This yearning, sad, almost scared look in her eyes said it all. Because she wants nothing more than to leave the palace with Ji-un but leaving means that her Court Lady and Eunuch and Ji-un will suffer the consequences and the thought of that happening is much worse. Which leads me to...

8. I hate evil grandfather. How dare he threaten my dearest court lady and precious eunuch and favorite historical himbo. This show better end with him getting the karma he deserves.

9. Poor Queen. I feel for her. I really do. At least with Hyun, he's accepted that him and Dami can't be together and that his feelings won't be reciprocated and why. Poor Queen is completely clueless.

10. And also...other Queen...as in Dami's mother. DID SHE HAVE NO PLAN FOR THE DAY WHEN DAMI BECOMES KING AND HAS TO PRODUCE AN HEIR??? WHY DID NO ONE PLAN FOR THIS DAY??? Don't get me wrong, I'm glad Dami found a loophole but didn't they often blame inability to conceive on the mother? The Queen is either going to tell someone the King has been refusing her or she'll get severely punished or condemned. Either way...both are not exactly fun options.

11. Also when Ji-un holds Dami when she was almost caught by the guards and she leans into his chest for a moment before breaking away😭

12. I want Dami and Ji-un to be free to pursue their love but Hyun is right. It most likely will not end well and they will both get hurt in the end. I hate that he had to say that, but I also really admire him for it. At the end of the day, he too, prioritizes Dami over everything else. I know some people blame Ji-un for too boldly pursuing Dami in the palace knowing how dangerous it could be for her if they get caught which is why they like Hyun more, but the situation is very different for the both of them and I don't think it can be compared. I'm team Dami/Hwi x Ji-un all the way, but don't get me wrong, I love Hyun. But the difference between Hyun and Ji-un is that Dami actually returns Ji-un's feelings. Even if the situation was different and they could be together, they still wouldn't be since Dami doesn't have any romantic feelings for Hyun. However, Dami does care for Ji-un romantically and Ji-un knows that. If Hyun were in Ji-un's place, he might be as bold as him in pursuing his feelings. If it's hard for one person to hold back their love for another person, it's also very hard for two people to hold back their love for each other knowing that the feelings are mutual but they aren't allowed to act on it. I'm not invalidating Hyun's feelings or saying that Ji-un is being wise by pursuing Dami which could compromise her safety, but they're both in love with her and want to protect her and do that in different ways. Hyun protects her by making sure her secret is kept, Ji-un protects her by staying by her side. And Dami is making her own choices here too. She knows the price if she gets caught as well but takes the risk.

13. Dami is so good at investigating matters and rooting out injustice. She would be a great leader. Too bad everyone is sexist and tried to kill her and will likely try to kill her again🙄

14. Love is blind. No, like actually. This is the second time Dami & Ji-un be having a romantic moment in public while being watched by someone and they didn't see a THING.

15. Good job Ji-un's dad. You caught your son making out with the girl whose brother you killed while trying to kill her.

16. Preview's got me hyped for many reasons. Kim Ga-on finding out the King is a woman?? Ji-un getting jealous?? Secret palace dating?? Ji-un maybe hopefully getting closer to finding out Hwi is Dami?? (actually, no, I don't think I want that. I really liked that Dami herself got to tell Ji-un her first secret. I'd like it if she got to tell him her second one too) Ji'un's dad tryna kill Dami?? He better not...

[animeyanderelover]

Hi just wanted to say I enjoy all your posts and you did such a wonderful job on the last request I sent for hxh gon and killua poly headcanons I thought I'd ask again this time for a prompt for Kurapika Kurta. With a s/o who has been kidnapped but is a writer and in the spare time of their capture writes a lot in journals stories poetry . I thought it go great with this prompt in particular 44. “Escaping is all you think about, isn’t it? Always dreaming about it, always thinking about it?”

You don’t know how happy I am to hear this😊. Felt in a softer mood and that’s reflected in here.

Warnings: Yandere themes, unhealthy mindset, unhealthy relationship, possessiveness, obsessiveness, overprotectiveness, mentions of kidnapping

Prompt 44: “Escaping is all you think about, isn’t it? Always dreaming about it, always thinking about it?”

It was a rather peaceful evening for you. Probably because you hadn’t tried anything the last few weeks, not trying to escape, not trying to somehow poison him. You had just stayed in the house and here and there helped cleaning up. And you could tell that Kurapika was clearly relieved that you hadn’t tried something. He hated punishing you. He was of course still cautious in case that all of this was just an act, but you from all the people knew the best that you weren’t lying. You had admitted defeat. A person could only endure that much pain and witnessing people getting killed before giving up. You admitted that your mind was filled with the thoughts of escaping, but you had decided to give up. You knew when a situation was hopeless. You wouldn’t be able to get out of this alone. At least you had one thing where you could let all your thoughts out because there was no way you would ever let Kurapika know what was going on in your head. You were talking about writing poetries, songs and just in general your thoughts in your journal down which was of course kept a secret from Kurapika. He was already watching over nearly everything you did so to have a bit of privacy with this journal was nice.

That didn’t necessarily mean that Kurapika was a bad person all the time. To some degree you could even understand why he was acting like this. Having his whole clan perished had for sure left some deep scars in his mind. You could understand that he was too afraid to lose someone else he loved. That was probably another reason why you had decided to at least physically stop trying to escape him. You felt bad for him. This boy was the result that showed what the cruelty of the world could turn people into. You guessed since you were a poetry writer and often needed to think about things in another aspect you were able to sympathize with him to some degree. Somewhere deep down in your heart you wished him to be happy. If you were honest with yourself, you couldn’t even hate him really. You didn’t love him, but you didn’t hate him as well. You tried to draw a clear line between your feelings so that you wouldn’t actually end up falling for him. But sometimes he made it incredibly hard for you to not bring your heart to flutter in your chest. It were those moments where he didn’t stare at you with those intimidating scarlet eyes of his and didn’t ramble angrily that he only did this for you and that he wanted to protect you. No, it were those softer moments where he showed that he genuinely cared for you. And this evening happened to be one of those moments.

“Kurapika! Please stop! It’s a bit embarrassing!”, you giggled out, not really meaning it. Kurapika on the other hand was too busy with placing soft kisses all over your face and neck, smiling warmly when he heard your giggling. Both of you were currently lying on the couch, you were lying on top of him. This scene looked almost normal and you could have almost thought that Kurapika was a normal and loving boyfriend. But his slightly too possessive grip he had around your waist reminded you that he was never really able to truly let all his dark feelings disappear for a moment. But in this moment it was not so painfully visible than in others. “(y/n).”, you heard him softly speaking your name. You looked him directly in his grey eyes which were shining with pure love at you. “I love you.” You swore that your heart nearly melted for a moment, the sincerity in his voice being a bit too much for you to handle. “I-I don’t know what to say.”, you somehow stuttered out, feeling heat rushing to your cheeks. For a short moment you were worried that he would be offended by this, but he wasn’t. Instead he gave you a small smile. “It’s alright. With time you will learn to love me and I promise I’ll always protect you.” Dear heart, stay still. “You know, you can be a real softie.”, you told him slightly amused, slightly flattered. Since you were lying on top of him you were able to feel his calm and steady heartbeat and the regular and long raising and fall of his chest. It told you that he was completely relaxed now.

One short glance out of the window told you that it was already pretty late. You really wanted to write down a new poetry you had come up with today. It was only an idea so far, but you knew that as soon as you would sit in front of an empty paper with a pen in your hand you would be able to make something out of it. But for this to happen you needed to get out of his grip as nice as this all was. You wanted to finish your day with writing something in your journal and then going to sleep just like everyday before. “Kurapika,”, you began and he hummed quietly,”I’m a bit tired. Can I go to bed?” Kurapika didn’t seem to like the idea very much since he had you right now all to himself. He pushed himself a little bit up so that his face was only a few inches away from yours. “Please just a few more minutes. Let’s stay like this a few more minutes.”, he pleaded. You didn’t say anything what he took as a yes. He closed the distance between your faces to press his lips for a short moment against your before lying back down and pressing you slightly closer to his body.

Your mind was racing with a million thoughts whilst you were brushing your teeth. The two main topics your thoughts were circling around were the poetry and Kurapika. Thinking back to the very intimate time the both of you had just shared together made your heart speed up a bit. You definitely preferred Kurapika when he was like this, he was so much more calm and understanding with you than when he was angry. You hurried up to finish your business in the bathroom and hurried back to your room. You walked towards the bookshelf and searched for something until you pulled out a certain book, tossing it aside and stretching your arm out to reach the thing behind it. Due to the black cover it was nearly invisible and you knew that Kurapika wasn’t interested in this section of the books. After a few tries you were finally able to get a hold on it and pulled your black journal out. You didn’t know if you were being too cautious with it, but you really didn’t want Kurapika to find it and read it. All of your thoughts, feelings and secrets were entrusted in this book here. You grabbed a pen and opened up the next free page, collecting all your thoughts before starting to write. It was always helping you to sleep better when you just emptied your mind at the end of the night out.

I have often dreamed of a far-off place

Where a hero is welcome

Will be waiting for me

Where the crowds will cheer

When they see my face

And a voice keeps saying

This is where I’m meant to be

I will find my way

I can go the distance

I’ll be there someday

If I can be strong

I know every mile will be worth my while

I would go almost anywhere to feel like I Belong

I am on my way

I can go the distance

I don’t care how far

Somehow I’ll be strong

I know every mile will be worth my while

I would go almost anywhere to find where

I belong

You read shortly through it, satisfied with what you’ve done. But now you had to hurry a bit. Kurapika could come in now at every moment. You quickly pulled the book out and stuffed your journal in it before putting the book back in it’s place. You couldn’t help, but feel relieved like every time when you managed to keep your journal a secret from him. You knew that he always checked at evening the area around the house to prevent possible threats from coming near it. Not like he would let them pass anyways. You had measured the time he needed for this, giving you each evening a time window from half an hour. Now you just had to wait for him to come back. You just layed down into your bed and waited for him. You glanced out of the window, looking at the dark forest surrounding you. And for a split second you thought you saw something moving, but you weren’t sure if it was just some tree or animal.

When you woke up the rays of sunlight were already tickling your face. You must have fallen asleep before Kurapika came home because you couldn’t remember that you had felt him joining you in bed. Did you fall that fast asleep? “I see that you’re awake now.” The moment you heard his voice was the moment you knew that something wasn’t right. His voice sounded tensed up. Another thing that you realized that didn’t seem right was the fact that he wasn’t lying next to you. He normally always stayed with you in bed in the morning until you were awake. You slowly sat up and looked around. Your heart stopped beating when you saw what had happened. In a mountain of books sprawled randomly on the floor was sitting Kurapika. He had emptied the whole bookshelf. But that wasn’t the thing that striked fear inside your heart. It was the book with the black cover he was holding in his hands, flipping through it’s pages. He looked calm, but his burning scarlet eyes told you differently. How much had he already read? Obviously enough or else his eyes wouldn’t have started to glow.

You were just staring at him, feeling your own heart drumming against your chest. You didn’t move, not even when he slowly stood up and walked over to you. Under his burning gaze it felt like your skin was crawling. His calm appearance and his glowing eyes made your whole body froze. He slowly sat down next to you, lifting the book until it was right in front of your eyes. Your eyes shifted back and forth between the book and him. Months of your thoughts were written down in this journal. Diary entries, confessions, hopes, everything! Why was he acting so terribly calm when his eyes showed clearly that he was mad?! “H-how?”, you stuttered out, not able to bring more than one word over your lips. “I saw you through the window.” The window? Wait, the window! That meant that you saw yesterday him! “I never knew that you had a journal. You’re really structured with it. You wrote even the time down. It’s really fascinating what you write down in here. I didn’t know you were into poetry.” You somehow knew that from the way he said it that he must had read the whole thing. He was still holding the journal in front of you and you forced your shaking hands to grab it and press it tightly against your chest.

It became eerily quiet and you were sure that you could cut yourself on the tension that was raising between the both of you. But the thing that terrified you the most was this bone chilling calmness from Kurapika. You would have preferred if he would have just screamed at you. “Escaping is all you think about, isn’t it? Always dreaming about it, always thinking about it?” You tried to make yourself as small as possible. His voice made you wish that a hole under you would just appear and swallow you. It was calm, but you could hear it in his undertone. The many emotions that he suppressed on the surface, but that his eyes reflected. Anger, disappointment, sadness, his eyes told you everything. You couldn’t stand his gaze anymore and looked at the book which you were pressing tightly against your chest. There was no need to answer his question. He knew the answer anyways. What was he going to do now?

“Give me the book. You aren’t allowed to keep it anymore.” You tensed up when he said this and tightened your grip even more. “W-why?” Your voice was quiet. “Because you broke my trust. I thought you had finally learned your lesson, but I was wrong.” He stretched his hand out, a silent demand to give him your only freedom you had left. “No.” It was barely a whisper, but Kurapika was still able to hear it. “(y/n).”, you could hear that he was trying to hold back,”Give. Me. That. Book.” You shook your head weakly. “Please don’t. This journal here is the only thing that keeps me from breaking apart. Isn’t it enough for you that I already stopped trying to run away? It’s true that I often think about escaping, but I don’t act on these thoughts. But I need this book. I need a place to write all my thoughts and feelings in which I built up during the day. Or else I’ll drown in all the shit in my head. I didn’t break your trust, not completely. Please believe me, I won’t run away. You already took away my family. My friends. My home. My freedom. Please give me at least this bit of freedom.” Silent tears had started to roll down your cheeks. You slowly lifted your head and looked him directly in the eyes. “Don’t let me fall apart.”, you pleaded with a shaking voice.

Again silence fell over you, your heartbreaking pleas hanging heavily in the air. You could tell from the look in Kurapika’s eyes that he was battling with himself about what to do now. His muscles were so tensed up that he had started to shake, sinking his head until you couldn’t see his eyes anymore, being hidden behind strands of his hair. You didn’t do anything, afraid that you would worsen the situation even more. So you just waited, the tension nearly suffocating you whilst waiting for Kurapika’s reaction. For you it felt like hours of torture, but in reality it was probably only a minute until he finally reacted. A reaction that surprised you. Before you could even process what exactly happened you were suddenly pulled against his chest in a more than just possessive hug. “Kurapika?”, you mumbled softly out, feeling slightly confused with his reaction. Since you were pressed right against his chest you could feel how tensed up he was and how his whole body and breath were shaking. His heart was ramming painfully against his chest. You slowly lifted your head up and instantly something wet dropped on your face. You needed a second until you understood that those were tears. Kurapika’s tears. He didn’t look you in your face, his gaze was still hidden from you under his bangs, but you could clearly see his tears falling down his face and dropping on yours.

“I’m sorry.” His voice was shaking, overflowing with emotions. “I didn’t know that you were suffering. But please. Please let me help you. I know that I am most likely the source of your pain. I know that I took everything away from you just to keep you with me. But I really just want to protect you. Please don’t torture yourself with your own thoughts. Tell me and I’ll promise I’ll try my best to heal these wounds I caused you.” That’s when he finally lifted his head to look you into your eyes. They were still burning in their scarlet color. But all the intensity was gone. Instead you could see the pain and the fear swirling around inside of them. The pain and fear of a man who had lost everything. “But you need also to understand that if I lose you...I’ll fall apart as well. Without you I’ll break. I’m already broken beyond repair and I know how it is to drown in your own thoughts and feelings. I know how it is to be eaten alive on the inside. I was in so much pain, but you... You helped me with my pain. You healed me. You do so much for me by only being near me. So please let me return the favor. Tell me what hurts you so I can ease your pain as well. I hate it more than anything when I see you suffer. Let me carry all your pain. I’m willing to break under it because as long as you’re okay I know I’ll be alright as well. You’re my angel, you heal me with your mere presence. And I’m your guardian, I’m here to protect you from every threat and even from your own thoughts. So please let me help you. Let me get destroyed. Not you.”

You were left speechless, staring with wide eyes at him, the tears falling nonstop from your face. It felt like an invisible knife was plunging in your heart over and over again. You had never seen Kurapika like this. You had never seen him so...so vulnerable. He was showing you his pain. His suffering. His own torturing thoughts. He had always tried to stay strong for you, but now you saw how hurt and broken he really was. You didn’t know how to react for a moment, just looking at him with tearfilled eyes before you did the only thing that felt right in that moment. Hugging him tightly back. Kurapika’s breath hitched for a moment when he felt how you were hugging his torso before tightening his grip around you a bit more and burying his face in your neck, wanting nothing more than just calm down in your presence. You had always known that Kurapika had suffered, but in that moment you realized that he was hurting so much more than you had originally thought.

( The song I used here is “Go the distance” from Michael Bolton. )

[hellotvshowtrash]

Obey pt. 3

Part 3 time!!! Not too much happens in this chapter, but I really like it tbh. Also once again posting from mobile so sorry if the formatting is weird.

Word count: 1.8k

Warnings: swearing

*tbh this gif is 100% Elijah laughing at drunken reader in this chap.*

Credit to gif owner

The cool night air was welcomed on her flushed skin. She started her trek home robotically, only getting a few yards away when she was stopped. "Let me walk you home, you're drunk and it could be dangerous," Elijah grabbed her arm from behind, gently pulling her to look back at him.

"I think I'm okay, thanks though," she said, "I walk this route pretty often. Besides, I'm not even really drunk anymore. You took care of that." She winked at him and turned back to continue walking, but he held her arm firm in his grasp.

"I insist," he said with more authority.

She slowly turned back to him, eyebrows raised. "You insist? You insist on following me back to my house so you can know where I live? You don't call the shots here," she pointed her index finger onto his chest. Anger clouded her features, no longer the seductress she had been. She had switched into survival mode in the blink of an eye. Elijah released her arm, surprised.

"Y/N," he muttered, "I overheard two men in the bar talking about following you." He looked into her eyes, "now I insist you let me walk you home," her eyes widened as he spoke, and then she shook her head quickly.

"Only because you heard those guys." She searched his eyes for the truth, but she found confusion instead. She began to walk again quickly, not waiting for him to catch up even though he did very quickly. She glanced at him from the corner of her eye.

"I should tell you.. I don't normally do that sort of thing," he said, trying to strike up a conversation.

She snorted in response, "Yeah, well, I do." And she rolled her eyes. Usually her flings were easier than this. They'd let her go without a fight. But it seemed like Elijah wanted to be around her. Her heart started to warm at the possibility that someone might care enough to break through her walls until she crushed that thought and reminded herself of her vow. "No one will ever treat me like that again," her thoughts seemed loud and Elijah looked at her.

"What did you say?" He whispered to her. She looked at him, confused and realized she had spoken her vow aloud. His eyes held a type of curious concern, and she couldn't decipher his intentions. That infuriated her.

"Nothing, just.. just stop talking," she clenched her fists. She was becoming uneasy with the amount of time she was spending with the man, after already achieving her goal with him. Elijah grabbed her arm and the memory of that night all those years ago flashed in her mind again for a quick second. She pulled her arm away with a gasp. She looked at him, the emotional pain evident on her face. His eyes held horror and pity, almost as if he remembered the memory with her. Fire burned in her as eyes she looked at him. Elijah had never been scared of a human before, but this one would do what it took to survive. A few tense seconds passed before her shoulders fell and she continued walking.

"I'm too tired for this right now," she said quietly. Pulling himself together, Elijah followed. He matched her pace and stuffed one of his hands into his suit pants pocket.

"I live close to here, if you would li-", he started but Y/N cut him off with a glare.

"I don't know who you think you are, but this," she stopped again and pointed back and forth between them "was a one time thing. I plan on never seeing you again. Thanks for some good dick, but I'm done with you now. I can make it home perfectly fine by myself."  She started walking once again. This time Elijah held back and raised his eyebrows as he watched her go. He was intrigued by her, by her past and he wanted to know more.

She on the other hand, had no interest in him whatsoever, although... he had something weird about him. The way he tried to command her to do things, and then seemed confused or annoyed when she didn't immediately comply. Or the blood on her neck after their sexcapade in the bathroom. She touched her hand to her neck as she walked and felt the puncture wounds that had started to scab. Handsome, and charming and dark. She didn't fear him by any means, she was determined to never fear a man again, but there was something dark within him and she didn't know if she had the means to combat it.

She looked over her shoulder as she walked home, and he was gone.

—

"So, who is Elijah?" Y/N asked drunkenly. It was toward last call at the bar a few weeks later and Sophie was wiping down the hard wood surface. Sophie rolled her eyes and looked at Y/N.

"You're here, drunk, asking about some guy instead of going home with your newest conquest. What gives?" Sophie took the empty glass that was between them and put it behind the bar. "Besides, if I told you who he is, you wouldn't believe me." Sophie said, quieter than before.

"I'm just interested, is all. He showed me a good time," Y/N slurred. She had lied to herself. She was interested and she couldn’t stop thinking about him.

"He's not your type. Actually, I don't think you have a type. You’ll fuck just about any man that breathes," Sophie grumbled.

The comment stung Y/N and she furrowed her eyebrows, "did someone shit in your Cheerios this morning? You're being a bitch," Sophie's jaw dropped as Y/N spoke. Y/N didn’t feel bad in the slightest.

"Out. Now." Sophie pointed at the door of the bar. Y/N started laughing as if Sophie was joking. "Get out."

Y/N stopped laughing and her face fell. "Aww come on, Soph. I'm just drunk it's fine," Y/N started to move off of her bar stool and tripped, almost tumbling to the ground. She started laughing again as Sophie stood her ground and watched her leave. Y/N stumbled onto the city street in the dark morning. Still laughing to herself, she began her walk home. She tripped over her own feet and began to fall to the ground, extending her arms out to catch herself, but the ground never came. Instead, a pair of strong arms wrapped around her. She looked up and saw two handsome, identical men. No, there was only one, she clarified for herself. She was much more drunk than she thought she was.

"Llllijah?" She slurred. He sighed and brought her back up to her feet.

"You're lucky I happened to be passing by," he told her.

"I can take care of m'self," she said, her eyes partially closed. He couldn't help but smile at how feisty she was, even in her current state. She pulled away from him and started walking again. "What, are you stalking me?" She spun around to face him, attempting to walk backwards and successfully falling on her butt in the middle of the street. Elijah rolled his eyes as she laid down on the ground, groaning. "Mm llliijah, look at the stars!" She weakly lifted her hand, pointing loosely at the sky. Elijah looked up toward the sky and was astonished to be able to see the stars so well. He looked back down at Y/N, her eyes glued to the stars. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply, already regretting what he was about to do. He stripped off his suit jacket put it over Y/N as he lowered himself to the cold street ground to lay next to her. He folded his hands behind his head and looked up at the stars with her.

"I've been thinking about you lately," he said to her quietly. She stayed still, continuing to look at the stars. A small diamond of a tear slid down her cheek but went unseen as Elijah continued. "I don't know you. And you don't know me. But, I think I'd like to take the time to know you," he slowly reached his hand to meet hers. She jerked her hand away and stood hastily, breathing fast. The coat slid off of her and unto the ground.

"Elijah, I don't know who you think you are. I am wild. I am fire. I am my own, and I will never be anyone's, ever again." her fight or flight response had sobered her up rather quickly and the fire in her eyes burned brightly. Elijah got up from the street, moving slowly.

"I quite enjoy your wild ferocity," he put his hands up in defense, trying to slowly move toward her. "I don't want you to be afraid or in pain," The walls around her heart were tall and dense, and he had the urge to tear them down and see her as she truly was. He couldn't help but feel that she would make one hell of a vampire.

Her chest rose and fell heavily. The single tear she had shed turned to multiple streaming down her cheeks and she ignored them. His eyes held a promise to her, one she didn't understand and was frustrated with. He owed her nothing, she owed him nothing. They were nothing. They were just two strangers. "I am not afraid of you. I'm not afraid of anyone. If anything, I'm the one people should be afraid of," she lifted her head defiantly.

His eyes held hers, his promise still in them. A glint of amusement flashed on his face. "I should be afraid of you?" He practically laughed at the idea and truth be told, Y/N’s bravery was faltering. He used to seem harmless, noble, a gentleman. As the conversation progressed, he seemed to become devilish and dark. Simultaneously dangerous and attractive. He took a step toward her but she held her ground, her chin still raised. He lifted his hand to her cheek and caressed her soft skin. She almost melted into his warm touch but held her ground. "You are fire. You are wild. You are your own. But I would like you to be mine as well," he wrapped his free arm around her waist, his other hand still caressing her cheek. She gasped and held onto him, suddenly off balance. Their eye contact hadn't broken once. "Let me show you what you could have if you chose me."

She puffed her chest out as he held her, recomposing herself. "I am not one to be tamed, Elijah. I wasn't born to obey or to let someone else be in control. I'm the one calling the shots here, not you." His eyes grew darker, and she couldn't tell if she was seeing things in the moonlight or if they had actually changed colours.

He leaned down, his face level with hers now and he breathed gently into her ear. He spoke softly, almost a whisper.

"Are you challenging me?"

-

Always taglist: @elijahs-wife @dumble-daddy @soul-revoir @akshi8278

Obey taglist: @njeancastro316 @alien-sida-2 @mikaelson-emma @raemikaelson @kpopgirlbtssvt @within-thehollowcrown @its-a-simply-me-thing bold means tumblr wouldn’t let me tag you!

[puddygeeks]

𝑾𝒂𝒓 𝑶𝒇 𝑯𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒔 - 𝑪𝒓𝒊𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝑴𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒔, 𝑺𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒓 𝑹𝒆𝒊𝒅 𝒙 𝑶𝑪 - 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓 7: 𝑪𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒔

Masterlist

Rating: Mature

Summary: 𝐴𝑙𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑑 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑛 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑟𝑒 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑝 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑢𝑙𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑙𝑒𝑓𝑡 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑙𝑒 𝑜𝑝𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠. 𝑊𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑢𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐵𝐴𝑈 𝑓𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑦, 𝑚𝑎𝑦𝑏𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑏𝑒𝑔𝑖𝑛 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑠𝑡.

Fandom: Criminal Minds

Pairing: Spencer Reid x OC

Status: Ongoing

LONG TERM ONGOING PROJECT :)

My writing is entirely fuelled by coffee! If you enjoy my work, feel free to donate toward my caffeine dependency: will work for coffee

𝑾𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔: 𝐺𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑎𝑑𝑢𝑙𝑡 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡, 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑔𝑔𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑤. 𝑃𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒 𝑏𝑒 𝑎𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑑𝑜𝑒𝑠 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 𝑐𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑐𝑎𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑢𝑟𝑑𝑒𝑟, 𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑑 𝑎𝑏𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 & 𝑠𝑒𝑥𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑎𝑏𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐵𝐴𝑈'𝑠 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘. 𝐼𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑚𝑦 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑙𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑒 𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑠 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑢𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑎𝑠 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑒, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑖𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑙 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑏𝑒 𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑑, 𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒 𝑙𝑒𝑡 𝑚𝑒 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤.

Eᴘɪsᴏᴅᴇ: Pʀᴇ Sᴇᴀsᴏɴ 1

Chapter Seven

It was a struggle to even drag myself out of bed the next morning, as the exertion of the past few days left me feeling thoroughly run down. Despite multiple washes and even attempting some treatments, I was convinced that I could still smell smoke in my long locks, and I resorted to tying it up in a high ponytail to at least keep it out of my face.

At this point, I was running low on office appropriate clothing as I hadn’t expected to be away for this long. I dressed in my last suitable outfit of a black shirt, plain white A-line skirt that sat just below my knees and a pair of black kitten heels. Tying a black bow around my ponytail, I quickly applied a natural looking amount of makeup to compensate for the soot covered appearance that the team last saw of me and then finished packing my things to leave.

I made my way down to the reception to check out, hoping that I would have time to grab a cup of tea before I had to meet the team, but at the very first moment that I had completed the relevant paperwork, I was distracted by a familiar sight. Reid seemed as if he had only just noticed me as he jumped to his feet from where he'd been sitting in the foyer and I approached him with a surprised smile.

“Dr. Reid. To what do I owe the pleasure?" I asked warmly, secretly pleased to have the opportunity to see him again.

He was dressed in a shirt and smart trousers, with a heavy cardigan over the top that gave him cute hipster vibes that I was sure he was oblivious to. He seemed troubled, his posture fidgety as he reached me and I worried that something bad might have happened to prompt this visit.

“You-you really don’t have to address me like that, Alice.” He muttered quietly, rubbing the back of his neck in an obvious display of discomfort. “Gideon always makes sure to introduce me as doctor, but it’s not something that I’m worried about.” He clarified, seeming bothered that he’d been presented in a pretentious light and I widened my eyes in surprise.

“Oh, sorry. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.” I replied, grimacing slightly as I spoke and he shook his head vigorously, as if I hadn’t done anything wrong. “What would you prefer?” I offered, wanting to ensure that I addressed him in a manner that he was confident with in future and he seemed taken aback by the question.

“Well, you asked me to call you by your first name, so it’s fine if you want to do the same. Or, Reid is fine too.” He answered quietly, forcing himself to meet my eyes for a fond smile and I returned it eagerly.

It seemed foolish, but I was strangely excited by the fact that he felt secure enough to correct me and I noticed a little flutter of butterflies in my stomach that I tried to deny. It would be awfully inconvenient for me to be attracted to him and so I ensured to quickly push any thoughts that were along those lines aside.

“Hotch has the car ready outside for you. He asked me to see if you were ready to go. Morgan’s helping Garcia to get everything packed up at the base, so they’ll meet us at the jet.” He explained, before taking one of my two cases to assist me and I chuckled at his well established manners.

“Thanks, Spencer. That was a struggle getting those downstairs on my own.” I admitted, feeling an extra strong flutter as I said his name and I was sure that I caught a slight flush in his cheeks too.

--⥈--

"What do you think, Sugar? Feel like a high class diva yet?" Penelope chanted as she settled herself in the seat opposite me in an overly dramatic posture and I giggled at her performance.

Admittedly, I'd never travelled on anything as luxurious as a jet before and honestly felt more out of place on board than I had at any previous time in my life. Fortunately, the company was excellent and the down to earth attitude of the team made the entire experience pleasant.

"I feel like the economy class flight home is going to seem especially torturous after this." I commented with a chuckle and Penelope nodded in agreement.

"I love the way you say that. We'd just call it coach." She remarked, flashing me a doting smile and I rolled my eyes at her continued fascination with my accent. “I don't get to come on the jet often, so it's still a novelty to me. I feel like one of those golden era movie stars, you know?” She described, gesturing as if she was fanning herself with some imaginary large feathered fan and I almost snorted in laughter at her.

“You look like one too, baby girl." Morgan crooned as he passed, tapping her on the shoulder fondly and she practically melted under his touch.

It was endlessly comical to me the way that she fawned over him, but I also appreciated the way that Morgan doted on her in return and was pleased that she had someone who treated her with the admiration that she absolutely deserved.

"Flattery will absolutely get you everywhere, you beautiful man." She drawled back, her voice husky and low as she examined him like a tiger stalking its prey and I shook my head in disbelief at her boldness. "You gonna be okay alone?" She asked, glancing back at Morgan immediately, like it hurt her to keep her eyes off him for too long.

"Go ahead. I have plenty to keep me busy." I announced as I pulled out my ereader from my flight bag and Penelope was out of her seat before I had even finished putting my glasses on.

The rest of the team chatted happily in the background as I lost myself in my story, enjoying some downtime for once. I couldn't remember the last time that I’d felt this relaxed and there was a strange sense of belonging that was present for me when in this team's company. Everything felt easier with them at my back, even facing down a burning building and it was unfamiliar to know that if I needed to turn back for help, then they would absolutely be there.

"I wouldn't have profiled you as an ereader kind of girl." Reid's voice remarked, pulling me from the pages and I glanced up to find him studying me with interest as he stood by my seat.

“Ah, you caught me.” I admitted, before slipping open my satchel to reveal a well worn copy of Pride and Prejudice. "I always keep old reliable nearby. Don't tell the others." I whispered, winking at him cheekily and a knowing smile filled his handsome face. "Honestly, nothing will ever replace real books for me. Something about the feeling of paper and the smell of the pages. It's unbeatable. But this allows me to take more of my library with me and I love to have a good selection.”

"Did you know that there is actually a term for that?” Reid began, gesturing with his hands as he fell into a flow. “It's called Bibliosmia, which is a combination of the Greek words for book and smell. The scent of books is caused by the chemical breakdown of compounds within the paper, which explains why older books smell better, as they contain a number of additional chemicals. Most importantly, many older books use Vanillin, which as the name implies gives a sweet scent." Reid lost himself in a ramble of facts, his passion clearly getting the better of him and though he seemed somewhat self conscious about the fact that he had done this, I had to admit that I found his knowledge fascinating.

"Really?" I breathed enthusiastically, hoping to encourage him to feel able to speak freely around me and he looked back up at me in uncertainty. "Well, now that I have a word for it, I can stop feeling like a lunatic, at least." I added, meeting his eyes with a gentle expression and he carefully sunk into the seat opposite me.

"It's actually a lot more common than people realise. You see, it's an extension of the connection between smell and memory. The particular scent of the book triggers a feeling of familiarity that allows you to relive parts of the experience from your first contact with it, instead of simply reading the story again." He explained, his demeanour seemed more relaxed now and I nodded in interest, encouraging him to continue. "A survey actually found that 71% of respondents don’t use eBooks at all and 76% preferred the traditional book. So, your love of the classic paperback is not something to feel weird about at all."

"That's good to know. I can carry my old school love of reading with pride now." I conceded, giving him an appreciative smile and he seemed shocked by my interest in what he had to say.

"What are you reading?" He enquired curiously and it was my turn to be shocked by his consideration.

In my experience, most people struggled to even pretend to care about my habits for an initial question, let alone to actually hold a conversation about it. I’d grown used to feeling like an outsider amongst people my own age and Spencer was a refreshing change of company.

"The String of Pearls." I confessed, pushing my glasses up to try to cover my blush and he raised his brows at me. "After the way that you talked about it at the base, I downloaded it. I thought it would be interesting to know more of the origin of my favourite musical. I'm already kind of agreeing with you, though. Without the additional context of the loss of his family and the continued tyranny of Judge Turpin on the cities most vulnerable, it honestly lacks the impact that the story I know has. It's simply meaningless horror, with little cultural relevance." I blurted, finding myself also becoming lost in words and once I realised that I was babbling, I felt my blush grow stronger.

When I could finally bring myself to peek at Spencer for his reaction, he didn’t seem bored, or lost as I was used to. In stark contrast to regular reactions to my literary passions, he seemed thrilled by my outburst, as if it had made his day. The way that he studied me now was as if he were lost for words and I quickly returned my attention to my reading in embarrassment.

"Do you mind if I sit here to read? You're quieter than the others.” Spencer asked, pulling an old looking book with a Latin title from his bag and I hummed in response.

"Of course I don't mind." I breezed, sneaking a look at him as he fidgeted to get comfortable. "I'm not sure what you're going to do for the rest of the flight, though.” I added, causing him to frown with confusion and I chuckled slightly under my breath. “I'm teasing, hun. I’m sure it won't take you more than ten minutes to finish that.” I elaborated, pointing to the small book in his hand and he smiled coyly at me.

"I'd usually play chess with Gideon." He revealed, gesturing to an inbuilt board at another table and I raised my brows in surprise to find such a fancy feature on a government jet.

"I'm afraid that I’m completely too out of practice to stand a chance against you." I laughed, unwilling to admit that I had always struggled with the game, despite my mothers best efforts to teach me and I certainly wasn't keen to embarrass myself by playing against an actual genius.

"Well, maybe later I can help you to recover some of your skills.” He suggested with sincerity and I was surprised by how little judgement there was in his voice. As always, he caught me off guard with his kindness.

--⥈--

Penelope's office was familiarly warm and welcoming, but even that atmosphere couldn't help me to make any progress with my reports. I massaged my forehead in an effort to engage my brain, but the words escaped me and I was rapidly becoming frustrated with myself. It had already been explained to me that I simply had to recap the events that occurred, but even that seemed to be too difficult of a task for me.

Penelope wandered back into the room to place a cup of tea beside me and glanced down at the blinking cursor on my completely blank document with a grimace.

"Ouch. Still no luck with your paperwork demons?” She questioned, before settling back at her computer comfortably, turning her seat so that she could still smile at me.

“I’ve never written a field report before.” I groaned, reading through the guidance notes that Spencer had given me again, despite having them practically memorised by now. “I don't know how to explain myself. I'm supposed to remain factual, but it's not that simple. There were emotional factors to why I made the decision that I did."

"Well, that’s easy. Just put I recklessly ran into a burning building like a crazy person, even though my friend told me not to.” Penelope commented, sneaking a meaningful look in my direction and I sighed with exhaustion.

"I'm serious, Alice. I'm worried about you. It's clear that you're not sleeping, or taking care of yourself, and now you're taking these completely insane risks. I don’t want to see you get hurt. I mean, even Morgan was super pissed with you for doing that. If you hadn’t looked so sorry for yourself in the ambulance, he would’ve ripped you a new one, let me tell you. The only reason that he hasn’t done so since is because he respects my wishes.” She revealed, her face growing serious as she examined me and I fidgeted in my seat awkwardly. It was hard enough to defend myself in paperwork, but doing so in the face of one of my dearest friends was another level of challenge.

"Come on, Nels. There was a little girl’s life at stake. I couldn’t just stand there and do nothing." I excused, feeling too uncomfortable to meet her eyes and she only seemed more frustrated by my insufficient response.

"The stakes are always high! That's the nature of our jobs. But you can’t just throw your life away for anyone who needs help, Ally! You matter too.” She insisted, placing one of her hands over mine soothingly to confirm that she wasn’t angry with me and when I looked up at her, I could recognise the care in her eyes.

"I’m sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." I conceded, allowing any defensiveness to melt away in the face of her compassion. "I've just been in kind of a rut since I joined Interpol. It feels so strange to be here and able to rely on people, compared to how isolated I feel there. I mean, I've never been face to face with a situation like that before and I couldn't walk away. I guess I've just grown accustomed to having no one give a damn about me. I didn't even consider the consequences.” I admitted, my voice dropping to barely more than a whisper and I heard Penelope take a sharp intake of breath at this confession.

"Oh, baby doll. Why didn't you tell me that it was getting to you so much?" She questioned, her usually bright face overtaken with concern and I felt as if I had rained on her parade by bringing my problems to her.

"I don't know. I'm not sure that I fully realised until I had this team to compare it to. Part of me felt like I got myself into this situation, so it was down to me to survive it." I reflected, feeling shameful that I'd allowed things to reach such a dire point and she seemed heartbroken by my circumstances.

"I promise, when I get back to France, I'll start figuring out what I can do to make things better. I’ll even send you reports on my progress if you want." I clarified, causing her to force a smile, despite the obvious concern that remained in her eyes.

"Well, if you make sure that you deliver on that promise, then I can help you with your little reporting problem. Come on.” She announced, hopping to her feet and pulling me along behind her.

Wherever she was taking me, I was not about to object to any help with my documentation and so I followed her obediently. Most of the team were focused on their own paperwork, as they sat at their individual desks surrounded by stacks of cases and I certainly didn't envy them for this part of their field roles.

We came to a stop right outside of someone’s private office and Penelope proved that there was such a thing as a cheerful knock, as she waited for a response.

"Hey, Jayge! We missed you in California." She called as she entered the space and I stepped inside cautiously, feeling as if I was invading her privacy. "I'm surprised you'd pass up a chance to get that close to that beautiful beach.” Penelope crooned, smiling genuinely at JJ and I could tell that she’d managed to strike up a strong bond with her too.

“Thanks, Garcia. It’s good to know that I was wanted, but there's no need for a press liaison in a case that is strictly off limits to the press and I have plenty to keep me busy here." JJ answered with a warm smile, before turning her attention to me curiously, prompting Penelope to reveal a guilty smile.

"Well, as the paperwork queen of the BAU, I thought you might be able to help Alice with a little reporting problem." Penelope suggested, making her best effort to appear downright adorable in the face of her already overworked colleague and JJ sighed as she turned to address me.

"I heard about what happened at the base. Hotch making you write up your report alone?" JJ enquired and I nodded back bashfully. "Yikes. That's a very parental punishment.”

"I just don't want to get it wrong. I already messed up enough.” I mumbled, feeling even more embarrassed now that I was discussing this with another agent and JJ simply smiled sympathetically at me.

"Sit down. You'll have to take me through what happened one step at a time and I’ll tell you how to word it."

--⥈--

It was an incredible relief when Hotch had signed off my report and confirmed that I was free to leave whenever I was ready. I'd already decided that I would like to spend at least another night in the area before I returned to life at Interpol and JJ advised that she could mark me as required under retainer for another couple of days, ensuring that Shepard would be unable to bully me into coming home immediately. Already, I was incredibly fond of the gracious members of this team and could easily understand why Penelope felt so settled here.

The prospect of saying goodbye to them felt far more daunting this time around and I knew that I would have to concentrate on keeping my emotions in check. Even simply gathering my belongings from Penelope's office gave me a strange sense of sadness.

Just as I finished packing away my laptop, I noticed a polaroid from my last visit of the two of us, which was leaning against a very decorative edition of the Alice in Wonderland book and I turned to Penelope curiously.

"You setting up a little shrine for me here?" I asked teasingly, attempting to mask how touched I actually was by the gesture and she turned her attention to the display with a smile.

"What can I say? This office feels empty without you now.” She stated solemnly, pulling at my already sensitive heart strings. "Originally, I just had the photo, but the book was actually a gift from our dearest Reid. He noticed that I was sad after you left and wanted to cheer me up. He's a good one, I’ll tell you." She divulged, causing my brows to shoot up in surprise and I couldn't contain a fond smile.

"That’s really sweet." I commented softly, glad that Penelope had this team to take care of her in my place. “Come on. Let's get this over with before I burst into tears." l advised, encouraging her out of the office where she rushed ahead of me to prepare the team for my departure.

Just as last time, they all moved from their desks to meet me in the lobby and I felt emotional even considering leaving their friendly faces. I'd even learned to interpret the vague differences in Hotch's similarly stern glares this time and knew that I would miss trying to tell the difference between them.

JJ reached me first, placing her hand on my arm affectionately.

"It's been great to have another chance to see you. Hopefully we can borrow you again soon.” She complimented, seeming genuine in her fondness of me and I smiled in return at her, appreciative for how attentive she always was. Before anyone else got a chance to speak, Penelope pushed past them all to grab me by the shoulders.

"Look, I promised myself that I wasn't gonna cry, but if I wait until last then I’m not going to be able to keep that, so I’m just gonna give you a squeeze.” She paused to pull me into a tight embrace, making me chuckle in surprise. "I’m going to say farewell, my love. And I’m gonna go back to my office to toughen myself up.” She blurted, leaning back to give me a watery smile, before she rushed out of sight. Morgan looked after her with concern, then forced himself to return his attention to me.

"Bring it in, Poppins.” He crooned, holding out his hand and when I took hold of it for a shake, he pulled me into a brief hug. "You did good work here. You know you're welcome back any time. We'll keep a seat free for you." He added, a wide welcoming grin plastered over his face and I felt myself tearing up at his kind words.

Him and JJ exchanged a knowing look, before joining forces to approach Penelope's office and I was glad to know that she had someone around to comfort her once I had gone. Hotch stepped forward to shake my hand in the gap, seizing a chance to speak before things got any more emotional.

“Thank you for your assistance on this case, Alice. We wouldn’t have been able to bring Amanda home safely without you.” He praised me as I accepted the handshake and I was sure that I could recognise a hint of a smile in his expression. "JJ says you're not heading home for another couple of days?"

“That's right, Sir. I have family in the area that I'm well overdue to visit." I reported, wanting to make it clear that I wasn't planning to just hang around the BAU office like a stalker.

"Well, just give me a call if there's anything that I can do to smooth out your return to Interpol." He offered, allowing his kind-hearted nature to show and I couldn't find the words to adequately express my gratitude for his support.

"Enjoy your time off." He added, before parting from me to leave me alone with Spencer, who was the last person still waiting to say goodbye. He stood with his hands in his pockets, smiling at me bashfully.

"It seems strange to say goodbye to you." He admitted, moving to tuck his hair behind his ear nervously. "You fit here.” He clarified and I hummed thoughtfully, glad that he felt this way. He paused with an uncertain expression, before clearing his throat to speak again.

"Actually. If you have a second, I have a parting gift." He muttered, seeming as if he had struggled to decide whether to mention this or not and I raised my brows at him.

“Something you said on the plane." He added as he rushed back to his desk to grab an item from his drawer and shuffled back to me, holding out a book. "It's a classic. If you're interested in brushing up your skills, you may as well learn from the best. I've already got it memorised, so you can keep it.”

I glanced down at the cover to find that he'd given me a pristine copy of Bobby Fischer's My 60 Most Memorable Games and I smiled at the gesture. It was charmingly thoughtful that he wanted to foster my enjoyment in something that he loved and I resolved to use the gift to develop my chess game ready for the next time that we saw each other.

"Thank you, Spencer. That's really kind of you.” I answered, a genuine smile filling my face and he seemed embarrassed by my gratitude. “Next time that I visit we'll have to play.” I added, causing his face to light up with a grin that made my stomach feel fizzy.

"I'd like that."

[doctorgerth]

Here i am, coming out of my shyness, leaving my anon mask behind 😈 I've been feeling a little down lately so i'd love something sweet, fluff, with Shanks, but still romantic. Maybe how we get together? Like, how it gets serious, a confession, something like that, but whatever you feel like will be good 🥰 (Teal anon, you can call me Liru too) Thanks for all your work!!! 💕✨

Shanks is...a goofball when he’s drunk. And just such a cheesy man in general. At least in my head anyway lol I had lots of fun writing for him. I don’t get to do that a lot, so thanks for this request! Hope you enjoy and that it helped cheer you up a bit! Proud of you for conquering your shyness 😋

"Liru, c’mere.” Shanks motioned for you in silly manners and you knew well enough that he was drunk. Patting his lap, you rolled your eyes with a small smile and sat down, no matter how embarrassed you were at the notion. His arms wrapped around you instantly and he nuzzled his face into your back like a child. The crew members that shared the table with their captain couldn’t help but laugh at the scene before them and that made the all too familiar warmth blossom along your cheeks. Shanks noticed immediately and beamed brightly with that infectious smile, “Aren’t they the cutest?!” 

“Shanks, stop...” You whined as you attempted to cover your face and wriggled in his lap. His grip on you was firm however and he shook his head violently.

“No way, look guys, look at my little shortcake. Tell them how pretty they are!” 

You’d never get used to that, what was supposed to be endearing, nickname. It always made your stomach flip in the weirdest ways and you weren’t sure if you actually liked it or not. What you knew for sure, was that Shanks would be the death of you. Sober Shanks was enough of a handful, but drunk Shanks constantly had you flushing bright red from his shameless advances. 

“Woah, woah! So you’re the captain’s lover now?” Lucky Roo laughed loudly and you whined even further as you jabbed Shanks in the ribs with your elbow.

“I never said that.” 

Shanks pouted, “Hey! That’s mean! Then why were you all kissy with me last night?” Another jab to the ribs and even drunk Shanks got the hint to shut up.

The entire table laughed and you joined them awkwardly, hoping everyone was just laughing off. It was still a mystery to you whether the crew knew of you and Shanks after all. It was true that you weren’t his. It’s not like he had officially asked anyway. It didn’t matter how many kisses you shared or how tightly he held you in his bed at night. He had yet to ask you officially, properly, and you were beginning to assume that what you two had was nothing more than physical. Though you two had shared many heartfelt conversations countless times before and the emotional connection was more than evident.

The rest of the night was long and Shanks continued to tease you just to rile you up. You didn’t mind, no matter if your actions said otherwise. Shanks’ playful nature with you was one of the many things that had you head over heels for him. It made your heart thump wildly the way he’d look at you and it amazed you at how it never faltered whether he was drunk or sober. There was always that twinkle of adoration in his eyes, paired with that toothy smile that made your heart melt every single time. And you easily noticed that he always gave that look to you alone.

You were unsure what to think of it, especially as he was giving you that look now while you tucked him gently into bed.

“So...you won’t be mine?” His smile drooped into a dramatic frown as he easily complied to you fluffing his pillow and pulling the blankets over him. 

You sighed exasperatedly but smiled down at him nonetheless, “Maybe tomorrow, Shanks.” He’d probably forget this entire exchange by the morning anyhow. 

“Well I’d better get to sleep then, so tomorrow will get here faster.” He sounded like a kid on Christmas Eve and it only made your heart yearn for him even more. If there was anything you knew about Shanks, it was that he never said anything he didn’t mean. Not even when he was drunk. So if he was so eager to claim you as his, why wouldn’t he do so? 

You left his room with further confusion, and you knew you were probably over complicating the situation. You just desired to feel a sense of control over your relationships, and with Shanks it was nearly impossible to control your intense whirlwind of a romance. It was a nice change and you loved what you had together, but you needed clarity. You needed to know what you two were. As you laid your head upon your pillow, you struggled to fall asleep as your head raced with possible scenarios, both good and bad, and suddenly you were very nervous and probably unprepared for tomorrow. 

The next day came and Shanks was nowhere to be found. You’d intended to wake him up in the morning with water and hangover medicine, but you only found his bed empty. When you returned into the hallway, you felt a hand on your back and instantly peered up to see Benn towering over you, “Captain said we’re having an important meeting. We gotta go.” 

You followed the herd of the crew as they collected onto the deck and your eyes instantly caught Shanks’. He smiled down at you and waved excitedly which made you wonder if he remembered your conversation last night after all. 

“Now that everyone is here, I have an important announcement to make.” Shanks called out while the crew listened intently. “It’s come to my attention that there’s been a rumor going around that Liru and I are together.” Your face burned instantly as all eyes fell on you and you could hear the murmurs of the crew. Just what was Shanks up to?

“I just wanted to take the time to squash those rumors.” You swore you could hear the sound of your heart breaking over everything else around you. Your skin grew cold as the many piercing eyes remained on you and the murmuring only continued, “And hopefully make them a reality. If Liru will have me.”

The crew emitted a low and amused ooh that tingled your body to its core. Your eyes nearly bulged out of your head as his words echoed in your brain, slowly making less and less sense as they repeated like a broken record. You watched with bated breath as he descended the stairs and made his way toward you, the crowd easily clearing the way for their captain. When he stood before you he took your trembling hands in his, giving you the look.

“So, it’s tomorrow. Whaddya say? Will you be mine?” 

Pause. Both for dramatic effect and so you could regain your composure. Just as his confident smile began to fade, you took his face between your hands and inhaled a shaky breath.

“Yes, you dummy. You kept me waiting long enough!” Without thinking twice, you pulled him down into a passionate kiss. He easily met you halfway, lifting you up off your feet to pull you as close as possible into him in eager excitement to finally seal the deal. The crew cheered wildly around you, already setting up for another big celebration, but all you could focus on was the familiar softness of Shanks’ lips on your own. His lips now finally yours to claim.

[lovely-angst]

Hi ! Ahem. So , I really like your work and I would be really happy if you would write an angst scenario. The girl in class who has literaly no friends bc of trusts issues has a crush on Oikawa but would never admit it. I haven't thought about the rest but I'd like to leave it up to you. HIT ME WITH YOUR ANGSTY ANGST . Thank you in advance !

I was writing this but it deleted on me. Great. 

THIS TURNED TO BE SUPER LONG, WHOOPS. UNDER THE CUT.

“Oikawa-san! Good luck at practice!” 

Hearing the fangirls’ loud squealing, you jumped in your seat before turning your head towards the classroom windows where the girls gathered. Among the sea of girls, you could see Oikawa smiling and politely waving to the girls as he tried to make his way through the crowd.

You furrowed your brows, what was so good about him anyway? 

It had been a few hours since school had ended and you were the last one in the class. Sighing from feeling exhausted, you stood up and gathered your homework in your hands before walking over towards the window to close it.

You were usually in charge of cleaning up the classroom after your class, you didn’t mind it but it would sometimes get lonely.

Looking out the window, your eyes glanced down at a student walking towards the gates. He looked familiar to you, even from afar. 

“Good work today Oikawa-san!” You heard someone shout towards the male and you squeaked, letting go of your papers by surprise. Gasping, you tried to reach out for your papers but they had already flown out of your hands.

Hearing papers falling, Oikawa turned around just to be smacked in the face by one. Pulling it away, he looked around and noticed you by the window, looking down at the papers distressed. 

It wouldn’t hurt to help a lady in distress.

“Don’t worry! I’ll bring these up to you!” Oikawa shouted as he ran towards the bottom of the school where the papers had landed. Your eyes widened and you waved your hands in response, “I-It’s okay! I can grab them myself…” Your voice faded away as Oikawa ignored your words and gathered them all up, heading over towards the third floor where you were at. 

It didn’t take long before Oikawa made it towards your classroom, handing you your papers back. Blush formed on your cheeks, as you gently took the papers from his hands. 

“I’m sorry for making you come all this way just to hand me my papers back,” You state, bowing politely. Oikawa chuckled before shaking his head, “You’re welcome, I’m just glad I could help a cute girl like yourself.” 

Your blush deepened but a small smile made its way onto your face, “I’m more clumsy than cute, but thank you.” 

“I should be on my way, get home safe,” Oikawa replied walking over towards the door. bowing again you nodded and walked over towards the door along with him. “Thank you again Oikawa-san.” 

You couldn’t stop thinking about him the rest of the day.

Unfortunately, Oikawa never talked to you again that week. Shaking your head, you placed your hands over your burning cheeks as you looked out the window during class, “Oikawa would never see you as anything more than a fangirl,” You said trying to convince yourself. 

Here you were again, in class alone. The sun shone through the room beautifully, but it would be better to share this moment with someone. As soon as class ended, the students would all leave to their clubs leaving you alone to clean up for the following morning.

Walking up to the chalkboard, you took an eraser and began cleaning the board like you usually did at the end of the day. Hearing the door slide open, you turned around only to be met with beautiful chocolate brown eyes. 

“O-Oikawa-san?” Holding the eraser close to your chest, Oikawa smiled and shut the door behind him as he entered. “Careful! You’ll get your uniform dirty like that,” He informed, pointing towards the eraser in your hands.

Gasping, you set the eraser down and furiously dusted your chest to get the powder off. “What are you here for? Did you need something?” You asked as you picked the eraser up again and continued to clean the board. 

“No not really,” he began, looking around the room, “I just wanted to talk with you a bit.” 

Stopping in your tracks, you slowly turned your head around towards him with arched brows, “What?“ Oikawa smiled and took a seat towards the front of the room, closer to where you were.

“You’re always after school alone, I was curious.” Oikawa admitted and you looked at him before glancing down at the floor, “This is what I do, by myself every day.”

“Don’t you have friends that can help you?” He asked, but you shook your head finishing up the board. “No, not really.”

“Why? Friends shouldn’t leave one person up to a job like this.” He replied back more serious. “I don’t have any friends, that’s why.” You shot back. Your back facing Oikawa in silence. Oikawa didn’t respond back and you sighed, “I’m not like you Oikawa-san…I don’t have people who love me like they love you. You’re surrounded by so many people, I’m jealous.”

“How can someone like you not have any friends? You have a big heart,” Oikawa replies and you couldn’t help but blush. Pursing your lips you set the eraser down, “Things happened a few years back and because of that, I don’t have any friends. I have big trust issues and just because you’re talking to me like you actually care doesn’t mean we’re friends. I’m especially cautious around people like you who can hurt me easily.” 

Oikawa was taken back by your sudden statement, a little hurt in the process but he understood where you were coming from. Oikawa stood up and walked over to the small podium the teacher had in class. Leaning on it with his elbows, he leaned forward towards you with a small smile, “Then you wouldn’t mind if I came to visit you every day here would you?”

And he kept his word.

For the next week, Oikawa visited you after school every day, helping you clean up time to time and starting up friendly conversations. You were always looking forward towards the end of the day with Oikawa. He was your first friend in who knows how long, he was also your first love.

“(Name)-chan, I have a game tomorrow can you come by and watch?” Oikawa asked, cleaning up the right side of the chalkboard while you worked on the left. “Do I have to? I’m not good with crowds..” You replied honestly, a little embarrassed. “Please? It would mean a lot to me,” Oikawa pouted and you looked away, “Just this game?” You asked, still looking away from the setter.

“I can’t make promises, so please?” He whined again making you sigh, “Fine, just for you.” 

But when you stood outside of the large gymnasium, you knew you made a mistake. “Why did I agree to this..” You said to yourself as you finally took a step forward and walked inside, looking around for the correct gym that Oikawa had informed you.

“(Name)-chan! There you are!” Oikawa shouted as he ran up to you. Letting out a sigh of relief you walked over and met him in the middle. “You look so cute in your casual clothing!” He casually complimented making you flush. “S-Stop that!” “Anyways, let me show you where we are. I think you were lost.” He joked causing you to slap his arm.

Settling down in the audience after Oikawa had left to go back onto the court, you were excited to watch him play, to say the least. And you were not disappointed at all; he was just as amazing as you hoped he would be and more. How were you going to stop this racing heart of yours?

After the game, you quietly walked down to congratulate him on his win. His fangirls gave you side-eyes which made you a little uneasy after you had been hanging out with Oikawa for so long. 

“Ah! (Name)-chan! Did you see me?” Oikawa chirped as he left his team and jogged over towards you. His smile caused your heart to melt and you couldn’t help but smile, “Yeah, you were great.” 

Seeing you smile at him like that, Oikawa couldn’t take his eyes away from you. Reaching down for your hands, he took them in yours and your surprised eyes met his serious ones.

“O-Oikawa what are you do-”

“I love you.”

Your eyes widened as you tried to read his emotions. You’d never seen him so serious like this before. His brown eyes focused on yours, his soft and sweaty hair coming down in front of his eyes, his eyebrows furrowed seriously as he large hands held yours tightly.

Looking around, your eyes ran past all of his angry and shocked fangirls before they glanced at his teammates. 

“(Name) of all people?” “She’s so weird,” “She doesn’t even have friends,” “He must’ve felt bad.”

Your breathing began to get heavy and you let go of his hands forcefully, pulling your hands into your chest. “O-Oikawa I-This is..” Clenching your eyes shut, you quickly turned away and ran out the building, leaving Oikawa there dejected.

As you lied on your bed, you clenched your chest in guilt. “Why did I do that, why did I run away? How could I do that to him?” Tears slid down your cheeks as you hugged your pillow tightly, how were you going to face him now?

When you attended back at school, everybody had their eyes on you. Hanging your head down, you walked towards your seat and tried to keep all the negative thoughts out of your mind. 

The end of the day came slower than it ever had but there was still a chance Oikawa would come and help, maybe talk out what had happened at the game. 

But as the clock ticked by, Oikawa didn’t show up. And that went on for two weeks. 

Enough was enough, you couldn’t handle this anymore. There was just a misunderstanding that Oikawa didn’t understand. Walking out of your ‘little cleaning shift’, you ran down towards the gate were Oikawa would leave every day. 

“Oikawa-san!” You shouted as you ran down towards him, and to your surprise, he turned around and smiled. You smiled back before slowing down into a walk to which he reciprocated. “I just wanted to talk to you about the game, there was just a misunderstanding.” You said with a relieved smile, just as you and Oikawa were about to meet in the middle, Oikawa walked passed you leaving you standing there alone. “Hey, Iwa-chan!” 

Your heart clenched, “I-I’m…alone again..” 

You should’ve known it was too good to be true. Why did everything good that happened in your life get shot down? How did you come all the way back to square one? 

As you stood in front of the chalkboard with the eraser in your hand, you heard the door slide open. Quickly turning around, you apologized to Oikawa right away, “Oikawa, I’m sor-”

You quickly cut yourself off as you watched three girls silently come your way. “C-can I help you?” You asked a little intimidated. They all surrounded you against the chalkboard and all you could do was look down in fear.

“We just want to talk, that’s all,” One girl said with an overly friendly tone that sent a chill down your spine. “So, Oikawa confessed to you huh? Wow, must be nice.” She continued as your eyes focused on your feet. 

“I-I,” You started but she reached her hand out and pulled on your hair, making you squeak. “You’re nothing but a nuisance to him. Do you think he would truly like a loner like you?”

Tears dropped down your eyes, of course, he would never. Who would ever love someone like me? 

“Of course I would,” A voice said loudly and the girls jumped back in shock, staring at the male by the doors. “I would never love anybody who bullies other people though.”

“O-Oikawa-san, we were just…” One tried to explain, but they ran away in tears before they could say anything. 

The room was silent between the two of you. Your glassy eyes looked up at his before you turned back around towards the board and picking up the eraser.

“They’re right you know,” You started first, “I’m just a loner that you should’ve never met.” A sob escaped your lips and your hand with the eraser eased down. “I hate myself!” 

Suddenly Oikawa’s arms were around you and your head was gently placed on his chest. “It was my fault, wasn’t it? My confession? I scared you, I shouldn’t have put you on the spot like that. I left you alone for two weeks, I was selfish,”

You cried in his chest as your arms wrapped around his frame. Oikawa held you there as long as you needed, supporting you when he hadn’t before.

“I love you too Oikawa,” You mumbled in his chest. Oikawa’s eyes widened as he pulled you away. “You what?”

“I’m not saying it again!” you cried as you covered your face in his chest again. Oikawa smiled lovingly as he held you, “I’m sorry about before. I love you too (Name), so much.”

“Are you going to come back to erase the board with me?” You asked hopefully and Oikawa nodded with his warm smile, “Of course.”

[sunshineoptimismandangels]

Truth or Dare

Pairing: Klaine Status: Complete Author: sunshineoptimismandangels Words: 2,126  Summary: Kurt accepts a dare from Mercedes and Rachel only to find himself embarrassed in front of his longtime crush! (Written for this tumblr prompt, but I’d read the story first.)  

Read on: AO3 | ff.net  Kurt strode into the drugstore with confidence, his shoulders back and his head high. If he was going to do this, he was going to do it with aplomb. Mercedes and Rachel were waiting in the car for him and he knew they were giggling and talking smack. They probably thought he'd chicken out. Well, if that's what they were thinking, then they'd seriously underestimated Kurt Elizabeth Hummel. He wasn't about to back down from a dare. In fact, he was so determined he didn't even hear the cheerful, "Good evening!" called to him from the front counter. Kurt was on a mission.  

His eyes flitted over the signs hanging from the ceiling. "Hair Care", "Office Supplies", "Adult Health". Kurt nodded to himself, that was his target. Kurt hurried to the back corner of the store, past tampons and adult diapers until he found a whole row of what he was looking for. Condoms. Kurt gritted his teeth at the sheer amount of options available to him. All kinds and sizes, colorful, plain, with ribbings, and without. Kurt had no idea what he was doing here. Luckily, the point wasn't to find the perfect condom. It was just to buy a lot of them – twenty to be exact.

Rachel had dared him to walk into the corner drug store and buy twenty condoms and nothing else. Easy. As far as dares go it wasn't a bad one. Rachel had even fronted the cash.

Kurt just started grabbing blindly until he had an armload of condoms – not even caring what kind they were, just that he had enough. He hurried back to the counter ignoring the judgmental stare of a middle-aged woman nearby. It wasn't until he was almost to the front of the store that he realized the total catastrophe this mission had become.

There standing behind the only open register was The World's Cutest Cashier. That's actually what Kurt called him when talking about him, and yes, he talked about the cashier at his local drugstore. Mercedes and Rachel knew all about him. The World's Cutest Cashier had dark curly hair, ridiculously thick, but adorable eyebrows, hazel eyes that made Kurt feel like melting on the spot and a smile that sent shivers down his back.

This couldn't be happening. The World's Cutest Cashier usually worked weekend days; he was never here so late. Kurt wasn't a stalker, but yes, he'd paid attention to The World's Cutest Cashier's schedule. And if Kurt had come in a few times for milk, paper towels, or chips that he didn't really need just because The World's Cutest Cashier was working, could anyone blame him?

Now he wished The World's Cutest Cashier were anywhere but here. Kurt looked down at the pile of condoms in his arms and out the front doors where Rachel's VW Beetle was parked. He could either face the girls having failed his dare… or walk up and buy condoms from the boy he'd been crushing on for months.

"Come on, Kurt." He whispered to himself, "You are many things, but a quitter is not one of them." Kurt took a deep breath and walked the rest of the way to the front counter. "Hi." The World's Cutest Cashier greeted with a dazzling smile as Kurt approached him. Kurt could already feel his cheeks start to heat up. "Hi." Kurt managed to get out before dumping his armload on the counter. "I'd… like to butt these." The cashier looked at him funny, a bewildered grin on his face. "You'd like to...?" It took Kurt a moment to realize what he'd said. "Buy! Oh god. Not that..." Kurt felt his face flush and his throat go dry. "I'd like to buy these. Um... may I please buy these?" Kurt groaned internally, why was he even asking? What else was he going to do? Throw them in the air like confetti? "Oh, you want to buy these?" The man looked at the pile and then at Kurt, his lips twisting up in an unsuppressed smile. "I…" Kurt cleared his throat, "Yes please." His voice came out far more high-pitched than he would have preferred. Kurt glanced at the cashier's nametag it read, "Kenneth." Not that his name was Kenneth – Kurt had already discovered that he had a different nametag nearly every time Kurt come in. That's why Kurt just referred to him as The World's Cutest Cashier in his head. The cashier nodded his head, biting a lip as his eyes danced and he very clearly held back his laughter.

Oh god, if the floor opened up at that moment and swallowed Kurt whole he'd thank it for a merciful death.

"Um..." The World's Cutest Cashier held up a Trojan Fire & Ice condom and scanned it as Kurt's cheeks went from warm to burning. The next few were all the same and he was able to scan one and put in the quantity in the register – and Kurt was kicking himself for not getting all the same thing, at least it would have been faster.

The World's Cutest Cashier was barely containing himself now and the next condom in the pile was an XXX-Large. The cashier glanced up from the condom and looked Kurt dead in the eye – a smirk on his stupid, handsome face. Kurt felt like he was on fire. If it were possible for a human being to spontaneously combust, this would be how it happened.

"They aren't for me!" Kurt blurted out. "I mean… they… I'm buying them, but don't even know what I'm doing." Kurt hooked a finger under his collar and pulled at it, he was so hot all of a sudden. "I'm a baby penguin – that's what my friends call me because I don't… I've never… I don't use condoms. No! No. I don't mean I don't use them. I would, obviously. You need to be safe. That's what they're for… I..." Kurt felt like he was going to burst into flames. "What I mean is I've never even had sex!" Kurt's hand flew to his mouth clamping over it as his words rang out.

The World's Cutest Cashier's eyes widened and he was very clearly doing everything he could to not laugh.

Kurt lowered his hand slowly, forcing himself to be calm. "What I mean to say is, this is all for a dare."

That seemed to be the last straw, the cashier burst out laughing, a huge grin on his face as he leaned over the counter, his hands flat on the surface bracing himself.

"I… we are having a sleepover and I chose dare," Kurt said his voice hushed and embarrassed. "I should have chosen truth."

The man was still laughing and Kurt's face was still aflame. That was it. He'd never be able to use this drugstore again. In fact, he was going to have to move. Out of the country. He'd live in a yurt somewhere in the wilderness and never show his face again.

The cashier finally seemed to get ahold of himself, his laughter dying down. He ran a hand across his face and then glanced up at Kurt through his dark eyelashes, his beautiful eyes sparkling and Kurt's stomach swooped. He was just so gorgeous. Kurt was in love.

"I'm sorry. I am really sorry." The cashier said, his voice still trembling slightly with laughter. "I didn't mean to make you blush." He motioned to Kurt's face and Kurt had to look away for a moment. "Did you know when you blush even your ears turn red?"

"Oh god." Kurt groaned starting at the floor.

"No no! Please don't be embarrassed! It's adorable."

Kurt looked up at that and found that the cashier was sending him what almost seemed like a flirty smile.

"Adorable?"

"Yes."

"Oh." Kurt was blushing again for a completely new reason. "Well, thank you, Kenneth."

The cashier scrunched his forehead in confusion for a moment before looking down at his nametag. "Oh! No… there is a whole box in the back of name tags left after people quit. I change it out, but um…" He held out a hand. "My name is Blaine."

Kurt reached out for his hand, "Blaine." It was a beautiful name. "I'm Kurt."

"It a pleasure to meet you… Kurt." Blaine smiled and the way he said his name made Kurt's toes curl. "Again, I'm sorry to embarrass you. I wasn't trying to be mean but uh…" He held up a condom that read, "Pleasure Shaped". Kurt couldn't even imagine what that meant. "It's really funny."

Kurt smiled and chuckled. It was pretty funny. "Yeah. It is."

"You sure you want to buy all these?"

"My friends are waiting in the car and there is no way I'm backing out now."

"Well then," Blaine said as he continued ringing him up, "I'll give you the employee discount. It is the least I can do."

Kurt beamed at him. Rachel was paying, but still, it was a kind offer. "Thank you!"

Blaine rang up the last condom looking at it at the same time Kurt did. This one was, "ribbed for her pleasure".

"So there's no special 'her'?" Blaine asked as he swept the condoms into a bag.

"What?" Kurt's eyebrows lifted, "Oh. No. No no. There's no one special, and if there were it would, um… be him. Not her."

Blaine smiled broadly. "Oh."

"Yeah."

"Listen, Kurt, I hope this isn't out of line, but I've noticed you in here before so I'm thinking maybe you live close by?"

"You've noticed me?"

"Uh... yeah." Blaine chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck and it was his turn to blush now. "Maybe… maybe we could get coffee sometime? I'd love to buy you coffee. Or um… tea…"

Kurt couldn't believe what he was hearing. Was Blaine asking him out? "Are you asking me out?" Kurt blurted before he had a chance to stop himself.

"Yes. Not very well apparently." Blaine winked." But that is what I'm trying to do."

Kurt laughed, feeling so happy he couldn't help it. "Then yes. Yes, I would love to go out with you."

Blaine smiled back and they both stood there a moment looking at each other with ridiculous grins on their faces.

"Oh." Blaine reached into the front pocket of his apron to bring out his phone. "Can I get your number?"

"Yes! Of course." They exchanged numbers and Kurt paid for his… purchases.

"I'll text you when I get off work. We could go out tomorrow?"

"Perfect. That's perfect."

"I honestly can't wait."

Kurt practically skipped to the exit. He turned around at the door to see Blaine watching him, his eyes bright and a sweet smile on his lips. Kurt waved and then ducked out the door laughing and feeling giddy.

He got back into Rachel's car and the girls looked at him expectantly.

"Well, what happened?"

"That took forever."

Kurt bit his lip, "I have a date."

"What?"

"No way." Mercedes gasped, grabbing his hand. "How? With who?"

"The World's Cutest Cashier. His name is Blaine."

"No!" Both girls shouted in delight.

"Go. Drive. He might be able to see us sitting in the car." Kurt laughed. "I'll tell you everything back at the house."

Rachel pulled out of the parking lot talking a mile a minute, but Kurt wasn't paying attention. All he could think about was the fact that he had a date. A date with Blaine – and enough condoms to fill his nightstand drawer. Oh god, he wasn't going to put those two thoughts together. No, he had a date for coffee and maybe he was still a baby penguin, but that was fine. He had everything he wanted right now, - a chance to finally get to know The World's Cutest Cashier.