#I tried to take a nap and almost fell asleep but didn’t. and now I have to write

[everymanpdf]

save me post-8pm 200mgs of caffeine.

[fangirl-dot-com]

☀️Sons, Sons, and More Sons

Pairing: Charles Leclerc x Reader Genre: Fluff/SMAU Summary: Ollie, Leo, Liam, who's next Oscar? Oh.

inspired by @pucksandpower 😊

TAG LIST IS CLOSED

“CHARLES!”

The said Monegasque, who had been “innocently” snuggling his four-legged son, winced at the force and volume of your voice. 

He was currently going through everything that might have upset you in the past 20 minutes from when he got home to you just now getting out of the shower. Did he leave the toilet seat up again? Or did he forget to sort the laundry? Or maybe he didn’t clean up Leo’s toys from the bedroom? 

“Why is my Twitter blowing up?” 

Oh. That’s why. 

He whispered to Leo, “I’m in for it now.” 

And then in a louder voice he yelled, “Yes mon amour?” 

You rounded the corner of the hallway and stopped in the opening to the living room, crossing your arms. “Care to tell me why I’m getting tagged in almost every Twitter post about you adopting Oscar?” 

You wanted to break at the puppy eyes that your boyfriend was currently giving you, but you needed to stay strong. You needed to show that a man could not sway your feelings. Too bad that man was Charles Leclerc, the one that men and women alike fell to worship the ground beneath his feet. 

You couldn’t break. 

Charles brought his hand up to ruffle his hair, something he did to express some nervousness. 

“Cheri, it was just a joke. Oscar somehow finds heritage in a lot of countries. He just wanted to keep the joke going.” 

“So you decided to ‘adopt’ him so he can have another home race?” 

“Maybe?” 

“Don’t you already have enough sons anyway? I think four is too many or our house is going to overflow on family night.” 

Charles’s eyebrows pinched in confusion. “Four?” 

Now it was your turn to smirk. “Yes, four. Or are you too busy having fun with Leo to be a present father to your other two?” 

Charles tried to wrack his brain about who could be the other two. 

“Ollie?” 

“Bingo.” 

He leaned back into the couch, hands still gently petting Leo who had decided to fall asleep in the middle of his parent’s squabbles. The golden puppy was content on his dad’s warm chest, the rise and fall rocking him to sleep. 

The Ferrari driver sighed. “I don’t even know.” 

You waved your phone at him. “Twitter might be able to help you. I need to get dressed since I was rudely interrupted. I hope you find out before they get here for dinner.” 

Charles shot up making Leo yelp away from his nap. Now that he was really looking at you, he realized that you were just in a towel. A blush formed on his face, still having those boyish thoughts that he believed he was better than that. 

You walked over and bent down, face getting closer to his. 

Ah. You were going to forgive him and all would be right in the world once your lips met his. You wanted to laugh as you saw his eyes flutter shut, lips slightly puckering. 

Charles was wondering what was taking you so long when your finger touched his lips. His eyes shot open and he definitely did not whimper. You looked down at your fur-baby and gently picked him up, bringing Leo to your chest. 

“Twitter. Figure it out Leclerc.” 

Now a bit sullen, he watched you walk away. 

“Je t’aime!” 

He was responded to with a middle finger and the bedroom door slamming. A chuckle made its way from his chest as he brought his phone out. If there was one thing that you two did well, it was dramatics. 

Twitter was immediately opened once he got his phone out. He scrolled through all the tags before giving up and opening your profile. He winced at the sight of the white background, cursing his phone for updating and not keeping the dark profile. 

However, he couldn’t contain his laugh as he saw your new updated tweet. He leaned his head back, still giggling to himself. 

Charles knew that you two wanted kids at some point. But between his Formula 1 career and your business on the uprise, children really wouldn’t work well now. But deep down, he liked the idea of having a few grid kids. 

He took a minute to stop giggling before he continued his search. His eyes widened as he stopped on one of the family trees that some fan made. 

There was Leo, adopted by you and him. 

Then Ollie, who fans say that Charles conceived himself somehow. 

Oscar was newer, but still had the adopted dotted line. 

And then . . . 

Ooohhhhhhh, so that’s who he was missing. 

You took that moment to come out of the bedroom, hair now dry and fluffy from your Dyson. Leo was still in your arms, looking more awake than he had when he was with Charles. You sat down next to him, Charles taking the opportunity to put an arm around you, bringing you in closer. 

“You smell good amour.” 

You turned and smiled, leaning in to finally give him a kiss after a long day. 

“Thank you. It’s the lotion that you bought me.” 

He let out a low hum and just kept you in his arms. Leo was squirming a bit before he finally flopped over and settled in between your two bodies. 

“I figured out who our other son is.” 

Your head now rested in the crook of his neck. “Did you now.” 

“Yes. I am a stepfather to Liam?” 

Your shoulders shook with giggles. “Not the stepfather, but the father who stepped up.” 

“You spend way too much on Twitter.” 

You looked up at him, and Charles turned to look down at you. You leaned in closer to rub your noses together, giving him eskimo kisses. The Ferrari driver just closed his eyes and basked in the moment between you. 

There weren’t many times that he got something like this. So quiet and peaceful. His world was filled with so much noise. But here, he could melt into the quiet. 

“We should have dinner here with the boys after the Grand Prix on Sunday.” 

“That sounds nice. I can make the food.” 

You sat up slightly, elbow bent on the back of the couch and head resting on your hand. 

“You want to show off your cooking skills to your sons to prove that you can cook.”

Charles huffed. “I am the provider chéri.” 

You cocked your head at the Monegasque. “Whose name is on the lease mon bebe?” 

A huff was the answer, which made you cuddle Charles closer still being aware of the little baby between you. A small nip to your fingertip made you pick Leo up, now holding him close to your face. 

“Were you getting a bit jealous of papa ma petit amour?” you asked the blonde dachshund in a baby voice. If Charles wasn’t already fully in love with you, his love would have been solidified in this moment. 

While watching, he suddenly remembered something. “Oscar wanted to meet Leo in McLaren hospitality this weekend.” 

You turned with a raised eyebrow. “Why not Ferrari?” 

“Eh.” 

It was as if you had a lightbulb moment. “Ohhhhhhh, right. That makes sense. I can stop by and let you know when I get there.” 

What you hadn’t expected was to pick up Liam and Ollie on your way to the now green outside of the McLaren hospitality. Leo was still curled up in your arms, eyes blinking every so often. You knew that if it wasn’t so busy, the little puppy would be sound asleep. 

“He’s so cute,” Oscar said, walking forward and hands outstretched. You gently gave him over to the “older brother” of the three. 

Ollie laughed. “I know right. He’s so cuddly.” 

Liam joined in, “I don’t think I put him down the entire time I got to meet him.” 

Oscar stared at you three for a moment. “Yeah, you aren’t getting him back.” 

You shook your head. “Speak to your father first, Oscar.” 

Chuckles erupted from all around, making you laugh as well. You took your phone out and took a quick picture of Oscar holding Leo to post later. 

“Is dad on his way?” Ollie asked after sipping on his water bottle. 

You rolled your eyes. “Should be. Ah, there he is.” 

Charles stepped foot into the room and immediately found you surrounded by his “kids.” His heart may have melted seeing Leo flopped in Oscar’s arms. He gave you a kiss on your cheeks before he greeted the three. 

“This is hilarious,” he said, making everyone laugh yet again. 

You rested a hand on your forehead. “We’re just missing Liam’s dad, and then we’ll be one big happy family.” 

The Kiwi crossed his arms, but a giant smile was on his face. “So much for having a present father in my life. I’m jealous.” 

Charles gripped your waist and puffed his chest. “I’m not the stepfather, but the father that stepped up.” 

“Charles, no you aren’t. Can’t even handle three kids.” 

You and Charles turned around to see Max now stepping through the door. The Monegasque raised his eyebrow. 

“And you can?” 

You raised a hand. “That’s my que to leave. I will not be in the middle of a Lestappen-father showdown. Boys, you can follow me.” 

“Yes mum.”

“Lead the way.” 

“Can I still keep Leo?” 

Charles and Max gawked as the three older boys followed you like ducks in a row. After he got over the shock, the Ferrari driver was left with a love-sick smile on his face. 

“Yeah. I’m marrying her.” 

“Gross.” 

“Max. Shut up.” 

y/n_l/n has posted

liked by y/nismother, charles_leclerc, liamlawson, and 1,304,295 others y/n_l/n look at my sons . . . pride is not the word I'm looking for

see all comments

y/nismother the mother is mothering

charliexy/n honestly, they all take after him so much. I need to go to twitter

olliebearman then what is the word you're looking for mom 🤨

liamlawson30 I knew she wasn't proud of us

oscarpiastri this is why dad is better

y/n_l/n I'm taking away all of your sims and ps5's

olliebearman I take it back, mom is the best

oscarpiastri81 this is the best thing to happen this weekend

charles_leclerc my family 🫶

maxverstappen1 you stole my son from me.

liamlawson30 they had free ice cream 🤷

y/n_l/n 😊

maxverstappen1 I'm taking pole then

charles_leclerc ☹️

lestappenlove I love the entire family your honor

leclerc16charles does Leo need another sibling? cause I can bark

TAG LIST: @fionaschicken @myxticmoon @cherry-piee @blueberry64857959 @glitterquadricorn @lizzypiastri @sam-is-lost @spilled-coffee-cup @ilove-tswizzle @the-untamed-soul @allenajade-ite @starssfall @torchbearerkyle @judespoision @halfdeadsage @juniper-july19 @severewobblerlightdragon @thatgirlmj @gods-menace @ineedafictionalman @namgification @dark-night-sky-99 @samantha-chicago @2pagenumb @treehouse-mouse @fangirl125reader @megatrilss1885 @kagatinkita @itsjustkhaos @nikfigueiredo @awekbachira @vellicora @skepvids @sunrizef1 @stan-josie @fanficweasley @hiireadstuff @barcelonaloverf1life @c-losur3 @graciewrote @bruhhhhhhhhehhhhhhh @tallrock35 @ashy-kit @kat-s2 @minkyungseokie @lozzamez3 @leslieis-crying @adventuresofrose @lighttsoutlewis

[palajae]

my name. | nishimura riki

PAIRING ▸ nishimura riki! x reader

GENRE ▸ detective! au, fantasy! au, high school! au, s2ls, romance, fluff, angst, humor, SLOW BURN

WC ▸ 15.6k

SUMMARY ▸ you supposedly get transported to a different world, where you encounter niki. apparently, you already existed here. note: past tense. so now you’re stuck in an alternate universe and technically, you’re supposed to be dead. 

AKA after facing the truth, you come to the realization that someone was definitely trying to kill you.

AN/NOTES ▸ mentions of death!!!, a murder mystery/whodunit, profanity, mentions of suicide, depictions of murder, a few curse words, violence, blood, dead bodies, some gorey stuff, kissing, nothing too harsh, excuse any typos/misspellings...

wow... i can't believe it but it is finally out... it's been a long time coming lol. with losing several family members and hospital visits over the past year, i wasn't sure if this was ever going to get released. thank you all for your endless (fr) patience and support. happy reading ❤️

a faceless figure stretches out a hand towards you.

you squint but for some reason, you still can’t make them out. the longer you stare, the more you realize it was a person—a blurry vision of a faceless boy. considering the matching uniform to yours, he must’ve gone to your school …was he your classmate? 

you frown. you’ve never seen anyone like him in class before. you stretch out your arm, fingertips barely grazing his- 

the sound of the school bell ringing causes your eyelids to fly open.  you groan, yawning and getting up from your seat by the window by default. 

it wasn’t a nice nap—just one that left you feeling groggy, unsettled, and strangely incomplete. 

you pack up your stuff quietly and leave the classroom alone, not bothering to look for your friends. as you walk down the stairs, you hear your classmates chattering about the weather.you glance outside. 

it was a dreary, unwelcoming kind of rain—part of the reason why you fell asleep earlier in class—and you suddenly feel the urge to get home. as soon as possible. 

you weren’t sure why, but it wasn’t just raining. it started to pour, especially hard, on this spring day. you want to think that was what made your mood all miserable and forlorn. 

not to forget the fact that you didn’t have an umbrella, leaving you no other choice but to throw your hood on and tighten the strings of your hoodie over your school uniform. not exactly the most stylish look, yet it was comfortable enough for you. 

you couldn’t put a finger on the emotion, but you felt out of place, like for some weird reason… you didn’t belong here. like you belonged out of this circle, away from this life and world. 

that feeling always came up when it started to rain, and you always tried your best to suppress it. but it was particularly strong today. 

you shrugged it off though. those “phases” weren’t uncommon, right? 

though you made it halfway out the school grounds by yourself, hyein and hanni catch up to you as you walk. you give them a half-hearted smile, “hey.”

it doesn’t take much for them to notice your off behavior. hyein eyes you. 

“you okay, y/n?” 

you debate internally, reminding yourself that they’re your friends. you can trust them, rely on them. you’re allowed to do that. even more so, aren’t you supposed to do that? 

but the words that come out of your mouth suggest otherwise. you shrug, “it’s nothing. it’s just been a weird day, you know?”

they share a glance before turning back to you, sympathetic smiles on their faces. hanni pats you on the shoulder, “yeah, we get it. you should get some rest at home, y/n. we’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

“be careful on the way back! the rain doesn’t look like it’s stopping soon.” she calls out before they continue, leaving you behind—still as soaked as ever. 

you wave before sighing, gripping the straps of your backpack tighter and making your way towards the train station. the sound of the rain almost makes you fall into a daze as you go about your way. all your school stuff and clothes were definitely getting soaked, which probably meant an oncoming cold, but you could’ve cared less. 

the only thing that mattered was going home and sleeping off this weird feeling, so it could become tomorrow and you didn’t have to be in this situation anymore. 

the train station is strangely busy, you figure the downpour was making everyone go home sooner. you bypass several people, almost getting your soaked and stained shoes stepped on several times. all while muttering quiet “excuse me’s” to practically everyone and anyone who cared to listen. 

after what seemed like ages, you manage to make it to your train.  although, the large crowd surrounding the entrance effectively prevents you from getting anywhere. 

you mutter a curse, trying to navigate through the waves of people. you just barely get on before the doors begin closing. letting out a huff in relief, you lean back against the door and slowing yourself a moment to close your eyes in peace. all the seats were obviously taken at that point, so you had no choice but to stand. that’s fine—you end up drifting off anyway. 

you don’t know how long it’s been since you fell asleep. or why you feel even more exhausted when you wake up. but the robotic voice announcing your arrival makes your eyes automatically flutter open. you feel your body getting pushed and shoved around as everyone tries to get out all at once. 

so you grit your teeth and tug down your hood further until you can finally get out. you don’t pay much attention to your surroundings, too focused on not getting knocked to the ground. when you finally stumble out of the crowd onto the station platform, you try to collect yourself while shaking your head. then you frown, 

wait a second-

something solid knocks into you from the side, a rough oof! escaping out of their--mouth?

you’re knocked onto the ground, bottom first. pain shoots into your palms that tried (and failed) to catch your fall—and obviously, your butt as well. 

you groan, eyes flashing in annoyance at your unknown assailant. looking up, you stop at the sight of the… boy in front of you. 

you really have no idea why, but a question immediately pops into your head—

have you met before?

you don’t voice it, but it lingers in the back of your mind. the boy—as far as you can tell, he looks around your age— simply stares at you. he’s in a strikingly similar uniform. 

a flicker of recognition passes in his eyes before you watch his expression grow flabbergasted. he continues to stare at you for a solid minute, while you only stare back in confusion, still on the floor.

“it’s rude to stare, you know.” you finally state with a furrowed brow as you quickly gathering your bearings. 

his only response is a blink.  

it's like the two of you are frozen in time, everyone else getting drowned out in the moment. 

you frown, narrowing your eyes at him. “hello? did you hear me?” you repeat yourself and this time he snaps out of it. 

“y-you’re not supposed to be here.” he gets out shakily, looking around while his hand runs through his dark locks in distress. you cross your arms, “what do you mean? this is my stop…” 

you falter when you remember what you saw earlier. when you got off the train, you took a quick glance at the signs and posts. yeah, this definitely wasn’t your stop. 

that wouldn’t have been a huge issue- if it wasn’t for the fact that you never missed your station, no matter the circumstances.  

“no!” he exclaims and you flinch at the outburst. the boy glances at you again, and this time you involuntarily shiver at the unreadable look in his eyes. 

“you’re…. you’re supposed to be dead.”

your mouth drops open. 

“what a great first thing to say to someone you just bowled over. not even a sorry..” you mutter off, suddenly finding the strength to get up and wipe your hands. 

the boy takes a step back away from you. curiously, you take one forward, towards him. he gestures a hand at you almost aggressively. 

“you’re dead. you died. i swear-“

you hold out your hands in half desperation and half exasperation, “i dunno if this is some dumb prank or something i missed, but i hate to break it to you. i’m not dead. i’m literally right here in front of you. i think i would know if i died or not. i’m-” 

again, that feeling of being out of place washes over you. this time it steals your breath away. 

the strange boy shakes his head. “there’s no way. i know exactly who you look like.”

his next words make your blood run cold. 

“you’re exactly like y/n y/l/n—who died a week ago.” he looks you up and down again, hands curling into fists. 

“who are you? and why do you look just-?”

“because that’s who i am? my name is y/n! now, if you would excuse me.”  

you hold up a hand, you didn’t have the time or patience to deal with weirdos on the street. it did struck a little odd that he knew your name, but then again he must’ve gone to your school and heard of you somewhere. the only thing that unsettled you was his reaction. 

it just seemed too real, like he couldn’t have been that good at acting. 

he grabs your arm to prevent you from leaving. all he does is shake his head again like he’s just trying to reassure himself. you’re about to protest, so utterly confused at what’s happening-how you missed your stop and why this strange boy is saying that you’re dead. none of it makes sense. 

his face looks pale and grim, and you’re sure yours look exactly the same. “you can’t be y/n. and yet, here you are right in front of me.” 

“i will scream like a little girl for help if you don’t let me go at this-“

“p-please. this isn’t a joke. you can’t be here. we need to get out of here—where everyone can’t see you.” 

before you can even splutter a response, he drags you off. 

you can call me niki, his words echo in your head. 

his name rolls off your tongue unfamiliarly. in his states of panic—to which niki kept slapping himself and you kept denying that you were a hallucination—

you ended up introducing yourselves and deciding to find a better place to discuss. more like, niki decided. you soon began to regret that decision. 

all you wanted to do was go home, but this persistent kid you’ve never seen before wouldn’t let you or your conscience go. maybe it was the weird feeling from earlier, but you have the urge to at least hear him out. but when you walked out of that train station behind him, everything was wrong. 

you don’t know how to describe it. it was right but… at the same time, it wasn’t. 

to begin with, you ended up at the wrong station but it led you to the right street to get home. the streets name were the same, but the stores weren’t. 

and the bus stop—the bus driver that had worked there for fifteen years, the one you had greeted for fifteen years, suddenly became an entirely different person. he never missed a day, no matter what occasion it was. 

things weren’t right and you had no idea what was going on. 

following niki, you get lost in your thoughts. you shake your head, clapping a hand over your forehead. maybe… you’re just in a weird dream. a really realistic one, because none of this made sense. it wasn’t raining anymore either, which would’ve been fine, excluding for one tiny detail: the streets were completely dry. judging by the strength of the rain earlier, it really shouldn’t—no, it couldn’t have dried up that fast. 

It wasn’t physically possible. 

you could easily navigate your way around this area because you lived here all your life. and yet, it felt like you didn’t live here. not when this random stranger (only on a first name basis) keeps insisting that you died. 

niki—or whoever—leads you to a very familiar library, the same one where you spent hours studying for your finals. you head in, feeling a bit better hearing the familiar entrance chime. you walk ahead of him to take your spot by the back corner. the fact that this place was essentially the same gave you some comfort.

niki seems surprised, but he doesn’t say anything, only taking the seat across from you. 

“okay.” you start, glancing at the boy with wary eyes. 

“if whatever bs you’re spewing is true, explain.”

he raises his eyebrows. 

“me? explain?” 

you nod and he scoffs, “i think you’re the one who should be explaining. after all, you’re the one that’s supposed to be dead-“

“i’m not dead.” you grit out, rolling your eyes. 

“okay, okay,” he raises his hands in surrender, “but you still need to talk.”

you sigh, rubbing your temples. 

“what do you want me to say? that i got soaked, took the train home, overslept, and then missed my stop? then, i bumped into a weird boy-”

he shoots you an offended look, which you ignore. 

“-who keeps telling me that i died. oh, and the more and more i stay here with you, the more wrong everything gets?” you barely get the last word out before niki leans in, eyes focused intently on you. 

the closer he gets, you more you begin to malfunction. you unconsciously hold your breath, alarm and confusion evident in your eyes. his hand reaches out, slowly, to your head. your body freezes.

his fingers catch a drop of water at the tip of your hair. “sorry. that was bothering me.” 

you exhale, glaring at him. “are you serious?”

“yeah. are you?” 

“no,” you deadpan, “i’m a ghost and i’m haunting you. of course i’m being serious!” 

he gives you an unconvinced look and you roll your eyes, “i’m y/n y/l/n. we live an hour away from the capital. my house is two blocks away in the neighborhood with the broken fountain, and right now we’re at the library that doesn’t open on thursdays.  

you harshly tug off your suddenly dry hoodie, displaying your school uniform. 

“and by the looks of it, we go to the same school.”

his eyes widen as he leans in closer to study your uniform. you shrug away, caught off guard. then you frown, “but i’ve never seen you before at school. how do i know that you’re not some imposter?  that you somehow stole a uniform to get something from me?”

he rolls his eyes while you gaze at him suspiciously.

“obviously not, because that’s dumb.” 

you scoff. 

“i live here. why would i go through all the trouble to steal a uniform to get something from you? besides, what would i need from some-“ 

he glances at you and you tense,  

“-kid like you? you’re the one who came out of the train looking so suspicious, it’s like you appeared out of nowhere,” he counters. 

you place your palms flat on the table, “okay, it’s obvious we aren’t getting anywhere. we both don’t have answers and we’re not even close to one. all i know is that i’m alive,” you shoot him another look, “and that i somehow ended up here. now, can i go?”

there’s a brief pause before niki speaks up, slowly. “i already told you, you can’t be seen. come with me. and keep the hood on.” 

you roll your eyes. who was he to boss you around? 

he grumbles something along the lines of- “don’t want to be seen walking around with a dead person.” 

the only reason you listened was partly due to fear that you would lose your way in this familiar, yet unfamiliar place.   except, you know exactly where he’s taking you. because it’s the same neighborhood you live in. 

“wait,” you call out, “this is where i live.” you point to your house, and niki grimaces. 

“i know. there were police here for days.” 

you stop, unsure of what to say or do. police? at your house? when? 

you stare at your supposed house, suddenly dark and empty. what in the world happened? 

“come on,” niki calls out and you move to catch up. you’re starting to think niki may be telling the truth. 

soon enough, you make it to an unfamiliar house about a street down from yours. as niki unlocks the door, you take the opportunity to study him, trying to recall if you’ve ever seen him before. but when he turns to you, you clear your throat and look away. 

“this is my house,” he tilts his head while opening the door. 

you like the fact that it’s messy. it felt much more homey because of that. it was also a lot bigger than yours, filled with fancy and intricate things. to which you assume this niki guy has more money than he has yet to admit. he tells you to wait in the living room, and he soon returns with a stack of books. 

you pause, “yearbooks?“

he nods, “yeah, our school’s.” 

strangely enough, most of the covers are different than yours at home. 

but everything else is the same, like the name and logo. he pulls out this year’s yearbook and flips through before stopping at a page. 

“that’s me,” he points to the picture of him and you tilt your head, frowning.

“huh. so we are in the same year. but i’ve never seen you in my yearbook—or at school before. i swear i would’ve seen you at least once before...” 

you rub your temples, this whole situation was making your head hurt. none of it made sense. you study his picture, why in the world did he actually look good in his yearbook photo? your eyes shift toward his name, 

nish—

he turns the page before you can finish reading, only to get distracted by seeing familiar classmates in your yearbook. niki stays silent as he flips through pages and you continue to point out your friends and classmates and stare in wonder at the unfamiliar ones- 

ones that you’ve never seen before in your life but somehow their faces are printed on the page, in the same grade and same school as you. 

just like niki. you were actually speechless. 

eventually, he stops flipping eventually and looks at you. you catch his eye and glance down at the page, immediately catching on. you breath hitches. 

“no way—” 

“—and there’s you.” 

it is you. you can confirm, it’s a photo of someone who looks exactly like you. but… it’s not you. 

almost everything is the same, your face and clothes. your hair was cut shorter, and your smile wider for the picture. you were even wearing makeup, for crying out loud. you can only stare at the photo. 

according to niki, this you is dead? 

you look up at him, stomach churning. what in the world was going on? 

the silence lasts until niki finally speaks up with a hesitant tone. “i might be tripping, but have you ever heard of… alternate realities?” 

you shake your head firmly, “don’t even get me started on that-“

he cuts you off, “i know, i know. but just hear me out.” 

you have no choice but to internally whisper a quiet plea of help. he scoots closer, 

“wouldn’t it make sense? there’s really no other explanation. maybe it’s because i watched that spider-man movie recently, but you being from another world would explain how you’re alive right now—when in this world, you’re dead. plus, all the similarities and differences that you mentioned can be chalked up to different timelines—the butterfly effect and stuff like that.”

you don’t know what to say. 

could it actually be?

what other explanation could there be? 

“please say something,” niki mumbles and you release a breath you didn’t even know you were holding. 

“okay. okay. fine. say the whole multiverse crap is true. then how did i even get here? how did i—” 

you do air quotations, 

“—switch dimensions to another world?” 

niki shrugs, “no idea.”

he scratches his head, “it’s weird to think about but i mean, maybe there’s a reason why you came here.”

his voice suddenly gets lower and you shiver, “you know, the timing’s a bit weird that you showed up right after the other you passed away.”

you clear your throat, “let’s not think about that right now. we should probably focus on the whole me being dead thing, right?” 

“what?” 

you glance at him questioningly, “what?”

niki raises an eyebrow. “what’s there to focus on? you died.”

you don’t have to rub it in my face, you mumble under your breath. 

“shouldn’t we be focusing on how to get you back to your world?”

you roll your eyes, “sure, but still, i kinda want to know how i died? i think i deserve to, you know, so maybe i don’t make the same dumb mistake back home.” 

“-if you ever get home,” he corrects and you huff.

“whatever, just tell me. we don’t even know if your dumb alternate reality theory is right.” 

“okay,” niki rubs his hands nervously and you wait in anticipation. 

“well, it actually happened last thursday.”

you swallow. why was your heart rate picking up? 

“at school. on, uh, the rooftop. no one witnessed it, and the cctv was broken so we don’t have any exact answers. but from what I’ve heard,” he gives you a cautious glance, 

“the police are about ready to call it a suicide.” 

at first, you think you misheard him. but the hesitant gaze and pause proves you otherwise. 

at first it doesn’t hit you. but then suddenly you feel sick to your stomach. your hand grips the table for support as you try to take it all in. 

you? 

a suicide at school? 

what about your family, your friends-

“no,” you whisper, shaking your head.  “i… i would never-“

you slam your hands on the table, “i know myself. i would never do that.”

his face is grim and sympathetic, which you can feel the dislike churn in your stomach at that. “i’m really sorry… that’s the current situation. it kinda blew up at school, but everything’s still so recent that nothing is confirmed yet.“ 

unspoken words linger in the back of his head, that he questions if he should say it or not.  

that niki really didn’t know you that well, that you were just another classmate of his. one that he passed in the halls without a second glance back. that the you in his world-

was just a stranger to him. 

yet seeing you, desperate and alive, right in front of his eyes. he doesn’t know what to do or say. so niki watches you bury your head in your hands. and he waits. 

it’s only a couple of minutes later that you look up. his face morphs into one of surprise when he sees your determined expression. 

“niki,” you state carefully and he nods, waiting patiently.

“are you sure that i-i did it?”

you can’t bring yourself to say the word but niki gets it. he sighs, 

“no. no one’s sure. but from what i’ve heard, the police haven’t found any other motives so… a suicide seemed most likely.” the more and more niki talked, the more unsure he got. 

your face hardens. 

“so there’s no proof? the police aren’t doing their freaking job and investigating?” 

his eyes widen—surprised at your sudden outburst—and you sigh, voice falling to a whisper.

“did i really commit suicide? and why do i care so much?” 

something warm falls over your hand and you jump, glancing up.

even for only a split second, his hand covers yours in a sympathetic attempt, “i’m sorry y/n. i wish i had answers but i really don’t know…”

despite the awkward look on niki’s face and overall awkward situation, his words strangely comfort you. 

you bite your bottom lip. “i-i have to get to my house.”

he stiffens, “what?” 

you stare at him, eyes sharp, “if no one else is going to do something, i at least have to.” 

you need to. for yourself. 

niki scoots closer, “y/n, you can’t just-“

“i know. but i need to know. something just-ugh,” you rub your face in frustration, “something doesn’t add up. i have to check. it’s like i can feel it deep within me.”

he sits there wordlessly. when you don’t get a response, you stand up. niki splutters, “w-where are you going?”

you cross your arms, “without or without you, i’m going to my house.” 

he slaps a hand to his face in frustration. “just how stubborn are you?” he mumbles. you hear it and yet you decide to ignore him. 

“thanks for the help i guess,” you give him a (weak) half-smile before turning towards the door 

“wait! you’re being serious?!” 

his desperate voice calls out and you internally debate if you should listen to him or not. slowly, you turn back around, “yeah. do you need something?”

“no, but you do— a plan. especially since the police closed off your house for investigation. plus, most of the evidence would have been taken already.” he clasps his hands together behind his back.

you shrug. “okay, and? i’ll still find a way. i have nothing to lose. i’m not even supposed to be alive.”

he groans loudly and you raise an eyebrow.

“idiot. i’m trying to say that i’ll help you. i-i want to help you.”

“i didn’t ask,” you raise your hands in mock surrender.  annoyed, niki puts his hands on his hips.

“sure, but i know plenty of things you don’t. this is my world. so, are you gonna accept or not?”

“you wish you did,” you retort, yet you can’t help the small smile that grows on your face, “but… i would appreciate it. just be grateful that i’m accepting your dumb theory from a spider-man movie as of right now.” 

niki gulps at the sight. it was the first time he saw you smile since you met. at least, the first smile he saw from the you of an alternate universe. 

“whatever you say,” he holds out a hand, 

“miss imposter.” 

you take it gladly, harshly.  “don’t call me that-“

“my name is y/n y/l/n.” 

you spin around in niki’s chair, having went up to his room to figure out your so called master plan. niki (respectfully) offered to let you stay in his room for the length of your “visit.” 

to which you almost punched him. 

but he explained that there were no extra guest rooms and you were still technically dead, so hiding in his room was the best bet as to not raise any questions. you could take the makeshift bed in the corner of his room as to not raise suspicion. you were surprised yet grateful. 

“i’ll grab extra blankets and pillows. and i’ll sneak you food and whatever you need.” 

“what about clothes and toiletries?”

he yawns, “easy. i’ll steal some from my sisters.” 

you feel bad, but you realize you have no other choice. you were literally stuck here. 

a part of you still wondered if this was a dream. a horrible one, at the least. but while you were stuck here, might as well make the best of it. niki graciously offered and you had no choice but to accept. you almost scoff at the ridiculousness of the situation. 

“so basically, i’m like a secret pet you’re hiding from your parents?” 

“technically… yes,” niki rubs his hands together, and you can only watch the mischievous expression grow on his face.

“but i like to think that you’re like eleven. you’re different—you’re special, like her.”

you hold back a laugh at the words. 

clearing your throat, you try to play it off. “from stranger things? your world has that show too?” he lets out a scandalous gasp and this time you giggle. 

“of course, dude. what kind of world would i be living in if i didn’t have stranger things?” 

“apparently a horrible one,” you snort. 

after the whole living situation was sorted out, you returned to your investigation. 

“so you’re saying the police taped off my house for further examination?”

“uh, yeah? that’s how it works?” he raises a brow. 

you stuck your tongue out at him, “okay,  smartass. then how do we get in?” 

“clearly, there’s only one way: sneak in.” 

“i don’t think this is a good idea?” niki whisper shouts at you and you shush him. 

the sun was barely setting. if anyone knew you, they knew you really couldn’t be deemed as patient of any sort. 

niki watches you struggle up the tree in your backyard. 

obviously, going through the front door was a no go. luckily this house looked pretty much the same as your house, at least from the outside. you knew your parents weren’t home judging by the darkness.  you wondered if they were staying with other family. 

or were they at work? so soon after your death? 

you grimace, now was not the time to be getting in your feelings.

the best (only) option was jumping the backyard fence and going in through your bedroom window. leading to your predicament now.  

you exhale heavily when you find a place to rest, gripping the tree with all your might in hopes that you don’t fall 

you glance down at niki. 

“can you make it?”

he scoffs,  

“easy.” 

it was easy— easy for you to watch niki struggle to get up to your point. 

you were sort of scared the tree wasn’t going to support both your weights, at the way it was trembling slightly. niki makes it though, by the time the sun is well down. 

you can see him sweating heavily and your nose scrunches in amusement,“easy, huh?”

“yeah, for you just standing there and watching me. we don’t have all day, grandma.”

“don’t call me that,” you mutter while stretching out towards your window.

niki’s eyes widen. 

“be careful, y/n.” 

“i got it,” you stretch out a leg to the ledge and your sweaty hands begin to slide from the bark, most likely from exertion. 

without even thinking about it, niki places his hands around your waist to stabilize you. you don’t notice in your concentration to not fall to your death. you certainly didn’t want another dead you. 

your foot clicks the lock, and with a grunt you’re able to push the window open. 

“you got it?” 

“yeah,” you breathe out, clumsily making your way in. you reach out a hand for niki and he takes it, maneuvering his long body in through the small window. 

finally, you can breathe. 

it’s the first time you have the luxury to desperately wish that you were home right now. your real home. you certainly didn’t mean this home, the empty and cold looking one locked up for the police’s investigation. 

after catching your breath, you get up to examine your surroundings. you weren’t not sure what you were expecting. this was the other you’s room. 

all you can think is, at least this y/n was much cleaner than you. 

a part of you feels like you’re invading someone’s privacy. but then you realize that it’s literally your own privacy that you’re invading, with the addition of niki. you actually can’t believe the absurdity of the situation. 

at first glance the room looks pretty normal, an average teenagers room.  not what you expected for yourself, but there’s not much you can see. you turn to niki,

“there’s no shot we’ll get caught right?”

he gives you another sympathetic look, “we’ll keep a look out for the police, but i heard your parents were busy with your other family and funeral preparations, so it wouldn’t be them catching us.”

“oh.”

the air feels so glum, you clear your throat to move on. “guess we should look around?”

he nods and begins to snoop around.  

“wait,” you call out hesitantly. 

niki cocks his head and you cough awkwardly.

“it’s still my room, so like, be careful with what you look through.” 

he rolls his eyes. “yeah. i got it.” 

you gaze at the photos on your shelf, displaying your happy family and friends. it just made you acknowledge how precious they were. it made you miss your friends and family at home even more.  

you’re appalled at the books you read. you shake your head, seriously? you take out one of the books-

“ten days to love,” you voice aloud with disgust written across your face. 

you weren’t one to judge, but what kind of cheesy romance novels were you reading?  

niki opens your closet and you turn at the sound. your eyes widen- 

wait a second, 

your closet with clothes? possibly including…. more personal things? 

you dash over in desperation, praying that niki hasn’t already seen something that he shouldn’t. 

“don’t!” 

his wide eyes meet your panicked ones, shocked at the sudden change of events. he doesn’t move until you push past him, blocking the door from his view. 

“you didn’t see anything, right?” you stare at niki desperately and he furrows his eyebrows. 

“no? am i not supposed-“

“no reason. just being cautious. we can, uh, open it together.”

you carefully examine your belongings inside before deeming it safe for niki’s eyes. you let out a sigh of relief.

he gives you a weird look and you shoot him an exaggerated smile. 

“you can proceed!” 

he mutters something under his breath as you continue your search on the other side of the room. it didn’t seem like there was anything of importance on the shelves. but, after careful examination, you see a glimpse of something. pushing past some folders, your face morphs into a stunned one. 

you pull out… 

a pink teddy bear with hearts? why would this be in your room? 

and even more so, why was it hidden? 

niki calls out your name and you turn around. your mouth drops open. 

“a box of chocolates?“ 

he scoffs, “yeah. stuffed behind some clothes in your closet for some reason.”

“it’s not even the good brand,” you mutter. 

niki laughs, “maybe you had secret admirers from school?” suddenly, you give him a suspicious glance. 

“what makes you say that? you sure you weren’t one of them?” 

he side eyes you, “trust me, you wouldn’t catch me within five feet of you at school.”

you walk over to shove his arm and he only laughs harder. you huff, suppressing a smile on your face as you turn away. but you keep niki’s comment in the back of your mind. 

after a solid thirty minutes, you can feel your resolve waning. there was no sign indicating that you felt suicidal. at least, none that you found after the police probably scrounged through everything. some stuff was suspicious— 

like the teddy bear and chocolates. and some lavish perfume and makeup in the drawers. that just wasn’t your style. but you supposed this world’s you was just different. 

just because you weren’t particularly into those things didn’t mean another you couldn’t be. 

“did i have a diary? what about my phone?”

niki frowns, “the police would’ve taken it. it’s their evidence now.” 

you suddenly get an idea, and it’s probably wasn’t a good one. 

“hey, niki?” you call out. he hums in response.  

“what day and time is it, currently?” 

“uh…” he checks his watch, “sunday. 8pm. why?”

“when does the police station close?”

dummy, most people would say--why would the police station be closed?

luck seemed to be on your side, because you knew especially well from complaints by locals, that your local police station did actually have a curfew. and you could only hope it was the same here.  

niki scratches his head, “in ten minutes? why are-“

his mouth drops open, “no. no. no.” you shrug and he shakes his head adamantly, “y/n, there’s no way that we’re going to sneak in.”

you dust off your hands, “i’m all ears for any other ideas you have.”

you have him at that and he falls silent. after a couple moments, he speaks up albeit hesitantly. “well… i might have a way.“

you grin. “onwards, then.”

“wait, so how did you manage to get access again?”

he coughs, “my friend jungwon is the son of the police deputy chief… so i may have called in for a favor.”

“he managed to sneak in with his dad’s keys and get the files to my case?” you finish.

he nods. 

“illegally?”

he nods again.

you tap your chin, “would we get arrested if we got caught?” 

he shrugs, “probably.”

“good thing i’m not from this world.”

perhaps secretly hanging outside this jungwon’s house was not the best idea, either. he rolls his eyes before offering the file to you.

“do you want to open it?” to your surprise, his voice comes out quite comforting and soft. 

you gulp, “i guess i should.”

you feel sick for the second time that day. luckily, the photo didn’t show too much. not that it made it any better. it was still you, dead. 

you had to look at yourself and imagine yourself in that situation. you cover your mouth and niki immediately takes the file away from you. he watches worriedly as you shake your head.

“i’m fine. i-is there anything else your friend managed to get?”

“are you sure?”

“yes.” he doesn’t protest anymore at the tone of finality in your voice. 

niki pulls out a bag with your name on it. taking a deep breath in, you open it. you shuffle through some things hurriedly until niki speaks up.

“hold on a sec,” he softly places a hand on your arm to stop your actions.

“we should be careful. someone could notice that we tampered with the evidence so we need to be very careful when putting things back. plus, we have to give it back to him as soon as possible—we don’t want them noticing that your stuff is missing.”

you curse, “that’s right. we can’t risk taking anything.” 

“then what?” 

you pinch your nose bridge, “we snap pictures and hope it’s good enough. unless we want to take another field trip here.” 

you manage to snap a few pictures and go through a few things. you catch a glimpse of your diary and flip to the most recent page. it was about a week and a half ago, and-

it wasn’t finished. you skim through it, reading boring stuff about how your day was and how you met-

you squint.

the rest of the words were scratched out, harshly, with a black marker. seeing how it was getting late and dark, you can’t make out who’s name it was even with your phone flashlight. you wonder, could it be-

your thoughts are interrupted by niki. 

“y/n, i think we need to hurry and head home soon. the longer we stay out, the greater risk we’re at for getting caught. oh, and i found your phone.”

he holds it up and the extremely glittery case makes your eyes hurt. you eye it. heaving a deep breath, you prepare yourself to open your phone. 

but when you click the power button and nothing happens, you groan. you try again, and again, holding it down for seconds but the screen remains black.

“the phone’s dead.” you sigh again and niki bites his lip.

“maybe we should give up. we can ask jungwon another time,” he suggests

you nod wearily and he closes the box. as he gathers everything, opening his phone to text his friend to come back out, you glance at the time. it was quite late for a school day. 

“that’s right, you have school tomorrow?”

he groans, “yeah. i guess you’ll just have to stay home in my room. no one will go in while i’m at school, so you don’t have to worry.”

you nod, “okay.”

it felt weird knowing you were supposed to be at home, in bed and preparing to go to school yourself the next day. instead, you were stuck in another world—in a stranger’s room, forced to hide since you were supposed to be dead. 

were you considered missed at home? did anyone notice? call the cops? 

more like, if anyone cared? 

while you get ready for bed in niki’s bathroom, you stare at yourself in the mirror. 

yes, you affirm, you’re alive. 

you’re staring back at yourself, dressed in one of niki’s oversized shirts and basketball shorts. 

but the image of your dead face flashes in your mind and you immediately squeeze your eyes shut. you breathe heavily, hands planted on the sides of the sink. 

everything’s fine. you will get back home. things will figure themselves out. you’re okay. you’re breathing and-

a knock on the door makes you jump.

“y/n? everything okay?” niki’s voice sounds out hesitantly, “it seemed like you were taking a while so-“

the door swings open.

you stand there, face emotionless. he doesn’t say anything, and neither do you. niki tries to keep the image of you wearing his clothes out of his head, but it won’t seem to go away.

“goodnight, niki.” 

you slowly walk over to the temporary bed he’s set up on the floor for you. he blinks, 

“night, y/n.” 

it’s surprisingly comfortable, or maybe you’re just so exhausted you don’t seem to care or question anything anymore. 

you hear light footsteps padding to turn off the lights. 

in the darkness, your eyes close. but your mind is awake.

you know his is too, judging by the sounds of quite shuffling every couple minutes or so.

“niki?” you say quietly.

another shuffle. 

“yeah?”

“this may sound weird, but have you noticed anyone that looked particularly sad?”

there’s a pause. 

“about you?”

“yeah, but not like the typical sadness. like, anyone who seems to have changed drastically after hearing about me? let’s say,” you swallow, “any guys or friends of yours who seemed particularly upset or affected?”

niki rolls to the other side of his bed so that he faces you, but in the darkness he can only see the outline of your figure. “y/n, what are you trying to say?”

you tug the covers over yourself a little tighter. 

“nevermind, niki. have a good day at school tomorrow, and don’t worry about waking me up. you won’t be able to.”

“wasn’t planning on it,” he snorts. 

you fall asleep with a faint smile still lingering on your face. 

the next day at school, niki struggles. he struggles when it’s supposed to be another normal day, and all he can think about is you. 

especially about what you said.

niki never paid much attention before to his surroundings, there was no reason to. but now he keeps an eye open.

he eyed anyone who passed by your locker, empty desk in class, anyone who mentioned your name. but the fact that you mentioned guys specifically, made him confused. 

why did it matter if a guy was upset? a lot of people were shocked and sad at the news. niki shook his head. he didn’t get it. 

meanwhile, you stayed at his home.

thinking. 

thinking about yesterday. somehow everything that happened was all just yesterday. you took the train and ended up here. then you found out you were apparently dead. 

you spent what felt like hours scrolling through the photos you took and waiting for niki to come home. all while eating snacks that niki left for you graciously. 

you don’t even know what time it is when you hear the door begin to open. you scramble to your feet before realizing that there was a chance it wasn’t niki. 

you go back to your hiding spot, shrinking underneath the covers. next thing you know, the bedroom door flings open. you tense.

however, a call of your name allows you to let out a sigh of relief. you hop up, “niki!”

he grins, looking rather cute in his ruffled school uniform, backpack slung off one shoulder. you stop yourself, horrified at your thought. at your face falling, he cocks his head. “what’s wrong?”

you laugh awkwardly, “nothing! nothing at all!” 

he gives you an unconvinced look but doesn’t press further. 

“you must’ve been bored without me.” 

that was the niki you’ve come to know (in the span of a day or so).  sarcasm drips from your lips as you laugh dryly, “sure.” 

but you knew he was right and he knew it too. 

“i spent the day looking through the pictures, but i couldn’t find much else,” you frown. 

“same here. today was pretty normal, no one seemed any different than usual…” 

“i mean, the mood has been somber ever since you,” he pauses, “left. but nothing out of the ordinary.” 

you seemingly deflate, but niki perks up. “i talked to jungwon and he said he’s going to try and get your phone next time. we can only hope that someone charges it or that we can charge it ourselves.” 

you nod, “that’s good.” 

“but, don’t you have work to do? what about your family?”

you realized you didn’t see or even hear of them yesterday. 

“oh, they usually stay late at the dance academy—me included. but my grades haven’t been good recently, so they’ve been forcing me to go to home and study…”

you tsk as niki gives you a sheepish look. 

“you know, while we’re waiting, i’m not too bad at studying myself. what do you need help with?” 

niki rolls his eyes, “thanks, but no thanks. i don’t need another person on my back about my grades.” 

instead, he falls back onto his bed with an oof. 

“don’t worry, i’ll manage. let’s just talk about our next step. 

“step? as in, my case?

“yeah,“ his eyes glint, “i have an idea.”

you were starting to believe he was getting more invested in this than you were. 

“okay—shoot.”

what was the worse thing he could suggest?

“we should sneak you into school-“

your eyes practically bulge as you gape at him. “excuse me? weren’t you the one saying i was going too far with sneaking into my own house and you want me to do what?” 

niki gets up, placing his arms on your shoulders to calm you. strangely enough, it did. 

“hear me out first—we sneak into school at night, bust open your locker, and see what you have. that’s better than waiting for jungwon.”

“don’t you think the police would have already looked through my locker? 

“well, he looks around nervously, “as far as i’ve heard, the police were already mostly convinced the case was closed and didn’t care to check. but, what can i say? rumors are just rumors.” 

you purse your lips. what did you have to lose? being in a different world made you much more reckless than you would have ever thought. but that didn’t mean you were going to be stupid about it.

“fine.” 

niki winces at your tone, but you speak up,

“how in this stupid multiverse crap am i going to break into my own locker? and with cameras all around school?

he smirks and you raise an eyebrow.

“i didn’t miss a whole chem lecture for nothing—“ 

confused, you give him a look as if to say, what in the world are you talking about? 

“who said we had to know the combination?” he takes out a pair of keys form his pocket. 

you gasp in awe, clasping a hand over your mouth.

you gaze at him with wide eyes for a second, causing him to look at you questioningly. 

“you’re actually being smart...” 

his confused expression immediately changes to one of irritation. 

you stand up straight again, “how did you even get those keys? and what about the cameras?” 

he winks and you glance at him, trying to remain expressionless. if there was anything you noticed, it was that niki was actually quite attractive. it made you wonder if he was popular at school…

“it’s a secret. don’t worry about it.” 

“you sure have a lot of secrets, niki. like, is niki even your real name?” you squint accusingly. 

niki chokes on his spit, “how in the world did you know?” 

you falter. “huh? it isn’t?” 

he clears his throat, “anyway, i have to get up early for school tomorrow.” 

you eye him but decide to let it go. niki shrugs, “usually i’m up playing games, but you look like you need the sleep with those eye bags. you aren’t surprised.

“tomorrow night,” he says shortly after. “i’ve got a plan—you just have to trust me.”

turns out said plan was dumb, but you really had no other choice. 

niki made some lame excuse to his teachers about staying late to study- and his teachers, being utterly shocked that he offered to study, immediately agreed to let him linger. 

meanwhile, niki would sneak you in, wearing one of his old uniforms that was too small for him so that just in case, no one would question anything. along with one of his totally inconspicuous baseball caps to hide your face and hair. 

you sigh, you couldn't believe you were sneaking into school through the boys bathroom. you groan while maneuvering through the window. niki shushes you, causing you to stick your tongue out at him. he raises his hands playfully and you resist the urge to smack him. 

on your way to jump down from the window, your left foot gets caught on the ledge. you stumble forward, expecting to be met with the revolting bathroom floor face first. instead, perhaps now was the time to thank the universe (in this case, his universe?) for niki’s quick reflexes.

he inhales, catching you by catching and pulling you towards him instead of the ground, essentially into his arms. 

instead of faceplanting into the ground rather foolishly, you fall into his strangely soft and warm chest. you let out a barely discernible squeak, unable to respond due to the pounding of your heart. 

after a couple of seconds—that felt like forever— niki lets you go with a shake of his head. 

“my god y/n, i had no clue you were this clumsy. please don’t ever do that again.” 

please don’t ever make me sneak into a nasty teenage bathroom again, you wish you could retort. 

you shake your head quickly, lips pressed thinly together. don’t get distracted, you remind yourself.  “yeah-thanks. let’s uh, just hurry.“

you don’t have time to wonder what would the consequences be if you got caught by cameras or anyone else while niki leads you down the familiar hallways. 

“how do you know which one’s my locker? i thought you said we didn’t really know each other?“ you eye him suspiciously.

he scoffs, “don’t get too excited. mine’s just a couple lockers down so i was bound to see you at your locker by some point.” 

he hands you the keys and you gratefully accept—your hands slightly trembling. you didn’t know what to expect. 

niki watches from behind, and you can feel his warm breath on you occasionally, causing you to shiver.

with a slight click and creak of the rusty locker door, the locker opens. you hold your breath at first glance. it’s…. normal? 

normal as in any average high schoolers locker one would expect. what catches your eye first are a couple of photos of you and your friends. 

on deeper inspection of yourself (it was still weird to imagine and even weirder to see) you see a twinkling, intricate chain around your neck. maybe you were tripping (again, but mentally this time) or that necklace you had on seems really expensive? 

“there’s no way,” you suddenly gasp and turn to niki with wide eyes. 

“what?” niki starts to panic, “what is it?” 

“am i actually loaded in this world?” 

niki pinches the bridge of his nose as he shakes his head. “jesus, you scared me. i mean, you didn’t seem like it.. who knows where you got that super expensive, luxury brand necklace? it looks familiar…“ 

you try your hardest not to roll your eyes. of course, niki would know. 

“how much are you talking?” 

he taps his foot on the floor, “well, my mom and sister likes that brand. that specific necklace is specially made since it’s a seasonal limited edition, so it’s somewhere in the thousands-“

you truly forgot how rich niki’s family was, you think with a half joking tch and a shake of your head. niki glances at you, impressed. 

“-whoever gave that to you must’ve really cared.” 

you frown, “sure… or maybe i just really worked hard to get it for myself?” 

he’s shoots you an amused look, “you wanted to get yourself the valentine day’s collection necklace? 

“what?” 

you feel your heart rate begin to pick up, “are you implying what i think you are? 

“yes?” he responds with a raised eyebrow, “someone must’ve been really in love with you to gift you that. maybe your parents or friends?” 

then niki pokes your side playfully, “-or a secret admirer?” 

you don’t answer his question, regardless of if he was being serious or not. you peer into the locker again, “but where is it? it’s so valuable i’m certain we would’ve seen it in the police’s evidence…” 

suddenly, niki grabs your wrist. that’s when you hear the footsteps. you turn to him with wide eyes as he mouths for you to hide.  panicking, you look around in desperation before he pushes you—

straight into the locker. 

your own locker. 

you know you should be freaking out over getting caught, but you could only wonder—could this be considered a crime? 

in the dark, stuffy locker, you see a glimpse of niki’s silhouette run past through the tiny openings of the door. just barely a second later, you hear more footsteps. squinting, you able to discern a familiar, yet weirdly unfamiliar guy. your eyebrows raise. 

no way. park sunghoon was in this world too? 

you hold your breath when you hear him call out, “is someone there?” 

really, curse niki for shoving you in your own locker. yet it was also a smart move as no one could see into your locker, but you were able to see out. 

“sorry. that was me, pres.” 

it was niki’s voice. 

you can barely see his relaxed demeanor appearing to face sunghoon. 

“i was staying back to study and catch up on work—you know already,” he adds hastily. 

sunghoon nods coolly, “i was just checking. making sure everything’s good before leaving.” 

niki was a little too good at acting, you questioned how often he had done this to those around him. he fake salutes, “i promise to clean up after i’m done. no need to worry, class president.” 

“alright, see you later.” 

you have a sigh of relief as sunghoon turns to leave. 

but you swear, for a split second, his expression changes as his eyes fall on your locker. 

your heart rate picks up. did he notice you? 

however, sunghoon leaves without a second look back. 

you frown—what was that? 

after waiting a minute to be safe, niki quickly lets you out. only to be greeted by your displeased face and crossed arms. 

“that was the only thing i could think of in the moment!” he immediately defends himself. 

“seriously? i could’ve-like-“ you trail off and niki smirks.

“see? nothing bad would’ve happened.”

“doesn’t change the fact you stuffed me in my locker. it’s not even mine, for crying out loud.” 

“whatever. just be glad you didn’t get caught by park sunghoon, our school’s super rich, smart, and handsome-“

“i know him from my world. he’s irrelevant, let’s continue on.” you wave him off. 

you can’t help but compare him to niki. niki was way more genuine and… boyish in a way? he felt real. you preferred that. not to mention he had a much more tolerable presence, you supposed. 

everything else in the locker was useless. random crappy notes, perfumes and hand lotions, along with the pictures you already inspected were the only things that decorated your locker. no sign of that ridiculously expensive necklace. 

you rub a hand over your face in exasperation. “that’s it…”

one thought still lingered in the back of your mind. where was the necklace? 

“hey, y/n, i think we should get going soon. the lights are going to turn off soon-they’re automatic and we didn’t bring any flashlights.” 

you sigh. next time. 

it feels like you’ve hit a dead end. by the end of the week, niki has caught up on his studies. you were surprised to find that he was quite dedicated to school, even if it didn’t seem like it. 

the days that niki came home with a pile of schoolwork and other duties, you went out to think—with one of niki’s hoodies and a mask on. but the times you spent with niki since you couldn’t go out much, mainly at night, were nice. 

tutoring him at subjects he was struggling in, learning new dances together (and learning how talented he really was), simply being around him was enough to distract you from your impending crisis. 

niki always came to keep you company and bring you food. you really were his eleven. 

niki was gaming while you sat off to the side, watching him play. you admired his side profile, the shine from the bright computer screen enhancing his features, the furrow of his eyebrow as he focused. 

he yells as his character dies and you can’t hold back your laughter, “you kinda suck-“

all of a sudden, you hear a knock on the door. 

“bro, you good? i swear i heard another voice-“

the door handle begins to turn.

you and niki share a look of panic. 

your first instinct is to dive and roll, underneath niki’s bed. you ignore the fact that it’s as dusty as you’d expect for a teenage boy’s room and hold your breath. 

“mom said dinner is ready. also, what’s with all the noise? it sounded like someone else was in the room with you.” a girls voice—niki’s older sister, you presume. 

“nope. just me.” 

you cringe at the fact that niki’s voice is octaves higher. it wouldn’t be that much of a problem if his voice wasn’t as deep as it normally was. 

“it was just probably the video i was playing.” 

“…sure,” you hear his sister’s footsteps as she leaves and shuts the door behind her. 

you let out an exhale of relief. 

“y/n?” you hear soon after. 

“under here.” 

you turn to see niki’s head peeking down underneath the bed. 

you meet his curious eyes. cute. 

“jeez.” he holds a hand out and you gladly accept it, letting him pull you up with ease. huffing, you dust yourself off. 

“jeez, indeed. who knows what horrors you’ve been hiding under there.”

“hey,” niki defends himself, “i’ll have you know i am a very clean person and don’t-“

“oh really? then what’s this?” you hold up the sacred item, jerking your hand back as he reaches out to snatch it. 

“hey! haven’t you ever heard of privacy?” 

he lunges again as you laugh, just keeping it out of his grasp. however, you feel the bed frame hit your legs, and you gasp. 

you fall back, niki over you on his bed. he must’ve underestimated his arm-span and overestimated yours. 

niki lands over you with a soft grunt, eyes wide. you peer up at him wordlessly. his arms catch him, but it’s still so close you can feel his hair tickle your forehead. 

is this what the movies mean when your heart… skips a beat? 

niki snaps out of his trance, “s-sorry,” he hastily gets up. you cough, trying to dispel the stuffy atmosphere. 

“so, uh, i had an idea.”

“yeah? what’s up?”

“i was thinking we look at the evidence again. i just want to double check something.”

“come on,” you take niki’s hand. it was habitual by this point. 

“you got the charger, right?”

niki nods, taking it out of his pocket. 

it was risky asking niki’s friend to retrieve the evidence for you again, but you needed to confirm your suspicions. or, hit a dead end. 

when niki returns, carefully holding a plastic bag (and dinner, your grumbling stomach reminds you), your eyes zero in on one thing. 

“thanks. i know it must be hard for your friend to sneak behind his dad’s back like that.” 

“it’s fine,” niki shrugs, “i promised to buy him lunch for the next week.” 

you snort as you take out “your” phone and plug it into the charger. 

“okay. now we wait.” 

niki looks at you expectantly, and you only stare at him back. subconsciously, a hand raises to your face. “is there something wrong?”

he shakes his head while looking away sheepishly, “nothing, nothing.”

you open your mouth to question him further, but the phone screen flashes. you scramble to open it. thankfully you were able to use your own face id. 

as soon as you scroll through your messages, your stomach sinks. you raise a hand to cover your mouth. 

“what?” niki jumps up, “what did you find?”

you open the photos app, which only confirms everything. you drop the phone, and that’s when niki sees it. 

“oh my god.” 

“don’t even-“

“i was secretly dating park sunghoon?!”

you cup a hand over your mouth. “i think i’m gonna be sick.” 

niki scoffs, taken aback. “b-but how? you- and him-?”

you rub a hand over your face. “don’t ask me. but the valentines gifts and necklace were so suspicious, i started wondering… i just didn’t expect it to be him.” 

niki notices the sour expression on your face. 

“oh. you don’t like him?”

you shake your head vehemently, “bro, not even if he and i were the last two people on earth.”

you think about your world’s sunghoon and almost shudder. he was selfish, arrogant, could but would never keep a girl for more than two weeks. yet the whole class still loved him and you never understood it, never understood the appeal of him. 

besides getting bro-zoned, niki relished your words. 

“good to know.” 

“i wish i didn’t,” you sigh.

but that was besides the point. you still didn’t know how it all added up. did sunghoon—unfortunately, your boyfriend in this world—have anything to do with your death? did he really get you that expensive necklace? 

and as much as you wanted to deny it, you couldn’t rule it out. thinking as rationally and fairly as possible, suicide was likely-as much as you didn’t believe it. you couldn’t rule it out simply based on a feeling. plus, his expression when he passed by your locker lingered in your mind. 

“so, now what?” niki watches you carefully. 

“you’ve heard of the saying, keep your friends close but your enemies closer, right?”

“yeah,” he cocks an eyebrow, “why?”

“well, i’ve got a task for you.” 

niki has never spoken a word to your friend group in his entire life. the most he’s ever done was send a cold look their way and pretend not to know them out in public. 

he had nothing against them—nothing against your choice of friends—but he preferred not to associate with your group. he couldn’t put his finger on it, but he just didn’t vibe with them. 

and yet here he was, talking to your “friends” because you asked him to. he sighed, the things he did for you. 

danielle looks him up and down with her arms crossed. “why are you asking about y/n? since when did you care about them?”

“please,” he sighs in exasperation, “i just need to know if anyone disliked y/n or was acting suspicious around them.”

haerin steps up, an annoyed frown on her face. “there’s no one. can’t you tell this is a touchy subject for us? now, leave us alone.” 

she grabs danielle and walks off, angrily whispering into a distressed looking danielle’s ears. 

niki wants to punch someone. besides the fact that surrounding people were catching onto his conversation and whispering about the interaction, he essentially got nothing out of it. 

you were also at a dead end. after scrolling through hundreds of disgusting texts and photos of you and sunghoon, there was nothing remotely suspicious. plus, you had to give your phone back to jungwon soon before anyone noticed it was missing. 

everything seemed normal. everything was normal. normal until this world’s you suddenly died. 

the only lead you had was the missing necklace. and yet where were you supposed to find it? it could be anywhere—in the police’s hands, with sunghoon, most likely gone. 

you couldn’t even go out on your own, you felt like a hopeless rapunzel trapped in her tower, desperately wishing for answers and freedom. it was starting to get to you. the stress, homesickness, and most of all, loneliness. 

you throw your phone to the side and bury your face in your hands, trying your best to focus on your breathing. you almost don’t realize how long it’s been until you hear a faint call of your name. 

“y/n? y/n, what’s wrong?” niki drops his backpack and rushes to your side. 

his eyes carefully examine your body, checking for who knows what. you slowly lower your hands, revealing your bloodshot eyes and tear stained face. 

what scared niki the most was the lost look in your eyes, a deep and dark pool void of any emotion. 

“niki… i don’t think i can do this anymore,” your words float out carefully, like a whisper of the wind. 

“i’m trying my hardest, but it’s so frustrating. i miss my home, i miss my life. i miss myself.” as soon as the words leave your mouth, you feel yourself break down. and right as you do so, niki reaches forward to wrap you in an embrace. 

“i want to go home,” you whisper in an small voice. 

his heart almost breaks at the sight. you sounded like a little kid—you looked like you were a little kid again, as small and curled up you were when he found you. in his eyes, he saw a lost child looking for their parents, their guidance and their own light in the world. 

he resolves to never be the cause of your pain again. 

niki holds you for the entire night as you cry and drift off to sleep. 

you wake up with a headache and a dry throat. you feel hungover, although you’ve basically never drank alcohol before. 

somehow, you’re not sure exactly when, you ended up in niki’s bed. as soon as you’re able to sit up, your eyes fall on the clock on the bedside table. 

11 am. niki must be at school still, you note. 

you wonder what he’s up to, if he was being a good student while you were stuck all alone at his home, skipping your own school. you wonder what life is like back at home. did time even pass? 

niki heads home as soon as the bell rings. he wanted to see you, to comfort you and reassure you. he wanted you to be okay. 

when he knocks on his own bedroom door and there’s no response, he frowns. all there’s left is a pink sticky note on his desk. 

went out for fresh air. don’t worry and don’t look for me. 

niki immediately drops his stuff and runs out. he goes to the train station, the bookstore. he even goes back to school, for crying out loud. 

he’s breathless and exhausted by the time he’s arrived back home. niki knows his family won’t be back. it was competition season, which meant the busiest time of the year for the other dancers. you were the sole reason he attended school at this time of the year, studying hard instead of skipping and dancing 18 hours each day. 

he’s scared. 

niki hasn’t felt this feeling in a long time—he can only recall the time where he was six and went to disney world. his older sister was pressuring him into riding one of the larger roller coasters, and he felt that sickening nausea fill him as he looked up at the towering structure. 

he almost gives up. he basically has, until he notices something strange. his balcony door is unlocked, and he always kept it locked for safety purposes.

tense, niki reaches out and slowly turns the handle. what greets him is certainly not what he expected. 

you sit on the balcony railing, hanging over the edge quite precariously with your feet swinging. one slight mistake and you would fall. 

you stare down at the passing cars, cloudy and dreary skies showing you it was soon to rain.

niki stares at you, and you turn around at the sound of the door to stare back, not a single word exchanged. 

then you finally break the eye contact, glancing down at your stilled feet. “i wasn’t going to do it.” 

he silently moves closer, hopping next to you on the railing as well. “okay.” 

you don’t see the tender way his eyes travel over you. your voice is quiet as you speak up, “you don’t have to say anything.”

“okay,” niki repeats. 

it’s not said in a sarcastic way. it’s not sad, either. it’s just..... soft. soft and understanding enough to make a blanket of comfort fall around you, to make it known that niki’s presence is here by your side.

suddenly, the rains starts and niki asks if you want to go down. you slowly nod and he helps you safely off the railing before opening the door for you guys go out in the rain. 

the rain doesn’t stop. 

and niki doesn’t stop either. he grabs your hand, dragging you along with him haphazardly. 

“where are we going?” you ask breathlessly. 

“out. like most people our age. we’re still kids.” 

“wow, i had no idea,” you mutter sarcastically. 

he holds back a smile of relief. good to know you were still your usual self. 

“you need a break. you’ve been so caught up in this case, you need to rest.”

“but-“

“come on,” he leads you on, “relax. it’ll give you a clear mind, so we can come back with a fresh start.” 

you’re hesitant until he pulls up at an arcade. “what if someone sees me? what if they-“

niki places a finger over your lips, silencing you. “we’re here to have fun like everyone else and not give a crap about anything else. now, are you gonna play or are you gonna get your butt kicked by me?”

a challenge was a challenge. 

you laugh at niki’s rambunctious side, yelling as he tries to cheat during competitive games and fight over the better toy gun. 

“just so you know, i technically won.” 

you playfully shove him, “in your dreams. you’re just saying that because you don’t want to-“

you get cut off by the loudest (and most embarrassing) grumble of your stomach. you both look down at your stomach. you look back up, petrified. 

niki almost cackles, “i guess that’s a sign.”

“it’s not my fault i fell asleep before eating yesterday,” you pout. 

“what do you want to eat?”

“anything. i’m serious.” 

niki watches with a fond smile as you quite literally inhale your food. 

“eat any faster, and you’ll make a new record.”

you flip him off as he laughs, putting more food onto your plate from his. you can only watch wordlessly, feeling your heart warm. after you finish eating, niki takes your hand again. you glance at him questioningly. 

“there’s one last thing i wanted to do,” he mumbles while avoiding your gaze. 

“how’s this one?”

you scrunch your nose in distaste at the sight, reaching to place red devil horns on niki’s head.

“i think this one fits you more.”

as he grumbles, you laugh. 

“fine, but i get to choose yours.” 

he ends up picking a frog headband for you—which you complain to no avail. his reasoning was, “you remind me of a frog. like the princess and the frog.”

you splutter, “but that means-“

“yes. i’m the princess.”

“obviously,” he adds. 

in the photo booth, you sit awkwardly. niki cocks an eyebrow. 

“i’ve never done this before, so…"

instead of teasing you like you originally assumed, niki only brings you closer. he wraps an arm around you while posing for the camera. you’re frozen, even as the countdown starts. you can barely manage a smile as the camera flashes. 

“what now?”

niki glances at the screen, “we still have three more pictures. what poses do you want to do?”

you’re at a loss for words. 

niki leans closer again. he makes a half heart with his hand as he looks at you expectantly. “how about a heart pose?”

“o-okay.”

you never felt so suffocated in that photo booth. and yet, you’ve never laughed harder. you’ve never been so happy in your life with someone else.  

“hey, this photo came out good!”

“but what happened to the first one?”

you both lean in to get a closer look at the photos that printed, and you end up feeling niki’s breath on your cheek. 

it was warm. it was nice to have someone so close to you and still feel comfortable. it was nice to know you were close enough to someone to feel that way. 

it was something you had never felt before. 

“..-y/n?”

“huh?” you snap out of your trance.

“i said, you can keep this copy.” 

you look at the pictures and then at niki. “what? no, it’s fine-“

“i said keep it,” he forcefully shoves the photo into your hand as he quickly heads over to the cashier to pay. 

you stand there for a minute, looking at the photos. you guys looked happy. you guys looked good…together. like you were a real couple, or something. you internally chide yourself while taking off your headband. what a silly thought, you brush off. 

on the walk back home, you feel utterly satisfied, humming as you match your pace with niki’s.

“when we arrive, i’ll let you in through the back, just to be safe.”

“whatever you say, mr. responsible.” 

he ruffles your hair and you swat his hand away in annoyance.

that night was the first night you’ve felt content. almost like you could stay here—like you belonged. you stare up at the dark ceiling, reflecting on the days events. 

“niki?”

you hear his bed shift. “yeah?”

“i just wanted to say thanks. for everything. you’ve been providing everything for me, all while helping me on my case. i’m grateful for everything. i don’t know how, but i promise to pay you back one day.”

“what’s with the sudden sappiness?” his tone is teasing, but light. he clears his throat to add, “but yeah, of course.”

“i dunno, i guess i’m just not used to this type of treatment back home.”

“what? what do you mean?” 

even in the dark, you can feel inquisitive stare on you. 

“i mean, i’m usually left on my own since my parents are working. and my friends, well, they’re nice and all…”

“but you don’t feel a true connection?” he finishes, and you roll over.

“yeah. i don’t really know what my friends are like in this world. who even are my friends? do i even have any?”

niki grimaces. 

“uh, yeah. i don’t know if they exist in your world, but have you heard of danielle? and haerin?”

“nope. what are they like?” 

he shifts again, and the bed creaks. “you see, i don’t really talk to your friend group. it’s nothing personal, i just don’t want to associate with them.”

“dang, maybe it really is just a me problem, in every life too.” 

you hadn’t thought about hanni and hyein since you got here. but danielle and haerin were two new leads. a new start, perhaps. 

now that you had more information from niki, you started your research again. specifically, insta-stalking. 

your specialty. 

niki hands you his phone with a suspicious look when you casually ask for it. you pray he doesn’t hear the sound of blood rushing in your ears or the pounding of your heart. 

as he goes to do his night time routine, you quickly tap on the instagram app and search up danielle’s name. it doesn’t take long for you to find her account since niki followed her. checking to make sure he didn’t come out of the bathroom, you scroll through her feed. 

and your heart stops when you see it. in the corner of a photo—a picture of her and haerin posing at school in front of their lockers. 

that’s your ridiculously expensive bracelet on danielle’s arm. you’re sure of it. 

you felt yourself grow nauseous as you quickly turn off niki’s phone as soon as you hear the door turn. 

“hey, are you okay? you look like you just saw a ghost..”

you blink and smile, peeking at him innocently, although the dread grows in the pit of your stomach. “huh? no. what are you talking about?”

“what were you doing on my phone?”

you look away sheepishly, “trying to see if i could call my mom?” maybe niki’s acting skills were rubbing off on you. 

“oh, and?” 

you shake your head, a fake grim expression plastered on your face. 

that night, you lay awake staring into the darkness. when you hear niki’s soft snores, you sneak over to his bedside table to retrieve the key. you know you shouldn’t, but you felt this was something you needed to do alone. 

you feel like you’re on the edge of the cliff, about to jump into the water. the adrenaline filled you, you were right there-

it was so close.

the next day, you have to pretend everything is okay. you smile when niki greets you good morning, even peck him on the cheek when he tells you he has to stop by the dance studio for the night. 

he visibly blushes, stuttering on his words, “w-uh, w-what was that.. for..?”

you shrug, “i’m just proud of you for getting your grades up. it’s your first time back dancing in a while so have fun, okay?” 

he nods, beaming as he squeezes your hand goodbye. as he leaves, your smile fades. it felt too normal. it felt too right to imagine having a life with niki, like this everyday.

and knowing what you knew now, it was wrong. it was wrong from the start, and yet you couldn't help yourself fall even deeper. you had to get back into the right mental state. you couldn't keep deluding yourself.

it was time to confront the truth.

you can’t believe you’re sneaking into through the school boy’s bathroom again. the locker key safely stored in your pocket, you find danielle’s locker. the same one from the photo she posted. 

this had to be the one. you can only hold your breath and hope as you unlock it. 

you quickly scramble through all the stuff, looking for the shiny bracelet. you don’t find it, but when you go to close the locker door in defeat, a crumpled up piece of paper falls onto the floor. 

you huff, taking it and opening it up. it’s a picture of sunghoon, you, and danielle, all smiling as you three posed for the camera. but it wasn’t just an ordinary picture—there was a big, red “X” scribbled over your face, with the words “finally done” written next to it. 

and hearts next to sunghoon’s face. 

horrified, you clap a hand over your mouth. 

during a break at the dance studio, niki doesn’t expect to open his instagram app and see danielle’s instagram show up on his recently searched. frowning, he taps on the account. he never cared to pay attention to danielle, so why was her account the last thing searched up? 

just out of curiosity, he scrolls through her recent posts. 

and then he sees it. something that is so hard to miss. it’s so strikingly familiar. 

he rushes home. when niki bursts through the front door, he doesn’t expect to find you missing. and when niki notices his old school uniform and cap gone, his heart drops. 

you sit on the floor next to the lockers  with your head buried on top of your knees. you’re sure you could get caught, but you don’t care. 

the crumpled picture feels heavy in your pocket. 

you stay there, staring at the walls until you see the moon shining brightly outside one of the windows. you haven’t eaten or drank anything the whole day. you’re not sure how long it’s been. 

“y/n!” 

great, now you were hearing things as well? 

furious footsteps stomp towards you.

“why did you leave without telling me? you could’ve gotten caught-it could’ve been dangerous?!”

“n-niki?” your eyes widen. 

before saying anything else, he pulls you up to your feet. 

“why would you come to school without me?”

for some reason, his words sting. you cross your arms, “what? like i can’t take care of myself?” 

he groans, “that’s besides the point! if someone saw you—“

“i don’t care! so why do you care so—“

a sound from down the hall cuts you both off. you turn to niki in panic and he curses. “the custodian comes on weekends to clean.”

you hold back a yelp as niki grabs your wrist and pulls you along in the opposite direction. 

he pushes through a door and turns to the left. you don’t stop until you’re inside the.. natatorium? 

“why are we-“

“there are no cameras here, unlike in the school building. i thought you would’ve known that.”

after he speaks, there’s an awkward silence. 

niki sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. “well, are you gonna tell me?”

you feel the frustration flow through your veins, “and what about you? you tell me why i have to let you know my every location? why i feel like i can’t take care of myself, l-like a sick, old dog who can’t go anywhere or do anything? i’m sick of it all!” 

“you don’t understand,” his voice raises,  and you interrupt him, getting closer and closer to him. 

“you’re right, i don’t. i don’t understand why you helped me in the first place. you say that you barely knew who i was, yet here you are acting like you care! like you cared about the dead me!”

at this point, his face is so close to yours, you can feel your breaths mix as neither of you back down. 

“i do care! of course i care! about you, standing right in front of me!” he clenches his fists. your eyes linger on a single vein on his neck that sticks out due to the intensity. the fire burning in his eyes, your trembling voices, it all makes you falter. 

you don’t know what you asked. you know the truth. niki always cared—more than cared. he always went out of his way to search for you, like the day on the balcony and today. he wanted to find you, he wanted to have you in his life, 

you realize it now. to put simply, he wanted you. 

and this was the first time you felt wanted. 

you don’t know what else to do, so you lean in and close the gap to kiss him. and if anything, niki immediately pulls you closer to him. 

when you break apart for air, his dark eyes still staring deep into yours, you think he’s gonna lean back in again. but you hear a faint voice sound, growing louder. your eyes both widen. the janitor.

without a second thought, niki pushes you. 

he does it lightly, although it’s still enough to make you lose your balance, and for a second you stare back at him, betrayal evident before you fall backwards—

straight into the pool. 

your eyes just barely peek open in the water, and then there’s a splash accompanying yours a few seconds later. 

he easily swims to you, cupping your cheeks and bringing your lips to his once more. it was a much different experience from just a few seconds ago. 

you stay entwined like that together, eyes squeezed shut, until you actually can’t breathe anymore and you have to smack niki’s arm. you both rise to the top, heaving water and air. 

after a few seconds of coughing and gathering your bearings, niki’s raspy voice fills the air. 

“at least he’s gone. i’ve always wanted to do that.”

you roll your eyes, splashing water back at him in revenge for pushing you earlier. “seriously? after we got almost got caught? we could’ve drowned!”  

you splash him again, “also, you could’ve given me a heads up!”

he grins, wiping the running water free from his face. “and where’s the fun in that?”

you shake your head in amazement, “you’re actually an idiot. i can’t believe you, niki.” 

“an idiot who saved us from getting caught.”

after returning home together, you sit and enjoy the peaceful silence as niki dries your hair. your mind can’t help but replay the last few moments, from finding the picture at school to kissing niki, and then finally get pushed into the pool. specifically, the kissing part. 

growing sleepy at the soft and warm feeling of niki’s hands running through your hair, you almost don’t hear him when he says, “all done.”

you thank him and he looks around awkwardly. 

“what is it?” you squint at him. 

“well, i wanted to apologize. i didn’t mean to make to feel that way. i was just really worried about you, and i felt hurt you didn’t tell me why you snuck into school again today. did you not trust me? did i do something wrong?”

you soften, eyes falling to the floor. 

“i’m so sorry, niki. i didn’t mean to lash out on you. of course i trust you, i just wanted to do something for myself for once. without needing your or anyone else’s help.” 

you exhale, “the reason i left today was for this—“ you take the damp, crumpled picture and unfold it as best as you can. 

niki’s hands fall to his side. “oh god.”

“it was danielle. she took my bracelet and i-i think she wanted my boyfriend. i know it has to be her.”

“w-what? but how?”

you shake your head. he goes to hug you. 

you feel tears brimming at the corner of your eyes, but you won’t waste any tears on her. you pull back to look at niki, with a determined expression on your face. 

“you have to catch her and make sure they get what they deserve.” 

niki stares at you deeply, “are you sure? because if you are, i won’t stop.”

he wonders why you say you and not we.

at that, you falter. 

“no. i never be sure because she is—was my best friend and i will always hold that guilt in me. but you have to do something about it.” 

niki’s hold around you tightens, “and what about you?”

you smile, albeit sadly. “you know i can’t stay here, hiding away forever. i don’t belong here. i already existed in your world, and at some point, i have to leave soon. i can feel it.” 

it was the same feeling as when you first came here. that day you felt off. the feeling that you don’t belong anywhere, but this time, you feel fulfilled. complete. like you were ready to go back home. 

“it’s not something i can explain, but i know it,” you look at him with determined eyes. 

and he looks back at you with pained ones. 

niki is able to convince jungwon to get his dad to reinvestigate the case again. the picture is given up as evidence, and danielle and haerin are taken in. 

the day they confessed out of guilt, you and niki celebrate by sneaking onto your school’s rooftop. the same place where it all started.

it’s a cold and windy night, but you could care less about getting sick. because it was your last day anyway. 

you didn’t tell niki, but you had a good feeling—like the world was patting you on the back and saying, “you worked hard.” 

the two of you watch the stars, snuggled up and reflecting on how your lives came to be like this. wondering how far away apart your worlds were. 

you kiss niki’s cheek, wishing to remember the feeling of being in his arms forever. his scent, his touch, his warmth, you wish you could keep all of it. you smile at him, willing back the tears. 

“there was a reason i bumped into you that day, of all people. there was a reason you came into my life, and i came into yours, niki.” 

he bites his lip, “y/n... you changed my life. every day with you was better than the last.” 

if this was a dream, you wouldn’t want to wake up. you trace his face, so it will remain ingrained in your mind forever, even when you go back to your world. 

“what will happen when i leave?” you whisper. 

“how will you even get back home?”

you shrug, “i don’t know how, but i know that i will.”

niki laughs, “that’s the y/n i know.”

as he kisses you once more, a star falls across the sky. 

the next day, you find a ticket in your bag. a train ticket. 

you don’t recall having bought one, and you don’t question niki. you only ask him to take you to the train station.

while walking hand and hand, you reminisce on the past month or so. “will we still remember this once you go back to your world?”

your body trembles, “i don’t know.”

“then… will i ever see you again?”

you don’t want to meet his eyes, because you know you’ll cry. 

yes, you want to say. instead, you say, “ i don’t know.”

niki wipes a stray tear on your face. you don’t even know how you reached your stop already. 

“this is it,” he says. 

but neither of you move. 

“don’t worry, even if i don’t remember you, you’ll always be in my heart. we’ll meet in your world,” he reminds you while the tears start falling down both of your faces. 

“don’t forget that there’s another me out there to annoy you. you just need to search hard.” 

you sniffle, playfully pushing him away as you furiously blink away the tears that blur your vision. you needed to soak up the sight of him as much of him as you could.

“i promise i’ll find you again.” 

he holds onto you until the very end, until you slip out of his grasp once more.

crossing the platform into the train while giving him one last, slow wave was painful. the last thing you can think of is the fact that you never knew. you never asked for niki’s full name. his real one. 

you never knew niki’s name.

and then everything fades into nothing. 

that’s the last time niki ever sees you. the train passes by in a flash, blowing his bangs across his face while he tries his best to keep that fake smile on his face for you—all for you before you go. 

then, you’re gone. 

in those seconds as the train passes, niki knows exactly why he did it. why he helped you through all of it, through everything together. 

all because you were there in class. you never looked at him, but he looked at you. he saw all of you, everyday—even if you didn’t know it. all your quirks and habits that he couldn’t help but find cute. you made his days interesting. 

but he was the coward for never approaching you. that was his fault because one day, you weren’t there anymore. 

and he had to pretend like nothing happened. on the outside, that’s how it was. even if he felt the slightest connection, tiniest pull towards you, you were still strangers. 

you were strangers until you knocked into him on the train platform. 

niki had to be selfish. he thinks it could have been fate that he saw you again, but now he’s just left with the lingering regret and feelings. those memories flash past like the train does. they come and go in the blink of an eye- a split second. 

when the train is gone, niki frowns and wonders why he’s standing there. 

he also wonders why it feels like there’s a piece of his heart missing. 

after that, he attends your funeral in his world. it was an open funeral to everyone who wanted to come- classmates, friends, and him. niki didn’t even know you that well, but he get this unexpalaniable urge that he should go- he needs to go. he brings flowers and gets to see you one last time. 

when niki sees the picture of your serene face, he can’t help but get this sense of peace, like everything’s resolved. 

and then he’s free.

epilogue...

you sigh, trudging along the walkway on the way to work. looking at your surroundings, you were getting major deja vu. but at this point, you were used to having episodes like that. 

there were many, many times where some things simply felt so familiar. but it was like your memory was wiped and you couldn’t remember why. some times you had flashes of an adventure, a feeling of mystery, a boy. 

ever since some day in high school, it just happened. and from then on, you’ve always felt like something was missing. or wrong. you can’t tell. it became a part of you, to the point where you almost forgot about it. that feeling of misbelonging, being just out of reach. it’s strange, like a weird occurrence that makes you want to open your third eye or whatever to find out more.

even after graduating, it never left you. 

you being so lost in your thoughts, fail to notice when you bump into someone coming off the train you were about to get onto. 

“i’m sorry,” you quickly apologize, but you soon falter when you meet eyes with sparkling brown ones. weirdly enough, they draw you in. 

they were familiar, you’ve certainly seen them somewhere. the moment lasts for a while, with the two of you standing still in the middle of the passway, staring at each other.  

you slowly smile, extending a hand. “i apologize if i’m mistaken, but have we met before?”

he stares at you too, confused yet enthralled. 

“i-i think you may be mistaken,” he starts hesitantly and you begin to apologize. 

“are you sure?“ you quickly introduce yourself, “and you?”

you swore you were not such a desperate person, but you couldn’t help it, not this time and definitely not in front of this particularly alluring guy.  

“me?”

he takes a quick glance at you before taking your hand with a small smile. 

“my name is nishimura riki.”

first i wanted to say thank you for reading! this was a rough time coming, and i wanted to apologize for the long wait. this has actually been a wip of mine for years and i finally was able to finish it with riki after months and months of writing. this past year has been the worst one so far, but i'm just grateful to still be here. just feeling super appreciative for those who stuck with me and waited patiently. thank you. can't wait to see you guys again soon with the next oneshot (hint hint)!

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[evie-sturns]

How would matt and/or chris react if u got into a argument with him because he kept having to cancel plans for meetings and to film and u felt like u weren’t spending time with him anymore (ur dating)

it started off as him leaving dates early to film, you tried to ignore it at first, but the more it continued the more it took a toll on you.

you finally decided to speak to him about it, your hands shook as you opened the door to your apartment.

matt, nick, and chris were sitting on the couch discussing video ideas, matt’s head turns to look at me, he flashes you a pathetic smile before turning back to chris and nick.

you feel your blood boiling, it’s taking everything in you to not snap at him right now.

“matt.. can we talk?” you mumble, he shakes his head dismissively.

“not right now baby.” he replies vaguely. god, that was enough for you to start.

“i don’t know why you act like we’re not together! you always make plans just to ditch them you-“ you yell, matt cuts you off almost instantly

“stop it, don’t act like this infront of them.” matt grumbles, tilting his head towards his brothers.

“i don’t CARE about nick and chris right now, i hear enough of them everyday!” your voice breaks, you can’t even look at matt anymore.

nick and chris just sit there, fidgeting with their hands in their lap.

matt stands up and walks over to you, placing a hand on your shoulder and spinning me around.

he places two hands on my waist and guides you into his bedroom before letting you go, like always.

you shove him away from you, your eyes glistening with tears, threatening to spill.

he walks back into the living room and sits back down on the couch, you storm out of the room and start yelling again,

“why won’t you listen to me!” you point a finger at him,

chris and nick stand up, “hey- we have to get home now, i’ll talk to you tomorrow okay?” nick says, walking over to you

he gives you a tight hug, chris follows after him, “sorry.” he whispers, they both leave the apartment.

matt stands up, “i’d prefer if you didn’t act like such an idiot infront of them.” he says to you,

“i’m done with you matt! genuinely done! you don’t- you don’t care about me anymore!” you burst into tears, matt’s expression instantly softens.

“that’s not true.” he speaks softly, you instantly snap back with a “yes it is!” your voice shakes as you storm into his room, slamming the door.

-

several soft knocks on the door wake you from your nap, you weren’t even sure when you fell asleep.

you sit up on your elbows, your eyebrows furrowing. all events of earlier come back to you.

matt slowly creaks open the door, your met with his face. you grumble before slamming yourself back down into the matress, pulling the blanket over your puffy face.

his soft footsteps edge closer to you, until he stops at the edge of the bed.

he strokes your shoulder through the fluffy blanket, “hey..” he sighs, you shake your head. “i’m angry at you.” you sniffle

“i know you are, you have every right to be. i cut you up some apples though.” matt strokes your hair, slowly peeling the blanket away from your face.

you look up at him, he doesn’t waste time to start to the apology.

“i love you so much, and i’m sorry for taking everything you give me for granted, i really really really can’t loose you, i promise to make a better effort.” matt rambles,

you nod, stretching your arms out for matt. he leans down and wraps his arms around you. not showing signs of letting go anytime soon.

“chris and nick wanted me to ask if you were okay.” he whispers into your hair,

“tell them i am now.” you smile,

[vivwritesfics]

(Oh My God) They Were Roommates

Chapter Nine - Cough Cough I'm Sick

Lando Norris and Y/N L/N were teammates. Tension had been between from the minute they started driving together and, when it only got worse, McLaren CEO Zac Brown decides there's only one solution: Have them live together.

1.3K

(idk who sorts out the media stuff so i just said marketing manager)

Series Masterlist

Here's the thing, it was exactly what it looked like. Max let out a laugh as he looked at the papaya drivers panicked. "Relax," he said quickly and walked out of the driver's room. "I'll meet you both outside."

Y/N and Lando looked at each other as Max shut the door. "Fuck," she whispered as she pulled her clothes back onto her body. She swapped Landos shirt for her own.

Wordlessly, Y/N left his drivers room. She pushed past Max and sped walked out of the track. She was so fucking stupid - this was why they had those rules in the first place!

And now that Max knew, what was going to happen?

She didn't sleep that night, anxiety overtaking her. For the first time of the grand prix weekend, Y/N checked her phone. She went onto her private account, went to the for you page (for the memes) and was immediately flooded with pictures of her in Landos hoodie. Fuck, that was right. She was wearing Landos hoodie.

She didn't know if Lando went to the club with Max, but she didn't care. She wrapped her arms around her pillow and tried to get some sleep.

***

They'd been home for two days and they hadn't slept together. It was unusual, but Lando couldn't blame her, especially after what had happened in Spain.

He missed her. Which, this time just a few months ago, would have felt impossible. But he really did miss her, everything about her.

She didn't entirely avoid him, but it felt like she didn't want him anymore. They hadn't properly spoken since the grand prix, almost like they weren't even friends anymore.

Lando kept himself busy. He gamed and streamed a lot, rarely giving himself time to think about the little hole in his heart.

It was an overreaction, Y/N knew. But she was terrified of the consequences that they'd inevitably get. So far, nothing had happened. But that didn't mean it wasn't coming.

The next week was the Canadian grand prix. For every grand prix since they began living together, Y/N and Lando had travelled together. One of them would usually drive to the grand prix, taking it in turns.

This time, though, Y/N travelled alone. She made her own way to the grand prix, over thinking and then sleeping on the flight.

Lando hadn't realised she'd left. He knocked on her bedroom and pushed it open. "Y/N?" He called, but she wasn't there, already on her way to Canada.

Obviously, Y/N arrived before him. She’d slept on the flight, sure, but she still made her way to her bedroom for a nap. Exhaustion gripped her as she got under the blankets and closed her eyes, still in her travelling clothes.

When Y/N woke up, there was insistent knocking on her hotel room door. “Fine, alright!” She shouted, her voice croaky. Her throat killed as she pulled open the door and came face to face with the McLaren marketing manager. “Hey,” Y/N said, rubbing at her eyes.

“You’re meant to be doing media things with Lando,” the marketing manager said quickly.

“Fuck,” she whispered under her breath and checked the time on her phone. Had she really been asleep for that long? “Okay, I’ll get dressed.”

She shut the door and got changed. What she would have loved to do was take a shower, but with the way the marketing manager was talking, she definitely didn’t have time.

As soon as she was dressed, Y/N followed the marketing manager down to the lobby of the hotel. Outside there was a car waiting for her. She climbed into the back seat and pressed her head against the cool window as they drove towards the track.

Somehow, she fell asleep in the car once again. She woke up to somebody shaking her shoulder, and was quick to follow them into the McLaren hospitality unit. Her had swam as she walked, but she ignored it; she had a job to do.

It was the first time she had seen Lando since she left their apartment. “Hey,” she said through a croaky voice as she sat in the seat beside him.

“Are you okay?” Asked Lando, his arm resting on the sofa behind her.

Y/N quickly moved it. She nodded her head and looked at the camera in front of them as a member of staff past her and Lando question cards.

***

She was sick. That was clear to anyone as she threw up into her bathroom. But to her, it was just stress. She’d had a taste of her first win and she wanted more. Th thought of trying to keep being consistent was making her so stressed that she was coming across sick.

She threw up before qualifying. How she made it all the way to Q3, she didn’t know, but she struggled to qualify in the top five. As soon as qualifying was done, Y/N rushed back to the hotel room while the team at McLaren took care of the media for her. She managed to avoid fans as she was driven back to the hotel.

As soon as she was in her room as she asleep on her bed, still wearing the McLaren shirts and shorts that she had left the circuit in. She didn’t even climb under the covers before falling asleep, her head just about on the pillow.

Again, she woke up to somebody knocking at her door. Again, she reluctantly stood up and pulled open the door.

Only this time, it was Lando on the other side of the door. “Shit,” he whispered as he looked at her. “You look…”

“Like shit,” Y/N answered for him.

“Are you okay?” Lando asked again and Y/N nodded, leaning her forehead against the wood of the door frame. But Lando clearly didn’t believe her. He stared at her, raising his eyebrows, waiting for her to take it back, to tell him that she was feeling as terrible as she looked.

Still, she couldn’t admit it. Lando tried to walk past her, to get into her room, but she stood in his way. “What do you want, Lando?”

“I want you to admit that you’re sick and let me take care of you.”

“I don’t want you to take care of me,” she said, somewhat stubbornly.

So, Lando grabbed a hold of her shoulders and forced his way into her room. He sat the door behind him and sat her on the bed. “Talk to me,” he said, kicking off his shoes and laying back against her pillows.

“About what?” She spat back, crossing her arms as she looked out of the window.

“About why you’re not talking to me.”

She visibly deflated. Fuck, she had missed him, but their last time had scared her enough to keep her away. No, he was just asking to get into her head before the race.

“Max hasn’t told anybody, you know,” he said, leaning forward and placing his large hand on her shoulder. “He’s not going to.”

Y/N twitched her head towards him, but she didn’t say anything.

“We could go back to the way we were, you know,” Lando continued. “I… I miss you and I want to go to how we were.”

She let out a sob and wiped beneath her eyes. She missed it too. Missed him. “I-“ but she couldn’t say more than that.

Wordlessly she crawled towards him. she laid down beside him, placing her head on his chest. “Lando, we can’t tonight,” she said.

“I know,” he responded with a nod. “You’re sick.”

“I’m not sick!” She insisted.

“You’re sick.”

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[joedirtymadre]

The Cake

MASH X READER (Taking requests 📲 pls send some!) **SMUT

“Come on, spit it (Y/N)!” Lemon groaned as she shook me. “Spit what out Lemon?” I asked, while continuing to be shaken up. “Have you and Mashle… done anything intimate yet?” She whispered the last part. “Did you forget that I’m right here?” Finn sweat dropped. “No, but I mean you’re one of the girls, Finn. Plus it’s either this conversation or the guy’s one where Lance and Dot argued over the cutest girl, and Lance’s only option is his sister,” Lemon explained. Finn and I sighed, she’s got a point. “But still Lemon… that’s a little too private to talk about…” I blushed. “So you have done it!” Lemon screeched. “How was it? Was it nice or was it bad? I heard if I guy is a good bowler then you know… and Mash is… well he’s just strong so he can take down all the pins,” Lemon said. “And the alley,” Finn added. “Nevermind that! Details, (Y/N)! Was it romantic? Freaky?” She asked. “No… well none of that because we haven’t done anything,” I said softly. “Oh…” Lemon said. “Yeah, well I don’t know Mash has never seemed too interested in that kind of stuff, I don’t know,” I shrugged. “What do you mean, have you tried hinting at it?” Finn asked. “Sort of? One night we watched a movie in my dorm and a… scene came on! I thought it would spark the mood a bit so I scooted closer to Mash and I decided to… place my hand on his thigh,” I blushed, covering my face from Lemon’s sly smile. “You go girl, show him who’s boss!” She laughed. “But… he then asked if I thought the muscle was softer than usual. I guess he noticed a difference between the two and my hand placement confirmed his suspicions,” I sighed. “Jeez,” Finn winced at the comment. “I mean we all knew Mash was dense but I didn’t think it was that bad,” Lemon frowned. “So maybe it’s for the best that we just hold off,” I smiled. “Have you thought of talking to him? I mean Mash probably wants to do stuff like that too, but since you never brought it up he doesn’t see the reason to either,” Finn said. “You’re probably right Finn, but… it’s embarrassing… We’ve been together for almost a year and I’ve given a couple of hints already. I was hoping he would’ve caught on by now,” I sighed. “Well why don’t you give him a love potion? It’ll probably boost his spirits, if you know what I mean,” Lemon whispered. “I don’t think drugging my boyfriend without his consent is really the best idea!” I shouted. “Kidding!” Lemon smiled. “I don’t think she was…” Finn sighed. “I’ll just keep things the way they are. Plus he has to catch on one day right?” I asked them, both of them shrugging at the question. “Oh I have to go to the library! I told a friend I would help her with her project!” Lemon shouted and ran off. “Bye!” She yelled and we waved back. “I should probably get going too, we left the group in my room… I just hope they didn’t break anything…” Finn cried and walked off. “See ya (Y/N),” he moped. “Bye,” I laughed and headed back to my dorm.

I laid on the bed thinking about the conversation with Lemon and Finn. “It’s almost been a year… and I think I’m ready, but maybe Mash isn’t…” I sighed. “Oh well,” I shrugged. I can’t be upset that he’s not comfortable with engaging with any of the hints I’ve given him. “Why don’t you give him a love potion?” Lemon’s words are repeated in my head. I quickly shake my head. No. No. No. That’s a crazy idea, plus super wrong. “I think I’ll just nap all this off, get my mind off all this stuff,” I sighed to myself and got ready for bed and quickly fell asleep.

I woke up later to a knock on my door and got up to answer it. I opened it and saw Mash on the other side holding a bag. “Hi Mash,” I said sleepily. “Were you sleeping?” He asked. “Yeah… I felt stressed so I thought I should just take a nap,” I explained and stepped aside to let him in. “Then Lemon was smart to give me these things,” he said as he walked in and dropped the stuff on my desk. “What did she give you?” I asked as I shut the door. “She gave me cake and tea,” he said. “Cake and tea…?” I thought suspiciously. She wouldn’t… “Can I just have a quick look?” I asked and snatched the cake box. “Uhh…” Mash mumbled. I opened the box and… it looks fine? Well the box is from a local café and it seems like an average cake made at the shop. “(Y/N)?” Mash asked, peering over my shoulder. “Haha, sorry. I just got so excited to see the cake,” I said awkwardly. “Ah… well there’s also some tea-“ he said and I swooshed over to the prepared tea and opened it. I mean it looks ok… or does it? Don’t all potions look like regular tea?? “Oh well… I think this is Jasmine tea… and I’m allergic to Jasmine tea!” I said and headed to toss it. “Oh, but I’m n- oh you tossed it…” Mash said disappointedly. “Sorry Mash,” I apologized. “It’s fine, you’re just having a stressful day,” he said and patted my head. “I just… I just had a weird conversation with Lemon earlier so I think I’m just being paranoid. Let’s just enjoy some cake,” I smiled. “Conversation? What was it about?” He asked. I blushed, “Nothing! It was girl stuff, don’t worry about it!” “Oh… well ok,” Mash shrugged.

We cut the cake and luckily I had some strawberry milk saved. “That was a good cake,” Mash said. “You only had a bite…” I sighed as we sat on my loveseat together. “Yeah, but I had a lot of cream puffs earlier, and I only worked out for 2 hours today. Don’t want to eat to pass my calorie intake,” he explained. “Just 2 hours?” I laughed. “Yeah, Lemon stopped me to tell me you were having an off day,” he said. “Ohh, well sorry for interrupting your workout, but thanks for coming over and the cake was delicious! I almost ate the whole thing,” I said and kissed his cheek. “It’s fine,” he smiled. I think I'm getting hot..? “Hey Mash, mind if I open a window? It’s getting hot in here,” I said and quickly opened my window to let in some fresh air. “It is?” Mash asked. “Yeah it’s super hot… and the fresh air isn’t helping!” I huffed and stuck my head out the window. “(Y/N) are you ok?” He asked and placed a hand on my lower back. I winced, his hand was hot to the touch. “Yeah, w-why do you ask?” I responded and looked back. “C-C-Cause it’s f-f-freezing in h-here,” he chattered from the cold. “O-Oh, I’m sorry!” I closed the window and sat back down. I felt my body beginning to feel like it’s on fire, but not sweaty but burning… “What’s wrong with me…?” I whispered. “Hey, it’ll be alright,” Mash said and pulled me into a hug. God the hug was burning me even more, but in a good way. I want more. “Mash, touch me more,” I said desperately. “(Y/N)?” Mash said, confused. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me, my body's on fire. Even you touching me makes it burn more, but I want more…” I whispered before pulling him into a kiss. “Mash…” I gasped when we pulled away for air. “Y-Yeah?” He panted. “Why haven’t we ever done anything… more?” I asked, feeling my cheeks heat up even more. “M-More? I don’t know. You never asked or talked about it so I thought-“ I interrupted him. “I always gave away hints, it’s kind of embarrassing,” I laughed nervously. “You did?” He asked, shocked. I nodded shyly. “Well… then let’s try it,” he said and pulled me into a rough kiss. God my mind is going blank.

Mash carried me to my bed and laid me down softly. I watched as he slowly unbuttoned his shirt and pulled it off. Exposing his bare chest, and god-like body. “N-No compression shirt?” I blushed. “Not today,” he said and got on top of me, quickly pulling me in for another kiss. He pulled away and quickly went for my neck, licking, sucking, and nibbling every inch. “M-Mash,” I said, feeling dizzy. “Let’s take our time,” he whispered into my ear, causing goosebumps to crawl over me. All I could do was whimper in response. “I never knew you could make these kinds of noises,” he said against my skin. “Let me hear more,” he said in a demanding tone, and began biting my neck a bit harsher. “Mhm!” I let out. He finally pulled back and stared at me. I took the chance to try and catch my breath. “Sorry about this (Y/N)…” Mash said, and before I could ask he placed his hands on the buttons of my shirt and ripped them apart. Exposing my bra, “Mash!” I blushed, and tried to cover myself. Before I could Mash pinned my arms above my chest. “Don’t hide them, please,” he pleaded. “M-Mash…” I gasped and relaxed. “Good girl,” he said deeply, but keeping his hand pinned against mine. With his free hand he traced his thumb from my lips to the tip of my waistband. “W-Wait! I don’t want… to be the first one…” I bit my lip, too embarrassed to finish my sentence. “Don’t wanna be the first one naked? Alright then,” he said and slowly got off of me. I watched as he quickly removed his belt, allowing his pants to fall. Leaving him in only his boxer shorts, I gulped and wanted to follow his lead. I slowly grabbed the hem of my skirt and slipped it down, Mash helping me throw them off. Now we were both left in nothing but our underwear. “You’re so sexy,” he said as he pounced on me again. I moaned and gasped at each nip or kiss he would leave, my body still feeling like it’s on fire. “M-Mash, stop teasing me,” I said desperately. “Someone’s impatient,” he chuckled. “But that’s fine, I don’t think I can hold off any longer either,” he said as he placed my hand over his bulge. I blushed and pulled him in for another kiss, I felt bad that he was the only one taking the initiative. “Lay back,” I said. He nodded and sat back and I slowly got on his lap, he placed his rough hands on my hips. I began to reach for my bra and removed it slowly, I finally unclasped it, letting my breasts fall. I watched as Mash stared at my body, letting his eyes roam over every inch. “Do they look n-nice?” I said awkwardly. “They’re perfect,” he said as he cupped one of them with his right hand, surprising me.

Before fully reacting he pushed me down, “Ma- Ah!” I moaned, feeling his mouth swallow my breast. I grasped onto his hair tightly, and covered my mouth with my other hand, not wanting my neighbors to hear us. As soon as I muffled myself, Mash looked up looking disappointed. He pinned my arms again with one of his hands, “Don’t do that again,” he demanded. I blushed and nodded shyly. “Good,” he said. “Mash, I think I wanna do-“ before I could my sentence Mash ripped my underwear off. “H-ahhh?” I laid there in shock. “Me too,” he said and pulled down his shorts. I looked up and saw his cock ready to go. “A-Ah,” I let out. “Let me prepare you,” he said. I nodded and spread my legs a little wider. I gasped when I felt a finger slide inside me, “Mm!” I gasped. Then another. “Ahmm!” I moaned, quickly biting my lip trying to muffle myself. “It’s so hot and wet,” he said, huskily. I looked up and saw his eyes staring down at me, hungrily. “I’m gonna move now ok?” He asked. I nodded, and felt Mash slowly insert his fingers in and out. Oh god I’m gonna go crazy, he’s going so slow! I began moving my hips slightly, trying to increase the speed. “Too slow for you?” He chuckled, as his eyes glowed in amusement. I suddenly felt the increased speed, “Ahh~! Mashh~!!” I cried out. “Is this better now?” He asked and continued using his two fingers to thrust and occasionally widen my pussy. After what felt like an eternity I was done! “Mash!” I huffed. “What’s wrong (Y/N)?” He smiled slyly. “I’m ready now, please?” I pleaded. “Please what?” He asked as he slowly removed his fingers, causing me to whimper to the sudden loss. “P-Please?” I repeated. “Come on say,” he said as I felt something hard begin to rub my lips. Oh god this man is making me crazy. “Just fuck me already!” I practically shouted. “Whatever you say, princess,” he smirked and thrusted himself deep inside. I quickly felt full and needed a minute to catch my breath. “H-Hold on…” I gasped. “Tell me when you’re ready,” he said softly and dropped down to kiss me softly. After another minute or two, I nodded and allowed Mash to start moving. He went slow at first, but after a few minutes he quickly began thrusting faster and harder. “Ma-aash…” I drooled as I gasped with each breath. “Fuck (Y/N)… you’re pussy feels so good,” he grunted and let go of my pinned hands. “MmMM!” I moaned in response. I quickly arched my back, feeling an overload of ecstasy as I felt a thumb brush over my clit. “I really liked that reaction,” Mash panted and continued to rub my clit at an intense speed. “W-WaiT!” I cried, feeling a knot in my lower stomach grow bigger and bigger. “I think I’m- maSH!” I let out and threw my head back as I felt a wave of pleasure rush through my body, but I quickly threw it back up as I realized Mash wasn’t stopping. “Ma- Sensit…ive!” I moaned and grilled onto his shoulder tightly. “I wish I could, but someone’s pussy won’t let go of me,” he smirked and continued thrusting me at the same pace and began rubbing my clit again. I quickly placed both hands over my mouth and again Mash quickly pinned them above my head. “Nice try,” he grunted. “Ah! Mm! Mash~!” I moaned, filling my room with the sounds of my moans and Mash thrusting in and out of my pussy. “Fuck… I’m close,” he said in ear. “Cum! Cum!” I begged him. “Not before you do, one more time,” he whispered in my ear. He unpinned me and returned his hand to my clit, playing with it again, bringing me closer and closer. “Mash… I’m-“ I choked and threw my arms around him. “Me too,” he grunted, thrusting deeper each time. “Mashhh!” I cried and dug my nails into his skin, once again my body flowing with ecstasy. “(Y/N)…!” He moaned with one final thrust, filling me before pulling himself out and falling next to me. We both took our time trying to catch our breaths and Mash soon pulled me in for some cuddles. “That was nice…” he said sleepily, before I heard some light snoring. I giggled and snuggled into his arms before falling asleep as well. Before I forget… make a mental note to thank and also kill Lemon tomorrow.

The Next Day

“You guys did it? Well… you did skip classes today, so it all makes sense now,” Lemon laughed. “Yeah, the cake sort of did the trick,” I blushed. “Cake?” Lemon asked, confused. “Yeah the cake and tea you gave Mash because I wasn’t feeling too good. You put a love potion in it didn’t you? Well… it’s fine cause I’m the one that ate it so I’ll forgive you this time-“ I was quickly interrupted. “(Y/N) what are you talking about? I bought that cake at the café we always go to. I went with my friend after we finished the project. I remembered you said you wanted to try the red velvet,” she said. “H-Huh?” I blinked. “Y-You thought I put a love potion in it!?” Lemon laughed. “Y-You didn’t?” I blinked again. “Girl… you must’ve had a placebo effect or something…” Lemon said. “Oh…” I said, speechless.

[base0h]

Yo Evou!! I hath returned, my idea for this time is;

How would the monster trio, and whoever else you would like to add, react to you staying up for around 48 hours?

Basically we’re all sleep deprived, so our judgement is impaired and you get more clumsy and all that. And basic tasks become harder too.

(I’m doing it right now, so if there’s spelling/grammar mistakes, that’s why 😉😉)

Here’s a pic of my dog btw, his name is Shanks funnily enough!

Anyways take care of yourself!! 💟💟💟

a/n - your dog is absolutely ADORABLE 😭💜💜 important question tho- (is he missing an arm?)

Warnings ⚠️ - crack, g/n reader

- oh he can stay awake for literally forever because- well- he’s Luffy 💀 but he’s not normal ok? So when you stay up it’s a whole different story

- it’s hour 48, and you were way past the point of drinking tea or coffee. The dark circles under your eyes were that of Law’s, no- probably worse 💀

- you could barely keep your eyes open, and holy shit going down the stairs was dangerous asf 😭 i pray for your safety

- “Hey y/n!!! Can you make me one of sanji’s sandwiches from yesterday? I’m soooo hungry :)”

- the way you turned around and even Luffy was shocked, (you looked like pre-timeskip law college drunk, missing an assignment, drank 10 cups of coffee law)

- “WHOA-! Uh- y/n…. Are you ok?”

- “yeah mhm! Totallyyyyyy fine 👍”

- no you’re not fine.

- you looked in the fridge to see a couple extra sandwiches, and you tried to reach inside and grab it. But your depth perception was so off that you were I think a foot away from grabbing it 💀

- luffy was a saint, waiting as patiently as he could as he watched you struggle and fall asleep a couple times as you tried to grab a sandwich

- when you finally grabbed it, cutting open the paper wrapping was going to be…. A rollercoaster-

- grabbing the scissors, you literally almost sliced one of your fingers off multiple times, you had Luffy looking like this right in front of you

- man is scared for your safety. But he still let you struggle until you finally got it 😭 when you slowly handed it to him, he made you sit down and eat the sandwich

- man was literally trying to shove it all in your mouth because he thought you were just low on meat (he thinks it’s meat itself is a vitamin)

- “Y/n! Open your mouth wider!”

- *snoring*

- “DON’T FALL ASLEEP WHILE EATING I HAVEN’T TAUGHT YOU HOW TO DO THAT YET!”

- in the end, nami slapped him and made him go help you upstairs to get some much needed rest, and Luffy hugs along with it :)

- the fact that you can stay up that long is amazing to this man, and without a single nap? Damn that’s admirable 😂

- staying up for that long comes with consequences though, and they were hitting… HARD.

- “Y/n where did you go?” -zoro

- you were in front of him the whole time he just got lost and went the other way 💀

- “here..”

- you were on top of the stairs, slowly making your way down, taking wobbly steps and barely being able to hold onto the rails

- he could see that you were about to fall but the dude was just confused as to why you looked like you hadn’t slept in years

- sure enough, you skipped a step and started to fall down, skidding down the wooden steps as zoro stared like an idiot

- didn’t even catch you 💀💀💀💀 what a loser (jk)

- you fell asleep immediately after you fell in front of him, and man was so confused

- “Are you sleeping?”

- no y/n’s not sleeping, WHAT DO YOU THINK FUCKING MOSSHEAD???

- started poking you and literally trying to check if you were sleeping or not 💀 but don’t worry! He actually carried you to bed and just watched over you, even put the covers over you too 👍

- took the day off from training to make sure you were ok- because you scared the mosshead

- if there’s a time Sanji has even let you stay up this long it’s this time- this guy KNOWS mental health and sleep is super important. He’d totally make you sleep at a decent time

- but this was an exception, you had a ton of stuff to do around the thousand sunny, and the fights seemed to never end on the island you went to with nami

- when you got back oh god you looked terrible 😭 disheveled to say the least

- you were dying. Dying

- “Y/n! Welcome ba-“ HORSE WHEEZING GASP

- man had a heart attack, those dark circles sent him to the all blue and back 💀💀💀

- wasted no time in forcing you to drink water and do all your tasks for you, don’t worry, pervy cook’s on it 💪

- “Y/n, do you need some more tea? I’ll go and buy more of your favorite!”

- “Sanji- that island is… hell”

- “I would gladly go to hell for you my love”

- everyone needs someone like Sanji 💜

a/n - love anime’s ideas because I’m laughing as I’m writing them like an idiot

[forever-rogue]

Hi!! I've seen you account recently and I was thinking maybe you could write eddie munson x reader when the reader is always so guffy and childish. So reader is sick like have really bad fever and is weary weak, almost fainted because of that and Eddie take kare of them and maybe lullaby them to sleep by singing them and rocking them please

Also English isn't my mother language so please forgive me for any mistakes love you

Feel free to ignore me if you want to byee

AN | No, but Eddie would take such good care of you 🥺🥰

Warnings | sick!reader

Pairing | Eddie x Fem!Reader

Word Count | 2.2k

Masterlist | Main, Eddie 

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

You knew that something was off as soon as you woke up that morning. Your head was pounding, you felt fatigued despite the fact that you’d gotten plenty of sleep, and your throat was taking on a dry, scratchy feeling. 

You’d experienced enough life and were definitely smart enough to put the pieces together. The conclusion to which, naturally, was that you were getting sick and coming down with…something. 

Once you were up and had taken a shower, you walked back into the bedroom you shared with Eddie and found him still sound asleep since he started at his job later than you did. Every fiber of your being yearned to crawl into bed with him and let him hold you…but you also didn’t like to succumb to something so simple. Besides that, if you were getting sick, you didn’t want to be around Eddie too much and potentially get him sick as well. Although by this point, you were sure that he’d probably already be exposed to whatever you had.

It was with a heavy heart and tired bones that you got dressed, made coffee, and headed out the door to work. In an effort to keep everyone else safe, you’d already decided that you were going to lock yourself into your office and keep to yourself. 

Hopefully this wouldn’t turn into anything too bad.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Making it through the work day had been a challenge and a half. It had, realistically speaking, ended about an hour before you were actually off, when you’d managed to fall asleep at your desk. You were thankful for closing the door; it would have been an awkward situation to explain. Your head had been on the desk and you had been drooling…needless to say you were out of it.

You probably should have called and asked your husband for a ride, but you hated the idea of bothering him, so you sucked it up and got yourself home. As soon as you walked in and dropped your bag and kicked off your shoes, you made your way over to the couch and collapsed onto it. A groan escaped your lips at the feeling of your sore body hitting the soft fabric. You grabbed the blanket at the end of the couch and pulled it over you, cuddled up as you gave in and took another nap. Your body was desperately craving it and you were too tired to fight it.

It wasn’t until Eddie came home that you awoke again, and not until you felt his soft touch on your shoulder. Your heavy eyes opened slowly as you found him looking back at you with a look of concern. 

“What’s wrong, princess?” he didn’t miss a beat and you silently cursed how observant he managed to be. You tried to shake your head and reassure him that you were fine but…definitely fell flat. Your throat was dry and scratchy and sound barely came out as you looked at him pathetically, “aww, baby. You’re sick, aren’t you?”

“No,” you croaked out, fooling either of you. Eddie huffed as crouched down and held the back of his hand to forehead. The corners of his mouth tugged into a frown, “I just need some rest.”

“Baby-”

“Really,” you insisted, “‘m fine.”

“You have a fever,” he raised his eyebrows as you fervently shook your head, only making the pounding worse. 

“Are you a doctor now?" There was a pretty pout on your lips that Eddie wanted to kiss sway. You tugged up the blanket so it was covering your face. He chuckled fondly as he brushed your hair out of your face.

"Yes," he cheesed happily, "Dr. Concerned Husband. Now let me take care of you, stubborn thing."

"I can handle myself," your defenses were slowly coming down. Maybe it was Eddie's puppy dog eyes or the ache in your bones; probably a combination of the two. 

"I know you can," he promised softly, "but I don't want you to have to. I've got you."

You looked at him, attempting to be strong, but once you saw those big, brown eyes, you couldn't handle it anymore. The tears started to pearl up and rolled your cheeks as your lip trembled and you sniffled. Eddie silently wrapped his arms around you, holding onto you gently and rubbing your back in soothing circles. You burrowed your face into his chest, long beyond thinking about getting him sick; he clearly didn’t care and you knew that you’d take care of him if the roles were to reverse. A few small, pathetic sounds escaped your lips “‘m sorry for being such a baby. I just feel so shitty.”

“That’s not you being a baby, baby,” he peppered kisses to the side of your head, “that is you have a normal reaction to not feeling well.”

“I just wanna go to bed and sleep,” you pouted at him and he nodded in acknowledgment, silently commiserating with you. 

“I know baby,” he promised, stroking his thumb over the apple of your cheek, “but have you eaten today? Maybe a nice hot shower or bath would help.”

“I ate some yogurt this morning,” you already knew that Eddie was going into full blown mother hen mode, “but I wasn’t feeling good at all, so I didn’t eat anything else.”

“I think you should eat something,” he chided softly, “even if it's just some broth, yeah? Something simple and lots of water.”

“Then maybe a bath?” the idea of soaking your tired, aching bones into a tub of hot water and soft bubbles sounded magical. Eddie nodded softly as you relaxed slightly; if you were being honest, just his mere presence was already making you feel better, “will you join me?”

“As if I’d miss that opportunity,” he teased, brushing his fingers along your jaw. You started to laugh, but it was quickly turned into a coughing fit, “oh honey. You are going to rest here, in a warm little nest, while I go and make some soup. After that it’ll be a bath and then - and  you’re not going to work tomorrow.”

“Eddie.”

“Princess,” he took your face in hands and you could see the love that was etched into his features, “I’m going to take care of you and that’s not up for debate. Yes?”

“Yes,” you promised softly, “I love you.”

“I love you.”

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

“You want me to undress you?” there was a small bit of amusement in his voice as you held your arms and offered him a sheepish little expression, “yeah, you do. Alright, pretty girl, let me help you.”

Eddie’s movements were gentle and tender as he slowly took off your sweater and bra, before following suit with your jeans, underwear and socks. You half expected him to make a comment about the current situation, but tonight he didn’t. Instead he studied you with reverent affection, “don’t - I look horrid probably.”

“On the contrary,” he made it clear that there was no room for argument, “you are the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. You always are - but now, into the tub and do not argue with me.”

“Fine,” you huffed playfully as he held out his hand to help steady you as you stepped into the tub. An unstoppable sigh of relief at the feeling of the warmth and the lavender smell of the bubbles escaped your lips as you eased your body into the tub. Once you were all settled and engulfed in the water, you closed your eyes, “this feels like heaven.”

“Well, this is certainly my idea of heaven,” his smile was beaming as you peeked one eye at him, “but right now I just want to make you feel better.”

“Join me.”

“Don’t you want me to wash your hair? And your body?” he raised an eyebrow in amusement as you shook your head, “never heard you turn that down before. That’s how I know you’re really not doing well.”

“Just wan’ you,” you were ready to plead with this man if you had to, “please, my love? Pretty please with all the cherries on top?”

“You don’t have to beg,” your husband stood up and whisked his shirt, revealing his pale, inked torso - which you shamelessly marveled at - before practically kicking off his jeans. You laughed softly, stopping yourself before it turned into another coughing spell, “you can have whatever you want.”

“Well, I want you,” you scooted over to the other side of the tub so he could get in. Eddie gently lowered himself into the water, grimacing slightly at how hot you liked the water. He made a sound of content as his legs bracketed yours, “hi.”

“Hi,” he whispered back, holding his hand out to you, “you really gonna stay at the other end of the tub?”

“No,” you shrugged, “but didn’t want to assume you wanted me right in your space.”

“I always want you in my space,” he scoffed, “that’s never anything you have to doubt.”

You let him tenderly pull you over, settling on his thighs as you sat back and leaned against his chest. He wasted no time in wrapping his arms around your waist as you sighed wistfully. Eddie pressed a row of soft kisses to your shoulder, and you turned your face to kiss his cheek. 

“This feels nice,” you were already feeling sleepy again as your eyes started to flutter close, “I’m sorry in advance if I fall asleep for a few minutes.”

“I’m not,” you really, really loved this stubborn, strong-willed man, “you need your rest and you’re going to get it. No if, ands, or buts.”

“Yes sir,” you reached for his hand and laced your fingers together, smiling when you felt him give your hand a squeeze. 

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

“Come on baby,” your eyes opened slowly at the sound of his voice as you looked up at him. He was already dressed in clean pajamas, holding out a warm towel for you, “let's get you to bed sleepyhead.”

“I bet you warmed that towel, huh?” you stood up slowly, immediately swallowed by the towel that Eddie wrapped around your body. Just as you suspected, it was extra warm and fluffy, “you did! What an amazing husband you are.”

“Yeah, yeah,” his cheeks flushed a pretty shade of pink as you made sure your entire body was covered, “whatever you say sweetheart.”

He steered you towards the bedroom before pulling back the covers, “bed has never looked so good before.”

“Stay there for one moment,” he was out of the room and running back downstairs before you could even say anything. You saw down on the edge of the bed, already fatigued by the simple act of getting out of the bath. Within a few moments you heard him run back up, breathless by the time he re-entered the bedroom, but grinning nonetheless. He held up your clean, warmed pajamas with a small sound of triumph, “ta-da. All ready for you, baby.”

Without you even needing to say a word, he came over to help dress you, his movement slow and methodical. Once he was done, you were thoroughly warm and sleepy, smiling at him like a fool, “thank you, my love. You are so wonderful.”

“You know I’d do anything for you,” he tossed the towel to the side, a worry for later, before starting to tuck you in, “now you can get some rest.”

“Only if you get in with me.”

“That was my plan,” he pulled the covers up and made sure you were bundled, “I’m just going to get us some water, okay?”

“My hero!”

“Very funny,” he pecked your forehead, “I’ll be back in a moment, baby.”

“I’ll be right here.”

“You better be,” he shot you a wink before reluctantly leaving you, even if it was just for a few moments. 

Eddie tidied up the kitchen for just a moment before getting plenty of water and going back up the stairs. By the time he made it back into the bedroom, you were already asleep and snoring softly. He was glad - you needed and deserved the rest. He set the water down on the nightstand by your side of the bed, making sure to put some medicine there as well.

He brushed the away the few locks of hair that were in your face before kissing your cheek. You made a small sound but didn’t stir otherwise; he was almost positive that a small smile was tugging up the corner of your mouth.

“Good night, sweetheart,” he whispered, turning off the light before walking to his side of the bed. He crawled into bed next to you, delicately as possible so he wouldn’t disturb you, “I love you so much.”

“I love you too, Eddie.”

[23spanishgirl]

I told you! || Pablo Gavi

💋 Requests are open!

‼️Warnings:

🫧Requested: yes!

🏎️Author’s note: Ugh I love this request so much cause i’ve imagined it so many times!! I really don’t know anything about buying or adopting animals so I wrote that part a little bit “bad”. As I always say I’m spanish so forgive me if is there any failure🙏🏻 Keep requesting! I’m starting to write the others. Hope it was “similar” as you imagined🫶🏻

“Please baby, pleeease! i beg you” yn pouted “yn, i’ve told you no. I don't like cats” Pablo answered. yn looked at him and snorted “you’re the worst” she said before lying on the bed and lying with her back to Pablo. She wanted a cat so bad and tried everything to convince Pablo, but he didn’t want a cat because he liked dogs more.

The next days yn sent Pablo lots of tik tok videos of little cats playing with their owners but he ignored them. He knew what she was trying to do. Maybe it wasn’t a bad idea having a cat but he didn’t like them too much and if he had to choose, without any doubt, he would choose dogs.

One night, he came home after training and yn was sitting on the couch scrolling down her phone “hi baby” he said giving her a kiss on the cheek “hii, how was training?” “good, how was your day?” “mm, boring but good. after dinner i have to show you something” she looked at him smiling “you’re scaring me” “don’t worry baby, let’s eat”

After finishing dinner, he went upstairs to get a shower and when he finished he went to the living room with yn “okay, like i said before i have to show you something… I know i’m extremely stubborn with this but i need to” She said putting a presentation on the tv and Pablo rolled her eyes funny and the only thing he could say was “oh no” “just listen to me, okay?!”

When she finished her presentation of why they should buy a cat she sat next to him and looked at him with puppy eyes and pouting “please, I beg you. Don’t be like my mom and make my childhood dream come true” He rolled his eyes again and chuckled “i don’t know love, i’m not a big fan of cats” “please, please, pleeease! You will love it!” Pablo looked at her “we’ll see” “oh no! That's what my mom told me for ten years” She crossed her arms and frowned as he laughed.

Few days later of yn being mad and sad, Pablo decided to finally agree to buy a cat. “yes, yes, yes!!!” She started to jump excitedly and hugged Pablo “can we go now?” “yes” He chuckled and they got in his car. When they got to the animal center yn was looking at all the cats “they’re super cute! I want all of them!” She said excited “but we’ll only get one” Pablo reminded her “just one” she nodded.

Half an hour later they decided to buy a white kitty with black spots. yn saw a lot of cats and kitties but she fell in love with that kitty in particular. The kitty was a boy so they decided to call him Milo. After they bought him and all the necessary things, they headed home.

“Look Milo, your new home!” yn said, putting Milo down. Pablo smiled seeing her happy but after all he still wasn’t very convinced with the idea “i’m so happy” she said excited giving him a kiss “thank you, thank you, thank youuu”

Two days passed and Pablo still wasn’t showing his affectionate side with the kitty. It was 4pm and yn left to go to the university “please, take care of Milo” She said to Pablo before going “yes, yes. I’ll take care of him” He nodded while he was sitting on the sofa.

While yn was away, Pablo looked after Milo. He putted him his food and water and was attentive to him. After three hours, he decided that he should take a nap as he was really tired so he lay down on the couch closing his eyes.

When he was almost asleep he heard a low “miau” and a few steps. He opened his eyes frustrated and saw the kitty. Milo approached Pablo and tried to get on the couch with him without completing his mission. After a few seconds of laughing at the kitty, Pablo grabbed him and laid Milo down next to him.

Pablo examined him for a few seconds and he noticed that the little cat had the same eyes as yn and he was amazed by that. After a few moments Milo settled close to him and closed his eyes. Pablo repeated the kitty’s action and he fell asleep.

Two hours later yn came back home “hii, i’m home!” She said but she was stranged as she didn’t receive any answer. She went to the kitchen but nothing and she decided to look in the living room where she found Pablo and Milo sleeping together.

She couldn’t help it and took a picture because she was melting cuteness and she had to capture that moment. After a few minutes of watching them, she decided to wake Pablo up. “baby” she moved him a little bit “I’m home” “mmm, hi” he said with his eyes still closed. She giggled as she saw him struggling to open his eyes and she told him with a smile “I saw that you and Milo are sleeping together” she laughed softly “I told you! You would love him” He rolled his eyes funny and smiles “he’s cute and he has your eyes” he said moving a little bit making space for her.

She smiled as he said that and she laid next to him as she put Milo on her chest. “Now we are a little family” she said excitedly and Pablo chuckled giving her a kiss on the forehead.

requesting || masterlist

[sandcobangevent]

Silence Your Phone and Open Your Heart

By @littleoceanbabe and @starfruitsomething

Ping!

“Watson, your ph-” Sherlock moved to grab John’s phone from the table, but it was snatched up lightning quick.

“Thanks, Sherlock!” John beamed, almost hugging his phone to his chest. Sherlock saw his cheeks redden slightly. Incredibly odd behavior, from his flatmate.

“...Are you feeling alright, W-”

“FINE! Sorry. I’m fine, Sherlock! Just. Erm,” John’s eyes darted as he tried and failed to come up with some excuse, “Just expecting something, is all.”

Odd, again. But Sherlock didn’t feel the need to pry, even if his friend was acting completely abnormal, “Alright, then.” Sherlock settled back into his seat to look down his microscope again, and saw John shuffle away awkwardly out of his peripheral.

~~

Ping!

Sherlock only paused in his reading at the noise, blinked once, then sunk back into his book.

Ping! a few moments later, and Sherlock startled, in the midst of a rather fascinating paragraph. His nose wrinkled in slight annoyance, but resumed his reading.

Ping!

This time Sherlock fully lifted his head, glaring at the offender, which was nestled in John’s hands. John was seemingly unaware of the turmoil Sherlock was currently dealing with, tapping away at his phone. Sherlock huffed quietly, but went back to his book.

Ping! “Watson, you are aware of a wonderful feature on your phone that silences your notifications?”

“Hm?” John inclined his head towards Sherlock, but still staring down at his phone screen. Sherlock frowned, even if John wasn’t looking.

“Your constant influx of text messages is making it very difficult to concentrate,” Sherlock stated flatly, “Silence your phone or go to another room to text.” He blinked, “Please,” he added.

“Uhh, oh. Oh! Oh yeah, so sorry about that, m-uh, mate,” John now divulged his full attention on Sherlock, “It’s just my mum. You know how Carol can be.”

“As well as I do know,” Sherlock started, “Can you finish your conversation elsewhere?”

John flushed, “Yes, ‘course. Sorry, Sherls.” He stood and moved out of the sitting room, and Sherlock resumed his reading in peace.

~~

Ping!

“Your phone, Watson.”

Ping!

“Watson. Your phone.”

Ping!

“Your phone, Watson!”

Ping!

“For god's sake!” Sherlock dramatically threw himself off the sofa, snatching John’s phone off the coffee table, tapping the screen.

From: Mum From: Mum From: Mum From: Mum

The messages were private, unable to be seen from the locked phone screen. Sherlock huffed, and stomped through the flat, up to John’s bedroom. He flung the door open without decorum, startling a sleeping John and Archie, who barked out of instinct before he saw it was only Sherlock intruding. John was much less dignified, yelping and flailing before slamming a palm on his chest.

“Christ, Sherlock!” He wheezed, “Ever heard of knocking??”

“Your mother is texting. Incessantly,” Sherlock grumbled, tossing John’s phone onto the bed, “Make her stop, Watson.”

John grabbed his phone and squinted at the bright screen, and Sherlock watched as he read through the messages. John groaned, putting his phone face down on the bedding without replying to anything.

“This couldn’t have waited until I woke up? How long’s it been?”

“An hour.”

“An hour- Sherlock! I said I wanted two hours, at least!”

“Your mother’s texts were annoying me.”

“So turn off the bloody phone! Jesus…” John fell back against his pillow, one hand on Archie’s back, who was already falling back asleep, “Unless she’s calling me incessantly, it’s not an emergency, Sherlock. Just turn off my phone next time, yeah?”

“...Or don’t forget your phone on the coffee table.”

“Sherlock. Let me take a nap.”

Sherlock rolled his eyes, “Yes, Watson.”

“Saw that,” John yawned, “Close the door, will ya?”

Sherlock complied, and he didn’t hear any more pings for the afternoon.

~~

Ping!

Sherlock sighed, loudly.

Ping!

“Your mother again?” Sherlock asked, looking up briefly from the map he was currently drawing out.

“Mm,” John replied distractedly, a forkful of eggs halfway up to his mouth, looking at his phone like it personally offended him.

It made Sherlock pause, tilting his head slightly, “Are you alright, Watson?”

John blinked, looking up at Sherlock. His cheeks flushed. That keeps happening… Sherlock thought absently.

“‘M fine, Sherlock. My mum keeps… She keeps bothering me. About something. I’m just-just getting a bit sick of it, is all.” He turned his phone screen off and placed it face-down on the table, taking the neglected fork to his mouth, “What’re you working on?” His voice was muffled from the eggs.

“Only a map of London. From memory,” Sherlock said, “I always forget something whenever I attempt it, a road or two, perhaps. It’s more of a personal challenge to recreate it perfectly without reference.”

“Wow,” John said, he swallowed his food, then looked at Sherlock with soft eyes, “You are incredible.”

It was so sincere, and seemingly so out of nowhere, Sherlock squirmed in his seat a bit, “Stop it now, Watson,” he muttered, feeling his face warm, “Really. It’s nothing.”

“Nothing? Sherlock, you’re making a map of an entire city from memory, just ‘cause you’re a bit bored! You are… spectacular.”

Sherlock suddenly felt it a bit difficult to breathe. John was smiling at him, so fondly and warmly, while eating his breakfast. It felt terribly domestic and cliché.

Ping!

John’s warmth dropped instantly and he glared at his phone, placing his fork down on his plate and grabbing it.

Sherlock could only keep staring, still reeling from John’s compliment, while John was fighting with the facial recognition feature, “C’mon, you piece of- Ugh.” John typed in his code, and Sherlock saw the placement of his fingers on the screen.

0601

Sherlock watched John’s face pinch in annoyance, huff through his nose, type a short reply, and set his phone back down.

“...Is everything alright with your mother?”

John wasn’t looking at him anymore, and Sherlock felt unreasonably upset about that.

“Yeah, everything’s fine. She’s just. Juuuust being Carol, y’know? Can’t sway her any other way.” John picked up his fork and stabbed at his eggs again, shoving another bite in his mouth and still not looking at Sherlock.

“Ah. Right.” Sherlock looked back down at his half-finished map, and suddenly realized he missed an alleyway in the south.

~~

Ping!

John was in the shower, his phone face up on the kitchen counter.

From: Mum

Sherlock blinked at it, mug of tea in hand.

Ping! From: Mum

Sherlock looked in the direction of the lavatory, just barely hearing John sing above the spray of the shower. He had about ten minutes.

Chewing his lower lip, Sherlock looked back at John’s phone, then back at the shower again.

It wouldn’t be right, he thought, It would be a violation of trust and privacy. It wouldn’t be right.

He knew he shouldn’t. But he couldn’t help himself. Something was going on with John’s mother, and despite her… rather outward personality, John loved her, and Sherlock cared for her, too.

He tapped the screen and swiped up with one hand, mug of tea still in the other.

0601

He picked up the phone and read the text.

From: Mum It’s been going on too long, love! You need to tell him!

Sherlock stopped breathing, staring at the two short sentences for a long while.

Tell who what?

He let out a shaky exhale, looking back in the direction of the loo. John was still singing, completely oblivious.

Sherlock opened the messaging app, reading from the most recent text.

From: Mum It’s been going on too long, love! You need to tell him.

From: Mum I’m worried about you, sweetie. You two deserve each other.

From: Mum Oi. Don’t talk about that like my son, either.

From: Me I just feel like he deserves more than me…

Sherlock’s heart dropped into his stomach. He's interested in someone, he thought, Someone whom he thinks he doesn’t deserve…

He scrolled up a little more, trying to gather more information.

From: Mum Morning, love! Is today the day?? Will you tell him??

Sherlock scrolled back down to the next message.

From: Me Mum…

From: Mum Only a question! You should be sweeping him off his feet by now, Johnny!

From: Me Why are you so obsessed over this?

From: Mum He makes you happy, darling.

Sherlock’s head snapped up at the sound of the shower being turned off, and he quickly exited the messages app, shutting the screen off and placing it exactly where John had left it, give or take a few centimeters. Hopefully John wouldn’t notice.

John comes out a few moments later, his hair messy and wet, wearing sweatpants and an old tee. He smiles casually at Sherlock, who feels his heart thump harshly in his chest as he nods in acknowledgement. Sherlock watches John pick up his phone, anxiety trickling down his spine and taking a sip of now lukewarm tea to try and expunge it.

No such luck, as John was now opening up his phone.

About ten seconds of silence passed, Sherlock willing his hands not to tremble around his mug. It was a tremendous effort.

“I’m feeling takeaway tonight,” John broke the silence, tapping away on the screen, “What say you?”

The anxiety was relieved so quickly Sherlock almost went into shock, “Hm? Oh, yes. Takeaway. Sounds wonderful.”

John’s phone didn’t go off for the rest of the night.

~~

Ping!

Sherlock had been rather jumpy over John’s text notifications since his recent discovery.

Every ping! from Watson’s phone made his heart skip a beat and his breath come in pants, lungs constricting and stomach twisting.

This particular notification startled him so bad he slammed the back of his head on the kitchen cabinet he was rooting around for a specific mug in.

“Ooh, y’alright, mate?” John winced and hissed, witnessing the whole thing. Sherlock felt his face burn in embarrassment, and he refused to look back at John, rubbing the back of his skull gingerly.

“I’m fine, Watson,” He grumbled, grabbing the first mug he could reach. It was the wrong one for tea, but he couldn’t be bothered to find the right one now.

Ping!

The mug slipped and Sherlock scrambled to catch it mid-air. A few nearly fumbled, rapid-succession attempts, and the mug was saved from collateral damage.

“...You sure you’re alright, Sherlock?” John asked, once again witnessing the entire humiliating event.

“I said I was fine, Watson,” Sherlock slammed the mug down on the table with much more force than necessary and slowly moved about the kitchen to prepare his tea, taking great lengths to ensure anything in his hands was not being held for any lengthy period.

Sure enough, after 36 seconds of silence;

Ping!

“Ugh, I’m sorry. It’s my mum. She wants to call me,” John pushing himself up from his seat at the dining table, “I’ll just take it in my room. Be right back.” He wasn’t even halfway down the hall before his phone started ringing, and he picked up with a resigned “Hi, mum…” John closed the door behind him with a soft click, and Sherlock was left alone in the kitchen, save for Archie snoozing soundly under the table.

For a moment, Sherlock didn’t move a muscle, fingers wrapped loosely around the mug still sitting on the table, kettle boiling away behind him on the stove.

The kettle whistles. Sherlock stands and starts to prepare his tea. He watches it steep for 23 seconds, impatiently tapping his fingers rapidly on the countertop, resisting the urge to glance back at John’s room. He stared at his mug for another 18 seconds.

And swiftly left the kitchen, silently creeping up to John’s room.

He really shouldn’t do this. It’s yet again another complete invasion of privacy.

He pressed his ear to the door.

There was a short beat of silence before John’s muffled voice filtered through the door, “Muuum, come on, can I please convince you to just leave me alone…”

She was questioning him about something. Sherlock silently hoped (and feared, if he were being honest) that John was talking about this mystery man John was infatuated with.

“No! I told you, mum. It’s not happening,” John sounded frustrated.

Sherlock pressed his ear to the door hard enough to hurt, and lifted a hand to lay his palm flat against it as well, as if it would help him hear better.

“Stop trying to get involved!” John groaned, “...No, no god, mum, please do not come over. That wouldn’t- …Because you getting involved in my love life would be the world’s biggest disaster. No. Do not just show up. Please.”

“...Sorry, mum.”

“...I know, mum, I know. I’m not- I’m not trying to worry you…”

“I just- I can’t tell him, mum. I can’t.”

Sherlock’s heart sank, hearing the resignation and melancholy in John’s voice.

“...Can we please talk about something else now?” John sniffed, and his voice sounded a bit thick. Sherlock wanted nothing more than to fling open the door, pull John into his arms, and tell him that he should have nothing to worry about. Anybody would be the luckiest person on earth to have John Watson as their own.

But it would be rude to interrupt a phone call.

Sherlock pulled away from the door, letting his palm slide down and off as well. He silently crept back to the kitchen, sitting at the table, and taking a sip of his tea.

It was far too oversteeped.

~~

Since the phone call, John had been oddly... Tense.

For one, Sherlock noted immediately, his phone had been silenced. He would pick it up so frequently to check for anything new, and tap away constantly at the screen, and Sherlock wouldn't hear any clicking sounds emitting from it.

The silence should have been a blessing.

It was eerie, really.

He felt as though he had to walk on eggshells around his own flat; as John's unusually flat demeanor was getting more and more worrisome, like bending a pencil, ready to snap at any point. Sherlock felt as if he could see the splinters. John would hardly talk to him, speaking in short, clipped sentences, and avoiding eye contact and touch at nearly any cost. Sherlock would normally have been grateful if it were anyone else. But this was John. He missed his voice. He missed his eyes. He missed his touch.

They were in the sitting room together when the pencil finally snapped. Sherlock was curled up on his armchair, fingers steepled together under his chin, deep in thought over their current predicament. He was aware of John's presence (it was much too difficult to ignore, through both the tension and the cologne John had put on that morning), but only peripherally. Sherlock was attempting to convince himself to assist John in this romantic fiasco he found himself in, at great detriment to himself (it wasn't ideal; John... with someone else. But if it would make John less... upset, then Sherlock would have done anything).

Ping!

Sherlock's pocket buzzed congruently to the sound. His eyes fluttered open, avoiding John entirely as he reached for his phone. The notification he was greeted with was rather confusing.

From: John Are you ever going to say anything?

Sherlock blinked at the text, frowned in confusion, and unlocked his phone. Then, he stared at the text more, looking away briefly to open his mouth to speak to John - who was still sitting on the loveseat in the same room, tunnel-visioned on his own phone - but found he couldn't come up with anything to say out loud. He looked back down at the screen.

From: Me Say anything about what?

John's phone didn't make a sound, but Sherlock saw his fingers start to move, and the typing bubble pop up on his own phone.

Ping!

Sherlock startled, and quickly silenced his phone.

From: John About this. You. Me. Us.

From: Me I don't know what you're referring to.

From: John Come on, Sherlock. I'm not stupid. I know you know.

From: Me I do not.

John sighed from his seat, and Sherlock's stomach flipped.

From: John I know you looked through my phone. I know you eavesdropped on the call with my Mum. I know you know.

The air felt thinner. Sherlock couldn't breathe. His vision darkened at the edges. I know.

"John, I'm so-"

John interrupted him by clearing his throat, waggling his phone without taking his eyes off it.

No talking, then.

From: John So. You haven't said anything.

From: Me It wasn't my place.

From: John I would sure think so. What do you mean it's not your place??

From: Me Meaning that it isn't my place to interfere with your romantic entanglements.

Another minute had passed before Sherlock received another text.

From: John ...Okay I'm confused.

From: Me It's hardly my concern, knowing who you're dating.

"Ohhhh..." John lifted his head and finally, finally, turned to look at Sherlock, "You mean... You don't know?"

Sherlock stared at John, who had an interesting mixture of relief and anxiety on his face, and frowned in annoyance, "That is what I've been trying to tell you, Watson."

"Ah. Shit, um... Well, Sherlock. Gah, this is awkward. The thing is... You-you, erm. I'm... Fuck."

"John."

"You're the one I'm... hoping for a 'romantic entanglement' with."

Oh.

"...Oh." Sherlock whispered, his phone hung loosely in his grip, not daring to blink now as John stood up from the sofa and made his way over. Sherlock's pulse quickened, sounding thunderous in his ears.

John knelt down by the armchair, closer to eye-level with Sherlock, "Is that... okay?" He was apprehensive, cautious, as if he were approaching a frightened animal. Maybe he was, as Sherlock felt the overwhelming urge to run away and hide, even if this was very good news.

He swallowed it down with tremendous effort, "Yes," He choked out, "Yes, it's okay."

"Okay, good," John slowly moved his hand, taking Sherlock's phone away. He clicked off the screen, and placed it facedown on the coffee table, "Very good." He pushed himself up, and suddenly his face was only centimeters away from Sherlock's own, "Is this okay as well?"

The ability to speak was gone, now. Sherlock only nodded dumbly, and John smiled softly. Sherlock couldn't hear his next words, but then John's lips were upon his own, kissing him softly and sweetly. The world melted away, and the tension flooded out of his body, even as his heart rate maintained its jackrabbit pace.

John pulled away first, and pressed their foreheads together.

"Don't think you got away from snooping in my phone, though," John mumbled.

Sherlock heard the grin in his voice, and laughed.

[gavires]

dom reader with jude🫠

you woke up to the feeling of something warm and heavy on your chest; the street lamps casting a dim light in your room as your curtains were open. you looked down to see your boyfriend, jude, sleeping soundly with his head on your boobs, his arms around your middle to keep you close to him and your legs tangled together. he came home from practice exhausted and upset over some small stupid things which still managed to bother him. that’s why you dragged him on your bed to take a nap; he fell asleep almost immediately and exhaustion eventually got the best of you too. whenever jude was tired or grumpy, he got clingy and needed to feel your hands on him in any way possible, as your touch usually brought him a sense of tranquillity and ease. however, tiredness also made him needier and it was easier for him to get in his sub headspace, which you didn’t mind at all, considering that you loved taking care of him. and today was no exception.

you studied his features for a while; he looked so peaceful like that, but after a few minutes you noticed jude’s eyebrows furrowing and his lips parting, he mumbled something that you couldn’t quite catch. his breath was starting to get heavy and the whisper of your name went past his lips. was he having a wet dream?

you lifted the duvet a bit and you noticed how a tent was forming in jude’s grey sweatpants. you bit your lip thinking about what you should do. you carefully tried to lower his sweatpants just enough for you to palm his growing erection, feeling it under your fingers. a sigh left jude’s lips at the contact and your hand went past the waistband of his boxers. you rubbed your thumb over his tip, feeling it already leaking with precum. at that, jude’s eyes started to flutter open. you took his shaft in your hand and started gently stroking it. “y/n…” jude mumbled and you kept going, picking up your pace on his dick. your boyfriend hid his face in the crook of his neck to muffle his moans. “nuh uh baby let me hear your pretty moans” you said as you kissed the top of his head, your hand now going faster. jude moaned shamelessly, he felt so good and he had been wanting you to care of him all day long.

he threw his head back on your shoulder, his eyes closed and his breath hitching. “who’s making you feel good baby?” jude couldn’t even answer your question, his mind foggy as the pleasure was too much. “answer me slut, or you’re not cumming tonight” hearing your stern voice and your hand stopping had jude panicking.

he snapped your eyes open to look at you “you, you y/n you’re making me feel so good please” his voice whiny as he begged you “i’m so close…” you started stroking him again and he bucked his hips up, desperate for release. “can i cum? mommy please” you clenched your thighs together at the name he had just called you “fuck jude yes cum for me baby, you deserve it” and with your permission jude came in your palm, painting it white with his hot cum, finally getting what he had wanted all day.

[severalforraelee]

The Babysitters Part 2: Prove It Short Story

Prompt: Hey can you please do one with Rowan or any of the drivers baby where the drivers babysit again but the kid cries the whole time and the drivers has absolutely no idea where what to do and its almost the same as that episode of friends where Emma cries and Phoebe asks have I gone death please 

Written by raelee / posted Jan 4

Word count: 1.517

Masterlist

Formula 1 Masterlist

Prove It Masterlist

“Are you excited to spend the day with Uncle Charles, Rowan?” I ask the six year old as we approach the Ferrari driver.

He looks up at me from where he’s holding my hand, eyes gleaming. “Yeah! Is he going to give me candy for lunch again?”

“He did what?” I whip my gaze to Charles, narrowing them into a glare. He at least has the knowledge to look sheepish at Rowan’s slip up.

“Nothing,” Rowan quickly corrects himself.

“Thanks for taking care of him,” I tell Charles as Rowan lets go of my hand to run into his unofficial uncle’s arms. I make sure not to say that Charles is babysitting him, because Rowan’s at the age where he gets upset as soon as he hears that word.

“I’ll take any time that I get to hang out with my little man,” he states, ruffling my son’s hair.

“Mommy and daddy are doing a photoshoot,” Rowan informs his uncle.

“And your brother and sister are in it too! Why aren’t you in it?” Charles questions curiously.

“They’re not in it,” I give him a confused look.

“Then why am I not hanging out with them too?”

“Keagan’s a ball of energy today and Avery is very cranky-””So cranky,” Rowan cuts me off, making us giggle.

“I didn’t want you to have to deal with that.”

“Psh,” Charles waves me off. “I can handle it.”

I raise my eyebrows at him. “Are you sure? A curious six year old, an energetic three year old, and an irritated one year old?”

“You do it, how hard can it be?”

“I kinda want them to be on their worst behavior now just because you said that.”

He laughs as I pull out my phone to text Max to bring the other two kids over.

“What’s going on?” Lando pops his head into the Ferrari garage.

“Lando,” Rowan cheers, running at his other unofficial uncle and hugging his legs.

“Hey buddy,” Lando hugs him back.

“I’m babysitting the three Verstappen kids,” Charles announces.

“Without me?” Lando hollers.

“Sh, you’ll wake her up,” I hiss, watching as Max approaches while holding Keagan’s hand and a sleeping Avery in his arms.

“She is so precious,” Charles squeals, holding out his arms to take her from Max.

“Be careful, she’s very cranky today,” the Red Bull driver warns.

“I know, Y/N already told me,” Charles rolls his eyes.

“Can I babysit too?” Lando asks eagerly.

“Take care of,” Rowan corrects with attitude.

“Sorry, can I take care of them too? I want to start having kids soon.”

“You kind of need to have a partner in order to do that, Lando,” I raise my eyebrows at him.

“I know that, Y/N,” he glares at me. “I’m working on it.”

“I’m sure Charles will need the help,” Max rubs the back of his neck anxiously, obviously unsure about the other drivers taking care of his three pride and joys.

It starts out great. Rowan asks for some food so they head to the Ferrari motorhome, sitting down and giving each boy a bowl of cereal while Avery naps in Charles’ arms.

“How is karting going?” Lando asks the two boys while they eat.

“Good, I ran a kid off the track the other day,” Rowan giggles.

“You’re not supposed to do that, buddy,” Charles tries to reprimand while Lando laughs, which defeats the purpose.

“Keagan can go around the whole track without daddy’s help now,” he continues.

“Great job, Keagan,” they praise.

It’s at this moment that Avery wakes up. She shakes her tiny hair, blonde curls bouncing as she slowly opens her eyelids. The baby lifts her head to look at the person who’s holding her, expecting it to be her dad, the person who was holding her before she fell asleep, only to her horror it’s Uncle Charles.

She doesn’t want Uncle Charles.

She wants daddy.

She erupts into screams and tears.

“Charles, what did you do?” Lando gasps.

“I don’t know,” Charles hisses, trying to bounce the little girl in his arms. That only makes her cry harder.

“Well get her to stop before Max hears.”

“We walked from far away,” Keagan comments.

“I know, but your dad has like supersonic hearing when it comes to you guys,” Lando responds, eyes locked to the reddening baby.

“What’s with all of the noise?” Carlos exits a hallway, approaching the table of five.

“She won’t stop crying,” the Monasque begins patting the baby on the back urgently.

“Give her here,” Carlos holds out his arms and Charles immediately passes Avery over. “Did you try a bottle?”

“No, they didn’t give us a bottle.”

“Yes, they did,” Rowan chimes in calmly, bringing another spoonful of cereal to his mouth.

“No, they didn’t,” Lando responds mockingly.

“They did, it’s in the cooler in the bag that they gave you.”

“And where’s the bag?” Carlos asks.

Lando and Charles look at each other with wide eyes.

“Well? Where’s the bag?” Carlos questions with more demand in his voice this time.

“Did you grab the bag?”

“No, I thought you grabbed the bag.”

“Well, I didn’t!”

Carlos curses softly in Spanish under his breath, the pacing that he started does nothing to sooth Avery. “Will someone just go get the bag?”

Lando jumps up from his seat, running out of the motorhome back towards the garage.

“Daddy’s not going to be happy that she’s been crying this long,” Rowan states casually.

“I miss the time when you couldn’t talk,” Carlos replies.

“I got it, I got it!” Lando runs in, setting the bag on the table. Charles stands up and they dig through it together.

“Here’s the bottle,” Charles hands it to Carlos, who tries to give it to Avery. She won’t take it, crying even louder as the milk dribbles into her mouth. “Okay, here’s a diaper and some wipes.”

Carlos stares at his teammate. “And what am I supposed to do with that?”

“Give her a diaper change.”

“Oh no, I’m not doing that.”

“I’m not doing it either,” Lando agrees.

“What happened to wanting to prepare for your future children?” Charles questions.

“You said that?” Carlos laughs.

“That’s quite a few years away, I still have time.”

Charles rolls his eyes, rolling out the mat on the ground and prepping the supplies.

He changes the little girl’s diaper, which seems to calm her down a bit but she’s still crying.

“Try her dummy,” Rowan suggests.

As a last ditch effort, Charles grabs the pacifier out of the bag, putting it in Avery’s mouth with little hope.

Surprisingly, she quickly stops crying. All three men sigh in relief, her cries still ringing in their ears.

“Wait…” Lando starts, making the other two men look at him. “One, two… isn’t there a third child?”

It takes their minds a moment to process the fact that they lost a child.

“Oh shit, Keagan,” Charles gasps.

“Well,” Carlos claps him on the back. “This seems like it’s meant for you two. Uncle Carlos has some work to do.”

He walks away before either of them can respond, causing Charles to roll his eyes.

“Come on, let’s go look for him,” Charles starts to head towards the exit, Lando following closely behind. “Lando!”

“What?” The Brit questions.

“Go get Rowan, we don’t want to lose another child,” he hisses.

The four of them set out to find the missing child, peaking into garages and motorhomes as casually as they can to not expose the fact that they lost a Verstappen child. If word got back to Max- they’d be dead men.

“We’re almost through the paddock, what if we don’t find him, Charles?” Lando questions nervously, already picturing what words he wants on his gravestone.

“We’ll find him, don’t worry,” he tries his best to reassure the other driver but he’s not that confident in his words.

That is, until a toddler comes waddling out of the Mercedes garage with none other than George Russell’s helmet on his head.

“Keagan,” Lando exclaims, running to take off the helmet to make sure it really is the little boy. Keagan pouts once his helmet gets removed, but Lando doesn’t care, tugging him into his arms. “You can’t just run off like that, bud.”

“What were you even doing in the Mercedes garage?” Charles questions.

“Giving us trade secrets,” George smirks from his seat in the garage.

“This never happened, Y/N and Max never hear a word about this,” Lando threatens.

“Trust me, as amusing as it would be, I don’t want your blood on my hands.”

The five make their way back to the Ferrari garage, arriving just in time to meet Max and Y/N.

“How did it go?” Max reaches out to grab his daughter, who squeals as soon as she’s in her daddy’s arms.

“Uncle Charles and Uncle Lando couldn’t get Avery to stop crying, then Uncle Carlos tried to help but left as soon as they realized Keagan was lost, but we found Keagan with George so it’s all okay,” Rowan explains.

“What?!”

[jacksdinonuggets]

Charlie putting Vaggie down for a nap but she is being a stubborn baby that wants to keep playing so she makes a plan to escape the baby jail?

Baby Jail

Notes: lowkey feeling angsty. if ya'll want to vent through making Vaggie suffer like i do, you can request angsty, hurt/comfort ones.

It was another regression day for Vaggie. Charlie was sitting in her rocking chair, scrolling on her phone while Vaggie played with her activity board on the floor. She was babbling and giggling happily to herself when she let out a tiny yawn. This alerted the caregiver so she checked the time. It was in fact past her usual naptime. Charlie sighed and put away her phone, walking towards Vaggie and kneeling down to her.

“Hey, sweetie, its nap time,” She spoke softly to her. Vaggie acted like she didn’t hear her and kept playing.

“Vaggie~” Charlie sing-songed, gently and slowly pulling away the activity board. Vaggie pouted and let out whine, trying to reach for it.

“You can play later,” Charlie said, lifting her up.

“NoOo!” Vaggie whined.

“YeEss,” Charlie said in the same tone Vaggie used. 

She placed Vaggie down in her crib and tucked her in. The one-eyed girl did not want to take a nap. She wanted to play! Not sleep! But she knew if she tried to get out now, Charlie would see her and put her right back in baby jail! So she came up with a plan.

When the only thing illuminating the room was Vaggie’s nightlight, and Charlie was out of sight, she began her escape. She needed to be really quiet to not alert the baby monitor. She sat up and tried to pull down on the bars of baby jail. Drat! It was locked. Luckily, it wasn’t too high and she could climb over it.

She threw her leg over the bars and held on until her whole body was on the other side. She landed on her feet but almost slipped! She grabbed the crib bars to keep her balance and to not make any noise if she were to fall.

She started to waddle over to her playpen but every movement she made, had her padding crinkling loudly. She was a bit worried that it would blow her cover but she safely made it to the playpen and started to play with her sensory toys again and have some more tummy time. 

However, she got really happy while playing and let out a giggle of enjoyment and a little happy clap, forgetting that she was supposed to be quiet.

Before a minute could pass, the door to the nursery slowly opened. Vaggie jumped when the light from the hallway entered the room and Charlie stood in the doorway.

“Vaggie~ you’re supposed to be in bed~” Charlie sing-songed playfully, not wanting to scare her. She also hated being angry at the little darling.

“Dun wanna…” Vaggie mumbled, rubbing her eyes.

Charlie sighed and sat down on the floor with her.

“Vaggie, I don’t wanna be bad mama but I need you to take a nap,” She rubbed Vaggie’s back.

“No!” The little one yelled, crossing her arms.

“Vaggie…” Charlie warned.

“Not gonna!”

“You will take a nap or 5 minutes in the time out corner,” She threatened. It wasn’t much of a threat. She hated giving Vaggie punishments and often went a little easy on her with them.

Vaggie grumbled and sat in silence for a bit. Charlie sighed after not getting a response and went to lead Vaggie towards the corner.

“Fine..” She muttered.

“Good girl,” Charlie praised, “Let’s get you a baba to help you fall asleep, okay?” 

“Otay…” Vaggie said with disappointment and sadness in her voice. 

Charlie went over to the minifridge and grabbed the gallon of milk and poured it into her baba. She heated it up in the microwave before pouring in some strawberry syrup and shaking it. She sat in the rocking chair with Vaggie on her lap and fed her. Vaggie’s eyelids began to droop and she found herself growing sleepy. Charlie smiled and gently pulled off her eyepatch before tucking her back in the crib.

Finally, Vaggie fell asleep and stayed put.

[cosmic-consumption-au]

Chapter 2 - Lost In Your Own Head

You awaken from your uneventful sleep, the light of the morning sun blinds you slightly.

You shield your eye as you sit up and stretch.

(Thank the stars, I didn’t have another weird dream.)

(Less to unpack, the better.)

You get up, and see the others getting ready for the day.

Odile is fixing up her hair, Nille is trying to wake up Bonnie, Bonnie is trying to ignore Nille waking them up, and Mirabelle and Isabeau are in the bathroom washing their faces.

Grab your clothes and find a spacious closet to change in, out of view of your friends.

As you put on your cloak, you pause to feel the material and look at your pins.

You don’t want to dwell on your cloak any longer, so you simply ignore whatever feelings or memories you were about to experience.

Exiting the closet, you see Bonnie has finally given up, sitting upright still half asleep.

“Can’t I sleep in a little more?” They grumble with closed eyes.

“Nope,” Nille answers, “we gotta get up early if we want to make it to the next town before sunset. Or do you want to sleep outside again?”

“HEY, I CAN SLEEP OUTSIDE JUST FINE!” Bonnie yells to Nille, finally awake. “I’M A BIG, TOUGH KID!!!”

Bonnie stands on the bed, trying to look bigger and imposing with their hands on their hips.

You chuckle. If anything it makes them look even cuter.

Nille laughs, “You can’t make yourself look bigger by standing on the bed! You look like you’re about to fall over.”

Sure enough, Bonnie is shaking as they’re standing on their tip toes too. They wobble and start to fall down off the bed.

Before they hit the floor, Nille grabs them and sticks them under her arm.

“HEY!” Bonnie tries to break out of her grasp.

“Come on, Boniface. Let’s go eat breakfast.” She takes the now defeated Bonnie out of the room.

Odile is chuckling to herself and shaking her head.

You enter the bathroom around the same time Isa and Mira are done with washing their faces.

“Goodmorning, Siffrin!” Mirabelle smiles at you kindly.

“Morning, if” Isabeau says as he starts brushing his teeth.

You trade places with Mira, and start to wash your own face.

It feels good, like you're cleaning away the tears from last night.

(New day, new me!)

You smile to yourself in the mirror, trying to put on a brave face before unpacking yesterday’s dream with your family members.

“Did you sleep well?” Isabeau asks you.

“Better than that nap I took!” You respond. “Cause you could say…”

Isabeau looks excited for the incoming pun.

“…it was lakeing comfort.”

Isabeau howls with laughter, and you’re glad you get to have a moment of levity before you talk to them.

Isa wipes a tear away. “Aaah…lakeing…”

Suddenly he looks a little more serious.

“But…seriously Sif. I swear I heard you crying last night.”

You feel your stomach drop.

(But…I kept myself quiet! How could he have…)

“Oh…really?” You ask with minimal breathing.

“Yeah, but I was like…half asleep, so maybe I was just hearing things?” Isabeau says questioningly.

“Well…” You’re going to tell them in a minute. “I do need to talk to guys about something…about that nap I took.” 

Isabeau nods understandingly. “Ok. How about over breakfast? Would that be ok?”

You nod silently, tucking your face into your cloak a little.

The two of you leave to join the others downstairs.

The Innkeeper has made you all a complimentary breakfast, complete with eggs, bacon, and buttered toast.

You didn’t eat a lot last night, and you can feel your stomach grumbling. But…you still can’t bring yourself to eat much. Not yet.

(You have to tell them.)

Isa is looking at you with concern, and you look intently at your bacon as if it will give you the confidence you need to proceed.

“E-everyone?” You say meekly.

Your party looks at you almost instantly.

“I…I need to tell you…about a dream I had…when I took that nap…”

Everyone looks to you with worry and attention, but Nille looks a little uncomfortable. Makes sense; it’s not like she’s super invested in your life.

“I fell asleep, and woke up in a strange blurry dream. I could only make out shades, it wasn’t very visually interesting. But…I could…feel things. I was smaller, sitting in someone’s lap like a child. I think we were on a beach or something. I could hear water, and felt a cool breeze. But then…I heard a song. The other person was humming, and…it sounded so familiar…I swear I know the song even now! It…made me feel sad. Like, I missed something. Someone! But…”

Your voice cracks, your fists clenched tightly beside your plate.

Your vision blurs again, and tears land on your food.

Isabeau gingerly puts a hand on your shoulder.

You’ve gotten used to being touched, but your friends…even Isabeau…aren't quite used to it yet.

Can you blame them?

Comforting someone can be difficult to do if you aren’t sure what to do.

But this was what you needed.

You lean into him for support, and he hugs you from your shoulder.

You unclench your fists, and take this moment to ground yourself.

“…I haven’t been able to remember this much before. I…even in the loops, I couldn’t remember this much.” 

“Are you saying…you're remembering your past?” Odile asks with an invested look.

“Maybe?” You don’t seem to have headaches as often as before.

Maybe it’s something to do with the loops? But even then…

You suddenly have an idea.

“Wait!! Does this have anything to do with everyone’s memory or just me specifically?”

Mirabelle tilts her head to the side in thought. “Maybe if you try humming it to us, we can see if it gives us a headache?”

“Yeah! Let’s try it, Siffrin!” Bonnie actually looks excited, leaning over the table.

Nille just looks even more lost than before, and much more uncomfortable.

“Don’t worry,” Siffrin tells the poor young woman. “I’ll explain…everything to you after this.”

She looks a bit more eased at this, and gives you a firm nod.

You take a deep breath in and out, close your eyes, and…

…

You start to hum.

The song comes out of your throat without much thought or concentration. It almost feels freeing, like you’re letting something from deep inside you out. You feel warm tears again, accompanied with the bittersweet pang in your heart.

When the song is completed to the best of your ability, you open your eyes again.

Everyone looks a little worried, likely because your face is running with tears. But you aren’t really that sad anymore.

It’s like an automatic response to the tune now.

“Well, it sounded lovely and clear as day!” Mira breaks the silence.

Odile nods, “It’s got to be the first time something from your past didn’t give us headaches.”

“Sif…you’re crying…” Isa looks worried about you.

“O-oh? Yeah, I guess I am…” You wipe away the tears before they drip onto your already cried-on food.

Odile thinks for a moment. “So, whatever is preventing us from remembering your country seems to be…wearing off?”

You nod slightly. “…that’s my current theory.”

Bonnie gasps, “Does that mean we can remember its name now?!”

Bonnie makes a face of deep concentration for a few moments before looking a little disappointed.

“…Nope. I guess not.”

Nille looks over at you with a rather unbothered expression. “So, your country…no one can remember it? And whatever is keeping everyone from remembering it is…wearing off? When did this start happening, recently?”

You feel a little awkward. “…It might be easier to explain it all later to you. You're kinda behind on the whole…situation…”

She lets out a long breath and leans back into her chair without another word, clearly feeling out of place in the conversation.

“…Sorry,” you say, trying to ease the tension.

Nille just closes her eyes.

“Well, this is definitely a development,” Odile steers the conversation back to the matter at hand.

“I do have a question…” Isabeau asks seriously. “How do you feel about this…development?”

You don’t really know yet.

On one hand, you can finally learn about your past and your culture!

…But on the other hand…do you really want to remember what was stolen from you?

Perhaps ignorance is bliss.

“…don’t know…” You tuck your face into your cloak a little, looking away from everyone.

You start to eat your food, which isn’t warm anymore, to signal the end of the discussion.

You don’t want to keep talking anymore. You just want to eat.

The rest of the meal is awkward, and you start to realize it was a mistake to do this over breakfast and not afterwards.

(Well, too late now.)

You look up at the ceiling, wishing you could see the stars.

(Loop…I wish you were here. You would understand more…maybe even help me out again…)

But you have no idea where they are.

Are they dead? Under the Favor Tree? Back in their own timeline?

You wish the hand sign still worked, so you could ask them these questions and get an answer.

You sigh, and go back to your tear-salted meal.

-

Walking to the next town was going to take a while, but it was possible. According to Mira, you should make it there in the afternoon.

Along the road, you pass by a few people as usual, but one group sticks out to you.

They’re running away toward your direction, and they look rather beaten up.

“AHHHHHHH!!!!”

“RUN!!!”

“WHAT EVEN IS THAT?!?!!!”

You have a strong feeling you know what they’re running from, and your party draws their weapons.

Sure enough, a rather big Sadness starts to pull itself along the road after you. Its cries sound all too familiar at this point.

Luckily, this one seems to be a paper type, so you’ll be able to handle this quickly and easily.

You slice the enemy, bringing it to its knees…supposedly…or whatever its knees are now.

But part of you can’t help but wonder…if they’re connected somehow?

The King was able to recall your country at the end…maybe this affected the Sadnesses?

You have no idea.

But someone might!

You yell at Odile, “Examine it!”

She looks surprised, but does so anyway. “…It’s…Well, it’s clearly a paper type. Seems like a normal Sadness, nothing out of the ordinary.”

She readies her book, and casts Scissors IV. The Sadness is defeated quicker than it arrived.

You feel a slight bit of disappointment, hoping more could’ve been gleaned from the encounter.

You breathe in and out. Or more, sigh out.

“We should ask the next town about Sadnesses,” you suggest. “Maybe they have more information about how many are around?”

“Yeah. That could be useful.” Isa nods in agreement.

You eventually make it to the new town, the sign looking worn stating “Revery”. It’s rather empty and looks like it used to have many more people. You all wander further in, and notice there’s a quarry nearby.

“Ok everyone, let’s go ask around!” Mirabelle claps and readies to go.

You feel a hand on your shoulder, and look back to see Nille giving you a serious look.

“You,” she says in a commanding voice. “I have questions you need to answer.”

“O-oh, right!” You had almost forgotten. “Actually, I’m going to catch Nille up. You all go on ahead!”

Bonnie looks up at Odile. “Let’s go in-tera-gate some people!”

“It’s interrogate, and we’re not doing that. We’re just going to ask some questions.” Odile corrects Bonnie with a little smirk.

“INTERROGATE!!!” Bonnie yells before running ahead, Odile walking in pursuit.

Mirabelle and Isabeau smile at each other. “Look like the old alliances are back, huh?” Isabeau bumps his fists together.

Mirabelle nods, “It appears so. Beauty Team-”

“Unite!” The two say in unison before running off.

Now it’s just you and Nille.

She points to the quarry. “Over there. It looks inactive, so there shouldn’t be any easedropers.”

You head over and find a small ledge to sit on.

“Ok…” You sigh out, realizing just how much you’ll have to tell her.

End of Chapter 2

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.

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Previous - Masterpost - Next

[youwouldntbelievehowigothere]

Ao3 is down rn, so I guess I’ll post this on tumblr only. I’ll try to get it up when Ao3 is back up. still got time to come up with a name for it I guess. Currently it’s sitting in my docs as “ONE SIDED ARRANGED MARRIAGE/ZELINK WEEK 2023.″ I retrofitted it to be for Zelink week, so each prompt doesn’t align exactly, but it matched up more than I thought it would.

This is a multichapter oot zelink fic, featuring the child timeline, angst, injury, and more! I might have the rating bump up to M just for the description of injury (and reaction of others to said injury) in this chapter, but there won’t be anything sexually explicit.

@zelinkcommunity

CH 1: YEARNING

Something wasn’t right. 

Zelda awoke in the middle of the night to a crack of thunder. The lightning lit her room in menacing shadows, and it seemed for a moment the terror of her dreams had been brought into the waking world. With a scream that Impa had heard over the howling wind, her nursemaid and guard burst into the room.

“Princess,” Impa exclaimed, “Are you–”

Zelda screamed again, a sob ripping through her. Something was terribly wrong. 

Impa quietly examined her for injury, the soft touches a grounding experience. When she was satisfied Zelda was uninjured, the older woman pulled her into a hug. No one would believe the supposed last Sheikah could be so warm, but her presence brought Zelda a great amount of comfort. 

Enough comfort that she could recall her dream. 

“Impa,” she said quietly, her fear and worry melting into purpose.

“Yes?” Impa made her distance once more. She was almost a mind reader, knowing what Zelda needed at any moment, whether a mother or an ally.

“I had another dream.”

With shaking hands clasped tightly together, and shivers that wouldn’t go away even with the blankets Impa had insisted on wrapping her with, Zelda detailed the ambush that would face someone in a few days time. A splinter group of Gerudo, seeking revenge for the imprisonment of Ganondorf.

“And you are certain about the time?” Impa asked.

She nodded. “There was a full moon. We’re due for one in three days.”

“But you don’t know who will be attacked.”

“It’s someone important to me,” she said, “I remember the feelings that were invoked when I saw this person…” She only cared about three people enough for the horror to make sense. “but I only saw–”

She inhaled sharply, as the blood splattered night came back to her. Lightning flashed through her window.

“Do you recall where?” Impa’s serene face betrayed nothing. Zelda tried to superimpose that terrible wound onto her face, but all the act did was shake her more. 

“There were trees,” she answered unhelpfully. “I can't remember more than that.”

Impa creased her brow in a rare show of emotion. “I will look into this.”

Zelda nodded and dismissed Impa, staring out into the stormy night, knowing no more sleep would welcome her.

…

Her lack of sleep caught up with her when she fell asleep in the middle of magic practice the next day and was wracked by the dream again. 

She could recall the smell of the place now. The damp forest, the chill of night, and a foreign perfume. There was one extra detail in it, the horse she would be riding. It was clear who would be out there, both attackers and victim, and it made her more desperate to do something. 

With a resolution, Zelda knew she had to sneak out, that night preferably, and go to the spot. She’d been mistaken about the time, it wasn’t a full moon, but a waxing one. 

She knew where it was now. She couldn’t put to words or explain, but she knew her feet would take her where she needed to go. It was frustrating to have such an unsure certainty, and in her sleep deprived state, she didn’t think to tell anyone else about it. 

That night she turned in early, citing her earlier nap, and requested not to be disturbed. If Impa thought anything odd was afoot, she said nothing. Zelda told her about the second dream, but held off on telling her more and so she still believed there to be one more day. Impa was sworn to tell her father anything pertinent to the state of the kingdom. 

Perhaps it was foolhardy to sneak out and try to deal with it on her own, but she knew if she said anything her father would want to mobilize the army. Which would turn the rest of the Gerudo against them. The fragile peace brokered with Nabooroo was only held so because of careful treatment. 

Her father and Impa were untrusting of the remaining Gerudo, but they had experienced more conflict with the bandit women than herself. Before Ganondorf had seized power, Hyrule had regularly fought with the Gerudo to protect merchants. It hadn’t been a serious threat to Hyrule’s sovereignty, but a pressure on the border that all would’ve rather been without. Even the Gerudo claimed they would rather trade honestly than resort to banditry. 

Zelda had only ever known about Ganondorf and the malice that seemed to cling to him. She hadn’t thought it a Gerudo trait, rather a him trait. And now years after his execution they had achieved a shaky peace.

Zelda was skilled in magic, and with her goddess harp she could be quite formidable. Enough to prevent  the events of her dream.

As the castle quieted, Zelda slipped into the night, teleporting from hiding spot to hiding spot. She made it to the stables to her pale cream horse without alerting any of the guards. Buttercup started when she teleported the two of them out of the stables, but Zelda had trained with the animal before, and was able to keep control. 

Off they rode into the night, darkness covering land courtesy of the new moon.

The area was near the Lost Woods, a few hours' ride away. Long enough for worry to set into her breast like a bird trapped in her rib cage. 

The night would’ve been pleasant for such a trip had her heart not been pounding like a war drum. Magic itched at the tips of her fingers in anticipation. The healing potions rested heavy in her bag. The knives in their sheaths lay cold against her legs.

Finally, she made it to the area. The Lost Woods insulated sounds, a double edged sword as no one would hear her, but she would not hear anyone else. Buttercup balked though, as horses tended to do at the periphery of the woods. Before she could force the animal past its fear, there was movement from within the woods. 

A chestnut mare burst forth, and Zelda cursed herself for not being faster. There was only one reason Epona would leave her owner. Not even thinking, she jumped off her own horse and made her way to Epona. She held out a hand to the large mare and gently brushed its mane. Epona calmed down and allowed Zelda to mount her. Once situated, Zelda urged quietly, “lead me to him, please.”

Buttercup would likely be fine in the field until Zelda could make it back, and so she dove into the Lost Woods in search of Hyrule’s Hero. 

Or to find his corpse.

…

The cry pierced the night, anguished and horrible, and Zelda knew she was too late.

Still, she had to try– had to do something. Something for the one person who always believed her.

Into the clearing she rode, hair streaming behind her, magic burning at her fingertips. She saw the two assassins, tall Gerudo women, with long ponytails and veil covered faces approaching to finish off Link. One had her scimitar raised, and Zelda threw out an uncontrolled magic burst, pink and shimmering.

The magic hit the woman, sending her sword flying out of her hand. Link lay on the ground, bloody, unmoving. The other turned on Zelda then, her own spear poised to attack. Zelda charged the two of them, Epona more fearless than any other war horse she’d ridden. 

The spear flashed at her, and she teleported off of the animal’s back to behind the disarmed woman, summoning a great concussive force with her harp. The Gerudo had not been expecting such a blow from one so small as Zelda, and she flew to the side of the clearing, knocking her head on a rock. The other assassin’s eyes went wide as she sized up her opponent. 

“Vile Hylian witch,” she spat out, readying a strike with her spear. 

Zelda raised her hand in preparation for a more powerful chord. She had seen Link’s chest move, but couldn’t be too sure. She needed to help him. She needed to–

The spear flashed like lightning and it was only her training from Impa that allowed her to dance out of the way. With a precision that was not her own, she started another song. The song built with each strum and finally she was able to hit the main part. The concussive song was difficult to play without the dodging of the spear, but through the grace of the goddesses she managed.

The clearing filled with her music, and just as the Gerudo thrust in what would’ve skewered Zelda, the magic force erupted. Sending the spear backwards, and the Gerudo flying towards her sistren, for Zelda now saw the third Gerudo who lay still, a red stain under her. 

The second Gerudo had recovered some, and when Zelda started another song she cursed loudly in her language. With some communication, the two remaining Gerudo fled away. 

Zelda would’ve pursued, had Link not been bleeding out on the forest floor.

She rushed to him, not able to stop the gasp that came from her lips when she saw his face. A wicked cut marred his face, leaving one of his eyes a gorey mess. She could tell… no, she would hope she was wrong. 

“Link?” she asked, “Link, can you hear me?”

When he didn’t respond, she frantically patted for the health potions she had brought. Surveying his body for injuries, she determined his wounds were a broken sword arm, twisted ankle, and severe head trauma. She probably shouldn’t have moved his head, but he would have an easier time drinking if propped up. 

He stirred slightly at her touch, and let out a moan of pain. It broke her heart to see him in such clear agony. She prayed under her breath as she waited for the healing potions to work their magic. If he was too far gone, it wouldn’t matter.

Finally, his breathing evened out, and his arm snapped back in place. His face was still a bloody mess, but that was to be expected. A healing potion couldn’t grow back a new body part.

Deeming him well enough to move, she lifted him onto Epona and tried to make her way out of the forest. Only to forget once in the Lost Woods, it was easy to get lost. 

She rode in the direction she thought she’d come from, only to meet trees where there should’ve been open grass. Frustrated, she rode on, foolish in her panic. 

Once thoroughly lost, she gripped closer to the unconscious hero slumped in front of her, despair coming to terms. He was still bleeding, she could tell, and she was lost in the woods, and–

Before she could spiral much further, a voice called out to her. 

“HEY! LISTEN!”

Zelda glanced up in the direction of the voice, to see a fairy. A blue glow surrounded her, and Zelda furrowed her brow. It was the fairy that had accompanied Link when he’d first come to Castletown. He’d left to go find her, so why…?

“I know you can see me!” the fairy said, growing closer. “Link needs help, and the closest ones are the Kokiri.”

“But the Kokiri don’t accept adults,” she argued.

“Ask for Saria, she will help you. Now follow me!”

The fairy zipped off, and Zelda decided to follow her. Through the woods they raced, until finally they came to a small tree. 

Suddenly she found herself in the middle of what looked like a miniature village, where all of the houses were proportioned for children. Zelda searched desperately around. 

The fairy had disappeared, and Zelda wondered if she had been led into a trap. 

“Link, he needs, he needs help!” she cried, “Can… Can Saria help him?”

Timidly, a green haired girl approached from out of the shadows. “Is that…?”

“He was attacked,” Zelda explained, dropping to the ground and getting Link down too. She laid him on the ground and worried over how pale he was under the lights of the fairies. 

“Oh my!” Saria exclaimed, clasping both hands over her mouth. She called to the other Kokiri and started ordering them around. Zelda found herself carrying him to a small bed in one of the houses and being supplied with medical supplies. The Kokiri seemed to be much like actual children and squeamish at the sight of blood. All save Saria, who seemed to have more healing knowledge than Zelda.

Zelda tried to assist, she had medical training, but her hands wouldn’t stop shaking. It was just so wrong to see Link so weak. Fearless Link who never balked from a challenge, who promised to protect her from any dangers pale and limp. 

“His condition seems stable,” Saria said, “but he lost a lot of blood, so we need to keep him warm.” she hesitated, and looked at Zelda. Zelda wasn’t sure about the attention and sat up straighter. “Princess…” Saria started, “could you…” she then shook her head. “Nevermind. I’m going to try and clean him up a bit.”

“Oh, I can help.”

Saria almost said something, but didn’t. “I don’t want to ask this of you, but… I don’t know if the others can help. Or if they should. But Princess, you’re trembling.”

Zelda willed her hands to stop, but one glance down at her blood stained gloves and she nearly threw up. She’d seen injury before, she’d seen blood before, but this–

This was Link’s blood. 

Hands clenched in fists, Zelda set her resolve. How could she be so weak when Link was–

One of the Kokiri came in with a pale of hot water, but quickly scurried out when he saw Link and Zelda. With a slight tremor still in her extremities, Zelda helped Saria remove Link’s outer clothing. He was left in his undershirt and pants, as upon closer inspection, his arm had been healed by the potion. His ankle was still broken, and his head still concussed. Worst of all was his eye, or rather what was left of it. 

Zelda wiped the blood away from his face with delicate dabs. Each swipe revealing the tender wound. She didn’t know what to do with it. Some of it must’ve been removed by the cut, and so the potion had been unable to save it. 

Could he fight with one eye?

Of all the things to strike her, for whatever reason that one sent her over the edge. Pushing away from the bed, Zelda fled out of the building to puke in the bushes. It was mostly bile that burned her throat, and by the end of it she felt like crying. Laying on the dirt ground, she waited for the convulsions in her stomach to stop. Sitting up, she finally noted the Kokiri surrounding her. 

Zelda had never been in such a situation before. She was utterly alone, with no one, not even Impa to help her. Link still hadn’t woken, and the fairy that had guided them there was still nowhere to be found. She didn’t think the Kokiri were enemies, but they also were so much like children, Zelda couldn’t exactly rely on them, save Saria. Even Saria, it felt wrong to leave her all alone.

Quietly, she asked for a drink of water, and it was brought to her without a word. Once the taste of bile was cleaned from her mouth, she pulled her hair back and returned to the room. 

Saria had finished treating his face, marking it clean, with a bandage over his eye. She glanced up as Zelda ducked into the room. 

“Thank you,” Zelda said, “I don’t know what I can do to repay you.”

“You don’t have to do anything… just…” Saria glanced at Link, affection in her eyes. “I’m thankful you were there. Who knows what would’ve happened had you not–” Saria blinked. “Nevermind. I must rest, and I’m sure you should too.”

Zelda shook her head. “Someone has to keep an eye on him, you just worked hard to heal him, I can keep watch.”

Saria hesitated, starting with, “Are you sure it’s alright? You’re both adults and...”

Zelda furrowed her brow. “I am aware.”

At that Saria brightened somewhat, “Oh,” she said, “I see. I suppose that makes more sense. I’ll be close by if you need anything.”

Zelda sat down at Link’s bedside. He was so pale under those bandages. 

Keep an eye on him, she thought, what a cruel joke. 

If only her magic was stronger. If only she had arrived sooner! If only he’d never left her in the first place!

But those were selfish thoughts. Of course he should have his freedom, even if she wondered about freedom and adventure being good things for him anymore. Clearly now he’d have to reevaluate. 

If he woke up.

But he had to wake up! He had to. Saria said–

But Saria was still a Kokiri, and they were different from Hylians. Could Zelda trust the wisdom of an eternal child?

Not knowing what else to do, she knelt at his bedside and clapped his hand in hers. She prayed for healing and strength. And she prayed most importantly, that he would wake up.

~~~~~~~~~~

next chapter->

[shadowsxgwynriel]

Babysitting (Short story)

This is just a short short one shot(?) of Azriel babysitting Nyx.

Also I wrote this in like less than two hours on a whim. And it shows. 👀

Word Count: 700 (superrrr short)

Read on AO3

Nyx was sleeping peacefully in his crib—for now. He knew it wouldn’t last. Whenever the infant so much as twitched, both Azriel and his shadows went unnaturally still, not wanting to wake him.

Azriel took a seat and closed his eyes tiredly. He had somehow gotten tricked into babysitting today.

When he’d stopped by early this morning to talk with Rhys and Feyre, they’d both looked exhausted. Nyx wasn’t sleeping through the night, and it was obviously taking a toil on them. So when Rhys had asked him to look after Nyx for a few hours to let them rest, Azriel had agreed.

That was almost ten hours ago, and the sun was beginning to set. It also apparently hadn’t occurred to Rhys to mention that they would be napping at the cabin.

Nyx started to wiggle around in his crib and made soft little whimpers. It didn’t take long for those whimpers to turn into cries.

Azriel changed his diaper, and Nyx let out a stream of pee that Azriel was able to dodge with ease. Then he fed him, resulting in Nyx spitting up down the front of his shirt. He even tried walking around the room with him, but to no avail. The poor little male was inconsolable. He was turning red in the face from crying so much, his little wings fluttering with every trembling cry.

Azriel’s shadows were twirling around, agitated and concerned, unsure of what to do. Azriel didn’t know what to do either. What did he know about babies?

Growing a bit frustrated, he started to hum. Not full on singing—he could remember Gwyn’s inquisitive questioning about if he sung or not, something she still jokingly asked from time to time. Just the thought of her hearing him sing made him flush a little. And maybe one day he would sing for her, but until then . . .

Azriel continued to hum softly. He sat down and repositioned Nyx a little so he was more comfortable.

Nyx was looking up at him with bright blue, almost curious, eyes. His cries soon faded into sleepy whimpers.

After a few minutes of fighting to keep his little eyelids open, Nyx lost the battle and fell soundly asleep. His shadows sat on his shoulders, almost like they were warily watching the sleeping child, trying to anticipate if he would wake again.

Azriel didn’t allow himself to relax. He was pretty sure Nyx could sense when someone was getting too comfortable.

~~~

“We’re back.”

Azriel glared at Rhys. “Here.” He gently handed him a still sleeping Nyx. “Take your offspring.”

Rhys chuckled. “You look like shit.” He on the other hand, looked very refreshed.

Azriel snarled, which only amused the asshole even further.

Feyre sauntered into the room, also looking well rested. She was practically glowing, leading Azriel to suspect that the two did more than just sleep up at the cabin. And judging from the smug and satisfied look Rhys was giving his mate, Azriel knew he was right.

“Sorry about just leaving,” Feyre said, sheepishly. “Was he too much trouble?”

“He was fine.” His shadows darkened as if to disagree.

Nyx woke at the sound of his mother’s voice. She took him from Rhys. “Hi there, baby boy. Were you good for uncle Azriel?”

Nyx cooed, giving her an adorable gummy smile.

“Maybe you can watch him for us again sometime,” Rhys said, only half teasing.

Azriel almost declined, but then he looked at Nyx’s sweet little face and found himself agreeing. What could he say? His nephew was just too cute to deny.

He took off into the sky, his shadows urging him to go to the House of Wind.

~~~

Gwyn snorted. “Rough day, Shadowsinger?”

He looked down at the dried baby vomit on his shirt and winced. “You can say that. I didn’t realize something so small could be so loud.”

She laughed, the sound melodious and beautiful. His shadows sang softly in response.

Next time, maybe he would see if Gwyn wanted to give him a hand. Her laugh was so alluring that he bet it could calm a crying child.

Plus, Azriel had a feeling that babysitting with Gwyn would be fun.