#I went to a restaurant and the waitress wasn’t nice

[wyrm-with-a-why]

Driving home at night so scary :(

[love-quinn]

— PARTIAL CREDIT

summary — when a new member of the waitstaff starts undermining you, you worry that your job might be in jeapordy. carmen knows you better than you think.

warnings — swearing, i think that's it

pairing — carmen berzatto x fem!waitress reader, semi (?) established relationship

pronouns — she/her

word count — 2.2k

note — i know i fully dropped off the face of the earth but unfortunately i was too busy channeling waitress reader a little too hard, i actually have to leave for work in a few hours but i really wanted to get something out. this 100% isn't inspired by true events or me projecting in any way, anyway i hope you enjoy!! <3

Being the only waitress at a successful restaurant is hard. During the dinner rush, between wiping tables, grabbing drinks and running food, you’ve slowly learned to be more adaptable to the Bear’s new clientele base. That’s not without its struggles, of course. 

Fortunately, Carmy and Natalie seem to understand that it’s a major handful to simply do your job. Which is why Richie thought it appropriate to call you in two hours early to meet the new waiter.   

Liam’s nice from what you’ve gathered. He’s been working with you at the Bear for about two months at this point, most of that has involved you and Richie training him, and he’s been very receptive to your instruction. 

Sure, sometimes he mutters under his breath when a customer asks him for something, but hey, they’re annoying sometimes. And sure, sometimes you find him in the walk-in on his phone, but you’d be lying if you said you were never on your phone at work. He’s had no complaints, and the work is always done to a standard that’s expected (he is still in training, you’re not delusional). 

You’ve worked at the Bear since they were still the Beef, right after Carmen took over. He realised Richie couldn’t keep up with the stuff at the front by himself, so he’d gone with the cheapest option available and thanked god every day that you weren’t awful at your job. You had just graduated from UofC and if you didn’t get a job when you had, you would have been pretty much out of options. You had no work experience outside of being a TA in college (which apparently didn’t have a lot of transferable skills, according to most of your potential bosses). You hadn’t been able to score an insane internship, you didn’t make super stellar grades, you’d been too busy being desperately poor and struggling to keep up.

You’d been really lucky that Carmen had taken a chance on you when he had, and you had been desperate to show him you were aware of that. Liam didn’t seem to have the same sentiment.

He was the same age as you, and he’d actually gone to UofC as well. He’d gotten a pre-med degree but wanted to take some time off before he went for his MD at Rosalind Franklin. 

He picked up on the work fairly easily, remembered when you showed him where the cleaning supplies were, showed him how to work the buttons on the till to ring in orders, and introduced him to all the staff. They were nice to him, nice enough. It took them a while to warm up to him, just like it took them a second to warm up to Carmen, to Sydney, to you. 

But now, several months in, they all got along enough that work was going well. You didn’t have to work six days a week if you didn’t want to now that Liam was there to lighten the load (you did, you made sure Natalie knew that). Now, you could actually take your lunch break without worrying they were being completely overrun. 

On the whole, things seemed to really improve. 

Until, of course, they didn’t. 

You started hearing whispers, soft remarks of “Oh, I did that for her,” to Richie about greeting table seventeen. Small “I wonder why that wasn’t done, I’ll just do it quickly.” 

“Not to be that person, but I noticed that a lot of the straws haven’t been stocked up. I feel like I have to do it every time. I just wonder what she’s doing when she’s back here…”

You do your best to not let it get to you. He’s never worked in the service industry before, he’s probably just doing his best to make sure that his efforts are being noticed. You were almost lucky, in that way, that you were the only real waitress they’d hired. 

It’s an unusually warm day as you slide in through the back entrance to work. You’re your usual twenty minutes early, lucky that there’s enough work to do that Carmen often encourages punctuality (and thus, fairly compensates for it). 

Liam is scheduled today, but he’s leaving after the lunch shift. You get your break while the kitchen does prep-work for dinner, and then you’re coming back for dinner as well. 

Marcus is in his corner, kneading bread dough with a concentrated look on his face. You brush past him with an airy hello that he returns with a half-hearted wave, not looking up from his task. 

Tina is on vegetables, and she stops you for a moment to ask about a shipment arriving. You assure her that you’ll check when you get to the other side of the kitchen, making your way to the front.

The chairs are already all down, table cloths clean and freshly washed. Sydney went down to the laundromat to get them all clean that morning; she’d texted you and asked if you wanted to come but you told her that you really, really didn’t. 

Your first job is a pre-opening sweep, then a restock, then a menu review. You have 87 minutes until service, and Liam should be here in the next fifteen minutes or so. You have just enough time to go and bug Richie into showing you more pictures of Eva’s last birthday party. 

You stick your head into the office just in time to catch the tail end of a sentence that you definitely weren’t meant to hear; “...doesn’t even stack the chairs? What is she doing here?”

Your work anxieties - the idea that every time something goes wrong it was your fault, that one missed drink or late appetiser would have you fired, that every time a customer berated you it was actually your fault - had definitely eased some in the six months you’d been working there. You’d stopped thinking that every time someone was complaining it was about you, but that meant that when they really were talking about you, you knew. 

Liam’s standing there, leaning up against a pile of papers that Carmen is staring roughly at. He looks tired - when doesn’t he? - and like he doesn’t really want to hear whatever it was that Liam was saying. 

“A lot more than you do,” Carmen grumbles. He runs a hand over his face from the bottom up, coming to a rest when it’s gripping onto his curls. 

“I’m always covering her sections,” Liam groans. “The amount of time that Rich’s given me her table’s drinks, it’s insane. We should start pooling our tips.”

Carmen wants to say a lot back to that. That his name is Richie, and calling him Rich doesn’t make him any more like the finance frat bros that Liam is so desperate to associate with. That tip pooling would be insanely unfair to you considering Carmy’s pretty sure Liam’s made less than what you make in a day. That he stacks the chairs because he likes to, and you know that. 

Instead, he settles on “you’re always covering her sections because she’s always covering up for you when you screw up.”

Liam looks like he’s unsure whether or not to go ghostly pale or beet red at the statement. “Wh- has my performance not been up to scratch, sir?”

Carmen stands. “I didn’t really notice it, at first, cause everything was going so well. She’d never tell on you, she knows what it’s like to struggle at a job.” He looks disdainfully down at Liam’s too-new dress shoes. Professional but impractical as a waiter. From what Carmen’s noticed, this is the second pair he’s ruined. “She’d never tell me that your silverware is never rolled, so she’s been staying late and rolling every single one of them. She’d never tell me that your tables are never cleared away. She’d never tell me that you had six meals comped in your first month because you couldn’t be fucked writing shit down.

So yeah, maybe you get her tables a refill when she’s too busy telling one of us one of your guests was coeliac because you forgot to, but that does not give you the right to look down your entitled fucking nose at her.” Carmen gets close, not close enough to the point where it could be uncomfortable, but much closer than he’d ever get to Liam if he could help it. 

“You don’t like picking up her slack? That’s fine, that’s fucking fine, because to be honest, it seems like you’re creating more work for her anyway. You’re done.”

He looks pointedly towards the door to the small office. 

Liam knows exactly what Carmy’s telling him. “Sir, I-”

Carmen raises a finger and points. “You’re fucking done.”

Liam scampers away so quickly he doesn’t even see you eavesdropping. 

Carmy knows, though. He seems to have a sixth sense for when you walk into a room. If you’re not planning on coming in to confront him about firing Liam then he has no intention of bringing it up with you. He sits down, putting his forehead on his fist. “Sir.”

You’re standing right in the door, it’s practically impossible for Carmen not to notice you. But he pretends, allowing you the chance to slip away and act like you hadn’t just witnessed him firing Liam for being slightly mean to you. 

He opens his eyes to see you standing there still. 

“You didn’t have to do that,” your voice is soft. The collar of your shirt is tucked underneath on one side, and Carmen has to resist the urge to reach up and smooth it out. He’s not quite sure why and he doesn’t feel like unpacking it. “He’s still learning, I don’t mind helping him out.”

Carmen doesn’t mince his words. “He’s a dick, don’t defend him.”

He swivels away from his desk and gestures for you to sit. After a second of hesitation, you perch yourself on top of the small surface. You’re not sure who moves first, Carmen to reach up and take your hands or you to reach down to let him. Neither of you have ever spoken about it, like a lot of things. How he always makes sure you get extra food and you make sure Carmen isn’t bothered while he sets up the dining room. 

You hadn’t realised how much Liam had been heightening your anxiety while he was there. “He’s not allowed to do that to you.” Carmy sounds genuinely pissed. “You do fucking everything out there, he’s not allowed to come in and treat you like some sanctimonious fuck. You… you should’ve come to talk to me about it.” He gives in. “You could’ve.”

“I didn’t want to be a problem.” You admit quietly. “You have enough without me.”

Plenty goes unsaid between you and Carmen. You don’t talk when he drives you home in the dark, in the snow. But he’d be naive to believe that the same rules applied to everyone else. The kitchen staff talks, none more than Richie. Carmy is surprised he hadn’t decked that pre-med asshole already. 

“You’re not a problem, honey,” he says gruffly. You stay silent for a moment before realising that’s probably all you’re going to get out of him. 

“I need to go prep dining for service,” you say after a moment, not wanting to speak too loudly. 

Camry’s grip on your hand tightens and for a brief second he feels panic set in. You clearly are feeling okay, so it’s not that he needs to check on you. You’re well ahead of schedule. There’s no reason for Carmen to keep his hand enclosed around yours. And yet he does. And yet you let him.

“Liam was just in here bragging about how dining room prep was already done,” he says after a short while. “You’re well ahead of time.”

“He is,” you point out airily. “I’d never want to take credit for his work.”

Carmen squeezes your hands once, eyes crinkling at the sides. You both know you need to go over everything Liam did in an attempt to make himself look better, not one hundred percent trusting him to have done it properly. There’s 56 minutes until service before Carmen finally lets you go (and only because he has prep he needs to get done).

Plenty goes unsaid between you and Carmen. You don’t say anything when he cracks his office door open for you when you need a breather. You don’t say anything when his station’s been cleaned for him miraculously while you’re waiting for him to finish paperwork.

Luckily for you, the rest of your coworkers seem to understand this time. Nobody mentions Liam or his absence. No one mentions the stars drawn on the band-aid on Carmen’s wrist. And, most surprisingly pleasant, no one mentions how Carmen has started calling you honey more than perhaps your real name.

It makes it even nicer when everyone heads out, leaving you and Carmen alone in the restaurant for the night. They seem to have miraculously developed tact over the last 24 hours, but you’re pretty sure nothing could have stopped Richie from telling everyone about the way that Carmen holds your hand the entire way to your apartment. 

[hopelesslydevoted2paige]

003. opposite

pairings: paige bueckers x fem singer! reader

word count: 564

warnings: none i think

su’s notes: 3rd chapter GRRRRREEEE this poor girl somethings always gotta happen when she goes out.. 😞 this kinda reminds me of deja vu by olivia rodrigo too 😆 anyway hope u guys likeit i love this song so much

series masterlist

she looks nothing like me, so why do you look so happy?

“Wanna eat out?” Azzi asked you, her eyes still on the game in front of her.

You’ve gotten slightly better in the past two weeks while you were staying with her. You did have enough money to get a place of your own, but no one had brought it up.

Azzi didn’t want to admit it, but she enjoyed your company. She wouldn’t mind if you decided to live with her permanently.

You looked up from your phone screen. “Yeah sure. Where are we eating?”

“We can go to the pizza place a few blocks away?”

You stiffened, the memories with Paige flooding your head. “Uh-“

“Fuck, sorry. We can always go somewhere else-“

“No it’s fine!”

Azzi placed her controller on the table. “You sure?”

“Yeah. I’m gonna have to get over it eventually.”

—

You walked into the restaurant, the warm air immediately hitting you both.

The waitress looked up at the two of you. “Table for two?”

You nodded as you both followed her to your booth.

“Wanna share?” Azzi asked as you both got settled.

“Cheese?”

Azzi grinned. “You know it.”

“One four cheese pizza please.” The waitress wrote down your order while nodding.

“Any drinks?”

You shook your head. “Just water thanks.”

“Me too.” The waitress nodded and walked away.

While waiting for your food, you and Azzi engaged in conversations about random topics and joked around.

“I never said that!” You laughed loudly, making people look at you weirdly.

“Yes you did! I remember it very clearly. You were like-“

Your attention went to the door as the door chime echoed throughout the restaurant.

Your smile dropped, making eye contact with the blue eyes you knew too well.

“Y/N? You okay?” Azzi placed a hand on your arm.

Paige mirrored your expression with her arm around her ex’s shoulders. Well, girlfriend.

Azzi looked over her shoulder. “Oh.”

“One cheese pizza?” The waitress smiled warmly and placed the plate on your table.

“Thank you.” Azzi smiled awkwardly and turned back to you. “You wanna leave?”

You shook your head, tearing your eyes away from Paige. “It’s fine. Let’s just eat and get out of here.”

Azzi looked at you sympathetically before nodding and grabbing a slice.

She tried to distract you with some small talk, but it didn’t really help when Paige was in the booth right next to yours, giggling and looking as happy as ever.

“Paige stop!” Her girlfriend giggled, wiping the tomato sauce off her cheek.

Paige scoffs. “Oh please, you still look pretty.”

You felt like your heart shattered into a million pieces. What hurt you the most is that Paige wasn’t even wrong. She was gorgeous.

“Azzi, i’m sorry. I just can’t-“

She nodded, raising her hand as the waitress from earlier went up to you guys.

“Can we get this to-go?”

She smiled warmly. “Of course! I’ll be right back.”

Thank god the service was fast. Less than two minutes later, the waitress brought your take-out bag as Azzi handed her a twenty dollar bill.

“Keep the change.”

“Thank you so much! Have a nice night.”

“I’ll try to.” You mumbled under your breath.

Azzi nudged your shoulder. “Let’s go.”

You glanced at Paige one last time, to find her already looking at you. You could tell from the pained expression in her eyes that she wanted to make things right with you.

You sigh and look away. “Let’s go.”

and i know now, even if i tried to change, that somehow you’ll end up with her anyway.

[gh0stsp1d3r]

your fics with the reader being just as insane is just *MWAHHH* chefs kiss

would u do a william x slightly younger reader (in her 20s) and the reader is slightly yandere for him👀👀👀

loveee thiss!!!

ℳ𝒾𝓃ℯ

Warnings- age gap, jealousy, suggested murder at the end

You both were obsessed with each other. That much was obvious.

You both fit perfectly, because you both never wanted to let go of each other. You were more clingy and he was more possessive.

“William?” You said, entering his office.

“Yes?” He turned around in his chair, looking at you now.

“Are you almost done?”

“Almost. After this, we can get something to eat, okay?”

You nodded and smiled, leaving the room and going back into the living room and turning the tv on.

But you weren’t paying attention to the tv, just thinking of the night with William. He was already on your mind 24/7.

After an hour or two, he left his office, looking around for you.

“Alright. You ready?” He asked you, you were quick to hop off from the couch and nod. You both walked out and you both went into the car, one of his hands on your thigh for most of the ride.

He pulled up to your favorite restaurant, he opened the door for you and you both walked in talking.

Quickly, you both got some odd stares as you entered. The age difference might have been weird to others, but it wasn’t something that either of you cared about.

You both ignored them, and he was talking to get a seat. Once you both sat down, you both looked at the menus. Then a waitress approached you both.

The waitress was nice, she was smiling at you both when talking. Her eyes lingered on William for a bit long, however. This bothered you.

William was an attractive older man. He was charismatic, hot, and he could be funny and nice.

And it was often that you also saw others liking him. He was yours, why couldn’t anyone get that?

She took your orders and William could tell something was wrong. You stared at her when she left, glaring at her a way he knew too well.

He said your name softly, and you turned to him again, your demeanor quickly changing when you looked at him.

“Yea?”

“You okay?”

“I’m fine.” You said, he quirked an eyebrow. “I’m fine.” You said again, turning back to the waitress for a second and back at him.

“Okkk…” he said, not believing it at all.

When she came back you kept glaring at her, especially when she tried to make small talk with him.

“Oh, that’s my favorite! It’s so good, to die for.” She said, as she smiled at him sweetly.

You rolled your eyes, jealousy growing every second they interacted. His eyes moved to you for a second and back to the waitress.

When she left he turned back to you.

“Y/n.”

“What.?”

“I love you, you know that?”

“I know…”

“And you don’t have to be jealous.” He laughed.

“But-!”

“I love you.”

“She was looking at you like she wanted to rip your clothes off.” You huffed.

“I think she’s just trying to get a tip.”

“Yeah, yours.” You mumbled, he raised his eyebrow and rolled his eyes.

And once you left, you left with her name, and an idea in your head, an idea to make sure that he loved you and only you. An idea that would make every girl leave him alone, make them scared of you.

[flatassthrowaway]

Hey, so… I wrote a thing. Let me know what you think.

This is a Stanford Pines x reader. 18+ MDNI will go into effect later in the story. Reader is female.

~Passionately and Deeply~

~Prologue~

Passion.

I had lots of it. For my work, that is.

Sure, I had friends, and I love them dearly. But… none of them really stimulated me in the way I didn’t know I needed to me stimulated. It was like an itch that needed to be scratched.

I never had that itch scratched.

Not until I came to Gravity Falls, Oregon.

I remember first arriving in Gravity Falls for a travel assignment. Of course, me being me, my first thought was to find the closest, cheapest restaurant.

That’s when I found Greasy’s.

Although the name was less than appealing to me, I decided to pursue my breakfast.

To say this town was one of a kind… I mean it. The location, along with its people.

The diner itself was what you’d expect in a typical diner. The wooden diner had the typical booths, a jukebox in the back of the restaurant, a spinning pie machine (which was apparently broken when one of the elderly waitresses with the pink uniform kept banging on it, saying, “Spin, you dumb pies! Spin!”), a counter where the patrons could get their food served instantly, and, of course, multiple, delectable carbs presented in the front of the diner.

I noted that there wasn’t a hostess stand, and it seemed like it was a ‘sit where you can and someone will come get your order’ kind of place. I, being the introvert I am, quickly took advantage of not needing to speak to anyone.

Unfortunately for me… the diner was packed. Nearly every single seat was taken.

I saw a large man with four of his kids (at least I assume they’re his kids) at the counter, a man and his woodpecker sharing a pancake at the counter as well, and two cops (which I very warily took heed of) feeding each other their shared french toast also at the counter. Multiple other patrons sat with their friends and/or family, and were nearly packed like sardines in the booths.

All… except one.

This man had his hands clasped together on the table in front of him. He was a little older, if the dark grey hair was any indication.

Oh gosh, of course there’s no free place where I could just sit by myself!

Okay, okay, let’s relax. The worst the man could say is no!

But what if he does say no? Then I’ll starve!

C’mon, everyone was so nice when you arrived to town! Surely this man is the same way!

But what if he says no?

But if I don’t ask and keep standing here awkwardly, I’ll starve regardless.

As someone great once said, you miss all the shots you never take, so… here goes nothing!

I walked as confidently as I could to the older man’s table and cleared my throat. He seemed lost in thought, and didn’t seem to hear me.

Yikes…

Okay, time to use my voice!

“Excuse me,” I said in a loud enough volume. The man finally turned his head and looked up at me.

Oh gosh… don’t waver now! Tell him!

“May I sit here? There aren’t any seats available.”

Yes!! I did it!

He nodded, and I sighed a deep breath of relief, my breath showing up. It still was rather cold inside of the diner, but it was still leagues warmer than it was outside. I sat down diagonal from the man as he went back to staring out the window.

Well, step one is down. I don’t even need to talk to him anymore! I could just be on my phone-

And I have no service. I guess that means no YouTube for me…

I guess it’s back to good ol’ conversation… although it seems like this man is more interested in the environment than in having a conversation with me.

Fine by me. I can think about things just fine!

Except I couldn’t help but think about how cold I was.

Thankfully, the same elderly waiter who was beating that spinning pie machine came over to get my order. She had a cup of black coffee for the man which she placed down for him. He thanked her and the waitress turned to me.

She had long grey hair, one eye closed and one brown eye open, blue eyeshadow with fake lashes and hot pink lipstick. Her name tag read, ‘Susan.’

“Hiya stranger! I haven’t seen you around these parts!” Susan greeted me. “What would you like to drink?”

“I’ll take green tea, thank you,” I told her.

“Oh, we don’t have that right now,” she said. “Why don’t I get you some hot chocolate? You’re freezing, sweetie!”

I nodded eagerly. “Hot chocolate sounds wonderful, thank you,” I told her.

She gave me a warm smile as she went to get my hot chocolate for me.

“It’s a good thing you didn’t order the green tea,” the man said suddenly, making me jump. I put a hand over my chest to calm my heart and breathed deeply.

“Wh-why do you say that?” I asked.

“The green tea can increase the acid in your stomach, which can cause stomach pain,” the man explained.

Looking at him further, he has intensely captivating copper brown eyes, a distinct, strong nose and on the bridge of his nose laid square glasses with a small crack on the left side, a small mouth framed by a grey five o’clock shadow with a strong jaw and cleft chin. Overall… he was a very handsome man.

“Oh, I did hear that somewhere. Well, um… thanks for reminding me,” I told him, tucking a strand of my hair behind my ear while smiling softly.

He gave me a grunt in response, and then went back to looking back to the winter wonderland scenery outside. Gravity Falls was really beautiful, in all fairness.

Not a moment too soon, Susan arrived with my hot chocolate.

“Here ya go, sweetie!” She told me.

“Thank you, Susan,” I told her, gingerly holding the hot mug in my hands, instantly warming me up to my core.

“It’s no problem! So, what do ya want to eat?” She asked.

Gosh, there’s so many things I want to try! But… the French toast that I saw those two cops eating looked really good…

“Can I have the French toast?” I asked.

“Oh~? Are you sharing with that man of mystery next to you~?” She asked teasingly.

What on Earth was she talking about?

“Um, no,” I told her. In the corner of my eye, the man of mystery turned to look at me, probably upset that I included him in with my order. “Can I get it on my own?”

Susan shook her head. “I’m afraid not, sweetie,” she told me. “The special is called ‘French Toast Lovers’ for a reason. It’s meant to be shared with two people.”

Before I could speak, the man of mystery spoke.

“I’ll eat it with you,” he spoke. I looked to him.

“No, you really don’t have to-“

The man cut me off. “Really, it’s fine. I’m craving something sweet now since you brought it up.”

I nodded at Susan as she just laughed. “Ah, lovebirds. I’ll get to you as soon as I can.”

As soon as she left, I looked to the man and smiled at him sheepishly. “Thank you,” I told him.

He smiled back in response, which quickly faded.

…Not sure what I was expecting with that.

“You’re new here, aren’t you?” He said.

I nodded. “Yes, that’s right,” I told him.

We kind of sat in silence, staring at each other. I was expecting him to have a follow up question, but instead, he said, “This is the part where you tell me your name,” he told me.

“A gentleman would introduce himself first, then ask for my name,” I told him.

His eyes looked downcast, but quickly recovered. I hope that wasn’t too mean. He nodded. “My name is Stanford Pines. What’s your name?”

…Wow.

This is the first time that actually worked. I didn’t actually expect that to work. All the men I’ve tried that on just rolled their eyes at me and left.

“That’s better,” I said with a small smile as I introduced myself.

“Nice to meet you,” he said my name.

“Likewise,” I told him.

“What brings you to this small, secular town?” Stanford asked.

“I’m here for work,” I told him.

“I see. What is it that you do?” He asked, almost hesitantly.

I told him all about my line of work, and genuinely seemed interested in what I had to say.

“How curious… I never knew there was so much to learn for that line of work,” he told me.

I smiled. “You’d be surprised,” I told Stanford. “What about you, Stanford? What do you do for work?”

Stanford took a swig of his black coffee and set it down. “Do you believe in the paranormal?” He asked.

I nodded. “Of course. There are spirits all around us at all times,” I said.

Stanford chuckled. “Oh, dear,” he said, pushing up his glasses. “There are many more entities in the paranormal world than spirits.”

I nodded. “I’m aware. Spirits are the most common ones that find me, though,” I told him.

“Do you happen to be a medium?” He asked, saying my name.

I shook my head. “No. I just… sense them.”

“Fascinating… tell me, how do you sense the spirits?”

“Well, if I’m somewhere warm but it suddenly turns cold, a spirit is right next to me,” I explained.

He pulled out a worn, old red notebook, writing what I said down. He must be a paranormal investigator! Or… an exorcist.

“Are you an exorcist? Or a paranormal investigator?” I asked.

Before Stanford could respond, Susan returned with the French toast. She winked (with her good eye!) and left us to enjoy.

The problem was… there was only one set of cutlery.

“Excuse me, Susan. Excuse me!” I called.

She was gone. This poor man…

I looked at Stanford sheepishly. Almost as if he read my mind, he said, “Have some.”

“But-“

“It doesn’t matter, I have a robust immune system,” he told me.

I sighed. “If you say so…”

I tried a bite of the French toast, and when I say I died and went to heaven, then came back… I meant it.

The ratio of cinnamon to nutmeg was superb! And then the hint of chocolate infused just made it even more succulent! This French toast is so delicious, I could cry!

I guess I started to concern Stanford, as he called my name. “Are you okay? Are you allergic to something in the French toast?”

I blinked twice at him before smiling. “No, that’s not it at all. I’ve just… never had French toast as stupendous as this one, that’s all,” I told him.

He raised a grey eyebrow in disbelief. “That’s some high praise,” Stanford said. “Let me try.”

I gave him the plate, and he sampled the French toast for himself. His eyes widened before giving me a smile.

“You’re right. It’s quite delectable,” he said my name.

I smiled at him. “I told you.” He chuckled as we took turns eating from the French toast before there weren’t any left.

“Well, that was just about the best French toast I’ve ever had,” Stanford said.

“Same here.”

“I’m almost tempted to order another one, but I had enough temptation for one day,” he said.

“I wouldn’t say no to more,” I told him.

“No, it’s alright.”

Susan came up to the both of us, and smiled. “Anything else for ya lovebirds?” She asked.

We both shook our heads. “No, thank you,” we said, not registering that she called us lovebirds at the time.

“Okay… well, you know the drill Mr. Pines,” she said, giving the tab.

I pulled out my wallet, but Stanford was faster than me, and gave her cash, including tip. Thankfully, I caught what the amount was, and started collecting the money to give to Stanford.

“Wonderful! You two have a great rest of your day!” Susan then turned to Stanford. “And if it doesn’t work out with this young honey… you know where to find me, handsome.”

Umm… what just happened?

Stanford looked just as dumbfounded then cleared his throat then looked at me.

“Miss Susan is convinced that we went out at some point, but there was never a time when I showed any interest in her.”

I smiled. “You don’t have to explain to me, Stanford,” I told him. “And thanks for footing the bill.”

“Well, I should thank you for keeping me company. Since my niece and nephew have left, the house has been eerily quiet.”

Aww, that’s cute.

“Well, thanks for welcoming me to the town,” I told him as we both stood up. Woah… I didn’t realize he was so tall. He squished himself in the corner so I couldn’t really tell.

“Not exactly the warmest welcome you deserved, but… I hope you enjoy your stay,” he told me.

“Thanks, Stanford.”

“Please, call me Ford,” Ford told me.

“Thanks, Ford,” I told him, holding my hand out to shake it.

Ford smiled at me, and shook it. His hands felt massive in my own. So warm and rugged…

“And, if you ever want to talk about the paranormal… you can always find me at 618 Gopher Road,” he told me.

I raised an eyebrow, inquisitively playful. “That was rather bold to give out your address like that. Are you sure I won’t stalk you at all hours of the day?” I asked playfully.

Ford retained his smile. “You’re not that kind of person,” he said my name. “I can tell.”

I smiled back at him as I reached into my pocket to give him the money from the bill. “Well, until then Stanford Pines,” I told him, quickly shoving the money in his hand, then leaving.

I ran as far as I could in the direction of my home so that he wouldn’t follow me. As soon as I walked through the door, I shut it and locked it.

Phew… now my debt is paid, and we can continue as friends.

Oh wait… is it too soon to start thinking that this man could be my friend?

Likes and reblogs are always appreciated! Read what happens next!

[beautifulfuckup99]

since you do SMUT, I must have a min Yoongi 1-sh0t. I'm BEGGING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It'd be my pleasure! Lol

Title: Making it official

Warning(s): D!rty talk, Curs!ng (A lot of F-Bombs dropped), Dom!Yoongi, Public S!x, Unprotected S!x (Be safe, guys!), Sp!ting in mouth, Breed!ng K!nk, and some A!r Play K!nk

Author's Note: Read at your own risk. You have been warned! Lol!

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

“This... Is nice.” You say gently as you sit across from Yoongi. The restaurant you two were sat at was a laid-back BBQ one and it’s clear, Yoongi had probably used Jin’s knowledge of food to pick this place out.

Actually, it’s clear Yoongi used MULTIPLE people’s help to plan this out for you. You eye Yoongi a bit closer. He’d been away on tour for so long that you had gotten used to only seeing him on your phone screen.

“Really? You like it?” He asks as if relieved, and you hum gently. This was awkward. It had to be though. Last time you two had spoken was right after hooking up for the first time...

You told him that a FWB arrangement just wasn't for you, and that you wanted something more official, but... Yoongi was scared. Scared of how toxic ARMY members would treat you. Scared that the public eye would scare you away. So, you two agreed to just stay friends. And then he ran off to tour.

But here he was now. Taking you off to Hawaii for a mini birthday vacation. And it was amazing. Because it wasn’t him. This wasn’t something he’d normally do. But he was doing it for you. And that had to count for something.

“Hey. Remember what we used to do?” Yoongi asks finally as he finishes his third drink of the night.

You pause at the question and eye his wicked smirk, trying to ignore the fire that it so effortlessly started in your core.

“We used to do a lot of stuff...” you tease, acting neutral on the outside. Yoongi laughs softly and blushes a bit at the innuendo.

"No. Dirty." He snorts humorously. "Follow my lead." He says just as a waitress walks over.

“Refill?” She asks and Yoongi smirks and nods. “Um... why not. It is our wedding night after all.” Yoongi says casually and the waitress pauses.

“Wait, really?” She asks and you stiffen a laugh, catching on instantly. Oh god. Not this same trick! Yoongi and you loved doing this at restaurants because it always ended in you getting something for free. You used to do this a lot as teenagers, and the fact that even now, in all of his much-deserved fame, he still remembered it? It just showed nothing had actually... Changed between you two.

“Yup! Went to the courthouse today...” You play along and the waitress gasps happily.

“Oh! Give me one second.” She says fast before rushing off.

You turn to Yoongi and shake your head playfully. “You’re still just as sneaky as before.” You tease and Yoongi laughs. “What? Me?!” He gasps playfully.

You hum. “I said what I said...” you laugh softly, giving Yoongi soft eyes.

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

After getting your dinner for free, and an expensive wine bottle that’s also on the house, you two decided to head back to the hotel that night and wash up for bed. Yoongi had booked one room with two beds and you had shrugged it off, thinking it wasn’t that big of a deal.

Yoongi showers first as you take off your jewelry and heels, and wipe off your makeup. When he comes out in boxers and a shirt, you slip past him, ignoring the way he eyed you.

The tension between you two was clear all day. At breakfast, at the beach, during lunch, afterwards when you were tanning by the pool. And again, at dinner. You could tell Yoongi was holding back on something.

The shower is nice and hot, and you wash every inch of yourself before getting out. You throw on a robe and walk out of the bathroom. Yoongi is already sat on the edge of the bed, watching you.

“Go ahead. Spill it. Whatever’s got you thinking so hard.” You say finally with a soft chuckle.

He presses his lips together, as if thinking about how he’s going to phrase the next few words before giving up. Instead, he looks at you, eyes soft and colored dark. You pause. You know that look. He’s giving you those eyes...

You blush almost instantly. “You..." You shift a bit but stay in your spot by the bathroom. "Now, Mr. Min Yoongi..." You mutter, deciding to tease a bit. "Are you giving me bedroom eyes? Huh?” You joke with a snort, trying to make light of this situation, but your heart is practically racing in your chest.

“Can we?” He whispers softly, voice deep and calm, as he looks up at you some more, rubbing his hands on his boxers slowly. You shift a bit. Could you? Could you actually break your promise to yourself and give in?

You shift the weight from one foot to the other. “I... I don’t know. Will tomorrow be the same?” You ask gently as you cross your arms around yourself slightly.

“I don’t think so. Because tonight, I... I wanna...” He takes a deep breath. “I just wanna claim you.” He finally says, honesty plain as day in his tone. It makes you blush. You stand up straighter too, in hopes that fixing your posture would stop you from melting to your knees the second his eyes roam your body and his tongue pokes out to lick his lips.

“Claim me?” You whisper, trying to play it off like it's the cringiest thing you've ever heard.

He nods slowly. “The way a wife should be claimed...” He whispers softly, referring to the restaurant game you two had just played earlier this evening. You snort at that.

“Oh? Wanna play married couple?” You try and joke, but your small smile falters the second he looks at you, completely serious. It makes you take a pause.

“And..." You hold yourself. "How... How should... A wife be claimed?” You finally ask, slightly giving in to the fantasy. The stare down you two were having was an unbreakable one. One that told more words than what you were actually speaking. He needed you. You could see it clear as day. And it made you whole body heat up...

“Like it’s the most important thing to me. Like having your body to myself is... Just as necessary as the air that I breathe.” He says. You swallow a bit.

“You’ll have to show me how it’s done.” You finally say, voice soft and coming out as a whisper, as if you were being squished by the tension in this room. You needed actions though. No more words. You needed to see him actually claim you. Actually say you were his. Not just a friend who he’d sleep with once when the alcohol kicked in.

He slowly stands up from the bed, and walks over to you, causing you to back yourself up against the wall. His hands start to roam your sides. His fingers worm their way into undoing your robe as he watches your face with gentle eyes, as if waiting to see if you'd stop him.

You don't.

You watch him as your breath stays stuck in your throat, and he pulls one hand away from your robe tie to place on your cheek. He strokes his thumb back and forth across your cheek bone, and his other hand tugs at your tie, causing your robe to fall open. He gives you one last look, silently asking, and you nod at his silent question. He slowly lowers himself on to his knees and you look down at him with your cheeks bright pink.

“I’ll only ever kneel for you.” He admits quietly before grabbing your hips to kiss along your stomach. Your stomach flutters at that, and you look down at him with a soft giggle. “You’re… you’d never have to kneel for me...” You try as you run your fingers through his shaggy black hair.

“Well, how else can I feel you on my face?” He asks simply as he keeps eye contact with you before lightly grabbing and moving your leg over his good shoulder. He kisses and bites down on different parts of your inner thigh, just enjoying the feel of your soft skin against his lips and cheek. You gently run your fingers through his hair and hum, head falling back against the wall, feeling at peace. “That feels... so good.” You sigh.

He looks up at you. “It should...” He whispers before slowly licking along your wet slot tenderly. You shiver slightly.

“I-It should?” You whisper.

“Mm... You taste so good...” he mutters against your pussy before sucking softly on your clit, rubbing his tongue on the tip of your clit as he sucks and holds it between his lips. Your back arches and you cry out softly, hips rolling against his mouth as you grip his hair as if holding him in place.

He picks you up and practically sits you on his shoulders as he moans against you, lapping at your pussy more eagerly now.

“O-Oh my god! Sh-Shoulder...” You gasp, instantly worried about hurting him. He pulls back and smirks.

"Any pain I get will be well worth it." He whispers before sucking hard on your clit, causing the curling heat in your stomach to get stronger.

“So pretty...” Yoongi breathes out right against your pussy before he dives right back in to eat you out, looking up at you. His eyes roll back slightly as if tasting you was his ecstasy.

He slurps at your clit before tongue fucking you, using his nose to nudge at your clit. You’re pressed against the wall with his face pressed against you and he’s using a free hand to touch himself as you leak on his face.

You feel every moan and groan he lets out as he focuses on your pleasure that was obviously giving him pleasure. Your back aches and Yoongi pulls back only a bit, a thin line of your wetness or his saliva connecting your pussy to his slightly puffy lips.

"Look at me." He orders and you pant hard, looking down at him instantly, feeling completely worshipped. You shiver slightly when you see him palming his cock through his boxers. Your cheeks flush deeply. “My god...” you groan at the sight.

“That’s right baby. I'm your god now. Say my name. My beautiful wife...” Yoongi taunts against your clit. It twitches at the vibration.

“Hm, fuck... Y-Yoongi. Call me your wife again,” you pant, body shaking slightly at the vibrations.

“My wife. My perfect fucking wife...” he moans before tongue fucking you faster as you begin to tremble. Your eyes roll back, and you cry out.

“I need to cum,” you call out, loudly. Your head falls back, and you hold his hair tightly to hold him deeper against you.

“Cum. Cum on my face. Oh, baby. My baby. My wife.” Yoongi pants breathlessly. Your back arches and you cry out loudly, eyes fluttering as you cum against his face. Yoongi licks it all up and then sets you down before yanking the tie off of your robe.

Your legs are trembling as he wraps the tie around your neck like a leash. "Get on your knees." He orders against your lips and you smirk, taking this as a chance to prove you were just as good as him.

You get on your knees in front of him and focus on trailing your tongue along his hard bulge through his boxers, reaching up to grab at the hem of them only to feel a tug on your new leash. "No hands." He growls, completely serious. You blush hard and hold your hands behind your back as he makes you look up at him.

"Open." Is all he says and you open your mouth, tongue falling out to hang outside of your mouth. "Fuck. Why do you look so prefect like that?" He shivers softly before using one hand to free his already fully hardened length.

You drool at the thought of it sliding into your mouth, and when he hits your tongue with it, you moan. God it was hard and heavy. And from the sight of pre-cum on the tip, you knew he was more than ready for you to return the favor.

You try wrapping your lips around it, but he hovers it above your mouth, tauntingly. "Beg." He orders, stroking his length slightly, lazily gathering more pre-cum at the tip.

"Please. Please. Let me taste it..." You pant, mind fully gone at this point. All you wanted was him at this point. Nothing else mattered.

"You're so hot..." He pants softly and leans down to kiss you, sucking softly on your tongue as you moan. He pulls back and spits the mixture of his and your spit back in your mouth before reaching two fingers into your mouth to rub it into your tongue and push his fingers down your throat, causing you to choke. More drool drips down your face and he rubs it in, moaning at how wet your mouth was for him.

He yanks at the tie around your neck, pulling your head closer to his cock, that's now twitching in anticipation. You moan excitedly and hold your mouth open as he finally slides the first two inches into your mouth, moaning in relief.

It eggs you on to keep going. You suck him off sloppily, working more as a vacuum cleaner than a person from how fast Yoongi was bobbing your head up and down his hard shaft. He moans loudly and looks down at you, his tongue slowly poking out to lick his bottom lip, giving out a breathy chuckle. "You drive me crazy..." He pants.

You moan against his shaft and the vibrations run through his dick. "Oh fuck..." He gasps sharply. "You take it so fucking," He pauses to pull your head further down to see how deep he could go. You feel his tip hit the back of your throat and gag, eyes watering as you hear him moan louder, so you focus on breathing through your nose. "G-Good! Good... Good girl..." He gasps out. He lets go of your head and you back up to breathe fully, trying to catch up on your breathing as your heart raced and the ache between your legs returns in tenfold.

He grabs your chin and leans down to kiss you deeply. “I want you. So bad...” He whispers against your lips before moving to kiss and bite along your neck. He then stands up and yanks at the tie around your neck. "Crawl." He smirks and you blush hard, feeling embarrassed, but doing as he said. You couldn't deny it anymore. You loved this new side of him...

He leads you outside, on to the balcony, and picks you up in an instant. He presses you against the railing. You hear the sounds of the ocean and feel the cool island night air against your hot skin since your robe is hanging on your shoulders now. Yoongi grips your ass and holds you against his crutch, you feel his cock pressing against your slot and whine softly as you grind your hips against it, causing him to groan. “You’re soaking me so fucking good...” He pants as he grinds against you.

You pant hard, head rolling back. That's when it all comes back to you. The reality of your current situation. You look around with wide eyes. “O-On the balcony?” You squeak in surprise.

Without missing a beat, Yoongi slides his tip into you, causing you to melt into a puddle of hurried pants and soft gasps. “I wanna make sure you see stars.” He whispers against your open mouth as he takes his time slowly sliding into you. “You feel me, baby?” He whispers as you nod hurriedly.

"M-More. More." You beg fast.

He smirks and shoves the rest of the way inside of you, causing you to moan loudly while he bites back his own sound of pleasure. "Getting a little loud there..." He taunts and you shiver.

“Of course, I am! You're... You’re so big...” You moan out as you wrap your legs around his waist.

“Mm... All fucking yours, baby...” He shivers, blinded with lust.

“Oh fuck.” You groan as you arch your back and start to grind your hips with his cock deep inside of you, moving with your hips. You angle your hips and moan, head rolling back as his tip finally hits that good spot. "Ri-Right there!" You practically plead as your arms go around his neck so you can dig your nails into the back of his shoulders.

“Oh fuck...” He hisses at the scratching. He fucks you harder and reaches up to grab your neck. “You’re so… fuck, you’re so fucking good. So sexy...” He shivers. You hum happily as he grabs your neck, and groan.

“How often did you think about this? Railing me... For everyone to see?” You pant. “Did it get you through tour?” You whisper in a taunting tone as he fucks you rougher.

“So. Fucking. Often.” He grunts through each thrust he gives you. “Almost every fucking night I thought about you.” He pants and hits your sweet spot relentlessly. It's like an endless wave of pleasure, only building higher. A loud moan escapes you before you can stop yourself. “Put on a show, baby. Get fucking loud.” Yoongi growls in your ear before he smacks your ass hard. Your head falls back now, not caring that you were so vulnerable on the railing, because you knew Yoongi had you. You just cry out for him, loudly, calling out his name repeatedly into the tropical night air.

“That’s my good fucking girl. You like being fucked? Hm?” He taunts as he makes you look at the stars by holding on to your hair. They just seem to get brighter with the pleasure. You two were up on the 18th floor and the air just felt thinner up here. You felt higher here.

“God, yes! I fucking love it! Fuck me! Own me!” You call out, not caring about modest behavior anymore. You felt so... Needed at this moment. It was a struggle to keep your eyes focused, let alone open. You were definitely seeing those stars now.

Yoongi pulls out of you and before you can whine about your pussy walls clenching against nothing, he turns you around, so you’re bent over and holding the railing. He starts fucking you faster from behind as he grips your hips harder. You know there’ll be a bruise tomorrow. But you don't care. You can't care. Not now. Not with this being the best pleasure of your life.

With a hand entangled in your hair, he pulls your head back and starts whispering in your ear that anyone can look up at you at any moment and see you getting fucked. That this is how he was claiming you. You were his. Anyone that saw you two would know that. That he was taken. His hand stays tight around your hair while the other one moves to rub your clit.

You fuck your hips back against him, moaning at the idea of people seeing you being so unapologetically his. Your eyes roll back and with no warning, you didn’t trust your voice anyways, you cum on his cock and hand, making a drippy mess.

“Oh, you really like that, don’t you...” Yoongi moans happily, not letting up. Something in him just needed to have you. Fully. He pulls you right against his chest and kiss along your neck. You whimper at the relentless thrusting. This time, it's slow and purposeful, like he was using your tight walls to jerk off his throbbing member. “Say. It.” He orders in your ear.

“I like it! I love it! I-I’m so fucking wet for you!” You practically purr and turn your head to bite down on his pulse point to stay quiet. He moans at the pain. “F-Fuck… Fuck, I’m going to cum...” You whimper against his skin. His neck has a deep bite mark in it now. You can't help but find it beautiful on his skin.

“Beg.” He grunts out, making you look at him as you feel his cock swell inside you. He was so close.

“Please. Please... Yoongi...” You beg quietly, so close to creaming his cock. He spreads your legs more, so your pussy is on display, and he rubs your clit fast and hard as he fucks you right against the railing now. The cool metal of it is pressed against your sweaty skin. It felt so good...

Your back arches and you moan his name in his ear, cumming again. “Oh fuck. Yes. Yes, Y/N..." He gasps out as you milk his cock. "I’m gonna breed you.” He growls, deciding in that one moment that he had to make you fully his. It makes you giggle, sex drunk by now.

“Do it… fucking do it!” You moan eagerly. He gives a few more pumps before shooting his load right in you. You barely have time to enjoy the feeling before he's picking you up.

“I’m not done with you yet.” He grunts, blinded by lust. You squeal as he carries you inside the hotel room.

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

“Do you think someone caught us?” You whisper as you rub his shoulder lazily.

“And if they did?” He snorts and you chuckle.

“You wouldn't wanna deal with management.” You try, voice soft and slightly distant. You only come back to the reality of you laying in this bed with your best friend when he holds you more firmly.

“I’m a grown man, Y/N. Life is so short. Being scared that I can get in trouble for loving you? It’s not fair to either of us.” He whispers gently. You pause and look up at him.

“L-Love?" You blush hard. He chuckles.

"I’m done trying to please people. I want you.” He says as he gives you a look of adoration. It makes you blush. Yoongi grabs his phone, and you pull the sheets up to your nose.

“What are you doing?!” You giggle and Yoongi hums.

“Giving everyone the heads up...” he says simply.

He takes a selfie with your hair sprawled over his face and chest. Your face is not in the photo though. He posts it on to his Instagram with the caption: “Just me and you🖤”.

It makes you cover your mouth and stare at him in awe before you kiss him lovingly.

“Thank you...” You blush before hugging him tighter. He laughs and shies away as you roll on top of him to kiss all over his face eagerly.

[wooahaes]

this love is full of fairy tales

pairing: non-idol!felix x fem!reader

genre: fluff, romance, established relationship au. engaged au.

warnings: food. talks of marriage. vague mentions about having kids in the distant future. felix and reader being dorks in love.

word count: 1.8k~

daisy's notes: kinda reflected on some personal stuff while writing this one oopsie!! its not in the fic tho dw

As cheesy as it probably sounded, Felix loved the fact that you spoke with your hands a lot. Right now, it meant your engagement ring would catch the light every so often, and he could quietly smile to himself with a giddy joy that he was getting to marry you one day. The fact that this restaurant had intimate lighting only made the experience better in his eyes.

The waitress had been politely chatting with you as she prepared a pot of cheese fondue for the two of you, talking animatedly about her own husband once you revealed that the two of you were engaged. She had her own wedding stories to share, and advice to impart on the two of you in order to ensure a happy day. Felix just kept looking at you, smiling to himself at how pretty you looked in the low light. When he told you where the two of you were going, you’d dressed up with glee over the fact you had an excuse to look nice. Most of the time, the two of you went to casual places—or a place where the most ‘dressy’ you had to get was maybe a nice shirt and pants. This place was expensive and filling (the best of both worlds, in his opinion) and he knew you loved it from a prior visit a while ago… So why not? 

The waitress left soon enough, and the two of you began to dive into the cheese course. Felix offered you a piece of bread from his own fork, watching the way you pulled it off with your teeth after a moment. “So…” 

You looked up, hand cupped over your mouth as you chewed. “Mm?” 

“We’ve talked about it before, but since you brought up the wedding…” He absentmindedly picked at food for a moment. “I was wondering how dress shopping has been going.”

“Ugh.” You frowned a little for a moment. “I mean—I like the dresses. But… I dunno. There’s so many, and some of them don’t look good on me when they look great on other people, and…” You trailed off for a moment, frowning. “Sometimes I just kinda wish you were there with me.”

“Do you want me to be?”

Pressing your lips together, you nodded. “At least to help me narrow it down. If it’s important to you, I won’t show you the final dress… But I’d feel better if I had you there to help me narrow things down.” 

He reached out just to take your hand, kissing your knuckles before letting it go. “Then I’ll be there.” He paused for just a second, “Oh! Seungmin said he’d take our engagement photos. I figured we’d get someone else to do the actual wedding, but—”

“No, that’s great,” you beamed. “As long as he doesn’t mind.”

The two of you kept talking casually, both about the wedding and about other day-to-day things. Yet Felix’s mind kept going back to the day he proposed to you. He’d been talking to so many people about it. To his parents, who told him to follow his heart. Getting married around your mid-twenties wasn’t a bad thing at all, even if it did feel young at times: the two of you still had plenty of time to do other things if that was what you wanted (which Felix later realized was their subtle way of saying that there was no race for the two of you to have kids right away). He’d talked to his sisters about it, and they’d teased him but basically told him the same thing. Eventually, he had lunch with Chris and talked to him about it… followed by the two of them going to look for rings. Felix had your ring size written down, after all, and who else to help him pick something than the person right there with him. 

“I think she’ll like whatever you pick for her,” Chris had said to him while standing over glass cases, staring down at different designs.

He nodded along. Felix had known for years that you weren’t picky with jewelry, aside from preferring silver over gold. Yet he couldn’t ignore the way his heart seemed to race in his chest, the realization that this was real having set in. He was going to propose. The two of you had talked about marriage again months ago, and you’d basically said you could see yourself getting married to him. Whether that be sooner or later, you were fine with either… and something in his heart said soon. If he was going to spend his life with you like he wanted to, then why wait? No one said he had to marry you immediately, either. If the two of you wanted to have a long engagement, then you could do that. He stopped when he saw this small ring that had tiny diamonds along the sides of it, alternating in this leaf-line pattern, with one slightly larger gem in the middle of it. It made him think of fairy tales, if he were honest. Dreamy. Romantic. Things that he associated with you for so many reasons.

Chris came up beside him, looking down at it. “This one?” He pointed, just to be sure he was following Felix’s line of sight correctly. “I think she’d love that one, actually.”

Every day, Felix was glad the two of you had separate accounts for things like this. One joint one for things like bills and shared expenses, but he liked knowing he could surprise you easily by dipping into his own account. The ring practically burned a hole in his pocket for weeks as he tried to plan out the best way to propose to you. He knew he was going to get at least one or two of his friends to record it happening, just so the two of you would have that memory together. He’d thought about proposing at a nice restaurant, much like the one the two of you were in now…

“Felix?” You called out, and then giggled when he came back to reality. “Hi, sunshine. Everything okay?”

It was. With you in it, it always would be. “Yeah,” he said. “Just thinking.”

“Oh?” Your voice held a playful lift to it, and he wished he could kiss that smile now. “You wanna share?”

You would tease him if you knew. So he shook his head, changing the topic to how work had been treating you lately. Things had been rough before, and you seemed happier, so…

And then he let himself drift back into that memory. The two of you had gone on a picnic together by the river. One minute, the two of you were in deep conversation… and the next he’d been texted that Seungmin was in place and ready to record as soon as Felix took you down to the river. It’d been easy enough to get you to come with him (and Felix glanced back to see Jeongin had sat down at the picnic spot once the two of you were gone, just to protect it while Seungmin tailed you), talking about the early days of your relationship. You had been so shy with him, but that was okay. He had been shy, too. He didn’t want to mess anything up with you.

And then he turned to you. “I really love you, you know?” 

It earned a giggle from you. “I love you, too, you dork.” You drew him in for a quick kiss. “You’re sentimental tonight, huh?”

He had a speech planned. He had so much he wanted to say to you. And then he teared up, pulse racing as he reached up to wipe his eyes. 

“Lixie?” 

“I’m fine!” He said, “I just—” Fuck it. He took a deep breath and then got down on one knee, pulling out the box. “I was going to say so, so much more, but… I think I should just ask you already.”

You ended up crying, too. But you said that one magic word when he asked, and he slipped the ring on your finger. You gushed over it for so long, and ended up taking him to a store to have him pick out his own ring. 

“It’s only fair, you know,” you had said to him, looking into the cases. “You should show something off, too.” 

Even tonight, he noticed the way you kept noticing how his own ring would shine in the light. He cared for it so carefully, never taking it off for long unless he was polishing it. It was a gift from you, after all: he always took care of the things you’d get for him, regardless of how big or small they were. He noticed your own subtle smiles over it, too.

“Hey,” Felix said at one point. The cheese course had been cleaned up, and the two of you were enjoying your salads. “I know this is kind of random, but… I’m really glad I met you in this life.” 

Your gaze softened so much as you watched him. “Oh… Felix.” Your foot brushed against his calf, a safer way to let him know you were listening instead of your usual way of taking his hand considering the built-in cooktop between you was still hot from the cheese. “I’m really glad, too.” Then your nose scrunched as you giggled. “God, it feels like you’re going to propose to me again.”

“Maybe I will.” He smiled at you, turning a fork between his fingers. “If they didn’t already know… We could have probably gotten something for free.”

It earned another giggle from you, one that he never wanted to stop hearing. He’d trade everything if it meant he could keep you as happy as he could for the rest of your lives. “I’ll stop bragging, then.”

“No, don’t.” He rested his head in one hand, just to admire you for a moment. “I don’t think I could, so… It wouldn’t be fair.”

“Do you brag about me?”

You were teasing him, but he’d always be honest. “I do,” he said with this soft smile. “It’s kind of hard not to.” 

You sputtered for a moment, face growing hot, and immediately went to take a long sip of your drink. The two of you had been together for so long, and still he found ways to mess with you like this. “Yeah,” you said after you’d composed yourself. “Uh. Ditto.” 

He snorted a little. “Ditto?”

“Don’t poke fun at me!” You pouted at him. “You know being sweet like that scrambles my brain.”

Felix just smiled, stabbing his fork into another piece of his salad. “I think it’s my job now to poke fun at you,” he said. “You’ll do the same, though. I know you.” 

Again, your foot brushed against his calf. “Yeah… You do.” You relaxed once more. “And I will.”He wouldn’t trade it for anything else. Especially if it meant he could kiss you at the end of each birthday, mumbling a soft “Happy birthday, my star,” against your lips.

taglist: @twancingyunhao @weird-bookworm @bangchansbae @jinnie-ret @cheesemonky

[miuszn]

i love all of your hcs and i know dealer!ellie would love to spoil reader

but hcs with rich reader who loves to spoil ellie?!?!

hi anon !! honestly i’ve wanted to write rich ellie hcs for such a long time bc it’s an idea thats so interesting to me eheh i just love imagining her owning a business or something ( even tho realistically she would probably NOT know how to manage one at all .. srry .. ) here’s some hcs <3

rich!ellie x reader hcs

♡ u met her while working part time as a waitress to support urself during college . she was a couple years older than u , thought u were super cute and left the biggest tip ever . u thought it was a mistake , so u went back to her table and told her she left a lot of money but insisted it wasn’t an accident . the next week she came back during the least busy hour + day and specifically requested u as her waitress . she offered u to sit down and have a drink with her , and since u were def attracted to her since the moment u first saw her u had nothing to do , you accepted . n well u already know how that went hehe

♡ spoils u SO MUCH . like wow . her love language would def be gift giving n the bigger the gift the better !!

♡ if u ever ask her for $10 , she sends u $100 n tells u not to worry abt it . that’s basically nothing for her . every once in a while she’d even give u $1000 if she was feeling extra nice

♡ fancy , high end restaurants ONLY . the only times uve ever gone to less expensive restaurants were bc u wanted to go and try them , but when it’s up to her to decide , she believes u deserve nothing less than the best of the best.

♡ never lets u pay for anything !! whether it be the bill , clothes , or even a super expensive bag , she can’t stand the thought of u paying for it urself . she just has to .

♡ at first , u rejected her gifts because u didn’t want her to think u were just with her bc of her money . but eventually u gave in when u realized how happy it made her , she enjoyed giving u gifts more than u enjoyed receiving them

♡ she has the comfiest bed ever . u could lay in it for days doing nothing bc of how comfy it is . she’s wanted to get another one multiple times since it’s starting to get old but doesn’t bc of how much u love it even tho she could easily get a much better one

[ssinnerplazahotel]

╭──────────.★..─╮

*Chapter Nine*

╰─..★.──────────╯

WC: 8k

Warning: 18+, age gap, smut, fluff, toxic elvis, manipulation, drug use, it’s the 50s/60s, painful-difficult-devastating-life-changing-extraordinary love

Pairing: elvis x black reader

Disclaimer: full of inaccuracies, inaccurate timeline, inaccurate depictions of Graceland, historically inaccurate themes and items

Masterlist: Prologue, Ch. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

Time is a strange thing. It has a way of going by slowly and in a hurry all at the same time. It doesn’t wait for you or let you catch up. You discovered early on that if you focused too much on time it drifted by slowly. If you kept yourself busy and focused on other things it went by without you noticing too much. So you kept yourself as busy as possible.

Although you had plenty of money saved, you got a job within your first week of being in Atlanta. You waited tables at a small diner just a few blocks from the apartment you were renting.

It wasn’t the nicest apartment. It was above a family-owned restaurant and your landlord wasn’t the most forgiving woman in the world, but it was in the heart of the city and close enough to your job.

It wasn’t entirely without incident that you’d ended up there. When you arrived at the train station you’d decided to take the first train leaving that was going the furthest away.

Regardless, you didn’t regret the decision. It was a busy city, and you needed to be busy.

When you called Dawn that first night, from a hotel in the middle of a completely different state, she tore into for nearly thirty minutes. You were able to convince her that you were fine, and that you were doing what was necessary. You weren’t having a breakdown, you were trying to prevent one.

You didn’t expect to spend the next month searching for a place to be. That month of aimlessly wandering was unnerving, but now you were settling nicely in Georgia now.

You had left Memphis behind and you were gaining important life skills and managing your finances. It wasn’t the most ideal job, but you were able to throw yourself into your work everyday.

You were happy with the way things were going. And the more consumed you were with work and surviving, the less effort it took not to think about him.

You missed him every single day, a part of you always would. But it didn’t hurt as much anymore. The hole he left in your heart was still there, hollow but numb now.

“You got company, treasure,” Your coworker called out to you from the kitchen.

“Give me that sirloin, Chuck, I asked for it first.” You ducked your head to talk to him through the service window. “You get around like an old man.”

“You got one coming in hot,” He responded. “If you were nicer maybe you’d get your shit faster.”

“Yeah, right.”

“Looks like somebody’s lost,” Sinclair, a fellow waitress at the restaurant, said as she walked over to grab her order. You followed her gaze to the man taking a seat in your section. It wasn’t a segregated restaurant by any means, but only a certain demographic of people really ate there—this man, wearing a fancy suit and sunglasses in the middle of the night, didn’t fit into any of those boxes. “Let him know this ain’t Sterling’s.”

You laughed. “I might let him think it is for a big enough tip.”

“Speaking of big enough.” Sinclair called out to Chuck through the service window. “Where’s that sirloin?”

“Hey, next one’s mine.” You took your notepad and pen out of the front pocket of your apron. “I’m coming right back for it, Chuckles.”

“I’ll have it for you, treasure, don’t worry. I’m only one man.”

You rolled your eyes and made your way over to your section. You stopped to check on a few people before you made it to the man’s table. He wore dark shades even though it was nighttime and he kept his head down looking at the menu until you spoke.

“Hello,” You said, getting his attention before introducing yourself. “I’m going to be taking care of you tonight. What can I get started for you?”

He hesitated as he read your name from your name tag. He had an odd tone when he spoke but you couldn’t make out his expression behind the sunglasses.

“Yes.” You smiled politely, preparing to write. “What can I get started for you?”

“Well I’ll be, it is you.” He laughed. “What are you doin here?”

“I think you have me confused with someone else.” You smiled uncomfortably. “Just one of those faces~”

“Oh, no, it’s me.” He stood and removed the glasses.

“Joel?” Your stomach dropped. “Oh my god.”

Joel laughed, hugging you enthusiastically. “I haven’t seen you since you took off.”

You froze when he hugged you, uncomfortably patting his back with one hand before he pulled away. You glanced around the restaurant to see if anyone was watching, catching a few eyes before looking up at him again. “W-What are you doing here, Joel? Are you here with someone?”

“No, I’m alone.” He still looked stunned to see you.

“I-I hardly recognized you for a second,” You stammered.

“You look~ I mean~ you haven’t changed.” He laughed. “I only been out here a couple weeks or so with my parents.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, my dad opened up a repair shop just off the highway.”

“Auto repair?” You presumed.

“Yeah, he wanted me up here with ‘im. He’s got me fixin cars all day.”

“Why Atlanta?”

“I guess he thinks city folk have more car trouble,” He chuckled. “What about you?”

“What about me?”

“Why here?”

You shrugged. “I just found myself here. No reason really.”

“It’s a strange city,” Joel said. “I don’t think I’ve slept a wink since I been here.”

“I guess that explains the sunglasses in the middle of the night?”

“Oh, yeah, not to mention that I’m so hungover I can’t see straight.” He smiled when you laughed. “I don’t get out much but I pay the price when I do.”

“Well, sit down, I’ll bring you some coffee.” You smiled and turned to walk away before he stopped you.

“Maybe we can catch up,” He said. “You’re the only familiar face I seen since I been here.”

“I’m working right now.”

“After?”

You hesitated. “I-I don’t know…”

His face fell slightly. “That’s fine, I understand.”

You felt bad about declining the offer. He was a familiar face and he’d had a good rapport with Dawn and you would consider him an old friend, even though you rarely ever spoke. “…I’m off in the next hour. If you’re willing to wait.”

“Yeah.” He nodded with a smile. “I’m not in any rush.”

You smiled. “I’ll be right back.”

“I’ll be right here,” He said, retaking his seat.

Sinclair looked at you with narrowed eyes as you walked over to the service window. “You know that man?”

“He’s an old friend,” You said, leaning down to talk to Chuck. “Give it to me, baby.”

“I got you,” He said. “Order up in five.”

“Order up now.” You walked away to pour up the coffee.

“How do you know him?” Sinclair asked as Chuck served her orders through the window.

“He knows my aunt,” You stated simply. “Why?”

“Just curious,” Sinclair said, checking her tickets. “Can’t I ask?”

“I never said you couldn’t.” You took your orders out of the window and loaded them onto a serving tray. “Thanks, Chuckles.”

“You’re welcome,” He said. “You gone in an hour?”

“I’m gone in forty-nine minutes.” You dropped your orders at your other tables before taking Joel his coffee. He ordered his food and you took the ticket back to Chuck.

The final hour of a shift was always the hardest to get through, but you managed to finish out strong. You set up the next waitron before clocking out in the back.

“See you tomorrow,” You called to Chuck and Sinclair, waving at a few coworkers on your way over to Joel’s table. He perked up a little when he saw you, closing one of the four travel pamphlets he was reading to pass the time. “You know anything about Vegas yet?”

“Not unless you’re interested in a Tropicana Holiday,” He said, holding up the brochure. “Three days, two nights.”

You smiled and sat down across from him, draping your coat over the back of your chair and sitting your purse on the ground beside you. “How’s your head?”

“Like it never happened.”

“Good.”

One of your coworkers approached your table. Her name was Monica, that was just about all you knew about her. “What can I get started for you guys?” She asked, eyeing the two of you strangely.

“Are you hungry?” Joel asked.

“I’m fine,” You insisted quickly.

“You should eat,” He argued. “It’s on me.”

“Joel, really, it’s fine.”

“I insist.”

He ordered you something off of the menu for you and Monica jotted down the order before walking away.

“You know I can’t let you pay for it,” You said when she was gone.

“Let me. Consider it a favor from an old friend.”

“I’ll pay you back.”

“I won’t let you.” He chuckled, pushing his hair out of his eyes. His blond curls still framed his face like they did when you first met him, though they were longer now—nearly dusting his shoulders. It made him look boyish even though his features were mature. “What made you leave Memphis?”

“I needed a change of scenery.” You had repeated the same lie to everyone you encountered, so much so that you were starting to believe it yourself.

“D’you still talk to Elvis at all?”

“Why would I?”

He shrugged indifferently and moved on. “I saw Dawn before I left.”

“You did?” You perked up a bit, grateful for the immediate change in subject. “How was she?”

“She was good, still workin at the house,” He said. “She’s the same old Dawn.”

Monica returned with your order and the two of you sat there talking until you finished eating. Joel was interested in hearing about the places you’d been to around the city and you were happy to tell him. You had more than enough stories to tell after being on your own for so long.

Thinking back, you weren’t sure how you’d done it. As you were recalling the memories you were also recalling how afraid and completely lost you were—fear had been the only thing you’d felt in months. You were so constantly afraid that you were used to it.

“You live near here?” Joel asked after paying the bill. “I can take you home.”

“I usually walk,” You said, grabbing your things and standing with him. “My place is just a few blocks from here.”

“I’ll walk you~”

“You don’t have to go out of your way~”

“I don’t mind, really. I want to make sure you get there alright.”

You couldn’t convince him to let you go alone, so the two of you left the restaurant together.

The entire night had been so surreal, you never expected to see anyone from Memphis again. “I can’t believe we ran into each other like this.”

“It’s funny. All these people and we still managed to bump into each other.”

You hummed in agreement. “I guess you stumbled into the right diner.”

“I guess I did.” Joel sighed. “I ain’t talked to anyone outside of my folks in a while.”

“I haven’t had time to make any friends.”

“It’s harder to make friends in the city.”

“Yeah?”

He nodded. “Back home, you step outside your house and you make all kinds of friends just from right there on your front porch.”

You laughed at that. “It was never that simple for me.”

“I’ve met some good people that way. You meet people everywhere here but you don’t know anyone.”

“So, what I’m hearing is that you hate Atlanta?”

“I don’t know…I think I’ll start to hate it less.”

After Joel dropped you off that night you didn’t see him again for a couple of weeks. You figured that you would see very little of him even though you were in the same state. However, he did show up again eventually.

“What are you here for? Another cure?”

“I’m sober as a judge.”

You laughed. “I would take your order but you just missed me. I’m off now.”

“Then I’m right on time.” He smiled. “I wanted to take a look at the old coupe deville. You were telling me about it.”

“You came to look at my car?” You asked incredulously. “It’s ten o’clock at night.”

“Time still doesn’t exist to me, I guess.” He shrugged sheepishly. “I understand if you have plans.”

“I don’t have any plans, Joel, it’s ten o’clock,” You said, making him laugh. “You don’t need an excuse to come see me, y’know?”

You meant it as a joke but Joel’s face still flushed slightly at your words. “Can I walk you home?”

“Just let me grab my stuff,” You said. “I’ll be quick.”

“You better be. It is ten o’clock, y’know?”

You cut your eye at him and walked to the back to get your things.

“Yo, treasure, that guy bothering you?”

“No, Chuck, didn’t I tell you he’s an old friend?”

Chuck scoffed and mumbled something under his breath before getting back to what he was doing.

“That white boy’s out there for you again,” Sinclair said, sauntering through the door.

“His name’s Joel,” You said.

“And what does Joel want with you?” She asked. “He’s been here three times now.”

“I think I know what he wants with her,” Chuck said, walking back out into the kitchen.

“Fuck you, Chuck.” You shrugged on your jacket and faced Sinclair. “He’s been here three times?”

“He came while I was covering your shift last week,” She said. “Speaking of, I’m gonna need you to return the favor. Wendell has a parent-teacher conference at school Friday night and Marc can’t make it.”

You nodded, distracted. “I can do Friday night.”

“It’s three to eleven, my usual.”

“I’ll make it work, don’t worry.”

Sinclair thanked you and wished you a safe trip home before getting back to her tables. You put on a smile as you met Joel, admittedly drained but not wanting to let it show.

“How was your day?” He asked, his hands shoved casually into the pockets of his acid washed jeans as you walked along the quiet sidewalk.

“Okay,” You responded. “Long.”

“I hear you,” Joel sighed.

“My coworker said you came by sometime last week,” You mentioned. “You weren’t looking for me were you?”

“I don’t know.” He smiled, embarrassed.

“Why were you looking for me?”

“I don’t~”

“You have to know. A person doesn’t just do things without knowing why.”

“I don’t know,” He said anyway, making you shoot him a glare. He laughed it off. “Maybe I wanted to see you.”

He looked away as he spoke, kicking at the loose rocks on the sidewalk.

“Is that bad?” He asked when you didn’t respond, still looking down at the sidewalk, watching the rocks as they skidded ahead each time he kicked them.

“No, I don’t think so,” You said. “Do you think it is?”

“I don’t know,” He said, laughing in realization. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to~”

“It’s fine.” You smiled.

“I was already out tryna to get away from my parents, so I figured I’d try you again today.”

“Do your parents smother you?” You asked.

“Oh yeah.” He heaved a sigh. You couldn’t tell if he was frustrated at the thought of his parents or relieved to be shifting subjects. “They always have. Mama’s terrible about it, and daddy—he does whatever she tells him to. They don’t think I can make it on my own.”

“I’m sure they do it out of love.”

“I know.” He brushed his hair out of his eyes. “Everything I do is to try and prove to them that I can take care of myself. I’m starting to think they’ll always see me as a kid.”

“You should talk to them,” You suggested. “If they love you enough they’ll hear you out and try to change.”

“You think so?”

“It’s worth the shot.”

Joel smiled. “This is why I like being around you. You always have something good to say.”

You laughed in denial. “I know how it feels to be stuck in a box and not know how to get out.”

“Your folks overbearing?” Joel asked.

“Dawn’s really my only family.”

“I remember you saying that,” He said with an apologetic expression. “It must be tough being on your own.”

“It’s okay.” You were getting used to it, you almost preferred being alone. “Y-You should really talk to your parents. I think they’ll understand how you feel.”

“I will,” He said. “I’ll tell you how it goes.”

“Already planning your next stakeout,” You pointed out humorously. “Why don’t you just wait outside of my apartment instead of at my job?”

“You’re giving great advice tonight.” He laughed along with you for a moment. “Maybe I’ll catch you on a day you’re off, and it’s not ten o’clock at night.”

“You’ll have to if you plan on telling me about your talk with your parents.” Joel laughed again as you contemplated the idea. “I’m free tomorrow.”

“I’m usually done with everything at the shop around three on Thursdays—I could just….”

“That’s fine. You know the address now, I assume.”

“Locked and loaded.” He tapped his temple. “Not because I regularly stake out your apartment or anything.”

“No, of course not.” You smiled. “It’s 3B. Don’t forget.”

“I won’t,” He said. “You should give me your number. In case I have to call and cancel.”

You narrowed your eyes jokingly, coming to a stop as you approached your apartment building. You took your pen and pad out of the front of the apron you still wore under your coat and jotted down your number and address. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“I’m looking forward to it,” Joel said, taking the ticket. “Good night.”

You smiled and turned to walk into the restaurant that led up to your apartment.

Joel waited until you were inside before walking back the way you guys came.

“Leftovers,” Your landlady called as she wiped down the tables for the night, nodding her head at the carefully packaged food. “You’re late. I almost threw them away.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Angie,” You said as you grabbed the bag. “You’re always so kind.”

She hummed, uninterested in your compliment. “Rent’s due by the end of the week, no exceptions.”

“I’m gonna have all of it,” You promised, heading for the stairs. “Tell Mr. Ben I said goodnight.”

You climbed the stairs and got into your apartment. After putting the leftovers in the fridge you didn’t have any energy left to do anything but shower and go to bed.

You dropped your tips in your savings jar and called it a night.

*

“I looked at him and I said ‘Daddy, some things are gonna hafta change around here if I’mma keep working for you. I ain’t gonna let you and mama run me around and tell me what to do like you have been. Not anymore.’ You know what he said?”

“What?”

“He said ‘get your ass over there and start rotatin them tires.’”

You laughed from where you sat on the ground piecing together a puzzle on your coffee table. Joel sat on the sofa looking down at it as you made more progress.

“So?” You asked, glancing up at him. “What’d you do?”

“I got my ass over there and started rotating them tires.” He laughed along with you. “What was I s’posed to do?”

“He probably just didn’t know how to react,” You said, picking up another piece of the puzzle and examining the incomplete picture of a swan on a lake.

“There.” Joel pointed to the missing part of the swans beak.

“At least you tried.” You put the piece in its place. “I wouldn’t know where to start if I tried to unpack things with my dad.”

“Tell me about your dad.” He moved from the sofa and sat down next to you on the floor

“There’s nothing to tell,” You said. “He left when I was little and took my brother with him.”

“Do you remember anything about him?”

“I try not to.”

You laughed but Joel’s expression remained serious. “I’m sorry about that.”

“Don’t be,” You said. “It doesn’t bother me.”

“It should.” You focused on the puzzle as he spoke. “Not having both your parents ain’t easy.”

“You can’t miss what you never had.”

“Yeah, but you can long for something you should’ve.”

You met his eyes and your expression grew to match his.

“I think, even if you say there isn’t, there’s a part of you that wishes he had been there for you.”

“There isn’t.”

“It’s okay if there is~”

“There’s not, Joel.” You examined the piece in your hand, scanning the puzzle again. “I don’t have any strong feelings about the situation. It’s just something that happened.”

Joel took the puzzle piece from you and tucked it into its proper place. “He missed out on a good thing from what I can tell. It’s his loss.”

You shrugged. “I wish my brother and I would have gotten a chance to grow up together. Other than that I just…”

“Try not to think about it,” Joel finished. You nodded. “I won’t bring it up again.”

You smiled a little as he pieced together another piece of the puzzle. “Why are you actually good at this?”

“You just havta go by the colors.” He handed you another piece. “Sit back and look at the bigger picture.”

You followed his advice and leaned away from the coffee table. “Ah, I see.” You laughed, finding where the piece went immediately.

“There you go.” Joel laughed.

“I still might take you hostage and make you finish it for me.” You smiled. “I’ll never get it done on my own.”

“I’d be a willing hostage,” He said. “I like being here with you.”

You laughed again, unsure of how you should respond. “I’d make for a terrible captor.”

Joel smiled without meeting your eyes. “I don’t think so.”

“You’re a strange man, Joel,” You said. “Sometimes I wonder.”

“What do you wonder?”

“I wonder what you’re doing here.”

He looked up at you. “I like being around you.”

You nodded. “You’ve said that.”

“You want more of a reason?”

“Yes.”

He smiled again, looking off in thought as he fidgeted with the puzzle piece in his hand. “I don’t know how to explain it.”

“Try.”

“When I think of being anywhere else…I always rather be with you.”

“Why?”

“Because I like you.”

He avoided your eyes, focusing instead on where your hand rested near his on the coffee table.

“I like you too.”

“N-No, I…I like you more.”

“More?”

“I’m attracted to you.”

You fell silent. He wasn’t saying anything that you hadn’t already suspected, but you were slow to process his words.

He seemed to panic when you didn’t respond. “I don’t want that to change anything~”

“It won’t,” You reassured him. “A-And I want to spend time together when we can.”

“You do?”

“Yes. I didn’t realize how lonely I was before you came along.”

Joel’s hand brushed against yours when he shifted and you felt a rush of something between fear and panic but you didn’t pull away.

“I can always keep you company.”

“Would you?”

“If you wanted me to.” His eyes darted to your lips for less than a second before landing on your eyes.

Your voice was barely above a whisper when you spoke again. “…I want you to.”

Silence settled over the room and the air seemed to thicken as it went on. The space between the two of you gradually decreased and you both hesitated, you imagined for entirely different reasons. Joel started to pull away after sensing your hesitation but you closed the space between your lips before he could.

You broke the kiss immediately, anxiously awaiting his reaction. He shifted towards you, taking your face between both his hands and searching your eyes for any sign of skepticism before kissing you again.

Your eyes fluttered shut and your hands came to rest on his forearms. You only opened your eyes when he broke the kiss, finding his already on you.

“Will you stay?”

“If you want me to.”

“I want you to.”

*

Your relationship with Joel brought something into your life that you didn’t realize you were missing.

He was there for you when you needed him and even when you didn’t. He listened to you and he was interested in your thoughts. He didn’t expect anything from you. He was patient and he let you come to terms with your feelings on your own accord. He was your friend before he was your lover.

You felt different when you were with Joel. You didn’t feel nervous or anxious when you were around him. You weren’t afraid to tell him the truth and you never worried that he’d hurt you or find some way to punish you if you went against him. He was gentle with you, almost too gentle.

“I want you to meet my parents,” He said during one of his afternoon visits. “I told them about you.”

“You did?”

“They want to meet you,” He said. “They wanna know who’s been taking up all my time.”

You didn’t know what was so different at the time—why Joel made you feel so different. You soon came to realize that Joel’s way of loving you simply wasn’t the same as Elvis’ way of loving you.

You were there for each other when you had no one. There was a space you filled in each other’s lives that was different. Even though it took time, you grew to understand and accept that.

“You mean they want to know if I’m worth your time.” You stood at the counter sectioning Ms. Angie’s leftovers into airtight containers. You always had more than enough, so you usually took some to Sinclair whenever you had shifts together.

“No, I can tell them that,” Joel said. He stood behind you and slipped his arms around your waist. “Some things they gotta see for themselves.”

You laughed, shying away from the kiss he left on your cheek. “I don’t know how you’ll manage to make time. You work almost every day and I work every night.”

“I’ll make time,” He said. “You just hafta tell me when you’re off.”

“Fine,” You agreed. “But make it lunch, not dinner.”

“Lunch not dinner, got it.” He nodded once. “You taking that to Sinclair?”

“Yes,” You sighed. “If I eat another dumpling I might die. I don’t have the heart to turn it down.”

Joel laughed, letting you walk out of his arms. “I’ll pick you up tonight. 10:30?”

“10:30.” You put the containers into an old grocery bag and tied the handles before grabbing your keys. "I'll see you tonight.”

“I’ll see you.” He smiled, his eyes following you as you left. “I love you.”

You cut your eye over your shoulder, slowing to a stop. You walked back over and left a kiss on the corner of his mouth. “Lock up when you leave.”

Things with Joel progressed quickly after you’d acknowledged your feelings. You were apprehensive at times about letting him into your life all at once, but you were more afraid to let him go after you’d grown attached. You feared that things would change the more he got to know you and that he’d leave on his own. But with time your trust grew and your feelings became stronger; you longed for him when he was away.

He became a part of your everyday. Long after the initial attraction that brought the two of you together had started to fade you still wanted him in your life.

Eventually, after talking and thinking it over, he moved in together. You were practically inseparable so it made the most sense.

“Marry me.”

“No.”

You were genuinely happy and you couldn’t see things any other way.

“Marry me.”

“Joel.”

You had a tolerable job, a decent place to live, and a person to share your life with.

“I’m not gonna stop asking.”

“That’s called harassment.”

It felt like you were finally getting a taste of that stability that had made you envy Andrea.

“Marry me.”

“For the love of god.”

You were somewhere in your life that you never thought you’d be.

“Please?”

You couldn’t have been more content.

“Fine. I’ll marry you.”

*

“Where are you, sugar?”

“I’m here.”

You sighed and closed the book in your hands as Joel entered your shared bedroom. He smiled when he saw you, dropping his work boots by the door.

“Look at you, lookin like a regular ol housewife.” He laughed, unbuttoning the dirty flannel he was wearing.

“You know I hate when you say that,” You said with a slight roll of your eyes.

“It’s not a bad thing,” He said, walking towards you. “Not to mention you will be soon.”

“Uh, uh.” You put a hand out to stop him. “You better wash all that off before you come over here.”

“Don’t I at least get a kiss?” He asked, still inching towards you. “I ain’t seen you all day.”

“Who’s fault is that?” You tilted you head expectantly.

“It’s my fault,” He said, kneeling on the bed. “It’s all my fault.”

You laughed despite your protests, pushing him away only after he’d stolen a kiss. He went into the bathroom to turn on the shower before leaning on the doorframe. “I meant to tell you that daddy wants me to go to Charleston after work tomorrow to pick up some parts.”

“Charleston?” You asked. “It’s gonna take all day to get there and back.”

“I know, but you can come with me and we can make it a thing.”

“‘Make it a thing?’”

“Make a trip out of it.”

“I don’t like the roads around Charleston.”

“I’ll drive.”

“Sinclair and Marcus were going to come over tomorrow night.”

“I know,” He repeated with an apologetic expression. “I don’t want to, but Charleston’s got the only place we can find that has any of those new alternators. I told you about them, they’re imported. We’re gonna be able to reach a whole nother demographic if we~”

“Baby, please, don’t go on one of your car rants.” You closed your book again, abandoning it on the bed as you stood. “This is the third time I’m going to have to cancel on them. Can’t your father go on his own for once?”

“I told him I would. It’s not like I’m doin it for free, I’m gettin paid for making the trip.”

“That’s not the point.”

“It’s my job to take care of you. You know that’s why I’m doing it, so why give me shit for it everytime?”

“Because I hardly ever see you anymore. I mean it, I don’t want to live here if it means you working all hours of the day and night.”

“We’re staying here. No one bothers us here, we keep to ourselves~”

“I’ll start working again to take away some of the pressure.”

“That’s not what I want.”

“What about what I want? I want you here, with me, more often.”

“I want to be here, sweetheart, I do. I’m not tryin to prioritize anything over you…” He worried his bottom lip as spoke, rubbing his face thoughtfully.

“But?” You prompted.

“But I hafta help at the shop as much as I can. It’s getting to be just as much my responsibility as it is daddy’s,”

“What am I supposed to do? Get in line and wait my turn for your attention?”

“You have my attention, always.” He crossed the room and took your hands in his. “If it’ll make you happy I’ll tell him I can’t go tomorrow, but I have to at some point.”

“Don’t bother.” You pulled away from him and walked away. “You don’t bother telling him anything else.”

“Why are you tearing into me right now?” He asked, shocked by your comment.

“Why won’t you tell him we’re getting married?” You faced him, arms crossed.

“I’m gonna tell him and mama~”

“When?”

“I don’t know just yet. When I can..”

“I’m starting to think you’ve changed your mind.”

“I haven’t.”

“Are you ashamed of me?” You asked.

“No, god, no.” He grew more frustrated. “I know they’ll never let me hear the end of it when they find out. It’s not about you at all.”

You fell silent, looking down to hide the tears forming in your eyes.

“I could never be ashamed of you, you’re too important to me.” He continued when you didn’t respond. “I’m sorry I haven’t been there for you like I should. I’ll try harder, okay? I’m gonna tell daddy I can’t go tomorrow and we’re gonna have some fun with our friends.”

You sensed him coming closer before you felt him gently lift your chin to meet your eyes.

“Don’t cry,” He whispered. “You know I hate to see you cry.”

You swallowed. “I’m sorry.”

“Stay and read your book,” He said. “You can tell me about it when I’m done.”

You nodded, forcing a small smile. “Okay.”

He kissed your forehead and let you go. “I’ll be quick.”

“Joel.” You stopped him. “I don’t want to be kept a secret.”

“I’ll tell them.”

“Tomorrow.”

He looked undeniably conflicted but he nodded his head before silently retreating to the bathroom.

The next day, upon hearing the news, his father fired him and kicked him out of the shop. You had a feeling that Joel knew that his father would react that way and had been putting off telling him for that reason.

He tried to put on a brave face about the situation, but you could see it in his eyes that he was hurt. He had every right to be after years of putting so much into building and maintaining the business with his father.

“McNally’s been bugging me about coming to work for him at his dealership,” He said. “I’m sure the offer still stands.”

“I’m so sorry, Joel.” You felt like it was your fault. If you hadn’t pushed him to tell his parents he’d still have a relationship with them and a job he loved.

“I don’t want you thinking this is your fault,” He said. “We’re gonna be married and if mama and daddy can’t accept that, then…I don’t want them in our life.”

You leaned back against the kitchen counter and crossed your arms. You didn’t know what to do other than apologize.

“I’m gonna change and head over to talk to McNally.” He stepped in front of you and took your face in his hands. “Don’t look so troubled, we’re gonna be alright. We might be more than alright if McNally gets me in at the dealership. There’s better pay and benefits~”

“It’s not what you love to do.”

“If it means I can take care of you, I love it.”

You slipped your arms around his torso, hugging him. He hugged you back.

“It’s all gonna work out,” He promised. He pulled away first, ducking his head to kiss your lips before he walked away. “Maybe you and Sinclair can go out tonight instead. You should take your car for a drive anyway. You’ll kill that battery leaving it sitting in the driveway all the time.”

“I’ll call her.”

“Brighten up, sugar,” He laughed. “It’s gonna be okay.”

You tried to smile. “I believe you.”

Joel secured a job working at Bibby McNally’s car dealership and, while it wasn’t something he was passionate about, he made the most of it. It was a high scale dealership and they had a lot of traffic all year round so it was never a dull moment. At times you could see him becoming drained and uninterested, but he insisted that working there was good for the two of you.

He was home more often and you got to spend more time together. It was exactly what you wanted, however, you felt guilty about him losing his job and contact with his parents.

One evening after he got off of work he came barreling into the house calling out for you. You rushed to meet him in the living room.

“What happened?” You asked in alarm.

“You aren’t going to believe this,” He said with excitement behind his words. “Guess who came into the dealership today. Guess.”

“Wha~ Who?” You asked, your eyebrows drawn together in confusion.

“Elvis,” Joel said, enthusiastically. “Elvis-fucking-Presley.”

“W-What?” You tried not to let your expression grow horrified. “He did?”

“Can you believe that?” Joel walked past you in the direction of your bedroom, loosening the tie around his neck. “He came in lookin some kinda Roadrunner. I was trying to get a Pontiac off my hands and all of the sudden the lady I’m selling to screams at the top of her lungs. I turn around and there he is.”

“Did you talk to him?” You asked, following him to the room. You stopped him before he walked to the bathroom. “I’m not done.”

“I talked to him.” He sat on the edge of the bed. “He has some time off from filming, I guess.”

“Oh?” You crossed your arms to stop your hands from fidgeting.

He nodded as he slipped off his shiny dress shoes and tucked them under the foot of the bed. “He said he wanted us to come back with him to Graceland over the weekend.”

“You told him about us?” You asked.

“Yeah, he was as shocked as you could imagine.” Joel laughed. “He said he’d arrange for us to fly out tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?” You asked.

“You’ve asked me a hundred questions since I walked through the door,” He said. “Tell me what you think. We should go right?”

“I-I don’t know, it’s so all of a sudden, y-y’know,” You stammered. “You have work and we’re starting a new book in my club~”

“Sweetheart.” He stood from the bed as he unbuttoned his shirt. “You’re seriously telling me that you’d pass this up to go read a book?”

“You have work.”

“I can get away for a weekend,” He said. “It could be fun. We could see Dawn while we’re there. And Cynthia—Andrea, maybe.”

“You aren’t going to let this go are you?”

“A hundred and one questions.”

You rolled your eyes.

“I’ll never ask you for anything again if you’ll just go with me tomorrow. It’ll feel like old times.”

“For you maybe.” You walked back into the bathroom.

“Finish up in there so I can shower,” He called as you shut the door. “I wanna help you cook.”

“Just a minute.” You leaned forward against the sink, looking at yourself in the mirror. For a moment you saw your old self reflected back at you. Just hearing his name made you feel small and panicky. Knowing that he was in the same state didn’t make it any easier to breathe. You hadn’t seen him since~

Let me t-try to be better. Just give me a chance, baby, please.

You closed your eyes and tried to physically shake away the sudden memory. Was it possible for a heart to stay broken for this long?

You couldn’t see him. You didn’t want to see him. You’d put him out of your mind, escaped the hold he had on you. You’d worked so hard to rebuild yourself after he’d broken you down. You were at a place in your life where you were so sure of everything, you didn’t want to see him and lose all that progress.

You were in love with Joel and the two of you were prepared to build a life together. You didn’t want Elvis’ presence to taint that in any way.

“I wonder if Sonny and Lamar’ll be there tomorrow night,” Joel continued from outside of the bathroom. “Maybe Red and Billy too.”

“I don’t know,” You responded in the steadiest tone you could muster.

“I’m sure they’ll be there,” He continued. “You remember my cousin Jerry?”

You took slow breaths and stood upright with your hands on your hips. “I’m sure they’ll all be there, Joel.”

He laughed. “Tell me you’ll go. I don’t wanna havta drag you kicking and screaming.”

You swallowed harshly as you started putting away the makeup you had strewn across the counter. “Can we come back Sunday?”

“Yeah,” He responded, delighted with your capitulation. “We can come back whenever you want.”

You took one last deep breath and put on a decent expression before leaving the bathroom. “I don’t want to be gone too long, that’s all.”

“I’ll get you back home before you can even start to miss it.” He smiled as he watched you leave the room.

“Perfect.”

You went to figure out where he’d hidden your cigarettes. You pulled open a few kitchen drawers and shuffled through them before you found the slim, silver case. Your mind raced as you used the stove to light the cigarette before turning off the burner. You hadn’t smoked since Joel insisted that you quit weeks ago, but you couldn’t think of any other way to calm your nerves. You’d start your streak over tomorrow.

When Joel finally got out of the shower, he found you standing by the window in the living room. You were on your second cigarette and so lost in thought that you hadn’t noticed him at first.

“You better put that out,” He chided, walking over. “I told you what they’ve been saying about them things.”

“Luther Terry’s fighting a losing battle,” You muttered, crushing the cigarette in the ashtray that sat on the windowsill.

“I ain’t seen you smoke a cigarette in weeks.” He stood behind you and put his arms around your waist.

“I know.”

“Something bothering you?”

“Are you still going to Virginia with Bibby?” You asked in an attempt to avoid the question.

“Yeah…” He fell silent for a moment. “It should be the last trip for a while. Once convention season’s over I’m all yours.”

You walked out of his arms. “You should wear the navy suit you wore last week. I know you lost your red tie~”

“You’re upset.” He followed you to the kitchen.

“I’m fine.” You tried to smile, forcing back all of the thoughts that were threatening to consume you. “I’ll find your tie.”

You continued taking the pots and pans down to start cooking.

“How is Bibby anyway?” You wanted to fill the silence. “The baby?”

“He’s good, the baby’s good,” Joel said. “He says Yvette’s a natural…”

You tried to listen as Joel went on about Bibby and Yvette, but you were too preoccupied–too full of dread.

After all you’d gone through, you were walking back into the belly of the beast.

*

“Don’t get me in too much trouble,” Joel said handing you your second flute of champagne. “I don’t want no misdemeanor for aiding and abetting.”

“You’re a year older than me, Joel. Don’t you think I can handle a little champagne by now?” You laughed and took the glass.

“We’ll see.” He shrugged.

“Not too much for you tonight either. You’re driving.”

“Don’t worry, baby, I’m barely buzzin.” He slipped his arm around your waist and kissed you with gin-stained lips. The two of you parted at the sound of Joel’s name being called over the music, turning your heads in the direction of the voice. He lit up when he saw who it was. You smiled as they embraced each other.

“How have you been?” Joel asked.

“Alright,” Jerry responded with an indolent shrug. “This her?”

“Yeah.” Joel smiled, slipping his arm around your waist and introducing you.

“Right.” Jerry repeated your name as if it rang a bell and you exchanged brief pleasentries. “Look, E.P. wants y’all to come up. He sent me to find you.”

You took another sip of your drink after Joel quickly accepted the invitation. You probably shouldn’t have been drinking, you were beyond queasy and the champagne wasn’t helping–not to mention that it tasted like battery acid. You finished the glass anyway, hoping that, if anything, it would calm your nerves.

“Come on, baby,” Joel said, taking the glass from you and abandoning it at the bar with his own. He took your hand in his and leaned in to speak in your ear. “You can still let me know if you change your mind while we’re up there.” You nodded, forcing a small smile before letting him lead you as he followed Jerry to the elevators. The music from the party faded behind the doors and all that remained was the gentle melody of the elevator music. “How long y’all been in Georgia?”

“Since yesterday. E heard about the dealership so he wanted to pass through.”

“How’d he hear about it?”

“I’m not too sure.”

Their voices faded to the background. All you heard was the sound of your heartbeat accelerating. After so long, you wondered if he’d be different. Your fear and panic was beginning to be replaced by other things that you didn’t want to acknowledge let alone describe. Because having to describe those feelings would’ve meant admitting they were there.

The elevator stopped on the top floor and you forced your feet to move. Jerry led you to the suite and opened the door without knocking. “I found them, E,” He said, walking in first.

His eyes met yours almost instantly. Those baby blue eyes that were so familiar yet so distanced from the ones you knew. He still had that youthful glow about him as he smiled and stood to greet the two of you. His gaze lingered on you briefly but no longer than a second. “Joel, ol boy.” His voice caused your breath to hitch. It was different somehow, deeper and richer, but so familiar. Like an old song who’s melody you’d forgotten but still knew all the words to. You could’ve been making it all up. It could’ve been that he was exactly as you'd left him but his beauty had already started to fade in your memory. “I’m glad y’all could make it.”

“Yeah, so are we.” Joel smiled and asked if he remembered you.

“Of course,” Elvis said, shifting his attention to you. He had an amused glint in his eyes as he smiled at you. “How have you been, honey?”

“Okay.” You tried to smile, breaking eye contact for a moment. “How have you been?”

“Okay,” He said, before turning to retake his seat, the people sitting at the table with him cleared the space. “Sit down here a minute and a tell me what you’ve been up to, Joel. I saw you weren’t with your dad anymore.”

“No, I haven’t been for a while,” Joel said, pulling out a chair for you. “We had some differences of opinion.”

“Help yourself to a drink if you want,” Elvis offered. “We can get whatever you prefer.”

“I’m okay,” Joel said. They each looked to you expectantly.

“I’m sorry?” You asked.

“D’you want a drink?” Elvis repeated.

“No, thank you.” You avoided his eyes.

He moved on with his conversation with Joel and you noticed a smirk gracing his features when you glanced his way. “What happened with your old man? I thought you two were close.”

“I thought we were. But my folks didn’t exactly approve when I told them we was getting married.”

“Married?” He seemed genuinely surprised. Joel must’ve not mentioned it before.

“I held off telling them. I knew they’d have something to say about it, but…”

“What’d they say?”

“Daddy fired me from the shop and I haven’t spoken to them since.”

Elvis grimaced. “Man, I’m sorry to hear that.”

Joel shrugged. “It’s a shame but I can’t change their minds about anything.”

“Well, congratulations anyway. You make an interesting pair.”

“Interesting how?”

Both their gazes turned to you when you spoke.

“Unexpected, I should say,” Elvis rephrased. “How’d you get caught up with Joel?“

“We ran into each other one day.” You tore your eyes away and looked at Joel.

“Why were you in Georgia?” Elvis asked.

“For a change of scenery. ” You opened your purse and retrieved your case of cigarettes—your nerves were getting the best of you. “Do you mind?”

“Not at all,” Elvis said. “You know Dawny retired?”

“She mentioned it.” You nodded.

“She’s up in her own place now,” He said. “I check on her when I can.”

“That’s nice. I wish I could visit more,” You responded.

“I wish you could too,” He uttered, picking up a lighter from the table. “Light?”

You put the slim, white cigarette between your lips and leaned toward him as he struck the lighter. You sat back in your seat after the cigarette was lit, avoiding eye contact with both him and Joel.

“So you’re sellin cars now?” Elvis asked Joel, sliding a porcelain ashtray over to you.

“Mhm.”

“How d’you like it?”

“It’s a job.”

The conversation flowed awkwardly. It was almost as if they had to actively think of every question they were going to ask—preoccupied by other things. Eventually the three of you returned to the party happening downstairs. Elvis naturally drew the attention of everyone in the room. There was something different about him that you couldn’t pinpoint exactly. Whatever it was, you couldn’t help but steal a glance whenever he wasn’t looking. He radiated a certain energy that drew you in and made you want to watch.

“What’s wrong?” Joel asked. He hadn’t left your side since you got there and upon hearing that he was going to get your things from the car you must’ve looked panicked. He took your face in his hands and searched your eyes for the answer but you smiled and tried to distract him with a kiss. He stopped you. “Tell me.”

“Nothing.” You were a terrible liar. “I’ll help you.”

“No,” He said quickly. “It’s fine. And you don’t have to stay down here, you can go up to the room if you want. They say we’re heading out sometime tonight.”

“‘Sometime tonight’ meaning…god knows when?”

“Pretty much.”He laughed before letting you go. “Head upstairs, I’ll be there in a minute.”

You watched him leave before going to find the elevator. You couldn’t breathe.

You found the room Elvis had reserved specifically for you and Joel. You were relieved to be alone in the silence, but you felt uneasy knowing that he was downstairs and he knew where you were. The hours passed and soon it was nearly three in the morning. You were exhausted but you couldn’t sleep if you tried. Joel hadn’t come up the entire night and you wanted to be angry but tried anyway to give him time to be around old friends. He was familiar with their grueling routine—you weren’t. When he did finally return you were on the brink of sleep.

“Come on, sugar, we’re heading out.”

“God, what time is it?”

“I don’t know…it’s early.”

You pushed yourself into a sitting position and eyed him suspiciously. “You’re drunk.”

He laughed but ultimately shook his head in denial. “I’m fine.”

“You left me up here all night,” You complained as you slipped your shoes on. “I couldn’t change my clothes or anything. You could’ve checked on me once.”

“Time got away,” He said, grabbing your purse and holding his hand out for you. “They’re waiting on us.”

“Can I get myself together for a minute?”

“You’re perfect, come on.”

You took his hand and let him lead you out of the room—smoothing the skirt of your dress as he dragged you along.

You leaned your head against the window the entire drive to Memphis. Elvis had offered to fly you out but Joel insisted on driving. The two of you had planned to go straight to Virginia to meet Bibby afterwards.

You passed the time by trying to keep your doom at bay.

[thebitchesterbrothers]

Remember this?

I couldn’t stop thinking about about it, so …

I wrote something. Here it is.

_____________________________________________

Hob was waiting at the bar for about forty minutes now for Dream to finally show up for his shift.

It was a friday night and the inn was already packed with party loving students.

His employees were busy waiting tables and handing out beer at the bar…except for one employee. Dream.

When Hob had reopened the inn, after completely renovating it, he had hired Dream as a bartender right away. He had experience, his drinks were amazing and a hit with the students and it didn’t hurt that he was easy on the eyes too. Not that that was the reason Hob hired him in the first place but hey, Hob had eyes.

Eyes that just loved watching Dream shake his drinks and look bored while doing it.

Before starting to work at the inn Dream was working for an expensive restaurant in a posh part of London. Hob should’ve been suspicious why a guy like Dream would give up that job for the inn.

Now he was convinced that Dream must’ve been close to being fired for his missing work ethics at his old job.

He was constantly late for his shifts without any explanation or excuse for his boss. He drank his fair share of shots while working. He went home an hour before his shift ended without saying anything to anybody.

He ignored customers he didn’t like. He smoked cigarettes in the kitchen and weed behind the building.

But still Hob couldn’t bring himself to fire him.

Every time he planned to confront him and have a serious talk with him … he just couldn’t bring himself to actually do it.

He would make up random excuses in his head for Dream's behavior. Maybe he was going through a hard time? Maybe he didn’t know better? Maybe he wasn’t feeling comfortable around his coworkers?

And despite his problematic attitude the customers loved him. They were all too happy to spend their hard earned money on fancy and more expensive drinks instead of cheap beer just so they had the chance to talk to the hot bartender.

Dream would gift some of them with a playful smile and get a ridiculous amount of tips in return.

It drove Hob absolutely insane. It drove him insane that he would do the exact same thing to make Dream smile at him like that.

He was well aware of his stupid crush on his employee. He knew it wasn’t very professional.

He was aware that this crush was the real reason he had not fired Dream yet. He wasn’t proud of himself, thank you very much.

Dream was in his twenties and more beautiful than anyone Hob had ever seen. He had that mysterious aura and eyes to get lost in.

Meanwhile Hob was a history professor in his thirties who spent too much time in his own bar ogling his employee. He was quite a few years older than the object of his desire and not nearly as attractive as Dream. He never would have a chance with him and he had accepted that months ago. It still hurt sometimes.

Not that he knew what exactly Dreams' type was. Women? Men? Both?

As much as everyone flirted with his bartender, Dream never took anyone home as far as Hob had noticed.

„Nice of you to finally show up, Dream!“, one of his waitresses interrupted Hobs thoughts.

Dream had just come through the back door, tying a black apron around his slim hips, looking bored and not apologetic at all.

„Dream! A word?“, Hob turned around towards his office without waiting for an answer. As expected, Dream followed slowly, clearly not in a hurry.

Hob sat on the edge of his cluttered desk, crossing his arms, watching Dream closing the door behind him. Did he lock it?

Before he could say anything, Dream beat him to it.

„What is it, boss?“ God damn, that voice.

„Dream, you’re almost an hour late. Everyone was waiting for you. You do whatever the hell you want. I should fire you, you know“, Hob sighed.

At that Dream smirked, stepping closer to Hobs desk and between his outstretched legs.

„Yes, yes you should. So tell me…why haven’t you fired me yet? Hmm, Hob? Why do I still have my job?“

Hob didn’t have a satisfying answer for him. Dream came even closer, his legs touching the inner side of Hob's clothed inner thighs. He could still feel the warmth of the other man through his jeans. How was he supposed to think like that?

„Hob…I mean boss…I think we both know why I still have my job. You just enjoy watching me behind the bar a bit too much, don’t you?“

Oh how Hob hated this arrogant little prick. How he hated that he was right.

„Oh Hob“, Dream smiled and tucked a strand of Hob's hair behind his ear. If Hob would just tilt his head a little to the left his nose would touch Dreams slightly stubbled cheek.

„Dream, this is highly inappropriate…“ Hob managed to force out. He should stop this. He should push him away. He was the boss, Dream was his employee.

Dream‘s eyes crinkled with mirth and raised his dark eyebrows.

„Very inappropriate, yes. Seems like you have to fire me after all, boss.“

Before Hob could react to that, Dream had cupped his face in his hand, his other surprisingly strong arm snaking around Hob‘s waist, pulling him closer into his chest before their lips met in a kiss that made Hob lose every single thought he just had.

Dreams' lips tasted of rum and irresponsibility and Hob decided that he would never get enough of it.

‚I never was a good boss anyway‘, he thought to himself before pulling a laughing Dream up the stairs into his flat. Dream was late anyway, what difference would a few more hours make?

[moni-logues]

Drive

Pairing: Jin x reader

Genre: pwp/smut

Word count: 2.3k

Summary: Convinced that Jin was flirting with the waitress all through dinner, you make him pull over on your way home to show him how good he already has it.

Content: car sex (semi-public but there's like, no one around), unprotected sex, honestly their relationship is a little toxic 'cause ya know that's what jealousy is lmao

A/N: so many moons ago, I got a request on the old blog for jealous car sex with Jin or Jimin and I was planning to do a fic for each, but honestly, this was hard 😂😂 turns out I am not great at writing jealousy. I hope this is fun, though, and you might see a jealous!Jimin one day 👀

Enormous thanks to @amethystwritesbts for reading this over when it half-finished and telling me it was worth continuing with and then reading it again when it was all finished

* * *

You quickened your steps as you reached the car, keen to get to the passenger door before Jin could. You opened it yourself and climbed in without looking at him, buckling your seatbelt and staring forwards.  

Jin climbed in the driver’s side and hesitated before starting the car; then he turned the key in the ignition and put it into gear with a sigh. 

“Are you going to tell me what’s wrong or do I have to guess?” he asked, resting his hand on the shoulder of the passenger seat as he reversed out of the parking space.  

“I’m fine,” you said, archly. Clearly lying. 

Jin hummed, not satisfied and certainly not believing you. 

“Of course, that’s why you’ve had a face like a slapped arse almost all evening. That’s why you won’t even look at me right now.” He hummed, thinking performatively. “What could it be? Could it be that you’re annoyed that my friends asked us out to dinner? Could it be that you’re annoyed that you didn’t have to pay for any of it? Could it be that we were all having a nice time that you refused to join in with? Am I getting warmer?” 

You could hear the lightness in his voice: forced. You didn’t want to argue, which is why you weren’t saying anything. You just wanted to go home and go to bed. You knew Jin wouldn’t let you; he was a ‘never go to bed angry’ kind of guy.  

“Well, you seemed happy enough when we left,” he continued. “I know you like the restaurant so the food wasn’t the issue. The service was-” 

He paused, noticing the way you shifted. He glanced over at you to see your mouth resolutely shut, your face turned away, arms crossed.  

“Oh, you didn’t like the service? What was wrong with it? Our waitress was lovely-” 

“Yeah, I’m very aware of how much you liked her,” you spat.  

Jin groaned and tipped his head back against the seat. 

“Not this shit again.” 

“Don’t say it like that! Like I’m being ridiculous. You didn’t see the way you were behaving. It was fucking shameless; I might as well have not been there!” 

“I was being nice! She was doing a good job! We were a big group and it’s a Saturday night!” 

“You were flirting with her!” 

It wasn’t always like this. You weren’t crazy. You knew when your boyfriend was just ‘being nice’ and you knew when he was flirting. He had flirted with you when you were first dating; you knew how it went.  

And you knew you were being jealous. You just thought you had every right to be. Jin usually disagreed. 

“I was not! Being nice is not flirting!”  

“Then why did she always come to you? Why were you the one she always spoke to?” 

“Because I was sitting at the end!”  

“Did you not see how she was looking at you? I’m surprised she didn’t deliver your food with a full-on snog!” 

“I can’t help how other people look at me. Of course she thought I was attractive—everyone does! It’s a cross I have to bear!” 

“I don’t like it!” 

“My face? Don't be ridiculous.” 

You snorted and were simultaneously frustrated and relieved that he was still joking, that you could still laugh.  

“Not that! I don’t... I don’t like everyone thinking that you’re theirs to flirt with. You’re not.” 

“I’m not,” he agreed and you were relieved to hear him say it, to at least be on the same side of this one thing.  

“Do you need reminding?” you asked, slipping your hand over his thigh, squeezing, moving it higher. 

“I’m driving,” he answered but he didn’t sound convinced.  

You looked over at him and he turned to look back as he stopped at a red light. The air crackled with tension and you turned fully sideways in your seat. You moved your hand over his crotch and leant forward to take his earlobe in your mouth. He didn’t protest; instead, a little, quiet sigh escaped his mouth. You pulled his belt through its loops and unbuckled it and popped the button on his trousers. You were about to pull the zip down when his hand came down on yours with a hard tap. 

“I’m driving,” he repeated.  

“So stop.” 

You moved back just enough to allow him to see you as he flicked his eyes over to you. You could feel his hesitation, almost hear the argument he was having with himself in his head. You held his gaze, even as the light turned green, just looking at each other, unmoving.  

When the light turned back to red and neither of you had moved, you pulled his face to yours and kissed him hard, your fingers tight on his jaw. A small moan left him as you slipped your tongue into his mouth and then a louder one when you took his bottom lip in your teeth.  

The traffic lights were bright against your closed eyes and you could see them turn green, were sure Jin could, too, but you didn’t stop. You didn’t want to go back to arguing, didn’t want to stop reminding him that he was yours. You moved your hand down to his shirt, flicking the buttons open to run your hand across his soft, warm skin. You shivered as a warm rush moved through you, deep in your abdomen, pooling in your underwear.  

He moaned again, but it was protest this time. He pulled back, pushed you gently away.  

“The light’s green,” he said quietly, his voice thick and low. He twisted his body back away from you and put his hands back on the steering wheel just in time for the green to switch to amber and- 

“Not anymore.” 

-then red. 

Jin sighed and you moved forward again to pick up where you left off but he put a hand over your mouth. 

“Hold on a minute.” 

You stared him down but his gaze was firm and you nodded, settling back into your seat. He nodded sharply back and flicked on the indicator, moving into the next lane to turn left. When the light finally turned green for the third time, he pulled into a dark corner of what was going to be a car park for what was going to be a cinema complex but was now just an empty shell of a building surrounded by weeds. He stopped the car. He unbuckled his seatbelt. You made short work of unbuckling your own belt, shifting your seat as far back as it would go, reclining it as low as it would go. You created as much space as you could, pulling Jin across the armrests, pushing him into your seat. You finished the job you started earlier, unzipping his trousers and pulling his cock from his boxers. Pumping it slowly in one hand, you climbed on top of him and leant down to bring your face to his.  

“Say it,” you whispered against his lips. 

“You can’t just fuck me in this car and think the argument is over,” he whispered back.  

“It’s not over; I’m just reminding you of who takes you home at night.” 

“Technically, I take myself home; I’m the one driving.”  

You placed your palms on his chest and leant heavily on him, digging your nails in.  

“Stop joking. I’m serious.” 

“So am I. And you know if you just let me take us home, we could be doing this in bed, instead of cramped and awkward in a fucking car on an abandoned building site.” 

You sat back and huffed.  

“If you don’t want to fuck me, you don’t have to—god. I get it. Fine. I’m fucking crazy and I’m imagining it, that you were into her, that you thought she was pretty, that she was prettier than I am, that you’d look together, that you’d suit each other, that she was flirting, that you-” 

Jin grabbed the front of your dress and pulled you down, hard; you fell onto his chest with huff. He took your face in his hands. 

“You know I could get anyone I want, right?” he asked you, seriously.  

You nodded. 

“And who’s in this car with me now? Who’s making a mess of my trousers, dripping on my cock right this very second?” 

You pouted and didn’t answer. He was right and you were so easy for him, but you didn’t want him to be right, you didn’t want to be easy. 

“Hey, I asked you a question.” 

“I am,” you mumbled.  

“Who?” 

“Me.”  

“That’s right. Do you need me to remind you of that?” 

You nodded and, with a hand on either side of your face, he brought you in close to kiss you. He swiped at your bottom lip with his tongue and you opened up to him, moaning when his hands left your face to roam your body, one kneading at your breast, the other disappearing up your skirt, pulling at the waistband of your underwear. You broke the kiss to shuffle them awkwardly off one knee and then the other; you dropped them somewhere in the footwell, already forgotten.  

Jin had his cock—stiff and straight and ready to stretch you out—in his fist, moving slowly up and down the shaft and he manoeuvred you with his other hand, until his tip was pressing at your entrance and you were sinking slowly down onto him. 

You took your time as you let yourself adjust to him, your walls moulding to him, the searing pressure of him as he filled you up leaving you breathless, gasping. Jin moaned beneath you, his fingers digging tight into your hips. It was always like this: tight and expansive, hot and heavy, this ache in your core as he stuffed you full.  

You sighed when your skin met his, when he was all the way in, when you were filled to the brim. 

“See,” he said, his voice tight as your walls fluttered against him. “See how you fit so perfectly? See how you were made for me, huh? No one else does it, baby, not like you.”  

You leaned forward to steal his lips in another kiss, biting down on his plush, pink lip, sucking on his tongue, rolling yours into his mouth so you could taste all of him.  

“You think your waitress would fuck you like this?” you asked, your lips by his ear, as you began to move, rolling your hips, then lifting and lowering yourself on him.  

He didn’t answer right away, his breath hitching, soft little moans escaping him.  

“No,” he finally offered, with a long, drawn out ‘o’ as you clenched him tight. 

“I bet she wouldn’t. Do you want her to? Want her to try?” 

Jin shook his head and swallowed hard. You squeezed him hard. 

“No! No, I don’t.” 

You smirked, loving that you could always undo him like this, that he was putty in your hands when he was inside you. He’d told you enough times that you were the best he’d ever had and when he was underneath you like this—panting and whining your name, his mouth a perfect, pouty o, his eyebrows drawn close—you believed him.  

“Tell me who you want,” you demanded, resting a hand on his chest, leaning your weight down, your own breath coming in ragged gasps.  

“You.” 

“Who?” 

“You, fuck, baby, you...”  

“That’s fucking right.”  

You tipped your head back and dropped a hand down to flutter your fingers over your clit, to finally give it the stimulation it was crying out for. You whimpered softly when Jin knocked your hand away and replaced it with his own. You could feel every ridge and contour of his cock against your sensitive walls as you slammed yourself down on him over and over. Your legs started to shake and you could feel the tension coiling in you. You gripped him tightly, with your nails and your cunt, and began to falter as your thighs trembled. 

Jin took over, holding your hips tightly, and thrust up into you. He looked with dark eyes at the place where your bodies met and groaned. You could feel his cock twitch inside you and you knew he was close. Too close. 

“Fuck, you’re- you’re squeezing me so fucking tight. I’m gonn-” 

“Don’t you fucking dare.” You spoke through gritted teeth, your own climax tantalisingly close. “I’m so close.” 

“Baby- fuck.” 

Desperate to meet your end before he did, you took back control, seating yourself on him hard, taking his hand and using it with your own on your swollen clit. It was right there: the spasming in your core, the throbbing of your clit, the tingling in your toes, twitching in your thighs, tension in your abdomen. You came with a cry and a shudder and Jin immediately followed. He growled, deep and low in his chest, as your cunt still quivered around him.  

You let your body flop against his and he pressed a kiss into your hair. 

“See?” you panted. “See how good I fuck you?”  

You could feel his heart racing in his chest and your own kept time with it, pounding hard against your ribs. He breathed his answer, quiet and gasping. 

“Yes, baby, you fuck me good; you fuck me so good.” 

“That’s what you get with me.” You lift your head to rest your chin on his chest and look up at him. “I don’t know why you want to look elsewhere.”  

Jin lifts his head to look back at you with his eyebrows raised in disbelief. 

“You think you would’ve fucked me like that if I hadn’t been flirting with the waitress?”  

[lcandothisallday]

A Shot Worth Taking - Jeremy (WMCJ) x f!reader

Part 2 - First Date

warnings: none

series masterlist!

You sat nervously in the restaurant, waiting on Jeremy to arrive. It was your first date with him and he already wasn't making the greatest impression by being fifteen minutes late. He had offered to pick you up from your apartment but you opted to meeting him at the restaurant, not wanting him to deal with the intense LA traffic--but now you were regretting that decision.

You took a sip of your water and tapped your acrylic nails on the wooden table, letting out a sigh. You looked entirely too good to be stood up and the sympathetic stares you were getting from the restaurant staff were starting to piss you off. 

When your phone buzzed, you scrambled to see who texted you, part of you hoping to see Jeremy’s name pop up with an explanation as to why he’s late or if he was gonna show up at all. Instead it was your best friend Vanessa checking in.

Vanessa: Still a no show?

You: Yeah. Just hoping he’s stuck in traffic or something. I’m giving it 5 more mins

Vanessa: Well good luck and update me💖

You turn off your screen and place your phone down once again. You wait a few more minutes and just as you were about to give up, Jeremy rushes into the restaurant, frantically looking around to find you. Once his eyes laid on you, he let out a breath of relief, coming up to you with an apologetic look in his eyes.

“Y/N I’m so sorry,” he began, his voice breathless. “I had a long day--was training a client then did a few side hustles before I got home and...I really had to shower before seeing you and--”

He was going to continue rambling but you only let out a small laugh and waved him off. “Jeremy it’s fine,” you interrupted him in reassurance, giving him a kind smile. He seemed sincere enough that you believed him and wanted to give him a chance—and his rambling was cute you thought.

Truth be told though, part of the reason why Jeremy was late was because he had forced Kamal into playing an extra pick up to hustle a few extra bucks so that he could pay for the date. Unlike before with Tatiana, since the relationship was quite established, they could each pick up the bill on different occasions, depending on the circumstances. But that was before--and with you, he wanted to impress you so he had to have the money. Of course he wasn’t going to let you know all that though.

Jeremy let out another breath of relief before he pulled out the chair and sat opposite you. That’s when you truly got the chance to take in his appearance properly. His curls were beautifully bouncy and he wore the cutest little white crochet-like open button up that complimented him so well. A complete 180 to what you saw him wear at the pick up. 

Jeremy’s nerves got the best of him and all he could do was stare at you mesmerized, prompting you to talk first. “You um...you look very nice,” you complimented him, your cheeks flaring up with heat as you said it. 

His eyes widened at your compliment and his own cheeks went pink. He licked his lips and smiled at you humbly. Goes down the drain his confidence and all his game. “Thank you...you look absolutely beautiful,” he commented back, his hand gesturing to your everything causing you to giggle.

The waitress came and took your orders—not without giving you a questioning look before she had walked off to put it in. You didn’t quite understand why she gave you that look but little did you know it was because Jeremy and Tatiana used to frequent that particular restaurant a lot when they were still together and the waitress caught on.

“Sooo,” Jeremy began, his arms resting on the table in front of him. “You into basketball?”

You shrugged, “I mean—I’d call myself a casual fan. I follow up during the playoffs mostly,” you explain.

Jeremy hummed in understanding. “What team you got? The Lakers?” he asked, his assumption based off of the fact that you were born and raised in LA.

“The Warriors actually—”

Jeremy groaned, “don’t tell me you crushin’ on Jordan Poole too—”

“What?! He’s cute!” you defended with a laugh. “But I can think of a cuter basketball player,” you flirt, your grin widening as you see him instantly shut up and turn visibly red.

“Aight bet,” he chuckled, nodding before he nervously began to play with his fingers. “Were you uh…were you at the pick up watching anyone in particular though?” he mumbled out in question, wanting to know if there were any other guys in your life, which you easily caught on to.

With a smirk you shook your head no. “Nah…my friend Vanessa—her boyfriend plays baseball in the diamond next to the court. I tagged along for fun,” you hummed in response. “But you definitely caught my eye so I guess I was there watching you.”

Jeremy grinned and his cheeks started to tint pink which thankfully wasn’t too noticeable due to the dim lighting of the restaurant. “M’ glad you came…made it more worth it to win,” he mused.

“Oh I’m sure,” you laughed. “You’re a cocky player, you know?”

Jeremy scoffed playfully, although his expression was one filled with amusement in the conversation. “Don’t act like you didn’t like the attention—plus I’m only cocky cos I’m good,” he shrugged.

“I guess I can’t argue there,” you giggle, before you’re interrupted by your phone ringing, signalling someone was trying to face time you.

You look at the caller ID and silence the ringing to respect the fact that you’re on a date. Jeremy ignored it and continue the conversation with you when it rang again.

“You can answer it you know. It’s fine,” Jeremy reassured with a smile. You instantly wave him off with a laugh. “It’s only my nephew—he forces his dad to give him the phone around this time to call me,” you explain with a chuckle. “But it’s fine. I’ll call him back when I’m back home.”

“How old is he?”

“He turns seven in August—”

As Jeremy goes to respond, your phone rings again which makes the curly haired man laugh. “At this point you have to respond. Can’t keep little man waiting,” he mused.

With a playful roll of your eyes, you pick up your phone and accept the face time. As it finally connected, Jeremy couldn’t help but be mesmerized as he watched your reaction to greeting your nephew. The way your eyes lit up and the cutest smile adorned your features made his heart melt.

“Auntie Y/N!! I called you like three times!” the little boy’s exaggerated voice sounded through the speakers, causing you and Jeremy to laugh. “I wanted to tell you I got an A+ on my spelling test!”

Your grin widened, “that’s very good, Adam! I’m so proud of you!” you exclaim.

The little boy giggled before he looked closer at the screen and furrowed his brows. “Waaaaiiit…where are you?” he pouted, noticing the darker scenery and dim lights, and the fact that you were dressed up with makeup on, instead of home in your pjs.

You bit your lip and your gaze shifted over to Jeremy, seeing he had on an amused smile waiting to see how you’d respond. “I’m having dinner with a friend,” you respond, cheeks heating up. “Wanna say hi?”

You giggle as you watch Adam’s eyes go wide before he bashfully hid his face in his hand as you turn the camera towards Jeremy who grinned upon seeing the little boy.

“Hey little man! I’m Jeremy. How’s it going?” he mused.

His cheeks went red from shyness as he squeaked out a quiet ‘good.’

Jeremy knew if he wanted to impress you, he had to win over your nephew so he kept going. “Is that a soccer jersey you have on?”

At the talk of soccer, Adam’s eyes lit up in excitement. “Yeah! I had a game today!”

“Oh that’s so cool!” Jeremy exclaimed. “I’m more into basketball myself but soccer is cool too…maybe we can play together sometime?” he suggested, causing the boy to grin adorably and nod his head.

“Mind if your auntie calls you back later? We’re…” you watch as he dramatically leans closer to the phone screen and cups his hand up pretending to whisper. “I’ll tell you a lil secret…we’re on a date,” he exaggeratedly whispered. “Hoping she’ll be my girlfriend eventually,” he mused, causing your cheeks to flare up with heat. “But I gotta impress her on this date first.”

Adam went shy again as he nodded his head timidly. “I like you Mr. Jeremy…so okay,” he giggled. Jeremy bid his good bye to the boy before you retracted your arm to say good bye yourself.

“Bye habibi, I’ll talk to you later okay?” you confirm. “Love you, bye.” You end the call and look up at Jeremy with the widest grin.

“You're cute and good with kids?” you ask playfully. “And to think I thought I was gonna get stood up by you.”

“Won’t have to worry about that with me,” he mused, sending a wink your way. “What did that mean by the way?” he asked. “The word you called him when you were saying bye.”

“Oh habibi?” you asked, your demeanour now shy. “It just basically means ‘my love’ in arabic...I don’t speak the language much but a few words sneak out here and there,” you explain.

Jeremy grinned at your explanation before he leaned back in his chair comfortably. “I like that...to be honest—I like the way you say it more. It’s quite...exotic.”

“Oh my god! Don’t ever say that again!” you laughed, shaking your head. Jeremy giggled at your reaction before he leaned in closer to you once more.

“So...you know about me...my passion for basketball and the way I hustle...so what’s up with you?” he mused in question.

You merely shrugged. “Not much to know...I work at a Sephora.”

Jeremy nodded. “You close to your family?”

“That’s...” you take in a breath. “A complicated answer,” you admit to him shamefully. “My brother, he’s two years older than I am--he got his college girlfriend pregnant in his first year and of course that fucked up the whole family dynamic because how could my perfect brother be so careless...but he and the girl managed to work things out up until she gave birth and when Adam was two months she gave up completely and gave up all her rights and literally disappeared off of the face of the earth.”

Jeremy showed that he was listening intently and urged you to continue. “So my brother was gonna drop out, but he had worked so hard to get into UCLA so I ended up deferring going to college myself and stayed home with Adam...but one year led to another and another and I just never got to it,” you chuckled sadly. “My brother graduated, got a big tech job in Silicon Valley and got married to the perfect girl and had another kid and like...I know I should happy for him for escaping that cycle he could’ve gotten into as a drop out single dad but...it just sucks cos they moved hours away and my parents now think I did nothing with my life,” you shrugged, fiddling with the rings on your finger.

Jeremy reached across the table to take on of your hands into his. “Have you ever considered going back to school?”

“College, never. Can’t afford it...I’ve been thinking of community college but...I don’t know if I’m mentally prepared to start studying again after so many years outta the game,” you laughed. “So here I am instead working shifts at Sephora and going to silly little pick up games where I meet cute endearing guys.”

“Ima ignore the fact that you said guys as a plural and focus on the fact that you called me cute and endearing.”

You grinned, “whatever floats your boat.”

[arisewanekosuki]

Bakeneko!Kunikuzushi x Fem!Reader

Drawing: @fusaex3​  Warnings: Mentions of decapitation of background character, blood, Reader's life was threatened two times. This is NOT Yandere fic, Yōkais are beings that are not good but not bad either, they do whatever they want, Kuni may be a bit ooc, long fic. This is my first time writing a story like this and English is not my main language, so sorry for any mistakes.

-----

You were going back home after stressful day of work. Your job as waitress in Uyuu Restaurant is not that bad but today some important people were visiting and your boss wanted everything to be perfect for them. Gladly you didn’t made any mistake and even wife of the boss was kind enough to give you some food as a bonus for doing great job. You jumped after hearing thunder and looked behind you, the dark clouds with storm were fast approaching, not wanting to get caught in the rain you start walk faster towards your village. -“meow” You stopped in your track and saw an adorable little cat under the tree. -“Aww aren’t you a cute one?” you always loved cats so you couldn’t help yourself and approach the little fellow. Before you could get any closer the cat run to you and started to rub it’s head against your legs, purring. -“Not only cute but a friendly one!” you crouched down to pet your new friend, the cat seemed delighted by your action. You felt something wet on your nose and then more drops started to fell from the sky. The cat took your whole attention that you didn’t realize that the whole sky was covered in dark clouds already. You couldn’t left this kitten in this rain and storm so you took it in your arms and ran towards your home. You tried to cover your little friend with your body so it wouldn’t get that much wet but it was useless at this point, the weather was getting worse and worse. 

Finally after reaching your home, first what you did was placing the cat on the floor and then box with food on the table, running towards bathroom to take some towels. When you came back you rubbed dry the little fellow with a towel, trying to be gentle. The cat seemed to not mind, surprisingly it was sitting calmly and let you do the thing. After making sure that cat wasn’t wet anymore you went to your bathroom to dry yourself and change into more comfortable clothes. After leaving bathroom you saw that cat was sitting by the box you got from work. -“Are you hungry?” at you question the cat looked at you and started meowing. -“How lucky that Okazaki-san gave me some fish as well!” You opened the box, taking the fishes that the cat can eat and put in front it while you eat the rest of the contents of the box. With every thunder you would slightly jump, you always hated storms like this, especially after you started to live alone. The cat seemed to notice your anxious state and it went to your lap, lying down and starting purring, hoping it will take your attention from bad weather. You started to pet it, trying your best to just put your whole attention on your little friend. -“Are you trying to comfort me? Thank you, you are such a lovely kitten.” You smiled. “I hope you’ll stay with me, sometimes it’s get little lonely in this house.” The cat looked at you adorably -“You’re truly the cutest cat I ever saw! And I did saw many of them!” you laughed. The cat meowed at you, starting purring louder. This evening you spent talking to your new friend about your day, till you get tired and decided it’s time to sleep. You took cat in your arms and went to your small bedroom. After preparing futon, you lied down, petting place close to your head to invite cat to join you. The cat quickly walked towards you and lied down and started purring again. -“Goodnight, have a nice dreams.” You said to it, closing your eyes and falling asleep. When the cat was sure you were in deep sleep, it get closer to you putting it little paw on your neck, it was observing you movements, after a while the little fellow went back to its previous spot like changing its mind whatever it wanted to do to you. If you only woke up now you would hear a male voice reply with "goodnight". Three days passed after your home welcomed a new resident, the past days were filled with happiness, in the morning you would eat breakfast with your cat, then it would follow you to your job, like making sure that you are safe in morning hours, after work you would come back home to be welcomed by cat that would meow happily at you, the two of you would eat dinner that you would prepare and then play with the cat, or read to it some novels you bought.  At first you wondered if you have some hole somewhere in wall for your cat to get back in the house without a problem, but you were too happy that the little fellow liked you so much that it wanted to go back on its own to your place so you didn’t think too long about it. Today was another day when you were coming back home, you were excited and couldn’t wait to see Tama, that’s a name you gave to him for now, the cat wasn’t seemed happy with this name. Tama gave you weird look when you started called him with this name, you even told him that you couldn’t came up with other name and it was the first time when your cat looked at you like you’re stupid. Today you bought some toys that Tama may enjoy, having hope that it will be enough to improve the little fellow mood. You couldn’t wait to see Tama’s reaction, so with happy steps you were going towards your village. On the road you saw some young man standing, like waiting for someone, you couldn't help but notice this person clothes that looked more expensive from what you wore. “Ah I wish I could afford clothes like this. Hmm... Is he from some clan? But why is he alone then?” you thought. -“Ah good morning~” the young man said after noticing you and smiled. He looked like he was genuinely happy to see you, but you never meet anyone like him before, right? After all it would be impossible to forget such beautiful man like him. -“G-good morning, today is really nice day isn’t it?” you responded with polite smile, you couldn’t help but start to appreciate the stranger looks, pale skin, indigo hair that covered his ears, as well as indigo eyes with bold red eyeliner, the stranger’s eyes reminded you of Tama’s ones. -“It is, it’s perfect weather for a walk don’t you think miss? Oh? If I may ask, what is this in this basket?” the stranger asked, even his voice was lovely, you started to feel relaxed by it and didn’t think too much before responding. -“Ah! Its’ toys for my cat Tama! I really hope he will like it” you said with enthusiasm, the young men hummed at response and then said -“Tama? Such an ugly name…” -“Eh? I think it’s cute name… but my cat doesn't seem to like it either… but I couldn't come up with any other one” you said a bit embarrassed. The stranger smiled. -“How about calling him Kunikuzushi?” Kunikuzushi? That’s very unusual name. -“Kunikuzushi?” when you said the name the stranger’s smile widen. “Why such a name?” you asked. -“I think it suits him.” Before you ask why he think so, when you never even described your cat in the first place, you noticed the child from your village no far away trying to climb the tree. -“Oi! Don’t climb it! You’ll get hurt!” you turned to say goodbyes to stranger but he wasn’t there anymore. “How did he do that?” you wondered before going to the child telling him how dangerous is to climb such big tree and being alone so far away from village. 

After returning child to the grandparents the day went normally, Tama was happy with new toys and you couldn’t stop smiling how adorable it looked when playing with them. When the time for bed came you couldn’t help but think what stranger told you. Will Tama be more happy with that name? You looked at your side, Tama wasn’t there, so you called. -“Ta-… uhm… Kunikuzushi!” the cat never came so quickly before like now. -“Oh? So you really prefer this name? Kunikuzushi?” You asked and the cat started meowing happily, rubbing its head to your hand and purring. -“Woah I think this is first time seeing you that happy!” you smiled, taking cat in your arms, the cat stared with half closed eyelids and slowly blinked at you, repeatedly. -“Aww are you giving me kisses?” you couldn’t help but leave small kiss on cats forehead. You lied down on your futon, Tama, no, Kunikuzushi seems to make himself comfortable on your chest, so you let him sleep here. -“Goodnight, have a nice dreams” you said before falling asleep to the sound of purring cat. The week past by after adopting Kunikuzushi, you were coming back home from work, today was hard day but you earned so much money! Tomorrow is your day off so you can take Kunikuzushi to the city with you and spoil both of you with something. -“Oh maybe I should take Kuni to shop to choose a new toy? Or I’ll buy some big fish and prepare something delicious for both of us? Ah Thoma-san can make some cute clothes for animals, maybe I should commission him to make one for Kuni!” Thinking about how to spend day with your beloved cat you didn’t noticed someone approaching you from behind. Before you could even scream you mouth was covered by hand and sword pointed to your neck. -“If you want to live, give me all your mora��� from looking at sword you can tell it’s belongs to a ronin, how unlucky, you thought that ronins won’t get close to the road at this time of the day. Without wanting to make man angry you reached for the bag filled with mora and gave to him. He whistled, checking contents of the bag. -“Hah, that will be enough, be grateful that I’m in good mood, you can life another day” the ronin left and you ran towards the city. You came back more later than normally, the Doushin from Tenryou commission told you that they will try find this ronin and promised to put more people to check the road. It may take awhile before you got the whole money back, but at least you should be thankful that the man didn’t decided to kill you after taking your money. When you opened door to your house the cat wasn’t there like always. -“Kuni?” nothing, you closed the door and checked bedroom and bathroom calling his name “Kunikuzushi? Pspsps” the cat was nowhere. The tears welled in your eyes, you were robbed, you could lose your life today and now the only companion you had, left you. You slumped on the wall and sit on the floor, bringing head to your knees you started sobbing. After a while you felt something rubbing on your legs -“Kuni!” your beloved cat was here, you took Kuni in your arms, happy that he didn’t left you. -“Don’t scare me like that! I thought you left!” the cat licked your tears like it wanted to say “Don’t cry, I won’t left you” After you calmed down you prepared some fish for Kuni but you didn't eat anything, not having appetite. The cat noticed it and brought his fish for you like trying to tell ‘you should eat’. -“It’s okay Kuni, just eat, I’m not hungry” you said patting Kuni’s head. The cat was looking around, then he went and bring his plush mouse to you. -“I’m sorry Kuni, today I’m not in the mood for playing” you apologized, you couldn't stop thinking how your live could end so easily earlier in the day, you still felt that sword touching your neck. -“I think I’m going to sleep, tomorrow…” you wanted to say that you can go to the city to buy something but you realized that you don’t have the money for spoiling yourself and Kuni, good that you still have some savings in the house so you don't have to worry about starving with your kitten till the next pay up. When you lied down, you couldn’t help but tell to your cat what happened today, you know that Kuni is a smart cat but even now you know that he can’t understand stuff like that, you just hoped that talking about it aloud will help you feel better. When you finally fell  asleep, Kuni got up from his spot and on his two legs went to the door swinging his tail in irritation. -"Haa, to think some pathetic worm even dare to try to ruin my peaceful life with my human tsk". The very next day, when you woke up you were feeling a little better, after eating breakfast you decided to go with Kuni for a walk to the city, even if you won’t be able to buy anything, you still wanted to enjoy this day with your beloved cat. You put Kuni into the basket and went off. After reaching the city you saw some ladies gossiping to each other. -“It has to be Kitsune! Or Oni!” the one lady said. -“I’m not so sure Himura-san, would really Yōkai be wandering so far away from Chinju Forest?” the other lady replied not believing her friend. -“But Takano-san, even if some samurais can behead someone perfectly, nobody has claws to make the face so unrecognizable and mutilated the body in such way! It has to be Yōkai!” you couldn’t help but wonder what those ladies talk about, are they referring to new novel? Lately the novels about Yōkais started to get popular, even you bought one called “The love story of a certain Bakeneko” but you didn’t had time to read it yet. -“(Y/n)-chan!” You turned around, there stood Okazaki-san, she waved to you to come to her -“Good Morning Okazaki-san” you said, bowing politely. -“Good Morning! Did you hear? Whole city talks about it! Today in the morning not far from the city body was found!” -“Body? Someone was murdered? That’s awful! Do you know who was the victim?” you asked with concern in your voice. -“I think nobody know who he was? Only one thing was sure the body belonged to ronin. That’s so scary! Some people say that the Yōkai is a culprit!... Oh? What a cute cat!” Okazaki-san suddenly noticed Kuni in the basket. -“Thank you! I was planning to buy some toy or big fish but…” Okazaki-san noticed your hesitation to continue. -“Did something happened? Did my husband forgot to pay you?” -“No,no! I… well… I was robed yesterday, the ronin took all my mora…”Okazaki-san gasped. -“What if that ronin is the same one which was murdered?! Well I wouldn’t be surprised if karma got to him so fast, after all how dare he rob such hard working and kind girl like you!” said Okazaki-san so sure that what she says must be true. -“You should go to find Doushin! Maybe they found your mora!” you thanked the boss’ wife, biding her goodbye and went searching for Doushin. In the end you were told no mora was found by the body, if the ronin was the same from yesterday then probably the person who killed him took everything. The day went by, some children would be amazed by Kuni, asking if they can pet your cat, Kuni surprised you when he started to hiss at children, apologizing, you said that the cat don’t like to be touched by people he doesn’t know. -“And I thought you’re friendly fellow, you surprised me Kuni.” You said to your cat, Kuni didn’t even looked at you, what you realized that after saying goodbyes to Okazaki-san, your cat looked like it was upset. The dinner time was approaching so you ended you walk around city and went back to your home to prepare one. When you opened the door you almost dropped basket with Kuni. On the table was bag, no, three bags of mora, there were some blood on it too, your cat jumped from the basket approaching the bags. -“What?! W-why is this here?” You were terrified, does that mean the person who killed that ronin broke into your house? -“Kuni, get back into basket, we need to leave now!” You said, scared that this person may be in your home, waiting to strike. -“Why? Shouldn't you be happy to get your money back? Also it will be more problematic if you tell Doushin about it.” You hold your breath and slowly looked at your cat. Kuni was standing on his two back legs like a human, tail wagging behind him. What happened to your beloved cat? The voice it spoke with… it sounded like- -“Like the guy’s from 5 days ago, yes that was me. I couldn’t stand that name, Tama, ugh..” the cat looked disgusted by that name “but at the time I didn’t wanted to show you what really I am.” The cat responded, like he was reading your thoughts. Yes, he had the voice of that young man but this time, the voice didn’t make you feel relaxed. -“What?” you were confused, what’s going on? -“What’s wrong (Y/n)? Aren’t you happy that we can now talk? Weren’t you always saying how nice it would be if I can talk?” you were getting ready to open door and run but before you could do that human hand slammed door, close to your head.  You just blinked and before you now stood that pretty young boy from before, but you noticed how his human ears weren’t there and on top of his head were cat ones. -“When we first meet I thought you’ll leave me in that rain, if you did that I planned to follow you and kill you in your sleep but..” Kunikuzushi put his hand on your cheek, caressing it gently.”I didn’t expect you to take me in, dry me, feed me, gave me place to sleep. I felt conflicted back then, I still thought about cutting your head yet…” he looked at you with gentles, now holding your face in both of his hands “I couldn’t bring myself to do that. You reminded me of the past, when I was still just a regular cat, living with humans.“ he smiled, looking so innocent “This warm feelings… how long it was since I felt like that? That day I lost everything, but now…” he started to get closer to your face, you could hear purr coming from him. You were to scared to move, to even say anything.  He continued -“I do enjoy living with you, so…” he gently kissed your lips, it seems he didn’t mind that you didn’t kiss him back. “Let this kiss be a proof of my promise that from now I’ll always protect you but…” he’s tone got lower, the way he glared at you sent shivers down your spine.”…you have to promise to never ever tell anyone what I am.” -“Wh-what will happen if I do?” you finally gathered courage to ask. Kunikuzushi laughed. -“No matter how much I like you, if you broke a promise then I’ll have to cut your pretty head off. So if you value your life, keep your mouth shut~” he smiled, but this smile wasn’t kind, this smile made you heart beat  faster that you thought it will stop soon. The bakeneko held you close, petting your head. -“ Alala~ What’s with that face? I think you should consider yourself lucky, it’s not easy to win mine affection but you did it without any problem~” he took your hand, placing it on his head. -“I’m still your beloved Kuni, am I not? I even get rid of that pathetic worm that laid their hands on you, aren’t you happy?” -“That ronin… did you… did you killed him?” -“Hmph, are you deaf or just dumb? I already told you that, yes, I did kill him.” The boy let you go and went to sit on the floor by your table. Right now you had a chance to open the door and run, scream for help but you couldn’t move. -“Tsk. Don't even think about it, even if you run away I’ll find you wherever you go. “he grimaced, you didn't like that look on his pretty face but you got a feeling from now on you’ll see this grimace more often. You gulped and asked -“What are you planning to do with me?” the boy looked at the bloody bags filled with mora. -“What? Do you think I’m going to eat you or something? Don’t think too highly of yourself, human meat is disgusting.” He sighed and looked into your eyes. -“I'll continue living with you, did you already forgot about my promise? Alright, stop shaking and go prepared dinner, I’m hungry.” Slowly the fear started to vanish, feeling more annoyed with the way he was talking to you. Where that cute cat, that loved to cuddle with you, went? ---- Thank you for reading till the end! I was surprised that nobody wrote a story with Bakeneko Scaramouche, especially after Hoyo confirmed that Scara is cat boy lol I saw Scara Kitsune but never Bakeneko/Nekomata etc even if Bakeneko really suit him, so I thought I’ll try to write one! (If you didn’t know, cats become bakenekos from cat’s vengeance and hatred, whenever the cat feels hatred to human/s who treated it horribly/killed or want to avenge the family/person that cat lived with.)

[reniberries]

BARRACUDA . toji fushiguro

when your search for a job falls short for what feels like the millionth time in a row, you’re just about ready to give up until an odd proposition makes itself known to you.

chapter warnings: underground fighter!toji fushiguro, swearing, hurtful thoughts, lewd comments from men, mentions of drinking alcohol, smoking and drugs, attempted theft

total wc: 3.0k

— CHAPTER ONE . desperate measures

At this point, you wholeheartedly believed that the world was playing some kind of sick and twisted game on you.

It laughed at you, dangling the one thing you truly desired right in front of your face, only to snatch it away at the very last second, like taking a child’s favourite toy from them just as they’ve picked it up.

You were the child, so full of excitement and hope at the idea of starting new, being able to pick yourself off the ground, and the world was the adult who’d come into the room and decided you were undeserving of the toy in front of you. It picked up all that you desired, and placed it on top of a shelf that you were too small to get to.

Try as you might, you simply could not reach it. Well, metaphorically anyway.

In this moment, that’s exactly how you felt, clambering across the couch to reach your phone that had lit up with the notification of an unknown caller. Like every time before, you allowed yourself to feel excited. As though this was the very moment things would start to fall into place, and all the bad memories of the past would fade away as you paved the way for your new life.

And yet, you were let down, again.

The way your face immediately falls alerts your roommate, Sherri, to the conclusion of the phone call, hearing a repeatedly distinctive phrase that she knew you’d come to despise over time.

“I regret to inform you, but…” you’d hung up before the man on the other side had enough time to finish his sentence. The exasperated sigh you released from between your lips held a heartbroken tone, and all you could do was shake your head when Sherri quietly asks if you’re okay.

It hadn’t always been like this. Three months ago you were more than content working a few hours every week as a waitress in a small but well-known restaurant called ‘Alexie’s’, where you’d actually met Sherri, and although the management wasn’t the best at times, and you were sure the chef had a stick shoved further up his ass then you could’ve imagined, it was still something.

The job had given you something to do when you weren’t attending your nursing classes, or writing essays, and it worked like a charm at taking your mind away from your personal life when things went wrong.

Sure, some customers were complete and utter dickheads, expecting five star service and for you to wait on them hand and foot, but the majority of people were nice and the pay was more than worth dealing with some crappy person coming in and demanding you seat them and their eighteen other friends immediately, despite being fully booked.

You were heartbroken when the owner had set up a staff meeting to inform you and everyone else that the restaurant was unable to stay open.

Things had never been this bad before, and honestly, there wasn’t much you weren’t willing to do if it guaranteed you a job. Not when the cost of living had skyrocketed and all but royally fucked you over.

Sherri had been an angel throughout this situation you’d found yourself in, though you were slightly jealous the day she came back from an interview with the local supermarket, telling you how they’d happily hired her on the spot. She had been your rock to stick on while your life turned completely upside down, even going as far as offering to cover next months rent.

But you still needed to feed yourself each week, still needed to pay for the bus fare on your way into college, and even worse, you still needed to pay back the money you owed to your parents.

If moving back into your parents house was an option, you might’ve resorted to it considering how desperate things had become. But that wasn’t an option, and it never would be.

You couldn’t allow that to happen.

Not only was it impossible, seeing as they were living in an entirely different country, but you’d intentionally created that distance in order to get as far away from them as possible. Moving halfway across the world in order to escape them and their overbearing ruling that they held over your head was the first thing you’d done after graduating high school, and you weren’t about to go back on the promise you’d made to them that day.

Telling your mother and father that they would never see you again should’ve been heartbreaking. You should’ve been crying or screaming at them, and maybe, in a perfect world, they would have told you to stay, or that they didn’t want you to leave.

But again, the world was seldom perfect, and after the past few months, you truly were finding that fact out for yourself.

It was Sherri’s sweet voice that snapped you out of your daydream, still clutching your phone to your ear as you kneeled on the couch. “Why don’t we go out tonight? It might make you feel better.”

You let out another sigh, ready to shoot her offer down even though the suggestion was extremely tempting after the dreaded phone call, “Sherri, I can barely afford the bus right now, I can’t—”

She grinned before interrupting you, a sly look that you couldn’t decide if you liked or not.

“You really think I’d suggest that if I didn’t have a plan?” She raised a questioning eyebrow up at your form, “Lukah’s working tonight, do you know what that means?”

With a shrug, you settled back into the couch and pulled a blanket over your knees, staring back at your roommate and waiting for her to continue.

She leaned towards you from the opposite end, “free drinks!” She exclaimed, and moved her hands around as if her point had been obvious from the start.

“Didn’t he just start a new job though? We’ll end up getting him fired if he’s caught giving out free drinks,” Sherri giggled as if you’d said the funniest thing, and then her expression began to shift into something slightly more serious.

She hesitated to reply, and when Sherri got quiet, it could only mean trouble. “Well, the place he started working at, it's not exactly in the most... uh," it was if she was struggling to find the right words to say without scaring you away. "...Desirable of places, so he doesn't think his boss will care much," she finished with.

An eyebrow raised as you stared at her, wordlessly asking the short girl to elaborate. "It's in the Jujutsu District."

Ah, you thought, that would explain why she'd been slightly more reluctant to tell you.

The Jujutsu District was pretty notorious throughout the city, and especially with the younger population seeing as a large majority of clubs and bars could be found spread out around the area. You'd been a couple times, mainly to the small pubs that laid just on the outskirts, as most locals were well aware that it was smarter to stay clear of the place. It was no secret that the kinds of deals that typically went on out there were far from legal, though even the police had deemed the place a 'no-go zone' and were rarely seen patrolling anywhere near it.

But even you couldn't say no to a few free drinks after being so down on luck, and so, within a few seconds of dubiously nodding your head in agreement with Sherri, she was yanking on your arms to pull you away from the couch and into her room.

And within an hour and a half, the two of you had made your way out of the apartment hand-in-hand.

The club was filled to the brim, drenching you in a light sheen of sweat that glistened across your skin. Music blared in through your ears from every direction and created a dull ache that stretched across your forehead. You couldn't put your finger on the name of the song that was currently playing, although it brought an odd sense of déjà vu along with it.

Truthfully, you’d be lying if you said you didn’t like going out with your friends. There was something so exciting about getting ready for the club and dancing the night away, smearing shimmery eyeshadow across your lids and lining them with a distinctive wing of eyeliner. The clothing you’d thrown on hugged every inch of your body, but it was hard to care about your slight discomfort when the edge of a glass was lifted to your mouth, lips lined and covered in a colour so signature to your look.

Lukah was a godsend, sneaking both you and Sherri drinks over the counter every time either of you walked up to the bar, and just like Sherri had said, it didn't seem like his manager couldn't give two shits.

Sherri grabbed your wrist after you placed the shot glass back down on the bar, void of whatever liquor Lukah had offered the two of you. Leading you over to the sea of bodies on the dance floor, you could barely hear your roommate when she said "c'mon, my favourite song just came on!"

It was borderline provocative the way you and Sherri danced together. Her back was pressed to the front of your body, arms lifted and wrapped around your neck, and the way your hips swung against each other to the beat of the music was enough to gain more than a little attention from the boys that littered around the dance floor.

Neither of you bothered to entertain those who tried to approach either of you. Either, they came on way too cocky for their own good, or were sporting some serious baby face, and that was enough for you to shake your head, waiting for them to do the walk of shame back to their friends.

One man had come up to Sherri and asked for her number, only to continue bothering her even after she'd told him no multiple times. After the third decline and narrowly avoiding his grabby hands heading for her hand, Sherri twisted her head around and planted a delicate kiss on the corner of your mouth, exclaiming loudly that she "couldn't wait to get home and get you alone," and that was enough for him to briskly walk away.

It was no surprise honestly, as not only did you look and feel beautiful, but Sherri looked like a supermodel in her little black dress and heels. Plus, you could admit that the male attention did help a little in lightening the mood you'd been in before the two of you left the house.

"Do you wanna get another drink?" Sherri shouted over the music.

You shook your head, "I'm gonna get some air, I'll meet you at the bar." She gave you quizzical look, as to question why. You lifted your hand out in front of you, a white lighter and pack of Marlboro Gold's held within it.

Making your way outside was much more difficult of a task than you had expected, shoving your way through the endless amounts of bodies that had filled the club, probably knocking a drink or vape out from someones grasp as you went on your way.

The cold November air caused a shiver to crawl its way over your barely clothed body after you exited the building, and it felt heavenly as it washed away the sweat that had started accumulating across your skin. A flicker of light shone against your eyes, along with the sound of flint sparking from the lighter held in your right hand and a deep inhale.

Several bodies littered outside of the club, some clearly had the same idea as you, cigarettes clutched between their two fingers as they chatted away to their friends, others were still waiting in line to be let in, ID's held out for the large bouncer to take a look at, and there was even a couple who'd clearly had too much to drink, snogging away in a corner as if they weren't in the company of others.

It was quite a surreal feeling, as you leant against the cold brick wall, bringing your hand up to your face to take another inhale of the stick held in them. Three hours ago, you'd almost been reduced to tears, feeling like the world truly had it out for you, yet now, you couldn't help but enjoy the dizzy feeling crawling up your spine, making you sway slightly.

Your problems hadn’t been solved with the sip of an alcoholic drink, far from it in fact. They would still be there to plague your thoughts tomorrow morning, even as you battled the headache you knew was coming, but at least in this very moment, as you let the tipsy feeling encompass your body, you could relax.

That feeling didn't last for long.

Just as you'd closed your eyes, smoke pillowing out from your parted lips, you felt a violent tug on the bag attached to your shoulder.

The stranger takes another pull on your right arm, causing you to drop the half-smoked cigarette onto the floor and the burgundy handbag falls out of your grasp.

“Hey!” Your voice is slightly slurred, an effect of the alcohol you’d consumed minutes prior, however the anger and small hint of fear is clearly heard in your words. It takes you a few seconds to register the tall man running away from you, clad in dark jeans and a hoodie pulled over his head, and your bag clutched in his hands.

Before you even realise what you’re doing, you start running after him. “Hey, jackass!” You repeat, “give me pack my purse!”

Your voice echoes through the street, yet it seems like everyone around you is too far gone to even notice or care.

Discomfort surrounds the heels of your feet, but it doesn’t stop you from giving up the chase as the man turns left into a dark alleyway. You’d chastise yourself later for the self preservation you seemed to lack in that very moment, completely ignorant to the dangerous connotations of following a strange man into a secluded area such as this, in the middle of the night. But that purse has everything you owned at the minute, your phone, wallet and any small amount of cash you currently had, and you couldn’t just let it slip from your arms.

He twists his head to look at you, as if shocked to see that you were actually following him.

It was at this moment that someone stepped out in front of him, and as soon as the thief got closer to the mysterious stranger, they threw their arms out and shoved him down to the ground.

Your bag went flying from his hands and onto the pavement.

Even from where you were standing, you could hear the thief’s harsh intakes of breath, winded from how hard he had hit the ground, and your saviour stepped over the man’s body.

He picked up your bag from the ground, slowly making his way over to you.

Finally, it dawned on you that while he had saved you from losing quite literally everything you owned, that didn’t make him any less dangerous than the man who’d stolen from you in the beginning, and as he stepped towards you, panic started to make its way up your spine.

“Don’t come any closer!” You screamed at him. His steps faltered, but he didn’t stop moving, “I have a knife!” You didn’t, and it was probably pretty obvious that you’d lied as his eyes raked over your body, searching for anything that remotely resembled a weapon.

You could hear him release a small laugh as he came even closer, holding out your purse for you to take. “I believe this is yours?”

Gingerly, your hands clasped around the strap, pulling it towards your chest and releasing a sigh of relief. “Thank you,” you said, and began to quickly check that everything was still left inside, untouched.

He watched as you did so, a dark, thin eyebrow raised in questioning.

It was here, as the moonlight lit up his face, that you got a good look at your saviour. He was tall, big enough to feel imposing as he stood several feet away from you, with long black hair that cascaded down his back in a way that made you slightly jealous. He looked down at you with some of the most alluring brown eyes you’d ever seen, almost hazel with the way the street lamps highlighted his face from behind you.

A kind smile lulled you into a false sense of security as he opened his mouth to speak. “What kind of idiot runs after a guy like that in the middle of the night?” His tone was teasing, coinciding with the smirk he wore.

“Well,” you snorted sarcastically, “everything I own is in this bag. If I’d let him take it, I wouldn’t have anything left.” Maybe you should’ve been slightly nicer to the man that had just saved your life’s savings, but at the moment you couldn’t take any chances, not when you were so obviously isolated from the main street that was littered with drunks, druggies and the like.

He laughed at your comment, but shrugged and held out his hands, as if to say ‘there you go’.

You let out an awkward cough, trying to fill the silence. “I’m, uh… gonna go now, my friend is waiting for me back at the club,” you held out a thumb to point behind you, as if he’d know exactly where you’d meant despite the several buildings behind you filled with dancing strangers.

He nodded without saying anything else, and you took that as permission to make your leave.

Just as you’d turned your back on him, started to make your way back towards the club, his voice rung out again and stopped you in your tracks.

“Maybe I could help you out.”

authors note: so, the first chapter of barracuda is officially finished! this is the largest piece of writing i’ve done in a very long time and while i’m probably being overly critical, i do think at some point i will go back and edit it once the series is finished! but, let me know how you feel about this and if you liked it! i am very excited to see where this story goes. reni xx

© 2023, reniberries. please do not copy any of my writing or repost to other websites.

[wwisteriiaa]

Matchmaking

Tyler Joseph x F!reader ( blurry face era )

Warnings: None :)

Authors note: I’d appreciate it if you guys request stuff! Check out my other work of Tyler if you can! I’m also writing a story on wattpad which it’s posted on my profile! :) anyway Enjoy!

You were Marks best friend since you guys were young, so when Tyler made Mark an creative director and other sorts Mark only had one request, to give you a job, so you were made the bands photographer and social media manager on their band page.

You were thankful for Mark to give you this opportunity to show your photography, and it was a great way to get out there which wasn’t bad as you’ve gotten a lot of request to do photos for weddings and birthday party’s and photo shoots since posting with the band.

_

Here you were taking photos of Josh and Tyler as they messed around behind the scenes of a music video for their new album Blurryface, you were laughing as Josh playfully bothered Mark with dumb questions. You were close with the boys it took while for you to warm up to them as you were only use to Marks presence as you guys grew up together but you warmed up to Tyler and Josh and they made sure that it was a friendship between all of you guys not just a work relationship.

You walked up to Josh’s drums and took a photo on your photo of Josh hitting the drum kit with his drum kit, “ Looking rocking in that photo right? Y/n ” Josh joked as you laughed and showed him the photo as he fist bumped the air “ Oh hell yeah! ” he said as you posted the photo.

“ Oh Y/n I gotta question? ” Josh said as he placed the drum sticks down, you turned your head to look at him, “ What’s up! ” you said as he smiled, “ A friend of mine wanted to know if you wanted to go on a blind date tonight? ” Josh asked, you thought for a minute, it was either go home and watch movies in bed dressed in Pajamas or take a risk and go on the blind date. You nodded, “ Sure why the hell not. ” You said with a smile as Josh nodded his plan working so far, “ I’ll text you the location. ” he added as you nodded and walked off.

Josh soon Motioned Tyler over to his drum kit, “ Hey a friend of mine wanted to know if you wanted to go on a blind date tonight with them. You know the suspense. I promise it’s no crazy fan. ” Josh asked Tyler as Tyler shrugged and nodded, “ Uh yeah sure, where? ” Tyler asked as Josh smirked, “ Uh The Refectory Restaurant at 6. ” Josh said as Tyler thought about it, “ yeah sure I’ll do it. But if it goes bad you owe me. ” Tyler told Josh as He nodded quickly understanding Tyler’s words.

-

The day went by quick for you, Josh already sending you the place and time to be there, you were at home getting ready settling in on wearing a nice Red dress of yours with cute boots you had.

You quickly walked out your apartment on time but also early around 6:50 you got to the restaurant and went in and sat at a table with a glass of wine just waiting on the blind date.

Tyler soon showed up wearing nice close to the restaurant and walking in looking around, he got a table not Far from you not even noticing you were here.

You sat there for a little bit and when it hit 7:20 you messaged Josh, “ Where is this dude at? ” You messaged as Josh sent back a smiley face, you stared at the text with a confused face before looking around the restaurant till your eyes landed on Tyler.

You sat there shocked, Josh was really trying to set you up with Tyler, Josh knew your crush on Tyler but it was small and never noticeable infront of people because you kept everything professional for the sake of yourself and to not ruin the friendship you guys made.

Tyler sat there waiting looking around till he saw you staring, Tyler’s face had a smile and waved you to come over, you grabbed your wine glass and told the waitress you were changing tables because you found your date. You walked to the table, “ Hey! Y/n what are you doing here? ” Tyler asked as you shrugged, “ Josh said he had a blind date for me that’s why I’m here, though it seems I was stood up but I wasn’t expecting you to be here also waiting for someone! ” He continued.

You signed and laughed as you sat across from him sipping your wine, “ Yeah I was also here for a blind date. ” you laughed a bit shrugging, you soon got a text, Tyler looking at his own phone seeing as he got a text too in a group chat with Him, Mark and Josh and you, “ Enjoy your date! ” Josh sent with a smile as Mark sent a photo of you two at the booth from outside. You groaned embarrassed.

“ they are idiots. ” you whispered softly as Tyler sat there confused before understanding, “ You were my blind date? ” He said as You nodded, “ I kinda figured since it would be weird since Josh set us up to the same restaurant and on blind dates. ” you said as you sat your phone down.

“ I can leave though and we don’t have to speak of this again? ” You said as Tyler shook his head, “ No it’s fine, I’d love to have dinner with you. ” Tyler said with a sweet smile looking at you.

“ I just thought it would be weird, we work together and you know. ” You said as he continued to shake his head a small laugh coming out his mouth, “ Y/n I’ve liked you for awhile I think that’s why Josh did this, and I’m kinda grateful for it because I definitely wouldn’t have had the balls to do it. ” Tyler joked as you smiled, your heartbeat beating faster as you learned Tyler had the same feelings as you, “ I like you Too Tyler, like actually had a small crush on you. ” you laughed.

Tyler smiled and nodded, “ well let’s good to know, well let’s start this date then. ” Tyler said as the waitress came over to take your guys orders.

[vastill]

I'm sorry, I love you too

Melissa Schemmenti/fem!reader

warnings: hurt/comfort

words: 1300+

My requests are open!!

English is not my first language!!

A/N: you wanted more hurt/comfort and you shall receive... tbh it was hard for me to finish this WIP so it's a little rushed at the end but i hope you enjoy it! let me know what you think!!💚

You were sitting in the restaurant for at least 20 minutes, waiting for her to show up. The restaurant was nice and cozy, you were sipping on a glass of wine, not ordering anything, maybe she will be late.

Maybe she didn’t forget this time.

The waitress came to your table, her eyes full of pity. You hated that, but you had some hope in your girlfriend.

“Can I get you something to eat? Or are we waiting for a little longer?” The waitress asked.

“Yeah, we wait but can I have some more wine?” You smiled at her and she quickly nodded. And you were left to your thoughts.

That was the third date in two weeks that you had planned. And the third one that she forgot about. Did she have so much work at school? Maybe another late meeting with Barbara?

Did she not want to be seen in public with you?

You two were dating for more than a year but everything was in secret. Melissa didn't want to go public, you understood her. You both were working at the school, she wanted to remain professional. Also, you were younger. She always assured you that wasn’t a problem and that she doesn’t care about what people think. But did she really?

Behind the closed door, she was the sweetest person you could ever imagine but as soon as you were out everything changed. She wasn't your girlfriend anymore.

Was that too much to ask for? For her to show up? You were only asking for one evening. One dinner at that place you two were talking about for ages. Only one night.

You shook your head, trying to get rid of the negative thoughts. You didn't want to jump to conclusions, but you couldn't help feeling hurt and frustrated.

You drank your glass of wine and decided to call it a night. You paid for everything and left the restaurant and drove to your house, not wanting to see Melissa tonight.

As you walked into your house, you couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. You had been looking forward to that dinner with Melissa, and it seemed like she couldn't even be bothered to show up. You decided to give her the benefit of the doubt and wait for her to call or text, but after a few hours of silence, you realized that she wasn't going to.

You only send her a text that you can’t go with her to the Farmer’s Market tomorrow. You didn’t want to stand her up, even when she deserved it. You weren’t that petty.

You spent the rest of the night trying to distract yourself, but your mind kept wandering back to Melissa and what could be going on. You knew that you needed to talk to her about everything, but you didn't know if you were ready to hear what she had to say.

The next day you spend at home, slouching on the couch with ice cream, and your comfort show to make your mood better. To forget about yesterday's failure.

At lunchtime, you heard a knock on the door. Was your delivery guy that quick? You went to open the door.

Melissa stood there with a bag full of containers of food she cooked.

You were surprised to see her at your doorstep, but you couldn't help but feel a little relieved. Maybe there was a good explanation for her absence.

“Hiya hon, I wanted to make sure everything is okay and brought you some food, made your favorite. It’s all fresh bought it today.” She said with a smile on her face.

“Hey, oh thanks. Come in.” You let her in. A little confused that she didn’t bring up yesterday's dinner right away.

“So what’s up with you? Why didn’t you want to go today? Felling sick?” She asked as she was unpacking the food she brought.

“Are you really asking me that?” You said. You didn’t want to believe that she forgot. She couldn’t.

“What?” She asked clearly confused.

You let out a sigh. She forgot. It was clear now.

“We planned a date yesterday Melissa. I was waiting for you in that restaurant, hoping you show up. Hoping you didn’t forget the third time. Hoping I was important enough for you to remember.” You said looking at her. Your eyes held all the hurt and frustration you were feeling.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize...” Melissa trailed off, looking guilty. “Work has just been so busy lately, and I’ve been really scatterbrained.”

“It isn’t an excuse Melissa. It was the third time. The third time I had to sit and wait for my girlfriend to show up.” You said, your voice raising. You took a breath in to calm yourself. “I mean the first one, okay, I can understand. The second one was just a mistake. But the third time? Melissa, I feel like I’m not important to you. I understand that you're busy with work and everything, but that doesn't excuse repeatedly forgetting about our plans. I just want to know where I stand with you because I feel like you are avoiding being seen with me.” You sighed, your hands rubbing your face, waiting for her response.

Melissa looked at you with a pained expression on her face. “I'm so sorry,” she said softly. “I never wanted to make you feel that way. I’m so sorry. You are important to me, and I don't want you to feel like I'm avoiding being seen with you. I just don't want to make a big deal out of our relationship, especially at school, you know how it is.” She reached out to take your hand, hoping to convey her sincerity.

“Yes, I understand this. But it’s so hard when you are shutting me out as soon as we are in the open. We are in a year long relationship, don’t you think it’s serious enough to make us public?” You ask, nervous about what her answer could be.

Melissa looked down at her feet, clearly struggling with what to say. “I...I don't know,” she finally admitted. “It's just...it's complicated. I care about you so much, but I also don't want to risk our jobs. I know it's not fair to you, and I'm sorry. I just don't know what to do.” She looked back up at you.

“The staff at our job has the most understanding people that I have ever known. I really don’t think that will be a problem, especially when they find out that we were hiding this for that long.” You said looking at her with a soft smile. “And you know I don't care about reputation, I care about you more Melissa. I just want to show everyone how much I love you, how much I care about you.” Your eyes filled with a plea for understanding.

Melissa looked at you with tears in her eyes. “I'm sorry, I love you too.” She said, her voice shaking. “I didn't realize how much this was hurting you.” She leaned in to hug you, and you felt a weight lift off your shoulders. “I think we should go public. Taking slow steps, I don’t want them to have a heart attack if we show up on Monday all lovey-dovey.” She said laughing softly.

Relief washed over you, you couldn’t help yourself and just grabbed her for a hug. You felt so happy hearing that she understood your point of view. Backing away a little you took her face in your hands. “I love you so much, Mel.” You kissed her hard and she quickly reciprocated.

You parted when your lungs needed air. You linked your foreheads.

“I love you more hon.” She said stealing another kiss from you. “We need to eat that food I made. We don’t want to waste it.” And you smiled, food. The best love language.

A/N: i'm working on other requests now and on some drabbles with Mel and Lila. i think some of it will be posted somewhere this week!💚