#I’m on nightshift tomorrow for three days but it is all good

[hellsbellssinclub]

Quick little crappy sketch. Once again fingers and hair are my weakness.

Having fun tho

[screamting]

i've always kind of meant to fic rec more and even when sometimes I can post a fic i'm reading on here I always feel bad I don't do it more often. The ao3 share option always feels hard to read and you always wanna edit the summaries to expand on what you as a reader found compelling instead of what the author thought to put... anyway, tonight i finally mustered myself and ignored everything I usually do at night to spend (checks watch) 2.5 hours putting this list together and fighting tumblr formatting. They're in no particular order, and every single author you should check out their other fics; a lot of them have updated other things since I read these in my AO3 history. If you've never read fics for fandoms you're not in: this is the list to pic one from and just go. Crossovers may be posted in multiple sections, just in case. This is just a list of fics that, when I found them in my history I said, "I remember this one! It was so good!" and a lot of them are ones that, every time they show up in my inbox, I drop everything to read (or I stow them away for the upcoming three hours I desperately will need them). Because of that, a lot of them are fucked up, so check warnings once you get on the page. But like. I think they're fucked up in a delightful little way.

Also a lot of them are long. SUPER long. You all did this for free. Do you know how much I owe you for nightshifts alone, much less long trips and difficult, depressed days that I just had to get to tomorrow and a long fanfic gave me somewhere else to be?

Please give them some love.

___

TWEWY/KH

∞:∞ ((to infinity and beyond)) - Divisionten

Post KH3, spoilers ahoy. He got off the pavement, wet, dirty and alone. They left the beach, ready to chase him down. She gripped her Keyblade, twisting it tight enough in her hands to leave marks. It was time to go home. ((Sora and Riku arrive in Shibuya after KH3 just in time to be mistaken for cosplayers. Extremely good Neku))

Marvel

From the Top - garamonder

Miles let go. Peter B. Parker closed his eyes as he dropped back through the rift, heading home. It would have been nice if he’d ended up there. Instead, the veteran hero makes an unintended pit stop in another Peter's universe - one where he's an Avenger, of all things. (Takes place in the MCU, post-hypothetical-Avengers 4)

Weight the Dice - tuesday

Tony's aim was off the first few tries. It was an imprecise art, time travel by magic rather than science, for all that it could actually change things instead of branching the timeline. He wanted early enough he could still make a difference, but not so early he had to go through puberty again. ((the only fic on this list under 5k, youre welcome))

LOTR???

Less Wise and More Dangerous - DeepWatersWaiting

Fleeing the Balrog and Orcs in Moria, Legolas Greenleaf is shot down with an arrow. He dies upon the bridge, unaware of the fates of his Fellowship, and wakes up moments later with the intention of finding his mother, escaping the Halls of Mandos and re-joining the War of the Ring. This would be a lot easier if he was actually in the Halls of Mandos however, instead of at Losgar as the Noldor arrive in Beleriand from Valinor for the first time.  ((i don’t know who any of these people are besides legolas i’m just having a good time and think this one needs more eyes))

Legend of Zelda: One Link

Third Eye - StudioRat

In which we climb the dark tower into the dawn. ((Link wants a third option. Ocarina of Time climax.))

Navigator [Act One] - SaltySaph

A Ganondorf/Link Slowburn Adventure narrative, first of three Acts. It is not based on, or connected to, any of the games in the franchise; but instead a largely invented piece using the Zelda formula and tropes as a base. This is not an Enemies to Lovers piece, because even though they are enemies in the games? They never have any personal or direct enmity toward one another.

The Inevitable - Phlyarologist

A hero falls. A hero rises. Repeat as necessary. Ravio gets an unpleasant lesson in the cost of legends. ((the only good take on heroic deaths))

The Legend of Zelda: Ten Thousand Year Elegy - winklepickers

Months after Calamity Ganon's defeat at the hands of the Princess and the Master Sword's chosen hero, Hyrule is approaching something resembling peace. That is, until Link and Zelda go missing following a disastrous archaeological expedition. Meanwhile, in Domino City, Japan: a dimensional domain emulator belonging to one Kaiba Seto abruptly self-destructs, causing an explosion that catches Mutou Yuugi and his friends in the crossfire. Unexpected? Yes. Unforeseen? Maybe not.

Legend of Zelda: Multiple Links

Please Don't Come for Me - sister_dear

Hyrule gets chucked headfirst through a mysterious portal. He feels the magic of fairies nearby and transforms, intending to ask them for help. Unfortunately for him, Time also found the fountain, and he has something of an effect on fairies. A “Hyrule meets the chain” story where Hyrule encounters each of his new companions in fairy form first.

Language Barriers - Kastaborous

The group made their way over to the two Hylians, where the individual they had rushed to save was conversing with the newcomer. The newcomer was heavily scarred on his left side, and from the bow on his back, he was the archer who had brought down many of the monsters. “Hello,” Time said, as he nodded to them. “Could you point us toward Castle Town?” The scarred man blinked. “Nanda?” … The Heroes of Courage are spread across ages. Hundreds to thousands of years between them. It should come as no surprise that they are having some trouble communicating. But when they’re dropped in a world of alien technology and a language wholly unfamiliar, they really wish Hylia had thought ahead. Or, the gang-meets-wild fic in which there is an appropriate amount of linguistic drift between Links, Hylia does not provide Google Translate, and Wild is a linguaphile among other things.

To Isolate - Poltea, sky_squido

Sky has only just figured out that Ganon is the manifestation of Demise's curse when he starts noticing... something working its way up the chain. Nobody is okay, Sky least of all, but he’s determined to figure out what’s going on or die trying. He has no idea what he’s getting himself into. This is a story of pain, fear, loss, and somehow, despite it all, courage.

Yu Gi Oh

((Basically All Crossovers & Literally The Best Section Of This Whole List u just gotta trust me))

The Power Of Friendship (And This Gun I Found!) - GallusRostromegalus

Honestly, Mokuba deserves to have a gun. And everyone else deserves to go absolutely Off The Fucking Rails. YuGiOh, but they're all appropriately feral little gremlins. Kind of a Reconciliation of the 4Kids Dub and the Horror-Comedy Manga, but mostly me wildly overthinking the setting and deciding to lean into the weirdness.

Shed Some of This Black Light to Surrounding Towns - arinrowan

What Yuugi wants is simple. He wants Izuku to get into Yuuei with him. He wants the rocket engines designed for KaibaCorp to work. He wants to launch his emotions about his father’s family into hyperbolic orbit. Unfortunately, Yuugi and his friends find themselves in the middle of a plot to manipulate the course of history that leaves him struggling to answer two very not simple questions. What does it cost to build the future? And who decides who pays?

The Legend of Zelda: Ten Thousand Year Elegy - winklepickers

Months after Calamity Ganon's defeat at the hands of the Princess and the Master Sword's chosen hero, Hyrule is approaching something resembling peace. That is, until Link and Zelda go missing following a disastrous archaeological expedition. Meanwhile, in Domino City, Japan: a dimensional domain emulator belonging to one Kaiba Seto abruptly self-destructs, causing an explosion that catches Mutou Yuugi and his friends in the crossfire. Unexpected? Yes. Unforeseen? Maybe not.

ATLA

While Mighty Oaks Do Fall - WitchofEndor

High Sage Kenji blesses Fire Prince Zuko with the resilience of the reed, who bends in the wind and never breaks. When he is done, Fire Prince Ozai narrows his eyes, seemingly displeased by this blessing. But Kenji does not speak for himself; he is only a vessel.  The newly-crowned Fire Lord Ozai offers his firstborn son to service in the temple. This turns out to be a catastrophic mistake.

Boomerangs and Rainbows - mindbending

At Sokka’s behest, the Gaang skips rescuing Zuko during the Siege at the North Pole. Instead they leave him, unconscious, buried in the snow. In completely unrelated news, Sokka’s haunted by a ghost now.

Mountains and Badgermolehills - Glass_Onion

After the Blue Spirit frees the Avatar from the Pohuai Stronghold, Admiral Zhao captures Prince Zuko under suspicion of treason. Isolated from his Uncle and his crew, Zuko has only one ally: the chatty prisoner one cell over.

BNHA 

You Ever Sabotage A Wedding? No?...Would You Like To? - All_five_pieces_of_Exodia

Izuku gets invited to Kacchan's wedding as the "Worst man". He thinks it's a joke. Or My story based off a post I saw on Tumblr: > Hot wedding idea, the worst man, it's his duty to try to prevent the wedding at all costs. > The best man and worst man engage in Spy Vs Spy shenanigans until the wedding is done.

That time I got reincarnated as a doomed side character - Gentrychild

Izuku wakes up in the recent light novel he read called “ My Hero Academia.” Unfortunately, he’s in the body of Midoriya Izuku, a minor character killed off early in the manga to motivate the main character Katsuki Bakugo on his Hero’s Journey. Izuku decides he’s going to do whatever it takes to stay alive in this stupidly deadly Isekai. Unfortunately, Izuku isn't aware that in the last novel of the series where the minor character who died is revealed as the main villain’s son All for One has relived his son’s death multiple times, unable to change the outcomes. But something has changed this time.

Locked In Digital - RogueDruid (Icarius51)

A day goes bad to worse for 14 year old Izuku Midoriya, as he wakes up trapped in a computer simulation with nine different Horror games. The only objective given by the madman who locked him in? Beat all nine games, or be deleted. A year later, a very different Izuku shows up at the Gates of UA to take the entrance exam What horrors has he faced?

Ill-Gotten Gains - ghostmaybite

When his father and Tomura start planning the USJ attack, Izuku makes a plan of his own. It’s simple, only four steps: 1. Steal Eraserhead’s quirk 2. Use it to kill All for One 3. Give Erasure back, hopefully 4. Go to jail, probably He’s prepared for the plan to fail at any time, but surprisingly, it’s not until step 4 that things fall through.

Shed Some of This Black Light to Surrounding Towns - arinrowan

What Yuugi wants is simple. He wants Izuku to get into Yuuei with him. He wants the rocket engines designed for KaibaCorp to work. He wants to launch his emotions about his father’s family into hyperbolic orbit. Unfortunately, Yuugi and his friends find themselves in the middle of a plot to manipulate the course of history that leaves him struggling to answer two very not simple questions. What does it cost to build the future? And who decides who pays?

[reservoirreputation]

Dimples, Chapter Two

Holdaway

Holdaway sips at coffee that’s rapidly cooling off. The breakfast rush of people on their way to work, or coming off the nightshift, bustles all around him. His usual booth by the window, overlooking the parking lot, feels very lonely. He stares at the empty seat across from himself.

Freddy Newandyke’s car was found abandoned a half-mile away from the Golden Gate Bridge, this morning. No note, no sign of struggle, or suggestion his vehicle had been stolen. Two major life changes of which to note; he had moved out of LA, which Holdaway had flown back to only an hour before, and that the trial was to begin, tomorrow. He lingers on the latter, a frown etched onto his face.

He had thought the kid leaving town would be a good thing. Considering how the armed robbery trial went, skipping town, completely moving away, was probably best for Freddy Newandyke’s health. Holdaway thinks back to the empty car. If he’s honest with himself, he can see the mother’s point. She didn’t even know the half of it.

He takes another sip. A waitress graciously comes over and tops off his coffee with fresh heat. It’s welcome on a chilly Cali morning like today. He thinks of giving her a good tip, just on the drink, alone. He thinks back, to one of the times Freddy was really struggling in physical therapy, how he told Holdaway a story.

Freddy was doing crunches, face flushed. His core muscles were back to square one in terms of strength and endurance. He told bits and bobs of a story, gritting his teeth against the pain.

“So Pink goes on this rant-” one rep, “-about not tipping waitresses-” two reps “and everyone thinks he’s an asshole!” he laughs, “Joe comes over,” three “and looks at the receipt, and says” four “Who didn’t tip?” five, “Bullies the poor bastard in front of god and everyone.” he lies flat in a pool of his own sweat.

Holdaway hadn’t said anything then; he couldn’t imagine what it was like to recover from such injuries. But, the way Freddy talked about the crew of violent criminals, most of whom were now dead, disturbed him.

Still does. He’s halfway down the mug. It’s no wonder the rest of the department harassed him. Freddy’s mind was still in the field. He could only imagine what the water cooler talk was this morning; ‘Newandyke finally snapped and joined his buddies’ ‘Fairy couldn’t take the shame of a trial’ ‘Only good rat is a dead one’

He looks at the table, imagines, for just one second, that Freddy’s across from him, eyes alight with new info. Pity turns to frustration; why couldn’t the kid just tow the line? He downs his mug.

It’s a sunny day in LA. Holdaway is out of the office, heading to one of his favorite haunts, where he usually breaks in the newbies. Today’s student:

Officer Newandyke.

A fresh-faced thirty-one year old, his hair trendy, face round like it’s still full of baby fat. Holdaway could imagine his late grandmother reaching out and pinching the kid’s cheeks. He stifles a laugh, and looks at the kid’s attire; LA casual, functional. Clearly local. Might just survive.

The lot’s on the site of an old abandoned post office, the signs of old foundations now nothing more than bricks and rubble. He shakes Freddy’s hand, “The name’s Holdaway. I’m gonna make sure you don’t get killed.”

“You should know how much my Mom will appreciate that.”

“Real momma bear type, huh?”

“Anything happens to me, she’ll kill ya.” he laughs.

The rundown of the job, the targets, “Joe Cabot is a nasty piece of work. His son, Eddie, is a real chip off the old block.” He opens a file with some headshots, “When we take down Joe, the punk’s gonna be his successor. Catching them both at once is preferred. Thankfully, the PD’s a little more realistic than that.” he looks at Newandyke, trying to measure him up. “You ever do undercover before? Maybe at another department?”

“No.” he shakes his head.

“No one else more experienced could be spared?” Holdaway knew that might hit a nerve, but now wasn’t the time to pussyfoot around.

“I think I was picked for my boyish looks and charm.” The smirk is hollow, hinting at something more.

“You fuck up at the office?” he wonders if this is all to let an existing issue cool down.

“Nah. I don’t feel liked, exactly, but my record’s clean.”

Holdaway feels he is getting the picture now; cops could sus out when one of their own barked up certain trees. Without warning, they’d just ice you out. It made him a little sad, because this guy, a kid, honestly, probably hasn’t had enough time to mess up, or to catch on. Holdaway would have to see how Newandyke would do, how well he could take direction, and go from there.

Luckily for them both, Newandyke’s a natural.

Holdaway sits at the diner booth, twiddling his thumbs. He and Freddy agreed on a certain time, and the kid was five minutes late. He felt like a teacher, ready to scold a tardy student. But, those five minutes could mean anything.

Freddy comes in, a little breathless, and very guilty. Holdaway decides to give him a break, and ease the tension with a smile, “’Bout time you showed up!”

An uneasy grin, “Not a great first impression, huh?”

“Don’t need to impress me, man.” they embrace, sit down. “How’s your first week been?”

“Getting to know people. And by know, I mean get the silent treatment.” he sighs, waits for a waitress to set down a complimentary water. “No Joe, so far.”

“No shit.”

“It’s almost like they’re cautious or somethin’.” he takes a big gulp. “A lot of people I’ve come across are one and done, haven’t seen them again. Nice Guy Eddie explained that the people I could be working with, should I be cleared, won’t ever know my real name.” he frowns, “So, obviously, everyone I’m currently interacting with won’t be important, come trial.”

“Keep your eyes peeled, man. Every face, every identifying marker, it’s everything.”

Freddy pauses. A moment later, he says, somewhat shyly, “There was this one guy I saw leaving the big office. No Joe, but this guy was coming out.” he gulps more water. “Think I saw a tattoo, Navy. On the arm, real faded.“

“Great! What else?”

“White, maybe 50s, dark hair, youthful eyes. Smiles a lot.”

That hangs in the air a moment.

“He say anything to you?”

“Almost caught me staring.” the kids trying to hide his reddening face. “It always catches me off guard, when I see ex-military involved with this shit.”

A decent save, Holdaway thinks. He considers telling Freddy to lean into the infatuation part, but figures that could be a bad mistake. Fatal, even. “Guys like him likely get that all the time. Besides, you probably won’t see him again.”

Holdaway doesn’t often visit HQ, but when he does, it’s usually because of paperwork.

The office culture was always an aspect that Holdaway never cared for. Get any like-minded group of people in a room, fill that room to capacity. On top of this, it’s work, they’re your colleagues, and most of you have the same workplace hazards. You’re overworked, underpaid, and more than a little on-edge. Personal life, likely bad. Home life in general, likely a shitty apartment. Career prospects, depends on how long you can survive. Surrounded by mostly men, it’s like the most toxic locker room on steroids. Holdaway’s work allows him freedom, fresh air. Every time he’s brought back to HQ, he considers retirement.

One of the few benefits of the office, however, was its free coffee. Taking advantage, Holdaway pours himself a foam cup, and fixing it up, when a group of rookies wander into the little kitchen. Another joy about Holdaway’s work is that he’s not around enough to be recognized, so he feels no need to hightail it out of there. He listens as this group of boys, barely able to grow an even beard, are shooting the shit. It takes another second for Holdaway to realize what exactly it is they’re on about.

“Has he said anything?”

“Jack and shit. There’s word he won’t say fuck-all on the stand.”

“Why? Everyone will be watching.”

“When you’ve been around a certain type of animal,” one of them takes on a false sense of wisdom, “the only way to survive is to be their bitch.”

“So it’s true? He went native?”

“I hear he writes one of them love letters.” they giggle, “Takes pinup shots and everything.”

Holdaway looks over the selection of donuts. He picks one, and sits down at the big, and otherwise unoccupied, lunch table.

“What possesses someone to do that?”

“A guy who was strange to begin with. It’s no better than those women guards who fall in love with the inmates, have their babies, help them escape.”

Holdaway cuts in. He laughs, real casual like, “Man, I’d hate to have y’all in my department.” like they’re too much, too funny, too real.

The idiots take the bait, “And where’s that?” they’re matching his energy.

He lets them sit with it, finishes his food, throws away his half-empty cup of shitty free coffee, “Undercover training.” his smile falls.

The rookies pale and wither under his stare. One leaves, one grovels, and the other tries to make excuses, “We were only joking.”

“I hope you never go through a fraction of what he went through.”

“We didn’t say-”

“You didn’t have to.”

“It was just-”

“-a mistake. Now get the fuck out of my sight.”

Holdaway leaves the lunch room, and HQ, heading back to his car. It’s a week until the armed robbery trial begins, and the office gossip was already this bad. He feels a little for poor Newandyke. But, all the kid has to do is stick to the terms. Everything would be fine.

Holdaway considers Florida as the place to go. Buy a cheap place minutes from the coast, away from all mentions of LA.

The mood is dower, perfectly matching the bar they’re at. Sipping whiskeys, Holdaway and Newandyke drink in silence. It’s nearly midnight, and just hours ago the LAPD’s worst fears were confirmed.

“Jury sure taking their sweet time.” it makes Holdaway nervous. The verdict should’ve been obvious and swift. Every passing hour was a slap to the department’s face.

“You mad?”

“Their lawyer got you good.” a beat later, “That how you really feel? That backup failed you?”

“We’re not supposed to lie on the stand.”

Holdaway suppresses a laugh, “Work’s gonna be hell, tomorrow.”

“I turned in my badge, earlier.”

“Tonight?”

“A couple hours ago.” he nods.

“You’re not wrong to be angry.” Holdaway reasons, “I don’t know if the courtroom was the place to air your grievances, but you’re not wrong.”

“Made everyone look bad, huh?”

“Something along those lines.”

“Those terms are history, aren’t they?”

“Oh, absolutely.”

“So, it’s not the end.”

Holdaway watches as Freddy finishes his drink. It’s hard to be angry at the guy when you’re sitting next to him.

“Think I’ll take my Mom up on that offer.”

“And what’s that?”

“Moving back up to ‘Cisco.”

That is probably the smartest thing Freddy can do. “Don’t forget to write.”

“Send you a postcard.”

He dials up Freddy. It’s been a month since they’ve seen each other. His LA number still works, which is good. Pleasantries are exchanged. Obligatory small talk. Time to get down to business.

“DA’s changed his mind about the murder charge.” Holdaway says, “It’ll happen soon. I’m sorry.”

“Figures.”

“You gonna be there?”

“Prosecution won’t have me.” It’s both a prediction and a statement.

“Enjoy San Francisco, man.”

“Thanks for everything, Holdaway.” a pause on the other end, and it sends chills down his spine, “I haven’t made it easy on you, but I’ve known for a long time… you were the only one who had my back.”

Holdaway hides his tears, despite being alone in a phone booth. “You’re worth it, man. I’m sorry things didn’t turn out differently.”

Holdaway gets ready for bed, his thoughts still plagued by Freddy’s disappearance. The murder trial is to begin tomorrow, and he needs to clear his head. He thinks back to Mrs. Newandyke’s words, ‘My son wouldn’t kill himself.’, ‘It’s Cabot’s men. All of the LAPD knows it.’

He doesn’t know what to think. Holdaway didn’t peg the guy for being that depressed, but could also see, because of their numerous conversations, that Freddy wasn’t fitting back in. He could also see Cabot’s men getting rid of the rat that got their boss and heir killed. He also thinks, though he’d never dare say it out loud-

-that the LAPD might have something to do with it.

{Next chapter}

https://www.tumblr.com/reservoirreputation/757452905482682368/dimples-chapter-three?source=share

{Previous chapter}

https://www.tumblr.com/reservoirreputation/757452458438066176/dimples-chapter-two?source=share

[iraacundus]

International Relations

arrangedmarriage!hendery

genre: fluff, angst, smut words: 21k  Warnings: sexual content; mentions of terrorism, death and injury; swearing

he was the president’s son, you were the ambassador’s daughter, forced into a marriage, the success of which, world peace quite literally hinged on

********

The news was unavoidable, every night it got worse and worse, your parents had advised you not to watch it, but you never listened. The tensions between the two countries had been rising for years and though they did their best to cover it up, those in the know, like your father, knew that you were on the brink of war.

“The proposed trade deal and boarder agreement between the two nations has fallen through,” said the newsreader who looked as calm as ever despite the potentially terrifying consequences of what she was saying.

You heard a knock at your door, so you fell leaned back on your bed, switching the TV off.

“Come in,” you called out, the door opening to reveal your father. You didn’t see him often, though you both lived in the same house, he had always been busy as ambassador to a county that your whole nation hated. So, when you saw him walk in, you knew it was important.

“I guess you have seen the news,” he said, spotting the remote that was still in your hand.

“We’re in serious danger, aren’t we?” you asked, but it wasn’t really a question, you knew the answer before you had asked.

Your father didn’t reply, he just sat down slowly on your desk chair, exhaling slightly.

“Your bodyguards will need to accompany you at all times now, even to university.” He said. It was your turn to sigh. It wasn’t that you disliked your bodyguards, or that you weren’t used to them, but university had always been a place you had a bit of freedom, without being watched all the time.

You didn’t argue though, you understood the gravity of the situation.

“I’m working on a solution, I think the issue can be resolved…” he cut himself off, looking more distressed than usual, “Just… I need you to meet me tomorrow afternoon in the Embassy Dining Room.” He said getting up again.

You wanted to ask why, but you also didn’t want to trouble him, he looked exhausted. The Dining Room was only used for official matters so the mere mention of it had inspired your curiosity, but you knew the situation wasn’t really about you, so you kept your mouth shut. A few minutes after he had left you put your slippers on and crept outside the door.

You had four bodyguards in total, two for the nightshift and two for the day, sadly your favourite mostly worked at night, so you rarely got to chat, but that night you took it upon yourself to go annoy him.

Jeno was by far your best bodyguard, all of them were the same age as you so they didn’t stand out in a crowd and so over the last few years Jeno had also become your close friend.

You found him standing just outside your door drinking milk tea, sometimes you couldn’t believe what his job was the way he acted.

“Hello bestie,” you called out to him, Jeno smiled when he saw you.

“Hello y/n,” he greeted back, “how are you this evening?”

It was always nice to talk to Jeno, not just because he was your friend but your bodyguards were the only people you knew except your family who were from your country, spoke your language, in every other aspect of your life you had to speak the language of a nation you resented.

“Stressed out, I think we are about this close to war,” you joked, putting your fingers as close together as possible while still leaving a gap. Jeno already knew this of course, while he was your bodyguard, he was also technically a member of the army, an important member at that.

He had joined at 16 and was so impressive he was almost immediately assigned to you.

“It will be fine,” he reassured, “Your Dad is a smart man, he will have a plan.”

“That’s what I’m stressed about,” you explained further, “he says I have to meet him tomorrow in the Dining Room, which has to be part of his plan,”

“Maybe you will get to meet the President,” Jeno laughed, you threw a mint at him.

“Don’t be ridiculous, I think the President hates us all enough to just shoot us on site,”

“That would really cause a war,” Jeno said, throwing the mint back at you, but you managed to catch it in your mouth, “Impressive,” he commented.

“It also means I have to have Chenle and Jaemin follow me around all day which I just don’t think I can take, are you sure you can’t switch to the day shift?”

Jeno shook his head, you stopped him before he could start his spiel of how he was the best out of all of them and you were statistically more likely to be targeted at night and so that’s when he was on duty, he told you this almost every day when you asked him to switch shifts.

“Just don’t say it,” you warned.

“But I am the best,” Jeno said proudly.

“I take it back I’m happy to have the other two,”

Jeno pouted,

“So much for bestie.”

You couldn’t help but smile, Jeno had managed to do exactly what you knew he would, make you smile, and forget about the impending doom of a war your country couldn’t win.

You talked with him a while more but when your brother came out and told you to,

“stop being annoying losers and go to bed,” - he was twelve - you went back into your room and turned the tv on again.

They were showing an interview with Hendery from earlier in the day. Hendery was the son of the President and you wondered how someone who seemed so nice could be the son of someone so evil.

He was sitting opposite the interviewer talking about how he hopes to start a project with his friends to help disadvantaged children and when they asked about the current international tensions, he said that he hoped a peaceful resolution could be reached.

You scoffed slightly at that; he should tell that to his father. 

You had spent half your life on TV wondering what Hendery was like in real life, it was a weird obsession that Jeno regularly made fun of you for.

You just couldn’t figure out how much of his persona on TV was an act, how someone in such a strict family really lived, who were his friends, what did he do for fun. You had to think that like you, he had led a relatively isolated life.

If there had been one person you could have invited to your fantasy dinner party, it would have been Hendery. Chenle always picked Stephen Curry. It would have been a weird fantasy dinner party.

You had actually seen Hendery a few times in real life, you both attended the most prestigious university in the country, and he was only a year older than you. He was always with the same two people, one was Lucas, son of an important politician, the other was his main bodyguard, well at least you assumed as much.

You had never seen him on the news, his name was never mentioned alongside Lucas and Hendery in magazines, you assumed that the state was blocking his personal information from the media, to hide that he was a bodyguard.

Hendery had real bodyguards as well, two or three always followed behind the trio, but something just didn’t add up about that third guy being a normal college student.

You switched the TV off once again when Jeno sent you a text making fun of you for watching the Hendery interview again, you must have had the volume up too loudly. You were worried and stressed but you had never been one to struggle sleeping, so when you turned the light off and pulled the duvet up to your chin you fell asleep almost immediately.

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

Chenle and Jaemin had followed you around all day at university as planned, luckily no one had tried to attack you, but the paparazzi had been there taking as many photos as they could.

“I hope they got some good pictures of me, I actually have quite the fanbase back home as the cute bodyguard,” Jaemin tried to brag as you hid in the student café as far away from any windows as possible.

“Your wrong,” Chenle objected, you were about to agree with him when Chenle continued, “I definitely have more fans.”

You banged your head against your textbook.

“I hate you both, I should have made Jeno come,” you said causing Jaemin to pout and Chenle to just laugh.

You were about to kick him when Jaemin nudged you.

“He’s here,” he said ominously,

“Who?” you asked, “Please let it be Jeno to save me from you losers.”

“No, Hendery and Co.”

You fell silent, noticing Jaemin was right. Hendery, Lucas and the guy you didn’t know had just walked in and sat down a few tables away. You forced yourself not to stare.

“Not only am I stuck with you two but I’m also being followed by the enemy.”

“I don’t think he’s following us,” Chenle said, ‘Probably he was just hungry.”

“No, he’s definitely staring at y/n,” Jaemin said,”maybe he found that she watches him on the news over and over again.”

This time you did kick Jaemin, causing him to shout slightly. All three of them were now definitely looking at you.

Luckily at that moment Hendery seemed to get a call so you whispered at the two boys to get up.

“It’s almost three o’clock, we need to go meet my dad,” you explained as you all half ran out of the dining hall, entering into a full run when the cameras spotted you. 

You didn’t think three people could have reacted anymore suspiciously than you just had.

A car was waiting with the diplomatic flags to pick you up, Jaemin shoved you and Chenle into the backseat, before shutting the door and climbing in next to the driver. The car had shaded windows so you could finally relax.

“Who do you think is going to be waiting in the Dining Room?” Chenle asked you. You hadn’t told either of them exactly where you were meeting your dad, Jeno was such a gossip.

You pulled up at the Embassy only ten minutes later. Cameras were once again outside but none of them seemed interested in you when you got out of the car and walked up to the gate. You thought it was strange, but you also weren’t complaining.

The guards saluted as the opened the gate to let you in. You walked along the drive and around to the back entrance that led into your family’s part of the house. Your dad had texted for you to wear something semi-formal, so you pulled out one of your favourite flowery dresses, found a nice pair of low heels and slid a bracelet onto your wrist.

It was your lucky bracelet. Jeno had given it to you for your 18th Birthday, it was a traditional bracelet made in your home country. Apparently by an old lady had cast a spell on you that made it lucky, while you highly doubted it was true, you still wore it every time you were nervous, believing it would help you.

You heard a small knock at your door,

“Are you dressed?” You heard Jeno call out, you quickly opened your door to let him in. His face looked grey.

“I volunteered to go with you to the meeting, I figured you had dealt with enough of the other two for one day.”

“But you were on duty last night, aren’t you tired, I’m sure Renjun could do it,” he was your fourth bodyguard.

“It’s okay, I slept all day and also I know you are nervous, so I wanted to be able to support you, even if it is silently from two meters away.”

You smiled, giving him a small hug before leaving the room and heading towards the dining room. Jeno seemed more nervous than you, you guessed your father had told him what was going on in advance. You could have asked Jeno, but you almost didn’t want to know.

You fidgeted outside the door, procrastinating your entrance. Jeno put his hand on your shoulder lightly.

“You look great y/n, and you do well at everything, it will be fine.” He said.

When you opened the door to the Dining Room you almost fell over. You had no idea what you had expected but to see the President, his wife and Hendery, sitting across the table from your own parents was a shock.

You glanced back at Jeno who gave you his best attempt at a reassuring smile.

“Y/n,” your father called out, motioning for you to come and sit in the empty chair in between him and your mother, opposite Hendery. You don’t know who you were more scared to see, the evil President or Hendery. Hendery wasn’t smiling like he always did on TV, like always seemed to be with Lucas. A frown was firmly settled on his lips and he looked like he wanted to be anywhere else but there.

You sat down carefully in the chair after bowing your head in respect towards the President. Because he wasn’t a normal president, he had been elected once but that was a long time ago, he hadn’t held an election in twenty years, as long as you had been alive, so to you he wasn’t a president but a dictator.

Unlike Hendery, the President smiled at you, his smile seemed genuine unlike the slightly forced smile on both his wife and your parents’ faces.

“It’s lovely to meet you, y/n,” The President said, offering his hand out to shake, his grip firm and unwavering, “This is my wife and my son Hendery, I’m sure you’ve probably seen him around at university.”

You smiled the best you could,

“Yes, I’ve heard he’s quite popular,” you said, glancing at him out of the corner of your eye, his mouth still resting in a firm line.

The President laughed. An intern came in and poured some tea before anyone continued speaking.

“The ambassador and I are both worried about how the tensions between our two countries are developing. We have been unable to find a traditional solution, yet we seem to have found an agreement that will solve the animosity so that eventually trade deals and boarder disputes can be settled.” He began.

You noticed Hendery hadn’t drunk any of the tea but was gripping the handle tightly, as sinking feeling arose in your chest as you began to guess what was going to be suggested, you were an intelligent person.

“It would require a large sacrifice on both your and my son’s behalf and to that extent we both know we cannot force you to agree but warn you of the consequences of this agreement failing.”

You tried to drink your tea as calmly as possible.

“Neither of us would suggest this if we felt there was a better option your father added.” They were both avoiding the main point.

“Marriage,” Hendery said all of a sudden, “That’s what they are trying to suggest.”

You knew what they were suggesting but the fact Hendery said it out loud almost caused you to choke on your tea.

“Yes,” the President continued, “as my son not so eloquently put, we feel that a union between the two countries would help people from both sides understand each other better through supporting a couple. We will pose it as if you had both met at university and fell in love naturally and we hope it means people will learn to love you, it might not work straight away but we hope it can win over the hearts of those who oppose on both sides eventually.”

You swallowed. It wasn’t like you had someone else you wanted to marry, you had never had a crush, you figured you would never be able to marry for love anyway, however you hadn’t banked on Hendery, on marrying into a family you resented so greatly.

“Hendery has already agreed but of course you do have a choice, I’m not in the business of making people do things they do not wish,” He said. You had to stop yourself from snorting with laughter.

He was blackmailing you into marriage with the threat of war, so his statement was just rather ironic, especially as blackmail was how he maintained power in more aspects of his life than not.

“Anything to ensure peace,” you said graciously. The President clapped his hands together with a grin.

“I knew you were a smart woman,” He said. You father breathed out a visible sigh of relief, you were offended he ever thought you would let your country down.

“We won’t announce the engagement right away, we will give you both some time to get to know each other, sometime to back away, in a month or so, if you are still both willing, we will hold a gala to announce the engagement, by then we will need you to have come up with a water-tight backstory, I can get someone to help create it if you wish, but all this can be discussed later.”

Another intern came in seconds later to inform the President and my father of urgent business for them both, causing them to both give their apologies and leave quickly.

You were left with Hendery, your mother and your future mother in law. Your mothers began to chat, both gushing about planning a wedding. It wasn’t that they were insensitive, they just both wanted to make the best out of a bad situation, you could tell from their earlier faces that they both worried for you.

Hendery’s eyes remained fixed on the tea, glaring at the cooling liquid.

You had never wanted to ask him a question more than right now. But you were scared, it wasn’t that you were afraid of Hendery in general, but you didn’t want to upset him. He was clearly nervous, playing with his fingernails.

You didn’t know why you felt so calm in comparison, you didn’t think Hendery could have had plans to marry for love, like you he must have always known he would marry for politics.

Yet something seemed to scare him. You had more reason to be scared, you were joining his family as his family was more powerful, you would have to live in his country as part of a dictatorship, but he seemed more scared.

“Too shy to even talk to each other, how cute,” your mum cooed. You wanted to throw a pen at her, you were starting to think you were a slightly violent person.

“We will fix that soon enough, why don’t you both come over on Saturday and we can talk for longer, so they can get to know each other better.” His mother suggested.

Yes, because all best conversations between fiancés happen in front of their mothers, you wanted to say to Jeno, but you had to pretend he wasn’t there, that was his job.

A few minutes later your mothers had exchanged phone numbers and were getting up to leave. You thought Hendery would at least acknowledge you, but he seemed to not even see you when he stood up to leave. You followed him out to the entryway, you could tell the mothers had tactically waited behind a few seconds.

“My name’s y/n,” you said to him loudly enough that he had to look over at you. He nodded.

“I know my father said, and also I have seen you at Uni, you were in the café today, you kicked your bodyguard and ran out,” he said.

You blushed red, cursing your violent nature, you were going to marry the son of an evil dictator who had only ever seen you act strangely. You must have committed so many sins in your past life.

“I’m Hendery,” he said, still not smiling.

“I think we both know I know who you are.” Your statement sounded slightly more accusatory than you had meant, but I didn’t seem to make Hendery seem anymore unhappy than he already was.

Neither of you said anything further in the two awkward minutes it took for your mothers to finally emerge.

“It was lovely to meet you,” His mother said wrapping her arms around you, far more personal contact than you had hoped for, but you understood she was just trying to be nice.

“You too,” you said with a grin, hoping you didn’t come across as disingenuous. The guard at the door opened the door for them to leave. Before Hendery did, he turned to give you a small smile,

“See you soon y/n,” he said. Before walking out towards all the flashing lights of the media storm that hat gathered.

You were not sure whether he had been nice to you for the sake of his mother or if he had just felt obliged but you were grateful nonetheless as it had made the whole experience seem less dire and it also had allowed your mother to smile from relief.

“He doesn’t seem too bad,” she said.

“He’s better than a war,” you replied before excusing yourself in the name of homework but really your aim was to get some peace and quiet.

You started walking up to the roof, Jeno close behind, you were waiting for him to shout at you and tell you that it was easy for you to be shot from the roof like he usually did but the words never came.

Even as you lifted yourself off the ladder Jeno said nothing he just came up and sat beside you, having texted Jaemin, Renjun and Chenle who also appeared moments later.

“You don’t get to marry evil Hendery that you’re obsessed with that’s not fair,” Jaemin whined as he sat down next to you, “you were meant to marry me.”

You shot him a confused look,

“In what world was I marrying you, if I was going to marry any of you it would be Jeno, but I would never because we are quintuplets.” You say to him to which he just sticks his tongue out.

“Chenle’s only like three years old,” Renjun protests. You laugh sadly.

“I will miss you all,” you said.

“Absolutely not,” Jeno replied, “we are not doing sad hours tonight.”

“What are we doing then?” asked Chenle while simultaneously fighting Renjun for calling him three years old.

“We will find me an outfit to wear for Saturday so that I’m so gorgeous it knocks Hendery out and I don’t have to talk to him, and he also forgets our weird café behaviour.” You said.

“Weirdly specific but okay,” Jaemin replied. The other three sighed, all of the boys hated outfit time, not because they were against fashion, but because you were so indecisive.

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

They may have complained but it worked, by the time you turned up at the front door of the Presidential House on Saturday you looked drop dead gorgeous. Your mother and Jeno had come with you and you all stood just behind the door waiting for it to open.

You were ushered through a series of rooms and up some stairs until you reached a bright sunny sitting room on the third floor. Inside Hendery’s mother was pouring some tea there was, however, no sign of Hendery himself.

She rushed over to great you, making sure you sat down, passing out cakes.

“I am sorry,” she said, “I told him to be ready for eleven.”

Just at that moment Hendery entered, wearing a suit, something he rarely did. You hated to admit how attractive he looked; you didn’t want Jeno to be right about your obsession.

He was followed by the third guy, the one who wasn’t Lucas. You had been right; he must have been a bodyguard as he went and stood next to Jeno.

“I’m sorry I’m late,” Hendery interjected, “My suit wasn’t dry,” he explained, his face flustered. At least that humanised him somewhat, you could live with Hendery, you just had to believe he was a real person deep down somewhere.

He sat down on a chair across from you just like before, yet this time his eyes stared right at you.

“So, what do you study?” Hendery’s mother asked you, trying to get the conversation started.

You pushed a smile onto your face.

“Modern Languages and International Politics” you replied. You liked to think you were an impressive person, at least in some respects. You could speak four languages fluently and were learning two more at university. You knew almost as much about world affairs as your parents and your mother had always taught you excellent manners.

“You could study with Hendery,” she suggested, “he studies International Politics and History,” she said, after he didn’t offer up the information himself. You saw her try to nudge him and had to hold back a giggle.

“We certainly could, that would be lovely,” you said, looking Hendery dead in the eyes, daring him to stay silent. You couldn’t marry someone who didn’t speak to you, “What do you do for fun?” you asked him.

“I like playing basketball and watching films,” he said. His voice was cold, it may have dissuaded anyone else, but you refused to give up.

“Ah maybe you could teach me how to play, one of my bodyguards loves basketball and has tried his best to teach me but I’m a failure at it, I prefer tennis if I’m honest.”

Hendery didn’t reply.

“That’s great, I must challenge you to a match sometime y/n,” his mother replied, “that is if you don’t give up on marrying my son here, I do apologise he isn’t usually this… shy.”

You certainly didn’t believe being shy was his issue. You also didn’t understand what his issue was. He must have had a girlfriend you decided, made the mistake you never had and fallen in love with someone he could never marry. 

But you were only guessing you had no idea.

“Don’t worry,” you replied, “Hendery isn’t bad enough to destroy international peace for.” A statement that caused both of your mothers to laugh somewhat nervously.

Hendery looked down and back up again.

“Sorry,” he said quietly, “I really just am a bit nervous.”

You were a bit sceptical of this excus, still you decided to give him the benefit of the doubt and take pity on him.

“Why?” you asked, “I don’t bite,”

Hendery laughed slightly, shaking his head.

“It’s not that, I just want to make a good impression I guess, you are my future wife and also…” he didn’t finish, “I’ll explain some other time,” he said, his eyes flicked to our mothers next to him.

He was right that it was hard to connect with four other people in the room, but the mothers particularly. Jeno you would have told later if he hadn’t been there, but the presence of parents made the meeting feel formal.

However, Hendery did seem to make more of an effort as the meeting continued. You learned that he likes cats and that his favourite colour was pink. Nothing ground-breaking, he still seemed like Hendery on TV, picture perfect and somewhat shallow. Not in the sense that he was self-obsessed but more that he was like a cartoon character 2-D. He lacked any sense of humanity or connection, he said all the right things, never saying anything particularly meaningful.

On reflection he probably thought the same about you.

You only saw Hendery once more properly in the following weeks. You were both busy with university and it was hard to find a time you could meet with your mother’s present, something they insisted on until you were both officially engaged.

Only three weeks after the marriage was first suggested Hendery asked his father if the marriage could be announced sooner rather than later, despite having a week left to decide. You guessed he partly did this to avoid any more awkward teatime chats with your mothers. The President rang you to ask if you were also okay with making a decision early, you agreed. Also, partly to avoid any more of those chats.  

It was decided that your engagement would be announced two weeks later and a ball to celebrate would be held the night after that

Your last night of normality passed quickly, you went out to play mini golf with the four boys. You were usually only allowed out a few times a month to large places such as the crazy golf one, but your parents had let it slide seeing as you were a 20-year-old woman about to get engaged.

The next morning your alarm rang at five. You sat up, questioning whether you should take up Renjun on an offer he had given to smuggle you out of the country. If only world peace hadn’t been so important.

You kicked off your duvet in a mood and dragged yourself over to your dressing table. You didn’t have to get ready particularly, you had been assured state media would take care of hair and makeup, however you had still felt it was vital to at least brush your hair.

Ten minutes later Jeno arrived at your door with a McDonalds breakfast.

“Breakfast for M’lady,” he joked, kneeling down to pass it to you. From behind him you saw a girl’s head pop out from around the corner. You almost jumped backwards from shock. Jeno laughed.

“This is Chanmi,” he introduced, “she is your state provided assistant.”

“Why do you make it sound like communism Jeno,” she complained before jumping round him and holding her hand out for you to shake. She looked at her own hand and before you had a chance to shake it, she put it down and pulled you into a hug instead.

“I may work for you, but I also hope we become life-long friends,” she said. You appreciated that at least one person was excited for today.

“I’m y/n,” you smiled back, “I also hope we get on well.” You offered her a hash brown, but she refused.

“I already ate, I’m here to run through today’s schedule,” she pulled out a very large folder from her bag and opened it to the first page, “we have hair and make up at eight, wardrobe at nine and the announcement will be at around nine-thirty, but before that we have a rehearsal with Hendery, that’s why we are here so early.” Chanmi seemed to speak with out breathing.

Jeno looked down at his watch, five twenty-five.

“We need to go,” he said, “you can eat in the car.”

You grabbed your lucky bracelet from the side and clasped it round your wrist, there was no way you would have gone on television without it.

Jaemin, Chenle and Renjun stood at the door with your mother and little brother. They had gathered to wave you off even though you would be back home by the afternoon.

“I love you guys,” you managed to say half-way through eating your meal. Jeno continued hurrying you towards the car. You wanted to laugh how seriously he was suddenly taking his job, not that he had been messing around before, but he had never cared so much about being punctual.

He sat in the front so Chanmi could climb in next to you.

“Who is that good looking boy who was closest to the door?” she asked. Jaemin would have loved to hear her say that.  But before you could tell her it was him; she had already carried on talking.

“You will meet with Hendery so you can both firm up your stories about your romance.” She explained.

“You know it’s fake?” you asked her.

“All key staff know, but not everyone who works in the Presidential House, so don’t mention it when other people are present,” she said. You nodded. You were starting to get nervous. It was not your first time on TV, you had filmed programmes for your home country about what it was like to study abroad and you had done work for the young ambassador’s programme run by Hendery’s country.

But this was… something else.

The drive was only ten minutes as usual, there was also no traffic in the morning, so you barely had time to contemplate your impending fate before arriving at the house.

Jeno and Chanmi ushered you out of the car and into the house, there was only one reporter waiting to hide you from, though you were surprised anyone had been there before six in the morning.

Hendery and his bodyguard, who Jeno had informed you was named Sicheng, were waiting for you just inside the door.

“Good morning,” you said as brightly as possible, taking another sip of your coffee, hoping it would help in some way. You were half expecting Hendery to change his mind at the sight of your tattered appearance before you remembered he wasn’t really marrying you for your beauty.

“Nice to see you again,” he replied, slightly less brightly. You all stood slightly awkwardly waiting for someone to lead the way.

“Why don’t we go somewhere to talk?” Chanmi prompted.

“Oh yes,” Hendery said, seeming to remember what was going on, “let’s go to the family dining room, I got someone to prepare some drinks and snacks.”

You felt a bit bad for standing there with your McDonalds coffee, there was worse crimes you could have committed than assuming he wouldn’t have provided food though you supposed.

You followed just behind Hendery with Chanmi as Sicheng fell back to walk with Jeno, both of them exchanging friendly glances. At least Jeno had made a friend.

The kitchen/dining room you entered looked somewhat normal compared to the rest of the house, though still elaborate and high class it was clearly somewhere a family lived, it much less resembled the home of a 16th century king.

Hendery seemed to notice your impression of the kitchen.

“A lot of the house is normal compared to the rest, it was remodelled for a modern family to live in, with proper central heating and all,” he joked, you politely gave him a small smile.

You looked over at the dining table. When he had said a few drinks and snacks he had been making a massive understatement. There was fruit, cereal, biscuits and hot food of all kinds. There was five types of juice, tea, coffee and even hot chocolate.

You really wished you hadn’t eaten the McDonalds.

“Help yourself,” Hendery said shyly, his hair falling over his eyes as he looked down. You couldn’t help but think about how cute he looked in the morning. You internally slapped yourself. This was a marriage of countries, not people.

“You guys too,” he said looking at Chanmi and the two bodyguards behind who had already began to hover by the pancakes. Sicheng high-fived Jeno and you couldn’t help but laugh.

Hendery looked over at you smiling when he saw you laugh.

“Shall we sit down?” he said. You grabbed an apple juice and a banana, as to not look impolite and sat down opposite where Hendery was. Chanmi sat down next to you, pulling out her massive folder once again.

“I assume we have to come up with, and learn a fake backstory,” he said to Chanmi, she nodded,

“Yes, you don’t have to be super detailed yet, it will be better to build in more details over time, but you do need to agree upon a basic timeline yes. It works best if you say you met at university and started dating sometime after, but you can both decide the details.”

You wished that she had just done it for you and printed it off but Hendery’s mother had explained weeks ago that if you came up with the story yourselves you were less likely to forget it.

“I think it’s best if we say we were friends for a while first,” you began, “I’ve been at the university for two years so we could perhaps say we met a year ago and started dating a while after?” You proposed.

“I agree,” he said, “We can say we started dating two months after we met. That we were introduced by our mutual friend Lucas…”

You cut him off,

“But I don’t know anything about Lucas,” you objected. Hendery shook his head,

“Doesn’t really matter they won’t be interested in the details of that yet, Lucas has many friends so it’s believable and by the time they ask about that I’m sure you will have met Lucas many times.”

What he said made sense. You paused for a moment, when he mentioned that you would meet Lucas, it started to dawn on you that your whole life, however you had seen it playing out, wasn’t going to be that way, your life would be dominated by your marriage to the son of a dictator you barely knew.

You almost dropped your cup at the thought of it, Chanmi saving it from falling by steadying your arm.

Her once infallible expression now looked somewhat anxious.

“Sorry,” you said, “You’re right Hendery that works.” You placed your cup down. Chanmi started to scribble down what Hendery had said once you confirmed he had a good idea.

“What else do we need to be able to talk about?” you asked, Chanmi scanned down her list of questions.

“Well just reasons you like each other, you can make that up on the spot though basic things, maybe agree on the location of the first date and proposal and that’s about it, most of it will be a prepared statement given by Hendery and only a few questions by reporters.”

“Study date,” Hendery said, “for the first date, we should say we studied together, we have to explain in a way that explains why we haven’t ever been seen together, it plays up the star crossed lovers angle,” he said, “You can answer that one, I will talk about the proposal don’t worry about that.”

You nodded, hazarding another sip of your juice. Chanmi smiled.

“All set then, I will go and make sure everything else is set up well, you have another half an hour or so to just hang out or whatever,” she said.

You had been hoping she wasn’t going to leave you alone with Hendery which you knew was stupid because you had to live a whole lifetime with him, however you were postponing that until the last minute.

Chanmi ran out the door and the other two were still enjoying the food, watching a video in the corner, thankfully nobody was attacking at the current moment.

“We are finally left alone,” Hendery joked, “well at least mostly.” You looked up and smiled politely again, playing with your bracelet nervously.

“That’s pretty,” he commented, “where did you get it?”

“Jeno gave it to me when I turned eighteen, it’s from our home country.”

Hendery glanced over at Jeno who looked up from his phone and waved back. Hendery’s face changed slightly but you couldn’t read his expression.

“It’s meant to be charmed by a witch” you continued, “I wear it for luck.”

“Ah cool,” Hendery replied as he continued to watch you play nervously with the bracelet, “you don’t have to be so polite, if your nervous you can say, if you want to scream obscenities at me I wont stop you.”

You exhaled, the tension you held inside releasing slightly.

“It’s not your fault either, it isn’t an optimal situation for either of us so it would be unfair for me to scream obscenities. I’m not angry anyway. But nervous… that I am.”

“About the announcement?” he prompted. You glanced up at the ceiling, looking at the intricate pattern in the paint.

“Not in particular though it does unsettle me slightly. It’s more of an overall nervousness I would say…” Hendery seemed to want you to continue, “Well you seem polite and all, but I don’t know you and so giving up my life to marry you is somewhat scary. But sometimes in life you have to make sacrifices, and this is mine, as it is yours.”

Hendery kept looking at you before he got up, he walked round and sat down in the chair next to you where Chanmi had once been.

“I suppose I understand that better than anyone else ever will,” he said his face serious, “but I really mean it when I say I don’t want either of us to be unhappy, so I really will try my best, not for the sake of international relations but for the sake of ourselves.”

You smiled genuinely at him.

“I’m sure at worst I will only hate you a little bit,” you joked.

A text came through on your phone from Chanmi, you didn’t know when she had acquired your phone number, but you pushed that thought aside.

Makeup Time!!! Upstairs third room on the left

“I have to go, my beautification awaits,” you said.

“You’re already pretty,” Hendery said, you were going to laugh but Hendery seemed serious. You blushed slightly. You put your phone in your pocket and grabbed a water bottle of the table.

“Well thank you and see you later for the end of our lives,” you said.

“It’s not the end it’s the beginning!” Hendery called after you as you hurried out. Jeno saw you leaving and almost fell over running after you.

“I see you have made a new best friend,” you said to him, on the way to where you hoped you would find Chanmi.

“I can’t be stuck with the same four friends my whole life, can I?” he said, “And anyway you and Hendery seem pretty close, you were always obsessed with him.”

“I was never obsessed with him,” you shout whispered back to him, clearly not quietly enough as Chanmi, who was waiting at the top of the stairs intercepted the conversation.

“Obsessed with who? I don’t think I’m up to a secret boyfriend scandal, let’s make that clear now.” She said.

“It’s nothing,” you said, glaring at Jeno. Chanmi seemed happy to accept that and a few seconds later had you seated in a chair in front of a large mirror.

For the next hour you had to endure several people pulling your hair and prodding your face. By the end you did look better than you ever had but you were not sure if the sweat and tears were worth it.

You had no time to ponder this as Chanmi was already pushing you towards a clothes rack. Jeno decided it was time for him to wait outside the door, leaving just you, Chanmi and the clothes.

“Jeno isn’t the secret boyfriend, is he?” Chanmi asked, searching through the rack. You coughed, water almost dribbling out of your mouth.

“No. He’s my brother practically, in all honest he was making fun of me and Hendery. I used to watch Hendery on TV obsessively, not because I had a crush on him but because I thought the son of a dictator was an interesting character. I didn’t believe he could be the same person in life as he is on TV, so I watched him over and over hoping to catch him out.”

“I want to say that’s cute given the situation but really think we will just need to find you a hobby to take up,” Chanmi decided, her face determined, “you can pick from any of these three,” she handed you three similar dresses, you picked a flower one, similar to the ones you had at home but clearly more expensive.

Chanmi smiled,

“Your mother told me you loved flowers,”

That must have been where she got your phone number.

“It’s a beautiful dress,” you complimented her for finding it,

“It should be at the price it costs.”

You pulled your makeshift outfit off and put on the outfit. She gave you some earrings and a necklace.

“Don’t I need an engagement ring?” you asked her.

“Don’t worry about that,” she said with a knowing smile. Jeno knocked on the door at the same time.

“You need to get going,” he called. You smiled at Chanmi before following her out and back down the staircase. She led you into the room next to the conference room where a team of people were waiting.

A lady started explaining how the microphone worked and that you didn’t need to stand up to answer any questions. She fell silent when Hendery walked into the room, his father and yours right behind him. Your father gave you a quick smile before turning back to the President.

Hendery walked up behind you and tapped you on the shoulder lightly,

“Can I borrow you for one minute?” he asked, and you followed him into an empty room across the hall. It seemed to be a rather large bathroom. Hendery locked the door.

“Is this the part where you murder me?” you asked, trying to make a joke. Hendery didn’t seem to understand, he looked shocked,

“I would never hurt you, let alone murder you, y/n, I hope you know that,” he said earnestly.

“I was joking,” you said, trying to laugh to ease the tension but it sort of sounded more like you were having breathing issues.

“Okay good because we don’t have a lot of time,” he said. You smiled back at him.

“What did you want to tell me then, if your plan wasn’t murder?” cursing yourself for bringing the murder joke back as soon as you had said it, luckily whether out of politeness or genuine humour Hendery chuckled.

He started to get down on one knee,

“Oh no… you don’t need to do this,” you said to him, shaking your hands. Hendery just grinned.

“But I want to, I should at least propose to my fiancé,” he pulled a box out of his pocket to reveal a ring that must have cost a large fortune, not a small one, “Will you marry me?” His face now serious as he looked up at you with a certain hope in his eyes.

You were more nervous now than you had been all day, you clutched the ends of your dress, your nails digging into your skin. The reality of the situation ever increasing.

“Yes,” is all you managed to say, but it was all you needed to say, Hendery stood up and placed the ring on your finger, his own fingers cold. The heating was certainly lacking.

He was wearing a much nicer suit than before, this time it wasn’t at all damp looking either. He wore a black tie and a badge with his country’s flag on it.

“We need to go,” you managed to say, very aware of how close Hendery now was to you and how you didn’t need another reason to be nervous. An attractive man standing that close made you nervous.

“Let’s go then,” Hendery said unlocking the door and holding it open for you which you thanked him for, quickly walking back across the hall.

Chanmi grabbed you, clearly checking that Hendery had given you the ring, once she had seen it, she was satisfied.

“Time to shine,” she said pushing you towards the door.

The conference room had been set up with four seats, Hendery and the President in the middle, you and your father seated either side. You saw both your mothers watching from the front row with Chanmi. Jeno was standing with a line of bodyguards at the back, Chanmi had let you keep your bracelet on and so you felt somewhat calmer because of it.

Hendery sat down first and you walked across to sit next to him.

“You will be fine,” he whispered to you. At the same time his father began to speak.

“Today the Presidential House would like to make an announcement regarding the recent engagement of my son Hendery and his fiancé y/n, daughter to an ambassador to this country.” he said, “My son would like to read a short statement to this effect.”

“I would like to express to everyone who is watching my happiness on my engagement to the love of my life, y/n. Although we come from different countries, two that have not always agreed in the past, we have still managed to find each other and that is something I think is beautiful. I hope that all of our citizens can respect out forthcoming marriage and grow to love y/n just as much as I do.” He said smiling down at you at the end.

It made you feel sick, the words he said, lies.

Lies to a nation who would love to see your country burn, just meters away from a President who would let that happen if other countries wouldn’t condemn him for it.

The President then spoke again, of how this had allowed the two nations to come to a trade agreement and therefore how it must have been fate, though he was suspicious at first, he now recognised the power of true love.

In that moment you hated him. He may have given you an opportunity for peace but only in a manner that would cause your father to suffer through losing you to him. You hated him for how he used his own son to achieve this, it made you feel more sick than anything Hendery could ever say.

Yet the conference continued, and you sat with the same fake smile on your face, trying desperately to ensure a nation loved you, to ensure it was all worth it.

The questions began, the same ones Chanmi had promised, first date, favourite things,

“I love how hardworking he is,” you said,

“She is very determined and passionate,” Hendery said.

“Where did your engagement occur” they asked,

“You won’t believe me Jungwoo,” he began, of course he knew the reporter, “but I actually proposed here in a bathroom,” a shriek of laughter went up.

“Why a bathroom?” Jungwoo the reporter replied incredulous.

“Well actually we first met in a bathroom, y/n was with Lucas having dinner with some friends and he had invited me to come join, I walked in to see the bathroom door open and y/n crawling on the floor trying to find her earring and so I helped her search, so I suppose jewellery in a bathroom is sort of a fun joke to us.”

Though the story was false you felt calmer that Hendery somehow had not lied about the location of the proposal, he had made your relationship seem not one-hundred percent fake to you, for which you were grateful.

The interview ended shortly after. You filed out of the room and back into the hallway.

“That went brilliantly,” the President asserted, your father agreeing strongly, eager to please him. You loved your father, but you hadn’t realised he was a slightly weak man until that moment.

You turned to Hendery,

“Thank you for working in the true location of the proposal, its hard to explain why but it means a lot to me.”

“I get what you mean, it is the one thing about us that is true and that does mean something,” Hendery agreed, “that’s why I worked it into that ridiculous story, also its so ridiculous no one would ever believe I was lying.”

You started to notice Chanmi hovering, it was time for you to leave.

“I suppose I will see you for the ball tomorrow then?” you said. Hendery nodded.

You were about to leave when Hendery remembered something.

“Ah yeah, here’s my phone number, in case you need anything,” he said handing you a piece of paper from his pocket.

“Thank you, and thank you for the ring, it’s beautiful.”

“I picked it myself last week… the ring not the phone number,” he said. You laughed, properly, not out of any obligation.

“Bye Hendery.”

“Bye bye future wife.”

And with that you walked to Chanmi who lead you back out of the building and away.

You cried when you got home. You were understandably upset about the whole situation but when you pulled out your phone and the number Hendery had left and texted him saying

This is y/n btw

You felt somewhat better, it wasn’t Hendery you objected to, he seemed nice and maybe in another life you would even have chosen to date him.

It was the lack of freedom and the lies that upset you, it was the smile on the Presidents face when he announced he was suddenly able to agree to the trade deal terms. You could have punched a wall.

You didn’t even want to talk to Jeno.

But when Hendery replied with a screenshot of his phone where he had saved your name as ‘fiancé from the bathroom’ with a heart, you wanted to punch the wall a little less.

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

“Just breathe in more!” Chanmi shouted as she struggled to close the final clasp on the corset of your dress.

“Could you not have found a dress that fits a normal human?” You replied, red in the face from all the breathing in. Jeno and Jaemin were in fits of laughter in the corner watching, clearly finding your struggle rather amusing.

The dress Chanmi was wrestling you into was a beautiful lilac ballgown, one of the famous colours of Hendery’s country, he was going to wear a red tie, the colour of your own nation.

With one last breath in, Chanmi managed to secure it properly and you were able to breathe again, though not at full capacity, the dress had perhaps permanently destroyed your lung functionality.

“Right shoes on, we are almost late,” Chanmi continued running around, shoving one last hairpin into your hair.

It was the night of your engagement ball, even the name of the event sounded elaborate even to you.

Your phone told you that you had about three minutes to run to the top of the ballroom, to walk down the stairs, like something out of Cinderella.

You threw Jeno your phone and started to run, Chanmi running just as fast next to you.

“If that stupid dress had fit this wouldn’t have happened, now you’re going to be red in the face,” Chanmi complained, “I will fight that tailor.”

You had never heard such anger towards a dressmaker before so you refrained from making a statement about how the dress had made you red in the face, late or not.

You reached the door that led to the ballroom balcony with about a minute to spare. Chanmi started viscously fanning you with her schedule to an extent you couldn’t help but laugh.

Chanmi was so passionate about her job it was amazing, it took your mind off your nerves. You were about to walk down the stairs with about three hundred people watching you, you had to not fall, look graceful and most importantly make them love you.

And make them think you and Hendery were in love, there was also that.

Your face had almost returned to a normal colour as Chanmi raised up her fists to cheer you on and the balconey doors opened.

It took a second for your brain to remember what to do, but finally you stepped forward. You could see the ballroom below, filled with important people in expensive clothing. But at the bottom of the steps waiting you could also see Hendery.

You kept your eyes fixed on him as you descended, he was the only person in the room you recognised except for your own parents and therefore he was the only face you could look at without passing out due to nerves.

Peace between nations rested on the important people here liking you, believing you were worth the love of the President’s son. That was a heavy burden to bear and it weighed down on your shoulders that you had to keep perfectly upright even as you reached the final steps.

Hendery’s eyes looked in awe of you. You thanked God that at least one of you was a good actor.

He walked towards you, offering out his hand as you reached the ground. You reached out to meet him, his hand touching yours softly. It was the first time you had ever had physical contact with him.

It wasn’t like a movie, sparks didn’t fly when he touched your hand, but it did reassure you slightly that he hadn’t run away yet.

He leaned down and gently pressed his lips to the top of your palm.

“You look beautiful y/n,” he said, his eyes shining due to the reflection of the chandelier light above.

“You don’t look too bad yourself,” you said, forcing a giggle. It wasn’t that he didn’t look handsome, in truth he was possible the most handsome man you had ever seen at that moment in his black tie suit. You were just too nervous to laugh naturally, to act naturally.

Hendery smiled back up at you as the string music began to play.

“Shall we dance?” he asked, putting his other arm around your waist and pulling you closer. Luckily as the daughter of the ambassador you had learned to dance from a young age and therefore weren’t going to embarrass yourself.

“I fancy myself quite a good dancer,” you said smiling. Hendery nodded in agreement.

“You’re quite right about that, but I have to ask, am I really just not bad looking,” he said, leaning in closer to whisper the last part. You blushed slightly,

“I’m sure you know your very handsome Hendery,” you said before leaning in yourself to whisper in his ear, “and I agree with you, leaning and whispering is a good tactic to make us seem close.”

His eyes narrowed before he chuckled.

“You’re a smart woman y/n.”

You carried on dancing until the song ended at which point the President came over.

“May I cut in?” he asked, Hendery stepped back, the smile from his face immediately gone. In contrast you plastered a fake smile onto yours.

“It would be my honour,” you affirmed, when really the thought of dancing with such a horrendous man repulsed you. Physically the President was almost attractive as his son just many years older, yet you hated him so much so just the thought of touching him made you want to flee.

The music started up and you began to waltz.

“You and Hendery looked happy dancing,” he remarked.

“We get on reasonably well,” you replied simply. It wasn’t a lie.

“That pleases me to hear, I wouldn’t want to make either of you unhappy.” He also didn’t seem to be lying, and maybe he wasn’t but he was still willing to risk his own son’s happiness to make a point and so every word he said to you was like poison.

“Your son is a very smart and kind person, I am sure we will be a happy couple.” You said it because you had to make him happy but you did also wish it would be true. You hoped one day you and Hendery could be happy together for real.

You just had to fall in love with him first.

You danced until the end of the song, then you danced with about five state officials before you finally had to sit down. You were good at wearing heels but dancing for such an extended period of time was tiring.

You watched Hendery as you sat, dancing with the wives of the officials, his face smiling casually. He was instantly likeable just like on TV, yet you still didn’t believe he was really like that all of the time. You still wanted to find out if he had any cracks.

Lost in thought you didn’t notice Hendery standing in front of you, his hair slightly sweaty from all the dancing.

“Why are you sitting alone?” he asked.

“I don’t know many people here and I’ve always been a pretty solitary person, symptomatic of having to be guarded twenty-four seven,” you said, nodding back to where Jeno and Jaemin were at the edge of the room only metres away.

“Well lonely lady, we need to make a toast,” he said offering his arm for you to take. You stood up, the pain of your shoes starting up once again and linked your arm with his.

“We can’t all be sociable Mr. Perfect,” you joked back. Hendery looked away grinning,

“That’s not how I come across is it?”

“Don’t pretend you don’t know, you always seem perfect, dancing just now, in all your TV interviews..”

He cut you off,

“You watch me on TV?” he asked, seeming genuinely surprised.  

“Don’t think to highly of yourself, I can’t help that you are always on the television, you’re the joy of a nation, there is whole magazines that basically only write about you and Lucas.”

Hendery chuckled again.

“And now they will only write about you and me,” he said. You had reached the top of the balcony where a member of staff signalled for the music to stop.

Hendery had just stepped forward to speak when it happened. At first you couldn’t be sure, all you heard was a loud bang and the sound of people screaming, then another bang occurred and Hendery let go of your arm, grabbed your hand and started to run pulling you behind him. You saw a group of men start to chase you up the stairs.

Your feet were in the most pain you had ever felt from wearing shoes but you kept running behind Hendery, holding onto his hand as tightly as you could, not knowing where he was running to but knowing that if you stopped the men behind could potentially try to kill you.

Hendery suddenly stopped by a door and flung it open, letting go of your hand to shut it quickly and locked it as soon as you were inside.

You opened your mouth to speak, Hendery shook his head raising his finger to his mouth indicating you should say silent. He turned the light off and got his phone torch out. He seemed to be searching for something but you couldn’t help him because you didn’t know what it was.

Seconds later you saw him lift some of the bathroom tiles that were fixed together to create a secret trapdoor. He pressed his thumb to the top corner of the tile which flashed green. Despite your fear you couldn’t help be impressed by the James Bond level tech this house seemed to have.

Hendery lifted the door up and motioned for you to climb in, you stepped back into the hole, your feet finding a ladder and you began to climb down as fast as you could, Hendery following, he managed to close the door just as you heard people attempt to kick the bathroom door down.

The ladder led down to what seemed to be a secret bunker. There was a final door which Hendery opened this time with his eye. The bunker was a small room, it had a bed and bottles of water but not much else.

Hendery sighed out once he had shut the outer door. You slumped down on the bed, your back leaning against the wall. Hendery walked over and handed you a cup of water.

“You can talk here, it’s soundproof,” he said but you were too shell-shocked to get any words out.

The first thing you could clearly think about was the pain in your feet, the running had caused your feet to start bleeding, something you noticed as you pulled the shoes off.

You ripped part of your dress and put the water on it, using it to wipe the blood from your feet.

Hendery sat down next to you, almost as shocked as you were, even if he was trying his best to hide it.

A bomb must have gone off, was your first thought, the ball had been attacked, probably in protest. You felt hot tears fall down your face at the realisation. Your parents had been down there, you didn’t know if they were safe.

Hendery seemed to snap out of his own thoughts, staring at you with concern. At least he wasn’t stupid enough to ask if you were okay.

You wiped the tears from your eyes furiously,

“Sorry,” you said, “I’m not usually such a baby.”

Your words seemed to cause Hendery more concern.

“Given the situation I don’t think crying makes you a baby,” he said. You shrugged.

“It’s not the first attack on my life in this country,” you replied, which was true, it was the fourth. People on both sides really did hate the other.

“It doesn’t matter how many times you’ve… You have the right to be upset, to be scared, those are all normal emotions.”

“You’re not crying, why should I,” you countered. In any other situation you thought Hendery probably would have laughed.

“I don’t have the right, it was my father who got us both into this situation.”

“Your father,” you said, “not you.” The thought Hendery saw the situation as any way his fault, made you feel so much worse. You couldn’t stop your tears from flowing silently down your face.

Hendery looked at you with sad eyes, before he shuffled closer to you, wrapping his arm around your shoulder, bringing your head down onto his shoulder as he held you.

“I don’t ever object to my father, I’m not any better,” he mused sadly.

“I could have said no,” you whispered in reply, “but I didn’t in the hope that marring you would stop attacks like this, not against me but against my people and against yours. I like to believe Hendery that what we are doing is not in fear of your father, but creating peace in spite of your father.”

“Why has it ended with your cheering me up?” Hendery said, staring down at you.

“We are helping each other, a team for life right? You have a right to be scared an upset.” You quoted him on the last part.

“Are your feet okay?” Hendery asked, suddenly worried again. You looked down at your cut feet, the bleeding mostly stopped.

“I don’t think it’s life threatening.”

Hendery chuckled.

A moment later you heard the door bang. You both stood up, your worry for your feet gone again. Hendery held your hand, pushing you to stand behind him protectively, the door banged again before opening, your nails digging into the skin of Hendery’s hand.

“Are you okay y/n?!” you heard Jeno’s voice. You sighed with relief when you saw him standing at the door with Sicheng right next to him.

You ran over and threw your arms around him.

“What happened? What’s happening?” you heard Hendery ask Sicheng.

“Terrorists, protesting the trade agreement and demanding war, two bombs, luckily not strong but there was still five dead and twelve in critical condition.” Sicheng reported.

“Who, do you know who is dead?” you said letting go of Jeno and turning to face Sicheng.

“Nobody you would know Miss y/n,” he said, “Both of your parents are fine, your father has suffered a few minor injuries but nothing worrying,” he added. You breathed out a sigh of relief, something you felt terrible for given the tragedy.

Sicheng and Jeno led you both back out into the open and along to where both of your parents were waiting. Your father had a sling around his neck and the President had a large cut on his cheek, he had clearly been hit by a bit of shrapnel.

The President came over and started to apologise as your mother ran over to hug you.

“Hendery took me to an escape shelter,” you explained to her as she sobbed into your chest. You could tell she wanted to say she wished she had never let this marriage go ahead.

“I hope that what happened today doesn’t change your mind about anything?” was all the President asked. Hendery looked like he wanted to punch him, but his mouth stayed shut and he didn’t hit anyone.

You managed to remove yourself from your mother’s grip.

“It only reinforces the need for this marriage to go ahead.” You said.

“Then we think it is best for you to move in here for safety reasons. You can still have two of your own bodyguards but we feel the added protection would help. As you have seen we have many precautions in place in times of emergency.”

“Obviously you can have your own room,” Hendery’s mother added, “We can even work together with Chanmi to decorate it the way you like.”

Your heart dropped, you had forgotten about Chanmi, though Hendery’s mother mentioning her must have meant she was fine.

“Is she okay, Chanmi?” you asked to nobody in particular.

“She just had to get stitches in her arm,” Sicheng said, “Not the bomb but she was stabbed by an assailant looking for you.”

You wanted to bs sick, all of these people hurt because of your fake marriage. You put your hand to your head, almost falling over as your legs wobbled. Hendery managed to catch you, helping you stand straight, not letting go of you.

“Can we discuss this tomorrow father, I think y/n needs to rest, this has been a rather traumatising day,” he said.

Before you could protest that you were fine his father nodded.

“Let her sleep in your bed until we can get a room ready for y/n tomorrow, you can sleep in Sicheng’s room,” he said.  Your parents didn’t protest. So Hendery helped you walk from the room, Jeno following behind, now with Jaemin and Sicheng.

“Five’s company,” you joked. Hendery didn’t laugh or say anything in return, his mouth set in a firm line. He didn’t say anything at all until you reached his room.

His room was at the end of a long corridor filled with doors, it really was a massive house. He opened the door and walked in with you, shutting it behind him, the three guards waiting outside.

He sat you down on his bed that was perfectly made. You stared around his room, all of it neat and tidy, you hadn’t expected otherwise. He had some photos of Lucas and him hanging on the wall and one of him with his parents.

He had an Xbox under the tv and a bowl full of keys to expensive cars, you thought it was funny how the things he liked were such stereotypical boy things.

The one thing in the room that surprised you was his bedside tables. One had a stack of books by the lamp, but the other had a picture of you and him, the one of only a few that existed, taken on one of your visits to his house in order for a press release later on.

Hendery saw you staring at it.

“That one was my favourite, so I told my mother she couldn’t give it to the press, something has to be sacred to our fake marriage.”

The word fake hurt to hear, even if it was true. You really wished you had met Hendery under any other circumstance but this.

“Get some sleep, we can talk in the morning, I’m really sorry all this has happened.” Hendery said, turning to leave. You grabbed his arm softly to stop him.

“Hendery,” you said standing up, “thank you for saving us,” you said with a sad smile, “apart from Jeno you’re the only person to ever save me from an attack.”

Hendery bit his lip,

“Of all the things that I wish made me equal Jeno to you, I really wish it hadn’t been having to save you from being killed,” he said it somewhat jokingly but you knew he had said it in earnest.

You stepped towards Hendery and wrapped your arms around him, resting your head on his shoulder.

“I wish we had met in another life, in another way,” you began, your words partly muffled by his shirt against your lips, “I don’t know you well, but I think you are a person I will be proud to marry,” you moved your head back to look up at him.

“I hope you’re right,” he said before wrapping his arms around you in return. You stood like that for a moment longer before Hendery let go.

“Try and sleep,” he said, before leaving, the door shutting softly behind him.

You woke up from nightmare after nightmare through the night. You stared at the photo of you and Hendery in the frame, you looked so happy even if the happiness was fake. You finally fell asleep soundly dreaming of a life in which you and Hendery were truly happy.

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

You woke up to the light shining through the gap in the large curtains as you realised you had forgotten to close them properly.

It was your second week in your room at the President’s House and yet you still weren’t used to it. You heard a knock at the door, the repeated nature of which told you it was Chanmi. She had come back to work shortly after being released from hospital even though you had begged her to take a month or so off.

She was unfortunately not a month off type of person. She walked in without waiting for your answer, sighing when she saw you still hadn’t gotten out of bed.

“You know you have your first live TV interview today, get up!” she instructed. You laid back down pulling the duvet back over your head.

You still weren’t really able to think straight all the emotions of the last month were still processing in your mind, you didn’t know how you felt never mind how to pretend to convey how your pretend self felt on national television.

“It’s just one interview, I’m sure Hendery can do all the talking on the attack related questions,” she said clearly trying to cheer you up but you didn’t feel any better. You felt bad that the explanation seemed to rest on Hendery’s shoulders by default, you were sad that you were the cause of the attack and worst of all you knew you had to tell a whole country they shouldn’t attack you because you loved Hendery when that wasn’t really true.

While you had grown closer on that night, you hadn’t properly talked to him since. He was always busy with work, he worked for his father in his free time, training for a high up government position.

You had spoken to him briefly at meals but you really just didn’t know what to say to him, how to talk to him when at the same meals he agreed with everything his father said about politics, most of which you silently disagreed with.

Politics wasn’t everything but in a political marriage it meant a lot.

So you had been left alone with your thoughts mostly, you had gotten a few lessons from the publicity about how to deal with the media and lessons on the countries culture but it wasn’t really anything you hadn’t learned as the ambassadors daughter.

“I’ve thought a lot about what I want to say, I think I can really help if I speak about the attack,” you said to Chanmi. You had spent a lot of this free time thinking, thinking about how to save the political marriage, about how to save everyone around you from the fallout it would cause.

“Well then even better,” Chanmi replied smiling but the apprehension on her face at your words was clear.

So an hour later you found yourself knocking on the door of Hendery’s study.

“Come in,” he called out, you turned the door handle and pushed the door open, “I was just about to come and find you y/n,” he said.

“I was thinking about the interview,” you began, “I know the plan is for you to speak about the incident and ask that people respect me and so on, but I really think it would help if I speak for myself.”

Hendery didn’t say anything which also wasn’t an objection so you continued.

“I agreed to this marriage to avoid conflict, I don’t want to create it, I don’t want to just wait around carrying this weight of the decision I have made without even being able to speak myself on it. I want to take responsibility for the weight of my own actions.”

Hendery stood up from his chair and walked around the desk leaning back to half sit on the front so he wasn’t talking to you from so far away.

“You are braver than I will ever be,” he said, “if you want to speak for yourself then of course you can.”

“I don’t think being responsible for my choices is brave, it’s a requirement to me. You were prepared to take responsibility for our marriage too, I don’t see why you think it’s brave,” you said.

Hendery looked up at the ceiling, twisting his pen back and forth between his fingers.

“I thought if I was going to be responsible for one choice I made in my life it was going to be marrying you.”

“How so?” you asked, taking a seat in the armchair at the side of the room.

“I see how you look at me at dinner when I agree with my father and the atrocious opinions he has. You hide it well but I can tell. I agree with my father even though I know he’s wrong and that’s partly because I didn’t know how wrong he was until he forced this marriage. I realised that he had been manipulating me my whole life. He always used to say the decisions he made were for the best, for the people for me but when he made us get married I finally understood that he was just playing games.”

“Then why do you agree with him still?”

“Maybe I am a coward, maybe I still believe that he wants whats right deep down but I don’t really believe either of those to answers. I just don’t see the benefit in disagreeing with him.” He explained.

“If you did then maybe he would question his own opinions,” you suggested, “hearing it from his own son.”

“His own son who he would marry off just to win a political game. I can’t win against my father but if I obey him I can try and make some good, marrying you will do good in the long term, even if it is part of his game, so that is what I choose to be responsible for because I believe in the power of it.”

You could hear the pain in Hendery’s voice as he spoke but also the determination. You started to understand him a bit more.

“Maybe he wins the short game, but we will win the long game,” you said, Hendery looked about to ask you to elaborate but you didn’t let him, “Interview time,” you got up and opened the door, “time to pretend you love me.”

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

You looked in the mirror just before you went to sit next to Hendery on the set, your makeup was perfect, your hair done, you looked amazing. You had gotten rid of the flowery dresses that you loved for this interview though, today you wore a tailored suit, today you were going to show the country you meant business.

You sat down uncomfortably closer to Hendery but you knew it would look weird if you had sat half a foot away.

The interviewer was a woman who didn’t seem to like you very much as she scowled at you but you didn’t let it affect you. You answered all her questions about your ‘love story’ and smiled up at Hendery as you told the gushing details.

“So what do you say to people who disagree with this relationship, clearly after the terrible act of terrorism that occurred at your engagement party it would be better for everyone if you just broke up?”

“We will not be intimidated by haters or people who write mean comments online or even despicable criminals. We love each other and we will get married. We feel our love conveys how it is possible for both our nations to come to love each other also so that senseless violence will no longer occur, to us our love is about more than just us, it is our love for each other yes, but also everyone on both sides of the border.” You answered.

“How lovely,” the reporter said with a fake smile, “well I think we know one way to appease the viewers,” she said.

“And what is that, we would be happy to oblige,” Hendery said, reminding you exactly of all the times you watched him on TV. He was too perfect on TV you found it unnerving now you had started to get to know him.

“a kiss between the happy couple to be,” she grinned. If you hadn’t known it was impossible you would have thought she knew your marriage was fake. You tried not to look alarmed, Hendery didn’t seem to be phased.

“Is that proper?” you asked, trying to see if you could wiggle your way out.

“It’s the twenty-first century I’m sure it’s fine,” the reporter said. Before you could continue to argue Hendery leaned in and placed a quick peck on your lips.

“How sweet,’ the reporter cooed, “that’s all we have time for today, thank you to Hendery and y/n for joining us, see you next Tuesday for an interview with everyone’s favourite chef.”

Your face burned red and when you looked over you saw the same blush come over Hendery’s face just not to the same degree. He thanked the reporter before grabbing your hand and pulling you up. He led you out into the open air where cameras flashed as you walked quickly towards the car.

Hendery wrapped his arm around you pushing past the reports until Jeno could open the car door allowing both of you to climb in. Once they had gotten in the row of seats behind and all the doors were shut you breathed out a large sigh.

“I’m sorry,” Hendery said quickly, “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable I just…” You shook your head.

“No its fine, I’m not mad at you I just struggle with the situation as you already know.”

Considering Sicheng, Jeno and the driver were all also in the car neither of you took the conversation any further until you had gotten out of the car and were standing in the empty kitchen drinking water.

“I don’t want you to think I don’t like you,” you said to Hendery, “you’re a really nice person and if we had met under any other circumstance…”

It was Hendery’s turn to shake his head,

“You don’t need to explain.”

“I want to. You told me your feelings earlier I will return the favour.” You took a sip of your water, your mouth feeling dry all of a sudden.

“I always knew I would end up marrying for political advantage, I never let myself like boys, not that I had the chance to meet any, I just thought maybe I would have a pick of three or something.” You stopped yourself, “Sorry again I really don’t mean that as an insult to you.”

“No I get what you’re saying…” he thought for a second, “That wasn’t your first kiss, oh I’m so sorry if it was… live on TV as well.”

You laughed.

“Don’t worry not quite the first, I kissed Jeno once actually a few years ago to see if we had feelings for each other, we realised very quickly we didn’t, we were mostly just bored I guess.”

You knew the same wasn’t true for Hendery, while he wasn’t as bad as Lucas he still had a reputation for girls leaving his hotel room at 3am. While you had abstained from romance all together, he had gone the other way and thrust himself into meaningless sex. You understood his choice even if it wasn’t the one you made.

“So you’ve never had a boyfriend?” Hendery asked, he wasn’t judging he was just curious.

“Nope, I’ve never liked a boy and so maybe that’s why all this with you is a bit harder but it doesn’t mean I’m mad you kissed me, you had no choice and we are engaged after all.”

Hendery took a few steps towards you, putting his drink down on the table. His eyes searching your face.

“Would you be mad if I kissed you now, when I did have a choice?” He asked. You thought about to for a second, while you weren’t in love with Hendery you did find him attractive and he was a caring person and you were going to spend your life married to him. So you made a choice.

“No, I wouldn’t be mad,” you said slowly, your heart beginning to beat faster. Hendery took two more steps forward, he reached over and took your drink out from your hand placing it down on the table.

He smiled,

“I think I like you y/n,” he said, his gaze flicking between your eyes and your lips and before you knew it he was kissing you. Tentatively at first, clearly trying not to overwhelm you but as you began to kiss him back more urgently he followed suit, his hands tangling in your hair as your own arms slid round his waist.

It was different to when you had kissed Jeno, it was so much more enjoyable, you realised that was because you liked Hendery. It felt like your whole body was on fire as his tongue played with yours gently, when he bit down slightly on your lip you let out a soft moan causing your ears to burn red.

But it didn’t dissuade Hendery, instead he smiled into the kiss, before going back to kissing you just as passionately before, pressing you up against the kitchen wall.

A few minutes later he pulled away.

“I think if I don’t stop now we will end up somewhere we don’t wanna go just yet, we do have a lifetime,” he joked, pecking your lips again.

“I think I like you too,” you said to him, your cheeks still red as he beamed at you.

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

You started to chat more to Hendery, meeting him in the garden after dinner sometimes, seeing if you were able to hide from Jeno and Sicheng, something you quickly realised was impossible.

You also quickly realised how stressful Hendery’s life was. While your father’s job had isolated you it had never been something you personally had to be involved with. Hendery’s work for his father was hard, especially on top of the university work you still both had, even if the professors were emailing it for safety reasons.

You had arranged to meet Hendery in the garden after lunch but he never arrived. You wondered around the house looking for him, eventually spotting Sicheng standing outside the library.

“Have you seen Hendery?” you enquired, Sicheng nodded his head lightly.

“He’s working in there, I guess he forgot to meet you… I wouldn’t take it personally the President is expecting a lot from him lately.” You truly felt bad for Hendery and how he was treated. All the President expected from you was to learn to sit straight, something you already learned at the age of four. The misogyny of the upper classes.

“Tell him he has to stop working by six, the doctors’ orders,” you said, “tell him to find me in the kitchen!” and before Sicheng could argue you had already raced back down the corridor to sort some things out.

You asked the people who worked in the kitchen where you could find the ingredients to make cookies, the immediately offered to make some for you but you assured them making them yourself was the point.

You stashed the cookie ingredients in the family fridge before racing off again. You had hours to set up your plan but you wanted it to be perfect so you wasted no time. If you weren’t allowed to be involved in state affairs you could at least support your fiancé who was.

Only a few doors down from your room was a little sitting room with a sofa and a tv that was seldom used. In the whole month you had spent in the house you had never seen another person in there.

One of the reasons setting everything up took so long was because you weren’t sure where things in the house were kept. You could have asked someone but you wanted it to be a secret between just you and Hendery.

So when Jeno asked why you were forcing him to run after you like a maniac you refused to give a reason.

You eventually found a cupboard where spare blankets and pillows were kept, chucking as many as possible on top of Jeno whilst picking up just as many yourself.

On the sitting room floor you laid out all the blankets and pillows until it looked as cosy as anything.

Working out how the TV worked was a half hour task in itself, it was so modern you weren’t sure how it worked or how the remote worked but eventually you found Netflix.

Sooner than you expected it you were standing back in the kitchen waiting for Hendery. He arrived not soon after at six-fifteen, his face slightly pale and a tired look on his face.

“Sorry I didn’t come meet you in the garden earlier I was just so busy…” you cut him off, placing a finger over his lips.

“No apologies, just fun relaxing activities,” you explained, pulling the cookie ingredients back out of the fridge.

It turned out neither of you had any clue how to bake but cookies were simple. Flour ended up everywhere and you couldn’t help but think how cute Hendery looked as he smiled, butter smudged on his cheek.

“We have to cook them for ten minutes, so they are still gooey,” you said, going over to the sink and grabbing a cloth, “your face is dirty come here.”

Hendery walked over to you and crouched down slightly so you could clean his face, you chuckled at how cute he was.

“All better,” you said, wiping the butter away, your eyes lingering on his cheek. Hendery caught your gaze and smiled.

“Come here you have something on your cheek too,” he said, you were confused you had checked in the reflection of the oven just a minute ago and there hadn’t been anything.

Hendery leaned in closer to your face before placing a quick kiss on your cheek. Your face blushed slightly pink as Hendery stood up straight again grinning.

“Oh maybe there was nothing there after all,” he said. You shook your head in mock disapproval, saved from your shy embarrassment by the noise of the cooker beeping.

You carefully removed the cookies from the oven and slid them into a bowl. Hendery reached in to take one but you swatted his hand away.

“You will burn yourself if you touch it now, and anyway they are for later.”

Hendery seemed confused. You didn’t bother explaining, you picked up the cookie bowl in one hand and took Hendery’s hand in your other and starting leading him to your blanket extravaganza.

You had gotten some staff to leave actual dinner in the room, you hadn’t been confident enough in either of your skills to make a whole dinner, it probably wouldn’t have had the light-hearted fun vibe you were after if you ended up with raw chicken.

“Pick a Netflix movie,” you said as you settled down into the blankets, eating your food as Hendery found a movie to watch.

By halfway through the film both of you had turned your focus away from eating and solely to the movie. But without the food to think about you began to notice more how close Hendery was sitting next to you.

He seemed to be slowly moving closer and closer to you, his hand resting nearer to yours by the minute. So when the movie reached a slightly scary part you felt no shame and hiding your face in Hendery’s arm.

“You don’t need to be scared,” he said, you glared at him jokingly.

“Says the man who is scared of frogs,” you teased back. Hendery’s mouth opened wide,

“How did you, how, what?” he asked.

“I’ve been asking around about you,” you said in your best attempt to flirt. Your isolated lifestyle hadn’t given you much practise.

“You’re cute,” he observed, looking down at you, taking the opportunity to place his arm around your shoulder, pulling you closer to him, “thank you for doing this,” he said over the sound of the movie playing in the background.

“If you ever need a break just call me up, I’m nonstop fun,” you said, immediately regretting how the statement had come across more sexual than it had in your head. Hendery just grinned.

“But seriously, I can tell your stressed and so if you ever want to talk about how stressed you are or just get things of your chest, I’m willing to listen.”

Hendery sighed lightly. He didn’t speak for a while, his hand fiddling with the corner of one of the blankets, his muscles slightly tensed.

“If… If you would be happier not marrying me, I want you to tell me, I will talk to my father, I will find a way. You’re too kind and beautiful a person y/n to be stuck marrying someone for politics. I want you to be happy.”

His words shocked you but you couldn’t help smiling but not for the reason Hendery thought. You wriggled out from under his arm moving to sit directly in front of him, your legs crossed opposite where he sat, hugging his legs.

“Meeting you has been the one thing that has seemed like real life to me, even if this is an orchestrated marriage, The fact that you would be willing to talk to your father to make me happy, is the exact reason I am willing to try marrying you. Even if there is another way, I still choose this way.”

Hendery still looked conflicted.

“But what if, in the future, you don’t feel the same way, you regret making this choice, choosing me?” he asked.

“While I still don’t consider this marriage a choice, doesn’t mean I wouldn’t chose to date you under different circumstances. And you are correct, I cannot see the future and someday I may not feel how I feel now. But I know two things that are true. One is that your father is unlikely to listen to you no matter what and so this marriage is still necessary. Two, right now the thought of marrying you doesn’t scare me, it makes me somewhat happy, even if the circumstance doesn’t. Even if marriage for us is like dating for others, I chose right now to take responsibility for not even letting you try to convince your father.”

You looked straight into Hendery’s eyes. The hope that you saw appear in his eyes was enough to make you want to cry. This marriage to Hendery, the chance to make you happy, it was his hope, the only hope he felt he had of doing something positive.

Your marriage to Hendery was going to bring good to the world, to his world and your own. You knew that was something to be proud of, you knew that you wanted to love him.

You kissed his lips briefly before pulling away again.

“You should sleep,” you encouraged him, “you are handsome but tired looking.”

“It would be a better sleep if you slept with me,” he joked with a wink. You pushed him lightly on the shoulder.

“Whilst I may have kissed someone before you, I have not shared a bed with a guy before and will not be starting today,’ you asserted. Hendery nodded, getting up,

“Well my door is always open, I’m a great at cuddles.”

He leaned down and kissed your forehead softly.

“Goodnight y/n,” he said, “I will sleep better dreaming of you.”

You blushed in the darkness of the room as he walked away. The man was to charming for his own good.

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

You saw it on the news first,

“Breaking story, five tourists from our neighbouring country have been arrested on suspicions of undisclosed crimes, they are currently being held by the state government, a decision that is being viewed with mixed reactions.”

You stood up, your first instinct to go to Hendery’s study and ask him if he knew what was going on.

But when you tried to leave your room you found it looked from the outside, something you hadn’t known was possible. You began to bang on the door, shouting at whoever had locked it on the other side, but to no avail.

You eventually sat back down and turned the news back on, having no other real plan of action. The news revealed that the tourists had supposedly robbed a bank but it was an accusation you were very suspicious of.

You tried ringing Hendery but every time the phone went straight to voicemail and you didn’t bother leaving a message. You tried searching the internet but you didn’t have a 3G signal and the Wi-Fi seemed to be broken.

You rang your mother next to ask if she knew anything, she said that all she knew was that there had been no bank robbery and they were being held as political leverage. You wanted to scream, you picked up the closet item to you, a shoe, and threw it as hard against the wall as possible.

At the same time you heard the lock on the door turn and Sicheng enter,

“Are you all right?” he asked, “I heard a bang.” You couldn’t believe Hendery’s personal guard was the one keeping you locked up.

“Why can’t I leave?” you asked, “Why won’t Hendery pick up my calls?”

“The President doesn’t want to risk the chance you could talk to the press… as for Hendery I don’t know… as soon as he heard what was about to happen he insisted I tell Jeno we swapped guarding duty for the day.”

After seeing you were okay Sicheng left again, locking the door once he was outside. You wanted to believe that Hendery played no role but the changing of the guards so that Jeno couldn’t let you out was suspicious.

A few hours later Sicheng opened the door and passed you some food into the room but you felt too sick to eat. What was the point of the marriage if it didn’t even keep your country people safe.

Finally your phone rang, Hendery was calling you back. You wanted to ignore it out of spite but you knew the situation was more important than that.

“What the fuck Hendery,” was all you said when you picked up.

“I’m sorry,” he replied.

“Don’t be sorry, just explain to me what the actual fuck is going on here.”

“My father will let them go… he just needs your father to agree to one of the more controversial trade terms. I asked him not to do this, I really tried but,”

“You didn’t have to get Sicheng to guard me,” you countered. Hendery paused for a second.

“I… I just don’t want my father to get angry at you, Jeno would have let you leave and then he would have been fired and my father… he would have made life harder for you and your country,” he tried to explain.

“I’m not seven Hendery I can make my own choices. Your choice to ensure I’m locked up means you don’t trust I won’t do anything stupid any more than your father would.”

You were really angry, to an extent you understood Hendery’s motivations, you understood he was trying to help you. Yet you also disagreed with his methods and you were angry he didn’t trust you.

“I’m smart enough to know that talking badly about your father to the press wouldn’t help achieve what we are trying to with this marriage…” you didn’t have the energy to argue with him.

“I’ll send Jeno back,” Hendery said, his voice barely a whisper, “I never want to upset you y/n that will never be my goal, I know your intelligent, probably more so than me. My father is a scary man and I let my fear of him overpower my trust in you and for that I really do apologise.”

“If you look into your own heart, and you find nothing wrong there, what is there to worry about? What is there to fear?” you replied.

“Is it really time to quote Confucius?” Hendery asked. You smiled to yourself.

“I was just proving I really am intelligent, and anyway I mean it, you are a good person Hendery, trust me, yourself, our marriage will outlast your father and then maybe things can change.”

“My closest ally on the advisory board thinks they will release the prisoners tomorrow and call the situation a misunderstanding, just wait until then,”

“Goodnight,” you said before hanging up the phone. You were still angry, but not at Hendery. You had never made a habit of disliking people never mind hating them, but the President was a man you really hated.

The next afternoon at around 4pm the tourists were released and a short statement was made about a cultural misunderstanding. One the President hoped would not be repeated in the future after the joining of the two nations.

You wanted to stab him through the TV, but why waste a perfectly good TV.

You heard a small knock at the door, you thought it was Jeno telling you that you could come out now, roam free, inside the prison of a house.

Instead stood Hendery, eyes as tired as ever, his face as defeated as your own. He said nothing, merely walked over to where you were perched at the end of your bed and sat down.

He opened his mouth to speak but you shook your head.

“Nothing we can say makes it better, so it’s better to say nothing at all,” you said, before wrapping your arms around him and pulling him towards you. For those few minutes where you just hugged him you thought of nothing. You worried about nothing, you just felt the peace that holding him close brought you.

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

“You look beautiful,” Jaemin said to you, you think it was the nicest comment he had ever said to you, it was your wedding day after all, “I’m still sad you wouldn’t let me be a bridesmaid.”

You resisted the temptation to chuck some hairpins at him. You hadn’t thought your bodyguards would have looked good in dresses so you had convinced Hendery to make them the other three of his five groomsmen along with Sicheng and Lucas.

“I think Chanmi looks prettier in pink,” you replied, which was only followed by more protests of ‘”she’s wearing blue, not pink,”- a technicality.

Speaking of Chanmi,

“Five minutes,” she called out. You pushed your earrings in, your hands trembling slightly as you got up and saw yourself standing in front of the mirror dressed in white. The gown was beautiful, expensive, everything you could have dreamed of.

You felt so sick. Jeno walked over and grabbed your hand. He was going to walk in front of you the whole way with Chanmi, the male bridesmaid Jaemin wished he could be.

Chanmi held your other hand and squeezed tightly, reassuring you as they led you down the stairs and out to the car in which your father was waiting. Jeno sat in the front as Chanmi gathered up your dress, making sure it all fit in the car before sitting down beside you.

“What a beautiful day for it,” your father remarked. You nodded back but didn’t open your mouth to speak, you thought you would throw up if you did.

The car drove on in silence, you clutched at some vow cards Chanmi had prepared for you. Reaching over and rolling down the window you chucked them out.

“I’ll just wing it,” you said to her horrified glance, but she never let go of your hand.

The car pulled up outside the church moments later, you could hear the low murmur of the guests inside as Jeno opened the door and helped you out.

Sicheng who was waiting by the door for the rest of the groomsmen looked less anxious to see they had actually arrived just in front of you. They headed inside the church as you tried your best not to hyperventilate outside on the church steps.

“Being your best friend has been my honour,” Jeno said to you, leaning down to kiss your cheek. Through your panic you still managed to look up at him confused.

“You will always be my best friend, getting fake married doesn’t change that,” you replied. Jeno held both of your hands,

“You are not getting fake married though, it may not be a marriage of love but it is a real marriage and for that reason I really hope for you, that he becomes your best friend, that he can take my place and support you like I always have. We never loved each other like that but I hope he loves you like that because you will always be my almost sister and I love you. Don’t be afraid, you’re saving a nation, be proud, and love him too,” he said, a tear fell from your cheek, “no crying, someone worked hard on that makeup.”

You let go of his hands and hugged him.

“I love you too almost bro,” you said as the wedding march began to play and some flower girls that you didn’t even know entered through the doors. Chanmi ran over and gave you a quick hug.

“You will rule the world one day y/n,” she laughed as she let go, handing Jeno a bouquet as they both walked in after the flower girls.

Just you and your father were left, you wiped the tear from your cheek and walked over to him, putting a smile on your face. You could tell he was already sad, you didn’t want to make it worse.

“Time to get married,” you whispered, linking your arm with his and staring onwards. 

The doors opened and you stared down the aisle in front of you. You saw Jaemin, Renjun and Chenle standing next to Sicheng and Lucas on the stage. You saw the reverend, you saw your mother, Jeno and Chanmi sitting in the front row, you saw the president and his wife sitting on the other side.

Finally your eyes focused on him as you got closer, step by step.

The sickness you had once felt, gone, the moment you locked eyes with him. His eyes held the same trepidation as yours but the shone through the church as he looked at you.

Your father let go of your arm, kissing your check, before you took Hendery’s hands instead.

The reverend read out a whole spiel but you weren’t really listening, you just stared up at Hendery, trying your best to focus on him and not falling over.

“Today, I promise you this: I will laugh with you in times of joy, and comfort you in times of sorrow. I will share in your dreams and support you as you strive to achieve your goals. I will listen to you with compassion and understanding, and speak to you with encouragement. Let us be partners, and friends, today and all of the days that follow,” Hendery said. His words were the first ones you had really heard.

You took a sharp breath inwards realising it was your own turn to speak.

“I had prepared something to say, but I wanted to speak from the heart instead. I promise to do my best to love you and live harmoniously with you as long as we both shall live, to take on the challenges life gives us together. I hope that our marriage can serve as a sign of peace and that the world can feel compassion as deeply as I know you feel it,” you said.

“Do you, y/n y/l/n, take Hendery Wong to be your lawfully wedded husband,” the reverend asked,

“I do,” you replied, your voice thankfully not shaking.

“Do you, Hendery Wong, take y/n y/l/n to be your lawfully wedded wife,”

“I do,” he said, staring down at you with a smile.

“I know pronounce you husband and wife, you may kiss the bride,” he said and so Hendery leaned down, kissing you. Only for a few seconds, there were children present, but it was enough to make you blush.

You pulled Hendery into a hug and whispered in his ear,

“I wish I could have chosen to marry you,” you said. Hendery shook his head, still smiling for the crowd.

“I’m feel lucky to get to marry you y/n, whatever the circumstance,” he said, causing you to genuinely smile. Hendery let go from your hug and threw your clasped hands in the air as you walked back down the aisle and out of the church.

The reception was actually quite dull to start off with, you had to greet many political figures, most of whom you didn’t personally know, there was also the ordeal of extended family which hardly ever went well for anyone.

It got a bit better when Lucas and Jaemin got so drunk they started to perform karaoke standing on tables as Chenle cried with laughter watching.

Your first dance with Hendery had been sweet but after that you and Hendery had mostly decided to sit at the side together, exhausted by the whole affair.

By about midnight your head was resting on Hendery’s shoulder as you began to doze off, partly from tiredness, partly from alcohol. Hendery chuckled at how cute you looked.

“Let’s get you to bed,” he said, about to pick you up when you insisted you could walk. Hendery put his arm around your waist, supporting your drunk figure as he lead you to the elevator. You walked along the corridor before he pulled out the key card, letting you both into the presidential suite.

It had two bedrooms and so he walked you towards the bigger one, helping you sit down on the bed.

Chanmi and Sicheng had made sure you both had stuff there and so she had left you a pair of pyjamas to get changed into. Hendery handed them to you and turned around so he didn’t see you getting changed.

“I can’t do the zip,” you complained, tapping Hendery on the shoulder.

“oh yeah right sure,” he said, turning back around and unzipping it for you, blushing when you pulled the dress down before he could turn around again.

“Don’t be silly, we are married,” you said, making fun of him in your drunken haze.

“Doesn’t mean I cant still respect you,” he said, “I’ll go get changed myself and come back in a sec okay?” he said to which you nodded. You took your underwear off and replaced them with the white satin pyjamas Chanmi had left.

Hendery walked back in with a matching pair. You went and brushed your teeth together before Hendery urged you to climb into bed.

“Goodnight, y/n,” he said about to leave before you sat up and stopped him.

“Married couples sleep in the same bed,” you protested.

“You’re drunk, y/n, I don’t want to take advantage of you.”

“Snuggling is definitely fine,” you said, something which Hendery struggled to argue with. He put his phone down on the bed side table and shuffled in beside you, wrapping his arms around you.

“I think I could get used to this,” he said, his chin resting on your shoulder. You rolled over to face him.

“You have a good face,” you said. Hendery burst out laughing,

“You’re so cute,”

“Can I kiss you?” you asked.

“So this was your tactic then,” Hendery laughed back, placing a small kiss on your lips, “try and sleep y/n,”

Your face became sad,

“Do you not want to sleep with me?” you asked.

“I’m here, I’m going to sleep right next to you,” he said, pressing a kiss to your shoulder. You shook your head.

“No sleep with me sleep with me,” you clarified, your words slurring together. Hendery’s eyebrows furrowed. When he saw your sad expression through the darkness he smiled slightly, laughing.

“It’s not a question of wanting to, you’re beautiful and I really like you y/n of course I want to do all those things with you, but I’m not having sex with you for the first time when you are drunk, when you can’t give proper consent. Especially for your first time.”

It slowly dawned on you even as drunk as you were that Hendery was much more experienced with relationships than you were, it wouldn’t have been hard.

“You don’t mind that I have never had a boyfriend before, that I have never had sex before,” you said, whispering the latter part.

“You don’t have to whisper it’s not a bad word,” Hendery laughed, “And of course I don’t mind, as I said, I’m fully committed to you and we have the rest of our lives, for now we can just cuddle and sleep okay?”

You seemed satisfied with his answer, falling asleep moments later with his arms around you and waking up the same way nine hours later.

You didn’t feel embarrassed in the morning when you remembered the conversation because Hendery didn’t make it feel like something that was at all embarrassing, he just made you feel calm and safe.

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

By that afternoon you were on a flight to a private island, owned by Hendery’s family. His grandfather had owned a brewery there and his own father had worked there before he became president.

Other people lived on the island, local people who would have recognised the two of you and alerted the press with photos.

So before you went to the beach you both put on ridiculously large hats and sunglasses on.

“James Bond has nothing on us,” Hendery remarked as you laughed at his stupid pineapple sunglasses.

“No one would expect the President’s son to dress like this.”

You spent the day on the beach, building a not so impressive sandcastle, jumping through the waves, splashing each other.

Once you had somewhat dried off, Hendery grabbed your hand and led you over to a little ice cream stall where an old man was selling ice cream. Hendery ordered you both one.

“You are a very cute couple,” the man remarked, “is it a special occasion?”

“It’s our honeymoon,” you replied, “we just got married yesterday.”

“Congratulations to both of you,” he said with a smile.

“That’s a rite of passage, isn’t it,” Hendery said as you walked home,

“What is?” you asked,

“Being told we are a cute couple by an older person.”

You giggled as you licked your ice cream,

“I suppose it is.”

You showered after you got back, changing into an outfit Chanmi had packed for you, the dress was lovely, the underwear choices slightly racy.

You walked out onto the patio where Hendery had laid out a fancy table for the two of you. There was a rose in the middle and he held out your chair for you to sit down.

“I have to admit, I didn’t cook the food, I didn’t think that would impress anyone,” he said.

“You don’t need to impress me, I already think you’re great,” you said, sitting down. The food really was good, but you made sure not to drink too much wine to avoid a repeat of the night before.

Your conversation died down comfortably after a while and you both took a moment to stare out at the orchard and the sea that was behind it. You really hoped you and Hendery could move to the island permanently one day. Instead of returning to the Presidential House.

You turned back to see Hendery who was staring at you, a dopey smile on his face.

“I love you,” he blurted out, your heart skipped a beat, “I wanted to say it to you yesterday but I wasn’t sure if you would remember but I love you and I hate my father sometimes but marrying you is the best thing that has happened in my life. We may have married for the sake of international relations but I love you for you.”  

You smiled, standing up as he stood up and walking round to stand in front of him.

“I love you too,” you said, “after meeting you I realised I hadn’t really been living real life before, it sounds cliché but you brought colour to my lonely monocoloured life.”

You snaked your arms around his neck, pulling him in to kiss you,

“Will you let me have sex with you know?”

“You don’t know how long I have dreamed of this moment y/n,” he said, staring down at you with love in his eyes,

“The confession of love or the sex?” you joked,

“honestly, both,” he said laughing before bringing his lips back to yours. His lips trailing kisses down your neck before you grabbed his hand and pulled him back inside towards the bedroom.

You barely made it inside the bedroom door before he was kissing you again, your back pressed up against the wall. He gasped slightly when you moved your hands under his shirt, your finger touching his nipple briefly, before pulling off his shirt.

He reacted by unzipping your dress,

“is this okay,” he asked, not pulling it off you until you nodded,

“It’s all okay, Hendery, I want you.” It was all the confirmation he needed. He couldn’t help but admit that it turned him on, being the first and most likely the only man to ever get to touch you like this, now you were married now you were his and he was yours.

“You’re so fucking beautiful,” he said as he unclasped your bra, letting it drop to the floor. One of his hands massaged your breast, the other placed against the wall as your lips met.

Your attention sprung to the growing length underneath his black jeans. You had never seen a dick before in real life.

“Take your jeans off,” you asked him slightly breathless, he was happy to oblige, pulling his jeans off over his legs.

He picked you up bridal style, literally sweeping you off your feet, before placing you back down on the bed,

“As hot as it would be I’m not gonna fuck you for the first time against a wall,” Hendery explained, you nodded,

“Less talking more touching,” you demanded, Hendery grinned a wicked grin.

“That I can do.” Before you knew it he was placing kisses up your thigh, his finger grazing over the top of your soaked panties before pulling them down and throwing them behind him. It was your first time so he knew he had to stretch you first as he inserted a single finger but it was enough to make you let out a sharp moan.

You wriggled slightly in pleasure as he began to pump his finger in and out, before you knew it he had added a second, which was slightly painful at first but at the same time you felt his tongue over your clit, moving in circles and pleasure took over.

“Shit Hendery,” you called out, you could already feel your orgasm building so when Hendery began to move his fingers faster, you let go, your walls clenching around his fingers.

“Such a good girl for me,” he said. You looked up, regaining your sense to see Hendery was still wearing his boxers. A small wet patch had formed at the end of his hard length. You sat up pushing Hendery down.

“My turn,” you said.

“You don’t have to, you know,” Hendery replied.

“But I want to.” You pulled at his waistband, letting his cock spring free. It was slightly bigger than you had imagined and defiantly not as repulsive, in fact the thought of sucking his dick made you wet all over again.

“Tell me how,” you asked him, kneeling down.

“Well start by touching me,” he encouraged, guiding your hand with his own until it was wrapped around the top of his dick, “now slide your hand down and put your mouth where your hand was.”

You leant over and placed your tongue on the tip, licking slightly before putting it into your mouth. Hendery moaned lightly as you began to suck, taking in as much of his dick as possible before moving your mouth back up,

“yeah, fuck, like that,” Hendery groaned.

You tried to take a little bit more into your mouth each time until eventually it caused you to gag slightly, at which Hendery’s dick began to twitch, you kept sucking as his breath quickened and he finally came in your mouth, cum shooting down your throat as you swallowed.

“Jesus,” Hendery said, bringing his lips to yours, the taste of his cum still on your lips, “you are something special y/n,”

He brought his hand down to your folds, checking you were still wet enough for him. He propped himself up with his arms before placing his cock at your entrance.

“Tell me if it hurts, I will go slow, I wont move until you tell me to okay and if you don’t like it we can stop.” He said.

You nodded though you doubted after the first part of the experience that you would want to stop.

When he first pushed in it did hurt, as he moved in and out slowly it stung slightly but with each small thrust the pain was replaced with pleasure. When you finally let out a moan, Hendery started to thrust deeper,

“You’re doing so well for me y/n, you’re so fucking tight,” he hissed, his own pleasure preventing him from talking further.

Neither of you were going to last long and Hendery’s dick was beginning to pulse inside of you.

“I love you,” he managed to say as he came, filling you up with his cum, the feeling of it prompting your own orgasm as you moaned his name loudly.

Hendery kissed your lips softly, hugging you for a moment, before offering to help you clean up, wiping his cum from beneath your legs softly.

“I really do love you y/n,” he said as you both settled back into bed to sleep.”

“I love you too,” you said. What had started out as a sick game between politicians in the name of peace had ended up as something beautiful, as love.

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

In the years following life wasn’t always the easiest, the President wasn’t a good man and he made life tough sometimes and you struggled, but you struggled together. You were happy with each other.

You got to know each other more every day and you fell in love more every day. You had two children together and two years after that you renewed your vows in secret with only your children and your closest friends present, to make it clear you did choose to love each other, even if you hadn’t chosen to marry each other.

Ten years later when the President died of a heart attack, came the hardest choice for you both. Most of the country expected Hendery to take over from his father, to become the next leader. He could have, he would have been a brilliant and fair President, but it wasn’t something either of you wanted, you didn’t want the dictatorship to go on. Hendery allowed the people to choose a new president, elections were held for the first time in many years.

Instead of becoming a dictator like his father Hendery moved back to the villa with the orchard with you and your two children. You went to the same beach and built sandcastles with your kids as you had on the first day of your honeymoon.

The orchard where you had both confessed your love was so beautiful. The island didn’t belong to his country or yours. It was on an island that belonged to both of you.

You bought Chanmi and Jeno the house next door, they had gotten married just three years after you, something that had brought you immense happiness. Jeno didn’t guard you anymore but you both lived close enough to watch out for each other, still the closest of friends.

Your children grew up and played together, went to school together. You lived a life that was happy. You had married to bring the world peace but you had also found peace in your heart. Marrying Hendery had once seemed like a cursed fate but really it had been the most blessed fate of all.

You didn’t think people would ever believe such a happy story could come out of an arranged marriage in which the proposal had occurred in the bathroom. It summed up you and Hendery, neither of you knew exactly why you worked but you did. From the day in the bathroom, to the night of the attack, to your marriage to then. You realised you had always seen yourself loving Hendery.

Your love was the only possible outcome.

[sgtbradfords]

"Sorry, were you sleeping ?" with Chenford ?

Love your writing

Thank you for the prompt anon, I hope you enjoy! :)

Tim Bradford’s Thursday shift had been one of the longest he had experienced in a while. Not that it was a hectic night, especially for a Thursday but it all started after he had dismissed his officers on the nightshift to hit the streets.

“Hey Sarge, got a second?” Officer Amelia Hatch asked as she walked to the front of the room, the room clearing out as everyone went their own way. “That kid from that domestic the other night, can I contact the school, see if she will talk to me or maybe the guidance counselor?”

Tim sighed, “It wouldn’t be a bad idea, the kid doesn’t need to be bottling that shit up.”

“I think she would have talked to me the other night, but the mother pulled her away before I could ask any questions.”

Tim took a second to think before giving her advice, his lips forming a thin line, “Swing by the elementary school near their address tomorrow after shift, see if that’s where she attends and go from there. But Hatch, don’t blame yourself if she has no intentions of talking now.”

“Understood Sir.” The officer told him before walking away.

Tim had a pile of paperwork in the metal basket on his corner of his desk that grows by the minute that he knew he needed to get a start on, but being a man of few habits, he had gotten in the habit of visiting booking just after the start of the shift.

“Evening Luke, any regulars in yet?” He asked the intake officer who was typing away at the computer behind the counter.

“Not yet Bradford. But there is a full moon and a bad batch of drugs going around.” The officer spoke, never looking up.

Being the nightshift Sergeant of the Mid-Wilshire prescient of the LAPD, Tim had gotten to know his fair share of regulars, the junkies, druggies, and the few prostitutes that frequented one of the three holding cells.

“Great.” He mumbled under his breath. When you work in law enforcement, you always keep track of the moon cycle, the brighter and full phased the moon was, the crazier everyone got. Though it is not a proven fact, it is just a well-known fact that you learn comes with the job. “Let’s get those in, processed out soon, the quicker the better.”

“Wreck on I-10, van’s stuck in traffic. According to radio traffic they should be here within the next thirty or so minutes.”

Tim was about to thank the officer for keeping him updated when a loud disturbance stopped him, the door of the garage flying open.

“I didn’t do shit, you motherfucker!” yelled the man that was being escorted through the door.

The Sergeant moved closer to assist, the man fighting the two officers every step of the way.

“Harper, you good?” Tim asked, grabbing onto the other man’s upper arm.

“Fine. Found this one defacing the side of the church on Harrison Avenue, drunker than a skunk.” She told him as she secured him to the bench.

“You bitch, I told you I had to piss! You can’t prove nothin’.”

Nyla rolled her eyes. “There’s footage on the camera in the alley and on my vest.”

“You fuckin’ lyin bitch.”

“Enough.” Tim glared. “Get him booked, then throw him in the drunk tank to sober up.”

Nyla nodded as Tim walked away, heading back to his office.

He sat down behind his desk, keeping an ear open on the scanner that sat in the corner of the bookshelf in his office. He picked up the reports, reading them one by one as he began sorting through the pile in the basket, checking, filling, and signing the reports filled out by his officers. The report in his hand was particularly captivating when the shaky voice of Officer Hunt came over the radio.

‘7-Adam-22. Shots fired at my location. Suspect gave chase but is now in custody. Roll back-up and EMS.’

Tim stood, grabbing the keys for his shop out of the top drawer of his desk. The rest of the evening was spent documenting the crime scene and making reports before he headed to the hospital, checking on the suspect and now patient, the man getting stitched after cutting his leg while hopping over a fence. Tim made it back to the station thirty minutes after his shift was intended to end, preforming the daily maintenance on the shop before he made his way inside, heading for the office of the day shift’s Sergeant, Wade Grey. He brought the other man up to speed, filling him in on what occurred overnight, by the time he was done updating his fellow superior it was well past eight in the morning and Tim was dead on his feet.

Tim hastily went to the locker room, changing out of his uniform and back into his normal clothes before heading out of the department. He was lucky that he only lived twenty-three minutes away (on a good day) from the department and for a Friday morning, his commute was harmless besides the lingering effects of the morning rush hour traffic.

He pulled the vehicle in, parking his truck in the drive, reaching over for his duffle bag from the passenger seat before he exited the extended cab. He pulled the ring of keys from his front right pocket, unlocking the wooden door as he made his way inside, disabling the alarm system before reengaging the security system as he kicked off his shoes. The silence of the house had always been strangely comforting, the quietness enveloping him as his sock clad feet padded through the dark bedroom, heading for the bathroom. He tiredly stripped of the clothes, throwing them into the hamper before he walked back out into the bedroom, blindly grabbing a pair of black boxer briefs from the top drawer of the dresser, sliding them on before he pulled the covers back and falling into bed.

He stretched out, laying on his stomach, an arm under the pillow and one over his head, sleep claiming him within minutes of his head hitting the pillow, the comfort of the memory foam mattress with the coolness of the multitude of pillows creating the perfect combination.

The dream he was having was one he wanted to stay in forever, the scene his dreaming brain had concocted was perfect, the sunset hitting the woman in front of him, casting her in the hues it was projecting.

“Lucy, I-“

Lucy smiled as she stepped forward, moving towards him. “It’s perfect.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive.” She grinned, staring at him the sounds of the ocean before them began fading into the background as she leaned in, the buzzing in his ears growing louder.

“What the hell?” he mumbled in his dream as the image began to dissipate.

The buzzing of his phone bringing his sleep addled brain back to reality. There were only four people that could get past his do not disturb settings, and out of the four of them he could immediately eliminate two.

“Hello.” He grumbled into the phone, sitting up as he let out a yawn.

“Tim! You are not going to believe this. Wait- shit.“ she said as the sound of shuffling came through the receiver. “Sorry, were you sleeping?”

“No I wasn- actually yeah, I was.”

He could picture Lucy grimacing on the other end. “Shit. I’m so sorry, I forgot that you worked last night, and that tonight is your night off. I got my days mixed up. I’m just- I’ll just hang up now.”

“Lucy.” He sighed, laying back onto his pillows. “What did you need?”

“It’s not important, I can just tell you tonight wh-“

“Luce, I’m awake now, might as well tell me.”

“Are you sure?” she hesitated as he grunted on the other end. “Ok, so remember me telling you about that high-speed chase we had the other day on I-10? The whole thing is about to get weirder…”

Tim grunted, listening as she continued in her story, her voice becoming softer and softer the longer she spoke and before he knew it, he had fallen back asleep, lulled by the sound of her voice.

“Tim? Babe?” she asked, smiling when she heard the even breaths and soft snore coming from the other end. She ended the call, placing her phone back into her pocket as she made a mental note to make it up to him when she seen him after shift tonight.

Working on two separate shifts and trying to maintain a relationship was difficult, sometimes they would call the other, forgetting that they were likely asleep. Other times, one of them would stay awake for the other, long after their shift had ended, just to catch up. Tim and Lucy have always been a different couple but when all the pieces fall into place, it makes the perfect puzzle.

[soldrawss]

Your big brother Mikey AU is so cool and well thought out! I was wondering, do the Foot still exist in this AU and if so, are the Hamato brothers in any danger? Does Mikey work as a pizza delivery boy?

The Foot exist yes! But they’re more of like, a street gang than anything else. (Kinda like how the Purple Dragons were in previous iterations) For the most part, the Hamatos don’t really have anything to do with them. Raph and Donnie and Leo know they’re not allowed out after 6 without an adult with them and Mikey’s taught Leo and Donnie enough self-defense (from what he can remember of their father’s training) to help them if they’re ever in need. “If you’re ever cornered, give them whatever they want and don’t make a move unless you absolutely have to. I mean it, guys. I’m not showing you this so you guys can play heroes, this is only, and I mean only, to be used as a last resort. But I want you to comply with any demands they give and get out of there. I don’t care if they take your phones and wallets and backpacks. We can always replace bus passes and school work. I can’t replace you guys.”

The only time the Foot were ever an issue was when Mikey gets mugged when he’s 17 on his way home from one of the shitty jobs he worked the nightshift at on one of the piers. The subway station was empty, probably because it was the dead of night and Mikey got off earlier than he usually does, so the station was bare of the usual tiny rush of new yorkers coming in for the graveyard shifts. Thankfully Mikey’s reflexes were faster than his brain was, and he was able to avoid too much of a conflict before the three-membered group got the upper hand. His phone go broken in the struggle, but they thankfully didn’t get to his wallet or key ring. They did land a couple of solid hits to his jawline and gut though, knocking the air clean out of Mikey, and ripped his best work shirt in the process of throwing him to the ground (he only had two), so really the struggle ended with a heated tie. The small gang turning hightail when a security officer making the rounds chased them off and helped Mikey to his feet from one of the concrete pillars he was slumped against.

Mikey ended up arriving home late anyway despite the head start because he had to fill out an accident report with the security officer, and that had just about drained the last ounce of energy Mikey had left to his name as he practically crawled through the front door of their little apartment. He kicked it closed with his feet, forgetting that it was 1am and that he shouldn’t be making as much noise as he was making because it was a school night, and Leo had been having a wack sleep schedule lately, and if he woke up now, he wouldn’t be able to fall back asleep till the next night and that would have totally been on Mikey. But Mikey was too tired to think that far ahead as far as the consquences of his actions go, and promptly dumped all his stuff on the foyer floor and passed out on the living room couch, not even bothering to change his clothes or take off his shoes, let alone fold the couch out into a bed.

He woke up some four hours later, to Donnie patting his arm gently but firmly, and with sharp brown eyes and a creased brow just barely peeking under a mess of brown-haired cowlicks and bed head.

“-ikey. Mikey, wake up. Your face is purple.” And the sheer tension and fear in his voice were enough to pull Mikey out of the desperate hold sleep had him in as he got up slowly, rubbing his face and ow, yeah, his whole left side was swollen and sore and felt gross.

“Ahhh, yeah. Some guys tried to jump me at Water and Fletcher station. I’m totes magoats fine kiddo. They didn’t get my wallet or anything. Phone broke though, so I’ll have to swing by a CVS and pick up a burner until I can get a new one.” Mikey explains all in one murmured half yawn. He didn’t like the way Donnie’s face did a complicated little series of frowns and pouts, which could have meant one of a million things, but Mikey just woke up, so he didn’t really have all the brainpower yet to try and decode it other than, oh no I made him mad.

“Go put on some pjs and wash your face,” Donnie replies, and he waffles from where he’s crouched beside the couch like he wants to say something more, but settles on sighing and standing straight. He makes his way to the kitchen quietly, carefully picking up the mess Mikey left in front of the door a few hours ago and unceremoniously dumps them on the kitchen island on his way to rummage through the freezer. Mikey watches as he pulls out a bag of frozen peas before getting one of the dishtowels hanging from the oven handle and wetting it down in the sink. “I’ll get you some ibuprofen, but you need to sleep in your bed or you’re gonna be sore all over. I swear, that couch was the worst decision we ever made, I can’t believe you made us carry it up 6 flights of stairs.”

“Shhhh, don’t listen to him baby, how was I supposed to know the elevator would decide to break down that day?” Mikey whispers not at all quietly to the couch just to get a begrudging half-smile out of Donnie. It works for a fraction of a second, but Donnie’s pouting frown and worried eyes return when he looks at Mikey’s nasty little kick in the face bruise, and Mikey can’t help but feel the weighted rock of guilt settle further in his gut. He just couldn’t do anything right lately, huh? “Anyway, thanks Dee, but I’ll just take a shower and get changed for my shift at Tony’s. Work starts in a few hours anyway and I can run to CVS really quick before then.”

But when he gets up and makes his way over towards the bathroom, Donnie blocks his path and presses a damp dishtowel wrapped around the frozen veggies and some pills into his hands. “No need, you’re staying home. I already called into your work for you. One of the GM’s, Woody, I think his name is? Anyway Woody seemed really cool. Gave you today and tomorrow off. Even said he’d swing you some paid vacation time if you bring some of your famous lemon squares into work on Monday, so really you have no excuse to object or complain.”

And Mikey wants to complain, and he almost does, but Donnie shoots down his squawk of disapproval with a pointed glare that Mikey hates being at the other end of. “And don’t you dare say you’re fine, Mikey. Your face looks like a bruised plum. Please, just, take the day off, sleep, do laundry, whatever. Raph can even stay home with you, if you really need some more incentive. But just, stay here for today. Ok?”

And he was begging in that way that Donnie and Leo almost never pull on Mikey, because they knew Mikey would crumble like an absolute sucker at those round brown eyes, warm like melted chocolate, and it was a power move that they only used for absolute good. And Mikey guessed that if he was swinging those bright round headlights his way, then this must have been a pretty good reason, and honestly, his bed did seem like something he’d love to just crash into for the rest of the day. So he nods, and lets Donnie lead him to towards the bedroom he shares with Raph, who’s still sleeping soundly on his side of the room.

Mikey doesn’t remember much after that. He changes into some pjs and disgards his shoes at the bottom of his bed while Donnie goes to get him a glass of water for the medicine. He falls asleep as soon as his head hits the pillow and Donnie rests the makeshift ice pack against his swollen cheek.

Mikey vaguely remembers Raph climbing into this bed a little later, scooching over with a practiced and natural ease so the little five-year-old could squirm his way perfectly against Mikey’s chest, resting his head just under Mikey’s chin, and Donnie poking him in the side, just long enough to tell him that Leo and him will be back home after Leo’s baseball practice and that they’ll pick up a burner phone for him.

Mikey untangles an arm from under the comforter and holds it out towards Donnie, an unsaid invitation that doesn’t take more than a second to understand because Donnie is leaning forward into it anyway, and it’s an awkward hug, but it’s warm, and as the 10-year-old wraps familiar arms around Mikey’s half-hug, squeezing back just as tightly, he presses a kiss into his kid’s bubble gum smelling hair, freshly shampooed, and smiles when he says. “Thanks Dee. Be safe. Love you.”

And his face is still a sorry mess of pain and swollen hurt, but Raph is a solid warmth against his chest, and there are some leftover ingredients for some lemon bars in the cupboard, and he’d been waiting to try out that new veggie lasagna recipe he never had the time for before anyway, and Donnie winks at him wordlessly behind his thick-framed glasses, and somehow Mikey has the distant and fading thought before he slips into sleep again, that he should have known that Donnie always gets his way in the end. And Mikey isn’t upset by that thought at all.

[horrorslashergirl]

Chromeskull x Cop!Reader x The Collector

A dark themed erotic novel for the twisted minds

Resume: Some things bring you nightmares and unwanted memories back. They say you can’t bury the past, because at some point it will come back. You weren’t prepared for this.

Chapter 1: Nightshift Turn Out

Chapter 2: Twisted Tongue

Chapter 3: Rising from fire like the Phoenix

Chapter 4: Video Shadows

Chapter 5: New beginning and Past memories (You are here)

Chapter 6: Lovers Reunion

Chapter 7: Sweet Blackmail 

Chapter 8: False Freedom

Chapter 9: Ugly Jealousy

Chapter 10: Sinful Ecstasy

Warning: This one contains violence and slight gore.

After three months in Jacksonville, you couldn't deny the loneliness that crawled up your very being; work was great and it paid all your necessities, so you couldn't whine about financial problems, but outside work, you were pretty much alone, saw for the fact that you took on a poodle dog to ease some of that depression. Dating just wasn't your department and most guys couldn't even live it up to put on a great conversation. You still kept in touch with some old friends from Illinois and occasionally chatted up with them to get the time going. One of your girl friends gave you some cheap advice about entering dating sites, but you knew from high school that most of these sites were full of creeps and old perverts who wanted to jack off to under-age girls. It made you almost throw up, but you took on her advice and entered one, putting on a single picture of you, but a very decent one. You weren't going to be found on a dating site with nude pictures of you, just no.

That's how you found yourself now on a Saturday night on the couch with a glass of red wine, your white-furred pet next on the couch, sleeping after a day of running with you in the park. Your laptop was on your lap, listening to some music, a separated opened window of the dating site. So far just a few guys entered to chat with you. One was living in Oregon, so too far away, another one was just flirting cheaply with you.

You wondered how your brother managed to get a girlfriend so easily. He told you that he meet her when he went to buy a new laptop; so far he was very happy with her. Her name was Spann and she worked in the business industry, you haven't met her but your brother sends you a picture of her. Definitely pretty and very professional looking. You were glad he finally found someone who will cherish him, she always came by to his apartment to help him and even cook for him. To you, it sounded like a dream partner.

You were pulled out from your thoughts by the sound of a ding, signaling that someone entered on your chatroom on the dating site. You only hoped it wasn't some creep who wanted your nudes; so you opened the window.

JSkull: Hello there.

Well, at last, it wasn't a direct 'I wanna see your boobs' message.

TattooedKitty: Hey there.

You sometimes hated your choice of username, but it was completely random, plus it had a bit f truth behind it, having your whole back tattooed. You did that in high school when you had that rebel phase, still deep inside you enjoyed the freedom you had back then.

JSkull: What's a girl like you doing on this site?

TattooedKitty: Trying to find a guy who can manage to keep a conversation, at last.

JSkull: Sassy. I like it, but trust me. You won't find that type of person here.

TattooedKitty: So, you say you cannot manage to keep up an intelligent conversation?

JSkull: Smart girl. I was joking. You don't seem like the type of woman to seek out dating sites.

TattooedKitty: Then what type of girl do you peg me as?

JSkull: Daddy's good little girl.

TattooedKitty: I'm not little and what about you? Why are you on this site?

JSkull: Kill some boredom.

That was his last reply, then he logged off. Well, that was weird and when you looked at the clock your eyes widened, remembering that tomorrow you had to go to work. You closed your laptop and went straight to bed before you filled your dog bowl with food in case she was going to wake up and be hungry later.

Somewhere else in Jacksonville...

Jesse smirked; he couldn't help but tease you and you took the bait. So, you were single? Perfect, all the easier way to get his hands on you. He looked at the silver clock on the wall of his office. After so many weeks of stalking and getting all the little information about you, tomorrow night when you will get off your shift he will strike, plus tomorrow Asa will arrive in Jacksonville.

The bald man chuckled silently, remembering how Asa always asked him how his tracking on you went. Jesse knew Asa like no other and he knew that the nerdy collector got obsessed over the little things. Jesse couldn't blame Asa, you were a piece of candy for the eyes, and he almost forgot of how many men he had to put off the dating game that was trying to get to you.

Jesse twirled one of his twin knives, looking at his reflection on the blade, scowling as the disfigured image of his face was shown. The thought of your face full of disgust when you would see him made his insides turn, a bitter feeling setting into his throat, but he pulled that feeling aside. He had to focus on the job at hand; getting his hands on you.

Yes, tomorrow would be a perfect day.

The Next Day...

Work had gone just fine, no problems and you could eat lunch in peace; you had some pizza with extra cheese and your favorite dessert, strawberry cake. It seemed like a perfect day and you were looking forward to getting home and having a bubble bath, making pour a glass of wine. You smiled as you saw the clock 10:30 AM, meaning that in just half an hour you will get off work and could head home, so you began to clean up your desk of remaining files and empty plastic coffee cups; you hated to come back to work with a mess for a desk.

You cursed yourself for having your car break and had to walk. All you were glad was that it wasn't raining tonight and it was quite a warm night. After 15 minutes of walking, you passed an alleyway but stopped when you heard some crying; it sounded womanly and your heroic heart had to make you step into the shadows, a little reluctant.

"H-Hello? Is someone there?" you asked, the whining continues and you gulped down, your instinct telling you that something bad was going to happen and you needed to get the hell out of there.

Before you could listen to your gut, a hand wrapped around your throat, slamming your body into the brick wall, knocking the breath out of you. Whoever it was, was strong, because it knocked you as you were a ragdoll.

Your eyes opened and were meet with silver metal, probably chromed. A skull mask? He was tall, very tall, you reached just his chest. He was dressed in all black, your eyes a little blinded by the red light on his shoulder. A videocamera? His gloved hand on your neck tightened, making you gasp out, your hands grasping his arm.

"W-What? What do y-you want?" you managed to ask before you felt a sting on your neck, whatever he injected into you, making you feel dizzy and weak, until you blacked out, your body falling onto the cold ground.

After 30 minutes...

He couldn't believe how easy this was; it was like stealing candy from a kid. Jesse smirked as he was driving to one of the warehouses he owned for his 'little' hobby, your body knocked out in the backseat of his Chrysler. Nitrile covered hands gripped the steering wheel as he was thinking what he will do to you once he gets there. Oh, he hoped you would scream and cry, even beg; that would be cheery on top.

After getting on the outskirts of Jacksonville, he finally got to the building. Even if you could get away, the closet town was 30 miles away, plus it was night, and cars hardly passed by here; another reason for why this was one of his favorite places.

Parking the car and stopping the engine, he got out and moved to pick up your limp body, getting inside the warehouse where many coffins laid there, some having dead bodies of past piggies inside, some of them so badly disfigured you need the dental-prints to find out who they are.

He put you inside one of the coffins, shutting the lid and waiting for you to wake up. By the dose he injected into you, you should wake up at any moment. After 15 minutes of setting up his mini-camera, he heard a groan from the coffin, a smile pulling at his lips behind chromed skull-mask.

Jesse got the drill and walked to the coffin, making a small hole into it so he could record you. You whimpered as you saw the lens of the camera, feeling like you would suffocate. Memories of when you were trapped into the red trunk came back to you. Outside, Jesse smirked seeing your panicked face and wide eyes.

"L-Let me out!" you screamed, banging on the lid, tears running down your face. This was too good.

His gloved hands were running on the lid of the coffin, his breath picking up as he saw all your reactions, the fact that he could re-watch them again and again, so much sweeter.

He loved to see you trapped, but this wasn't exactly what he was looking for, although it was highly arousing, he wanted you to fight. Taking the camera off and setting it up onto his shoulder, he opened the coffin, taking some steps back, knives in each hand.

You got out from the coffin and looked around, your eyes looking on the shiny silver mask.

"W-What do you want?" you asked, eyes puffy from crying. He twirled the knives, practically mocking you.

Then you felt your gun on the utility belt, hand grasping it and pointing it at the tall man, your eyes now pulled into a glare. Jesse tilted his head to the side, then took a step forward and a loud bang was heard, your finger pulled the trigger and shot him three times. You weren't going to make the same mistake as you did back in Illinois.

The only problem was that the man was still on his feet, a little take back that you actually used the gun on him.

Jesse wasn't dumb, and he had under his clothes a bulletproof vest. He huffed, then before you knew it he threw one of the knives at you, the sharp blade piercing your shoulder, making you release your gun and fall down on the ground.

The hit wasn't fatal, but God, did it hurt like hell, your breathing increased and you gulped down, feeling the warm blood soak your shirt. Your eyes looked up as the masked man approached you, his hand grasping your pony-tail tightly, making you stand up.

Even trough the latex material Jesse could feel how soft your hair was, and he was so tempted to use that mouth of yours on something much better than screaming, but he was a patient man.

"S-Stop it! You piece of fuck!" you screamed, only for him to tug harder on your hair, making you swallow your words. Jesse's other hand that wasn't fisting your hair, pulled out a mobile phone, typing on it very fast, then showed you the screen.

'Quite the mouth on you, piggy. Don't make me use it for something else that cursing like a whore.'

Your eyes widened, then looked from the shiny screen to the chromed mask. You were turned around, your back towards him as you felt him take your handcuffs from your belt, and with precise moves, he locked your hands together behind your back, making you completely useless.

His foot kicked one of yours, making you fall down on your knees. You could taste the blood on your mouth, the knife still impaled into your shoulder, then you heard the double doors of the warehouse open and you prayed that someone came to save you.

That wasn't it. You almost wished you were dead when you saw the bulky form dressed in black entered the building, black-gloved hands on the knives at his belt, black foam mask covering his face, and the eyes that haunted your dreams for months. Obsidian eyes looked into your eyes, your mouth open in shock.

'Finally, you came. She put up a fight. Quite the feisty kitten here.' the robotic voice came from the phone, the message directed to The Collector.

The Collector rolled his eyes and began to walk towards you two.

"Traffic. So, you got her." he said, stopping in front of you, your still shocked face making him smile, a smile that made chills creep up your spine.

"Miss me?" he asked, voice deep and mocking you.

This has to be a nightmare. Sure, and you would wake up in your bed, with your poodle cuddled by your side. Yes, it had to be.

"N-No...T-This cannot b-be real." you said in a whisper, afraid if you spoke any louder, your tongue will be cut off.

"Not real? Does this feel real?" The Collector said, gripping the knife from your shoulder and twisting it a little, making you scream and shut your eyes, more tears falling down your cheeks.

'We are gonna have lots of fun, little piggy.' the robotic voice spoke, a dark chuckle coming from The Collector and you almost fainted when the skull masked man was running one hand down your hip.

This was only the beginning, little piggy...

To be continued...

[cantgetoutofmyheda]

Falling in Love in a Quarantine: Part 10

OP | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 9.5

---

PART 10: Day 21 & Day 22

“This is weird,” Clarke leaned into Lexa’s hand that was wrapped around her. For the first time ever, she was actually thankful of her nightshift the day prior—after what happened the previous morning, neither woman was sure of what would be moving too fast or too slow, but the nightshift was a good buffer for that.

Lexa stiffened, “Oh, sorry. We don’t have to–”

“No, no,” Clarke reached for Lexa’s arm to stay draped around her shoulder. “Sorry. I just meant that I can’t believe this is happening.”

“Oh,” Lexa nodded. “Yeah, me too.”

“I’m happy it is,” Clarke rested her head on Lexa’s shoulder.

“Me too,” Lexa placed a gentle kiss on top of her head. “Did you sleep okay?”

“Mhmm,” Clarke hummed. “It’s astounding how my sleep schedule isn’t as fucked up as it should be, though. What time is it?”

Lexa looked down at her phone, “3:30.”

“Enough time for a movie before you have to start making my dinner,” Clarke suggested.

Lexa rolled her eyes, “You know, it’s basically like we’ve been dating this whole time minus the kissing and the leg humping.”

“Lexa!” Clarke sat up. “Ugh, can you seriously at least give me two weeks to recover from that?”

Lexa laughed as she reached to pull Clarke back in. She traced a finger down her jaw, stopping at her chin and hooking her face upwards. When she finally brought their lips together, she felt Clarke exhale.

“It was an incredible turn on, Clarke,” Lexa whispered against her lips, before connecting them again.

“Mmm,” Clarke relaxed. “Whatever you say.”

Unspoken words were shared through soft and sweet kisses. The two had talked a bit more before Clarke had to head to work the previous day, but there were still so many things that had been left unsaid, so many things both were left to wonder with. But this—being together the way they both wanted to be, though at a tentative pace, just felt right.

Lexa moved her hands to Clarke’s sides, pulling for her towards her. Quickly, Clarke moved to exactly where she knew Lexa wanted her. She was now situated on Lexa’s lap—her legs were suddenly straddled around Lexa’s and their mouths moved together to deepen the kiss. The kiss was hungrier than any they’ve shared in the past two days. It was fast, lips were being nipped at, hands were roaming.

It wasn’t until Lexa finally broke the contact, resting her forehead against Clarke’s and put her hand on the blonde’s chest to slow things down. “Clarke,” she said between short breaths. “Is this taking things slow?”

Clarke sighed, “Probably not. But do we have to?” She leaned in for another kiss in which Lexa willingly obliged.

“We’re moving at the pace of two horny teenages,” Lexa smiled against the lips that were hungrily engulfing hers again. “Not that I’m complaining,” She added, taking another breath. “Just calling it out.”

Clarke sat up, still in Lexa’s lap, and looked her in the eye, “Who cares about taking things slow? Fuck it.”

“It was your idea,” Lexa raised a brow. “I was just obliging by your rules.”

Clarke rolled her eyes and let out a defeated sigh. She dismounted from her position, climbing back to Lexa’s side where she was originally sitting, “Fine, fine. Slow is better. Test the waters. Make sure we don’t ruin our friendship.”

“What’s the worst that could happen, anyway?” Lexa smirked. “We have awkward and awful sex, can’t look each other in the eye for a few days, and then I move back into my apartment?”

“That sounds about right,” Clarke sighed again, at the thought. As badly as she wanted Lexa—wanting to really feel her, wanting Lexa to unravel, the worst-case-scenario scared the living shit out of her. “Put a movie on,” she commanded. “And stop with the talk of you leaving, my brain can’t even compute that.”

“Aye aye, captain,” Lexa pretended to salute. “Your wish is my command.”

---

“There goes my weekend off,” Clarke rolled her eyes as she set her phone down on the table.

Lexa put her fork down, “You’re getting called into work?”

“No,” Clarke sighed, taking another bite of the pasta. “Mom wants us over to grill tomorrow. She realized that it’s the first weekend we both have off at the same time.”

“What if we already had plans?” Lexa questioned.

She was met with a blank stare from Clarke, “Oh, yeah.” Clarke scoffed, “Big plans during a quarantine.” She pretended to type back, “Sorry, mom. Lexa and I are doing a bar and restaurant crawl with all of our friends tomorrow. Can’t come.”

“Jerk,” Lexa rolled her eyes as she took a quick bite of food. “What’s wrong with going to your mom’s anyway? I miss Abby, haven’t seen her in ages.”

“Maybe I just wanted to spend my day off making out with you on the couch,” Clarke shrugged. “But if you’d rather hang with my mom, then we can do that.”

“As lovely as an all-day makeout sounds, Clarke,” Lexa smirked. “We should probably go.”

“You’re probably right.”

“I am.”

---

“There are my girls,” Abby greeted them with the biggest smile and arms wide open. “Clarke, honey,” she looked to her daughter. “Why haven’t you come sooner?” She turned to Lexa, “And Lexa, it’s been far too long, dear.”

Lexa was first to make her way to the woman, “Clarke’s been keeping me prisoner.” She smirked back at Clarke with her exaggeration, “This is the first time she’s let me out in public. But I’m glad it’s to see you.”

“You’re such a kiss-ass,” Clarke murmured, loud enough for both to hear her. “And sorry that I’m the responsible one trying to keep everyone safe.” 

“Clarke,” Abby scolded. “Lexa is quarantining with a doctor who is in and out of a hospital everyday. I’d imagine I’m being as safe about this as you are, there’s no reason for you two to not be able to come here.”

“Well we’re here now,” Clarke shrugged, before finally walking up to the two. “Hi, mom.”

“Come inside,” Abby waved them in. “Lexa, I have the grill fired up and the food prepared. Would you do the honors?”

“Mom,” Clarke whined. “You’re putting her to work? You invited us here.”

Lexa brushed Clarke off, “You know I’d love to. Your daughter doesn’t even have a grill, this is going to be quite a treat.”

Clarke rolled her eyes at Abby’s knowing smirk and finally followed them both into the house towards the kitchen.

---

“Clarke,” Lexa called out from behind the grill. “We should really get one of these, it’ll be a game changer for dinners when you’re not working nights.”

“We?” Abby asked her daughter in a whisper with a raised brow.

Clarke shrugged her mom off and called back out to Lexa from her seat under the patio umbrella, “If you want it, you buy it.”

“What about a small table and chairs for the deck?” Lexa asked. Her focus was on flipping the pieces of chicken on the grill, getting the perfect grill marks.

“Sure,” Clarke called out again. “You’re buying, though.”

“But it’s your house,” Lexa replied.

“You’re the one that wants them, Lexa,” Clarke waved her off and turned back to Abby. She was met with prying eyes and immediately felt the need to defend herself, “What?”

“Nothing, dear,” Abby sipped her iced tea. “So I take it that it’s been going well having Lexa around?”

“It’s been great,” Clarke relaxed into her seat. “She’s been so helpful with Sandy and I’m sure you can imagine what she’s been cooking every week.”

“Yes,” Abby nodded. “You’ve sent many pictures. Looks like you’re being very well taken care of, which I’m happy about.”

“Well,” Clarke smiled. “It’s Lexa. Of course.”

“Of course,” Abby agreed, turning around to watch Lexa prepare their lunch.

---

“The chicken is magnificent, Lexa,” Abby smiled at her. The three were seated at the table on the porch, enjoying the nice weather and the food that Lexa had just set down.

“You prepared it,” Lexa laughed. “I just grilled it, but thanks. And thanks for having us,” she said while looking around at the backyard. “The change of scenery is nice.”

“You two haven’t seen any of your other friends?” Abby asked.

“Mom,” Clarke started. “Of course not. I’m at the hospital so much, I can’t chance passing any germs on to anyone.”

“Except for Lexa?” Abby quipped.

Lexa laid eyes on Clarke and showed an endearing smile, “It was my choice to go to Clarke’s.” She finally shifted her gaze to Abby, “I knew what I was gonna be in for, but just wanted to help her out around the house and with Sandy and everything.”

“You know, Lexa,” Abby started. “You’ve always looked out for Clarke, no matter what. I’m so grateful that she has someone like you in her life.”

“She’s my best friend,” Lexa shrugged. “I love her.”

Clarke tilted her head to the side at the sound of the words and couldn’t help but send a bashful smile in Lexa’s direction.

Abby took keen notice of the interaction, looking between the two sharing longing glances and fleeting smiles, “Well, I’m happy you both have each other. All feels right when you two are together.”

Lexa exhaled, acutely aware of the tone of the conversation, “So, Clarke. About that grill…”

“Lex, if you want one then buy it,” Clarke shrugged. “I don’t care.”

“Excellent,” Lexa smiled. “It’s getting delivered tomorrow. Thank heavens for next-day delivery.” Lexa took a bite of potato salad and chewed it before adding, “Along with a table, chairs, and umbrella.”

“Are you kidding me?” Clarke set her cutlery down. “Lexa.”

“What?” Lexa smirked. “You said I could buy it if I wanted,” she replied back, before turning her attention to Abby. “She said that, didn’t she? You heard her, Abby.”

“She’s right, dear,” Abby laughed in Clarke’s direction. “That’s the lesson I learned with your father. I stopped telling him that he could do something if I didn’t really want him to.”

“Two very different situations, mom,” Clarke tried to deflect. “Plus, whenever Lexa goes back to her apartment, I’ll be stuck having to keep everything clean and tidy all on my lonesome.”

“Clarke,” Abby offered. “Something tells me Lexa will be there for a lot longer.”

Clarke’s mind went into overdrive, potentially even a slight panic, “Mom, before you say anything, we–”

“Because of the quarantine, Clarke,” Lexa interrupted, sensing her spiral. “And Abby, what I think Clarke is trying to say is that we’re just taking me being a squatter at her house on a weekly basis. Watching how many confirmed cases there are and what the state of the economy is going to be like. Once I hear from my office on when they’re opening back up again, we’ll start to assess when I go back home.”

Clarke blankly blinked, then shot Lexa a thankful glance, “Right. Yes. That’s what I was going to say.”

“Oh-kay,” Abby nodded—her mother’s intuition had already given her an inkling, but Clarke’s reaction and Lexa coming to her defense was enough to solidify her thoughts. “Well regardless, it’s nice you two are navigating this together.”

[goodwriterwithbadhabits]

Monsta X Reaction: Romance Is a Bonus Book Style.

for @httpdearbangtanboys​ (hope you enjoy)

Master List

Shownu: 

Shockingly, Shownu was comfortable, despite the fact almost your entire body was in his lap. You had come over hours ago, crying over another crappy boyfriend, and of course, sought your best friend’s comfort. Even now, as your head lay against the back of his couch, finally sleeping, there were still tear tracks on your cheeks. As carefully as possible, he wiped your cheeks, trying to clean them of your ruined makeup. When he realized his attempts were futile, he simply traced the outline of your face, your cheeks, jaw, the entire beautiful thing.

“I think he’s stupid, and a jerk and you deserve someone who won’t break your heart.” He whispers, pausing to cup your cheek. “Someone like me.” His voice is barely louder than a breath.

“Your hands are soft.” You kept your eyes closed, almost as if you were avoiding looking at him. 

“You’re awake.”

“And listening, care to repeat that last part?” You finally open your eyes, a smile dancing on your lips. 

“You deserve someone who won’t break your heart?” You shake your head slightly, and Shownu knows he’s caught.

“The part after that.” 

Minhyuk:

You showing up at Minhyuk’s door, unannounced, was not uncommon, in fact, it happened most nights of the week. However, you showing up at Minhyuk’s door, unannounced and soaking wet, well that was another matter entirely. It had quickly resulted in Minhyuk pulling you inside, making you take off your wet clothes, and go take a shower while he washed them. You ended up in one of his huge hoodies, one pulled directly out of the dryer, and a pair of sweatpants that were probably either Changkyun’s or Kihyun’s, but it didn’t really matter. Eventually, your tiredness combined with still being cold, resulted in your current position: passed out on Minhyuk’s chest on the couch. His fingers absent trailed across your face, mapping the features he knew so well, the features he could see, even with his eyes closed. 

“So pretty, how are you allowed to be so beautiful?”

“You like me, don’t you?” Minhyuk could have sworn his heart stopped at your words. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” 

“So your heart just naturally beats this fast? Or is it just any time someone lays their head on your chest?” You fully opened your eyes, propping your chin on his sternum. He didn’t know how to respond, but your face still spread into a grin. “It's okay.” You shifted again, laying your head back down. “I kinda like you too.” 

Kihyun:

If there was one thing that Kihyun didn’t like, it was seeing the people he cares about sick. The thing he hated most of all, however, was seeing you in any way upset. You were everything to him, his best friend, and the person he loved most in the world, so when he got a call from your mom telling him you were sick and in the hospital, he almost lost his mind. 

Seeing you lying in the hospital bed, pale with purple shadows under your eyes, it made his stomach churn and his heart clench. Despite your mother arguing, he opted to stay with you for the night, sitting beside you in a chair, just making sure you were still there. 

“You’re so stupid sometimes.” He huffed, laying his head on the bed by your hand. “You always make me so worried, and you never notice.” He wrapped one of his hands around yours, his free one moving to push the hair away from your face. “Your mom thinks we’re dating,” His hand trails from your hair to your eyebrow, “I wouldn’t be too upset if we were.” He chuckles at his own words, but his laughter is cut short when your other hand wraps around his wrist, the heart monitor on your index finger cold against his skin. 

“You’re gonna get sick,” You mumbled, eyes barely cracked open. “You should go home, Ki.” 

“How can I? I don’t want you to be alone when you wake up.” He sits up, wrist still in your very loose grasp. “Go back to sleep, sweetheart. I’ll be here when you wake up.” 

“Silly, sappy boy, thinks he’s the only one with a crush.” Ki laughed softly at your slurred words, knowing you wouldn’t remember them in the morning. 

Hyungwon:

Hyungwon wasn’t sure how he’d ended up so lucky, and yet somehow so unlucky. His luck had peaked when meeting you, the most amazing woman he had ever met, and then it ran dry as you simply became friends. He wouldn’t trade your friendship for anything, except maybe the chance to be more than friends. You did nearly everything couples did anyway, picking each other up from work, surprise lunch dates, and even spent every Saturday, your only shared day off, together. Most Saturdays were like today, which consisted of you coming over to his apartment right after ending your nightshift and crawling into bed with him. Waking up like this, next to you, made his heart clench every time, but he would never ask you to stop. 

When he had first opened his eyes and was greeted by your sleeping form lying next to him, he almost thought his dream had come true, and then he remembered what day it was. He chose not to move, instead taking the chance to stare. He couldn’t help himself as he reached out, softly trailing his fingers over your features, marveling at how beautiful you were up close. 

“You have no idea what you do to me.” He breathed. “I thought myself so lucky to be your friend, and yet not lucky enough to be anything more.” He let out a sad laugh, “What a cruel fate.” Under his fingers, he felt the corner of your lips crook slightly. “You’re awake aren’t you?” Your eyes fluttered open, meeting his. 

“A cruel fate huh? We must both be cursed then.”

Jooheon:

Jooheon had quickly realized he liked sleeping next to you. Weeks ago you had crashed over at his house after a long night of Lord of the Rings and drinking games, and it had quickly become a habit to just sleep in his bed if you didn’t want to walk home. Though the act really didn’t help Jooheon’s crush on you. 

There you were, inches away from him, sound asleep and seemingly unaware of his staring. It wasn’t his fault you were so damn beautiful, it wasn’t his fault he had accidentally fallen in love with his best friend, it was just how things were. 

“How are you so beautiful?” He whispered to himself, fingers lightly trailing around the edges of your lips. “So unfair, everyone you’ve ever kissed, and I’m not one of them.” He dropped his hand, though it stayed just next to your face. “What I wouldn’t give to kiss you, just once.” With a small sigh, he shut his eyes, trying to just get to sleep. Only a few seconds passed before he heard a rustle from you and suddenly, your soft lips were pressed against his. The kiss was fleeting, and by the time he opened his eyes, your head was once again resting on the pillow, your hand now inches from his. “Did you just-?”

“Shhhh, Joohoney, it’s bedtime.” He was too stunned to say anything, though he knew his answer from the way your lips crooked into a smile. He let out a small laugh, simply wrapping his hand around yours and closing his eyes again. 

He could live with just a fleeting kiss until morning. 

Changkyun: (Did someone say college!Changkyun?)

It was not uncommon for you to fall asleep during your study sessions with Kyun, and usually, the boy simply put a blanket over your shoulders and let you sleep, but tonight there was something different. You hadn’t changed, not that he could see, but the way he saw you had. It didn’t help that instead of falling asleep with your face tucked into your arms, you had your chin propped up on your hand, allowing him to see your peaceful face in its entirety. He had spent all night trying not to be distracted by you, though his eyes kept shifting to watch your lips as you mouthed the words on the page in front of you. Now that you had fallen asleep, he couldn’t help but stare, with one thought clouding his mind. 

“Were you always so pretty?”

Leaning forward slightly, he trailed the end of his pen down the bridge of your nose, slowly trying not to wake you.

“If you’ve been drawing on my face, I swear to god, I’m going to shove that pen up your nose.” Kyun froze as you opened your eyes. He blinked at you for a second before throwing the pen over his shoulder. 

“What pen?” 

Wonho:

His fingers were soft as they trailed over your face, outlining all the features, repeating the same trail over and over again. Your head lay on his shoulder, body nestled next to his, legs intertwined. You weren’t a couple, but Wonho always wished you were. He had never been this close to someone before, never felt so drawn to another human being, and he knew it could never happen. Not with his lifestyle, not with the press so eager to destroy him. He could never ask you to go through that. 

“What are you doing, Hoseok?” Your voice was soft, drawing him out of his own thoughts. 

“I’m trying to memorize your face.” He confesses. “So I don’t forget it while I’m away.” You’re staring up at him, eyes still cloudy with sleep, and he has to stop himself from kissing you right then. 

“I’d like to think I mean enough to you, that three months isn’t going to make you forget me.” You joke, and Wonho smiles down at you. 

“Of course not, but it won’t get to be this close to you for a while. I’m afraid I’ll forget what it feels like.” You offer him a comforting smile. 

“Well, I’m here now, and I’ll be here when you get back. I don’t plan to leave anytime soon.” Wonho can’t help the smile that spreads across his face. 

“Good, cause I’m not letting you go anywhere.” You press your face further into his neck.

“Glad we figured that out, now let's get some sleep, you have a long day tomorrow.” 

“Yeah.” He would tell you, eventually, but for now, he kinda liked everything how it was.

[jasontoddiefor]

Idk if you write ocs, but if you do, can you write something about a male teen vigilante that was Jason's best friend? Something angsty but with a happy ending maybe, like Jason feels all alone after he came back and oc yells at him and makes him see he really cares about him?

Well, I wasn’t writing it before but now I sure am. Hope you enjoy this!

There was not a lot to be said about Arlo Temmings, exhausted high school student, but plenty about the upstart vigilante Stardust. Stardust was not affiliated with the batclan, not really, but Arlo supposed that had more to do with the fact that he really wasn’t the heroic, batarangs blazing, taking down mob bosses kind of vigilante. Arlo’s powers allowed him to heal others, given that he was physically well enough and had eaten enough. He’d always thought all those videos about metahumans and their heightened metabolism were jokes, but ever since he’d woken up with the ability to literally kiss away bruises, he’d been eating nonstop. Protein shakes were his new favorite breakfast, lunch and dinner because you could only eat so many pizzas before you started throwing them up on sight.

Arlo hadn’t even wanted to become a vigilante or do anything that had to do with healing. Honestly, he was planning to graduate high school with a just average enough GPA and then get some average job somewhere. He used to have bigger ambitions when he was twelve and had the coolest best friend possible.

Well, Jason Todd had been the tutor he’d gotten through their schools’ exchange programs, but he’d acted more like a friend. A very nerdy friend who was the living proof that some people got extremely lucky in life while others didn’t, but his friend nonetheless. Jason had planned to get a college degree at a fancy school, out of Gotham and told Arlo he should dream bigger as well, like graduating with honors big. Studying architecture.

Jason would be pretty disappointed to see how terrible Arlo’s grades had gotten, but Jason was dead and dead people couldn’t do shit.

So Arlo knew pretty much nothing about how human bodies worked except that the mitochondria were the powerhouse of the cell. Arlo had been flunking his biology exams ever since he had first been forced to learn about the fact that plants didn’t, in fact, just grow when Poison Ivy decided that now would be an awesome time to wreck an entire city block.

She’d also been the reason he got pushed into this whole hero business. Turned out that Arlo’s abilities were immensely useful when it came to disaster relief and so Stardust had been born. Crime Alley’s very own non-violent superhero, running around in a black hoodie, a Venetian mask covered with stars, and dark, paint-splattered jeans. Nobody had tried to hurt him yet when he walked out. Pushing the bats around who were all too willing to put you away for life was one thing, hurting the kid whose voice cracked when he was nervous, but could heal your broken bones while glowing like a supernova was something different. Arlo enjoyed his immunity, really. He only wanted to help others, make the world a slightly better place. He’d grown up staring at the pretty buildings at the other end of the city, wanting to live in one of them and built his dream around that. This situation wasn’t so different.

Tonight had been one of the bad nights though. Arlo had already gone through most of his snacks as people of all ages came to find him. Usually, he just walked through the streets, people spotted him and pulled him in new directions. It was reckless and stupid, but everybody knew Arlo was kind of untouchable because he cared for everyone and so everyone cared for Arlo.

And it wasn’t like anybody would be waiting for him at home. His father had died years ago and his mother was never there. The streets were kinder, more vibrant and alive, than Arlo’s actual home.

“Thank you,” the girl whose knee he’d fixed whispered.

“No problem,” Arlo repeated and yawned. He was tired and he had an early class tomorrow, or today if he wanted to be honest with himself. He should head back and try to catch at least three hours of sleep.

Arlo grabbed his bike and began heading home. As an unaffiliated vigilante, he didn’t have any fancy bat tech. Red Robin had offered to get him something, but Arlo wouldn’t know where to stick that anyway. Besides, the mob might start roughing him up if they knew he was on Batman’s payroll. So instead, Arlo had an actual normal bicycle. It had been a gift from Red Hood, who’d been a little appalled that Arlo just got everywhere by foot.

“That’s dangerous,” he’d said like he wasn’t waving around a gun at the same time.

Red Hood was a strange vigilante. He was no hero, he hurt and killed people, wrecked and ruined them and left behind a terrifying warzone. But he didn’t hurt kids.

That was one thing every child in Crime Alley knew. As long as you were young still, you didn’t have to fear the Red Hood. Adults were fair game, they were supposed to be better, but kids were just kids. Arlo himself had only just turned fifteen. He’d spent his birthday watching cartoons and doing an extra-long nightshift and then accepted a sleek black bicycle as his birthday present. He was reasonably sure the entire batclan knew who his civilian identity was, Red Hood did for sure or he wouldn’t have been able to deliver the bike to his house door. Arlo stopped his bike and parked it in the small garage all the families on the top floor had to share and made his way upstairs. He stretched and tiredly pulled his keys out of his pocket to open his door when he noticed that it wasn’t closed.

So his mom was back, likely drunk as well. Great.

Arlo pushed open the door and closed it behind himself. Without much care, he walked down the hallway, not bothering to turn on the lights. His mom would just complain about a headache or something. He entered the kitchen and opened up the fridge. Happily, he noticed that his takeout was still there. He took it out of the fridge and fished a fork out of the water basin and began munching on his noodles. He was so freaking hungry. Closing his eyes, he enjoyed his meal.

“Aahrlo?”

Arlo would later claim that he didn’t, in fact, scream, but that was exactly what he did when he heard somebody who was very much not his mother whisper his name. The food dropped on the floor and Arlo twisted around. Behind the table, in the very right corner of the kitchen, sat a dark figure. The must be tall and their hair was an inky black color.

“Red Hood?” Arlo asked and immediately rushed over to the other vigilante. “You- uh. Um, what are you doing here?”

He was pale and Arlo didn’t think it was just because of the moonlight illuminating his skin.

“Head wound,” Red Hood replied. “Didn’ know where else t’ go.”

Arlo kneeled down next to Red Hood and could only now spot the dark red that was quelling out between his hair. Oh, no. No, no, no, no, he was not going to bleed out in Arlo’s kitchen.

“Can you ‘elp?”

He was slurring his words, Arlo was pretty sure that was a bad sign. Due to the bad light, he couldn’t actually make out a lot of his features, and his mask still covered his eyes, but even so, Red Hood sounded so familiar and young. Arlo’s age kind of young. He’d never seen the other vigilante without his red helmet, but he’d assumed he was older. He was so brutal, so skilled.

Nothing like Stardust who barely knew how to throw a punch and was relying on other people’s goodwill.

“Hold still,” Arlo ordered and put his hands on Red Hood’s wound. The vigilante hissed, but Arlo didn’t even twitch anymore. He’d gotten so used to the feeling of blood sticking to his hands, it was almost welcome. He associated it with the rush he got when his powers activated.

“You glow,” Red Hood muttered, entirely out of it. He had lost a lot of blood, but head wounds generally bled a lot, didn’t they? “Like a fairy.”

Arlo giggled nervously and pushed his long dreads behind his back. “A girl I helped tonight told me I look like Rapunzel.”

“Nah,” Red Hood replied. “You’re not stuck in a tower all by yourself. You’re not-“ His breath hitched. “-not lonely at all.”

The wound was slowly closing, not as fast as it usually would, but Arlo was also dead tired.

“I don’t know,” Arlo confessed. “I feel pretty lonely all the time.”

Red Hood laughed, it was a dark and bitter sound, tethering on the edge of a sob or so it seemed to Arlo.

“But you’re good, always were. Helping people and all that. You’re not like me, you don’t fuck up. You stop listening and don’t give in to all that anger. You’re good and you don’t push people away and hurt them all over again.”

Arlo took his hands off Red Hood’s head and rested them on his thighs, blood smearing all over his jeans.

“You’re good too,” Arlo said. “You help people-“

“No,” Red Hood interrupted him harshly. “I just- I just get rid of problems. I shot a man point-blank. His brains just- it was everywhere and the kids were screaming and I just made everything worse but I was so fucking angry and didn’t even care-“

Arlo wasn’t good with words. He didn’t like reading, his dyslexia made it a god damn nightmare, and he couldn’t use all those fancy words he used to practice during tutoring because they felt so foreign on his tongue. Gestures, though, he knew. His parents used to be affectionate. His father was always holding him, had been holding him the day he died, protecting Arlo against debris. Slowly, to avoid startling him, Arlo put his arms around Red Hood. The other man tensed beneath Arlo’s touch, then slowly relaxed in his hold and even went as far as resting his head on Arlo’s shoulder, probably smearing blood all over it.

“I’m glad you’re here,” Arlo said, at loss for words.

“You shouldn’t be,” Red Hood replied. “You really, really shouldn’t.

“Well, I am,” Arlo insisted. “In fact, I’m so glad I’m going to cook you something because I need to eat and you need to eat and then I can heal any other injuries you have as well.”

Arlo kept on blabbering about whatever came to his mind until Red Hood was seated at his kitchen table and Arlo could hardly keep his eyes open anymore.

So, really, there wasn’t much to be said about Arlo Temmings, exhausted high school student and part time vigilante. His grades were held together by duct tape and safety pins and sometimes Red Hood nearly bled out in his kitchen while Arlo made an utter fool of himself and fell asleep on him.

[andrea-lyn]

OHHH! if you still have space for your b-day request thing. Michael and Alex are neighbors, they're both loud for their own reasons (Michael's work, Buffy, Alex's nightmares, whatever) and annoy the crap out of each other even though they've never met, when they finally do they're instantly attracted to each other without knowing the other is the noisy neighbor

He wakes, screaming, atthree in the morning.It takes Alex a few moments for him to recognize where he is. “Book,” he says,marking the items around him, “alarm clock, pillow, dog, guitar.” He goesthrough them again so that he knows he’s not in Iraq, he’s not waking up afterthe explosion. His hand drifts to his knee, rubbing at the angry scarring there.Unfortunately, even though he’s not in the desert, that doesn’t mean his leg isback.He reaches for his guitar and cradles it to his chest, knowing that he needs itto soothe him.It takes him four songs before he can calm down and the last is angry, shoutedlyrics and loud chords, like he’s trying to manifest his anxiety and his PTSDas a thing that he can shout and scream at. His therapist had recommended it tohim, but it rarely seems to do anything.Well, it does something.The thumping on the wall followed by a dull sounding, “Shut the fuck up!” meansthat he’s pissed off his neighbors again. The thin walls of this apartmentreally suck, but Alex lives here and it’s his home. He has a right to dowhatever he wants and he’s not about to let someone else stop him. Thesenightmares aren’t every night, and his neighbors can run white noise machines,same as he does.Once he’s finished, he goes back to bed, but it’s not like he drifts intopeaceful dreams. He tosses and turns all night, not trusting himself to fallback asleep, as if the nightmare will be there waiting for him. It puts him in an extremely irritable mood, so when his nosy asshole neighboris back at it again the next day with the noise, his patience almost snaps. Hehas no idea what the hell he’s doing, but he hears grinding and sawing and hethinks that at one point, there’s a small explosion. Why does Alex put up with this?(He knows why, it’s the low rent)It’s always like this, though. The noise is a factor that Alex has had to become accustomed to in hisapartment. His irritable mood has left him unwilling and unable to deal withit, so when he hears another crash and the ensuing sound of parts hitting tile,he slams his hand to the wall, with Buffy’s barking adding to the noise.“Hey, asshole! Shut the fuck up!” he booms, his patience shot.“Tell yourself that at night!” comes the ensuing sniping.

Alex boils over with rage, which is why he has to take out Buffy for a walk. Hedoesn’t even know where the noise is coming from because the walls in thisplace are thin, but the pipes carry sound. For all he knows, his nightmareneighbor could be the one across the hall, the one beside him, or maybe even afloor below. Whoever he is, Alex would love to give him a piece of his mind. The walk helps to calm Alex down, though he knows a nap would really do thetrick (if it were quiet enough to do). By the time he gets back, he feelsrefreshed and ready, and as he digs out his mailbox key to pick up his letters,he’s already wondering if the noise had really been that bad, or if he was justexhausted.Truthfully, Alex suspects it’s a little of column A and a lot of column B.The exhaustion becomes the guilty culprit for something else, which happens tobe the way he comes to a sudden stop when he sees a man he’s never seen before,standing at the mailbox.It’s not that Alex knows all his neighbors, but he feels like he’d haveremembered this one. The man leans up against the mail and starts riflingthrough his letters, his legs extended and looking lean and long and so fuckinggood in those tight jeans. His hair is a mess of curls atop his red scarf, andhis nose and the tips of his ears are still pink from being outside.He’s also currently standing in front of Alex’s mail slot.“Uh…”He’s stammering, only because his brain had decided in that moment that theappropriate thing to do would be to whisper that this stranger could slidewhatever he wants in Alex’s back slot and he’d be okay with that. He clears his throat and tries again. “You’re in front of my mailbox.”The man glances up, startled by Alex’s voice. He blinks a few times and Alexfeels his heart pound even harder in his chest. His eyes are gorgeous. Whoever this is, he seems equally stunned to see Alex. “Hi,” Alex delves into the depths of his talent for talking and gets…that meeklittle noise.Fuck, he’s bad at this. “What?”He gestures to the mailbox. “You’re uh, you’re standing in front of themailbox? I need to…” He jangles his keys, like the man is a dog. “Sorry.”The other guy says, “Sorry,” at the same time as he steps aside, but doesn’tleave. Instead, he presses his hip near the mailboxes so that he’s angledtowards Alex, leaning his temple and all those curls against it, like he wantsa front-row seat to Alex getting the mail. It’s enough to make him blush andhe’s immensely grateful that Buffy is right there with him to help distracthim.His attention stays low, because he’s not sure he could manage eye contact withthe man without making more of a fool of himself.“You new here?” the guy asks.“Me? No,” Alex responds, awkwardly figuring out how to say, I’ve been herefor months, but I’m so much of a recluse that you’ve clearly never seen mebefore. He chances a look up, mail in hand. “You?”“Same,” he admits. “I only got off the night shift a few weeks ago,” he says,and if Alex looks closer, he can see the bags under his eyes, like he hasn’tfully adjusted to getting sleep. He opens his mouth to say something else, butthe vibrations of a phone interrupt him. “Shit, sorry. I gotta take this, it’swork…” He offers an apologetic smile and wanders off.Instead of lingering, Ale decides that’s his chance to make an escape. It’s not that he doesn’t want to stick around and talk more, but there’s anawkward protocol at play. Who knows how long this phone call is bound to go on?Is he really going to stand there the whole time? Does that make him weird orcreepy, because he kind of thinks it does.Alex heads to the elevator, easing Buffy inside so he can take the weight offhis prosthetic, heading up to his floor. Once he gets inside the apartment, Alexpresses his back to the door, mail clutched to his chest, and he knows thathe’s willing to stay here a little while longer and put up with the noise, ifit means getting to run into his hot neighbor a little more often.After all, he never even got his name. He can’t possibly think about leavingnow.The next chance Alex gets to see his hot neighbor is during the weekly tidy infront of the apartment buildings. Without any fees, they can’t afford to hireanyone, but Alex and a few others had volunteered to keep their gardens tidy.He’s in the middle of poking some garbage with his spear when he glances to theside to see curly-haired hot neighbor with his own bag down the way.Alex takes it as a sign that this is meant to be. They’re supposed to meetagain, even if all they do that day is a polite wave of acknowledgement.He runs into him again a few days later when he’s taking Buffy out. She’s beingsuch a good dog lately, not barking or growling at anyone. In fact, when shesees the man, she goes trotting over to happily accept some pets. “Hey, girl,” he says, adjusting his keys in his hands. “And handsome man,” heteases, glancing up at him.Alex flushes slightly, but seizes the opportunity. “Buffy,” he says, gesturingto her. “And Alex,” he adds, with a gesture to himself. He feels inordinatelyproud about the fact that he managed to introduce himself before making acomplete ass of his behavior. The other man’s sweating and leaning against thedoor, so it looks like he just came from a run.His heart beats rapidly, giving him a hopeful smile. Luckily, it pays off. “I’mMichael,” he says, and there it is.He’s got a name for the face.(He’s also got something to moan later in bed, but he’s not going to focus onthat part)“Hey Michael,” Alex greets him, feeling overly charmed. “It must be freezingout there. You’re dedicated, going out for a run like that?”“I’m a sucker for my sister,” he pants, half bent over. “Fuck,” he exhales,wheezing. “This definitely isn’t the stamina I wanted to impress you with.” Alex raises his eyebrow.“You’ve been wanting to impress me with your stamina?”They did only just meet. Usually Alex doesn’t do this, but maybe that’sexactly why he says what he does next, while Michael is still catching hisbreath.“Maybe you could come to dinner at my place,” he invites. “I bet you have allsorts of other talents.”He did it. He said it, he did it, and now he can’t take it back. He’s not surehe wants to take it back. Breathing out, he tries to calm himself down, buthe’s managed to get really excited over the fact that he’s just invited a manhe just met up to his place for dinner.“Yeah, that sounds like a great idea.”Score one for Alex’s luck.“Tomorrow?” Alex suggests. “We’ll order in.”“It’s a date.”It absolutely is, which gives Alex a thrill that he can barely measure. He goesup to the apartment with Buffy to tidy it up, still amazed that Michael said yesand that this handsome man has been living in this hellhole apartment under hisnose the whole time. He doesn’t even know where Michael works, but he’s sograteful that he’s off the nightshift, giving him a chance to have dinner withAlex. Michael shows up to dinner wearing a gorgeous burgundy sweater that looks likesoft angora. The moment Alex opens the door to let him in, he wants to bury hisface in it and never come up for air.“Hi,” Alex greets him. “Welcome to my humble apartment.” Michael glances around the room, his eyes landing on the guitar. Something onhis face shifts, like annoyance, and Alex rushes to move it off the couch.“Sorry,” he says. “I play sometimes.”“At night,” Michael says evenly.Alex frowns, not sure why Michael sounds like that. “Yeah,” he agrees. “I’vehad a lot of nightmares since my accident, but music helps calm my anxiety.”“Nightmares,” Michael echoes. “That must keep you up a lot in the middle of thenight. Screaming?”Alex isn’t sure he likes the way Michael is staring at him. “…Yeah?”Michael lets out a ragged scoff. “You’re the one I’m shouting at in the middleof the night.” He swallows hard, giving Alex an apologetic look. “I don’t meanhalf of what I say?” he offers, shaking his head. “Fuck, that sounds insincere.It’s more that I got off the night shift and then I keep getting woken up, bythe screaming, then the music. It really floats through…”If it does, then Alex figures it goes both ways. “Does your job involve small explosions and crashes?”Michael gives him a sheepish look. “I’ve had time in the morning now to work onmy things.”This is the asshole that Alex keeps shouting at. “It’s a shitty apartment with bad walls,” he says, because now that he’s metthe man, he doesn’t really want to shout at him. He also doesn’t want thedinner to be ruined all because of this, and he has a bad feeling it’s goingthat way. “I’m sorry if I’m ever too loud. Bad dreams,” he admits, “from mytour in Iraq. The music is what keeps me sane.”“I get that,” Michael admits. “It’s why I tinker around with experiments. Ihave insomnia, but doing that kind of work sets my mind at ease.”Alex stare at Michael, the awkward tension drawn out. Then, it breaks rapidly,because they both start laughing.“Fuck,” Michael wheezes. “I can’t believe you’re Dickbag Noisy Asshole,” hesays. “An affectionate nickname,” he guarantees.“I just called you a jackass in my head,” Alex admits, but now that he knowsMichael, knows why it’s happening, and where it’s coming from, he thinks he hasan idea of how they can deal with it. “Maybe,” he says, “the next time you hearthat kind of noise in my apartment, you could come and knock on my door. I’dabsolutely be willing to keep it down, for a good cause.”Michael toys with his cell phone, eyeing Alex with a keen look, a littleflirtatious and filthy. “Come and knock on your door in the middle of the night,” he says thoughtfully,like he needs the time to think about it. “I think I could manage.”“Okay, then,” Alex replies, getting the feeling that maybe after tonight’sdinner, he’s going to get to see Michael again fairly soon, and in the middleof the night. Funny, then, how now Alex is hoping for a nightmare, if only to see ifMichael sticks to his word.*It turns out that there’s a solution for both their noise problems.When Michael stays the night, Alex securely curled into his arms, he doesn’twake from a single nightmare. He’s cocooned in his warmth and he gets a fullnight’s rest, with Buffy dozing on the corner of the bed near them. Michael,well-rested, then conducts his experiments without dropping half as manythings, and he doesn’t make calculation errors that have things blowing up.“You know,” Michael mentions, after they’ve tried this for a week to discoverit’s not a fluke, “I always knew sex was the answer for most things, but Idon’t think I could’ve predicted it’d solve my noisy neighbor issue.”Alex rolls over in bed, grinning at Michael.“How about you come over here and we’ll solve it some more?”Michael grins right back, practically tripping over his feet to get back intobed for another round.Somewhere nearby, someone pounds on the wall to tell them to shut up, and Alexlaughs as he realizes how the tables have turned. It’s someone else’s problem, because Alex has no intention of shutting up whenhe’s got Michael making noises the way he is. Let them call him all the namesin the book. It’s worth it.

[jasons-exposedspine]

Negan and Lucille Chapter 1

Summary: Negan is completely captivated by Lucille and she is captivated by him too. But she is hiding a lot of pain behind her fake smile.

Warnings: language, abusive father, kissing, mention of self harm.

A/N: i began writing this because i thought it would be good to have a multi chapter series of Negan and Lucilles life. From school to their marriage to Lucilles sickness. If you get triggered by abusive parents or any abuse at all and self harming you can skip this chapter and the other chapters to come. I’ll put warnings for those chapters.

Relationship: Negan x Lucille

The pitch lights were shining bright as Negan was waiting in line beside the fence to bat, it was the biggest game of the season. Negan loved baseball and he had fun playing in grade eleven. He had already batted three times but he enjoyed it, being able to hit the ball as far as he could. He had a good swing and he hit the ball further than anybody else in the team that he was in. Negan was last in the line because he had just batted in a line of five and they all get obviously one turn. The feeling of the wood of the bat was smooth under his fingers as his grip was loose on his slugger. 

He turned his head towards the stands and sitting right in the middle was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. Her hair was as dark as the night sky and her eyes were as blue as the ocean. Her skin was the perfect tanned completion similar to his in a way and her smile could light up a room. He didn’t understand how he had not noticed her before, she was a vision. She turned her head and looked dead into his eyes, she flashed a small smile and gave a small wave. He smiled widely showing his beautiful dimples and waved back, she giggled and turned her head. He had to get to know her and he had to ask her out now he just wanted the game finished. 

He stared at her the whole twenty minutes that he was in the line then the sound of the couches voice pulled him out of his trance. He lifted the bat above his shoulder ready to hit it hard. The ball was thrown and he watched it sail through the air, he swung the bat hard and the ball flew so far away. He dropped his bat and the dirt kicked up as he ran as fast as he could. He saw in the corner of his eye that girl in the stands standing up and cheering for him. He slid in the int and his foot touched the white mat before the ball could and he had helped the team win on that home run.

 All the boys on the team crowded around him and cheered him and pat him on the back. He just wanted to find that girl in the stand so he walked slowly across the pitch to the fence. It took him a while before he spotted her in the crowd, she was walking towards him. He smiled as she walked towards the fence to talk to him, his heart was beating fast in his chest as she approached him. “I noticed you staring at me” she beamed her voice was sweet. She knocked the breath out of him, his palms were sweaty and he blushed deeply.

“Yeah fuck I’m sorry for being all creepy and shit but I couldn’t un notice such a fucking beauty such as you.” She blushed deeply “I’m Lucille” she said holding out her hand “I’m Negan” he said taking her hand and shaking it. “Nice home run by the way” she commented “thanks I’m the best fucking batter in the team.” He tried not to boast but he wanted to impress her. “Um did you wanna go out sometime?” He asked fiddling with his hands, fuck he had never been this nervous around a girl before. 

“Sure I’ll give you my number” her smile was so beautiful, he loved it. He grabbed his bat and settled it on his shoulder as he followed her through the crowd. She was wearing baggy jeans, a oversized evil dead t-shirt and black boots and her hair was down past her shoulders. He followed her into the parking lot to an old black ford that was parked next to a willow tree. She pushed the key into the driver side door and unlocked it. Negan leaned his bat against the side of the car as he watched her pull a piece of paper and a pen out of the glove box.

The wind blew through the tree making a few leaves drop down onto the top of her car and it made her hair wave a little. She handed him the strip of paper “do you wanna give me yours?” Negan took the pen from her hand, his fingers brushed hers and they both blushed, he wrote his number on the paper. She took the strip of paper from him and put it into the front pocket of her jeans. “Do you need a lift home” she asked pushing they key into the ignition and turning it to hear the purr of the engine.

 “Nah I got my fucking car but I’ll talk to you at school tomorrow.” She smiled at him again “ok well don’t fucking crash” he chuckled at her comment. “Don’t fucking worry yourself doll I won’t” he snatched up his bat as she closed the door of her car. He began walking down the isle of cars as she backed out of the parking space. As she drove past she beeped her horn and he waved to her and a huge grin spread across his face. Lucille had liked Negan for a while but she never thought she would have a shot. He always had all the pretty girls and Lucille never thought she was pretty.

Her father told her that she was a useless whore and that she was fully and he still told her that to this day. Her father hit her and her mother too but her mother was too afraid to leave her father. Lucille wasn’t allowed to have a boyfriend by her fathers rules but her mother didn’t care. She had a boyfriend when she was fifteen but he left her because of her father and he wasn’t good to her either. Negan lived with just his mother because his father wasn’t good to his mother and him so she took Negan and left. 

The girlfriends he had weren’t really girlfriends they were just a quick fuck that wanted something more afterwards. But the girl he had just met was different, she made him feel nervous and shy he was never like that around girls. She was gorgeous and he wanted to know what her personality was like. Usually just wanted a pretty face and some sweet pussy but this girl he wanted to know more about. 

The next day at school Negan found Lucille sitting on the stands by the playing field. Her long black hair was blowing the wind as she was drawing on a fresh page of her sketch pad. She looked up ever few seconds to look at the scenery and sketch it on the page. She was wearing a Marilyn Manson shirt with ripped jeans and black biker boots. His heart began to pound hard in his chest and his palms were sweaty. He took a deep breath in and walked towards her on the stands, the metal of the bench seats creaked under his feet. 

He sat down next to her on the seat and she turned her head, a smile spread across her face. “Hey Negan” she said sweetly “hey Lucille” fuck why was he so nervous around her. “You can call me Lu y’know it’s fine” her Southern drawl was stronger than his and he loved that. “So did you wanna go to a party some of my friends are having tonight?” Lucille knew her father would say no but she wanted to go with Negan so she was gonna lie and say that she was go nan stay with some friends.

“Sure Negan what time?” Negan smiled “how about seven will that be ok?” Lucille nodded. “Pick me up on the corner of Lowell street which is my street” he smiled widely and his heart nearly exploded. “Fucking great i can’t fucking wait Lu” she giggled at his excitement which only made him smile wider. He looked over at her sketch book and saw a drawing of the playing field and it looked just like what he was seeing in front of him. “You draw well” he commented making her blush, she looked out to the playing field. “Yeah i do it to keep my mind off of shit” Negan stood up “i gotta bounce but i’ll fucking see you tonight Lu.”

 He bent down and kissed her cheek softly making her blush and giggle. “ok Neeg’s i’ll see you tonight” he liked that nickname but only she could call him that. Once was out of sight he jumped up in excitement “fuck yes” he whispered to himself. Lucille squealed with excitement “fuck yes” she giggled, she was so excited for tonight and she knew just what to wear. Luckily her father was working the nightshift so her mom could help her get ready.

Once school ended Lu rushed home in her car to go shower and get ready, she basically ran through the door. “Hey Lu how was school?” Lucille rushed into the kitchen all jumpy and excited. “Well someones excited” her mum said smiling “mom i met a guy last night called Negan and i’m going on a date with him tonight.” Her mom rushed over to her and grabbed her books out of her hands and put them on the wooden kitchen table beside them. “Lets go upstairs, go shower and you pick what you wanna wear and i’ll do your makeup.” 

Lucille was so excited, she flew up the stairs and showered. She ran to her room in her towel, she had another hour to pick what to wear and her mom could do her makeup. She went into her closet and picked out her black dress that went down to her knees, she picked out her sexy black lacy panties and bra. She slipped on her black stockings and then her dress with sleeves, she put on her doc Martens with the red roses on the sides. She brushed her hair and did two braids that went into a little ponytail so her black hair was half down half up. She then put on all her bracelets on her right wrist to cover her scars and new wounds.

Her mom came into her room and began to do her makeup, first her foundation, then her eyeliner, then her black and purple eyeshadow, her mascara and last but not least her nude lipstick with gloss over it. Once she was done she flew back down stairs and out the door down her street to wait for him on the corner. She waited two minutes until she saw a black truck come speeding down the road. As soon as he saw her his blood rushed straight to his dick and his hair stood on end. He pulled up and got out of the drivers side and walked around to the passenger side door. 

He was wearing a pair of black jeans with a grey t-shirt and a black leather jacket that was unzipped and his dark hair was slicked back. He opened the passenger side door and held out his hand, she took it “ma’am” he said as she stepped into his truck. “Thank you sheriff” she said letting go of his hand he smirked as he closed the passenger side door. Her heart was beating fast as he got back into the truck sliding onto the bench seat next to her. “Lets fucking go doll” he beamed as he sped down the road, truth is he was so fucking nervous.

“Where are we going Neeg’s?” she asked looking out the window at the sun going  down over the hills. “The party’s in the fucking woods near a hill we’re almost there” he said that just as they turned off the road to a road that led into the woods.  After a few moments of driving they pulled up next at least ten other cars and there was light from a bonfire. Negan killed the engine and got out of his truck and walked over to the passenger side door. He opened it and held out his hand, Lucille took it a stepped out of his truck. “Thank you” she said letting go of his hand, he closed the door and locked the truck. He bent his arm at the elbow offering for her to take his arm and she took it by slipping her arm around his. 

The cool leather his jacket making goosebumps appear on her skin, the sound of ACDC was playing loudly and peoples voices could be heard. Lucille wasn’t the most popular girl in school she was like the loser so she was nervous about being seen with Negan. As they walked into the space there were people sitting around the huge bonfire making out and drinking. Some were dancing and smoking and some were sat on the roof of the blue truck parked near the fire.

Lucille felt like just running and hiding but she didn’t want to upset Negan and he was good so far. “I’m gonna go and get a fucking drink you want one Lu?” she slid her arm from his and looked up at him. “Can i have a beer please?” Negan nodded “i’ll be right fucking back” he leaned down and kissed her cheek. Returned around and walked over to the table that had cartons upon cartons of beer. Lucilles dress had pockets so she pulled out her pack of cigarettes and her silver zippo. 

She pulled out a cigarette and put it between her lips, she flicked the lid open of her zippo and flicked the flint. She lit the cigarette and flicked the lid of her lighter closed and put them both back into her pocket. Lucille took a long drag before before blowiangthe smoke into the cool night air. Negan approached her with their beers in his hands. He handed her her beer and she took a long sip of it before holding it beside her. Negan saw the cigarette inner hand “can i have one?” Lucille pulled the pick and her zippo back out of her pocket. She pulled a cigarette out and handed to him and she handed him her zippo. She took another drag before turning her head to blow the smoke away from Negan’s face.

“C’mon let’s sit by the fucking fire” Lucille nodded in agreement and followed him over to one of the many logs placed around the fire. Lucille took another sip from her beer as did Negan. “So who do you live with Lu?” she turned her head to look at him, his hazel eyes were sparkling. “I live with my mom and my dad but we are pretty fucking poor and my dad is an asshole.” Negan’s face softened “i live with just my mom cuz my dad was a fucking asshole too.” Lucille smiled “I guess thats one thing we have in common” she said taking a drag of her cigarette. 

“I guess it fucking is” Negan replied taking a drag of his cigarette, Negan still felt nervous. “I gotta take a piss i’ll be back” Negan said placing his beer on the ground and getting up. He walked off into the woods, Lucille just sat their finishing her smoke and sipping her beer. Blonde headed girl walked up to her “oh no” Lucille thought it was Samantha the girl who bullied her. Lucille flicked her cigarette and stood up from the log and she came face to face with Samantha.

“Well if it isn’t Lucille the whore” Lucille just rolled her eyes and scoffed “says the one who gets guys to pay her to fucking suck them off.” Samantha chuckled and rolled her eyes “so why you here just to find someone to fuck?” Samantha scoffed. “No i actually have a fucking date unlike you” Lucille retorted feeling braver than she ever did. “Oh yeah who with your dad” that comment hurt Lucille a little “no Negan actually.” Samantha laughed hard “Negan wouldn’t bat an eye at you, you’re just a fucking loser with a rapist for a dad bitch.” Lucille just ignored her comments even though the ones about her father were true. 

Negan walked into the fight and stood in front of Lucille. “Well actually you’re fucking wrong she is my date Samantha” Negan drawled. Samantha stopped laughing and swallowed hard “why would you want to date a fucking lowlife like her when you could have a girl like me.” Negan chuckled “because she doesn’t suck guys off for money and she is actually fucking genuine not like you. Your just a fake ass whore who only wants men who can fucking own you and buy you every fucking thing. So leave Lucille the fuck alone or i will fucking sort you out myself” Samantha just looked blankly at both of them and stormed off.

Negan chuckled as she stormed off, he turned around and excepted Lucille to begin tears butte wasn’t. “You didn’t have to defend me y’know, i’ve been putting up with her most of my life.” Negan moved stepped closer to her and reached up to push a strand of her hair behind her ear. “I know you can but she had to be put into her fucking place she should know better and fucking live you alone now that i’ve fucking sorted her out.” Lucille looked up at him “thank you for defending me, guys have never really done that for me before.” Negan smiled at her before taking her hand and pulling her back towards his truck. 

She didn’t question him she just followed him along. He opened the passenger side door for her once again and she stepped into his truck and slid onto the bench seat. The truck shook slightly when Negan shut the door, he walked back around to the driver side door. He sat on the bench seat and pulled the door closed and pushed the key into the ignition and the truck started. He backed the truck out and drove it back down the road they came down and turned right on the highway.

Lucille looked out the window and watched the street lights speed past her eyes, Negan was the only guy who had ever stood up for her like that. Negan turned into one of the many diners in their town and parked the truck at the front of the diner. “What do you want to eat Lu?” Negan asked as he was getting out of the truck. “Whatever you’re having but i want a chocolate milkshake please” Negan smiled at her “sure just stay here i’ll be out fucking soon.” 

He closed the driver side door and she watched him walk into the diner. While he was in the diner she sat and thought about him. He was sweet and funny and he hadn’t put a hand on her, yet this was their first date. But she could tell that he wasn’t like that, she didn’t know how she knew she just did. A part of her was afraid, if her father found out god help her and her mom. Lucille was afraid that if she told Negan he would leave her and she didn’t want that. So at that very moment she decided to not tell Negan about her father and her boyfriend rule. 

She was pulled out of her thoughts when the driver side door opened and Negan placed the bag of food in the middle of the bench seat. He then handed her her milkshake “thank you” she said softly as she took it from his hand. Negan got into the truck with a drink of his own and pulled the door closed behind him. “Alright doll lets fucking go” he said backing out of the parking space and turning left on the road. The smell of the food was making her mouth water and her stomach grumble but she was patient. 

Their date wasn’t over yet but she didn’t care she didn’t want to go home. Negan turned off the road onto a dirt track that led to the top of a hill. He parked the truck on the top of the hill and killed the engine, the truck was facing the moon. The moon was full so it lit up the sky and the area that surrounded them. “You wanna come sit on the fucking hood?” Lucille nodded, the paper bag with the food it cracked as Negan picked it up. Lucille jumped out of the truck and walked around to the front of the truck, she placed her drink on the hood. she then climbed up the bull bar and leaned her back against the windscreen. She grabbed her drink and took sip.

The truck shook when Negan climbed up the bull bar he set the food down in between them and sat down. Negan unlaced his boots and kicked them off and threw them into the open window of his truck. Lucille did the same as him and laid back down staring at the sky. Negan handed her food to her and she took it saying thank you as she always did. She unwrapped the cheeseburger that he got her and bit into it. They just sat there quietly and looking up at the sky, both to nervous to say anything. 

Lucille had finished her burger so she scrunched up the paper it was wrapped in and threw it into the paper bag. She took a long sip of her drink and set it back down on the hood of the truck. “The moon is so pretty tonight” Lucille said nervously “not as fucking pretty as you.” Lucille blushed deeply and her heart was beating fast in her chest. “You’re just saying that i’m not pretty i’m fucking ugly” Lucille scoffed. Negan turned his head to look at her but she was looking forward. “Lucille look at me” Lucille turned her head and was met with his sparkling eyes.

“Don’t believe a word that fucking bitch says you are fucking beautiful and you aren’t a whore she is. You are a sweet and fucking caring person who deserves the fucking world. That fucking bitch doesn’t deserve anything in the world” Lucille stared into his eyes. She turned her head back to look at the sky but Negan kept staring at her. She really was beautiful on the inside and the outside, this was their first date but from what he had seen she was sweet and caring. He moved his hand slowly towards hers and he slowly laced his fingers with hers. Her hand was much smaller than his and he thought it was cute that her hand was much smaller in his big one. 

Goosebumps spread across her skin and her heart was beating faster in her chest. It began to get cold so her body shivered slightly, Negan noticed.  He let go of her hand and sat up to take his leather jacket off. He draped it over her shoulders and she pushed her arms into the sleeves, it was warm from him wearing it. They both played back down against the windscreen and Lucille grabbed his hand again, their fingers intertwined.

His jacket smelt like nicotine and mint along with leather it was intoxicating and she loved it. Lucille shifted a little closer to him feeling the heat radiating from his body. Negan’s heart was beating fast in his chest as was hers, he turned his head to face her. They stared into each others eyes, Negan reached up to cup her cheek and softly caress it. He shifted closer to her so they were only a breath apart and their noses were touching. He leaned his face closer until his lips pressed softly against hers and she instantly melted against him. Negan pushed himself up so the upper half of his body was over hers. 

She tangled her fingers in his dark hair while her other hand was on his shoulder. Negan cupped his cheek while his other hand was on her stoking covered thigh. Lucille’s tongue traced the seam of his lips and Negan complied by opening his mouth. Her tongue licked against his and explored his mouth he tasted like chocolate and mint. He moaned quietly at the taste of her like chocolate and nicotine.

Negan shifted in between her legs, she bent her legs at the knee a placed her feet flat on the hood of the car. All that could be heard was the wet sounds of their lips and Lucilles soft moans. She had never been kissed like this by a boy before usually it was dominant and emotionless. But with Negan it was slow and loving and the feeling of him grinding softly against her core was making her love it even more. They made out like this for at least thirty minutes before they were both hot and flustered and Negan pulled away. 

“I better get you home baby” Negan said pecking her lips, Lucille was dreading going home. She picked up her drink and jumped off the hood of the truck and opened the passenger side door. She jumped into the truck and pulled the door closed behind her Negan started up the truck and drove back down the road. He turned left onto the highway and started heading back to her street. Lucille moved her hand on top of his and laced her fingers with his. She was scared but she did her best to hide it so she just squeezed his hand. 

Negan looked over at her and noticed the fear in her eyes he turned his head back to focus on the road. “Whats wrong Lu?” he asked concern lacing his words “nothing Neeg’s i’m fine just drop me off where you picked me up please.” Negan knew something was up he could tell by the fear in her eyes and the way she was squeezing his hand. He turned down her street and pulled up at the corner where he picked her up from. “Thanks for dinner Negan and thanks for sticking up for me” Negan smiled at her and rubbed his thumb softly over her knuckles.

 “No fucking problem baby i had a good time too did you wanna do this again on Tuesday?” Lucille thought for a moment she knew what her dad would do but she didn’t care “sure i’d like that” she replied. She leaned over and kissed him softly on the lips then pulled away and kissed his cheek softly. She opened the door of his truck and stepped out all the while still holding his hand. She grabbed her boots in her other hand and looked up at him hiding her fear behind her smile. Little did she know he could see right through that fake smile and he could see she was scared.

“Oh you’re jacket” she went to take it off “no its ok you keep it on you look badass with it on and it fucking suits you.” Lucille blushed and her heart swelled with love and it distracted her from the fear she felt. He leaned down and brushed his lips over the back of her hand softly and she smiled back at him. She walked backward still holding his hand but her fingers were sliding from his grasp. Her pinky finger curled around his until her hand was fully pulled away from his. It was like if she let go of him she would get hurt which she was when she got home. Negan pulled the passenger side door closed and blew her a kiss she caught it and blew it back.

 Negan drove off leaving Lucille with love and fear in her heart. She walked home slowly dreading what was to come, she walked up the path to her house and gulped as she turned the doorknob of the front door. She opened the door and closed it softly behind her and her dad appeared from the kitchen. “Where have you fucking been Lucille?” her father growled she cowered in fear. “I was just out with sone friends daddy no boys i promise” fear was slowly filling her as he walked closer to to her.

“Where did you get that jacket?” he asked looking over it “one of my friends gave it to me its one of hers.” Her father raised his eyebrow “you’re fucking late Lucille” she swallowed hard. “I know and i’m sorry daddy i just got held up” her dad lifted his hand and back handed her across the face and she fell to the ground. “Thats no fucking excuse you know the fucking rules you little slut!” he spat as she wiped the tears falling from her eyes. “Y..yes daddy i’m s..sorry” he scoffed, she pulled herself up from the floor and stood up.

 He slapped her again but much harder and she wiped her face and ran up the stairs and locked her door. She ran over to her bed and buried her face into the pillow and cried her eyes out. She pulled Negan’s jacket tighter around her and she inhaled deeply, his scent calming her down. He made her feel good and mostly he made her feel safe like her father couldn’t touch her. She dried her tears and stood up from her bed and wiped off her makeup and got into her pyjamas. She put Negan’s jacket back on and zipped it up and fell back onto her bed his scent calming her once again.

LIKE OR REBLOG FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER!!

@you-a-southpaw-doll  @savedpeople @negan-morningstar @negan-the-cat @smcc212 @negans-lucille-tblr

[fnafimagines]

𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐋𝐄𝐒𝐒 (𝐅𝐍𝐀𝐅 𝐗 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐑)

C H A P T E R  O N E

What is this fanfic about?

(Your Name) (Last Name) is a prodigy detective in a small town in Maine. She is assigned to a cold case that is more than 20 years old.  The details of the case are minuscule. Residents pass superstitions around like wildfire.

She assigned to the night watch at the pizzeria. What will she find? But more importantly, what is the truth?

Want to read more?

Wattpad or Quotev

The intern rapped his hands against the firmly-polished mahogany door. His hands combed through his swooped blonde hair as he heard a soft voice say, “Come in.”

He opened the door, wincing at the slight squeak the hinges gave. His stance relaxed as he saw the woman give him a kind smile. “What can I help you with, Phillip?”

“Well, Ms. (Last Name), we have another case we need you to work on,” He stated firmly.

“Okay, show me what’ cha got,” She chided. Her bright (e/c) eyes dimed as a thin case file was slammed on the desk. She lifted one of the folds only to find a maximum of three pages hidden underneath. She sat straight up as she looked at the intern.

“You’ve got to be kidding me, Phillip.” The blonde man straightened his stature as he looked at the woman. Her demeanor had turned cold, her expression turned sour. He was completely knowledgeable of her slight no-shit attitude.

She just sighed as Phillip stayed there, more frozen than Antarctica in winter. She was completely done with being undermined in this department. She had skills, but they had always set her up to fail. 'I am a prodigy, damn it!'

She looked up at the boy and groaned. “What’s the mission?”

He straightened. “You’ll be a night watchman at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. You need to find out why all these nightguards are disappearing.” His voice became strained as he looked at her. Her face was pale and her body stiffened. Everyone had heard about the rumors around that place. It was enough to make the prodigy detective shrink in her seat.

“You. Want me. To go there. With no backup?” At this point, she had gotten out of her chair and had backed him into the wall. He shakily nodded his head.

“U-Unless you don’t want to.” He stuttered. She just sighed and shook her head.

“Don't’ worry about it. I’ll handle this.” She walked over to the coat-rack next to the door. She grabbed her coat and hat and put her hand on the doorknob. Pausing, she turned back to look at the intern, one hand on the knob, the other gripping tightly to the file.

“Make sure they know I’m doing this. Alone.” The intern winced as the door slammed shut.

You shivered as you walked back to your apartment, your coat tightly wrapped around you. Your mood turned even more sour than before, as you had forgotten your knitted hat at home. The hat you were wearing was only for fashion-sake.

You looked in a frozen puddle on the ground.

“I even look like a detective! Why can’t they see that?” You stomped, making the puddle shatter into a mixture of beautiful shards. You could see multiple of you as your face burned in anger. You started to speedwalk home. You looked down at the case file. 'I wonder what’s in this thing?'

You walked into the lobby, being looked at by strangers and neighbors as you walked into the elevator. You didn’t blame them, though. You looked like a wet cat. You pressed the button for your floor, but then noticed a tall, older man standing next to you.

He had scruffy brown hair and some stubble growing on his face. He stood a little too close for comfort to you, despite there being ample room in the elevator.

“What floor are you going to?” You asked politely.

“Number 23,” He responded. You pressed the corresponding button and then moved slightly away from him. He chuckled, seemingly noticing your discomfort but doing nothing to erase the tension. Instead, he decided to engage in a bit of small talk.

“My name is David Miller. How about you ma'am?” He asked politely. You smiled uncomfortably.

“My name is (Your Name) (Last Name). Are you new here? I’ve never seen you around.” You asked.

“I am indeed new here, ma'am. Just moved here from the next town over.” He adjusted his sleeve cuffs absentmindedly.

“Oh! What do you do?” You said, your smile becoming a bit more genuine.

“I’m a technician at a pizzeria. You might have heard of it. It’s Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza.” You froze. ‘I could be talking to a suspect!’ You instantly went into detective mode.

“Really? That place is pretty creepy. Don't you think?” He just chuckles.

“It is, but you get used to it. Now, what do you do?” You adjusted your coat as you cleared your throat.

“Well, I got fired from my last job and am looking for another one.” You lied. He just looked at you and gave a slightly creepy smile.

“Well, we do have an open position at the restaurant.” You made a fake excited grin.

“Really! What is it?” You chuckled. “I’m kind of desperate for a job if you didn’t notice.”

“It’s the nightshift. Kind of perfect if you ask me. You get to watch over the robots for a few hours at night and then have the whole rest of the day to yourself. It must be magnificent.”

“Whoa, that sounds perfect. I usually want to spend the day with my friends anyways. That’s actually where I’m going! I’m visiting a friend of mine, Alex. He lives here.” You lied.

Alex was your neighbor and a good friend of yours. He was intelligent but could be slightly wimpy. You slyly smirked to yourself. You honestly didn’t want Dave to know that you lived here.

“Ooo! A boyfriend, perhaps?” Your face turned scarlet as the man chuckled.

“No way! I mean, he’s cute and all, but not my type.” Dave chuckled.

You both were interrupted by a chime, signalizing that it had hit your floor. You turned to Dave and gave him a polite smile.

“Here’s my stop! I’ll see you around!” You stepped out and gave a friendly wave.

“Of course, ma’am.” You turned around and the elevator closed. When he knew you weren’t looking Dave gave a horrific grin.

“Foolish girl.”

You couldn’t believe you might have gotten a lead suspect already. Dave was creepy and not good at hiding his serial-killer esque personality. You had a feeling he might be behind this whole 'nightguard going missing' situation but weren’t one-hundred percent sure.

But you knew you could get the job easier. Maybe the man could even assist you. You took out your keys, finally recognizing the headache you had from the cold weather. You’d have to take some medicine for that later.

You opened the door and hung up your hat and coat, only to find a furry friend nuzzle your feet. You looked down and smiled.

“Hello, Milo.” You smiled down at your tabby cat. He nuzzled into your leg as you grabbed him and brought him up to your face and smiled.

“Did you miss me?” He meowed in response, jumping from your hands to the top of your head, where he curled up into a ball. You chuckled and walked into the kitchen to get yourself some water. You struggled to reach the glass cups in the cupboard and decided to just go for one of the plastic ones in the drawer. ‘Why do the cupboards have to be made for tall people!’

You walked over to your cabinet to look around for the ibuprofen, sighing and just closing the cabinet, only to find the ibuprofen on the counter. ‘Okay, first the cupboards. And now my damn medicine is bouncing around like the Annabelle doll!’

You popped the child-safety cap off of the container and poured some tablets into your hand, accidentally getting too many. You put all but two back and then swallowed them, instantly washing the dryness down with a cold cup of water.

You walked through the hallway to get to your dainty little bedroom, ignoring the creaks in the floorboards as you observed some of the pictures on the wall that your parents had sent you one lonely weekend. You remember that you still had most of the older photos in the closet, basically just dumping them there until you got the time to sort through them all.

‘I’ll go through them after this whole Fazbear business is done,’ you decided to yourself. You walked into your room, covering your ears as your door slammed against the wall. You groaned. You jumped onto your bed, cozying up into the comforter. ‘Yeah, I should probably take a shower.’

Your eyes squinted as you opened the call app on your cell phone. Your phone shined as you went to turn down the brightness.

You looked at the number you had to enter. ‘1-888-FAZ-FAZBEAR.’ You slightly hesitated before you finally pressed the call button. Your heart pounded faster as the phone rang out in your silent, empty apartment. Milo nuzzled into your leg as you sat crisscrossed on the couch. You rubbed your temples as you put a pair of reading glasses on. The frames were black, a staple fashion piece if you had to say so yourself. They gave you an intelligent and cunning look.

You were interrupted from your thoughts by another voice coming out from the other line.

“This is Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. How may I help you?” a sweet older woman asked.

You got out your notepad and pen and started jotting down about this woman. ‘Maybe another suspect.’

“Hi! My name is (Your Name) (Last Name). I’m was looking at the open position that you guys have online. The night shift, I think it was?” You said kindly.

The woman seemed to pause as her voice turned to a whisper. “Are you sure you want to do that, sweet pea? The night shift doesn't seem like a job for such a sweet-sounding young lady.” You internally scoffed at the seemingly sexist remark, but you knew she was just being polite, so you put on your sweetest voice.

“Don’t worry, ma’am. I can handle it!” You heard her sigh.

“Okay, I’ll get you an appointment with my husband.”

‘Oh shit!’ You weren’t just talking to anyone. This was Dorothy Emily, the owner’s wife.

Your voice practically grew three times sweeter. “That would be amazing, ma’am! Thank you so much. “ You could practically picture her frown.

“No problem, dear... How’s tomorrow at 10?” Your grin grew wide.

“Perfect! Thank you again.” You were about to cheer.

“Goodbye… dear.” The line hung up as you dialed down your cheer, your face contorting from happiness and excitement into a look of terror. ‘Why did that sound so… ominous?'

You brushed it off as you looked down at the kitten sleeping in your lap. You kindly smiled and pet his fur, hearing an almost silent purr come from the content kitten. You then looked up at the tons of papers and notes you had compiled about the case. One, in particular, sparked your interest. It was a fairly old newspaper, but its words spoke volumes about what you could be going up against.

“Kids vanish at local pizzeria – bodies not found. Two local children were reportedly lured into a back room during the late hours of operation at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza on the night of June 26th. While video surveillance identified the man responsibly and led to his capture the following morning, the children themselves were never found and are presumed dead. “

“Police think that the suspect dressed as a company mascot to earn the children’s trust.”

“Five children now reported missing. Suspect convicted. Five children are now linked to the incident at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, where a man dressed as a cartoon mascot lured then into a back room. While the suspect has been charged, the bodies themselves were never found. Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza has been fighting an uphill battle ever since to convince families to return to the pizzeria. ‘It’s a tragedy.’”

“Local pizzeria threatened with shutdown over sanitation. Local pizzeria, Freddy-Fazbear’s Pizza has been threatened again with shutdown by the health department over reports of a foul odor coming from the much-loved animal mascots.

Police were contacted when parents reportedly noticed what appeared to be blood and mucus around the eyes and mouths of the mascots. One parent likened them to ‘reanimated carcasses’.”

“Local pizzeria said to close by years end. After a long struggle to stay in business after the tragedy that took place there many years ago, Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza has announced that it will close by year’s end. Despite a year-long search for a buyer, companies seem unwilling to be associated with the company. ‘These characters will live on. In the hearts of kids - these characters will live on.’ -CEO”

Either the pizzeria never closed, or it had a reopening. But this was suspicious for several reasons. First of all, you had looked through there code and saw that they would clean up to the premise of a crime scene before police got there. That was probably why they put you on the case. ‘They probably put me on the case because of my prodigy skills.’

Okay, okay now. Stop being cocky. You would have to see what all of this was about at your shift. You looked down at the sleeping cat. ‘Tomorrow.’

You grabbed a soft knitted blue blanket and finally, after a long day of paperwork fell asleep.

[tattooednursewrites]

Vice

Masterlist

Summary:     Dean is your biggest vice, but you can’t bring yourself to stop.

Dean/Reader

Song fic for Miranda Lambert - Vice

Word Count:   1094

Warnings:   Language, Angst, Sexual relationship is alluded to. 

A/N:      This is for @wonderfulworldofwinchester‘s Dancing into 1500 Song Fic Challenge. Congratulations on 1500! Thank you for letting me participate. Sorry I’m a day late, nightshift tends to mess with my days. 

Vice

          You took a sip of whiskey, glancing at the jukebox as the next song started. Fucking perfect. This was definitely high on the list of songs you really didn’t need to hear right now.

              Steady as a needle dropping on a vinyl

            Neon singer with a jukebox title full of heartbreak

            Thirty-three, forty-five, seventy-eight

            When it hurts this good you gotta play it twice

            Another vice

                       As if you needed more inspiration for your self-destructive thoughts. You knew you shouldn’t have done it. Just like every other time. You couldn’t remember when you fell in love with Dean, it had happened quickly, insidiously, so you couldn’t pinpoint it. You could remember the first time you kissed. The first time you felt him fill you – fuck… it had been life altering. Not just because he was good, and he was. Not just because he seemed to know your body by heart at the first touch, though he did. No… it had felt like home. It filled your eyes with tears, and they had rolled down your cheeks despite the pleasure you felt. It was an emotional release you hadn’t expected. And it had been almost as good as your other release.

              Thankfully as much whiskey as you had both downed, he didn’t seem to notice the tears. The next morning, you woke feeling hopeful. It was a new feeling for you, the fluttering in your belly bringing a smile to your lips. It didn’t last. His first words to you were an apology. Explaining that it was a mistake. It wouldn’t happen again. You hid your pain, hid the disappointment. You just nodded and agreed, as if your heart hadn’t just been eviscerated. Sure, a one-time thing. You’d had more than your fair share of those. You knew how it went.

              All dressed up in a pretty black label

           Sweet salvation on a dining room table

           Waiting on me

           Where the numb meets the lonely

           It's gone before it ever melts the ice

              But it did happen again. It took a few months, but this time there was no alcohol involved. The catalyst had been a near death experience that left you both rattled. You needed each other to feel alive. And it worked. Holy fuck did it work. The next morning, he had barely gotten the apology out and you were pulling on your jeans. You didn’t know where your panties had ended up, but you needed out of there, with or without them.

            Another vice, another call

          Another bed I shouldn't crawl out of

          At seven a.m. with shoes in my hand

         Said I wouldn't do it, but I did it again

         And I know I'll be back tomorrow night, oh

           Again, and again you gave in to him. You no longer needed excuses or alcohol to fall into bed together. You and Dean were like magnets… pulled to each other for carnal pleasure. You just couldn’t say no. It didn’t matter how much it hurt the next morning. The ache in your chest that had become your constant companion. The pleasure of the moment was worth it, though. Pretending that he felt the same. Felt something, anything at all, for you. You knew you were his mistake, but he was your reward… even if it was only for one night. And the more ‘one night’s there were, the more you hoped for the next… and the more the morning hurt. The throbbing in your chest had been there for so long now, you almost forgot what not being in pain felt like. Losing yourself in Dean was the only time you didn’t feel it… until you woke up. And here you were again, the morning after.

              I wear a town like a leather jacket

            When the new wears off, I don't even pack it

            If you need me

           I'll be where my reputation don't proceed me

           Maybe I'm addicted to goodbyes

              This time, you hadn’t even waited for him to wake up. You had tiptoed out of his room, dressing quickly and heading for the garage. The bunker had been quiet, so you hadn’t expected to see Sam sitting at the table. He had looked at you, his discomfort at the situation plain on his face. You figured he noticed your eyes shining with unshed tears. Your hair was messy from the night before. Hell, you were still carrying your boots. You gave him a quick goodbye before hurrying up the stairs. You pretended not to hear when he called after you.

              Another vice, another town

           Where my past can't run me down

           Another life, another call

           Another bed I shouldn't crawl out of

          At seven a.m. with shoes in my hand

          Said I wouldn't do it, but I did it again

          And I know I'll be gone tomorrow night

          Mmm, another vice

              And now you were here. In a bar. Sipping whiskey and trying not to feel. You kind of wanted to punch whoever had put this song on. Seriously. You really didn’t need help wallowing right now. And this wasn’t a happy bar song. It was more of a throwback to old Hank songs, even though musically it had a 70’s rock feel to it as well. Definitely an introspective, cry in your beer, sort of song. Speaking of. You asked the bartender for another whiskey and added a beer.  

              Standing at the sink now, looking in a mirror

            Don't know where I am or how I got here

            Well, the only thing that I know how to find

            Is another vice

              You felt movement and heard the stool next to you get dragged back. You glanced over and froze. Dean. Oh fuck. What was he… how did he know…

              “Hey, you left,” he frowned, his eyes searching yours.

              You furrowed your brow. “Yeah. That’s usually how this goes.” You forced a smile that didn’t reach your eyes.

              Dean looked down, a look that almost seemed like regret on his face. “I know… and I’m sorry.”

              You nodded, not looking at him. He came here to apologize again? Didn’t he know you left so you wouldn’t have to hear him say he was sorry for something that made you happy? Something that you wanted more than anything? He touched your chin, turning your face to his.

              “Not sorry about last night… Fuck, can’t be sorry about our nights anymore. I’m sorry about this morning. About you feeling like you had to leave. Can we talk?”

             Mmm, another vice

           Yes, another vice

           Ooh, another vice

           Another vice

[reignmyworld]

Sweet Dreams SongFic - Roman Reigns x Reader

Summary: Hitting the gym had always been one of your favorite leisure time actions. The fact that none other than Roman Reigns trained in your usual gym from time to time as well of course had nothing to do with it… However, one day Joe chats you up and thinking about the fact that your ex is still living on your expenses, knowing a guy that could kick his butt could become handy. You can tell that the Samoan is interested in you, but you are not quite sure what to think about that given that he’s said to be in a serious relationship.

Warnings: none

Pairing: Joe Anoa’i x Reader

Note: This is Part 1 of the Beyoncé SongFic Series :-)

Tag List: @trixdeee @alexisbagans143

Beyoncé - Sweet Dreams

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlxByc0-V40

Turn the lights on! Every night I rush to my bed With hopes that maybe I'll get a chance to see you when I close my eyes I'm going outta my head Lost in a fairytale Can you hold my hands and be my guide? Clouds filled with stars cover your skies And I hope it rains You're the perfect lullaby What kind of dream is this? You can be a sweet dream or a beautiful nightmare Either way I don't wanna wake up from you (Turn the lights on!) Sweet dream or a beautiful nightmare Somebody pinch me, your love's too good to be true (Turn the lights on!)

It was not the first time that you had seen him around and you were quite sure that it wouldn’t be the last time. And of course you knew who he was. Who didn’t after all? It was no big secret around here that the wrestlers – both male and female – of the WWE would workout in your usual gym from time to time. Basically everyone was so used to it by now that they didn’t even raise an eyebrow when one of them entered. Quite the contrary actually. It was a common thing to workout together with them from time to time if chances were given. However, that didn’t mean that you were absolutely immune to every WWE Superstar that entered. Quite the contrary to be honest. You had to admit that none other than Roman Reigns had drawn you attention. You couldn’t help but find him extremely good looking and from what you have heard about him, he seemed to be a completely down to earth and laid back guy. But although he was always friendly to you respectively all of the other gym visitors, he nevertheless stuck by himself or with his buddies primarily whenever he hit the gym. Of course, you had seen him glance over to you from time to time but you just filed that under coincidence.

“Earth to Y/N. Do you hear me?”, you snapped out of your thoughts as soon as you realized that one of your best buddies was talking to you. You just hoped that he hadn’t realized where your attention was wandering to. “Yeah yeah I hear you, I’m sorry”, you sighed as you turned your attention back to the man in front of you. “Seriously Y/N you should really kick him out. I mean let’s be honest here. He doesn’t have a job nor is he bothered to find one. He lives on your money, he eats your food and so on. And it’s not like he’s family”, your friend mentioned as you replied: “I know Y/F/N, I know. But we’ve dated for quite some time and when he asked for help after his new relationship ended and he lost his job, it was a point of honor to take him in and let him stay.” Your friend shook his head as he replied: “And that was really kind of you. But let’s be honest, Y/N. When have you broken up? Three years ago? And how long is he staying at your costs now already, scaring every guy away that you might find interesting enough to invite in?” You thought about it for a second before you sighed, answering: “Almost six months.”

“That’s exactly what I’m talking about. You’re way too good for this world Y/N. Throw him out for good respectively issue him an ultimatum that he has to find a new place to crash within the next 3 weeks or so. Start living again for yourself and not for others.” You took a sip from your water as the both of you were sitting at the bar currently, mumbling: “Yeah I know and I will. But it’s not that easy.” Your friend grinned at you as he answered: “If you need help throwing him out, I can definitely do that. And if you need more muscle power I’m pretty sure one of those will gladly give you a helping hand as well.” While saying that he pointed his head into the direction of some WWE Superstars, who were currently working out. You had to laugh out loud as you were shaking your head, replying: “Thank you Y/F/N but I think I’m old enough to handle that myself.” You could tell that your friend was overly pleased with your decision. You sat there for a couple more minutes until he got up, saying: “I’m sorry Y/N but my nightshift calls. I’ll call you tomorrow okay? And don’t wait too long until you throw him out.” You smiled up at him, responding: “Don’t worry and now hurry up. I don’t want you to be late for work.” With that he got up and headed for the locker rooms to change.

A short glance at the clock on the wall told you that it was rather late already but since you didn’t feel like returning home to your ex boyfriend, you decided to run another round on the treadmill. You totally lost track of time, being alone with your thoughts and yourself and you probably could have continued for another couple of minutes if one of the trainers, that you knew pretty well, hadn’t appeared in the door, a big smile on her face as she said: “Come on Y/N, I know that you love it here, but I have to shut the gym down for today.” You smiled at her, an apologizing look on your face as you answered: “I’m sorry Susan, I completely forgot about the time. Give me ten minutes and I’ll be gone.”

“Just because it is you, you can have 15.”, she smiled before turning around, making sure that the gym was empty. You took your towel before heading for the locker rooms yourself. You tried to decide whether you should take a shower but since you didn’t have too long to get home, you decided to take one at home to avoid that Susan had to stay behind for longer than absolutely necessary just because of you.

My guilty pleasure, I ain't going nowhere Baby, long as you're here I'll be floating on air ('Cause you're my, you're my...) You can be a sweet dream or a beautiful nightmare Either way I don't wanna wake up from you (Turn the lights on!) I mention you when I say my prayers I wrap you around all of my thoughts Boy, you're my temporary high I wish that when I wake up you're there To wrap your arms around me for real and tell me you'll stay by my side Clouds filled with stars cover the skies And I hope it rains You're the perfect lullaby What kind of dream is this?

As you were completely lost in thoughts, you didn’t even realize that you were accidently walking into the men’s locker room instead of the women’s. And you probably still wouldn’t have realized it if you didn’t crash into something or rather someone. “What the hell?”, you mumbled as you heard a deep voice chuckle: “Woah easy there.” It took you a moment to process everything you were seeing. You were staring at a shirtless chest that was soaking wet with water drops dripping down to a towel that set deep on a waist, covering someone’s lower body. The next thing you realized was that that someone in front of you was thick and muscular, his whole body having a bronze touch. As you slowly lifted your head you noticed long black hair and a tribal tattoo over chest and arm that you would have recognized anywhere. You didn’t have to think twice to realize that you had bumped into none other than Roman Reigns, and not just that… a half-naked Roman Reigns to be more precise.

As you looked up, you saw him looking down at you, an amused expression all over his face. You tried to hide your shock, hoping that you weren’t blushing as you exclaimed: “What the hell are you doing in the women’s locker room?” You heard him laugh out loud as he answered: “First of all, that is the men’s locker room, so the question is, what are you doing here sweetheart? As for me I’m making sure that you’re not landing on your beautiful butt after you had smashed right into me.” It was only then that you realized that his arm surrounded your waist, his hand just inches away from your ass. He was right... When you were bumping into him, you immediately stumbled backwards and would have probably landed on your back if he hadn’t proven to have such great reflexes. You tried to hide your blush as you were mumbling a quiet "sorry", escaping from his grip and taking a step back so you could get some distance between the both of you. You tensed your shoulders and turned round, saying on your way out: "I'm really sorry for that mistake. Won't happen again. Have a great evening." Before you could leave, however, his voice held you back as he wanted to know: "You're alright? You seem a little bit off."

"Yeah I'm fine. It's just been a long day and I lost concentration that is all.", you mumbled with Roman answering: "Do you have a way of getting home?" You turned round, a little smile on your face, trying to ignore the half-naked wrestler in front of you: "Yeah basically. Two healthy legs that are good to go." You heard his deep chuckle as he offered: "If you want to, I can drive you home." As promising as that might have sounded but you were not really sure that this was a good idea. You didn't even know the guy except from having his face seen on the television quite some time respectively of him sometimes working out in the same gym you did. You shook your head as you said: "Thank you for the offer, I really appreciate that. But walking won't kill me." With that you turned around and left the locker room, waving goodbye before you headed for the women's locker room, quickly closing the door after you and taking a deep breath. You would have lied if you hadn't admitted that you liked what you had just seen. But you reminded yourself that a guy like him was way out of your league. So you just grabbed your bag and changed into your normal clothes before tossing your sports gear in it, zipping it up.

As you got fully dressed, your thoughts went back to the conversation you had with your friend. He was right... Your ex was absolutely living on your expenses, not even trying to change that. And if you were honest that pissed you off quite frankly. You would need to talk to him sooner than later to have your apartment back to yourself. As you were trapped in your thoughts, you made your way to the front door, realizing that Susan was already waiting, so she could close the door behind you. As you reached the door, you stopped in your tracks as you realized that it was raining like hell outside. It may not be too far to your home, maybe 20 minutes walking distance, but with a rain like that it certainly was no fun. You slightly cursed yourself for not having accepted Roman's offer. But you just shrugged it off, as you said your goodbyes to Susan, heading out into the rain, to make your way home. 

You can be a sweet dream or a beautiful nightmare Either way I don't wanna wake up from you (Turn the lights on!) Sweet dream or a beautiful nightmare Somebody pinch me, your love's too good to be true (Turn the lights on!)

My guilty pleasure, I ain't going nowhere Baby, long as you're here I'll be floating on air ('Cause you're my, you're my....) You can be a sweet dream or a beautiful nightmare Either way I don't wanna wake up from you (Turn the lights on!) Tattoo your name across my heart So it will remain Not even death can make us part What kind of dream is this?

As you were walking over the parking lot, you heard a voice near you saying: "You know my offer is still valid... If you want me to take you home, you are welcome to jump in the car." Of course you didn't have to think twice to know whom the voice belonged to. You scanned the parking lot and realized that you had walked right past his car, not really realizing that it was standing there due to the heavy rain. You were turning around slowly, blinking through the heavy rain until you were able to locate his frame as he was opening the door to his car. You probably should have just kept walking but on the other hand he didn't seem like someone who would kill you and burry your body somewhere. And if you were honest to yourself, you didn't mind getting to know him respectively the real him behind his public persona. You moved closer as you wanted to know: "You're sure that this wouldn't be of any trouble for you? I don't want to be a burden or something like that." He had already came round his car, opening the passenger's door, giving you a warm smile while he answered: "Don't worry about that. If it was, I wouldn't have offered it in the first place. And now get in before you catch a nasty cold." You had to smile at his words before you got into his car, placing your bag in your lap with Roman shutting the door. You already looked like a wet poodle but with him being soaked as well, you didn't really care.

As he was sitting down behind the steering wheel, starting the engine and driving the car from the parking lot, you said: "Left and the next one right, please" with him nodding in understanding before he drove onto the street. "I'm Y/N by the way.", you mentioned, having only then realized that you haven't introduced yourself before and he therefore probably didn't know your name, although you were quite sure that he would have forgotten it the next moment. He gave you a little smile as he was reaching out his hand to you, with you shaking it as he said: "The name's Joe, nice to meet you." As he was gripping the steering wheel again, he glanced over to you, wanting to know: "You're in the gym quite often, aren't you?" He didn't really want to say it out loud that you have drawn his attention in the past and that he was always happy when he saw you there, although he didn't quite have the guts to talk you up - hard to believe but contrary to the character he was portraying, the real him was rather introverted and didn't feel well among big crowds, hence why meeting new people outside of his professional life was not always an easy task to fulfill.

You chuckled slightly as you answered: "More often than I was in the past, that's for sure." He looked at you in confusion as he wanted to know why that was the case with you explaining: "Let's just say that I don't have my apartment all to myself and sometimes the company there isn't exactly what I can bear." You obviously had confused him even more hence why he was asking: "Your boyfriend annoys you?" You had to laugh as you answered: "My ex boyfriend of three years. His new flame threw him out, he lost his job and he crashed on my couch ever since. That was half an year ago and he doesn't appear as if he wants to change anything about that any time soon." You could clearly hear amusement in his voice as he said: "If you need help with throwing him out, I know a move or two." You had to laugh out loud as you replied: "Yeah I have no hard time believing that. Please turn right next, it's the fourth house on the right side." Joe did as you asked him, parking the car in front of your apartment complex just a few seconds later, right in time with the rain stopping. ��"Guess someone up there wanted you to tag along.", you heard him say as he pointed outside, where no drop was coming down anymore. "Seems like that.", you smiled before adding: "Thank you for giving me a ride and bringing me home almost dry. I guess I owe you something."

"Don't worry, it was my pleasure. But if you want to make up for that, I know a great movie theater nearby", he answered, giving you a little wink, causing you almost to blush. "Wait... were you just asking me out?", you wanted to know taken by surprise with Joe responding: "Ugh I guess so. Depends on what you're saying I suppose." You had no idea whether you should agree or not. Sure, he was absolutely handsome, charming and you loved his wrestling character. And of course you wanted to get to know the real him behind the public persona. But the last thing you had heard about him and his relationship status was, that he was in a serious one. And suddenly going on a date with him seemed to be less inviting. You got out of the car, gave him a smile and said: "Thank you so much for taking me home safe and sound, I really appreciate that. As for the movie theater, I’ll think about it. Have a great night." And before he could say another word, you were already closing the door and headed for your house, only to vanish shortly after. Joe was trorn between being absolutely confused and amused but he just shrugged it off as he was quite sure that he would see you sooner than later back in the gym. And if he was honest to himself, you giving him the cold shoulder somehow, made him want to get to know you even more.

You can be a sweet dream or a beautiful nightmare Either way I don't wanna wake up from you (Turn the lights on!) Sweet dream or a beautiful nightmare Somebody pinch me, your love's too good to be true (Turn the lights on!) My guilty pleasure, I ain't going nowhere Baby, long as you're here I'll be floating on air ('Cause you're my, you're my...) You can be a sweet dream or a beautiful nightmare Either way I don't wanna wake up from you (Turn the lights out!) Either way I don't wanna wake up from you

As he was speeding off, you made your way up to your apartment, grinning like crazy. Of course you shouldn't even be thinking about possibly going on a date with him but that tiny little voice in your head kept telling you, that he wouldn't probably ask you out if he indeed was in a serious relationship still. Your mood instantly sank, however, when you opened the door to your apartment and saw the mess there. When you stepped into your living room you witnessed your ex boyfriend being kept busy in a heavy make out session with a girl you didn't even know. And it was not like you cared. You just got absolutely annoyed that he obviously had time for that but getting his ass up, searching for a job, getting his own apartment, seemed to be at the bottom of his agenda. As he heard your voice both, him and his girl, looked up. "Okay that's it, Y/Ex/N. You have lived at my expenses for way too long. You have three fucking weeks to find a place to stay and then I want you gone." He looked at you with a puzzled expression as he wanted to know: "Are you serious Y/N?"

"More than serious. I think you have utilized my good nature for more than enough", you answered, not letting him reply as you were heading straight for your room, closing and locking the door behind of you. You took a deep breath. It felt good having told him that he had to  leave and by knowing that you had people who would help you, it didn't seem to be such an hard  task after all. You were way too tired in order to shower or even get changed, so you just lied down on your bed, reminiscing your evening as Joe's face kept appearing in front of your eyes. Like it had done so many times before, even before you actually talked to him. Maybe you should really just agree to go on that date with him, you thought to yourself before you fell asleep.

[alia-turin]

So after writing a fic for glaiveweek, an idea came to my mind to grow that fic a bit more. So here it is. I’m starting new series, a mafia AU which basically will cover the lives of most of the glaives from the time they are about 16. I will have slightly different approach to the fic, all chapters will be a bit like stand alone stories, which could be read separately or as a part of the bigger picture. Eventually the fic will grow into Nyche fic, but slowly (sorry) and then Lunyx (sorry). Most of the chapters will be from Luche’s POV, but I’m not excluding the possibility of writing chapter or half a chapter from someone else’s POV. Hope you guys enjoy. 

If you want to be tagged, let me know. If you want to be untagged, let me know, no hard feelings, I fully understand that not every fic is everyone’s cup of tea. 

Fic Title: The Derelict Chapter: Chapter I Rating: G (some swearing, later chapters might be NSFW, warnings will be posted) Pairing: Luche/Nyx Other characters: Pelna, Clarus, Titus, Libertus, Selena Summary: Sixteen-years-old Luche is throw into real life after losing his part time job at a neighbourhood business. He desperately needs the job,, however finding a new one isn’t as easy as it seems until one day an opportunity runs into him. Tagging: @birdsandivory @jojopitcher @lazarustrashpit @yourcoolfriendwithallthecandy (if that’s not your cup of tea dear, let me know I know you have some objections regarding the story :D ) @kairakara101 @akiza-hades-rose

If you feel like supporting this writer consider buying me a coffee: Ko-Fi

Luche walked out of the gym not really sure what to do with himself. He loved his job there and needed the money, but the place was closing down and he had just received his final paycheck. He had to find  new job and he had to find it now, but that was easier said than done. He was still in school and preferred to graduate if possible, not that he had any hope for college, that costed money he didn’t have even with scholarships. His mum was going to kill him if he didn’t graduate. But he also needed the money. She needed medication and food had to be put on the table.

“Hey, why the long face?” Nyx appeared as if out of nowhere and pushed him from behind, Luche almost falling down.

“Careful where you walk, asshole.” He grumbled, not being in the mood for any of that.

“Who pissed in your coffee this morning.” Nyx stared walking next to him.

“I just lost the job at the gym.” Luche said very quietly, but his friend heard him.

“What? Why? You were good at that thing. Best receptionist they ever had.” Nyx placed his hand on Luche’s shoulder in an attempt to calm him down, but honestly it didn’t work. He needed work not sympathy.

“They are closing the gym down. They dismissed also all the trainers, cleaners…” he sighed. “They will be selling the equipment on an auction tomorrow. Honestly with all the bigger chains around it is becoming very difficult to stay competitive. I’m stupid, I knew things were going down, but we had customers, I was hoping we could make it.

“Lu, you are one of the smartest guys I know, probably the smartest in our class if not the school. I’m sure you will find something else.” Nyx was his best friend and as such he was there when he needed him, but Luche needed work more than anything right now. “My mum is making dinner tonight, Lib is coming, his dad is nightshift, you should drop by, you can stay for the night if you want.”

“Sure.” The response came a bit automatic without him thinking over it too much. But what was there to think? His mother was in a hospital again, so as soon as he walked home he was going to be all alone in the dark apartment eating leftovers or some microwaved meal.

He never imagined his life going in that direction. When he was a kid he had a normal family, a pretty normal life. His greatest problem usually was forgetting to write his homework or not bringing a book to school. Once he forgot to pay his fine to the library and was charged fifty cents extra. It all went upside down when his father passed away and all the medical issues of his mother started. They have never been rich, but they weren’t poor either. Now things were different. His mother couldn’t work so her only income was social benefits, which was enough to pay for their rent and food, but not for the medical bills and medicine. He had to work and he had been working since he was fourteen. Now he was sixteen and had lost a job for first time, he was sure it wasn’t going to be his last.

 As usual Nyx’s mum had prepared the most amazing dinner he had eaten since the last time he was there. Coming to their apartment for meals has always been fun. Nyx and Libertus were his closest friends in school and being at the dinner table with them felt like eating with his two brothers. Not that he had any siblings, but these two were the closest to siblings he would ever have.

“Luche, is it true that your math teacher recommended you for scholarship for a college?” Nyx’s mum asked as she served the last plate on the table and sat with them.

“Ah…” he wasn’t sure how to respond to that. It was true just.

“Absolutely!” Selena, Nyx’s sister responded instead of him. “He was singing Lu’s prizes to the headmaster right before he walked into our class. He used words like exceptional and talented.”

“He was probably talking about someone else.” Libertus said and laughed. “Nothing exceptional about Lu here beside his cheekbones.” Nyx smacked his friend at the back which made him say a loud ‘ouch’ but didn’t stop him from eating.

“That’s a great opportunity!” Nyx’s man continued making Luche feel even more uncomfortable. “I mean with good math grades you can go to MIT, or wherever you want. All the math and computer sciences are in demand right now. You would probably have job offers before you even graduate.”

“You can adopt him, you know.” Nyx pretend that he was annoyed at his mother’s words, but Luche knew better. He turned toward his friend and nodded at him in gratitude. “You are just all over him because he is smarter than me.” Nyx continued dragging the attention to himself, rather than allowing Luche to feel even more uncomfortable.

“I didn’t say you are not smart my dear.” His mum smiled calmly. “But I do recall speaking with your science teacher about three outstanding homeworks that you haven’t submitted yet.”

“I will write them eventually.” Nyx mumbled and dug into his plate.

 Next day was Saturday, Luche spent most of his morning looking for work in the neighborhood, but with no luck. Their neighborhood wasn’t exactly wealthy. It was small tightknit community where everyone knew everyone, family businesses were mostly holding their ground against bigger chains but that was coming to an end as he new from first hand experience. Everyone was holding to their jobs as if there were the last straws and he didn’t blame them. Nobody who lived here was exactly rich, most people were passing by and even if the local owners knew him and his family, they didn’t have the resources to hire him. He understood.

His afternoon he decided to give up on his search, he could resume tomorrow. He went to street where Nyx and the others usually hang out and found them kicking a soccer ball around.

“Look who is here!” Libertus greeting him and shook his hand.

“The next Einstein.” Pelna laughed and Luche sighed loudly reminding himself that one day he will have to beat Libertus and his big mouth.

“You still mopping over that girl from the grocery store?” Luche bit back and Pelna suddenly looked as if someone slapped him.

“He has progress today.” Nyx wrapped his arm around Pelna and pretended to strangle him. “He looked at her today and she looked at him back. For three seconds.”

“She is totally into him.” Libertus laughed. “In fact, she is so into him that she couldn’t look at him for more than three seconds.”

They all laughed, Luche including, but Pelna wasn’t very happy that they were making fun of him.

“Hey, Lu!” Nyx shouted and kicked the ball toward him but before he could realize the ball was already passing him and hit a nearby car. Expensive car. The type of car that you don’t even walk next to in case some invisible dust from your coat falls on it and ruins it.

“Fuck.”  Nyx froze on his spot, his eyes following the ball that by some weird physical law managed to go under the car.

Luche was the closest so he walked towards the car looking around and making sure nobody saw them. He went close to the car and knelt, seeing the ball right around the middle. He was going to kill Nyx for that. He lied down and reached under the car, grabbing the ball when something or more like someone grabbed his jeans and pulled him up.

“What are you doing, kid?” A big man with expensive suit was folding him and dragged him away from the car forcing him on his feet.

“Just grabbing our ball, sir.” Luche tried to sound as serious as he can, but truth was he was intimidated. The man was taller than him, obviously stronger.

“What’s going on, Titus.” A second man walking from the nearby building and looked at the two of them. Luche wanted to turn around and look for his friends but the man that was holding him was blocking his view.

“Found that kid under the car, mister Amiticia.” The man answered with obvious respect in his voice. Was he a driver? He certainly didn’t look like a driver unless that other man wanted a bear for a driver.

“I was just grabbing our ball!” Luche protested showing the ball to the man.

“What’s your name, kid?” the man asked him.

“Luche Lazarus.” He said a bit unsure. Was he in trouble?

“Lazarus…” the man repeated. “I think I know your father. You study down the road in the high school I assume?” Luche didn’t respond just nodded. “Yeah, your father was on the soccer team. Tell him Clarus Amiticia is sending him his regards.”

“My father passed away three years ago.” Luche looked down as he answered.

“I’m sorry to hear that, kid. He was a good an honest man.” The man reached in his pocket and only then Luche noticed the gun that was tucked in his trousers. “Here.” He gave him a business a card and Luche took it. It had the man’s name, a phone number and an address that was few blocks down the street. “If you need anything, give me a call or stop by at the restaurant.”

Luche watched the two men leave in the car and then slowly turned toward his friends. They were all staring at him as if he had grown a second pair of legs.

“What?” he asked annoyed kicking the ball toward Libertus and putting the business card in his pocket.

“That was Clarus Amiticia.” Pelna whispered as if saying the name will summon the man back. Since Luche apparently didn’t react in any way he continued. “You know how some time ago that neighbourhood was honestly absolutely trash. Like even before our parents were born probably. There was a gang around that slowly put things under control. Their control. Fast forward a bit the son of the gang members is Regis Lucis Caelum, his right-hand man is Clarus Amiticia. They are not a gang anymore of course, haven’t been in some time. Still there are rumors about how they exactly make money.”

“Pfff, Pelna saw someone with fancy car and there must be something dodgy about them.” Nyx laughed. “Pelna, some people who are from here actually manage to succeed. I’m going to be one of them.”

Luche ignored them and looked back towards the car that was long gone by now.