#I’ve developed like -.- a stutter of some kind and the friend I hung out w tonight didn’t say anything about it and is generally just nice

[rustinged]

thankful for the people who allow me to be weird around them and I intend to pass that on forever

[jungtified]

convenience store | j.j.h.

𝐏𝐀𝐈𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆: college student! Jaehyun x college student! Reader

𝐆𝐄𝐍𝐑𝐄: fluff & a tiny dot of angst <3

𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐃 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐓: 1.5k

𝐀/𝐍: honestly, if anyone reads this, I don’t actually know what was going in my mind when i decided to write this lol. I don’t even like this but I ain’t wasting my time and effort so... if you like this enjoy <3??? and if you don’t then high-five! bitch same. + if there are any mistakes, let me know! I’m kinda blind sometimes. last but not least, any feedbacks would be greatly appreciated :) enjoy!

your phone had been ringing continuously for the past 5 minutes. you cursed silently and rubbed your eyes, turning to your side table where your phone laid before picking it up finally.

“hey beautiful, let’s go get some ramen,” Jaehyun said playfully. you groaned after his words. “what’s wrong with you, it’s literally 3 a.m., I’m trying to get some sleep!” you replied with a tired, raspy voice.

“damn, you sound sexy. come on, I’ll be at your door in 5.” he joked and hanged up before you could even say something. ‘this asshole, is he even living in the correct time zone? he called me beautiful and sexy though…’ you thought and whilst annoyed at him, you blushed.

Jaehyun is the one guy favoured by all. you didn't think you'd be friends with him one day, let alone pay attention to you. but after he sat next to you in class, he found himself beside you more often and becoming best friends in no time. you were very much surprised to be a quiet person like you are usually, that he would hang out with you. even the campus gossiped about you both for a while after you unexpectedly hanged out with him.

with the vibe Jaehyun had around him, you instantly hated him the first time you met each other. but it all changed after he managed to treat you to coffee, ending up spending hours there just talking about life. you found out that he isn’t what he’s always like, cold and a dry texter type of guy. actually kind and friendly, he also likes getting you to be adventurous, trying many new things you wouldn’t usually go for.

the amount of time you had spent around him was ridiculous, it’s like you can’t live without him. of course, you started developing feelings for him over time. you can’t remember when exactly, but you were clear of it after he hung out a couple times with a girl named Wendy. you couldn’t understand why you were jealous of them at first, but your knowledge of how protagonists fall in love in k-dramas and fiction stories made you realise you were crushing on him.

finally, out of your tiny daydream, you got out of your bed to check yourself. you looked exactly to what you thought you would look like, a whole wreck. unlike you, when some people wake up, they actually look good, like Jaehyun. what in the world was god thinking while he was making you and Jaehyun? did he miss an ingredient or something?

a knock was heard when you were combing your hair. immediately knowing who it was, you shouted, “come in!”. Jaehyun walked in and was scared by your glaring looks at him. “okay, I’m sorry for calling you so late at night. let’s go!” he said.

“but I have to look decent!” you replied.

“ma’am you look perfectly fine to me, let’s get going right now!” he said while dragging you away while snatching the comb off your hands.

sitting outside the 24/7 convenience store, Jaehyun told you to wait for him. you looked up to the sky, stars shining bright. it’s beautiful but, it constantly reminds you of how Jaehyun’s like the stars. so fucking gorgeous, people admiring him just like how people admire stars. yet you’re just an ordinary girl, working hard in school and getting good grades to graduate university just to get a good job in life without having fun in your school years. that was your plan until he came along.

you couldn’t believe that someone like him found you entertaining. he told you once that you were fun to be with. he told you that you’re a great person. he told you that he loves how you treat people equally, even him. those words made your heart flutter. sometimes you just want to shout your feelings out for him, you want to be with him forever. he makes you feel happy and worth. all the times he made you feel better after a bad mood, or whenever you get your period, he never fails to surprise you. your favourite foods? his appearance? simply anything he does just makes you smile.

the thing is you didn’t have the courage. you tried multiple times to hint that you like him, but it didn’t work. getting scared that one day you’d miss the chance of being with him, you had to build tons and tons of courage. obviously, the number one reason for not telling him about your feelings was quite obvious you were scared that he won’t be able to reciprocate your feelings and end up ruining the friendship the both of you have built up over the past year.

but today, right now, you felt like it was now or never. you are ready to risk your friendship for love. was it the energetic feeling of being awake at 3 a.m.? or just the sight of how you saw Wendy was all over Jaehyun last week made you bold? you couldn’t take it anymore; you were sick of it. ‘okay, don’t be nervous, don’t back down you scaredy-cat. when he comes out you must tell him.’ you assured, telling yourself that it’ll be okay.

the moment Jaehyun pushed the door of the convenience store open, you stood up and gathered your courage to speak out your feelings to him. “Jaehyun! I-I have something to tell you…” you stuttered for a moment, nervous of what was to come. “okay… you seem a little nervous,” he answered as he sets down the ramen and snacks he was carrying.

“you know, w-we have been f-friends for quite some time n-now right, Jaehyun?” you said, eyes starting to water. you felt so overwhelmed by your feelings for him, along with the turning feeling inside you.

“Y/N, calm down, are you okay? you’re making me nervous.”

“no-no, I’m fine, just listen to me yeah,” you assured him. “uhm, I’m really thankful for all the times you’ve spent with me. I’m so happy that you became my best friend and whatever happens, you’re still my friend, right?” you asked with a cracked voice, twisting one of your rings around your finger.

“you… did something wrong? or you don’t want to hang out with me anymore?” he questioned nervously speaking fast and hands turning clammy. he liked your company, a lot. which explains why he was really scared that you would leave him one day.

“no Jaehyun, listen to me. I-I uh, I really like you. like, like-like you, and I can’t stand the sight of you and Wendy together anymore. I can’t help but feel so pissed off and jealous all the time even if I don’t show it. I’m sorry for that and you probably don’t like me back. I think just ruined our friendship; I hope we still can be friends after this.” you spilled, fingers fidgeting and tears running down your face.

you looked at him for a response. no matter what it’s gonna be, you told yourself you’ll accept it even if it’s a rejection. but all he did was to stare at you with such intense eyes. it wasn’t sadness, lust, or hatred. you couldn’t make out the emotions he’s having, therefore you decided to leave since you ruined the atmosphere.

“I-I should just go…”

you stood up to walk back to your apartment, feeling so overwhelmed from your confession. you felt so sad but so good that finally, you spilled your feelings out. the stuffiness was gone, but the thought that you will never be the same around Jaehyun again made you feel worse.

turning to the direction of your apartment, you felt Jaehyun grabbing your arm. “what now?” you coldly reply turning around to shake his grip off you. somehow, he managed to hug you. “Y/N. I’ve been meaning to tell you this for a long time now. the reason why I’m asking you out for ramen right now was to tell you, I have liked you since the first time we’ve met.” he spoke calmly, holding you tight. as a response to his words, you hugged him back. you never thought that he would like you back, especially the way he treated you usually.

however, inside his mind was full of regrets, regretting that you were the one to confess first and not him. it should be jealousy, but he regretted that he made you wait too long. also, the fact that you thought he and Wendy were in flirting terms made his heart break a little.

“but I thought you liked Wendy,” you questioned, breaking his train of thought.

“since when? she’s irritating, I only saw her as a friend,” he assured you.

the moment he told you that, you began to cry harder. of all the times you saw them together and telling yourself that he doesn’t like you, were purely just some imagination that you perceived yourself to believe. he pulled away, hands now holding your waist. attempting to wipe your tears away, you ended up crying more out of joy. you couldn’t believe it.

“are you sure you like me?” you ask as a confirmation.

“yes Y/N. I’m in love with you.”

[softspiderling]

things you left unsaid | t.h.

anonymous said: Hi! I wanted to ask if you cud write about being friends with tom but you develop feeling for him.            

anonymous said: 1.) things you said at 1 am from the the things you said prompt list With Tom x reader please (:            

→ 1. Things you said at 1 am from this prompt list

Summary: having casual sex with Tom despite having feelings for him? What could go wrong?

Pairing: Tom Holland x Reader

Song I listened to while writing: Umbrella by Rihanna

Author’s Note: I hope you don’t mind that I kind of mushed these two requests together. I didn’t mean for it to happen. IDK why but I really really liked writing this. I hope you like reading it just as much! Leave a comment/ask to let me know what you think ;)

Warnings: mentions of alcohol, some smut if you squint

Word Count: 3,7k

Masterlist

gif is not mine!

You kicked your feet up on the dashboard as the landscape flew past you in the car, the sun warming against your skin and the sky an amazing shade of blue. The day honestly could not get any better.

“I can’t believe we’re finally doing our road trip. I feel like we’ve been planning this since we’ve met in kindergarten,” you told your best friend Katie.

“I know right? It’s a miracle that we both found the time to take this trip,” she said, pushing her shades higher on her nose. “You want to make some music?”

“Yeah sure,” you hummed, sitting up straight to connect the cord to your phone, Rihanna’s voice booming into the car.

“When sun shines we shine together, told you I’d be here forever, said I’ll always be your friend. Took an oath, imma stick it out till the end.”

“Hey can you turn it down a bit? It’s really loud,” Katie asked and you nodded, turning the volume down. But instead of getting quieter, the music got louder and you had to cover up your ears.

“Umbrella, ella ella, eh eh eh. Under my umbrella, ella, ella, eh eh eh eh eeh.“

“Oh my god,” you groaned, when you turned in your bed, smashing your face into the pillow. You just had the greatest dream and some jerk woke you up from it because he had to call you in the middle of the night. 

When the song finally stopped playing, you sighed in relief, getting comfortable and trying to fall back asleep. But an incoming notification lit up your phone screen with a loud ‘PING’ and then the song started again.

“When the sun shines we shine together, told you I’d be here forev-“

“Oh my god, WHAT?” you snapped as soon as you picked up the phone.

“Y/N?” a slightly slurred voice spoke.

“What do you want Tom?” you asked annoyed, immediately recognizing his voice despite the loud music in the background (and of course knowing that Umbrella was his ringtone). “It’s half past twelve am. You know I have to work tomorrow.”

“I’m at the club right now and Matthew ditched me,” Tom yelled into the phone, stumbling over his words.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” you muttered.

“Can you please come pick me up?”

“Are you serious right now?”

You pinched your nose, starting to get annoyed, though if this had happened a year ago, you wouldn’t have hesitated to go pick him up. But last summer the dynamic of your friendship had shifted quite a bit.

Your feet laid in Tom’s lap while you were snacking on some candy he had brought from his last visit in the states. You were watching How I met your mother while Tom was dicking around on his phone.

You popped in another piece of Reese’s in your mouth, while Ted and Robin were all over each other because of a carton of milk, when you felt Tom nudging your feet.

“Do you really think people can have sex without feelings attached?” he asked and you raised an eyebrow at him. You hadn’t even thought he was watching with you, since all his attention was directed at his phone. Or so you thought.

“I don’t know,” you said with a shrug, turning back to the tv. “I mean, obviously I never have done it. All examples I’ve seen are from movies or tv shows and it never ends well, so.”

“But they’re movies and tv shows. Most of things that happens on screen is not real,” he pointed out and you narrowed your eyes at him, watching him closely.

He was fidgety, and actively not looking at you. Something was up.

“Yeah, things like you fighting Ant-Man. That’s not real. But sex without feelings attached not working out seems real to me,” you said and poked his cheek with your finger.

“Where’s this coming from?”

He shrugged, his cheeks pink. “Ihaven’thadsexinhalfayearandIreallyneedsome.”

You put a hand behind your ear.

“I’m sorry. What was that?”

Tom sighed and ran a hand through his hair, which made it even messier. You had spent the whole time on your couch since Tom came to your place, and you were pretty sure he wasn’t doing anything before he came over. But you didn’t mind, he looked pretty cute with his hair sticking in every direction.

Not that you would ever tell him that. You were sure you weren’t supposed to think that way about a friend.

“I haven’t gotten laid in six months,” he admitted and your eyes widened slightly, before you realized you weren’t actually that surprised. He’s been busy for the past few months and hadn’t gotten the time to date anyone. Plus you knew he didn’t like sleeping around, especially not now that he’s famous. So, he was on a dry spell. Big deal.

“And you’re telling me this, because…?”

“Because I knew you haven’t had sex in a few months either,” Tom replied and you flushed, glaring at him.

“That’s not true!” you protested weakly. It was very much true. Between work and trying to balance your social life with your family and friends, there just hasn’t been anytime for your love life. Or sex, for that matter.

“You shave your legs  for one-night stands,” he pointed out, running his hand over your prickly legs. “And you broke up with that Josh before Christmas, so.”

Slapping his hand away, you pulled your feet from his lap, tucking them underneath you as you sat up on the couch with a frown, mad at Tom for noticing the small stuff, but at the same time, you’re kind of touched.

“Fine. Whatever,” you muttered. “Still doesn’t explain why you’re bringing this topic up.”

“I guess I was just thinking if that friends with benefits thing could work. You know. Between us.”

“Come again?” you asked, not believing what you just heard. Did Tom really just suggest for you guys to have sex? Platonically?

“I mean, I was just thinking it could work,” Tom argued and you stared at him, before reaching out to feel his forehead.

“What are you doing?” he asked, swatting your hand away.

“Just checking if you’re feverish, because you’re being delusional.” You said and he gave you a look. “What? You know this is highly out of character for you, right? I mean, friends with benefits? Really? Since when are you into meaningless sex?”

Tom reached out to take your hands in his. “That’s the thing, though. It wouldn’t be meaningless with you. You’re one of my best friends.”

You eyed your clasped hands wearily. You know you probably shouldn’t agree to this, especially not with the budding feelings you could feel coming.

“But why me?”

“Because I think you’re hot,” Tom blurted out, his cheeks flushing and your eyebrows rose, almost disappearing into your hairline.

“You think I am hot?”

“Yeah, ‘course I do. You’re fit, Y/N,” he said and you huffed, feeling your cheeks heat up.

“And why would I want to have sex with you?” you asked, deflecting. You knew this was not going to end well.

He gave you a look. “Because you haven’t had sex in a while and you think I’m hot.”

You scoffed and pushed his chest. “Please. I don’t think you’re hot.”

“I’ve seen you stare at my chest when you think I’m not looking,” he pointed out and you snorted, shaking your head vigorously.

“You’ve got a really big head, T. I don’t stare at your chest, or at you, for that matter.”

Tom sighed and reached behind his back, pulling his shirt off with one swift motion.

“W-what are you doing?” you stuttered as he sat shirtless across of you. You kept your eyes on his, but couldn’t help one quick glance towards his bare chest. Oh who were you even kidding? He was stupid hot.

“Fine,” you growled. “I think you’re hot. But do you really think this is a good idea, though?”

“A great idea, actually,” He said, nodding. “I’m away a lot, so there won’t even be any time for it to become awkward or for one of us to get feelings.”

But what if there already are feelings?

“And if one of us starts dating someone or it starts affecting our friendship, we stop. Easy-peasy,” Tom stated and you pursed your lips, still unconvinced.

“I don’t know Tom…”

“Oh come on, Y/N,” he said softly, his hand reaching out to tug you closer, his breath fanning across your cheeks.

You gulped in a breath, your eyes darting between his eyes and his lips. You were torn.

“I know you want this,” Tom mumbled, his fingers slipping beneath your shirt, stroking, no, caressing the skin of your waist gently. It was weird how he could change from jumpy and nervous to smooth, and seductive in a span of seconds.

“If it affects our friendship, we stop?” you asked and a smile spread on his face.

“We stop. Easy-peasy.”

“Easy-peasy,” you mumbled and leaned in, your lips touching his in a kiss that would be followed by many more.

And honestly, it’s all been downhill ever since.

While it was true, that Tom was away a lot for work, he still found the time to come over just to hang out with you or have sex.

You’ve never noticed how much time you actually spent with him until you started having sex almost every time you guys hung out. Another thing you had sworn to each other was to never tell anyone about this, knowing your friends would judge you.

You’ve already denied numerous allegations from Harry and Sam, asking if there was anything going on between you and their older brother. And you always told them off, god forbid a girl was only friends with a guy without anything else going on. It usually shut them right up and sometimes you felt bad, because they were right after all. But you never ever going to tell anyone about this.

Especially because you were friends with the twins long before you were introduced to Tom. You used to be in the same class as the twins and since Tom went to Brit school, you didn’t even know him until you started hanging out at the Holland’s home.

You were fifteen and he was 18 when you first met him, and despite your age difference, he soon became a big part of your life and continued to do so, even after his career skyrocketed after his first appearance as Peter Parker in Civil War. You even had a feeling that his part in your life became bigger when he got more famous, because your friendship kept him grounded, just as much as his family or his best friend Harrison did.

Harrison, from whom Tom had to keep quiet about this, because he had promised you, and you knew it was hard for him because those boys shared everything about their lives with each other. But you (literally) had him by the balls when you made him swear to keep his mouth shut.

But now you really wished you’d told someone, because this was killing you and you really needed advice. What did it mean when he was stroking through your hair gently with his one hand, while the other rubbed small circles on your skin, just mere minutes after he’s fucked you roughly on the couch? Friends usually didn’t do that, right?

Even though you knew that you were supposed to end this- whatever this was, you couldn’t bring yourself to do it. Even worse, you found yourself longing for more, catching yourself glaring at his back when pretty girls chatted him up at a crowded bar, even though you had no right to feel any jealousy, because he wasn’t yours.

You knew that. Your brain knew that. The only one that was apparently out of the loop was your treacherous heart.

The same treacherous heart that skipped a beat after hearing Tom add a quiet: “I miss you.”

Guilt gnawed on your conscience.

Lately you’ve been avoiding him, pushing him away because you were a coward, too scared to face your feelings.

But it wasn’t fair to Tom.

“Fine. I’ll be there in ten. Don’t move, okay?” you said, throwing your blanket off. “And drink lots of water.”

Fifteen minutes later, you pulled up in front of the newest club in town and you could hear the loud music, even with your windows closed. Seeing a crowd close to the entrance of the club, you wondered if Tom was in the center of it but as the crowd dispersed, you couldn’t catch his face. Roaming your gaze in your surroundings, you were surprised to see that Tom was standing at the far end of the building, leaning against the wall, his face only illuminated by his phone.

He hasn’t spotted you yet and it gave you the chance to watch him for a bit.

Tom’s hair was styled once, you could see that, but by now it was slightly mussed, as if he’d run his hand through it too many times. The sleeves of his white shirt strained against his bicep and the hem of it was tucked slightly in his black pants which, in turn, were tucked neatly into his boots. He was swaying slightly, even though he was standing, told you, that he’d done some tequila shots, a small wedge of lime stuck to his forearm confirming your theory.

Dumbass wasn’t even wearing a jacket.

With a sigh, you grabbed his denim jacket, which he had borrowed you that one time you forgot your own and got out of the car, heading towards him.

“Are you trying to get ill?” you asked and he squinted his eyes at you when he looked up, before his face broke out in a smile.

Thump.

Your heartbeat quickened at the sight of his smile.

“’m not cold,” Tom insisted and you rolled your eyes at him, reaching out to flick the lime wedge off his arm, handing him his jacket.

He quickly shrugged it on and wrapped his arms around you, sighing softly.

Thump. Thump.

There it was again.

“Sorry I woke you,” he mumbled and you leaned your head on his chest, hearing his heart beat slow and steady, a stark contrast to your own heartbeat.

“Didn’t know who else to call.”

What about Harrison, you thought. Sam? Harry? Apparently none of them were available.

“It’s okay,” you heard yourself say, your hands tucked underneath his jacket, splayed across his back, his body radiating off heat.

Tom sniffed and buried his face in your neck, breathing in deeply.

“You smell nice,” he mumbled and you pulled away, only to be met with a dopey smile on his face.

“Alright, let’s get you home, come on.”

You nudged him gently and he reached down to lace his hand with yours, his thumb stroking over the back of your hand.

THUMP. THUMP. THUMP.

Your heart beat wildly against your ribcage, despite you forcing it to calm down.

Traitor.

You squeezed his hand in question, but kept holding on either way. “What’s this about?”

“Don’t wanna get lost.”

Shaking your head, you lead him over to your car and got in the driver’s seat, while he climbed into the passengers seat, buckling himself up.

“Do you want to get some food or go straight home?” you asked as you turned your key in the ignition, with a glance to your left.

“Home,” he said and you pulled away from the curb, driving towards his house in Kingston. Even though it was nearing one am, the traffic was still quite busy, forcing you to focus on the street. You weren’t the best at night driver, and you openly admitted that.

Shortly, your car rolled to a stop in front of his house and you put the car in neutral while Tom unbuckled himself next to you.

“Alright, out with you, T. I have an early morning,” you said and he frowned at you.

“You’re not coming in?”

You leaned your chin in your hand, shaking your head. “Did you not hear what I just said?”

Pouting, Tom reached back to buckle himself back up again.

“What are you doing Tom?” you asked, exasperated. You really didn’t have the time to be patient with him right now.

“Going home,” he replied easily, looking at you with expectant eyes.

Groaning, you leaned your head against your steering wheel, breathing out deeply.

“You are home!” you exclaimed, rubbing over your eyes. You were tired, annoyed and he was starting to piss you off A LOT. You hadn’t thought that he was that drunk.

“No, you are my home,” Tom said bluntly and you inhaled sharply, staring at him.

“What?”

He shrugged and gave you a soft smile. “You are my home, so I’m going where you’re going,” he said and you swallowed thickly, unsure if it was his intoxication talking or if he was being honest. But his eyes were so open and earnest, it almost broke you.

“Okay then,” you mumbled, starting the car again. “But no funny business,” you told him when he put his hand on your thigh.

“I really do have to work early tomorrow morning.”

He nodded quickly and you scoffed before starting your drive home, his warm hand on your thigh constantly reminding you of his presence.

When you finally arrived at your apartment complex, Tom was quick to climb out and you followed him.

“You okay?” you asked him as he threw his around your shoulder while you walked to your door.

“Fine. Just tired,” he mumbled and you shook your head fondly at him, fumbling around with your keys to unlock your door. Tom was toeing his shoes off while you locked the door behind you, leaning against the doorway of the living room while he waited for you, his eyes drooping.

“Why don’t you go ahead to the bedroom? I’ll be right here,” you told him and he nodded sleepily, padding the familiar way towards your bedroom.

You headed to the kitchen to grab him a bottle of water and some Advil, knowing he was going to need it in the morning before you followed him in your bedroom.

Tom had turned the small lamp on your nightstand on, a soft orange glow was illuminating the room. You stood in the doorway and you could see his clothes neatly folded on your drawer, while he was wrapped in your blanket; you presumed he was only in his boxers, his usual attire for the night.

“Stop starin’. It’s creepy,” he mumbled and you snorted, putting his stuff down on the nightstand.

“Shut up and go to sleep.”

He only grumbled in reply and you stripped down to your underwear, slipping on an old t shirt before you crawled into bed yourself.

“Can’t sleep without you,” Tom whispered and your breath stocked in your throat, before you settled against him as he wrapped his arm around your waist. “You’re a little shit,” you told him in a hushed voice and he smiled, kissing you on the cheek.

“Your little shit,” he murmured and soon small snores filled the room. You looked down at him with a small sigh, stroking through his hair.

“What am I going to do with you?”

Shaking your head, you reached for your phone to text your boss you’d be in a little bit later in the morning, before you laid down to get some sleep.

The next morning, you woke up to rustling in the bed, groaning internally. You could feel Tom moving around next to you, but you kept your eyes shut, wondering what he was going to do.

He sat up and looked around the room, looking at your sleeping figure. “Shit,” he mumbled and rubbed at his eyes, yawning.

Tom laid back down and scooted up against your back, fingers trailing on your sides. “I know you’re awake,” he whispered in his raspy morning voice, pressing a soft kiss on your neck.

“You don’t know shit,” you replied and turned in his arms to look at him. His eyes were still half lidded and his hair was sticking in every direction. You’d laugh if it was any other morning. “You were a mess last night.”

“I know. Sorry. ” He ducked his head, his cheeks flushing. “Do you want to grab breakfast before you have to go to work?”

“I’d rather talk about what you said about me being your home last night,” you pointed out and he flared his nostrils, turning away from you.

“You’re always telling me that what we’re doing is strictly platonic and then you say things like last night? What the fuck Tom?”

He ran his hand through his messy hair and clenched his jaw before he met your eyes again.

“I’m in love with you, Y/N.”

Your eyes widened at his confession and your heart stuttered, before you composed yourself.

“I’m just…” Tom broke off, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I thought it was better for the both of us if we kept this casual. If I’d be in a relationship with you, I’d want to give you everything I had, which I can’t. I’m away all the time and the time difference would make it even harder and I-… I thought if I couldn’t have all of you, I wanted at least part of you. But it somehow was even worse, and I dunno.”

He grew quiet and dropped his gaze, fiddling with his hands.

“You’re an idiot,” you told him fondly and his eyes snapped up to yours.

“Every relationship is hard, you always have to put work in order for the relationship to work, we don’t live in a fairy tale,” you said, reaching out to push the hair out of his face.

“I’ve been pushing you away lately because I thought it’d help me cope with my feelings for you, but you always manage to worm your way back into my life.”

Tom grinned at you and placed a kiss on your palm when you patted his cheek.

“I am willing to put in the hard work if you are.”

His eyes lit up and he nodded, grabbing you by your wrist to pull you closer to him, having you land on top of him with a shriek.

“Anything for you.”

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[1-racha]

Don’t Leave - Three (Bang Chan Wolf!AU)

Things are starting to pick up now. i hope you enjoy this chapter sorry it took so long. I don’t have a schedule for this yet but just know i will usually post around 10:30 pm GMT

Summery: What will happen when y/n comes across a wolf pack? will love survive? will they survive?

Warnings: Swearing, Angst, Fluff, Implied Smut 

Words: 1332

 One | Two  | Three

⊱ ────── {.⋅ ✯ ⋅.} ────── ⊰ 

We arrive at the house and Felix rushes in yelling at me to hurry. My mind is still confused on the information Felix gave me and at this point I’m on autopilot while my head catches up on everything.

“FELIX! Did you get her?” Woojin comes running around the corner visibly relaxing once he sees me. He grabs my arm and leads me upstairs to the back of the house stopping in front of Chris’s door that has plates pilled up outside. Woojin stops turning towards me before sighing. “ok all we need is for you to go inside and get him to eat something.” I look at him with wide eyes. Eat something? Has Chris not been eating?

“What do you mean? What’s going on?” I question narrowing my eyes at the plates on the floor. “Well he’s not come outside his room and hasn’t eaten in weeks. We’re really worried about him and you’re the only one that will be able to talk to him. He doesn’t let any of us inside let alone talk.” I furrow my eyebrows at him.

“What makes you think he’ll want to talk to me? I don’t think he likes me very much although Felix says otherwise but I don’t believe a thing that comes out of that kids mouth.” I ramble on before Woojin grabs my shoulders making me look up at him. “Just try I can promise you he will talk to you” he turns me to the door, knocking on the door before walking away quickly.

“FOR THE LAST FUCKING TIME LEAVE ME ALONE. I DON’T WANT FOOD, I DON’T WANT TO TALK, I JUST WANT Y/N!” Chris yells from inside the room. At his outburst I rush inside shocking the boy inside. “What the hell are you talking about Chris?” I sternly speak not wanting the situation to get out of hand. He stands up quickly sputtering out my name, walking closer and then stopping.

“y/n? w-what are you doing here” he stutters out avoiding eye contact completely. I roll my eyes before walking closer to him. He stumbles back a bit still looking down. “Chris, it Is 2 in the morning and I’m tired. Why aren’t you eating the boys are worried about you and so am I” I question trying to make eye contact, but he just stares at the floor looking guilty. “ I – I y-you need to leave y/n you can’t be here.” He stutters out turning towards his desk leaning on it sighing heavily. “I understand you don’t want me here but please eat something I’m really worried” I sigh but Chris whips his head around staring at me wide eyed. “you think I don’t want you here?” he asks visibly shocked. I furrow my eyebrows at him before replying.

“Its kind of obvious isn’t it? You haven’t talked to me in weeks. I’m sorry if I annoyed you or offended you, I just wanted to be friends.” I look down turning to the kitchen to get Chris something to eat and leave. He follows me and watches as I make him something curiosity in his eyes. Once I place the plate in front of him, I turn to leave but he grabs my arm preventing me from leaving.

“y/n I don’t want you to think I don’t like you. It’s the opposite I – I really like you actually” he mummers out shyly rubbing the back of his neck. “why did you avoid me then?” I question as he loosens his grip. “I’m sorry I just have some stuff I’m dealing with it was stupid avoiding you I’m sorry can you forgive me?” he asks hopeful. I smile at him before nodding. “of course, Chris don’t do it again and eat some damn food!” I scold him and he laughs before bidding me goodbye. I lean in and kiss his cheek turning away and heading home. I miss the way Chris freezes in shock, realisation hitting him, and he runs back to his room locking it.

⊱ ────── {.⋅ ✯ ⋅.} ────── ⊰

Its been a few days since I went to see Chris and I haven’t heard any updates from anyone. I sigh stretching my arms above my head. At this rate I won’t be able to finish my work, my thoughts never drifting from Chris. After his confession I started to realise my feelings for him that I’ve developed over a very short period. My thoughts are interrupted by my phone ringing loudly. I groan reaching for it and answering. Before I could get a syllable out Felix Is yelling through the phone.

“Y/N? Y/N? YOU NEED TO HIDE IN YOUR DORM AND LOCK THE DOOR DON’T LET ANYONE IN! THE BOYS AND I ARE COMING NOW WAIT UNTIL WE GET THERE, WE WILL GET YOU TO SAFETY JUST DON’T OPEN THE DOOR!” before I could reply he had hung up on me leaving me confused and scared I run to my door locking it and stand a good distance away. I have no idea what Felix was yelling about, but it sounded serious. Before I could spiral into thoughts of what Felix was warning me for, I hear a knock on my door making me freeze.

“Y/n? hey its Chris can you let me in?” I relax before heading to the door unlocking and opening it. Before I could greet Chris he’s pushing me back into my room and onto my bed. I gasp at him my eyes wide.

“C-Chris w-what are you d-doing?” I stutter out as he smirks above me standing straight.

“Oh, Babygirl don’t get shy on me hmm I know you want this. You want me, don’t you?” he starts making his way toward me as I move up further in the bed. What’s going on with him he’s not usually like this.

“Baby why wont you admit how much you want me? Want me to use you? Hmm would you like me to use your cunt to my liking? I bet you would I can smell you babygirl so wet huh.” I clench my thighs at his words. He’s being unbelievably sexy right now, but something feels off about him like he’s not quite himself.

Before my thoughts go any further Woojin bursts into my room grabbing Chris and holding him back. Chris lets out a deep growl breaking out of his grip. The rest of the guys pile in holding Chris back but even with 7 boys holding him they struggle trying to keep him away. Felix runs to me grabbing my hand and pulling me out of the dorm complex. As he is pulling me into his car, I can hear growling and howling from inside getting louder.

Felix drives off in the direction of the frat house. As I sit in shock what the hell just happened? We arrive at the house and he rushes my inside. Just as we enter the door slams open with Chris seething in anger. Before he can move the other boys are forcing him into what looks like a basement. I try to follow behind worried, but Felix holds me back shaking his head. Eventually they get him tamed as I can’t hear anymore growling. They all walk back up exhausted looking apologetically Woojin being the last one up. He looks at me sighing motioning for me to sit down as the rest follow. “I suppose we need to tell you what’s going on” he chuckles “It would be helpful” I reply sitting down next to Hyunjin. “Well we are a wolf pack. All 9 of us are Wolf Hybrids the world is full of different types of hybrids and mythical creatures, but we don’t expose ourselves. The last time we did there was massacres.” Woojin explains slowly letting me adjust to the new information. I sit shocked suddenly getting flashbacks of memories I don’t remember.

“Hybrids?” I ask, everyone nods as I shake my head getting back to reality.

“I need to phone Irina”

⊱ ────── {.⋅ ✯ ⋅.} ────── ⊰

[redgillan]

Selfless Love- part 3

Bucky Barnes x Reader

Summary: A journey toward recovery and the story of a broken man falling in love with a woman.

Word Count: 940

Warnings: Slight Angst, Language (probably)

A/N: Reminder that this story is a slow burn. Good luck to everyone with exams and/or papers to write! 

Series Masterpage

The change in Bucky’s behaviour surprised everyone. He talked and smiled a little more, he stayed around after dinner. Even his therapist said he looked happier.

Your wound healed slowly, it left a scar shaped like a crescent moon. You often found yourself tracing it with the pad of your index. It reminded you of Bucky.

There was something about him that put you at ease. Perhaps it was his shy demeanour or his selflessness. Whatever it was, you were growing fond of him and it terrified you, so you decided to keep your distance.

Rebecca Kaplan, skilled psychologist, observed Bucky silently. He was snapping the elastic band around his wrist, a tell-tale sign of his anxiety.

He avoided her eyes. He knew he had to speak first, it was one of her rules. Once, they had spent an entire session in complete silence because he had refused to speak.

“Doc, I’m not good at this,” he groaned. “Where I’m from we don’t talk about our feelings. We lock them away deep inside and pretend they don’t exist.”

“Ah, the 30s,” she grinned and nodded towards the elastic band around his wrist. “What troubles you?”

He sighed, trying to put his thoughts into words. “I think Y/n hates me.”

Dr Kaplan nodded slowly. During the last three sessions, Bucky had talked about you at length. She quickly understood that he was developing romantic feelings for you, but he was clueless.

“Why do you think that, Bucky?”

“She doesn’t talk to me anymore.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Did I do something wrong?” he said, more to himself than to her.

“Why don’t you talk to her?”

“I can’t. I tried,” he groaned. “I stutter and blush like we’re in some kind of parallel universe and I’m Steve Rogers.”

“And your journals?”

“There’s no way in hell I’m showing her that.”

“That’s not what I meant,” she replied, shaking her head. “Maybe you could write her a letter.”

“I don’t know,” he sighed after a moment of contemplation.

Later that day, Bucky returned to the compound. A delicious smell greeted him the moment he opened the door. He couldn’t help but inhale deeply as he entered the kitchen.

“It’s soup,” Wanda grinned when she saw him sniff the air like a dog. “My grandmother’s recipe. I’ve added alphabet pasta, it was Pietro’s favorite.”

She smiled a sad smile as she remembered her late brother. Bucky wasn’t sure what to do, so he offered to set the table. When he was done, she told him dinner would be ready in half an hour. He retreated to his bedroom and tried to write you a letter. Ten minutes later all he had was ‘Dear Y/n’.

When FRIDAY informed him that dinner was ready, Bucky went to your bedroom, but you were not there. Feeling a bit down, he walked down the hallway to the kitchen.

It was just Sam, Wanda, Bucky and you that night, the others were either with their families or on missions. You sat in front of Sam as Wanda poured the soup into deep plates. She sat next to Sam and passed you the bread basket. You frowned when she smiled at someone standing behind you.  

Bucky sat next to you, careful not to touch you. You looked up at him and gave him a half smile. Sipping your soup quietly, you threw occasional glances at Bucky.

You were falling hard for him and you wanted to believe that you could cross the line from friends to lovers. It happened to Monica and Chandler and they were happy. But this was your life, not some TV show. If things didn't work out between you, you’d lose your best friend.

You didn’t want to mess things up with Bucky. Besides, you knew he was still struggling with his demons. The timing wasn’t right.

While Wanda and Sam were chattering away, Bucky watched you from the corner of his eye. Your shoulders were slumped and you looked utterly defeated. It made his heart sink.

He smiled softly, an idea forming in his mind. His brows pulled together in concentration as he wrote you a message in alphabetti spaghetti. He gave you a nudge, prompting you to look at him. You followed his gaze and saw three letters lined up on the edge of his plate.

H E Y

When you smiled at him, your face lit up with glee and he couldn’t stop staring at you. He tore his eyes away from yours and used his spoon to fetch more letters.

U O K

You stared at the three new letters for a moment before you looked back at him and nodded. He mirrored your smile and pushed the letters back into the soup.

You turned to Sam and Wanda who were talking about their incoming mission. They didn’t seem to notice that you and Bucky were in your own little bubble. Bucky gave you another nudge.

M I S S U

You felt tears prickle at the corners of your eyes. He missed you. You were so busy running away from your feelings that it didn’t occur to you that Bucky might need you.

You hung your head in shame, feeling like the worst friend in the world. You forced yourself to meet his gaze and mouthed the word ‘sorry’.

He smiled and held your hand under the table. You laced your fingers with his and gave him a reassuring squeeze, letting him know that everything was fine. At this moment, you made a vow to yourself that you’d always be there for him.

Part 4

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[mewshuuartblog]

Time to run

so here we have a short story of my sidon x mew... well more like pre- sidon x mew but yea

CanonxOc, if you no likie, no readie~

Summery: mews secret is out, and the prince knows. time to hit the road!

this was done in like, one day, so its probably not the best story iv done. but i think its pretty good for a quick short story *is proud of herself*

i might not have nailed sidon completely, but that is something im working on, so bare with me |D

---*---

Mew was an upset wreck. Her secret was out now thanks to one of her zora friends.

An accident,

yes,

but it only got worse when she heard that the prince was standing close by, hearing it all. Mews face lost all color when her friend said that. Before the female zora could even attempt to calm the human down, mew was already gone. The woman frantically packed her bags at the little zora inn. She would have to leave now, and was probably never coming back.

Some might say she was just over reacting. But mew had done this more than twice before.

Back when she traveled a lot she would come across guys who were sweet and kind. Mew would inevitably develop feelings for them. However each time she confessed, they would let her down as gently as they could, then avoid her all together. The last one taught her a lesson tho.

After that, she vowed to never admit her true feelings to someone else. They became best kept secrets for her, but when you join a persons fan club, its bound to get out there. Knowing that prince sidon now knew her deepest secret it killed her inside. It wasn't out of embarrassment, but the fear of him walking up to her to say 'we cant hang out anymore' then avoid her like the others. Mew enjoyed the zoras company, hell she loved zora's domain, despite she was scared of water and couldn't swim. Having the prince as a friend really helped her self-worth.

Once her bag was packed she tossed it over her shoulders and ran off with a rushed goodbye to the zora innkeeper. All the zoras just stood in a confused daze as they saw the short, round human woman rushing off down the bridge.

Mew made it quite far without bumping into any other zoras. Once she felt far away, her quick pace slowed down to a normal walk. The girl looked down to her feet as emotions started to swell up inside her again. She didn't want to leave the zora's domain, having called it home after a years stay. But she knew what was going to eventually come to her if she hung around any longer. To her, it was just best to leave and avoid contact with the prince.

The woman walked over the last huge bridge to zoras domain, it started to feel like an eternity would pass before she got to the other side. Images from the first time she tried walking across flickered in her mind. Thankfully the monsters that once lived around here were long gone by now, no more games of 'chunk the human over the bridge'.

Mew paused as she looked around at the bridge. It was still the same, even after a year had passed. She still remembered that day quite well.

A fellow traveler she talked to at a stable told her of the most beautiful scenery she had ever seen, with people to match. It sounded so wonderful that the round human just had to go see for her self. A few times she wanted to turn around and leave, the large amount of water terrified her, her biggest fear in the world was actually death from drowning. But she had made it so far, it would have been a wasted effort to leave then. Thats when she saw the monsters at the end of the bridge. Her heart raced at the sight. She was ill equipped for any sort of combat, armed with only a knife. Mews entire being was telling her to run back to the other side. It was a futile effort, however. A large moblin stood only a few feet from her, fierce and armed with a large club. Out of pure fright, mew froze in place. She didn’t budge, she didn’t even know what to do, her brain decided it was time for a vacation and left her standing there.

The moblin yelled at her and swung its club. Thankfully the womans legs turned to jelly at just the right time, causing her to fall to the ground and totally dodge the club, if you would even call it dodging. It was in that moment mew knew she had to try something, even if it would prove futile in the end. She fought with the pocket on her backpack, reaching into it and pulling out the small knife. Her reflexes were slow tho, the moblin snatched her up in the blink of  an eye. It raised it club up high, readying for another swing. Subconsciously, the woman sheathed her knife in the monsters hand. The moblin hollered out in pain, and from reflex, tossed the woman over the bridge.

Mew hardly remembered much between the moment she was falling till she woke up on side of the river below. When she finally came to, there he stood over her, prince sidon.

Halfway over the bridge, mew started to hear the faint calling of her name. The voice, at the moment, was too far away to clearly make out. As she was pulled from her other thoughts, she began to think it was her friend trying to stop her. Brushing it off, the woman continued across the bridge. The voice got louder, and closer. Mew immediately froze, her heart raced. She was recognizing exactly whos voice it was.

Reluctantly, her head turned, peeking over her shoulder. To her dismay, a tall, red and white zora in royal garb came running. How she wanted to run but was unable to do so, her body refusing to cooperate with her.  

Sidon stopped just a few inches from mew. He was obviously wet, having swam down the river to get there quicker. The water dripped off him and made puddles under his footsteps.

"Mew! How I searched high and low for you!” he began. “The zora's told me about how you were frantically running about. Did something happen?" The zora looked down to her, sadness clearly in his eyes. Mew looked away quickly yet remained silent.

Sidon looked the woman over, calmly trying to read her. He took a few steps closer "If anything is troubling you, you know that you can tell me." He walked around till he stood in front of her. Yet the woman once again turned away. Her cheeks were burning hot, yet she was unsure what for, cause it was the prince or cause of the situation at hand.

The prince stood there silently, deep into his own thoughts. It was strange to see a close friend of his act so strangely, had he don’t something wrong? He leaned a little closer to the human, placing a large hand on her shoulder. "Is this about the crush I over heard you had for me?" When he felt her tense under his hand, he knew he was right. The zora leaned back up, looking over the girl once again.

Mew heard a slight chuckle behind her. This slightly annoyed her enough to turn around. "Whats so funny?..." she asked, feeling a little hurt and offended that he found some joy in this.

The prince quickly put his hands up, waving them to the short woman. "Oh no, pardon my rudeness. I didn't mean to do that aloud." He couldn't help but smile at the look the human was giving him. Yes he knew she was mad at him, but with a round face like hers, anger only made her look cute.

"Please allow me to explain myself. I find amusement in it cause you are the first to act like this. Most of the female zoras just get embarrassed and apologize for it. I am by all means flattered that you have feelings for me. But if you don’t mind me asking, for how long?"

Mews face quickly reddened. Looking away, and at anything other than the zora, she started to stutter. “S-since... you rescued me... and it only got worse the more I hung out with you afterwards...”

The woman quickly looked back up to him, small tears in her eyes as the embarrassment became to much. "A-arint you the least bit disgusted to know a human like me has a crush on you?"

Sidon tilted his head, confused by all belief. "Disgusted? Why in hyrule would I be disgusted for by that?" The zora noted the blush deepening on her face, but this only added to his confusion. "Did... Something happen in the past to make you think this way?"

Mew stuttered around with her words even more, tho try as she might she couldn’t stop. Her hands began to fidget with a need to be busy with anything. "I-i don’t want to bother you with boring stories.” she fussed. But the look in the zoras eyes told her he truly did wish to hear it. To understand why she had such a mindset like this. Mew let out a heavy sigh as she brought back old, painful memories. “Years ago... there was a guy I liked. We became pretty close friends, or so I thought. He was nice and kind to me, so of course I started to like him. After a four months of hiding a crush I walked up to him and... confessed it." There was a long pause before she continued. "He... didn't take well to it. I found out he didn't like fat girls at all. The only reason I was allowed to travel with him and his group was cause I could make and mend clothes. He... ended up throwing me out of the travel group out of disgusts.” she sighed once more “Since then, I learned to just keep my mouth shut."

She took a glance up to sidon. His face was no longer the smiling, bright one she always saw. It was now an angry contorted look, his eyes sharp enough to kill. "T-that wasn't the only reason. I-I've confessed to a few other guys before him. But they were nice about it and gently told me they wasn't interested in me. However, afterwards our friendship wasn't the same, and they avoided me..." she looked down to the ground, eyeing the large puddle around sidon. "I assumed you would avoid me too...or...get disgusted and tell me to leave the domain. So I thought it would be best to just leave." A large sigh escaped sidon, his features calming down and becoming soft once again.

"Mew, I must admit, that I do not share the same feelings as you do. However, I would never ask a friend to leave zora's domain, unless they were a threat to my people." The prince watched as mews eyes grew wide at his words, tears collecting at the bottom, he tensed yet prepared himself for the water works.

"W-wait” she balled her small hands into tiny fist. “So were still friends???" She finally asked. The zora blinked, stunned at her response but quickly started smiling. "But of course! Just cause I know you love me doesn't mean I no longer wish to be friends with you!" Sidon watched the huge round tears flow out of the little humans big eyes. "T-then that means we can still hang out?! A-and I can still live in the domain, right?!" The zora couldn't help but release a bolstering laugh. "Of course we can! And of course you can! You did say yourself this was your new home did you not?"

Mew threw her fist up into the air, giving a loud "YEY!"

During her excitement she rushed over to sidon, possibly giving him the biggest hug she ever gave.

"THANK YOU SO MUCH SI- wait, we can still hug, right?"

Sidon chuckled. "Right!"

"THANK YOU SO MUCH SIDON!!" mew finished. The prince lifted mew up, giving her an equally large hug. "Now then, Shall we return home, friend?"

Mew nodded with happy tears still pouring down her face.

[hotels-motels-heathens]

H/M/H 01 - 'Welcome to Haleton'

Part 1, Dilapidation in Torchlight:

A torch hung from a string tied around a beam overhead emitted a vividly amber tone throughout the room. That light flickered through the air and illuminated the rusted frame of the building, along with what was left of its long withered walls. A faint buzzing came with the light. The boards covering the windows were the only fresh wood in the room. The bed, situated awkwardly in the centre of the room, wasn't new per-se, but it was clean. The holes in the ceiling were not coupled with any debris. The air smelled of vanilla.

A loud groan echoed from behind one of the room's doors, like the rusted metallic skeleton of the building was wailing in pain; a result of having seen near-to-no movement in decades. The only exception to that stagnation, a young woman who had seemingly developed some kind of fixation with this place at some point, was re-entering.

Part 2, Brushing Rust Out of Her Hair

Amber sat on the side of her bed, exhausted. She had spent hours upon hours of the day working her ass off, moving the degradation and rubble out from just one room of the junk mansion she'd just wasted her money on. Then moving her own stuff into that room. Then setting up a make-shift light system. And all of this was only after having dealt with the tedium of the real-estate agency, people who were absolutely bewildered by her decision to buy this place. She knew that she couldn't blame them for that, but she also knew that she could blame them for being so unapologetically rude. She took her hairbrush from the suitcase at her feet and started trying to straighten her hair up before she inevitably passed out. The hum of the light above her rang in her ears. This was the point that she had been saving her money for years to get to. She had convinced herself that this was the end goal, that she'd be done. She had known, at some level, that she would have to spend time cleaning this place, but she hadn't thought to include that part in the plans she had established. These were left as two completely distinct thoughts, two separate, purely conceptual periods of time. Now she was sitting here, confronted by the task before her as an actuality. This, she concluded, was gonna take her a while.

A knock on the door interrupted this line of thought. It took her a moment of stillness, with her brush left stuck in her hair, after this to remember that she had invited people over. She stood up, swept the brush out of her hair, and went to let her friends in. Elliette, a short, scrawny girl with blonde hair and a stutter, made her way in without waiting to be invited. Following her, with significantly less hop in their step, walked Nitro; his hair, clothes and the freckles on his face, his overall presence radiated darkness (as they were want to do). The two of them didn't say much as they entered, moving through the unlit parts of the building carefully in an unthinking effort to avoid tetanus. They had expected that any place Amber could afford would be in a rough state, but this was a biohazard.

Part 3, The Grandeur (of Rotten Floorboards)

"Congrats Amber!" Elle said, somehow compartmentalizing (if not completely ignoring) the state of the room and its improvisational light system instantly. "H-how long were you trying to, ahh, to save up for this place again? W-w-we knew you could do it!" "Aww, thanks Elle," Amber replied. She tried to think of a way to fill out her response, but anything she could think to add about the place would have just embarassed her more. "It was a few years, yeah." Nitro had been intentionally refraining from saying anything. As much as he recognised this as a success on Amber's part in its way, he lacked Elle's ability to overlook a friend in need; and even if she wasn't going to admit it, Amber was absolutely in need. "You," he began, not wanting to say what he felt someone needed to say. "You can stay with us any time you want. You know that, right?" Amber sighed. "I, umm," Amber's pride was trying desparately to think of a way to make staying here sound like a reasonable idea. "I worked so hard at cleanin' this room up, though. It'd feel like somethin' of a waste..."

Amber failed to look Nitro in the eye as she said this, knowing how ridiculous of an argument it was. Even so, Nitro could see that it was true. She'd stripped most of the walls bare, boarded over the windows that were broken (that is to say, all of them), and if the hall that they'd entered through was any indication then she'd cleared out a ridiculous amount of dust and dirt. "You're at least gonna stay at our place tonight, okay?" "Y-yeah!" Elle's response to this idea lit the room up almost as much as the torch did. "It's always great when, like, when you come 'round!" Amber laughed faintly. "Okay, you're right. Should we head out right now then?" "Actually, I was thinking of grabbing something to eat," Nitro answered. "Sal's place is pretty closeby here, isn't it?" "Yeah, I think so," Amber replied. "Y'know, I didn't really think about it but you must get a pretty nice view of the town from here," Nitro remarked. "There's a staircase to the roof just through that door," Amber replied. "Though I'm not sure how much I would actually trust it." Elle opened the door Amber had pointed at, and briefly appeared to be inspecting the stairs. After this she started to make her way up them, quickly and (from the sound of her footsteps) clumsily. "For God's sake Elle," Nitro started to follow after her, though in a much better thought out manner.

Part 4, This Whithering City

As they stepped out onto the roof, the two of them were disappointed. To be fair, they had been given a good view of the city; the only problem was that the city they were looking at was Haleton. The sky itself was thickly clouded over, too dark to see any stars, and the moon was barely visible. All that they could make out were a few unevenly spaced spots where streetlamps managed to illuminate the dusty roads in a palid, artificial tone. There was a light breeze blowing whistled noise through rust-dissolved holes in exposed parts of the building's frame. A vaguely metallic groan echoed from somewhere indiscernible. If they could have made more out, Nitro thought, they would've been even more disappointed; it was a mistake to expect anything more from Haleton. Amber made her way up, having taken the torch down from the roof-beam. Its light revealed the appearance of the roof, which was less rusted than she had expected; to be fair though, it was rubberised. Still, on top of that, it was a mess. Much of the rubber exterior had worn away, there was a clutter of dust and garbage that must have been blown up their by the wind over the years. She turned her attention away from that. Despite the dissapointing view, Amber could forsee that the roof might be a fairly nice place to be. It needed to be cleaned firs,t and they would need some kind of permanent light fixtures, but on a better night than this, she thought, it could be a nice place to hang out.

Not so much satisfied as they were resigned to an acceptance of where they lived, the three of them turned back to make their way back inside, and then began to head out into the night. Amber questioned her own logic as she locked the door behind her - what was there to steal anyway? But independent of what, if any, reasons existed, it just felt like the thing to do. Over the length of their friendship, Nitro, Elliette and Amber had come to accept roaming Haleton's streets with a flashlight as their guide. Initially there had been an unspoken recognition of the fact that this was strange and unnerving, none of the three were natives to this place. But this was Haleton's nearest emulation of nightlife. The majority of the city's streetlamps didn't run at all; infrequently, someone might go through small stretches of roads and replace the old bulbs, but the city had little in the way of management services.

Part 5, Sal's Diner

Something in the difference between the lighting used outside of Sal's Diner and that emitting from the windows of the building itself always resonated with Amber. In reality the lights being used in both places were the same colour, plain white. But something about the lights or the walls or the general atmosphere, she could never actually quite tell, of the building seemed to almost taint it in a faint green. Moving between the two tones was like stepping into a new, artificial world.

Inside, that world would always feel small. Despite the size of the building, and the fact that the place didn't seem to have any trouble running, it still always seemed empty. None of the three of them had ever seen more than three other people in here, and one of them was always Sal herself. Sal was a fourty-odd year old woman who seemingly never let her hair down. All three of them saw her out in the city running errands and generally living her life with fair regularity, but even so Elle always responded like her being anywhere other than the diner was impossible. Perhaps it was just the way that her work and her personal life seemed to overlap; after all, her home and the diner were the same building.

The three of them ordered some food and sat at one of the booths. "That place is a dump, but there's nowhere else in town to waste time at," Nitro commented. "Plus, I like the lighting. I've chatted to Mick, the guy who owns the place a few times," they took a gulp from their drink. "He's the worst." "Mick Hennigan, right?" Amber asked. "His brother comes into the Hotel from time to time; he's nice enough. Apparently lives down in Denton though, so I dunno why he won't stay with his brother while he's here." "It's because his brother's the worst," Nitro reiterated.

Elle seemed more interested in her milkshake than in the conversation, but noticed Nitro glare slightly at the mention of Denton. That was interesting, given that he'd never been there; unlike Elle, who'd lived there for the first part of her life. "Oh, oh Nitro," She started. "That, ah, that tape you found, w-what was on it?" "Oh, the one from Wednesday?" He thought back, always willing to think about what was technically his job. "Nothing. It was bloody ancient, sounded like rust. I might've been able to recognise some of the noises as a garbled-up voice. Maybe." "Ah, sorry," Elle responded. "I should, I should've asked sooner." "Why?" Nitro asked. "What do you mean, Elle?" "I just," she began, unsure of how to explain. "It, uh-I just forgot I guess." "Have y'found anything interesting lately Nitro?" Amber asked. "I'm really impressed by how much time you spend working y'know?" Nitro laughed. "Depends what you find interesting, I guess," he appeared to think, but only for a moment. "I found this one tape by an old band - I forget the name - it's pretty cool though. 'Course, it isn't about what I like; I haven't stumbled across any of the newsy stuff I'm supposed to be looking for in a couple of weeks." Nitro was passionate about his work, but the historians he worked for were somewhat dismayed by his disinterest in, well, history. Even so, they couldn't deny that Nitro was a valuable asset to them; his ability to scrape through the deepest depths of the junkiest junk-pile (whether physical or digital), and always manage to pull something that was somehow valuable out was admirable. That was something that Amber respected, and it was absolutely something that Nitro enjoyed.

The three of them ended up distracting each other from their food for long enough that they were in Sal's Diner for almost an hour. Elle finished her food first, as ever, and ultimately Amber and Nitro took a while to follow her lead. They thanked Sal as they left, but she didn't offer much more than a closed-eyed nod as a response. Outside the air had become slightly colder than it had been before, but it wasn't overly so. Nearby, one of the streetlights flickered and died; thankfully, it was in the other direction from where they were headed.