#It's me again. Several minutes have passed and I'm on chapter 4. What the FUCK is going on here?

[nethhiri]

Marooned: Chapter 4

Kid x FemReader x Killer

Warnings: none

The Deal

A few days passed. That first night, you were pissed and hungry. You hadn't been lying about having that jarred food for dinner. It was hard to scrounge up food. It took a lot of time to gather enough for a decent meal, even longer to hunt something, and you had spent that valuable time patching up a stranger. Not to mention you had already stolen from Mini that week, so you would feel bad about trying that again. The next day you had set a few traps that would hopefully prove fruitful today.

Surprisingly, you hadn't come across your two friends in that time. Maybe they already got picked up. You thought that was unlikely. The thought was disheartening, though thinking about the way Captain Kid had gotten on your nerves so easily, maybe it was better that you waited another few years for the next chance to catch a ride. 

Across the island, Kid had been puking his guts out for the past few days after unknowingly eating several different poison fruits. He had taken Killer and found a small cave to shelter in. Killer had woken up enough to drink some water every now and again. Neither of them were fairing well. Kid would be damned if he was going to ask that feral woman for help, however. He was actually pretty pissed that the Victoria Punk had yet to show up. 

"What the fuck are those idiots doing? IT'S BEEN THREE GODDAMNED DAYS." He laid back next to Killer. "I swear I'm going to kill Wire. Damned navigator." 

Kid hadn't realized he drifted off to sleep, until he was woken by his growling stomach. His mouth watered at the smell of something cooking. No, he wasn't giving in. She was probably doing this on purpose. That witch. That woman wouldn't win. His iron will lasted about 20 minutes before he was growling and muttering curses under his breath. Kid threw his coat over his shoulders and grabbed Killer, stomping off in the direction of the smoke wafting up towards the gradually darkening sky. 

The brush around your small clearing started to rustle. "Mini? Have you forgiven me?" The hopeful look you threw in the direction of the snapping branches fell from your face when you saw a different kind of beast come into view. Glaring at Kid, your eyes slid to Killer, where they softened. It was a little concerning that he wasn't a bit more conscious yet. "What do you want?" You already knew the answer but you wanted him to say it. Kid was practically drooling as you bit into the drumstick of some kind of bird. "Mmmm," you wanted to torture him a little bit more. 

Kid lowered Killer to sit up against a tree before placing himself between you and the fire. The purple-blue dark circles under his eyes contrasted sharply with the amber shine within them. Even as he squatted down in front of you, you still had to look up at him. Hands with chipped scarlet nail polish rested on his knees. "You know... I can just take what I want." Heat radiated from him. 

You took another bite and he frowned at your lack of reaction. "If you think you can intimidate me, you're wrong. I didn't make it this far being weak." You turned your head pointedly to the left, letting the orange glow of the fire illuminate the scarred skin on your face. Turning back to him, you saw his slightly sunken eyes and the way his pale skin clung to the underlying musculature. "Water," you offered, holding your waterskin out to him. "Make sure he gets some." You nodded to Killer. 

Kid snatched it from you and greedily chugged the majority, more due to sheer thirst than his normal asshole behavior, before trying to get Killer to drink some. Thanks to the convenient rip in his jeans where the initial injury was, you could tell from where you were sitting that the wound on his leg was healing nicely. Probably just getting more dehydrated. If you had any real medical equipment, this would be an easy fix.

"So is someone coming for you?" Or will I have to babysit for a while longer. 

Kid threw back your empty skin. "They should have been here already. We weren't that far from here and they have my vivre card for fuck sake," he growled. 

You licked the grease from your fingers in what you were sure was a less-than-ladylike manner. Leaning toward the fire, you grabbed the spit that was holding the remainder of the cooked bird. You ripped off the other drumstick and chucked it behind you into the woods. Kid looked like he might run after it for a second and was about to yell, but you cut him off. "It's for Mini. Only fair since I... borrowed some food from her." What was left on the spit you held towards Kid, pulling it back when he reached for it. Before he could light you up with curses, you cut him off, "I know you're too prideful to ask and I'm not giving anything away for free. So how about a deal?"

Next

[deathlieteez]

ATTENTION (4/5)

yunho x reader

♡ attention series masterlist ♡ ┋chapter 1┋chapter 2.1┋chapter 2.2┋chapter 3.1┋chapter 3.2

chapter 4: heaven and back. when you finally met yunho that Saturday night, he confess the reason why he's acting that weird, and it is not going to be a bliss to your heart. feeling more lost than ever, you let yourself be drawn into whatever the night has to offer, though it seems to end up being much more than you can control.

appears: yunho as your exboyfriend x femb!reader + choi seungcheol (seventeen) x son chaeyoung as ur bests friends + yoon jeonghan (seventeen) as ur friend + chwe hansol vernon (seventeen) as seungcheol's friend

genre: angst. college au.

warning: cursing, mean/heartbroken reader, mean/heartbroken yunho, petnames, using/abusing of drugs (don't!!!!!!!), cheating.

word count: 9.1k (oops)

intentional use of lowercase letter

english is not my mother tongue

the chapter is called heaven and back because is sighly based on the chase atlantic's song

songs i get inspired by: heaven and back - chase atlantic + you broke me first- tate mcrae + the grudge - olivia rodrigo + falling - harry styles + creepin' - the weeknd + if you want love - nf + sorry, i love you - stray kids + we go down together - dove cameron ft. khalid + remember that night? - sara keys

the one i recommed the most to read it is the loneliest by maneskin

it is not meant to be representative of jeong yunho's personality or any ateez or another groups' idols who appeared ♡

⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘♡⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘

see you tonight.

yunho's absence and message made your morning into something infinite. got out of bed as if you had spent the whole night drinking, but what actually felt was a terrible emotional hangover. the memory of yunho haunted you as if he had never left, and almost had the damn sensation of his lips going all over your skin, as well as that sweet smell of his still stuck in your nostrils. his attitude was strange enough in itself to leave you thinking all day, but if you added the idea that he had been with another woman close enough to leave her scent on him, and the fucking fact that he had left you alone in bed after you let him spend the night for the first time after so many pleas, it was going to drive you crazy. was literally all you could think about all morning. it was, in fact, what you were thinking about when your doorbell rang, being so immersed in the memory of your fucking ex that the fright was such that you threw the coffee cup, which you'd been stirring for twenty minutes now while leaning against the kitchen counter, onto the floor. "shit!" you grunt for a moment before the doorbell rings again, and several times in a row "coming, i'm coming!" had absolutely no idea who it was, but it did nothing but fuck your mood even more.

you were very surprised to see that it was chaeyoung. well, an exaggeratedly angry version of chaeyoung. if thought you were in a bad mood, you were a puppy next to your best friend at that moment "i didn't come in just in case that asshole's still here. you better hide him, because i'll chew him up and spit him in the toilet, and u're next" she said pointing her index finger at you, still not crossing the threshold of the door. you sighed, stepping to the side to let her know she could come in.

"easy beast, he's not here." she snorted, entering your house in a bad temper. you couldn't blame her, but she had a lot of things to blame you. followed her into the kitchen, feeling slightly anxious. the only times you had ever seen chaeyoung like that was always when was involved with yunho, yunho's friends or the university. you had never been her target. you knew for a fact how much she loved you, in a practically sisterly way, so you understood perfectly why she practically left a trail of flames wherever she passed by. you would have appeared the same, or worse "careful, there's glass on the floor" you warn, she automatically grabbed several paper napkins and bent down to wipe the huge coffee stain on the floor. you imitated her.

"i've called tons of times, and left lots of messages." she accused, you sighed "the least you could do is call me back" looked at her with a mixture of shame and embarrassment building up in the pit of your stomach. you couldn't say anything, because she was right. not only had you blown them off the night before, but ignored them all and with no reasons. that's probably why seungcheol wasn't with chaeyoung to find out what happened after he left. he was too upset to show up at your house, and it was more than clear that he would have told chaeyoung why you didn't go to the club.

"m so sorry" you mumble, "wasn't in the mood. know that's no excuse, but…"

"but nothing. it's already awfully wrong for that guy to show up at your house at night, but to be ignoring us for him? girl, it sucks" she accuses again and you nod, as if you were being scolded by your older sister "i don't understand how you could even let him into your house, after everything that's happened".

"you know we've been seeing each other, chae" you swallowed after materializing it in words for the first time to someone other than yourself or yunho himself.

"yeah" she groaned in annoyance "but thought u guys fucked at parties or something, not that you let him get into your house?"

"we're all grown up now, chaeyoung" you sigh, picking up a few pieces of glass again, trying not to cut yourself and in the process avoiding her gaze. she stood up, throwing away a handful of soggy papers and picking up a few more to continue drying the floor.

"oh really? well doesn't look like it" she then growls "look, u can fuck whoever u want, but be consequent. u can't just disappear the whole night and leave us all worrying"

"i'm really sorry" repeated "it was a bit of a weird night" you confess once finished collecting all the crystals, cutting a small awkward silence "did u have a good time at least?" chaeyoung denied.

"cheol came in pretty upset, he told us what happened and we tried to call you several times after a while. still were going to stay, but then we saw yunho's little friends and seungcheol didn't want to continue the night. he and han went home together and i went home with jihyo" she related, making you sigh again.

"they didn't say anything to any of you, have they?" she denied, you nodded in relief.

"you know how overprotective he is with you and the whole thing with those guys" threw away the last handful of papers once the floor was finally clean, grabbing another cup from your cupboard and a capsule of coffee "at least tell me what's going on, and what happened last night".

so you did. recounted in detail everything that had happened, from the episode at the emergency exit, to yunho dumping that girl for you, and ending with the night before. you put special emphasis on one detail "he smelled like another chick!?" she practically shouted, you dropped your back on the back of the couch and nodded "he finished being with some chick and came to see u?" he snorted "i thought he couldn't, but he get even more scraggly. he must have been training"

"he's coming tonight" you confessed, causing chaeyoung's eyes to practically pop out of their holes.

"and you're even dumber, i see."

"wanna see him, chae."

"that's the first sign why you shouldn't do it. never again. fuck him. but no literally!"

you'd love to say that the conversation with your best friend did some good. that you took matters into your own hands and wrote yunho to tell him you didn't want him around, that he should stay the fuck home. but the reality was much different, much sadder and, from chaeyoung's point of view, ridiculous. your friend didn't understand what it was about this guy that kept you so interested, and you didn't exactly know either. but if there was ever a time when you really felt the need to see him, it was that night. his attitude and that message had to mean something, and it's not like you were able to ignore everything you felt while being with him.

luckily, now that you had finally been completely honest with her, chaeyoung decided she wouldn't leave you alone and tried her best to keep your mind off yunho, almost like the first time she had to deal with what he left of you when he cheated. it worked for a few hours, but as the time approached when you had to get ready to leave, it became clear how the anxiety was eating away at your confidence. you checked your cell phone every few moments, feraring a message from him, or maybe even hoping for one. chae watched you worriedly. she knew for sure that the time when you would relapse would come. yunho would be a problem again, because you two were in love and it didn't end well. one of you would come crawling back, but she hoped it wouldn't be you and that when he did, you would kick him back to his house.

"so can i borrow the black one then?" she asked with her head dipped in your closet. you laughed again, affirming with a guttural sound while trying not to go too overboard with the lip liner "great! i was looking forward to trying it on. it's so pretty!"

"just had to ask for it" you tell her once you finish filling in your lips in a gorgeous burgundy shade matching the dress you wore that night, and which didn't go unnoticed by your friend.

"how is it possible that u been looking like shit all day and now you look like you came out of a magazine?" she grunts, making you laugh again "it's cute" commented, sitting on the edge of the bed and looking at your reflection in the glass of the dressing table. you were doing the same, trying to gain confidence in your image. knew you looked pretty, but didn't feel particularly well. "haven't worn it in a while, have you?" chaeyoung asked, getting your attention. you look at her a little confused "the dress" you smile faintly at her, nodding.

didn't really wanted to have to explain it to her, but the outfit you were wearing that night was a real statement of intent, because it was exactly the same one you had the night you met yunho. it was still quite nice, a little less revealing than what you've been wearing lately, but sexy enough to fit a night like that. telling chaeyoung something like that would end up driving her crazy, but the truth is that you were wearing it hoping yunho would remember the dress. as you looked at yourself wearing it in the mirror, remembered all the times he told you how beautiful you looked and how much he loved the dress. he even asked you to wear it again several times throughout the relationship, but saved it for a special occasion because it meant so much to you. didn't know why, but that night you needed the confidence that dress gave you. it was probably a mistake, but you would do it anyway.

it wasn't too long before you arrived at the same place that had already visited countless times, and where the story with your ex was awakened with a fuck at the emergency exit of the reserved area. you felt a little better when you let the lively atmosphere captivate you, letting yourself be carried away by the incredibly cheerful and energetic attitude of your best friend, who guided you to the same place as always, where your friends were already waiting.

the first thing you did was apologize to all of them, and especially to seungcheol, who didn't take more than a few seconds to fall for your charms and your puppy face to hug you and kiss your forehead, even though he made you promise not to do something like that to them again "a message is enough. just want to know you're okay". the way it had started, the night had potential. and you could have taken advantage of it; you could have drunk, danced and laughed with the amazing friends you had at your disposal. you could have even tried to meet someone new, like the guy at the bar who had left his number on a napkin he shamelessly gave you, because didn't need one and hadn't asked for, during one of the many times you visited the bar in such a ridiculously short period of time. just like went to the bathroom, to smoke with jeonghan -when you didn't even smoke- and any excuse that was plausible enough and allowed you to browse the place as many times as possible, in search of a single person. of course, your friends asked you if everything was all right, but with the help of chaeyoung, who knew what was going on and didn't want to worry them, you distracted them. it was about one in the middle of the night when you finally saw him appear in the crowd, looking particularly handsome that night. he wore a white yarn sweater, the collar quite wide, revealing his collarbone, beautifully decorated with a couple of necklaces and highlighting the width of his shoulders. his hair was apparently messy, but you knew that he had probably spent a long time in front of the mirror checking every strand, and it had certainly paid off.

you didn't even try to find an excuse to meet him that time. just jumped up and left the reserved area, not listening to any of your friends' questions. from the stairs you could see him reaching a table at the down floor, where a couple of girls were sitting that you didn't remember seeing before. noticed him greeting one of them with a kiss on the cheek, bringing that smell back to your memory, but made sure to ignore the idea that crossed your mind and faded as soon as you saw him looking for you in the reserved area himself. he approached the stairs as you went down, so you decided to wait at the end of them "finally!" you said almost without breaking, sounding a little - too - excited to see him. yunho was about to speak, but your impatience interrupted him with a soft kiss on the lips that was confused to say the least, swallowing his words, not even sure what he wanted to say to you. with a sincere smile, you pulled his wrist to a corner a little further away from his friends and yours, a little further away from the crowd, and while he was still silent, you allowed yourself to kiss him again, leaning your back against the dark wall of the room. took a few seconds for yunho to react, feeling a slight panic sweep through his body, but deciding to surrender to you again. it was much easier to be carried away by your lips, so he brought one of his hands to your waist while cradled your neck with the other to deepen the kiss. felt as if the night before had not ended, as if the truce you had happily signed yesterday had continued to stand against all odds. "took a long time, yuyu" said to him as you separated to get some oxygen. he didn't even open his eyes before kissing you again.

he pressed his body closer to yours, breathing into your lips and making you feel like you're in a damn cloud9. buried both hands in his hair, stroking him as if to calm him, "hi" mumbled over your lips. actually, you didn't even hear it, you guessed it.

"been waiting for you" you confessed, not even thinking about how your attitude let yunho look a little deeper into you. "thought you wouldn't come" he remained silent, looking into your eyes like trying to find something. in fact, he was looking for some sign of remorse, of hatred, of resentment, of anger. some trace of everything you were giving him all this time, but he found in you nothing more than a honest desire to see him. he sighed heavily and took some distance from you, though his hands never left your body, going up to your face to cradle it once more. you held his wrists and smiled sweetly, "don't have a very good face, yuyu" you stated, looking genuinely concerned, "u ok?" yunho felt his chest shrink as the sweetness colored your words.

it was like you were doing it on purpose, as if you were fighting with your last ace to keep him close. he had worked hard to get to this point, he had fought against everything he felt so that would be moderately comfortable with what was about to happen. but it would only be fine if you continued to be a fucking bitch to him, one who didn't seem to care about anything. now that you looked at him as if you really wanted to be with him, as if you cared about his well-being and kissed him so lovingly, how could he say something like that to you? how could he not grab the last burning nail that was your relationship?

"no, i'm not well" he confessed. you took a careful breath and gently changed your sweet expression to a worried one. something was really wrong.

"here, let's sit" you suggest, pointing to the high chairs a few feet away "and maybe i can help you" if he didn't know you well enough, yunho would swear that you were trying to torture him playing with his feelings to trap him in your web so he would never leave you. but in actual fact, you were genuinely concerned about him and wanted to help him. reaching the chairs, without letting go of his hands, you sit facing each other. legs are intertwined, you only have to move a little closer to kiss him again, which you did, "come on sweetie, tell me".

"why 're u treating me so well?" he asked suddenly, almost burning with the torture of having you so close again.

you pursed your lips, tilting your head with a shy smile, "don't know" confessed this time, "yesterday was a nice day, i guess" yunho sighed with the memory of your naked body hugging his all night, making him feel like the fucking worst person in the whole earth.

"i have been waiting for you to look at me like this for a long time" with a weak and deep voice, it comes out almost in a wail "it is not fair that you act like this today" you looked at him with some confusion while he avoided your eyes as much as he could. instead, he look at your body without taking a second to notice what you're wearing. a grimace of sarcasm crossed his face, and he couldn't help but think that what you were trying to do to him must be some kind of heavy joke.

"today? what's happening today?"

"i've been doing the best that i can for about, how long, maybe a year?" his voice rises slightly and you can hear some bitterness in it. by contrast, yunho never lets go of your hands, making the grip harder and focus all the attention on them laying over the dress you are wearing "i have respected your space and accepted all the times you kicked me away" he said, you parted your lips without knowing exactly what to say, feeling more confused by the moment "gave you love whenever u were around, just to make u feel wanted and wash away what i did" you blinked several times, trying to pull your hands away, but he held them firmly, "went where you wanted, when you wanted, even when i knew you were doing with other guys" he sighed heavily, sharpening his gaze and finally looking at you. "needed to see me so fucked up to empathize with me a little? or did you realize that you still love me?"

when he looked into your eyes, you didn't like what you saw. no clue if all that anger and pain had always been there or if something you are missing had happened and yunho was actually in pain. the only thing you were sure about was that your patience was too thin to keep listening to him, and the sarcasm of his words didn't help at all. or did you realize that you still love me?

you yanked hard from his hands, surprising him but managing to escape his grip. denied with a bitter smile before said "let it go, it was a mistake", you said it out loud, but those words were more for you than for him. wanted to leave it there now that you still had some will to have a good night, but suddenly yunho realized he couldn't let you go that easily. the pride he had been swallowing all this time returned all at once and he was not willing to let you be the one to decide the course of the conversation again. yunho had come to this place with a damned purpose, and he was going to fulfill it whether you wanted or not. he stopped you down impulsively, grabbed your wrist and pulled back towards him. almost crashed into his chest, but you reacted quickly and put a hand on his shirt, pushing him back "what's wrong with u?"

"with me!?" he opened his eyes as if you had told him the most savage thing he had ever heard in his life, "the problem here is you!" suddenly yunho grabbed your shoulders and pushed you back against the wall, surrounding you with both arms into a corner so he can look down on you. it felt like you were tiny, and that wasn't what you needed that night, "come to me like you need to see me, kiss me, care about me, and in that fucking dress!" you looked away from him when his breath crash into your face so aggressively, because yunho was yelling, almost out of control and too close for your comfort. caught your breath to regulate the tension in your chest, feeling slightly dizzy. you looked like a prey, trapped under your ex's harsh and unforgiving voice, full of resentment "am a joke to u? wearing this on just to hurt me, yeah?" he growled. despite the toughness of his words, yunho was far from feeling tough inside. he was pushing himself to the limit, trying to contain a huge amount of emotions that he did not know how to handle at a time like this, when he had you in front of him and the person he decided to commit to just a few steps away, waiting for him.

when he got up in the morning next to you, had a feeling that he holds the world in his hands again. he barely slept through the night and made sure to stay close to you as long as possible, watching you as you rested, with your chest rising and falling gently, your peaceful face and your body completely relaxed. no tension, no fighting and no bitterness. you were an angel - his angel -, and he told himself he was the luckiest man in the world to be able to watch such a spectacle. yunho also realized you still had some habits, such as sleeping on your right side - which made yunho get used to sleeping on his left side so he could hug you -; you still talked a bit at night, and still hadn't given up your eagerness to steal his blanket whenever you had the chance. but his favorite, which he treasured as a precious memory, and which he loved to see you kept, was your adorable need to cuddle at night. he wondered more than once if you'd gotten over it because didn't have him anymore, or if you were holding plush animals like you once told him you did before living together. now that he had you there, tied to his torso as if you never wanted him to leave, he was afraid to even breathe too hard in case you moved and let him go. it was hard for him to give in to sleep, but was overly nice to see you again when he woke up. sure, you moved and were no longer holding him, but you were holding his hand. really seemed that you needed any contact with him as much as he needed you to do it.

knowing he must go while you were still asleep, he tempted his fate and stayed for almost an hour. the thought of leaving you was killing him, and his tears were the only witness, but it was better to go for himself than to let you push him again. was certainly sure he couldn't take it after having you this way again. he worked hard to convince himself that it was best to get away from you and trust her. she was good for him, but you weren't, because you could offer him nothing but nostalgia and the ghost of the woman he fell in love with. yunho told himself that the last night you spent together was almost a mirage, a kind of truce he had signed with you, but that it expired as soon as the sun rose on the horizon. so you wouldn't want him there anymore then, not knowing you haven't forgive him yet. he needed to stop blaming himself because you didn't want him anymore, to stop punishing himself with your kisses and your fleeting caresses, no matter how sweet they were. she looked like a white promise at the end of all this agony. couldn't even believe that she was giving him a second chance after what he had done to her for you, but he told himself he wouldn't mess it up this time, that would let you go and that you wouldn't suffer because you were really just playing with him. yunho wouldn't have to see you cry and he wouldn't cry for you anymore.

what he did not expect was to see you the next day in that dress that meant so much to both of us, taking him back to the night you met, while your eyes showed him a genuine illusion to see it again. he could even see the pain in your pupils as his voice, against all odds, became much harsher. he should hate you, but he hated himself instead "yunho, enough. wanna leave".

"oh, u want to go now?" he insisted, making you swallow hard while see him shocking his head many times "please tell me what you want from me" you looked him in the eyes again, an uncertain gaze locked with his. could barely make out the colors of his face in the dim light of the room, but you could clearly see the damage in his look, "can't take it anymore" he almost sobbed, dropping his head down to the floor "i can't keep paying for what i did. need u to stop punishing me, it's not fair to either of us anymore" locked out, the air was missing and could only feel the strong fragrance that yunho wore that night clouding your senses. you tried to concentrate on his words, but they only hurt. it was as if he had hit you so hard that all you could hear was a hollow and annoying sound. yunho kept talking to you, becoming more and more impatient with your silence, and in the midst of all the dull noise, your face began to fall as his words began to sink in. you thought coldly about what he was really telling you and a sour taste grew in your throat. you'd swear you'd fall to the ground if yunho hadn't left you barely space to breathe, intoxicating you with his accusations.

"yunho" mumbled, sealing his lips so he could hear you after trying to get your attention so much "if u don't like it, just leave" your head remained a little bowed, as if the neck couldn't bear the weight, so you looked at him from below "fair, you say?" snorted in denial as you closed your eyes again "know what's not fair? your boyfriend cheating on you, and knowing about it by a pic that someone sent of him kissing that fucking chick. that's not fair" yunho was going to say something, but you cut him off "it's neither fair that you came home the next morning and covered yourself with a lie, not fair that you kissed me with the same mouth that you kissed another girl the night before. that you came home every morning of every weekend without feeling the slightest bit of guilt until i discovered you, that's not fucking fair" yunho stepped back a little, letting you breathe a bit easier "it's also not fair the fact u forced seven fucking people who were also my friends to lie to me to cover up your fucking betrayal" looked at him again "know what it was like for me to lose u and all of them at once? that. is. not. fair" you spitted bitterly, punctuating every word "i saw the person i trusted the most taking away those we considered our friends, and yet you also took away my first love, my home, and everything i felt for u" here they were again, the tears piling up and threatening to wet yunho's cheeks, while you felt like tearing out every piece of yourself, every single night you spent awake missing him. you were now throwing them out in the form of all the conclusions you came to between cries and tears "so if you think what's happening is unfair, you'd better go and leave me alone for good" you were angry, and your words were not what really was in your heart, but weren't able to control yourself in the same way that he wasn't able to. however, also failed to calculate the consequences of what you just said.

"that's exactly what 'm trying to do" he replied, now at a safe distance from you.

"how do u say?" despite the word just spitted, you were incredulous.

"'m leaving you, leaving this" his cold gaze froze your body "i am tired, tired of you" he confessed. didn't even know how you felt at that time, but yunho wasn't finished with you yet "i've met someone, and i think i like this girl, but need to be away from you to find out" that was the masterstroke. the last words he needed to end you, with everything you had built since decided to focus on yourself, everything you had risked to bring him back into your life. even though you had managed to recover from all the hits he had soothed you with his words, there was no turning back from what he had just said so easily.

words sharp as blades pierced your whole body mercilessly, straight from the same lips that kissed you so lovingly just moments ago. you clearly heard something inside breaking again. i'm tired of you. his voice echoed in your head, as if he would never stop shouting it in your ear, over and over again, like a damned mantra he'd decided to tattoo on your skin. yunho knew for real he was being cruel, he watched almost in slow motion how your pride faded away as the light in your eyes started to dim, but he couldn't help his mouth breathing away what his broken heart was crying out.

the strident music fades and instead you only hear this one sentence and a high-pitched sound drowns your eardrums, you have the feeling that they will even start to bleed if you try to say something else, but all your pride has vanished with your breath. you have nothing more to say, and even if you tried, would not be able to hear a single word, so you close your eyes and try to erase yunho from your mind, but of course, his silhouette appears in the darkness of your eyelids, smiling and laughing at you, reminding the horrible person you are. felt so out of place, so confused and lost in a feeling of incorrigible pain, even greater than the first time yunho left, that don't even know how you have returned to the side of your friends. when you figure it out, you're sitting next to them and they're talking to each other as if you weren't there. inside, everything fell apart. on the outside, your face remained blank, almost serene. you craved to scream, wanted to find yunho again and shout him that it was all his fault.

the image of your boyfriend, with whom you even shared an apartment, kissing another girl, along with the certainty that he had been hiding it for god knows when, still burning inside your eyes and were not exaggerating when you said that it was the first time you felt the pain of a betrayal, added to the pain of a broken heart and the sudden loneliness. well, if you had to be completely honest with yourself, you hadn't handled what happened right, and had to admit that you were cruel. but within the pain you felt at that moment, the idea that it was yunho who had broken you to such an extreme, that it was yunho who was wrong first, who broke you and all that you were, shone more brightly in your head.

your gaze wandered from one side to another. the floor, the ceiling, the round table in the center of your seats, filled with full and empty glasses, the distand and happy faces of your friends, seungcheol holding one of your hands and giving you a loving grimace… the neon red of the exit sign where you fell into yunho's arms again.the light soon blinded you slightly, feeling your gaze begin to unfocus as the bright red dazzled you and tears unconsciously welled up at the edge of your pupils. memories of your ex filled your blurred vision, pulling you away from reality and back to the image of his lips on yours, begging you to stay a little longer. his hands craving around your skin, trying to keep you close. now all that was gone. i think i love that girl, but i need to be away from you to know. and to think that you had stayed devoted to his arms, while he sought solace in another girl.

when you were able to refocus your gaze, found yourself looking at yunho's table in the distance. everyone seemed perfectly happy, including your ex, who was hugging who you assumed was the girl that took him away from you, who was winning his heart, the same heart had been your home " honey, is everything okay?" when you heard seungcheol's voice, suddenly realized you are already truly crying, feeling the happiness of those boys as a direct attack on you. why, if you were the victim, were the only one still suffering? "baby, look at me" seungcheol quickly located where your gaze was heading and gently picked up your chin to force you to stop hurting yourself, trying to comfort you with a warm smile and a kiss on the forehead.

"guess 'm not at my peak" you let out a chuckle far from funny and wiped away your tears.

with his thumb, seungcheol caressed your wet cheek and raised both eyebrows "we have two options. i can take you home, you'll take a shower, we'll watch anything on tv and i promise i'll play your hair until you fall asleep if it'll make you feel better" the smile grew natural on your lips, provoking a similar one on his face. he couldn't help it even if he wanted to and he wouldn't; sex or not, you were his best friend and one of the most important person in his life since you both were able to open up to each other, understand each other, support each other and care for each other. he had met many people in his life because he was someone of a social nature, but with you it was a crush in any sense you wanted to take it. he was sure that whatever you could offer him would be enough, because loved you sincerely and would prove it "or you can stay here with all of us, try to enjoy the night and not let anything or anyone else get the better of you" knew perfectly well what his words meant, because he wasn't stupid and no matter how much you had tried to hide it, he clearly saw something big going on with yunho, and confirmed it as soon as he saw you unable to take your eyes off him and that beautiful girl he wouldn't let go even for a stand second "both options are valid and in both i promise not to leave you alone at any time. it's up to you" you took a breath with lips sealed, biting them slightly at your pathetic image going home early for a fucking cheating guy, who was also happily a few meters away enjoying himself after breaking your heart for the second time.

you wondered if you were too naive, if you really didn't know him that well and those looks full of love and pleading he so often gave when you were together were nothing but pure show, a fake better than yours designed to fuck up your life even more. was yunho so cruel, so cold and manipulative? that night, you needed to believe that he was.

"think i can give this place a second chance today" you spoke unsure of your decision, but willing to at least give it a try. yunho couldn't stop you, wouldn't let him, and you knew that seungcheol was ready to help with that.

"that's my girl" he said, kissing your cheek "in that case, i have something for you" you watched as he pulled out his wallet from his denim jacket, showing you a small black baggie that brought a new smile to your face "are you in?"

"sharing is for pretty people" chaeyoung appeared at your back, holding out her hand to seungcheol, who laughed and didn't fail to leave a small white pill in the palm of her hand, but to you he put it straight into your mouth, with a greedy smirk that you were quite used to and that made you slightly fall into his game. you stuck out your tongue slowly, where he left the pearl while looking at your eyes, brushing your tongue with his fingers and listening to him saying again that's my girl but, this time, several octaves lower.

however, cheol didn't move any more cards in that direction with you afterwards, again respecting your boundaries, which you were extremely grateful for. if you had to take it out on your best friend, you didn't want to do it. it seemed like playing dirty, even though you knew for a fact that he'd be more than glad to offer himself to the cause. it wouldn't happen, but his attitude helped to immerse you in the night.

while you waited patiently - as long as you could - for the substances to take effect in your system, you tried to distract yourself with literally anything. smiled, talked to all your friends at the table, joked even with them and tried to laugh heartily when the others did, but your attempts were not enough to contain your fucking curiosity and the inertia to satiate it by looking back to yunho's table.

sometimes, he wasn't there and you could only see his friends, because she was never there if he wasn't. you'd even swear that, on a couple of occasions, yunho looked in your direction too, but couldn't say for sure because, when you got that feeling, you looked away like a fucking coward. the last time it happened, your eyes ran to the bottom of your empty glass, and the need to cover your shame with alcohol fills your patience. obviously, you asked cheol to come to get another drink, and fulfilling his promise, he took your hand and walked with you downstairs to the bar. the crowd was heavy that night, which wouldn't bother you on any other occasion, but on this one felt the anxiety fill your lungs and keep the oxygen out. to make matters worse, a guy a little shorter than cheol walked up to him. you saw them hugging and understood immediately that they hadn't seen each other for a long time "babe, give me a minute. pay for the drinks, today it's on me" he took out his wallet again and put it in your hands "you'll be fine" you nodded with a smile, knowing would be very selfish if you told him otherwise "i'll be right back" cheol kissed your hand lightly before disappearing into the crowd. the thought of running into yunho, that girl or one of his friends hit your mind immediately afterwards, and had to take a deep breath not to run upstairs, because you didn't feel confident enough to face any of them, especially not your damn ex. luckily, you were served quickly and soon had full glasses in hands, so you opened cheol's wallet to pay the bill. that's when you met up again with the little black baggie.

the idea inevitably crossed your mind. looked around to find the people and the music were thick and mingled inside you with heaviness, feeling genuinely overwhelmed and the night didn't seem to be getting any better. although you'd already had one, this time it hadn't had any effect, so maybe… a second pill wouldn't be such a bad idea, would it? before you could think clearly - and realize that it was a terrible idea - you had the pill in your teeth, putting the bag back in seungcheol's wallet, who appeared seconds later accompanied by the same guy from earlier. you sighed, honestly a little uneasy because it was the first time you'd taken two pills in one night, but were too sober to stay on your feet. had run out of any strategy to keep you distracted and your gaze kept coming back to yunho and that damn girl over and over again. you were afraid of being too obvious, starting to cry again, or that some guy in that fucking group would notice you staring at them. "vernon, meet my favourite girl" the presentations were short, but pleasant. you soon find out that he's actually american and has been living there for a while, so it was great to see cheol again, a feeling that soon rubbed off on you. he was a really strange guy, but funny and very, very nice.

after talking to vernon for a while, which really kept you distracted - wouldn't be lying if you said that meeting him was almost a promise that the night could get better - it wasn't long before you finally felt your body react chemically. no clue if it was the fact that you were a little more relaxed, or that the dose was already high enough to have an effect on someone who was already used to a single pill, but suddenly, felt energetic and some kind of adrenaline rush hit you, along with the urge to expend that shot of electricity by partying for real. pulling your new friend along towards the same destination, the rest soon followed, tired from sitting on those leather couches all night. when finally made your way through the crowd of people, the music vibrated through your body, causing you to crack a smile that felt like it would tear at the corner of your lips. you knew yunho was close, but at that moment, didn't give a shit, focusing on nothing but your breathing becoming heavy in your chest as you jumped on the track, your heart pumping so fast that couldn't count the beats even if you wanted to.

at the height of the ecstasy you were experiencing for the first time, it felt like hours had passed, but in actual fact it only took two or three songs for the situation to change radically. in one of your little hops to the music, you clearly felt your knees failing to break your fall, and if it hadn't been for vernon and seungcheol's quicker arms, you would have crashed to the floor along with your glass, which shattered into pieces. it wasn't a big deal, and if you were in your senses, would have laughed at the situation and the fact that had already broken two glasses in one day. but not right then.

right then, you felt like every single look in thet club was falling on you. the hollow sound of glass crashing on the floor deafened you for a moment, and you could only focus on all those judgmental stares on your body, as if they knew you had just fucked up. as if they knew you had been dumped for someone else, that you were high and that, in reality, you would rather have taken cheol's first offer and gone home to rest and cry all the broken feelings pouring out of your heart. your breathing, once heavy, now became scarce. you had to hold on tightly to vernon's arm, who brought both hands to your sides to give you balance "beautiful, are you okay?" cheol asked you and you looked him practically panic-stricken in the eyes. you wanted to say no, that your heart was going too fast but you had no strength in either leg. you then tried to speak, but sickness built up in the pit of your stomach, causing a gag and forcing you to cover your mouth with a hand and only deny it.

seungcheol's reaction was, thankfully, fast. he whispered something in vernon's ear that you couldn't hear and gave you a quick smile before he disappeared running, or trying to, into the crowd. so far, you had been drinking quite a lot and quite possibly too much, so he opted not to waste a second trying to help. you wanted to follow him, confused and increasingly dizzy, but vernon held you tightly and forced a hand around his waist for a better grip "he'll be back. come with me upstairs" spoke in your ear. he broke away, looking at your legs slightly bent under your own weight "can u walk?" you nodded, gripping his waist even tighter before starting to move.

right then, you felt like every single look in thet club was falling on you. the hollow sound of glass crashing on the floor deafened you for a moment, and you could only focus on all those judgmental stares on your body, as if they knew you had just fucked up. as if they knew you had been dumped for someone else, that you were high and that, in reality, you would rather have taken cheol's first offer and gone home to rest and cry all the broken feelings pouring out of your heart. your breathing, once heavy, now became scarce. you had to hold on tightly to vernon's arm, who brought both hands to your sides to give you balance "beautiful, are you okay?" cheol asked you and you looked him practically panic-stricken in the eyes. you wanted to say no, that your heart was going too fast but you had no strength in either leg. you then tried to speak, but sickness built up in the pit of your stomach, causing a gag and forcing you to cover your mouth with a hand and only deny it.

seungcheol's reaction was, thankfully, fast. he whispered something in vernon's ear that you couldn't hear and gave you a quick smile before he disappeared running, or trying to, into the crowd. so far, you had been drinking quite a lot and quite possibly too much, so he opted not to waste a second trying to help. you wanted to follow him, confused and increasingly dizzy, but vernon held you tightly and forced a hand around his waist for a better grip "he'll be back. come with me upstairs" spoke in your ear. he broke away, looking at your legs slightly bent under your own weight "can u walk?" you nodded, gripping his waist even tighter before starting to move.

you had never experienced this feeling before. your legs were not responding and could clearly feel your body getting heavier by second, along with the involuntary bouncing of your head, like you had been drinking uncontrollably all night. it got worse as you approached the stairs, each step becoming a world, "there is not much left" vernon said, trying to cheer you up. you could see how was struggling not to fall down the stairs pulling your weight up, and couldn't help but feel stupid and helpless, because your head seemed to be working quite fast, with some clarity, but no part of your body wanted to cooperate. it was only when vernon finally managed to drop you into one of the couches in the reserved area that the fear really took over. every muscle in your body was so numb that you barely felt it, "easy, stay easy, you're fine" vernon knelt down in front of you to be at the height of your face, holding your hands and trying to comfort you. then he approached your face, looking closely at your pupils, trying not to be too obvious. didn't want to think about it, he wanted to be wrong. but either fortunately or not, vernon was quite sure of what was happening to you, and even though he tried to calm you down, because he also knew that it would be much worse if you found out, he was scared, and the deep black that suffocated your iris did not help.

seungcheol finally arrived with several small bottles of water and a tiny towel he had to ask for at the bar. you listened with a certain distance as vernon explained that your body was practically dead and you swore that you could hear your friend's heart racing as he realized how bad it really was at that point. you wanted to ask what was happening, but couldn't find any voice and only had the ability to cry, which you did when you saw cheol giving you a look of panic. he sat down on a chair in front of you and took both of your hands "hey, don't cry, don't cry" he began "i've called chaeyoung, we'll be leaving soon" you nodded in tears "but first u have to be honest with me, okay?" nodded again "did u drink something u didn't buy yourself? or any of us?" you denied this time, cheol sighed in relief "so you drank a lot then?" denied again. well, you actually drank a lot, but not enough to have you that bad.

"cheol, it's not alcohol, she's high" the music still raged in your ears and your senses weren't working properly, but you could hear vernon clearly. his words hit you like a bucket of cold water, making you cry even harder.

"high? like, drugged?" cheol repeated, notoriously confused. he was dead sure he had only given you a single pill, nothing you hadn't done a thousand times before.

"did u give her anything?" vernon denied, "nothing" he spoke honestly, "but these symptoms are not from drinking too much alcohol" vernon's voice was also full of concern, but he spoke with much more confidence than seungcheol. you opened your mouth to say sorry, wanted to tell the truth and apologize for being so stupid and irresponsible, but once again a gag forced you to shut up, sobbing in your seat in defeat as you tightened the grip of cheol's hands.

"what happened!?" you immediately recognized the voice of your friend nearby, and soon the left side of the couches sank, "u okay?" she cradled your face with both hands, getting a bad surprise when she saw the paleness of your skin soaked with tears.

"think it might be an overdose," Vernon spoke, "she've taken something, hasn't she?" your friends nodded.

"but we've done it many times, nothing like this has ever happened before." chaeyoung's voice cracked as she tried to talk to vernon.

"she must have taken something else" he approached your face again, lighting you up with his phone to see that your pupils, which turned your irises practically black, barely reacted to the intense light of the flashlight "for the moment she is awake, but it might be a matter of time before she collapses"

"don't mess with me, man" cheol complained, "we have to call an ambulance"

vernon took a deep breath before he replied "if you do, remember that this is punishable in korea" his voice seemed much more loaded with anxiety "she is not going to get rid of his drug use easily."

"and what should we do? expect the worst!?" chaeyoung was crying. you heard it clearly in her voice, and you felt your heart break for the second time that night, guilt and fear paralyzing any little sense you had left in your body, hating yourself for bringing yourself to such situation.

"of course not!" you felt the other end of the couch sink way, "we need to try getting her to vomit while she still awake"

"are u sure about that?" cheol insisted, but vernon shook his head.

"i'm not, but given the sympthons and her dilated pupils, it might be."

the next event was something you wished with all your might you could wipe from your memory, but clearly it would stay with you forever, as a lesson. the three of them accompanied you, practically dragging your body, to the toilet upstairs. it was chaeyoung who helped you vomit using her own fingers, succeeding after several attempts. the bile and tears stained your face, making you feel miserable in the cheol's arms, who tried to comfort your sobbing. when they succeeded, they sighed with a sigh of relief. chaeyoung hugged you after wiping her hands, and you felt guilty again because you could still smell the stink of your vomit on her. the crying increased as they tried to comfort you, and the worst part is, as you sat on the white bathroom floor, with your head resting on cheol's chest and your other two friends trying to soothe what was obviously pain, the only person you could think of was yunho, hoping that he would somehow find out what was happening, and come to take care of you. "i'm gonna get the water from the table, try to rinse her face while" vernon spoke again.

you heard the door close, and soon after, chaeyoung closed the lock to prevent anyone from seeing you in that situation. cheol tried to lift your body, but, oddly enough, it was even heavier than before. sure you had vomited, as vernon suggested, but you didn't feel any better - the nausea was still there and all the strength in your body was just a memory. all you could do was cry "chae" he called her "chae, it's not okay" the trembling in your friend's voice finally confirming reality, was the last push before anxiety, or panic, or maybe both, took over. you began to hyperventilate, the little air that filled your lungs left and felt a horrible pressure in your chest. your legs were shaking involuntarily and although you could feel your friends holding you up, had no stability at all. you were falling. their voices were still present, calling out to you in sheer terror, lightly patting your face as the lights dimmed. until you could no longer open your eyes. it was barely a couple of minutes, seconds for you and an eternity for your friends, but your consciousness faded for a moment, and your body became completely lifeless. by the time you opened your eyes again, the white light blinded you slightly before could clearly see the face of your friends surrounding you again, swollen and drenched "fuck, she's awake!" cheol practically shouted. you quickly pulled yourself back up, taking a big breath of air before running back out to the toilet to vomit. chaeyoung followed, brushing your hair away from your face as she patted your back. you could still hear her sobbing.

"let's go home" you mumbled, relieving a little more of chae's fear, who was yet to come out of shock at how you had ended up. you, who had always been an angel, who once trembled at the thought of taking something illegal or dangerous, were now slumped over the toilet bowl, messed up and on the verge of something she would have regretted for the rest of her fucking life.

didn't have to ask twice, all of your friends without exception, even including vernon, never left leave your side for a second -genuinely scared after seeing you in such a situation-, left the place. as you dodged the crowd, you thought about what could have happened, and you couldn't even have asked for medical help without ruining your record and destroying your working future in the country. you thought about what had done to your friends, who felt helpless and lost without knowing how and when you had consumed so much as to push yourself to the limit. but most of all, being infinitely selfish, you thought about how the only person you would really want to walk you home that night, to comfort you, to hold you and not let go until the next morning, was yunho. but the only, and the last, thing you got from him after all, was a last glimpse of his arm around that other girl you had been seeing him with all night, without him even giving you a single glance as you left that fucking club.

as you walked away from his figure, blurring through the salt that irritated your eyes, realized something that clicked in your mind like the piece of a puzzle you had been trying to complete for too long, and it is that the bitter taste of failure that agonized in your head and that did not let you breathe was actually the certainty that you had lost the only thing you thought you could still keep from yunho after he betrayed you in that way, after confirmed that he did not love you by doing something like this, that he was not faithful to you, that he was not yours. you had lost the one thing you could still treasure as your greatest and darkest obsession, you had lost his attention.

and with that, you had lost him forever.

OKAY ITS HERE!!! i struggled too much with that part because, although i had been thinking about it for a while, i had no idea how to write it to try to convey a sense of real loss and despair. i hope i succeeded at least a little bit!!! and above all that you enjoyed reading it ♡ although it is the last part, there is still the epilogue!!!!! and i am seriously thinking if it should be a good or bad one... anyway, thank you very much for reading me and giving love to my work, i am infinitely grateful ♡

all the loveeeee

⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘♡⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘

☆tags☆ @yeosangsbbg @atinyluv238 @livingdeadlisa-blog @kunikku @yzaeseong @pearltinyy @txt-yaomi @tunaasan @honeyhwaaa

[greatideas-badwriter]

Worth The Risk: Chapter 4

"What do you want?"

Sakura squeezed her eyes closed. Her voice hadn't wavered, and for that, she was grateful. For the past three days, she slept on the floor at Ino and Karin's dorm. A call from the terrifying man seemed inevitable, but it hadn't come until now, her first night back at her own place. Upon arriving home, she realized someone had been inside because the deadbolt was no longer locked.

'I have a strong inkling who it was, too.' Obviously, it was Sasuke. It'd be too big of a coincidence if not.

The line remained silent, which threw the woman off because she expected Sasuke to immediately start yelling at her like he had in the alleyway on Sunday.

"Are you there? I'm going to hang up."

"Don't," his voice finally came, sounding just as irritated as it had last she heard it.

Trying to come off as brave, Sakura said, "Did you break into my apartment? I should call the police."

Sasuke scoffed, making her irritation flare, "Yeah, good luck with that. Listen," he paused for so long that she had to look at the screen to ensure the call hadn't dropped, "I…have a question."

Sakura was confused, for sure, because the man on the other side of the line wasn't anything like she'd experienced thus far. He almost seemed nervous or uncomfortable, but that couldn't be true. "Y-You can ask it, but I won't promise to answer it," she cringed when her attempt at masking fear came off as argumentative.

He bit, sounding more like himself, "Where do you get the audacity to talk to me like that? Keep pissing me off and see what happens."

'Damn it, Sakura! Stop digging the hole deeper!'

The man continued when she couldn't figure out how to respond, "Did you know it was me Saturday night?"

To say Sakura was bewildered would put it lightly, 'He all but threatened to kill me, and he's worried about whether or not I recognized him at the club? Is he insane?'

"Uh, no. No, I didn't, or I wouldn't have…."

"Are you telling the truth? If you're lying, I'll find you no matter where you run."

"Do you really have to threaten me every five minutes?" She bit her tongue at the end of her outburst, cursing inwardly because she'd, once again, lost her temper on the irritatingly gorgeous man.

"Are you at home right now?"

Sakura immediately panicked because she was sitting on her bed with a pillow on her lap, "J-Just tell me why you wanted to know. What does it matter if I recognized you or not?"

A long silence followed her question before Sasuke finally responded, voice severe and odd like when she first answered the phone, "The reason I acted the way I did was because I thought you did it on purpose."

Sakura gasped, "Of course not! Are you kidding?"

"Well, what the fuck do you expect me to think? You dumped wine all over me and then gave me blue balls a few days later. I thought you were trying to get back at me."

"I already told you I didn't mean to pass out! I get really sleepy when I drink a lot!"

Sasuke paused before calming down again, if only slightly, "So, if you hadn't fallen asleep, would you have gone through with it?"

The woman felt uncomfortable but reluctantly responded, "I don't even remember leaving the club with you, Sasuke, so I don't know. If I willingly let you in my apartment like you insinuate I did, then I guess I probably wouldn't have fought it."

"Why do you have to say it like that? It's not like I forced myself on you."

"That's not what I'm saying. Can you stop trying to argue every time I answer a question?"

Sasuke sighed, sounding irritated again, but a hint of something else coated his words, "Alright, look. I haven't met a woman that pisses me off as much as you, but I admit that I might've deserved to have wine dumped on me. I also jumped to conclusions the other day, so I'm fucking sorry, okay?"

Sakura's mouth fell open, 'Did he just apologize? What the hell! I thought he was calling to-' "So, do you forgive me or what?"

She wasn't overly familiar with the man's mannerisms, having spent a very short time in his presence, but it wasn't hard to picture the angry and embarrassed expression he must've been making. The last thing she expected him to do was swallow his pride and take responsibility for his actions.

"I-I, um, okay. Yes, I forgive you. Thank you for saying that. It means a lot to me."

Sasuke's character switched instantly, "So we're good then?" "...yes?" "Cool."

There was a long, awkward silence before Sakura swallowed nervously, "Well, I guess I'll get off of here then. Good night, Sasuke."

He seemed confused but didn't argue, "Right. Talk to you later."

Once the call ended, she stared at the screen in utter disbelief, talking aloud to herself, "What in the world just happened?" Shaking off her unease, Sakura sat her phone back on the nightstand and snuggled under the covers to attempt to go back to sleep.

The next day, during her first class of the day, the woman's phone vibrated with a text message. Clicking it open while half paying attention to the professor, Sakura did a double take when it was from Sasuke's unsaved number, 'You're in college, right?'

A little unsure, she responded, 'Yes. Why?'

A couple of minutes later, he responded, 'Which one?'

Negative, fearful emotions swept over her, 'I thought we wouldn't speak again after last night. Why does he want to know? He's not going to show up, is he?' Too uncomfortable to respond, Sakura simply left him on read. 'I'm leaving on Monday. I just have to avoid him for two more days.'

So, she ignored the second text message mid-day that consisted only of a question mark and didn't answer his call that night, either. The poor woman was so scared he'd show up at her apartment that she wedged a chair under the doorknob so it wouldn't open even if the locks were picked.

After their conversation Thursday night, she didn't feel he'd stalk or hurt her anymore, but she also didn't know him well enough to be entirely certain.

On Saturday, she was texted only once. It said, 'You're so annoying.'

Sakura scoffed, irritated as she walked home from her afternoon class and imagined what she'd say to Sasuke if he was in front of her, 'Yeah, so are you, Asshole. For some reason, I lose my temper whenever you open your mouth.'

Sunday, there were no calls or texts, to her relief.

Then, the day of Sakura's departure arrived. After visiting with Ino and Karin to say one last goodbye, she grabbed her backpack and duffle bag. The cab she took could only get within two blocks of the crowded bus station, so the woman walked sadly down the sidewalk, doing her best not to cry.

'What will he do to me when I get back to town? I know he's pissed, but how far will he take it?'

"Look who it is."

The woman jumped in fear, only to look over and see Sasuke walking by her side with his hands in his pockets. Frowning, she attempted to mask her mild fear and discomfort, "Hey."

"Aren't you a ray of fuckin' sunshine? What's with the bags?"

Sakura kept her eyes downward, picking up the pace of her steps so they'd get near other people sooner and wouldn't be alone together. "That's none of your business."

The man grabbed her arm, making her face him with wide, green eyes. He glared, "What's your problem this time? You said we were good, but you're still like this."

Brow furrowing, she tugged her arm from his grasp, and luckily, he allowed it, "Listen, Sasuke. I did forgive you, but with all due respect, that doesn't mean I want anything to do with you. Please leave me alone."

Dark, angry eyes burnt into hers for a silent moment, the man obviously not having expected to be turned down so bluntly. When he said nothing, she began walking again, "I'm going to be late. Bye."

'Don't look back. He's a walking red flag. Who cares if I hurt his pride just now?'

Sakura thought he'd finally given up but sighed when he jogged to match her step, "Are you serious? Do you know how many people would kill to be in your place right now?"

"Well, they can have it, then. I don't want it."

"Are you going to the station? If you give me a kiss, I'll drive you so you don't have to use the bus."

"Go away."

"It can even be on the cheek."

Having reached her limit since she was already an emotional wreck before his arrival, the woman stopped, clenched her fists, and turned to face the tall man, "You want to know where I'm going? Fine. I have to move back home because I can't afford to stay here anymore."

Sasuke's eyes widened, "What?"

With a lump in her throat, Sakura glared firmly, "If that's all you need to know, then excuse me, but I'll miss my bus if I waste any more time."

This time, she reached the corner of the station's block. Dozens of people were passing by on the wide sidewalk, both to and fro, before he snatched her duffle bag from her shoulder, "It's because I got you fired, right?"

Sakura made a grab for the bag, but he held it out of reach with an attractive frown on his lips, "I don't have time to point fingers and argue right now, Sasuke! Give it back!"

She jumped with an outreached arm, but he held her back with a hand on her shoulder, "Shut the hell up for a second! I'm trying to help."

'Last call for bus K-ONE!' The intercom announced, making Sakura look toward the station.

'I have to go now, or I'll miss it!' With no choice, she turned and sprinted into the station, leaving her bag with Sasuke while dodging and bumping into other people.

"Sakura, wait!"

The woman looked over her shoulder to see him trying to catch up in the thick crowd. Something hard smacked into her front, and she toppled onto her bottom. When she looked up, a massive redheaded man glared down at her.

Gasping, she scrambled to her feet, "I am so sor- "Watch where you're going, Bitch."

Mouth clamping shut, the woman stepped back, only for his dark eyes to lift above her head and widen.

"Who the fuck do you think you're calling a bitch? Apologize."

"She ran into me!"

Sasuke stepped around her, grabbing the front of the stranger's shirt and hissing with a terrifying look, "Apologize, or I'll cut out your tongue." He dropped Sakura's bag and reached into his pocket to pull out a pocketknife, flipping it open.

"S-Sasuke, what the hell? Put that away before you get arrested!"

"Sorry, Ma'am." Her green eyes turned, disbelieving, onto the now visibly frightened man. The black-haired man at her side put the knife away and released his shirt but followed him with a dangerous glare.

Snapping out of her stupor, Sakura grabbed her forgotten bag and gave her rescuer an apologetic look while glancing at the terminal she was supposed to use, "Thank you for that! I'm sorry, but I really have to go." Then she ran again, more careful not to run into anyone this time.

By the time she reached her destination, she was panting for breath. Strands of long pink hair fell from her loose ponytail around her shoulders and face. Just as she made it to the ticket booth and handed over her ticket to be processed, the doors shut, and the bus left the station. Tears in her eyes, her blood ran cold, and she whispered to herself, "...no…."

Trembling with panic, Sakura breathlessly asked the employee at the stand, "Can I exchange my ticket for the next available bus to Konoha?"

The young man shook his head, handing the item back to her, "Unfortunately, we have a no refund/no exchange policy. I apologize for the inconvenience. Would you like to purchase a new ticket instead? The next bus is at eight p.m."

Pale and entirely at a loss of what she should do, she shook her head and accepted the useless piece of paper, "A-Ah, no. Please excuse me."

'I'm stuck here. I have no money, no job, and nowhere to sleep. What the hell am I supposed to do now?'

Sakura numbly left the line so she wouldn't hold it up and walked until she reached outside the station, where she finally lost her composure. Covering her mouth with one hand, the poor girl burst into tears but tried to keep silent to not draw attention to herself.

Everything she'd done from the moment she ran away from home had been a complete and utter failure. No matter how hard she tried or how much she endured in an attempt to secure her own safety, it was all for nothing. Now, she couldn't even return to her awful past life, either.

'Why does this keep happening to me? Was I a criminal in my past life?'

"Sakura, wait!"

The woman's sniffles became sobs as Sasuke's voice met her ears.

'And now there's this dangerous guy following me around, too! Should I just off myself so I don't have to suffer like this anymore?'

As she heard him approach, she lifted her hand from her mouth to her eyes, turning her head away so he wouldn't see how awful she looked. His voice was unrecognizably soft, and he stepped in front of her with a hand on either of her shoulders so she'd stop walking, "Hey, what's wrong? Did you run into that asshole again?"

Sakura shook her head and tried to walk around him, but he held her still, "You're not going anywhere until you tell me what's up."

Though the woman was heartbroken and mentally fried, she was still completely stunned when long fingers gently pulled her hand away from her face. Sasuke guided her jaw so she'd be forced to meet his eye.

'This is pathetic. I want to die under a rock right now.' That's what she thought, but her breath was taken away when she focused on his face.

An unexpected expression of concern looked otherworldly on his flawless features, "I have no damn clue what to do right now. Usually, I make women cry, so I've never tried cheering one up."

For some reason, the uncharacteristically honest statement made her laugh, and her fingers curled around Sasuke's hand as he still held it.

His smirk returned, though not as cocky as the usual one. He opened his mouth to say something, only for Sakura's stomach to growl loudly. She looked away, face burning hot with humiliation.

He snickered, "C'mon. I'll feed you."

That's how she ended up sitting across from him in a little, hole-in-the-wall diner. "What sounds good?" Sasuke desperately tried to keep the mood casual and unserious, filling the silence so things wouldn't get awkward while they looked at menus.

Sakura frowned down at the laminated paper, not really seeing it. The waterworks had stopped, but that didn't mean everything was alright now. Now, she just felt numb. Though she was so hungry that her stomach hurt, she was too panicked to think about eating.

'I don't know why I let him bring me here.'

"Sakura."

The woman blinked, looking up to see a waitress awaiting her order.

Glancing between the employee and Sasuke, Sakura felt overwhelmed all over again. She didn't want to tell him she couldn't afford to pay him back in front of the middle-aged woman, but she also couldn't just order something and then do it because she'd feel awful for the wasted food they'd prepare. Tears brimmed in her eyes again, and she looked down at her lap.

"She'll have the same as me." Thankfully, the employee didn't make any comments and left.

Sakura felt Sasuke's gaze again and clenched her fingers into fists on her lap while refusing to acknowledge it.

"Are you going to talk, or do I have to force it out of you?" When she couldn't bring herself to respond, he sighed, leaning forward to rest his chin on his palm, elbow on the table, "At least your crying face isn't ugly, I guess."

After the food arrived, Sakura hesitated to eat, averting her gaze out the window they were sat beside with gritted teeth. Her brow furrowed, 'It's snowing.'

"Listen, I'm trying to be fucking nice to you, but this is getting ridiculous. Just eat already."

Green eyes darted ahead to meet black ones, widening upon realizing Sasuke was glaring relentlessly. The irritation that he was, once again, bossing her around and cursing, Sakura grabbed a fork and absently poked at the eggs on her plate, blushing when she finally took a bite and looking away.

'He gets on my last damn nerve.'

It was a little refreshing, honestly. Since she began dating her ex-boyfriend, Sakura could barely converse with men without getting scared. Sure, Sasuke terrified her, but he also brought out her old, feistier personality. It was odd, and she didn't understand why it kept happening.

If it was anyone but Sasuke sitting there, she'd never mouth off or talk back.

"I think I can solve your problem if you'll hear me out." She met his eye again, nodding subtly. Sasuke searched her appearance over the coffee mug at his lips, speaking casually, "You need money and a place to live, right? My roommates and I just so happen to be looking for a housekeeper. What do you think?"

That snapped Sakura right out of her silent mood. She coughed, almost choking on her food. After taking a sip of water, she gave the gorgeous man an incredulous look, "By roommates, do you mean those jerks you were with at the bar? No thanks. I'd be safer sleeping on the streets."

"If you don't accept, that's where you'll be, right? Suit yourself." Sasuke's firm stare told the woman he wouldn't let her be stubborn.

Swallowing her pride, Sakura frowned, glaring with a blush, "...How much is the pay?"

He smirked triumphantly, "Let's see. After room and board," he paused, looking up as though doing equations before meeting her eye again, "How about a thousand a week? That's what most normal jobs pay, right?"

The table became silent.

'He's joking, right? Most jobs I'd be lucky enough to land would barely pay more than that in a month!' She took another sip of her water and studied Sasuke carefully, trying to figure out if he was testing her, 'Do I tell him? What if I do, and he lowers the number? I don't want that. …But what if I don't tell him and he finds out. He'll be pissed! What would he do to me, then?'

Eventually, she shook her head, deciding to play things smart, "Um, that's a lot of money, Sasuke, especially if I'm going to live there, too. It doesn't seem fair."

That smirk turned into a full-fledged grin, and he teased, "Yeah, I know. I just wanted to see your reaction." He offered a hand across the table, "Do we have a deal?"

Sakura eyed it, hesitating, "Hold on. First, I want you to agree to some things."

The man rolled his eyes, sitting back in the booth with an impatient scowl, "You're the one receiving help, and you have demands? That's fucking brave."

"I want you to promise not to mess with me like you did at Oasis," she ignored his childish attitude.

He nodded, "Cut back on the flirting. Got it. Anything else?"

Sakura hesitated, unsure how to word things, but eventually said, "And if any of your roommates try anything, you have to deal with them."

'I think that was okay. He probably won't make any assumptions.'

Sasuke nodded, waving a hand, "Yeah, yeah. Okay." He waited for her to continue.

Feeling better since he agreed to protect her from the other guys, Sakura reached across the table and offered her hand, "Then, I guess we're good, then."

He shook it firmly. When he released it, he tilted his head and spoke around the food in his mouth, a hand covering it so as not to be too rude, "Since I'm paying so much, do you think I can convince you to wear a maid costume?"

"I am so going to regret this," she sighed, shaking her head.

[stonemags]

Lesson (N.R)

Natasha Romanoff x Reader

Summary: The Black Widow gets caught red handed.

Warning: Angst, implied SMUT, cheating, swearing words. 18+

Word count: 1756

A/n: The one that never fails is the one that never tries. @chelleztjs18 stop bugging me. I hope you are proud of yourself.

➼ | x | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 |

It's almost 4 pm and you should be here by now. Natasha sits on the bed that you shared for the past two years waiting for you to arrive, playing with her fingers clearly anxious about passing time. 

" We are going to be late" she tells herself looking at the clock again. She had enough and if you two want to make it to the airport on time she needs to find you right now. "Friday can you tell me where y/n is?" She asks the AI. "I'm sorry Miss Romanoff but this information is classified" Her eyes widened in surprise. " Since when?" It's clear by her tone that she is upset. " Miss y/n y/l/n changed the access yesterday". The confusion is written all over her face. Why would you do that? Why would you cut off that information about you? It doesn't sound like you at all. Without any other words she decides to find you the old fashioned way. Since you don't pick up your phone and Friday has no clue where you are she is going to look for you. 

It takes her 15 minutes to stumble into Steve after looking at all the places you might be.

"Romanoff, what are you still doing here? Shouldn't you be going on vacation with your girlfriend?" Subconsciously Cap makes the situation worse by not knowing that you are missing. " I would love to but I can't find her" the annoyance building up with every passing second. She doesn't want to lose any more time and she moves into the direction of the main hall.

 " I think she had a meeting with Fury '' the low voice takes Natasha by surprise while she moves behind the couch. Wanda's eyes secured on the screen playing one of her favorite sitcoms, not even looking at the older avenger. The red powers surrounding the glass of wine, moving it from the table to the witch's hand.  Natasha only nods in understanding and moves into the direction of Furys office  wondering what he might want from you. 

The compound is so big that it takes several minutes for your girlfriend to even get close to the area you might be in, but she stops in her tracks when she hears the quinjet doors getting open. Her breath quickens when she sees you struggling with your bags trying to get all the equipment inside of the jet. 

Totally oblivious you are still moving the stuff inside until a hand rips the bag from your hand. " What the f-.." you cut off when you see her not being able to finish the sentence. " Exactly Yn, what the fuck is going on" She says and punch your arm at the same time. "You were supose to be in our room a half hour ago, we have a flight to catch and you cut me of from your informations.So yeah what the fuck?" Honestly you don’t want to give her any explanations, the anger mixed with fear evident in her eyes as they look at you, waiting for any reason, why you did what you did. 

You grab the bag and go inside of the jet with Natsha on your heels. You put down the last of the equipment still being silent and she is not pushing, waiting for you to start talking. You take your eyes off the floor and look at the face of a person that you loved just yesterday.  A face of a person that you trusted with your life and you can't recognize her anymore.

 " Fury gave me a mission. I'm going undercover into the hydra base in Norway…. For at least 6 months' ' you rush out the information. " Six months? Wait, I don't understand, what about our trip? It was your idea, you said it yourself thay we need a break" the surprise and confusion take over Natashas features and she tries to come closer to you and grab your hand. You step back from her getting out of any possibilities for her to touch you. You dare to look at her and it's a mistake. You see the pain that your action caused, and all you want to do is to take it away. But you can't… not this time.

" You know…" you start slowly gaining her attention on your face. " Tony needed me yesterday to help him find the files from Sokowia because Ross is being a pain in the ass again" she nods, not saying anything, waiting for an explanation of the whole situation.  " The last place they were put in was Hill 's office….. " you took a break to gather the courage to speak again " two weeks ago. So we checked the cameras to see what happened to them….. And we stumbled on a security footage that was taken 2 weeks ago…. on friday" 

*retrospection*

*You sit on Tonys desk while he is looking for any clues to what happened with the documents. He is going fast letting Friday recognise the top folder and follow its movement for the past two weeks. For a brief second you see something you can't and you don't want to believe in. " Friday stop!" You nearly yell. " What?  Did you see what happened to them?" Tony asks you, being sure that you solved the mystery. The terror that he sees in your eyes tells him othervise. You look like whole blood just left your body. Your pale face is stuck on the screen." hush Tony. Friday move the footage 2 days before this one" you say with a shaky and the ai does as you ask…. And you wish that you just stayed fucking quiet.   "Mother fucke…" Your friend can't even finish his sentence when you speak again. "Play it" the order spilling from your mouth like venom. Your hand grabs the table behind you, because you feel like passing out. Your legs are shaking and you are not sure if you won't fall. You gather all the strength inside of you to not run away from the situation. " Yn..  are you sure you want to…" You cut him off again and you refuse to back down. You need to see this… you need to make sure, because if there is a slight chance that this is a misunderstanding then you can still save it. " Play it …" and he does.

The first thing that you can hear is a loud moan that you would recognise everywhere. The sounds you were sure were only secured for you. " Fuck… harder" you hear Natasha say while Hill is two fingers deep inside of her having her bend on her desk. One hand between Natashas legs while the other one on her back, pinning her to the surface. The pounding and the wet sounds fill the room and you can't take your eyes off the screen,your hand covering your mouth stopping the gasp and you slowly die inside. If the breaking heart would have a sound, you would be hearing nothing but shattering glass. The tears come to the brim of your eyes stinging with pain. The next thing you hear is Hill and you are sure you are going to kill her right this second. " Tell me that only I can make you feel like this. Destroy you just the way you like it " And Natasha does. She admits every single thing and you just wish that your heart would stop beating. Natasha comes apart screaming Hills name, and you feel like you are going to throw up. " That's enough" Tony's voice brings you back from your trance. You just stand there frozen with the tears falling down your cheeks. " Yn I…" you cut him off for the third and last time. " Not a word about it to anybody " and with that you leave him there , your head down, while your vision is blurry from the tears.*

That's the exact moment when everything clicks for her. The pupils are dilated, muscles tense up and you can see how the lump in her throat makes it hard to breathe. You never saw her this way. She looks scared and Natasha never shows her fear. She doesn't cry. You know her for a long time and you are pretty sure that she doesn't even know how. 

She is the first to break the silence." I can explain '' She says and you feel like you are in some cheap dramatic romantic movie. A low chuckle is leaving your mouth." There is nothing to explain Natasha. I don't need details. I saw everything with my own eyes." She still stands tough but you cant anymore and your feelings get the best of you, you start crying seeing the love of your life breaking in front of you with guilt. " It didn't mean anything to me I -" The look that you send her makes her go quiet. " Say another word…. I dare you'' there is a second of silence between you, filled to the brim with pain on both sides. You both lost because of her choice and you know it. It's over and you need to ask. " How long ?" Two words that make Natasha swallow hard. " It was one time I swear it meant nothing to me "  she says in a rushed tone and you don't believe her. The things you saw, the way they were with each other proves that it wasn't the first time. She hurt you, cheated on you, broke your trust and now she lies to you. You just feel sick. You look at her with pity in your eyes, your features getting softer. Your voice is coming out soft, like a gentle cold wind on a hot skin and you know that you are about to cause more damage. " That's even worse Tasha… You better find some meaning in it because right now it's all that you have left" She is frozen in her place refusing to believe that this is the end. You see her trying to come up with something to make you stay but she comes up short, letting the silence linger between you two. 

With that you take the last bag into your hand and move further into the quinjet. You turn around to look at her for the last time. She is crying now and you don't trust that these tears are real for even a second. " I never knew I could hate someone so much, seconds after loving them with all my heart. Thank you for the lesson."

➼ next part

[cheelduh]

How to get Hit-listed by a Stonehide Lawachurl (High School AU!)

Part 6 of the highschool au

Parts: 1 2 3 4 5

Pairing: Childe x fem!reader

Synopsis: Childe’s a menace to everyone when playing dodgeball. Even as his new girlfriend, you’re no exception to his affinity for raising hell during the most tranquil of circumstances.

Warnings: Swearing, bad humor, and absolutely horrid spelling mistakes.

Words: 5.3k

Note: Longest chapter yet sheeeesh 🗿

Negotiation is an art.

Childe, or "Tartaglia" has utilized the art of negotiations in his daily life. Whether that be scamming the ninth graders with fake weed, or convincing the teachers why he doesn't deserve detention for injecting random fluids from the chem department into the school's resident pet frog.

All in all, by becoming an expert in the field of negotiations, Childe is nothing if not a master, tongue silver and smooth as he takes on a new opponent.

Which is why he dutifully negotiates with you on this Monday morning in front of the History classroom, getting down on one knee and pulling out a—

"I hope to Barbatos you aren't proposing Childe," You hiss, panicked eyes landing on the velvet box he's pulling out. "Considering that we're sixteen and still in highschool."

As if remembering those meagre details, Childe gulps and shoves the box back into his pocket. "Uhhh yeah, I was just, tying my shoelaces?" It comes out as a question.

You let out a sigh of relief, overlooking how he undoes his shoe laces just to do them all over again.

The ring burns in his pocket as he gets back up.

"Why did you call me here?" You ask, hand on your hip, foot impatiently tapping. The tap tap tap isn't because of impatience though, it's because you need something to cover the nervous palpitations of your heart.

He gives you a vicious smile, sinister enough to shake the bones of anyone who's observing, opens his daring mouth to show the imaginary sharpness of his teeth. Then with the confidence of about a hundred shirtless tiktok boys, he finally demands:

"If you don't become my girlfriend, I will kill—"

"Yeah sure thing." You answer before he can finish, soft smile growing.

Childe chuckles evilly, "I knew you'd say that, but I've come prep—wait a minute." He snaps out of his villain origin phase, stumbles back a bit, then his eyebrows are furrowing in confusion. "Did you just say yes?"

You nod, cheeks flaring up. "Don't make me repeat it." Then you look away, too embarrassed to see his reaction.

For a second, Childe's internal conflict following the chain of this event causes him to temporarily malfunction, and all he can do it stare at you in amazement.

It's only when you tell him to stop staring and jump off the school roof is when he snaps out of his daze, a grin festering on his face.

He lunges straight at you, giving you no time to deflect him as he wraps his bone crushing arms around you, then lands a soft smooch on your forehead.

"Let go of me you idiot!" You barely wheeze out, light headed not only because of your lungs being squeezed like oranges, but also because of the sloppy kiss he's delivered so ungracefully.

He does so reluctantly, and you're unamused, wiping the stickiness off your forehead with a sleeve as he steps back.

"Ew what the fuck?" You say, glaring at him. "What's wrong with you?"

He completely ignores you, giddy with excitement. "Ah girly, you have no idea how long I've wanted to do that. I can't wait to introduce you to my parents and eat lunch together and kiss each other during break—"

"Slow down." You tell him, as red as a tomato towards all his suggestions. "We've barely started dating."

"Oh," Childe stops momentarily, then nods in agreement. "You're right. We should start small. How about I walk you to class?"

"We're already in front of class." You nudge your head towards the classroom, and catch Zhongli and Venti peeking from the side of the door, trying not to be obvious.

You narrow your eyes at them threateningly.

Childe tugs your arm, lovingly looking you up and down. "Let's walk to class together anyways. In a circle."

A complete waste of time, yet it's impossible to say no to the face he's making.

Before you guys depart he suddenly stops, gasping loudly, remembers something important. "I have to make a quick phone call."

Childe speed dials Scaramouche, and the latter picks up annoyed, answers the phone with muffled sounds in the back. Something that sounds a bit like pleading and whimpering.

He then mutters something that forces dread into your system. "You can release the hostages."

You hear Scaramouche groan on the other end, muttering a "such a pain in my ass", but choose not to question it immediately.

As soon as the phone call is done and you're back by his side, you point at his phone questioningly. "What hostages Childe?"

He gives you a close eyed smile, taking the fifth.

"What hostages Childe?" You repeat again weakly.

—

First period goes by smoothly for the most part. Lisa, your so called best friend, once again is bought off like a corrupted politician by your new boyfriend. She sits far away from you, leaving you without any defences against the menace that dotes on you a bit too much.

Throughout class, all Childe does is score Venti's colourful pens, and then writes you annoying little love notes, using the expert origami skills he's learnt from Anthon to deliver them to you.

Despite the threat of distraction these notes pose, the corners of your lips can't help but tug upwards at his enthusiasm and attempt at poetry.

Zhongli makes sure not to ask you two any questions the entire class, leaving you to your own accord.

Lunch comes around soon enough, and your usual table of Diluc, Jean, Kazuha, and Lisa is disturbed by the torpedo that is Childe, and he brings collateral with him.

Kaeya whole-heartedly ceases the opportunity to sit near his stoic statue of a brother purely with the intention to annoy the premature crap out of him, but one look from the redhead sends the chicken-shit right back where he came from.

When Childe forcefu—lovingly feeds you the smiley fries and dinosaur nuggets his stunning mom packed him, Diluc looks just about ready to hurl.

Lisa winks at you two, Kazuha doesn't even bother looking, and Jean tries with upmost effort to keep Diluc from launching himself at the whipped fatui boy basking in your attention.

"Quit embarrassing me." You whisper-exclaim sharply, noticing how Jean passes Diluc—all green in the face, a puke bag discreetly. "Shouldn't you be doing something illegal right now? Or vaping in the stalls?"

"I quit vaping for you girlie." Childe boops your nose with his finger. "Well, at least full time. I still need a puff when I'm around Signora, to like, get rid of her awful vibes."

While it is endearing how he quit vaping for you, it doesn't lessen the need for you to bury yourself alive right here and now.

Then you sigh, pick up a Dino nuggie, and shove it in his mouth, the tip of his tongue flicking your finger. You die inside.

"There, you happy?" The action of feeding him is so...intimate, it sets your heart aflame.

Childe's a lovesick puppy when he chews, imaginary tail wagging a hundred times a second. "Can I have a kiss too?"

Diluc slams his hands on the table and stands up, hurriedly picks up his grape juice and makes a break for it. You don't blame him.

"I'll kill you." You smack him with a napkin, blazing red. "I'll end your pathetic little life right here and now."

By the end of lunch, Lisa and Jean have to restrain you so you don't break the world record for the maximum amount of mutilations that can be done on a single body.

Fourth period is a break. A break from Childe you mean. It's expected of the school's resident bad boy aka menace to skip classes in order to skip over the bodies of his victims.

You bask in the momentary peace, until it's disrupted by a tap on the window. Reckon it's nothing, maybe a bird flew into it, because intentional taps are impossible from the third floor. Except your conviction is hindered yet again by another tap.

What a nuisance.

You finally turn to look outside the window, face down, and spot Childe waving incessantly, rocks in hand, oozing with excitement that can't be concealed and a grin that nearly takes you into cardiac arrest. Without meaning to, you send him a small smile, waving back as Baal drones on about quantum superposition.

Successful in gaining your attention, he moves aside to reveal the hefty corpse of a stonehide lawachurl with a destructive path in its wake. The ridges and bumps of its hide are enough to do a number on the road, ruining the school's playing field.

Your smile drops down into a horrified frown in the span of a few seconds.

"Wow." Albedo, your lab partner whispers from next to you, for the first time distracted in class.

"Yeah," Kaeya whistles from behind you two, one hand supporting his head. "What a gesture."

"Y/N, I'd be grateful if you could possibly obtain a black crystal horn for me from the specimen." The blonde asks, entranced by the corpse that your boyfriend is flaunting off to you with pride.

"Aren't those things endangered cutie?" Lisa makes sure to butt in, as per usual.

Yes. Your boyfriend with several issues and an affinity for chaos brought you the corpse of an endangered geo-infused creature that's five times the size of him. During school hours too, the fiend. Like a cat dragging the corpse of a dead mouse to its owner.

You groan into your hands, heart racing while the fire is coursing through your veins.

That idiot.

—

Childe is exceptional at a lot of things, like the switch and making weapons out of seemingly harmless things (e.g shiv out of a toothbrush), but what he prides in the most is physical education. With washboard abs, uber tall height, and a dickish smile to top it all, he has everything it takes to showcase his top tier athletic abilities.

He pounces at the opportunity to show off in front of you, wanting nothing more than to have you fawn over his strength. He's sure it'll be enough to have you all over him, wrapping your cute little arms around his muscled ones, passing him his water bottle and dabbing away at the sweat on his forehead. Most of all, he daydreams you planting your soft lips on his to congratulate him after a big game.

Physical education, for you, is a pain. You may be good with your brain, but games exert more energy than necessary, and coordination that lacks logic entirely. You're just here for the credit. The over-achiever part of you walks the extra mile to ensure a grade in the high nineties.

Although witnessing Childe clad in the school shorts and matching polo shirt is enough to make this worth your while, you'll die before admitting it. Especially when he gawks at you as if it's the first time you're wearing the sports uniform yourself. It has you fidgeting with your fingers and tugging your shorts down nervously.

You try not to flip him off like you usually do, especially since it's not even been twenty four hours since he's asked you out.

Mr.Zhongli blows a whistle, calling all the students over to surround him. It's odd that he teaches most of the subjects at this school, seemingly the only adult present, but no one questions it in fear of genshin logic. Moving on, he explains that you have a dodge ball game today.

Lisa groans beside you. She hates anything that requires the exertion of energy, oftentimes bringing a book to read while everyone else screams in the background.

You're relieved, mainly because Childe and Tohma are usually captains, and Childe always picks you to be on his team as a means to flex his skills. For you, it means sitting back and watching him carry your team towards a straight A.

However, all your dreams are crushed when Zhongli announces the team leaders.

"Y/N, I trust that you'll lead the blue team to the upmost of your ability. Childe, prepare to lead the opposing red team."

Your knees shake as you stare at him in disbelief. "But Sir—"

"No buts Y/N." He scolds you lightly, checking off your names on the clip board. "I'd like to witness your exceptional leadership skills."

In reality, Zhongli just wants to reenact a lovers-on-opposing sides trope, wanting to see how the two of you crack under the pressure. In a way, it is an exercise of leadership.

Instead of picking teams, Zhongli assigns teams for the both of you according to his own judgement, trying to make it as fair as possible.

Lisa pats your back after your teammates are assigned, trying to cheer you up. "It's going to be okay. You guys are dating now, so he'll go easy on you."

You look up to meet Childe's eyes from across the court. He gives you a charming smile, which turns downright barbaric as he lifts up a thumb and motions to slash his neck with it. Then he wickedly mouths "I'm going to destroy you."

You blink and turn away as fast as you can in fear. "We're fucked."

Lisa, witnessing the entire ordeal nods alongside you, doing nothing to reassure you because she herself has given up.

Suddenly a hand lands on your shoulder gripping you tightly. "Let's wipe the floor with that g*nger." The voice is ice cold, threatening enough to send a shiver down your bones.

You turn to meet Rosaria, who frowns at you. Most of the time she doesn't really put an effort in dodgeball, but she must've seen your crestfallen expression, trying to comfort you in her own detached way.

Rosaria is the other school nurse in training, alongside Barbara, but somehow her patients end up more injured, sick, or mentally defiled than before they entered the room. She also spends after hours beating up Chads in the school parking lot. Also runs a blog with her booby co-author Kaeya that emphasizes mostly on the dark knight hero.

Spotting the rest of your team behind her, you begin to criticize them one by one.

Standing against the wall is Kaeya, pushing both his biddies up with his crossed arms like an absolute whore. He's breaking about several dress code rules right now. Venti is next to him, drunk off his butt as he beat boxes with Tohma.

Eula mutters under her breath, on and on about seeking revenge on Zhongli for putting her beloved Amber on the opposing team, promising him an unfortunate fate. Xiao is miserably squatting on the floor, sharp eyes observing everyone in the gym, scowl not ready to dissipate anytime soon.

Then you look over at Childe's team in the distance. Jean with a determined look on her face as she listens to Childe's game plan, and Diluc crossing his arms with his brows furrowed in concentration. Even Amber, the best baller in the school, is stretching out her arms, assisted by the gifted princess of the school, Ayaka.

Not only that, but Childe has the king of dodging on his team—Kaedehara goddamn Kazuha. Beidou shoots you a wicked smirk, winking at you until she's disrupted by Ningguang's shove.

"Oh my god." You cry out when the realization hits you, falling to your knees in despair. "We're completely fucked!"

"No we aren't." Rosaria mutters lowly. "You're only fucked if you want to be. Don't you dare throw in the towel before the fight has even begun."

"But I—"

"Stop it." She grumbles again, rolling her eyes. "You're being annoying now. If you lose the game, that makes him the dom. Don't you want to be the dom?"

She's right. You do want to be the dom.

Her words of encouragement, and not at all veiled insults somehow allow you to find motivation deep within yourself. You get up and stomp towards the rest of your team, calling their attention with your newfound confidence.

"Listen here soldiers!" You shout out, determination clear as day. "I know I am not capable of leading. I know that I barely have the physical capabilities needed to defeat the opposite team."

You take a deep breath, pointing at your cutie patootie boyfriend across the gym as you seethe. "But that man, that harbinger of chaos, that instrument of war, is nothing but a tyrant. And I cannot let such a tyrant be a victor in this battle. Not when innocent lives are at stake."

Tohma speaks up, sending you a bewildered look. "What lives—"

"Shut the fuck up soldier!"

"Yessir!" He immediately stiffens, saluting you.

"Are you ready soldiers?" Your voice booms, and everyone reinforces their priorities, except for Kaeya though. He just lazily smirks.

After Zhongli places the balls in the middle, everyone prepares for the battle of the century.

'Gods, please let us win this war' you pray to the archons above, closing your eyes in concentration.

'Give me the strength to flex my superior skills' Childe wishes, then adds on quickly 'also I want to dominate this world.'

'Give me the strength to make it to Friday.' Rosaria prays for nobody but herself, rolls her eyes at all the unnecessary dramatics of this dodgeball game.

"3..." "2..." "1..."

Zhongli ends the countdown by blowing hard into a whistle, signaling the beginning of the game.

Not even two seconds later a ball whooshes past a few of you at the speed of light, followed by a tail of fire. The ball of death kisses Kaeya square in the nose, sending him reeling back into a wall with enough sheer force to cause an indent.

Everyone winces.

Before you all can reel in from the initial shock and make sense out of wherever the hell that asteroid came from, Zhongli's voice booms throughout the gymnasium.

"Mr. Ragnvindr, headshots are strictly forbidden. You are out!"

With a scoff, Diluc, satisfied with his work, leaves the court with no apparent qualms. He accepts his defeat with the upturned corners of his lips.

Rosaria pokes Kaeya's body with the tip of her heels, then cringes when he shakes awake, up from his short lived knockout and sends a wink her way.

"Getting handsy when I'm unconscious? I didn't think you'd be one to partake in such vulgar activities." His eye twinkles in mischief, and if his momentary defeat at the hands of brother has him fuming, he doesn't show it one bit.

The only thing that keeps Rosaria from knocking him out for real is the blood that trails down onto his lip. She doesn't want to clean blood off her shoes, especially since it's a pain in the ass to get off.

You're about to tell them to get up and take this seriously, but a softball does your job for you when it darts straight at Rosaria. With pristine accuracy, the girl manages to pitch herself away last minute.

You swivel in Childe's direction, who wears a remorseless grin, which only grows wider once you pick up a blue softball next to your feet.

The glare that he receives has him shaking in exhilaration. More so than the elation he'd felt when he took down that Stonehide Lawachurl for you, as a gift of promise.

You begin to bark out orders. "Eula, Xiao, and Rosaria cover the front and act as decoys."

They nod immediately, but Xiao still clicks his tongue in distaste as he starts following orders.

Then you offer Kaeya a hand. "Get up princess. You're on sniper duty."

With Diluc out of commission, the battle is fair and square now considering both sides have the same amount of people. Ergo, no one's at a disadvantage.

That is—until Lisa fake trips over pure air, landing on the floor in a dramatic slow motion.

You roll your eyes.

"Oh dear! I think I've twisted something." She cries out, crawling away from the battle field, acting as if she's paralyzed completely. "Don't worry about me. I'll cheer you on from afar. The battle has begun, and it seems as if I've become the first casualty."

You don't let the countless amount of Lisa's betrayals get to you, even this one. It's just her personality to flake out on anything and everything that requires her to do more than below the bare minimum.

Focusing on the match, your eyes are only on Childe, just as his are on you.

You aim the ball straight at his ribs, step back a bit, then propel the ball in the air with as much energy as you can, using your entire body as a power outlet. The ball spins in the air, reaching the awaiting victim.

Childe, unbothered, dodges the ball with perfect precision, the ball not even grazing his clothes at the least.

Your jaw drops open, and you're about to move for another ball until he grabs the same ball you threw at him. With the sharpness of a predator locking in on its pray, he focuses on you like a missile locks on its target, launching the ball in the air for power that has you trembling, second to the powerful ball that was thrown by Diluc.

With your pupils dilated at your impeding doom, it's Xiao that grabs you and thrusts away.

The ball lands on the floor, smoke rising.

"Holy shit!" You shriek over everyone else's grunts and shuffles. "Are you trying to kill me?"

"Isn't it poetic?" Childe shouts back while he slides away from the balls being thrown. "Lover against lover. Either you're by my side, or in my way. And right now, you're in my way." He narrows his eyes dangerously. "Albeit reluctantly, I will take the victory babe. Even if we are on opposing sides."

"There was zero reluctance in that throw asshole!"

You thank Xiao, who wipes his hands on his pants in disgust. "Filthy humans. So pathetic and weak."

Mildly offended, you roll your sleeves up and begin to fight with everything you've got as soon as he walks away.

The dodgeball game goes as expected for the most part, Eula carrying for most of it with the flow of her skills.

Tohma actually tries like the presumptuous asshole he is, aims straight for his girlfriend Ayaka, and takes her out completely. His only justification for that is "I ain't no simp!"

He shelves his cocky attitude when facing Childe with a sense of dignity and prestige you didn't think he had in him.

The two one of a kind fuckbois puff out their chests so that they look more hefty than they are, having some kind of an Alpha match. The 'me stronger than you. me dominant. me get all the women' type beat.

Unfortunately, Childe manages to fence him with his throws, and lo and behold, the square off ends with a dejected Tohma dragging his feet to the nearest bench.

Eula oversees that Ningguang and Beidou meet a quick end, taking their slower dodging to her advantage. You're actually rooting for her, tasting a sliver of victory that you haven't reached yet. So close, yet so far.

Amber trips on herself in the middle of throwing a what should've been coordinated ball, and it loses most of its momentum. Xiao is directly in front of it, and will probably be able to catch it with ease.

Ah, another short victory.

If Childe loses his expert baller, he's only left with Kazuha and Jean, whom's lack in the art of throwing is made up by their ability to dodge most of the fastballs.

However, all your plans and hopes are crushed when Eula slides in front of Xiao last minute, sticks out her foot, and let's the pathetic product of Amber's would-be downfall hit her on the leg with the total force of about 0.0000001 newtons.

Your chances of winning have just went down by a staggering 60%.

"Eula!" You cry out, collapsing on the ground. "How could you?"

Tohma cups his mouth and bellows obnoxiously from the bench. "SIMP!"

"I cannot avenge my clan if I win a false victory." Eula crosses her arms, casting her gaze down in visible uncomfortableness. "Amber will pay her dues in two business days. Mark my words."

It all a load of cap. She's sleeping with the enemy and you know it.

You grit your teeth. Fuming with an abundance of rage, you pick up three balls and throw them all back to back, taking out Amber and Kazuha simultaneously.

Childe's heart flutters in another kind of delight when you pluck out his team members one by one with no hints of remorse.

In retaliation, Jean and Childe work in sync to swiftly take care of a distracted Rosaria.

"Shit." You hiss underneath your breath.

It's Venti, Kaeya, Xiao, and you who are the only remainders of your short-lived team. It's still two more people than Childe and Jean, giving you the upper hand briefly.

It's a mystery to everyone how Venti is still standing. You reckoned you would've lost him as collateral during the beginning of the match, but it seems he's able to hold his own.

When you squint hard enough, you realize that Xiao has been t-posing in front of the nonchalant SoundCloud rapper that's about as high as a kite. He must've been defending him throughout the entire round.

His defenses are all in vain once Childe correlates another attack with Jean, sharp-shooting four rapid balls that are secured on their targets.

Xiao swerves to the side, avoiding most of them, until one is about to reach a nonchalant as shit Venti.

You scream at him, eyes widening as you run towards them in slow motion. "NOoOoOOOo-"

The yaksha doesn't waste a moment, shifting so that he's covering Venti's body with his own, which to be honest is a pretty heartwarming sight.

The ball hits his lean back, a sharp thud following when it hits the floor.

Xiao is out. But his sacrifice is so inspiring that it brings tears to Zhongli's eyes, makes everyone in the gym go silent in awe.

Even the sadistic Childe melts, cerulean eyes gaining back their light, halting his fire.

When Xiao finally uncovers Venti's body, he speaks from the bottom of his dead heart. "I'd do anything for you..."

Venti shakes out of his baked state, blinking at him stupidly with a nervous chuckle. "Ehe~? I don't even know who you are."

The entire class sweat drops. Whatever slip of compassion on Childe's face earlier has become nothing but a memory. Even your eyes dim.

The next time Childe aims and locks at Venti, it's not with malicious intent. It's a favour, for you. In a way it adds dimension to who he is and the lengths he's willing to go for you, even at war.

Venti steps away with a bounce in his gait, hands behind his head.

Kaeya and you are the only ones left standing now, and the game becomes too tight knit to tell which side's going to win. It becomes utter chaos, balls being launched every second, stamina slowly decreasing as everyone lurches away from their demise.

As laid-back  and charming as the boy presents himself to be in front of the ladies, he's not very patient when it comes to facing circumstances like these. He's side lined for most of the match, finding it boring. And when Kaeya gets bored, the intensity of the tide changes, and everyone knows they're going to get a run for their money.

Kaeya coasts a hand around your hips, pulls you real close, purposefully leaning his bust into the side your innocent arm.

When Childe's smile drops, and the glint in his eyes reads 'DANGER' in full caps, you know it's time to be properly scared.

Your blood runs cold, mouth opening briefly and then clamping shut immediately.

"I'm so glad to be on your team Y/N. Maybe this'll give us the chance to become...closer." His hot breath fans against your ear, voice loud enough to be heard by onlookers.

Suddenly everything stops, falling into an unsettling silence.

You attempt glance at Childe, being met with a glare that's directed at the Captain of the Skating team. The ball in the orange-haired boy's hand deflates from the sheer intensity of the squeeze.

The tension becomes unreadable. Even Zhongli is caught mid-sip with his tea.

Quickly, you shrug off Kaeya's arm. "Childe, he's just fucking with you—"

Childe cuts you off by hurling a ball with nothing but the objective of cold blooded murder.

Kaeya whizzes past you, successfully ducking to avoid the hit, and his amused laugh rings through your ears. He rolls away from the following attacks, chucking his own series of colourful balls.

The events that unfold are blood-curdling enough to make even Satan boil his pants with diarrhea.

You take the clear opportunity presented by their concurrent dumbassery to take out Jean, the ace of the other team.

Childe's rage blows over when Kaeya eventually loses interest and takes the L, playfully winking at you while walking backwards to the rest of your team.

Now that all the distractions are dealt with, Childe's eyes flicker to you, and you share a murderous glance.

"Finally," He slaps the softball with a free hand, lips thinning into a homicidal smile. "I've been waiting for this. You better not disappoint me."

While Childe may be a violent anarchist who's only aspiration in life is to become a government contracted killer, he's also supposed to be your sweet boyfriend.

Slowly, you inch towards the front. "We don't have to do this Childe. We can coexist peacefully."

"Peace was never an option Y/N." He sighs, cracking his neck. "Besides—how else can I prove myself in your eyes? You may be my greatest weakness, but you are also my greatest adversary."

"I don't know, maybe start with not trying to obliterate me?"

"I'm obliterating you out of respect." He counters with a playful pout.

"Well I'll be paying my respects to your grave!" You lurch ahead into a sudden assault, yeeting as many balls as you can his way.

"That's my girl!" Childe whistles, grin widening psychotically when he goes all out, leaving you with an absence in favorable openings.

Out of nowhere, the fire alarms start going haywire, along with a beep in the PA system, which stops you two in your tracks.

A panicked voice of who you assume to be Yanfei shrieks through the comms. "CODE ORANGE! CODE ORANGE! EVACUATE THE BUILDING, THERE'S A STONEHIDE LAWACHURL ON THE PREMISES."

As if on cue, the ground starts rumbling and a Stonehide Lawachurl bursts through the halls and into the gym, looking around for something. Or rather, someone. It's sharp bumps and ridges make an indent on the floor, cracking it in.

Everyone falls into a state of panic, Zhongli trying his best to evacuate the class from the emergency back door as quickly as possible. "Settle down class, we have to follow protocol."

You, devoid of any emotion or sense of fear, turn to your boyfriend in such a calm manner it strikes an ominous dread in his stomach.

You stare.

Childe stares harder.

“I thought you killed it."

"I did." He retorts slowly, switching to gaze at the raging beast in amazement.

"Then why is it in the school!" You seethe, glaring daggers at his side profile.

Childe chuckles sheepishly, scratches the back of his neck. "I may or may not have stuffed the body in the boys washroom. Y'know, for safe keeping?"

The Lawachurl locks it's gaze on you, the prey, and then roars furiously. Turning into its geo-enhanced state, it begins charging at you with all its might, the target being solely Childe.

Leave it to your boyfriend to get on the hit list of an endangered beast.

"Fear not my vibrant girlfriend. Our first date can be surviving this." Childe cheekily kisses the top of your trembling hand before grasping it tightly and making a run for it.

[ubernoxa]

Broken Voodoo: The Story of the band that brought Rock N’ Roll back to life

Chapter 1: From the Begining

Prologue

Red, pinks, and yellow hues filled the sky as I watched the sunrise while the plane began to descend. It reminded me of one of the paintings that hung in the law office where I worked; however, instead of a small lake with a sailboat, the city of Los Angeles was staring back at me. A very intimidating city, if I may add. I would much rather have the calming lake staring back at me. Now before you begin to think that I am a lawyer with some fancy law degree, I should let you know that I am by no means a lawyer. I don’t even have a law degree, I have a two year degree in English. I performed patent research and proofread reports at the law office. Don’t get me wrong, some of the research is interesting and it's always exciting to work with inventors, especially when I help make the patent for their invention a reality. The only downside is that I hate working with lawyers who see me as a second class citizen with my English degree.

Luckily for me, the office was rather large, and my desk was far away from the condescending lawyers that filled the office. I would go about my day with ease only dealing with them for a couple of hours a day while I sat in their long boring meetings where I would constantly debate how much I actually needed this job while they would try to one up each other by playing the game I like to call ‘I am the smartest one in the room.’

I was able to keep to myself away from the lawyers for the most part, until a few months back when I thought I was going to get fired. It all started when I sat down at my desk one early Monday morning, and saw a handwritten note from my boss’s secretary saying to visit his office as soon as I arrived. Unsettling is one of the many words that came to mind when I first found the note taped to my desk. I would get fired if I said the other words that came to mind. I took one last glance around the room, making eye contact with one of my coworkers who shared a similar facial expression. There was no doubt in my mind that I was going to be fired.

Dead girl walking.

“Oh Andi, I am glad you could join me,” I sent a soft smile to my boss as I closed the large wooden shrieking doors behind me.

“No problem at all, the meeting seemed important, so I moved my calendar around,” I replied, making sure to keep my hands under the table. They weren't shaking, they were trembling. I was terrified by not only the eyes that were now watching me through the large glass wall that he had in his office to make it a ‘friendlier’ environment, but also by the fact that I may be fired in the next ten minutes.

“Do you still play guitar?”

I could feel a confused look flash across my features as he spoke.

“Yeah, helps me relax after a long day. Why?” My mind was racing in circles trying to understand why he had asked me to come to his office first thing in the morning.

“Would you be interested in playing in a band?”

I let a nervous laugh escape me before I replied. “I am sorry what? Did you call me here to fire me or not?”

I was met with a hardy laugh from my boss. “No no no, to make an incredibly long story short, my niece’s boyfriend’s band entered into some silly band competition, and they need a replacement guitarist for a competition that is in a month. I have heard rumors around the office that you played, and I wanted to see if you could help out my niece. To be honest, I haven’t been the best godfather, so I was hoping you could help me out by joining the band for a month to play at the competition. My niece, such a foolish girl, believes that her boyfriend will become the next rockstar.I hope she quickly realizes how irrational she is being, and moves on. Hopefully sooner rather than later.”

“Yeah I would love to help,” I quickly responded, trying to hide how off put I was by his casual nature towards me. Within a couple of days I was Skyping the band for an interview and the rest is history.

I was pulled from my thoughts as the pilot announced that we had landed and welcomed us all to LA, the city of dreams. An older man helped me remove my carry on from the overhead bins, and after what felt like hours, I was off the plane. I felt like I could finally breathe again the moment I stepped off the pain and walked into the airport.

I watched through the skylight as the sun continued to rise, as if mocking me that I was still in the airport. Lucky for me, everything I needed was in my backpack and after a quick debate with the flight attendant who said I couldn’t bring my guitar as a carry on, I didn’t have to go to baggage claim. One of the few perks of working with lawyers and doing law research for a living is that I came prepared with a printed section of the FFA Reform act that said I could which quickly shut her up.

I kept my eyes peeled as I followed herds of people who appeared to be leaving. I felt like I was in pandora's labyrinth weaving through the various waiting areas, food courts, and shops. This airport must have been at least ten times larger than the one in Maine. I felt relief fill me as I finally spotted some familiar faces.

I spotted Jax’s blonde hair first as he towered over several of the people around him. Holy shit, at 5 ft 4 inches, I was going to look like a munchkin standing next to him. He stuck out like a sore thumb as he stood next to a smiley Robin in his leather pants with a jean vest. I guess shirts were not required in LA like how they are in Maine. He sent me a wave which I quickly returned as he motioned for us to meet off to the side, and not in the herd of people that were looking for relatives or loved ones.

I only knew three things about Jax.

He was currently dating Robin, but after talking to him over Skype during band meetings, I wondered how long that would last.

He was a charismatic and a good dancer, just like every lead singer in rock band before him

He may not look like it, but he had the voice of an angle from the heavens above.

I smiled at the small sign that Robin was holding that said ‘Welcome to California Andi’.. I felt underdressed in my athletic shorts, hoodie, and sneakers as I approached the pair, secretly wishing that I had worn a sundress similar to Robin.

“Welcome to LA, is it everything you hoped for?” Jax smiled as he welcomed me.

“It’s sunnier than Maine,” I replied once again looking at one of the hundreds of skylights.

“Well it’s good to finally meet you in person, let’s get going to the car, so we can get the fuck out of here,” I nodded at his words. Getting the fuck out of the overpacked busy airport felt amazing. For the past 9 hours I had felt like a sardine in a can. I craved fresh air.

“Here let me take that,” I cautiously eyed Robin as I handed her my guitar case.

“How was the flight?” She chirped walking by my side as we followed Jax to the parking garage.

“Can’t complain much. I had to fight the flight attendant about having my guitar as a carry on, but I won in the end. She was a bitch to me the entire flight though,” I replied earning a small giggle from Robin.

“How did you manage that?” I had assumed Jax had tuned Robin and I out as we made it to his truck.

“Law says I can bring it as a carry on, so I printed out the section I needed. Once I handed the paper to her she shut up. I hate causing problems, but there is no way I was ‘gate checking’ my guitar. I didn’t want some random guy tossing it around on the tar mat, or watching my baby slide down the luggage ramp before it slammed into a wall,” I quickly replied before hopping in the back seat.

“So I have to ask, what is it like working for my uncle?” Robin was currently sitting shotgun, as Jax backed up the truck and began to leave the spaghetti jungle that was the parking lot.

“I honestly only talked to him twice. The first was on my first day at work when he introduced himself to me. The second was when he asked me if I could help Broken Voodoo out which by the way I thought he was going to fucking fire me when he called me to his office,” I laughed at myself thinking back to the moment only a month ago.

“Ohh Sorry about that Andi.”

“Don’t worry Robin,” I smiled back, earning one in return.

“So the plan for this morning is to drop you off at my place to get some additional practice with the rest of the band while I head up north to check us into the competition. We won’t be playing until day two so we don’t have to get there until tomorrow night,” He said as he pulled up into some random parking spot.

“Don't you need to practice with us?” I asked out of curiosit.

“Honey, don't worry about me. I'm so good I don't need to practice,” I was glad we were walking up a creaky staircase as he replied. I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep my jaw from dropping to the floor. I was impressed by him and his ego could fit through the small doorway that led to his apartment. No, it was not an apartment. It was a studio. I placed my guitar by the drums and other instruments that took up half of the studio.

“Hey Andi! Welcome to California!” I turned to see Oli shout across the studio the moment he saw me. Before I could respond, someone threw something across the room at Oli.

“Shut the fuck up, Oli. It is too early for you to be this loud,” I didn't have to see the bassist’s face to know Seb was the one over in the corner on the paper thin mattress.

“Oli, Robin and I gotta head out to sign in and get our backstage passes for the competition. Get to practicing to get her ready,” Jax said before leaving the pathetic excuse of an apartment.

“Don’t worry Andi, I have heard you play countless times, you’ll do fine. It is more of the stage presence we are worried about. We should have plenty of ‘stage presence’ with that throwing trick you came up with, but we have to cover the whole stage,” Oli patted my back as we headed over towards his drum kit.

“I’ve been practicing with the rod you sent a few weeks back, we can practice the trick once we get our instruments good to go. We sound the part, now we have to look the part,” Seb paused as he took a second to look me over. The worst part wasn’t that he was being incredibly obvious he was checking me out, the worst part was the unsatisfactory look he had on his face.

“You don’t look like a rocker,” I scoffed at his comment. Of course I didn't look like a rocker. I just got off of a nine hour flight.

“Well, you look like a complete dick, so at least one of us is dressed appropriately,” I sassed back before moving towards my guitar to retune it.

“Alrighty!” I was brought from my tuning by Oli who was once again playing peacekeeper by breaking the silence and clapping his hands.

“Alot is at stake here, so let's get to practicing,” he added once he was seated behind his drum kit.

Seb counted us in, and we began our setlist from the top.

I brushed off Seb’s comment, and began to focus on the music.i could already feel the pressure to perform perfectly. As a rhythm guitarist, playing as the solo guitarist felt foreign. As we played through our setlist, I tried loosening out by copying some of Seb’s dance moves. I chose not to mimic the ones that looked like just sex.

Oli was right, there was a lot at stake here.

I was surprised when I found out that there was no cash prize. Instead, according to Jax, there was something more valuable. The shot at a record deal.

With this competition only happening once every couple years, this was their shot to make it big.

[forkanna]

[AO3] [WATTPAD] [QUOTEV]

NOTE: I try not to get too serious in my notes, but I wanted to take this brief moment to say I hope everyone will give their time and efforts to a few petitions for racial justice in the USA. Donate if you have money, and attend peaceful protests if you have the time and access and are able. We all deserve peace and prosperity, not poverty and inequality. Thank you. Now on with our regularly scheduled smut.

CHAPTER FOUR

Breakfast at the Amagi Inn was a rare treat Chie had not enjoyed in a long time. They had stayed over at each other's houses when they were little quite often, but that had become a bit more rare the past few years. It just wasn't "adult" to have sleepovers. That seemed like a shame, because it was a wonderful way to ensure that you got more than a few passing hours with a friend, but social stigmas are more powerful than anyone wants to give them credit for.

Luckily, the group had gone into the TV to save Yukiko on a Saturday night, so they had all of Sunday to rest and recuperate. The two of them idly walked around the halls in their slippers, smiling and casting sheepishly delighted glances at each other. Conversations remained on light topics like the weather and upcoming exams, the inn, and Chie's dog, Muku. They knew they were in public so that was the best they could do.

They eventually returned to Yukiko's room for a nap. Mrs. Amagi was aware that she had been kidnapped, even if she withheld the truth of the details, so they were allowed to relax and recover. However…

"I can't sleep."

Chie rolled over to face her girlfriend. They had never bothered to get a second futon, so they were snug as two peas in a pod again. "Me, either. But I am tired and don't wanna get up and do anything yet."

"Yeah." Glancing over at her, Yukiko fiddled with her hands under the blanket; Chie could see the bump moving around. "Um… can we…"

"Can we what?" Chie asked.

"K-kiss."

"Oh." Her cheeks were already heating up, but she cleared her throat to give herself an excuse for it. "Y-you want to? Like, for real, not just because we're losing it and can't figure out how to deal with our emotions?"

"Yes, for real," she chuckled softly. "But it's alright, you don't have to if it's too strange."

"Wait! I didn't mean I… wh-what I'm saying is, I do. I want to."

Yukiko's small smile vanished amid her surprise. "Oh. Really? Wow… I'm… that still surprises me. But I'm happy."

"Yeah?" As if to suddenly prove she meant it, she leaned down and pecked her on the cheek. "Well, that one's just for starters."

"Oh, is it?" Another got her sighing and closing her eyes. "Chie…"

That opened the floodgates for a lot more. Though she never would have thought herself capable of such displays of romance, even with a boy much less another girl, Chie found she couldn't seem to stop now that they had pushed through all their reservations — including those thrust upon them by a homogenous, somewhat-conservative Japanese society. Fuck what anyone else thought; they needed to take care of themselves. Be true to their inner feelings.

Which, apparently… were a lot stronger than either of them realised. The next thing she knew, Yukiko was on top of her body, and Chie was clutching at her back as their tongues began to hesitantly search each other out, little half-heard hums accompanying the actions. This was crazy! Wasn't somebody going to stop them? Where was Yosuke with a lewd comment to shame them out of continuing? Where was Yu with a firehose?!

"O-oh," Yukiko groaned when they parted, leaning her forehead against the side of Chie's once she had turned aside to catch her own breath. "That was…"

"Amazing! I've never… God, I'm in shock!"

"That too! But I was going to say 'that was your tongue, wasn't it?'"

Somehow flushing even darker than she had been seconds before, Chie cleared her throat so she could say in a voice that was still hoarse, "I… um… sorry about that! Man, I just got so into this, I don't even know what I was-"

"I didn't say I disliked it," she whispered, kissing Chie's neck and making her shiver all over. "You did surprise me, but I liked it. A lot."

"Oh. Well, uh… that's great! Right?"

"Yeah."

"Can… I do it again?"

"Yeah. Please."

The next several minutes of kisses were a blur as they rolled over again, Chie pushing her down into the futon. She knew she was turned on; had been since the moment their lips met, and the heat only blazed stronger in the time since. What about Yukiko? They really did seem to be in sync so she had a feeling the answer would be "yes", but she still felt such overwhelming disbelief that they were doing any of this in the first place that making assumptions seemed like a one-way ticket to disaster.

"Chie, I…"

"Yes?" she gasped as she drew back from her neck, having left a red spot on her pale skin.

"I feel… like I want to… find out what it's like." When her friend's hazel eyes moved into position to look into hers, Yukiko's darker ones averted. "To f-feel what my shadow felt yours doing to her."

The bottom dropped out of her stomach. "Oh shit. I m-mean, you want me to… with my hand?"

"Is it disgusting? I thought I was a good girl, but I'm asking for something like-"

"No way! Hey, you are good — you're so good, okay?" Her hand drifted up to pet along the side of Yukiko's head, and she leaned into the touch as if starving for it. "I'm just… surprised! Like, I never thought we'd both… y'know?"

Her cheeks were still rosy, but at least she could smile now. "I know. Goodness, this is all so new, a-and I keep expecting you to react how I would have reacted to the same thing. Before… yesterday."

"Yeah. Me, too, even though I… th-the porn."

"You still have to show me some of it," she chuckled while petting down to Chie's ass. When its owner froze in place, she asked, "Is this too much?"

"NO! I m-mean, um, no, it's fine. Just new." She flexed the muscles under Yukiko's fingertips and earned a little gasp from her.

"It's so strong!"

Laughing, she whispered, "I work out."

"Well… y-yes, I know. And you train all the time." Another flex, and she wound up humming her obvious interest. "I think… I like that. Do it again." She did. "Ah!"

"Feels really good," Chie admitted, biting her lip as she shifted her hips under the touch. When the fingers moved down and then back up again, underneath the fabric this time, she shivered and closed her eyes. "Yuki-chan…"

For a few seconds, nothing was said. The words wouldn't have been good enough, anyway; they knew what they wanted to say but not how to say it. And the sentiment would have been redundant in a lot of areas. Gooseflesh sprang into being as she felt those delicate fingertips ghosting over the cheek, down to her thigh and back up again. Another few strokes, and they began to move around to her hip.

"I thought you wanted me to go first," Chie laughed breathily, both excited and terrified of Yukiko going further.

"I did. But then you acted so…" She shrugged her shoulder, unable to come up with an end to that thought. "Do you want me to stop?"

"N-nah. Crazy as it is… I really do want you to keep going. I-if you want."

Instead of responding with words, Yukiko moved her fingers further around, sliding through Chie's thatch of fur. Even just that prompted a gasp and a groan of need from her that she felt so beyond embarrassed at hearing that come from her own throat. She hadn't even been touched yet! This was just foreplay!

This was foreplay. All at once, the thought smacked her full force: she was about to lose her virginity. To a woman! Her best friend!

"O-okay," Yukiko warned her in a soft, anxious tone. Apparently, she was thinking along the same lines. "This is it, I'm… I'm going further if you're ready."

"Yes." Licking her lips, Chie widened her stance, and even though her pulse was thundering in her ears and her stomach was tied in knots, she smiled down at her friend and whispered, "I want it. Want you to be the one, I… can't imagine it being anybody else."

Nodding firmly, as if steeling her determination before riding into battle, Yukiko allowed her fingers to press a little further down…

And pleasure exploded within Chie. It was so blinding that for a few seconds, she couldn't fully connect it to the point of contact. Where was she, and what had she been doing up until now? As the moment slowly filtered back to her, she saw a concerned Yukiko gazing up at her, as if desperately hoping she wasn't making a huge mistake, wasn't hurting her best friend by trying something she had absolutely no experience with.

"Yuki-chan… mhhh…"

That seemed to reassure her somewhat. With a whispered "Chie", she started in a little more firmly, moving the fingers instead of just pressing them against damp flesh as she had been. Her first instinct was to pull away hard, but she fought that off and listened to the second one — which begged for more of this, to push her hips down into the waiting fingers as she gasped out in sheer ecstasy.

"Am I doing this right?" Yukiko asked a minute or two later, still teasing up and down.

"How should I know?! It feels pretty… oh GOD, nnhh! Yes!"

"Chie!" she gasped in mingling alarm and shock. "Th-that sounds so obscene!"

"What we're doing is obscene, so I th-think it's… it's fine!" Her lips pushed down against Yukiko's cheek as she rolled her hips into the contact over and over. "Oh shit… this was what I've been missing out on?"

The young innkeeper-in-training was flushed scarlet, and could barely whisper, "It's good? Really? You like it when I do this? Because… I like doing it for you."

"You do?!"

"Yes! If I can make you feel good, then there's nothing else I would rather be doing." Her fingers became even bolder, firmer, making sure to caress every last inch of Chie's aching need. "And the way you sound…"

A little worried, she asked, "God, is it weird? Do I sound stupid?"

"No. You sound really… hot."

"What?!" Taken aback, she covered her mouth with her hand for a moment, even as the rest of her body was concentrating on riding that beautifully punishing hand.

"Don't cover that up; I love hearing you." Chie lowered the hand, beginning to moan. Yukiko's smile was fragile but wide. "Wow… I can't believe I can help you feel like this…"

After that, Chie lost track of time again. Yukiko's hand only seemed to grow more and more sure of itself, to find new ways to pleasure her as she practiced. And she became aware of something else: the heat was beginning to build. Somehow, she had expected to simply enjoy this level until the activity stopped, but it was growing hotter and hotter with each passing second. And she knew eventually, if they didn't stop, according to everything she had heard…

"Yuki! I… nnhh, I'm gonna… oh my GOD!"

"You're gonna what?" Clearly afraid, her eyes jerked up to her friend's. "What's wrong?"

Laughing weakly, she slammed her hips down with more and more force to compensate for Yukiko's hand stilling as she told her, "Nothing! Mmhh… just d-don't stop! No matter what! Okay?!"

"O-okay!" she breathed, nodding fervently as if this was some kind of official battle command. And she seemed to take her actions just as seriously; the fingers pushed in almost too hard, but it only seemed to wring more pleasure from her already-tortured flesh.

And then Chie came. Which is to say, she knew that this blinding surge of pleasure that almost knocked her off her hands and knees had to be what she saw happen at the end of that video; it couldn't be anything else. Her entire frame shook hard from the sheer force of it, and she distantly felt tears stinging the corners of her eyes. It was an overwhelming religious experience for which she was ill-prepared.

Once she was desperately sucking in breath after breath, head braced against Yukiko's shoulder, the fingers stilled and simply held against her aching warmth. "I… know you said to keep going, n-no matter what, but… it felt like… sh-should I do more?"

"Nhhh… I…" Her throat was so dry now. Was that normal? After a few more tries, she coughed, swallowed, and managed to rasp, "Just… stay… here…"

Yukiko nodded and held her position. The other hand came up and hesitantly started to caress her best friend's back, and when she only got a hum of contentment in response the petting became more firm and certain, soothing up to her hair and then back down. They remained that way until Chie recovered enough to say more.

"Whoa. That was incredible!"

Yukiko's bashful smile was something she could hear rather than see at the moment. "Y-yeah? It was? Then I'm glad I could help you."

"You… mmm, it still feels good…" She shifted her hips against the hand, then sighed. "Don't, um, don't start going again, but like, just hold still? I wanna try something."

"Okay…" And she did as Chie ground against the fingers. "You're so wet… i-is this normal? And I've never touched one of these really, except when I'm washing, but it's… kind of nice. Soft and slick, and… they move more than… I expected…"

Chie shivered when she felt her lower lips being pushed from side to side. "O-ohhhhh, yeah… that's- Yukiko, you really never did this before? You swear?"

"I swear. Not even on myself."

"Wow…" She let out a shaky laugh as she shifted her hips in the opposite direction the fingers moved, to add more sensation. "We could have been doing this for years… can you imagine? Three or four years ago, just going crazy on each other?"

That seemed to alarm her friend. "But we were only children! They don't do these things!"

"Maybe not… at least a year ago, then. That would have been awesome!" Then she drew back, peering down into Yukiko's eyes. "Okay, your turn!"

"Huh?! Oh, but… I thought you were doing more, that you were still enjoying-"

"I am, yeah. But I wanna make you feel this good now; we can worry about taking care of me again some other time." Expression beyond eager, she grinned down at her and waited for her answer.

"Well, I…" She gulped hard and looked away. "I might not feel as good as… you did to me, I'm not… I don't know. But if you're sure you want to try…"

Chie wasted no time in nodding, then kissing her friend delicately on the lips. It didn't last long but was sweet enough that they both sighed afterward. "Yes. I totally want to. Even if you feel like a slimy slug down there-"

"HEY!"

"-I would still want to touch. Because it's Yukiko, y'know?"

Still pursing her lips at the slug comparison, she rolled her eyes before smiling reluctantly. "Well… I suppose that is almost sweet. But I don't know what you want me to… am I supposed to roll over on top of you? Or just stay down here?"

"Stay there. I think that will be easier on you, like, if you don't have to worry about holding yourself up like I just did."

"Oh, I'm sorry! I wasn't thinking about that when we got started — that must have been so difficult!" But then Chie was backing up, kneeling over Yukiko's thighs — and displaying a slight dark spot in the crotch of her own boy shorts. "Oh… oh, it's time, isn't it?"

"Yeah. If you want it to be. But if you don't-"

However, Yukiko was already shaking her head. "No, no, I do. I'm really scared, and nervous, and… I'm not sure if I'm ready. But I know I'm ready for it to be you."

Her best friend smiled softly as she leaned down to kiss her hip. "No wonder your shadow wanted to find her Prince Charming so bad. You're such a romantic. Like, how has nobody swept you off your feet before?"

"Maybe I was waiting for the right Prince. And now I have her." Then she whispered, "Was that romantic, too?"

"Definitely. And you're stalling."

"Maybe I…"

But the lips were moving to push into the center of the soft cotton panties a second later, cutting off further maybes. Red; they suited Yukiko perfectly. As did the vaguely sweet scent rolling outward from where Chie had kissed. She wanted so much more… and said scent seemed to at least suggest Yukiko wanted it, too. Even without her words.

"I was right. Red looks great on you."

The only response was a whimper, which got louder when Chie kissed again. She should have known; Yukiko was rather shy under most circumstances. Why should this one be any different — especially when it was much more anxiety-inducing? The junior hostess didn't even have the luxury of already having enjoyed an orgasm before opening herself up to letting someone else assist.

Every kiss made her writhe. Chie couldn't help kissing more in response, breathing in the intoxicating aroma. It didn't take her long to edge the pretty fabric aside and start kissing her directly — the little gasp of shock sending fresh need down between her own thighs. She had thought it might be disgusting, kissing another woman there… but it wasn't much different from normal kissing. Wetter, slicker… and the scent, of course. But not much different otherwise.

"Chie!" she finally panted as the hips began to roll up and against her mouth a little more. Seeking out the pleasure instead of merely letting it assail her. "Yes! Mmmhh… m-my prince…"

Oh. She was really going to call her that now? It definitely didn't do anything to reduce her own reviving urges. At least those made it easier to keep going, to push her tongue in harder with every pass up from the bottom of her perfectly-formed petals to the pink hood above them. Her hand drifted up to caress along them as she took a break to breathe. How they shifted so easily…

"You're beautiful."

"N-no, don't," she begged as she gasped for breath. "Don't look s-so much…"

"Why not? You're really hot."

"But it's dirty… I'm dirty, you shouldn't… shouldn't l-look!"

That embarrassment should have made her concerned for her friend. However… they both knew their feelings. Understood them very clearly after their shadows made delusions impossible to entertain. Now she knew Yukiko was just worried she would offend her with her body, not that she actually wanted her to look away; reassurance was in order, not surrender.

"I gotta look," she countered, kissing the petals again. "You're so pretty, so sweet… down here. So wet for me, huh?"

"Nhh! Don't!" Her thighs twitched as if to close, but stayed open in the end. "I didn't m-mean to be wet!"

Sliding her tongue over the folds, listening to the squeal of joy, Chie paused to lick her lips afterward before she responded. "I know. You can't help it; just like I can't help kissing you when I'm this close. It's okay that you're dripping for me to touch you."

This time, her best friend didn't respond right away. A quick glance upward showed a ruddy face full of lust, with just the tiniest hint of uncertainty. She knew why; she had become bolder. In the pit of her stomach, she was still terrified of making her upset, but being able to tell that she was turning Yukiko on made it possible for her to ignore that fear. To be the confident prince that made her princess a complete mess who needed her touch.

She had learned so much from her shadow. Even if she was an asshole.

"Yuki," she groaned before going back to work on her throbbing clit, tongue sliding around it over and over. Harder, faster — more with her fingers below. She didn't quite penetrate her, because they hadn't talked about that yet, but everything else seemed to be fair game. Her own hips were twitching in the air by now, as if hoping someone would slide in from behind and fulfil her desires a second time while she worked on her best friend.

Girlfriend?

"Chie! I… I think something is…"

"Hmmhh?"

"I think it's my turn! Y-you're going to make me… finish!"

"Is that what you want?" she asked as she finally pulled off, fingers doing all of the work now. "You want me to make you come?"

"Y-yes! Please?"

Chie had been about to do it. To just keep going, listen to this beautiful woman cry out in ecstasy. But hearing 'please' gave her pause. For a second, she couldn't figure out why… but then realised what she wanted. Purely because of what Other-Chie had done, she had a feeling she knew how to make this even better. For both of them.

"Please what?"

"Huh?"

"Say it. I want to hear you say what it is you want."

Eyes wide as dinner plates, Yukiko covered her face with her hands for a moment. Ashamed, trying to shield that feeling from view. "I… I want you to do it!"

"Do what?"

"Chie! Wh-what are you asking me? I want… you to finish me?" That much earned her a pussy-kiss, at least. "A-ah! Will you finish me?"

"Mmm, beg your prince for it," she purred, still kissing at least. But not quite going back to work.

"Beg?! Do you… a-am I not…" Swallowing, she looked away. "Do you… like hearing me beg?"

"It's what I want. To hear how bad you need me." Then she cleared her throat and hastily corrected, "It. How bad you need it."

Too late. Her slip-up made Yukiko smile briefly, eyes watery and chest heaving as her hips began to squirm, desperate to have something between them again. But when she spoke, she was all moans and desperation, just as her sporty girlfriend wanted. "Chie! My Prince, I need you to- nnhhh! -to touch me! I- I'm begging to feel your mouth on me, for you to make me… climax! Will you please?"

The "holy shit" slipped out before she could catch herself. She just hadn't been expecting Yukiko to be so good at it on the first try! Then she kissed her a little harder on the clit, hoping to sweep that under the rug.

It worked like a charm. Instead of teasing her, Yukiko fell deep into the throes of moaning and back arches, hands and feet clenching at the tatami in an attempt to anchor herself. She came with so much force she almost seemed to float above the floor, head thrown all the way back as she screamed Chie's name.

What Chie wasn't prepared for was the slight push of warm fluid against her mouth. She let out an "MM!" but managed to keep from jerking away or other overreactions. It was too thick, and almost made her sick, but she also knew this was the precious proof that her best friend had orgasmed; she couldn't let it go to waste in good conscience. Therefore, she didn't.

"Ohhhh," Yukiko was groaning while Chie still swallowed. "Oh, wow… you… you felt so amazing!"

"Mmmmhh…"

"Can you come up here? I… oh, now I feel empty… is that strange?"

Her prince obeyed. After only a few seconds to breathe, she climbed up along the futon until they were flopped down on their sides, facing each other and feeling their legs overlapping below. It was the closest to another human being Chie had ever felt in her life.

"Wow."

"Y-yeah. Yuki-chan… I, uh…"

Her contented smile didn't vanish, but there was a slight crease between her brow. "What is it?"

"Sorry. About, um… I kinda talked to you funny. At the end there. It seemed like you were into it, but like, I also felt weird telling you to tell me something, or… whatever…"

"Oh, that." She bit her lip for a moment, smiling shyly. "It was really hot."

"HUH?!"

"Shhh! D-don't make me say it again!"

Leaning up on her elbow slightly, she stared down at the embarrassed innkeeper. "You liked that? Really?! But I was acting like you were my… I dunno! Shadow-Yuki instead of Real-Yuki!"

"I can't explain it," she breathed, not meeting Chie's eyes. "It felt… right. The way you did it, anyway. And the way you said it was so you could know how much I need you… well, you already said your shadow was trying to convince you that I needed you to be confident, and you needed me to feel like you had purpose."

"R-right," Chie managed nervously. "Which was all bullshit." But her friend shook her head. "It wasn't?"

"We have to accept our inner selves, remember? I… might not be as bad as Other-Me, but I do crave that attention from you. That protection, a-and… I think…" A quick swallow, and her voice grew quieter, "When you confront the bullies and boys who won't take 'no' for an answer, say things like 'I'm gonna leave footprints all over your face', it gives me goosebumps!"

That made her chuckle, relaxing very slightly. "Why? You want it to be your face instead?"

"Um… no?"

But that didn't sound certain at all. She had only been joking around! Chie blinked a couple of times before asking, "Do you… want me to beat you up?"

"No, no, don't be silly. But… you standing over me… on me, telling me that I'm all yours… sort of like Other-Chie did…"

"Oh. Wow, I- th-that doesn't sound like it's okay…" On the other hand, the look Yukiko was giving her made her want to try. To satisfy both their curiosity. And it looked like her raven-haired companion wasn't quite through.

"Please, Chie-sama?" she begged, brows lifting as she pleaded. "Step on me?"

                                              To Be Continued…

[hoopdiddies]

I'm Not Over You // Ben Hardy x Reader (Part 7)

A/N: This is probably the longest I've written in this series. Again guys, thank you for the support, your comments and likes mean so much! My tag list is always open so feel free to ask. And on a slightly heavy note: the next chapter could be really angsty. Just a heads up right there uwu

Summary: You had always loved Ben ever since you two met in university and became the best of friends. That feeling went out like a candle flame when the two of you parted ways until he re-entered your life...but this time with someone who has already occupied his heart.

Warnings: Angst, slight drinking, slight swearing, (yeah the fluff is still present)

W/C: 5k-ish

Tags: @haendel-me-with-care

@mrsdoradominguez-barnes

@mickmoon

@lakef

@mrsmazzello

@valeriecarolinaw

@queen-turtle-boiii

Edited// I forgot to link the previous parts

Parts: 6 5 4 3 2 1

(Got the pic from Pinterest hhh-)

Storing the luggage bag you've purchased for a fair price in the spare room, you come across a small box of sundries tucked in one corner with cobwebs clinging to the sides. Your eyes light up with curiosity spiking within you, you pick it up and dust the webs off, blowing the particles away from the top. You squat on the floor and open the flaps, discovering small yet familiar items that had been lost in time– one of them being a sepia-toned polaroid of you and Ben posing dramatically with hilarious doodles drawn on your faces. You forgot about this, feeling a little guilty that you had hidden it away in a drafty box without remembering doing anything of the sort. You flip the picture over and spot a date and an unfinished sentence written in faded ink on the bottom left part. This was taken on Homecoming night.

'I'm not going-' it says, clearly discontinued next to the date. Silly to think that the picture somehow represents a puzzle piece torn away from its board.

You were bound to graduate the week after and barely a day after, not see each other for several years due to your career paths and post-college choices.

You pull on the hem of your shirt, clearing the picture of dust and any more impurities, finally fitting it into your back pocket to finally treasure it the way it was always meant to be treasured.

The door clicks as you bring it close, your eyes gluing themselves at the hardwood floor seconds to having self-pity billow over you at how quickly your tears surface in the corner of your eyes from the memory of Ben spinning Rosy around - the exact way he did with you -and kissing her like she's a pouch full of life.

You clamp down on your bottom lip, trying your hardest not to stain your cheeks with your pooling tears. "Jeez, you just-" you pace back and forth in frustration, balling your fists as you gesticulate lazily, "you just don't get it, Y/N! Ugh, you're so- fuck, just get over it..." Knowing your harsh soliloquy would be getting you nowhere, you snarl strongly at yourself and roughly wipe your tears away with the back of your hand.

"He loves Rosy. F-freaking deal with it!" The reminder takes a hiss from your quivering lips for it to sink in; you have your own place in his life– a place behind the line you'd drawn in the years prior. The friend zone couldn't be any more hollow and cold than it already is.

And a polaroid pic is the only remnant left of how inseparable you and Ben were in the early days.

At the same time you're feeling your heart tear itself apart, Ben pulls out a picture - similar to what you've found - from the inner pocket of his old varsity jacket in the middle of rummaging through his wardrobe. He leaves his room in his pajamas and tosses himself on the couch next to a sleeping Frankie, softly apologizing to the little beagle for disturbing her cat-like nap. As he cuddles Frankie close, he scrutinizes the picture and it's also from Homecoming, but in it both of you are beaming widely with your arms slung around one another– the doodles ever-so-present on your faces. Behind it, the date and the continuation of the trailed-off sentence written at the back of your share of the memory.

'-anywhere at all.'- it ends in Ben's part of the duality. He grins fondly at the long lost picture, feeling twice as guilty for not keeping it safe and...close to his heart, just as he had promised you that night.

- - - - - - - -

In the convenience of Lucy needing some company to shop with for awards season just as she had returned from her get-away with Rami, she drags you along happily, having to pass through you insisting that you stay at home and study but purposefully ending up under her mercy anyway. You couldn't say no to her, she's basically your sparkly, glam counterpart and you're in need of her life-altering sparkles as of now. Especially since you're going to be tagging along with them, mainly as Joe's date cause you know, you're his 'girlfriend' and all.

You're at the mall, in a stylish boutique full of lines of voguish clothing and shoes that could span miles if not compressed together. For once in the hours you've spent scampering around the mall with Lucy to hoard dresses, skin products and make up, you admit that this is the most aesthetically pleasing space in the entire building.

You traipse along a section with black dresses fashioned into different forms, silently praying that what you have with you will amount to at least one of the varying prices.

Lucy's on the opposite side, ogling at the most colorful section in the boutique for a piece to wear. She peers over at you to make sure you've chosen your 'fighter'. A few swishes of the dresses lined up and you do, holding it up high to evaluate the appropriateness.

It's a sleeveless, halter neck satin that's just a few inches above the knee. Utterly backless but it ends right up the small of your back. The fabric is stretchy enough to move around and breathe in as it simultaneously hugs your shape. You love it but gulp as you prepare yourself for the price. Flipping the tag over, you suddenly wish you could let out the biggest, girlish squeal the human race has ever heard with how surprisingly affordable it is.

"Finally picked out yours?" Lucy pokes her head up playfully and you nod, quite speechless but giddy. She makes a grabby hand at your dress to examine it for herself.

Well she's the fashion guru so why not? You hand her the dress and as she trails her eyes from top to bottom, her mouth falls at the simple yet elegant details. "This is perfect! I highly doubt that it's not going to catch every exposed eye present at the event."

Your flush profusely at her comment. "Thanks but I'll be bringing a coat with me."

That triggered her, but of course you're only teasing. "You better effing not." She warns you and you chuckle, taking the dress from her and evenly brushing the skirt.

"I won't, you can sleep soundly tonight."

You assure her of the possibility. As you exit the boutique with a few bags you're not used to holding, Lucy takes out her phone and gasps, her face contorting with a little disbelief. "Uh oh, this might ruin your mood." She hands you the phone and you gape at her confusingly before taking a quick look.

Ben's posted some updates on his wedding preparations, shockingly tagging you, Joe, Gwil and Lucy in one photo. He's pretty busy alright; unable to text or call you for days but miraculously tagging you out of nowhere.

You come to disregard it until you notice one minute but important detail hidden in plain sight in all of his posts– there isn't a single one with him and Rosy together alone. None of such as well on his new ones.

The only post he's had with a close girl is the one with you, which is at the very bottom of his Instagram feed. You won't admit it but it warms your heart a little. Actually, a whole lot despite wondering why there's none of him and his fiancee. You hand Lucy her phone back and tilt your head to one side, suddenly finding the eagerness to go on shopping. "Let's go."

The following week comes as a radial blur contrasted to the slightly moderate one you just woke up from; your manager phoning you up to take the earliest shift you've had in years at the expense of your allotted time to rest, the heavy workload and rush hours in the upcoming hours followed by the slowest progress of filing your travel documents and visa needed for your departure on the 26th. You've got tons of missed calls from your parents and Joe, who's requested for you to pack up early since you'll be leaving for LA with Lucy on the day of the awards but earlier.

Also noting that you still need to double check the costs for flying to LA and back, ruling out the one exclusive for your flight on the 26th.

For mere days you feel as if you could lose your sanity as your life spirals into madness with everything you're required to do– whether or not you're obliged to do it.

But they are effective distractions for that problem you are still very much preoccupied with. That's a matter noteworthy of later discussion. Amidst all the chaos happening, part of you wishes for Ben to reply to your messages or even talk to you in the slightest. You never bothered to call this week since he's tied up but the least he could do is let you know how he's doing, if he's thinking of you once in a thousand passing seconds.

You give up for a day waiting on him and drown yourself in work.

- - - - - - -

Securing your phone between your tilted head and your shoulder as you indulge in your talk with Joe through the line, you crouch and zip your luggage bag close. Your eyes fixating themselves on two, separate luggage bags for two, separate travels.

"Was that all of it?" Joe's disembodied voice asks. You spring up and take your phone between your fingers. "Pretty much. I better have a kick out of something by the time we touchdown tomorrow– it's my first visit to the US." You inform him, leaping into your bed and landing comfortably.

He chortles softly and ensures you. "I know and you can be sure to expect a good par- ow! Bad kitty!" His smooth transition to a yelp amuses you for split second.

"Are you alright? "

"No. I'm finally feline food to my kid." He refers to his pet cat that has taken a small nibble on his finger, in which Joe returns with a light ruffle to its fur. You can't help but giggle heartily at him.

"Anyway, I'm picking you and Lucy up from LAX tomorrow." He gives you that heads up and you bring your hand up to your forehead. "Where will we be staying?"

"I've booked a hotel earlier so you've got nothing to worry about the moment you land." A faint crunch can be heard from your end and you mind to ask Joe about it. "Are you- are you eating?"

To answer your question, he bites down on his food sloppily and guarantees you of what you heard. You smack your lips together as your eyes narrow in bewilderment.

"Does that answer your question?"

"Sometimes you make it easier for me to hit you with a pillow."

"Is that how you treat your boyfriend?" He taunts at you and cackles, his distorted voice bouncing off of the walls of your room. You sigh, defeated by the fact that this charade is still going on. It's silly and immature yet you and Joe somehow managed to stick to the act.

"Speaking of boyfriend though– would he be furious if I told him that I couldn't be there on his wedding day?" Since you're rested and got nothing else to distract you, you pop the question to Joe.

"Ben?"

You hum softly.

"There are two scenarios that we need to consider," on his end, Joe taps his finger on his lips as he thinks of said scenarios, "Best case scenario- he would get discouraged and slightly unmotivated, and obviously sad, but he'd still support you cause that's your dream."

You sit up and twirl the ends of your hair around your finger, swallowing. "And worst case scenario?"

Joe falls silent before exhaling harshly. "You'd crush his soul, heart, everything ranging from physical to spiritual and it would take a toll– and I mean a substantial toll on your friendship."

"Joe, don't make it sound like a prospect! "

"That is, " he adds strongly, "if he finds out that you had meant for him to be oblivious to it." And he's right. But you had a reason. You still do. Even if you do end up telling him and he supports you, you need a great deal of space to move on.

As long as he's committed to Rosy and you're in the sidelines still in love with him, it's just something toxic. You couldn't love anybody they way you do Ben and you feel like you'll never love someone like him ever again. Albeit how clueless he is sometimes and clumsy, you both had survived every storm and wave. So sticking around to witness him give his hand and heart to someone else is torture for you.

"I'm gonna be direct and say-" just as you begin talking, your phone shrills to another caller, cutting you off from Joe.

One look at the screen and your heart begins racing. Speak of the devil. You reserve an explanation for cutting off and answer Ben, clearing your throat. "You're late."

Ben's gruff chuckle welcomes you back. "I know, I'm so sorry. Busiest week I've had and the lady at Starbucks signed my cup like a snail."

"What are you doing tonight that requires coffee?"

"Call me dramatic- or do so, given that I'm an actor- but I just want to stargaze right now." You hear a light rustle coming from his end, like he's seated out on his lawn.

Silently giving him the 'oh really' look, you spread one side of the curtain to let some moon light in. "Ben, you're leaving early tomorrow."

He hums, seemingly enjoying himself. "But that's not an excuse to not enjoy the night." This boy can not get any cornier. You cast your gaze upon the moon, sighing profoundly. "How did the wedding planning go? Good?"

"Hm, yeah. Church wedding, big reception. Whole lot of booze binging planned out. And a killer bachelor party the day after the awards. " He jokes through the line and you tell him off in a playful chide. "Benjamin Jones, you better-"

"I won't. I won't." You sense his gentle smile from your end, checking the time and reluctantly coming to the decision to hit the hay since you'll be leaving early as well. As much as you want to recreate those late night conversations you once had with him, you can't.

"Hey?" You coo somehow.

"Yeah?"

"I gotta sleep. I have to meet Lucy at the airport at 5."

He gives out a throaty grunt as if he's pulling himself up. "Tragic. I'll see you in LA then, love."

Your lips curl up into the gentlest smile with the moonlight blessing it from the window. "You too. Tell yourself and the rest- especially Brian and Roger- that I'm gonna be rooting for you guys to get up on that stage."

"I will. Thanks for the motivation, Y/N. All the words coming from you just mean so much to me. To all of us." And in his voice, you can hear his utmost sincerity and fondness just highlighting his tone.

"Anytime. Now let me sleep, you bloke. "

"Haha, alright. Love you tons, love."

Shifting your eyes to the sky once more, you reply, allowing the words you're about to say to mean more.

"I love you too, Ben. Good night."

- - - - - - -

24th

You had promised Lucy you'd arrive 10 minutes earlier than her and you really didn't hold on to that promise. As soon as you arrive at the airport nearly bathing in sweat and deaf from the multiple rings Lucy has given you, you both take off to the waiting area with your heavy luggage where you spend an hour and a half waiting for your flight to board. Joe has sent two texts telling you that he's still in the middle of having coffee and it's a questionable action since he's 8 hours behind you and is expected to be asleep by now.

You reply with a simple, "See you there" before heeding to the call of your flight number from the speakers.

All the rushing and you haven't had a bite of breakfast yet. An eleven hour flight doesn't sound so bad, as long as you make sure you don't reel everytime you get up to use the bathroom and acquire jet lag the moment you land from a direct flight without any pit stops. The flight is long as you are awake but by the time you fall asleep in between hours, it shortens the duration. The pilot announcing your arrival wakes you and Lucy from the latest nap you've had on the plane. After gathering your luggage and answering a couple of phone calls on you way down the plane, the arrival area is where you spy Joe behind the red tapes, a scarf around his neck and an eager look plastered on his pale skin, just waiting for you and Lucy to step in. His eyes crinkle as he sees you both treading towards him with a handful of luggage. He greets you both with a tight hug and ushers you to his car, assisting with the transport of your things.

He's booked you in the hotel he's staying in to, of course, avoid some minor inconveniences especially since the awards start at 7 pm and you drastically need Lucy to help you prepare. Upon reaching the hotel, he leads the both of you up the second floor and into the hall for your rooms.

Apparently you and Lucy will be sharing which is the great and Joe will be staying in the room right across yours.

After giving yourselves a brief tour of the room, you settle in and unpack your essentials.

"Y/N, bring out your fighter!" Lucy declares with a giggle, pulling the dress she's chosen from her suitcase. It's a purple, off-the-shoulder, crepe satin and black velvet gown that cascades gracefully against the stable air.

Your eyes widen in awe at how it looks against the light. "No need for a match, Luce. You win," you raise your hands up in surrender, "that's- that's catching more eyes. From Rami of course."

"Oh shut it. You'll look smooth in black." She clicks her tongue and smoothens it at the edge of the bed. You whip out yours and hold it up high, wavering a little at how you'll look like in it tonight. How fortunate you were to find 3-inch, black pumps closeted when you were 'panic packing' the night before. You take it out from your suitcase and set it aside before striding towards the blinds, pulling it up and beholding the breathtaking view of Hollywood before you.

Your first visit to the US and you're already headed to the Oscars. This isn't the real life. This is just fantasy.

- - - - - - - -

"We're having a dinner party afterwards, I don't see any reason for two sandwiches before the ceremony." Staring blankly at how Joe's handling waiting for you and Lucy to emerge from your room, Rami purses his lips quizzically– he's come by to pick up his girl as well. The two men look dashingly handsome in their black tuxes and slick hairstyles– their individual charm strong as they highly anticipate for your appearances.

Joe swallows the chunk in his mouth before speaking. "I'm stressed."

"About what?"

He bites down on his last sandwich, dusting his hands off crumbs as he reasons out. "It's the Oscars. Biggest ceremony of the year."

With a shake of his head, Rami opens his mouth to protest but pauses as the creak of the door behind them butts in their conversation. Lucy - exquisite in her cascading satin gown and look dotted in light to moderate make up - emerges with her purse in hand and eyes heady on Rami.

Joe wishes he could loosen some hinges in Rami's jaw since the latter has got his mouth agape at her girlfriend's evening look. To him, she is his ultimate award and he wouldn't have it in any other way.

"Hey, babe." Lucy smiles delicately and kisses Rami's cheek, to which he responds with a breathless, "Luce, you look..." His starstruck silence finishing his compliment for her. Joe hums, agreeing with crossed arms. "I wish I was as pretty as you, Boynton."

"You boys look handsome, too." Lucy giggles softly and Joe begins to wonder. "Where's Y/N?"

"She'll be out in three...two..." As Lucy deliberately pauses her countdown, you come out of the room, head down as you feel a bit hesitant to continue but you regain your confidence and look up timidly– your appearance putting Joe in the same position Rami was just in with Lucy. The dress really agrees to your form, contouring every curve of your body in a semi-sensual way, guaranteeing that you'll be snagging some looks tonight. Your (H/C) hair frames your face intricately with your light make-up emphasizing the color of your eyes and lips. The light brush of air against the skin of your exposed back makes you clutch your purse tighter, deeming it uncomfortable.

Lucy smiles proudly at her work and that is you. "Well, how does she look Joe?"

Joe lets out a hitched exhale, hazel eyes wide as a sinkhole and a slacked jaw struggling to budge. "Like my girlfriend."

"You wish." You can't help but retort playfully and he brings his finger up to his lips, hushing you. Rami compliments you as well and you thank him as the four of you make your way to the elevator– your arm on Joe's and Lucy's on Rami's.

You've taken a limo for the sake of convenience, since Joe and Rami wanted to propose a pre-toast - with the champagne present in the vehicle - to their successes and hard work in the past year. You have faith they'd bring home an Oscar; considering how spectacular their work was portraying the members of Queen. You're also thrilled that you're about to meet Brian and Roger.

The limo parks just across Dolby Theatre and the four of you climb out, making your way arms-in-arms into the place crowded with paparazzi and attendees. You see yourself as a small fish swimming in a sea full of majestic dolphins. This is the big leagues right here and you're not even one bit of a celebrity– at least you feel like you aren't one. After a couple of shoulder brushes with either familiar and unfamiliar faces and escaping the blinding flashes of the cameras, the four of you reunite with Gwilym who has Roger and Brian present by his side. You are introduced to the two Queen members by Joe and you couldn't be any more happier to meet them in person. A couple of moments of interacting with the rest of the crew and cast, Ben joins the 'party' looking sharp and admittedly drop-dead gorgeous in his white tuxedo blazer and slicked back hair with Rosy by his side.

Before he could even reply to the greetings of his friends, he lays his eyes on you and for a while– his pupils dilate and his expression flits faster than he can command it to. He can't believe what or who he is seeing before him amidst all the glam. Letting go of Rosy's hand for a minute, he steps close to you, indescribably captivated. "Y/N...h-hey."

You keep your composure, musing back. "Hey. You look left out, outfit-wise, and a like a million bucks."

It takes him nearly five seconds to reply with the way hes has his eyes transfixed on you. It's like he's seeing you for the first time. Your evening look setting him back to Homecoming night and something inside him just tweaks. You avoid his mindless gaze and break the silence, trying your hardest not to flush. "Ben, please talk. It's just really-"

"You look...beautiful." He breathes out like he had just gotten up from under water.