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princesssmars · 9 months ago

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i'd love just about anyone, so why was it you?

a victoria neuman x reader

your talent for singing is finally starting to take you places in the city of lights. so why did it have to introduce you to a woman who might ruin it all?

wc : 10.248

contains : fxf relationship. readers hair and skin aren't described. fluff. angst.nsfw including sex and language. the french. barely proof-read.

a/n : i cant believe there are no fics for this fine ass woman yet but i am nothing but a pioneer idk. in my daydreams this was like mafia au victoria but i literally never write or dream of those so i opted out lmao. go watch gen v. everyone always talks about how good the cover is but nonante-cinq by angele is a beautiful album so i recommend listening to that for french vibes. enjoy <3

it was the most stereotypical and overplayed song ever, but damn did you love la vie en rose.

just the concept of the song was romantic to you. to live every day like it would be magnificent, like you could know a day would be your last and look back at it and not regret a single thing. it meant looking at the world with a positivity that these days was mostly faked or artificial.

after the life you've lived, the things you've seen firsthand, you need that positive light in your life more than anything else. especially right now, as your manager is hounding you over the phone about your next gig.

now you loved your manager, nancy, you really did. she took you in and was honest when no one else would be, stood by you when no one else wanted to give you a real chance. but sometimes it felt like she didn't really believe in you. obviously, she believed you had talent, or else she would have 'left you in the dust for the rats to pick apart,' in her own words. it was almost like she couldn't fathom that what you had was real, like you didn't truly deserve all the things that were coming to you.

but as long as you were paying her, she didn't bother to speak up on it.

you were listening to her drone on and on into the speaker from your phone, holding the object up to your ear with one hand as you hold a menu to order something from the cafe waitress who's waiting beside you.

"ill have an uhhhh... le marie antoinette, and a coffee with sugar and cream please," you hand the menu to the waitress after she writes down your order, heading back into the cafe with a smile. this cafe was one of your favorites, nestled below an apartment building in one of the inner city arrondissements so you could sit outside beneath an umbrella and admire the city before you. "nancy, i don't see why i can't just...politely turn it down? it sounds like it's a glorified pin-up girl gig, le bellevilloise is offering for me to sing there exclusively for three months-"

"no, that's what im trying to tell you if you'd let me finish." you can hear nancy's telltale sigh through the phone. she had a short temper when she was stressed, something you sadly had in common, and you could hear her clicking a pen through the receiver. "this is an international gala slash fundraiser, attended by the one percent of the one percent. billionaires, senators, diplomats, everything. the event organizer asked for you specifically, so turning it down is a bad look. aka, you're doing it. go out and get a pretty dress. ill send you more details later."

the phone shut off and you let out a huff of air, crossing your right leg over your left beneath the table. once you have your meal and bite into your pastry you can't help but close your eyes at how good it tastes; the combination of the crunch of the macarons, the near-overwhelming sweetness of the cream, and the savory juice that leaks from the raspberries never gets old.

you don't know how you feel about this whole gala thing. sure its a great way to make connections and earn a fat stack of cash that will probably last you few weeks, but you've learned before that the people that you most admire, celebrities, politicians, even superheroes, can't be trusted. and being in a room full of them to perform wasn't at the top of your christmas wish list.

but like everyone else in the world, you were finding money hard to pass up on. just by the lowball nancy told you, you'd be able to comfortably pay the next month's rent and fix up your electric scooter, maybe even enough to save up for that beautiful flat you saw online with the grand windows and nice floor plan.

it'd only be a few hours of singing and kissing up to a bunch of snobs and you'd be done. easy peasy.

finding a dress wasn't to hard. your modeling connections from before you started to focus on singing gave you access to a few, good quality clearance pieces for your picking. you figure that the people you were performing for would prefer something classy and elegant, so you picked out a sleeveless black dress with black opera gloves, accessorized by a diamond necklace and earrings. one of your stylist friends, alex, who you asked to help do up your hair told you 'you're definitely gonna shag a rich man looking like this, just ask them if they have any friends for me!' and after a quick 'please don't wish that upon me' and a spritz of perfume you were ready.

the hours before you got on stage were nothing short of both nerve-racking but exhilarating. you rode in a standard taxi, your slight jitters noticed by the slightly balding man in the front. he eyes you pretty oddly when you got in the car before using you if you were a model, telling you that his daughter would like an autograph if you were. you felt slightly flustered when you had to tell him you weren't, but gave him some tips to tell his daughter if she wanted to pursue it. after around twenty minutes of driving through the city the car stops and you're escorted by a crew member into a grand building, those types you pass by and dream of getting the chance just to step into.

after that its a rush of meeting the event planner who gives you another run down of the evening and then meeting with the band members, a nice group of jazz players who you had heard about on the news for their blends of old and new methods of performing music. they played you a piece on their instruments in their dressing room, and it felt like hanging out with old friends listening to tunes as one twirled you around and the others laughed and the air felt warm and fuzzy.

later its time for your set, where you'll sing as the guests come in and take occasional breaks to save your breath and let whoever is hosting this talk. so you get up on your mini stage, make sure you look alright and you're in tune with the band, and then you do what you do best.

you've never felt better than how you do while you sing. every time you do so you tell a story, tales of success and tragedy and love and heartache. while you sing your favorite thing to do is to admire the crowd. when you were younger it gave you horrible stage fright, but as you grew up and saw just how much people loved your voice it made you confident, if not the tiniest bit narcissistic.

as you look out at the guests of tonight you see what's expected. important and powerful men donned in suits, their wives standing on their arms in glamourous gowns, you swear that you even see some fairly famous celebs in the mix, and they were all listening intently to you and your voice.

and that's when you saw her. near the back of the room with a glass of red wine in her hand, dark hair flowing over her shoulders, and darker eyes trained on you. in this profession you get used to people staring at you for hours on end, but something about this woman unnerves you slightly.

a short while later your set is over and after a round of applause the organizer tells you to enjoy yourselves, and that you're free to indulge in whatever food is left. after a brief touch-up in the dressing room and making sure you look presentable, you head out to get yourself something to eat. you keep getting stopped by people telling you how beautiful your performance was, how they'd love to get in contact with your agent to book you for future events, and your regular dose of creepy old guys hitting on you. but besides that things were going pretty well.

some servers were waking around with trays of champagne, but you figured since everything was complimentary you would treat yourself to something stronger. you head to the bar and order yourself a strong cocktail, and as soon as you finish your order a figure sits on the stool next to yours.

"get me a scotch on the rocks, thanks."

you glance at them from the corner of your eye and feel your heart beat faster when you see

it's the woman from before. from this close distance, you can admire her entirely, and god is she gorgeous. she looks so put together, not a hair out of place, and wearing a perfectly tailored suit that makes you guess she's some kind of wealthy businesswoman.

after not so secretly checking her out, she turns her body towards you and looks at you with a smile.

"im sure you already know, but you have an enchanting voice."

you look down bashfully, thinking the same about her. she speaks like she's so sure of what she's saying like there's no room for debate or argument.

"thank you. no matter if i know or not, it doesn't take much to make me a little nervous every time i perform."

the bartender brings over both of your drinks and she tilts hers to you.

"trust me, theres no need. you're nothing but a natural, one of the best singers i've ever heard."

"ah, now you're exaggerating. is there a reason you're complimenting me like you're being paid to do so?"

she shakes her head, setting down her glass of liquor with a clink. "not anything nefarious, if that's what you're thinking. just glad i get to talk to a beautifully talented woman."

jeez, she was laying it on thick. normally this was coming from some fifty-year-old man with greasy skin and weird teeth, but it felt nice coming from her. she was obviously gorgeous, leaving her body language open in case you wanted to decline and she would walk away in a moment's notice.

"im glad i get to talk to you too, miss?"

"victoria. its a pleasure to talk to you, miss y/n."

for around an hour or two the both of you sat at that bar, blocking out the fake laughs of investors and boisterous noises of people who got a little too friendly with the free champagne. she was so attentive to you. asking about what got you into singing and what brought you to paris by your non-native accent. you normally kept the finer details of your past a close-guarded secret, but you figured there couldn't come any harm from telling this attractive stranger a few things about yourself before never seeing her again.

"you're telling me at only sixteen years old, you flew to paris by yourself and made a living for yourself? you've got balls on you, sister."

"yeah yeah, but im nothing special. i just got tired of all the bullshit in the u.s., y'know? the greed, the cynicism, the-"

"superhero bullshit?"

you giggled while she smirked, observing your smile and how it made your eyes squinch.

"well i wouldn't put it like that but...superheros? really? its just, they make it so american, in a really really annoying way. i just couldn't deal with that being a reality. and where better than paris? it seems like voughts all but forgotten about it recently, thank god.”

"i understand. and i know we just met, but it does suit you. 'beautiful runaway finds passion, life, and love in the city of lights'. best cliche there is."

"and what a damn good cliche it is to be. although i haven't been that lucky on the love front."

her eyebrow raises and her nail traces around the rim of her glass.

"im sorry but i simply cant believe that. someone like you would have people lining up for a chance to talk to you, let alone date you."

you dryly chuckle before taking another long swig of your glass of champagne, dancing just on the edge of being intoxicated. you understood why everyone else was drinking this, it was sweet but strong.

"people have tried, of course. but sadly most of my escapades end in tragedy. very melodramatically. but enough about me, I'm guessing this isn't gonna go my way and you have someone waiting for you at home?"

"im offended you still think so low of me. but no, there was someone but it didn't work out. now its just me and my daughter."

god, she was a milf. if there was a god you prayed he would let you get lucky tonight.

"well, im sorry to hear it didnt work out."

"are you really?"

she looks at you with a smirk on her face.

"no, im not."

that was all she needed to ask you to come back with her to her hotel.

and not just any hotel, she was rich enough to be spending two weeks in the damn ritz. asking again what she did for a living didn't get you very far, the only hint you got being that it helped her change the world. ominous but whatever. it had to be legitimate if she was invited to that gala.

the cautious and common sense side of you is snuffed out for the night the moment she set her hand over the covered skin of your thigh in the car, the feeling of her hand on your lower back leading you through the pristine lobby of the hotel, that same hand helping you take off your dress and take you apart slowly over the rest of the night.

when you wake up the sun is peeking through the curtains, the softness of the sheets your laying on calling you back to sleep before you get up and look around.

you only got a few seconds to admire the room last night before victoria was on you, and now in the light of day you could truly take everything in. you find a note left by the woman, letting you know she had to leave temporarily for an important job thing and that she'd be back my lunch, inviting you to call up room service and enjoy the room intil then.

you were expecting for her to tell you to pack your shit up and go, so despite the oddness this was a nice surprise. besides, there was no way you were gonna pass up on ordering a five-star breakfast you didnt have to pay for.

after indulging in a meal brought by room service and finding ways to pass the time, you text your manager after she happily lets you know that your night was a success and that your payment should be cleared shortly. while you're in the middle of wondering if you should answer her query about the host wondering where you wandered off to last night, the sound of a door opening makes your head jerk towards the small entry area, victoria coming in through the doorway dressed in a tan suit and carrying a large black briefcase on her arm.

"ah, youre still here!,” she sets her bag on a glass table near the door and strides into the room, eyes connected with yours the whole time. you weren’t feeling nervous before, but under her gaze you wonder if maybe you should have taken that free meal along with some tiny soaps from the bathroom and headed back home.

“yeah, figured i’d stick around for whatever. besides, i had to stay and blame you for my manager thinking i got kidnapped.”

“i’ll make sure to apologize and send her an edible arrangement. besides, i hope to take up more of your time in the future.”

your eyes bulge so hard you’re sure you look like a moron. you cover it up by getting up to get yourself another cup of coffe from the tray the food came in on.

“well i should’ve guessed this was more than a one night stand when you allowed me to order up breakfast. but now i have to admit i’m slightly scared you’re actually plotting to traffick me.”

"trust me, that wouldn't be good for business. id just like to see you some more, if that would be alright with you.

was that an actual question? after the night you had and the way she’s been treating you, you didn’t see much of a choice except to say yes.

she tells you that a few hours later she has a flight back to america, but that she wouldn't mind spending the day with you if you're free. you agree to get a little bite to eat and it turns into a whirlwind day of showing her around the city you call your home. she has to wear giant sunglasses the whole time and have a mysterious security detail not too far behind, but you wouldn't change anything about it.

at the end of it all, she bids you goodbye in front of your taxi, admiring the cute outfit she bought for you so you wouldn't have to go home in your dress from the night prior, promising that she'll keep in touch with you once she gets settled in back a new york, jokingly telling you she'll send you a postcard. as you sit in the back of the taxi, your heart inflates a little as you take in the events of the last day. you never liked to mix business with pleasure in this way, partly because most of those business people were gross perverts and also that it could damage your career beyond repair, but with victoria you can't help but think that it was worth it.

eventually, a few days pass by, and the only calls you've gotten are from friends congratulating on what they heard was another great performance. and as nice as all the praise and the new gigs you started to get felt, the longer you heard no word back from victoria, it started to eat away at you inside.

back at your favorite cafe you sit with two of your oldest friends, jamie and chloe, as they ramble about the details of their changing lives and jobs. you don't know when you zoned out but eventually, chloe's manicured finger lightly pokes at your cheek, giggling when you make a playful motion to bite it.

"where'd you go just now? take me with you before jamie keeps talking about his new lover."

"hey!" jamie pouts, "you're just jealous because i've been regularly having passionate sex allll night long while you're still vying over your boss." you hear a shocked gasp behind him and you all turn to see an elderly couple looking at jamie like he's said the most blasphemous thing they've ever heard.

"really classy, james." you snort.

"what the hell! you're supposed to be on my side! everyone has noticed how you've been in a better mood since that gala. alex told us how they checked up on you afterwise and you showed up a day later with a new outfit and a hickey on your neck."

"that is- god, that’s so intrusive and so like them,” you rolled your eyes. you knew as soon as alex saw you that morning that they’d be gossiping to everyone about the state they saw you in. “and i don’t kiss and tell like that. at least not in public like this.”

“ok, so we’ll stop by your place tonight with some wine and talk all about it tonight. agree?”

“what? no-”

“agree!” chloe beams and shakes hands with jamie across the table, blowing you kisses before leaving her share of the bill on the table and leaving with some excuse of having to be somewhere. you glare at jamie as a warning before he gives you a kiss on the cheek and does the same. you grumble before biting into your muffin.

a few hours later you’re sitting on your soft sofa with jamie’s head in your lap and chloe on the other side, talking and laughing about old stories from your jobs. you take a sip of merlot right before jamie brings up what you were hoping they’d forgotten about by now.

“ok ok, enough chatter. seriously, chlo, you cackle like a seagull. y/n, when are you going to tell us about this mystery lover of yours? do you need another glass of wine to start talking?”

“don’t even think about pouring me another glass. look, there’s not much to say, ok? i was singing, she was staring at me from across the bar, we flirted a little, that was it!”

they stared.

“you want more?”

“how could we not? we haven’t seen you like this with anyone! not since we took you on that tourist tour on the seine!”

that…that took you for a spin. you remembered it clear as day, them tugging you along when they’d heard since you came to paris you’d been focusing on building up your image and working. it was more a joke, but the lights of the boat, the sky and the lights made you feel like you were in the most perfect moment of your life. hearing them compare that to how you looked now had a nervous feeling building in your gut.

“we spent the night together. and it was…good. really good. she let me stay while she went out, bought me a new outfit then said she’d be in touch.”

your friends are silent. way too silent. you’re afraid they’re about to laugh and judge you before they’re squealing and tackling you, pulling back when you groan after you almost spill your wine on your clothes.

"god, why are you always the lucky one? this isn't fair! at all!" chloe groans while dramatically resting her head on your shoulder, jamie still giggling as the wine clearly starts to take an effect on him. "please, please tell us what happens next before i scream."

"no thats- i mean, thats it. so far. for now." you stutter along your words as your friends' faces go blank yet again, except this time without a hint of a chuckle or smile.

"what the hell do you mean 'that's it.'? she ghosted you?" jamie gasps.

"no, she didnt ghost me-"

"sweetheart, im sorry to say this but you have been ghosted. in a really dickhead way."

"its not like that! she's a busy person with a serious job and a kid and responsibilities!"

you briefly hear chloe snicker "milf?" before you roll your eyes.

"she's gonna contact me. and even if she doesn't, maybe it was just a nice one-time thing! everyone knows I'm great at those."

jamie snickers before chloe smacks his shoulder in a second.

"why? why did you laugh?"

they share a look before she smacks his shoulder again.

"would you stop? i have pains, you know this. but y/n, we know you. we love you. but your latest stints haven't been...the most successful. or left you in the best headspaces."

"he's right, honey. remember the last girl, hannah? one of the worst situationships i've ever seen. you told us you would be alright when she broke it off and then we found you at that lousy bar at eleven in the morning..."

you start biting at your lip. there was nothing you hated more than when they told you the truth about how you could act. it wasn't your fault that all the time your relationships got messy, or that you got attached a little quickly. people didn't understand but a life like yours could be lonely. standing up on a stage and performing for people who want you to do just that and only that: sing and look like a glamourous pin-up doll. most of the time its the other performers who even bother to ask if your throat is alright after singing for hours.

so yes, sometimes you rushed into relationships. and you might have done it again in the dumbest way possible.

"i just...she let me stay after, y'know? and she came back and brought me with her again. why go through that effort just to leave me behind like trash?" your friends pouted before closing in to comfort you, rubbing your back and giving you small affirmations.

for a month you go into a rut. unless it's performing or going to the dentist for a checkup you don't leave your house. you become pretty good acquaintances with the grocery delivery boy, benny, who started panicking when he realized he forgot one of your items until you assured him it was fine. it wasn't the first time you'd grown so oddly attached to a romantic prospect, and it wasn't the first time you'd gotten hurt by it. you spend your time moping on your couch and binge-watching your favorite show for the third time when your phone buzzes from beside you.

nancy schmancy : call me.

you rolled your eyes. she could have just called you in the first place, but no. she had to be extra about it. you press the call button and don't have to wait even five seconds for her voice to ring in your ear.

"do you want to know what mister barbier just emailed me?"

"i think you already have that answer for me."

"he said, and i quote, 'tell y/n i send my best wishes. her performance last night was hauntingly beautiful, and i'm hoping it was one of her greatest acts yet.'"

"if you ask me, it sounds like i did a pretty good job."

"it sounds like he thought you were singing your damn suicide note!" she groaned, and you could hear her face scrunching from over the phone. "i don't know what is going on with you recently, and i don't want to sound insensitive, but if you can't manage to keep your work and personal life separate, even i can't help you make it far in this business. clients may say they want you to be expressive but they only mean so far. unhappy music means unhappy customers, capeche?"

"i understand, nancy. ill send a personal apology to mister barbier."

"good. ill call you soon to let you know about any new gigs. take care of yourself. seriously."

the line clicks and you toss your phone onto the couch and take another sip of sauvignon blanc from your rose-shaped wine glass. it pained you to admit it, but nancy had a point. if you kept letting yourself mope in your feelings you'd run out of people who wanted you to sing, and if the point came where you were out of gigs...you didn't even want to think about it. if you weren't singing you weren't living.

only a few hours after that call you manage to get back to normal. you go out and get your own groceries, deciding to indulge yourself and buy the ingredients for some recipe you saw online months ago. one of your clients cries at your performance, ecstatically telling you they'll be in talks with your manager to set up a stable contract. things really start to look up. two weeks later you even manage to get the number of a cute girl, elise, a tall woman with dyed hair who reached for the same vintage music box as you at an open market.

you're smiling as you look down at the messy ink on a slip of paper, the numbers and tiny smily face distracting you as you enter the hallway to your apartment. so distracted that you nearly trip over a object on the floor, looking down to see...a bouquet?

a really gorgeous bouquet you notice as you bend over to pick it up. its a collage of dusty blues and off-colored ivories, and when you brought it closer to your nose for a whiff you felt a sense of bliss. you bring it into your apartment with a skip in your step before you spot a piece of paper among the flowers, plucking it from the collection and reading it over.

upon closer inspection, you can see its a postcard, the cover a flattering shot of the statue of liberty with text that reads "love from new york city!". you try to calm your heart down at the location and the 'love' part, but you've already gotten your hopes up when you turn the card around to read the message:

xxx-xxx-xxxx

sorry for the wait. i'll make it up to you, angel.

you'd never felt so conflicted as you did in the past five seconds. half of you was vindicated that yes, this attractive woman didnt leave you high and dry and did actually have a deeper interest in you, but the other part was angry. and embarrassed that you were angry, because again, you spent less than a day with this woman, she didn't owe you anything. but also yes the hell she did.

before you could get yourself together you were harshly tapping the number into your cell, biting at your lip as the phone slowly rings.

"y/n, is that you?" echoes from the line, victorias voice sounding and running over your head like soft silk. no, no, stop it. focus.

"howd you know it was me? im sure you have other people who'd be calling you this late."

"certainly not anyone with a phone number from paris. besides, i was hoping it'd be you."

"well, i would have been flattered two weeks ago but unfortunately i dont think your words could phase me right now."

she sighs and the line goes silent. you feel bad for being catty for a few seconds before you brush it off. she's the one who played with your emotions and promised to call you but never did. she had this coming.

"im sorry, really i am. i've been busy with things at work and my daughter-"

damn it, she pulled the kid card again.

"i just...dont like being lied to. or led on. maybe its my fault for beeing too clingy-"

"no, no. dont apologize. if it means anything youve been on my mind for weeks now."

"yeah, same here. except my thoughts havent been all that nice." you laugh.

"deserved. and id like to make it up to you."

"oh yeah? let me guess, this time we'll spend two nights together?"

"close. how about two weeks. in new york."

you don't know if you should laugh. you feel like you should, so you do. but she isn't.

"you...you're being serious."

"im being serious."

what do you even say? what do you even do? of course, whatever higher power there is would make your life stable and steady for the past few months then throw this in to shake you up. you really should have been expecting it, considering...

you shake yourself back to the present. victoria is still waiting on the other line, unwilling to rush you into a decision, apparently. you'd applaud her for her chivalry if you weren't so stunned.

"victoria, come on. we've only met once, and while it was nice it was brief. now you want me to upend my life and career to jet off to america? it sounds crazy."

"you make me a bit crazy, honestly. besides, you were telling me in bed you haven't been in the states since you left, i have a feeling you miss it more than you let on."

you shuffle in your spot, reminded that you're standing in your cold-ass kitchen and you haven't changed out of the outfit you wore out today. but half of your uncomfortableness is from a feeling gnawing at your chest because she's right. at this point you can barely remember the night you left your childhood home, but you know it was rushed. you wanted to forget everything.

"i think you're also forgetting that i have a blossoming career here. are you gonna pay my definitely going to be pissed off manager her wages? plus i was supposed to be first pick for this really good gig-"

"i'll pay for everything, i promise. dont forget that i have connections. in two weeks they''ll be singing you praises across the globe."

you close your eyes and take in a breath.

"can you make my ticket first class?"

one thing you didnt miss about america? just how...much everything was, all the time.

your flight was quiet. victoria didnt hesitate to book you an expensive ticket, almost taking offense to your request for a nice one and scheduling you for business class, sending you a text to get lots of rest in the ultra-luxe beds on the plane. it was probably one of the best nights sleeps you'd had in months.

when you got off the plane there were two tall escorts holding a sign with your last name on it, taking the suitcases from your hands before you could say anything and leading you into a sleek black car. a voice in the back of your head starts screaming but you ignore it. for now.

the men in the car give you some basic rundowns, how they'll constantly be hovering over you during your stay for your "protection", and that they'll be taking you to settle into a hotel until victoria makes contact, and the little voice starts freaking out again and telling you that you've slept with and are fraternizing with a mob boss. at least it's more exciting than your last few flings.

the car goes silent after that, and you put in your earbuds as you watch the city go by. you weren't from new york, but you loved watching movies set in the bustling cityscape. the buildings really are humongous, and you see so many different types of people it sets your brain on a whirlwind.

you look back down at your phone after the fifth 'the seven' advertisement in one block.

yet again you're led into a clearly extremely expensive hotel, breezing through reception before you are led to a luxuriant hotel room, the bodyguards ignoring you as you giggle and flop onto the bed, waving them off when they tell you they'll be posted outside.

the sheets feel heavenly on your skin, and with the soft sunshine from the window beaming down on you and the gentle hustle and bustle of new york outside, you think you could fall asleep in a minute. but, begrudgingly, you peel yourself form the bed and open your suitcase to start putting your clothes away before taking a quick shower in the giant bathtub.

just as you exit the shower and wrap your body in a towel, your phone starts ringing and as soon as you read the 'v' in the contact name you push answer and bring it to your ear.

"hello? vic?"

"hey, hon. eager to talk to me?"

"you called me. and 'hon'? really? we've moved to petnames already?"

"figured id start making up for those weeks with no contact. and id like to do so again tonight. i wanna bring you somewhere."

your mouth quirks up in a smile as you re-adjust the towel around your body, the phone nearly slipping from its quick placement between your phone and ear, "id really like that. i hope its out to dinner, i didnt care to eat any of the plane food."

“yes, it’s to dinner. but its up to you if you want it to be fancy or casual. i know its tacky but there’s this pretty cute french place near where i live...”

“that vaguely sounds like an invitation to your place, but ill let it slide. are you gonna pick me up or are your special agents going to escort me everywhere for the next few weeks?”

“special agents? what agents?”

a bead of water drips from your neck down your back and it feels like the tip of a knife. a pressure builds in the back of your throat and your fingers grip the fabric of your towel. “what…that’s a joke, right?”

her laughter rings in your ear and you are seconds away from hanging up the call.

“sorry, sorry. i sometimes have a weird sense of humor. you'll get used to it.”

“i doubt it.”

“and i'm hopeful. i'll let you go so you can get ready, i'll be by in under an hour.”

you hang up after a sweet goodbye and gently sit on the toilet. your brain is rushing to catch up after the conversation like your body goes on autopilot when you hear victoria's voice. its terrifying and its thrilling. and you don't know why a part of you likes the feeling.

after you brush your teeth, do some quick skincare, debate over shaving just in case, and spend twenty minutes picking out a cute outfit, you finally hear the gentle knocking on the door while you're double-checking over the content of your purse.

rushing to open the door, you're greeted with the sight of a smiling victoria, her hands tucked into the pants of her clearly expensive pinstriped pantsuit. you're admiring the look of her hair tucked back into a ponytail when she's reaching forward and pressing a soft kiss to your cheek.

"you look perfect. come on, i made us a reservation."

and it turned out to be a perfect night. she did end up taking you to the french place, allowing you to order whatever you wanted. that place was weirdly empty, only a handful of other patrons inside. you were pleased to see that the waitress was french herself, having a small chat about the customs and foods she missed while she praised the authenticity of the food at the restaurant.

only a day and you had already forgotten how forward the people back home could be, because the waitress throws a subtle look at victoria and compliments you on finding such an attractive woman. when she leaves vic just smiles.

“ok, id say at this point we’re doing pretty good with the communication thing, right?” you ask, taking a sip of the pricey wine your date ordered.

“yeah, id say that.”

you finger the rim of your glass, the nerves getting to you before you ask your question. "i want you to tell me what your job is. your actual job, not some vague ass title. you have security following gus around, so i feel like i should know."

"no, no, you're right. i just didnt wanna scare you off. or have you think differently of me once i told you." she sighs, thumbing the napkins on the table. "i work in the government. i'm a congresswoman, to be exact."

you don't doubt she's a politician for a second, because she shows no hint of nervousness at your lack of emotion.

"are you...a good congresswoman?"

"i don't really know how to answer that." she laughs.

"i'm sorry. i knew you were important enough to be at that gala, but a politician is...tricky."

she reaches across the table and lays her hand palm up, smiling when you rest yours on top of it. "look, i get it. i should have told you sooner but please understand why i didn't. i wanted to get to know you as normally as possible, without all of the press and politics in the way."

"normally as possible, huh? that includes sleeping together on the first night?"

you're trying to show your acceptance of the situation with your humor, but you can tell victoria can sense your uneasiness at the situation. here you were thinking you had found some under-the-radar millionaire to dote on you and instead, you'd roped in someone whose job was entirely in the public eye that could be put in danger at the flip of a switch.

"how about we finish up and take this back to my place? i'll tell you everything that you wanna know about me. no matter how personal."

you stare into her eyes for a few seconds and decide that she looks genuine, getting confirmation that her daughter is staying with a friend before ending your meal and following her to her place.

for the amount of money she's ready to spend on you, you're surprised to see that victoria lives in a chic but quaint townhome only a twenty-minute walk from the restaurant. she gently takes off your coat and instructs you to sit with her on the couch, pressing on a remote to turn on her fireplace.

after a few hours and two more glasses of wine, victoria had opened up to you about nearly everything in her life. the mysterious death of her birth family, being adopted by a man who helped pushed her to go into a political career, her polite but loveless marriage with her ex. she even shows you a picture of zoe that she has in her wallet, taking the chance to gush over her daughter. she seems like such a sweet girl.

maybe it's the wine or maybe it's the way vic is opening up to you so freely, but you decide to tell her more about your past. how you always wondered why you barely stuggled moving to another continent at such a young age, or the fact that you dont even remeber why you had the drive to leave your parents home in the first place. you didnt even remember the last words you said to each other.

and throughout it all she's nothing if not attentive, she doesnt ask questions unless you give her permission too, keeping her eyes on you and gently placing her hand over yours.

you feel a turning in your stomach when she moves a stray hand of hair behind your ear. you told yourself to try taking things slow this time, but your body is starting to feel fuzzy and shes looking at you like she wants to devour you.

she decides to indulge you and gently brushes her lips against yours, smiling at the way your breath staggers. your head moves forwards to finaly get her to kiss you but she jerks her head back.

"i want you to tell me what to do."

god, your stomach feels hot. this is new, but a really arousing style of new. the last time you both slept together she had taken a careful but unwavering charge, unraveling you with a steady hand a sweet smile.

"cmon just...please?"

"no. tell me what you want me to do."

you sigh and bite at your lip. "i want you to lay me down and fuck me. right now."

so she laid you down and she did. there were no words to describe how much you enjoyed that night on her couch, the way she could read your body like a book and brought you to ecstasy again and again and again...

and when you wake up a soft blanket is draped over your body, a brekfast of coffee and some crepes set in front of you.

the days after are a whirlwind. discreetly as possible victoria takes you on a tour of new york city, to more expensive restaurants and hidden jewels that most tourists skipped over.

youre lounging in your hotel room when you decide to inform your friends of how your trip is going. while slightly hesitant they seemed more than happy that you were enjoying yourself with someone who took a genuine interest in you.

until you told them her job.

"my love, are you insane? a politician?"

"an american politician?" chloe gasps, continuing off of jamies shock.

"hey, im american too dont forget!"

"of course you are, but please, you understand why this is not good, no?"

"you know how fishy they are, especially with all the supe business going on. that place is getting more dangerous by the day, and i dont think you should be seeing someone whos contirbuting to that."

it pained you to admit it but jamie had a point. the three of you would always laugh in amused horror at how badly things were going on in your birth country, and the politics...it was less than pleasant.

not to mention the supe business. every corner of the world had to deal with the annoyance that was vought and their "products", even france. but so far you'd just had to deal with a few perverted looks from traveling supers and talks of some stupid theme park a few miles out of the city. meanwhile, it seemed like every day a new superhero was being introduced to the American public. it unnerved you.

"i understand. i appreciate both of you looking out for me. trust me, i'll be on my guard for now on." you mumble, picking at the material of your sleeve.

"of course, songbird. we'll call again soon."

the call ends and drop your phone on the nightstand. you look at the eiffel tower cutout in your phone case and your heart aches.

the next morning you're eating a a breakfast of coffee and fruit crepes when your phone rings, dragging your atttention away from the trashy dating show you were watching on the bedroom's tv. when you see nancy's name you hesitantly answer the call.

"nance? is everything alright?"

"everything is great. i'm just here to check in about your next gig."

"my next- nance, im on vacation. please tell you didnt forget and booked me for a job when im across the ocean."

"no, im not that stupid, hon." she sighs. "i didnt even arrange this job, victoria did. im just the messenger."

you blink once. then twice. you remember vic saying something about helping you with a job but you honestly just thought that was bullshit to get her to come stay with you.

(or get in your pants. but you don’t think you’d be too upset about that now.)

“ok. thank you, nancy. tell me the details.”

it’s a lot more extravagant than you expected. victorias friend, an actual senator, was holding a fundraising event for some government program he and vic were both involved in. nancy wasn’t told what the program was, but that you would have to go through a security debrief before being told you'd be given a team to help you prepare. and picking from a selected closet of dresses. fun.

you ignore the feeling of nervousness that’s building up in your gut. because while all of your gigs were important, they were never this important. you push it down as you call victoria and thank her endlessly, when you tell your friends the minimum amount that you can tell them, and when victoria picks you up from outside your hotel twelve hours before the event even starts.

she pressed a small kiss to your hand, laughing at the grumpy and tired mumble you let out when you sit in the car seat. it only passes once she gives you a coffee she picked up, the caffeine waking you up and putting a smile on your face.

the content feeling turns into shock when you enter victorias' place and see zoe, vic throwing a short explanation of “busy babysitter” over her shoulder as she heads into the kitchen.

its a bit awkward at first, sitting on one couch as she plays on a black nintendo switch on the other. it helps when you ask her about whatever she’s playing, the girl diving into a rant about the farm game she’s playing and how she’s trying to catch a certain type of fish.

victoria comes back with a tray of breakfast for the three of you before asking her daughter how school is going, how her friends are, etc. its nice to get a glimpse into victories private life during the morning, the close bond she has with her daughter. you notice some tension but decide not to bring it up.

the morning goes by too quickly, zoe being picked up to be dropped off at a friend's house after giving you a sweet goodbye and you getting rushed upstairs as the team comes to the townhome to help you prepare. its a nice change, having other people doll you up instead of having to worry about trying to do everything correctly and by yourself. and its a perk you don't have to spend your own money to do it.

the team members are nice but punctual, finishing your hair and makeup in record time with not a second wasted. you barely get time to notice yourself in the mirror before you're ushered into a gorgeous gown, soft fabrics and a chic and elegant style.

when your finished you’re finally allowed to observe yourself while your transportation and is prepared, and it feels like you’re looking at a dream version of yourself.

as you admire yourself in the mirror vic comes up next to you, clearly enjoying herself as her eyes slowly drift up and down your body.

“you look…ethereal.” she whispers, pressing a small kiss to your cheek after you turn to smile at her.

“only because of you. i don’t know how i could ever make this up to you, vic. this is just…”

“trust me, you’ve already done enough.”

while you knew there would be some press at the event, you didn't expect over two dozen paparazzi to quickly start flashing their cameras in your direction as soon as you got out of your ride. questions about who you were wearing, the relationship you had with vic, etcetera etcetera. you would've buckled from the sudden pressure if it weren't for victoria’s steady hand on your waist, the press of her arm through her red pantsuit.

the venue is downright insane, so grand you start to wonder if you're in one of those gilded age mansions you used to read about in new york magazines. climbing pillars and art on the ceiling of the main hall, which you don't get to admire since you’re yet again whisked away to get ready.

after a few more touch ups you aren’t afforded a minute to prepare, guided to the edge of the performance area. the sinking feeling is back in your stomach. the biggest moment of your life and you feel like you’re going to be sick.

the lights dim and you glide onto the stage, able to see the shadows of the guests faces from the flickering table lights. it’s eerie, the amount of them staring up at you with eyes you can’t even see.

you were given a set list a few days prior, only a couple of songs for the payment you would apparently receive after this. the songs piqued your interest, a collection of classical melancholic pieces from around the fifties. vic told you her friend was a vintage nut, but you didn't know why he chose these for you to perform when the event seemed to have an uplifting aura.

either way it felt…different, singing this time. the spotlight was on you and you’ve never felt as beautiful as you did in this moment. everyone was watching you, so hooked on the melodies escaping your body that you could see the emotions brining some people to the edge of their seats.

you don’t let it show but you grow a bit anxious at the sight of supers in their uniforms in the crowd. you don’t see anyone from the seven, but you do notice a woman you recognized from some commercial about climate change and earth preservation, the green of her dress and the nature motifs in her outfit give you a clue as to what her power was.

just when you feel yourself about to slip, dangerously close to hitting a note at a weird pitch, you see victoria, getting deja vu at the sight of her staring at you from the bar like the first night you met. she's looking at you like she's never doubted you for a second, like you're an angel sent from above that's blessed her life.

you hold her gaze when you sing. noticing the soft smile on her face when you sing a lyric about how the feelings in your heart feel so intense you fear you're going insane.

when the first song ends the lights come back on and you're met with a polite yet thunderous applause, the smile on your face so wide your cheeks start to hurt. the presenter comes back on stage, praising your performance with a swipe at his eyes before telling the guests that the host would be on shortly, and after he gives a short speech you'd be back to sing some more. with a gentle nod and wave, you step off the stage.

you feel like you're walking on air, with no doubt that was one of your best performances yet. your emotions got a little intense there but nothing you couldn't manage, and everyone seemed to like it anyway.

you're able to send a quick text and a picture to jamie and chloe before you hear the sound of the door to your quaint dressing room open, not able to turn around before you feel hands around your waist and plush lips on the side of your neck, the sight of victoria wrapped around you in the mirror making butterflies swarm in your stomach.

"i take it you liked my singing?"

"like doesn't even begin to cover it," she mumbles into your neck, raising her head slightly to be able to hold eye contact through the mirror. "i'm so lucky i found you, y'know that?"

you playfully brush her off, telling her you have to freshen up for some mingling before you get back on stage. she gladly helps you with your makeup, and while you weren't expecting her to be so touchy tonight you definitely aren't complaining, especially when her hand starts to drift closer to the space between your legs. it takes an embarrassing amount of mental strength to deny her, promising you'll continue once you go back to her place.

once you're finished getting ready she leads you back out to the hall, introducing you to numerous business people, politicians, celebrities, etc. you try not to fangirl when you meet a singer whose songs you've been obsessed with lately and when she asks you to perform at her cousins wedding. victoria just smirks when she leads you away and you let out a tiny squeal under your breath.

once the networking is done you're able to take the time to sit down and eat some of the catered food, almost moaning at the tastes of the food. you sometimes forget just how good food could be in the states, and these rich people pulled out all the stops. you try not to eat too quickly or impolitely as victoria talks with her tablemates, some people from her job apparently. after the first introductions and praises they gave you you mentally tapped out of the situation. she luckily covers for you when they question your mood, laughing when she tells them you've had a long day of being treated like a singing barbie doll.

everyone in the room quiets down when the hos taakes the stage and starts his speech. he introduces himself as robert stendham, and you feel a little embarrassed that this man gave you the chance to sing here and you didn't even know his name. you're thinking about how odd it is that you weren't introduced before this when he mentions something about the program and you perk up.

"...extend a personal thank you to general jameson for finding the time to escape his duties to fly in and be here with us tonight, and a special thanks to director neuman for helping me with this project and finding the beautifully talented y/n to perform for us tonight."

there was a brief few seconds of applause, victoria looking around and giving out smiles while you wondered what the hell she was the director of.

"as you can see, we have a few supers with us tonight. people like hazelwood, whose efforts against climate change have lead to over a dozen organizations plating millions of trees and clearing millions of pounds of trash for the ocean. because that's what supers are supposed to do-protect us. not act like degenerates who get to do what they want because of their abilities."

your eyebrow twitches, sensing the slight anti-supe propaganda from the end of his speech. well, not anti every supe, just the ones who act like gods among men, which you could understand. but you still felt an uneasy feeling rising in your stomach. you feel vic's palm rest over the top of your hand under the table.

"which is why im incredibly honored that director and congresswoman neuman has extended a hand to me to invest in the federal bureau of superhuman affairs, and to further extend that hand to you to help participate in this monumental institution..."

everything is a fog and your brain taps out once he starts talking about what this burerua does, how they closely monitor supes and jail the ones who've caused public harm. your head feels hot and your chest feels cold, and you can't stop your body from going on auto-pilot and excusing yourself to the bathroom before finding some balcony on the higher floor.

the cold air of new york shocks your body back into normalcy, but the pounding in your head persists. it feels like a panic attack ut so much worse, like your fight or flight has been activated without anything even happening. had you rushed into all of this? chasing a girl and a dream like you were a teenager again?

yet again the door opens behind you and someone comes to stand next to you, able to tell who it is by the scent of brown sugar and the glimpse of dark hair blowing with the slight breeze.

"you alright? mr. brandon from the tech startup was asking about you, tried to make me invest in some room light plant grower hybrid-"

"why did you bring me here?"

you cut her off and the air is quiet, save for the sounds of cars and the city and the wind. it's weird, standing in a tense silence like this with her.

"how are you feeling?" she whispers .

"are you- " you turn, nearly giving yourself whiplash with the speed at which you turn to look at her. the look on her face, like she's just observing you and how you're reacting. it only upsets you more. "are you being serious?"

"yes, i am. tell me."

"no, answer my question first. why are you avoiding it?"

she sighs, brushing a few strands of hair away from her face before reaching to grab your hand, which you hesitantly let her hold.

"as you heard, im part of a buereau that monitors supherhumans, keeping track of them, making sure they cant use their powers for harm. so far we've only had to deal with supes here in the states. until one day, this couple comes in that believe their daughter has used her powers on them."

she reaches for something in her pocket and your grip tightens. she pulls out a polaroid and holds the picture up for you to see. you feel like you're going to vomit when you see you, smiling, standing with your parents in a backyard.

"what...what is this? how'd you get this?"

"the couple gave me this picture, and told me how weird the least few years have been. friends and family asking where their daughter went, how she was doing, a daughter they didnt even remeber having."

you bring a hand up to your head, hopelessly trying to dissipate the splitting headache that's forming.

"but then they said the memories started coming back. glimpses of a child running in the grass, birthday parties, graduations, talent shows-"

"stop, please just stop." you gasp, hunching over as good as you can with the restrictions of your gown. it doesn't even feel like the world is just spinning, it feels like its being played in some celestial game of pool. "so what, you're saying...you're saying i did that? to my parents?"

"yes," she reaches for the side of your face, guiding you to look up at her. "and you can do so much more. you already have."

this can't be happening.

"why do you think people react so emotionally to your singing? you think its just because you're amazing? that's not even half of it."

your breathing is picking up again.

flashes of memories start appearing in your vision. so many happy times with your parents that you forgot, friends that you left behind. how your parents didn't support your half-thought-out plan to become a singer, how you made them forget. made yourself forget.

"i don't want you to think i did all of this just for what i want. i didn't. i care about you, and i want you to help me. but you need to trust me."

the blood is rushing back and from your head, and you think about how weird her eyes look against the backdrop of the city before you pass out.

finally. FINALLY. ong i wrote like 1k in the past day because i said just get this shit over with but its done! 5 months later! hope you enjoyed :)

#the boys #the boys x reader #the boys series #the boys smut #gen v #gen v x reader #victoria neuman x reader #victoria neuman #victoria x reader #victoria neuman fluff #victoria neuman angst #victoria neuman smut

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pierregazly · 1 year ago

Text

ambivalence ꨄ george russell

george russell x fem!gasly!motogp!reader

warnings: mentions of george's crash/dnf from singapore, sad!george, poorly translated french. [wc: 1.5k words]

in which george doesn't know how to feel; he's devastated about his own finish... or lack thereof, but the love of his life just finished P2 in her own race and he can't help the joy from taking over.

mercedesamgf1

tagged georgerussell63

liked by yngasly, georgerussell63, alex_albon, and 406,705 others

mercedesamgf1 he fought SO hard out there. 💪 a heroic effort by george. unlucky to miss out on a well-deserved podium, right at the very end.

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username absolutely gutted for george... but yall really couldn't show up to the podium for your other driver cuz of this??? slimy lol

username it wrecked my heart watching the last 5 mins of that race honest to god (lets celebrate no rbr in the top 3 tho !!!)

username guy signs his contract and starts this shit? sounds like a bit of a mistake huh

username george :((((

yngasly 💗💗

liked by mercedesamgf1 username congrats on ur p2 finish yngasly!!! you deserved it so much

username id sooo have such an ick if i were yngasly rn and my bf and brother both sucked at their jobs today while you kicked ass.... embarizzzing

yngasly

liked by pierregasly, georgerussell63, pecco63, and 175,543 others

yngasly what an incredible weekend, and an even better race! so proud of the whole team, and honoured to be taking home the p2 trophy this weekend. ciao italy 🇮🇹

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pierregasly nous savons tous qui est le gasly le plus talentueux 💪 (we all know who the most talented gasly is)

pierregasly proud of you! 🤍

username that's our fav motogp girl, kicking ass as always yngasly!!!

username god im so obsessed with her

username she was SO close to that p1 position i was screaaaaaming at my computer omf

georgerussell63 proud of you lovely 💗

georgerussell63 can't wait to celebrate with you when i get to see you angel

username i would die for the relationship georgerussell63 and yngasly have... it's so pure love

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georgerussell63 thank you, love. sorry we both can't be celebrating today. yngasly oh georgie...

The plane left the tarmac almost 7 hours ago, just a few short hours left until it landed in Singapore. The plane’s shifty Wi-Fi allowing you to watch the current race going on in the Singapore streets, your boyfriend maintaining a good speed, and a good position throughout most of the race.

Your stomach dropped immediately when the commentator’s voices picked up, George’s name dropping from their lips as the cameramen panned to his car.

The inner turmoil started the moment you watched the replay of the Mercedes hit the wall during the final lap. You, alongside every other person watching the race, were not expecting such a dramatic end to an even more dramatic race.

It had been an incredible day before this, your own P2 finish still pushing high levels of joy through your body. It had been an exhilarating race, after qualifying in P6 just the day before, you were able to jump up 4 positions, holding everyone off behind you as you maintained your speed and composure to finish the race in your highest finish this season.

You were almost immediately carted off to the airport once all your media responsibilities were completed. You had booked a flight to Singapore that would get you there just a few hours after George’s own race was over, allowing you to surprise him after weeks of being apart.

What you didn’t expect was the internal dread that was currently encompassing your body, unsure of how George would react when you arrived at his hotel door after how his race just ended. He would be happy to see you, regardless, but would he be upset at you for coming after the end of your own successful race? Would he want to be alone? Would you end up having to spend the night in Pierre’s room, leaving George to wallow in his own self-pity?

It was all you could think of as the map showed the flight radar on the screen in front of you, the estimated time of arrival dwindling down the closer you got.

You had texted George the moment you saw his crash.

Are you okay???

That looked bad

I saw the video of you walking away, you looked like you were in pain… I’m so sorry mon amour :(

You drove an amazing race… I’m so proud of you

If you want to talk you know you can call me, I love you :(

He had let you know he was a little sore and would probably be back to the hotel late so he likely wouldn’t be calling you tonight. It’s what prompted you to call Pierre the moment you were off the plane, the phone ringing a few times before he picked up.

“Incredible race! I watched a bit of it before we had to get in our cars, you kicked ass. Jumped up 4 places and everything, let’s goooo,” he trailed off the end with a small ‘woot’ of celebration, his gigantic smile prevalent even through the phone.

“Thanks Pear, but I wasn’t calling about the race. My flight just got into Singapore; do you think someone from your team could come pick me up? Or like anyone? George doesn’t know I’m here… it was supposed to be a nice surprise.”

The sigh was loud through the phone, Pierre agreeing to have someone from Alpine come to the airport.

“You should know… George is devastated. Charles says he was crying his eyes out when he saw him walk by, said it looked like he was super distraught. I don’t know how happy or excited he is going to be about your race today.”

The tears sprouted to your eyes immediately, you had already seen on social media that George may have been seen crying, but to hear it directly from someone who had seen him… the sadness wreaked through your body.

“I don’t care about my own race, right now. I’m happy enough for myself, he needs someone to be there for him.”

It didn’t take long for someone from Alpine to pick you up and drop you off at the hotel. You had bothered one of the men from George’s PR team earlier in the day to text you what room number and hotel he was staying at, promising him it was all for a surprise that wouldn’t cause any issues for George or the team.

Your knuckles rapped against the door in front of you, sounds from inside the room halting the noise encompassed the air. You couldn’t tell if he was coming to the door or not, no noise now coming from the room. Just as you were about to knock again, the door swung open to reveal your boyfriend.

His red-rimmed and puffy eyes were the first thing you noticed, a clear indicator that he had been crying. The small smile that grew on his face was real, a tiny bit of happiness shining in his eyes as he took in who was in front of him.

“Oh, Georgie…”

You dropped your bag to the floor, pushing your body into his. His arms wrapped around your frame, his head pressing into the junction where your neck and shoulder met, your own arms wrapping around his taller frame. You played with the hair at the nape of his neck, holding him as tight as you could, allowing him to push any emotions he was currently feeling into the hug.

“What are you doing here?” He murmured into your ear, his arms tightening around your body as if he was trying to fuse the both of you together.

Shrugging in his arms, you continued to hold his frame tightly in your own. “Thought it would be a nice surprise, was going to fly with you to Japan after and spend some time with you. Haven’t seen you in a while, I guess.”

George pressed a gentle kiss to the top of your head before pulling away, a sad smile falling on his lips. “You drove an incredible race today, my love. I’m so proud of you.”

You couldn’t help the pull at your heartstrings as he praised you for your own race, even after the devastating end to his own. It was obvious he was trying to keep the sadness at bay, to not ruin your own accomplishments.

“Thank you, mon amour. I don’t want to talk about my race, though.”

George grabbed your bag as he gestured for you to walk into the room, allowing the hotel door to slam behind you as he placed the luggage next to his own. “I don’t really want to talk about my own race, either. I’d much rather talk about yours.”

He pulled you onto the king-sized bed, immediately wrapping his body around your own as you snuggled into his chest. You could feel his heartbeat against your ear, his fingers rubbing soothing circles on the indent of your spine through your shirt.

“I feel like such an idiot. I’m not a rookie, I shouldn’t be making those kinds of mistakes, I lost complete control of my car at the worst possible time and cost myself one of the best finishes this season. It’s not fair,” he choked the words out, his nose pressing into your hair as he took a deep breath, trying to keep the inevitable tears at bay.

“Georgie… it happens, mistakes happen. It sucks, don’t get me wrong, but we all make mistakes. Do you know how many fuckups I’ve had this season? Don’t get me started on how many Pierre’s had, it doesn’t make you rookie-caliber to mess up one race. You’ll come back stronger from this; I swear.”

You could feel the small shrug of his shoulders as he pulled your body closer to his own, a light press of his lips to the crown of your head the only indication that he heard you.

“I can’t believe you got P2. I was trying to watch it while we were getting ready, someone said you jumped up 4 places huh?”

You nodded your head, a bashful smile pulling onto your lips, “It wasn’t that impressive, I’ve done it before.”

George nudged your side, prompting you to look up at him, a small smile edging onto the Brit’s lips, “That was your highest finish of the season though, darling. I’d say that’s pretty impressive, no?”

“I don’t want to overshadow how you’re feeling to be happy about my own race, mon amour. That’s not fair to you.”

Nudging you again, you felt his fingers dig into your ribs lightly, an indication he was telling you to stop talking. “You’re not overshadowing how I feel, I’m devastated, and I’m pissed at myself for how my race finished. It doesn’t mean I’m not allowed to be happy for you, to feel some type of joy over the fact my best friend just finished P2.”

Leaning up, you pressed your lips to his gently, a ‘thank you’ imbedded in the way your lips moulded together. George pulled you closer, pulling back to rest his head against your own once again.

“At least my crash damage numbers aren’t as high as your brothers. Did you see he finally hit the millions a few days ago? Knew he’d beat me there.”

“Oh my god, George. Not everything has to be a competition between you and my brother.”

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yngasly love you forever and ever mon amour 🫶🏻

i've had a few requests for motogp!reader x george, so i hope this meets your expectations 🫶🏻 i literally know nothing about motogp so i'm so sorry, i tried to make it broad so it didn't seem like im dumb lol love yall!!!

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@leclercdream @myescapefromthislife @princessria127 @iloveyou3000morgan @love4lando @asfaraslifegets @decseptapril @somanyfandomsbruh @fangirl125reader @imagandom @motorsp0rt @jspitwall @sarahedwards16 @glitterf1 @christianpulisic10 @carlandonorri-s @smoothopz @eugene-emt-roe @epitios @ihrtdan @myloverjk-blog @glow-ish @avxntxrine @goldenmclaren

if your name is struck through/bolded it wouldn't let me tag you. please let me know if you'd like to be added to my taglist!

#george russell #george russell x reader #f1 x reader #george russell x you #f1 x you #formula 1 x reader #george russell imagine #f1 imagine #f1 one shot #smau #f1 fanfic #f1 smau #george russell smau #f1 #formula 1

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mysunshinetemptress · 7 months ago

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Snow Angel

Pretty Girls

Leah Williamson x Reader Warnings: Abusive relationship

The following weeks were a tightrope walk for Leah. Every glance from you sent shivers down her spine, every shared practice session felt charged with unspoken desire. Yet, you remained resolutely distant, the playful banter and lingering touches a distant memory.

It was Arsenal's annual winter gala, with players from both men's and women's joined by their families to celebrate the teams past and present. Forced to sit at the same table together, the tension between You and Leah crackled.

The breaking point came later in the night after dinner when most of the guest's had moved to the dance floor. Alcohol, usually a social lubricant, only served to loosen inhibitions. As the laughter died down, Leah, emboldened by a few glasses of wine, turned to You.

You watched as Evan wrapped his hands around some random girl before turning back to the table only to be met by Leah's stare.

"So, about that night..." she began, her voice barely a whisper.

Your face drained of colour. You quickly turned your head back to the dance floor eyes scanning for Evan.

"Leah please, not here."

Leah let out an annoyed huff, "When then because you do nothing but ignore me."

You reached for her hand squeezing it "Please Le."

Leah looked at you confused at your desperation for her to drop the topic, but just as she opened her mouth to ask Evan wrapped his hand around your upper arm pulling you out of your seat. "Come on babe, dance with me."

You turned back to Leah mouthing later before turning to smile at Evan.

Leah watched, a bitter taste coating her tongue, as you were swept away by Evan's confident grin. The night, once filled with the promise of a resolution, felt like it was crumbling around her.

Across the table, her teammates were lost in their own conversations, oblivious to the storm brewing within Leah. Anger, laced with a fresh dose of hurt, bubbled up. She'd taken a risk, exposed herself, and you'd shut her down again.

As the night dragged on Leah decided she had enough, she was done waiting for you to come to her with an answer.

Spotting you and Evan standing at the bar laughing so happy and care free Leah decided it was now or never.

Ignoring the concerned glances shot her way by her teammates, Leah pushed her chair back from the table with a scraping sound that cut through the chatter. Her heart hammered a furious tattoo against her ribs as she navigated the throng of bodies towards the bar.

Leah grabbed your arm turning you slightly. "We need to talk about that night Y/n, I can't go on like this anymore."

Evan turned looking at you both confused.

"What night, Leah?" he asked, his brow furrowed.

The room held its breath. Leah could back out, pretend it was nothing, but the lie choked her.

"The night at my place," she said, her voice firm despite the tremor in her hands. "The night you, uh, crashed there after the club." Her glare dared Y/n to contradict her.

Y/n's gaze flickered between Leah and Evan, shame and panic warring on her face. Finally, she spoke, her voice barely audible.

"Evan, I..." You couldn't find the words unable to wrap your head around what was happening, Leah was doing this now, to get back at you for ignoring her.

The air hung heavy as your voice trailed off. The revelation hung in the room like a thunderclap, electrifying everyone within earshot. Evan's confusion morphed into a scowl as he looked at you, his hold tightening on your arm possessively.

Leah, despite her anger, felt a pang of guilt at the naked betrayal reflected in your eyes. Maybe this public outing wasn't the best course of action, but the hurt and confusion had driven her to a corner.

The silence stretched on, broken only by the murmur of shocked whispers from onlookers. Your teammates at your table shot worried glances your way, the playful atmosphere of the night now replaced with a tense curiosity.

Suddenly, a new voice cut through the tension. "What's going on here?" It was Kim, your captain, standing tall beside Leah with a concerned frown etched on her face.

Now, all eyes were on you. You could lie, fabricate some story to appease everyone. But the truth, however messy, loomed large. You took a deep breath, stealing a glance at Leah's pained expression. This wouldn't be easy for either of you.

"It's...complicated," you started, your voice barely above a whisper. "The night Leah mentioned...we did share a moment, but..." You hesitated, unsure how to explain the confusing dance you'd been doing with your feelings.

"But...?" Evan prompted, his grip on your arm tightening even further. You winced at the pressure, the situation escalating with every passing second.

Taking another steadying breath, you finally decided on honesty, however brutal it might be. "Evan," you began, your voice gaining strength, "we're not...together. We never were." You turned to Leah, your eyes pleading for understanding. "And what happened that night...it shouldn't have happened."

A collective gasp rippled through the room. The carefully constructed facade of your relationship with Evan crumbled before your eyes. Shame burned hot on your cheeks, but you pushed on, determined to finally clear the air.

"Leah and I..." you started, then paused, searching for the right words. "We care about each other, but it's complicated. There were feelings, a moment of weakness..." You trailed off, the weight of the situation settling heavily on your shoulders.

Leah, seeing your genuine distress, felt her anger begin to simmer down. Maybe public exposure wasn't the best strategy, but at least you were finally being honest. Her gaze locked with yours, a silent plea for understanding passing between you.

Before you could continue, Evan yanked his arm free, his face contorted in a mixture of anger and disbelief. "You mean to tell me this whole time..." he spat, his voice thick with anger, but before he could finish his tirade, Kim stepped forward.

"Enough, Evan," she said, her voice firm and authoritative. "This isn't the time or place. Let's all take a step back and cool down."

Evan shook his head, "No we're leaving."

You tried to stop him "Evan, please let's just talk about it here, sort it out here."

Evan pushed his hands through his hair "Don't you think you have embarrassed me enough in front of all your friends tonight, we are leaving."

The air crackled with tension as Evan stormed away, dragging you who looked to Leah with what seemed to be a pleading look etched across your face.

Kim placed a hand on Leah's shoulder, her gaze laced with concern. "Are you alright, Le?" she asked gently. Leah shook her head brushing off the captain's hand "I'm going home, I'm sorry."

Leah is lying asleep in bed hours later when her doorbell goes off, she tosses slightly ignoring it hoping sleep will welcome her back when it goes off again.

huffing Leah tosses her duvets aside, before trudging down the stairs and swinging the door open angrily.

"What." Leah goes to give out to whoever has found themselves on her doorstep this late at night but the words die in her throat.

In the doorway, you're standing there shaking a dishevelled, your eyes red-rimmed and hair windblown. Dress torn, a bruise beginning to form on your cheekbone, a busted lip and a shiner coming through on your left eye.

Leah's heart lurched. The anger that had fueled her earlier actions evaporated, replaced by a cold dread. You were a mess, a physical manifestation of the chaos she'd helped create.

"Y/N?" Your name came out in a choked whisper.

You swayed slightly, before You flinched, as if expecting a slap instead. "Leah," you croaked, your voice hoarse. "I...Leah...please...let me in."

There was no room for judgment now. You needed help, a safe haven. Stepping aside, Leah ushered you in, the late-night chill clinging to your clothes a stark contrast to the warmth of her house.

The public humiliation you'd both endured at the gala paled in comparison to the violence simmering on her doorstep. Her anger towards you was forgotten, replaced by a surge of protectiveness.

"Come in," she rasped, stepping aside to usher you both into the house.

You stumbled slightly, leaning heavily on the doorframe for support. Leah quickly reached out, a hesitant hand hovering near your arm. You flinched again, but this time, it seemed to be more out of pain than fear.

Taking a deep breath, Leah swallowed her reservations. "Let's get you cleaned up first," she said, her voice firm but laced with concern.

You offered a weak nod, leaning on her as she guided you further into the house. The weight of your body against hers was a stark reminder of the intimacy they'd shared, a stark contrast to the violence you were now escaping.

"Evan..." you manage, voice hoarse. "He...he didn't take the news well."

Your words spark a horrifying image in Leah's mind, as she recounts his forceful grabbing of your arm over the night.

You winced as her hand came towards your face looking to clean your lip. Leah began to remember all the previous times you had winced at a hand being raised towards you and she felt sick to her stomach at the thought of her next question.

"Did he…?" she started, then stopped. How to phrase the question delicately, when all she wanted to scream was, "Is this the first time done this?"

You seemed to understand her unspoken question. Shame flickered in your eyes before you dropped them to your hands.

The air hung heavy with the unspoken truth. Leah bit her lip, the concern for your well-being warring with a fresh wave of shame.

"Was this..." she started, her voice barely a whisper, "the reason you were hesitant with me? Because of him?"

You looked down at your feet, avoiding her gaze. A small, defeated nod escaped your lips.

The confirmation hit Leah like a punch to the gut. All this time, your distance, your mixed signals – it had all been because of Evan's abuse. A part of her wanted to be angry, to rage at you for not confiding in her sooner, but the bigger part ached for you, for the pain you must have endured in silence.

"Why didn't you say anything?" she finally asked, her voice thick with emotion.

You lifted your head, your eyes filled with a vulnerability that ripped at Leah's heart.

"I was scared," you confessed, your voice barely a whisper. "Scared of him, scared of losing everything – the team, you..."

The raw honesty in your voice resonated with Leah. She understood. The fear of losing everything you'd worked hard for was a powerful motivator, especially in the face of an abuser.

Placing a hand on your arm, this time gently, Leah offered a small, reassuring smile. "You're safe now," she said softly. "He can't hurt you here."

The tenderness in her touch sent a wave of warmth through you. Looking into her eyes, you saw not judgment, but a wellspring of concern and a flicker of something more – a hint of the feelings you harboured for her as well.

"Leah I..." you started, your voice trailing off.

Leah squeezed your arm gently. "We can deal with everything else later. Right now, you need to rest and get cleaned up."

There was a silent understanding that bloomed between you. The night's events had irrevocably altered the course of your relationship. The truth, though brutal, had finally been laid bare. Whether there was a future for you and Leah, you didn't know yet. But for now, the solace of her presence, the promise of safety, was all that mattered.

Leah had gotten you up the stairs and to her bedroom before placing you gently on the bed and rushing to get you pyjamas for the night.

"Right, here's the pyjamas, you know where the toilet is eh i'll be in the other room just come wake me if you need me." As Leah began to walk off you grabbed her hand "Le....thank you." how could you ask her to stay after everything, she had opened her home for you, the pain you put her through.

Leah hesitates for a moment, caught between her lingering anger and the vulnerability in your eyes. "You deserve to be safe," she says softly, her eyes filled with concern, before walking out.

The night stretches on, a tangled mess of worry and a strange sense of vulnerability for Leah. She tosses and turns in bed, the sheets tangled around her legs. Sleep eludes her, replaced by a constant replay of the night's events.

The image of you, battered and bruised, on her doorstep, had banished any lingering anger Leah felt. Now, a restless worry gnawed at her. Every creak of the floorboards sent her imagination into overdrive, conjuring visions of you tossing and turning in pain.

Finally, unable to bear the suspense any longer, Leah crept out of her room and padded down the hallway towards yours. The soft glow of the bedside lamp peeked out from under the door, casting a warm rectangle on the floor.

Hesitantly, Leah pushed the door open a crack. You were lying on your back, eyes wide open, staring at the ceiling. The harsh light accentuated the shadows of your injuries, making them look even worse.

"Can't sleep?" Leah asked softly, the door creaking slightly as she nudged it open further.

You flinched at the sound, your gaze snapping towards her. "Leah," you whispered, relief washing over your face. "I thought you were asleep."

Leah stepped into the room, the concern etched on her face evident in the dim light. "Couldn't," she admitted. "Is everything okay?"

You shook your head, the movement sending a jolt of pain through your throbbing cheek. "Just… thinking."

Leah felt a pang of sympathy. The weight of the night's events must be crushing. Taking a deep breath, she decided to offer some comfort.

"Would you like some company?" she asked gently. "Maybe some tea?"

A flicker of a smile touched your lips. "That would be nice," you rasped.

Leah smiled back, a genuine one this time, relieved to see a hint of your usual spirit flickering back to life. "Alright, I'll be right back."

She scurried out of the room, the sound of her footsteps a comforting rhythm in the quiet night. As she brewed the tea, a warmth spread through Leah's chest – a warmth that had nothing to do with the hot water.

Seeing you so vulnerable, so dependent on her care, had awakened a fierce protectiveness within her. But there was something else too, a deeper emotion that had been simmering beneath the surface all along.

Returning to the room with two steaming mugs, Leah settled on the edge of the bed, careful not to crowd you. You reached out, taking the mug from her hand with a grateful smile.

For a while, you both sipped your tea in comfortable silence. The unspoken words hung heavy in the air, a shared understanding blooming between you.

Finally, you broke the silence, your voice still hoarse from the night's events. "Leah, about earlier..."

Leah met your gaze, her heart pounding in her chest. "We can talk about it all in the morning," she interrupted gently. "Right now, you need to rest."

You shook your head. "No Leah...I have to....you deserve to know," you stated your voice thick with emotion.

You picked at your fingers letting out a shaky breath " He was so sweet when I first met him, but it didn't last and I thought that what I had with him was all I was going to have, all I was worth, but then I met you after my transfer and you were so soft and gentle, even as a friend and I found myself falling for you.....I was just so scared to leave him and then.....then that night here with you...Evan..he...I was only ever there for him...for his pleasure but with you....I...You were gentle and loving and...you looked after me and I loved every second of it but felt so heartbroken too because it's all I ever wanted with the girl I dreamed of but I...he scares me....the things he does scares me and it was easier to leave the next morning and ignore you then fall into my feelings because I was terrified of the outcome."

Leah, her heart clenching with every word, listened intently as you poured out your story. The vulnerability in your eyes mirrored the turmoil within her. Here you were, laying bare your soul, and she understood in a way she never had before.

"Leah," you continued, your voice trembling slightly, "I know I messed up. I should have confided in you, but I was afraid. Afraid of losing you, afraid of what Evan might do."

Leah reached out, her hand hovering gently over yours. "It's okay," she whispered, the words thick with emotion. "I understand."

A tear escaped your eye, tracing a warm path down your cheek. You leaned into her touch, finding a solace you hadn't felt in a long time.

"Can you ever forgive me?" you asked, your voice barely a whisper.

The question hung in the air, heavy with unspoken pining. Leah looked into your eyes, searching for the answer within them. The truth was, the anger had faded, replaced by a deep well of empathy and a growing affection for you.

"There's nothing to forgive," she finally said, her voice soft but firm. "You were in a difficult situation, and you did what you had to do to survive."

A tear rolls down your cheek, and you don't bother brushing it away. Relief washes over you, a sense of finally being understood. You take another sip of tea, the warmth spreading through you.

Leah, her heart clenching at your confession, reached out and placed a comforting hand over yours. "It's okay," she whispered, her voice thick with emotion. "You're safe now."

Tears welled up in your eyes, spilling over as the dam of your emotions finally broke. You let out a choked sob, the exhaustion and fear of the night catching up to you. Leah held you close, her embrace a silent promise of safety and support.

As you cried, the story tumbled out – the manipulative games Evan played, the subtle threats that escalated into violence, the isolation that made you feel trapped. Leah listened patiently, her anger towards Evan burning hot alongside her protectiveness of you.

When your sobs subsided, leaving behind a shaky silence, Leah spoke softly. "You're so strong, Y/N," she said, her voice filled with admiration. "For enduring all that, for finally getting away."

You shook your head, a weak smile flickering on your lips. "Strong isn't exactly how I feel right now."

Leah squeezed your hand. "Maybe not. But you were brave. You came here, you faced the truth, and you're starting to heal."

A comfortable silence settled between you, broken only by the quiet sniffles and the soft glow of the bedside lamp. The weight of the unspoken hung heavy in the air, a question lingering between you.

Finally, Leah took a deep breath and broke the silence. "What do you want to do now, Y/N?" she asked gently.

You looked at her, your eyes filled with a newfound vulnerability. "I...I don't know," you admitted. "All I know is...I don't want to go back to him."

Leah hummed running her fingers through your hair. "I want to be with you...I want to know what it's like to be loved by you."

Leah felt her heart flutter "I'll be happy to show you when your ready."

You turned to face her, your eyes flicking back and forth between her eyes and lips "Can...Can i kiss you." Leah quickly nodded before pulling you closer and kissing you.

"Ow." you let out a soft groan at the sting of your lip, "Softer next time please." Leah smiled as you began to laugh "Softer every time."

#woso #awfc #woso fanfics #woso one shot #woso imagine #leah williamson #leah williamson x y/n #leah williamson imagine #leah williamson x reader #leah williamson x you #snow angel #pretty girls #renee rapp

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melanieph321 · 6 months ago

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Hi dear how are you? I have a request can you please write a story about Robin Le Normand (smut and fluff) of winning the euros and celebrating with his girlfriend(if possible can you write amelia instead of y/n please)and thank you very much girly🫶🏻🖤

This request was so good, the fic wrote itself. 🙌

Robin Le Normand x Reader - True Champion

Enjoy!

You ran onto the pitch alongside your boyfriend's family. Robin saw you all coming towards him and didn't really know which one of you were going to reach him first. His brother however, had cleared a path through the fallen confetti and did not hesitate to tackle Robin to the ground when he reached him.

"Congratulations bro, champions of Europe!"

It was a beautiful sight, everyone was laughing. While you waited for your turn to hug your boyfriend your attention was drawn to the magnitude that was the Olympic stadium in Germany. Most of the crowd had gone home by now, at least on the English side. But imagine playing football during a full house of spectators. How massive and amazing to be able to come out victorious.

"Pretty cool, eh?"

"Robin!" You squealed, feeling his arms wrap around you from behind. His family were done with him now and instead took turns trying on his gold medal. Meaning he was all yours.

"I'm so proud of you baby, congratulations!" You turned around in his arms, hugging him tight.

"Thanks baby. I hope you enjoyed the show."

"The show?" You chuckled. "Robin, you just made history with Spain, can't you see that?"

It was strange, the way he shied away when you said this.

"Well, I didn't really play until the final whistle but...."

"But what?" You frowned. There were several Spanish players who hadn't step foot on the pitch once during the whole tournament, and still celebrated harder than your boyfriend. Not to mention the Spanish people back home. They were all most likely dancing in front of their TV's right now.

"Why would you say that Robin? What's wrong?" You asked.

"Nothing, nothing." He muttered. "I just didn't play full ninety, that's all."

You got a swift kiss on your cheek before Robin diverged his attention elsewhere, to one of his Spanish teammates, who waved him over for a group pic.

"Hey, Amelia!" Robin's sister called you over, seeing as you were a bit dissoriented, standing by yourself. "Come lift the trophy, it's heavier than you'd think."

You went over to Robin's family who someonehow got their hands on the winning trophy. However, throughout the whole night you couldn't help but to sense some angst coming from your boyfriend. Unlike his teammates and his family, he seemed unhappy for some reason.

"I need a shower." Robin said, once you reached his hotel. You hesitated to look on the clock upon entery, seeing as the sun was already on the verge of rising again. It was that late, or perhaps the right term was early. It was that early.

"Baby?"

"Huh?" You sat on the bed, a bit frozen in time. Robin stood before you stripped of his shirt and a towel wrap around his waist.

"You coming?" He said.

"Coming?"

He chuckled. "Yeah, to shower with me."

"Oh." Slight heat rose to your face. You had assumed that after a day such as this one, Robin would be too tired to do anything, but apparently you thought wrong.

"Or perhaps you're not in the mood?" He mumbled.

"Oh, no that's not it." You stood. "It's just that...."

"Yes?"

"Well...."

"Amelia?" He frowned. "If there's something you want to say to me just say it."

It was unlike him to lash out at you like he did. Something was clearly bothering him.

You took a deep breath. "Robin...baby. I know there's something bothering you about the game tonight."

He put his hand on his hips. "And what would that be? We won."

"Yes, I get that. But when your family and I greeted you on the pitch I could tell right away that something was wrong. You even said so yourself. You're unhappy that you didn't get to play a full ninety minutes. But why?"

Robin sighed. He approached a wall to lean back on, his head knocking against it.

"I'm not Spanish." He said.

"It's alright, you can tell me." You assured. It was something you had come to notice about your boyfriend. How hard he worked to have the world precive him as someone sure of themselves. Hiding the fact that he was not.

"What?"

He shook his head. "I'm not Spanish, but I fought for Spain during this championship."

He was talking about his double citizenship. How he was born in France but through football became a citizen of Spanish. There had been a lot of people giving him a hard time about it ahead of the tournament, and you suspected that every minute Robin played for Spain was a chance to prove himself to the spanish people.

"I got booked in the match against France." Robin said, his voice a bit clogged. "I know my parents would never tell me this, but they would have been so proud to see me out there, playing against our home nation. Where I could've belonged."

"Oh, Robin...." You approached him, taking his face into your hands. "Why haven't you told me any of this before?"

"Because, I wanted to make you and my family proud. But I played like shit today, overthinking the whole game. I'm actually glad that coach swapped me, but I know that the Spanish people back home won't be."

"Robin, baby. Listen to me." You looked him dead in his warm eyes. "I am those Spanish people you speak of and we couldn't be more proud to have you."

"Amelia."

"No, you're one of us and don't you fucking forget it."

He pulled you into a hug. A hug that turned into a kiss. A kiss that turned into a makeout session with slipping hands. Robin's hands, eager to undress you.

"I really need a shower." He chuckled.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Lead the way."

#fanfiction #football imagine #footballer x reader #footballer imagine #football angst #robin le normand #spain #real sociedad #robin le normand x reader

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yespleasetommyshelby · 11 months ago

Text

I need you now - Modern!Tommy Shelby Imagine

Part 3 of Before he cheats - Based off of I Need You Now by Lady Antebellum

Requested - kinda - @jadesjam sent this as an idea for part 2 but I flipped and made it the third and final part of before he cheats! It hasn't been proofread so beware!

Enjoy! 🥰

------------

"No." I sighed for the upteenth time.

"Oh come on y/n, it's been weeks since all that shit with Tommy, it's about time you come and find yourself a rebound!" My longest friend Leah practically begged down the phone, her birthday was coming up and she'd been trying for the last hour to get me to go out for her pre-birthday bash.

"Le, you know I love you but I'm really not in the mood tonight, we'll do something in a couple days, okay?" I sighed, trying to find some middle ground so the conversation could end.

"Okay fine, but I'll hold you to that! Love you girl!" She cheered happily through the phone, my answer enough to stop the pestering, for now.

"Have fun babe, love you too!" I smiled before hanging up, the smile dropping from my face as soon as the beep sounds. "Guess it's just you and me." I whispered as I looked down at the shoebox in my lap.

Checking the time I couldn't help but laugh slightly at how the time had managed to get away from me, with the clock reading 1:04am I couldn't help but laugh slightly as I looked over the piles of photographs that were covering the floor. "Picture perfect memories, scattered all around the floor, reaching for the phone cause I can't fight it anymore." I sighed, picking one up and focusing on the smiling faces beaming back at me, it was from my 21st birthday around ten minutes after Tommy had officially asked me to be his. We were so happy, everyone was so happy that night, laughing and singing being the only thing to be heard throughout Small Heath that night as everybody celebrated their king finding his queen.

Putting the picture down I reached up to wipe the line tear that has slid down my cheek, sniffing quietly before I picked up another, this one of me and all of the Shelby siblings, Ada and John on one side with Tommy and Arthur the other, even at 16 years old and apparently seeing Greta, Tommy still has his arm round my shoulders, my head resting on his arm. Throwing the picture to the side I huffed as I rubbed my hands over my face, the thought of Greta leading me down a rabbit hole.

"I wonder if I ever cross your mind, for me it happens all the time." I spoke to myself, "Probably not, you've probably had a whole queue of women waiting for this to happen." My voice cracked as I said what I'd been thinking out loud for the first time. "Maybe I should just send a quick text..." I whispered, picking up my phone, opening Tommys contact I paused before starting to type.

It's 1am, I'm all alone and I need you now, I said I wouldn't call but I lost all control and I need you now.

Shaking my head I quickly deleted the message and locked my phone, throwing it onto the floor besides me. "Don't give him the satisfaction." I reminded myself with a sigh.

The loud shrill of phone made me shriek, my hand flying to my chest to try and soothe my racing heart. "Motherfuck." I breathed out, reaching over and seeing it's Leah calling.

"Hey Le, what's up?" I asked worried, knowing that she never called when she was out, unless there was a problem.

"Baaaaabe! You'll never guess where we are!" Her cheery voice burst through the phone making me wince slightly. "The garrison!" She squealed without waiting for an answer.

"That's great Leah, but I'm still not coming out tonight." I sighed, not understanding where she was going with this.

"Yeah, yeah, -- all depressed, I know, but I also know that lover -- is just as bad as -- are, if -- worse." She laughed through the phone, the music and voices in the background muffling half of her sentence.

"I can't hear you properly Le." I smiled slightly, her giggles infectious. "Le?" The beep of the phone indicated that she'd hung up. "What the hell was that about?" I muttered, my question answered two seconds later as my phone buzzed again.

I said that lover boy is even worse than you!

A message from Leah with an image of Tommy attached, say at the corner of the bar in the Garrison alone, his head in his hand as his other holds onto a glass of whisky - probably. Just from the zoomed out picture I could see his hair had been left to grow out and his shirt had been left untucked, something that had never happened before, in public anyway.

"Oh baby." I couldn't help but sigh, my heart breaking all over again at the picture.

---

Keeping my eyes down I swigged the last dribble of amber liquid from the glass raising it high before rapping it in the bar a couple times, a sign for the bartender to refill. Feeling the glass being moved from my fingertips I looked up, giving the bartender a nod of thanks as he slid the bow full glass back to me.

Another shot of whisky, can't stop staring at the door, wishing you'd come sweeping in the way you did before. Rubbing my hand over my face I clenched my eyes as I thought of her, the reason I'd been sat here for the past few weeks doing nothing but drinking whisky after whisky and chain smoking till my chest hurt. Looking over at her door I couldn't help but think back to y/n's 21st birthday, the day we became official, she had come barreling into the garrison with her windswept hair and rosy cheeks absolutely fuming because she thought that everyone had forgot her birthday before the shout of surprise had her forgetting she was ever mad. Shaking my head I couldn't help but wonder if I ever cross her mind, for me it happens all the time, every little thing reminding me of her.

"Fuck sake." I growled to myself, pulling out my phone to check the time. "Quarter past fucking one and I'm sat drinking by myself, again, Thomas Shelby the king of fucking Small Heath aye." I chuckled ironically. Not like I hadn't had plenty of offers during my evenings rotting away at my own bar, but none of them were her, none of them were my y/n.

My heart started to race slightly as I noticed the missed call notification only to drop again as Arthur's name came into view. She said she didn't want to hear from me but surely one text won't hurt, right?

It's 1:15 I'm a little drunk and I need you now, I said I wouldn't call but I lost all control and I need you now, and I don't know how I can do without - I just need you now

I'll be at the Garrison - T x

"Fucking pathetic Tom." I shook my head before locking the phone, not realising my thumb had already hit send.

----

1:17, it had taken all of 3 minutes to reach the Garrison, shoving my hands into my pocket so said as I stared up at the gold sign above the door, a door that I'd walked through so may times before but never feeling like this. I jumped slightly as my phone buzzed at the same time as a group of girls can tumbling out the door, laughing and stumbling down the road as they held onto each other for support, I couldn't help but laugh slightly before pushing open the doors.

Stepping through the doorways Leah and the girls immediately caught my eye, giving me a quick wave she grinned before pointing over to the bar my eyes immediately landing on the mop top of black hair and slumped shoulders in the corner. Sending her a quick smile I slowly made my way over to Tommy, hesitantly taking a seat on the stool next to him.

"Not interested." He muttered making me jump slightly.

"Meh, I like your brother more anyway." I shrugged, giggling slightly as his head shot up, eyes wide as he stared at me.

"Y/n.." He breathed out, reaching his hand out he placed his palm on my cheek almost as though he was checking I was really there. "Y/n, I'm sorry, I'm so fucking sorry." He muttered, pulling me forwards slightly and resting his forehead against mine.

"Tommy I-" I took a breath, struggling to think clearly being this close to him after so much time, the longest we'd been apart since we'd met some ten years ago now. "I'm sorry too, I should've let you explain, should've listened to you." My voice wobbled slightly, pulling away I used my sleeve to wipe away the tears that had started to fall before resting my hand on his.

"I figured it would be easier to just finish things, after hearing about you and Gracie I just couldn't think of anything else... And I just lost it.. I dunno Tom. I guess I just, I guess I'd rather hurt than feel nothing at all." I whispered, knowing that over the past few weeks that's exactly how I'd felt, nothing.

"Hey, don't you dare apologise, these past few weeks have been nothing but my fault, and I promise you y/n with everything I have and will ever have, I will spend every day of our future making it up to you. If you'll let me, just one last chance, please." He trailed off, his eyes on mine the whole time.

"One chance Tommy, that's all we have left." I whispered, my grip tightening around his wrist slightly.

"That's all I need." He smirked standing up and pulling me along with him, his arms wrapping around my waist and mine came up around his neck, playing with the longer hair at the nape of his neck. Pulling me in he placed his lips on mine, moving in sync I couldn't help but smile, the Tommy shaped hole in my heart slowly shrinking.

"I missed you so much." He mumbled after we pulled away, resting his chin on the the top of my head as he pulled me into a hug, completely ignoring the looks he was getting from the punters who had never even seen him smile before.

"I missed you too Tommy." I sighed happily, resting my head on his chest, sending a quick wink to Leah as she caught my eye, making her erupt into screams, much to the confusion of everyone else.

"So that's how you found me aye?" Tommy chuckled, the sound echoing through his chest.

"She helped yeah, but there was also the text you sent." I giggled slightly, as I head the faint 'shit' leave his lips. "It's okay Tommy, I love it when you're cheesy." I grinned, patting his chest as I looked up at him.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." He chuckled as he shook his head. "I love you." He whispered, eyes locked onto mine.

"I love you too." I smiled, placing a quick peck to his lips before resting my head back against his chest. "Oh and Tom?" I muttered without looking up, only the slight hum letting me know he heard.

"I'm sorry about your car."

----

And there we have it! I know it's slightly shorter and I personally don't feel like this part is even nearly as good as the previous two, but hey, we move on!

Thank you for reading and I do hope you've enjoyed! 🥰❤️

#peaky blinders imagine #peaky blinders imagines #tommy shelby imagine #tommy shelby imagines #thomas shelby imagine #thomas shelby imagines #tommy shelby x reader #thomas shelby x reader #part three #before he cheats #before he cheats three

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trulybetty · 1 year ago

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Sunday | Week In Review VIII

This week's Sunday in review is sponsored by your local Farmer's Market sugared doughnuts, proudly provided by @secretelephanttattoo IYKYK 🍩

Hope everyone had a good week this week! 🙌 Tumblr is still doing it's thing with it's notifications in my activity tab. It's mostly just full of likes and some mentions (I still come across a couple on my dash I wasn't notified of), but mostly it's affecting reblogs. Anyway, if you have something you think I'd be interested in seeing or want to share - feel free to send me an Ask/DM or tag me!

Light reading week again, but it's not to say it wasn't filled with some gems!

T R U L Y U P D A T E S . . .

Happy Birthday (Joel)

W H A T I R E A D . . .

Grocery List (Frankie) by @frenchiereading I'm a sucker for domestic fluff and even more so when it stems from the Shared Breaths universe 💕 - not going to spoil this one if you haven't read the main series (which I will always shout out) - but there's a broccoli recipe here that still makes my mouth water when I think about it and I really want to try making it (if only I could conjure Frankie just as easily)

You’re Perfect for Me (Marcus P.) by @boliv-jenta The Marcus Pike thots were out in full effect this week and it started for me with this little one shot. Marcus needing some help unwinding from a tough day? Sign me up!

machine wash warm (Marcus P.) by @idolatrybarbie some more domesticity, this time from our boy Marcus (he's made for it really) and while short, it doesn't skimp on the feelings and a man who will wash your bedding and deal with the fitted sheet? Yes please!

Delta Landscaping | Chapter 6: Jeeps, Texts, and Sliders (Triple Frontier) by @rhoorl This series has be in a permanent choke hold and I'll eat up anything Jess puts out (have you checked out her Dieter series and her Frankie one shot, because you should!) and this series is the gift that keeps on giving and helps satisfy my Will Miller thots. This weeks installment is no different - we've got tensions building with Will and Katie, Benny and his big brother relationship with Connor, Santiago being Santiago and David living his best life (I want to be his bestie). Hands down one of the best things to come from thots over the Delta boys clearing Reader's garden in @goodwithcheese's 'Layover Series' (which you should read too)

The House (Jack) by @gemmahale I was so happy to get started on this series this week! The week took a left turn and I couldn't devour the rest of it as I wanted, but this is on the docket to catch with this week! It's full of intrigue and mystery and that's just the first chapter! I can't wait to see how this plays out with Andrea getting reacquainted with her grandfathers property and the history it holds.

glass (Marcus P.) by @idolatrybarbie I could be bias because this was written based on the prompts I sent over for Bea's fifty follower celebration, but it doesn't need that, because it's so good all in on it's own! We've got fluff, we've got Marcus (did I mention it's Marcus?), we've got some spice and we've got action! I'm never one to pressure authors to write fanfics, but if Bea were ever to expand on this I'd be all over it.

Butter (Joel) by fuckyeahdindjardin A happy birthday celebration for our main man Joel Miller was more of a gift to us I think. This is so incredibly sweet (pun fully intended) and was just a delight to read that had me squealing all the way through with it's toe curling pure fluff at it's best. In need of a birthday cake to bring home Joel comes across Reader closing up for the night and in exchange for fixing her shutter, she bakes him a cake. Don't sleep on this one!

What Do We Have Here (Javier P.) by @secretelephanttattoo El treated us twice this week! Now I'm still behind on Narcos (hey, I managed an extra episode this week, now a staggering five and a half episodes in!), but even if you didn't have a clue who Elisa was, the spiciness of this fic would soon make up for it! I also learnt a new word, epaulettes. Smut and education in one fanfic? What more can you ask for?

Headshots (Marcus P.) by @secretelephanttattoo Okay, the second of El's offerings this week? Not only has she been bringing the Marcus thots this week, but the fluff too! Imagine showing up to the FBI headquarters to take head shots for the agents and running into Marcus Pike multiple times over the course of a week? Wait, you don't have to! El has crafted it for us and I hear there may be a second part (series?) in the works!

Hypothermia (Joel) by @morallyinept I am the worst camper, so much so Joel Miller would probably leave my sorry ass for the clickers after the grief he'd have with me. But I hope that would be after I get to snuggle up to him for just warmth...

M E M O R A B L E P O S T S . . .

I had some interesting confessions in my Ask Inbox: Joel Thots + Oscar's Cupcakes

All of @penaonthestreets-javiinthesheets's mood boards, because they are all a mooood and a delicious delight for the eyes

The Gif™️ thots were out in full force

Maggie getting the Marcus Pike Puddles going with pancakes and cuddles visuals

Will Miller visual thots, I don't need an excuse to enjoy this over and over again.

B R O U G H T T H E J O Y . . .

How well and truly this community is so lovely - I had a really shitty day at work yesterday and by time I logged in later that night I had some wonderful messages, tags and mentions from absolutely amazing people. I can't even remember how I stumbled back onto Tumblr, but I'm so glad I did. This space really can feel like you're shouting into the abyss sometimes, but sometimes you get a response back with a 'my thots too' and you start to build your own little community.

I think I mentioned it the other day, but likes and numbers really won't hold their value. It's the reblogs with the comments, the thousand gifs/emojis or the back and forth discussions of WIP's in DM's that really make this all the worthwhile.

And also a Costco sized container of pico de gallo... it's about balance friends. But seriously, I've pushed the limits of what I can put it on this week.

T H I S W E E K ' S J A M . . .

This week's song is brought to us by my Chiffon feels as I got back into writing for Dieter x Bryony and this song is very them coded...

Hope everyone is having a fabulous Sunday, whatever it is you're doing and I wish you all a great week ahead! 💕

#betty's sunday in review #sunday week in review #Spotify

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writerofweird · 5 months ago

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Rap Battle: Gaspar Le Gecko vs Duchess Diamond Persnickety the First, Last and Only

GASPAR: Look who's come to kneel before the King of the Jungle, Once you enter my realm, you better not grumble, Because there's plenty of wild animals you'll find when you roam, And you're more welcome in their gullets than you are in Foster's Home, Guess Craig used up all his best villains for The Powerpuffs, When you stand against me, you aren't up to snuff, Looking like Spongebob Squarepants after spotting a steamroller, So it is quite a shame you can't be crushed by Lola Boa!

DUCHESS: You dare talk like that to the finest friend? You better forget Uncle Pockets, for on me you can depend, For glamour and intelligence, sophistication and style, You're just a tiny little Grinch, with termites in your smile, How did you even end up on Disney, you repulsive little thing, You're less of a Jafar than Starkid's Aladdin, You're old enough to be Brandy's dad, and yet you want a date, She became friends with Whiskers because you earned all her hate!

GASPAR: Funny that you should say that, didn't the whole house celebrate, When they thought you were gone and wouldn't smash another plate? You know not true sophistication, you know not who's truly great, Coming back to your comparisons, you're only second rate, My show may have had four less seasons than yours, But I remember doing more than sulking behind a door, Ruling over the animals, and doing so while being funny, And if I were at your house, I'd devour that large bunny, It's appropriate you're two-dimensional, because so are your stories, That bright and colourful house doesn't need an Edward Gorey, What a shame when a teenage brat is a more compelling foe, They'll be saying "Duchess Who", when thanks to me you go!

DUCHESS: As much as I'd like to leave, tonight I think I'll stay, Just to make sure this tyrant doesn't get his way, While everyone in the house waits on me hand and foot, The jungle voted for Whiskers and wished for you to get the boot, And after watching your cartoon, I'm not sure which is worse, All your ridiculous plots, or the fact that you're not a purse, I'd rather be in a room with Bloo than spend any time with you, And like Jackie Khones with a book, you had better get a clue, You don't deserve to reign supreme, you better get real, I think I'll join the Carnivore Club so I can have you as a meal, No wait, I spoke too quickly, because you're not fit as main course, Considering you ran Amazon just as well as Jeff Bezos!

#humour #writing #humor #rap battle #rap battles #foster's home for imaginary friends #foster's home #brandy and mr whiskers #brandy and mr. whiskers #duchess diamond persnickety the first last and only #gaspar le gecko #because both shows turned 20 this month #also fuck disney and wb #cw age gap #tw age gap #cw age difference #tw age difference

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ikram1909 · 2 months ago

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It's not just with Gavi but with pushing this idea of "family" (which they copied from the basketball NT). Basically, even if other sports are not as popular people always praised how those players were more authentic and truly close to each other as a group. And the footballers always got mad because poor them not being the ones praised for five minutes. But all that work pretending was for nothing because the celebration in Madrid made everyone cringe again and dislike them as people so... And then you get Cucurella saying they fought during the Euros which is normal. It's the highest competition with so much tension not a playground. They're there to play not to make friendship bracelets.

And now I was listening to Laporte on the radio and God he's so unlikeable. So rude. No wonder Iñigo who seems to be a no BS kind of guy can't stand him. And it also reminds me of Robin basically saying he didn't like him either once when he was asked if they spoke French to each other and he was like "I don't speak to him".

Okay wait a minute this escalated quickly 😭😭 I get that they're trying to family agenda but Gavi was always doted on by the whole team from day one so I really don't this it has to do with that. Otherwise they would have done the same with others but they didn't. Also why did the celebrations in Madrid make people dislike them? I actually liked the party with the songs and everything 😭😭

Can you tell me what kind of annoying things Laporte says? I don't really watch his interviews. I didn't know that even le normand disliked him tho that's insane...

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sayuricorner · 1 year ago

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Rage-Jin - A Miraculous Ladybug X Magic Kaito story: Part 1

Part 2

Warning: English is not my first language so sorry if it’s confusing.

Warning 2: This one-shot content salt don’t like don’t read!

Hey everyone! ^^ Here's a reward for @lupsss1412 for her participation to my ML salt crossover contest on tumblr! ^^ She asked for a ML X Magic Kaito one-shot! :) This one-shot will consist of 3 parts, for now the first two parts are posted in waiting for the final part, hope you'll like it all! ^^

And as for @lupsss1412, thank you again for havin participated to my contest, I hope you like your reward! ^^

̎ -Don't be bemused, it's just the news ! In today's headlines, Le Louvre is organizing a big exposition for the discovery of a rare large red gemstone. According to researchers, this gemstone is nothing like any of the gemstones known to this day, there are probabilities that this gem is a new undiscovered kind.

There's also rumors and theories that this gemstone could be linked to some ancient myths, all of them talk about a red gemstone which could grant immortality. What a discovery don’t you think?! But are those rumors true ? And is this gemstone really the one cited in those myths? According to the team of scientists who are currently studying the rare gemstone there are no solid answers, merely a few speculations for now but maybe one day they will be able to give us a response.

I am currently in front of the museum where, as you can see, everyone is working non stop with the preparations for the new exhibition of the gem! This event will take place in a few weeks, the date is yet to be determined but we hope it’s soon! Various guests have voiced their wishes to come as well as others who have confirmed their attendance, the list goes from world wide famous celebrities to avowed names in the scientific community! Also... huh ? What's that ? Is that... Fireworks ? In daylight? Wait ! They are forming a message ! This is incredible! Unknown fireworks have been launched, leaving a message from the one and only ….Kaito Kid !

For those who don't know who he is, Kaito Kid is a thief known for stealing priceless jewels ! His first heist, in fact, took place in Paris many years ago ! In his message, Kaito Kid announced his new heist will be the gemstone which is the center of the future exposition at Le Louvre ! From what the message say, the heist would happen the night before the day of the exposition.

What does the mysterious thief Kaito Kid have in store for this heist? Could this be a sort of return to his roots after almost a decade? And with our local heroes Ladybug and Chat Noir keeping the city from any crime, will Kaito Kid remain with the title of the world wide known elusive thief ? Only time will tell us, this was Najda Chamack reporting and now, back to the studios ! ̎

̎ Kaito Kid's new heist at Paris, all police forces on guard ready to intervene ! ̎

This was the headline which occupied all Paris's newpapers's first page for days. Kaito even spotted a man reading the article sitting a row beside him when he was in the plane, much to Aoko’s annoyance.

To be honest, ever since he became Kaito Kid, he expected a lot of things, but going back to Paris years after his first visit with his parents when he was 5 wasn't one of them.

But one thing pushed him, or rather Kaito Kid, to go back to the French capital after all this time. A certain newly discovered red jewel which news about it being the center of the new exposition at Le Louvre in France, or at least what jewel he thought it was.

There weren't any pictures of the gemstone yet, but the description and the rumors about it being a powerful stone from old myths gave Kaito big suspicions about the jewel, maybe this time this actually was Pandora ?

This could be the gemstone, but it could also not. The young man was awfully aware of that ,however it was better to be safe than sorry. He can't just let it be and give the organization the opportunity to get their hands on what could be the Pandora gem.

Also, he heard stories about Paris about a deranged man calling himself ̎ Hawkmoth ̎ who brought fear to their city by turning citizens into magic villains, with actual magic according to rumors, by using their negative emotions.

At first, Kaito didn't believe those rumors, to him the idea of true magic was laughable, after all, like his father always told him ̎ all magic had always a trick but a good magician never reveals them ̎.

Yes, the whole “Akako incident” with her being a witch proved him that real magic does exist, but there was a big difference between seeing an actual witch performing actual magic and finding rumors about the existence of a magical criminal who seemed to come right from a magical girl anime or a comic.

But when Aoko showed him actual videos of those magical villains, he was forced to admit that those rumors seemed to be true. Unfortunately that meant the Organization wasn't the only threat Kaito had to worry about now, after all, with this gemstone at Paris and this villain in the same city and the rumors surrounding the gem about its potential powers... who could guess that this ̎ Hawkmoth ̎ wouldn't be interested into stealing this gem too ?

And speaking of Akako, when she notices his interest in the mysterious gem, the witch gave him a rather cryptic warning about it.

“-Having an interest on this gem can lead you to troubles, not directly from the gem but more from the city its currently located, the situation there is more than meets the eye and if you keep this interest for this gem, don’t underestimate the forces which are in play or else you could meet a unfortunate fate!”

Akako seemed really serious with her warning, however...

If this gem turned out to hide Pandora, then the situation could be more critical than he thought. Kaito knew that he, or rather Kaito Kid, must steal the gem as soon as possible.

So he searched for a way to go to Paris and organized his new future heist. Fortunately for him, as lady luck loves him, the solution came in the form of a student exchange program held by his school as a companionship with a school in Paris. Kaito didn't lose any second and registered himself to join the program, he thought this was the best solution to go to France. Soon enough he also found out that Aoko joined the program as well which meant that not only he would be able to do the heist and to enjoy his time in Paris with Aoko as a bonus.

So with a new found determination, Kaito settled everything and took the plane with Aoko for Paris. Of course, not before sending with Jii’s help, a little message from Kaito Kid to the Parisians.This in order to let all the city know that the magician thief's new heist would be in Paris.

Yes, everything was going smoothly and without any problem.

… Or this is what he thought.

The school Aoko and him were assigned to go was called Françoise-Dupont, they got a small tour of the school by the principal who introduced them to some of the teachers and show them most of the school while giving them a quick presentation and from what they saw the school seem not bad: most of the students and teachers were welcoming, the lessons seemed interesting, the school was near a lot of touristic places.

But then they met their new class.

The class seemed to be fine at first but things begin to do downhill very quickly, they barely introduced themself that a girl apparently named ̎ Lila ̎ begin bragging about having been in Japan and how she met a ridiculous number of celebrities, gaining immediately her classmate's intentions.

“ Welp… This is going to be fun! ” Whispered sarcastically Kaito in japanese, a small chuckle scaping him as he watches Aoko’s face turn in disgust at the sight of the girl

“- Kaito don’t be rude!” Aoko scolded him, whispering in Japanese as well, as well as delivering a small slap to his arm

“- Honnestly, if anyone is rude, and stupid, at the moment it’s this class!” Kaito uses a hand to motion the whole class immersed in the green eyed and sausage hairstyle auburn girl that was still talking “ I mean come on, how could anyone believe that a 14 years old girl could have done all those things and know all those celebrities AND remain completely anonymous from any press or tabloid? ”

“- ... Okay you’re not wrong, “ Aoko concedes, crossing her arms and looking at the girl expectantly one of her eyebrows raising “ but still this isn’t a reason to give a bad first impression and who knows? Maybe they’re not that bad, so for once in your life, behave “Bakaito”! ”

“- Whatever “Ahoko” , I’m still standing on my point! ” Kaito answered her back while looking annoyed at the ruckus.

To Kaito it was surreal, it was obvious that all the things this girl was telling was nothing more than fairytales but for some reason this class was believing every single thing which was coming from her mouth.

If they were five years old he would have understood, very young kids tend to believe a lot of things, even the most absurd ones. However those were 16-17 years old teens who were supposed to have learned to be critical ! Seriously, just how gullible those people are ?

And the teacher, he thought she would say something to make her students calm down, but no...!

She was just standing there smiling at her students and at both confusing Kaito and Aoko, as if the agitation in the class wasn't happening.

Strangely this display made Kaito give more credit and respect to his teachers back home, sure they had a hard time to stop the ruckus HE created when messing with Aoko, but at least they tried... Unlike this so-called teacher.

This display of stupidity and incompetence wasn't even the worst in this whole situation. The worst of it all, was that since the school doesn't have any obligatory uniforms, Aoko decided to profit from it and to wear pants as well as most of the girls in the class. Almost all of them were either wearing pants, shorts or leggings, which meant no panty peeks for him !

Internally sighing, Kaito went to find a seat with Aoko, away from the ruckus. He scanned the room until his eyes traveled and found two seats in the back of the classroom beside a petite girl with dark blue hair and blue eyes who, unlike her classmates, was ignoring the Lila girl's blabbers and was more concentrated on something... she was writing ? Drawing maybe? In a sketchbook.

“This..” Kaito thought as he pulled Aoko along to their new seats “is going to be a LONG stay...”

When Marinette first heard about the two students from Japan coming to Françoise-Dupont for a student exchange program, she got… mixed feelings about the whole thing.

A part of her was curious about those exchange students. After all, having students from other countries and learning about other cultures was always an interesting experience.

Adding to this the fact Chloe was among the students from Françoise-Dupont who joined the exchange program to go to Japan, giving to Marinette and the whole school some times of tranquility, this should have put the young girl in a very good mood.

However, another part of her reminds her about one annoyance who will more than probably turn this potential good experience into a succession of headaches and frustrations: Lila Rossi.

Ever since the Italian girl’s return, she had been lying non-stop to gain attention. With her classmates being awfully easy to falling for said lies, and seeming to have made their mission to make Marinette’s life a living hell by making everyone believe that she was an awful bully to the poor italian girl.

She tried to “take the high road” and ignoring her lies just like Adrien advised her to do, in hopes of Lila leaving her alone. This seemed the wrong approach now, as it had managed to create the opposite effect making Lila have the desire to torment her even more and see how far she could drag it.

Marinette groaned, as if being the guardian of the miraculous box and dealing with Hawkmoth and his akumas weren’t enough.

Regarding the two exchange students, she believed there would be two scenarios that could happen: either they will fall to Lila’s lies and become another sheeps in the liar’s herd or they would not believe her and because of that Lila would try and make life hard for them.

But whatever the outcome could be, Marinette’s mindset was the same: she felt bad for those two students for having to go to the same school and being in the same class as Lila.

This feeling got confirmed seconds after the two students from Japan introduced themselves. Lila didn’t waste any time to once again spill stories about her having been in Japan in the past and immediately getting the class’s intention with Miss Bustier doing nothing to stop her, as usual, much to the two japanese student's shock.

“And believe me this is just the tip of the iceberg...” thought Marinette sighing, returning to her design, trying to drown the sound of the lies spilling from Lila’s mouth.

Yep, she really feels bad for those two.

Class passed without any ruckus, the classmates even getting to know more about the exchange students as it progressed. As the last bell rang Marinette could only hope to be able to get home peacefully after school, without any akuma or Lila’s shenanigans, and working on the commissions for Jagged.

“-Marinette? Please give a tour of the school to Aoko and Kaito, would you?” Miss Bustier asked her, well more like demanded her to do so, interrupting the young girl’s mental reflection as well as ruining her plans to walk peacefully home and have a nice evening.

“-Hum, miss? It’s not necessary we already got-” Aoko tried to talk to the teacher only to be interrupted.

“-Non-sense!” the teacher interrupted Aoko, a smile on her face “You only got a short tour of the school when you arrived! You should have had a complete and informative tour of the grounds and Marinette is the best student for that! And she’s our class representative and model student so it’s her duty!” Madam Bustier started pushing both teens towards the small blue eyed girl who looked very much resigned with her fate.

Any other person would had go explain to the teacher why they couldn’t do it this time and any other teacher would have been understanding and ask someone else, but if there’s one thing Marinette learnt after years of being in miss Bustier’s class is that when she wants you to do something you must do it and nothing you can say or do will change her mind.

So, with reluctance, Marinette just nodded at the teacher’s request and silently went back to her sketchbook under the glare of her classmates, Aoko’s uncertain look and Kaito’s pensive glance. Kaito mused if they were the only ones that could see how uncomfortable and sad the girl was.

And so, after gathering their things, Marinette went on giving the tour of the school to Aoko and Kaito. At first the atmosphere was awkward with Marinette being very nervous, stuttering sometimes and not daring to speak about anything other than talking about the school and Paris as if she was talking in a commercial or informative video.

Marinette knows she should say something, begin a conversation, or something like that, to break the ice and make both japanese students at ease. Especially after Lila’s “little show” in class.

But what could she talk about with them? She doesn't know them after all, is her discussion of common subjects okay? What if they get bored? Was starting with a joke okay?What if they end up finding her annoying? What if…

“-Hey! You’re alright?” A voice with a japanese accent interrupted her thoughts, a male one to be more precise.

The boy of the duo, his name is Kaito if she remembers well, with the girl whose name is Aoko were looking at her. Kaito, looked a little concerned about her, and worry was expressed in Aoko’s eyes.

“-O-oh yes I’m fine, I was just lost in my thoughts sorry!” Marinette nervously answered to the duo, her awkward laugh making it all worse when she saw both of them frown, glancing at each other and then returning their gazes to her.

Kaito kept looking at her with a concerned face when, suddenly, he perked up a little bit. However, before Marinette could process anything it was gone, his face devoid of any emotion once again. Marinette looked at him confused, but before she could ask anything Kaito made a deck of cards appear from nowhere. Slowly he mixed them before making a perfect fan and showing it to Marinette, talking to her while his face remained stoic.

“-Come on, choose a card!” Kaito said not before watching Marinette’s hesitation, he let a smile form in his lips easing the little bluenette into taking a card from the fanned deck.

Marinette was now confused, what was he doing? A magic trick? Was this a joke?

Seeing Marinette’s confusion and hesitation to take a card from Kaito’s hand, Aoko quickly shakes her head, letting an exasperated sigh escape her lips. Aoko just knew Kaito would never let someone feel that down for so long, he would always do his best to make people smile.

“-Sorry, Kaito tends to do magic tricks to people out of the blue, especially when said people don’t seem to be okay.” Aoko playfully shoved Kaito who just stuck out his tongue at her in return.

“-Oh… I see… Well, I guess a magic trick would be fun!” Marinette said with a little smile.

Marinette bit his lower lip, this could be either an elaborated prank or it could be genuine. Her instincts were telling her to go along with it but her mind was already forming a hundred scenarios where this would end badly.

Taking a deep breath she threw caution to the wind, looking at the two people in front of her she decided to take a leap of faith and trust them.

Marinette looked at the cards, thinking for a moment before picking one of them and taking a peek at it. She was surprised as the card she drew was a queen of hearts.

“-Okay, now put the card back in the deck without showing it to me!” Instructed her Kaito with a little smirk, his gaze turned to the side with Aoko smiling at his antics

Marinette shook her thought out of her head while doing as Kiato had instructed, as soon as she put the card back, Kaito shuffled the deck once more. To Marinette's amazement, his card shuffling was very advanced, the kind of card shuffling she only saw being made by professional magicians or those videos from youtube.

Once his shuffling was done, Kaito taped the deck before fanning it in his hand, showing every single card to Marinette.

̎ -Now look at all the cards very well, do you see your card among them ? ̎ Kaito asked

Marinette stared at the cards for a moment, before ending up frowning a bit and shaking her head. She had been sure her card had been there. Besides Kaito was wearing short sleeves now, there wasn’t a place where he could have hid it without her noticing, right?

̎ -No... The card I chose isn’t in the deck ... ̎ Marinette answered, very confused and amazed by the fact that the boy had such an amazing talent.

̎ -Hum... You're right, it looks like a card is missing... ̎ Kaito said, tapping his chin as he pretended to think before smirking once again. ̎ But by looking at it I can tell you where the card went ! ̎

The young man held out his hand and slowly directed it to one of Marinette's pant pockets, snapped his fingers and, to Marinette's surprise, she could notice something was there. When she reached inside the pocket she was surprised to find something, slowly she took out a card from her pocket. It was folded, but as she slowly opened it she couldn't hold back her surprise, it was the Queen of Hearts! The exact same card she took from the deck!

̎ -And here's our missing card ! So, is that the one you chose?” Kaito said while making the cards jump and do even more complicated stunts than before while winking at her.

Marinette, too shocked to even speak, managed to nod weakly.

“H-How... How ? That was incredible ! How did he do that ?!” Marinette couldn’t stop her thoughts from running, she hadn’t seen him come near her, she didn’t even feel the weight of something else in her pocket until Kaito pointed it out.

Kaito smiled in victory, he looked at the card, his smile stretched wider when he saw the wonder in Marinette’s eyes and her genuine smile.

̎ -Ah ! The Queen of Hearts “ Kaito’s smile grew even wider as he turned to his best friend “Hey Aoko ! If I'm not mistaken, in the language of the cards the Queen of Hearts symbolizes people with a good heart right ? ̎ He asked his best friend, who also nodded while rolling her eyes at his antics.

̎ -Yes, if I recall well, the exact symbolism is : ̎ The Queen of hearts represents sincere and loving women of tender heart. ̎ ̎ Aoko told Marinette with a smile, and shared her amused smile with Kaito.

̎ -Exactly ! And a queen with a tender heart... ̎ Kaito turned his hand upside down and quickly turned it up once again, a yellow rose appearing between his fingers ̎ Deserves amazing friends ! ̎ He announced holding the rose towards Marinette who accepted it even more amazed than before.

She had received roses before, as Ladybug from Chat Noir, red roses, always as ̎ a proof of his love for her ̎, a gesture she at first didn't mind, even finding it adorable and nice. But the endless repetitions of those ̎ proofs of love ̎ from Chat Noir, at the most inconvenient time, despite refusing them over and over…made the gesture she once saw as something kind and thoughtful turn into a source of annoyance and frustration.

She couldn't even look at a red rose without thinking about Chat and his reckless behavior, or his constant declarations of love.

But this rose, this gesture, it felt different from Chat Noir's. Unlike the Black Cat hero's gestures ,which were pressuring love declarations and bothersome, this gesture felt nice, comforting and was a friendly gift. Slowly Marinette reached for the flower, the sweet smell filling her nose and the soft cold stem making her fingers clench more around it.

Because she knew very well that yellow roses are the roses of friendship in the flower language, and Kaito had made his intentions clear while handing it to her. They wanted to be her friends, no ulterior motives.

Staring at the flower in her hands, the bluenette turned her eyes to the two japanese students, a smile on her face and tears already forming in her eyes.

̎ -Kaito, Aoko... Thank you it's- ̎ Marinette started to talk, her stutter gone and she could feel at ease but before she could continue someone interrupted her.

̎ -Marinette ! What are you doing loitering around with the exchange students ?” the annoying voice of the liar interrupted her, she could feel herself tense as the italian came near her “Aren't you supposed to give them a tour of the school ? You're not slacking are you ? ̎

… And here it goes, goodbye good mood.

Marinette couldn’t believe Lila would dare to come here to cause a scene. Right there, in the school corridors, Lila was starting to do her ̎ innocent act ̎, as usual, with some of the infamous ̎ akuma class ̎ following close behind her.

Marinette got a bad feeling about this...she took a step back, holding the rose closer to her chest.

̎ -I mean, really Marinette,” Lila kept on going with her fake sweet voice dripping with honey and venom “I know you haven’t been THAT reliable lately but you could at last be able to do a task this simple ! ̎ Lila dramatically sighed while shaking her head in disappointment with an evil smirk on her face.

Marinette, while trying to not be too upset about the accusation, then noticed Lila was walking toward the two japanese students, Kaito specifically. Both students looked disgusted and with a hint of annoyance in their faces.

She got a REALLY bad feeling about this...

̎ -Kaito and Akako right ?” Lila turned to them, smiling as sweetly as she could and leaning into their space “I realized we didn't get properly introduced, I'm Lila and I hope we can get along ! However, I want to warn you, Marinette is not the best person to hang out with, she seems to be nice but in fact she's really mean and jealous. Especially with me and I fear she will only bring you trouble ! I know she's giving you a tour of the school and you're supposed to stay with her during the tour, buuuut... Once you're done with it, you two can hang out with us ! It will be really fun and I'm sure you'll love hearing about all the things I do and about the celebrities I’ve met during my travels ! ̎ The liar told to both Kaito and Aoko with a false sweet voice.

The two Japanese students looked at Lila completely unimpressed. Eyebrows raised and both crossed their arms over their chest in a sign of annoyance.

̎ -First of, it's ̎ Aoko ̎ not ̎ Akako ̎ ! ̎ Answered Aoko, very angry now with this girl ̎ and secondly, thank you for the ̎ offer ̎, but we don't mind Dupain-Cheng-san's company and unlike what you were thinking, she was giving us the school's tour, we just stopped for a little moment to talk a bit ! ̎ Aoko stated as a much annoyed Kaito nodded in agreement by her side.

Marinette was getting tense at the situation, if there's one thing she knows about Lila it's that the italian girl HATED IT when people don't do things her way and that is what the two japanese students were doing right now.

As for Lila, her smile became tense and her hands were twitching, it was barely noticeable but Marinette knew the signs.

Oh no…

̎ -O-oh ! It's very nice of you, but I don't think you understand !” Lila said trying to defend herself as more of their school students walked near the commotion she was causing “Hanging around with Marinette isn't a good idea at all, she can get very jealous and hurt others because of that and is a manipulator and I'm scared of what could happen to you if you keep being around her ! So why not hang out with me and the rest of the class ? I-I’ve gone to a lot of amazing places like Achu and personally know a lot of important and famous people, even people from Japan ! Like... Like... Oh ! Like the magician Toichi Koruba ! ̎ The liar nervously said while trying to keep her ̎ nice girl ̎ image.

This got Kaito's and Aoko's attention, the two were looking at Lila stunned before Kaito spoke.

̎ -... What ? ̎ Kaito asked in total disbelief, his gaze now firmly in the Italian girl, his fist clenched and shoulders tense. His voice came out relatively calm, but Aoko just knew how dangerous that tone was.

̎ -I happen to know Toichi Koruba !” Lila said, dismissing the cold tone of Kaito’s voice and confusing his disbelief for confusion “I met him 4 years ago when he had a magic show in Italy ! My mother and I were at this magic show and there was an accident, the bunny he was going to use for one of his magic tricks escaped, it was a real mess and the magic show was almost cancelled because of it ̎ Lila blaberred, not noticing Kaito's and Ahoko's faces becoming somber minute by minute.

̎But by chance, I found it wandering around and give it back to Mr. Koruba, he was so relieved and after the magic show he invited my mother and me to the best restaurant in Italy to thanking me for saving his show ! And during the diner I even give him the ideas for what is considered nowadays as his best magic tricks ! ̎ Lila commented as the classmates of the Akuma class surrounded her oohing and awing at the story.

̎ -Really ? That’s absolutely amazing Lila ! ̎ Alya told her awestruck by Lila’s supposedly feats

̎ -You personally met Toichi Koruba, the best magician in Japan, even in the world? Oooh that's incredible ! ̎ Myléne praised Lila with sparkles in her eyes “My father once talked about him, you’re so lucky!”

Marinette looked at her classmates now surrounding Lila, throwing praises at her, with an exasperated expression on her face. As usual they listen to her stories and believe her before regarding her with adoration, honestly this was really becoming old.

She then looked at the two japanese students and what she saw made her very tense.

She saw Aoko looking at Lila, scandalized, her mouth being covered by her hands and as for Kaito...

The young man seemed to be very angry, his hands clenched and his whole body was nearly trembling in anger. He was frowning at Lila, his eyes cold and his smile gone and if looks could kill she could bet that Lila would’ve dropped dead in that moment.

This confused Marinette, what did Lila say to make them upset like that ? She tried to remember something that could’ve angered Kaito like that, that is when she looked at the rose and she realized something...

Lila pretended to have met Toichi Koruba, and if she remembered well Kaito's complete name was...

Kaito Kuroba... Oh no, could it be ?...

Marinette’s eyes went wide, she glanced around in panic. If those emotions Kaito was feeling were that strong Hawk Moth would never let such an opportunity pass. She could only stay on guard and pray it would all be resolved without it becoming a catastrophe.

“Please don't attract an akuma, please don't attract an akuma, please !” Marinette begged in her head while searching for any sign of a black butterfly.

̎ -What the fuck is wrong with you ?! ̎ Aoko screamed at the liar, interrupting the thoughts and compliments of the classmates surrounding the italian girl.

This startled Lila a bit, who immediately tried to regain her composure.

̎ -W-what ? ̎ Lila asked, turning to see the furious Japanese girl “I-I just …”

̎ -I agree with Aoko ! What makes you think you can say things like that ?” Kaito interrupted whatever the liar could be about to say to defend herself “Because from what I heard, everything you are saying about Toichi Kuroba is nothing more than mere fantasies ! ̎ Kaito pointed out, visibly making his best to stay calm.

Kaito’s arms were now over his chest,

̎ -But-but it's true I really met and sympathized with Toichi 4 years ago ! ̎ Lila spluttered trying to maintain her lie, eyes widening in panic

Aoko narrowed her eyes on her, she could see the liar starting to sweat.

̎ -Oh really ? Then explain to us how you could have met him 4 years ago when he is supposed to have died 8 YEARS AGO ?! ̎ Aoko demanded, her voice rising as Kaito’s hand came to rest on her shoulder.

̎ -Uh... um... well... Oh !” Lila glanced around in panic “Now I remember, I in fact met him 9 years ago ! I must have mixed up with someone else I met 4 years ago ! Ah ah, silly me ! ̎

Everyone started to agree with her and comfort her until Kaito’s voice interrupted them.

̎ -If I'm not wrong you're 16 right ?” Kaito spoke, his voice cold and calculative yet it had a feral tone “So, if you met Toichi Koruba 9 years ago then... that means you were around 7 during that time !”

Kaito smirked, and Marinette couldn’t help but feel shivers running down her spine watching how dangerous Kiato actually looked. Taking a step forward to the liar Kaito advanced, his eyes glued on the auburn Italian as she took a step back.

“You seriously want to make us believe that a 7 year old girl could easily have a full conversation with an adult, who she barely knew for only one day…” Kaito paused and chuckled, it was cold and it made everyone perk up “no, barely hours of one evening, and give useful ideas to a professional magician? ̎ Asked Kaito with a mocking yet serious tone.

Lila was now panicking, obviously not knowing what to do.

̎ -Hey ! Don't talk like that to Lila ! She did nothing to deserve to be treated like this ! And besides, what does this matter to you anyway ? ̎ Alya angrily interjected, jumping to defend her bestie.

This intervention was what got the domino effect going on. Quickly, the other classmates from the akuma class intervened too, looking at the two japanese students in anger. Most of them turned to scream at the duo.

̎ -Yeah ! Stop being mean to Lila ! ̎

̎ -She's an awesome girl, you have no right talk to her that way ! ̎

̎ -Bullies ! ̎

̎ -Who do you think you are ? ̎

Kaito stared at them with a stoic face. He approached them slowly, his steps calculated and with grace.

̎ -It's matter to me when someone is slandering my late father's name just to be the center of intention ! ̎ Kaito exclaimed, his face never betraying his emotions, everyone who looked at him could tell how pissed off he was.

Many of the students that had wandered around when hearing the commotion, gasped and murmured about what just had happened, most of them angrily whispering about how horrible the Italian girl was.

This statement put the class in shock, and Marinette too. It was one thing to think about a possibility, another was having it confirmed in such a way. Especially when Kiato had revealed that his father was dead.

̎ -Right, as if I would believe that ! That doesn’t tell us you aren’t lying ? ̎ Alya asked while throwing at him an accusatory look.

The rest of the class agreed, trying to throw accusations at Kaito and Lila started her fake crying. Slowly moaning and lamenting herself about how those students could be so mean to her.

̎ -Oh I can prove it to you, alright. ̎ Kaito answered, he walked slowly to Lila and lifted his hand to her ear. ̎-Ah ! It looks like you have something behind your ear ! ̎ And in a moment, a card appeared in his hand, much to everyone's surprise.

̎ -Look at that ! It's my ID card !” Kaito smirked while handing it to the Italian girl who was just dumbfounded by the spectacle presented by the boy, yet his smirk was making her feel even more nervous “Can you read my name on the card please ? Please speak loud enough so that everyone can hear ! ̎

With a puzzled look Lila turned her intention to the ID card.

̎ -Uh ? Kaito K- ! ̎ The liar suddenly stopped, looking back and forth at the card and at Kaito completely shocked before continuing with a trembling voice. ̎ K-Kaito K-Koruba ! ̎

Kaito nodded, his smirk widening as he took back the card. The rest of the group were dumbfounded and barely able to process the information they had received.

̎ -There you go ! You wanted proof, well there's your proof !” Kaito exclaimed before clapping his hands together and smiling at the rest of the people “Now if you could excuse us, Aoko, Marinette and I have a tour to finish ! Oh and before I go ! ̎

The young man gave a hard look to the liar before pointing at her, as well as the rest of the class

“Never say any lies about my father or my family ever again ! I hate people who slander my family, especially to get attention ! ̎ And with those words, Kaito turned and left the shocked group and went back to Aoko and Marinette, the latter was shocked to the point she was speechless.

As for Aoko, she and Kaito exchanged one look before she nodded and turned to Marinette.

̎ -Come one Marinette ! We are going ! We have a tour to finish after all ! ̎ Aoko exclaimed, slowly reaching for her as she linked her other arm with Kaito’s “And we have to make sure that Bakaito doesn’t try anything funny!”

Hearing that Kiato fake whined before shoving playfully his best friend,Marinette said nothing and just left the japanese girl to bring her by her arm with her and Kaito away from the class.

Her brain was disconnected and only one question was stuck in her mind.

What the heck just happened ?

̎ -How dare they ? How dare they humiliate me like that ? No one can talk to me like that, no one ! And where's Hawkmoth when you need him ? ̎ Lila thought seething, it was all crumbling down before her own eyes

After the shock passed, Lila excused herself from her classmates, saying that was so hurt by this obvious misunderstanding that she needed some time alone, another lie of course.

Currently she was in her bedroom, back at her home, grumbling in her breath and cursing against the two exchange students for the humiliation from earlier, cursing against Maribrat and cursing against Hawkmoth for not having sent any akuma.

Why did they have to expose her story ? Sure telling a story about some magician guy who she heard the name only one time without doing any research first hadn't been her best idea, but to the point those two losers ridicule her in front of her “fellow” classmates ? This was unacceptable !

They were going to pay ! They will understand who rules this school ! Who made the rules ! And they will have no other choice but to follow her lead or have their lives become a living hell !

After all most of her classmates and miss Bustier were stupid enough to believe everything she says without any question, so with some lies and a few fabricated evidence she could accuse them to bullying her and like she did with Maribrat they will believe her.

Maybe before that she could try something else first, like she could try to ̎ sympathize ̎ with this Kaito guy, with her good looks it will not be difficult, by charming him, telling him what he want to hear.

And once he is under her thumb, she could use this to turn him against this ̎ A-something ̎ girl with some little stories and act like the poor sweet girl who is bullied by his jealous friend.

After all, as they say, ̎ Divide and conquer ̎.

Ever since their first true ̎ interaction ̎ with Lila and the rest of the class, Aoko's and Kaito's opinion about them wasn't the best, and as days passed said opinion didn't change, in fact, it was even degrading.

Everyday at school, Lila would try to make life hard for them... Okay more for Ahoko, the liar would fabricate a good bunch of lies to accuse Aoko of bullying her.

Of course Kaito didn't believe it for one second, but the same couldn't be said for the class who jumped on calling Aoko a bully without any hesitation.

And things were not easy for Kaito either, for some reason Lila decided to set her sights on him and didn't miss one occasion to throwing herself at him, gripping his arm, trying to sweet talk to him and flirting with him while acting as a victim to him when she accuse Aoko of tormenting her.

As for the classmates... Kaito didn't even want to get to start on them, to him ̎ annoying ̎, ̎ stupid ̎ and ̎ sheeps ̎ would be the best words to describe them. That being the most simple yet derogatory terms he could muster.

̎ Nosy ̎ would also fit them, like this Alya girl who pretend to be a journalist and who seem to be determined to get every info from him about his family, his father and particularly about the latter's death.

And as he feared, the teacher, miss Bustier, was very incompetent.

She had no hold on the class, doing nothing about their behavior, especially Lila's, she even scolded both Kaito and Aoko when she noticed they weren't very much socializing with the rest of the class and why.

̎ -It's not nice to isolate yourself from the others like that ! They just want to know you and be your friends ! I understand as you're from a very different country and as such it can be difficult to adjust to the ways of another culture, but you need to make efforts too ! ̎ the teacher had once told them, very angry at their behavior

̎ -But miss what about Rossi-san ? You're aware what she does is also bad right ? ̎ Aoko had tried to reason with her, Kaito just wanted to let loose his prankster side so that they all could end up being traumatized for good

̎ -Aoko ! You and Kaito must understand that Lila has a bad condition, she can't help telling all those stories, there's no need to punish her ! You and Kaito need to be the biggest people here, just apologize to Lila and the class, be nicer with them and everything will be fine ! ̎ Miss Bustier told them, as if they would actually listen to such bad advice and obvious plan of manipulation.

Absolutely. Incompetent !

There was also a boy in the class, Adrien Agreste, who seemed to be okay but the fact every time the liar pulled a stunt to cause trouble he just looked at it while shaking his head gave Kaito doubts.

Well, at least Marinette seemed to have more brain cells.

To be honest the girl was rather nice to hang out and talk with, especially compared to the rest of the class, she was also aware of the liar's lies and tried to exposed her, without any success and ending up to be see by the class as a ̎ bully ̎ for tormenting ̎ poor Lila ̎.

Just like she was doing with Aoko.

So in the end, Aoko and Kaito hang out most of the time with Marinette.

Through the time they spend together, they get to know more about each other and get to talk about a lot of things.

They eventually talked about Kaito Kid and his future heist in Paris, Marinette confessed to them that she only knew the famous thief by name only, most of the celebrities she really know are in the fashion or music industry.

And after being explained, the young girl was having mixed feelings about the magician thief, on one hand she kinda get why Kaito Kid was popular with his gentleman thief persona reminding of a Arsene Lupin, but on the other hand he was still a thief and to the parisian girl looking up to a thief was, well, a bit weird.

A reflection that Aoko didn't miss to agree with, even expressing with eagerness her annoyance about the magician thief, with Kaito looking at her with a jaded look. Knowing the main reason why Aoko was like this toward his other identity was because of her father's obsession to arrest Kaito Kid and as such being the cause for his absence at home very often.

They also talked about Paris's ̎ akuma problem ̎ and Marinette give them more information about it.

Just like the rumors were telling, a villain named Hawkmoth use magic to use people's negative emotions to turn them into ̎ villains ̎ with magic powers and there's a duo of heroes called Ladybug and Chat Noir who always stop the attacks and save the day.

She also warned them to be careful with their emotions and to be on guard because people being akumatized happen very often and there's a high risk they end up in the crossfire of an akuma attack.

Crossfire which happened pretty quickly as Kaito and Ahoko ̎ met ̎ their first akuma in the form of M. Pigeon, an akuma who, according to Marinette, is a recurrent.

Both of them found a shelter to be safely away from the akuma when they noticed that Marinette was nowhere to be seen and they didn't have the time to try to find her when the city's heroes showed up to defeat the akuma. As well as the ton of pigeons interrupting their efforts to find the small girl.

This was something really shocking for Aoko and Kaito, sure they have seen some videos of akuma attacks, but to be actually face to one was something else... In the ̎ Oh my god ! This is terrifying, get me out of here ! ̎ way of course.

Was that the kind of ̎ troubles ̎ Akako warned Kaito about ?

Fortunately, the akuma was quickly defeated by Ladybug and Chat Noir and the two japanese students found Marinette safe and sound, although a lot farther than where they had lost sight of her.

According to the young girl, with the agitation of the attack she was separated from them but thankfully was able to find a safe place somewhere. Kaito thought he had seen her being nervous but it could be talked about by the nerves of being in the middle of the attack , still he tried to keep an eye open.

This attack made Kaito thoughtful, if those attacks are that ineffable and happen randomly and whenever at day and night then he must be really careful when he will go steal the jewel as Kaito Kid.

After all, what makes him sure that someone will not get akumatized the night of the heist and will not attack him and the police during their rampage ?

So kaito prepared himself, planified everything for any possibilities, especially in case of an akuma attack.

Whatever those precautions will work or not he doesn't know, it could actually work as it can end up in a disaster, you never know with an akuma.

In any case as days passed, the night of the heist came and akuma attacks or not Kaito Kid was ready for the show.

“-My lady, do we really need to be here? This does not involve akumas after all, I don’t see why we should get involved!”

“-Chat Noir! Don’t forget as heroes we have the duty to protect the city from any kind of crime, by so akuma or not if there’s trouble we must be there!”

Ladybug and Chat Noir at the top of a building near Le Louvre, observing all the police officers gathered at the museum.

Tonight was the night of the infamous thief’s, Kaito Kid, heist at the museum to try to steal the gem and the whole police forces of Paris were ready to stop the thief and arrest him.

The heroic duo were also present, Ladybug had been preparing for apprehend Kaito Kid and, thankfully, tonight no akuma was in sight which give to Chat Noir and her a golden opportunity to stop the thief without any “complications”.

However, Chat Noir wasn’t very eager to participate in the whole thing, according to him, he and his lady helping the police to arrest a “petty thief” was a waste of time, that the police could do it perfectly without them yadda, yadda, yadda…

And he didn’t stop expressing his displeasure about it, much to Ladybug’s frustration.

“-I get it! But it’s just a petty thief! Why not letting the police handle it by themself and rather go on a date together my lady?” Chat Noir suggested with a flirtatious tone.

Ladybug threw him an exasperated tare.

“-Chat Noir, no, we will not because 1: Even if the thief don’t have powers he is still a potential threat to the town and by so as the protectors of Paris it’s normal that we are here just in case and 2: I already told you over and over that I love someone els-”

“-LIEUTENANT ROGER! LOOK UP THERE!”

The policeman’s scream bring the two heroes’s intention and the duo turned their gaze to the museum.

They were welcomed by a shocking sight.

Up there in the sky was a big white airship, flying toward Le Louvre.

And abroad said airship, proudly standing in his iconic white suit and cape was non other than Kaito Kid.

Going out of his shock, Roger Raincomprix picked up his megaphone to try to apprehend the thief.

“-Attention, attention Kaito Kid! You are surrounded and have no way to do your little heist! Just land your airship and surrender, the “show” is over!”

A few minutes of silence passed, several long minutes during which the airship just stay where it was not making any move to land or to fly away.

Getting impatient, lieutenant Roger warned once again the thief.

“-I repeat! Land your airship and surrender! If you do not comply, we will open fire against your airship to make you land!”

A few more minutes passed before the airship finally seemed to move to land and as soon as the airship touched the ground, Lieutenant Roger without wasting anytime rushed toward it and roughly tackled to the ground what seem to be Kaito Kid.

“-Kaito Kid aka “ The Magician Under the Moonlight”, you are under arrest for the thief aptempt of the new found gem!”

“-Hum… Lieutenant Roger?” One of the agents said, trying to get his attention.

“-You have the right to remain silent, anything you say may be used against you!” Recited Lieutenant Roger while putting a pair of handcuffs on the apprehended, not listening to the other agent.

“-Lieutenant Roger!” The other agent tried once again, without any success.

“- You have the right to consult an attorney before speaking to the police and to have an attorney present during questioning now or in the future, but quite honestly, with all the crimes hold against you it’s very unlikely that any attorney would be able to defend you in court!”

“-LIEUTENANT ROGER!!!!”

“-WHAT?!” The Lieutenant, finally, turned his intention to his colleague, annoyed to be bothered while doing the arrest.

“-The… hum… “person” you are arresting… It’s not Kaito Kid…” The agent explained, embarrassed.”It’s a dummy…”

Lieutenant Roger suddenly stopped on his track, a long silence passed, the lieutenant digesting the information.

“-A… What?”

He turned his gaze once again on “Kaito Kid” and to his shock, what he thought to be the infamous thief was indeed in fact a simple dummy which look like Kaito Kid.

The police officers barely had the time to wonder what was going on that the dummy’s head fall down from it body and inside said dummy’s body was what seemed to be sparks.

Sparks which are usually signs of a lighted fuse.

Now alarmed, the police officers who were near the dummy quickly back away from it while screaming in warning to everyone else.

“-HIT THE DECK! HIT THE DECK!”

Every police officer didn’t waste any minute and throwed themself on the ground far away as possible from the potential explosion, Ladybug and Chat Noir were also about to jump into action.

But what came next completely stunned everyone: instead of an explosion, big tray of lights were blowing from the dummy and were flying up to the to the sky with a piercing sound before exploding.

To their surprise, and relief, what was inside the dummy wasn’t something life threatening like a bomb but simply fireworks.

Said fireworks were so bright that everyone was blinded by them for a few seconds before realizing that the fireworks weren’t just exploding, their explosions were also showing symbols.

Some of the fireworks were exploding into the infamous Kaito Kid’s logo and others were revealing a message in big bright lights “ Welcome Paris “city of lights”! May the show officially begin! ”.

This made Lieutenant Roger clenched his teeth in anger, this thief had lured them and had the nerves to mock them!

“-Don’t let yourself be distracted! Kaito Kid probably profit from it and is in the museum! We must stop him from getting to the gem!” He yelled at his men with authority.

“-You!” He instruct to a group of police agents.”split into two groups and block all the issues possible, if Kaito Kid is indeed in the museum, he must not be able to get out!”

“-YES SIR!” The police agents replied before splitting to get in position.

“-Agent Marcel! Call the central! Tell them to send more back up!” Lieutenant Roger told to one of the agent who was near a police car.

“-Already on it sir!”

The lieutenant then turned to a few other police agents.

“-Agent Leroy! Agent Simon! Go to the room were the gem is exposed! Make sure that NOBODY SUSPICIOUS get near it!”

“-YES SIR!”

Meanwhile, both Ladybug and Chat Noir were looking at the police agents scattering around.

“-Welp! Look like they handle “purrfectly” the situation!” Chat Noir commented nonchalantly before being once again flirtatious with Ladybug.”So… How about we call it a night and go to that date my lady?”

“-Not the time Chat!” Ladybug groaned frustrated with her partner.

“-But my lady!” Chat wined.”The police is all over the museum and probably will catch up this thief in no time!”

But as soon as Chat Noir finished his sentence, the angry voice of the Lieutenant Roger draw the two heroes’s attention.

“-AGENT SIMON! I THOUGHT I GAVE YOU THE ORDER TO GO SECURE THE GEM WITH AGENT LEROY WHAT ARE YOU STILL DOING HERE?!”

Said agent Simon was looking at him completely confused.

“-I’m sorry Lieutenant Roger but I just get there with other agents who were called as back up as we were among the agents who were the nearest of Le Louvre! I wasn’t there before!”

The Lieutenant and some other agents were now looking at their colleague with wide eyes.

“-Hold a moment!” Lieutenant Roger ask with a trembling voice.”If you just got there, then who was the agent I ordered to go secure the gem with…”

Realizing he have been tricked, Lieutenant Roger was now frantically running to the museum while shooting orders to a group of agents.

“- YOU! COME WITH ME! WE MUST GO TO THE GEM’S ROOM RIGHT NOW BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE!”

Meanwhile, the agents Leroy and “Simon” were guarding the gem.

“-Stay on guard, we don't know when Kaito Kid will strike!” Agent Leroy warned his colleague.

“Agent Simon” nobbed in agreement.

“-Agree! Who knows what that thief planned? For all we know, he could take us by surprise at any moment- Ah!!”

“Agent Simon” barely finished his sentence that he feel someone tackling him on the ground and was shocked when he realized that the person who tackled him was Lieutenant Roger.

“-What the? Lieutenant Roger, what are you doing?” He asked the lieutenant, completely confused about his actions.

“-Drop the act Kaito Kid! You thought you could fool us by passing for the agent Simon, but you were wrong!” The lieutenant stated proudly while making his best to keep “agent Simon” on the ground.

“-WHAT?! Have you gone crazy? I’m not Kaito Kid!”

“-Right, right! Keep on with your little masquerade all you want, it will not save you!”

“-There’s no masquerade! I. AM. NOT. KAITO KID! I’M THE TRUE AGENT SAMUEL SIMON! SO FOR HECK’S SAKE LET ME G-”

*BOOM*

The agent didn’t had the time to finish his sentence that he was interrupted by smoke bombs exploding and the room finding itself invaded by the smoke and blinding the police agents.

When the smoke finally faded away, the police officers got an awful surprise:

The showcase in which the gem was exposed was now empty, the gem being nowhere to be seen.

Completely confused, Lieutenant Roger frantically looked in all directions, trying to understand what was going on.

Someone stole the gem? How? He captured Kaito Kid, the gem was supposed to be secured! So why?

These were the questions which were endlessly repeating in the lieutenant’s panicked mind, until, by quickly staring at a corridor, he caught the sight of a white cape and a white hat.

And at the enter of said corridor was, on the ground, the police uniform of the one he thought to be the real agent Simon.

At this moment, things were now clear for the Lieutenant, he didn’t caught Kaito Kid, he never did, he and the rest of the police have been played.

“-That dirty thief! He tricked us!” Lieutenant Roger raged, while getting up and letting agent Simon go.

“-That's what I keep trying to tell you!” The poor agent Simon groaned at him while massaging his sore arm. He was sure he will feel the pain for at least a week.

“-There’s no time to lose! Kaito Kid had stolen the gem, we must stop him before he escapes!” Lieutenant Roger yelled, ignoring the agent’s remark. ”AFTER HIM!”

The police agents all ran toward the corridor where Kaito Kid was spotted, the run led them into the Egyptian collection room looking for the thief.

“-LIEUTENANT ROGER! LOOK OVER THERE!” Agent Leroy exclaimed, pointing at the other side of the room.

Kaito Kid was standing there, looking at them with his iconic smirk.

A smirk which made Raincomprix even more pissed than he already was.

“-So, you thought you could fool us? Well, too bad for you but the game is over! You are UNDER ARREST!” The lieutenant screamed while charging at the thief.

Meanwhile, the other agents were looking at the scene, agent Leroy particuliary, found that something wasn’t normal.

Despite Lieutenant Roger charging at him, Kaito Kid stayed still, not moving a muscle, as if the police officers weren’t there.

As if he wasn’t real…

Looking closely at the thief, agent Leroy, his eyes wide, finally noticed what was really going on and tried to warn his superior.

“-LIEUTENANT ROGER WAIT! IT’S ANOTHER TRICK!”

But before the lieutenant could register what the other agent just told, he crashed into; instead of Kaito Kid, was in fact a projection screen and found himself trapped under the sheet.

The other agents rushed toward the lieutenant, who was groaning and screaming under the sheet while trying to get out.

“-Lieutenant Roger! Are you alright?” Agent Simon asked his superior.

“-HELP ME TO GET OUT FROM UNDER THERE INSTEAD OF ASKING STUPID QUESTIONS!” Yelled Lieutenant Roger from under the sheet.

Meanwhile, in the room beside the egyptian collection, Kaito Kid was listening to what was going on and judging by all the commotion, it’s mean they had fallen into his trap.

“-Look like my “surprise” for them worked! Though, it’s a bit disappointing, they were very easy to fool!” Kaito Kid commented before smirking.”Oh well, too bad for them but good for me!”

On this reflection, Kaito Kid begined to walk away to find an exit.

He then looked at the gem in his hand, it was big and covered the palm of his hand and, unlike what the media were saying, it wasn’t exactly red, it was more of a purple redish color.

Welp, now he has the gem, all he had to do is get out of the museum, put the gem under a moonlight to check if the Pandora is inside and get back to his hideout.

But his project was interrupted by an authoritative and feminine voice strongly resonning.

“-STOP RIGHT THERE KAITO KID!”

Turning around, Kaito Kid got the, not so, surprise to find in front of him the well known Paris’s heroic duo, Ladybug and Chat Noir.

“-Well, well look at that! Ladybug and Chat Noir! I didn’t expect the heroes of Paris to honor me with their presence!” The thief commented with a smirk.

The heroic duo looked as the thief was walking to them.

“-And I must say, it’s even more an honor to meet you Ladybug!” He said before avoiding a direct attack from the two heroes and taking Ladybug by surprise by abruptly getting in front of her, his smirk still present on his face. “And I see that your fierceness is as strong as everyone says and, if I may add, they forget to mention you were also very cute, ma Dame !~” Kaito Kid complimented Ladybug and even gave her a hand-kiss, much to the latter’s shock.

The shock passed, Ladybug found herself extremely annoyed by what just happened.

“- Oh great Kwamis no! No, no, please no! Not another Chat Noir! ” Ladybug mentally begged.

It was painful enough to have to deal with Chat Noir’s constant flirting, but also dealing with another guy’s flirting and who was a thief, a criminal? It was unbearable.

Someone else wasn’t happy with Kaito Kid’s flirting toward Ladybug, said someone being Chat Noir, he wasn’t only unhappy with the situation, he was angry and jealous!

Who does this dirty thief think he was to flirt with his Lady?

The cat hero quickly put himself between Ladybug and Kaito Kid, staring with anger at the thief.

“-You stop right now thief! Ladybug is the Lady of only one and that is me!”He told the thief while pointing his staff at him.”You had your fun, but now the show is over!”

The first remark made Ladybug clenches her teeths in frustration and was making her best to not snap at her partner that she wasn’t his.

It was always the same thing with him, Chat Noir can’t help it but trying to flirt with her and at the worst times… ALWAYS…

She was sick of it.

Kaito Kid just smirked further at Chat Noir’s outburst.

“-Really now? I think, on the contrary, that the show is still going on, in fact…” The thief looked at the two heroes with a confident look.”I think we just get to the highlight of the show!”

Ladybug and Chat Noir get on guard, ready for whatever Kaito Kid was about to do.

But the next thing he told them really confused them.

“-If I’m not wrong, in France you had a tag game called “Chat perchés” right?” He giggled.”Well how about we play?”

As Ladybug and Chat Noir were about to attack him once again, Kaito Kid opened up his arms and declared in a playful tone.

“- Chat! C’est vous qui êtes! ”

Without any warning, the thief clapped his hands together and, to the heroic duo’s shock, a thick smoke came out and in no time invaded the whole room.

At first disoriented by what just happened, the two heroes quickly get a grip and Ladybug wasted no time and used her yo-yo to spin it around to get rid of the smoke.

But when the room was once more clear, there was no sign of Kaito Kid as if he vanished into thin air.

“-Where did he go?” Chat asked while he and Ladybug were looking frantically everywhere.

Turning her gaze to the ceiling, Ladybug froze when she saw one of the windows wide open.

“-OVER HERE!” She screamed to her partner, pointing to him the window.

Ladybug quickly acted, grabbing Chat Noir and thanks to her yo-yo made the both of them go through the window from which Kaito Kid escaped.

Once they get on the window, the duo spotted Kaito Kid escaping on a hang-glider and have gone after him through the buildings’s roofs.

But as soon as they were about to closing in on him, they notice to previously clear night sky being quickly covered by dark clouds and heavy thunders were roaming everywhere.

In the roaming of the thunders a how so well know evil laugh shrilled.

“- AH AH AH! CITY OF PARIS! I, CLIMATICA, AM BACK! AND I’LL MAKE PAY THOSE WHO MOCKED ME! LADYBUG AND CHAT NOIR, COME AND HAND OVER YOUR MIRACULOUS! AH AH AH! ”

Ladybug was internally panicking.

Of all the nights, of all the times an akuma could have appeared it has to be when she’s trying to stop another criminal and of all the akumas possible it has to be Climatica!

Why dear Kwamis? Why? What did she have done to deserve this? And what she should do now?

Recomposing herself, Ladybug turned her attention to Climatica.

As a hero and protector of Paris it was among her duties to stop criminals like Kairo Kid, but fighting akumas and stop them from hurting anyone was Chat Noir’s and her top priority!

With her newfound determination, Ladybug turned to Chat Noir.

“-Come on Chat! We have an akuma to take care of!”

“-WHAT? But my Lady! We can’t let this thief get away! Didn’t you say earlier that it was our duty as heroes to stop criminals like him?” Chat Noir asked shocked.

“-Yes, I did! And I want to stop this thief as much as you do!” Ladybug explained, trying to stay calm.”But defeating akumas is our top priority and right now an akuma is wreaking havoc and will hurt a lot of people, or even worst, if we do nothing! so we better intervene before Climatica cause even more damages!”

Chat Noir stared at Ladybug for a few seconds before smirking.

“-You know what? You’re right my Lady, fighting akumas is a top priority!” Ladybug relaxed in relief as it seemed like her partner was understanding the situation.”That is why I think the best thing to do is you go fight the akuma while I catch Kaito Kid! Like this it will be killing two birds with one stone!”

… Aaaannnd goodbye relief and hello high anxiety and frustration…

“-What? Chat, no! You know we must do this together! Please, we don’t have time for this, kwamis know the rate of the damages and victims Climatica is doing right now!” Ladybug begged his partner almost desperately.

“-Oh don’t worry my Lady, you’ll manage just fine!” Chat flirtatious told her his smirk still on his face.”And if anything “cat-astrophic” happen, you’ll have the miraculous cure will revert any damages! Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a thief to “cat-ch”! See you later bugaboo!”

And just like that, Chat Noir have gone in pursuit of the thief living a desperately frustrated Ladybug behind.

“-CHAT! COME BACK! PLEASE, CHAT!” She was screamed desperately at her partner but he was now far away.

Her fists clenched in frustration, she just wanted to scream at her partner’s behavior, to letting all her overwhelming feelings go without caring if the whole town hear her.

But she can’t do that, she had a her duty as a hero to accomplish, now was not the time to had a break down.

Calming herself down, Ladybug took her yo-yo and took the other way toward Climatica.

It’s time to defeat another akuma.

—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kaito Kid admit it, it was rare to meet someone this determined to capture him during a heist, even inspector Nakamori didn’t last that long during a heist, and with the japanese inspector’s history of his endless determination to arrest him that mean a lot.

Especially after a good chase through building’s roofs after his escape with a hang-glider.

But he didn’t know if in Chat Noir’s case this determination to catch him was based on impulsive recklessness or blatant stupidity.

The fact the cat hero’s partner, Ladybug, seemed to be nowhere to be found and the sound of the rampage of a potential akuma attack far away give him an idea of what Chat Noir was doing.

And if his theory turn out to be right, then it will be official: Chat Noir was an idiot.

“-Look at that, Chat Noir! Fancy to see you there! All alone! Shouldn’t you be with your partner, fighting this “akuma” who just appeared a few moments ago?” Kaito Kid asked him with an inquisitive tone.

“-Don’t get casual with me! You’ll- Wait a minute! How do you know about the akumas?” Chat asked shocked.

This make the thief chuckle.

“-Come on, I may be a thief but I’m a professional one! And as such it’s normal for me to get as much informations as possible about the places of my heist!” Kaito Kid explained with a smirk.”After all anything could happen, so it’s normal for me to be well prepared for my shows and fulfill my role!”

Kaito Kid then get a more serious expression and give the cat hero a judgemental look.

“-And on the subject of “fulfilling our role” I ask again: What are you doing here chasing after a thief when there’s an akuma roaming around and not helping your partner to fight said akuma?”

“-My Lady is perfectly able to manage akumas! She’ll be fine until I join her later! But first I’m gonna put a stop in your little games! And you can be sure that I have a bone to pick with you! No one had the right to talk to my lady that way except me!” Chat Noir hissed at him getting in position to attack.

Which was making Kaito Kid completely unimpressed.

“-So you’re telling me you left Ladybug to fight an akuma, which, if I remember well my sources, is considered as your top duty as heroes, just because of a matter of pride? You’re not really the sharpest tool in the shed about priorities when it came to be a hero uh?”

At this remark, Chat Noir began growling in anger.

“-I don’t have to get lessons about how to be a hero from someone like you! What does a criminal like you know about being a hero more than a hero like me anyway?”

“-... Well, what I’m doing is the opposite of what you’re supposed to do, that's true! But, let’s see…”

Without any warning, he dashed toward Chat Noir, the latter barely had the time to react that in a blink of an eye that the thief was at the other side of the roof.

The cat hero stared at him surprised before noticed he was holding something he didn’t have before and this something turned out to be his own staff and he finally realized Kaito Kid stole his staff.

“-You are inattentive…”

Groaning in annoyance, Chat Noir jumped toward Kaito Kid in a attempt to grab his staff back, but everytime he was about to get it, Kaito Kid counterattacked by using the staff to block and hit Chat Noir, the latter rushing to make another attack hit after hit without any success.

“-You act before thinking way too much…”

“-SHUT UP!” Chat Noir screamed at him, ready to attack with a “cataclysm”.

“-CATACLYSM!”

As he was aiming his attack at Kaito Kid when the thief suddenly get out of the way, deviating the attack’s target from him to the building next door which was right behind Kaito Kid.

Realizing what was about to happen, Chat got no other choice but to quickly throw his attack away to the least collateral damages, which happen to be a billboard.

Chat Noir winced at the damages, it was, thankfully, just a billboard but his actions almost resulted in a catastrophe and he know his lady would had be angry at him if she was here.

“-You are impulsive and reckless…” Kaito Kid commented from behind him with a judgemental look while tapping Chat’s staff on his shoulder.

“-You…” Chat Noir answered angrily before jumping at him and tackled him on the roof’s floor.

But just as he was celebrating for finally having immobilized the thief, he realized too late that what he caught was a dummy dressed as Kaito Kid.

“-And finally from what I see in the situation…” Chat lifted his head at the thief’s voice and spotted him at the top of a chimney with his staff.”You are awfully stubborn and not in a good way!”

“-I’m not!” Chat Noir furiously denied.

“-Really? Then tell me was Ladybug alright with you going after me and leaving her facing the akuma on her own?”

“-I.. Well… Uh… Most of the time it’s harder for her to fights akumas alone and… Well… She might have asked me to drop the chase against you and to come fight the akuma with her and… I… Might have not listened to her?” Chat Noir nervously explained before recomposing himself.”-B-But it’s okay! My Lady is perfectly capable to face this akuma, I’m sure she’s fine!”

Kaito Kid looked at him deadpanned before turning his gaze at something in the horizon.

“-Does she now? Because from what I see she seem like she need help!”

Following the thief’s gaze, Chat Noir found himself face to an alarming sight.

Near the Effel tower was Ladybug fighting Climatica, but what was alarming was that the heroine seemed to had a hard time to fight the akuma and it seem like the worst risk to happen if she didn’t get help and quick.

Chat Noir was now looking in panic, he didn’t expected this to happen, it wasn’t his intention to put his Lady in a such bad situation!

“-Look like you made a bad mistake! And if you do nothing about it I fear your partner will pay the price of your stupidity!” Kaito Kid commented.”But I’m sure if you go right now you could get there in time! But of course that up to you!” He concluded and throwed the staff at Chat Noir.

The cat hero catched his staff and looked at Kaito Kid puzzled.

“-So what is gonna be Chat Noir? Your partner? Or your pride?” Asked Kaito Kid with his arms crossed.

Chat starred at his staff for a moment, thinking, before he tightened his grasp and raced across the buildings’s roofs to his Lady’s side.

As he watched Chat Noir leave, Kaito Kid smirked before turning and leave in the opposite direction.

“-Good choice!” He commented.

He then starred at the sky and frowned at the now heavily clouded night.

The sky was clouded to the point that even the moon wasn’t visible and that mean he will not be able to check to gem to see if it was the Pandora or not.

Kaito Kid sighed at this inconvenience.

“-Well, looks like I’ll have to wait for a more clear night to check! Oh well, it’s just a little set back! The most important thing is that this heist is a success, as always!”

With these words, Kaito Kid jumped across the roofs and in no time, disappeared among the buildings, without any traces, all was left was the noises of the heroes against the akuma and of the police doing their best to find the magician thief, without of course any success.

—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

TO BE CONTINUED

#miraculous ladybug #ml salt #ml salt fic #magic kaito #marinette dupain cheng #kuroba kaito #aoko nakamori #akuma class #adrien agreste #caline bustier #lila rossi #lila salt #class salt #bustier salt #adrien salt #adrien redemption #one shot

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singlesablog · 1 year ago

Text

The Club

“Good Times” (1979) Chic Atlantic Records (Written by Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers) Highest U.S. Billboard Chart Position – No. 1

“The key of the success of Studio 54 is that it's a dictatorship at the door and a democracy on the dance floor.” - Andy Warhol

On April 26th, 1977, more than 4000 people showed up on 54th street between 7th and 8th Avenues in NYC to attend the opening of a newly revamped theater turned discotheque (once an opera house in the 1920s) for the grand opening of Studio 54. Eight thousand invites had been sent from many of the bests lists in the city; the line snaked around the block that night with people clamoring to get in. Many celebrities, officially invited, were unable to get through the soon-to-be famous doors. Disco, a popular fusion of soul and dance music, was on the ascendant: hedonistic, generic, joyful, color-blind, and sexually promiscuous (many of the song themes would be about copulation). It was in that year that two newly successful bandmembers from Chic named Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers were invited by Grace Jones and unceremoniously turned away at the door. Jones was famously unreliable; there is no telling where she was, but when they didn’t get in they went home and wrote an angry song called “Fuck You”, then changed it to “Freak Out”, then to “Le Freak”, which then went on to become one of the biggest disco songs ever written, and afterward they went to Studio 54 as often as they liked, because there is no golden ticket in the world like fame.

I am sure I don’t have to tell you what Studio 54 was: it was one of the most glamourous, glitziest, expensive spaces in New York. It was a party where everyone, anyone, had a good chance to get in. It held 2,500 and often had more; it had back rooms, was famous for the famous, and sex, and drugs. It had an incredible light show and sound system, and the best DJs. But most of all it was entirely and profoundly mixed: rich, working class, old, young, black, white, gay, straight, gender fluid, normcore. The two owners, Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager, had two rules: they wanted it full, and they wanted a mix, always a mix. Only the uber famous (Halston, Warhol, Jagger, Minnelli, Jackson) were guaranteed entrée; otherwise, it was the mix that mattered. The mix, the show (copious amounts of money on props and effects), and the music.

“A rumor has it that it's getting late Time marches on, just can't wait…” - Lyrics from “Good Times”

The club was the answer to a very gritty and tumultuous decade for the US and New York City in particular; it may be no accident that the theater once housed the old CBS studios known as Studio 52. In the 1950s and 1960s they filmed witty game shows here, which showcased intelligent repartee (To Tell The Truth, What’s My Line, Password, The 64,000 Question), shows that were representative of an urbane and prosperous city, and of high American culture. Rubell and Schrager kept a lot of the old leftover camera equipment from that era (whether as props or as a through-line it is hard to ascertain); in reopening its doors they presented a very new idea of glamor in New York, an antidote to the recent near-bankruptcy, inflation, gas shortages, and in 1978, a full-blown newspaper strike. Public housing in The Bronx was a disgrace (literally on fire in 1977 and broadcast live at a Yankees game by Howard Cosell), and fear and paranoia were rampant as Son of Sam ran around viciously killing young women. Out of all this chaos, Studio 54 and disco. Clearly people needed fantasy, and release, and from this scene arose Bernard Edwards (bass) and Nile Rodgers (guitar) of Chic, two highly accomplished black musicians.

The idea of the band was one of sophistication; the three male leads (which included drummer Tony Thompson) were accompanied by two female singers, and everyone dressed beautifully, almost in a retro vision of glamor; the songs were straight-to-the-dancefloor extended disco tracks, or lush ballads with strings. The songwriting was of exceptional high quality, and the playing incredibly expert (their first hits in 1977 were “Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah)” and “Everybody Dance”), and no one, no one, sounded even remotely like them: the guitar and bass lines were ingenious and infectious. In fact, if you want to time travel and exactly conjure the feeling of the late 70s, a Greatest Hits collection will take you right there. After “Le Freak” peaked in 1978 (it would be Atlantic’s, and parent company Warner Brothers, biggest seller of all time until Madonna’s “Vogue” in 1990) it seemed as if Chic, disco, and the nightlife of the Studio 54 crowd would go on forever. Except. Except. Was there something about the sound of Chic, a warped, dragging, rather sad tone, to their hits? The more they succeeded, the sadder around the edges the records became.

I never loved “Le Freak”, as good as it was. In 1979, I must have liked “Good Times”, because I bought it; it was the gray Atlantic label and a plain white sleeve, I remember quite clearly. I think I bought it because of the round piano swirl that opens the record— I was obsessed with how the song was constructed; it was perfect. But I also believe I wanted to understand how it worked, to get to the center of it, so I would drop it into the player and stare at it going around and around for clues that never came. Something about it made me sad. It would be decades before I went back to Chic and discovered the joy in that sadness; this was mature music for sophisticated people, and it captured those years so well, and with such elegance, and if it was sad, it was because there are always sad things seeping in, and possibly because their heyday, and all that high style, would be relatively short-lived considering the perfection of the records they were creating.

The Disco Sucks movement started on July 12th, 1979, in Chicago, Illinois. A radio shock jock held a record-burning stunt at a baseball game in Comisky park and 50,000 people showed up, and after the dj blew up piles of disco records, they swarmed the field and started a riot. Record companies began to re-label their sleeves as Dance Records, not Disco, and the white-wash officially began. The record burning has been likened to a Neo-Nazi event, largely inspired by disgruntled white rock fans, and inherently racially motivated, and I would say I fully believe that. It not without irony that the rather sad quality pushing against the melody of “Good Times” was realistic. It was to be their last No. 1 record under their band name, even if they would go on to produce 1980’s Diana (Diana Ross, but a full-blown Chic record, soup-to-nuts) which would sell 10 million copies, and both Edwards and Rogers would go on to have enormous careers as producers, especially Rodgers, with Bowie’s Let’s Dance right around the corner, not to mention Madonna’s Like a Virgin, produced by Rodgers (and on which all three Chic musicians play) as well as so many more. Nevertheless, I am ahead of myself. It is still 1979, and Studio 54 is still thriving.

“Now what you hear is not a test: I’m rappin to the beat.” - Lyrics from "Rapper's Delight” *

“Good Times” topped the Billboard Pop charts in August, 1979 (B Side: “A Warm Summer Night”). In September of the same year Nile Rodgers was in a club when he heard a song that clearly used the basic elements of their record: the bass, the guitar, a bit of the strings. It was “Rapper’s Delight”, a novelty record produced by a very savvy Sylvia Robinson to exploit the street scenes of break dancing and rapping in The Bronx, which were usually only performed live with a boombox. Certain songs could easy be rapped over, and “Good Times” was one of them. However, real rappers never considered recording. Enter Robinson, some fast thinking, and four quickly auditioned amateurs to make “Rapper’s Delight” as the Sugarhill Gang, and not only did she have it out in a flash, but on her own label, Sugarhill Records (Sugar Hill is a prosperous neighborhood in Harlem).

That night in the club, Nile Rodgers was not pleased. He and Edwards threatened to sue her immediately, and the matter was resolved quickly by Robinson giving them their writing credits, and thereby their money, and re-releasing it. What he could not have foreseen was that this novelty hit (it only went to No. 38 on the charts) would actually change music forever. It is the first successful mainstream rap record (we had the 12”, the first I ever had, in our house, and my brothers and sisters all learned the lines and became living room emcees), and it went on to establish Hip-hop as a genre. It would also lead to many copycats, and many interpolations of Rodger’s guitar and Edward’s tireless bassline, notably in Queen’s “Another One Bites the Dust” and Blondie's “Rapture”.

Looking back on it, Niles feels very differently about one of the most famous examples of record sampling. "As innovative and important as ‘Good Times’ was,” Nile Rodgers has said, “ ‘Rapper's Delight’ was just as much, if not more so.” He is absolutely correct, of course. The success of the Sugarhill Gang led Sylvia Robinson, tireless entrepreneur, to convince a real rapper, Grandmaster Flash, to write and record a track about life as he saw it from the much grittier streets of The Bronx, and he released it as “The Message”, which was a pivotal first. Rap musicians reference this song endlessly as an inspiration, and I love it just as much for its contribution to electronic music.

Back in 1979 my 14-year-old-self stood for so long staring at my copy of “Good Times” as it revolved on the turntable. Was there a reason it felt warped and catatonic as I listened to it? I will never know. I wasn’t old enough to understand what the single portended, which was the future of pop music, years and years early. Things were beginning, and things were ending, right there, all at once, and right in front of my very eyes. It was easy enough to listen, but very difficult to fully comprehend. I needed another 40 years.

Sylvia Robinson, a veteran of the biz, not only produced Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five’s “The Message” but also sang on Mickey and Sylvia’s chestnut “Love is Strange” (1956) —think Dirty Dancing—as well as her own proto-disco song “Pillow Talk” (1973), predating the moans on Donna Summer’s “Love to Love You Baby” by years, and if you don’t know it (I needed some reminding) it has to be heard to be believed. Let’s just say it is at minimum one of the most suggestive Top 40 songs ever recorded. This was obviously a woman with the ears and ambition for a making a hit record. She is now known as “The Mother of Hip Hop”. She passed away in 2011.

Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager went to prison for millions of dollars in tax evasion in January 1980, but not before throwing a big party at 54. They served reduced sentences and eventually opened the nightclub Palladium. Rubell sadly passed away from AIDS in 1989. He was 45 years old.

*(Songwriters: Richey Edwards / Sherill Rodgers)

#1979 #disco #studio54 #chic #hip hop #electronic mucic #new york city #music history

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gollancz · 2 years ago

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Gollancz in the 2023 Locus Awards!

Locus magazine announced the finalists for their 2023 awards earlier this week, and we are GIDDY to see some of our books in such distinguished company!

BEST SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL

The Red Scholar's Wake, Aliette de Bodard

Achingly romantic, beautifully imagined, this space opera with a sapphic love story at the centre involves pirates, sentient space ships, and is heavily influenced by Chinese and Vietnamese culture.

Eversion, Alastair Reynolds

Clever, complex, and twisty, this phenomenal book is cinematic in scope, examining selfhood, agency and identity into an adventure story that wraps around itself to pull you along into something special.

BEST FIRST NOVEL

The Mountain in the Sea, Ray Nayler (published by our buddy imprint W&N)

Described as 'David Mitchell meets Arrival', this literary wonder explores the dangers, and necessities, of communicating with a new species - you might not like what they have to say, but can you risk not finding out? (you are also Not Prepared for how neon this bad boy is in real life good lord)

BEST PUBLISHER

Gollancz

We're always excited to be nominated for awards! Particularly now as we ramp up to our 100th anniversary and are putting together big plans over the next few years to celebrate! We love what we do, and love working with readers and authors to do it well.

BEST ARTIST

Charles Vess

Charles is a phenomenal artist, and it's great he's getting this recognition. If you've seen our stunning Ursula K. Le Guin illustrated hardbacks, that's Charles' work.

We're also delighted to see some of our authors nominated in other categories too, including Wole Talabi for Best Novelette ("A Dream of Electric Mothers") and the BSFA award-winning "Of Charms, Ghosts and Grievances" by Aliette de Bodard for Best Novel.

Congratulations to everyone who is nominated, can't wait to see the winners!

#Locus Awards #SFF Awards #Gollancz #Aliette de Bodard #Alastair Reynolds #Ray Nayler #Wole Talabi #Charles Vess #Booklr

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family-video · 2 months ago

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Introduction

Hello, not sure if anyone would ever read this but I'll say it anyway. I'm tired of living like this. With AI, constant modernization, instant gratification, all of it. I know I'll sound old and bitter, but bear with me. Im 23 years old, and over a decade of my life has been owned by the internet.

When I was 11, I was given my first tablet. I used it mostly to play games, but I began obsessively scrolling on iFunny and Tumblr. If I wasn't doing that, then I was watching Youtube. I spent hours on it every day, cycling through the apps. Then when I was 13, I got my first smartphone. It somehow got even worse. I had access to every social media now, and I wanted every hour of my waking day spent scrolling on Instagram, snapchat, twitter, everything and anything I could download. I spent my years like this until I was 18, and COVID hit.

As I was bored in quarantine, I finally realized something-I felt empty. I was no longer surrounded by anyone, I had no one to prove myself to. I turned off my phone and reflected for awhile, and realized how deeply I missed life before social media.

Before I turned 11, I was truly living. And the world felt alive with me. Some might argue that perhaps I only felt that way because I was a child, but I disagree. I know there was a shift there. When I was a kid, before the internet entered my household, I woke up on the weekends- and did nothing. There was no phone to grab and immediately scroll on. I would lay, look at the ceiling, or glance at the ticking Hello Kitty clock mounted on the wall to know if it was too early to get up for the day. Once I was up, I would sit at the table and eat my breakfast. I would read my books, play on my DSi, or play with my littlest pet shop figures. I would go outside to blow bubbles, or sit in front of the TV to watch SpongeBob.

Then if my parents felt like going out to eat, we would. We would go to Texas Roadhouse and not mind the long wait, and then go to my favorite place in the world- Family Video. In there I would spend all my time looking at the video games before renting something I liked and going home.

I don't know if this makes sense, but things felt so alive. The world felt almost sparkly. Everywhere we went was busy, but no one seemed to mind.

However, now, I feel like things are dull. Dead. Again, I do not think this is because I am an adult.

Now I wake up, and I immediately grab my phone. Even when I try my best not to, I subconsciously do it. I read through my unimportant notifications and scroll on TikTok or instagram reels before thinking "What the hell am I doing? I need to get up!" When I do get up, I eat my breakfast while scrolling on twitter, reading unimportant things like celebrity drama.

Then if my boyfriend and I don't feel like going anywhere for the weekend, we sit, and we scroll, and we watch YouTube, and play Roblox. (Yes, I am aware I am too old for that. But playing Bloxy Bingo with my siblings is too much fun.) And if we feel like eating out, we don't even go out. We simply order off DoorDash, sit, and wait. And I plan on digging into this "instant gratification" thing in another post, but I will say that it feels so dull.

Another thing too is that both my boyfriend and I have anxiety- and going out to stores doesn't necessarily feel the same anymore. Ok, here is where I will hear someone out if they say "well it's cuz you were a kid!". Is it just me, or after COVID did everyone forget basic manners? I can't walk into Target without feeling like I'm going to have a heart attack. Everyone is cutting you off abruptly, or walking so quickly behind you they're almost stepping on your shoes. And NO ONE says excuse me. Sure we don't have to, but it would be a little nice if I had a clue that you were trying to get past me in an aisle without bumping my shoulder.

This stressful experience leads me to want to isolate myself further. And as I head to the car, sweat dripping down my forehead from damn near running to leave, I get a notification on my phone from my crime app telling me that there was a super terrible tragedy nearby that instills the feeling in me that I need to stay home.

I need to stay safe inside, continue door dashing, continue scrolling.

But I'm done with it. I have felt the desire to abandon this lifestyle for a couple of years now, but this time im going to do it- and I mean it.

I am going to live like its the 2000s again.

Yes, I am aware that I could never truly go back to the way things were before. And there are in fact modern things I want to keep in my life. Modern interests, etc. But what I mean is I don't only want to quit social media (besides Tumblr so I can write), but I want to go back to some of the technologies that genuinely worked just fine. In an ever changing world, I can appreciate that we make technological advances every single day. But maybe we don't need to.

I know this is long, and again I am unsure if anyone read this. But if they did, sorry for the rambling, and thank you for reading my thoughts.

So without further ado, here I go- back into my imaginary time machine.

#2000s blog #i am not a writer

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ishikawayukis · 8 months ago

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Belleeee how are you?? I noticed your birthday passed so I wanted to wish you a happy (belated) birthday first!!!🥳🫂🎉✨ I hope you got to celebrate it nicely<3

y pues, no he llorado como Marineford pero wci si me está sacando unas cuántas lágrimas, específicamente el episodio 808😭😭😭😭 JAJDIWSF-

dude I HATE the Vinsmoke family istg I know I don’t hate them as much as Sanji does for sure but goddammit I hope they all root (except Reiju, not the best but definitely not the worst, did what she could as a child<3) pero si que está fuerte todo esto y como siempre Luffy siendo la personificación de inteligencia emocional, empatía, lealtad y amor and I just can’t andiwjsjeieu-

fr who cares who’s the strongest literal este arco está demostrando lo valioso que es para Sanji su relación con todos los strawhats LIKE IM SORRY ARE YOU PAYING ATTENTION TO THE WHOLE PLOT??? THEIR FRIENDSHIP IS LITERALLY EVERYTHING FOR THEM!!!

ay si, es que con dressrosa además de los flashbacks eran las pinches peleas que nunca acababan istg they just swung the sword once and we had to hear the internal monologue, watch them have a conversation with the crowd, and wait for next ep to see the next blow: wtf??!! pero si Barto y Cora fueron lo que valió la pena y me alegra que pudimos verlos un poco más hasta Zou🫶🏽

todavía no me spoileo con escenas del manga but when I think I’m seeing a screenshot I’m scrolling past it like crazy JAJAJAJAJA

FROBIN FOR THE WIN HELL YEAH!!! but yeah some people seriously have some problems or are just going for looks and ignoring the characters as a whole bc I’ve seen Cora+Law shippers and I’m like dude, primero ese es el papá y segundo adoptivo o no SE LLEVAN MÍNIMO 20 FREAKING AÑOS LIKE HE WAS A CHILD!!!???

PEOPLE ARE JUST HATERS!!! I feel even more strongly about defending Sanji while watching wci porque la gente debería estar agradecida que este hombre no se convirtió en el peor villano de la historia like the shit he went through is insane, sigue necesitando terapia pero salió mejor de lo que cualquiera de esta gente hubiera salido de esa experiencia

a few weeks ago I started seeing CrocoxDragon fanart appearing on my search page and I was like🧍🏽‍♀️how did we even get here?? JAJAJAJAJAJA pero pues, para los gustos los colores supongo

I don’t remember which movie was but bc it’s after Dressrosa, they do mention Sabo/the Revolutionaries and every time they mention him or show him saying he’ll protect his little brother I’m like😭🩵🫶🏽✨ Sabo te quiero mucho de verdad<3

not only the Will of D but that one Zou episode where they drop a bunch of new info and clues for the one piece and the poneglyphs I was sooo lost💀 me encantó porque wow cuánta nueva info para el plot pero vayan más lento por favor ajdjjw

dear thank you so muuuuuuuch! ngl i was wondering where you were LSKHDGSL hope everything is going alright <333

EL EPISODIO 808!!!! literal uno de los dos q tengo grabados en la mente para siempre AJAJAJ luffy screaming "i can't be the pirate kig without you" and sanji just breaking down fully sobbing ooooooh death would be sweeter

we hate the vinsmokes in this household!! fuck you judge for everything you did to your kids hope you rot in hell forever piece of shit character hate him sooooo much. and reiju well...... at least she was trying LMAO she could've been worse but she was truly trying for sanji

no those people truly only care about power scaling, toda la historia literal les entra por una oreja y les sale por la otra pq el plot no importa lo q importa es quién pega más fuerte 🙄

literal me salté casi todas esas partes en dressrosa pq no me importaaaaaaaaaa rebecca entiendo q eres importante en este instante pero dios mio q te hicieron desagradable AJJAAJ also the kyros back story how many times can we see the same scene we get it dude we get iiiiiiiiit. and while i love that they always expand on side characters backstories i also did not care for señor pink it would've been the same!! no everyone needs a backstory

coralaw shippers are so weird...... and for most of those ships the excuse always is "well they're not blood related" ok and?? a family bond is a family bond you don't have to share blood LMAO vi uno q era también literal doffy+cora y yo como ya a ustedes literal les importa todo un pico AJAJ (perdón lo chilena)

NO EXACTOOOOOOOOOO sobretodo por cosas q van a pasar después q no te voy a spoilear, sanji literal podría ser el Peor pero es tan amado por todo su crew (zoro incluido pa los haters ajajaj) el otro día en twitter literal me salió alguien q había escrito todo un fic odiando a sanji y todos los comentarios eran "aah asi que así se siente ver one piece con los ojos cerrados" pq literal pulling shit out of their ass just to justify how much they hate sanji LMAO peak loser behaviour as well whole ass 3k words hating on a character and writing the rest of them sooooo poorly

AJAJA oops the algorithm got a peak of our conversations and said ooh so this is what you like? we're gonna give some to you then please enjoy

sabo literal amor de mi vida my baby my love, he wants to do what he couldn't do before and he's just so :') god i love him so

oh god that whole zou episode i was like yes! sure! i do understand what they mean with all of this and i don't feel stupid at all right now LMAO la única vez q le pedirás a one piece por fa vayan más lento con esta situación q me tiraron mucha información de una AJJAJAJ

#asks #op anon

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40sandfabulousaf · 1 year ago

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My new joggers from Anta arrived and I was thrilled by the silky softness, smoothness and stretchiness of the fabric. With my shoes, tees and backpack also from Anta, I may pass off as an ambassador 🤭 Truth is, I don't earn a cent and pay the same prices as everyone else; it's just that I simply love their high quality, durable and functional merchandise. China's Olympics team won so many medals whilst wearing Anta, a testament to the high performance products. Once I tried their range of super comfy apparel, there was no looking back!

youtube

It's been raining and the office was freezing; even wearing a jacket and having another cover my legs, I caught a cold. Traditionally, we eat red meat during cooler weather and when we fall sick, so I jumped at the chance for bak chor mee (pork noodles). It took all my willpower not to finish the soup to lower salt intake - it was so delicious and comforting! The effort to eat qing dan (low fat and salt) is worth it. The doctor took my blood pressure whilst I was at the clinic for my cold and, at 46yo, it stands at 119/78.

In Cantonese, we try to avoid 'sum go' (3 highs - high cholesterol, high blood pressure and high blood sugar). Avoiding sum go is important since having 1 often leads to another or both of the remaining conditions and they correspond with high fat, salt and sugar consumption. This simplifies things and provides flexibility during meal times. For example, soup noodles contain less salt and oil than the dry version; to reduce my sodium intake even more, I don't finish the broth, but it's safe to enjoy spoonfuls of it. I don't feel deprived of deliciousness, I take care of my health at the same time, and I'm able to watch Mike Chen make noodles look amazing.

youtube

Whaddya know, December is already here (it's 1 December today in this region) and this means I haven't had fastfood for almost 5 months (the last time I ate some was on 4 July). I won't be feasting nor merrymaking this month since I don't celebrate Xmas. The public holiday will be spent catching up on rest, bonding with Pa and getting something yummy to eat. Celebrations begin next February when Chinese New Year arrives. I can't wait for the rowdy festivities and fresh vibes of a brand new beginning!

youtube

As I reflect on the past 12 months, I continue to pray for a ceasefire in Gaza and a two-state policy to be implemented so that Palestinian civilians can look forward to going home or, at the very least, building one. I pray for 2023 to come to a less turbulent end so that countries can focus on tackling sticky inflation, especially the much higher prices of essentials. I pray that 2024 will be a much more peaceful year. These are my wishes as we journey through December. 下次见!

#Youtube

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suhfics · 2 years ago

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Hide and Seek

Pairing: Jeno x reader

Word count: 8.6k

Contains: dumb shit that the characters did, a bit of humor, endless college parties, cigarettes, alcohol, brief mention of addiction, angst, fluff(?), Jaehyun Kun Hendery Jisung and Chenle cameo, mostly 00-line with Mark, i think that's all.

a/n: I finally finished this omygod i swear it took me so many months because if not for the writer's block, the characters just add and add and add scenes! This is longer than I originally planned and I hope I did it justice. and I rlly hope the ending is okay because I suck at writing endings. In no way am I promoting smoking, but if you do smoke pls do it moderately! There will be inaccuracies so pls do forgive me for that. Anw hope u enjoy this one as much as I enjoyed writing it!

It took you exactly 4 months, 23 days, 19 hours, and 58 seconds to realize that you have moved on from your recent ex. You're precisely sure because you had a tracker. And a journal.. and a jar full of paper cranes that you have folded everyday whilst thinking about how you miss the guy.

But today is the third day you ditched folding cranes, and there are also three pages in your heartbreak journal that are still empty.

Your stopwatch has finally stopped and you are very determined to celebrate it with your best friends. And so you called up Renjun, can't wait to declare that you are finally done crying for a boy you used to know.

"We're actually at Seb's! You should come!" He was practically screaming into the phone, trying to drown out the loud background noise from the club and Haechan's noisy ass bickering with someone. It's probably Jaemin. Not a surprise.

"Is that Mark I hear?" You asked right after you heard a series of laughter, too familiar and too funny not to notice.

"Yeah!! We met them here!! Enough talking and come over here already!!" Renjun /was/ shouting. Was it that loud there?

That question was answered by Haechan screaming "MARK LEEEEE!"

Yep. Definitely loud over there.

"Be right there!" You answered enthusiastically before hanging up.

You wore the sexiest party dress you have because you felt like going wild tonight. Pairing it with a comfy yet cute heels because you know you'd be hitting the dance floor. Completing the look with a clean makeup 'cause you didn't want mascara and foundation dripping down your face later.

The night was still young when you arrived at Seb's. People were already dancing, others just chilling in their own booths. And your people were easy to spot because they had a blue haired Mark.

"Y/N! Finally!! God what took you so long?!" Haechan's drunken noisy ass clinged onto you for dear life. Half dragging you towards their booth while you try to carry a fourth of his weight.

Renjun gives you a shot of vodka, "Presenting, the newly reformed woman of the year! Y/N! A round of applause everyone!" He was even raising his own shot glass before drinking it, bottoms up. And every single one of them followed.

Renjun and Haechan were your best friends since high school. You took a different course in college, hence their new friends. Mark, Jaemin, and Jeno. They all took the same course and just clicked. You hangout with them but not as often as they do with each other. But it wasn't a problem. You have your own circle as well where Renjun and Haechan can join too from time to time.

You sat next to Mark then started teasing him with the blue hair. "Last time I saw you, you were blonde!"

"Well you don't see me often! You should have seen it in green!"

The drinks were overflowing, your company taking shots after shots of whatever was offered on the table. Renjun's at another booth, mingling with... you don't know who. You, Haechan, Mark, and Jaemin were on the dancefloor dancing the night away. And Jeno offered to stay in your booth— Jeno! Right! You should probably accompany the guy. Seize the opportunity to get closer with him because he's very much quiet. The guy basically just smiles at everything anyone says.

You left the dancefloor to go to your booth where Jeno is, but saw only Renjun and another person making out on the couch. Jeno was nowhere in sight.

You decided not to bother the two and tried to find Jeno in the crowd.

Hmm... black hair, undercut, tall, and what was he wearing again? Ah! Leather jacket and a white shirt underneath.

Yet Jeno was nowhere to be seen inside. So you decided to expand the search. Actually, you have a choice to just stay put in your booth. Jeno's a big boy, he knows how to find his way back. But maybe it's the alcohol in your system that pushed you to find the lost pup.

Luckily for you, the lost pup was just outside the backdoor, in an alley. A cigarette in between two fingers.

"There you are!" You pushed with your body to fully open the heavy backdoor. "I've been looking for you!"

And like a criminal caught in the act, he threw away the cigarette. Stepping on it to fully extinguish the stick. "You were?"

"Why'd you stop? Afraid I'll snitch you? Hmm?" You teased. Your friends didn't know Jeno smoked. It's just that one time, after a party, you caught him taking a hit. And he begged you not to tell the nosy bunch. That was the last time you had a five-sentence conversation with him.

"You can smoke though. I don't really mind." You gestured for him to continue.

"Is this a test?" He joked. His face morphed into showing that famous eye smile of his. It was pure contrast to his black leather jacket and ripped jeans. His fit screamed violence while his face whispered kindness. It was utter confusion on your part.

"Oh yes, definitely. Take that hit and I'll tell Haechan about it." He laughed at your retort. "You'll never hear the end of it, Mr. Lee." You snickered.

"What a snitch." He narrowed his eyes on you yet still keeping that smile on his face. Then proceeding to put another cigarette in between his lips. "You don't mind, do you?" He asks.

"No, I don't," you said while kicking a few small rocks around your feet. "I do mind getting second hand lung disease though," You teased and he acted offended at that. Even putting his hand on his chest.

"I'm feeling very guilty right now," he said. Slack-jawed.

You elbowed his side, "I'm kidding! Go on. I don't mind at all." The two of you shared a laugh before he continued to light the one in his mouth.

It was the first time again after a few months that Jeno Lee laughed with you. The first being the one when you caught him smoking in Haechan's garden.

"Jeno Lee," you called. He immediately turned to you, putting the cigarette in between his fingers.

Actually, you didn't have anything to say. You just tested out how his name rolled out of your mouth. And honestly? You liked it.

Jeno Lee... maybe it's the surname.

What if it's Haechan who is also a Lee? Heachan Lee... Mark Lee?

Nope. It's not in the surname. It's the whole 'Jeno Lee'.

Jeno Lee.

"Y/N?" Jeno nudges you. And you realized that you've just recited his whole ass name three times in your head. Now you have to say something because you've just called out Jeno Lee's name— aand there it is again.

"Oh! Nothing. I was just thinking about what smoking feels like..." You made it up. Of course, why would you say you spaced out because you liked his name?

He hummed. And then brought the cigarette in between his fingers near you. "Wanna try?"

He had that look on his face that was very much enticing to try out whatever it is he asks you to do.

But the thing is... you actually want to try it out.

Ohh, Haechan's going to scold you for this.

You nodded and hesitantly put the death stick in between your lips. And not even a complete inhale, you coughed and coughed and you felt like it would never end. Jeno Lee—that devil in disguise—was just laughing at you coughing out batches of translucent smoke.

"I'm never gonna put that hideous thing in my mouth again," you said in finality while you were coughing and he was laughing.

And that was the start of you hanging out with Jeno Lee every free time. Odd that despite the differences of your courses, you almost had the same schedule of vacancies as him. Sometimes, Mark and Jaemin join you both but more often than not, it was only you and Jeno. And his small pack of unlit cig.

It was your little secret with Jeno. Just like how you keep Haechan's big fat crush on this guy from lit class 101, and Renjun making out with the TA from his summer class. Obviously these secrets outdo Jeno's but... still, secrets are secrets. And you like keeping them.

Your hangouts are mostly just Jeno smoking while you either do your plates or read. You don't actually mind the second hand smoke, you just feel like you should be there whenever he takes out the cig. When Jaemin is around and Jeno can't smoke, he just helps you study.

Today, he's doing both.

A set of flashcards in hand and an unlit stick in between his fingers, Jeno decided to help you study because he noticed the dark circles under your eyes.

"Are they that noticeable?" You panicked. You've already covered them with concealer and a full coverage foundation but he still saw them! Maybe you should change makeup brands...

"Not really, I just have keen eyes."

You rolled your eyes at him. "Yeah, sure. You can't even read that signage anymore. Just go get glasses, Mr. Lee." You pointed to the 'do not enter' signage that was just a few meters away from you.

"Lucky you I'm wearing contacts today." It made you look into his eyes to see the brown colored contacts he usually wears when he's the designated driver...

and there were.. shivers?

You just made a face and started clearing up the table you both were occupying. The exam you were studying for will start in a few, and Jeno staring at you with eyes smiling was either motivation or distraction. You just... weren't sure. Maybe next time you should be asking Renjun to quiz you.

"Oh we're done?" Jeno asked. It was the simplest question, yet it took you five good seconds to answer.

"Yep." You were sure you had a panic stricken face. It was the first time you felt flushed in front of this guy. THIS guy!

You saw how his face turned from happy to confused. And he just looked like a lost puppy again.

"Professor Randall doesn't accept late people during exams. I wouldn't want to waste my hard worked eye bags right?" You tried to crack a joke to hide the nervousness in you.

Nervous? Because of THIS guy? Nah, it's just the exams. Yeah it is. Yeah... it is.

"I'm taking these. Stop ruining your lungs!" you grabbed the easiest thing to get just to cover up the fact that your face was actually heating up and turning red, it was his box of cigarettes.

And then you left Jeno with his cigarettes in hand, exactly 60 minutes and 21 seconds before your supposed exam.

Running late you say?

---

There was no point in shushing Haechan. He was unapologetically noisy. Sometimes you'd think it's his sole purpose in life.

"I call dibs on shotgun!" He exclaimed and then proceeded to chant "Shotgun. Shotgun. Shotgun. Shotgun."

"Designated driver gets to decide who's shotgun. Right, Jeno? I'll pay for your food tonight, my friend." Renjun puts an arm around Jeno's shoulders.

Next thing you knew, you were sandwiched between Renjun and Haechan who were endlessly bickering. Jaemin was right next to the car door, remaining unbothered. And the shotgun seat? Taken by a black haired Mark.

Just how is his hair still growing?

Anyway, Mark was the one who knew the location, earning him the spot.

"But I have waze!" Haechan reasoned, but you all knew nothing's changing Jeno Lee's mind.

In all honesty, you were kind of... bummed? You liked shotgun. Jeno knew that. As he's not a heavy drinker, he always presents himself as the designated driver. And you yourself do not like getting wasted so much, you'd blackout. So whenever you guys went home after clubbing, you were always at the right hand. Well, it's not like he's got a choice when everyone except you was drunk dead.

But you deemed it not big of a deal.

After all, you've been trying to limit your interactions with Jeno.

You wonder if he notices it though?

As expected, Haechan was the life of the party. He's basically friends with everyone. Even the super seniors Johnny and Yuta are friends with him. Those three clashing would make one hell of a night.

Tonight's party was at Taeyong Lee's house. Only Mark knows the location because he's been there one too many times. Taeyong helps him out with things you couldn't understand... anyway! Johnny is here too. You're already sure tonight's gonna be a blast.

And you're not shotgun (though that depends).

You can get wild!

----

At 2 AM, your vision was spinning.

Drunkenness and sleep was getting you. And it was your interaction with Jaemin that got Jeno standing from his seat.

You and Jaemin were talking... with indistinct noises. In Jeno's ears, it was like the Sims talking. It got weirder when Hendery from another college joined the conversation. Suddenly, the three of you were like speaking your own foreign language!

"Oh! It's Jenolee!" You exclaimed, pointing at his face when he went to where you were.

"Jenononono we don't talk about Jenoooo!" Jaemin was singin in the tune of that one Disney song.

"Riiight, I think we should go," Jeno calmly said to the both of you and Jaemin who are basically under his supervision. But the latter turns around and clings on a junior he knows.

"Jisungieee, my Jisungieee~"

and that's one less responsibility for Jeno, he thinks. Jisung is Jaemin's younger cousin and they are quite close. And whenever Jaemin clings to him drunk, that's gonna last for the rest of the night.

"Okay... you, woman. We gotta go." He talked to you like you were still on the right mind. Well sike, you're not!

Because if you were, you wouldn't be clinging onto Jeno like a hungry koala.

And in Jeno's mind, he was thanking the heavens he didn't skip any gym day. He carried you like a rice sack, but you weren't actually heavy. It's just that you were trying to—

"We gotta go. She's out," He told Renjun when he met him out on the lawn. Mark and Haechan were there as well, they were playing some game with Johnny and the others. Jeno just hit three birds with one, much to his relief.

"Go bring her home, we can manage!" Haechan was the one to answer, he seemed like he was still enjoying himself.

Jeno looks at Renjun and Mark who were also still laughing from whatever they were doing, they just nodded at him before redirecting their attention to their game.

So Jeno leaves 14 minutes past two. With a sober mind, and a completely drunk girl.

---

You woke up with your body blanketed by a musky black leather jacket, in a parked car, seatbelt still on. The window on your side was open.

And the guy outside the car, seated on the side of the hood, was Jeno. A cigarette between his lips as usual, and the cold air brushing his hair away from his eyes.

At some point, you just wanted to stay there and stare as he blew out white smoke. But you shouldn't, you knew you shouldn't.

Yet you still did.

Just 45 seconds. 45 seconds will do.

In the 43rd second, Jeno tilts his head and looks at you. Dammit.

Panic flowed through your veins, pushing blood up to your face. So you yawn in an exaggerated way, covering your face in the process, and Jeno laughs.

"You're awake, your grace." He throws away the cig and crushes it with his vans.

You chuckled at his greeting and leaned on the window sill, your chin over your arms. "Indeed, my lord. Although I feel like I am still dreaming. Are you sure you aren't an angel?" You imitated an English accent to play the part.

You've been obsessed with this certain series on Netflix nowadays and have been doing short skits with your other friends using the accent. You are actually surprised to hear Jeno doing it. They didn't find your English accent amusing, Haechan said.

Maybe that was only Haechan's opinion.

Jeno chuckles and shakes his head and you laugh. He just can't take a compliment.

"Where are the others?" You asked. The backseat was empty and you were seated at the shotgun. The last thing you remember was you taking a swig of a drink concocted by Mark. It was... it should explain how you ended up here.

You think you should really stop taking drinks made by Mark... like, seriously.

Because every time you do, the world around you spins like a ferris wheel.

"They said they could handle themselves, and that I should take you home," he says.

"but we're not home..."

"Last time we brought you home wasted, you got grounded for a week... your grace," he snickered. "And besides, you told me you didn't want to go home yet."

"I did?" And he nodded. "Okay... but did I... say anything more...?"

"You did." He answered.

You waited for him to continue talking but he just put the stick in between his lips, leaving it unlit.

"...and?" You raised a brow. You were expecting he'd tell you what you apparently said before you went out.

Jeno just shrugged.

"Huh?" You tapped the car door from the outside. "Hey. Mister. Why aren't you talking?"

And still, he just shrugged. So you threw his leather jacket at him but he caught it while laughing.

"I'm kidding! You immediately fell asleep." The unlit cig was just stuck in between his teeth.

Relief washed over you. You were worried you might've said something about trying to avoid him just because...

"Why aren't you lighting that?" You gestured to the cig between his teeth.

"I just... don't want to."

The silence between you highlighted the birds chirping and the soft blowing wind. The skies were slowly turning bright with the first few moments of sunrise.

"Jeno Lee..." You let his name roll out from your tongue like the first time. And he looked at you just like then.

"Y/N," he imitated the way you spoke.

The two of you just looked at each other with the intent of testing who will laugh first.

Or maybe that's what he thought.

You were just staring at him as the emerging sun illuminates the side of his face. You would've taken a photo if your phone wasn't dead.

As cliché as it was, you could look at his face forever.

So you chose to look away.

"Let's go home, my mother's gonna kill me."

"Yeah.." Jeno squints. Because of the sunlight or not? You aren't sure. "Let's get you home."

You've figured that the best course of action in dealing with this fiasco inside your head (or maybe your heart) is to avoid Jeno Lee at all cost. Of course, your almost identical vacancy schedule with him wasn't of any help, but who cares if you just lie your way out of it?

So for the remaining days before summer break, you've given a ton of excuses just to not see Jeno. The worst part? You weren't sure why you were doing this.

It's just that... something shifted that day. Beneath the blossom tree, right in Jeno's eyes.

And then the sunrise.

And the leather jacket.

And the drive home.

I should know better than this, you thought. I've been through this.

You've liked people in the past, loved even.

The big jar of paper cranes in your room was proof of this, and it's been 2 months since you stopped. Certain you were done with the boy.

You are sure you are completely over the guy, but how did you know you loved him then?

How did you—

"Y/N." A voice cuts through your thoughts.

Familiar.

"Jaehyun," Ah. "I didn't see you there..."

It's been exactly 6 months 13 days and... you lost track of the time from when you last saw him.

You were just walking out the campus, making your way to a café nearby to study (and to avoid places you and Jeno always went to). And here you were, face to face once again with somebody you used to know so well.

Jung Jaehyun.

Ironic how you were just thinking about how you're moved on, and then... life.

"How have you been?" He initiates the conversation.

"Good."

...

Awkward.

"Uh.. I was.. about to get coffee, wanna come?" You asked out of politeness.

Jung Jaehyun looked at you like he was shocked you even offered. He'd probably decline anyway.

"I mean, if you don't want to—"

"I guess coffee won't hurt." Oh.

And then the next thing was you seated in front of your ex, awkwardly sipping coffee. Like it happened for the first time.

"You look good," you started. It was sincere, he actually looked fine. He had his hair parted in a different way, and his built has improved in comparison to before.

He looked well. You hoped you were the same in his eyes, afterall you believe yourself well and happy now.

"You too, y/n," he answered.

In your mind was a series of memories of you and Jaehyun, spending two springs in each other's company. How you felt happy and content.

And how the both of you slowly broke each other into millions of tiny pieces.

You were the one who broke up with him. It happened when you had a lot of love to give while he had a space too little to fill. Incompatible, you were.

So you decided to cut the thread. It was for the best. Because you knew that if you stayed any longer, it would take everything for you to heal.

"Y/N..." he called and you looked him in the eye. "This might be a little too late but.." He licked his lips. A mannerism whenever he's nervous. "You know I loved you right?"

It was like a punch in the gut, sucking out all the air in your lungs. Even your voice was gone and your tongue dry.

"I just thought I didn't tell you enough." He'd look at anything except your eyes. "I loved you."

"Jaehyun..."

"And I'm sorry. I could've done so much more, I—"

"Jaehyun, stop." You've finally found your voice and he finally looked you in the eye. All you saw was pain and somehow, it felt like torture.

But you're done loving this man. Saying that in your head suddenly puts you at ease.

"You know how I felt about you, Jae.." You lightly held his hand that was on top of the table and gave him a small yet genuine smile. "It hurt. But all is done, and I'm okay now."

His eyes showed different hues of brown as the ray of setting sun hit them. There's no denying the beauty in them, but all you had in mind were those brown contact lenses and a mole near the eye.

A smile formed on your lips at that thought but you tried to suppress it.

"In fact, I'm very... content." You gave his hand a light squeeze. "We're good, Jae."

Soon, the black leather jacket and the cigarette between one's lips flooded your mind. This time, the smile was unconcealable.

"..We're good."

One last squeeze

and then you let go of Jung Jaehyun's hand.

---

Certainty hit you like a truck.

You liked Jeno Lee. You just realized that you've been liking him for quite a while yet this made you more determined to avoid the guy.

In the short time of two months where you hung out with Jeno, you've formed a bond that you didn't want to break nor to risk breaking. He is your friends' friend who also became your close friend in the long run. If you took the risk and tried it out, will you be able to handle the consequences?

The answer was so simple yet so complicated. So, your personal mission to avoid Jeno Lee continued.

But apparently, you've miscalculated things because in front of your door was Renjun and Haechan, both looking like parents who are ready for severe scolding.

"You little liar..."

"Sneaky little bitch..."

They both had their eyes narrowed at you despite the fact that you didn't know what you did. The last time you saw these two was when they hung out with you the day after the last party. The three of you nursing hangovers, lounging around your room.

"Huh?" You were confused as to what these two were up to. Haechan began to tap his foot, crossed arms. And Renjun began shaking his head like he was so disappointed.

"You know I'd rather you tell me what I did than this cryptic head-shaking and foot-tapping."

"You know what you di—"

"So you're back with that guy now?" Haechan cuts Renjun's speech. The latter hits him hard on the chest.

"Ouch!"

"What are you talking about?" Who's back with who?

"A little birdy told us you were spotted with Jung Jaehyun in a café near campus." Renjun walked into your house while talking, and then Haechan followed in so you got to close the door.

This information made you raise a brow.

"And holding hands?? What's the point of me throwing out your love letters back then?" Haechan added, casually lounging on your parents' couch.

They continued rambling about how you used to cry for Jaehyun and that they didn't want that to happen again. They were loud, too loud. And you had to defend yourself, because after all, it wasn't the truth.

"Okay stop." You spoke with a firm voice and that made them look at you.

"First of all, I'm not back with the guy." A pause. "We're done and we're good. I merely offered him coffee and he accepted." You defended.

But the two rascals were just looking at you sketchily. So you continued. Telling in full detail what really happened, that he told you he loved you. Why you held his hand. What happened after. And that it was your full and final closure.

"So... you aren't back with him?" Haechan asked once again and it made you groan out of frustration.

"Ugh no! I'm not that much of a fool!"

"Oh poor little birdy..." You heard Renjun whisper.

"Who's that little birdy of yours anyway?" You asked in an irritated tone.

"Lee Jeno." Haechan—who apparently found his way to the kitchen, eating your leftover chips—casually said.

The name took five full seconds to register in your brain. Lee Jeno.

Jeno Lee.

Oh gods.

Remember when you used to avoid all the places you went to with Jeno? Well now you're doing the exact opposite of that. You even searched through all of the smoking areas around campus, hoping you'll spot him right there having his daily dose of nicotine.

But Jeno Lee was nowhere to be found.

You've asked Jaemin and Mark... Haechan and Renjun.. even that guy in his physics class that he'd mentioned to you once. All their answers varied everyday so you didn't know where to start.

Jaemin says he's probably in the gym. So you went there, but apparently he was done with his session. Mark didn't have any idea on his whereabouts. Haech and Renjun both just asked you why and teased you non-stop (it didn't help at all!).

Now it's been forty-seven days since you last saw even a smoke out of Jeno Lee's lips. And slowly, you've been filling up a small jar with paper stars. It eventually became a calming activity for you.

You still haven't stopped looking for Jeno. Everyday was a different place of where he could be. You figured he'll eventually pop up like he used to.

Today you returned to the picnic table under the shade of the blossom tree.

While walking towards it, you noticed that it was occupied. A black piece of clothing on the table, and a man in white shirt and tattered jeans... and blonde hair?

Is this finally him?

"Jeno?" You called and he easily confirmed by turning his head to face you.

You never thought you'd go slack jawed for a man but this... this was an exemption.

He had his hair up and styled. His physique was exceptional as before. A cig slowly burning between his lips. But his face, it wasn't the same as the ones that greeted you every vacant time. It was stoic. A hundred thousand times different from his famous smiling eyes.

"Hey." He spoke.

"Hey.."

You walked closer, scared that taking a step nearer would chase him away. You silently prayed to the gods for him to stay.

But guess your prayers didn't reach the heavens.

Throwing the cig away, he gathered the other things he had on the table and wore his leather jacket, preparing to leave.

You weren't letting this chance go.

"Jeno, stop." But he didn't. "Please." This time you pleaded, trying to convince yourself you weren't gonna cry.

"You're avoiding me." You added.

He scoffed before turning to you. "Well what can I say? I learned from the best." His words reeked sarcasm but you still saw through the pain in his eyes. You knew damn well he was talking about you.

"I'm sorry. Let's talk. Please?" Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry.

"I don't want any misunderstanding, y/n. Please." He sounded defeated. "Just... be happy." Then he turns away.

"It's not wha—" You tried to explain but the distance between you and him took your voice away.

It's not what you think, Jeno..

Day 71 from when you first realized your feelings for Jeno. Exactly twenty-four days since he turned his back on you underneath the blossom tree.

You have filled two small jars with small paper stars to the brim and have started filling up the third.

Everything's back to normal. And by normal, it meant the time before you found Jeno behind the club hiding his vice.

For consolation, Jeno never avoided you again. He was always there, present during night outs, still the designated driver, still the one who remains sober. You thought that after your last encounter, he'd never want to see you again but here he is. Always in your presence without acknowledging you.

You felt that it was better if he had avoided you completely rather than seeing him everyday, laughing at Haechan's jokes but never meeting your eyes.

But then again, you like Jeno Lee. Seeing him physically is a hundred times better than just thinking about him 24/7 (while in fact you do that as well). Also, why did he have to be so hot in his blonde hair?! Your honor, this is torture.

He'd talk to you... at times. Mostly about passing food. Or a drink... It was very civil. Like you and him did not have a shared short lifetime of nicotine and quizzes.

Day 79, you passed by him in the hallway. You waved hi, he gave you a smile, then walked away.

Day 86. Vacant time before a major exam, you were reviewing on the picnic table under the blossom tree. You weren't gonna lie, you were expecting him to be there to help you. But what is to expect if there were no unwritten promises?

By the 91st day, your third jar has been filled halfway.

Haechan had already scolded you for using too much paper. Renjun, on the other hand, knows what the meaning of this habit of yours is.

"That's what you call self soothing, Donghyuck. You don't know that because you always had your mommy to soothe you."

"Hey you can't use mama's boy card on me when in fact my mom likes you more than me!"

"Damn right she does! I'm like the most perfectest son she could have!"

Haechan scoffs and mumbles "most" and "perfectest" under his breath. You laughed at the use of words as well.

The two rascals are in your bedroom again, saying they are your pretty little angels who will apparently comfort you after you barely passed that one major exam.

Guess their bantering became your comfort afterall.

"Don't you two have anything better to do?" You asked in the middle of your star folding.

Renjun crossed his arms. "Actually, we're supposed to be at a party right now. But you should ask Haechan why..." he had his eyes squinted at the latter. And Haechan was avoiding eye contact, playing with the stars you have already folded.

You squint your eyes as well. "What is it, Haech?"

"Yeah, Donghyuck, tell her why we won't go to Kun ge's house party..." Renjun added, emphasizing Haechan's real name like it had something to do with it.

"Kun? Like... that cute senior? You were invited and you're not coming??"

"I kissed his brother okay? I have to save face!" Your jaw dropped at his confession.

"The guy from lit?" You asked.

"The guy from lit!" Renjun exclaimed.

You dramatically threw your half folded origami and stood up with conviction. Going straight to your closet, you grabbed a party dress.

"What are you doing?" Haechan's voice was filled with fear and Renjun was laughing so loud, even holding his stomach.

There are so many things you live for. Embarrassing any of your two friends was one of them.

"We're going to the party!"

Pre-game at Renjun's before driving to the party, surely there's only one of you who isn't very willing to come. But Haechan had no choice, he'd be missing out on a night of his life if he didn't. When you arrived, the party was at its peak. People were drunk, bodies clung to one another... you even saw Kun taking out what looks like another bottle of Cuervo. It would've been fun to get sloshed but you presented to be the designated driver of the night since you are the plus one.

"I'm gonna get drinks!" Renjun half yelled over the loud music before leaving your side.

"And I'm gonna puke!" Haechan pulled away from you but you didn't let him go. You know he's just gonna escape from you.

"Not on my watch!" You laughed and searched through the area where Kun's brother could be. And just at the right moment, you spotted him near the fireplace. They were playing what seemed like a game of spin the bottle because they were in a messy circle.

"There he is." You mumbled proudly, much to Haechan's chagrin.

You pulled Haechan towards the group. Some of the players were already leaving (possibly to party more outside), so you took their seats. Not realizing that there was a still-blond-Jeno Lee right in front of the seat you've just taken. And when your gazes aligned, his was already leaving yours.

So you did the same and just pulled Haechan down to sit beside you.

Apparently they were playing truth or dare. Just a moment ago, Jisung (who you just noticed) actually dared to drink two small shots of what seemed to be vinegar.

As the night progressed, the wilder each dare became. Two players were already dared to do body shots, others had to do lap dances. Jeno had to be on the receiving end (which really pissed you off, by the way). Haechan, on your side, was shaking his foot.

"Next dare!" Chenle started picking out a piece of paper from a fish bowl. "Liplocking for five seconds!" And the crowd roared. Because knowing these people, five seconds will probably turn to ten. Fifteen even.

"I'm gonna pass out." Haechan whispers in your ear when the tip of the bottle pointed to him. On the other end of the bottle was Kun's brother. The lit 101 guy. You didn't know the name.

"You've been blessed by the gods!" A cheer from you got the other people cheering as well. Ten seconds of simple kissing would be hot, but ten seconds of Haechan french kissing his big fat crush would be hella spicy!

"You aren't safe, I'm telling you!" Lit 101 guy was already crawling towards Haechan since he was in fact sitting on the floor like the rest of you. Undoubtedly he ain't sober anymore, a good explanation as to why he's unashamed in doing the dare.

Haechan had a tight grip on your arm while the other guy's face was already close to him. It was a frontrow seat of them doing edges and you weren't gonna lie, you're loving it.

Not until you caught a glimpse of Jeno's eyes on your lips. And then on your eyes. And then back at your lips again.

Suddenly the two people in front of you were already locking lips, yet your mind was wondering how that felt... with Jeno in mind.

Heachan loosened his grip on your arm and it started caressing the cheeks of the other. They stopped kissing and for a hot second they whispered into each other's ears. The next thing you know, the seat beside you is vacated and then replaced by another player. People around you cheered, yet your mind was too occupied by the blonde guy in front.

Your mission here is done. You tried to convince yourself. You should go.

And go, you did. You excused yourself from the game, your seat immediately taken by another. Your friend is about to have the night of his life, meanwhile, the other is nowhere to be found. You had drunk a few shots from the game and you're in between tipsy and downright drunk, your friends are gonna need to find another ride home. You've fully accepted that you are indeed lightweight. But that's more fun right?

No.

Because why did you have to be so weak when tipsy? If it wasn't the case, a guy wouldn't be holding your wrist right now.

"Where are you going?" Worry evident in his voice. But you wouldn't figure that out.

"Away from your presence, my lord." You let out small drunken giggles. It was the first time again that you've used this way of speaking.

"You're drunk."

"And you're not?"

"Let's get you home."

"It isn't even past two!"

"Come on..."

You broke away from his grip and proceeded walking somewhere away from Jeno. But somehow he surpassed you and blocked your way. You tried to get away through the opposite but he somehow blocked it too. Now you're cornered on the wall and your mind just realized that you're in a quiet hallway upstairs. Alone together.

"Jeno, stop."

"Stop what?"

"You can't do this. Stop doing this."

"What can't I do?" He went closer. "Tell me, y/n.." and closer. "What am I not permitted to do?"

His eyes were on yours. Burning intensely. Piercing through your skin; like gravity pulling you in. The alcohol in your system seemed to be already flushed out by the browns and blacks of his eyes and by the pinks and reds of his lips. This is torture, your honor.

You looked away. And then threw a punch on his chest. Then another. And another, and another, and another. And he was just letting you do so.

"You cannot avoid me like that and then return like nothing happened at all!" a punch.

"You cannot leave me like that! Like I meant nothing— like we meant nothing!" Another.

"You just had to listen! But you chose not to, Jeno Lee! You chose to walk away—" a kiss.

Jeno Lee's lips were suddenly on yours. Soft. Gentle. It was...new. A movement was all it took for you to know it was true.

It was happening. Jeno fucking Lee is kissing you as if he didn't tell you to be happy with another guy. You responded back, lips moving against another. His arm snaked around your waist and pulled you closer to him. Your body molded into his, arched towards his stomach. Your hands found their way to his hair and raked through it, feeling how soft it was even though you figured it went through a cruel bleaching process. And in between your kisses, you heard him groan.

You heard and felt his groan and it sent shivers down your spine. If he wasn't holding your waist, you probably were on your knees. In just a moment of weakness, his tongue found its way in.

You felt like floating. You've had a lot of good hookups, but no one ever kissed you the way this boy did. You never want to stop. You just want to have his lips on yours forever.

But you had to break away to breathe.

The both of you panted to catch your breaths. His forehead was on yours and his gaze still on your lips.

You couldn't explain but he looked...confused and angry and desperate all at the same time.

"Fuck..." He whispered, still catching his breath.

"Why..." you started, trying to catch your own breath. "...why'd you do that?"

He turned his head away from you, his arms still caging you in. Until he let them down, whispering more curses under his breath.

"Jeno—"

He walked away too fast but you were suddenly in the right mind to catch up. He headed towards the garden while you were just behind him, people were bumping into you so you had to double time when the amount of drunk humans subsided.

"Lee Jeno, stop walking away from me!"

Yet he didn't stop, even getting in his car. But you were fast enough to enter the passenger's seat.

"You're not getting away this time." You said while buckling the seatbelt. He was just looking at you, confusion and anger(?) in his eyes.

"You brought your own car." He pointed out.

"I'm too drunk to drive. Now why did you kiss me?"

"I'm too drunk to answer your question." He revved the engine.

"And yet you're starting your car!"

"I can drive."

"Then you can answer my question too."

Yet you received no more answers.

Jeno just buckled his own seat belt then started driving. Around the block, and then the village gates. Silence ensued between the two of you, no one dared to talk with the height of emotions the both of you had.

He stopped the car near a gasoline station's convenience store, went out of the car and into the store, leaving you still holding on to the buckled seat belt as if he will try to drop you off anytime soon.

He returned with two cans of warm coffee on hand.

"What..."

"You want us to talk right?"

"Well yeah—"

"I'm not doing that while we're not completely sober." He flicked the can open then gave it to you. Doing the same for his can.

You hesitated to drink but you figured that it wasn't so you to be doing serious talks with an alcohol cloudy mind.

So in a parked car at a gasoline station, two people were sitting in silence. Sipping their coffee, waiting to be sober enough to discuss actualities and emotional dilemmas.

"Are you not going to smoke?" You asked, wondering why he hasn't taken out a stick like he always did when he was with you.

"Besides the fact that we're in a gasoline station, I'm actually trying to stop smoking..."

"And why is that?" Looking back, you realized that the last time you saw a glimpse of smoke out of his mouth was when you finally found him after days of searching.

"Someone said... I should stop ruining my lungs." You turned to him and saw the usual glow of his eyes. It was the eyes that you used to know, you're glad to see them again.

"Well..." You swallowed. "That someone influenced you well then." Jealousy drips down the tone of your voice. You had told him more than once to quit the vice yet he continued to do so. This someone probably holds a special place in his life for him to follow so easily. It made you question, had you ever held a place in his life? Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe you had a small stool reserved in his life full of grand dining chairs.

"Yeah.."

"And your hair?"

"Mark did it. It sucks I know..." He chuckled while ruffling his hair.

"No, it looks nice! Like really nice." It's so nice that every girl turns their heads when you're around and I'm annoyed every freaking time.

"It does?" He looked at you in wonder if you were really telling the truth. Instead of answering, you were caught in a trance with how he looked so...so...

Deja vu.

Your mind suddenly showed you an unfamiliar memory of you in this exact same car with your hands cradling the face of a black-haired Jeno.

"What are you doing, miss drunken gir—"

"Holy shit!" You blurted out.

"What, what happened?" Jeno also panicked.

"Did I... did I ever kiss you before?"

Jeno blinked.

You blinked.

Once, twice, thrice...

"Tell me... what did I do that night? After Lee Taeyong's party?"

You saw his adam's apple bob up and down, his jaw clenched as well and he looked away from you.

"So... you just remembered."

"Tell me what I did!" You demanded while hitting his arms in the process.

"Okay, okay..." He grabbed your hands that were still hitting him and held onto them to stop you from further physical (but light) abuse.

"That night, you were so drunk that you kept clinging onto my neck. And you... you..."

"What?"

"Let's just say that you tried leaving marks." He scratched his nape in embarrassment. "So I had to carry you like a sack. And I couldn't bring you home because I wouldn't want to be the reason you are grounded. So I brought you somewhere you could get sober. You were sleeping, I was sure of it. But suddenly you were awake and... kissed me and things were escalating quickly and then boom... in dreamland you went."

"I fell asleep while making out with you?!"

"Kind...of?"

"What the fuck is wrong with me, seriously?"

The self loathing was so present in the moment. How could you ever fall asleep while kissing a Jeno Lee!

"You also said something that time..."

You looked at him and he was still avoiding your eyes like it was him who did something embarrassing.

[From here on out, all italicized words will be Jeno's side of the story starting from Taeyong's party]

"I think.... I think..." A hiccup escaped your lips. "I think I like you."

Jeno looked at you to see if you were awake again but you had your eyes closed already. Was it a dream of yours? Do you think the kiss was just a dream? Were you aware that you were saying these things to him?

They say drunk words are sober thoughts. Jeno used to believe that. But right now, your drunk words were too much of a fantasy for him. How could you say that so easily when he himself couldn't find the courage to do so for months?

When you woke up (once again) that day, fully sober. He had expected you wouldn't remember anything in an instant. So he decided to leave the drama for tomorrow. You and him had all the time in the world to talk about it so why rush?

He brought you home, came back to Taeyong's house to fetch the others, went home himself, and rested. He had to gather up all of his strength to face you the next day. For sure at that time, you already remember.

But on the next day, you weren't there at the picnic table under the blossom tree. He tried asking your other friends, they all said you were busy. He tried again on the next day but it was still the same.

Days passed. Weeks. He couldn't get a hold of you. His calls to you were always declined. If not declined, it reached voicemail. His texts left with no replies. His chats left unread.

Were you avoiding him? But why?

He assumingly answered the 'why' when he saw you in that cafe with the guy you told him stories about. 'Jaehyun' was it? Of course, you weren't the type to ghost a friend. You always had a valid reason for everything.

Jeno then decides to spend the days trying to forget that night. Suppressing his own feelings by lifting weights and avoiding even a bit of your shadow.

He heard from people that you were looking for him and for a moment, he almost succumbed to the thought of it. But he believed he shouldn't see you. Not when you were probably back with the guy you used to like and he was there with existing nicotine-originated feelings for you.

He chose to be kind to himself. Because that's what he should do right?

Not until one day when he chose to relive his moments with you and you found him.

Why...why did you look so sad?

He knew he had to go right away. He couldn't promise he could keep his arms to himself.

And go he did.

And later on realizing that it was a dumb decision because seeing your eyes again brought life into his system. Like they were the fuel to his fire.

Jeno decided he won't avoid you the way he did ever again. No scratch that— Jeno knows he couldn't avoid you ever again after seeing you like that. He had to make sure you were always okay. But he didn't know how to approach you.

So he just became present everywhere you went. Like he used to be. Except he was just there and you were out of his reach and the nicotine withdrawal has been very tough that he wanted to tell you about it but he just...can't.

The next thing he knew, he was kissing you in a silent hallway. His arms snaked around your waist while your hands raked through his hair. It was like the first time, except this was better. So much better.

But the taste of the mixed vodka from your lips brought him back to his cloudy senses.

You were drunk. Not 'drunk' drunk like before but you weren't sober. And he has seen this all before, he didn't like what happened next.

Besides, you didn't deserve intimacy initiated by alcohol and lack of nicotine.

So, he tried to run away like every dumb and coward person would do.

Because why would he tell you

"I like you. And you deserve to know that... at least while I'm in the right state of mind." Jeno finally confessed.

You were once again slack-jawed from everything he told you.

"But if you actually did get back with him.. then just brush it off. It's okay, I promise." He finally looked into your eyes like he was trying to prove that he would be okay. Like he hadn't just told you how your stupid decisions in life caused yourself unnecessary torture.

And what? He still thinks you're back with Jeong Jaehyun?

With no thoughts, head empty, you unbuckle your seatbelt and reach for his face and kiss his lips.

It was the sweetest, the realest, and the softest kiss you ever had.

And literally, it's your first time kissing him with a sober mind.

At exactly 3 months, 2 days, and 3 hours from the day you first realized that you liked this boy, you finally get to stop folding those paper stars.

No more silly games of hide and seek. No more dumb decisions.

The taste of coffee lingered on your lips when you pulled away and it made you laugh.

"Funny, we both taste like coffee.." You bit your lip to suppress a smile.

"Then maybe caffeine will be my new addiction." He said before pulling you in once again, savoring your lips.

This time with no more inhibitions.

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