#Like he's the kid in the yellow raincoat that stuck out in the night and bled for it in the end

[bongo-smash]

Someone help me I'm thinking about the 'kid in a yellow raincoat' horror trope in relation to Jason

[sanctum-of-ramshackle]

🤡WE ALL FLOAT DOWN HERE!!!🎈

[TWST AU]: An MC/Yuu who knows how to serve a smile, and sensing everyone’s deepest fears…

[Synopsis]: In this timeline, the MC/Yuu here is more on the deranged life form that can shape-shift into anyone, cause horrific illusions and devours its feared victims.

[Gender Neutral!Pennywise the Dancing Clown!MC/Yuu]

[(A/N)]: Oh my god. This banger of a song was a great inspiration for this AU. If you’re a fan of horror and a metal head, check out Ice Nine Kills. The band creates great music retelling horror classics and novels through the lyrics.

[(A/N #2)]: I know it's not October or near Halloween, but whatever. I don't think the story was taken place during October.

[Ice Nine Kills - IT Is The End ft. Peter Wasilewski & Buddy Schaub]

"On a pouring day, Night Raven College had their classes canceled for the day due to a heavy rain storm. Kalim Al Asim, the Dorm Leader of Scarabia was rushing back to his dorm with only a yellow raincoat on him to protect himself from the fallen drops. He was rushing back because he doesn't want to worry Jamil for staying out late. As he hurries on his trail, a voice catches his attention, leading back to a sewer drain."

"Hello? Anyone? I'm stuck down here."

"Kalim had been warned by Jamil and his family to not trust the noises he encounters when being alone himself and never follow through."

"Though, he followed the eerily calm voice and he peeked down at the drain, something came to view..."

IT!MC/Yuu: *Appears in the storm drain*

Kalim: *Gasps and backs up*

IT!MC/Yuu: Please call the DWP. I’m stuck in here.

♦︎◇🤡🎈♦︎◇🤡🎈♦︎◇🤡🎈♦︎◇🤡🎈♦︎◇🤡🎈♦︎◇ 🤡🎈♦︎◇🤡🎈♦︎◇🤡🎈♦︎◇🤡🎈♦︎◇

[Headmaster Crowley's office]

IT!MC/Yuu: After 27 years of being dormant back in Derry, Maine and being defeated by adults who roasted me, I’m now stuck in a world where kids have magic. Worst of all, I'm a teen myself!

Crowley: Now now, child. There is no need to have such anger.

IT!MC/Yuu: *Shape-shifts into a grotesque spider-like creature* I’m gonna rip your limbs apart and devour your flesh!

Crowley: *Hides behind Crewel* They’re not an ordinary student.

Crewel: *Sighs* No, really? I never recall a monstrous spider clown registering for Night Raven College.

♦︎◇🤡🎈♦︎◇🤡🎈♦︎◇🤡🎈♦︎◇🤡🎈♦︎◇🤡🎈♦︎◇ 🤡🎈♦︎◇🤡🎈♦︎◇🤡🎈♦︎◇🤡🎈♦︎◇

[Cafeteria]

Ace: You can't eat regular food?

IT!MC/Yuu: I can. Just prefer a certain type of food.

Deuce: I don't think they serve that kind.

IT!MC/Yuu: It's fine. I still can drink.

Jack: Aren't you underaged?

IT!MC/Yuu: My boy, I'm way passed the drinking age limit before you were born.

♦︎◇🤡🎈♦︎◇🤡🎈♦︎◇🤡🎈♦︎◇🤡🎈♦︎◇🤡🎈♦︎◇ 🤡🎈♦︎◇🤡🎈♦︎◇🤡🎈♦︎◇🤡🎈♦︎◇

IT!MC/Yuu: Oh my god. This child…I cannot sense any fear. I can’t even taste any to begin with.

Cheka: *Giggles* You’re a funny clown. What’s your name?

IT!MC/Yuu: …MC/Yuu. You can call me Penny. Where are your parents, little child?

Cheka: I’m here to visit Ojima!

IT!MC/Yuu: Where are they?

[After hours of searching]

[Savanaclaw Dorm]

[Leona's room]

Leona: *Sleeping in his room*

IT!MC/Yuu: Leona~

Leona: Huh?

IT!MC/Yuu: *Shows him a face*

Leona: *Jumps out of bed* What was that?!

IT!MC/Yuu: Leona, your nephew was looking for you and... *Covers Cheka's ears* I'm not good with children, if you know what I mean.

Cheka: Ojima! Penny gave me an animal balloon.

♦︎◇🤡🎈♦︎◇🤡🎈♦︎◇🤡🎈♦︎◇🤡🎈♦︎◇🤡🎈♦︎◇ 🤡🎈♦︎◇🤡🎈♦︎◇🤡🎈♦︎◇🤡🎈♦︎◇

[During the Stage in Playful Land ~Dancing Puppets and the Fantastical Theme Park~]

Grim: Why do I need to wear this stupid rain jacket? It smells weird.

IT!MC/Yuu: You’re part of my show. We have to give these folks some entertainment. Just act like an innocent little kid named Georgie.

Grim: Whose Georgie-

[Then the show starts.]

IT!MC/Yuu:

Allow me to introduce myself

They call me the dancing clown

And you must be Georgie

Did you hear my circus was in town?

It seems I have your boat here

The storm blew her off track

Just reach your hands down here and take it

If you really want it back

Oh, Georgie

You can trust me, sweet child

Step right this way

I'm at your service with a smile

Believe me

IT's nothing to fear

When I feast on your flesh

You'll see that we all float down...

Here!

Pick through the past you'll see

I'm living history

Come one come all

'Cause I'm starved for the kill

Prey on the pure at heart

Feed on their body parts

I've got some big fucking shoes to fill

Follow me and I'll show you the truth

Devastation as the dead lights defuse

Follow me and I'll show you the truth

Face down in the fountain of youth

Just like Georgie

IT's all out of hand

So join me

Da-da-da-da-da-da-da

Catch me at the big top

Buried underground

You know I'm not clowning around

Even with a smile

From ear to fucking ear

IT's everything you know

IT's everything you fear

A carnival of carnage

That much you assume

But it's more than just a costume and red balloons

IT's coming back around every 27 years

IT's everything you know

IT's everything you fear

So let go

You know what makes me smile?

Devoured juveniles

Their innards tangled in my twisted grin

Chuckled so hard I choked

Call it an inside joke

They say that laughter's the best medicine

Follow me and I'll show you the truth

Face down in the fountain of youth

Just like Georgie

IT's all out of hand

So join me

Da-da-da-da-da-da-da

Catch me at the big top

Buried underground

You know I'm not clowning around

Even with a smile

From ear to fucking ear

IT's everything you know

IT's everything you fear

A carnival of carnage

That much you assume

But it's more than just a costume and red balloons

IT's coming back around every 27 years

IT's everything you know

IT's everything you fear

So let go

IT is the end

IT's come again

Believe IT or not

You'll all disappear

IT cannot be fought

We all float down here

IT is the end

IT's come again

Believe IT or not

You'll all disappear

IT cannot be fought

We all float down here

IT is the end

IT's come again

Believe IT or not

You'll all disappear

IT cannot be fought

We all float down here

We all float down here

IT's come again

Believe IT or not

You'll all disappear

IT cannot be fought

We all float down here

Fellow Honest & Gidel: *Holding each other, shaking in fear*

IT!MC/Yuu: You scared of a little clown~? *Grins sinisterly*

♦︎◇🤡🎈♦︎◇🤡🎈♦︎◇🤡🎈♦︎◇🤡🎈♦︎◇🤡🎈♦︎◇ 🤡🎈♦︎◇🤡🎈♦︎◇🤡🎈♦︎◇🤡🎈♦︎◇

Malleus: I must say, you're truly are fearful for many.

IT!MC/Yuu: And you don't find me terrifying?

Malleus: I have not.

IT!MC/Yuu: ...You know, I can sense your fear is not having to make any friends outside of your domain because they seem to be frightened by your presence. And it has something to deal with your late mother.

Malleus: *Glares at them* In what sense are you speaking of? What knowledge you have of my family?

IT!MC/Yuu: *Shrugs* All I'm saying you should speak with your guardian. I'm just a clown from another world.

[Shit. IT!MC/Yuu entered the trope of "Enemies-to-Friends".]

✨[Reblogs helps creators and creates for more content]💫

[therabbitthatpostthings]

Kids will believe anything you tell them. You tell them to be good so Santa will bring them toys. You tell them to brush every night and a fairy will bring them money. You tell them mermaid scales grant wishes and you have the bravest 7 year old armed in their little yellow raincoat, determined to find a mermaid.

Frankly, (Y/N)’s guardian should have known that a headstrong kid like them would just march themselves down to the beach after school. It’s not like the signs weren’t visible but you never really think a child will do something until they do it. The guardian sighed reading over the red crayon on yellow construction paper: Gone To Find Mermade Wishs.

The fun was short lived as the clouds started to look heavier in the sky. They felt a bit of concern. That heavy weight a parent gets when their child isn’t in eyesight. “I’ll just go down there…” they thought, already out the door and walking to the beach. Surely such a small child could not have gotten mixed up in anything that dangerous.

Of course they couldn't have.

*•*

(Y/N) scooped up big bunches of sand into the bowl with holes in it. They swashed it around till all the sand was gone and the pretty shells remained. They stared inquisitively at the shells. They held the shells gently in their hands and watched as they fell into the bucket, with the intense seriousness that only a child feeling like their tracking an animal can have. (Y/N) had a steely gaze as their eyes surveyed the beach. No one was out on the beach (they had the common sense to stay inside). The seagulls squawked overhead, occasionally swooping down to grab at the creatures caught in the low tide. A group of them gathered near the edge of the pier. They looked to be picking at shiny blue stones. There was a sound amongst the squawking, it sounded like someone crying.

(Y/N) sprung into action, running over to them swinging their plastic shovel in the air. “Shoo! Shoo!”

They waved the bucket around, scattering the birds in the process. They heard a groaning and looked down. It was not a pile of blue stones but a tail! The blue tail was covered in bruises and scratches. (Y/N) leaned down to inspect when it started to move. They stepped back, finally noticing the body the tail was attached to. Its body was half submerged in the sand that stuck to its long black hair as it sat up on its arms.

“Y-You’re a mermaid!” (Y/N) yelled.

The mermaid jolted up. It looked over its shoulder quickly and took off in a crawling-sprint to the pier. (Y/N) gave chase, following under the mucky pier. “Hey! Are you okay? Are you a mermaid?”

The little mermaid was surprisingly quick with its limited mobility. (Y/N) watched as it hoisted its little body over the rocks and support beams of the pier. It climbed on the largest rock and disappeared behind it. (Y/N) climbed up on one of the rocks, “Hey! Are you okay!”

“Leave me alone!” the voice called out in a broken cry.

“Hey! I’m coming over!” (Y/N) called back despite the shouts to not to. They threw the shovel and pail over first, earning a loud ‘ow!’ from the mermaid and hoisted herself over the rocks. They tumbled down the side into the small puddle. The mermaid was sitting in the middle of the puddle. It was crying. The mermaid was small, probably about (Y/N)’s age, its back was dotted with blue scales that spread past its shoulders onto its arms. (Y/N) approached them slowly and reached to put their hand on their shoulder. The mermaid swiped his claws at their hands and hissed.

(Y/N) jumped back, cradling their hand, “Ow! What’d you do that for?!”

“You hit me!” He yelled back

“No I didn’t!”

“Yes you did! You stupid human!”

“Well- you’re a dumb fish!”

“I’m not a fish!”

“You look like one!”

“Well you’re ugly!”

(Y/N) gasped dramatically. They went clutching for the non-existent pearls not around their neck. “You’re mean! You can stay here, I didn’t want to be here anyway!”

The boy huffed, “Fine!”

“Fine!” (Y/N) yelled even louder. (Y/N) turned to try and climb the rock but it was too large for such a small child to make it over, especially without the aid of the smaller stones to step on. Defeated, they turn back around to sit down. They dramatically sat down in a huff opposite from the boy. “I’m staying!”

The boy rolled his eyes and huddled into the corner muttering to himself. He pulled his tail close to his chest and dug his claws into his arm.  (Y/N) could hear him sniffling. He was shaking. Scratches and bloody bruises covered his body. There were small spots where his scales had been picked off by the seagulls. They looked down at their own hands. The cut wasn’t deep on their left hand, it wasn’t even bleeding. Even if the seagulls put up the fight, there wasn’t much they could have done against the thick plastic of the raincoat. Even though (Y/N) was very upset about the mean words, they still wanted to help. This was a mermaid after all! And (Y/N) had a mission to complete! They moved closer and held out the red bandage to the boy. He didn’t notice so they tapped him lightly on his head.

His head shot up and he pressed his back into the sandy bank “W-What’s that?”

“A band-aid.” (Y/N) replied nonchalantly.

“What do they do?”

“It’s for your tail, you’re bleeding.”

He scoffed, “I don’t need it.”

“My teacher said if you don’t use a band-aid you’ll get sick?”

He thought it over for a second, he looked concerned, scared and finally hesitant but willing. He straightened out his tail for (Y/N) and motioned for them to put the bandaid on. (Y/N) carefully places a bandaid on each bleeding spot, all over his arms and on his cheek. Now that they could look at him, they saw he had swirling blue marks along his neck and lower part of his face leading up his bright blue eyes. He was already pretty pale, it made all of other features stand out even more.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” he asked

“Your eyes look like jewels.” (Y/N) answered matter of factly. They completely missed his embarrassed reaction as they wrapped the last band-aid around his finger. They held up their own bandaged hands. “Look, now we're matching!”

He let out a small giggle, “Thanks. I’m Giyuu.”

“I’m (Y/N).”

“I’m sorry I scratched you.”

“It’s okay, I’m sorry I said you were a fish. I know you’re not.”

“You do?”

“Yeah! You’re a mermaid and you grant wishes!”

Giyuu giggled again, “We can’t actually grant wishes. It’s something grown-ups say humans would hunt us for.”

“You mean that’s made up?” (Y/N) whined.

Giyuu shook his head, “It’s just a story.”

“Oh,” (Y/N) replied solemnly.

Giyuu noticed and moved to sit closer to them. “What were you gonna wish for?”

“To be a mermaid.” (Y/N) replied “I like swimming but I’m too little to go out on my own.”

“Oh,” He said. “If I had a wish, I would wish to have legs. I still want to be me, I would just like to walk on land sometimes.”

“Why?” (Y/N) asked.

“I don’t have any friends. All the other kids call me mean names. My sister and her friends are mean too!” Giyuu’s claws were digging into his arms again. He stared at the open crack between the pier bottom and rock. “They told me to go grab a rock from the surface if I wasn’t a guppie- and I’m not a guppie! One of those floating things got close to me so I swam and I got caught by the waves! Now I’m gonna die in this stupid hole cause I’m too small and I can’t get over this stupid rock!”

(Y/N) was quick to pull Giyuu into a hug. He sobbed into their shoulder. “It’s okay Giyuu, I’m your friend now.”

“Really?” he yelped

“Yeah!” (Y/N) cheered. “I’m your friend and I’m gonna help you out of this hole okay!”

“Okay!”

There was something about the strength of two kids who put their mind to something. For no good reason should two seven year olds have been able to lift themselves over a large rock with only the help of a plastic bucket and a lot of teamwork but, they did. The tide was still pretty low so (Y/N) had to carry Giyuu towards the water’s edge. Giyuu happily rolled in the bank, glad to be in fresh ocean water and not the murky puddle under a pier. He laid on his stomach letting the cool water run over his body.

“I wish you could come with me,” he lamented. “I think you would like it, sorry I couldn’t grant you a wish.”

“It’s fine, I’m gonna get bigger and swim farther anyway.” (Y/N) smiled “Could you come back tomorrow?”

“I’m probably in big trouble…” He sighed.

“Oh…” (Y/N) replied. “Are you sure you can’t come back?”

“I don't know..” Giyuu said.

“Well, you can take this.” (Y/N) held out their bucket. “Next time you come back we can collect more shells!”

Giyuu smiled, taking the bucket in his hands. He saw stuck on the inside was a deep blue shell, slightly chipped on the side. He handed it over to (Y/N), “Here! Remember me okay?”

“I will never forget you Giyuu,” (Y/N) smiled.

“(Y/N)!” The panicked voice of their guardian came from the shoreline.

“Oh no, I might be in trouble too.” (Y/N) shuddered.

“I’ll see you next time!” Giyuu called. He crawled back into the water and swam off once he was deep enough. (Y/N) watched from the shore as the plastic pail disappeared beneath the waves.

“(Y/N)! Are you okay!? What was that thing?!” Their guardian yelled.

“That was my mermaid friend!” (Y/N) cheered.

They wanted to argue with the child but were too relieved to be mad right now. “Whatever, come on it’s going to start storming!”

The two children, without even realizing it, had tied themselves to each other. Their destinies were intertwined on that beach. A friendship was born and a promise was made. Nothing could stop the hands of fate now.

[maliaxwoodard]

CLOSED STARTER

LOCATION: Fright Fest TIME: Saturday night FOR: @amosdeleon

Malia was stuck in the middle of the Fright Fest, her Anna costume making her stick out like a sore thumb. She tightly held little Leilani’s hand, who looked utterly adorable as Elsa, her eyes wide as saucers, taking in all the festive craziness. She looked around, trying to spot Layla’s mystery friend she was supposed to meet. Then she saw him - a guy dressed as Georgie from ‘It’, yellow raincoat and red balloon included. Next to him was a mini Pennywise, his kid. It had to be him.

As she got closer, she did a double-take. No way. It was Amos, the golden god from the park a few weeks back. Sugar Daddy looked different tonight. Hot but different. “No wayyy… You’re not Layla’s friend,” She blurted out and stared at Leilani, then back at Amos and the super cute Pennywise, completely thrown off by this random twist of fate. “You’re my blind date. What are the chances?” Turns out Layla was onto something. He was a great catch.

[abbatoirablaze]

True North, Chapter 2

Word Count: 1.6k

Warning: none really

When your phone started to ring a little while later, you smiled. Seeing Jake’s name flash across the screen sent butterflies rushing around in your stomach. You had desperately missed your best friend, and while you were angry that you hadn’t heard from him since he got back from Bolivia, save for that one night, you missed him too much to be pissed off at him.

“Hey stranger,” you giggled happily from your spot on the train, “haven’t heard from you in a while. I’m almost home.”

“Who the hell is this?”

You frowned at the shrill voice. Yes, you’d heard all about Jake’s new girlfriend from Stephanie, but Jake never gave up control of his phone willingly, always stating that there was too much ‘sensitive information,’ on it.

“Excuse me?”

“I said, who the hell is this?” the voice repeated, “and why the fuck are you in my boyfriend’s phone with a bunch of hearts?”

“Do you ask all of his friends this question?” you tried to joke. When you didn’t hear laughter on the other side your own reaction changed, and things felt more serious. Tense even, “where is Jake?”

“Jake is busy,” the woman responded, “listen, I don’t know who you are, or who you think you are, but you need to lose my boyfriend’s number.”

“I’m not going to lose Jake’s number,” you scoffed, “he’s been my best friend since we were in diapers…so that’s not gonna happen.”

“Funny,” she replied pettily, “I’ve been around for months now, and he hasn’t mentioned a ‘blankie.’ At all.”

“If he hasn’t mentioned me then how do you know my nickname?”

“It’s how you’re saved in his phone,” she hissed, “I don’t care about your personal history with him, or whatever it is that you think you have. It’s over. Capiche?”

You scoffed, hanging up on the petty woman who had Jake’s phone. You didn’t need to answer to her, nor did you need to give any sort of response. Jake was your best friend. That didn’t need any type of defense. You were his blankie, just like he was your teddy bear. And that wasn’t gonna change because of some stuck-up girlfriend that he’d managed to get.”

“Agent teddy bear,” you said through your walkie talkie, “come in, Agent Teddy Bear.”

“I’m here Agent Blankie.”

You giggled at your best friend and looked through the window to see him already standing there waiting for you, “Agent Teddy Bear. It’s time!”

“We’re going to kindergarten today, Chlo,” the little boy grinned from his window, “this is so cool…we’re gonna be big kids like Stephanie and Mason.”

“Jake,” you whined playfully across the walkie as you propped yourself up by your window. You gave him a serious look and he smiled, “we’re supposed to stay in character.”

“Right,” he nodded, saluting you. You giggled and saluted your best friend back, “what are you wearing? We need to be the coolest best friends ever and match on our first day!”

“You got your Land Before Time backpack, right?”

“RIGHT!”

“Oh, we should wear our dinosaur raincoats!” you grinned, the idea seeming like a bright bulb going off in your brain.

“AND OUR YELLOW BOOTS!”

“It’s not raining you dork,” your older brother Mason said, popping into your room. You looked away from the window, to stare at your older brother, “you and Jensen are gonna get beat up by the second graders if you wear a raincoat when it’s not raining.”

“Go away, jerk.”

“What’s going on?” Jake’s voice rang out through the walkie, “is your mom telling you that we can’t wear that? We have our Scooby Doo shirts we can wear. Those match too! Ask your mom if we can wear Scooby Doo!”

“It’s Mason,” you groaned, looking back to your window. Jake was excitedly holding up his Scooby Doo shirt to the window, “do you wanna wear Scooby Doo, Agent Teddy Bear?”

He was grinning, nodding to you from the next house over, “Scooby Doo is way cooler for a first day. We should save our raincoats for when it’s rainy out. Then we can one-two punch those dorks by showing em how much more of best friends we are.”

“Good thinking, Jake.”

“It’s Agent Teddy Bear,” Jake reminded you, “we gotta stay in character. Remember? Get with the program, Agent Blankie.”

“You two are such dorks.”

“GO AWAY MASON!”

“Tell Mason he’s a stupid head,” Jake said through the walkie, egging you on with his own laughter, “and that he’s got cooties.”

“Jake says you have cooties, you big stupid head.”

Mason ran into your room and knocked you over, grabbing the walkie. Jake must have seen it because he was quick to reply, “HEY! HEY! DON’T PUSH CHLOE! YOU BIG JERK! YOU THINK YOU’RE SO TOUGH-“

“Jensen, I’m gonna kick your butt when we get on the bus today,” Mason growled on the walkie, “You think you’re big and bad, showing off for my little sister, well guess what you little punk. Elementary school doesn’t have your mommy to protect you. You are on your own, and I’m gonna make sure you’re crying!”

“Mason stop,” you whined, getting off the ground. You pushed your older brother, and grabbed the walkie from him, running away, “Agent Teddy Bear, Scooby Doo is a go. I gotta-“

But you were cut off by your older brother tackling you, “you little brat!”

“MOMMMM!” you screamed. Mason’s eyes went wide, and he hopped away from you, quickly running into his room, “MOMMM MASON MADE FUN OF ME AND JAKE! AND HE PUSHED ME OVER! MOMMYYYYYY!”

“DID NOT!” he yelled, before closing his door.

“MASON! Be nice to your sister and Jake!”

Your eyes quickly searched for Stephanie as you got off the train. You know that with what time it was they’d no doubt already be here, waiting for you. And you weren’t disappointed. As you moved out of the way of the other passengers, your legs were quickly cemented to the ground thanks to Stephanie’s eight-year-old daughter, Hannah.

“HANNAH BANANA!”

“AUNT CHLOE!”

You reached down and picked her up, and she happily settled herself against your hip, “You’re getting too big…next year you’ll have to carry me.”

“No, you’re silly, Aunt Chlo,” she giggled, happily tucking herself against your side, “MOMMY! GRANDPA! I FOUND AUNT CHLOE!”

Stephanie joined a moment later, and picked her daughter off you, “sorry. She got away from me there.”

“It’s okay, I missed her.”

Hannah smiled at you, and you were suddenly wrapped in a large set of arms, “Mr. Jensen, what are you doing here? Did mom let you out of the house?”

“Gotta pick up my girl for the holidays,” Jake’s father teased you, “what kind of dad would I be if I didn’t?”

“Alright dad, we got her, now let’s go find her bags,” Stephanie laughed, “mom will have our hides if we don’t have her dropped off in time for her to get settled and come over for dinner.”

“I pack light,” you smile, holding up the duffel and pointing to your backpack, “I’m good to go.”

“I swear, you and Jake do the same things,” Mr. Jensen chuckled, quickly taking your duffel off you, “that’s too light for a whole month, missy.”

“Washing machines exist, Mr. Jensen, and my mom made sure I was well-versed in how to use them before I moved to the city,” you laughed as the four of you walked to his car, “so I take it mom stayed home to make sure dinner got done? You know how much food Jake goes through around the holidays.”

“About that,” Stephanie frowned, “Jake’s girlfriend called this morning telling us that Jake’s only gonna be here the week of Christmas, not the whole month like tradition.”

“Funny you mention her,” you smirk, “I happened to get a call this morning telling me to lose his number.”

Stephanie raised a brow at you as she helped Hannah get buckled up, “oh really?”

You nodded, “yeah…”

“Did you call back?”

“Bold of you to assume that she was the one to hang up first.”

Her eyes widened, “NO! You?”

“Yes ma’am,” you nodded, “no one’s gonna tell me to lose my best friend’s number. Especially not some garden gnome that Jake plucked out of nowhere.”

“Uncle J is dating a garden gnome?” Hannah repeated.

“Girls,” Mr. Jensen warned as all of you loaded into the car to begin driving, “be nice. Jake doesn’t bring women home very often, so the fact that he’s bringing her must be a big deal…”

You frowned, “Mr. Jensen, she made mom upset…and she was mean to Hannah. I can forgive her telling me to lose Jake’s number. Women are intimidated by other women that are friends with their significant others when they are insecure…but to make his mom upset…to make his favorite tiny human upset…”

“She didn’t just upset mom. She made mom cry.”

Your eyes widened, “he made momma J cry?”

“Chlo, we gotta do something,” Stephanie nodded, “you can’t let her treat mom like that.”

“Alright,” you sighed, biting your lip, “you’re right. she can be mean to me all she wants, but she can’t be mean to mom…I-I’ll talk to Jake and see what her deal is.”

“Chloe…”

“Mr. Jensen…”

“No bodily harm, no emotional trauma, no clues or hints,” he groaned sadly, “and for the love of god, Mrs. Jensen does not need to know whatever it is that you are planning.”

You smiled, “Mr. Jensen, are you encouraging me to be mean to your son’s girlfriend.”

“Rules of engagement,” he muttered under his breath, “that little brat made my Heather cry.”

Chapter 3

[stormielikeweather]

We’re Going on a Frog Hunt!

We’re going on a frog hunt

A oneshot - Rin and Shippo have a big frog race coming up, but Rin has no frog! Mom and Dad to the rescue! Lots of Sesshomaru Dad! moments and Kagome Mom! moments. Cheers!

For the BigBang 2021: Theme - Spring

Thank you to @goldie-fawn for their patience. This is short but it took me forever. :”D Check out the super cute art that GoldieFawn made!!!  Squeeeeee!

Mud sloshed up Rin's shoes as she raced along the little stream beside the school. The other kids were in front of her, scanning the soggy bank with keen eyes. 

Everyone had on their rain gear, all shiny colorful coats and hats. 

Rin slapped her hand over her hat to keep it from flying off as she ran to catch up with the others.

She could hear the frogs ribbiting loudly. The last frost only days before, the frogs had just come out of hibernation. 

They had watched a video about it in class. The loudest ones were males trying to impress lady frogs. There must have been a lot of guy frogs sleeping through winter because they were loud!

"I got one! I got one!" Yelled one of the taller boys from her class. He held up the squirming frog high above his head like a trophy. 

"I got one too!" 

"Yay! Look at mine!" 

"Mine's going to win for sure!" 

As her classmates began to catch them a sense of urgency bubbled inside Rin. Maybe there wouldn't be one left for her to catch! 

"I got one! Check out his long legs!" 

"W-Woah!" Rin stumbled over a rotten log, landing on her butt. "Ow..." Mud stuck her pants, but she didn't care. 

Two large yellow eyes blinked at her, and she blinked right back. 

Her hands felt ready. She sucked in a breath, extended her fingers to go for a solid grab. 

"This one's mine!" The bigger girl knocked Rin's hands away and took the frog for herself. 

"Hey!" Rin shouted, "I found it first! That one's mine!" 

“Oh boo hoo!” The girl rolled her eyes, "Go cry about it to your Mom! Oh, wait," She sneered, "You don't have a Mom to whine to!" She stuck her tongue out.

Rin's jaw clenched. Fists balled in the mud. Before she could defend herself someone shouted behind her.

"Woah, that's the biggest frog I've ever seen!" The boy ran over, shouting back at the others, "Hey check out this one Mei found! It's huge!" 

“It’s Frogzilla!”

Excitedly the group circled the girl that had taken her frog. Rin shoved off the ground. 

"Hey, Rin!" Shippo bounded over as she wiped the mud from her pants. 

"I don't really want to talk right now, Shippo. I need to find a frog for the frog race tomorrow." Not that she hadn't already found the perfect one. She glared at Mei's smug grin.

"That's what I came to talk to you about! I caught two! Want one?" He grinned, holding out one of the frogs he'd caught. The puny frog blinked back at her. His stubby legs squirming.

"I..." 

"Hahaha! Look! Rin can't even find her own frog!" Mei pointed right at her. "What a loser!" 

"I am not!" She snapped. She knocked Shippo's hand away, the frog leaped up into the air and splashed back into the pond. "No, wait!" She dove to catch it, but it was long gone. She landed with an oomph! "Shippo,” she looked up at him from her place on the muddy bank, “I'm sorry!"

"It's just a frog," Shippo shrugged, "What do you care what they think anyway? You know you can catch one yourself." He held out his free hand and helped her up.

She clenched her jaw, "It's just that Mei makes me so mad!"

“She makes everyone mad, don’t take it personally.”

Rin looked over at the crowd surrounding the selfish brat, “It sure doesn’t look like everyone is mad at her, Shippo. It looks like they all love her. They think she is awesome.”

Suddenly the light misty air filled with thick heavy rain. 

“Students! Time to come inside! Put your frogs in your buckets for tomorrow!”

Rin looked over at Shippo, panic-stricken. Her large brown eyes near tears, “What am I going to do!? I don’t have a frog!”

“Rin! Shippo! Come inside!” Their teacher called from the door as the last of their classmates scrambled inside. 

“Sorry Rin,” He looked down at his frog as it hopped and splashed inside his small bucket, “I don’t mind sharing with you.”

“It’s a race.” Rin sulked, “We can’t share and race against each other.” 

“Rin! Shippo! Don’t make me come get you!” The teacher scowled, “Get inside! Now!”

With a heavy sigh, Rin trudged toward the school building. Shippo alongside her. 

That night, Rin felt restless. 

She watched out the living room window as the rain came down in sheets. 

Her lip worried between her teeth. 

She jumped at the sudden sound of the doorbell.

Her father’s long strides moved toward the door and she found herself peeking from around the corner of the hall. 

“Kagome?” Her father’s amber’s eyes lit up at the sight of their neighbor. “What brings you here?” He cleared his throat and opened the door wider, “Come in out of the rain.”

Kagome stepped inside, and Rin immediately noticed the green polkadotted rainboots and forrest green rain coat. Their eyes met across the hall, and Kagome grinned at her. “Well, a little fox told me that someone here wanted to catch a frog.”

“A fox you say?” Sesshomaru’s brow rose. He gently shook his head with a chuckle as he caught sight of Shippo right outside. His bright orange and white raincoat stood out in the night. His rainhat had little triangle fox ears. “Perhaps this fox should come inside?”

“So,” Sesshomaru looked at his neighbor and her son, “What is this about catching frogs?”

Shippo told him what happened earlier that day. The man’s ears tipped red with anger for his daughter’s sake. 

Sesshomaru reached out for Rin, “Come here Rin.” 

“Daddy!” She rushed into his arms, tears pouring down her cheeks as she let him comfort her. His chest felt warm and she buried her face above his heart, where it always felt safe. Her hands balled into fists and she let herself cry out the frustration and indignation that she had been trying to hide.

He held her head in his palm as he leaned back to look at her distraught little face. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

She shook her head and clenched her eyes shut, “I didn’t want to.”

“Why didn’t you want to?” 

“It’s humiliating...” She muttered under her breath, “I can get my own frog. I don’t need help.” She looked away from the intensity of his gaze, “I didn’t want you to worry.”

Sesshomaru hugged her tighter then. His little girl. “It is my job to worry for you. Understand?”

When she didn’t respond, he reiterated and she nodded silently.

Kagome’s small but warm hand met Rin’s back, sweeping her hair aside as she gently rubbed soothingly. “Rin, sweetheart, we know you can get your own frog.” 

“Yeah,” Shippo rocked on his heels with a huff of doubt, “I mean I don’t know if you can find one as big as Frozilla, but you can definitely catch a frog.” 

Rin growled, her fists tight as she pulled out of her father’s grasp and narrowed her gaze at her so called friend, “I can so catch a bigger frog than Frogzilla!”

Shippo smirked, “Sure ya can.”

As the children bickered, Kagome and Sesshomaru exchanged a glance and a grin. 

Rin shouted, “I have to get my raincoat and boots on first Shippo!”

“Fine!” Shippo groaned.

Kagome laughed, swinging her umbrella back and forth as she looked up at Sesshomaru.

He had both hands in his pockets and gently rocked back and forth. Rarely did she get to see his ling silver hair loose. It hung over his shoulders as he moved. 

She took a step toward him, her smile faltering as a moment of insecurity broke free, “Are you still sure about Friday?” 

Sesshomaru’s dark brows rose, “Why wouldn’t I be?”

She glanced back at their arguing children, and back at him, “You know, if things go well...”

“What?” He closed the distance. “Your son and my daughter will pick at eachother everyday?” His grin, as charming as ever. His head dipped low and his whisper warmed her cold ear, “I could only be so lucky for things to go well.” He kissed her cheek then and leaned back, “I should go put on my raingear.”

Her fingers caressed the place on her cheek where he pressed his lips. Blushing. “W-wait,” She took a breath, her heart fluttering in her chest, “You’re coming too?”

Sesshomaru smirked as he worked his hair into the band he’d had on his wrist, “Of course, don’t you know that I am the Lord of Frog Catching?”

Kagome’s brows rose, “The Lord of Frog Catching?”

“Really, daddy?”

“Seriously!?” Shippo’s green eyes gleamed, “That is so cool! Mom you haven’t won any titles have you?”

“Not for frog catching...”

Shippo snicked, but Rin came to her defence, “She could if she had the opportunity. Daddy was a part of a competition that your mom wasn’t, right daddy?”

Sesshomaru nodded, “Right you are, Rin.”

Kagome rolled her eyes, “Pft. Sure.”

“I’ll have you know I caught a frog when i was a boy and it followed me around for three years.” 

“Oh really?” Kagome scoffed, “What was it’s name then?”

“Jaken.” 

“Jaken? What was it, evil?”

Sesshomaru cocked his head and nodded slowly, “It was a very nastly little frog.” 

Shippo burst into laughter, “Your dad is weird, Rin!”

“Daddy! Stop, you’re embarrassing me...” Rin flushed. The floppy yellow hat atop his head didn’t help her embarrassment. Her nose scrunched as he slipped into a big yellow raincoat and matching boots. 

“How do I look?” He did a turn and placed one hand on his hip for his daughter’s mortification and Kagome’s enjoyment. 

“Fabulous.” Kagome tapped his hat making it drop over his eyes, “Let’s go catch some froggies!” 

“Yay!” Both Rin and Shippo cheered.

Outside the rain had slowed to a light sprinkle. Kagome held the buckets, a smile planted on her face while Sesshomaru’s deep voice overtook the sound of the storm and the resounding ribbits of the frogs coming out to mate. 

Sesshomaru squatted between their kids, a hand on each of their shoulders as they all tucked between the thick reeds at the edge of the stream's bank.

He looked so natural in any element, whether in the office or out in the rain hunting frogs. His button down and tie hidden beneath sun-yellow rain gear. The man could make anything look good. 

She joined them. Her feet crunched twigs and earned her a look from all three of them. “Oops?”

“Quiet, mom.” Shippo whispered.

Sesshomaru visibly preened. “Proper frog hunting etiquette requires stealth.” He dropped his hands and slowly spread the tall grasses. “Watch.” 

The children were quiet. Their movements purposeful as all three of them dipped their noses into the tall grass and peered at the contents. 

"Frog!" Rin squealed in delight before slapping her hand over her mouth, "sorry," She whispered with a wince.

Her shoulders fell as she noticed the frog gone.

"It's okay, Rin." Sesshomaru gave her a gentle pat. 

”That frog was pretty small anyway, you said you were gonna find a big one remember?” 

Rin pinched her lips at Shippo. “I will find a really big one.”

Sesshomaru had moved farther up the bank. As he spread the tall grasses, a large rock lay at his feet. “Rin. Shippo. Come quickly.”

The children shuffled close. 

He looked at them with serious eyes. 

Kagome had seen the same look on his face as he went over his files at the dining table. She had come by to pick up Shippo and the door had been unlocked. He had been so engrossed with the paperwork, he hadn’t heard her knocking. She found herself wondering if he took everything so seriously... and if that meant he took asking her out just as seriously as everything else. 

“When I lift this stone, you must move quickly.” 

The children each nodded their little chins, their gazes just as serious as Sesshomaru’s. 

When he lifted the stone, Rin gave a shriek. 

“Woah, cool!” Shippo gasped, reaching out for the slimy creature. 

“Fasinating.” Sesshomaru mused as he dropped the large rock back to the ground. 

Kagome stepped over clumps of grass and mud. “What is it?”

Shippo turned her way, holding it up like a puppy. “A salamander! Cool isn’t it!?” His wide toothy grin made her smile. “It’s way slipperier than I expected!” He shouted, “want to touch it?!”

Rin backed away, “Gross, no way!”

Sesshomaru reached out and brushed his fingers over the large black creature’s wide head. 

It squirmed. 

“Find a good place to set him back free, Shippo.” 

Her son pouted, “Aw, but I want to keep him.”

“Salamanders don’t make good pets Shippo.”

“Yeah, they are too gross. Get rid of it.” Rin grimmaced. 

“They are not,” He frowned, “This guy’s really cool.” He turned pleading eyes on his mother, “Mom, can you please take a picture?”

“Of course I can,” She shifted the buckets in her hands and pulled out her phone, “Alright, everyone get in the picture!”

Rin began to back away again, but Sesshomaru pulled her close enough to get in the picture. 

Kagome laughed, “Say cheese!”

Shippo and Sesshomaru complied, but Rin was too busy side eyeing the salamander to smile. 

As soon as Kagome lowered her phone the little girl complained, “Can we get back to frog hunting now?” 

“What’s with the sour face, Rin?” Her dad gave her a gentle nudge, “Too serious for fun tonight?”

She crossed her arms over her chest, “This is a very serious problem I have daddy.”

“Of course it is. Come here,” He grabbed her up and she squealed, kicking her legs. 

“Daddyyyyy!”

He put her on his shoulders, “Better get an eagle eye on it.” He held her legs to keep her steady.

As soon as she settled, she giggled, “Do you really think I can spot frogs from way up here?” 

“The really big frogs you can.” 

Her grin turned serious as she nodded, “Right.”

Shippo and Kagome watched the salamander slide back into the water. 

“Cute little guy wasn’t her?” She grinned.

“Super cute.” Shippo nodded, “And super cool. I’m going to put the picture on my desk in my room.”

“Good idea.” 

She helped him back up the bank and they followed Sesshomaru and Rin along the stream.

Shippo studied his mother. She looked what his great grandfather called googoo eyed. “Mom?”

“Yeah?” She turned, a light flush to her cheeks from the hiking. 

He pressed his lips together, “Do you like Rin’s dad?”

Kagome paused. “He seems like a good person, don’t you think so?” 

She waited with bated breath as he took a moment to think. Unable to relax until his little chin nodded and he offered a smile. “Yeah. He is weird, but so is Rin, and she’s my best friend.” 

“They are a little weird aren’t the,” She laughed, hugging him by the shoulders as they continued forward “Then again, maybe we are a little weird too, don’t ya think?”

“Speak for yourself.” Shippo scoffed. 

“Hey! Shippo! Kagome!” Rin yelled, “We are going to turn over another big rock!” She pointed down the bank, “Over there!”

When they made it to the small boulder, Kagome’s eyes widened, “are you sure you can lift this one, sesshomaru?”

As if to proof her point, the kids climbed on top of it, giggling. 

He stiffened, “You think I am so weak as to not be capable of lifting a simple stone?”

“That thing isn’t a stone, it’s huge!” 

He rolled his eyes, “Children, remove yourselves.”

“Okay!” 

Rin rubbed her hands together, “I bet this frog is going to be ginormous!”

“Ready yourselves.” He pressed his lips together and placed both hands around the sides of the boulder. 

Kagome winced, “Don’t hurt yourself.”

“I. Am. Not. So. Weak.” He clenched his teeth as the boulder came free from the ground. 

“Wow, your dad is like superman!” Shippo looked at him with awe. 

“I know.” Rin bragged, “He’s the strongest person alive!”

Unconvinced, Kagome grabbed both children by the collars, “Wait for him to tilt it a bit, you don’t want to get crushed if he drops it.”

His glare didn’t deter her. “Fine.” He grunted as the boulder dropped to it’s side. “There.”

The children rushed in. “Frogs!” The frogs began hopping up the bank quickly. Rin and Shippo gave chase. 

Sesshomaru’s hand went to his side. 

“Pulled a muscle?”

“Of course not.” His eyes clenched shut as he took a step forward, and Kagome bit the ‘I told you so’ on the tip of her tongue. 

“Let me help.” 

Amber eyes cast her a cold look, “There is nothing to help. I am fine.”

She rubbed her hands together quickly. “Nonsense.” 

He winced as she slid her hands inside his rain coat and pressed her palms against his aching side. They had never been so close before. She couldn’t help but admire the length of his dark lashes as he stared into her eyes.

“No need to admit anything.” She grinned up at him. 

For a moment he simply looked back at her silently. His heart beating fast in his chest. Her hands firm yet gentle against him. “Actually,” He whispered, “it is quite sore.” 

“Is it?” Her eyes glittered with both warmth and mirth. She kneaded, “Does this seem to be helping?” 

“It is.” 

“Daddy! Look!” Rin bounded over. 

Kagome stepped back, leaving Sesshomaru’s side cold. 

Sesshomaru looked cool as a cucumber, but her face pounded with heat.

Rin held up a fat frog with thick legs, “I’m going to call him Frogculese!”

“I got... one too!” Shippo gasped, doubled over as he caught his breath. “He was really... fast and hard... to... catch!”

“You already have a frog, Shippo!” Rin reminded him. 

“I’ll...let that one... go!” 

Kagome handed off each bucket, “Good job! One of you are sure to win the race tomorrow.”

“I’m totally going to win!” Rin grinned from ear to ear, “Frogculese is the best!”

“You’ll probably beat Mei, but you won’t beat me and Kanakero!” Shippo held the handle of his bucket close to his chest, looking down at his frog as it tried to hop up the sides and failed. 

“You will both do well.” Sesshomaru patted them each on the head, 

“Daddy!” Rin groaned, fixing her hat. 

Shippo preened. 

The next day each child came home with a big yellow ribbon. And that Friday, Kagome and Sesshomaru had a first date that went very well. 

[imnotwolverine]

LOVE IS LIKE - Sleeping Beauties and Working Life

< PART 1 | PART 2 Sleeping Beauties and Working Life | PART 3 >

A/N: It's snowing so I'm stuck inside..writing! Hope you all have a lovely Sunday ❤️

Summary: Back to work, Henry remembers his early days in showbizz. And the banana sock wearing woman appears to have found the sneakily shared phone number.

Word count: 2.179

The song: Chaka Khan - Like Sugar

Disclaimer: mentions of great age difference sex partners, stardom, loss of partner to cancer, dieting, physical/mental insecurity as well as Henry just really loving his work

--

LOVE IS LIKE - Sleeping Beauties and Working Life

--

Hey. Thanks for the book! I figured the number written in the book was your number? If not, I’m sorry and don’t mind this message. - 08.45

It’s Aurora btw. - 08.47

The name’s Aurora I mean. - 09.04

nvm - 09.05

Thanks for the book! Good luck with everything! - 09.06

And say hi to Kal from me - 09.06

‘Are you asleep?’ Fingers traced through Henry’s curls, their strands slightly sticky with hair products and sweat after one busy night between the sheets, the ceiling fan broken. Henry grumbled, indicating he was at least sort of awake, his lips curling in a lazy, close-eyed smile.

‘Again?’ He mumbled quietly with his young sweet voice. The woman laughed and propped herself up on one arm, eyes tracing down the soft morning silhouette of the kid who became a man.

‘No, no. You did well.’ She lowered her fingers to trace his brow, nose, cupid’s bow and lips, fingertips silky soft and gentle over Henry’s skin. Henry’s smile grew. Almost as if proud he had managed to please her.

For a moment the room was quiet. A very early Los Angeles sun was starting its slow rise over the hills somewhere far from this 70’s style abode with its paisley print curtains and yellow shag pile carpet. The interior fitted its owner quite well; her long sleek brown hair cut in bangs that hid those mysterious emeralds that had taunted his dreams ever since he met her on set. She was older. Much older. And perhaps those bangs were there just to hide her first wrinkles. But Henry rested easy beneath her trailing fingers, his eyes slowly fluttering open as she spoke again: ‘So how is Hollywood treating you?’ There was some concern in her voice and Henry looked at her. After getting busy all night they hadn't spoken quite so sincerely yet. He shrugged.

‘Hollywood is Hollywood?’

The woman moved her fingertips to his chin and used her hand to tilt his face more sharply in her direction. Her mouth opened to speak, but she hesitated. The concern had now spread to her eyes as they gleamed in the light of dawn. ‘Be careful yea? And if you ever need help with anything..? I can help..or get you help. Okay?’

‘Ok.’ Henry pushed himself up so he could cup his hand around her cheek, pulling her closer. She let him. ‘Thank you.’ He whispered, kissing her like the way they did in the movies.

Henry stretched out in his naked morning glory, the early London air chilly on his skin. Pushing the sheets off of him and with Kal refusing to wake from his doggy dream by the foot end of the bed, Henry padded over to the ensuite. Squinting in the burst of bright lights clicking on, he stepped beneath the shower, cold water jumpstarting his day, the very air pushed out of his lungs as the radio alarm cued exactly on time. 4.30.

'Li-like sugar, so sweet Good enough -- to eat,'

Gasping softly Henry pawed his hands over his crusty eyes, waiting for the water to become more warm and soothing with every massaging drop of water. From here on his morning routine was perfected to the minute. Coffee: brazilian. Gym: ACDC. Eggs: 5. Kal: walk. Cab: thankfully on time.

It was near 9 when he walked onto set in his full gear, ready for his first run-through of the day, Leah waving him off with Kal by her side. 'Be careful yea?' She chanted, smiling as he winked at her - she always said that no matter how totally safe the day's set would be.

'I will! Have fun today.'

'You too!' Leah wanted to turn around when she felt something buzz deep inside her bag of tricks, her hand having to angle for a bit before she found Henry's phone - kept there for safe keeping.

Whatsapp - 08.45 - Hey. Thanks for the book! ..

Leah smiled.

And there was the mysterious new book owner.

Henry let himself fall back on his bed, the frame squeaking. Suddenly Jersey felt too small. His bedroom too boyish. His clothes too normal. His dreams no fiction but real.

Flopping around on his belly he turned his attention back to his flip phone, his eyes roving over the call that had just finished. Hundreds of boys, hundreds of auditions. But he got it. He got it! Smiling only to himself he sighed, near missing the sound of feet walking over the floorboard landing.

Was that Charlie? With an excited little squeal Henry pushed himself off his bed to chase after his brother. It looked like his little brother had just lost a bet!

'HENRYYY!!! Henry!!!' Squinting his eyes at the flash of a camera, he stepped out of the hotel's revolving doors. By his side his trusty pal Kal looked up. Fans.

'Henry! Can I take your picture? -- Can you sign-' Some pieces of paper were shoved in his face and with the blinding glare of the flash gone he finally managed to throw a smile their way, his free hand scribbling some signatures here and there as he greeted them with a warm good morning.

Some girls squealed and as the excitement finally dissipated, Henry thanked them all and bid them a good day, some few last flashes following his silhouette as he pulled Kal in the direction of the nearest Parisian park.

It truly had become a Mission Impossible to just walk his dog. And Henry couldn't help but laugh as Kal snorted in what may be disapproval.

'I know I know. I won't forget about you.'

'Hey.'

'H-hi. Hi?'

'It's Henry.'

'Oh, of course!'

Henry smiled as Aurora's voice greeted him back through the phone line. It was a little past snacktime, his hands holding onto his tupperware with last night's pasta. He was hungry, but with her messages waiting for him, he had decided food could wait a moment.

'So I see the book has found a good home with you?'

'It has. Hahah. Thank you again. In fact..I kind of finished it last night, dodging around some particularly benign toothmarks I think I got the jest of the story.' She laughed again, making Henry smile back as he looked out over the set, some camera men in raincoats dragging around material.

'Well there's more where that came from.'

He hesitated the moment the words were out of his mouth. OH you donkey! That..that is not something you say to -- she laughed even harder.

'Oh why that sounds both terribly enticing and terribly inappropriate hahahaha.'

'Sorry that kinda - '

'Oh please hush.' Her chuckles subsided and after some loud clatter and a yelp her voice returned to the phone. 'Hey..eh..aherm..can I-eh, DAMMIT, can I call you back?'

'Something wrong?'

'J-just me trying to manage coffee and a laptop - and failing.' It sounded like this was just another Tuesday for her. She really was clumsy huh?

'Oh! Oh yes. Of course. Hope your laptop's alright..eh.. I'm off after..6..ish?' Henry looked to his left and saw Leah return with one exhausted Kal, back from their walk.

'Okay!'

'Alright. Goodbye..Aurora.'

'Byeeee!'

He was soo, soo hungry. Cutting never was his favourite part of dieting, though this time it was extra rough. For half a year he had just let go, not working out much at all. But then the one role that got away was back in arm's reach and for the hell of it; he couldn't let it slip by.

Gritting his teeth he focused back on the barbell on the gym mat, weights the size of two small children on either side. At least if Ellen wanted kids, I can manage them with ease, he thought, gripping his sore hands around the bar before he pushed off to lift it with all the strength he could muster. It wasn't enough. The bar only lifted halfway before his body sighed in defeat, the weight of it all crashing down on him finally as the barbell landed back on the floor with a loud thump.

Ellen hadn't called back in days.

'Remember me?' He felt stupid for calling, but he just needed it right now.

A warm voice responded like they called all the time.

'Hey! Henry! Of course! How are you?! Are you okay dear?'

Henry settled on the airport bench, waiting for his personal cab to arrive. Stardom was great, but in silent moments like these he felt terribly alone. He felt stupid for it, but her voice was near bringing him to tears.

'Yea ehh..' His voice broke and the small boy in this Superman body returned.

'Hey-hey. No problem darling no problem. Where are you right now? Are you safe?'

Henry nodded and looked through the haze of his tears in hope nobody would see him - thankfully he was alone.

'Talk to me.'

'I'm sorry for--' He wished to hang up, forget about it all. Ellen leaving. The stress. Fatigue. The travel. But he didn't. He just hesitated, waiting for her to speak again.

'I don't know where you are Henry dear. But you must know that you're not alone, okay? And if you happen to be in town; I'm making an absolutely delicious, mean and green lasagna.'

Henry wiped away a rogue tear and smiled. He could kill for a lasagna right now. And one cheat meal couldn't hurt right? Looking up as he saw a man with a clipboard sporting his name appear, he sat a little more upright.

'I--I might just take you up on that.'

'Okay.' Her lack of glasses and banana print socks made the woman before him near irrecognizable. She did however still have that dorky vibe about her, especially when she removed the awkwardly placed handbag before her; a stain on the right side of her tight dress appeared. She grimaced. 'It's bad isn't it?'

Henry chuckled and stood up from his seat, the chique bar a hushed daze of black furniture and fancy cocktails being carried by hipster bearded men. 'Hi Aurora.'

'Hi.' She let a chuckle escape her red painted lips and let him move out a seat for her. She smelled nice.

'I thought I could fit in one more business meeting and eat on the way. And..yea..that--' She shook her head and waited for Henry to take his seat, his face beaming with mirth.

'Stain or not, I'm glad you're here.'

'As am I.' She picked up the drinks card and immediately turned it to the snacks side. 'Do you mind if I order something on the side?'

'Oh no, no of course. I'd like some too actually.' He leaned in to look with her through the options, the both of them deciding on a cheesy snackboard.

'And here I was thinking all of Hollywood was on a diet.' She smirked, making Henry grin.

'Trust me: been there, done that. But no more. I like eating simply too much.' He winked and signaled a waiter to take their order.

'Good.'

He had initially spread his arms to keep his balance as he rushed after Kal on this slippery meadow of grass. But as Kal returned on Henry's call, leaving some racing off sheep behind, Henry kept his arms up like that. Like an eagle in flight he sniffed in the countryside air, feeling blessed cold air tingle his lungs. Life was good right now. Really really good.

Halting his feet and near slipping in the process, he lowered his arms to praise Kal for listening and returning to him. Sometimes, his furry son truly could be a handful. Today, he was a good boy.

'Chasing after the ladies again huh?' He rushed his fingers through Kal's thick warm fur. 'Well there's one thing you should know Kal; gotta give them some space every now and then.' Kal looked up. 'And don't forget to listen to what they want, mkay?'

Kal borked softly. Henry laughed, being bombarded with an in-the-face-tongue-kiss.

--

Drinks buzzed in their veins and between all the laughter and nerding out, Henry noticed something. First he thought it was a play of light. A figmentation of his mind. But he could see it clearly now as she noted his gaze and held up her left hand: no longer there, the left-over indent from what once had been a ring.

'I'm no longer married if that's what you want to ask.' She sighed and lowered her hand again, looking at it with an unreadable expression.

'Oh eh.. no, no. I couldn't be so rude to..-'

'No, you're very much allowed to ask, Henry. Please.' Aurora smiled and took a somewhat shaky breath before finding her comfortable, confident (though slightly clumsy) self again. 'He got cancer, died two years ago. We built the company together..'

'I'm sorry for your loss.'

She smiled. 'Thank you. I do miss him, but this is just life. Can't have the good without the bad. And it's okay now. I like where I am.'

'In some dimlit bar with some weirdo you met on an airplane?'

'Absolutely.' She snickered, then shook her head. 'But no haha. You're no weirdo Henry. In fact; you are perfectly, and surprisingly..normal.' And with that she reached out that ring-less hand and brushed it over his right hand opposite the table. Her hands were so soft on his.

A comfortable silence fell and were it not for the toasty heat of the indoors, Henry would swear he was on that meadow with Kal again, feeling like he was breathing truly for the first time in a long, long while.

He smiled.

--

Part 3 > 

--

General tagsquad: @harrysthiccthighss​ @tumblnewby @magdelen69​ @thereisa8ella​ @darkbooksarwin​ @summersong69​ @madbaddic7ed​ @luclittlepond​ @maroonmolly @just-a-normal-fangirl18​ @hell1129-blog​ @agniavateira​ @tillthelandslide​ @elinesama​ @maddyreads14​

@beck07990​

[lvanter]

note: :(( hi :(( i accidentally deleted the first one so :(( repost :(( also like disclaimer i’m not assuming felix’s sexuality schsjs this is pure fiction :] okay hope u enjoy it :] bc i really like it

warnings: coming out, kissing,

wc: 2.9k

years in between. fl

felix is 10 when he first meet you.

chris, felix’s older brother, came home from school later than expected.

another thing that wasn’t expected was you walking into the house with him, holding your backpack tightly. felix was sat at the dinner table with his dad doing some homework.

“chris? you’re home late,” his dad looked up from the work laying on the table. “who’s this?”

chris proudly introduced you as the new kid in his class and his new best friend.

felix’s eyes widened when he looked at you. you had a yellow raincoat on and a pair of worn out black sneakers, and you were slight wet from the rain. chris, on the other hand, was drenched.

“i fell into a puddle,“ chris admitted, his cheeks growing hot. nobody asked, but he knew they were going to.

his father nodded, a smile finding its way onto his lips, “you two should get dry. i’ll get some towels,“

as their father left to get towels, chris gestured for you to take your shoes and jacket off, while he did the same. he walked over to felix and ruffled his hair, “hey, lix,”

“hi,” felix smiled happily at his older brother.

“(name), this is my little brother felix,” chris introduced, his hand on felix’s shoulder

“hi, felix,“

you shot him a smile. a smile that would be engraved into his mind for a very long time.

felix is 12 when he comes to the conclusion that he’s bisexual.

he comes to the conclusion when he imagines kissing lee minho, his neighbor, for the nth time, after having a yet another daydream about how lovely it would be to date yoo jeongyeon, his math tutor.

tears were streaming down his face that night. he was supposed to like girls! and girls only! this could not be happening. he tried to stay quiet as he cried, to no avail. within a few minutes chris was hugging him tightly and running his hand up and down felix’s back to soothe and comfort him.

felix remembers stuttering and stammering what was wrong through the tears running down his face at a rapid speed. he remembers chan pulling him closer and telling him that it was okay and that he was still felix.

“but…” felix sniffled, “but aren’t i supposed to only like girls?”

chris gave him a resecuring and yet sad smile, “you can like whoever you want, lix,”

“really?”

“yeah!” chris gave him another smile, this time happier, “whoever you want! as long as they’re a nice person,“ he teased, pointing a finger at his younger brother.

(name) is a nice person, was the first thought that came to mind, but felix didn’t dare say it out loud, in fear of what chris would say.

chris ended up sleeping in felix’ bed, holding him tight.

the next day felix told his best friends, kim seungmin and han jisung. the pessimistic part of felix was sure they were gonna hate him and never talk to him again. but the response he got was far from that; they ended up cuddling on the couch in seungmin’s living room. seungmin busy wiping felix’ tears away and calming him down, while jisung made a fort and found all their favorite movies.

telling his parents was the hardest and chris knew that, so he made sure he was holding felix’s hand as tightly as he could, to give the younger one more comfort. chris was positive their parents would accept their youngest child’s sexuality.

felix, however, was not. he had made the mistake of telling chris he was fine, and therefore had to sleep alone the night before, leaving room to overthink.

the room got uncomfortably hot for felix, as soon as their parents sat down at the dining table, like he had asked them to.

“mom, dad,” felix began, tightening his grip on chris’ hand. “i’m...” he gulped, “i’m...”

felix closed his eyes forcefully. the words ‘i can’t’ repeated in his head, ‘they’re gonna hate me’

“i’m……..” the words kept getting stuck in throat.

“you’re what, sweetheart?” his mom asked, in the tone she usually had when she spoke to her youngest child.

“i’m bi,” he whispered so lowly only chris heard him.

“what?” it was their dads turn to speak, “felix, you know how we feel about mumbling,”

chris leaned closer to felix so he could whisper into his ear, “do you want me to say it?”

felix nodded without saying anything.

chris took a deep breath before speaking,“felix is bisexual,”

the silence that fell over the room made felix want to hide away and cry. he closed his eyes, not wanting to see his parents disgusted faces (and to stop the tears, that were threatening to fall). before he could stop himself the tears began to fall. the words ‘they hate me’ repeated themselves over and over again in his head.

he felt someone wipe his tears away. at first he thought i was chris, but the hands felt rougher. dad?

felix opened his his eyes, and through the tears he could make out his dads kind face.

“it’s okay, felix,” his dad rubbed his back to comfort him (the same way chris had done it when he first found out).

“you…you don’t hate me?” felix managed to get out, tears still falling.

“oh, lixie,” his mom stood up and walked over to the boys, “we could never hate you, okay.” she said, taking her sons hands.

that night felix and chris slept on the couches in the living room (their parent went to sleep in their bed, and didn’t want to wake their sons up), after a long evening of watching felix’ favorite movies and eating take out.

“chris?” felix whispered, twenty minutes after midnight.

“hmm?” chris on hummed in response. he was very close to falling asleep.

“thank you,”

“it’s nothing, lixie, i’ve got you,”

felix cuddle closer into his big brother, and fell asleep quickly. he couldn’t remember the last time he slept that well.

felix is 14 when he’s sure he’s in love with you.

felix didn’t know much about love.

he had never been in love. sure, he’s had crushes (like the ones he had on yoo jeongyeon and lee minho), but they never lasted longer than a few months. the one he’s had on you, however, has lasted for 4 years…but he wasn’t sure if it was love or if he just found you cool and good looking.

he became sure that day a carnival was in town, and his parents had taken him and chris. after trying a bunch of rides and eating very overpriced and unhealthy foods, chris had spotted you and waved you over.

you were with your dads family, felix learned. you had ruffled his hair and given chris the usual hug.

“hi, chrissy,“ you said, hugging your best friend, before ruffling felix’ hair, “hi, lix,“

lix… you only called him lix, never felix, or fefe like jisung did when he wanted to tease him. it made his heart beat faster than it should, and usually left him kinda dizzy.

“h-hi, (name),“ he stuttered, silently cursing at himself afterwards. why did he have to stutter? why couldn’t he talk normally around you?

your dad’s family and their parents had begun to talk, leaving you, chris and felix to go on rides by yourselves. you ended up in a ‘coffee cup ride’, where you sit in a coffee cup and spin around.

felix gulped slightly as he sat down in front you. you gave him a smile, the one that always made his heart pound.

“you nervous?” you asked him.

“on-only a little,”

why did i have to stutter? felix groaned inwardly at himself.

“it’s okay, lix, i am too,”

felix gave you a shy smile and the ride started. felix felt the wind run through his hair, it felt nice. he could barely open his eyes, as the ride continued. he was well aware that he was gonna get dizzier because he closed his eyes, so he forced them open.

the first thing he saw was you. your smile was wide and your eyes curled up, as you held on tight on the table in the middle. you looked so happy and free. felix was sure everything seemed to slow down, as you laughed happily.

the sight was the most beautiful felix had ever seen.

his hands began began to move closer to grab yours unconsciously. before he could realize it he had grabbed it and you had given it a squeeze in return, without looking at him.felix felt himself begin to sweat a little at your touch.

you had held his hand before, but that was when he was a kid and still needed to hold somebody’s hand when he crossed the street.

now he was a grown up….okay, no, he wasn’t, but like every 14 year-old he liked to think he was.

is this what love feels like? he asked himself, as he kept watching you laugh and smile as the ride kept going. his heart was pounding, his cheeks was red and hot, and his stomach was filled with butterflies.

felix didn’t know much about love, but from what he’s read and seen in movies, this is what it feels like.

felix is 16 when he gets his heart broken for the first time.

felix wasn’t hungry, but chris was. and felix being the younger one of the two had been forced to go get the food.

chris had given felix the address to a small chinese restaurant, around 15 minutes away from their home.

felix actually didn’t mind getting the food. he liked going for walks, they cleared his head. his head that was filled with thoughts about you (and maybe the homework he had gotten).

the door to the restaurant dinged quietly as it opened. felix stood and scanned the restaurant for a moment. a family of five sitting, two girls, an old couple, a couple of friends, nothing too exciting. the foods scent got to felix, making his stomach grumble. okay, maybe he was hungry after all.

he went up to the counter, got the food and paid. he was happily on his was out when a guy—a couple of years older than him, if felix were to guess—walked through the door, slightly bumping into felix on the way.

“oh, sorry,” the guy gave felix an apologetic smile, to which felix just gave him a nod and a, “it’s fine,”

felix walked out the door, when his phone vibrated. he pulled it out of his back pocket as he stood outside the restaurant.

from chris: can u get some soda too uwu

felix made a grimace at his brothers use of uwu.

to chris: only if u promise me that ure never gonna say uwu again

from chris: fine :(

from chris: btw do u see (name)??? they should be on a date there right now w their boyfie

felix’s heart sank as he read the text. a date? you were on a date? felix quickly looked into the restaurant, through the big windows. his eyes found you easily. he found you just in time to see you pull the same guy that bumped into felix in for a kiss; the kind of kiss felix wished he could give you.

felix felt sick. while he didn’t have any real hope you liked him, he still wished you did. he tried to tear his eyes away from you, to no avail. you saw him and waved, but the only thing he wanted to do was cry. he waved back unenthusiastically, and gripped the bag with the food tighter. he ran home. felix hated running.

when he got home he threw the bag on the couch beside chris, and went to his room, ignoring chris asking how much he owed.

felix threw himself onto his bed. he had no expectations and was still let down. of course you didn’t like him, he was just your best friends’ younger brother. he tried to distract himself—both from you and his grumbling stomach. it didn’t work all to well.

felix went the bed early that day, hungry and heartbroken.

felix is 18 when he has his first kiss.

it was with hwang hyunjin, his best friend (seungmin left to study in america and jisung malaysia).

felix didn’t feel embarrassed over the fact that he didn’t have it before. if he was being completely honest, he thought it was overrated (and kinda gross).

hyunjin had kissed people before, but it was something that only lasted 5 seconds. he approached felix nervously, asking if said boy could help him get better at kissing only for felix to tell him that he hadn’t even had his first kiss yet.

this shocked hyunjin probably more than it should. felix was very popular with both girls and boys, and had been on plenty of dates throughout his life, so the fact that he have never kissed somebody came as a shock.

“really?”

“yeah,” felix shrugged, laying down on hyunjins bed. he wasn’t sure why hyunjin looked so shocked.

“really?” hyunjins mouth opened and closed resembling a fish.

“yes, hyunjin,” felix repeated, “i’ve never kissed someone before,”

hyunjin thought for a bit before talking again, “can i kiss you?”

felix choked on his spit, “what?” he coughed, as hyunjin hit him on his back.

“can i kiss you? like can i be your first kiss?”

“w-why?”

hyunjins eyebrows furrowed, “what do you mean why? i wanna get better at kissing and i’m sure you wanna know what it’s like to kiss,”

“but..but we’re best friends?” felix sputtered.

“yes, meaning we trust each other,” the older boy rolled his eyes, “you don’t have to if you don’t want to obviously,”

“no, we can do it,”

“are you sure, lix?”

“yes, hyunjin, we can kiss,” felix rolled his eyes, but his heart was full of love. he knew hyunjin wanted to be completely sure he wasn’t doing anything felix didn’t want to do.

“okay then,” hyunjin nodded, slowly connecting their lips.

it was a short kiss…actually it was more of a peck. just a quick touch of their lips.

“was that okay?” hyunjin asked nervously, he really didn’t want felix to feel uncomfortable.

felix nodded. he didn’t feel anything, just hyunjin’s lips on his.

“wanna go again?” hyunjin asked.

felix shrugged, “sure,”

this time, the kiss was different. it was deeper, and felix is pretty sure some tongue was involved.

kissing is overrated, felix thought. he was following hyunjin, letting the slightly older boy take control. this time, felix pulled away first.

“how was that?” hyunjin ran a hand through his hair, messing it up.

felix shrugged again.

“don’t shrug,” hyunjin whined, making felix chuckled at his friend. “was it nice? was it too much? was it not enough? was it—“

felix cut hyunjin off, “it was fine, overrated, but fine,”

hyunjin giggled, “overrated?”

“yeah, i mean it’s nice, but i don’t get all the rage,”

“thanks, lix,” hyunjin giggled again, leaning in for a hug.

felix happily responded to the hug, “it’s nothing, jinnie,”

felix is 20 when he learns that kissing is nice, but only if it’s with you.

kissing you was something felix had always wanted to try, and after 10 years—it felt like 50—he got the chance.

you weren’t his first kiss, nor were you his second (he kissed park siyeon for a dare during a party), but you were the most memorable one.

he hesitantly pulled away, the feeling of your lips on his lingering. he let out a sigh of content, “that was…”

“that was something,” you giggled.

your giggle made felix feel warm inside, the same kind of warmth you’ve always given him. “i like you,” he blurted out before he could stop himself.

“i know,”

felix’s eyes widened, “you know?”

“yeah, you’re not very good at keeping secrets,” you shrugged with your usual smile.

“but…but that means…that chris knows as well?”

“yes, he knows,”

felix could feel his face get hot. not only did you know about his crush on you, but chris did as well, “i’m...i’m sorry,” he faced the floor ashamed.

“lix, you have nothing to apologize for,”

he put his hands over his face “i made you feel uncomfortable,” his whine was muffled by his hands.

you furrowed your brows, “who told you that?”

“what?”

“who told you that your crush on me made me uncomfortable?”

felix’ held shut up, “n-no one, i just thought...”

“felix,” you sighed, grabbing his head and titling it so he face facing you, “it doesn’t make me uncomfortable. at all!”

“it..it doesn’t?”

“no!” you shook your head, “in fact….it makes me very happy,”

the look on felix’ face me you laugh; he looked, lost and hopeful, “w-what?”

“i like you too, lix,” you giggled, hands still on his cheeks.

“what?!”

“i like you,” you said, squeezing his cheeks with every word.

“you do?” felix was over the moon, he felt like he could do anything and everything. “please don’t play with me.”

“i promise you, i’m not,”

the smile that broke out on his face was heartwarming. his eyes curled up and nose scrunched. he leaned in to kissed you, trying to contain his smile.

kissing you was better than he could’ve ever imagined. he could feel you smile into the kiss, and it made his heart pound faster than it ever had.

in felix’s eyes kissing is overrated, but not if it’s with you.

[littlemisskookie]

Push Your Buttons

Push Your Buttons Ship: Taehyung | Coraline!Reader Description: Coraline!AU, Childhood Friends/Enemies to Lovers!AU. You return to your childhood home in an attempt to uncover your past, despite the fact it seems as though everyone’s determined to keep it hidden. Warnings: Fat Cock kink?, Taehyung calls you a bitch a lot, Oral, Denied Orgasms, Blowjob, Intercourse, Dirty Talk, Violence, So MUCH ANGST, Major Character Death Word Count: 23k A/N: I literally spent months on this so please enjoy! I’m proud of it!

For some reason you expected it to be more colorful.

Typically, when someone thinks back to their childhood home and summer memories, they think of back the lush green of the trees and the wide expanse of grass and yard. Perhaps blue skies and scraped knees, with a golden sun overhead to burn skin and give tans. Maybe the flush of cool water against one's skin and friends whose little arms would wrap around you in a tight hug.

That's what you supposed most would think of, anyway. You really couldn't say because truth be told, you had no recollection.

As in, no recollection whatsoever.

Apparently, there was an incident here at this very place when you were only eleven years old. It was your childhood home, but you were spared most of the details. After the incident, your grandparents, with whom you had lived, decided a change of scenery would benefit you, and you were unable to recall the memories you had before seventh grade.

You remembered small things, but none of it really seemed real. It was more like a dream, some of it bizarre and outlandish. A small door and a winding tunnel, as well as bright colors and warm food. It wasn't always pleasant, though. Some nights, until about a year after the incident, you'd wake up screaming about your eyes.

Neither you nor your grandparents could decipher what it really meant.

There was one thing you were positive was real though. Two boys. One you weren't able to really make out, but the other had a face as clear as day. A bright smile and long eyes, with big cheeks that looked ready to pinch.

You wondered if you'd see that boy again.

Your grandparents had decided to move back to the home after all of these years. You were being transferred to another school, and you'd be away for a while. The two felt nostalgic about the place since it was originally where they had raised your mother before she died, and wished to return. You insisted upon helping them settle in and tend to them, admittedly curious about your childhood home. Perhaps you could settle in for the summer and find a nearby job soon. You had just finished college, having graduated a year early due to summer classes. Still, they were worried- about bad memories returning after all these years or other things, you weren't quite sure. Nevertheless, you had pestered them into letting you stay with them, seeing as you needed to help them due to their age and health.

The town was a lot more grey than you would've guessed. A bleak sky with a dreary yet humid atmosphere, lightly sprinkling enough for your skin to feel dewy, but not enough for the need to go inside. The ground was muddy as you stepped out of the car, taking a long look at the house you had grown up in.

It was a large suburban home that was divided into four apartments, all of the neighbors staying there even after your departure, apparently. The landowner immediately let your family move in, perhaps for nostalgia's sake or for the need of money.

Sweeping a hand through your blue-dyed hair and tugging your yellow raincoat closer, you marched up to the house, noticing how run down and old it was. Slipping your matching yellow boots off, you shake your head, trying to get any droplets out of your hair, mimicking a dog. You walked along the floorboards, examining the interior. The paint was faded and chipped, and each step you took creaked.

"Y/N! Don't run off too far!" your grandmother called, paranoid as always. Your grandfather was helping her out of the car to get into her wheelchair, which she had been stuck in for your entire life. "Remember that there are rats in the attic! There's supposed to be traps laid out, but I don't want you to get hurt."

You ignored her, giddy as you clutched on tightly to the key in hand, jamming it into the front door and entering the premises.

Nothing.

You felt deflated.

It was standard, some old furniture still there, and dusty as hell. You didn't know what you expected. Why did you get your hopes up?

The whole reason you brought yourself here was to try to recover your memories.

You had all the time in the world for that, though. Surely something would come up to bring back a rush of memories.

You ventured through, noting leaks and mouse traps that had yet to go off. Walking up the stairs, you continued to look for something of interest, only to stumble across your old room. The landowner was right- it really hadn't been touched since your family moved away.

The room was set up for a young girl, with faded pink walls and a bedspread of butterflies. You stared around, racking your brain for any sense of familiarity, only to find none. It felt as though you were in a stranger's room, but you knew it was yours. Your grandma had some pictures of you in your room back when you had stolen one of her polaroids, and you were sure if you'd look at them in comparison, the room would be a match. 

You squint your eyes, however, seeing something that seemed out of place. A tiny door, no taller than your knee. You kneeled down, your finger tracing along the outline of it, ripped wallpaper being hastily taped up with duct tape that was already beginning to fall off.

This... This seemed familiar.

Your heart palpitates, realizing it looked awfully like the door in one of your many dreams.

It couldn't be real.

Ripping off the tape, you try to pry the door open, only to find it locked. You grit your teeth, looking around the room for a key. You looked beneath the bed, behind the dressers, everyone until you finally found it beneath some cobwebs. Blowing the dust off, you jam it into the lock, twisting the key to pry the door open only to find... brick.

Disappointed, you return to the car, your grandfather calling for you. A tall, strange figure stood before both of them, a mop of dark hair on top. You furrow your brows, looking at the man in question.

His skin was golden, making him glow and illuminate the grey clouds in the background. He was stunningly handsome, and you felt your breath hitch as you stared at him, finding your mouth dry. 

"Y/N, this is your childhood best friend, Kim Taehyung. He's the son of the landowner, and has graciously offered to help us move in!" Your grandmother beamed at the man, reaching up to pinch his cheek. "My, how you've grown! I remember back when you were no bigger than my knee, you were such a cute kid. Now you're a handsome young man! You know, Y/N's single right now, and with the history between the two of you-"

"That's enough, Grandmother, I'm sure he's got another girl," you hastily interrupt, feeling your cheeks flush. You hold your hand out, smiling at Taehyung, internally praying that your hands weren't sweaty. "I'm Y/N, it's nice to meet you."

He glared down at your hand before giving you a confused look. "Why are you introducing yourself? We've known each other since diapers."

You feel your face go beet red, and you fume with anger immediately. That was just plain rude. "There's no need to be obnoxious."

"Y/N!" your grandfather snapped.

"I'm sorry I don't remember you, but it's probably for the best, seeing how rude you're being," you continued, crossing your arms as you looked up at the man. You were best friends with this brat? You would've figured it'd be the boy with the chubby cheeks and long eyes, not this absolute jerk. 

Taehyung raised a brow in a way that sent shivers down your spine. "Is that so?"

"It is," you say, wanting to spit out the words. "I can't imagine myself being friends with such a pompous ass."

"Y/N, that's enough. We raised you better than this. Why don't you get started on moving the stuff inside? We'll have to apologize to Taehyung on your behalf."

You rolled your eyes, huffing as you began moving the boxes inside. It's about only five minutes later that Taehyung joins you, boxes in his arms as well. He's about to stumble when you catch some of them, quick on your feet as you prevent them from toppling to the ground.

"Careful! That could be our good china!"

Taehyung set down the box carefully, both of you trying to calm down after the brief scare.

You're both silent for a moment, but you break the silence ultimately. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have burst out like that. I was being rude."

He grunted in response, and you do your best not to get pissed off at him once more. There was no need for you to act so immature and childish, after all. Finally, he speaks up. "So you really don't remember anything, huh?"

You pause at that. "So they told you, huh?"

"Yeah. If I had known I wouldn't have been like that," Taehyung admits.

You let out a breath. "It's alright. There was no way for you to know. And no, I don't remember anything. It's one of the reasons I came back. Apparently, there was some incident that just completely wiped away my memories and... Well, I've been gone ever since."

"So you don't remember me."

"No. You probably know my childhood better than I do, if we were really friends though. It's hard to imagine, though. You're no more than a stranger to me right now, I mean look at us." You gesture at the contrast between his dark coat and your own bright yellow one. 

"Show your left ankle and I'll tell you one story," he offers.

Your eyes light up at that, and you don't hesitate, kicking off a rainboot and rolling up your already cuffed jeans, showing the small, crummy butterfly.

Taehyung traces it softly, making sure not to make you uncomfortable as he does so. His mouth quirks up a bit, and you can't help the unexpectedly warm feeling in your chest. "When we were eight we all snuck into Mrs. Miller and Wilson's apartment. They were our neighbors back in the day. They had this old tattoo pen and such. Jimin advised against it, but you were obsessed with butterflies at the time and wanted me to draw one on you. By the time the adults found out, it had been done. You were the only eight-year-old at our school who had a tattoo, needless to say."

You laugh at the story. "Oh God, I could totally picture myself doing that. Makes sense why it's so poorly drawn, though."

"Hey, I was eight and had never even held a tattoo pen before, give me a break," he scoffed in response, though laughing as well.

"Wait, but who's Jimin?" you ask curiously. 

Taehyung's laughter stops immediately, and his face returns to the previously dark look. He gets up to walk away, and you're quick to hobble on one foot, grabbing onto his sleeve. "Wait, why're you leaving? Did I offend you?"

His face is steely as he looks at you, removing your hand from his sleeve. "You're not my Y/N, and you never will be. My Y/N wouldn't have left no matter what happened."

Your eyes widen at that. "Excuse me? I can't help the fact I have amnesia!"

"I don't give a damn about your amnesia. You said it yourself that we're strangers, and we're going to stay that way. The less you know the better," Taehyung spits.

You narrow your brows, glaring at him. "What the fuck, Taehyung? What are you even talking about."

"I repeat: the less you know the better."

His lips remained sealed, and you squint your eyes at him. He was dark and brooding on the outside, and desperately trying to remain the same on the inside. Or at least project that image. You wondered if this truly was the boy you were apparently best friends with during your younger days. Could little kids be brooding anyway? Somehow you couldn't imagine him as a bubbly little boy. Something had to have changed. You wondered if you had anything to do with it.

"What, do you know what happened?" The wheels in your brain begin to spin as you frantically try to prevent him from leaving. "Do you know the incident? What happened to me? Why I forgot everything?"

"I don't know anything," he says hastily.

"Liar!" Your eyes immediately catch the small quirk of his lip, a twitch of his sneer. "I can tell you're lying. I don't know how, but I do. That small quirk of your lip..."

He stops in his tracks, reaching up to his mouth, his face turning red with embarrassment. You know your assumption was correct, and you can't help but grin victoriously. "It doesn't mean anything," he excuses.

Your face softens, and you reach for his hand, glad that he doesn't flinch at your touch. "Taehyung- I need to know. It's why I came here. I feel like there's this big part of me that's been missing all this time. You might not know everything, but clearly you know something. It's clear you and I were best friends- why can't we be that again?"

He's frozen in your touch as you stare him in the eyes, searching for something. With your hand in his, though, you do feel some sense of familiarity. You haven't felt this in a long time.

He retracts from your touch as though burned, snapping out of his daze as he turns away from you. "Grow up, Y/N. I would've figured you would after all this time- but you're still childish as always."

"I thought you said I wasn't your Y/N," you say, desperately trying to reach for something to grasp onto.

"You're not. You never will be," he hisses, avoiding your stare as you attempt once again to make him look at you. It's as though it physically pains him to look at you. "We'll keep it that way."

"We're going to be neighbors now, Taehyung. You can't ignore me forever," you say stubbornly. "And if there's one thing I'm sure I've kept with me even from childhood, it's my ability to be a pain in the ass. We've got plenty of time to be together, and I'm not leaving without finding out what happened to me. You can either choose to help me or be annoyed for years on end until I figure it out on my own."

"Go to hell, Y/N. I told you that the less you know the better. After all, curiosity killed the cat."

You grin, finally succeeding in locking eyes with him again. "But satisfaction brought it back."

-

The house was littered with cardboard boxes by the time you were done moving everything. Between pestering your grandfather about getting some plants or paint to brighten the place up and overall wasting time, you were finally and truly blessed with Taehyung's presence once more. You were in the middle of unpacking a few of the items when Taehyung came into your room, his eyes roaming about the place before landing on you.

"Have you changed your mind?" you say hopefully, eyes lightening up with hope.

"No," he grunts, "your grandma just wants to know if you want to come down for a break. She made lemonade."

You sigh, slightly disappointed. "Yeah, sure."

"What's that?" His eyes narrow, brows furrowing.

You turn in his direction, seeing the tiny door. "Oh, this? I have no clue honestly. It was covered with a bunch of duct tape when I saw it, but it's kinda cool. No clue why anyone would need such a tiny door... especially since it doesn't lead anywhere."

You open it up, blowing at some of the dust on the door and brick. Taehyung glares at it, stepping forward before slamming the door shut.

"Leave it alone- it was taped up for a reason. I suggest you tape it back up," he says.

"Why?"

"I... I just have a bad feeling about it, ok?" He gets fidgety again, slightly irritated. "Now that I think about it, it was probably my mom who taped it up after you left. I hated that door since we were little."

"If you're not going to tell me then I won't tape it back up. It's in my room, there's nothing you can do about it. Besides, it leads to nothing. What's the big deal?"

"Y/N, you'll just get in trouble, and I'm the one who's going to have to drag you out and save your ass. I know you," he says.

Your mouth goes small. "You don't know me, though. I don't even know me."

There's silence between the two of you for a bit.

"Look, I'm sorry," he says. "I'm not being fair to you, and I've been nothing but rude. I guess I haven't moved on from the past, and it's not a good excuse. I held a grudge against you or what happened- honestly I don't know half of it. It wasn't your fault anyway, but with you leaving and getting amnesia I guess I never got over the feeling of abandonment. It's been ten years though, and I need to move on. Seeing you here has reopened some old wounds that were never healed... but it's not your fault."

"Taehyung..." You're momentarily stunned. "I don't know what to say."

"Well, don't read too much into it," he hastily says. "Tell you what, I'm going to be at home but I'm sure my folks won't mind if you drop by this afternoon. You can head back to my place and I'll tell you a few childhood stories regarding the two of us. Sound good? It's the least I can do."

"I'd love that!" You brighten up at the idea.

He holds up one finger, however, making sure you don't get too excited. "On one condition: you tape that little door back up. As I said, I've got a bad feeling about it."

You furrow your brow again. "It really freaks you out that much, huh?"

He presses his lips together in a tight line. "Do we have a deal?"

You grin. "Deal!"

He spits in his hand and holds it out, his cheeks flushing when he realizes. "Oh, uh, it's something we used to do. I should've realized-"

He's about to wipe his palm against his coat when you spit in your hand, shaking it with his without hesitation. "Don't worry about it. Just like old times, ok? We'll act like I never even left. This feels right." You look down at your hands and slightly grimace, pulling back and wiping it away. "Slightly gross, admittedly, but right nevertheless."

He's stunned, and you wave your hand before his face in an attempt to bring him back to reality. "Tae? You alright?"

"What? Sorry, dozed off there for a moment." For the first time, you see him smile, a warm glow filling your heart at the sight. "I just... I never really thought I'd get the chance to do that again. With you I guess."

You can't help but melt at the sentiment. "I'm not going anywhere this time, I promise."

-

Taehyung's mother looked like the spitting image of him, surprisingly enough. Save for the grey hairs and wrinkles around her eyes, she looked like him if she were a girl.

"Oh, Y/N! My, aren't you gorgeous? Look at that blue hair! You grew into the beautiful young woman I always knew you'd become. It's been so long- Taehyung just told me you were back," she said, smiling warmly.

"Hi, Mrs. Kim," you say. "Is Taehyung home?"

"Oh, he's outside gardening for me. He'll be right back. Why don't you head upstairs to his room and wait for him? He's supposed to be back any minute."

"Oh, thank you, ma'am!" 

You begin to walk away when she takes your hand, redirecting your attention to her. She looks nervous, biting her lip. "Y/N... it's really good to see you again. I know Taehyung's happy about it too, though he has trouble expressing that side of him. He changed a lot once you left but... I don't want to get my hopes up, but maybe since you're back he can change back. I guess a mother can't help but want her little boy back, huh?"

Her smile is bittersweet, strained but sorrowful. You can't help but feel a sense of pressure put upon your shoulders, and you can only attempt to mimic her smile. "I'll try my best, Mrs. Kim. I'm glad to be back, too." 

You didn't have the heart to tell her that you had absolutely no clue where his room was, but after wandering around aimlessly upstairs you eventually found what you could only presume would be his room.

It was simple. Frayed and faded posters of superheroes on his walls, and a small basketball hoop on the back of his door. It was surprisingly neat for a guy's room, but perhaps you just had a stereotypical expectation. Wiping your finger against the surface of the dresser, you note that there's no dust.

Your eyes flicker upwards towards a picture of three kids, smiling brightly. You recognize Taehyung immediately, his rectangular smile beaming brightly at you. To his left you see yourself, your face chubby and youthful, clinging tightly to his side as proof of your friendship. To your other side, there's another boy, his plump lips spread into a bright grin that stretched across his face.

Your heart stops.

A hand comes behind you, slapping the picture face down. You turn to Taehyung, his expression furious.

"Just what do you think you're doing, snooping around my room?"

"Sorry your mom just... she let me in," you say, stammering as you attempt to regain composure.

"That doesn't give you an excuse to stick your nose where it doesn't belong." His brows furrow, a crease between them. He sighs, running a hand across his face in frustration. "It was a mistake to invite you here."

"Who's this boy?" You don't touch the photo, but he knows what you're talking about, nevertheless.

"That's me," he says bluntly.

"No, the other one. With the long eyes and bigger lips."

He's quiet for a moment, looking away. "That's Jimin. He was friends with us when we were little."

"Where is he now? I recognize him, I don't know why. If you could tell me where he is maybe I can talk to him. He might be able to tell-"

"There's no point."

You pause, confused. "Why not? Did he move like I did or something?"

"No, he's... He's dead."

Your breath hitches and you feel your chest get tight. "No, that can't be right. That makes no sense."

"Well, he is," Taehyung says, expression angry. "He went missing right before you left. They announced him as dead not too long ago. About three years ago. Apparently, they do that if the person is missing for more than seven years."

Your face crumples along with his, the temperature of the room falling as you process the information. "I'm... I'm so sorry for your loss."

"It's your loss too, you know. He was best friends with both of us."

"Maybe so, but I don't remember any of it. I have no memories, he might as well be a stranger," you explain. "For you though... For you, he was much more than just a picture in a frame. I'm sorry."

You swear you see his eyes well up slightly, but he flops down on his bed, turning away from you. You wondered if you had a poor choice of words, reminding him once again that you remembered nothing, even the boy that meant so much to him. To both of you, apparently. "You wanted to hear stories about us when we were kids, right? To see if you remembered anything?"

"Yes." You sit next to him on the bed, bringing your knees up to your chest as you listen intently. "If you're ok with that, of course."

He hums, closing his eyes. "You, me, and Jimin were all best friends since diapers. We had every class together and were glued to the hip, so to speak. Everyone in this small town would say that when they saw even one of us, they could expect one of the other two. Some speculated both he and I would fight for your hand in marriage once we had grown- a running joke among the grown-ups.

"Jimin was the more gentle of us three. He was always the one to get between us and calm us down whenever you and I got into one of our usual spats. Even back then we couldn't help but bicker, so it seemed. I was the one who taught you how to ride a bike, only for you to accidentally run over me and into the bushes. He was the one to bandage the two of us up as we both argued over who was to blame."

His eyes flicker up to lock with yours, a small smirk on his lips. "It was totally yours, by the way."

You laugh heartily at that. "Agree to disagree, then."

You both chuckle for a moment. 

"You know, we were each other's first kiss," he mentions. "We had decided if anyone was going to kiss you, it would be us, your two best friends. I mean, what did we know, we were like seven at the time. I'm pretty sure I missed your mouth anyway."

"Something tells me that memory would be a bit cringy to look back on."

"Yeah, probably," he smiles. Taehyung's gaze is far away for a moment. "I'm sure Jimin would disagree if he were here, though."

You're quiet for a moment. "Was his disappearance the... incident?"

"I can't really say for sure, honestly. As much as I know you want answers from me, there's only so much I know. I don't have all of the pieces, but I know the events are related. I have bits and pieces, and the only others who know anything are amnesiacs or ghosts."

"I appreciate you telling me this, though," you say honestly. "I know it must be hard for you."

He lays back on his bed, his back bouncing against the springs. "As much as I've gotten angry over you losing your memories, I think a lot of it is jealousy. I wish I could forget so easily."

"It's not the most pleasant thing, honestly. I feel like I'm missing this huge chunk of my life like I'm not even fully me, you know? I only know what I was like once I was twelve and after, basically once I hit puberty." You sigh, falling beside him. "It's hard to explain."

"I think I get it. It's like the missing pieces of the puzzle I mentioned before."

"Yeah you can think of it that way," you say. "I have some, but not enough to really tell what the image is."

"Are you having any luck at least?"

"I haven't even been here for a full day, so I can't really say," you mumble. "I think I'm getting a little bit from what you tell me. My grandparents are of no help. They think if I find out about the incident or whatever I'll be ruined. I suffer from bad dreams relating to it, apparently. After it happened I was even in shell shock or something, it was that bad."

"Maybe it is better to not find out, then."

"Well maybe if I find out I can find out what happened to Jimin." You sit up, looking down at Taehyung. "I might not really know you, but the old me did. Stranger or childhood friend, I'd like to give you some closure. I can tell you're torn up about it still, and I'm sure my reappearance has reopened old wounds. Your mother hoped that I could help you. The incident affected you, too, whether that's from me leaving, Jimin's disappearance, or something else entirely. Maybe I feel as though I owe you this much as an apology, or maybe it's just me being selfish. I do know, however, that my memories wouldn't affect just me. I would like to help you, and I can only pray I'll be able to handle whatever it was back then now that I'm grown."

He studies you for a moment, his eyes dark and brooding. "You know, the more I talk to you, the more you seem like your old self. Perhaps you never really changed, Y/N." His fingers come up to grasp an end of your blue hair, twirling a strand around his slender finger. You can't help but shiver at his touch, part of you yearning for more. "I can't tell you everything, Y/N. Not now at least. I can tell you this much, though. When you left, it crushed me inside. I dealt with the death of my best friend, and then my other just up and left. I had no one to lean on, who understood my pain. It was the first time in my entire life that I was completely and utterly alone. Depending on others was what ultimately destroyed me."

You lean into his touch, his fingers now grazing across your cheek. "Taehyung, I might not remember why I left, but I can honestly say I'm sorry for doing it. Me back then might've left, but I promise I won't. I won't leave you again. You're not truly alone- you never were."

He sits up, and your breath hitches, lungs tight as you realize how close he is to you. You're able to hear his soft breath, and at that moment you feel your heart race.

"You really are the same Y/N," he says, a quirk in his smirk as his thumb brushes over your lower lip, your mouth automatically parting for him. "You're still so naive."

You're frozen as he retreats from you, his warm skin against yours now absent as he stands up, leaving you alone in his room.

-

It's the middle of the night when you suddenly wake up, a sense of panic washing over your body as you sit up abruptly, a cold sweat covering your skin.  All you could hear was your heavy breathing and the scamper of mice a floor above you. Was it a night terror? Or was it something external?

In an effort to slow your palpitating heart, you take deep breaths, closing your eyes. You weren't going to be able to fall back asleep, so it would seem. You sigh, getting up to turn on the light, figuring you could get a glass of water while you're up.

To your surprise, however, once you turn on the light you spy something peculiar. Leaning against the tiny door was a doll.

It wasn't any ordinary doll, though.

It looked exactly like you.

It had everything from your blue hair to the outfit you had worn earlier that day- a yellow raincoat and matching boots. The eyes were of buttons, charcoal black and staring blankly at you.

Excitement rose in your chest as you took it in your hand, examining it. It was closer to a rag doll than anything else, and you didn't feel any sense of dread or fear.

Who had made this?

In all honesty, you found it a bit cute. You were just weird like that.

An idea pops in your head, prodding like it had been ever since you first opened it. You rip the tape at the edges, using all your might and discarding them to the floor. You did promise Taehyung you'd tape it up, but he never said anything about taking the tape down, did he? Soon enough you're twisting the tiny knob, bracing yourself as you feel a harsh wind on your cheeks. Blue hair flying about your face, you look in awe at the tunnel before you, glowing and luminous. You were positive that it had only been brick before.

Were you still asleep? Was this all a dream?

Doll in hand, you crawl through the tunnel, venturing further into the surreal dream. What you could only describe as the sweetest scent filled your nose, and the most beautiful of music graced your ears.

Surprisingly enough, once you were at the other end, you were back in your bedroom.

But not quite.

The room was filled, the walls no longer faded. The shelves were filled with knick-knacks of toys and pictures. On your vanity mirror were written messages in dry erase marker, surprisingly enough in your handwriting. The room teemed with life, as one would suspect from their childhood bedroom. 

This felt far more familiar, oddly enough.

You look about the room, touching the objects before you as though to make sure they're real. You even analyze the message on the mirror, Y/N WAS HERE! It was undeniably your handwriting.

Were you really here before?

"Y/N! Dinner's ready."

What?

You skip out of your room, amazed at the interior of the house. It was as though it got a makeover, teeming with life and personality, color everywhere just as you liked it. No longer the muted or faded colors back home. Your dream seemed to have good taste.

You head to the kitchen, surprised to see your grandmother, her back turned to you as she continued to cook. That wasn't what made you freeze, though. The first thing you noticed was that her wheelchair appeared to be missing.

"You're... You're standing!" 

She turns, giving you a bright smile. Instead of her warm yet stern eyes, you're met with buttons. A pair of charcoal black buttons staring right at you.

"Of course I'm standing, silly girl," the woman laughs, "though this gives me quite a bit of nostalgia. To think, last time it was the buttons, and now it's the standing! Maybe you have changed since we've last seen you. My little girl, all grown up now." She smiles at you, reaching forward to pinch your cheek. "My, Y/N, how big you've grown! We've missed you so much. That's why I've prepared a feast to celebrate your return!"

"Where am I?"

"You always called it the Other World when you were little. Not very original, but it has grown on me. The name sticks!"

"I..." She looked exactly like your grandmother- what with the grey hair and leathery skin. Still, her tone and smile were far more youthful, like a glimpse of the young girl your grandmother once was, simply buried beneath wrinkled skin. Had it not been for her working legs and button eyes, you would've been fooled. "Do I know you?"

"Of course you do! I'm your Other Grandmother, of course. Your Other Grandfather is out. He just finished gardening, though."

"Gardening...?" You were pestering him earlier about planting some flowers or something, but never did you suspect he'd take you up on your suggestion. Perhaps your subconscious had recalled the events from earlier that day in order to manifest the scenario.

"I believe he's planting blue tulips. The ones that match your hair," she remarks, reaching forward to twirl one strand of your hair around her finger. "I must say, it suits you."

"Thank you." 

Her eyes flicker down, noting the doll. "Ah, I see you've finally got our gift! We've been waiting forever to give it to you. You used to beg us for a doll just like that when you were little."

"So I've been here? Or am I just making this dream up as I go along?"

She laughs outright at that. "Of course this isn't a dream, my sweet girl. This is your other life, where you can simply melt the struggles and stress of life away. Here everything is right and as it should be. I, as your Other Grandmother, can walk, and your Other Grandfather gardens. The possibilities are endless, dear."

"So if I was here when I was little... could you tell me a bit about my childhood? Anything really as to why I left?"

Her lips purse slightly. "You were our favorite daughter, no doubt. We loved you very much- and we still do! All of us have been waiting for your return, and are overjoyed. You were a bubbly a bright girl. You and Jimin would always have such fun here."

"Jimin?" You perked up at that. "Can you tell me anything about him? Or Taehyung? Or our time here?"

"My dear, you really don't remember anything, do you?" She strokes your cheek sympathetically. "You three were best friends. All had crushes on each other from what I could tell- ah, young love. Puppy love, more like. You two would visit often and have so much fun. Sometimes one on your own, and sometimes two of you. You'd try to convince Taehyung to come if I remember correctly, but he never believed a perfect place like this could exist. Pity."

"Taehyung never came?" Your brows furrowed in confusion. "What about Jimin?"

"Ah, he visited most often! He loved it here, no doubt. He wanted to stay here forever. In your world, he had a lot of trouble. What kid didn't? You dealt with your grandparents' health and your feelings for your friends, particularly Taehyung. The boy could never reciprocate even then, so it seems. Jimin, on the other hand, had to deal with his parents' divorce. He was so distraught over it, he honestly spent most of his time here. That was fine with us, of course. You were the daughter we never had and he was the son we never had. This little place of ours was his escape, and we offered him permanent residence. He accepted."

"What happened to him?" 

The Other Grandmother sighs, shaking her head. "I can't tell you that dear. He went missing and was never seen again. I don't think you'll see him again any time soon. His parents moved away, in fact, giving up on the case."

Your heart sinks. "So Taehyung was right... God, what am I going to tell him?"

"Don't fret over things such as that here, my sweet girl," the Other Grandmother assures you, her smile cheerful as she finishes cooking, putting it on a plate and handing it to you. "Here you can simply enjoy yourself and relax. With a snap of my fingers, the world is yours. Might as well call me a genie. Your wish is my command." She chuckles a bit at that.

You look down at the food, your favorite. The smell overwhelms you, and you find yourself salivating. Still, you shake your head, putting it in her hands. "I think I should head back- I need to process everything. If this really is a dream, though, I doubt I'd even be able to taste it."

"Suit yourself, dear. I won't be one to rush you. After all, patience to those who wait, though I've been so eager for your return," she said. "You can leave the way you came in, we'll be here for your next visit. Do promise you'll visit? I'll make sure to give you a special surprise."

"If I can," you say, wary. You clutch the doll, taking one last, long look at the woman as she returns to her busy work. You wander back to your room, crawling through the door and back into your real bed.

-

When you woke up, the doll was in your arms.

No... It was real?

You jolt up, combing your hair and rushing to Taehyung's house, knowing that your folks were very likely still asleep. You grabbed your bag, the little doll now tied to it like a little charm, and was on your way. To say Taehyung was surprised to see you in your pajamas was an understatement, as it was very evident that you had just rolled out of bed.

"You really do want to annoy me, don't you?" Taehyung sighed, shaking his head. "Do you know what time it is, woman? I'm pretty sure it's not even 6 AM. Or are you simply that eager to make childhood memories in adulthood that you rushed here for some sort of childish playdate?"

You ignore his taunting, pulling him towards you. "Taehyung- have you been to the Other World?"

"The what now?" His mind was clearly still trying to comprehend what you were saying, groggy in comparison to your alert enthusiasm.

"You know, the place where everything's great and people have buttons for eyes?"

"How many drugs have you tried since you left?"

"Three, now focus!" You analyze his face for a few moments, looking for any signs of comprehension. "You really don't know it?"

"No. But since you're here I have a bone to pick with you." His eyes cloud over as he wakes up a bit more, anger slowly replacing the drowsiness. "What'd you do with him?"

"With who?"

"Jimin."

"Taehyung... if I knew what happened all those years ago, I'd tell you. I'm so sorry-"

"Not actual Jimin, dumbass. The doll. What'd you do with him?"

"What? What on Earth are you talking about?" This time it was your turn to get confused.

"Don't fuck with me, Y/N. I know you're trying to retrieve your memories and all that, but don't start fucking around with me or my shit. That's your own mess to deal with, and I don't want to get involved. So stealing what was left of my best friend is crossing the line."

"I'm being completely serious right now- I have no clue what you're accusing me of."

He ran a hand over his face in frustration. "When you were in my room. The doll that looked exactly like Jimin?"

"Are you sure you didn't misplace it? I promise you that I have no such thing." Your features soften, and you try to place your hand on his arm to comfort him. Behind him, you use your other hand to reach for your bag, turning it around so that the doll that was tied to it wasn't visible. You wanted to hear what Taehyung was accusing you of, first. "Taehyung, I wouldn't steal from you. Lost memories or not, I don't want to hurt you. I'm slowly beginning to realize how much you meant to me, and I'm sure somewhere inside if both of us are those childhood best friends."

He tenses under your touch, a slight tremble in his lips, and for a moment your heart palpitates. The way he looks at you makes you feel as though he's about to kiss you. Perhaps you were simply projecting, however.

Instead, however, he ruins the daydream clouding your mind, moving away from your touch. "Alright, so you didn't take it. I'm sorry I accused you. I was just frustrated since I noticed it was gone."

You stare at your feet, trying to regain your composure. It wasn't like you to suddenly get flustered. Taehyung might've been the most attractive man you've known, but he was an asshole through and through. The Other Grandmother was right- he'd never reciprocate your feelings. 

But you were a grown woman and not a childish preteen. You could handle rejection, and you weren't going to force your feelings on someone else in an effort to get a relationship out of them. 

"I'll keep an eye out for it, don't worry."

"What is it that you came running over here for, anyway? I'm sure it's not to have a heartfelt chat," he grumbles.

You flush at that, the blood rushing to your cheeks. "I, um, figured out a bit more. About the three of us."

"Oh? So you're getting memories back?"

"Not exactly. Look, forget it, it was stupid of me to come here in the first place." Why was it that he was the first one to pop up in your mind once you woke up? "You won't believe me in the first place."

"Humor me," he says, crossing his arms. "You woke me up at this hour for a reason. I won't let it be for nothing."

You scratched the back of your neck, nervous. "How about this: I say a statement about our childhood and you confirm if it's true or not. I want to find out if the information I got was true."

He shrugs. "Seems fair enough. Shoot."

"Alright, first: Jimin's parents got divorced."

"True- though I could've even told you that. I wouldn't think that'd be that big of a deal," Taehyung remarks.

"Well, it was to him it seems," you mumble. "Second, I had a crush on you."

"Yeah, I guess. As much of a crush as a little kid could have, basically. Honestly, you and Jimin got along far better. I'm sure your grandmother or my own mom could've informed you, though."

You decided it was about time to jump to the big question- one that no one else could've told you. "Jimin and I used to convince you to go to some imaginary place with us when we were little, called the Other World where everything has buttons for eyes, and you'd always refuse."

His brows shot up, genuine shock in his features. "How do you know that? I thought you still had amnesia?"

"I do it's- you wouldn't believe me." You huffed, running your hands over your face. "So it's true?"

"I mean, yeah, but how the hell did you find that out?"

You didn't want to tell him about the Other World, with the little door and the revelations about Jimin and everything. He wouldn't believe you- not now at least. He might deserve some of the information you'd give, but he wasn't ready for the truth. You were still processing it, truthfully. An entirely different world just beyond a little door? Even you had to admit you sounded insane. You had to get more information first.

"I'll see you later, Taehyung."

-

"For the last time, Y/N, we are done discussing the matter," your grandmother fumed, her nostrils flaring. "First you run out of the house without informing us, and at 6 AM no less! Now you're pestering us about nonsense once again."

"There must be something you two can tell me about what happened to me. What happened to Jimin?"

Your grandfather turned to glare at you. "We told you before there's nothing we can tell."

"You raised me, there must be something. Unless you're deliberately hiding something from me," you accused sourly, digging into your oatmeal. You hated arguing during breakfast, but after your conversation with Taehyung, you were left in a sour mood.

"We may have raised you but you didn't spend much time with us. Most of it was with your friends," your grandmother informed you. "The reason we moved away was to keep you from whatever it was that had terrified you so greatly. I knew moving back was a mistake."

"Y/N, you must know we're doing this in your best interest. You were hysterical, and we still don't know what happened. It took you so long to recover. Do you think a military man who got deployed would wish to return to a battlefield? A survivor of attempted murder wishing to be alone with their attacker?"

"You don't get to decide for me anymore, though. I'm an adult and I have the right to know."

"We're telling you the truth. You never told us, and our first instinct was to get you out of there. Have you considered for a moment the possibility that ignorance is bliss? You may regret it once you get informed."

Your grandfather reaches forward, his leathery hand covering your own. "We still want to protect our little girl. It's what your parents would've wanted. Would you really want to throw your life away just like that? Just for a little bit of information? It may not be worth it, and you may just be wasting your time."

"This doesn't just affect me though. My moving affected Taehyung as well. He suffered here alone while I was whisked away."

"If you had seen the way you acted the moment we found you, you'd agree with our judgment. Taehyung didn't endure the trauma you did. We found you battered and bruised and catatonic, muttering 'buttons' over and over again. The next thing we knew, your friend was reported missing, never to be seen again! That could've been you. We tested our luck, and by that time it was only logical to send you someplace safe."

"Buttons?" Your brows furrow. "Why would I be saying buttons?"

Your grandma sighed, shaking her head as she pulled her own bowl of oatmeal into her lap, your grandfather getting up to help her. "Ignorance is a luxury, my dear. It'd be best not to squander it."

-

You picked at your late-night dinner, staring at your Other Grandmother's button eyes. She seemed to sense your suspicions, from how you refused to eat to how you'd simply look at her, analyzing her.

Buttons... buttons... what had happened here?

"Is something wrong, dear?" she questions, raising a perfectly arched brow. "This was one of your favorites when you were little. You loved chicken adobo."

You didn't doubt her. "Tell me a bit more about my time here. What would I do?"

"Oh! You'd do everything. From helping your grandfather here in the garden or helping me cook. You gave us as much love as we gave you." She seemed to melt at the memory, your Other Grandfather nodding in agreement. "And besides Jimin, you'd hang out with Taehyung!"

"Taehyung?" You visibly perked up at that, dropping your utensil, fully alert. "He was here? I thought he never came here."

"Oh, not that Taehyung, silly," she said, waving her hand. "The Taehyung here! The perfect Taehyung!"

"The perfect Taehyung?" He already looked like a god. Sure, he was a bit troubled, but who wasn't?

"Everything's perfect here. Including you." She reaches over to pinch your cheek, something you couldn't recall your actual grandmother doing once. You hear the doorbell ring, and your Other Grandmother clapped her hands, delighted. "Oh! Speak of the devil, he's here. I know you two are too old to call it 'playdates', but have fun! Not too much fun, of course. You're still my little girl."

"Taehyung?" You sit up, bolting from the table to the door. Opening the door, you couldn't help but be surprised. You should've seen it coming, though. Instead of those brooding eyes that would glare at you, filled with sadness and resentment, you were met with buttons. Cold, unfeeling buttons, that didn't display any emotions despite how he'd raise his eyebrows and smile at you.

"Y/N!" His arms wrapped around you, and you were stunned. His voice... was the same. And he looked like your Taehyung. It felt so strange to have him wrap you in a tight hug. You had been yearning for Tae's touch since you had gotten here, whether it was lust-driven or deeper, you didn't know. All you could hear was your heart pumping.

He steps back and you feel your Other Grandmother's hand on your shoulder. She leans in, a girlish giggle escaping her lips. "You know, you always had a crush on Tae. In this world and the next. It's good to see that things haven't changed. I think now that you've matured, though, you'll know who to pick."

She steps back momentarily before shrieking, stepping over to the porch to kick at the cat. "Oh, that damned cat!"

You turn to look at it, but it scampers off before you could get a look at it. "What was that about?"

"Oh, it just digs up in my gardens. Don't worry, I'll get it one day," she huffs before letting her usual serene smile spread over her face. "Now, why don't you two have fun? I'm sure you two have a lot to catch up on."

"Er... sure."

You look at Taehyung, about to awkwardly question him where he wanted to go before he wrapped his hand around yours. Your heart thundered in your chest, violently pounding as he smiled to you, tugging you along. "C' mon, I'll take you to our favorite place."

You had no choice but to follow along, completely dumbfounded. The Tae you knew would never be like this. He was so cold and aloof, as though your mere presence brought him pain. Despite it, you couldn't help but feel the emotions rise in your chest, as though they were now being awoken from their slumber. Feeling his hand in yours only confirmed the past feelings that seemed to reemerge.

This Taehyung already seemed different, though. He was more extroverted, friendly, warm. You didn't know what to make of it, though.

He looked the same save for the black buttons, and you had no doubt that you had been with this boy too during your childhood. 

Was this what she meant by the perfect Taehyung? The one who would hold your hand and smile at you? Who didn't seem so sad and angry at everyone?

It wasn't long before the two of you had gone to a well, sitting on top of the lid. It seemed secure enough as Taehyung's back leaned against yours, your fingers still intertwined.

You missed this. Something told you that you did. His fingers locked so perfectly with yours, not too thick like a lot of men's, where your fingers would suffocate between his. No, it felt as though his hand was locked with yours. You wondered if the real Taehyung's hand would fit like this.

"Why's this our spot?" you questioned.

"Look up," he says, pointing up to the stars above your heads. "This was where we could see the stars clearest."

"They're beautiful." They looked closer to carefully stitched stars on a quilt, as though someone with master craftmanship managed to sew it together.

"The Other Grandmother is talented. She makes everything here beautiful so beautiful people can stay here."

"She made all of this?" you questioned, eyes widened. "Like, by hand?"

"Of course! It's like a Garden of Eden. She made everything perfect for you," he beams. His face softens as he thinks for a moment. "She kept it like this, though. Hasn't touched it since you left. We've been waiting for you to come back. I've missed you a lot."

"You have?" Was he even real? None of this seemed to be.

"Of course!" Other Taehyung grinned, wrapping his arms around you, this hug not as brief as the first. "I don't think I can remember a single day where I didn't think about you. I'm just glad you're back, y' know? Best not to dwell on the past. Just look forward to the future."

He truly was nothing like Taehyung.

"So... did the Other Grandmother make you too?"

His frowns slightly at that for the briefest of moments, but it disappears as quickly as it had appeared. "Yeah. I told you, she made everything perfect just for you. You'd always come here crying because of how mean Taehyung in your world was. He'd be so mean, paying more attention to Jimin than you, and didn't seem to like you back. So, she gave you a friend who would pay attention to you, be kind, return your feelings."

"So you loved me?"

"I was made to," he confirms. "But in a sense, everyone is, huh? I mean, that's what soulmates are supposed to be."

"I guess I should've taken you as a dreamer. Real-world Taehyung isn't."

"What's he like?" Other Tae's voice got a bit quiet, but he cocked his head to the side, curious. "I'm not supposed to ask, but I've always been curious."

"Well, he's cool. A bit cold and aloof, and a bit... sad. I know it must hurt him to see me, but I know he tries. He's not that good at it, but he tries. And... I think things can get better with him, y' know? He needs a friend."

"No, I mean why did you like someone who made you cry so much?"

"Oh." You think about it for a moment. Did you cry back the over him? You supposed you were far more sensitive back then, but now simply let his attempts to push you away bounce off. "I don't really know, to be honest. I don't think I'd truly know even if I did have my memories. We can't choose who we fall for, right? We don't choose soulmates. People fall for those who hurt them for different reasons, but I guess for back then I was just little. I didn't really think much of it, I suppose. I thought he was cute and he was still a little boy who wasn't concerned with the prospect of adult things such as love."

"So why do you still love him now?"

"What?" You snap your head in his direction, flabberghasted. "No, I don't. I mean, I'm attracted to him and all- but it's not what you think! I'm not like, 'Oh, I love bad boys!' because of his cold demeanor. He's kinda weird but I owe it to him and all to help him, right? I mean... right? And he's the only person around here who apparently knew me, other than in the Other World, ha... But I don't love him. I don't even like him. Nope."

Other Taehyung simply looks away, a small quirk to his lips. "You really haven't changed, huh?"

"I'll tell you one thing- you're the exact opposite of him. Usually, I'm the one who's asking him questions."

"I'm supposed to be perfect, remember?"

"Yeah..." Your eyes drift, and soon you spot a small calico cat. "Oh my God, is that the cat?"

"That's him- you don't want to talk to him though. Other Grandmother- oh, well, nevermind."

"Aren't you a cutie! A boy calico cat! Other Taehyung, do you know how rare these are? One in three thousand!" You pick up the cat, scooping it in your arms as you pet it. He purred in your arms. "You're just adorable, aren't you?"

"Y/N... you should really put it down. Other Grandmother really won't like-"

"Oh please, she's just not a cat person. She should chill," you say. "Hey... why doesn't this one have button eyes? I thought everything here did. Hell, I even saw a fly with buttons for eyes."

"It's just a weird cat, Y/N. Can we please go? Please put the cat down," he insists.

"Alright, alright. I don't know if you're allergic or something, but whatever." You huff, putting down the calico. It rubs against your legs, purring still as it stays by your side. You scratch behind its ear, grinning. "I think I'll name you Mochi because you're cute enough to eat!"

"Don't give it a name!" Other Taehyung says, a worried tone as he takes your hand, walking you along. "Come on, it's probably about time you go home."

"What? But I don't-"

"Just trust me, ok?"

"Why should I?" You yank your hand from his grip. "I barely know you."

"You trust your Taehyung, don't you?"

"I mean..."

"We're two sides of the same coin, as hard as it may seem. Please. I'll see you soon, ok?"

You sigh, knowing you weren't going to get your way. He seemed genuinely stressed and worried, and real or not, you found it impossible to deny the guilt you were beginning to feel at his concern. "Alright, fine. I'll see you soon, Other Tae."

"Thank you. I'm sorry."

You didn't know exactly what he was apologizing for but decided not to pry. It seemed to be the only thing he shared in common with real Taehyung so far.

-

"You don't by any chance hate cats, do you?" you question, looking skeptically up towards your grandmother.

She quirked a brow, looking up from her morning paper, like the old lady she was. You couldn't think of a single person under forty who didn't use the internet to find out the news. "No, of course not. I'd have ten if your grandfather wasn't allergic, and even then, he's more of a dog person. You remember how he'd always go on about that pooch he had back in the seventies."

"Yeah, I remember," you murmur. "Well, are there any cats around here?"

"Only a stray I caught up on our roof the other day. I have no doubt he's made millions of paw prints on top, but Lord knows it would be a miracle for me to ever see them, especially in this damned wheelchair. No matter, though, even in my prime I was scared of heights. Don't worry about the cat, though, he came down eventually."

Your ears perked up at that. "What'd the cat look like?"

"Deary me, darling, since when were you so invested in those fluffy little things? I thought you were like your grandfather: a dog person," she says.

"Please answer the answer, Grandmother."

"Oh, let me see. It had some spots on it, like orange and brown and a bit of black. Mainly white, though."

"So a calico?"

"Ah, yes! That's the word. Calico," your grandmother hums. 

"Is it alright if I go to Taehyung's house?" you question, getting up from the table.

"Oh, alright. I'm glad you two are friends again. I used to tell your grandfather that you missed him even when you didn't know he existed," she said, smiling. "I was more or less rooting for Taehyung back in the day. Your grandfather not so much, I'm sure he'll give me the five bucks he's owed me for fives years by the end of the week. I've always had an advantage of course- you had a bit of a crush on him when you were younger. Guess old habits never change."

She seemed to be right in that regard.

-

"You can't seem to stay away from me, can you?"

"Of course not, you're irresistible," you mutter to Taehyung, pushing past him. "I've got a normal question for once."

"That in itself makes it the opposite of normal."

"Whatever. Tell me, is there a stray calico around here?" you question, looking up at him.

"There is. My mom likes to feed it, but she can't settle on a name. I think this week the name's Pudding," he says. "You didn't come here for me to just give you the name of a cat, did you?"

"No, but you need to help me find it," you say, grabbing his hand to tug.

"You're joking right?" he asks, a ludicrous expression on his face. "I might have something to do."

"No, you don't. You're just going to stay inside and watch Netflix all day, aren't you?"

"You just say that because everyone our age does that."

"Am I right?"

"Do I really have to answer?"

"Then let's go."

-

"If you really think I'm going to climb a tree to get some goddamn cat, you're dumber than I thought," Taehyung huffs.

You both stare up the tree, a particular high branch acting as a perch for the calico. His tail swished back and forth, gleaming eyes staring down at the two of you. Watching, observing. You place the bag down, the doll at the very bottom of it to keep from Tae's prying eyes. You begin to wipe your hands against your shirt, drying them.

"I named it Mochi," you say. "It's a boy."

"You've met it already?" 

"Something like that," you mutter, walking up to the tree and grabbing hold of a lower branch.

"Woah woah woah, what do you think you're doing?" Taehyung tugs you back. "That's way too high and dangerous for a person to do. You could fall and get hurt."

"Didn't we climb trees as kids?"

"None like that. Just leave the cat alone, it'll come down if it wants to," Taehyung says.

"I just want to get a closer look at Mochi," you say, releasing yourself from Taehyung's grip to proceed.

He doesn't let you off that easily though, yanking you back down and blocking your way, crossing his arms. At that moment you could truly observe how much larger he was, chest built and shoulders broad, his height allowing him to tower over you. He truly was a man and not the little boy from the pictures.

You glare at him, observing. You couldn't help but think back to Other Tae, Regular Taehyung's eyes slowly being replaced with buttons and his frown being replaced with a smile. "Say, did you like me back when we were little?"

He seemed surprised by your sudden question. "What? Where'd that come from?"

"Just answer the question."

"I mean," he huffed, trailing off as he scratches his head, perplexed, "I probably did. You were a girl and I was a boy and I only hung out with you and Jimin. I guess I did."

"I don't want you to guess. Did you like me back?"

"Yes? Uh, yes. I did." His ears burn red. "What's this about?"

"Do you think the reason you're so mean to me and push me away could be because of the lack of closure that was brought upon by my leaving? Therefore leaving you in a confused state where you treat me in the same way a little boy treated his crush because you couldn't comprehend the transition of our relationship from kids into adults?"

"What?"

"I mean I'd get it if you're just letting out the resentment you feel because I left before, but from the sound of it, you acted similarly when we were little. And your behavior does remind me of an elementary schooler. Not that I think you still harbor any feelings towards me, but perhaps you don't know how else to act around me."

"Where's all of this coming from?"

You shook your head. "Ah, nevermind. I didn't mean that."

"Wait, hold up, you can't just analyze people like that and expect-"

"Shush, the cat's coming down!" Indeed, it was, jumping from branch to branch until it was at the closest one. You reached out tentatively, the cat preening and rubbing its head against your hand, purring. You couldn't help but smile. "That's a good Mochi. You're a sweet boy, aren't you?"

"Are you here just to waste my time?" Taehyung huffed. "I like cats as much as the next person, but I'm more of a dog person."

"Shush for a moment," you say. "Mochi, do you remember me, boy? Back at the well?"

Mochi's ears seemed to prick up at that, and he immediately jumps off the tree, scampering off. You grab Taehyung's hand, and before he even has time to protest you're running through the woods, dodging trees in an attempt to keep up with the cat.

"Hurry up! You've got longer legs than me, you should be faster," you scold him, your hand tight in his.

"I'm trying! You've always been a faster runner than me!"

You couldn't help but gloat at that.

You let out a shock of amazement when you find yourself at the well. It was covered in dirt and plants, though, ivy growing around it and mud caking every surface.

Taehyung breathed heavily, trying to regain composure. "God, you know, for a moment there it felt like the old days of you dragging me through the woods to follow your hairbrained schemes."

You ignored his reminiscence, however. "Taehyung! Mochi found the well!"

You looked to the cat, sitting delicately on the top of the covered well, staring at you expectantly. You lower yourself to his level, staring it in the eye. "You understand me, don't you?"

"Y/N, you're talking to a cat. Are you sure you aren't going crazy? How'd you even know about this place?" Taehyung brushes some of the dirt off of the surface, avoiding touching the cat. Mochi ignored Taehyung's hesitance, however, rubbing against Taehyung's hand, yearning for his touch.

You loosen the well's top, sliding it over to the side as the cat stayed on top. It wasn't until you had it drop to the ground that Mochi jumped off. You looked inside, only seeing pitch black.

"Because it's our favorite spot."

"You and Mochi's?"

"No, you and me. Well, not exactly you," you say.

"I don't follow."

"Sit down," you say, tugging on his sleeve so he sits with you on the edge of the well. "You're not going to believe me. You didn't believe me and Jimin ten years ago, from the sound of it, but you need to listen to me."

"Y/N, what's going on-"

You grab his face in your hands, forcing him to make eye contact, your faces inches apart. "Taehyung."

He stays quiet, a signal that he was listening.

You take a deep breath, closing your eyes. "There's this world that Jimin and I had accessed before, ten years ago. It's exactly like this world but... better. It's so cloudy and gloomy here, and there it's always bright and warm. The feeling is like when you sink your teeth into a freshly baked batch of cookies, you know? There's this tiny door I use to access the place, and when I say it's magical, it truly is. The people are there, too. But... not. For one, my grandmother can walk, and everyone has these button eyes... including you."

"Wait, what? Me? I'm in this 'world'? And I have buttons for eyes?"

"Yes. It's not really you. It's something my Other Grandmother made for me- all of it was made for me, and even Jimin at some point. So the version of you there is nothing like the one you really are, here, in this world."

"How so?"

"He loves me."

Taehyung's quiet at that. You continue. "I had a crush on you when we were little, and you were always mean to me, similar to how you are now apparently. So the Other Grandmother gave me a version of you that finally felt the same way about me. He was made to love me in your absence, I suppose. She called him the Perfect Taehyung."

"What's the point of you telling me all of this?"

"Because," you say, jumping up excitedly, "that's where the answers are! The incident, I'm sure it happened there! And I think it'll help you find out where Jimin went, too. I can bring you there and we can get answers. I know the Other Grandmother knows more than she leads on, and she's kind, she'll tell us. Especially if you tell her-"

"If you and Jimin went to this world, why didn't I? We were a trio, inseparable," Taehyung interjects.

"Jimin and I were dealing with things that required a place to escape. I had to deal with my grandparents' health and you not reciprocating feelings, while Jimin had to deal with his parents' divorce. Can you think of something like that you were dealing with at the time?"

"No," he admits. "I was a happy kid."

"That's hard to believe," you snort. "Nevertheless, Other Taehyung- that's what I call that version of you, by the way- is willing to help me find out information. You two are supposed to be like two sides of the same coin, he said. He said if I trusted you, I should trust him."

"You trust me?"

"I do."

"What does a cat have to do with any of this?"

"The cat is the only thing in that world that didn't have button eyes. I'm confident this is the same cat. Mochi was here with me when Other Taehyung and I went to the well. The Other Grandmother wasn't fond of him, either, which is weird. That means she didn't make him like she made everything else. He's... special."

Taehyung didn't say anything, soaking in your information.

"Tae, please, come with me and I can show you-"

Taehyung looks away before standing up, a shadow cast across his face, as though he refused to believe you. "Y/N... stop."

"What? Stop what?"

"Stop this. Stop playing with my head and stop playing with your own. This Other World isn't real, and you need to face reality. You're probably dreaming this stuff as a way to cope with the missing information, to piece everything together. You're living in this fantasy ever since you remembered the game you and Jimin used to play."

"But Jimin-"

"Jimin is dead," Taehyung said harshly, glaring at you. "He's dead, Y/N. End of story."

You fumed, stepping up to him and meeting his eye. "Give me a chance to show you. I'm not crazy, and I'm not making this stuff up."

"Leave me out of this, Y/N."

"No!" you shouted, grabbing onto his sleeve before he could walk away. "You're in this as much as I am! You've reminded me that you weren't the only one affected by the incident. Every action I make does impact you to some degree. We're childhood friends, Taehyung. Don't tell me you don't care about me anymore."

He grits his teeth, clenching his jaw. "It's only human to care."

"No, you know what I mean. You care about me the same way I care about you, perhaps more so. You remember the little me who got a dumb tattoo and had a stupid crush on you. I'm still that girl, just a bit more mature. And I know somewhere behind all that adult angst you're the little boy who enjoyed life more than his two friends."

"Y/N-"

"You loved me. I loved you. We're still the same people we were back then, Taehyung, just a few inches taller and just a few scars more. I feel so intensely for you, and I don't even remember the majority of our time spent together. So what about you?"

Taehyung pulls from your grip. "You're just reopening old scars, Y/N."

"Well, there are some things that time won't heal! And this is one of them! We've got an opportunity, and..." Your argument dies in your throat when you see him begin to cry, eyes glassy as fast tears fall down his cheeks. "Taehyung?"

He wipes them away, taking a step back as he looks at you with a pained expression on his face. "You don't know when to stop, do you? You never have."

"Taehyung..."

"I'm damaged, Y/N. I'm so damaged. I'm selfish and I had always dreamt of you coming back to fix me, you know? I thought you'd take away all of the pain but instead, you bring more. I can't ask you to fix me, that's no one's responsibility but my own, and I can't put my burdens on your shoulders."

"Taehyung, I'm more than willing to help you. That's all I was intending-"

"You're not helping, though!" he snaps back. "At some point, you've got to put intentions aside and really think about what you're doing. It doesn't matter how good your intentions are if you're hurting someone, is it?"

You didn't have anything to retort that.

"That's what I thought," he sighed. He tentatively steps forward, holding your cheek with such tenderness you would've thought you were made of glass. Instead, you realize it was because he was the fragile one, as though he were afraid that even touching you would break him. "I do still love you. I do still care about you. We are the same people we were, deep down, and I can never stop loving by best friends: the lost boy and the amnesiac. It's because I love you that I want you to do what I never could- move on. You're given a chance I wasn't, and you're not as shattered as I am. If you continue this path you're going to hurt yourself. Save me that pain, at least, ok? Give me at least a little hope, even if it's for you."

You didn't realize it, but your eyes had started to well up with tears. You attempt to hold him in your arms, to hold him close and console him, but he slips away too quickly. He turns aside, Mochi at his heels and in front of him, as though trying to stop him. Taehyung simply stops, moving the cat aside with his foot, carrying on until he disappeared back in the direction you two came from.

You sit back on the well with Mochi, stroking his fur as you wonder where you went wrong.

-

Ultimately you decide to go back to Taehyung's house the next day, spending a little less than 24 hours contemplating the argument from before. It was evening when you found yourself on his front porch, dampening the welcome mat with the water that you had soaked you to the bone, despite the yellow rain apparel you adorned. Damn thundershowers.

"What do you want, Y/N?" he questions in lieu of a greeting, an exasperated look on his face. He was only wearing a tee and sweats and judging from the lack of cars outside, you assumed he was home alone. He seemed to already know it was you, almost as though he were expecting you to come to visit him and annoy him further.

You suck in a deep breath. "I just wanted to say that... I'm sorry."

He seems surprised at that. 

"I am," you continue, "and I know that what I've done has only hurt you more than intended. Bringing up the past and dragging you through memories you don't want to revisit, it has to hurt. I demand answers from you that you don't have yourself, and I know you want to forget. Regardless of what I think, I can't force you to do anything. If you choose to forget, so be it. I have to respect your decisions when it comes to coping, even if they don't coincide with my own. It's unfair of me to assume you're the answer to everything, to all of my problems.

"You said before that you used to fantasize about me fixing you. I used to think the same thing. I thought one moment with you would bring upon a flurry of memories, and I'd be... whole again. And it didn't happen. But I kept trying. I kept thinking that if I spent time with you, the person who was one half of my world when we were younger, I'd be fixed. But we can't expect someone else to be our savior. That's unfair to them. You were mature enough to realize that, but I wasn't. I pestered my grandparents into bringing me back, undoubtedly hurting them too. I hurt you the most, though, and I'm really, really sorry. I was being selfish and thinking only of myself. You deserve better."

There's a pause, only the continuing rain to fill the silence.

Suddenly, Taehyung laughs.

"You know, when we were younger you'd never apologize for anything. You were just stubborn, and you never liked to admit when you were in the wrong."

You offer a weak smile. "Good to know that I matured at least a little bit."

You share that moment for just a bit, a mutual understanding reached between the two of you. You remember something and opened the bag you always carried around with you. "Oh, there's one more thing I have to tell you, though. You mentioned this doll that looked like Jimin, and I swear I didn't take that one, but right when I got here I got one that looked like me..."

You take out the doll, seeing how Taehyung's face pales in comparison. "What? What's wrong? I swear I won't ask about it, but it seemed imp-"

"Get rid of it," he whispers.

"What?"

"Y/N, please..." He lets out an exasperated sigh, pulling you inside. "Please, just get rid of it."

"Why, though?"

"Why do you always have to ask questions?"

"Because I want to know, why else?"

"Because it's just like the doll Jimin had! Before... before he died," Taehyung said. "I can't lose you too, Y/N. There are too many coincidences. You're just like him before he went away. Talking about some other world, carrying around that... that thing. Please, please just-"

"Ok, ok!" You grab the doll, throwing it into the rain. It fell into a puddle of mud and rain. You close the door behind you. "It's gone, it's gone ok? Calm down, please. It's gone now."

Taehyung grabbed onto your shoulders, forcing you to make eye contact with him. "Don't go to this... this world. Dream or not, I don't know, don't go. I can't lose you, too. Y/N, please don't. It was a mistake for you to come back. You should've stayed where you are. Why can't you just leave it at forgetting? It's safer. This place, I don't know what it is or who it is, something's doing what they did to Jimin to you. You can't call me crazy or paranoid, because you're going on about button eyes and other people and cats in two worlds! I can't just stand aside and see what happened to Jimin happen to you. I tried to ignore it before, convincing myself I was trying to connect dots that weren't there, but if anything happens to you... I couldn't live with myself."

"Taehyung, I'm ok, I promise-"

"No, you're not! You're eating yourself up trying to find out the truth, just like I did. And it's driving you down the same path that led Jimin to his death. On and on he'd go on about some other world just like yours and carried around a little doll just like yours, and he's dead now. Get it in your head, Y/N. You can't go back to that place. You need to get as far away from here as possible."

"I told you I wasn't going anywhere-"

"I can't risk losing another person I love!" Tears are streaming down his face once again. "I love you, ok? Whether it's you now, a grown woman, or us as kids, where we'd just fight and play and do dumb shit. Jimin was like a brother to me and I couldn't stop his death."

"I'm not just the little girl you used to know, though."

"No, you're not! You're a woman who's too curious for her own good, trying to unravel a mystery and the truth despite the objections of everyone. You listen only to your own voice and you care for people beyond repair despite the fact you truly have no responsibilities for their burdens. And goddammit, you might be annoying but I fucking love you, ok? One way or another. So please, for once listen to me."

"Taehyung..."

His eyes search your own, as though trying to see some sort of answer, some sort of confirmation that you were going to finally listen to his words. He smashed his lips to yours, and you find yourself immediately responsive, arms hooking around his neck as he pulls you up, your legs finding their way around his waist.

It's so fast, you stripping off your rain boots and jacket along the way. Before you know it your back bounces against a mattress. You didn't have long to process, however, Taehyung crawling over you to kiss you again, his tongue diving into your mouth and exploring every inch. You squeeze your eyes shut, trying to memorize the feeling of his body against yours, the movement of his lips, the feeling of the moment right now.

"Taehyung," you gasp between kisses, his lips never leaving your own for long. It isn't until he's kissing the side of your neck that you're able to properly speak. "Taehyung, please."

"What is it, baby?" he rasps into the side of your neck, the word ringing in your head.

"Wanna taste you," you say, clinging onto his clothes to bring him impossibly closer, despite the fact his broad chest was pressed already so tightly to your own.

"Mm, I like the sound of that," he hums lower, his voice baritone. He climbs off of you, and you miss the absence of his warm body, but all thoughts of that are forgotten when he starts to undo the drawstring to his sweatpants.

You find yourself kneeling in front of him, licking the fabric of his underwear before seeing his semi. He was already a bit bigger than expected, and the thought of him stretching you out only excites you. You hold him in your hand, licking from base to tip before going back down, sucking a sack into your mouth as you pumped his shaft.

"I want to be in your mouth," he groans, one hand going down to tangle into your blue hair. "No hands. If I wanted hands I'd just do it myself."

You obey, letting go of his dick to begin sucking at the tip, hollowing out your cheeks as you bobbed your head, slowly taking him further down your throat, inch by inch. You weren't capable of deep throating him, however, as he was a bit bigger than guys you were used to. He didn't seem to mind, though, simply enjoying the sight of you on your knees. The deeper you went, the messier it got. Soon enough you were choking not only on his dick but on your own spit.

"Fuck, you're so good at sucking cock," he praised, his hand moving your head how he pleased up and down his dick. He lets you take a breath, a trail of saliva connecting your mouth the tip before snapping off. "Where'd you learn to suck cock like that, baby?"

"College," you smiled. "Never sucked a cock this big, though."

It was true. He was now fully erect and at attention, an inch or two more than what you were accustomed to, and just as girthy.

He chuckled lowly, "Is that right? You think all of it will be able to fit inside that tight cunt of yours?"

"Make it."

"Fuck, you're nasty."

He lets go of your hair, pulling you up to the mattress. It's not long before you're stripped down to your underwear. You curse yourself for not wearing something cuter, not expecting to get laid when you came to apologize to Taehyung.

You wondered to yourself for a moment if Taehyung was using sex as a means to persuade you, stringing you along by your feelings in an attempt to get you to obey him. Did he really love you and care for you as he said he did? Did he really want to have sex with you? Or was this just a means of getting his way?

You didn't have much time to think about it, however, his large hands spreading your thighs apart, revealing your vulnerable cunt to him. He licked his lips, looking you in the eye.

"Looks good enough to eat," he joked.

"Then do it already," you snapped, impatient.

"God, you're such a bitch," he growled, diving down to lick a stripe up your folds, earning a shudder from you. "But you're my bitch, aren't you? My little bitch in heat."

"Fuck, just shut up and keep going."

He did as he was told without further commentary, flicking his tongue to collect as many juices as he could, sucking harshly at your clit to make you squirm. With the way he was pinning you down to the bed, there was really nothing else you could do other than lay there and take it, staring him in the eye as best you could until you simply tossed your head back into the sheets, curling your hands into his hair, making tight fists.

He seemed pleased, hissing with pleasure as you yanked at his scalp, a fellow masochist. It only pushed him further, his mouth devouring you whole as he urged you to get closer to your high, never slowing down to take a breath. It was as though he wanted to die between your thighs, and if he continued for even five more seconds, you'd let him do just that.

Suddenly it stopped, though, and you're giving him a look of frustration, sitting up to scold him. He simply looks smug in response, his lower face covered in a clear sheen of your juices. He licks his lips, wiping his face with the back of his hand.

"The fuck was that for?" you question, huffing as he pins you back down to your back.

"The first time you cum, I want it to be on this fat cock," he clarifies.

You reach between the two of you, stroking him as you spread your legs invitingly. "Do you need a written invitation?" you ask, quirking a brow.

"God, you really are a bitch," he groans, aligning himself with your entrance. The two of you let out a groan of pleasure once he begins to sink in, the tip beginning to dive into your tight walls. You were so wet, though, you didn't doubt that you could take all of him.

"Oh yeah, fuck, call me a bitch again," you demand, gritting your teeth as he sinks in deeper.

"Such a bitch, my little bitch," Taehyung says, following your orders, too focused on the pleasure of your hot walls enveloping him. "Tight, nasty little bitch, all mine for the taking."

"All yours," you promise, your legs hooking around his waist, digging your heels into his ass to drive him further. 

"G-going to stop being a brat then? Stop being a bitch and listen to me?" he questions, past the halfway point.

"You don't own me," you gasp out, feeling how completely he was filling you.

"O-own this tight little pussy, though, fuck!" You both hiss, concentrating on the pleasurable stretch of your walls to accommodate his girth as he bottomed out into you, the head kissing your cervix. Never before did you feel as full as you did now, as though his thick cock was made to be inside of you. The pleasurable stretch was unlike anything you were used to.

"Yeah, you own it, nothing can compare," you say. "Please, move already."

"You ready?"

"Yes, move already."

He doesn't need any further prodding, slowly moving his hips to rock into you. You both groaned, moaning as his hips slapped against your own, the pace increasing gradually. 

"Fuck, this pussy was made for me," Taehyung says, his cock beginning to pound into your cervix, bruising it. “Look at me fucking you. So big you can see how deep I am.”

You looked down, seeing how he fucked you, your belly protruding from the size of him. He was so big, filling you up, that you could practically see him in your guts, impossibly deep. 

"Oh my god, Tae, right there." Your nails stretch down his back, nails digging in as you moan unabashedly."Keep going, don't stop!"

"Right there?" He stimulates your g-spot, and you're unable to contain yourself, eyes beginning to roll into the back of your head due to pleasure.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, I'm close," you moaned, the wanton sounds causing Taehyung's balls to tighten.

"Yeah? Gonna cream on this fat cock, nasty bitch?"

You weren't even able to answer, mouth agape as he slithered a hand between the two of you, rubbing your clit. That was all it took for you to go over the edge, white-hot bliss spreading all the way to your fingertips.

He throbbed inside of you, ready to burst, ready to fill you up. "Fuck, that's it, get my dick nice and wet, that's a good little bitch," Taehyung praises, continuing to pound into you to help you ride out your orgasm.

It isn't long until he follows after you, bottoming out as he holds you close, painting your walls white. The two of you breathe heavily, holding each other close, trying to process what happened.

"I have a spare change of clothes for you, and you can take a shower here if you want to spend the night," he offers.

You're quiet for a moment, turning your back away from him, his arm still around you so that you were now spooning. "Did you want to have sex with me? Or is it just to convince me?"

He's quiet.

"I've wanted to have sex with you for a long time. Even when we were little. After you moved, I thought about what you'd look like. I think I had my first wet dream about you when I was around twelve, in fact. When I got the talk, I used to think you'd be the girl I'd lose it to. We'd both lose it to each other before college and all that stuff."

"And?"

"And I wanted more, too, I think. I liked you even when we were little. I was crazy about you."

"Then why were you so mean to me?"

"I was a boy who didn't know how to express how he felt." He laughed a bit at that. "I was the kid who'd tug at your pigtails to annoy you, and Jimin'd have to scold me. Maybe you're right. Maybe I still act like that around you because that's all I know. I did feel the same way you did about me, though. I was just too scared to tell you."

"So why'd we have sex now? Why didn't you tell me any of this?"

"Because I guess I'm still scared. I don't want to drag you into my problems. I don't want to hurt you. I want to keep you safe, but when I freaked out all I could think of was 'I'm losing her for real this time'. All these years all I've ever wanted to do was kiss you, and not in the way we did when we were little and wanted to just get it over with. I wanted to for real kiss you, and it just went from there. Do you regret it?"

"No, I don't. I wanted it, too. For a while." You turn around to face him again, face to face. "I don't need you to be my hero, Tae. We can help each other, support each other, in fact. We can be there for each other. It doesn't mean we've got to depend on the person to fix us. It's more like the person who holds the pieces as you glue them back together, you know? We help each other fix ourselves. That's all we can do."

He smiles a bit at that, shuffling a bit closer so that his nose brushes against your own. "I'd like that."

-

It's past midnight, and you sit in front of the door, contemplating. You had snuck out of Taehyung's, still wearing his clothes and smelling like him, all because you couldn't sleep. You knew why. The familiar skitter of the rats in the attic made sure to keep you equally restless now, unable to doze off even if you climbed into your own bed. You told Other Taehyung you'd come to see him. But what if none of it was real? What if you really were delusional or dreaming? The actions you were taking were hurting the real Taehyung.

You contemplated your choices, pondering.

Ultimately it was your life. You didn't want to hurt Taehyung, but he couldn't make his choices for you. You'd have to leave him be for him to heal since there was no way for you to rest like this. You look behind you, making eye contact with the doll tied to your bag, the buttons unblinking.

Jimin had a doll just like it and was in the world with you. Dream or not, you've got to find out what happened to him and you.

Sorry, Tae, but one of us has to know what happened to Jimin. I wouldn't want to die without anyone knowing what happened to me.

You swing open the door, crawling through the tunnel and into the exact replica of your room. You don't bother looking around, finding your way easily to the Other Grandmother, a pleasant smile on her face as she holds up a plate of pancakes, chocolate chips making the smile.

"There you are!" she says. "I've been wondering where you'd be. I made you your favorite!"

"It's not breakfast time, though."

"Where's your sense of wonder, Y/N? Who cares what time it is? It's always time for chocolate chip pancakes," she laughs.

You look down at it, pushing it away as you stare at those black, button eyes of hers. "I'm not a little girl anymore."

She frowns at that. "I know that. I just wanted to live out the good old days, you know?"

"That'd be with Jimin, though. He's not around."

"That's right. Pity. I miss the boy," she sighs, taking back the plate. "Fine, if you're not going to have pancakes, what do you want?"

"I don't want any food, right now."

"Oh? Don't tell me you filled up already," she chuckled. "Midnight snack?"

"Tell me what happened here ten years ago."

Other Grandmother simply let out a sigh, turning back to you. She wore a disappointed look, the same way a parent looks at their child throwing a tantrum for the tenth time. "My my, you say you're all grown up but you haven't changed one bit. You still make demands of me when I literally give you the world."

You sit down in the chair in front of her. "What's it going to take for you to stop dodging my questions? I just need to find out the truth."

"Don't you like it here, Y/N? Isn't the grass greener, isn't magic in the air? Aren't I nicer than your grandmother? Isn't Other Taehyung in love with you?"

"Yes, but-"

"I've given you everything you asked for, Y/N. Ten years I've waited for you, keeping everything exactly how you liked it, and here you are, unsatisfied as always. I never even got a thank you." You feel guilt pool into the pit of your stomach, and you feel like a child being rightfully scolded by their parents.

You look into your lap, lowering your lashes. "Thank you."

Her smile returned to her face, washing away the glimpse of sadness and disappointment. "See, that wasn't so hard? I raised you just as much as your real parents did, possibly more. They couldn't give you the attention a child such as yourself needed, what with their health and all. Why you'd be so damaged if I left you to be neglected."

Damaged. Your mind wanders back to Taehyung.

"Where's Other Taehyung?"

"About time you think of the boy. He loves you so much, he's been waiting for you in the garden since you left. Make sure to return here, though. I'm willing to tell you the truth if you really wish to hear it."

Your ears perk up at that, and you open your mouth to question her further, but she holds a delicate hand up to silence you. "Go to the boy first. I made him specifically to love you, and love you he shall."

You turn on your heel to go to the backyard. You barely paid attention to the bright colors and the sweet scents of the flowers, brilliant in comparison to the sludge you had to call a backyard. No, instead you made a beeline for the boy in the center, strangely enough sitting on the biggest pumpkin you've ever seen. You didn't pay much attention to it, though.

"Tae! Other Tae!" 

His head whips around, his puppy-like smile gracing his lips as he sees you. "Y/N!" he calls back, your name a siren call.

You're in his arms before you know it, held in a tight hug. "Other Grandmother told me you were waiting for me," you say.

"I'm always willing to wait for you. What's a day or two compared to ten years?" he laughs. "I've missed you, though."

"I missed you too, strangely enough." 

It was rare you got to see someone who was happy to see you in the real world. It was the Other Taehyung that made this place warm and inviting, truly. Not brilliant flowers or freshly cooked food. No, it was seeing someone who cared about you, who smiled at the mere sight of you. Despite the fact you couldn't look into his eyes and read his emotions, you were able to feel them.

You jump from his hug. "Oh, the cat! Mochi, he's in both worlds!"

Other Tae's brows furrow. "What do you mean?"

"Like, the cat, you know, the one we saw yesterday?" you ramble. "Me and real Taehyung- well, I don't mean it like that- we saw it! At the same well."

"So you know where the well is in the real world too?"

"Yeah, well, this is like a mirror of home, isn't it?" You gesture around. "I had help, though. Even Taehyung didn't know where the well was. Mochi helped guide us, though."

Other Tae had a nervous look on his face. "Did he?"

You frown. "What's wrong?"

"Y/N... I want to ask you something."

"What is it?"

"Would you stay here? With me?" He sees the shock on your face and is quick to talk. "You'd be so happy here, Y/N. I love you, you know that. You'd have your favorite food whenever you'd want. You'd never have to work or lift a single finger, everything would be provided. You'd get to have fun and have anything you'd want. I'd be here. Anything you'd want will be yours. Food, animals, gifts? Anything."

"I... Where is this coming from?"

Other Tae's face falls. "You can't stay flipping between two worlds all the time, Y/N. Eventually, you'll have to choose one."

"What do you mean?"

"It's the same deal that was provided for you ten years ago," he tells you. "Both you and Jimin."

"What'd Jimin pick?"

He shook his head. "I can't tell you that- I'm not allowed. Other Grandmother's got all the answers, and she'll tell you everything as long as you're willing to stay here with us. Be a family."

"Why does she want me so badly?"

"Because she fell for you as a child and wanted to keep you close to her. She hated when you left."

You tried to imagine what it'd be like to have your child ripped away from you when they were only eleven. You supposed you'd be desperate to keep them close if that were the case. "What about you, then? Why do you want me here?"

"It's because I lo-"

"Don't tell me you love me. Tell me something truly from you. Not something you're... programmed to say," you request. "Sometimes you feel so real, like him but... not. You look like him but you're someone else entirely. But I don't want you to just be someone who's perfect and made for me."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean I need something that makes it feel like you're... human. Humans have wants, not just needs. They have selfish desires and feelings. You feel like that but then you repeat yourself like a broken record. I love you, I love you, I love you- but what else? What else do you feel other than love for me? Do you really want me with you or is that just what you're trained to feel? What you're destined to do? I don't want it to feel like you're "

He thinks for a moment. "I... I want you because... because you're real."

"Because I'm real?" You scoff. "You sound like the guys who go on about how down to Earth tomboys are."

"No, I mean you're actually real. Everything else was made for one thing and one thing only- to please you. They don't know anything outside the world created for them. These few acres of land. You, however, have seen the world, or at least far more than I have. You've met people with hopes and dreams. I don't even know if I have free will. I was made to love you, it's true, but that was because of my environment. If I lived somewhere else, I could've been crafted for another purpose."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean what we see is limited. Say a man lives on a mountain by a temple and was raised by monks to become just like that. Now imagine that same man lives in Colorado and instead chooses to grow weed. It's the same man, but the environment the man lives in determines what he wants and dreams. Both options are truly what he dreams of doing, but only because of the environment and how he was brought up. What he sees and dreams of is limited, and that's the same way for me. I've seen and lived in a world where the dream is to love you and have you. I do truly want that, but because that's how I was brought up, how I was made. In that sense, I have about as much free will as anyone in your world."

"I understand what you're saying," you nod, soaking in. "And it makes sense. You've got a point."

He holds your hand for a moment, cold and tight. "I do want you to stay here, though. Genuinely. You're real. You can tell me what it's really like out there, and I can tell you everything we did back in the day. We can be happy together. Could you see yourself loving me too?"

You thought for a moment, staring at him. "What about real Taehyung?"

"Is he the one you love?"

"I can't deny I feel nothing for him. He's..."

"Real," Other Taehyung finishes. "He's the real Taehyung."

"I'm sorry."

Other Tae lets go of your hand, letting it fall limply at your side. So badly you wanted fingers to intertwine with your own at that moment, a simple squeeze of forgiveness, but you knew that this wasn't something you could take back. He was right. Sure, this place was tangible, and you were confident it wasn't a dream. But it was too good to be true, and the good thing about the real world was that it was in fact, real. It had flaws, it had cracks, it had pain. This place was beautiful, but the longer you stay the more it felt like plastic surgery. A fake smile pulled back and forced because of how much botox was put in the cheeks.

He takes your face in his hands. "I'll prove to you I love you, though. Follow the cat."

You're unable to question him, his lips brought to yours. Your eyes go wide open at the feeling, the feeling of his lips against yours familiar. He feels so much like Taehyung. He kisses like him, too. But it's colder, without the real warmth of Taehyung. Taehyung was more so an angry sad, tears and frustration. Other Taehyung seemed to accept his fate, the kiss slow and measured, sad.

You kiss him back though, lips firm against his own, as though to apologize without words. 

And just like that, you were slipping back into the house, never to see him again.

-

"You said you'd give me answers," you say quietly, sitting in front of the Other Grandmother. "I'd like them now, please."

"Now, my sweet girl, I did say I'd tell you if you truly wish to hear it."

"I'm willing to do anything."

She raises a perfectly arched brow. "Anything?"

You look at her with determination, lips pressed together in a straight line, brows furrowed. "What's your condition?"

"Why, Other Taehyung already informed you! Sad you rejected him, though," she tuts. 

"How do you know about that?"

"I know everything here, dear. I made it," she smiles. "Now, you were asking about my condition?"

"Yes."

"I'll tell you everything you'd like to know. From what happened ten years ago, to Jimin's disappearance, to why you lost your memories," she guaranteed. "I'll tell you the entire truth about Jimin, in fact."

"What's the partial truth?"

The Other Grandmother's buttons glinted. "He's not dead, and he's here with us now."

You stood up, shock running through your system. Your heart stopped. "You're lying, aren't you? Park Jimin's dead."

She shook her head. "He is very much alive, my dear."

"What proof do you have?"

She smirks, as though expecting your reaction, having already prepared for it. She reaches under the table, pulling out two boxes. She pushes one forward, carefully analyzing your expression as you opened it. Inside were a younger boy's clothes, perhaps one of a preteen. A blue sweater and jeans, along with flashy sneakers.

"He doesn't fit those clothes anymore, of course. I like to keep it for sentimental purposes," the Other Grandmother explained. "I guarantee you they're his and not something I fashioned out of thin air. Your precious Taehyung would also be able to confirm it."

"So Jimin's here..." You couldn't believe it. You were flabbergasted by the mere thought. You closed the box, the clothes still inside, pressing it against your chest as though afraid it'd disappear from your hold.

"Ten years ago I asked him the same question I'm about to ask you. I can't tell you any more until you make your decision."

"What is it?"

She slides the other box to you, and you're quick to rip it apart, opening it. Staring back at you were two black buttons, with a needle and thread.

You look up at her, the serene smile greeting you in that same, amused way.

"Will you stay here with me?" 

You had a choice to make. 

Jimin or Taehyung?

The Other Grandmother interjects. "You made this decision ten years ago and decided to stay, but there were complications. The incident. You did decide to stay, though. I just figured it'd be polite to ask you again, to make sure."

This is what you wanted, wasn't it?

You even wanted this back then. You'd get all the answers. Jimin would inform you if he's really here. He'd tell you everything. You'd finally get to meet your other best friend, who undoubtedly chose to stay here. He had to be happier than Taehyung, who was wallowing in self misery. Taehyung didn't even want to see you. Every time you saw him there was just more pain. You were a burden that kept him from healing. There was a boy here who loved you, who was made to love you, a dream come true. He was nicer than Taehyung anyway and hung onto every word you said. It'd be best if you stayed here. For everyone.

"No."

She seems surprised, perfectly still for a moment. "No?" she finally says.

"No," you confirm. "I won't stay here. I can't."

"But it's perfect-"

"Exactly!" you fume. "This place is perfect, and that's what makes the real world so much better. It's real! It's got flaws, it has mistakes, it's not all as phony as here. There are real emotions and selfishness and everything in between! I'm not perfect, so I don't belong in a perfect place like this. So, no. I won't stay with you."

"What about the answers you were looking for?"

"I'm not willing to sacrifice the life I already have for one I don't remember living," you say.

"And Jimin?"

"He made his choice to stay here. That's his choice. But he hurt his family and Taehyung in the process. I don't want to do the same. I've hurt people enough already. It's about time I put in more consideration about how they feel," you say.

The Other Grandmother's mouth goes small, and she simply examines you for a moment. She sighs, "I was hoping it wouldn't come down to this. Seems like you'll be meeting the same fate as your little friend, then."

She snapped her fingers, and from every crevice and corner of the room emerge rats. Big, hairy rats with red buttons for eyes. You scream, getting out of your chair to scamper away, still clutching tightly to the box, the rats right on your heels. You run up the stairs, up up up to your room, crawling through the tunnel as fast as you can, clutching tightly to the box of clothes.

You feel one catch up, biting your ankle. You scream in pain, kicking it away as you scamper, the small entrance so close yet so far. You jump through, kicking the door shut and keeping your foot firmly planted against it, the door thumping as it attempted to break from its hinges. You grabbed the roll of tape from when you taped it before, putting layer upon later on it until every crack and edge was covered, making it impossible for the rats to push through.

It finally quietened down, and for once your house was completely silent, rats no longer roaming about the attic.

-

"Taehyung! Taehyung!" You had passed out for a few hours, the time you got out of the Other World already being a little past sunrise. By the time you woke up again, it was afternoon. You pound against his door, your hair matted and greasy with oil, pointing in every which direction. You were covered in scrapes and cuts, and the rat-bite fucked you up more than you care to admit. 

"Dear God, woman, have you ever considered letting the guy chase you for once? Seems like you're constantly at my door making demands," he huffs, swinging the door open. "You left me, last night, don't think I didn't notice. I'm not a one night stand kind of guy, but- holy shit, what happened to you?"

"Park Jimin is alive," you say quickly, cutting to the chase. You fumble with the box, opening it. "Are these his clothes? Back when we were eleven?"

"I..." He pulls out the sweater, examining it. "How'd you get this?"

"You won't believe me."

"This is the last thing I ever saw him in. This is what he was wearing the day he disappeared. The day of whatever incident made you lose your memory and lost him for good," Taehyung said. "How did you get this?"

You huff, tears springing your eyes at the confirmation. "Dear God, he's there. He's been there for ten years and-"

"Y/N, calm down! I need you to tell me everything! I mean it!" He brushes his hands over your arms, trying to calm you down. "I'm listening, I'm really listening. Does this... Does this have something to do with the Other World you keep blathering on about?"

You nod pathetically, continuing to sob. "I went. I'm sorry, but I had to go. It was my choice and I know you were against the idea, and they asked me to stay there. Forever. Like Jimin."

"Like Jimin?"

"Yes! Apparently, we had been given the same option ten years ago. I had said yes, and they expected the same this time. To stay there... you know how I told you about the button eyes? You've got to sew buttons into your eyes. They went on about how I'd be provided for, how I'd have Other Tae, and the cherry on top was that Jimin was there too. He had decided to stay in that world all this time, and he isn't dead. He really did just disappear, but not in the sense anyone else would've guessed."

"Wait, so what happened?"

"I said no!" You look up at him, wiping the tears from your face. "I said no because... because this world isn't perfect. Nothing here is, and that's what makes it better. You're here. I promised I wouldn't leave you again, and whatever decision Jimin made is separate from mine."

"What happened? Is that why you're so scruffed up?"

"She just snapped her fingers and I was chased down by rats." You point down to your leg, the rat-bite still evident. "I barely made it out in time."

"Holy shit, we need to get that treated!"

"Taehyung," you interrupt, raising his gaze from your leg to your face. "Do you believe me this time? After everything, do you believe me?"

"I..." He stared down at the sweater in his hand, clutching it tightly. "I think... I do."

You couldn't help but light up at that, a breath of relief as a metaphorical weight was lifted from your shoulders.

"Would you be willing to come with me there, then? Tonight?"

"What? Why? Why me? Shouldn't we stay as far as we can from it?"

"And leave Jimin there with that... that monster? Look what she did to me! My Other Grandmother tried so hard to manipulate me into staying with her, made everything perfect for me, told me she'd tell me the truth about everything with all the answers I'd need, and I didn't grab the bait. I don't trust Jimin with a woman like that. He's bound to have fucked up over the past ten years, especially since he started out at eleven. She made him sew buttons into his eyes! It's about time he came home."

"Y/N... This isn't some cruel prank you're playing on me, is it? It's not you just having delusions and finding some incredulous way to get the exact clothes on the exact day I never saw him again?"

"I've never lied to you, Taehyung. There are too many things that line up, too many coincidences."

You see him contemplating, staring you in the eye, as though waiting for you to confess it was a lie.

"Don't you want him back home?"

"I do! Of course, I do, it's just so much to process. I've believed he was dead for so long, and to find out the Other World that you two talked about when we were little is true. It's a lot to comprehend."

"We can't dawdle on this, Taehyung. The sooner we get him out the better. I'm not doing this for myself anymore. I don't need to find out my past to feel complete anymore- but you and I both know we have to get him out."

"What if he doesn't want to come home, though? He would've returned by now."

"She's a manipulator and liar. I don't doubt that the moment he took her deal she turned on him and made his life a living nightmare. He's probably unable to escape."

"And if we find out he truly doesn't want to?"

"Then... I guess we'll have to face the facts and lock the door for good." You look up tentatively at him. "Are you prepared to accept that fate?"

"I'd be happy to see him one more time. We all just need closure, right? One way or another we'll get it." He examined your injury, a nervous expression on his face. "But are you sure we should go? You're not in the best condition. What if it's worse this time? What if you don't get out?"

"We'll be prepared this time. Besides, I'll have you," you grin, though it doesn't last long. "I'm sorry I didn't do what you asked and left without saying anything. I thought I was moving past that but I guess old habits die hard."

"If we get Jimin back, all is forgiven. Now, let's bandage you up, get what we need, and go. Lord knows this reunion is long overdue."

-

Later that night, you were ready.

The two of you stared down at the little door, still taped tightly. You both had dressed in long sleeves and pants in an effort to make your skin less accessible to rats. Your injuries had been treated thoroughly already, and you kept your backpack close, with a flashlight, a knife, and bandages inside. By his side Taehyung held a baseball bat, wearing special gloves that would help his grip.

"Are you ready for this?" you question. "I wouldn't blame you if you decided to back out."

"I've spent too much time wallowing in self misery. Now that I have hope, I've got to grasp onto it." He holds his hand out, giving you a look of determination. "We're in this together, right?"

"We always were," you say, squeezing his hand. You take in a deep breath, beginning to rip off the tape until you were finally able to open the door. It slowly swung out, and for a moment you were suspecting only brick.

Instead, the dark tunnel laid before you.

"Holy shit..." Taehyung muttered under his breath. "I can't believe it."

"Let's go," you say, crawling through. You felt him behind you as the two of you went through, the tunnel pulsating and moving along with you, as though you were moving inside an intestine. It isn't until you're in the mirror version of your room that you're able to properly stand, feeling a bit less suffocated by the tunnel.

It looked the same, but something was... different. There was no magic in the air, and it was completely silent. Watching... Waiting...

"It really is a mirror of your room," Taehyung noticed. "Does that mean Jimin needed to go through your room to get here? Or did he have his own little door and tunnel?"

"I can't really tell you honestly," you say, brandishing your knife. "Let's go."

The two of you make your way downstairs, you taking the lead.

You were surprised to see Other Taehyung standing before you.

"Y/N!" he said. "You came back!"

"I can't talk right now, where's Jimin?" You show the knife, letting it glint in the light. "I don't want to use this. I need to get in and out. Is he here?"

Other Taehyung holds up his hands in surrender, shocked. "Yes, he's here, but-"

Taehyung follows shortly after you, stopping in his tracks. The two Taehyungs make eye contact, surprised to see each other.

"Is that... me?" Taehyung questions, frozen in place.

"So you brought him," Other Taehyung said quietly. "I was wondering when you'd get around to it."

"I know he's supposed to me and all, but I'm definitely hotter than he is," Taehyung whispers.

You shush him, keeping your attention on Other Taehyung. "Where's Jimin?" you repeat.

"He's here, in the house, but it's not what you thi-"

He's quickly cut off, gasping aloud as he sinks lower and onto his knees. Behind him, the Other Grandmother is revealed, a large pair of scissors in her hands. Down Other Taehyung's back is a large cut, sand pooling out, strings and threads beginning to unravel at the incision. Like your doll.

"Pity, I was rather proud of that one," the Other Grandmother tsked, staring down at the limp body at her feet with disappointment. "He was made to love you- a bit too much it seemed. He forgot his true, underlying purpose." She looks up, staring quizzically at Taehyung. "And I thought I made it clear this young gentleman was never welcome here."

You hold a protective arm out in front of Tae, glaring at the Other Grandmother. You hold the knife out in front of you. "Where's Jimin?"

"Now, why would I tell you something like that?"

Taehyung acts before you can say anything, swinging his bat to hit the Other Grandmother over the head, the scissors flying out of her hand as she hits the floor. He grabs them, spreads them apart, and digs the points on either side of her wrist, trapping her. He stepped on the other hand, grinding his foot down, pressing the fat end of his bat against her head to keep her on the floor. 

"Keep fucking around with us and I'll break every bone in your hands. Tell us where Jimin is!" He twists his foot, earning a particularly harsh yelp from the woman beneath him.

She let out a hiss, gritting her teeth. "Fine! I'll tell you..."

You clench your jaw. "Spill."

"Don't look so glum, darling. You're finally going to get what you want- the answers to what you've been asking yourself all these years."

"I'm listening."

"I'd have to start at the beginning, I suppose," she sighs. "Once, long ago, there were two miserable little kids, Jack and Jill, with souls as pure as their hearts. They were allowed to visit a world crafted just for them. They were miserable and pure, which made their souls ripe for the taking."

"Why wasn't Taehyung offered this paradise, then?" you question. "The year everything went down he was still the same age as us, and very miserable shortly after."

"The boy's soul wasn't as pure. It was tainted. He was a bit of an early bloomer," she explained, hissing.

Taehyung grunted in response. "Glad to know me jerking off at age eleven was enough to keep you away."

"As I was saying, one day Jack and Jill were offered the opportunity to stay there forever. They'd have everything they wanted, away from any worries. All they had to do was give their souls, by sewing buttons into their eyes. After all, the eyes are the windows to the soul."

That explained the buttons.

"Little Jill jumped at the opportunity, but Jack wasn't convinced. He refused and tried to drag little Jill out. This wasn't accepted of course, and in the midst of their escape, Jack, in turn, broke Jill's crown! She hit her head and he had to carry her all the way through the forest! Instead of a hill, however, Jill tumbled down, down, down a well. From the bump on her head or the shock of everything, she was unable to remember even poor Jack's sacrifice to save her from her selfish decision."

"And what happened to Jack?" you questioned.

She simply smirked. 

"He was caught and punished immediately. Even as a kid he was a bit of a pussy, as you kids would say."

"And where is he now? Tell me!"

"His soul was never taken, don't you worry. It must be given by choice, after all." She cackles. "In one way or another, he's gone. You should've stayed away while you could."

"WHERE IS HE?" You demanded. Upon your outburst Taehyung lifted the bat, bringing it down on the Other Grandmother's hand, an audible crack sounding throughout the room.

She screamed, moving her other hand despite the way the scissors cut her skin, snapping her fingers.

Panic filled you as you push Taehyung off, pulling him along. You heard the rats scamper about, hot on your heels once again, and your adrenaline surged through your veins. "Run, run, run!" you scream, the two of you stumbling up the stairs. Taehyung did his best, trying to bat away the rats behind you as you run to your room.

You kicked the door shut behind the two of you, going to the small door, finding it closed. You rattle the knob, trying to open it, but it won't budge.

"Why won't it open?" Taehyung questions, equally panicked.

"I don't know! It's locked!"

"Looking for this?" The Other Grandmother swings the door open, one of the rats crawling up her body to perch upon her shoulder, the key in its little paw. The Other Grandmother grabs it, dangling it in front of you.

"You handle the rats, I'll handle her!" you shout. You keep a firm grip onto your knife, despite the bit of perspiration you've already made. You swing it at her, watching as she dodged. Taehyung, meanwhile, did his best to swing the rats away, batting them and stepping on them as they attempted to crawl up his legs.

"This is for Taehyung!" You take a swing, growling the words out as she dodges. "This is for Jimin!" You reach with your other hand as well this time, aiming for the eyes, pulling out the buttons until all that was left in her eye sockets were string. "And this is for me!"

You finally hit something, and her frail hand is cut clean off, the key inside. You grab for the key, expecting the hand to leak out sand similar to the Other Taehyung. Instead, it bleeds, bone even showing at the stem. She was just as real as you were, it seemed.

"You little brat! After all I've done for you!" the Other Grandmother screams. "I'll kill you! I'll kill all three of you!"

Before you could make a move, the hand jumps up at its own accord, quick to begin crawling up your leg, the long nails digging into your skin. You try to shake it off, swatting at it and keeping the key firm in grip. 

You turn to the blind woman, sinking your blade into her heart, seeing more blood. You kept going, watching her sink down into her hoard of rats, still intent on attacking you from every which direction. You thought the hand would stop moving as well once you killed the source, but it continued, tangling itself in your hair as it tried to drag you to your demise.

"Quick, unlock it!" Taehyung says, having a few rats cling to his clothes already. He didn't have much time left.

"There's no time!" you tell Taehyung. "We've got to-"

You're interrupted by a loud meow and your attention is brought to Mochi, sitting on the windowsill.

Follow the cat.

As though reading your mind, Mochi jumps away, out of sight.

"Taehyung! The window! Jump out of the window!" you tell him, grabbing him and pushing him towards it.

"We're on the second floor!" he protests.

"Just do it! Follow the cat, I'll be right behind you!"

Taehyung does as he's told, disappearing from sight. You turn to the now limp Other Grandmother, finally grabbing hold of the wandering hand and throwing it back at her body. You kick away a few more rats, going to the windowsill before dropping yourself below, grabbing purchase of whatever you could along the way.

Thankfully it wasn't that big a jump, and the moment Tae caught you you let out a sigh of relief. That was until the rats began to jump from the window as well, clearly not intent on letting you go.

You see Mochi begin to scamper off into the woods.

"Follow the cat! Let's go!"

You two are hand in hand, running as fast as you can. You're limping now, one of the rats having caught you and keeping hold onto your leg with its jaw. You scream in agony, refusing to slow down, reaching into your backpack for your flashlight to keep track of the cat.

Mochi guides you until you're staring at the upcoming well.

"We have to jump into the well," you explain to Taehyung. "Jack and Jill, remember?"

"What do you mean?"

"It's another portal! That's how Jimin got me out the first time."

Mochi jumps up onto the edge of the well, taking one last look at the two of you before jumping in, only confirming your suspicions.

You and Tae jump up onto the edge, hand in hand as you turn to look at the hoard of rats, one pale hand riding on top of one.

You close your eyes and jump.

-

You weren't expecting to land on your ass, shooting up from the well and into the woods of the real world. You groan in pain, hissing out.

You jump up though, adrenaline still flowing through you as you find the strength to lift the cover of the well, covering up the top. Finally drained, you collapse on the floor.

"Taehyung?" you groan. "Are you there? Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," he says, his voice just as strained. "God, let's get those bandages."

You toss your backpack his way, letting him rip off a strip before looking down at your leg that the rat had gotten hold of. Figured it'd be the same leg that had gotten bitten before. You take the role of bandages from Taehyung, ripping a strip from it to tightly wrap around the new bite mark.

There's silence between you two. An air you can't quite place. Disappointment? Sadness? Frustration?

"We didn't get Jimin," you say quietly.

"I know," he responds. 

"Can we ever go back?"

"I..." Taehyung seems to be unable to find a response. Both of you knew that you weren't any match for her. You had come prepared, and while you got answers to certain things, you weren't any closer to finding Jimin. But you almost died, and they'd be more prepared for your arrival than you'd be to attack them again.

Your eyes well up with tears. "We let him down, Taehyung. We lost Jimin. For good this time. And we were so, so close."

"I know."

You sit there, no longer moving, drowning in your feelings. What were you going to do now? You couldn't just give up on Jimin, could you? After all this effort?

"I don't think there's any need for you to go back."

The two of you simply stare in awe at the source of the sound. A handsome young man with long eyes and plump lips. He was a stranger in a sense, but completely familiar.

"Jimin...?" 

Jimin smiles, his pearly teeth showing. "It's good to see you guys again."

Taehyung looks at him in shock, wordless. Slowly getting to his feet, he approaches him, pressing his hand against Jimin's chest. "It's... It's you!"

"Ten years later and I'm still shorter than you, it seems."

Taehyung lets out a guffaw, something between a smile and a look of surprise, and soon enough he's wrapping his arms tightly around Jimin, holding him close to his body as though he were afraid he'd vanish. "Oh my God, you don't know how long I've waited for this moment."

Jimin hugged him tightly as well, burying his face in the crook of Taehyung's neck.

"I've been dreaming of this moment for so long. This is better than anything I could've imagined."

Everyone cries for a moment, and once the two boys break apart, you know it's your turn to properly unite with him.

You scamper to your feet, ignoring the pain as you limp into his arms, enveloping him in a tight hug. "Oh my God, it's- but- wait- how?!"

He pulls away from you, laughing. "When they caught me ten years ago, they refused to let me go, but I refused to sell my soul. As punishment the Baroness, her true title, by the way, turned me into a cat. I traveled in between worlds, though, but was unable to tell you guys what happened."

"Oh my God, you were Mochi? How are you human again, though?"

"You killed the Baroness- that was enough to undo her spell."

"So, that's it, we won?"

"No... You cut her hand off, so it acts on its own by her will. It's going to come back for that key. She's got enough magic in her pinky to redo everything she's done so that she can lure more kids in the future."

"We have to get rid of it, then!" you say, clutching tightly to it. "Or we destroy the hand! Either one."

"Ok, but how?" Taehyung questions. "For all we know it'll strangle us in our sleep."

"Don't worry guys, I've got a plan. I think I've planned for a thousand scenarios where we'd get into this situation- this isn't even the worst one," Jimin laughs. "Just follow along with my plan, ok?"

-

The three of you sit around the well, holding a picnic, a checkerboard cloth covering the top of it as you three dine.

Behind the tree a pale hand hides, its focus solely on the key that was placed in the center. Creeping forward, it needn't bother with the idle chat of the adults, catching up as they reminisce and fill the girl in on all their misadventures from their youth.

Finally, it pounces, landing perfectly in the middle to grasp the key. Before it knew it, however, you were letting the blanket go, grabbing it into a bundle, trapping it.

"Now, Taehyung!" 

Taehyung reaches for the bat he had hidden, repeatedly bashing it into the Baroness's hand as it wriggled around in the cloth. Continuously he hit it until there was no longer any movement, and the cloth was thoroughly soaked in blood.

You unraveled it, taking a look at it. The hand was beaten to a pulp, every bone broken beyond repair. You look over to Jimin. "Think it'll do?"

He nods, affirmative. "Toss it."

You gather it again once more, tossing it into the well, all three of you lifting the cover to seal it shut. The door in your room was already locked and taped up, meaning that all portals were now closed.

You sigh in relief. "Is it over? Like, really over now?"

"If it isn't I think I'm going to go crazy," Taehyung huffs, wiping his brow.

"You think you'll go crazy? I've been a cat for ten years!" Jimin argued.

"You made a very cute cat, Mochi," you joke, petting the top of his head. Jimin preened at the attention, grinning widely.

"Ugh, if you start purring I think I'll be sick," Taehyung grimaced.

"You're just jealous because for once she's paying attention to me instead of you!"

"No way!"

You couldn't help but laugh at the banter. It felt good to have them both at your side, and you had a feeling you would for many years to come. You looked forward to each one. These two boys, all of you had gone through so much together. Hell, it felt like just yesterday you and Taehyung were insulting each other in front of your grandparents. You thought he was just some edgy guy looking to suck the light out of everything, but he was more than that. He was human.

You looked forward to seeing the human sides of both men, letting them see the same. You knew at that moment you truly wanted nothing more, environment influenced or not, than to be with your two best friends.

Meanwhile, deep below, a single finger twitched.

[sulfurousdreamscapes]

A woman was lost in the gears, so Clarissa de Santa Anna had to put on her uniform in the dead of the night, kiss her wife goodbye, swear at the driver sent to pick her up, and drive up to the Entry marked CA88, found on an otherwise nondescript hill to the North of the outskirts.

While a light drizzle pattered down on Clarissa's raincoat, she pulled out an umbrella from the car and made the driver hold it above her. Then, she pulled out the heavily dog-eared, yellowed, well-worn paperback she'd been thumbing throughout the ride.

"Will this take long?" the driver asked. He had his lighter on, a little island of light that warmed his ageing wrinkles.

Clarissa sniffed—a cold coming on—and she searched for the protocol for what to do when a human being was trapped in the gears of the city.

"How did she even get in there?" she grumbled.

"Do you know who she is?" The driver's glassy eyes looked like marbles in a statue's sockets.

Clarissa glanced at him, and then started walking up the hill, towards the well that was the Entry CA88. The driver quickly followed with his umbrella and lighter, hoping it was enough to keep the book dry and lit.

"No really, do you know who it is?" he asked.

"Who?"

"The Governess' daughter."

"Fuck off."

"It's what they're saying, it's true."

Clarissa groaned. She pulled the pieces of his sentence apart, tried to divine sense from it. It would not come.

"The Entry should have a shed nearby," she said at last, and spotted a black structure right by where a stream of rainwater was coming down.

Clarissa opened the shed and fingered the wall next to her, looking for a light switch. A pair of moths ran into her face before she could finally hit the switch and bring some dim light into a cramped shed.

"You sure you can rescue her?" the driver asked. "I mean, I don't know how good you are at this, but—"

"Tsk," Clarissa turned around and glared at the driver. "You think people get caught in the gears all the time? No one's supposed to go down there. It's my first time doing this."

"Oh help me," the driver whispered and put his lighter away at last. "If you fuck up, they'll skin me alive."

"Get out."

"I'm not kidding! They'll really—"

"I said get out, get out of the damn shed. Let me do my job."

The driver cursed and raised his umbrella again, stepping away from the shed. "Did you read all you need to?"

If he had any more words to say, they were all dissolved in Clarissa's searing glare. He shook his head and turned around, stepping down the hill and towards the car.

Clarissa got the rope ready hooked it to an inconspicuous, yet completely intentionally-placed tree stump. She tested the strength several times, and cursed again, prayed for the rain to stop at least now, to let her do her job in peace.

Finally, she went down the well, into the gears that run the city, into where the governess' daughter was supposedly stuck.

[alpaca-writes]

Mystics, Chapter 6

When Arch becomes hired on at Mystics, by Lyrem, everything seems to be going well- their life nearly becomes perfection. Soon enough, however, Arch realizes that perhaps not everything is as good as it seems…. 

 Directory: [chapter one] [chapter two] [chapter three] [chapter four] [chapter five]

 Tag list: @myst-in-the-mirror 

 CW: aggressive religiosity, deadname use, police questioning, hospital setting,

CHAPTER SIX: THUNDER AND PRAYER

       Arch awoke upside down in the passenger’s seat of the blue truck. The midnight storm was still sweeping through the ranches and into the city and they were alone there. The man who had thrown them against a brick wall and threatened them into their vehicle had disappeared. 

       The seatbelt dug into the side of their neck and injured shoulder. The moment it was released, Arch would fall headfirst into the top of the cab. They tried the clip as best they could with their left arm. It tingled, threatening to combust in a fury of pain if it weren’t for the rush of adrenaline fighting the broken glass and seatbelt. It was stuck. The clip wouldn’t release. They could be here for hours, for ages... all alone.

        Flashing lights came from above them- or was it ahead of them? And the shouts of a man and a woman could be heard overhead. Some kids were also talking and yelling.  

        “Call 911, Janey!” The man shouted. The passenger-side door was forced open with a crow-bar.

        Arch cried with relief as he pulled them out, supporting their head as they dropped down. The wife was speaking to someone over the phone as she helped Arch lay down flat on their back in the over-grown wet grass. A blanket was placed rolled up under their head. The comforting cloth mixed with a strong sense of relief. If they had the energy, Arch might have started crying, but doing something even that simple was just too exhausting. Raindrops splattered against their face until the recognizable sound of an opening umbrella prevented any more from dropping down. The family spoke amongst themselves but the words were jumbled now and nearly incoherent for Arch to pay attention too. A little boy was holding the umbrella. He couldn’t have been more than eight. Arch managed the tiniest smile for him as they floated in and out of consciousness.

       “You’ll be okay,” he said. “My mom’s a nurse. She’ll fix you up.”

       His raincoat was dotted with little red and blue dinosaurs. Arch counted them. There were six red tyrannosauruses, eight blue triceratops’ and then-

       There was a beep... And another... And another. Their throat was dry as a brick. Arch opened their eyes first. Glowing light of day from a veiled window to their right drowned everything around them in white. They blinked, becoming accustomed to the brightness.

        In the corner of the small room was a chair reserved for visitors. Alarm bells sounded in their mind as Arch narrowed their gaze and spied on the person sitting there, still yet unaware that they had awoken.

         He was reading a book; a used and reused copy of Meditations. Lyrem licked his thumb, and turned the page. The alarm bells calmed. Arch chalked it up to being beaten to a pulp and then waking up in a strange new place; a hospital bed.

        “Save some for me, will you?” Arch spoke dryly, literally, as well as figuratively. They managed a crooked smile as Lyrem looked up from his book of yellowed pages and kindly smiled back.

        In a fit of dry coughs, Arch tried and failed to lean up. They found the tubes leading to an IV out their arm and a blood-oxygen measure clipped onto one of their index fingers. Lyrem put his book down on a small side table and stood. He pressed a button on the side of the bed, and Arch was lifted to a more comfortable sitting position. He brought them a clear cup of water with a straw. Arch tried lifting their arm to accept it, but Lyrem shook his head at them and pushed it back down gently. He brought the straw up to their lips. Arch nearly drained the cup before finally nodding it away.

        Lyrem leaned against the windowsill and watched them carefully. Their whole body had been battered. Whether it was entirely from the crash or something else, he couldn’t be sure.

        Arch looked back at them curiously, and puzzled. Then they looked around the rest of the small room. The door to the hall was open and filtered through white noise from doctors and nurses all around.

        “What are you doing here?” They asked, “where’s my mom?”

        “She… was here. She called the store. She left to run a couple errands and said that she would return soon.” Lyrem grimaced as he answered. “I’m not sure what could have been more important than being by your side, but alas, I remain. I closed the store for the day.”

        “What? Why?” Arch coughed lightly. “You make the most dough on Saturdays. You should keep it open.”

        “I’d much rather not.”

        Lyrem left his response hanging there. Without more to say on the matter Arch shifted in their bed uncomfortably. Relieved, they were, they were also troubled. Angry, even, but for what reason, Arch couldn’t say.  

        “There were officers waiting by the door for you to wake. Should I let them in for you? Tell them it’s an alright time?”

        “Officers?”

        “Well, nobody knows what happened to you or how you ended up on a rural highway flipped over in a truck”- Lyrem stopped himself. Becoming too passionate, he sensed.

        “Huh. Right.” Arch nodded. Thinking back to the night before was causing a pain in the back of their eyes- like they were being pulled into the back of their head.

        “What if you told me what happened first, then I’ll let the officers in and you can repeat it back to them. It might be easier for you,” Lyrem helpfully suggested.

        “No, no, I can speak to them now.” Arch insisted. “I’d rather speak to them now.”

        Lyrem nodded, and then stepped to the door, finding the two officers chatting down the hall. One blue uniformed woman with a tight, blonde pony-tail glanced in his direction over a steaming Styrofoam cup. He motioned for them to come in with a wave of his hand. The other, a tall, younger man with a thin chin pulled out a small notebook as he entered. Their name tags read Parsons and Grenn, respectively.

        Detective Parsons began by explaining that the police were unable to find the driver of the blue Ford. The truck was both unregistered, and uninsured, so there was no trail to follow to know who it had belonged to. The last known owner died in 2003 and afterwards there was no trace of it anywhere in the system. The plates on the vehicle had been stolen, and if the driver was careful enough, its stolen plates would have gone unnoticed for as long as the registration would last on it.

        “At the moment, we have no leads on finding this individual”-

        “My attacker, you mean. They attacked me.” Arch spit out. “Labels are important, you know.”

        “I know it can’t be a comforting thought. And I am sorry, but you must understand that we are doing everything we can to find the person who attacked you.” Parsons implored. Never once had her professional demeanor faltered under the scrutiny of the rightfully furious teenager.

        “He was a man.” Arch started. “He was quite a bit taller than me too. Probably six feet at least… White. It was dark but I could tell he- he had dark hair. Kind of shaggy-like”-

         Grenn had written it all down, and Lyrem stared at Arch in interest as they described the man. Parsons stopped Arch from continuing to describe him as she placed her cup down on the side table beside Lyrem.

        “We’ll send this to the sketch artist. They will be flying in over the next couple days. With the disappearances of your classmates as well, we are pulling out everything in our arsenal to get a detailed picture of who attacked you. We will be calling you in a couple days and you’ll be coming into the police station to speak with them.” Parsons explained emphatically. “For now, we need a timeline- where did they find you? What time was it when they attacked?”

        “Oh…” Arch felt rather silly for some reason. “I… I was pulled into the alley by the flower-shop...”

        “Which flower shop?”

        “Bloom Treasury, downtown. Half a block from Mystics.”

        Lyrem looked concerned, or possibly angry… with the thickness of his brows and the wrinkle in his forehead, Arch couldn’t be quite sure what he was thinking.

        “Mystics?”

        “It’s just a store, where I work.”

        “Were you working last night?”

        Their heartrate started to increase. Arch carefully measured their breaths by seconds.

        “No... No, I wasn’t, I was just walking.”

        “What time were you walking?”

        “I..” Arch had the strangest sensation of being back in the passenger’s seat of the blue Ford. The voice of the man rang in their head in an echo of a memory. Missing time? He had said. “I.. I think I’m confused.” Arch finished.

        “It’s understandable. I know its very hard to think back to the incident, but for the sake of finding this man and bringing him to justice, we have to know what time it was when it happened.”

        “It was after sundown.”

        “Can you be more specific?”

        It wasn’t long after dinner that Arch had left, and sundown wouldn’t have been until after ten. It only took a half hour to reach the downtown core from their house so where was the missing time? There was an hour, maybe even longer that was completely unaccounted for.

        “I think it was just after ten,” they said finally.

        Grenn made his notes again.

        “What kinds of things did he say to you?” Parsons inquired. “Anything you can remember will be helpful.”

        Lyrem gazed across the room steadily at Arch who met his eyes. It was hypnotically comforting to know he was still there, watching over them and keeping them safe.

        “He was… kind of strange.” Arch said, almost in a mutter. “Though, he mentioned the other kids. He knew that the others were taken: Jess, Kyle, and … Marcus.”

        “Did he tell you they were still alive?”

        Arch shook their head slightly and winced.

“He said he killed one of them already. He couldn’t be sure when the other two would die- if they already were… y’know, dead.”

        Parsons paused and turned to Lyrem who was laid back in the armchair deep in thought. She had noticed an odd connection. Arch had been darting their eyes to the corner each time they responded. Seeking approval, she surmised quietly.

        “How did you escape?” Parsons asked turning back to them again.

        Arch thought for a moment.

        “I stabbed him… in the leg... with his own knife. That’s when he lost control of the truck.”

        Grenn looked up from his notes briefly, with brown eyebrows raised.

        “What kind of knife?”

        Parsons looked at officer Grenn; surprised by the question.

        Arch switched their gaze to them. “A hunting knife… the big kind with a dip at the end.”

        “How does a guy walk away from a car crash with a Bowie knife in his leg?” Grenn asked allowed.

        The question caused Arch a visible discomfort. They turned away from everyone and remained quiet.

        “I believe that is everything for now.” Parsons gathered herself and straightened her uniform, “Thank you for your time, -----. We may have more questions for you when you come into the station for the sketch artist. You’ll soon be contacted with a date and time.”

        Parsons handed over her card to the bedridden teen who was unable to lift an arm, much less retrieve it from the detective’s hand. Parsons placed in on the table beside Arch instead and then followed Grenn out the door, leaving her Styrofoam cup behind.

        Arch took a long breath of relief as they left. For the first time, they stared down at themselves. Fresh cuts littered up and down their left arm, while their right was also cut up, but supported by a sling. Beneath the blankets, Arch could feel the light stinging of several more wounds against their legs. Their neck ached with every miniscule turn of their head and their back…

        They wiggled their toes, thankful for the movement, but regretted it all as they tried mightily to bend one of their knees. The middle of their back screamed of pulled muscles and bruises that were carved into them. Arch seethed as they let their leg down gently.

        “Don’t try to move.” Lyrem advised, picking up his copy of Meditations once again. “You can press the button next to you if you want more pain medication.”

        “I don’t want more medication; I want to go home.”

        “And you’ll get to your house of horrors again soon, but for now, just close your eyes, and get some sleep.”

        “I can’t sleep. He knew my name, Lyrem. How am I supposed to rest if he’s still out there?”

        Lyrem looked up from his book, becoming impatient, but in his eyes, it was clear that he tried to be supportive. He steeled his gaze on Arch and opened his mouth to speak. He was interrupted by Arch’s mother, who peered in with a bouquet of pink lilies in one hand.

        “Is she awake? Oh, thank the Lord.” She crossed herself as she entered and put herself directly next to the bedside. Letting the flowers down, she planted a hard kiss on Arch’s forehead that was too close to the rest of the injuries already planted there.

        Lyrem rolled his eyes to the ceiling and stood up.

        “Well, now that your mother is here, I suppose I should get going; leave you both in peace”-

        “Oh no, you should stay,” Arch’s mother turned on her heels to Lyrem and ushered someone else through the door: a short balding man, recognizable to Arch as a family friend with a plain white collar around his neck. “I invited Father Ferley to lead us in prayer. Won’t you stay, Lyrem? The more hands we have lifting to the Lord, the better.”

        So that was the errand, Arch realized.

Lyrem stared at the woman and managed a facetious grin. There was a bit of levity to the situation after all. Arch nearly burst out in laughter as he stood there, unsure of himself or what to say to the invitation.

The presence of the priest in the room was clearly putting him off. It wasn’t that Lyrem was nervous or humbled by the man, as much as it was like he had just drank a glass of spoiled milk and was desperate to get the lingering vile taste off his tongue.

        “I’d prefer not to,” he stated simply.

        “Ah, you read Aurelius?”

        The priest lifted his thinly rimmed glasses, pushing them higher up the bridge of his nose. He inquired Lyrem innocently and continued.

        “Quite possibly one of the wisest Emperors of Rome. ‘Live a good life,’ he said. ‘for if the gods are just, then they will not care for your devotion, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by,” the priest smiled to him warmly.

        Lyrem regarded him with suspicion, but played along.

        “You quote his Meditations like Corinthians,” Lyrem observed. The annoyance slowly drained from his face and he stood taller, squaring himself. “Tell me then, the next line of that heavenly wisdom. Do you recall what it is?”

        Lyrem waited for a beat and met Father Ferley’s gaze with a coldness he usually reserved for the most wretched of people. He finished the verse himself.

        “If the gods are unjust, then you should not want to worship them.”

        “What the hell are you weirdos talking about?” Arch spouted rudely. “Can we please just pray and get it over with, if that’s what we want to do?”

        “Yes, lets.” Arch’s mother pulled the two men by their elbows into a half circle around the bed. Lyrem stood at the foot of it, unhappily supporting himself on the bars of plastic and metal.

        Father Ferley led the small group in prayer. The details of the prayer itself were unimportant, except for the fact that Arch heard their name being correctly used. That was a nice change. The other detail that was noticed by Arch before the ‘amens’ commenced, was Lyrem, white-knuckling the edge of the bed as he suffered through the words spoken.    

        The man didn’t offer an ‘amen’. He turned around as it ended, and picked up the Styrofoam cup that was mistakenly left behind by Detective Parsons. He bid the three farewell, and finally escaped them.

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

        “I see it too,” Father Ferley fiddled with the edge of his glasses, as Arch’s mother breathed a sigh of relief. “It’s not uncommon for many older gentlemen to be wary of the promises of God. But I sense that there is a negative energy towards the Lord, and that Arch may be picking up on that.”

        “Her name isn’t Arch- It’s”-

        “Their name is Arch, Charlotte,” Father Ferley continued. “Your child has spent many years honouring you. Perhaps it is time that you also honour them. It may be this very thing that is driving Arch away from you and towards figures of authority that respect them. People like Lyrem. It is what drives them out of their home and onto the streets where they encounter devils like the one from last night.”

        Charlotte buried her face into her hands although there was little energy to stop the tears from flowing. The hospital halls were still bustling with activity though they had left Arch in their room to continue resting for the night. She sniffed, and finally lifted her head. Then she nodded. Clutching the small gold crucifix around her neck, she lifted it to her lips and breathed a deep sigh- thankful that her child was safe from harm.

“What happened was not your fault, but if you want to repair this relationship with your child, you must accept them for who they are. If I were you, I would try to get to know this ‘Arch’. You might even like them better than who they were before.” Father Ferley smiled lightly.

With her spirits lifted, Charlotte followed Father Ferley out of the hospital. She was already planning her words carefully to her child for the next time they’d meet.

[the-fiction-witch]

Spooky Times 24 : Witches Oak

REAL LIFE: COUPLE: TBS X READER RATING: DARK

Not Much Used to happen in this little town, But sometimes that’s because far too much happened long ago.

The room was hushed, the tweeting of birds and the patterning of occasional rain both muffled by the window and pulled curtains. The room is dark with only the light of a few glow in the dark green stars stuck to the ceiling and walls. A rustling from the corner of the room and a huge glass tank, however, filled with sawdust and toys. The Quiet sounds of breathing from under the mangled mess of blue space bedding.

“ADAM!! You’ll be late for school!” The Shrill voice from the stairwell screamed

“Uuuuummm Five more minutes mum!” I groaned back cuddling my blanket tighter

“Now Adam! And Remember you have to drop your sister off at preschool” She yelled back

“Fine” I sighed, I slowly swung my feet around slipping them into my cosy slippers as I forced myself up from the bed and stretched as I went out my bedroom across the old hallway to the little bathroom. I stared at my face a while my eyes barely open and my hair a mess, I brushed my teeth and washed up as quickly as I could before hopping back into my room and getting dressed. Slipping on an old pair of jeans, My Plain blue shirt and then my light blue Patterned overshirt. I fixed my hair best I could, slipping on my glasses and opening my curtains. It looked dull and grey as it did almost every day.

I Sighed and cracked the window to let some air through grabbing a handful of birdseed from the bag and dropping it outside the window letting the pile sit on the ledge.

I grabbed the lid for the tank and put it down grabbing two little treats from the box and watching as two little hamster heads popped out the sawdust from the tunnels they had been building

“Goodnight Marco” I smiled giving him a treat which he happily took and hid in his cheeks “goodnight Polo” I smiled giving him one too “You guys get to bed, it’s late for you” I smiled putting the lid back on. I grabbed my backpack from the floor and stuffed my homework from my desk into my bag before heading downstairs.

My mother sat at the table with her cup of tea and my sister in her high chair eating something I wasn’t sure what with her unicorn bowl and spoon.

“She’ll be late,” My mother said

“I know mum, I had to feed Marco and Polo” I answered, picking up my little sister and starting to put her yellow raincoat on, sitting her on the sofa and slipping on her little pink wellies.

“Your money’s on the table,” she says sipping her tea

“Thanks, mum,” I smiled, taking the coins and stuffing them in my pocket. “Come on Eliza,” I said, picking her up and heading out the door.

The streets are empty and hardly a light on with any of the houses. I put Eliza down and let her walk along the street beside me as we headed along the road until we reached the edge of the forest walking down the little paths through the trees listening to the birds in the trees and the crunching of the leaves below my feet.

Eliza ran off as usual so I sighed and ran after her. She sat at the tall withered old oak tree, the bark and branches twisted, the leaves falling to the earth with shades of orange and green. The roots breaking through the ground the earth broke open where the roots are too strong.

“Hello Miss Oak” Eliza giggled as she looked at the tree as the little black and grey bunny rabbit hopped from the burrow under the tree roots,

“Hey Mrs oak” I smirked getting a carrot from my backpack snapping it in half and throwing it to her “Come On Eliza” I smiled picking her up and heading down the path, I noticed the little bunny following us “No Not you Mrs Oak” I laughed so the bunny hopped back to its burrow and we carried on through the thick forest. The path got a little more well-trod so I put Eliza bath down letting her run as we passed the old rusted gates of the Old Graveyard, the twisted iron covered in years of ivy and stinging nettles. Eliza ran off inside so I sighed following her though the little paths littered with old gravestones and flowers, till she stopped by one so broken and weathered the name and dates where unreadable. She stopped and sat down clapping her hands and soon enough the little blonde bunny hopped out from behind the stone

“Mr Gravestone!” she giggled

“Hey Mr gravestone” I laughed, throwing him the other half a carrot “Come on Eliza else we’ll be late,” I told her, picking her up and heading into town.

I kept Eliza close to me cuddling her close to me as we crossed the little roads and hurried down the empty stone streets until I reached the little daycare centre

“Good Morning Eliza” Mrs Smith smiled

“Hey Mrs smith, sorry I can’t stay I got to get to class,” I told her handing Eliza to her

“Of course you have a nice day adam” she smiled

“I wanna go play with Mr Gravestone and Miss Oak” Eliza giggled

“I know, well you have to stay here, I’ll come to get you after school okay?” I remember so she nodded and headed off down the grey pavement towards the school.

Nothing much went on that day, just the usual Friday bored out of my mind as my friends were always gone on Fridays for the club stuff they do. I sat on the MDF desk slowly taking my pen apart and putting it back together over and over while pretending to listen to my History teacher as she went on and on about the importance of local history without ever actually telling anyone any. Everyone in the room was as bored as me except Melody who sat at the front of the class, her glasses perched on her nose, her dark brown Pigtails happily sitting on her shoulders, her hands neatly folded on the desk in front of her. I stopped looking, not wanting someone to see me looking at her even if I had a mild crush on her but I never let anyone know I don’t want to die a horrible painful death for admitting to liking the school nerd girl.

“Fine, you kids want important local history? Something that appeals to your bloodthirsty heads” she asked I glanced up curious what she was talking about “Then I shall tell you of the documented tail of the Witches oak”

“The Witches oak? Miss Linea Everyone knows about the witches oak it's a bedtime story” one boy commented from the back

“Then, by all means, You tell it, Arthur,” she said

“The Town used to have a resident witch, who stole babies, ate children and put spells on the town until the major ran her out of town on some waggon” he explained I sighed and returned to my pen

“No! That’s not the story at all” Melody argued

“Go On Miss Abernathy,” Miss Linea told her

“Many years ago, the town had a resident witch, she lived out in the woods” she began and I perked up a little more watching melody as she spoke “she made potions for the town, as a healer, until one day she gave the whole town the wrong potion in an attempt to murder them all, she only killed one child in her attempt, and when the town confronted her she put a curse on the town, the crops died, the water got contaminated, the mines ran dry and the livestock all died. So the towns People took her out to the witches oak and Hung her for her crimes” she explained

“Very good Miss Abernathy, However that was not the end of it,” Miss Linea said “In her dying breath she cursed those who had doomed her to the fate of hell and said each of them would die a horrible death, and within the month every one of her accusers was found dead in a most Horrific way”

The bell then went so everyone gathered their things. I shoved my work into my bag and headed out towards my locker for my stuff when I heard a voice as I was unlocking it,

“Hey Adam,” I turned and saw that the melody stood with her books, I tried not to blush and smiled “Hey Melody, what’s up?” I asked her

“I was wondering if you could walk me home?” she asks “You walk through the woods don't you?”

“Uhh yeah I do” I nodded “But Uhh…. I have to pick up my little sister from daycare”

“It’s okay, I can wait” she smiled

“You sure?” I asked grabbing my stuff and she nods “Okay, let’s go then”

I gathered my stuff and locked up my locker as we both slowly walked out of school heading out into town as the darkness began to crawl into the town “So why did you want me to talk with you today?” I asked her

“Well with the nights growing much darker this time of year, and having to walk through the woods by the witches oak tree it’s rather scary” she explained

"Yeah especially when you remember that spooky story for history class" I blushed

But at that exact moment the sky cracked and a storm erupted on the horizon breaking the buildings destoryin tree's I saw the terrifying dark clouds on the horizon "The Tree! it's where the storms coming from, something is happening tonight" I said "Come on" I told her making her follow me grabbing my sister on the way till we reached the tree and instantly I was in another world...

"This is the only place I ever felt happy" she says "but not anymore"

"Why not?"

"It's full of bad memories now" she says a tear falling down her cheek

"There wasn't anywhere else?"

"No, everywhere else was just the same"

"What about your mother? Didn't you want to see her?"

"No… I never knew her, she died when I was born"

"What about your father?"

"He wasn't very nice to me… he blamed me for her death, and was unkind to me"

"There must have been someone who looked after you? Who was kind to you?"

"One"

"Y/n?" I heard from behind the tree where Y/n sat two hands appeared from behind the tree covering her eyes as she read her book making her giggle

"Hehee stop it!" She giggled

"His name was Thomas" she smiled as the boy popped out from behind the tree to give Y/n a hug

"You seem close?"

"We where, we used to come here and cuddle" she laughed "he used to promise me that he'd marry me" she blushed as he gave her cheek a little kiss

"Why didn't you?"

"Because I died before he could"

"Ohh I'm sorry"

"You remind me off him" she smiled "he was always sweet, kind to me… he was a very open mind"

"You miss him?"

"Every day"

"Don't you want to go see him?"

"I'm not sure I can"

"Why not?"

"I'm sure he moved on once I died" She says

I looked to the book finding the day she was hung she looked away as it turned to the red sky the rope in the tree, Y/n being forced to walk towards it

"Y/n!! NOOO PLEASE!! Please she didn't do anything!! Nooo!! Y/nA!!!" He screamed men holding him back so he couldn't intervine

"It's the last thing I remember, My Thomas, crying, screaming as I was hung" she explained "please...tell me… what happened to him"

I turned the page and continued to read

"Days later Thomas Sangster was found under the Witches Oak Tree, having hung himself in the night" I read "he wanted to be with you Y/n he hung himself so he could be with you"

"Then… then why is he not here?"

I looked to the book and read the rest of it "he was cut down and burried in the graveyard with his other deceased family members" I read "you see Y/n that's why he hasn't been here all these years, he wanted to die with you, be with you for all eternity, but his family dragged him away and burried him somewhere else So you couldn't be together"

[frankie-in-the-ferns]

ao3 went down just as we went to post the first chapter of our Hilda fanfic, which means our fanfic is officially cursed™ haha 

so read it here first below the cut!!

The Keepers of Bells and Books

Chapter 1: The New Bell Keeper

Anders made his sandwiches with expert precision. Butter, cheese, and mackerel packed with tomato in a can, in the classic matpakke tradition. Boring, perhaps, but efficient.

Keys. Uniform. Raincoat. Flashlight. Lunch. Swiss Army Knife. Hair elastics. Cellphone. Wallet. Bell. He patted himself down as he went through his mental checklist, ensuring he had everything he could need to begin his first shift as a Keeper of the Bell.

The air was crisp in that way it sometimes is in the mornings. Anders could see the deep blue of the night sky slowly giving way to the soft dawn light over the wall. He had been nervous that moving from his parents' house in central Trolberg to the Bell Keeper’s Cabin out on the edge of town would be an uncomfortable new reality to contend with. In reality, he found himself enjoying this place. He had almost forgotten to lock the door to his new residence. His key ring was filled with a key for each of the towers around the city, giving it a bulk that made him feel very official.

With almost no sound at all, the keys were snatched from his hand. There was a flutter of feathers against his face and made him need to sneeze. A pigeon was flying in circles above his head, the new sun reflecting off the shiny facets of Anders’ keyring in its clutches.

Anders had never been much for cursing, and he didn’t think it would reflect well upon his new post as a Keeper. Instead, he bent over to gather some rocks from the path. He aimed right beside the bird, in an attempt to scare it into dropping the keys. Pigeon-meat didn’t taste very good, so no point in killing it unless absolutely necessary.

He had fired off three shots, and had thought his aim was pretty good today, when something wet landed on the side of his head. No point in trying to convince himself it could be rain - there wasn’t a cloud in sight. Better to face up to the fact that a pigeon had just unloaded its breakfast on his head.

Anders felt the anger surge within him, the curse word on his tongue.

“Stupid bird!” He spat the words with all the ferocity of a troll, but he only succeeded in making himself feel like a petulant child. He very nearly shook his fist at the creature, but he thought better of it. People in the area might be waking up just about now.

A new tact, perhaps. He pulled out one of his sandwiches from the pocket of his yellow raincoat and unwrapped the top of the paper packaging. He ripped little pieces of bread from the top crust and made a little circle of the bait on the rocky path. His mother had always told him that circles were always the optimal shape for anything concerning nature.

He thought he saw the pigeon circling lower. It made little sounds as it flew, which almost sounded like squeaky little voices in protest. Curious.

Anders nearly pumped his fist as the creature fluttered to the ground, but once again he thought better of it. Any sudden movements could scare the creature off. He crept closer, as stealthily as he could manage. His clothes, however, were all brand new standard-issue Bell Keeper uniform, and the soles of his boots creaked at the same time his shirt fabric scratched against his raincoat. The pigeon hopped away to peck at the other side of the circle.

Attempt number two. Anders avoided the crunchy path and walked on the patchy grass. Every time he got close, the pigeon hopped a bit further away. It kept putting down the keyring, which it was now holding in its mouth, to peck at the bread. It would then quickly snatch the keys back up and escape his advances. It was taunting him.

He felt his foot give way beneath him, and his knee twisted slightly as the world tilted to the left. A hole in the ground had enveloped his leg up past his knee. There was empty space below the ground here, so the hole must belong to some burrowing creature. A mole, perhaps. Anders rotated his foot to make sure nothing was broken, and then he began to laugh. Bird crap leaking into his ear, his keys stolen by a pigeon, his leg stuck in a hole, both his cabin and the belltower locked-up tight, and on top of all that he was nearly fifteen minutes late for his shift. Not that there would be anyone around to check-up on him.

He fished his cellphone out of his pocket and thumbed the little buttons a bit too hard. A list of contacts a mile long and - surprise surprise - still no one he wanted to share this wonderful experience with. He considered calling Reynold, the previous Bell Keeper at this post and his trainer for the past two weeks, but he was simply too embarrassed. He considered calling his mother, but he couldn’t think of how she might help in this situation. He felt his frustration swell to outright anger, and before he could stop his hand he had thrown his phone. It bounced against the brown stonework of the city wall and hit the ground with a thud.

Defeated, he sat on the ground with his leg in the hole and began to eat his sandwich. It was pretty good, all told. People in this part of the world had lunch just about perfected - utilitarian and not too flashy. The only change Anders made was to do away with open-faced sandwiches; putting the two pieces of bread together was the only way to go when you needed some food on the go. He didn’t really care anymore. Maybe the pigeon just wanted some company. Ripping off a sizable chunk of sandwich, Anders tossed it on the ground nearby.

“Come and get it, bud. As long as I’m stuck here we might as well share.”

To his surprise, the pigeon came a little closer. Anders ate his sandwich, trying to seem nonchalant. The pigeon dropped the keyring by his foot and began pecking at the sandwich crust with zeal.

Anders forced himself to finish his sandwich before flopping his body over, leg still stuck fast in the ground, to grab his keys. The sudden motion scared the pigeon and sent it careening into the air with half a sandwich crust still in its mouth.

With keys in his hand and a confusing sense of accomplishment, he used the corkscrew on his Swiss Army Knife to dig at the roots and dirt around the hole. The knife probably would have been more efficient, but there was no use risking slicing his leg open or dulling the blade.

After freeing himself, Anders promptly went back to the Keeper’s cabin to find some pylons. The last thing he needed was some little kid dropping down a hole on city property. Besides, he was pretty sure he heard something scampering around in the underground tunnels that moved a little quicker than a mole.

[creative-aj]

TALES

OF

LILLYCO

                                                                                          Made for fun because I have been thinking of this for ages.

            PROLOGUE

Kari Anyu was living a normal life at home, she thought it was perfectly ordinary that her father was the chief of police, and her mother was the mayor of the town of LillyCo. But her friends and acquaintances at school all respected her, she understood, but it was kind of annoying how she always heard what she wanted to hear. She wanted some constructive criticism, not a bunch of requests that chicken wing flavored slushies should be legal. 

She thought of that and asked herself; 

“who the frick would drink something like that?” the other kids in her high school were all very weird, and her gym teacher was a furball of torture. 

She thought back to the time they were at basketball practice, and a student accidentally kicked her in the face with the ball so hard that she fell onto the pavement with a nosebleed and head injury. She was still told to lift weights while her wristbands were tied so tight that her paws were purple. That stuff was normal around here.

First, I will tell you about this said place and how it started.

There were 10 tribes all living together, but the most powerful leader of the light tribe, Amai Shan, decided that they should be split up because the tribes often quarreled a lot. Then, the leader of the dark tribe, Nightblade Kaii, disagreed. Saying that nobody should care about violence because it happens every day. This angered Amai, who everyone else agreed with, she made an announcement, and with a raise of her staff, the tribes were split up into different realms created by magic. The cave realm, the earth realm, the glitch realm, the ice realm, the aqua realm, the flame realm, the galaxy realm, the universe realm, the underground realm, the sky realm, and finally, the overworld. That last realm was empty, Amai, before retreating to her realm, brought in intelligent abnormal creatures, nekos, anthros, kitsune, cryptids, Lycans, paranormalities, and humanlike things with odd abilities. Others moved in, giving the place a name, LillyCo. They then elected a mayor, who made rules to follow. Soon, citizens were getting jobs and education, until there was a disagreement between humans and abnormalities, which created a battle lasting up until this very day. They still dislike each other, but prefer living their own lives….

….for now.

TALES 

OF LILLYCO

                        CHAPTER 1

One day, during Lillycan work hours, an old television with strict labels, DO NOT TURN ON BY ANY MEANS flickered. Static flashed on and off until seven children burst out of the screen. The children looked dirty and scratched up, one girl was bruised and beaten but managed to scramble to her tiny feet. 

“Hey! Is it just me or is this raincoat getting super tight around my chest?” she asked herself.

“Where exactly are we?” asked a boy with a chained foot

“Wherever we are, it’s probably better than that bloodbath of a world!” Another kid sat up and rubbed her eyes.

“Um, sister? You can unbutton that you know.” A girl in an oversized hoodie put a quivering hand near the girl in the yellow raincoat

“BACK!!” she smacked her hand. “Don’t touch me there or I’ll bite you!!”

“Geez! Sorry, Six.”

Hope Anyu stood in shock.

“Wha-... I haven’t seen a surviving child from the Little Nightmares dimension in years! This is impossible, are you holograms?” she asked

“Uh.. no..?” said the coated girl

“Please, children. Introduce yourselves.” said Hope.

“M’kay. Six Mawchild.”

“Seven Mawchild”

“Four Mawchild”

“Flicker Mawchild”

“Noodle Mawchild”

“Ten Mawchild

“And Eleven Mawchild”

“Fascinating!” Said Hope. “Now, you may pass.” The children thanked her and passed into town, Six gave Seven a wet lick with her forked tongues.

“Hey, no biting.” he joked.

The children came to a large building, it looked like a hotel with multiple stories. Six absolutely hated sleeping outside, so she suggested they see about it. The children walked into a beautiful scenery. Paintings on the walls, a golden chandelier, spinning doors, and lots of corridors. Along with a lot of elevators. 

“Whoa!!” Eleven exclaimed, “It’s magnificent!”

“Hello there!” said the lady at the front desk, who appeared to be a humanized calico with the name, ‘Sarah’ on her collar. “Welcome to LillyCo elementary school and dormitory, are you here for a room?” 

“Yes, absolutely!” said Six. 

“Here are your keys then, enjoy your stay!” She handed everyone a card with a barcode and some room numbers on it, and a map of the place. When Six and Seven got into the room they were both placed in, Six fell onto the bed and sighed long and hard, 

“Aaahhh, Sev, have you ever lived somewhere so pampering?”

“Nowhere, not to mention there’s clean air here.” he looked out the window to the blue sky. 

“Yea, the air back in the maw was toxic.” said Six.

“We do NOT speak of it.” Seven grunted in a harsh tone, Six apologized. Suddenly, she felt really tired. 

“Sev, I'm gonna go to bed for a little while.”

“That’s okay, Six. I’ll be meeting with the others downstairs, goodbye, my love.” He kissed her on the cheek and walked out the door.

Six woke up sweating in the hot weather. She felt dizzy and woozy. 

“Darn, it feels like I forgot the AC.” she hopped out of bed, only to see an odd-looking chain necklace on her nightstand. It was linked together firmly with tiny chains, and an upside-down crucifix on it, it looked like a cross with two lines on the bottom. The necklace smoked as if infused with dark energy. “Bizzare,” she said. The dark energy was so alluring to her that she had to put it on. Upon wearing it, the cross shape was oddly heavy, she didn’t seem to mind it though. The smoky substance disappeared and gave Six a tingly feeling in her body. There was no doubt that this piece of jewelry was enchanted, and had strengthened her powers. 

“Oh, you found the thing I see.” said a distorted, familiar voice.

“What do you mean? It was on my nightsta- Gluttony?!” Six turned around to see a girl who looked identical to her, besides her black hair, pale skin, gleaming red eyes, tall horns that stuck straight out of her head, a glowing pentagram on her stomach, and two tails with stingers, one shaped like a heart, the other with a dagger-like end. This girl was once Six’s shadow and a voice in her head. “you look... Different.” Six was quite puzzled.

“So do you! Heck, when was the last time you wore peck-peck shorts and a cropped shirt?” Gluttony smirked. 

“Uh, never but-” Six was interrupted by a scream coming from the room two doors to the left of her. She swung her door open and ran there. She saw Flicker cowering in a corner hiding from a rubber spider on her dresser.

“KILL IT.” she demanded. “KILL IT NOW.” Six could barely hold back her laughter and collapsed. “What are you laughing at, Six?!” Flicker asked in an angry manner.

“That’s fake!!” Six giggled and picked up the spider. “Also, I saw Noodle placing it here.” 

“I need a talk with my brother, thank god it’s not real.” she vanished into thin air.

Seven came back later that night.

“Sorry I was gone for so long,” he said.

“Oh, it’s ok. I was planning on looking for you though.” said Six.

“You mustn't worry about me, dear.” Seven held Six’s hands in his.

“We should sleep now, goodnight.” Six kissed him on the lips and the two fell asleep hugging.

Seven was the first to wake up to an early start, he saw a blue light under a crack in the ceiling dripping water. He investigated the blue light and took the blanket off it. It seemed to be a wet foot brace in the shape of a fish, it smoked with blue energy and oozed water. He wanted to get a closer look at it but ended up taking his chain off quite easily and put on the foot brace where the shackle was. Energy took him over and he felt the brace lock onto him, he raised his hand pointed to the sink to test his water bending skills, but they were stronger than before, this thing was an enchanted charm of power.

“Ah, Nightblade was right. We do really suck at hiding stuff.” said a voice that sounded exactly like Seven. He slowly turned around hearing this. Seven saw a boy with a shadow child mask who looked similar to him, but a darker version, and had small horns and a stinger tail.

“Who are you?” he asked.

“Me? Or that freak in the mirror?” asked the stranger.

“You.” Seven corrected him.

“Just call me pride, but I’m basically shadow Seven.” explained the stranger.

“Did I summon you by picking up this thing that won’t come off my foot?” asked Seven.

“Okay, first of all,” said Pride, “You didn’t even try, and second of all, no. you didn’t.”

“Oh, okay. So you’re like that horrible she-demon who tried to eat me alive?” Seven asked.

“You mean Gluttony?” Pride gave Seven a confused look. “No, I’m not like her, but I do like- know what? Nevermind.” he blushed but managed to cover it. Just then, Six awakened. 

“SEVENNN!! IT’S 3:00 IN THE MORNING AND I’M TRYING TO S.L.E.E.P!” she fell back asleep and pulled the blanket over her head. Seven began to sweat profusely.

“Dude, you ok?” asked Pride.

“No.,” said Seven, “She hates it when I wake her up..” 

Later that morning, at about 8:00 MA, Six was reading through a booklet about school when a bell rang. Six and Seven ran out with their school supplies and found their classroom after walking up 10 flights of stairs. 

“Well..” Six panted. “We’re gonna have to do this every weekday.”

“Great.” said Seven, “The last thing I want is to be out of breath before class all the time.”

Chapter 1 of TOC more coming shortly :)

Story by @fennekinstudioz all credit to her

Cast so far:

@fennekinstudioz and me

You still can join so if you do please ask us.

[jungshookz]

I don’t really know if you take requests or not, but I think I have a cute idea I’d like to share! Maybe like, new puppy owner Y/N and pet shop employee Taehyung!

→ pairing: kim taehyung x reader

→ genre: petshopemployee!au, the cuTEST GOLDEN RETRIEVER PUPPY evER and it belongs to you now!!, an extra biG serving of fluff, u and tae r so shy it’s adorable

→ wordcount: 3.2k

(gif isn’t mine!)

what the hell are you doing here

out of all the places you could be on a sunday morning (aka in your nice warm bed) you are at… a pet store???

okay

here’s the backstory

you’ve been feeling pretty lonely lately (your ex broke up with you a month ago and it’s been diffiCuLT to say the least)

he said something about how you were holding him back and the spark is gone because you’re so busy with school and your job and blah blah blah all you remember is throwing your drink on him and storming out of the restaurant

it’s fine

he was a dick anyway!! you deserve better

but you’re not used to being.,,. alone

the apartment is just so quiet

you’re trying to get used to sleeping in the middle of your queen-sized bed again but somehow you always shift over to the right side of the bed because that’s your side

it’s been your side for the past four years

things are just different now

and sure you have your friends and stuff to hang out with (namjoon asked if you wanted to go out yesterday night with him and the rest of the boys but you turned him down because you were too busy throwing your own pity party) but it’s just not the same u kno

so that’s why you’re here now

at a pet shop

because you feel like getting a pet will help with the whole being lonely thing!! and also you’ve always wanted a pet so this will be great (when you were younger you had a goldfish one day you came home from school and kevin was on the floor because he juMPED OUT OF HIS TANK RIP kevin)  

you kind of have an idea of what kind of pet you want

you definitely want something small

something low-maintenance since you’ll be busy at school

maybe like a hermit crab or something

a hamster? the constant running on the wheel would probably drive you insane

maybe a bird? but what if it flies out the window

a goldfish would bring back the painful memories of kevin so that’s going to be a HARd pass

and then

you see it

the gates of heaven

a pUPPY PIT

A WHOLE PIT OF PUPPIES

GO L DEN RETRIEVER PUPP IE S

you gasp and immediately turn away from the lovebird you were just looking at and the lovebird squawks like fuCK me i guESS

“oh my god” you whine quietly when all the puppies start running up to you as you stand in front of the pit

they’re all yipping and barking and getting up on their hind legs to try to get closer to you

sO CUTE

“hi! are you thinking about taking one of these guys home with you today?”

you turn around to-

oh

oh my

your eyes flicker down to the employee’s name tag

‘taehyung’

you look back up at him

he might be cuter than the puppies

he smiles at you and tilts his head

oH he is DEFInitely cuter than the puppies

“oh! uh…”

girl

you can barely take care of yourself how the hell r u going to take care of a puppy

just tell taehyung no and ask him about pets that are easy to take care of

oH BUT LOOK AT THEIR WIDDLE PAWS AND THE CUTE LITTLE SNOOT ARE U KIDDING ME

and if you don’t take one of them home whO WILL

oh my god y/n

think this through

you don’t have space for a puppy

but you can MAKE space

puppies are expensive

but you can MAKE monEY

puppies need a lot of love and attention and affection and-

buT YOU HAVE A LOT OF LOVE AND ATTENTION AND AFFECTION TO GIVE

y/n no

y/n yes

y/n no

y/n yES

y/N N-

“yes! yes i am” you clear your throat before reaching up to tuck a strand of hair behind your ear

oh man

it’s like you don’t even know how to interact with boys anymore

it’s okaY just go with the flow it’s not a big deal

everything’s chill

super cool

don’t be weird

please don’t be weird

“oh, that’s great!!!” he gasps and claps his hand together “are you a first time puppy owner?”

you nod excitedly and look down at the puppies yipping for your attention

“well, we should probably hook you up with the basics before you get the puppy part, hm? follow me!”

wha

wait what

waIT BUT THE PUPPIES

taehyung notices your hesitation and he raises a brow “this’ll only take like ten minutes, miss. fifteen minutes tops. c’mon!” he gestures for you to follow him before pulling out a cart by the counter

“so, what made you decide to get a puppy, if you don’t mind me asking?” taehyung starts picking up things here and there for you as the two of you wheel your way down the aisles

“well, i’ve always wanted a dog and now that i’m-“ oOF okay you’re not going to tell this cute stranger about your failed relationship

let’s not go there

maybe some other time!! “uh… now that i…. have a bigger apartment i decided i could fill up some space with a puppy!” you shrug and pluck a little mustard yellow harness from the shelf

you heard that harnesses are better because leashes can choke ur doggo and you don’t want to choke your doggo

plus a tiny harness on a tiny puppy cOMe on

“oH..,.,. my god,.,.” your heart basically stops in your chest when you spot the cutest pair of yellow rainboots with a matching raincoat

…yeah you’re getting those too

you don’t even care if you spenD like $1000 here (okay you’d care just a liTtle bit because u don’t even spend that much on urself)

meanwhile taehyung’s talking to you about how often you should take the dog out and how much to feed it and how much exercise it needs and how you need to put down puppy pee pads and you need to puppy-proof your house there’s just a loT of p’s flying around right now

yes you appreciate him for doing his job throughly but you can barely focus on what he’s saying because you’re picking out a bed and a little blankie and pillow and toyS and a food bowl and a water bowl and-

“whichever pup you end up choosing is going to be very lucky” taehyung chuckles as you duMP a whole load of treats into the cart and you look down at everything you’ve picked out before flashing him a sheepish smile

“think i’m getting a bit ahead of myself?”

“you probably don’t need-“ he pauses and looks down at the cart “-three full sized bags of carob-chip dog cookies? or four different pairs of rain boots??”

“oH but look how cuTE-“

usually taehyung would be aLL for the customer going crazy because that means he gets more commission but u seem really nice and just really excited and he doesn’t want u wasting your money on things you don’t need

the puppy itself is going to cost a good chunk of money so there’s that

“i think we’re all good to go!” tae sighs as he puts the last of your family-sized food bags back onto the shelf

he turns and grins at you “how about i bring all this stuff over to the front counter and i meet you by the puppy pit?”

fINALLY

FINALLY THE PUPPY PIT

you nod excitedly and ziP off towards the puppy pit and almost immediately the barking intensifies at your presence

you drop to your knees in front of the gate and stick your hand through the gaps between the bars and giggle when the pups start licking at your fingers (probably because u were touching dog cookies earlier because they looked like humaN cookies and you were about to treat urself to one but tae stopped you before you inhaled it)

“okay, which one of you wants to come home with me!!!!!” you squeal excitedly when tae finally comes around and unlocks the gate for you and you drop to your butt

you coo when a majority of the puppies start clambering over each other to get to you

you really are in heaven

this was a greAT way to spend your sunday morning

good job sad and lonely y/n!!!!!! (oof)

“oOH i can’t decide i wanna take them all home” you sigh and lean back against your palms and tae can’t help but laugh before taking a seat across from you

“yeah, it’s definitely going to be a difficult decision. i remember when i was choosing my dog it took me like three whole hours to finally say ‘okay, i’m choosing thiS one’”

“oh, you have a dog?”

“mhm! a pomeranian. his name is yeontan, but i call him tannie. he was supEr duper tiny when…” you don’t mean to be rude and space out while taehyung’s telling you about his dog but like,..,,. he’s just.,.,. so beautiful.,,

his soft, dark brown hair

his jawline and his cheekbones and his strong eyebrows and his sparkling eyes and his boxy grin and woW god really spent time on him because he is so,.,.., so handsome.,.,.,

maybe you’re just getting ahead of yourself

just because you’re lonely doesn’t mean you should go and juMP on the first guy that’s nice to you

maybe tae’s not actually thAt handsome and it’s just your sadness and desperation making you thiNK he’s handsome (no this is a complete lie even if you weren’t sad and desperate and lonely you would know that tae is very vERY attractive)

and what makes you think tae might be interested in you??? he’s literally only being nice because that’s his joB

you deflate a little bit at your own pessimistic thoughts and bring your attention back to the pups

taehyung is fully aware of the fact that he’s blabbering

but he can’t help it

he blabbers when he’s nervous!!!!! and right now he is vERy nervous because there is a very pretty girl sitting across from him and he hasn’t made a move on someone in so long so he’s reaLLy really out of the groove of things

is he talking too much about yeontan???? is he not talking enouGH about yeontan?? should he have let you keep those 4 pairs of rain boots and 3 bags of treats??? he doesn’t know!!!!! aHHHHH!!!!!!!!

also he doesn’t want there to be any awkward silence if he stopped talking so that’s why he’s keeping his mouth running and running and running and ruNNing-

“hey, buddy~ do you wanna come home with me?” you coo and lift up the puppy that’s calmly stuck by your side the entire time

he pokes his lil tongue out and you grin “what do you say?”

he yips and leans in to lick your nose

you feel an insTANT connection

you turn the puppy around so that he’s facing tae

and tae can’t help but laugh at the sight of you just holding the puppy like that

his legs are just dangling in midair but his tail is still wagging a mile a minute

“i think this might be my guy” you coo and let him back down onto his feet and he hops up onto your lap

you scratch behind his ear and he barks

“have you thought about potential names yet?”

you purse your lips and look down at the nameless puppy

“not yet… maybe you can help me come up with one?”

you didn’t know how hard it was to choose a name for something

it took you like three seconds to name kevin

but you and tae have been sitting here for almost forty minutes trying to come up with something

but also it’s not just up to you you think its important that the doG reacts to the name too

tae has multiple tabs open on his phone and he’s just reading names out to you

“baxter?”

you look down at the pup and it blinks back up at you

“jax?”

no reaction

“ace?”

nope

“scooter?”

nuh-uh

“sparky?”

still nothing

“rusty”

the pup growls at that one because rusty??? how inSULTING

“teddy”

nope

“cooper”

stiLL nothing

“duke”

nah

“how about milo?” you interrupt tae and keep your eyes trained on the pup

you want to thank the lords above when it barks and twirls around in a circle before sitting on his butt

“milo!” he barks again and sticks his tongue out “milo~” you coo and lift him up so that you can smoosh a kiss on his cheek

and if that’s not the cutest thing he’s ever seen in his entire life taehyung doesn’t know whAT IS

“thank you for everything, by the way. you’ve been really helpful.” you tuck your credit card back into your wallet (it’s a good thing you didn’t end up getting those extra rain boots because ouCh the total was not a pretty number)

and then u realise

you haven’t even introduced yourself to tae

“oh! i’m y/n, by the way. probably should’ve started with that.” you chuckle sheepishly

taehyung smiles to himself as he sneaks an extra dog cookie into your bag

is he going to make his move

,.,., yes he is

“i’m taehyung,” he grins and you feel your heart flutter

hoO

your heart hasn’t fluttered like that in a long time

“-but you can call me later.” you can’t help but snort and taehyung grins as he rings up the last of your things

you can’t help but feel a sense of relief knowing that tae has taken an interest in you as well

“you’re lucky you’re cute” you mutter and tae looks up at you and raises a brow

“did you just call me cute?”

“i was talking to milo” you joke and tae raises his hands in defense

a moment of silence goes by

“hey, maybe milo and yeontan can meet each other one day or something…?” he clears his throat and punches a couple buttons on the computer

he’s not actually doing anything he’s just pretending like he’s doing something so that he can keep talking to u

“what do you think, milo?” you look down at milo and he blinks up at you “you wanna meet yeontan?” his mouth opens and he starts panting “what day is good for you, hm?”

milo barks before his hind leg is scratching behind his ear

ah

classy

“is this sunday good for you? milo and i can meet you here, or… we could meet at the dog park, or…”

“or maybe i can take you out for breakfast first? there’s a really nice café downtown that allows dogs in there too… and, um, and then we could go to the dog park? we don’t have to, if you don’t want to, we can just go straight to the dog park if-“

“i would love to go for breakfast.” you smile shyly and your stomach does a flip-flop

taehyung sucks his bottom lip in between his teeth before nodding and reaching for the printer as your receipt starts printing out

you’re a bit preoccupied fawning over your new puppy so tae quickly scribbles his number down on the back of your receipt

he steps out from behind the counter so that he can help you carry your things to the car

“so, this is for you,” tae hands you the receipt and you take it from him “like i said before, you should probably puppy-proof your place if you haven’t done so yet. milo’s at the age where everything is something to chew on, so if you have a pair of expensive shoes or something you might wanna put them away-“ milo barks and starts walking slowly around you and tae

tae looks down at him and takes a step closer to you because he doesn’t want to accidentally steP on your puppy “um, yeah, so, electrical cords, laundry, especially dirty socks-“

milo starts walking again and his little paws pit-pat against the floor

“uh-huh,” you furrow your brows and look down at milo and he stops walking and promptly sits and looks up at you “sorry, what were you saying?”

“training treats are good, but don’t give him too many treats because…”  

and now that you’re distracted again

milo makes his move

he’s a lil man with a lil plan

milo barks and starts running circles around you and tae

“milo-!”

you feel his leash starting to tighten around your ankles and the next thing you know you’re pressed riGHT up against tae

you stumble a little and let out a squeak of surprise

your hands shoot up to rest against tae’s chest to keep yourself balanced and tae instinctively reaches out to grab onto your hips

the two of you lock gazes and a beat of silence goes by before you’re both breaking out into nervous giggles

almost immediately your entire face flushes bright red

you certainly weren’t expecting this

“here, hand me his leash-“ taehyung takes it from you and bends down a little and starts unwinding the leash from around your guys’ legs

you want to diE (in a good way??) because tae still has one hand on your waist to keep you steady

then he’s scoOping milo up into his arms and turning him around so that he can look him in the eye “i can tell you’re going to be a bit of a troublemaker…”

milo barks and licks tae’s nose and tae grins before plopping him back onto the ground and handing you back the leash

“so…” tae shuts your trunk after helping you put everything in “i’ll see you sunday?” 

you nod and offer him a smile before deciding to just dO iT 

you are young and life is short and taehyung is cuTE 

tae’s eyes widen when you plant a kiss on his cheek and a big fat grin immediately appears on his face 

“i’ll see you su-“ you’re cut off when milo suddenly pops his head out from the passenger seat and barks 

tae scoffs playfully “yeah, i’ll see you sunday too, milo” 

help me help you make your wishes come tru (aka send me a request)

masterlist

[bell-dom]

001.rtf

Rain had been pouring all night and early morning. His mother wasn’t able to drive him to school, so he had to rely on his own bicycle. He had covered his backpack with a plastic bag, so his books didn’t suffer the consequences.

His mum insisted on the yellow raincoat. Dominic felt like throwing it out as soon as he started riding, but the rain was merciless. He kept it on.

On the last block to the school, he saw a small kid walking with a red raincoat. He called him, there was no answer but he stopped.

“I could give you a ride...” he then saw the backpack of that poor lad: drenched in water. “Or maybe you don’t...”

“I don’t think there’s space, innit?” the bloke spoke way too fast for Dominic to catch anything at first.

“Come again?”

“Your bicycle is t-too small, innit?” He laughed at that but then allowed the smaller chap get on the front.

“Just hold on tight, on what class are you?”

“The same as yours.” Dominic didn’t reply anything, but they arrived quickly to their small school. A teacher with a raincoat was rushing them inside.

“Howard, Bellamy! Didn’t know you two were friends, c’mon in, laddies, it’s hell out here!” Dominic let the other kid down, before pulling his own bike to the side and securing it close to the entrance. “Howard, you’re going to be late!”

“I’m coming, Miss Flowerpot!” He looked back to her and saw the kid staring at him. What was he waiting for?

“Mr. Bellamy, didn’t you think about a plastic bag for you backpack? Your books must be ruined!” The kid was focused on his new friend, but without skipping a beat, opened his bag to reveal his books in a plastic bag. “Oh, well. That’s... that’s another way to do it, then. C’mon, get inside. I’m sure Mr. Howard...”

Dominic came to his side and then Bellamy followed. Miss Flowerpot chuckled amused about it. It was an odd friendship to see.

◈ • ◈ • ◈ • ◈ • ◈ • ◈ • ◈ • ◈ • ◈ • ◈ • ◈ • ◈ • ◈ • ◈ • ◈ 

Inside, Dominic tried to look for Christopher and the others. He then noticed the kid was stuck to him.

“Alright, all I know from you is that your surname is Bellamy but... how do you like to be called, actually?” Dominic had stopped in the middle of the hallway, the other kids respected him so nobody bumped into them.

“Uhh... Matthew... Matt.” He smiled, his crooked teeth making him look younger.

“Good, Matt.” He extended his hand. “My name’s Dominic... Dom, for the mates. I gotta find my friends but we see each other in class, yes? I think you’re one of the smart ones so... you don’t want to be late!” He ruffled his hair before leaving. Christopher wouldn’t believe it.

◈ • ◈ • ◈ • ◈ • ◈ • ◈ • ◈ • ◈ • ◈ • ◈ • ◈ • ◈ • ◈ • ◈ • ◈ 

Christopher, Daniel and Alex had skipped the day, so he headed back to his own class. There, Matthew, sat on the front. The teacher hadn’t arrived so Matt was mimicking playing the piano.

“You play?”

“Y-yes, I play classic for now but I plan on writing my own songs one day.” Matt said without looking up. “I know your friend Chris plays in a band.”

“Yeah, the guys have their own thing, Chris is teaching me some of the stuff.” Matt looked up and nodded. There was a long silence.

“You don’t play with them?” Dom shook his head laughing. 

“Not with them but I’m trying to get something together. Maybe in a couple of months.” Both looked at the door because Mr. Finnigan had just appeared. “Maybe if we need a piano player, we’ll get you in, huh?” Matt smiled at that, Dom went to the back to his usual seat.

Matt didn’t pay attention to any of the lessons... instead, he kept on writing songs on the back of his notebook.