#Looks like I'll have to get outside my comfort zone a little bit.

[adventuretolkienlover]

I just realized that in future fight scenes in my fic, that can and will be injuries... Which means I'll have to describe said injuries and blood... 😳 And I'm squeamish... This shall be an interesting experience. 😬

[hwaslayer]

the space between us three (jyh) | three.

⇢series masterlist | series playlist

⇢summary: while juggling the demands of life, yunho continues to do his best to raise his independent 11 yr old daughter, seora. throughout the years, they've built a strong foundation, an unbreakable bond— one that consists of late night talks and food runs, father/daughter dates, and sideline cheerleading at her basketball games. so when you unexpectedly come into their world, things shift. despite the uncertainty and the fear of stepping outside of their comfort zone, yunho and seora eventually learn how to open their hearts and learn how to rebuild a home where three can thrive together.

⇢pairing: single dad!yunho x f. reader

⇢genre: (18+ - minors dni) strangers to lovers, single dad au | fluff, angst, eventual smut

⇢word count: 7.4k

⇢chapter content/warnings: cussing, mature language, seora's a smart lil gal who luvs her uncles v much, she does open up a lil bit about her mom, mentions of death, yunho goes out for dinner, making out, one-sided [rushed] feelings tho oof - one of those things where you think it'd play out fine then it doesn't 🤐, a lil glimpse into yunho and his thoughts/how he feels about things, some seora x uncle hwa content, a bit of oc x parents too!

"Hey." Yunho slips on his seatbelt as the call pulls up through the car's bluetooth, on his way out of the staff garage. "Were you able to leave a bit early to get to Seora?"

"Yes, I already told you I'd find a way. I'm pulling up to the lot right now." Yunho lets out a breath of relief, heading over to Ara's loft since she had the day off today. Tonight was the night they'd go out for dinner, something Yunho thought would be fun and harmless. He went into this thinking he'd put himself out there and give it a chance, even though deep down, he's not entirely sure where he lies about this— about her. 

Maybe tonight would help him decide, but he wasn't gonna force it and just let things go with the flow. 

"Looks like I made it just in time. Practice just got out."

"Good." 

"So, what exactly did you tell Seora?"

"That I was heading out to a team dinner."

"Atta boy."

"Shut up."

"Uncle Hwa!" Yunho hears Seora's voice in the background, causing him to smile to himself. "Sup!"

"What's up, little one?" Seonghwa playfully ruffles her hair before pulling her into a hug. "Ready to go? Anything you want before we head home?"

"Hm, that's a good question." She points to the phone. "Wait, are you on the phone with my dad?"

"Sure am." He faces the phone towards her before she grabs it.

"Dad."

"Hey babygirl. I'll be home later, okay? Have fun with Uncle Hwa. Run his wallet dry, he won't mind." She laughs.

"Okay, I will. But, what time will you be home?"

"I don't know, not too late. It could run a little long, though."

"Hm." She hums. "Are you really going to a team dinner?" Seonghwa purses his lips together to prevent himself from laughing out loud.

"Yes." Yunho says, feeling a bit bad to lie to his own daughter. "I'll get home as soon as I can."

"Okay." 

"I love you, ace. Make your uncle useful."

"Okay, okay." She chuckles. "I love you, too." She passes the phone back to Seonghwa before sliding her things into the backseat and settling into the passenger's side.

"Have fun at your team dinner." Seonghwa teases, making Yunho rolls his eyes.

"Not one word, Park Seonghwa."

"Uh huh." He hangs up the phone and slips into the driver's seat, settling in just before turning on the car and looking over at Seora. "So, did you figure out what you want, ace?" She tugs on her hoodie strings as she scrolls through her phone. 

"I kinda want a good ol' burger."

"Burgers and fries sound good right now, actually. Any place in particular?"

"Burger Almighty?" Seonghwa smiles. 

"Nice choice. Do you wanna eat there, or take it back home?"

"Take it back home, please. I need to get out of my practice clothes." Seonghwa nods, pulling up the website in order to place an order for pickup. "Ou, actually, wait. Uncle Hwa?"

"Yup?"

"Can we also stop by for ice cream?"

"Of course." He hands her the phone. "Here, pick whatever you want." She smiles and slouches in the front seat, going through the menu options. She goes back and forth for awhile, but Seonghwa patiently waits. He hears his phone ding and doesn't think much about it until Seora pops in once more, finally selecting her options and adding it to the cart. "Someone named Yoori texted you."

"Oh." Seonghwa looks at her. "I'll get to it later."

"She's asking if you wanna come over tonight." Seora smirks before letting out a small laugh. "Dad mentioned you were kinda seeing someone. Is that her?"

"Dad just airing out my business, huh?" Seonghwa laughs before grabbing his phone. "Is that all?"

"Mhm. Besides the ice cream. Thank you, Uncle Hwa." 

"Course." Hwa quickly texts back that he might stop by before he gets home tonight, but he'll let her know. 

"So, are you seeing her? Kinda seeing her, whatever that means? What does it mean to be kinda seeing someone?" Her questions are coming back to back and Seonghwa can't help but chuckle dryly as he drives out of the lot and towards their first destination.

"We're.. figuring things out."

"What's there to figure out, Uncle Hwa? You either like each other or you don't, right?"

"Things can get complicated, ace. Especially when you get older and your wants and needs in a partner become more solidified. Specific."

"Like..?"

"We're both just not sure if we're ready to take that next step. Or, I guess, it's mainly me."

"Then, do you really like her if you question it?"

"I do. I just haven't been in a relationship in awhile, and I was kinda enjoying my freedom." Seora nods, still unsure about this whole idea of relationship complexities and what not. "You get older and you realize you don't wanna waste anyone's time and effort and vice versa."

"I see." Seora looks at him. "If she likes you a lot too, I don't see what the harm is."

"I don't wanna hurt anyone on accident."

"You wouldn't hurt anyone, Uncle Hwa." He smiles.

"Thanks, ace. But your uncle makes mistakes cause I'm human. As with anyone."

"Dad hasn't really dated anyone, either." Seonghwa shrugs, knowing Yunho has tried and has dabbled in it, but it always never went far. Not far enough that Yunho felt comfortable enough introducing them to Seora and opening that door.

"Mmyeah, cause he doesn't feel the need to when he has you." Seora giggles.

"I like it, though. Just us two."

"Would you be mad if your dad started dating again?" 

"Um, I'm not sure."

"What do you mean?"

"I guess it depends? If I like the person or not."

"Of course he'd make sure you're happy and that you'd get along well with the person."

"Mmyeah. It'd be an adjustment, though. I'm used to it being just us two."

"I know, and your dad is, too. But, he does deserve to be happy, right?"

"What else can make him happier than me, Uncle Hwa?" He laughs and shakes his head. 

"You're right. He is happy." Seonghwa pauses. "Seora, promise me one thing?"

"I can try?"

"You'll keep your mind open to it? You know.. your dad dating and possibly opening the door for another person to step in."

"Mm, sure." She says before there's a brief pause in the conversation. "Sometimes, I wonder what it'd be like to have a mom. I barely got time with mine." She says softly, her voice tapering off at the end of the statement.

"And it was unfair to you." Seonghwa lets out a breath as he navigates the tricky streets of the city, almost nearing their endpoint. 

"Right? Like.. I wonder how it feels to hang out with your mom, or to go on dates with her. Talk to her about girly stuff. Do our hair and makeup together. Nails. Go shopping." Seonghwa turns to her as he stops at a red light, watching as her eyes continue to focus on the surroundings outside. "Dad tries his best. He always tries to do things with me so I don't have to wonder too much, but sometimes I can't help it."

"That's okay, Seora. He knows. He does try his best always, but he knows that question will always be there." She's silent again for a moment, and Seonghwa isn't sure if she's missing her mom or trying to replay the memories that she has left of her. It breaks his heart because he knows Seora is missing a part of her— she just manages to mask it well. 

"Yeah." Is all she responds with me. "I dunno, maybe one day I'll remember what it's like." She says softly. "I have dad for now though, and he's enough."

"One day." Seonghwa repeats after her, not wanting to plunge deeper into the conversation and turn Seora's mood inside out tonight. "Well." He pulls into a spot across the street from the burger place. "There's a convenience store I can run into for your ice cream. What are you craving for?"

"Strawberry, please!"

"That's a good one." He unbuckles his seatbelt before turning to her. "I'll grab our stuff and be back." She gives him a toothless smile and nods, eyes glued onto him as he slams the door shut and locks the car; leaving Seora to her own while she waits patiently in her seat.

Yunho pulls up to Ara's building, parking in the lot after getting through security at the gate. He unbuckles his seat belt and lets out a sigh, dusting himself down before slipping out and heading inside. He presses the front code at the lobby door before stepping inside and heading up to the 3rd floor. When he finally gets to her door, he knocks a few times before stepping back and digging his hands into his pockets.

"Yunho." She says, a smile on her face. She's in a cute baby blue sweater and jeans, white chucks on her feet. It's more of a casual thing, nothing too serious or too fancy. It makes Yunho a little more comfortable that way. Less pressure. "Hey."

"Hey. You look nice." Yunho smiles at her. "Ready?" She nods. "Hope you're down for some ramen?"

"I can always go for some good ramen." She smiles and makes sure her door is shut and locked before following him back down.

"How was your day off?"

"It was good! I spent the day grabbing groceries and deep cleaning my space. But otherwise, it was nice and relaxing. Just what I needed." Yunho looks at her with a small smile.

"That's good. I'm glad you got to relax for the most part. You definitely need it with how hard you work."

"Thanks." She giggles. "How was work today?" He shrugs, her eyes ogling his figure as they step into the elevator. He's in a white longsleeve and a puffer vest, dark denim and chucks.

"Kinda busy. Things are really ramping up with that new department. I feel like our team is constantly getting pulled into things left and right now."

"Aren't you guys hiring another person?" He nods.

"Hopefully, yeah. I have a few more interviews this upcoming week, but should be wrapping up after that. There's two people that the team and I like so far."

"That's good. More help is on the way. A step closer to shedding off some of your workload." Yunho chuckles a bit.

"Yeah, that's the hope. Taehyun has been a lot of help, though. It hasn't been entirely bad."

"That's good to hear." Yunho swings the door open to the passenger's seat, giving Ara the opportunity to slip in and get herself comfortable before he shuts the door and hops in. 

"Heat okay? Too hot?" He asks as he starts up the car and pulls up the directions to a popular ramen shop that just opened last month. The wait is outrageous, but luckily, Yunho threw them onto the waitlist as soon as they opened for dinner. They'll get there just in time for their table to be ready. 

"No, it's perfect."

"Cool." He says, pulling off to begin their journey deep into the city. Ara watches as he drives off flawlessly with one hand, leaning onto the middle console. It's no lie that Ara has always had a crush on Yunho, and she's always thought he was incredibly attractive. She kept her distance though, supporting him as a friend and being careful not to be in too, too deep with her feelings because she didn't wanna scare him off or make him uncomfortable. When he finally asked her out to a casual dinner , she was excited. Butterflies swarming her tummy at full speed— she feels like her patience is paying off.

Maybe this will blossom into something; the one thing she had hoped for with him.

"How's Miss Seora doing?" 

"She's good. Still getting good grades and playing basketball. She's hanging out with her Uncle Seonghwa right now." Ara smiles.

"That's cute. It's really sweet how you guys are close."

"Yeah, he's helped me alot with Seora. She loves having her uncles around. Gives her something new to deal with besides her own father." She laughs.

"I'm sure that girl loves and appreciates you more than anything, Yunho. You're a great dad."

"I try to be." He shrugs. "Although, she used to hate when I tried to do her hair and dress her up. She said I mixed and matched clothes way too much and her ponytails were always lopsided."

"You did your best." Ara laughs a little louder. "Doing hair and dressing up a baby girl is not for the faint of heart."

"Truly isn't." He laughs, while Ara points at his pinky nail. 

"I see she painted your nails?" Yunho briefly looks down at his two pinkies, painted with black nail polish. 

"Sure did. She kept it minimal, though. For work, she says. Just a lil touch." Ara giggles.

"You two are cute."

"Mm, we try to be." Yunho jokes. The conversation continues on as Yunho drives the last 10 minutes to the ramen shop, finding parking right around the corner despite the busy streets and the long line that's forming right outside of the restaurant. He helps Ara out of the car before locking it up, walking alongside of her until it gets too tight to do so. He guides her by the small of her back, pushing her towards the front of the restaurant where the host is. As guessed, they arrive right when their table is ready, the host immediately showing them to their table in the back corner.

She settles into the chair across from him before thanking the host and taking the menu from her hands. They instantly skim their options, with Yunho already deciding on what he wants. He marks it off on the sheet, along with any modifications he wants [extra spicy, extra green onions], while Ara does the same. When they're ready to submit their orders, Yunho calls over the server, handing them their order papers before clasping his hands together—elbow resting on the table as he looks over at her. She's trying her hardest not to blush while sipping on her water, eyes avoiding eye contact cause Yunho makes her feel a certain way.

He just doesn't know if he can reciprocate the feeling. 

Truthfully, if he's being all the way honest— he went into this thinking it'd be chill. Harmless in a sense. Putting himself out there since he didn't have much to lose. He knew Ara's had feelings; even if she never said it out loud, it's pretty obvious. And not to say she isn't a great girl, no. She's great. She's been a good friend to Yunho, and she's incredibly sweet. He couldn't really tell you why he didn't see her in that light, though. Perhaps, he still wasn't ready for a relationship. Or, maybe he was and he already had a feeling that she wouldn't be the right one.

Maybe he's being too critical.

But all he knows, is that in this moment, Ara is giving him heart eyes and she's blushing over everything he does. It makes him feel good, but the other half of him feels bad because when he looks at her, he just sees a friend. Good company.

The night is still early.

Yunho is trying to remind himself.

When the food arrives, they get to eating right away. In between, Yunho dives a little deeper into his dynamic with Seora, touching up on the fact that he doesn't really get a long with his parents but will bear with them solely because of her. Even though they don't do much for their granddaughter, she still wonders about them and how they're doing. She always talks about seeing them soon even though Yunho can never promise that she will. He doesn't talk about Eunha, though. Kinda leaves the conversation at that. He feels like he needs to build a better connection with someone in order to open up about that part of his past. Not only is it too painful, but it's a subject that makes Yunho incredibly vulnerable.

The good thing with Ara is that she doesn't budge nor does she push. She ends up talking a lot about her childhood and growing up with her parents in exchange. She has lived a pretty good life; her parents supporting both her and her sister throughout all their endeavors. Her sister works abroad in the fashion industry, while Ara decided to take the healthcare route. Her parents were supportive nonetheless, pushing them to strive for their dreams and supporting them through every opportunity that came their way. Yunho thinks it's nice that they have that sort of relationship— it speaks volumes to the way Ara carries herself and how sweet she is. She makes a great nurse, a great daughter and sister; and it almost makes her a little too perfect.

Which, isn't bad.

But, also isn't great for Yunho. Because all he is made of is flaws and all; he's got a lot of things he lacks in, he feels. He hasn't been in a serious relationship since Eunha passed and he isn't even sure he knows what the word love is anymore. What it's like to love and be loved. He doesn't focus on himself a majority of the time because that time and attention goes to this daughter. He wouldn't have it any other way, let's get that straight.

However, it's clear Ara has this 'perfect' image of him in her head when he is far from that. He is merely getting by; things hurt the fuck outta him and he stresses over every little thing. He gets overwhelmed easily, anxious, can barely let go of the past trauma.

He doesn't wanna disappoint her. Anyone, as a matter of fact.

The conversation continues until they've both slurped up the last bits of their ramen, and Yunho genuinely enjoyed it once they've stopped talking so deeply. Conversations come easy with Ara and he does like that. He doesn't have to try too hard to think about what to talk about next or how to carry the conversation. Brief pauses in between don't feel awkward.

It's nice.

After dinner, he pays for their meal and turns down Ara's efforts to pay for her half. They joke and tease on the way back to the car, with Yunho turning up the music a tad bit louder this time around so it helps fill the empty space in the car. He feels himself getting a little exhausted, but when Ara looks at him with those eyes and asks if he wants to come up for a bit, he finds himself confused; he should be saying no, but he ends up with:

"Sure." Yunho gives her a tiny, toothless smile as she leads the way back up to her loft. Yunho feels bad for even thinking about going back on his decision because it feels pretty intimate to be coming into someone's space after dinner. He doesn't wanna be rude, though. And, he did enjoy their talk over dinner.

So, he continues despite the inner turmoil that's starting to form.

Back upstairs, Ara kicks off her shoes first before Yunho does. He stands awkwardly near the door while she sets her things down, following her into the living room area once she starts padding over. He plops onto the couch and settles into it; leaning back to rest, arm positioned on the back edge of the couch. Ara gives him a glass of water before sitting down next to him, and Yunho feels himself tense up a bit when he feels her leg brush against his. She's got some kind of psychological thriller show on, and Yunho's trying his best to get invested as it continues to play. Ara gives him a little bit more context to the show, describing it with such big eyes and an excited tone that Yunho finds it pretty cute. 

Then, at some point, she has somehow shifted in her position and is now sitting right against him. He still has his arm on the back of the couch, and she has slotted herself in that opening— sitting criss-crossed as she continues to watch her show. He feels her warmth against his, and he's not sure how to act.

She probably feels how stiff and rigid he is.

"You okay?" She asks and he gives her a smile.

"Yeah, why?"

"I dunno. You got quiet."

"I'm trying to keep up with your show." She laughs.

"It's a lot." 

"All good. It's interesting." He looks down at her. She doesn't say anything, but her eyes are glazing over his features. He watches as she scans his face, down to his lips, and he feels himself swallow thickly because he knows where this is going. She's the first to pull up— suddenly pressing her lips against his in that brief moment they shared and Yunho indulges in it. They hold the kiss there for a second longer before Yunho [mistakenly] deepens the kiss and pulls her onto his lap. The kiss heightens quickly, the show in the background long forgotten. He lets out a shaky exhale in between kisses, with Ara gently pressing herself down against him. She takes Yunho's hand and guides it up her stomach, to her chest— landing on her breast. His eyes widen a bit, the shock causing him to slightly pull back from the kiss to try and read her. She nods though, subtly biting her lip as she leans forward to kiss him again; a soft moan releasing from her lips when he squeezes the flesh in the palm of his hand while she starts to pepper kisses along his jaw, neck.

And as much as he can easily fall into this, say fuck it and just go with it— that's not who he is.

"Wait." Yunho pries his lips off of hers, his hand retracting from her body. "Wait." He repeats.

"What's wrong?" She asks, eyes still full of desire, lust. He can see the way she looks at him and it's even more of a reason to push off. Reality hits tough, and Yunho thinks this is a prime example of when it's both a blessing and a curse.

"Ara, I'm sorry. I'm—" He looks at her with his big, brown, sad eyes. Because it's not her at all, it's him. He's just not into this and he doesn't really know how else to tell her. "I can't." She sinks into her seat and Yunho feels so, so bad. "I don't wanna do that to you." He sighs and scoots back a bit. "You're great, you really are. But, you deserve someone who is sure of you. I'm sorry I can't be that person. I just— I just think we're good as friends." He sighs. "I'm sorry if I had lead you on or gave you any mixed signals, that wasn't my intention." He says softly, and Ara can't even be livid at him because of how genuinely sweet and apologetic he's being. "I shouldn't have come up here—"

"Yunho, it's okay." She says with a forced, reassuring smile, hopping off his lap because damn, this is awkward. Not only does the rejection hit her hard, but she must look desperate and way too needy for him now. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to move so quickly, I thought—"

"You don't have to apologize." Yunho stands and gathers himself. "You didn't do anything wrong. It's just.."

"We're better off as friends." She finishes the statement and he can't help but shrug. He doesn't know how to explain it, but he doesn't want her to think she did anything wrong.

She didn't.

"I hope you believe me when I say it isn't you. You are amazing and anyone would be lucky to have you. I—I haven't done this in a long time and quite frankly, I don't think I'm ready."

"Or maybe, it's just not me you want. And that's okay, Yunho. You're probably right— maybe we are just better off as friends."

"I'm sorry." He says weakly. "I really hope I didn't mess this up because I'd still like for us to be the same as we were before."

"No, of course not." She says even though it's obvious she's got tears welling in her eyes and she's hurt. Yunho feels his heart drop, but at the same time, he knew he had to stop it before it could get too deep—

Before he could make a terrible mistake; do the unthinkable to someone he cared about as a friend first and foremost.

"Ara."

"I promise it's all okay." She nods. "I agree with you, and we shouldn't force this if it's not meant to happen." She gives him another forced smile.

"I'll head out and give you some space. I'm sorry." Is all he can respond with. He walks over to her door and slips back into his shoes before looking back at her. She purses her lips and doesn't say much, and it makes Yunho feel like he's already ruined this.

Damn, Yunho.

"I'll see you on Monday, yeah?" She nods quietly again while opening the door for him.

"Thanks again for dinner. It was great. I can send you my half—"

"No, no need. Dinner was on me, remember? It's totally fine." He gives her a tiny, toothless smile. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight." She answers, allowing him to walk further down the hall before shutting the door and getting back to her own peace. She's hurt, not gonna lie. She truly felt like there was hope, especially with the texts exchanged and the way he was good to her tonight. But, looking back at it, it could have been her fault for completely assuming and jumping the gun— it was Yunho just being Yunho.

Oh well.

Maybe things will be better in the future, and the timing would align. She understands he has different priorities right now, and that's okay. Who is she to determine that for him?

Yunho gets back into his car and lets out a hefty sigh, sitting there for a second before grumbling a low 'fuck' to himself. He feels really bad and he knew he should've dropped her off and left it at that.

But, no. 

He had to go and be stupid about it.

At least he can say he tried, right? That should count for something.

"Wanna put up another movie? Your dad's date—" Seonghwa pauses and looks at Seora as she furrows her brows at him. They had put on a movie after Seora freshened up for the evening. She didn't have too much homework, so she finished up the last bits with the first movie on before they had indulged in dinner. Now, her and her Uncle Hwa were eating ice cream, looking at more movie options to throw on until her father would get home. "Your dad's team dinner should be done by now."

"Date?"

"I didn't say that."

"Uncle Hwa." 

"What?" Seora gives him one last look before pinching him on the bicep, causing him to let out a yelp. "Swear! I don't know where you heard that from." He cocks a brow up playfully. "It's a team dinner."

"Oooookay." She playfully cuts her eyes at him before going through the movie options. "You can just say so."

"Ou, look." Seonghwa diverts her attention to the TV and points at a movie to put on. "Let's watch Rogue One, I haven't seen that one in a minute."

"Or, we can watch Degrassi or—"

"You definitely don't need to poison your brain watching that mess."

"You sound more like my dad than my dad." Seonghwa scoffs as he takes the remote and puts on Rogue One.

"You need to watch more educational things. Like Rogue One. Stepping into your powers and using them for good."

"They're a group of rebels, Uncle Hwa."

"A group of rebels preventing mass destruction!" Seora sighs as she sits back and finishes the rest of her ice cream, knowing her uncle is very much into Star Wars and lets him have it. It's quiet for a moment before she pops in again, asking about his plans for tonight.

"Have you decided?"

"On what? How I'd use my powers for good?" His eyes are trained on the tv.

"No, silly. If you're meeting Yoori." He looks at her before returning his attention back to the TV.

"Why does it matter if I do or not?"

"Uncle Hwa, you can do whatever you want. Just don't mess up because you're too afraid to admit your feelings."

"Hey!" He looks at her with a brow cocked up. "How do you even know about things like that?"

"I'm about to be 12."

"Yeah, you were born yesterday." She playfully rolls her eyes and scoffs. "You shouldn't be knowing things like that."

"Please. I am right, aren't I?"

"I don't know if I'm going to go yet because I have work tomorrow."

"I hear excuses." He gasps.

"Jeong Seora—"

"Yo!" Yunho walks in right at that moment, causing Seora to shift her attention to the door; tormenting her uncle now a long lost thought in her head.

 "Dad!" Seora squeals and runs over to her dad, koala'ing him and causing him to laugh when she hangs onto him like tomorrow will never come. "You're home!"

"I am." 

"How was your team dinner?" Seonghwa looks at him, wiggling his eyebrows while Seora is still preoccupied with grabbing her dad's attention.

"Date, you mean."

"What?" Yunho looks down at her.

"Uh, Uncle Hwa said you went out on a date." Yunho knits his brows at Seonghwa and all he can do is shrug.

"No, I never said that." Hwa cuts in to lie again. "I said team dinner. Anything else you heard was created by your own mind." Yunho glares at him.

"Did you?" Seora looks up at her dad, chin pressed against his chest while she keeps her arms around him.

"It was just a team dinner, is all."

"Sure." Seora sarcastically says before unwrapping herself from him and walking off to the bathroom. "It's fine or whatever, you know!" She shuts the bathroom door.

"See you've managed to talk to Seora about a lot."

"Sorry, it kinda slipped out." Seonghwa chuckles and Yunho mocks him. "Besides, she was just grilling me about Yoori."

"How did that happen?"

"Yoori texted me earlier asking if I wanted to come over while ace was putting in her order. She was scolding me right before you walked in. That girl is way ahead of her time."

"Been knew that." Yunho chuckles.

"How'd it go? Did you and Ara do anything?"

"Anything as in dinner, yes?" Yunho is confused, even though he knows exactly what Seonghwa is picking at.

"Okay.. and?" Yunho sighs and shakes his head.

"Kissed her but didn't go very far." He mumbles lowly.

"Why not?"

"I just wasn't feeling it, honest to god. I didn't wanna do that to her." At this point, Seora swings the door back open, causing both Seonghwa and Yunho to turn their attention down the hall before looking at each other. 

"We'll talk about this later." Hwa chuckles a bit. "Should've gone all the way." He says barely above a whisper.

"No." Yunho almost scoffs while he grabs his things and prepares to head out. "Get out." Unbelievable.

"On my way, boss." Seonghwa laughs. "Let me go say bye to ace." He walks down the hallway, giving Seora another big, tight hug before heading out. Yunho gives him one last final goodbye before shutting the door and locking up for the night, heading in to catch up with Seora and hang out with her before the night ends.

"So, really dad. How did your team dinner go?" She smirks as she comes back outside and plops on the couch. Yunho chuckles a bit before shrugging.

"The usual. It was.. good bonding time."

"Hm." She hums. "That's good. What did you guys get to eat?"

"Ramen."

"A fine choice for this cold evening." He laughs.

"Wanna continue a few episodes before we call it a night? I'm just gonna change."

"Sure. Do you want me to grab you a bowl of ice cream? I made Uncle Hwa buy me some strawberry ice cream after picking up our burgers. Ice cream is the best when it's cold out."

"That sounds good, ace. Thank you." She smiles while getting up to grab a bowl of ice cream for her dad, excited to finally spend the rest of the evening with him all to herself.

"Dad! My friends are waiting." She pouts a bit, staring at her father as she stands near the passenger door, watching as he slips into his shoes.

"Seora, I promise you I'm coming." Yunho pats his jeans down before doing one final check around the house to make sure everything has been shut off post-breakfast. Meanwhile, you've parked your car near your parents' front gate, grabbing your bag from the front seat before looking at the house and letting out a sigh. You'd give your parents some time today, accompanying them to buy groceries and while running other errands. You knew it'd be a long day, but you did owe it to them.

You needed to do better, you reminded yourself.

Just as you're about to make your way towards the gate, a familiar face comes popping out of the next door house— causing you to pause in your motions and furrow your brows in pure, utter confusion.

Yunho?

"Hi?" You look at Yunho [clearly confused] as he hurries along to the driver's seat. He does a quick double take before pausing briefly, also giving you the same look you gave him a few seconds ago.

"Hey?" He says. "You're—"

"Yeah. My parents."

"Dad, please—" Seora swings the door open. "Oh my god— we're gonna be so late." He lets out a small sigh as he checks the time and realizes they won't be late— his daughter is just eager to get to her friends per usual.

"Seora." He calls her name once more. "You're not gonna be late, okay? Relax." He turns to you with a small smile. "Sorry. Gotta run. I'll talk to you later? Say hi to your parents for me." You give him a small nod before he slips in. You watch him talk to his daughter while slipping on his seatbelt, wasting no time to pull away and drive off shortly afterwards.

"Hey you!" Your mom says, coming down to unlatch the gate.

"Hey. Yunho is your neighbor?" Your eyes are still on the road.

"Yeah, you've met him before at work? I didn't think you two ever crossed paths at the hospitals."

"We don't, but we're working on a big project together now." Your mom smiles from ear to ear.

"He's a good man. Seora, she's growing up to be such a lovely young lady. They're sweet. Such peaceful neighbors. Cutest duo I know." She drags you inside. "Go say hi to your dad, he's in the sunroom watering his plants. Tell him we should eat so we can go." She starts prepping the servings. "Where's Wonwoo?"

"Busy." Your mom gives you a look. "But, we're coming back next weekend. He just made plans already and can't flake."

"I'm sure his friends would've understood if he told them he was visiting his parents."

"Mom. We're coming back next weekend, okay? Please let him be" Your mom gives you a look before setting the food down for a late breakfast while you greet your dad and give him a big hug. 

"So, sounds like you met Yunho?" Your dad asks as you both walk back inside to finally before heading out to run errands.

"I did. Well, during a work meeting. Then, I just ran into him not too long ago. Looks like him and his daughter were in a rush to leave somewhere."

"He's taking her and her friends out shopping." 

"And how do you know that, Miss Ma'am?" You look at your mom while she places a bowl of rice down in front of you.

"I pop in to check on them from time to time. I dropped off some of this food earlier so they could eat it later."

"Do you always bring them food?"

"Most of the time."

"Your mom cooks with them in mind." Your dad adds.

"Oh, hush. I feel bad for the two sometimes. Yunho's been doing it all by himself." Your mom clicks her teeth, mainly out of guilt and worry. The three of you continue to eat away at the food your mom prepared, getting some fuel in to save money on food. "His wife passed away when Seora was just 4 years old."

"Honey." Your dad says. "Can you not tell his whole life story?"

"Why not? I wanna know."

"Then ask him." Your dad says, suddenly getting protective of Yunho. "I know you feel bad, but you should let him tell his story if he wants to."

"Your dad is such a grump."

"Okay, no. He's kinda right." You agree before getting way too ahead of yourself. It is a sensitive subject, and it shouldn't be told by anyone else other than Yunho himself.

"He's a really good guy, though. You should get to know him. Wonwoo, too. Maybe you two will learn a bit more about discipline and spending time with your loved ones before it's too late." You roll your eyes even though there is truth to the statement. 

"Anyway, enough about that. Where are we going today?"

"Well, we have a bunch of groceries to grab. I also need to stop by the pharmacy to pick up my medicine."

"We need to stop by the furniture store too. We've been planning to replace the couch in the living room because of the wear and tear. I think it's time." Your dad reminds your mom.

"Do you guys know what couch you want already or are we gonna shop there?"

"Gonna shop there."

"I do need to find a new shelf for my room."

"See, spending time with your parents can be beneficial."

"Dad, can you please tell her to stop?"

"Honey. She's here, okay? Your son is coming next weekend. All is well."

you: she's doing it again

wonwoo: sorry dude 😖  i'll be there next weekend to take it all

wonwoo: where are you guys going?

you: groceries, pharmacy, furniture shopping

wonwoo: actually sounds kinda fun

you: yeah? then why aren't you here, dumbo

wonwoo: i'm currently in a cabin near the south end 😎 living in peace

you: bye

While you've managed to peacefully eat the rest of your meal with your parents before heading out, Yunho and Mingi are walking around the department store while the girls go from floor to floor, section to section. They managed to snag some coffee before heading in, Yunho already exhausted from picking up Seora's friends to fighting over parking in the already-full mall garage. He's glad he finally gets a moment to chill out for a second, despite the girls squealing and being loud about how cute certain clothes or items are. He's already bought some of her stationary needs, along with a new color-way of Nike dunks she had been eyeing since release.

His wallet will be crying even more in due time, but it's all worth it if Seora goes home happy and content.

"Seora." She turns to look at her dad. "Not too far, okay?"

"Okay, we're just going over there to the juniors section!" Yunho and Mingi watch them speed off to the other corner before browsing the mens section nearby, Mingi already eyeing a jacket near the front racks.

"So."

"Just ask, Mingi." Yunho spits, making Mingi laugh.

"I see your date with Ara didn't go too well?"

"It wasn't even a date. I just went out to dinner with her and it was fine. We had a good time then, it was what happened after that didn't go well."

"Okay, so? What happened after?" Mingi sips his iced americano while the two of them continue to walk around the store, keeping the girls in eye view ahead. 

"We went back to her place, she invited me in." Yunho shrugs. "We were watching stuff on her TV and things kinda escalated. Started kissing her then she tried pushing it further."

"And you said no?"

"Mingi." Yunho looks at him. "You know I'm not like that. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't do it to her. I just can't if I'm not emotionally tied to someone." Mingi nods.

"Nah, that's fair. And probably the right thing to do."

"Probably? It is the right thing to do."

"Right." Mingi responds, a bit distracted by the fine women passing by as they continue to walk around the store. "No, you're right. Sorry." He brings his attention back to his bestfriend. "Assuming Seora didn't know you went out with a lady friend?"

"I don't know, Hwa might've let it slip and I think she believed it but doesn't wanna ask. Or maybe, she doesn't even care." Yunho chuckles.

"I think she'd be fine with you going out on dates, you know? Maybe you don't have to lie to her about it. At some point, she'll need to know especially if you get serious with someone again."

"I'll open up to her about it when I get there. I'm in no rush, though."

"Fair."

"Randomly speaking, I finally saw one of Auntie Love and Uncle Po's kids today."

"Oh, really?"

"She works with me at the hospital. She's at the pediatric unit, though."

"Is she hot?" Yunho clicks his teeth and looks at him.

"Do you ever think about anything else?"

"I'm genuinely asking." Mingi smiles.

"She's pretty."

"What's her name?"

"No."

"Why won't you tell me?"

"Because you don't even know her."

"You want her for yourself, huh?" Yunho just pauses to look at his bestfriend, causing Mingi to smirk while continuing to project. "Selfish son of a bitch."

"I'll deck you—"

"Dad." Yunho and Mingi turn their attention to Seora and her friends, who each have a few clothing items hanging on their arms. "We're gonna go try these on." She points to the dressing room in the far corner behind the juniors section.

"Okay. Uncle Mingi and I will head over in a bit." He subtly elbows Mingi near the rib, causing him to let out a small 'ow.'

"Good, cause I wanna show you how it looks so hurry." She says, turning on her heel to rush over to the dressing room with her friends without batting an eye at her dad and uncle's antics. 

"The fuck was that for? Seriously, do you have your eyes on Auntie Love and Uncle Po's daughter?" Yunho glares at Mingi again as they slowly head over to the dressing room.

"I don't know, okay? I barely know her." Yunho sips on his coffee. "We're gonna be working together quite a bit from now on though because of that new department."

"Interesting."

"Interesting?" Mingi gives him a look. "Why are you giving me that look? It was both you and Hwa who told me to put myself out there."

"Yeah, I'm very aware. And that's great! I just wanted to know if she was cute or not." Mingi laughs. "So, what's her name?" He asks again, making Yunho rolls his eyes and let out a sigh.

"Y/N."

"Pretty."

"That's all I'm telling you."

"Mhhhm." Mingi hums and laughs. "Hope it works out."

"Whatever happens, happens."

"Speaking of things happening— are you and Ara still friends?"

"I think so. We didn't end the night entirely on a bad note. At least, I don't think so. I felt bad and kept apologizing, but she said she understood and it was fine."

"You know it's never just that."

"Well, I'm aware I hurt her to an extent. I'm not gonna lie and try to brush that off."

"You think she'll talk to you if you run into her on Monday?"

"Maybe. I hope so. I really do want us to keep being friends."

"Of course." 

"And who knows, maybe now just isn't the right time. It could work out later."

"Yeah, maybe. But also, if I can be frank, you really don't seem all that into her. I feel like that dinner would've gone way differently if you were set on her." Yunho shrugs.

"It's not her fault. She didn't do anything wrong."

"I mean, it's fine. You probably can already tell you aren't compatible, plus I know you're thinking about how Seora would get along with her, too."

"Mmyeah. I think she woud've liked Ara, but I think you're right. I don't think we'd be compatible."

"Isn't it kinda early to say that, though?"

"Dunno. You tell me. I'm just going off of my gut feeling. I can't force myself to feel a certain way."

"Touché." Mingi sighs. "It's alright, my guy. We still have time. You'll find someone. Maybe it's Y/N."

"Shut up." Mingi laughs before sipping on his coffee, distractedly heading back to the menswear to grab the jacket he had been eyeing this entire time. While he tries it on and pays for his item, Yunho sits near the dressing room while scrolling through his phone. He finds your Instagram page being recommended to him, which he finds to be somewhat uncanny now that he's been talking about you and running into you [despite being assigned to the same project at work]. He can't help but be nosey, clicking onto your page to scroll through your pictures. 

You are pretty.

"Dad." Yunho shifts his attention from his phone to Seora, who is standing in front of him in beige cargo pants and an oversized baseball jacket that looks just like the one he's wearing at the moment. "What do you think about the jacket and pants?" Yunho smiles and nods.

"That looks good, ace."

"I really like that jacket of yours." She points and he nods.

"Why didn't you tell me? I would've bought one for you at the time." She shrugs.

"I didn't think too much about it before. Now I want it." He laughs.

"It looks good."

"Okay, I'm gonna try on this one other shirt and sweater and I think I'll be good. Can I buy them?" 

"If you promise me you'll wear it more than once." 

"I promise!"

"Swear? I better not find it in your donation pile in the next few weeks."

"Dad, I pinky promise. For real."

"Okay then." 

"Yay!" She turns her attention to her friends who are also coming out to show each other what they've been trying on. "Oh my god, that's so cute—" She says, heading back into the fitting room and leaving Yunho alone to your instagram page. He continues scrolling through slowly, peeking at your pics from your travels.

You and your friends that he recognizes from the hospital.

Your selfies where the natural light hits you perfectly.

Your candid photos where your smile is genuine and contagious.

You and your brother, your parents that he and Seora adore.

You really are pretty, and there's something about you that is enticing. Intriguing. A 'lil magnetic and alluring. 

Maybe it wouldn't be a bad thing to work alongside of you on this project.

⇢taglist: @asjkdk @interweab @woojirang @svintsandghosts @cheolliehugs @persphonesorchid @mxnsxngie @jycas @cowboydk @nopension @curse-of-art @thechaotictheoryy @likexaxdaydream @dalsuwaha @enha-stars @yasuraokaa @professormingisglasses @yunyunrin @pommelex @astral-trashcan @laura1399 @domfikeluva @tournesol155 @hwaskookies @yusalterego @hwa-stars @hyukssunflower @chngbnwf @jaytheatiny @lucid-galaxys-world @chaotic-floral @sofkloster

[mattslilies]

✩ model!reader - models for fresh love ✩

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

you pulled up to the building, double checking the address before you got out of your car and walked in. you'd had a scheduling mishap and your manager had double booked you for the day, so you swore under your breath when you noticed that you were showing up late, and for a brand you'd never worked with.

you'd seen the founder, one Chris Sturniolo, follow you on Instagram about two weeks ago, and after scrolling through his account, you'd ended up following him back.

not long after you did, you noticed him liking quite a few of your posts, and then came a ping from your phone, signaling a new message.

2:16 pm: "love all the shoots you've done, they look amazing. i have a shoot for my own brand coming up, was wondering if you wanted to model?"

you read the direct message, the gears in your brain beginning to spin. you couldn't lie, you thought chris was incredibly attractive, and you almost never turned down a good modeling opportunity.

2:23 pm: "what's the brand? would love to look into and consider it."

2:24 pm: "@/freshlove"

a fast responder, then. you scrolled through the account that he had linked, and while it wasn't the type of thing you normally modeled, you were always up for a little bit of a change, a little step outside of your comfort zone.

just as you clicked out of the page, a new message notification crossed your screen.

2:27 pm: "hope you consider it well. would love to see your face there."

was he flirting with you?

you smiled to yourself, never turning down an opportunity for a little fun.

2:28 pm: "i will. would be a shame to miss out on such a nice looking offer. the clothes are cute too."

your only response was a heart reaction to your message, and just two weeks later, here you were.

slipping your phone into your pocket, you glanced around at all the people bustling through the building, unsure of where to go.

"you showed up."

you spun around, quickly realizing it was chris who had spoken, and who you were now standing face to face with.

"yes, i did. i'm so sorry i'm running late, my manager double booked me by mistake-"

chris just laughed, cutting you off.

"don't worry about it. double booked, huh? you must be popular."

you smiled back at him, a teasing glint in your eyes.

"yes, incredibly so. you should be grateful i chose this shoot over the other one i had scheduled today."

his grin only widened, enjoying the playful banter.

"well, consider me lucky i scored such a high demand model. i'll show you where you can grab clothes, if you'd like."

"after you."

it wasn't a far walk to where the rest of the models were setting up, most of them smiling and immediately welcoming you. you settled in easily, not noticing where chris disappeared to, but putting it mostly out of your mind as you let the makeup artist do her job.

the shoot went smoothly, you being the last one to go. chris coincidentally reappeared just in time to oversee all of your photos, smiling when the cameraman showed him each one.

"how's it look?" you called, that same confident smile on your face.

you'd learned early on that insecurity gets you nowhere, and while you weren't cocky, or egotistical, you were photogenic.

"perfect." he was incapable of hiding the smirk on his face.

the shoot wrapped up, and chris showed up once again as you were exiting the changing room, the outfits you'd just modeled draped over your arm.

"pictures looked fantastic."

"thank you. are they going on the instagram?"

chris nodded. "as soon as i get them, yes."

"tag me in them." you winked, starting to head out of the building after grabbing your things.

chris shook his head, smiling, privately loving your confident but playful demeanor.

"can i walk you to your car, or are you too booked and busy?"

you waved your hand in the air, dismissing the joke with a smile.

"never too busy to have a pretty boy walk me somewhere."

quickly finding your car, you and chris walked over there, generally chatting about both his brand and your job. he seemed genuinely interested, which was a nice change of pace.

"well, this is me."

you felt a slight twinge of disappointment as you held the handle of your car door, having thoroughly enjoyed the day.

chris still held eye contact with you for a few moments, not making any move to walk back inside, before gently pressing his lips against yours.

taken by surprise, but not uncomfortable, you kissed back, feeling his hand wrap around your waist. after a few seconds, he pulled back, that same smirk painting his lips.

"i hope to see you next time i have a photoshoot."

"i'll be expecting a message."

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

a/n: this was a little longer than i expected!!!

[allisluv]

Oral fixation for Finnick please

ask nicely.

pairing: finnick odair x fem!reader

content warnings: nsfw. pre-established relationship, pet names, use of the phrase good girl, praise, oral (m!recieving), banter, readers got an oral fixation.

authors note: i have a mix of nsfw and sfw headcanons for this scenario here too! this is a big step outside of my comfort zone because i've never written for oral before (at least not for a man) so please bare with me while i figure the logistics of it all out lol!! reblogs and comments are highly appreciated <3

word count: 0.7k

Finnick's fingers trace a lazy pattern over the bare skin of your arms as the television screen basks the otherwise dark room in a soft glow. 

His free hand is holding yours, and he can't help but frown when you untangle your fingers from his. He looks down at you as you absentmindedly stuff your fingers in your mouth and suck them. 

"Don't do that, angel. You'll catch germs and then you'll get sick." He chastises gently, smoothing a hand through your strands of hair. You pretend not to hear him, and he rolls his eyes fondly before carefully prying your fingers out of your mouth. You whine, and he stifles a laugh. "Don't pout at me, baby. You know I'm right."

You huff out a sigh and lean up on your elbows, looking up at him through your lashes. "You're so mean sometimes." 

Finnick arches a disbelieving brow. "Is that so?" You nod defiantly and he hums. "I'm sorry for not wanting you to get sick, angel. But you and I both know that you're a pain in my ass when you're sick."

You thwack him in the arm playfully. "Am not."

"Are too." 

You grumble a colorful string of curse words under your breath and lie back down, resting your head on his lap-- until an idea strikes you and a smile graces your lips. 

"Baby?" Your voice is sickly sweet. 

Finnick already knows the next question that's going to come out of your mouth, but he humours you, anyway. "Mhm, yes, angel?" 

"If I can't suck on my fingers, will you let me suck you off?" 

He chuckles at your bluntness, and decides he's going to make you work for it. "Hm. I'm not so sure, angel." You sit up so fast that he's sure you give yourself whiplash in the process, and he has to bite back a smirk. "Well, considering I'm so mean, I don't know if I should let you." You pout, and he relents a little. "But maybe if you ask nicely, I'll let you. You think you can do that? Think you can ask nicely for me?" 

You resist the urge to roll your eyes. He can be such a teasing prick sometimes! "Please will you let me suck you off, Finn?" You sit on the back of your heels and bat your lashes at him. "Please?"

Finnick grins. "Hm. Let me think about it." You let out a pitiful whine and he laughs. "Alright, alright. Go on then." 

He sits back and relaxes into the sofa, watching as you sink to your knees in front of him and make quick work of undoing his belt. Before you can go any further, he reaches to the side and grabs a pillow, coaxing you to stand up so you won't get carpet burn on your knees. 

Once his belt is cast aside and the pillow is positioned on the floor, you sit back and wrestle his sweatpants down over his hips until they pool around his ankles. You make quick work of his underpants next, and then your face is eye-level with the red, leaking tip of his cock. 

Your mouth runs dry like sandpaper, and you instinctively wet your lips. Finnick palms his cock, before nodding, giving you the go-ahead, and slipping his cock into your mouth. 

You take him slowly, inch by inch, until your nose it buried in the tamed tuft of hair at the base of his cock. His fingers instinctively reach for your hair, not pulling but just holding. You swallow around him and moan, and his head falls backwards in ecstasty. 

"God, you're so good for me," Finnick moans, hips thrusting into your mouth the tiniest bit. You hum around his cock, and he groans, tugging your hair before soothing your scalp with a smooth of his hand. "Such a good girl. Taking me so well." 

Finnick used to be an expert at controlling himself-- he had to be,-- but somehow, you have him coming undone in a matter of minutes. Hot ropes of cum shoot down your throat and you swallow as he groans, still keeping a tight grip on your hair. 

His head is still reeling as you stand up and straddle his hips before connecting your lips with his. He can feel the slick in your panties through the fabric of your shorts, and he moans into your mouth. 

"Was it okay?" You mumble into his mouth, pressing a kiss to the corner of his mouth. 

Finnick nods his head earnestly and cradles your face in his hands. "Better than okay. You did so good, baby. Now, how do you say I repay the favour?"

[vizjpmdose]

Mr. March Duties James Patrick March x wife!reader !!: not proofread, gossiping, mention of cheating (just sally spilling some tea) a/n: This is supposed to be a drabble, but I added some hotel Cortez tea for fun and for the plot. (james and sally's beef) SUMMARY: Your husband always keeps an eye on you, and he noticed that you're not feeling well tonight. He stopped whatever he was doing so just he can fulfill his duties for his Mrs. March.

It was a normal night in the Cortez as Mrs. March. This hotel became a home for you despite of the dark old secrets that this hotel holds. Your husband also promised you that he will always be there to guide you and protect you in this world he welcomed you in. He proved it, and this life you had felt worth it. 

Your go-to place when you're bored is the bar. Relaxing with drinks, admiring the fancy architecture of the Cortez, and talking with your two bestfriends Sally and Liz. Tonight was just a coincidence that almost all of the ghosts are hanging out in the bar, no outsiders for tonight. James lets you have your time with Liz and Sally as he stands a little far away from you, having a small conversation and a drink with Mr. Wu. But he glances at you every now and then to check on you.

"You're eavesdropping skills are unnatural, you even outdid the wife." Liz jokes as she was cleaning the drinking glasses, listening to Sally spill the tea. "What else could I do? I'm DEAD, it's one of those I could at least do for the thrill." Sally replied rolling her eyes playfully as she emphasizes the word 'dead', she then exhales the smoke of her cigarette, making Liz laugh at her reply. 

"Room 67? That's near at yours and James' shared suite. You should update us if a drama happens." 

Liz suggests to you as she turned to face you with a small smirk. But you were kind of zoning out, you were getting lightheaded and you were feeling chilly. The weather was also a bit cold outside. 

"Oh? I'll for sure let you girls know." You replied, rubbing both of your arms with your hands as you try to ease the cold you were feeling. Sally noticed that. James did too, he saw you as he was doing the time to time checking on you. "Are you drunk already, y/n? You don't seem well." Sally asked raising an eyebrow as she checked on you.  

"What? No, I'm alright. W-" You replied, but you got cut off as you felt someone stood behind you and was helping you rub your arm. A cold hand but a familiar touch that brings comfort to you. You look up and saw your husband, James. 

"A glass of whiskey, Liz." James spoke to Liz with a nod, Sally gave you a knowing look as she saw James. "The boss is here." Sally whispered out playfully as she moves away from you, she knows James is going to be taking control of this situation again. Going to get bossy. You rolled your eyes at Sally playfully, wanting to prove to James and Sally that you're doing alright. 

"One for me too, Liz." You chimed. "Enough for you tonight, darling." James interrupted you, not in a commanding and demanding tone but in a low and soft voice. He gave Liz a dismissal wave, making her follow his command instead. 

"Let us go back to our suite. You're not feeling well." He added with the same tone as he continues to help you rub your arm.  "I'm just cold, James." You replied softly to your husband, you just don't like it when he keeps worrying about you. James just tilted his head, picking up the glass of whiskey Liz prepared for him. He finished it in one swig of the whiskey, letting out a refreshed sigh before he looks back at you again. "You have a cold, my dear."  He interjects as he checks your temperature. You realized that he was right, you were sick. James is the type of husband who notices everything, every single change about you or your behavior. You just pressed your lips in a thin line as James was right again. 

"Now, now, my love. I need to take care of you." James sighed out with a smile as he plants a quick kiss on your forehead, helping you to stand up. "Now, gentlemen. I must go as I have to fulfil my duties to my Mrs. March." James told Mr. Wu with a chuckle as he takes off his long black coat, placing it on you to cover your shoulder and arms. You couldn't help but smile at his words and at the feeling of his warm coat enveloping your body. This is your favorite coat of him. 

"And.. Sally dear, I'm not being controlling or bossy, I'm just being a husband." James spoke to Sally, raising his eyebrows at her as he fixes his coat on you. Oh those two always have beef with each other that never fails to make you laugh. Sally just shrugged it off in response. James is also that type of person who'd convince you that he can read everyone's mind. 

"Let us go, my love." He spoke to you softly, accompanying you towards the elevator. As you both entered the elevator and the doors closed, you looked up at your husband, giving him a warm smile. "I love you." You spoke softly. He gave you a warmer smile than earlier as he brings your hands close to his lips as he planted a kiss on them. "I love you most, my darling." 

[mikachacha]

Style (Bada Lee x Actress/Idol!Reader)

Synopsis: You and Bada are always the hottest talk of the town. With your seemingly on and off relationship stirring up the internet constantly. But then what happens when you visit Street Woman Fighter 2 to give them a challenge to choreograph your new single?

Warnings: language, a very jealous Bada and lots of steam from this one

(A/N: anon keeps making good suggestions for fics and i am obsessed!)

🌸💮🌸💮🌸💮🌸💮🌸💮🌸💮🌸💮🌸💮🌸💮🌸

"No way this is real! She's really coming? I can pass away peacefully now.." excited murmurs filled the fight zone as one of your songs played on the speaker and Bada just smiled and sat back with her team. She's not really bothered by the thirst comments other participants made towards you as she couldn't exactly blame them. You're the infamous Y/N, an actress and an idol who's even recognized outside of Korea for your acting prowess and talent.

"Y/N-unnie is really here and she looks so pretty.." Tatter gasped out as you descended from the stairs. Everyone's attention is on you and just just waved, a smile on your pretty face. Bada felt like she just fell in love with you over again when she saw your face. She feels like she's the luckiest person alive to be calling you her girlfriend though many did try to break your relationship apart ever since you decided to make it public. So many rumors thrown at you and Bada, being linked to different people, especially men to which you just rolled your eyes out.

"She looks so pretty like a real life barbie.. It makes me gay.." Bada could hear Audrey of Jam Republic fangirl over you as you greeted everyone. The rest of Jam Republic just laughed at their younger's antics.

"Girl you've got a very slim chance. I mean, there's Bada and almost everyone in this room waiting for their chance to gain that pretty girl's love and attention." Ling says which made Audrey pout. Bada just shook her head and looked at you, smiling as your eyes met. You playfully winked at her and team Bebe erupted in laughs and giggles as their leader dramatically 'fainted' at your wink.

When everyone settled down, Daniel announced the reason why you're there. You're giving the teams a mission just like Hwasa did though this time you wanted to step out of your comfort zone a little bit. You wanted it to look sexy and cool, you wanted to try new routines as you're already bored by the cutesy image your management set for you. You wanted something different.

"Damn it's like she's rebranding her image. Oh boy, the rumors will be crazy with this one.." Lusher says and Bada agreed. The rumors surrounding your relationship would be crazier though she remains unfazed seeing as what you have with Bada is unbreakable.

After the cameras stopped rolling, everyone had the chance to talk and interact with you. There were some flirting going on though you only laughed. People took their shot to be in your good graces to gain edge for the competition but you were having none of that. You were known as fair despite everything. Some may think that Bada's team will win because you're dating her but it was far from the truth. If their choreography doesn't live up to your expectations, you won't really hesitate dropping it off and choosing someone else's.

"See you at home, baby girl. I'll be making some dinner so you better get your cute butt home early." you told Bada as the filming for the new mission stopped. Bada blushed when you called her baby girl which made you chuckle. You kissed her cheek before exiting the fight zone. You had a satisfied smile on your lips knowing what you just did would push your girlfriend to work harder and prove to everyone that she's not just Y/N's girlfriend, she's Bada Lee a choreographer people should watch out for.

"She may act all sweet but damn she'll probably chew my ass if we don't live up to her expectations.." Bada groaned while some people from other teams overheard her. They couldn't help but raise their brows at Bada's statement. No one expected to find that the usually sweet and gentle Y/N would have a brutal personality that even Bada, her girlfriend is worried about.

The following weeks, everyone has been working their asses off to give you the best routine they can possibly give. Some would send you flowers, some gifts and just being overall nice when you visit and see the progress of their mission. You were pretty hands on which added to the pressure of the competition. You love keeping people on the edge of their seats until it was time for the big show.

When it was time for the reveal of choreographies, you couldn't help but smile at team Bebe's choreography. They really gave it their all to hopefully meet your standards. The ones that stood out most for you are Jam Republic, Bebe and Wolf Lo but you're not picking yet. To add a twist to your mission, you included online votes to help you decide so the teams are once again busy trying to get people to vote for their team.

"Sometimes it makes me wonder if you're just being strict or you just love messing with people.." Bada told you one night as you were both chilling at your shared home. Before you can even respond, the sound of your doorbell interrupted you and Bada got up to answer the door. She came back in with a bouquet of flowers sent to you by Haechi and some snacks from other people. Bada looked at you then the items she's carrying while you just shook your head, not wanting to talk about it. Bada just shrugs as she took the snacks and began snacking on them like she usually does.

"It could be poisoned, you know." You jokingly said and Bada just rolled her eyes before feeding you some.

"Well if it is then you're coming down with me. I don't wanna go out and leave you because girl, so many people wants to be in my spot right now." Bada says a bit dramatically to which you laughed at. Though it's true that lots of people wants to be Bada so they could have a chance with you but you could care less. You only want this girl sitting beside you and snacking on the snacks suitors sent for you.

"Fair enough and that thing is nasty!" you complained while she laughed at you. You and Bada continued to goof around, just enjoying together and making up for the lost times due to your busy schedules.

A few days has passed and it was time for you to decide which team wins your challenge. You looked at the online votes before looking at the teams in the fight zone, scanning each one just to keep the suspense going.

"The team I'm gonna choose is team.. Team Bebe! Since they won the online votes and their choreography fits the criteria I have set for the mission. But don't worry everyone, you will get to showcase the choreography you worked so hard for in the music video." you smiled and everyone clapped, cheered and congratulate team Bebe. You looked at your girlfriend's team and gave them a thumbs up, proud that they proved to everyone how amazing they are as a team. You're also proud of Bada for not using her relationship with you whatsoever to win the challenge. Her team won because of her sheer hard work, one of the many things you love about her.

[sv5hive]

take a break | sv5

pairing: sebastian vettel x fem!reader

warning(s): unhealthy studying habits(?), self-doubt, academic failure etc, etc.

word count: 797

note: this is incredibly self indulgent bcos guess who failed their chemistry exam!!! hahahaha you guessed it it's me!! (if i don't laugh i'll cry.)

masterlist!

hours of staring at a bright computer screen in a pitch black room had clearly began taking its effects after the words began to warp and swirl around. a dozen empty cans of redbull sat at the bottom of your bin along with several scraps of paper you had torn apart in frustration.

you couldn't even remember when you sat down at your desk to study. all you knew was that you had an important exam the next day and you felt hopelessly unprepared. you tore your eyes away from the blinding screen to look outside your window. the moon shone through sparse clouds illuminating the desolate streets. usually, the roads were teeming with cars trying to get home but at this time of night you were the only one awake.

"schatz? what are you still doing up?"

in the midst of zoning out, you failed to hear your boyfriend entering through the door.

was it really that late?

"i'm almost done, seb. i just have to finish this little bit now."

"come on, how long have you been sat at that desk, hm? studying for hours on end does more bad than good."

"i know, i just- i'm almost finished i promise. this test is really important and i have to do well."

"hey, hey, what's wrong?"

he rushed over to you with furrowed brows and outstretched arms.

without even realising, tears had brimmed your eyes and began tumbling down your face at an alarming rate.

"nothing, it's nothing. uhm, i'll finish this and then i'll come to bed."

you hastily wiped away your tears with your sleeves but they seemed to be never ending.

"it's obviously not nothing, schatz. if it's making you cry like this it's something to talk about."

the seconds ticked by as you debated whether you were ready to reveal what had been plaguing your mind. clearly sensing your inner turmoil, sebastian tugged you out of the chair and towards the kitchen.

"come with me to the kitchen, i'll make us some tea so you can calm down."

after two cups of hot chamomile tea had been made and placed on the counter, sebastian sat opposite you and patiently waited for you to speak without pushing you. your tears slowed down to faint sniffles as you sipped on the tea silently. annoyingly, sebastian was right and it did help you compose yourself. you put down your half empty cup and cleared your throat.

"i've been struggling with my studies. there's just so much to remember and it just gets harder and harder to keep up but everyone else is fine and i don't understand why i'm the only one who can't do the simplest tasks."

at this point, it was difficult to see through your hot tears and your face was burning up with embarrassment. sebastian was quick to place his hand over yours to try and bring you some sense of comfort.

"schatz, you are the smartest person i know. if you're finding it difficult then you're probably not the only one. i'm sure everyone can see how much effort you're putting in and that's all anyone can ask of you. if you don't do well on the test tomorrow it's not the end of the world, ok? but i think you will be completely fine, im certain."

you nodded half-heartedly, not fully convinced despite his little pep talk. you rubbed any remaining tears away and attempted to put a smile on your face.

"yeah, sorry i just feel like an idiot dumping all this on you when you just got home from work. how was your day?"

he got up from his seat to encase you in his arms. he might not be able to help with your assignments but he could definitely be there to support you with anything and everything else.

"don't apologise for your feelings. i'm sorry i didn't realise you were having a hard time. i should've noticed you weren't coping well. and my day was good, thank you for asking."

you smiled into his chest at his heartfelt apology for something that was never his fault to begin with.

"don't be silly, seb. it's not your job to constantly watch me. i should be able to do that myself."

"i know you can take care of yourself but it doesn't hurt to ask for help sometimes. it might feel like you're alone but you're not. i'm always here for you, you know that right?"

he tightened his hold on you as if to reassure you further and peppered the crown of your head with soft kisses.

you leaned up to place a peck on his cheek to express your gratitude in a way you would never be able to do justice with words.

"yeah, i know."

[ppumeonae-bigvibe]

between the lines

↖ navigation: seventeen masterlist || main masterlist

pairing: dormmate! woozi x gn! reader

↬ tags: bringing the 96 liners into this because i can, pining + longing, love is blind yada yada <3, quite wholesome towards the end

summary: through unspoken thoughts and harmless meddling, both you and jihoon get caught in the midst of your friends playful matchmaking

word count: 1.1k words

a/n: i posted it a whole day later ,, i thought today was the 1st of august… ㅠㅠ

jihoon wanted to get close to you. but the only thing stopping him was just that he was bad at initiating anything, especially when it came to things concerning you. unlike his friends who seemed to so easily befriended you. he sadly thinks that his love language might just be existing.

soonyoung displayed his affections with physical banter, oftentimes grabbing you and roughing you up playfully. you didn't mind it one bit, but jihoon did when his chest tightened at the sight of you leaning against soonyoung almost willingly as the male scrolls through his phone and shows it to you. or when you linked arms with soonyoung as the two of you strolled, leaving jihoon trailing behind.

the ever so brotherly junhwi was like a big sibling figure: upon your request, jun always never hesitated to do anything for you within reason. acts of service was something jun excelled at; on the other hand jihoon's dejection simmered beneath his skin when you walked past him towards jun, asking for his help even though jihoon could have done it too.

you sought wonwoo to spend time together. every time he thought of asking you to do passive things together, you had claimed to be spending time with wonwoo instead. wonwoo and you clicked because of the games you two played, but outside of gaming you two also do school work together in comfortable silence.

in conclusion, he's bad at expressing his feelings that he wanted to be with you. he found it confusing himself too, not being able to put a feeling as to why he always desired to spend time with you, to hold your hand, to do things for you.

funny thing was that, his friends knew about his way-too-obvious crush, and have been devising so many ways for you two to be alone together. call it brothers for brothers, or something.

jihoon zones back into the present: it was a movie night after finals and you had suggested to host a sleepover with the rest of them. wonwoo lightly bumps shoulders with jihoon; a curt nod, and a small grin.

junhwi unpacks all the food and exclaims in displeasure (jihoon thinks it was a bit too much), "we didn't get the drinks!" sooyoung makes a show of sighing (a little too loudly), "dang i was just getting thirsty for some cola..."

"i can go get them!" you offered unknowingly and jihoon perked up. his three friends looked at each other, as if their brains were firing off signals simultaneously and jihoon immediately claims, "i'll go down too, you guys can set up the area."

"yeah that would be good. we aren't too familiar with the neighborhood here." wonwoo adds on, sealing the deal. (jihoon never thought he'd see the stoic wonwoo trying his best to fight off a playful smirk)

with a recycle bag slung on jihoon's shoulder, the two of you headed out as the evening sun started to dip. "i'm glad finals are over." you light-heartedly started the conversation, beaming a little when jihoon reciprocates with his shy smile, "me too. it's been a while since we last saw them too."

silence blanketed you two again, and jihoon started getting fidgety as the convenience store emerged as both of you turned left. you glanced at the male, "jihoon, do you have something to say to me?" his shocked expression betrayed him with a mere statement from you.

you soften your eyes, "is this about the laundry? if it is, then i'm sorry, i knew it was my responsibility and i've been just so cooped up with all the tests and everything, and i know that you're a stickler for hygiene and i--" jihoon notices a whizzing cyclists pedaling downslope and immediately drags you towards him, "watch it!"

you let out a gentle "oof" at the sudden impact and jihoon hopes his heart wasn't beating too loudly. you moved away from him almost as quickly as he pulled you in.

"you okay?" his hands were still lightly grasping yours and your face flushed under his scrutiny, "yeah. you can let go of me now." jihoon's reluctance seemed to catch your eye too, "did you mean to talk about something else?"

dang it, you and your perception.

jihoon glanced down at his hand intertwined with yours, "why can't i link arms with you like you do with soonyoung?" you were mildly taken aback by the sudden question, but jihoon pressed on, "or when you got jun to do things for you when i could do them too? i'm your roommate, not him. certainly you don't need him to move your shelf when i was around."

you stared back at him with an unreadable expression and jihoon abashedly looks at the ground, "and when you spend time with wonwoo instead of me, i feel like i've been...left out. i don't know, tell me if i'm reading too much into this or maybe..."

he hears your sudden laughter amidst his worries and he thinks you might have lost it. you wiped away a tear from the sheer amount of force it took you when you started chuckling, "i didn't think this day would come. i like you, lee jihoon. like, a lot."

jihoon sputters, "this entire time?" you averted your gaze, "i just wanna ask if...maybe you do have feelings for me?"

"i do, for as long as i've met you and i..." you pecked him on the cheek and rocked back on your heels, "then that's all i wanted to hear."

if jihoon could combust right now, he would. he noticed how your blushing face mirrored his and he pulled you in for a hug: this time it was far from anything like that of two friends embracing.

"the things you mentioned: about soonyoung, he's just naturally clingy like that, but i thought maybe if i got closer to him it would make you jealous. same with jun, or more like he offered and i decided to test you a little to see if i was right. and for wonwoo, he was totally on board trying to rile you up."

you stopped your rambling and raised your hands as if to surrender, "i said my piece. the boys had a hand in all of these sneaky actions."

your words caused jihoon's mind to run at miles per hour, "but they told me they'd be 'wingmen' for me, and would try to create more opportunities for us to be alone together...?"

realization hit you. they've been instigating everything, orchestrating every action. "do you think they..."

"i think so." you confirmed his suspicions. hurriedly, you two entered the provision shop and bought the drinks, feet quickly carrying both of you back to the dorms to confront the three trouble makers.

the door bursts open at the impact, effectively shocking the three masterminds.

jun swallows his food comedically, "uh-oh." "seems like our plan worked out, huh?" wonwoo smirked as he leaned over to high-five an equally joyous soonyoung, "welcome back lovebirds!"

@ppumeonae-bigvibe 's work ; likes and reblogs are appreciated <3

[perfectlywrongformend3s]

Finally Mine-Luke Patterson

(not my gif)

A/n: Thank you so much for asking for part 2. I hope you like this one just as much as you liked the first one. 

Taglist: @mallory69

-Samantha

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Your POV

I was watching Julie on stage, when I saw the guys popping in. I felt myself smile until I noticed Luke having trouble. I grew nervous just watching him until I heard his voice. " I'm going out of my mind!" 

I was cheering them on from the crowd. I noticed Luke glancing my way a couple of times, which made me blush. I knew I shouldn't be nervous with him looking over at me, but I am. I was having the best time dancing and singing along. 

Once the show ended I felt a wave of sadness because I knew Luke, Reggie and Alex left for good. I felt a hand on my shoulder and spun around to find my dad. 

" Let's go find your sister." he said 

I smiled a little and nodded kind of zoned out since all I could think about was Luke right now. I followed behind my brother still thinking about how we didn't get a proper good-bye. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When we found Julie I couldn't help but run over to her. "Omg! You did amazing on that stage." I said while wrapping my arms around her. She chuckled a little and thanked me. She then hugged everyone else while I stood back to get ready to leave. 

Julie's POV

After the hugs I could tell Y/n/n was thinking about the boys as much as I was. I knew she was feeling down for not getting to say good-bye. 

I waited until the three other members of our family was in front of us before I linked our arms to comfort her. She just gave me a smile before holding my arm a little tighter. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We all were singing on the way to the front door until I paused looking over at the studio. " I'll be inside in a little bit." I told them

They nodded, but before she could sneak away I grabbed her wrist. "You want to come with me." I asked hopeful 

She looked over at me and I could tell she was hurting. " I can't walk in there, I'm sorry." She pulled her wrist out of my grip and rushed inside. I let out a deep sigh feeling bad for her. I just wish I could help her, but I know she just needs time to heal. 

I then decided to go to the studio to go and talk even though they're gone now. As I was talking I heard a grunt so I immediately flicked the light on to find all three of them on the ground in pain. I felt overwhelmed with sadness. I kept telling them to go since they did their unfinished business. 

Your POVI left Julie outside to immediately rush inside to my room to let my emotions out. I closed the door and crumbled to the ground not having the energy to stand anymore. This felt like the worst pain ever and I didn't like it. 

Julie's POV

I could feel tears falling down my face and when Luke went in for a hug my brain forgot that it wouldn't work, but what shocked me was that I could feel him. I pulled away and saw that he was glowing so I called...

" Alex, Reggie!" which made the both of them come over to me and we all did a group hug. We then started to jump around in a circle making me laugh. 

We then pulled away to find their marks that they got from the club were disappearing. " Julie, where's your sister?" Luke questioned 

I totally forgot about her. I looked over at the three of them. " She went to her room. She is pretty devastated because she thinks you guys are gone." I explained, but right after I finished Luke disappeared. I glanced at the other two confused where they looked more concerned. 

Luke's POV

I popped into her room feeling my heart break from the sight in front of me. I was super hesitant to walk over to her. I didn't want to startle her in any way. I quietly walked over, " Y/n/n...." I softly questioned 

I could see her freeze. " You're not real, it's not real." she mumbled 

I was now behind her. I gently tapped her shoulder making her jump. She stood up and spun around. I couldn't tell what she was thinking. I went to ask her something, but she immediately started spitting words out. She was making it hard to answer them so I softly placed my hands on her shoulders. " How...how?" She questioned 

I looked amazed again. " I'm honestly not sure myself, but I'm right here." I whispered 

She started crying again making me nervous not knowing what to do. " Hey, hey, it's okay." I whispered, wiping her tears. I smiled some when she calmed down and then admitted. 

" I heard the song you sang to Julie." 

She immediately started blushing, making me laugh. " You were not supposed to hear that." She whispered 

I pulled her into a hug. " It's okay cause I actually really liked the song. I whispered 

Your POV

I couldn't believe I had my arms around Luke. This felt like a dream to me. He rubbed my back some. " What's on your mind?" he questioned 

I pulled away, " Just how all this is real. It feels like a dream." I whispered 

He smiled, " Well I'm here plus I'm still in my clothes from performing." He stated 

I nodded, " Luke about the song..." he interrupted me

He placed both his hands on my face. " Your song was amazing, plus no one's ever written me a song before." He said 

I blushed at his words and got lost in his eyes. I saw him lean in which made me nervous. " Is this okay?" he whispered only like an inch from my lips. 

I took a deep breath to get rid of the nerves. I then nodded, but he automatically said...

" Use your words Y/n/n." 

I immediately folded and whispered, " Yes it's okay." 

He then smiled and closed the gap. Feeling his lips on mine is making me get dizzy. He pulled away, but kept his forehead on mine. " How was that?" he whispered 

" Amazing." I mumbled 

He smiled down at me before kissing me again. All I'm saying is I could get used to the feeling of his lips. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I hope you once again enjoy and I made her as Julie's sister not sure if I had her as one. Plus she's older than Julie by the way, so feel free to comment or request anything. Thank you guys for all the love and support. 

-Samantha

[francisofthespook]

DIY Santa pt.2

Daryl Dixon x F!Reader

Summary: Part 2 to 'DIY Santa', after walking Judith home, you run into 'Santa' and you both elaborate a little bit on your 'Christmas wishes'

Setting: Alexandria

Warnings: Suggestive content but nothing too explicit

Word Count: 2,455

A/N: OKAY OKAY IM SORRY HERE IT IS FUCK ! In my defence, I'll say in twd they lost track of days and yes I am posting this on janurary 11th but for all we know, they could have celebrated Christmas in Janurary because they don't know the date ! Lol but fr sorry this took so long, I just couldn't figure out exactly how I wanted it to go. And I was in a bit of a writing slump after Christmas, then school started and ugh idk. But I'm back now and I've got tons of ideas and I think I wanna open up requests ??? We'll see... anyways, I hope y'all enjoy this very very very late part two to my little Christmas one shot !!!

(Divider made by me :) )

“What did you ask Santa for?” Judith asked as she swung your interlocked hands. Laughing, you told her, “I asked Santa to make sure your wish comes true.” You looked down at the little girl and gave her a big smile. She squealed in excitement and began making plans for you two to go on daily loops of the neighborhood when she got her new skates. You zoned out a bit as she went on, thinking about if you had maybe been too forward with Daryl. Maybe he wasn’t really looking for anything, just flirting with you out of boredom. You made a plan to try and avoid him for the next few days, in hopes that the possible awkwardness will diffuse by the next time you have to go on a run together.

As the two of you finally reached Rick and Michonne’s porch the sun had set, leaving the streets of Alexandria in a dark blue hue. Michonne opened the door and Judith ran inside to tell Rick all about seeing Santa. “Thanks again for taking her, she insisted that you were the one to do it.” Michonne laughed. “It was really no trouble at all, definitely worth it to see Daryl dressed up as Santa.” You laughed in response. “And by the way, she wants rollerskates and a jump rope for Christmas.” You whispered to Michonne. “Ah well, I think I can make a jump rope happen.” You were both thankful that Judith had kept her Christmas wishes simple. “Yeah, shouldn’t be too hard to find. I think I remember seeing rollerskates at that old sports supply store a few towns over. I was gonna grab those for her, I’ll look for a jump rope while I’m out.” The lack of sun was making the air even colder and unfortunately, you had opted for just jeans and a thin long sleeve today. You wrapped your arms around yourself to try and keep warm as you two spoke. 

“That would be amazing if you could! God, it’s cold. Do you wanna come in for a minute? We have some soup left over if you want any.” She kindly offered. As enticing as that sounded, you wanted nothing more than to curl up in your own bed and read a bit before going to sleep. You had recently found yourself a thick fluffy comforter that was absolute heaven on the colder nights. “Thanks for the offer, but I’m gonna head back, found some new books the other day I’ve been dying to start.” You gave her a warm smile and she gave you a hug before you turned to leave.

The slight wind from earlier began to pick up as you trudged down the street and back to your house. It was so quiet outside, almost like it was just another normal day and there weren’t dead people walking around just outside these walls. It made you think of before, and the evenings when you would walk home from your grandparent’s house after dinner, the street lights flickering as you walked down the empty streets listening to music. You would give anything to be able to do that just one more time. As you walked past the gazebo, you saw the last family leaving. Daryl stood up and stretched as Carol began to clean up. You slowed your pace just a bit as you got closer. You weren’t planning on stopping, but you were hoping you could get a sense of how Daryl was feeling after that interaction. Hopefully, he would wave if he saw you?

Daryl waved Carol off, telling her that he would take care of it. As she turned to leave, she spotted you, calling out “Hi (Y/N)! Thanks for stopping by!” You gave her a smile and a nod as you continued walking. Daryl hadn’t said anything, so you assumed he had felt weird about what happened. You began to pick up your pace just a bit before you heard, “Hey!” Turning around, you saw Daryl at the gazebo waving you over. Maybe it hadn’t been as awkward as you thought… hopefully. 

You slowly turned and headed in the direction of the gazebo, its dull twinkling lights being the only thing shining through the dark. As you approached, Daryl slowly walked towards you. When you two finally met at the steps, he gave you a warm smile. “I hope Jude had a good time meetin’ Santa.” He said, with air quotes around the ‘Santa’. You laughed a warm laugh and replied, “Yeah, I think she did. Not sure if she actually believed you were ‘Santa’, but I think she had fun.” He chuckled and a small silence filled the space between you, but it didn’t feel awkward. If anything, it kinda felt…comfortable. You looked down at your feet, trying yet again to hide the warmth on your cheeks. The wind blowing around you making it cold enough that you had to wrap your arms around yourself again. 

“Oh, here, lemme give ya this,” Daryl said, running up the steps to grab his coat. As he came back to you, you tried to argue, “No, really it's fine, I’m not that cold.” But the chatter in your teeth told him otherwise. “You don’t always gotta be like that,” He said, as he walked behind you to drape his coat over your shoulders. When he positioned himself back in front of you, he grabbed the two sides and pulled them tighter around you. “Like what?” You asked, confusion obvious in your voice. “Ya know, like yer always fine and dun need help. Puttin’ others ahead of yerself.” He chuckled, “I know yer gonna say now that I need it more than ya do, and yer warm enough with that thin long sleeve on.” 

“I was not gonna say that…” you tried to retort, but he knew you better than that. He gave you a knowing look and you couldn’t hold back your smile. “I would have worded it differently.” You both chuckled and returned to the silence, just staring into each other's eyes. It was almost pitch black out now, but the dim glow of the moon and the string lights lit the small area around you. Daryl looked angelic in the soft warm light, and you couldn’t keep yourself from breaking eye contact to look at his lips. He smirked, the movement bringing you back to reality. “So what does Santa want for Christmas?” you tried, being half flirty, but also half serious. Talk about someone who's hard to get gifts for…

“I think Santa,” he started, stepping closer to you. You kept your arms wrapped tightly around yourself and looked up at him through your lashes as he got close enough that you could feel just a whisper of his hot breath on your face. The smell of cigarettes brushed past your nose as he continued, “Would like to find his Ms.Claus fer Christmas.” You tried not to look shocked as he spoke in a low tone. As cool as you could, you leaned closer to him and whispered, “Is that so?” He smirked at you again and gently reached up to brush a strand of hair out of your face. His fingers were soft but warm, and that warmth burned through you as he moved his hand to cup the side of your head. “Mhm,” he replied as he leaned in towards your face.

You were so close now, that your noses almost touched. Every exhale he made swept across your face like the wind from a flame at a campfire. The smell of cigarettes had never smelled so enticing before, and you felt like you could get a buzz just from breathing him in. You weren’t sure if time had actually slowed, or if you were just so comfortable around him that the silence wasn’t noticeable. You opened your mouth slightly, to breathe out “That’s funny, because what I really wanted for Christmas was to be Ms. Claus…” 

If time had been slowed before, now someone had hit fast forward. It happened so quickly but so smoothly that you didn’t even have time to register what was going on. At some point, Daryl had wrapped his free hand around your waist and pulled you in closer. Using that hand that was cradling your head, to tilt it slightly upwards so that your lips landed right on his. He tasted sweeter than you would have thought, and you basked in the taste for a moment before you started to match his movements. It was a tender and gentle kiss, but you could feel the need and desire behind it. Like it was second nature, you unwrapped your arms from around your sides and brought your hands up to his head, tangling your fingers in his long locks. He moaned slightly into your mouth, causing you to grip and tug lightly at his hair. 

He exhaled roughly and gripped your waist tighter, pulling you into him as much as he could. You felt yourself slightly leaning in his grip, your knees beginning to feel like they would give out. The way you moved against each other was like a practiced dance, like you had been doing this for years and didn’t know any different. It felt right, and you didn’t understand how you had survived before without this. Slowly, he broke the kiss and pulled back enough to rest his forehead against yours. The both of you were so out of breath, that you just stood there for a moment, exhaling into each other's mouths.

When you finally came back down, you removed your hands from his hair and rested them on his shoulders. He moved his to the small of your back, thumbs gently rubbing in soothing circles. “I think my Christmas wish just came true…” You whispered to him, this time not trying to hide your blush or bite back your smile. “Mine too” He replied, mirroring your grin. He leaned down again to quickly peck you on the lips before grabbing the fallen coat on the ground. You had been so mesmerized in the moment, that you didn’t even notice it falling off. “Now let's get ya home. It’s too cold for a pretty little thang like ya out here.” He chuckled as he put the coat back on you.

You looked at him with so much love and adoration that it made his heart flutter. He put his arm around your shoulder and the two of you walked toward your house. The walk was short and quiet, the two of you basking in the silence of the world. All the houses were dark as you walked down the sidewalk, and the moon was now the only source of light. As you approached your house, you both walked up the steps and you turned to look at him as you rested your back against the door. He leaned down to rest one hand above your head and gently grabbed your waist with the other. 

Smiling, he spoke in a low voice, “Now are you gonna invite me in? Or am I gonna have ta come down yer chimney?” You couldn’t help but giggle. You glanced down at your feet for a moment, trying to calm your heart rate, before looking up at him and biting your lip. Slowly, you leaned in, looking up at him through your lashes, “I’ll invite you in,” taking a beat to stare at his lips before making eye contact again and continuing, “If you promise to also come down my chimney…” With that he moved his hand from above your head to the doorknob, holding your waist so you didn’t fall as he opened the door.

The next morning the two of you tried to stagger your exits in hopes of preventing rumors from spreading around the small community. Daryl had left out your back door about thirty minutes earlier, while you took a little extra time to get ready (and to dress yourself carefully enough to hide the marks on your neck). As you left the house, you spotted Carol and Judith in the garden and headed their way. 

“Hi Jude!” You called out as you approached the two. “Aunt (Y/N)!” she shouted as she ran towards you to give you a hug. You knelt down to catch the little girl and picked her up. She started telling you all about the tricks she was gonna do with her new jump rope when she got it as you walked toward Carol. “Thanks again for setting all that up.” You told her as you set Judith down. “Of course! I’m glad you had fun.” She replied then looked down at Judith. The two of them shared a look that confused you. “What?” you said, laughing. The two of them looked at you and then back to each other, Judith bursting out in laughs while Carol tried to hold hers in. “Oh nothing,” Carol said as she looked back again at Judith, the little girl unable to stop giggling. 

“Aunt Carol said she saw Aunt (Y/N) kissing Santa Claus!” The little girl squealed before running to hide behind Carol, her laughs never ceasing. You stared at Carol with a shocked look and were speechless. You tried to stutter some sort of explanation, but nothing was coming out. “I-Um-It wasn’t-We just-” Every sound you made just made it worse. Little Judith started skipping around the garden in circles chanting, “(Y/N) kissed Santa Claus! (Y/N) kissed Santa Claus!” You tried to hide your face with your hands in embarrassment, “Oh my God.” Was all you could finally say. “Oh honey,” Carol said, placing a hand on your shoulder. “We’ve all been wondering when it would finally happen” You dragged your hands down your face before meeting her eyes. “I also saw that Santa spent the night, but we can keep that between us” She whispered in your ear. 

“OH MY GOD. OKAY. BYE! SEE YOU GUYS LATER!” You said as you turned and walked away. You could hear the two of them laughing behind you as you speed-walked away. You turned back and rolled your eyes at them in a playful way so that they knew you weren’t upset…just embarrassed…very embarrassed. You couldn’t wait to see Daryl later and find out how they had harassed them. Your heart sped up at the thought of seeing him again, sure it may be a bit embarrassing to feel like a schoolgirl in love, but it also felt good. Like finally, your heart was starting to beat again after having been still since the world ended. Your Christmas wish definitely came true.

eeee okay I hope y'all liked it <3 I only proof read this once so I will go back in and edit it more later today, I just didn't wanna wait any longer posting this !!! ok I love you all <333

(ps also should I make a tag list ? Like would anyone even be interested in being notified the 2 times a year I post ? lol)

[watchingblsnowandforever]

Hello!!!! =D

So. We Are ep 13. I don't how they do this, but they keep making every episode better than the last. At this rate, I'll not be able to survive episode 16.

Warning: long post 😊😅 (there will be a smol part 2 because 30 screenshots are definitely not enough.)

We have the Best Parents in BL, but now I present to you: The Best Aunt in BL.

Subtle, Aunt Pui, real subtle. 😭

I get her. She just wants a nice, handsome boyfriend for her nephew. 😌

First of all, the symbolism is hitting me right in the face, but it's also so subtle because no one else knows the whole story, so they wouldn't be able to figure it out.

Secondly. Yes, the red and blue do clash a bit, and it's not the prettiest little painting. But. Not every painting has to be "pretty" or perfect. Just like feelings or emotions in real life. Peem didn't willingly draw over his precious painting because he thought it'd look better; he did it because he wanted it to express his feelings. This also ties into Peem's insecurity at having (apparently) failed at being Phum's comfort zone because see, in the painting it looks like the sea is embracing the roses, or protecting them.

What I'm trying to say, is that what makes art beautiful is not just what you directly see on the canvas/right in front of you. And this applies even to the "pretty" ones. The David is not just famous because it looks very good, but also because of the amount of skill and talent Michelangelo had to be able to create such a thing from a block of marble. (I'm sorry I'm not good at examples or analogies 😭)

Sir. What business do you have, making an expression like that and giving me a heart attack.

If I haven't said this before: find a man who looks at you like Phum (Pond) looks at Peem (Phuwin).

Two sides of the same coin.

Phum still feels guilty (which is very clear from his reaction to what Peem says) about ruining Peem's painting, so he wants to do something to make sure nothing like that ever happens to Peem again.

Peem is long over it (you don't ever forget shit like that, but he has definitely forgiven Phum). He met Phum because of that Incident™, and he has a new, upgraded painting, so this is just a light joke for him. But the moment he sees it's too soon for Phum, he immediately goes to reassure him he's just kidding, and he absolutely does not hold it over Phum.

A simple pinky promise, but how much does it mean to Phum?

He's never had someone to make a pinky promise with; Fang was in a similar situation as him, and Beer knew better to make a promise and have it broken by forces outside his control.

So this, this small, childish gesture means quite a bit to him. (Which is also probably why having broken it hurt him so much.)

And yet Peem, you're smiling so wide while saying that. Almost like *le gasp* you actually like it!

Let's be real here, Peem. You don't mind at all. In fact, you sounded unbearably fond saying this. You were quite literally giggling and kicking your feet. (Which fits my headcanon of him pretty well actually.)

This shot. Just >>>> (actually thinking of making it my header-)

Ma boy never misses a chance 😭👍🏼

And if he doen't get a chance, he makes one and nails that too. <3

SO CUTEE 🥺🫶🏼

Oh the teasing is on.

Pun: I did that 😌

Beer: Idiots in love. Again. *exasperated sigh*

[From this point on, I am extremely sleep deprived, so most comments made will probably (definitely) be forgotten by the time I wake up (I'm going right to sleep after posting this.]

Well, Chain, I'm sorry to be the one telling you this, but Phum moved into Peem's heart like 6 episodes ago.

Well, yeah, but Peem has to act at least a little bit like the tsundere he is, right?

Chain: "Well, can a cupid shoot an arrow at himself?"

Toey: *very telling side-eye*

Q: You really think one flirty line will trigger his half braincell to understand what he didn't in the past however many years? ...go on, I wanna see how this turns out

Pun: *pikachu meme face*

Beer: Oh damn here goes another one, we must be nearing the last episode

Phum: ????

Peem: Don't say anything don't say anything DON'T SAY ANYTHING DON'T YOU DARE FUCKING SAY A SINGLE WORD- (internally: Idiots. They're idiots.)

Ah, I love the sibling energy here. Also, initially I was like nah you're more like Tan. But then I gave it some thought. And had a Realization: he really is the Fang in their relationship, and Q really is the Tan. (I do not have the brainpower to explain rn, but tell me if you want me too, I'll include it in Part 2.)

Phum can't wait. (And neither can Peem, because I didn't see ya denying anything, babe. Instead, you gave him the softest shoulder bump in the history of soft shoulder bumps and that bigass (smitten) smile.

Oh boy this scene.

Right before this, when Peem called Phum immediately after the last brushstroke, I was smiling so hard and giggling like yesss do boyfriend-y things with each other!

Him waiting on the porch: still big smile. Here comes Phum! Ooh are they gonna flirt in the car??

My smile started dimming as the seconds ticked by and no Phum appeared on screen.

Until I finally realized what was happening.

I almost stopped breathing.

And as the scene went on my heart broke a little more with every text and every call, and I was watching that mall scene again. Except it was much much worse this time.

So long story short, I was heartbroken for both of them. Especially when Peem showed up alone with the saddest lost-kitten face ever.

But, at this point I knew Phum must have had something really urgent/unaviodable to miss his meeting with Peem because 1. He really really loves that boy and 2. He was very much looking forward to doing this with Peem.

Unfortunately, I will have to end Part 1 here (please don't kill me), and I'm loathe to end on a sad note, but I promise the next part will be much happier. It will hopefully be posted a little later today.

If you got this far, thank you so much for reading! 😊

Here, have a pudding 🍮

My previous We Are posts.

[ktficworld]

Loving you is not easy, my dear

Pairing: Steve Rogers x desi!reader

Summary: America thinks Steve Rogers can do better and maybe, they are right.

Warning: heavy racism(seriously, I'm not using this word lightly), angst, hurt/comfort, trolling, protective!Steve, reader gets her revenge on the racist bastards 😈

A/n: posting after so long. Already know traction is going to be shit but I'd really appreciate if you reblog this. I'll try to keep it short(I failed💀)

Tags: @sunshine-on-my-mind @slutty-daddy-pedro

This wasn't supposed to happen.

You weren't ready to get dragged through the mud just yet.

You and Steve have been dating for a year. You were a regular software engineer. Wandering around on the internet, to help fellow programmers with their problems. Little did you know, that none other than Tony Stark was there for help under the disguise of 'toiletdistroyer'; frankly, you should have known by this username, but oh well.

So, you caught the billionaires eye and he offered you a job on the spot. And of course, you took it, much to your parents dismay and happiness. With tears filled in your eyes and aachar, parathe stuffed in your tiffin. Of you went to America.

You didn't meet the captain for a good month and honestly, even if you had. You wouldn't have given two fucks about him since you were stressed to the brim with work and moving in.

You slowly met every avenger. Tony was the first, of course. Then it was Bruce Wayne Banner as you worked on the technical part of a bio-tech project he was developing. He was good but was shy and mostly kept to himself. Afterwards followed, Natasha, she was sassy and perfect. You liked talking to her about girl shit and somehow, she took a liking to your weird ass and you befriended black widow.

Next up, was his best friend. Bucky. He caught you wandering outside the stark building because you came too early and so he joined you and the birds chirping. He was cute and funny, but not your type. Thankfully, he wasn't interested and quickly friend zoned him.

Then you met him.

You whistled as you sauntered into the lobby. Clocking out early from your shift and cherry on top, it was Friday. You were going to have a fun weekend. Talking with your parents, watching kdrama and being gleefully single.

Your whistle was disturbed by something squashy yet hard coming underneath your foot. You retreated your foot and glanced down with furrowed brows. It was a brown leather wallet. With a sigh, you bent down and picked up the lost wallet.

You opened the wallet to see the identity of the abandoned wallet's owner and your eyebrows disappeared into you hairline as the stupidly handsome face of the captain appeared in front of you. He must have dropped it in a hurry.

Your eyes darted around as you bit your bottom lip. The sane thing to do would be to go to the reception, hand her the wallet and go your merry way. But he might still be around and also, the receptionist looked too bitchy for you to deal with. So you went for the less sane option, of course.

You took a deep breath and glanced up at the ceiling. "Hey, Friday. Is Captain Rogers still in the compound?"

"Yes, miss. Shona. Captain Rogers is in the parking lot." The robotic voice of Friday said from above.

"Thank you, Friday." You said and deeply sighed. Yes, you could do it. No need to be nervous. What if he's Captain America? You ain't a criminal. With that peep talk, you rushed to the parking lot.

You almost tripped while trying to find Steve in the parking lot but in the end, you found him. He was swinging his leg to climb on his bike when you shouted to get his attention.

"Captain Rogers! Captain Rogers!" The man stopped mid-way, setting his foot back on the ground as he turned around and you almost died at the sight of him. He was wearing blue jeans, white T-shirt and blue jacket, making his sapphire eyes pop as some blonde hair strands falling over his forehead. Oh, girl. Get a grip on yourself!

He was startled by your incessant shouting as he looked at you with his doe yet alert eyes. "Yes, miss. How can I help you?" He asked, ever the gentleman and you internally sighed in relief that he didn't call you ma'am.

You waved his wallet and said. "Your wallet. I think you dropped in the lobby."

His eyes widened as he patted his pockets and a sheepish look appeared on his face. "Ah, I think I really dropped it. Sorry." He said and walked up to you.

You gave him his wallet with a smile and bit your lip when your hands touched. Fuck, were you on your pms?

You peered at him through your lashes as he checked the insides of the wallet and promptly shoved it in his jeans back pocket.

He glanced at you and with a shy smile, said. "Thank you, miss."

"Oh, no problem. You can call me shona." You didn't know what divine energy of confidence came over you as you extended your hand for Steve to shake.

Steve looked at you funnily but shook your hand nonetheless. "That's not your real name, is it?" He asked timidly after the handshake, his touch lingering on your hand as you unwittingly savoured the feeling.

You beamed at him and shook your head. "Nope."

"Then, what is it?"

You told him your name and the smile on his dashing face faded away as he looked down. You could not blame him, most people had the same reaction and that was why you gave your nickname, not actual name.

"I'll probably butcher that." He muttered sadly as he scratched the back of his neck.

You chuckled and waved off his concerns. "It's alright. Most people can't say my name. Only few special people have made it into a special group who can pronounce it outside India." And it was true. Only few people were able to say your name without getting their tongue twisted, including Natasha.

Steve raised an eyebrow. He bent down, close to your face and whispered, in a husky voice. "And what are the requirements?"

You hummed as you pretend to think with your finger on your chin and said, dramatically. "A lot of dedication and practice."

Now it was his turned to be amused as he leaned even closer and asked. "And what will I get if I get into this special club?"

You were caught off guard as you spluttered out. "Um, what do you want?" And you also had kdramas to binge for fuck sake.

"A dinner sounds good." He said with a lopsided grin.

You gave him a thumbs up and said. "Perfect! Now I need to go. I have a weekend to enjoy, bye." You said and rushed out without a second thought or glance at Steve.

When you sat down in the metro was the time when your dumb mind actually processed his words and you froze In your seat. Wait! Did he just ask you on a date?

He did, in fact, ask you on a date.

After he learned to say your name. You two went on a date and you knew you were doomed. Those blue eyes had effectively captured your heart as you slowly fell for him.

And who won't? He was so soft, affectionate, caring, supportive. He was perfect. You didn't know what he saw in you. You were so... Regular.

But whenever you would say this to him. He would look at you all offended and ask why not? You were beautiful, intelligent and his sunshine. And you melted everytime he said that.

You told your parents and you had to make your mother take an oath that she won't say anything about your relationship to any of your relatives as she just couldn't stop giggling. Thankfully, she kept her oath.

You also officially got introduced to the avengers. Bucky and Natasha already knew about it and everyone was happy for you and Steve. Yeah, Tony did throw a tantrum about how he didn't figure out your budding romance and how Rogers whisked you away from under his nose. His words, not yours. And he also earned a slap to the chest by Pepper for that.

You both decided to keep your relationship private. Steve did not want to make a circus of his relationship in the media and you also wanted to lay low. You wanted to take the Katrina Kaif route, one day you're single and the next day, poof! You are married.

But the Cosmos had another plan.

You didn't know who it was, a reporter or a fan. But someone captured you and Steve in a not so platonic way. You were sitting on his bike, one hand occupied with an ice cream and the other, draped over his board shoulder. He was holding you by the waist as you both kissed. Ice cream long forgotten as you both were smiling into the kiss. But someone had posted it on social media and overnight your very private relationship was in front of the entire world to judge ans comment about.

You woke up to a cold bed and your phone exploded with texts and calls, ranging from judgmental relatives to your friends from India and America to the entire avengers team.

You furrowed your brows at the slew of messages and calls and decided to call Steve but instead his phone blared in your shared room, making you sigh. What the fuck was going on?

You scrolled through your contacts and paused when Natasha's name appeared. You hovered over her number hesitantly before calling her. Just after two rings, she answered.

"Hello, Natasha. What is going on and where is Steve?" You asked her in a sleepy voice and scratched your head.

On the other side of the line, Natasha sucked in a sharp breath and replied with unusual franticness. "Shona, somebody leaked a photo of you two and now the world knows that you both are in a relationship. Steve's in the living room, come here quickly and don't open your social media!" Natasha cautioned.

"Wha-" You didn't even get a chance to comprehend her words before she hang up the call. You glance at your phone incredulously. You sat up straight when your brain finally processed the given information. Your relationship was public. Your Katrina Kaif moment was ruined even before it materialised, ugh! So unfair.

And telling you not to open your social medias? It was like telling a child not to eat the candies from the jar. You bit your lip and opened the hellhole called twitter. And the number one trending hastag was:

#CaptainAmericaisdatingwho?

You tapped on the hastag and was instantly greeted by the picture of you and Steve. Your eyes widened as you took in the picture, whoever clicked it had good photography skills as you looked decent in it. You scrolled down and made a decision you would later come to regret, started reading the reactions of the people.

He is dating an Indian? Why? Did he not find any good girl in here? Insane.

If they have a child, what would be their skin color?

She probably put him under a spell or something.

Wait! She works for Stark, meaning this is a work-place relationship. Yeah, no shit, Sherlock.

Captain America is taken😭😭😭 why God! Now I need to find someone else to obsess over😭😭😭

Look how she's eating. Like, get some manners girl! 👇

You looked down to the image attached. You were eating rice with your hand and winking at the camera, granted it wasn't the neatest sight but eating food with hands made it taster(yeah, fight me on it!).

That was it, you could not take it anymore. You burst into a fit of uncontrollable laughter as you giggled at the comments, doubling down in your bed.

Tears gathered in your eyes as you laughed your ass off on these racists misery. You knew damn well that you would face some form of racism whether you dated Steve or not and it was funny to see them whine like anyone gave a shit.

You scrolled some more laughing at the whiny racist and the memes people made along the way. However, one comment caught your attention as you halted to read it.

Why isn't Steve dating her?

You looked down at the photo and your heart dropped, all your happiness fading away. You stared at the woman's photo for what felt like ages as you observed her porcelain skin, her blonde hair and her perfect figure. She was the epitome of an American woman.

You looked at Sharon's perfect face and could not help but echo the poster's thought. Yeah, why wasn't he dating Sharon? Why was he dating you? A regular girl while he was captain fucking America! He could have anyone he wanted. A model, an actor anyone he wanted and he wanted you? Why?

Much to your detriment, you scroll past it and onto the next comment which said:

So, she's the ugly one in the relationship 🙈🙈🙈

The comment plunged into your soul like a rusted dagger as your breathing becomes a shallow pounding in your ears. You glanced forward, where the full length mirror was sitting and stared at your reflection with critical gaze.

You brought a hand to your face, it was so dull. Your eyes had dark circles and were puffy. Your lips weren't plump enough. Your eyes weren't big enough. Your body wasn't curvy enough. You only had brains. No, you didn't! You weren't special, anyone could do your job with enough practice. You were nothing out of the ordinary.

You were snapped out of your destructive thoughts as your phone was snatched out of your grip. You whipped your eyes to the perpetrator and a very furious Natasha glared back at you.

"What did I tell you about not checking your social media?" Natasha asked, enraged as she waved your phone in her hands.

You didn't want Natasha to be proven right so you scoffed and replied. "Telling someone not to do something will only make them do it more. Haven't you heard of reverse psychology, agent?" You snarked and Natasha shook her head in displeasure.

"You coming with me?" Natasha asked.

You paused to think and then shook your head. "Let me shower first. I feel dirty and sleepy."

Natasha nodded thoughtfully and said. "Okay, I'll stay here."

You whined in protest but quickly shut up after receiving a steely glare fron the black widow which would make even the toughest villians pee their pants. You showered, taking extra long as you got distracted by your thoughts yet again. And made your way to the living room with Natasha in toe.

And you heard it before you saw it. The annoying voice of one of the most famous conservative journalist as he said that Steve Rogers could do much better, that this relationship wasn't going to last and that he wished it won't last long.

The last part made your stomach churn in uncertainty.

The pattering of footsteps alerted the other avengers of your arrival. Tony and Steve were standing next to each other as they talked in hushed yet aggressive tone.

Tony looked annoyed than ever as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. While, Steve? Steve looked like just one poke and he would snap. His jaw was clenched, his eyes were ablaze as he stood taut.

Both of the man's gaze snapped towards you as Steve's face softened and he rushed towards you, blocking your view to the TV as Tony hastily turned it off.

"You finally done sleeping, sleepy head?" Steve asked affectionately as he caressed you cheek.

You hummed absentmindedly and forced a smile on your face. "Slept like a baby." You said and the air was so thick with tension that it was strangling you more than your own mind as no one dared to talk about the elephant in the room.

Eventually, Steve cleared his throat and said in a whisper. "You already know what happened but don't worry, I'm with you." And pulled you into his embrace. Yes, why are you with me, Steve? What do you like in having to deal with all this drama when you could date any white woman and keep the peace?

You tried to reciprocate his hug but it was a half hearted attempt as you were fixated onto something else.

"Yeah, don't do anything stupid." Sam said when you and Steve parted. His face was empathic and knowing and your heart broke at that. Still, you gave him a half smile.

"Hey! That's my line!" Bucky yelled in offence, making Sam scowl at him.

"You don't own a sentence, Buchanan." Sam countered.

"Don't call me that and I would copyright..." They kept bickering but you tuned them out as the seed of doubt started sprouting in your consciousness.

📷

But it only got worse. The hate just didn't stop and everyone was piling up on you. Indians did come to your defence, questioning the racism and the unrequited hate you were getting.

But some were also interrogating you. Why were you dating captain America? Why were you flying so high? That he may just be using you and would leave you for an American sooner or later. This sentiment was also shared by your relatives.

Your parents were on your side but you could sense that seeing you get attacked was upsetting them. You put up a brave face in front of the world but you were crumbling down from the depths of your being. You were falling down an abyss and no matter how hard you shouted for help, your mind didn't let up its torment.

You didn't tell the avengers or Steve because they was already so stressed out dealing with all this fiasco. He was so distraught that he didn't even notice you withdrawing from him. He didn't notice how you slept on the edge of the bed instead of in his arms. He didn't notice that you avoided mirror like a plague. He didn't notice how you were drowning in your minds stupid tricks.

That was until it boiled over.

It was a quiet evening. You were walking back to the compound after running some errands. Apparently, Indian species were hella expensive and hard to find in there so you shopped for them by yourself. And it was also because you liked these non-eventful and tranquil moments that you had reserved for yourself.

You were absentmindedly trudging forward as the compound just entered your peripheral when a shout jolted you out of your trance like state.

"Go back to your country!"

You whirled around, only to come face-to-face with a regular white man. Seriously, he didn't even look like a Kevin or intimidating, just run of the mil white guy, very easy to blend in the crowd.

You raised your eyebrows and exclaimed. "Excuse me?"

The man tutted and took a step forward, you taking a backward step. "Didn't you hear me? I said, go back to your country."

"This is getting old. Try something new." You said with a bored voice and crossed your arms on your chest.

"Seriously, first you take our jobs then resources and now our hero? Just because you don't have anything in your country, doesn't mean you should come running to us and mooch off of us." He ranted with a grunt.

"Why? You wanna date him?" You eyed him from head to toe. "To my knowledge, Steve is straight and even if he wasn't. I don't think he would date someone like you." You snided.

His jaw ticked as he took a step forward. "You don't deserve him!" He spat.

Yes, you don't deserve him. Your mind supplied as your grip around the shopping bag loosened.

"He deserves better." Yes, he deserved better.

"You are nothing." Yes, you were nothing.

You were so hypnotised by your minds scorching affirmations that you didn't see the approaching threat.

You yelped as your back hit an electric poll, grocery bag falling on the ground. The man lunging forward for an attack but before he could even lift his hand, a punch from his left side shoved him away and he landed on the ground with a pained grunt.

You let out a shuddery breath as you slowly glanced to your left, your whole body trembling with fear. Your eyes landed on Steve standing there, panting heavily as his knuckles were painted crimson, by whose blood? You didn't know. His eyes were ablaze and his face was murderous as he began charging towards the whimpering man on the pavement.

This snapped you from whatever demons were holding you as marched towards him and shrieked. "Steve, stop!"

You stopped in front of him and wrapped youur hands around his. He halted in his steps, his face instantly softening as he unclenched his fists and dropped his offensive stance. He cupped your right cheek and you spluttered out a sob.

You glanced down at his bloody knuckle and coked out. "Steve, let's go."

He glanced behind you at the whining man and then nodded. He tucked you in his embrace while your gaze never left his knuckles. This was all your fault. Because of you, he almost lost control of himself and if he would have done something then you would have also smeared his name. Maybe it was good to end things.

📷

The room was pin-drop silent, only the sniffling of you and Steve and the clinking of the first aid kit being shut closed reverberated through the walls. Steve had started to talk as soon as you left the man writhing on the cold sidewalk but one finger of yours on his lips and he shut up, accepting your silent plea of solace. But you couldn't push back the inevitable any longer.

You lifted up the first aid kit and set it inside one of the cabinets in the bathroom. When you came back, you sat down on the coffee table ahead of Steve and peered at him through your lashes, your heart breaking when your gaze landed at his pretty face. You would miss him.

It was Steve who spoke first. He intertwined his bandaged hand with yours and softly said. "I'm sorry, you are suffering so much because of me and I'm sorry I wasn't able to protect you."

Swallowing, you looked down as tears beaded your eyelashes and muttered out. "I think we should break up, Steve. It's not working out." Saying those words was like stabbing yourself in the chest with a scorching knife.

Steve instantly stiffened and his grip on your hand grew tight as he refused to let you go. "Why?" He asked and before you could reply, his bitter laugh made your head snap upwards as he shook his head.

"Why am I asking this? This should be pretty obvious to me," He sniffled as few tears slid down his cheeks. He glanced at you and you had to bite your lip to hold back your own tears as his pained and misty eyes stared into yours. "Is there nothing I could do to change your mind? To make you give me a second chance? Do you not love me anymore?"

The last part was like a slap to your face as you furiously shook your head and yelled. "I love you with all my heart, body, mind and soul. I love you more than anything in this world, more than I could ever articulate."

"Then why are you leaving me?" He asked in a whisper.

And the flood burst gates open as you broke down. "BECAUSE I DON'T DESERVE YOU."

Steve immediately placed you in his lap as sons wrecked through your body. "Why would you say that? You deserve the world, doll."

"No Steve, no! You are Captain America and I'm nothing. You are gorgeous and I'm ugly. You are perfect and I'm not." You cried into his chest, selfishly seeking his warmth.

Steve jutted your chin upwards and gazed down at you with soft offense. "No, honey. I'm not perfect, I betrayed Tony, I have done so many things that I regret. I have cried in your arms multiple times and you have seen me vulnerable." He said through his own tears.

"But you are so pretty. You should be dating a model or an actress, not me."

"Who like me for being Captain America? No way and," He held your face in his palms and continued. "You are the most beautiful, most intelligent, most amazing woman I have ever met. I won't trade you for anyone."

"Then why I doesn't feel like it, Steve? You asked in a defeated whisper. "Why can't I see myself the way you see me?"

"I can help you look at yourself like I look at you. Please just, don't leave me. I can't live without you. We can survive this storm." He murmured softly kissed your sore eyes.

Your lips quivered as you brought your hands to Steve's face. "I want you, Steve. I want you so much but holding you feels like a sin."

"And holding you feels like a dream. A dream I thought I would never have," He said quietly and gently pressed his forehead with yours. "Just give me another chance. Give us another chance."

"Okay." You replied. Your sobs had ended and draped a heavy blanket of fatigue over you in their farewell as you melted into Steve's hold and Steve snuggled in you more. You didn't know when he placed you on your bed or when you fell asleep in his arms. You let yourself fall into his bliss as all the demons left you. Because in this moment , Steve was yours and you were his and that was all that mattered.

📷

You yawned as you got out of your slumber. The bed was cold again as Steve was nowhere to be found. Again.

Maybe he realised you were right and moved instead of kicking you out. You sniffed a little and turned around, so you were facing the front of your room. But your face instantly scrunched up in bewilderment as you took in the sight.

There were polaroid pictures hanging from the ceiling by a white thread, all facing away from you. You scratched your head as you tentatively got out of the bed. How the fuck did someone hang these and you didn't even stir? Was this from hydra?

The last thought made you gulp as you gingerly reached out for the first picture and pulled it close to read the text written on it with a marker.

Do you remember the time when you handled the toughest project alone?

-Tony

"Huh, what?" Now you were even more confused as you flipped the glossy paper and burst out into a fit of laughter.

It was a picture of you handing Tony a golden toilet trophy like you were handing an Oscar with a megavolt grin as he was rolling his eyes but still, he begrudgingly received the award.

You wiped off a tear from your eye and refocused back on his question. You hummed to yourself as you took a trip down the memory lane. It was a very important biotech project and there had come a point where the connection between the software and hardware had broken and no one could figure why because everything was normal and nothing seemed faculty. It turned out to be a software issue as the code had malfunctioned and needed to be rewritten in a more efficient manner.

You led the team who did that and boy were those days exhausting. Overtime, frustration, failure after failure and of course the moral of the team going down. But you managed to keep the team together and pulled through. Providing excellence.

You smiled a little at that memory. You weren't that useless.

Sighing, you stepped forward to the next picture and read the text on it.

Remember when you got hit on and Steve scowled?

-Natasha and Wanda

You turned the photo around, showing you, Wanda and Natasha. You and Wanda were eating a leftover cake while Natasha was drinking wine straight from the bottle.

You remembered that night. You were minding your own business and not touching alcohol since you didn't want to wake up with a pounding headache. when a guy suddenly materialised next to you and ordered a drink for you without even asking and began flirting.

You smoothly pulled yourself out of that situation and gave the drink to Natasha but Steve had witnessed the whole interaction and he looked like he wanted to sucker punch that poor dude. He was teased relentlessly about it for a month.

Now that you thought about it. You were hit on multiple times on multiple occasions. It was a game of sorts between you and Steve. Since your relationship was private, it was amusing to see people ask you or Steve on a date. You always relished in watching girls flirt with Steve because he would always get uncomfortable and nope out of there like his life depended on it. It was fun because no matter how much they flirted with him, you knew that the man was yours.

You chuckled and caught a glimpse of your reflection in the mirror. You weren't that bad looking.

You walked up to the next polaroid and snatched it closer.

Remember when you comforted me when everyone was sleeping?

-Bucky

Your eyes filled with tears as you flicked to see yours and Bucky's image, it was clicked during lockdown when everyone stressed a lot about cleaning everything. You were pretending to sing with a cleaner bottle in your hand as a microphone and Bucky was using a broom as his guitar.

With a reminiscent smile and you thought back to that one stormy night when Steve was out on a mission and everyone was sound asleep.

You being the insomniac that you were started trudging towards the kitchen for some late night snack but stopped mid-way when you heard whimpers coming from Bucky's room. You went inside without asking but saw him crying alone in his bed. He was so resistant to your comfort and even yelled at you for intruding on his privacy: but he was right about it. However, he caved in the end and cried his heart out while you held him. Then you both watched anime and ate chips. Sleep was nowhere to be found that night.

You bit your lips as you went to the last and final picture, that was dangling before the door.

Remember why I love you?

-Steve

You burst into tears as the realisation dawned on you that it was he, who did all of this. To make you see yourself through his eyes and everybody's eyes. And no, you didn't remember why he loved you because there were too many moments and reasons to remember all that once.

Warmth bloomed in your chest as you finally looked at the picture and it was just like your relationship. Sweet and simple. With you both in the bed, hair messy and lazy smiles on your faces. It was a morning selfie that you taken sporadically on his phone.

You loved him. You loved him so much and you wanted to be with him till the end of the line. Because even if you were just a regular jane, you loved him and he loved you and that was all that mattered.

In your whirlpool of emotions, you didn't register the the bedroom door clicking open and Steve walking inside. It was when his strong arms enveloped you, did you got out of your reverie and glanced at him, teary eyed.

You hugged him back and wept louder in his chest as he rubbed your head. "I love you. I'm sorry for telling everyone about what you were going through but I thought it would help, please stop crying."

You slapped a hand over his lips and cried out. "Shut up. You lovely little dork. I love you. You did nothing wrong in my eyes."

With hope twinkling in his eyes, he removed your palm and asked. "So, will you give us another chance?"

"Yes! This one incident won't make my problems go away in a snap but I want to be with you and learn to love myself like you love me." You said through a smile and leaned to kiss him when-

"What about the trolls?" Tony's voice made you shriek in surprise as Steve gave him an exasperated look.

"Really, Tony?" Steve said with displeasure.

"Yeah, really asshole?" Natasha said and slapped Tony on the head.

Tony scrunched up his face in indignation and said. "But I need to know. She's not used to the attention and hate. And she can't even deactivate her social media because she is one of our representatives from tech."

This made a bulb go off in your head as you held up your plam and said. "Don't worry, Tony. I'll have it handled. Plus, we didn't really publicly announced our relationship, did we?"

Steve narrowed his eyes at you but you just grinned at him devilishly. Time to troll the trolls.

📷

You softly closed the bathroom door as you stepped outside, your white saree grazing the floor. You looked ahead and your jaw went slack, Steve was his blue powder blue shirt and black pants and his blonde hair practically glowed in the golden light of the evening. He looked so gorgeous that you just couldn't tear your eyes away from him.

But then you realised his intense stare on you and you quickly looked down, heat raising to your cheeks. "Stop, staring, it's creepy."

Steve let out a throaty chuckle and said. "I can say the same thing about you."

You opened your mouth to reply but the Bucky's exasperated voice interjected with a grunt. "You both can do this later. Now, come on before the sunsets and the light is gone." And harshly thrusted his phone in the direction of the door.

You chuckled. "Alright, let's go." Steve held your hand as you both walked outside the compound and into the evening sun. After, finding a place where the background was greenery instead of a concrete jungle. You perched on his Harley. Your hand snaked around his neck as his came down to rest on your butt while he stood in the middle of your legs and both came forward to kiss each other.

Bucky clicked the picture but Steve didn't let you go until the need for oxygen became dire. You smiled bashfully and wiped your mouth as you finally got off his bike and went to the very unimpressed Bucky.

He shoved your phone into your hands and ran away before he had to endure any of your pda any further.

You shrugged it off and looked at the photo. Thankfully, it was good and you gave Steve a thumbs up before posting it with a caption:

I corrupted the golden boy and I'm not sorry 😈

Steve also posted the same picture but his caption was more modest:

My love ❤

And. It. Blew. Up, again.

The haters and racist started whining again. Sane people supported you both and laughed at the haters, going as far as making memes. You were trending again, many famous people also came out of the woodworks and congratulated you both which made you roll your eyes.

You didn't care about the public thought of you. You wanted to troll the haters and you successfully accompanied that.

However, it didn't end there. As your devil incarnate friends decided to add fuel to the fire by posting pictures of you and Steve being all over each other with a complimentary middle finger emoji. And apparently, everybody had one.

Either you two were pervs Or your friends were nosey as fuck. Natasha and Bucky agreed with the former assumption.

Bucky posted you both kissing on a picnic.

Natasha of you sitting in Steve's lap.

Sam posted a photo of your head resting in his lap.

Heck, even Peter posted a photo where Steve was kissing your temple.

There were many more but you that was enough for the day as you switched off your phone and tossed it on the bed side table.

"I just wish, no pray that my parents don't see any of these pictures or I will be having an interesting phone call with them. The relatives are still blasting my phone but I ignored them as always." You rambled to Steve as he slid under the covers.

Steve let out a raspy chuckle and said. "I don't think they haven't seen it yet as we're all over the, well everything."

You groaned and pouted at Steve because he didn't need to always tell the truth but as soon as you locked eyes with him you melted in his oceanic blue gaze. He pulled you into his comforting arms and you happily obliged.

"Steve, now that the whole mess is kinda resolved. What's next?" You asked as you gazed into his sapphire blue eyes.

He hummed and gazed back at you. "What's next? Good question, but I don't think you want to hear the answer to that. Would ruin the fun. " He whispered and leaned down to kiss you before you could question him further.

[wehaveimagineshere]

You don't have to write anything on this if you don't want to or don't feel comfortable, but how about some smut with Gale and an afab reader where she tells him that she struggles with vaginal dryness and he's like "Well I can think of one way to fix that..." and goes down on her. Bonus points if she's super shy and has a hard time explaining it to him and is super oversensitive because of it

Sorry if this isn't in your comfort zone, I'm going to go crawl in a hole now 🙈

Hi! You didn't specify an admin so little ol' me, Ren, will be taking this. I read this and got so excited. I had to look up more details about vaginal dryness (the name itself says a lot but I wanted to make sure I knew what I was writing about), but like. I love this prompt? So much? Being open and honest about body differences is so good, and communicating about it is just mwah.

I hope you like this piece, anon!

A little note: Google can only tell me so much. If I got something wrong like didn't accurately explain vaginal dryness right, or took the wrong guess on how past experiences could happen, or anything like that, please please tell me! I'll endeavor to fix my mistakes. I want to learn and make sure I represent this right (:

~*~*~

His fingers trailing lightly down your spine, you twine your own in his hair as you draw him closer, deepening the kiss. A soft sound escapes from your lips as his fingers find the hem of your shirt and slip under, fingertips trailing fire as he languidly explores your skin. Gale breaks the kiss only to find your neck, teasing with tongue and teeth as he makes his way slowly to your collarbone, humming as your neck bends to give him more access.

Hearing nothing but your heart hammering in your chest, you let your own hands wander, tugging free the belt around his waist so you can run along the planes of his stomach, marveling at the movement of his muscles when he shifts.

His own hands move lower, cupping your ass and drawing you close as he catches your lips once more. Your move your hands up his back so you can press against him, feeling that familiar mix of longing and anxiety as you feel him straining against his pants.

He won't push, you know, won't try to sneakily slip his hands down your pants or ask you to do something you've already said no to. But that guilt still sits and squirms in your chest, thrashing in the blankets of shame and fear, making it hard to tell him why. Why you keep the clothes on, why you hesitate when things start getting real heated.

You know you have to tell him, you want to tell him, but the shame and fear of rejection has so far kept your tongue glued.

But tonight... Tonight, maybe, you can finally get it off your chest.

Breaking through the haze, the temptation of his touch, you step back and catch his eye. He immediately drops his hands to your hips and squeeze reassuringly. "Too much?" he asks gently.

"No, it's..." Taking a deep breath, you step outside of his reach, bringing your arms up to hug yourself. "There's something I need to tell you."

"Anything."

You can already feel the embarrassment heating your cheeks and neck already, your eyes bouncing from rock to tree to leaf and back as you fight for the confidence and the words you need. "I, um. H-How much of the human body do you know?"

Raising an eyebrow, Gale takes a moment to think. "I'm afraid you're going to have to be more specific. I've read tomes talking about anatomy and biology, though I'll admit recounting what I learned may be difficult."

Biting your bottom lip, you shift as you take a deep breath. "Well, I, um." Pressing your lips together, you try again. "I kind of have a...problem."

"Are you well?"

"Yes! Yes. I-It's nothing that is contagious, or anything. It's." Now you're outright chewing your poor lip. "It's something about me. And, well, i-if we're going to be..." You raise your shoulders up, hugging yourself a bit tighter.

Raising his hands up, Gale says gently, "You don't have to tell me if you aren't ready. We all have our secrets and are allowed them."

"No, Gale, I want to tell you, I just." You sigh. "It's embarrassing, and I don't want you to think less of me, or--"

"I would never think less of you." He tilts his head, a small smile testing his lips. "Unless you go on a murder spree, but even then, I feel I would assume your victims deserved it first." Your smile is more of a painful one and he drops the attempted humor immediately. "Sorry. But I do mean it, whatever you need to tell me, I won't think any less of you."

Rolling your lips together, you say hesitantly, "I...have trouble...getting wet."

He shifts, brows furrowing. "Can you elaborate?"

"It's... Mm. You know how when..." You huff. "Women get wet, right? When things get heated? I... I don't, really." How you wish you could disappear into the ground. "I mean, I do, but, I don't. It isn't, it isn't you or anything, it's just... How. How I am."

His eyes drift as he processes, and you only have the courage to watch for a few seconds before your eyes drop to your feet, your chest so tight it's hard to breathe.

"If I'm understanding right," he starts finally, "I just have to tease you longer."

Your face flares so hot you fear it might melt. "I mean. Maybe. That might help."

Smirking, he takes a slow step forward. When you don't retreat, he draws your arms from vice gripping your chest and holds your hands, bringing one to his lips, eyes studying your face as he says, "I have a tongue, and I'd like to think I know how to use it."

You barely squeak out, "Gale--"

He chuckles, drawing you closer, resting his knuckles against your cheek as his smirk drops. "Thank you for telling me. And as promised, I don't see you any less."

Your smile is wobbly, hopeful. You should've known Gale would be different. Swallowing back the prick of tears, you say, "And I, um. I'd like to..." You gesture between you.

His smirk is back. "Shall I summon the bed?"

A small chuckle escapes. "Please."

So he does just that, setting up a magical bed in the nearby clearing. A four poster bed with elaborate bedding and even a canopy, sheer purple drapes drifting lazily in the calm breeze.

He leads you over, waiting for you to find a comfortable spot on the bed before he follows. Propping himself above you, he searches your gaze and, finding no denial, exposes your tummy and gets to work.

He starts right below your ribcage, tongue trailing the bones and sending a shiver up your spine. Moving up, not down, he drags the shirt up as he moves, exposing your breasts before covering one with a hand and the other with his mouth, tongue circling your nipple as his thumb plays with the other.

Your back arches without your consent, breath stuttering as he nips gently, licking away the sting. Your knees draw up as he opens his mouth to trail back down, his fingers trailing the hem of your pants before hooking underneath.

He glances up at you, and it isn't until you nod that he pulls, exposing your sex to the chill air. You shiver at the sudden change, though his warm hands finding your thighs and his breath ghosting lower takes no time in banishing the cold.

A kiss to your folds as you inhaling in expectation, and the groan that escapes as his tongue dips between would be embarrassing if you weren't already so far in the haze, the pleasure.

Gale wasn't wrong when he said he knew how to use his tongue. Using the tip of his tongue, he teases that sensitive bundle before calming the sensation with the tongue's body, a languid couple licks that has you absolutely squirming.

He goes just a bit lower this time, tip of his tongue pressing just above your entrance before trailing up, his teeth this time nipping and sending your back arching high. He repeats the motion, spending more time alternating between teeth and tongue, and you can do nothing but squeeze your eyes shut and try to breathe as your limbs shake.

He leaves his hands to knead your thighs and hold down your hips, especially as his tongue finally finds its way to your entrance. He circles it lazily as he huffs breaths, and you feel his chuckle as he finally slips in, your hips bucking as you gasp, fingers clawing at the magical sheets.

Gale takes his time. Slow, methodical pumps and licks and putting just the right amount of pressure before backing off, finding somewhere else to tease. It builds that pressure in your stomach so achingly slowly, but you're drowning in the pleasure, both impatient and enjoying every single wet, warm touch of his tongue until you aren't sure how long has passed, aren't sure if you're dizzy from his ministrations or you aren't getting enough air in your lungs or both.

The edge beckons, calling to you, and it becomes almost impossible for Gale to hold your hips steady. So he lets go. He allows you to ride his tongue, as hard and quick as you need, to find your release.

And you find it quick.

It shatters through you, your cry stumbling out of your throat as you simultaneously gulp for air, the sheets held in a death grip in your fists. You don't know how long it takes for the stars to subside, for you to start acknowledging reality again.

For you to look over at Gale, whose chin is positively drenched. With you.

He smiles, lips shimmering with your wetness.

You laugh a breathless laugh as he moves back up, fingers feathering down your jawline. "I believe," he says, smile morphing into that grin, "you are now ready for me. What do you think?"

[crimson-calligraphyx]

Tag List: @cheyfi @kingdomof-omens @daylightlvrs @blade-in-red @ladyveronikawrites @jay02bo @itsmrsfuentes @cncohshit @catj422 @lma1986 @chels3a-smile @kiwi475 @halloweenaesthetic @timid-raccoon

"Come on, put on some fresh clothes." Noah stands from my bed, holding his hands out for me to take and leaving my question floating in the air. I do nothing but blink at him, confused and honestly a little hurt that he left me hanging. He takes my hands in his and pulls me to my feet, and I stagger a bit from the weight on my ankle, not preparing to stand so abruptly. "Noah, what are you doing?" "Just trust me. Put on something you like, and I'll be downstairs when you're ready," he tells me, and he's shutting my door behind him before I have a chance to say anything else.

I'm stunned. One minute I'm crying, the next he's kissing me, and now he just bolted out of my room. I didn't know what to think of it.

I sighed and turned to my closet, flipping through my attire before settling on a light pink cardigan and skinny jeans. I changed and situated my boot, cleaned up the mascara I had running down my face, and met him downstairs like he said.

He flashes me a soft smile, holding up the keys to my car. I quirked an eyebrow at him, trying to stifle my bashful grin. I glance around the room; my parents are in the kitchen with Leora, and Nick's leaning against the back of the couch with his arms folded over his chest, a smug look on his face.

"What is going on here?" I eye my brother with suspicion, and he all but shrugs. "I told you, just trust me. C'mon, we're going out," Noah clarifies, waving me on. I roll my eyes and make my way over to him. "Did I say you can drive my car?" "No, but Nick did," he laughs, opening the front door. I huff, following him outside. "Of course he did."

The car ride to wherever he was taking me wasn't very long, but the air was heavy with things unanswered. All I could think about was the way his hands framed my face and the way his lips felt against mine when he kissed me. I swear I could feel them tingling, the residual spark still lingering on them.

He parks along the side of the street, and I scan the familiar strip of restaurants and shops. My brows furrow when I realize where he's brought me. I turn my head towards him, one eyebrow perked. "Welly's?" His mouth curls into a sheepish grin, and he nods shallowly. "You remember coming here, right?" "Yeah," I confirm, and I feel my cheeks warm at the past memories. Of course I remembered where our very first date was all those years ago. Of course I remembered each and every other time we came here.

We gaze at each other for a beat, and I swear I could see a blush crawl across his face, too. With a clearing of his throat, he exits my car and rounds the front of it, presumably to open my door, but I beat him to it. He makes a face and I snort, thanking him anyways.

We're seated shortly after we enter the restaurant, and flip through the menu, deciding quickly; I hadn't realized how hungry I was until my eyes roamed over the pictures of burgers and pasta dishes. We sat in a not-so-comfortable silence after we placed our order, waiting for one of us to break the ice.

"So," I start, taking a sip of my water. "Why'd you bring me here?" He shrugs, doing the same. "I think we both deserve to get out and enjoy some food after everything that happened." "I guess you're right about that one," I chuckled. "But why Welly's?" "The food's good and it's been years since I've had it," he answers matter-of-factly. I nod slowly, accepting his excuse that I didn't exactly buy. It's been a while since I've eaten here, too, so I guess I couldn't say much. But I know that it was more than that.

It was a place he and I were comfortable in—or had been, anyway. Whenever we were here, it was like the world around us didn't exist. It was just the two of us. We'd zone everyone and everything out and cherish our time spent together, each conversation we had, each laugh we shared. I felt like maybe there was a part of him that wanted that right at this very moment, but it just wasn't the same.

Even after we got our food and ate for a few minutes, he still seemed stiff as a board, but I couldn't handle the tension anymore. I put my fork down and wiped my face with my napkin, staring at him until he noticed.

"What?" he asks, slowly putting his own fork down. "Do I have something on my face?" "No," I laughed lightly and shook my head at him. "Spit it out. Why exactly did you bring me here?" "I already told you," he starts, averting his eyes to his plate, "I like the food here and it's been a long time—" "But you know this is where we had not only our first date together, but many, many more after that. This was our place, Noah." He presses his mouth into a line and nods curtly, still not looking at me. "Why didn't you answer my question earlier?"

I could tell he was nervous, watching his Adam's apple bob as he swallowed. He opens his mouth to say something, but no words come out. He's fidgeting with his silverware now, and he tries to avoid the question by shoving another forkful of food in his mouth. I roll my eyes and say his name sternly, trying to bring him back to the conversation.

He finishes his bite of food with a huff, slowly bringing his attention back to me. His dark eyes lock with mine, and I can see the timidness radiating from them. "I don't know," he whispers. "I don't know what we are, Amelia. All I know is that I still care so deeply for you, and it scares me." I shake my head, puzzled. "What do you mean it scares you?" "I fucked up when I left. I never should have, I should have stayed, and because of that we'll never be anything more than people with a troubled past." There's a pang in my chest hearing him say that. "And a child," I remind him. "And a child that I don't want to leave behind."

I'm stunned for a moment hearing those words come out of his mouth. The pang that I had felt was replaced by a warmth that was beginning to blossom in my chest, and I couldn't help the smile spreading on my face. He wanted to be in Leora's life.

"Really?" I asked, barely audible. "Really." I'm filled with relief, and I have to fight back the tears brewing because of it. "So, what are you saying?" "I'm saying that...that I want it to be the three of us. You, me, and Leora. I know it won't be easy and I can't just jump in expecting you and her to accept me, but I've done a lot of thinking." His eyes bounce between mine as he speaks, and I can see the sincerity pouring from them. "It's always been you, but now it's you and her." "What do you mean it's always been me, Noah?" He gives a short chuckle. "I've never wanted to be with anyone else besides you, Amelia. I've never even been with anyone else."

Once again, I'm stunned. Was he telling me that he still loves me after all these years? If that was the case, then why the fuck didn't he ever reach out to me? He never did, not once. No phone calls, no texts, no letters. So I asked him, trying to keep my tone level so that it didn't sound accusing.

"Because when you cut ties, I respected your wishes and did what you asked of me and never spoke to you again."

That's all he said, and I knew that he was right. I had no one to blame but myself; I should have reached out. I should've told him about Leora before she was even born. And as mad as he was when I first told him while trapped in that prison, he didn't seem angry about it now. He was level-headed and genuine. Maybe a little hurt, and I regretted hiding Leora from him because of it.

"I'm sorry that I kept her from you, and that you had to find out the way that you did," I tell him wholeheartedly, a twinge of guilt hitting me. "I shouldn't have done that." "As long as you don't keep her from me now, I guess I could forgive you," he muses, a smirk gracing his lips. I huff a quick laugh. "I won't. She really adores you, you know." "Yeah?" I nod, grinning lightly at him.

But now this brings the next question: do we tell Leora that Noah is her father? And if we do, how do we go about it? I wasn't sure how she would take it, or if she would even understand it. It wasn't every day that a 5-year-old gets told 'Hey, you know this stranger you've known for a few months? Yeah, he's your dad'.

My stomach churns with nerves from the thought of it. I push my plate away slightly before bringing my hands to my lap and wringing them together instead of picking at my nails.

"What's up, Meels?" Noah asks, and I can see the concern on his face from the crease in his brows. "It's just...where do we go from here? Do we tell Leora right away or do we put it off? I don't know how to go about this, Noah, and it makes me anxious just thinking about it." His face softens, a miniscule, reassuring smile tugging at the corner of his lips. "We take it day by day. You'll know when it's the right time to tell her."

-

My skin prickled from the chilly air inside the building, soft music and the quiet hum of the freezer filling the room. I had Leora propped on my hip as she peered into the glass countertop, watching her smile grow wide from the variety of flavors. "Which flavor do you want? Point to it!" I brushed a strand of her dark hair away from her face, tucking it behind her ear as she leaned closer to the display case. "Pink!" she enthusiastically taps on the glass, and it fogs up from the heat of her breath. "Leo, there's three flavors of 'pink'," I laughed. "Do you want strawberry, cotton candy, or bubblegum?" She hums and pokes out her little tongue as she ponders. "Cotton candy!" "Okay, cotton candy it is. What about you, Noah?"

I turned towards Noah; his hands are tucked into the pocket of his hoodie as he shrugs. He was never a big sweets guy, so it didn't exactly matter to him what he got.

"I'll have Leora pick for me." He flashes a toothy grin, ruffling her hair. "Pick a good one." She giggles, batting his hand away from her playfully before turning back to the glass. "That one!" She points to the right side of the case. "M&M? How did you know that I liked M&Ms?" "Everyone likes M&Ms, duh," she sasses, rolling her eyes. "Duh," he mimics, sticking his tongue out at her.

I chuckle and shake my head at them, placing Leora on the floor once she was handed her ice cream. She doesn't waste a second, digging her spoon into her early-summer snack with such force, it nearly toppled out of the cup it sat in. She takes her first bite, her face melting into that of pure delight just as Noah nudges my shoulder. I turned and thanked him when he handed me my ice cream, and we exit the little shop shortly thereafter.

Noah's hand dwarfs Leora's as he takes hold of it, guiding her across the street safely; my heart warms and I smile at the sight, following behind them. She pulls him over to a bench that was settled underneath a decent sized oak tree, the branches swaying gently in the wind and allowing in just the right amount of sunlight to keep you warm in the shade. I joined them, Leora now sandwiched between us.

Noah was right. He said I would know the right time to tell her, and right now seemed to be it as I watched them eat their ice cream, Leora's getting all over her face. He laughed when he noticed the mess, taking a napkin from his pocket to wipe her face. She whines, pushing his hand away, and I allow it to happen with a giggle—there was no use in cleaning her face, it was only going to be covered in a blob of pink within seconds.

"You win this round," he tells her with a huff. He gives up and crumples the napkin to shove it back in his pocket. "I bet you would let Mom clean you up. Isn't that right?" I snort. "Yeah, right. Kid does whatever she wants, even though she should listen to her mom and dad," I tease, tapping the tip of her nose with my spoon. "I don't have a dad," she simply states, ignoring the drop of ice cream I left on her nose, and goes back to shoveling a mouthful of her dessert in her mouth. "Well, actually Leora..."

I trail off and glance over at Noah, my heart suddenly in my throat. His eyes quickly meet mine, silently surveying whether I was going to tell her or not. When I don't say anything right away, he gives a quick nod, urging me on.

I cleared my throat, putting my dish down beside me on the bench before turning myself towards her some. "You do have a dad," I start, running a hand down the length of her hair. "I do?" She looks at me with perplexity while simultaneously taking another bite of her ice cream. I grin lightly from her innocence, now brushing a piece of her hair away from her face. "Everyone has a dad, Leo. You know how Papa is my dad?" She nods with a small 'uh-huh'. "Well, Noah is your dad."

I watched as her brows furrowed with uncertainty, and she looks back and forth between me and Noah. Slowly but surely, her face lights up and she breaks out into a huge smile. "Yes!" She shouts. "I was gonna ask if he could be my daddy!" She turns and wraps her little arms around Noah, never minding her ice cream that I'm sure was now all over the backside of him. He hugs her back with his free arm, a grin painted on his face as she practically squeezes the life out of him.

"That's not quite how that works, but I'm glad you like having me around," Noah laughs, rubbing her upper arm. "I certainly like being around." Leora cranes her neck so that she's looking up at him, still holding him close to her. "Does that mean you'll stay here with us?" "Well, that's up to your mom. I'd like to," he tells her, then turns his attention towards me, his eyes glistening with hope. "I'd like that, too," I simply tell him, a subtle smile gracing my lips. "Yes!" Leora cheers again, letting go of Noah and attaching herself to me in a vice grip. "He's going to be the best daddy, ever."

I certainly hope so.

[twilight-princess240]

I'm probably going to regret posting this and might delete it at some point, who knows, but I want to get this off my chest. I'll probably regret doing this on a public post on Tumblr later.

Is it weird to miss someone who you've only talked to briefly on here who deactivated their account for a reason or another, and since you don't know if there's any other social media out there they have along with the fact that you still didn't talk to them much, you'll probably never encounter them again?

Because that happened to me. I found an account by chance while perusing Tumblr, and I was interested in what posts were on there despite them being 18+ and NSFW. I honestly liked the content when looking through it and I even sent a message through the ask function admitting as such despite being unusually shy for some reason, maybe because at the time I didn't post anything (until my rant about my girl Alyssa Targaryen not too long ago) and I usually prefer to keep to myself.

I admittedly wasn't sure what the response would be and suddenly I felt like the biggest shrinking violet on the planet at the time. It was probably because it was the first time I had ever sent an ask on anyone's account, not to mention this was probably the first guy I reached out to on my own initiative outside of those I was already comfortable around on Discord. I was so nervous and to a certain extent, scared, because even though I was 22 at the time I never knew I could be so shy. I must have been pretty red in the face from my shyness too.

But he reached out to me about my ask through Tumblr's messages function, and he was honestly really kind. In the first message he sent to me, he thanked me for the kindness in my ask, and I was so surprised that he directly reached out to me that not only did my shyness kick in full force, I admittedly didn't respond to it for a month. When I finally responded, he understood I was shy for reasons I couldn't explain at the time, and surprisingly, despite my shyness still lingering, I felt comfortable around him. He assured me that he didn't feel uncomfortable about the fact that I liked a lot of his posts, which I was feeling really conscious about and had admitted to him. I felt like I could come out of my shell at least a bit, open up a little, at least to the point where I was willing to keep talking to him if we could. There were times where there were bumps in the road, where I wasn't sure if we had gotten off on the wrong foot or something or I was wondering if I was annoying or a load because of a tendency to just run my mouth at times, but overall I honestly enjoyed talking to him and his company even if it was solely through Tumblr's messages function.

However, it wasn't for long. We only talked for a few months, and even then, it was really brief and spread out partially due to different time zones. He was dealing with a lot of hate from anons who knew they could get away with it because they could hide behind screens. It was one of the key reasons if not the key reason why he eventually deactivated his blog, last year actually, and probably hasn't returned. Our final exchange, in October last year, was me wishing him luck since he was deleting his blog and possibly not returning, and he thanked me and wished me the best as well. And we both moved on with our lives.

But here's why I think I'm weird when concerning this topic and for even writing all this. It's because somehow, I miss him and feel a wish to reconnect with him and talk with him again. Aside from us talking very sparsely, I'm not sure if we even really knew each other after our message exchanging. As a result of all that, I feel like I shouldn't miss him. Yet I do, and I feel a strange desire to reconnect with him and talk with him again. I try to quash those feelings because not only will it probably never happen, to an extent I feel like it doesn't feel right to miss him and want to reconnect with him after only exchanging messages with him briefly and it being almost a year since he left.

Oh boy, this was practically an essay. While I do feel a bit better about getting this off my chest, I'm probably going to be cringing at myself for this and considering when to delete it as well. It scares me a bit, the fact that even though I didn't mention the person's name at all, someone might still figure out who I'm talking about and somehow get it to him. Well, it's still up in the air as to whether this is going to be deleted or not, but it all depends on how much I regret posting this and how mortified and conscious I feel at least a bit later over even writing this to begin with.

[oceansprompts]

adjust pronouns, names, and details as needed… assorted quotes taken from marvel ultimate alliance 3: the black order. part 2 of ???

❝ Your pocket is not safe place, space-bro.❞

❝ Really?! Come on, man, I only to make speeches like that once, twice a year tops! ❞

❝  That may be true, but a war is won by fighting one battle at a time. ❞

❝ As long as we have each other's backs along the way, victory will stay without reach. ❞

❝ I have seen my fair share of dark futures. What I have learned is that no fate is sealed until we choose it to be. ❞

❝ If the ending you saw is not the one you desire, then we will fight for a better one together! ❞

❝ Took you long enough. Good thing I charge by the hour... ❞

❝ Just look for the ancient ninja temple of top of a skyscraper. You can't miss it. ❞

❝ Oh, you know me. I just love this superhero stuff… ❞

❝ Oh, did I mention that the ancient ninja temple is guarded by actual ninjas? If not, I probably should've… ❞

❝ Whatever it is, they're sneaky little jerks. So watch out! ❞

❝ Stick to the shadows or you'll never make it to the temple… at least not in one piece. ❞

❝ Way to go. You've been made. Why not just announce you're here? ❞

❝ You don't really seem like the "super-team" type... ❞

❝ Oh, I'm not. Spandex is my arch-nemesis. ❞

❝ Someone's gotta keep the streets safe for normal people while all the other heroes are busy fighting giant squids on the moon or whatever. ❞

❝ You gonna tell me how you got through all that without gettin' caught? ❞

❝ Nope. Gotta keep the mystery in our relationship alive somehow, babe. ❞

❝ The soul is eternal, but the flesh is weak. Allow me to show you, as I rend it from your bones! ❞

❝ After all, I make killing an art. ❞

❝ Do me a favor and die already. ❞

❝ I have a reputation to maintain! ❞

❝  Heh. You think you won, but you really missed the mark. ❞

❝ When the big man gets done with you... you're gonna wish you'd let me put outta your misery. ❞

❝ I'm no defender of the innocent. What use could you heroes possibly have for an assassin? ❞

❝ Why so glum, chum? ❞

❝ All of this is so much bigger than us. I mean, I can barely do my own laundry. Stopping cosmic annihilation is a bit outside my comfort zone. ❞

❝ Sure. At least for today. Go ahead. Say it. You know you want to. ❞

❝ Avengers Assemble, baby! ❞

❝ You are such a nerd. ❞

❝ Which leads me to an extremely important question... Can I keep 'em? ❞

❝ Suddenly less worried about external threats and more concerned about the ones in here. ❞

❝ You bet. Not even a ripped seam. Which is a good thing, because I just spent a fortune redesigning this costume!❞

❝ It's...complicated. But let's just say he's from the side of the family that isn't invited to be in holiday photos anymore... ❞

❝ There's no chance I'm jumping ship now, even with an evil robot army ripping up our home! ❞

❝ Would you mind if I include this conversation on my latest Avengers fanfic? ❞

❝ I'm scrapping it after this and putting in a Zen garden! ❞

❝ You are the wind beneath my wings. ❞

❝ Just hold back that oversized Iron Man knockoff and clear me a place to land! ❞

❝ Almost there, team... and I'm headed in hot! ❞

❝ How come giant robots always attack on my day off? ❞

❝ You gave it your best shot, bolts-for-brains... Now I'll take mine. ❞

❝ Oh, you know. Just grappling with a synthezoid the size of a skyscraper. Typical day at the office. ❞

❝ Seriously, who stores a giant killer robot in a warehouse in New Jersey? ❞

❝ Umm, Couldn't you have asked me that, like, twenty punches ago? I mean, REALLY! That totally would have made everything so much easier! ❞

❝ Were you guys having a party without me? ❞

❝ You know… I'm not so sure they meant that as a compliment… ❞

❝ Guess it wouldn't be Earth if New York wasn't under attack by giant robots… ❞

❝ I bet you've seen way stranger stuff in space, right? ❞

❝ Well, we're half way there… …ahem… Seriously? How do you not break into the chorus of an '80's rock anthem after that set-up? And you call yourself a hero… ❞