#Please read this proposal carefully then decide what to do & how to do it. First of all you have to decide that which type of franchise is b

[pinkthrone445]

~I'd do it all over again if you're with me~

Pairing:Melissa Schemmenti x Reader

Gender: little bit of hurt, a lot of fluff.

Warnlings : (+18) strong words, mention of period blood, Fertility Treatments .

Summary:You and Melissa had been married for a while and you decided to have a baby, but things weren't as easy as you thought.

____________________________

It was an open house season at the school where your wife worked, you were fascinated to see her talking to parents and some children, her love for them was natural, there was no one who brought out a more loving side of her than the children. Which made you wonder what she would be like with a child of her own, you knew what she would say, that she was very old to have children and that the stage for that in her life had already passed, but she said the same thing about marriage months before proposing to you.

When Christmas came, you decided to pop the question while she was playing with your nephews

-"THEY ARE SO GOOD, SO GOOD, YOU SEE!

SO I WILL EAT THEM IN A BOX.

AND I WILL EAT THEM WITH A FOX.

AND I WILL EAT THEM IN A HOUSE.

AND I WILL EAT THEM WITH A MOUSE.

AND I WILL EAT THEM HERE AND THERE.

SAY! I WILL EAT THEM ANYWHERE!

I DO SO LIKE GREEN EGGS AND HAM!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU, SAM I AM."-she finished reading the story doing funny voices while the children laughed, bewitched by your wife's charms, just like you were watching her.-"Now go wash your hands so we can eat dessert"-your wife said to the children as they ran laughing, one of your nephews got up and walked over to where she was sitting, the redhead gave him her full attention-"everything all right, little one?"

-"Yes Aunt Lissa"- Your nephew responded and played with his little hands looking at your wife with eyes that would conquer anyone - "Someday you will invite me to your house to eat green eggs and ham? My aunt says you cook very well... Pleaseeeee?"-He pleaded and the redhead laughed, hugging him and kissing his forehead

-"Of course, kiddo, but first go wash your hands so we can eat what we all prepare for today"-the little boy smiled from ear to ear and ran off happily. Carefully you approached your wife and sat on her lap running your hands down her neck, she hugged your waist smiling

-"Hello gorgeous"-she whispered and gave you a brief kiss on your lips

-"Hi... You know, you're always beautiful, but especially when you're with kids, I love to see you interact with them... You look so happy. I wish we had one of our own..." - You whispered against her lips and the redhead let out a big laugh

-"I think it's a little late for that... Instead of a son I'll have a grandchildren if I try to have kids now" - she continued laughing but when she saw your seriousness, she stopped- "oh, you're being serious..."-she looked you in the eyes and you nodded- "love... I'm too old for this, my body isn't the same, I can't have children anymore..."- she whispered so as not to attract the attention of your family who were in the house

-"But we are both women and I'm at a very good age to have children... Tell me this is everything you imagined for our life... Tell me that you didn't imagine a family for us, because I have, many times, I want to have a babywith you. Imagine what it would be like a little you or a little me running around the house, their laughter filling every room, you teaching them to read and how to make me angry, also teaching them how to get out of trouble. Imagine me pregnant, my hormones will be through the roof, which would make things very interesting... I know you don't quite agree, but I ask you to at least think about it, please, for me... Remember how much you love your family, your nana, your sister even though you fight a lot. You love big and loud families, and I'm loud, I know, but our family it's little. You'd be an excellent mom if we do this, please think about it"- you whispered and kissed her lips.

-"I'll think about it, for you" - she answered and you hugged her

-"Thanks..."-You whispered

That was almost a year and a half ago, after thinking about it for a bit, Melissa tell you that she wanted to have children with you, so you started doing everything to start the fertilization. The more the redhead thought about it, the more excited she was to be a mom, because she was going to be a mom with you, have a family with you.

At first everything was very exciting, the treatment, the changes, the care, your hormones through the roof, the excitement of being a mother. But little by little, when the treatment began to fail, it all felt like too much. It was the third time it failed and your body and mind were tired, you didn't feel the same anymore and you wondered if it would be worth it to keep trying, you didn't know if you could take more disappointments.

You were naked in front of the bedroom mirror, your butt and abdomen were full of marks and bruises from the needles of the treatment. You'd done everything you'd been asked to do, you had done strict diets, Mel helped you prepare meals and ate like you so you didn't feel alone, gentle exercises every day, injecting hormones, consuming vitamins, folic acid, you lowered the hours at work so you didn't get so stressed, you slept more. You did everything you were told and nothing worked. This was the fourth time you were restarting treatment and you didn't know if you would be able to do it again if it failed. Your mood was awful, seeing your body so marked with bruises made you angry knowing that it wasn't giving results, going to see Melissa at school and seeing so many children made you sad and angry, not being able to eat what you liked also made you be in a bad mood, the pain you had in your body and tiredness put you in a bad mood, If the redhead touched you, it bothered you, but if she didn't, it also bothered you. It bothered you that even though you were dieting, you were gaining weight, your breasts and abdomen hurt. Everything bothered you. It bothered you that despite all the effort, nothing was working.

-"Here I have the injection, love"-your wife spoke entering the room and stared at you, carefully she approached you and hugged you from behind giving you warmth and protection with her body, resting her head on your shoulder and looking at you through the reflection of the mirror-"you are so strong and so beautiful"-she whispered and kissed your cheek, your eyes filled with tears

-"If this fails once again, I don't know if I'll be able to keep doing it Mel... Everything hurts and I feel very tired, I don't know if I'll take one more disappointment. I know that at the beginning it was my insistence and my idea that led us to this, I know that you have also been excited about being a mom and I still think that you will be an excellent mom, but my body is not working and I don't know how much strength I have left to keep trying"-you whispered crying and your wife hugged you tighter, she didn't like to see you sad or in pain

-"It's okay, I still appreciate everything you've done for us, you're very strong... If this doesn't work, we could look for other alternatives, maybe adopt or we can think about it later, but for now let's focus on finishing this treatment, yes? Let's not get too far ahead of ourselves, let's live the present love." - She whispered and you nodded letting her give you the daily injection, closing your eyes because of the pain it caused you. Carefully, she knelt beside you, her lips rested on your skin, kissing each and every mark that was on your body, paying special attention to those in your swollen abdomen making you smile a little, you delicately stroked her hair and sighed

-"Thanks Mel, you always know what to do..."-You whispered and she got up hugging you again

-"It's my pleasure, baby. What do you say if before we leave for work, you get dressed and let's get one of those waffles that you miss so much?"-the redhead commented and your eyes shone with excitement nodding and kissing her happily.

Mel had faith that this time it would work, but her hopes were dashed when her cell phone alarm rang off to work, she quickly turned off the alarm and turned on the bed to hug you and give you a few kisses, so you would wake up in a good mood. But when you moved your body to hug her, a red stain was seen on the bed sheets. It was already the fourth time you had seen this in the time of the treatment, that meant that your period had started and that the fertility treatment was not successful. You sighed, Melissa tried to hug you but you got up quickly to go to the bathroom and got into the shower closing the door behind you. Quietly but quickly, she changed the sheets by putting them in the wash and putting new ones on the bed, she also prepared a change of clothes for you, and then she walked over to the bathroom door. Even though the door wasn't locked, she knocked softly, asking for permission to come in

-"Amore? Can I come in?"-She asked and when you didn't answer her, she came in closing the door behind her. She silently removed her clothes and came in with you, taking the soap and washing your body with a lot of love, so much so that you couldn't help but start crying

-"I'm so sorry Mel, I'm sorry. I really wanted to start a family with you, but I don't know what's wrong with my stupid body" - You said in a trembling voice and she hugged you tight

-"Don't say that, ever. Your body is perfect and you are very strong for doing this. I wanted it too, but there are other ways to get it. I know you're very tired mentally and physically, so let's take some time off and then we'll see how we decide to continue. Do you want me to stay home with you today? We can call your work and mine and stay here, sleeping, watching a movie or whatever you want... I can cook anything you want, Yes?"-You really wanted to stay home, but the next day you had a doctor's appointment. Even though it was a check and you already knew what you were going to be told, you would need your wife's help to do it because you didn't know if you could do it alone.

-"I really want to, but tomorrow I'll need it more, we have the doctor's appointment... And I don't know if I'll be able to miss two days in a row at work... So I'll leave it for tomorrow" - You whispered and she nodded, helping you finish the bath.

Throughout that day, Mel kept an eye on you with messages, brought you food, and also picked you up at the end of work. You were so grateful for her care, but you didn't even feel like breathing at the time, so when you got home you just went straight to bed and stayed there. The redhead lay down next to you and hugged you throughout.

You knew it was difficult for her too, she was as excited as you were and that had hurt her too, and if it were up to her, she would have put her body to keep trying, if only it had been possible. But she saw firsthand how much the treatment had affected you, hurt you, so she would be supporting you through everything even if she was hurting too.

That night the two of you hugged each other and cried yourself to sleep.

The next day Mel tried to wake you up with a delicious breakfast, but your appetite was still non-existent, and you had a lot of nausea and abdominal pain, so you didn't eat. With great heaviness and sadness you got up, your eyes were swollen from crying and the nausea from the treatment had worsened more than other days. You almost burst into tears when you went to the bathroom and saw that you were still getting your period.

Upon arriving at the hospital, the redhead held your hand at all times whispering sweet words while caressing your back with her free hand. When the doctor called you, you were sure that if it wasn't for your wife's help, you wouldn't have been able to get out of your chair, even walking felt too heavy for such a dreary day. You already knew what they were going to tell you, but having it confirmed by a doctor made it more real. You and Melissa explained what had happened the day before, but the doctor insisted on continuing with the tests. When he took out the gel and put it in your stomach, a shiver ran through your body and Melissa squeezed your hand tighter. She couldn't take her eyes off the screen, but you didn't want to see or hear anything, you didn't want the weight of reality to crush you.

-"Can you repeat it?"-Mel's voice brought you back, Why did she want the doctor to repeat something as painful as that the treatment had failed? You looked at her confused and then at the doctor

-"Congratulations, you're going to be moms" - he pointed to the screen, showing a bean-shaped dot-"The treatment worked and your baby is growing as it should, now you will have to have different types of controls and diets, but we will see that later. Congratulations moms!"-the doctor told you and Melissa looked at you while you looked at the doctor

-"B-but what about my period? It started yesterday and it's still going on, I was told by previous attempts that when my period came it meant that the egg wasn't fertilized and that I had to try again or end the treatment definitely" -You spoke nervously, trying not to get your hopes up

-"Was it darker blood than normal? "-He asked and you nodded-"thicker?"-you nodded again-"It's something normal, when the baby settles down to start growing, he lets out what no longer serves him and that's what you're letting out now and seeing on your pads, it doesn't always happen but it's normal. That's another sign that the baby has already gotten comfortable to continue growing"- the doctor spoke and you looked at Mel excitedly, the redhead was smiling from ear to ear and crying

-"We're going to be moms" - you whispered in disbelief

-"We are!" - She said excitedly and hugged you tightly.

The next few months were both exciting and tedious, but it was all worth it. Vomiting, nausea, pain in your back and feet. But you started eating more things you liked, sex was much more pleasurable, your breasts grew bigger, and your abdomen started to grow. Mel couldn't keep her hands away from you, let alone when the baby started to move. Even though it was the sixtieth time the baby had done it, she was as excited as the first time. The two of you took advantage and bought a thousand things to pamper the baby, even the other teachers of the school when they found out, they made a babyshower party for you two.

When the baby was born, you both were happy to see a healthy baby girl, she had your eye color and her hair color, big red hair like your wife. If you thought Melissa looked lovingly at you, she looked at your daughter with love and adoration. The two decided to call her Lissa, because of the end of Melissa's name and how much she looked like her.

Despite everything you two had to go through, it's something you'd do again to see her this happy again and for your daughter to grow up with siblings.

You were certainly not wrong when you said that Mel would be a great mom, nothing made her happier than coming home to be with you and the baby, or when you surprised her and went to see her at school.

Melissa was the one who got up the most times at night to attend to her and the one who changed her diapers the most often. You loved the days when the 3 of you would take a bath together or watch Melissa make up songs to sing to your daughter

-"You know, I know you know, how much we expected you, how much I wanted you, I know you know. You know that sometimes there are disagreements, but when there is a union of two souls, it brings light, light like you. You know that when you arrived you changed the color of my mornings, and the smell too."-you laughed listening to her -"How can I explain to you the love I have for you, it cannot be compared, it is a love that has no limits. I watch you as your mother rocks you, it makes me feel strong to see you grow. The love I have for you, I let it show in this song"-Melissa sang to your daughter every time she came home from work and she could hold her in her hands, your daughter watched her intently every second, touching your wife's face with her little clumsy hands. That was one of your favorite songs. Seeing Mel happy with your daughter, it was your favorite thing.

~Years Later~

-"Here comes mommy! Go say hello to her"-you said to your little three-year-old daughter as she watched your wife leave school. Her little red ponytail moved back and forth as she ran to her mother. Your wife opened her arms and lifted her up, hugging her tightly against her body. Barbara smiled at her friend and showered your daughter with kisses making her laugh

-"Mommy I missed you so much! Auntie Baba! You all(are) making me ticklee!" - she laughed between the two women. Carefully you approached your wife laughing

-"Leave my princess alone, she's already drunk two boxes of apple juice and she's going to pee" - Your daughter nodded and made little hands to Barbara who picked her up with pleasure. Your wife kissed you smiling and put her hand on your big belly, giving him a kiss as well.

-"I missed you all... How are you feeling?" - she whispered over your lips before kissing you again

-"The little guy is kicking like crazy but I feel good, I think this one will look more like me but he will have the Schemmenti character without a doubt, he is not born yet and he is already hitting everything he can"-you laughed seeing her surprised face

-"Our daughter looks like me and has your humor, but when she gets angry, she also has your character"—she laughed as you gently punched her arm-"and that's why I love her so much" - She kissed you again and you laughed-"Let's go home? I'm planning to make those gnocchi that you and the baby like so much, what do you say?"

-"Mommy! Can we invite auntie Baba fol dinel? She told me that next yeal I'll be with hel in school! And she can teach me now all the cool games! Pweeeease?" - she begged you two with big puppy eyes

-"Of course, my love, Aunt Barbara can go home with us to eat and while she teaches you all the games, Mommy and I will do some things together... We have to take advantage of having a free nanny to have some alone time before this one arrives"-Melissa whispered touching your belly and Barbara gave her a bad look, making you laugh.

[the-curious-butterfly]

A Dappling (or was it called Appling?) short.

PLOT TWIST

After word got out that it was her instead of Daring who woke up Apple, Darling half expected to be chased out of Ever After with torches and pitch forks.

Perhaps not exactly to that extreme but at least something to that extent. She expected mad looks, curses (both literal and verbal) being thrown her way, and an angry mob of princes she could definitely beat in a fight if they lined up one by one. If they came at her all at once, however, it could prove just a tad bit more difficult but she’s pretty sure she can still win against that too.

But she digresses, the point is she expected things to get very bad and very awkward. Well they got awkward alright but not in the very bad way, though she couldn’t really call it the good way either. More like they got awkward in the “okay, I guess this is happening” sort of way.

No, once word had reached a certain person in particular that she, a princess no less, woke Apple from her cursed slumber it took no time at all for her to find herself in the office of one Snow White. The mother of said previously cursed princess and also the Queen of Ever After. And by no time at all she meant no time at all, she doesn’t even remember how she got here or when this semi-large packet came to be in her hands.

Darling decided to ignore the concerning implications that thought had and instead looked down to find in big bold fancy red letters the words: ‘So You Want to Marry My Sweet Apple Dumpling do You?’

There was another phrase underneath with the word ‘Daring’ in it but it had been hastily crossed out so Darling couldn’t exactly read it.

‘Wait….marry?!’

“Ummm, your majesty, what is this?”

The Queen places down her mug with the words ‘fairest of them all’ onto her desk before finally addressing Darling.

“Darling please, call me Snow. We are soon to be family after all.”

“Right…Snow.” It felt so weird to call her by her first name. Not just because she was the Queen but also because Darling was a knight and thus was more use to addressing others the way a knight would, with formality and respect. “What do you mean by soon to be?”

“What do you mean by what do I mean? Will you or will you not be proposing to Apple?” The Queen narrowed her eyes at Darling as if telling her to think carefully about her answer.

“Your majest- I mean Snow, I would love to propose to Apple some day it’s just that you know I thought that you, hex that the entire realm would be upset I wasn’t Daring. Plus we’re both still in school and all.”

“Nonsense, Darling, all Apple’s destiny truly calls for is a Charming, and from what I hear you certainly live up to your namesake. Besides, I’ll have you know the first Snow White was married before she even started school.” (I’m so sorry, I hated learning this but the original Snow White apparently was somewhere around 14 and I completely understand if you want to beat me up for bringing it to your attention.)

“I’m not so sure if that’s something to be proud of, your majesty.” The words were out before Darling could even remind herself who she was saying them to.

“Oh I completely agree, that was the one part of my story I thought was utterly ridiculous.” Phew “Which is why I waited until senior year.”

“Wait, you were also poisoned while attending Ever After High?”

“Darling, I’ll let you in on a secret, most stories end up happening at Ever After High. Hex, as soon as the Evil Queen saw me she tried to poison me. Every day was a fight for my life, those were the best four years I could have ever after wished for.”

“…oh….kay” was all Darling could really think to say.

“Now if you will, turn to page seven.”

“Page seven?” Snow gestured to the packet Darling had forgotten was in her hands. “Oh hex, forgive me I-“ she went completely dead silent as soon as she saw the first few words the page contained.

Heirs and You

“Now granted, this was written with Daring in mind so I never thought I needed to add this which is why I’m saying it now. I don’t mind adoption but your first child must be a product of both you and Apple thus I took the liberty of getting in contact with a renown enchantress who I am certain will be able to help you and…Darling?!”

A loud thud reverberated throughout the room as the knight had passed out before Snow could even finish saying her name.

~~~

Apple come quick, your mother is traumatizing your Prince Charming.

[mollywog]

Hey!

I have never been able to understand the logic behind Katniss voting "yes" for Coin's Capitol only games, how do you analyse this decision? And Haymitch's peculiar support, what is SC playing at?

Great question!

My interpretation:

Remember when Katniss was negotiating the Mockingjay agreement? Coin never explicitly agreed to let Katniss kill Snow:

My paper’s crumpled into a ball in my right fist. I flatten the sheet against the table and read the rickety letters. “Just one more thing. I kill Snow.”

For the first time ever, I see the hint of a smile on the president’s lips. “When the time comes, I’ll flip you for it.”

So, here we are: Katniss is sitting there in the meeting dressed as the Mockingjay, prepared to kill Snow…

But

There is no assurity: at any point Coin could change her mind and choose to kill Snow herself.

"Sit down, please, Katniss," says Coin, closing the door. I take a seat between Annie and Beetee, carefully placing Snow's rose on the table. As usual, Coin gets right to the point. "I've asked you here to settle a debate. Today we will execute Snow. In the previous weeks, hundreds of his accomplices in the oppression of Panem have been tried and now await their own deaths. However, the suffering in the districts has been so extreme that these measures appear insufficient to the victims. In fact, many are calling for a complete annihilation of those who held Capitol citizenship. However, in the interest of maintaining a sustainable population, we cannot afford this."

Through the water in the glass, I see a distorted image of one of Peeta's hands. The burn marks. We are both fire mutts now. My eyes travel up to where the flames licked across his forehead, singeing away his brows but just missing his eyes. Those same blue eyes that used to meet mine and then flit away at school. Just as they do now.

"So, an alternative has been placed on the table. Since my colleagues and I can come to no consensus, it has been agreed that we will let the victors decide. A majority of four will approve the plan. No one may abstain from the vote," says Coin. "What has been proposed is that in lieu of eliminating the entire Capitol population, we have a final, symbolic Hunger Games, using the children directly related to those who held the most power."

All seven of us turn to her. "What?" says Johanna.

"We hold another Hunger Games using Capitol children," says Coin.

"Are you joking?" asks Peeta.

"No. I should also tell you that if we do hold the Games, it will be known it was done with your approval, although the individual breakdown of your votes will be kept secret for your own security," Coin tells us.

"Was this Plutarch's idea?" asks Haymitch.

"It was mine," says Coin. "It seemed to balance the need for vengeance with the least loss of life. You may cast your votes."

The final Capital children Hunger Game is Coin’s idea: This is literally/metaphorically the ‘coin toss.’ It’s not arbitrary like the idea of flipping a coin is, but this is the deciding factor.

"We're down to Katniss and Haymitch," says Coin.

Was it like this then? Seventy-five years or so ago? Did a group of people sit around and cast their votes on initiating the Hunger Games? Was there dissent? Did someone make a case for mercy that was beaten down by the calls for the deaths of the districts' children? The scent of Snow's rose curls up into my nose, down into my throat, squeezing it tight with despair. All those people I loved, dead, and we are discussing the next Hunger Games in an attempt to avoid wasting life. Nothing has changed. Nothing will ever change now.

I weigh my options carefully, think everything through. Keeping my eyes on the rose, I say, "I vote yes ... for Prim."

"Haymitch, it's up to you," says Coin.

A furious Peeta hammers Haymitch with the atrocity he could become party to, but I can feel Haymitch watching me. This is the moment, then. When we find out exactly just how alike we are, and how much he truly understands me.

"I'm with the Mockingjay," he says.

Katniss has shown dissent against Coin before. At this point Katniss has decided the bombs were released by the rebels and not Snow. She equates her dissent with the death of her sister. Coin is no better than Snow: she’s the other side of the same coin

Voting yes demonstrates to Coin that she’s not a threat

The decision she’s made to vote yes is for Prim because she’s using her vote to gain Coin’s trust to get revenge on Coin. It is not her voting yes to take revenge on the innocent Capitol children in the hypocritical games.

Haymitch and Katniss have always had an unspoken communication. I think Haymitch, the strategist, understood Katniss’s need to appear non-threatening to Coin’s reign.

[max1461]

Ok I'm rather busy and had planned to write a longer post elaborating on this topic but I can't do it now, I'll probably still write one later but I wanted to make a short post as the topic has become relevant: the thing that you have to know about my writing style is that (speaking particularly about my serious posts here and not my shitposts) it is very literal modulo certain stylistic quirks. I don't really have time to elaborate all of these (ironically this post was written in a rush, and thus might not itself be the best example of my usual style), but one important fact is that when I say "almost", "in generally", "more-or-less", "in some sense" and so on, I really mean these. Like, these aren't filler words, I think a lot of people just gloss over them but tbh I often agonize over where exactly to put these when writing a post. I sometimes leave posts in my drafts for ages just because I haven't decided whether to propose some phrase with "generally" or not. I'm very, like, careful about trying to make it unambiguous that I don't mean whatever I don't mean, right? So these words are not meant to be glossed over; they're written carefully and they're meant to be read carefully.

It's also important to note that I omit them for stylistic reasons quite often, in particular because if I included words like this everywhere that I think they should logically be, my writing would become like, unreadable. So I try to structure things whereby I set the reader up with reasonable assumptions about what generalizations are absolute, which ones are statistical but high confidence, which ones are very loose and so on. So for instance I'll often set up the appropriate way of understanding a generalization in the first paragraph in which it is introduced, and then make it clear from context that the reader should carry this through when I talk about it going forward. Maybe I don't always do a good job.

But like, consider this recent post. I first say that "I’m comfortable taking it almost as an axiom that no one should ever get kicked out of where they are living". And when I say almost, you know, I mean almost! Idk if other people's writing has this quality. Almost is not there for metrical shape, it's there for content! Anyway, later say something like "an ideal housing policy should respect this axiom", and this is meant to mean... well, I'm not sure really how to say it other than how I said it, it's meant to mean "an ideal housing policy should respect this axiom". A very important part of the semantics of this sentence is that I am invoking a sort of fundamental property of ideals, which is that you usually can't achieve them in actual practice but you should try to get close, modulo whatever constraints you are under. Maybe it's not clear that these constraints are the same constraints imposing exceptions to the axiom; that seems like a genuine ambiguity. Well that's on me.

Anyway, this post sounds kinda snarky like I'm getting on people's case for not reading my post correctly, but no that's not what I mean at all! No like, I'm not irritated at other for not reading a post how I intended it. But I've been wanting to write about my own writing style for a while, in particular because as I said I write in a very particular way whose meaning may not always be like... obvious to readers. And this was a good opportunity to like, point out one of the biggest ways in which my writing style is particular, and which sometimes leads to misunderstanding. Well anyway. Sorry this was written in a rush cause I have actual things I have to do today, there's probably typos and so on so please forgive that.

[sulphuricgrin]

TESfest 2024

Day 1: breath  //  FORBIDDEN

Lilliandra finds what is forbidden

An excerpt from a near future chapter from my fanfic (wrote it dead tired, sorry. barely managed to finish this for day 1)

Characters: Lilliandra (Altmer OC)

Word count: 1098

@tes-summer-fest

Her research is interrupted by a cup of coffee being slowly and carefully waved in front of her face. Eyes trailing up the arm that held it, she’s greeted by Cinnara’s lovely face. Without a doubt a welcome sight after pouring over more than a dozen scrolls and books the last couple hours. 

“Didn’t you recently complain about my coffee consumption?” Lilliandra teases Cinnara, before appreciatively taking the cup. The drink had already cooled, given the red-headed Altmer had to walk a distance just to find her hidden inside the stacks in the academy. Not that she cared - it would help her work through the night, regardless of temperature. 

“I know you’re not coming to bed anytime soon, so I might as well help you.” Despite the mild exasperation in her voice, Cinnara looked down at her fondly. “Need anything else? Maybe a helping hand through these?” she offers as she picks up one of the books and reads aloud the title, “ ‘A Guide to Dwemer Mega-Structures’ ?” She pauses. “You know what, I’ll leave you to it, love. I’m hardly equipped to help you here.”

Lilliandra attempts to bite down a smile, but fails. She had no illusions of getting help from her girlfriend, simply because what she was researching would be dull to most. “Thank you for the offer, but I would rather not deprive you of your beauty sleep.”

She gasps and places a hand to her chest. She would have thought her actually offended if not for the smile that threatens to break Cinnara’s whole act. “Fine, fine. Do try to retire for the night before the morning, please. We have an early class in the morning.” 

“I will,” she lies, though she does wish her promise was real, as Cinnara leans down and gives her a kiss goodbye. 

When she leaves, Lilliandra is left alone once again in the Illumination Academy Stacks, which was floors and floors underground, with cold stone halls and walls filled with books. She had been finding herself stuck in the Stacks for the past few weeks now, starting her literature review on anything written on Thaumavocalism and Dwemer Tonal Architecture, or anything related to magic and sound. She knew when she prepared her research proposal that this would be difficult. She also knew that the Stacks were naturally limited in information, and that she would have to consider joining the College of Sapiarchs if she really wanted to continue with her interest, her lust for knowledge. And that didn’t include her own first-hand research she would have to do for years. 

Fighting a yawn and losing, she decides to get up and move. She quickly downs the remains of her cold coffee, not willing to leave anything that could ruin the papers on her desk. Taking two books and one scroll to return to their shelves, she starts the trek in the Stacks many halls and deadends. Two years in the academy made her incredibly familiar with the library, possibly more than the majority of the senior students. Not that she thought it made her superior to them for that - she didn’t have much else to do when she didn’t want to sleep, couldn’t sleep, or found herself sleepwalking and gave up to return to bed. 

She’s gotten better at handling it all, finally. Maybe. Not managing it, how could one do that? From the nightmares, to sleepless nights, to sleepwalking, to the waking nightmares. (She desperately doesn’t want to call them delusions.) She’s learned to live with the occasional sightings of the ethereal faceless phantoms. She had no other choice. Luminous and large and familiar as they were, her mind and body couldn’t always stay calm with their inexplicable and revolting aura, making her retreat on occasion, fleeing wherever she saw them loom over unaware students and teachers.  

But tonight she walks among them, as they walk the Stacks towering her, barely fitting even with the tall ceilings. Tonight she is calm, weaving through their slowly moving, watercolour spectral bodies, refusing to touch them as always. They lazily flow through the bookshelves and walls and seem to care little about her presence, much to her relief. 

So Lilliandra hums to herself as she looks for the books shelves, thinking about where else she could consider continuing her literature review. The Thalmor made things difficult at times, purging local, academical, and even personal libraries of certain books periodically, marking them forbidden. It was maddening. She dreads them going into House Nivulirel’s extensive book collection and burning books that didn’t align with heavily conservative Thalmor views. 

Reshelving the first book, she sighs at the thought before rubbing her face. Moving two shelves over, she returns the next book. The scroll would need to be returned one floor below. She continues through the halls, dodging the phantoms, down the stairs, before stopping. 

She knew she was tired, that it was late into the night - that maybe she’s not in the right mind ever - but seeing black and gold eyes swell, pop, and reappear was certainly new to her. They bleed along the bottom of a bookshelf. One she knows she’s passed many a time. And the area around it was free of any spectre. She tilts her head to the side in interest, watching the black mass bubble and pop. She glances around the floor and looks over the shelf. None of the books catch her interest, all titles dull to her -  except one that looks so black, it’s hard to tell it’s a book at all and not simply a void of space. 

Whether it’s her exhaustion, recklessness, or excessive curiosity, she touches the black book and is pleased to feel magic before a portal opens before her, through the shelf, and showing a lectern with a massive book on it. A dull voice of reason begs her to desist, but she defies it, embracing the terrible madness as she steps through. 

It takes little time for her to realise what book lies before her. She could never forget her mother’s teachings on daedric influence and artefacts. The dark leather bound tome sits on the lectern, branded on its face a tentacled mass that’s easily identifiable. With barely a pause, she opens it, thrilled at the thought of finding knowledge few have a chance at. Reading the title of the book, she flinches as her sight is consumed by inky tentacles. 

THE KING IN YELLOW

[jtl07]

You made a perfect start to the writing shenanigans, what a cute little ficlet. You can write them in any universe, and still keep their personality. That’s really one of your many, many strenghts. I believe it’s them when you write! Meet-cutes are fun to read when they’re done well, and this one was 🥰 Now I can picture Bea Google her when she gets back to her room, because she had never heard about her before they met in the cafeteria. Now she wants to learn all about break dance and Ava!!! Lol. Thank you! Okay, new prompt: in propose (now am found), could you please tell us more about why and how Ava decided to leave the box and the note. When did she do it? What made her sure?

aw thanks anon, that's very kind of you <3 and lol yes, Beatrice definitely will be very curious about Ava and her endless stomach and boundless energy

but first - what a great question about propose (now am found) - i didn't put a ton of thought into Ava's side of things, tbh. the only thing i had in my head when i wrote that fic was that it followed this sequence where Ava meets her aunt. and i think ... Ava just ... knows. she's known for a long time. if you were to press her, she'd say she knew from the start - that she'd want Beatrice in her life; that she'd ask her to be her wife.

it doesn't make sense logically - of course not. but Ava likes to think that there's some things stronger than logic and faith and death so of course she will choose - again, again, again - to live, to love:

Beatrice, who laughs at all of Ava's jokes, who's the only one who keeps pace with her puns, her winding tangents, her wandering feet when they go on walks. who holds her hand and holds her in bed, who says her name like no one else - with reverence, with awe.

Beatrice, who will stand at the stove barefoot and bare-shouldered, head bowed not in prayer but in an intense focus. who treats the art of making pancakes (her favorite though she has yet to admit it) as seriously as martial arts (her face soft when she teaches the free self-defense classes at the community center), as seriously as the dinosaur lego set in their study (both shared, leisure and work never unbalanced), as seriously as the planning of their next overseas trip (Aotearoa; Beatrice seems just as if not more excited than Ava after their Lord of the Rings movie marathon).

Beatrice, who still holds herself back when they come across something she wants. at times physically - her hands clasped behind her, back straight like at a museum, as if both the thing and her feelings have been set behind a sign labeled 'do not touch.' at times verbally - her words clipped, her tone without inflection. Ava's seen both many times, the former most recently at a jewelry store Ava had oh-so-casually pulled Beatrice into; the latter when they'd come home and Ava had broached the question.

not the question but a question: "is it something you'd want?" Ava had tried to ask it as carefully as she could, but Beatrice had still stopped sharply. like coming up to a wall, like coming up to the end of a path. and Ava knows - knows that in Beatrice's mind, she's hearing in the same roar of 'you shall not pass' the command 'you shall not want' and it takes everything in Ava's body not to tear open the sky, to yell at the universe, at everything that this woman has endured: there is no better person on this earth; how dare you try to find her wanting, to treat her wants as anything less than a gift.

Beatrice, who has lived, is living, and learning more everyday, had loosened her clasped hands, had trembled and looked up at Ava with tears in her eyes and a quiet truth on her lips: "yes."

so yes, Ava knows. knows also that Beatrice is someone who needs time, and Ava is more than happy to take things at her pace. they have time, after all, time that Ava will give and defend with her life - so they can live it, together, full and free.

they're about to leave for the airport when Ava tucks the box with her promise and the note with her best handwriting into the desk drawer Beatrice only occasionally uses. she knows it'll be found soon enough, that the answer may not come for a while, if at all. but she doesn't mind waiting - not now when she has so much to live for.

[btkvp]

Are you searching a Best Computer Centre franchise or Low-cost Computer Centre affiliation or Government registered computer Franchise or computer institute affiliation proposal or you want to register/start/open a new Computer Centre in any location of India-

[dilf-whore]

baby’s coming

pairing: steve harrington x f!reader

genre: fluff

summary: steve stays by your side as you give birth to your first baby 

A/N: i got inspired to write this because of that one scene in vol 2 where steve talks about wanting to have 6 kids 😭 he’s so cute istg. i hope y’all enjoy reading this just as much i enjoyed writing it❣️

requested: no

requests are OPEN

masterlist

˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗

You hold the dishes and put them on the sink. Starting the water, you rinse them off one by one. As you were grabbing the sponge at the side, you felt liquid pouring down your legs, you look down and see that your water just broke. You quickly turn off the water and put back the sponge.

“Steve! my water broke, the baby’s coming!” you scream.

“Oh my god the baby’s coming, don’t panic Y/N. I’ve got you” Steve who’s cleaning the dining table, drops the rug and immediately rushes to grab the hospital bag and keys - opening the door, the adrenaline rushing through his body, making him leave you behind.

You quickly go after him, “you fucking moron! you forgot about me”

“Oh shit sorry!” Steve goes back to you and guides you to the car. He opens the back door and carefully sits you down. He runs to the front and hop on to the driver’s seat, wiping his sweaty palms on his jeans, he buckles up and starts the engine.

˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗

You and Steve got married after the events with vecna. You both realized how much you mean to each other and how time is delicate, so Steve decided to propose to you.

It was hard though at first, some people judged you for getting married at such a young age - you both understood why but you had your reasons and you were both sure that you want to be with each other for the rest of your lives. You both went back to usual, go to college and have fun like what college students do - just the whole married thing is what made it different.

You got pregnant, two years after you graduated college. It was a surprise and scary really, but you were so happy and you were both working jobs that paid pretty well - making your worries disappear.

You immediately told the gang about the news, and they were much more excited than you and Steve - giving all of their support as much as possible.

The kids made time to visit you every chance they get, they had hectic schedules because of college but you were grateful nonetheless. Meanwhile, Nancy, Jonathan, and Robin visited you often and gave your gifts for you and the baby.

˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗

On the way to the hospital, you were doing the breathing technique you were thought from the classes you and Steve took. Steve glances at the rear mirror and looks at you with concern “just breathe Y/N, we’re almost there”.

A few minutes later, you finally arrive at the hospital. Steve wraps his hand around your waist and you both rush inside. “she’s giving birth!” Steve shouts as you enter, nurses come towards the both of you and bring you to the delivery room. “Please let him come” you tell the nurse.

Steve follows you and hold your hand as you prepare to deliver your baby. The doctor finally instructs you to push, making you hold a death grip on your husband’s hand - he groans and bends his knees in pain. Soon he gets his composure back and focus on you.

“Get the fuck out! Agh!” you scream, sweat dripping down you face.

Steve kisses the back of your hand, “You’re doing great honey, just a little more. Push!”

˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗

You wake up and spot Steve cradling your baby, you smile at the sight in front of you. “Hey” you speak.

Steve sniffs and go to you, giving you the baby, “That’s your gorgeous momma, Jack.” he sniffs again.

“He’s so precious Y/N, thank you for bringing this blessing to this world. God I’m still crying” He says, tears falling down his cheek once again. You look down to your baby who’s sleeping peacefully, tears forming on your eyes “hello there little one”. You gently run your fingers through his hair, “you got your daddy’s hair for sure” you say.

Steve giggles at your comment, approaching you and placing a soft kiss on your forehead “Definitely a good mixture of Y/N and Steve” he giggles. “That’s one down, five more to go” he jokes - earning a light slap on his shoulder.

Not long after, someone barges at the door. “Where is he?” Nancy rushes to you, followed by the rest of your friends. They all gather around you, shoving flowers and gifts to Steve - completely ignoring his presence.

“What’s his name?” El asks.

“Jack” you reply softly.

“Awwww” the kids say in unison. Jonathan takes his camera and motions the rest to move aside and stay away from the frame, “alright 1, 2, 3” and the camera flashes. “Hey what about me?” Steve complains.

“Oh yeah, sorry. Get in the frame” Jonathan instructs and takes a picture. “Now everybody get in” He says as he puts his camera on the table and sets the timer, he runs beside Nancy, “smile!”

click

You look at the people around you, your eyes land on each one of them. “I love you guys” you say. And finally look at Steve and Jack, “I love you”

˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗

[ikleesfiction]

Tacones Rojos

Fandom : Chicago PD TV Word count : 4,242 words Pairing : Jay Halstead x reader Author's note : This is the sixth one shot of "Will you follow through if I fall for you" fic continuation. It would be better if you read it first. But if you don't, here's the quick summary. Warning : There is an implied/referenced suicide here. I won't be offended if you back away from the fic because of this. The reference is tiny, non explicit. But it's better to be overcautious than underestimating a possible trigger. I love you, please take care of yourself!

Disclaimer

◢◤

Jay opens the door and lets himself into the house. It has been a good day at work. For once, Chicago's finest criminals are not making too much fuss. The Intelligence Team could get off of work before sundown. They decide to go out for dinner to celebrate Voight’s birthday, which should have been last month, but they were just too busy before.

"Babe?" Jay calls you out.

"Bathroom!" You holler back to let him know where you are. "Thank god you are here early. I thought I had to pick you up at the precinct."

"You haven’t had dinner yet, have you?" Jay walks further into the house. "The team is..." He pauses at the bathroom door, whistling at the vision in the mirror.

There you are in a black dress, sporting a low neckline. The dress has tiered skirts that fall above your knees. It looks lavish yet still modest. Jay fails to figure out how you do it. All he knows is that you look stunning.

Standing behind you, Jay wraps his arms around your waist. "Hi, gorgeous," He kisses your neck. "God, you smell wonderful." Jay moves to kiss the other side. "Not that I mind this lovely welcome, but what's the occasion?"

"You don't remember?" You look to your side without moving away from his embrace.

Jay frowns, "What? I didn't forget your birthday, did I?" He jokes.

You turn around, resting your hip on the bathroom counter. One of your eyebrows raises, full of judgment.

"I'm pretty sure it is not our anniversary?" Jay asks meekly.

Now both of your eyebrows turn into an arch.

"Well, I'm sorry I don't remember," In an attempt at his apology, Jay brings your hands to his lips. "Please..."

"I have this invite from The Tribune, a dinner party for their contributors," You let go of his hands. Turning back to face the mirror, you put on the last touch of your makeup. "I told you about this, right? They invited me since I am writing for their music column now."

"Ah, yes," Jay grimaces. "That is tonight?"

"Yeah. I thought you were here early because you remembered."

"Sorry," Jay shrugs his shoulders. "I was going to take you to the Chop House. The team is celebrating Voight’s birthday tonight."

"Wasn’t it like a few weeks ago? I remembered sending him a bottle of malt for a gift." You glance at Jay's reflection in the mirror as you put on a pair of earrings.

"It was, but we haven’t had the chance to celebrate it until tonight."

"Well, I guess we have to skip his party then." You usher Jay and walk with him to step out of the bathroom.

"Let’s go to Chop House first, just to say hi. Then we will go to your party." Jay proposes his plan.

You scoff at his idea. "It is not my party. It is the Chicago Tribune Contributors Dinner." You sit carefully on the couch before putting on a pair of red strappy heels. "It is a formal dinner, Jay. Suit and tie and invites and all." You gesture to your whole look from top to toe. "You cannot be as late as you want."

You stand up and continue your ranting. "Seriously, I don’t know why I expect any difference this time. It is such a classic thing Jay Halstead would do. You always think about your team first. Everything else comes second."

"Hey, that’s not true!" Jay snaps back. "Look, I’m sorry I forgot about your dinner invites, but it doesn’t mean I care more about my job than about you." Jay is perplexed to find out how dinner invitations could turn into spats. Is it so unforgivable to forget something?

"I tried, Jay. I tried as much as I could to understand that your job comes first. I accepted that your team is your family. I get it, Jay! I wish you could give me even a tiny part of that same devotion you have for them."

"Well, it seems you understand nothing, huh, Y/N?" Jay gets provoked by the high tension. "Because all I heard here is that you complained about all the time spent at my job. Do you want to talk about my work? Then I should have brought about your job in the first place." Jay points his finger in your direction. "I never say anything when you have gone abroad for weeks to make some music and million dollars. So maybe, it is you who is not devoted to this relationship."

You feel enraged by his accusation. You wanted to fight back, but fighting with words is not your best forte. You would only end up choking and crying, which you have no time for now.

"You know what? I cannot do this with you right now." You check your purse. "I’m almost late. Please send my apologies to your team." You grab a coat on your way out. "Don't forget to lock up when you go."

With that, you leave the house and your angry boyfriend in it.

◢◤

“What are you doing here? I thought you had an important dinner date with your Dancing Queen?” Hailey asks Jay when he comes to the steak house by himself.

"Stop calling her that." Jay scolds his partner.

"Well, she danced, and she acted like a diva. I'm just calling what I'm seeing." Hailey shrugs.

"You never saw her dance, you liar!" Jay laughs. "For a DJ, she is an awful dancer."

"But you agree that she is a diva wannabe," Hailey points out what Jay left out.

"No, she is not. Just because she is the only famous musician you met doesn't mean she is a diva." Jay rolls his eyes. "You should give her a chance, Hailey. You keep offending her like this without getting to know her personally. It is not fair, you know?" Jay defends his girlfriend.

"Well, if she were here now, I would." Hailey takes a sip of her beer.

“No, you would not,” Jay calls out her bullshit.

“No, I probably wouldn’t,” Hailey admits with a cunning grin. “So you bailed on the dinner date, huh?”

“It was more like I forgot. But apparently, that is a punishable crime.” Jay frowns in disgust.

“Ah, lovers’ quarrel. I will not touch that with a ten-foot pole." Hailey raises her hands. “You guys are fun to watch, like a teenage drama. Sickeningly sweet in one episode, then broke up in the next one.”

Jay rolls his eyes, “We are not breaking up. We are just having a spat.”

“The fact that you pointed it out makes you sound like a teenage boy,” Hailey teases him. “Relax. The thing about a diva is that they are fickle. By tomorrow, you will be madly in love again."

“Ergh, I don’t know why I bother to talk to you about this.” Jay waves his hand, terminating their conversation. "You are not helping,"

◢◤

Two hours into the event, you are getting bored already. The party is fun, and the food is alright, but your heart's not in it. Mostly, it was because you left home with a bitter taste of fighting with your boyfriend. Deep down, you understand that you are not being fair to Jay. His job is hard on your relationship, but your frequent trips abroad for your job are also not easy to handle. Neither of you nor Jay is entitled to feel singled out. This evening spat was just you losing grip of your insecurity, and you lashed it out at Jay.

However, you are too upset to admit that you are in the wrong as much as Jay. Right now, your fight response still runs high. It is almost 9.30 PM. It would be too late to visit your usual jiu-jitsu dojo. The one near Grant Park might still be open, though, you remind yourself. Sparring for an hour and a half would be good before you face Jay. That way, you hope to get rid of any negative energy. Then, you can talk to Jay more openly.

You leave the party around 10 PM. Instead of calling a cab, you walk to the bus stop. There is a gas station and a minimarket across the street. You decide to drop by for a bar of chocolate. It is far from the artisan dark chocolate you have at home, but you always have this craving for chocolate at an upsetting moment. Chocolates, and physical fights, are now becoming your antidepressant.

You smile at the middle-aged guy at the cash register who hands you your purchase. The bell above the door clinks as three guys step into the store. They go straight to the alcohol section.

The guy at the register sighs loudly. He looks about the same age as Jay’s brother, Will, but the suffering on his face might add a few years more. “Delinquents,”

You nod your understanding and offer him another smile in farewell. “Have a good night,”

The street is pretty deserted as you walk to the bus stop. Not a lot of people walk around. There are only a couple of cars passing by. You open and take a bite of the chocolate bar, waiting for your bus to come. You notice the guys are leaving the store with beer bottles in their hands. They cross the street and hang around the bus stop.

Before long, the catcalls begin.

“Where are you going, long legs?” One of them asks you. “Those heels, woohoo. I could climb those legs forever,”

Ignoring them should be the right way to go, you think. As the wind picks up, you tighten your coat to warm yourself.

“I wonder, what's under the coat? What do you think, dude?” The punks talk to each other.

“Tight dress,”

“Lace,”

“Nothing, maybe?”

"Eeeey!" They trade high fives and cackles, supporting the others' wild imaginations. All while they are stepping closer to where you stand.

From across the street, you hear the cash register guy shout, “Hey, leave her alone, you scoundrel!”

You understand how this looks. Some crooks are harassing a woman. People with high morals will try to help, of course. It is normal to assume a young woman will be helpless. But this time, they have the wrong assumption. Because as far as you can see, there are no vulnerable women around here.

Honestly, you feel giddy. You might not have to go to the dojo for a fight after all.

“What are you gonna do, old man?” One of the punks challenges him. He dares to grab your ass, taunting the cash register guy.

Yes, you got your fight! You are fist-pumping internally.

In a blink of an eye, the guy who touches you drops down on the pavement, holding his hand in pain. His friends look shocked for a moment. But being beaten down by a girl would be embarrassing.

“You, bitch!”

Naturally, they quickly strike back.

The fight is pretty one-sided. Three street thugs are no match for one jiu-jitsu purple belt. A throw down this way. Another sweep that way. One chokehold here. Lock that arm there. If they resist, then broken bones are unavoidable. It is not your fault that they decide to disturb a woman who just happened to be a jiu-jitsu student.

Until the punk that first went down gets back up to point a gun at you.

You let out a groan, “Seriously?” You hate guns. It is not because you are afraid of them or have any doubt about your bare hand fighting skill. You know it would only take you five seconds to unarm that guy. But firearms are loud and they tend to get messy. The ringing in your ears, the smell of powder residues, not to mention the blood stains. Ughh.

You make a side step forward as the man pulls the trigger. A slight miscalculation on your side allows the bullet to graze your arm. But in 20 seconds, the gun finds its way to your hand. The previous holder of the gun is down on the pavement with his palm under your pointy heels. The guy yells in pain, calling all deities and dirty words in the same sentence.

“Drop the gun!” You look up to find a cop car on the side of the road, and two police officers point their guns at you. “Drop the gun and show your hands!” The officer repeats.

You release the magazine from the gun before tossing it to the ground. That skill you learn not from the dojo but instead from your boyfriend. One of the officers then moves to secure your hands behind your back with cuffs.

“Oww,” You moan once you feel the wound on your arm.

◢◤

Trudy Platt is doing a crossword puzzle at her station when she sees a couple of her patrol officers bring a familiar face into the station. She stops the officers on their way, “Hey, Reyez, what happened here?”

“Dispatch called for a possible assault at South Western Avenue. Found this lady beating down three guys. All of them were at The Med now. One was unconscious. Another one ended up with a broken arm. The other’s leg was…” The officer shivers as he remembers the abnormal angle the guy’s leg was.

“Have you asked her to explain what happened?”

“She refused to talk outside this specific precinct, Sarge,” Officer Harris answers the sergeant.

Platt throws a disbelieving look at her officers and you.

“Hi, Sergeant Platt,” You grin at Trudy. “I’d wave, but…” You wiggle as much as you can, being restrained by Officer Harris.

“Why, you little diva,” Platt sighs out loud. She returns to her desk to make a phone call.

“Should I continue to process her, Sarge?” Officer Reyez asks.

Sgt. Platt waves her hand dismissively, “Just put her in the holding cell for now,”

◢◤

The ringing of Voight's cell phone interrupts the laughter at their table. Their meals have been polished by now. They are still around for glasses of wine, fingers of bourbon, and lots and lots of beer. They might've as well moved to a bar, but they're too full to get up from their chairs.

"Voight," The leader answers his phone. The team watches him, hoping they don't get called for a case.

Voight listens in silence for a few moments until he lets out an "Excuse me?" in an indignant tone. "What was that again?"

It seems the person on the phone repeats the same message because Voight shakes his head as if to disagree. "Okay, just stay put. We'll be right there,"

"Please don't tell me we got a case, Sarge. My ribeye has not fully digested yet," whines Adam as he pats his stomach.

"No, no. We're still on stand down. It's just Platt needed me back at the station," Voight pushes himself out of the chair. He opens his wallet and hands his credit card to Kim. "One more round, then wrap this up. Can't let you alcoholics break my wallet," The team laughs at him. Voight nods his head in Jay's direction. "Halstead, you need to come with me,"

"Sarge?" Jay stands up from his chair, confused.

"Good night, guys. See you tomorrow," Voight waves goodbye and leaves the table. He doesn't wait to see if Jay follows him. Voight expects him to.

Jay looks around questioningly at the table. However, the rest of the team is as perplexed as him.

"Go." Hailey ushers him to follow their leader. "Give us a call if you need help,"

"Hopefully you won't, but yeah, man, let us know if you need anything," Adam echoes the sentiment.

Jay quickly catches Voight on his way out of the restaurant.

"You good to drive, Halstead?" Voight asks him.

"Legally? Probably, no. But, I'm good, Sarge," Jay admits to his leader. He might be a little tipsy, but he drove in a worse state before, and it was fine.*)

"Okay then, meet me back at the station," Voight orders him. "Safely, Jay," He emphasizes his point.

"Yes, sir. Can I ask what this is about, Sarge?" Jay cannot hold his curiosity.

"I'll tell you when we get to the precinct," Voight leaves Jay with that.

◢◤

"Ah, good, you're here," Trudy greets them from her desk as soon as she sees Voight and Halstead. She hands a piece of paper for them to read.

Jay widens his eyes as he reads the report, "What the fuck is this?"

"You sort it out. It's not like I have no other papers to file anyway," Platt waves them to the holding cell direction.

"Sarge, this cannot be true, right?" Jay questions his boss.

"Let's ask Y/N," Voight leads them to the temporary cell.

They walk inside the precinct and stop in front of the iron bars. There is only one person there, and it's you.

"Y/N!" Jay calls your name. "You okay?"

"Hi, Jay! Fancy seeing you here. I'm great! Bullet wound and all," You grin from the bench inside the holding cell. "Oh, good evening, Sergeant Voight," You wave to the elder man.

"If you don't want to come to my birthday dinner, you should've said so, Y/N. No need to make some fuss with this arrest." Voight quips.

You snort a laugh, "Sorry, sir."

"Can we not joke about this? I thought you were at the Tribune party, Y/N. Why are you on the street getting shot and beating people up?" Jay sounds agitated.

"Well, they were bothering me with the catcalls. It was creepy as hell. Then one of them got physical. So I got physical too, you know what I mean?" You shrug your shoulders.

"Yeah, I know. I read the report," Jay huffs in exasperation.

"In an actual, official report? Oh, wow. I didn't expect that." You sound impressed with yourself.

"Of course, there is a report. You almost killed three men!! Do you understand that??" Jay is getting more hysterical.

"Almost is the operative word," You calmly point out.

Jay pinches his nasal bones in distress. "Can I get her out of here, Sarge?" He finally asks Voight.

Voight watches their banter with his hands in his pockets. He takes a moment to ponder.

"Hey, Y/N. What brought up this urge to kill?" Voight questions you.

"Sir?" You don't catch what he meant.

"I know you hold a purple belt. You practice jiu-jitsu a lot. Usually, you are more patient and tolerant than this," Voight elaborates. "So, I asked again, what happened tonight?"

You know what happened tonight. Pent up frustration at Jay and at yourself that has been left unsolved. If you didn't leave the house angry at your partner, you probably would not have to spend the night in a police station.

You keep your mouth shut, not interested in letting Voight know the truth. You look down at your feet, breaking eye contact with the sergeant. Your feet are bare since the officers asked you to take your heels off. Assault weapons, they said. You stepped your weight on someone's palm and broke their fingers along the way. Killer heels indeed.

Jay also decides to look away from you and Voight. The sergeant notices this. So both of them understand the reason, which clued him in on why this happened.

"I see how it is," Voight exhales. "Alright, I give you an out this one time, Y/N. Next time you beat thugs on the street, try harder not to kill them, okay? Refrain yourself to bump and bruises only,"

Jay gapes at his leader, "Sarge!" He cannot believe Voight is validating your violent action.

You throw a half smile at Voight, "Thank you, sir,"

"And make sure you come to the next team hangout, whenever that happens." Voight continues his order.

"I'll try, Sarge,"

"No, no. Don't just try. You have to be there," Voight corrects you. "First third rounds shall be on you. That's the least you can do after crashing my party," Voight then leaves the couple to sort that damn paper Platt has on her desk.

Jay goes with him to find the officer who holds the cell key. When he gets the door open, he notices your feet are bare. "Where're your shoes?"

"Don't know," You shake your head. "Evidence, maybe?"

"What the fuck are your shoes doing in Evidence?" Jay mutters as he steers you to Sgt. Platt's desk.

"You need to sign this," Trudy pushes some papers towards you. "And these are the rest of your belongings,"

First, Trudy puts a plastic bag that holds your purse and its content. You only bring your phone, your ID and a few notes. They are all there.

Then she follows with your shoes. You groan in regret at the sight of your poor shoes. One of the heels broke. The intricate strappings are all snapped and tangled. You have no idea if they are salvageable.

"They are my favorite stilettos," You pout.

"Should have thought twice before aiming that blade into someone's hand," Trudy tells you straight, sans empathy.

She finally puts the last item on her desk, which is your coat.

The coat has a new decoration now. There is one bullet hole in the left upper arm. You remember being grazed by a bullet earlier this night. A paramedic tended your wound at the crime scene. You can still feel the twinge at the bandaged arm even now.

Your eyes begin to tear up upon seeing the state of the outerwear. It was a gift from your dear friend who took his own life a few years ago. It saddened you to find his last gift was ripped by common thugs on the street. It felt like you tainted his memories for something mundane and avoidable. If only you agreed with Jay this evening, none of these would happen. You quickly wipe the corner of your eyes before the tears fall.

Jay doesn't miss that. Without saying anything, he brings you into a hug. Jay never met that friend, but he knows how important he was to you. His sudden departure shook you hard. It made you stop working for months. Until Jay forced you to speak, telling him how you feel, what your thoughts about it. They discussed how to move forward. How wilting away in sorrow was disrespectful to that friend’s life and legacy. Only then you were willing to enter your studio to make music again.

"Shh, it's okay, Love. You're okay," Jay whispers sweet nothings in your ears. He peppers your head with comforting kisses. "We can fix it," Jay promises. You know that he is not just talking about the torn coat.

Not knowing the story behind the coat, Trudy asks rudely, “What? Was it a $30k coat? Yeah, I would cry over that too,"

Above your head, Jay glares at Trudy’s insensitivity. Instead of being sad, her comment makes you laugh. You let go of Jay’s embrace and put on the holey coat. “Nah. If the coat were that expensive, those guys would be dead already,” You retort.

“New house rule! No more violence from you except at the dojo!” Jay points a finger in your direction, enforcing his words. “No assaults, no slaughters, especially over a piece of clothes!”

“We’ll see about that, babe. We’ll see…” You pat him on the shoulders, unconvinced by his rule.

“I don’t need to know your household issue. Get out of here, you rascals!” Trudy shoos them out of the precinct.

◢◤

At home, you and Jay are back in the bathroom. Still wearing your party dress, you sit on the closed toilet. Jay crouches next to you as he repatches your bullet wound.

“Sorry, sorry,” Jay whispers when he sees you wincing.

“I think that is my line,” You tell him.

“Huh?” Jay asks, distracted as he tightens the bandage. “All done,” His face is still hovering around your shoulder, checking his handiwork.

You look to your left. Without prompts, you catch Jay's lips in a kiss.

“I’m sorry,” You murmur. “for tonight. I should not be angry at you for such trivial things,”

Jay shakes his head, “No, I’m sorry I forgot. I should have paid better attention to you and our relationship,”

“I didn’t mean it when I said those things. I was just upset. Not a great excuse, but I’m still sorry. I know you are in this 100%.” You tell him, still in a quiet tone. As if increasing your voice would break the mood. “And so am I. Please, believe me,” You grab his hands to convince him.

Jay shushes you, “I know. I should not accuse you like that. I know it was wrong, I’m sorry. You should know that I have never doubted you, your love, or your commitment,” He presses his lips to yours in assurance. “Ever.”

You twitch your lips, smiling, “I guess both of us have apologized and forgiven, then?”

Jay nods, “Uh huh. You know what to follow, right?” He replies with an indecent grin.

“I’m not sure,” You play along. “You better show me what it is,” You wrap your hands above Jay’s shoulders, placing your palms behind his neck.

Jay pulls you up to your feet. His hands wander from your back to your hips. “I will. As soon as I find the damned zipper on this dress.”

+x Taglist +x

@lorenakaspersen @life-treatments @itsdesiree86

PSA: Please don't drive under influence no matter what the circumstance is!!!

[cipheress-to-k-pop]

Could you write a Wally West (Young Justice) headcanon, when his Future child with comes to the Present?

Wally West when his Future child comes to the Present

Dick Grayson Ver. | Jason Todd Ver. | Tim Drake Ver. | Damian Wayne Ver.  | Bruce Wayne Ver.

Conner Kent Ver.| Artemis Crock Ver.| Roy Harper Ver.

It was no secret that Wally was madly in love with you

Well, no secret to everyone else

To you?

You probably wouldn't have known if Wally proposed to you

Why?

Well because Wally practically proposed to everyone

Before he decided to get serious about you of course

But you didn't know that

And you didn't even know how serious it was

Besides, you weren't on the team so Young Justice could turn into Love Island

You were here to train and help people

Hence comes the age of Wally's hopeless pining

Let's be honest here

Wally is such a simp that it's not even funny anymore

He's willing to do practically everything for you

And he's so easy to please

Like you smile at him and he'll be on cloud 9

No joke

No one on planet earth thought Wally would ever be so head over heels

But they stand corrected

Ever since you came into his life

It's only been you

Wally can't explain it

To be honest he can't even understand it

But he knows that his heart does 360's whenever he looks at you

And all he wants is your happiness

The team try and convince you at times that Wally isn't the same person that he used to be

Sometimes they want to tell you how madly in love with you he is

But Wally always stops them before they do

He doesn't want you to know

Part of the reason is because he's scared of rejection

The other reason is because he doesn't want things to be awkward

He doesn't want you to feel guilty for rejecting him

He doesn't want you to feel pressured to accept his feelings

He'd much rather be crushed by his crush than make you feel even a fraction of what he did

For the moment, he was fine admiring you from afar

Of course, that all changed when the incident happened

Now this isn't your first rodeo so if you read my previous parts on this yall already know what happens

One day when the team was having a beach day

Wally was taking a breather and eating a hot dog on the shore

Calmly watching you play in the ocean

You were so happy and excited

He was smiling brightly just watching you

Your happiness was his happiness

"Dude, you've got it bad."

His head snapped up to see a boy who looked eerily similar to him

Red hair, green eyes

Another Allen? Again?

His mind was already whirring a with super speed

"What?"

"That girl? Your eyes were practically going to fall out of your head."

Wally blushed

"I wasn't staring that hard."

"Are you kidding? If you were in a cartoon (haha I make jokes) your pupils would be hearts and the phrase 'Awooga' would've come out of your mouth."

The kid continued to smirk at Wally before offering his hand

"I'm Leo."

"Wally."

He laughed, "Yeah I know."

"What?"

"Never mind. So, you're madly in love with this girl?"

And so, Wally pours out his heart and soul to some stranger on the beach

Not to mention the setting sun is super romantic

Leo is super attentive, listening carefully to everything Wally says and doesn't make any interruptions

Not even when Wally starts gushing about how beautiful you look in the rays of the sun

Even when Wally starts lamenting about how he's going to be alone for the rest of his life

By the end of the talk Leo gives him some advice

"Ever think of a huge gesture? Something to show her that she means something else to you than the others?"

"Hm? Like what?"

"You have superspeed genius. Take her somewhere she wouldn't be able to go otherwise. My opinion, take her someplace that brings a lot of nostalgia to her."

"I don't know...what if she doesn't like me that way?"

"Just trust me, you guys are meant for each other."

Now Wally doesn't know why exactly he's putting blind trust into some stranger

It's so unlike him

He's also so methodical and smart about things

More of a trust your mind than your gut kind of person

But even then, he found himself believing this random person he found on the beach

Wally took his advice seriously, promising that the next time they see each other, he would have at least tried

And he came through on his promise

One day Wally asked you if you were free and you said yes

Not knowing that Wally was just going to grab you bridal style and superspeed somewhere

He took you to a fair by your hometown

One of your favourite places on earth

And the two of you spent the whole day together

Going on rides, eating at each and every food stall you could find

Only in that order because you didn't want to throw up

Playing carnival games, going to the haunted house and house of mirrors

And of course, the grand finale, watching the fireworks from the Ferris wheel

"So, why the sudden outing?"

Wally shrugged, "Just wanted to do something special with you."

"Something special as friends? Or something else?"

He blushed, "Well, I mean, if you want it to be but there's not press—"

You couldn't even let him finish before throwing your hands around his neck and kissing him hard

Nothing beats hearing actual fireworks in the background and actually being off the ground in the Ferris wheel while kissing Wally for the very first time

Wally thanks Leo for the start of your relationship

He didn't think he would see him again after that

Honestly began thinking that Leo was some sort of guardian angel or something

Or cupid

Until one day he shows up again in at the cave

Everyone was immediately on attack mode

Until Wally saw who he was

"Woah! Guys stop for a second! He's my friend."

They all stop attacking because Wally vouched for him

But that still doesn't explain how he got in there

Or why

"So, what exactly are you doing here."

"I kinda need the plans to Uncle Bart's time machine."

"Why would you need that? And what do you mean Uncle Bart?"

"So, I can get back to my time? My parents are probably freaking out."

He tells you about how he's from the future and he got zapped to the past through some warp hole or something

And he needed the plans to Bart's time machine to go back to his own time

"So, how'd things go with that girl?"

Wally outright beamed and you just looked mildly confused

"Girl? What girl?"

Cue Wally wrapping his arm around you with a giant proud smile

"Things went very well."

It was then you realized you were the girl he was talking about and blushed

Leo on the other hand smirked

"Great. I hope you'll keep this in mind when you want to ground me."

"What? Why would I ground you?"

Leo doesn't answer your question, just smirks and holds out his hand to you

"I'm Leo West. Nice to meet you, (Y/N) West."

PLOT TWIST lol not really cuz we all knew it

You're in utter disbelief

How is he so blatant

Now you can see the resemblance to Wally

And Wally is damn near a heart attack

Cuz like? You marry him? Have a kid with him? He can't compute

"So, you mean to tell me that you're my future son?"

"In the flesh."

"Huh. Damn I guess I have better genetics than I thought."

And Wally is just simultaneously flustered and agitated that you're not more triggered than he is and in utter adoration of you and how cool you are

And everyone is just like she didn't react because she's emotionally stunted and traumatized

And Wally is like shh she's amazing let me love her

Even though Leo was totally blatant about his name and the fact that you and Wally get married and stuff

He seems a little reluctant to tell you about the future

Which you understand

Besides, it's not like you wouldn't find out eventually

You help him build the time machine so he can return home

And you learn much more about him

He's the spitting image of Wally but is more brash and unfiltered than he is

And that says something

Leo's mouth works faster than his brain

And that's abundantly clear within the first 5 minutes of meeting him

He says some mean and straightforward things sometimes

But you know that his intention is never to hurt you

He just has problems framing his sentences in a non-offensive way

Eventually you do send him back

And you'd take about 20 years before you'd find out what happened on the other side of the time machine

But I'll tell you anyway

"Mom! Dad!"

"Leo! Oh, thank goodness! I thought I was going to have a heart attack!"

You grabbed him in your arms, checking him over for injuries and kissing every inch of skin on his face

"Mom, I'm fine, stop slobbering over me."

"Well, I'm glad you are fine. Because you're grounded for a month."

"What?! I get you both laid and I get grounded for a month?!"

"You're right. You're grounded for two."

Forever Taglist:

@simonsbluee

DC Taglist:

@emmacata

@p--e--a--c--h--e--s

@sometimeseverythingsucks

@sokkas-honour

@unstable1902

@lostgirlheart

@missdisapear

@tadpole-san

[inevitably-johnlocked]

Hi Steph!

You have any recommendations for s4 fix-its but with a pining John. Majorly all the fix-its i have found so far we see Sherlock pining over John and i feel i have seen enough of that in the show itself. So some reverse fic rec please?

Hey Nonny!

Ahhhh, good question... let me dig though my S4 Recs:

PINING JOHN in S4

New Year, New Beginning by DaisyFairy (T, 810 w., 1 Ch. || Post S4, New Year’s Eve, John POV, Friends to Lovers) – New Year at a crime scene and John makes a decision.

Posh Boy by panickedbee (M, 3,622 w., 2 Ch. || Kinks, RST, Pining, Sexual Frustration) – In his head he greets him with hey, handsome in the morning, calls him genius when he is being too clever again, calls him pretty man and silly git and sweetheart and, of course, posh boy. Part 5 of Sherlock Holmes Is A Very Lucky Man

Things That You Can't Say Tomorrow Day by PsychGirl (T, 4,022 w., 1 Ch. || Post S4, POV John, Cuddling / Snuggling, Hypothermia, Snowed In, Angst, Romance, First Kiss/Time) – Things go horribly wrong while John and Sherlock are on a mission for Mycroft. Now they're out in the woods in the middle of winter with no coats and no shelter. However will they stay warm?

WHISPER TO ME by chrysanthemumsies (T, 20,598 w., 3 Ch. || Post S4, Fluff, Parentlock, Mutual Pining, Music, Sherlock Plays Guitar, Love Confessions, Light Angst, Romance, First Kiss) - Following the events of S4, Sherlock and John try and fit back into their old life as carefully as they can, all while their feelings threaten to bubble to the surface. Or: Sherlock picks up playing the guitar. John falls more and more in love with every passing day. (TO READ)

Dropping the Act by jadztone (T, 27,258 w., 10 Ch. || Post S4, Fake Relationship, First Kiss, Snuggles and Cuddles, Mary's Past, Morally-Grey Mary, Idiots in Love, Parentlock) – Sherlock and John are quite happy living together with Rosie in Baker St. They might be even happier if they didn’t act towards each other like their love is only platonic. Mycroft brings troubling news in the form of Mary’s parents wanting to know just what their grandchild’s home life is like. The boys decide to spend Christmas pretending like they are in love in order to seem more like a "normal" family. It's easy enough to pretend when all you're doing is dropping the act.

Another Auld Lang Syne by DiscordantWords (M, 30,234 w., 31 Ch. || Post S4, Mutual Pining, Alternating POV, Introspection, Parentlock, Christmas, New Year’s, First Kiss, Past Drug Use, Angst with Happy Ending, Drinking, Sherlock Whump) – There had been years of missed chances.

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse by SilentAuror (E, 50,635 w., 1 Ch. || Post-S4/S4 Divergence, Case Fic, For a Case / Reverse Fake-Relationship, Conferences, Marriage Equality, Travelling / New York, Pride, Homophobia, Bottomlock, Marriage Proposal, John POV, Sexuality, Love Confessions, Emotional Love Making, Public Hand Jobs, Blow Jobs, Passionate Kissing, Needy/Clingy Sherlock, Virgin Sherlock, Touching / Hand Holding, Bed Sharing, Little Spoon Sherlock, Intense Orgasms) – John and Sherlock go to New York to attend a conference run by the National Defence of Traditional Marriage Coalition in order to investigate the potential bombing of the annual Manhattan Pride parade. As the conference unfolds, John finds himself repulsed by the toxic ideology being presented, which becomes relevant to his own unacknowledged issues and his friendship with Sherlock...

In the Dark Hours by hubblegleeflower (E, 51,639 w., 12 Ch. || Friends to Lovers, Unreliable Narrator, Closeted Bi John, Angst, Miscommunications, Slow Burn, First Time, John’s Blog / Epistolary, Selective Mutism) – John, wounded and silent, drifts back to Baker Street for healing...and then goes home again. He visits, gets more upbeat, chattier, smiles, jokes... and still goes home again. Sherlock wants him to move back in - it just makes sense - but John shows no signs of doing so. This is the story of how John and Sherlock learn to say what needs to be said when they're both so very, very rubbish at talking.

The Bells of King's College by SilentAuror (E, 64,019 w., 5 Ch. || Post-S4, Missed Opportunities, Angst with Happy Ending, Fake Relationship, Case Fic, John POV, Jealous John, John in Denial, Travelling / Holidays, Virgin Sherlock, Wedding Proposals) – It's only been two weeks since Eurus Holmes disrupted their lives when Mycroft sends John and Sherlock to Cambridge to pose as an engaged couple at a wedding show in the hopes of solving six unsolved deaths...

White Knight by DiscordantWords (M, 69,840 w., 13 Ch. || S4 Compliant/Post S4, Marriage For a Case, Jealous John, Pining John, Janine / Sherlock Fake Relationship, Serial Killers, Case Fic, Undercover as a Couple, Weddings, John is a Mess, Misunderstandings, Wedding Planning, Jealousy, Drunkenness, Love Confessions, Angst with Happy Ending) – Green. The word green was used to convey a great many things. Illness. Envy. Inexperience. Standing there amidst Janine's chattering bridesmaids, watching Sherlock furrow his brow and study fabric swatches, watching him smile and simper and flirt, John thought it a remarkably apt colour choice. Because he felt quite sick to his stomach, he feared the source of said sickness might very well be jealousy, and he had absolutely no idea at all what to do about it. Or: Sherlock needs to fake a relationship for a case. He doesn't ask John.

The Monument of Memory by J_Baillier (M, 79,663 w., 14 Ch. || Post S4 Fix It Fic / S4 is Canon, Angst, Family Drama, Guilt, Case Fic, John Loves Sherlock, Complicated Feelings, Mentalism / Hypnosis, Murder, Grieving John, Sherlock is a Bit Not Good, Team Work, Trust Issues, BAMF John, Psychological Trauma, Protective John, Autistic-Spectrum Sherlock, Parentlock, John POV) – A genius traumatised by a past he's only beginning to recall. The psychopath sister that time forgot. A missing woman and a mentalist who may or may not be a murderer. And, in the middle of it all, stands John Watson.

The Burning Heart by May_Shepard (M, 119,150 w., 21 Ch. || Canon Divergence / Post-TRF / S3 Rewrite, John’s Sexuality, Pining, Angst with a Happy Ending, POV John Watson, Gay John) – When Sherlock dies, John Watson feels like his life is over too. He’s completely shut down, until Mark Morstan, a new nurse at John’s medical clinic, catches his attention, and helps him uncover the long buried truth of his attraction to men. Although he’s certain he’ll never get over Sherlock, John plans to move on, and build a new life with Mark, unaware that Sherlock is not quite as dead as he appears, and that Mark is hiding secrets of his own.

Radioactive Trees In A Red Forest by Maribor_Petrichor (E, 280,251 w., 73 Ch. || PODFIC AVAILABLE || Post-S4, Suicidal Ideations, Alcohol / Rx Drug Abuse, Coming Out / Bisexual John, Seizures, Past/Referenced/Implied Child Abuse, Hallucinations, Rehab, Celibacy, Sobriety / Relapse, Slow Burn, Friends to Lovers, Grief/Mourning, Psychological Trauma, Nice /Not Anti-Mary, John’s POV, Parentlock, First Time, Angst, Switchlock, Angst with Happy Ending) – John Watson is what happens when a man can no longer see a reason to go on. John Watson is what happens when a man starts to let go. "It is what it is." John Watson is what happens when what "it is" becomes too much to bear. This is a story of the life, death, and resurrection of John Hamish Watson. (TO READ)

[hpdrizzle]

Thank you once again from the DRIZZLE MODS for your participation in the fest! Reveals will be made sometime between October 1 - 2 depending on timezones and life! (If there are any errors, please let us know via email as it’s the fastest way to reach the person who makes the posts!)

[PODFIC] Podfics for drizzle 2022 are not anonymous Title: Lightning Crashes READ BY: bluedreaming | Author of Fic: victoria_p (musesfool) Pairing: Sirius Black/Remus Lupin Summary: "We have to get out of these wet clothes." Title: Lovely Weather for a Sleigh Ride (Together With You) READ BY: roseszain | Author of Fic: Drarrelie Pairing: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter Summary: The snow is glittering in the sun and the Eighth Years can't resist heading out to savour it, revisions and essays be damned. Only question is, can Harry coax his roommate to join them? Title: Of Full Moons and Rain READ BY: Static_Whisper  |  Author of Fic: Evening12 Pairing/Character: Remus Lupin [GEN] Summary: Remus’ life has taken on a routine that revolves around the full moon. [ART]

Title: The last time I Stay Pairing: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter Summary: Harry and Draco fight a lot. Finally, Harry has had enough and he decides to leave. Draco runs after him apologising. Harry wants to stay but they don't know how much they can endure. This is the last time he'll stay. Title: Mustelid Marauding Pairing: Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy Summary: Hermione helps Draco speed up the animagus process, to join her in mustelid marauding. Title: out of the blue clear sky Pairing: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter Summary: The decision to propose to Harry is the easiest Draco’s made in his life. There was little doubt about how to do it, too - a message, four words written in neat cursive on a piece of expensive parchment, carefully folded into a paper crane (for old time’s sake, and because he knows it will make Harry laugh). It has been sitting hidden in his trouser pocket for days. Now there’s only the matter of finding the perfect moment. Title: Swimming in the Rain Pairing: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter Summary: Have you ever been swimming in the rain? Title: You Waited For Me? Pairing: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter Summary: Harry's concert gets cancelled in the rain but he waits because Draco had said he'd come. [ART+ FIC]

Title: Under the weather Pairing: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter Summary: Harry Potter arrives on a Friday afternoon. Spring is beautiful this year, Draco thinks, and yet, there’s a dark grey cloud, rumbling ominously and leaving a big puddle right in the middle of the staffroom. The cloud appears to be right above Harry Potter’s head. [FIC] GEN Title: After All, What Are Friends For? Character(s): Hermione Granger Summary: It's raining men at Hermione's house. Wizards are just showing up on her doorstep one rainy weekend, all making proposals of marriage. What IS going on? Title: Backsliding Character(s): Sirius Black. Harry Potter. Summary: Whenever the weather gets too gloomy, Sirius’ mood follows, since it reminds him so much of Azkaban. Harry tries to help. Title: Don't believe that god is dead Character(s): Barty Crouch Jr Summary: After his trial for torturing the Longbottoms, Barty Crouch Jr is shipped off to Azkaban. He can only count the passage of time by counting the storms. Title: Full Moon, Falling Snow Character(s): Sirius Black & Remus Lupin & Peter Pettigrew & James Potter Summary: The Marauders enjoy their first snowy full moon together. Title: The Great King Rat Character(s): Barty Crouch Jr Summary: Barty Crouch Jr is determined to solve the origins of the mysterious fog. Title: Talk to the wind, talk to the sky Character(s): Remus Lupin Summary: Remus had no idea if the storms or barometric pressure or whatever was really causing his migraine today, but he didn't care. FEMSLASH Title: Bless The Rains Pairing: Hermione Granger/Pansy Parkinson Summary: While working together for the Department of International Magical Cooperation, Hermione and Pansy are sent abroad to a conference in Africa. Title: Glory-of-the-snow Pairing: Luna Lovegood/Ginny Weasley Summary: The first snow is always the hardest. Ginny remembers Luna. Title: Nirmal Pairing: Cho Chang/Padma Patil Summary: निर्मल [Nirmal] (Hindi) — pure: (1) clean; e.g. The pure water of tropical, torrential rains. (2) complete, total; e.g. The pure joy of running and splashing in the downpour with a loved one. Title: one more time again Pairing: Hermione Granger/Pansy Parkinson Summary: While grieving her mother, Hermione finds herself coming face to face with someone she never thought she'd see again. Title: Raindrops and You Pairing: Luna Lovegood/Ginny Weasley Summary: Luna and Ginny let the rain wash away their past and lead them into a future unknown. SLASH Title: Bloom Pairing: Neville Longbottom/Blaise Zabini Summary: In the middle of Britain's worst drought on record, Blaise receives a request to install an irrigation system for the gardens and greenhouses at Hogwarts: a place that he hasn't set foot in over a decade, and which is now home to someone he never really expected to forgive him. Title: Can't You See That It's Just Rainin' Pairing: Sirius Black/Remus Lupin Summary: Rainy days are perfect for post-full moon recovery, especially when your fiancé is a healer. Title: Falling on My Head Like a Memory Pairing: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter Summary: Harry never minded the rain and storms, he used them as an escape from the Dursleys. It was the only time he has felt anything and he continued it when things got overwhelming at Hogwarts too. He had managed to keep it a secret until now, but he didn't mind that it was Draco that found him. Title: Floating (with the melancholy storm) Pairing: Albus Severus Potter/Scorpius Malfoy Summary: Albus Potter is set to film the third season of the show he was starring in for a few years. Unexpectedly, Scorpius Malfoy cannonballs into his life to play his love Interest—and Albus floats with the melancholy storm, unable to discern the show from reality. (Kinda slow burn, kinda an open ending, kinda a lot of tension but it’s okay. It’s fine.) Title: The July Tree Pairing: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter Summary: Neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet, nor hail… nor well-meaning friends, nor questionable communication skills, nor seven years of hating each other’s guts can keep Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy from falling in love. OR: It’s Eighth Year, and Harry Potter has detention. What else is new? Well, since you asked: Greenhouse Four and the Tree of Life, for a start, and then there’s the new shared Eighth Year common room, and Harry’s sexuality, and these pesky dreams he keeps having about a blond man pushing him into things… Title: The Love You Find Pairing: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter Summary: They never talked about it, but Harry took to crawling into Draco’s bed during the night, until they just pushed their two beds together. Harry wondered if they should discuss it, but he didn’t know how he’d handle it if Draco wanted to stop. Or, the one where Harry gets injured, Draco drags him to Australia, and ten years of feelings come bubbling to the surface. Title: Mission Gone Slightly Awry Pairing: Severus Snape/Harry Potter Summary: Secondly, the weather had turned bitterly cold and wet. It was early Fall but there was the possibility of sleet in the weather forecast. Title: November Snow Pairing: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter Summary: It was late November, and the sky was grey and full with the promise of the first snowfall of winter. Title: Out of the fog Pairing: Harry Potter/Severus Snape Summary: As Severus desperately rushes to get Harry to St Mungos through the fog he considers their relationship. Title: Rain or Shine, You’ll Still Be Mine Pairing: Scorpius Malfoy/Albus Potter Summary: Scorpius hates the idea of being second place in the heart of his best friend. He hates even more that his emotions are so evident through the weather. Title: Summer Changes Pairing: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter Summary: Harry stumbles upon Draco Malfoy babysitting his godson, Teddy. He should probably stop dropping by every time Malfoy is there, but something about his former enemy still draws him close and makes his stomach flip. Now in an entirely different way. Title: Think Of Me Fondly Pairing: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter Summary: He spends his nights wrapped around Ginny. But the mornings, the mornings are for Draco. Title: Throwing Rocks at Your Window Pairing: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter Summary: 'Maybe it's worth the risk' was possibly the worst, most Gryffindor thought that Draco could have acted on. At least London's rainy weather fits his mood. Title: where my demons hide Pairing: Regulus Black/James Potter Summary: When Sirius Black flees home he inadvertently condemns his brother. Together Sirius and James claw their way to the top of society and the front lines of the war to try and protect the younger Black. Sirius defies the world as a hit-wizard racking up kills for fun while James plays the role of young Pureblood Lord, dining with Lord Voldemort to gain information while providing a safe haven for spies. Three men whose entire identities have been moulded around a conflict that is now over. Where do they go from here? Title: The Winds of Change Pairing: Justin Finch-Fletchley/Ernie Macmillan Summary: All the big changes in Ernie's life seemingly had been prompted by a change in the wind. HET Title: A Longed For Feeling Pairing: Hermione Granger/Blaise Zabini Summary: Missed chances lead Hermione to take the lead herself. Well, sort of. Title: Add a Dash of Confidence Pairing: Neville Longbottom/Pansy Parkinson Summary: Neville and Pansy are both dismayed when Professor McGonagall asks Pansy to help Neville get caught up in Potions. Title: Cozy Days Like These Pairing: James Potter/Lily Evans Summary: A snowstorm hits Godric's Hollow, but the Potters don't mind one bit. Title: Record Heat Wave, but the Greenhouse is Hotter Pairing: Neville Longbottom/Rose Weasley Summary: Rose Weasley didn't expect a record heatwave when she signed up to work in the Greenhouse at Hogwarts over the summer. She also didn't expect to shag Professor Longbottom. Title: spring rain in england Pairing: James Potter/Lily Evans Summary: There’s a small flood which makes James spiral a little. Fortunately, his wife is there to be the voice of reason. POLY Title: The Apokalypsis of (Flobber-) Wurm Pairing: Luna Lovegood/Theodore Nott/Harry Potter Summary: It’s raining flobberworms across Britain. Title: Lazy Summer Day Pairing: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter/Severus Snape Summary: Harry, Draco, and Severus have sex on the beach.

[tobesobri]

Traditions | 17.3k

a/n: it's been a while since I uploaded writing and for some reason I decided to sign up for this challenge and by some miracle actually managed to write something for it 🤯anyways, this is for the Valentine's Day Challenge by @1dffchallenges and it's honestly just a bit of fun, enemies to lovers little bit of angst and some smut! so i hope you enjoy! I'd always love to know your thoughts!! (also pls excuse any errors, I wrote this in a week with little editing lol)

prompt: doube date

dialogue: “So let me get this right. You want to hire me as your date for a Valentine’s Day Party?”

Pink and red were speckled throughout the entire office, whether it was a bouquet of chocolate roses, a banner of hearts, or stuffed bears residing next to bowls full of heart-shaped candies. Every employee’s section of the office had been filled to the brim with decorations as well. Pink and red ribbon taped carefully around the edges of their desktop computer, little store-bought balloons, also heart-shaped, grouped together and tied to desk chairs. 

And Y/N, dressed in her typical all black outfit, rolled her eyes as she paced through the office toward the one section in the back that was immune to all things heart-shaped, pink, or stuffed. 

She sat down at her desk with a loud sigh, her purse hitting the floor in its usual spot just before she slipped out of her jacket and draped it haphazardly between her back and the chair. It’d be wrinkled by the end of the day, but she didn’t care all that much, nor did she put much thought into the stains on her purse from leaving it on the floor. All she concerned herself with, after settling in, was getting straight to work… which was put on hiatus when she came face-to-face with both a pink and heart-shaped sticky note plastered onto the center of her computer screen. 

Groaning, she ripped it off and moved to turn her computer on before she bothered to read whatever was written on the note. She considered three potential suspects while she pulled her keyboard down onto her desk and logged in. There was Kayla, who worked front reception and was one of the main culprits of all the Valentine’s decorations. A strong contender. It could’ve also been Ines or Carmen, her closest work friends whom Y/N knew both owned a pad of pink, heart-shaped sticky notes. 

However, when she finally let her eyes fall to the note as her computer loaded up, the handwriting didn’t match any of the women she knew, and she was quite positive that none of them would have written was was sprawled out in black ink either.

Roses are red, violets are blue. I will fill your office with teddy bears and balloons, if you don’t send me your half of the proposal by two.

Harry.

She crumpled the note and tossed it into the bin under her desk. He could go fuck himself for all she cared. Sure, she was nearly done with her portion of the work and would be able to send it to him before then, but now that he’d pestered her about it, he’d be lucky if she even bothered to send it to him at all. 

She didn’t doubt the promise, i.e. threat, he made on the note, but being surrounded by teddy bears and balloons would be worth making Harry’s life just a tad miserable.

After opening all the apps she’d need to get her work done, namely Photoshop and Illustrator, she connected her drawing tablet and set up the rest of her work station for the day, both on screen and off.

Harry had worked at the company for about two years longer than her and she’d started off as an intern while she was still in college and, after graduating, was hired as a permanent graphic designer. They had never really gotten along ever since Harry—jokingly—asked her to get him a coffee once… or twice. Unfortunately for her, though, they ended up working well together and their boss had stuck them both on the same projects ever since. Especially after the month-long project last spring that had been their most successful one to date. 

While she came up with the design parts of client projects, Harry handled the more technical side of things and they’d never really argued much over each other’s work even though they clashed constantly at a more personal level. 

“I see your feeling festive.” Just as she’d gotten into the groove of her typical morning and had forgotten all about Harry’s stupid note, his voice interrupted her entire thought process. So when she swiveled around to find him leaning into her little office space, it was hardly a surprise when she glared at him, even though he feigned offense at her bitterness.

“You got my note, I presume.” He let himself into her space anyway, holding a mug of steaming coffee she was sure he’d just made in the workroom, and leaned up against the opposite side of her desk that housed a much larger, digital drawing tablet for when she needed to do more intricate design pieces. 

She just swiveled back around to face her computer again and went back to work as if he was no longer there. Pretending to ignore his existence proved to be quite difficult when the very particular woodsy, vanilla scents of his cologne met her nostrils and filled her entire office. Not to mention, the sight of what he’d been wearing singed the backs of her eyelids so that she still saw him every time she blinked. It was as if her brain refused to let her forget what he looked like in his white button-up, sleeves rolled to the crooks of his elbows, all tucked into his fitted black trousers that tended to get the imaginations going of all the women in the building. 

Not her though, of course. She was better than that. Obviously.

He cleared his throat, still very much present in her space and still very much giving her a migraine. “So will it be ready by two?”

“Well, I planned to send it to you before lunch.” She tweaked the spacing between letters of a potential logo for the millionth time. “But now… I think I might need the rest of the day.”

She heard rustling behind her and knew he was shifting his weight impatiently and running a hand through his hair as he often did when he was… displeased. “I told you I’m leaving early tomorrow and I need it no later than two.”

She cocked her head to the side, still staring at her computer screen and not giving him an ounce of satisfaction. “Did you tell me that?” She teased, an amused smirk lifting the corners of her mouth when she heard him groan behind her. “I must’ve forgotten.” Shrugging, she went back to her work.

“Unlike you,” he snapped, “some of us actually have a love life and I’d appreciate you not fucking up mine.”

She froze then, only for a split second, when his words sank in. Two thoughts raced through her head. The first a string of curse words because of his assumption that she didn’t have a love life. But the more prominent and worrisome part of his statement was that he did have one. And that he was leaving early tomorrow—Valentine’s Day—so he could get ready for a date.

Throwing both her prickly exterior and heartbreaking smirk up again, she turned to face him. “I’ve known you for three years now and if anyone has the potential to fuck up your love life, it’s you.”

He narrowed his eyes at her and her gaze fell to the hand that seemed to wrap a bit tighter around his Bugs Bunny mug. His knuckles whitened and she met his heated stare again, pleased with herself for getting him riled up before he’d even finished his morning coffee.

“So,” she continued before he get get a word of retaliation out, and sat back against her chair, crossing her legs confidently as she folded her hands in her lap. “Who’s the poor girl you’ve tricked into going on a date with you this time?”

Harry had a terrible track record. The longest relationship he’d been in lasted for two months, and that was well before she’d known him. Everything else he had was just a one or two night thing and nothing more. Sure, it was all more than she had, but she preferred it that way. Harry seemed to resent the fact that he couldn’t keep a girlfriend to save his life.

“You don’t know her.”

Her smile widened. “How long have you been seeing her?”

“Couple weeks.”

“Ooh, that just might be your second longest relationship, Styles.” 

“Well at least I’ve had one.”

His jab didn’t have an affect on her however, and he knew it wouldn’t because it never did. He knew she didn’t give a damn about relationships, or at least that’s what she claimed anyway. He couldn’t think of many twenty-four year old women who actually wanted to be alone. He actually couldn’t think of a mid-twenties anyone who wanted that.

“You’ll have to try harder than that.” She said nonchalantly, which irked him even more than he already was, and then swiveled away from him one last time, picking up her drawing pen and getting back to work.

“What’s your issue with relationships?” He went on and she knew he was headed right down a path intended to hurt her feelings just as much as she had his. So, she tensed slightly and braced for impact. “Is it a commitment thing? Or can you just not find anyone to put up with you for longer than five minutes?” 

She let his words sink their teeth in and then smiled to herself. “Hm. Seeing as you’ve been in my office now for,” she checked the time at the top right-hand corner of her screen, “eight minutes, maybe we should date.” She lifted a brow, awaiting his next response. 

It felt a bit like a cat-and-mouse chase bickering with Harry and since she was usually the cat, it brought her way too much pleasure fighting with him.

He scoffed. “Like I’d lower my standards for you.”

That one hurt, she had to admit. Not out loud or to Harry, but it still stung because it was true. He’d have to drop his standards to the floor to even consider dating her and she knew it. 

“Maybe,” she began, still half focused on her work, and ignored his comment all together, “some of us like being alone.”

“Nobody likes that.” He responded quickly and she heard a shift of his weight again and then his voice once more a few moments later. “It’s nice to be by yourself sometimes, yeah, but you can’t tell me you don’t want someone to come home to at the end of the day.” He crossed one leg over the other as he gripped the edge of her desk for support and just when she thought he was done, he kept going, “Someone you can vent to about your annoying co-worker.”

She glanced at him through the little portable mirror hanging above her desk—mostly used to make sure she looked decent before meeting with clients or, sometimes, Harry—and saw the tight smile on his lips. Almost as if that’s what he wanted, like he was talking about himself and not her. 

She’d slowed her progress down while he’d talked until she was no longer working at all. She no longer swiped her pen across the pad or had any idea what she was even doing when she focused solely on his words. Because, once again, whether he was talking about himself or about her, he was right.

“Yeah well,” she quickly hid herself back behind her wall and made her hands function properly again. “Some of us also don’t have the luxury of choosing whomever we want.”

She imagined him smirking at that one because, buried deep within her words was a compliment. That he was handsome enough to actually have anyone he wanted.

Instead, when she glanced at the mirror again and found him, there was the complete opposite of a smirk on his face, and as he stared down into his mug, clearly lost in thought, she wondered what the tightness in his jaw and the frown pulling on his lips meant.

She sighed and stole his attention away from his coffee. “I’ll have it to you before lunch. You can go now, unless you’d like to argue some more and slow me down by another…” she glanced at her clock again, adding up all the time he’d been standing in her office, “fifteen minutes.”

Without another word, she listened to the drag of his footsteps as he finally left her office space. And although she was glad to be rid of his distraction, the room felt so much bigger and so much colder and emptier without him in it. Shivering, she slipped back into her jacket and spent the next few hours doing nothing but staring straight ahead at her screen as she made final adjustments to her designs. 

Any other conversations with Harry were had over email as he worked in his own respective office, messaging her with every little concern he had in order to get his work done efficiently so that he wasn’t stressing to finish it tomorrow before he had to leave. Even though Y/N considered not responding to him a few times, just to spite him and slow him down for her own amusement, she found herself feeling guilty after leaving him hanging a couple times. Sure, she hated Valentine’s Day and everything surrounding it, but she’d almost hate even more the idea of both her and Harry being miserable tomorrow, so she inevitably gave in and cooperated with him. She’d probably regret it when he came back on Thursday spreading around the office all the gory details of his date, but at least he wouldn’t also be in a shitty mood. Her days were both boring and slow whenever Harry wasn’t having a good day. And although she’d blame it all on selfish reasons, it did also make her sad to see him frowning around the office and sulking when all she wanted to do was bicker with him and make him smile again, even just a little bit. But it was easier leaving him to his own devices than risk him finding out she cared about him enough to not wish sadness upon him.  

She couldn’t say the same for him. Harry probably relished in the days she came into the office in a sour mood. He probably celebrated and threw a party whenever she was upset, and, even so, it didn’t change how she felt about him.

The sun had long set and most of the office was gone by the time she finally called it quits and began packing up her things and giving her computer a rest for the night. There were still quiet murmurs from other workaholic employees, which comforting her knowing she wasn’t completely alone in the building, since the last time she’d done that, it took everything in her not to have a panic attack all the way to her car. 

Even though her boss told her countless times not to stay past five o’clock, as he told every other female employee that worked for him that he didn’t wish to see attacked after sunset in the city. Of course, when she was the only one who didn’t listen to him, he hired more guards and one of them rounded the corner into her office space, ready to escort her all the way down to her car.

“Figured you were still here.” He leaned against the walls of her cubicle and watched as she startled, twisting to meet his eyes for a moment before she settled and returned to slipping her belongings into her purse. 

“I don’t need you to escort me.” Zipping her purse, she rose from her chair, checking one last time across her desk to make sure she’d grabbed everything she needed to take home with her before turning to him as he still lingered in the opening of her little office. 

William had been hired a couple months ago, and was only a year older than her, but even so he was more than a foot taller than her and his biceps were about as big as her head. While the entire office drooled over him, she tended to keep her eyes and her thoughts to herself. 

“You say that every night you stay late. Just let me do my job and shut up about it.” He smirked at her and when her eyes met his again, sharply, glaring at him, she groaned and whirled past him toward the elevators. He followed swiftly behind, knowing she’d close the doors on him if he didn’t keep close enough pace with her, mostly because she’d done it before.

As he took his spot beside her and she pressed the button for the parking garage at the basement of the building, a familiar voice rang out through the office.

“Wait!” As if she wasn’t already annoyed enough with William’s presence, his stupidly large arm held the elevator doors open as Harry slipped inside a moment later.

“Thanks, mate.” Harry said exclusively to William as he caught his breath and stood wedged in the middle between the guard and Y/N, who was inching closer and closer into her corner to get away from Harry.

“You have any plans tomorrow?” Harry asked, his attention solely on William again while the elevator took off down through the levels of their building. Not fast enough for Y/N, of course.

William sighed, crossing his arms and trying to resist smiling. “Me and my girlfriend take turns surprising each other every year. And it’s her turn this year… so I guess I have plans, but I don’t know what they are.”

“Damn, way to make us feel incompetent.”

Y/N whirled her head to glare up at the side of Harry’s face. “Speak for yourself.” She warned.

Harry just ignored her though. “What did you guys do last year?”

Again, William stifled a grin. “I had been saving up for a while and took us both to Paris.”

“Shit.” Harry’s eyebrows rose and Y/N rolled her eyes away from him, watching the LED screen above the elevator doors as they neared the bottom levels of the building. She knew Harry and William had become friends, mostly because Harry was annoying and befriended everyone. Except her, of course. She heard his stupid voice again and wished she could just transport herself directly into the front seat of her car and be done with the both of them. “And now she has to do better than Paris.”

Y/N glanced around Harry just in time to see William smirk and she should have known what was about to come out of his mouth before it did. “Well, I don’t consider much better than her mouth ar—“

Y/N cut him off. “Ew! Are you serious?”

Both men eyed her curiously just as the elevator came to a stop and, with a ding, the doors opened. She flew toward them quickly.

“Y/N wait, I have to—“

Again, she cut him off, turning once she was out on solid ground. “I’ll be fine, besides trying to rid my mind of that image you just burned into it.” She turned on her heel and headed off toward her car.

William made a move toward her and Harry grabbed his arm, “I’ll walk her. Forgot she’s a bit of a prude.” They shared an amused look and Harry jogged out onto the concrete and asphalt until he reached her side.

“I heard that, you know… and I know for a fact your car is not parked in this direction.” She seethed and he just smiled to himself, happier than ever that she was in the mood to bicker with him, because he wasn’t quite in the mood to leave yet, where he’d have to wait till tomorrow morning at nine-thirty to see her again. And she wasn’t always the most talkative person on Valentine’s Day, either.

“Why are you the only female in our building not foaming at the mouth over him?” He asked instead, referring to William.

He heard her scoff. “Just because he’s attractive doesn’t mean I have to be interested… or want to hear about his girlfriend sucking his—“

“Cock?” Harry finished for her and within a second she spun around to face him, forcing him to stop in his tracks just inches from her now. His smirk only grew when he saw just how quickly he’d gotten her all flustered. 

And then, as they started each other down, the hardness in her face softened and she drew out a breath, forcing his eyes to fall to her lips and his smirk to fall from his mouth. He thought back to last spring, when there were numerous late nights with her just like this one. When he went home and couldn’t stop thinking about…

“Why are you looking at me like that?” She asked and he blinked a couple times before he lifted his eyes.

“Like what?” He furrowed his brows, trying to track down all the resentment he had for her but he couldn’t find it anywhere anymore. He couldn’t summon it and say something that would save his ass from being caught looking at her like he wanted to kiss her.

Like he wanted to taste her and feel her against him, and hear what she sounded like when he tugged at her hair for more.

“Nevermind.” She shook her head, silencing the chaos going on in his brain. And then she turned, continuing the walk to her car with or without him, but, when she heard the echoing click of his shoes against the asphalt once more, she knew she wasn’t rid of him yet.

“I don’t suppose you’ll give me a ride back to my car, will you?” He easily stepped back into place beside her like nothing had happened.

She didn’t say anything for much longer than he was comfortable with. And then, finally, they reached her car and she sighed. “Get in before I change my mind.”

As she went for the driver’s side, he took quick steps to the opposite side, watching her over the top of her little Honda as she unlocked her door, and then, after clicking the button, his door as well. They both slipped in at the same time and while she fastened her seatbelt and settled in for her drive home, he sat perched with his backpack in his lap, knowing he’d be out of her car within only a couple minutes.

He still glanced around at his surroundings as she backed out of her parking space. “Should’ve guessed your car would be as neat as your desk.”

She didn’t say anything as she drove in the opposite direction of the exit toward the section of the garage Harry always parked in. It was closer to the elevators because he always came in before her and snagged a prime spot. She preferred an extra few minutes of sleep over walking an extra fifty steps.

And he started up again when she continued to not talk to him. “Most artists I know of are super messy.”

“I’m not an artist.” She gritted out through her teeth as she came to a stop once she spotted the rear-end of Harry’s BMW. Although she knew it well enough to distinguish it from the other black BMWs in the garage, it also helped that Harry had an old, faded license plate cover filled with a collage of cute pictures of puppies. He’d said it won him bonus points with women, but she also knew his screensaver at work was a picture of puppies as well, and no women he was interested in ever saw that.

He peeled his eyes off his car and looked over at her. “I know you can draw, too.”

She paused, gripping her steering wheel. She did enjoy both art and design and she knew Harry knew the difference between the two. She just didn’t know why he always insisted on bugging her about it. 

“Yeah, well that doesn’t make me an artist.”

When he didn’t say anything, she glanced at him just in time to find him shrugging a shoulder like he was agreeing to disagree. Even if she couldn’t draw, he’d still consider her an artist because the things she managed to design always blew his mind and if that wasn’t art… 

She rolled her eyes. “Are you going to get out, or do I have to drag you?”

He grinned, and it was almost as if her eyes refused to see anything else but his dimples and the bright whites of his teeth, and the birthmark to the side of his mouth… 

“I’m going.” He assured, and yet he still hadn’t moved an inch. “Even though I’d love to see you try to drag me.” With her knuckles whitening on the steering wheel, he chuckled and unzipped the small pocket on the front of his backpack, withdrawing his keys as he finally swung her door open.

Once he was out, he gripped the top of the door and leaned back in to find her staring straight ahead. “Drive carefully, yeah? Would be quite tragic for your bitter ass to die on Valentine’s Day.”

She reached over and, despite having to brush her knuckles along the side of his thigh, grabbed the handle of the passenger door and yanked. His body remained in her way, however, and he was unfortunately a lot stronger than her.

Then she finally looked up at him, and those thoughts he had earlier surfaced again as much as he’d tried to bury them. This time though, he didn’t fight it as he glanced at her lips once more, then back at her eyes, which had widened slightly just before the dimples reappeared in his cheeks. “And I guess I would miss bickering with you every day.”

With that, he was gone and she retreated back to her seat as he shut the door for her. She had no idea what to think about what had just happened. Why he’d looked at her like that again. What that look even meant. 

By the time she reached the freeway, she’d convinced herself she was just seeing things. Harry wasn’t looking at her in any other way he had before when he was intent on pestering her. But, as she took in the scent of him still lingering in the cabin, she allowed a small part of her to hope she was wrong.

Her eyes fell on the man down the hall from her door as she slipped her key into the lock, her brows furrowing as she watched him. It wasn’t unusual for their paths to cross, as they tended to get home around the same time, but it was quite odd to see him sitting on the floor outside his apartment, his head in his hands. 

They’d said hi to each other a couple times in the mailroom, but she definitely didn’t know him well enough to go up and ask what his issue was or try to fix it for him. And after it was confirmed that he hadn’t, in fact, lost his keys, as they sat beside him on the floor along with his phone, she figured it best to leave him be. 

Turning her key, she pulled her gaze from him and disappeared from the hallway.

The second she was inside her apartment, she felt all the weight lift right off her shoulders, especially when her cat came racing up, screaming at her from the floor while also coaxing her toward the kitchen to fill the food bowl. Whatever was going on with her neighbor still very much on her mind, she tried to focus instead on relaxing and getting both her and the screaming Pretzel some dinner. 

She tried to remember his name as she heated up leftover pasta. She knew it started with an A, but her brain was coming up short. So, while Pretzel crunched on his food in his corner of the kitchen, she tried her hardest to remember. 

And it was no question why she cared so much. Her neighbor was someone she was actually interested in, and she had been since she first saw him. Of course, she was never foolish enough to think he was into her, but she still let herself fantasize. He was tall, nearly black curly hair atop his head always in a state of disarray, and he had the most beautiful blue eyes she’d ever seen hidden behind his glasses. And, if she was being honest with herself, he was just a darker-haired version of Harry. Maybe that’s why she liked him.

The beeping of her microwave tore her thoughts from the dangerous path they’d been headed down. Harry’s voice rang in her head a moment later.

Like I’d lower my standards for you.

She’d needed to hear him say that, because sometimes her thoughts got carried away when it came to Harry and sometimes she did let herself be a fool who hoped. But after he’d said that one damning phrase, it was enough for her to stop. She didn’t meet a single one of his standards, inside or out. 

Still, she tried her hardest not to go back out into the hall and make sure her neighbor was alright. Maybe he just needed someone to talk to and it wasn’t like she was doing anything important. Even if she didn’t have a dumb crush on him, as she did Harry, she still didn’t enjoy seeing him in the state he’d been in.

Before she could work up the nerve, however, a knock sounded through her quiet apartment.

She held her breath as she opened her door, really hoping it wasn’t the boy from across the hall, since she was still blanking on his name, but she couldn’t imagine anyone else knocking on her door this late into the evening. 

So when she inevitably found him there, looking down at her through his annoyingly long lashes as she took in the horrible state he was in—red, inflamed eyes and hair that needed to see a brush rather than his hand—she completely lost her breath instead.

“Uh, sorry, I… saw you come in and I know we don’t talk and this is a weird thing for me to ask but…” He ran said hand through said messy hair and she found her breath again while looking up at him like she’d do whatever he’d asked just so he’d stop frowning.

He sighed, glancing down the hall toward his apartment and then met her curious and somewhat concerned gaze. “Can I come in?”

She recoiled. “Um… why?”

“Well, um, I was hoping you could help me with something and I’d rather not have the entire floor know about it.”

She was beyond confused now, but still, she stepped aside and let him pass, assuming that if he was actually a murderer he would have done her in a lot sooner than this. He had plenty of other opportunities. Plus, something in his face just… made her want to trust him.

She closed the door and turned to him, watching as his eyes scanned her kitchen and where her food still sat before he twisted around, eyes wide. “Shit, I’m sorry for interrupting.”

She shook her head. “It’s fine.” And after clearing her throat, she crossed her arms over her chest. “What do you, um… what do you need help with?”

He swallowed and she watched his Adam’s apple budge in his throat. “I don’t imagine you’ll like me very much after I ask but… I need a date.”

“What?” Again, she nearly flew out of her skin.

His eyes darted back and forth between hers, gauging her reactions and very obviously on the verge of seeing himself out and pretending this never happened. Instead, he stuffed away his pride and went on. “My ex… she, uh… well we broke up a few months ago and I saw her the other day and she’s seeing someone and we were talking and I… told her I was seeing someone too and so she invited me to go on this stupid double date with her… but the thing is… I’m not actually seeing anyone and I just told her that so she’d be jealous but she didn’t seem jealous at all and I don’t exactly have many friends to ask for help and I saw you and…” He rambled, but she managed to understand his predicament just fine. 

“A double date? With your ex?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know either. She’s… she does weird shit but… I still want her back.”

Y/N’s heart ached in her chest. As much as she detested relationships, she was a sucker for other people’s relationships and she was definitely a sucker for her beautiful neighbor, even if he was asking to use her to make his ex-girlfriend jealous.

“Not that I’m saying yes but… when? And where?” She finally asked after thinking things over for a moment.

“Tomorrow night… I can pay you. I will pay you, I mean… but, seriously, you don’t have to do it I just thought I would ask.”

“Where is this date at?” She repeated when he didn’t answer that part of her question.

“At this party… and bef—“

She cut him off. “Okay so let me get this right. You want to hire me as your date to a Valentine’s Day party?”

He lifted a brow, “Well, there’s more… she wants to get dinner before going to the party.”

She shook her head, looking away, “I don’t really do Valentine’s Day…”

“You wouldn’t have to do much. I’ll pay for your dinner, too. Whatever you want. I just… really need your help and you’re my only option.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “You realize I’m not exactly…” she waved at her face and his eyebrows screwed together in confusion. “I’m not easy on the eyes and I don’t think taking me will make anyone jealous.”

He didn’t say anything for a while, just stared at her incredulously. She shifted her weight nervously and he finally opened his mouth. “You don’t actually think that, do you?”

Her features scrunched up and she kept her eyes planted on the middle of his chest. And then he realized that she, in fact, did.

“I’m so sorry… I shouldn’t have asked you to do this.” He also realized that using her to make his ex jealous would possibly hurt her more than it would help him and he could no longer fathom putting her through that. “I’ll figure it out. I’m sorry.” He moved to walk past her, back to his apartment but she stopped him before he got far.

“No… I’ll help you.” And then she realized his identity was still somewhat of a mystery to her. “This sounds even worse than what you just asked me to do, but… I completely forgot your name.”

He breathed out a laugh. “It’s Adam.”

She knew it had started with an A!

“Y/N.” 

He smiled wider and nodded. “I know.” And then his face grew sad again. “I am really sorry I’m asking you to do this on Valentine’s Day, it’s definitely not my proudest moment.”

She waved him off. “I wasn’t going to do anything anyway. Just tell me what you need me to do.” She didn’t bother brining up the whole payment thing. She didn’t really care about being paid. He was nice, the only nice person she’d encountered in her apartment building and if getting him back together with his ex meant she’d never have to come home and see him in the fetal position on the floor again, she’d suffer through a date and a party on her least favorite holiday.

It was somehow even worse than it’d been yesterday. The decorations seemed to triple in size. Not an inch of the office was untouched by something pink and she prayed whoever had put up even more decorations had spared her little cubicle.

“Oh, hey, Y/N!” One of the receptionists most responsible for the overflowing decor, Kayla, called her over to her desk not even a minute after Y/N had arrived. And she stalked over until she saw the package Kayla pulled out that instantly lifted her spirits.

She stopped in front of Kayla’s desk and took the thin box from from her, already knowing what it was and thanking god for the timing so that her entire day wasn’t completely miserable. It was a new drawing pad she’d ordered, a bigger one that she hoped would be a bit more efficient to use than her current one.

Even with her back turned to the rest of the office, she sensed Harry’s presence long before he stopped beside her with his mug in hand.

He lifted a brow at the package in Y/N’s hands just as she reluctantly turned to look at him. “Getting gifts sent to the office? That’s a first.”

She rolled her eyes and stuffed the box under her arm, holding herself back from running off to her office to set it up. “Jealous?” She cocked her head.

And instead of his condescending smirk and a hateful response to go with it, the sparkle in his eyes seemed to fade as he eyed the box again, genuinely worried now that it was actually a gift from someone. 

Before either could say anything, they all turned to find a delivery man walking up to Kayla with a giant bouquet of flowers in tow. And so it began. Although, when Kayla took the vase from the man eagerly, a bright smile on her face because Kayla loved love a little too much, Y/N couldn’t help but think about Adam. About how the only time she’d managed to get a date on Valentine’s Day was when it wasn’t even real. Instead, she’d stupidly agreed to help her cute neighbor win back his ex-girlfriend in exchange for a free dinner.

It was… pathetic. To say the least.

She felt Harry watching her, too, while she eyed the bouquet of flowers as they departed reception with Kayla and made their way to their recipient. As stupid as she found everything about the holiday, she couldn’t help but want someone to send her flowers. To give her anything for that matter. To have thought about her for at least a second of their day. Harry cleared his throat and she tore her eyes away.

“So… what’s in the box?”

“None of your business.” She rounded him, heading to her office, but he grabbed her free arm to stop her short and didn’t speak until she met his gaze again.

“Can we meet up in my office to finish the proposal? Think it’ll be easier to get it done than over email.”

She had every reason to be suspicious of him. They almost never worked in each other’s offices. When they did work together, which was often, it was in one of the empty conference rooms and it was usually at the beginning of the process when they needed the space to plan things out. The last time they’d really been in each other’s offices was last spring. Figuring he just wanted to get things done so he could be out of the office on time, she let it go.

“Give me fifteen minutes.”

He watched her walk away, watched her even as Kayla returned and noticed his gaze and giggled at him as she took her spot back behind her desk.

“It was something she ordered for herself, by the way.”

“What?” Harry whipped around again, not having even realized the other woman until now.

“I know you two pretend to hate each other but I see the way you look at her, Harry.” Kayla lifted a brow at him as she began typing on her keyboard.

He feigned disgust. “I’m seeing someone, you know.”

“Are you?”

“Yes.” He insisted. “I have a date. Tonight.”

She lifted her hands in surrender. “Okay… I’m just saying.”

“I don’t look at her.”

Kayla suppressed a smile and snorted instead. “If you say so. I guess you didn’t also sneak into her office this morning, either.”

“I think all these flowers and stuffed bears and heart-shaped things have gotten to your head.” He pointed around to the decor littering her desk while holding his mug steady.

Kayla met his eyes and her smile slipped off her face. “Harry, please don’t mess with her.”

His face screwed up. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“If you don’t like her then don’t lead her on.”

“I don’t think she’s capable of being led on.”

Kayla froze for a moment and then nodded. “You’re right.”

He wasn’t sure what she meant by that either. “Why are you being weird?”

“Because,” Kayla sighed, brushing her curled brunette hair onto one shoulder and then lowered the volume of her voice. “I happen to know she doesn’t think very highly of herself and I’d rather not see her get hurt, especially not by you.”

Now Harry froze. The hand that gripped his mug tightened and he didn’t even flinch as it began to burn his skin. He heard Y/N’s voice in his head then as he drowned out his surroundings.

Some of us don’t have the luxury of choosing whomever we want.

He had instantly regretted what he’d said to her yesterday when she’d told him that. And now hearing Kayla, in a way, confirm what he’d read between the lines of Y/N’s words… his chest tightened in quite possibly the worst way ever. He’d hated himself most of the day after telling her he’d never lower his standards for her and he could say he was just bickering all he wanted, but he knew now for certain she took it the wrong way. And he wished more than ever that he hadn’t said something so horrible to her, especially when it was the farthest thing from the truth. 

And the real truth, that he was trying desperately to shove away with stupid remarks like that, was that he didn’t meet her standards. She wasn’t into relationships and he knew he wasn’t good enough to change her mind.

“How do you know that?” He finally asked.

“That Christmas party last year… she’s a really happy drunk until she’s not.”

He flinched. “Did she say something?”

“I don’t want to get into it, mostly because I don’t think she remembers and would probably kill me if I told you but… just leave her be.”

He hardened back up again. “She does’t have any interest in relationships anyway, ‘specially not with me.”

Kayla scoffed. “She’s a really good liar.”

Harry stood there for a few more moments, feeling as if his life had just gotten flipped upside down. He’d been in such a good mood mere minutes ago before his dumbass waltzed into reception all because he’d seen Y/N. Because, despite everything and despite the fact he was already attempting to date someone else, it was Y/N he wanted to be close to all the damn time. Groaning, he turned on his heel and left for his office, hoping she wasn’t there waiting for him so he could have a moment to himself to gather his thoughts.

In a hurry to open her package, Y/N slumped down into her chair tossing her purse on the ground at her feet and pulling out her box cutter in a rush of movements. She was so distracted, in fact, that she didn’t even notice the little stuffed frog, the box of chocolates and envelope sitting on the other side of her desk near her mouse. Instead, she unboxed her new tablet and began setting it up, not noticing the gifts until she went to turn on her computer. And then she froze.

With reluctant hands she grabbed the envelope first, her name printed on it in perfect cursive. She knew nobody in the office who had such good penmanship. Opening the card in hopes of finding out who had placed the items on her desk, instead, she just found it signed as ‘secret admirer.’ Rolling her eyes, she set the card down and realized it had to be from her boss. Sometimes he remembered to go around and give everyone little gifts on the holidays. Obviously he’d remembered this year. 

She dug into the chocolates as she set up her tablet and began calibrating it to suit her needs before finally testing it out in the little bit of time she had before she needed to make her way to Harry’s office. 

And once that time came, she left everything in its place, besides the box of chocolates, which she continued to pick at while she made her way through the room. What she didn’t notice while stuffing her face with candy was that… no one else had a stuffed frog or chocolates or a cheesy little card on their desks.

She rounded the corner into Harry’s office, which was a real office and not a cubicle that he usually shared with one other person who was thankfully out with clients for the day. She knocked on the doorframe to get his attention after just watching him focus on his screen for a moment. Harry was cute when he was focused.

But then he turned to her and his eyes fell to the box in her hand.

When he didn’t say anything, she held it out toward him. “Do you want some? I think Andrew was feeling generous this year.”

Harry’s eyes quickly panned up to hers and his brows furrowed as if she’d just punched him in the gut. And she couldn’t make out what that expression meant no matter how hard she tried. 

“He didn’t give me anything.” Harry motioned around his desk.

“Maybe he doesn’t like you.” She shrugged, setting the chocolates down on his desk while she grabbed his office mate’s chair and pulled it up beside him.

Harry sighed, turning to his computer for a moment and then watching her from his peripheral while she picked out another piece of chocolate. “I didn’t see anyone else with chocolates on their desks this morning.”

Y/N just shrugged. “There was a frog too. And a card.”

“And why do you think he’d give you all of that and no one else?” Harry hoped she’d get the hint but he didn’t hope too hard. She was still Y/N after all. And he really didn’t mean to sound so bitter… well, okay, he did. But he knew she’d misplace his bitterness, crushing what little hope there was to bits.

“Maybe he likes me better than all the rest of you.”

Harry scoffed, shaking his head as he put his attention back on his screen. 

“No one else in this office would give me a card signed as a secret admirer so… maybe I did something I don’t remember doing and he’s thanking me?” Now that she really thought about it, and if Harry was right… then it really didn’t make  much sense. It’s not like she was Andrew’s favorite employee.

Harry just lifted a brow and then pretended to lose all interest. 

Sensing the tension, she slipped the box closer to him. “Here. I think you need a knock-off Snickers if you expect me to work with your grumpy ass.” He made no move to indulge her, however. And so she went on, continuing to poke the bear. “Why are you in a lousy mood anyway? Isn’t this your favorite holiday? And you get to leave early.”

His eyes fell from his screen and he stared at the brick of sticky notes below his monitor before mumbling, “I’m sorry about what I said yesterday.”

Taken aback, she searched what she could see of his face for answers to what he was apologizing for. He’d said a few things she could imagine deserved an apology and yet, so did she. Maybe she should have been the one to apologize to him first.

“I didn’t mean to say what I did.” He finally turned to meet her face on. He’d hoped the frog and the chocolates would have been atonement enough, but considering she thought they were from their boss and not him, he just had to suck it up and actually say what he meant.

She shrugged. “It’s fine. I can be a prude sometimes.”

He searched her eyes for a moment and then shook his head, “No that’s not… I meant what I said earlier in your office… about lowering my standards. It was a stupid thing to say and not true in the slightest.”

But then she smiled and he grew confused. “Yes it is. It’s okay to have standards, you know.”

“I know that. But if we… I wouldn’t have to lower my standards. And it was cruel of me to have said that to you.”

She couldn’t stand looking at him any longer and averted her gaze, clearing her throat. “Well it doesn’t matter so… can we just get this proposal done?”

He’d wanted to spend how ever long it took to convince her that it did, in fact, matter, but Y/N was persistent, more so than him, and so he’d given in and they moved on to being productive with their time. And in less time than he’d anticipated their proposal was finished, being sent off to Andrew for approval before their presentation at the end of the week with their clients.

Harry sat back in his chair and she returned her own to the other desk where it belonged, all while he watched her. 

“What do you do on Valentine’s Day?” He asked, just trying to get her to stay longer, knowing that if those were his true intentions, then he was fucked. That he wanted to be around Y/N, even though he was seeing someone else, albeit for just a week so far, even though she’d never want the same from him. 

Maybe he was just as terrible with relationships as she claimed if he always chased after what he couldn’t have.

“That is also none of your business.” She grabbed her box of chocolates from his desk, his voice pinning her in place again though.

“Let me guess… it involves chocolate, your cat, and the most anti-romantic movies you can find?”

He would not think her very prudish if he knew what else she did on Valentine’s Day while alone in her apartment, but she figured it was best to keep that to herself. Instead, she smiled at him. “Something like that.”

He narrowed his eyes and threw his arms up behind his head as he laid back in his chair, watching her curiously like he was trying to figure her out. Meanwhile, she was trying to not make it obvious she was staring at his biceps as they just about bulged from underneath the sleeve of his pink button-up. He’d done it on purpose though, so as much as she tried to hide it, he still grinned with satisfaction when she became flustered.

“Well, have fun with that, then.” He nodded, and for a moment while she was lost in his eyes and growing embarrassingly hot, she wondered if he could read her mind. If he knew exactly what not-so-innocent things she did on Valentine’s Day. Then he brought his arms back down to rest his elbows on the edge of his desk, pinching his bottom lip between his fingers and watching as she rolled her eyes, held her chocolates close, and left his office. 

Adam arrived right when he said he would at five-thirty. It had given her plenty of time to change out of her work clothes and into one of the few dresses she owned, to at least seem somewhat convincing that this was a real date. She also fixed her makeup and put on a pinkish-nude lipstick before switching out her bulky purse for a smaller crossbody. 

When she opened the door to him, he most certainly did not disappoint. She almost let herself get lost in the delusion that it was a real date when she saw him dressed to the nines and cleaned up for the first time since she’d known him. And she especially got a little lost in it when he pulled a small bouquet of flowers from behind his back and handed them to her. 

“You didn’t have to—“

“I know.” He gave her a once over when she wasn’t looking. “You didn’t have to do this for me either.”

She quietly accepted the flowers and let him in while she found a vase and filled it with water. He leaned on the counter, watching her as she did so.

“You look… beautiful, by the way.” He blurted out once she had cut and placed the stems into the vase. Her hands froze, though, and when he met her eyes, he knew he’d made a mistake.

“You’re paying me to make your ex-girlfriend jealous. Please don’t flatter me.”

“Sorry.” He muttered, although he was beginning to wonder if the bigger mistake was not taking her out on a proper date that had nothing to do with his ex. 

She sighed and adjusted the strap of her purse. “Let’s go then.”

He went over all the final details on the Uber ride to the restaurant. Things about his ex he thought Y/N should know about. And he made sure she knew, for about the hundredth time, that she didn’t have to do anything she didn’t want to. And she reminded him for an equal amount of times that she never did anything she didn’t want to do. So, settling that, he helped her out of the back of the Uber when they arrived and opened the door to the restraint for her as well. Everything that she’d expect from a normal date, which only left her disappointed when she reminded herself it wasn’t.

She waited quietly, and tried to catch her nerves, while Adam talked to the hostess and gave her his ex’s name for the reservation. The place was packed and anyone who didn’t call ahead surely would not be getting a table tonight. She’d never been out on Valentine’s Day, though, so it was like stepping into a brand new world for her. And as she followed both the hostess and Adam, she paid more attention to all the couples enjoying their meals than anything else.

Except for when he reached back and grabbed her hand, entwining their fingers just before they came to a stop. She blinked her eyes at their hands for just a moment before he gently pulled her around next to him. And whatever way she’d felt about holding Adam’s hand went right out the window when she locked eyes with Harry.

Shit.

Shit, shit, shit.

The last thing she expected to find, while Laura, the gorgeous blonde ex-girlfriend, stood to hug Adam, was Harry fucking Styles. And what a fucking coincidence it was, almost as if this was her karma for feeling the need to constantly help people. 

Adam’s hand slipped from hers but she didn’t even notice it anyway. She and Harry still stared each other down and neither of them moved a muscle either. Well, besides the one in his jaw as it tightened. Then he did move, glancing over at Adam with a blank expression before landing his gaze back on her again. And then his eyes fell to the glass of water in front of him and she felt like she’d been released from chains he’d tied around her wrists.

“This is Y/N,” Adam’s hand went to the small of her back, guiding her forward to meet his ex-girlfriend and Harry’s current… whatever they were. 

Laura held out her hand, her smile a little too forced. “Laura. It’s nice to meet you. Please, sit.” She ushered them to the table as she took her spot beside Harry again. Adam, of course, took the chair opposite Laura, which left Y/N in the one opposite Harry. 

This would be a long, hellish night.

She couldn’t help but wonder what Harry was thinking. That maybe she’d come to crash his date. Or, even worse, that he’d already figured the whole thing out. That Adam was paying her to be here. She really hoped he’d never find out because it was just embarrassing enough to make her want to change her name and move across the country, thousands of miles away from him. Harry finding out that she couldn’t get a real date to save her life… beyond humiliating.

“This is Harry.” Laura motioned to him and he just barely lifted his gaze, nodding at Adam and ignoring Y/N entirely. “You know,” the blonde went on, glancing between Adam and Y/N, “I was a little shocked when you told me you were seeing someone again.”

Adam just shrugged.

“How did you guys meet?” 

Y/N left all the talking to him. Mostly because she was still in shock that she was sitting across from Harry. And she hadn’t even taken the time to properly take him in and realized he’d also changed his clothes since work. Swapping his wardrobe out for a fitted black button-up, that wasn’t buttoned all the way to the top as his shirts normally were. The sleeves were already rolled to his elbows. He’d shaved off the scruff along his jaw as well and fixed his hair so that it was combed back out of his face, although a a couple rebellious strands hung down onto his forehead. He looked… like absolute perfection. And he was being forced to be on a date with the ex-boyfriend of the girl he was seeing and his annoying co-worker. She felt terrible for him.

“Oh, uh, well we live on the same floor.”

Laura nodded, clearly anticipating more. “Is that it?”

Y/N felt Adam tense up beside her and so she took over, easily spinning a lie. “I ran out of milk one night a few weeks ago. He’s the only one who answered the door.”

She noticed a flash of movement in her peripheral and turned to find Harry’s gaze on her again, one eyebrow lifted curiously. He was either wondering how she hid it so well, or trying to figure out what to ask in order to reveal their ploy. He never said anything, though.

“Sorry, um,” Laura’s tone changed as she glanced between Harry and Y/N, both of them looking away when the other girl interrupted. “Do you two know each other?”

Harry grinned, sitting back against his seat and folding his hands in his lap. “Something like that.”

Y/N rolled her eyes. “We work together.”

“Really?” Although her tone said otherwise, Laura’s face said everything about how she felt upon hearing that bit of information. 

Adam twisted his worrisome gaze to Y/N, but she ignored it. Harry, however, did not.

“Don’t worry, mate. I was under the impression she was celibate up until now.” With that, Y/N kicked him under the table and he sat forward to swallow the groan that very nearly left his lips after she’d jabbed him in the shin with the toe of her heels. “Guess she’s really good at hiding things, though.”

Adam just chuckled nervously and Y/N shot him an apologetic smile, trying to reassure him that this date would still work out despite Harry. 

“What a small world.” Laura laughed, trying to break the tension but dinner hadn’t even started yet. 

Sometime during the main course, Laura excused herself to the bathroom and Y/N almost, in a desperate attempt to flee both Adam and Harry, invited herself along. But she figured it’d be worse to be alone with Laura than with them. Laura might ask questions she wasn’t prepared for. So, she stayed put, as much as it pained her to do so.

“So, Adam, what do you do for a living?” Harry asked suddenly and she wanted to kick him again. Mostly because his tone was that of a jealous teenager and he’d waited until Laura was gone to pester her ex-boyfriend who most certainly did not deserve Harry’s pestering.

“Oh, uh, I’m an artist. I work for an animation studio at the moment but I’m trying to get into freelance.”

Harry’s eyes shot to the suspiciously quiet girl sitting across from him. “So is Y/N.”

Adam turned to look at her, but she just glared at Harry. “Oh, I didn’t know that.”

Harry titled his head as he narrowed his attention in on Adam again. “So you’ve known her for a few weeks and you never asked what she did?”

“Harry.” Y/N warned, trying to kick him under the table again but he dodged out of the way.

“Well… she said she was in graphic design… not art.” She had told him that, during their crash course yesterday while they got to know as much as they could about each other in a span of a couple hours.

“I think it’s the same thing.”

Adam just shrugged. “I guess. I don’t think I could be a designer, though. Most artists make what they think looks good, designers create things to appeal to customers.”

“Just ignore him.” Y/N advised and Harry was the one shooting her daggers and attempting to stomp his foot on top of hers under the table this time.

“You and Laura used to date then? She never told me how you split up.” Harry moved on.

Adam swallowed nervously. “She broke up with me.”

“Why?” Harry pushed and Y/N looked at him like she wanted to kill him, which he ignored.

“I, uh… I had a drug problem for a while. I was not the best person to be around sometimes. But after we broke up, she helped me with rehab and everything.”

“Guess that explains why you’re on such good terms.”

Now Y/N really wanted to do more than just kick him. 

Adam grabbed Y/N’s hand under the table and pulled her straight from her violent thoughts about Harry. And he didn’t lace his fingers between hers, instead, it felt as if he had just been looking for something to ground himself with. And her hand resting on her lap was the closest thing he could find. It didn’t, however, go unnoticed by Harry and his jaw clenched as he stared at the point in the table where, just below, there their hands met almost as if he was trying to set everything on fire.

Laura returned shortly after that. 

As promised, Adam paid the entirety of both his and Y/N’s bill, even though she attempted to snag it from him, seeing as the date had gone to shit and it was all her fault. Well… maybe it was also Harry’s fault a little bit too. But she definitely did nothing to make Laura jealous. Adam, on the other hand, did a great job at making Harry jealous just by existing and being Laura’s ex, whom she was still friends with. 

The four of them stood outside on the curb awaiting their Uber after dinner was over, agreeing upon splitting one car to get to the party instead of taking two. Laura was apparently very cautious about fossil fuel consumption.

Y/N shivered as she stood between Adam and Laura, wishing she’d bright a jacket instead of relying on a long-sleeve dress to keep her warm. Then an arm wrapped around her shoulders and Adam pulled her close, running his hand up and down her arm to form heat. She tensed up, though, forming into an immovable brick. She had no idea the last time she’d been that close to another person, let alone a member of the opposite sex. When he felt her go rigid, he leaned down until his lips were at her ear. “Is this okay?”

She just nodded and tried to relax. Which turned out to be quite easy because Adam was warm and he smelled nice. She, of course, didn’t let her mind wander off too far. He was still in love with his ex. He’d still shove cash into her hand at the end of the night for her troubles and go on with his life.

Adam let go of her when the car pulled up and quickly went to the passenger door to confirm with the driver. Then he opened the back door for the three of them to climb in, Laura going first, then Harry, and, at last, Y/N, while Adam slipped into the front seat beside the driver.

While the car took off, Y/N was shoved into the corner when Harry moved closer to her in order to find both his and Laura’s seat buckles in the dark. Eventually, he settled back into the middle and gave her some space again. When she made no move to do the same as them, Harry turned to look down at her. 

“Put your seatbelt on.” He whispered.

Her eyes whirled up to his. Wordlessly, and of course after rolling her eyes, she grabbed her seatbelt and he made room for her to buckle it in. Then she sat back in her seat, crossing her arms over her chest while she stared out at the traffic through her window.

She would have stayed in that exact position the entire trip, too, if Harry’s knee didn’t insist on bumping into hers constantly. And she couldn’t tell if he was doing it on purpose or not.

When she glanced up at him, and found the corner of his lips curl upward, she figured it was, in fact, purposeful. So, with the hand closest to him as her arms were still crossed, she poked him in the side, right against his ribs, hoping it hurt.

“Ouch.” He whined, covering the spot with his hand dramatically. Everyone in the car glanced at Harry, all except for Y/N who snickered as she returned to staring out the window.

Harry wasn’t giving up, though. This time, with his arms crossed in his lap, and glancing at Laura to be sure she wasn’t watching, he walked his pointer and middle finger up the outside of Y/N’s thigh, close enough to her hip to make her squirm slightly when his touch tickled her. And as soon as he got her attention, he looked down at what he was doing and pressed his middle finger against her, meeting her gaze with a smirk.

In the same moment, the driver turned up the music in the car as they waited tirelessly at a red light. It was better than silence or listening to his passengers breathing. But Harry mentally thanked him and turned his attention back to Y/N, leaning into her slightly until his lips were at her ear and she shivered for an all new reason.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in a dress before.” He whispered for her ears only. The music was especially loud in the back and he wasn’t sure Y/N had even heard him.

Especially since she didn’t respond right away. But how could she? Harry’s fingertips were still grazing her thigh, as if trying to emphasize the dress she had on. And his stupid knee was pressed right up against hers. She couldn’t think straight.

Though when she finally turned to him and whispered back, “Don’t get used to it,” he knew she had, in fact, heard him well enough. 

He leaned again, “Afraid I already am.” 

She hated that there were butterflies in her stomach. That he was saying such odd things to her when his date was sitting just on the other side of him. The date who most definitely met all Harry’s standards.

Huddling away from him, she stuck her eyes out the window and kept them there the rest of the trip.

It was just past eight when they arrived, a fifteen-minute trip up through the city taking half an hour due to all the Valentine’s Day traffic. Another reason she hated this holiday.

The party was being held by Laura’s best friend, who’s name Y/N did not care to commit to memory. In the elevator ride up to the penthouse, though, Harry stood close to Laura, his arm wrapped around her waist and Adam to Y/N, although he didn’t touch her. She wouldn’t have minded if he did, but she figured it was best to keep those boundaries in place anyway.

Pink and golden balloons littered the ceilings of the penthouse. The drink cups were also pink, as was the communal punch bowl that Y/N steered clear of, having no idea what was in it, or who had already spiked it. She knew nobody at the party besides who she’d come with, though she assumed both Adam and Harry were somewhat acquainted with Laura’s friends. 

It was most definitely not someplace Y/N ever saw herself being at, not only because it was a Valentine’s themed party, but also because she wasn’t exactly comfortable around so many people. Especially when those people were all so unfamiliar to her.

“Here,” Adam handed her a drink and then grabbed one for himself. She downed the thing in one go, needing to take the edge off. It might’ve been a slight mistake when the alcohol burned the back of her throat, but she didn’t care too much when she grabbed another.

Then he was leading her into the dancing pit of bodies where they huddled close enough so that his lips were at her ear. “Is it alright if I touch you?”

She glanced over at where Laura and Harry had been left, finding both her hazel eyes and Harry’s green ones glued to the both of them. She wasn’t sure what Harry’s deal was, but this was her moment to fix things and make Laura jealous, so, turning back to Adam, she nodded.

He eased his hands onto her waist as they began swaying to the music. And then he pulled her closer, his hands slipping to the small of her back as her arms wrapped around his neck, being careful with her own movements even though she desperately wanted to sink her hands in his hair.

And, god, he smelled so good as her head rested in the crook of his neck. And he felt good, too, as he moved against her body. She knew it wasn’t real, and that the alcohol was making skewing her perception of things, but it was still nice. Nice to be held and to just let go for a change.

Over Adam’s shoulder, Y/N caught Harry’s eyes again. His jaw clenched and he looked the same as he did back at the restaurant. Angry. And then she realized that maybe she wasn’t really trying to make Laura jealous anymore at all, but rather Harry.

It was dumb, she knew that. He’d have to like her in order for her to make him jealous. But… the way he was looking at her. The way he had looked at her. His eyes lingering too long on her lips. What he’d done in the car ride here. 

She heard Adam in her ear again. “I think it’s working. She just stormed off into the kitchen.” Then he pulled away and she realized she hadn’t even seen Laura. Just Harry. Harry and his stupid, obnoxious green eyes.

“You owe me more than just dinner.” Y/N teased but Adam grew serious.

“I know. And since you refuse to accept my money, I’ll have to figure out another way to repay you.” He smiled and then twirled her around so that she no longer had any line of sight toward Harry. He pulled her close again, one hand going to her waist while the other stayed locked to one of hers. “Suppose I could start with making your coworker just as jealous… although I think he already is.”

Confusion flooded her features as she peered up at him. 

“Oh, come on! He was ready to rip my head off when he realized I’d grabbed your hand. And when I put my arm around you? I thought I might be better off just giving you my jacket and freezing to death instead.”

“I don’t…” she shook her head in disbelief. It was one thing for her to be pretending to make Harry jealous in some delusional hope that it’d work. But this… this was a whole other thing.

“I’m actually quite interested to see what he does if I kissed you.”

She was shocked at first and then, possibly due to the alcohol, just as interested. “Are you asking my permission?”

“Are you saying yes?”

Y/N hesitated. “Is she back?”

Adam’s eyes scanned the room and Y/N realized he hadn’t asked to kiss her for Laura’s sake at all.

“She is.” He finally announced. 

Without any more second guessing, Y/N’s hand slipped to the back of his neck and pulled him in. As soon as their lips collided and she tasted the alcohol on him, she knew that she’d never agreed to this without it. Or maybe she would. Adam spun them back around again, deepening the kiss as her eyes opened and fell into the direction she’d last seen Harry.

He was still there.

Still watching.

His hands in fists. His jaw tightened into a crisp line. His nostrils flared. His eyes… sad.

She pulled away. Adam steadied her, grabbing her shoulders when she swayed. But, as she caught her breath, the dizziness went away. 

“I’m going to find the bathroom.” She told him and after he nodded, she left, forming a rift for herself through the bodies that danced all around them until she was in the clear. Then she was avoiding Harry as she walked past him, not so sure his gaze was still set on her. Maybe she’d gone too far. She didn’t often just kiss people for no good reason and that’s exactly what she’d just done with Adam. She barely even knew him.

She didn’t exactly need the bathroom, just an open, empty and quiet place. And so, she fell back against a wall in the foyer and ran a hand through her hair.

“That was quite the show.”

She startled at the sound of his familiar voice and looked up just as he stopped a few feet away from her. “What are you talking about?”

He lifted a brow. “You expect me to believe that that you, anti everything to do with this holiday and with relationships and romance, are actually dating that guy?”

“Is it that hard to believe?” She crossed her arms, willing to go as far as she needed to before she let Harry see the truth. That she was that pathetic. 

“Yes.” He didn’t even hesitate to respond and she flinched.

“Well, I’m sorry that you have a hard time believing that someone may actually like me.” She had no reason to nearly be shouting at him and no reason to be saying what she was because Adam didn’t like her.

“That’s not what I said. It’s hard for me to believe you just dropped all your ideas about relationships for some guy with obnoxious blue eyes.”

“I didn’t.”

“So then what is this?”

Y/N hesitated. Hating that the truth was about to boil over out of her mouth for him to see all the embarrassing bits of it, but she had no other way of convincing him. And it didn’t really help that Adam was so far out of her league that it wasn’t even convincing to begin with. Nor did she want to convince Harry of anything either. It was clear now that he hadn’t been jealous, he was just trying to figure out when she stopped hating relationships so much.

And the truth of that was she never really hated them. It was just easier telling herself she didn’t want it than admitting no one ever actually wanted her.

She trembled, not even sure why, but he was making her incredibly nervous, so much that she wished she could rewind and stay squished next to him in the back of the car forever. Being that close to him... his stupid fingers on her thigh, whispering things in her ear that made her head spin. She’d much prefer that than standing in front of him now, seeing every ounce of judgment he was about to throw her way.

“What do you want me to say, Harry?” She shrugged and dropped her eyes to the white marble floors between them, focusing on calming her anxiety while she was no longer looking at him. “He needed a date and I felt bad for him.”

“What does that mean?”

Letting her head fall back against the wall, she stared up at the ceiling this time as her eyes burned with embarrassment. “He paid me to be his date so his ex-girlfriend didn’t find out he wasn’t actually seeing anyone. That’s what it means.”

Harry didn’t say anything.

“So, yeah.” She folded her arms, looking down at the floor again, still unable to meet Harry’s eyes and see the look that would be on his face. A smirk of amusement at her expense. Even probably his dimples, taunting her and turning her into the joke she already was. “You were right. I can’t find anyone to tolerate me, which is why I’m on this stupid date that isn’t even real.”

“Him kissing you seemed quite real to me.”

There was more exasperation than humor to her laugh. “It wasn’t.”

Harry seemed to finally understand. “He’s trying to make Laura jealous.”

Y/N just nodded. “I promise I didn’t know you were going to be there, that he was trying to get her back from you.”

“You still kissed him though.”

She couldn’t argue that, nor could she tell him the real reason she’d agreed to the kiss. That it wasn’t exactly Laura she was trying to make jealous. She’d never live that one down, if she ever managed to live any other aspect of this night down.

When she didn’t say anything, he stepped closer. “Why did you kiss him?”

“I’m sorry, Harry I just... I don’t know.”

He shook his head and took another step, making her eyes widen when he was close enough that she had to crane her head back to meet his gaze. “Seemed like you were trying to make me jealous.”

She swallowed, not exactly in the position to laugh it off and argue with him when he was this close and all she could feel were the traces of his fingertips on her thigh. Her voice was quiet when it finally came out. “Making you jealous would mean I assumed you liked me in the first place... which I’m definitely not stupid enough to assume.”

A crease formed between his brow and his stupidly perfect jaw hardened as if he was biting his tongue from saying something. And fuck him for choosing then to finally stop opening his mouth.

Just then, a pair of drunk guys, one on the other’s back, came racing through the foyer, screaming at the top of their lungs while a few others followed quickly after them. It was enough to force Harry away from Y/N again, enough for the both of them to step out of the little bubble they’d been in together the past ten minutes.

Once they were alone again, their eyes gravitated toward each other and just when she thought Harry might say something after all, he flipped around on his heel and left. And she watched as he turned the corner and mixed back into the party.

After a few moments to gather herself, she followed him, not exactly sure what she was going to do now that Harry wouldn’t talk to her and it felt weird being with Adam while Harry knew everything. But, whatever plans to keep herself occupied no longer matted when she spotted Laura.

Making out with Adam in the middle of the room. 

Without even thinking, she turned to locate Harry and he might as well have been a source of gravity because her eyes fell right to him within a second. And he was watching them too. He knew. 

He met Y/N’s eyes and she wasn’t quite sure if he was upset or not. She couldn’t really read anything on his face, and stopped attempting to when he moved towards her and she had other things on her mind, like where he was going and if he was going to bother taking her with him.

Shortly after he stormed past Y/N she made sure he wasn’t going to leave her behind and chased after him. She didn’t know Adam very well and definitely not Laura to want to stay with them. And everyone else in the room were complete strangers to her. Adam had promised he’d take her home, but he probably hadn’t expected to be making out with his ex by the end of the night, either.

Harry didn’t say anything, not even when they’d reached the foyer and Y/N asked where he was going. He just located his jacket and slipped it on before making his way out the front door.

And right when she thought he really was going to leave her behind, since she was the reason he’d just lost Laura to her ex, he held the door open and glanced over his shoulder at her while she still stood on the other side of the threshold.

“Are you staying?”

Without a word, she sprung into motion and trailed right behind him into the hallway like a lost puppy, letting the door shut behind her that cut them off from the music as it faded into the background behind them.

It was a silent trip down the elevator, mostly because she had no idea what to say that would sound sincere and he didn’t say anything at all. At least not until she followed him through the lobby until he stopped on the curb just outside the main doors.

She took up the spot next to him, eyes glued to the side of his face as he took in a deep breath of fresh air, or at least as fresh as traffic allowed it to be.

Then he spoke, and it seemed like the first time she’d heard his voice all night. “I’m the one who gave you the chocolates and the frog.”

She narrowed her eyes, both not exactly sure why he’d just said that or if he was even being serious. “What?”

He looked down at her. “It wasn’t Andrew, it was me.”

“Why?” She breathed and while she was positive she’d be freezing cold soon, the fresh air after being surrounded by so many people felt good. It felt freeing and she wondered if he felt that way too.

His eyes scanned hers before he looked away. “Well partly to apologize for what I said.”

“What’s the other part?”

Sighing, he turned his entire body to face her now. “Something else entirely…” He trailed off, only confusing her more as he stuffed his hands into his pockets and stared at his feet. “I didn’t tell you because I know you don’t like all this stuff, but seeing you with him tonight... I wish I had.” 

“It’s not that big of a deal. It’s just a frog.”

He shook his head, grinning. “It’s not just a frog, Y/N... because the thing is,” he paused to catch his breath, “I’ve been in love with you for... a really long time… since last spring. But with you being the way that you are, I never thought you’d feel the same way.”

She opened her mouth and then closed it.

“And then you come in with that guy and...” He pulled his fingers through his hair. “I don’t think I’ve ever been more jealous in my life... because all this time I thought you weren’t interested in relationships, but you just weren’t interested in me.”

Inhaling, she summoned every ounce of courage she could fathom. “You were right about why I kissed Adam.” He lifted a brow, waiting for her elaboration which never came. “You were right about other things, too. I wish I had someone to come home to almost every single night I got to bed alone. No one—“ She cut herself off, trembling again as tears stung her eyes. “I pretend not to be interested so I can ignore the fact that no one’s ever wanted me.”

“That’s not true.” He had that same look on his face as before, when she’d told him she wasn’t stupid enough to think he liked her.

She just nodded. “And I’m sorry but... why would you want me when you could have someone like Laura?”

“Y/N...” He huffed and stepped closer to her, the heat from his body making her shiver. “This is not the first time I started seeing someone to get over you... in fact, all my relationships since I met you have been shit.”

“Why didn’t you just tell me?”

“Well you’re very anti-relationships so I think I was justified in wanting to avoid you rejecting me… especially since we work together and it would have been really awkward.”

“I don’t, uh... I...” She stammered, not really sure what to say to him even though her heart was screaming at her in full volume. 

He held his breath and then, in almost a whisper, “Is this the inevitable rejection?”

“No.” She didn’t even hesitate that time and at this point, her mind no longer controlled the words coming out of her mouth as she let another organ finally speak for itself. “No, I liked you the second I saw you, Harry... and at no point tonight was I ever trying to make Laura jealous.”

The corners of his mouth began to curl into a smile. “That was very cruel of you to do to me.”

“I didn’t think you liked me at all twenty minutes ago, Harry.”

“Twenty minutes ago,” he fully invaded all of her space now, leaving the smallest gap between their bodies as he could get away with, lifting his hand to her jaw and rubbing his thumb over her cheek. “I was still on this date with the wrong person.” 

“I think the date is over now.”

“No,” his eyes fell to her lips just like they had before. “It’s not.” 

“You’re looking at me like that again.” She mumbled, out of breath.

He lifted a brow and didn’t once remove his eyes from her lips. “Like what?”

“Like…” she trailed off, not having the courage to say it in case she wasn’t right. 

“Like I’ve wanted to kiss you for a very long time and I’m tired of pretending?” 

“Something like that, yeah.”

He grinned, both of his dimples making an appearance just before he leaned in and brushed his lips against hers. And once her brain realized what was happening, she sunk right into him, letting his arm wrap around her waist as his other hand tangled its way into her hair to bring her closer. She threw her arms over his shoulders and he hunched lower to meet her. She staggered back a step when he did, nearly losing her balance but he caught her instantly and then drew his lips back as he laughed.

“This is not how I expected tonight to end.” She couldn’t help but think the way he struggled to catch his breath was possibly the hottest he’d ever been. Not to mention the tiny bit of her lipstick smeared on his face. She could look at him just the way he was right there and then for days and be perfectly satisfied.

“It doesn’t have to end yet.” She fully blamed her sudden burst of confidence on the cold, but refreshing February night. And maybe she also just wanted to get out of it before it caught up to her and she would, yet again, regret not having a jacket.

“Oh?” She wanted to smack the mischievous smirk off his face and leave him there on the curb. “And here I thought you were a prude.”

“You thought a lot of things about me that weren’t true, Harry.”

He thought about that for a moment and after realizing she was right, he then wondered just how wrong he was when he’d called her celibate. “I suppose… I’d quite like to find out just how wrong I was.” He slipped a loose strand of her hair back behind her ear, which is where his lips ended up as he whispered softly, “And I’d also quite like to show you just how wrong you were about me not liking you.”

They stumbled into her bedroom in the dark, Pretzel racing out between their twisted feet in a hurry, screeching at them in the process. Harry giggled against her lips, “Your cat sounds friendly.” 

“Well, since I was supposed to be spending tonight with her, and chocolate, and anti-romantic movies…” She pulled away from him, watching as his smile spread further. Maybe she could actually believe he’d been in love all this time. 

“Right… I’d be upset too.” 

She shook her head and kissed him again, then pulled back a second later. “You know that’s not actually what I do on Valentine’s Day.”

He lifted a brow and waited for her to explain but she didn’t.

“And what is it that you do, then?” He finally asked, curiosity getting the best of him, although he had some inkling as to what she was talking about.

Her smile was devoid of innocence as her hands fell to his belt. Harry’s shirt had already been lost to the kitchen floor. Her dress hardly covering what it was supposed to once Harry had gotten his hands on it. 

“Maybe you’ll get to find out.” 

When she brought her lips back to his, after undoing the buckle just under his navel, he spun them around and led her backwards to the bed. He wasn’t sure how far it was, but hoped he was headed in the right direction. And because of that, when her knees did finally bend over the mattress, he practically came flying down on top of her. 

She squirmed out from under him, crawling back towards the pillows as she watched him at the end of the bed while he stood and removed his belt completely, trying not to drool at the sight of him. At the sight of Harry, her fucking annoying ass, perfect, beautiful, coworker standing shirtless at the end of her bed where he was also about to be…

He pushed his trousers down off his hips and they fell to the floor with ease, almost with the same amount of ease that her eyes fell to the tight boxer-briefs he wore underneath. She swallowed as he adjusted the waistband back into place, quite certain that, even in the low light, her eyes were not deceiving her.

The bed shifted at her feet as he joined her, and then it took all her willpower to not fling herself at him as he crawled up the length of her. As he settled himself between her thighs and she felt every last, very hard, inch of him pressed against her. She couldn’t be blamed for the whining moan that she let out in his ear as his lips became familiar with the shape and taste of her neck. She also couldn’t be blamed when her hips instinctively collided with his.

He just giggled again and shook his head, the loose strands of his curls tickling her forehead. “Easy now.” He warned in a hushed mumble, his lips vibrating right against the vein in her neck that pulsed so much faster the more his free hand began to wander up underneath her dress.

He left her speechless for multiple reasons, but the main one was when she felt his fingers tracing down her thigh and then, moments later, after he shifted his weight and used his knees to keep her legs open, she sucked in a breath of air as she felt him pressed against her clit, forcing her nails to dig into his back but he didn’t seem to mind.

Coming back down to kiss her, he began moving his hand in expert little circles, grinning against her mouth every time her body begged him for more. It wasn’t long that he complied, either, when he sat back on his knees between her legs and tugged her underwear off for good, throwing it to the depths of her bedroom floor. He wouldn’t have known where they landed even if he tried because his gaze belong to her only as he lowered himself to his elbows before her, kissing his way up her thighs until he reached her center.

When she squirmed away from him, he wrapped his arms around her thighs and pressed his hands into her hips after gently moving her dress out of the way. 

“You know when we used to stay late at the office working?” He asked suddenly and the heat of his voice against her made her squirm again, but he held on tight. “And you would get sick of sitting in an office chair and made me promise not to tell Jim when you sat on his desk instead?” She had no clue where he was going with it, but still, she nodded. “Every single time I turned to look at you, I thought about doing this.” Before she could get words out or even a coherent thought, she felt his tongue on her. And this time when she jerked against him, she nearly slipped out of his hold until he grabbed her again and pulled her back down, digging himself further into her as she struggled to breathe properly.

She dug her fingers into his hair when he brought her close to the edge and showed no mercy. And somehow, she’d managed to get the sole of her foot up onto his shoulder in order to kick him away, but it didn’t matter much because he never budged. Not that she wanted him to, but he just felt so good… 

“Harry!” She shouted, pulling at his hair and making matters worse for herself when he moaned against her sensitive bundle of nerves. He let her come, never once lifting his mouth from her even as her hips jerked off the mattress and she very nearly pulled his hair out. When she stopped screaming, her voice caught in her throat because she was lost to her own orgasm, is when he lifted his mouth, replaced it with his fingers and watched her as she came down. As her eyes fluttered shut and her chest heaved, her lungs struggling to get oxygen back into her system. Her hold on him loosened as she came undone around him, melting into his hands it seemed like.

And when he began rubbing his index and middle finger into her, once she was far and beyond overstimulated, and he knew that, she reached down with a whine and grabbed his wrist with what little strength she had in her and pulled him away. His hand fell to the other side of her hip, which he used to his advantage to pull himself up over her again, his other hand taking her dress with it until he was able to tug it over her head and toss it. Then he came back down to kiss her, letting her taste herself on her lips. He rubbed his thumb across her cheek and when he pulled away, found her looking at him finally. Although it was with heavy lids as she still struggled to regain her bearings.

Before they could get much further, a loud crashing sound from the other room made both of them nearly jump out of their skin. She shot up instantly, grabbing hold of Harry’s bicep before moving him out of the way and sliding off the edge of the bed. 

“It’s just the cat.” Harry would have probably said the same thing even if it was not just the cat, he’d say anything just to get her to stay with him.

“I know but it sounded like…” her voice trailed off as her feet hit the floor and the moment she went to stand on her own two legs, her knees buckled. He reached to grab her waist but she righted herself before he could. She didn’t see the way he hid his cheeky smirk at the fact that he’d been so good, she was still dizzy.

“You good?” He asked as she stumbled her way into a shirt. With only a groan in response, and what he was sure was her middle finger, she left him alone in her bed to investigate the noise. Sighing, he laid on his back and got comfortable amongst her pillows. And after about three minutes, decided to locate the remote to her TV to entertain himself. 

He flipped onto his side and felt around her bedside table, but his fingers never landed on anything remote-like. So, frustrated, he reached up and switched the lamp on. Again, he found nothing. Looking further, he realized the table had a drawer and so he pulled it open in hopes of finding the damned remote before she got back. 

But what he found instead was so much better than turning on late night news.

“Fucking cat knocked over my vase.” Y/N was back within ten minutes. Harry had left the light on, but made sure it wasn’t obvious he’d gone snooping into her drawer, at least not yet anyway. She crawled back into bed beside him and it was then he noticed the bandage on her thumb.

“Are you alright?” He forgot all about what he planned to tease her with when he gently grabbed her hand to inspect the damage.

“Yeah. I was in a bit of hurry trying to clean up the glass…” 

Harry rolled his eyes and dropped her hand. “I would have come help you.”

She just smiled up at him as he fit his arm around her shoulders, his bicep under her neck. “That’s alright.”

He shrugged. “It was for the best anyways that I didn’t.” When he smirked, she narrowed her eyes suspiciously at him.

“And why’s that?”

She followed his other hand as he reached for something and then, moments later, it reappeared with a very familiar pink object clutched in his grasp. “Because then I wouldn’t have found this.”

Her first reaction was to pry it from his snooping fingers, but when she reached across him to grab it, he way too easily held her back and, at the same time, held it far out of her reach. 

“So this is what you do on Valentine’s Day, then?” He flicked his wrist back and forth, waving her vibrator in the air as he taunted her.

“If you don’t give that back to me,” she reached for it again to no prevail, “you won’t be doing anything, least of all, me.”

He clicked his tongue. “Why would I give it back when I plan on using it?”

She froze and he chuckled at her reaction.

“Would be rude of me to break your traditions, wouldn’t it?” 

She swallowed, her eyes slowly meeting his again. The appearance of his right dimple told her he wasn’t playing any games. She had no idea how many times he planned to make her come tonight or whether or not she’d even be able to walk tomorrow at work. But, given the stupid look on his face, she almost began making plans to call out sick instead.

“Do you actually know how to use that thing?” She finally asked, glancing at the wand still held very firmly in his hand.

He looked at her like she was crazy moments before he pivoted and pinned her onto her back, settling himself into the position they’d been in before the interruption of the cat. 

Just, this time… he was clicking on her vibrator and watching her face as she began to regret her words. 

“‘Course I know how to use it. The real question is,” he brought his lips to her ear, the soft vibrations and the sound of his voice mixing together like sin itself. Even more so when he nipped at her earlobe. “Do you know how to handle it?”

[hansolmates]

distance learning (m)

banner done by the beautiful @eerieedits​

summary; after their first hookup, jungkook isn’t so sure whether you’re serious about being exclusive. after all, people say things during sex. jungkook takes it in his own hands to figure out where you stand, and he realizes soon enough that eavesdropping is a bad habit pairing; neighbor!jungkook x (f) reader genre/warnings; fluff, humor, crack, insecure!jk, unresolved sexual tension, stressed!mc, this is really just unnecessary drama bc drama is fun™, sexting, dom kook’s still a meanie in control, posession kink, cock slapping, a blowjob, cockwarming, unprotected, creampie, squirting, (wrap the pickle before u tickle folks) and of course the excessive use of the petname [redacted] w/c; 6.1k a/n; haaaaaa three months later im finally posting pt 2! i figured that no matter how many times i edit/reread at this point i think it’s time to finally let this beast go!!! enjoyyy click here for part 1: remote learning drabbles; 01

if you enjoy this, please considering giving our pasta couple a like n’share💚

It’s been a week since the thing.

The remote-controlled vibrator thing. 

The whole sappy-love-confesion-during-sex thing. 

Jungkook is antsy, tail tucked in, perpetually wondering whether he went too far. You seemed to like it, and Jungkook definitely loved it. It was spicy and dirty and hot, and at the same time Jungkook thought he really made progress in expressing his feelings for you. Not only that, you said you liked him back!

At least, he thought you did. 

“I really said I’d feed her lasagna and cum in the same sentence,” Jungkook bemoans into his pillow, which still lingers faintly of your Redken shampoo. “I’m disgusting. She thinks I’m disgusting.” 

People say things during sex, Jungkook knows that. In the throes of passion and pleasure, people will say anything that comes to their mind, anything that fits the mood. Of course, you’d be tied in and say you like him back. But did you like him back as a friend? As a fuckbuddy? As something more? 

“Fucking text her,” Taehyung is tired of Jungkook’s wallowing, everytime he checks in on the app developer he’s brooding in one of three places. Today’s his bedroom. Taehyung dips under the blankets, and steals Jungkook’s pillow right under his nose.

Jungkook suppresses a whimper, face melding into the blankets. Now that pillow is going to smell like Taehyung.

“Text her what,” Jungkook replies despondently. 

“I don’t know, something along the lines of ‘I wanna follow through with my proposition of feeding you my cum and lasagna—not simultaneously. Wanna go on a date this weekend?’ It’s that simple,” Taehyung gets up in Jungkook’s face, dark eyes forcing him to bore right in. “Want me to do it for you?” 

“Noo, I’m an adult I can—”

“I did it for you.” 

Jungkook nearly knocks into Taehyung’s hard head, sitting up straight when he notices his phone behind his roommate’s back. This is what he gets for sharing passwords. Thankfully, the message is cleaner than Taehyung’s words, and you’ve already replied. 

[1:23] Jungkook: would you like to go out for dinner this weekend? pasta and wine?

[1:25] You: it’s a busy week this week 🥺 raincheck? 

“Was the sex that bad?” Taehyung frowns, reading the message twice. 

“N-no,” Jungkook is sweating. He isn’t sure anymore. 

Taehyung hands Jungkook back his phone, slowly, as if you’ll reply back with a change of your mind. Jungkook is a deflated balloon on his bed, feeling like a bum in his ratty sweater and a dateless weekend. 

“It’s just that,” Taehyung puts a hand on his lip, mulling, “busy people don’t reply that fast. Like even if she wasn’t busy, there’s a fifteen-minute leeway before replying.” 

This silly rule overrides Jungkook’s mind for the rest of the week. 

The gyms have been reopened for months, and Jungkook’s trainer misses him dearly. Jungkook meets with Saeroyi in the morning, eager to get a few jabs in with some fresh equipment. He tries to move on, distract himself with a couple of pumps and a match with Saeroyi. It feels great to sweat it off, but it doesn’t help sway Jungkook’s incessant thoughts. 

The ball is in your court now, Jungkook has nothing to do but wait. Some people are just bad texters, maybe you just happened to have your phone near you when Taehyung sent the message. Maybe you just wanted to cut Jungkook off as quickly as possible so you decided to reply fast and rip the band-aid. 

No, you’re definitely not that cold-hearted. 

Re-entering his apartment complex, his eyes linger towards where your room lies on the first floor. It’s all the way at the end of the hallway, and he’s tempted to just confront you and make sure that what you and him really had is indeed, over. Conversely, you could just really be having a bad week and you genuinely do want a raincheck. 

Jungkook’s eyes trail to his form. Still in his gym clothes, and a little sweaty from the travel time. If he gets caught, he can just tell you he’s doing a cooldown by running across the hallways. Not the first time it’s happened, afterall it led him to you at one point. 

He breaks into a soft jog, making a beeline to your front door. His feet squish against your old welcome mat. You haven’t changed it since Halloween, and he smiles fondly at the black scripted “Boo Y’all” written in script next to a chibi-ghost. 

His heart beats faster as his hand lingers by the door, ready to knock. Deep breaths. Who knows, he could just be overthinking (like usual.) 

“Fuck, Hobi!” 

Jungkook freezes, his knuckles a centimeter away from your door. He backs up as if he’s been burned. His heart has fallen all the way down to his ass, and intends to stay there because now he feels like a damn fool. 

The bed is creaking relentlessly, a rhythmic pattern that has Jungkook’s face crumbling at every spring. Jungkook’s face hovers over the door, his ear brushing against the wood. 

“C’mon, bunny,” the male voice is teasing, “you know you love having me over. It would satisfy both of us if you’d just let it go.” 

Bunny. A cute pet name, for sure. The way it rolls off the stranger’s tongue is natural, as if he’s been saying it for years. But what about being his doll, is that not good enough? 

You’re huffy, taking deep breaths. He doesn’t want to hear anymore. Jungkook has put himself through enough self-wallowing for the week. What if he was just a stepping stone to meeting new people that will satisfy you better? What if you just needed one good orgasm to get your flow back, and Jungkook’s job is done? Sure, there were no strings attached when he proposed to have sex with you, but he thought… 

No more thinking. Jungkook jogs away from the door, even going so far is to jog all the way up to the penthouse. 

He hates this. 

You hate this. 

It’s been five days since Hoseok’s arrival, and you are going bonkers. Why couldn’t he get a hotel or an AirBnB? Because he’s cheap as fuck, that’s why. Your dinky cousin has been clinging to you like a lonely koala, and while you found it cute in the 5th grade, it doesn’t translate well nearly two decades later. 

Every morning is the same. You make a subpar toast and Nutella breakfast, letting Hoseok’s slices go cold as you log in for work. You’ve been clocking in earlier in the hopes to finish the majority of your tasks before Hoseok wakes up, because by then you can barely function. Once he wakes up, he’s relentless, bouncing on the bed and talking your head off while you try to concentrate on whatever your boss is telling you. Whenever he jumps too hard, your cheap mattress causes your laptop to fly, and the only thing you can do is curse him out. Sometimes he plays Disney movies and sings in tandem, choreography and all. 

You know that Hoseok is stressed and this is his outlet, and you don’t have it in you to stop his incessant habits. He’s visiting your area because of a lucrative job offer nearby and the interviews are sporadic, making Hoseok linger in your apartment for hours at a time until he’s summoned for whatever test they want to throw at him. 

Most of the interviews are in the evening, and it’s when you can clock back in and finish your leftover assignments while Hoseok is also working. By the time he returns, you’re dog tired and so is he. 

Every night, you try to move away from Hoseok’s clingy self, as he grapples onto your waist and slings a thigh over your belly. You wish it were someone else sharing the bed with you. 

If you bring Jungkook into the picture however, you’d be burnt for the week. Complete crumbs. It would be too much stimulation for you, having to balance work, Hoseok’s incessant attitude, and putting on a face for Jungkook. Your relationship with the penthouse neighbor is barely budding, hardly watered considering Hoseok’s sudden visit. You cling to the fact that in a couple days you would be giving your undivided attention to Jungkook, most of your priorities out of the way, and most importantly, you’ll have your own room back. 

Maybe you could surprise him by giving him a pasta dinner, just like he proposed. 

Unable to get the thought out of your head, you blindly reach for your phone on the nightstand. It’s late, very late for a workday. The blue screen burns your eyes a bit, but you're determined to at least check up on Jungkook. You can’t take too long, otherwise you won’t be able to sleep and get him out of your head. Dear, unassuming cousin Hoseok is fast asleep next to you, due to the fact it’s nearly midnight. Making sure not to disrupt him, you carefully cup your phone in your hands, putting it on the lowest light setting. 

[11:54] You: hey, hope work hasnt been as draining for u as it’s been for me  ☠️  what’s your opinion on pasta sauces, red or white? 

Jungkook is normally a fast texter, at least from your experience. It’s you that’s the sporadic texter, sometimes taking hours to reply, other times in seconds. It never really mattered until now, however. But it takes five, ten, and finally fifteen minutes before you get a response. 

[12:09] Jungkook: ??? 

You frown, wondering what you said wrong. 

[12:10] You: do you not wanna do pasta anymore? Are you craving something else now?

[12:10] Jungkook: i don’t think it’d work out 

[12:10] You: why? 

[12:11] Jungkook: im sure you know why, bunny. 

Strange. He’s never called you bunny before, and in your opinion you think he’d be the bunny in the relationship—soft and cuddly on the outside, and an absolute horn ball in bed. Is this some sort of weird power play? Is he being passive aggressive on purpose? Whatever this game is, you’re not into it. Grumbling under your breath, you snake out of bed, looking blindly for your slippers in the dark. You’ll be in and out of Jungkook’s apartment in ten minutes. 

Just as your hand brushes the doorknob, your new roommate calls for you. 

“Bunny?” Hoseok calls blearily, and you’re staring straight at his cookie-printed eye mask, “what time is it, where are you going?” 

“Um, out,” you reply shortly, “I forgot I left my laundry in the dryer.” 

“Oh, m’kay. Come back soon, y’know I can’t sleep alone.” 

It’s then you realize. Bunny. Jungkook thinks that Hoseok and you are a thing. He really needs to stop eavesdropping on you. 

You feel your pussy frown. Your cousin is such a cockblock and he doesn’t even know it. Without an answer, you slip through your door and into the first free elevator. As you zing up the floors with the magical 1234 code, you work and rework your hair in and out of its style, wondering if you’ll look more presentable with your hair messy or thrown back. 

As soon as you reach the penthouse, you burst into action. “Jungkook!” you cry, pounding the front door, “it’s a misunderstanding, open up!” 

The door immediately swings open after the first three knocks, and you punch Taehyung in the chest. 

“You look awful,” Kim Taehyung drawls. Taehyung is wearing nothing but a cranberry red silk kimono, and you have to avert your eyes and focus on his face, which is even worse because he’s looking at you like an all-knowing psychic. 

“Gee, thanks,” you try to move past him, but he’s blocking the door. 

“Jungkook’s in a meeting with some foriegn developers,” Taehyung talks with his hands, pretending like he has any idea of the nature of his roommate’s job, “when it’s this late he doesn’t leave his office until morning. Door’s locked.” 

“Well then, can you relay a message?” 

“Depends, is this message going to hurt him further?” 

Oh my goodness, when Taehyung wants to be he is such an enabler. “Tell Jungkook he’s done wallowing. Instead of jumping to conclusions, maybe he should’ve just asked me why we couldn’t go on a date this week.” 

“You could’ve also just told him you have a man on the side.” 

“Ohmygod you two are two iotas of a combined braincell!” you shove your hands in your pocket, hotly scrolling through your phone so you can shove a picture in his face. “This is Jung Hoseok, my cousin who derailed my plans this week by crashing in my too-tiny apartment and forced me to raincheck with Jungkook. He’s a blabbermouth and would tell everyone—my parents, my grandparents, my great-aunts—about Jungkook if he found out I was dating, and I’m not ready for that,” you zoom in on the picture, despite the fact that the screen is practically touching Taehyung’s nose, “and the reason Hoseok calls me bunny is not sexual—you two are fucking gross—I had front tooth problems in elementary school and I had a brace on my two big teeth, it was not pretty.” 

“Ah, bunny.” Taehyung echoes with wide eyes, looking at you as if you’re now the one with sage wisdom, “it all makes sense now.” He gulps, taking in the old photo of a mini-Hoseok and you, yourself frowning to cover your huge braces and Hoseok trying to pull your gums apart with his greasy little fingers. 

Satisfied by Taehyung’s evident squirming, you decide you’re too tired to further this interaction. “Tell the other half of your cell for me, will ya?” You’re already turning away, pressing repeatedly at the elevator button, “I would love to go on a date with him as soon as he gets his head out of his ass.” 

Jungkook is tired, but not tired enough to murder Taehyung and make it look like an accident. 

When he has late meetings, Taehyung is usually quieter around the apartment, and even gets Jungkook a hot meal once he wakes up in the afternoons. Today, Jungkook slept through and through. Normally he’d wake up midway to Taehyung’s television dramas, or the clanging of last night’s dishes but nope, not a peep. 

And today’s hot meal is takeout from Jungkook’s favorite ramen restaurant. That only means one thing—something has gone to shit and Taehyung feels guilty. 

Jungkook sips his tonkotsu impossibly slow, hearing Taehyung’s words—your words from last night—clear as day. Taehyung even describes in detail where the nickname bunny comes from, down to how miserable you looked in the photo with your monstrously metal-bent teeth. Oh, how he wishes he can swaddle you between the blankets, hold you and comfort you while you deal with your family. 

[2:45] Jungkook: doll, im so sorry

[2:45] Jungkook: please, i booked us a weekend at that new spa that just opened downtown. The tickets are flex, so if your cousin doesn’t leave by then week we can always reschedule 

[2:51] Jungkook: baby doll… 

This is far worse than believing you didn’t like him. Now Jungkook is antsy, knowing you deserve all the space in the world because of how silly he was being. You owe him nothing. If he just waited it out until you were ready, he wouldn’t be in this mess. He’s potato-esque throughout the day, thankfully Taehyung gives him space as he watches hours of mindless television. 

You don’t reply until very late into the night. 

[10:10] You: IM ALIVE--barely!! And mr. jeon, you’re not only a triple texter, but an ellipsis texter???? You’re asking for trouble

Jungkook has no shame, immediately texting you back. He can’t help it, he’s smitten. 

[10:12] Jungkook: taehyung explained everything. It’s all his fault. Don’t ask why, it’s his fault. Im so sorry. 

[10:12] You: mm, it’s okay. Just a misunderstanding. I was pretty upset last night, but i’ve been pretty tired this week so my fuse is short. 

[10:14] Jungkook: you should go to sleep now, doll. We’ll have time together after your cousin leaves

[10:14] You: just a couple more minutes. Miss u and your cute face 

[10:16] Jungkook: 

[10:16] Jungkook: will this hold u off until saturday?

Jungkook is a pile of goo. Pink, warm, happy heart-glittered goo. It takes a minute for you to reply, and for that whole minute Jungkook is kicking his legs under the sheets of his bed like an eager five-year old who just gave his crush his Valentine. Maybe it’s taking you so long to reply because you’re trying to send a selfie of your own, running off to the bathroom to take a cute selfie if your cousin is asleep in bed. 

[10:19] You: fuck, i kno that’s supposed to be a cute selfie, but i want you so bad. I want to sit on your face, let your lips glisten with my pussy as i cum all over that pretty face

[10:19] You: i wanna touch myself so badly but fuckin’ hoseok is out here snoring like he’s gon hack a lung. Panties are so wet 🥺🥺 your doll is needy for you, wanna be played with

[10:20] Jungkook: lfjsdl;fkjs;fjsoisfoisljsdfsdklfjsdklf 

He throws his phone across the bed, feeling himself twitch in his red flannel pyjama bottoms. The thought of you so hot and needy when you’re ten floors down has Jungkook absolutely livid. He doesn’t know how he’s going to talk to you, comfort you without missing you like crazy. 

Jungkook thinks back to what he has in his fridge. His contractor sent him a cheese assortment, maybe he can bring it down pretending to be a friendly neighbor. Maybe Hoseok can go to the convenience store to conveniently grab a bottle of wine. He can make both of you cum in five minutes, flat. 

Akin to a dumb, horny teenager, he sighs. He rubs his palm longingly over his member. He’s horny, but he’s also eager to see your face. Talk to you, get reacquainted with your routine and sneak his way into it. He wants to be a part of your life, and he’s hoping you will too. 

[5:02] You: Jungkook, you left me hanging last night

[5:05] Jungkook: baby doll… i wouldnt have been able to handle myself if we continued

[5:06] You: so you decided to dip :( 

[5:06] You: could u play with your doll a lil bit, kook? Hobi left for another interview

[5:08] You: PNG.0901

Jungkook was a fool to believe that you would drop him like that. No, Jungkook can see now that you two are a match made in heaven. You have a bite, never afraid to speak your mind when needed. This translates to a hunger you shamelessly share with Jungkook, both sexual and romantically intimate. He almost wishes he could’ve seen you act like a bitch to Taehyung last night, he can only imagine how sexy you looked telling him off. 

He has the technology to blow up your picture, the one that’s currently having him close his laptop and shove it to the side. He spreads his legs further across his glass desk, trying to find comfort between his tight pants as he absorbs every bit of your skin. 

It’s nothing too risque, but it’s nothing short of sensual. The room is dark, but it’s very clearly a picture of your hand between your thighs. Again, you’re between your wall and bed, squished between your office chair with your legs spread as far as they can go. Your skin is so soft looking, plush as you press two fingers between your damp panties. Adorable. 

[5:12] Jungkook: you know why i never replied last night? Because i was too busy jacking off to your dirty words doll. U really need your mouth washed

[5:12] You: wanna wash it with something else🍆

[5:12] You: please kook, i need something. Hoseok will come home soon and i might rip his head off. Help prevent a murder

Jungkook chuckles, clutching his phone closer to his body. He loves how much you’re opening up to him. Last week feels like so long ago, how you were all flushed and wide-eyed at the proposition of sex. He thinks you two can have a lot of fun getting to know each other, both emotionally and physically. 

[5:15] Jungkook: i was gonna wait until i sent this, but i think my doll needs it. Here’s what i was doing last night

[5:17] Jungkook: MP4.13

He… has a meeting in five minutes. A very important, very serious meeting. Jungkook jacked off enough last night, now it’s your turn. He hopes you like it. It’s not a very long video, barely a twenty-second clip of him fisting his cock. Taehyung was still home at the time, so he had to keep quiet. However, he couldn’t get the image of you out of his head that night, rubbing your thighs together in a cramped mattress as you try to erase the dirty thoughts of him. A murmur of your name, and the image of his precum dripping down his knuckles. You hope it’s enough. 

[5:34] You: u make everything so much easier💜✨

[5:35] You: MP4.234

Two minutes. The video you send is even shorter than his, barely fifteen seconds. You’re in a much more comfortable position, horizontal on the bed. Your shirt is ridden up to the underside of your breasts, one hand clutching your bare breast so hard he can see your cotton plush skin bulging between your fingers. The other hand has your panties shifted to the side, three fingers in your sopping cunt. 

“Mmh—fuck, f-uck Jungkook—” the words are mere breaths, puffs of air as you reach your orgasm. 

His call connects. He nearly drops his phone on the glass.  

“Jungkook!” Andreas from Germany wishes him brightly, “you look great, glowing even!” 

Jungkook blushes, and mutters something about having to go to the bathroom before they start. 

Taehyung makes himself scarce on Saturday. He packs a duffel bag for himself and takes the PlayStation, knowing it’ll be a long weekend at Jimin’s. 

Jungkook is on livewire for the morning. He even express-delivers a pasta roller to his house, and he spends all morning testing out the perfect pasta dough. His black apron is covered in flour, and he can barely comprehend the tutorial that’s teaching him on his flatscreen. 

He’s on autopilot. He hasn’t contacted you since he sent that selfie, and he doesn’t intend to. Jungkook understands why you made yourself scarce in the beginning of the week, preferring to raincheck and pin your relationship for a better time. Jungkook’s brain is overridden with you, swollen with thoughts of you. You would never be able to focus if you kept in contact like you did last night, especially if you can’t get away from Hoseok. 

Absence surely makes the heart grow fonder. 

Slapping his hands against his trousers, he surveys his handiwork. His pasta is appropriately floured and wrung, each handful of fresh dough wrapped in little nests. Off the stove is a bechamel sauce, a base ready to be cooked in whatever kind of pasta dish you want. He thinks the two of you would have fun making your own non-traditional pasta dishes. 

The soft knocks on his front door interrupts his train of thought, and he knows it’s you. 

You stand in front of the door, impossibly small in a large shirt and a plain pair of leggings. At the sight of Jungkook, a smile as warm and sweet as hot chocolate worms its way to your face, and you collapse into his arms. 

He sighs gratefully, sinking into your small body. When he pulls away, he can’t help but frown at your apparent exhaustion. You must’ve come back from something tedious, because sweat dots your brow and your eyes are still puffy and dark. Your chest arches bonelessly into his, hoping to melt in his embrace. 

“Hi,” you say.

“Hey,” he replies. 

“It’s Saturday.” 

“It is Saturday.” 

You rub your nose between the fabric of his button down, “I should’ve been more specific when I wanted to raincheck on you,” you murmur into the white cotton. 

“No, I’m sorry for jumping to conclusions,” Jungkook whispers, even though you’re the only two people on the floor, “I’ll make it better, yeah? I’m going to love you so good tonight, won’t have to lift a finger—” 

You shake your head, looking at him calmly. “Jungkook, it’s been a long week. Hobi got the job, I spent all this morning moving his two-ton speaker set into his new apartment. I don’t want anything gentle. I want you to rail me into next week,” Jungkook chokes on his saliva when you reach to cup his dick through his pants, already sporting a chub, “fuck me breathless. I want—no, I need this.”

Anything for you, but Jungkook isn’t going to let your mouth runneth over that easily. He wants that too, obviously. But again, you’ve made him wait. 

Bending slightly, Jungkook whispers darkly into your ear, “Who said you can decide the rules here, doll?”  he’s been waiting all week to slip back into this persona, one that has you shivering delightfully under his touch. A small, secret smile tucks itself under your lips as you tilt your head down, but Jungkook catches it. It shows you’ve missed it too. He lets your sneaky smile  slide for now, only because he’s missed you so much and you’ve had a long day. 

“If I wanna fuck you rough, I’ll fuck you rough. If I want to edge you until you're sobbing on the corner of the kitchen table, I’ll do it,” Jungkook spits every declaration into your skin, biting at your shoulder so hard you cry deliciously. 

He drags you over to the living room, and he could sing at how easily you follow directions. Both of you have been tied up this week, and some hard sex would definitely ease that frustration, “Knees,” Jungkook commands, and you waste no time sinking to the floor, hands atop your knees. 

You look up through your lashes, eyes big and glassy. His poor girl is tired, and he finds it all the more attractive that you’re willing to push that aside to make eachother feel good. 

“Pretty, pretty,” he chants, pulling down his pants and letting his dick spring free, “suck.” 

You waste no time, and he watches as your eyes dilate over the expanse of his cock, half-hard and ready for your mouth. Your nails dig into your knees as you start with featherlight kisses, finally turning into sloppy smacks as you lick all over his dick. 

Jungkook groans, weaving a hand into your hair to force his dick down your throat. You gag at the sudden intrusion, but it doesn’t stop you from taking it like a champ. Hard, deep thrusts that he’s sure you can feel all the way in your stomach. You gag at each thrust, but don’t let up as your hot tongue wraps him up and licks at the pre-cum. 

“Fuuuuck, doll,” he rips you away, his now hard dick springing away. He’s a little shaky on his knees, but he plants his feet down as he grips his cock, slapping the tip of it across your cheek. It smears your face, glossing your flushed cheeks in a mixture of your saliva and pre-cum. “Are you trying to make me cum first? So sweet, you don’t even care if you cum tonight, hmm? You owe me, making you believe you had another man.” 

This isn’t true, of course. The both of you know it was just miscommunication, but it doesn’t hurt to play it up for pleasure. 

“N-no Kook, I’m yours,” you grapple at his pants, pulling them down so he can get them off completely. 

“Right. You’re. Mine.” With every punctuated word is a light slap to your cheek, and you take it. His cock bounces right off of you, until you finally move your head to suckle at the engorged tip, “I’m keeping you forever, doll. Don’t you know that?” 

Throughout this whole process, you don’t move, other than the minute clawing at your knees. You’re so good to him. Jungkook pulls away and ignores the ache in his member for now, taking off your clothes for himself. It’s like unwrapping a gift, revealing every bit of skin reserved for his viewing. “So sexy,” he remarks once he’s got you bare, pulling you onto the couch. He’s still in his button down shirt, his date night shirt, sleeves rolled up to the elbow. However, he lets your hands inch under the stiff fabric, feeling for his taut muscle. 

He guides your aching cunt to his cock, sinking you down. It’s a tight fit, and you both moan at the brush of contact. Despite not being prepped, you’re still slick, and it makes up for it. He doesn’t thrust up or anything, just guides his lips to yours with a threadbare brush of his finger. 

“Kook, d-do you want me to move?” you mumble against his cherry-flavored lip balm. 

“Good dolls don’t move until they’re told,” your eyes widen innocently at the statement, and you crumple against his mouth, at his next words, “cum like this.” 

“Awh shit, please no,” you tear up, burying your head between the crook of his neck, “I can’t wait.” 

“Thought you wanted me to fuck you into next week. You can’t do this one little favor for me?” he’s being so mean, and you hate him for it. Haven’t you earned it? “C’mon baby, I thought you wanted me?” 

It’s silent, save for the soft Italian restaurant music playing from whatever tutorial he’s hooked up to his television. It’s terribly cliche, like you’re in the porno version of a European romance movie. He thinks nothing of it, not when your juices are dripping on his thighs, your skin soft and pliant in his grip. Jungkook drums his fingers against your spine, seemingly uncaring that you’re stuffed deep into your womb. 

On the other hand, it’s the only thing you’re acutely aware of. His thick, warm cock is nestled between your folds, right where it should be. You clench once, twice, thankful that this isn’t some crazed wet dream. States of sleep and consciousness have blurred this week, you’re lucky that you made it all the way up to Jungkook’s apartment. 

You can’t cum like this. You need to bait him. You moan, the sound slow and rumbly against your throat as you weave your fingers through his dark tresses. Moving the strands aside to kiss his cold metal earrings you murmur, “I love this, Kookoo. I’ve wanted you all week, I was going crazy. I kept playing last week in my head over and over. I even put in my little vibrator, hoping you’d pull up the app.” 

Jungkook’s teeth clench, and his grip is borderline painful as it digs into your hips. 

“I haven’t been able to cum all week, and I want to do it all over you,” you husk, playing with the roots of his hair. 

You can feel yourself dripping, wetness lubricating you even further and probably staining his thighs and couch with your arousal. Every second that passes is killer, and the fluttering towards your pussy tighten further as Jungkook’s cock twitches in response. Your pussy continues its ministrations, butterfly-like flaps against his hot member that have you vibrating.

“Mm, oh, I’ll cum for you,” and surprisingly, you might be able to. All this dirty talking has gotten you riled up. Just a little bit more and—

Jungkook shoves you off his cock, forcing you to land on the couch. 

“No!” you cry, wiping your face. Your cheeks are ruddied, and you’re annoyed. The coolness of the autumn air has you feeling chilly, and you want to scream at Jungkook for disrupting your orgasm. You feel empty. 

You’re not annoyed for long however, as Jungkook flips you on your back and gives you what you’ve been craving. 

“You glide right in, don’t ya doll,” the friction is deliciously blazing, his hands pushing you further into the large couch as he takes you from behind. Hot, fast smacks against your ass come from the way his balls bounce back and forth as he pistons his cock in and out. “F-fuck, you’re so good to me. So good, I love having you like this. All pretty and dripping, you really know how to make a guy wait, huh?” 

“Mmph! N-no—hng, but I’m y-yours, Kook,” you garble out, and you’re practically eating the throw pillow you’re propped up on as he slams you further into the cushions, so hard you may fall off, “all yours, honey. N-no more waiting. I want you, want you so badly—ah fuck!” 

“It’s worth it, you’re worth it,” he says over and over, his thrusts becoming sporadic and losing their rhythm once he feels you clenching uncontrollably. He presses his two fingers to your sloppy bud, swirling around the juices eagerly. “C-cum, baby doll. You deserve it, yeah? Cum on this cock, let go.” 

You’re starting to see spots, black and white alike. Finally shying away from his cock you rest on your back, but Jungkook doesn’t stop his fingers from flying across your clit. One look at his face and you’re gone. Pretty brown eyes, overflowing with affection. The feeling is different, and it’s the acute pressure between your stomach and pussy that makes you notice what’s going on with your body. The pressure finally releases, your eyes fluttering shut as you rest your cheek on the cushions. You dissolve, a mess on the couch as white hot liquid ejects from your body, spraying Jungkook’s thighs and cushions. 

“Y-you just,” your lover’s mouth is parted open like a baby kitten, uncaring as to how the dark liquid stains his couch fabric. 

“Squirted?” you answer breathlessly, a melty smile on your lips, “y-yeah.” 

 It sets him off, a button left dormant until now. The thatches of hair that surround his cock are dripping with your mess, a cold reminder that he got you to this high. He doesn’t hesitate to slip his cock back into you, and you gasp at the overstimulation. You try not to focus on how your body is a bundle of lit nerves, only to help Jungkook reach his completion. 

“S-so perfect,” he warbles, pressing kisses to your jaw, chin, lips. Each thrust is deep, thick and heady with emotion. “Mm, I wanna cream this pussy sooo badly—mm, all mine, all wet and warm and so so sweet—” 

He cries out your name, biting into your shoulder as your walls fill further with his hot cream. Your thighs are shaking from sensory overload, and Jungkook has to hold you down and soothe you into a state of reality to cling on. 

Satiated, he nuzzles into your chest, feeling absolutely featherlight. 

“T-thank you,” you say gratefully, when at least three out of your five senses return to your body. Your hands dip down to clutch his cheek, pinching lightly at the warm skin.

“Don’t thank me yet,” Jungkook exhales into your breasts, “d-didn’t even feed you my cum yet.” 

You scoff, pinching his cheek again. You’re aware of his softening cock between your folds, ready to seep the efforts of today’s coupling, but your stomach says otherwise. You crane your neck to make note of the kitchen island, staring curiously at the metal pasta roller and the little nests of carby goodness that decorate the cutting board. 

“Feed me pasta first, please. You have all night to feed me dessert.” 

Jungkook giggles into your stomach, he doesn’t mind feeding you in that order. 

bonus.

“So.” 

“So?” you have cream sauce on your lips, happily slurping on an angel hair. 

“You haven’t told me you liked me back yet,” Jungkook rests his palm in the swell of his cheek, content with watching you eat from where he’s standing on the counter. He leans his upper body across the marble table, muscles rippling against his white shirt. 

“Oh, I did!” you’re affronted, swinging your legs on the high chair, “I totally did last week!” 

“Yeah, well. Can you say it while I’m not inside you?” 

“Okay,” you blink, quirking him with a simple smile, “I like you.” 

“That was anticlimactic,” Jungkook jokes at the brevity of your confession, yet his heart betrays the charm he finds in the three words. 

You scoff, jabbing your fork in the little next of springy noodles. “What do you want to hear? I’ve wanted you since I’ve moved in? I think you’re really handsome when you pace the hallway doing work on your phone? I like the way you cook?” 

“Keep going,” Jungkook sing songs, walking over to hug you from behind.

The stool swings back and forth as he rocks the two of you, softly and slowly so you don’t throw up your dinner. He noses into your neck, inhaling your scent and committing it to your memory. 

“Mm, dessert first,” you insist, twirling around the stool so you can wrap your legs around his waist. “And then I can tell you exactly how much I like you,” your fingers play with the buttons of his shirt, walking the pads of your fingers across his chest. 

Jungkook grins, hands reaching to cup your bottom and bring you to his bedroom. Of course, he’s always willing to satisfy your insatiable appetite. 

[writingwithcolor]

Tragedy Exploitation and Characters of Colour

hi! i've browsed your blog for a while now and it's been really helpful to me, so first off, thank you. i was wondering about something tho, i recently saw your response to a person explaining their story idea that revolved around two lovers, where one was cursed to kill the other and the other was always resurrected only for it to repeat, and i believe the characters were POC. in your response you seemed quite upset that such a plot was happening to POC characters specifically and it confused me because it sort of read as if you were mad that a bad thing was happening to a POC character in a story, which i genuinely didn't understand (i really don't want to sound rude, i'm being sincere), because it came off as advocating for only good and happy and nice things to be reserved for POC characters and if an author dared write something bad or traumatic happening to a POC character it's immediately 'poor narrative', and i personally don't agree with that take, because i feel like that reduces a POC character to just being POC instead of a person, which I feel like hurts POC rep in fiction, because being upset someone wrote something bad happening to a POC character makes it all about just that character being POC instead of just a regular person something bad has happened to in the story that just happens to be a person of color at the same time. my god this has gotten long, i got very interested in hearing more about this because i personally didn't quite understand and it sounded wrong to me, your original response. if you do reply to this, thank you, i hope i didn't sound rude, i do genuinely want to learn, because even tho i typed all this out i still feel like i'm wrong about this & missed the point somewhere

Disclaimer: please do not pile onto the ask about a Black woman murdered by her lover, as the asker has realized the issues with the ask. We are presently addressing the attitude of “why can’t bad things happen to PoC?” in this comment, with the name retracted, because it’s an attitude that crops up every once and awhile.

-

You have missed our extensive backlog of posts about double standards re: PoC and white characters, wherein we describe, at length, how we are uncomfortable that PoC characters get extra bad stuff that’s treated as “organic” because our history is full of suffering, when white characters often don’t get that same thing.

like White Authors and Topics to Avoid/Tread Carefully

and Writing About PoC Trials and Tribulations

We ask that people question why they decide to automatically make someone suffering a violent constant-death-loop be a person of colour, especially multiply marginalized (Black, woman, LGBTQ+). Because there are already too many stories of characters of colour (especially multiply marginalized) suffering needlessly and oftentimes worse than the white characters for the sake of a plot.

You completely misread the heart of the reply, which was “why are you forcing Black women to suffer the worst fate imaginable (murder) in one of the most emotionally heartbreaking way imaginable (at the hands of your lover) multiple times in order to “earn her happy ending”? this is tragedy exploitation and is making a mockery of trauma”

PoC already have enough stories about us traumatized by circumstance. And while we can suffer, narratively, part of systemic racism is only telling stories of PoC when we are suffering as the sole marker of the plot. Especially when characters of colour are suffering disproportionately to lighter skinned characters.

You also missed the part where Marika said that even if it were white characters, they would be uncomfortable because constantly pulling out murder as a curse is lazy writing.

All we ask is: why did the asker decide that a woman of colour must suffer to the point of repeated murder before she can be happy? Why does she have to forgive the person who did it to her? Because that is a logic born of passive racism that tells people: women of colour, especially darker skinned/Black women, can “handle anything”. And that is a lie.

~Mod Lesya

Echoing Lesya, I’m puzzled as to how you came to the conclusion that “If an author dared to write something bad or traumatic happening to a POC character, it’s immediately a poor narrative” when I explicitly said I thought this was cheap theatrics and tragedy exploitation even if both characters were white, particularly as the ask had given me no conception of the author’s motivation in using the curse as a dramatic device. In Japanese, we jokingly use the word 中二病 (Chuunibyo) or “8th grade disease” to describe edgelord phases for teens. This is a 中二病 plot device. It’s perfectly fine for niche angst addicts on ao3, but not something I would be able to take seriously in a more substantive work aimed at a larger audience. I think it is also telling that even the original asker has commented that they independent of our answer concluded this was a poor plot choice.

Finally, with respect to your question of the usage of negative tropes like the ones mentioned in this ask (Misogynoir and Bury Your Gays), I am concerned that you do not understand the motive for this blog. Our purpose is to provide instruction to those who wish to use diversity in their writing in an inclusive manner in ways that resonate with marginalized populations. We are not proposing a ban on tropes. They are tools, but like all tools, they have appropriate forms of use. Do you honestly think that many BIPOC individuals would be happy to read a story with this kind of tragedy exploitation? And how would you, as an author, factor in their impressions when writing your own works?

No one can stop a writer from pursuing the narratives they wish to pursue, but the opinions a writer is primarily concerned with says a lot about who a writer believes their work is for. Let us say I were to write a story with a gratuitous depiction of sexual assault purely for the shock value, despite never having experienced sexual assault myself? How might survivors of sexual assault regard both me and my work? Now imagine BIPOC individuals whose main experience with representation in media is seeing characters look like them die from the kinds of violence that are common for them to experience, and it should become clear that an author who adopts these approaches, at a bare minimum, is being exceptionally tactless. A writer who finds no issue with tragedy exploitation involving BIPOC characters is likely not a writer who cares about what the BIPOC members of their audience think, or, even worse, does not even factor BIPOC perspectives into their writing.

- Marika

[luvyanfei]

anon said. how about fluffy hcs with xiao, zhongli and xingqui taking their s/o out on a first date?

XIAO.

he already finds it difficult just to ask you to hold him without losing his cool, so how can he possibly bring up the idea of inviting you on a date? actually, he probably never knew the word ‘date’ even existed until he heard a passing couple staying over at wangshu inn dreamily talking about how they wish they could go to see the lantern rite festival in liyue harbor together for their first date. a first date, huh? now that he thinks about it, xiao never did properly try to court you, did he? it was always you who approached him first, who held your hand out to him, who confessed that you love him. you’re already giving so much dedication in this relationship. it’s the least he can do to return your affections, not just because he’s feeling a bit indebted, but because he’s your lover. unfortunately, being the awkward yaksha that he is, xiao overthinks the situation and complicates it more than he should.

every chance he gets is blown up by his anxiousness. whenever you come and visit him at the inn, you almost think that he’s angry with you from the way he throws you vicious glares. unbeknownst to you, xiao is actually making that tense face because he’s trying very hard, too hard in fact, to think of the best way to ask you out on a date and seeing you just makes him all the more nervous. he regrets it every time you step into the elevator while giving him a goodbye wave and saying you’ll come visit again. sure, he gets another chance to try and ask you out again, but he also has another chance to fail as well.

when you visit him for lunch, xiao quickly rehearses the words he wants to say to you in the back of his head before coming to greet you. ‘i overheard from a guest in the inn talking about a lantern rite festival. if you mortal, no, [name], desires to go, i can possibly set aside time to accompany you.’ keep it cool, yet short. taking a deep breath to compose himself, xiao walks over to greet you, er, well actually, you’re the one doing the greeting instead, and you settle down to eat. the sweet taste of the almond tofu that you generously bought for him blossoms in his mouth and he loses track of time till your departure. before you leave once more to allow the poor yaksha to wallow in his self-regret again, you stop yourself and turn around to face xiao. tucking your hair behind your ear and giving your best, most radiant smile you can offer to him, you shyly ask if he’d like to tag along with you to the lantern rite festival. “we’ve never been on a date before and i’d love to go to the festival with you and release xiao lanterns together.”

... what? how? his mouth almost opens up in disbelief, as he struggles to keep a stoic expression. ex-excuse him?! that’s supposed to be his line! he’s in shock at how easily you were able to say something that he’s been having trouble sputtering out. you mortals never fail to surprise him. he shakes his head and bitterly scowls, that you almost step back in fright. almost, until he starts speaking, that is. “why is it you? i should have been the one to ask you on a date first, not you!” he’s almost on the brink of tears from the frustration he currently holds on himself. 

a relationship is always about give and take, no? it’s like when zhongli has so kindly decided to save him from the clutches of the cruel abuse he endured endlessly, of course he was forever in debt to rex lapis. surely, it’s the same with you, isn’t it? when xiao tells you this, you immediately start laughing. you calmly explain to him that your relationship isn’t like a form of contract where he’s expected to always repay you back for every gift you give to him. as long as he’s there for you, that’s more than enough of a reward, you say, before plopping a chaste kiss to his cheek.  

“finally, you’re here. what took you so long?” xiao speaks to you with indifference concealing the relief that you actually came. he trails his sharp eyes to inspect your dressed up form and blushes slightly. “you look nice.”

immediately, your eyes widen at his underhanded compliment. did- did you hear that right? biting his lower lip gently, xiao clasps your hand in his, ignoring your astounded reaction, as he squeezes it reassuringly while watching the colourful fireworks light up the murky night.

without thinking, he turns to you when you’re focused on the display of bursting lights reflecting in your eyes, and murmurs to himself softly, “i hope you’ll spend the rest of your time with me, for however long it’ll last.”

XINGQIU.

of course, a date with xingqiu has to be extravagant and sophisticated to the last touch, right? guess again. he may come from a wealthy family, but that doesn’t mean he shares the same interest a selfish, pampered noble may have. he prefers something more simple, yet sentimental. confined in his household with nothing to do but bury his head in a book, he’s picked up some ideas for your date from the romance stories he’s read. surprisingly, they’re all rather cliché.  

the first thing he makes you guys do is go out in the blazing summer day to get yourselves a cool beverage. he explicitly asks the cashier to give him one straw [do they even exist in the game?] and smiles slyly as he thanks them and brings the drinks to you. when you ask about it, thinking that maybe he forgot, all he does is smirk before saying, “there’s no need, my liege. we can share, unless you’d rather melt in the sweltering sun, that is.” he winks teasingly. you... don’t really have much of a choice in the matter. as you stroll around the harbor together, you take turns drinking from the only straw and a wave of consciousness washes over you gradually. wait, isn’t this like an indirect kiss? you place a hand to your gaping mouth after sucking on the straw that xingqiu pressed his lips on merely seconds ago. you should know by now, how bold he is underneath his polite façade. 

after you finish sipping your drink - tediously at that, you both agree on going to the library to read books together since the heat is pretty unbearable to do anything enjoyable. xingqiu recommends you to try reading some of his personal favorites and you do the same as well. he’s thrilled to have a reading buddy now since it’s boring being here by himself. 

while you’re immersed in the novel that you randomly picked from the bookshelf, every now and then, xingqiu will look up from the pages of his book and faintly smile to himself, glad that you’re enjoying yourself.

the sun was setting and the stars started to appear in the pastel pink and orange of the evening sky. you place back the last book and stretch your arms, before turning to xingqiu. sighing, you give him a quick goodbye kiss on the cheek and softly say your farewell.

as you’re about to make your leave for the day, xingqiu halts you with his words, “wait. there’s something i need to do before we can end this date.” nonchalantly, he plucks a book from its shelf, opens its pages, and uses it to block the sunlight drifting through the transparent window glass, effectively shielding his vision from the public eye as he pulls you in for a passionate kiss.

his free hand finds its way combing through the back of your head to deepen the kiss. when he’s satisfied enough, the boy detaches his lips from yours and lightly rubs the flesh of your cheek with a finger, while placing the book down on a nearby table. you keep your eyes fixated on him as he licks the edges of his lips.

“that felt nice,” xingqiu murmurs, “you’re so sweet, i’d hate for anyone else to savor in this pleasant moment with you other than i. shall we continue this again on our next date too?”

ZHONGLI.

the first thing he does is make sure to bring mora, this time. it would be highly inconsiderate of mr. zhongli to have you pay for the expenses of this fine date. he’s one to take things nice and slow. sure, time is unfortunately measured and limited, but he wants to make the most of it with you, a mortal who, just like any other being, has a beginning and end to your life. zhongli wants to shower you in all the beauty and joy this world has to offer while you’re still here with him.

he may be a gentle-spoken and polite individual, but please don’t mistaken him as being shy in any way. he shows up to your residence one afternoon and presents you a bouquet of your preferred flowers while he asks if you would consider accompanying him on a date. you take the bundled up flowers, carefully stroking a petal as if it’s made of fragile glass and accepts his proposal with open arms. 

he takes you out to an expensive restaurant in the night of liyue and helps you select the best dishes. after you’re finished with your lavish and sophisticated meals, zhongli ushers you outside where you’re greeted with fresh air, a contrast to the suffocation you felt back at the restaurant. sure, the place is grand and your hunger is well-satiated, yet despite wearing your best clothing, you felt out of place there, like a commoner surrounded by nobles. 

when you express your earlier discomfort to zhongli, his eyes are filled with shame and he’s already apologizing like the gentleman he is. guiltily, you tell him it’s fine and you ask if you can show him something before you have to head on home. he ponders in thought before agreeing, walking hand in hand with you to your unknown destination. 

the chilling night breeze bites at your bare skin as you instantly shiver. this doesn’t go unnoticed in zhongli’s sharp eyes and he’s already unbuttoning his jacket. he drapes the coat over your shoulder blades and rubs his gloved hands on your cold fingertips to preserve warmth. “are you feeling cold perhaps? maybe we should head back?” you stop him before he can guide you back to the harbor. 

“i’m okay now. thank you for your concern.” you say to ease his poor mind. he nods and you both continue on. the walk uphill takes a while, but it’s worth it when you finally reach the top. your eyes widen in amazement as you witness the glimmering stars splayed across the pitch darkness of the sky. “zhongli, look. do you like it?” he simply nods, but all of his attention is focused on you.

zhongli grins down at your childishly excited face, pausing for a hesitant minute before he carefully places his hands on top of your shoulders. you look up at him in confusion and is about to question him, but any sound that comes out is cut off by his lips ensnaring yours in a kiss. you’re astounded by his intimate move, but you revel in his touch in a matter of seconds. 

he hopes, as he tightens his hold, that you’ll stay with him always, till your last breath. 

tagging. @scarymoosh