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redrose10 · 2 months ago

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Here is #6 from the photo game!

Warnings: Swearing, hints of cheating, anxiety, depression

A relaxing weekend spent at a cabin with your boyfriend sounded like an amazing idea at the time. No distractions, no work, just you and Yoongi spending a few days together. The fall time was the busiest time of the year thanks to the leaves changing and the brisk air making cuddling by the fireplace more desirable. To make sure you got the reservation and to get the best deal you booked the cabin six months in advance.

Then life happened and you and Yoongi got in an argument. It wasn’t anything new. You two had been together for four years and had arguments every now and then like any couple. You could tell something was different this time though. He seemed angrier, less willing to communicate and more closed off. You walked into the bedroom to give each other some space expecting to work things out later. Ten minutes went by and Yoongi walked in with red eyes and his cheeks soaked with tears.

“I’m sorry Y/N, I can’t do this any more.”, he whispered before shoving some of his clothes in a bag and running out the door. That was two months ago and you haven’t spoken since.

“Y/N you should go on the trip. Take a relaxing weekend for yourself. You deserve it.”, your best friend said over dinner.

The romantic trip you had planned with Yoongi was coming up. After all that happened you had forgotten to cancel it before the required date and now it was too late. The trip was non-refundable at this point. You thought about just loosing out but it was a lot of money.

“I don’t know. I wish you were available to go with me. Isn’t it kind of weird to go alone? Yoongi also helped pay so I don’t really think it’s fair for only me to go and even worse what if he shows up?”, you questioned.

“Y/N first off you paid for half the trip too so it’s just as much yours as it is his. Secondly I really doubt he even remembers it’s coming up. He looks pretty busy right now anyways.”

You followed her line of sight until your stomach dropped at what you saw. While you were barely able to function the last couple months Yoongi appeared to happily be on a date with another woman across the restaurant like he had moved on with no issue.

“How could he move on from me so fast?”, you asked rhetorically.

Your friend shrugged, “Maybe he’s known her for a while. He could’ve been cheating on you for all we know.”

“No he wouldn’t have done that to me. He wouldn’t have cheated.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that.”, she said pointing over in Yoongi’s direction. The woman he was with had turned around to grab her bag and you gasped, “Nari?”

You bit your lip trying not to cry. Nari was a producer that worked for the same company as Yoongi. She made you feel really insecure from the moment you met her. She was beautiful and smart and funny and worked as a producer just like Yoongi so they had a lot in common. You were suspicious from the first time you met her. It definitely crossed your mind a few times that maybe he liked her more than he lead on. He assured you over and over that she was nothing more than a coworker though and that you had absolutely nothing to worry about. You believed him. And now here he was staring into her eyes just two short months after breaking your heart into a million pieces. You started to wonder if maybe he really had been cheating on you that whole time. Your sadness and hurt began to change to anger the more you pondered that.

Suddenly you stood up grabbing your things. “Where are you going?”, your friend questioned confused.

“Home. I’ve got a trip to pack for.”, you gritted through your teeth.

The drive up the mountain to your cabin was a little scarier than you expected. You took your bag out of the back seat and entered in the code that the rental company had given you to gain access to the front door.

The cabin was adorable and you were really happy with your choice. It was tiny but enough for two people and more than enough for just one. The bedroom and the bathroom were at the back of the cabin and after your long stressful drive you wanted nothing more than to take a hot shower and lay in bed and relax for a while before dinner.

You were drying your hair after your shower when you heard the front door open and shut followed by some jingling keys. Immediately you went into panic mode. You were alone in a cabin in the middle of the mountains. You couldn’t run anywhere and no one would hear you scream. You grabbed the fire poker from the bedroom fire place to use as a weapon and then slowly tiptoed down the hall ready to fight whomever was entering the cabin.

“What are you doing here?”, a deep familiar voice asked before you could speak. “Me?! What are you doing here?”, you spat back at Yoongi who was glaring at you.

For a brief moment you were a little relieved to see him and not a serial killer ready to claim their next victim but that relief was quickly replaced with anger.

“Seriously Yoongi, why are you here?”

Suddenly it hit you, what if he was here with Nari? Like what if he brought her here to enjoy the romantic couples trip you had planned for the two of you. You felt sick at the thought.

“I paid for half of this trip too. I need some time alone so I can work and get some stuff done.”

“What too many “distractions” at home?”, you rolled your eyes immediately thinking about him and another woman.

“Yeah actually there are. Not that it’s any of your business.”, he clapped back.

That hurt and your angry confidence faltered. Your lip began to quiver. You knew you needed to get away from him before he could see you cry.

“Fine. Do what you want. I’ll be in the bedroom.”, you said storming off and slamming the door shut behind you.

When you woke up the room was completely dark. The curtains were still open and it was clearly the middle of the night. You didn’t mean to cry yourself to sleep but you must’ve been more exhausted than you thought.

You were stretching out on the bed when your stomach started to rumble reminding you that you hadn’t eaten since the morning. Slowly cracking open the bedroom door you were met with silent darkness. Maybe you got lucky and Yoongi decided to go back home. That would be ideal you thought.

You tiptoed down the hall only to be met with the sound of soft snores coming from the couch. You peaked over finding Yoongi sound asleep all wrapped up in a blanket. He looked so cuddly and warm and you missed falling asleep with his arms wrapped around you.

Thankfully your stomach grumbled again getting you back on the right track. Yoongi was not yours to cuddle any more anyways.

The kitchen was small but livable. As quietly as possible you poked around hoping to find something you could quickly turn into a meal. Unfortunately thanks to the events earlier you didn’t even think to go to the grocery store to stock up so the kitchen was bare. You chugged a large glass of water hoping it would hold you over a few more hours until you could go get breakfast somewhere.

You turned to rinse out your glass when you saw a note sitting on the counter. The handwriting familiar,

“Pizza in the fridge. Promise I didn’t poison it. Just didn’t want to wake you. -Yoongi.”

You wanted to cry. You wanted to be angry. You wanted to run into the living room and hug him. But instead you chose to just take a slice of pizza, conveniently with your favorite toppings which only made you want to cry more, and headed back to your room to hideout until the morning.

Somehow you managed to doze off again for another few hours. The bright sun shining through the crack in your curtains waking you up this time. You got ready for the day, putting a little more effort into your appearance than you had for the last couple months. You kept telling yourself it had absolutely nothing to do with Yoongi.

The kitchen was filled with the scent of pepperoni and garlic. Just as you walked in Yoongi was pulling what was left of the pizza out of the oven.

“This will have to do for breakfast. We’ll have to go into town and get some groceries.”, he said when he noticed you.

“Oh if you want to make a list I can just go. You said you had a lot of work to do.”, you replied wanting to avoid having to spend so much time with him.

But he shook his head, “It rained quite a bit last night. The roads might be rough. We’ll go together.”

You knew there was no use in arguing with him and maybe a small part of your heart warmed up at the thought that he still worried about you like that.

“Okay. We can leave after breakfast.”, you nodded.

The drive into town was silent and uneventful. The little town was cute to say the least. You even took note of the realty company there because you wouldn’t mind moving there some day.

At the grocery store you both quickly gathered what you needed. Mostly snacks since you were only there for one more night. You grabbed some fruit and a giant tub of ice cream. Yoongi grabbed a six pack and some instant noodles.

He surprised you when he suggested you both stop for lunch. You really wanted to say no but he was driving so you didn’t have much of choice anyways. You ended up at a quaint little cafe. The atmosphere was warm and welcoming even though the tension between you and Yoongi was ice cold.

You were sat on the back patio over looking the beautiful fall foliage. Several outdoor fire pits provided more than enough warmth.

“So how have you been?”, Yoongi awkwardly asked.

“Fine I guess. Not as good as you apparently.”, you replied harsher than you meant to.

“What is that supposed to mean?”, he asked confused.

You went to apologize but were interrupted.

“Alright did you two decide what you’re having today?”, the waiter Jin asked.

“Uh yeah just the classic burger for me.”, Yoongi replied.

“The harvest soup please.”, you said handing him your menu.

After he walked away the tension between you both was thicker than before.

You realized that Yoongi had been kind through the whole trip. Saving pizza for you, sleeping on the couch without argument so you could have the bed, heating up breakfast, taking you into town and paying for the groceries, now taking you to a nice cafe and trying to have a civil conversation. You realized you had been the one making things difficult.

“Hey Yoongi I’m sorry about what I sa-“, you began but his phone started ringing. He took it out of his pocket and you felt your blood boil when you saw the contact name flashing on the screen, Nari.

“Sorry Y/N. I have to take this.”, he said walking away from the table.

“Of course.”, you scoffed thankful that you didn’t fully apologize yet.

Feeling anxious and not wanting to just sit there any more you walked over to the balcony so you could look out over the property.

“They’re beautiful aren’t they?”, a guy said next to you. He pointed out to the field after noticing your confusion, “The trees.”

“Oh yeah. They’re gorgeous.”, you chuckled.

“They’re tulip trees. They’re even more beautiful when they bloom in the spring.”, he said, “I’m Namjoon by the way.”

He smiled flashing you the prettiest dimples you’d ever seen.

“Y/N”, you said, “Maybe I’ll have to come back in the spring to see them in bloom. That sounds quite nice actually.”

“Oh you’re not a local?”, he asked, “You know… if you want I could show you around the town a little.”

“I’d like that, but I’m just here on a little weekend trip. I leave tomorrow.”

“Oh Uhh are you here on a trip with your boyfriend?”

Your brows furrowed, “What? No I don’t have a boyfriend.”

Namjoon awkwardly chuckled, “Well um does that guy know that because he’s currently staring at us like he wants to kill me?”

You looked where he was pointing to see Yoongi standing there. His hands in his pockets while he ran his tongue along the inside of his cheek. And he was in fact staring daggers at you. You knew just from that look that he was furious.

“Don’t worry. He’s just a complicated friend thing person….”, you cringed.

“Okay well if you want to give me call I’d be happy to show you around. Maybe don’t bring your friend thing though.”, he laughed handing you his number.

You walked back to the table just as Jin dropped off your meals. You both ate in silence and that carried over to the drive back to the cabin too.

Once the groceries were unloaded Yoongi grabbed his headphones and laptop and went out to the back deck without a word.

You stood and watched him work for a while. The Yoongi that you knew all these years would never just give you the silent treatment. He discussed what was bothering him so that you could work together to solve it.

He answered another phone call. You figured it was Nari again so you walked away to give him some privacy.

You had just finished plating up dinner when Yoongi came walking back inside. He eyed the food and then you. “We didn’t have much to make a big meal but I put together what I could.”, you said shifting awkwardly under his gaze.

“Not hungry.”, he scoffed before turning to walk back outside.

“Seriously Yoongi, what the fuck is your problem?”

He stopped and turned to look at you, “I don’t have a problem. Why don’t you go out and have a nice dinner with your little friend you met earlier.”

You hated that you could feel tears already begin to form, “You’re one to talk.”

With three long strides he was right in front of you giving you somewhat of a startle, “Me? I haven’t done anything other than be a heartbroken mess these last two months without you but the minute a cute guy flirts with you then you’re practically trying to fuck him right there.”

You stared at him in disbelief. Your heart rate was skyrocketing. From his pocket you could hear his phone ringing again and it all came back to you.

“At least I waited until you broke up with me. You are the asshole who was cheating on me the whole time.”, you whispered as the realization of your words hit you. Tears began freely falling as you turned and ran back into the bedroom closing the door behind you.

You never expected that this trip would be filled with so much crying and hurt. It was supposed to be relaxing and fun.

You waited a while until you had calmed down and then decided you weren’t spending another night in the same cabin with Yoongi so you grabbed your bag and packed up your clothes. You did a double check making sure you had everything and with your car keys in hand you pulled open the bedroom door only to hear a loud thud followed by a groan.

Quickly you found the hall light switch flipping it on only to find a very buzzed Yoongi rolling around on the floor. The six pack he had gotten at the store now empty and tossed around him.

“Y/N please don’t leave. I need you.”, he slurred.

You looked over his face. He looked just as bad as you did if not worse. Clearly he had been crying. His nose was bright red and his eyes still teary.

“Come on. Let’s get you to bed.”, you sighed while helping him up thankful you talked him out of the twelve pack.

Worried that he would roll off the couch you decided to let him have the bed. You were leaving anyways so it didn’t matter. Once he was all tucked in you tried once again to leave but he grabbed your wrist, “Y/N you can’t leave. I already lost you once and I can’t…I can’t do it again.”

He started to cry. You started to cry. You agreed to stay.

When you woke up the next morning Yoongi was already staring at you.

“I never cheated on you with Nari. I know that’s what you think happened.”, he said getting right to the point like the Yoongi you knew.

You stared at him in silence. Your throat was sore and your head hurt from all the crying.

He took a deep breath before continuing, “Y/N, I broke up with you because that’s what I thought was best for you. Just it’s just that the last couple months I felt like I was drowning. Work was piling up, I was spending less and less time with you. My mental and physical health were deteriorating. I saw how worried you were about me. I saw how sad you were. How tired you were. All because of me. And then I had a realization that I didn’t bring anything positive to our relationship. So when we got into that fight I saw it as my way to get you out of this. To free you from me.”

He paused for a second. He used his thumb to wipe away some of your tears that you hadn’t even realized were there again.

“But after we broke up I realized how much you held me together. I couldn’t function without you but every time I’d pick up my phone to call you or every time I’d stand outside your door ready to knock I would remind myself that this was what’s best for you. You wouldn’t be able to live your life if I was there dragging you down. But I’ve been a complete mess since that night. I couldn’t eat, couldn’t sleep. My work was slipping so bad and that’s why I had that dinner with Nari. The one you saw me at. She’s a head producer now and technically my boss. She told me that if I didn’t get my shit together that they would have to terminate my contract. That’s why she keeps calling me, to check in and see how my progress is coming along. And I’m sorry about what I said about you and that guy. If you want to go out with him it’s none of my business. I’ll work through my feelings alone.”

You sat for a moment trying to process everything that you just heard because you had no idea that he was feeling that way.

“Yoongi I’m sorry that you felt like that but you don’t get to make that decision for me. I would go to hell and back for you and with you. Part of being in a relationship is being there through not only the good times but the difficult ones too.”

After you heard sniffles coming from next to you, you noticed that he was crying. You pulled him into your lap which he happily allowed wrapping his arms around you and pulling himself as flush against you as he could. He nuzzled his face into the crook of your next to soothe himself.

“I’m so sorry Y/N. I never meant to hurt you. I actually wanted was trying to do the opposite.”, he spoke through sobs.

“Shhh shhh I know. We can talk more about it later.”

And you did have a long discussion about all of the events that lead up to that moment. It was much needed and helped you both to open up and put all of your feelings out there.

You agreed to take things slow but you spent the rest of the day happily wrapped in each others arms by the fireplace just like you had originally planned .

#bts #yoongi x reader #yoongi fanfic #min yoongi #bts fanfic #bts x reader #yoongi x y/n #yoongi fic #yoongi angst #yoongi fluff #suga #bts yoongi

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blueishspace · 15 days ago

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Hero, Villain, God 3

(Prev) (Next) (First)

*Grian's pov*

Being Poultryman was more fun then you thought it would be and that's saying a lot considering you already had high expectations. These last few days have been the most fun you have had in the last 10 billion years! It's just so different to actually be involved directly... People actually thank you for trowing eggs at other people.

And now you went one step further then just trowing eggs at criminala, you managed to fill mayor Ren's house with chickens! Every single room is filled witch chickens. Bathroom? Chickens. Kitchen? Chickens. Weird suspicious basement permeated with metallic scent? You better believe it, that's filled with chickens too.

You honestly can't wait for his reaction...

Thinking about it, it's weird how little surveilance the mayor has in his house... you got in without having to use any divine ability except for those that make up Poultryman's powers. And you would have gotten away with it too if it hadn't been for him.

"Stop righg there, scoundrel!" It's Hotguy to interrupt if it wasn't clear, you don't see why the hero association would send the number one hero after you but this is going to be fun. Any other god would have just smited him for interrupting but that would just be...so boooring. No, you are going to punish him in a much more... subtle way... ...Mentally.

"Hello there, Averageguy" You can see him process what you said in real time.

"It's Hotguy! Not ...that!"

"So narcisistic, no no no, you really need to chill down or I'll have to demote you to Mediocreguy"

"MEDIOCRE!? You can't just demote me!" Oh, he is fun, he's so sensitive to mockery.

"Too bad, you are Mediocreguy now, told you that you needed to chill down and you didn't listen".

At that he starts chasing you, took him long enough to remember his job is to catch you, of course you aren't going to be catched that easily. You are stil agod after all.

"I'll have you know I'm very chill you pesky bird!" Pesky bird? That's a new one.

"You are neither chill nor hot" You jump in the air and land behind him. "More of Lukewarmguy really".

Well, you could just lose him now but you wanna have a bit more fun before you leave.

"Come back here! You oversized chicken!"

Well now he's going to get egged, he brought it upon himself really- oh? One moment... You perceive a woman reporting for live television nearby... You suddenly have a devious idea and ou lunge towards her general direction.

*The following Clip was taken from Hermitopia Daily*

"-Shareholders predict that the new policy will be a strong step foward towards-"

*Suddenly a chicken themed man jumps in in the middle of the live recording*

"Hello there spectators! Sorry to interrupt!"

"P-poultry man!?"

*The man in the chicken costume turns towards the camera and takes out like ten 100 dollar bills*

"Hey mate, I'll give you these if you let me borrow that camera for a few seconds"

*The camera men speaks in the background*

"Huh...just don't break it? Please?"

"Thanks!"

*There is some shaking as Poultryman takes the camera and points it towards a very angry and tired looking Hotguy.*

"And there folks at home we have Loserguy."

"LOSERGUY!?"

"I know, before meeting you I thought you were cool too! Never meet your heroes they say, that's because they are very underwhelming."

*Hotguy jumps towards the camera, there's some more shaking and then the camera is pointing towards an Hotguy whose face is faceplanted onto the ground and who is groaning onto the floor*

"Well ... first of all, attacking me? That was rude. Second of all, if you are going to jump someone at least don't fall, It's just embarassing."

*Hotguy gets up with another frustrated groan and takes out his bow and arrow*

...

"Well, time to give back the camera to it's owner! Wouldn't want an arrow to break it after all!"

"You! Come back here!"

"Toodles Cringeguy!"

*The feed cuts for a few seconds, once everything is back online Hotguy is looking around like he's searching for something and Poultryman is gone... The reporter seems to snap out of her shock, the clip ends*

*Scar's pov*

You feel like a misbehaving child waiting for punishment, you are sitting in Cub's lab and he's frantically walking back and forth.

"It ... It wasn't that bad?" You don't know why you try to argue, you regret it immediately.

"Not that bad?! Scar- *sigh*"

Ok so maybe it was, but you can't stand the idea of Cub being mad at you... Or even worse: disappointed in you.

"I'll just...catch him next time! Yeah!"

"Not only did you fail you task, not only did you push yourself way too much AGAIN but you made a fool out of yourself on LIVE TELEVISION Scar. Do you even know how much respectability you lost because of this?"

Ok... Maybe It's better if you just don't speak...

"The screenshot of you laying on the ground is now a meme template! I don't even know how that has already happened since It's been two hours at most."

Still, you will catch that Pesky bird, no one calls you Cringeguy.

*Grian's pov*

...

You're the one that started the Hotguy template, you don't regret it one bit.

...

The internet is having a field day with it, Hotguy's pr team is definitely not.

...

This is so much fun already.

#trafficblr #traffic smp #hermitblr #hermitcraft #grian #goodtimeswithscar #cubfan135 #poultry man #hotguy #Hero villain god au

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treedaddymcpuffpuff · 5 days ago

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Imagine being kidnapped by Tom Ludlow.

Hi anon. This got out of hand. I’m sorry. CW: mentions of child abuse/dark humor concerning it, rape/noncon fantasies and details. I write from a place of my own trauma, and it gets a little fucked up. If you don’t like dark fics, or are triggered easily, DO NOT READ THIS. Violence, bad cops, SA. Tom Ludlow is not the bad guy in this, though.

If you’re a big girl, a tall girl, a girl with a lot of muscle or fat, you probably haven’t been picked up off the ground since you were very young.

You question your femininity because of it, along with a whole lot of other shit that society decides to push on you for not having a traditional feminine figure…whatever the hell that is.

You often take on a more protective, mothering or masculine roll with your smaller or daintier or gentler friends. You don’t look down on them at all—or envy them too often. Some people just carry a unique tenderness that you wish the world had more of. But every little rainbow or sunbeam needs their strong protective cloud, and you mostly gladly, sometimes reluctantly take on this role.

You will never be a meek, kind, delicate person. It’s just not going to happen. You don’t want it to happen. You’re pretty comfortable with your role in life. It’s just…sometimes…and this is probably something that everyone craves in vulnerable moments…you want to be the one getting protected.

It’s just kind of exhausting, always being there for everyone else. As much as you love it, and you do, it can also really drain you.

The duality of man is that we can be more than one type of person, and want different things. You know this. But…it’s hard as hell to admit you want to be taken care of. Because doesn’t that ruin your tough facade? Your strength and independence? Doesn’t that let everyone know that you’re just putting on an act to cover up who you really are—a weak, sniveling girl?

That’s why you bottle up, keep things to yourself, regard the world cynically and humorously with a lazy shrug of your shoulder. You act like nothing gets to you, like you are a stoic guard at the queen’s gate, like a big mastiff on patrol of your sheep.

When you do wear an emotion, more often than not it’s either sarcasm or…anger. Like tonight, when some guy won’t leave your friend alone at the bar.

She’s visibly uncomfortable and attempting escape from the creep following her around. She’s too nice to tell him to go away, but you’re not, and you have had to put yourself between them way, way too many times.

“She’s not interested,” you tell him.

He sneers at you. “Yeah, yeah I know.”

Except he fucking doesn’t, because ten seconds later he’s smacking her ass when she stands up, and you’re punching him in the mouth.

He hits you back, and it feels like a slap from a two year old, but it startles your fight or flight, and before you know it, your vision is blurry with rage and your fists are flying.

The security guards have to pull you off of one another and haul you outside to where the police are waiting with cuffs.

“He was harassing my friend,” you tell the guy who’s chaperoning you.

“Her ugly ass is just jealous cuz nobody wants her!” Screams scumbag from down the sidewalk.

Wow, you’ve never heard that one before.

One of the cops grabs him by the collar and says something that appears to be stern with his finger pointed at his face.

The guy looks visibly shaken after that, and he specifically avoids looking in your direction again.

The ballsy officer, probably in some sort of supervising position by the looks of it, gets to you next, and you have to crane your neck up to look at him.

You expect anger, but his face is neutral as he pulls a pen and paper from his utility belt. “Hello, ma’am, my name is officer Ludlow with the LAPD. You mind telling me what went on here tonight?”

You tick through the list of events as best you can, trying not to paint yourself as innocent (because with the way you beat on him, you’re definitely not), but making sure he knows what a fucking reprobate you were up against, and he scribbles it all down diligently.

After you’re done, he flicks his chin at the officer standing next to you. “Reed, let her go.”

They uncuff you, and you roll your arms, testing the circulation and rubbing out the raw red marks on your wrists. “Thanks,” you tell the lead officer. “You mind if I go back in and get my friends? There’s only three of us and I’m worried about them…”

“I can’t let you go back in,” officer Ludlow says, “but give us their names and descriptions, and I’ll send Reed in for them, alright?”

You nod, comply, and a few tense moments later Abby is running out to wrap her arms around your shoulders, smearing her glittery tears and pink blush on your jacket.

You hug her back, picking her up a little bit off the ground with the ferocity of your relief, and look at officer Ludlow over her head. “Thanks,” you tell him.

Tye, arriving from the thicket of people at the entrance a few moments later, immediately wants to know what happened.

She, however, is interrupted, by the asshole down the sidewalk, still in cuffs. “Hope you think of me when you see that handprint on your cute little ass tomorrow!” He calls, and Abby turns away, choking on a sob.

You’ve always had anger issues. Usually, in adulthood, they’re pretty easy to tame down. Not in this circumstance, not when you see Abby shaking and crying, looking as defenseless as a baby mouse.

Unbeknownst to you, because your sight and sound have been marginally narrowed to one person who needs his face bludgeoned in so hard that he finally shuts the fuck up, the head officer has already signaled for them to haul this guy into the back of a police car.

You’re not sure how you cross the distance between you and him so fast—you’re built for endurance, not speed—but suddenly your fists are connecting with his flesh again, and there’s a lot of yelling and pulling and finally your feet leave the ground and your knuckles leave his face.

It takes you a minute to realize you are being carried away—that your feet are not on land—and you look up at the person whose arms are currently wrapped around you.

Like mentioned before, it’s been a long, long time since someone has picked you up and you’ve lost your center of gravity so quickly and so thoroughly. Like a startled animal, you fight to try and get back to the ground, more out of shock and adrenalized fear than anything.

You don’t mean to scratch or bite the nice officer, you really don’t.

Ludlow just sighs at your resistance, like he could be doing something much more important right now rather than manhandling you into the back of a squad car like you’re an ornery kitten rather than a formidable opponent.

You are silenced into shock the whole way to the police station.

They put you in the waiting room sans cuffs, and you’re not sure how much time passes until a heavy presence plops down on the plastic chair next to you.

“Fuck,” is the first thing you say to Ludlow. “My friends…”

“They’re safe. I’m giving them an escort back home.”

He gives you some room temp water, and after the fear wears off, grants you enough time to come back to your good senses. You look at him sheepishly, with your head tucked down. “Sorry, he was a fucking creep.”

Ludlow nods. “I get it, hopefully I can get you out of it with a slap on the wrist.” He hands you some tissues from his breast pocket. “Wipe that blood off your face.”

You didn’t realize you were bleeding, so it’s a shock to finally feel the ache of a bloody lip and bruised cheek and see the paper come back crimson streaked.

After a few long moments of silence, you say, “I feel like an asshole.”

He shrugs, leans back, grins over at you. You fight the urge to flush at his crooked smile. He’s a handsome man. Sometimes you like those. “Asshole, no. Dumb, maybe. He could have really fucked you up.”

“I handled myself just fine.”

“Your split lip will disagree tomorrow morning. Lemme see.” He holds out his hand, as if for you to rest your chin in, and you’re not sure what brain malfunction gets you to comply. You are not a good listener by any means, especially for men in positions of authority or power.

Maybe it’s sexist, maybe it’s unfair. Spend your whole childhood getting the shit taken out of you by a man that’s supposed to love and care for and protect you, and then decide what’s fair and what’s not.

He whistles low, turning you this way and that with a tenderness you don’t expect from calloused, bear paw hands with knuckles like golf balls. “I’ll give it to you, you’ve got balls. Bigger than most men I’ve met.”

Your mouth betrays your tough girl facade, and lets a tiny smile hike up the edge despite the stinging pain that follows.

Officer Ludlow gets you out with a slap on the wrist—aka a misdemeanor—just like he said he was going to. You tell him thank you about ten million times for saving your ass, and for offering to give you a ride back to the bar to get your car.

“I’ve already put you out too much tonight,” you tell him. “I’ll get a Taxi or something.”

“It’s a Saturday night,” he says, jangling the keys in his beater pocket. “By the time you get to the bar, you’re gonna be towed. C’mon.”

You open the back door of his charger, but he shakes his head and, instead, opens up his passenger seat for you to slide in.

It’s about now you’re starting to get a funny feeling in the pit of your stomach, like something is off about this interaction. You’re not one to trust easily, and getting in the car with a complete stranger, although one in uniform, is out of character to say the least.

Your radar has really been fucked up tonight. By the alcohol, the scumbag, the being arrested, the bruising and tearing of your knuckles. What a way to end it, you think, if Ludlow is a bad guy.

The funny feeling in your guts that you decide to ignore this one time? It turns out to be right. And as Tom Ludlow starts driving up through the deserted hills, in the opposite direction of the bar your car is at, you almost want to burst out laughing at how stupid you are.

Asshole, no. Dumb? Fucking definitely.

You test his door handle and he snorts at you; like he’s saying, you think I’m that stupid?

“Doesn’t hurt to try,” you grumble, sizing him up from the corner of your eye, deciding whether to fight or flight or just give up now. He’s thin, but he’s broad. Tall. Not lanky. He won’t be easy to push over. You’ll have to bite, claw eyes out, rip his hair from his head. Make sure he doesn’t pull that shiny pistol out of his belt before you can jump on him.

You could do it right here in the car and risk barreling over the steep hillside on your right. You could—

“Hey,” he says, calmly, capturing you too easily from your violent thoughts, “it’s alright, I’m not gonna hurt you.”

A part of you wants to believe him, or maybe just believe there’s still some good in the world—some good in men. Hell, maybe leprechauns exist, too. You never know.

He looks sideways at you when you giggle in response to these reassuring words, as if you’re the one who’s fucking psycho. “I’ve heard that one before.”

He makes a pensive sound, air puffing from his nostrils, switches gears as the incline increases. “Daddy beat you up?”

Well, fuck it, might as well share all your sob stories if this is really happening tonight. “Uncle, actually.”

“Sorry,” he says, and you hazard a glance over to see if his face matches his empathetic tone—it, surprisingly, does. “He still alive?”

“No.”

You must be violently shaking to compensate for the repression of a panic attack, because his still, steady hand on your shoulder pauses the tremors. “It’s okay,” he assures, like he’s trying to soothe a crying kid. You have to admit, his voice is a cool ointment for hot nerves, even if he’s the reason for them in the first place.

The brain has a funny way of dealing with things like this. There’s about a 30% chance his intentions are raping you, because with his looks he could get any lady in the city of lights for free, but rapists and molesters rarely think about physical attractiveness when it actually comes down to the act. Psychologists say it’s more about the power trip for them. And, at least, if he is going to fuck you, he’s not exactly the worst man that you could pick to do it.

At least he’s hot, is what it boils down to. Because you’re a disgusting degenerate. Because your coping skills are a ticking time bomb, a broken record, stuck back at the part of your life where you had to start liking the way uncle Eddy touched you to deal with the shame and the despair of it.

Officer Ludlow’s gonna pick you right up off the ground again, slam you into his backseat, tug your pants and underwear down in one go. He’ll make you beg him to fuck your pussy instead of your unprepared and untainted ass, use his spit as lube, rub his meaty fingers over your puffy lips and taunt you when his saliva encounters your slippery cum. He’ll smack your ass for liking this, leave big red handprints, whisper in your ear that you’re gonna remember him, not just tomorrow, but for weeks after he gets done working your cunt. That he should kill you and leave your body out for the flies, but he wants you to live just so you can feel the way he destroyed your pussy.

The charger slows to a halt out in the sticks, and you have no idea where the fuck you are or how long you’ve been driving. The night is thick black soup in a boiling pot, and his headlights cut through it meagerly. It’s enough light to see what’s happening ahead, though, and when you look over at him curiously, he is grinning at you.

The man from the bar who assaulted your friend is in cuffs, an officer on each arm holding him in place. You don’t feel bad at all when you notice his swollen lip and purple temple, but you do wish you would have gotten more hits in.

Lucky for you, Officer Ludlow has you covered.

“Do you want to hit him?” He asks, unclipping his seat belt. “Or do you wanna watch?”

You blink a few times in response, not sure what to say to this brutally kind gesture. This man who barely knows you is helping you exact revenge against his own brethren. You’ve never been so…flattered.

“Don’t tell me you’re attempting to grow a conscience?” He teases.

“I wanna hit him.”

To your disappointment, Ludlow is not a total savage. He lets you get 3 or 4—it’s hard to remember the exact number—good hits on this dirtbag, and even wraps your knuckles up in a cushiony flannel from his back seat beforehand. His only rule is, “stay away from his ugly ass face. I don’t need him coming back to the station more fucked up than it already is.”

You get him in the stomach, the ribs, kick him so hard in his dick that you feel the hard pelvic bone underneath. Maybe it’s only a couple hits, but you make them count. And when you start to ache, or get tired, all you have to do is remember the tears smearing Abbie’s pretty glitter eyeliner down her face.

If he does say anything to you, you don’t hear it. Or maybe he really doesn’t, because Ludlow stands behind you like a watchful wolfhound the entire time, and then escorts you back to his car with a heavy arm over your shaking shoulders.

“Good job,” he praises, seeming very amused and unaffected by this whole ordeal while you are trembling, soaked with sweat, panting like a hooker in a fur coat. “It’s alright, he had it coming. Hey, hey, hey, look at me.”

You do as he says, momentarily escaping your fury in favor of his calming voice and soft black eyes.

“You did amazing. Lemme see the knuckles.”

He takes your hand in his, and you notice the size difference first, and then the warm, damp, pleasant heat second.

There’s been a lot of firsts tonight: someone’s hands being larger than your own (big lady hands should’ve been your nickname in highschool), being picked up off the ground past the age of 7, a man going out of his way to do something nice for you—because your brain decides that’s how it’s going to frame this scenario whether you like it or not, as some fucked up little date on Tom Ludlow’s dime.

You feel safe with your hand tucked into his and the heat of his skin and the cozy intimacy of being belted into his vehicle. You feel grateful that good men still exist. You feel…tight, twisted up in some deprived box of longing you’ve made permanent home in.

You leave the sanctuary of your comfort zone, and have another first, as you cross his center console and kiss a man on his mouth.

For a moment where you feel like your heart is suspended on the edge of a very tall cliff, he freezes. This stiff resistance immediately makes you want to pull away, but, before you can, he wraps his hand around your chin and pulls you deep into his mouth.

Arthur from college, Monica from New Orleans…Hell, even Uncle Eddie—they have nothing on Officer Tom Ludlow with his big, slick tongue and muscular lips.

It’s so good you can almost ignore the fresh sting of your split lip.

He sucks your bottom lip between his teeth, and murmurs a laugh when you give him a low groan for the effort, then takes your angry little grumble and dampens it with his renewed fervor. His hands remain gentle and chaste on your face, your neck, your shoulders, even though there is nothing gentlemanly about the way he devours your mouth. He does not push for more, does not hold you down with those big hands that absolutely could if they wanted to.

You set the pace, you pull him closer, you push him back when you need to gasp for air.

He licks the taste of you from his tilted, beautiful lips. “You have to breathe through your nose, honey.”

“Sorry,” you say, crossing your arms over yourself, pressing back against the door, away from him.

His lazy smile droops. “Are you alright?”

”I just…Can you take me to my car? If not I can—“

The thick start of his engine cuts you off.

The car ride back is silent. You think about turning on the radio a few times, but don’t want to cross more boundaries than you already have. Luckily, he flips it on for the both of you and you’ve never, ever been so happy to hear Metallica.

When he parks, cutting the engine off in the nearly deserted garage, the tension between you immediately peaks, sizzling like vinegar on baking soda. He wraps a long limb over the back of your seat, looks confused—vulnerable for such a big, scary man, and he makes your heart twang a lonely cord.

He seems almost boyish, when he asks if he can take you out sometime.

And you want to say yes. Every feral primordial part of you does, anyway. But then there’s the rational part, the one that should and does win most of the time. You’ve already snubbed that part too much tonight, so you politely decline Ludlow’s offer, and with your traitorous heart padlocked and chained back into your breast cavity, you say goodbye to the nice officer.

#tom ludlow x you #tom ludlow x reader #keanuverse #IV Drabbles

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levihanskid · 4 months ago

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‘Till the End of the Line: Bakugo Katsuki’s Twin AU chapter 2

Ch1 ao3 link wattpad link i'm sorry this took so long, vet school is killing me ;-; this chapter has been sitting in my drafts for so long but the latest episode made me finally do it

The following months have been extensive for both Katsuki and Mitsuko. They tried to be consistent with their morning runs, but there were times where one or both of them would sleep in. Mostly Mitsuko, which pissed her twin a lot. After school, they would spend an hour improving their physical condition and stamina, and another hour training with their quirks. All while trying to keep up with their studies and reviewing for the entrance exam.

Ten months had passed, and the twins are now walking towards the enormous gates of UA High School. They took the written exam a few weeks ago, which was easier than they expected. Today is the day that the twins are anticipating the most, the practical exam. Mitsuko felt a mix of emotions as she looked up the school’s crest on top of the gate. She’s nervous, but at the same time she’s excited and can’t wait to put her training to use.

As they entered the school grounds, a familiar curly green hair caught her eyes. “Hey look, it’s your bff,” she nudged her brother.

From a few feet away, Midoriya Izuku stood at the middle in deep thought. Probably freaking out on the inside.

“Out of the way Deku!” Katsuki yelled.

“Kacchan! Micchan!” Izuku called in surprise.

Mitsuko visibly cringed at the nickname he used to address her and eyed the boy. “I told you to stop calling me that.”

“Move it! Or I’ll kill you!” her brother spat, unaffected by the childish nickname.

The boy immediately stepped out of the way and stuttered. “G-good morning! Let’s uh— let’s do our best!”

The twins didn’t say anything back, but she gave him a small smile before continuing to walk to the building.

“Isn’t that Bakugo? From the Sludge Villain Incident?”

“Yeah. And that’s the girl from the video. They’re twins aren’t they?”

Mitsuko is used to people murmuring about them, given that her brother is a big show off. This isn’t the first time they had people talking about something that one of them did, so she chose to ignore the whispers and looked ahead.

Inside the auditorium, they were greeted by the Voice Hero, Present mic. Mitsuko sat next to her brother, as well as Izuku who chose to be seated next to them and is currently fan boying over the pro hero at the podium. Katsuki tried telling him to shut up, but the boy kept muttering to himself and Mitsuko had to lean away from his direction to avoid getting distracted.

“As the application says, you’ll be participating in a ten minute battle in a mock city. Get ready! After this, you will head to your assigned battle center.”

She looked at her examination card, and then glanced over her brother’s.

“In other words, they’re not letting friends work together, huh?”

“You’re right,” Izuku agreed, his eyes glued to the blonde boy’s card. “We have consecutive numbers, but different centers.”

“Don’t look, want to die?” Katsuki threatened. “Tch. Now I can’t crush you, damn it.”

His last words made the curly boy move away a bit and turn his attention back to the stage.

“Makes sense,” Mitsuko whispered, her focus still on her card which displayed a letter C while her brother got A. “The exam is meant to test our individual abilities. They wouldn’t want us to tag-team.”

Present Mic continued his presentation. He went on to inform them about the types of mock villains they will be facing and that each type represents 1, 2, and 3 points each. They were also told about the gimmick villain that they’re supposed to run away from since it’s just there to cause trouble and not give points.

She played with her fingers as she tried to listen, making sure she knows every detail.

“Stop fidgeting,” her brother snapped. “It’s annoying. Why are nervous anyway?”

“I don’t know. It’s a mix between excitement and anxiety. And this orientation is taking so long,” she replied, intertwining her fingers to keep them steady.

“You’re right. We’ve heard enough, I can’t wait to crush those bots. Think you can get a hundred points?” her twin asked, still looking ahead. Although it’s obvious that he’s also starting to get restless.

“A hundred might be impossible, considering the time limit, the competition, and the fact that we won’t have any idea where the villains would be.”

“I can make it possible,” he brother scoffed. “And I’ll make sure to get the first spot.”

“Is that a challenge?” she raised a brow. “Whoever gets less points have to do the other’s chores for two weeks, then.”

Katsuki grinned at the raised stake. “Deal. Let’s show these extras how it’s done.”

***

Mitsuko tried containing her loud heartbeats as she stood before the door where the exam is going to take place. After the orientation, they were directed to change out of their middle school uniforms and get on the bus that would take them to their respective battle centers. She had changed into a white racerback tank top and some sweat pants.

The format of the test is very fortunate for her, since her quirk can easily be utilized. She imagined how those with quirks that only works to people would do against robots.

“Let’s do our best!” she heard an excited voice. Mitsuko looked over her shoulder to see a girl with pink hair and pink skin talking to the people around her with no tinge of awkwardness. They locked eyes for a moment.

“Huh? Why do you look familiar?” the girl looked at her with a hint of recognition.

Before she could respond, the voice of the hero Present Mic echoed through the speakers.

“Start! What are waiting for? Real fights don’t have countdowns!”

Mitsuko didn’t waste any second and ran inside the training grounds, using her quirk to propel herself forward.

She saw a couple of number 1 and 2 robots straight ahead. Without any hesitation, she pointed her palms toward them and willed her quirk out. Her forearms glowed in bright white-yellow color. The light traveled onto her hands into her palms before blasting to the direction of the robots. They exploded with the contact, leaving electric sparks and smokes.

“Nice quirk ‘ya got there,” a voice from behind commented. Mitsuko whirled around and saw a boy approaching her. He’s got blonde hair and gray eyes, but what caught her attention (in a bad way) was the annoying smug face that he has.

She didn’t reply, so the boy continued. “Must be nice having a quirk so flashy, huh?”

He tapped her on the shoulder, and a look of recognition flashed across his face for a second, before being replaced with a smirk. “Weren’t you that girl from the video? Didn’t expect you to be here after all that shit talking to those heroes.”

The smirk was one thing, but his words made Mitsuko’s blood boil. Her red pupils dilated and her right eyebrow raised as she tried to stop herself from blinding the guy. She shouldn’t be distracted right now.

Another batch of robots showed up, and she thanked the heavens for giving her an excuse to walk away from where she’s currently standing.

“Sorry, but I don’t have time for a chitchat,” she said in a monotone voice, swatting the guy’s hand away from her shoulder.

She ran to destroy the robots, but before she could stretch her hands out, quick flashes of light reached and blasted them into pieces. No, those were not just lights, they look too much like hers.

She looked back to where the lights came from, confusion clearly visible from her face.

“Whoops! Sorry for stealing points from ‘ya, but I gotta do what I gotta do, don’t ‘ya think?” it was the same blonde guy, still wearing his irritating smirk. He turned on his heel and began walking away. “I’ll be having this flashy quirk for a while, better make use of it!”

Those words confused her even more. Did he just get her quirk?

She shook her head and put her focus back on the exam. Shit. Was he trying to stall me for some reason?

The exam just started, but she could’ve gotten more points if she wasn’t standing around having a one sided conversation with that guy. She can’t afford to waste more time.

She flew around the grounds looking for more targets, blasting her quirk backwards to levitate and propel herself faster. Taking down every robot she encounters along the way as quickly as she could.

She was at 23 points, if she counted correctly, when she reached the area where a lot of the kids are gathered. Present Mic’s voice echoed through the speakers again.

“We have reached the half time!! Five minutes left before the exam ends!!!”

She saw a bunch of robots with different points surrounding the students. More people means more robots to see them as targets. Just as she figured.

Mitsuko jumped over, smirking in satisfaction as she shot her quirk out at every single robot within her sight while using her flexibility and agility to maneuver herself.

The kids stared at her in awe. “What an awesome quirk she’s got.”

“Isn’t she the girl from that one video?”

“Hey! Leave some points for us!” one of them shouted out.

She continued gathering points, keeping herself airborne using her quirk and sometimes stepping on the robots to use them to keep her momentum. She kept going, faster and quicker, not letting the others steal points from her again.

By the time her feet touched the ground, all of the robots around the area were already blown into bits. Mitsuko wiped the sweat from her forehead and tightened her ponytail. She also noticed her arms glowing a bit. She must’ve used up the stored energy in her body since it’s currently absorbing sunlight again.

“You are so cool!! Those movements were amazing! You look like you could be a great dancer!” the same pink girl ran to her with enthusiasm. Mitsuko just noticed a pair of horns protruding out from her pink curly locks.

“I don’t dance,” she replied, looking around for more robots to destroy. She realized she lost count of her points after her exhibition earlier.

“Really? You should try! The way you’re moving while fighting is awesome!”

“I came here to be a hero, not a dancer,” Mitsuko cut the girls’ blabbering. “Sorry, but I really don’t have the time to–“

The ground shook, and a loud grumbling mechanical sound cut her last sentence. She looked up to see a huge robot approaching. It’s the zero point they were supposed to run away from.

Anyone with no balls would run away from that thing, all right. She thought to herself.

“Let’s go! That’s a no-pointer!” the pink girl pulled the back of her top.

Before they could take a step back however, the robot continued to stroll through the streets, destroying the buildings and causing debris to fall down.

Talk about keeping the damage to a minimum!

People began to scatter in a panic. Everyone was pushing trying to run away.

A huge piece of the building’s wall caught Mitsuko’s attention. It was plummeting into the direction of the students, specifically the pink girl. Mitsuko didn’t even realize that the girl started running off. The girl was looking over her left shoulder, seemingly trying to call Mitsuko to join the retreat. While the debris was coming from her right side, a complete blind spot.

She hasn’t trained much to target moving objects, not to mention fast ones. So she decided not to try and shoot it while it’s falling down.

Her next action was caused by the heat of the moment. It was a crazy idea, but she prayed it would work.

Mitsuko ran towards the girl faster than the rock. When she reached her, she pushed the girl out of the way and produced the strongest energy barrier she could muster. It was a move she’s been improving for the past year. It worked against her brother’s attacks, so she’s hoping that it’ll work against the huge piece of rock.

It did. Sort of.

She was able to stop the debris without her barrier faltering, but its weight and momentum was too heavy. She couldn’t free a hand to blast the rock into pieces. Now she’s stuck holding both her hands up to maintain the barrier.

She heard the pink girl grunt from behind her, and a spray of acid splashed onto the lower part of the rock causing it to move a little. In that given moment, Mitsuko quickly released her barrier and used her quirk again to make the rock explode.

The debris was casting a shadow over her so unlike before, her arms seemed to glow brighter. The rock blew up into pieces, but her body continued to glow a little as it absorbed sunlight to compensate for the energy she just lost.

Mitsuko turned around, panting as bits of sweat began forming on her forehead. She saw the girl trying to stand on her feet, but she couldn’t seem to put weight on her left foot.

“Can you run?” Mitsuko asked.

“No, I think I sprained my ankle from falling down earlier. Why’d you have to push me so hard anyway?!” the girl exclaimed.

“Huh!?” Mitsuko’s brows furrowed. “How is that my fault?! I just saved your ass!”

They didn’t have more time to argue, because the zero-point robot was nearing their position. As much as she hated it, Mitsuko took the girl’s arm over her shoulder and began moving. The people had thinned out, the other examinees must’ve managed to run off far from where they were.

Great. That just made their situation worse, because now the only targets the robot has was the two of them. And it’s currently aiming its enormous metal hand to swat them like little flies.

Despite trying to convince herself that UA wouldn’t allow anyone to get killed for an entrance exam, Mitsuko’s wracking nerves still got the best of her.

With gritted teeth, she let go of the girl’s arms, “Take cover!” she yelled and turned around to face the giant villain. She raised her arms, still glowing from the absorption, and waited for the perfect time to blast. But before that perfect time came, she felt a sudden smack behind her head.

Anger and confusion took over her as she tried to process what just happened. Mitsuko looked around with furrowed brows and saw a guy walking past her.

The annoying blonde kid from earlier stood in front of her and threw an energy blast towards the hands of the robot. Just like their first encounter, his blast looked so much like her quirk. The villain stopped, and the boy snickered before looking back at her. “I never planned to go after the gimmick, but I thought you needed saving,” he said in an arrogant voice which made Mitsuko’s mind ring in irritation.

“YOU FUCKING COPYCAT!” she began stomping towards him.

“Oh, you finally figured it out? You’re welcome, although that’s not a very nice nickna—“

“ARE YOU STUPID?! THAT ATTACK WAS SO WEAK IT WON’T EVEN MAKE A SCRATCH!”

There was a loud metallic creaking sound. Mitsuko looked up, the smokes are gone so she could clearly see how right she was. The robot is still standing, not even a dent could be seen in its huge hands that is now coming down to them faster than before.

She muttered a curse before running to the right side, leaving the other two frozen in their place. When she reached the right spot, she raised her arms once again and acted as fast as she could.

She willed her quirk out, this time much stronger and concentrated than before, making her entire arms glow instead of just her forearms. The light traveled through her hands and palms before shooting out, her legs almost giving up from the shot's recoil. It hit the robot’s elbow, just as she planned. Her attack was powerful enough to pierce through its armor and cut its forearm off, stopping it from hitting the other kids.

Panting, Mitsuko then just realized that she lost track of both the time and her points. She was about to run to gather more points when Present Mic’s voice echoed once again.

“TIME’S UP!”

“Dammit!”

#bakugo twin sister #bakugo twins #bakugou katsuki #bakugou x reader #bnha x reader #mha x reader #katsuki bakugo x reader #twins au #bakugo sister!au #mha #bnha #boku no hero academia #my hero academia #ao3 fanfic

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polyhexian · 5 days ago

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Okay. SO. Full trip report on the cat show, WITH tea:

We left Friday at like one because it was about a two hour drive to the hotel near the show. Drive there was mostly fine, but at one point Palomita started complaining a lot and I was worried she needed to go to the bathroom, and kitty bladders are delicate and it can be really bad for them to hold it. We pulled into a rest stop for just a minute and I took her out on the leash to walk a bit but she truly hated it and got back in without going potty. She was also very cold from even just the brief stop and was shaking so she went back into the carrier to get wrapped in blankets until she was warmed up again. We got set up in the hotel room and Palomita slunk right under a couch... And then popped back up two minutes later and spent the entire night running around the hotel room exploring and adventuring. I cannot overstate how much she loved the hotel room. Both nights she was there she absolutely would not settle down.

First day of the show. We wake up at seven. I stuff my face with hotel waffles. Time to find the show.

So here's the thing. The show starts at ten. We are here early because we have been told there is a first time attendee orientation. We are not the only new people this month! So we arrive and we ask where our spot is and what we need to check in and blabla. Get that taken care of. Then follow the directions and can Not find it. We try twice, then just go down every aisle and finally I go back and say I'm sorry I seriously cannot find it. Someone takes us there and it's absolutely not where they were describing. But we are here. We get set up as quickly as we can because we don't want to be late for orientation! We get her little cat house up- it's like a little tent! Like a big soft carrier! Lots of space honestly. And everyone has one. So all the cats are in their spots. And then we are like okay let's find the orientation! So we go back to the front and ask and are told "oh I don't know that's not my thing, go ask x person over there" and we are like uhhh okay so we ask them and they say check the schedule and we do and it's in ring 1, so we go to ring 1 and ask the judge setting up there if she's doing this orientation...? And she's like what. Uh. If I am no one told me. And we are like uh. Okay. Well. Let's just go back to the cat so she isn't alone. And we do. And wait for like. Something. But nothing happens and eventually it's ten o'clock and the show starts lol

So I have. No idea what's going on. Everything is confusing, not explained, and unclear. And like. We have WATCHED shows on YouTube. We researched. We thought we were ready. We were not.

So this is what was going on even if we didn't understand it at the time:

There are six "rings." A ring is a judging station. Each station keeps the same judge all day. There are several categories that do not compete together. So, kittens, cats, and spayed/neutered cats are three different competitions. And then there are smaller and smaller categories there. All the cats are numbered. So there's like. Short haired cats as the class. And then there's breed within that, and then division (markings) and colour (colour). So, a red cat only competes against other red cats, and a striped cat only competes against other striped cats.

There were three altered (spayed/neutered) Bengals at this show. Palomita, who is a seal silver mink marbled tabby. Then this woman and her teenage daughter who have brought two Bengals. One is the traditional brown with rosettes. The other is a spotted tabby, meaning it's not rosettes, it's just spots. The rosetted one is a deep red-brown with bright white spectacles and a longer face. The other has a squashed face I have a bit of concern might indicate inbreeding, and it's a more muddy yellow brown. For some reason THIS one is getting every class and division win over the nicer looking one. It's baffling to me. One of the breed standards for a Bengal is a face longer than it is wide, and he did NOT have it.

So like. They're red, and spots and rosettes are considered the same division. So they both are sharing first and second place for colour and division. And they compete against Palomita for breed. And then the three of them compete against all short haired cats for... Specialty? Word I don't remember, and then against all altered cats for class. So multiple kinds of judgements. And every judge does every cat. Cats earn points based on their placements in each of these categories. Except, for some unfathomable reason, best of breed, which is meaningless.

Palomita is the only mink silver or smoke present, which means she automatically takes first place for colour class, and the other two are spots while she is marbled, so she is ALSO the only one in her division. Each of those first places earn her 25 points, from each ring. There are six rings day one, and six rings day two. Which means 50 points per ring. Meaning she gets 600 points just for SHOWING UP. That's crazy.

So the way it works is you get a ribbon at the beginning of the show and with wins in the whole class per judge you get a placement and a sticker that gets added to the ribbon. So there's two specialty rings, which is judging all the long and short hair cats separately, and then the other ten are all breed. So at the end, placements for top tens in either of those ring types gets you more points. She places 5th in a specialty ring, and that's another 110 points! She gets three more wins in all breed rings, which are 5th, 8th, and 10th. All breed wins are worth more points, all of these are like 150+ or something. So with all the points she's earned, we left the show with 1,100+ points!

Okay. So. The thing points are for are titles. Palomita's show name is 2B Gliterati Minky. That means the cattery that bred her is 2B Gliterati. Now, champion was 500 points, and she GOT 500 points and a win in any ring, which means she earns Champion rank! That means once the numbers are updated in their database and website, her new name will be CH 2B Gliterati Minky. Champion seems like it's not actually super hard to get, you just need to go to a few shows and win top ten in at least one thing. But after that it's a big jump to like, real titles. The next up is grand champion and it needs 1000 points and SIX wins, with either three of them needing to be top five in specialty rings, or just top ten in all breed. She got the reqs, all except two more wins in any ring. She has the points and the right placements. So next time ash brings her to a show, I think it's super likely she can get those two top tens and then: BAM! grand champion.

and to top that off: if a queen (breeding cat) has five offspring make grand champion, or a king has fifteen, then they get a NEW title at the END of their name, DS and DD for distinguished sire and distinguished dam. And palomita's parents are at 4 and 14!!! Two of her siblings from her litter are ALREADY grand champions. So like. Her breeder is im sure SUPER excited to earn that haha. So close!

After that it's like, double grand champion, triple gc, quad gc, and I think the next one is supreme. And then also at the end of each season, which last for a period of months, there is a leaderboard for points, and the one with the highest point in every breed is.... Surprise.... Best in breed! Palomita's big early jump actually has her- where the rankings are right now, but I'm advised theyre delayed three weeks so they've changed since last updated- she's #20 out of 46 for Bengals. Whoa! Nyoom. So wouldn't it be amazing if she got to like legitimately rank lol? So cool.

Now. The fucking ribbon. Turns out you are supposed to pick up a ribbon when you enter the show. It's on the front table. You put your awards ON the ribbon. No one told us this despite the fact they knew we were new and I went to the front table three times asking for help. Oh well I guess. We in fact LEFT our first sticker at a judges ring because I didn't know we were supposed to take it. So finally we realize we are supposed to have one. I go ask for it.

They are out of ribbons.

Uh. Hello?

This is a show you had to preregister for. They knew exactly how many people and how many cats would be present. They knew we did not know all the rules. Why the hell are they out of ribbons?

The whole first day passes with no ribbon. We're basically told we are shit out of luck.

Our neighbor was INCREDIBLY helpful the entire weekend. She basically walked us through everything. Bless her. But she tells us that actually a lot of people leave their rosettes behind if they don't actually win any stickers to put on them. And she has been right about everything else she has told us and so I'm trusting she is right that there will definitely be one left at the end. Second day I go ask about ribbons at the start because some people only come for day one, and I thought maybe there could be one. It takes awhile because a lot of people just seem to not know anything about what's going on or who to ask or anything. It takes awhile but no, theres not. Sometime after lunch apparently someone took initiative to go around and ask if anyone wanted to donate their ribbon to one of the new people (not just us) who hadn't gotten one. A few people do, and bam! We have a ribbon!!!! Hooray!!! Finally. What a mess. I was like. Genuinely. If we don't get a ribbon. I'm gonna start emailing people when we get home.

And then there are the judges. Hooooooly shit were some of them slow. Supposedly the show closes at four. Apparently it's not unusual for THAT show to run over until EIGHT. But like. What can we do? We haven't gone to every ring yet. But we are tired and Palomita is tired and clearly started to get stressed from being here so long. Then we discover that actually as long as you have finished round one you can leave. Because there's two rounds, they judge the cats and then if you are in the top ten you get called back for the awards. But if you leave the event before the finals you don't get it. You forfeit. UNLESS it's after four, in which case they will hold it until the following day for you. Learned that at like 5:30. We were immediately gone. Palomita was VERY happy to be back in the room.

The judges were also like. They just do whatever sometimes???? Like breed standards are supposed to be the rubric. Not like. Personal opinion. And there's one judge who just like. She picks up the other Bengals first and inspects them and points out several features like the ears and belly spots. Then she picks up Palomita and is like. See this is a marble. Now, her pattern is inconsistent, it's not symmetrical on both sides unfortunately. And she doesn't have spots on her belly. Tsk tsk. And I'm like. ???? It's marble??? The breed standard is that it SHOULDNT be symmetrical. Or it would just look like a mackerel tabby. It is explicitly NOT supposed to be symmetrical and she should NOT have spots on her belly. ???? So she just like. Decided to just ignore the rubric. Which is apparently. Like. Something they can just do. Okay

And then. Holy shit.

So I'm sitting in a ring. That morning ash dropped me and Palomita off to set up before running to the store to grab more tube treats and some snacks. So the first ring gets called before ash arrives and it's just me sitting next to the woman who has the daughter and the other two Bengals. And she says to another person there. They're like chatting about her daughter and I'm already frowning because she's like oh she wants this cat over there, but only if her dad says yes because I'm not getting it for her, she's been a problem lately like she's saying stuff like "you tricked me into signing custody papers" like, you don't get to ask me for a favour after being so manipulative. And I'm already like. Hm. Well. That's a really specific thing to say. There is almost certainly some kind of truth to it. But it's none of my business and it's probably more complicated than that.

And then she drops. Like. Out of nowhere.

"She's actually in big trouble right now. She got targeted and stalked by a pedophile online. Said he was fifteen and he was actually twenty-five. It wouldn't have happened if she wasn't posting the kind of stuff she was posting on tiktok"

And I'm flabbergasted. I'm shocked. Perhaps the only thing that prevented me from saying "that's a horrible thing to say??" Was that I was so caught off guard it took me a full two seconds to process what i'd just heard. To remind you: this girl is HERE at the event. She wasn't there at that moment but she is HERE. And she just announced to a group of strangers that her daughter was targeted and STALKED by a PEDOPHILE, and she's in trouble for it! How could you say something like that?? She's your child! Someone took advantage of her and you're saying it's her fault? You PUNISHED her for being targeted by a pedophile???? You're teaching her that she should never ask for help if someone tries to hurt her again because she will get in trouble! Your daughter was targeted by a pedophile and you not only blame her but want everyone else to KNOW she fell victim to a pedophile stalker because she was Posting Those Things on Tiktok when. She's there!!! She's there!!! How could you do something like that? How could you be so horrible?

I held my tongue because I'd only cause a scene and it certainly wouldn't help her daughter. But that immediately shut down any interest in civility. We aren't friends or colleagues. Please stay over there, I don't want to talk to you.

Now even the previous day ash had asked me if I thought they were giving us dirty looks when they walked by us. And I was like no, I'm sure they're not, maybe they're just stressed about something and it's not about us at all. Or maybe they're just frustrated that they're not doing as well as they hoped, like, if we weren't here they would be sweeping Bengal stuff! I can see why that would be disappointing.

But no. I was too generous. She really was just totally nasty. Because after THAT, a thing I chose to not tell ash about until after the show because like. It's inappropriate! I don't want to talk about that here! Ash is up at the judges ring and collecting Palomita from the cage to go back to our table, and she's just beaten both of hers for best in breed, and, right there, within earshot, she says, referring to Palomita "fuck that cat." Like. Hello?????? Hello???? It's a cat??????? You can't just say that about someone's cat, especially when you know they can hear you!!!

So we are talking about this in utter shock back at our table and our very helpful neighbor is asking us what we are talking about so we tell her about the fuck that cat comment, and I say that she was also talking really inappropriately about her daughter earlier and I really got rancid vibes. And she's like hang on. Which people are they. And we flip through the catalogue- oh god wait I haven't talked about the catalogue yet- and find the names and she's like OH. That explains it. Those are problem people. They are nasty like that to everyone and constantly make problems. And theyre not actually the owner of the cats! They are here because the person they're representing was BANNED from tica, the entire organization!!! For just causing SO many issues, including, apparently, once calling the sheriff to come SERVE SOMEONE PAPERS AT A SHOW! it seems really hard to get banned from tica! Like! Wow! Okay! So, yeah! They really are nasty!

So like. We were there for fun. The competition itself isn't that important. It's fun winning stuff but like, I get to see and pet all these cute kitties! I'm happy when anybody wins!

Only. Like. I'm now really happy for the times we trounced her lol. Like one time we got called for finals and they showed up HOLDING their cats only to realize their number wasn't up. And they had to walk of shame back to their spot. They were SO confident. It was retroactively incredibly satisfying. I am so glad we ruined their plans of a Bengal sweep. Fuck u lady. You're mean

Okay. The CATALOGUE.

So the website says there's a physical catalogue for $10 (it's pretty huge actually) and a digital one. And so ash is obviously like, well, I don't need the physical one, so I'll just download it and be good.

No. This is incorrect.

Turns out you do need the catalogue! Because the digital and physical catalogues are DIFFERENT and all the important stuff is only in the physical one!!!!!! So then we are like ???? This was not explained. Well. Can we buy one now?? No! You had to preorder it! They don't HAVE any on site!!

God bless, our neighbor was able to find us one. I think someone may have donated it. We weren't asked for money. This show was run like absolutely horseshit, but the people there (mostly) were all SO nice and so happy to talk to you and answer questions.

And so the part of the paper catalogue we needed lets me track her wins and her points. Very useful. Extremely complicated to understand with no guidance at first. Ugh. The learning curve on this stuff is SO high. It's all really simple once it clicks! But holy shit it took a lot to get it to click.

Oh, and then at one point they just get on announcer and are like also the show starts at nine tomorrow. Even though it. Says it starts at ten on the website. Okay. I guess we are just starting early now. Sure. I sure hope everyone heard that.

So this show was like. Crazy poorly run. It ran over time by HOURS with no indication anywhere that this was even possible, they didn't order enough ribbons and didn't even tell us we needed to take one, no one knew where our spot was, there was no map for tables, no one knew where we were ever supposed to be or what was going on, newbie orientation just didn't exist, it never happened, the catalogue was not explained at all, the show randomly changed opening times, judges would just ignore the rules sometimes, no one ever knew who they were supposed to send me to if they didn't have an answer for me, and everything was just a complete shit show. I work as a vendor at conventions with my boyfriend. I've worked at well over a hundred events and conventions by now. I know a show like this should look like, I know how things should be organized, and NONE of this is normal. IMHO this level of incompetent organization is unacceptable. This is an event with animals present, and also primarily attended by older people, many of whom have health needs. The show HAS to start and end on time. If it doesn't it should absolutely not be something they just accept as okay and normal. If a judge is paid to come and do a job, and they are unable to complete that job, they aren't doing their job. Maybe that sounds obvious, but apparently it bears repeating! Like if you can't finish this job before 8pm- and one judge at least DID finish before 4- then you just can't do that job! That's unacceptable performance! No one knows who in charge, they asked on pa frequently if anyone wanted to just come up and do a job, no one knew what was going on. It's just so poorly run. Even first time events are usually better organized than this.

And this show happens every other month!! What the hell!!

Not only that. Wanna guess what this COST?

Entry was $125 per table and $85 per cat. That is over TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS for a ticket. It's crazy when I have to pay $60+ for an event! It better be a big one! Nycc tickets are less than this event! That's insane! I in fact sat up that night running numbers on what the take must have been with the amount of cats present and table costs, then I ran through as many costs of operation as I could. I looked up the venues rental prices, I looked up the payment scale for tica judges, club members, event organizers, accounted generously for hotel and travel fees for everyone involved, food costs, miscellaneous costs (Windex, tablecloths, trash can liners and more), the price of ordering bulk ribbons, bulk stickers, even bulk catalogues which you would have needed to pay extra for. I found a sample sheet for breaking down costs of an event ON tica's website and I ran every possible number I could and I STILL could only account for 2/3 of the amount of money the event made from entrance fees. What. The. Fuck. Even looking at other shows, bigger shows, they ALL cost SIGNIFICANTLY less than this show.

And yet it was run like THIS.

So, yeah. No excuse. Completely unacceptable. Absolutely insane.

Despite that tho- despite the investment of time and money, despite the nasty people, despite the shit show organization- it was still SO much fun. I got to hang out with the babycat all day. I got to meet so many kitties and pet them. People were so happy to let me pet their cats. I got to talk to lots of cool people and watching my cat get judged was SO tense and exciting. And getting awards was SO satisfying. When we realized how close we were to grand champion we could NOT stop squealing!

So. Would go again? Totally. To that show specifically? Uh... I don't want to, but there's not a lot of options in this area. Obviously I live in New Jersey and Palomita is not technically my cat. Ironically some of the biggest and best organized shows are IN jersey. Palomita would sweep. Lol.

I would never show ember, because she's old and she would hate it. She doesn't like being handled, she doesn't really like strangers, she hate hate hates carriers, she has arthritis- I would never show her. Even though they have a household class, which is just for pets, no pedigree! But I did have fun and I'd kind of like to do it myself with my own cat... There was actually a cat there I was totally obsessed with, that squirrel cat?? Her name is Sonara and she's like, a year old or less. She's a blue ticked somali. And she's going to be a queen, but like. They really only breed a queen two, maybe three times, because they're not like backyard breeders using cats as baby machines. So in three to five years she will probably get retired, spayed, and likely rehomed.

Ember is 8-10 years old. She can't have another cat in the house. She did NOT do well with nosey when I was cat sitting him. So I have no plans to get another cat until she passes away. But because I would be sad without a cat, I would of course get another after her. That's always been the plan. There's a thought in my mind that possibly... If I spoke to the breeder about it, maybe I could sort of... Reserve her? For when she retires? It feels a bit weird or rude... But I spoke to a few of my neighbors and all of them were hobby breeders and said that talking to breeders four years in advance isn't crazy, that they have waiting lists for reasons, like, if they didn't have a waiting list of homes then they wouldn't be breeding cats with nowhere to go, sometimes. And that often if you want like, a blue ticked, it might take several litters before they have the thing you're waiting for. So like... Speaking to them seems normal. But I don't know if it would be rude or inappropriate to inquire about waiting for the queen to retire.... Kittens for basically any breed are pricey, like, usually $1000-$5000 and I saw on their website a lot of their somalies are like $2500. But also retired queens are significantly cheaper than kittens, usually a few hundred. Ive seen places with $3000 kittens and $800 four year old queens. That's the cost of a couple vet visits. I paid $500 for steroids for my dog once.

So. I don't know. I don't know how much time left I have with ember either. I want to have her for another ten years, that would be amazing. But also, she is Dennis's baby and his emotional support and he is her favourite and I would NEVER take her from him. And if my living arrangements ever change like we stop being roommates- well, she can only go with one of us. And it's going to be him because he needs her. So do I think I will still be living with him in five years? Again, I don't know. I have alternate plans I would like if possible.

So. Like. I can't garuntee it. But I also would really really like to bring it up. But that might be... Like... Inappropriate? Rude? I don't know! I don't know the etiquette here wahhhh!

But anyway. Cat show fun. Great time.

EDIT OH MY GOD I FORGOT

on the way home from the convention we were clipping in a pet seatbelt to the backseat so she could snuggle in blankets instead of her carrier, and because the door was open and it was very cold I picked her up and held her to keep her warm. She wanted back in her carrier though but I really really didn't want to let her, she was shivering, so I was like shh shh and zipped up my jacket over her and she just. Like. Stopped. I thought something was WRONG with her. But no. She just curled up in my jacket, tucked her face away, and fell asleep. I checked on her multiple times to see if she was okay or wanted out but now. She stayed in my jacket for two while hours. She was EXHAUSTED. But also: holy shit. That's so cute I want to straight up die

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lizhly-writes · 2 years ago

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cnovel shenanigans: the actual beginning of the plot, from our og fmc's perspective.

Chen Lihua didn’t expect to run into Jiang Mingxi, which made a decent amount of sense. Chen Lihua never really expected to run into Jiang Mingxi, not even when they had been back in college. Their majors had been drastically different; Chen Lihua did theater and film, Jiang Mingxi did business. There was no real intersection between the two. The fact that they’d landed in the same classes anyway had to have been sheer, dumb luck.

Fascinating, considering Chen Lihua’s luck was so very bad.

Case in point: Chen Lihua runs into Jiang Mingxi. Literally.

If Chen Lihua was a physics teacher, she’d slow this down for the sake of her students, add some labels and arrows for clarity’s sake. Look at this freeze-frame: two forces, A and B, coming at each other from opposite directions. What exactly happens here?

Force equals mass times acceleration. Force A, Chen Lihua, was going faster than force B, Jiang Mingxi. Assuming the same mass, then the collision would result in B being diverted from her course. However, this assumed same mass; Jiang Mingxi was in fact, twice Chen Lihua’s size, and a solid wall of muscle, whereas Chen Lihua was mostly made of skin and bone.

End result: Chen Lihua bounces off Jiang Mingxi and ends up sprawled on the ground, a victim of physics. How tragic.

“Ow,” said Chen Lihua, just a little late. This was one of the occasions she really wished she liked skirts less, because that would’ve meant she would have been wearing pants, and thus, probably would have avoided the skinned knees.

Jiang Mingxi glared back at her, angry as always. “Chen Lihua.”

The anger was maybe a little bit warranted this time, because Chen Lihua had been carrying a coffee – really just her luck – and it had splashed them both.

Chen Lihua looked mournfully down at the fallen cup. She’d barely gotten a few mouthfuls out of it before all of it had ended up on their clothes. It had been a shame; she didn’t buy lattes like this very often, they were expensive and the caffeine hit wasn’t high enough for her to justify it as the energy boost she needed to get through the day. She’d gotten one this week as a little treat for herself.

“Hi,” Chen Lihua said apologetically, grabbing the cup and straightening to a standing position. “It’s been a while. I never thought I��d see you here. Sorry about…” she gestured at the coffee covering both of them.

Vaguely, she contemplated whether she needed to grovel for forgiveness. She probably wouldn’t have needed to back in college. The fact that they had been students meant that they weren’t expected to command the same kind of dignity as a true adult, and besides, Jiang Mingxi had liked her in college. She never said it, but Chen Lihua had a brain; if she hadn’t liked Chen Lihua, there was no way that they would have spent so much time together.

Now, though. Chen Lihua was honestly a little surprised that Jiang Mingxi still remembered her name. Relationships weakened if they weren’t kept up, and Chen Lihua absolutely had not been doing any kind of keeping up with anyone. It was quite possible that Jiang Mingxi didn’t think anything of her at all, now.

Chen Lihua felt a tiny bit of regret at that thought.

Then she decided to grovel.

“Begging Young Mistress Jiang for her understanding,” Chen Lihua said. “I really didn’t mean to spill coffee on you, is there anything I can do…? I’m really, really sorry!”

Jiang Mingxi stared. Her face was stuck in dignified incomprehension.

Chen Lihua got a solid ten seconds in about how Jiang Mingxi shouldn’t wreak unholy vengeance upon her. More nicely worded, of course. She didn’t really think Jiang Mingxi was actually going to wreak unholy vengeance upon her, but a lot of things never actually went the way she expected, so groveling was a good idea. If Jiang Mingxi made her pay up to get replacements – well, there was no way. That blouse Jiang Mingxi was wearing looked simple enough, but she was a rich girl, through and through. It was entirely possible that the blouse cost more than Chen Lihua’s rent for the month. Or the year.

Ah. That got her heart racing. She really couldn’t afford to pay that.

“What are you doing? Shut up, have some dignity,” Jiang Mingxi hissed, and the response was so much like what Chen Lihua would have expected in college that Chen Lihua… acted accordingly.

“Dignity is something for rich people, Jiang Mingxi. I’m too poor to afford something like that, I already sold mine away.”

“What,” Jiang Mingxi said flatly.

Wow. Chen Lihua hadn’t said something that shameless in a while.

#i'm a boy who transmigrated into a gl novel what am i supposed to do now?!#transmigrated as the female lead's villain fiance #chen lihua #jiang mingxi #original fiction #my writing #everything

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harrison-abbott · 2 years ago

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There was this other time in high school.

A weekday morning. It would’ve been about 9 a.m. and I had to head to maths class. And the corridors in our school were incredibly claustrophobic. Each time there was a movement of the pupils there was always a traffic jam in the hallways.

And on this particular morning it was worse than usual. On the way to the maths room there was a geography teacher – trying to order the kids about and disorder the clutter of them in an irritable, yelling manner. His name was Mike Creamer. I was right behind him. And a group of other kids, coming in the other direction, darted towards me. So I moved out of their way: and by accident I bumped into Mr Creamer’s shoulder.

He turned and glared at me. I was intimidated by the glare … and the whole corridor went silent.

“Which classroom are you going to?” he demanded of me.

I pointed to the maths corridor to the left. And then he said “Wait in there.” And told me to go inside. I didn’t really know what he was going to do. But I obeyed him and went inside the room. Again – everybody else in the maths class were chilly and quiet and nervous about what he would do. And Creamer stayed in the doorway and I was looking up at him – and he scowled at me with this deep disgust. And it scared me oblivious.

Then he demanded me to come out of the room. And he led me into a small side-corridor down the hall.

And from there he just blared and screamed at me for minutes. He was twice the size of me, a bit bald, with the remaining hair white, totally raging, ranging over me as if he wished to smack me. He used the words instead. “YOU JUST THINK YOU CAN WALK PAST EVERYBODY ELSE!” And so on, so forth.

Honestly. The above incident I described, where I knocked into his shoulder lightly. This was all that had happened. And I had no clue what it is that I’d done wrong or why I had misbehaved.

But when you are so young, you don’t have the verve to overpower adults when they are trying to do that to you. It was hard to maintain eye contact with him (as an autistic person, this is something I already find tricky) and yet I felt I had to, whilst he just hollered and shouted. All I could think of to do was say “I’m sorry.”

And he sent me back to the classroom, shivering.

Then I had to sit through an hour of mathematics, trying to do the sums with trembling fingers.

A few days later I saw him again. Mr Creamer. In the same hallway, actually. He recognised me from the last time; and his face just blackened with rage. As if he was still offended. He looked away and cut past me, fresh and wrathful.

And for a long time afterward I still didn’t understand why he would go to such an extend to berate a young boy like that. I had literally never met him before.

Now that I’m older, I realise it in different ways. I despised that high school. It was a gory, squalid place, a backward, sad, depressed building in a provincial town. It wasn’t even in the town: it was halfway down a raging motorway. Nobody wanted to be there.

I went there for five years and detested every second of it. My eldest brother, who is ten years older, attended there, too, and he said that Mr Creamer was there when he was a pupil. And I have a family-friend who is six years older than me. I told family-friend about this story once, and he said that he had a similar incident with Creamer as well. That he got harangued, too.

So, Mike Creamer had already been in this horrible place for over a decade. And he dealt with his anger by exploding at children. Basically?

Is it as simple as that? To go out of your way to pinpoint a boy and explode at him. I was 14. Couldn’t defend myself.

It’s very hard to forgive incidents like this. I think about this one quite a lot; or, have thought about it continuously since it happened, around sixteen years ago.

The great irony of the whole story is in relation to what another of my brothers had said to me. Before it happened. My big brother Louis, the second-eldest.

Louis used to say that, of all his favourite teachers, it was Mr Creamer. Because they were both fans of The Smiths, and they used to talk about how much they loved Morrisey. Louis remarked that he and Creamer were pally and liked to talk about music in between Geography lessons.

Would Creamer, therefore, have blared at me like that if he’d known that I was Louis’ little brother? Or, afterward, if he’d learned that fact, been ashamed about what he’d done?

I get that we’re not all ‘morning people’. (As for me – I tend to write most in the nocturnal hours, the a.m. period, when the world is most silent; but that’s not technically morning.) And that we can be in bad moods. We are tired and hate our jobs and don’t wish to be here, hate where our life has taken us.

But I don’t think there is anything excusable about what than man did to me that day.

To use your small role of power as a high school teacher to do that. That is not cool. That’s plain abusive, a loss of control, sadistic.

And, so, what is the conclusion? Well … I will never do a similar thing to a younger person. When we are in our teens we are at our most vulnerable. Social interaction is just excruciating. We can’t handle things like irate, bitter, spent, desperate, unhappy adults: we just don’t understand where the wrath comes from.

I couldn’t be mean to a kid, like that. That’s the positive angle to take from this tale.

#writeblr #personal essay #diary #memoir

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mannatea · 2 years ago

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I honestly don’t know what came over me with this story, and with this fandom. I went from a long period of time where I was extremely prolific to suddenly writing almost nothing new for literal years. I mean, I guess saying I don't know isn't the entire truth: I do know, I think, but it's an adventure and a half.

I started fanfiction by writing chaptered stories, and in fact much of my early writing “career” was writing long fics where I gained some minor popularity as a notable slowburn & G-rated author. It wasn’t typical even in 2003 but there was apparently an audience for it. (Good ol’ slowburn.) I then shifted into short stories for a while, inspired by the way some authors were able to pack so much into something short, and tried to mimic it myself, mostly with ‘fics I wrote to try and change fandom opinions on characters (one of the highlights of my time writing for InuYasha was being told in a review that I had changed someone's opinion on Kikyo and taught them sympathy). I’m pretty sure my success in that story in particular drove me to write more one-shots.

If I’m being honest with myself and with any poor schmuck who has read this far, I was never very good at longform fiction. I didn’t outline, I didn’t plan, and I ended things in a hurry just to be done with them (though I did try not to be disrespectful toward the story I was telling when I did it; like, I do not think too many people were aware I was rushing at the time).

Short stories were much easier for me to manage because they were mostly writable in one sitting, whether 100 words or 10,000. (What can I say, when you’re in the zone, Auto Zone.) Also, there was no need to plan excessively. They were generally about one concept or idea that I wanted to convey, and all I had to do was hit that point and publish it.

Anyway, at some point I hit Prolific Elite Mode which basically means I wrote about literally anything that came to mind, whether it was a generally good idea or not, and…yeah, it was cringe. For every “The Bravest” or “Pristine” there were probably 10 mediocre fics.

And one time someone told me, not even anonymously, on a confession meme, that my fics weren’t memorable and were boring. (For that same meme, I was also told they were too emotional.)

Obviously at the time these things hurt, but in hindsight I don’t think either criticism was invalid (not that I felt they were wrong at the time, but without any direction they were just kind of…there). I had this tendency to try and gauge what worked from reviews and then apply those positive things moving forward, which ended up with a lot of unnaturally emotional fics (that were probably embarrassing to read). And because I oftentimes did not know what might work, I threw anything that came to mind at the wall to see if it stuck.

As it turns out, the weirdest things stick.

And not every story needs to be told.

I mean, for goodness’ sake, I distinctly recall writing a depression era AU fic for Fire Emblem, and about characters literally nobody cares about, and everybody thought it was a weirdo thing to do and it didn’t faze me at all. I was like welp I guess nobody likes history idk, sorry guess I’ll do a fic about a different side character. No? What about something stupid labeled romance/humor? Oh? Ten comments milord? Guess I’ll do more of this.

Anyway, as much as I might mock some of my earlier attempts at storytelling, I do think there’s something to be said for the fact that I was writing very regularly and I was having a lot of fun doing it. Moreover, I also read a lot of fic by other people and commented on it (it’s the fanfiction circle of life).

And then I moved really far away and got a new job and got married and when so much of your time is spoken for in some regard, it gets very difficult to find time to just sit and write—and for me it’s always been especially difficult, because even the smallest sound drives me to distraction; I need silence to write and I prefer to be alone. (And I need to have energy and ideas and motivation, so…good luck.)

Anyway, I blamed my lack of writing over the last 7 or so years on being married and also picking up RPing. While RP is fun, it scratched a lot of that writerly itch…and sometimes it was not for the better. Like, I didn’t need to write: I’d just RP it. For years. It was a great distraction, it got me through some hard years, and most importantly I did have a lot of fun with it.

But then here came the Tales of Symphonia remaster and suddenly I have nobody to RP with because my RP partner isn’t a ToS fan, and I’m cold and alone and forced to write to scratch that writerly itch. IMAGINE.

Anyway, I wrote “Mixing Business with Pleasure” and I thought to myself, hey…maybe I can write new things after all?

And in March I’d actually had a dream where a baby had been left to Raine and mentioned it to @trash-god and @likes-words-and-shrimps, and while the end product is not exactly the dream I had, I can’t deny the concept stemmed from a literal dream.

I decided to just kinda low key plot it out in an old notebook. What’s the worst that might happen—I’d never write it? So I did. And then I outlined the chapters. And then I was writing the story. 101,000 words in 3 weeks!

Break Open the Sky is the first big new thing I’ve written in many many years, and it’s certainly the first big writing project I’ve finished since maybe 2004.

It feels a lot to me like RP in that it’s long and meanders. Conversations linger. If I were a better writer, would I condense things? Maybe. But I would argue that what makes a good fanfic isn’t necessarily what makes a good novel: we’re all here to read about characters we love, and writing that leans more character-centric/introspective isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Plus, if I cut out all the thoughts and mundane conversations, there’s nothing to believe in, and I wanted to tell a story that shows a stressful but followable journey for a character—one where they learn to accept things about themselves and learn to change (though not in any grand and sweeping ways, rather, their perception of themselves changes them). With a little love (as a treat). That makes it hard to ignore the things that cement a bond and foundation for a relationship both with new characters, and scenes that enable me to talk about the histories that exist between old characters. Like, the tediousness of the journey is the point: it should evoke some sense of helplessness in the reader, even with the timeskips I tossed in there to keep it from being too boring (because several months of travel day by day would be exhausting to read about).

Anyway, how the hell did I manage this story?

I don’t know. I really don’t. Again, I went from writing so much to writing nothing, to buckling down and busting my ass over three weeks for a story 3 people will read. Incredible of me, if I do say so myself. (If you’re reading it, know that I love you.)

I do have a theory, though!

I genuinely feel that as the years have passed, I’ve grown enough as a writer to know that 1) not every story needs to be told, and 2) I don’t have infinite time and energy to write whenever the urge strikes. So when the iron is hot I should strike swiftly and very, very hard. Great!!! Except that leaves me writing very little, because not that many ideas make it through my filter these days.

And it’s like, I’m not saying I don’t have good or fun ideas, but rather that every idea I get probably isn’t worth my time to write (for me or for a potential audience) and that I should be picky about what I write because it’s my time going into it, and my passion/heart. If it’s just a fleeting consideration of an idea, then why bother?

Break Open the Sky marinated for a couple of weeks before I did anything with it, and I only bothered doing something with it because I literally couldn’t stop thinking about it. Somewhere in my mind that really ended up meaning something.

And to be VERY VERY clear I did nothing else while I wrote this story. I did not play video games. I did not read books. I did not watch movies. I wouldn’t let myself go on Youtube or log into WoW. I cut back on RP so severely they all came to a screeching halt. I went to work, I came home, and I wrote. Even my husband took a backseat most days of the last few weeks (though he spent time with his family & took a new position at work and suddenly has what he’s calling Big Chocolate Lab Energy and keeps finding “projects” to do; also, don’t feel too bad for him, he told me to write “a real novel” at least four times while I worked on this).

Anyway, my theory is mostly that becoming better at writing + being pickier about what I consider worth my time to write = I only write ideas that refuse to leave after a week or two of consideration. That week or two gives me plenty of time to consider bigger-picture issues/plots/ideas for the story, and I can dump them into my private discord channel for that specific story so that I don’t lose them. This helps me catch potential problems well in advance, and think of enough things to include that might be relevant/worth talking about within the story!

And that two weeks also is plenty of time for a concept to crash and burn if I can’t make it fit the way I hope, which is fairly common with Tales of Symphonia since it’s the type of game that’s EXTREMELY DIFFICULT to faithfully AU unless it’s canon divergent or still set in the original world.

And apparently plotting a loose outline and then by-chapter beats kept me on task. Yeah, I ended up with two chapters more than I intended, but that’s nothing in the grand scheme of things.

So what’s next, you ask? I don’t know. I need a break first. But I might consider a sequel…or perhaps something new.

Hmmm. :)

Also Sara's over here trying to get me to bookbind:

It tickled my brain a little bit and I think I deserve to bind another book as a treat.

#thoughts about writing

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emithecharmer · 2 years ago

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SKZ React to a S/o with ADHD

Chan

Your hands were shaking from anxiety so you grabbed a pen and started to tap it on the table without noticing.

"Babe, I'm sorry but that's really annoying.." You we're confused before you looked down and noticed you'd been doing it for the last 10 minutes.

"Ah sorry!"

"Is something wrong?"

"Nope, just can't sit still you know?" This wasn't exactly the first time you'd mentioned your disorder, it was probably around the 100th to be honest. Your boyfriend really couldn't take hints though.

"Oh why?"

"I have ADHD Chan."

"Ohh well that's okay, is there medicine you can take to get better?" You honestly didn't mean to laugh but you let out a chuckle.

"It's not really something that goes away, you just learn to live with it."

"Oh...well," He took off his headphones completely and turned his body to you, "tell me about it."

Minho

He knew from the start, the shaking of your leg or just how he could tell you were constantly thinking, how easily you forgot things or how quickly you thought of something. Don't even get him started on how storytelling went.

"So we were watching this show, it's a really good sho- OH there's this show you need to watch baby! It's really good it's about- oh wait anyways so, the show we were watching, Oh wait! Did I tell you that my mom got a new job?" He just smiled and gently tried to re-direct you back on track.

"What show were you watching?" He asked.

"What show?"

He'd never admit it but he found it oddly endearing how quickly you'd get off topic. Other people found it annoying but it was just a part of who you were.

Changbin

He had a friend who had ADHD and when he was telling a story about you to said friend, he knew you had it. The friend asked some questions about you and then asked if you had adhd. Changbin sat there for a second and was like 'Oh shit, I didn't notice at all!'

Now when he's around you he pays attention to what you do more. Like how you play the itsy bitsy spider game in your fingers when you talk or how you color on a coloring page for ten minutes before getting bored and leaving it 1/8 done.

It just adds on to how much he loves you. So what if you're a bit hyper all day? Or if caffeine makes you sleepy? He'll just tire you out by buying you a coffee.

Hyunjin

He thought you were dying. No clue whatsoever.

"We'll get the best medical care okay? I'm not losing you!" Cue you standing there like '🧍‍♀️'

"What?"

"Isn't it a disease?"

"No- it just means I'm a bit different, I'm not dying Jinnie!" Cue him dramatically sighing and falling onto the couch.

"More for me to love then hm?"

HAN

Another dumbass.

"Is it contagious?" You burst out in laughter.

"No it's just a disorder, you can't get it from me."

He asks a lot about it, especially the anxiety part. He starts noticing things that he thought were just normal before. If you ever get sidetracked with something and you need to do he'll help you.

------

"What's that burning smell?"

"CRAP!" You burnt dinner- But it's okay, you two ordered sushi instead.

Felix

A baby. A 'curious' baby.

Wants to know everything about it, and you. He wants to know how to help you if you need it. You assure him that you know what you're doing, you've been doing it forever.

When you're focusing on your work, listening to music and occasionally singing the lyrics, you don't notice him staring at you, falling deeper and deeper in love.

"That's a pretty song, what is it?"

"Huh?"

"You we're singing."

"Oh- sorry.."

"Don't be sorry," He kissed your lips and turned to your computer, pointing at a question, "that one's wrong."

You chased him because it turns out you were right after all.

Seungmin

Doesn't care? Not in a rude way ofc! He knows you can handle yourself and he knows that's if you do need help you'll ask. Although sometimes, just sometimes you may need a reminder.

"Love, you're food is here!"

"...I ordered food? I made food though-" You two looked at each other frozen before you shyly smiled and apologized.

"Ah the more food the better."

-----

You were rushing out the door to get to work, literally flying out of your entryway.

"Babe, your keys!"

"Thanks!"

Jeongin

Another one. (sorry) He finds it funny, not in a mean way, just finds it entertaining at times. You can't really concentrate on tv shows for a long time because of your attention span, but every once and a while you'll find one.

"Y/n... care to tell me why you're watching an Australian animated dog show for kids?"

"It's called Bluey and it's amazing!" He would watch you not move for HOURS at a time, just watching the show. He never wanted to interrupt you, it was your 'brain break' as you called it. He'd just snuggle up to you and feed you a few pastries as you enjoyed your 6 yr old show.

This was inspired by my own ADHD and how I struggle with it. I don't think some people realize how serious it is at times. If there are any fellow adhd'ers out there (idk what to call ya'll) just know that your disorder is valid. I struggle very hard with concentrating and staying focused, and yes, I watch Bluey bc it's a great kid show 🫢. If you'd like any recommendations for tv shows that actually catch my attention i'd recommend 'The Extraordinary Attorney Woo' it may seem a bit boring at times, but it's very entertaining and easy to pay attention to. <333

#skz bang chan #skz changbin #skz felix #skz fluff #skz hyunjin #skz i.n #skz imagines #skz minho #skz seungmin #skz #skz han #adhd #skz jeongin #skz scenarios

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nomtterwhere · 2 years ago

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can’t handle it (4) || jake “hangman” seresin x reader

summary: things are getting real—the mission is in less than two weeks and you still haven’t been able to complete the course. you’re nearing your breaking point when, surprisingly, hangman steps in

word count: 3.1k

a/n: hi, sorry for the long wait! i ended up taking this chapter in a different direction, which in turn changed the next part as well. on that note, i wanted to let everyone know there are three parts left to this fic! parts 5, 6, and an epilogue. once again, thank you for all the love, and if you like this oen as well, don’t forget to like and reblog! and let me know if you would like to be added to the taglist!

part three // series masterlist

Failed. Again.

Tugging off your helmet, you stormed away from the lot where two more planes had just landed. Since so many of you were struggling with the course, a bunch of you had decided to have another late trial run. It was nearing ten o’clock and only you, Hangman, Phoenix, Yale, and Coyote were left. But you were ready to tap out for the night.

Barely two weeks. That was all you had left before you were shipped out to this mission and you were still screwing up. You were making it through the valley, hitting the target, but that steep climb out at the end had you doubting yourself. You leveled out too early, you knew you did. That’s why when you touched the ground, you knew you only had yourself to blame. You were already unzipping your flight suit as you headed straight for the dorms, eager to rid yourself of the uniform that reminded you of your failure.

There was no way Maverick would let you fly if this was all he saw of you.

“Twister!” You heard your callsign being called out but you ignored it, your legs determined to reach their destination. “Hey, Twister! Y/N!”

With the last call of your name, a hand wrapped around your wrist and spun you around, bringing you face to face with Hangman. Any other time you would have greeted him with a smile and a witty comment, but you had reached your limit for today. You wanted so badly to just lock yourself in your room and stay there until the dagger squad left—without you.

So, you avoided his eyes, instead choosing to look down at where your wrist was still enclosed in his hand. His grip loosened, but only slightly, opting to cradle your hand in his, his thumb rubbing soothing circles where your pulse beat.

“Can you look at me?” He asked, uncharacteristically quiet.

You shook your head, your focus on the circles he was absentmindedly rubbing into your skin. You could feel the burning in the back of your eyes, the tell-tale sign that tears were about to come, and you wanted to get out of the landing zone before anyone noticed. This wasn’t who you were. You didn’t want anyone to think you could be broken down so easily.

Apparently, Hangman had sensed this as well because the next thing you knew, you were being tugged forward, ahead of the slew of pilots that were about to come down from the course as well. As much as your mind was telling you to fight it, that you wanted to be alone, your body went willingly as you were walked back to your room.

You walked in silence the whole way there, Hangman knowing not to push just yet, but you could feel the nervous energy radiating from him. You didn’t lose your cool. Ever. You were positive he was eager to drop you off at your room and never speak of this moment again.

Except, when you reached your dorm, he opened the door to let you in and then entered after you. He let the door shut behind him while he flipped on the light switch.

You stood at the door as the room was illuminated under the weak fluorescent lighting, watching as Hangman walked through the room, adjusting your bedsheets, turning the bedside lamp on, and pulling out the desk chair. He took a seat and looked over at you still standing in the corner. You didn’t know what to say or do; you hadn’t anticipated him making it past your doorframe.

“Come sit.” He said, gently.

Somehow, you managed to get your feet moving and walked over to your bed, which you had left carelessly strewn about this morning. But after Hangman’s touch, the sheets were pulled back, pillows sat at the top the way they were meant to be. You still weren’t sure what to expect but maintained eye contact as you slowly sank onto the bed.

Hangman moved his chair slightly, so he was directly in front of you and rested his elbows on his knees, leaning forward. He studied you for a moment, as you still hadn’t said anything, and his eyes were gentler and kinder than you had ever seen them.

“What’s going on in that pretty head of yours?” He reached out and brushed a baby hair loose on your forehead back, so like the way you had done the same for him on the beach just a few nights ago.

I’m fine, you wanted to say. You wanted to laugh it off, anything to get him to leave the room. He would know you were lying but you didn’t care. You just wanted this pressure on your chest to be relieved in private.

You opened your mouth, but nothing came out. The words were all in your brain, but they refused to make it past that point. You didn’t know how to make them come out. For all the times you thought Hangman was hard to crack open, you should have been looking inwards.

Weak. Coward. Not good enough.

Never good enough.

Your eyes squeezed shut as your mind conjured an image of you smashing into the side of a mountain due to your inability to complete the mission.

A hand placed itself on your knee and squeezed, shaking you out of your thoughts. “Hey, come on. Let me in.” Your eyes opened slowly to look into green ones. “You’re not doing this alone.”

“Um…” You could already feel your voice beginning to crack, but Hangman’s steady hand kept you grounded. The truth, it is. “I just can’t seem to get it. I used to think I was invincible. But recently—” You stopped yourself. You had never said this aloud to anyone before, in fear of seeming weak.

“What is it?” Hangman encouraged you and when you looked in his eyes you saw them devoid of judgment or condemnation. He was simply there. It gave you the strength to continue.

“No matter what I do, there’s this voice in my head and it stops me. It’s like, I know I can do so much better, but my mind just won’t let me. And the more missions I fly, the louder the voice gets and if I can’t do it on this base, what makes me think I’ll be able to get it right come mission time?” You hadn’t realized you were crying until the salty taste of your tears reached your lips.

He was out of his chair in an instant, kneeling in front of you. One hand came and rested on top of both of your own, which you had clasped together tightly in your lap.

“Why haven’t you said anything? Why let this go on for so long?”

“I don’t want to be a burden on anyone else.”

“You have helped so many of us with our own shit. Hell, you were practically our class’s onsite therapist in Top Gun. Did you ever think of me as a burden? Or anyone else?” He asked.

“No.” You replied, immediately, repulsed by the thought. To think of your friends as burdens you had to carry when all they needed was someone to talk to? You loved being able to help in any way that you could.

“Then how could you think any of us could feel that way about you? Do you really think that little of us?” You noted the pain in his voice and understood what he was asking.

Did you really believe he was capable of being that selfish? Of course not. You had never thought of it that way, so consumed in your own negative thoughts. You found it easier to help others than it was to help yourself and threw yourself entirely into that.

“Never.” You said, looking at him now.

“So why is it any different when it comes to you?” His voice is gentle, but you can sense tension in his words.

It just is. You want to insist but know that won’t mean much here. You remain silent, letting your silence speak for itself.

“Look, I’m not as good as you at this. And I wish I knew the exact words to say, but I don’t. But I need you to know—look at me.” You had left your gaze drift away from his face but snapped back to him at his words. His gaze was strong, though you could see the slight worry lines on his forehead. You couldn’t help yourself as you reached up to lightly smooth it out.

“You look better without it.” You whispered.

He chuckled lightly. “So, help me. I’d be a lot less worried if you would talk to someone when you feel like this. None of us want you going through this alone, especially when so many of us feel that way from time to time. Promise me that you’ll talk to someone. Talk to me.” He said that last part so quietly if you weren’t directly in front of him you wouldn’t have heard it.

“Let me take care of you. The way you’ve taken care of everyone else.” Of me. You could read the unspoken words in the expression on his face.

The way he was looking at you with such a fierce determination made your heart want to claw its way out of your chest. Being on the receiving end of this affection was new to you, and despite giving it out for the better part of your life, you had no idea how to react. But you knew, right now, you wanted to give your pain and stress an outlet. One it had been trying desperately to reach, one you had been too selfless to give to it. But now, with Jake in front of you, it was clear that you needed to let go.

“Will you let me help you?” He asked again, squeezing your hand.

You nodded.

He moved from being in front of you to sitting beside you on your bed, one arm around your shoulders and the other cradling your head. His scent enveloped you, and though you had been hugged many times by Hangman, this time was different. This was pure Jake Seresin, giving you his body to lean on.

“Don’t hold back because I’m here. Let it all go.”

It was as if all you needed was permission to release all the tension you had been feeling, because at his words everything came out. It didn’t even come in waves, your tears were simply freefalling now, your words coming out whenever you took a breath. The fears that had plagued you ever since an almost failed mission four months ago, the feeling of being lost when you were used to being the best, the doubts you had about your own talents now being surrounded by others who had once been given the same title you had.

You couldn’t stop once you got started and Jake held you through it all, murmuring words of reassurance that he was still there. You sobbed into his shoulder, never before feeling the relief you felt then.

“Sometimes…being told you’re the best can do more harm than good. You’re constantly living up to a name someone else had placed on you.” Jake said, one hand stroking your back. You sat quietly in his arms, listening. “This kind of burnout happens to the best of us. Literally. And I know all you want to do is beat yourself up about it, but then you’re ever going to get past it. You keep moving through it.”

“Even if I manage to get out of my own head before training ends…it’s too late. There’s no way I’m going on that mission now and you know it.” You took a few deep breaths, suddenly exhausted with how much you’ve been crying.

Two hands came and cupped your face, bringing you eye level once again with the man before you. His thumbs wiped away the last of your tears, caressing the skin beneath.

“Forget about Maverick and the mission. And yes, I know that’s going to be hard. Trsut me, I get it more than anyone.” You knew he was telling the truth. “Do this for you. Prove to yourself that you’re the same pilot who kicked my ass in Top Gun the first time around.”

You laughed unexpectedly. His words were easier said than done, but God, it felt good to laugh about this.

Leaning forward, he pressed his lips to your forehead, then your cheek. You let your body sink into his, seeking comfort and protection. A single forehead kiss from this man and you were ready to spill all your secrets. He was dangerous.

“You should get some sleep.” He whispered against your skin.

You nodded, but for a few moments neither of you moved. You had always felt at your most vulnerable with Jake, which anyone else would find ironic, considering he gave the complete opposite vibe. But even this was different; you had never felt so open before. You couldn’t even remember the last time you cried in front of someone. For him to be the one you shared this weight with meant more to you than you could ever articulate.

Finally, Jake made a move to pull away, but your hands tightened around his arms, preventing him from moving any further.

“Will you stay here?” The words came before you could tell your brain what to do with them. But you knew it was what you wanted. You didn’t want to sleep alone tonight.

“Is that the best idea?” You knew what he was asking. As volatile as your relationship was—switching from sincere friendship to flirty banter—you had never spent a night in the same room. You always thought it was best not to tempt fate.

But tonight, you needed the companionship. You needed that feeling of not being alone just a little longer. You were both adults, you could handle one night together.

“I don’t care. I don’t want to be alone.”

And with that came a single nod from Jake.

“I’ll be right back.”

You stood up from your bed when you heard the door shut, expecting to feel shakier than you did right now. But you made your way to your dresser on steady legs, changing into comfortable clothes to sleep in. The base was always kept cold at night to battle the California heat, so you were wearing a pair of warm sweatpants with a T-shirt you’ve owned forever.

Looking into the mirror that hung above your clothes at your now-swollen face, you were hit with the realization of what you just did. Hangman was spending the night in your room. In your twin-sized bed. You let the idea wash over you and get settled…it was oddly comforting.

You felt uneasy about the next day and having the knowledge that someone else knew how you were feeling made you feel less alone. Going into tomorrow was not going to be easy, but it would be easier with Jake by your side. Why not start the day with him as well?

There were two knocks at your door, and you swallowed, not looking away from the mirror. “You can come in.”

Jake walked into the room and you immediately laughed out loud. Not only was he wearing a pair of sweatpants identical to yours, but the T-shirt he adorned had the same 80’s rock band emblazoned across the front.

The corners of his mouth turned up, watching you in the mirror. “Well, one of us is going to have to change.”

“Get in the bed, Seresin.”

“Oo, yes ma’am.” He flicked off the light switch, crossing the room in near darkness.

The smile was now permanent on your face. You had no idea how the two of you did it, but you had managed to slip right back into your comfort space with each other. The natural, easy laughter that always came with him wasn’t stalled, even after your roles had switched for a moment.

Looking at your bed, you saw Jake was already tucked in, watching as you switched off the desk lamp.

“Nice to see you’ve made yourself at home.” You teased, tugging on the sheets to give yourself some room to get in.

“Hey, I’m just following orders.”

You rolled your eyes, sinking into the bed, facing him. Now that you were here, it was impossible to ignore the way your pulse quickened. The subtle shift in Jake’s eyes as he watched you get comfortable; from care to…something stronger. Neither of you said a word and you didn’t think there was anything that could be said that was big enough to fill this space.

Though, you did want to say one thing before the night passed and you inevitably never brought it up again.

“Hey.”

Jake hummed, letting you know he was listening. You could just make out the outline of his face in the dark. His eyes were closed, but you knew he was far from sleeping.

“I know you said you weren’t good at this kind of thing. But I have to say, you managed to find the right words this time, Seresin.” You watched his eyes slowly flutter open. “Don’t sell yourself short.”

He let a small smile pass over his face. “Well, thank you.” Then he chuckled briefly. “How is it that you’re still managing to turn this around on me?”

“Can’t help it. I’m hardwired to look after other people.”

Moving forward, it was as if the imaginary barriers you had set up no longer existed, and he pressed his lips to your forehead once again. You could swear you felt the kiss in every one of your nerve endings. He shifted towards you, bringing an arm around your shoulders to allow you to rest your head on his chest—which you did, willingly.

“Take the night off.” He whispered into your ear, and this close to him you could hear how his breathing was irregular, his heartbeat just a beat faster than normal.

Take the night off. You could picture a lot more nights just like this. So, you allowed yourself the luxury of this becoming a reality. You knew in the morning you would go back to your regular friendship and that you would probably try to avoid any conversation about your meltdown earlier. But tonight, you wanted to live in your delusion. And Jake was giving you permission to do so.

“Good night.”

“Good night, Jake.”

taglist: @americaarse @insideafictionaluniverse @babyice1274 @emotionalbruv @levylovegood @letusbewildflowers @roses-and-grasses @words-4u @maggieromanov @mydominions @ollyoxenfrees @rule107 @callalily2000 @atrxidxs @thatchickwiththecamera @dempy @doctor-warthrop @nessamc @cowboybarbie @hockeyboysarehot @kokomaesadie @mysticaldonkey @ponyboys-sunsets @obiwankenobis-lap @seasonswinter @imagineyneyjr @eviesaurusrex @timelesstay @gummybear1178 @blue-aconite @herladyshipxx

#jake seresin x reader #jake hangman seresin x reader #hangman x reader #jake seresin #jake hangman seresin #hangman #top gun #top gun maverick #glen powell #jake seresin imagine #hangman imagine #jake seresin x you #hangman x you #cant handle it fic

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milkywaybottles · 2 years ago

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The Way Things Were | Tommy Shelby x Reader

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

TW: Spoiler but the reader faces a lot of violence in this chapter, so I'm sorry in advance, and tried to spare the gory details. But, please always reach out to me, or someone you trust, if anything bothers you. Take care, much love xx

Chapter 5: The Risks

After giving Tommy a good scolding when he returned home, all seemed to be in working order again, as much as it could be anyways. A handful of days passed and you had gained a more active role in making sure the races went according to plan, especially since Tommy was now protecting Billy Kimber for the moment. You had laughed when he had told you, originally playing it off as a joke. But Tommy was a very serious person and his face didn't shift. Feeling embarrassed, you cleared your throat and agreed to help him.

You had been feeling ill for the past few days so you mostly stuck to the shop, burying your head in as much work as you could do. The nausea was overwhelming but you mostly kept it to yourself. Your ears would ring on occasion and you had a bit of stomach pain.

The shop was mostly empty for the night, just you, Polly, Tommy and Scudboat staying after everyone else. John and Arthur had pissed off to the Garrison for a drink, and from the corner of your eye, you spied Tommy and Polly getting ready to leave. Polly was dressed in an elegant, red lace dress, a lovely hat pinned to her hair.

"Special occasion?" You inquired playfully as the pair walked toward you.

"John called a family meeting at the Garrison. Will you be coming?" Tommy questioned. You smiled gently, looking down at the giant pile of papers on your desk and shaking your head. Crossing your arms over your chest and leaning into your chair, you told him,

"No, thank you. I don't feel awfully well and I've got enough work to keep me busy in the meantime"

Polly shrugged, directing her voice louder so that not only could you hear, but Scudboat could as well, "Suit yourself, love. John will be here in ten minutes"

"Five" Tommy jumped in, pointing at the two of you.

In a flash, the pair had left the building, a large gust of wind blowing leaves in from the door. Scudboat rose from his chair and made his way to the door, with a snap, locking it. He then sat back down and began to count the money. With each satisfying clink, your eyes drifted across the papers, mainly betting tabs. When your eyes began to cross, you swear you needed glasses, just hadn't been able to see a doctor about it yet.

The room was engulfed in smooth, comfortable silence. You had known Scudboat since he first joined the Peaky Blinders and while you weren't close like you were with the others, he was a nice fellow.

A sudden creak broke your concentration and you squeezed the pencil in your hand tight. Scudboat hadn't moved. It could have been John or even Finn, as the young boy loved to come in and out of the shop during school hours. "John?" Scudboat called out, receiving no response. You shared a look with him, blankly shrugging although the raised hairs on your arms said a different story. Holding your breath, you bit your lip.

Out of nowhere, a large burst of war cries erupted from the door, being pushed open to reveal a gang of men. You jumped from your seat in shock, a scream bellowing from your lips at the sight of guns. Three men tackled you to the table, yanking your arms behind your back and causing you to cry out in pain. As you continued to resist, wriggling within their iron grasp, they smacked your head to the table, an excruciating pain radiating from your temple.

"Don't move!" A head of the Lee family ordered. You weren't in the position to disobey with the icy cold barrel of a gun pressed to your cheek. Your body quivered with anxiety. "This is for Cheltenham. We're just takin' back what's ours". You watched in horror as one of the Lees hit Scudboat with the base of his gun, almost knocking him flat out. Scudboat crumpled to the ground like a house of cards.

"There's more money here! Search everywhere!"

The men who had been holding you tossed you to the floor, elbows aching upon impact. "So you're the Shelby whore, eh?" One asked. You gazed up at him through teary eyes, eyes squeezing shut as his steel-capped boot made contact with your fleshy stomach over and over again. 'Ah!' you cried, raising your arms over your face to protect it. "Might have to test that soon. You're definitely pretty enuff'. I bet you could make my head spin". All you wanted to do was curl up into a ball and pray it was over soon. The pain was bitter, your teeth bit through your tongue, and all you could taste was iron.

A smack echoed through the room, a crimson, stinging imprint on your cheek. You felt the hot trail of liquid down your nose, resting on your philtrum. Another well-dressed man towered over you. The two were bending over, examining you with a predatorial look in their eyes. "Messin' with Shelby's women is fun, ya' should give it a try" your attacker told the other. The other man smirked, showing his yellow, chipped teeth.

The head returned to the group with bags upon bags of money. Your stomach flipped. Wheezing, you stuck to the ground.

"Come on, we gotta go" He told them.

The two men grinned from ear to ear, "See you next time, princess". All the men had gathered back at the bookies table, eyes set on the door. You wanted to make a witty comment but the words couldn't formulate, causing you to choke and pipe down. Within a matter of moments, they were gone as quickly as they had come. Your body burned with shame, curling even tighter around itself. Your once clean dress was now covered in mud and blood, hair splayed across the floor and over your face.

You had never noticed all the cracks in the roof before.

“(Y/N)! Scudboat!”.

Relief washed over you at the sound of Tommy’s voice, followed by the murmurs of Polly, John and Arthur. “Oh my God” Polly exclaimed, eyes landing on your dishevelled figure, crippled on the hardwood floor. You groaned as the woman rushed towards you, followed by Arthur, and slowly, John and Tommy. “Can you get up, dear?”. You blinked, opening your mouth to speak but nothing more than a squeak was made. Polly did her best to lift you on her shoulder, quickly assisted by the much more capable John.

“Where the fuck is Scudboat?!” Arthur choked, face red with rage. Tommy stormed into the other room on a hunt for the man. A single, salty tear ran down your bloodied face. You tried so hard to tell them what had happened, wanting to cry out in frustration that not only had your body failed you, but your voice as well. Tommy had emerged back in the room with a bruised Scudboat, though you could imagine his ego was more bruised than anything. You had appeared to have taken ten times the beating of the man.

The next few minutes were a blur of dizziness and zoning out while the rooms were inspected to see what had been taken. Tommy, with a sympathetic face, knelt beside you, taking a clean rag from the kitchen to your face. “I’m so sorry, love. You didn’t deserve this”. Polly came up beside him, placing her hand on his shoulder.

“She’s in shock, I think. Can’t talk. Probably has bruised ribs too by the way she’s holding her stomach” she determined before walking away to rejoin the inspection. Tommy looked back over at you.

“Won’t need stitches…” he dabbed the split in your brow. “What did they do to you?”. He knew you wouldn’t answer, at least not for a while, but it was more a soothing question to pity you. You gave him a weak, apprehensive smile despite the pain, leaning into his hand. He took a bottle of whiskey that had been used to cool Scudboat’s swollen head and dampened the rag with it. You hissed, much like Arthur did a few weeks ago, the alcohol searing your cuts. “That’s my girl” he praised, your stomach filling with butterflies.

‘God, no, (Y/N), what are you doing?’ You thought.

"I'll be back in a minute, eh?" He posed, running his tongue over his lip and setting aside the rag on the counter of the table. Tommy walked back into the meeting room, grabbing something off the fireplace.

"They've taken anything they can lay their hands on" Polly observed, "Four cash boxes"

But nobody was particularly paying attention to what Polly was saying as all eyes were on Tommy. A single pair of wire cutters sat in his hands. He held them up, hesitating to speak, "They left these". Your eyes flitted across the men, not aware of the significance.

"Wire cutters? Why would they leave wire cutters?" Polly quizzed, face downcast.

"Nobody move" Arthur ordered.

"I think our friends are playing the game" Tommy said slowly.

Polly stepped forward, pacing through the shop, "What game?". John was quick to stop her, placing his hand out firmly to prevent her from walking any further, specifically into the office where she was headed. "Aunt Pol, don't. touch. anything"

Your body shuddered with fear. Nobody dared to move under the sharp gaze of the Shelby brothers. "Erasmus Lee was in France" Tommy drawled. Still, no indication of what this meant. Scudboat cursed under his breath sharply, his face twinging with a terror of realisation. "When we gave up ground to the Germans.... we'd leave behind booby traps set up with wires. And we'd leave wire cutters as part of the joke"

Your stomach dropped, nausea overcoming you again.

"Somewhere in here... there's a hand grenade-" John determined, the toothpick sitting between his lips. Hands shaking, you stared up at Tommy, waiting for instructions.

"Holy Jesus-" Polly mumbled.

"-attached to a wire" Arthur finished, "Don't move any chairs or open any doors". The whole shop had been strewn around in a panic. There were chairs, tables and papers thrown all over the floor, and any one of them could set something off. "Go easy, John boy. Go easy" Arthur warned as John walked around as if he was on eggshells.

Tommy shook his head, "No. Boys no, it's not in here. If it was here, it would have blown by now. (Y/N) and Scudboat have been moving around since they left. It was my name on that bullet Erasmus sent. He set up a trap, alright. He set it up just for me". The cogs in his brain were ticking, spinning, thinking of where that grenade could have been. You were worried, gripping the chair with intense pressure, leaving nail marks on the wood.

Tommy didn't have to speak for you to know by the way his face shifted that he had determined a possibility. He moved for the door and you lept from your seat without thought, following. You heard the cutoff of your name being shouted by John but as the door slammed, you no longer heard it. Tommy didn't even have time to worry about the fact you were following as he paced down the street.

A sharp turn led him to the garage where he kept the family car. Little Finn was sitting in the driver's seat, turning the wheel. Your heart almost lept from your throat. If that was where the grenade was- You couldn't bear the thought.

"Finn, stay where you are" Tommy warned, his hand extended to the boy.

The boy giggled, "I was pretending I was you"

Tommy crept towards him at an agonisingly slow pace, "Which door did you open to come in?"

"I didn't" The boy chirped happily, "I climbed in"

"I want you to climb out exactly the same way you climbed in, okay?" Tommy affirmed, getting closer to the door. You stood warily at the entrance of the garage. In an instant, Finn burst out laughing, snapping the door of the car open. You screamed, running for the boy although it was more a limp.

"No no! Finn!" Tommy called, diving for the car. You squeezed your eyes shut, pressing your body against Finn to protect him. An explosion sounded as Tommy tossed the grenade towards another building. He jumped to the pair of you, covering your bodies with his own. There was a mixture of pants. The men that had surrounded the building had flown to the floor but appeared to be alright.

You gave a sigh of relief as Tommy clambered off you, allowing you to press a kiss to Finn's head. "Finn-" You couldn't think of the words to articulate how happy you were that he was alright. In a way, Finn was like your son, both you and Polly had stepped up after their mother's death. Tommy was 19 and you were 16 when it happened.

Tommy grasped the boy's hand tightly, guiding the both of you out of the garage. Then he spun around, kneeling and tapping the cap sitting on Finn's head. "That's why you should never pretend to be me. Okay?". Finn's face was ridden with a scared embarrassment. He nodded solemnly. You gave Finn a reassuring pat on the back.

“Come on. How would you like some hot chocolate at my apartment?”. His face lit up brighter than you had ever seen before.

“Really?” He turned to Tommy, shaking his hands in excitement, “Can I go, Tommy? Can I go, please?”. Tommy wasn’t in the position to say no. His mouth formed into a smirk for Finn,

“Alright. Maybe you should stay with (Y/N) for the night. It’s safer”. Finn understood perfectly. You had a fold-out couch in your lounge which he would use all the time. Finn squeezed you, giving you the biggest hug he could with his arms wrapped around your waist. You winced. “Oi, be gentle” Tommy told him, conscious of your injuries.

Finn smiled sheepishly, letting go of your abdomen. You turned to him and placed your hand supportively on his back, “Come on, Finn”, guiding him back to Watery Lane. You shot Tommy a wistful smile before disappearing down the road.

The sight of Finn sleeping quietly on the couch gave you momentary peace. The way his chest rose and fell slowly, his tussled brown hair splayed across the cushion. You leant against the kitchen sink, observing the boy for a while. The ticking of a clock echoed through the apartment. It had been your mothers, and it was the sound of your childhood. You wondered if the boy still dreamt. He was 11, and what the ripe age of 11 was like for you had slipped your mind. You liked to think he did. From the way his lip curled happily or made the slightest mumbles, hoping he was dreaming about something happy like playing marbles or rugby in the street with his mates.

Earlier, you had attended to your wounds, and while your body was sore and broken, it felt much better than it did before.

A glance at the clock and you knew it was getting late. You were going to have to turn in sooner or later. Sighing, you removed yourself from the counter and approached Finn. Brushing his hair from his forehead, you bent down to place a kiss above his brow. Doing your best to stifle a yawn, you brought your hand to your mouth, ears rumbling. “He sleeps soundly, that one. You would think he hadn’t a wink of sleep in his life” a voice remarked. You didn’t jump at the tone, if anything, relaxed as you eased up to stand. The Shelby’s had always had a spare key to your apartment, though seldom used unless necessary.

You watched Tommy in the corner of the doorway, the glow of a lamp illuminating his face in a way which made his eyes even more striking. He was the type of man to observe and managed to look graceful while doing so. Even the dusting of a warm light against his skin made him appear angelic. You had to admit, Tommy Shelby had always been beautiful, like he had been carved from marble. Every inch of his face had a story, every freckle or scar across his body, a reason to be. It never came as a surprise that he was popular with the ladies.

As a young girl, aged 10, you had fancied Arthur. He was the eldest, strong and capable. His rustic features caught you in a trance. What wasn’t there to like? But Tommy… there was a quality to him that his brothers simply did not have. You wanted to drink him in every time your eyes crossed paths, reach out and touch his cheek, caressing your thumb against it. But you were sure that Tommy had never given you that glance back, that second thought beyond the surface. He hadn’t noticed the way you lit up in his presence, nor the way you held his gaze for just that little bit longer than expected.

“I’m just satisfied he finds comfort in me” You said, voice coming out as a whisper. “Such a thing is rare these days”. He nodded, digging in his pocket to pull out a cigarette. The amount of things he could pull out from the pockets of his coat once made you question if they were endless. “Is there a reason you came to visit me, Tommy?”

“Do I need a reason?”

“Ah, that is what Arthur says. Nevertheless, there is always a reason” you remarked slyly, taking the tray of drinks from the side table beside the couch. You and Finn had enjoyed the hot chocolate while you read him a story on the couch by the fire. Not having had the chance to clean up as the boy kept you busy, you decided to take the opportunity so you could retire for the night. Having looked up at Tommy, his expression riddled in thought, he was looking for an answer.

“I suppose” he quipped, “I wanted to apologise for what happened to you”. You shook him off, waving at him that there was no need to continue.

At that moment, as you made your way towards him, your hands trembling from the events of the day causing the tray contents to slide off, plummeting to the floor with great speed. Tommy lunged for the mugs in an attempt to catch them but it was too late. The mugs exploded into shards, scattering across the kitchen floor. You made a squeaking noise before checking to make sure Finn was still asleep. “I’m so sorry-” you fumbled quietly, doing your best to scoop up the shards with your hands. A sharp pain emerged on your thumb, the ruby-coloured liquid seeping out of the cut. You cursed lightly, pulling your hand back sharply and settling on your knees.

“(Y/N)- here let me-” Tommy insisted, bending down to help collect the biggest pieces. There was a moment where he grabbed your hand gently to inspect it, pausing. Without a thought, your eyes met, an invisible string drawn between the two of you. Your brain was too fuzzy, too intoxicated with his scent of cinnamon, smoke and bourbon to think, to notice that the gap was slowly getting smaller between you. It was then closed as your lips connected and a spark went off inside you. Like all the dots had been connected, the stars aligned, all the puzzle pieces falling into place.

Your 20 years of platonic friendship had barely been questioned up until that point.

Sure, you had kissed Tommy before when you were teenagers, being dared to. Sure, you had felt his arm snake around yours before. Hadn’t everyone daydreamt about their best friend at some point? But in that 20 years of friendship, you had never been kissed by Thomas Shelby with such vigour and passion. That was the type that made you yearn inside, hoping and praying for a hint of something more.

Tommy also had to admit that up until that point, he had never really taken notice of how stunning you were, the way you smelt like home or how caring in nature you truly were. You had always just been (Y/N/N), like a sister. It could have been the war that matured him to finally notice these things, but he could now see cracks of his old self with you, peeling back with every interaction you held. Not that you weren’t before, but somewhere in that time of 4 years, you had developed into an even kinder woman who knew what she wanted. To him, you were no longer (Y/N/N), but (Y/N).

You almost let out a moan, his teeth grinding against your lip. Placing a gentle hand on his chest, you pushed him back to break you apart. You weren’t sure what you wanted but you didn’t want it to develop into something more while Finn was in the room. He shot you a curious look, filled with care, eagerly waiting for a response. “Tommy..”

His hand found its way to your face, “A kiss can just be a kiss, love”

Fuck.

You glanced sideways around the room, remembering where you were. In your house, almost at midnight, porcelain scattered across the floor with Tommy Shelby a mess of emotions at your command, and Finn sleeping on the couch. Such a predicament you had found yourself in. Polly warned you as a young adolescent to beware of the Shelby boys, especially Tommy, who had the ladies at his beck and call. You thought you would be different, so why did you melt at his touch?

“I know…” you stated, scarcely a whisper. You weren’t even sure if he heard your declaration. “Tommy, I’m worried the Lees will come back to hurt us”. Your confession caused his eyebrow to arch, face softening at your anxiety. Shaking his head, he took your hands carefully and guided you up to stand.

"They won't hurt you... because I won't let them. Next thing tomorrow, I'm going to deal with it". His response was caring but gruff, coming out like a mumble. A quick exhale of his cigarette let smoke hang in the air. Determining that you had finished speaking, he turned for the door which was just beside the kitchen, splitting off into a hallway.

You hesitated for a moment, a choice buzzing through your mind. Placing your pointer finger in your mouth to bite it, you called out to the man, "Tommy". He spun around, half expecting to be called back. You had to say what you were thinking now. You couldn't just call him back and then not say it. "Stay with me...". Your words were halfway between a statement and a question. It was up to him to decide.

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

#the peaky blinders #thomas shelby #thomas shelby x reader #tommy shelby #tommy shelby x reader #peaky blinders #tommy shelby x you #female reader #she/her #cillian murphy

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malleux · 4 years ago

Note

idk if my request went through cuz my internet went weird just now-- but anyways, could I perhaps get a soft corpse x reader in which they're all playing among us and Rae or Sean invites (y/n), who none of them have every heard of, and she's just very shy but has an adorable childlike voice, and is an incredible imposter? Like she's just super convincing just like corpse, and can tug at the heartstrings with her voice? thank you!

spell. | corpse husband

part two ; part three

-> Pairing: Corpse Husband x Fem!Reader

-> Fandom: uhh youtubers? idk

-> Genre: Fluff, Crack

-> Warnings: Cursing

-> A/N: hi it’s a long overdue corpse fic :) it’s not the absolute best and for that i’m super sorry i’ve just got to get in the groove of writing for him!

corpse husband taglist is closed!

You were never one to enjoy the spotlight. Instead, you were often found in the background of things, just observing the extroverts who managed to get themselves in the middle of everything.

You had a nerve to admire them- their ability to just get out there and show their true selves, despite so many people watching their every move. Just the thought of it made you shudder. Yet you couldn’t help but also be rather envious of them.

Them, in question, being Sean McLoughlin.

You weren’t quite sure how you became associated with Jacksepticeye himself, choosing to focus on the present and future with your friend rather than dwelling on your past. He was just Sean, your internet friend. And also Jacksepticeye- a famous youtuber with millions of followers.

Sean was who you aspired to be in life. Outgoing, happy, out there, everything positive in life that Sean had, you wanted.

He’d confided in you often about how nervous he’d get before streams or videos, fearing that he’d say the wrong thing or upset his fans, but he still put on a brave face and went out into the chaos. That’s what you admired. His ability to conquer those anxieties.

You wished you could do that. You were simply too nervous.

Which is why when Sean facetimed you one night- morning, actually, seeing as it was 3am in California, where you were- asking you to join a game of Among Us for one of his videos, you adamantly refused.

“Why? Please, Y/N, we need one more person.” Sean begged, “It’ll be me, you, Felix, Ethan, Corpse, Julien, PJ, and Dave. Not everyone’s playing today, it’s a smaller crowd.”

“But it’s still a lot.” You groaned, “I don’t even know them. I just know you.”

“They’re nice! You literally watch their videos.” He argued back.

“That’s the point, Sean! They’re famous, I’d just be some random chick in the game that everyone asks where the fuck she came from.”

“No, you’ll be the girl that everyone adores. Now get on, we’re playing in ten.”

You sighed as the phone hung up and turned on your computer. A Discord invite was waiting for you- Sean must have invited you for you to talk to everyone as you played. You accepted with shaky fingers and put your headphones on, pulling up Among Us and typing in the game code.

“Hello everyone- wait, who’s pink?”

“She’s a good friend of mine,” Sean explained to Felix, “Say hi Y/N. We’re streaming live right now.”

“Hello,” You couldn’t help the meek tone in your voice, smiling shyly as if you were actually on camera. “Wait, you’re streaming? Sean, I thought you said it was a recording for a video.”

“I, well. It’s a video all right.”

The group laughed, but you stayed silent, fixating your attention on a lower voice that chimed in at the end.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Y/N. I’m Corpse.”

“The King of Imposters.” PJ joked, making Corpse laugh.

You giggled a bit, “Hi…”

Felix gasped. “Corpse, her voice is like, the total opposite from yours. Her’s is so cute.”

Corpse laughed as well. “Agreed. I like it.”

As the game loaded, your heart practically dropped.

Imposter.

As if your nerves weren’t bad enough as they were. But, on the bright side, you were with Sean as the other imposter. At least it was someone you knew.

You both split up, you heading towards Electrical. Corpse and Felix were close behind you, Felix following you into the room while Corpse left. You pretended to do your task for a minute before moving to your left a minute and killing Felix.

You rushed out of the room and then headed to Navigations, making sure to avoid anybody who could have seen you leave Electrical. A few moments later, a body was reported.

“Where was it?” Sean asked Julien, the reporter.

“Electrical.”

“I saw Y/N go in there with him at the beginning of the game.” Corpse joined in, “I saw them as I was going to the Reactor.”

“I was in Electrical with him,” You admitted, still acting a bit shy. What could you say, deep voices and new people made you nervous. “But after that I left and went to do my task in Navigation. Felix was still alive and there when I left.”

“Did you pass anyone sus on the way there?” Sean asked.

“No, if they came in after I did it must’ve either been from the other way or after I was already in Electrical.” You started picking at your nail polish- a habit of yours when things got a little overwhelming.

“So you’re saying that it could’ve been from the direction Corpse was in?” You could hear the smirk in Sean’s voice.

“Whoa, whoa, hold up. Why are you so quick to throw me under the bus? I’m just a crewmate.” Corpse questioned, “You’re pretty sus if you ask me.”

Sean scoffed, “I’m just inferring that the culprit came from your direction. Never in my words did I say it was you. Sounds like you’re getting a little too defensive for someone who’s ‘just a crew mate’.”

“Uh, guys,” You quietly spoke up. You didn’t expect anyone to hear you, but Corpse and Sean immediately quieted down at your voice. “I hate to interrupt, but we’ve got to vote. I don’t want us to argue…”

Sean laughed. “Oh little Y/N, you’re too sweet. I’m skipping this round.”

As you voted to skip as well, your stomach clenched when you heard Corpse quietly repeat “Little Y/N”.

꧁꧂꧁꧂꧁꧂꧁꧂꧁꧂꧁꧂꧁꧂

“It’s Y/N, I’m fucking telling you! Y/N!” Julien was practically screaming at this point. You tried to stay calm, focusing on keeping your voice steady.

The group had been calling you cute and adorable practically all night, so you were seriously about to put that to use.

“I was in Medbay with Corpse, isn’t that right, Corpse?” Your tone was sweet and slightly flirty- hopefully he’d get the hint.

Corpse hesitated for a millisecond- long enough for your breath to catch, but short enough for nobody else to notice. “Yeah, she was with me.”

“She was with you after she vented there!” Julien cried, “I can’t believe this- she killed Ethan and vented away right as I went into the room! You all are fucking nuts if you don’t believe me.”

“I don’t even know how to vent…” You murmured innocently, but in reality you were smirking. Julien was definitely telling the truth, and you were internally beating yourself up for letting yourself be so reckless after a kill, but nobody was seemingly buying his story.

There was only you, Corpse, Julien, Dave, and PJ left. Sean was voted off after fucking up his alibi, leaving you alone with the rest of the group.

Corpse sighed. “You all heard the girl. She doesn’t even know how to vent.”

“Wh- she just fucking vented!” Julien exclaimed, “Corpse, man, she’s got you under some fucking magic spell if you can’t see all the evidence. Guys, back me up here.”

“She’s sus.” Dave admitted, “And Corpse defending her makes it even more sus.”

“The spell she tried on him obviously got the best of him. I say we vote Y/N.” PJ agreed.

“There’s no spell, guys, oh my God.” Corpse laughed, “I just don’t think it’s her. I’m skipping.”

“I can’t believe you guys don’t believe me!” You whined, deciding to go further with your emotional tactics, “I’m literally about to cry. It’s not me!”

And yet, despite your protests, Dave, PJ, and Julien all voted you out. Crewmates had won the game and you were giggling nearly like a maniac as everyone gushed about how you did as an Imposter.

A bit later, you had to say goodbye to your new friends and face the reality that their fans would definitely find who you were by tomorrow. Or like, in a few hours, because it was already 4am. Corpse was in California as well, wasn’t he? He should be getting some sleep too, you thought. But maybe sleep schedules were different for Youtubers. You didn’t know.

You pondered the thought for a moment before the notification sound for Discord alerted you of a new message on your phone.

Corpse:

Just letting you know, your voice definitely had me under a spell. I’d like to hear it more often

#fanfiction #x reader #fic blog #writing #corpse husband x reader #corpse x reader #corpse husband imagines #corpse imagines #corpse husband #lay writes #requests

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watchmegetobsessed · 4 years ago

Text

Failed, Faked, Fallen - Harry Styles

a/n: this story was a pain in the ass, not gonna lie and i really thought i would just end up deleting the whole thing but I MADE IT TO THE END YAY so now please take the time to read bc it literally made me want to jump off a cliff lol

special thanks to @pastequeharry for putting up with me throught the writing process, she is the reason i didn’t just delete the whole thing haha

pairing: Fratboy!Harry x Reader (fake dating AU)

word count: 16.6k

masterlist

Tonight has been in the making for ten years. Every fiber in your body is protesting against it, but you just can’t carry this massive secret around any longer. You need to tell your best friend that you are in love with him, have been since middle school when you first met him. It’s a scary thing to come clean about your feelings for someone, but you feel like it’s now or never.

Your friendship with Oliver has been always a little… blurry. You were just regular friends when he was dating someone, but whenever he was single, he seemed to seek comfort and intimacy with you. It always starts with him getting a little more touchy and cuddly with you, then comes the kissing and hugging, his hands wandering to places friends shouldn’t explore and you somehow always end up in a bed…

Then it would immediately change once he got himself a girlfriend and you figured he has just been confused about his feelings for you. It has to be that, right? These past few weeks the situation was the same. He broke up with this girl he was seeing all summer before you all came back to school and you think this is the perfect time to finally talk about what’s really going on between the two of you.

Your roommate, Sandra has helped you with your makeup for tonight’s frat party and now you are deciding on the dress. You want to look your best so when Oliver confesses his love for you tonight, you’ll look as dreamy and pretty as you always dreamed about.

“The black one is fucking mint,” Sandra points at the black bodycon dress lying on your bed. “I can give you my red leather jacket,” she offers, finishing up putting her hoop earrings in.

“The red jacket?” you eye her in surprise. Sandra loves that jacket more than her own life. The two of you have been sharing your clothes since you became roommates last year, but the jacket has been off limits always.

“I know how important tonight is for you. The occasion deserves the red jacket,” she chuckles, stepping to her wardrobe to get the jacket. It’s the most badass leather jacket you’ve ever seen, looks so perfect on Sandra every time she wears, you feel honored she is letting you take it for the day.

“Oliver won’t be able to keep his eyes off of you,” she smiles at you excited once you’re all dressed. The jacket looks amazing, pulls the look together perfectly, you can’t deny that.

Soon enough, the two of you leave the dorm and head in the way of Kappa Chi, that’s only a fifteen minute walk away from your dorm. They are having a party almost every other week, those boys would celebrate the stupidest shit just to fill their house up with people and booze as much as possible. You and Sandra have been attending their parties since first year, it’s always a great way to unwind after a tiring week at uni.

“When is he coming?” Sandra asks over the music once you two arrive and head to the kitchen for a drink.

“Um, he texted me ten minutes ago that he is about to leave soon. He’ll be here shortly,” you tell her and thank her when she hands you a beer in a red solo cup.

The house is packed, just like always. Most of the football players from school are member of Kappa Chi, so naturally, all girls want to be around when they are throwing a party. You could say they are the popular guys, but it’s not like in the movies. They are just some particularly handsome guys living together, attracting a lot of girls. They are not at all unreachable, you are kind of friends with a few of them as well even without being a sorority girl yourself.

Standing in the kitchen you get into a conversation with a few girls from your dorm, that’s when you see Harry Styles storm through the house, Naomi Saddler following behind him, seemingly very much in the middle of a fight he doesn’t want to take part in. You know Harry, but you couldn’t say you two are that close. You did a group project last year together and he is actually a really smart guy despite the gossips about him just being a dumb womanizer. He surely is a ladies’ favorite, but you wouldn’t say the description fits him. You haven’t actually seen him with more than three girls since freshman year, unlike some of his other teammates that hook up with a different girl every weekend. He and Naomi have been in this on-off relationship for a few months now, but you don’t know much about them. You don’t run in the same groups to know the details.

The two of them disappear upstairs and you are pulled out of your thoughts when someone asks you a question, so you forget about Harry and Naomi in a blink of an eye.

An hour passes and still no sign of Oliver and you start to feel anxious. You shoot him a text, struggling a little with the typing thanks to the alcohol you’ve been consuming to keep your cool. Surprisingly, he answers right away.

Oliver: Be there in 3. Meet me outside?

Y/N: Sure!

“Alright, wish me luck,” you tell Sandra as you fill your cup again and head outside.

Kappa Chi has a nice backyard with a decent sized pool, some beerpong tables and lots of lounge chairs. You walk past the beerpong games, paying no attention to them at all as you go for an empty lounge chair. You sit down, fix your dress nervously and wait while you try to think through what you’ll tell him.

You can’t believe you are finally telling him how you are feeling. Your teenager self would be peeing herself is she knew what you are planning to do now. All those years of pining and crying whenever Oliver had a girlfriend in the past, now is your chance to finally be that girl and you’re actually quite convinced he’ll say he feels the same way about you.

Fidgeting with one of the zippers on Sandra’s jacket, you nervously wait for Oliver to show up. You look in the direction of the backdoor right when he appears from the crowd inside. Your heart skips a beat as you stand up quickly, a smile tugging on your lips. You are just about to wave in his way to catch his attention when you see some brunette by his side… holding his hand. And then she kisses him shortly right before they step out of the house.

What the fuck?! This cannot be true. Who is she? And why do you know nothing about her? Did Oliver keep it a secret that he is dating someone? But why?!

For a moment you actually feel like you are about to faint. Blood rushes out of your head as you see the couple walk their way around the beerpong tables, Oliver obviously looking for you, but you can’t bring yourself to move.

“Y/N! There you are!” he beams happily, pulling the brunette with him when he finally spots you. You need a moment for yourself to get over the first wave of your shock.

“Oh, yeah! Hi!” you smile awkwardly, eyes meeting with the girl’s. She is so pretty and actually seems nice. You hate her for that.

“Y/N, I want you to meet Lexi,” Oliver introduces the brunette. “Lexi, this is Y/N.”

“I’ve heard so much about you, Y/N!” she smiles, pulling you into a hug that catches you off guard for sure.

“Wow, I… wish I could say the same,” you bitterly reply, eyes meeting Oliver’s once Lexi lets go of you. He is clearly uncomfortable at your comment, but tries to mask it quickly.

“Yeah, I’m sorry I haven’t had the chance to tell you about Lexi. But it’s kind of new.”

“How new?”

“We’ve been going out for about three weeks,” she answers your question, her hand finding his pretty quickly as she smiles up at him with so much adoration.

“Oh,” is all you manage to get out for a moment. You still haven’t completely processed that your plan just went straight out the window and that once again, Oliver chose another girl over you.

But then, the more you think about it, the angrier you get. You are tired of this stupid game you two have been playing, but you also have no idea what to do about it.

“I thought that Y/N, if you have a boyfriend, we could maybe go on some double dates! Would be so much fun!” Lexi suggests, but her words make your stomach churn. You have always wanted to go on double dates, but with Oliver being your date. Not someone else’s…

“I uhh… I don’t…” You are so frozen, you can’t even think of an answer, you just want to leave as soon as possible, so you can cry yourself to sleep. Oliver brings an arm around Lexi’s shoulders, looking down at you as if he wasn’t cuddling you just not that long ago. As if he wasn’t preaching your beauty a few weeks ago, making you feel like the only girl in the world. This is so not fair.

“Y/N is not a fan of double dates.”

Suddenly, an arm swings around your shoulders and a tall body stands next to you, pulling you to his side. Turning your head you are shocked to see Harry standing there, smiling at Oliver and Lexi as if this discussion was completely his business.

Oliver seems just as shocked as you are. He is staring at the football player by your side with wide eyes.

“Wait, you two are… dating?”

“It’s pretty new, but yeah. Y/N and I have been going out for a while. Right, baby?” He squeezes your arm, glancing down at you and when your eyes meet, he gives you a look that says ‘just go with it, I’m saving your ass’ and you decide to play your part.

“Oh, umm, yeah. We’ve kind of reconnected when we got back after the summer,” you nod, hoping that your voice doesn’t give you away.

“That’s amazing!” Lexi cheers, clearly eating up the impromptu lie, but as you glance at Oliver, you can tell he is sceptic.

“I didn’t even know you were friends in the first place,” he comments, eyebrows furrowed a little as he eyes Harry’s hand on your shoulder.

“We were! We had a great time working on a group project last year and then later I asked for her number. But the summer was so busy for both of us, so we kind of fell out, but then we met again in September and I finally manned up to ask her out.”

You are impressed by how easily Harry is lying. If you didn’t know it wasn’t true, you would eat it up just as easily as Lexi is doing right now. Especially because his body language matches up with what he is saying so well. He is keeping you close, fingers dancing on your upper arm and shoulder, anyone would think he actually has a thing for you, but you know that’s not true. You two are barely even friends.

“That sounds so nice. We definitely should meet up sometime, the four of us!” Lexi suggests again and you stop yourself from rolling your eyes.

“We’ll see about that. But I’ll have to steal Y/N away now, I have something to show her.” Harry bids his goodbye quickly, pulling you away before Oliver could even say a thing and you just blindly follow him inside the house.

You don’t even process what’s happening. Harry takes your hand, pulling you through the crowd and you catch Sandra’s gaze who is still standing in the kitchen, her eyes widening when she sees you with Harry. You just shrug in confusion, following Harry upstairs until he leads you into a room that, you assume, is his.

When he shuts the door closed, the noises of the party gets muffled and you look at him with probably the stupidest look ever.

“Alright, let me explain myself,” he breathes out. “I’m sorry if I stepped over some boundaries, I just… I was outside and heard the conversation. Thought I would help you out.”

“But what made you think I needed help?” you ask. The conversation was very innocent for an outsider. He couldn’t know what you were planning to do, so why did he think you needed his help?

Harry gives you a tight-lipped smile, cocking his head to the side.

“Y/N, we might not be close friends, but I’ve seen you around with Oliver. It’s written on your forehead that you have the fattest crush on the guy.”

“What?!” you snap, feeling your cheeks heating up. “Is this really that obvious?!”

“Don’t worry, seems like he is one of the few that don’t seem to notice it. I saw how uncomfortable you were when he introduced the girl. Seemed like you needed the help.”

Nodding you take a few seconds to process everything that just happened. You shouldn’t have drunk that much, because now your brain has to work even harder to put the picture together.

“Alright, but… now they think that we are dating. Lexi will want to meet up with us and it will look stupid if we never even show up again together.”

Harry nods, his lips rolling into his mouth and you know just from his look that there’s more.

“Yeah, about that. I might have had some selfish reasons behind my actions as well.”

“What do you mean?”

Harry walks past you, over to his bed and sits on the edge, leaning forward to rest his arms on his thighs. You’re not sure what to do with yourself, if you should sit next to him or somewhere else, he has a few beanbags in the corner of his room, but you decide to just keep standing.

“So, I don’t know if you know this but I had this thing with Naomi Saddler.”

“Harry, everyone knows it.”

“Right, yeah,” he chuckles awkwardly. “So the thing is, we have broken up a long time ago, but she keeps coming after me and I’m just so over it. So when we were fighting earlier today I told her that I’m dating someone else so I would appreciate if she left me alone.”

He doesn’t need to say more, you finally see the whole picture. He helped you because he felt sorry for you, but also because he thought it would benefit him as well. You could be his new girlfriend so Naomi would finally let him be. You have to admit, it’s a lucky coincidence, but still, the situation is a little absurd for your liking.

“So… what are we supposed to do now?” you ask, tilting your head to the side. Harry looks up at you, seemingly surprised you haven’t snapped at him.

“Well, I know it sounds crazy, but I think we both would benefit from it if we just… pretended to be a couple,” he clears off.

“Like, a real couple?”

“Well, obviously not real, but it would look real to others,” he chuckles, standing up and taking a few steps closer to you. “I know it sounds stupid, but I’m convinced we could pull it off.”

“We barely know each other.”

“We’ll have plenty of time for that, won’t we?” he asks with a boyish smirk. “Look, we just have to appear together here and there. I’ll pick you up sometimes, we can go for lunch or dinner sometimes, and I’ll get you tickets for some of my games. That’s it. People will see us out together and that’s gonna be perfectly enough. Or do you actually hate me? Now is the time to tell me.”

“I don’t hate you, I don’t know you that well,” you reply with a soft chuckle. “But I’m not convinced enough this is a good idea at all.”

Harry sighs and walks closer until he can rest his hands on your shoulders. You look deep into his green eyes as he smiles at you warmly.

“Let’s make a deal. You can use me as an excuse whenever Oliver and Lexi wants to hang out with you, or if they actually force you to meet them, I’ll go with you so you won’t be the third wheel. And you’ll just have to say that I’m your boyfriend and spend some time with me so Naomi believes I’m dating you. I think it’s a fair deal for the both of us. And you can call it off anytime, I don’t want to force you to do anything you don’t want to.”

You chew on your bottom lip, thinking hard to figure out what to do. Judging from this short conversation with Lexi, you’re sure she’ll try to keep you around often, but you are not in the mood to watch Oliver be all lovey-dovey with someone else, so you could actually use a solid excuse, which Harry just offered you on a silver plate. You just have to spend some time with him in exchange and tell people he is your boyfriend. It’s not that horrible and you always thought Harry is nice company, you two just never was in the same friend group to get closer. You can’t really bring up anything against his plan.

“Okay,” you finally nod, Harry’s eyebrows shooting up in surprise.

“Really?”

“Why are you so shocked? Your points were valid, I’m willing to give it a try.”

“Yes! Thank you!” he cheers, arms wrapping around you as he hugs you tight in excitement. “I’ll be the best boyfriend you’ve ever had, you won’t be disappointed!”

You want to say how it’s easy to be the best because you’ve had none so far, but you decide to keep this information to yourself.

“We need to get our story straight though, so we don’t mess it up when someone asks.”

The two of you go over an elaborate timeline of your nonexistent relationship so you’ll be able to tell the same story. It’s the same he told Lexi and Oliver outside, you just agree on the details, like when you started dating, how he asked you out, what you’ve been doing as a couple lately.

When you leave his room a little later you’re still a tad bit shocked where this evening ended up heading. You really thought tonight would be the turning point for you and Oliver, but now you are in a fake relationship with Harry Styles, ready to fool everyone around you.

Walking down the stairs Harry takes your hand and laces your fingers together. You agreed on no kissing on the lips for now, but other touching is allowed, you’re just not used to have someone other than Oliver touch you like this.

“Want another drink?” he asks as the two of you walk into the kitchen. You’ve already caught some wide-eyed look upon your arrival, but you’re trying your best to ignore them.

“I surely need it,” you nod, making Harry chuckle.

Sandra and the other girls are still in the kitchen and she immediately pulls you to the side when Harry lets go of you to get drinks.

“What the fuck?!” she snaps, clearly a little drunk, but not enough to ignore the fact that she has seen you now two times holding Harry’s hand.

“Sandra, don’t freak out, I’ll explain it all when we go home, alright? But… as far as you know, Harry and I are dating.”

“You what? You better fucking tell me everything when we get back to the dorm!” she demands right when Harry appears, two cups in his hands, giving you one of them.

“Here,” he smiles warmly.

“Thank you. Harry, this is Sandra, my roommate.”

“Hi, I think I’ve seen you around, but we just never met.” Harry holds out his now empty hand and Sandra shakes it with a dramatic smile, clearly still confused about the situation.

“Yeah, but I guess we’ll be… seeing each other more?” she implies, telling Harry she knows something is up without using those words.

“Ehm, I guess,” he nods, a little uncomfortable before he turns to you. “Alright, I’ll get out of your hair. Let me know when you want to go back to the dorm.” “Sure,” you nod, Harry squeezes your hand gently before moving away.

Sandra is dying to know what the situation is with Harry, but you don’t really have the chance to talk in the middle of the party, so it’s postponed to later. You and Harry do your own thing through the rest of the night, occasionally interacting whenever you cross paths. When that happens he makes sure to touch your arm or face, have a few words with you so people see that the two of you have a thing going on.

It’s a little past one am when you and Sandra decide it’s time to head home. As promised, you shoot Harry a text that you’re planning to leave and he replies with one saying he’ll meet you outside at the front. By the time you and Sandra step outside, he is already there waiting.

“Ladies, let me walk you home,” he smirks charmingly, offering his arm for the both of you, so this is how you head home: you, Sandra and Harry walking side by side with linked arms.

“Mm, Harry, I hope you know you won’t be spending the night in our room,” Sandra sighs, clearly a little too lost in her drunk thoughts. Harry chuckles, finding it amusing that Sandra is so blunt.

“Weren’t planning to.”

“Good. I’m not gonna listen to you guys have sex all night.”

“Sandra!” you snap at her, gasping. It’s funny how she also believed the little act you and Harry put up tonight.

The walk back to the dorm is short and it’s mostly filled with Sandra’s babbling about whatever catches her attention. Arriving to the building Sandra says her goodbye to Harry, heading up to the room on her own so you can have a minute with Harry.

“I’ve had at least ten people coming up to me tonight, asking about you,” Harry tells you, an excited sparkle in his eyes.

“Really? And what did you tell them?”

“What we agreed on. That you’re my girlfriend.”

“Sounds so weird,” you admit with a chuckle.

“You’ll get used to it,” he nods smiling. “Well, I’m gonna head back. I’ll talk to you later, okay? We’ll discuss the dates and all.”

“Very romantic,” you point out smirking, but Harry just laughs before he gives you a quick hug.

“Good night, Y/N. Or should I say, baby?”

“Bye!” you sing waving in his way as you walk into the building.

It’s no surprise that Sandra is already out when you walk into the room. Her clothes are in a pile next to her bed, but she managed to throw on at least a t-shirt before she passed out. You just smile at her before doing your quick night routine and go to sleep yourself.

“So… you are fake dating Harry, because Oliver introduced you his new girlfriend and also because he is trying to get rid of Naomi? Am I getting this right?”

Sandra narrows her eyes at you over her morning coffee the next day, though it’s already past noon. Waking up was a little painful for the both of you, but especially for her, the two of you decided to treat yourselves for a very late brunch while you tell her everything she needs to know about last night.

“Yeah,” you nod, taking a bite from your waffles. “I know, it sounds stupid, but… it can easily work great for the both of us.”

“I can’t believe he just came up with it. You guys are not even really friends.”

“I know, I was shocked when he appeared all of a sudden and called me baby. Almost fainted,” you chuckle.

“I hope you know you’ll be one of the most envied girls in school if the news spread and I’m sure it will, because even I heard people talking about you and Harry last night.”

“I know, but there’s not much I can do about that,” you shrug.

“I feel like it’s the plotline of some teenage rom-com,” Sandra huffs. “Just be careful, Y/N,” she sighs, finishing off her coffee.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that pretending can easily turn into reality. If you’ll spend so much time with Harry, there’s a chance you’ll develop real feelings for him. Just make sure you won’t end up with a broken heart.”

“That’s silly, I won’t fall for Harry. I…” You cut your words, thoughts wandering over to Oliver right away, and how you felt when he introduced you to Lexi.

“I hope you’re right,” Sandra tells you, stuffing the last bits of her muffin into her mouth.

The weekend flies by fast, you busy yourself with doing laundry and finishing a paper you need to turn in soon. Harry text you on Sunday that he’ll walk you to class on Monday morning and you agree to meet up a little earlier so you can actually talk it all out.

Sandra is still in bed when you leave in the morning. Just as Harry promised, he is waiting for you in front of the building, wearing his usual black skinny jeans and a loose grey shirt and a zip-up hoodie. His curls look untamed, a little all over the place, but it looks good on him. You have to admit, that he is definitely handsome, you understand why so many of the girls at school are after him.

“Good morning, girlfriend,” he smirks, holding out his hand for you that you take, still feeling a little weird about walking around campus hand in hand with him.

“Good morning. How was your weekend?”

“Pretty boring, we had to clean up after the party,” he chuckles. “Wanna grab a coffee?”

“Sounds perfect.”

You swing by the little café that’s on campus before aiming for a bench under one of the pergolas near the main building.

“So, you still haven’t changed your mind,” he speaks up. It’s not a question, more like a comment.

“Not yet,” you chuckle softly, sipping on your cappuccino.

“I meant it that you can tell me whenever you want out. I don’t want to force you into it in any way.”

“I know,” you smile at him. “I’m fine for now. It’s just still a little weird.”

“I know, but I’m kind of happy you are the one I’m doing this with.”

“How come?”

“I don’t know, you seem like a cool person. I actually enjoyed working with you last year on that project, you are funny and smart, I think we’ll get along pretty well.”

“Really?”

“Of course,” he smirks at you, taking a sip from his coffee. “You know, if I’m being honest I never understood why you and that Oliver guy were so close anyway. You’ve known him for a long time?”

“Yeah, met him in middle school and we’ve been friends since then.”

“And how long have you been… you know,” he implies, seemingly very careful not to ask something that would upset you.

“Pretty much ever since I’ve met him,” you admit with an awkward chuckle. It sounds so embarrassing to admit that you’ve been in love with your best friend for so long and never worked up the courage to do something about it.

“You never even tried to tell him?”

“I was too afraid of his reaction. I was planning to come clean at the party finally, but then he arrived with Lexi and… you know the rest.”

“I’m sorry. I know how shitty it is when you have feelings for someone and they don’t feel the same about you.”

“So what’s the situation with you and Naomi then?” you ask, thinking it’s only fair if you also know his story now that you confessed him how ridiculous you’ve been with Oliver all your life.

“We dated at the end of last semester, tried to keep it up in the summer as well, but it didn’t work. It made me realize I don’t even want it to work so I told her that we should just go our separate ways when I got back after the summer, but she wasn’t a fan of my idea.”

“She’s still in love with you?”

“I’m not sure if she ever was,” he truthfully answers. “I think she liked the idea of dating someone more than she liked me.”

“I’m sorry about that.”

“Don’t be,” he smirks at you playfully. “I’m all good. I just wish she could accept that I want to move on. It’s not ideal that I have to fake date someone to get rid of her.”

“She always seemed like a nice girl to me, I wouldn’t have guessed she can be so stubborn.”

“Well, she is a nice girl,” Harry nods. “We were just not compatible on the long run, you know? I couldn’t see it work in the future, so I didn’t want to waste more time on it.”

You just shyly nod, even though you don’t really know about it. You can’t, because you’ve never been in a similar situation. You’ve had a few attempts at dating in high school, but they never turned out the way you wanted and you always ended up pining after Oliver at the end, so you eventually gave up. But you’re not willing to admit that to Harry. It’s pathetic enough that you’ve been so hung up on Oliver your whole life, he doesn’t need to know that you gave up your whole dating life for the wait for him.

“Well, aren’t we a nice pair then? Two ridiculously failed love stories, how tragic,” Harry chuckles softly as he finishes up his coffee and throws the empty cup into the bin next to him.

“Yeah, pathetic,” you agree with a tight-lipped smile.

It takes some time for word to travel, but by the end of the first week of your fake relationship, it becomes a well-known fact that you are indeed dating Harry Styles. You don’t overdo it though, only meeting up once or twice a day, Harry usually walks you to your classes in the morning if he doesn’t have a lecture himself, you’ve had lunch together twice and you went to the library on Thursday together. It’s been pretty casual and you’ve been actually enjoying spending time with Harry, especially because it seems like Oliver has fallen off the face of Earth lately, barely even talking to you.

The more time you spend with Harry the more you realize he is nothing like others try to make him look like. You’ve heard many gossips about him being an empty-headed womanizer, but he is a lot smarter than people assume him to be, but he has proven it before as well. He actually has a great point of view of life and it’s nice to discuss basically anything with him.

Friday brings another party and though you didn’t plan on going, you had Sandra and Harry convincing you this time. Then later Oliver texted you asking if you’d be there and it angered you a little. He barely spoke to you and is now asking if you are coming to the party where he’ll probably keep ignoring you for Lexi. So you told him you and Harry would be there. He didn’t reply to that.

You and Sandra call an Uber, the Omega house is a little farther away from the dorm than the Kappa house. Harry called you to tell you he’d be a little late this time because they are having a double practice today, but he would come and find you when he arrives.

“Isn’t it a little weird you can’t hook up with anyone because of the Harry situation?” Sandra asks as the two of you make your way through the spacious living room, heading to the empty loveseat in the corner.

“As if I did a lot of hooking up before,” you scoff, taking a sip from your drink.

“Okay, but you could be doing it now, but you can’t, because people would think you’re cheating.”

“It’s a good thing then that I’m not into hooking up,” you point out with a shrug. You were never a fan of just hooking up with someone and then move on the next morning, that’s just not for you. It’s not a big deal that you are kind of out of the dating scene because of your arrangement with Harry, you don’t feel like you’re missing out on anything.

The two of you are joined by a few peers from one of Sandra’s classes and you barely even notice when Oliver and Lexi arrive, however, they immediately spot you.

“Y/N! Hi! So good to see you again!” Lexi greets you, pulling you into a completely unnecessary hug.

“Oh, hi. Good to see you too, I guess,” you chuckle awkwardly. Oliver gives you a side hug as well, but it seems like he is not entirely present in his head.

“Where’s Harry?” Oliver questions.

“He’ll be here soon, he just had double practice today,” you tell him and he nods shortly, but something feels off about him.

Lexi makes you come to the kitchen with them so she can get a drink and you can’t really think of a reason why you shouldn’t, so you find yourself listening to her nonstop chatter while Oliver is mixing them something to drink.

Y/N: Harry, SOS! When are you getting here?? I’m stuck with O and L…

You really hope he is somewhere close, because you’re not sure how long you can put up with their company.

“I know last time you said you’re not a fan of double dates, but I really think we should give it a try!” Lexi begs you, she even puts her bottom lip at you and it annoys you how she can’t just leave you to be.

“Yeah, I would love to get to know Harry better,” Oliver chimes in.

“You do?”

Relief washes over you the moment you hear Harry’s voice coming from behind you, a moment later you feel his palm on the small of your back and you’re finally rescued. He smells like fresh body wash, he surely just had a shower right before he came here. You let yourself lean into his side, curling an arm around his waist.

“Harry, nice to see you again,” Oliver smiles at him dryly and now you’re sure something is up with him, but what is it?

“Sorry I’m so late. Everything alright?” Harry looks you in the eyes and you know his question is more than just him being nice. He wants to know if Oliver and Lexi has driven you up the walls.

“I’m… fine, yeah,” you nod and he holds your gaze for another moment before nodding to himself.

“We were just talking about how amazing a double date would be. I’m sure you could convince Y/N to come, right?” Lexi smiles at Harry and you catch a small frown on his face before he returns the smile to Lexi. You find it funny, but you push down your laugh.

“Um, not sure. Y/N always has a strong will, not sure I want to go against it.”

“Oh, come on! It’ll be fun!”

“Y/N doesn’t like PDA, I’m sure double dating is a lot for her,” Oliver comments and your eyebrows shoot up at his words.

“How would you know if I disliked PDA?”

He has no valid information about it. He wouldn’t know, because the only person you ever wanted to get touchy and lovey in public was him, but he only let you get physically close to him when no one was around. When he felt like he needed someone in his bed so he didn’t feel too alone. When he let his hands roam your body under the blanket when you were watching a movie. He never let it happen with others around though, so how would he even know what you like? Hell, even you don’t know it…

Oliver’s eyes meet yours and it’s clear that your question caught him off guard.

“You told me,” he simply answers.

“I don’t remember,” you retort, not letting him get away with it this time.

“This is how you’ve always been.” He is clearly pissed that you are going against him.

“You know what? Let’s do a double date next weekend, alright? But we have somewhere to be now, if you’ll excuse us,” Harry cuts in, taking your hand as he pulls you away from the happy couple. You glance back at Oliver one last time before turning around.

Harry walks you out to the backyard and the cool air hits you hard in the head. You haven’t even realized how hot you were getting in there, but you’re not entirely sure it was because of all the people, rather of because Oliver’s behavior.

“Okay, what the fuck was that in there?” Harry questions.

“What do you mean?”

“Y/N, I’m not dumb or blind. Lexi might be oblivious to whatever you and Oliver have going on, but I’m not. Something has happened between you and him, right?”

You chew on your bottom lip, crossing your arms on your chest, not too keen on admitting it. You have never told anyone about it in details, not even Sandra. She knows you and Oliver get a little too close at times, but she has no idea you’ve slept with him on several occasions. You always thought you were a fool for sleeping with him and then watching him date other girls.

Unfortunately, your silence is enough for Harry to draw his conclusion.

“Wait, what? Did you two…?”

“Yes,” you shortly nod, feeling uncomfortable, but you can tell you can’t dodge this conversation this time.

“You’re telling me he has the nerve to sleep with you whenever it’s convenient for him and then drop you when he starts dating someone else?”

“It sounds worse than how it really is,” you mumble, but you don’t truly believe your own words. It’s pretty bad either way.

“Y/N, this is fucked up. A friend wouldn’t do that to you. It’s one thing to seek comfort at your friends, but using them for your own physical needs is just way beyond the line.”

You have nothing to say. Deep down you know he is right, you’ve always known, but you never knew what to do against it. Before you could even stop yourself, you feel your lips trembling, tears bubbling in your eyes as you glance at Harry. You expect pity from him, an act that tells you that you brought it all to yourself, but that’s not what you see. He gives you an apologetic look and he is quick to pull you into a tight hug, exactly what you need right now.

“I know, I’m so stupid,” you mumble into his chest.

“You’re not. He is just an ass,” he corrects you, earning a small chuckle from you. “Hey, do you want to get out of here?” he asks, pulling back so he can look into your eyes.

“You just got here.”

“Yeah, but I’m not really in the mood to party. Want to have a bite somewhere?”

“That would be… great,” you nod with a small smile, sniffling a little before you wipe your cheeks.

You let Sandra know you’re leaving with Harry and she can tell something has happened, but you just tell her you’ll talk later and she doesn’t push it further. Harry takes your hand as the two of you make your way through the people and you spot Oliver near the kitchen, one arm around Lexi’s shoulders as his gaze meets yours. You see him clenching his jaw when he sees your hand in Harry’s hold, but you don’t pay much attention to him, wanting to get out of there as soon as possible.

Luckily Harry drove to the Omega house so now you don’t have to wait for a car or take a long walk, you can enjoy the comfort of his Rover as the two of you leave the party behind. It’s silent in the car, you fold your arms over your chest, your head resting against the car door, not even questioning him where you are headed.

About ten minutes later Harry pulls up at a little diner, the two of you walk in and it’s not surprising there are just a few people lingering around at this time, though you know later they’ll have quite a few drunk students that are on their way home and in desperate need of a late night bite.

You take an empty booth and a waitress arrives immediately, handing you each a menu.

“Do you go here often?” you ask quietly, eyeing the options.

“Sometimes. They have great fries.”

You nod and decide to have just a cheeseburger with fries and a lemonade while Harry gets the veggie burger and a milkshake. The waiter takes the order shortly and leaves you alone. You’re not sure what to say, but you feel like you need to say something.

“I’m sorry,” you mumble, staring down at your arms laying on the edge of the table, your right hand covering your left.

“For what exactly?”

“For… I just feel so stupid about this whole… Oliver thing. I know I shouldn’t have done what we did, but I just… couldn’t say no. I know, sounds ridiculous.”

“No, not at all,” Harry shakes his head. “You fell for him and he used you. If there’s anyone to blame it’s him, he shouldn’t use a friend for his own selfish needs. I’m not judging you, it’s easy to fall into holes like this.”

“I just really thought that he came to me because I meant something for him, but I can tell that… it wasn’t anything like that. The way he acted today was shockingly sobering,” you chuckle bitterly. “I think he is mad that I’m not available for him anymore and he is trying to play us down,” you say pointing at him and yourself. “So when he breaks it off with Lexi he can count on me, but it’s not happening.”

“I am happy to help you teach him any kind of lesson,” Harry grins just as the waiter arrives with the food and you start the feast. “I know you despise the idea of going on a double date with them, but I think we could have a lot of fun,” Harry points out while eating.

“How?”

“It’s obviously bugging Oliver that you are dating someone, we could give him the extra happy couple act, make him question why he was always such an asshole to you.”

“You think it would bother him?”

“Absolutely,” he chuckles. “We would serve him all the sappy, lovey couple shit from movies and get under his skin. I think it would be fun.”

“Okay, let’s do it,” you nod and Harry grins at you from across the table.

“Yes! Fake dating on maximum level!” he cheers, punching into the air, making you laugh.

As the two of you eat Harry talks your ears off and you know exactly why he just keeps on talking. He wants to take your mind away from everything about Oliver and he succeeds. He tells you stories about what it’s like to live in the frat house, all the funny things they’ve done with the boys and you just keep laughing and laughing until all the food is gone, the table is cleared off and it’s nearing one in the morning. Just as you expected, people from around the campus start dropping by for their midnight bite so the two of you slowly head out, not really wanting to run into someone you know. Harry drives you back to the dormitory and walks you up to the entrance.

“Thank you for tonight,” you breathe out, still feeling a little helpless and pathetic, but he definitely made it better with his company.

“No worries. After all, this is what boyfriends are for,” he chuckles lightly. “But I hope you are not gonna sink into self-pity over that douche.”

“Just a little?” you peek up at him with a scowl.

“Nope, not even a little, Y/N. He doesn’t deserve your time. If he is really gonna let you slip through his fingers, he is the biggest idiot on Earth. And he also has to be blind.”

For some reason, Harry’s words bring a blush to your cheeks, even if there’s a chance he doesn’t really mean them.

“Thank you,” you breathe out and he pulls you in for a hug without hesitation. You wrap your arms around his waist and inhale his sweet scent, melting into his warm embrace before you force yourself to let your arms fall from around his frame.

“Have a good rest of your weekend, girlfriend,” he smirks, backing towards his car. “I’ll see you on Monday!”

“Bye Harry!” you smile in his way before making your way inside.

Not too willingly, but you talk to Oliver the next week about the double date. He sounds clearly surprised that you brought it up yourself and he tries to talk you down, but you’re now way too curious about what would go down, so he has no choice than to say yes. You fix the date to Saturday and Harry says it’s fine for him and that the two of you can go over to the frat house later, they are gonna have a small get together for one of the guys’ birthday. Not a party, more of a beer and pizza type of evening since Clyde, the birthday boy is not that big of a party animal.

The week passes by as usual, you spend some time with Sandra and a little more with Harry. Since you’ve started this whole dating thing, you’ve found yourself getting used to have him around. It doesn’t feel forced anymore, you actually like hanging out with him, have him beside you in the library even if you’re not even talking and whenever you spot him waiting for you in the morning or after one of your classes, you have this stupid smile on your face walking up to him, especially when he calls you girlfriend. Sandra’s warning words pop up in your head time to time, telling you to be careful with having actual feelings for Harry, but you keep telling yourself the two of you are nothing else than just good friends.

Saturday morning you get your nails done with Sandra, have some much needed girly time since you’ve had little of that lately, even a fake relationship needs a lot of time and energy, if you’re being honest.

Sandra catches you smiling down at a text that’s from Harry, he just joked about wearing a tux to the roller-skating rink and you imagined it right away, the picture of everyone else dressed casually while he is dressed for a royal ball is just hilarious.

“So how are things with Harry?” she asks from the chair next to you.

“What do you mean?” you ask, eyes fixed on your nails as the lady is carefully painting them a light pink color.

“You two are like glued together.”

“Yeah, I like spending time with him. And like, we are dating,” you smirk, finding it funny to just casually say it.

“You do know you don’t have to keep the act up with me, right?”

“I know, but we really are friends,” you nod.

“Just friends? Because sometimes being friends with someone is a bit more to you,” she comments and your face falls. She right away realizes it was a little harsh. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said it. I didn’t mean to be a bitch. I’m just trying to look out for you. I don’t want to see another guy taking advantage of you.”

“He is already taking advantage of me in a way, but it’s mutual,” you shrug, trying to mask the fact how much her words hurt. You’re still trying to get over the whole Oliver thing and though it’s been easier with Harry around, you still feel hurt over how badly he has been using you in the past years.

“And… you don’t have feelings for him?”

“We’re friends,” you tell her again.

“Yes, but you can have feelings for a friend too, Y/N.”

“I don’t really want to talk about it. We are doing fine, I enjoy being with him, that’s all.”

“Alright, I believe you. Just want to make sure you are not getting yourself into another Oliver situation.”

“I’m not. Harry is not him,” you firmly state and it’s the truth. Even if things go south with him, you can never see him do the things Oliver did. He is not him in the best possible way.

For the double date you choose to wear your favorite pair of light-washed mom jeans with a tank top tucked into it and a colorful cardigan under your jacket. Harry texted you that he would pick you up at six and because you are ready by half past five, you sit around in your room a little anxiously. You honestly have no idea what’s gonna happen tonight, where it’s gonna head but you can only hope it won’t be scandalous. People already talk enough about you for dating Harry, you don’t need to be known about being the girl who made a scene at the roller-skating rink with her boyfriend and best friend. It wouldn’t do good to your reputation.

When Harry finally texts you letting you know he has arrived you rush down the stairs, still haven’t been able to shake your nerves off, but as soon as you spot him standing by his car, you kind of forget about everything else. He is wearing his usual skinny jeans with a black shirt, of course, the first few buttons left undone. His hair is getting longer, curls constantly falling into his forehead, but you love it. Makes him look soft and like… like a prince.

“Hey, ready to have fun?” he smirks at you, opening the door to the passenger seat to you.

“I don’t think I will ever be ready for this kind of fun,” you admit with a soft chuckle before getting into the car.

“I’ll be right there with you, okay? We’re gonna crush them,” he grins at you driving. “And we can just leave whenever you want to.” Reaching over the console he takes your hand and squeezes it gently. The gesture sends a shiver running down your spine. It feels so good to have his support, you wouldn’t want to do this with anyone else than him.

Oliver and Lexi are already at the arcade that’s connected with the skating place when the two of you arrive. She looks ecstatic about tonight and it’s almost kind of cute, you’re convinced you’d actually be friends with her if the two of you met under different circumstances.

“Hi! Thank you so much for coming! I know it’s not really your thing, but I’m so happy we can finally hang out!” she cheers, giving you a hug. Oliver and Harry shake hands and Harry gives Lexi a short hug while you just awkwardly nod in Oliver’s direction, already feeling anxious in his presence. Harry takes your hand walking in and squeezes it gently. Peeking up at him he gifts you with a warm smile that tells you: it’s gonna be alright, I’m here with you.

Once all four of you have changed your shoes to your skates and put your belongings to the lockers you head to the rink, you and Lexi in the middle, Harry on your other side while Oliver is on Lexi’s other side.

“Y/N, Oliver has told me a lot about you. What was it like, growing up with him?” Lexi asks as the four of you roll around. You’re not the worst at roller-skating, you can move confidently, but it seems like Harry is the best out of all of you, easily moving around, as if he were on his feet.

Thinking back at your time with Oliver now at Lexi’s question, it’s quite bittersweet. Because you are starting to realize things you didn’t see back then. Like how you were always in his shadow, he was always the guy everyone liked and you were just the girl that tagged along.

“Um, not sure what you want to know about,” you chuckle awkwardly as you watch Harry throw his ball for the first time.

“Was he a womanizer? Tell me the truth! He says he barely dated a few people,” she chuckles, taking Oliver’s hand. He is pretty much avoiding to look you in the eyes as you glance over him and you really wish she didn’t ask you about it.

“He had quite a few… flings,” you say, not entirely sure how to phrase it. He wasn’t a womanizer, but he did start to hook up with you between girls a while ago, making his reputation a little questionable.

“I knew you were downplaying it!” she playfully smacks his chest and you just bite into your bottom lip. This is already so awkward.

“I think Y/N is just exaggerating,” Oliver chimes in, seemingly not a fan of the conversation either.

“Sure, it’s always me,” you mumble under your breath.

Harry takes your hand and gets a little ahead of you before turning around so he is facing you while skating backwards.

“Hey baby, want me to teach you how to go in zig-zag?” he smirks, clearly wanting to ease the tension. Nodding you let him take both of your hands as the two of you stay a little back from Oliver and Lexi. “Don’t let him get under your skin. He is a fucking asshole,” he tells you when he knows they can’t hear him.

“Was he always like this? I have no idea how I could put up with his act,” you mumble with a scowl.

“Fuck them. Come on, let’s have a good time,” he grins before taking the lead.

Harry makes your forget about them so easily, like it’s not even a double date, just the two of you hanging out. He keeps teaching you moves, laughing together whenever you get wobbly. He catches you every time when you’re about to lose your balance, he doesn’t let you fall and every time his arms circle around you, keeping you on your feet steadily, you find yourself blushing at how close he is getting to you. His hands holding yours, small touches on your arms and back, he takes every chance to connect the two of you and you enjoy every second of it.

“Harry, no!” you laugh as he holds your hand, still going around.

“Come on! Just try it! Just a little jump!” he encourages.

“Do you want to see me fall?”

“I would have let you fall a long time ago if that’s what I wanted,” he smirks. He gets ahead of you again, both his hands taking yours and you still can’t get used to how soothing his palms feel against yours. “I’ll catch you this time too, don’t worry.”

“I swear you are trying to kill me,” you groan as you try to figure out how to do a little jump without breaking a bone. “But just a little one!”

“The tiniest one,” he chuckles nodding.

You let him take the lead and he starts pulling you again, skating backwards like he did all evening and when you feel like you’re stable enough, you give it a go.

Unfortunately, what happens is exactly what you were expecting. When your skates meet with the floor again after the little jump, you don’t find your balance and immediately feel your feet rolling out from under yourself. Harry reaches out for you, just like he promised, grabbing onto your arm with one hand while the other one presses into your back, but this time he can’t save you and you pull him with yourself as well. The two of you end up falling to the ground in a laughing mess as Harry is partially lying on you, an arm stuck under you while the other one is across your chest.

“I told you!” you cry out but it turns into laughter pretty fast.

“I’m sorry, baby, are you okay?” he asks laughing and your heart skips a beat at how he called you baby again and Oliver is not even around.

“I-I’m fine,” you breathe out as he peels himself off you, helping you up with him as well. He is so close to you as you finally stand on your feet again, your noses almost brush against each other as you blink up at him nervously.

It would be so easy to kiss him. You want to know what it’s like to feel his lips against yours. Maybe if you move just a little…

“Are you trying to break a bone, Y/N?” Lexi rolls up to you, totally breaking the moment as you both turn to her. Harry leaves an arm around you, hand resting on your waist and you lean against him to steady yourself on your wheels.

“It was Harry’s idea, but I knew I would terribly fail,” you chuckle slightly. Oliver appears behind Lexi, wrapping his arms around her waist from behind and you clench your jaw at the gesture. Harry must have noticed the shift in you, because he tightens his hold around you, his hand soothingly running up and down your side. And just like that, Oliver is long forgotten, you can only think about how it feels to have his fingers dancing on you.

“You were never really into athletic things, Y/N,” Oliver comments and you grimace.

“Just because I didn’t play any sports in high school, doesn’t mean I can’t try things now.”

“I think you did great,” Harry smiles down at you. “You just need a little more practice and you’ll be better than me, baby.”

Baby, there’s that pet name again. It’s doing things to you for sure.

Glancing over at Oliver you catch what looks like an eye-rolling and he genuinely looks annoyed by you and Harry and it’s making your blood boil at this point. Why can he be the only one to date someone? Why can’t you have a good time with someone? Now that you are thinking about it, he did it not only with guys, but also with anyone who tried to be friends with you. Oliver wanted him to be your only friend and sneakily ruined every friendship you ever had. Sandra is your first real friend other than Oliver, only because he couldn’t do anything against you forming any kind of relationship with your roommate. But you are now getting quite fed up with his little games and Harry might not be your real boyfriend, but you are friends with him and Oliver can do nothing about that.

Soon enough you decide you’ve had enough of the skating, so you move to the side and start changing back to your shoes. Lexi runs out to the restroom and while you are putting your sneakers back on Harry spots someone he knows, working at the buffet so he steps aside for a minute, leaving you and Oliver alone.

“Are you really dating him?” you hear him speak up and you can’t help the scowl on your face.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“He is just so not the type of person you hang out with,” he comments with a shrug and your eyebrows shoot up.

“First of all, how would you know? My friends were always kind of more your friends, never really had the chance to find my people. And second, what’s the problem with him?”

“The problem is that we all know what he is like. Everyone on campus knows that Harry is famous for going after a lot of girls.”

“And you believe what others say? You know nothing about him. He is not what people try to make him appear to be, but you wouldn’t know, because you don’t know him like I do. And for the record, yes, I really am dating him and I’m very happy about it.”

You can tell he doesn’t like your reaction and he is probably fighting back to snap at you, but Harry soon returns, oblivious to the scene that just went down, however he can sense the shift in the atmosphere immediately.

“Everything alright?” he asks, seemingly innocently, but you know he is asking if Oliver has done something.

“Yeah. Can we leave?” you ask, not too keen on staying with Oliver any longer. It’s getting hard to imagine how you could ever put up with him and his act.

“Are you guys leaving? We could grab a bite together!” Lexi chimes in arriving back from the restroom. You are about to decline, but Harry speaks up before you.

“Oh, we have plans already, but maybe some other time,” he politely says, a hand on your lower back as he pulls you to his side and you’re thankful for his close presence now. If he weren’t there, you would have already jumped at Oliver’s throat probably.

“Oh, okay! I’m glad we got to do this though,” she smiles warmly, taking Oliver’s hand while you just chew on the inside of your cheeks, very keen on leaving as soon as possible.

Your force a smile on your face, bidding goodbye before Harry takes your hand and the two of you head out to his car.

“Hey, everything okay?” he asks when it’s finally just the two of you. Staring down at your hands on your lap, you bite into your bottom lip.

“Just… let’s leave. I had enough of Oliver for a life today,” you mumble and luckily, Harry doesn’t try to keep asking around, just starts the car and leaves.

On the way he asks if you still want to come over to the frat house and you say yes, because you feel like you could use the distraction. You’d rather spend some more time around him than go back to your dorm room and be alone with your thoughts.

Just as he promised, it’s nothing big, just a few close friends of some of the frat boys, pizza boxes are piled in the kitchen, music is playing in the background but it’s not blasting like when it’s a party. A big group is playing UNO in the living room using two deck of cards so the rounds don’t end too soon.

You and Harry get a slice of pizza, already starving after the skating and when you’re done with that, the two of you wander into the living room. There’s no more room left on the mismatched couches so Harry plops himself down to the ground and you stop for a moment, because there’s someone sitting on both of his sides, leaving not much space for you, but he is quick to solve the problem by taking your hand and pulling you down so you sit between his legs, your back pressed against his chest.

“Oh,” you breathe out from the sudden contact, but it feels nice. You cross your legs so his legs can bridge over them with his knees bent as he looks over your shoulders to see the game unfold.

“You guys want to play?” one of the girls asks.

“There’s not enough cards for the both of them to join!” another warns.

“We’ll just play together,” Harry speaks up from behind you and in the next round you join the game.

Harry rests his chin on your shoulder as his arms come around you, holding the cards so you can see them as well. It’s the closest he has been to you, basically wrapped around you and it’s definitely doing things to you. The way his chest warms your back, how you can feel every breath he draws because his face is so close next to yours, how his arms cage you gently, you are suddenly aware of even the smallest things.

“Pick one,” he murmurs when it’s your turn to throw a card in. You’ve been so occupied with him that you have no idea what color or number you should pick so you quickly check the deck in the middle before pointing at a red card. “Throw it in,” he tells you, pushing the card up with his thumb so you can take it and put it to the top.

Sitting here, on the floor of his frat house, his arms around you feels so much better than anything you’ve experienced with Oliver and the realization hits you hard in the chest. Turning your head to the side you let yourself take a good look at his perfect side profile, his chiseled jawline, the bridge of his nose and the little wrinkle between his eyebrows as he knits them together in focus, staring down at the cards in his hands. He catches you looking, his green eyes meet yours and a soft smile spreads across his face.

“What?”

“Nothing,” you shake your head.

“Everything alright?” he quietly asks and you nod.

“Yeah,” you breathe out turning back, but you still feel his lingering gaze on you for a few more moments before he turns away too.

You keep playing as the night moves on, drinking some beer, making you relax even more, though Harry’s closeness does the job just perfectly. Even when you are not sitting on the ground anymore, he always keeps close to you. Curling an arm around your waist when you stand in the kitchen talking with others, he keeps giving your hands and hips assuring little squeezes and you can’t help but lean into his touch every time. You want him close, you want to feel his touch, you love it when your eyes meet and he always shoots you a small smile, it makes your heart flutter, like you’re a little school girl with a silly crush.

Because now you are more than sure that you’re crushing on Harry. How can you not? He has been so good to you, did more than Oliver has ever done and you’ve been friends for just a few weeks.

You leave him for just a few minutes while you use the bathroom and as you return, you catch some of the conversation he is having with one of the boys, Jake.

“Dude, can’t believe the ladies’ favorite Styles is taken,” Jake laughs and it makes you scowl as you stop at the corner, listening on them.

“Jake, I told you to stop calling me that,” Harry huffs.

“I’m just telling you the truth. Every girl on campus is after you.”

“That doesn’t have anything to do with me being in a relationship.”

“I just thought that the womanizer Harry Styles wouldn’t settle again for a while.”

“Jake, I’m not a womanizer, stop this bullshit. Just because girls try to get together with me, doesn’t mean I want the same thing.”

You choose this moment to walk in, knowing well Harry must be losing his patience with Jake and his irrelevant accusations. Walking in you smile warmly at Harry, curling an arm around his waist as you lean into his side. His arm comes around your shoulders and he pulls you close. Jake eyes you with an unreadable expression before his gaze returns to Harry.

“Hope you know what you are doing, mate.”

“I surely do,” Harry firmly answers and it makes you smile, especially because you know what they’ve been talking about.

When Jake walks out you turn to face Harry, playfully poking his tummy as you glance up at him.

“Hey,” you smile up at him, your arms wrapping around his waist as his hands fall to your shoulders.

“Hey,” he chuckles. “Why are you so smiley?”

“I can’t smile?”

“Of course you can,” he smirks. “Want to go back a little more?” he asks nodding towards the living room where there are still quite a few people. You nod and let go of him, turning around you are just about to walk ahead but you didn’t see that a girl was coming inside and you bump right into her, the liquid from her cup spilling down your shirt.

“Shit!” you gasp jumping back, colliding a little with Harry’s chest and his hands immediately grab your waist in case you might lose your balance.

“Fuck, I’m so sorry!” the girl stutters, reaching for paper towels right away, but it helps nearly nothing.

“It’s fine,” you breathe out pressing your lips together.

“Come on, I’ll give you a shirt,” Harry tells you, taking your hand, walking you upstairs. The fabric of your shirt is turning cold against your skin and you really want to get rid of it.

Harry pulls out a simple black shirt for you and shows you the way to his little bathroom. Changing into his shirt you make an attempt to wash yours out, but it doesn’t do much to the sugary spill.

“Do you mind if I stay in it for the rest of the evening? I promise I’ll give it back next time we meet.”

“Sure,” Harry smiles and you catch his gaze wandering down your body, his shirt hanging loosely on your frame. “Do you still want to stay or do you want me to give you a ride back to the dorm?”

“Uh, maybe I should head home,” you nod to yourself.

“Is it okay if I take a quick shower? I feel so sweaty after the skating, just five minutes.”

“Sure, go ahead,” you nod smiling before he disappears in the bathroom.

You hear him turn the water on and walking over to his bed you lie down for a little, feeling the tiredness coming over you all at once. It’s been a long and exhausting day and listening to the soothing voice of the running water you find yourself drifting off to sleep before you could stop yourself.

When you open your eyes again the room is completely dark, but you quickly realize it’s not your dorm room; you’re still at Harry’s. Turning to the side you see him sleeping peacefully on the other side of the mattress, lying on his back. Still groggy with sleep, you realize you fell asleep while he was in the shower and he probably didn’t want to wake you so just went to bed next to you.

He looks like an angel sleeping, his green irises hidden from the world, thick lashes fanned over his cheeks, his pink lips slightly parted as his chest rises and falls peacefully. Sleeping in his bed, wearing his clothes, seeing him next to you, he is all you can think about and it brings a smile to your face.

Gently, you scoot closer to him, but still don’t touch him, however the movement makes him huff in his sleep and turning to his side his arm falls across your waist, making you gasp in surprise. You freeze, thinking that he might wake up any moment but it doesn’t happen and you’re stuck in his hold, not that you mind it. You push yourself a little closer, your nose almost touching his chest as you make yourself comfortable and closing your eyes you go back to sleep without a worry in the world.

Waking up you find yourself curled up to Harry’s side, one of his army around you while the other is holding your hand on his stomach. Blinking your eyes open you look around and take a few seconds to fully wake up. Harry feels so warm against you, but you think he might not like to find you all melted against him so you try to move away but his hold tightens around you.

“Mmm, stop movin’ around,” he mumbles sleepily.

“Sorry, I just thought that… you might feel hot,” you lie in a whisper.

“I am hot,” he smirks with his eyes still closed and his comment makes you laugh.

“And so full of yourself!” you chuckle and try to pull away once again, but he locks you to his side, not letting you break the position you are in.

“I said stop movin’! I like being warm in the morning,” he murmurs, snuggling you more to his side and you bite into your bottom lip as your smile stretches wider with each passing second.

Yeah, you definitely have a crush on Harry and you can’t even act like you don’t.

“Sorry for falling asleep in your bed,” you mumble, closing your eyes as you let your head rest on his chest.

“Y’ looked cute,” he huffs with a soft smile. “S’alright. Give me five minutes and I’ll be awake to drive you back to the dorm.”

You hum a response and just enjoy it while it lasts, not wanting to let him go anytime soon. But you have to. Slowly, the two of you get ready to leave, you want to change back to your stained shirt, but Harry tells you to just keep the shirt, he has two more of the exact same one so you walk out of the frat house wearing Harry’s shirt, holding Harry’s hand and get into Harry’s car. He is everywhere and you absolutely love it.

“So we have this game next weekend and I thought you might want to come? You don’t have to if you absolutely hate football, I just thought—“

“I would love to,” you say cutting his rambling short as he smiles with his eyes staring ahead at the road.

“Cool. Bring your roommate if you want.”

“Sure,” you smile.

Football has never been your thing, but watching Harry is, so the game turns out better than you expected. Sandra tags along and luckily, she knows a little more about the game than you do, so you can ask her questions whenever you are completely lost about the happenings. Though you don’t know much about what a good player should be like, but it’s still clear to you that Harry is one of them. He scores half the points of his team and you are guessing that’s quite fascinating.

“Am I just dreaming or does he keep looking your way?” Sandra questions after you also just caught Harry’s gaze on you a moment ago.

“So what if he is?” you ask with a shy smile, eyes glued to his running frame on the field.

“Are you guys like… really together?”

“No,” you shake your head. “We are just friends,” you add, the term tasting a little bitter on your tongue.

“But you want more.” It’s not a question, Sandra can see right through you. Glancing at her you let out a huff before turning back at the game.

“It’s hard not to,” you truthfully admit, your eyes following Harry’s every movement on the field. Looking around you see that you are probably not the only one. Half of the girls on the bleachers are staring at him and you can’t even blame them. You have to be blind and stupid at the same time not to like him and apparently, you’re neither.

They win, no surprise. The whole team goes crazy as they score their last point and it puts them in the lead in the last minute. Everyone is cheering and screaming at the boys as they are celebrating their victory, along with Harry.

Jake starts running up and down the bleachers shouting that they are throwing a victory party at the frat house so now you know what you’re gonna do for the rest of the evening. As the team makes its way back towards the locker rooms Harry runs up to you, all sweaty and grinning crazily.

“Hey, you coming for the party, right?” he asks, still breathing heavily from the game.

“Sure,” you chuckle.

“Yes! You guys want a ride?” he asks in excitement glancing at Sandra beside you.

“That would be nice,” she nods happily.

“Alright, meet me at my car in fifteen,” he breathes out and before he runs away, he leans down and presses a kiss to your cheek, then leaves in a rush, catching up with the other guys. Suddenly, it feels a lot hotter than before…

“Okay, there’s no way he is not into you too,” Sandra mumbles to you as the two of you head out to the parking lot.

“You think so?”

“Oh, I know so,” she laughs, folding her arms on her chest. “That guy is like a puppy in love around you.”

“What if it’s just his normal?”

“I don’t know, is it? You’re the one who spends every possible minute with him,” she points out and she is right. This wasn’t like this before and as far as you know, he was never like this with anyone either. The only person you saw him act similarly was Naomi when they were dating, so could this be a hint for you that he feels the same way?

You’re still chewing on it when Harry emerges from the building, carrying his huge sports bag on his shoulder, his locks still wet from the shower he must have taken, his smile is still as wide as it was after the game.

“Ladies, fancy a ride?” he asks and as he walks past you he squeezes your hand gently before rounding the car and sitting behind the wheel.

By the time you arrive to the frat house the party is already on, music blasting in the living room where not so long ago you were playing UNO, sitting in Harry’s arms, booze is piling in the kitchen and more and more people are showing up.

“Hey, can you come up with me to drop my bag off and change?” Harry asks upon walking into the house and you nod. Sandra gives you a look that says ‘man up and talk to him’ before you take Harry’s hand and the two of you head upstairs.

“Be honest, did you bore yourself to death at the game?” Harry asks when you’re in the safety of his room.

“It wasn’t that bad, though I definitely need to learn more about the rules,” you chuckle admitting as you sit on the edge of his bed while he moves around, putting away his stuff. You watch him with a fluttering heart as you think about your conversation with Sandra. Even if she is right, how do you bring it up? You can’t just simply drop that you would like to turn your fake relationship into something real, you are not ballsy enough for that anyway.

“I’ll change quickly and we can head out,” he smiles, grabbing his usual skinny jeans and a white shirt from his dresser before disappearing in his bathroom.

While he is in there, you try to build your courage up to have the talk with him. Now seems like a good time, you’re alone in his room, no audience in case he rejects you painfully so no one would witness your breakdown. Chewing on the inside of your cheeks you stand up and start pacing the floor, stopping when the door opens and he walks out, smiling at you warmly as he fixes the dog tag around his neck.

“Everything alright?” he asks, tilting his head to the side.

“I, uhh… I wanted to talk about something,” you start shyly, fidgeting with the hem of your shirt.

“Okay, go for it,” he nods walking closer.

“I just, I’M not sure how to bring this up, and I hope it won’t sound weird. But I’ve been thinking about, um—I thought about this, what we’ve been doing and I realized that I—“

Your rambling speech gets interrupted when Jake bursts into the room without even a knock or warning word.

“Dude, come down! We need you on our beerpong team!” he urges Harry who gives him an annoyed look.

“Jake, don’t just fucking barge into my room without knocking!” Harry snaps at him.

“Like I haven’t seen your dick before,” Jake snorts and you feel the heat crawling up your neck at even just the thought of Harry naked.

“I don’t fucking care, knock!”

“Okay!” Jake growls rolling his eyes. “But you gotta come down now!”

Harry looks back at you, knowing well you two were in the middle of a conversation, but Jake’s arrival threw you off completely.

“Go, we can… talk later, it’s not that important,” you smile at him weakly.

“Are you sure?” he asks, his hand taking yours.

“Yeah, totally. Just go and celebrate your win,” you chuckle and with that, the moment is already gone.

You return to the party and while Harry gets sucked into an epic beerpong game, you join Sandra in the living room, who eyes you with a curious look, but you just shake your head.

“Don’t even ask,” you mumble and grabbing her drink from her hand you take a big swig from it, hoping the alcohol might help you with your anxious thoughts.

An hour later you feel the buzz, but you’re not at all drunk, just a little… braver than usually. You’ve moved to the kitchen with Sandra and a few girls, you’re sitting on the counter, nursing another drink as you listen to one of the girls rage about her asshole ex. Glancing out of the kitchen your eyes find Harry standing in the living room and for your surprise he was already watching you. You catch his smile, his focus completely on you when the guys are talking to him in his little circle, but he doesn’t seem to care. His gaze brings the heat back into your body, he can make you go nuts with just a look and you want to hate him for that, but you can’t. There’s nothing you hate about this guy.

“Stop eyefucking your man and just… fuck him for real” Sandra chuckles leaning closer to you, so only you can hear her words.

“Sandra!” you gasp, smacking her in the boob knowing well she hates it when you do that. She just cackles, returning to the discussion with the girls.

Soon enough, you see Harry moving towards your little group, creeping his way into the kitchen, stopping right beside you, leaning on one arm, his hand placed dangerously close to your thigh on the counter.

“Hi,” he smiles with his rosy cheeks, he surely has drunk some as well, but he doesn’t seem drunk either.

“Hi,” you breathe out, feeling flustered by his closeness again, a smile stretching across your face as he keeps eyeing you grinning. “What?”

“Have I told you how cute your smile is?” he asks and now you’re sure you’ve turned into a tomato.

“No,” you mumble shyly and almost gasp when his hand moves from the counter to your thighs as if it was the most natural thing, but it sends a shiver down your spine.

“Well, it is cute,” he chuckles, before turning his attention at the conversation in the little circle, but his hand remains still on your thigh.

From there, the situation escalates pretty easily. All it takes him to get between your thighs is to reach for one of the drinks on the counter next to you, his hand still resting on your thigh, and as he is done with the drink, he places it to the counter, his other hand coming to your other thigh, now standing facing you between your legs. Before you could say anything, he pulls on you a little, so you press up against him, your hands instantly coming to grab onto his shoulders to steady yourself in the movement.

“Hi again,” he smirks with glistening eyes.

“You didn’t go anywhere,” you chuckle quietly, your fingers dancing up to the back of his neck, playing with his curls.

“I know, but it made you smile and that’s what I wanted,” he smirks, so proud of himself. He licks his lips and you catch his gaze wandering down to yours, instantly making you nervous as you think back at the failed conversation you had with him not so long ago. This feels like a moment that could head into a direction you are dying for, but without the talk, you’re not sure if you should take the risky step.

Good thing that Harry is not shying out of it. Pressing forward his forehead meets yours, noses muzzling together as his lips linger so close to yours. You suck on your breath, arms curling around his neck as you wait for him to move the last millimeters between the two of you, and seeing that you are not pulling back, Harry makes the final move.

His lips move perfectly against yours, so warm and welcoming, soft and intoxicating, kissing him feels like a gift from above. He is taking his time with you, tasting and savoring you and you’re definitely not complaining. You could spend the rest of your life kissing him and you’d be fine with it.

One of his hands stays on your thigh, keeping a firm grip on it while the other one moves up to cup your cheek as you angle your head to reach him perfectly. He licks into your mouth without warning and you almost let out a moan at the sensation, but you’re just too busy returning his kisses.

You have absolutely no idea how long you stay like that, kissing and touching each other, but when he pulls back, you can’t help the stupid grin on your love drunk face. Harry’s expression kind of mirrors yours as he pecks your swollen lips once more before getting back to his previous position, his hand never leaving your thigh and you hug his strong, tattooed arm, needing to touch him in any kind of way as the two of you reenter the discussion that never stopped. Sandra gives you a wide-eyed stare and you just bite into your bottom lip, turning into a giggly teenage girl all of a sudden.

For just a few minutes you are absolutely convinced the kiss was real, but that’s all you got. As you look into the living room you catch Naomi’s burning stare and it tells you right away she witnessed the whole scene and to make it even worse, Oliver was standing not too far, glaring at you firmly and they make you think.

What if Harry saw them near and kissed you just to mess with them? What if it was all just part of the act? You should have pressed more earlier and have that damned talk with him, how are you supposed to ask now if he meant it or not?!

The more you think about it, the more painful it becomes and the little evil voice in your head convinces you that he didn’t mean it. It’s not like you want to believe it, but you can’t ignore the possibility that slowly grows into reality in your clouded mind.

You lose both Harry and Sandra at one point after going to the bathroom and though you know they are somewhere around, you feel like you can’t stay any longer at the party. Before anyone could stop you, you sneak out of the house and head back to the dorm, hoping that a good night sleep would get your head straight.

Harry tries to call you, but you ignore them all, heading straight to bed when you arrive. You feel guilty for leaving without a word but there’s just too much going on in your head, you need time to process and figure out what to do.

You’re still up when Sandra arrives back but you pretend to be asleep, not feeling like dealing with her investigating questions about the kiss and why you left so suddenly. It takes over an hour for you to finally fall asleep and escape your buzzing thoughts.

Waking up you see no sign of Sandra and you remember she mentioned that her brother is visiting town so they might spend the day together. Amazing opportunity to bury yourself into your deep loneliness and try to figure out what to do.

Harry has been nonstop texting you, asking if you even made it back to the dorm safely and you just shoot him one message to let him know you’re still alive and then ignore him again. Thinking back at the kiss last night your heart flutters every time, you can still feel the touch of his lips, the way his hand cupped your cheeks, it’s driving you crazy. But then you remember seeing Naomi’s and Oliver’s face and you’re convinced Harry saw them too and you always get to the same conclusion: the kiss was just part of the act.

You barely leave the bed the whole day, lying under your covers and watching Netflix until your mind feels numb enough to stop torturing you with your thoughts. And then, there’s a knock on the door. You freeze, knowing well that whoever is on the other side, you don’t want to see them.

“Y/N, I know you’re in there, I heard you watching The Vampire Diaries,” Oliver’s voice calls out from outside and you let out a shaky breath.

Dragging yourself out of the bed you open the door and stare back at him with a blank expression.

“What do you want?” you simply question.

“I broke up with Lexi,” he answers and your eyebrows shoot up. Without asking for permission he pushes his way into the room, stopping in the middle with his hands on his hips. “Last night, I broke up with her.”

“I uhh—I’m sorry, I guess, but why? She was so sweet.”

“I miss you, Y/N,” he blurts out and your shock just raises. Did he just admit to breaking up with his girlfriend because of you?!

“What?”

“Lexi is a nice girl, but I miss you, I miss what we had.”

“And what is that supposed to be?” you ask with a bitter chuckle as you fold your arms on your chest. “You miss fucking me whenever it’s convenient for you? Because I certainly don’t miss that.”

“We both know it was more than that, Y/N,” he smiles warmly, but it makes your stomach churn. Nothing about that smile is friendly or nice, he is trying to manipulate you like so many times before, but it’s not working now. He lost his power over you.

“It wasn’t. You were using me, Oliver.”

“That’s not what it was. We were having fun!”

“I wasn’t! I had feelings for you and you used them for your benefit!” you snap at him, not in the mood to play by his rules any longer. You’ll not let him bring you down again. “A friend doesn’t do that.”

“You could have spoken up against it, but I didn’t hear you complaining,” he retorts and it feels like a slap across your face. “I know you miss it too, Y/N. You don’t have to act like you are into Harry, I can see through you.”

“Oh really?” you snort, finding his words rather comedic. He knows or sees absolutely nothing and he just proved it. “Tell me then what you see!”

“I see that you’ve been trying to make me jealous and I’m gonna give it to you, it was successful.”

“Amazing, only problem is that I never wanted to make you jealous. My feelings for Harry are more real than the ones I had for you and I would really like it if you just left right now.”

Grabbing the doorknob you hold it open for him, wanting nothing more than to get rid of him for once and for all. You’ve had enough of his toxic, manipulating ass for a lifetime.

“Are you really kicking me out and just gonna choose him over me?” he huffs in disbelief and you can tell you’ve hurt his ego pretty badly.

“I’m choosing myself and doing what’s best for me. Now leave,” you demand and he finally moves. Walking past you he stops and looks down at you one more time.

“You’re a fucking waste of time,” he sneers before walking out and you need every ounce of power in you not to go after him and punch him in his arrogant face. How could you ever consider him even a friend, let along sleep with him?! He is the most disgusting and degrading asshole you’ve ever seen and you’ll work on forgetting about his whole existence for the rest of your life.

You shut the door behind him and leaning your back against it you slide down to the floor, feeling your chest tightening at the intensity of what just happened. You lost the person you loved the most just weeks ago and realized that he was never who you thought him to be.

You feel like crying for a little, but the tears never come. Instead, a soft sense of relief washes over you, like a weight has been lifted off of your shoulders, finally setting you free. One less thing to worry about.

As you push yourself up from the floor you hear fractions of a heated conversation outside and when you recognize both voices, your heart stops beating for a moment. Opening the door you hear the conversation between Oliver and Harry now fully clear.

“Stop fucking acting like you are the center of her world, Styles. She has no fucking idea what she wants,” Oliver snaps at Harry, clearly upset about something he said earlier.

“No one thinks that but you! Stop harassing her like a fucking psycho!” Harry fights back and your lips part at how he stands up for you.

“You’re the one harassing her! Don’t think for a moment you have a chance with her, she wants me, not you! You’ll never get into her pants like I did—“

Just when you’re about to barge out of the room to end whatever parade they are having, Oliver’s groan fills the hallway and as you step out, you see him fall to the ground after Harry’s has punched him right in the face.

“What the fuck?!” you snap in shock and they both turn to look at you in the middle of their fight.

“Your fucking boyfriend punched me for no reason!” Oliver spats, pushing himself up, holding a hand to his jaw that’s already turning red.

“Stop making yourself the victim, Oliver, no one buys it!” you groan at him as you step to Harry. He seems ashamed, even scared of your reaction about the fact that he just punched Oliver, but you are not gonna blame him. He did God’s work in this case.

“I can’t fucking believe you’re still taking his side!” Oliver snaps angrily. “You know what? You two deserve each other.”

“Shut up and leave!” you shout at him before grabbing Harry’s wrist and pulling him towards your room.

You hear Oliver mumbling something under his breath, but you couldn’t care less, shutting the door at him once again, this time with Harry in the room with you.

“Y/N, I’m sorry, I just fucking lost my temper and—“ You wave him off, taking his hand in yours softly, taking a look at his knuckles.

“It’s fine,” you smile at him. “Does it hurt?” you ask, gently running your thumb over his reddened knuckles.

“No, it’s alright,” he murmurs, standing so close to you again. His green eyes search yours as his other hand reaches under your chin to lift your head. “You have been ignoring me since last night.”

“I just… had a lot of stuff to do,” you awkwardly answer clearing your throat.

“You sure it’s not because of what happened between us?”

“What? Of course not!” you huff. “I get it, you were just trying to make it convincing because Naomi and Oliver were both watching a-and so you just—“

“What?” Harry asks tilting his head to the side.

“I mean, that’s why you did it, right? I saw them after we—uhh after we you know, kissed.”

“Okay, I didn’t see them and that’s not why I did it,” he admits with a nervous chuckle as he rubs the back of his neck. “I thought we were on the same page, but apparently not. Y/N, nothing I did recently was because of Naomi or Oliver. If I’m being honest it hasn’t been about them for a while. I really like you and I know I should have talked to you first about it, because now it was all kind of confusing, but I wasn’t faking it. I meant everything I said and did.”

You stare back at him in awe, heart pounding against your chest as his words sink in. He wasn’t acting, the kiss was real and you’ve been acting like a lunatic since last night, completely ignoring him instead of just talking to him, you are such a dumbass!

“Really?” you breathe out, barely more than just a whisper.

“Yeah,” he chuckles softly. “And I kinda thought you feel the same way, but then I came here and ran into Oliver who told me you two just had a chat about… possibilities between you and him?”

The hurt is clear in his eyes and your hatred towards Oliver is not on maximum level. You can’t believe he tried to ruin it all one last time even after you told him you want nothing to do with him.

“That’s not what we talked about,” you shake your head. “He came here, told me he broke up with Lexi and that he misses me, but I told him that’s too bad because I don’t miss him and his stupid little games anymore.”

“Oh!”

“And he tried to convince me to choose him over you, but I already chose you, so he had no chance,” you add, a wide smile spreading across your face as you see him realize what you just said.

“What, does this mean…?” he questions with sparkling eyes as he starts inching closer to you.

“Last night, when Jake barged into your room, this is what I wanted to talk to you about. That I’m not really faking anything anymore, but we were rudely interrupted and then… you kissed me and I thought things were finally going right, but then I somehow convinced myself that it was just because you saw Naomi and Oliver around and tried to upset them.”

“Fuck them!” Harry laughs, his hands finally reaching to grab you by your waist as he pulls you against him. “I don’t care about them anymore. I just want to be with you, no faking, no acting, just… you and me.”

“That sounds… perfect,” you admit with a tired smile before he finally leans down and presses his lips against yours.

“I have a warning for you, Y/N,” he mumbles between kisses, his lips moving against yours.

“Yeah? What’s that?” you hum, melting into him.

“I will not stop kissing you. It’s my new favorite thing,” he giggles, hands pulling you even tighter to him.

“Oh, how upsetting!” you chuckle without a care in the world before the two of you fall to your bed, a mess of kisses and giggles, but not an ounce of faking.

Thank you for reading, please like and reblog if you enjoyed it!

#harry #styles #harry styles #harry styles oneshot #harry styles one shot #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles fanfic #harry styles imagine #harry styles au #harry styles x you #harry styles x reader #harry styles x y/n #fratboy!harry #fake dating au #harry styles angst #harry styles fluff

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uvobreakmylegs · 3 years ago

Text

Prey

got a request for a monster!Uvo as well as a request for an Uvo fic where he chases the reader. hope it’s cool that I combined the two of them

@ramwrites and I are in agreement that werewolf is the best type of monster for Uvogin

werewolf!Uvogin

Warnings: death, blood, gore, body horror, little bit of smut, graphic depictions of violence, mentions of cannibalism, attempted suicide, implied kidnapping, reader does not have a good time

Thin rays of sun that were able to slip past the branches of the trees hit Uvo's back as he went about his work, placing another upright log on the now considerably worn down tree stump and bringing his axe down upon it, slicing the wood in two and tossing the pieces into the pile to his right before he grabbed another unchopped piece from the pile to the left. Based off of the sun's position in the sky, it was only a bit after midday. Uvogin had been going at this for a while now, his sweat staining the white tank he wore.

Though the sweating wasn't because the work was in any way debilitating. Any other day of the month Uvogin would've been able to chop the same amount and not even break a sweat.

No, today was different because of what was happening tonight: a full moon.

Even though the night was still a long ways off, Uvo could already feel the very beginnings of his transformation shuddering through him. Faint, but still noticable. Unfortunately, with the ever present fact that nightfall wouldn't come for hours yet, there was little he could to other than to keep himself busy and distract himself lest the anticipation kill him. So he continued to chopping the logs, even though the amount he had cut already was bordering on excessive.

In the midst of his distraction, his ears perked up when he heard the faint rumblings of a car engine. His senses of smell and hearing were always pretty good even when it wasn't close to a full moon, but those senses were ten times as sharp now, and he could clearly hear as the car came in closer and closer.

Whoever they were, they wouldn't be the first people to have approached him today. Already he'd been asked two different times for directions to the nearby campgrounds, the first time by an elderly couple who were likely well into retirement, and the second by a group of individuals who had also gotten lost. The woman from that group who went up to him told him more information than he'd needed to know, informing him of how theirs was a company sanctioned team-building retreat. She had a piece of gum in her mouth and smacked it loudly as she talked, and because of his sensitive hearing, the sound of it became distressing to the point that Uvo had to keep himself from clawing his ears off.

Everyone in that group deserved to die because of that woman alone.

Uvogin didn't stop what he was doing even when he heard the car drive past and then suddenly brake, just continuing as he was while he heard the sounds of a car door opening and someone stepping out. Words were being spoken; what was being said exactly he couldn't say, but based off of previous experience it was easy enough to guess.

The car door slammed shut and the engine rumbled again as the car began to drive further down the dirt road. It'd be back in a little bit – over that way was a dead end. But Uvogin quickly switched his focus to the footsteps he heard walking through the unmarked pathway and headed towards him.

“Excuse me?”

He heard your voice call out to him, and Uvo finally turned to face you. Upon making eye contact with him, you smiled and held up a map as you called out again “sorry to bother you, but I was wondering if you could help out with some directions? We're looking for the Visca lake campgrounds, but I think we've been going around in circles.”

You didn't come any closer when you said that, though it seemed to be more out of a desire to not intrude on his space as opposed to being nervous about the axe he was holding. There was a hopeful look in your eye, though you also seemed ready to apologize for bugging him if he instead told you to fuck off.

Already he knew he liked you much better than the bitch from earlier.

“Sure,” he replied.

Uvo set the axe down and walked towards you, his hand outstretched so you could hand him your map. You smiled and handed him the map without any hesitation, coming up beside him as he unfolded it and scanned the paper so he could give you an idea of what direction you needed to go. The height difference between the two of you meant that he needed to lean down a bit as he pointed out to you the appropriate road that would get you to your destination.

“The road to the campgrounds is here,” he told you.

Despite the way he had tried to accommodate the height difference, you still needed to stand on your toes to see where he was pointing. Your arm came up briefly before you swiftly pulled it back. Like you'd been tempted to place your hand on his forearm to better balance yourself but stopped yourself since the two of you were complete strangers. Though Uvo wouldn't have minded too much if you had done so. Taking advantage of the way you were right next to him, he inhaled, memorizing your scent for later.

Uvo then moved his finger towards the left as he continued “we're around this area, so you'll want to drive back the way you came and take the first right you see. Then you'll want to take another right to get onto the campground road. As long as you don't fuck up turning, you should get to the lake in about ten minutes. Maybe less.”

“Ah, okay!” you responded, taking back your map as you looked over the route he'd pointed out to you. As you were desperate to make sure you got his directions right so you wouldn't need to be in the embarrassing situation of messing up his instructions and needing to go back to him for further clarification, you didn't notice the way he was looking you over or how he inhaled more of your scent.

Your hair smelled of something flowery, some kind of hair product you must have used that morning before you drove out here. Your clothing also had a rather soapy smell, though it wasn't as noticeable as the product in your hair. Beneath all of that, he was able to take in your natural scent that was free of any products or chemicals, as well as... Perfume? An odd choice for a camping trip, he thought. Then another smell hit him, one that surrounded you but you were definitely not the source of.

Oh.

It was the unmistakable scent of another man.

The perfume made more sense now. You'd said 'we' earlier as well, so chances were you'd come here with a boyfriend for a romantic weekend getaway and his smell has just gotten all over you after spending several hours cooped up in a car with him.

Not terribly displeasing. A boyfriend being in the picture might make things a bit more interesting.

“Okay, I think I've got it,” you said, snapping him out of his thoughts, “sorry if I took up too much of your time.”

“No problem,” he answered, “I get a lotta people asking for directions, so I'm used to it.”

“Really? That sounds like it gets annoying. Why don't they put up signs or something?” you asked.

“They do,” Uvo said, “but they usually get taken down by vandals.”

More like self-righteous teenagers who'd found out the truth about him and couldn't stand the fact that the elders of the nearby town allowed Uvogin to do as he pleased and thought they could thwart his killing sprees by taking down the signs leading to the lake, like they could save any innocent vacationers if they weren't able to find the campgrounds. Those kids had yet to learn that if they managed to deprive Uvo of his prey, he'd be forced to go to their own town and hunt there, maybe snatch up one of them or their families. The older folk in charge of the town understood that, and they'd decided that it was better to let the occasional out of town stranger be his prey than risk him coming in and picking off whatever stragglers he could find in their community.

People vacationing in the wilderness died all the time, after all.

“Vandals?” you asked. There was the slightest bit of concern in your voice, and when your eyes went slightly wide as you looked at him, he couldn't help but muse at how cute you looked like that.

“Just dumb kids,” he explained, “there's a small town a little ways back and I reckon they don't have much to do around there.”

“Ah, I see. Do you think we'll need to worry about them bothering us?”

“Nah, they wouldn't do anything,” Uvo said, “besides, they know that I'm out here today, and they know better than to bug me.”

You laughed a bit at that, any deeper meaning to his words going over your head.

“I can't blame them. If I was one of them I'd be too scared to do anything to get on your bad side.”

Uvogin just smiled.

A voice then called at the top of the path, and you both looked to see a dark-haired man around your age standing there. He called out what Uvo assumed was your name, and you waved to him, calling out a short “coming!” before you turned back to Uvogin.

“Thank you again for your help. I really appreciate it,” you told him.

“Once again, not a problem. Hope you two have a good time.”

You smiled and nodded at him, and then began to walk back over to your boyfriend. But before you had the chance to bid him goodbye, Uvogin spoke again.

“You wanna know something that's not in any visitor's guides?” he asked.

“Huh?”

He grinned at your slightly confused expression as he explained “if you go down to the southern side of the lake, there are these really beautiful cliffs in the forest. A lot of clearings that show a pretty good view of the sky, too. And it's a full moon tonight; if you want to make some memories, you should check it out when it gets dark.”

Clearly intrigued, you turned back to face him, asking “really? Why isn't that part advertised?”

“The locals want to keep parts of the lake to themselves,” he said, “but I think it's something that you might appreciate.”

“You sure you won't get in trouble for telling me?”

“Not if you don't say anything,” said Uvo, raising an eyebrow as he smirked.

“Ah, gotcha,” you said. Behind you, your boyfriend was starting to look a bit suspicious, and his lips soon formed a frown. You weren't paying him any mind at the moment.

“What's your name?” you asked.

“Uvogin.”

You held out your hand as you introduced yourself, and he humored you by giving you a handshake.

“Thank you so much for everything,” you said, “maybe we'll see you again while we're here.”

“Maybe.”

With that, you finally turned and made your way to your awaiting boyfriend, who gave Uvo one last narrowed glance before he turned his attention to you as you eagerly pulled your map back out and began to tell him the directions that had been given to you. Your boyfriend only gave one more glance towards Uvogin before focusing his full attention on you, looking over the map with you before the two of you made your way back to the car. He seemed rather boring, Uvo thought to himself. Yet before you made it back in, you stepped up and kissed your boyfriend on the cheek. Uvo saw the way your boyfriend stiffened and the blush that reached his ears as he sat down in the driver's seat to escape your random but sweet action. You laughed as you entered through the passenger's side, and Uvo kept an eye on the two of you until he saw your small, light blue car pull away and drive down the road.

When the two of you were gone, Uvo went back to chopping wood, picking the axe back up and slicing the log into two even pieces. He didn't expect that anyone else would come blundering into the forest before evening, but if they did, he wouldn't pay them much mind. If he killed every single person who came in to enjoy the lake he would quickly lose that particular food source and then need to find another area to hunt.

No, the only ones that were on the table tonight were the company group and you and your boyfriend – he wouldn't bother hunting down that elderly couple as it wouldn't be interesting in the slightest to go after them. The larger group had a good number of people in it, so there would be no need to seek out anyone else. Honestly he shouldn't even bother with the two of you, but Uvo thought of you again, thinking over every action you had taken, from the way you had approached him to how you held out your hand when you introduced yourself.

The little bit of affection you had offered to your boyfriend also came to mind but he brushed that thought away. It was unimportant, he told himself.

No, he shouldn't bother with the two of you, but he wanted to see how your naive little expression might change when you saw him next, after the moonlight had transformed him, and hear how you might scream and cry as he hunted you down.

He grinned at the thought, and when his axe came down again, it sliced the log and the stump beneath it clean through.

The true beginnings of his change had started hours ago when the sun sank past the horizon and the moon slowly rose in the night sky. Just little things, like the way his teeth began to shift in his mouth, or how the black tips of his claws were starting to show beneath his fingernails, slowly pushing up beneath the nails and trying to force themselves out so he could have an easier time tearing apart whatever unfortunate victim happened to be closest to him.

His skin was starting to shift a bit in places as well as it began to detach from the muscle beneath, and he was hit with an overwhelming urge to run outside and allow his transformation to complete so he could go wild as he always did on a full moon night.

But he waited, forcing himself to focus on the fire that was burning before him, to wait until it had gone out completely before he stepped foot out of his cabin.

It had turned into something of a ritual for him; when he had started it he could no longer remember. It was purely ceremonial, and at the heart of it he knew that it did nothing to add to his hunt, but after being alone in the woods for so long he supposed he was entitled to a bit of superstition. And at this point, it would have felt wrong to do it any other way. When the fire went out, the moon would be at the highest point in the sky, and when he left the dark cabin and bared himself to the moonlight, his werewolf form would tear through and he would track down the victims he had met earlier in the day, the ones whose scents he had remembered after he'd chosen them for his prey. Didn't matter much in what order he got them, just whatever scent he came across first.

Although maybe tonight it mattered a little bit. If he could manage it, Uvogin wanted you to be the last one to die tonight. After the group from the company retreat and your bland looking boyfriend, he'd hoped he could then have you for last. Something about that made him feel like that would be the only appropriate ending to the night.

But that all depended if he could manage to remember that after he'd transformed.

The light of the fire was growing more dim, and he was having a harder time sitting still, his entire body itching to burst through the cabin door and let the moonlight take him.

Not yet, he told himself.

But soon.

Those black claws were showing a bit more now, and at least two of his fingernails had popped off, blood coating his fingertips as his hands clenched onto the skin of his legs. That same skin shifted once more as he did so, and after a few moments he felt something trickling down his thigh, and when he glanced down he could see in the faint glimmer of firelight the hole in his skin that he'd torn open, and the dark fur beneath the human flesh that was still covered and the blood dripping down his leg.

Not yet not yet not yet

A few more agonizing minutes later that had seemed endless in his mind, and finally the fire he'd begun earlier was reduced to a smoulder, the flames dying out and the wood glowing red as the fire reached the end of its life.

Now

No sooner had he thought that Uvogin had thrown open the cabin door and ran out into the woods that surrounded him, bare as he gazed up at the full moon as he allowed himself the moment that he'd been holding off on.

There were multiple changes simultaneously and Uvogin was barely able to comprehend all of what was happening to him because of it. There was always a pain that accompanied his transformation, and while it was a pain that he was used to at this point, it was pain nonetheless.

At the sight of the moon his green eyes turned yellow and his pupils narrowed into slits, while the bones in his body began to shift and grow. It started with his spine, extending and pushing out through his skin and almost causing a ripple effect through his whole body. His bones were snapping and stretching beneath his skin, growing as his muscles were expanding and making him into even more of a giant than he already was. Claws on his hands and feet tore through the flesh that surrounded them as those parts of him extended, the skin ripping open and allowing more of the fur that was hidden underneath to show through.

When he felt the flesh around his shoulders stretch out in an attempt to accommodate the transformation he sped up the process by reaching up and tearing it away with his own fingers, the black claws easily ripping in and pulling the skin away like a latex glove. Soon the skin that had been on his arms sat around him in pieces on the grass and he began the same process with his chest and legs, tearing away his flesh in messy strips and allowing the fur that had formed on his body to be exposed, matted with blood and looking almost black in the light of the moon.

His skull went through the same process as the rest of his body, and he felt his face crack into several different pieces before the bones began to remold themselves and pushed outward, taking the shape of a wolf's muzzle while his teeth extended and shifted to fit properly in his newly formed mouth. When his ears began twisting and pushing upwards into sharp points was when he tore at the skin on his face, pulling it off as he had done with the rest and throwing it to the forest floor.

When the last of his human flesh had been removed, his transformation was complete. The man who had stepped out of that cabin was gone and replaced with a large, bipedal wolf whose yellow eyes dilated as he looked up once more to the moon. Lifting his head up, he arched his back as he let out a howl loud enough that echoed through the woods and across the surface of the lake. Those that heard it in the nearby town quietly whispered their prayers to whichever gods they worshiped while those who were visiting the lake's campsite merely marveled at the sound.

If Uvo was in a different mindset he might have thought of you in that moment, and what you might be thinking when you heard him. If you had any clue of the danger you were in.

But in this moment, there was no thought of you or even saving you for last as he had tried to so hard to ingrain into himself. There was no thought of doing this in any order or trying to end the night correctly as he had mused about earlier.

The only thing going through Uvogin's mind was the need to kill.

As luck would have it, he'd managed to kill the ones from that company first.

There had been more of them. More that were wandering around their campsite, more that were talking amongst themselves, and in general just making more noise that, combined with their scents from earlier, allowed him to find them first.

There were actually more of them in that group than he'd anticipated, and as he killed off the last woman in the group, gum falling from her mouth as he twisted her head completely around. Uvo then looked around at the carnage he'd left in his wake. It was hard to tell with the way they were all in pieces now, but the number of people group had easily been in the double digits. That would probably cause a bit of trouble, as it would be hard to try and cover this up. This would easily make the news. Annoying, as Uvo would need to make sure to lay low for a bit, and it could possibly lower the amount of potential victims in the area when the next full moon came.

But it had still been worth it.

Uvogin felt more like himself again now that the murderous urges had been sated. Able to think a bit more clearly, more rationally. And he was able to remember you and what he'd hoped for early on. He could imagine it: your scared expression as you watched him kill your boyfriend before he slaughtered you like the rest, your screams cutting short as he bit into the skin of your neck and tore out your throat.

Now that his hunger was taken care of, he left the campsite of the now-dead group. Right now all he wanted was to find you and your boyfriend.

Remembering what he had told you of the southern side of the lake, he took a gamble as he headed off in that direction, making his way through the woods at speeds much faster than a regular human would be capable of. He stopped when he felt the wind blowing again, and lifted his nose in the air, trying to see if he catch anything.

….. There

It was faint. Very faint, but he managed to catch a familiar human scent.

He turned and headed off in your direction. It was too far away to get your exact location, but it was enough that he could get at least an idea of where you were.

Continuing towards the south side of the lake, he stayed close to the shoreline until he found your little blue car from earlier parked close to the lake, a tent set up not too far off from it. Your scent became a bit more clear as he came closer, and yet when stopped to scan the area, his eyes looking for the slightest bit of movement and his ears straining to hear any bit of noise, he couldn't find you.

A bit annoying, but based off of the way the two of you had left things, you should still be in the area. It was just a matter of hunting you down.

Uvo stalked about the campsite, just in case he missed something while also puncturing two of the tires on your car and cutting off that potential escape route. Satisfied that neither of you were on the site or next to the water, he walked back into the woods, following after the little bits of that fragrance he'd latched onto.

As he walked, he thought to himself with some amusement that you'd actually taken up his suggestion. Uvogin had found that most people didn't bother, either because they were too dedicated to the plans they'd made before arriving or because they didn't trust that the landscape was as beautiful as he'd made it out to be. In fairness, it mostly all looked the same to him, but there had just been something about that particular bit of campground that made him enjoy hunting there more. So it was even more perfect that the two of you had ended up there. Most likely you were just doing what you felt like and didn't feel like adhering to any particular schedule.

His ears perked up as he heard a low voice in the distance. Not yours. Probably your boyfriend, then. Focusing himself so he could move silently, Uvogin weaved through the trees, his eyes searching for you while he listened for more noise from either of you.

When he heard your voice next, he had definitely gotten closer. Your voice had sounded odd, though. Almost breathless.

He found the two of you in a larger clearing that stood beneath one of the cliffs he had spoken of. You were laying with your back on the grass, dressed in a swimsuit with only a shirt over it. Your boyfriend was in a similar state with the moonlight falling onto his bare back, and it looked like both of you were a bit wet, some drops of water still on your skin and hair still damp. So the two of you had gone swimming before you wandered over to this area to mess around.

You said something to him before the two of you shared a kiss, and you moaned into it when he slipped his hand under your shirt to grab at your chest.

It certainly wasn't the first time Uvo had come across a pair of lovers in the woods. Such encounters usually ended with one or both betraying the other, as several times in the past one would push the other into Uvo's path in an attempt to save themselves after having a passionate make-out session only moments before.

Uvogin stepped out from the treeline and waited for one of you to notice him. You let out another moan, and to him it sounded like it was slightly exaggerated. Was your boyfriend not that good? Not too surprising, based off of Uvo's impression of him.

If Uvo had been the man on top of you, he was certain he could do much better.

….. Where did that come from?

Uvo didn't get much time to wonder about that as he heard you let out a sharp gasp, and when his eyes refocused on you, he saw that you were looking right at him. Your eyes were wide and your skin paled as you stiffened, your hands grasping at your boyfriend's arms.

“What's wrong?” your boyfriend asked when he noticed your reaction.

Keeping your eyes on Uvogin, you answered him in a small whisper “there's something over there.”

Your boyfriend turned his head to where you were looking, and he went stiff as well when he saw Uvogin's werewolf form.

It was quiet in that clearing, free of any noises from any woodland animals or even the insects, as anything that was in that immediate area sensed the danger and were desperate to keep silent. No, the only sound Uvo could hear was your breathing that became more panicked as you struggled to keep it under control and the way your boyfriend tried to shush you while he broke out into a cold sweat. You two were both under the impression to stay still and not make any sudden movements for fear of provoking him.

Then your boyfriend whispered your name.

“When I move,” he breathed out, “I want you to run back to the car and get out of here. Even if I'm not with you, you have to take the car and leave.”

As he spoke, your boyfriend slowly moved his hand over to a pack beside you that Uvo hadn't noticed at first. Still, Uvo grinned. He thought he could take him on?

You tried to protest but your boyfriend wasn't hearing it, only repeating his instructions to you and trying to make you promise that you would do as he said. You didn't want to; that was clear, but when you looked back over to Uvogin's form outside the treeline, you shuddered once more and agreed to leave with a short nod.

Uvogin waited for the boyfriend to make his move. He looked just as terrified as you were, but he was clearly trying to be brave for your sake, and his resolve seemed to steel when he got a hold of whatever he had been searching for in the pack.

“Now!”

Your boyfriend yelled as he shot up and charged at Uvo. For the first time since seeing him, Uvogin felt mildly impressed with your boyfriend; he'd been genuine about wanting to save you over himself. Not like he wouldn't still die for it as he was still incredibly weak, but there was something to be said about the willingness he had to face down a beast like Uvo for your sake.

You must be something special to make a man go that far for you.

The thing your boyfriend had pulled out turned out to be a can of bear spray as well as a medium-sized hunting knife. Uvo managed to doge the stream that had been aimed at him easily on account of how badly the hand that held it had been shaking. The boyfriend ran back a bit, unwilling to get too close to Uvogin even with the knife. He tried to aim it again, but Uvo used his claws to slice at him, slashing upwards as he aimed for his throat.

Somehow, he missed the boyfriend's throat and only managed to hit the side of his face, opening up his cheek and taking off his ear. The boyfriend cried out at that, one hand going up to his bleeding cheek while still trying to incapacitate Uvo with the bear spray. But with the way he stumbled about, it was almost too easy for Uvogin to grab him by his face and hurl him into the trunk of a nearby tree. He hit headfirst, and there was an audible cracking sound that came from the impact. Uvogin didn't even bother to watch the way his body hit the ground, experience telling him that he was definitely dead.

Uvogin was much more interested in you.

You were still in the clearing. At first you had done as your boyfriend had told you and bolted the second he yelled, running back to your campsite. But you stopped and turned back when you heard him cry out when Uvo had slashed at him. You wanted to help him but you also knew there was nothing you could do, and so you were left standing in the clearing, your whole body shaking as you struggled with the decision to stay or leave your boyfriend behind.

It was cute how loyal you were to him.

And loyalty certainly wasn't a bad quality.

When you saw your boyfriend die you froze, tears streaming down your face as you looked between the now dead man and the thing that had murdered him. You were clearly in a panic, your legs trembling as your brain struggled to figure out what to do, where to go from here. Certainly you had to be aware that you'd lost any chance of getting away like you'd been told to do, right?

Apparently not, as when Uvogin stepped forward you bolted, running back towards the camp. Yet Uvo found a sense of relief with that, that you wouldn't just sit there and let him kill you and end it so early.

For whatever reason, that last thought displeased him.

But he brushed that away as he chased after you only moments later, not bothering to be quiet with his movements and instead being as loud as possible, breaking apart any low-hanging branches in his wake as he howled into the night air once again.

You had only made it a little ways past the car when he emerged from the forest and lunged towards you. It seemed like you were trying to get away on foot given the damage to the car. Already there was a scent of blood in your wake, as the soles of your feet had already been cut up on the sharp debris of the forest floor.

You turned towards him just in time to see him raising his clawed hand over his head before he sliced it downwards. Through what must have been some bit of luck, you stumbled backwards at that moment and all he managed to do was give you a flesh wound.

You hit the surface of the gravel road hard, crying out in pain at the force of your fall as well as the cuts that were on your arm, your hand immediately grasping at your wound as you desperately tried to use your legs to get yourself off of the ground.

Then he was on top of you.

He opened his jaws wide; you saw as he did so, and attempted to crawl out from under him.

He snapped his jaws shut on your throat.

And you went stiff.

It was quiet for a few moments.

And then a small rush of air escaped from your mouth as you let out a breath you had been holding.

Almost.

He had almost killed you in that moment.

The pointed tips of his teeth were pressing lightly into your skin, not quite hard enough to make you bleed, but that would change if you shifted your neck just slightly.

Why had he stopped?

He stayed there, hunched over you, his arms caging you in while his maw was around your throat. He felt the pulse in your neck beating wildly, almost causing vibrations against his teeth. You had stopped struggling, your legs still while you continued to clutch at your wounded arm, the only noises coming from you now being your uneven breathing.

What was he doing?

His yellow eye glanced over to your face, and he found that you weren't even looking at him. You were gazing in the direction of the night sky, where the light of the moon shown down on you like a spotlight, but it didn't even seem like you were even looking at that. Your eyes were wide as you breathed hard, and Uvo had to wonder if you were currently seeing your life flash before your eyes. That perhaps your mind had accepted that this was the end of your life and was remembering as much as you could before Uvogin would sink in his teeth and sever those major arteries in your neck.

Were you satisfied with all that you had accomplished up to this point, or were you disappointed and felt that you should have done more?

Moments passed like that, his hulking form engulfing yours with no movement from either of you. He took in a deep breath, and he once again caught some of the flowery smell of your shampoo, though it had largely faded by now, and you smelled much more like the woods after the hours you had spent there. More like pine and tree leaves, and the fresh water of the lake, and....

Uvogin let out a short grunt that made you whimper and you clenched your eyes shut as you believed this to be the end. You had no clue that Uvo could smell your arousal coming from between your legs. It had come from the way you'd been fooling around with your boyfriend earlier – there was no way you could have been turned on by this.

Uvo thought again of what he had seen when he stumbled upon the two of you, and that odd thought that had interjected at one point. You had been on his mind almost all day, and he thought it was because he wanted to kill you. And now you were beneath him and the moment couldn't have been more right, and yet now that was the last thing he wanted to do.

It hit him then. The different urge he'd had about you since he had seen you earlier in the day, since he had seen the way you treated your boyfriend; the way you had kissed that man had stuck out in his mind. Hardly any different than any other couple he had seen who were too big on PDA, yet combined with the way you had first come up to him, had smiled and thanked him, and introduced yourself so willingly while also asking for his name had made all of the difference in the world.

His days in the woods were lonely. It was something Uvo was well aware of but had thought he could handle, and he had done so for several years now without issue. But now that he knew you, with your actions and your touch and even the sweet scent of your arousal that he wished more and more that he had been the cause of, another second of being alone sounded more like torture.

Still, the biggest reason he had stayed on his own for so long was that he had accepted that there would be few in this world who would be alright with spending the rest of their lives with a man-eating monster. And any that he may have wanted to keep alive despite that probably wouldn't have been worth the trouble. Keeping someone else with him would also mean he would need to put in the effort to keep them alive, and if he had them unwillingly he'd need to make sure they wouldn't be able to get away, either by restraining them or locking them up.

He watched you, watched the way your face stayed scrunched up as you waited for him to finish it. He wanted you, but were you worth the trouble?

When Uvogin pulled off of your neck and sat back up, you meekly opened your eyes in confusion and trying to anticipate what horrible thing he would do to you next. You yelped when he grabbed you by the back of your shirt as he stood, pulling you up to your feet and setting you in front of him. With one hand on your shoulder and one on your hip, he turned you so you were facing away from him, making sure you were steady on your feet.

He leaned down so his maw was right next to your ear, and in a voice that sounded more animal than human, he growled out a single word:

“Run.”

With that he pushed you forward. You stumbled a bit, your brain still processing what he had said as you barely took a few steps away from him. Then, like a lightning bolt had hit you, you finally seemed to understand as you snapped back and made a beeline for the woods. Your bare feet were loud on the cluttered forest floor, and he occasionally heard little gasps and soft whimpers of pain when you cut your foot open further on a rock or a sharp branch.

Uvo waited, wanting to give you a good head start before he began to chase after you. It would be easy to track you, especially with how much you were bleeding now, but he shuddered with barely contained excitement, eager to chase you down but knowing that he needed to give you a decent head start or else it would be over too quickly.

If you proved yourself worthy of keeping alive, then he'd take you back to his cabin.

And he really hoped you wouldn't let him down.

…. But then something felt wrong.

Uvogin's eyes narrowed as he sensed that you were still within the immediate area and not moving away from him as he had expected. The direction you had gone in was the same one the both of you had come from; the patch of woods and the clearing where he'd found you in the pathway. There wasn't anything there that you could have fallen over or gotten stuck on, so why....

A new thought occurred to him, and Uvo growled lowly to himself as he hoped he wouldn't see what he felt he might when he found you next.

You were back in that clearing, sitting next to your boyfriend's fallen body. Your body was facing the direction Uvo had arrived from, both of your hands in front of you as looked down at your now former lover. There were tears rolling down your cheeks as you sat there.

A wave of disgust hit Uvogin as he found he was correct and was thoroughly disappointed with your actions. He'd given you a chance to get away and you'd wasted it by sitting around crying. Clearly he had given you too much credit.

You heard him as he began to walk towards you, and he noted the way your hands slipped beneath your boyfriend's slightly upturned body, your head still downcast.

He stood across from you, letting out a huff that made you flinch. But still, you didn't move from that spot.

As he opened his jaws your head shot up and you lifted your hands from beneath the body.

Just as you did so, something sprayed into his nose, eyes and his open mouth. Something that stung and made him gag. Fuck it burned, and Uvogin let out a howl of pain as he clutched at his face.

The bear spray-!

Something sharp then dug into the flesh beneath his collarbone, and the pain from the bitter spray was accompanied by the sensation of a knife blade stabbing into him.

With another howl as he was now blinded, he swiped a hand in your general direction and heard you yelp as he simultaneously clawed your shoulder and forced you to the ground. With his hearing now being his greatest sense, he managed to pick up the clatter the bear spray can made as the force of his blow made you drop it, and he moved one of his feet to stomp at it, crushing it and making it useless.

Uvo roared again as he swung about wildly, trying to catch you once more, but you managed to avoid his attacks and made your way into the woods again as he heard your labored breathing and footsteps growing fainter and fainter.

He clutched at his face as he tried to make himself calm down, trying to will away the pain and regain his sense of sight and smell.

…. Not bad.

Even with the rage he had felt in the moment, he found himself relieved, almost happy that you had caught him off-guard. You had gone as far as to use your boyfriend's body as a prop, to make him think that you were too broken up about his death so he would lower his guard. Had you been a bit taller, you could have done a decent amount of damage if you'd managed to stab the knife into his throat.

The knife was still in him, he realized, and after regaining a little bit of his sight in his left eye, he easily pulled it out and threw it across the way.

Now you had no weapons, but he was also at a disadvantage as his eyes were still watering and he could no longer smell you as clearly, the harsh chemicals of the spray making him internally wince every time he breathed through his nose. If he wanted to catch you, he would need to rely almost entirely on his hearing to search for you.

The sounds you were making were quite distant now, but he grinned to himself and stayed there a while longer, letting you get further away.

The direction you were going had no civilization, there was only forest for miles, and he was happy to let you get yourself more and more lost if it meant that his hunt would continue.

By the time dawn was nearing, signaled by the sickly pale color the sky had turned to, Uvogin had managed to chase you further into the wilderness, up through the trees and near the edge of a cliff face. Throughout the night there had been times where you had slowed or stopped completely as you tried to regain your strength, taking advantage of your smaller size and slipping into places that he couldn't easily get to. You also had several brief spurts of energy where you had sped up suddenly, more determined than ever to get away from him while you threw various stones and branches back towards him, though you never tried anything else as bold as you had with your trick from earlier as you didn't allow him to get that close again.

But as you stumbled to the edge of the cliff and looked at the steep drop before you, it was clear to him that your fight was gone. He knew it even before you fell to your knees on the sharp rock. The chase had ended, and just in time, as daylight would be here soon, and when that came he would revert back to his human form.

It had been one of the most memorable hunts he'd had in years, and even though your will had been broken in the process, by now he was certain that he wanted to keep you. To have a little partner in his solitary life, someone to keep his bed warm and wait for him to return home in the evenings. The scenario was nice to think about, and he especially liked the idea of you cuddling up to him during the colder months of the year, trying to keep yourself warm with his body heat to fight the chilly air that would sneak inside. Maybe eventually he'd get you to give him sweet tokens of affection like you'd given to your boyfriend, perhaps a kiss on the cheek before he went out to hunt.

And maybe every once in a while, if you were still insistent on putting up a fight, Uvo might let you out during a full moon and make you think you had a chance to escape, just so he could hunt you down and drag you back to his little home in the woods.

The thought of it gave him chills, and he wondered how long he would need to wait before he could let you out.

You were lightly swaying in place as you looked to the ground below while Uvo was consumed in the thoughts he had about you. He assumed that you were just waiting for him to finish it – your willpower was dried up, and there was no way you would try to run around him or do anything as stupid as try to climb down the cliff face.

He had no clue where your thoughts had taken you in that moment.

Realization shot through him when he saw your shoulders sag and your body began to fall forward over the edge.

Uvo rushed forward and grabbed you by your shoulder before you fell off and he threw you back, a good distance further and far rougher than he had been intending, as you wailed weakly when you hit the ground.

If you were willing to kill yourself to escape him, he'd need to wait some time before letting you run about the woods again.

By now, you were covered in dirt and blood and whatever else had stuck to you from the forest while you had run from him. Your skin was covered in cuts that he and the forest had given you and it would likely be some time before you would be able to properly walk again based off of the state of your feet. When he approached you once more, you clenched your eyes shut again. By now you were past the point of tears and just waited for him to finish you off.

You jolted at the feeling of his fur brushing against your skin when straddled you once more, but just as before, the killing blow you were expecting never came. You opened one eye, and just as you did so, the first rays of the sun shone over the landscape beyond and hit Uvogin.

You watched in silent horror as the fur that covered him caught on fire and began to burn. He was briefly consumed by the flames before they vanished into puffs of smoke. His bones were snapping again, breaking into pieces and retracting back into their normal size while his muscles and skin rippled and shrunk back down, tightening around his fingers as the claws also retracted and vanished beneath the skin. As his wolf face broke apart and reformed, there was a look of shock in your eyes as you saw the beast on top of you become more and more human. And that shock soon turned into a realization when you found that you recognized the man who was on top of you.

His transformation back to his human form was over in a matter of seconds, and when it was over and his green eyes looked back down at you, you stuttered as you tried to find your voice.

“U-Uvogin?” you asked weakly.

He grinned, pleased that you had remembered his name.

Without another word, Uvo leaned down over you so he could begin the process of properly claiming you as his.

#reader insert #uvo x reader #Uvogin #hxh uvogin #yandere #yandere hxh #yandere x reader #yandere hunter x hunter #yandere uvogin #monster #uvogin x reader

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