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nctsworld · 4 years ago

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two nights, one you

✩‌ jaemin ‌x‌ ‌reader‌ ‌|‌ fuckboy!jaemin | strangers (who f*ck) to (brief) enemies to lovers | ‌10.9k

SUMMARY‌ ‌⇾‌ a last-minute one night stand gone awry is extended into two nights when you’re snowed in at the cute (but rude) stranger’s apartment on christmas eve. [loosely based on the movie, two night stand] // part of the x-mas in ncity collection GENRES ⇾ crack | smut | fluff WARNINGS‌ ‌⇾‌ ‌lots of bickering and dialogue, smut, oral s*x (f and m receiving), fingering, mentions of alcohol/drinking, swearing, bit of angst before the end, jaemin’s an asshole... or is he? RATING‌ ‌⇾‌ explicit TAGLIST ⇾‌ @infnteen

AUTHOR’S NOTE ⇾ it’s late (and long fsldkm), srysry but here it is! i hope the humour comes out in this and look away if falls flat zzz fingers crossed that i can finish the last two installments for this collection asap!

⇾ gif created by me, please don’t repost or share without credit!

Maybe it’s because it’s the evening of Christmas Eve Eve and you’re feeling more lonely than usual.

Maybe it’s due to the two glasses of wine you guzzled down in the span of fifteen minutes that get you buzzed.

Maybe it’s your prominent six-month dry spell and you’re in desperate need for some much needed rain in your drought.

Or maybe it’s just pure impulsiveness.

Regardless of the reasons, you’re aiming to get laid tonight.

It’s 9:45pm as you make the rounds on Tinder. You’ve used it in the past, searching for a relationship in vain, but haven’t used it much since you broke up with your last partner. Bringing the app alive again, you’re already bombarded by distasteful messages, off-putting one-liners and jokes, and swiping left more than you’d like.

You haven’t had a one-night stand before, but isn’t there anyone on here that is just a little bit attractive, nearby where you are, around your age, and is somewhat chivalrous about the topic besides saying DTF? Maybe you need to lower your standards if you want to get dicked down tonight.

But then, you land on him.

One Na Jaemin, 20 years old, and only four miles away from you.

Scrolling through his profile pictures and Instagram feed, you assume that he’s into photography, is on the athletic side from the various hobbies he partakes in, and he must be at least half-aware of his beauty because there’s the occasional pic that shows off his lean, toned arms, which, if you can be frank, is more flattering than the shirtless ones you constantly see. Oh, and he attends the same university as you.

The cherry on top? His bio is simple and upfront:

“Not up for anything serious, but always down for a good time ;)”

You swipe right without hesitation.

“It’s a Match!” flashes instantly at you. Your mouth swings open in disbelief.

Usually, you’d wait for your matches to message you and play hard-to-get, but not tonight. Tonight, you’re initiating and leading all the conversations, completely driven by your thirst.

Messaging Jaemin is a breeze. He types with more than half a brain, and he flirts, but it isn’t overwhelming or repulsive. Segueing the current topic, you drag your bottom lip upward as you send the following message:

so, hypothetically... if one were to have good time with you would tonight work?

Not even twenty seconds later and he replies with:

-wow, dont you go straight to the point -im impressed -but yeah -tonight works ;)

He’s quick to send his address.

-let me know when ur here and ill come get you out front!

Smacking your lips together, you squeal to yourself in the comfort of your home, excited to meet with him, but then a thought hangs over you—this feels a little too good to be true. Horrible scenarios run through your head, so your fingers dash across your phone’s keyboard:

tbh i haven’t really done this b4 so im kinda new to this is it ok if we video call or smth? gotta make sure you’re real and not a serial killer i’m sure you understand 😛

-for sure for sure -totally get it -ive had my fair share of fake girls and serial killers so i feel u 😛

Grateful for his consideration, you rush to rearrange your hair after you send him a Zoom link, hoping you look decent enough to not have him back off from his initial offer. He appears in the video call on his phone with the front-facing camera on a few seconds after you connect.

“Hi,” you chirp.

A corner of his mouth lifts. “Hey.”

Okay, he’s definitely cuter in real-time than in his pictures.

“You know, I’m not gonna lie, but I lowkey expected to see a dick or something,” you joke in an attempt to dispel your nervousness.

“Same,” he chuckles, running a hand through his black hair.

Oh God, he’s not just cute—he’s devastatingly gorgeous.

“So, this is my place...”

Jaemin moves around with his apartment in the background, revealing his living room first. Envy prods you as you note the brick walls, high ceiling windows, and well-appointed furnishings.

Recalling his address, you ask, “How’d you get a place in the heart of the city?”

“Lucked out,” he shrugs. His phone shakes a bit as he’s still moving. “My friend slash roommate—who is at his girlfriend’s place tonight, so we have the place all to ourselves—his parents own the condo and they gave me a friend discount on the rent.”

He finally stands in one place and turns the light on to reveal a room. “And this is my bedroom.”

Nothing out of the ordinary. A desk table with a gaming set-up, in tow with a gamer chair, and a decently-sized bed beside a nightstand.

“Oh, and here’s my closet.” Jaemin’s on the move again as he opens his closet doors. “Just to make sure you don’t think I hide the skins of my past one-nighters in here.”

A bubbly laugh rises from you. “Okay, I didn’t think of that before, but now you’ve planted the seed in my head. Maybe you hide them in the other rooms.”

“Nah, my roommate would kill me if I did.”

Both of you laugh in unison, and you bob your head with puffed cheeks.

“Okay, it all seems very promising. I’m going to get ready and I’ll guess I’ll see you in a bit, Jaemin.”

“Sounds good,” Jaemin nods, then winks. Although you’re sitting down, he’s still able to get you weak in the knees. “See you soon.”

You end the call and rush to bundle up for the snow starting to come down outside. A twenty-minute train ride later, you’re at the front door of a rustic, industrial apartment complex. After informing Jaemin you’re outside, you glance up at the snowflakes falling from the dark pink-grey sky, anticipating for what comes next.

Sex with a hot guy, what can go wrong?

So, you must’ve jinxed it because the sex is...

Unsatisfying. Finished faster than you’d like it to be. Sadly, overall disappointing. If you had to rate it, three out of five stars, at best.

But hey, he came, and you sort of did, and it wasn’t the worst sex you’ve ever had. It half-quenched your dry spell.

And enough happened that it tired you out, leaving you passed out in the handsome stranger’s bed until morning.

In the morning, your eyes slowly flicker, unused to the foreign, sweet scent engulfing you in your bed. Correction: Jaemin’s bed.

Your eyes flicker faster as you glance through the almost wall-sized window. The snow hasn’t let up from last night. On the contrary, it seems like it’s snowing non-stop. You groan at the thought of going home in this weather.

The bed is without Jaemin’s presence as you reach for your phone on the nightstand. 10:36AM and a few notifications greet you. You rub your eyes and start combing through them, rising upward to sit up on the bed.

“Morning. You’re finally up.”

Peering up from your device, Jaemin’s standing by the door with folded arms. His plain sweater and sweatpants match the colour of his hair. The dazzling smile he gives is so contagious, you’re not even conscious of catching one too.

“Out you go.”

You blink.

Once, twice, and then you tilt your head as you stare blankly at him, uncertain if you heard him correctly.

After a few moments, because you’re not moving an inch, his smile dissipates and he cocks an eyebrow in expectancy. A serious expression rolls over his face.

Suddenly, Jaemin strolls to the side of the bed and hitches his thumb towards the door.

You definitely heard him right.

And he’s dead-serious.

You replay the video call from last night, dissecting how you thought he was nice and funny and—

Realization dawns on you.

Why would you expect anything more from a two-faced fuck boy?

Still awestruck by the situation, you’re still solid as a statue, so Jaemin takes matters into his own hands and grasps you by your elbow, casually dragging you from his bed like he’s taking out the trash.

“What the fuck?!” you screech.

“C’mon, let’s go. Out out.”

“My clothes, though!” you protest in the middle of the hallway. He sighs in frustration, scurries to the bedroom, and returns with a small pile in his arms, then continues to drag you to the front door.

“Are you always this pleasant with your guests the morning after?” you rage, putting on the rest of your clothes by the door. “You don’t even have the decency to offer me tea or coffee?”

“This was a one-night stand, not a bed and breakfast, sunshine,” he says as he watches you put your shoes on. He’s folding his arms again and leaning against the wall, his attitude dripping with smug. If he wasn’t a stranger, you’d punch it off his face. “You weren’t kidding when you said you were new to this, huh?”

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?!”

“It means you’re a borderline virgin who needs to toodle-loo, get going and gone because you’re overstaying your welcome as we speak.”

Finishing putting on your coat, you’re fuming as your jaw hangs at the personal jab over your skills in bed. Jaemin swings the door open and shoves you through it.

“But I’ll admit, it was still nice having sex with you!” he chimes with a sickening grin and a hand on the door.

“Aw, thanks asshole, wish I could say the same,” you sarcastically reply, resting a palm upon your chest.

He scoffs. “From what I heard last night, I think I can confidently say that you had a great time.”

Flashbacks replay in your mind of your screaming fest from underneath him. Little did Jaemin actually know—

“You know, for someone who I assume has many one-night stands,” you spit with squinted eyes. “I’m surprised you can’t tell when girls fake it.”

You must’ve hit a sore spot because he grinds his teeth and you could almost see the steam coming out of his ears.

Oh yeah, you’re definitely the winner in this fight.

“Okay, you know what, Merry Christmas and fuck you. Have a great life!”

“Fuck you, dickface. Wishing you a miserable Christmas!”

With a bitter smile, you flip him off as he slams the door in your face.

Carrying a basket filled with dirty clothes, Jaemin’s on the way down to the laundry room in the basement of his apartment with his shoulder scrunched up, squeezing his phone to his ear.

“Bro, she had the audacity to say that I didn’t make her come when she was screaming my God damn ear off—”

As he steps down the short flight of stairs and passes by the foyer area by the main entrance to the building, he notices you’re still here.

“Shit, uh, Jeno,” he mumbles. “I’m gonna have to call you back.”

He stuffs his phone into the pocket of his sweats and calls out to you as he strides closer. “Are you resorting to stalking me by my front door now?”

With crossed arms, you peer over your shoulder, eyes full of bitterness.

“Like I wanna be anywhere near you right now,” you grumble. You jerk your head towards the thick, wooden door. “It’s jammed from the snow.”

The laundry carrier shakes his head and places the basket onto the floor. “A little snow never hurt anyone. You’re probably just too weak.”

Stepping aside and holding out an arm, you signal for him to give it a try.

Jaemin twists the handle and, lo and behold, it doesn’t open. His forehead crinkles as he tries again and again, using more force each time.

Glancing through one of the partially frosted windows adjacent to the sides of the door, he notices the snow has piled enormously high, almost to the height of his chest.

“Well, shit.”

Reluctantly, Jaemin brings you back to his apartment. You’re technically his guest and if he left you in the foyer to freeze, trouble would surely come his way, whether it be in the form of his landlords (also known as his roommate’s parents) or the police.

Without a word, he settles a spoon in a bowl, a carton of milk, and a box of cereal onto the small kitchen table.

At first, you stare at it venomously in rejection, thinking you can easily last a day without any hand-outs from this son of a bitch, but your stomach roars ferociously three seconds later.

As you chew across from him, you enjoy the company of your phone over him, while he does the same but with a cup of coffee in hand.

After finishing your food, you adamantly place your phone down and lean back into the chair, boring holes into his head.

“Why are you such an asshole?” you seethe observantly.

“Why are you such a bitch?” he retorts, not pulling his gaze away from his phone.

“Because you started it,” you say slowly, stating the obvious.

“No, you.”

You sigh defeatedly at his childish behaviour. The weather apps predict the snow will (hopefully) die down by tomorrow morning, thus you’re officially stuck with him for the next twenty-four hours or so. Your hands rake through your hair.

“Whether we like it or not, the snow isn’t going away until tomorrow. Merry Christmas Eve to us, I guess.”

He’s still glued to his phone. You exhale another sigh.

“Since we’re not getting out of this until then, can we just...” You soften your voice. “Start over?”

His eyes are still on the screen, but from the way his shoulders tense and how he stops scrolling, you know he’s considering your proposition.

“At least call a stalemate over this.” You drift your hand in the air, gesturing between you and him.

Blowing out air and shaking his head, he rests his phone onto the table.

“Fine.”

He crosses his arms, imitating you, and the two of you sit there, staring at each other in a long silence.

One minute, to be exact.

You’re the one to break the silence game by running your hands over your face, letting out a hybrid of a groan and laugh.

“God, the fact that we had sex makes this kinda awkward, huh?”

Jaemin’s exterior melts slightly, letting out a snicker. He shrugs, “Then let’s just pretend that we didn’t have sex.”

“We can’t just pretend that we didn’t have sex,” you say, holding two upturned palms near your face.

“We did it, it’s done. I’ve seen your penis, you kicked me out, and you labelled me a prude—” You dart a finger towards him. “—which I am far from, by the way. All of those are pretty huge things.”

One of the corners of his mouth raises high. “Are you saying my penis is huge?”

“No, the implication of said penis is huge. Wipe that smirk off your face.”

He stretches an arm, holding an imaginary microphone to your face. “Do you deny that my penis is huge?”

Rolling your eyes, you swat his fist away. “What am I, on trial here?”

“Do you plead the fifth then?”

Annoyed, you roll your eyes again. Why do you get the feeling that you’re probably going to be doing this a lot more today? Another feeling tells you that if you don’t answer his question, he’ll probably pester you until you do.

You tilt your head side to side. “It’s... decently sized.”

“Bigger or smaller than average?”

“Perfect...” His eyes light up. “...ly average.” And a frown rolls over.

He squints his eyes accusingly at your sneer. “Are you lying like you did before about faking it?”

You scoff. “I wasn’t lying about faking it, and I’m not lying now about your average sized dick.”

Jaemin releases a disgruntled grumble and lifts his cup to his face. You notice he likes to take his coffee black and bitter, presumably like his heart.

“So, Miss I’m-Not-A-Prude-and-I’ve-Definitely-Had-Sex-Before.” His eyebrows perk up on the word definitely. “What’s your story? Why the last minute one-night stand?”

Shrugging your shoulders to your ears, you reply, “Haven’t had sex in a while.”

“When’s the last time you had sex?” he asks mid-sip.

“Half a year ago,” you respond nonchalantly, perching your chin into your palms.

Jaemin immediately chokes, almost spraying the coffee through his nose.

“Half a year?!” he gasps. It takes him a few hits to his chest to dispel the coughing. “Six months?!”

“Wow, you can count!” you exclaim in a condescending tone. You change the position of your hands so that your chin is now atop of the back of your curled fingers and tilt your head. “Can you also spell?”

“As a premed student, I can assure you that I am capable of doing both,” he says with a slight strain due to the coughing fit. The humble brag brings on another eye roll. Of course he’s a premed student with the attitude he wears.

“It’s just—” He clears his throat and swallows the last bit of coffee stuck in his windpipe. “—The last time I had a dry spell was for like, a month, tops.”

So the fuckboy gets laid way more on the daily than you expect. You’re torn between being envious over how much action he gets in comparison to you, or remorseful, since you’re now just one of the many notches on his bedpost.

No matter, sarcasm is always the best defence mechanism.

“Good for you, Jaemin. I’m sure you’re very proud of that.”

There’s an awkward beat. His head hangs for a moment while his thumbs stroke the sides of his cup. A strange pinch of guilt occurs. Did you overstep an unspoken line? But then he drags himself back to reality in a heartbeat.

Jaemin brings the cup to his mouth again, mumbling, “At least the sex on your part makes more sense now; you’re rusty as fuck.”

Completely aware of what he said, you trash your guilt entirely and narrow your eyes. “What did you just say?”

Following a long sip, he hums, “Mmm, nothing.” Soon after, he stands up with his cup.

“I’m gonna go game now. Feel free to watch Netflix on the TV and stay in the living room.”

As if you had anywhere else to go...

He begins to walk towards his room as you mutter under your breath, “I’m not a dog.”

“Says the bitch,” he pipes up, taking you by surprise.

“Thought we had a stalemate?!” you shout, leaning your head forward as you watch him entering his room.

“Doesn’t mean we’re on peaceful terms!” he sing-shouts.

The flinging of the closed door echoes throughout the apartment.

Regret surges through you. You just had to choose a fuckboy fluent in assholery and end up incidentally being isolated with him during a snow storm on Christmas Eve.

You wonder if you can handle being around him for the next twenty-four hours without killing him first.

During the afternoon, you’re on the living room couch, playing a show as mostly background noise while you’re on your phone. At one point, your phone unsurprisingly begins to die and you tread over to Jaemin’s door to ask for a charger and if you can also take a shower. He’s still annoyed by your existence, but at least he hands you a charger and lets you know where the extra towels are.

Stepping into the living room with the towel in your hand as you dry your hair off, you peer out the large living room window and see nothing but white engulfing the streets and buildings as far as the eye can see.

You pray the snow will eventually stop as soon as possible so you can head back home.

By the middle of the afternoon, Jaemin emerges from his bedroom and shocks you by plopping down on the opposite end of the living room couch from where you’re sitting.

“Bored?” you ask, eyes fixated on the TV screen.

“Nope,” he replies, popping the p as he says it. His slings his arm around the top of the couch.

“Gotta keep an eye on you in case you do something.” Turning away from the screen, he faces you and motions circles with his hand. “You’ve got a little crazy in you, I can feel it.”

You quickly glance over at him, but try to refocus on the TV. “Need I remind you that you’re the crazy one, dragging me out of the apartment right as I woke up.”

That compels him to turn his whole body towards you. “Well, you’re the one who wanted a last-minute one-night stand.”

You match his stance. “As if I’m the first girl in your bed to stay in the morning?”

“Actually, yeah.” He aggressively tilts his head to one side. “Most girls leave before I even get up. The other percentage don’t fight me when I ask for them to go, so it looks like you’re the odd one out.”

You press your lips together, refusing to admit that maybe he has a point, under the assumption that he’s telling the truth.

Jaemin twists his body back to the screen and adds, “I make it very clear on my profile that I don’t do morning afters, sweetheart.”

And you agree that his profile is clear about his intentions, but that doesn’t mean you can condone his shitty behaviour.

“Well, sorry that I expected just an ounce of respect instead of getting kicked to the curb after you stuck your dick in me,” you grumble, shifting back to the show and crossing your arms.

“Morning afters lead to attachments, and attachments lead to feelings, and feelings lead to relationships,” he says the string of words clinically, as if it’s a mantra that he lives by.

Your eyebrows knit together as you whip your head towards him once more, studying him.

“And what’s so wrong with that?”

Deliberately averting your gaze, Jaemin grates his tongue between his teeth, a slight tsk audibly heard, and his chin juts out. There’s definitely a story behind his ways. He huffs and changes the subject.

“Seriously?” He holds a hand out. “You’re watching this trashy show?”

Squinting your eyes at him, you could probably interrogate him further, but you decide otherwise.

“It may be trashy,” you concur, looking at the TV. “But it’s my trashy comfort show.”

Following an over-the-top acted out scene between the show’s main love interests, Jaemin shoots up from the couch.

“Yeah, no, I can’t handle this. Can we either put on something else or game or something?”

“Why don’t you go back to your room to game, Mr. I’m-Not-Bored?”

“Like I said, I gotta keep an eye on you,” he says while bending over in front of the TV, already setting up the Playstation. He tosses you a controller as he strides to his side of the couch again.

He mumbles to himself, “Need to make sure you don’t go crazy from the lack of human interaction.”

Either Jaemin is selfish and only looking out for himself, or he wants to make sure you’re not feeling lonely in a stranger’s home.

Likely the first reason, you deduce—because why would a guy like Jaemin care about a mere one-night stand?

Admittedly, you’re not the best at games, especially at fighting ones. You can comprehend the move lists, but you like to live by button smashing the controller and repeating moves over and over.

So it’s hilarious when you beat Jaemin every round with your surprisingly fruitful technique.

“Okay, this is bullshit,” Jaemin complains, sticking his tongue out in irritation. His ass is currently being handed to him on a plate again since you’re almost done killing his character off. “You must be lying to me; you have to be a pro player or some shit.”

Jaemin’s health bar is dangerously low as your character jabs his with a sword. He winces out loud and you snicker.

“Why do you think I always lie about everything?! Dude, you have serious trust issues,” you joke before you steal the opportunity to slice his character. One more hit and he’s done for.

“I do not! I just—nooo!”

You rise to your feet and pump your arms in the air, turning in circles in joy over yet another win.

Sulking, Jaemin eyes your little dance from his end on the couch, but as he watches you more, a feeling balloons in his chest. Something he hasn’t felt in a long time.

Finally coming down from your post-win high, you spot an emerging grin from the corner of your eye, making you pause.

“What?” you eye him suspiciously.

Your suspicion pops the sensation in his chest and, like a fish out of water, his eyes widen and his grin melts away.

“Nothing, uhm.” He ruffles his eyebrows and palms the back of his neck, quickly facing the TV. “Let’s go one more round and then we can switch to another game—”

Suddenly, the TV and surrounding lights switch off. Both of you waver your eyes, anticipating for them to come back on, but they unfortunately don’t.

Jaemin rushes over to the window. When he swivels his head towards you, his face darkens.

“Looks like it’s at least the whole block. The streetlights are out too.”

Without another word, he dashes to the linen closet and brings back several blankets. He calmly explains that there won’t be heat since it’s connected to the electricity, so it’d be best to keep warm with the extra layers.

Not wanting to scare you, he doesn’t add the fact that due to the huge windows in the apartment, more unnecessary cold air will come in, but you’re already cognizant of it from your own logic and since the remaining heat dissolves rapidly.

You groan and retreat into the massive blanket over your shoulders, turtling your head.

You can’t believe you’re going to fucking die in this asshole’s apartment on Christmas Eve.

On the ends of the couch in your makeshift blanket jackets, both of you attend to your phones for a while.

From what people and the news outlets are saying, it’s not just the block, but the whole city grid is out. You frantically text your friends, giving updates on how you are and half-jokingly telling them that you’re going to die with your dreadful one-night stand. Some time passes and Jaemin tosses his phone off to one side.

“Well, since there’s nothing else to do and we should probably conserve our phone batteries—” You glance up at him from your phone and pout. Slowly nodding in agreement, you toss it aside too. “—why don’t we play a game of ‘I’ll-Give-You-Pointers-on-How-to-be-Better-in-Bed’?”

A smile burgeons on his irritatingly handsome face and your eyes roll. At this point, you wonder if the reaction is conditioned into you. “It’ll be my early Christmas gift to you.”

“Wow, so thoughtful, how could I ever thank you?” You drag the blanket closer to your chest in false gratitude.

You think for a serious moment if you really want to go through with this. Hearing Jaemin run his mouth on you unwarranted is already painful, but to give him the go-ahead to do so? Especially criticizing your skills in bed?

You blow out a sigh, noting the slightly visible cloud. You’re grateful Jaemin has thick, downy blankets.

Well, if you’re going to die, may as well know what went wrong, right?

“Fine, but if we’re playing this game, we have to say everything honestly and take the criticism we get.” You point a stern finger. “No rebuttals, just acceptance.”

“Wait.” Jaemin crinkles his face in genuine confusion as his hand peeks out from his blanket.

“You have things to criticize about me in bed?”

Your lips tremble before you burst into laughter. Displeasure is on Jaemin’s tight-lipped face as you laugh for a while, almost keeling over in your blanket ball onto the hardwood floor. “How conceited are you, oh, my fucking God?”

He slices his hand through the air. “I’ve never had any complaints—”

“Because you’re too busy focusing on your own orgasm, you selfish dickwad,” you say as your laughter dies down.

He sits in his snit for a few more moments until he gets over it.

“Fine, fine,” he huffs. Jaemin knows he’s not going to enjoy this, but he’s the one who suggested it. He can’t back out now. “Let’s just get this over with, you go first.”

With your blanket held by your chest, you hop off your end of the couch and shuffle over in front of him where he’s seated. Beaming, you begin.

“Let’s start with foreplay.” Jaemin’s eyes light up with confidence, thinking he’s at least decent with that. You crush his expression as your lips purse and you shake your head.

“Non-existent.”

“What do you mean?! I kissed you as you took off your clothes.”

You stick your free hand out from your blanket, extending your index finger.

“One: you only kissed my lips. You know, there are other parts of me to kiss, like, I don’t know, my neck, my arms, my shoulders.”

You extend another finger. “And, two: it’s weird to not help someone take off their clothes. Like you’re in a super rush to get somewhere or something—”

“We’re fucking!” he cuts in sharply. “This is a one-night stand, not a relationship.”

Closing your eyes and dropping your head, you pinch the bridge of your nose. You sigh in exaggeration.

“Thought we agreed no rebuttals...” you softly sing-say.

Jaemin’s head sinks a little into his blanket. “Sorry.”

Removing your hand, you shrug. “Maybe there’s some rule that I don’t know about one-night stands, so this could be on me.”

You start to aimlessly tread back and forth in front of him, dragging the blanket along too. “But fuck, foreplay is foreplay for a reason. You work your way up to the heat of the moment and it makes sex much better, regardless if you’re in a relationship with the person or not.”

“Next point.” You stop walking and direct your focus on him. Pointing your finger and looking him dead in the eye, you ask, “Do you know what a vagina is?”

He snorts with a simper. “Uhhh, is this a rhetorical question?”

“No, I’m legit asking,” you say with a raised eyebrow and snarky smile. “Because when you went down on me, all you flicked your tongue at was the outside of it, also called the labia if you didn’t know.”

“I’m premed, of course I—”

“Which is great! But you didn’t go any deeper nor did you go near my clit.”

You thrust your finger again. “Do you also know what that is?”

“Yes...” he groans with the flickering eyelids.

You swipe your arm through the air. “Maybe make use of it, and not only when you go down on girls. Even during sex, touching it is great.”

“And lastly,” you continue. “I’ll be honest here, you have a decent dick.”

Jaemin waggles his finger. “So you were lying before—”

“I wasn’t lying,” you retort firmly. “But anyways, you’ve got the stuff, but why don’t you put it to better use?”

With the following words, you attempt to gesture with your body and execute moves as graphic visuals. Jaemin giggles at the sight.

“Vary the speeds and the angle, don’t just slam it in me and go crazy fast from the get-go. Build up to the climax. Jesus, I couldn’t even get close to coming because you’re like a jackhammer from start to finish.”

When you finally finish, Jaemin’s giggles morph into hollow laughs. Frustration is blatant on your face, pondering if he even absorbed a single word you said.

After he calms down, he asks, “Are you done?”

You mumble, “Yeah, I think so.”

The two of you switch places. He shuffles onto his feet with his blanket while you sit back on the couch.

Jaemin pulls the blanket across the floor as he ambles. “Okay, your head game is decent—”

“Excuse you, my head game is strong.”

“Uh-uh, rebuttal,” he points out.

You sigh. Pinching your fingers together, you drag the invisible zipper across your mouth, then wave your hand, allowing him to resume.

“Your head game is decent. You definitely can deepthroat, but—” He mirrors you from before and extends his index finger.

“One: this happened only a few times, but your teeth scraped against my dick, which is why I assumed you were a borderline virgin.”

You fume silently at the accusation, attempting to not speak up with a heap of rebuttals. But he wasn’t wrong—if you teethed on his dick, that’s a classic virgin move.

“But that’s okay, because we already established that you’re just rusty.” Jaemin flashes you a fake comforting smile as he continues to pace. You flash him one back.

“And two—” He holds another finger out. “Don’t be scared to use your hands and stroke me. Give my dick some love. If it’s too wet, just wipe your hands on the bed or something.”

“Okay, duly noted,” you hum. “Next.”

“Don’t be scared to touch me.”

“I touched you so much during—”

He shoots you a glare. You roll your mouth inward, your lips disappearing instantly.

“Your hands were mostly on the sheets, which is hot, but guys like to be felt up too.”

The attractive individual peers up for a second, thinking to himself. “Even hotter when a girl feels herself up during the fucking, but that’s beside the point. Baby steps, just remember to touch the other person.”

Jaemin does a full-stop and faces you.

“And just... don’t fake it.” Distress is evident in his pout. You hate to admit it, but it’s a little cute. He raises an arm and jerks it in the air. “Why do girls fake it?”

“Because guys with egos like you can’t handle criticism,” you reply bluntly.

“What are we doing, having this conversation, hm?”

“We wouldn’t be having this conversation if it didn’t snow in and keep us here together.” You peel a hand away and gesture to the window. “If I walked out of here this morning, you would’ve just fucked the next girl the same.”

He defends himself, “Faking it just feeds our egos.”

“Yeah, well, if I told you afterwards that I didn’t come, what would you do?”

“Try to make you come in other ways?”

Shaking your head, you scoff. “Guys like you aren’t that considerate.”

“You’re right.” He assents, holding his pointer finger against his chest. “Because guys like me aim to please.”

A brilliant thought leaps in his mind and Jaemin gasps. You can only assume bad things from the wicked smile he sends your way.

“Why don’t we try it again?”

Perplexed, you squint at him.

“Try what again...?”

“Sex,” he says enthusiastically.

You blankly stare at him.

“You’ve gotta be joking,” you deadpan.

“I mean, there’s nothing else to do and it’ll keep us warm.”

You continue to stare at him until you groan.

“Oh, my God...” Your blanket droops a bit off your shoulders as you drag your palms across your face. “I cannot believe I’m stuck in this snowstorm with you out of all people...”

Sitting next to you, Jaemin persistently reasons with you. “Think of it also as another learning experience for the future partners we’ll have.”

“Yeah, if we don’t die first!” you shriek.

“We’re not going to die,” Jaemin replies in a mocking tone and a dart of his tongue.

Outside the window, the snow seems to have slowed down, but not by much.

God, Jaemin better be fucking right because you want to live to see another day.

“Fine,” you mutter and match his gaze. “But we have to be vocal throughout the whole thing. Say whatever’s on our mind.”

“Fine,” he agrees to your terms. He produces the same wicked smile again. “But can we film it then? So we can study it after?”

You fire him a death glare that melts his face off, even in the frigid atmosphere.

“I’m joking, I’m joking,” he says, waving his hand.

They say that jokes are half-meant true, but you think Jaemin fully meant it. Still in your blanket jackets, Jaemin snags your free hand and leads you to his room.

“You gotta give me credit for trying, though.”

“No.” You shake your head with an unwilling smile creeping on the edge of your lips. On second thought, maybe the joke was a little funny, but you still stand by your opinion that he’s the most annoying person in the world. “I don’t think I will.”

“Thank God Chenle has so many scented candles...”

On the edge of Jaemin’s bed, huddled by the blanket, you watch him light up several large jars, placing them on his nightstand and desk in hopes to brighten the room. It’s already late afternoon, but one could mistaken it for nighttime with the muddy sky due to the snow.

“Is Chenle your roommate?”

“Yeah,” Jaemin answers with a slight shiver, igniting the last candle near the bedside. He removed his blanket when he went to nab the matches and candles. “His girlfriend gets free ones from work, so she always gives him a shit ton, even though he never uses them.”

With a glowing hue against his face, he blows out the match. He makes his way to you, a cocky grin plastered on him, as he says, “Guess we’re making use of them now, though.”

Before you can even respond, Jaemin gets right down to business—sitting beside you on the mattress, he palms your face and drags you in for a kiss. You softly yelp, but immediately reciprocate.

The cover falls off your body as you reach to touch him, fingers drifting over his solid arms.

You don’t want to stroke his large ego, and maybe it’s because you haven’t had anyone else on you in a while, but Jaemin’s kisses are something else.

The cushiony pair of lips always executes enough pressure against your mouth, increasing and decreasing on command in perfect tandem and timing. His hands hover over your waist and the nape of your neck, fingers sinking into your hot skin.

His mouth trails downward the side of your neck. You crane your head back, indulging in his caresses as soft moans trickle out.

He gently signals for you to recline back and lay onto the mattress, moving the sea of blankets aside. Inclined on his elbow, almost atop of you, his cool fingers glide under your top layers, his thumb stroking against your stomach.

Pulling away from your body, he tugs on the ends of your clothes. You rise from the bed to better the angle for him to discard of them.

The hairs on your skin are standing on end from the frigid air, but you’re too focused on Jaemin’s mouth migrating over your upper arm and your bra-covered chest to care. Without notice, he stuffs a cup of the bra to one side and takes your bosom into his mouth.

Air’s seized from your lungs and your core contracts from the pleasure. Your fingers tug on Jaemin’s luscious locks and his free hand squeezes your unoccupied breast.

After a few twirls of his tongue and a gentle drawing of his teeth on the pointed tip, he mumbles hotly into your chest while he thumbs your other nipple, “Foreplay still non-existent?”

“It’s better, I guess,” you sigh with fluttering eyes. His chuckling reverberates against your cleavage, a sign of amusement from your obstinacy. A gasp pierces the room as Jaemin repeats his actions onto the other breast.

He aids you in taking off the rest of your clothes and, obviously aware of your goosebumps and shuddering, tells you to get underneath the blankets while he strips himself.

Under the toasty ocean of layers, despite how both of you are bare-boned and how easy it is to jump into the main act, Jaemin purposefully continues to prolong the foreplay. Side by side, your lips meld endlessly; your legs and hands are intertwined in an amorous pretzel.

Jaemin ensures he doesn’t leave any part of you untouched—the pads of fingers virtually graze over every inch of your body. Each grip and drag of his digits sends you in a frenzy. Your chest is pressed into him and your eyes are blinded with desire.

In the back of your mind, you think about how you were right about foreplay working up to the heat of the moment—literally, because you’re dripping, he’s hard, and you two have embraced so much that you don’t need the blankets anymore.

On the other hand, you wonder if Jaemin was right about skipping foreplay, because with every whisper of each other’s name, the intimacy rises immensely. You don’t know him, and neither him with you, but you’re both freely drowning in one another in a plane beyond the lust.

Although the room’s beginning to smell of a mix of all the scented candles, Jaemin hones in and drinks in your sweet aroma and your entirety behind his hazy eyes and already tousled hair. All of a sudden, one drag of his fingers over a particular sensitive spot on your body makes you giggle.

“I’m ticklish over there.”

“You mean right—” He drums his fingers over the area again. “—here?”

With a toothy grin, he generates more suffering from you and you begin to lively howl. Soon enough, you beg him to stop.

“You’re such an asshat, c’mon, let me live!”

When he ceases, his head hangs over yours and your gazes connect.

The same feeling blooms in his chest from before in the living room.

He gulps as his eyes waver over your face, unknowingly tracing your beautiful features and etching them into his memory.

Your starry eyes. Your glowing aura. Your everything.

You barely register the change in his expression because he quickly tramples on his moment of weakness by kissing you passionately.

Jaemin whips the blankets aside as he lowers himself between your legs. Your eyes are fixated on him, matching his stare, until he starts to devour you by swiping against your lustrous folds. Your back bows, and, following a few more licks, Jaemin makes a point of his knowledge of the vagina by spreading your lips and ravishing your pussy, tongue penetrating deeply.

Rippled moans release in harmony with your undulating chest. You swear you’re getting more wet, too wet, likely making it overwhelming for Jaemin, but he’s eagerly lapping every drop up.

“How’s that?” he inquires with a grin, hovering over your trembling nether lips. His mouth is evidently glossy, even under the dim lighting.

“Good,” you pant in the most nonchalant tone you can muster up. “Very good-ahhh—”

Jaemin kindly interrupts you by tonguing your clit as he fingers your sex deeply, shattering your fake indifference.

“Move your tongue up more,” you direct, creasing your eyebrows in despair. He follows your direction, and droning moans ensue.

Jaemin’s immersed in your pleasure, but also adding to his own. The more he laps up your wetness, the more he grinds his length against the bed, aching to be inside of you.

Your desire pulses faster, contracting tighter against his fingers, body winding tensely by the second.

“Fuck, Jaemin,” you whine, leaning your head to one side with a parted mouth. “I’m close.”

He draws back and temporarily replaces his tongue with his thumb.

“Good,” he pants, cocking his head to one side. His eyes are filled with determination. “Because I’m not stopping until you come at least two more times tonight.”

You exhale a light laugh. “That’s ambiti-ohgodohgod—”

His tongue works wonders on your clit once more, so much that he has to brace your bucking hips.

Okay, maybe Jaemin did learn a thing or two and actually listened to what you said during your critique.

But now it’s time to demonstrate to him what you’ve learned.

You don’t need much of a break to catch your breath, nor do you want to immediately freeze due to inactivity, so you pull Jaemin in for an intense kiss, tongue dipping into the remnants of your own nectar, then beckon for him to take your former place on the bed.

Perched on the bottom of your feet, you’re on one side of Jaemin, lackadaisically fisting his prominence. After a few strokes, you gradually swallow his inches, keeping in mind to relax your jaw and to not rush in order to avoid any potential teething. You do this to prove yourself worthy of giving head, but also in spite, because you absolutely do not need Jaemin to brand you a virgin again.

You read his quiet groans and his long fingers running lazily through your hair as a positive sign and advance further.

Carefully, you rest your tongue beneath the underside of his cock and bob your head, licking him until he’s sopping with your saliva. His grip in your hair grows in strength as his length reaches the end of your throat, his groans becoming more and more drawn-out.

A needy whimper leaves him as you suddenly withdraw. Dribbles of your spit follow, and you wipe it off with the back of your hand.

“How am I doing?” you glow in a pant, lazily stroking the doused shaft.

He simply nods with half-lidded eyes, barely able to look at you. “Yeah.”

You snicker at him in his breathless position, a prickle of pride running through your spine over the fact that you blew his mind as much as you blew his dick.

“Use your words, Jaemin.”

Teasingly, your fingers curl around his blunt head, soothing the sensitive tip and sending jolts throughout him.

“Fuck—” he pulls his bottom lip upward. “Awesome. You’re doing awesome.”

“Anything to critique?”

“Mm-mm,” he shakes his head restlessly. You revel a bit more in having the upper hand on him a little while longer. You grip him tighter and hasten your speed, leaving him gasping for air.

“Am I still rusty?”

“Nope, nope,” he croaks, voice rising to a whine. “Definitely not rusty.”

“You sure?” His cockiness has transferred over to you.

“Yes, yes—fuck, slow down, please,” Jaemin begs.

Granting his wish, you abate your rhythm and free his inches from your touch.

You wipe your hands on the sides of the bed while Jaemin rummages through the drawer of his nightstand and hastily rolls over the rubber over himself before he prepares to enter the body beneath his.

Recalling your advice, Jaemin mindfully starts off slow. You sigh blissfully in sync to his thrusts. He adjust himself, attempting another angle, and you draw in air between your teeth.

“There, there—“

Jaemin’s quick-witted and keeps at it, plunging a bit more vigorously. Out of habit, your hands grasp onto the bedsheets, but you wittingly attach them to his frame. Hands grazing his neck, his firm pecs, and his taut muscles.

“Touch-touch my stomach,” he orders in a hush.

You hands follow through and feel up the flexed valley of his abs. Feeling up evolves into desperate gripping and even the slight dragging of your nails.

“Your abs are so fucking hot,” you state thoughtlessly, eyes eating up the view alongside his cock disappearing in and out of you. “Jesus, fuck.”

“Yeah?” he rasps with that devilish smirk of his. God, you want to smack it off him, but not right now—not when you’re reaching euphoria. “You’re not just saying that?”

Oh, you’ve definitely stroked his ego now, but there’s no turning back. Truth spills from you on a whim.

“You’re a fucking masterpiece,” you gasp acutely.

You’re starting to wither away, yet, as if they have a life of their own, your hands drift away from him and find a new home atop your breasts.

“You make me feel so good, Jaemin...”

Jaemin’s eyes go wide. His mouth hangs at the lewdness of you touching yourself.

“Fuck, holy shit.”

His gaze doesn’t leave your ecstatic face or humming body for a second as you knead your breasts and tweak your nipples between your fingers. Your back arches further when Jaemin deepens his sweet, fulfilling thrusts. He’s holding himself back, not wanting to end this beautiful deed just yet.

The stimulation bursts over your body, both from your own doing and Jaemin’s.

You plead, “Faster, please, faster.”

And he complies, but he also rubs your bundle of nerves, causing a tight knot in you to build up and your shallow moans transform into heavy screams. You clasp onto his back and claw at the protruding shoulder blades.

“I’m-I’m—”

You clench, both with your core and your nails digging into him, but Jaemin’s unrelenting, capturing your second peak for the evening.

Instead of coming after you, he shockingly veers lower and closer to you and curbs his pace.

“Was that real?”

You respond with an exhausted nod. Oddly, the smile he shows this time isn’t arrogant, but warm and teetering the line of tenderness. His lips fuse with yours before they stray towards your neck. The passion stews as he sucks your tits, all the while lunging laxly into you.

With an obscene pop!, Jaemin removes himself from your nubs.

“Ready for the last round?”

His fast thrusts, hitting you precisely in the best spot, cloud your already weakened logic, deterring you from making any response.

Perspiration is blatant on both individuals. For him, his forehead glistens gorgeously with his damp hair. For you, the back of your bent knees are gluing together. Your bodies are about to pass out, but you both persevere until the end.

As you convulse and perish together in beautiful agony, coincidentally enough, the bulbs in the room and in the streets leap to radiance.

Together, you collapse onto the bed side by side, panting heavily and laughing.

“Told you we weren’t going to die.”

You turn your head to see Jaemin looking at you with a cheeky grin. In retaliation, you stick your tongue out.

By nighttime, it’s finally stopped snowing outside. However, the streets won’t be cleared until morning, at the very least.

But... you’re surprisingly okay with that.

In a turn of events, the sex inexplicably makes the two of you warm up to each other. There still is targeted banter and tension between you, lingering from before, but it’s less hostile and more playful.

During a fancy Christmas Eve dinner of microwavable pizzas, you poke fun at each other’s majors and discuss your respective hobbies in depth, especially his love for photography. Jaemin even asks if he can take a picture of you, claiming that the kitchen lighting actually looks nice on someone for once.

“Is that how you collect the memory of your one-night stands? Instead of hanging their skins in your closet, you sweet-talk your way and keep all the photos of them?” you joke, referring to the video call from yesterday night. It feels like an eternity ago, but snowstorms tend to do that.

He chuckles behind the camera as he snaps a photo of you scrunching your face cutely.

“Yeah, but you’re the first one who has clothes on,” he says, glancing down at the photo on the camera roll.

“Ugh, gross,” you cringe and take a sip of tea.

Jaemin doesn’t add anything further. He leaves out the fact that he never keeps any traces of his one-night stands, that you’re the first girl he’s taken a picture of in a while.

After a few hours of more talking and even some gaming with one another, sleep is much needed. Jaemin offers an extra toothbrush and a sweater and pair of sweats to sleep in. You’re facing each other on his bed, noses almost touching.

“It’s been a while since I haven’t had sex with a girl before I slept next to them,” he whispers, adjusting himself comfortably. The side of his face rests on his piled hands. “It’s kinda nice.”

You cover your mouth as you yawn, then lay your hand back under your head, reflecting the same position as Jaemin.

“You know, it might be my sleepiness talking, but maybe you’re not the worst person in the world to be stuck with during a snowstorm.”

A lovely chuckle echoes in your ear. “I’m glad you’ve had a change of heart.”

After a few moments, your eyes are fluttering to a close until he softly calls out your name.

“Hm?” you stir awake, but not by much.

“Do you...?”

Jaemin doesn’t know what’s gotten to him, doesn’t quite understand why the defences he built for so long are crumbling down in only a day of knowing you.

And yet, something urges him to give it a chance.

Blowing out a shaky sigh, he anxiously intertwines his fingers with yours. You hum softly at the action and a small smile blooms on your face.

“Do you want to go on a date with me sometime?”

“Hm?” His question doesn’t take you aback as much as you would be if you were fully awake. But even in your drowsy state, you have quips in hand. “Jaemin, the notorious fuckboy and serial one-night stander, wants to go on a date?”

“Yeah,” he replies gently, brushing your loose hair out of your face.

Another yawn. “I thought you said you don’t want feelings and relationships and all that shit.”

His fingers trace your pretty jawline and shrugs. “One date doesn’t mean we’re going to be in a relationship, I’m sure you know that.”

You pause for a good two seconds, but the two seconds feel like forever for Jaemin.

“Mmm, fine. One date, just one.” You barely hold up your pointer finger. “And only because it’s Christmas tomorrow. ‘Tis the season to be giving...”

Relief washes over Jaemin in the form of a smile. Embracing the blatant feeling in his chest this time, he plants a light kiss on your nose and wishes you sweet dreams, even though you’ve already fallen soundly asleep.

Sunlight pours over your eyes on Christmas morning.

Déjà vu peculiarly creeps up on you, but the only thing that’s the same as yesterday is waking up in Jaemin’s bed.

He’s next to you this time, deep in his peaceful slumber, instead of waiting for you to leave by his doorframe. The snow has finally stopped, and you think you hear the faint noises of snow plows outside. You inhale deeply and also notice the faded aroma from all the scented candles from last night.

The scenes of yesterday flicker across your mind. The incredible sex. The talking. The dinner. The interlocking of his fingers with yours.

The date he asked you out on.

You stare at him, watching him sleep with a sense of content.

Turning your body, you routinely check your phone, which is charging beside his. You have a slew of Merry Christmas texts from several chats and a few private messages from your friends.

Your attention falls on Jaemin’s phone when it lights up with a notification, likely texts from his friends and family too.

But that’s not what you’re focusing on.

Your heart sinks at the sight of his lockscreen.

It’s a picture of him and a girl kissing.

A twinge emerges in your chest and twists harder and harder.

Jaemin being a fuckboy, you can respect. People can do whatever they want with their lives.

But to cheat?

That’s unforgivable, and a true sin if there ever was one.

You scramble to dash out of there, careful not to make any noises in fear of waking Jaemin up. However, Jaemin’s sensitive to the sounds of the front door, so he rouses awake. His eyes flit open, noticing how you’re gone. He then sees his phone blowing up and adds two and two together.

With his phone in hand, Jaemin rushes to get on a coat and stuffs his feet into his boots, not giving a shit that he’s wearing his thin pajamas in the coldness. He’s bounding down the flight of stairs and onto the bright, white wonderland of the streets.

He swivels his head and catches sight of you almost past down the block, slowly trekking through the thick snow. Jaemin sprints, as much as he can, and hops towards you.

He yells your name, making others on the street turn, but you don’t. You continue forward without looking back.

“Wait! I can explain!”

You’re trying to gain speed, but cardio isn’t your friend. Thankfully for Jaemin, it’s a close friend for him.

“I don’t wanna fucking hear it, Jaemin,” you grunt, hearing the rapid crunching of his shoes coming closer. “Get lost.”

“No, listen to me for a second.”

The boyish man grasps you by the arm and turns you around. You throw his arm away from you and he holds his hands in the air, letting you know that he respects your space. He drops his hands and sees that you’re seething, even worse than you were when he kicked you out yesterday.

“How are you going to explain your lockscreen with you kissing your fucking girlfriend?! Hm?”

“Ex,” he pants in clarification. “Ex-girlfriend.”

Your eyebrows mesh together in utter confusion.

“Okay? That doesn’t make me feel any better, knowing that you’re still hung up on your ex.”

Jaemin shakes his head and rakes a hand through his hair. You note the large clouds he exhales and how he’s barely wearing any clothes. A tinge of sympathy passes through you, wanting to give him some of your clothes for extra layers, but you smother that quickly in your state of rage.

“I’m not hung up on her. Remember you asked me yesterday why I don’t want girls to stay the next morning?”

You cock your head impatiently, as if saying, “Yeah.”

“Well, I don’t want to attach myself to girls. I can’t. I...”

He lowers his head to one side. Shutting his eyes, a long puff emits from his mouth.

“She cheated on me.”

The snow plows in the distance can’t compare to the pumping of your heart in your ears. All the feelings you felt in the last day, but especially in the last fifteen minutes, jumble together in your head, making you feel uneasy and unsure of what to exactly feel or comprehend of the situation.

But you do know one thing, despite the fact that you two barely know each other, the pained look on his face is real—that this is the untold story behind his ways.

Jaemin lifts his head and holds out his phone for emphasis. “The lockscreen serves as a constant reminder that dating and feelings will and can fuck me up.”

Carefully, he steps a little closer to you and slowly cups your face in his shaking hands. You don’t pull away nor is there the same anger from moments before, so he daintily runs his thumbs over your cheeks.

“Until you showed me yesterday that maybe I’m willing to give it all another shot. Risk it all for fuck knows what, but you make it look like it’s worth it.”

He continues his ramble after adjusting some of your hair from the ongoing breeze.

“Sure, it’s Christmas today, but I don’t want you to say yes to going on a date with me just because it is. I want you to say yes because maybe you like spending time with me just as much as I like to spend it with you.”

You’re completely disoriented—your eyes are shifting everywhere but his eyes and your lips are quivering with no words coming out. He sighs understandingly.

“Look, I know you’re probably having second thoughts and you don’t have to give me an answer right now. Think on it for as much time as you need, but I want you to know that I genuinely like you and I want to go on an actual date with you.”

He peels his hand away from your face and raises it into the air as if taking an oath.

“I, Na Jaemin, the notorious fuckboy and serial one-night stander, will devote to monogamy once again if it means I can date you.”

His hands grab yours, kisses the back of them, and then he presses one kiss onto your icy cheek prior to walking away.

“Merry Christmas,” he says with a sad smile. “You know where to find me if you change your mind.”

Later that evening at your large family’s Christmas party, you take another dreadful gulp of your wine.

It’s the happy holiday season, but why does everyone feel the need to stick their nose in your dating life? Well, really, a lack there of.

“Why are you still single?” Layers of their voices resound the same question in your head. You take another swig.

Potential unsaid answers that you kept to yourself fly around as you swish the drink in your glass.

Because you choose to be.

Okay, not really, but it’s the easiest answer.

Because you haven’t found the right guy to get you back in the game.

What does that even mean? What makes the right guy even right?

The right guy? It’s someone who makes you laugh, someone who gives as good as they can take it, someone who wants you just as much as you do.

The cogs move in your head as you take one more sip before you finally come to the conclusion—

Because you didn’t find the right guy until last night.

Despite the mess of today and yesterday morning, you realize that Jaemin is... actually sort of sweet. Annoying, yes, but he keeps you on your toes. It’s a plus that he’s easy on the eyes, but it’s a bigger plus that he’s even easier to talk to.

And if he can find it in his scorched heart to trust you, you can find it in your heart to trust him too.

You quickly say your good-byes to your family and let them know you have other plans with friends tonight.

As the Uber rolls up to his apartment building, you realize you probably should’ve messaged him on Tinder, but it’s worth a shot to see if he’s home. Anyways, impulsiveness is a controlling entity, as evident from your Christmas Eve Eve’s adventure.

And in retrospect, perhaps Jaemin was the perfect pick of the crop after all.

Someone’s entering the building and lets you in behind them. You take the stairs two at a time and hear booming music coming from his floor. At first, you assume it’s from other apartments, but it’s all coming from one—his.

Without a thought, your knuckle taps the door.

A handsome figure that’s definitely not Jaemin opens the door. Behind him, you see a group of young men scattered around the living room, and some have a few girls tucked under their arms.

The man eyes you up and down with a spark in his eye. He’s not Jaemin, but he surely reminds you of him.

“And who might you be?” he asks.

“Who’s at the door, Jeno?” An unknown male voice hollers in a high pitch from the couch. He’s one of the guys with a girl attached to him.

You blink. “Uhm, I’m—”

“She’s with me!” Jaemin shoves the flirty stranger aside and tugs you by your wrist, making headway to his bedroom. He flips the light switch on and the door clicks shut.

“What are you doing h—”

You cut him off with a kiss.

An innocent one, at first, with hints of alcohol on each other’s lips. Your arms wrap around the other and the passion increases with the mingling of your tongues, each party tasting and confirming the specific drinks you both consumed tonight.

Jaemin forces himself to pull away and presses his forehead against yours. “Did you just come all the way here to kiss me, or...?”

“Maybe I came over to ask... if I can stay with you for another night?” you playfully ask, fingers intertwining behind the nape of his neck.

He chuckles heartily. His fingers sink into the sides of your waist. “Is my dick that great? The sex with me that amazing?”

“Mmm, that’s definitely a benefit,” you agree, fluttering your nose against his. “But I want more than that—“ You poke a finger to his chest. “—I want the man behind the dick.”

Your gazes converge, bringing you together as one.

“I want to go on that date with you. I want you, Jaemin.”

He flashes a megawatt smile that could compete with a million Christmas lights, but it fades suddenly and you’re unsure why he seems like he’s about to bawl his eyes out.

“That’s so beautiful, I might cry.” He brings a finger to his eye, pretending to shed a tear.

Oh, yeah—you’re definitely going to need to hire someone to constantly shove your eyeballs back into your sockets if you’re going to date Jaemin.

“Oh, shut up,” you whisper, yanking him in for another kiss.

Three dates later, including a memorable New Year’s Eve, you finally decide to rid of the Tinder app for good.

With his arm around you on his living room couch, Jaemin glances over your shoulder.

“Really? You’re finally deleting your Tinder?”

You snort in disbelief. “That’s gold, coming from the King of Tinder himself. When did you delete?”

He turns to face the television and shrugs coolly.

“Maybe I didn’t.”

“Wouldn’t put it past you,” you nod, eyes still on your phone.

“Nah, I’m kidding, I did.”

You sharply turn your head.

“No way. When?” you press with narrow eyes.

A shy smile emerges on Jaemin’s face as he picks his pants over his thighs.

“On the night of Christmas Eve, after you agreed to go on a date with me.”

7K notes · View notes

homoose · 4 years ago

Text

Love Has a Learning Curve: Part IV (x reader)

Summary: Reader visits Spencer at the university and finds that her old insecurities aren’t as dead as she thought.

Pairing: Spencer Reid x fem!reader

Category: hurt/comfort, fluff

Warnings/Includes: implied smut, jealous!reader, insecure!reader, vague mentions of previous emotional/mental abuse (Owen), mentions of cheating (Owen)

Word count: 3.2k

a/n: Owen’s really a piece of shit, huh?

Series Masterlist

———

“Could I come see you teach?”

Spencer looked up from his desk, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “It might be kind of boring. It’s a 100 level Intro to Profiling course.”

She peered over the side of the couch, closing her book. “Well, I don’t know anything about profiling, so an intro course would be right up my alley, don’t you think? And if you’re teaching it, I can guarantee it won’t be boring.”

He scrunched his nose in the way he sometimes did and clicked the cap on his pen once, twice, three times. “If you, um— if you really want to.”

She considered him for a moment before pushing herself up off the couch, coming around it to cross to his desk, perching herself on the corner. “You’ve seen me teach a bunch of times,” she said, knocking their knees together. “It’s only fair.”

He set his pen down and leaned back in his office chair, avoiding her eyes. She pulled her leg back, regretting her decision to ask. “It was just an idea. I don’t have to if you don’t want.”

As she moved to stand, he stopped her with a hand on her knee. “It’s not that. I don’t not want you to,” he clarified. He turned his chair to face her fully, peering up at her with a flush on his cheeks. “I just— I don’t know. You’re such a natural. I’m… awkward. Sometimes they just— stare at me.”

Y/N scoffed. “I’m sure you’re not awkward.” She twirled one of the curls falling into his face around her finger, releasing it into a soft ringlet. “But seriously, if you don’t want me to come, it’s fine.”

He rolled his chair closer and ran his hands up the tops of her thighs. “I do want you to. Really.”

He sat up straighter, craning his neck up towards her, and she couldn’t stop herself from smiling. She leaned down to meet his lips, and his hands wandered up to grasp at her hips. She laughed as he pulled her off the desk and practically into his lap, sliding his tongue into her mouth. She let him take it a little further, his hands traveling under her shirt and up over her back.

When she pulled back to catch her breath, his dazed expression had her heart pounding. Any insecurity that managed to weasel its way into her psyche evaporated every time he looked at her. She ran a soft finger over the bridge of his nose. “Can you take a break?”

“Mhm,” he hummed, standing up and dragging her toward the bedroom with only a little too much enthusiasm.

…

“Okay, can I help you with anything?” Y/N asked, setting her bag down on the lecture podium.

“Actually, yeah. Could you, um— write these topic notes,” he pulled out his notebook and flipped it open, “on that half of the board?”

“You got it, professor.” She accepted the notebook, turning to the board and uncapping the dry erase marker.

They worked quietly together, scrawling his notes across the white board, shoulders brushing comfortably together every so often. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him finish his side, capping the marker and stepping back to watch her.

“This is much faster with two people. I should hire you.”

“You couldn’t afford my hourly rate,” she teased, leaning down a bit to copy the last bullet point.

“Is there a boyfriend discount?” he asked, a soft fingertip tracing down her spine.

She laughed as she capped the marker and set it in the tray, turning to face him and tilting her head in consideration. “Maybe we could work something out.”

He brought his hands to her hips, dug his fingers in, and pulled her closer. “Yeah?” He brushed his lips over hers and stepped forward, nearly pressing her back against the board.

“Mmhmm,” she agreed, pressing a slow kiss to his mouth. She used her hands on his tummy to push him back a little. “But I charge double if you smudge it.”

“Fair.” He smiled and kissed her again, this time bringing his hands up to cradle her face.

“As much as I’d love to kiss you forever,” she mumbled against his lips, “your students are going to be here any minute.”

He groaned and leaned his forehead against hers, and she laughed at his petulance. “I’m gonna go to the bathroom, and then I’ll sit up in the back. You won’t even know I’m here.”

He pulled back with a sigh. “You being here is all I’m going to think about.”

She kissed his nose and stepped around him to grab her bag. “I’ll try my best not to distract you.” She made her way off the lecture platform and up the aisle, turning back to ask, “Oh, office hours are right after class?”

“Yeah,” he confirmed, leaning against the lecture podium. “1:00 to 2:00. The quad is beautiful this time of year, and there’s a coffee shop if you wanted to hang out there.”

…

After her bathroom break, she re-entered the lecture hall as quietly as possible, slipping into the last row of seats and setting her bag down on the desk in front of her. The room was more than two thirds full, with students crammed into the first few rows and then sparsely sprinkled throughout the back half of the room. But she only had eyes for him.

She’d seen him, kissed him less than ten minutes ago, and yet here she was— blushing like a schoolgirl and resisting the urge to pull at her collar.

Even from the back row, she could see the way his suit coat stretched across his broad shoulders, the way the button at the bottom of his cardigan didn’t quite reach, the way his pants pulled taut across his thighs. She’d seen him pick the outfit out of his closet this morning, watched him put it on, even helped him with the knot of the tie. She shouldn’t realistically be this rattled by the sight of him.

But something about the way he set his shoulders back a little, the way his arm moved underneath the fabric as he scrawled an additional note across the board, the way he turned and put his hands in his pockets and waited quietly for the class to settle— felt different.

“We’ve got a lot to cover today. Let’s get started.”

She didn’t pull her collar, but she did remove her jacket— she was suddenly so, so hot, practically sweating— and draped it across the back of the chair. He caught her eye, gave her a small smile, and then launched into a lecture about the foundations of building victimology.

Just as she suspected, he was an absolute natural. Unbelievably knowledgeable of course, but also incredibly enthusiastic and positively captivating. She couldn’t take her eyes off him.

And neither, it seemed, could the class. She scolded herself for the train of thought— of course they’re looking at him, he’s their professor. But he was right when he’d said that they... stare at him. The class was mostly young women, although the ogling seemed to cross gender lines.

She couldn’t blame them. He answered questions with ease and gave witty responses to the devil’s advocate types. His enthusiasm was endearing and charming as hell. And, of course, he looked damn good doing it.

With just over ten minutes left of class, she gathered her jacket and bag, standing quietly and moving into the aisle. She caught his eye as she headed for the door, slightly reassured when she saw a flash of concern in his eyes. She smiled and made a sipping gesture, and he nodded minutely and continued with his lecture.

…

Fifteen minutes later, she was on her way back down the hallway toward his office, a coffee in each hand. When she turned the corner at 12:57, she was stunned to see that a line was already forming.

“You gotta be kidding me,” she muttered, approaching the crowd of undergraduates.

One particularly perky coed stood directly in front of his door, and Y/N cleared her throat. When the girl turned, she held up the coffees and gestured to the door. “I’m so sorry. I— I’m just gonna drop this off. I’ll just be one minute.”

The girl took a small step back, barely allowing Y/N to squeeze through the door left slightly ajar. It creaked slightly as she stepped through it, and Spencer’s head lifted from where he was hunched over his desk.

“Hey!” He stood and shuffled around the side of the desk.

“Hi.” She forced a smile. “Sorry, I won’t keep you, I just— thought you might like a pick-me-up,” she said, holding out the cup to him.

He sighed with relief. “You’re a mind reader.” He accepted the coffee cup with a grateful smile. She moved to leave, and he lightly snagged her wrist. “Hey.” He slowly pulled her back toward the desk, his eyes darting down to her mouth.

She hummed, and he leaned forward to kiss her, moved his hand up to cup her cheek in his warm palm. He sighed into her mouth and gently tugged at her bottom lip with his teeth before pressing a quick peck to it. “Thank you.” He pressed a final kiss to her mouth with chapstick-soft lips. “I’ll see you in an hour?”

“Mhm,” she smiled again, a little more genuinely. “See you then, professor.”

She slipped back through the door, avoiding the curious eyes of the crowd. The hallway felt tight and constricting, and she was grateful for the way the fresh air hit her as she pushed through the door back out into the quad.

She found an empty seat on a bench and set her coffee and bag down, shuffling through the latter to find her book. She flipped open to her bookmark, sure that she could finish at least two chapters during his office hour. As she attempted to read, however, her mind could not stop turning over the image of Spencer being admired by fifty young, attractive coeds.

She read the same sentence five times before closing her book with a huff. She closed her eyes and tried to slow her breathing, focusing on a deep inhalation and a long exhale. She carefully packed her book back into her bag, opting instead to sip her coffee and watch the bustle of the quad.

It wasn’t that she was jealous, exactly. Jealousy wasn’t the right word. She trusted Spencer wholeheartedly. He was honest and kind, and he made it abundantly clear how much he was attracted to her.

She sighed shakily and closed her eyes against the unexpected tears that she could feel brimming just below the surface. It wasn’t jealousy. It was simply the insecurity that had always been there. Well, not always, she supposed, but long enough. Ten years. Owen had been out of her life for nearly half that time, but the mental scars he’d left her with would probably never fully heal.

She was twenty one years old when they first started dating, and twenty six by the time he ended it. Five years of her life spent with a man who had conditioned her to believe that she had nothing to offer. Her work was insignificant. Her family was low-class. Her friends were irritating. Her laugh was obnoxious. She was immature and loud and annoying and daft. She should be grateful that he was interested in her despite these flaws.

As if he hadn’t made all of that clear enough, he’d ended their relationship by cheating on her— not once, not twice, but consistently for nearly a year. And it seemed that almost everyone had known about it… except for her. That had been the most humiliating part; he’d had this woman in their bed, and she’d been completely unaware. She had cooked for him, attended his work events, slept beside him, subjected herself to his wrath, and never even considered that he could be with someone else.

It took years for her to recover and rebuild. Years before she was ready to date again. It required her to construct a foundation of independence and self-love that she’d never had. And nearly five years later, she finally felt beautiful and strong and worthy.

So why was her mind suddenly replaying every horrid thing Owen had ever said to her? Spencer was nothing like Owen. Spencer was kind, loving, and supportive. He was brilliant, talented, and accomplished.

She pressed her lips together and swiped a hand under her eye, catching the lone tear that had managed to escape. That was exactly the problem. Spencer was all those wonderful things, and suddenly she couldn’t understand why he wanted her.

She pulled out her phone to check the time, huffing out a breath as she realized she’d spent nearly an hour dredging up old wounds. She closed her eyes and repeated her daily affirmation. I am powerful, and I am capable. I respect and honor my mind and my body. I am worthy, and I am enough. I love myself fully, just as I am.

Now she just needed to believe it.

She gathered her things, finishing up the last sips of her coffee before scoping out a garbage can. She tossed her empty cup in the bin on her way back to the building. As she opened the door, the blast of air conditioning cooled her sweaty skin. She stopped by the bathroom to splash her face with cool water, taking barely a moment to look at herself under the harsh fluorescent lights.

She made her way down the hallway, turning the corner to see that there were still three students in line outside Spencer’s office. She checked the time to see that it was technically five minutes past office hours. She dropped quietly into one of the two chairs across the hallway from his door.

The other chair was occupied by a student, quite clearly waiting for Spencer, judging by the heavy sigh that accompanied his glance up at the office door. Y/N almost laughed at the way he aggressively checked his watch, tapping his foot rapidly on the floor.

“Is it— um. Is it always like this?” She gestured to Spencer’s door.

The tapping stopped, and the kid turned to her with another sigh. “Every. Goddamn. Time.” He shrugged his shoulders. “I mean, I get it. I do. But, man. I’m just trying to ask about the structure of the final. This is the third week in a row that I’ve been here and I still haven’t seen him.” He checked his watch again and then ran a hand over his face. “And now I gotta get to my next class. I’m gonna have to leave early next week to camp out,” he joked.

He stood and gathered his things, and Y/N did laugh a little then. “Good luck.”

He waved and headed off down the hallway, and Y/N turned back to see a girl leaving out through Spencer’s half-open door, looking positively dreamy. She barely resisted the urge to roll her eyes as the next girl stepped through the door.

She waited another twenty minutes for the final two students to finish their visits. When the last student made her way out the door and down the hall, Y/N stood and smoothed down the skirt of her dress. She crossed the hallway and peered into his office, knocking on the door frame.

Spencer raised his head with a panicked look, his face softening into relief when he saw it was her. “Hey. Close the door,” he begged.

Y/N stepped into his office and closed the door quietly behind her. She finally took a look around the space— fairly small but tastefully decorated. The wall across from her was one enormous bookcase, filled to capacity, of course. Light filtered in from a single window, and his mahogany desk sat on the far wall, accompanied by a wing back leather office chair. Behind his desk was a low shelf lined with a globe, some other trinkets, and a plethora of picture frames.

“Sorry that took so long.” He ran a hand over his face. “I don’t know why my office hours are always so busy.”

She hummed, crossing to the gigantic bookshelf. “No?”

“No,” he confirmed exasperatedly. “No one else has that many students at their office hours. I asked.”

She laughed a little. “You asked?”

“Well, yeah.” He drew his brows together. “I don’t know if my syllabus is confusing, or if I’m— not clear enough in my lectures, maybe?” He dragged both hands through his hair and leaned back in his chair. “But there are always so many questions, and I mean— there are no stupid questions, but…” He sighed. “Sometimes the questions are stupid.”

She did laugh at that, full and loud. “Well, if my professors looked like Dr. Spencer Reid, I imagine I’d come up with a litany of questions, too. Stupid or otherwise.”

He was quiet, and she ran her finger along the book she was studying rather intently. She felt him moving toward her more than heard it, felt his eyes on her. She couldn’t bring herself to look at him, instead pretending to peruse the titles in front of her, books full of theories that she’d never be able to understand.

“Are you— are you jealous?” he asked incredulously.

“No,” she defended, a little too quickly and voice a little too high.

“It’s okay if you are. Jealousy is— it’s a very normal human emotion.” He cleared his throat. “It’s, um— it’s kind of hot, actually.”

She rolled her eyes, but his confession made her feel a little bit better. He put a hand on her waist to turn her to face him, and she could feel her cheeks burning— hoped he couldn’t see it. She couldn’t quite meet his eyes, instead staring at a spot on the wall behind his head.

“But you know you have no reason to be, right?” He cupped a gentle hand under her chin, finally brought her eyes to his. “Why would I be interested in girls when I already have a woman?”

When she didn’t say anything, he continued, “A woman who brings me coffee, and buys gifts for my fish, and helps me make PowerPoints, and goes to fancy dinners at Le Chateau LaMontagne.”

Her lips twitched into the start of a smile, and he brought his hands down to lace their fingers together. “Who forgives me when I mess up, and lets me cry on her shoulder at 3:00am, and helps me be a better person.”

She sniffed but tried to lighten the mood. “She sounds pretty great.”

“She is great. She’s remarkable.” He tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. “I love you.”

And there was that look again. Spencer looked at her like she’d hung the moon and the stars and every single celestial body in the galaxy. Like the answer to every question was contained within her atoms. It was almost enough to have her believing it, too. Maybe someday she would.

She squeezed his hand. “I love you, too.” For now, that was enough.

———

Permanent tags: @spacedikut @andiebeaword @averyhotchner @pinkdiamond1016 @shadyladyperfection @coffeeandendlesswords @justanothetfangirl @no-honey-no @ajeff855 @sapphic-prentiss @rexorangecouny @rainsong01 @blameitonthenight21 @moviequeen51 @90spumkin @reniescarlett @ncsls0515 @daybabyx @sturmmhond @takeyourleap-of-faith @saspencereid @calm-and-doctor @reidtheprettyboy @atabigail @ayo-cowbelly @muffin-cup @ssa-natalya-reid @wheelsup @reidingmelodies @this-is-gublerween @s1utformgg @reidemandweep @sonnydoesrandomshit @rigatonireid @luwheezey @joalsglasses @je-suis-prest-rachel @dr-omalley @spencie-adams @honestimanormalfan @blurryreid @elldell1204 @babyhoneystvles

Permanent (sfw) tags: @mrs-dr-reid @eevee0722 @goldentournesol @froggybagels

Broken tags: @radtwinkie @archer561

Series tags (x reader): @uhuhuh @itsametaphorbriansblog @magenta145 @annesauriol @watermelongubler @ampal98 @mggsprettygirl @ceeellewrites @joalsglasses @chevyimpala00067 @misshale21 @ilzieah @froggybagels @gublersbooblers @matthcwgraygubler @andromedasstarship @reidspurplescarfs @hanniebee33 @nazdaniels @irisisonline @nazifa94 @rotinireid @kyomito @outer-spacious @stupidcrazylittlething @princesssmooshie @luvspence @samanthareid06 @maddievevo

#spencer reid #spencer reid fanfiction #spencer reid x reader #spencer reid x you #spencer reid fanfic #spencer reid x y/n #spencer reid self insert #criminal minds fanfiction #homoose writes

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lovemesomesurveys · 5 years ago

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What was the brand of your first ever cell phone? Cingular Wireless.

What are your 3 favorite internet sites? Tumblr, YouTube, and Twitter.

Do you have a favorite pair of blue jeans? Describe them. I like all my jeans, they’re all dark wash skinny jeans.

What profession do you respect? Anyone who works with the disadvantaged and is paid pennies for it – social workers, homeless/domestic violence shelter employees, animal rescuers, etc. High-stress jobs with no financial reward, basically. <<< Yes!

Have you ever been the recipient of a practical joke? No.

Have you ever ate something you’ve dropped on the floor, if so what? Nooo. That 5 second rule is a lie.

Would you consider being an Uber driver if you needed to make extra money? I don’t have a car, nor can I drive, which are both kinda necessary. IF I could, I still wouldn’t. I’d be scared to have strangers in my car.

How do you know when you’re in love, what’s the main sign? I actually want to be around the person for long periods of time. <<< Ha, yeah that’s definitely a sign for me as well.

Have you ever gotten anything autographed, if so by who & what was it? Jim Carrey, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Drake Bell.

Do you prefer Walmart or Target? Target.

What do you long for? My vacation next year.

If you could be a personal assistant to anyone, who would it be? No thanks.

What is the most important thing you can do to improve yourself? Take better care of myself. What makes it hard for you to keep your focus? My mind will just start to wander after awhile and if I focus on trying to stay focused, I become too focused on being focused. Did you follow any of that? lol.

Do you think society has become too PC (politically correct)? I think in some cases people are too quick to attack others. Some people truly may just be ignorant about a topic or accidentally misspoke about something, but people are so quick to attack and make them out to be the worst person in the world. Try educating others instead. Some people act like they know everything and never say the wrong thing ever.

What tragic love story do you relate to? None.

Has your intuition or “gut” served you well? In some cases.

What’s the longest you’ve ever waited in line for something and what was it? Midnight premieres. My friends and I would get there an hour or two early and you just hang around until they start letting people in. It was fun, though. We’d bring blankets and a bunch of snacks.

Who is your favorite model? I don’t have one.

What have you done that is out of character for you? I used to be the friend everyone could come and talk to. I was dependable. A few years ago I pushed everyone away and became distant and withdrawn. I’m not that dependable person anymore.

Would you rather get a gift card or a gift that someone bought for you? I appreciate either one.

Who is the most visionary person in your life & how do they inspire you? Uhhh.

How do you handle a betrayal? I’d be hurt, but I’d also likely blame myself.

What do you feel strong enough to protest about? I’ve never protested before.

What’s the biggest blooper you’ve never lived down? My life.

If you owned a restaurant what kind of food do you want to serve? To play along with your hypothetical game I’d have a cafe.

What will we find if we look in the bottom of your closet today? Medical supplies and shoes.

What kind of car did you learn how to drive on? I still haven’t learned how to drive.

What is the best thing you have done just because you were told you can’t? I don’t know.

Have you ever had to go to court or testify and if so what for? No.

Do you believe in karma? No.

Are you more worried about doing the things right, or doing the right thing? I can worry about both. They are not mutually exclusive. <<< Yeah. They’re not even the same thing. Doing things right can be like following instructions and such, while doing the right thing is like what you think is morally right.

Do you believe in the term “Mother knows best? My mom often does. If I would have just listened to her advice some things would certainly be a lot different. Even now. I’m so damn stubborn.

Who is your favorite movie action hero? Iron Man, Spiderman, Ant-Man, Star Lord, and Thor.

What is one thing you can get in your hometown you can’t get elsewhere? Hm. Nothing is coming to mind, honestly.

How important are looks in someone you’re in a relationship with? I just answered this in another survey. They’re not the most important thing, it’s gotta be deeper than just looks, but I can’t say they don’t matter at all.

What freedom do you feel is not really free anymore? Uhhh.

What are you most thankful for? My family.

Do you have any favorite talk shows or talk radio programs without music? Well, as far as talk shows go I like to watch Daily Pop and Dr. Phil. Sometimes The Talk as well.

What was the last book you read? Because of Bethlehem by Max Lucado.

What’s your favorite online store? The places I shop online the most are: Hot Topic, BoxLunch, Kohl’s, Amazon, and Etsy.

What band would you love to tour with or be a roadie for? I don’t wanna do that. I couldn’t handle it.

If you were to throw a message in a bottle into the ocean, it would say? “Hi.” lol.

Do you have common sense or do you think people are lacking in it? It doesn’t seem to be very common sometimes. You either got it or you don’t, and it does seem to be lacking.

What’s your favorite non-alcoholic drink? Coffee.

How do you feel about thrift shops or flea markets? Not my thing.

What do you like to put gravy on? Mashed potatoes, stuffing, turkey, and ham. I love country gravy on my eggs.

Have you ever gone canoeing/kayaking? Nope.

What one thing in particular makes you feel good about yourself? Nothing.

What is priceless to you? Time with my family.

What do you wait for discount sales to buy? I always look for a good sale and use coupon codes whenever I can.

What is one thing you know about your family history you’re proud of? I honestly don’t know a whole lot. I’d really like to do that ancestry test.

What 3 songs will always be found at the top of your playlist? It changes.

What is the craziest thing you’ve ever done for someone? Hmm.

Do you keep a budget? I try.

If you could cast a spell on someone what spell would you cast and on who? Nah.

What makes you feel rested and refreshed? Spending time at the beach is the only thing that can make me feel that way.

What is the funniest joke you have ever heard about? I don’t know what I’d say the funniest joke I ever heard was. Who depends on you the most? No one.

Could you ever be someone’s bodyguard? Ha, no. I’m very thin, weak, and in a wheelchair. No offense to anyone else who may also be any of those things, but I know I couldn’t protect anyone. I’m also a scardy cat, easily intimidated, and non-confrontational, so... I’d really be of no use at all.

Has one of your biggest fears come true? Yes. And some will eventually... they’re inevitable. :(

Is there anything about the opposite sex you just don’t understand? There’s a lot I don’t understand about people in general.

Did you create a checklist for your ideal spouse? If so, what were two things you wanted? I only list things like that when asked in a survey. It comes up a lot.

Have you ever ridden on a subway or train an what did you like about it? Nope.

What song on your playlist gets played the most? My Spotify wrap up thingy listed all that, but I don’t feel like checking it again right now.

Do you prefer sporty or academic members of the opposite sex? Academic.

Do you have to experience something to fully understand it? No. I have a strong instinct for empathy. <<<

Has anyone in your family ever served in the military? Yes.

Finish the next line in your style: Roses are red, violets are blue… I’m tired, how are you?

What embarrasses you instantly? When I start mixing my words around when I speak. <<< Saaaame. I trip over my words, too.

Do you think you could be a firefighter, why/why not? Nope. Well, there’s the wheelchair for one.

Do you often read your horoscope? I never do.

What current event are you tired of hearing about? Trump.

Are you a daredevil? Ha, nope.

What common pitfalls do you find yourself dealing with in your work life? I don’t have a job.

Describe your “poker face”. >> My resting face is a poker face. People tend to read all kinds of things into it (usually negative things), because I guess they can’t stand a simple blank slate. <–Me. We’re so misunderstood. Haha. <<< Me, too.

What do you think should be censored? I don’t see the issue with curse words being censored. I just never understood why you can say some, but not others.

Are you related to anyone famous or historical, if so who? Possibly.

Would you ever donate a kidney to anyone, and who? I don’t know.

How do you encourage yourself when you go through hard times? My relationship with God.

Have you ever fired a gun? Yes. I went to a shooting range once with friends.

Do you think people, including yourself live up to their full potential? I’m not doing anything with my life. :/ I don’t feel like I have much potential, either.

How are you different from most people? I’m different from people I know in a lot of ways. Like, people I know are functioning adults and I’m not.

What is the main quality you think makes a great parent? Understanding is definitely one. There’s a lot of things, though.

What creature do you admire for its ability to adapt? Dogs.

Have you ever stayed up for an entire 24 hours, why? Yeah. I’ve stayed up for over 30 hours. I honestly don’t know I ever did that. I could never now.

Who is a female role model in your life? My mom.

What childhood dreams have you neglected? The ones where I was doing something with my life.

How often do you reevaluate your life? I don’t. I am aware of what my life looks like at any given time. I don’t need to sit down and think deeply about it to realize I need to change something I’m doing; I am well aware of my faults and negative habits. <<< Just gonna keep all your answers.

What’s your favorite place just to hang out? My bed.

What gives you a zest for life? This makes me think of this thing I saw on Twitter that said something like, “I thought it would be easy peasy lemon squeezy, not stressed, depressed, lemon zest”, ha.

What do you have trouble seeing clearly in your mind? My mind is a jumbled mess.

What three things do you think of most of each day? God, my health, and my life.

Would you travel to space if possible? Nopeeee. Just the idea of space is terrifying to me.

Name a famous person you wouldn’t mind for a business partner. I don’t want a business partner. I’m not doing anything in business.

#personal #text #survey #surveys

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the-first-date · 5 years ago

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A conversation with Ashley Pecorelli [25/F/Brooklyn]

Madge Maril: So, first things first, tell us a bit about yourself — hobbies, job, dog.

Ashley Pecorelli: Well! I am a queer mental health counselor-in-training (and hope to make mental health resources accessible to LGBTQ adolescents)! Besides REAL hobbies which I definitely have (?) I enjoy watching Property Brothers with my lil dog, Mitski, thinking about the Twilight saga at all times, and using The Sims to cathart. It is way harder than I thought it would be to write something about myself wow.

MM: Real Tinder bio hours.

AP: So my Tinder bio was most recently (I guess still is) a transcript of the ticket girl video, specifically when she says that she called the police station to see if she could serve jail time instead of paying the ticket. It says all you need to know about me.

MM: I'm going to find this video and hyperlink it. Did tinder work for you? I guess "work" being that you are now in love, as I gather.

AP: https://youtu.be/EujUx_82Bxs one step ahead of you. So I guess Tinder did "work" for me! Although honestly I never felt that it was overtly working against me because when I started using it in earnest, I really wasn't looking for something in particular.

MM: Ooo, I've never thought about tinder working against us. Though I definitely think it has for me before.

AP: I started using it right after I got out of a long, damaging relationship, dated around a bit and had fun and didn't have fun and then found someone who is also With Her (Ticket Girl). How do you feel it worked against you?

MM: Oh no, you're turning the table!

AP: Oops.

MM: Honestly, I can readily admit that I download tinder A. way too fast after a breakup and B. to get compliments from men. I just swipe and swipe and swipe.

AP: True, it's honestly the ultimate game. Total sensory overload in one sense but in another sense also total sensory deprivation.

MM: Oo yeah. For me it's complete escapism, and I only really responded to people who were treating it the same way. So no good. But — what inspired you to first start looking for something in particular? I.e. what do you think inspired you to really pursue finding someone?

AP: Honestly, I truly did download it way too fast after a breakup, like the same day hahaha. But I guess for me the breakup was more a final escape and the first time I felt any sort of emotional (and sexual, sadly) agency, so once I got out I wanted to start exploring that as quickly as possible. I really didn't know what I wanted until I started seeing people and seeing things I did like and things I didn't — but the truly WILD thing was, even when a person and I truly just were not a good fit, I saw what healthy romance and sex is SUPPOSED to look like and understood that I had previously had no idea what the bare minimum level of being treated like a human is. Which is pretty sad and dark! But was also really exciting, to get crushes or feel NO spark or make out with a woman in a bar or have someone listen to the album you recommended them.

So all of that, the good and the bad and the platonic and not platonic, was great, in retrospect. But then I met my current partner (lol) and realized that it could be way more than just the bare minimum, and could be something I really didn't think existed. Not just love (because somehow I've never doubted love's existence) but true understanding.

MM: Damn. Thank you for sharing that. Let's talk about those interactions — the dates. The million dollar question: What do you wear on a first date?

AP: Hell yeah now the JUICY BITS. So on a first date, I typically try to look hot (obviously) but also somehow represent myself to the other person in almost an experimental way. Like I try to put on something I myself would feel really awesome in, and if for whatever reason that's not their idea of hot, fuck them! That's my whole mentality anyway.

My favorite first date outfit has been my black vintage T-shirt with two dragons dueling over a castle, knotted up to show a bit of not abs-abs, high-waisted black jersey peg pants (that feel like pajamas), chunky black platform boots, and whatever big weird earrings I bought on my most recent whim. If they don't like the dragon shirt, they ain't shit.

MM: Black jersey peg pants? What are peg pants?

AP: It's actually these very particular pants from ASOS.

MM: WOW these are the pants of dreams.

AP: SO comfortable, SO flattering — basically have the look of something Audrey Hepburn would wear but way more accessible and comfy.

MM: The pockets! The high rise! The cropped cut! I get it.

AP: SO GOOD right???

MM: Do you think you also factor in what the person you're going on a date with will find hot? Do you take into account their age, gender, all that?

AP: Oh, totally. Honestly most especially with other women, but people of all genders for sure. I think when I go to pick something out I kind of picture what I know about them (however little) and what their sensibility might be when it comes to style and aesthetics and ~hotness~. I also think the more I have felt unsure about someone or the way things are going, the harder I try to almost make up for it.

MM: Completely agree. Dating women ups the ante.

AP: It totally does! And then I think about her and wonder if she's doing the same thing.

MM: Do you wear perfume or makeup on a first date, too? (Also yes... I mean if we're all thinking it then SHE has to be thinking it, too. Right?)

AP: Yes! I wear whatever my signature scent is — I say this because I always have one, but it evolves every so often. My favorite one for over a year now has been from & Other Stories. Makeup wise, I just try to look like what I would look like on the hotter end of the everyday spectrum. Basically meaning... the addition of foundation and multiple shades of eyeshadow. It's taken me a long time to get to this point, but I've become kind of obstinate in that only I am allowed to be mean and critical to me. I can be as mean to myself as I want but either you like what you see or you don't! (Please like me.)

MM: And that's reflected in your makeup, you think? More so than the clothing? Drop the & Other Stories fragrance name!!

AP: Okay so it was Fig Fiction, which was such an amazing beautiful warm awesome scent! They discontinued it though (the last time I found it I bought three bottles). Now I use Sicilian Sunrise, which is pretty similar!

I think yes, more reflected in makeup. Simply because I am almost always going to dress in a way that makes me happy (if I've done laundry recently) but I'm not always going to put on makeup, so the makeup should just be closer to what you're gonna see all the time.

MM: Ok, so then the makeup is on. And the T-shirt and peg pants are on. Is it always the chunky black platform boots? Why? Because that's a constant power move IMO.

AP: The chunky black platform boots are truly ideal for many reasons: They're cute, they're sturdy, they subtly make me three inches taller (I need every inch), they'll hold up in rain or snow, and they'll allow me to do some damage to your face if you turn out to be a creep. And (drumroll) I got them on Poshmark for $10.

MM: No!! Do you know the brand?

AP: You're not gonna believe this but H&M. I do not shop at H&M for many reasons and would NEVER buy shoes from there but I took a shot on these because they were secondhand and they've held up impressively well. Almost everything I own was thrifted for financial and sustainability reasons, but these are truly a marvel.

MM: What does that word mean to you, specifically? Sustainability.

AP: Honestly I do not feel qualified to talk about sustainability at all! But to me, it's complicated. I grew up in a lower-class, financially insecure family while most of my friends were wealthy, so my family would either buy clothes secondhand or from a discount store. As a kid, this was really embarrassing to me to not have a closet full of Limited Too or Abercrombie, which obviously feels silly now. I'm still working class and financially insecure, so it's very difficult for me to buy from stores or brands that (at least claim) to ethically produce clothes because they're generally really, really expensive. That's the case for most of this country, including many people who are way worse off than I am. Thrifting is good for me because it allows me to get clothes when I need them at a low cost while also reducing environmental impact, but I don't think it's reasonable to make a judgement call on what any one person "should" be doing in the name of sustainability. Any one person can do whatever is comfortable to them, we can all try within our means! But at the end of the day, the real damage (and real opportunity for impact) is coming from big corporations and the government's actions. I don't think you can truly think about whatever sustainability means if you're getting mad at someone for shopping from a retail chain because it's all they can afford. Okay that was a lot and I have no idea where I was even going with that, sorry! I feel in many ways not educated enough to have feelings about this.

MM: Don't apologize! There's no set definition for the word, it's unique to all of us. And the Limited Too envy was real.

AP: Omg especially when they had the matching outfits for you and your Build-A-Bear... I wanted it so badly. BIG topic.

MM: I can't believe it's been an hour!! I'll wrap this up so you can get back to your sorbet.

AP: Omg it has, wow!!

MM: Final q: Did your last first date go well?

AP: My last first date ended with plans to watch the Star Wars Holiday Special together. This year we're going to watch the Star Wars Holiday Special together in our new apartment. I'd say it went okay!

MM: AWW. On that exceedingly wholesome note — thank you for chatting!

AP: Of course! My pleasure!

#the first date #style #fashion

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never-wakeup · 6 years ago

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I just added this listing on Poshmark: Meet your Posh Ambassador, Rachel. #poshmark #fashion #shopping #shopmycloset

#poshmark #fashion #shopping #shopmycloset

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strebcrarchivess · 1 year ago

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Tag game!

Search “your name + core” on Pinterest, then share 6 images and tag 6 more people

Strebercore

Tagged by: I stole it

Tagging: Steal it dorks shit I ain't ur mom

#Dash games #:^)#Things that go bump in the night (Aesthetics)#Thank you hot topic discount (Closet)

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strebcrarchives · 2 years ago

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These are the platforms in question btw

#Headcanons #Thank you hot topic discount (Closet)

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fandomonium2 · 1 year ago

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Check out this listing I just added to my Poshmark closet: Black Matter shirt from Hot Topic Small.

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cannedapricot · 7 years ago

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Baking Christmas Cookies with! Lai Guanlin

christmas collab with @alliwannado-w1 and @jihoonslattee!! make sure to check their special christmas scenarios out when they’re posted!

ah, christmas

the season of giving

children laughing and giggling

the feeling of rolling around in snow with loved ones

basically what i’m trying to say is,

chirisTMAS IS A HOOT EVERY YEAR

NO SCHOOL

NO ANNOYING CLASSMATES

NO NOTHING

the only awkward thing you’d have to deal with is greeting the relatives who you didn’t know even existed until christmas

“oh my gosh!! y/n you’ve grown so much!!!”

mind: um do i know you

mouth: “haha yeah”

relatives would start streaming into your house from december the first

those relatives were the ones who /really/ got into the christmas spirit

you know

the type that puts their tree up straight after halloween

as more relatives come, you’d be forced into sharing a bedroom with your parents because,

“soz your aunt is coming over with her whole family

??????

ok fine :c

you just hope that her five kids won’t ruin your framed jbj poster

on the last day of school, you were ready to leg it

you and your friends had made plans to pig out and eat discounted christmas cakes for the evening

so there you were in class

staring at the clock every other second

as your teacher drones on and on about staying safe during the holiday season

which is very important please do stay safe guys

and as soon as the bell rang, you and your friends dash towards the door and out into the hallway

everything was going smoothly

you had nearly made it out of the school

UNTIL

you feel a tug on the back of your shirt

and yoU COULDN’T MOVE ANYMORE

YOU WERE GONNA BURST

LOOK THE CAKE STORE HAD A CRAZY SALE AND THOSE CAKES WERE WAITING FOR NO ONE

AND SO YOU TURN AROUND,

“HEY MATE LOOK I’M A LITTLE BUSY-”

“are you going to be around this evening”

“SO IF YOU COULD KINDLY LET GO- oh hi guanlin”

das right

you turn around to find the basketball team’s star player and ‘ideal guy’ of your school, lai guanlin

“of course i’m gonna be around i live there”

you reply with an eye roll

hm why was guanlin heading over to your house?

get ready for a long ride kid

well, your parents are super close with his parents thanks to some complicated events

and your parents, being the jolly people they are, invite the lais to spend christmas over at your house every year

there was a room in house especially saved for their family???

a majority of guanlin’s winter clothes were in that room because he knOWS THAT HE’LL BE THERE AT THE END OF THE YEAR

if he runs out of hoodies or smt

he’d text you to bring him one tomorrow

and you guys meet in the janitor’s closet

lMAO WHAT KINDA SHADY DEAL Y’ALL DOING BACK THERE 👀👀👀

guanlin’s friend and other hot basketballer, yoo seonho caught you two once

he followed guanlin one time because he was curious

look this boy waS SURE AS HELL NOT HEADING TOWARDS THE BATHROOM

and he busted you two in the closet with you holding his hoodie

and he was like

oooooOOOOOOOOOOHHHHH I SEE ;))))

*finger guns while moonwalking away*

it took a lot of persuading to get seonho to not say anything

y’all bought him a month’s worth of lunch rip wallet

what’s worse was the time the whole school thought you two were dating

you had run out of sweaters and complained to your mom about it

she pulled out this jacket outta no where and figured it was yours

it had your school’s logo on it you see

and you didn’t think twice and wore it to school

bUT TURNS OUT

IT WAS THE BASKETBALL TEAM’S VARSITY JACKET

AND GUANLIN HAD MENTIONED SOMETHING ABOUT HIS VARSITY JACKET GONE MISSING A FEW DAYS AGO

YOU TWO WERE THE HOT TOPIC OF THE SCHOOL

RIP YOU

it died down after a few weeks though

you had made some excuse of finding it on your desk and thinking it was yoo seonho’s (who you pretended to be /really/ close with)

guanlin played along with this excuse

seonho was just,,,,,

;))))))))))))))))

“DON’T”

“i’m ;) not ;) saying ;) anything ;)”

THIS BITCJ

the relationship between you and guanlin was like a ‘summer fling’

except

it wasn’t summer and it wasn’t a romantic fling

y’all would be super close during the holiday season

due to the fact that you two were the only high schoolers there lol

but as soon as school starts again

y’all back to strangers

the first time it happened you were shocked :ccc

you thought that perhaps guanlin was too embarrassed to be caught hanging out with you

considering he was at the top of the food chain after all

you’re used to it now lol

sure, guanlin was tall and hot and whatnot

but uh

seeing him in ugly sweaters and playing board games with him every year kinda ruins the way you see him

especially since he destroys you at monopoly every year bduSDVU HOW DARE-

“aiight i’ll be coming over tonight”

“gotcha”

HONESTLY IF ANYONE HEARD THIS CONVO WITHOUT CONTEXT YOU AND GUANLIN ARE GONNA BE TALK OF THE SCHOOL AGAIN LOL

“HEY Y/N IF YOU DON’T HURRY UP WE’RE GONNA LEAVE WITHOUT YOU”

guanlin lets you go with a snap of his wrist

he let go so suddenly that you fall to the ground lol

guanlin pretends to not notice and heads towards his squad lmAO

“OKOKOK IM COMING OK DONT L E A V E”

you scramble up and towards your friends

that evening, you return home with a full stomach and your arms full with different boxes of cakes

man the cake shop adventure was a blast

you get surrounded by your baby cousins almost immediately lol

after you basically get robbed by them,

guanlin appears with a pouty face

you know, that face he made when the pink sausages were being cute together ikcydkfkd

“you said you’d be here”

“i????am????here?????”

“i meANT EARLIER”

“YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW MUCH THE CHILDREN ABUSED ME :CCCC”

wow what a turn from your convo together at school

he’s adorable

WOWZAS HOLD UP Y/N NO ROMANTIC THOUGHTS ABOUT YOUR PARENT’S FRIEND’S SON WHO HAPPENS TO BE THE HOT STAR BASKETBALL PLAYER AT SCHOOL >:(

you push the thoughts away as his parents come to greet you

in no time, you fell into the rhythm of seeing guanlin everyday

you had to tbh, he’d force you awake every morning by playing shitty christmas carol remixes and singing along to them

“aLL i waNt fOr cHRIStmas iS yOUUuuUuUuuuUU”

“SHUT UP YOU DIRTY TOENAIL”

FLINGS PILLOW

LETS OUT DOLPHIN SCREECH IN RESPONSE

it was cold and you just wanted to sleep in :’’’’c

you can’t believe this dumbass is the same guy from school who everyone except seonho lol thinks is a model

you and guanlin were basically joined by the hip everyday

“oh hey y/n can you swoop by the store and buy some milk?”

“sure buT CAN GUANLIN COME????”

“YEAH CAN I COME???”

but he’d wear a mask in case someone from school shows up at the store

on the way home, he saw you rub your hands together and realized that you weren’t wearing gloves

anD BEING THE SWEET, SWEET BOY HE IS

HE TAKES YOUR HAND IN HIS GLOVED ONE AND SHOVES IT INTO THE POCKET OF HIS JACKET

IM NOT CRYING YOU ARE

you stare at him

he suddenly finds a wall interesting

but he didn’t let go of your hand

even though it was in his pocket already

you thought he was just being a gentleman you know he is and trying to keep your hand as warm as possible

BUTTTTTTTTT

YOU DON’T SEE HIS FACE SLOWLY GLOWING RED

my scenarios would be so much simpler if y’all juST KNOW ABOUT EACH OTHER’S CRUSH UGH

come christmas eve, the adults were like,

“we’re gonna take the kids out to see the parade and then go carolling, we all know that you two don’t want to join us!! so bake the cookies pls lol ok bye have fun”

it was a thing every year to bake cookies and leave them for santa

usually anything that had to do with food was the adults’ duty

bUT THIS YEAR THEY DEEMED YOU TWO MATURE ENOUGH TO MAKE COOKIES WITHOUT BURNING THE HOUSE DOWN

you two acted like the babies there but ok

“so,,,, wanna get started?”

“hell no lmao lets marathon show me the money”

best believe that’s exactly what you two did

until you realize it’s been hours since they’ve left

anD THEY COULD COME HOME ANY MINUTE

SO IN PANIC YOU CHUCK THE TV REMOTE AWAY FROM GUANLIN WHO WAS READY TO PULL UP ANOTHER EPISODE

“BRO WYD”

“BRO WE NEED TO START ON THE COOKIES UNLESS YOU WANT TO GET BEATEN UP BY THE CHILDREN AGAIN”

“BRO U RIGHT”

guanlin steps over the sofa with his damned long legs

“you’re so extra man”

guanlin squints his eyes at you skeptically

you were literally rolling over the sofa

“who’s the extra one again?”

you huff because shit hes right you’re even more extra than he is

guanlin pulls out the recipe left for you two while you grab what you were 100% sure that you two would need

a bowel? check

flour? check

chocolate chips? oh they’re in the pantry-

NOT ANYMORE

GUANLIN’S GOT THEM

AND HE’S S N A C K I N G ON THEM

you, an intellectual, run up and try to take them away

but guanlin raises them above his head

this boy’s a giant

anD HE KNOWS THAT

he sends you a shit eating grin as you attempt to take the packet by jumping lol

in the end, you punch him in the stomach

and as he doubles over in pain, snatch the chocolate away

how to deal with tall people 101 by yours truly

you run back to the kitchen, choco chips in hand

WHILE LAUGHING LIKE A CHILD SMH Y/N

and guanlin, claiming you cheated, ran after you

“SAFE!!!”

you scream, reaching the kitchen

turning around, you were ready to tease guanlin about his loss

but he was right in front of you

there was only a tiny distance between your bodies

BOY HE WAS CLOSE

“yoU KNOW WHAT,,,,,, HAVE THE CHOCOLATE CHIPS DAMMIT”

YOU TURN YOUR BACK TO HIM, FLUSTERED

guanlin smiled as you chucked him the sweet treat

not at the chocolate but at how adorable you were

“i’ll leave enough for the cookies don’t worry!!”

he did alright

there was an average of two chips per cookie

it’s :) ok :))

it’ll :))) have :)))) to :))))) do :))))))

guanlin was off to the side licking off the left over batter from the bowl

>:( this boy didn’t do shit but eat and stir the batter

you were stuck with measuring and making sure that they don’t fail >:(

siGHS

you shove the cookies into the oven and squat in front of it for a while, making sure that it was baking for sure

until you feel something hit your back

snapping your head back in shock, you see guanlin with the bag of flour in his arms

HIS LAUGHING FACE SAID IT ALL

“okAY JUST BECAUSE WE DIDN’T HAVE A SNOWBALL FIGHT THIS YEAR DOESN’T MEAN YOU CAN-”

whoops theres another handful of flour

that hit your face

upon seeing this, guanlin doubles over in laughter

“ALRIGHT YOU ASKED FOR THIS”

you picked up the ingredient closest to you and threw it in guanlin’s direction

it just happened to be an egg

IT HIT HIS ARM AND CRACKED

IT WAS NOW YOUR TURN TO LAUGH

“Y/N!!! I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU DID THAT!!! THIS JUMPER IS EXPENSIVE”

but it didn’t really matter how expensive that jumper is

it ended up covered in all sorts of things

and that’s how your kitchen floor ended up too

the playful handful of flour guanlin threw at you started a full on food fight

the kitchen was MESS but neither of you cared, you guys were waaAAAY too happy to care lma o

at one point y’all started to use spoons as catapults

guanlin’s bag of flour seemed endless but you had run out of eggs

so you duck behind a counter and scan the kitchen for anything else you could use as ammo lol

your eyes landed on the butter but you hesitated for a second

A SECOND TOO LONG

GUANLIN DISCOVERERS YOUR HIDEOUT AND DUMPS THE REST OF THE FLOUR ON YOU

“GAME OVER”,

HE SCREECHES IN VICTORY

WHO KNEW YOUR SECOND OF HESITATION WOULD LEAD TO YOUR DOWNFALL

you scowl

“i let you win”

he scoffs

“you just don’t want to admit that i’m b e t t e r than you”

huFFS

YOU STAND UP, SLAMMING YOUR HANDS ON THE COUNTER

“thATS BECAUSE YOU AREN’T!!!!!!!!!”

he playfully puts his hands on the counter as well on the opposite side

“then tell me why i keep beating you at monopoly as well”

“i’m sENSITIVE DON’T BRING THAT U P”

“oh really?”

“Y E S”

“do you wanna have a go at beating me at connect four then?”

without noticing, the two of you had starting leaning towards each other over the counter

when you realize, your playful banter had ceased and you were staring into his eyes

and

shit

you realize at that moment that you were completely head over heels for him

your feelings for him had been building every winter leading up to his one

you had thought that they were completely platonic

but your burning face told you that they weren’t

you notice guanlin’s eyes looking down at your lips

and his adam’s apple going crazy

you gather up the little courage you had

leaned in

and pressed a small kiss on his nose

guanlin’s head went blank

diD HIS CRUSH JUST-

you let out a small giggle and say,

“if you wanted to kiss me, you could’ve just done so”

“waIT WHAT DOES THIS MEAN???”

ur man is almost gonna faint gdi

“do yoU NEED ME TO PUT IT INTO WORDS? UGH I CAN’T BELIEVE I FELL FOR AN IDIOT”

guanlin’s lips raise into a smile

“you like me?”

“BOSUGBOURSB I’M TAKING IT BACK”

“doN’T! OK UH I LIKE YOU TOO DUMBASS”

“WAIT FOR REAL??”

you hop over the counter so there wasn’t anything between you and him

and guanlin lets out a smile bright enough to rival the sun

“yeah”

and with that, he brings you into a huge hug

and falls onto the couch with you in his arms

“guaNLIN WE’RE GONNA GET THE COUCH DIRTY”

“WHO CARES LMAO”

you snuggle against him

even though he was covered in egg lol

“hey guanlin, can i ask you something?”

“mhm?”

“why do you act like you don’t know me at school?”

“i-it’S A STUPID REASON”

“WHAT?????????”

“I THINK I’D BURST FROM AFFECTION FOR YOU IF I SAW YOU EVERY DAY FOR A YEAR”

“ARE YOU SERIOUS??”

you two were idiots

but you were idiots for each other

bonus: you two fell asleep in each other’s arms and the rest of the family came home just in time to save the cookies from burning

“i knEW THIS WOULD HAPPEN LOOK AT THAT M E S S”

no body heard that one aunt rant about the state the kitchen was in

everyone crowded around you and guanlin

cooing at your sleeping forms

“mom, are they gonna have kids???”

“uobaoBVODVBSO BILLY NO”

bonus x2: guanlin happily shows you off the next year at school

seonho the snake in this au made a bet with your friends and now your friends owe him a month’s lunch

bonus x3: you two share your official first kiss on new years hoW CUTE SVEFUDOS GOALS AMIRITE

y’all ready for christmas?? haVE A SPECIAL COLLAB SCENARIO THAT’S HAPPENING WITH IRIS AND CHI AKA TALENT IF IT WERE PEOPLE

guanlin may look chic and all at first but we all know he’s a actual child inside :’) i don’t think i did my boy justice with this au but i added my son seonho!! :’)

have a safe holiday and more christmas aus will be out very soon this week oops

#not relevant but i love his gummy smile #ugh i love this boy so much #wanna one #lai guanlin #Produce 101 #baking christmas cookies with! lai guanlin #broduce 101 #wanna one scenarios #kpop #kpop scenarios #cube #cube lai guanlin #lai guanlin scenarios #wanna one imagines #wanna one aus #lai guanlin imagines #lai guanlin au

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one-shot-wonderland-blog · 8 years ago

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Devil's Choir Chapter 2

Spider was meowing below the bed, causing me to wake up. His black and white fur mixing in with the monochrome colors of my comforter. I sighed, not wanting to get up, but knew better than to go back to bed. Groaning as I sat up in bed, I rubbed the sleep out from my eyes. I reached down the side of the bed and grabbed Spider by the mid drift, lifting him up off the ground and placed him on my lap. He´s old and doesn’t do much any more, but I still keep him. Mostly because I've had him since my freshman year. If I lost him, I´d probably cry for days. I slowly got up from my bed and it was barely the crack of dawn. I bent my body and rested my head on Spider´s, forcefully rubbing it back and forth. ¨Oh, Spidy, Spidy, Spidy. You're such a menace. What am I gonna do with you?¨ He looked up at me with his big green beady eyes, almost regretting the fact he woke me up. I sighed, ¨I'm just kidding, I'm not gonna do anything to you.¨ Still looking at me like I had done him wrong, he stood up on my knees and meowed like he used to do when he was just a kitten. He sounded like a squeaker dog toy that was on the verge of dying. I laughed at him and he rubbed his cheeks against my chest. “Awe, are you being a kitten? Huh? Are you so cute? Yes, yes you are.” He jumped down from the bed and walked his way to his empty food bowl in the kitchen. “Mreow?” he asked. “Fine,” I told him. “I’ll get you more food.” I walked over to his cabinet under the stove, where I keep all his treats and foods, and pulled out his Purina dry food. He hopped on his hind legs and put his front paws on his stomach, making him look like a lucky cat from china. “You’re getting tubby, aren’t ya? Time to cut down on your food again.” He gave me a look of desperation. “Don’t look at me like that. You need to exercise and you know it.” I filled his food bowl halfway and put the bag back in the cabinet. Not even bothering to eat breakfast, I went back to my room to grab my clothes that I was going to wear to work today and my shower stuff and headed to the bathroom. In the shower, I grabbed my razor from the top of the tiling, bringing it down to my thighs. I slowly pressed it on my thick elephant skin and pulled it across to the other side. The sting from the hot water coming from the head of the shower felt like pure hell across my fresh cuts. I sighed in the beautiful pain. The sting of pain turned into a kiss of an angel. I went in for another, and another, and another, until my entire right thigh was covered in open flesh wounds. I began to wash my hair and shave my body, and soon got out the shower. I put on an old merch shirt that Andy got me for my birthday. Rancid was the first punk rock band I was introduced to, and it was all thanks to him. I put on my shirt and my black skinny jeans with the red and black diamonds. I pulled my towel over my shoulders and then proceed to blow dry my hair. My nice and worn out purple and pink hair. It was all worn and fading from the time I was in the hospital, and couldn’t redye my hair a new color. 'I need to fix this before I do another video today,’ I thought. ‘I can get more hair dye when I finish work today. I don’t know what color I want though. I haven’t had green in a while.’ I decided to add my red flannel jacket when I go out. I didn’t have to go in for work until one, so I just stayed inside. 'I should probably pack, if I’m going on tour.’ I sighed to myself and I was off to my closet to get my suitcase, then realized I still haven’t unpack the cases from when I was over at our summer house the day before. I grabbed the suitcases from the outside of my bedroom, in the hallway. I unpacked the stuff from the summer house and started packing for my two month long tour. Then I packed two weeks worth of clothes, my art supplies, and writing materials, saving thetime to pack all my makeup and electronics and chargers for Monday, when they kick off the tour. 'It’s going to be two months for Spider to be all alone,’ I thought. ‘I’m going to need Tessa to look after him. Oh, yay.’ I spoke to myself aloud, “That’s going to be another thing to look forward to today, Anna’s going to be super affectionate to me, when I show up in for work. Mike is going to kill me too, leaving work for a whole two weeks, I’m probably going to get fired. Yay!” I added sarcastically. I sat on my bed and turned to face the analog clock on the wall, watching the clock ticking every second. It says it’s almost eleven, it’s got to be wrong. I got up and walked over to the opposite side of the room to get my iphone. It’s eleven twenty, on the nose. 'How long did I shower for,’ I joked to myself. I started getting ready for work, setting out my skateboard and my flannel jacket on the counter. I grabbed my name tag from the junk bowl. 'I should clean that out at some point,’ I thought. I messed around on my iPad for about another hour, editing my video, before I started making my way to work. ‘I need to ask if Chase can take me to the gates for tour Monday. He said that he and mom were staying in town for another week, so hopefully he’ll say yes. I got a water bottle from the cabinet and filled it with Grape Crush. I pulled my flannel on top of my shirt, while grabbing skateboard and running out the door, locking it behind me. I got down from the third story, where my room is, and onto the pavement. Jumping on my skateboard and riding down the street to the mall, where I work at. Hot Topic is the best place to work, ‘cause not only do you get a discount on selling goods, as we have to call them, you also get to hang out with band members after they do signings at your store, and plus you get pre-released stuff. Like, the things that go on the shelf before they’re on the shelf. I love working at Hot Topic, it’s quite literally is my life at this point. I was about halfway through the parking lot, when I spotted that the Black Veil Brides’ tour bus was behind the spot where Hot Topic was. I cringed as I thought, ‘I really hope that they’re not at HT. I will seriously punch Andy in the face if he is.’ I dragged my feet the rest of the way to work, really hoping that they were just resting at Starbucks or something. ‘Please,’ I thought, as I walked through the sea of people. ‘If there is a God out there, please, for the love of all things that are holy, please, don’t let Andy be here.’ Of course, the universe just loves proving me wrong, that’s just freaking lovely; Andy was talking to Anna, who, just so happens to be my best friend and his cousin. As always, I walk in after a long time away from work, and Anna screams from the top of her lungs. “Annie!” she yelled from the opposite side of the room. “You’re back!” She ran across the room, which was all of about ten feet. "Shine a light,” I exclaimed, as she jumped on me, causing us to fall to the ground. “Can’t breathe, lights fading, growing dimmer, oxygen running out, dying. . . ,” I said in my most dramatic voice. “Oh, please,” Anna said. “You can never die. You’re immo- immortal,” she mimicked Fall Out Boy’s Immortal song, very badly, might I add. I shoved my hand in her face, making hercringe and stop singing at the same time, thank god. She moved my hand out of the way to say, “You mock me, I am a true genius.” “Yeah,” I pretended to agree. “A true genius of stupidity.” She gasped, “How dare you?” "I didn’t dare,” I joked. “It was wide open.” I grinned when I saw her jaw drop so low. “Ouch,” Andy’s husky voice interrupted. “Ann, are you gonna stand there and take that.” His joking tone, just making me more mad at him than when he left Cincinnati without me. “I don’t know if I am,” Anna sounded as if she actually agree with him, though I hope that she was only just kidding. “Are you sorry?” she asked me. I stood up from the dirty ground leaving Anna to fall on her butt. “What the hell do I have to sorry for? I did nothing wrong. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to talk to Mike.” “Sorry,” Ann tried to say but I started walking away before she could say anything else. I walked my way towards the back of the store and caught Ashley pranking Jake with a joy buzzer, then laughing hysterically at each other. I knocked on the Door that was newly labeled “Manager Mike Muller”. I heard a come in from the opposite side of the door. I popped my head in to let him know I’m back to work. He then motioned for me to take a seat. “Listen,” I started, but was rudely interrupted. “I don’t care,” his stern voice overpowered the room. 'Here it comes,’ I thought. ‘I’m fired.’ “You can try to kill yourself all you want,” he said, gaining some empathy. “But, you should always know, that everyone here has been through their share of hard times. So, if you need someone to talk to, we are all here for you. My door is always open, unless there is someone important in here then it’s not, but you get the point. Alright, you’re a good kid, I know your are. So, get back out there and try your damn hardest.” I started crying, from the motivational speech, that I’ll most likely not going to be able to keep my promise to. “Go to the bathroom and get yourself cleaned up,” he added. I got up and left the room, proceeding to go to Anna and tell her sorry. I saw her out of the corner of my teary eye and walked over to her. Andy saw me first, but I didn’t care. I walked straight into Ann and hugged her from behind. "What the heck?” she exclaimed. “Annie? Are you okay?” I didn’t want any more sympathy than I already needed, so I just shook my head no. "What’s wrong?” Andy asked. I shook my head again, not wanting to actually hurt Andy’s feelings. “I don’t think she wants to talk right now,” Ann said. Andy walked over behind Anna and unlatched me from her back. I automatically relatched myself onto Andy, making him doubletake. “She’s not a fan, is she?” Andy asked Anna. “Bella de la etape,” I told him our little code, from when we were in high school. We had french and theatre, so we got bell de la etape, which means beauty of the stage. "Anniebella?” Andy asked. I nodded into his chest awkwardly and hugged him tighter. “God,” he said shockingly. “It’s been forever.” I saw Ann knit her eyebrows together in the corner of my eye, then opened her mouth to say, “You mean, all this time, I’ve been the only one who knew Andy and you? You two haven’t heard from each other in. . . god, knows how long?” “Guess so,” Andy chuckled. Anna rolled her eyes and said, “I have to get this customer. Don’t you dare run off again,” she added pointing her finger at me. I smiled into Andy’s shirt and closed my eyes. “I missed you petit ouers,” I giggled, being able to say his nickname again, without people thinking I was crazy. “Please,” he begged. “ The guys are here.” I managed to pull myself away from him and put my hands on my thick waist, saying, "Oh, so you care what the guys think? Hmn, I think I just saw Ashley around the corner, I wonder what he’ll think?” “Don’t you dare,” Andy warned. I slowly started walking backwards. “And, what if I do dare?” I joked. Andy stepped forward, making it clear that he knew what I was up to. He told me matter of factly, “I’ll make you regret it.” I swiveled around with ease and ran to the rest of the guys. As planned, I was in the middle of the guy’s little circle and Andy caught me. "Come here, you little shit,” his tone of voice not matching his anger. "Come on petit ouers,” I joked. "You mother-” he started. “Petit Ouers,” Ashley repeated. "Awe,” Jake said. “Are you a little bear?” The guys laughed at Jake’s joke as Andy went red in the face. “Hah!” I yelled. “ Your plan has failed.” “That’s it,” he said. “Time for revenge.” He threw me on the signing table and started tickling me furiously. “Please, Andy,” I laughed. “Please stop, it hurts. My sides, haha.” Tears formed in my eyes from the laughter. My sides began to hurt. “What did I say?!” I heard Anna yell. “I said you don’t run away, and what do you do? You run away.” I couldn’t respond from the laughing fit Andy was currently giving me, but soon Anna got in and helped. Luckily, I knew of a way to stop laughing. ‘Thank you, YouTube,’ I thought. To stop my laughing, I rubbed the roof of my mouth with my tongue and made my foot go numb. My laughing immediately ceased to be in the world. “Awe,” Ashley solemnly said. “Her laugh was cute, why’d you stop?” “We didn’t,” Andy told him. "Thank you, YouTube,” I yelled to the world. “Goddamn, Annie,” Anna said agitated. “You and your freaking YouTube.” “If you like it so much, why don’t you marry it?” Jake joked, though no one laughed but him. “Come on, guys, that’s comedy gold, right there.” “More like: Comedy Silver,” I stated coldly. Everyone went, “Oooooh,” except Jake, who stood at the opposite end of the signing table with eyes of disbelief. “I did not just get roasted by a fourteen year old,” he said. “I am not fourteen,” I said, vaguely offended. “I’m eighteen.” "Bless,” CC, their drummer, said. “Girl, you need to eat something.” "Boy,” I told CC. “I eat poptarts and coffee on a daily basis, calm yourself down.” "I could feel your ribcage,” Andy retaliated. “Because I exercise and take good care of my body?” I asked "Just eat something,” Andy pleaded.“Please?” I sighed and went to the break room, grabbing a banana and walking back out. I peeled it and took a huge bit out of it. “Wee I ath a bahnahnah,” I said with my mouth full. “Okay, we did not need to see the innards of the bahnahnah,” Jake regained his humor. "Whatever,” I said, swallowing the rest of the banana. Mike came in from his office and told us to “get the hell back to work.” Me and Anna sat behind the counter, where surprisingly no customers were in. We goofed around, playing with the small toys at the front counter. “Where were you?” asked Anna. “Sick,” I replied. “You’re always getting sick,” she said. "Yeah, because having pneumonia is always fun,” I said sarcastically. "Oh my god,” her jaw dropped. “You could have died.” “It felt like it,” saying it wasn’t a complete lie. “I had to share this room with an angsty teenager, and he would not shut up.” "Ugh, I hate it when people are always complaining about how they’re in so much pain, and they can’t stand it,” Ann mocked. “It’s just so nerve wracking, you’re not actually dying, get over it.” “I was so tempted to say that, but he was actually kind of cute.” “Oh, please,” she rolled her eyes. “Even if he was cute, you would still kick him out.” “Nah,” I said. “You have not seen this guy, and this guy always had his shirt off.” “Girls love girls, and boys,” she sang. “Do you want to play that?” I asked. We were allowed to put on our own music if it’s what our target audience is. I walked towards the back where the storage is and plugged my mp3 player in that I keep at the store. I scrolled through my playlist and pushed play when I came across girls/girls/boys by Panic! at the disco. I came back from the storage space and got a surprise attack from Andy. “Shine a light,” I censored, as we’re not allowed to swear in the workplace. “Got ya,” Andy yelled in victory. “Revenge is so sweet.” “Yeah,” I agree sarcastically. “Thanks for the heart attack.” My heart, still beating a million miles an hour, started doing flips and tricks. I began to feel sick, so, I excused myself to go back to work. I got back to work. I got back to Anna and told her I needed the bathroom, which wasn’t a lie, like I told Andy. In the bathroom, I sat on the floor of the big stall, away from the door, and gripped my head. I tried to calm down, breathing in and out in a long wave of patterns. My heartbeat began to slow down, I slowly stood up in a hunched position and bent over the toilet, throwing up the banana I just ate. I flushed it down, proceeding to wash my hands and go back to work. I got back behind the counter with Anna and she asked, “What happened?” "Andy scared the crap out of me,” I said. “I didn’t feel well after. I think I ate a bad banana.” Anna laughed. “Bad, banana, bad,” she said, slightly laughing and pointing at my stomach. I pushed her arm a bit and leaned back, laughing at what she said. “Oh, sweet, precious child,” I told her, placing my hands on her head to bring it down to kiss her forehead. She laughed at me, and I started laughing at her laughing hysterically from giggling all of about five minutes, none stop, we tried to stop but ended up giggling even more. A customer walked in and we stopping giggling almost immediately. I looked at her seriously, causing her to laugh again, but was put to the side, when the lady who walked in a second ago screamed. 'Oh, yeah,’ I thought. ‘Andy’s band is still here.’ “Hey, Ann,” I called out. “Yeah,” she replied. "When’s their signing?” I asked. She knitted her eyebrows together, also forgetting Andy was here with the band. "Oh, yeah, I think they’re just here to hang out. Andy only lives about five minutes away from my house.” “Wait, what?” “Oh, yeah, that means that you two live really close, don’t you?” she jumped on the counter. "Well, I guess so,” I said sarcastically. “It’s not like I just found out, my old childhood friend lives two blocks away from me.” Ann looked at me like she wasn’t expecting me to not freak out, with eyes wide open. “ . . . I can’t believe that I’ve been passing his house, every single day for the past year, without realizing it. I want to punch myself.” Anna giggled and said, “You know you should ask him for his phone number, so you don’t lose touch again.” “Why? I’m going to be touring with him for two months,” I told her nonchalantly. “What?!” she yelled as Andy started walking towards us. “You leave me for three weeks, now you’re leaving me for almost three months?!” "Three weeks? Three months?” Andy asked, very confused. “What is going on?” “I know,” Ann agreed with him. “What is going on?” "I was was sick with pneumonia for three weeks was in the hospital,” I lied for the third time. "What?” Andy said, shocked, with raised eyebrows. "Now, I’m going on Warped Tour as a YouTuber,” I finished. “What?!” Anna and Andy said in unision. "What?” I asked them. “Oh, and Anna, I got your texts, you can stay in my apartment, besides I kind of need you there to take care of Spider.” She nodded but Andy now had his eyebrows knitted together. “Wait,” he said. “You still have that old fluffy cat, your brother got you before he went to jail?” "Yeah,” I answered. “Your brother went to jail?” Ann asked, as though this was new information to her, when it’s not. "Yes,” I told her. “I’ve told you this before.” "Oh,” she said sympathetically. “Sorry, I forgot.” “It’s fine,” I said. “If you need, I can help you get packed for your first tour,” Andy said, trying to get closer behind the counter as he could. “One,” I said to Andy. “I’ve been on Warped Tour last year. Second, I’ve already packed, you should always pack at least a week ahead if you’re going on tour.” “Oh,” he said, disappointed. “I can still come over and help you with stuff, I’m not completely useless.” "We never said you were useless,” Tessa said for me. “Either way,” he continued. “It would be nice to catch up. Juliet won’t be home for another five hours.” I looked at the clock on my phone and saw that it was already two thirty. “Seriously? Getting home at seven thirty? I’d die if I didn’t have coffee.” “Still high strung on coffee, I see?” Andy said. “Still the same old Bella.” “Bella?” Anna asked. “Yes, that was the name I went by in highschool,” I told her. “How did you get Annie from Bella?” she inquired. “So confused,” Andy said. “Oh, shut up,” I told Andy, then turned around to Anna and answered, “My full name is Anniebella.” “Was your mom high when she gave you the name?” She asked, dead serious. "Probably,” I said. “Well, I have to get out of here at three, so you two losers have to fend for yourselves,” Anna said as she walked toward the punch machine and clocked out. “See yahs,” she yelled as she walked out the door fifteen minutes early. “Dork,”I yelled back at her. "So,” Andy started. “When do you get off?” “Five,” I said solemnly. “Eew,” he read my mind. “Yeah,but that just means I can goof off in the back if this customer decides to buy something.” He gave a small chuckle, “I still remember the day when you called me an idiot in french, on stage.” I groaned. “In the middle of a performance, in front of all the school,” he laughed. "Why’d you bring up such a cringey memory,” I compained. “You know,” he said. “I think I still have that dvd.” "Why do you still have it?” I asked surprised. “It’s such a piece of crap.” “No,” he defended. “It’s not, it’s probably the best performance you’ve done.” "No,” I whined, bring my knees to my chest, hiding my face. “I hated it, it’s so bad.” “Do you remember the way you styled your hair?” "Yes, now please, don’t bring up any more cringey high school memories.” “You were so tiny and cute!” He said in his high pitched, annoying voice. “You’re pushing it, Biersack,” I warned. "What?” he defended. “All I was saying, was that you were cute.” “What? Am I not cute anymore?” I joked. "No,” he hesitated. “I wasn’t saying that at all.” “Then why’d you hesitate?” I procured. "I,” he started, but then took a pause. “I’m just saying, you’re a bit unhealthy.” "So, now you’re calling me fat?” I asked. “No, of course not. If anything you’re very underweight. Like I said earlier, I could feel your ribcage.” “And like I said, I eat right, and exercise right. So, what about me is so unhealthy?” I asked, now getting angry. “Nothing,” he said, obviously not wanting tensions to rise. “Forget I said anything. I just don’t want our reconnection to go up in flames.” "Alright,” I consented. “So, how is Juliet?” “She’s fine,” he said. “Well, probably not right now, her manager’s being a huge dick.”“Eew,” I said. “I sadly know that feeling though. My old boss, back at Delhi wasn’t the kindest of people.” “Where was that?” he asked. "There was a new store called Vegas Pizza’s that opened up and I was one of the unlucky people who got in,” I sighed. “Unlucky?” he said. "Yeah,” assured him. “Turned out he was a massive pervert, thank god it didn’t happen to me.” "Damn,” he said. “So, besides working with a molester, what else have you been up to? You said you were, sorry, are a Youtuber?” "Yeah, it’s mostly a vlog, nothing special.” “Really? Sounds cool, do you mind if I be in a video?” he asked. “Nah, you’re cool. It’s not a sponsor deal, alright. Just two old friends,” I told him. “Right, yeah,” he agreed. “So, what about you? Are you still doing the modeling job?” I wanted to know. “Yeah, but with the band it’s more of a summer side job, though, it’s getting really boring. They make me wear the clothes just different colors and patterns. I might switch companies soon,” he complained. “Sounds boring,” I said. “ I mean if I were in your shoes, and I know that this is being devious, but I’d expose them. Again, just me.” “That sounds like overkill,” he stated. "That’s just me, though.” There was a long silence before the customer came over and put a lot of things on the counter, then asked, “Excuse me, but my daughter wants this shirt for her birthday, I can’t quite pronounce his name, is it Frank eero?” “Yes,” I said politely. “Frank Iero’s new shirt is in, follow me, ma’am. . . . Here it is.” "That’s perfect, thank you,” the lady said. "It’s not a problem ma’am,” I responded like a robot. “I suppose it’s your daughter’s birthday?” "Yes, it’s her sixteenth, I want her sweet to be perfect for her and her friends,” she replied. "She has good, taste in music,” I said as I scanned the items in. “I honestly,” the lady began. “I don’t know how she can listen to it. It’s just a bunch of screaming and noise.” I turned around and grabbed the new Black Veil Brides CD off the shelf, taking the album lyrics out of the front cover, and handed it to the lady. “If you read the lyrics, they’re actually quite meaningful.” I quoted Never Give In from their first album, earning an eyebrow raise from Andy. "Wow, I’d never thought I’d see the day, when screaming actually had meaning to it. Thank you,” she said. “Can I get a copy of this CD?” "Of course,” I said and walked over to the CD shelves, grabbing one and coming back to my station. “Alright, your total is sixty-two, fifty-three,” "Thank you,” the lady said. "No, thank you, have a nice day, ma’am,” I replied. There was another long wave of silence as the lady left, before Andy said, “You sweet talker,” he complemented. "What?” I laughed at him. “I never would have thought that you of all people would memorize the lyrics to my band’s songs,” he smiled in delight. “Come here,” he said as he held out his arms in a hugging motion. "No,” I declined. “I gave you a good long hug just a couple of hours ago, that’s enough affection out of me for a good month.” "Please,”he said. “I don’t wanna," I told him "But, I want a hug,” Andy whinned. "No,” I argued. "Yes,” he said. We went back and forth saying yes and no to each other for a good five minutes until Ashley came over and to tell us, “Just freaking hug, already, we’re tired of hearing you two whine. Any ways, me and the rest of the guys are going out to find a bar, are you coming?” "Nah,” Andy said. “I’m going to catch up Bella, here.” “Aww,” I said. “That’s so sweet.” I went in for the hug, and wrapped my arms around his waist. “I have never understood you,” Andy said. "Nor will I ever understand you.” “Don’t worry,” I assured him. “Neither will I.” We started laughing as Ashley stood there facepalming. “Alright, I’ll text you when we’re hungover.” Andy laughed at him, saying, “Alright, man, don’t drive, then.” "Yes, mom,” Ashley added. “Bye, love birds.” I rolled my eyes as Andy said, “I’m engaged, dumbass.” "Yeah, and we all know what happens when you say that,” Ashley laughed. “What?” I asked, knitting my eyebrows. "It’s an inside joke,” Andy said. Still hugging, Andy waved the guys goodbye, and whispered to me, “CC told me you’re hot.” I craned my neck upward to look at his face, and he was dead serious and I cringed. Then I looked at the clock, five o’ five. "Oooo,” I gleamed. “Quitting time.” "YouTube?” Andy said. "Fine,” I sighed. "Yes,” he beamed. I walked over to the storage area and unplugged my old mp3 player. ‘I am definitely sick of Panic! at the disco now,’ I thought as I made my way back with my skate board. I clocked out and told Mike it’s closing time. Shocked, but still thankful, he said goodbye. "Alright,” I said to Andy. “Let’s go.” I saw Andy do a short little happy dance in the corner of my eye. Smirking as I grabbed my phone from under the counter, along with my purse and keys. Me and Andy made our way to my apartment, as we made very little small talk. "Hey,” Andy called for me suddenly. “We just passed my house.” "Really?” I said. “I never knew I was walking past your house every day.” "Me neither."

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