#University au

[penvisions]

zest {chapter 5}

Pairing: Chef! Joel Miller x Professor! Reader (formally known as Bartender! Reader)

Summary: The summer semester starts and with it comes a whole new batch of issues. But Joel is there for you in every way he can be and then some.

Word Count: 4.4k

Warnings: canon typical violence, canon typical language, c'mon reader and joel have potty mouths, protective joel, reader is canonically midsize, pregnant reader, surprise pregnancy, reader goes through nicotine withdrawal, smoking, cigarettes, nicotine use, cannabis, marijuana, cbd, edibles, pregnancy complications (not serious or life-threatening), lots of feelings, lots of emotions, complicated family dynamic, reader has family issues, reader has religious guilt, restaurant lingo, triggers associated with the food industry, reader canonically has an eating disorder, therapy, academic world, triggers associated with academic settings, gun violence, i think that's it for this one!

A/N: the ideas are in my head, but they don't wanna come out to play. love y'all

ao3 link || series masterlist || navigation || ko-fi

The meeting goes well enough, Ellie acting as a buffer to the unspoken tension that adds weight to the air within your office. You swallow down any rebuttals that would end up being trouble or seem confrontational, opting to remind the younger man that this was an important responsibility and that you expect him to treat the position with respect- as well as his professor and mentor. An aggravating eyeroll and a clap of his hands was the best agreement you could get, and it would have to work for now.

As both of them left the office, Ellie off to class and your new source of headache somewhere he didn’t feel like sharing with you- you packed up your bag and headed straight to the advising office in search of the person listed at the top of his academic profile. After a quick search in the database, your sore feet carried you across campus. Taking in the busy campus, you can feel the excited energy of newer students getting a leg up on their credits for the summer and that of the older students cramming in an extra semester to cross the finish line- it was exhilarating and a wide smile graces your features as you watch the bodies move about, hand cradled over your swollen middle.

You never thought, dared to hope, that you would be where you are right now- in life, in love….alive.

Quiet, somber moments with Joel allowed for you to share with him you past difficulties with depression, with anxiety, with all of the crushing weight your upbringing brought up and the things that both dampened it and helped it to flourish. In turn, he shared with you his own feelings, his own experiences- not out of comparison and to shift the topic to him, but to show you that he knows it’s a hard thing to handle, to keep a handle on. Because he knows it just doesn’t go away simply because good things are happening and being happy seems like the new normal.

Getting out your phone, you smile at the messages from Ellie online, sending you funny videos and recipes for desserts she thinks are cool. Maria’s name shows links to the items she thought were the best during her later months of pregnancy and a request to come for dinner sometime so you could go through the stuff they’ve kept- she’s confident in her decision to only have one kid even despite the quite handsy and enthusiastic way her and Tommy danced just the other night when you went out for mocktails and appetizers at a soft opening for a new place in downtown. You love her, she’s been so helpful alongside your other two friends who have bid you good luck for today, knowing the semester starts this week.

Tommy, likewise, sent a selfie of himself fixing something in the kitchen at the restaurant with Joel frowning with his hands on his hips in the background- completely unaware of the photo being snapped if the wide grin on the younger man’s face is any indication.

Your man is grumpy today, walk in door came off the rails :(

Nooooo, I was just gonna call him and see if he’d be okay with me running errands before coming to get him.

Come get him now, please, for the love of god.

…it’s that bad, huh?

Been barkin’ at the kitchen kids all day.

Be right there, want a coffee from the shop on campus?

You’re my favorite sister-in-law, you know that?

Tommy, I’m your only sister-in-law.

He doesn’t respond, but you assume he either got back to work or Joel caught him goofing around on his phone and snapped at him too. Both of them are out by the back door once you pull into the open gate, Tommy’s truck pulled up at an angle for him to get tools in and out easier. They’re sharing a cigarette, the most probably cause for Joel’s irritability.

He’s been insistent on quitting, but the stress of hard shifts and the worries of you and the girls as you go about your days as the heat rachets up, it gets to him. Joel snubs it out before disappearing inside, waving a hand at you to signal that he would be just a moment. Tommy saunters over,  grinning at the drink you shake out the window at him.

“I love you so much, Sabrosa!” He downs a third of it as soon as he takes it from you, the whip cream and blended coffee. He’s all smiles and easy, deep laughter until the brain freeze sets in and then he’s stone faced as he holds a hand to his throat.

“Totally your fault.” You laugh as you feel giggles bubble up.

“Which one do you like better?” You hold two outfits up, not able to decide yourself. Both of them were cute, but Joel was focused on the display of monitors and cameras. Brow furrowed as he reads the small print through the thick frames low on the bridge of his nose.

“Either one, sweet girl. Or both.” He doesn’t look up, even as he puts down the box in his hand and picks up another one. For some reason his concentration irritates you and you huff, putting both outfits back on the rack before walking over to the cribs. He’s been so great, from going to doctor check ups, cooking you everything you even mention craving or linger on in the store on shopping trips, to ensuring you have everything you need at home and more. But this one thing, the thought of picking out clothes on your own- it just…it hurts.

You feel his approach, the way he’s reaching around to place his hands over your own where you grip tight to the railing of a crib. The glint of your engagement ring and matching wedding band layered on your finger catches your eye just as Joel’s own simple band clinks delicately against it.

“It’s not that I don’t have a preference, Sabrosa, it’s that I want you to get everything you want. Our little boy is going to rock whatever you decide he needs.” His scruff brushes against your temple as he leans in to kiss you there, smelling delicious from his shift and the cologne you know he sprayed on before he left the office to meet you in the car. His soft voice vibrates through you, his chest flush with your back.

“I want you to want to be involved and not just with the serious stuff like doctor visits and monitors.” You mumble, unable to find your voice. Your breath trembles in and out, your chest rising rapidly despite feeling like you weren’t getting enough air on every intake. One of his hands comes up, palm spread over the fabric of your shirt, right over your heart. His warmth sinks into you, his own chest moving with his deep breath as he quietly tells you to follow along with him.

Once you’re calm, you loosen the grip of have on the cribs railing though you don’t remove your hand from it completely.

“I love you and I am absolutely thrilled to be doin’ this with you. Every step of the way, remember?” He steps away from you, spinning you gently into his chest where you bury your face and sniff the remnants of the tears that sting behind your eyes. “I have some stuff saved from Sarah, but it might all be too worn. Want to go through the boxes with me when we get home? We can get both of the outfits you were showin’ me, think he’d like how soft the fabric is.”

“You kept her baby clothes?”

“Kept everythin’ she ever made me too, from macaroni art to what she claims is a bowl.” His lopsided smile makes him look younger than he is, like he can recall every single piece he’s got carefully tucked away in his house. The same one he raised his girls in, brought them home to for the first time. It heals something in you, to picture him packing it all away, making sure there’s enough room and supplies to keep it all safe and secure. That even if the moment has passed for them to be on display and

“I never took that stuff home, cause my dad had a tendency to throw it out or just toss it into a box in the garage. He never put anything on the fridge and then my grandparents had this rule about clutter.”

More little pictures of your childhood and upbringing are revealed to him as the pregnancy comes to term, memories and ideations of what you dealt with in comparison to the type of parent you want to be. You’re realizing more and more than you want to be more like Joel, more like the parents shown in family shows and movies- nothing like the strained and lonely environment you were brought up in.

“You’re going to be an amazing mother, darlin’,” He guides you back toward the clothing section with sure hands. Once back in front of the display you had been fawning over, he rests his chin over your shoulder and spreads his hands over the entirety of your bump. “You are doin’ such a good job already, taking care of yourself and your body to ensure that our son is healthy and has a good first home right here.”

He spends the next hour going over clothes with you, packing up a shopping basket with a few outfits, the monitor system he deemed the best choice, and a few star themed bedroom decorations.

“Finally!!” Ellie shouts as soon as the truck pulls up into the driveway, the door wide open as she rushes over to your side and pulls open the door. She’s helping you down and out in a flurry of excited movement while Joel just watches with a smirk dimpling his cheeks.

“What- Ellie- hold- hold on!” Laughter bubbles up as you try to gracefully catch your balance. She pauses in her corralling to let you get your phone from where it was charging before she links her arms around one of yours and quickly ushers you toward the door and up the stairs. The truck’s rumbling engine cuts off as Joel follows at a more leisurely pace, making sure to grab a few of the bags in the cab behind the seats.

Ellie’s energy is puzzling, exciting and you wonder what she’s been up to since you walked her to class earlier that morning. It all become obvious as she puts a paint stained hand on the door knob to the nursery and looks over at you with an wide smile.

“Sarah and I have been sketching ideas for a few weeks, she’s just now putting up the lights but we wanted to get it done since you were a little off today after the meeting and…” She opens the door and Sarah is standing in the middle of the newly painted room with her arms spread wide.

“Surprise!” She jumps up and down a few times as you gasp, eyes roving over the space that was white and full of unopened boxes just this morning when you got ready to head to campus. A deep, midnight blue is painted on all four walls, the ceiling a mix of grays to simulate cloud coverage. The wall opposite the door has stars and planets detailed all over it, the evidence of their hard work scattered in paint brushes and water cups, palettes and designs drawn up in on the cloth covered boxes they used as stands while transforming the room.

“Dios mio, es perfecto,” You whisper as you turn around to take in the golden trim of the baseboards and accents around the light switches and outlets.

“We’ve shocked her back to her native language,” Sarah stage whispers to Ellie as you trail a hand over your middle, feeling as light as air as you take in all the hard work and dedication they devoted their day to- all of it for you and their unborn little brother.

A sob wracks your body, hand moving to cover your mouth and muffle the sudden sound.

“Oh no, we made her cry. Hey, hey, okay, we wanted to do something for you, to show you that we love you. We just- shh, it’s okay.” Sarah’s arms are wrapping around you in a tight embrace, her forehead knocking into yours as she looks into your eyes to make sure you’re okay. “We do, Sabrosa, we love you. You’re the best thing to happen to our family in a long time and we wanted to show our appreciation.”

“She’s right,” Ellie joins in the hug and that’s when Joel steps into the open doorway. “We wanted to do this for you, we wanted to throw the baby shower. We’ll be here for you, every step of the way. Family is important, you’re important.”

“Girls, you did such an amazing job. Thank you,” He walks over to you all and wraps his arms around everyone, placing a kiss to the top of your head in the middle.

“Th-thank you, really, sorry I’m so blubbery lately.” You laugh as you try to wipe at your eyes, at the happy tears streaking down your face.

Once you get them under control, everyone gets busy assembling some of the items like the wooden dresser and changing station, the thick cushioned rocking chair you picked out and Joel even gets started on the camera and monitor system, to go along with the string lights the girls got in the shape of yellow stars. When the girls run off to get the takeout- philly cheesesteaks at your request, you and Joel simply hold each other in the middle of the room.

Shifting on his feet, he moves over to the rocking chair and plants himself firmly in the seat before pulling you across his lap and kissing you gently. With one hand curved around your bump and one behind your upper back, he tells you how proud he is of you and how he’s so glad the girls love you as much as he does.

“As for the crib,” He rumbles, hand caressing over your back in a soothing gesture. “I got one started in the back shed, you know I do a little wood working but nothing too crazy. Figured since I didn’t keep Sarah’s that our little boy could have one of his own. Picked out this beautiful mango wood, to match the dresser and stuff.”

“Joel, I don’t know what I did to deserve you- this life.” Your lips find the tip of his strong nose, his plush bottom lip, his chin.

“Didn’t have to do nothin’, darlin’, you deserve the world no matter what.”

Joel walks into the nursery to see you on the floor amid the boxes of unopened stuff from the baby shower, the piles of stuff you’ve bought, and the boxes with his own handwriting from where he brought them down from the attic. Bright swatches of color surround you, clothing and bedding, blankets and spit rags. As he steps into the room, he notices with the help of the fairy lights and the cloud lanterns strung up from the ceiling that you’re completely passed out with your arms folded over one box and your cheek resting atop them.

The girls had just gone to the townhouse, something about going out to meet up with friends or something, he couldn’t get a straight answer out of either of them as they helped to clean up the mess from dinner’s take out. He just told them to be safe and to call if they needed anything. Especially if they needed a ride and a ride share was too expensive. With twin kisses to his cheek they bid him a goodnight and were out the door.

He stops and watches over you for a few moments, taking the scene in.

It’s something he never thought he’d be doing again- preparing to be a dad once again.

But he’s glad for the chance, for the life you’re leading alongside him. The age difference only ever bothered him because he once thought of the things you might miss out on being with him, but here he is- giving them to you in such a special way. The smile you couldn’t control while he stood across from you in the warm sand and exchanged vows, the way his family has banded around you both with endless support and love, the sonograms stuck to the fridge and tucked into his wallet.

He feels so grateful for you, for your love. For being able to love you in return.

He counts down the days he can be at home with you, he can experience all of the firsts that unfold with having a newborn. With seeing you blossom into motherhood with all the same grace and passion you have shown in the past with your classes, graduation, moving on and moving into the role of a professor yourself, of working alongside him in the kitchen, running the bar flawlessly even when he expected less.

He walks into the bedroom across the hall and readies for bed and unfolds the covers from where you tucked them underneath the pillows. Donned in his boxer briefs and a white shirt, he goes back across the hall and gently scoops up your sleeping form. You mumble quietly into his chest where you head tucks into, arms in the cradle of your lap over your bump as he takes the few steps to the bed.

When he places you down atop the bed and reaches for the covers, your hands reach for him. They cradle his face as you guide him back up toward the pillows you rest on and press your lips to his with far more awareness than you just had a moment ago.

“Hmm, you take such good care of me, Mr. Miller.” You smile against his lips even as you feel sleep try to pull you back down, your hands trailing down his chest and plopping gently on the bed.

“Anything for you, Mrs. Miller.” He tries for the covers again but you grip his shirt and pull him with enough force that he stumbles forward, shins meeting the plush sides of the mattress.

“Wanna take care of you too,” You press the words into his neck, teeth and tongue trialing over the skin there, pulling a low groan from him. He hardens as one of your hands cups him through the thin fabric, eliciting a shiver to rush down his spine at the thought of you and him, tangled together- notched together in the same way that made the baby growing in your belly.

“Darlin’-“

“Nu-uh, let me, please,” You bite into his collarbone, pulling a hiss from him as pleasure sparkles across his skin. How could he possibly say no to that, when you were being so sweet and soft with him?

“Let me, just, please, Joel.” You sigh, the sound swallowed by the still sizzling onions in the pan, the quiet roar of the flame from the burner, the drone of the industrial kitchenware. It was peaceful, even if the whole world was calming down, most brunch services wrapped up and hazy afternoon energy sweeping over the quiet city. Everyone is gone, the last server walked out to her car and ushered through the gate by Joel himself, large frame filling the doorway as he steps back in and securely locks it behind him.

Dark eyes watch you across the kitchen space, accessing. But he grins, whatever worries he has melting away as he watches you move about the space with ease. The smell of seasoned meat, veggies, fresh bread- fills the air and the whole scene fills his heart with so much ease.

He’s barely seen you the past two weeks, finding remnants of your presence around the house- a cup of tea half empty, the empty snack packs he kept stocked in the fridge, a note with your looping scrawl letting him know about small things, the lingering scent of your perfume. To be fair, he did the same, the restaurant booming as summer tourists flocked to Austin, rave reviews and booked nights spurring him on to work alongside his sous more and more. Partly to train the man up and to assess if he would be able to handle the rushes as well as he needed to- Joel definitely wants to try and take the first month off after the birth once the time came around.

Stepping up to the expo line, he rests his arms flat over it and put his chin on them to watch you flit around.

“Whatcha makin’, momma?”

“Was cravin’ philly cheesesteaks!” You chirp, expertly flipping the contents of the pan with a flick of your wrist. You leave them to simmer while you take the pan with the sliced open loaves of french bread with cheese layered over the tops and toss it in the salamander over your head. The stove clicks as you turn the burner off and walk the few yards over to the fryer and pull up the batch of zucchini you breaded with panko and toss it into a small mixing bowl with some parmesan and herbs.

“Maybe we should check the baby book, see what vitamins you’re lackin’ if that’s all you wanna eat lately?” His concern isn’t overwhelming, but you see the slight worry behind his eyes as he tries to think of what more he could be adding to the meals he makes or brings home.

“It couldn’t hurt,” You smile over at him as you take out the bread from overhead with a towel, placing it on the counter before piling the contents of the pan inside with a pair of tongs.

Once everything was done, you carried it over to one of the prep stations while Joel pulled two chairs from the dining room into the kitchen. After the first bite, he groans in appreciation.

“Now why am I always doin’ the cooking if you can whip something up like this in no time flat?” Joel teases around his chewing. You scrunch your nose at the sight, but truly nothing the man could do was unattractive. His chef’s coat is unbuttoned and open to reveal his black shirt underneath, black jeans worn but not torn as he props up a leg onto his knee and devours a handful of the zucchini bites.

“Hush, I cook plenty, Chef Miller.” You trail a finger over his thick moustache to get some of the horseradish aioli out of it and tap a quick kiss to his greasy lips. After a few more bites, you reach for a towel to wipe your hands clean.

“So, remember that cute coffee shop we went to in Dallas?”

“The one where I almost murdered someone, yeah. What about it?” You couldn’t meet his eyes, swirling the straw in the soda you snuck from the bar.

“Well…it’s kinda funny actually- not funny haha but funny like of course with my luck this is how things happen-“

“What happened?” He cuts you off, bite to his tone at he threat of that man in his memory. The way he had shoved you roughly to the ground, the sight of you crumpled on the floor of the coffees shop. The way you shook as he helped you up, it had been in rage but still, it wasn’t a good memory of the weekend he proposed to you.

“He was assigned to be one of my teaching assistants, he was in the meeting with me and Ellie this morning.”

“No he ain’t,” He practically growls, hands curling into fists atop the cutting board. “First thing in the morning we’re going to the dean’s office and telling them what happened.”

“I already talked to them, told them that I didn’t feel safe with him. They said they could contact the coffee shop and get their explanation and then get back to me on the decision to either put him with another professor or expel him altogether.” You reach for one of his hands and uncurl his fist to thread your fingers through his.

“Should be in jail, with the way he was quick to anger over a damn stain on his shirt.”

Just as your phone rings with the university’s number, the sound of tires squealing to a stop just outside the building. A car door slams and banging on the front entrance carries through the dining room. Joel jumps from his chair and storms to the front with a frown on his face.

“Stay in here.” He orders as he disappears through the swinging door, the hinges squeaking with the force of his large body rocketing through it.

“Back off.” Joel’s voice boomed, fury in his eyes as he frowns at the man he recognizes from another city, another moment that was ruined because of him. The exact same one you had just told him about being on your campus. This one, so much more important because he was in Joel’s city now. Strutting up to Joel’s restaurant with his wife’s name like an insult on his tongue. And that wasn’t gonna fly.

“Who the fuck do you think you are trespassing on my property?”

The wild eyes peer over Joel’s shoulder and land on you, nestled into the small space you hold the kitchen door open to peer through. The door opens as the man pushes it open, the last server not locking it behind them when they left an hour ago now. Joel grips the handle tight, other palm flat on the glass to keep him from entering completely.

Your name flies off the younger man’s tongue, full of hate and vitriol.

“Your goddamn whore lost me my internship!” Neither of you had the chance to move before he roughly shoved against the door again, knocking Joel down. He lands harshly with a grunt, and you step through into the dining room with a shout of his name just as the man reaches into the back of his waistband.

Both of you freeze as he brandishes a gun, clicking the safety off.

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@theoraekenslover

[silent-storms-posts]

My favourite part of AUs is when it is a completely different universe but my fav characters are still friends, and even side characters who get mentioned once are characters I know so I just lose it and squeal because omg I know that character!!!

Seems very given but I don’t know I’m reading an au and it made me feel that way :)

[kisscoolen]

Someone’s probably already done this but oh well

might do a a version with human forms later bc their SUPER fun to draw

wanted to add another as to this but I legit could not find it again- if anybody knows that Bill an where he’s nice and has a blue ribbon and like white cowboy boots PLEAS SEND IT TO ME SO I CAN MAKE FANART

Credits:

Mr Bill Pines at by @/honeqq

Handyman Bill by LosanPostle on twitter

University au by @/bitzzoxl

[cheesy-cryptid]

My party cramming for their finals week 😮‍💨😮‍💨😮‍💨

[mischievousmoony]

I just read your fratboy!James blurb and im OBSESSED!!

I'd love another blurb about either like visiting him at his frathouse after habing gotten closer and hes super respectful but reader is a little confused and anxious about what he wants from her (wether he likes her romantically and all that jass) or something about giving him his jacket back and him being all flirty yk

sorry for rambling and i hope you have a lovely day!!!

love this idea! i went with the first half of the request so this doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with the original frat boy!james blurb, but ive been working on a part 2 for that too !

𝚖𝚊𝚢𝚋𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚟𝚒𝚎 𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝

⟢ frat boy!james potter x fem!reader ⊹ 2.0k ⟢ warnings/tags: fluff, drinking/intoxication (not reader), miscommunication but this is the resolution, reader is confused about james' intentions

── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──

You thought James invited you over to hang out, just the two of you. You had been brainstorming movies to watch and takeout places to suggest all day in preparation for a quiet night with him.

The last thing you expected to be doing right now was watch him play beer pong with his friends in the crowed living room of his frat house. But, here you are, standing off to the sidelines and occasionally giving him a thumbs up when he waves at you.

You perk up when James' team is about to lose—at least it'll mean the game is finally over—but James sinks the ball into the last cup, sending them into overtime.

James throws his hands up in the air, turning in your direction for approval. You send him yet another thumbs up as you try hide your discontent. When he turns to celebrate with Sirius, you slump against the wall with a sigh.

"You good?" a voice rings out to your left. You turn your head to make eye contact with the speaker's shoulder, and you have to crane your neck much more than expected to meet the eyes of the tall boy.

It's James' friend Remus. You've only spoken to him a handful of times, but he's always been very nice.

"Hey, yeah, I'm fine."

Remus quirks an eyebrow. "You don't seem to be having a good time."

You puff out a long breath, and you don't know why, but you find yourself confiding in Remus. "This just wasn't really what I expected tonight to be like."

"No? And what were you expecting?"

"Not a party. I thought James just wanted to hang out with me." You start to worry you've gotten the wrong idea—like maybe this was never supposed to be a date at all. Maybe you're just another friend James invites to his parties. "I thought he liked me. Do I have it all wrong?"

Remus chuckles, which makes you feel worse. "You should talk to him," he advises, which is awfully unhelpful.

"Maybe if this game ever ends," you grumble, turning your head back to the game to watch Sirius miss yet another cup and almost fall into the table. Sirius is barely sober enough to stand, much less get a tiny ping pong ball into a cup eight feet away.

"Hold this?" Remus hands you his drink before tapping Sirius on the shoulder. "Dude there's some people hooking up on your bed."

"What!?" Sirius squawks, immediately abandoning the game to shoo these made up people out of his room.

"Wait, we need you to finish this!" James calls after him, but it's no use.

"Lemme step in for him," Remus offers, and with him as James' new partner, they win the game in just two more rounds.

Remus winks when he takes his drink back from you, and then he promptly disappears into crowd.

You shake off the awestruck look on your face as James approaches you.

"Hey!" he shouts over the music.

"Hey, congrats on winning," you reply.

"What?"

You clear your throat to enable you to raise your voice. "I said congrats.”

James squints at you, still not understanding. You swear the music just got twice as loud.

James leans in, and you shiver as his warm breath fans the side of your neck. "It's a little loud here, wanna go somewhere else?"

He leans back to see you nod, and he takes your hand to lead you upstairs.

The first thing you notice about his bedroom is how clean it is. His bed is made without a single wrinkle in the sheets, his desk is so organized there’s not even a pen out of line, and the room itself smells like fresh laundry and faintly like his cologne.

You sigh in relief as the door clicks shut, muffling the music and giving your eardrums a much needed break.

“Make yourself at home,” James says, sitting on the edge of the bed and patting the spot beside him.

As soon as you sit, James angles his body so that your knees are touching, and goosebumps spread across your skin at the contact.

“Are you having fun?”

“Oh, yeah,” you lie. “It’s a great party.”

James’ lips curve into a smile. He studies you for a few seconds, and you have to fight not to tear your gaze away, feeling shy all of a sudden.

"Have I told you how beautiful you look tonight?"

Your lips part, and James' eyes dart down. He looks like he really wants to kiss you—or maybe more.

A sinking feeling settles in your stomach. The only thing that could be worse than you mistaking James' friendship for romance, is you mistaking sexual attraction for genuine like.

Your mind is racing now as you recount all the times you've interacted with James. Did he invite you to this party just to get you up to his room? Has this been his goal the whole time? All the kind gestures and friendly smiles, was it all a ploy?

James' eyebrows knit together as worry settles in on your face. He scoots a couple inches away from you to give you space. "Is everything okay?" he asks.

"James, why am I here?" you blurt out.

"What do you mean?" James asks. His tongue swipes across his pouty lip—a nervous tic—as his eyes dart around your face for hints in your expression that might help diagnose the problem.

"Did you invite me to this party just to- to get me in your room? In your bed?" you ask boldly.

James almost chokes on air. He is momentarily rooted in place from shock. Your eyebrows shoot up when a few seconds later, he suddenly springs to his feet to distance himself from you even further.

"No. No!" James holds his hands out in front of him. "We don't need to be in here. We don't need to be anywhere! We can leave—or you can leave—I don't want you to leave. But you can go wherever you want. Alone. Or with me. Whatever you want. I just-"

James takes a deep breath, an attempt to ease his racing heart. "I didn’t bring you here to try anything. I just thought it’d be nice to be alone for a minute. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

You chew on your lower lip, starting to feel bad about your accusation. "I’m sorry,” you murmur.

“Shit, don’t be sorry. You have nothing to be sorry for.”

“It’s just, I'm not uncomfortable. I'm confused."

"Confused? About what?"

"Well, for one, I didn't realize you were inviting me to a party when you invited me over tonight."

James' face falls, and your comment hangs in the air as he processes it. He runs a hand through his messy curls as he mutters, "I'm such an idiot."

"Huh?"

"I didn't invite you to a party. This wasn't supposed to be a party. I thought that you thought there was gonna be a party so I... threw a party last minute." James scratches the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Why-? Why would I think that?"

"Because of your text.”

"What text?"

James takes out his phone and quickly navigates to your messages from this morning. "When I said 'looking forward to tonight. i think it'll be fun' you responded 'if it's anything like last time, it'll be loads of fun.'"

"How did that make you think I was expecting a party?"

"Last time you were here, it was for a party."

"I wasn't talking about last time I was here, I was talking about the last time I saw you. When we ran into each other at the football game."

And you mean literally ran into each other. James wasn't looking where he was going and made you drop your soft pretzel. He bought you another one, of course, and the two of you ended up straying from the crowd and missing the whole last half of the game in favor of a walk around campus.

"Oh." James' shoulders slump. "I'm sorry. This wasn't how tonight was supposed to happen. We were supposed to watch a movie."

"We were?" You feel a little disappointed that tonight went differently than either of you wanted. But at the same time, hearing his original plans is making you were feeling better about everything.

"Yeah. I even started a free trial on every streaming service I don’t have so that we could watch anything you wanted. And do you see how clean my room is? It's never this clean. I even washed all my bedding." James picks up the corner of his duvet and fiddles with it between his forefinger and thumb. "I used like ten dryer sheets on this."

Your lips curl into a smirk. "So you did want to get me in your bed?" you tease.

"No! No, I swear," James jabbers, almost panicking all over again. He holds a hand over his heart as he promises, "There wasn't going to be any funny business. Well, unless you were planning on making the the first move, because I would've been happy to oblige- that's not the point."

You break out into a fit of giggles, and James can't help but chuckle along even if he is feeling a bit sheepish.

"Look, I'm really sorry about how this night turned out," James says once your laughter dies down.

"Well, it's not over yet."

A grin slowly creeps it's way onto his face. "That's true. Are you up for a movie?"

"You did say you already started several free trials. We can't let that go to waste."

James happily snags the remote from the dresser that also serves as his tv stand. He's about to join you again on his bed when his eyes light up with an idea. "Here," he says, handing you the remote. "I'll be right back, okay?"

James darts out of the room, leaving you slightly confused, but excited you're finally going to have the night that you planned. You scoot back on the bed, getting comfortable in his duvet that smells strongly of Downy.

When James returns, his arms are full with three different bowls of popcorn.

"I want you to know I had to fend off several intoxicated people to get you these snacks."

"Are there going to be more people joining us?" you joke as James balances the bowls on his bedside table.

"I wasn't sure what you liked, so I got all kinds. Butter popcorn—freshly popped, by the way—kettle corn, and that's white cheddar. I also have plain salted popcorn but I didn't want to carry too many and risk dropping them."

"This is more than perfect. Thank you. Besides, this is my favorite," you say, reaching for your favorite of the three and popping a few into your mouth.

James smiles as he moves around the bed to take a seat on the other side.

"So, what are we watching?" you ask, as if you don't have a list of ten different options on your phone. When James doesn't answer, you turn away from the tv to find him already looking at you. "James?"

"I really like you," James blurts out, catching you off guard. "I want to make that abundantly clear. If- if you still weren't sure. I think you're amazing and I really don't want to mess this up."

"You're not messing anything up," you say, your voice taking on a more serious tone. "I like you too, James. A lot," you admit, and James' dazzling smile almost makes you melt on the spot. "Come on," you bump his shoulder with yours. "The nights not getting any younger and I want to watch a rom-com."

"I love those," James says, turning to the tv, but sparing some of his attention to admire you from the corner of his eye when you laugh at the jokes and to make sure his hand ends up in the popcorn bowl at the same time as yours—once he works up the courage, that is.

── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──

[loomka]

surprise kisses!!

[i-heart-mgg]

3rd Row, By The Window

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Pairings: Armin Arlert x Fem Reader

Summary: You ask Armin to help you study, with a happy little accident your relationship evolves into more than just friends.

Warnings: Heavy smut, making out, thigh gripping, dry humping, thigh grinding, slight tit play, palming, fingering, PnV sex, virgin! Reader and Armin, desk fucking, soft dom Armin, creampie, use of nicknames (Angel, good girl, slut, etc), slight overstimulation, mating press, size difference, raw sex, aftercare, teasing (from eren the next day).

Word count: 6053

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Sunlight illuminated the golden locks of the boy sitting in the third row, next to the window. His gaze was trained on your professor as the words began to topple over one another, his pen scribbling down any coherent information that escaped his chapped lips. Something you had long given up on, not a soul tried or even liked Mr Haas’ class, except for Armin Arlert, forever the goody too shoes striving to be better than the rest. The type to raise his hand about handing in homework while the rest groan in agony, which safe to say doesn’t make him the most likeable character among your peers. Yet something about him made your heart beat one pace faster, palms clammy, and head light. Which is why today is the day you ask for some ‘help’ with his expertise in tutoring.

With your supplies readily packed within the constraints of your school bag, you anxiously anticipated the minute the clock struck the conclusion of the lesson. Strumming your fingers on the desk you looked up to the worn clock on the wall, never failing to be exactly 1 minute behind the rest. The two hands met and this was your cue to go, you swiftly stood up from your seat, pushing it under the desk before letting your legs mindlessly take you to where Armin was still packing away his materials from class. The confident air you once adorned soon vanished when you saw his head poke up to meet you with those intimidatingly blue eyes.

“Oh hi (name)!” Armin chimed, a bashful smile playing along his rosy lips. You were surprised he even recalled your name, you’ve only ever spoken to him what, 2 maybe 3 times? Averting your gaze from his piercing one to look at the fidgeting of your thumbs, you gained the courage to speak, “Uh hey Armin…” He cocked his head to the side, stepping closer to you after he’d slew his weighted bag over his shoulder. “What um, brings you here to talk to me all of a sudden?” He chuckled. You captured all the air you could manage in one breath, finally regaining your composure to look back into his eyes. “I know this is sort of out of the blue but you’re probably the smartest person in this room, teacher included, and I’m struggling with my studies so if it doesn’t take up too much of your time, I would really appreciate if you could tutor me.” The last morsel of air escaped your lungs and you looked up at him, awaiting an answer.

The corners of his mouth turned up as he made the most enchanting smile, truly something you’d see out of a fantasy, and replied. “Of course, it’s no trouble at all, I'd be honoured to help in any way I can. And I’m not that smart, don’t make my head grow too big.” You prayed he wouldn’t notice the blush that was quickly climbing up your neck, and grinned back at him with a plethora of scenarios racing through your mind. “Thank you so much, Armin, you’re being such a great help.” And under your breath, you murmured, “But you ARE that smart.” If he noticed, he didn’t say anything, however, it was likely he did as his cheeks grew an almost hardly noticeable, pink tinge.

“I’m actually free for the rest of the day, if you want to come to my dorm room. Not that we can’t go to a library or your room it’s just that at this time it would be super busy and I wouldn’t want to intrude in your space.” Armin squeaked, averting his gaze for just a moment before returning. Was this a blessing from god himself? Armin Arlert inviting you into his own room, there was no other explanation for it. “No, that’s totally all fine with me, I agree the library would be too busy, and my room is.. a bit of a mess at the moment.” You tittered, nervously exchanging weight between your two feet like a seesaw. “Well it’s set then, let’s start making our way” Armin smiled as you two walked down to the door leading out of the lecture theatre.

—x—

The corridor felt long, too long, the plain white walls and old grey carpet seemed to stretch into an endless abyss, until Armin halted. You were there. Every muscle in your body was stiff as an 80-year-old, contradicting the lively passion of youth burning in your heart. “(Name), we’re here. (Name)?” Broken from your trance you abruptly twisted your body to face the door looming in front of you. “Are you ok, I know the place could use some work but it’s scholarship-funded so I can’t complain.” Armin awkwardly laughed, “No! No, I mean it’s fine, great even, I’m fine just spacing off haha…” Your eyes darted around, Armin looking at you with a hint of concern behind his gaze.

“Alright, as long as you're fine.” He uttered, opening the door to let you in first, ever the gentleman. So this is what his room looks like, tidy, as expected, navy blue bedding made neatly, a picture of his best friends Eren and Mikasa resting prettily on the bedside table, bookshelves from floor to ceiling, not one spot left unfilled, and a large desk complete with anything you could ever need for schoolwork. Armin to a t. “Wow, your room is so beautifully organised, wish I had that kind of commitment.” You joked, turning to smile back at him, to which he returned the gesture. “Well, I try.” He said smugly.

He strode over to the mahogany desk, pulling out an extra chair from behind for you to perch yourself on. “Feel free to make yourself comfortable, if you’re cold you can use my throw blanket, the place doesn’t have heating so it can get a little chilly.” You turned your attention to Armin, holding the fluffy grey blanket in his hand, smiling to yourself you took it gratefully and placed it upon your body, opening your bag to get out your studying supplies. “Thank you, it was feeling a bit nippy in here, won’t you get cold without it though?” Armin slinked around your chair, carefully positioning himself in his own, “Don’t worry about me, I’ve got pants and a jumper on, you’re wearing a skirt so priority should fall to you.”

You nodded in agreement, flipping your textbook to where you were stuck. Armin began to pull out his books, kicking off his shoes as you were reminded to do the same. He watched you, how you swung your legs from the chair, how you tucked your hair behind your ear so as to not get in the way of reading your book, how you would occasionally glance back at him, only to quickly look away with a light dust of pink on your cheeks. You were cute, he had to admit, it was obvious, but in your own unnerved state you ignored how he fidgeted with his hands, how his thigh was subtly bouncing up and down, and how he blushed when you caught him staring. Armin cleared his throat to terminate the silence, “So, um, what was it that you needed help with?”

You explained to Armin the concept you were stuck on, pointing to a practice question. “I just- don’t get how it works, like I know the steps but my brain doesn’t know how to put it into action.” You met Armins’ eyes as he reached over to your hand, shuffling his chair closer so that your thighs may abut at any moment. “Can I?” He asked, glancing at the pen you were holding. “Yeah, sure.” You handed him the instrument, your fingers brushing against each other a second or two longer than what would be considered an accidental graze of the hand. His breath slightly hitched and you raised your head to look at him, however, he had already begun writing on a blank piece of paper nearby.

“Here, (name) I finished this question, let’s go over how to do it.” He placed the paper down next to your book, explaining the question with words you’ve probably never heard in your life, damn that man is smart. It all blurred into one while he was speaking anyway, the way he could talk for hours and you wouldn’t get sick of hearing his sweet voice. He was so close, if you had been cold before you’d done a 180 because with the way your body was overheating you couldn’t help but slide the blanket down your legs to release some of the warmth. Exposing just your upper thighs, as you didn’t have the gall to completely take it off after recently accepting his thoughtful gesture.

Time passed as you followed the same formulaic routine, practise questions, marking, explanation on where you went wrong, where you didn’t. The room now had an orange aura about it as the sun began to take its rest for the day, you’d lost count of what question you were on, your palm rested against your head acting as the lone barrier between you and your heading slamming the desk in exhaustion. You heard the sound of a pen rolling across the desk, and Armin's hand was on your upper thigh. Gripping it, hard. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry! I really didn’t mean to do that, I was just trying to reach for the pen before it fell off the desk when I sort of lost my balance, I’m really sorry (name).” Just your luck.

Your face burned a bright red, as did his as he desperately tried to explain himself. But fuck did you want him to do it again. Nothing but spurts of air came out of your mouth, no words could describe what you were feeling, what you wanted him to do to you. The room fell silent for a brief period, and a shaky breath escaped your lungs. “I’m so so sorry, I can leave if you need me to, although this is my room so- um- I don’t know…”

You jerked your head up, looking at Armin as he thrashed about in his chair, searching for a solution that he wouldn’t be able to find in his flustered state.

“Armin calm down, I don’t mind, you didn’t try to make me feel uncomfortable on purpose or anything!” You said, grabbing a hold of his strong shoulders and gazing deep into his azure eyes. He sat still, exhaling in relief. “God I thought I screwed it up with you, you had me panicking when you weren’t responding.” He chuckled, “It’s all good Armin, stop overreacting you only touched my thigh, there are worse places.” You smirked, “But I’d probably like you touching me there more…” you said in the faintest voice, thinking someone as quick-witted and observant as he wouldn’t notice. His jaw dropped in shock and his back straightened upright as electricity coursed through his nervous system.

“Did you.. mean that?” You slowly turned your head back around in horror, no way he fucking heard that, the window was close by may as well take a dive off the 3rd floor. “H-huh?” You tried to play it dumb, nobody here is being fooled by that, not even yourself. Armin took a breath before glancing to the side and back at you, beads of sweat beginning to form on his forehead as he almost choked on his words. “I could be completely off base here but, if you meant what you said, then I guess- I wouldn’t, uh, mind touching…” he said, his voice barely a whisper by the last word. You sat there, dumbfounded. It must be a dream.

“I- uh, yes?” Armin moved closer, gently placing his hand on top of yours, “Don’t feel pressured we can go back to studying if it was just a sarcastic remark.” Your heart was beating a thousand times per minute, and any oxygen passing through your lungs vanished in an instant, this couldn’t be happening, could it? “No, I meant it, really, if you still wanna…” His hand tenderly trailed from your own up your arm and to your waist, pulling you closer into his embrace. The blanket that provided you warmth slipped off your legs entirely to be long forgotten on the floor. His veiny hands delicately tucked a loose strand of hair behind your ear, as he leaned in and whispered, “I’ll do whatever you want me to, just say the word alright?” His body heat radiated against your frame, causing you to let out small pants as his fingers leisurely traced up and down your sides.

“Kiss.. please.” You said breathily. Armin pulled back, you could see a certain hunger in his eyes before his plush lips met your own, he was intense, yet docile, taking such care in pleasing you, beckoning to your every wish and desire. “You're so perfect, so sweet for me.” He said between kisses, your lips entwined with each other, neither of you eager to stop anytime soon. He brought his other hand to rest behind your neck, lightly grasping your hair to pull you deeper into the kiss. The hand that was around your waist slithered down to the back of your thigh as he used it as leverage to lift you onto his desk. You gasped at the sudden movement, allowing Armin to intrude his tongue into your mouth, as his hand once again seized your waist.

“Mh!” You moaned into his mouth, as he slid his surprisingly muscular thigh between your legs, pressing against where you needed him the most. You grasped at anything behind you to stabilise yourself, the contact making your body go limp, so long for the various papers and stationary that toppled off the desk in your wake. Just when you thought it couldn’t get any better, a gasp escaped your lips, breaking the kiss while he moved his thigh up and down, rubbing the thick material of his pants on your clothed pussy. “Be a good girl and use it, ok?” Armin purred into your ear, his lips making their way from your jaw, down to your neck, and stopping at your collarbone, marking them with maroon-coloured blemishes. As per his instructions, you began to rock yourself on his leg, hands clawing at the fabric of his freshly ironed jumper, leaving wrinkles in the fabric as it bunched up.

He took clutch of your waist, you could feel his fingertips softly guiding your hips to arch forward and backward in a fluid motion. The friction of his rough jeans was too much to handle, making your clit throb incessantly while small whimpers slipped off the tip of your tongue. Your legs desperately suffocated his own as you rocked yourself at a faster pace. To which Armin promptly shoved his leg further into your core, causing the desk to shake and miscellaneous objects to fall from the cliff as he spread your legs out once again. “You’re doing so good, keep going. Tell me where to touch you next.” All you could manage was a barely audible “Ok”, too caught up in the pleasure to form a coherent sentence.

All of a sudden he stopped, his leg halting as he lifted his head from your body, hair messy, pupils dilated, and lips wet. The look in his eyes said he wanted, no, NEEDED to devour you. However, the loss of contact made you whine out in frustration. “Min..” you groaned, apprehensively grinding yourself on his leg in hopes he would move just an inch. “(Name) you gotta tell me with your words now,” Armin spoke, leaving one more kiss on your neck before looking up at you with pleading eyes. Sighing, you bit your lip in embarrassment, “Anywhere, everywhere, wanna feel you all over me… inside me.” He gazed back, stunned at your confession, not to say he wasn’t wishing for the same thing.

You felt the harsh grip of his hand on your ass in an instant, pulling you flush with his hips where you could feel the unmistakable hardness of his dick pressing against you. He swiftly lifted your legs to wrap around his torso while pushing your back against the desk, his hand placed behind your head to make sure you didn’t hit it too hard. His lips were hot against yours and you could feel your baby hairs cling to your forehead from the sweat. Armin's nimble fingers made their way up your shirt, carefully pulling it over your head while he held you off the desk by your waist, hands burning your skin with the simple touch. Your eyes darted down to where his erection strained against his pants, he couldn’t help but needily grind his cock into you to release at least some pressure.

Armin's free hand went to cup your breast through your bra, kneading the flesh as you moaned out in ecstasy. Soon he reached around your back to unclasp the undergarment, staring intently as your tits slightly bounced while falling out. He pressed into your core harder as he felt the soft sensation of your bare boobs beneath his fingertips, experimentally rolling your nipple between his index and middle. The heat in the air was unbearable, the warmth of Armin's jumper far too much at that moment. He gave a quick peck and a quaint “sorry” before lifting himself to strip his body of the item, revealing his toned torso and arms.

While you gawked at his body his hands were making fast pace to underneath your skirt, his short nails leaving tingling sensations as he traced them up your thighs. He folded up your skirt to get a better view, pausing to stare at the pink lace panties you adorned and discreetly swallowing the saliva forming at the back of his throat. He traced his eyes along your body, committing all your curves, the slight furrow of your brows and the way your chest raised up and down in anticipation to memory. His hand trailed its way down to your underwear, breathily sighing as he pressed his middle finger into the large soaked patch.

“Are you this wet for me?” Armin borderline whispered, his face flushing a deep crimson he attempted to hide by swivelling his head to the side. “You’re so cute, Armin.” You mused, interlocking your fingers with his and squeezing them within the palm of your hand. “N- stop, I can’t focus if you tease me like that..” He turned his attention back to you, face still flushed as he guided the hand you were holding to press against your panties. “Do you feel how fucking drenched you are?” He pressed your hand harder into your clit, “How am I not supposed to get excited?” Armin said defensively, you giggled at the sight before you were rudely awoken to his fingers dipping beneath the confines of your underwear.

Your moans rang embarrassingly loud in the small room as a finger shallowly dipped itself inside your pussy. “Is that ok with you?” Armin questioned, it didn’t really matter though as you’d let him do anything to you, however, you mustered up a half moan, half mhm in reply. His finger pulled its way out before pushing in again, much deeper than before. He set a slow rhythm, getting you acquainted with the feeling of something foreign inside of you. You peeked down to where his finger was pumping repeatedly, the veins of his hand prominent when he strained to curl his finger.

“Please, more.” You beseeched, he met your half-lidded eyes and swore he could’ve come from the perilous gaze staring back at him. “Anything for you angel.” And with that, you felt the stretch of a second finger entering you, thrusting faster and harder till your toes were curling in euphoria. Armin leaned over your body to kiss you, his tongue entering your mouth without hesitation, his fingers unrelenting on this attack on your pussy. As he was placing a thumb on your clit, his body jerked at the unforeseen touch of your hand palming his dick. “Mmm, so good min-“ you praised, causing him to nearly double over in pleasure.

The harder you pressed against his cock, the faster he would circle around your clit and thrust his fingers in and out, the more raucous your moans, the more you felt the twitch of his dick beneath his pants. It was a battle of who could indulge the other better, first to come lost, although it was never a fair fight, with the way he reached that spongy spot inside of you over and over, you were mere seconds from falling apart. “Gonna- come, ah!” You shrieked, your core clenching around his fingers so hard he may never be able to escape, “Go on, come for me now.”

You were past the threshold, climax hitting you with the power of a thousand colossals’. Although Armin didn’t stop the plunging of his fingers, rather speeding up, causing a lone tear to trickle down the side of your cheek onto the long-forgotten answer page he had so kindly written for you. “S- too much Armin..” You panted, still high off the last orgasm that propelled its way through your body at an alarmingly intense rate. “I know you can do it, trust me you won’t regret it.” He mumbled into your ear, arm tired yet still so eager to make this something to remember, make him something to remember. “Won’t be able- to take this,” you lightly brushed your hand over his erect dick, “if you keep going.”

His heart stopped momentarily before his hand. You slumped back when he gently pulled his fingers out of you, a string of your cum still attached from where his fingers were inside of you. When it broke, your blurred gaze followed his hand to where he placed them tactfully in his mouth, beginning to suck the viscous liquid. They came out clean, sparkling even, not a single drop wasted, and your pussy clenched around nothing at the sight.

“I uh- I don’t have any condoms 'cause I usually, no- haven’t, done this before..” Armin stuttered, eyes darting around his room just in case he’d find the non-existent protection he was speaking of. “Me either.” You said reassuringly, despite the nerves that were eating you up alive. “Really?” He questioned, “I didn’t mean that in a rude way at all it’s just- you’re so beautiful it was surprising to hear that.” Armin flushed, interlinking his pinky finger with your own. “I could say the same for you, I mean you’re sweet, handsome, smart, and with the way you were y’know doing that earlier I thought you must’ve had experience.” Your head turned away at the last word, it was far too embarrassing to look him in the eye after you said all that.

However, you were caught off guard when he grasped your chin between his index and thumb, turning you back around to meet him face-to-face. You felt his soft breaths against your skin, he was so close, and the way he was looking at you felt so.. intimate. “I may or may not have had practice with that stuff with my previous girlfriend, but I’ve never gone this far with her, or anyone for that matter. We’ve barely talked but there’s this feeling in my gut saying it wants it to be you.” A short gasp slipped past your lips, you wanted it to be him, too. “I’m on birth control, and I’m clean, obviously, so- please I need you right now.”

The clinking of his belt buckle rang through the room, commanding all your attention. His fingers danced through the belt loops, pulling it loose, you heard the clear thump of it falling to the ground. You utilised your elbows to prop you up, gazing downwards as he undressed himself, alluring you as if it were some kind of performance. He unbuttoned his trousers, and undid the zip, sighing in relief as the constraints were lifted. They slid down his legs, taking their time to reveal the main act of the evening. “Before I take these off, could you please take off your skirt and panties for me?” Armin croaked, attempting to distract the spotlight from shining on him too long. You complied, shimmying the items down your legs and blushing as you realised you were completely naked for Armin Arlert to see.

“It’s only fair you return the favour…” He pulled down his boxers, letting his cock spring free, it was pretty like him, pink and dripping with pearly white beads of precum, and surprisingly big too. You couldn’t help but stare, yet he couldn't complain, as he was doing the exact same to you. You both gawked at each other, unmoving. “Will that fit-“, “You’re so gorgeous-“, You both spoke at the same time, inebriated by the other’s presence. The implications of that comment dawned on Armin, and he tried to shield himself out of instinct, he was far too laggard though, as you gripped his wrist before he could block your view. “Don’t cover yourself, I wanna see all of you, even if it is a tad daunting.” You chuckled.

You felt his muscles soften under your hold, slowly pulling his hand away to place it on the desk, caging you with his presence. “I promise to be gentle, just tell me whatever comes to your mind to guide me, please?” He whispered, his head dipped down into the crook of your neck. You wondered if he could feel how fast your heart was beating when your chest gladly welcomed his. “Ok, but just know that I trust your judgement on any decision you make, try not to overthink anything and enjoy it for me.” You smiled, running your fingers through his silky locks. “Of course,” Armin tenderly spoke back, as he raised his body from yours.

You gasped as you felt his dick rubbing along your pussy, coating itself in your slick. Until it caught in your opening, his tip at your entrance pulsing and needy to be sheathed inside you. One hand guided his cock within your walls, the other rested against a shelf for support, inch by inch he sank deeper into you, and as the distance between him and the hilt shortened, he was reduced to a symphony of pathetic whines. However, your voice sought to challenge his, moans just as loud as the other, making it infinitely harder for him to stop the pulsing of his dick inside you. Armin was both equipped with girth and length, making the stretch unbearable, your hands that were wrapped around his frame clawed the skin, leaving stinging red lines behind their path.

“You’re so s-so good, just relax your body f’me, you’re too tight, nh-“ He rambled in your ear, barely able to pronounce his words at the sensation of your warm, wet pussy engulfing him whole. The feeling of the harsh wood underneath you was completely numbed by Armin as he pushed deeper and deeper, not an end in sight. You could feel the slightest movements, the two veins that ran along the underside of his dick, and the shivers that ran down Armin's spine, causing him to jolt his hips forward abruptly. “Just a little bit.. ah- more, taking me so well.” You felt the last of him slip inside you, your hips flush against his, stretching you out further than ever before. Your breaths were in unison for the minute or two you were rendered inert, the burn began to ease and the need for more had arisen.

Leeching onto his shoulders, you rolled yourself into him, a choked moan escaping his erubescent lips. Your eyes met in a moment of agreement, and his hips pulled back timidly before returning to their original position. Full body shudders erupted over your perspiring skin, he pulled back, only to push back in again, and out, and in, and out, and in, until it was a slow but fluent movement. You gazed up above you, to see the upturned brows and marginally parted lips, to which high-pitched whimpers and praises couldn’t help but fall out of. He was ethereal. Yet you wished for more, to stain every crevice and crumb of his being with adultery and filth. A sardonic pleasure in which you can bask in the knowledge that you and you alone have ruined him for anyone who dares to unveil his sheep’s cloak.

“Harder, min..” you moaned breathlessly into his ear, making his abdomen tense violently, attempting to keep himself from filling you up with his cum that very moment. Warm air tickled your ear before you were left with nothing but the tip of his dick inside you, that was until everything was inside you, in an instant. His cock split you open, gradually fucking you harder and faster till saliva was threatening to pour from the side of your mouth. Your legs wrapped around his torso, ankles interlocking to get him as far as possible. He reached his hand down to feel your stomach, pressing down so that he could feel his cock meet his fingers, “does it hurt taking it?” Armin questioned, with half-lidded eyes you looked below you. “Bit, not much anymore though… if I wanna be your slut- gotta get used to it.”

His hips stuttered, breaking the fast rhythm they had built up, and a loud groan slipped past his lips. His hands travelled to capture the backs of your knees, protracting your legs to rest over his broad shoulders. Resting his weight on your body your knees touched your chest, and his thick cock plunged itself deep inside you. “F-fuck Armin!” He soon regained his previous pace, the only sounds that graced your ears were the wet slaps of him pounding your pussy like no tomorrow, and the periodic thumping of the desk knocking on the thin walls. Armin coyly glanced to the side before perking up, “Such a good fucking slut for me, taking my dick like that-“ he choked on his words as he felt your pussy squeeze him desperately, the hand on your waist gaining a bruising force.

“If you tighten around my dick like that I don’t think I’ll be able to control myself…” good thing you didn’t want him to. Armin caressed your cheek with his free hand, before slinking it around the back of your head and pulling you up by the hair to meet his supple lips. You retaliated by biting down lightly on his bottom lip, making his thrusts increase in pace. His dick was kissing the head of your cervix as you whined broken sentences into his mouth, “r-ight, there.. ah! Min-“ he adjusted the angle of his hips to reach that spongey spot inside of you, your legs still being brutally folded in half with your feet dangling over his head.

“M’ gonna come..” the pressure had built and wrapped tightly around your core, drawing you closer and closer to the precipice of release. Armin relinquished the battle of your tongues, leaving a small string of spit between your swollen lips, and placed a thumb over your clitoris, swirling in rapid circles. “Mh- me too, come for me, angel.” And with that, your pussy was squeezing the life out of him like a vice, the two of you moaning loud enough to alert the whole building. “Can I- fill you.. up? Please?” You choked out a faint “yes” before you felt Armin's strokes begin to falter and eyes roll back in gratification. The warm sensation of his cum saturating your insides made you clench around him even tighter, drawing out every last drop as he watched himself fuck his cum back inside you.

“Ah! Such a, good, fucking, girl.” He panted, accentuating each word with a hard plunge. Before he slumped down to rest against you, holding your body tenderly in your hands while he ran another through your slightly damp hair. You felt the tensing of his muscles begin to alleviate, and your heart rate climbed back down to a moderate pace. Armin pulled out gently after taking a moment to regain his breath, even so, it hitched again when he saw his cum seep out onto the desk. “I’ll be right back,” he said, pecking you on the cheek before going to the bathroom to grab a washcloth.

He came back to the sight of you, fucked out on his desk, legs trembling, and eyes fighting to stay open. “Sorry if it feels too sensitive, it’ll only be a second I promise.” He carefully dragged the towel between your legs, making you squirm as the fabric briefly brushed your clit, and down onto the table where it had seeped out. “C'mon, let’s get you in the shower, yeah?” Armin gently lifted you in his arms, your legs wrapping around him like a koala bear, before he carried you to the cramped bathroom. “I’m so sorry if I was too rough, just wanted to make you happy.” He said, hiding his face in the nook of your neck, “Don’t apologise, I liked it, a lot.” Armin blushed, rotating his head to the side as he turned on the hot water, placing you down on your feet but making sure to still hold you in case you didn’t have the strength to stand. “Me too…”

—x—

“Soooo Armin, what did you do yesterday?” Eren grinned, reclining back in his chair watching Armin's hand immediately halt as he glanced to the side blushing. “Oh- uh, just the usual, y’know studying..” he chuckled, now repeatedly clicking his pen up and down. “Oh yeah, I bet you were doing a lot of ‘studying’ with (name) last night.” Armin's tongue darted out to wet his lips, looking to the ground as he was too embarrassed to meet Erens mischievous gaze. “Yeah, we were um- well she asked me to tutor her.” Eren bounced his knee up into the desk three times with faint moans before smirking, “Did you forget who lives on the other side of your wall? You guys were loud as fuck, good on you though I didn’t know you had that in you.”

His hand came down to his knee, Eren slapping it carelessly while breaking out into a fit of laughter. Armin lightly kicked him under the desk, his face tomato-red as he glared at the guy sitting across from him. “Shut up, we’re in a library and people are staring!” Armin whisper-yelled. Eren went dead silent as he spotted you a table or two away, noticing a plethora of dark purple marks along your neck. “Goddamn, you were feasting on that shit.” Armin buried his head in his palms while Eren sat there eyes wide with shock. You felt someone’s gaze boring into the back of your head, turning around you spotted Armin and his best friend Eren. You waved over to Armin to which he mustered up a meek smile and waved back, Eren looked over at Armin with a shit-eating grin on his face before ushering you over.

“Hey (Name), I’m Eren, I think we’ve talked in one of our classes before.” You sat down in the chair next to Armin, positioning yourself to face Eren, “Uh yeah I think I remember you! Good to see you again.” You smiled, glancing over to look at Armin, whose eyebrow was twitching ever so subtly. “Oh I actually saw you this morning when you came out of Armin's room, sorry I didn’t say hi sooner.” Your neck snapped back around to Eren, the only thing coming out of your mouth being awkward chuckles. You’ve never seen someone so innocent-looking give the deadliest glare to someone before.

“(Name), do you wanna go on a date, right now?” Armin asked, entangling his fingers with yours. “I-I’d love to, but um, weren’t you hanging out here before I intruded?” Eren leaned forward in his chair, “Go on with Armin, it makes me happy to see him with a girlfriend after so long.” He said earnestly, neither of you confirming or denying the accusation before you both stood up leaving him with a small “thank you”.

————————————————————————

I don’t really like the starting bit it’s lwk cringey, but I prefer smut with some backstory so whatever 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️. Hope you enjoyed I know ts isn’t realistic for a first time but it’s fanfiction so who cares 🙏. I’m open to any requests also, as long as it’s not incest…

[lethalchiralium]

what is with COD tumblr and not going back to the basics of fanfiction. i want a good ol fashioned university au. i want them to all be different majors but they all are on the school’s athletic team (rugby, football, american football).

gaz is a theoretical physics major, TA for an AP maths class, he’s got a 4.0 gpa and always has. he is often found doing mathematical equations in his head as he works out. soap is a chemical engineering major, his minor in arts and specializing in drawing and ceramics. he’s been often kicked out of the explosives lab for blowing up some of his ceramic creations. ghost is a culinary major who takes it way too seriously, often pulling all nighters to get his creations right. he bakes bread before every important game in the season and rolls his eyes if anyone says it’s good. and price is a doctorate student in business, he’s already building a company from the ground up, yet he stills plays on the team because there’s nothing fun about sitting at a desk all day. (he loves simon’s cheese bread that he makes before every rival game day).

yes and they all share an apartment like shoresy. and yes, they all show interest in the team’s new assistant manager, you.

[snickerduu]

zelda and link doodles!! 🌼🌻

2021.02.02 & 04

[shurikthereject]

Focusing more on Thorin this time! Thorin is part of the uni's rugby team and the captain of the said team (I don't know shit about sports so I'm sorry if I use the wrong terminology). It's hard for Thorin to balance out his studies in architecture and also sport, but it is expected of him since both his father and grandfather were great athletes, captains and students. He loves the sport but he would prefer more to pursue his career as an architect.

(Sorry for the bad anatomy, it's very rushed but I really needed them to smooch)

[itneverendshere]

you said i have to trust more freely - r.c series (four)

requested here; (one); (two); three

pairing: rafe x pogue!reader(the duff inspired) word count: 5k

Why did it feel like his stomach dropped out his ass when Nate showed up? 

It wasn’t like he actually expected you to choose him over Nate. The guy was practically perfect—your textbook version of what a guy should be. Clean, nice, predictable. The opposite of him.

But watching you hesitate like you were weighing your options right in front of him? That hurt like a bitch and he hated how much it did.

He couldn’t shake that look in your eyes.

Like you weren’t sure what you wanted anymore. While every time you were around, he didn’t know what the hell he was doing. It’d been like that since the beginning, even back at that party when you tossed your drink in his face after he called you that stupid fucking name. He could still remember the way you glared at him, cheeks flushed and eyes blazing. He’d been a cocky little shit, sure, but that fire in you? It hooked him.

Yeah, he liked messing with you. Always had. But lately, it didn’t feel like just messing around anymore. It felt different. It felt like he was doing it because he didn’t know how else to get close to you.

And now Nate was here, acting like he had some claim. Offering you lunch like it was some kind of test. Rafe should’ve laughed it off. Should’ve let you go. But instead, he was standing there, watching the whole thing go down, and all he wanted to do was grab you by the hand and pull you out of there. Away from Nate. 

Away from all this... bullshit. There he was, full-on spiraling because of a girl. Because of you.

He knew he was developing feelings, had been knowing, which terrified him because it was unfamiliar territory—he was used to being in control and suppressing emotions, not feeling vulnerable or emotionally attached.

Because maybe, just maybe, he didn’t want to be the guy you rolled your eyes at anymore. Maybe he was done playing the part of the asshole who didn’t give a fuck. 

Shoving his hands in his pockets, Rafe walked faster, trying to shake off the feeling. But he knew. It was the way you laughed when you were around him, even when you were annoyed. The way you always gave as good as you got. The way you’d looked at him today—like maybe, just maybe, you weren’t as immune to him as you tried to be.

You were off having lunch with Nate.

The safe choice. And if there was one thing Rafe Cameron wasn’t? It was safe. And maybe, deep down, he hoped that was the reason you wouldn’t be able to walk away from him for good.

He kept walking, his footsteps loud in his head, like each step was trying to drown out the voice that was screaming at him to turn around. To go back and say something. Anything. But he didn’t. He wasn’t that guy. Not the one to chase after someone, to make a big scene. No, he was the one who sat back, arms crossed, and watched the whole thing play out like it didn’t bother him. Like it wasn’t tearing him up inside.

Rafe realized he was pissed. Not at Nate. The guy was just playing his part. But at you. No, not really at you either. He was pissed at himself. For letting things get this complicated. For letting you get under his skin the way you had.

It wasn’t like you were his. It wasn’t like he had any right to be jealous.

But damn, the way Nate had just swooped in like it was nothing, like it was so obvious you’d say yes to him. The dude barely had to try, and there you were, actually considering it. Maybe you even wanted him to. He stopped walking, running a hand through his hair, trying to clear his head. 

Screw this. He needed to get out of here, away from the whole situation. Maybe blow off some steam, hit the gym, or go for a drive. But the thought of you sitting there with Nate, laughing, maybe even flirting—it was enough to make his jaw clench.

What if you were actually into that guy? What if all this back-and-forth with him was just... nothing to you? Some game you were playing because you liked the attention, but when it came down to it, you’d always pick someone like Nate?

If you picked Nate, fine. But if there was even a part of you that was feeling the same thing he was—if there was even a chance you weren’t as over him as you pretended to be? He wasn’t going to let you walk away that easily.

Not without a fight.

Rafe dug his phone out of his pocket, stared at the screen for a second. He could text you. Could hit you with some sarcastic line, ask how lunch with Captain America was going, but it felt... small. Petty. And, honestly, he didn’t want to come off as that guy—the jealous, insecure type. But not doing anything felt worse, like he was just letting things slip through his fingers.

He leaned against a nearby fence, staring off into the distance. Part of him was waiting for some kind of sign. Like maybe you’d ditch Nate and text him instead. Maybe you’d realize that this whole thing with Nate was boring, that you needed something more. 

Or maybe you wouldn’t. Maybe you’d laugh and smile at Nate’s predictable jokes, and that’d be it. You’d pick the guy, the one your friends would probably approve of. The one who didn’t make you feel like you were on a rollercoaster every time you were around him.

Rafe kicked the fence post. He hated this. Hated feeling out of control, like someone else was calling the shots. Like you were making choices that didn’t involve him.

And yet, there he was. Waiting.

He was about two seconds away from hurling his phone into the bushes when it buzzed in his hand. His heart actually stopped for a second. No way. There was no way.

He glanced at the screen, and there it was—your name, lighting up his phone.

Every instinct told him to play it cool. Let it ring a few times, don’t seem desperate. But his hand moved on its own, thumb swiping across the screen before he could stop it. He brought the phone up to his ear, heart hammering in his chest, trying to sound normal.

“Yeah?” he said, trying to keep his voice steady, like he wasn’t dying inside.

And just like that, everything else—Nate, the frustration, the whole stupid back-and-forth—faded into the background. Because right now, you were calling him.

Lunch with Nate was proving to be exactly what you expected: normal. easy. boring.

He talked about his classes, his weekend plans, asked you a couple of questions about your own. And you answered, smiling, nodding, doing all the things you were supposed to do. But your mind? It was somewhere else entirely.

It was with Rafe. With the way he looked at you before he left, like he was daring you to stop him. Like maybe he wanted you to say something, anything, to keep him from walking out. And as much as you tried to ignore it, that little flutter in your chest hadn’t gone away.

“So, how’s studying going?” Nate asked, pulling you back to the conversation.

“Huh? Oh, yeah, it’s fine. Just... a lot,” you mumbled, forcing a smile.

Nate raised an eyebrow, clearly picking up on the fact that you weren’t all there. “You sure? You seem a little distracted.”

You hesitated, your mind flashing back to Rafe. To the way he’d been so close to you during your study session, leaning in like he had every intention of pushing your buttons. But it wasn’t just that. It was the way he’d talked about the bonfire, about seeing you as more than just someone to mess with. And for the first time, it felt like maybe Rafe wasn’t just a flirt. Maybe he was actually trying to tell you something.

“I’m fine,” you lied, stabbing at your sandwich with way too much enthusiasm.

But you weren’t fine. Not even close.

You knew why. Sitting here with Nate, everything felt... off. It was like you were trying to make this picture-perfect version of your life fit, but the edges weren’t lining up. You were supposed to want this—supposed to be happy that the guy you’d been into for months was finally showing interest. But instead, all you could think about was Rafe. About the way your heart had sped up when he looked at you, the way his voice dropped when he was being serious, when he wasn’t hiding behind that smirk.

God, why couldn’t you stop thinking about him?

Nate cleared his throat, snapping you out of it again. “You sure you’re good? You’ve been pretty quiet.”

You bit your lip, nodding, but it was like the words were stuck in your throat. “Yeah. Just... got a lot on my mind, I guess.”

Like how you might’ve just let Rafe walk away.

Nate didn’t push it, and part of you was relieved. The other part? It was screaming at you to stop pretending. To be honest, at least with yourself. Because the truth was, as much as you wanted to want Nate, you couldn’t shake the feeling that maybe, just maybe, Rafe was the one you should’ve been sitting with right now.

And that scared you. Because choosing Rafe meant choosing chaos. It meant diving headfirst into something that had no guarantees, something that could blow up in your face. But it also meant feeling alive. Because with him, everything was more intense. More real.

As you and Nate left the sandwich shop, walking back to campus, you couldn’t help but glance around, half-expecting to see Rafe somewhere. But he wasn’t there. He was gone, and now you were stuck wondering if maybe you’d just made a huge mistake.

Nate smiled, oblivious to the storm inside your head. “So, you wanna do this again sometime?”

Your heart sank a little at the question. Because the answer should’ve been a yes, no hesitation. But instead, all you could think about was Rafe. About how you wished you were with him, laughing, arguing, feeling that electric tension that seemed to hang in the air whenever he was around.

You swallowed, forcing a smile. “Yeah, sure.”

But as the words left your mouth, you knew you were lying.

And Nate, being Nate, didn’t seem to notice. He was still smiling, probably thinking the lunch went fine, like everything was falling into place just the way he thought it should. But you? Your mind was miles away, stuck on other guy and the way he’d left without looking back.

You felt like you should say something to him, like you should be more present in the moment, but every time you opened your mouth, nothing came out. 

Did you really want Nate? Or had you just been chasing the idea of him this whole time because it was easy, because it was safe? Because he was the kind of guy you grew up thinking you should be with?

But then there was Rafe. And the more you tried to push him out of your head, the more he stayed there, taking up space, making everything with Nate feel... dull in comparison.

“So, I was thinking,” Nate said, breaking the silence, “Maybe we could check out that movie this weekend? You know, the one you mentioned a while back?”

His voice pulled you out of your thoughts, and you blinked, trying to focus. “Oh. Yeah, maybe.”

But the truth was, you didn’t care about the movie. You didn’t care about any of it right now.

“Hey, you okay?” Nate’s voice snapped you back again, his eyes narrowing in concern.

You plastered on a smile, nodding quickly. “Yeah, sorry. Just... distracted, I guess.”

 “Well, if you’re busy this weekend, we can always reschedule.”

“I’ll let you know,” you replied, hoping he wouldn’t push it any further.

Nate nodded, but you could tell he wasn’t convinced. And honestly?

Neither were you.

By the time you made it back to your dorm, you were mentally exhausted. Nate had left with a casual wave and a promise to text you later, but as soon as he was out of sight, you let out a long breath you didn’t realize you’d been holding.

You sat on the edge of your bed, staring at your phone like a fucking idiot. But no messages came in, no missed calls from Rafe or anyone else. It was just you, sitting there, replaying the whole afternoon in your head.

Why did everything feel so wrong with Nate? He was supposed to be the plan. He was supposed to be your choice. The easy, right choice.

Suddenly, your phone buzzed in your hand, pulling you out of your thoughts. Your heart jumped in your chest as you glanced down, half-expecting it to be Rafe. But it wasn’t. It was Nate, sending a follow-up text about the weekend plans.

You stared at the message for a long moment, your thumb hovering over the keyboard.

What were you doing? Why were you still holding onto this idea of Nate when your heart was clearly somewhere else? Somewhere messy, complicated, and... dangerous.

Before you could stop yourself, you closed out of Nate’s message and opened Rafe’s contact. Your thumb hovered over his name for a second before you hit "Call."

The phone rang once. Twice. Your heart pounded in your chest as the seconds dragged on. Maybe this was a mistake. Maybe you should just hang up before he—

“Yeah?” Rafe’s voice came through the line, a little gruff but unmistakable.

You froze for a second, suddenly unsure of what to say. But then you took a deep breath. “Hey, uh... you busy?”

There was a pause, and you could almost hear the smirk in his voice. “What, finally realizing Nate’s not as fun as you thought?”

 “Something like that.”

There was a beat of silence, and you thought maybe he was going to tease you some more. But then his voice softened, just like it had earlier. “You wanna meet up?”

Your heart skipped a beat. “Yeah. I think I do.”

Another pause, and then: “Same spot?”

You knew exactly what he meant. The library, third floor, in the corner where you’d been studying. You nodded, even though he couldn’t see it. “Yeah. I’ll be there.”

“See you in a few.”

And just like that, the line went dead. What had you just done? 

You hung up, heart racing like you’d just agreed to do something you weren’t supposed to. But wasn’t that the whole point? This thing with Rafe—it was unpredictable, messy, and completely off-script. 

As you grabbed your jacket and headed out the door, you couldn't help but feel like you were crossing some kind of line. With Nate, things were clear-cut, easy. But with Rafe? It was like stepping into the unknown. You knew there was a chance this whole thing could blow up in your face, but for once, you didn’t care.

You wanted real. You wanted fire. And right now, that was Rafe.

As you walked to the library, the campus around you blurred, your thoughts spinning back to every moment you’d had with him. Every teasing comment, every cocky grin, every time he’d gotten under your skin without even trying. Maybe you had been pretending with Nate—pretending to want something you were never actually sure about.

But with Rafe? You weren��t pretending. Even when it terrified you.

When you reached the third floor of the library, it was quiet, almost too quiet. Your footsteps echoed as you made your way to the spot you both knew so well. And there he was, leaning back in his chair like he didn’t have a care in the world, like he wasn’t the reason you’d been tied up in knots all day.

You rolled your eyes and crossed the room, dropping into the chair across from him. “Don’t start,” you warned, though the edge in your voice was weaker than you wanted it to be.

Rafe’s grin widened. “What, can’t handle me being right for once?”

You scoffed, crossing your arms over your chest. “Right about what? You being a total pain in my ass? Sure, I’ll give you that.”

He leaned forward, resting his chin on his hand like he was amused by your whole existence. “C’mon, you know why you’re here.”

“So,” you started, trying to act casual, like your heart wasn’t pounding out of your chest. “I guess lunch with Nate didn’t really do it for me.”

He raised an eyebrow, the corner of his mouth twitching up in amusement. “No shit. Figured as much.”

You rolled your eyes, but you couldn’t help the smile that crept up. “Why are you so smug about it?”

“Because,” he said, leaning forward, resting his elbows on the table, “I knew you’d come back.”

Your breath caught in your throat at how sure he sounded.

Of course he knew. That cocky, self-assured grin of his said it all. He’d been waiting for this moment—waiting for you to realize what he had probably known all along.

And damn if it didn’t piss you off.

You sat down across from him, trying to hold onto the last shreds of your resolve, but it was slipping. Fast. Because the way he was looking at you? Like he was daring you to admit what you were really feeling—it was messing with your head.

“So, what now?” you asked, trying to sound nonchalant.

Rafe crossed his arms, biceps bulging in his stupid polo, like he was giving you all the space in the world to figure it out. “That’s up to you.”

That’s the thing about him—he could act all indifferent, like he wasn’t bothered, but you could see it. There was something behind his eyes, just barely kept in check. And it wasn’t nothing. It wasn’t just some game to him. Not anymore.

But you weren’t ready to give him that satisfaction. Not yet. 

“What makes you so sure I’m not just here to tell you I’m picking Nate?”

That smirk faltered for just a second. “You’re not.”

You couldn’t be. 

“How do you know?”

“Because if you were, you wouldn’t have called me.”

The way he said it—so simple, so damn certain—made your heart skip. He was right, and you hated that he knew it. Hated that he had this pull on you that no one else ever had. But at the same time, you couldn’t deny the truth. Not when it was staring you in the face, wearing a smug expression and leaning back like he had all the time in the world.

“What if I did?” you shot back, still trying to hold your ground.

He shrugged, that infuriating grin never leaving his face. “Then I guess I’d have to live with that. But I’m not worried.”

Lies.

You narrowed your eyes at him, “You’re so damn cocky, you know that?”

“I’ve been told,” he said with a wink.

You wanted to roll your eyes again, to act like he wasn’t getting to you. But he was. And he knew it.

You rested your elbows on the table, your eyes meeting his. “And what if I told you I wasn’t sure? What if I told you I’m still figuring it out?”

He didn’t flinch. Didn’t move. Just kept his eyes locked on yours, like he was seeing right through the bullshit. “Then I’d tell you to take your time. Figure it out.”

The way he said it—so calm, so sure—made your stomach twist. He wasn’t asking you to pick him. He was daring you to. Because Rafe didn’t do half-measures. He didn’t do safe. He was all or nothing, and right now? He was putting it all on the table.

All you could think about was the way your heart was hammering in your chest, the way every part of you was screaming that this—this—was what you really wanted.

And that’s when it hit you: you weren’t scared of Rafe. You were scared of how much you wanted him.

“Rafe, I—” You stopped yourself, unsure of where you were even going with that.

His expression softened, just a fraction. “What? What do you want to say?”

You wanted to say everything. That you weren’t just messing with him anymore either, that you couldn’t stop thinking about him, that you were tired of pretending like Nate was some perfect choice when he wasn’t even in the same league. But saying all that? To someone who hurt you so much before?

He had that look, like he knew exactly what was going through your mind but was giving you space to figure it out on your own. But you weren’t sure. You weren’t sure if you were ready to say it out loud. Admitting how much Rafe meant to you felt like letting him win, like handing him all the power. And after everything, after all the back-and-forth, you didn’t want to be that vulnerable. Not with him.

“I know I’ve been an asshole,” he started, almost hesitant. “All those years, the shit I said—it wasn’t right. You didn’t deserve that. You don’t deserve that.”

Your breath caught in your throat. 

He ran a hand through his hair, like he was trying to figure out how to keep going. “I just... I don’t know. It was easier to push you away, to act like I didn’t give a fuck, you know? Like messing with you made it better somehow. But it didn’t.” He paused, his voice softening. “It made me feel like shit.”

You didn’t say anything. You couldn’t. You just sat there, staring at him, trying to process the fact that Rafe Cameron—Rafe—was apologizing.

He swallowed, looking down for a second before meeting your eyes again.

 “I know I’m a mess. Hell, I’ve always been a mess. And I get why you’d pick someone like Nate. The guy who won’t make you lose sleep wondering what the hell is going on.” He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. “But the truth is, I fucked up. I’ve been fucking up since the beginning. With you, with us. And I hate that I did that." He pushed back slightly, running a hand over his face like he was frustrated with himself. “I’m not good with this... with feelings. With being upfront. But I’m trying, okay? I’m trying to figure it out. I don’t expect you to forgive me just like that or trust me after everything I’ve pulled. But I want you to know I’m not the same guy I was back then. It sounds fucking insane, but I’m not. I want to be better. For you. Because, fuck, I don’t want to lose you to some guy just because I couldn’t admit I was scared of this—of us.”

You bit your lip, not trusting yourself to speak just yet.

“And look, I know I’ve made it hard for you to believe me,” he said, his voice softer now, more honest than you’d ever heard him. “But you should know that you’re not just some game to me. Not anymore. You’re... everything I’ve been too afraid to want.”

The guy who spent years acting like nothing could touch him, like he was untouchable, was now sitting across from you, pouring his heart out. And you had no idea what to say.

Your mind was racing. It felt like everything you thought you knew about him, about what you were feeling, was suddenly flipped upside down. You'd always assumed Rafe would never be the guy who’d sit down and admit he was scared of something, especially not scared of you.

But here he was, looking like he was waiting for you to say something—anything.

What? What were you even supposed to say? That you forgave him? That you didn’t? That you were still figuring out how you felt about everything? You weren’t even sure yourself. But you did know one thing—whatever this was—it was real. 

You couldn’t deny that anymore.

“You don’t have to say anything. I just needed you to know that I’m not going to play around anymore. Not with you.”

Your heart clenched at that. And the thing was, you could see it in his eyes—he meant it. There was no teasing smirk, no cocky attitude. Just him. Raw and real and honest in a way that caught you completely off guard.

And suddenly, you realized that was what scared you the most. Not Rafe, but the way he made you feel. The way he pushed you to stop pretending, to be real, even when it terrified you.

You stared at him, feeling like your brain was short-circuiting. He was spilling his guts to you. It felt... unreal, and you were torn between wanting to laugh and maybe freak out a little.

All you could think was, How the hell am I supposed to handle this? This wasn’t what you were expecting. Not from him.

“So, what,” you started, leaning back a bit, trying to keep your voice casual, “you’re just, like, a totally different person now? Is this the part where you tell me you’ve been secretly going to therapy or something?”

Rafe’s lips twitched, but he didn’t fully smile. “No, not exactly,” he said, running a hand through his hair. “But... I’ve been trying to figure shit out. With myself. With us.”

With us. Your stomach did this stupid little flip at that, but you ignored it. “That’s a big statement, Cameron. You’ve had, like, two whole epiphanies and suddenly you’ve got everything figured out?”

He sighed, “I’m not saying I’ve got it all figured out, alright? I’m just trying to be honest for once. I’m done screwing around with you.”

His tone was sincere, and as much as you wanted to keep teasing him, the look in his eyes made your throat tighten a bit. You shifted in your seat, your mind running a million miles an hour.

“I mean, I guess that’s an improvement,” you muttered, keeping it light even though your heart was pounding.

Rafe raised an eyebrow. “You guess?”

“Well, yeah,” you said, crossing your arms and giving him a pointed look. “You were, let’s see, kind of a dick for a long time.”

He didn’t argue. “Yeah. I was.”

That caught you off guard. No defense, no excuses. Just... agreement. 

“Okay, so... what now?” you asked, trying to play it cool. “You apologize, and I just forget all the crap from before? You’re really not making this easy,” you said, trying to keep your tone light, but your voice betrayed you, sounding a little too soft.

Rafe shrugged, that little smirk threatening to return. “Didn’t think you wanted easy.”

You narrowed your eyes at him, trying to keep your composure. “You think you know me so well, huh?”

“Better than you think.”

Your heart raced. “Right, because I just love being confused and frustrated. It’s my favorite hobby.”

He chuckled, clearly enjoying this back-and-forth. “Well, you could always just admit that you’re intrigued. That might save us both some time.”

“Intrigued? Please. More like I’m questioning my life choices.”

Rafe leaned forward, “Hey, at least it’s not boring, right? I mean, look at us. This is way more interesting than whatever you were doing with Nate.”

You couldn’t argue with that. “True. But interesting doesn’t mean it’s not a total trainwreck waiting to happen.”

“Maybe,” he said, “But it could also mean something different.”

 “You’re really pulling out all the stops, huh?” you said, trying to lighten the mood again. “What’s next? A serenade?”

“Actually, I’m not a bad singer,” he quipped, flashing that trademark grin. “But I think I’ll spare you the performance for now.”

“Wow, I’m overwhelmed by the humility.”

He chuckled softly, “You love it. And you know it.”

There it was again—the way he said things like it was a fact, like he could read you better than you could read yourself. And the worst part? He wasn’t exactly wrong.

“You don’t know everything about me, Rafe,” you said, your voice quieter now, but not weak. 

His smile softened, just barely, like he heard what you weren’t saying out loud. 

“Maybe not everything. But enough to know you’re not here by accident.”

It was easier to blame the pull he had on you. But deep down, you knew it wasn’t just him. You were here because something between the two of you, no matter how messy, no matter how confusing, felt unfinished.

You crossed your arms, trying to gain some control of the situation. “You’re awfully confident for someone who doesn’t have all the answers.”

“Not all of them,” he agreed, leaning back in his chair again, “But I know enough to know I’m not letting you go without a fight.”

There it was. That line you didn’t know you were waiting for. The line that said this wasn’t just some flirty game for him anymore. That maybe he was as scared of losing you as you were of admitting how much you wanted him.

And in that moment, sitting across from him, with all his defenses down and no jokes left to deflect with, you realized something terrifying: you weren’t ready to walk away either.

“Well,” you said, your voice softer, “I guess we’ll see if you’re really up for it, won’t we?”

His eyes locked onto yours, something serious flickering there for a moment before he nodded. “Yeah. We will.”

[lnfours]

focal point ☆ chapter 4 | l.n

summary: as taylor swift once said: 'in a world of boys, he's a gentleman'.

warnings: art student!reader, best friend/college student!oscar, college student!lando, slight enemies to lovers!au, slight grumpy x sunshine, unedited, some filler stuff this chapter, a hint of fluff here and there, and are we finally getting somewhere with this??? idk????

message from jordan: happy new year, everyone! i hope you all had a fun and safe holiday season, and i hope this year is kinder to you than previous ones <3 thank you for being so patient with me on getting something out for you guys. i'm struggling a bit with writer's block, but hopefully i can push through and some more writing done by the end of this week :) again, thank you for being so patient. sending you all my love, always <33

series masterlist | listen to the playlist

the sunlight pouring into your bedroom windows made you open your eyes. however, you immediately regretted it. a pounding sensation filling your head the minute your eyes met the light. you let out a groan, your hand coming up to your temples as you buried yourself back into your pillows. 

“here,” a voice said from next to you, “take this.”

your eyes flew open again, lando’s figure coming into frame as he held out the bottle of advil and a glass of water towards you. you blinked at him as he softly smiled, nodding back towards the medicine bottle. 

“thanks,” you mumbled, looking around the room for any signs of what could’ve happened last night. you swallowed the pills down with the glass of water that he had in his other hand. he took the glass back from you, leaning off the foot of the bed to place it on your desk. 

“did we…?” you trailed off, sitting up. you had on a pair of pajama pants and an unfamiliar hoodie, a pair of clothes you don’t remember changing into. 

he shook his head, a soft smile on his face, “no,”

“thank god,” you sighed, placing your pounding head on your knees.

“did have to carry you out of the party though,” he said, “lily’s the one who got you changed. hoodie is mine, though. you were shivering on the walk back here last night. i slept on the floor, don’t worry.”

you looked over at the floor next to the bed, now noticing the folded up blanket and pillow on the carpet. you ignored how your heart tightened in your chest as his gesture, maybe he was a gentleman.

“i don’t even remember having that much to drink,” you said, “was it really that bad?”

“the guys convinced you to play a few rounds of beer pong,” he chuckled softly, “you suck, by the way.”

you let out a soft laugh, “yeah, need to work on my skills, i guess.”

“yeah, you can say that,” he laughed softly, “you hungry? there’s this really great spot off campus if you want something to eat.”

you nodded, “yeah, just let me change and brush my teeth and stuff.”

he nodded, biting his lip a bit to hold back the smile threatening to break out on his face, “yeah, sure! i’ll uhm.. wait for you out here.”

he jabbed his thumb over his shoulder towards the door as you nodded. when he closed the bedroom door behind him, you couldn’t help the smile on your face. you weren’t sure what had flipped, but suddenly he was making you giddy like a high school girl with a crush. and honestly, you weren’t sure if you were that mad about it. 

you moved as quickly as your hungover state let you, throwing on a pair of jeans and shoes before brushing your teeth quickly and grabbing your things. 

you walked out to the living room, spotting him on the couch as he scrolled on his phone. you smiled when he looked up at you, putting his phone in the pocket of his hoodie as he stood up. 

“ready?

you nodded, the two of you walking out of the apartment and towards the parking lot where he kept his car. you watched as he unlocked the doors, opening the passenger side door for you. you thanked him, smiling softly before he shut the door gently behind you. he jogged around to his side before getting in. 

“here,” he said, handing you his phone, “play whatever music you want.”

you held his phone in your hand, “do you want me to put in your passcode or do you..?”

“oh, it’s 4444.” he said, backing out of the parking space as you snickered. he looked over at you with a soft laugh as you shook your head, scrolling through his spotify.

“what?”

“your passcode is a bunch of 4s?”

he shrugged, “it’s easy to remember,”

“also easy for someone to get into your phone.” you said and he shrugged, making a right out of the school campus. 

you shuffled one of his recently played playlists, humming along to the songs you knew. you watched the view of the town out the window, thankful that your headache had slowly started to go away. 

you didn’t notice, too wrapped up in the beauty of england to see the way he looked over at you occasionally. he smiled to himself, wondering if you knew how gorgeous you were when you were in your own world. he had seen it in you before, especially when you’d lose yourself talking about art or working on the project. something about you being so unaware of your beauty made his heart rate pick up. 

he pulled into the lot of the diner, finding a parking spot before putting the car in park. he made it a mission to open all the doors for you, making you softly laugh and thank him every time before the hostess led you to the booth seat in the corner of the small diner. 

you flipped through the menu, “how’d you find this place?”

“i’ve been coming here since my first year,” he said, “they have the best pancakes in my opinion. food’s definitely better than the cafeteria on campus.”

“anything’s better than that place,” you said, “not hard to beat.”

he nodded with a soft laugh, “very true.”

after ordering your food, you ended up finding yourselves in conversation, talking about anything and everything.

“are you heading back home for the holidays?” he asked, taking a bite of his food as you shrugged your shoulders.

“probably not,” you said, “let’s just say things with my family haven’t always been…” “picture perfect?” he asked, finishing the sentence for you.

“yeah,” you said, “i normally just head back home with lily for the holidays, but with her new secret man, i don’t want to intrude if she’s planning on bringing him.”

“still haven’t met him yet?”

you shook your head, “surprisingly no. i don’t want to push her, but i really wanna know who the guy is.”

he nodded, “yeah, i’m in the same boat. oscar’s been talking about this girl, but i haven’t seen her around.”

“yeah, i texted him the other day and he said he had plans with her,” you said, “haven’t had our usual study sessions in a while.”

“hold on,” he said, “you don’t think…”

you furrowed your eyebrows, confused at what he was getting at until it clicked. you looked at him with wide eyes, “oh, god. i don’t know.”

“surely she’d say something to you, right?”

“i’d think so,” you shrugged, “unless she wasn’t sure it was going to be a serious thing, then i’m not sure.”

“i’ll try to get more out of him the next time i see him,” he said, finishing off the last few bites of his breakfast, “now i’m curious.”

you nodded, finishing your food as well, “me too,”

the waitress came back with the check, you fishing your wallet from your bag, but he was quicker in getting his card out. 

you sent him a look as he smiled at the girl, thanking her before his eyes landed back on you. his smile only got wider at the look you were sending him, “what?”

“how much do i owe you?”

he shook his head, “don’t worry about it.”

“lando-”

“nope, it was my idea,” he chuckled back at you, “you can get it next time if you really want to.”

next time?

you sighed softly before giving into him, watching as he signed his name on the receipt, “i guess i can live with that. thank you, by the way.”

he nodded, the two of you making your way out of the small diner, “anytime.”

“probably a long shot and you totally don’t have to if you don’t want to,” you said, walking towards his car, “but did you wanna watch a movie or something when we get back?”

he smiled as he opened the car door for you, “yeah, sure,”

you sent him another smile as you got in the car, feeling the same giddy feeling you felt earlier. 

whatever this feeling was, you really didn’t want it to go away.

[bunny-jpeg]

hi can I please make an order of crème caramel, berry trifle, mango sorbet and a spicy upside down cake with a side of lemon water served by Max Verstappen please? Sorry it's a bit long tho...

bakery menu

want to submit your own order? then hit up the menu, i'd love to hear your order! and thank you to everyone who submitted orders! i am working through them!!

crème caramel ("oh. you thought you were getting away from me?" ) + berry trifle ("wrong. try again.") + mango sorbet ("you are by far the dumbest thing i've ever fucked. how did they even let you graduate?") + spicy upside down cake ( "let's play a game: don't get caught.") + lemon water (university/college au) served by max verstappen (formula one)!!

cw: smut/pwp, university au, bully!max, mean!max, semi-public sex, library sex, fwb gone horrible, dirty talk/degrading language, obsessive!max, oral sex (max receives), choking/deep throating

"where are you going, schat?" max loomed over you like a heavy cloud as he placed his hands on your hips. he held you like he owned you, and in all fairness... sometimes it felt like he did.

you thought the one time you'd try to have a one night stand that everything would go swimmingly. but you picked the wrong man on campus.

graduate student, about three years your senior. with hands like bear paws and about the same strength as one in his grip. and he held you in the middle of the library.

"you just came in and now you're turning around in leaving? surely you had something to do here today. it was close to eight in the evening, the library was next to dead. you remained silent for a moment before he added, "oh. you thought you were getting away from me? is that it, you thought you could leave before i found you?"

you swallowed and lied, "i forgot something."

he chuckled as he leaned in a little closer, "was it your panties? because i found them in my car yesterday. pink with flowers? they kept me busy all of last night when you were ignoring my texts." he held onto you a little tighter, "it's not polite to ignore me, liefje."

the issue was that you wanted a one night stand with someone outside of your little english department. so you ended up with a geography graduate student... however, after that night, max became your shadow.

"what did you do to my panties, max?"

he let go of you and turned you in his arms. he smiled at you, the kind of smile that most at the school would trip over themselves to see. but you could see something else in those blue eyes, "don't worry, i washed them when i was done." then leaned in to kiss you on the cheek.

you pulled back a little, but couldn't go far as he had you basically trapped against him. you could call for help, but the student librarian at the front desk was more occupied with her phone.

max pulled your attention back to him as he said, "why don't we study together? think of it like a date."

you'd never date someone like max. not even as his thumbs tried to push up your t-shirt a little, you managed to get away. you swallowed, you could run and hide. but, max had more eyes on the school than cameras. someone would catch a glimpse of you somewhere on campus and max would find you.

max verstappen was denied very little in his life. and he wasn't going to start of trend of not getting his way.

"so why were you running away, my love?" he asked as he pressed himself up against you. his strong arms were around you middle as he pressed you to him. he smiled was threatening and you felt a cold chill down your spine.

"i told you. i forgot something." you tried to use the last bit of fight in you. but those eyes of his were all knowing.

"wrong. try again." he said before he went in and kissed you on the cheek, "i remember our first night together. you made me feel like nothing else could. you made me feel alive. i hate when you run away from me." he kissed the corner of your lip softly, "now, why don't we study tonight."

you looked up at him. he was a bit taller than you and for sure stronger. the gaze in his eyes warmed up when you nodded, accepting his offer for studying.

see, you knew what max needed. he wanted to be closer to you, he wanted to feel you all over. he even wanted to take you out on dates and make you the center of his world. he was obsessed with you, and you just needed to see that he loved you. but that meant less struggling.

he led you into the back of the library, the furthest part with two chairs in a desk. there was no one else around for a good while. most had left for the evening. which left you alone with max.

"liefje." he said as he sat on the chair and unzipped his fly, "come here." it was a siren's call before he sank his teeth into you. before he ripped you to shreds and drag you under the waves.

you knew what you had to do, you were thankful that the pants you wore were comfy because you knew that one round, even in a semi-public space, wouldn't be enough for max. you knew another pair of your panties would end up in his car.

he watched you lower to your knees and licked his lips, you looked like a doll to him. he said quietly, "let's play a game: don't get caught." before he ran his hands through your hair.

your face was up against his cock and you shuddered a little bit. the size of it was impressive and it made your mouth water a little. this was how he trapped you. the allure of his heavy cock in your face.

with a small whine he pushed your face further against his cock and you had no choice but to take it in your mouth. but few pleasantries were made when he got the tip up against your throat. you whined a little bit, it was almost a whorish noise as you relaxed against his grasp.

mad max, mean max, whatever you wanted to call him. you felt almost at home on your knees in front of him. he was your hook up gone wrong. horribly wrong.

his voice was a curl in your brain and made you shift a little bit on the carpeted ground, "you are by far the dumbest thing i've ever fucked. how did they even let you graduate?" he knew you had to take an extra semester because you failed a course. in a slight fairness it was max's fault, he wouldn't let you go write your final exam. too busy bruising that cunt of yours well into the morning.

even if you tried to write the exam all your brain cells were gone due to how hard hew as fucking you. even now, with his cock in your throat, you felt a loss in most brain activity. no higher thinking while he was choking you on his cock.

you felt amazing around his cock, there were few words to describe how it all felt. he could feel the flutter in his chest as he rammed his cock up against your throat. and when you made a choking noise, he told you to "shut up." before he kept battering his cock up against the back of your throat.

you looked up at him, your eyes looked so innocent as he pressed his cock into your throat as deep as it would go. he still had a lot to teach you about deep throating, but for now he'd take a small pleasure in your choked noises.

"such a pretty girl." he said, "you look so good on your knees. is this how you were passing all your courses? pretty blouses and dick sucking lips." he chuckled lowly as he gripped onto your head further.

you whimpered a little bit as you held onto his strong thighs as you worked yourself onto his cock. you felt the buzz in your head as you continued to move your head.

"this is how i like you. i don't get why you don't understand that. most would kill for a chance to be in your spot. but you get it so easily." he said in a low, harsh tone.

you whined a little bit and arched your back. you felt your body splashed with heat. you trembled a little bit with a certain want. max verstappen knew how to play you like a fiddle. he knew how to take you apart and put all your pieces back together as he liked them.

"such a good girl for me. i'm glad i got a hold of you before you became a slut. now you can't cum on anyone's dick but mine." he said harshly.

in the back corner of the library you gave him head. your brain felt unfocused as he bullied the tip up against your pretty throat. he wanted to bruise it so you couldn't talk for a few days.

"no need to speak words, liefje. not when your boyfriend could do all the talking for you." he said and the words marked on your brain and made your core soaked.

"max." you tried to say with his cock in your mouth.

"shush." he said.

you looked at him once more before his grip on you started to tighten even more. he pushed his cock up against your throat once more, you knew it would be bruised come morning.

you whined and relaxed yourself enough for him to finish down your throat. he groaned and held onto you as he finished in your mouth. you tasted the saltiness down your throat. and your mind went little a blurry for a moment.

when you got your mouth off his cock, you rested your face on his thigh and looked up at him. max was almost sweet when he brushed the side of your face.

"you should be studying how to make me feel good. stupid little thing already knows enough about english." he pinched your cheeks, "be my bride."

you pouted a little, your lips glossed with spit and pre cum, "no, max."

he sighed before he gripped your hair again, "enough thinking. get on the table. i'm not done with you." max knew you inside and out, no other man on campus could compare to him. he'll teach you eventually, that his love was the only one you needed.

[mischievousmoony]

I’m blushing so hard at frat boy James!! What about the first time she comes over and meets the guys outside a party

hope i've done your idea justice! ty for requesting

𝚏𝚛𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚎

⟢ frat boy!james potter x fem!reader ⊹ 1.9k ⟢ warnings/tags: references to drinking, technically american!james potter and american!marauders

── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──

"It'll just take a minute," James promises. "We'll be in and out."

With his hand in yours, he leads you through the door, passing under the large Greek letters as you cross the threshold.

You have been seeing James for a month and a half. You never thought you'd be interested in a frat guy—you've never even step foot in one of their houses until now—but James has proven to be the opposite of what you thought a frat guy would be like.

James is a total sweetheart. Possibly the most thoughtful and genuine guy you've ever dated. He makes you feel special, always remembering the little things like your favorite flower or your drink orders at all your favorite places. He's attentive without ever being overbearing. But honestly, you don't think you could see him that way if you tried, always loving every bit of attention he gives you.

Today, he's taking you on a study date. He remembered that you were complaining about an upcoming exam in a class he's already taken, so he's grabbing his old notes and sitting you down in a quiet corner of the library so that he can help you study.

James would already have you set up in the library on the coziest chair with your favorite hot drink from the cafe if he didn't forget his old notebook in his room—which he felt rather sheepish about leaving behind.

So, here you are. James asked if you wanted to wait in the car, but you were curious to see the inside of one of these things. You half expected to see solo cups littering the floor, a pong table in place of a coffee table, and maybe even a few hungover frat guys strewn about the living room still sobering up from last nights antics.

You were a little surprised to find out that it was rather clean. You know from James that there was indeed a party here last night, but apparently they clean up nicely.

Although, you’re right about there being a pong table. But it is folded up and leaning against a wall for future use.

James guides you towards the stairs, but before he can even mount the first step someone appears in the foyer from a hall that you can see leads to the kitchen.

"Jamesie! Back so soon?" the boy cheers when his eyes land on his friend first. His eyes dart to you a second later, and something like recognition flashes in his expression. "Is this who I think it is?"

The boy has long, black hair that cascades just to his shoulders in soft waves, the kind that look effortless but too perfect to not be styled in some way. He stares at you with piercing blue eyes, making you feel oddly self-conscious, which might also have to do with the big smirk on his lips.

James squeezes your hand, sensing your nerves, but he'd bet money that they pale in comparison to his own. He's been nervous about bringing you around here. It doesn't have anything to do with you, or them (well, maybe he's a little worried they'll scare you off). You're really important to him, and so are they, and he's been putting a lot of pressure on introducing you to them. So, this unplanned visit has his palms sweating, which he's hoping you haven't noticed.

"Sirius," James greets his friend. "Yeah, this is Y/N."

Your eyes widen a fraction when Sirius immediately steps forward, taking your free hand to press a kiss to the back of your knuckles. "Hi, sweetheart, I've heard a lot about you. Truly, a lot. James has talked my ear off about you so I really feel like I'm meeting an old friend. I'm Sirius."

You feel heat rise to your cheeks but you're not alone, as James' own face turns rosy as he mutters a scolding "dude!" at his friend.

"Don't tell me you were just gonna sneak in without so much as a proper introduction." Sirius places a hand over his heart, a dramatic look of utter disbelief painting his face.

"We're just stopping by to get my notes. We have a very important study sesh to get to, didn't want to delay us too much," James explains, rocking back and forth on his heels.

"I promise it'll only be a short detour then. Pete and Remus are the only ones here anyway," Sirius says. His eyes dart to you again, something mischievous swimming within them. "We've all been dying to meet the girl that has our James so smitten. I mean, he's been going on and on and on. It's nice to finally have a pretty face to the name."

At Sirius’ words, you can’t help but crack a smirk as you peer up at James.

“Don’t look at me like that,” James murmurs, now rubbing his thumb across your knuckles the way he does when he gets anxious. James is sure the tips of his ears are bright red. Sirius will go to no end to embarrass him, but despite the fact that his heart might jump out of his chest at any second, James really only cares how you feel about the situation. James tilts his head toward you, lowering his voice to ask, "Are you up for meeting some of the guys?"

"Yeah," you say with a warm smile. "I'd love to meet your friends." And you really would. James talks a lot about them, too. Always reciting some story about all the shenanigans they've gotten into over the years.

You've been able to tell he's been overthinking bringing you to meet them. You get it—you're secure in James' feelings for you, so you know it's nothing personal. Plus, you were really nervous when James met your friends. To be honest, even though they were jokes, you're friends have made digs at frat guys before because of the stigma. You really wanted James and your friends to like each other, and thankfully, they really do and you had nothing to be worried about.

You hope that meeting his friends will have the same outcome and ease some of James' worries.

Sirius provides a generous introduction as you enter the kitchen. "Boys, it seems we have a very special guest in our midst this morning."

There are two guys sitting on kitchen stools who swivel around to greet you.

There's a lanky boy with mousy brown hair whose eyes dart back and forth between you and James before he directs a kind smile in your direction.

The other boy spins around mid-spoonful of a bowl of cereal. He abandons the utensil in his mouth to wave at you, his other hand occupied by the bowl resting in his palm.

Your eyes trail around the kitchen as James introduces you to them. It's rather large, as it would have to be to accommodate the large number of guys you assume live here.

You've also discovered the mess you thought you'd be stepping into. It seems that all of the discarded solo cups and beer cans have already been shoveled into a few trash bags, which are just about ready to burst at the seams as they wait by the back door to be taken out.

"I'm Peter," the boy with the cereal pipes up after returning his spoon to his bowl.

"Remus," the tall one introduces himself. "It's nice to meet you."

"You too," you say. "You know, I've never been in a frat house before. I take it you all live here?"

Remus is the only one who shakes his head. "Not a brother," he clarifies. "Just unlucky enough to have them as my best friends."

"Oh, you know you'd be lost without us," Sirius says, rolling his eyes playfully. "And it's not a frat house, it's a frat home," Sirius says very earnestly. Too add to his dramatics, he pulls Peter into a hug (which nearly makes him fall off his stool) and raps his fist against his back as he pretends to get emotional.

Peter's laughing as he shoves, Sirius off. "Alright, man," he says, swatting Sirius' hand away as he ruffles his hair.

"Sirius had beer for breakfast," Remus informs you to excuse Sirius' behavior.

"Hey, I only had two and I know you're not suggesting I'm a lightweight," Sirius points at Remus accusingly. "Anyway, I was just telling Y/N how often Jamesie muses about her."

Remus clicks his tongue, shaking his head. "Don't tease him too badly, Sirius.”

"It's not like it's not true," Peter shrugs, earning himself a glare from James.

You look up at James. His cheeks have deepened a few shades now as he glowers at Peter. You give his hand a squeeze to attract his attention, the expression on his face immediately softening when he looks at you.

“I think it’s sweet,” you say, encouraging a smile onto James’ lips. He drops your hand, only to wrap his arm around your shoulder and pull you into his side. You nuzzle your nose against his shoulder, looking at him with expectant eyes. He knows what you’re asking for, and would rather hand his friends more ammo to tease him with than deny you, so he gladly plants a tender kiss to the top of your head.

“You two are sickening.” Sirius leans over the counter, propping his chin up with his hand as he sighs dramatically. “It’s adorable,” he adds.

“Wrapped around her finger, are ya?” Peter joins in on the teasing.

James keeps his eyes on you as he responds. “You bet I am.”

You tear your eyes away from James’ sweet gaze to address his smirking friends. “You know, I've heard a lot about you guys too," you say.

Sirius lights up with intrigue. "Oh, do tell."

"Well, Peter must be the guy to go to if you want to have a laugh. Every time James asks ‘Wanna hear a story Peter told me’ I know I’m gonna have to sit through several fits of laughter before he gets to the end of it," you say, nudging James with your elbow who nods along to confirm your story.

Peter puffs up his chest, proud to be known as the funny one.

"Remus," you continue, "I should've known you weren't a brother. James always tells me about how they drag you into things that you have to get them out of. If he hasn't told you before, he's very thankful for you. And Sirius. I think I've heard the most interesting stories about you."

"This should be good," Sirius says, a cocky grin on his face. "I've given James a whole catalog of legendary stories to tell about me."

"My favorite is the one that started with you trying to impress a girl by jumping into the pool from the roof and ended with you in the bushes after you tripped on the gutter,” you say, an air of sweetness in your tone and a smile on your lips.

The confident smirk drops from Sirius’ face and James snorts a laugh beside you. Peter cracks up, and even Remus snickers at the look on Sirius’ face.

"I think you’ve just won over Sirius," Remus says, watching as his grin returns.

“You got me, I can appreciate that,” Sirius says. “Why have you been hiding her from us for so long, James? I like her.”

"Yeah, I like her too,” James replies, squeezing you a little closer into his side. He doesn't bother trying to hide the broad grin overtaking his features. As he looks down at your giggling face, he can't remember what he was so nervous about.

── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──

[snowsalatte]

i just think glasses would suit her

some more university/adult au!