#We'll find out how much of an AU this is in the next few weeks ig | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

chimcess · 7 months ago

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Waterlog || pjm (3)

Pairing: Jimin x Reader Other tags: Olympic Swimmer!Jimin, Ex Olympic Swimmer! Reader, Swim Coach!Reader Genre: Strangers to Friends to Lovers!AU, Coach!AU, Swimming!AU, HEAVY Angst, Slow Burn, Mutual Pining, fluff, eventual smut, I'm so soft for these two it's crazy. Word Count: 12.2k+ Synopsis: After a car accident ends her athletic career, Y/N has slowly started rebuilding her life again as a high school swim coach. That’s until she gets a request from an old friend and finds herself back in the spotlight as the new coach of Olympic swimmer, Park Jimin. Warnings: toxic relationship (not reader and jimin), arguments, cheating (not reader and jimin), talks about previous child abuse, anxiety attack, strong language, crying, emotional abuse (not reader and jimin), talks of bad parental relationships, abandonment issues, some PTSD, prescription medication use, mentions of depression and mental health, lots of angst in this one, finally making some progress though, age insecurity, mutual pining, lots of side character development in this one, they really are so sweet together, jimin just being the nicest boy in the world, so much PDA, physical touch is his love language 👀👀👀, writing this is so comforting even when its angsty lol, i think that's it, let me know if I missed something A/N: Hello hello. Probably my favorite chapter to date. Bad news is that I think this series might be a little longer than originally intended. My inability to just get to the point has things moving a little slow, but I'm trying my best. We'll have to see, though! Hope you enjoy reading :)

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Time went by quickly. Wednesday and Friday morning, Jimin and I met up to train for a few hours and then got breakfast together. When he asked if I wanted to work out with him in the evenings, I agreed. In the beginning, I had given him pointers, but after the second week came to a close, we had started exercising in silence. We spotted one another, made small talk, and went to dinner on the nights he did not go home to be with his parents. We got along and I was happy my overwhelming attraction to him had slowly calmed down.

I was still aware of his presence, the way he smelled, and how often he smiled and laughed, but I had grown used to seeing him walking around in barely anything at all. Hoseok called me a cougar whenever we had time to chat while Andy kept telling me to talk with Jimin about how I felt, but I had gotten very good at deflecting. Things were better and I was taking my wins whenever I could get them. Even if those wins meant I went home sexually frustrated and aching for someone to make it better.

Jimin was packing up for the night and I was getting ready to head out. He had plans with a large group of his friends, so I would have to figure out dinner by myself this time. He invited me but I politely declined. I could vaguely recall how rude his friends from that restaurant had been, and that one girl's mean glare. I had no interest in repeating that.

Giselle waved at me on her way out which I returned with a smile. She was a very sweet, college girl and getting to know her was fun. Her brother moved out here six years ago and was the only reason she left Memphis. In-State tuition and a rent-free bedroom was all it took to convince her to spend some quality time with her big brother and his dog, Lucky.

She and Sam were the closest, but I would often see her eating lunch with Megan when he was with a client. Everyone was making bets on when they would eventually hook up, but I was convinced that had already happened and they were keeping it a secret from the nosy staff.

"See you tomorrow," Yoongi called out from across the room, seemingly appearing out of thin air.

He was out of eyesight before I could reply.

"Bye Yoon," Giselle sing-songed anyway, shoving her ear buds in and leaving before the door could close behind Yoongi. "Night guys!"

As the young woman said, Yoongi and Megan were the two most important people to befriend. Not just for massages either. The both of them were hilarious and kept the back fridge stocked with our favorite snacks. On the mornings I did not have time to eat breakfast, Megan stopped and got me a muffin and coffee from her favorite cafe. If I needed someone to help me out in the pool, Yoongi was always happy to offer himself for the job. It was challenging for me to focus on my swimming when Jimin was around, and I would often come in early to get a quick work out in before he got here.

“You okay getting home?” Jimin asked.

We had come together tonight, and he had offered to drive us in his truck. I had grown very fond of the green machine, which Jimin affectionately called Fiona, and I jumped at the chance to get in his passenger seat. We were usually riding around in my car since it was better on gas.

��Yeah, I’m riding with Sam.”

Sam and I had grown close as well. He was super funny and always down to hang out with me if I showed up by myself. On the odd Sunday I felt like getting out of the house, I found myself at the gym with Sam. I was currently attempting to teach him how to swim and always filled in for Yoongi on the weekends.

Jimin nodded, “Good. See you this weekend?”

I smiled, “Can’t miss your big party.”

Jimin’s 24th birthday was on the 13th and his family liked to go big. Eloise was clearing out an entire section in their restaurant for all of us, and I had found myself teamed up with Taehyung to help with the planning. Na-Yeon put everything in his hands since she was not feeling up to the task this year. I only agreed to help when I realized just how overboard the snowboarder would go if no one was there to reel him back in. So far, I had placed the responsibility of decorating, music, and organizing the gift table on my shoulders. James had pulled me aside and thanked me when he found out. Apparently, he was also worried about Taehyung’s enthusiasm.

“It should be fun,” He nodded. “I’m going to head out.”

“See you tomorrow,” We had finally started coming 5 days a week. "We're working on your turns. Butterflies, too. Be prepared.”

He groaned, “You’re torturing me, coach.”

I laughed, “Is the baby upset?”

“Very,” He winked. My mouth went dry. Sometimes I felt silly for getting nervous around him, especially when I knew he flirted with everyone. I was not special. “See you Saturday.”

“Yeah,” I mumbled as I stared at his retreating back. “See you.”

Jimin’s birthday passed quietly. We had a great time and ate well. Taehyung got drunk enough to suggest karaoke once we cleared out the place for the night, and he and Na-yeon had all of us cracking up. I finally met Jungkook’s girlfriend, a pretty girl who did not talk very much, and I could feel the tension between the two of them. Jimin said that was just how they were and to ignore it.

After Jungkook successfully shoved Jimin's face into his cake, we opened presents. The boys got him tons of workout clothes and gear, Eloise bought him a new blender, and his parents both chipped in to get the new video game he had been talking about picking up.

I gifted him a bottle of his favorite cologne after Na-Yeon mentioned he was out. Jo Malone was the most distracting thing in my life right now, its scent clinging to the passenger side of my car most days and driving me insane if Jimin stood too close. Still, it was something I did not think I could part with now. Jimin was happy with the present and hugged me after opening it. I was positive I had this stupid grin on my face for the rest of the night.

By Halloween we were in the gym every day, save Sunday and the occasional Saturday when Jimin needed some time to rest. We both kept our word, our conversation at the restaurant we went to with Jungkook and Taehyung sticking better than I thought it would. Overtime he got more confident when asking for a break and I was a professional at picking up on his body language. We were a good team, and I was confident he would be in great shape for the Olympics.

It was mid-November now and Taehyung had finally gotten around to getting us together for the sushi date in Detroit. I had just gotten out of the shower when Jimin messaged he was going to come along. His mom had a rough Sunday and could not go to their usual dance class, so he had stayed with her instead. He looked worn out when he walked inside the pool room Monday morning so instead of training, I just sent him home. We were meeting back up on Wednesday to get back to work, but it seemed Jungkook’s nagging finally convinced him to come out with the rest of us.

My relationships with his friends had also started to improve. Taehyung had added me to their group chat a few weeks back and I had tried to keep up with them as often as I could remember to. It was not difficult. They text so often I had to silence notifications for the chat, but I had to admit they were really funny. Jungkook especially.

I was happy to spend time with everyone and getting out of the house sounded nice. Violet and Calvin were great, and I did enjoy eating dinner with them sometimes, but I would be lying if I said they would be my first choice to spend time with.

I had grown close enough with Taehyung during the partying planning that his bubbly, over the top personality had become more endearing than overwhelming. We had gone to lunch a few times together, his boldness only increasing with each meet up, and he could hold me hostage for hours if I let him. Milo was typically my saving grace, and Taehyung would leave with a wet kiss to my cheek and promises of the same time next week.

Tae: Y/N should pick you up

Jimin: Why???

Kookie: Your truck is ass

I chuckled and sent off a text of my own before going to my dresser to find something warm to wear.

Me: I don’t mind driving

Me: Don’t hate on the truck. I like it.

My phone chimed a few times but I ignored it for now. I knew I wanted to wear a pair of dark, navy jeans. It was freezing outside so a long sleeve was a must, but I could get away with just two layers. My hands found a mustard-yellow turtleneck and I smiled. I could wear my brown boots with it. Happy with my outfit, I checked on the chat.

Jimin: U sure?

Tae: The truck is GREEN

Tae: Already a crime

Kookie: It can’t go over 60

Darcy: omg stop blowing my phone up

Darcy: just ride with her dude

Jimin: Y/N?

I rolled my eyes. I hated when he did that. Jimin had the habit of double and triple checking in with someone. It was sweet but it also drove me insane. There was nothing more I disliked than repeating myself, especially if I already agreed to something.

Me: I’ll pick you up in 30, k?

Jimin: Thanks

Darcy: Was that so hard?

I frowned. So, Darcy was in a bad mood then. Shouldn't take it out on Jimin, I thought. Even if she was having a bad day, something that seemed to be a reoccurring theme with her, it doesn't mean she can just talk to people like that. Fighting the urge to give into my annoyance and call her out, I tossed my phone on my bed and made myself finish getting ready.

Walking into the living room, I went on a hunt for the jacket I wanted to wear. It was the same color as my leather boots with sherpa trim. It would tie everything together and, I hoped, would keep Taehyung from complaining too much about the “offensive” color of my shirt. He had a hard time accepting anything in the yellow or green family. Finding it on the sofa, I nodded and left it be. I would grab it on my way out.

It took me more time to get my hair figured out than anything, but once I gave up and did the same thing that I did every day, it worked itself. After that, I put on a little bit of makeup since I figured it would not take me very long. This was a casual outing with friends and the dim lights of the sushi place would give me some grace if things were not perfect. A nice base, simple eye look, and a layer of mascara already had me looking more awake than I had in months. After applying a layer of lip gloss and a misting of setting spray, I was out of the door, jacket keeping me warm, and purse tucked under my arm.

I drove in silence, like I always did, and pulled onto the curb of Jimin’s house. Sending a text to the chat, I waited for him to come out. I was a few minutes later than I said I would be, but Jimin found a way to be late for everything, so I did not feel that bad about it. Taehyung and Milo were already on leaving Ann Arbor, and Jungkook and Darcy riding with them. They would only beat us there by fifteen minutes or so, but I hoped he would hurry up and come outside. Taehyung worked hard for those reservations.

My phone vibrated and I stared at the little device in my cup holder. It was weird how my anxiety fluctuated on a daily basis. Back home, I could talk on the phone and hold a conversation behind the wheel, but ever since I came to Michigan it felt like I had taken three massive steps back. Taking a few deep breaths, I told myself that I was safe. I was parked, completely stationary, and no one was around. No traffic meant no accidents. Sucking in a harsh breath, I picked it up.

Jimin: Be out in a sec

Jimin: Just making sure mom is okay

He had not left his mother’s house in days. I was worried about Na-Yeon, but I had to believe that Jimin would tell me if something was seriously wrong with her. I had truly started to feel connected with the woman. We joked over dinner and I found myself helping her out more and more each time I came by. It would devastate me if she passed away without me knowing how bad it had gotten.

Me: Take your time

He came out only two minutes later. Wearing a heavy, black puffy jacket and tight pants, Jimin leisurely walked over and got into the car. His cologne hit me as soon as the door opened, and I bit my lip, trying to hide the deep inhale I took. Jo fucking Malone.

He smiled at me but otherwise kept quiet as I drove. He knew I had a difficult time behind the wheel and tried his best to keep conversation light. While I normally appreciated the sentiment, I did not want to make him sit in silence for 45 minutes. Opening and closing my mouth a few times, I struggled to come up with a good conversation topic.

We often bounced from idea to idea, mostly sticking to swimming and music, and I always found our little talks to be very insightful. Movies and tv shows had been fun to bond over, a small generational gap introducing us to shit we had never heard of before. There were so many things I could bring up, things that Jimin would jump at the idea to talk about. Still, I could not find my voice.

“So,” I started, awkwardly, trying to push past the blockade of anxiety. “Is this place as good as Tae says or is he going off on one of his rants again?”

Jimin chuckled softly. “It’s pretty good, but it’s still just sushi. Taehyung finds a way to make everything sound extravagant.”

We shared a quiet laugh.

“It was nice of him to invite me,” My hands gripped the wheel tighter. We were starting to approach more populated areas. “He didn’t have to do that.”

Jimin snorted childishly, the sound relaxing me ever so slightly. If there was one thing I hated was driving at night. I was lucky the snow had stopped falling yesterday afternoon and the roads were clear, but a part of me wished I had asked Jimin to drive.

Traffic in Saline was lighter than any town back in Colorado, and driving around was a breeze in comparison. At home, you were lucky if there was only one accident a day, but more times than not I had been stuck on the interstate for hours because of multiple car crashes. Michigan felt less hectic; safer. Not safe enough to let my guard down, but safe enough to listen to Jimin when he spoke.

“Taehyung is just that kind of guy.”

I nodded; eyes glued to the road. I wanted to say something and keep our conversation flowing, but the more cars around us the more I tuned him out. My eyes flickered between my rearview mirror, side mirrors, and windshield rapidly as I drove. Once we were out of Saline and on I-94, I loosened my grip on the wheel. We would not hit much traffic until we were closer to Detroit.

Jimin stayed quiet and looked out the window. I wanted to thank him for being so understanding, but I knew he would not want me to. I kept my thoughts to myself and focused on the road. Jimin began to hum an unfamiliar tune.

My hands were shaking when we pulled up to the restaurant. Traffic had gotten pretty bad coming into the city, but we had picked a good day to come out. Jimin hummed and sang underneath his breath for most of the car ride, and we had a few small sporadic conversations when I felt the knots in my stomach loosen for a few brief moments.

"It's been forever since I've come here," Jimin said to himself, going to unbuckle his seat belt. "It looks pretty filled up."

Bash was a sushi place across from Wayne State University's football field and was one Taehyung’s favorite restaurants. He bragged about how delicious their food was for weeks before finally wearing me down with the promise of picking up the tab. He made reservations for their omakase, or “chef’s choice,” and promised I would get his obsession.

When I talked to Megan about it, she had said it was an expensive meal, so I was going to try and force myself to enjoy it regardless of my own personal feelings. Jimin seemed to like it here, and we usually enjoyed a lot of the same foods, so it made me feel a bit better about things.

I had to park down the street and spotted Taehyung’s Mazda a few cars away. Instead of getting out, I took a few moments to gather my composure. Jimin sat beside me patiently. He had grown used to my traffic anxiety. We had driven together so many times now, and he had gotten a taste of the worst of it a handful of times.

He had only asked about it the first time we rode to the gym together, completely frazzled and unsure of himself as I hyperventilated in the driver's seat. My hands trembled violently as my palms sweat profusely, and I let myself shed a few tears once we were parked. He reached out, placing a hand on my back, and quietly asked me what was bothering me.

“Red light,” I managed to wheeze out. They were doing some construction on the main road and things started piling up. I had gotten stuck in the intersection for just a few seconds, but it was long enough to send me into a blind panic. “Anxiety. Sorry. Need a minute.”

He helped me calm down, calming down to help me through my panic attack. We played a game of I-Spy, Jimin picking out the most obvious shit and saying the most random things to point out in order to make me laugh. When I felt a little better, he got out of the car to help me get out. After that he kept quiet about my obvious driving discomforts, but stuck close just in case I needed the support, and always offered to drive.

“Ready?” He asked when I grabbed my phone out of the cup holder.

“Yeah.”

We walked inside and the hostess made light conversation while she walked us to the back. Taehyung's laugh could be heard from the other side of the room, and his bright blue hair and vibrant eyeshadow stuck out like a sore thumb in this place. Milo was dressed in all black, his arm draped around his fiancé's shoulder, and a smile on his face. Jungkook was beside him scrolling through his phone, but Darcy was nowhere in sight. Glancing at Jimin, he seemed exasperated.

“Trouble in paradise,” He murmured, leaning down so I could hear him. I had to imagine their relationship was very exhausting and took its toll on their friend group. I knew how much it sucked being caught between Tilly and Hobi back in the day. “Here we fucking go.”

Taehyung jumped out of the booth when he caught sight of us, his fluffy, white cropped top riding up, revealing even more of his tanned skin. The snowboarder wrapped his arms around my waist and snuggled my hairline, showering me in compliments. Gold hoop earrings tapped my forehead, and his belly button ring was cold against my ribcage. He was happy to see me “dolled up” for once and forgave how ugly my shirt was since I looked “so cute.”

Milo gave me a slight wave, eyes never leaving Taehyung's bouncing body as he embraced Jimin, and Jungkook put his phone down to greet us. Darcy had gone to the bathroom and from the look on Milo’s face, Jimin’s was right about trouble in paradise. Whatever was going on, we were all about to fall witness. It made my stomach churn just thinking about it.

Our waitress brought a new pot of tea, asking us if we needed anything, before leaving with the promise of the first course coming out soon. Darcy almost slammed into the poor woman on her way back to our booth, her annoyed huff making the hair on the back of my neck stand up. When she sat down beside her boyfriend her entire body was rigged and face pulled together tightly. She did not spare us a glance as she sulked.

Darcy was a very beautiful girl and it made sense why Jungkook liked her so much. Tanned skin, green eyes, and black hair, the girl had one of those bodies most women would pay thousands of dollars for. Like Taehyung had said, she was a pleasant enough person, and we did not along well enough to hold a conversation, but there was no hiding the fact that Darcy was not a nice girl. In fact, I would venture to say she was very, very mean.

I saw it firsthand at Jimin’s birthday party. I had a moment where I felt myself panicking. Overwhelmed with all of the noise and people, I excused myself and called Andy to get my head back on straight. The women's restroom was tucked away in a small hallway and allowed me the space to shed a few tears. I was just starting to calm down, Andy's words of encouragement getting back to some sort of baseline, while I rubbed cold water on my neck. That was when I heard Jungkook on the other side of the door.

He was angry and when I told Andy I needed to go, I had every intention of going out there to talk to him, but another voice beat me to it. Darcy had been in a bad mood since she walked through the front door, her shitty attitude bringing down the party every time she opened her mouth. At first, I just brushed it off as an off night, something I could feel empathy towards, but then she opened her mouth and stopped those thoughts in their tracks.

The two of them were serial cheaters, and Jimin had alluded to that being their main issue when I asked about her attitude problem earlier that night. Eloise was the person who gave me the whole story and was not afraid to voice her dislike for the older girl. This was different from Milo, a guy who she clashed with due to their night and day personalities. Darcy had actively picked on and made fun of her growing up, and bullied her older sister while they were in school together.

Darcy, according to Eloise, started the back-and-forth cheating when they were in college. Instead of going their separate ways, something I doubt anyone would have blamed Jungkook for doing, he chose to get even. After fucking one of her sorority sisters, Jungkook made his way through the entire house within the span of three months. In retaliation, Darcy slept with a couple of guys from the NHL, something she still did to this day.

On the night of the party, she was still fuming over catching him with another woman a few days prior. Trapped in the bathroom and too afraid to let them know I could hear them; I suffered through five minutes of a couple’s quarrel I had no business being in the middle of. It was an eye opener for sure and made me avoid getting too close to either of them.

Darcy was very mean and spiteful, her words meant to cut him deeply with little care about how it would make him feel in the long run. She even brought up screwing one of his rivals to get back at him, something she had done on numerous occasions, and went as far as to compare the two men in bed. It helped to explain why Jungkook hated Jackson Wang so much.

Jungkook, despite how much I enjoyed him as an individual, was just as awful. He spent most of the argument defending his bad behavior by bringing up her own and took no accountability for his actions. He could have sex with all of Michigan and it would be justified because she cheated on him first. It was all very juvenile, and I tried my best to avoid them for the rest of the night.

“Bet they can’t go ten minutes without fighting,” Jimin mumbled in my ear.

I fought back a smile, leaning into his side. Physical touch was the swimmer’s love language and I had slowly grown accustomed to small touches here and there. So, it did not catch me off guard when his arm came around my shoulders, resting just above my head, hand gently brushing against my neck. The voice in my head often wished he would do it more often.

“She won’t start something before the food gets here,” I reasoned, stealing a look at the couple. Jungkook seemed fine, but from the look on Darcy’s face that might change soon. “I’ll say twenty.”

“What are we bargaining for?”

I laughed awkwardly, “Whatever you want.”

Taking a second to think, Jimin eyed the couple across the table. Taehyung and Milo were obviously extremely aware of the couple's awkward tension and tactfully ignored them, instead giggling about some inside joke. They were a very sweet pair. My weariness about Milo had dissipated over the last few weeks, but I could understand why he and Eloise could not get along.

Lou herself had admitted to being a bit of a stuck-up teenager back in the day, and Milo was the typical small-town stoner. They constantly butt heads when they were in high school, and just drifted apart with age. Taehyung and Jimin's friendship were the only reason they were in the same circle anymore, and the two just never spoke to avoid pressing buttons.

“I want to do something together,” Jimin finally said, I smiled, trying to ignore the snarky comments Darcy was making. The arguing was starting, and I felt my neck growing hot. Did they have to do this in public? “Get dinner or something.”

“We do that all the time,” I countered, half-heartedly paying attention to him.

“Denny’s doesn’t count," He mumbled.

The waitress finally came back with a large tray of sushi in her hand. That seemed to break up the argument momentarily, but Darcy did not seem pleased to be interrupted. Stuffing a large piece of ahi sashimi in my mouth, I sparked up a conversation with Taehyung to keep myself from having another meltdown. Beside him, Milo sent me a grateful look.

The rest of the table was silent, waiting for the fight to resume. Taehyung kept smiling painfully, but I could see the panic bubbling in his eyes, and for once I saw a small crack in his otherwise well-crafted facade.

“I didn’t mean just getting food,” Jimin finally continued when we hit a lull, and it took me a few seconds to remember what he was talking about. “I meant… going out.”

I looked at him, eyebrow raised. His cheeks were puffed with scallops and I wished we were alone. This was not a conversation I wanted to have in front of the others, especially if he was insinuating what I thought he was. I did not want to jump to conclusions, but I was sure he was asking me out on a date. Even if it made me feel jittery thinking about it, I had a difficult time finding the voice to say yes. Saying no felt just as impossible, though, and I wished he would have picked a better time to bring this up. Whatever the hell this was.

“What are you asking me?” I whispered, taking another piece of fish off my plate, sneaking a look at Taehyung and Milo.

They were too wrapped up in one another to being listening in on us. I did not even bother checking in with the other two. I knew for a fact they did not care about anybody else but themselves.

“You know,” He replied.

Dating was not off the table, and I was more than happy to indulge myself, but I was worried about crossing this invisible line I had drawn. What would people say if they found out? A coach and her trainee, and even worse, the older woman and her much younger man. I could see the headlines now and it made my palms sticky. That would not be a good look for either one of us, and I did not want our personal relationship to affect Jimin’s career.

Putting my chopsticks down, I leaned away from him. “Can we talk about this later?”

He nodded, meeting my eyes, and I was relieved to see he was not upset. I had seen him angry a few times now, and he wore it on his sleeve with pride. Jimin was not afraid of his emotions, something I found extremely attractive, and it was nice that all I could see right now was understanding. Whatever happened he would hear me out, and I had to hope he would be understanding. I just had to be sure I did not fuck anything up.

Across the table the bickering had started again. Our waitress brought out the rest of our meal, sans desert, and seemed happy we were enjoying the food. She eyed Darcy wearily and left our table in a hurry. I felt horrible for the wait staff who had come to our table. They were all getting the nastiest looks from the dark haired beauty.

“Do we really have to do this now?” Jungkook sighed, running a hand through his hair roughly. His face was red and expression tight. “In front of my friends, dude? Are you serious?”

I cleared my throat, grabbed my tea and took a long sip before sinking into the booth and praying no one could see me. Jimin’s arm dropped, and he squeezed my shoulder in comfort. I let myself melt under his touch. It always felt nice when his hands were on me, his warmth burning hot like a furnace even in below freezing temperatures. Taehyung’s eyes were bulging out of his head now, his bottom lip trembling as he tried his best to keep the conversation between the four of us light. He had stopped trying to include the other two.

“You two seem close,” He gritted, fakeness coming from him that I had never encountered before. “Glad you were able to sort that out.”

I looked over at Jimin and saw his cheeks had gone pink. So, Taehyung knew something I didn’t. It would make sense for the childhood best friend to get the scoop before the chick he’s known for two months, I had definitely vented to my friends on more than one occasion, and my curiosity was peaked.

“I'm working on it,” Jimin replied, taking a big gulp of water. “Thanks, Tae," He breathed, rolling his eyes.

I stifled a laugh. He was so cute when he was embarrassed. I made a mental note to ask Tae to explain what he meant when we had a chance to get lunch. I had a feeling the snowboarder would be more than happy to divulge that little piece of information.

“Talking about me to your friends?” I teased, trying my best to ignore the ever-growing argument across from me. The butterflies in my stomach were a helpful distraction. “Good things, I hope.”

He cracked a smile, face and neck flushed. “The best things.”

Such a flirt.

I bit my lip and looked away. Eating was a nice way to interrupt the electricity that was enveloping us, and I gorged myself on octopus and tuna. Whatever the hell these dishes were, I had to admit the sushi here was the best I had ever had. I would never doubt a recommendation from Taehyung again.

The conversation started flowing easily after that. Jungkook and Darcy were at a stalemate and were relatively quiet on their side of the booth. With the atmosphere lightening, Milo felt good enough to start telling us his latest work stories. He was a firefighter along with all three of his brothers. His father was promoted to chief about five years ago but was coming up to his retirement. The only one of his siblings to avoid the fireman fate was his baby sister, but had still managed to find a job at the station.

"You guys must be close," I laughed in disbelief.

“It’s the family business,” He joked. "Rosie is our new EMT."

Taehyung spoke excitedly about his upcoming competitions and was really hopeful he would win enough to qualify for the Olympics this year. Milo and Jimin both reassured him multiple times while I tried my best to keep up with everything he was talking about. I had very little knowledge of snowboarding, so I was having to constantly interrupt and ask for clarification. No one seemed to mind, and eventually Jungkook joined in to talk about his upcoming hockey games.

The Red Wings were having a good year, and he was proud of his team for working as hard as they did. As a goalie, he did not do a lot of skating, but his job was one of the hardest on the team. From what I knew after watching a few games on tv with Jimin's family, Jungkook was one of the best goalies in the NHL who was highly sought after. He had been offered millions to transfer to the New York Rangers, but out of loyalty he turned them down.

“I’ll take you to a few matches if you want,” Jimin offered. “Kook can get us tickets whenever.”

I smiled, “That sounds like fun.”

“Milo and I go all of the time so we can sit together,” Taehyung interjected, his shoulders relaxed for the first time since we got here.

Darcy was quiet and stayed on her phone. Jungkook was pretending she was not here, and it helped keep the arguing from starting again. I was not sure how long the truce would last, but I hoped they could hold it together long enough for us to finish eating.

“So Y/N,” Milo mused, taking a piece of fish from Taehyung’s plate. “Have you ever thought about competing again?”

I laughed nervously, “For a time, maybe. My injuries make it hard for me to swim the way I used to so I decided to keep it as a hobby.”

It was not a complete lie, but I knew I might be able to get back into competitions if I put in the time and effort. I hated the thought of being back in the spotlight, cameras shoved in my face, only to lose and give them more to talk about. I was still recovering from the trauma they inflicted on me after the accident. My leg injuries just gave me the perfect excuse to keep my distance.

He nodded, eyebrows knitted, “I didn’t know you had medical leave. What happened?”

Jimin tensed up beside me.

“I was in a car accident,” I replied. Talking about what happened did not bother me as much as it used to, and Milo seemed genuinely interested in the answer. “I had to get a full knee replacement on my left side, and a full hip replacement. I should have lost my leg, but the doctor on staff recognized me and brought up my profession.”

Milo whistled, giving me a sympathetic look. “Leg? You could have died.”

“Well,” I breathed, finishing off my last piece of fish. “I pulled through though, so it wasn’t all bad.” I fiddled with my shirt, pretending to smooth it down as I played it cool. "Anyway, I have nerve damage in my leg that makes me get really horrible cramps and twitching if I overwork my muscles. It sucks but coaching is really fun, so I can't complain."

Blatantly lying wasn't something I did often, but I truly hated reliving the months of physical therapy. Unable to walk or talk, I was stuck in that hospital bed for weeks and then got sent home to watch my closest friends wait on me hand-and-foot. When I wasn’t in physical therapy, I was with my SLP. When I wasn’t with her then I was in bed, crying into my pillow, and wishing I had never woken up. It was an extremely dark time in my life, one filled with chronic pain and overwhelming depression, and talking about it made me emotional.

“Anyway,” Taehyung sent his fiancé a pointed look. “Kookie’s next home game is in two weeks.”

Happy to be out of the spotlight, I began to talk with Jimin about changing our schedule around so we could attend the game. Taehyung was excited to get me some Red Wing merchandise, and Jungkook quickly began to boast about his prowess on the ice. Darcy scoffed beside him and I felt the group tense up.

“You’re so cocky, Ian,” She taunted, eyes glued to her phone. “I heard Avalanche was doing really well this season.”

I knew from the group chat that the Red Wings and the Colorado Avalanche had a long-standing rivalry. It had started all the way back in the mid-90’s and reached its peak in 2002. While the intensity had dissipated over the years, it had recently spiked up again due to Jungkook and Jackson Wang’s ongoing feud. The only reason Darcy would bring that up would be to piss her boyfriend off.

“Hm,” Jungkook smirked, chuckling darkly. “Who told you that?”

I held my breath, already guessing where this was going. The tension from earlier was thicker than ever as we fell silent. Darcy put her phone on the table, flipped her hair over her shoulder, and looked Jungkook in the face as she replied.

“Jackson.”

It was dead silent for a few seconds. Then, without waiting for a response, Darcy kept digging the knife in and twisting. She called him ugly, said he sucked in bed, brought up all of the ways Jackson was better than he was, and went as far as to bring up his father's affair. Jungkook could not get a word in as her silky voice dropped lower and lower, words cutting deeper and deeper, and eyes growing brighter as she watched his expression fall. I learned something tonight. Darcy enjoyed hurting Jungkook.

"Why are you doing this, dude?" Jungkook's voice was thick with emotion. "You're acting like a fucking child. It's embarrassing."

“Holy shit,” Milo groaned as their voices got louder. “Are they being forreal right now?”

“Babe,” Taehyung scolded, the forced smile still plastered on his face. “Language.”

“You weren’t embarrassed when you fucked that girl” Darcy screamed and I felt my stomach twist uncomfortably. “Why should I feel bad about airing out my dirty laundry? Everyone here knows how much of a whore I am anyway, isn’t that right, Ian?”

“Keep your voice down,” Jungkook hissed, eyes glassy. “You’re causing a scene.”

Taehyung and Milo looked as mortified as I felt, both of them staring at Darcy in horror. The entire restaurant had gone silent. Eyes were glued to our table as they argued. She shouted about him getting his dick sucked in their bed, and Jungkook was just angry she was acting like this in public. It was Jimin’s birthday all over again only this time they knew people were watching and did not care. Taehyung’s smile was finally gone and replaced by trembling lips and fidgeting hands.

“Take that shit outside,” Jimin cut in, voice cold and hard. Darcy glared daggers in our direction. “You’re going to get us kicked out.”

Darcy opened her mouth to argue but was interrupted by the waitress coming back and demanding our party leave. Taehyung began to apologize profusely while Darcy stormed out of the restaurant, bumping into numerous people roughly without looking back. Jungkook was hot on her heels, breathing heavily, and eyes glossed over with unshed tears. She shouted that Jackson was outside and for Jungkook to go fuck himself. Jungkook didn’t reply but I knew he was not expecting the other man to be here. I sure the fuck wasn't.

An arm wrapped around my shoulders, “Hey, calm down. Breathe.”

I had not realized I had been holding my breath. Turning my head, I was taken aback by how close Jimin was. Our noses brushed together, his breath hot against my cheek, and I jerked away, heart racing. The butterflies were swarming now, and a shiver went down my spine. His arm dropped and I immediately missed its warmth. Flustered, I scooted out of the booth and kept my head hung low. I was so embarrassed, and I could hear Taehyung’s voice starting to wobble as he handed over some cash to the waitress for the trouble. No one was going home happy tonight.

“I’m so fucking pissed off,” Jimin grunted, keeping in step with me. Milo was attempting to get a now hysterical Taehyung calmed as they followed behind us. “I don’t know why Tae invites the two of them anywhere.”

I shook my head, “It’s not his fault. She needs to get some self-control, though. That was so rude and uncalled for, and for what?"

“They both owe him a fucking apology,” He sighed harshly.

The guests of honor were already in a very heated screaming match when we finally made it outside. Whatever had been brewing inside had clearly reached its peak, and neither one of them was willing to back down. Jimin’s arm was back around my shoulders as he tried his best to shelter me from the strong winds that were kicking up. Looking at Darcy and Jungkook all I could see were my parents and it caused me great discomfort. Maybe I should try to call my dad again and make sure he was alright? He rarely answered but at least it would cut some of the edge off of my anxiety.

“Why are you acting like this?” Jungkook shouted, pulling at his hair. “What the fuck is wrong with you, dude?”

“You!” Darcy shrieked. “You! You! YOU! You’re the problem. This is all your fault!”

Jungkook called her a crazy bitch and Darcy slapped him across the face before stomping off. A sleek red convertible was waiting for her on the curb, a well-groomed man behind the steering wheel. He smiled and waved at Jungkook before speeding off, Darcy already attaching her lips to his neck and not sparing any of us a second glance.

“What the fuck!” Taehyung shouted, sobbing and clinging to Milo.

I was surprised he was able to hold himself back for that long. He seemed hellbent on strangling Jungkook as soon as he was able. I stepped to the side watching a man I had never seen upset shove Jungkook backwards. Any resemblance of a smile was gone now, replaced with a snot-nosed, red eyed man with bared teeth. Jungkook stumbled, barely keeping his footing before shoving the other man back. Milo was quick to defend his fiancé, pushing Jungkook so hard he stumbled, fell on his ass, and cried out in pain.

Jimin’s arm gripped me tighter as he stared at the scene unfold in silence. His clenched jaw, however, told me how angry he was. I briefly wondered what he would be doing if he was not so focused on keeping me warm.

“That was so fucked up,” Taehyung cried, wiping his face roughly. “I told you both to keep that shit at home or don’t come!”

“She started it! It’s not my fault-”

“Dude,” Milo shook his head, wrapping his arms around Taehyung. “It doesn’t fucking matter. That’s your girl.”

As the three of them argued, I tried to decipher the look on Jimin’s face. He was angry, that was very apparent, and I felt my own anger finally start to rise. He had been dealing with so much shit and on his first night out in ages this happens? It was unfair and ridiculous, my frustration over the entire situation making me want to go over and push Jungkook around, too. However, I knew that was not the way to handle this. Truth was, he was not the only person to blame for how badly the night had ended. Darcy was the main instigator.

“Are you okay?” I asked Jimin, stepping away from his tight embrace. His arm was still around my shoulders with no sign of moving. “I’m sorry everything got so shitty.”

He nodded, face softening when he looked at me. “Just worried about Taehyung. He was really excited about tonight.”

The yelling was finally starting to calm down and I was happy that they were talking things out. I did not think I could handle the screaming for any longer. I had been a bundle of nerves since I left my house, and my fingers trembled at my sides. I could hear my mother’s voice echoing in my head, though I was positive it was distorted after so many years. Sometimes when her and dad fought, she would find me hiding in my closet and pull me out, hands leaving my skin tender from the harsh grip she had on my arms, before telling me to clean up the broken dishes from off the floor.

“Come here you little shit!”

She hated me; hated being a mother. I could remember how much I wished she would hold me like the other kids' moms held them but was too afraid to ask. One time I drew a picture of her at school and she never even looked at it. Instead, she smoked her cigarettes at the dinner table and watched Law and Order. If I really thought about it, she threw the drawing away. It was too dirty. Just like I was too dirty.

Mom had germaphobia and considered me one of the dirtiest things she had ever seen. I was not allowed in their bedroom because of it. Dad went along with it like he did everything else. When he wasn’t drinking, he was sleeping or in the garage. I hoped he was doing okay. Danielle seemed to be just as controlling as mom had been.

“Where’d you go?”

I startled, whipping around to find Jimin staring at me. His expression was gentle and calm, and I was suddenly aware of the harsh chill nipping at my wet cheeks. I had not noticed I was starting to cry. Strange. It had been a long time since those memories had been brought up.

“Are you okay?” He asked, rubbing my arm. “You looked lost.”

I nodded, quickly reaching up to pat the tears away. It was a good thing my mascara was smudge proof or else I might look even more pathetic. I am 31 now and it felt stupid to cry over things so far in the past. Things I had not had to deal with in well over 20 years. Dr.Wolfe would disagree with me, but she wasn't here.

“Yeah,” I nodded, voice thick. “Just zoned out for a second. Eyes must have dried out.”

It was a bad lie, but a lie he accepted. Squeezing my arm one last time, he finally moved away to give me a bit of breathing room. That was another thing that I always appreciated about the guy. He never overstayed his welcome, even if he wanted to. Taking a second to compose myself, I mindlessly fixed my hair and adjusted my clothes. Nervous habit.

“I think everyone’s heading home for the night,” Jimin said, nodding his head toward the other three men. “They seem cool. You ready to leave?”

I shrugged, “If you are.”

He nodded and walked over to the ground. I gave myself another moment to gather my thoughts. The worst of it was over and I doubted those memories would make themselves known again. With the screaming over it would not take long for my head to get itself straightened out. I might ask Jimin to drive us back, though. I was exhausted, and frankly, I did not think we would be safe if I was behind the wheel. Nothing worse than an anxious driver.

Jungkook was ashamed of their behavior tonight, and when I joined the others, he was quick to throw a million apologies in my direction. I accepted them all easily but knew it would take me a few days to fully forgive him. Tonight was a lot. Hopefully I could speak with Taehyung privately and ask him not to invite the couple out with us. If I never had to see Darcy again it would make my stay that much easier.

“I think we’re going to go home,” Milo said once Jungkook walked away. He was planning on calling an Uber so Tae could have a bit of space. “My little flower is burned out for the night.”

I smiled sadly, “Are you sure? We can always try something else.”

Taehyung’s head snapped in my direction and I wanted to scoop him up in my arms. His face was puffy from crying and eyes still misty. He was quick to nod his head and reached out to take hold of my hands.

“You still want to hang out with me?” He whimpered.

I had only said it to cheer him up not thinking that he would actually go for the idea. I had never seen him so distraught before and Milo seemed convinced that he was over having fun. Stealing a look at the blonde, he gave me a grateful smile but otherwise kept a watchful eye on Taehyung.

“Of course I do,” I finally replied, squeezing his large hands. “Tonight wasn’t your fault.”

His lower lip started to wobble again and next thing I knew I was in a very tight, warm hug. Taehyung cried into the crook of my neck. He was worried I would not like him anymore because of the fight. I awkwardly hugged him back, hoping my calm reassurances would soothe him. We really needed to get from outside the front of this restaurant before they called the cops.

“It’s alright,” I said, trying to gently remove his arms from my waist. “We’re still friends, I promise.”

After another minute of crying, Taehyung was back in Milo’s arms. His face was red, and his nose was running, but the sobs had stopped. Jimin placed a hand on my lower back and started to bounce a few ideas off of Milo. It was late, but from the sound of things, our get together was not over. I could not say for certain if this was a good thing or not, I did need to have that talk with Jimin. If we were out too late there was no way for me to promise I would not pass out in the car.

“Uh,” Jimin thought for a second. “If we’re still hungry there’s Pie Sci and Woodbridge is right down the street. There's also that park a few blocks away."

I shrugged, “Whatever’s the best?” Looking at Taehyung, I made sure that he was feeling well enough to hang out. “I won’t be upset if you want to go home. It was a rough night for all of us.”

He sniffled and nodded. “I’m just really tired.”

Jimin and I said our goodbyes and I promised the blue haired boy I would call him in the morning to set up another meet up. He called it a group date, something neither Jimin nor I disagreed with, but it did make me feel queasy. Depending on how our conversation goes, we may never spend time together outside of training. I felt like I was going to vomit.

“Let me drive?” Jimin murmured as we parted ways with the couple.

I nodded, digging in my purse to find them. “Mind reader, I swear. Get out of my head, kid.”

He snickered, “Who says you weren’t in mine, granny”

The queasiness dissipated and I felt like I could breathe a little bit easier now. Being alone with Jimin had never felt this nerve wracking before, not even the first time we met, and it was hard to explain all of the thoughts and feelings going through my head. We were finally having the talk, but I had never imagined it going this way. Handing him the keys, I elbowed him in the ribs.

“Whoops,” I mocked. “You know me and my bad eyesight, kiddo.”

“Watch it,” He hissed, rubbing the spot. “Don’t want you breaking anything. You know you have frail bones.”

I laughed, “Don’t make me give you a knuckle sandwich, punk.”

Sliding into the passenger seat felt less daunting after the light hearted exchange. Still, my blood was pumping as Jimin clicked his seatbelt in place. I had no idea when the conversation would shift into murkier waters, but I needed to start thinking about what to say to him.

Denying my feelings would only make things worse, and I did not think the younger man would believe me. In fact, he would be offended that I thought he was dumb enough to get bamboozled in the first place. Lying did not seem like the right call anyway. My feelings were not something to feel ashamed about, but they were very frightening.

“When is later?”

I gasped, startled out of my thoughts. We had been driving for over ten minutes already. Time seemed to slip by when I was lost in my own head. Jimin apologized for scaring me but repeated the question once I reassured him that I was fine.

“Now,” I mumbled. “I guess later is now.”

Turning on the blinker, Jimin switched lanes smoothly. He was probably the best driver that I knew and always made sure to keep my little quirks in mind during our rides. He had even gotten used to leaving the radio off when I was around, something that I appreciated more than words could ever say. Recognizing that I was stalling, I cleared my throat and tried my best to get my jumbled thoughts across.

“As much as I would like to go on that date,” I started, voice weak, “I’m just a bit concerned with how that might affect our ability to work together.”

There we go, I thought to myself mentally patting myself on the back. That was not as hard as I thought it would be. Leaving out a few details would not hurt anybody, and it was the main cause of concern for me. My age was definitely up there, but I doubted Jimin would understand my perspective. To him I was just older, but to the rest of the world I was this cougar on the prowl for young men to help me relive my glory days. Even my own friends thought it was funny to make fun of the age gap.

“Is it only because of that?” Jimin pressed, his voice telling me that he was still reacting positively to whatever was coming out of my mouth. I was refusing to look at him, fearful that he would see through me. “Or is there something else bothering you?”

“W-w-well-” I stammered, “There is the media frenzy to think about. Sejin is already dealing with the press and your ‘out of character’ seclusion this season. Then there’s the age gap. I just-” I struggled to find the right words. Having let my insecurity slip out, I lost my flow and scrambled to get back on track. “Look, I haven’t done this whole dating thing in a really long time, and I don’t want that to get in the way of being a good coach. Ozzie put me in charge of you, and my reputation is on the line.”

I could hear my heart beating in my ears. Mouth dry and palms sweaty, I forced myself to look out of the window as I spoke. Anxiety had been something I dealt with for as long as I could remember, and it only got worse the older I got. My hands and fingers trembled in my lap as I tried to steady my breathing.

In all of the dreams I had about Jimin, and there had been quite a few at this point, this moment had never felt so real and raw. We were always in these picture perfect pieces of heaven, sunshine beaming down on us, and the words I desperately wanted to say fell from my lips with ease. It was simple and sweet, and yet profound and beautiful. I could wax poetics and put myself thoughts together so eloquently he had no choice but to say yes to me.

Reality was different. Here I was stumbling over my sentences and stuttering my way through words. Instead of taking his hand with mine, I was fidgeting with shaking fingers and desperately hoping he could not see just how uncomfortable I was. I knew he did. He always noticed. My heart was racing so fast I was afraid it would burst. Had he turned the heart up? It was boiling.

“I just want to know how you feel about me.”

“Hm?” I squeaked, unable to form any real words. My mouth was too dry.

“I’ve thought about all of the same shit,” Jimin continued, voice as smooth and calming as ever. “I don’t care about any of that. All I want to know is how you feel about me.”

“You know,” I replied, wheezing. Talking felt impossible. “You know.”

“I want to hear you say it.”

Taking in a deep breath, I squeezed my eyes shut and began the mental countdown. My therapist taught me the technique years ago and I always found it to be helpful. I did this a few times until I felt calm enough to open my eyes.

“Are you alright?” Jimin asked.

“Yeah,” I nodded, finally feeling my heart rate slowing. “A little anxious.”

“Don’t be,” He placed a hand on my knee. “It’s just me.”

And he was right. It was just Jimin and I in my car, but that was also the reason I felt so suffocated. There was nowhere to run or hide in here, and if things went south I was stuck with him for half an hour. Trying not to let those pessimistic thoughts send me back into a panic, I began to mentally point out things in my car.

Air freshener. It's green. It smells like pine and lemons. I want a new scent. Jimin likes to buy this coconut and mango one that smells like candy. I will buy one like his. I love the smell.

I let out a heavy breath. Everything was fine. He was not upset. He just wanted to know how I felt about him. Nothing more nothing less. My heart was settling, and my fingers were no longer shaking.

“I like you,” I choked out, placing my hand over his. “But you already knew that.”

He gently laughed, flipping his hand up to intertwine our fingers.

“Yeah, you’re a terrible actress.”

I groaned, leaning my head against the window. As much as I tried kidding myself, there was absolutely no way he did not see the way I looked at him. I always knew when his flirting took on a more serious edge, like when he called me beautiful after seeing the scar on my leg for the first time, so it should not have been surprising that he picked up on a thing or two. Still, it did not make it any less embarrassing.

“How long have you known?” I asked, peeking at him through my lashes.

“I mean, I had a feeling when you first got to town, but I wasn’t completely sure until that first training day.”

He laughed at my embarrassed groan, holding my hand tighter. I knew I wasn't subtle enough. Poker face champion, my ass.

“Don’t be embarrassed,” He cooed. “You’ve been my dream girl since I was, like, 15.”

“That's not helping the age gap thing,” I tittered as I played with his fingers. Then, because I could not help myself. “Dream girl, huh?”

Picking up on the teasing tone in my voice, Jimin chortled.

“Okay, big head. Calm down.”

“Big head?” I guffawed, pulling my hand out of his grasp. “Who are you calling big head, shortstop?”

“You, big head,” Taking back my hand, Jimin pinned it down and kept a tight grip. “No take backs.”

I always loved it when Jimin was in a good mood. He was so playful and full of energy, and all signs of those dark days were in the deepest parts of his mind. It was impossible to keep myself from playing along which only served to egg him on.

“You never said yes or no.”

“Yes or no to what?” I questioned.

Jimin started rubbing the back of my hand with his thumb.

“To that date.”

Saying yes felt wrong, but saying no felt impossible. No matter what I said someone would be upset, and I had to decide who that would be: Jimin or America? I turned my own hand around this time and put my fingers through his. They fit together awkwardly, his hands just a bit too large, but I still found it perfect all the same.

“Do you have any ideas?”

His shiteating grin was contagious and a burst of butterflies began to flutter in my stomach. Hands clasped, Jimin started to list off all of the places we could go, but I was not fully listening. I had a date with this guy. I was going on a date with my trainee.

“What do you think?”

I blinked rapidly, hoping he could not tell that I had zoned out.

“You pick,” I breathed. “Surprise me.”

The rest of the drive back home was spent making small talk and discussing food preferences. Jimin was a dinner and a movie kind of guy, while I would rather do some sort of activity. What type of conversation could we have in a theater? Jimin seemed excited to plan out a fun night and I was just happy he was this into me. The feeling was most definitely mutual.

“Do you mind if I go to my house tonight? Mom needs some space and I know my dad is tired of having me breathing down their necks.”

I had yet to go over to his house. The days that we drove together were when he spent the evening with his parents. When Na-yeon and I talked about it, she was more upfront about her health situation than the men of the house. James spent most of his time taking care of his wife and their son enjoyed giving him a break every now and then. James would go on a fishing trip with his friends while Jimin stayed back to keep an eye on his mother.

“Is it closer to town?” I asked, nibbling on my lower lip.

I had yet to drive through downtown Ann Arbor. The Park house, and by proxy the Anderson’s, was a thirty minute drive from the bustling city. Nestled in the smaller town of Saline going towards Manchester, I had rarely had to leave the small town. This trip to Detroit was the farthest I had gone since arriving in Michigan, but I had a feeling the traffic in downtown Ann Arbor would be a bit much for me to drive through alone.

“Yeah,” I felt even more nervous by his nonchalant tone. “I used to live downtown, but I got tired of the noise. I bought my house in Eberwhite last summer, so there’s a little less foot traffic.”

“How’s the drive back to Saline?” Even I could hear the hesitation in my voice.

“Less than twenty,” Rubbing the back of my hand, his voice took on a sweeter tone. “We don’t have to. My truck’s at my parent’s place anyway.”

“Maybe some other time?” I forced myself to laugh, hoping to make the awkward tension leave. “Preferably when it’s not dark outside.”

I relaxed into my seat once I started seeing familiar landmarks. Saline was a very small town with a little over 2,000 residents, but downtown still had a way of attracting a relatively large crowd. Stoney Creek Brewery was packed and Jimin pointed out Sam’s car as we pass by.

“Looks like he came out with Otis and Skye,” He murmured.

Otis was another personal trainer at the gym, and Skye was responsible for marketing. They had been going out for a while now and made plan to move to Ann Arbor once Otis graduated from school. He was getting his masters in movement science at the University of Michigan. They had planned on moving out there when he graduated last year, but neither of them could find a job that could pay their bills. Otis was hoping the master’s would give him a competitive edge while Skye saved up enough money to start her own advertising firm.

“Think Gigi is with them?” I wondered.

“Probably not. She’s busy studying for an exam. I saw that she requested time off tomorrow and the day after, so I don’t think she has the time to go out for drinks.”

Giselle was getting her bachelor’s in dental hygiene at UM, and everytime I spoke to her she was swamped with work. I had no idea she needed to request time off, though. Must be an intense program.

“Did you ever go to college?” I asked Jimin.

He nodded, “I got my bachelor’s in psychology.”

Well, I had not been expecting that.

“Really?”

“Yeah, but I never went back to get my master’s,” We turned onto the long road that led to his parent’s house. “I might after the Olympics.”

It was interesting to hear about his goals post-swimming. I never had those. My entire life was going to be swimming, and then, once I could no longer compete, I was opening my own swim school. After a couple of years of coaching under my belt, the plan was to start training professional athletes until I could join the Olympic coaching team. The accident was a very traumatic and eye-opening experience for me, so most of those plans ended up getting changed and modified over the years.

“What about you?” Jimin asked, pulling up to the curb.

“I went through an accelerated program at UCCS. Just graduated with my Masters in Athletic Training back in April.”

Neither one of us seemed to be ready to break the bubble we created. Even if we were just talking about school, it felt too intimate to leave. Holding hands in my car was new and I was worried if I opened the car door all of this would turn out to be a dream. The date, the confession; all of it.

“I should get going,” Jimin sighed, still not moving his hand from mine. “It’s late and I have to drive home.”

I was the first one to move away. He was right. It was almost midnight and I had a really difficult time tonight. All of that yelling really took a toll on me. Jimin did not move until he heard the click of my seatbelt unfastening.

“See you tomorrow?” He asked when I rounded the car. Getting out of the car, he held the door open as I slid inside. “I know we were out later than we thought we’d be.”

I nodded, “We can have a late morning. 8:30 instead of 6.”

“Sounds good. See you then.”

He closed my car door and jogged to his truck. It was parked in the driveway today. I pressed the button to roll my window down.

“Drive safe!” I called out.

Looking over his shoulder, Jimin grinned and threw a hand up. I watched him climb into Fiona and tried to keep myself from worrying too much. It was so dark outside and he could be exhausted behind the wheel. Who knows what could happen to him.

He caught me staring and waved at me again. I returned it with a small smile. The truck stopped for a second and his phone was his hand. My cell phone vibrated in the cupholder.

Jimin: I’ll be okay

Jimin: Text you when I get home, k?

Looking back at the truck, I found him already looking at me. I nodded my response. He smiled at me again, waved, before finally backing out of the driveway. I did not move until I could no longer see his truck in my rearview. My phone buzzed one more time.

Jimin: At the stop sign on Woodland and Ann Arbor-Saline

Jimin: Go home. I’m here. I’m fine.

I hesitated texting him back when I knew he was driving, but decided that I would just have to trust he would not open it until it was safe.

Me: Get out of my head, kid

Finally putting my car in drive, I threw my phone back in its spot and made the ten minute drive down the road to the Anderson house. All of the lights were off when I pulled up and I was as quiet as a mouse walking to the backyard.

I was beyond tired but still needed to get my nighttime routine done. Stripping out of my clothes, I turned on the shower and took off my makeup. Tonight wasn’t a wash night, so I was not in the shower for long. I heard my phone vibrating as I put on lotion and I quickly threw on a night shirt and went to my bedroom.

Jimin: Who says you aren’t in mine, meemaw

Jimin: I’m home now so you can get some sleep

Jimin: Night, geezer

I snorted. That was a new one. Crawling into bed, I got comfortable under my blankets and thought about a good comeback.

Me: Thank you

Me: Geezer? That’s such an geriatric thing to say, you whippersnapper

Jimin: LOL night 🫰🏼

Me: Night 🌜

I quick sent Taehyung a text to make sure he and Milo go home safely before putting my phone on the charger. Jungkook sent a text to our group chat an hour ago to let us know he was in his apartment back in Detroit. He was in Ann Arbor so often since Darcy lived out here, but he had bought a multi-million dollar home in Corktown when was first signed to the Red Wings in 2019. Milo was the one to reply to my text, signing his name at the bottom, since Taehyung passed out in the car on their way back home.

I took my medications and started up a game of solitaire while I waited for them to kick in. My psychologist had sent me to Michigan with a three month supply. I was planning my first trip back next week so I could see the boys in time for their first big competition of the season. While I was in town, I would pick up another three month supply. We were making the arrangements work as best as we could, and I was lucky I had a large group of people willing to support me during this transition.

Finally I felt the sleeping pills kicking in and I went to my white noise app. I hated falling asleep in silence and Emery had suggested the app while we were in a session. I paid for a yearly subscription and never regretted the fifty bucks. It had been a huge help in lulling me to bed.

Lights out and blankets wrapped snugly around my body, I closed my eyes and thought about everything that had happened. Jimin liked me back, asked me on a date, and told all of his friends about his infatuation with me before I even realized something else was going on. I was his dream girl. That put a lazy smile on my face. Then, I could no longer think about anything and was plunged into a dreamless sleep.

Taglist: @ownthesunshine @screamertannie @lovelytaes-blog @pernesianparapio @tae-with-some-suga @sumzysworld @chimmisbae @adventures-in-bookland

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bingbongsupremacy · 11 months ago

Text

Camp Hawkins AU Pt. 2

pairing: Steve Harrington x plus sized reader

Warnings: Use of Y/N.

The story doesn't mention a lot about being plus sized but it is there.

Summary Overall: It's your third year being a camp counselor at Camp Hawkins and your 7th year knowing Steve. Every year your crush seems to grow stronger and stronger.

Pt. 2 Summary: You've been avoiding Steve ever since you caught him and and Nancy making out at the Lake. Unfortunately, you can't avoid him forever. While helping him clean up after a messy s'more night, he approaches you.

*Not Proof Read*

ABC List Part 1 Stranger Things Masterlist

*****

It's been two weeks.

I've done my best to avoid Steve and Nancy as much as possible, which is proving to be a very hard thing to do.

Morning meetings are the worst. Every morning at 5 am, the counselors are expected to meet at the dining hall for a brief run down of the day. Usually everyone is still in their PJ's, hoping the meeting will be short enough for everyone to catch a few more minutes of sleep before the kids get up.

The mornings are usually pretty cold. Almost everyone shows up in some sort of jacket or sweat shirt. Not Steve. Every morning he comes dressed in a nice fitting T, perfectly showing off his arms.

Stop staring at Steve.

Stupid crush. Stupid fucking crush.

I force myself to look away from Steve. Instead of his usual spot by Nancy, he's decided to take a seat next to Robin and Vickie, one of the other camp cooks.

" If I didn't know any better, I'd say you have a crush on Harrington. " Eddie's voice is teasing but quiet.

I snap my head towards him. " Do not. " I state sternly, fear running through my veins. He can't find out.

Eddie chuckles. " You sure do stare a lot for someone without a crush. " Eddie's elbows rest comfortably against the table. His legs are sprawled out, not bothering how much room they take up. His hair is tossed up into a sleepy bun, a rare sight for the man who always has his hair down. " Don't worry, I won't tell. " He raises a finger to his lips, indicating my secret is safe with him. He winks, sending a flurry of embarrassment running through me.

I've never liked Eddie like that, but he sure does know how to fluster someone.

" I don't like him. " I insist. " So you don't have anything to keep secret. "

Eddie nods mockingly. " That's not what Henderson told me...but if you insist..." He holds his hands up in surrender.

I let out a small groan. Of course Dustin blabbed to Eddie. Dustin tells Eddie everything. Nothing even happened, I don't understand why Dustin spinned it to sound like we made out.

" Is everything alright over there? " Hopper asks, looking over at me and Eddie. " Are you feeling alright? "

" Yeah, perfectly fine. Just a little headache. " I lie.

" Well, if you're alright, we'll get back to today's agenda..."

My eyes scan across the table. Across the way, Steve's eyes meet mine. On his face is a small look of...confusion?

This is going to be a tough morning.

-------

The loud chatter of happy campers slowly fades away as the large oak dining hall doors close. Soon, Steve and I are left alone in the echoing room.

I begin picking up various chocolate wrappers on the floor the tables. They'd somehow managed to completely trash the dining hall in a single hour.

" So..." Steve begins, cutting through the silence. " are you and Eddie...a thing? " He asks calmly, glancing over at me from the table he's wiping down.

I let out a small laugh. " Me and Eddie? No. No way. He's...not my type. " The constant smell of weed is headache inducing. Frankly, it's confusing how Hopper hasn't fired him for drugs. He doesn't sell to kids but that definitely doesn't mean he doesn't sell to other of age counselors.

Plus he's not really into relationships. He's more of a hit it and quit it type.

" What is your type? " Steve asks. I feel his gaze on me as I start scrubbing one of the tables with a wet rag.

" Not Eddie, that's for sure. " I scrub a little harder at a hardened drop of melted marshmallow. " I like guys who...I don't know, like the same things as me. Why do you ask? " I don't understand why he gives a shit about my love life.

Steve shrugs, his gaze finally moving away. " I saw you and him this morning and I thought maybe you were dating or something. It's stupid, it doesn't matter. "

" Still single. " I mumble.

A thick silence settles in the room. Once again, Steve is the one to break it.

" Are you mad at me? " His voice is soft, like he's worried or something.

I look over at the brunette. " No. " I reply honestly. " Why would you think that? "

We both pause where we are, instead occupying ourselves by looking at each other. We're both trying to read each other.

Steve shrugs, folding his arms over his chest. " You just seem...distant. I don't know, ever since you caught Nance and I at the lake we don't talk anymore. Did I do something? "

I shake my head. " You...you didn't do anything. "

" Then why are you avoiding me? "

If I tell him he'll probably get weirded out. I mean, how awkward is it to be around someone who has a massive crush on you when you don't reciprocate the feeling?

But it might help me get over him if he stops actively trying to talk to me.

I'm going to do it. I need to. Fuck, but what about Nancy?

Fuck Nancy. I need to get over this man. This handsome, kind man.

" I have a crush on you, okay? " I blurt out. " It's stupid, I know. You're with Nancy, I understand that. "

His eyes widen in surprise. " What? "

" I don't want to make things awkward. I'm trying to get over you, that's why I'm avoiding you. Fuck, can you please just stop asking questions now? You got your answer. "

I feel a blush creep onto my cheeks. I did it. I told him.

" I like you to. " Steve pushes himself away from the table he's leaned against. He walks towards me.

My eyes go wide. " What? "

He's joking. Right? He has to be joking.

No this has to be a dream, some weird fucking dream. In no universe would Steve Fucking Harrington like me back.

" I like you too. " Steve finally makes it to me. He stands a close, leaving only a few inches of space between us. His eyes stare into mine, a small smile resting on his lips. " I have liked you for the past couple of years. "

I shake my head, stepping back to put some distance between us. " You're with Nancy. You can't like me. That's fucked up. I don't want to be a homewrecker-I can't be. You-you and Nancy are good together. "

Steve shakes his head. " We're not together, Y/N. I broke up with her. For good this time. " He sighs, running a hand through his hair. " Just because we're good together doesn't mean we're meant to be together. "

I'm the reason they broke up. Robin was right. I'm the fucking worst. Who ruins a relationship? I mean, I didn't know I was ruining it, but Steve's crush on me ruined everything for them. Nancy probably hates me.

" Nancy has known about my crush for a while. " Steve admits nervously. " That's why we've broken up so much. I-no matter what I do I can't get you out of my fucking head. " He lets out a frustrated sigh. " Your smile, your eyes, fuck it's all I see at night. I sound insane, I know, but I don't know what to do. I can't just be in a relationship with someone else when all I think about is you. "

I continue to create space between us. " So I'm the reason you guys broke up? " Guilt begins to build up in my stomach.

" No! " Steve shakes his head. " You-you didn't do anything. There were plenty of other problems involved with our break up. This wasn't your fault. Honestly, this has been building up for years. Even if I didn't have a crush on you, Nancy and I probably would've split for good anyways. "

I still feel horrible. Like I contributed to their break up.

" Please, Y/N. You have to believe me. This wasn't your fault. "

I search Steve's eyes for any sign of lying. His expression is desperate, like he's scared I'm going to leave.

I stop.

Relief floods Steve's face.

" You really like me? " I ask quietly, scared he's going to laugh and make fun of me for believing him. He did have a mean streak in high school. I thought he grew out of it though.

" I swear on my life, I like you. " Steve's expression is sincere. " I like you so much sometimes I feel like my heart is going to explode. "

I smile at the man. I never would have imagined this would happen. " I like you too. "

Steve begins to walk towards me again. This time, I don't run away. Once he's a few inches from me, he gently takes my hand. " Will you go on date with me, Y/N. "

" I would love to, Steve. "

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sachirobabe · 9 months ago

Text

Chapter 6

Gojo Satoru x reader

Wc: 2835

Curseless au

Summary: Amidst the zombie apocalypse, your courage shines as you not only saves lives but capture the heart of Gojo Satoru. Together with his first-year students, you all embark on a perilous journey, not only for survival but in a quest for a cure that adds a poignant layer to the unfolding romance.

<— Previous | Masterlist | Next —>

You packed as much as you could in your backpack, it was hard finding the balance between clothes and medical supplies; you never know what could happen.

Satoru somehow always finds a way to be near you, right now is no different. "Which ones should I bring?" He smiles happily, showing you two parts of socks, both having the most crazy and ugly patterns you've seen.

"Don't you think those are a little out of style, Satoru?" You raise an eyebrow at his sock choices.

"Yeah? Well I could say the same for you." He eyes what you're putting in your backpack.

"Are you suggesting we go to a mall? I hear they have great deals." You laugh, "buy one get the whole store for free."

Satoru laughs loudly, throwing his head back, his white hair going everywhere. You've started to find some of his hairs on your clothes now that you've been near him for a while. Each time you do, you return it rightfully back to him.

"C'mon, we should go get our weapons." You roll your eyes, but before you left you turned back to face him slightly, "and bring the pink ones." You point to his left hand.

He shakes his head, still chuckling to himself and throwing his backpack over one shoulder. Despite you guys planning on being gone for a few weeks, Satoru suggested everyone just bring one backpack, it was safer that way in case you all had to be running.

You meet up with Itadori who seems excited about switching out his brass knuckles for a gun. "Are you still going to use your bow?" He asks you.

"Probably not. I don't see how effective it would be, bullets are faster and quicker." You answer, your back feeling empty without your arrows.

"It would be quieter though. None of the guns here have silencers." He tells you. You only shrug, but still opt to use a gun.

It was still dark outside, with it being winter the sun arose later, that also meant it would be freezing outside. You zip up your third layer jacket, knowing you'd need it.

Shoko looks exhausted, she had a tendency to stay up late reading, last night was no different.

"Nobody's carrying you." Satoru points to her and she rolls her eyes.

"I'll be fine."

"You really should've gotten more rest. We aren't stopping until sundown." Nanami's deep voice echoing in the room. Shoko goes off into the kitchen, most likely to make some coffee for the go.

"Who's carrying the food?" You say, looking at everyone who's only carrying things in one backpack, knowing it'd be a lot of food to carry for everyone going.

"I have some granola bars and other small things, but if we want to eat, we'll need to hunt and cook it ourselves." Nanami says, "I suggest bringing your bow still, the guns scare the animals." You nod and make a mental note to grab if before leaving.

"Won't the fire we'd be cooking our food on bring attention?" Nobara asks.

"Not at night. Nobody in their right mind is out at night." Satoru answers for Nanami, wrapping a scarf around Megumi for warmth, knowing his face gets cold easily.

Everybody had chosen their guns, and were waiting at the basement door, you had quickly gone back and grabbed your bow and arrows.

"How're we gonna get let back in?" Itadori asks Maki.

"This door leads underground, We can get back in through there." She says, putting on her gloves, mentally preparing herself for the cold to hit her.

"Where is it," Megumi says, slightly muffled by his scarf.

"A little into the woods." Inumaki signs, he pauses before saying anything else, but ultimately signals he's done.

"Good enough for me." You smile and join back in, you had been practicing signing with Satoru and Inumaki while you were healing. You were getting a lot more comfortable. "Ready." You say.

Satoru leads the group, you falling somewhere in the middle to protect the younger ones, Nanami found himself in the back. It was a narrow hallway after the stairs.

You were a little claustrophobic, but this wasn't too bad, you still had a little room put your arms halfway out, but nobody could walk side by side down there.

It was cold already, your breath could be seen and you weren't even outside yet. You prayed to whoever was above that this would be a safe trip with no casualties.

Satoru signaled to stop as he opened up the door above, it took a little strength because it had been frozen, but that was no issue for him. He went up first and Megumi following after him.

After everyone was out, Nanami shut the door, making a mental note of where the door was when you'd all return. Everybody took out their flashlights, the sun was peeking on the horizon, but it'd still be awhile before you'd all be able to see.

You scoped the area around, making sure no zombies were close. Your gun was over your shoulder, but you had never shot one before. Nanami gave you the basic rundown.

The single file line that was underground had dismembered, you found yourself walking with the second-years, Nanami and Shoko leading the way and Satoru with his students.

You all kept conversations at a low volume, you were very tense. Every noise caused you to look in that direction despite nothing being there when you had looked prior.

At some point, Satoru and you had ended up behind the second and first years, time went by much faster after the sun came up, it was warming, but not enough.

"You scared?" Satoru asks.

"Not really." You answer, putting your flashlight away, calmer too now that you could see around you.

"That's good." He says, copying you and turning his flashlight off.

"I am starting to get hungry, though." You rub your stomach.

"Same here, you take a bite out of me and I'll take a bite out of you." He jokes, you roll your eyes at him and call him stupid. "I know Nanami said we would only stop to sleep, but he'd let us take a break after a while."

"Good, I know our legs will be needing it." You chuckle.

Nothing interesting had happened for the last 4 hours, occasionally you'd run into a zombie and Nanami would get rid of it then keep walking. The cold wasn't bothering anybody no more, who knew walking for hours would make you sweat.

"Let's go for another 4 hours and see how we feel." Nanami tells the entire group, Satoru extends his hand towards you to help you up and you gladly take it.

After the four hours the sun was setting, Nanami led the way to the first checkpoint to get settled into for the night.

You're unsure on how they found this place, but you're not complaining. It's in the middle of the woods, surrounded by trees which oddly makes you feel safe.

It was a little dusty inside, but everything was intact. The second years were tasked with setting up the beds and the first years did some light cleaning.

"You've got an hour or so of daylight to catch anything." Shoko tells you as she hands you a small map of the area.

"Any preferences?" You chuckle and wink at her, "You comin' Satoru?" You yell behind you.

You hear rushed footsteps and see the white haired boy, now wearing a beanie. "Aww, how cute." You pinch his cheek really hard making him frown.

"Can I shoot one?" Satoru asks as he opens the door for you both.

"Be safe." Nanami waves you two off.

"Absolutely not. You'll shoot me." You joke.

"How'd you know my plan?" He bumps into you. Your head shakes and you sigh at him. "Let's try this way." He points to your left and you both walk in that direction. "How're you feeling?"

"I feel alright, not too bad. And you?"

"Just cold." He shivers.

"You didn't have to come with me, I could've gotten Nanami or Shoko." You say, ducking under a tree branch.

"I'm offended." He says loudly and you hit him to remind him that he's scaring off the animals. "I'm better than any of them, so I figured you'd want the best."

"Cocky much?" You roll your eyes, "didn't I save the 'oh so strong one'."

"I wasn't armed." He side eyes you. "Plus I know you enjoy being around me."

"Mhm. And what gave you that idea?" You scrunch your nose.

"You're always near me."

"You follow me everywhere I go." You deadpan and he thinks for a moment, but ultimately changes the subject.

He extends his strong arm, making you huff as you run into it, he puts his finger to his lips, eyeing what's in front of him.

A fox was half behind a tree, it hadn't seen you both yet so you quickly crouch down and pull his tall self with you. Quietly you remove an arrow from your back, letting your bow fall slowly into your hands.

It was eating something it had killed, all of its attention was on it. You carefully draw your bow, slowly so it didn't make much noise, your aim was right at its head, wanting to make this quick and as painless as possible.

You let out a breath and released the arrow, the fox made a noise as it was hit and ultimately fell to the ground. Satoru was up before you were and ran as quickly as he could to finish it off.

He tied the foxes legs together to make it easier to carry. "Nice job." He praised. Then he pauses taking a good look at the fox. "What the fuck..." he whispers.

"What's wrong?" You ask worriedly.

"You hit it right in the eye." He says amazed. "You're incredible." His compliments gave you butterflies.

You took the arrow out of its eye and put it behind your back with the others. Satoru insisted on carrying the fox himself, you think he just wanted to show how strong he was. It was about 30 pounds, his guess.

Satoru tried to gloat about how he did all of the work, but nobody in their right mind believed him. Nanami was impressed, he was worried most of the animals would be dead from the zombies.

You watch from the window as Nanami chopped up some wood, you were just keeping a lookout for him in case anything happened, but Satoru had a sour look on his face.

He knew it was wrong. He quickly hid his very expressive face and stood alongside with you to see what was so interesting about Nanami.

"Oh good, now that you're keeping a lookout for him I'm gonna run to the bathroom real quick." You say and leave him.

Now he feels stupid for thinking you were just watching Nanami to see him in action. Nanami then dragged him out to help make the fire and skin the fox.

You've never had any sort of animal besides the basic ones, but fox wasn't too bad, it was bland.

"I'm still hungry." Itadori says.

"No, we have to save this." Nanami frowns.

"Please?" Itadori rubs his still growling stomach.

"I don't mind hunting, Nanami." You join in, feeling bad for Itadori.

"That's not the issue, I'm afraid that there won't be many animals left to hunt." He explains. "Go drink some water, Itadori. Fill your stomach."

Itadori sighs and does just that before getting ready for bed. Nanami kept the fire alive in the fireplace. Nobody could see smoke in the dark and especially not this far into the woods. You still suggested that somebody keep watch and he agreed.

You offered to do first watch, so you sat in the living room couch, feeling the warmth of the fire. Shoko handed you a book to read, but you had gotten some word puzzles to work on instead.

Just as you thought everyone had gone to bed, Satoru startles you as he walks into the living room with a blanket and pillow.

"What're you doing?" You frown.

"I wanted to keep you company." He smiles widely, setting his pillow up against you and lying down with his blanket, his long legs were stretched across.

"At least get some sleep." You shake your head and return to your puzzle. He mumbles something and you notice his eyes are closed. He's so exhausted, he barely sleeps every night and it catches up to him.

You hear his soft breathing, thankful that he doesn't snore like 90% of the male population. You feel yourself nodding off every once in a while, but you keep yourself busy.

Satoru had shifted in his sleep, but you paid no mind to it. Suddenly he opens his eyes and jolts awake, you're scared as he hyperventilates. You quickly make him face you and you softly tell him to breathe.

His eyes were filled with fear, this was new to you. After a few minutes he had calmed down, slumping himself onto you.

"Do you want some water?" You ask him and he silently nods. You quickly come back and hand it to him, he takes slow sips as he's still calming himself down. "Is..everything alright, Satoru?"

He nods his head, not making eye contact with you. "Yeah. Just a dream." He whispers, rubbing his eyes and feeling his cold sweat go away.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" You ask him and he immediately denies. You frown, he made you talk to him when something was wrong with you, now you are determined to get him to do the same. "What happened? Talking about it makes you feel better." You urge him.

He denies again. This time moving his head to face the wall. You take hold of his chin softly and turn him to face you, "This is my question." You demand and he shuts his eyes momentarily before talking.

"I had a bad dream." He says, almost embarrassed.

"What happened in it?" You urge him more and he shakes his head, "you can't back out of this." You say. "You made me tell you and now I expect the same."

"We all got split up and some of the students turned because of me." He says, his voice trembling a little, he told himself he was not going to cry and he was standing by it.

"That's really scary, I'm sorry Satoru. It was just a dream, nothing bad will happen to any of us." You promise. "It's okay to be upset."

"Ive been having these nightmares for a while." He admits. "Since day one of all of this."

"How often?"

"Everyday." He says. "Well—not since we've had you join us, it stopped for a little."

You nod, thinking about your next words. "I get nightmares too, it's normal. But I believe one day we'll never have them again, all of this will go back to as normal as it can get."

"That's starting to feel like this is now our new normal." He sighs.

"I know." You sink into the couch. "I don't like that you have nightmares."

"I don't like that you get panic attacks." He says.

"Nothing will happen to your students. I promise." You look into his eyes, they are half-lidded as they look down at you from the height difference.

"We'll survive." He nods.

You two were silent for a while. Satoru occasionally took sips from his water.

"Thank you." He says, "for talking to me, I do feel better."

"I told you so." You bump his shoulder lightly.

"Don't you wonder how the rest of the world is?" Satoru lays back down.

"Sometimes." You say.

"Like what are other people doing? Do they feel as hopeless as us?"

"Of course they do. I bet they have nightmares and panic attacks too." You fight the urge to play with his hair, it's really been getting long.

He hums, "You better get some sleep." He says to you.

"And what about you?"

"I won't be able to sleep after my nightmare." He sheepishly smiles and gets up from his spot to switch with you.

"Are you sure?" You say, already feeling your eyes closing as you lay on the warm pillow he left for you.

"Yes." He chuckles and throws the blanket over you, taking your seat and continuing your puzzle.

You begin to drift off, you can smell Satoru's hair off of the pillow. He smells really good. It helps you fall asleep.

Satoru notices your steady breathing and cannot resist the urge to not touch your hair. He twirls it around in his fingers for a little, not in a creepy way at all, but he finds a lot of comfort with you. He notices his heart beating a little quicker whenever he's near you.

He's really screwed now.

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inkblot-inc · 8 months ago

Text

Cruisin' For A Bruisin'

Summary: The crew is on a much needed (and definitely deserved) vacation from hero-ing about. It's important to remember that you can plan out a trip, but you can't anticipate everything that happens on said trip.

Pairing: Natasha Romanoff x Mutant!TigerShark!Reader

[AU Masterlist] Arc 2: This is Part 1

Warning(s): This one's pretty wholesome for the most part, but I will say there are some descriptions of violence. Also strong language, but if you've been here long enough you know that-

Note(s): WELCOME TO ARC 2 BAYBEE! Jaws is back and I could not be any more excited to get back into this shit! As far as I can tell arc 2 is definitely gonna be longer than arc 1, but I hope y'all enjoy :3

Word Count: Skidding pass 2.9k

*squints* I give NO ONE permission to repost or translate my work. Make your own shit!

It'd been a little over a year since you'd joined the Avengers. There were certainly a few incidents here and there, the biggest being the dismantling of the Red Room which, incidentally, led to Natasha reuniting with her folks.

It was certainly one way to meet your girlfriend's family, that's for sure...

Things seemed to finally take time to settle, at least for a little while.

It was newly June and you along with Natasha, Wanda, and Vision were set to go on the cruise trip you'd booked around Christmas time last year.

---

"How were you able to swing two months off mission calls, babe?" You looked up from packing your suitcase at Natasha's voice, a small smirk growing on your face.

You made your way over to Natasha before wrapping your arms around her waist. "Well, I'm still not greenlit to go out in the field for a slew of reasons, Wanda's only put on for specific assignments, Vision's her plus one, and you have, what? Three years' worth of PTO? We're in the clear, Natty. The team will be fine for a month or two."

Natasha let out a hum of agreement before she brought you closer for a kiss. "That- and you harassed Tony to figure it out."

You raised a brow in mock confusion, "I thought that part was obvious." Your mouth pulled into a genuine gleaming smile as you got a laugh out of Natasha as she wrapped her own arms around your neck. "You're a menace."

"Is that meant to be a bad thing?" Your lips met in another kiss.

"Never a bad thing."

As the two of you finished packing, you met up with Wanda in the Common Room of the compound, where she was talking with Vision. The atmosphere was sullen with only one set of bags on the couch.

"What's goin' on? Did they not have SPF50 at the Walgreens?" You set yours and Natasha's bags down before going to get the keys to the Quinjet. "I'm sure we could find robo-sunscreen on the way, man."

Vision looked at the back of his hand for a good second. "I don't think I would need protection from the sun, seeing as my skin is-"

You came and wrapped your arm around the synthezoid's neck, jangling the jet keys by his ear. "Joking! Again. If anything, we'll just cook eggs on you when you overheat like a copper pan. We aren't gonna be on an air-conditioned boat the whole time you know." And just like that, the light atmosphere you'd created sunk back down as Wanda and Vision looked at each other. You looked between the two in clear confusion, "Alright, what's the deal?"

Vision eyed Wanda for a bit longer before turning to look at you and Natasha, who just came into the room. "I'm afraid I won't be able to accompany the three of you on this vacation. I will be remaining on call."

You tossed the Quinjet keys to Natasha as she came further into the room. "That's ridiculous, we all sent in time off notices weeks before now. How'd this even come about?"

Vision let out a sigh, "Captain Rogers came to me with concerns of being understaffed during the next few months with the search for HYDRA operatives still ongoing; With Dr. Banner still off-world, Mr. Barton indisposed with his with his family, and Mr. Stark only expected half of the time, it is rather easy for me to see Captain Rogers' point. Out of the four of us approved for time off, it was determined that I would be the one to stay behind in case of emergency."

---

You'd spent the cruise enjoying each stop between Hawaii and French Polynesia, and it's been anything but a normal experience with you around as the agent of chaos.

Wanda made sure to get plenty of pictures to cement the new memories. There's photos of you "hugging" a manta ray, Wanda and Natasha relaxing on the beach in Bora Bora, several pictures at dinner, and even one of all three of you having an absolute ball watching one of the night shows in Samoa.

Your most recent picture was a group one after you laid on a blowhole in Savai'i. You almost gave the nearby family of five a heart attack, but it was still fun to do.

The last two weeks have been a welcome break for the three of you. Despite some of your more "peculiar" ways of having fun, this has been a freeing and relaxing time. No missions, no threats; a true vacation.

Wanda was currently in her cabin across the hall from yours and Natasha's on her nightly call with Vision. Next time he had to come, Steve be damned. Wanda was a good sport about it when Vision was called in at the last minute, but you all wished he was here as well.

Natasha had taken to video calling with Yelena as well, though they weren't as frequent with her being on her own mission.

You had your own time to talk with Yelena that mainly consisted of her cosigning whatever fuckery you were up to on your vacation.

Part of it might be just to get a reaction out of Natasha.....Which she always did-

It was wonderful to see Natasha just unwound and be less serious, Yelena is one of those people that just pulls it out of her.

Their Relationship had noticeably improved since they were brought back together last year, after learning more about each other that they hadn't had the privilege to learn before, having been separated for their most formative years.

-----

You and Natasha sat on the secluded deck connected to your cabin. The open air was refreshing as you let Natasha lean back into your arms, watching the sunset on the water.

"I'll be honest and say that I can't choose between Tahiti or Savai'i,"

You placed your head on top of Natasha's. "It's always going to be Enoka for me. It was so long ago, but can remember the views on the island as clear as day." Your words were less clear, almost like you were talking through your teeth. "The white sand beaches occupied by damn near everyone in the mornings, green peaks covered in flowers, the quiet that surrounded the deep waters at night... Seeing the sun make everything above me glimmer while it was up high in the sky. Those small "nothing" memories are one of the few things I haven't lost to time... I just wish I had pictures to show it to you."

Natasha slowly rubbed your forearm that was across her stomach as she encouraged your rare moment of open vulnerability. "Well that's why we're doing this. Making new memories closer to home..."

You focused on the soothing gesture as you thought of those same flickering pictures taken through a toddling interpretation.

In the morning you, Natasha, and Wanda were going to part from the cruise ship and make your way to where Enoka would be via a smaller, personal yacht (paid for by you, modified by Tony, who was convinced to do so by Pepper).

There's nothing that could ruin this moment for you. With two of your favorite people by your side, you were going to visit what's no more than a watery lump of land that once was your home and put it to rest for good.

-----

After leaving the cruise ship, Wanda focused on directing the three of you through the smaller crowds of people walking in the opposite direction away from the docks. "What's this boat called again? Delilah?"

Natasha unfolded the small piece of paper in her hand to reread the messy script, "The Blue Delilah. It should be near the end of the pier."

You grasped one of their wrists in each hand, "It's just up ahead!" Both Wanda and Natasha cringed slightly as you just barely missed bulldozing a group of people on your way to the boat that turned out to be a custom Sunseeker 76 yacht.

before the three of you boarded the yacht, a brown-haired man wearing thin rectangular glasses came up to the three of you with a gleam in his eyes. Your eyes narrowed at the camera in his hand before he even started speaking. "I'm really sorry to bother the three of you, but you're Avengers, right?"

You just blankly stared at the man while Natasha, while also on guard, she was more cordial when she addressed the man. "We're not exactly on duty right now, but did you want something?"

Wanda noticed that there was a dark haired woman not too far behind him simply staring at the yacht before looking toward the three of you. The bespectacled man, who began perspiring the longer you stared him down, jumped to answer. "I just wanted to get a picture with you guys, my wife and I are really grateful that you all are around to protect us."

The three of you looked at each other. While all of you weren't keen on taking pictures, the couple seemed harmless enough, Wanda read as much from both of their thoughts. The man, Graydon, was both nervous and excited; worried that he'd come off as a creep that was bothering them. His wife, Tara, had a similar train of thought in not wanting to bother the three public. Tara's mind was notably much quieter than her husband's; presumably the result of a calming tactic.

Wanda mentally relayed this to both you and Natasha before the three of you finished wordlessly discussing the matter. With Natasha nodding, Wanda spoke to the couple. "One picture wouldn't hurt."

Graydon's face lit up as he gestured for his wife to come closer, essentially saying they were in the clear. Tara came to stand on the other side of Wanda while Graydon went to find a passerby to take the picture on his camera. After he showed a willing older man how to snap the photo, he stood on the right of Natasha with a rather dorky thumbs up.

You left your mask on, put you arms over Natasha's and Wanda's shoulders and squinted your eyes a bit to give the illusion of a more positive emotion on your face as the brief flash irritated your eyes.

After the picture was taken, Graydon rushed over to the volunteer cameraman to see how it came out. Tara turned to Wanda with a small smile as she exited her personal space after a small shaking of hands. " Thank you for indulging us, and it really is a pleasure to meet you, Misty Red."

Wanda watched the dark-haired woman walk away in confusion. "Misty Red? Who's that?" Natasha raised a single brow while all you did was laugh at Wanda's expense.

Natasha's confusion didn't last long with her own deduction skills. "Apparently that's what the people are calling you," a slow smirk made it's way to Natasha's lips as you were still laughing, "I mean, it does makes sense." The redhead was the first to turn and make her way toward the ramp of the yacht.

"I can't decide if they made you sound like a wrestler or a porn star! I just-" You broke another bout of laughter.

Wanda's eyes narrowed at your juvenile line of thought as she crossed her arms. "It isn't even that funny, Jaws. You're just milking it at this point,"

You took a second to recover from your laughter, "It's funny to me. You don't gotta get it cuz I think it's funny. There's no shame in what you do, Wandy."

Natasha rose her shoulders as she continued to make her way onto the boat. "That's just what happens when you let the public name you."

Wanda almost felt the need to defend her lack of an alias, "I didn't think it had to be very high on my list of priorities!"

You lightly pushed the brunette forward and up the ramp to The Blue Delilah. "Uh huh, get on the boat, Misty Red."

---

When You, Natasha, and Wanda all made it onto The Blue Delilah, a smaller inconspicuous boat pulled off behind it at the same time, noticing that the yacht had a discreet Stark Industries logo. Their plan isn't clear at the moment, but it is clear that they're tailing The Blue Delilah. They follow a long way behind, but have their own tracker placed on the ship so they don't lose the yacht.

The three of you were on the private yacht for about four days so far travelling to Enoka.

Note: All citizens of Enoka have the location of Enoka ingrained in their brains, so Jaws always knows where it is. This is a similar practice for the inhabitants of a certain other living island...

As you got closer to the island, it was clear that it's not completely submerged, but it definitely looks different to how you remember.

The goal now was to see if there were any inhabitants on the island that were still alive and who survived the flood over a decade ago.

You didn't voice it, but there was a new sense of anxiousness and hope that started brewing in you at the prospect of going home.

Maybe there actually was a "home" there left...

-----

About a day out from the Island, the engine to The Blue Delilah seemed to stutter, so you went to check it out and before you reach the engine room on the back pad, you noticed large ripples from something that dove back into the water.

Soon after you heard sounds of a struggle on the yacht and booked it back to where Wanda and Natasha were.

There were two attackers engaged in fighting with the two women, four were on the floor unconscious already. It's rather bold for a group of six, well seven.

Jaws grabbed the arm of the seventh attacker that tried to sneak up on them and threw them over their shoulder.

The attacker you were dealing with was a woman and she had armor that stood out a bit more than the others; she had less of it, toned brown skin shown through the large gaps between the armor pieces, and the shoulders were a bit more prickly and menacing in comparison.

'Definitely their leader.'

You raised an eyebrow at the sort of reptilian bone mask obscuring most of the woman's face. "What, were you too good for Bleach?"

You can see the woman visibly squint behind her mask before she grabs two daggers from their place on her hips, "I know fuckin' Kisame isn't talkin' about me, "

Your own eyes narrowed at her retort. 'Well fuck you, too.'

With both of you having been insulted by the other, the two of you rushed each other. The two of you were essentially going blow for blow for a while before you knocked the bone mask off of your attacker's face.

It revealed more dusky brown skin, a few scars on her face and a tattoo of some kind under her right eye. The woman turned to face you fully, wiping blood off the corner of her lip. "You might be one of the more skilled pirates I've come across. It's a shame I consider your life past tense already."

Suddenly, the woman then tackled you off the yacht, knocking your breathing apparatus off in the process, hoping to hold you down and drown you herself. Her daggers reaching to slice at your now exposed neck.

Putting her knife up to your neck, she then notices the gills on each side of it, which throws her off.

It's then, underwater, that she gets a good look at you before her eyes widen considerably, confusing you.

"Y/n, is that really you?"

There's that name, your name. Hardly anyone called you by your given name when you were little, and you hardly cared, but...

"Ys tath uyo, Y/n?"

Your own eyes widen at the familiar language coming from this woman's mouth. Only one person would really insist on using it back then...

"Sienna?"

And with that one word, the woman threw her daggers to the side leaving them to float in the water away from the two of you before tightly wrapping her arms around your neck. You hug her back just so.

After the two of you pulled away, she almost immediately slapped you with a new fire in her molten brown eyes.

"Agh shit! Did you grow talons?!" It wasn't hard enough to actually hurt, but you definitely felt the woman's nails drag across your face.

"Ehrwe ni eth FUCK veah uyo eneb?! Y thugoth uy' DDEA lla heste rayse!"

Sienna went to smack you again before you held both of her wrists in your hands to keep her at bay, your eyebrows furrowed. "Y itd'dn eyrall cieded ot velae, ni cesa uy' omowesh trogof!"

Sienna shook her head as she struggled to get free of your grip, her dark locs waving wildly in under the water. "Elt og of 'em! Y vat'ehn retnotfog shit!" Sienna then began to try and kick at you to let her go, so you brought her into another hug as she resisted.

Her attempts grew more and more feeble as the power behind her punches to your chest fizzled out. It was only then that you realized she was crying.

Sienna's voice was raw and heavy with emotion, "Ehrwe ddi uyo og?! Y odloke nad Y odloke nad Y odloke lla rove rof uyo..."

You let her sob into your chest as you held her, floating in the underwater quiet.

"Y'm ghrit ehre, sersit."

** footnote: I wanted to use a completely different script for the Enokan language being spoken, but I couldn't find a way to import it so that it was shown, so instead I made a simple code using typoglycemia (aka just unscramble the letters of each word). To make it so that it didn't look as clunky, I sometimes replaced (i) with (y). Some words that end with vowels may have an apostrophe that takes the place of the vowel. Apostrophes can also be found at the beginning of words with vowels for fluidity's sake. I didn't think swears should be scrambled cuz that just *looks* off to me. The point of these changes is to have this resemble a spoken language more than it is a blatant tactic to confuse you.

Here's a word unscrambler in case you need it

#jaws au #jaws: arc 2 #marvel #marvel fanfiction #black widow #natasha romanoff #scarlet witch #wanda maximoff #mutant!reader #black widow x reader #natasha romanoff x reader #natasha romanoff x you #natasha romanoff x yn #jc inkworks #ink.nat #ib-jc.

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mintylovesredsocks · 1 month ago

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Chapter 9 of OAPOD (Evil!Red AU) sneak peak!! This is the first few sentences!!

“I’ve brought up some snacks!” Bridget said, unveiling a tray of goods. “That’s lovely, Bridget,” Chloe said, coughing awkwardly into her hand. She stood up from the bed and quickly walked over to her. “Thank you so much.” Red glanced at them from the bed, but was too overwhelmed to move. It wasn’t long before Chloe returned to her side with a sweet treat in her hands. “Are you sure we can trust this?” Red whispered to Chloe, eyeing the sweet treat suspiciously. Chloe shrugged. “I’m starving,” Chloe murmured. “I’ll take the risk.” Red watched with curosity as Chloe lifted the chocolate brownie to her mouth and took a slow bite of it. Red eyed Bridget, who was now standing in front of them with a tray full of baked goods in her hands. Red was surprised at the array of goods she’d never seen before. She remembered hearing murmurs about ‘sweet’, colourful treats from unsuspecting guards when she was younger, but her mother had strictly forbidden her from having any. This ‘Bridget’ seemed more than happy to share out sweet treats, however. The pink-hair girl was smiling brightly at Chloe as she ate the treat. “Mmm, this is delicious, Bridget!” Chloe hummed, chewing the treat as she spoke. Suddenly, her eyebrows raised and she let out a moan of delight. “Oh my gosh, is that…?” “Popping candy?” Bridget finished, grinning. She let out a little giggle and clapped her hands happily. “Yes! It’s a Wonderland tradition to put popping candy in sweet treats. It acts as an extra surprise!” “It’s amazing!” Chloe said, swallowing down her bite of brownie before immediately going in for another. “Did you make these?” Bridget nodded with a big smile. “Yes! I made them this morning!” “When did you find the time?” Red asked, raising a brow. “I thought you had princess duties to attend to?” Bridget laughed politely and shrugged. “I just… get up really early and do it in the morning!” Red thought about her mother and how, growing up, she would barely spend any time away from her duties as Queen. No matter how much Red begged, the Queen would prioritise her job over everything. Would this Bridget choose to spend time executing people over spending time with her daughter? Red would guess not.

I wish I had more of this chapter written but my life has been hectic recently omg. I'm about 2k words in so there won't be an update until at least next week. But, I think it'll be an interesting read for sure.

Chapter 10 is gonna be even better. I can't wait until I get to that!!

Also I haven't set a number of chapters on the fic yet bc I don't want to get ahead of myself or anything, but given the trajectory for the story I have in mind, it will be at least over 15 chapters. Probably more like 20 but I don't wanna jinx it so we'll see.

I'm also planning to have some 'sister' fics set in this universe but I probably won't start on those until this fic ends. Or at least near to it ending.

Anyway, that's just an update on where this fic is at for anyone interested!!

#descendants rise of red #rise of red #descendants #red x chloe #red descendants #chloe charming #glassheart #red of hearts #redcharming

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letstalkaboutfandomsbaby · 1 year ago

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How do you feel about pretty woman au with Nanami hehehe

Idk if this is the same person but since I've gotten TWO asks about it, I might as well write a Pretty Woman AU for Nanami 💕

CW: sex worker reader, fem reader, implied smut, kind of a slow burn

───────────────

So, I imagine it going like this: Nanami has this big event to go to for work and his coworker, Gojo, has been bugging him to get a date, and his parents have been on his ass for months about dating and finding a wife, and quite frankly Nanami is sick of it all.

What's his solution? Hire a sexworker for the week so he can go this dumb party to get Gojo off his back and go to dinner with his parents to get them off his back. Hopefully if they see you two together and he claims you're his girlfriend, they'll stop pestering him and meddling with his personal life. Killing two birds with one stone.

So, he hires you from an escort website. You're high end, "classy", pretty and negotiable, the perfect person to play the part of his girlfriend.

You two have lunch to settle the details a week beforehand. You agree to his terms—pretend to be his girlfriend for a few events, convince his family and coworkers that you've been dating for months—but you have some terms of your own.

"Sex has to be with a condom only," you say as you chew, already browsing the dessert menu. "No kissing, no sentimentality. Sex is sex, nothing more. I don't want you falling in love with me."

"I didn't plan on having sex with you," he replies, wiping his mouth with his cloth napkin. "I also don't plan on falling in love with you."

You scoff. "They all say that."

You're a bit crude at times, but otherwise you're a perfect fit. You agree to each other's terms. He sends you a large pdf file with important details about himself, details about "you", and details about your "relationship".

"Memorize this by next Friday. We'll be going to a party for my company, and then we'll have lunch on Saturday with my parents. They'll be in town for a week, so we'll be spending a day or two with them."

You hum, swallowing the chocolate mousse off your spoon. "You know, I expect to be paid by the hour..."

"I'll give you $50,000 for the whole week."

You almost choked on your dessert. You recovered quickly, covering your mouth, clearing your throat.

"Y-Yes... that..." You cleared your throat again, sitting up straight. "That seems agreeable."

He huffs, taking out his wallet, handing you a credit card.

"You'll need some proper clothes for these events. Don't worry about the cost; I won't take it out of your paycheck."

You take the card, eyeing the metallic rectangle.

"How do you not have a girlfriend?" He shrugs, picking up his wine glass.

"I don't have time for relationships."

───────────────

"You clean up nice," he remarks as he meets you in the lobby of his apartment building. You smile, giving a twirl.

"Don't ask me how much it was."

"Wasn't planning on it." He holds out his arm for you and you grab it, walking out of the building together. You reach his car, and you're off into the night.

"You left your bags at the front desk, correct?"

"Yep," you reply, popping the 'P' at the end of the word. "I had to buy another suitcase to bring everything."

"That's fine," he replies. "The guest room is ready for you. We'll have to share a bathroom, but the guest room is all yours for the week."

You hum slyly, tiptoeing your fingers along his thigh.

"You sure you don't want to share a bed with me?"

He sighs, taking your hand, linking your fingers together.

"I told you. I'm not looking for sex."

"Mmm, alrighty then," you say, leaning back in your seat. "I'm just trying to make this realistic."

"It'll be fine if you memorized everything I sent you—"

"I did, I did." You squeeze his hand, causing him to glance at you. "Don't worry. It'll be fine. I won't mess up."

He nods, bringing your hand to his lips, kissing the back of it. The small action makes you shiver slightly, but he doesn't seem to notice.

───────────────

"Huh?! A girlfriend? When did this happen?" Gojo exclaims, almost dropping his champagne. You laugh girlishly, wrapping yourself around Nanami's arm.

"We've been together for almost six months now. Isn't that right, honey?"

"Yes, dear," Nanami replies calmly, sipping his wine. "Six months on the 21st."

"Oh, you're so much better at dates than I am! This is why I like you." His lips twitch into a smile as Gojo scoffs.

"Damn, Nanami. Who knew you were keeping such a cutie all to yourself this whole time? You should've brought her to the New Year's party! You would've had a blast."

"I don't—"

"Oh, shit, hold that thought: the president's coming over." Gojo takes your free hand, kisses it swiftly. "Nice to meet you, lovely. Call me when you dump this sack of wet laundry."

"Hey—"

"Okay, bye!" he replies quickly, rushing off to another part of the room so he could avoid the president. Nanami sighed, watching his colleague run away, shaking his head.

"For the record," you start, putting your empty glass on a waiter's nearby tray, "I don't think you're a sack of wet laundry."

"That's kind of you, but it's alright. Most of my coworkers think I'm boring."

"You're not boring," you reply, facing him. "Serious, definitely serious, but not boring."

"How sweet of you to say." He finds himself smiling when you laugh genuinely. He looks you over once again, one of many times that night. "That dress suits you."

"Why thank you! I got some help from the girl who was working. She said it would 'accentuate my curves'."

Nanami hums softly. "It does."

You feel your cheeks warm and you clear your throat, adjusting his tie.

"I've got an even cuter dress for tomorrow. It's pink with flowers and a pretty ribbon around the waist." Nanami lets you fiddle with his tie for a bit, smiling softly at your nervous behavior.

"I'm sure you'll look stunning."

───────────────

"Oh, she's a doll, Kento, just a doll!" his mother exclaimed, patting your hand and smiling at you. "I can't believe you kept her from us to long!"

"I wanted to make sure she was worth meeting," Nanami replied, lacing his fingers with yours, smiling at you when you smiled at him.

"But still, she's such an angel. Oh, I wish we could've met you sooner, sweetie. Don't you think so too, dear?" Her husband nodded, focused on cutting into his steak.

"It's wonderful to finally meet you," you said to Nanami's mother. "Ken has told me so much about you. I heard you were the inspiration for his love of cooking!"

"Aw, Kenny, you flatter me, dear," she cooed towards her son. "Oh, but I can't take all the credit. Kento has loved food ever since he was small. I remember him staring in awe at the TV whenever Gordon Ramsey was on—"

"Mother—"

"Oh, don't be shy about it, pumpkin! He was so cute when he was little, eyes glued to the TV when Kitchen Nightmares came on. Oh, don't get me started on all the different cooking shows he would watch—"

"Mom!"

You laughed at their exchange, covering your face when you snorted, making the rest of the table laugh as well. Nanami didn't think you'd have such a cute laugh—there was quite a bit about you that he found himself enjoying within the last two days.

"Oh, jeez... Excuse me, I have to go to the ladies' room," you spoke after a moment, getting up and gingerly leaving the table. Nanami watched you leave, staring at your hips sway back and forth.

"She's a real catch," his mother spoke up, eyeing him. He cleared his throat, nodding and grabbing his drink.

"Yeah. She's great."

"Are you going to propose?"

He chokes on his drink, struggling to clear his throat. "W-We've only been together for half a year."

"Your father proposed to me after half a year." Nanami rolled his eyes, glancing at the restrooms, hoping you'd return quickly.

"That was a different time, Mom. People don't get together that quickly anymore."

She clicked her tongue. "You shouldn't judge a relationship based on how long it is, Kento. Some of the best relationships are the shortest."

He pondered over her words, watching you stop at a table, vaguely hearing you compliment a woman's dress. He stared at you, feeling his mouth go dry.

───────────────

"So we're having dinner on Wednesday, golf on Thursday, and they leave on Friday?"

"Yes," Nanami replied, glancing through some reports before looking up at you. You were in his fluffy bathrobe, hair wet, rubbing lotion over your hands as you stared out at the city. You looked ethereal after a shower, your face glowing under the low light of the room.

"I'm not a fan of golfing," you speak up, making a face.

"You don't have to be," he replies, putting down his papers and standing up, walking towards you. "You can just sit in the golf cart and drink a mimosa and look pretty."

You snorted, laughing that sweet laugh he had come to adore. He stopped at your side, meeting your smile with his own. You clapped your hands, turning to him. You ran a hand over his vest, fumbling with the edge.

"You always look so official. Don't you have sweatpants?"

"I do, but I don't usually wear them when I have company."

"Mm, you should. You should be nice and comfy when you're at home. You should relax."

"I can't relax. I have some work to do."

"Boooooo." You undo his vest, tugging it off his shoulders. "Work can wait. Cmon, go get in your comfy clothes and let's watch a movie."

He snickers, letting you pull off his vest and start unbuttoning his shirt. You were lighthearted until you were halfway down: that's when you stopped. You paused, opening his shirt ever so slightly, revealing his muscular chest. You stared for a moment, feeling your body warm up before you suddenly pulled away, clearing your throat. You handed him his vest, giving a flat smile.

"I'm gonna... go pick a movie."

"...Y/N—"

You rushed past him, moving towards the living room.

"Hurry up! If you're not quick I'm gonna choose something you'll hate."

Nanami stood there for a moment, moving a hand towards his exposed chest, briefly wishing that your soft hands had lingered a bit longer.

───────────────

The rest of the week went on without a hitch. Everywhere you went, everyone adored you. Everyone was convinced that you and Nanami were an item; you had them all fooled.

But the entire time... you found yourself growing fond of the man who hired you. You found yourself falling for him the better you got to know him. You knew it was wrong, it went against your own rules, but he was too good to be true.

"Can I say something?" you asked Thursday night, the day before your last day with him.

"Go for it," he said from the other side of the couch, reaching for the popcorn between you. You paused, weighing your words.

"I wish... I wish we had met under different circumstances." He frowned, glancing at you.

"What do you mean?"

"I..." You fiddled with your hands. "I mean that... I wish you hadn't hired me. I wish we had just met in a coffee shop or something."

He scoffed. "Why's that?"

You couldn't respond. You just looked down at your hands, playing with your fingers. Nanami watched you for a minute before clearing his throat.

"Can I say something as well?"

"Shoot," you whispered, still not looking at him. He cleared his throat, inhaling deep.

"I feel the same." You glanced up quickly, watching him stare ahead. "I wish I had met you under different circumstances as well."

Your breath caught in your throat. "Do you mean... you wish I wasn't a prostitute—"

"No," he cut you off quickly, looking at you. "I wish I had met you at a dinner party so I could enjoy your company without having to pay you, so I could ask you out properly."

The two of you sat in silence for a bit, staring at each other. Nanami sighed, moving the bowl of popcorn to the coffee table, scooting closer to you.

"Can I ask you a favor?"

You swallowed. "What?" He stared at you hard, thinking.

"May I break one of the terms of our agreement?"

"Which... which one?"

Another pause.

"May I kiss you?"

───────────────

You woke up late in the morning, in his bed, wearing his t-shirt. You could smell something divine, hear sizzling from the other room. You eventually slid out of bed, padding your way into the kitchen.

"You're up early." Nanami scoffed, flipping a pancake.

"Ten a.m. is not early."

"It is for me." He laughed quietly, humming when you wrapped your arms around his waist, leaning into his back. "You didn't have to make me breakfast."

"I wanted to," he replied. "You should eat something before we meet my parents at the airport."

"Could've just had cereal."

"True, but still..." You hummed, trailing your fingers over the waistband of his sweatpants.

"You just wanted me to eat your cooking, huh?"

He sighed, grabbing your hand, bringing it to his lips for a kiss. "Maybe."

You giggled, burying yourself into his back, kissing over his shoulder blades.

"You're cute, ya know?"

"I don't think so, but thank you."

You sat down at the dining table, sharing pancakes, fruit compote, and coffee.

"So..." Nanami began, "we broke the your terms of our contract."

"Yeah..."

"...Is it bad that I don't regret it one bit?" You smiled softly.

"No. I feel the same."

"You do?" he asks hopefully, grabbing your hand tenderly.

"Yeah..." You took a deep breath. "Is it bad that I don't want this week to end?"

"No, no, I... I don't want it to end either."

You sat in silence, holding each other's hands.

"Y/N," Nanami spoke, sitting up a bit straighter. "Would you go out with me?"

You felt your heart swell, your throat closing up as you nodded quickly.

"Yes, yes!" You practically leaped into his arms, hugging him tight. You stayed like that for a moment before pulling away. "But I wanna take things slow."

"Yes."

"And I want to stay in my own apartment. I love your place, but I don't think we should move in together yet."

"Understood."

"And I don't want you to spoil me like you have all week."

He sucked in a breath, scrunching his face.

"I don't know if I can do that."

"Kento."

"It's not my fault you deserve to be spoiled."

"Okay, okay... just dial it back a bit. Don't send me on shopping sprees."

"Alright. I'll just surprise you with gifts."

"Ken!"

───────────────

#ask #☀️ asks #nanami kento #fem reader #pretty woman au

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dinsdjrn · 1 year ago

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everything i wanted | j. miller | track three

track two | track four || series masterlist | main masterlist

bodyguard!joel AU

au!joel x singer!f!reader

summary: oh you kissed me, just to kiss me, not to take me home. it was simple, it was sweetness, it was good to know. someone to kiss you was easy, someone to love you was complicated. [w.c: 4.1k]

tags for the chapter: please see series masterlist for series warnings. 18+, smut, anxiety, secret relationship, scars, oral (f receiving), unprotected p in v, dirty talking, praising, lmk if i missed things

a/n: for my love @thetriumphantpanda who listens to me ramble when i worry no one else will want to hear it. thank you ❤️ i'm really proud of this one... i hope you love it too.

track three - we'll never have sex

The next few weeks you found yourself completely lost in Joel. You questioned his motivations and considered your own. The days he was working he would steal a kiss when no one was looking or involve you in a heated make-out session once safe from prying eyes. It never went any further though, he was content just kissing you. You never really talked about what this meant for you either, perhaps you were both scared the glass wall would break.

You won’t lie saying you didn’t think about Joel when you were alone at night, how you would take care of one another, but he was a breath of fresh air. You had had your fair share of lovers; most of which would sweet talk you until they had their way with you, then leave you in the dust. Joel was different though, he didn’t rush things.

You knew when he kissed you he needed it as much as you did. It wasn’t a ploy to get you underneath him, it was more than just a kiss, it was a promise.

You had taken a small break from recording when another note appeared at your recording studio this time. Its arrival just days after Joel informed you that they were worried it was a once off threat. This note reignited the search for this crazed fan.

You still hadn't told anyone about the unknown number messages coming through. You hadn't had one come in since the first night you kissed Joel. You prodded him to see what the note had said that arrived at the studio, but he wouldn't budge. It was frustrating not knowing, when the texts had been almost daily for three weeks and now you were met with radio silence. It set you on edge.

You needed this break from recording desperately.

You had spent the time writing mostly, a piece for Joel you wanted to be just right. When you were writing, you had connected with friends, and had even spent an evening with Joel and Ellie. It was just a once off, you had asked Joel if she would be interested in a movie night with you. You felt guilty taking so much of his time away from her. Joel was hesitant but agreed in the end, it ended up being one of the best nights you’ve had in a long time.

Today was your first day back in the studio since the note. You had a few things you wanted to work on before the day was through. Will and Joel were going to be switching off at lunch today and you knew you wanted Joel to be the first to hear what you had written on your ‘break’ so to speak.

You spent the morning mixing and producing the two songs that had been accepted by the label. They were turning out really well and had the exact vibe you were going for, it was melancholy but still truthful to your lived experience.

Your honesty was the reason your fans connected with you. People frequently shared their deep connection to your music and it was what kept you going.

You sat and listened to the songs on repeat to make sure they were exactly as you wanted them. When you got into this headspace you could feel mothers glaring looks and indifference, trying to dissect the song for how she would see it. Find all the weaknesses and improve them. Everyone else had gone to lunch, Will had gone to switch with Joel and you were sitting there obsessing over every detail.

When Joel came into the room it took your breath away. You hadn’t realized how much he calmed you down until he was standing in the room with you. He made you feel as if both your feet were firmly planted on the earth and your mind slowed down.

He was in a black t-shirt and jeans, as he always was but the way it hugged his form made him look so dangerous. Just looking at him you felt the heat between your legs begin to pool and your blood pressure increase in the best way.

“How are you doin’ today babe?” He asked innocently, just you and him in the room.

“Mm, better now that you’re here,” you smiled.

“Is that so?” He raised an eyebrow at you, smirking. You melted again.

He quickly came over to you leaving a chaste kiss on your lips before retreating to the back wall. It was risky to kiss you here, but you were both desperate to feel one another again.

Your producer returned shortly after your secret reunion with Joel.

“So, how do we feel about solidifying another track today?” He asked, smiling at you.

“I think I have something for you,” You smiled.

“Great!” He clapped. “Do you have instrumentals you want to record first? Or would you rather workshop it and see what happens?”

Time away was good for both of you as a team. You hadn’t realized how frustrated he was with everything until you had come back today. He seemed in better spirits than he had in weeks.

“I actually think I might have a one take for you my friend,” you smiled. You reached for your guitar and made your way into the booth.

“Okay, take one, let’s hear it,” Your producer's voice came through the speaker.

You slowly began strumming the guitar.

“Depollute me, pretty baby,” You started to sing.

Joel was leaning against the back wall, but shifted as you continued to sing the song. He was looking directly at you and rubbing his chin, so desperately wanting to pick your brain for understanding. Knowing he wouldn’t be able to for hours.

You came to the last line of the song, looking past your producer directly at Joel. The tension between you was thick and palpable, but secretive all the same.

“Come and kiss me, pretty baby, like we’ll never have sex.” You finished.

You put the guitar down on the stand and removed your headset.

“Perfect! Just absolutely perfect,” your producer's voice rang from above you.

You exited the booth to discuss the song further and do a bit of mixing to level the sound, but the one take was all you needed.

One take and the undisclosed muse to get the perfect cut.

It was getting quite late by the time you had left the studio, the car ride back to your apartment was quiet between you and Joel. This wasn’t uncharacteristic for you, except he had a grip on his knee that was rather impressive. You swore his knuckles had started to go white.

When you arrived home, you were finally left to be alone with Joel. Something was off with him though, he was still so quiet. His eyes were trained on you as you rummaged through the kitchen for something to eat. You shifted uncomfortably, unsure what to do in this situation. You felt as if Joel was mad at you but you didn’t know how to bring it up to him really.

“So,” you started.

He grunted in response.

“Did you like the song?” You asked innocently.

You were met with more silence from him. Anxiety festered in the pit of your stomach, you wanted him to like the song but this reaction spoke otherwise.

“You can tell me if you didn’t like it. I won’t be hurt, I’ll understand, Joel,” you began to ramble defensively at his silence.

He shushed you.

“It’s not that I didn’t like the song. I loved it,” He started softly.

“It’s just,” his eyes darkened. Your heart rate picked up and he continued. The air becoming thick and heavy with his words.

“You just wrote me a song asking me to kiss you,” he started slowly walking toward you. His eyes were dark with lust and his large frame made you feel incredibly small.

“A song asking me to kiss you, like I’ll never go any further,” he was in front of you now.

His soft brown eyes bore into yours, your back was pressed into the counter, hands gripping it waiting to see what he does next.

“Like I don’t want to take you upstairs and hear you scream my name,” he whispered in your ear.

“Joel,” you breathed, a familiar warm tightness in your stomach ripening.

“A song asking me not to fuck you as if I haven’t been dreaming of the day you’d let me in,” he kissed a spot on your jaw behind your ear.

You inhaled sharply, “Please.”

With that every ounce of restraint you had for another evaporated into the night. Joel’s hands found their way to your hips and yours to his neck. He kissed you like he had never kissed you before, this kiss was hungry. His grip on your hips tightened as he pulled you into him, grinding himself into you. A soft gasp escaped you and he took the opportunity to deepen the kiss. His tongue danced with yours as your hands began to explore his chest and back.

You began to untuck his shirt and he pulled back from you. You were left confused and a bit dumbfounded at his sudden retreat.

“Do you want to stop?” you asked gently, pulling back from him.

“God no, you ju- shit, you need to know something,” He sighed. “No one’s seen me in a long time. There’s some things that I can’t talk about,”

“Joel, it’s okay. Just tell me what you need,” You offered him a small smile.

He grabbed the back of his shirt and slowly pulled it off over his head. You sucked in a breath as you began to take him in.

The way his muscles flexed as he breathed heavily, the softness of his stomach that you knew was still strong. The way a trail of hair dipped from his belly button into his jeans making your gulp and your mouth run dry. And the scars. He had scars strewn across his chest, some smaller than others.

You didn’t react, you didn’t want to gasp and fuss over him. It felt like he was bearing a part of his soul to you, something no one else knew and so you didn’t want to make a spectacle out of him.

You stepped toward him, placing a hand on his chest.

“Tell me if you need me to stop,” You whispered, unsure of yourself.

You slowly began to kiss and nip at his neck, your hands running down his abdomen. He groaned in response, you brought your lips to his chest and began kissing and nipping all over it. He brought his hand to your face and pulled you back to meet his gaze.

“Thank you,” he said, kissing you softly.

“Of course,” You brought your hands down his chest one more time and pressed against the growing bulge in his jeans.

“Now I believe you promised to take me upstairs,” You said and his eyes darkened. “And I’ve heard you’re a man of your word.”

With that you grabbed him by the wrist guiding him to your room on the upper level of the apartment.

As soon as you entered your bedroom he pulled your wrist turning you around to meet him. He wrapped a strong arm around your waist and his other hand pressed against your cheek. He was kissing you again, feverish and needy. This was different from any other kiss you had shared; it was lustful and electric.

His fingers dug into your hip as he deepened the kiss eliciting a moan from you.

He pulled away tugging at your shirt removing it exposing your chest to him. His eyes gave you a once over and he brought his hand to your breast massaging it. You sighed at the feeling.

“Good lord, you have no idea what you do to me,” He groaned.

He brought you to the edge of your bed, the tension almost painfully thick in the air. Joel sank to his knees in front of you. He hooked his fingers beneath the waistband of your pants and panties, bringing them down together in one swift motion not wanting to waste any time. He pushed you to seat yourself on the edge of the bed. You spread your legs for him, showing him how needy and ready you were. He groaned at the sight of your glistening pussy, knowing he was the cause of your undoing.

He grabbed the outside of your thighs, his hands exploring your body as his lips kissed and sucked the insides of your thighs drawing closer and closer to where you so desperately needed to be touched.

“Fuck, darlin’ all this for me?” He teased, kissing the most inner corner of your thigh.

You hummed, “If you ask nicely.”

His eyes looked up to meet yours. You tangled your hands in the soft curls that drove you crazy and massaged his scalp gently with your nails. He leaned into your touch as his eyes softened, pleading you.

“Baby, please?” He said breathlessly.

“Yes, Joel. I need y-, Oh,” You gasped as his mouth surrounded the soft bundle of nerves that ached for his touch.

He had completely infiltrated your senses, the way he sucked on your clit. With every bit of suction he pulled whines and moans from your lips. He hummed against your core. He gripped your thighs tighter, you hoped there would be soft marks in lieu of his hands when you woke. His tongue moved to penetrate your pussy; lapping your taste like you were the freshest summer peach and he didn’t want to waste a single drop of sweetness.

The familiar tight burning pleasure pooled at the pit of your stomach as his tongue dragged back to your clit, the pressure and pace sending you toward the edge. You squirmed under his touch and your hands gripped his hair tightly, drawing him closer to you as his tongue worked your core. Your soft moans and gasps filled the room.

Your pussy began to flutter as you pushed over the edge, you moaned Joel’s name. Your orgasm washed over you, your walls clenched and pussy fluttered at the feeling.

“That’s it, good girl.” Joel hummed against you, kissing your pussy one final time. He stood slowly, your hands fell from his head and you felt small sitting in front of him like this.

He brought himself down to kiss you, you could taste yourself on his lips and it drove you even more wild. You wanted to take care of him and make him feel good.

You took it upon yourself to unbutton his jeans and work his pants down. He stepped out of the jeans and you could see the large straining bulge in his briefs. You pressed you hand to his cock through his underwear and he groaned. He was long and full, your desire for him only grew, desperate to have him inside you.

“Mm, Joel, I think I want to fuck you now,” You hummed, standing in front of his dragging your hands up past his bulge and across his abdomen.

“Fuck yes,” he whispered cupping your cheek and kissing you again.

You pulled his underwear down and his cock sprang to attention, you pushed him down toward the bed and he laid himself down in the middle.

You straddled his hips, nothing in between you anymore, so you rocked your hips into him. You moaned in unison at the feeling.

“Don’t tease me darlin’. I am not a patient man.” He nearly growled and smacked your ass.

“Yes sir.”

You complied by aligning him at your entrance before slowly sinking onto him. His face contorted in pleasure, your gasped, mouth agape at the feeling of him stretching you open. You brought your lips to meet his in another kiss while you adjusted to his size.

“M’gonna take care of you,” you mumbled into him, slowly beginning to rock your hips.

“Ride me, baby. Gonna take such good care of me,” He praised, his hands gripping your hips.

He guided your hips as you began to bounce on his cock. It didn’t take long before you both were stringing curses and moans as he repeatedly filled you to the hilt, hitting your most pleasurable pressure point deep within you. His thrusts slowly began to meet yours and pressure began to build in your core once again, you began to quickly chase your high. Your hips rocking his as your thrusts met one another, his hands guiding your hips at a pace that brought you both quickly to the edge.

Your orgasm came washing over you before you knew it, your movements slowing as you cried Joels name, pussy fluttering around his cock that filled you so wonderfully. You would be sure to make a pattern out of fucking Joel; you had never felt this intense pleasure with anyone and you knew this was a high you’d chase again.

“Good job, baby. Making yourself come on my cock. So fucking perfect,” He praised as he picked up his pace again.

You collapsed on his chest kissing his neck, unable to move from your orgasm that was still washing over you as he fucked into you. His grip on your hips tightened as his hips snapped into you from underneath you. His pacing picked back up to chase his own high. He fucked into you rapidly before his thrusts became a bit more erratic.

“M-Fuck gonna come,” He groaned your name as you slipped off of him.

He came against his stomach and into his hand as you collapsed next to him. Content beyond yourself but completely spent. Just standing in a room with Joel overwhelmed your senses, but the visceral need you felt when he fucked you. It changed your perspective on what sex could be.

When Joel was finished you stood quickly running to the bathroom to get him a damp washcloth. When you walked back to the bed the sight of him laying there cum painting his stomach, dick in his hand was enough to make your pussy flutter again. You helped clean him up before settling into his side, his arm wrapped around you.

“That was,” you started.

“Yeah,” Joel panted.

“I’m clean by the way,” you said awkwardly. It didn’t matter much now as you hadn’t used a condom but for your own peace of mind you brought it up.

“Okay, uh, me too. I haven’t since, well…” He fumbled over his words.

“It’s been a long time for me too, Joel.” You smiled up at him softly stroking patterns into his chest.

“I know it's been a long time, but has it ever felt that,” he paused, looking for the right word, “Perfect?” He asked.

You propped yourself up on your elbow to look at him and kissed him gently.

“The best I think I’ll ever have,” you chuckled at him.

He was right though, you had plenty of partners in the past. You always enjoyed sex, but it had never felt like that. You worried that any other sex will have been ruined as it will never mark up to sex with Joel. You opted not to think too much into it as you’re sure you’d be ready to jump Joel in any moment you found yourselves alone for the weeks to come. That thought left your mind spinning, wondering what this meant for the two of you.

“Joel?” You bit your lip.

“Mm,” he hummed, stroking the hair on top of your head.

“Where do we go from here?” You asked pensively.

“I don’t think we need to go anywhere. We can just be safe up here in our own little bubble,” He assured you.

It wasn’t comforting in the way he thought it was. It freaked you out, you had never really done anything that was just for you. Your life was strategically placed pieces that looked like luck of the draw, but it was all perfectly planned to launch you into stardom. Your mind began to worry and wonder about what your team, your mom, the world, would think when word got out. You hadn’t even defined your relationship but knew it would have to end as soon as the press caught whiff of your affair with Joel, your bodyguard.

“I can hear you thinking,” he whispered softly, as if he was worried you would disappear at the thought.

“I’m just sorting this out,” you clammed up again, lost in your own world.

Joel rubbed your back and you sighed, breath uneven, shaky.

“Hey, hey, what’s going on in that mind of yours?” He prodded again.

“It doesn’t matter, Joel.” You snipped.

“It does. Tell me what’s going on. I want to know where you’re at,”

You sighed, thinking about it for a moment. Hoping your vulnerability wouldn’t push him away, you opted to tell him the truth.

“I’m scared, Joel. My whole life has been carefully curated from the moment I showed up in the local paper. Everything I’ve ever done has been a calculated move to advance my career,” you felt tears well in your eyes.

He pulled you into his side tighter, your head resting on his bare chest and your hand gently drawing patterns across the scars that adorned him to calm yourself down. You couldn’t bring yourself to look at him.

“It’s okay, baby. This can be just for us,” He said before kissing the top of your head.

“It’s just,” you sighed. “Nothing in my life has ever really been mine, it’s been my mothers or my labels or my publicists, but I’ve never really done anything for me. I’m scared that it’s going to blow up in my face.”

“I know, it’s scary, I wish we had met under different circumstances, but I can’t say I regret anything.” He tilted your head so you could look at him.

“Whatever this is, let it just be for us to figure out. If at any point you want out or you want to go further, you just talk to me. I’ll follow your lead, but for now, let’s just enjoy whatever this is while it’s just ours.”

You sat up to really look at him, find any hint of mistruth behind his words. His eyes softened at your concern, he took this moment to rub your back and kiss the top of your head. Such a small and subtle gesture that held so much promise.

“Okay, you’re right.” Your breath shook, “Just you and me, Joel.”

You brought your hand to brush his fluffy gray curls away from his forehead and rested it against his cheek. He leaned into your touch slightly and you realized how intimate these moments with him were. They were uninterrupted by the lives you lead, and made your heart skip in your chest.

You brought your lips to his in a kiss that was soft and light, hoping it felt like a promise to him the way it did for you. He gripped your waist slightly tighter, not trying to go any further but to ground you here with him.

You were both breathless when you pulled away, this kiss held an intensity neither of you had experienced before.

“I’ll go clean up,” you said, now very aware of your sweat stained skin.

“I’ll join you in a second,” Joel smiled, letting you have a moment to yourself.

You stood and made your way to the bathroom, Joel reached over to the bedside table to grab his phone.

He realized he had grabbed the wrong phone pretty well as soon as the screen lit up and went to put it down immediately, but not before he saw a text come through. One that felt like a blow to the chest.

I'm sorry I got so angry. I’m sad they won’t let me see you, but glad it meant you got my note.

He knew he shouldn’t have read it, but your safety was in jeopardy. He took a breath and heard the toilet flush and shower start. He would find a way to bring it up to you, when the time was right.

His hope was that you would bring it up to him before it came to that.

The warm water over your skin was exactly what you had needed. Your night with Joel was everything you wanted it to be and more, but it was still very emotionally charged.

You heard his steps in the bathroom as the water from the shower ran over you. His warm presence filled the space behind you as he kissed your shoulder and you leaned into him. The full ache between your thighs returning in promise to him.

You were spent from the evening but the way his kisses trailed up you neck and hands held you to him was intoxicating.

For the first time in your life you had felt so grounded and so safe. Joel didn’t expect anything from you, he just wanted to know you through and through. And that was worth fighting for, no matter what.

tags: @darkroastjoel @morning-star-joy @skysmiller @harriedandharassed @canseethebrushstrokes @kyloispunk @skythighs @reader-without-a-story @aryastark-baratheon @ilovepedro @beskarandblasters @tightjeansjavi @cupofjoel @cavillscurls & you know the drill lmk if i missed ya or you'd like the updates xo

#joel miller fanfic #joel miller x reader #joel miller series #joel miller smut #joel miller fic #joel miller au #joel miller angst #joel miller fanfiction #joel miller x f!reader #joel miller x female reader #joel miller x you #pedro pascal characters #pedro pascal cinematic universe

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fluffytheocelot · 10 months ago

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Carmen Week Day 5: AU

AWW YE HERE WE GO BOIS I HAVE BEEN SO HYPED FOR THIS ONE! Sorry its a bit late lol

Anyways--

Last Wolf is very near and dear to me, it was the first fic I actually had the confidence to write, but Thief's Guide is almost completely my own. It's not based off of another series, pretty much all the worldbuilding and plot is mine. Last Wolf still follows the timeline and plot of the original show (changed and added to of course, but the original show is the backbone.

A Thief's Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse is exactly what it sounds like lol. Carmen and her friends surviving in an apocalypse while on the run from VILE and ACME, complete with a dope soundtrack.

And Julethief of course :) because i love them

This is definitely an AU I wanna write down, I promise. Uhh maybe when I get this chapter of Last Wolf out I'll start??? Maybe. We'll see lol.

Feel free to drop me an ask about it! or last wolf too lol.

Dope soundtrack:

if the song came out during or before 1986ish, then its probably something the characters would listen to (namely Carmen, jamming to cassettes she scavenges on her Walkman). anything after that would just be soundtrack/credits music if it was a show.

uhhh story info under the cut lol

Around the mid 1980s, Dr. Bellum's unnamed predecessor was experimenting with a virus that, well, turned people into zombies. The test run soon got out of hand, however, and the virus quickly spread to the entire world.

Technology pretty much stays the same. Radios, paper maps, Walkmans, stuff like that. Music and TV obviously aren't getting widespread release anymore, so anything that came out past like, 1986 doesn't exist.

(Wow Fluffy that's so unrealistic there's no way people wouldn't quarantine themselves to stop it-- *looks at 2020* nevermind)

VILE uses it as a power grab, offering people shelter, food, etc. in exchange for joining. Fun.

There's incredible amounts of chaos and violence for the first decade or so, until late 1999 when VILE faculty member Dexter Wolfe is assumed to have been caught and killed.

Two things happen: ACME arises as a direct rival to VILE, and VILE acquires a certain Black Sheep.

ACME wants to find a cure. VILE wants the apocalypse to keep going so they stay in power. VILE and ACME are both much more well known.

Black Sheep grows up in a VILE compound, learning all her important thief skills of course, as well as the skills needed to survive the apocalypse: Firearms, bows, blades, living in the wilderness, etc etc. Pretty much anything you can think of needing to know in the apocalypse, Carmen learned when she was like six lol.

She officially enrolls at about 15, and escapes at 16.

Eventually she figures out VILE wants the apocalypse to keep going and escapes into the night on horseback, with Cookie Booker's stolen hat and coat.

She's on the run for a while and eventually winds up in Ontario, where she meets a recently orphaned 12 yr old Player. The two become fast friends and pretty much grow up together over the next few years. Carmen is very protective of Player and teaches him how to survive in case anything happens to her.

They make their way to Boston, pick up Zack and Ivy, and Team Red is complete! (for now)

Along the way they eventually acquire our favorite grumpy ninja, Carmen's favorite ACME agent, an aussie electrician and a couple more surprise people ;)

Carmen also discovers she may be the key to ending the apocalypse, but is ACME really what they say they are?

#fluffytheocelot #fluffy’s art #carmenweek #carmen sandeigo 2019 #drawing #digitalart #procreate #carmen sandiego #art #zombie apocolypse au #a thief's guide to the zombie apocalypse au #julethief

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creepycranberry · 2 months ago

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No Chance Showmance

Robin Buckley x Munson reader showmance AU

(Plus a little hellcheer)

Based on this request

Trigger warnings: angst, alcohol, mentions of homophobic parents, cursing, not proofread

(Let me know if I missed anything)

•••

“Come on, please?” you plead, giving Robin over exaggerated puppy dog eyes.

Robin can't help but think of how unfair it is that just a bat of your eyelashes can have her resolve breaking. Robin was somehow secretly happy that there was no way you knew that. Robin looked to Steve for some help but Steve shook his head.

“Sorry, Rob. if she managed to rope me into this shit then you're definitely a lost cause. it would probably be best if you just gave in now." Steve shrugged from the workbench he was setting up to help with set building.

“It’ll be fun, I promise.” you assure her, “you just need to do the spotlight when the stage manager says so. You’ll have plenty of practice beforehand, and I know this probably won't count for much, but we'll get to see each other more than we have lately.” You smile and then hesitantly make another point, hoping for something, “and maybe you’ll meet someone? You’re always saying how hard it is to put yourself out there and find someone.” The thought made your throat feel tight, you wait for some confirmation but Robin just shrugs and sighs.

It was true that During rehearsal seasons robin and steve rarely saw you. They worked the days you had rehearsal, and then you and Keith worked on days when you didn't. The promise of more time with you does sound appealing but robin still isn't sure. Rehearsals with you mean skipping band practice with Vickie.

“The show is in like two weeks, though. Are you sure that's enough time for me to-”

“More then enough time. I mean if steve can build and paint a set piece for us in that amount of time, im sure you could figure out the lights. I wouldn't ask if I really didn't need your help.”

“Fine. I’ll do it.”

The pure joy on your face and the bear hug you gave Robin was enough to assure her that she was making the right decision.

•••

Robin spent a lot of the next week with Mark, a somewhat gruff but passionate lightboard operator with a nasty habit of forgetting his cue. Much to Robins relief and your delight, she was pretty good at lighting. She subbed for mark in a few rehearsals, along with doing the spotlight and somehow managed to make the show run smoother than it did with the two of them.

Rehearsals went late fridays and started early saturdays, which is why you suggested robin stay at yours for a sleepover so you wouldn't have to pick her up in the morning. And so friday night after rehearsal you drove robin with you to your house.

It was rare for you and robin to spend time with just the two of you. Normally steve and sometimes dustin would be a part of the group. Or it would be you and Steve and everyone else and Robin would be with her band friends. So as the both of you sat in the car you both appreciated the rare moment of silence you got to share.

“Hey.”

You turn to robin and raise your eyebrows before looking back at the road.

“Yeah?”

“You're really great up there.” robin says quietly and you do your best to ignore the blush that creeps up to your cheeks.

“I really try but i think im probably one of our weaker links.” you shrug and robin sits up a bit more.

“No. mark is one of our weaker links, you- you're the fucking ringleader. I've never seen someone demand attention from a crowd the way you do.” robin realizes her babbling and clears her throat, “i-I mean, the theatre group is small, and everyone is so passionate about this, but i don't think theyd get anywhere with actually putting on the show without you.”

You're momentarily stunned into silence by the sheer sincerity in robins voice.

“Th-thanks. I, um, i've never really seen it that way- seen myself that way.”

“Anytime.”

The drive is quiet until you pull into the driveway of the old trailer. When the two of you get to yours and eddies shared room Robin is thoroughly interested in every little thing, fawning over the movie posters on your walls and the little figurines on your desk and bookshelf.

“It’s just kid stuff.” You shrug, taking her jacket from her and hanging it on the back of her door.

“Well we’re kinda still kids right? And plus it’s cool.”

“You’re cool.” You mock lamely but Robin just snorts. You really can’t help but smile, “I’m not good at the whole conversation thing.”

“It’s okay, I’m not the best either.” Robin shrugs.

“But give me a script and I can knock that shit out pretty well.”

“I know that much.” Robin smiles.

You like it when you can make her smile. You don’t think you’re funny most of the time but Robin makes you feel like you could be a comedian. She thinks you're funny, she listens to you and you like listening to her rambling.

You find yourself so focused and enthralled with her lips, watching them move as she talks, until she stops and you’re still staring. And then you’re moving closer to her, eyes still fixed to her lips, lost in the thought of what it might be like to be familiar with the feeling of them against yours.

You barely realize you’re giving into your impulse. Her lips are slightly chapped but still pillowy and sweet.

You think she’s kissing you back but then she’s gently pushing you away.

And you’re mortified when she looks at you, awkwardness settling over you and the uncomfortability of it has you rambling an apology as you stumble backward and get away from the house,waving Robin sitting there in your bedroom, utterly stunned. By the time she finds it in herself to run after you you’re so far ahead of her. She catches up to you though, holding onto your shoulder to stop you, fighting to get air back into her lungs.

“I’m sorry Robin, I shouldn’t have-“

“You didn’t do anything wrong I just-“

“You just what?” You sniffle.

“I like someone else- I mean I don’t not like you but i-“ she begins babbling but it’s not as comforting as usual. Now it feels like you’ve been stabbed in the stomach and the knife is being twisted and pulled upward.

You now understood what it meant when someone said they felt gutted.

“It’s fine Robin. There’s a landline in the kitchen, Steve can drive you to rehearsal tomorrow I just- I need to take a walk.”

Robin looks utterly conflicted as she slowly turns and makes her way back to the trailer.

•••

You stumble up to the trailer, your body feeling sort of heavy but you're riding on a high. The kind of high that numbs every sensation and makes every thought a little bit fuzzy.

You fumble with your key for a little bit before the door opens on its own, Eddie standing there giving you a concerned look.

“Eddie! How are you?” you smile, giving him a big hug, almost face planting in the process.

“I’m good? What’s going on with you? Are you drunk?” He asks you, holding out his arms to stabilize You so you don’t fall over.

You nod dazily, “mhm, ‘m just having a good time y’know?”

“Eddie? Who is it?” A voice from inside asks and you raise your eyebrows at Eddie.

“Is that Chrissy?” you whisper shout to him.

“Yeah, that’s her. Come on, let’s get you inside, you need lots of water and bread and sleep.” He hums to you, leading you into the house where a pretty blond girl is standing in the middle of the living room, shifting her weight back and forth between her feet.

“Chrissy!” you gasp, stumbling forward and away from your cousin to give her a hug.

“Hey, Hon. Is everything alright?” She asks you, leaning away from you and holding onto you as you slightly sway.

“Hm, I don’t- I don’t know… Chrissy, when a girl tells you she likes you, and you kissed her but she stopped the kiss and tells you that she likes you but she also likes someone else, what does that mean? Does that mean she like, likes you or does that mean that she doesn’t like you like that but doesn’t want to make you feel bad? And either way, how do you deal with that? Because this girl, she’s adorable,” you gush, smiling as Chrissy leads you to sit on the couch next to her, Eddie just standing there awkwardly, “she’s so cute and she’s smart and she’s funny and she does this really cute thing when she’s nervous where she starts rambling nonsense and sometimes I’ll try and make her nervous just to hear her talk but I don’t know… because I really thought she liked me, but then I kissed her.”

“Did she get mad at you for kissing her?” Chrissy asks you, coaxing you into drinking a sip of what you’re guessing was the water Eddie had been drinking before you got here, judging by the one at your usual place on the couch.

“Not really? I don’t know?y’know? Like, she didn’t push ‘m away and I think she was kissing me back for a moment but then just… pulled away,” you slur, your bottom lip starting to jut out a little , “and when I asked’er if I did something wrong she said no but she just moved so far away from me and then she told me she didn’t mind, and she wasn’t mad but that she liked someone else and I don’t get it.”

“Don’t get what?” Chrissy asks you, looking over at Eddie.

“She’s not mad? And also she likes someone else? But I don’t think she’s straight because she said she didn’t mind kissing me but if she didn’t mind kissing me and she’s not mad than what’s the matter? She looked so… repulsed by me, almost, she just looked so uncomfortable and her face like… it scrunched up but not in the cute way it does when she’s laughing, no it was like when someone calls you a fag from the side of the road, because that’s such a creative way of making it known You're insecure but I just- I really thought she might like me, i really thought that maybe she could care for me in any other way than platonically…”

you think you started crying somewhere in there.

Your lip quivers as you talk, your eyes welling up with tears, “maybe it was stupid, y’know. Maybe I’m just unlovable. I mean I wouldn’t blame her or my parents or my old friends or even my new friends, I’m a mess. A stupid, unlovable mess.”

You huff a little, trying not to cry and failing miserably.

Eddie sighs, his hand tucked into his back pockets, “you’re not unlovable, I mean you’re definitely a mess don’t get me wrong but you are very easy to love. Now come on, we’ve got to get you something to drink-”

“Whiskey coke please.”

“We’ve got to get you some water to drink,” he corrects and Chrissy laughs a little. Eddie looks up at her, his eyes adoring as she gets up, grabbing your hand and looping her arm through your, “and then we’ll get you some medicine and food but first you’ll take a nap and you’ll feel all better. Okay?”

You just nod, letting Chrissy drag you to yours and Eddie's room. you pull off your shoes, falling onto eddies bed and hugging the teddy by his pillow.

Eddie covers you up with a blanket, kissing your forehead like Wayne does when you’re sick and taking the hair tie out of your hair,setting it in the dresser before closing the curtains and the door.

you don’t fall asleep immediately, though you feel yourself wanting to.

Instead you cry a little, trying to sob as quietly as you can, though small whimpers still escape your lips every time you have to breathe a little.

you hold the blanket close to your frame, tucking your face into the stomach of the teddy bear.

Stupid

You don’t know what you were thinking.

Your own parents couldn’t find it in themselves to love you after they found out what you are, how could you expect her to?

You can’t help but feel a little grief as you think of your parents.

You missed them, you missed hugging my mother after having a hard day and just needed a good hug, you miss car rides with my dad where neither of us would talk but we still enjoyed each other’s company, you miss going to the drive in to watch old movies from when they were your age with them, you miss listening to the radio in the kitchen with your mother on holidays.

You just miss not feeling like youre stuck floating. you hate feeling like you don’t really belong anywhere.

You can’t help but feel like the most massive screw up, your parents hate you, Robin probably won’t want anything to do with you today, you’re just kind of lost.

You sniffle, wiping your nose on your sleeve.

Your nose is stuffed up and you can feel the headache from both the crying and the alcohol starting to form itself and you sigh to yourself, wiping your cheeks and closing your eyes. Maybe you can sleep off the headache.

But before you can drift off completely you hear quiet voices in the hallway, “is she gonna be okay?”

“She’ll be fine, she just needs to rest and take some time to herself. In the meantime I’ve got a band geek to murder.” You hear your cousin's hushed voice retort.

“Eddie.” You Can hear Chrissy's smile in her voice, “it just happens sometimes. Feelings are complicated. I’m sure the other girl feels terrible about how this went down too. It just comes with the territory.”

“I just- she’s still a kid. She shouldn’t have to be feeling shit like this.” Eddie shrugs and you hear Chrissy snort, “what?”

“You’re not much older than her.”

“I am three and half years older than her for your information.” Eddie retorts and you can hear Chrissy giggle quietly.

“She’s not a little kid anymore, Eddie.”

“Oh don’t say that. She’s still a little kid, she’ll always be a little kid. I could take her to a candy store right now and she’d go nuts.”

“Eddie.” Chrissy warns.

“I know. She’s almost grown up. Which sucks cause it means I’m getting old.” He drags out the word ‘old’.

“Hey, If you’re getting old then I’m getting old. We are both still glowing youthfully.”

You hear Eddie laugh and sigh, “fine. I’m still gonna go and fight that band kid though.”

“Edward Munson.”

“Full name? That stings.” Eddie says dramatically and Chrissy laughs again as their voices recede down the hall.

•••

Might do a part two but I’m not sure

#robin buckley x reader #robin buckley #wlw yearning #angst #hellcheer

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dreadsuitsamus · 2 years ago

Text

Getting Together with Tsunade Headcanons | Tsunade x Reader |

author's note: i just really love her

pairing: tsunade senju x fem!reader

warnings: modern au, alcohol, also reader realizing they're not straight, making out, heavy petting

You've been friends with Tsunade for a long time now, and when you first met her you were taken aback by how fuzzy your chest felt when you first saw her

You're introduced by a mutual friend, Jiraiya, who you had a friends with benefits situation with

Jiraiya said he needed a wingman, and since he was paying for the drinks, you obliged him and dolled yourself up for a night at the club

You warm up with a few shots, tossing back a second shot of tequila when you see her

She's speaking with Jiraiya at one of the couches, and at first you think he's already gotten his bag

The way she punches his gut, however, proves you wrong

Surprised, you rush over to check on Jiraiya, who laughs through his pain and introduces you to his assailant

"This is my longtime friend Tsunade."

Tsunade analyzes you with her warm, amber eyes. You find your throat to be dry and lick your lips, turning your head so you don't have to feel her gaze as harshly

"Hm... You're much too pretty to settle for Jiraiya's hookups."

Jiraiya makes an offended noise, but she ignores him in favor of taking your wrist. "We'll be drinking!" She tosses over her shoulder to Jiraiya, leading you back to the bar

She orders a round of shots after asking your preferred poison, smirking when you respond with tequila

"Oh, we'll be friends in no time if you keep this up."

You two get to know each other that night, and once you've fulfilled your promise to Jiraiya to get him laid, you pull out your phone to get a ride home

Tsunade takes your phone and adds her number in. "I like you. Let's do this again sometime, but without the sleeze next time."

You smile and you hope you're not outwardly showing your adoration, as your insides are warm and overjoyed that she wants to be your friend

You two are indeed fast friends, both having military experience. She on the medical side, you on the engineering side

Your personal interests overlap as well, and oftentimes you and Tsunade go out for small vacations, or new movie releases, or just about anything

Your interest in her skyrockets, and Jiraiya looks bored one night at dinner as you talk about her and your latest trip to Vegas

"So did you hook up or not." He deadpans.

"W-What?" You stop mid-story, cheeks burning with embarrassment

"Yeah, yeah, the whole 'stays in Vegas' thing, I get it."

You frown, and he perks a brow right at you. "You look awfully confused for a simple question."

"Why would I have sex with Tsuna?"

If looks could kill, you'd be Yamcha right now

"Because, I dunno, she's beautiful, sexy, you have a crush on her... I could go on but I won't for fear of her spawning out of nowhere and putting me in traction for a year."

"I..." You blink and really think about your friendship with Tsunade. And how you've always felt so fond of her, even from that very first moment you saw her. And how those feelings have lingered for a long time

"I've never loved a woman."

"You do now." Jiraiya smirks. "And what a woman to fall in love with, hm?"

"Oh my god..." You whisper to yourself. You really do love Tsunade Senju

When Jiraiya drives you home, he smiles gently at you. "For the record, I think she's gonna be a lot more receptive to your love than mine."

You look into his eyes and realize he's probably loved her his entire life, and he's still 100% supportive of you trying your luck with her because of how much he loves you too

You smile back at him and lean in for a hug, kissing the corner of his mouth. "I love you too, Jiraiya."

He laughs softly and kisses your temple, making sure you get inside safely before he drives home

You're nervous the next time you see Tsunade. It's been around a week since you went out with Jiraiya, and she's finally got some free time after the Vegas trip

She invites you over for a sleepover, and you realize just how much effort you've been putting in for her with your clothes and makeup choices as you pack a bag

You're greeted with her brightest smile and hug when you get to her place, and you rest your hands comfortably on her hips

"It's been so long." She whines softly in your ear. Her breath against your ear makes you shiver

"It's been ten days, Tsuna." You laugh softly

"Too. Long." She whispers before pulling you by your hand into her house. She's got the living room set up with snacks and saké, and lots of pillows and blankets on her sectional couch

You chat for a bit to catch up, though Tsunade's doing most of the talking

You just can't stop focusing on how beautiful she is. Her lips look so soft, her skin is flawless and her hair is perfect every time you see her

andyou'veseenherhungover

Eventually Tsuna starts pouring alcohol while you focus on putting on a movie. You settle on some rom-com and lean back into the cushions, taking the drink Tsunade's delicate hand holds to your mouth

And just like every time you two get together and drink, you both get tipsy after some time

You're watching her as she watches the movie, your chest feeling full and like it would burst with how much you want this woman

Tsunade turns her head, gazing back at you with that little smile on her lips. Her cheeks are flushed from the saké and her eyes have a mischievous glow in them

She turns her body to face you more and you swallow thickly, forcing your eyes to stay met with hers. And it's difficult because she's wearing a tank top with no bra underneath and you're lit up from the alcohol

"When are you going to kiss me?"

"Hwhat." You deadpan.

Tsunade smirks and moves to her knees, leaning forward so her lips are a hair's breadth from yours

"I'm tired of waiting for you to make a move."

You swallow and gaze into her hooded eyes. "If you want something right, do it yourself." You dare to challenge back

Tsunade never did back down from a gamble

She presses her soft mouth to yours, both of her hands coming to your head and kissing you like a pro

You've never responded to someone so viscerally like you to do Tsunade kissing you. You shiver and your body is littered in goosebumps, and you swear she's smirking against your lips

She straddles your lap without ever breaking her momentum on your lips, pressing her chest to yours and looping her arms loosely around your neck, grinding her hips lightly as she slips her tongue into your mouth

You shudder at the heat she brings, tentatively putting your hands on her thighs

Tsunade kisses you til you're almost breathless, literally

You have to pull away or you'll suffocate, though dying because Tsunade Senju is kissing you is one of the best ways to go out

She steals a few quick smooches anyway, settling the movement of her hips

You get your bearings back and look her dead in the eye. "I am in love with you."

"Good." She winks at you and reclaims your lips, murmuring between her warm, messy kisses. "Otherwise this would be awkward."

When you wake up in the morning, you can't even feel the hangover. You're on top of Tsuna, head pillowed on her chest and enveloped in the smell of her as she's got her limbs locked around you

She's asleep still, drooling and snoring with her messy hair and all, and even then you still find her to be absolutely perfect

You kiss her chest softly and settle back in, smiling to yourself

She's grumpy when she eventually wakes up, but giggles and blushes so beautifully when you silence her complaints of a headache with a kiss

Tsunade Senju really does love you

#senju tsunade #tsunade senju #tsunade #tsunade x reader #tsunade x you #naruto #naruto shippuden #wlw #headcanons #fic #i really fucking love tsunade #i want to cuddle with her while she plays with my hair

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felice-jaganshi · 3 months ago

Text

Strawberry Scented Love

Radiodust Strawberry Pimp AU

Chapter 9 - The Horny One

(ADULTS ONLY!)

There was one more week before Alastor returned to his post, except this time, Angel disappeared with him. A note was left behind for everyone to take a paid vacation, and they'd be back with an explanation next Sunday.

~Wednesday, three days into the elopement~

A beautiful suit and wedding dress lay on the floor of a home in Hell's bayous. Alastor's vacation home, the closest he could get to Louisiana in Hell.

Alastor pressed Angel into the mattress gently, “Mon amour… I must confess something to you before we begin.” Wedding rings now adorned both of their left hands.

Angel chuckled, putting a hand on the back of Alastor's neck, “If it's that ya don't have much experience in this field, don't worry. I know. I'm not expecting something that'll rearrange my whole world or anything crazy. Just as long as it's you, loving me the way you do, I'll enjoy it. Promise.”

Alastor's smile turned warm. “Thank you, Beloved… you are truly too good for me. But that wasn't what I was going to confess. I… was going to confess that my Shadow would like to join us, if you'll allow him? If that's something you would enjoy of course. I cannot guarantee I'll last long enough to actually satisfy you, but my Shadow being more of a construct than a person, can go for as long as you need.” Said Shadow appeared beside the bed with a nervous smile and its ears drooping, head tilted to the side, looking as cute as possible.

Angel blushed and grinned, shock quickly turning into excitement, “O-oh! Oh hell yeah baby, he's part of you, right? And I signed up for the whole package. Till double death do us part.” Alastor grinned and kissed Angel gently. Alastor kissed back, bleating as he did.

“Thank you, Beloved… this means more to me than you know.”

“Oh I think I have an idea…” Angel smirked and trailed a finger down Al's spine to his flickering tail.

“You're lucky it's your first time, so I'm gonna play nice and let you be in control. But next time, I'm gonna rock your world so hard you'll forget your own name.” He gently grabbed hold of the tail, and Alastor flinched, face going red.

“I- I'm certain there's quite a few things you could teach me about this sort of thing, my love.”

“Yeah there is, but don't worry about that tonight. I already got myself ready for you earlier, so we can just focus on enjoying each other tonight without any issues or major hang ups.”

Alastor took a deep breath of relief at that, “So thoughtful my dear, thank you.”

Angel then reached for a bottle of lube he had hidden under the pillow earlier that day. “We'll still need to get you ready, mind if I do the honors?”

Alastor looked at the bottle nervously, before nodding his head. “Yes, please. I'm still not thrilled about how wet and sticky this whole process is going to be, though I know ‘wetness’ is a necessary component for it to be pleasant for both of us. I'll get over it with time, I'm sure.” He was determined to. Angel was worth it.

“Al, you know you don't gotta force yourself ta do this, right?” He put a hand on Alastor's cheek. “Smiles, if this ain't ya cuppa tea, we can talk about it. Find some other compromise that makes us both happy.”

He closed his eyes and leaned into the gentle affection, “I know, Beloved. But I want to at least try it before completely ruling it out as an impossibility. Call me stubborn if you must, but I need to know if I can make love with you the way you deserve.” He then turned his face to kiss Angel's palm, taking hold of the back of his hand as he kissed his wrist next, slowly working his way down to his shoulder, across his clavicle, and right over his heart, before nuzzling into the fluff there. “Hm, so soft… just how do you do it?”

“Believe it or not, tuna oil pills. They taste nasty, but they make my fur soft and shiny. So it's worth it.” Angel closed his eyes and pet the back of Al's head with his free hand, gently running his nails against his scalp. Al hummed before returning to kissing his way down Angel's body, stopping when he reached his panties and the noticeable bulge in them.

“You must be uncomfortable being restrained so, Darling. Mind if I remove these for you?” He asked it so sweetly, Angel was torn between being turned on, and finding it cute.

“Go for it, stud. I've got nothing to hide from my husband.” He smiled.

Alastor then moved one hand down to the back of Angel's knee, “Then what about these stockings, Love? I admit they look absolutely stunning on you, but I couldn't help noticing your reluctance to take them off.”

“J-just think it looks sexier is all.” Angel blushed and looked away. He was lying, and Alastor wasn't having it.

“Angel. Mon petit ange.” His tone was slightly stern, turning Angel's chin to look at him, “You know there isn't a single thing about you I could ever hate, correct? That I will love every part of you, without reservation or hesitation if you will let me, yes?” He held Angel's gaze, determined to make him believe his words.

“I… I just don't like the way my feet look. They're weird and deformed. Ugly.”

Alastor sighed and sat upright, “Angel, you see all my scars, yes? I find them repulsive, but you said a moment ago, when you were disrobing me, that you find them sexy. That they make me look powerful… I do not believe your feet could possibly be so ‘disfigured’ as to make me see you as anything less than the beautiful man I chose to marry.”

Angel covered his own face with his hands, “Fine… if you're that curious, go ahead. I won't stop ya.”

Alastor pressed a kiss to Angel's thigh, “thank you, darling.” He slowly pulled down one stocking, kissing the skin as he revealed it till he got to Angel's ankle. He then sat back as he removed the last of it and looked at his foot. Two little pink paw pads with black claws at the end. He reached a hand out and took one of the pads in his hand. Angel flinched, and peeked through his fingers at Alastor's face. He gently massaged the paw pad.

“Hm, they don't seem disfigured at all, dear. Who told you they were? These are simply what spider feet look like. There's nothing strange about it at all.” He sounded so calm, and decided to start giving Angel a genuine massage, even rubbing his ankle and calf with his other hand to further relax him. “So tense as well, and from all the dancing you do, that only makes sense. Goodness, I need to take better care of my little star. I'd hate for you to pull a muscle or get a cramp on stage.” He was clearly enjoying himself. But not in the fetish way Angel was used to… It was just that he genuinely found joy in caring for his beloved.

“Fuck, Al, that feels great and all, but you're getting distracted… Please, can we get back to you fucking me? Or I'm gonna die of blue balls before the night is over.”

Al grumbled, nose scrunching up, “I don't like that phrasing. It makes this sound… basic and filthy. When this is far more important than what you do for work.”

“ DID for work. I'm not fucking anyone but you now. You put the ring on my finger, now I'm your problem, exclusively.”

Alastor's expression relaxed at that, and he took off the other stocking. “I wouldn't want it any other way.”

He kissed the ankle of that leg, and slowly worked his way back up to Angel's inner thigh, stopping right at the edge of the panties he still hadn't removed, making Angel whine in both pleasure and frustration. “Please, Al…” He was begging now, and it made Alastor feel like his blood was on fire.

He pulled down the panties, revealing Angel's long and narrow cock. It was smooth, and tapered. A similar shape to his own tentacles, actually. Which was rather a relief for Alastor. Since it didn't look like what he expected a dick to look like, he was less put off by the idea of touching it. He reached out, and took the dark pink appendage in hand, stroking it slowly. It felt nice in his hand actually, soft yet firm, smooth but not wet… yet. The tip was already starting to leak, and Angel was moaning softly.

“Mph, Al, that's so nice. You're doing great sweetheart.” The praise made his heart flutter, and he felt more confident. He was doing good? He was making his beloved feel good?

He let curiosity get the better of him, and swiped a little of that wetness from the tip onto a finger, and brought it to his mouth, wanting to see what he tasted like…

Angel blushed at the sight, “Damn, that's hot, Smiles…”

Alastor scrunched his nose again, “Definitely not a flavor for me, however.”

Angel chuckled, “Yeah, it's not for everyone. That's okay.” He reached his lower arms out to rub Alastor's ears, “But I'm proud of you for trying new things. My brave deer~.” His tone was flirty.

Alastor kissed Angel's hip, “I'm only brave because you make me so.” He sat back on his knees again, and slowly lowered his own boxers away, letting Angel get a good view of what his partner was working with.

“Damn, Smiles… You got all that, just for little old me? My jaws aching just thinking about taking all that in. Next time for sure, you gotta let me suck you off.”

Alastor blushed as he tossed away his underwear, “Must you say such vulgar things?”

“Well, judging by the way your big guy just got harder, I'm gonna say you actually like that idea.” He then reached a hand out to Alastor's hip, making the shorter demon jump a little from the contact. “Shh, hey, it's okay… We're goin’ slow. I got you, I won't let you have a bad time, okay? Trust me.”

Alastor swallowed around the lump in his throat as he resumed his position over Angel, “Apologies for my skittish nature.. I trust you, and while I do enjoy your touch, I'm just not accustomed to anyone touching that area.”

“Hey, you don't gotta explain it to me, I get it. Can I touch you? I really want to, you look so pretty.” Alastor nodded, keeping his eyes focused on Angel's face, as the spider slowly moved his hand across Al's hip to the base of his cock. “That's it, there's my good boy. Just trust me, I got you.” Angel kept whispering soft praise as he slowly jerked him off.

Alastor whined, and bucked his hips into Angel's hand, “H-hah, Ange, darling!”

Angel smiled at how soft Al's expression became as he started to let go and relax into Angel's touch. He sat up enough to kiss his neck, “You're doing good, big boss~. Now, I'm gonna lube you up okay? It's gonna be wet, but I promise it'll make this feel even better.”

Angel thought back to a previous incident months ago…

~~~~~~~

One of their performers, one that had been trying desperately to get Alastor's attention and be called ‘Darling’, had insisted they both watch his newest performance and tell him where he could improve. He was trying for a “comedy skit” style performance to make their audience laugh in between the bigger numbers. To “reset the mood”.

Well, due to a miscalculation in how much lube being dumped on him would be funny and how much would be just a mess… Some of it ended up splashing onto Alastor's face in the front row. The level of immediate panic the radio demon flew into was insane! It was like a cat getting dunked in a flea bath!

The performer was sworn to silence after that. Never to say a word of the incident, and Alastor refused to bear witness to any more of his comedy skits.

The only explanation Angel got from him was that he couldn't stand things that were wet and sticky, and it got worse when the “wetness” didn't go away fast enough when he was done with it. It was also why he preferred showers over baths. He at least had a sense of control then.

~~~~~~~

Alastor pressed his forehead into Angel's chest fluff again, “I trust you.” He hid his face in the fluff, as Angel slicked up his member. Alastor gave a conflicted whine, both enjoying and hating the feeling.

“Easy, easy… you're safe, you're fine… it's just me and my hand…” Angel soothed him through his discomfort, waiting for Alastor to adjust enough for the next part. “Just let me know when you're ready for more.

He shook his head, “L-let's just get to it. The longer you touch me, the closer I'm getting to my limit, Love.” He rose from the comfort of the fluff to look into Angel's eyes. Al looked so desperate already.

“Alright, alright. Not a problem. Here we go, let's get you lined up then.” Angel moved a pillow under his own hips to raise himself up a bit, then helped Alastor get the right angle to start sliding in. “Don't worry about being gentle, babe, I can handle anything you throw at me.”

Alastor pressed inside with a groan, stopping halfway, “I- I want to be gentle with you… I want to love you, my darling. Not hurt you.” He then started rocking his hips, slowly working himself deeper into Angel. Angel closed his eyes and shivered, it had been a long time since anyone had fucked him like this. It was a whole different experience from the usual rough treatment, and good god how was he going to survive this bliss?!

Alastor huffed hot breath against Angel's neck, arms shaking as he gently made love to Angel.

Angel ran his hands along Alastor's back, “God Al, you're so good to me. Please, just a bit more, a little faster~ I'm begging here! I need you!” His pleas were answered when Alastor picked up the pace, moving his hips more firmly against Angel's.

“L-like this? Mon cherie?”

“Yeah, just like that baby, fuck.” He held Al tighter. “So good babe, don't stop.”

Unfortunately, it wasn't much longer until Alastor started to lose it, and came, filling Angel with his hot spend. Angel groaned in frustration, and Al held him tight, shaking and crying, “A-ange… I- I'm sorry I-”

Angel pet his head, “Hey, you did great sweetheart. Don't apologize. You lasted longer than I expected for your first time. God damn, you got me so close! I didn't even think about touching myself, you were doing so good. We just gotta work on your stamina.” He smiled and lifted Alastor's head to kiss him sweetly. “I love you, you did good, so don't cry.”

Alastor slipped out of him and groaned, laying beside Angel. “Shadow, it's your turn.” He covered his face with an arm as he tried to regain his composure.

Angel blinked in confusion for a moment, having completely forgotten about the shadow! Suddenly his vision was full of a misty silhouette of his husband, with a green grin. “O-oh, h-hey there. What do you have in store for me?” He gave a sultry smile to try and hide his nerves. The shadows purred, befor kissing him passionately and running his hands over Angel's body.

The shadows touch was surprisingly warm, and if Angel shut his eyes, it felt just like Alastor. He wrapped his arms around Shadow, who had more give to his form than the real Alastor, but that didn't bother him.

He felt the shadows length press against his own, rocking them together, and pulled away from the kiss to breath. “F-fuck, Al! Please, just put it in! I need it!” Angel was desperate, that kiss was so intense. He looked at the real Al next to him, who was laying on his side smiling at Angel, “You're so beautiful when you're enjoying yourself, my darling.”

“Why's his tongue so long?” Damn, he could- ha!” He lost his breath as the Shadow pressed inside him and resumed the pace Alastor had been giving him earlier. Angel lost his ability to speak, just focusing on the pleasure he was being given.

Alastor ran a hand through Angel's chest fluff, “Tell me darling, is there anything else you need?”

“Just, touch my dick and I'm so done.”

“Hm, perhaps I can do one better.” The Shadow contorted out of Angel's arm, becoming more smoke than solid in the middle, before its mouth was sucking Angel off. The real Alastor leaned over Angel to give him something to hold onto as he nearly screamed in pleasure. Al kissed Angel's neck over and over. “Come for me love, let me see you unravel at my touch.”

With a final shout, Angel came down the shadows throat, which was greedily swallowed up with a purr. He worked Angel through it and slowly worked him down from his high before pulling out. The Shadow kissed his cheek once before vanishing and leaving the two alone.

“How was that, mon amour?” Alastor asked.

“Amazing. Al, that was the best damn orgasm of my life!”

That actually made Alastor look surprised, “Truly? You're not just saying that?”

“Al, I mean it. I'm not gonna lie to you about this.”

“I see, well good. I'm glad I was able to satisfy you, as a good husband should.” He blushed a bit, looking bashful with his smile.

“This is gonna be the best honeymoon anyone has ever had.” Angel giggled, and dragged Al in for another kiss.

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