#again is weird. like. continuity in the show is done so deliciously well. would it rly have hurt to have them meet again w that

[ozlices]

idk how exactly to word this entirely but if i had one criticism of the glory it'd be that i rly wish yeo-jeong's unhingedness was leaned into more instead of making him a walking pile of the worst romance tropes.

like the moments where he gets to go a little bit apeshit are some of the best parts of the show (imo). & i REALLY wish we got more of that instead of. what we did get, u know?

idk i feel like it was a missed opportunity & for a show that deals with exploring trauma so well in its main character, i feel like her love interest & his complex trauma & the v real & complex ways he handles it were kinda sacked.

he shoulda gotten to go full out feral more

[guytransformedforever]

Office competition

You were sitting in a stuffy office in a conference room surrounded by a dozen of your colleagues and a boring boss. An unremarkable Tuesday. Your thoughts were flying far away throughout the meeting. You flipped through the tape on your phone while your boss showed graphs of departments that did not concern you, talked about profitability and costs. Your gaze fell on the window, the boss's projector, on the table, the enthusiastic face of Jake Strey. This guy is weird, always trying to stand out in front of the boss and earn his trust. And now he literally catches his every word and agrees with stupid exclamations.

"So colleagues. The meeting is coming to an end. And I would like to thank Mr. Graves separately. He worked for the benefit of our company for 40 years and is retiring. On behalf of the whole company, I wish him a wonderful holiday." The conference room burst into applause and the old, plump Mr. Graves was handed a large box with a present.

"Nevertheless," the boss continued, "now the position of the head of the department will be vacant. I will hire someone who will do the best job this month." At this point, you had to strain yourself, because the boss's gaze was also directed in your direction. You didn't mind the promotion, but the extra workload didn't appeal to you, although if it's guaranteed to give you a raise, why not. You were also surprised by the expression on Jake's face: genuine discontent and jealousy – that's what was read in the eyes of this thin guy.

Well… The next 2 weeks were difficult. Overtime and heavy workloads. Recycling didn't do you any good. You lived on coffee and stress. One Friday evening, you were sitting late at night finishing a project again when you heard a modest "cough-cough". You thought all your colleagues had already left. Looking up, you saw Jake holding 2 cups of coffee.

"I'm sorry if I disturbed you. I'm working late here too today. I thought coffee would be good for both of us." You thanked Jake and took the coffee. The fragrance was amazing. With strange notes. Lavender? Hibiscus? "Of course I see you as a competitor for the position, but you still need to help your colleagues," Jake's words were soothing, but his expression was distant and slightly scared. The guy nodded and retreated to his desk.

Without giving it any importance, you went back to work. The coffee was delicious and you didn't even notice how you drained the cup. Jake was giving you sidelong glances at the time. A few minutes later, you felt a strange burning sensation in your chest, your stomach rumbled and then suddenly: "Buuurrrppp" a terrible belch left your mouth. You've never done this before. Did your body react strangely to the coffee? That's nonsense. The burning sensation did not go away, you felt yourself getting hot. Your limbs are weak, and your vision is slightly blurred... you leaned on the back of the chair and unbuttoned your tie. What the hell? You saw Jake's figure approaching you.

"Damn, I didn't think it would work so fast. Haha, but what did I expect? The mysterious potions of change from the black market do not contain complete instructions," you heard Jake's voice.

What was in that coffee? Did that bastard poison you? You tried to focus your eyes, reach for your phone, but your body wouldn't listen to you. The stomach rumbled again, but this time the intestines also moved in unison with it. You made 2 sounds at the same time. "BUUUUURRPPRUU", "PPFPFPFTTTPPPPFFFFF" - echoed through the office. You were terribly embarrassed by it.… The smell was terrible. "Haha damn.. The seller did not cheat. This elixir has been accurately described as a suitable combination for stink and stupidity." What the hell is Jake talking about? What kind of potion?

Suddenly, the fever increased, and you felt terrible pain and burning all over your body. Through the haze of vision, you could see your shirt stretching against the swelling muscles. You felt your body getting heavier and more massive. The office chair creaked under the pressure of your body. You could feel your feet starting to stretch, ripping off your office shoes. You could feel the sweat running down your huge feet, soaking into your socks, which immediately became wet... the smell of sweat from the locker room hit your nose. Then you felt your calves and shins swell and literally tore the bottom of your trousers in half. They were straining, and you could feel the muscles playing under your skin. Then the hips and buttocks. They expanded with terrifying rapidity. The seat of the chair became cramped and soaked in sweat from your buttocks in a second. Then your bulge. You felt your average penis begin to lengthen down your thigh, reaching 10 inches, and your balls became almost twice the size. At the same moment, your whole body was shaken by the amount of hormones... you were instantly aroused, soaking the front of your underpants and trousers. Your breathing became faster and with each breath your entire torso grew larger. The pectoral muscles, back and arms tore the shirt to shreds. The musky smell has intensified, coming from your now hairy armpits. Finally, the burning sensation along the ascending path reached your face and head. You felt the facial features begin to move, the bones break in order to fuse at other angles. The ears were enlarged, and the nose was rearranged inside. You felt how it became more difficult to breathe through your nose due to changes in the bones of your nose and involuntarily opened your mouth, giving your new face a slightly stupid look. Meanwhile, the fog in your field of vision has cleared, but the problem has become different. The fog in your brain has intensified. You felt your thoughts running away from you. It was getting harder to think. You saw the table on the laptop screen, but it was almost impossible to concentrate on it… The words in my head were not built into long sentences and thoughts, and strange ideas arose. You suddenly felt the urge to drink beer, lift weights in the gym and have sex in the locker room – this thought revived your penis again. The final chord was again a terrible belch.

"Bro.... Fuck.. Uh. What the hell did you do to me?" - you heard your new voice, which was very different from the rudeness and notes of the stupidity of the athlete. You jumped out of your chair and ran to the office window in your underpants to look at yourself. In the reflection, a frankly stereotypical dumb jock was looking at you. You saw Jake's grinning face in the background.

"Well.. now it will be obvious to the boss who should take the place of the head of the department. Am I obedient and smart, or are you stupid and clumsy. See you tomorrow, asshole," and Jake stormed out of the office with his things.

To be continued…

This story was written as part of a story-sharing game for Ykuri73

[scarfwrites]

Fake Dating

❅Genre : Fluff  / Crack , Angst

❅Pairings: Iwaizumi x Reader 

                     Tsukishima x Reader

                     Kuroo x Reader 

❅Warnings: Angst, mentions of cheating but not the reader, vulgar language, a lotta crack cuz it's the seijoh 4, sexual because tumblr said so

❅Word Count: 10,395

❅A/N: OKAY THE IWAIZUMI ONE MIGHT BE VERY SELF INDULGENT BUT I CAN’T HELP IT I LOVE HIM

I also cried writing his 

Iwaizumi

“Make sure you don’t miss that spike! Y/N-chan’s watching~~” Oikawa teased as Iwaizumi looked over to you almost missing his spike making the third years laugh

“YOU ALMOST MISSED!” Makki teasingly yelled from across the court

“Aww, Iwa-chan I didn’t know you wanted to impress Y/N-chan that badly!” Oikawa laughed loudly but soon stopped once a very angry Iwaizumi glaring at him

“I swear I’ll fucking kill you if you do that again” Iwaizumi threatened making the setter gulp

“Luckily Iwaizumi won’t do that in front of Y/N” Kindaichi whispered to the other lower years

“Alright Let’s all take a water break!” Matsun yelled holding a bunch of water bottles

The whole team expected you to greet them with your usual lunches that you’d prepare for all of them. But instead, they were greeted with a very bummed-looking Y/N watching their phone.

“Looks like they didn’t see what happened earlier, lucky you” Makki teased as Iwaizumi looked at him with annoyance

“Yahoo Y/N-chan! I hope you have your lunches you pack they’re delicious!” Oikawa exclaimed happily getting zero response from you

“They look really distracted  with their phone” Yahaba pointed out as he drank from his water bottle

“Hello? Earth to Y/N!” Oikawa yelled waving a hand in front of your face

“Huh? Oh are you all done?” you asked as everyone gave you weird looks

“We’re having a water break” Matsun said sitting down

“Yeah and where are those lunches you usually pack” Oikawa asked as you looked through your bag

“Here they are” you spoke sadly as you gave Oikawa your packed lunch making everyone concerned

“Thanks! I was starving!” Oikawa said in relief as Iwaizumi smacked the back of his head

“Nevermind that,  is something wrong?” Iwaizumi asked sitting next to you

“Yeah where's that happy-go-lucky Y/N we all love” Makki said as he wrapped his arms around your shoulders

“Sorry, It’s just I’ve got a family gathering in a few days” you folded your arms laying your head on them

“That doesn’t sound that bad” Watari said confused

“No no you don’t get it” you sighed “Every year we have a big family gathering and I always get asked if I have a boyfriend/girlfriend or whatever” you continued

“Well, do you?” Oikawa asked curiously as he ate 

“No, and that's the problem” you sigh in frustration “If I show up there without one they’re gonna hook me up with some egotistical dunce face and if that doesn’t work out they’ll send another one” you scowled

“Yeesh sounds stupid” Matsun patted your back

“Yeah all because ‘I’m currently the only person in the family without a partner and they don’t want me to die like an old maid’” you mocked sarcastically

“Well, why don’t you hire a s/o? Can’t you rent a s/o here?” Oikawa suggested

“That’s too expensive I have nowhere near enough to rent one” you sighed

“Why don’t you follow Oikawa’s idea and get a fake one?” Makki 

“Yeah! Someone handsome and irresistible like me!” Oikawa smirked making everyone groan

“No they already know that I’d never date anyone like you” you chuckled at Oikawa’s pouty face

“Yeah you both wouldn’t be able to keep that up, he can’t even keep a real one” Makki mocked making the setter even poutier causing you all to laugh more

“Fine, what kinda boyfriend would convince them” Oikawa irritatedly asked

“Well definitely not someone as goofy as Makki” you thought out loud 

"I’ll take that as a compliment" Makki smiled

“I guess someone responsible, kind, and not a flirt?” You suggested as Oikawa grinned smugly

“Oh, I think I have the perfect guy!” Oikawa smirked victoriously

“Huh who?” You asked befuddled

“He’s sitting right beside you” Oikawa said mischievously as you looked at Iwaizumi 

“Oh yeah! Hajime fits their view of a perfect s/o” you smiled as Iwaizumi began to blush

“Yeah plus you’re both pretty close, it shouldn’t be that hard” Matsun gave a suggestive look to the blushing ace

“I-I mean I don’t really mind if you really want… or need one” Iwaizumi said nervously hiding his face

“Yeah! We’re close buddies which will make it so much easier and less awkward!” You jumped in joy

“Oh but we gotta make it convincing! Tomorrow let’s go out and do whatever the heck couples do!” You suggested

“And we can help with that” Makki interjected as Oikawa and Matsun nodded

“Alright, I’ll see you later then!” You happily ran out of the gym

“I’LL FUCKING KILL YOU THREE” Iwaizumi yelled furiously as the lower years hold him down

“Before you try to kill us at least you’ve basically got to experience what’s like to be with Y/N” Oikawa defended making Iwaizumi scoff

“I know you did that on purpose” Iwaizumi said angrily 

“Like our flat captain said at least you’re gonna go on a date with Y/N” Makki reaffirmed “And with the ideas I have in mind they’ll be head over heels for you” Makki smiled mischievously

After school Makki and Oikawa told you their ridiculous ideas which you mostly ignored. Thankfully the days before the party was the weekends so you both had enough time to make your fake relationship as real as possible. You both decided that the park and the mall would be the best places for fake dates.

“Did you listen to anything they said yesterday?” you asked looking at Iwaizumi

“No, all their ideas were stupid” Iwaizumi scoffed making you chuckle

“Well some of them were good, but after a while, it got stupider and stupider” you said while you both walked to the park

“What do you wanna do first?” He asked

“Well I was thinking we could have like a picnic here for lunch, then do whatever they suggested in the mall” you explained as he nodded

“Well we could start with taking pictures over there” Iwaizumi pointed to the cherry blossom tree which had leaves falling out

“Yeah! That’s a great idea!” You said excitedly as you ran towards the tree

Iwaizumi took pictures of you playing around with the petals that fell off the tree. He had to admit seeing you act like a child looked pretty cute.

“Hajime! You need to be in the pictures too y'know!” You called out as he walked towards you

“Right I forgot sorry” he chuckled “I couldn’t help it though, you looked like a child playing with the petals” he said making you blush

“I guess cherry blossoms make me feel like a child again” you both laughed

You then took a picture of you both laughing in the pile of petals you were both in 

“This is the perfect place for the picnic!” You said as you grabbed the picnic mat from your bag

“You seem pretty excited about all of this despite being all fake” Iwaizumi chuckled as he set the food on the mat

“It’s cuz I like hanging out with you” You smiled brightly as Iwaizumi blushed “I don’t spend as much time with you as I do with the others” you grab the sandwiches you made giving him one

“Yeah… I guess we don’t” he smiled quietly as he ate his sandwich

He hated to admit it but Oikawa and Makki were right. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to indulge the experience of dating you even if it is fake. His thoughts were interrupted as he saw you staring at him.

“Is there something on my face” he spoke as you blinked

“Yeah you’ve this on top of your head” you giggled as you take the flower of his head

“Why don’t you keep it” he suggested taking the flower from your hand as you tilt your head in confusion “You can keep it right up here” he placed the flower in your hair on top of your ear making you blush

“Oh! Like a memory to this day!” You smiled as he nodded

After your little picnic, you both went to the closest mall to do the other things they suggested and later have dinner. But first, you needed to do a little shopping.

“Y/N aren’t we supposed to take pictures to make this thing look real? Why are we shopping?” Iwaizumi gave a half confused half annoyed look

“We need matching outfits for the party! Or wait maybe opposite outfits- outfits! We need outfits for the party!” You explain as you look through the clothing store as he sighed

“I’m guessing this is a formal party?” Iwaizumi said as you threw more possible outfit choices on the cart

“Kinda? It’s always semi-casual and semi-formal but we still need something presentable!” you exclaimed as you put more possible outfits on the cart

“Before we go and look for more why don’t we try some on” Iwaizumi suggested as he emphasized the full cart

You both tried the countless outfits you chose. You have now just realized how many clothes you put in the cart. Luckily you and Iwaizumi could easily sort them since most of them were either too formal or too casual.

“It looks like you mindlessly threw a bunch of clothes in the cart” Iwaizumi said as he looked through the pile of clothes

“Sorry” you smiled nervously “This is the only time we have a gathering so it’s kinda important for my family” you explained as you look through more of the clothes

“You miss them too, right?” Iwaizumi asked as you nod

“Yeah of course! But that’s only after the millions of awkward questions they give me” you sighed

“I see…” Iwaizumi spoke softly

“I FOUND THE PERFECT ONE” you said holding the two pairs of clothes as Iwaizumi sighed in relief

After trying it out you both decided it was definitely the perfect outfit to wear at the gathering. You took the opportunity to take a picture of Iwaizumi carrying the bag since you thought it was very gentleman-like. After eating dinner you both decided to go home.

“Thanks for today Hajime” you smiled as you both walked  “I’m glad we got the day to spend more time together ignoring the reason why” you chuckled making Iwaizumi blush

“No problem it was fun” Iwaizumi smiled as you both walk by the ice cream store

“Oh! Can we go get ice cream” you said excitedly as he chuckled at your adorableness

“Sure my treat” Iwaizumi offered as you smile brightly in excitement

Before you enter the store you both see a little boy gazing at the store

“Mommy, can we go get an ice cream?” The little boy pulled his mother’s arm

“Maybe next time” his mother said making the child pout

“You always say that” the boy sniffed sadly making your heartache “I’m sorry we just can’t afford it” his mother explained as she wiped his tears

You see Iwaizumi walk over to the boy

“Hey little guy you really want an ice cream?” he asked to which the boy nodded

“Oh you don’t have to!” the mother looked at Iwaizumi in embarrassment

“It’s fine ma’am I insist” he smiled “Why don’t you go pick one in the store” Iwaizumi opened the door as the boy jumped in excitement yelling “Yay!” as he went in

“I can’t choose” the boy said as he went up to you “Excuse me miss can you help me?” the boy asked

“Sure! But there’s a lot of cool ones so even for me it's hard to choose” you put your hand on your chin “you could go with this one! Oh but this one’s also good” Iwaizumi chuckled at your indecisiveness

After helping the boy choose you walked out of the store to say goodbye

“What do you say to the kind man and his girlfriend/boyfriend?” The boy's mother asked making you both blush profusely

“Thank you!” The boy gave a toothy smile as you both smiled back

“No problem” Iwaizumi motioned a high-five to the boy as he excitedly did

“Goodbye!” The boy said as they both left

“You know that kid reminds me of you when we were in middle school” Iwaizumi smiled softly 

“Is that why you decided to give him a free ice cream” you teased making him blush

“N-no you used to whine all the time when you didn’t have the money to buy an ice cream until I gave you mine” Iwaizumi looked away in annoyance as you giggled

“I know, thank you for all your ice creams” you smiled

The next day you reviewed the possible questions your family might ask Iwaizumi. After a few more fake dates it was time for the gathering. You both wore the outfits you chose and hopped in an Uber to the family gathering. As you arrived a wave of nervousness hit you.

“Nervous?” Iwaizumi looked over to you as you nod making him chuckle “It’s okay I’m always here” he held your hand making you blush 

“I’m ready” you took a breath as Iwaizumi opens the door for you revealing  that you both were the last ones to arrive

CRAP! WE’RE LATE you nervously panic seeing everyone looking at the two of you but you begin to calm down once you feel him firmly holding your hand. You see your mom waving for your corresponding seats so you both walk over to the table.

“Y/N we were so worried you wouldn’t come” your mother said as she patted down to the two empty seats

“Oh, are we late?” You asked nervously

“No no, everyone just got here early, surprisingly” she said “You’re both right on time, take a seat!” Your mom pats the empty seat again

“Oh right sorry!” Iwaizumi moves the chair for you as you mouth a thank you to which he smiled in response

“What a gentleman” your brother teased sarcastically which you respond with a glare

“Haven’t I seen you before?” Your mother asked 

“I’m part of the volleyball team in the school Y/N goes to and we’ve been on local TV a few times” Iwaizumi explained

“A gentleman and he’s sporty! Didn’t think Y/N was capable of catching such a fish!”  your brother snickered as you roll your eyes

“Where’s dad?” you looked around

“He’s talking to some of our uncles over there” your sister pointed at the wine section

“Right, dad hasn’t even met your boyfriend he’s definitely gonna ask millions of questions” your brother mischievously smiled making Iwaizumi nervous “So while he’s gone why don’t we ask some first” your brother sneered as he put his hands on his chin

“If you don’t mind I’d love to see some pictures of you both together” your mother requested as you gave your phone

That’s why they wanted to do all those fake dates Iwaizumi thought as your mother looks through your phone

“Oh Y/N is this your boyfriend?” Your aunt said excitedly as she walked over to your mom looking through your camera roll

“You finally got a boyfriend? Looks like we were all wrong about you growing into an old maid” your cousin teased making your brother laugh

“Awww you both look so cute!” your aunt squealed making you both blush profusely

After you and Iwaizumi answered the millions of questions from everyone you saw your dad walk over to the table making you extremely nervous. As he sat down he looked over to you and your “boyfriend.” The awkwardness made your brother silently chuckle as you sent a harsh glare to him.

“We should go now” your aunt and cousins zoomed away

“Is this the guy you were talking about when you asked to prepare at your boyfriend’s house?” Your father asked sternly

“Y-Yeah” you replied nervously

“You’re the same age as Y/N? Same school as Y/N? Excellent grades? No school violations?” Your father berated Iwaizumi with questions 

“F/N you’re scaring them” your mother lightly scolded 

“You were the one who wanted them to get a s/o which I didn’t agree with” your father reminded as your mother sighed

“Correction everyone but you wanted Y/N to get a s/o” your brother interjected

“And? I won’t let them end up like you with your… flings” your father scowled in disgust as your brother rolled his eyes

“F/N he’s a genuinely great kid, honest, polite, kind, responsible, and all of that!” Your mother defended “As long as you put your faith in them our child is in good hands” your mother smiled to both of you which eased your nerves

“Alright…” your father huffed “I’ll trust the both of you” your father sighed as he ate making you sigh quietly in relief

After the party was over you were relieved from all that stress. It wasn’t so bad after your mom defended you but you won’t admit you were famished. You decided to personally thank your mom before you left

“Thanks, Mom” you smiled pulling her for a tight hug

“No need to thank me” your mom smiled back and gave Iwaizumi a nod of approval 

“Where’s my hug and thanks? I defended you too y’know” your brother crossed your arms

“Thanks too I guess” you hugged him 

“But we should get going, bye!” You waved as they did the same

“For a fake relationship your father sure made it feel like a real one” Iwaizumi chuckled as you both walk outside

Right, it’s all fake you thought to yourself making your heartache

“Sorry to make you go through all that you really didn’t have to” you spoke quietly

“Y/N you don’t need to worry I’d never hesitate in doing this again” Iwaizumi smiled weakly as your heart skipped a beat

“Why?” you asked frowning at the thought that he’d do anything for you even if it ended him in getting into conflict

“Because…” he stopped

“Because what?” You asked looking to him

“We’re friends” he smiled as you felt an intense wave of sorrow and hurt though you managed to smile back weakly

You turned around to walk away but you soon stopped at the sound of Iwaizumi’s voice

“I don’t want us to just be that” he continued making your eyes widen as your heart starts beating fast

“I did all this because I care about you a lot… more than a friend even” you turned around to see Iwaizumi starting to tear up

“I know it was all fake but I enjoyed every second… It may be selfish of me but… I don’t want it to end” Iwaizumi spoke his voice was shaky as he tried to hold his tears back 

“I love you Y/N… I don’t want to let you go” tears poured from Iwaizumi’s cheeks as you embraced him tightly shocking him 

“Don’t worry” you spoke softly “I don’t wanna let go either” he looked at you with shock as you gave him a sweet smile

“Can we continue it for real this time?” You asked as he placed a kiss on your forehead

“I’d love to” he smiled

Tsukishima

You've always been surrounded by your fans everywhere you went. School was no exception. During break, every student would try to sit with you and if there were partnerships or group projects you'd always be the first to be asked. You really didn't mind as you appreciated all the support and this was the price to pay when you made the biggest hits in Japan. The only thing you particularly minded was when you have over-the-top obsessed fans or stalkers. Luckily in public, you could easily avoid them however this one obsessed fan was unfortunately in your school. Still, it wouldn't be that hard with the mass amount of students at the school but unfortunately, you shared one class with this “fan”.

“Good morning class. Just like last semester I'm going to change your seating arrangement again” your teacher said as you start to worry

She then guides your classmates one by one to their seats as you were left last

“And Y/N over there” she pointed to the empty chair next to Yuta making you pale as white

“You've got to be kidding me” you panicked internally as you went to your seat and sat down

“Hey Y/N” he smiled innocently

“Hey…” you awkwardly smile back

“Looks like we'll be seat buddies” you swore you can hear the sly smile from his voice

“Yeah cool!” you smiled hoping he would drop the conversation

“Yeah! Especially since math isn't your strongest subject right?” He continued

“I can manage” you said with slight coldness in your voice

“Well if you need help I'm right next to you” he smiled finally ending the conversation between the both of you

You felt the life draining out of you during that class. Yuta kept trying to make conversation with you. You were sure he could take the hint and was just talking to you because he could. Luckily during break, you could easily get away from him.

“Hey Y/N over here!” Hinata waved excitedly as you went over to him

“Hey guys” you waved as you sat down

“Is something wrong you looked bummed out” Suga asked with concern

“Well y'know that fan in our school that constantly stalks me” you sighed playing with your food

“You mean your whole fan club” Tsuki rolled his eyes

“No not that one you glared the one that's like a whole different level of creepiness” you explained

“WHAT! THAT CREEP?!” Noya gasped in disgust

“Yeah, we're seatmates now woohoo!” You said sarcastically 

“Can't you ask your teacher to switch?” Asahi asked

“Unfortunately no he's very reputable in the school they're not gonna believe me” you laid your face on the table 

“It's okay Y/N you can get through this!” Hinata encouraged

“Thank you” you hugged him as he returns the hug

“It's a shame math is the only subject none of us share with you” Yamaguchi said sadly

“And it's the only subject they share with him” Kageyama lightly scoffed making you even more bummed out

“I'll get through this!” You tried encouraging yourself

“Stop lying to yourself it makes you more pathetic than you already are” Tsukishima rolled his eyes as you sent a glare

“Looks like it’s gonna be another glare war” Asahi chuckled

“This is gonna be a long day” Daichi sighed in annoyance

After a few more peaceful classes it was time to go home. You thought you would have a peaceful walk home but you were very wrong. As you went to the gate you saw a putrid familiar face waiting for you by the gate.

“Hey Y/N!” Yuta waved as you tried walking past him only for him to walk right next to you

“Hey… Do you need something?” You asked quickly getting annoyed

“I was thinking why don’t we walk home together” he suggested slyly smiling

“It’s okay I’m comfortable going myself” you smiled fakely wanting to punch the grin on his face

“Are you sure? You’re pretty big around here and you won’t be safe getting chased by a mob of fans” he asked with concern as he walked in front of you

Do I even have a choice at this point you thought

“It’s really okay I-” you tried explaining getting quickly interrupted by a hand on your shoulder

“If you’re so concerned about her wellbeing I’ll go with her” Tsukishima nonchalantly said

“Oh! Tsukishima!” You gasped in surprise

“I don’t know, I've only seen you two fighting all the time… Are you sure you aren’t just gonna laugh while they get chased” Yuta narrowed his eyes

“You flatter me” Tsukishima faked a chuckle “Are you giving them a choice to walk with you or are you forcing them to go with you” Tsukishima glared intensely 

“No no, it’s not like that! It’s Y/N’s choice after all” Yuta smiled looking at you as you felt his aura of anger seeth around him

“Thank you for the offer but… We have stuff to do” Yuta gives you a look of confusion as you look at Tsukishima for an excuse as he rolled his eyes

“You’ve already forgotten our homework? Typical Y/N” Tsukishima scoffed in annoyance as you try to hide the urge to smack him

“Yeah! And we're doing it at his house” you smiled innocently

“Alright then stay safe…” Yuta walked away as you sigh in relief

“Jeez, can't you take care of anything yourself? Just say no” Tsukishima crossed his arms

“You said it yourself earlier he wasn’t giving me a choice” you glared harshly as he rolled his eyes

“Whatever” he scoffed “Let’s go before that idiot comes back” he said walking ahead

“Huh? You’re walking me home” you look at him with a very confused face

“Yeah you dumbass we actually have homework” he face palmed as you scoff

“Would it kill you to be nicer” you crossed your arms as you walked

“I’m sorry did I hurt the princess’ feelings?” Tsukishima smiled sarcastically as you glared

“Maybe walking with him would be much better than you” you quietly said

“Huh? Did the pipsqueak say something?” He teased

“I said nothing!” You scowled grumpily

“That’s what I thought” Tsukishima smugly smiled as you both walk outside the school gates

“Thanks again, I mean it” you smiled softly which made Tsukishima blush slightly

“Yeah whatever” he shrugs off as you both walk home

The next day as you arrive at school you are greeted with a tight hug by Hinata while Kageyama chases after him.

“Hi Y/N!” Hinata looked up to you excitedly

“You seem pretty excited” you smiled back

“I’m always excited for volleyball!” Hinata jumped in joy

“HEY! DON’T RUN OFF LIKE THAT!” Kageyama said breathlessly

“I heard from Yamaguchi that you walked home with Tsukishima! What’s up with that?” Hinata asked you curiously ignoring the other fellow

“Oh it’s because Yuta was offering to walk home with me… Actually forcing me is a better term” you sighed

“That guy never knows when to quit!” Hinata pouted making you aww at his adorableness

“At Least Tsukishima was there” Hinata sighed in annoyance

“Yeah… he was good company” you smiled 

“You should file a restraining order on that guy” Kageyama suggested

“I think that’s a bit too much” you chuckled awkwardly

“What are you gonna do about him he doesn’t sound like he’s gonna stop” Kageyama crossed his arms worriedly 

“I’ll go after him and beat him up!” Hinata exclaimed getting into a fighting position making you smile

“Thank you Hinata but I’m sure there’s another way to resolve this without any violence or getting the authorities involved” you ruffled his hair as Hinata put his hand on his chin

“I guess you’re gonna have to deal with that until you figure out a solution” Kageyama sighed

“I’VE GOT AN IDEA!” Hinata thought out loud 

“No” Tsukishima stated coldly

“Come on! It’s the only solution!” Hinata pouted angrily

“Out of everyone you think of, you pick me? Even the thought of pretending to be with her repulses me” Tsukishima scoffed

“You sure picked a nasty one” you rolled your eyes

“Exactly! He’s grumpy, nasty, and intimidating! It will definitely scare off all the creeps!” Hinata triumphantly said hoping you’d both be convinced

“I mean if it will keep him away…” you looked at Tsukishima

“The final answer is no. If you excuse me I have to get to class” Tsukishima walked away annoyed as you sighed

“Wait! We share a class!” Hinata ran as he caught up with Tsukishima

“Don’t think I know what you’re doing” Tsukishima glared at the shorter fellow

“Doing what?” Hinata asked innocently

“I don’t like her end of story” Tsukishima scowled as he walked faster

“You sure do care too much even if you say you don’t” Hinata murmured as Tsukishima glared 

“This conversation is done” Tsukishima seethed coldly

“I’m just saying who knows maybe if you both pretend to be together, maybe they’ll end up liking you back” Hinata suggested making a small smug grin as Tsukishima stops

You’ve finally reached the class you’ve been dreading to go to. As soon as you go in lo and behold he’s already there waiting, even patting the seat right next to him as if he saved it just for you. You took a deep breath before heading to your seat.

“You look troubled, something on your mind?” He asked 

You wish he would just stop being so hyper-friendly with you and shut up 

“Nothing’s wrong, I’m just tired” you faked a yawn 

“Oh right! You must be exhausted from touring!” He chuckled at his idiocy making you sour

You, fortunately, got through the period and survived all his countless stupid questions. You rush quickly to get out but as you leave the door you get pulled by a familiar glasses wearer.

“Hey! Ever heard of a greeting!” You yell in annoyance as he continued to grab your hand ignoring whatever you said

“You’ll thank me later songbird” you frown at the nickname as Tsukishima drags you to a more secluded area

“What in the world do you want this time?” you asked in irritation as he lets go of your hand

“Is that guy still bothering you?” He asked ignoring your question

“Yuta? Yeah, wouldn’t stop berating me with questions” you rolled your eyes remembering the thought

“I’ll agree to that idiot’s plan” Tsukishima  crossed his arms coldly

“Huh, which plan?” You questioned innocently 

“For someone who has high grades you sure are stupid and forgetful” he smirked sarcastically as you glare  “The fake dating thing idiot” He scoffed

“Really? Thank you!” You hug him tightly as he blushes madly “I don't think I could take his stalking anymore!” You tightened your hug even more as he tried pushing you away

“Maybe ask before you hug me?” Tsukishima grimaced as you let go

“Oh sorry!” You scratched the back of your neck blushing

Later that day others offered to help you make the plan as real as possible. A lot of arguing mostly between you and Tsukishima refusing to do “things that normal couples do”. 

“Please complimenting her every minute is the last thing I’d do” Tsukishima scoffed

“Yeah that’s really cheesy” you rolled your eyes

“You guys said you wanted to trick him! You're gonna have to make cheesy sacrifices” Tanaka crossed his arms as the two of you sigh in annoyance

“The final step is kissing!” Hinata said excitedly

“NO!” You both yelled in unison

“Awww c’mon! If you both don’t wanna do anything we mention kissing would be more than enough” Hinata soured

“Don’t you think for fake dating that’s a bit too much” you reasoned out

“Y/N’s right kissing is overstepping it” Suga agreed as Hinata pouted and crossed his arms

“Then you’re gonna have to do everything else we’ve mentioned!” Noya smiled as you both sighed

The very next day you decided to take your plan into action

“When you both walk into school, hold hands!” Noya instructed as you sulk

“GO! GO! GO!” Noya shouted pushing the both of you into the school gates

Tsukishima nervously puts his hand on yours. His face goes beet red from getting to hold your hand.

“Your hand feels nice…” you smiled sweetly as his blush grows 

“W-what the hell do you mean by that?” Tsukishima asked nervously

“Oh, I thought it would be salty and sour” you giggled as scoffed “But it’s soft… I like it” you smiled softly 

“Your hand feels nice too… I guess” Tsukishima complimented

“Looks like we got the hand holding and complimenting down” you punch a fist in the air and smile, an action that Tsukishima couldn’t help but find cute

Your excitement comes to a close as you realize everyone in the hallway was watching you surprised at the both of you holding hands and having a normal conversation instead of arguing every five minutes

“Right! I forgot everyone in school’s gonna talk about this” you gulp in nervousness

“Not just the school, the whole of Japan” Tsukishima stated nonchalantly making you more nervous

“I’m sorry you're probably gonna get dragged around by the media after this” you said quietly playing with your hands

“Don’t worry it’ll be fine unlike you I can tell them to fuck off” Tsukishima smirked sarcastically as you pout

“That’s because you're a certified jerkwad” you cross your arms 

“Well you’re gonna have to deal with it pipsqueak” he said as the smugness in his tone increasing

“Let’s just get to our first class!” You scowled as you both walk into your first class

You did everything the others instructed you to. You were sure Yuta saw what you both did since he never leaves you alone at school. The gossip between you two was the only thing the school would talk about. Your next class was the dreaded Math class. You were nervous as you didn’t know what to expect when you sat next to Yuta. Taking a deep breath you went in and sat next to him. 

As expected he didn't talk to you for most of the period which made you worry. Usually, he’d annoy you to death berating you with questions, trying to get on your good side in hopes of having a chance with you. Your thoughts were interrupted when your classmate behind you asked a question

“Heya Y/N! Got a question” the girl asked as you turned around

Sure ask away you responded

“Is it true you’re dating Tsukishima? I was so sure you hated him” she chuckled as you felt the anger seething out of Yuta

“Yeah doesn’t he treat you like garbage?” Yuta interjected coldly 

“Well he may be an annoying asshole but I kinda like that about him” you explain as the tint on your cheeks grows red “I guess he’s not good with showing how he really feels but… I know for sure he cares” you continue “Ohhh! I get it! You’re that kinda gal!” she lightly punched your arm as you giggled

“Yeah I guess so…” you murmured as you felt Yuta’s boiling anger but you chose to ignore it

The whole Math class felt like a breath of fresh air. You didn’t care if you just felt anger from your seatmate. You were finally free now from his stupid questions. After your class finishes you happily walked to lunch and sat next to your usual lunch buddies

“Someone’s in a really good mood” Yamaguchi smiled 

“Yuta left me alone the whole class!” You exclaimed in triumph as everyone sighs in relief

“See! Our plan was foolproof!” Tanaka and Noya said proudly in unison

“Yeah, if it hadn't I would’ve beaten you both to a pulp” Tsukishima scowled

“Alright Mr. Salty Pants you need to calm down” you patted his shoulder as he rolled his eyes

“Don’t call me that pipsqueak” Tsukishima brushed your hand off

“Giving each other nicknames? Are you sure you guys are still fake?” Hinata whispered mischievously as you both blush

“I’ll just return to my food” you brushed Hinata off and started eating as Tsukishima quietly did the same

“At least they aren’t arguing anymore” Daichi sighed in relief

As soon as school finishes you wait at the gate for Tsukishima to be done practicing. You take a long sigh of relief. Besides dealing with the media and school your “stalker” would finally leave you alone. Or so you thought.

"Y/N!" you hear a voice call out as you turned to face them only to be surprised by an angry Yuta walking towards you

"Yuta? I thought you’d be home" by now you spoke innocently as his anger grows

"Cut the innocent bullshit! I know you both aren’t a thing" Yuta yelled coldly as he grabbed you

"Huh? What’re you talking about?" you chuckled nervously trying to push him away

"It was all to make me leave you alone right? C’mon, you really think I was that stupid?" He snickered loudly as you begin to tear up in fear

“Aww don’t cry you’ve got your “boyfriend” to save you- Oh wait he’s not really your boyfriend” he continued to laugh though he soon stopped as you heard the sound of a blow to his face

“Don’t touch someone who’s off limits” Tsukishima scowled angrily as you rushed to hug him tightly

“Don’t make me laugh I know it isn’t real” Yuta said as he got up

“You’re just whiny because unlike you I got their attention” Tsukishima smirked smugly as he received a blow from Yuta

“Tsuki!” You rushed towards his aid as he brushes you off

“Don’t worry I’ve been wanting to kick his ass for a while” Tsukishima said as he got ready to punch him again

“Stop! You’re only gonna get hurt!” You cried out as Yuta slowly approaches the both of you only for a familiar tangerine to drop kick Yuta onto the ground

“I’ve waited forever to do that!” Hinata smiled victoriously as Yuta gets up and runs away

“YEAH RUN YOU COWARD” Hinata yelled 

“Where did you learn to do that?” You asked as he chuckled

“I’ve been practicing with Noya!” Hinata smiled as you ruffle his hair

“You should take Tsukishima to the nursing office. I'll head back and tell the others!” Hinata quickly said as he ran off

“You haven’t finished practice?” you look towards Tsukishima

“Yeah I needed to get something then I found you with him” Tsukishima explained

“Let’s just get you the nurse’s office” you said worriedly as you helped walk him to the nurse’s office

Luckily for the both of you the nurse’s office was empty which saved you both an explanation and or potential punishment. You ushered him to sit down as you grabbed the necessary items to treat his lip. 

“I’m sorry” you mumbled quietly as soon as you finished treating his lip

“What for?” Tsukishima asked holding the ice pack on his lip

“For all of this the fake dating and dragging you into this” you look down as the guilt builds up

“You really don’t have to apologize for that after all I agreed to do this” Tsukishima placed his hand on yours to comfort you

“But you ended up getting hurt because of me” you began to tear up

“It doesn’t matter if I get hurt” he wiped the tears from your cheeks “I would protect you no matter what, whether we're together for real or fake because… I care about you…” he confided pulling you into a tight embrace

“Thank you” hugged him back tightly “y'know… we don't have to keep calling it fake” you smiled 

“What do you-” he gave you a puzzled look as you interrupted hin

“We could do it for real if you want” you blushed shyly

“Yeah… I wouldn't mind that” he smiled

Kuroo

You were in the middle of doing your homework when Bokuto dragged you to come with him to his li’l hangout session in the park with Kuroo.

“Why did I have to come again?” you asked slightly annoyed

“Because Akaashi didn’t want to come” Bokuto frowned, “He said he was busy or something” Bokuto childishly crossed his arms

“Well couldn’t you go there alone? I was in the middle of doing my homework” you pouted

“C’mon! Don’t you wanna spend time with your favorite big brother and his friend!” He tried convincing you with his sad frown

“You’re my only big brother” you narrowed your eyes as his face brightens up

“So you agree?” he smiled triumphantly as you sighed in amusement. You did need a little break anyways

“Well then you’re gonna have to convince Akaashi to help me with my homework as a thank you” you tried to compromise as he nodded his head excitedly

“YEAH! WE GET TO HANG OUT AGAIN!” Bokuto hugged you tightly making you smile at his adorableness

“Alright you goof we don’t wanna keep Kuroo waiting” you patted his back making him release the hug as you both turned to leave

“THERE’S AN ICE CREAM TRUCK OVER THERE!” Bokuto yelled excitedly pointing at the ice cream truck at the front of the park

“LET’S GO!” He dragged you with him running a thousand miles per hour

You both ran to the ice cream shop, terrifying the people on the way and the worker from how fast Bokuto ran. You both bought ice cream for yourselves and Kuroo (which you paid for).

“You owe me two favors now” you warned as Bokuto continued eating his ice cream

“Thank you!” He smiled adorably making you sigh

“Don’t think your adorableness is getting you out of what you owe me” you glared

“Where’s Kuroobro” Bokuto looked around for his black-haired friend but to no avail

“Did he say he was already here?” you asked as Bokuto nodded

“If he doesn’t show up do I owe you an extra favor” Bokuto spoke timidly as you nodded making him gulp

Ironically right after he said that Kuroo appeared out of nowhere looking like he just killed someone

“KUROOBRO!” Bokuto yelled putting his hands on the air in excitement as Kuroo shushes him

“Not the time right now!” Kuroo whispered loudly as you and Bokuto look at each other tilt your head in confusion

“What’s wrong?” Bokuto whispered quietly as Kuroo dragged you both somewhere private near the tree area

“Will you just tell us what’s happening you whispered angrily” as he sighed

“While I was walking around waiting for you guys I met my ex near a bench” Kuroo explained 

“Yeah and?” Bokuto asked naively as you elbowed his arm making him mutter an “ow!”

“Don’t you remember what happened Bo? You were the one who told me all this” you narrowed one eye as he looked at you dazed

“I kinda forgot about her” Bokuto shrugged as you and Kuroo both sigh

“Well my forgetful owl friend she’s still not over me and thinks we still have a chance even if i clearly showed that there is no chance whatsoever” Kuroo frowned 

“Has she been following you since?” You asked as he nodded frustratedly sighing in the process “Yeesh” you patted his back

“Well if you don’t wanna see her we can just stay here I mean we’re all here anyways Bokuto sat down in the grass Ice cream?” Bokuto offered the ice cream you bought for Kuroo as he sat down “Let’s figure something out tomorrow” you offered as he smiled “You both owe me one afterall” you smirked eating your ice cream as Kuroo looks at you with confusion

“What?” Kuroo looked at Bokuto as he gave him an awkward smile

The next day Kuroo couldn’t practice properly thinking about what happened yesterday. It wasn’t long till his team noticed his change in behavior.

“Hey Kuroo, is there something wrong you're acting very off today” Inuoka asked 

“Huh? Nothing’s wrong” Kuroo brushed off as he went to grab the ball

“Something is clearly wrong you aren’t playing properly” Yaku reprimanded as Kuroo rolled his eyes

“Nothing to be concerned about! Let’s get going!” Kuroo insisted

“For the last hour you haven’t practiced properly” Yaku glared “So tell us what’s wrong. Now” Yaku crossed his arms as Kuroo sighed deeply in response going over to the benches before he sat down

“When I went outside to hangout with Bokuto and Y/N, I met my ex” Kuroo explained quietly shocking everyone “Long story short, she’s not over me” Kuroo frowned

“Knowing her I wouldn’t be surprised if she enrolled here just to see you” Kenma spoke nonchalantly making Kuroo sweat

“That would be awkward especially if you have to share a class” Yamamoto added as Yaku elbowed him

“Let’s hope either of that doesn’t happen” Yaku sighed 

“She’d be near impossible to get away from then” Inuoka said worriedly 

“I would die if I saw her attending my games” Kuroo spoke deflated putting his hands on his head

“Let’s try to devise a plan after school we’ll have more time” Yaku suggested as he stood up “For now, you don’t have to force yourself to play in that kind of state” Yaku said empathetically

The whole practice Kuroo was moping around much to the dismay of his teammates. He thought the day wouldn’t get any worse until it was time for him to go home.

“Looks like I got through that pretty fine” Kuroo exclaimed proudly

“If acting mopey the whole practice was fine I don’t even want to know what would happen if you actually meet her” Yaku sighed

“Let’s hope that doesn’t happen” Inuoka said worriedly

“Don’t worry I just have to make it to my house! She’s not gonna appear anytime soon” Kuroo walked towards the gate but was stopped by Kenma pulling him

“Huh? What was that for–” Kuroo gave Kenma a confused look but his face immediately froze when Kenma pointed in front of him

“I think you jinxed yourself” Lev gulped sheepishly

“Did she actually enroll here?” Yamamoto gasped quietly as Kuroo’s ex walks over to them

“CRAP SHE’S COMING” they all panic internally 

“Hey…” his ex said meekly making everyone sweat nervously

“What… what are you doing here” Kuroo slightly grimaced

“Oh i just… wanted to see how you were doing” she mumbled smiling awkwardly which slightly angered the team’s captain

“Didn’t I make it clear at the park already” Kuroo slightly snapped though remained composed as everyone looked at him

“Yeah! But…” she gets cut off by Kuroo’s sigh

“It’s over alright? Just leave me alone” Kuroo growing angry he quickly walked out of the gate while everyone followed him

During the walk home it was pure dead silence accompanied by the angry aura that radiated Kuroo. No one dared to ask if he was okay in fear of further pissing off the captain. The next day Kuroo along with Kenma went to the lockers before heading to class.

“Hey Kuroo sorry for not being to help you during that whole ordeal yesterday” Kenma apologized as he opened his locker

“Eh don’t worry about it” Kuroo shook his hand vertically “It’s not your fault she’s can’t take no for an answer” Kuroo sighed in annoyance as he opened his locker

The two boys then saw a letter inside the locker making them both groan

“You thinkin what I’m thinkin?” Kuroo gave a look of irritation getting a nod from Kenma as a response as he opened it

The letter contained a cringeworthy, half-assed apology going on and on and had endless paragraphs that the two boys didn’t even bother to read

“I’m not reading this shit” Kuroo crumpled the paper and threw it at a nearby trash can

“Looks like she really won’t leave you alone” Kenma stated nonchalantly making Kuroo sigh

“Yeah I need to break it to her delusional self fast” Kuroo huffed throwing his hands on his head in frustration

“Yeah you better get on that quickly” Kenma shook Kuroo’s shoulder and pointed into his classroom “Looks like she’s your new classmate” Kuroo’s eyes widened 

“ARE YOU KIDDING ME?” Kuroo whined loudly

“Well good luck” Kenma waved goodbye as Kuroo nervously went inside the classroom

During the whole class Kuroo’s ex tried everything to try and talk to him. Even with Kuroo’s clear signs of rejecting her advances she still persisted. The whole ordeal lasted the whole class until he was finally able to get out to which he proceeded to go quickly to the gym.

“GUYS I NEED IDEAS NOW!” Kuroo yelled as he slammed the door open

“Yeah we heard from Kenma that you now share a class with her” Yaku sighed worriedly

“YEAH ON MY FAVORITE CLASS? THE ONLY ONE I’D ATTEND INSTEAD OF PRACTICING!” Kuroo moped and messed his hair in frustration

“Well you’re in luck!” A familiar booming voice was heard outside of the gym

“BOKUTO IS HERE TO SAVE HIS BRO!” Bokuto yelled excitedly as his other team went into the gym

“THANK YOU BRO” Kuroo went to the fellow ace and hugged him as his whole team sighed

“We’ll do that after our practice match” Akaashi reminded slightly deflating the both of them

After the two teams' practice match they decided to devise a plan once they headed to the bench. Kuroo took the time explaining what happened during his class.

“That girl is borderline obsessed with you” you gave a very creeped out face 

“I know right! No matter how many times you say no or make it clear to her stupid brain she doesn't get it!” Kuroo's words seethed anger

“You could expel her from the school!” Bokuto suggested proudly

“That'd only solve his problem in school but not everywhere else” Akaashi stated making Bokuto sigh in defeat

“Why don’t you get a s/o? She’ll probably leave you alone if she sees you with someone else” Kenma nonchalantly suggested as he played on his console

“That’s a great idea!” Kuroo smiled victoriously

“You still need to find someone who’s nice enough to help your sorry self” Yaku sassed as Kuroo responded with a harsh glare

“Y/N can do it!” Bokuto pointed as Kuroo blushed

“Huh? Why me?” you made a grossed out face

“Cuz he’s my best friend! And he needs saving!” Bokuto reasoned 

“That doesn’t answer my question” you crossed your arms

“Well… you're my sibling and you should help your big brother!” Bokuto responded as you narrowed your eyes

“I don’t think I have the time to have a relationship right now” you said making your brother frown

“It probably doesn’t have to be real” Kai put his hand on his chin “if you just make it believable enough to fool her that could work” your brother nodded to his statement 

“Please” he looked at you cutely “Can you did it for your big brother and his helpless best friend” he continued as Kuroo scowled

“I can’t say no to that face” you sigh in defeat as Bokuto jumps up

“Another victory for Bokuto Kotaro!” Bokuto jumped around excitedly

“Y/N would work after all Kuroo does–” Kenma said before his mouth was covered by Kuroo

“Because you're also my friend, yeah!” Kuroo awkwardly smiled as you looked at him weirdly

“Let's start tomorrow then so we can get this done” you spoke to which Kuroo nodded

“Looks like your dream come true with my sibling is coming true” Bokuto whispered teasingly smiling as Kuroo shushed him 

The next day after you finished school you headed to Kuroo’s school and waited outside the gate together with your brother.

“Bo you didn't have to come all the way here I can take care of myself” you said while you watched the students pass by

“Yeah but who would third wheel your date” Bokuto smiled mischievously It will make it more authentic he added

“You’re a really great friend to Kuroo” you smile which Bokuto returned with a big toothy one

“Heya guys!” Kuroo yelled from a distance as he ran over to the both of you “Shall we make Operation Get Rid Of My Ex a go?” Kuroo smirked as Bokuto nodded excitedly

‘This is gonna be so chaotic’ you thought

“Let’s go!” Bokuto grabbed all of you and you three were off

You went to a cozy cafe in Tokyo with a few people coming in and out

“Y’know for someone so obsessed with you it’s weird how she isn’t here yet” you spoke as you drank your coffee 

“What if she doesn’t come! That would make everything a waste!” Bokuto pouted “Well except the food” he said in annoyance as he ate his croissant 

“There’s no way she wouldn't know I was talking about it pretty loudly during lunch” Kuroo explained whilst he ate

“Well she’s here now” you pointed at the open door where Kuroo’s ex sneakily walked in with other customers

“Get into position!” Kuroo whispered as you all did as planned

“Is she watching?” Bokuto nudged Kuroo

“Yeah!” Kuroo replied

You and Kuroo did whatever couples did during dates whilst Bokuto made your stereotypical third wheel make an awkward date. Luckily you were able to play it naturally as you were already pretty close with Kuroo. You couldn’t deny that you found it cute how hard Kuroo was trying. He was very easy going and made sure to ask for your consent before doing something.

“I need to go to the toilet, I’ll be back” you stood up and left leaving the two boys

“I think you’re taking this way too seriously” Kuroo chuckled

“Not as seriously as you seriously enjoying this” Bokuto retorted making Kuroo blushed

“Listen when you decided to set us up you knew what you were doing” Kuroo fought back

“Well yeah! It’s a bros job to get him with the girl of his dreams” Bokuto laughed smugly

“Now you just sound dramatic” Kuroo rolled his eyes

“Maybe but you can’t deny you're enjoying this” Bokuto smirked

“Alright you got me there” Kuroo raised his hands as you came back

“Is the plan working?” you asked quietly 

“Judging from how creepily she’s been keeping a close eye on us, yeah!” Kuroo smiled victoriously

“We just gonna continue from here then” you said

Kuroo’s ex followed you all everywhere keeping a close tab on you and Kuroo especially which made you very uncomfortable. The three of you both finished every activity you had planned for the day so you all opted to go home. 

“Is she still following us?” Bokuto asked quietly

“Yeah I can feel her eyes on my back” Kuroo replied

“Still? She's so creepy man” Bokuto's face turned to disgust

“I feel bad that you had to go through this for the past few days” you patted Kuroo's back as he sighed

“Yeah it's like I get no privacy anywhere besides my house, everywhere I go she's there too”” Kuroo crossed his arms and pouted “Well I guess it’s more enjoyable cuz your here” Kuroo looked at you and smiled making your heart thump

“T-thanks” you said still dazed from what he said

“Hey! What about me!” Bokuto pouted which Kuroo laughed in response

“Of course you too bro!” Kuroo chuckled turning Bokuto’s frown upside down

“We’ll see tomorrow what she thinks” you said as you all reached Kuroo’s house

“Thanks again today was fun” you smiled making Kuroo slightly blush

“Yeah! My pleasure” Kuroo smiled back

The next day Kuroo went through the whole day without his ex bothering him which made him suspicious. But when he did see her in chemistry class she seemed quiet and was distancing herself from him which Kuroo couldn’t help but feel the intense wave of victory. You saw the joyous captain when he walked to you and Bokuto at the gate.

“Someone looks very happy today” you smiled as Kuroo greeted both of you

“She kept her distance the whole day! I say progress!” Kuroo almost squealed in excitement

“All in a day's work of The Best Ace Bokuto!” Bokuto smiled proudly

“Yeah that’s great!” you flashed a thumbs up

“We just need to seal the deal” Kuroo put his finger on his chin before his face lit up “Prom’s this weekend which I think is the perfect opportunity to do it” Kuroo explained “Can I go too! I wanna eat all the food!” Bokuto jumped in excitement which made you chuckle

“Yeah we can all go!” Kuroo  gave a toothy smile

A few days before prom you were in the mall with Akaashi and Bokuto deciding which of the dresses you should buy

“Should I go for this one or this one?” you said holding two dresses

“We’ve been here for like… HOURS!” Bokuto complained as he fell back on the chair

“And? It’s a formal event that needs the proper attire! I need to look my best!” You defended hearing another complain from Bokuto

“Why do you care so much you didn’t care that much last prom!” Bokuto crossed his arms

“Is it because of Kuroo?” Akaashi asked innocently yet you felt there was more intention in his tone

“W’what? N-no?” You blushed hardly surprised from Akaashi’s question

“Looks like I hit a bullseye” Akaashi nonchalantly said

“You like Kuroo?” Bokuto stood up and looked at you

“No! I don’t! It’s just I wanna look my best to make it look real y'know!” You kept trying to defend yourself though Akaashi could see right through you

“You wanna look your best for Kuroo you mean” Akaashi teased to which you glare

“I never thought you’d like my bro!” Bokuto smiled excitedly

“Well, until now” Akaashi smirked which made you blush even more

“Just pick one I’m done with this conversion!” You pointed daggers at the two boys which made Bokuto snicker

It was the day of the prom and Kuroo was very nervous. Though it was only to get rid of his ex he felt that he’d actually taken you to prom and though he didn’t want to admit it but he really wanted to see what you’d look like in your prom dress.

“You look a little too excited” Yaku teased 

“Well yeah! I’m actually going to prom with them!” Kuroo blushed “It still makes me sad though that all this is fake” Kuroo frowned his face darkened

“Well I guess you have to make the most of it right?” Kenma interjected hoping to cheer his best friend up

“You’re right” Kuroo smiled 

“She’s here now!” Lev exclaimed making Kuroo shift back to nervousness

The door opened with Bokuto in a neat tux with a surprisingly formal hairstyle different from his spiked up hair but beside him was you in an elegant outfit also with a formal hairstyle

“Amazed? You should be! I picked it for them just for my best bro!” Bokuto bragged proudly

“You only picked it so we’d get out of the store” you chuckled as Bokuto shot a quick shush

“That doesn’t change the fact that you look pretty elegant” Kuroo scratched the back of his neck in shyness the team were smiling right next to him

“Well let's leave you both to it” Yaku grabbed the others giving the two alone space

“Well? Let’s get started” you smiled excitedly as you dragged Kuroo to the dance floor 

You both couldn’t deny the fun you both had dancing and partying. You had to admit that this was the most fun you had with Kuroo. You felt saddened that after all this your “relationship” was going to end. Though you made sure you made the most out of the time you had left.

“I’m going to the restroom can you get me some more punch when I get back” you asked as Kuroo nodded

“Anything for you m’lady” Kuroo teased as you lightly slapped his shoulder

“Alright you big goof I’ll be off” you chuckled as you went to the bathroom

As Kuroo went to the area with he punch he noticed his ex walking towards him as he got some punch for the both of you making him sigh in annoyance

“What do you want” Kuroo said coldly “Don’t think I didn’t see you follow me a few days ago with my date” he glared putting emphasis on date

“I know but I just want you to give me one chance… just one” she pleaded

“Isn’t what you’ve seen already enough for you to leave me alone” Kuroo snapped

“You don’t have to pretend to be with someone just because you don’t wanna give me a chance” she said making Kuroo laugh

“I think you need to get your brain checked sweetheart you’re acting very cuckoo” Kuroo sneered

“We both know that date was one sided” she scowled taking him back “It’s sad that they pitied you that much that they’d agree to go to prom with you” she continued as Kuroo growed in anger 

“And what? My feelings for them are real! So shove that chance you think you have in your ass!” Kuroo snapped slamming the table next to him “After all it's only good for pleasing other guys isn’t it” Kuroo glared intensely shocking his ex 

“You–” She tried to speak out though she was interrupted by Kuroo

“Whether it’s real or not, they care more about me more than you ever have!” Kuroo scowled the argument grew more heated

“You know you don’t and won’t ever have a chance” she gritted her teeth

“Even so I’d rather chase someone who cares about me even only platonically then a cheating whore” Kuroo clenched his fist“Even if we’ll be stuck as friends forever I’ll live with that I’ll even push those feelings back” Kuroo tried holding his tears back as some began to fall

“Fine let it be that way” she said “Just know you’re pathetic especially for your feelings for them” she walked away leaving Kuroo alone

Unbeknownst to Kuroo you heard everything he said about you. You felt your heart rapidly thumping from everything he professed about you even more so at the thought that he felt those feelings for you and was willing to push them back for you just so you’d both stay as friends. As you were dazed however you noticed Kuroo looking at you.

“I… How long were you watching?” Kuroo sniffed 

“Enough to hear the whole thing” you replied back quietly

“I see…” he looked down trying to wipe the tears

You felt the tension between the both of you grow bigger and bigger you had to say something

“Did you mean all the things you said to her?” You asked 

“Yeah every single one” Kuroo nodded

“Even the part where you’d accept us just being friends” you played with your fingers

“Listen Y/N nothing’s gonna change I promise we can still be best friends and–” Kuroo stopped as he felt your soft lips press against his

“You don’t need to accept us just being friends, I want it to be more” you smiled brightly as he blushed

“Yeah I’d love that!” He spoke as he pulled you for another kiss though you both stopped as soon as you heard a loud YEAH!

“MY PLAN WORKED!” Bokuto let out a very mischievous laughter followed by Yaku punching his elbow

“You ruined their moment!” Yaku scolded

“Sorry I can’t help it!” Bokuto rubbed his elbow 

“Well I’ll have to thank my best bro!” Kuroo cheered “I’M THE BEST BROTHER AND BRO IN THE WORLD” Bokuto yelled in joy with the biggest toothy smile

“Yeah you really are” you smiled brightly

[rei-caldombra]

Delicious in Dungeon - First Impressions Review

This is based off the first 3 episodes of the anime and does contain spoilers. Please be aware that I have not read the manga and am not spoiled. 

I actually got to watch the first 2 episodes of the anime live at Anime NYC last year. It also came with a sampler manga volume that includes a bit of the first volume of Dungeon Meshi. I’m glad they gave this out, this is a cool and unique item. It was nice being able to look at the manga art while waiting for the panel to start, so then I could compare it to the anime. I think the visuals match the manga very well and think both look great. I think there may be slight differences in facial expressions but nothing notably different or anything I would notice if I was not intentionally looking closely while writing this. The visuals of the anime are very high quality. The animation and art are clean, detailed and smooth. 

I like the intricate details of monsters. The mollusks in the armor in episode 3 are fantastic and easily my favorite part of the show. This is creative, unique and fascinating. This was completely unexpected. It is so interesting and inventive. This took a classic fantasy enemy and explained it in an entirely new way. If they can pull this off every episode, I would be ecstatic. I hope we get to see more reimagining of classic creatures on top of one's original to the series. 

I also enjoy the cooking aspect of the show. It's very satisfying to watch. I do like very detailed cooking and eating animation. I think the show is at its best when it presents an interesting creature followed up with an interesting way that they are cooked. Again, this is done well in episode 3, where we see the multiple ways that the living armor could be cooked. 

Another specific moment I loved was the detailed look into traps in the dungeon. Traps in any kind of dungeon-like structure are a staple, but usually they are breezed past as the characters avoid them. It was great seeing how these mechanically function. And even greater to then see how these traps can be used to cook food. This is another time where Dungeon Meshi does something truly unique and inventive.

It’s also decently funny. I do not think it’s laugh out loud funny, but there’s good jokes. I do think Marcille’s reluctance may get a bit repetitive if it keeps getting leaned into so hard but hopefully it won’t be too bad if we continue the same pattern of each episode featuring a new monster or two that they show us how to cook. I am totally down if it primarily wants to continue the trend of creature cooking of the week for now. 

When it comes to the characters, Laios is the main one I have much to say about. I think he is a solid main character. He is pretty straightforward but with the funny flair of being concerningly fixated on eating dungeon creatures. 

It creates lots of great rapport between the characters, and I am totally up for this simply being a weird hyper fixation of his. I enjoy when writers embrace characters having weird specific passions like many real people do. I think there is potential for there to be some more depth to him through his responses to his sister being in danger, but sadly I do not think that element is being hit properly, at least not yet. I hope going forward we will get more perspective from Laios on his sister that makes me care more about her and them as a family. 

The previous point is a good transition into my primary gripe. I think the main premise of saving Falin clashes with the tone of the show. You’d think they would be rushing to save his sister but it does not come across that way at all. And I do not feel like this is out of caution for moving through the dangerous dungeon or any reason along those lines. I understand that the dragon probably digests slowly but it still doesn’t change that this is between life and death. Falin being in danger does not feel very relevant. A lot of the time it feels like they are taking their time and enjoying themselves. Which is not fundamentally bad, but feels strange when the reason for them being there is to save the main character’s sister from dying. It feels so irrelevant that I genuinely forget that she existed for a time. With the general tone and content I think a serious motivation like his sister being in danger isn’t needed as a plot point. They could just want to finish where they failed, and Laios just wanted to go through it but be able to cook the monsters this time. And I think nothing would need to change. I think a simpler and less serious motivation would be better. A more dramatic plot like someone slowly dying would fit better if the series seemed to have more intent on being dramatic. But I do not see many attempts at that so far. Even at the very beginning when they realize she is down there we do not see much emotional expression. It seems focused on just having fun with its concept of cooking in a dungeon. Which is totally fine, but for me this creates a very poor tone. If I want to just be invested in the cooking and adventuring then I do not see the purpose of Falin being slowly digested being in the back of my mind while they relax with some food. If I am supposed to care about Falin then it doesn’t feel right to see the characters spend time and effort just to test if they could use trap oil to safely fry something when she is being digested by a dragon. For me there is clear tonal whiplash that harms my investment in the show. 

I will definitely continue watching as I am enjoying the fun adventuring and cooking. Hopefully the tone will be improved as we go forward. The anime is already slated for 24 episodes so we have a lot ahead of us. I do like the basic episode structure of “creature of the week” but I do worry about it continuing to be interesting for 24 episodes 24 weeks in a row. But I think and hope we will get some more dramatic elements eventually and more focus on Falin being in danger while they take their time cooking. Thank you for reading!

[sentofight]

a tentative ,  exploratory kiss between friends . [ get him edea ]

The smell of the roasted meat makes the mouth drool. Hmhp! She'll give it to him, he can roast it nicely. But like, she'll never tell him to his face!! The two went on a little training journey outside of the town and it was about time they take a break. Edea complained that she got hungry and Wylan didn't waste a moment and viola a kill was ready to be roasted nicely on the campfire. Sometimes she wonders if he is really doing all that stuff because he likes her or because ... he likes to tease her. (don't tell her they are both the same it will break her mind.)

Munching happily on the meat, it was more than enough of praise for the master to know she liked what he made. He threw a couple of jokes around, some got ignored in favor of the delicious food, and some he got the usual mrgrgrgr treatment.

They were sitting on opposite sides of each other and in one of their previous 'journeys' she understood that her master was not good with cold weather. The princess was not about to start worrying about him, hmhp! He's an adult! He can warm himself up for all she cares ...b-but like...she can make the fire a little bit stronger--just the fire, okay!?

Hands extended in front of her and the warm red glow emits before the fire between them got warmer. "Huff ... now, better." (for you.) untold. She knew he would use this too against her but she didn't mind. To be honest, every time she remembers how sickly looking he got due to the cold, it ...scares her. She does not want that to happen again, ever! It was not funny when he looked like he was going to ... to ... AARRGHHH!!!! WHATEVER! IT'S NOT LIKE SOME COLD WILL KILL A JERK LIKE HIM!

Excuse her huffing to herself, the solo conversation is deep. Which made Wylan blink in confusion. Was she mad at him? He has not done anything worthy of her to get upset...yet. So, might as well use this chance so he patted the space next to him telling her he is still cooold~

Edea raised an eyebrow at him, with a huh sound? "I'll douse the flames." she threatened to which he told her he can't see her face from the flames and it is a shame. She blushed a little bit, more huffing at him. Wylan continued that he wants to talk to her and not to the flames. Okay, that kind of makes sense ... Fiiine!!

Grumbling under her breath, she got up dusting her back before she walked next to Wylan and sat down (there is still space. hmhp! like she will sit right next to him!)

There was a brief silence before Wylan broke it and started talking about some missions he had done--only the silly parts of course, as if he would tell her about the grim parts--the parts he is unsure how to share that with her yet.

How the flames cast a warm hue against the young man, pretty ... --! W-what is she talking about!? --....nnn..... he is handsome. Her eyes followed his lips, moving as he spoke. Strange, she had not stared that long at them before. Why now? Oh .... ooh ....his smile. That smile he keeps showing her. She wonders if she leaned now and kissed him how he will react? Would he be still smiling?

She pulls her legs close to her chest, arms wrapped around them to rest her head over her knees so she can watch him talk. Silly man...really, really, REAAAALLY silly. "Can I kiss you?" thought slipped out and she could see him come to a halt, like a machine lagging and freezing on the spot. She felt her cheeks burst into flames--SHE SAID THAT!? NOOOO!!! THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE --- THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE IN HER MIND!!! UUGHH!!!!!

"I--UM! It's-- ... " She moved to the side, arms gestured in a defensive position. "..it's .... n-no, right? haha...it's...weird ... " her gaze quickly fell on her clasped hands, squeezing them nervously. A 'sure' was heard from his direction so her eyes shot back up at him. Wylan had fixed his seating to face her since she squirmed away. "Y-you mean...w-wait, you don't have to humor me! Just because my fa--" Wylan laughed and told her it has nothing to do with her father nor their 'work relationship' ..he, too kind of wants to try that. "O-oh ... um, okay... I see ..." eh? EEEH!? he wants to try that, too!? ... Yep, he is a jerk!!! That smug on his face shows it!!! Mrgrgrgrrr!!

Sitting properly, she looked at him, more like burning a new hole into his head, she fought her embarrassment to see this through. "Huh? What's that over there?" the moment he turned to see where she was pointing, she closed the space between them (it would had been a comical scene, edea crawling like a baby would do, toward him.)

Personal space? This time she will be the one invading it. Her left hand pressed against his cheek to pull him back to her direction while her right hand rested on his chest for support, Edea leaned to kiss him on his lips. She wouldn't dare to open her eyes despite how much she wanted to see his face. If she did, she might stop this and ..she didn't want to stop. At least, not now. The feeling is strange. How can she describe it? The thing she knows is that it is not bad and she kind of wants more of it. Perhaps, not n-now. Her body tensed feeling his hand rest on her back and when they parted, Wylan softly touched her cheek (most likely teasing her more seeing her red cheeks are so pinchable at the moment.)

"Th-thank ...you ..." her eyes darted left and right but not focusing on his face. If he expects her to say something nice about their kiss then..yes, he is wrong, again.

kiss and tell | accepting | @cadcnce

[invisiblegarters]

Be My Favorite Ep 12

Oh hey Kawi became a songwriter. I like that for him, actually.

"I don't have to exist if it would help you succeed." Okay no I don't love that for either of you. The solution isn't to hide, the solution is for people to back the fuck out of each other's personal lives. The solution is to remember that we're all people and that love is love and that it really isn't that big of a deal who someone loves or is sleeping with. ugh.

Hahaha omg time travel Pisaeng looks like he's going to shit himself. Why is that so funny to me? And relatable. I too would react that way.

I wonder how long Pisaeng's gonna put off telling Kawi what's up - he's being so weird that you know Kawi's gonna eventually pick up on it even if it takes him a bit.

Except Kawi already knows. Ooh I do like that, actually. His curiosity about the future is cute. I am very worried though, what Pisaeng will do. He's too self-sacrificing for my tastes.

Can I just say I have a weird attachment to people actually eating their food in dramas? So often they do not and it drives me absolutely bonkers. Or they order drinks and never actually take sips of them. The full coffees in Light On Me, I'm looking at you. GAP and those delicious looking prawns that never went in anyone's mouth, I'm looking at you, too.

Cute theme park montage. I used to be terrified of that damn swinging boat ride, so I feel Kawi. However roller coasters never did bug me.

Aw, Kawi.

AAAH I love rollercoasters. Those little butterfly rolls are the best. Poor Kawi does not, lol.

Oh, this isn't just about Kawi getting sick, is it?

UGH I KNEW IT. Dammit, Pisaeng. Do NOT make this the dumbest timeline. Let Kawi have that dubious honor.

Hm I don't know Piseang. He's forgetting that Kawi has been through several futures and he actively chose the one that Pisaeng just came from. Like, over and over at every out he was given chose it.

Well that was a delightfully mature conversation. Kawi, you've grown up.

Oh did Pisaeng go back after that? Huh.

And Kawi gets to live. I mean I think we all knew that but still, good. It definitely would have been something to have Pisaeng go back and then, ooops, death time.

I love how in Thai dramas you can tell a character is going through it by lack of lipgloss haha.

Still no Not. Best ending ever. I love how he just sort of exited stage left at some point. Best thing they could have done, honestly - I would have resented a redemption arc for him and I would have loathed him being a part of the group in spite of all his gross BS. But it seems like every time I say something today the thing happens, so please don't let me have just screwed myself.

And Pearmei is getting married again. Hopefully this time to a decent dude even if it should have been Kwan and I stand by that.

MAX. Looking good. HIs face at the handholding. Oh Max I love you I wish this show had given you a boyfriend.

Pear looks really happy. Good for her.

NO WAS THAT NOT IN THE WEDDING PHOTOS ARE YOU SMOKING SOMETHING SHOW.

UGH it was. I hate you. Instant point deduction sorry not sorry.

I did this to myself.

Overall, it was very cute, although I could feel myself winding down a bit during the last ep and that continued through this one. It's probably a me thing, but I just felt like the last two eps were oddly lackluster. Perhaps it was all the montages? Idk I'm just really picky I think.

Except for that Not bullshit. That is fully on the show.

Overall my first instinct is to give it 8/10. I liked it a lot - loved Pear, really enjoyed that they never took the option to turn her into the evil spurned ex, and instead gave her her own little arc and emotional complexity all while letting her stay a decent person at her core. Loved Max and everything he chooses to be. Kawi grew on me. Pisaeng won me over to the Gawin train. I don't think that this will become a comfort watch for me, or that I'll even rewatch it at all, which would be the only way it could go higher, since the last two episodes sort of fell apart for me personally.

But also AAAAAAAAH Dangerous Romance next week! I am so ready.

[sleepynegress]

What is this trend of recent romance arcs that are done well being used to boost and uplift lesser predecessers? First, I noticed that w/ IWTV and all the all-white queerbait being weirdly compared... NOW, it's beeing done with Sauron/Galadriel and Reylo...*facepalm* The reason why these recent turns of good tropes in ships have worked, -the reasons why you need their lens to prop up the lessers that came before is because *they worked the tropes well* and those ones before did. not. In IWTV, the ship is not bait. It's not bland yt dudes in proximity that fandom latched onto because they are in proximity and the showrunner decided to bait you some. In ROP, Halbrand actually IS at a compelling stage...which is what made him accessible for Galadriel... He wasn't a weird incel who smashed his stuff when he got mad. He was truly trying to figure out who he was and where to go next after being at his lowest point and doing evil for thousands of years...(i.e. this isn't some spoiled teenager)... Though Galadriel ultimately made the right choice, (and we know will continue to do so)... In other words, their chemistry and maturity makes this iteration of the enemies/strangers/lovers/enemies trope so interesting and good... These are two hot adults... ULTRA-grown. Who come together for grown-ass reasons. It's also so fun to know where she ended up, and having added context for that. Girl WANTED THAT.

And he tempts her with a grown-ass reason. -I see your light...that will temper my shit choices (because he does regret!) and make our ruling over everything better. Hello, compromise. Love isn't enough... in mature relationships. You have to be looking/moving in the same direction. He tempted her with her goal, in compromise, basically. I'll go your direction, you show me... and WE'LL go. Because I appreciate what you can give us.

And then she turns him down for a grown-ass reason...."You killed my brother, you are too far gone and so am I, so far past it... i.e. I have been HUNTING YOU FOR THIS for hundreds of years!! WTF?!" They both played this brilliantly... She didn't go into a rage...She was more hurt by knowing this wasn't possible. A GROWN response. He didn't try to harm her or beg her. He stopped her from hurting him and presented his case straight out. Like this is what I want us to do now, that you're acknowledging that I'm Sauron...Then he took her no, and left... didn't hurt nobody on the way out. These are ancient beings, who are well past most of the experiences of life, jaded beauties who basically had that "oh no...this person is making me feel things..." happen (ironic in a fantasy) who'll always wonder... what if? Not two kids, one evolving idealist, the other spoiled and brash. P.S.

OH SHIT... just remembered one delicious detail. He didn't stop her blade at first, because HE. KNEW. she would stop it herself. But did the second time she did, because yeah... he read correctly that she was serious that time. But again... he never deigned to think fighting her for this was the way.

[buckyownsmylife]

Girl That You Love - Bucky Barnes x Reader x Steve Rogers smut

The one where there's a threesome on a mission.

Warnings: smut, punishment, oral sex (m), dom!stucky, asphyxiation on dick, p in v, subspace, double penetration, anal, name-calling,  dacrophylia, threat of noncon?, but most likely cnc, references to suicidal behavior

Word count: 1.5k

A/N: this was requested a while ago. Thank you to the lovely @sinking-in-mercury​ for helping me make it better.

We barely made it inside the cabin when Steve’s voice reverberated on the wooden walls. “Kneel,” he ordered, and I turned around to find him staring at me with icy cold eyes I barely recognized as his.

I knew I had fucked up. The mission had been a disaster on all ends, but he didn’t care about his own mistakes at a time like this. We had an entire evening to kill before the quinjet could come pick us up, and I knew I’d have to suffer through a lot of punishment before the light of morning appeared again.

I heard fumbling behind me, but couldn’t find the courage I needed to look for Bucky. Steve was staring, waiting for me to follow his orders, and if I made it obvious that he wasn’t the only thing in my mind, I’d be in even deeper troubled waters.

And so I sank to my knees, sitting back on my legs as I made quick work of his suit’s pants to expose his gorgeous cock to me. No matter how long I was with them, the sight of their members would still frighten just as much as they excited me.

The head was red and throbbing, much like Steve’s temples as he waited for me to get on with it already. I wanted to look around for Bucky so badly, but I resisted the temptation as I leaned closer and engulfed his dick with my lips, making sure to keep my hands behind my back so I wouldn’t piss off my captain even further.

Any time Steve played the bad cop, James would be there to calm him down, counter each rough action with a sweet movement, and I missed that now. I wanted to feel his fingers massaging my scalp, his soft voice urging me to take Steve even deeper, to let him fuck my throat fully.

But he didn’t seem to be near us, and that scared me. The disappointed expression on his face when he saw just how narrowly I had escaped death in that old factory was all I could think about.

So I tried to focus on Steve and his pleasure. He wasn’t giving me any signs of it, knowing how much I enjoyed hearing his moans and grunts, but just the sight of his sculpted body paired with the taste of his skin was enough to have me dripping.

And that’s when I felt it. That familiar tingle up my spine, the rush of being watched by a predator. Bucky was near, I instinctively knew it before he even pulled me by my hair so I’d release Steve and leaned over me, devouring my lips in an upside-down kiss.

This wasn’t soft, or sweet, or even kind. It was a show of possession that invaded every part of my soul, leaving me soft and pliant under his fingers, exactly how he wanted me to be. I could only ever get this way when both of them had their hands on me.

Without any sort of preamble, he pushed me back onto Steve’s dick, gagging me against it with the help of the grip he had on my head. The sounds of my suffocation only had them laughing, and I was relieved when he relented and let go of the back of my neck, but that was only until I felt his hands gripping my ankles.

I knew what was coming before Steve’s hands held my chest. They’d done this before, but still, my heartbeat spiraled out of control once I was suspended in the air, mouth still filled with Steve’s cock when Bucky’s entered me from behind.

My desire skyrocketed. There was just something about the rush of adrenaline that being on these men’s hands caused me… It got to me every time.

I knew they’d never let me fall. But the uncertainty caused by the position was still there, and it just had me falling into subspace that much quicker.

They moved in silence, grunts barely audible as they each pulled me in different directions to use my body in search of their releases, knowing how much I loved to hear any sounds that escaped from them. By the time Steve finally pulled me off of his cock, pushing me into Bucky’s arms, who then turned me around so I could face him, there were tears and spit running down my face, yet I didn’t make any move to brush them off.

They liked it, and I didn’t want to do anything else to disappoint them today.

I felt Steve approach me from behind before I felt his fingers brushing the hair away from my back so he could deposit a kiss on one of my shoulders.

A soft gesture, gentle, even, but I couldn’t be fooled. I knew my boys too well by now. This was only the calm before the storm.

“I hope you’re ready, princess,” his tone putting an icy cast on the usually sweet pet name. “By the time we’re done with you, you won’t be able to walk for a week straight.”

I screamed as he penetrated my other hole, my head falling back on his shoulder as his hands took a hold of my hips laying over where Bucky’s already were holding. I’d taken both of them enough times to be able to handle being used like this, but the stretch and burn of being filled so completely never fully went away, regardless of how frantically they fucked me.

Bucky was watching my blissed out face with darkened eyes by the time I was able to open mine again, a dangerous smirk taking over his expression. I knew I wouldn’t like what he was going to say.

“You know she enjoys this,” he addressed Steve, although his gaze remained on me, “the little whore.” The comment felt like a slap to the face, I was never used to hearing them address me as anything other than the loveliest pet names.

Except in times like these. Times when I disappointed them, made their stomachs churn with fear and angst, thinking I’d left them for good, thinking I was dead.

Was it weird that I silently thrived on it? Bucky wasn’t wrong. I loved when they treated me like this, like I was disposable, used me for their pleasures without caring about how it would impact me.

Ironically, it only ever happened when they were reminded of how much they couldn’t live without me.

“Just like she enjoys making us suffer,” Bucky continued, nothing but spite and anger in his gaze and tone. “Making us worry about her…” I yearned for a kiss, something soft in the midst of all of the roughness, even if I did love the roughness.

It was the beauty of times like these - they made me cherish what I usually took for granted, what I could have at any time.

“What do we have to do to get you to learn, huh?” Steve’s hands around my neck as he breathed out the question against my skin had me releasing a loud moan - louder than I usually felt comfortable letting escape. However, we were all alone in this safe house, with no one to hear my delicious torture for miles and miles, and I knew my boys would take advantage of that.

“Do we have to make you cry?” Steve insisted, other hand sneaking around my body to circle my clit, making my thighs tremble as I did begin to cry, desperate for a release I knew they wouldn’t grant me. “Fuck you until you pass out and then continue to use you?”

The suggestion shouldn’t have made me so aroused, but it did. It did and they both knew it, so they continued, “So you’ll wake up covered in our cum, drowning in it, knowing that we took full advantage of this body that you’re so careless of?”

Punishment be damned, I came with a scream. As my walls contracted around them, I heard them curse, hips losing control as they too were brought to their releases because of me.

I whimpered when they both pulled away, hiding my face in Steve’s neck as he carried me in his arms to the bed we’d all have to share. I don’t think any of us minded the prospect, even if it wasn’t what the people who designed the safe house probably intended it for.

Two hands brushed the hair off my face as I was deposited on Bucky’s lap. Groggily, I struggled to open my eyes and focus on him after being fucked so brutally. “Sweetheart, pay attention to me.”

His tone didn’t leave space for any arguments.

“Will you promise to be good from now on?” He questioned. “Obey our orders?” But I was too out of it to answer them. At my innocent silence, Steve sighed, sitting by our side and grabbing my jaw so I’d look at him.

“Honey, we are so in love with you.” I sighed happily at the words, making him smile at my visible comfort around their presence. “And we need you here, with us. For as long as possible. So we need you to learn to be afraid of death. Okay?”

And as I considered not being in their arms right then, but in the cold, hard ground of the battlefield, bleeding out, I swear that I began to know that fear.

[mercy-burning]

No Fun

Pairing: Spencer Reid x fem!Reader Summary: Everyone knows there’s no fun in friends without benefits. (Inspired by the song Friends Without Benefits by Chloe Collins) Category: SMUT (18+) Content: Strong language, drinking, oral sex (fem receiving), mention of male receiving oral sex, penetrative/unprotected sex, creampie Word Count: 3.4k

MASTERLIST

NOTE: Hello! Sorry my scheduling has been all over the place lately, as I’m sure you’re probably tired of hearing about at this point 😅 But, No Fun is finally out!! (It was also a very good way for me to ease myself back into writing after recovering from my cold alsdjflsdkjf) Also, if you don’t follow Chloe on TikTok (or any social, really) you should! She’s super sweet and writes all her songs about Criminal Minds. This one’s my favorite, though! It’s such a vibe, I hope you’ll all give it a listen! 😊❤

***

Her eyes opened of their own accord. No alarm, no ring of the cellphone, no hand on her shoulder accompanied by the voice of one of her co-workers saying they'd finally landed... She liked it that way. Not only because it meant she had that rare peace and quiet first thing in the morning—though that was definitely a perk. It also meant that she was most likely at Spencer's apartment.

In his bed.

In his shirt.

As her eyes adjusted to the golden warmth that beamed through the curtains, she stretched out her arms and legs, knowing full well that he was in the kitchen; He was always in the kitchen, ever the early bird.

Speaking of, the smell of coffee started to permeate into the bedroom, and it comforted her further as she rose into a seated position. In a matter of minutes, the coffee would be ready, and Spencer would be waiting patiently, sipping from his own cup while hers sat untouched at the spot across from him.

Normally, she would get dressed and meet him out there, but upon remembering all the delicious things that happened in that kitchen the night before, she was feeling a little devious.

So she got out of bed and removed her underwear, leaving her in just his shirt, which barely covered her ass. She was going to leave them in the bedroom, but after a split second decision, she ended up striding out into the kitchen with the garment dangling from her fingers.

"Good morning," she sang, standing in front of the kitchen counter. It covered her lower half, so the only indication of her indecent exposure took form of the fabric in her hand.

Spencer was reading something, not bothering to look up as he spoke. "Good morning. Your coffee's how you like it. I thought we could stop at the gas station on the way in to get something to eat."

"Yeah, that's fine," she responded, setting the underwear on the counter and picking up her coffee. "But I was hoping you would eat me instead."

She nonchalantly lifted the mug to her lips and took a sip as he finally looked up, raising an eyebrow. Her eyes glanced down at the counter as if to say, Look...

And he did.

The seductive sparkle in his eye at the sight in front of him sent a drip of excitement into her bloodstream that rippled throughout her whole body. It always had.

That's initially what drew her to him in the first place. Yeah, it was common knowledge to anyone that Spencer was intelligent, endearing, and handsome, but it was his flirty side that really got Y/N going. It didn't come out often, if at all— unless he was drunk or with the person of his affections.

Y/N found this out when the team threw him an impromptu birthday party last year. After discovering that he hadn't reminded anyone of his thirtieth birthday, Emily immediately called Penelope back home to start planning, and she looped everyone in before they landed later that night. Y/N herself was kind of disappointed with herself for even fathoming the idea of forgetting her friend's birthday, especially since she'd known him for years and celebrated his birthday with him and their friends before.

So before the party that night, she decided to go out and get him something. Only, she couldn't find anything, and it was on her way back when everyone was wondering where she was that Y/N started to question whether or not she really deserved to be considered his friend.

It didn't stop her from putting on a happy face and celebrating his birthday to the fullest, though— She showed up and hugged him immediately, holding onto him perhaps a little too long before offering to give him anything he wanted as compensation for forgetting his birthday, and his thirtieth at that. Of course, he insisted that she didn't really have to do anything for him, but she knew that was just him being himself.

Nonetheless, the party moved along, and with pretty much everyone out of his apartment after a long night of drinking and cake and celebration, Spencer and Y/N were the only two left, buzzed and sitting a little too close.

After convincing him to let loose and have a little fun on his 'special day', Y/N had managed to get him to help her finish an entire bottle of wine. And he'd been making his way through a few beers as the sun set and the stars came out.

And then he started looking at her weird.

That was the only way she could have described it in her drunken state, but it was certainly true, if only for the fact that it wasn't a look she'd ever seen from him before. His eyes were wide, pupils blown to almost full dilation, and his tongue kept dancing behind his lips like he was tracing out some sort of invisible pattern.

When she confronted him about it, drunkenly giggling and asking why he was looking at her like that, he laughed back and flat-out told her, "Have I ever told you how pretty y'are?" And she didn't even get a chance to respond before he continued. "Y/N, you're really pretty... Like, you're the prettiest woman I-ever seen."

"You're pretty, too, y'know, birthday boy," she laughed, smiling incredibly wide. Her whole body was practically on fire, and it only got hotter when he leaned in and kissed her, hard and sloppy, and with purpose.

They went on that night, stumbling around every square inch of his apartment while mumbling drunken compliments and haphazardly throwing aside their clothes until they woke up the next morning in his bed, naked, hungover, and absolutely shocked by what had happened.

Things at work were significantly more awkward, as to be expected, but as the days went on, the more they started to catch little stolen glances and shared recovered memories of what really happened.

More specifically, Y/N couldn't stop replaying these few sentences in her head, on a loop in between flashes of hands in hair and tongues on skin...

"You said you'd give me anything I wanted, right? What if I want you?"

"Then go ahead... Have me."

...Have me...

They met up in the parking lot one day after work and simultaneously blurted out in their own words how they couldn't stop thinking about what happened and how much they wanted to do it again...

And they did.

That seductive sparkle in his eye was there when he kissed her that first night on his birthday, it was there just before they started making out in the parking lot just a week later, and it was there now as he looked down at her panties on the table and then flitted his gaze up to meet hers.

Y/N's body buzzed with a thrill as Spencer made his way around the kitchen counter and dropped to his knees as she sat on the barstool and spread her legs for him.

***

They were late for work that morning.

To make it inconspicuous, Y/N showed up ten minutes after Spencer did— maybe a little exaggerated, but it didn't raise any suspicions. It might have sucked when as soon as she walked in everyone was on their way out to go to the airstrip, Hotch with his phone in hand and ready to dial her number, but nobody suspected a thing.

Spencer threw a little smirk at her as he passed, and she resisted the urge to smack his ass out of spite.

She would have done it, too, but there were two specific rules they'd set once they decided to regularly sleep together, and one of them was that nothing could happen at work or around their friends. And regardless of how badly they wanted to steal kisses or touches at work, their arrangement meant too much to compromise. Once either rule was broken, their little friends with benefits excursion would be immediately void.

Unfortunately, after a flight that was absolutely laced with their sexual tension and once they'd landed in Minnesota for this latest case, they both shared a look that practically set in stone the undeniable, inevitable truth.

They were obsessed.

The whole ordeal was incredibly exhilarating, already an inevitable outcome when it came to regularly sleeping with a co-worker, but what they weren't counting on was just how thrilling it was. Almost a year into their extracurricular activities and they were spending just about every free moment attached by mouths and hands and limbs. And as time progressed it became increasingly more difficult to keep to themselves, needing to be in proximity to one another constantly.

That's not to say they weren't excellent at handling it, though.

Sure, the burning in their veins at the sight of one another after knowing what it was like to be intimate was excruciating, and being paired together on cases knowing that they couldn't break any rules had them feeling like they were going to drown... But the pay-off after a long period of time with no physical contact was absolutely worth it.

All the secrecy and the holding back made it that much explosive when they finally got a decent moment alone.

Right now they were on their way back from a week-long case in Georgia.

And maybe it was fucked up, but once the team realized it was going to be rather grueling, the first thing Y/N thought was how better her stress relief was going to be when they finally finished. The second she thought it, she briefly glanced over at Spencer and saw that he had the same look on his face.

Even during the jet ride home, they were sitting on opposite sides while everyone slept around them, staring at each other and only breaking eye contact when someone rustled in their sleep.

Grueling images of the things they'd seen in the past week danced between them alongside flashes of all the things they wanted to do to each other as compensation. They heard faint screams and gunshots muffled by the high moans and shouts of each others' names, heavy breathing and skin slapping against skin...

The only word that sat between them as they clamored into Spencer's car and drove off was, "Drive."

It was late. They were exhausted and alert all at the same time. Their bodies were practically on fire. Y/N's leg bounced rapidly as Spencer's fingers tapped the steering wheel with fervor and impatience. And when he knew there would be no one around to pull them over for speeding, he stepped on the gas harder, and their heartbeats picked up right alongside their speed.

Even the walk up to his apartment was laced with impatience, Y/N's leg still bouncing as Spencer unlocked the door.

They rushed through it the second there was a tiny sliver of light from the dim nightlight she knew he kept in the entryway.

And then it was beautiful, heavenly chaos.

The door slammed loudly as Spencer leaned his whole body weight against Y/N, sending her flying towards it. They were drawn together like a magnet to a fridge, a moth to a flame, days of pent-up frustration and tension beginning its firework show right there in his entryway as their mouths clashed together.

No amount of contact was good enough it seemed, because it was just constant movement. Their hands wandered and their bodies pressed into each other continuously as they kissed the breath out of each other. Even still, they continued all the way to his bedroom, grunting while bumping into furniture and walls and doorways, but never daring to separate an inch all the same.

"God, I needed you," Spencer whispered once his bedroom door was shut. His hands tugged at her shirt and tried to get the buttons done as he continued. "All fucking week, you were just right there and I couldn't touch you..."

Y/N pressed her mouth to his and started hastily unbuttoning his shirt as well. After a few seconds, he pulled his mouth away and started to speak again, his fingers still trying to get her shirt undone. "I need it bad..."

With a frustrated grunt, Y/N pulled him in closer by the collar of his shirt and hissed into his mouth, "Then shut up and fucking take it..."

Her words kicked him in the ass and shot him forward, sending them flying towards the door once again. She yelped at the sharp pain that came and went as her back hit the wood, but with Spencer's hands finally tearing open her shirt and settling on her bare waist as he practically shoved his tongue down her throat, she couldn't complain.

Both of their shirts came off, and as soon as they hit the floor her hands went to his hair. She tugged on the wavy locks, a soft moan escaping her as he dipped his hands under the back of her bra and worked the clasp. It came off quickly, as it always did, and once it hit the floor he leaned down and gave her breasts all his attention. His tongue swirled around her nipples one my one, littering her skin with kisses in between and reveling in the way she kept tugging on his hair each time he gently tugged a nipple with his teeth.

Eventually, they both couldn't take any more, Y/N pushing his head down while tugging down her slacks and Spencer being glad she did, using his hands to assist her.

Having known for about a year now how heavenly his mouth was when it worked at her wasn't even a fair warning for the intensity of the shudders that soared through her body when his lips made contact with her clit just then. She let out a loud, broken cry of relaxation and relief and pure ecstasy as he practically devoured her.

His tongue was gliding through her with ease, ravening groans erupting from his throat and sending more sharp waves of excitement through Y/N's bloodstream with every passing second. His ministrations were quick and greedy, sloppy yet precise. And when he added his fingers to the mix, she gripped his hair tight and cried out his name, tensing at the sweet, burning stretch they provided.

That only drove him more wild, his tongue flicking over her clit faster while his fingers pumped, curled, and dragged languidly inside of her. He worked to pull every ounce of pleasure from her body, all while squeezing his eyes shut and losing himself in the taste of her, the way her thighs lightly trembled over his face and the desperate clutches of her fingers in his hair...

He wanted all of it. All of her.

He also wanted to hear that sound she made when he was helping her through the peak of her orgasm— a high, dreamy cry that boiled his insides and turned him into an animal.

And there it was, with just three more quick pumps of his fingers. It started off soft, though he knew the second he sucked on her clit and grazed her g-spot with his fingers it would careen higher and louder, right into that perfect pitch that he wished he could hear for eternity. Her thighs shook almost violently around his head, her fingers clawing at his scalp so tight that he felt little pinpricks of pleasure run down the back of his head and through his neck.

Y/N came down soon after, her voice resorting to small whimpers and pants as she tried to push his head away. But it wasn't until she actually tugged his hair up that Spencer finally retreated and got up off the floor.

"I thought you wanted me to take it?" he panted, already missing the warmth of her legs over his face.

She reached down and started toying with his belt, pulling him closer by the leather and throwing him a smirk. "Yeah, but now I wanna take it."

Before she could sink to her knees, though, he stopped her, walking her towards the bed and sitting her down as he finished taking off his pants. "Another time... Right now I need to be inside of you."

The urgency dripping in his voice and through his movements made Y/N burn all over again, and really, who was she to argue? Yeah, maybe she wanted to suck the living soul out of him, but his eagerness to get to the main event gave her the opportunity to treat him tomorrow morning. Spencer was always hard in the morning (at least on the rare occasion that she'd wake up before he did), and the thought of his sleepy groans and whines as she slowly worked his cock with her mouth was more than enough to keep her satisfied until then.

It also made her incredibly wet and ready, which was convenient when he climbed over her and bent her legs back, leaning forward and sinking into her in no time at all.

The sounds that came out of their mouths right then were exceedingly pornographic. It had been too long since their last sexual encounter, and even though they'd been at it plenty of times before, it still felt as intense and fresh as the first few times.

As aforementioned, they were obsessed.

Their song and dance of skink on skin never got old. Time and time again, it was like they'd never touched before, every feeling so intense it was like they were on the top of a rollercoaster that just kept falling and falling with no end in sight.

Every time he snapped his hips forward and and stretched her wide, her insides crumbled apart and gave way to his storm. She embraced his using of her body for pleasure, and he gave her the best orgasms in turn.

As of right now, she was caught between wanting to look down between their bodies to watch him fuck her and laying back to let it happen— take it all in that way and lose herself in the moment.

Though, she settled on the former, just as she always did, because watching Spencer fuck her was always the more exciting option. Especially when he was as urgent as he was now.

She watched with her bottom lip out in a pout as he fucked her, taking notice of how his hands looked gripping her waist and how his stomach tensed with every movement. Her eyes wandered over the planes of his body, and then finally his face. Usually he'd be so focused on the task at hand that his eyes would barely be open, taking in every ounce of pleasure that he possibly could, and that was exactly the case here. Fluttering eyes, pouty lips, flushed face, hair damp and wild as ever...

It drove her half mad.

"Harder," she demanded, reaching out and pulling him closer by the ass.

Spencer was more than happy to comply, a satisfied huff of laughter coming from him as he leaned down and sharpened his movements. His hips were heavier, pinning Y/N down into the mattress with every thrust forward, consequently drawing a little whimper from her each time.

To take it a step further and complete her request, he leaned back a little and pushed her legs open and wide, spreading her further and pinning her down that way to give his hips more driving force.

Unsurprisingly, neither of them lasted long after that.

Y/N shouted his name into the air, leaning her head back as her body tensed and gave in to his force. And he fucked her through it, his grunts gradually getting louder until his hips pushed into hers one final time, at which point he leaned down and put more of his weight on top of her.

As he filled her with his release, she sighed out, clenching herself around him and reveling in his warmth. Whether it was the warmth inside of her or the warmth he provided by blanketing her body with his own, she was glad for its presence. There was nothing else she'd rather have felt after a hard week at work—or any hard feat, really—than Spencer.

He retracted his warmth once they'd settled, however, removing himself from the bed on shaky limbs to grab wipes on the other side of the room.

And of course, Y/N admired him the whole way, flashing him a devilish wink when he inevitably caught her staring.

***

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[unwrittenlibrary]

magnetic force of a man

summary // loving him in the summer is warmth and radiance.

or; three summers showcasing the growth of your relationship with bucky. [bucky barnes x fem!reader]

words // 4.5k

warnings // post-endgame bucky & softness & kind of corny

notes // inspired by taylor swift’s lover. somehow this just came out, i’m not sure how i feel about it.

my writing is free and it will stay free, but if you enjoy it and you have the resources, consider donating to my ko-fi!

��* 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ • 。* 。° 。* 。 • ˚《

| Summer of 2025 |

You meet Bucky at the Farmer’s Market in June when you both reach for a red delicious apple. It’s awkward laughs and friendly introductions.

You’ve heard of him before; Janet who runs the apple stand talks about him and how perfect of a match you would be. Unbeknownst to you, Eugene who runs the plum stand, says the same thing to him.

“You’re the man Janet won’t shut up about.” You smile sweetly. Your eyes scan his small basket of fruits and vegetables. He’s got a lot of different things. He must cook, you think. “I’ve been told I would like you.”

Bucky laughs. His eyes scan your basket too, you wonder what he thinks of all your choices. “You must be the woman Eugene won’t stop talking about.” He leans towards you and in a mischievous tone whispers, “I think they’ve been trying to set us up.”

It makes you laugh. “You’ve got a beautiful laugh.” Bucky compliments. His smile is genuine and he’s got blue eyes that are filled with kindness. You can see why Janet had been trying for so long to get you to meet him.

“Thank you.” You step towards him when another man rushes past you. “I have to ask, what have you heard?”

Bucky shrugs. “Just that you’re beautiful and you make the best apple pie Eugene’s ever tasted.” Bucky leans towards you again. “So far, he’s spot on.” The implication makes heat rise to your cheeks and you smile down at your basket.

“Guess I’ll have to make you some pie so you can see if he’s two for two.” You look back up with a teasing smile. Bucky’s eyes light up in excitement.

He shakes his head in amusement. “I hope I’m not being too forward, can I have you number?” You’re already pulling your phone out of your pocket to hand over.

That’s the beginning of your story.

˚《

Your first date is the last week of June. After weeks of texting and even some phone calls, Bucky had finally asked you out.

He takes you to a drive in up in Warwick and you park in the middle row of the second screen to watch Grease. The sun is still out when you arrive, so there’s some time to get snacks and settle in.

“Did you know it was throwbacks weekend?” You ask as Bucky flips through his radio stations in search of the correct one.

He shakes his head. You can see his fingers shaking a little nervously as he looks up at you. “Is Grease okay? I’ve uh, I’ve never seen it. It looked cute.” He grimaces and it makes you smile.

“I love Grease.” You say softly, reaching your hand out for his. “Are you nervous?”

Bucky laughs awkwardly. “Am I that obvious?” Your eyes trail over his gloved hands, his left hand resting on his thigh as you hold his right.

“I think it’s sweet.” You reassure him. “You must be hot in these. It’s June.” You flip his hand so it’s palm up and trace your finger over it.

“I haven’t done this in awhile.” He admits. There’s a red tint to his cheeks, one that’s not from the summer heat, and it makes you giggle. He eyes meet yours and he smiles tensely. “I’m uh- I-“

“You don’t have to say it.” You pull the glove off hastily so his flesh hand is revealed to you. “I know who you are. You can keep them on if you want, but you don’t need to.” You place the glove back in his palm and wrap his fingers around it.

Bucky watches you for a moment. “You know who I am and still want to go one a date with me?” You frown at his self-depreciating tone.

“I know who you used to be. I don’t know you though. The real Bucky Barnes. That’s why I want to go on this date with you.” The radio begins reciting rules of the drive-in and you look at the screen. The sun is setting behind it quickly.

When you turn to look at Bucky again, he has a grin on his face as he watches you. “Come on! Let’s get snacks before the movie starts.” You turn to push open the car door and Bucky follows after you easily.

You don’t know it yet, but that’s the beginning of your pull over him. Bucky thinks he would follow you to the ends of the earth if you asked him to.

˚《

Your first kiss is two weeks later after watching a movie in central park. It was Dirty Dancing this time. You’ve been on five dates.

You’ve learned that Bucky likes going to these throwback playings and experiencing the movies he missed while under Hydra’s control. You’re happy to indulge him, truly.

You just wish he would do more than hold you hand. Which, okay, maybe that isn’t fair. Sometimes he’ll wrap an arm around your shoulder and you’ll lean your head against his chest. He’ll even give you a kiss on the cheek goodnight, but he still won’t kiss you on the lips and you’re starting to think he just doesn’t want to.

One date? Okay, he wants to be respectful and not move too fast. Two dates? A little weird, but he was from a different time. Three? Did they just not kiss back then? You can’t imagine a charming Bucky Barnes who didn’t steal a kiss from a pretty girl. Four had you on the edge of your seat waiting for the kiss that didn’t happen.

Now, as Bucky walks you home, you think of all the ways you can bring it up. You even think of just kissing him yourself, it was the twenty-first century and women can make the first move.

Except, you can’t help but think, what if he doesn’t want to kiss me?

“You alright?” Bucky’s hand gripping your elbow gently forces you out of your head. You look up at him with wide eyes and nod a little too hastily. “You sure? You’ve been silent for like, fifteen minutes.”

His eyes are concerned pools of blue as he stares down at you. The words just come tumbling out of your mouth, “Why don’t you want to kiss me?”

Bucky just stares at you in shock. You feel heat on the back of your neck and shift in uncomfortable embarrassment at your outburst. “I’m sorry!” You blurt out. “I’m not trying to make you uncomfortable. I just want you to kiss me and if you don’t want to that’s fine!” You suck in a deep breath. Bucky is still watching you silently, so you continue on. “I would just rather know now if you don’t want to kiss me instead of finding out later.”

You finish quietly with Bucky still watching you. If you weren’t so panicked, you would probably recognize his look as him digesting the words. But the panicked feeling mixes with the sting of rejection and you begin to back away. “Well this was great. Hope to never-“

Bucky’s hand wraps your waist and he hauls you back into him. His lips meet yours harshly, but it’s not painful in any way. It’s somehow gentle and his lips are soft against yours. Your eyes close and one of your hands comes up to rest on his cheek while his hands hold steady onto your waist.

When you pull away it’s with a gasp of air. “I’ve wanted to kiss you since that day in the Farmer’s Market.” Bucky admits breathlessly.

“So why’d you never kiss me?” You ask curiously. Cars speed past you on the street and there’s a group of teenagers who all gag as they pass you, but none of it matters with Bucky in your arms like this.

Bucky smiles. “I told you. I haven’t done this in a long time.”

˚《

By August, you and Bucky are going steady. You go to the market together most weekends and Bucky calls you his girl to the people you’ve both become regulars of.

He’s even talked about introducing you to his friends and going out together one night when they’re all free.

It makes your heart race and your fingers twitch with excited nerves. You think you love him, which seems crazy when you think of how you’ve only been seeing each other since June, but you do.

Thinking of him makes your heart beat faster and your face warm. You want to spend as much time as can with him and hang onto every word he says.

It seems like he feels the same way too, but you’re just not sure. Fall is right around the corner though. That means schedules pick up again and the weather gets colder, so you’d like to know if Bucky feels the same way or if this was just a way to pass the time in the summer.

You just don’t know how to say it though. Every time you think of saying the words your nerves get the best of you and you blurt out something he finds endearingly awkward and doesn’t think anything of.

“I still can’t believe a show like this exists.” Bucky murmurs in awe from beside you on his couch. You’re not really pay attention to the random reality show you’ve put on though. You’re focused on the way his eyes shine curiously and how he smiles whenever the host makes a shitty joke.

Your feet are settled in his lap and he pinches your shin when he turns to look at you. “You’re not even watching the show.”

“I love you.” You blurt. That’s one way to do it, you think. You were afraid you would regret the words when you said them or even feel embarrassed, but you don’t. All you feel is lighter, like you’ve created a better world by letting Bucky know somebody loves him, even if he doesn’t feel the same. “I don’t know if you wanted this to be summer fling or-“

“Summer fling?” Bucky laughs. His hand moves up your leg. “I’m not going around calling you my girl to everyone who’ll listen because you’re some fling.”

The words make you laugh. “I love that laugh.” Bucky admits quietly. When your eyes meet his again, he smiles sweetly. “I love you too.”

When he leans towards you for a kiss, you meet him halfway happily.

| Summer 2026 |

Being with Bucky has made you far more confident in yourself. His reassurance and constant support pushed you to be better and you knew he felt the same, so you figured moving in with him was the next step.

You had the perfect plan on how to ask him too. You had recruited Sam, who had taken a liking to you immediately, and gotten an extra key to your apartment cut with the word home engraved onto it.

While you spent the day getting the key cut and making room for Bucky’s things in your space, Sam spent the day distracting him. By the time you hear Bucky knock on your door, you’re about to burst with excitement.

You smooth down the front of you skirt and suck in a deep breath. “Hey!” Bucky’s eyes trail over you in surprise.

“Hey. Did I forget a date?” He looks up nervously, but his shoulders relax when you shake your head with a bright smile. “What’s this then? Not that I don’t love you in this skirt.” His hands find your hips and trail up your sides.

You pull his hands off and pull him inside the apartment. “I have a surprise for you!” He follows you into the kitchen easily and you pull out the small box containing the key.

You rock back and forth on your heels excitedly as Bucky begins to slowly unwrap the box. He watches, completely bemused by your excitement, and moves even slower to tease you.

“Stop!” You laugh and he shakes his head before tearing the rest of the paper off. He inspects the box slowly before opening it.

When his eyes land on the key, he doesn’t say anything and your smile drops. You watch as he stares and your excitement diminishes by the millisecond.

“Do you… Do you not like it?” You ask, unable to handle the silence. Bucky swallows thickly before looking up at you. Your heart drops as the burn of his rejection settles beneath your skin. “You don’t.” It’s not a question.

He reaches for you, but you step out of his grasp. “It’s not that I don’t like it, I just… I’m…” He doesn’t know what to say or how to actually say no to you. It’s obvious.

“You mentioned your lease was up soon and that you didn’t want to resign. I thought…” You trail off. You feel like you can’t breathe. You and Bucky were so good together, this seemed like the logical next step.

Had you read everything wrong? “I meant… I was looking at places closer to you.” Bucky says like it’s supposed to make you feel better.

“But you don’t want to live with me?” Your back hits the counter and you flinch at the harsh feeling. Bucky raises a hand, as if to comfort you, but drops it at the last second. “I don’t… Understand? I guess?”

Bucky runs a hand over his face. “I’m just not ready to live together yet, sweets.” He says softly. His face is grimaced as if the words pain him.

Join the club, you think. “Can I ask why? It seems like the next step, you know? We’ve been together for a year. I figured we’d move in together, start talking about marriage. Our future.”

Bucky’s eyes flash to yours. You hadn’t even thought it was possible, but it feels like your heart drops even further. “Do you not want to get married?” You ask slowly.

“I don’t know.” Bucky answers hesitantly. “I never planned a life. I never thought I’d get all this.”

You know he’s trying to make you feel better about the situation, but his words only hurt you more. “So being with me hasn’t made you think about your future at all?” You question. You think those words are what breaks you. The tears come rushing to your eyes and your face is hot with a mixture of anger and hurt.

“That’s not what I meant.” Bucky’s getting upset too. He’s clenching and unclenching his fists, something you’ve learned he does when he’s stressed. “I just meant I’m not sure what I want.” A beat of silence. “Shit. I mean-“ He groans in frustration and you sigh.

“I know I want you. A future with you.” You say quietly. You move to the close the box, key still inside, before shoving it into one of your kitchen drawers. “So, I think you should figure it out. What you want. So I know whether or not I should move on.”

Bucky watches you with tears brimming his own eyes. “Sweets-“

“I think you should go home, Buck.” You cut him off in a gentle tone. “Think for a few days.” You begin to move towards your hallway, ready to fall into your bed.

“Like… Like a break?” He asks tightly making you pause. You look at him over your shoulder and shrug.

“If that’s what you want to call it. I think you just need some time to figure out what you want for yourself. If it’s not me, that’s okay, but you should know.” You look back down your hallway. “I deserve to know too.”

You wait until you hear your front door slam shut to fall into your bed. When you notice Bucky’s shirt draped over your vanity chair, the tears come.

Not how you imagined your summer starting.

˚《

The month of June goes by, blossoming into July and Bucky doesn’t reach out. You’re heartbroken over it. Though that doesn’t sound like the right term because it really feels like your heart has been torn from your chest, but there wasn’t really a word for that.

You know you were the one who had suggested the break, but you figured he would have cared for you enough to give you a formal break up. Had you really ever known Bucky? What had gone wrong?

“You weren’t with Bucky yesterday!” Janet gushes when you stop in front of her booth. Your heart cracks at his name. “He always has such sweet things to say about you! Why don’t you two come together anymore? Your work schedules mess you up?”

Your eyes flash to her in confusion. Had Bucky not told her? “Janet… We broke up.” You say quietly. You’ve mastered the art of sounding cold when explaining to your friends and neighbors Bucky wouldn’t be coming around anymore.

She shakes her head like you’re not telling her the truth. “He was just talking about how he was trying to learn his mama’s famous peach cobbler recipe to make for you.”

“Must be another girl.” You say in a heated tone. “I haven’t spoken to him in weeks.”

She frowns. “He said your name, darling. That I’m sure of. Called you his girl and everything, just like he always does.” She explains softly.

“He’s delusional then.” You hiss. You stomp away from her cart. You’ll apologize to her next week, but for now, Bucky has somehow managed to ruin your day.

˚《

There’s a knock on your door that night. Your heart almost stops when you recognize the pattern that Bucky always led with.

When you check the peephole and confirm it’s him you almost don’t open the door, until you notice the tin-foiled dish in his hands.

“What are you doing here?” You ask harshly before he can say a word to you. You lean against your door jam, effectively blocking him from setting foot into your apartment. “And what is that?”

“A poor attempt at peach cobbler.” Your pulse quickens. “And I’m here to apologize.” When you look up and see the sincerity in his eyes, you sigh.

“Come in.” You step aside and he smiles gratefully as he steps past you. He places the dish on your counter and turns to face you nervously.

You stand still across from him. You had never thought you would feel this awkward around Bucky. “I’m sorry for… for hurting you that night.” He starts off quietly. “And for not reaching out, but you were right, I did need to figure my shit out.”

“You could have told me that.” You say softly. “Hey, you’re right! Let’s take a break and figure stuff out. Going ghost on me? That broke my heart, Buck.” You cross your arms over your chest like they’re a shield.

“I know.” Bucky says in the same apologetic tone. “I just… I was embarrassed because I made a fool of myself. Because I wanted to say yes. You have no idea how badly I wanted to say yes, but I was too scared to.”

You shake your head. “Scared of what? It’s me, Buck. I love you. You know I love you.” You hadn’t imagined having this conversation with him and you can’t keep the emotion out of you voice.

“What if you see parts of me living together that you don’t see now that make you not want me?” His tone is resembling that of a broken man, one you’ve only heard stories of.

The Bucky Barnes you know is healing. He’s charming, soft and intimidating but full of life and happiness. Not this. It breaks your heart and against your better judgement, you reach out to cup his cheeks in your hands. “There isn’t a part of you I won’t love, Bucky.”

“I still get nightmares. So bad I wake up screaming and unable to breathe.” He says softly. “It takes forever to get out of them.”

“I’ll hold your hand and help you through them.” You say without hesitation. “Bucky. The point of a relationship is to grow together. I want to do that with you, do you want to do that with me?”

His hands reach up to grip yours. You almost sigh in relief at the feeling of his hands in yours after weeks without it. “I do.” He says steadily. “Can we… Can we not be on a break anymore? I miss you.” He admits quietly.

A part of you thinks you should pull back. He had hurt you and you were still upset. But another, larger part of you, missed him more than he had hurt you.

“Yeah.” You say after a moment. “No more break.” You pull him towards you. He meets you readily in a kiss.

˚《

By the end of August, Bucky’s got a drawer full of things in your bedroom and his books have started to overcrowd your coffee table.

You communicate better. He shares more about his nightmares with you. He talks about the future he sees with you, one with a family and dogs in the backyard of the house he hopes to build.

You’re still nervous to bring up moving in together again. In the end it doesn’t matter though, because Bucky is the one who brings it up.

“Can we…” He starts nervously one night as the two of you eat dinner. “Would you want to talk about moving in together again?”

You look up at him a little shocked by the question. “What do you mean?” You shake your head. You know what he means. “Do you?” You ask quickly.

He nods slowly. You can see his nervousness in his tense jaw and clenching and unclenching fists. “I would like to move in together.” He’s talking kind of robotically, like he’s been practicing the words so they came out perfectly.

It’s sweet, you think. The gesture makes you laugh softly. “I would like to move in together too.” You reach across the table and wrap a hand around Bucky’s wrist.

His shoulders drop and you move to unclench his fist. “Yeah? You would?” He asks, less robotic in tone and more excited.

“Yeah.” You nod in confirmation. Bucky gives you a bright smile that’s impossible to not return.

Come fall, Bucky’s given up his apartment and has got an entire bookshelf taking up room in yours.

| Summer 2027 |

It’s July again and Bucky wants to propose.

Over two years together and the Farmer’s Market feels like the perfect place to do it. It’s where you had met and had become a daily part of your guy’s routine.

The only issue is, he’s pretty sure you’re thinking the same thing. Not that you’re onto him, that you want to propose too.

And, okay, Bucky is all for what women have accomplished in the almost century he’s been alive, truly. But proposing is his thing, it just is.

You had been the first person the say I love you. You had been the one to originally ask him to move in together. He wanted nothing more than to be the one down on one knee with his mother’s ring that he had begged and begged some museum curator to give up.

Which ultimately means, he has to beat you to it. So his plans are a little rushed. He had originally wanted to do it at the end of summer, when fall was rounding the corner and leaves were turning brown, but July would work.

July was when you had gone on some of your first dates and was when you had shared your first kiss. July was meaningful and July would work.

“Are you okay?” You ask as you absentmindedly run your fingers over the apples in front of you. Bucky’s eyes shoot up to look at Janet behind the stand, who smiles at him knowingly. You turn to look at Bucky with raised eyebrows. “You’ve been fidgety all day.”

Bucky lets out a fake cough. “I just feel a little off.” He lies. It’s a poor lie and it makes your lips quark up at the corner.

“Want to go home?” You ask, already stepping away from the apple stand. “We ca-“

“No!” Bucky’s hands grip your shoulders and he forces your to stop. You smile at him in question and Bucky quickly drops his hands back to his side. “I mean, no. Probably just allergies.”

“Uh-huh.” You say in obvious disbelief. “The super soldier suddenly has allergies.”

Bucky sighs in defeat. “You know, don’t you?” He asks and you laugh softly. Your hand finds his and you interlock your fingers together.

“Only because you left the ring on the counter last night and I saw it when I went to get water.” You say apologetically. Bucky drops his head so his forehead rests against your shoulder and lets out a groan.

You press a kiss to his temple before nudging him away. “Ask me.” You urge softly. Bucky wants to say no, that he wants to do it right, but this seems almost fitting.

You were what pushed him to be better, so maybe it made sense for you to be the one who pushed him in this too. He wasn’t sure he would even be able to without it, honestly.

He sucks in a deep breath before dropping to one knee in front of you. There are gasps of people passing by, but Bucky keeps his eyes on you as he pulls out the ring. Resized and cleaned, ready for your finger.

“I have a speech so just, bear with me. Okay?” A smile spreads across your face as you nod. “This is the third summer I’ve spent completely in love with you. I didn’t know I could feel this way about someone. Sometimes I’m still shocked that you wake up everyday and choose to be with me. But I promise I don’t take it for granted. Not for one second because I love you so much and I wake up every morning ready to show you forever. And I… I um.” Bucky swallows. “I had more planned, but I’m so nervous and I just want to ask you already.”

“Ask me.” You whisper with a bright smile. A group has gathered around you two by now, everyone murmuring in excitement but you and Bucky can only stare at each other.

“Will you marry me?” Bucky asks softly. He can see his hand shaking as he holds out the ring to you even though there’s no doubt in his mind that you’ll say yes. “Please?” He tacks on for good measure.

You nod quickly, holding your left hand out to him. “Yes. Yes. Of course!” You cheer. Once he has slipped the the ring onto your finger, you pull him up by the collar of his shirt.

You kiss him without a care in the world. Bucky’s hand comes up to rest on the back of your neck as excited cheers resound from all around you two.

When you pull away you’re smiling brighter than he’s ever seen. Bucky can’t do anything but return it.

His eyes move around the crowd and find Eugene, the man who runs the plum stand. He smiles kindly at Bucky and mouths I told you so. Bucky laughs to himself before pressing a kiss to your head.

This Farmer’s Market was probably the best decision Bucky had ever made.

It had brought him you.

》* 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ • 。* 。° 。* 。 • ˚《

notes // what did i say about soft!bucky? that he was all i knew how to write!!

reblogs and replies are always appreciated, especially if you read and enjoyed this piece!

[candlewaxandp0lar0ids]

Don’t Go Baking My Heart || Seokjin

Pairing: Seokjin x reader

Summary: You fall in love with Kim Seokjin’s bakery after wandering into it to take advantage of the post-Valentine’s Day discount on the chocolates. Maybe it’s the owner’s bad jokes, maybe it’s the other regulars, maybe it’s the delicious pastries. Or maybe there’s something more that keeps you coming back to that shop.

Also available on Ao3.

Word count: 14.7k

Genre: Strangers (to Friends) to Lovers, Bakery AU, tooth-rotting Fluff, some smut

Warnings & Tags: mentions of insecurities and of former relationships, smut (vaginal sex, oral [male receiving], fingering), Jin makes Bad Jokes, Valentine’s Day themed

A/N: Soooo this was supposed to come out for Valentine’s Day, but it wasn’t ready then, so you guys get it now instead! I’m bad with puns so I definitely had to look online for those used in this oops. Finally, I’d like to give a big thank you to the amazing @elidebrey​ who actually worked in a bakery shop and told me all about (I’m sorry you guys ran out of milk all the time). She’s an amazing writer and you should check her out if you like the Batfam! Hope you’ll enjoy this one-shot!

February 15th

You first walk into Kim Seokjin’s bakery the day after Valentine’s Day. Your eye was caught by the chocolates and cakes you noticed on sale from the outside, and also the name of the place, The Rolling Scones, which is either genius or terrible, you can’t pick. The door bell chimes happily, first when you push the door open and then when it closes behind you.

The place is empty. There’s no one behind the counter, and you find yourself hesitating there for a second, both arms behind your back like a shy schoolgirl — which you once were, but that was a while ago now. Natural light, the cold sun of February, is falling through the bay windows, and the place is cute, clearly decorated with love and care. It makes you feel just a little warmer inside.

Since no one seems to be showing up, you take your time to look at the display. You’ve spent the past week crying over the end of your two year relationship, and you’re desperately craving something sweet and sugary to fill the hole in your heart and in your life. Post Valentine’s Day discount is definitely the best way to do that.

If you’re being completely honest with yourself, you knew this relationship was never going to be your forever. It was just a nice and comfortable situation to be in, and you expected you and him to part ways at some point.

You just didn’t particularly expect it to be now.

“Jungkook!” a strong voice shouts from the back of the shop, startling you. It’s quickly followed by a curse, and then a man walks in, glancing back with a worried expression, tying an apron around his waist and adjusting a small black hat on his head. You notice the ‘Jungkook’ tag on his apron, and it makes you soften in sympathy. The second his eyes fall on you, he recomposes himself, and shoots you a smile that’s professional, though the nervousness doesn’t quite disappear. “What can I do for you?”

“I was just looking,” you say, and he leans forward, probably straining to hear. Your voice has always had that weird tendency to become inaudible when you’re talking to strangers. “You don’t have anything with strawberries, do you?”

“I’m afraid everything we had went yesterday,” he says with a sympathetic frown.

“Oh, right,” you mumble. You’re disappointed to a stupid degree, and you know it’s because your emotions have been running wild recently, to the point where any small contrariety threatens to make you cry. Fortunately, you don’t, right now. That would be horribly embarrassing. “Um, I guess I’ll take that box and, uh, the éclair, please, then.”

“Of course!”

His movements are quick and precise as he takes it out, and you could be mistaken, but you think he’s deliberately not looking at you. You’re not particularly blaming him for it, though, because you’re doing the exact same thing.

“Anything else?” he asks once he’s done, and you shake your head, avoiding eye contact. “For here or to go? We’re also a café,” he elaborates when you give him a surprised — and slightly panicked — glance.

“Oh. To go, please,” you say, not so much because you actually want to, and much more because you’re bad at changing your plans when you had already made your decision.

Except… You eye the bakery. It’s not like you have anyone to come back to, and you don’t particularly want to be back at your apartment to wallow alone. You might even get some things done while you’re here.

“Um, actually, would you mind if I…?” The question dies on your lips. You’re already feeling too embarrassed to continue, but he looks up, eyes wide, and nods.

“No, no, please take a seat! Do you want something to drink as well?”

“That— That would be nice, actually.”

“Alright, just give me a second and I’ll bring you our, er, menu.”

It’s not a menu, it’s a list of drinks the owner printed and coated with plastic, and insists on calling a menu, but he isn’t going to tell you that.

You pick a table that faces the door, and after choosing and ordering your tea, pull out your computer. It’s not that the things you have to do can’t wait, but you don’t like sitting alone doing nothing. The shop is desperately empty, and part of you is terrified by the idea that Jungkook could come over to talk to you. That would probably end up not being completely unpleasant, but you’re not sure you can handle that much interaction with other human beings right now.

While scrolling through the text you are currently working on editing, you pick a chocolate out of the box to eat it and hold back a satisfied moan at the taste. The fact that it’s so good makes you feel a little more upset that you’ve never been in a relationship for Valentine’s Day and therefore have never been given anything like that.

It’s always been bad luck really, because you’ve been in a few relationships, but even with your last boyfriend, the two of you were on a break in February. The others never made it longer than a few months, and never fell at the right time. It’s not even like you want to celebrate Valentine’s Day, you do think it’s mostly a commercial holiday, and you definitely don’t want any expensive gift, but you’d be happy to have someone by your side to make fun of other couples with. Someone to love you, and someone to love.

God, you want to be in love so bad. For a few months, you thought you had it with your ex, and maybe you did, for a moment, but it had slipped from your fingers without you managing to do anything about it, leaving you sad and empty. You want to feel everything the movies and books promised, the butterflies in the stomach, the rush in the beat of your heart. You want to feel like someone holds your world in their hands. You want them to love you back — really love you, so much that you’ll catch them looking at you and see it in their eyes immediately, so much that they’ll remember how you like your tea in the morning.

You don’t think your ex ever loved you, and you don’t really blame him for that. He liked you, certainly, and for a long time that was enough for you. But now, with it being over and him telling you he’d ‘met someone’, you want more out of your next relationship.

Then again, you’d thought that last time as well.

You’re grateful when Jungkook brings you your tea, tearing you away from thoughts you really don’t want to be having right now. He gives you a smile, then is quick to retreat back behind the counter, and something tells you that he has the same difficulties talking to people as you do.

That can’t make his job fun.

You’re soon able to immerse yourself in your work, much to your surprise. Usually, you’re hyper aware of your surroundings, and it’s hard to get work done unless you’re in a place that’s both quiet and familiar, but the atmosphere in here is so warm and pleasant that you’re able to relax and focus, all while drinking your tea and eating your sweets. It’s quite close to perfect, actually.

Which is why you jump violently when someone’s voice booms into the shop.

“Jeon Jungkook!”

You look up, panicked, and Jungkook turns around with the exact same look on his face. You don’t remember the doorbell ringing, so it has to be someone from the shop, and indeed, a tall man with short black hair walks in from the same place Jungkook entered. And your brain short-circuits.

It doesn’t happen all that often, for you to simply find yourself frozen because of how good-looking someone is, but in that case, you just can’t help it. The man who just walked in is tall, with very nice, broad shoulders, and the apron he is wearing underlines the muscles of his chest in ways you didn’t think were possible, but more than that, he’s also, quite possibly, the most handsome man you’ve ever laid eyes on. When you glance at his plump, full lips, you find yourself having a hard time to tear yourself away. You’re relieved that you didn't have to order from him, because you’re sure it would have made you blush and stutter.

“Jungkook, there’s a mess in the back! What are you waiting fo—” Jungkook gives panicked glances in your direction, and the man catches your presence from the corner of his eyes, turning his sentence around as smoothly as is humanly possible, all while his lips curve up into a professional smile. “Ooh, hello, dear customer! I don’t think we’ve seen you here before, have we?”

A smile spills on your mouth, much to your surprise.

“No, it’s my first time here,” you answer. Your voice isn’t as strong as you’d like for it to be, but at least you didn’t choke. You suppose still being heartbroken serves as a shield against the man’s handsomeness. “I figured there’d be some discount after Valentine’s Day, and I was hungry, so…”

“You figured you’d kill two birds with one scone?” the man asks while Jungkook, behind him, silently smacks his forehead. You figure he’s heard it a million time before, but you haven’t, and you can’t help but laugh. That makes the man’s smile widen genuinely and his eyes crease.

“I guess you came up with the bakery name,” you chuckle.

“Absolutely. Isn’t it a great name?”

Jungkook shakes his head in disgust.

“It’s genius,” you say, and the man slams his hand on the table.

“See? I told you! Jungkook keeps saying that I have a terrible sense of humor—”

“I’ll be in the back if you need me,” Jungkook grumbles.

“Hey, what do we say to customers?”

“Ah— It was nice to meet you!” he says, turning around to look at you and he seems somewhat sincere. “I hope we’ll be seeing you again.”

Then he bows his head politely and disappears in the back of the shop. The other man — who you suppose is the owner of the place — watches, laughing fondly, but goes quiet after that, so you go back to your work.

You don’t stay around too long, not wanting to overstay your welcome, but you’re still the only one in the shop by the time you decide to walk out.

“Was the tea any good?” the man asks as you walk by him.

You nod and smile.

“And the chocolates were delicious,” you add. “I’ll make sure to come back.”

“That’s music to my ears,” he says, dramatically putting a hand on his chest. That’s when you notice the ‘Seokjin’ tag on his apron. You don’t know what to do with that information, though. You don’t call strangers by their first name and you also don’t stalk people on line.

Especially not when you don’t have their last name.

You say a quick ‘goodbye’, then walk out. Jin’s eyes follow you for a few seconds, before he sighs and turns around, already taking off his apron.

“Jungkook!”

The boy is quick to appear again, scanning the shop for your presence.

“She’s gone?” he asks, and Jin gives a slap at the back of his employee's head with a groan. There’s no strength in it, though, and Jungkook barely reacts to it.

“How could you run away like that, you little—”

Jungkook easily avoids him when Jin tries to him it again, laughing at his outrage.

“We’re not going to be getting a lot more clients today, are we?” he asks, looking outside at the passers-by that don’t even spare a glance at the little shop.

“No,” Jin groans, letting himself fall on a chair.

The depressing calm that follows what is possibly the busiest day of the year for him is just one of the reasons why he absolutely despises Valentine’s Day.

February 22nd

When you show up at the bakery again, about a week later, you’re feeling surprisingly good about it. Last time went well, you decided, and the people were nice, so you’re not afraid to throw a quiet but polite “Hello!” when you walk in. It’s kind of funny — or is it sad — how it always surprises you when people are nice to you, much more used to passive disinterest at best.

There’s another man in the shop this time, with a laptop and a coffee in front of him, but he doesn’t look up at you. A head lifts up from behind the counter though. You feel vaguely embarrassed that you remember this one is Seokjin, and you only feel more awkward when he gives you a dazzling smile.

A glance at the display tells you that they have restocked on their strawberry-based pastries, and you happily pick a slice of cake for yourself.

“For here or to go?”

“I’ll have it here,” you say with a smile. You feel strangely proud of yourself for being able to say it spontaneously. He has no way of knowing it, but it’s quite the victory for you. Usually, you try to run from the presence of others as fast as you can, and it’s even worse those days. “And I’ll also have Darjeeling tea with it, please.”

“Coming right up, just take a seat and I’ll bring it to you,” he says, and then he winks. He doesn’t stick around to see the surprised look on your face, so you just do as he told you, wondering if he was flirting with you or if he’s just Like That. You think that second explanation might be the answer.

“It’s nice to see you again,” he says when he arrives with the cake and the tea. You’re pretty sure he can’t place you exactly, just thinks your face is familiar, but it still makes you happy.

He tells you he hopes you’ll come back when you leave, and you decide you want to believe it.

June 1st

You’re not sure when you become an official ‘regular’ at the bakery. Maybe it’s when you ask Jin if they even do scones, and he leans over the counter to tell you conspiratorially that he actually wanted to call the shop ‘bake it ’til you make it’, but was told it was too long. That elicits a brief burst of laughter from you, and Jungkook tells you to stop encouraging him, but Seokjin looks so happy with himself when you laugh that you decide not to listen to him. Jin has that way of breaking past your shyness that fascinates you. It might be what keeps you coming back, more than the delicious sweets and how beautiful the two workers look.

Or maybe it’s when Jin tells you that it’s not fair you know their names but they don’t know yours, and that he’d ask you for your ID before selling you stuff if you don't tell him. When you tell him, he repeats it a couple of times, like he’s tasting it, before nodding with satisfaction. After that, him and Jungkook start greeting you with it, and insist you do the same with them. You’re reluctant at first, feeling somewhat confused about the whole thing, but it turns out to feel… nice, to have people to greet, and who also know your name.

Maybe it’s when Jin tells you that you’re late when you come in, or complains when you don’t show up on one of your usual days because you had a meeting with your boss. He doesn’t say anything on the day where you take your pastries to go because you’re visiting a friend at the hospital, though, and you wonder if he can just tell. Regardless, you appreciate it.

You find out about other people who come here frequently, too, and especially the ones who are friends with Jin and Jungkook. Namjoon, who sits with his laptop at the opposite end of the café from you. Yoongi, who usually sits in the same spot as you, and eyes you threateningly when he comes in and you’re there the first time, until Seokjin tells him to knock it off. Taehyung and Jimin, who always come in together, and who Jungkook usually joins to bicker and laugh with them. Hoseok, who likes to waltz in at random times, and whose smile actually rivals Jin’s.

You yourself come in twice a week, getting to your usual place to work — except on the couple of occasions where Yoongi gets there before you and gives you a triumphant smile when he sees you. You enjoy the way you’re always greeted by Jungkook or Seokjin, like they’re genuinely happy to see you. You discover that the old ladies who come here to gossip love to flirt with Jin and that, even though he flirts back outrageously, much to their delight, his ears tend to turn a bright red when he does.

You even bring your friends on a couple of occasion, and Seokjin jokes that you’re responsible for half of his turnover at this point. Your friends enjoy the food, and the drinks, but they enjoy the handsome employees and customers a lot more.

“So this is where all the hot men were,” Hana marvels when you walk out, and you burst out laughing. You like that you’ve shared this place with her, because it’s something that makes you really happy these days, motivates you to come out of your bed, and even to talk to people, something you’ve never been good at.

When you walk into the shop and make small talk with the people you’ve come to know, something you used to consider yourself terrible at, it might be silly, but it kind of feels like home.

June 21st

You are pretty sure you know when you go from regular to friend, though. It’s a day like any other and you hum on your way to the shop. Instead of the joyful “Welcome back, (Y/N)!” that you’ve gotten used to hearing these past few weeks, however, you’re greeted with Seokjin shouting “(Y/N), my savior!”.

You freeze on the spot and give him a worried look. From his table, Namjoon looks up, just as puzzled.

“Is everything okay, Jin?” he asks.

“Jungkook isn’t there today,” Jin tells you. His voice doesn’t sound different from usual, but there is a glint of panic in his eyes.  “I need your help.”

Namjoon stands up.

“Why didn’t you ask me? I could—”

“Stay where you are and don’t even think of approaching my kitchen,” Jin says threateningly. “(Y/N)? Please?”

Well. You suppose your work can get done later. You’re more productive when you come here, so you have some advance on your usual deadlines these days. But you don’t know what Jin wants from you and you’ve never worked in a bakery.

“What do you want me to do?” you ask cautiously.

He grabs your shoulders and your eyes widen at the contact. Not that it’s unpleasant, just unexpected.

“I knew when you first walked in here that you were a godsend,” he tells you seriously, looking right into your eyes, and you tell yourself that if he’s that good of an actor, you should probably watch out. “We’re out of milk.”

You blink.

“Okay. Is there a specific type of milk you want?”

“Just, milk. Get me milk and I’ll worship the ground you walk on until the end of days.”

You roll your eyes at his dramatics, and take your bag off your shoulder, handing it to him.

“Look after that, okay? I’ll be right back.”

“I’ll protect it with my life,” he says solemnly. “Also paper napkins please!” he shouts as you’re already walking out.

“Will do!”

“Bake a leg!”

You want to protest the joke that even you find to be quite bad, but the door has already closed behind you, so you just shake your head at him, only to see him laughing with satisfaction through the glass, and head to the nearest supermarket.

You come back with two big packs of milk and a lot of paper napkins, just as two men are exiting. You’ve seen them before, but they never stay to chat. Inside, Jin is juggling three women, and he looks more relieved than you’ve ever seen him when you walk in.

“I’ll help you with that,” Namjoon says immediately, bumping in the table as he gets up.

“If you break anything, I’ll kill you,” Jin warns him. He’s smiling like he’s joking, and his tone is light, like he doesn’t want to scare off his customers, but his eyes say he’s sincere.

You’re quick in the back, and Namjoon does drop the packs once, but nothing bad happens. He presses a finger against his lips to tell you to keep it a secret, and you grin without a word. Part of you is kind of wondering what you’re doing there, why Jin feels comfortable letting you in the back and why he asked you to do that, but you don’t have an issue with it, not by a long shot. This is… kind of fun, actually.

“Anything else you want me to do?” you ask Jin when you come out, and he looks at you in a pleading way.

“You don’t mind?”

Something tells you you shouldn’t accept too quickly, that you could end up in way over your head faster than you know. But his brown eyes are wide and desperate and you just can’t say no. So you smile and shake your head.

“Of course not. You look like you really need a hand here.”

“I do.”

That’s how you find yourself in an apron, with the cute, black hat Jin and Jungkook always wear on your head. Jin mostly sends you in the back to pick up things he needs, or makes you bring the beverages to the customers, which you’re thankful for, because that way you don’t have to greet anyone. Time flies quickly, and you can barely find a second to breathe for the first few hours.

“Sorry, it’s lunch time,” Jin grimaces as he passes you by, and you think to yourself that at least, it will get better, but it takes a while even after that, and when it’s done, Jin sends you to buy some more stuff from the supermarket, because as it turns out, things go fast.

Before you know it, it’s closing time, and you look outside in disbelief. The sky is starting to turn a nice pink, and other shops are putting up their shutters.

“You can go, if you want,” Jin tells you. He sounds terribly sorry, and that makes you feel bad. It’s such an unusual tone for him to have.

His offer is tempting, of course. Your feet hurt, your head aches a little from all the noise that never bothered you before but turns out to be a lot when you’re there all day, you’ve burned your hand against an oven, and you’ve found out that carrying things ends up really hurting your back. But you know that he’s experiencing the same thing you do, and you just don’t have the heart to abandon him here. Also, you’ve already lost your day, so you might as well help him out now.

“It’s fine,” you sigh. “Do you want me to help with anything?”

Cleaning up goes quietly in the main shop, and that soothes you a little. You don’t mind the silence, even enjoy it, and find yourself relaxing for the first time today. Surprisingly, you’re feeling… satisfied. It’s not something you would particularly look forward to doing again, but you’re happy you did it, happy you helped Jin, and you feel like you’ve accomplished something today, which is always a good thing.

“You have flour everywhere,” he tells you bluntly when you walk in the back of the shop, and you laugh.

“Well, it got everywhere,” you reply, trying to rub some off your face, and it’s Jin’s turn to laugh when you fail miserably.

You know you shouldn’t do it, but you gather a small handful of flour from the table, and throw it at him. A good chunk hangs in the air and makes you cough, but the rest does land on his apron. His mouth falls open into an ‘o’ shape and you know you’ve messed up.

“Listen, I am so sorry—”

“No you’re not,” he says, taking a step towards you. His hand is on the table, which is covered with flour, and you swallow.

“Sure I am, Jin, please—”

But your pleas fall in deaf ears, and flour is soon flying your way. It’s your turn to stare at Jin in disbelief, and then you’re laughing, loud and clear.

Maybe that’s the exact moment when the two of you become friends — really friends.

Or maybe it’s seconds later, when the room you’re in turns into the scene for an all-out flour battle. Regardless, you’re laughing the whole way through, when you’re not choking on the flour hanging in the air. Jin’s laughter is quieter than yours, miles away from the booming and somewhat fake laugh you’re used to hearing from him.

The fight only escalates when Jin picks up an egg. You shake your head, mouth ‘no’, but he doesn’t listen, and after that, things get a lot messier. By the time the two of you, exhausted and bent in half because of how much you’ve been laughing, finally stop, you can feel yoke trickling down your back, and you know the sight can’t be pretty. Jin reaches out to you in a useless attempt to wipe some flour from your face, only to laugh more when it, of course, fails once more.

You try not to think about the jolt of electricity that ran through you when his fingers came in contact with your cheek.

“I’ll clean up in here,” he tells you, “but you should go take a shower upstairs.”

“Are you sure?” you ask, surprised. Suddenly, you’re very conscious of the fact that you don’t know him that well. In recent months, you’ve talked to him more than you do with your close friends, and you did just throw several eggs at him, but you don’t know him. You’re aware of the fact that he lives above the shop, but you’ve never been there. The two of you have never even exchanged numbers.

He makes dramatic hand gestures to signal you to get away, like you’re bothering him, and you leave with a last laugh. You don’t notice the way he looks up when you do, or the way it makes him smile. He can’t help it, he just loves that he makes you laugh.

You’re relieved to step into the shower, both because you’re happy to clean up and because there was something really awkward about being in Seokjin’s apartment for the first time, alone. The place was not quite as decorated as the bakery was, with paler colors. Walking through it, you had noticed big speakers, some books in a shelf, and a couple of cute plushes that you had had to resist not to fawn over. The place worked for him, you had decided. It was more understated than you would have expected when you had just started to know him, but it doesn’t surprise you anymore. Jin tends to be quiet when he doesn’t have to be ‘on’, and it’s something he doesn’t seem to feel he has to do around you anymore.

You sigh in pleasure when the hot water hits you, close your eyes. You’ve been craving it for hours now — long before the food battle with Jin. It helps relax your aching muscles, washes away all the sweat from the day, and you have to resist not to just let yourself fall down onto the floor. Your back hurts, but the worst part has to be your feet. You feel yourself gaining a lot more appreciation for Jin and Jungkook, who are always kind, smiling and polite despite all of this. The only thing that kept you from biting someone’s head off tonight was your crippling anxiety when it comes to interacting with strangers.

It’s almost funny now to think you used to feel that way around Jin.

You look around for some soap you could use, and in your search, you’re surprised to find shampoo that was definitely intended for a woman. You don’t know why you’re surprised. It’s no wonder that Jin would have a girlfriend, really, it’s the opposite that should shock you, but you still didn’t expect it. You force away the pinch in your chest. Jin is a new friend, you can’t have your heart fluttering like that.

You consider using it for half a second, before deciding that it would be very awkward if you came out smelling like his girlfriend. Instead, you do your best to get rid of any egg, and tell yourself you’ll wash your hair at home. You barely hear the sound of the door opening and closing over the water, and you’re startled by Jin’s voice outside the bathroom.

“You can take a towel from the chest of drawers,” he tells you, “and I’ll leave a shirt outside, if you want it.”

“Thank you!” you shout back.

Seokjin stands there a few seconds, before quickly shaking his head and walking away. He knows his ears are turning red, and he hates himself for it, but is it his fault, really? Is he supposed not to think about you, right now, in his shower, water running down your body? He never even thought to pretend he was that innocent.

He occupies himself by preparing a drink for the two of you, and then by cleaning around. He’s not particularly messy, though, and there isn’t much to do, so he ends up sitting on his couch, feeling awkward in his own house, and scrolling aimlessly through his phone. He freezes again when he hears the bathroom door open and close, guessing you’re picking up his shirt. Which means you’re— God what is wrong with him tonight? When did he regress to the state of a hormonal teenager?

He hopes he looks natural when you come out, because he’s doing his best for that. The nervous way he’s running his hands over his thighs would probably give him out, though, if you weren’t feeling just as stressed as him.

“I’m done,” you mumble, your shyness coming back, which you decide is to be expected in that situation.

It vanishes the second Jin looks you over and snorts.

“What’s wrong?” you ask, glancing down, and immediately you know that you’re probably ridiculous in his black shirt. It looks like it’s swallowing you whole. “It’s not my fault if your shoulders are that broad,” you pout.

“You look so small,” Jin chuckles. He sounds endeared, and if you noticed that sort of things, you would absolutely realize that his eyes linger on you in his clothes fondly — and a little longer than necessary.

“Want something to drink?” he asks, gesturing at the stuff he got out of the fridge when he didn’t know what to do with himself.

“Sure,” you smile, letting yourself fall down on the couch next to him and pouring yourself a glass. The brief awkwardness that washed over you when you came in vanishes already, because of how comfortable you feel around Jin. He’s always been good at making you feel that way, and now he doesn’t even have to try.

“So, how did you find your day?” he asks you, and you look at him, surprised by his tone. He sounds quiet, cautious almost, like he’s worried about what your reaction might be, or that he could be bothering you.

“Fine,” you say with a shrug. “I can’t say I’d want to do it again— When is Jungkook coming back?”

Jin chuckles, and again, it takes you by surprise. It’s so… quiet. So discreet, compared to his usual attitude.

“He should be there tomorrow, don’t worry about it.” Then, he grimaces. “But seriously, thank you for helping out today. I owe you.”

“Yes you do,” you say with a grin, bumping your shoulder against his, trying to lift the mood a little, because he sounds genuinely worried. “Just offer me the tea next time, and I’ll consider us even.”

Finally, a smile forms on his lips, and he shakes his head dramatically, putting his hand over his heart.

“No, I don't think I could ever repay you,” he says, and you laugh at his antics, like you always do. He looks a little appeased by that, and that’s a relief. “Your back must hurt,” he says. “Turn around.”

You raise an eyebrow, but do as he says, startling when his hands fall on your shoulders. They’re large, engulfing you easily, but they also move gently as he slowly massages you.

“Oh,” you gasp, leaning back into him. This is— good. This is very very good. For a few minutes — or maybe much longer, you couldn’t tell — you just stay there, eyes closed, lips parted, focused on the delicious feelings of his hands gently rubbing all the pain and soreness of the day away. When he stops, it takes you a few seconds to come back down to reality, and maybe, just maybe you miss the feeling of his hands. “Oh,” you repeat, rolling your shoulders slowly. “Thank you.”

“No problem,” Jin says. “It’s kind of my fault.”

You turn around, shaking your head.

“Seokjin,” you say. “It’s fine. I didn’t mind helping.”

“You’re too kind,” he frowns. “You shouldn’t let people take advantage of that.”

“I’m not!”

Then Jin smiles, in a way that only lifts one corner of his lips, and suddenly you feel— you’re not too sure. Something seems to melt inside you, something moves in your stomach like you’re free falling. You probably should recognize the feeling. It’s not like it’s anything new to you, and yet you miss it. You do something you almost never do in that situation, and you take a step back. You glance up from his lips, shoot him a smile, and get up from the couch.

“It’s getting late,” you comment. “I really need to go home.”

Jin is on his feet immediately.

“I’ll walk you back,” he says, concern flashing in his eyes.

“I’m good. It’s not that far and I need to clear my head after, you know, everything today.” You’re not sure you know, but Jin nods, though a little reluctantly.

“You’re sure?”

“Very.”

He sighs. He doesn’t seem too pleased about it, but you guess he doesn’t want to insist too much, either.

“Give me your phone,” he says, and when you hand it to him, he types his number in, pouting as he explains himself to you. “Text me when you get home, alright? Otherwise I’ll just worry all night, because everyone is so unreasonable, and just wants me to lose sleep, and—”

You take your phone back from him with a laugh.

“I’ll text you,” you promise, briefly putting your hand over his. That feels— normal, you decide. It’s not like your hands have never brushed in the months since you’ve started frequenting the bakery. It just feels fine, and whatever there was before could just be a false alert. But then Jin looks into your eyes, and the feeling comes back.

“You better.”

You practically flee the bakery. You’re trying to make sense of the whole thing in your head, and it doesn’t go over great. You let Jin know you got home safe, and then do your best to push the whole thing out of your mind when you go to bed. You refuse to think about it too much. Not because you don’t understand what’s going on, but because somewhere, deep down, you do. This isn’t— this isn’t something you do. You fall hard and fast, that’s— that’s your thing.

Sometimes it’s nice, others it’s disappointing, but most importantly, it means that when the relationship is over, your life just goes back to what it was before. It you ever had feelings for a friend, someone you’re so used to having around… You’re sure it would truly break your heart.

July 15th

Summer is horribly hot this year. Fortunately for you, your favorite bakery has started serving ice cream. There is air conditioning in the store, but with the door constantly opening and closing, gusts of hot air regularly reach even you. No one seems too happy with the situation, with Jungkook seeming to slowly come apart under the temperature. Even Namjoon has abandoned ship, leaving much earlier than usual today. He waved at you when he got out, and you waved back.

Who knew, maybe the two of you would actually talk next time.

Jin uses a lull in the otherwise busy afternoon to drop at your table, and you smile to him. You haven’t really gone through anything like that night ever since, and you decided it was just a one time thing. You were tired from the work, and you were touch-starved, and, surely, there was nothing there, other than you gaining a new friend.

Yup. Nothing to see at all. Even when he’s sitting next to you, trying to fan himself with one of the bakery’s menus, head thrown back in a way that makes his Adam’s apple even more prominent.

You never thought yourself as someone who particularly enjoyed necks, but it seems you were wrong.

Not that that has anything to do with feelings, of course. Jin’s just hot. You already knew that.

“Hey, (Y/N), what’s your favorite cake?” he asks you.

It takes you just a second too long to answer.

“Uh. Anything that has strawberries in it, I guess,” you say, and he nods, but he’s also frowning. “Are my tastes not up to par?” you grin, raising an eyebrow.

“Clearly, your tastes are great, since you keep coming back,” Jin answers immediately, with the confidence that you now know to be mostly facade, but that you’ve still come to love. “No, strawberries are good. I can work with strawberries.”

“I actually wanted strawberries the first time I came here,” you reminisce. “But there weren’t any left because that was after Valentine’s Day.”

Jin clicks his tongue in disgust.

“Worst day of the year,” he says, “though February is a bad month for strawberries in general.”

“You don’t like Valentine’s Day?” you ask, and if you were a dog, your ears would be perking up with interest. You’ve always loved to hear people’s opinion on the holiday, because it’s so divisive. “You guys must make quite a lot of money…”

“I’m wounded that you’d think money is all I care about,” Jin sighs dramatically, though the glint in his eyes lets you know that he’s only joking. “It’s just very busy,” he admits. “It’s a lot of work to prepare, people place a lot of orders, and we basically don’t get a minute to ourselves. Not to mention— do you know what it does to a person to know that the food he lovingly prepared is probably going to be eaten off someone’s body?”

You can’t help it. You burst out laughing. When you do, you’re completely unaware of the fond way Jin looks at you. He’s always liked that he made you laugh, from the very first day you came into the store.

“No,” you admit, “no, I haven’t thought about it.”

“Well I have to.”

“I’m so sorry for you.”

“I’m sorry for me too.”

Then Jimin practically waltzes in and energetically greets everyone in the room, including you, and Jin gets up to serve him and Taehyung because Jungkook looks like he’s about to collapse, and you don’t give much more thought to the conversation.

But Jin remembers that strawberry cake is your favorite.

September 18th

Somehow, you get roped into helping Jin with his grocery shopping. He sat at your table and complained about how Jungkook wouldn’t be able to help him that week, and you voiced your sympathy, and next thing you knew, you were in the supermarket with him.

Well, maybe you’d offered your help. Maybe you just didn’t want to admit it because of that time he’d told you you were too kind.

“You know, I thought I’d be helping you for the bakery,” you comment, “but this mostly looks like it’s for you.”

“I am the bakery,” Jin replies, and you grin.

You watch him as he carefully crosses item after item of his detailed list. You expected him to be messy, to grab whatever he wanted, but he is as meticulous with this as he is with the baking he does for his customers. Which is— strangely endearing to you.

“Most of what we get comes in bigger orders,” he explains to you once he’s done with that aisle. “Sometimes, we find ourselves missing some things…”

“Like milk.”

“It’s always the milk,” he sighs, shaking his head it brings back bad memories. “But that’s not an issue for a lot of thing, unless something very specific comes up. Like a customer wanting  a pineapple pie.”

You tilt your head as he cautiously picks pineapples. You’re not even sure how you can tell if a pineapple is ripe, but he looks like he knows what he’s doing.

“That sounds… interesting?”

“It’s going to sound very interesting when I’ll make you carry half the bags,” Jin says, and you roll your eyes. Does he think you’re going to bail on him? You would never do that.

Well. Until your eyes fall on Minho, standing there, like he hasn’t simply vanished from your life six months ago. There’s a woman with him, and she’s laughing at something he said. You suppose she was the one he met — or maybe another one, there’s no way of knowing, really. But they look like they’re getting along well, and it— it makes you happy. You think.

“Huh,” you mumble. “That’s my ex over there.”

Jin looks up so fast you worry he might hurt his neck.

“What? Where? Do you need me to insult him?”

You’re about to say no when Minho turns around, and his eyes meet yours. He gives you a hesitant nod, and you think that’s going to be it, but then, after a few seconds of obvious inner debate, he makes his way towards you.

Great.

“(Y/N),” he says, a bit awkwardly. “It’s good to see you.”

“It’s good to see you too,” you reply softly and, much to your surprise, you mean it. You did your best not to let yourself miss him, but you suppose you did. It’s been a long time since you last saw him.

“This is, erm, this is Lisa,” he says, gesturing at the woman, who gives you a polite smile. It looks like she knows exactly who you are, and you suppose it must be uncomfortable for her as well. “My girlfriend.”

Yeah. You’d pieced that together. But then, Minho’s eyes move to Jin, and he raises an eyebrow, and you realize what he’s thinking about.

“Oh, this is—”

“Seokjin,” Jin says, extending his hand. “I’m her boyfriend.”

You’re sure that anyone looking at you can tell from your expression, from the way your mouth falls open and from the incredulous way you shake your head that that’s not true, but both Minho and Lisa are looking at him, and miss it completely. When Jin looks at you, he gives an imperceptible nod and puts an arm around your shoulders.

The warmth is— kind of nice. Maybe it even sends a shiver down your back, but you’re sure it’s because you’re still quite touch-starved those days.

Nothing else here.

“That’s great,” Minho says, and he looks relieved. “It’s great that you’re with someone.”

“Isn’t it?” Jin says before you can think of anything to answer to that. “She walked into my bakery and I just knew she would become my favorite client. Basically love at first sight.”

“Love at first sale, maybe,” you can’t help but answer, even if you know, reasonably, that you shouldn’t entertain him. You’re pretty sure he’s trying to show off in front of the two, which is really unnecessary, but you appreciate the gesture. “Jin makes the best cakes you can find in the whole town,” you tell them. Not to show off, but because it’s true. There are a lot of good things you could tell them about Jin, come to think of it. A lot.

“Maybe we should try it then,” Lisa says, smiling. She looks more relaxed than earlier, though you suppose she could also just be trying to get out of this conversation.

“Oh, it’s a must,” you reply sincerely, and Jin laughs, pulling you against his chest a little.

“She’s too nice,” he says, and you immediately protest that no, definitely not, he does, and you’re sure you look like a very annoying couple, because it doesn’t take long for Minho to clear his throat.

“Well, we have to go but it was— it was nice catching up with you.”

“Same,” you nod, and when he leaves, you can’t help but watch him. You don’t really feel anything right now. You were sincerely happy to see him, but it felt like running into a childhood friend you haven’t seen in a long, long time, and now have nothing in common with outside of those memories. Except it hasn’t been a life time since you last met him. Just a little over six months. Soon, he’ll just be someone you used to know.

You wish you were more upset by this. You wish there was anything that told you that what you had with him actually mattered. Instead, this vague indifference lets you know that your paths had probably diverged before the two of you even broke up. And that makes you kind of sad.

“Are you okay?” Jin asks. He has that quiet voice you’ve heard a few times now.

“I’m fine,” you nod, “but you really didn’t have to do that. I wasn’t— Minho and I aren’t— there really was no need.”

“I was happy to do it,” Jin says, and you notice how petty he sounds. “It’s always a joy to let an ex see how much better than them you’re doing.”

You laugh. You probably agree with him on that, but you’re not going to help feed his ego even more. Jungkook would probably never forgive you for it.

“I don’t think your girlfriend would like you doing that,” you observe, and Jin answers that remark with a blank stare.

“When have I ever said anything about a girlfriend?”

“Well, there was a bottle of shampoo at your place that—”

“So a guy can’t like having his hair smell like fruit, huh?”

“That’s not what I—”

“Wow, way to reinforce stereotypes, (Y/N). I expected more of you.”

He ignores your attempts at protesting and strides away from you. It takes you a few moments to catch up, because of his stupid long legs of his.

“If I had a girlfriend, I would never stop talking about her,” he lets you know while you’re catching your breath. “So don’t worry. You’ll know about it.”

“Duly noted,” you say. You maybe feel a little too happy about that new information so, to distract yourself from it, you change the subject. “So I’m your favorite customer?”

He scoffs and glances away from you, refusing to meet your eyes. He thought you hadn’t picked up on that.

“You’re a strong contestant, I guess,” he says reluctantly, and you laugh, not pushing it further.

“Anyway— Minho broke up with me a week Valentine’s Day,” you say. You’re not sure why. Maybe to let Jin that you’ve been over it for a long time.

“That’s rude,” Jin comments with a disapproving click of his tongue.

“He probably wanted to spend it with her,” you shrug. “When we got together, he told me he didn’t cheat. He left. So— I guess that was it.” Then there’s a laugh, and you can’t tell if it sounds bitter. You hope not. “I’ve actually never had a boyfriend for Valentine’s Day,” you confess.

The silence that follows is unusual for Jin. When you glance up at him, he’s just looking at you, and for a second, you think it’s pity you find in his eyes. But, from the way he frowns, you realize it could just be genuine sympathy.

“Would it make you feel better if I tell you it’s a terrible holiday that’s just there to sell things?”

“I already know that,” you chuckle, even if it does make you feel a little better. “I just want someone to buy me roses once, you know?”

Jin doesn’t answer, just looks at you, and something about the intensity of his stare makes you feel— feel things you told yourself you weren’t feeling for him. But then, you just ran into Minho, didn’t you? It makes sense that you would be all over the place emotionally.

“Anything more on your list?” you ask, and Jin blinks.

“Yeah, that way,” he says, sounding a bit off, but then he adds “More things for you to carry,” and you decide to brush it off.

But he stores the information in his mind. Strawberry cake and roses. Duly noted.

October 31st

“So do you actually like Halloween, or is this just another shameless cash grab for you?” you ask Jin when he brings you your tea.

You have to admit, him and Jungkook truly went all out for this. They’ve decorated the shop with pumpkins, and there are fake bats hanging from the ceiling. There are also themed cakes and chocolates shaped like spiders. It’s spooky, and it delights the kids that come in and ask the parents about it. You definitely appreciate the atmosphere it creates — and you also appreciate the way Hoseok jumped when he walked in front of the witch that lets out an evil laugh when someone passes the movement detector.

“Halloween is not terrible, I guess,” Jin says, like him and Jungkook don’t take a full day out of their schedules and bring in some friends just to decorate the shop. “Do you like it?”

“I love it,” you answer sincerely, and Jin’s expression softens.

“Hey, we’re having a small get-together after closing tonight,” he tells you spontaneously. “Wanna join us?”

You take a second to answer. It’s not like you don’t want to — far from that — but there’s that voice inside of you that tells you that you’ve been weird around Jin, and you don’t want to be weird around him. You want to keep things as they are, because he’s such a wonderful friend to have around. You’d hate yourself if you changed that.

But if the point is to have him around, then surely, telling him no right now would be counter-productive, right?

“Absolutely,” you say with a smile, and Jin beams, and you feel all warmed-up inside.

You already know that you’ll have fun, and you’ll laugh, and he’ll insist on walking you him and you’ll tell him no. And it sounds exactly like how you want to spend your evening.

January 10th

You first meet Sungho on New Year’s Eve, at Hana’s party. The two of you click immediately, and you enjoy the familiar rush of feelings, the waiting for a text after you’ve given him your number, the anticipation of knowing where this is all leading, if everything goes right. After a week, you run into him at the bakery, or, well, you’re sitting in your usual corner when he comes in. He doesn’t see you immediately, but when he looks in your direction after a little while, you happily wave him over.

“You don’t usually come here, do you?” you ask him. “I would have seen you by now if you were a regular.”

He chuckles, flashes you a bright smile, and you smile in return. Sungho has a nice smile. He doesn’t laugh easily, though, from what you saw when you met him, which is a shame, but definitely not a dealbreaker, even if you love to hear people laugh.

“No, I saw you were talking about this place a lot online, and I figured I would come and check it out. Of course, seeing you here is the best part,” he adds with a wink, and he leans towards you a little. The obvious flirtation sends a wave of heat through your chest, and you don’t hesitate to lean forward as well, resting your elbow on the table and putting your chin on your hand. You enjoy the closeness, the proximity, the chase.

You pull away when Jin arrives with Sungho’s order.

“This looks great,” Sungho comments. “I’m glad (Y/N) advertised you so much.”

“Well, there’s a reason she’s our favorite customer,” Jin replies, smiling, and when you meet his eyes, they’re fond and— and something else that makes it hard to breathe for a second.

But the smile fades when Sungho takes a portion of his cake with the spoon and offers it to you.

“Wanna try it?” he asks, and you do, because you know everything Jin makes will be amazing. You’re not sure you love the gesture itself — it’s kind of cute, but you’ve also just met him and it feels a bit strange — but you still giggle and take the bite.

And all Jin can do is stand there, looking at the two of you. He feels something he has felt before, and it’s that he let something he wanted pass him by. He waited too long to make a move, once again, and once again, it’s cost him something he doesn’t know how he’ll live without, and now he’ll have no choice but to figure it out.

You glance up, and he catches himself, plastering a smile on his lips.

“Enjoy yourselves!” he says, a little too loudly, and he knows, from the way you blink and the puzzled look you give him, that you’ve noticed and it’s— it’s horrible. It’s horrible that you know him that well and that you’ve seen so many facets of him and you’ve chosen someone else. You don’t ask anything, though, and he’s quick to leave.

He’s also quick to ask Jungkook to replace him in the shop, and he, very deliberately, doesn’t ask anything about how things went. Doesn’t want to know if you kissed, or worse, if you left together.

He’ll be fine. It’s not like it’s anything he hasn’t been through before.

February 5th

You feel impossibly excited when Sungho asks you out for Valentine’s Day. You gush about it to your friends, a lot, and Hana is delighted for you — and very pleased that her circles of friends are meeting like that. Jungkook sounds happy, too, though slightly more reserved, but you get the type of enthusiasm you wanted from Jimin and Taehyung.

Jin gets quiet when you let him know, though. It’s not something you haven’t seen before, but it does take you off guard, because you’ve never seen it happen while in the shop, where he’s usually on top of his game.

“Are you okay?” you ask, worried, leaning over the counter to put a hand on his arm. “You look a little under the weather these days.”

He smiles, but it lacks his usual flamboyance.

“Valentine’s Day is coming,” he tells you. “The worst day of the year.”

You laugh at that, relax, and take your hand off. You miss the way his eyes fall on the place you were just touching.

“Well, not this year, hopefully. Not this year.”

Yeah. He’s not so sure about that.

February 14th

It’s your first time, ever, having a date on Valentine’s Day, and you’re determined to do everything right. Sungho is taking you to a fancy restaurant, so you decide there is no issue in going all out. You take the day to prepare yourself, enlist Hana to do your make-up and hair, and you use the opportunity to wear a lovely bright red dress that you had been saving for a special occasion.

Hana whistles when you come out of your room after you’ve also put on half-transparent black tights.

“Now that’s what I’m talking about,” she says with an appreciative nod.

You glance down at your body self-consciously and try to smooth the fabric of the dress. You do think it looks pretty good, but you could be wrong. Does it show too much of your legs? Does it hug your curves too tightly?

“You think he’s going to like it?” you ask, somewhat shyly.

“He should if he knows what’s good for him,” she replies, expression turning murderous, before softening. “Just… Are you sure you want to be doing that?”

You give her a confused look.

“What are you talking about?”

“You know, going out with Sungho,” she says with a vague hand gesture. “I just— I don’t know. Do you like him that much?”

It’s funny. You haven’t really asked yourself that question. You’ve just been going through all the usual motions — the flirting, the dates, and, inevitably, the start of the relationship, which is probably for tonight.

“We— we get along fine,” you answer. “I like him.”

You leave the words ‘well enough’ out of that sentence. You like Sungho well enough. But then, that’s always been good enough for you, so why should it change now?

Hana seems to think about it for a little while, then shrugs.

“Okay then. Do you need my help to walk to the cab? I would not trust these things.”

She’s pointing at your heels, and it makes you laugh. These aren’t even that high, and they’re pretty stable. You don’t think you’ll have any trouble walking in them. Hana wouldn’t abandon her flat shoes to save her life, though, so you suppose the question was to be expected.

“You can just tell me if you want to hold my arm,” you tease, and it seems to take her by surprise, before she chuckles.

“You’ve gotten a little too good at that. I don’t know if I like it.”

“Yeah, I’m afraid Jin has infected me.”

That gives her pause, and she shoots you a weird look, but you miss it. She opens her mouth to say something, then gives up. She could be wrong, after all.

She kind of hopes she’s wrong, or that if she’s right, you’ll realize it soon enough.

The dinner is perfect. You’re dressed perfectly for the occasion, fitting right in the restaurant’s decor, Sungho complimented you when you walked in and you told him he looked great, which is true, the food is delicious, the conversation flows easily, and there are roses on the table. They’re not for you, part of the decoration, and it doesn’t look like Sungho’s gotten you any, which gives you just a little pinch of disappointment in your chest, but it’s also not a big deal. It’s fine. Everything is fine.

And you’re not happy with it.

You can’t place it, and it slowly drives you insane, as you and Sungho make your way through the meal. You try your best not to let it show, but you think he notices your increasing restlessness. You feel bad about it, because really, he hasn’t done anything wrong. You just— something’s not right.

Dammit. It’s your first time having a date on Valentine’s Day, and you can’t make it work.

“I’ve been meaning to ask you something,” Sungho says while the two of you are waiting for your desert, and you do your best to snap out of whatever is going on in your head to focus on him.

“Tell me,” you smile, though the smile is polite, rather than genuine.

He takes a deep breath and reaches over the table to take your hand. It’s far from the first time the two of you make physical contact, you’ve even kissed a few times, and it was nice, but something makes you want to recoil, in that moment. You don’t, though. Why would you? It doesn’t make sense. Nothing about you makes sense right now.

“I like you,” he says, and you find the breath knocked out of you. It’s not unpleasant, though, it’s very nice in fact, and it almost completely dissipates your previous discomfort. “And I think— you know. We haven’t said anything about being exclusive yet, so I figured I’d— ask.”

He looks pretty confident, which you thought would put you off, but it doesn’t. The answer seems obvious to you. It’s been just a little over a year since you broke up with Minho, which is a reasonable time, so your lips part to let him know that you’d be happy to—

It’s then that you remember. You remember what you told yourself after that break-up, and what you thought after the break-up before that, and the time before as well. You remember you told yourself you wouldn’t settle for less than what you really wanted. You told yourself you wanted to love and be loved. You told yourself you wanted someone who’d remember how you liked your tea.

And, just like in a movie, Jin’s face appears in your mind. You almost dismiss it, tell yourself it’s just because of the tea, until you realize it’s not. It just isn’t. You should have noticed earlier, you know that, but you’ve never been friends with someone before developing feelings for them. You’ve always told yourself you were an ‘all or nothing’ kind of person, that you were the type to know immediately if things could happen. Maybe you didn’t quite believe in love at first sight, but you’d always thought that love didn’t wait.

Apparently you were wrong.

Jin’s the one who inadvertently makes you pulse rush, when his hand brushes against you. Jin’s the one who lifts your spirits, no matter what. Jin makes you happy, makes you want to get up in the morning, has done that for months now. Jin actually knows you. Jin looks at you like you’re precious to him. Maybe that doesn’t mean love, maybe to him, it’s all just friendship, but to you, it’s much more than that. And the feeling you get is so strong, so powerful, that you understand that you need to tell him. Need to tell him now.

“I’m sorry,” you say to Sungho, who’s been waiting for an answer all this time. “I’m really sorry, I don’t think that can work out.”

His face falls, but he looks far from heartbroken.

“Oh,” he says. “Um. That’s—”

“I’m sorry,” you repeat, already getting up from your chair. You’re buzzing with excitement, with feelings. “I have to go. I’ll pay for the meal, okay?”

“No, don’t—”

“Sorry!”

You stop at the counter briefly before rushing out into the night. You feel that you know exactly where you need to be.

You get to the bakery minutes before closing time, which is exceptionally at 9 p.m. for the day. A couple is just coming out, and that leaves only Jungkook inside. There’s nothing left on display, and you know it’s been impossibly busy, which means Jin is probably in a bad mood, but you can’t wait until tomorrow. When you walk in, Jungkook looks up from behind the counter, clearly surprised by the sound of someone coming in that late, and a puzzled look settles on his face when he notices that you’re out of breath, your previously perfect make-up now looking a little worse for wear.

“Is everything alright?” he asks. He sounds worried, and any other day you would take the time to reassure him, but in that moment you’re pushed by an energy that can’t be stopped, so you just nod quickly as an answer.

“Is Jin here?”

“In the back,” he says, tilting his head in that direction, and you’re pretty sure a glint of understanding lights up in his eyes.

“Can I….?”

He nods, a grin on his lips, and now you’re sure he knows why you’re here. You don’t wait for him to tease you about it, quick to make your way past him.

You freeze the second you walk into the backroom, though. It’s not just because of Jin’s back, though that definitely has more of an effect on you than you’d like to admit — the broad shoulders, the muscular back, and inexplicably, the nape of his neck. It’s also because of the large bouquet of red roses, standing in a vase on the table next to him. Your breath catches in your throat as you look at them. They look beautiful, vibrant, their fragrance floating through the room, all the way to you.

“Who are the roses for?” you ask, making Jin jump.

Any other time, you would have been pleased to take him by surprise for once, but right now you’re hanging on his words, waiting for an answer. The air feels heavy between you, and it doesn’t help that he doesn’t answer immediately, swallowing silently as his eyes travel over your body. You had almost forgotten about the dress you were wearing, and, instead of making you feel comfortable and confident, like it had earlier, you feel naked and vulnerable under his gaze.

Finally, his eyes meet yours, mouth slightly open, and by that point your heart is hammering in your chest. You wonder if he has any idea of how you’re feeling right now. Had he noticed your feelings when even you weren’t aware of them?

“What?” he croaks, voice dry, like he’s forgotten what you said.

“The roses,” you repeat. “Who are they for?”

You need an answer. Desperately.

Jin’s eyes move to the roses, and his face falls. He turns his back to you again as he goes back to whatever he’s cleaning.

“Didn’t you have a date tonight?”

You shrug, though he can’t see it.

“I broke things off with him,” you say lightly, and you don’t miss the way his movements pause, or the way his shoulders tighten, for half a second, before he keeps moving. “Are you— are you meeting someone?”

“No,” he protests immediately. “You know I don’t believe in Valentine’s day.”

You do. You remember that. So you wait for an explanation. It takes a while, and you just wait silently behind him, suspecting that he’s waiting for you to go away. After a few minutes, though, he slams his hand on the table, still not looking at you.

“They’re for you, okay? You said you’d always wanted roses for Valentine’s Day, and I figured, maybe your stupid boyfriend didn’t know that yet, and that I could maybe just drop them off at your place, and—”

“You didn’t ask me why I broke up with him,” you interrupt him, cutting his rambling short, and he falls silent. You catch his eyes from over his shoulder. Finally, you’re feeling yourself calm down, and at the same time you’re practically shaking with anticipation. “I realized I had feelings for someone else,” you say when he still doesn’t ask, just watching you, lips tight.

“…You do?” he simply says in reply. He’s tense, guarded, and you take a careful step towards him.

“Yeah,” you nod. Your eyes aren’t leaving his, not even for a second. “He’s smart, and kind, and handsome.” You take a step for each description you give, and you can’t help but smile on the last word. But your smile doesn’t reach Jin’s lips, and he’s just looking at you like he’s expecting you to tell him someone else’s name, or to make fun of him. “And he makes me laugh,” you add quietly, as you get to him, leaning against the table. “A lot. Some have even said it was a little too much.”

“So who is he?” he asks, and you smile. It’s wild to you that you haven’t understood earlier how absolutely head over heels in love with him you are, especially right now, when you’re standing so close to him. It’s also wild that he can’t see it, because you feel as though you’re radiating with that emotion, feel that anyone should be able to tell.

“It’s you,” you breathe out. “It’s obviously you.”

Then you’re pushing yourself up against his mouth, soft and slow. One of his hands closes around your waist as he leans forward, towering over you. His eyes are shut, and you close your own, reveling in the feeling of his warm body pressed against your own. You feel his tongue darting out to brush against your lips, and they part to grant him access, eager to taste all of him and—

“Couldn’t you tell me that earlier?” Jin protests loudly, tearing himself away from you, and your eyes snap open. “I would have planned the best Valentine’s Day you’ve ever—”

You groan and cut him off with another kiss, faster and harder this time, grabbing his wrists to guide his hands to your hips. You moan in contentment into his mouth when he kisses you back and he swallows it eagerly, pressing you into the table, bodies meeting like they’ve been waiting for it for forever and you—

“I wanted to make you an amazing strawberry cake! Now I don’t have any strawberries left!”

“Jin, please,” you sigh, unable to tolerate any other interruption, “would you just shut up and kiss me?”

And, finally, he does. Holds you like he never wants to let you go, kisses you like there’s no tomorrow, and when the two of you part, he rests his forehead against yours like he can’t bear the thought of being away from you even for a second. The silent stretches, comfortable, only filled with your respirations, until someone clears their throat, and the two of you jump away from each other.

“Sorry,”Jungkook says with a shit-eating grin that tells you he’s not sorry at all, “but I was about to leave. Will the two of you be okay?”

“I’m sure we can work things out without you,” Jin says. “Goodbye!”

But Jungkook doesn’t leave right away, turning his smile to you. You would hide into Jin’s shoulder, but you feel so good you can’t be bothered right now.

“Goodbye (Y/N)!”

“Bye, Jungkook!”

“That kid, I swear,” Jin says, shaking his head, as Jungkook leaves, his laugh hanging in the air behind him for a few seconds.

“I quite like him,” you comment, fingers dancing down Jin’s neck to come trace the border of his shirt.

“Oh, you do?” There is a dangerous edge to his tone and you glance up, surprised.

“Are you jealous?” you ask. “I didn’t know you were the jealous type.”

“I’m not.”

“Because it’s not Jungkook I abandoned my date for.”

“Good that you did. I never liked him.”

“So you are jealous.”

Seokjin mumbles something incomprehensible and you laugh and hug him tighter. And when he asks you if you want to come upstairs, even if he doesn’t have the perfect Valentine’s Day dinner planned, even if really, all he has to offer is himself, you tell him yes, of course.

Because he’s all you want right now.

It turns out, you wouldn’t have eaten the dinner anyway. The second the door closes behind you, you’re pulling him down against you for a kiss, and he doesn’t oppose any resistance, doesn’t protest like he did before, just lets out a moan into your mouth. He’s just as eager as you are to get rid of that tight dress.

“Careful with the tights,” you warn when his hands start roaming your thighs.

“Take them off then,” he groans.

You press a few kisses against his mouth, feeling delighted with the way he restrains himself, hands turning into fists against your hips as he stops himself from tearing off your closes. Finally, you pull away with a giggle. His eyes are wide and dark with desire, and they only get wider when you playfully slide off your dress’ strap.

“Don’t tease,” he says, practically growls, but you decide that you will. You guide him to his couch, push him down onto it, and evade him when he tries to pull you down with him, slipping out of his grasp. You stand just out of his reach, but more than close enough to be tantalizing, and you see in his eyes that it’s working just fine.

You take the time of making a show out of sliding down your dress down your body, letting it pool down at your feet before stepping out of it. The heels are the next thing to go, and then, finally, the offending tights. The second you’re out of those, Seokjin pounces, grabbing your hips and pulling you onto the couch.

“If you want us to move this to the bedroom, now would be a good time to say it,” he says as he kisses your neck, hands traveling up and down your body, large and calloused, but kind and gentle.

“I’m good here,” you say, arching your back to grant him better access — and to roll your hips against him. “Are you good here?”

You feel his breath catching in his throat when you move, as well as something hard pressing against you in his pants, and his voice is slightly choked when he answers.

“Yeah. This would happen at some point anyway.”

You laugh. You can’t wait to try this in all the places the two of you can think of in his apartment.

“Then let’s get to it, shall we?”

Jin doesn’t seem to have anything to answer to that, especially not when you hook your leg around his, using your heel to push him down on top of you. He’s still dressed, but you plan on rectifying that. You stop kissing him to work on the buttons of his shirt, and he lets you, breathing heavily. Your fingers explore the skin you reveal in the process, and you’re delighted when he shivers as you find out where his sensitive spots are — right under his collarbone, his nipples, his ribs.

Finally, the shirt joins your dress on the floor. You take a second to marvel at his body. His shoulders are even nicer to look at like that, you decide. You capture Jin’s mouth again, this time with your hands fisting his hair. You’re feeling yourself growing more impatient, wetter, and while your panties are the only thing still covering your body, he’s still wearing pants — which is far too much clothing.

“I want you so bad,” you whisper to him, and his breath catches in his throat.

“Fuck. You have no idea what you’re doing to me.”

That makes you grin, and you arch your back into him again, pressing yourself against his now rock hard crotch.

“Oh, I think I do,” you reply devilishly, and all Jin does is to bury his head into your neck. His fast breathing tickles your skin, and you love it. You love discovering that you have that effect on him, love how you can make him come undone. Another night, you might really, really enjoy teasing him about it, but you have something else on your mind tonight.

Your hand travels down his body to palm him through his pants, and he groans, bucking his hips against it involuntarily.

“Let me take care of that?” you offer, and he pulls away to raise an eyebrow at you.

Wordlessly, you guide him so he’s sitting on the couch, and then, without breaking eye contact, you drop to your knees. You watch as his eyes go wide and he swallows loudly. You don’t give him time to regain his composure, gently nudging his legs apart so you can place yourself there comfortably.

“Fuck,” he repeats as your hands travel over his thighs before unbuckling his belt.

He lifts himself off the couch so you can slide down his pants and underwear, and that leaves him in his naked glory. And boy, is he glorious, dick standing erect and proud, precum already dripping from the tip. You suppose it’s been a while since the last time he had any sort of intercourse, and so you decide that you will do everything that’s in your power to make it worth his while.

You do your best to maintain eye contact with him while you lean forward to gently take in the head of his cock, wrapping your red lips around it as your hand grips the base.

“Ah,” he gasps, and you wonder if he gets loud during sex.

You hope he does.

You mostly tease him at first, running your tongue over the tip, and you feel his hand grabbing the back of your head gently. He doesn’t try to control your pace or to push you down. He seems to just be anchoring himself as he lets you do whatever you want. Glancing up, you see that he’s thrown his head back and his mouth is hanging open, letting out quiet moans that sometimes get high-pitched.

For some reason, the sight of his exposed throat turns you on impossibly. You slide a hand down your body to try to get some relief as well, and you moan loudly when your fingers finally find your clit. The vibrations have Jin push his hips up as his hands tighten on you. A second later, his eyes snap open.

“Shit, I’m sorry, I—”

“It’s fine,” you reassure him, “I don’t mind but— Do you have a condom somewhere?”

He hesitates, then reaches for the coffee table. He opens the drawer, rummages through it quickly, and finds what he’s looking for.

“Taehyung said it was good to have them all over the house, just in case,” he feels obligated to explain to you, even while he struggles to open it and to put it on.

Well, you owe Taehyung one, you decide, but now really is not the time to discuss that, so you pull him down for quick kiss before he can lose himself in his ramble.

“Want you now,” you tell him, and it sounds like an order.

“Yes ma’am,” he mumbles, pulling you back up onto the couch.

Your panties are soon gone, and he spreads your legs open with utmost care. Even if you’re pretty sure he could just slide right in, with how wet you are, he pushes a long finger inside you, then another.

“You’re so wet for me,” he marvels. “So wet, and I haven’t even touched you.”

“Don’t flatter yourself too much yet,” you moan. “There’s still work to be done here.”

His eyes are full of love when he looks at you, taking in your body, now completely naked and offered. Just for him.

“Oh, I’ll do it. Don’t you worry about that.”

You’re about to call him out for his cockiness when he lines his cock with your entrance, tip rubbing against your folds, and you close your mouth instead, wisely choosing not to provoke him when he could so easily make you pay for it by making you wait. Except it seems he’s just as impatient as you, because he pushes himself inside you without pause.

You moan and shift to accommodate the stretch, and Seokjin goes still on top of you.

“Are you okay?” he asks. You’re satisfied with the strain in his voice, like knowing you’re not the only one to be so affected here.

“Hmm,” you hum. “Can you— move? A little?”

He pulls out a little, experimentally, and you moan louder than before. It takes you a few minutes to figure out the pace, as your hips keep moving, desperately searching for more friction, but they’re not unpleasant, filled with kisses, sweet nothings and the feeling of his warm skin against yours. In those moments, you feel like you’re discovering him all over again, and you find yourself enjoying that more than you can say.

Finally, you find yourselves, and the sound of skin against skin fills the room, along with your loud, high-pitches moans, and Seokjin’s — softer, quieter, but definitely there. You meet each of his thrusts, with one hand between the two of you to rub against your clit. When you first clench around him, he finally lets out a moan that’s as loud as yours.

“Fuck, fuck, fffuck,” he says, head falling against you, cheek pressed against your collarbone. “If you— If you do that again I’ll— Wait, please, wait, wanna— wanna cum with you—”

You arch your back, your nipples grazing against his chest, and force up the pace of your hips. Jin is moving incoherently, begging into your neck, and you want to give him exactly what he’s asking for. When you clench around him again, it’s with your orgasm. It’s all it takes to push him over the edge as well, but you barely feel his hips stutter into you, completely taken over by your own pleasure.

It takes you a little while to come back down from your high, and when you do, you meet his eyes. They’re soft and gentle, and, more than anything that’s happened until then, they make you melt.

“Hey,” he whispers, “you okay?”

“Yeah. Yeah, more than okay, in fact. You?”

“More than okay, too,” he says as a lazy smile spreads across his features.

“Good. That’s good.”

Pillow talk is not your forte.

“Hey,” Jin says, coming to rest his forehead against your shoulder.

“Hmm?”

“I think I’m in love with you.”

You chuckle.

“I think I’m in love with you too.”

“That’s good,” Jin says, but his voice sounds choked up, raspy, and you know he’s probably blushing. So you don’t add anything, just run your fingers over his scalp, the nape of his neck, down his back. Let him know you’re here, that you’ve got him, that you’re not going anywhere.

“Are you— are you staying the night?” he asks.

“Sure, unless you’re kicking me out.”

His arms tighten around you possessively.

“I would never.”

It takes a little longer before Jin manages to get the two of you off the couch to go get cleaned up, and then into bed, but of that night, there is not a second that you would call unnecessary or superfluous. Not one.

Every single one of them, every moment you spend with Jin on that first night, are essential, and you could not pick one of them to take back.

March 14th

The bell chimes happily when you walk into the shop, and even though Jin is busy with another customer, his eyes immediately find you. It’s something simple, yet it’s something you love about him. The way he always seems to find you, and the pleasant warmth that fills you without fail when you see him. You’ve been told that it was just the high of the first months of a relationship, not to get too used to it but you hope that, even if it dims, it won’t go away completely.

“Hey, Jin, your ears are turning really red. Why are your ears turning red?”

You laugh while your boyfriend turns to shoot a furious look at Yoongi. He’s sitting in your spot, in the back of the shop, and he’s looking smug. That comment of his has become a pretty common thing to hear whenever you walk in, or just when Jin and you are speaking. To be completely honest, you’re not too mad about it. Jin is good at acting like you have no effect on him, but the blush betrays him, and it’s been both cute and useful to see what actually gets to him, or bothers him sometimes.

“I’ll kick you out of my shop if you keep that up!” Jin shouts at him. “Don’t think I won’t!”

But Yoongi just chuckles into his mug, clearly not taking him seriously — and he’s probably right for that.

“So, do you know what today is?” Jin asks nonchalantly after he’s turned back to face you, gesturing for Jungkook take over with the other customer.

Your eyes widen in horror.

“Please don’t tell me you want us to celebrate our one month anniversary. I haven’t planned anything for that.”

Jin rolls his eyes.

“I would argue that our one-month anniversary is tomorrow, if we’re being precise, because that’s when we, um, really talked about it.”

He’s not wrong. It had been a pleasant thing, to wake up in his arms the morning after, to the sensation of his lips gently kissing your neck, and an even nicer thing to take your breakfast with him. You couldn’t pinpoint why exactly. It had just been what had absolutely and irrevocably sealed the  deal for you. You knew it hadn’t been a mistake. You wanted to be with him.

“Hmm, but there is still some sort of anniversary to be celebrated tonight then,” you say, leaning over the counter. “I’m sure I could prepare something for that.”

His ears and neck flush, and Yoongi has the delicacy of not pointing it out this time.

“That’s not— That’s not what I’m talking about! Today is the white day.”

You raise an eyebrow.

“That’s when boys are supposed to give chocolates back to the girls they like,” Jin elaborates.

“But I didn’t give you chocolates,” you say.

“No, but you’re still the one who— Yoongi, I swear to God— You know. You’re the one who took the first step.”

Despite his recent outburst, it’s obvious that he feels embarrassed and vulnerable in that moment. You’d kind of gathered that he really regretted not asking you out before Sungho had, but you had never thought that it was actually an issue.

“I’m really happy I did,” you tell him quietly. He’s not fond of PDA, but you still allow your fingers to brush against his. That feels discreet enough.

“I know,” he says, and there’s so much love in his eyes when he looks at you that it’s a real miracle that you don’t melt into a puddle right then and there. “But I still—” He sighs. “You’re really ruining my plans. This was meant to go over smoothly.”

“Sorry,” you apologize with a wide grin while he picks something up from behind the counter.

“There,” he mumbles, handing you the box.

You open it, genuinely curious. You feel the eyes of everyone else in the shop — Yoongi, Namjoon, Jungkook and, of course, Jin — on you, and you want to tell most of them off, but you suppose that since this is where most of your relationship development happened, they’re kind of part of the story too.

The box is filled with chocolates shaped like roses.

“I know it’s not much,” Jin is quick to say, “but I just wanted to—”

“Jin?” you interrupt him.

“Y-yeah?”

“I’m going to kiss you.”

His eyes go wide, and then he sighs, but he can’t force away the smile that’s forcefully making its way on his lips.

“Well, if you absolutely have to—”

But he doesn’t protest when you pull him over the counter to kiss him, hands gently closing over your shoulders. He even brings you back for a second, even briefer kiss, and there’s something fierce in his eyes then. He superbly ignores the cheers that come from your friends in the room.

“I have to warn you, you’re never getting rid of me now,” he says, and it’s light-hearted, but you know there’s a lot of truth behind those words.

“Good,” you simply reply. “I wouldn’t want that for the world.”

He looks like he wants to add something to that, but he chokes on the words, and he falls quiet instead. It’s just as good, really.

There are some things you don’t need words for.

Some things that can be expressed just as easily with a box full of rose-shaped chocolates.

[muscleformuscle]

Corruption

Christmas time was Mason's favorite time of the year. Not for the consumist excesses of it, nor the religious background especially, but because he loved helping the poor and showing empathy to everyone. Christmas was the time in which other people were inclined to help as well, making him even happier than during the rest of the year. What he didn't particularly care about was himself: He gave most of his money to others, his body was thin and somewhat undernourished, and he didn't have any romantic relationship with anyone else that was worth mentioning. But he was ok with all of that.

But there were forces out there who weren't ok with it. Such a noble person like Mason was like looking at the sun for hours to them. And so one of them took matters into his own hand, corrupting a human being was after all their specialty.

Mason was baking for the local homeless shelter and was looking away for a moment as the entity spread a thin, silvery liquid over the cookies and brownies he was preparing, before vanishing again. The liquid soaked into them in an instant, with no one the wiser. Mason turned around again and sniffed. He had done a great job baking these! he thought. Perhaps he should try one out before giving them to the others.

He was flabbergasted for a moment, he rarely had such egoistical thoughts. But then he rationalized that he had to make sure that what he baked was actually good and took one brownie. It was delicious! He barely noticed that his body began to feel warmer and parts that he usually neglected started to ask for attention.

Instead he suddenly felt like he deserved another. Maybe one of the cookies next?

He began to stuff himself with the goods, delighting in how awesome they tasted, his mind being warped to fit the entities corruption: Selfish, dominant, without that darn empathy for everyone.

His body started to convulse, bones breaking and realigning, growing him from an already great 1.86 m to a fantastic 2.1 m in height. Muscles began to explosively erupt on his small frame, broadening it to insane degrees, his pecs pushing outwards, his nipples getting more sensitive. All he could do was continue eating and moaning as he began to play with them with his free hand, which was soon thickening and becoming attached to giant biceps and triceps the likes of which even bodybuilders would be jealous of.

These moans started to drop considerably, from his usual slightly squeaky and meek voice into a powerful, sensual and booming one seemingly made to make everyone in his surroundings cum instantly upon hearing it. His neck widened while his shoulders seemed to get stuffed with multiple kilograms of muscle mass. His face, formerly nondescript became more handsome by the second, his lips getting bigger, his jaw wider, his nose broader, until there was nothing left even looking like the old Jason except for his christmas-themed hat.

His legs, abs and back followed suit, it was as if someone was pumping pure mass into them, creating maybe the biggest, most muscular body on the planet. Finally Mason had eaten it all, feeling weird, hot and extremely horny all at the same time. His mind was still a mess, his old character fighting the corruption, but it was a losing battle. His new alpha personality was overpowering him with all the new sensual stimulation his body suddenly generated. He felt heavy and strong and confident like never before and it was intoxicating.

And then he felt something stir in his underwear. With a loud ripping sound his equally explosively growing giant cock was escaping its confinement, now at least as big as his former forearm, but much thicker, and fed by two giant melon-sized balls that were already churning out record amounts of cum and testosterone. He needed to cum, badly, more intensely than ever before, but somehow he knew that if he did that now, it would be over, he would be fully corrupted into this hot alpha douchebag who would think of nothing but his next fuck. No, he was stronger than the corruption! And with all the willpower he had left he achieved a synthesis of his personality and the new Mason was born.

Still empathic, still a philanthropist, but also dominant and hungry for the next hole to pump his enormous loads into.

The entity had hoped that maybe they could corrupt more than Mason, and so gave his new cum the effects of the same liquid it had used to corrupt him. Somehow the new Mason was aware of that fact. He grinned and pointed his monstrous tool towards the second plate of baking goods he had previously prepared. What else would help the poor homeless guys best, but becoming giant muscle bulls like him? he thought as he roared and what felt like a litre of cum drenched the tasty looking brownies and cookies and was immediately absorbed...

[smoochkooks]

—christmas cream(pie) ; (m.)

⟶ pairing: jeon jungkook/reader

⟶ genre: established relationship, smut, fluff

⟶ word count: 3.6k

⟶ summary:  a day before christmas dinner with your boyfriend's parents, you discover another alternative way to use the chocolate cream you’re making. jungkook is more than willing to indulge in your little fantasy.

⟶ warnings: explicit sexual content, food play, finger-sucking, spit kink, dirty talk, oral (f) receiving, slight choking but nothing too extreme, unprotected sex, creampie, jungkook being the sweetest boyfriend on the earth and your emotional support, tooth-rooting domestic fluff:(

a/n: hi!! this is my little christmas present for you. hope you enjoy what my brain came up with yesterday<3 ps. i also dont know what kind of fic title this is.

Christmas secure a top spot on your own self-made list of holidays. You enjoy practically every aspect of it. The food, decorating your house, songs, movies, the whole magical aura of warmth and love – you name it.

But this year though, you're fiddled with anxiety because it's the first time you're going to celebrate with your boyfriend Jungkook and his parents.  

You've been dating for two lovely years, living in a shared apartment for almost six months but somehow you've never spent any major holiday together. Until now, it actually felt like a step bigger than moving in. Choosing to be with your families and celebrate separately was never an issue for both of you.

And foolishly, you thought this year would be no like the other, that you'll kiss your sweet boyfriend goodbye before Christmas Eve and reunite after the whole shenanigans would end. But to your surprise, Jungkook had different plans for you.  

“Y-your parents did what?”  

“They invited us for a Christmas dinner.” he repeated calmy, completely unfazed by the pure shock marring your features.

He was sprawled on the couch, hair messy and falling onto his forehead because he had been avoiding barbershops lately (it wasn’t like you minded it–if anything, it made him look even sexier). He was wearing your favorite pair of sweats that had a soy sauce stain on the left knee and a simple black t-shirt, yet for you he looked like an angel sent from the above and devil reincarnated at the same time. So deliciously domestic and soft it almost made you wanna jump him right here and there, if it wasn't for the more nagging matters that you had yet to discuss with him.  

“But,” you stuttered, brain too consumed by nerves to help you formulate coherent sentences. “I was visiting your parents in Busan over summer.”  

“Yeah, but it's been a while and they really want to see you again,” he said, raising from his spot. He came up to you, his tall, lean body towering over your form. The moment you saw his sparkly doe eyes boring holes into yours, you knew you were approximately twenty seconds from giving in. “Pretty please.” he tried again, palms cupping your flushed cheeks until you had no choice but to agree.  

“Okay.”  

Jungkook grinned in response and leaned to press a chaste kiss onto your lips. “Love you, baby.” He tasted like spicy noodles and soda but you ignored it, mustering a small smile.  

“Love you too.” you said, always meaning those three little words because truly, you could never resist Jeon Jungkook and his charms. He had you wrapped around his finger more than you'd ever admit and you'd simply do anything to make him happy, even if that meant stressing over a Christmas dinner with his parents.  

“They really like you, ___. You have nothing to worry about.” Jungkook murmured upon kissing your nose, and then forehead. “My mom is already so excited to see you. She said she would make an apple pie because you once mentioned you liked it.”

You leaned into his touch, slightly less angry you had been surprised with a revelation like that but at the same time still apprehensive and filled with nerves. “You aren't making this easier, you know?” you asked.  

Jungkook sent you an apologetic smile. “You're amazing, baby. You don't need to convince my parents again that you're the right person for me,” he said, hands finding purchase on your waist and pulling you closer to him. “All you have to do is smile and compliment my mom's cooking skills. And maybe ask dad about fishing. You know he's been crazy about it lately.”

Easier said than done, you thought to yourself. Jungkook was a natural when it came to bewitching people. Your parents adored him because he knew all the right words to make them fall for his charms. He didn’t have to try hard or pretend to be someone else in order to be accepted as their daughter’s partner.  

You, on the other hand, were on a different side of the spectrum. No matter how many times Jungkook reassured you of your worth, you still had a lot of insecurities to deal with. That was just who you were as a person. Maybe it was why you clicked so well together. You needed someone to be your second Sun.

“You got his.” With a final kiss onto the crown of your head, Jungkook left you standing in the middle of the living room, and all you could think about was a fricking apple pie and finding new ways to impress your boyfriend's parents. 

Hence way you're currently in the kitchen, blender in your right hand as you mix the ingredients for the most extra chocolate cake you've ever made, determination written all over your features like you’re competing in the final Bake Off episode.

And why is that? Because your brain couldn't let you sleep peacefully at night if you didn't decide to bake your own cake for Jungkook's mother. It started innocently, slowly getting information out of your boyfriend about his parents' favorite food. Of course, you had to be clever about it, so he wouldn't suspect anything too early into the game. That's why after asking a round of rather specific questions you lured him into a blowjob because you know he usually loses his goddman mind after a good dick sucking.  

Content with your plan, you're now a day before the Christmas dinner, Jungkook's mother's beloved cake almost ready to be put into the oven.

“Babe, I'm home!” you hear Jungkook calling from the corridor. You sent him to do some (un)necessary grocery shopping so you could have a time for yourself to prepare the cake without him looking over your shoulder and analyzing your every move. You really hate when people do that because you’re more likely to screw something when you’re being watched.

“Let me taste it then,” he says, grabby hands reaching for the bowl but you quickly swat them away.  

“I'm here!” you shout back, unplugging the blender once you're satisfied with your chocolate cream.  

“What is the smell?” Jungkook asks, entering the kitchen. “Oh,” he quips, placing grocery bags on the floor. “You made this?”  

“Mhmm,” you hum, dipping a finger into the bowl and then putting it into your mouth. It tastes good, not too sweet but at the same time it still has a strong chocolate flavor. Perfect.

“Wash your hands first.”  

“Wait,” You can almost hear the gears shifting in his brain. His grip on your waist tightens as you desperately try to stifle the laugh babbling in your throat. “This is my mom's favorite cake.” 

Jungkook dramatically salutes you, even though you see him smirking under his breath. Once his hands are all clean and dry, you feel his arms encircling your body from the back. “Is this for me?” he murmurs, obviously referring to the cake.

“Nope. It's for tomorrow's Christmas dinner.” 

That’s why you break into a smile, pulling him for a quick peck. “You can taste my cream now.” you say.  

“Great observation.”

“And you said you were making it for the Christmas dinner,” Jungkook continues, “Which means you did this purposely.” he finishes, twirling your body so you're now facing him.  

“You said she would make me an apple pie so I thought I could reciprocate the kindness and do the same,” An innocent smile tugs at your lips. “Besides, the more food the better.” 

Jungkook snorts. “So here's why you were asking me all those weird questions lately.”

Your eyes widen. “You paid attention to that?”

“Babe, I might be a simple man who enjoys seeing his girlfriend sucking his dick but it doesn't mean I don't listen to you,” he says, sounding slightly offended but you know that deep down he's amused by the whole situation. “You didn't have to do that, you know?”  

You let out a long sigh. “I know but... I just felt so weird. Your parents are so happy to see us, they are doing all those preparations and I couldn't stop thinking about doing something to impress them in return,” you murmur. “So they wouldn't think it preparing a whole celebratory dinner for their son and his girlfriend was actually pointless.” you add in a smaller voice, dropping your head down.   

“Baby,” Jungkook coos, fingers grasping your chin so you could look him in the eye again. “You're an amazing person. My parents know that too. You don't have to prove them your worth. Ever.”  

His words make you relax visibly. You don’t know what you would do if you didn’t have Jungkook by your side. He’s just being himself, showing you his extremely caring side as he usually does when you feel down but somehow you’re more thankful for this now.

You dip your index finger into the cream. Then, making sure his eyes are trained on your face, you bring your finger up and envelop with your lips, purposely sucking on it obscenely. “Mmm,” you nothing but moan. “It’s really good.”

“That sounded awfully sexual.”  

“No, it did not! You're just perverted.” 

“But you love me anyway, don't you?” 

You snort at his stupid remark. Suddenly, a not-so-innocent idea pops in your mind and you wonder who’s actually the one with more inappropriate thoughts running through their head. Jungkook might enjoy teasing you on daily basis, but a girl can have her fun too, right?  

Jungkook's eyes darken seeing your little stunt you’ve decided to pull today. He bites the inside of his cheek, before saying,”’I know what game you’re playing.”  

“I’m not doing anything.” you respond, feigning innocence. Before you can dive for more cream, Jungkook grabs your wrist and stops you.  

Bingo.  

When he takes his two fingers and plunges them into the cream, you know exactly what’s coming next, the adrenaline and excitement pumping through your veins. He brings his fingers up towards your face and you have to fight an urge to stay still, waiting for his instructions like the good girl you obviously are. “Open up, baby.”  

You oblige immediately, mouth falling open and tongue out. He pushes his fingers inside, sweet, chocolate cream filling your taste buds. “Suck.” he says simply, eyes fixated on your lips. You do it without a second thought, swirling your tongue around his digits and making sure to lick every last drop of the substance.  

When he decides he can't take it anymore, he pulls his fingers out of your mouth and before you can even blink, he crashes his lips onto yours; fast, messy and unforgiving, thrusting his tongue inside to play with yours. His motives are clear: you aren’t leaving the kitchen without getting properly fucked.  

“So sweet,” he murmurs against your lips, the hand around your waist pulling you flush against him. “My cute girlfriend thought she could tease me and get away with it.”  

He bites onto your lower lip as to prove his point and you whimper. “It’s not like that,” you manage to say, grinding yourself against the evident bulge in his pants. “I didn’t expect to get away with it.”  

Jungkook's hands travel to the backs of your thighs and he lifts you up effortlessly, placing you on the counter. You’re sure there are traces of flour still on it but you couldn’t care less right now, not when a pair of hands roughly nudges your legs apart so he could stand in between them.

“So you did it purposely,” Jungkook leaves your mouth in favor of tracing kisses down your neck. Careful not to marry your skin with hickeys because you would beat the shit out of him if he did bruise your neck a day before the dinner with his parents. “Naughty girl.” He punctuates his statement with a bite to your earlobe, his next words being whispered directly into your ear. “What should I do with you, then?”  

You whimper, your thighs pressing together just hearing the tone of his voice. You lace your fingers through the locks at the back of his hair and place a kiss against his lips. “Fuck me?” you ask in a saccharine-sweet tone.  

He chuckles in response, fingers grasping your t-shirt and pulling it off you, revealing your bare chest to his hungry eyes. He wastes no time and latches his mouth onto a nipple but as soon as his tongue meets your hardened bud, he retreats. Confused, you watch as he reaches for the bowl once again and dips his fingers into the cream. He then smears it all over your nipples, a proud smirk caught on his lips when he leans back to admire his art work.  

“Kook,” you mewl, too pathetically for your liking and you know how much it’ll stroke his ego. “Please, touch me.” you plea, one of your hands reaching to pull him closer to you.

“Yeah?” His chuckle is almost sinister. “Look at you, all dirty and begging me so nicely. Not that smart with your mouth now, are you?”  

All you manage is a nod and meek “Please,” that quickly morphs into a drawn out moan when he finally dips his head to suck your nipple into his hot mouth. You never could have guessed that the idea of food play would be so arousing to you but here you are, pussy clenching around nothing when your sweet boyfriend licks chocolate cream off your boobs.

When he’s done and satisfied with the result, he grabs your sweatpants and pulls them down along with your underwear in one go, your bare ass meeting with the cold marble of your kitchen counter. Jungkook wastes no time and spreads your legs apart, not giving you a second to shy away from his burning gaze before he dives in to lick a stripe up your slit.  

You cry out in pleasure when his tongue finds your clit and gives it a sharp suck, his hands grabbing your ankles and bending your knees so he could have a full access to your glistening core. You’re absolutely drenched, dripping down your thighs and making a mess on Jungkook's face but he doesn’t mind it a bit, eating you out like a champ you know he is.  

“So wet,” he rasps against your cunt. “Messy girl.”

To make matters worse (or better) he takes his sweet time and lets a glob of his spit mix with your arousal because Jungkook, much like you, enjoys giving a head more than anything in the world and makes it his priority to see you lose it on his tongue. You’re positive you will come like this if he keeps continuing abusing your clit just right. He knows your pussy like the back of his hand. Knows what makes you keen, how to make you eyes roll to the back of your head. It fuels his ego to see you like this; helpless and utterly devoted to the pleasure and you don’t even mind when he brags about it later. How could you if you benefit so much from it?  

Suddenly, he grunts into your cunt and your brows furrow because it’s not the sound you’re used to hearing during sex. You look down to check what’s wrong but he’s already up and in level with your eyes, a sheepish smile adoring his features.  

“Neck cramp,” he explains, his palm massaging the back of his neck. “Eating pussy is easier on the bed.” You can’t help but giggle, replacing his hand with yours and providing him a temporary relief. “I’m sorry. Were you close?” he asks. 

There he is. Your sweet, caring boyfriend who never forgets to ask for consent before railing you into the mattress and always putting your pleasure before his own.  

“Mhmm,” you hum, grasping his t-shirt and lifting it off his body. It should be considered a sin to look like this, you think to yourself. “But I want to come on your cock instead.”  

Jungkook grins, quickly pulling down his pants and underwear. His cock slaps against his stomach, pride swelling in your chest because you know you can make him this hard without your touch. “How do you want it?” he asks, guaranteeing himself a moment of relief when he gives his cock a few pumps, spreading precum all over his length.

“Like that,” you answer, gesturing at your current position on the counter. “Wanna see you.”  

“Anything for my pretty girl.”  

If you weren't already red, you would have blushed at his cute words. The sentiment doesn’t last long though, your face twisting in ecstasy when he lines himself up with your entrance and starts pushing inside, the stretch deliciously burning. “Oh my god, Kook,” you whimper, hand clutching onto his biceps for support. “So big. You feel so good.” He groans, slithering himself deeper. His forehead rests onto yours, few ragged breaths before you murmur, “You can move.”

He sets a punishing pace from the beginning, fucking you hard and fast; wet, slapping noises filling the kitchen. You’re a blubbering mess, moaning incoherently as he splits your pussy open, thrust after thrust. “Yeah, fucking take it,” Jungkook rasps, grabbing your hips even harder, no doubt leaving there marks. “Cream my cock like a good girl.”  

You mewl in response, your eyes focusing on his parted lips. “J-jungkook,” you stutter, head completely deprived of rational thoughts. “Spit in my mouth.” It’s almost a breathless plea on your tongue.  

He curses, his right hand squeezing your cheeks. “Open.” You do it right away, nearly moaning when he purses his lips and spits, eyes almost bulging out of his head when he sees you swallow it greedily. “Dirty fucking girl.” he growls.

“B-but you love it, right?” you whimper, eyes glossy because he's hitting that spot inside your pussy that makes your toes curl. “L-love when I’m like this just for you.”  

“Fuck, yeah I do,” Jungkook says, placing his hand around your throat. He doesn’t apply pressure and simply rests it there, urging you to look directly at him. “I love when my pretty baby becomes a dirty slut for me.” He punctuates his words with a harsh buck of his hips that makes you cry out.

You can't take it anymore. “K-kook,” you whine, grabbing his wrist and urging him to squeeze your throat. “I love you.”  

Despite his hand around your neck and cock abusing your cunt, he breaks into a smile. He leans down to kiss you on your putty lips. You try to keep up with him but there’s no use for that, so you just open your mouth and let him slither his tongue inside. When he pulls away, your lips are wet with saliva. Messy, but you wouldn’t exchange it for anything less. “Love you too, baby.” he groans in a strained voice, dragging his cock fast through your walls.

As if reading your mind, his thumb reaches to rub fast circles on your clit. “’m so close,” you mumble, thighs shaking.

“C'mon, pretty. Wanna see you come around me.” Jungkook murmurs, gone is his dominant aura, it’s now only his gentle voice coaxing you into an earth-shattering orgasm.  

When you come down from your high, you’re swatting his fingers away from your core. Normally you would probably indulge into it more, but oversensitivity seems to be too much to handle for you today. Jungkook thrusts his hips a few more times and follows right after you, groaning your name and spilling himself inside.  

“That was nice.” he comments breathlessly  and you can’t help but chuckle, widing your arms around his neck and pulling him for a well-deserved kiss.  

“I’m too tired to move my legs and somebody needs to finish the cake,” you pout, not an ounce of exaggeration in your statement because that’s utterly true–you’re always too spent after a round of fucking with Jungkook to even go to the bathroom on your own. He gladly carries you there in his arms bridal-style every, single time.

“It's okay, sweetheart. I’ll do it.” he says, making you giggle under your breath triumphantly.  

You might be willing to do everything for you boyfriend but if anything, you’re equal in that department.  

“I’m also pretty sure there’s flour on my ass.”  

Jungkook raises his brow at you. “That I’m not going to clean.”  

“Fine. But next time I'm putting whipped cream on your dick.” you decide.  

When he pulls out of you, his cum spills out of your hole but he's quick to catch the droplets and push them back inside you with his fingers. “You’re a little minx, you know that, right?” he says and then licks his digits clean.  

“You love me anyway.” He grins, leaning to kiss you but he stops mid-way. “What is it?” you ask, raising your brows.

“Since I came inside you, we can call it a creampie, right?”  

Still slightly dazed after sex, you’re not quick enough to realise what he implies before it’s too late. “I mean yes but–oh my god. No, no, no! Stop!”  

“Cream-pie!”  

“I hate you!”  

“And I love you too.”  

After all, you were worrying about the dinner too much, as always.  

Everybody complimented your cake. Jungkook's mother was delighted. His father talked about fishing for almost an hour.

But your sweet boyfriend's smirking face as he ate the cake was telling you were in for a long night of sinning in your bed as soon as you went back home.  

And he obviously didn’t disappoint.  

[therealvinelle]

Hi, your metas are super interesting, and even if I really enjoy fanon twilight, it's really cool to read opinions based only on canon too!

So my question is about the sexual orientation of the Cullens, do you think they all straight?

For example i saw someone saying that Edward maybe was demisexual and it left me thinking, so i just wanted to know your opinions about it :)

In short, no.

In alphabetical order:

Alice is with a man, but without getting into the mess that is Alice/Jasper here, I don’t think theirs is a particularly physical relationship. I mean, if Alice wanted to get laid, she could just decide to fuck Jasper, enjoy the vision, and bam. Itch scratched. Thanks, Jazz. Alright, I’ll be serious. Alice and Jasper are with each other because the other represents salvation, not so much because of a personal or physical attraction but because of mysticism. So to me that doesn’t really say much about Alice’s preference. All the same I can’t see Alice having a particular preference, she’s too... Alice. Although it is easier to picture her with women. She is also the second half of the Alice/Bella homoerotic extravaganza, which makes heterosexual Alice even more farfetched to me. So, bisexual or lesbian Alice.

Bella shows clear attraction to women as well as men. She’s attracted to Rosalie, Alice, Edward, and Carlisle. I’ll just give you guys quotes: Of the three boys, one was big — muscled like a serious weight lifter, with dark, curly hair. Another was taller, leaner, but still muscular, and honey blond. The last was lanky, less bulky, with untidy, bronze-colored hair. He was more boyish than the others, who looked like they could be in college, or even teachers here rather than students. The girls were opposites. The tall one was statuesque. She had a beautiful figure, the kind you saw on the cover of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, the kind that made every girl around her take a hit on her self-esteem just by being in the same room. Her hair was golden, gently waving to the middle of her back. The short girl was pixielike, thin in the extreme, with small features. Her hair was a deep black, cropped short and pointing in every direction. (Twilight, page 9) This is the Cullens’ introduction. I won’t spend much time on it, just notice the difference between Rosalie and the others. Rosalie is highlighted in a way Alice is not, and Edward is at first glance only the boyish one of the guys. Rosalie was the Cullen whose beauty immediately stood out to Bella. It was hard to decide who was the most beautiful — maybe the perfect blond girl, or the bronze-haired boy. (sic.) Bella has realized by now that Edward’s a grade A hottie, but she’s still torn between him and Rosalie. Bella then gets to know Alice, and they become friends who take showers together(!). Rosalie may be the most attractive Cullen woman, but Alice is the one Bella gets emotionally close to. We get this in New Moon:  UNNATURALLY STILL AND WHITE, WITH LARGE BLACK EYES intent on my face, my visitor waited perfectly motionless in the center of the halt, beautiful beyond imagining.  (...) I locked my arms around her, gasping to inhale as much of the scent of her skin as possible. It wasn't like anything else—not floral or spice, citrus or musk. No perfume in the world could compare. My memory hadn't done it justice. (New Moon, page 191) Bella never thought she’d never see any of the Cullens again, so for her to be hysterical and ecstatic upon seeing her second favorite is not by itself damning. I’m sure she’d be ecstatic to see Emmett too. It’s that fact that she’d missed Alice’s scent that’s interesting. The scent of her skin was something Bella was aware of before they parted. And while it may be tempting to say “it’s because they’re vampires, Bella’s admiring them like she would a work of art!”, Bella never dwells on Esme, Jasper, or Emmett in this way. Jasper and Emmett especially are not admired beyond the introduction of their characters. We never hear about what any of them smell like, nor does Bella remark upon their beauty after waking up a vampire. Carlisle and Edward, by comparison, are men she keeps noticing. Bella finds Carlisle blindingly beautiful when she first sees him as a vampire, and there’s this from New Moon: Though it erased the sting, it reminded me of the gash, and I watched Carlisle's face carefully to distract me from what his hands were doing. His hair gleamed gold in the bright light as he bent over my arm. (New Moon, page 18) There’s thinking someone is pretty, and then there’s gazing lovingly upon their face instead of pain killers. Bella is bisexual.

Carlisle moved in with a very gay man, had a close relationship with him, lived with him for the sake of his company for decades, and only left because of dietary differences. We don’t know for sure whether they actually had an affair or not, but the fact remains that of all the Cullens, Carlisle is the one who is implied to have had a homosexual relationship in canon. He loses his straight card based on that alone. Also gonna link this clip, because I’m Mac listening to Edward talk about how young Carlisle lived with this sexy Mycenaean Greek for a few decades when he was young. Aro is all the santas. Carlisle is bisexual.

Edward... oh boy. His brain is supposedly seventeen, and yet this very interesting thing happens in his relationship with Bella where he never notices her body. Not ever. By body I mean curves. Edward notices Bella’s skin, her frailty, her humanity. He praises her blushes, her doe-like eyes, her warmth, her softness, her swan-like neck, her delicious scent. The feminine aesthetic. He does not once notice her tits. The only tits he is on record noticing belong to Siobhan, and it’s because she has an impossible to ignore rack: She was profoundly female in shape—aggressively, forcefully female. (Midnight Sun, chapter Probability) It’s one thing for him to be old-fashioned and too quintessentially Edward to even think the word “boob”, but in 700+ pages of Midnight Sun there’s just this absence of this seventeen-year-old noticing her curves. More damningly, when seeing Alice’s vision of vampire!Bella, Edward is horrified at the sight of his love cold and hard. He doesn’t describe vampire!Bella by any of the positives, like “flawless”. Edward is attracted to the human, not the woman. What that means for his sexuality... well, I’m going to go ahead and point out that he is very weird about Carlisle, and it’s damning that the personality he projects onto Bella is so similar to Carlisle. I hesitate to apply a label here, but in my own, personal, headcanon we’re veering towards homosexual. Deeeeeeply closeted homosexual.

Emmett is straight. Straightest guy ever to straight.

Esme is pretty clearly taken with Carlisle. Though if she were to feel attracted towards another woman, I imagine she’d have no idea what to make of that, if she even recognized it for what it was. She’s from a very different time and still living in that time, and she continues to be very sheltered. Still, as per my personal headcanon, I see her as straight.

Jasper, who knows. Though if he’s into guys, he has probably gone for it in the past. I suppose I should write a meta on vampires and sexual norms in general, but in short I don’t think they all live monogamously like the Cullens. STDs and pregnancies are unheard of, as is social ostracizing. Vampires are hedonistic, Twilight vampires more so than any other. Which in turn means I don’t think Maria and Jasper were monogamous. A couple, sure, but I don’t think Maria would say “oh noes, I can’t, I’m with Jasper!” if someone she was attracted to made an overture, and same goes for Jasper. So, if Jasper was into guys, then sure. I can see Jasper/Peter happening, or even Charlotte/Jasper/Peter. Jasper is certainly into women, with the possibility of guys as well. And if so, then it’s probably happened.

Rosalie I’m shocked is with a guy in the first place, everything about her screams lesbian. However, she’s clearly into Emmett, so apparently she’s bisexual.

(I’m not including Renesmée in this, since she’s three months old by the time the series conclude.)

This all being said, several of these people are from very different times and wouldn’t have the same concepts of sexuality internalized as we do, so how they’d identify is a very different matter.

[arty-shadow-morningstar]

A Failed Betrothal (Part 3)

There were a lack of stuff to read so I posted this instead.

[Masterlist]

(Part 1)(Part 2)

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PART 3

The next day was weird to say the least for everyone but for Marinette, it was another can of worms that she wished she didn’t open. For one thing, Chat Noir’s feelings obsession for Ladybug switched from one black-haired girl to another which unfortunately was Ladybug’s civilian form. Which meant Marinette had to deal with Adrien’s Chat-Noir-level flirting and bad pick-up lines.

Perfect, just perfect.

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Everyone thought that a declaration speech of ‘being soulmates and the only one for him’ in front of the whole class from the ‘love of your life’ would warrant a ‘blushing to death and stammering’ or ‘outright fainting’. Not a facepalm, a groan, “Why me?” and a “I am sorry but NO. I don’t feel the same way about you”. Marinette vaguely wondered if there was some kind of rule for interesting events and confrontations to happen during lunch break while the class waits for Mme Bustier to start the lessons.

Marinette went to sit in her seat next to Chloe in the back row where she and her friends had been exiled to. The class was in stunned silence and questioning about whether or not they had fallen into an alternate universe or dreaming. Nathaniel and Alix tried to hide their snickers. Chloe just started outright laughing, turning very red in the face.

Marinette felt a nudge from Plagg in her bag. Looking down, she saw them holding up her phone to show Lila’s gaping face of horror with a wicked smug grin on their face. She looked through the photos to see everyone’s faces of confusion and shock at her rejection. Eyes wide and jaws dropped on the ground. Different shots of her classmates in the same state. She smirked and showed them to Chloe who calmed down enough, letting out the occasional giggles and took the phone with glee.

“Thank you, Plagg. Here you go.” she whispered, giving them a camembert macaron.(Tom had started experimenting with camembert in his recipes. Plagg is his first taste tester for all of them, making Tom one of Plagg’s favourite people.)

Adrien didn’t take the rejection very well.

“But we are meant to be. You are a designer and I am a model. Our partnership is the one to be envied by many for the ages.”

“And by that logic,” The designer turned to her main model for her MDC website, “Chloe, my love, will you be my one and only? For our love shines so bright ,paralleled only by a thousand suns.” Using the same voice Plagg does when they go on one of their love odes about camembert before losing her straight face and giggling.(Plagg doesn’t know whether to be offended or amused.)

Setting Chloe’s laughter off again. “Mariiiii,...stop….I can’t..*gasps*....I can’t…”

Nathaniel and Alix, finally lost control and joined Chloe in death by laughter. Adrien was flustered, turning red in the face either from anger, embarrassment or both.

“But Chloe isn’t a model.”

Marinette decided to put a stop to this, just on the off chance that Gabriel finally decides to akumatized his own son. She recomposed herself.

“She is the main model for my website and we have a partnership. You, however, work for your father. So does Miss Rossi. Does that sound like the partnership to be envied by many for the ages? Hmmm, Agreste? Anyways, like I said before, I have no interest in dating you.”

“Why not? We are friends and sometimes, friends like each other enough to date each other.” Adrien angrily asked.

“Because-”

“Because, Adrikins,” Chloe cuts in, “friends having to date because one of them is interested in something more makes no sense and is fucked-up. Marinette doesn’t owe you anything. Besides, she already has a long distance boyfriend who lives in America.”

“WHAT!?” Adrien shouted.

“What?!” The class had snapped out of their stupor. Since when had Marinette gotten over Adrien and had a boyfriend?

“What?” Marinette looked at Chloe with wide-eyes. Last she checked she was still single so what the hell was Chloe playing at. For Kwami’s sake, she hadn’t been on a date since the one with Luka which went awkwardly before they agreed that they think of each other as siblings and it will be best to stay that way.

Chloe gave her a look that said ‘I will explain later.’

“Oh yes, they met online a few months ago and now they are all lovey-dovey together. It’s just so ridiculous, so utterly ridiculous how disgustingly in love they are. They have video call dates at least once a week and somehow make it work despite the time differences. He once came all the way to Paris just to see her. He brought her some special flowers that apparently meant-”

Marinette slapped her hand over Chloe’s mouth. “Well, Chloe, Queenie, as much as I love you as my friend, you can stop gushing about my love life now. Because class is about to start.”

She said through gritted teeth as Mme Bustier finished taking her sweet time and walked in. Sadly, Alya wasn’t done with the conversation ,“Wait a minute, since when did Chloe and you become close enough that she is modeling for you? And a boyfriend? Why didn’t you tell me, Girl? I thought we were friends. What about Adrien, he just confessed to you and you had been crushing on him for so long” Many girls gasped, angry that Alya broke the unspoken girl code.

“You have a crush on me?” Adrien looked hopeful. Like a lost kitten that had been stuck in the rain, was let into someone’s home.

“I had a crush on you,” Marinette corrected him, emphasising on the past tense, “and Alya had no business of sharing that information to the entire world despite us not being friends anymore.” She glared at the journalist who at least looked ashamed.

“You wanted to date Kagami so I moved on.”

One of the reasons anyway. I found out that you were my partner who had no concept of boundaries. You are a coward who only wants to maintain the class peace at the price of my mental health, she thought.

“Instead of continuing to pursue you.” She hoped the ever dense and oblivious model would get the hint she gave him. Tikki ,just this once, Grant me that ladybug luck.

“And Mme Bustier, it is time to start the lessons, don’t you think? Instead of focusing on the class drama to gossip about later on.” Marinette glared at the teacher, reminding her to do her job.

“Oh. Right.” Mme Bustier tried to regain her ‘perfect teacher’ image after getting embarrassed at being caught, “Right. Class, turn to page-”

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As soon as the bell rang for the end of school, Marinette dragged Chloe all the way to her room. Alix and Nathaniel followed them because as far as they know, Marinette had no boyfriends and they were as curious to find out what scheme Chloe had cooked up this time. They were as complicated and crazy as Ladybug’s. No offense, Marinette.

“Okay, Queenie, you have to explain why I now have a devoted American boyfriend who I am so in love with.” Marinette crossed her arms with a frown aimed at Chloe. The kwamis got out of their respective hiding places and went to the tray of food set out for them.

The trapdoor to her room opened, revealing the rest of their friend group before Chloe said anything.

“Did we miss anything?” Kagami asked as Longg and Sass joined the other kwamis.

“Juleka said something about an American boyfriend and how he sounds so romantic. Does that have to do anything with the text Alix sent us to come here?” Luka added.

“To recap, Adrien made a love confession to Marinette,” Alix started, biting into some of the delicious pastries the Dupain-Chengs gave them, ”in front of the entire class after an entire day of flirting and bad pick-up lines.”

“Wow, even after having his memories erased of being Chat Noir, he is still after Ladybug.” Luka chuckled, with the others joining in.

Marinette whined, “It was easier when he was Chat Noir. But now as Adrien Agreste, teen heartthrob, it is going to be much more difficult to get into his thick head that I don’t see him that way and it is going to get harder, now that Alya outed my old crush to him.”

“Oof. Sucks to be you.”

“So, our Mari-bug rejected him. He threw a tantrum and sulked, so like Chat Noir, how did we not notice?,” Alix continued, “After demanding reasons why they can’t date, Chloe gave Marinette an American boyfriend who she was in a long-distance relationship with. Speaking of, why did you do that?”

“I have known Adrik- Adrien since we were in diapers and I know how that mangy cat works. He grew up on Disney and had all those fairytales stuffed into his head. If you had told him that you were just not interested in dating at the moment, it won’t work because he will try his hardest to ‘woo’ you, because he still has a chance. He won’t push his luck as much if you were off the market.” Chloe explained.

“I am sure that, judging by the fact that Chat Noir still tries to date Ladybug despite her saying she is in love with someone, Adrien might try to get more proof of this boyfriend to make sure Marinette is just not pretending to have one.” Kagami pointed out.

“Ahh, but luckily I have a back-up plan. I have a friend, Tim Drake. We met at a few galas when we were younger and kept in touch. He also owes me a favor.”

“I hope this Tim Drake is cute.”

“He is and he’s older than you by two years and,” Chloe typed something on her phone, “A fellow caffeine addict so you can bond over that. Here’s a picture of him and his brother.”

On her phone were two extremely attractive and fit young men dressed in expensive suits at what looked like a gala, the older one had a charming polite smile with bright blue eyes, looking somewhat interested at what someone off-screen was saying despite looking like he will fall over any moment. His brother, however, looked like he would rather be anywhere but where he was. He was tanned and had green eyes that promised murder for daring to even breathe in his direction. Marinette noticed that he looked a little familiar but she can’t place why.

“Tim is the one that looks like he hasn’t slept in days and that’s his brother Damian next to him.”

“Wait a minute. That’s Tim Drake and Damian Wayne. The sons of Bruce Wayne, the billionaire co-CEO of Wayne Industries, which Tim Drake is also co-CEO of.” Nathaniel said with wide eyes and looked at Chloe, “You are using your favor to give our Mari here a fake boyfriend.”

“Of course, only the best for our Mari-bug.”

“Chloe, no, he is probably busy as he is with running the company. No need to get him involved in petty teenage drama.” No matter how much she doesn’t want to date Adrien, bothering a busy guy to be her fake boyfriend is not worth it in Marinette’s opinion. Which, of course, gets overruled by the overprotectiveness of her friends.

“I, for one, think this is one of Chloe’s better plans.” Kagami commented, the others agreeing with her. Traitors.

“Hey!” Chloe exclaimed, an offended look on her face, “Anyways, I will call him later.”

“Children, you better go home now before your parents worry.” Sabine’s voice came from below, “Remember we are also going through some drills tonight so try not to be late.” Having a former assassin for a mother is handy when you want to train a team of teenage superheroes.

“Bye, guys. See you later.”

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Just because you have been trained since birth does not excuse you from the drills. You also need to get used to the black cat.” Lady Mǔ lǎohǔ reprimanded her with her arms crossed. When Ladybug started her new team, she was the first permanent member but as the team got bigger, she stepped back to be back-up and mentor for the team.

“Yes, Maman, I know but I am nearly finished with this commission. I will catch up with you later. Promise.” Marinette stretched, looking up from her latest project. Plagg was napping in the little basket she had made for all the kwamis to sleep in which fit all of them and had some extra space for Nooroo and Dusuu after they had been retrieved.

The reason she had Plagg instead of Tikki who was with Alix was because of the new tactic the Miraculous Team came up with. To keep the balance the Ladybug and Black Cat must be active at the same time but with Adrien gone, someone must wield the ring until a new permanent holder is found and it was not a good idea for both of them to be on the same person at the same time. The team decided to rotate using the earrings and ring between them with Marinette using other miraculouses when the others have them. It also had the added bonus of making it harder for Hawkmoth to find out who has them at any given time.

“See you later, 灵儿 (líng er, means intelligence). I will give you 15 minutes but that’s it. Don’t be late.” Sabine sighed and got out the skylight and went towards the safehouse where the Miraculous team met to get training. (It is one of Sabine’s emergency safehouse to use in times of emergency and it had the required space to train 6 teenagers. Chat Noir never came to training, lazy cat.)

Marinette never made it to the warehouse.

Because a few minutes after her mother left, the skylight opened to let in five figures dressed in dark colours to easily blend into the shadows like they were trained to be. Too bad they weren’t as quiet. Marinette immediately summoned a bo-staff to defend herself.

One of them lunged at her and she retaliated by hitting the end of her staff to their middle, coupled with a couple more blows and landed one that knocked them out. The others threw throwing stars which she dodged by jumping back. Which landed her to be trapped by the two assassins, whom she didn’t notice, had moved. She cursed in every language she knew as she struggled against them. It led to no avail as she was badly out-numbered. There was a prick on her head and her world went black.

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Plagg awoke to a loud commotion. Irritated, they poked their head out to see their new temporary kit knocked out, tied up and hauled away. Recognizing the kidnappers as assassins of the League of Shadows, they scowled. Ra’s Al Ghul was going to pay.

Plagg may not act like it much but the black kwami was patient and smart. Smart enough to leave a note with an explanation somewhere visible with the messy aftermath of a fight before trailing the assassins. Oh, Roarr’s tiger was going to be pissed once she found out what happened. Wherever they were taking Marinette, it would be best to have a kwami of destruction to help her escape. The night made Plagg almost invisible and allowed to move unseen. They caught up easily and hid in their holder’s midnight hair. Now, their patience came into play. It was a matter of waiting for the right moment to pounce.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------Tag list: @alysrose-starchild, @buginetye, @lookatthestars1, @blackroserelina, @macncheesemonster, @mochinek0, @myazael, @tonicxworld, @thewitchwhowaited, @t1dwarrior-of-earth, @kissa-chan, @iwantasecretidentity, @theymakeupfairies, @user00000003, @woe-is-me0, @kashlyn, @mochegato,@moonlightstar64 , @greatcatblaze, @moongoddesskiana, @tazanna-blythe. @tonicxworld, @toodaloo-kangaroo, @frieddonutsweets, @local-witch-of-mn, @lady-bee-fechin, @iglowinggemma28, @indecisive-mess-named-me, @k-tea-and-coffee, @jayjayspixiepop

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(Part 4)

[allandoflimbo]

Ashens (Part 23)

Summary: She falls in love with Bucky Barnes from the moment she sees him. Bucky, still in love with a woman from his past, hates Y/N and plans to make her life miserable. To both their dismay, they are assigned together to go undercover into The Capitol for six months. There, they develop a heartbreaking friend with benefits agreement. Dystopian.

Pairing: Bucky x Reader

Chapter Word Count: 6,000

Rating: M for Mature, E for explicit. Enemies to lovers trope, sharing a bed trope, friends with benefits trope, temporarily unrequited love, heavy and angry sex, heavy on the angst, and very strong language.

Full Masterpage |

The world was on fire and no one could save me but you

It's strange what desire will make foolish people do

I never dreamed that I'd meet somebody like you

+ + +

“Don’t question acts of the daring and misinterpret it for insanity. 

Simply thank the courages ones for their heart and strong character, 

for not all are willing to do the good and get destroyed in the worst way, 

not for their own benefit, but for others.”

+ + +

It starts in his fingers, a feeling of hot tingles and sporadic static. He plays with the condensation of the glass, gathering the wetness on the tips of his digits until they are completely numb from the cold. The hot tingles and static dissipate momentarily until they move up his arms and into the cavity where his heart beats.

It beats for the way you waltzed into the room, smelling like sweet strawberries and your shampoo. 

It beats for the way it continues to ache and hope to feel your touch again.

If he’s quiet enough, he could hear it, too. It thumps away in his head, making his temples pulse and his palms sweat. He rubs the palm of his hand against the glass, too.

He looks up, dark eyes meeting your figure in your shared bedroom. Memories of the last few months fill his brain with a strong ripple of serotonin, gaze drifting towards the messy, fresh out the dryer, white sheets. 

He’s feeling too much. It must be why he feels like he’s having a heart attack and why his mouth is insanely dry.

His eyes flicker back up to you again, and for a fraction of a second, he considers saying something.

Bucky doesn’t talk about his feelings much. 

He always held it down. 

He didn’t talk about how he felt when he watched his sister being taken from him, or when either of his parents died and he in result became an orphan. 

Not much has changed since then, he thinks as he keeps looking at you.

You were moving around, unaware of his inner turmoil.

Bucky is fully convinced that no one on this earth detests him more than he detests himself. Not only does he hate himself for the things he’s done, but he can’t stand how he’s unable to talk about his feelings when he knows he needs to. 

He can’t stand how weak he is and how he doesn’t have the guts to face it. 

He’s watching you and he wants to speak up, but he can’t.

He detests himself for always running away from facing his demons. 

This had a lot more to do than you going on a date. This was about everything. He knows there’s so much he needs to tell you.

He just wishes it were a lot simpler. 

He doesn’t dare compare his issues to yours. 

He knows each person has their own demons and their own complications to conquer, so he doesn’t dare compare. But, sometimes, he can’t help but think he is the world’s most horrible person, through no fault of his own.

Why couldn’t he have been stronger? Why couldn’t he have stopped himself from getting brainwashed? Why couldn’t he stop himself from doing all the things that he did?

Nobody knows what it’s like to live with the memories of being forced to train young girls who were taken from their families to fight for the KGB, one of them who later turns out being your friend. Not to mention then also shooting the same girl through the stomach on a bridge in Odessa. Nobody knows what it’s like to be forced to put a bullet between countless of innocent people’s eyes, some being young kids, cutting their innocent lives short. 

Nobody understood what it was like to then be forced to kill someone’s parents, the same person who’s teams then welcomes you decades later into their home as family. 

He experienced all of it without one goodbye to his blood family. 

It doesn’t make sense to him how no one else could see what was going through his mind. Maybe he was messed up to the point where he could no longer be okay ever again. 

Maybe.

But you, you had woken something inside of him that he thought had been long gone. You gave him a longing for communication, to talk about how he was feeling. For the first time in over half a century, because of you, he sees a potential light at the end of the tunnel.

You didn’t treat him like an ex assassin, a veteran, an avenger, or just a friend. You treated him like an imperfect man, taking him into your arms in spite of that.

Unbeknownst to you, you had taken his broken heart in your hands and held it tenderly, like a mother holding a newborn child. You taught it how to be happier, you taught it self forgiveness and preservation. You showed him how to be human, how to feel human desires that for so long he had held down. 

He continues to watch you, swelling hard.

You showed me that it was okay. He thinks to himself.

You were his friend for much longer than you ever knew, and you had no idea.

He needed you more than you realized. 

But you were right. It was time to let you be truly happy. After all, how could someone like him make you happy? You made it clear to him, time after time, that you’re both toxic together. He knows most of it was his fault, but he had changed. Unfortunately so had you and your feelings were just platonic now. It was a mess. Both of you, together, was a mess.

The amount of orgasms you shared don’t even make up for the hurt you’ve put each other through.

That’s what he needs to tell himself as he watches you from the living room, pulling the wool scarf tight around your neck to hide your tattoo, and tightening the lightweight white coat over your shoulders. 

You were wearing a mid length dark red dress and short black heels. You looked great. The small smile your wore complemented you well, too. You looked happy.

Bucky knows he has no right to feel what he does as he watches you go back into the bathroom to touch up your hair.

It was a quarter past seven and the sun was setting. If this was two weeks ago, you two would probably be having sex right about now. 

It had become routine after a certain point. He would probably have you bent over the sink, leaving finger indents on your hips. 

Not anymore. That was over.

Ironically, it wasn’t even want he wanted to do with you as he watched you walk back in. He just wanted to grab you, run his hand through your hair and kiss your forehead. 

The thought of wanting to do such a pure act catches him off guard and he feels a tightness in his chest grow hot. There was the static again in his fingers. 

“I’ll be back in a few hours. We’re just going to have dinner at his place.” You say, slowly stepping into the lit living room.

Bucky’s on the sofa and you watch as his eyes leave yours to obviously linger down your body. 

He clears his throat, reaching for the glass of water on the coffee table.

“Be safe.” He says softly. 

You watch as he takes a sip of the water, his eyes meeting yours again over the glass. There’s a pull inside of you that wants you to ask him if he was okay.

“You’ll be okay here?” 

He gives a curt nod, avoiding your eyes.

“I’ll be fine.” His tone is hard and straight to the point, but something was still clearly off with his behavior. 

He’s been acting weird since a few days ago when you told him about Pietro.

You start playing with the sleeve of your coat, clearly stalling. 

He had to open up to you.

“You have food?” You ask. The edge of Bucky’s lip perks up. You’re thankful for the almost smile.

“Yes.”

You watch him for a few more seconds. The mundane exchange is almost comical.

“I gave you his address, right? Just in case?”

Pretty blue eyes narrow at you curiously. 

“Yes, I have it right there.” Bucky says, pointing over to the dining table below the blue A.I glow.

“Okay.” you say, nodding slowly, “Okay, I’ll see you later then.” 

Bucky doesn’t say anything as you leave. He leans his elbows on each of his knees, bringing both his clasped hands together up to his chin. 

He wants the static to go away. He wants to tell you everything.

He takes in a deep breath and runs a metal hand through his hair.

No, I wasn’t going to be okay without you here. 

He picks up the control off the table and starts season nine of Friends. 

It was going to be a long night.

+ + +

You were nervous. This was your first date. 

Ever.

You also didn’t know what to expect from tonight. Sure, you liked Pietro. He was sweet, a good guy, and he was attractive. You wanted to give it a try. You were done being dragged down by one man that didn’t even love you the way you did. 

It was time to move on.

Three soft knocks is how long it takes for the dark blue door of apartment 8C to swing open.

You’re immediately welcomed by the scent of something delicious and Pietro’s warm and bright smile.

“Hey, you.” He says with a delighted perk in his voice. He swings the door open wider for you to walk through, “Come in.”

Timidly, you walk into his inviting home. 

The walls were beige and he had dark brown wooden floors. They were glossy instead of matte. To the left was a small kitchen with black cabinetry, and in front of you a small living room with a television and a black cotton couch.

You didn’t miss the hallway towards the far left the most likely led to a bedroom and bathroom.

Bedroom.

You feel your throat close up.

You were nervous.

“May I take your coat?” He asks sweetly, stretching out a hand to you. Your eyes go from his hand to his own eyes and his smile is contagious, “I’m just going to hang it in the closet. I won’t let it run away. Promise.”

You chuckle.

You give him a short nod, shrugging off your coat and handing it to him. 

“Thank you.” You say.

There’s a small pause of silence.

“Wow, you look amazing.” He says quietly, taking in your dress. His eyes sparkled as he looked at you and you knew he was being sincere. You smile. “Do you want me to take your scarf, too?”

You instinctually reach for your scarf before pausing, your hands lingering on the fabric a bit longer than casual, “I’ll keep it,” your eyes meet and he squints at you, “It’s supposed to go with the dress.” You say quickly on your feet.

He tilts his head at you and chuckles.

“Okay. Well,” he looks down at his hand still holding your coat, “I’m just going to go hang this up. Feel free to to look around for a few seconds.” 

You nod again, watching as he walks to a small closet towards the right, passed the tv.

You look over into the kitchen, and you see a neatly set table with two glass of wine. 

There’s a pot on the stove with the lid on it, but the stove isn’t on.

You feel a warm and inviting hand on your upper back.

“I made, or should I say, I attempted,” he adds a chuckle that makes you smile, “to make some chicken parm.”

You giggle.

“I’m sure it’s delicious.”

You both walk over to the table which isn’t that far to the side and he pulls out one of the chairs for you. You thank him politely, taking a seat.

There’s the sharing of shy glances and awkward feet hitting each other under the table. You mutter out sorry’s.

Pietro clears his throat when he remembers he forgot the plates. You smile again as he apologizes and gets up.

“I’m the worst.” He says quickly.

“You’re not, relax. I forgot, too.” You play with the glass on the table, vividly remembering Bucky doing the same not too long ago.

You were picking up each others habits, hard.

“So, how’s it going with the whole situation at home? With your friend?”

You’re caught off guard by the indirect mention of Bucky and you try to casually grab the white napkin off the table, laying it over your lap.

“It’s going better.” You say, hoping it’ll make Pietro cut the topic short.You smooth the fabric over your legs, picking at it.

He looks over his shoulder to you and you can feel his eyes on you.

“Really? That’s good. I’m happy to hear that. I know it was rough for you. I hated seeing you like that.” That makes two of us, you want to say. There’s another pause. “You’re quiet today.” He notes, placing your plate in front of you. You’re hit with an intense wave of nausea as the delicious smell peaks up into your nose. You look away from the plate swallowing hard, “You okay?”

You clear your throat and swallow and swallow.

“Yeah I’m fine,” the bile lays in your belly as the smell continues to drive into your head, making you dizzy and sweat, “Do you have some water?” You croak out, trying to push your chair a little away from the table. It scrapes angrily against the floor, and if it wasn’t for how sick you were feeling, you would be apologizing.

“Yeah, yeah of course.” He says quickly, moving around the kitchen and fixing you a glass.

He hands it to you and you take some heavy gulps. It’s cold and slices through your throat. It lays into your stomach uncomfortably but you prefer it over a dry and heavy tongue. 

You place it back down on the table, taking a deep breath. You feel the sweating start to dissipate and your stomach slowly settles.

You bring your palm to your head and quickly blink away. 

You hated throwing up.

“Sorry, about that.”

He chuckles and gives you a smile as he takes his own seat across from you, “That’s okay. Are you sure you’re feeling alright?”

You weren’t too sure, but you don’t say that. “Yeah, I don’t know what that was,” you look back down at the plate that begins to look somewhat appetizing again, “Believe me, it wasn’t the food. This smells delicious and looks delicious.” He opens the glass the red wine and offers some to you. You quickly shake your head, giving him a wave of rejection with your hand. Just the thought of wine made your stomach turn again, “I’ll stick to the water for now.” He nods and pours himself a glass, “Sorry if I’m quiet. I’m a bit nervous.”

“Nervous why?”

You shrug, digging a fork into your chicken and swirling it around.

“I don’t know. I’m just like that.”

He says your name and you stop poking your fork to look up at him, “It’s me. We’ve been friends for a few months now. I’m not some stranger.”

You smile. He was right.

“I know, trust me. It’s just…” you think for a moment and then start laughing, “God, we’re literally on a date, during the apocalypse, like this is just weird, ya know?”

Pietro frowns.

“Apocalypse? We’re safe in here, in these walls. Everyone is safe in here.”

Your smile drops.

You stare at him and begin to wonder if he’s actually being serious. Was the majority of the people in here really convinced that this was it? That everything was perfect? Was Hydra really that capable? Part of you is proud of your parent’s work because you truly were safe because of what they built, but the world was still out there, living. There was still more. This wasn’t supposed to be a permanent solution. 

There were people out there still dying, trying to survive. And these people had no idea, including Pietro.

You realize you’re quickly going into dark territory and you don’t want Pietro digging into what you were trying to say, accidentally blowing your cover.

“You’re right. I don’t know why I said that.” You say quickly. You bring the chicken to your mouth, taking a small and careful bite, “This is so good.” You say after chewing and swallowing.

“I’m glad you liked it. I made some lava cakes for desert, too.”

You laugh.

“Are you a cook?”

“Nah. Just watch a lot of Tiny Kitchen.”

You perk a brow.

“Tiny Kitchen?”

“You’ve never heard of Tiny Kitchen?”

You laugh, placing your fork down on the plate. 

“No, what the hell is it? A small kitchen?”

“Literally what it is. I’ll show it to you afterwards.” 

“Okay.” You grin.

You look down at your plate again, wanting to go in for another bite, but for some reason you just can’t.

+ + +

He doesn’t get past episode three. He can’t. 

Not when all thoughts of you clouded his mind. He knows Pietro is good people, so he’s entirely not concerned about that. 

He knows he’s jealous. He knows that. 

The jealousy mixed in with the anticipation of how the rest of the mission will play out worries him. 

He wanted you home and near him, but since that wasn’t going to happen, he was home by himself, glooming.

He knows he needed a distraction right away so he picks up some of his things from the dining table, slides on a light jacket, and makes his way towards the tower.

He knows the blueprint of the tower already and he’s able to navigate himself into stairwell of the apartment on the top floor. 

After weeks of dissecting, you both found out that Ashens’ father, Ashen, and his mother don’t live here with the boy. For safety precautions, which are obvious why, he’s being housed in under high security and under the supervision of some au pair who is as clueless of his importance as the day is young.

Bucky knows that what he’s about to do borders on breaking boundaries, and downright creepy. 

But this was a situation he would qualify as desperate times comes to desperate measures.

Bucky’s able to bypass security, taking a security outfit off a ‘poor’ victim (he scoffs) as he does soon. 

He’s just outside the boy’s bedroom when he hears the nanny tell Ashens goodnight.

When she’s leaving she tells Bucky in a heavy Bulgarian accent, clearly thinking he’s just a regular guard, that Ashens is about to go to sleep. Bucky keeps his head down and nods.

The clueless ar pair goes the opposite way, presumably to her own bedroom.

Bucky waits a few moments before knocking on the boy’s door.

He hears the little boy give out permission to come in. Bucky opens the door.

The bedroom is plain and depressing. There’s a bed with plain white sheets, a small nightstand, and a large window. There are no toys and nothing that would show any proof that a child resided here. 

The room is not one he would expect for a boy Ashens’ age.

The little boy sits up in bed, his eyes squinting at the figure in his doorway.

“Hello.” The boy squeaks out.

Bucky practically laughs at how easy it was to get here. For a boy they are trying so hard to keep protected from just anyone, it was quite easy ending up just a few feet away from him.

Bucky’s had his fair share of experiences with kids, having a little sister himself. He knows he has to do this differently.

“Hi.” Bucky says lightly, almost too cheerfully.

The boy continues to stare at him as Bucky closes the door behind him, but not letting it close shut just yet.

“Who are you?”

Bucky slowly takes off his halo looking helmet and the boy squints at Bucky’s revealed face.

Bucky tucks the helmet under his arm and smiles.

“Can you keep a secret?”

The boy looks at him for a few more seconds before nodding slowly.

It’s not until Bucky is closer to the boy that his eyebrows shoot up,

“Wait. I know who you are.” Bucky can’t tell if the boy is excited or surprised, but the reaction makes Bucky’s chest swell.

This might go down easier than he expected.

“I -I  was so little when I had the toy but,” the boy starts to talk excitedly and Bucky has to hide a growing smile, “Because I can’t have toys anymore. Not since we moved here. I was little but I remember,” the boy and Bucky both narrow their eyes at each other as if it’s a game to who would say it first, “it’s captain America. You ever heard of captain America?”

Bucky bites his lip. 

“No, never.” He says sarcastically. “Oh, he’s the best. You look like his friend, but I don’t remember his name. He used to be the winter soldier and then he became good.”

Bucky’s heart swells again. The boy’s joy was so pure.

“Oh, yea?”

“Yeah. Dad didn’t like them vey much, though,” his face drops as he looks away from Bucky, “I didn’t like how happy he was when they all died. But no one knows that just us I think,” when Ashens looks up again, Bucky’s face is more solemn this time, “Are you sure you’re not the winter soldier?” The boy whispers the question.

Bucky considers his next words carefully. He places the helmet at the feet of the boy’s bed.

“If I told you I was?”

“I would be surprised because I though you were dead, and also I would be confused. Because why you here?”

Bucky nods. He looks away and then back at Ashens.

“Would you tell your dad?” He asks quietly. This was important.

The boy looks at him for a bit before answering.

“No. He would kill you. Daddy’s not on the good side.”

“And you believe I’m on the good side, right?”

“Yes. You’re an Avenger.”

Bucky bites his lip and looks around the room. This boy was good. It angered him that his own father wanted him killed. Now, more than ever, he wanted to rescue this boy. 

“Can you trust me?” Bucky asks, suddenly serious. 

The boy nods.

“Am I in trouble?” He asks timidly. “What do you mean?” “Ae you here to save me, sir?”

The question broke Bucky’s heart, but he nods.

“I trust you.” The boy’s eyes dart down Bucky’s left side, “Can I feel you arm?” The edge of Bucky’s lips perk up as he takes a seat, “and what does it feel like to hold the shield? Did you really know Iron Man? Black Panther always said —”

+  +  +

By the time Bucky is back you’re already home in your pajamas tucked into bed.

“Hey. Where’d you go?” You ask him as he takes off his coat, draping it over one of the chairs in the dining area.

He kicks off his shoes and reaches back, pulling off his shirt. He walks over to the closet for a new one.

“I met Ashens.”

You raise your brows at this. You knew it was part of the plan to happen, but you didn’t expect it to be today.

“What?”

Bucky also pulls out a new and clean pair of boxers, a smile tugging at his lips.

“Yeah. We spoke for a bit.” “And he didn’t recognize you?” “No, he did,” Bucky says simply, eyes going over to you. You looked so pretty, comforter pulled up under your clothed breasts, a book in your hands, and a messy bun in your hair. He wanted you. He looks away, remembering where you had just been, “He knows I’m here. He won’t tell his dad." “How can you be so sure?” “I’m an Avenger, aren’t I? That’s what everyone tells me, has been telling me.” He says it bitterly. Bucky sighs, closing the closet door and then walking over to the bed near you, “Because I made him a promise that I was here to save him. I think he knows his dad is bad news. He’s a smart kid. He knows his dad hits his mom, too.” Bucky’s voice is soft.

“So you trust he’ll keep this between us?”

“I do.”

You nod. You watch Bucky’s eyes as his stare stays on you, unnerving.

“And you?” You voice shakes as you ask, “How are you? Ya know, after?”

Bucky nods his head.

“I’m alright, ya know? I — ,” something happens to him that you had never seen before. A wave of happiness washes over Bucky’s face like a fresh cup of lemonade. His eyes shine and a bright smile fills his face. Even his voice sounds perkier, “It was just so nice talking to him. He’s such a sweet kid. I know we’re doing the right thing,” his eyes meet yours again and his voice lowers to a deep tone, “We’re both going to walk away from this mission with more than we thought.” It’s the first time he’s said that you are both going to walk away from the mission together, and not just you. He knows that. Bucky clears his throat, “You definitely won’t run into his father. He’s not living with him to avoid attention and possible abductions. Ashens is a literal rapunzel right now.”

“Good. That’s good.” Obviously it wasn’t. But it was good for the both of you. You had less chances of running into Ashen.

Bucky takes in a deep breath when he realizes his eyes are lingering on your collarbones for far too long.

“How was your date?” He actually doesn’t want to even know, the thought of you and Pietro makes him sick, but he knows he needs to show courtesy. They can’t ignore it forever. “It was fine. I wasn’t feeling too well, though—“

Bucky’s eyes narrow.

“—Oh no, I’m sorry.”

 “Couldn’t eat. But,” you took a deep breath and eyed the hallway, "Brought some in a small Tupperware if you want it. It’s in the kitchen.”

Bucky ignores the flutter in his heat at the mention that you thought of him. Thought of him enough to bring the leftovers for him.

He smiles.

“What is it?” “Chicken Parm.” You watch as Bucky continues to watch you, eyes still sparkling. “You sure you’re okay?”

“I’m fine. You’re happy, right?” Your eyes flicker away for a moment.

“Y-yeah.”

He knows he’s not fine so he lies. 

“Then I’m fine. You looked great by the way.” He adds quickly.

You tilt your head at him and he tilts his back.

Damnit, he needed you.

“Yeah?” You ask hoarsely. 

He wanted you.

“You’re glowing.” He says.

 +  + +

Jazz and burlesque shows were the epitome of everything she had lived for up until she was sixteen years old. The smell of handmade lace garters and expensive perfume still lingered in the back of her mind, bringing her a feeling of contentment and a strange longing for the past. 

Nostalgia would overwhelm her as she looked on at what was the exact contrast to her innocence – her mother’s hugs. She missed those nights where she’d play some 12’s of her beat up vinyl on her record, the scratches adding to Peggy Lee’s voice a twinge of imperfection that made it the perfect tone. 

With nothing on but her undergarments, and a pair of leg garters accompanied with knee high black stockings, she’d open her closet to a huge collection of gorgeous cocktail dresses. A couple handful landed just above her knees, not many past her mid shin - Scandalous and mildly scandalous. Her parents would kill her if they ever found out she even owned them (let alone have them in their home) so she kept those hidden in a little pile in the back corner of the wardrobe. 

She had every right to be terrified for many reasons. It’s not that she was not loyal or a rebel, per say. She was born and raised into a Christian family, all strict rules of modesty and heavy morals applied to her daily life. She was always daddy’s little girl in the simplest sense possible. 

She wouldn’t ever dare roll her eyes at him or purposefully make him disapprove of her, ever. Sure, she was raised in a rich family, so she was used to getting everything she always wanted. Material things being at the top of the list. Even then she remained as humble as possible. 

Especially when she thought her strong faith was behind it all. 

Do well for God, he gives back in return, right?  At least that’s what her naïve self believed at the time. But she’d never admit it to her family that she now thought otherwise, especially to her mom. 

If anything, God was now banning them all to Hell anyway.

Her vanity was those of every girl’s dreams. Drawers filled with everything you could only wish of having. Inside were lingerie of every shade (from fiery red to pure jet black, like the night sky in the city), style, and earrings of every pearl and diamond crystal variety you could think. Her favorite would always be the garters. 

She’d clip each of the four clasps into place just above her knees with her nimble fingers and then she’d sit opened legged in front of the mirror. 

Diligently, and with prestige dexterity, she’d apply her blood red lipstick and her four inch black heels. 

After an o shape with her lips around her fingers and a loud pop, she’d walk around her room and close her eyes, envisioning herself as a burlesque girl and a sensual song playing in the background. After all, she had all the right in the world to be the exact opposite at night than what she was during the day. Morally, at least.

 She still remained as the same sweet, innocent, and faithful young girl she always was. But she had big hopes and dreams, especially in film and dance. God should be okay with dreams, she thought.

When she had learned the truth it was just short of her 20th birthday. She unwontedly found out that her father and brother were different souls at night, too. She wished she never found out that everything that had been lying in front of her had been a lie, and instead of life being a gifted blessing it was instead a bloody carcass hades. 

Their life wasn’t one she liked to admit to partaking in. There were times where she would trick into telling herself that they weren’t doing it. She’d trick herself into thinking that way so that when she saw her dad that night, she’d be able to surpass the strong smell of whiskey and gun powder and kiss him goodnight. 

Jimmy would roll his eyes with a shove past her shoulder.  

As much as she detested it, she knew that without them, they wouldn’t be living in one of the most beautiful homes in all of Manhattan in complete safety. It was because of them that she wasn’t living out in the slums. She tried to divide that part of harsh reality from her brain as much as she could. Eventually, the pros outweighed the cons.

Maybe it was the fact that her body had finally developed into a women’s body. Her breasts were now fully perked and her legs were long and porcelain gorgeous; all she knew was they figured she could be put to good use. 

At first she was repulsed by her own father’s comment, but if it meant having dinner that night and not getting killed, she would swallow those nagging feelings and take it head on. It never lasted too long anyway, and all she had to do was stand there and be her brother’s accessory.

When her father brought her into the business, he told her she would thank him one day when she had children of her own- she’d have all the men of the lower east side wrapped around her pretty little finger.

 She was alright with it, until something happened that she would never forget. She had to swallow the repulsive bile and control herself not to run away then and there. She was too far in and knew way too much.

It was just another Tuesday night and she had been sitting at the dinner table, when both her mom and dad had stepped out of the dining room and into the kitchen. She ate her soup quietly, not being able to stop thinking about going back to her room to play burlesque, when Jimmy had turned to her.

 At first it was the sudden motion that caught her attention, it had made a strand of blonde hair fly off her arm. Then it was the feral look in his eyes. 

“Daisy,” his voice was low and dangerous. Daisy knew that tone very well because it was the tone all the other men used on their nights of missions. She was terrified and disgusted.  Wide eyes trailed from her eyes to her full red lips and she felt a cold rigid finger against the heat of her skin on her upper thigh, pushing the fabric slightly up. She gulped.  

Jimmy smiled, “You gorgeous thing.”

She thought about telling her father but she knew that if he found out, the one partnership that was bringing them the most cash would be jeopardized and it would have to be terminated and he’d be more than upset. She knew when her dad got angry, it was not good. It’s was messy and bad. 

Back at dinner, her father would say grace before they ate, all of them hand in hand, and her mom would sit there quietly, a terrified and exhausted look in her smiles. She had heavy bags that weren’t there years ago, and her hair that used to always be done was now up in a messy clip, the baby hairs hanging against her wrinkled forehead, messy and unruly. But still she managed to smile, even if it wasn’t a real smile. It was all a stupid act. 

 It reminded Daisy of how she herself was when she was 16 - pretending to be oblivious to what her family were doing to the innocent. And so she hated her mom for that, for being just like her. 

She felt disgusted in herself, she felt disgust for her family. Oh how she missed those days of when she was a child, before she even knew the truth. It was all so much simpler back then and she was so much happier.  The worst it used to get was when her mother would tell her stories about when she was a nurse back in WWI. 

She had wanted to be like her mom at first. Her mom was quiet, humble, caring, and extremely gracious. It’s what made her such a good person to have back in the war to help the soldiers- she was strong willed and knew she could help and would in her best ability do so. But those stories made Daisy question why any man in his right mind would want to do such a thing to their own body- putting themselves at such a risk. 

Sure, she was privileged by riches, but problems didn’t have to be solved by violence. There must be other ways, like prayer or simply believing. 

Her mother would tell her the graphic stories of the injuries that made Daisy queasy and fidget in her seat. She loved her mom’s qualities and how willing she was to help others who were injured and almost dying, but it still made no sense to her.

 When daisy questioned her concerned to her mother she had simply said:

“Don’t question acts of the daring and misinterpret it for insanity. Simply thank the courages ones for their heart and strong character, for not all are willing to do the good and get destroyed in the worst way, not for their own benefit, but for others.”

To this day, Daisy wondered if her mom was indirectly referencing her own father- him lacking thereof. 

Next, she wondered about when her mom stopped believing her own words.  

Daisy wondered if she’d ever meet one one day - a soldier. Someone willing to get destroyed. Or if her mom had been lying and all men are the same, evil like her father and brother.

But she was evil, too.

No, I don't wanna fall in love.

A/N: yes. she’s pregnant.

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