#also is it better to have ch 1/? or try to guess a number and move it along if it gets longer than that

[powdermelonkeg]

How thoroughly, exactly, should a fic be tagged? I know the whole content warning/kink courtesy, but like--do you tag characters you plan to appear that haven't made it to chapter yet? Do you tag ships when the other half of the ship only first comes on screen halfway through? Do you get as extensive with tropes as you can? Is it just a "whatever you think fits" kind of thing?

Currently trying to find a balance between fic tags that are helpful and not having a wall of text before the summary.

[icequeenbae]

Boy Next Door (m) Ch.1 | BBH

Pairing: Baekhyun x Reader

Neighbor AU, slow burn, hurt/comfort, fluff, smut

Warnings [whole story]: Baek being the neighbor we’re all dreaming of, harassment (nothing graphic), a bit of body image/ insecurity, MC sucks at relationships, explicit content, unprotected sex

Word Count: ~18.5k (total), 4.5k (pt.1)

Summary: Your neighbor Baekhyun has been a pleasant acquaintance since you moved into your current apartment almost a year ago. Could he also be… a perfect match?

© Please do not copy/ post on other platforms without permission.

Chapter Masterlist: Pt. 1 > Pt. 2 > Pt. 3 > Pt. 4 (fin)

Author’s note: This has taken me so, SO long to write and edit that I cannot believe the time has come to post it lmao I just wanted to write something simple with the classic boy-next-door vibe but as usual, the story ended up being much longer than planned and I am going to post it as a mini-series. Please keep in mind that your feedback is what motivates me to write and post more <3 And biiig thanks to the lovely @beomcoups for taking on the beta duties on this whole story~

Network Tags: @bbh-net  @k-vanity  @ksmutsociety

PART 1

In the lobby or on your floor – those were the two locations where you’d been bumping into Baekhyun most often. Which wasn’t that strange, considering that you were neighbors. But it somehow always caught you off guard and left you flustered.

Just like the first time.

It happened almost a year ago when you were waiting for the elevator on the first floor of your building with your best friend Yuki, who came early to help you with preparations. A guy in a loose white dress shirt and jeans stepped into the elevator with you, politely greeting you before pressing his floor number.

‘Oh, you live on the 13th as well? So, you and our Y/N are neighbors!’ Yuki exclaimed.

‘Nice to meet you,’ you muttered and bowed, shy from the sudden introduction. He reciprocated, chocolate hair falling into his eyes charmingly.

‘You should come to her housewarming party! It’s in a couple hours,’ Yuki chimed in again. ‘You don’t need to bring anything, it’s just a small thing with a couple friends and neighbors. We’re making sure Y/N-ie settles in nicely here. So please come, we have tons of food!’

If anyone could ever say no to your friend… Well, you had never met such a person. You guessed that Baekhyun was simply too stunned by her enthusiasm, so he said he’d swing by for sure. In a way, you were thankful that she’d asked him – you’d have never had the guts to invite someone like that; especially not anyone as good-looking and cool as Baekhyun.

You regretted letting your bestie invite him the following evening when your party was in full swing for several hours. Most of the food was devoured, so now you were all drinking, crunching on snacks, and conversing; or trying to while jumping from one topic to another.

‘I wish we could gather more often. We all like to hang out with you, you know?’

As always, Yuki nagged at you for being too ‘stay-at-home’ of a friend.

‘I like to hang out too. But home is home. You know parties aren’t really my… favorite pastime.’

‘What is your favorite pastime, lying in bed cuddling your blanket?’ Chanyeol joked insensitively.

He should’ve known better since you were the most troubled in your group of friends regarding relationships. It was super tough for you to find a match, even when you made an effort to get out of the house and meet new people, mostly because of your history of failed relationships where your partners gained interest in someone else. It seemed like you were too plain to hold someone’s attention for long. So, you’d been ‘that single friend’ for several lonely years now. And at this time, you were actually in the very beginning of a new, promising relationship. You were still pretty insecure about it; thus, Yeol’s comment really did make you flinch. He was drunk, so that was understandable, but you still sulked at his words, mainly because they were true.

‘Hey, it doesn’t have to be a blanket.’ You frowned, pressing the straw to your lips in frustration.

‘I’m kinda sad that guy you’ve been talking to couldn’t come,’ Yuki interjected. ‘I wanted to find out what he’s like.’

‘Minho had work-related travel, so he’s resting up.’ You shrugged, sipping your drink timidly.

‘I’m sure the guy made this excuse just to avoid meeting your friends. How long have you known him for, like, two days?’ Chanyeol interjected.

‘It’s been a few weeks, actually,’ you corrected, and Hoseok, Yuki’s boyfriend, muttered a reproaching ‘hyung’ in his direction.

‘Gosh, you’re really this stupid while drunk,’ Yuki shook her head disapprovingly at your friend, who simply shrugged.

Baekhyun was pretty silent during the latest exchange, so when you briefly made eye contact, it reminded you that he could also hear all of that chatter. Which made you want to choke on your drink from humiliation. Thankfully, one of your friends still had some tact left that night, so they quickly changed the direction of the conversation. Still… you’d been mortified for weeks after the event, doing your best to avoid bumping into Baekhyun when leaving for work.

***

The next time you met, Baekhyun was also in the lobby of your apartment building. And once again, before a gathering at your place. Just days prior you had lost it and left your resignation letter at your boss's desk. Working such long hours under the constant pressure of absolutely unrealistic deadlines was taking its toll on you for sure. But when you found out they promoted a person, who was obviously less experienced and capable than you in working (but more capable in flirting with your manager), instead of you… It became the last straw.

Baekhyun appeared right on time as you struggled to push the elevator button with a whole case of beer in your hands.

‘Y/N,’ you heard his velvety voice call. ‘Nice to see you.’

‘Oh- Hi, Baekhyun.’ You greeted awkwardly, puffing from the weight you had to balance.

‘Let me help you with that?’ His suggestion sounded like a question, yet he instantly scooped the case from your hands.

‘You don’t need- thank you,’ you said, and he shook his head to indicate that it wasn’t a big deal.

‘So… having a party again?’ He asked as the elevator doors closed.

‘I wouldn’t call it a party,’ you hummed, looking at your feet. ‘I kinda had to quit my horrible job of 4 years, so my friends are making me celebrate it. Not that becoming unemployed calls for a celebration…’

You trailed off, not wanting to be a nuisance to your neighbor. He was just making small talk.

‘I’m sorry to hear that. Are you taking a break now or looking for something else?’

‘I’ll start looking next week. It’s Friday, my friends are coming… So I’ll try to just clear my mind and rest for one full weekend before I start stressing about a new job. Hopefully, my friends wouldn’t talk my ear off about it – that’s what the beer’s for. My little trick,’ you chuckled sheepishly.

‘Aren’t your friends supposed to treat you in this situation?’ Baekhyun huffed, shaking his head to rearrange his hair and better see you.

‘They should… bring more alcohol with them, I think. I couldn’t have them over for nothing, though.’

The doors opened after a robotic voice announced your floor.

‘Well, anyhow. Thanks a lot for your help!’ You tried taking the beer from Baekhyun, but he didn’t let you.

‘Open the door first; you can’t do it while holding this.’

‘Right. Thanks,’ you fussed, pressing your password in.

Baekhyun quickly placed the case on the floor of your hallway.

‘You should come!’ You blurted out, instantly getting flustered. ‘If you want.’

‘I might drop by if I’m free,’ he smiled softly. ‘My family wanted to have a video call later. That may take long.’

‘Of course. Have fun!’ You nodded, beating yourself up in your mind for being so weird suddenly.

‘You have fun,’ he chuckled, stepping towards his apartment. ‘Oh, and Y/N?’

Looking up at him as he called your name, you were met with his warm yet serious eyes.

‘If you need anything… You know where to find me.’

That made you strangely sentimental.

‘T-thank you.’

He sent you a message later on and let you know he couldn’t make it to your party. But in a way, he was there – on your mind.

***

It was about three weeks after you’d broken things off with Minho. If you could even consider it one, the relationship wasn’t long, only a couple months. At first, you thought it could be something, realizing later that it was only wishful thinking. There was no way the two of you could make it work; you were just not compatible with each other. The more you got to know him, the more you were reassured of that. Your life goals were different, your outlook on relationships was different… even your ideas of quality time with a significant other didn’t match. This time, the initial infatuation wore off rather quickly – probably because you didn’t go out of your way to appease him. You knew it was probably for the better. Pretty much all of your relationships ended the same way, with your boyfriends telling you they found someone else. Someone… more exciting.

This was the case for your first relationship halfway in your first year of university.

‘I’m sorry, Y/N. I just don’t feel the spark, you know? You’re so… domestic,’ your then-boyfriend said in his breakup speech. ‘I’m young, I want to experience stuff, be bold, and have fun. And there are people that I can do this with, who’ll also enjoy it.’

It repeated less than two years later when you’d barely worked up the courage to try and start something with another person. When it happened the third time, you decided you weren’t really made for relationships. It was ironic since you always wanted to be in one. You were very affectionate and were keen on taking care of people. Yes, you weren’t that into big gatherings and parties, and maybe it was a little too difficult to drag you anywhere when you were stressing about the upcoming tests and stuff… But you weren’t completely closed off! Even with those limitations, you were very sociable and had many friends. Was it so bad that you didn’t say yes to every suggestion? Did your inclination to stay at home and have cozy dates instead of outdoorsy stuff make you a non-relationship material? It seemed like every time someone else appeared, your boyfriends easily decided to move on.

And even though you weren’t in love with Minho, this breakup still made you sour. What made this particular day suck was that you’d found out that he was already in a new relationship; happily broadcasting it everywhere.

You weren’t jealous of him for being with someone else. You envied him for being able to find another partner in mere days after you parted ways, while for you, it felt like you’d never find or be able to retain anyone. Ever. Never ever.

‘Earth to Y/N!’ You jumped from someone’s voice ringing in your ears.

Looking up, you saw that the elevator doors were held open by your dashing neighbor, who was staring directly at you.

‘Sorry, I spaced out,’ you quickly entered. ‘Hi.’

‘Hey,’ Baekhyun smiled, pressing the button for your floor. ‘Is everything okay?’

‘Um, yeah. No. I mean-’ You sighed. ‘I’m just a bit out of sorts.’

‘Trouble at work?’

‘No, my new job is great. A huge improvement on the previous one. It’s just… everything else is not nearly as great?’

Yeah, because you pushed yourself to get back on the market to finally not be alone, and here you were. Back to square one.The sniffling you produced startled even your own self.

‘Oh god, I’m sorry.’

‘It’s okay. There’s nothing to be sorry about,’ he replied, his voice gentle. ‘Do you want to talk?’

‘Oh no, I wouldn’t dream about boring you with my stupid problems.’

‘I’m sure they aren’t stupid,’ he said. ‘And I have ice cream. Almost any flavor you could think of.’

You looked at him silently, and he smiled again reassuringly.

‘It’s not mandatory for you to tell me anything. But I can treat my favorite neighbor with some ice cream, can I not?’

‘Am I your favorite just because you don’t know anyone else?’ You snickered gawkily.

‘No. Not just-’

He was interrupted by the usual announcement of your floor.

‘So, what do you think? You can change first and then come, no hurry. I’m free tonight.’

You puckered your lips, genuinely intrigued by his offer. Ice cream sounded perfect right about now. Although agreeing just because of the promised treats was pretty childish, you couldn’t help but be seduced by his suggestion. So, you gave him a shy nod.

‘Okay. Throw on something comfy and come over.’

You entered your respective apartments, and only after the door behind you locked… you realized that your heart was racing.

‘Damn you, Y/N, why did you agree to do this??’ You whined, catching a glimpse of your scrunched-up face in the mirror.

Fishing your phone out of your handbag quickly, you messaged Yuki.

You | I fucked up, Yu!!

You | Idk what to do now…. ㅠㅠ

Ki-yaah | What happened?? Did you like a pic on Minho’s new gf’s SNS??

Ki-yaah | I’m so dumb for telling you about this… I’m so sorry Y/N ㅠㅠ

You | No, not that

You | Who cares about Minho and his girlfriend??

You | I mean, I was a bit salty about this… But I met Baekhyun again!

Ki-yaah | Baekhyun? Your cute as fuck neighbor Baekhyun??

You | No

You | Yes?

You | My neighbor Baekhyun. I blurted out that I wasn’t in the greatest mood, and he invited me to his place for ice cream!

Ki-yaah | WHAT

Ki-yaah | YAH

Ki-yaah | THAT SLEEK BASTARD

Ki-yaah | I hope you’re texting me from his couch

Ki-yaah | Or kitchen counter

Ki-yaah | Or wherever you kids decide to do it

A bunch of obscene emojis appeared on your screen, making you blush on the spot.

You | Do it?? We’re not doing anything. I’m home!

Ki-yaah | So, you’ve already done it?? HOW WAS IT??

Ki-yaah | Waaah, you’re quick these days, Y/N-ah! Finally, you’re learning your lessons

Ki-yaah | I hope you wrapped it up though

Ki-yaah | I wouldn’t blame you if you skipped it, though, I can imagine how starved you are on good sex.. Still, safety first!

Ki-yaah | Wait, so was he?? Any good??

Ki-yaah | You’re silent!

She typed so fast that you didn’t even have a second to write back, mostly from shock – your friend wasn’t always this shameless, actually.

Then she started calling.

‘Yah, why aren’t you spilling the beans?? Too worn out to type, bestie?’ She smirked on the phone, making you cringe.

‘Because there’s nothing to spill! I haven’t even gone over yet.’

There was a second of silence.

‘… What?!’

‘I have to change; I just came from work, you know? My makeup needs fixing too…’

Your phone instantly started vibrating as a video call request came in, which you begrudgingly accepted.

‘Damn, you can’t go like this. It’s not seductive at all!’ She exclaimed.

‘I’m not going over to seduce anyone! And he told me to wear something comfy…’

‘What?? Hm, actually…’ She tapped her index finger on her chin, deep in thought. ‘He does look like the type to be into that.’

‘I-into what?’

‘Cute girls! I told you already, he was probably crushing on you since the time he came to your housewarming party!’

‘Pfft, that’s ridiculous. And don’t bring up him allegedly glaring at Yeol for his stupid comments again, I beg of you!’

‘Alright. But he’s always so nice to you! Oh-Em-Gee, you’d look so cute together,’ she squealed.

‘I don’t have time for this. I can’t have him waiting for much longer, and I need to shower…’

‘Yes! And remove your makeup while you’re at it.’

‘Huh?? If I redo my makeup… isn’t it gonna look strange? Like I’m trying too hard?’

‘You won’t have to redo it. You’ll have only very basic nude makeup on. Looking all natural and cute.’

‘I swear, if you say ‘cute’ one more time-’

‘Can’t a girl dream?? I can already imagine how cute your children would be…’ Your friend kept musing.

‘I’m hanging up.’

‘Yah, take this seriously. Clean up nicely, and let your hair down. Also, shave your-’

‘Yuki!!’

‘You never know!! One second, he’s licking ice cream off his spoon; the other, he’s l-’

Quickly tapping on your phone screen, you canceled this embarrassing call. The vivid images didn’t leave your mind as fast, though, so you shivered, shaking your head to get rid of the obscenities.

‘She’s a bad influence, for sure,’ you muttered, still ashamed of yourself for imagining your neighbor in such a context.

The time was ticking, so you decided that Yuki was somewhat right and needed to clean up. You also needed to hurry the heck up; you didn’t want to make Baekhyun wait too long. Thirty minutes later, you were in front of his door.

‘Come in, come in,’ he ushered you inside, having you change your footwear for the pink house slippers.

Why did he have those again?

‘Cute, right? I ordered them for my niece and got the size completely wrong, but they fit you perfectly. I guess I wasn’t wrong after all.’

He looked at your feet for another second before blinking and clearing his throat.

‘Let’s not waste any more time, everything’s ready. Come on!’

Everything? Did he prepare a whole reception?

You took a good look at the back of his head as he walked you to his kitchen, noticing that his hair was slightly wet. Did he also shower? You swallowed at the thought. He probably didn’t invest as much time into the preparations as you did, though. You blamed your best friend for the inappropriate thought she planted in your head!

‘Here, take a look.’

He opened his freezer, and you gasped.

There was an entire collection of ice cream. Cones, popsicles, buckets… All different flavors and manufacturers.

‘I see you’re impressed,’ he smirked. ‘I have a niece and a nephew, you know? Kids aren’t easy to please these days.’

‘Can’t deny that I am. How many do you have here?’

‘No idea… I just keep buying them. Which one’s to your liking? You can try different ones. I’m in the mood for mint choco and lemon.’

‘Those are my favorites!’ You jumped up like a kid.

‘Really? Both?’

‘Yeah! I haven’t seen a lemon ice cream anywhere, only sorbets! Where did you find it?’ You closed the freezer as he got the two buckets out.

Baekhyun suddenly seemed pleased with himself.

‘You think I give away trade secrets just like that…’ He replied mysteriously.

‘I wanna buy some too,’ you pouted, circling around him while he took the lids off. ‘If you don’t tell me… I’ll eat all of yours!’

‘Ha, go ahead. There’s more where that came from,’ he teased right back, hovering slightly over you.

Lowering your gaze to avoid staring directly at him, you noticed something.

‘What’s this?’

Baekhyun turned back to the counter.

‘Ah, this old thing? You know how ice cream scoops are sold in paper cups or cones? This thing,’ he picked it up. ‘Is to make those. Watch.’

He dipped the instrument in water and shook it slightly, then scooped the mint ice cream, creating a smooth green ball with tiny pieces of chocolate adding to its hue.

‘Cool,’ you muttered, genuinely finding that fascinating.

‘Right? It’s awesome!’

‘Let me guess: the kids don’t appreciate it enough?’ You asked.

‘Those little- Here, you try with lemon.’ He pressed on a small lever and dropped the green globe into a bowl.

You shook your head.

‘I’ll mess it up; you do it.’

‘Come on, Y/N. You can’t mess it up; it’s just ice cream.’

‘Just ice cream? You don’t deserve to know the secret selling spots for this!’

He snorted, moving to the side to give you more space to try and repeat his previous actions.

You dipped it in water like he did and shook it before moving the lemon ice cream bucket closer. Spending about twenty seconds taking aim, you huffed.

‘I can’t do it! Yours is so round and pretty; I am not that professional.’

‘I’ll help,’ he chuckled at your meltdown, holding your wrist and softly pressing down on your hand to guide it. ‘Scoop it this way to make it full and round.’

You did as you were told, yet your mind was far away from the scooping technique. The entire focus of your being was now set on the unprecedented proximity you were in. He held your hand, his chest so close to your shoulder that you could feel the heat radiating off him. When you dropped a yellow ball of lemon ice cream into the bowl, you could only pray that he didn’t notice the goosebumps littering your arms.

‘See? Yours is even better-shaped than mine,’ he hummed close to your ear.

‘Y-yeah.’

As if sensing your perturbation, Baekhyun suddenly stepped back.

‘Trying just two flavors is a waste of an evening. Let’s get more.’

Ten minutes later, you were sitting in his living room at the small table in front of his couch. The bowl with at least a dozen different ice creams sat atop another one, which was filled with ice.

‘No one likes melted goo, right?’ Baekhyun chuckled while constructing this mobile freezer.

You tried all of them one by one, gushing about each flavor.

‘The grape one isn’t tickling my fancy,’ he said, nudging the oddly-colored glob away.

‘Really?’ You reached for it with your spoon.

‘Don’t even try it. That’s bad,’ he scrunched his nose. ‘I can taste every chemical they used to make this grape flavor.’

You laughed, trying it despite his protests.

‘It tastes like… very cheap jelly,’ you said.

‘Exactly! Such a strange texture. Hmm, I shall look for a better option then. My nephew Siwoo loves grapes.’

You smiled at his concern for his youngest family member’s preferences.

‘Your nephews must be the happiest kids in town with an uncle like that,’ you murmured, stealing a bite from the rest of the lemon ball that he subtly nudged your way earlier.

‘They’re pretty lucky, aren’t they?’ He agreed easily, earning a snicker from you.

As you savored the last of the lemon flavor on your tongue, he leaned in, eyes focused on your lips.

‘You eat just like Siwoo,’ he instinctively wiped your lower lip with his thumb.

Looking up at him, you caught the moment he realized what he was doing and retreated.

‘Sorry,’ he muttered awkwardly. ‘It’s a habit.’

Pressing your finger to your lower lip, which was now burning, you shook your head neutrally.

‘It’s okay. You must spend a lot of time with them,’ you scooped more in your spoon to somehow soothe the burn on your lips.

‘Not as much as I’d like. Most of the time, our schedules don’t match up, especially with them living in a different city. I try to have them over or visit them as much as possible.’

Baekhyun’s voice became warmer as he reminisced.

‘I get scolded by hyung a lot for spoiling them. But what can I do? At least they’ll have those pleasant memories and presents to remember me by while we’re apart.’

‘Are they close in age?’

‘About four years apart. Seoyul is pretty grown already; I can’t believe her little brother is going to school soon as well.’ He smiled, remembering something. ‘When she started her first grade, he was so upset. He cried every time she left the house.’

‘Aw, that’s so cute,’ you cooed. ‘So they’re getting along well?’

‘Yeah, apart from the occasional bickering. Siwoo is… a boy.’

‘A little daredevil?’

‘He’s driving his noona insane sometimes. To be honest, I was exactly the same at his age. We’re both lucky to have siblings several years older.’

‘Ah, so your hyung is much older than you?’

‘Seven years. He was almost like a father,’ Baekhyun chuckled. ‘But had he been even a couple of years younger… Pretty sure he would’ve given me a piece of his mind back then.’

‘I wouldn’t ever imagine that you were a maknae of your family.’

‘Why? I had so much aegyo as a child! Yes, my mom had to exercise lots of patience, but I was cute as hell.’

‘I’m sure that’s how it was,’ you hummed.

‘I’m still in the top-3 cutest of our family list. Might even be cuter than Seoyul at times; she’s way too serious these days.’

‘Wow, going over your nephews’ heads after the title… How mature of you.’

‘Hey, don’t blame me for being extremely cute.’

‘Show me some aegyo then,’ you challenged him with a smile.

‘Huh, you wish. You’re not ready for my aegyo, Y/N-ie.’ He responded sassily.

‘Is that so?’ You smirked, holding his gaze up until the chime of your phone provided an interruption.

Your bestie found a great time to pry into your business, which was evident from the message previews on the screen.

Ki-yaah | You’re not texting me back…

Ki-yaah | Which either means that you chickened out…

Ki-yaah | …or his stamina is REALLY freaking impressive

Ki-yaah | Which one is it??? I hope it’s the latter!

You inhaled sharply and started coughing, barely managing to swipe those messages off the screen before Baekhyun could see them.

‘Are you okay?’ He patted you on the back to help you overcome your coughing fit.

‘Yeah, I’m fine. I didn’t realize it was so late… It was so rude of me to keep you up. Let me help you clean this up.’

‘Leave it,’ he shook his head, catching you by the wrist. ‘I’ll put this away later.’

‘I’ll… get going then,’ you stood so abruptly that your legs couldn’t keep up with you, completely numb from being in the same position for so long.

‘Y/N!’ Baekhyun rose to catch you by the arms. ‘Take a second, sit on the couch. Your legs must’ve fallen asleep.’

You swatted at your legs with your palms, urging the blood flow to restore quicker.

‘Sorry…’

‘Why are you sorry? I’m not in a hurry to get rid of you.’ He stated simply.

‘It’s just so late… and… you must have stuff to do.’

‘Nope. I actually had fun. I rarely get to sit around at home munching on ice cream and enjoying another grownup’s company.’

You bit your lip shyly at his words, and he suddenly tsked.

‘Although I feel like we were mostly talking about me. That’s a shame. I want to hear about you as well,’ Baekhyun mused, walking you to the door. ‘Well, let’s save it for next time.’

Next time, he said.

Next time??

You turned your back on him to conceal the shade of your cheeks and pretended to fidget with the doorknob.

‘Let me,’ he reached over you, pressing his warm chest to your back for a second to unlock the door.

But before you could step outside, his fingers wrapped around your forearm in a lax hold.

‘And Y/N… If you ever find yourself craving some lemon ice cream… I’m ready to provide it.’

With that, he pushed the door open and allowed you to leave his apartment.

Masterlist

A/N: Thank you for reading! Another BBH mini-series started 💫 I hope you enjoyed part 1~ Pls let me know what you think via comments, asks and reblogs, my darlings 💜 Also, I am very curious if you are picturing anyone in particular as Hoseok hehe 🙃

[clairelsonao3]

Author Ask Tag Game

Thanks to @i-can-even-burn-salad @tabswrites and @mysticstarlightduck for this tag a few weeks ago, around the time I took a break from tag games. Back on the horse, though.

1) What is the main lesson of your story (e.g. kindness, diversity, anti-war), and why did you choose it?

I don't really "choose" lessons or themes. They emerge. But if Good Slaves Never Break the Rules had a lesson, it's probably about The Power of Love, not only romantic love, even though it's a romance, but love for our fellow humans and love for ourselves. And the power of choosing love over hate, despite how cruelly we may have been hurt in the past -- or how we may have hurt (or perceive that we have hurt) others.

2) What did you use as inspiration for your worldbuilding (like real-life cultures, animals, famous media, websites, etc.)?

The world of GSNBTR owes a lot to (mostly) fanfics with modern slavery AUs that I have read and enjoyed over the years. I basically took all my favorite elements from those stories, mashed them together, and threw in a few of my own unique touches. And of course, the worldbuilding has expanded from there, in many cases in much more detail than I imagined it would when I started.

3) What is your MC trying to achieve, and what are you, the writer, trying to achieve with them? Do you want to inspire others, teach forgiveness, help readers grow as a person?

My two MCs both start out with their separate goals -- her to get through university and become independent, him to find his sister -- which end up merging into one singular goal (save their loved ones and defeat the villain, essentially) by the end of the story. Learning to trust and work together is part of the journey they undergo, and with their individual strengths, they end up making an incredible team. So I guess demonstrating that is what I'm trying to achieve with them.

I want to make readers feel something. It doesn't even have to be necessarily what I feel, or what I set out to make others feel. If you feel anything -- love, fear, sadness, shock, hate, disgust -- while reading this, my work here is done.

4) How many chapters is your story going to have?

At this point (I just posted Ch. 27), I suspect not more than 40, give or take. (But take this with a grain of salt; the number has already expanded several times). We are in Act III and it's outlined in detail, with may of the scenes at least partially written, but I'm just not sure how long each chapter/scene is ultimately going to be and how and where they'll be divided. I have an idea of that, but I can't decide it ahead of time; I only know when I sit down to write and edit the chapters.

5) Is it fanfiction or original content? Where do you plan to post it?

Original (although I'm not afraid to admit there are some fannish elements/tropes to it) and I'm posting it on Ao3! It will eventually be an ebook as well. It probably won't ever migrate over to Tumblr, unfortunately, not only because of the time and energy that would require but also because the NSFW and romance elements make it much better suited for Ao3, I feel. Also, having it in one place only allows me to gauge exactly how many people have read it and engaged with it (not that that really matters, but still!)

6) When and why did you start writing?

When? As soon as I could pick up a pencil and string together letters on a page to form words. Why? Because telling stories is in my blood (literally; my dad is also a writer).

7) Do you have any words of engagement for fellow writers of Writeblr? What other writers of Tumblr do you follow?

Write what you want. It sounds simple, but I spent way too many years of my writing life writing what I thought OTHER people wanted, and it almost derailed my ability to write altogether because it made me so damn miserable.

For newer writers: If you find yourself beginning a writing question with the words "Is it okay to..." or "Can I..." just stop right there. The answer is "yes."

I follow more people than just about anyone I know and I think most of them are writers; it's in the 4 digits. So I'm going to put this question aside for now and start working on a post of my favorite Tumblr writers and stories, so for future similar questions, I'll be able to direct you to that.

This one was going around a few weeks ago and IDK who's done it so OPEN TAG!

Template under the cut

1) What is the main lesson of your story (e.g. kindness, diversity, anti-war), and why did you choose it?

2) What did you use as inspiration for your worldbuilding (like real-life cultures, animals, famous media, websites, etc.)?

3) What is your MC trying to achieve, and what are you, the writer, trying to achieve with them? Do you want to inspire others, teach forgiveness, help readers grow as a person?

4) How many chapters is your story going to have?

5) Is it fanfiction or original content? Where do you plan to post it?

6) When and why did you start writing?

7) Do you have any words of engagement for fellow writers of Writeblr? What other writers of Tumblr do you follow?

[kayssweetdreams]

A "Perfect" Vacation Ch 31

TW: NEEDLES!

Meanwhile, With Thea...

Thea was now officially at her wits end. She had it with Prim's ridiculous voice training, with the insane amount of 'rules' she had to follow, and the fact that she has to do this, or she would never see her daughter again. She snapped out of thoughts when that annoying voice teach smacked a stick to the wall, a glare on her face "Miss Bruno. This will go a lot faster if you will just stay on TASK." She snapped.

Thea rolled her eyes "I'm doing this against my will you know. I don't WANT to be here." She pointed out, reminding that teacher that she wasn't doing this WILLINGLY. The woman narrowed her eyes "Now you see here. I don't want to be here either, dealing with YOU. I was supposed to be lounging on a beach, with a coconut in hand. Instead, I'm here, trying to make sure that you actually COOPERATE." The teacher shot back. The two women got into a glaring match, until Prim's voice could he heard from a nearby P.A. system "Thea. Get up here. We have some things to talk about for the big day."

The teacher gave Thea a smug look "Well Well. Guess the boss wants to make your performance even more "perfect" She said, mockingly waving to the door. Thea rolled her eyes and left, but not without giving that wretched teacher a kick to the knee. Walking away from the practice room, she was then grabbed, and pulled down a darker hallway, with a hand slapped up against her mouth "Shh! Mrs Bruno. I'm on your side." A teenage voice said. Thea stopped her panic as she took a closer look at her attacker.

To her surprise, it was a teenage girl with green hair and glassss. "It's OK. I wanna take down Prim too, but we don't have a lot of time. You have to do exactly as I say. Alright?" She asked. Thea, not seeing a choice nodded, hoping that this mysterious teen really was on her side...

Meanwhile, In Another Part of The Hotel...

Jett and Skarlett glared at the scientist that was currently tied up in Lance's tentacles. The negative maestro had not let the poor guy down ever since he found him, and told them the cure. When Cass asked why he didn't let him go, Lance replied that he wanted to actually know if the cure was ACTUALLY legitimate, and that he wasn't sending them on a wild goose chase...even though he was violently shaking in Lance's grasp.

"So...I guess we need demon blood..." Aria said, a raised eyebrow on her face "Y-Yes. That is all that is left!" The scientist stuttered. The maestros raised an eyebrow, and you couldn't blame them...after all, Demon Blood is a strange ingredient for an antidote. "You better not be fibbing, or so help me. When we're through you're gonna be sorry." Lance said, hanging the terrified man in front of him...upside down. "I-IT'LL WORK!! I-I PROMISE!!" The scientist screamed/stuttered.

Jett and Skarlett also were suspicious. But they didn't see any choice. Without their blood the cure was useless. Spotting a couple of nearby syringes, Skarlett grabbed them "C'mon. Let's just get this over with." She said. Jett, while not finding joy in sticking a needle into his body...again, he knew that doing this may be the key to stopping the pill, and one step closer to stopping Prim, and whoever she was working with. "OK...On 3." He said.

Skarlett nods as they angle the needles at their arms "1...2...3!" On the final number, the two of them stick the needles into their skin, and they pull in some of their blood. The strange liquid gave a pale glow, as faint sparks of electricity shot through the needle. When they have enough, they pull them out. "Alright. We got it." Jett says, showing the needles to Balan and Lance. The two maestros, while reluctant, smiled at the ingredient. "Brilliant! That is just what we need! Now here's to hoping that the cure does succeed...

Aria belongs to @shadowqueen402

Jett, Skarlett, and Maxie belong to @jettthespeeddemon

[weebnotheree]

♥ Tbhk x M! Reader ♥♡ Toilet Bound Hanako-Kun ♡ CH3

Ch. 03 - The beginning of: Meeting you again (pt. 1)

Yashiro's pov

[shes walking rn btw while thinking]

I was on my way to the girls' bathroom thinking about what I just did. That boy..he's not like the rumors at all. Well, at least he granted me a wish. [tell me why I JUST noticed I forgot to make m/n grant her wish. THE WISH PART I forgot. Nvm just imaging the wish you gave her and ill go back and edit..maybe tomorrow or Monday.]¨I need to tell Hanako. . . . .HANAKO?! OH NO I FORGOT I HAD TO CLEAN THE BATHROOM TODAY. ｡ﾟ･（>﹏<）･ﾟ｡

I was rushing in a hurry to get to the girls' bathroom. Until I made it. Before I opened the door I was thinking why do I have to clean the girls' bathroom it's gross...'I feel more like a maid than a paranormal apprentice.' I soon opened the door and walked in. ¨Hanako, Hanako, Hanako...CAN I PLEASE GO HOME THESE TOILETS ARE GROSSING ME OUUUT!!¨

¨Not yet!¨ he responded back happily as he came out of the stall.

¨Please, there's just something I have to get done today?!¨

¨mmm no. I've also got something important I need to you to do when you're finished. Sounds like your only option is to clean faster.¨ He said smiling

¨Not faiRrrr! [Shakes him]You may be eternally young but I'm not! I'm at the price of my life right now and I could be missing my big chance today because of youUu!¨

[dizzy] (@□@)

¨Chance for what?¨

[stops shaking him]¨Not trying to brag but I got asked out on the second date by fuji the coolest guy in class.¨ I said happily smiling with my eyes closed while holding up the number two. {¨Are you free after school today?¨} ¨He really wants to meet me alone in our classroom later and i really don't want to stand him up.¨ I said still in the same pose smiling.

¨A date?!!¨ Hanako said. ¨What exactly are you expected to do with this kid?¨ Hakano asked floating close to me in mid-air.

¨If you really wanna know I guess I have to tell youu~¨ I said with hearts above my head smiling with a tent of blush on my cheeks.

. . . . . . . ¨Were meeting in an empty classroom to organize paperwork for student council. Fuji said he has to leave right away though so I told him id finish up. He's so shyy.¨ (ᓀ ᓀ||||)

¨If he's leaving than does that count as a date?¨ (O O)

¨Sure. I may just be a woman of convenience for now. But eventually, he'll I'm a catch.¨ I say trying to reassure myself, crouching down.

¨Well that's one way to look at it. But there's a fine line between optimistic and naive. Sounds to me like he's using you.¨ He says and I feel him behind me. ¨Stay. Don't go on this date.¨ He then puts his hands on mine, closing them together while saying ¨Ill show you a better time than that guy will.¨ I gasps and look back at him and he's looking at me. ¨And I won't leave you alone.¨[now she holding the mop and lets out a weird sound which idk wut to call it.] . . . . .I clench the broom ¨Thank you Hanako but if my choices are to clean bathrooms with you or sort paperwork alone, then please hand me all the stacks.¨

{difeated shocked noises-hanako} ¨Uh??!!¨ Σ(□△□|||)

¨Okay that's fine. You must really miss breathing through your gills. Guess I better go shopping. What's your favorite fish food?¨

¨✨Nothing brings me more joy than a sparkling clean bathroom!✨¨ I said happily mopping.

[thequietmanno1]

TheLreads, Vigilantes ch 100, Replies Part 1

1) “And today was…. Ah, right, Vigilantes. And look at that number! 100 chapters! my oh my, felt much, MUCH, longer than that, that’s for sure. “- Not so long to the finish line now…

2) “oh yeah, because they definitely don’t stand out alright

fine, I suppose that they can pass unnoticed considering that we are focusing on the fact that people are too comfortable due to hero society blah blah blah that doesn’t change the fact they aren’t subtle when causing chaos. How are you expecting people to feel divided and isolated if they are seeing the person causing the chaos and how it doesn’t even look human?”- I guess in the low lighting they assume they couldn’t make out too much of their “facial features” or assumed they wore face-obscuring equipment like balaclavas. Still, it might have been more effective to give the anonymous troops access to Nomura’s own face-shifting ability, especially since they also share the bomber parasite cells, just to sell the sense of division more.

3) “McBee your tulpa is tempting fate right at the start of the chapter, I’m not even going to blame you when All Might does show up to ruin the fun.”- Technically, if it’s part of his own mind, doesn’t that mean that it’s still Nomura tempting fate indirectly?

4) “Hey I want to see the giraffe person on the back! C'mon Furuhashi, you gave us thomas the tank engine but you’re not even going to show a simple furry?”- “checks out Mirko”. I think Horokoshi’s pulling double-duty on that front, and doing a fine job of it too.

5) “OH MY GOD EDGE KITE

C'MON I WANTED TO SEE MORE OF THAT, THAT’S SO ABSURD I LOVED IT”- An actual ninja tool for infiltration, though I guess it took some aid from Jeanest to pull off with his fibre master powers giving it a boost and a grounding line. 6) “My god man, the heroes are really falling into hard times if they weren’t even given a simple table to put their map on, and have to dramatically crouch down to make their plans

This absolutely hurts my knees just from watching”- Gonna need to do some more squats to keep the knees in line, stop them complaining.

7) “Those damn millennials, don’t know how to act without power and internet. Back in my day if we had to call the emergency we just sent a smoke signal after hunting some mammoths.”- True, but with light pollution in a darkened night-time area, would anybody be able to see the smoke from a better-lit section of the city? Ironically, smoke is easier to make out when backlit by light. 8) “Yeah I mean, this situation is far from dire when we have a human missile that can zapt out of here and call for help in less than two minutes.”- True, but a lot can go down in less than two minutes. It’s all a matter of who moves first, and how fast the other side respond. 9) “Edge, we saw you being used a fucking kite, drop the chuunibyou attitude, there’s absolutely no way we ever will take it serious”- I dunno, Tokoyami would be all over that stuff like a pigeon at feeding time…oh, wait. 10) “Oh hey Koichi, nice to see you here. Now piss off, the grown ups are working and they still haven’t forgotten you made them circle around town the whole day long”- He tried, but Aizawa’s here to make him apologise to the nice heroes he made fools of in public, running around and evading them all day and all night. He’s trying to teach Koichi that with great skills, comes great accountability. 11) “oh my god- alright, points for koichi for actually doing what I told him to do, even if it failed miserably.”-  Koichi tried to peace out, but Aizawa came here for war. 12) “…

Yeah Aizawa, sure… Absolutely sure of that… I won’t give five minutes before you have him fighting villains.”- To be fair, with the bombers attacking everybody at once, Koichi would have been mobbed with Anonymous drones regardless of where he went. 13) “Okay now that one I’d love to see Aizawa. I am not sure you have authority to do that as a hero, haven’t you seen what happened to Captain Celebrity when he used a bit too much force?”- And later in life, Aizawa would wind up mentoring a kid who’s so helpful, he breaks his own legs to spare Aizawa the effort! 14) “Yeah, thought so. You fucking tsundere.the ADHD is strong, they didn’t got two blocks away before getting sidetracked, I feel seen.”- Being a hero is merely an example of picking up every single sidequest in a videogame before you progress the main plot. Explains how All Might’s so damm OP actually, he power-grinded even the most obscure quests to reap all those hero points and put them into strength.

15) “Oh it’s McBee talking again? I hope so, because it’s funny to see him realizing that anon hate in the inbox is one of the least efficient ways of causing discord.”- Nomura realised he needed his hate statements to carry more “oomph” and figured the best way was to prepare an explosive delivery system, guaranteed to blow you away! @thelreads

[sannflwrr]

How To Get Out of the Friend Zone: A (Chaotic) Guide by Jisung (Ch. 1)

Author: sannflwrr

Pairing: Jisung x MC

Genre: Frenemies(-ish) to Lovers

Rating: PG-13

Warnings: mentions of smoking, weed, drugs, alcohol, homophobia (homophobics are not allowed on my page), some sexual themes, and of course - angst

Summary: Bae is obsessed with making the most of her time during college. She has a very colorful group of friends who make living life recklessly fun, and a dance team that throws all sorts of unparalleled events in her way. Along the way, she falls (hard) for many people, but what will it take for her to realize everything she’s wanted has been in front of her the whole time?

RULE 1: DO NOT TELL THEM YOU’RE FRIENDS

Bae Chen enjoys the thrill of her college life. It’s light-hearted, chaotic, dramatic, stressful - all of the good and bad, she has it. Seizing the city. Embracing her youth. She tries so hard to make the most of everything she has, this is supposedly to be the best years of her life, so she wants to remember everything. Maybe that own realization is too scary for her to process, to cope with, so she ignores the thought by throwing herself into everything else. Be everywhere at once. Try everything and anything if it would bring a story for later. 

And it starts in the new year, entering her junior year as the hot August days pass. She spent an early Saturday morning and a sweaty afternoon unloading all of her belongings into her new apartment, a place all to herself. As the evening rolled around, she got a text from a familiar number, Karina Yoo, then followed up with a text from the subject of her text. 

Chenle’s throwing a party, it read. Having people over tonight, his read. Both finished in please come. Bae hadn’t seen Karina in months, a girl who was originally her roommate for the previous school year. Because of that thought alone, remembering that she missed the girl, Bae decided then to get ready. All of her suitcases weren’t fully unpacked, but she had pulled out enough where she was able to pull together a relatively on-brand Bae Chen outfit. 

Chenle’s parties were always great. They had a reputation amongst this particular circle of her university, one of the richest guys on campus. His father was probably a billionaire, so Chenle was spoilt and liked his wealth. He had a fancy house off campus to himself, but if Bae knew any better, his friends probably loitered there without paying rent. 

“Hi.” She breathes when the front door opens. It’s a dark blue color, matches the blinds on the windows. The ash-haired man stares back, then the corners of his lips lift. She can see his other hand balances a cigarette and a beer can. He looks older from the last time she saw him. When he moves closer, she can smell his cologne. Expensive no doubt, she always liked the way he smelt.

“How was your summer?” Chenle asks, closing the door behind her. There’s a low hum of music from the front entrance, she kicks off her shoes. Based on the number of pairs, Bae has to guess she’s the last one to arrive. She pushes her shoes to sit in line with the pair of blue converse. She hesitated before responding, focusing her actions anywhere but at Chenle. She can feel his stare watching her curiously. 

“Pretty good. As average as they can be.” Bae manages. She finds his eyes to be intimidating. There was a time a couple years ago where Chenle had creeped into her heart, sometimes whenever she remembers that it’s embarrassing. He’s worlds apart from her, and his opinion on relationships also falls in that realm. She realized shortly in that year that he’s much better at being a friend. 

“Did you, uh…” She follows him through the house. This place screams Chenle Zhong. “You had an internship right?”

“Bibigo. Went abroad for it.” He responds. “You want anything to drink? I’ve got the whole assortment.” 

“Did I miss the housewarming party?” Bae asks him. He smiles, resting an arm on her shoulder. Two-years-ago-Bae would have freaked out, now all it does is send a brief tingle down her spine. 

“Just late, that’s all. I’ll get you a seltzer then.” 

There’s a chorus of ‘Bae!’ and ‘Heyyy Bae’ that follow when they emerge at the home bar. She’s not surprised he has the set-up, this is Chenle. Next to the bar is a lounging area - presumably the living room. Several of the couches are occupied, Jisung and Karina seated on opposite ends. Jaemin and Jeno are at the stools, watching Chenle pull something from one of the cabinets, probably her seltzer.

“Did you miss me?” Bae asks, but the question is directed to Karina, who grins knowingly. 

“You? Of course not. We called basically everyday.”

“And somehow, that wasn’t enough for me.” Bae sits down next to Karina, and the other wraps her arm around her. Comfortable, habitual. Just this action alone makes her feel like she had never left. “How was working abroad, Chenle?”

“It was nice.” He calls out. Chenle emerges in her view, handing her the can then taking the spot right next to her. “Work was fun. The best part was the girls, though.”

“Of course.” Karina mumbles.

“Oh, wouldn’t you like to know!”

“I would, actually.” She counters. Bae’s convinced that Chenle has a thing for Karina, a weird toxic masculinity thing of trying to obtain girls who aren’t obtainable. Karina could never go for a guy like Chenle, let alone men, since she likes girls. 

Her past roommate had spent her summer break traveling, something Bae always was envious of. Karina’s parents were also well off, maybe she’s not as showy with it like Chenle is, but her parents make enough to let her go traveling alone every summer. She’s a film major, if that adds anything. Bae remembers that she was in Morocco. 

“I got your postcard.” She tells her pointedly. Karina smiles, letting an exhale loose. 

“Oh good.”

“I didn’t get one.” Jisung complains, scowling at her. “How come Bae gets one but I don’t?”

“You’d look at it and throw it out after, Jisung.” She’s right. “I only sent it to Bae, she understands the art behind it.” In a way Karina is similar to Chenle, they have their own way of going about the world. Maybe their ways aren’t similar, but the fact they have one is what ties them together. She’s exactly what he wants though, someone as carefree as him, who can’t be tied to a particular place. But just like him, Karina lacks that desire for commitment, along with the will to get involved in anything remotely romantic. 

“She’s right.” Bae comments, looking at Jisung. She can feel the waves of irritation roll off him and towards her, though he casts her a bored look. Jisung has always been like that, a hot ball of fury whenever she says anything to piss him off. Bae prides herself on her ability to get under his skin, but the same could go for him. He’s got a knack for rubbing salt in her wounds. 

Last year he sported blond hair, made him look younger than he was. Now the black hair was back, reminding her that he was nearing the legal drinking age, reminding her that he was in fact older than her. Bae smiles to herself once. “What? You’re mad because I’m right.” 

“God, you’re so fucking annoying Bae.” He throws a hand over his face. “Can’t even catch a break, it’s barely been five minutes.” 

“If you missed me, you can say that.” 

“I didn’t miss any of you guys.” Jeno seems to take offense to this comment, he rolls his eyes at Jisung from the bar. Jeno’s an introvert if Bae had ever seen one. He doesn’t speak much, the silent ‘Ferb’ type as Karina refers to him. He speaks more with actions and body language, with the occasional monologue on how shitty human beings are, and our evilness. Bae’s always been fascinated with the way he carries himself. Strong and silent. Out of everyone in the loosely aligned group, he’s probably the closest to Jaemin. 

“We didn’t miss you either.” Jaemin says, taking a long sip from his Simply Spiked - Chenle really does have just about everything. “It’s not like you were living at my place rent-free for two months straight.”

“Hey,” Jisung raises his hands in protest. “It was only a couple nights.”

“Yeah.” Jaemin nods. “A couple nights every week!”

“It’s not my fault I kept getting sexiled!” Jisung shudders. “They were fucking like rabbits, and the walls are so thin. Couldn’t get an ounce of sleep.”

“Consider investing in headphones?” Karina asks.

“I shouldn’t have to do that in my own house. And besides, it was a ridiculous amount of sex. Every night, really?” Jisung glances at Bae once, then up at the ceiling. He’s sprawled on the couch so he gets a nice view of the galaxy projector Chenle has displayed on the ceiling. “But I’m just glad my new place is all to myself. Cannot stand living with other people.” 

Bae’s glad she didn’t have any roommate horror stories like that. Her freshman year roommate was uneventful - they’re not really friends but the casualness between them is probably what made it work. Last year was obviously Karina Yoo, that one had been amazing - but she decided she needs to begin her chapter of living alone. Nothing against Karina, things just felt more serene when she was completely alone. A personal preference. 

“How were the girls?” Bae asks Chenle. Knowing him, he probably would have pulled a few while he was there. The hesitation in his response confirms her thoughts. Bae snorts. “That good, huh?”

“I would rather not share.”

“Oh that’s evil. Keeping secrets?” Jaemin joins in on the laugh. “Did you have a fling?”

Karina points at him. “Look at the way he’s avoiding eye contact. He definitely had a fling.” 

“I didn’t peg you as the relationship type.” Jaemin continues. Chenle remains silent, as if that’ll make them move on. Far from it, since Jisung scoffs.

“Well, a fling is different from a relationship.”

“Is it?” Bae frowns. “I thought a fling is a short relationship. In this case, a relationship that lasted the course of the summer.” 

“A fling could also just mean hook-ups. Like a friends with benefits arrangement.” 

Rather than press it into an argument, which Bae would usually do with Jisung, she lets it go. “I don’t know. I’ve never had a fling.” 

“You haven’t?” Karina’s brows rise. “They’re great if you have commitment issues like me.” 

“Such a shame you’re a ghost on social media.” Jaemin tells Chenle. “Otherwise I would’ve tried to piece together who the girl was.”

“Check his following. Chenle’s not the type to give his phone number out to girls - creates a level of intimacy he doesn’t have.” Jeno mutters. An accurate observation of Chenle’s character on Jeno’s part, at this, Chenle’s eyes widen. The next few seconds pass slowly, Chenle reaching for his phone the same time as Bae - Karina and Jisung’s eyes widening in amusement. Bae Chen is faster, grabbing it up and tossing it across to Jisung so Chenle can’t pull it from her.

Jaemin laughs loudly. “You’re a genius Jeno. I’ll check right now.” 

For a few minutes, Jisung and Chenle are wrestling each other on the couch, Jisung seems to be overpowering him. Jaemin and Jeno are hovering over another cellphone, probably stalking his following. Bae knows if she was on it, the girl would have been found by now, but she doesn’t feel like pulling out her phone. Karina watches with an unreadable expression, Bae looks at her then back at the two men. 

It’s chaotic, just like she remembers. Lord, Bae knows she’ll be so sad when this chapter of her life finishes. 

One of Bae’s goals for this year is to join Karina’s dance team. They’re a close lot - somehow, even though there’s so many of them. Bae met a few of them last year during Karina’s first year on the team, she used to bring some of them back to her place. In fact, this team had been on Bae’s radar for a few years now - ever since she stepped foot on campus. They were elite, excellent performers, but the timing for applications and auditions just never worked out with Bae’s schedule. Karina had been on her ass about it last year, complaining about why she didn’t try out with her. Now, Bae was more than determined to make it work.

“You’re a great dancer.” Karina said to her as they were walking to the gym together. “The fact that you were even nervous baffles me.” And just as she manifested, auditions did line up in her favor, Bae was able to go. According to Karina, she did well. Bae had taken a break from professional dancing once she entered college, it became too much with her course load and life in general. However, seeing that this team wasn’t competitive, it seemed that Bae’s days of dancing were not over. 

Today was their first day of practice, and a day for icebreakers and going over team policies. There were a few other new recruits along with her, but Bae mostly planned to stick by Karina. As they enter the studio, several of her teammates brighten at the sight of Karina. Bae recognizes a few from their apartment last year, but mostly she fixates on the boy and girl duo whispering amongst themselves in the corner. Seulgi and Ten, the ones who ran auditions. 

“That’s Seulgi and Ten,” Karina says to her softly. “I’m sure you’re familiar with them though. They’re this year's captains.” All information of which Bae knew. She nods slowly, then sets her bag down next to Karina’s. 

Of the ones Bae recognizes, she can recall the name of one — Lee Taeyong. If she remembered correctly, he was a year above Karina and her. He glances at her and smiles. “Bae, right?” 

“Yeah.” She is surprised he knows her name. “Finally tried out.” They had a conversation sometime last year where he had encouraged her to audition. Karina never said anything but good things about him, so Bae had to assume he was a nice dude. 

“I’m surprised you were holding back on her.” He tells Karina, leaning back to fix his hair. He’s the only person on the team sporting a bright red hairdo. It’s a statement, but seems to suit him well. Karina responds, but Bae isn’t really paying attention, since some of the others who auditioned with her enter the studio at the same time. Minjeong and Shotaro. 

Now Shotaro was an absolute beast in the studio, Bae had been absolutely sure he would have made it onto the team. He was definitely a freshman though, by the looks of it. He had that high school-ish charm to him, and his smile was very cute. He glances around the room, and recognizing Bae, seems to relax a bit. 

“Hi Bae.” 

“I think she’s the rookie favorite.” Karina tells Taeyong, though Bae has no idea what that means. Must be some inside joke. 

“Hey.” She says to him, then moves over on the floor so both him and Minjeong can sit. The girl is more timid than Shotaro, but she smiles at Bae in greeting. They probably have another five minutes before practice begins. She’s not sure if anyone else in their batch made it onto the team. There’s already a good chunk of people in the studio. Bae wonders how the two standing a distance away from the rest of them could manage such a large team. 

Probably a minute before the clock hits the next hour, another person bustles through - probably speed walking to make it on time. Even in the rush though, he manages to catch Bae off guard, and thank god for her mask, because her jaw fell to the floor. She has never seen a man so gorgeous. 

He has silky blond hair - he didn’t try out with them so she has to assume he’s a returning member. Had Bae not been so caught up in her thoughts about his gorgeousness, she probably would have caught Taeyong saying Mr. McDreamy’s name. Seulgi’s voice, however, does do enough to cut through her thoughts. 

“Welcome back.” She says. Bae can sense she’s a little nervous, dealing with such a huge group of people. She can imagine why. The brunette brushes through her hair once, in her hand is a laptop, where she presumably has her notes on what to discuss today. She eyes scan the screen for a second, before she resumes. “I hope you guys notice our newbies today.” 

The remaining eyes in the room fall directly onto the three of them, Bae trains her eyes directly onto Ten - the tattooed man who peers over Seulgi’s shoulder. “We’re going to be doing a bit of an icebreaker activity just so we all get acquainted and/or re-acquainted with one another. It’s been a long summer so I assume there’s a bit of catching up we need to do.” She looks at Ten once. “Before that though, we do have a few important announcements.” 

Icebreakers are Bae’s worst nightmare. She has a strong theory that these icebreaker activities at the beginning of every school year is what stemmed her social anxiety. Seulgi had them branch off into randomized groups, unfortunately neither Karina or any of the rookies were in her group - maybe Seulgi did this on purpose to them to talk to other people. It’s just difficult when one is trying to find how they fit into an already interwoven dynamic. And to make it worse, McDreamy is also in her group. 

Sitting next to her is a someone who looks familiar to her. She can’t recall if he’s one of the teammates Karina has brought over to their place in the past, or if she’s just seen him somewhere else. He gives her the answer though, after staring at her for a couple seconds.

“You’re friends with Jisung right?” 

Bae nods briefly. “Yeah. Do you know him too?”

“Yeah, we go back.” His tongue brushes over his lips once, then glances at the small circle they’re in. “I guess I’ll go first then. My name is Haechan, currently a junior studying health sciences.”

Since she’s next to him, she goes next. Bae is pretty sure there’s more they need to be saying, but he didn’t elaborate more and she’s scared to ask what the full extent of the questions were. “I’m Bae. Junior, studying political science.” 

“Poli-sci?” McDreamy asks. “That’s cool. I used to be a political science major, then I switched to communications.” 

The fourth in their group has an attractive mullet, with strands of white hair thrown in. “Jungwoo takes care of all our socials unofficially since he’s a communications student. I’m Renjun, also a junior. I’m a nursing student.” He laughs when Bae winces.

“That must be difficult right now.”

“Lots of clinicals.” He agrees.

“So we’re all juniors?” Bae looks at the other three, but mostly Haechan since she has a somewhat connection to him, even if it’s through the bane of her existence. Jungwoo, aka McDreamy, is too gorgeous for her to stare at. “That’s sick.” 

“Renjun did most of my introduction for me, but I’m Jungwoo.” He’s staring only at her. Maybe it’s meaningless, and it probably is, knowing the simplicity of men. He’s probably only looking at her because she’s the only one in the circle who is unfamiliar with him. Yet, she wants to hope and dream that his stare means something more. His eyes make her feel like the only girl in the world. 

“Welcome to our team Bae,” He adds, which makes her insides sparkle. “I think you’ll love it here.” 

Classes are well into full swing, so hypothetically she should know where all her classes are located by now. However, most of her professors offered a virtual option - attending via Zoom - so for the past few weeks, so Bae’s ratio of attending in person to virtual is large enough where every time she goes, she needs to have directions on her phone. She’s trying to be better about this year, going in person helps her focus more than sitting at her computer screen in the comforts of her home. However, today she found her reason to start coming back in person.

“No way. I thought you transferred schools.” She hisses when the familiar boy slides into the seat next to her. Mark lets out one of those awkward giggles that she was so used to hearing over Zoom. 

“I took a leave of absence in spring. Needed a break.” He pulls out his laptop, setting up his side of the desk in a similar fashion to hers. “I would have let you know if I was leaving.”

“How? Through an email?” 

“I mean, you’re the kind that actually checks her email.” Mark shrugs. “So yeah, I would.” 

Mark Lee is a fellow poli-sci student, someone she met through Facebook a couple months before she started going to college. Through those incoming class Facebook groups, he posted that he was an incoming political science major, and that’s exactly where their friendship began. They don’t really have any means of contact - they’ve never shared numbers, and even with the socials they share, they never interact with one another. Even that being said, it doesn’t stop her from basically trusting him with her life. She doesn’t know why they click so much - maybe it’s the similar feelings of depression that they share, or the overwhelming sense of a meltdown threatening to come out during any poli-sci section that ties them together. 

“What’d I miss?”

“A lot. I think I’m going insane, Mark.”

He snorts. “I wouldn’t say that’s new.”

“Oh you’re vile.” She mutters. “How was the break?”

“Could have been better if my parents weren’t constantly criticizing me for taking a break.” 

“That’s rough.” She doesn’t know what else to add. “Good to have you back though.” Bae can’t say it’ll get easier, because it won’t, but she hopes he knows that she wants them to get through it together.

Throughout the course of the lecture, their professor goes over certain big projects due over the semester, each one making Bae sink further and further into her seat. This is a 300-level course, meaning it won’t be easy, but the idea of having all of that due is already giving her a headache. Mark either senses her unease, or he’s feeling it himself, for he lets a small defeated sigh slip. 

“I think we need to start our study sessions again.”

“Oh absolutely.” She mumbles. They’re royally fucked. The last words she utters to him that day is a date and time for next week - Wednesday at the library, before she leaves the hall to get some fresh air. Who said any of this was a good idea? At least the taking classes part. If Bae didn’t love the whole freedom aspect and everything else outside of the classes, she would have dropped out ages ago. 

She doesn’t get much time to ponder on the amount of depression her class is going to put her into before someone calls out her name. Well, it’s a group of people - a mix of faces she didn’t expect to be with each other. Haechan, Chenle…and Jungwoo. 

Jungwoo is the one who called her over, lounging at the public chairs set up outside of the campus building. There’s a couple of campus food trucks nearby, and Chenle has a takeout container in his hands so she assumes they must’ve gotten something to eat. Ugh, she was starving.

She smiles in greeting when she does reach the three boys, standing next to Chenle. “Did you guys have class?”

“I do, in ten minutes.” Haechan says, grimacing slightly. “Chenle said you’d be in here.” 

Bae is stunned he even remembers her schedule. He seems to pick this up and shrugs nonchalantly, trying to brush it off. She knows for a fact she won’t. “I mean, I don’t know. I said it was a hit or miss, you’re not the type to go to class.” 

She had been about to snap back, but Jungwoo laughs at that comment, so she settles with a snort. “I didn’t realize you guys knew each other.” 

“I make it my business to know everyone.” Chenle says. Bae assumes that that translates into I make it my business to know everyone Karina’s friends with. Jungwoo looks at Bae with a small smile. 

“I didn’t know you were friends with Chenle.” He looks at Chenle now. “I went to one of your parties last year, it was amazing.” 

“I aim to please.” He then hands the takeout box to Bae. “I also have class now, so I’m going to go.”

Her brows furrow. “Why are you giving this to me?”

“I got it for you.” He shrugs. “You like Kim’s, right?” 

“I do…” She trails off. “Thanks, Chenle.” 

He flashes her one of those unreadable smiles of his, one she’s been trying to dissect for years now. Then, he disappears onto the grass with Haechan, leaving her alone with McDreamy. 

“Where are you headed?” Jungwoo asks her. 

Without blinking, Bae looks back at him. “Wherever you’re going.” 

By his expression, she thinks he liked that answer. 

It’s probably a terrible idea to start anything with Jungwoo. One being that she doesn’t know him well at all, so to make a move on him without knowing for sure she was attracted to him? Tomfoolery. Another being that he was on her dance team, they were teammates so if she fucked things up, that could severely affect the team dynamic. Again, all things that could be avoided if Bae just chose not to fucking flirt with him. Which is, of course, what a rationale, patient, and even slightly intelligent person would do. All, of which, Bae Chen is not.

Luckily, it’s not like she made a huge move on him. It was just something very subtle, just saying that wherever he was going, she would go, which led her into hanging out with him for the next few hours. They went to a skate park where Bae finally cracked open that box of Kim’s, and Jungwoo started smoking. She supposed everyone had to have their flaws starting somewhere, so she wasn’t necessarily disappointed when he pulled out the pack of cigarettes. 

(But really? Cigarettes? She felt like if he were to smoke, he could have chosen something better than that at least…)

She got a few emails from Mark throughout the day - shocking - the most important one being that he was able to snag a free copy of the textbook from some bootleg site online. He’s a saint, because Bae hadn’t even begun to start worrying about that bullshit. When it was reaching sunset, Bae bade Jungwoo a farewell, the blondie was amazing to be around - but she had a personal curfew for herself that not even he could get past. Especially in the fact that she was traveling alone too. After walking for a few minutes, she reached the bus stop, taking a seat at the bench. Next to her is a man staring up at the sky. 

“You go to school here?” He asks her immediately.

“I do.” She responds.

“College?”

“Yes.” 

“I’m a college dropout.” He tells her. Bae’s not even sure how she was able to come up with a response to that, and the words that followed after. 

“Was it for a good reason?”

“My dad spent all of my college fund gambling.” Oh. “And then because of that my mom and him got into a fight - it was physical if you needed details, she whacked him over the head with my taekwondo trophy from sixth grade. He died, she’s in jail now.” Oh. “He was way older than her though, I think he had it coming.” Oh. 

“Are you okay?” She asks, after a long minute. She’s wondering why this bus hasn’t shown up yet, save her from this conversation. Truly one for the books. 

“It was six years ago. Yeah.” He tells her simply. She shrugs. 

“I don’t know. I feel like that can still be traumatic, six years or not. Have you considered seeing a therapist?” 

“I haven’t paid my rent for the past few months, I don’t think I could afford a session…to be honest.”

“They haven’t evicted you?” 

“I haven’t gone back there to check.” 

“Oh.” She nods. “So you’re homeless.” 

“Aloof. A wanderer. That’s one way to put it.” This is the first time she gets a look at man. He seems wise, but also looks like there is not a single thought behind those brown eyes of his. He can’t be that much older than her. “My name is Jaehyun.” He surely doesn’t look like a stereotypical homeless person. He looks rather put together, for someone whose world is in shambles. 

“I’m Bae. Nice to meet you.” 

“Are you enjoying college?” He asks her. 

“Yes.” He’s silent, probably expecting more of an answer.  “…and no. It’s nice being independent, learning how to adult alone…having this freedom and spontaneity to do whatever whenever. I don’t know, the pressure of college itself and bringing something out of it is definitely a joy kill. My student loans are another one too.” 

“Learn to embrace both.” She appreciates the sheer honesty and bluntness with his words, and this entire conversation. It’s like talking to someone you’ve never met in real life, in this case that being that they don’t know each other at all. “When you move past this face, nostalgia has a tendency to block out the bad memories - and shame you for ever thinking this period of your life was difficult.” He makes an alarmingly good point. 

“I…” She hesitates when the bus nears the corner. “You make a good point. Are you getting on here?” 

“Not now. Maybe later.” He takes out a water bottle from his bag to drink from it. “See you around.” 

She’s not sure if she’ll see him again, but she waves him bye, and boards the bus. The sun has dipped lower into the horizon by this point, so it’ll be nightfall just as she reaches her apartment - perfect timing. She really didn’t like to be out late when she was going around by herself. Bae receives a text from Jisung when the bus nears the stop before hers. Are you home? He asks. 

In 2 minutes yeah.

It’s quiet on his end for a minute, before a reply comes. I’m outside your house.

She can’t help but let out a snort. Of course he is. She doesn’t know why she’s not surprised, it’s not like Jisung did this often, but it was so on-brand for a person like him to just pop up whenever. Bae doesn’t send back a response, knowing that she’ll be home within seconds now. And as the bus pulls around the stop, she can see her apartment, where indeed, a blurry figure sits on the front steps. Her place is further up the street so he’s not identifiable, but by now, Bae knows that it’s Jisung. 

“What brings you here?” She asks him. 

“I was in the area. Do you have food?” 

“So you’re hungry.” She scoffs. He’s just as predictable as she expected him to be. Jisung follows her through the front entrance. 

“I kinda…overspent this month. My part-time doesn’t start until next week, and my rent sucked up the remainder of my funds.” Oh, so he’s in dire need. Bae will admit, she probably wouldn’t have turned him down even if he did have the funds. She nods at the kitchen island, where he happily takes a seat. 

“What’d you do today?” Jisung asks.

“Talked to a homeless man.” She responds, pulling out a few ingredients from the fridge. 

“He didn’t follow you back home, did he?” 

“He didn’t even get on at my stop. So, no.” She turns on the gas. “He was very…insightful, if you ask me. Oh, and speaking of…do you know Haechan?”

“Yeah, I do. Why?” 

“You never mentioned that you knew him. He’s on my dance team.” 

“Oh.” He shrugs. “Didn’t think of it.” 

“I didn’t realize you guys were tight with all of them like that.” She shakes her head. “Small world.” 

“Who?”

“Chenle too.” She elaborates. “Apparently he’s close with Jungwoo too…” Bae tilts her head in contemplation. “I don’t know how much I like that.” 

“Jungwoo?” Jisung sounds surprised. “So that’s the dude Karina mentioned.” 

Oh, she’s not liking where this is heading. Karina is terrible at one thing, and that’s keeping her mouth shut. “What exactly did she say?” Bae asks cautiously. 

“Jungwoo, Mr. McDreamy,” Jisung grimaces over the words. “as she phrased it. The dude you’ve gone all soft for. Honestly, gross, Bae.” 

“When have I ever shamed you for liking someone?”

“Remember Yizhuo?” He doesn’t stop there. “Or Yeri? Or Joohyun—”

“Okay Joohyun is way out of your league. I laughed because the gap was comical.” 

She can practically hear him roll his eyes behind her. “Exactly. So we’re even now. And besides, isn’t Jungwoo like…” When she turns, he sees Jisung flip his hand downwards slowly. 

“He’s not gay!” Truthfully, that thought never even occurred to her. “He’s not gay.” She repeats. Now that the thought is there, she’s curious. Is he? Really thinking about…she could see it as one way or another. 

“He’s not…” Annoyed, Bae blinks abruptly. “How do you even know this?” 

“I have my sources.”

“So you’re just bluffing.” She crosses her arms. “It’s not very nice to assume someone’s sexuality.” 

“And neither is pining after him and assuming he’s into girls.”

“I’m not assuming he is!” Bae glares at him. “He might be bi. Why confine him to one gender?” 

“I’m not!” Jisung grins, amused with her irritation like he always is. “Again, I just suggested that he may not be straight. You are the one who assumed I meant gay.”

Bae opens her mouth once, to say something (anything), but comes up with nothing. His lips twist into a wider smile when she shuts her mouth promptly and turns away to refocus her attention on the stove. Jisung 1, Bae 0.

“I made a pass at him today though.” Bae says. “Kind of subtle, but he took it. I think.” She sighs. “I don’t know if he’s interested in me like that though.” 

“Guys are simple, Bae. If he likes you, you’ll know. If you’re confused…then he probably doesn’t.” Along with that embarrassing time of her feelings for Chenle, there laid a brief (very brief) time where she questioned her feelings for Jisung. Platonic or something more. They kissed at his nineteenth birthday party when both of them were heavily intoxicated. She hardly knew him back then, it was at the very beginning of their friendship which is why things between them aren’t weird now. She also blamed most of her actions on the alcohol, but of course the overthinking made her wonder if she actually did like him. Turns out, that was wrong because any kind of attraction faded when she found out what a pain in the ass he was. But thinking about what he said, she wonders if there was ever a time, maybe in the beginning, if he ever tried to make it apparent. Bae’s a dunce, so most passes go ignored by her unless she’s the instigator. 

Maybe she imagined it, but the silence in the room grew heavy after his sentence, so Jisung awkwardly clears his throat, breaking eye contact with her. “Noodles right?” 

“Yeah, noodles.” She agrees, clicking off the stove. 

chapter 1, chapter 2, chapter 3, chapter 4, chapter 5 (coming soon)

[neonacity]

LUCID | NCT DREAM ‘00 LINE X READER | CH.6

LUCID DREAMS - A TYPE OF DREAM WHEREIN THE PERSON IS AWARE THAT THEY ARE CAUGHT IN A DREAM WORLD.

Summary: It was supposed to be a harmless, professional transaction. You were to tutor a group of boys, get your pay at the end of the day, and go home to your loving fiance. Kids aren’t supposed to be dangerous, right? So why, then, are you caught up in a web of madness that slowly makes you feel like you’re in a living nightmare?

NOTE:This is a yandere plot featuring NCT Dream ‘00 line which means there will be mature themes in the story as well as obsessive, toxic behavior. If you’re a minor, please refrain from interacting. If this isn’t your thing, then just scroll and skip. In no way am I condoning anything written here— this is not love, this is obsession—nor do I think that any of the people mentioned here will act any way like in this story. This is purely a work of fiction.

Genre: yandere, horror, suspense

TW: abuse, obsessive behavior, toxic relationships, suggestive scenes, stalking, possible kidnapping, mental health. Age gap–though nothing dramatic. Everyone is of legal age, drugs, slight smut for this chapter but nothing graphic, questionable consent (?) I guess? Creepy, creepy, creepy! This will be updated as the story goes along.

CHAPTER 1 | CHAPTER 2 | CHAPTER 3 | CHAPTER 4 | CHAPTER 5

“EVERYONE HAS A DARKER NATURE. EVERYONE. GOOD MEN FEAR IT, AND EVIL MEN EMBRACE IT.” - JAMES ISLINGTON

The silent hum of the air conditioning filled the space like a foreboding chant. Nothing else but the sound of the hospital machinery and random noises outside pierced the stillness of the room as you stared, unseeing, at the green and orange numbers that blinked on the monitor above the bed. 

You barely have any recollection of how you managed to find yourself in the hospital, but you do remember brief memories of Taeyong picking you up from the floor you found yourself crumpled on after you got the call. You remember seeing Jaehyun's parents at a brightly lit corridor and his mother pulling you into a hug as she broke down and his father telling you how his son hasn't woken up since he was brought to the emergency room.

You remember your heart breaking in shock, mind too numb from the godforsaken pills you have been taking and your own injury. So many times you wondered to yourself if you were still caught in one of your nightmares, but every time you tried to break free from it, you're slapped back with the reality of how all of this is real.

Your fingers gently tightened on Jaehyun's hands now as your gaze landed on his face. He looked so peaceful, like he's just sleeping, that you almost wanted to bend over and try to kiss him awake. You don't even have any idea what time and day it is already, but you have barely left his side since you were brought to him. The nightmares and sleeplessness? They're barely a problem for you anymore because right now, you're entirely not resting at all unless your body forces you to crash from physical exhaustion. Even then, you usually only sleep for about two to three hours at best to make sure that you never miss a moment with your fiance.

"Severe traumatic head injury. He was lucky enough that the airbag shielded him from the worst of the impact."

The words of his attending doctor echoed in your head again like a faraway voice. You could only remember bits and pieces of what he said to his parents back then as he reported his findings, but you caught enough context for you to draw a picture of the situation. You remember Jaehyun's mother asking the chances of her son waking up again, her voice barely holding up from her emotions. 

"I cannot promise anything, Ma'm. I'd say he has a 60 percent chance. He's fighting."

And he is. You know Jaehyun inside out. He might be unconscious now, but there is no way he is giving up. Not from something like this. 

"Keep fighting baby…" you whispered in the stillness of the room as you lifted his hand gently to your lips to kiss. "I'll wait for you. We still have a wedding to do."

The slight creaking of the door barely made you look away from his sleeping face. You only did at the gentle sound of a throat clearing, your eyes slightly widening as you recognized the man who just walked inside the room. Taeil had the same mildly shocked look on him as he stopped on the  other side of the bed across from you. 

"You…"

"Are you a relative of the patient?" He asked now as he tucked his clipboard under his arm. You simply nodded, watching him quickly glance at the numbers on the monitor before his eyes settled on you again.

"I'm his fiancee."

That made him raise his brows slightly. He pulled a pen now from the pocket of his coat to quickly write something on his file. "What a coincidence. Not a good one obviously. I'm sorry to hear about him. Mr. Jung, right?"

You swallowed. You didn't want to acknowledge anything that he just said so you tried to divert the conversation instead.

"You're not his doctor. Why are you…"

"Oh. He was turned over to me today. I am one of the resident neurologists here but he had to be moved to me because his first doctor has too much in his plate already. Don't worry, I was briefed properly about his case."

Your gaze followed Taeil as he bent over to check Jaehyun's oxygen level as well as the other wires attached to him. You don't know what to feel about him taking over, but at least you already know him previously.

"Are there any changes? Positive ones?" You asked in a frail voice that Taeil definitely didn't miss. You told yourself to not act silly and ask questions that probably do not have answers yet, but you couldn't help yourself now. The man seemed to think over his words first, noticing your state, before calmly giving his reply.

"No particular ones, but the fact that there are no negative developments is… something. I will have to request for some tests to be done on him again tomorrow so we can see if there are positive changes in his brain."

Neutral. Not good, but at least it's not bad either.

"How are you? I was about to check on you again. Is your head okay?"

You were still thinking over his words that you barely caught his question. Looking up, you tried to scramble for an answer to give. To be honest, you haven't given proper attention to your own injury since this happened. You would even only remember to take your medications on your clearest, less anxious moments, which, honestly, isn’t a lot. 

"I'm uh… the wound has closed. But the headaches. They're still there."

He simply nodded. "Any other side effects?"

You didn't immediately answer. You didn't want to sound whiny, but it's not like you're going to lose anything by telling him the uglier parts of your recovery. You swallowed to try and dislodge the slight blockage in your throat.

"Nightmares…" you said now, voice soft. You briefly remembered the last one you had back in the manor before you woke up to the bad news and you felt your stomach turn again. "Lots of them. Hallucinations sometimes…"

The doctor watched you carefully and you know he is trying to compute things in his mind despite his face remaining calm.

"Have you been keeping to your schedule with your medications? Are you taking too much?"

You firmly shook your head no to his last question.

"No, I haven't been overdosing. But… I've been skipping my pills the last few days because of...because of this."

"How have you been feeling since you started missing your dosages then? Do you remember?"

That made you actually stop and think about it for a moment. Now that you are paying attention, you did notice how the nightmares have calmed down slightly. Even the hallucinations are almost gone. You frowned slightly to yourself.

"A bit… better actually."

Taeil took his time to observe you a bit more before writing something on a new page of his clipboard.

"You must have had severe reactions to the mixture of pills I gave you. I'm going to prescribe you new ones and ask the nurses to pick them up and bring them to you here. Can you promise that you'll try and take them though? You really need them to fully heal."

You nodded and gave him a slightly sheepish look.

"I will, thank you very much."

Taeil dug his hands into the pockets of his coat and gave you a gentle smile.

"Well, that's it for today. I'll come back tomorrow to give you updates about Mr. Jung." He had already turned and started walking away when he suddenly stopped to look at you again.

"Oh, and another thing. Please try and get some sleep. Recover… and then focus on helping your fiance."

******* You didn't really know what woke you up. Stirring from your sleep, the first thing that registered to you was the sound of distant traffic mixed with the gentle chirping of the morning birds from outside the window. A warm feeling radiated on your cheek and made the back of your eyelids glow red.

You flickered your eyes open and immediately rolled away to escape the ray of sunshine that slipped from the open curtains and shone directly at your face. You easily evaded it as you moved over to the other side of the bed which was empty and cold from the night before.

That was when you finally remembered that you were back in your home, in the same bedroom you share with Jaehyun. The day before, his mother offered to take the responsibility of watching over him so there was a sudden change of plans that finally gave you the reason to check back into your apartment after so long. If it were you, you would have preferred not leaving your boyfriend’s side until he wakes up, but you also knew that your future mother-in-law wanted to spend time with him so you relented. 

Of course you weren't thrilled to be home alone, especially with Jaehyun not being there, but the comfort that a real mattress provided—over the small couch you used to sleep in back at the hospital—is definitely a welcome change for your body. You even tried to take your medicine properly, the new ones that Taeil had provided, in the hopes of getting knocked down fast. Your adrenaline and anxiety had been fueling you in the past days, but you know from the way your heart thumped and your hands shook that you need a solid rest.

And you got it. You still feel a little groggy now but your body is definitely lighter and your head clearer. The nightmares didn't even come, and while they were replaced by total darkness or dreams in white that still made you anxious, you are willing to take those anytime over the graphic ones that you used to have.

You gently sat back against the headrest of the bed now and reached out for your phone to check the time. It's barely 7AM but as expected, Jaehyun's mom has already provided you with updates from the hospital. He’ll have some tests taken today as Taeil advised and then they’ll hear more about his progress. From the looks of it, she seems still set on watching over her son, which means you still have at least today free to yourself.

You quickly typed a reply to her and sighed. You’re thankful that even though you weren’t related by blood, his parents have always treated you as if you were their own. Having a family is not something you’ve really experienced in your childhood, so that’s something you’ve always appreciated about them. That is also the reason why you wish for the best out of this situation, because you also couldn’t bear seeing your fiance’s mother and father heartbroken. He’s their only son, after all.

A quick look around your room left you feeling empty. The last week has been so hard that it felt longer and now you’re struggling to find your normal pace again. In an effort to bring yourself to focus, you decided to pick up your phone once more and started flipping through your calendar to check your schedule. It didn’t take long for you to frown when you realized the upcoming dates there. You’ve plotted important academic schedules in advance and one quick look at it told you how much you’ve obviously missed in the past week. You’ve been so lost in the mess of everything that has happened that you’ve entirely forgotten about your job at the manor. You realized that they didn’t even call you once to ask about your absence, probably because they also know about the situation, but even that is not enough excuse for you to entirely fall off the radar.  

Biting your lip, you quickly scrolled through your contacts now to look for the number you need. Your thumb hovered over the call button momentarily, but you eventually pressed it anyway. Your eyes wandered towards the clock on the wall, hoping silently to yourself that it wasn’t too early for you to call.

“Rosewood Manor, how can I help you?”

You straightened on your seat.

“Hey, Taeyong. It’s me. Sorry if I called so early.”

The other boy seemed to have been taken slightly by surprise by the way he fell silent at the other end of the line. You tapped your finger against your knee, waiting for him to speak again.

“Hi. No, it’s fine. Work started for me about an hour ago. Are you okay? How’s things on your end?”

You nibbled guiltily on your lower lip and finally got off your bed to walk over to the window. You pushed the curtains open and stared at the slight snowfall that had started falling on the ground. You’ve missed so many days of reporting to them but the first thing he does is to check if you’re fine.

“I um—things are still the same. My boyfriend’s still at the hospital.”

“Oh… I’m so sorry to hear that.”

“Look, I want to apologize. I haven’t really reported to work and I didn’t even call about it. It’s just that—things have been so crazy lately, but still that isn’t an excuse for me to just not show up.”

Taeyong, however, was understanding as always. You were about to go off for another round of apologies when he gently cut you off. 

“Hey, it’s fine. We know you’ve been dealing with a lot lately so we also weren't expecting anything. Don’t worry too much about it.”

“But, the boys’ examinations and portfolio review is happening in three days and I haven’t really checked in with them. How are they doing now?”

“Oh...that. Well, we actually tried looking for a temporary tutor to help out but I...uh… I think he isn't really cutting it. Maybe because he isn’t the one who started the program with them. But he’s a big help still.”

“Oh god, I’m so sorry about that. I should have at least—look, I can drop by today and just try to fix things.”

“Are you sure? You really don’t have to. Don’t you need to be at the hospital?”

You started going around your room now, trying to gather the scattered papers and files that you’ll need. It’s a good thing you woke up early so you still have time to prepare for work. “My boyfriend’s mother is the one watching over him today so I have the day off.”

“And your injury? How is it?”

Your eyes landed on the new bottles of medicine sitting on your bedside table.

“Better. I’m feeling so much better.”

You heard Taeyong sigh in relief over the phone. “Thank god. We were so worried about that. Well, you really don’t need to go, but if you have time, I guess doing it today won’t hurt. It will help us a lot.”

A small smile tugged at your lips now and you switched the phone over to your other ear as you started arranging your bag. “Thank you so much for being understanding. I need a distraction anyway. I’d rather work than stay home alone… Thanks for not firing me.”

That made him laugh a little. “I’ll tell the boys that you’re coming over. Oh, and be careful on your drive here. The roads are a little bit slippery today because of the snow.”

“I will, thank you. I’ll be there by 9.”

******* “Noona!”

You have barely finished arranging your materials on your desk when the door to the room burst open and ushered an anxious-looking Jisung inside. You looked up quickly at him, only barely catching Chenle wobbling with his crutch before your vision of the entrance was blocked by Jisung’s tall frame. His hair looked swept up as if he ran and there was a slight flush staining his cheeks. He stopped right in front of you, stopping just in time for him not to topple you over.

“Hey, Jisung how are—” You tried to give him a smile but he was quick enough to grab your hands between his.  

“Are you back? Are you really back for real?” He pressed now, eyes wide as he tried to bend over to look closely at you. He looked like a puppy, the only missing thing being a wagging tail to complete the look. You couldn’t help the brief laugh that passed over you as you tried to calm him down.

“I am. For the day, yes. Sorry I missed so many of your sessions.”

“We thought you left us,” Jisung continued, his lower lip protruding just a bit. Just then, Chenle had finally reached the two of you, a slightly embarrassed look on his face. This is actually the first time you saw him again since the day the two of you had your accident and you’re glad to see him healthy despite his broken leg.

“Hi, Chenle. How are you?”

The boy scratched the back of his head and looked away slightly. “Fine… I’m sorry, noona. I wasn’t able to visit you when you stayed with us. I’m really really sorry about what happened in the forest.”

You tried to give him a reassuring smile and freed one of your hands from Jisung’s hold to ruffle his hair. The action seemed to have calmed him down a little because he finally looked at you again, a small apologetic smile on his own lips.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s not your fault. But be careful next time, okay?”

“Are you going to be our tutor again, noona?” Jisung pressed once more and you turned your attention back to him. To be honest, you’re still not sure how your schedule will turn out after this, but you couldn’t really bear to break the poor boy’s heart at the moment.

“Yes… I’m here to teach your big brothers today for their tests though. We’ll have to schedule you and Chenle’s lessons again. Is that alright?”

A brief look of disappointment flashed on his face but he was quick enough to pick it up. Jisung smiled and gave your hand a squeeze.

“Okay. We can wait. It’s good you are back, Jaemin-hyung was so—”

“Yah, don’t hog her by yourself. You’ll scare her away.”

A new voice made the three of you look back to the doorway. Haechan smiled at your little group as he strolled casually into the room followed by Jeno and Jaemin. The three of them joined your crowd and you felt Jisung finally let go of your hand as he stepped away to go over to his brothers’ side.

“Hi. Sorry, I only returned now. Taeyong told me that you—”

You weren’t able to finish what you wanted to say as Haechan gently stopped you mid-sentence. He leaned his head to the side, eyes briefly scanning you from head to toe. Unlike Jisung, he looked calm and only barely excited.

“It’s fine. We knew you’ll come back. How are you?”

“Oh… I’m good. My head is better. I haven’t had the chance to thank all of you for taking care of me when I was here.”

“How about your boyfriend?” It was Jeno who asked this time and you quickly turned to him to address his question. Your eyes briefly slipped to Jaemin who was standing behind him before you could even speak though, and for a moment you had the impression that Jeno was shielding him—or blocking him from you. You blinked a little bit in confusion, wondering if it was just your imagination that was making you think that way.

“He’s still… still unconscious,” your smile dropped a little but you tried your best to keep your voice casual. “We’re getting more tests for him. His doctor said that he isn’t showing bad signs at least.”

“I’m so sorry to hear about him,” Haechan said with compassion and you gave him a grateful look. Your gaze settled on Jaemin again, however, who for some reason had barely looked at you since he came into the room. You know that he can be quiet and reserved at times, but there is something in the air around him that makes you slightly worried. He’s so still, but the way he carries himself makes it seem like he’s so strung up at the same time. It also doesn’t help that Jeno seems to be almost pushing him back from view.

“Hi Jaemin… How are you?” You tried to gently ask him to make sure that he is okay. He didn’t look at you at first, but when he finally did, you felt yourself freeze a little. His eyes looked dark and almost emotionless when he met yours and there were shadows under them as if he hadn't slept properly for days. He didn’t even answer and just simply stared, his gaze blank and accusing at the same time.

Haechan casually glanced over his brother and chuckled. “Our Jaeminie here has been sick for the past couple of days so he’s a little out of it. But he’s going to be fine now,” he put a hand over the other’s shoulder and gave it a slight squeeze as if to calm him down. “Right, Jaemin? We’ll try our best to go to class today since noona is finally back, hmm?”

Jaemin, however, didn’t even seem to hear him. He continued staring at you the same way that kept you pinned on your spot.

“Are you leaving again?” he finally asked and you almost felt goosebumps rise on your skin. It didn’t sound like a question… but more of a threat. You swallowed.

“I’m going to have to arrange my schedule till things get better…” you answered carefully, as if you’re navigating dark waters. That didn’t seem to cut it for him, unfortunately.

“So you’re not leaving. Forever?”

You blinked. To be honest, you’ve been thinking of quitting and just finishing the rest of the month if things didn’t improve, but you don’t think that’s the right answer to give at the moment.

“No… not for now,” you finally managed to say. You watched as Jaemin seemed to visibly relax, his stiff shoulders loosening under Haechan’s grip. He didn’t say anything after that, but he at least looked away, seemingly more satisfied with your words.

“Great. I think we should get to work,” Haechan broke the silence and looked around the room as if the tension you were feeling was just something only you could feel. He nodded towards Chenle and Jisung then. “You guys go back to your own classes. You’ll have your share of noona once it’s your turn.” He then glanced at you, smile still in place. “Should we start then?”

You nodded. “Is Renjun still not back?”

“Not yet. He’s going to be here tomorrow though,” Jeno answered as he took his seat on one of the desks.

“I see…”

Haechan also found his spot, but not before you’ve noticed him urging Jaemin to do the same. Playfully, he took the pencil you’ve arranged on the desk and started tapping it against the wood of the table.

“Don’t worry. We’ll tell him you’re back. I’m sure he can’t wait to have his lessons again~”

******* You looked over the window for the third time in the last fifteen minutes and sighed. The day had been busy with you trying to catch up on the boys’ lessons that you barely even noticed the state of the weather outside. When you finally did, it took you by surprise when you saw how much of the ground was covered by snow—one look at it told you that it is at least a feet deep by now. Your first instinct was to try and maneuver your car out of the lot before your tires get entirely buried in it, but then you remembered that you promised to wait for Taeyong to come back before leaving the manor. The butler requested for you to temporarily watch over the manor while he tries to do some last minute errands back in the city, but it’s been two hours since he originally promised to come back. You eyes glanced at your watch now, then back at the quickly darkening view outside. 

“...severe snowstorm has blocked some of the main roads in the city at the moment. Expect heavy traffic and don’t forget to drive safely.”

You turned to the television now to catch the last of the rambling dialogue of the reporter about the weather. You’ve been debating on whether to call Taeyong or not to check on him, but you didn’t want to seem impatient to go home when you only really wanted to make sure if he’s safe. From the looks of it, he’s stuck somewhere because of the hale, too.

You were on your way to get your phone from your bag to at least try to shoot him a message when you suddenly heard it ring. Getting it just in time, you almost sighed in relief when you saw his number there. You quickly took it and went over to the window to answer it to make sure you get some proper signal.

“Hello? Taeyong?”

“Hey. Finally. I’ve been trying to call you for the last hour, thank god it finally connected.”

“Oh, sorry, my phone’s in my bag. I think the signal’s getting bad because of the snowstorm. Where are you? Are you okay?”

“Yeah, about that, I’m still stuck in town. The traffic’s so bad here because a section of the main road is blocked. Road maintenance is supposed to come thirty minutes ago but I think there’s a delay because there are other roads they are working on.”

Your gaze drifted back to the television where scenes of the same blocked avenues were being flashed. “Yeah… the news says the same.  Are you safe though?”

“I am. I’m really sorry for making you wait. I’d tell you to drive back and not wait for me anymore but I don’t think you’ll also make it home in time with all this traffic going on. I don’t think it’s going to be safe. Do you mind waiting for a little bit more? I’ll tell you once the roads are better.”

You thought it over quickly, a frown settling on your face. You really want to go home, but he’s right. There’s no point in trying to drive back if you’ll only find yourself stuck in the roads for hours. Not being a big fan of night driving yourself, you can already imagine the stress waiting for you if you add a snowstorm to the mix. As much as you wanted to leave, you’re left with no choice, at least for the moment.

 “I can… I’ll just wait for you, I guess. Do you want me to do anything here while you’re gone? Dinner for the boys?”

“Oh no, no, you don’t need to do that, that’s not part of your job,” Taeyong sounded abashed when he said that. You stepped away from the window then and took a seat by the fireplace that Jeno started earlier. Half of your concentration was on the news which has now shifted to a different set of reports also caused by the snowstorm. “They’ll know when to go down and eat. Don’t worry about them. Where are they right now?”

“Ah, I think they went back to their rooms? I did tell them earlier that I’ll try to wait for you.”

“I see. Yes, I think that’s better. Don’t worry, I’ll keep you updated. If things don’t get better, I think I’ll have no other choice but find a hostel here and wait for the weather to calm down. You can stay there and just ask for help from any of them. You can stay in the same room just in case.”

You didn’t quickly react to the offer. Instead, your eyes flickered to the doorway of the room before refocusing your attention back to the conversation. It’s not like you have anything against spending the night again at the manor—you’ve done it before, after all—but it’s honestly not really something you’re comfortable to do again. Maybe it’s because you’ve never really been okay with overstaying at strangers’ houses but your gut feel is also telling you right now that it shouldn’t be your top option regardless of the situation you are in.

Still, you didn’t want to come off rude to Taeyong, not when he is only being kind to offer you temporary shelter while being stuck in the middle of nowhere himself. So instead, you went against your initial doubts and offered him your thanks in return. It’s just Plan B that he’s proposing after all. 

“I will. Keep me updated though if you need anything you think I can help with.”

“Thank you and I will. I have to go now though. Please make yourself at home. I’ll try to call again after an hour.”

“Okay. Take care.”

You put your phone down now with a worried frown as you heard the line drop. You couldn’t believe this is happening the first day you got back to work but it’s not like you can really blame anyone for it. The only good thing is that you’re sure Jaehyun is being taken care of right now so that is at least one thing off your shoulders. You didn’t really need to rush anywhere, not especially to a vacant home. Leaning back against your seat, you tried your best to relax as your gaze travelled around the room once again. You deliberated on sending a text to your mother-in-law to tell her about your situation but decided against it, not wanting to worry her more. You sighed. For now, you guess you didn’t have any other choice but to wait.

You did try to distract yourself by watching the news for a few more minutes before finally giving up on it. With resignation, you picked yourself up from your seat again and turned the television off. For a moment you simply stood in the middle of the room, trying to figure out what to do with your time when your gaze settled on the door again. Everyone retreated to their own rooms after they finished with their lessons so it means the house is pretty much yours for exploring if you wanted to. You toyed with the idea for a little bit, before finally resigning yourself to it. It’s not like there really is anything else left for you to do, and Taeyong did say you can make yourself feel at home if you wanted to. With a sigh, you finally turned on your heels to leave the room and peered silently into the hallway. It was deserted as expected, but still your eyes travelled left and right to check if there’s anyone out and about at this hour. It was only after you made sure that you were alone when you finally allowed yourself to step into the corridor.

Of course, you have a plan. You’re pretty much sure that checking out the rooms on the first floor is acceptable since it’s where you’ve been rotating your classes so you’re going to stick to those areas. You remember finding a library there once and you focused on finding your way to it to maybe check out some of the books in the collection. 

It did take you about five minutes to finally find the place you were looking for. For some reason, the sections in the manor always confuse you no matter how many times you try to memorize each one, probably because of how big and similar-looking they are on the outside. You’ve already tried four doors when you were finally welcomed by the familiar-looking bookshelves at the fifth one. You sighed and gave one quick look around the room before slipping yourself inside after making sure that you’re alone.

There will probably never be a time when you won’t find yourself fascinated by anything in this grand home. If the architecture of the mansion is not enough to convince anyone how rich the family is, their book collection is enough to assure that at the very least. You’ve only ever taken a quick glimpse of it once during one of your lessons with the boys, but one look of the titles in their shelves is enough to make any literature major excited. You looked at the floor to ceiling collection now, your fingers gently running over the spines of the books you could reach with a small smile on your face.

You were about to check out the rest of the collection on the other side of the wall when something in the middle of the room caught your attention. You didn’t really catch it at first because of the shadows that concealed it when you first came in, but you could pretty much discern the outline of a blanket covered standee now from where you stood. You frowned. Taking careful steps, you closed the distance towards it to try and figure out what exactly it is that you’re seeing.

A closer look revealed it to be an easel covered with white cloth. You could see the outline of the canvas where the blanket falls over it while shadows of colors peeked out into the thin fabric from the surface it was covering. How odd… you knew that Renjun had a different art room for his paintings so to see this now here in the middle of the library seems uncanny.

You didn’t know how long you remained standing in front of it, too. You know you should have walked away—after all, the white cloth hiding it away from plain view means whatever is on that canvas is not meant for everyone’s eyes to see, but you simply couldn’t tear yourself away from it. It’s as if there was a silent force asking you to pull that cloth to reveal what’s underneath, the inclination so strong that you could almost hear its voice breathing down next to your ear, unrelenting until you do what it says.

The next thing you know, you had your hand attached to one end of the fabric. You stared at it now, wondering last minute if you should go ahead or not. You swallowed and glanced around one last time around the room. If you’re alone… it wouldn’t hurt if you could take a peek, right? Nobody will know. You just have to see, then cover it back again. Before you could even think about it too much, your arm was finally moving on its own as it gently tugged at the covering. You watched as it fell gently on the floor, like a bodiless ghost melting into the shadows on the ground.

Your eyes couldn’t make out what you were seeing at first. The dim lighting of the room wasn’t helping at all, but you were sure that it was a woman’s silhouette that was staring back at you from the canvas. Colors swirled around her, like some unknown mass trying to drag her back into unknown depths. Shapes and tones jumped from the picture, but her form stood out from the rest, gracefully twisted as if she was in the middle of trying to fight and succumb to it at the same time. You frowned. Taking a step closer towards it, you tried to study its details under what little illumination the lamps above afforded you.

That’s when it all happened simultaneously. Your heart stopped beating the same time your eyes widened as they finally focused on what’s in front of them. It’s as if the ground suddenly vanished from underneath your feet and you were falling, falling, deep into the abyss despite your body being frozen in fear and shock.

You know this painting. You’ve seen it before. It was the same one by Renjun, the one that you saw on your first day working in the manor.

But it was different now. Instead of the unfinished state that caught your attention before, everything about the picture now is in sharp focus. The lines on the woman’s nude body, the hands—which you thought were simply dark swirls dragging her back—and her face twisted beautifully in pleasure and madness stared back at you like a nightmare.

But it was not those which truly shook you to your core. It’s the realization that it was your own face in the portrait that was staring back at you, silently screaming for you to run away.

You stumbled back in shock. Your chest felt tight as you tried to grasp for air while your hands fumbled to find something to hold on to keep you from crashing on the ground. Before you could even take another step, however, something hard hit your back and you felt strong arms wrap around your waist like a vice. You have barely realized what was happening when you felt someone lean over your shoulder, lips pressing against the shell of your ear.

“Isn’t it beautiful? You’re the perfect muse, don’t you think?” Renjun asked softly as he pressed a gentle kiss to your temple.

******* You didn’t know how long you stayed frozen in his embrace. For a brief moment you thought you were dreaming again until you felt his arms slowly tighten around your waist. As if a jolt of electricity shocked you, you immediately turned to push him away as you scrambled to put some distance between the two of you.

Renjun didn’t seem the least bothered when your eyes finally focused on him. He remained on his spot, his gaze on you unwavering. You, meanwhile, were shaking from head to toe, the vision of the painting still branded vividly in your head.

“Renjun—what’s this?” you managed to stutter as you pointed at the artwork in the middle of the room. You couldn’t even spare to look at it again while he merely gave it a casual glance.

“It’s you. I’ve been working on it for a long time. I was about to show it to you but it seems like you couldn’t wait for it yourself.”

You felt nauseous. A part of your rational mind was slowly losing it as you tried to process his answer. Something's not right. Something is so terribly wrong.

“Why—why did you do this?”

Renjun simply stared at you and leaned his head a little bit to the side as if he was only mildly curious of your reaction. Your stomach turned even before hearing his answer.

“You said it’s beautiful.”

“This is not right—!”

“I came home because they said you were leaving for good,” he continued speaking softly, effectively cutting you from what you were about to say. The hairs on the back of your neck stood on end and you took another step back as you watched him get close to his artwork. You watched in horror as his thin fingers lovingly ran over the corners of the canvas. “Jaemin almost lost it… It’s a good thing I got here on time.”

And just like that, everything seemed to have clicked into place. The glances, the touches, the words that seemed to have a different undercurrent under them… they weren’t just fragments of your imagination. Every little thing that has gnawed at you from the inside came into crystal clear focus and you felt your knees go weak from the weight of it all. It took every fiber of your being to try and keep yourself steady now, your legs moving on their own as they took small backward steps away from the boy staring at you now with dead eyes. You couldn’t breathe, but it was the last words he told you that finally snapped you to run.

“I don’t think you’ve realized it yet. But no, you cannot leave. Ever.”

You didn’t know where you got the energy for it but in seconds you were flying out of that room and running blindly down the darkened corridors. Your blood pumped noisily in your ears and your chest felt like it was going to split from the sudden exertion you put on it, but you didn’t stop, not even looking back as you tried to put as much distance between you and the library. You didn’t even know where you were going. All you’re focused on is to find the exit and leave the house as soon as possible.

A loud bang that sounded off to your right startled you and you screamed, the force of your shock making you whip around and almost lose your balance. Before you could even hit the floor, however, a pair of hands caught you and you immediately turned, grasping at the chest of your rescuer.

You froze. Haechan smiled down at you as he tried to steady you on your feet.

“Haechan,” you gasped as you took fistfuls of his shirt and tried to shake him in your panic. “Renjun—he’s—please, help me. He’s after me—” you gasped out, almost out of your wits. You’re on the verge of a total breakdown that it almost escaped you, the way he simply smiled down on your shaking form. It was only when you felt one of his hands gently caress the top of your head that reality slapped you in the face again. You suddenly stopped struggling in his hold, pupils shaking as you watched him study your features lovingly.

“Shh… it’s fine. I got you,” he whispered and you could swear ice pricked you from the inside. A slight movement to the right made you turn your head and you saw Jaemin lean casually against the banister of the stairs, his face serene. He gave you one quick look before a gentle smile finally lit up his features.

“Has it started?” he asked and you felt Haechan’s hold on you tighten.

“It has.”

You didn’t struggle. It was as if any trace of fight you had left you in that moment and you let your hands fall limply on your sides. Haechan also loosened his grip on you and you stared at the two boys blankly, your chest heaving as if fighting for air. They didn’t move from their spots and simply followed you with their eyes as if relishing the fear and realization flashing in your face.

Trapped.

You’re trapped.

You’ve always been.

You didn’t even realize that your legs had started moving again on their own as the pieces of the puzzle started to fall together in your mind. You were only shaken from it when your back finally hit the front door, the cold metal of the knob pressing against your spine. Jaemin and Haechan remained on their spots still, even as you blindly reached out for it from behind.

You were expecting it to be locked, so you were a little bit surprised when you felt it give way under your hand when you tried to turn it open. Just before you could even entertain the idea of escaping, however, any trace of hope you had quickly died as you turned and came face to face with Jeno standing right in front of the entrance. He didn’t look the least surprised seeing you there, as if he was waiting for you in the first place.

You eyes took in his calm countenance before slowly moving to stare downwards at what he was holding by his side. Your gaze locked on it in fear, and that’s when the flight response in you flared up again.

Jeno’s hunting rifle shone dully in the light of the entryway, his pale fingers wrapped on its handle.

“There’s really only one place you can run, noona, but I won’t advise it,” he said evenly and you felt your blood freeze in your veins.

“After all, no matter where you hide, I’ll still find you in that forest.”

It happened all at once. You broke into a run, your body screaming at you to go faster as you heard gunshots pierce the air.

---

CHAPTER 7

A/N: Good lord, I wasn’t expecting I’d finish this today but I got one large iced coffee and well... things happened. Anyway, enjoy! Let’s hope the format won’t mess up this time. T.T Finally, all hell broke loose~ <3

Tag list! 

@negincho, @jhornytrash, @jaeminhyuckiii, @jungwoosswhore​, @jsturkey, @aj-7, @pukupukupawpau, @tomiesgirlfren, @vsszn, @those-winternights, @xsnelly, @lihyuck, @laheyspizza, @miyeux27, @haoshitt, @mindofthescattered, @huangberryyy, @d1nne, @choppedupcactus, @neokat​, @yutasnabi​

[rollercoasterwords]

you are absolutely amazing i just don’t know how to put it into words & YOUR WRITING IS INCREDIBLE i’m taking it as inspiration for my own writing along w a few other writers :)

do you by any chance have any tips for someone trying out writing?

(ALSO HOW DO YOU MAKE EVERYTHING THE CHARACTERS FEEL SOUND SO BEAUTIFUL??)

ahhhh hello thank you so much!!!

i've talked about writing advice/tips a bit before in this post so u can go read that if you'd like i've never like...studied creative writing so i feel like a lot of the advice i have to give has more to do with vibes and mindset than anything technical. like the summary of what i've talked about in the past is just:

1 - no writing is bad writing because writing is like any other art where every bit of practice helps you learn more about your craft

2 - if your main motivation in writing is to have a huge audience consuming your work you will probably not find a lot of long-term fulfillment, especially if you're writing fanfiction. it's better to work on reframing your thinking around writing stories for yourself and posting them in search of community as opposed to an audience.

which like. i was talking to my sister about that second point last night because the thing is i hear a lot of people say "yeah but it's valid to want people to see and engage with the writing you post online" and that's true!! i'm not trying to say that it's not. but like. for myself, personally, if i posted my writing on ao3 and literally no one ever saw it and it didn't get a single hit, i think i'd be disappointed and dejected but at the end of the day i would still want to write my stories and i would still enjoy writing them because i am writing stories for myself, that i want to read. and because that's my mindset going into it, posting on ao3 is more like...hey if i get a few people who connect with my stories and engage with it and want to talk to me about it, that's such a cool bonus! i'm not viewing it as a numbers game or placing my self-worth as a writer in how many people click the kudos button, because at the end of the day it's so much more meaningful if a single person reaches out to me and is like "hey i want you to know this really resonated with me!" versus if like. a hundred people click a button, y'know?

when i think about myself as a younger writer and when i think about the influencer and consumer culture that is so pervasive now, i think it's probably really easy for new or young writers to get caught up in the idea that anything you post on the internet has to be a numbers game and if you don't get a certain amount of hits or likes it's easy to get discouraged, which is why most of my writing advice really comes back to trying to reframe your mindset around seeking connection whether than an audience! in the long-run, it's a much more fulfilling way to go about sharing something as personal as your writing online

other than that my main tip is just to read!! read and write down quotes you like and think about why they stick with you. i genuinely think a lot of my confidence in my writing ability comes from just reading all the time to the point where now when i write if i read it back and it feels like a book i'd enjoy, i know i'm happy with it.

and for feeling descriptions....hm i'm trying to figure out how to put my thought process into words. i guess like. something to experiment with is rather than centering the feeling itself to like. talk about anything BUT that feeling. like talk about things the character is doing, or use a metaphor to talk about the feeling without actually naming it. i am probably not describing this well lmao but like. ok an example from thtf - in the scene in ch 49 right after marlene and peter escape the death eater attack, when peter is asking marlene whether she's afraid of dying - i wanted to convey that in that moment marlene is feeling fearless, high on an adrenaline rush, untouchable, bold, etc. rather than focusing on feeling words though i was like okay what's a dramatic example of something that someone could do who is essentially feeling like a god rn. so instead of writing "marlene is fearless" i wrote "marlene could eat the stars." like to me that just feels a lot more vivid, y'know?

anyway this got very long but! that is my best shot at writing advice from someone who is mostly just running on vibes lol

[sergeantsporks]

Do You Want the Knife You Left in My Back, or Can I Keep It?

Rating: Teen and up, Gen

An injured Hunter wanders into Hexside. What was Luz supposed to do, just let him bleed out on the floor?

Ch 4/5: Rescue

Ch 1, Ch 2, Ch 3

Ao3

Hunter sat down with a whump at the base of a tree, huffing and shivering. He looked back at the owl house. Maybe he should have told the owl lady what had happened to her apprentice.

No. No, then she would just be angry at him, and would kick him out—or she’d trade him in a heartbeat to get Luz back. He had to get Luz back before Kikimora sent her demands to Eda instead.

Maybe they could have... worked to rescue her together? Maybe Eda wouldn’t have sold him out, maybe she would have helped.

Who was he kidding, who wouldn’t trade him in a heartbeat for Luz? On the one hand, cheerful, friendly human who could do magic! On the other hand, broken, powerless witch with an annoying voice.

Not that it mattered. Luz wouldn’t want him around after this—the best he could do was rescue her, and then hope he could make it back to the coven on his own, and pray that Belos would be angrier at Kikimora than him.

He could—he could do this.

Ugh.

Maybe.

Hunter leaned against the tree, trying to summon the willpower to get up and keep going. But it was quiet, and he was dizzy and cold, and his back was screaming at him to stop, and he just wanted to go back to sleep where it was warm. He twisted his arm around, gritting his teeth as his back protested, and felt under his shirt for the bandages, hissing when the touch made the pain in his back flare up.

His fingers came back red.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, Hunter was relatively certain that was very bad. His head thudded back into the tree.

Stupid.

What was he supposed to do?!

“Where is he?” Kikimora’s voice came through the trees, “I really thought that would work!”

Hunter froze. Don’t find me, don’t find me, don’t find me—

Her little footsteps pattered nearby—on the other side of the tree he was on. Hunter shifted slightly, and a branch from the tree pressed right between his shoulder blades, right in the wound. Hunter bit on his hand to keep from screaming as the world blacked out.

But when he woke up again, Kikimora was gone.

This was his chance.

Hunter used the tree to haul himself up, his world still spinning. He stumbled towards where Kikimora had come from to see Luz, still tied up. She gasped when she saw him.

“You came?! You really came?!”

“Yyyyyeah. Lemme just…” Relief conquered his adrenaline high, and he nearly blacked out again, but he managed to untie her. “Kay… I guess… run?”

Luz blinked at him. “You—you really came for her. You’d abandon your mission to help her? Betray the emperor?”

Hunter blinked back spots from his eyes, pressing his arms to his stomach. Wow—okay—this was—that adrenaline had really been—

“Uhhh—yeah—I’ll capture you later—‘s not a big—” he blinked again. “Did youuuuuu just refer… third person?”

She blinked again, but her eyelids blinked sideways instead of up and down.

Hunter managed to haul himself up again, the ground seeming to tilt and sway beneath him. “K—we gotta—we gotta go—”

Luz caught him as he fell, but then she wasn’t Luz anymore, she was some kind of snake creature. She snapped her fingers, and the ropes that had been tying her floated up yanked around him. Hunter arched his back, biting his lip so hard he tasted blood as they pressed against the stab wound. He flew backwards into a tree, and he could just see, through blurry vision, the snake creature slithering towards him.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, “I really am—but this is the only way out for me.”

Xxx

Luz tore through the trees, her heart thudding in her chest. “Hunter!” she called, “Hunter, answer me if you can hear me! Are you okay?!”

She heard a weak cry for help, and raced towards it. “Hunter! Ohmygosh, you scared the living daylights… out… of… me…”

She skidded to a stop as she emerged in a small clearing. Kikimora was waiting, Hunter tied up in a limp, unconscious pile behind her. Next to Kikimora was… also Hunter. But as she watched, he shifted and changed.

A basilisk.

None of that explained why Kikimora had managed to get him out of the house—unless the basilisk had turned into Emperor Belos, she supposed.

“I told you I’d get him,” Kikimora purred.

Luz pulled out a set of glyphs. “Let him go. Now.”

Kikimora snapped her fingers, and Hunter floated up, her magic dumping him in an unceremonious heap on the floor. “Oh, no, human, I hold the cards now. You set down those glyphs, or… well, his death won’t be pleasant.”

Luz bit her lip, looking down at Hunter—if she could keep Kikimora from killing him just long enough for her friends to come back…

“Promise you won’t hurt him if I drop the glyphs?”

Kikimora pulled him up by the hair, pressing the claws of her other hand to his throat. “No, but I promise that I will hurt him if you don’t.”

Hunter was still limp in her grasp, and a wave of worry swept over Luz—he hadn’t reacted at all. “I want proof you haven’t killed him already.”

Kikimora shook him. “Wake up!”

His eyes opened just a crack, and then closed again. Kikimora tossed him back to the ground, putting one foot right over where his stab wound was. “There. He’s still alive. Now. Put the glyphs down before. I. Change. That.” She ground her foot down with each word, and Luz dropped the glyphs as Hunter howled in pain, breaking off into a heartbreaking whimper.

“Okay, okay, just… leave him alone! Please!”

Kikimora removed her foot. “Let’s see… I will take you to Belos. Alive. And you will agree that you were the one to hurt him—this worked out better than I could have hoped. I never thought you’d actually take the brat in! Yes, you will tell the emperor that you attacked him. And if you ever recant your story—well, Hunter has to sleep sometime. He has to eat. There are a thousand ways that someone—perhaps one of your friends—could assassinate him.”

There was a rustle in the trees behind Kikimora, and a feather floated down. Right. Showtime.

Luz glared at Kikimora. “This won’t work. Hunter will just tell everyone what happened, and your lie will fall flat.”

A satisfied little smile played across Kikimora’s lips. “Oh, I don’t think so. All I have to do is threaten the reverse—he agrees with me or you meet an unfortunate end.”

Luz snorted. “That’ll never work—he wouldn’t do that for me.”

“You’d be surprised.”

Luz shrugged. “Eh. I can think of another reason it won’t work.”

“Oh? What’s that?”

Luz grinned. “You won’t even make it back to the keep.”

Eda leapt from the trees with an unholy shriek, tackling Kikimora. The little demon drew a magic circle, but Eda kicked her away before she could finish it.

“Don’t. Threaten. My. Kid.” Eda growled, snatching Kikimora in her talons. “Let’s go for a little flight, shall we?”

Luz ducked past the fighting pair, kneeling next to Hunter. Blood was soaking through his shirt, and her hands fluttered around the wound uselessly. “Okay, okay, okay, this is fine.” She pulled up the shirt and undid the bandages. The stitches had ripped out, and the wound was angry, swollen, red.

And bleeding a lot.

“Hunter why?!” she demanded frantically, wadding up her cloak and pressing it to the wound, “Why would you run off?!”

His eyes opened just a crack, glazed over from pain and fever. “… you’re not a snake,” he murmured, then yelped as she pressed harder on the wound

“Oh, thank you, very helpful, that certainly explains everything.”

He whimpered, giving her big, hurt eyes.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t let you bleed out! Wait, why am I apologizing for that? Okay, okay—what did the healing professor say, what… Okay, let’s see, take the swelling down—”

Luz slapped an ice glyph on the ground, trying to make an ice block.

The magic didn’t come, and Luz felt her limbs grow weak. She whirled around to see the basilisk, staring at her with wide eyes. “I can’t let you go.”

Luz held her hands up. “I know what you’ve been through,” she said quietly, “I know Emperor Belos has hurt you. Has hurt your kin. Hunted you down. But you don’t have to do this. If you make Hunter go back, if you take me back, we are both dead. Is that really something you want?”

“You have no idea what I went through!” they scream-hissed.

“I do—I really do. I met one of your own, number five. She got away, she’s living away, she’s okay. She’s making her own choices, her own life. You can do the same. Please—please, let me take care of him. Don’t let Belos and Kikimora hurt someone else.”

The basilisk stared at her for a long minute.

Then they turned and slithered away.

Luz breathed a sigh of relief, turning back to Hunter. “Okay, okay, okay, we need to get you somewhere safe.”

She tried to haul him up, but he went completely deadweight on her with a whimper. “Oh—Hey! I know it hurts, but you gotta stick with me, okay, you gotta hold on.”

He shook his head with a whine, squeezing his eyes shut.

“Hunter, please! Work with me, I can’t carry you!”

“Need a lift?”

Puddles touched down next to her, Viney, Gus, and Willow waving from the top. Puddles squawked and nuzzled Hunter. “I can’t get him up,” Luz called, “He’s in really bad shape, Viney!”

Viney slid off of her griffin, opening a pouch strapped to Puddle’s side. She tossed a mini stretcher to the ground, and it grew to full size, with ropes on the ends. “I’ve got you covered.”

Luz laid Hunter down on the stretcher, sitting down next to him. “I am the worst caretaker ever,” she groaned.

“No, he’s just the worst patient!” Gus called down as Puddles grabbed the ends of the ropes and lifted off. They soared over the trees, back towards the owl house. Eda banked up next to them.

“Miss stab-happy is re-thinking her life at the top of a very tall tree. How are we looking?”

Luz squeezed Hunter’s hand. “Not great,” she said softly, “Eda, what if—”

“Luz. He’s going to be okay. Okay?”

Luz took a deep breath. “Okay.” She shook her head at Hunter. “What did she say to you to get you to come out of the house?”

He didn’t respond, and they touched down at the door. Hooty snaked around Puddles. “WHOA! That was WEIRD!”

“Good to have you back, Hooty,” Eda said tiredly, touching down, “Now give us space.” She carried Hunter inside, laying him out on the floor. “Alright, healing girl. Do your thing.”

Viney pulled out the knife that Kikimora had used to stab Hunter. “Okay, I’ve been taking a better look at this thing, asking my teachers questions about it, and I think I can put a better fix on this. Heal most of the internal damage—”

“I thought you already did that!”

“No, I put a patch on them—I stopped the problem from getting worse, sort of froze its ability to tear any further, re-routed any essential functions to undamaged parts of the body so that he could heal. But I think now—I can finish off the healing, find a workaround to the curse on the knife. It’ll fix the nerve pathways, anyway, and seal up some of the holes further in.” She gestured to the bloody mess that was his back. “There’s a tradeoff, though—I’m going to have to shift nerves and cells from another part of his back to fix the damage. Basically, I’m going to shift the damage from his internal organs and spinal cord to his outer muscles and skin, and there I can easily use stitches to fix the tear damage so that he can heal naturally. The wounds won’t be life-threatening anymore. If I can spread the damage far enough, it’ll just be a matter of stitching the initial cut, and the rest will be like naturally torn muscles.”

“Huh?”

“He’ll be really sore and have a nasty cut on his back,” Viney simplified, “But I mean really sore, Luz, like, he won’t be able to move at all for several days.”

“Oh, good,” Eda commented, “maybe that way he won’t run away.”

“I’ve got it,” Luz promised, “I’ll help him with everything he needs. Promise.”

“You’ll need to make sure the cut stays clean, or it’ll get infected. I’ll leave disinfectant behind. Be careful, it stings. As for the fever… well, once I shift the damage, it won’t be fun, but it won’t kill him either.”

“Okay. Okay, do it.

Viney took in a deep breath. “Okay, there goes nothing!” she drew a circle over Hunter’s back, and the stab wound shimmered and glowed. Pulsing, glowing golden lines spread out, and the wound slowly started to heal, at least not deep anymore. Viney grinned. “Yessssss! Alright, Luz, Gus, Willow, scram, you don’t want to watch the stitches.”

Luz let out a shaky breath as Eda steered her towards the kitchen. “We almost lost him,” she said quietly.

“Almost,” Eda emphasized, “But we didn’t. And that’s what matters.” She sighed. “Look. If you… need any help. If you need a break from him, or you’re just too tired to take care of him. I… can step in.”

“Really?!”

“Yeah. Really. I have to admit, he’s starting to grow on me.”

“He was unconscious all day, Eda.”

“Exactly.”

Ch 5

[monsterfuneral]

sparks in the rain | bill and ted | ch. 1

Chapter One | Chapter Two | Chapter Three | Coming Soon

Relationship: Poly!Bill and Ted x Fem!Reader

Summary: A malfunction with the booth lands Bill and Ted into the most peculiar situation they’ve been in, stuck in the year 2021 standing in front of a woman they never thought they’d meet.

Words: 1,087

Warnings/Tags: Bill being kind of a dick to Ted, Covid-free universe, nothing else really, character ends up in the reader’s universe au

Author’s Note: This came to me when I was in the shower while thinking about the concept of having Bill and Ted watch the movies they’ve been in. This also started off as a crackfic idea only for me to actually put thought into it

EDIT: Changed the summary from what it previously was to what it is now, I feel like this one’s a little better. 

REQUESTS OPEN

(please read my “I do NOT write” section before sending in anything <3)

--- 

This was totally Ted’s fault, not that he would fully admit it. Turning the blame on Bill who had in fact pointed out the wrong number while digging through his backpack. It wasn’t rare for Ted to forget the number to Billy The Kid’s location, and Bill was always better with operating the phone booth than he was. So of course, as a result they ended up in the wrong place with a broken antenna. The booth had knocked against the apartment building’s roof on their way down, sending pieces of red metal across the rainy parking lot. 

Bill couldn’t help but let out a frustrated sigh as he watched the top of the booth spark from where they stood inside, his eyes practically rolling into the back of his head as he thought of the amount of Elmer's glue it would take to get all of those pieces back together. He looked up at Ted, who was still staring out the window, past the water droplets that cascaded down the slightly dirty windows, at the damage he had done. He knew it would be impossible to fix it in the rain unless Bill wanted to risk going to his grave early by electrocuting himself. So with one last glance at the sparks above, Bill finally decided there was no use staying inside the booth and that Billy would have to wait. 

They were lucky enough to be so close to the apartment building, where they could take shelter from the rain. Ted stared at the booth, guilt beginning to crawl up his throat but still unable to apologize as it truly wasn’t his fault. 

“Ted my friend, this is the most heinous situation…” Bill complained, looking up at his taller companion “You’re sure you put in the number I told you to?” 

“Well you had to have put it in wrong somehow. How else would we have ended up in this-” Bill paused for a second, looking around the environment to try and guess where the two of them may have landed “Place.” 

“Of course dude, you know I would never miss an opportunity to play cards with Billy.” ted answered.

Ted looked at Bill, wondering why Bill found it so hard to believe that he may have just given the taller of the two the wrong number in the phone book. He shrugged his shoulders, hair waving and tickling against his nose as he tried to come up with a good response. Noticing how tense Bill was as he looked around. 

“I promise you dude, I put in the right number, I checked at least three times while putting it in.” 

“I should’ve just done it instead like I usually do.” Bill muttered with his eyes trained ahead on the almost empty parking lot. He crossed his arms with a bit of a shiver as the wind started to pick up, suddenly regretting the decision to wear his Motörhead crop top, missing the warmth of San Dimas. 

The brunette couldn’t help but frown at his friend’s growing attitude towards him, not entirely understanding why he was being so hostile over one simple mistake that could be fixed in just a few hours. Ted wondered if the stress of their newly acquired jobs at Pretzel 'N' Cheese was starting to weigh on the blonde, or if apartment hunting while living with his recently divorced dad was becoming too much to juggle. Ted guessed it could be a number of things, but what he didn’t understand was why it had to be taken out on him. 

Silence was heavy between the two as Bill rubbed his arms occasionally and Ted rocked back and forth on the heels of his feet, looking up at the grey sky with vague curiosity. The chill in the air was also beginning to become more noticeable to the taller of the two as well, his own body flinching at the sudden shiver that would take over his upper body before resuming his rocking as if it hadn’t happened at all. 

It was hard to know just how long they had been standing in the cold, even though Ted glanced down at his wrist he was reminded that he once again forgot to wind his watch. Something he had hoped he would begin to remember doing now that he had a job, but that didn’t seem to be the case. Ted gave a hopeful glance towards Bill, who was now sitting on the steps that led to the second floor of units, his head turned away from his friend and towards the wetted roads where a car would whiz past occasionally and kick up some water from the puddles that were beside the sidewalks. 

The awful silence was finally broken though by the sound of one of the apartment door’s opening, Ted looked over at them, their back turned as they still had their door cracked open listening to an inaudible voice filtering from inside. He was quick to lose interest and looked back at the flickering sign to some mattress company that was just across the street. 

The person at the door shrugged a purse on their shoulder and let out an agreeing hum before saying, “If there’s any pizza left then leave me some! I’ll be back in a few minutes.” Before closing the door and proceeding to dig through their purse, presumably for car keys. 

Both Bill and Ted’s heads whipped towards the all too familiar sounding voice, a voice they had heard over and over again in the theaters and on the TV in Bill’s living room during their annual movie nights. The very own Armageddon Lady herself was walking right towards them, still digging through her purse muttering to herself about her keys. 

Bill was quick to stand up from his seat on the stairs and stand beside his taller friend, his eyes wide and mouth agape and all Ted could was let the word vomit take over. 

“No way dude…. It’s Armageddon Lady!”

Your heart practically jumped into your throat at the loud, yet familiar sounding voice, your eyes immediately snapping from your purse and the two men stood just a few feet in front of you. Your own eyes widened, mouth falling open and you almost dropped your phone as your brain practically short circuited, trying to wrap itself around seeing the younger versions of well known actors right in front of you, dressed exactly like-

“Holy shit it’s Bill and Ted.”

[cacoetheswriting]

champagne problems, ch.8

Spencer is in love with you, but you’re engaged to someone else.

Chapter Eight: Wild Love: Spencer gets something off his chest while you’re stuck in a hotel room. A/N: chapter is titled after this song if you want to listen while reading.     Word Count: 1.6k Warnings: cursing, mentions of alcohol consumption, heartbreak, unrequited / unreciprocated love, very angsty, this whole series is a real slow burn babyyy

series masterlist

A/N: y’all are killing me with all the love on this story so far omg. i am so appreciative of every single comment, like, reblog, all the sweet things you say in the tags etc. etc. thank you and i hope you like this chapter (this one turned out to be more conversation than descriptions of feelings/thoughts just fyi) ! x

-

“Since we’re stuck here for the night, how about one more drink?” Luke asked, glancing between the team. “You buying?” Matt teased making everyone else chuckle. Luke rolled his eyes. “If that’s what it takes.”

All flights were grounded due to a heavy snowstorm. This meant that after solving their most recent case, the team were forced to remain on location. At a small bed and breakfast right in the middle of nowhere.

“I’ll have another drink.” Emily stated with a smile. “Sure, why the hell not. It’s not often I get a night away from my boys.” JJ added. Tara also raised her hand, indicating she'll have one more.

All heads turned to you and Spencer. The brunette doctor sat quietly in the corner. Clearly a lot on his mind. You were right by his side, gently resting your head against his shoulder.

A small yawn escaped your lips. “I think I’m gonna call it a night guys.” You said, slowly sitting up. “It’s been a heck of a day, and the bed is calling my name.” The group groaned, but didn't protest. Instead, they all looked to Spencer who seemed to be debating his options.

“What about you Reid?” Luke asked. “Care for another one?”

“Sure. Uh, I’ll walk Y/N to her room and I’ll be right back.” “It’s okay Spencer, stay. I’ll be fine.” You countered while getting up to your feet however, the handsome doctor wasn’t taking no for answer.

Unknown to you, unknown to everyone apart from Penelope, Spencer’s been trying to find the right moment to tell you how he really felt. He spent the last two months debating whether it was a good idea. The idea of telling you he was still in love with you scared the shit out of him because it could go one of two ways:

1. You feel the same way and call off the engagement. The two of you get back together and he spends the rest of his living breathing days making you the happiest woman on earth.

2. You don’t feel the same way and you end up resenting him for lying to you, his confession ruining your friendship.

Either way, someone will end up getting hurt.

“You really didn't have to come with me doctor.” You said stopping outside the door. Spencer shrugged his shoulders, his nose twitching simultaneously. “I wanted to. Plus sitting too long causes a number of health issues. Your leg muscles weaken. Your hip flexors shorten, and it can cause compression on the discs in your spine which can lead to premature degeneration, which results in chronic pain.”

You arched a brow. “So what you’re saying is that you’re really just looking out for yourself?”

“No, I-I, well...” He flustered and you couldn't help but chuckle. “We’ve been friends long enough for you to know when I’m just messing around.” Friends. The word stung. “Right. Sorry.” He glanced down at his shoes.

Sudden concern flooded through you. Gently, you placed a hand on the side of his face, and slowly lifted it back up. “Are you okay honey? You seem a little off, and I hope you don't mind me saying but it’s not just tonight.”

He chewed on the inside of his cheek. Mind racing a million miles an hour. Of course you recognised his odd behaviour. He thought he did a good job at hiding his inner turmoil. Honestly, sometimes he forgets just how well you can read him. He forgets that you know him better than he knows himself.

“I hope you know you can talk to me.” You whispered, tenderly brushing loose strands of his hair away from his face.

The gleam in your eyes was so kindhearted. It was exactly that look that made Spencer think he truly didn't deserve you and that you were better off without him. It was also that look that made Spencer love you even more. The look that made him want to fight for you.

“Do ehm, do you think I could come in?” He asked after a moment of silence.

“Of course.” You let your hand fall back to your side. “Of course you can.”

Soon enough the two of you were sat at the edge of your bed. A noticeably tense atmosphere filled the air. Your eyes were glued to the side of his head, wondering what the hell was going on in that big brain of his, while Spencer looked down at his hands. Which at this point were trembling uncontrollably.

It didn’t take you long to notice, you could practically feel them vibrating against your leg. You reached out, giving them a little squeeze before intertwining your fingers with his.

“What’s going on Spencer? You’re starting to scare me.”

The hazel-eyed man took a deep breath before finally meeting your gaze. His features broken, as if he was about to burst into tears.

“I’ve been lying to you Y/N.” He stated quietly.

You furrowed your brows confused, taken aback by his admission. “W-what? What are you talking about? You’re the most honest man I’ve ever met.” You expressed, but he shook his head. His light curls bouncing perfectly. “I’m not. I’m really not.”

“Spencer.” “Please Y/N, please just… I… I haven’t been honest with you and it’s eating me alive. Usually you would be the person I turn to for advice on these things, but since it involves you… I-I really don’t know what to do.”

“Tell me.”

“It’s not that simple.”

You nodded your head slowly and swallowed your breath. “O-okay. Okay well, uhm… let me ask you this. If you don’t tell me, are you going to continue lying to me?” It was a weighted question which Spencer knew there was no right answer to. “Unfortunately.” He mumbled.

“Then I think, I think it is that simple.”

You were right. Every inch of him screamed you were right. Fuck. How the hell did it come to this? He had no trouble hiding his love for you these last few years.  He couldn’t understand why was it so difficult all of a sudden.

Abruptly, Spencer got to his feet and ran his fingers through his hair. A deep frustrated sigh escaping his lips as he loosened his tie. Your uneasy gaze locked onto him, following his every move. And as he closed his eyes, cracking his neck, you suddenly remembered that the last time he seemed this frazzled was the day the two of you broke up. Your stomach dropped.

“Oh no.” You whispered standing up. “Ohh Spencer.”

He turned on his heel to look at you once again. Your fingers were pressed to your chin, mouth slightly parted. You couldn’t possibly have figured it out?

“You’re breaking up with me.” It seemed like a silly statement considering you weren’t a couple. “I mean, you’re ending our friendship. That’s what this is, right? You don’t want to be my friend anymore and you’ve been lying to me by pretending that you do.” There were noticeable tears in your eyes.

“What? No, no, no. It’s completely the opposite of that.”

“I don’t think I understand. The opposite of-”

“I love you.”

“Well of course, I love you too. You’re my best friend. You’re family.”

“No.” He took a step towards you and cupped your cheeks with his hands. “I’m in love with you Y/N.”

You blinked. Eyelashes fluttering as the realisation of what Spencer just declared washed over you. He saw your lips quaver and your eyes widen. The dots connecting in your mind. All the moments you spent together, the conversations you shared. Everything was running through your mind like a homemade movie, making it impossible it collect your thoughts.

“I know I said I moved on, and that’s where I lied.” Spencer continued as you stared at him, unable to move. “I never moved on Y/N. I tried, believe me I tried. But you are a part of me, a part of my soul. You are the reason I get out of bed in the morning. Seeing you, your smile. Hearing your laughter. Being able to talk to you, and just be around you. Your aura. Everything about you is so intoxicating and I messed up big time letting you go all those years ago.”

Tears began to trail down your cheeks as you bit down on your bottom lip to stop it from trembling. Tiny salty droplets that Spencer slowly wiped away using his thumbs.

“I never said anything because I wanted to be there for you, first and foremost, in whatever way you needed me. I wanted to remain in your life after we broke up because your friendship means the world to me. I guess I thought-t, I hoped that maybe one day we’d get back together. And I know it’s unfair for me to lay all of this on you now, I know. And I’m sorry, I can’t keep it to myself anymore. You, I think you deserve to know.”

Quiet sobs filled the room. Your whole body was now shaking under his touch. Heart aching. It felt like you couldn't breathe.

All you ever wanted was for Spencer to love you. All you ever wanted was for him to tell you that he made a mistake all those years ago and that the two of you belong together. 

“P-please say something.” His plea was barely a whisper.

All you ever wanted.

“I-I.. Spencer, I...”

You finally got all you ever wanted. The brunette doctor was standing in front of you professing his love, and yet it felt like he just stabbed you in the back. His declaration, those three cursed words you dreamt so long ago to hear come out of his lips again. It felt like the ultimate betrayal.

Don't know what to say to you now Standing right in front of you

-

A/N: FINALLY A LOVE CONFESSION ! honestly this chapter was a little hard for me to write... it took me a while to actually sit down to it and actually be happy with what i wrote idk BUT i hope you liked it and as always i’d love to hear your feedback! if you would like to be added to a taglist, please let me know. thank you for your continuous support. with love, mal. x

masterlist | series masterlist | series playlist

story taglist: @girloncorneliastreet, @haylaansmi, @rexorangecouny, @l0ve-0f-my-life, @obsssedwithjustaboutanything, @aperrywilliams, @sassy-hades, @rainsong01, @reverdevivre, @dracomikaelson, @softieekayy, @lunaofcrows, @andrewhoezierbyrne​, @blameitonthenight21, @lyl-26, @do-yr-research, @nazifa94, @stepsofthefbi, @chatterbug2-0

spencer reid taglist: @no-honey-no​, @calm-and-doctor​, @idroppedmygourd​​, @averyhotchner​

[wannabe-fic-writer]

All Over Again - Chapter 2

Summary: What was lost can be found. 

Warning: 18+ Smut, Language, Violence. This chapter gets a little science nerdy!

Ch. 1

* * * * * *

“How did you do it?” 

Looking up from the red glowing gun, your eyebrows pinch together as you look at the man stepping into your lab. His eyes, like always, flick around to take in your equipment. All your weapons lining the walls. 

You lay the sword down,“ what did I do exactly?”

Tony leans on the counter across from you,“ Luthor Corp just bought six shares of Stark Industries and sent multiple emails detailing possible partnered projects.” His eyebrows rise,“ I’ve been trying to go into business with Luthor Corp for years now.” 

“Congrats?” You narrow your eyes at him,“ still not seeing where I come in at.” 

Your hands glow red as you run them along the side of the rifle, effectively removing it’s glow and energy charge. 

“Side note, if you could come do your glowy magic thing on my new reactor, that’d be great.” You save your comments on that for later.“ Anyway, Pepper told me that you made quite the impression on Miss Luthor. I have a hunch her new found interest in my company is because of you.” 

“Probably not. We never talked about Stark Industries. We talked about a lot but never the company.” 

Frowning, he tilts his head to the side,“ it was an investment dinner, the purpose was to-” he sighs,“ nevermind that. You’re going to National City tomorrow correct?”

“I really don’t want to play company rep Tony. We’re just working on a project of hers.” 

Which you found out the day after the investment dinner. 

You’d contacted Lena about going out there. She confirmed your guess that she wanted to get your take and help on the power core. For the past two days you’ve been getting a few things done, mainly stuff that needs your immediate attention, so you wouldn’t be leaving anything undone. 

After some pleading from Tony you tell him you’ll consider giving Stark Industries a little good press with Lena but you make no promises. Then finishing up your work and leaving the lab. 

Sighing, you roll your shoulders, feeling how tired you are. Doing almost a week's worth of work in two days isn’t the most healthy thing. 

“Hey, you okay?” 

E/c finds deep green and you nod,“ fine.” The smile you try to give turns out to be a grimace. 

Natasha watches you,“ you sure, you look pretty tired. I know you’ve been-”

“Romanoff, I’m fine.” 

The redhead sighs. She quickly pulls a blank expression and moves to stand directly in front of you,“ how long are you going to act like this with me?” 

“Like what?”

“Indifferent Y/n. Every time we talk you give me some off handed generic response like we haven’t known each other for nine years. Three of which we dated.” 

You narrow your eyes at her,“ all three you spent keeping secrets. And then left me for said secrets immediately after. I’m not indifferent towards you Natasha I’m fucking hurt.” You don’t mean to snap but you can’t help it. 

Since your break up Natasha has moved on and has tried to interact with you like everything was fine. Like she hadn’t broken your heart. Better yet, as if she was scared you’d hurt her. 

Getting to the end of the hallway, you turn to her,“ you know what’s funny? Had you just told me, beforehand, that there was something between you and Doctor Banner, I would’ve understood. Because the worst part was being blindsided.” 

“Y/n I’m sorry.” If you were close enough you could see the regret in her eyes, might’ve been able to hear her heartbreak. 

You nod,“ I know. You told me.”

Avoiding the ex-assassin has become a bit of an everyday thing now. So much so that you almost don’t have to put any effort into doing it before you have to leave. You spend a little time training with Sam and Bucky, walking them both through their new supercharged weapons. You coordinate with Steve on the mission you’re being assigned after you get back. 

You also take a moment to research Miss Luthor and Luthor Corp. Alongside finding the controversial opinions on the company and the woman running it. You ended up, not surprised, but impressed with her work.

And of course you spend some time with Wanda. Said woman not leaving your side at all, even as you go to bed. She occupies the empty side of your bed through the night and truthfully you’re grateful for the company. 

When you wake up, you make quick work of showering, getting dressed, and starting to pack. Wanda doesn’t move a muscle, much more content with reveling in the warmth you’d left behind, while trying to get you to not go. 

“I won’t even be gone long, back by tomorrow for sure.” You push a set of shirts in your bag. 

Wanda groans loudly and cuddles further into your fluffy blanket,“ but I just got back and you promised to take me to see Harrison.”

You chuckle lowly,“ it’s Hamilton, Wan. And I’m still gonna take you, just a little later. Think of it as an anticipation builder.”

“Don’t you think I have enough anticipation.”

Shaking your head, you zip up your overnight bag, and sit down beside the young woman,“ come on Wan, it’s not like I’m leaving you alone.” 

“Basically you are. Steve and Bucky never leave each other’s sides and Sam follows them around always, and Natasha has Bruce!” She exclaims, only to jolt up when she realizes what she’s said.“ I’m sorry.”

You do your best to laugh it off,“ it’s fine really. Natasha does have Bruce.” You quickly change the subject before that familiar ache returns,“ why don’t you take Clint up on his offer to stay with them for a while?”

Wanda looks down, playing with her fingers,“ I’m not ready to do that just yet.” Those eyes then lock with yours,“ besides I can’t leave you.”

“Hey,” you pull her into your side,“ you know I’m always here for you right?” She nods. Deciding not to leave on a somber note, you joke,“ except for tomorrow, so endure Miss Maximoff, and text me.” Standing up, you press a very chaste kiss to her forehead, and then leave out with a wink. 

“Headed out Y/Ln?” 

You nod to Steve, holding up your bag in emphasis,“ yeah, I’ll only be gone a day you know.” He nods.“ Oh and Rogers, do me a favor and keep an eye on Wanda yeah?”

While she’s doing significantly better after everything, you know she still has her moments. When they hit they hit hard and feeling/being alone doesn’t help. It’s one of the many reasons Clint invited her to go stay with his family for a while. But Wanda has reservations about that for reasons she hadn’t yet told you.

After getting Steve’s agreement to do so, you leave. 

To you, the worst part of traveling is all the little stupid stuff in between. You loved driving, hated traffic. Flying was calming and you loved looking at the clouds sail by, you hated TSA, baggage claim, and boarding. 

Luckily National City is merely five hours away and the second you land you feel the difference in NYC and NC. While both are skyscraper filled, fast paced, cities. There’s something about National City that seems freer. People are nicer, the sun shines brighter, the air smells cleaner. 

Perhaps it’s just being on the West Coast.

Being the woman she is, Lena has a car service for you, the driver waiting with your name on a white board. You confirm your identity and follow the woman out to the car. On the drive to Luthor Corp, you take in the sights of National City.

Lots of skyscrapers but still a surprising amount of greenery. Eventually you approach your destination, the tall glass building branding the large Luthor Corp logo. 

“Thank you.” You nod to the driver, slipping a tip her way, and getting out of the car. 

Stepping inside the building, your eyes take in the sunlit interior as you approach the front desk. The young receptionist asks what he can help you with and you respond that you’re here for Lena Luthor and he asks for your name. 

In the end you’re told to wait as she’s in a meeting, so you pass the time by texting Wanda, replying to the dozen texts Tony had sent. You tell him you’ll do it if he can get you decent Hamilton tickets and he agrees instantly. 

“Y/n,” her voice, while still new to your ears, is easily recognizable,“ I’m so sorry for making you wait.” 

You’re waving her off in an instant,“ it’s fine, I’m no greater than anyone else, I can wait.”

She chuckles, nodding in understanding, and silently pleased with your humility. A number of people would’ve demanded they go in immediately. 

From there she directs you toward the elevator. As you walk the people walking around look to Lena in seeming amazement. 

“It seems your employees are also fans, rightfully so.” You tease honestly. 

“They’re a part of a small group believe me. I have more opposition than you could imagine.” 

Raising an eyebrow, you shrug,“ a powerful woman is intimidating, especially one as brilliant and compassionate as you Miss Luthor.” 

A light blush fans her cheeks and her eyes watch you on the elevator,“ if I didn’t know any better I’d say you’re trying to flatter me.”

“I’m being honest with you Lena, it just so happens that your truth is pleasing to hear.” The elevator dings, letting you both off to a floor of labs, some walled off by glass and others concrete. You look around, some machines and equipment familiar to you and others you don’t recognize. 

Lena guides you down the halls to a room at the very end. It’s dark inside at first and then a purple light rises. Repeatedly it shines and then dims and you walk closer in amazement. 

Octagonal, metal, plates surround the rock like material in the center, each plate connected by thick wires. The purple light emits from the rock. Lena flicks the lights on and it powers up the monitors and the core. 

Still watching in fascination, you walk around the core, remaining a few decent feet away. A very low hum sounds from it and you can practically feel the power of it. 

“Wow.” Lena smiles at your amazement.“ I imagine you had to build a stabilizer before you could move it.” You look up at her.

“I did. It was in a ship when I found it so I reutilized the ship's engine.” 

Eyes wide, you smile softly,“ instead of the engine pulling energy from the core-”

She nods,“ it pushed the energy back into it.” 

“How did you stop it from overloading?” 

“Reworked the wiring to continuously transport the energy so there was never an overwhelming amount in the core at one point in time.” 

You look back at the core, noticing that is also how she’s currently keeping it from overloading.“ Remember when I said you’re brilliant?” She nods.“ That was an understatement.”

With another laugh and a bashful blush, she brings you over to her monitoring equipment. 

The next few hours pass with the two of you working on it. Lena loved the idea of turning the one power core into multiple ones which would require harvesting pieces of it. But it’s not like they make Alien Rock saws or anything on earth. 

You’d have to invent a tool strong enough to cut through it without it disrupting or agitating the energy. 

It’s well past the late hours of the night when hunger sets in for both of you. Lena insists you join her for dinner. After locking up her office, the two of you go to a restaurant that she sings praises for. 

The maitre’d is quick to seat you both, your waiter bringing water, and asking if you’d like anything else to drink. Lena orders wine and you get an old fashioned like usual. 

“So outside of being well versed in science,” Lena starts,“ what other talents do you have?” 

“I can make a great cup of coffee.” You joke, the woman laughing.“ No um, I’m a weapons specialist. It goes hand in hand with science and my powers. Mental materialization allows me to create just about any weapon with my mind, of course it doesn’t last forever. For the most part I enhance the weapons the team already has though I’ve invented a weapon or two.”

Brown eyebrows raise,“ invented?” Intrigue enters her eyes and you’ve already become accustomed to it.

You nod,“ at the time my team and I were facing a threat we never had before. It required a special type of weapon and of course it didn’t exist.”

“Alien?”

Before you can reply, the waiter returns. They set down your drinks and take your orders, both of you smiling politely before they walk away. 

Looking back at Lena, you sip your drink, and respond,“ yes. It took a lot of trial and error, messing around with their own weapons to finally get it. I ended up using the alien technology to build the weapons.”

“And you say I’m the brilliant one.” A smirk plays at her lips over the rim of her wine glass.

It’s then that you replay your own words in your head being hit with a startling realization!

“Lena!” You exclaim. Green eyes widen slightly, eyebrows raising simultaneously.“ A laser saw. We’ve been trying to come up with a material strong enough to cut through it instead of using its own energy to do so.”

She understands quickly, a disbelieving chuckle leaves her lips,“ oh my god, you’re right. Of course we’d have to neutralize the core before cutting it. That amount of energy against itself could cause a cascade of energy failures or something much worse.”

“You figured out how to stabilize it with it’s own engine and now you’ve got me,” she smiles amusedly,“ I’m sure two scientists of our caliber could work something out.”

Lena agrees. Then insisting you two talk about anything other than the work. 

As much as she loves her work, she’s been intrigued by you since your first meeting. With this being a much more casual setting than the investment dinner and her lab, she wants to get to know you. 

She’s learned how intelligent you are, even if that’s just the tip of your iceberg, but she’s dying to know more. And she does.

Over dinner you both get to know each other better. Lena’s disdain for her last name but need to clear it is something she, almost subconsciously, divulges. You’re not exactly surprised to hear that she went to MIT, in fact you would’ve been shocked if she went anywhere else. 

While she avoids going in depth about her family, she does make mention of being close to her brother when they were younger and loving her father endlessly. Her sincere compassion is a trait she seemed to have always had despite the briefly mentioned opposition she faced over being so.  

Her taking over the company after her brother was for a number of reasons the main one being that she wanted to prove herself. Luthor doesn’t mean evil, not always anyway. You’re led to believe that while many don’t agree, there’s proof through Lena’s work that she isn’t a bad person. 

In turn you tell her about your time as an Avenger. All of it started back when your father worked for S.H.I.E.L.D. Being the dedicated man that he was, he often brought his work home, and being the daddy’s girl that you were, you lingered around and watched as he worked.

You’d picked up on a lot of things from him involving the weapons. By the time you were 16 you knew most guns inside and out from standard pistols to compact grenade launchers. 

After high school you went to Stanford and majored in Mechanical Engineering, getting the opportunity to intern at the one and only Stark industries. Upon graduation you had taken an actual job at the company. Some time later you were approached by Fury to assist Stark in building the Particle Accelerator to save himself and take down Ivan.

Tony took a liking to you during your time working together and afterwards was more than happy to work closer with you, especially since you still worked for Stark Industries. Those connections lead you to being picked up by Fury every once and a while with S.H.I.E.L.D business. Until S.H.I.E.L.D fell, your last mission with them being Sokovia.

Eventually, despite the very late hour, Lena’s phone starts to buzz almost incessantly. With a small,“ excuse me,” she picks it up, reading the messages she received. 

“Are you up to a few more drinks?” She asks with a soft smile and you find yourself unable to say no under the gaze of her green eyes. 

She settles the check, relenting and letting you leave the tip, before you’re both in her car and driving to a different location. This place is a lot less upscale than the last. Funnily enough you find it a lot more comfortable than the restaurant. 

You follow beside Lena, who approaches a table surrounded by a decent sized group of people. They all smile brightly at the CEO, a blonde hugging her excitedly. Then all eyes fall to you. Before Lena can even introduce you, a voice speaks. 

“Oooohhhh my god!” A man about your height nearly vibrates with excitement in his seat. Brown eyes widen and he bites his lip.“ You’re Artemis, the Avenger!”

It’s impossible to not chuckle at his enthusiasm.“ I am, but without the getup you can call me Y/n,” you reach a hand out to shake his.

“Y/n, yeah of course.” He shrugs with an understanding nod. 

Going around the group of people, you shake hands and learn names. After Winn, sits Kara Danvers(Lena’s best friend as she introduces), Kara’s sister Alex(definitely an agent of some sort), J’onn(also an agent), and James Olsen. 

While they all seem fairly nice, you can see Alex’s and J’onn’s studying expressions. They watch you cautiously and you don’t blame them. Winn and Kara are the more open ones, excited to meet you and engaging in a seeming nonstop conversation. And James, well you aren’t sure about him yet but he seems okay. 

Alex takes a swig from her beer, elbows leaning on the table top,“ what brings you to National City?” 

“Lena actually.” All eyes widen, eyebrows rising as well.“ In a strictly platonic and professional way.”

The CEO beside you chuckles softly, hand resting on your bicep,“ Y/n’s assisting me with a project of mine upon my request.” 

“What kind of project?” The auburn haired woman asks.

Something in her tone tells you that she’s skeptical, almost untrusting of the woman at your side. Whatever history is there is a little rocky, you can’t place why but it is. And even though you don’t know anyone here all that well, you’d hate for everyone’s seeming enjoyable night to take a sour turn.

“For now it’s merely a test for a new energy source. If it’s not clean energy or it’s unstable it won’t go further than this.” 

The woman seems satisfied with your answer, at least a little, and nods. Lena sending you a smile in thanks. 

“So, what kind of drink recommendations can a tourist like me get?” 

With your simple, easygoing question, conversations start back up. Each person gives you a drink recommendation and you take it, trying each one. Some you don’t like but most of them are great, and strong.

By the end of the night there isn’t a single person who isn’t laughing. The effects of the alcohol you’ve consumed hit you and while you aren’t wasted, it definitely makes things lighter for you. 

“Alright, I think it’s time I get this one back to her hotel so she can get home tomorrow.” Lena lightly pats your shoulder.

“Awe booo!” Kara and Winn say at the same time, the latter much more intoxicated than the former.

You pout, looking at Lena,“ don’t you want to hear about the anti-gravity gun Winn is working on?” 

“It’s handheld.” He adds in a whisper.

The brunette chuckles,“ I’m sure Winn would be more than happy to tell you about it some other time.” 

Sighing you nod,“ fine. She’s right, I have a flight later.” You rise up, the support of the table a great assistance,“ it was a great pleasure to meet all of you, had a lot of fun.” 

Kara’s big blue eyes find yours,“ you’re going to visit again right?”

“Not sure when but I will definitely be coming back.” 

With a goodbye to everyone, you and Winn slapping hands and nearly missing, and you and Kara high fiving perfectly, you leave. 

For the third time tonight you’re in Lena’s car. She leans back into her seat after telling her driver where to take you. It’s a fairly quiet ride back to the hotel, you drinking from the water Lena gets from the center console, and her occasionally looking over at you. 

She took great delight in watching you interact with her friends, especially with the amount of alcohol you’d consumed. Drunk wasn’t the proper state to describe you as but the intake definitely had you a lot more talkative and energetic than Lena has seen, though that’s only been twice. 

Telling her driver to keep the car running, she accompanies you up to your room. She’d hate if anything happened to you before a friendship could even begin. 

You swipe the card over the door sensor and push it open, turning to lean against the frame and address Lena.“ Thanks for today.”

“The whole day?” She chuckles.

“Yes ma’am. I loved every bit of it. Your friends are awesome and I’m really excited to see how the power core works out.” 

A little smile pulls at her lips,“ well I may have started this by myself but you’re definitely a part of it now. So let me know the next time you’re able to come back.”

“Really?” Your eyebrows pinch together. Compared to how much was done when you’d arrived everything you did felt like adding two measly cents. 

Honestly speaking, you’d genuinely loved every second of working on the power core with her. As much as you love saving the world as an Avenger, there was a newfound excitement and intrigue in you while you worked on this. It could save lives in a way you can’t as an Avenger. 

“Only if you want to.” The CEO says, slight hesitation hidden behind her teasing smirk. 

“I’d love to.”

* * * * * *

Taglist: @username23345 @depressed-bi-bitch @fayhar @trikruismybitch @aznblossom

[votederpycausemufins]

Surprisingly Familiar Ch 1

The first chapter of the sequel to Summoning Family. I'm going to be working on my scattered au fic more, but you might still see some chapters of this scattered around

@petrichormeraki made the hermit!Tommy au, and @helleborusangel did amazing rambles for the chapters of Summoning Family.

Now, Let's see how things have gone since the ending of Summoning Family.

It had been eleven days since Grum’s birthday and now it was Jrum’s. He was excited by the party, playing games and trying to scam people of their diamonds. Cake was nice, his mask getting a special cake of his own with diamonds since Grum had gotten the same. And then it came to presents.

Jrum was especially happy at any toys he got and glad if he was just getting diamonds. Kokatori had also managed to get another ribbon around its neck and try to be a present again. Jrum wasn’t the most pleased about that since he was still coping with everything that happened with the egg, but he still took the present before handing them off to Grum.

Just as the presents were just about all gone, two more were placed on the table, each one with a different label. Jrum went to grab the last present when he saw the new ones being placed, so he looked up at who was putting them down, surprised to see an unfamiliar face. “Um, who are you?”

The question made everyone look over, most people looking confused, but three people had different reactions. Phil looked surprised, recognizing the man. Grian was also surprised, but also awestruck. Lastly, in Grum’s arms, Kokatori hissed.

“What the heck are you doing here? Who even let you in?” Phil asked, walking over to the man.

“I let myself in. I mean, I sort of already had permission to be here, just never used it. Building big was never really my thing.”

“Who are you then?” It was Scar who spoke up. The person looked at a few of the hermits who seemed to also look as confused as Scar sounded.

“I think the beard is messing with them.” Phil said, elbowing the man, who then ran a hand through his beard.

“Right, spend a month on an abandoned island and then get captured by pirates and you can’t really do much for that. Anyone got a raz...or…” he trailed off as Jrum pulled out some special shears. He was stunned by the bot having such a thing, but took them with a thank you and stepped out of the room.

After a few minutes, he stepped back in, and immediately some of the hermits were no longer confused. “Oh my god, it’s been so long!” Bdubs was the first to say, going over to the man. “What have you been up to!”

“Eh, mainly family. You’ve been working with someone named Scar?” Bdubs nodded and gestured to the mayor. “Got it. Nice to meet you.” He moved over to Doc. “And how about you? How’s the family life?”

“Eh, some days are always better than others, I haven’t been around here as often because of it. What about you?”

“Well, the kids are all grown up at this point, I’ve got more time on my hands so I’ve gone back to filming.”

Doc nodded. “Sounds good to me. I’ve got to tell you more about what we did last season.”

“I’m sure you do.” The man chuckled, moving over to Keralis. “Hey, can’t wait to see your city. The pictures seemed crazy enough. I can’t believe you built all that.”

“Why spank you, but I have had help with designs.”

“Yeah. And you said you own it with someone named Cleo now?”

“Yes, in fact, she’s got a relative that is in Bub’s troop last I checked.”

Cleo spoke up at this point. “Yep! Got an order in for popcorn just the other day.”

“Nice to hear. By the way, Etho’s behind me, isn’t he?” The hermits unfamiliar with the man were surprised by that comment, as Etho was indeed behind him. Pretty much no one could tell when Etho was sneaking around, so this new person doing it was very shocking. “I’ll be asking everyone about your shops so I can stay awake from them.”

“Oh come on, some of them would be fun for a survivor like you. In fact we could get Tango to open up decked out for a session for you.”

“Right, sure Etho. Now is Beef around?”

“No actually. He had something really important come up.” Etho answered, another hermit nodding to agree with the statement.

“Ah, that’s too bad. Well, I guess the only person left to greet is ol’ rap battle over here.”

Wels suddenly looked embarrassed. “Oh that’s why you look familiar. You’re the OBP leader.”

“Yeah.” The man nodded. “You know green wasn’t really your c-”

“Please don’t bring that up again.”

The man laughed. “Alright, I won’t.” He then looked at the rest of the hermits. “Well, I think I know a few of you from the letters I’ve gotten from these guys.” And he gestured to the hermits he had been talking to. “Like I know Scar and Cleo now, then TFC and Xisuma I’m familiar with, also Zedaph.”

“Yeah, so who are you exactly?” Mumbo spoke up. “While I’m glad you’ve come to celebrate Jrum’s birthday, I’m not familiar with you.”

“Right, forgot to give my name I guess.” The man started to say. “I’m-”

Grian cut him off. “You’re the Soarvivor Paul! I remember watching your shows when I was in highschool! I had some friends at my school in England who went to an event of yours!”

“Wait, this is Paul?” Scar spoke up. “I’ve heard a lot of stories about him from Doc and Bdubs.”

Paul smiled at that. “Yep, that would be me.”

Grian took over the conversation again. “So wait, you said you were recording again, are you making MvM again?”

Instead of answering happily like Paul had to everyone else, he just gave Grian a bit of a nod before giving him the cold shoulder.

“Wait, are you that uncle Phil’s always talking about?” Tommy asked. He had stayed out of the conversation when he had no clue what was going on, but now that he recognized the name, he had some things to say. “The one he always complains always uses letters instead of a phone call or texting.”

Paul nodded. “Yeah, that would be me. Letters are the most reliable when you’ve got a job like mine.”

“Then stick to a comm then Paul.” Doc said, resting his arm on Paul's shoulder. “I’ve offered to make you a special one who knows how many times. I’m sure your kids wouldn’t mind it either.”

“Why do I feel like I’m still missing something?” Tommy spoke up again, Doc explaining for him.

“A number of us hung out with Paul in the past. Most of us he knows from the old Minecrack worlds, but he met Keralis on some other worlds.”

“Yeah, and met Wels when we were dealing with an apocalypse world. Beef was there too.” Paul sighed. “So Phil, what’s your family been getting up to other than the obvious?”

“Well, Tommy’s actually living in hermitcraft now.” Phil answered. “Wilbur’s getting through some things, and Techno’s trying to keep up his hardened warrior mask, but Grian’s kid is making that hard.”

“Well, this group seems to have that effect on people.” Paul nodded. “And how’ve they been doing with Xelqua?” Paul jabbed a finger on Grian’s direction.

“Right, shit, forgot to say that part. Grian is Xelqua.” Phil quickly explained, Paul’s mouth turning to a small ‘o’.

“Ah, I guess that explains that war and the hippies I heard about in letters. At least It’s a little tamer in a world like this.” Most of the people in the room were confused, and at first Grian was one of them, but then he made a connection and his legs were suddenly struggling to keep him up. “He has told you about Tokyo, right?”

Before anyone could answer, Kokatori was hissing in Grum’s arms again, drawing Paul’s attention. He pulled out a stone sword and immediately the hermits that knew Paul were holding him back. “No! Hey! Paul, that is a kid’s pet!” Bdubs said. “I know you don’t like them but that’s like the one chicken you’re not allowed to kill!”

“Just get him a pet other than a chicken! You can’t trust a chicken! They’re spies, killers and thieves.”

“Killer chickens?” Wels, who wasn’t holding Paul back, asked.

“Oh no, he’s telling the truth about that.” Doc answered. “I saw it for myself.”

“How do you get killed by a fucking chicken?” Tommy asked.

“You forget to kill it first.” Paul answered, finally putting his sword away. “Well, you said that kid’s one of Xel’s.”

“One of Grian’s.” Phil corrected. “And yes. That’s Grumbot, or Grum, the older of the two. His birthday was a week and a half ago.”

“Well, figures they’d just try causing more problems.”

Phil rolled his eyes and then grabbed Paul’s arm. “Alright, you and I. Talk. Now.”

When Phil and Paul had left the room, Grian finally allowed himself to go to the floor. The hermits that knew Paul were immediately apologizing for him, not sure why he was acting that way. But Grian knew. And Mumbo helped Grian up, pretty sure he knew too. “I’m going to help Grian lie down. Grum, maybe I should take Kokatori with me so they don’t cause more problems.”

Grum nodded and handed the chicken over, it being very upset about being moved and pecking at Mumbo’s arms. But he was too worried about Grian to let that stop him. So soon they had left the room too.

For a while, everything was silent. But then Jrum spoke up. “Well, for my birthday, I want to eavesdrop! And no one can stop me!” And he ran off to listen into Phil and Paul’s conversation, leaving the rest of the party members confused on what to do.

[mavda]

Beast Tamers

Ch.1 |  Ch.2 | Ch.3 | Ch.4(1) | Ch.4(2) | Ch.5(1) | Ch.5(2) | Ch.5(3) | Ch.5(4) | Ch.6(1) | Ch.6(2) | Ch.6(3) | Ch.7(1) | Ch.7(2) | Ch.7(3) | Ch.7(4) | Ch.7(5) |

Ch.8: Without you (1)

Hinata keeps her head pressed to Naruto, and after a while everyone starts to leave. Whispers and hushed voices are all Hinata hears before a hand comes to her shoulder.

    “Lady Hinata,” calls Lord Minato, and she knows what comes.

    “I am s-staying with my h-husband.”

    She doesn’t need to look at his face to know that there is sympathy in his eyes. And she knows she doesn’t want to see it for herself. It will make this all feel… real.

    “We need to clean his body,” he starts again. His voice measured and soft, as if he was trying to make her understand.

    And Hinata does understand. They want to keep her away from what they seem to think of as a burden, but the thought of leaving Naruto now just fills her with dread. She rises, but keeps her hands on Naruto’s body.

    “I will c-clean him u-up.”

    “My lady.”

    “W-will you leave him h-here… or will you b-bring him to our r-room?”

    She finally looks at Lord Minato, and wishes immediately after that she didn’t. Sakura looked bad, but somehow Lord Minato looks worse. His burnt marks are bigger and less healed than Sakura’s, but it’s the way his body sags, the way his eyes seem to be filled with something Hinata has never seen before. Something Hinata didn’t think she would see so soon. 

    Resignation. 

    She can’t bring herself to ask anything, she can’t bring herself to say anything either. And Lord Minato seems to catch onto that, as he closes his eyes with a sigh and gives her a smile Hinata hates. 

    He looks at his son. “We will move him to your room, my lady, I will leave him in your care, thank you very much.” He gives her a bow, steals a glance at Naruto and attempts to leave.

    Hinata grabs the sleeve of his kimono before she realizes she did it. “Wha-what happened?”

    Lord Minato has to control his expression, and Hinata knows that is not a good sign, but she has to know. Needs to know. He looks around the room, to find no one else around aside from Sai and although a little, his mask breaks. 

    And Hinata is terrified.

    “I…” his voice trembles and he can’t seem to know where to lay his eyes. “I just shut him down.” 

    Hinata can’t understand what he seems to imply, so she presses. “L-lord Gaara…”

    The name seems to strike a chord in Lord Minato, who brings his fist to his closed eyes. “I sealed him. Correctly. I had the time and his seal is comparatively easier to handle… Naruto…” he struggles with his words, drags his fist down, “we lost too much time, we tried going back to where we left you and by the time we were there we caught Naruto losing control down at the arena and the fifth tail was forming so we had to… I had to shut everything down.”

    Hinata lets her hand fall. It’s not only the words he’s saying, it’s the way his voice is tinged with a desperation she has never heard before that makes her unable to talk. 

    “He-” Minato keeps on talking, egged on by Hinata’s attitude. If he can only give her some sort of peace of mind… mend somewhat what he has done. “He will wake up,” he assures, “it’s just…” 

    Minato closes his mouth immediately, trying to control the tremble that threatens to take over him. He knows… he has known since forever that his son lives on borrowed time, that it’s a fact that he will have to bury him first -going against every natural law-, he has been adamant into searching and trying whatever he stumbles upon that can give Naruto one second more, just one second...

    He has deluded himself, too. 10 years, 12 years, 8 years. Numbers, only numbers he has seen and repeated and tried to turn up and around in search of lengthening them, make them disappear. 10 years, 8 years. Numbers he somehow took for granted. At least that amount of time. At least not next year, or the year after, or the next. Some time. 

    This was not supposed to go like this.

    He is crying, so he brings his sleeve to his face, tries his best to hide this. But it’s useless, he knows. 

She knows.

    “I have sent message to my master, Naruto’s godfather,” his voice trembles slightly and breaks more than he wishes, but he continues, because he needs some time alone. “He has been travelling around looking and searching for ways to help Naruto. I’m hoping… I’m hoping he will bring something useful this time.”

    Minato worries Hinata will keep her head down. He wants for her to keep her head down and spare him the guilt. 

    She doesn’t look at him, but stares at the floor in front of her. No tears.

    “I... understand.”

⁂⁂⁂

Hinata does not move from Naruto’s side. So it’s only through the people who visit that she knows that Lord Gaara has awoken and is fine. 

    Lord Minato has taken a look at his seal, Sakura has taken a look at his body. Aside from the obvious stress of his seal being forced open, he’s fine. He’s fine and is currently attending a meeting with Lord Minato and Shikamaru behind closed doors. 

    Temari and Kankuro find their way to her room and stand behind her as she sits there, unmoving and with Naruto’s hand clasped between hers. 

    She knows how she must look to others. Can guess what is going on through their heads, as they let silence fall all around them. If they were any other people, maybe Hinata would have let them stay there and not say anything, kept to herself. 

    But these are Lord Gaara’s siblings. So she closes her eyes, gathers her strength.

    “I am glad… Lord Gaara is all r-right.”

    Her words break a spell she didn’t know was there. The siblings move closer and sit near Naruto’s feet. They remain composed and polite and Temari brings down her head first, followed by Kankuro.

    “We have already given our thanks to Lord Minato and to Sakura. If it could make anything better we would bow our heads to every single member of the clan, but Lord Shikamaru has told us to keep things under wraps as much as possible.” Hinata can’t look at them, so she keeps her eyes glued to the floor in front of Temari’s knees. “The Sand will not forget this debt, Lady Hinata.” Temari’s voice is laced with such appreciation that Hinata can’t ignore the obvious care they share for their brother. Which is why she feels worse for even entertaining the idea of what could have happened if Lord Minato had stayed with them in Naruto's booth. 

    It didn’t happen. 

    She shouldn’t feel bad for a thought. But she can’t help the shame that fills her and she is only capable of whispering an answer. “I… understand.” 

    Her reply is soft and weak and obviously not all that honest, so Temari brings her head even lower, “We will find ourselves useful, Lady Hinata, I swear.”

    Hinata doesn’t know if it’s the way she delivered her speech with such passion or if it’s the fact that Hinata just can’t let go of the envy instilled in her heart, but she feels unworthy of these words. “T-thank you, T-temari.”

    Temari looks apologetic still, and Hinata fears she will talk again. Show her resolve in some other way Hinata can’t truly accept at this moment. But they say their thanks again, softer this time and leave after a couple of minutes of being silent. 

    Hinata is left with Naruto. His body is fine, it’s his seal again that’s causing problems. He will wake up, it is not a wish nor a dream, it’s a fact. 

    What worries them is that they just don’t know how he will feel or react after he’s woken. Lord Minato worries the seal will weaken and that they will need to tamper with it again, after being reinforced so soon. 

He also thinks the only reason the seal was able to endure this whole ordeal is because it had been reinforced just before being put to the test. 

Sai sits next to her after what seems like mere minutes, but he offers her food and beverages with an attitude that pleads for her to accept, so it must be way past dinner. 

It feels like no time has passed at all. Hinata has to force the food down. It feels like cotton being shoved inside her mouth, unsavory and with a weird texture, but she knows she must eat. She wants to be healthy. She wants for Naruto to wake up and see her and not worry about her. 

She eats every little thing on her plate, drinks every drop of liquid on her glass, and then brings her hand to Naruto’s body once again. 

Lady Mito arrives in the room with a rush of wind that Hinata ignores. It’s only when she comes closer and sits that Hinata steals a glance at the new guest. She bows to Lady Mito, straightens and follows as she moves to Naruto's other side. 

She doesn't really know how to comfort a sad grandmother. But she tries, "Lord Minato s-said he w-will wake up."

Lady Mito sits on the floor, brings her hand to brush away Naruto's bangs with a care that's impossible to ignore. 

"He w-will wake u-up."

Lady Mito looks at her with sad eyes, and Hinata realizes that her reassurance could be understood as her own wishes. Her own way of coping. 

She realizes she's been repeating those words like a mantra inside her head.

She brings her eyes to Naruto's face. Clean now, but full of burnt marks Sakura has done her best to heal but can't make disappear only with her techniques. The wounds brought by the Beast will have to heal with a mixture of old fashioned nursing and healing chakra.

Lady Mito cups her grandson's cheek and Hinata fears she may want some alone time. "D-do you need to b-be alone with h-him?"

Lady Mito raises her eyes to Hinata and then gives her a tight smile. "No, don't worry, please." She doesn't miss the way Hinata's hand tightens around Naruto's or the way her shoulders relax at her words. 

Lady Mito feels horrible. And seeing her grandson's wife so affected does nothing to alleviate her guilt. 

There is little she could have done. There is little she can do right now. But it's not the things she can do now that plague her mind, it's what could have been. 

"I'm always late when bad things happen," she whispers. 

It's an afterthought. Something she never meant to say out loud. But somehow Hinata looks at her without understanding anything and Mito feels compelled to talk. To share her story in hopes of someone finally acknowledging the wrong she has done to her own family. 

"When my daughter died I was, much like today, far away in a meeting," Sai stands from his spot near the door and walks out. Hinata doesn't notice. "I came back to a dead daughter and the Beast sealed inside my grandson."

She brings her lips together and realizes they're trembling. There will never be a time when the pain doesn't reach her when talking about the past. "I… we couldn't do much in fear of the seal breaking and hurting Naruto… killing Naruto, so we waited." 

And waited, and waited. Year after year of her asking Minato if now they could, and if not now then maybe next year. And then the next. And then...

"Naruto was 11 when the seal settled enough for it to be tampered with." Still a child who craved hugs, still a sweet boy who had trouble with the red chakra that sometimes seeped out of him. "I wanted the Beast to be sealed within me then, got Minato's approval. I told Naruto, thinking that he would agree immediately…" maybe she should have forced it to happen. "He just looked me in the eye and said ‘but it hurts, Grandma Mito, why would you want that?’"

She takes a few seconds to herself. She will not cry. This is not about her. "I just… I tried to explain to him that I could take the pain away, but he has always been quick to pick on things, and his training as Beast Tamer had already started… we thought he had to be ready… for anything. So a few days later he came to me, took my hands between his and asked me if I would die if we went through with it. I told him the truth, the fool. I should have lied. I should have…" 

Lady Mito wipes away the stray tears that have fallen and despises them. Abhors them. "’The Beast is mine’, he said, ‘and I will not pass it to anyone ever.’" 

Naruto lies there, hurt and unconscious and she sits there beside him doing nothing. Able to do nothing. Like always. 

"I begged, kneeled and prostrated myself before him, but he didn't budge. If anything, he became more stubborn… if only I could do something for him…”

Lady Mito’s voice breaks and Hinata can feel the tears falling down her face. What wouldn't she give for Naruto to be freed from this. And now, right now, when she is burdened by his absence and the pain the situation inflicts on her, with the laments of his own grandmother right in front of her, Hinata can feel frustration rising inside. 

 "You are his g-grandmother," she whispers. It’s an accusation and a justification both at once, and Hinata inhales sharply the moment she finishes what she said, realizing she’s letting her emotions get the better of her. 

It seems at first that her words weren’t heard, thank heavens, and they sit in silence. But then Lady Mito sits straighter, serious, "It's because I am his grandmother,” she whispers. And Hinata has to bite down her lower lip to keep herself from losing her composure.

Hinata remembers Naruto's hand on her face, his breath washing over her as he just told her, matter of fact, 'she's my grandma. I love her.'

So simple, and so unfair. 

He will never give the Beast to his grandmother. Hinata squeezes his hand and hopes for him to wake up soon.

She misses him.

[jpegjade]

Physical Therapy - Ch. 1 (Spencer)

WELCOME TO PHYSICAL THERAPY!! in honor of this bish starting physical therapy in real life (and missing it bc i can’t drive and my mom and i’s schedules not being synched on google calendar all the time) i’ve decided to write a fic about it. it will be a little series with a goal (yes, an end game) and it’ll be cute. some of it is based on actual things that happen and some is literally just the story. ENJOY.

gender: neutral

tw: nothing that i can think of

genre: fluff | angst

Description: After getting shot in the leg, spencer goes through physical therapy before he can get back in the field completely. What happens when he starts to fall for his physical therapy assistant? 

__________________

Two honks at 6am meant that it was time for Spencer to get going. Derek was downstairs, in the car, waiting on boy wonder to crutch his way out of the apartment complex. Derek wasn’t sure how to feel about this trip considering he missed his early morning run for this but he knew how nervous Spencer was for his evaluation today so he didn’t mind as much as he could have minded. 

Spencer was patiently waiting in a pair of very short shorts, mismatched socks, and running shoes. He threw on a t-shirt and looked in the mirror, noting how tired he looked. He hadn’t been sleeping well lately for some reason but he couldn’t be sure why. He combed out his hair one more time before he and his crutches headed to the elevators. 

“Ready, kid?” Derek said, opening the front door for Spencer like a world class chauffeur would if Spencer was a celebrity. 

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” Spencer mumbled.

In truth, Spencer was more than ready to get started on his physical therapy journey. He wanted to get back in the field full time, adrenaline pumping, connecting with victims, walking again. He didn’t mind the assisted mobility but it was hard for him to know that the best he could do sometimes was stay back in the office or hang out in Garcia’s batcave. 

The car ride was filled with a comfortable silence between the two men. Derek was thinking about how he could make up his missed morning run by doing another type of high cardio workout while Spencer was just trying to figure out why it had to be him. He wouldn’t wish the frustration of his recovery process on anyone else on the team but the frustration of the recovery process just got to him on some days. Today was one of those days. 

Derek pulled up to the physical therapy clinic sooner than Spencer hoped. Part of that was because Derek was a very fast driver while the other part was because Spencer wasn’t paying attention for most of the drive. 

“You owe me one.” Derek said, completely joking. Well… Partially. That morning run was what kept him awake during the day, energizing him for work. 

“Do you want to come in?” Spencer said, looking down at his hands in his lap. 

Spencer’s hands were tapping his leg as he awaited Derek’s answer. He was nothing short of a nervous wreck on the inside. All he could think about was how much pain he would be in once the evaluation was over and the physical therapist had finished poking and prodding at his knee. He hated to think that it would be worse than everything else going on. Plus he still had to go to work today. 

“Sure, kid.” Derek said. 

Derek wasn’t going to sit in the car and do nothing the whole time so he might as well support his friend. 

Climbing out of the car, the boys slowly made it to the sliding glass doors of the physical therapy clinic. Much to Spencer’s surprise, it was nothing like he originally imagined it to be. Some part of him thought it would somewhat resemble the clinic where his mother resided but it was completely different. There were floor to ceiling walls for over half of the first floor building. High tech equipment was stationed everywhere from anti gravity treadmills to hand bike motors, medicine balls and so much more. Spencer stood in the doorway, leaning on his crutches, while he took everything in. There was so much light in the air, it was almost like the feeling of recovery was airy and not meant to bog him down. This was a strange feeling for him to comprehend...

“You coming, pretty boy?” Derek called, taking a break from chatting with the pretty receptionist. 

Spencer and his crutches walked over to the front desk and grabbed the paperwork that covered how much pain he was in today. He filled it out quickly, hoping to get everything over with sooner than later. He was already here so he might as well just finish everything quickly so he could get out of the place. 

When he finished writing everything down, he returned the paperwork to the receptionist who slipped him a piece of paper and pointed to Derek. Spencer already knew it was the receptionist’s personal phone number and he didn’t even need to look at the paper. Sitting down, Spencer handed Derek to a very confused Derek before it hit him what it was. Derek winked at the receptionist, who blushed before answering the phone. 

“Spencer?” A voice called his name shortly after he sat down. 

It was nice to know that here, he didn’t have to be a doctor. He was just another person healing. He didn’t have to be smart, he could just exist. 

“Good luck.” Derek said, noticing that Spencer’s hand was shaking in the slightest bit. 

“My name is Nora and I will be your lead physical therapist.” The woman said, walking Spencer to a vacant padded table. It reminded Spencer of the types of tables you lay on when you get a massage. 

He only got a massage once when Garcia got stood up on a couples’ massage date. He spent half of his part of the massage giving the masseuse facts about how their job could actually give them an infection from the amount of germs in the air and on the table. His delivery of facts caused the room to be incredibly uncomfortable and bleach the table very thoroughly. By the time he and the masseuse finished, only 5 minutes were left in the massage and Garcia was left horrified and amused at the same time. 

“Don’t worry. We bleach the tables every time someone finishes a session.” Nora said, noticing the look on Spencer’s face. Spencer visibly relaxed and sat on the table. 

“So, Spencer, tell me a little bit about yourself.” Nora followed up, pulling up a backless roller chair. 

“Well, I was on a case and the unsub, unknown subject, shot at a dad but it ended up hitting me in the leg instead and…” Spencer paused, looking at Nora’s amused face. 

“No, I mean tell me about you. Your hobbies, what you do for fun, things like that. I need to do a complete profile for you so I know how your quality of life has been affected and which exercises you can do at home so we aren’t pushing too fast.” Nora smiled at Spencer. 

“I work.” Spencer said in a matter-of-fact tone. He didn’t really have anything else to say. 

“Okay. So you’re a workaholic.” Nora wrote. She was about to ask a new question when you came quickly walking to Nora. 

Spencer was left dumbfounded. There seemed to be a halo of light radiating around you, making you glow. He knew it was the sun finally rising but his brain short circuited as he continued to gaze at you. 

“Hey Nora?” You said, looking down at your boss. “Mrs. Gillespi wants to know why you haven’t come back to check her form. She doesn’t trust me because, her words here, I ‘look like a child who doesn’t know their left foot from the color orange.’” 

“Sure. Here, you can take over Spencer’s evaluation.” She handed you her clipboard.

You looked at the detailed notes on the paper and then up at Spencer, who looked like one of the youngest people here. 

“It’s not often we get cute guys in this place. Other than Kyle. But Kyle’s an asshole who could almost be my dad.” You blurted, not realizing you said it outloud as soon as Nora left. 

You noticed that he started blushing and looking at his converse and you realized that you said something. You usually spoke your thoughts out loud but the people you worked with were used to it so no one bothered to say anything.

“What?” You asked, confused. 

“You called me cute.” Spencer said. “Which is fine. I don’t understand the appeal but I do believe that your blurting of what you perceive as a fact is a coping mechanism. It can also be tied to ADHD, which is a common mental disorder that causes your brain to impulsively say things.” Spencer paused, looking at your face. 

“What?” You asked, again, confused. 

“I’m not saying you have ADHD. I’m a doctor but not that kind of doctor. Although I could get another Ph. D. Prove my father wrong. And…” Spencer realized he was rambling. 

“Cute and a talker.” You said, writing that down. 

You wrote something down on the paper that Spencer couldn’t see but he was curious about. 

“Let’s check out that leg.” You said, pulling out an instrument that looked like a compass. 

You asked Spencer to move his knee certain ways and it wasn’t as bad as Spencer thought. You were gentle, soft even. Your hands were delicate and you ended the session massaging his leg and smiling at him. 

“You were a good patient today, doctor Spencer.” You said, smiling at him. 

Spencer blushed, unable to meet your eyes. 

“You… I mean… I enjoyed our session.” Spencer said. “Which I don’t normally enjoy. Not that I’ve been shot before. Or had physical therapy. Or been here. Or even worked out really.”

“You’re funny, doc.” You smiled. “Your next appointment is Tuesday of next week according to the schedule so I guess I’ll see you then. I can’t wait.” 

Spencer stared at you as he wondered why you were so excited. 

“Why?” Spencer asked. 

“It’s not every day I get the case for a cute guy who is smart and awkward. It’s almost like the heavens have answered my hopes and prayers.” You joked, looking up at the ceiling and putting your hand on your heart. 

“I believe in science.” Spencer stated, grabbing his crutches. 

“A man of science. Does it get any better? What’s your star sign?” You joked. 

“Scorpio.” Spencer stated. 

“Oop. All the scorpios I know have been some hoes. You better not be a hoe, doc.” 

“I’m definitely not a gardening tool, if that’s what you’re referring to. Otherwise, I’d like to thing my lack of dating skills doesn’t qualify as being a… hoe? Although, I don’t believe in the use of the word to describe someone who enjoys spending time with multiple people. I’d like to think the use of the word is meant in jest and fun for a term of endearment.” Spencer stood up, balancing on his crutches. 

“I’ll be the judge of that.” You said, walking slowly with Spencer to the front desk. 

“What’s your name?” Spencer asked, turning to you. He realized that he never got your name.

“Y/n.” You smiled. 

The clouds must have parted again because as soon as you turned to walk away from him, towards Nora, you were covered in another halo. And just like that, you were gone again.

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Future tag list: 

@ellvswriting @sageandberries-png @l0ve-0f-my-life @rexorangecouny @kennedywxlsh

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