#also it took way longer going to/coming back from class on bus

[paeinovis]

god moving from my first apartment was the best thing ive ever done. tho that one Noise still bugs me a lot, zoloft has made my misophonia chill out a bit more lol and the person above me practices piano music instead of stomping at all hour of the day and night like the stompers did

[lvrgurlblobbu]

day well spent

college!zayne x fem reader

⤿CW: pure fluff

⤿word count: 3.6k

⤿a/n: hello lovelies! this is supposed to be a valentines treat but i got busy with college stuffs so it was kinda delayed. enjoy reading :))

⤿fifth part of code love series | previous part. > next.

ao3.

It’s been four weeks since Zayne officially began courting you. The day after that, he insisted on meeting your sister to ask for her approval as well. Although you assured him that it wasn’t necessary and that your sister would have no objections, he remained firm in his decision. He explained that his parents raised him to seek the permission of those closest to the person he’s courting, and he wanted to honor that tradition.

You also asked him if his parents knew that he was courting you. He smiled and admitted that he always mentioned you whenever he spoke with them. He explained that both of his parents are doctors, and their work often takes them out of the city—or even out of the country—for medical missions. Despite their busy schedules, they always make time to catch up, and you’ve become a frequent topic of conversation.

“Really? You talk about me often?” You asked him, you’re currently sitting at the lounge area of his department’s building as you decided to visit him before you go home.

Zayne’s cheeks flushed slightly, but he didn’t look away. “Yeah, I do,” he admitted, his eyes softening as he looked at you. “I tell them how smart and funny you are… and how being around you makes my day better.”

Your heart skipped a beat at his sincerity.“What do they say about that?” you asked, trying to sound casual despite the warmth rising to your cheeks.

He chuckled, leaning back against the couch. “They’re curious about you now. They want to meet the person who keeps making their son smile like an idiot during phone calls.”

You laughed, the image of Zayne grinning goofily while talking to his parents popping into your head. “Well, I hope I make a good impression when that day comes.

Zayne’s expression softened even more. “You already have,” he said quietly. “Even without meeting you, they’re glad I found someone who makes me happy.”

For a moment, neither of you spoke, the unspoken feelings hanging in the air. But the comfortable silence was enough. You realized that Zayne wasn’t just courting you; he was already including you in his world, and that meant more than words could express.

You glanced at the time and sighed. “I should get going,” you said, standing up reluctantly.

He stood up with you, his gaze lingering a bit longer before he spoke. “Let me walk you to the bus stop.”

“But what about your next class?” You asked him as he slung your bag on his shoulder.

“It’ll be fine, and I want to make sure you’ll be safe.” He smiled, his eyes warm with reassurance. “Shall we?” He offered his hand, palm open and inviting.

You couldn’t help but smile back, a flutter of comfort settling in your chest. Without a word, you placed your hand above his, feeling the gentle strength in his grip. As you walked side by side, his hand naturally found its place on your lower back, guiding you with a subtle protectiveness that made you feel cherished.

The evening air was cool, a soft breeze rustling through the trees as the sky faded into shades of gold and pink. You could hear the distant hum of the city, but here, in this moment, everything felt quieter—almost like the world had slowed down just for the two of you.

His thumb drew small, absentminded circles against your back, a gesture so subtle yet so grounding. You glanced up at him, catching the way his lips curved into a gentle smile, his gaze fixed forward but clearly aware of every step you took together.

It was as if his presence built a safe haven around you, a place where nothing could reach you but the warmth radiating from his touch. You leaned a little closer, your shoulders brushing, and for a second, you wondered if he could hear the rhythm of your heartbeat matching the steady pace of your footsteps.

Neither of you spoke, but in the comfortable silence, so much was said.

***

A few weeks later, today is Valentine’s day which is also your University’s Foundation Week. Classes were canceled for two weeks to celebrate and there were booths and stalls all over your campus grounds.

You and Zayne agreed to meet at campus, just by the old oak tree near the main entrance. The area was bustling with students, laughter, and music blending into the festive air. As you approached, you spotted him leaning against the tree, his hands tucked in his pockets, a relaxed smile spreading across his face as his eyes found yours.

“Hey,” he called out, pushing off the tree to meet you halfway. “You look… really nice.” His gaze lingered, a subtle warmth coloring his cheeks.

“Thanks,” you replied, feeling a shy smile creep onto your lips. “You’re not too bad yourself.”

He laughed, the sound easy and genuine. “Shall we?” You nodded at him as you intertwined your fingers with his as he led the way inside your campus, guiding you through the crowd. His grip on your hand tightened as you entered, making sure that you won’t get lost.

As you passed by booths filled with games, merch, and food stalls, you noticed how his eyes sparkled upon seeing variety of sweets in the stalls. Zayne glanced at you and his smile is evident and it made your heart flutter.

“I heard their churros are the best, do you want to try?” He asked.

“Of course!” You replied, he smiled at you once again before leading the way. Luckily, the line isn’t as long as you anticipated when you reached the food stall which sells churros and a few other sweets.

You stood beside Zayne, he ordered churros which is good for two persons, two pieces of potato tornados and a milkshake. It hasn’t been long when your orders were now served, you and Zayne decided to sit at the bench underneath a tree to eat your foods.

With a potato tornado in your hand and churros in his, your drinks sat on the bench beside you. Zayne held out a wooden fork, eyeing the cinnamon-sugar-coated churros carefully. Using his hand as a fan, he made sure they were cooled off before taking a piece.

Once he was certain it was safe to eat, he held the churro out to you, his eyes warm with a playful smile. “Here, try it. It’s better when shared.”

You smiled at him before eating the churro, your eyes went wide as you chewed on it. “It tastes amazing,” you said and he chuckled in response before he took a bite of the churros.

“Here, try this as well,” you said, offering him the potato tornado. You used your other hand as a shield to catch any stray cheese powder, making sure it wouldn’t fall directly on his clothes.

Zayne leaned in, taking a bite with a delighted grin, “Mhm, that’s really good.” He said before he took another bite which made you chuckle because there were a few remnants of cheese powder on his cheeks.

“You look silly,” you giggled as you reached for your handkerchief to wipe the powder off his face. He just shook his head as he grabbed another churro and as if you acted on instinct, you leaned in to take the bite from him.

As you were busy munching, you suddenly heard a click. Confused, you glanced over at Zayne, only to find him grinning mischievously, his phone held up in front of him.

“Did you just… take a picture of me?” you asked, your eyes narrowing playfully.

He shrugged, completely unapologetic. “You just looked too cute not to.” He turned the screen to show you the candid shot—your cheeks puffed out as you chewed, eyes wide with surprise.

Your face heated up instantly. “Zayne! Delete that!”

He laughed, tucking his phone away before you could snatch it. “Nope. This one’s a keeper.”

You crossed your arms, pretending to be annoyed. “You’re impossible.”

He leaned in, his voice low and teasing. “If it makes you feel better, it’s now my favorite photo.”

Your heart skipped a beat, the playful annoyance melting into a shy smile. “You’re such an idiot,” you mumbled, but your tone was light, your chest fluttering at the way he looked at you.

“Maybe,” he agreed, his eyes twinkling. “But at least I made you smile.”

And just like that, you realized he was right. You were smiling—unable to stop, even if you tried.

***

After a few giggles and pictures snapped together, you and Zayne strolled once more. What caught your attention was the photobooth tucked in the corner, its vintage design adorned with flashing lights that seemed to beckon you both closer.

Zayne noticed your gaze and grinned, his playful energy impossible to resist. “Zayne.” You called, but as you looked at him, his gaze was already fixed on you. With a smile, you tugged him toward the photobooth, its neon lights reflecting in his eyes.

He let himself be pulled, laughing as you both stumbled inside the tiny space. It was a tight fit, your shoulders pressed together, knees bumping as you tried to get comfortable. The screen lit up, giving you barely any time before the first countdown began.

For your first shot, you and Zayne’s faces were near to each other. You held out two of your fingers poking your cheek as you pouted at the camera. Zayne on the other hand poked leaned closer as he poked his finger on his right cheek.

As soon as the second countdown began, Zayne wrapped his left arm around your shoulder as he pulled you closer to him. Both of you make a peace sign with visible smiles on your faces.

“Okay, quick! What should our next pose be?” you giggled as the last countdown began. You tilted your head to face him, only to find him looking down at you with a wide smile that made his dimples pop. You couldn’t help but lean in closer, your noses gently touching. Lost in the moment, neither of you noticed when the camera clicked, capturing the third shot.

The photo strip printed two copies with a mechanical whir, sliding out as you both tumbled out of the booth, laughing and breathless. Zayne grabbed the strip, his eyes widening as he saw the progression—silly faces, pure laughter, and finally, that close, almost-kiss that left your heart pounding.

“Let me take a look.” You said as you unconsciously intertwined your fingers with his as he gave you the other copy. “Oh, I love how these turned out.”

As you were busy admiring the photo, Zayne’s gaze remained on you. There was a softness in his eyes, his smile lingering as he watched the way your face lit up. The way you laughed at the silly faces, how your fingers gently traced over the last photo—the one where you were so close, your faces barely an inch apart.

He swallowed, his heart thudding as he replayed that moment in his head. It had felt so natural, so right, even if he hadn’t expected it. He opened his mouth, the words forming before he could stop them. “You’re beautiful, you know that?”

Your head snapped up, eyes wide in surprise. “What?”

His cheeks flushed, but he didn’t look away. “I mean… the way you’re smiling. It’s… nice.” He ran a hand through his hair, suddenly shy. “Makes the photos look even better.”

You noticed his flushed reaction— how his cheeks and ears turned red, the way he nervously ran his hand through his hair and how he couldn’t even dare to look straight into your eyes.

“Zayne… are you blushing?” you teased, leaning in to get a better look. His eyes widened, and his cheeks grew even redder as he quickly averted his gaze.

“N-No, I’m not!” he protested, his voice higher than usual. He rubbed the back of his neck, avoiding your eyes. “It’s just… warm out here.”

You let out a small giggle, watching him squirm. “Right. Must be that blazing eighty-degree weather,” you teased, glancing up at the clear, breezy sky. You were about to tease him more, but then you heard two familiar voices calling out for the both of you.

As you turned your head, you saw Tara and Simone running towards your direction, their faces lit up with excitement. You smiled, waving as they skidded to a stop in front of you, slightly out of breath.

“There you two are!” Tara exclaimed, hands on her hips as she caught her breath. “We’ve been looking all over for you!”

Simone’s eyes sparkled with curiosity as she looked between you and Zayne, her gaze dropping to your intertwined fingers. A sly grin spread across her face. “Well, well, what did we miss?”

You felt your face heat up, and instinctively, you tried to pull your hand away, but Zayne held on firmly, his own cheeks tinged pink. “Nothing much,” he said, his tone casual despite the way his thumb was gently stroking the back of your hand. “Just taking some photos.”

Tara’s eyes widened, immediately zeroing in on the photo booth behind you. “Oh! Did you guys take one of those cute photo strips?”

You and Zayne both looked at each other before nodding gently. Tara groaned dramatically. “Oh, come on! Show us!”

Zayne smirked, patting his pocket. “Sorry, but these are classified. For our eyes only.”

Simone looked at you, her expression pleading. “You’re really not going to share?”

You shook your head, laughing. “Nope. But trust me, they turned out great.”

Tara crossed her arms, pretending to pout. “Fine. But you owe us details later.” She paused, a mischievous glint in her eyes. “And I expect all the details.”

You rolled your eyes, trying to act nonchalant even as your heart raced. “We’ll see about that.”

Simone linked her arm through yours, already steering you away. “Come on, then! We were just about to grab some snacks. You two lovebirds joining us or what?”

You glanced at Zayne, who still hadn’t let go of your hand. His smile was soft, his eyes warm as he gave your fingers a gentle squeeze. “Yeah,” he answered, his voice steady. “We’re coming.”

Together, the four of you walked off, laughter echoing as the teasing continued. And though the photo strip remained tucked away, the memory of that almost-kiss—and everything it meant—was impossible to hide.

***

As the sun had already set, the sky painted in shades of deep purple and navy, Zayne offered you a ride home. Of course, you didn’t refuse, the idea of spending a little more time with him too tempting to pass up.

The car ride was comfortable, the faint hum of the engine blending with the soft music playing from the radio. Streetlights cast a warm glow through the windows, illuminating his face in fleeting intervals. You couldn’t help but steal a glance now and then, admiring the way his jaw tightened as he focused on the road, his hands relaxed on the steering wheel.

“You know,” he began, breaking the silence, “today was… pretty great.” His voice was casual, but there was a tenderness there, a vulnerability you weren’t used to hearing from him.

You smiled, leaning back against the seat. “Yeah, it really was.“

The rest of the drive was filled with light conversation and laughter, the kind that felt easy and effortless. Before long, he was pulling up in front of your house, the porch light casting a warm glow across the yard.

Zayne put the car in park but didn’t make any move to leave. Instead, he turned to you, his expression softer now. “Hey… thanks for today. Really.”

You looked at him, your chest tightening at the sincerity in his voice. “No… thank you. I had an amazing time.”

For a moment, neither of you spoke, the air between you charged with anticipation. Zayne’s eyes flicked down to your lips, his jaw tightening slightly as if he was debating something.

“Oh, before I forgot—“ He muttered as he unclasped his seatbelt to grab something from the backseat. To your surprise he��s already holding a beautifully arranged bouquet of flowers wrapped in white paper and tied with a light blue ribbon. The bouquet features a delicate mix of white and pale blue blooms, including roses and small, airy flowers resembling baby’s breath.

“Zayne-“ your breath hitched as he gave the bouquet to you.

“I inserted something in there.” He said, then you noticed a piece of paper tucked underneath the flowers. You placed the bouquet in your lap as you began to unfold the paper.

Your heart began to race as you saw a beautiful sketch of yourself. The lines were delicate, capturing every detail with surprising accuracy—the curve of your smile, the sparkle in your eyes, even the way your hair fell around your face. It was breathtaking, almost surreal, to see yourself through someone else’s eyes.

You looked up, your gaze locking with Zayne’s. He was watching you intently, his expression soft, almost vulnerable. “Do you… like it?” he asked, his voice hesitant, as if he was unsure of himself for once.

A lump formed in your throat, emotions swirling as you looked back at the sketch. “Zayne… this is incredible. I… I didn’t even know you could draw.”

He let out a nervous laugh, rubbing the back of his neck. “Yeah, well… it’s just a hobby. I don’t show my drawings to many people.” His eyes softened as he continued, “But… I wanted you to see this one.”

Your heart skipped a beat, warmth flooding your chest as you realized the effort and thought he’d put into this. “You drew this… for me?”

He looked away, his cheeks tinged pink. “Yeah. I… couldn’t get you out of my head, so… this happened.” He glanced back at you, his gaze intense. “I wanted to capture the way you looked that day at the park…when you were laughing.”

Your breath caught, the memory flashing in your mind—the two of you strolling at the park, your face lit up with laughter, Zayne watching you with that same look in his eyes. “You… remembered that?”

“Of course I did,” he said softly. “I remember everything about you.”

Emotion tightened your throat, and you blinked rapidly, trying to hold back the tears that threatened to fall. You reached out, your fingers brushing over the paper delicately, as if afraid you’d smudge the beautiful lines. “I love it. I really do.”

His shoulders relaxed, relief washing over his face. “I’m glad.”

You looked at him, your heart full. “Thank you, Zayne. This… this means more to me than you know.”

His eyes softened, his voice a gentle whisper. “You mean more to me than you know.”

Your breath hitched, your heart racing once more. But this time, it wasn’t because of the sketch—it was because of him. The both of you stared at each other for a few moments before you broke the silence.

“It’s already getting late, I’ll head inside so you can go home.” You said as you folded the paper and tucked it back underneath the flowers. “Thank you for today Zayne, for keeping me company during the University fair, and for these gifts. I had so much fun.”

“It is my pleasure and I could say that as well.” He smiled at you, “Thank you [Name].”

The both of you settled in a comfortable silence. You stared at his hazel-green eyes as you thought of something cheeky. So, you leaned your face closer and gave him a kiss on his cheek. “Be safe, goodnight.”

You giggled at his expression when he was suddenly caught off guard by your sudden kiss. You immediately gathered your things before opening the car door and ran inside your house, not even bothering to steal another glance at Zayne because you could already feel your cheeks heating up.

As soon as you got inside, you immediately got a text notification from Zayne.

Zayne: That was sneaky

You giggled as you hovered your fingers to type a reply.

You: You should’ve seen your reaction lol. Drive safe okay? Message me once you got home :))

Then, it hasn’t been a minute passed when you received another reply.

Zayne: Yes I will. Thank you again for today <3

Your heart fluttered once more as you saw his reply. You placed your phone back in your bag as you went upstairs to take a shower.

Once finished, you slipped into comfortable pajamas and made your way to your room. Without another thought, you plopped onto your bed, sinking into the softness as you hugged your pillow close. A giddy laugh escaped your lips, muffled by the fabric, as the memories of the day played like a movie behind your closed eyes.

You turned your head, your gaze falling on the bouquet resting on your nightstand, its delicate petals catching the soft glow of your bedside lamp. Beneath them, the folded sketch was safely tucked away, a beautiful reminder of the man who had given it to you.

Your phone buzzed once more, and you grabbed it eagerly, heart skipping as his name appeared on the screen.

Zayne: Just got home. Sweet dreams :)

You couldn’t help the warmth that spread through you, your fingers dancing over the screen as you typed back:

You: Sweet dreams, Zayne. Today was the best.

You set your phone aside, still clutching the pillow as a contented sigh left your lips. Today really was perfect—better than you ever could’ve imagined. You hadn’t just spent the day at the University fair; you’d made memories, and shared laughter.

As your eyes grew heavy and sleep began to claim you, one thought lingered, wrapping itself around you like a comforting embrace:

Being with him just felt right.

dividers by: @saradika-graphics

[theizzizzy]

A Lovely Field Trip

(Warning: lots of text)

"Come on, class, line up," Newton Pud called out to his group of excited five-year-olds, his brown eyes twinkling with the patience of a saint. "Remember, we're going to the Whillobe park for our nature walk, so keep your hands to yourselves and your eyes wide open."

 Newton was known for his gentle demeanor and the way he could make any lesson into an adventure. His students adored him for his creative stories and the way his voice would rise like a king, and soften like a princess when he read to them. He was the kind of teacher who'd give you an extra gold star just for trying, and the kind of person who never seemed to have a bad day.

The field trip to Whillobe park was in full swing the moment the children left the bus, with children's laughter echoing through the trees as they ran around, and the sound of leaves crunching underfoot. Newton held up a map of the park with a smile, pointing out the path they would take. His heart, however, was racing. Not only from excitement, but also from the simple fact that the children would be learning more about nature here than in a stuffy old classroom.

They started the hike, with Newton in the back, making sure no one straggled too far behind. The trail was narrow, with tall trees on both sides creating a natural canopy that let in just enough sunlight to create speckled patterns on the forest floor. The children chattered away, their tiny hands reaching out to touch the rough bark of trees and pluck the ripe berries and leaves that hung in the brambles. Newton watched them, his eyes flickering with a hint of something unidentifiable. Was it concern, or pride? Perhaps both.

"Mr. Pud," a small voice called out, "Look what I found!" It was Ella, her pigtails bobbing as she ran back to him, clutching a peculiarly shaped stone. "It's so smooth and heavy," she said, her eyes wide with wonder. Newton took it from her, feeling the weight of it in his hand. It was unlike anything he'd ever seen before. "It's beautiful, Ella," he said, smiling at her as he gave it back. "It's probably a piece of quartz or something like that."

"Quartz? What's quartz?" A little boy, Paul, asked, curious. The rest of the group had stopped walking for the most part, wanting to hear as well.

"Quartz is a type of crystal," Newton began, his voice a somewhat gentle teacher's tone that never talked down to them, but his own excitement could definitely be heard in it as well. "It's a mineral that comes in many shapes and sizes, and sometimes it's even used to make watches tick!" He glanced at Ella, her eyes shining with amazement. "But the most important thing to remember is that it comes from the earth, and we should always treat it with respect. Now, you can keep it if you’d like, Ella, but we should keep moving, we don't want to miss any other surprises the park has in store for us."

As they continued their hike, the conversation flowed naturally between the children, asking questions about the trees, the animals, and the latest “Soaring Susie” episode. Newton listened, nodding and smiling, occasionally adding a fact or a story to their wonderings, or even asking questions of his own to get them thinking. He eventually noticed how the shadows had grown longer and the light had taken on a warm, amber hue as the sun had dipped towards the horizon. It was almost time to head back. 

“Class," Newton called out, clapping his hands to get everyone's attention. "The sun is setting, meaning it’s time for us to head back to the bus."

The children groaned in unison, their somehow still cute faces filled with the disappointment of a party ending too soon. But the promise of an episode of “Will Guy the Math dude” the next day for class perked them up faster than a squirrel spotting a nut. They scurried along the path, making dares over what happens if someone is the last one to the bus, their tiny feet kicking up clouds of dust that danced in the dying light of the day as they all ran. Newton couldn't help but chuckle at their energy as he followed at his own pace.

As they neared the bus, the chatter of the children grew louder and louder until it was a cacophony of giggles and squeals. Newton couldn't help but feel his heart swell with happiness. It had been a successful trip, and the children had learned so much.

The bus itself was a welcome sight, a yellow beacon of safety and familiarity for the children amidst the splendor of the forest. Newton helped each child board the bus, his smile never wavering as they climbed the steps, their little faces flushed with excitement from the day's adventure. The engine eventually rumbled to life, and the air brakes hissed, signaling their departure.

As it drove through the winding roads of the town, the children grew quieter, their energy spent from the day's excitement. Newton took this time to mentally prepare for the meeting with the children’s parents. He knew they'd be eager to hear about the field trip, and he had so much to share. The way the children had lit up when they saw the deer, or the way they had all sang the theme song of their favorite show. These were moments that didn't just shape their knowledge of the world, but their ideas as well.

It had been, indeed, a lovely day.

[mothermiscellaneous]

Nocturnal

Tim Wright | Masky x Reader

Chapters: [_1_], [_2_], ...

Warnings: Male yandere x fem reader, some mentions of mental health struggles

WC: 3.5K

Chapter 2 - "Bus Stop"

.- ⸺ -- . . … -

Tap. Tap. Tap. 

There it was again.

You laid awake in bed, staring at the ceiling fan spin. Besides the whirring of the machine above and the soft chirps of the crickets outside, the sound was unmistakable. It was almost meticulous the way it sprung to action after everyone in your home went to bed. It would scurry along the inside of your walls or underneath the floorboards for a few moments before stopping completely for the night. It was easily missable if you weren’t paying attention, but you’ve been aware of it for weeks now. The possibility that it has been going on for longer, months even, sends a shiver down your spine. Though, no matter how many times you bring up the topic to your parents, you get brushed off. Your father already checked the crawlspace and ripped up a wall to ease your mind and found nothing besides freshly kicked up dirt.

Whatever it is, it comes and goes.

This time is no different. The sound ended as soon as it started. Even as the sun peeked through your blinds and slowly brimmed your room with a warm ambience, it remained silent.

You rolled over to your side and grabbed one of your throw pillows, burying your face in it and letting out a sigh against the ribbed fabric. You squeezed your eyes shut and pushed your face deeper into the pillow. You really didn’t want to go in today. Another sleepless night does you no good in class anyway. Why bother?

But some part of you knew that it was a ridiculous thought. You needed to attend. You only had two back-to-back morning lectures, you can come straight home afterwards and sleep in.

With one final huff, you push yourself out of bed to get ready for the day, motivating yourself with the idea of ordering an iced matcha and lemon poppyseed scone as an early treat. It was a flimsy excuse to visit your favorite cafe on campus, but it did its job in getting you out the door and at the foot of the bus stop sign.

Your eyes naturally wandered to the other side of the road, noticing the empty bus bench. The memory of yesterday’s encounter resurfaced in your mind. The guy certainly left an impression on you, though you couldn’t tell if it was a good or bad one. He was good looking, you’ll admit that, but you also made a fool of yourself and he noticed. He teased you a bit. And he caught you staring. There’s no way you’ll be able to face him again. He probably thinks of you as that weird girl with a staring problem. 

You groaned. It’s too early for this. You should just listen to music and mentally prepare yourself for the day by not wasting thinking power on anything. You took out your phone and balled up earbuds from your pockets, quickly untangling them as you noticed your bus turning the corner. Once boarded, you followed your usual routine of listening to music on the way to university. It’s always quiet in the bus as your stop was the first in the route, though it also meant waking up at the crack of dawn to get ready before rush hour kicked into high gear.

You managed to not sleep on the bus this time, preferring to look out the window mindlessly while listening to music. It’s easier to stay awake now, it’s later in the day when the sleep deprivation kicks in.

Arriving on campus and buying breakfast also helped to keep you awake. The dry texture of the pastry crumbled with each bite and the mellow flavor of the matcha helped chase down the scone. It was more on the earthy side. It surprised you at first, but you’ve grown to love it.

Other than breakfast, the morning was a bit of a blur. You skimmed through the syllabi and reading prior to each class, and you actually managed to take good notes during them, too. You felt your heart soar when you admired your pages of legible work once your political science professor announced the end of lecture. Today’s been going great so far!

Your phone buzzed. It was a text from Gala:

     My class got canceled :( 

     And I’m on campus already :(( 

You rolled your eyes. She had to leave the comfort of her apartment across the street to trek to campus. Oh woe is she.

 More texts:

     I see your location 

     Wanna study for calc??

     My place?? Library??

You bit the inside of your cheek, lost in thought. You’re on a roll so far, catching up on calculus would be perfect. You gnawed a little harder. A yawn was bubbling up. That helped to make your decision. Sort of.

“Sure. Let’s study at the library to be more productive then we can move to yours after a bit,” you thought out loud as you texted back. Once you were done, you put your phone down on your desk to pack up your belongings. There were a few stragglers, but you mostly focused on getting out the door quickly. That was until you reached for your phone again, a daring thought crossing your mind.

     Can we get something to eat first? Skipped breakfast :( 

Hopefully the frowny face pulled at her heartstrings.

Her reply was speedy.

     Fiiiiine, I’ll pay 

Score!

———

“So is your crush here?” You asked with a mouthful of another scone.

“Which one?” Gala tore off a corner of her chocolate croissant and dipped it in her coffee. Her laptop was off to the side on the login page of Canvas. While waiting for the food to be prepared, you both decided to settle down in a sizable corner booth meant to seat four people. Shoulder bags and books occupied the inner seat of the booth while laptops, notebooks, and pens littered the tabletop.

You feigned judgment. “Oh, my bad. Never knew you had it in you.”

“Shut up, that’s not what I meant,” Gala huffed. “I saw him yesterday when we were leaving class. He was sitting on one of the benches.” You listened to her ramble about how handsome and brooding he looked as he watched people leave the single-room building. “I never knew someone could rock sideburns!”

You nearly choked on your iced matcha, sputtering the liquid down your straw.

“Oh my god. Overreaction much? I didn’t think I was into sideburns until I saw him.”

“No, no. It’s not that!” You quickly explained just as Gala narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. “I think I know who you’re talking about. I… I embarrassed myself in front of him last night.”

The whine at the end of your sentence made Gala drop her playful act, leaning in closely. “What happened?”

You explained everything that occurred, omitting the part where you fell asleep on the bus for obvious reasons. “When I got to my stop, I dropped my student bus pass and he picked it up for me. Gala, I yanked it out of his hands. Like full on yanked it. And then I started rambling. You know how I get when I’m awkward. I told him that I have a car, but no license and he made fun of me for it. Then he caught me staring at him from across the street like a weirdo!” You buried your face in your hands. “It was so embarrassing…”

“Oof, that’s rough. Well, no, not really. No, actually, it kinda is.” Gala shook her head.

“You’re terrible at this.” You dragged your palms down your face, glaring at your friend across the table. She couldn’t decide between comforting or pitying you, so she settled for both.

“So was he easy on the eyes like I said?”

“Are you serious?” She nonchalantly nodded, ignoring your judgemental stare. “I need you to drop your psychology course right now. You’re pissing me off.”

“I’m an up-and-coming doctor. Not a psychologist!”

“Are psychologists not doctors? I need you to email your professor right now and tell him that.”

Gala paused for a moment before narrowing her eyes once again. “Touché.”

Not much studying was done in the cafe. You two were mostly talking about other stuff with equal importance, like Gala’s career change. It was a pleasant surprise to hear that. You thought it was a silly slip up, but she was actually dead serious on being a doctor.

“Since when did you change your mind?” You asked. After a few hours at the cafe, you both decided to move on to her dorm, skipping the library entirely. Some leftover chatter ensued on the way there as you two will most likely study for the remainder of the day. Time to get it all out of your systems.

“Last semester when I met with my advisor. She told me I was doing well in my classes and that I should consider an MD after my BSN. It’s been on my mind ever since.” Gala had ordered another drink prior to leaving the cafe. She furrowed her brows and swirled the cortado while lost in thought. “I’m still not a hundred percent sure if I will become a doctor. I want some semblance of a work-life balance, y’know? I looked into it and it seemed like hell.”

“Maybe your advisor is leading you down a dark path. A dark, debt-ridden path that you can never get out of.”

“Yeah, right. Advisors can suck sometimes, but they’re not straight up evil.”

“I don’t know,” you sang in a flippant tone. You’ve heard of horror stories from other students who weren’t able to sign up for classes in time or were under the minimum credits according to their 4-year graduation plan. You’ve taken the initiative to research and plan your classes ahead of time in a spreadsheet, though that missing biostatistics class is undoing hours of research. Accommodations need to be made to get back on track.

Registration for winter classes opens up in October. You could apply to the community colleges first since it’ll be cheaper than here in OPU… 

“Home sweet home!” Gala swung open the door to her third-floor apartment, greeting no one in particular since the whole place was drowned in darkness. None of her roommates were back yet it seemed.

“Huh?” The sound of confusion escaped your lips before you could even process it.

“I say it in case someone’s home. Roomie or intruder, I scare all with my presence.” All of a sudden, she turned sharply on her heel to face you. “And you ,” she expressed loudly, jabbing a manicured finger in your direction for emphasis, “have a nasty habit. You’ve been dozing off lately. Is everything okay?”

“I’m fine! Just sleepy…” Shit. You didn’t mean to blank out while on the walk back.

“You said that yesterday. If you don’t sleep well, you’re going to mess up your brain. There’s not much left of it, I need to salvage as much as I can!”

“So much for caring about me.” You rolled your eyes and closed the door behind you. Kicking off your shoes and placing them in the nearby shoe rack, you followed Gala to her room. For an apartment dorm shared by four girls, it was sparsely decorated, except for some rogue and out-of-character furniture one girl swore she needed to function. Fruit-themed stools lined the kitchen island that doubled as the dining table. The fruit bowl in the middle of the island was supported by realistic metal hands, holding no actual fruit but wax fruit. One waxy apple had a hefty bite mark on it. You kind of hoped it would’ve been thrown away at this point. Now every time you visit the dorm, you’re faced with the reminder of a late night snack escapade gone wrong.

“I do care about you. It’s honestly a bit worrying how zombie-like you’re getting,” Gala softened her voice. It made your heart sink. Did she think you were being snappy with her right now? You hope it didn’t come across like that.

You thought you were being discreet so far, not even your own parents have picked up on your change of mannerisms. “Have you tried melatonin gummies? Or some chamomile tea with some honey? It’ll help you relax if it’s because of stress.”

Your shoulders sagged as you sighed. “I have a lot of things on my mind lately… I didn’t mean to worry you. I’m just worried about my future. That’s all.”

“I see.” You peered at Gala, catching the moment she looked away and bit the tip of her knuckle. She stayed like that for what felt like minutes, pondering to herself about endless possibilities. Possibilities that you could never predict. Why didn’t you tell her the truth? She doesn’t deserve ambiguity. Lies. She expects a friend. She expects honesty.

“…Promise not to get mad at me?” You muttered in a quiet voice. Your hands were clammy and you were wringing them roughly before clasping your hands together as if a physical manifestation of your steeled resolve.

Gala nodded, finally returning her gaze to you. Front and center.

“I think there’s something in my house, like a rat or raccoon. I hear it at night, probably in the crawlspace underneath. It’s been keeping me up.” Your volume was lowering with each sentence. There was an emotion you couldn’t find on your tongue that was racking your nerves. Guilt? Shame? Whatever it is, it is affecting your ability to speak.

She tilted her head. “Why would I get mad at you for that?”

“I didn’t want you thinking I’m gross and dirty. You’ve been to my house, you’ve seen it.”

“Yeah, it looks better than my room.” Gala let out a chuckle and bent down to scoop up some strewn about clothes near her feet. How long those clothes have been there is anyone’s guess. “At least I can keep the common areas tidy. Everyone else has it the other way ‘round.”

You relaxed a bit, emitting a low, audible breath. “You said it, not me–”

“Wait! I was there two weeks ago. I didn’t hear anything.”

Her voice overpowered yours, too consumed with the sudden realization to maintain the same volume she had earlier. You didn’t detect any maliciousness in her tone. Her little mumble of “sorry” afterwards eased any anxious thoughts.

“Well, yeah, you visited during the night, but it’s just weird.” You flopped onto her bed, staring up at the ceiling. “It’s usually when I’m like this, in my own room. I can’t remember if it happened the day you came over, but I’ve been noticing that it’s been happening more and more since like… a few weeks ago, I think.”

Gala let out a small hum as she picked up more clothes around her room, eventually coming up beside you. “You’re on my bra,” she said, tugging on one of the straps before pulling it out from underneath your head. “I think you need to sleep more. And maybe sleep over at my place sometimes when it gets really bad. Or I can sleep over at yours and hear it for myself. It can’t be that bad.”

“Gala…” You closed your eyes. The combination of sleep deprivation and this conversation has your head pounding. Her suggestions were too much. Not in a bad way, but so generous and kind. How can you ever repay her? It made your guilt heavy again. You opened your mouth to protest, but were immediately cut off by a stern voice.

“Ah, ah, ah, don’t ‘Gala’ me. I’m serious.” When you opened your eyes again, she was standing over you. There were no more dirty clothes to distract her, she probably stored them in the hamper hidden in her closet. Hands on her hips, she stared down at you. There was a shift in the room, she made sure to impose it. “Sleep here for tonight, I wouldn’t mind it. It’s like 4 PM. We didn’t get anything done and we’re not going to get anything done tonight. We can start tomorrow after calculus.”

You stayed silent, letting the words sink in. You searched Gala’s eyes for something, maybe a waver in resolve, but there was nothing. All you saw were two dark brown eyes observing you, waiting for you to admit defeat.

Guess you shouldn’t keep her waiting. “Yes, ma’am.”

She snorted. “You did not have to say it like that, oh my…” she trailed off. Her hands went to cup her face. Her mouth was hidden from view, but you saw the muscles in her face flex upwards. 

“What? What did I say this time?” You sat up. “Come on, Gala!”

Her snorting turned into full blown, uncontrollable laughter. “It’s the way you said it! You could’ve just agreed like a normal person.” Her shoulders were trembling as she tried to muffle her laugh. “Take a nap already. Hopefully, by the time you wake up, you’ll be back to your old self. I’ve never heard you say that before.”

“Fine.” You plopped onto her bed again. Although your face was warm, you felt good about the turn out. Gala seemed to understand your predicament. Sure, you didn’t tell her everything, but it’ll come eventually on its own time. Right now she’s focused on your sleep deprivation, not failing grades. If she can accept this, she’ll accept the next thing. It’ll be a little bump in your road of friendship that you two will look back on and laugh.

“Are you fine on your own or do you need something to knock you out?” She held up her fists and aimed quick jabs in your direction, falling short from physical contact. “Or someone?”

“Holy shit, you actually scared me for a moment. I literally felt the wind in my face.” You flinched at the close proximity, rolling over to your side to add space between you two. “I think I’m good. I already feel it catching up to me.”

“Good. I’ll be in the kitchen when you wake up. I have some reading to do for my Asian American Studies class.” Gala paced around her room carefully until she bent down to snatch up her textbook. “Though, if you need anything, let me know. I care about you, girl.” She offered a small smile. You smiled in return.

“Thanks, Gala. I appreciate it.” You wanted to say more, but you couldn’t. You watched the door gently close and the lingering presence of Gala on the other side disappear as her socks stepped away from view.

The scene would replay over and over again in your head. Your eyes transfixed on the still blades of her ceiling fan. In your mind, you told Gala that you would repay her kindness tenfold. Then, she would squeal and argue that it was impossible. You’ll butt heads and enter an endless stalemate of forever one-upping each other. It’ll turn into a long-standing tradition between you two.

It was a pleasant thought.

Gala likes plants. Maybe I’ll get her a palm tree. 

The more details you added, the more ridiculous the gifts would be.

I’ll get her one of those carnivorous pitcher plants… Goliad sounds like a nice name… 

The apartment building was on the corner of a major busy street, standing modern and stout. Cars were bustling outside with an occasional honk or screeching tires. How anyone can sleep in these conditions was lost on you. Your mobile home community was relatively quiet, except for the screaming of a peacock somewhere in the hills. You still don’t know how it's lasted this long without driving the owners insane. You can hear it clearly from your house, despite the considerable distance.

You heard a familiar sound beyond the thin walls of Gala’s room. The air brakes were distinct enough to separate it from the other vehicles. The bus has come to a stop, most likely due to traffic based on the noise level. There was a bus stop up ahead, directly in front of the school. It was probably packed with awaiting students, some who wouldn’t be able to step on the bus due to limited space. You’ve been in that position before. Several times.

That guy might be waiting there, too. 

You furrowed your brows and rolled over to your side again. Why did you have to think of him at the last second? Now, he’s showing up behind your eyes in your half-awake imagination.

No matter how much you moved around to get back to your previous scenario, that guy reared his head again, giving you your student bus pass each time.

You don’t know how much time has passed until your body finally managed to calm down enough to rest. Your breathing evened, the beginning stage of succumbing to exhaustion. A soft huff of air escaped your lips as you nuzzled your face against Gala’s pillow. In your dream, she was on the bus with you.

And then she disappeared and that guy showed up again to replay the scene at the bus stop.

[deepestblizzardcomputer]

°•°•°•°Back 'Home'°•°•°•°

Part 4

Parts: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 /. . . .

Synopsis: you get to know Miles better (sorta)

Warning: some strong language but nothing crazy.

A/N: i was free and kinda bored so :D — also I seriously planned finishing the flashbark part in this one but it got longer x"D

°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

THE NEXT DAY, you were late for class. having overslept finishing your math homework which was challenging for your braincells to say the least. You were striding through the halls to go to art class in your new uniform.

Your pervious one was left to dry.

It was the fourth time you yawned and attempted to wake yourself up, turning your head toward paths to remember your way, you were rechecking your bag for the third time to see if you forgot any of your art supplies.

It was enough you missed the first two periods, you didn't want to mess up in the third one with missing supplies. You were standing Infront the huge school's map on the wall, sliding your index finger to where you were and where was the class.

You were still holding your opened bag Infront your belly, making your way backward with your focus still on the map as you were mesmerizing your path. you didn't notice you were getting closer to someone till you bumped into their back.

They let an irritated groan, seemingly unaffected by your bump While You almost fell on your face.

thanks for your incredible balance you caught yourself, hugging your bag harder as you turned to apology to the person with awaken eyes.

" I am so sorry! I wasn't looking where I. . . .wait, it's you?" The mysterious boy Infront you was rubbing his shoulder, the area you hit while frowning at you.

" You again? " his hoarse voice spoke.

gazing at him up close you noticed those faint dark circles under his eyes, his braided hair seemed a bit messy as well and his eyes barely were awake like he just got out of bed. Huh, seemed you weren't the only one late.

you both stood in the empty hall, just staring at each other till you felt too awkward to keep staring , you gazed at your bag instead. you didn't know what to add in this silence since you already apologized and he seemed to prefer being quiet, so. .

" U-uhm anyway, see you later in class. . .?" You closed your bag throwing it behind your shoulder, you waved awkwardly and passed him.

You began speeding your steps so to escape this awkwardness and to reach your class as soon as possible.

"Wait! " You stopped on your tracks, realizing it was the quiet boy behind you who called, you turned your head at him. He was scratching his head, looking at his feet seemingly embarrassed he called for you that loud.

Thankfully there was no-one in school halls but you.

". . .Yes?" You asked, trying to sound as patient as possible. he approached your figure since you were standing far. His eyes were trailed elsewhere till it was on you when he asked.

"Do you know. . .where the art class is?" Ah, so he was lost. Typical for a new student.

you didn't know why he would be even shyer asking for direction but you found it kind of amusing comparing to your first 'meeting' the previous day.

" Well, you are lucky because I was heading to there too!" Being your overly friendly self, you sent him a smile and though he didn't return it, you weren't bothered.

You took several steps forward adjusting with your head that he follow you.

"com'on, we are going to be late."

and so, he began following you through the halls which sunlights were bathing the floors and walls, the only noise coming from you both were clicking of your shoes.

and of course you both were silent, no-one attempting to break out this quietness, you usually didn't mind it like this, you enjoyed quiet though since day one of meeting him he piqued your curiosity.

ever since you believed you had seen him somewhere and the fact he too had the same class as you, it was hard to keep your questions to yourself and it was coming from someone who minded their own business.

" Soo. . .you are in class A, right? Since we are both heading to art class. "

You briefly glanced at him before looking forward so you couldn't tell his expression, you also sort of thought he would just ignore your question like before.

" Guess so."

You let a hum. " if so, how come haven't I seen you in class yesterday? I thought you were in the other one."

a pause " I sit in the back" he answered simply not allowing much room to conversation.

" Ah, that must be it then." You sat with your friends in front rows so perhaps you didn't notice him or he might have wanted to be unseen by people.

"But I thought they would make you introduce yourself to class or whatever." You added, turning right with him behind you.

were you pushing your luck to stretch your chatting with him? not really, you were tired and if you didn't talk about anything, your mind would start to doze off into it daydreaming  phase and you would end up unfocused in your class.

It was bad enough you didn't have your morning coffee.

" dunno about that . ."

and it ended as that, you two continued striding to class in silence.

When you reached the door you checked your wristwatch.

"Welp, luckily we are only 7 minutes late! "

a subtle nod from him.

You waved at the boy, turning the knob with a smile on your face.

" Alright, see ya later Burrito boy."

he frowned at you, lifting a brow.

" Burrito boy? "

You chuckled. " You didn't tell me your name yesterday, so yeah, Burrito boy for now." You started to turn the knob.

he rolled his eyes. " I ain't some 'Burrito boy' , stop that "

You ignored his comment walking into the room and turning to him last time with a wide smile.

"See ya!" and then you were gone to a seat besides your friends, leaving him standing like an idiot in the doorway.

His mouth stayed opened then it closed, realizing it was too late to response to you now.

"chica rara" [weird girl.] He mumbled under his breath looking for his seat.

for the past few weeks, the strange boy (who you later knew as Miles G. Morales) had made a reputation of himself in class, the quiet mysterious kid. Which wasn't a huge surprise seeing how he was hardly approachable.

He was also an A kind of student which was a surprise, his popularity even existed because of his degrees. especially in Spanish class.

Did he stayed loner like those cheap edgy teenage boys in classic highschool shows? Nope, he did make friends, some of his own.

Their vibes were different from him, I mean, they were louder, more chaotic and energetic than Miles. it was weird how he managed to get along with them though maybe because of his great grades that they needed his help.

he perhaps had one or two who matched his energy but nothing else.

you would sometimes meet Miles in your class or in the halls, and you would always greet him even when it wasn't returned, sometimes at least.

Your friend, Pacifica still teased you on your flirting with such an 'annoying brat' and commented how you had other options than him, to which you would roll your eyes and would deny, changing the subject.

There had been unjustified rumors growing in school about him that you of course did not believe.

There was that one time when a student didn't mind his own business and kept nagging the boy to do his homework in exchange of money to which he rightfully declined to till that student started to get overly pushy, Miles lost it when the student mentioned bad shit about his mother and beat the crap out of him and because of that rumors had began to spread about him. What made people wary of him more though was the huge size difference between Miles and the big student and yet he managed to knock him out.(You were absent that day because of your sickness, so you didn't see it, just hearing all about it from your friends )

He might have been an A student but that didn't mean people could be merciful. He didn't seem to try fight against them though, since he really didn't care.

You did respect that in him, how he barely gave a single shit though you wished he would try a bit to clean his picture, once people start to talk they won't shut up.

You should had known better to stick to your business since that boy's problem wasn't yours and he wasn't even your friend, yet you took it upon yourself when you heard some douchbags spitting shit about the kid in the halls.

They were snickering and adding some of the worst and annoying comments possible, about him, his family who they didn't meet and going even far to being straight up racist. Miles wasn't that far, he could hear them but you thought if he did he didn't care.

He was sitting on the floor Infront the locker, sketching some stuff in his sketch book. while he sat their enjoying his time on floor you were glaring at those two who wouldn't shut up, you had stopped in your track the moment you heard the N-word being said by one of them.

Again, it wasn't your business, yet you stood and listened to what they were whispering. 'it wasn't your business' you kept telling yourself. If he didn't mind it then neither should you, you can just walk away and ignore their comments. They weren't even thrown at you.

You could just ignore and continue with your day, right?

but you couldn't stop your feet from moving toward them, having your chin high and a scowl on your face.

" Hey! Instead of saying some stupid untrue shit about someone why don't you mind your business?" You made sure your voice was loud enough to grab their attention.

which it did. They turned their head to you,  their cruel smile fading into a confused frown. they stared at you for a bit. (Unknowingly to you, Miles did too)

" why don't you mind your own business?" One of them sneered. "we aren't even talking about you."

You rolled your eyes and crossed your arms. " Wow thanks. Still doesn't make a difference." You kept your stare as intense as possible even when you were starting to feel nervous, you didn't let it show on your face thankfully.

plus, you were surrounded by students so they wouldn't try to do anything to you even if they wanted to.

"You can't just spat none sense about someone, didn't your moms teach you better?"

one of the boys rolled their eyes back at you.

" Why so offended? Is he your  dearly boyfriend or something? Cause if so go kiss his ass instead of bossing around like a bitch. "

This caught you off guard, your eyes widen at him. They started sneakering again with one of them giving the other high five.

You felt your face heat up from embarrassment and rage, you bit on your lip and clenched your fists trying to compose your reaction. You exhaled deeply to calm your nerves.

Miles had his eyebrow lift slightly at you.

" No, he isn't my boyfriend. but he is my friend and I would like for you both to shut the fuck up about him. "

Was he really your friend? Big nope, you knew his name just weeks ago and perhaps with other things but that was besides the point now.

You could say you answered with that for the sake of argument and to be convincing, to yourself more as well. You wished that perhaps that would brush these idiots off but it didn't, if more, they looked intrigued.

" Oh? And what if we didn't, what will you do?" the dark haired one said, taking a step forward toward you with a unsettling smirk on his face.

Your eyes widen though You forced your body to stay still, frowning even more. " We-ell, w-wouldn't you like to know? "  your voice started to lower to your disadvantage.

'crap I stuttered! and I should have sounded more intimidating, why am I NOT sounding intimidating enough?!'

The taller boy took another step, his friend following suit. you started to panic inside your mind. What should you do?!

" Oh we would pretty much like to know." Said the other one, smirking as well, he suddenly reached his hand to brush your hair.

You jumped taking a step back.

" S-stop that! I am warning you."

but they were unfazed and kept walking toward you, while you took steps back. The people surrounding you didn't notice this interaction, and even when you put your trust on them to save you when you call for help, your pride prevented you.

You still kept glaring at them, perhaps it would have given them the impression that you were not playing around. The same guy who touched your hair stretched his hand to do it again, rubbing your shoulder and keeping you on hold so you couldn't walk further.

"Warning us? You are so adorable darling." The dark haired one said as he started to brush your hair with you trying to shake their hand off.

You slapped one of their hands " Stop it! Or. . Or–"

"Or what princess? What are you going to do? " The shorter one repeated, smirking.

" This. "

Your eyes went wide as you watched someone step Infront you, covering your whole figure behind their back. They held the boy's hand away from your shoulder, squeezing it in force till it hurt.

You heard the boy whine, trying to break free and with no vain. His friend acted on the spot, sending a punish to the boy standing Infront of you, only for his fist to be clutched with his other hand like it was nothing, he twisted the boy's hand, making him bend Infront him in pain.

Miles still had his back to you, as you kept watching surprised how he singlehandedly took them both.

" If ya wanna start a problem, then do it with me. Leave her out of it."  He twisted the other's hand, forcing him to join the floor with his friend. some people passing by started to gaze at the scene, shocked as you were.

" Understood? " His voice though quiet, was sharp and clear. your heart was pounding as you finally let out a breath knowing you were safe now.

No answer from them and so Miles twisted their hands even more.

" Ow ow ow yes! Yes! Understood!! Leave us please!"

" Ouchh! Ouch–yeah, leave her alone got it! Let go now!"

and so he did, standing firm, having his sharp gaze on them. They backed away immediately rubbing their sore wrists.

" You are a freak!! "

" The hell is wrong with you, piece of shit?!"

" If ya believe am that dangerous or sum shit of what yo sayin then ya better be scared and stay. Away." He sneered at them before his intense gaze turned at you, they soften but you didn't notice.

too busy realizing what the hell just happened. You heard him mumble 'you okay?' to which it took a while from you to nod your head. You yelped when he suddenly dragged your arm along with him.

"Com'on we gotta go " he said so casually like he wasn't dragging a person with him.

" Wait wait– we are away now, you can let go!" You tried to break free but you couldn't, his grip was hella firm!

" estúpida, what were you thinkin? You could have just went on your way." [Idiot ] you heard him say under his breath, he even sounded annoyed for some reason.

You sighed as you just let him drag you to the end of the hall as he let go of you, turning to frown at you.

"It wasn't your business"

"Neither were theirs? someone had to do something, you had to do something! " You too started frowning, you didn't know why but it started to frustrate you how lightly he was taking the situation of people talking shit about him. Was he not bothered?

"They keep spitting nonsense about you! And you just. . Just stand there and act like it's nothing, doesn't it bug you even for a little?" You were crossing your arms, your voice turned soft at the end as you stared at him, sadly.

Miles had his eyes narrowed at you. " why do you care? Why acting like it's your problem?" He was confused by your question. as you just stared at him, not knowing how to answer.

Days ago, while you were taking a different route home with your friend you saw a familiar face painted on the walls of New York, the cop Jefferson Davis's face. You had knew of him from your father's friend who was a cop as well.

the cop used to show your father and you his photos with the guy and other co-workers at work.

the day of his death, he spoke so highly of him and how he sacrificed himself for so many people, you didn't know the guy deeply but thought of him as a hero.

While they were showing the dead victims faces on TV, he was among them. you felt kind of sad but didn't think much of it back then.

So when you saw his face again something pulled your curiosity to ask more about this guy, especially of how he reminded you of someone though you weren't sure of that theory.

when you went back home that weekend, you called your father's friend, Joshua, asking him to tell you more about Jeff and it turned out that he was from Morales family, to your shock and fear however he was Miles's father.

From that day you saw the boy in a different light, hence why you stopped calling him 'Burrito boy', you began to understand him more even when you two hardly spoke to each other. Though you began to understand through his behaviour and actions of why he was doing it.

one thing you still didn't understand was why he didn't fight for his reputation.

" So?" He asked, kind of impatiently.

You inhaled and exhaled loudly.

"Listen, Miles. . .we maybe don't speak a lot but I see you as a good person and it kind of annoys me how you won't bother to prove it to anyone else," You bit your lips at his blank expression, brushing through your hair you sighed again. 'this is so stupid'

why were your chest tightening, you weren't even confessing to him!

"I know it isn't my place to speak and it is indeed not my business, but could you at least try? Please." His eyes widen a bit as you both stared at each other, till he broke your gaze, staring besides him instead.

He clicked his tongue rubbing his eyes. " Hablas en Serio ? " [are you serious?] He couldn't believe you were asking him to defend himself a little, why were you that interested about his problem?

" If I do,would you stop standing up for me?"

You blinked, taken a back by this.

" huh? What do you mean?"

Miles smirked, to your surprise. " Ya think I am blind and don't see all that ya doing behind my back?"

the beats of your heart sped up again, as your face started to heat up, you opened your mouth multiple times then closing them like a fish.

" Yo–you. . .you noticed??" Miles smirked more. his amussing expressions were surprising you that It was hard to look away.

"You ain't that silk, ' cerebro grande' " [ 'big brain'. ]

okay now that you are talking with him, he kept speaking in Spanish, was that his native language or something? also what?

The bell rang when you opened your mouth to say something, he turned on his heels passing you before you could utter a world. his confidence and mysterious behaviour drawn your attention, you couldn't understand how a quiet kid could show such power with simple words and acts.

" Later, niña " [ little girl] you heard him mumble still smirking.

You were left there like an idiot, staring at him  bewildered and surprised, your hands clasped on the straps of your cross bag.

Miles sly smirk turned into a simple smile as he remembered your confidence when you stood up for him, he didn't like to have you involved in those situations, of course.

He may have not said it, but you were right, he should at least try stand for himself and stop those rumors from spreading even when they were going to anyway. He knew how to be witty and clever with his responses, he just didn't care.

yet since you became in the picture, he would reconsider to let himself be heard. If it meant to push you away from trouble.

Was he worried about you? well, you seemed to be stubborn and someone had to stop you before you hurt yourself.

He didn't know much about you but from your actions he could tell it wasn't new for you to stand up for someone, he did see you do it multiple times now.

he wasn't the type to focus on someone but your case was an exception.

Miles felt those following weeks were going to be interesting.

this beautiful divider is done by @silkholland

Go check the rest of their dividers, here.

Taglist:

@catherinekisser @ueexj

@cvqidd @akira-ri00

@axeoverblade @gwennesy

-Don't forget to comment if you liked the part!

Till next time

[dmajor7th]

Thought, feelings, and opinions on the YR3 finale

Far be it from me to rain on anyone's parade, but by God, the 'walk into the sunset' felt so cheap, lazy, and narratively unsatisfying.

Yes yes we all love love, love prevails all obstacles and suffices in all lacking, and now that they've trotted off into The Great Unknown and dived into The Vast Lake Of Possibility, it's all rainbows and sunshine from here on. Right?

If so, why does the rest of S3's build up stand in contradiction with the ending?

All the incompatibilities Simon and Wille have when it comes to class, wealth, social standing, etc, were really put under a spotlight this season and have not gone away just because they've had a little sun-kissed make-up. Once the car journey is over, they have to actually talk about how they want their joined life to look—quite the feat at 16/17 years old—and judging by Wille's treatment of Simon throughout the rest of the series, I don't see it the road ahead being paved with glory.

We blame (excuse?) a lot of Wille's behaviours this season on external pressures. And yes, Wille was trying to balance his duty to the crown with his romance and was under intense stress with his sick mother and looming ascendence to the throne, but a lot of his shitty behaviour also came from him, as a person. Those behaviours might be learned and cultivated in an upper class context, but they're still his. He chose to shush Simon in the tent then poke at the sore spot that is Simon's litigation settlement. He chose to shout at his mother instead of pulling her over for a more sensible conversation. He chose to pass on the pressures of the court to Simon regarding Simon's online presence, rather than discussing it with him or pushing back against Farima.

And yes, I know he's sixteen and troubled, but troubled sixteen year olds also have agency and personality and decision making abilities. As much as a lot of Wille's poor behaviour is a result of external pressures, we can't blame all his actions on external pressures either, lest be become a flat nothing of a character.

S3 ep 1-5 presented us with what seemed to be a fundamental incompatibility between Simon and Wille—as people, outside of any institutions. And the 'walking off into the sunset' ending glosses over all of that character and relationship build-up for the first five episodes. They even created all the mirroring resolutions for Wilmon ("I hope you have a nice summer" etc.), only to stomp on them with what? "Mom says it's ok for me not to be King anymore! Yay!" and that's it, a big silver bullet to all their problems, now they can live happily ever after.

Speaking of Kristina—Wille just asked nicely not to be King anymore and that was it? All it took was one polite conversation he failed to have with his parents for seventeen episodes and now he's "free"? Yes there was build up to Kristina's decision, but it was also way too easy. They finally get to have a grown up conversation with Wille—I don't think they're just going to let him go, like that, after 5 minutes in the car. They still want him to be King.

And even if he's not king, he's still going to be a Royal. He might not take the throne, but he will still have titles, land, duties, and a place in the Royal family tree. He's not going to be a damn bus driver now. The only thing is is that he might no longer have access to the resources he needs—namely personal security— to live the life of someone inextricably in the public eye, and that doesn't make him freer.

Look, I get that Wille and Simon's romantic relationship was central loci of the show, so it makes total sense why so many people were rooting for a happy ending. I begrudge no one, of course—there is no one way to consume or enjoy the show, and everyone will take from it what they need.

But if they were going for a Big Sappy Ending, I wish they wouldn't have make the cracks in Wilmon's relationship so enormous that they can't just be papered over, as it feels they have in ep6.

Long Live King August.

[tia-amorosa]

Episode 17: Bunch's bunch

Friday morning, 6:47 am. A house that is a little out of the ordinary. It's on the edge of town, right on a bend in the road and, unlike the others, is quite modern. Nevertheless, it was a change for Judy to live in a house like this. She would have preferred something smaller and simpler. But Jack had been able to accumulate quite a bit of money through his job in the military and his long sabbatical.

This made it possible to purchase this house. The children were most happy about this. At last they each had their own room, which they could furnish themselves. The kitchen, on the other hand, was only interesting when there was something good to eat. “I would have liked to eat some waffles, but I don't have time"/ ‘how did you know I was making waffles?’/ ‘Hn…it's Friday’.

Judy had to smile a little. She made waffles for breakfast every Friday morning. That had always been the case. Sometimes they were also served on other days of the week. But it always had to be waffles on Fridays. “I'll leave you some” / ‘hn, thank you’.

It wasn't just the parents who were early risers, Darlene also made an early appearance. “Good morning…”. You'd expect teenagers her age to want to stay in bed even longer in the morning. But that wasn't Darlene's style. “Oh man, I'm glad it's finally Friday”/ “because of the waffles?”/ “No, because it's finally the weekend after school”.

“What are your plans for the weekend?"/ ”I wanted to do something with a few others from the class. Maybe the movies or just chill out"/ ‘chill out, aha’/ ”well, honestly, mom, what can we do here? Maybe go to the beach or the fairgrounds. I would have preferred to move somewhere with more action, BridgePort instead of Bridgewood”.

Often the children were already on their way to school, but on Fridays they still took the time for breakfast. “And what are your plans for the weekend, mom?"/ ”Hm, what am I supposed to do? I'll take care of the housework and see if anyone needs help"/ ‘So everything as usual’.

“Mom just has her routine…"/ ‘Yes, just like you . you will probably sit in front of the computer again and check the number of your followers’/ ‘you're just jealous because I have more than you’/ ‘pf, definitely not, I don't need that much attention’/ ‘hnhn…’. Arlo smirked a little. Sure, he enjoyed the attention from others on the net. But that wasn't the most important thing. “now please hurry up, the bus is coming soon”.

After the children had left, Judy went back to the bedroom and put on her comfortable everyday clothes. Then she began to tidy up the house. And she knew what to expect most of the time. “I bet he's left his things on the floor again… I'm less worried about that with our girl.”.

Every day when Judy walked through the house, she also looked through the large windows, through which she could see the sea directly. “I have more to do in this house, but this view makes up for it. Hn, and as I suspected, Arlo has once again failed to put his things away. He's just dealing with all this social media stuff. I prefer to talk to people in person”.

Darlene's room was also briefly scrutinized. But Judy had nothing more to complain about than a wrinkle on the comforter that hadn't been smoothed out. “I imagined my children's youth to be much worse. But they've all been hard-working and tidy so far… And they're all so big already, hh…”.

Of course, Judy didn't stay at home all the time and take care of the household. When the work was done, she drove into town and did some shopping. But even if that wasn't absolutely necessary, she still spent a little time in the city. “Oh… Well, well.”

Judy was a little surprised to find her eldest daughter in the library, but she didn't want to miss the opportunity to talk to her. And apparently Lisa wasn't averse to the whole thing that day. She had to smile a little as she looked her mother up and down… “What is it?”/ “We have almost the same style of dress…hi, mom”.

“How are you, my darling? You look a bit pale”. Lisa always reacted a little annoyed when she met her mother. Even though she knew she only meant well. “I'm fine, mom. I'm not ill, I eat enough, everything's fine"/ ‘I'm your mother, Lisa, you should know by now that you can't fool me anymore’/ ‘oh, yes, of course, you always know everything better’.

Judy looked wistfully at her daughter. “I'm just a bit worried, you know? I know… I wasn't fair to you when I put you down for messing up your studies”. Lisa looked down at the floor for a moment and nodded. “I know myself that I should have made a better effort. but I'm not going to let it get me down like that anymore…I'm already looking for a job"/ ‘oh, really?’.

“Yes, I… I've written a few applications. I'm not looking for anything special, I just want to see where I fit in and who wants to hire me in the first place"/ ”I'm sure you're good at a lot of things, not just caring for animals, okay? I believe in you, Lisa"/ ”Thanks, mom. How are the others?"/ ‘Oh, very well.’.

After a while, Mother and daughter had a very relaxed conversation. That wasn't the case for a long time. After a while, VJ came into the library. And Judy noticed the still very amorous looks between the two young people. “Are you ready? I got us the tickets"/ ”mhm, I'm coming. VJ and I wanted to go to the movies,” Lisa said with a beaming face. “Oh, okay, well then… I don't want to keep you. Have fun"/ ‘Thanks, Mom’. Surprisingly, Lisa hugged her mother and then walked hand in hand with her boyfriend towards the movie theater.

Judy left the library with mixed feelings. Although, after all these years, she had long since got used to seeing her daughter with VJ. And her thoughts were often in the past. When the bothwere teenagers, Judy was always afraid that Lisa would come home with the news that she be pregnant. Of course, she would never have disowned or judged her daughter for it. “She's still my little girl… I'm sure she'll be a good mother too. But when?”.

After a few seconds, Judy heard her husband's voice a little further away. “Hey, traveling alone?”. When she saw him, she had to laugh a little. It reminded her of earlier times when they were still young. Then she set off and ran towards him. “You're off work early"/ ‘yes, well, aren't you?’. He looked to the side for a moment. “Are you hungry?”.

When Judy stood in front of him, she almost had a somewhat wistful look on her face. “Hey, is everything all right?"/ ”Yes, everything's fine. I just… ran into our big daughter earlier"/ ‘Oh, and is she okay?’/ ”Yes, she seems to be. And as for my hunger… I could do with a little something"/ ”Let's go over there right now and find a table. And then you tell me about your mother-daughter meeting.”/ „mhm, o.k.“.

------------------------------------------------------------

@greenplumbboblover , @solorisims , @honeywinesims ⭐

[thecoolersouthparkforeignkids]

Jo centred story (part one of two)

3454 words... =)

Also, this is back when they're like nine, not currently when they're ten.

Being friends with basically everyone in class, except for Cartman after he’d called Ninjago gay, was something Jo was quite proud of himself for. Some people didn’t make it easy, their own insecurities putting up walls that took a little longer for Jo to break down before he could befriend them, but so far there hadn’t been anyone he hadn’t been able to befriend… Except for the newest kid to join their class, he was not an easy shell to break.

Declan Fitzpatrick, the kid who had recently moved here with his older sister and dad. He was Irish, which Jo had tried to use as a way to start a conversation; The moment he mentioned his dad being English though put a spanner in the works, Declan immediately calling him a colonising prick. Jo then tried bringing up his Scottish ancestry too, which Declan didn’t give as harsh as a reaction to, but he was still lukewarm at best. Every other attempt had also failed so far; Asking him about his favourite colour, sports, hobby, the works, none of it gave him an opening. Declan was possibly the most closed off person he’d come across so far, and it was only towards him too. Declan had befriended, seemingly immediately after moving, Cartman of all people. Maybe that’s why all of Jo’s attempts had failed so far, maybe Cartman was polluting Declan’s mind with his usual bullshit.

Jo was currently asking around to see if that was the case, his first point of questioning being the people Cartman hung around with the most. Stan, Kyle and Kenny. He waited for a moment when Cartman wasn’t there, an easy thing to accomplish as Cartman usually spent the entirety of recess in the bathroom, blowing up the toilet.

“Hey guys,” Jo greeted them as class ended for recess, walking with them out to the playground, “Can I ask you something?”

“No, we aren’t accepting any more people to join our school news show, sorry Jo.” Kyle sighed in exasperation, jumping to conclusions as per usual.

“Huh? I don’t give a fuck about your guyses gay-ass show, I wanna know what Cartman’s been saying to the new kid to make him not like me.”

“What?” Stan uttered, though mostly at the accusation of their news show being gay.

“Declan, the new kid. What has Cartman been saying to him about me?” Jo repeated, stressing the question by grabbing Stan’s shoulders and shaking him a little.

“Dude, he hasn’t been saying anything… At least, not that we know of.” Stan shrugged Jo off.

“Yeah, maybe this kid just doesn’t like you.” Kyle, very unhelpfully, added.

“How can someone not like Jo?” Kenny’s muffled voice questioned.

“Thank you, Kenny.” Jo smiled at him, “Cartman has to be saying something to him, otherwise why else isn’t he responding to my advances… To be his mate, I mean.”

Kenny started uncontrollably laughing, Stan and Kyle a little more reserved with their laughter. Jo crossed his arms, glancing away from them all, “It’s not funny. I don’t mean it like that.”

“Sure you don’t.”

“Whatever, dude, we’re gonna go play ball. Wanna join us?”

“Nah… Thanks, like, but I need to go ask around.”

Kenny made a comment about Jo having a crush as they walked away. Jo instantly felt his face heating up, it wasn’t like that! He just wanted to be Declan’s friend, that’s all… Right?

Jo spent the remainder of the day asking everyone he could about it, getting pretty much the same answer from all of them – no one had heard anything to assume that Cartman was sabotaging Jo’s attempts at befriending Declan.

He went home in a bit of a sulk, only made moderately better by curling up on the couch in front of the tv to watch his favourite show. Craig stopped by asking to get some footage of Chonk for his tv show thing, which Jo had no problem with. Chonk was a friendly dog, a little too friendly sometimes, and was perfect for being cute on camera.

The next morning at the bus stop, Tesni was bitching about something while he and Angel listened.

“And then she had the fucking nerve to say, well I thought you’d be into this sort of stuff ‘cause you work at raisins! I should’ve just punched her in her fucking face. Just ‘cause I work there, doesn’t make me a stupid slut like Paris fucking Hilton!” Tesni retold her encounter with Bebe, making sure to mock her voice while pulling a face.

“Who’s Paris Hilton?” Angel asked Jo quietly while Tesni continued to rant.

“A stupid rich tart.”

“Oh… Why would anyone want to be like that… On purpose?”

Jo shrugged; he had no idea. The bus pulled up and they got on, Tesni letting out a huff of annoyance and disbelief upon seeing how the rest of the girls were dressed – all of them now imitating Paris Hilton. Angel and Tesni took their usual seats beside one another, leaving Jo to find his own seat.

Finding someone to sit beside was easy for Jo, he was friends with basically everyone after all. As he looked for a free seat, he saw that the one beside Declan was empty. He jumped on the chance immediately, sitting down beside him.

“Alright?” Jo greeted him, smiling widely.

Declan had been a little zoned out, uttering a startled grunt at Jo’s sudden appearance, groaning in annoyance once he registered who it was.

“What the feck do you want?” Declan muttered, looking away again, his gaze turning to the passing houses as the bus began to move again.

“Nothin’… Just… Sitting down on the nearest empty seat.” Jo hastily came up with a reason, one that could quickly be picked apart if Declan just turned his head to look at the many other empty seats on the bus.

Declan didn’t turn to confirm if that was the truth though, he didn’t say anything either; very out of character considering every other attempt Jo had made to befriend him so far had ended with Declan cussing him out. His silence only intrigued Jo further, if he was to believe what everyone had told him, that Cartman hadn’t been shit-talking him to Declan, then what was the reason behind all of Declan’s anger? Was it just because he was ginger? Every ginger person Jo knew had a pretty short temper, so that wasn’t all that far-fetched to think.

Whatever the reason was, he had another chance to try and start a conversation with him. Maybe this one would be the one to break down whatever barriers were between them, he just had to pick a good conversation topic…

“Hey, so, I, uh…” Jo trailed off, he couldn’t think of anything to say. This was a first, Jo always had something to say, people literally couldn’t get him to shut up most of the time.

“Yeah?” Declan mumbled. He actually replied! Okay, this was good, but also a disaster considering that Jo was currently experiencing a total lack of words for the first time in his life.

“I… I dunnae…”

“Grand.”

The rest of the ride to school was silent, Jo cursing himself in his mind. This was so frustrating, this had never happened with anyone before, what made him so different? What about Declan made this difficult? He sat with his hands in the pockets of his coat, fiddling with the random wrappers that had accumulated in there, and when that no longer stimulated his brain he moved on to cracking as many joints as he could. That quickly crossed into inflicting pain to himself though, so he had to stop that and move onto drumming on his knees for the last few minutes of the bus ride before he could escape the suffocatingly awkward silence that had settled over them.

He bolted off the bus like a bat out of hell, going to his locker to bash his head into it a few times before the bell rang for class. The dull headache that ensued was a nice distraction from the very real realisation he’d had during that awkward bus ride.

It was different with Declan because he wasn’t just trying to be his friend. Kenny was right, he was crushing.

The next few days, then weeks, went past in a bit of a blurry haze, Jo was still present physically, holding conversations with people as usual, but his mind was preoccupied with trying to comprehend his feelings.

The next thing Jo knew, he was paired up with Angel to look after an egg for a week. In a bid to prove some sort of point against gays, Ms. Garrison shuffled a couple of the pairs and Stan and Kyle ended up caring for an egg together – the whole time Jo was staring at them jealously, wishing that it had been him, and Declan partnered together to be the gay egg parents. Similarly, Angel seemed a little upset that she wasn’t allowed to work with Tesni, but she showed it a lot less than Jo did.

“Jo?” Angel’s voice interrupted Jo’s sulking, and he lifted his head from his desk to look at her, “You’ve been… Weird lately.”

Jo sighed; it was difficult to pull something past Angel. She could be a little oblivious and naive sometimes, but not when it came to her friends feeling bad, it was like she had a sixth sense for that type of stuff.

“Just… Thinking ‘bout stuff.”

“You think aloud, Jo.” Angel pointed out matter-of-factly, fidgeting with the little egg hammock she was working on making to avoid making eye-contact with him.

“Yeah… Not this time.”

Angel hummed quietly, “Is it something bad?”

“What? No, Ang, I’m fine.” Jo sat up straighter, holding his pinkie out to her, “Promise.”

Jo never broke a pinkie-promise, so Angel relaxed and stopped questioning him. If Jo said he was okay, then he was okay, he didn’t lie – especially not to his friends.

Ms. Garrison began her check on the classes’ eggs, calling out each pair to report back the state of their egg. Pretty much everyone still had an egg that was fully intact. Just as Declan and Tesni were asked about the condition of their egg, their previously hushed bickering grew louder as a crack and a splat sounded – their egg now shattered on the floor of the classroom.

“Why’d you do that for, fucking retarded leprechaun.” Tesni yelled, shoving Declan out of his seat.

“I’m not a feckin’ leprechaun, an’ I don’t give a shit about this gay egg shite.”

Before they could escalate further, they were yelled at to leave the classroom, Ms. Garrison seething more over her experiment to prove gay couples couldn’t have kids was failing than she was over the pair of them fighting and cursing in class. Tesni got up and left with nothing more than a huff and mumbled complaint. As Declan was leaving, he briefly made eye contact with Jo before he quickly looked away again, slamming the door behind him as he walked out into the hall.

During that whole ordeal Jo had felt Angel tense up next to him, shouting and loud noises tended to elicit that sort of response from her, especially when it involved Tesni because that usually meant Tesni getting a detention and disrupting whatever plans they’d previously made together. He gave her a small sympathetic smile, trying to telepathically tell her that everything would be okay, that he’d change his own plans to spend time with her instead – not that he remembered having any of his own plans, nor did he really make any in the first place because of his habit of forgetting when he did. Speaking of forgetting, Jo felt like he had been supposed to remember something that morning, he just couldn’t remember what…

Ms Garrison sighed in annoyance, glancing back at her list to ask the next pair about the condition of their egg, which turned out to be Jo and Angel.

“Well?” Garrison asked again, staring at the pair of them expectantly.

“Uh,” Angel turned to look at Jo, “Where’s egg?”

“Oh yeah… Uh, egg is at home…” Jo remembered what he was supposed to remember now, he quickly turned to look at Garrison, “But, egg is fine, I promise.”

“Ugh, whatever… Why’d I pair the two retards together?”

Angel didn’t appear to hear what Garrison had muttered afterward, already too focused on sewing the egg hammock together to pay much attention to anything else. Jo heard. He didn’t actually care all that much over being called a retard, he’d been called worse, but it gave him an idea. See, being retarded, as Garrison had so eloquently put it, gave Jo a couple perks at school – one of which being an excellent excuse to get out of class for a couple minutes. Which is just what he needed to go try again at befriending Declan with no one else around, except maybe Tesni but Tesni wouldn’t give a fuck.

“Ms Garrison?” Jo called out, not bothering to raise his hand, “I need to go take my meds.” He was bullshitting, he was completely unmedicated because he didn’t like the way the meds fucked with his appetite. How was he meant to eat enough scran to grow taller if his meds were making that impossible?

“Whatever.” Garrison said, shooing him off, “I thought that whole trend died off a few years ago…”

Jo jumped up out of his seat, walking quickly into the halls to go find Declan. He walked toward the offices first, as that was where people were meant to go when they got sent out of class. Jo could hear Tesni ranting and cussing Mr Mackey out in his office, but Declan wasn’t anywhere to be found. Just to be sure, Jo stood on his tippy toes to peek into both Mr Mackey’s office and Principal Victoria’s office; Declan wasn’t in either room.

“Maybe he went the bathroom?” Jo muttered to himself, walking in that direction.

When he entered the boy’s bathroom, he picked up on the unmistakable sound of someone desperately trying to either stop crying or at least cry quietly – Jo knew this because he’d come across Clyde crying in the bathrooms numerous times. Jo crept over to the only stall with the door closed, standing outside of it for a few seconds before deciding to check if it was in fact Declan in there.

“Declan?”

“Go away, you feckin’ fairy…”

Well, that answered his question. It was definitely Declan in there. Now Jo just had to find out why exactly Declan was in a toilet stall crying.

“You alright in there?”

“Feckin’ grand… What’s it sound like?” Declan remarked sarcastically, though it didn’t have the same venom as usual considering his voice was audibly wavering.

“Sounds like you’re cryin’… Why’s tha’?” Jo asked, racking his brain for a second, “Are you sad about your egg?”

“No, I’m not sad about the stupid feckin’ egg… Why’re you in here anyway? Are you even allowed in here?”

“Why wouldn’t I…” Jo trailed off. This conversation was about to go one of three ways. 1) Declan was homophobic, 2) Declan was transphobic, 3) Declan was homo and transphobic…

“Y’know, ‘cause you’re a- “ Declan paused for a split second, “C-Cause, like, it’s lesson time an’ that…”

That definitely wasn’t what he was originally going to say, but Jo was willing to leave It as that. This was the most they’d spoken to each other, maybe it was because there was a cubicle door between them, or maybe it was simply because no one else was around – hopefully he’d get to the bottom of this before anyone else came in now that the bell for lunch had rang.

“Yeah… Well, why are you cryin’ then? What’s up?”

“I’m not crying.”

“Okay… You’re not crying… What’s up though?” Jo continued to pry, hoping it wouldn’t piss Declan off into not talking to him again.

“It’s, uh… I-I miss-“ The door to the bathrooms burst open as Cartman of all people came in. Declan immediately shut up again.

“Declan, you in here?” Cartman called out, ignoring Jo completely.

“Yeah, he’s-“

The toilet flushed and Declan walked out of the stall, pushing past Jo and walking over to Cartman, “Yeah, ‘m here.”

Cartman nodded, finally acknowledging Jo with a slight sneer, “Good thing I came in, Jo would’ve tried to rape you… He’s gay, you know?” He muttered the last part into Declan’s ear, though it was clear he still wanted Jo to hear him.

“Yeah, I’m gay, not a fuckin’ rapist, you fat prick.” Jo spat back angrily.

It wasn’t because Jo was gay, it was because Jo openly didn’t like Cartman, or put up with his bullshit, that annoyed Cartman. Jo being gay was just an easy thing for him to point out, Jo’s trans-ness would also be brought up if Cartman was feeling particularly asshole-like. And seeing as Jo had just called him fat, it was definitely going to be brought up.

“Trannies like you shouldn’t even be in the boy’s bathroom. It’s the boy’s bathroom, not the mentally ill girl’s bathroom.” Cartman spouted more hateful rhetoric, not that Jo was listening. Jo was more focused on looking at Declan, more specifically the conflicted look in his eyes as his gaze darted between Cartman and Jo. Behind the look of conflict, there was also a mild look of fear.

What did Cartman have on him? Jo could tell just by looking at him that Declan didn’t want to be involved in this situation, so why was he?

“Fuck off, Cartman. Yer ma is a slag and you dunnae know who yer da is.” Jo uttered, shoving past and exiting the boy’s room. He wandered the halls for a while before remembering that Angel was most likely eating alone, so he quickly made his way to the cafeteria instead. Luckily Butters had sat with her in Jo and Tesni’s absence, so she wasn’t completely alone; she still looked very relieved to see Jo walking over though.

After grabbing himself something to eat, Jo sat down with them. As he did, he realised he’d forgotten to ask Butters if he knew anything about Cartman potentially polluting Declan’s mind in some way. It was a dumb mistake to make, Butters knew a lot of things about Cartman by the seems of things, he was almost always at Cartman’s house when no one else wanted to hang out with Cartman.

“Butters?”

“Yeah, Jo?”

“Do you know anything about Cartman and Declan?”

Butters thought for a moment, humming softly to himself, “I see him going to Cartman’s house with his dad a lot.”

Jo furrowed his brow, “You do?”

“Yeah. Sometimes his dad and Cartman’s mom will wrestle for a few hours. I don’t know how they can wrestle for that long without getting tired.”

“You see them wrestling?” Angel asked, both her and Butters obviously thinking about actual wrestling and not at all about what Jo knew was actually going on between Declan’s dad and Cartman’s mom.

Butters nodded, “Uh huh. Mrs Cartman leaves her curtains open, and I can see in from my bedroom window. She must leave her window open too, because I can hear them.”

Was Declan some sort of long lost brother of Cartman’s? No.. Cartman’s mom was just a slag, her shagging with someone’s dad wasn’t anything new… Why was this different then? And why did Declan seem scared of Cartman in some way?

“Butters, do you still have your inspector Butters stuff?” Jo asked, seeing a way to potentially get to the bottom of this while also giving the poor lad something to do while he was almost constantly grounded and confined to his room.

“Yeah! Do you want me to investigate, Jo?” Butters asked excitedly, his eyes lighting up.

“Can I join in? I could be like that lady from the show my mum watches!” Angel added, speaking as though either of them knew what lady or what show she was referring to.

“Ooh, yeah! I think I have a spare inspector badge for you.”

Jo smiled at how excited they both sounded, “Okay, but it’s a secret investigation. You can’t question either of them, just…”

“Observe them?”

“Ooh! Like a stakeout!.. But we don’t have a car…”

“We have bikes though! We can pretend they’re cars! My sister pretends her bike is a horse sometimes.”

Jo let them both plan their investigation for the rest of lunch. While they were doing the observing and all that secretive stuff, Jo was going to keep trying to get Declan alone and figure it out that way.

[umichenginabroad]

Week 4: A Weekend in Porto, Finances, and Budgeting

Hi again! It’s hard to believe that I'm already approaching the end of my first month in Madrid: time flies so quickly here. The longer I spend in this city, the more I fall in love with it. There is genuinely a limitless number of things to do, see, and eat here. I feel like I could explore forever.

To update on a previous entry, my Spanish has also vastly improved in the four weeks I’ve been here. I recommend that anyone studying abroad in a country that speaks a different language than English forces themselves to speak the language to natives whenever possible. Additionally, I would strongly recommend taking a language course at the university you study at. I can tell that my Spanish class here is helping me substantially in my growth in knowledge of the language.

A Weekend in Porto

I just got home from a weekend trip to Porto in Portugal this morning. This marks my first trip outside of Spain during my time abroad, and I have to say that it was unreal. Porto is a gorgeous city with an entirely different culture and feeling to it than Spain, despite being so close. Although we didn’t get to see everything we wanted to see, here are a few highlights:

View from Torre dos Clérigos

Sao Bento Train Station

Douro River at night

Overlook at the Jardins do Palácio de Cristal

Paço Episcopal do Porto

In addition to its sites, Porto had the best food that I’ve had during my past month here. I didn´t take the best pictures, but I would recommend both restaurants by Hungry Biker.

The trip was surprisingly affordable, especially because Porto is easily reachable by a 7 hour bus ride. My friends and I took an overnight bus into the city which was 50 euros both ways, and our Airbnb was under 20 a night per person. I had heard horror stories about overnight buses, but I actually slept very well and found it more comfortable than an airplane.

Finances and Budgeting

Budgeting for studying abroad was a big concern to me before I arrived in Madrid even though I had set aside a generous amount for it. However, I have been pleasantly surprised here about the amount of money I’ve spent. I would highly recommend Madrid as an option for people looking for cheaper cities to study abroad in. The cost of living is overall significantly lower here. Most items cost 50 to 60 percent less than in the United States. I’ve been able to indulge a lot more than I thought I would be able to afford because of this (and am still coming in under budget).

Even with the lower cost of living, I think that budgeting for your time abroad is a crucial thing to do, especially if you aren’t receiving any external support for it. Before arriving in Madrid, I set up a budget spreadsheet, logging transactions into different categories per month. I update it each week with all my purchases.

For day to day, I have kept in check by keeping a daily expenditure limit. Doing this allows me to fund my weekend trips, since traveling to other countries is definitely the most expensive part of studying abroad. 

What’s next:

I’m still waiting to hear back if I’ll get into the course I want. I completed the special request form last week, so we’ll see how successful this attempt is.

I’m about to go for a run tonight and do some meal prep for the week. Next weekend, we’re planning to stay in Madrid to explore some of the things we missed during our first weeks in the city, as well as to do a day of hiking. Additionally, our group is trying to plan out some major trips this week. Stay tuned for more adventures!

Alyssa Cheslek

Aerospace Engineering

IPE Universidad Carlos III de Madrid

Madrid, Spain

[wearecasualnow]

The Beginning

I remember a lot of my childhood early as 4 or 5 years old. My mom grew up with a lot of abuse so she of course had a touch of her own version of abuse in her parenting style. She was a good mother in the early ages of my life from my perspective however I am now learning who she was back then and I see it in a completely different way. My biological father wasn't in my life, I spoke to him in my teens for the first time but I never met him before. I was raised by my stepdad and consider him to be my father. That being said I will refer to him as my father. I was so spoiled by my dad. We had a great relationship and we always spent time together.

Growing up with 2 older siblings and 2 younger siblings, I was the one in the middle. In my early teen years, I felt very alone and around that time, my mom started changing her ways. I guess she no longer saw us as "babies" and maybe she didn't know how to handle it. She also went through a major plastic surgery that led to her cheating on my dad and getting divorced. (Side note: My dad was a great father but had some issues with substances like alcohol, etc. Sometimes he wouldn't come home and mom dragged all of us out to go find him.) She wasn't wrong to get a divorce but she could've handled it so much better.

My mom told me since he was technically my stepdad that he is no longer my dad. I couldn't see or talk to him anymore. Just like that after 12 years of being my dad, she was trying to just completely cut him out of my life. Of course, I would do anything to see him so when I would go to my bus stop I would call him and tell him to meet me there so I could see him and talk. Until one day I called my aunt(dad's sister) and wished her a happy birthday after a year of battling cancer and winning. My mom found out by calling the phone company and searching my phone records. She grabbed my phone, took it outside, and ran it over with her car. Then, she grounded me for months. There was physical abuse as well. My older sister always got the worst of it. This continued for years until my mom met a guy she fell in love with.

At this point, I was working a summer job with my older sister. One day, my mother brought this guy to our job so we could meet him, which was weird because she never came to visit us there. I automatically hated him. This made me feel bad because I knew how much my mother treated us and it persuaded me to feel biased toward the man. However, he had a family of his own that didn't speak to him because he was abusive and went to jail for it.

My mother saw it fit to let this ex-convict of an abusive background stay in our home the first night they met. Accompanied by a lot of sex which I heard with my own ears. Things became a lot different after that. Her new man who lived there now, was her new pride and joy, the center of her world. She would buy him a pack of cigarettes with the last of her dimes before she bought us milk for the house. (Mind you there were 2 kids in the house at the ages of 4-5) One day, her best friend came up to my sister and I. She told us how bad our mother was for this guy and would support us in reporting her to the school. The school found out and we were temporarily placed in the custody of my father.

My mother went ballistic. She wouldn't let me get any clothes or anything that was in her house. All I had were the clothes I wore to school that day. The DYFS had to give us gift cards to Target so we could buy essentials like underwear and socks.

At the end of the court case, the verdict was she had to leave the man she was dating and attend parenting classes. That would have allowed her to get her children back. That was 10 years ago. She still hasn't ended her relationship with this man. She gave my dad hell in those years, she never thought it was fair and always played the victim. She actually tried saying that she was going to sue the court for defamation of her man's name..... How awkward considering her man's personal situation.

Throughout the attacks from my mother, my father did a fantastic job getting over his own substance abuse and cleaning up for my siblings and me. He had us always busy doing things with school and we had our summer jobs still. He took care of my younger siblings instead of pushing it on my older sister and me. We actually had a somewhat normal life with him. Life was great. My dad had a couple drinking slip-ups but was there for us in the bigger picture. Whatever problems we had, we worked through it as a team. My dad, my sister, and I always worked together. Until we moved. My sister became really depressed and self-sabotaged. She was drinking a lot and wound up almost not graduating high school. We threw a big party one day but all my aunts and uncles found out and got really mad at us and basically told us to leave so we did. Just for the day until our dad called us to tell us to come back. However, I was the only one to come back. My sister stayed out of the house and wound up living with a family member for a while.

In this time, my dad and I were a bit more stressed then usual and had a couple fights here and there. Honestly, his health was declining and he didn't tell anyone. towards the end of his life, he was taking a lot of pain medication which made him out of it, really skinny, and still no one knew what was happening. My sister and I just thought he was falling back into addiction. My older sister moved back home but she met a guy there and all of a sudden he was barking orders at me and she let him. All hell broke lose at that house when my dad got really sick and started sleeping for most of the day. I had a boyfriend at the time who had a very normal family. Mother-father, eating together every night type of dynamic that I craved so bad. So I was mostly there all the time. being a junior in high school I really wasn't in the position to take care of a whole household, go to school, be a part of a sport, and work a part-time job all at once. So of course the house was a mess. My sister could have easily come and helped do half of the load but her boyfriend started texting me crazy things like "Get here right now and start cleaning, the house is a mess." and "I have been there for your family more than you have."(In just the little 3 months they were together.) So I went to the house ready to argue. My sister then proceeded to kick me out of my own house. This forced me to move in with my boyfriend and it all started from there.

[notthatsamkim]

𝕯𝖎𝖋𝖋𝖊𝖗𝖊𝖓𝖙 𝕴𝖓𝖓𝖊𝖗 𝕱𝖎𝖗𝖊

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ────── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

heeseung x fem!reader

genre : strangers to lovers? - the forbidden "i warned you" type of story

warnings : fem!reader, reader skips class, abandonment of friends.. lmk if i missed something

a/n : this is just a snippet of a possible longer fic i am planning. just trying to see where i'm at with my writing skills after my year-long hiatus from writing — i suck at editing so let's see past that

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ────── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

"y/n y/l/n??!" 

heeseung had watched you linger around one of the benches as your other classmates had made their way to their respective classes, phone against your ear several times to no luck. he watched you get up, playfully swinging your bag left and right behind your back as if you’d given up trying to reach whoever it was on the other end of your call.

"why, what's wrong?" heeseung chuckled nervously.

all coherent thoughts were thrown out the window when his legs took him in your direction. the few classes on his schedule he was due to be present at, were put on hold. all he cared about was the adventure you ought to set yourself on. he wanted to know why his friends warned him about you even though things like that can end up badly, but he also remembered being told to not pull judgement about anyone or anything if he hadn’t tried anything - for the sake of witnessing himself - yet.

"i know you're entitled to be attracted to whoever your heart desires but,.. i just don't get good vibes from her."

"you know her?"

you’d made it to the gate when you finally noticed someone following you. you’d turned around. at first, you wanted to make sure it was not you he was interested in, so you continued walking until he too turned the corner to walk through the park towards the bus stop.

“oh.. hey there?” heeseung waved shyly, suddenly losing every ability to say something. you’d rummaged through your brain where you remembered seeing him as you allowed your eyes to trail away from him. he was seen hanging out with the people who had not so nice things to say about you and you never understood why, because you thought they were grown enough to form an opinion of their own. clearly not.

not until heeseung.

"i talked to her now and then, but i definitely don't want to be her friend."

“a-are you here to report me?” 

heeseung was taken aback when your first question wasn’t why he would be following you, “why would i do that?”

you wanted to open your mouth, but didn’t find it appropriate to fill him in on how his friends had watched your every move on your way out of the school grounds, when you hadn’t had proper conversations with him yet. and it was as if heeseung got a sense of what you were trying to say.

"how do you know what she is like?" heeseung challenged. 

“i don’t know where to go yet, i guess i’ll find out when i get on the bus.”

“why don’t you ask your friends?”

you waved your phone in the air and chuckled, "tried that.”

there weren’t many times he’d ever crossed paths with you so he thought that time could be the first of many. bold coming from him, but he would have to start somewhere if he wanted to prove himself.

“would you… mind hanging out with me then?”

a quizzical expression took over your face, “sure you aren’t here gathering intel for your friends?” there, you said it.

heeseung sighed, “i’m not. but i am curious to know what is so bad about you.”

you nodded. “i hope i don’t disappoint then.”

you already regretted showing the very side of you that people are apparently warned about - being vulnerable, translated into clinginess.

"i can smell it from miles away.”

“likewise,” heeseung smiled.

"well.. i don't know her so maybe she's not like that at all and people just read her wrong?"

"i don't know hee, just be careful. or stay away to be safe."

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ────── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ─── tagging : @kurosism @seungkwan-s @alohajun @kpophubb @doehee for testing

[primofate]

2K Followers Event: Pancake and Waffle Cafe Masterlist

Nutella Waffles (overhearing and misunderstanding a conversation/situation) MODERN AU ANGST

Characters: Childe, Kazuha, Thoma, Albedo, Kaeya, Zhongli, fem!reader

Warnings: not proofread :D, cheating, fighting, insulting, misunderstanding (duh), pregnancy, sexual innuendos, implying sex, mentions of sex, still SFW though, of course I bent the lore since it’s an AU

Notes: I had trouble with this so I decided to make it a modern AU. That’s also why it took so long. I think my brain is starting to run dry XD I mean, there’s only so much situations/conversations I could think of that could be misunderstood. Still, enjoy!

Childe

"Ah, sorry, Y/N, I can’t walk you home today... Maybe tomorrow?” Childe smiled at you, scratching the back of his head, his school bag swung over his shoulder already. He looked like he was in a hurry. 

It’s been a few days like this and you really didn’t know what was happening. You asked him if he needed help with stuff at home or if he was having a hard time with his homework and if that’s why he was always rushing off. He would just give you the same smile and wave a hand. “It’s nothing like that,” and then off he’d go. 

The next day, as you walk towards his classroom during lunchtime you hear him and his friends talking before you even reach the classroom door. 

“Zoe is totally cute,” Childe says. The voice he uses is something that he’d never used on you before. You freeze in your tracks and try to listen in more. “Wow, she really is! Great job picking her!” one of his friends said and it sounded as if they’d hit Childe on the back as a congratulations. “Let me see, let me see,” another one says followed by a gasp. “Have you taken her out yet?” Childe laughs nervously and you know all too well without even looking at him that he’s probably scratching his head. “No, not yet,” 

“Does your girlfriend know yet?” Someone else asks.

And then you hear a laugh that’s all too mischievous. All too playful. All too heart-wrenching. “She doesn’t know!” and they continue to laugh.

You turn away and try your hardest not to let tears escape from your eyes. It felt as if you were being laughed at. Like everyone knew that he was cheating. Everyone except you. It doesn’t help that there was a Zoe in the other class too. The way his friends laughed made your cheeks heat up in embarrassment and the tears you were so desperately holding back to finally flow through.

You ended up staying in the washroom for the whole of lunch time, staying in a cubicle for an extra few minutes, late for the next class.

Somehow you didn’t expect Childe to still show up in your classroom to pick you up for the day and walk you home. You stare at him at the classroom door, your eyes had already gone back to their normal shade, but still glossy. He doesn’t notice, he has a big smile on his face that mocks you. Ridicules you. 

“Y/N! Let’s go together today!” Does he feel guilty? Is that why he finally agrees to walk home with you? Cause he’s had his fill of Zoe already? You don’t say a word and exit the classroom, going past him. Childe blinks, and turns to watch you walking away from him. “Y/N?”

He walks after you, and takes his place next to you. He touches the strap of your backpack, as usual, and says “I’ll take this--”

“I got it,” you reply curtly and move away from him. He’s dumbfounded, eyes still a little wide at your sudden coldness. Now he’s getting anxious. Did he do something wrong? “H-Hey...Y/N, are you mad because I didn’t walk home with you the past couple days? See, I was just--”

“I’m not that petty!” You nearly growl at him, holding his gaze for a few seconds before walking off again. Your eyes are starting to prickle with more tears. You just wanted to get home. As soon as you can. Away from him. You didn’t have the heart to break up with him face to face. You liked him too much, you knew you wouldn’t be able to do it while looking at his handsome face. 

Then, he snatches your wrist and pulls you back towards him. The school hallways are emptying out, there’s a few students walking by who ignore the two of you. “Then what’s the matter? I don’t like it when we fight. At least tell me what I did!” 

You wrench your wrist away from his and start sniffing. He stands there, shocked at where your tears are coming from. Until you start talking. “I heard you, during lunch time,” his eyebrows furrow. “Lunch...time?” He mumbles, not following. “When you were talking about your cute Zoe!” He doesn’t say anything for a moment and that only confirms your fears. 

He’d been looking at other girls, and probably wanting them.

“...Y/N, Zoe is...” Childe scratched his cheek, averting his eyes away. 

“I don’t wanna hear it,” you try to turn away, but he doesn’t let you and holds your shoulders with his hands, staring straight at you. “My dog,” You were crying at this point, and when you hear his next words your eyes narrow. “W-What?”

“Zoe is my new dog,” 

“B-But your friend asked if you took her out yet...”

“Yeah,” Childe tilted his head, “for a walk?” As you start to connect the dots he takes out his phone and shows you the picture of a cute miniature poodle, it had a collar and a silver tag on it that said “Zoe”. You thought that you might cry again at how cute she was but you just glare up at Childe. “Well, I didn’t tell you cause I was gunna surprise you. I’ve been going home early these days cause we had to go visit the pound a few times and finalize the papers and everything...” 

“I-Is that true? Is that all it is?” You sniff, now wiping your stupid tears away. Childe smiles down at you and takes your hands away from your face, replacing it with his, thumbing away the streaks of wetness. “Y/N, no one can ever replace you,” you sniff and let him dote on you. You’d been missing him for a while anyway. 

“...Well except Zoe, maybe Zoe can,” he’s clearly teasing you and you don’t hesitate to lift your fist and punch him on the shoulder, earning a small “Ow,” from him followed by a laugh. “I’m just kidding, how ‘bout you come over and visit her today? It’s only her second day home!”

Thoma

You’d made an appointment with your friend a long time ago. Just a quick lunch and catch up date. Thoma had graciously volunteered to drive you to the mall where you were meeting up with her.

“You sure you don’t need me to pick you up? It’s Saturday. I’m free,” he flashes you a smile, his eyes darting towards you only for a second before going back to the road. “I’ll be fine hun, I’ll take the bus home,” you reply to him.

Halfway through your journey he says that he needs to buy something from a convenience store, and so he parks the car properly and grabs his wallet. His phone is on the car phone stand and you pay no heed to it until a soft ‘ding’ makes you pick your head up to look at the screen. 

Your best friend’s name pops up, she’s messaged him and your blood runs cold.

“I’ll come over when Y/N’s gone,” the message read. Your heart is already at your throat, and you don’t know what to think. What is this make-believe situation that you’re suddenly in. Is this really happening? Your eyes dart upwards to look at the door of the convenience store. You could see Thoma was still looking at the shelves.

You gulp and you wonder what the right thing to do is. Invade his privacy and peek at his messages? Let it go? Confront him? Cry? Another ‘ding’ fills up the car.

“How long is she going to be out? The longer the better. So...” you couldn’t read the rest of the message, it being cut off but you were already spiraling down the hole of despair. How could he? Your sweet and loyal Thoma ended up going behind your back with your best friend. You thought you were going to be sick, you actually had to roll the windows of the car down to get some fresh air, just as Thoma came out of the convenience store door with a plastic bag. 

You couldn’t look at him. You couldn’t even be in the same space as him. You were going to cancel today with your friend, you didn’t think you’d be able to function properly. When he sat on the driver’s seat and saw you looking out the window, he didn’t think much of it and revved the engine up. “Ready hu--”

“Take me to my sister’s place,” Thoma blinked and turned to you, confused. “But, what about your lunch date today, dear?”

“I don’t feel like going. My sister’s place is nearby, just drop me off there,” Your hands were already typing a reply to the friend that you were about to stand up on, but you couldn’t even think of what to do or say. 

“Dear is everything okay?” He asked while backing the car up, arm outstretched to your side while he’s looking at the rear. He was appalled by your sudden mood change. You didn’t answer but he hears you sniff and he immediately stops the car again. “Y/N? What’s wrong?” He’s alarmed that you’re crying and he reaches to cup your chin and tilt it towards him but you move your face away from him. 

“Y/N?” he asked, the confusion in his voice is actually genuine and you can hear a bit of panic in it. “How long have you been seeing Aya?” you spit the words as if they’re poison and the car is quiet. You laugh bitterly. “I thought so, cat got your tongue, huh?” 

Thoma shook himself out of his confusion to say, “No, wait, I don’t know what you mean,” You scoff at him. You’re shocked at the amount of resentment you had, you trusted this man and yet this is what happens. “Yeah? Why is she sneaking into our house then?” You point at his phone, the screen is still lit up because of the messages and there were more coming in from your best friend. 

Thoma snatches the phone away from the stand and looks at it. Then, he deflates and slumps back on his seat. “Y/N, it’s not what you think,” You hate that line so much. You cross your arms and say, “Just drop me at my sister’s house,” 

“Y/N--”

“NOW!”

The drive was quiet. You didn’t know what to do. He didn’t know what to do. He didn’t want to push you but didn’t want to drop you off to your sister’s without explaining as well. So, just before your sister’s block, he parks on the side and unbuckles his seat belt, then opens your side of the door. “Y/N, listen to me,” he’s rarely this assertive, but you still don’t listen. He’s blocking your escape path. 

“It’s your birthday today,” Thoma starts and you blink, completely forgetting about it. “Ayu is sneaking in our house while you’re gone because we were going to set up a surprise for you.” He says slowly, as if he’s talking to a child. Your eyes widen, and you relax in your seat. He gives you his phone and urges you, “Go on, Y/N, you know my passcode right? I don’t hide anything from you, you can read the rest,” 

You hesitate, but accept his offer and type it in. 

“How long is she going to be out? The longer the better. So we can set up the balloons,”

“I got the cake don’t forget the candles and lighter,”

Thoma picks up his other hand that had the white plastic bag from the convenience store, he picks up the two items from inside. Birthday candles. And a lighter. 

Your mouth opens, but you can’t say anything and you only bury your face in your hands out of shame. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry Thoma, I--” He manages to let out a laugh and kisses the top of your head. “I’m so stupid. I trust you, I really do, I just--” now you’re not sure if you’re crying out of relief or embarrassment. “I’m so sorry,” You can’t say anything else and he only kisses you on the forehead again.

“It’s alright, you can make it up to me by going on that lunch date, okay? You deserve the rest. You haven’t cancelled yet have you? Let’s freshen up at your sister’s place and I’ll send you to the mall,” 

You nod your head, small smile on your face. This was gunna be one story to tell in the future.

“Oh and it would help if you act surprised when you come home,” Thoma adds with a full laugh that you join in on. 

Kaeya

"So how are you and Y/N?”

It’d only been a couple of months of the two of you dating. Kaeya was handsome, gallant and he knew exactly what to say to people. It wasn’t a secret that he was quite popular in school. 

Little old you was just another girl in just another class.

“Good, I think,” Kaeya responds, you smile around the corner, hidden from sight, knowing that he was taking a juice box break with his friends. “It’s a little annoying though,” your smile drops and your head tilts sideways in question. “I can’t keep her away and she doesn’t even realize how annoying it is,” 

Keep me away? You think. Am I too clingy? You hear them exchange words a bit more, but none of the other words process in your head. Their laughter spurs you out of your thoughts and you return to your classroom dumbfounded. 

When the bell rang for dismissal you immediately packed and walked home by yourself. Kaeya was confused when he arrived at your classroom door, and found that you weren’t there anymore. “...Hey, did Y/N go home?” he asked one of your passing classmates. “Yeah, she went out pretty fast,”

Now he was worried. Did something happen at home? He takes his phone out as he’s out the school building, tapping your name and calling, only for the call to not even connect. His brows furrow but nonetheless, he goes home for today and types in a message for you.

“Hey, you okay? Talk to me if you need something,” 

The next day, when he usually waits outside your door for you to come out, he realizes that you’re a little late and further realizes that you weren’t going to come out. He wasn’t about to knock on your door, your parents didn’t know about him yet. 

He tries to call you again but he’s met with the same result as yesterday. He sighs and looks up at the sky while he’s walking. He hasn’t seen you for nearly a full day now, and he doesn’t realize how long a full day is until now. He just wants to see your smiling face again and he starts to wonder if he’d done something wrong. 

By lunchtime, he’s sprinting towards your classroom as soon as the bell rings, wondering if you were there. Indeed, finally, he spots you in your classroom and his shoulders slump in relief only to tense up again when he sees a guy in your class talking to you, and you, smiling happily. 

“Y/N,” he calls out to you, waving his hand. You look away from your conversation to him and he notices how your smile turns into a tight line on your face. His own smile drops, but you walk out of the classroom anyway and address him. “Yes?” He blinks down at your tone of voice. “U-Uh... Wanna have lunch together?” 

“...But it’s annoying that I’m clingy right?” The two of you unconsciously move away from the door to out in the hallway, so that you’re not blocking the way of people coming in and out. He narrows his eyes in confusion. Where is this coming from? “I--No, what do you mean? I never said that,” 

“Yesterday, you said you can’t keep me away and it’s annoying,” you averted your gaze, feeling your eyes start to water. Kaeya reels back a little, replaying things in his mind, trying to remember if he said something like that. And, with a light bulb moment, his face breaks into a grin and slight laughter. You glare up at him, “What? It’s funny?”

Kaeya places a hand on your shoulder and explains while smiling. “Y/N, you didn’t listen to the rest of the conversation, did you?”

---What really happened---

“It’s really annoying though. I can’t keep her away and she doesn’t even realize how annoying it is,” he sips on his juice box again.

One of his friends pipe up, “Dude that’s a little harsh,”

Kaeya blinks. Once, twice and thrice. Until it dawns on him. “Oh, no, I meant that I can’t keep her away from other people,” he grins and leans both his elbows on the windowsill. “She doesn’t realize that she’s super friendly, and other people like talking to her a lot. Whenever I go to her classroom she’s always talking to different people.”

His friends make a sound of understanding. “I wish I could just keep her to myself,” and continues sipping on his juice.

“That’s really cheesy, even for you, Kaeya,” one of his friends say and the lot of them starts laughing.

---That’s what really happened---

It was your turn to blink at him, confused. “S-So...”

Kaeya pats your head and smiles. “You can ask my friends if it makes you feel better,”

A small blush crosses your cheeks and you duck your head to hide it. It earns yet another chuckle from him. Your moment is interrupted by another guy who approaches the two of you. “Hey, Y/N, if you’re free, do you think you could help me out with this? I don’t really understand it,” 

Kaeya just looks at the guy and sighs, then turns to you again. “See what I mean?” to which you just goofily smile at. 

Kazuha 

“You saw what?”

Your hands freeze, holding the book you were reading open. The living room had gotten lively again, seeing as your little brother had come home from school. “I saw Kazuha with a girl,” 

You try to keep your face composed. It was a school day. You’d stayed home because you weren’t feeling too well. Your brother was saying it without a care in the world. He was just a grade schooler and telling you about the things he observed. He was looking through the fridge for something to drink. 

You didn’t ask more, but you were DYING to know more. Kazuha didn’t mention going anywhere today... You picked your phone up and wondered if you should ask him. Your phone had blown up this morning cause he didn’t see you at school and he was wondering if you were alright. 

But it seems that Kazuha himself was having a grand time too.

“So...T-The girl...Did they look close?”

Your little brother closes the fridge and looks at you while drinking from a milk carton. “Mm...They were holding each other...” You bit your lip as tingles run down your spine. They weren’t the good kind. It was the kind that you get when you watch horror movies and or a drama movie and a revelation had just happened. You were silent for a moment, but in your mind you were already thinking of how Kazuha looked with another girl. Holding each other? What did your brother mean? Like...hugging? Or...? But you couldn’t ask him about that, could you?!

You sighed out loud and slammed the book you were reading down on the table, just as your phone started ringing. “Kazuha,” you whispered under your breath and looked at your phone screen. Well...you believed in him, and you thought the best way to clear this up is to talk to him about it.

So, you grabbed your phone and retreated into your bedroom to talk to him. You picked up the call, “Kazu-kun?”

“Y/N,” he greeted. Even apart, his voice has this effect on you. Like he was really there and breathing into your ear, sending shivers down your spine. You were sure that you were blushing. “How are you? Are you feeling better?” His voice is smooth and calm and you melt into your bed. “Yeah, a little,”

“Could I come over later? I just want to check on you,” You smile into your phone and close your eyes. Kazuha could never do that to you, you think to yourself. But still, you really wanted to ask. “Of course, I don’t think my parents would mind...Hey,” you start, your fingers nervously drawing circles on your pillow. “My brother said he saw you...with a girl,”

There’s silence on the other line, and you can hear him shifting a little. “A...girl?” He repeats the question and you bite your lip. He sounds unsure and now you were unsure too. “Yeah, he said that you were holding on to each other...or something,” Again some silence, until he makes a sound of understanding.

“Ah, he must mean Sango,” there’s a little lilt to his voice, like he was happy and you were a little jealous. “Sango’s my cousin, she came to surprise me for my birthday week.” Kazuha laughs nervously and adds a little hesitantly. “She...uhm...would like to meet you actually, is it okay if I bring her over today?” 

Your heart sighs in relief, as do you and you don’t realize that you’ve done that out loud. In the next moment though, you smile and nod, even though he can’t see you. “Of course! Bring her over!” 

Albedo (More fluff than angst)

Cleaning at home was one of the things you did to get your mind off of things. Some people would call it tedious, but to you, it was sort of relaxing. It was something easy to do, you didn’t need much of your brain, just motor memory. Folding. Laundry. Ironing. Sweeping. Basic chores.

But when you clean up in the bedroom you shared with your boyfriend, and found a neatly wrapped present, red wrapping paper and blue ribbon tied on the top with a tag that said “To: Leila” you’re a little dumbfounded.

Who’s Leila? Is your first thought. Your second thought is, what’s inside? You hold the nicely wrapped box in your hand and turn it all over, trying to get some type of hint. A flash of doubt seeps into your mind but you shake it away. Albedo isn’t like that...Is he? He’s always so dedicated to his scientific research and sure he comes home late sometimes but he always makes it up to you on the weekends...

So who’s Leila? You ask yourself again. And why hasn’t he mentioned it to you? Why didn’t he ask YOU to wrap it? Menial tasks like these were usually passed on to you. You bite your thumb just thinking about it, but in the end just leave the present where you find it.

Later that night as you’re fixing dinner, you aren’t as bothered by the gift as when you first saw it. But it’s still there at the back of your mind and it resurfaces to the front when you hear the familiar keys rattle. Despite that, as he snakes his arms around your waist from behind you can’t help but smile and melt a little, pressing back against him as he leans over to kiss your cheek. “...Smells nice,” he simply mumbles and closes his eyes, enjoying the warmth of both you and your home.

“Welcome back,” you say, while closing the lid on the pot and turning around to give him a proper kiss on the lips. He hums into the kiss as a response and pulls you away from the stove. “How’s your day?” he asks you first and you smile, because your day is nearly the same time and time again. “Fine, I did find a little secret though...” you start and peek up at his beautiful eyes. 

He nods to ask you to continue. “A present, nicely wrapped. and it’s addressed to someone called Leila,” He looks down at you and you stare at him. A moment passes by before he takes his arms back and go into his thinking pose. “...Leila...?” he asks, eyes averting from your gaze. You wonder if he’s pretending. You wonder if he’s trying to make an excuse up. “...I don’t--” and then his eyebrows twitch. “Ah,” he says and drops his arms to his side.

“We were invited to a birthday party, remember? By a co-worker,” he tucks in strands of your hair as he talks. “It’s her daughter’s first birthday...I don’t care much for such things but you insisted it’d be alright to go.” he chuckles a little. “Her daughter’s name is Leila,” 

You make a sound of understanding. Suddenly your hesitant thoughts wither away. “Hmmm? You could’ve asked me to wrap the present,” Albedo pulls away from you and towards the fridge, wanting a glass of water. “The wrapping wasn’t done by me, it was the shop, free service,” and so it made more sense.

And although you want to ask more questions, like where he got it, when and what’s inside, you realize it’s such a trivial thing. It was not worth that much time. A gift is a gift, and you turn back to continue making dinner while making idle conversation with him. 

Zhongli (Warning: Suggestive) (but this is also my personal favourite... aha...)

“Zhongli?” You arrive home a little early today, dropping your keys at the front shelf. You don’t hear him anywhere and you shuffle around your living room for a while, looking at the letters for today. 

He was on a work from home arrangement today, and he would usually be in his office. You were quite sure that he would’ve come out to greet you though, if he heard you. He must be busy at the moment. 

You’d wanted to wash your hands as soon as you came home, and went for the guest washroom. When you open the door, your eyes land on something on the counter, next to the sink. This bathroom was always kept clean for visitors. You liked to host people once in a while, or just invite friends and you took pride in having them comfortable in your house.

Your eyes narrow as you go closer and your hands pick up a pregnancy test that was lying there. 

It was positive.

You put it back down and shudder a little. You don’t remember getting a pregnancy test. You bite your lip and look at yourself in the mirror. You’re already jumping to conclusions, and you can’t help it. Who the hell would leave a pregnancy test in YOUR guest bathroom? Zhongli didn’t mention anything...

You sigh a breath out and close the bathroom door behind you, taking your phone out to text your best friend.

“There’s a positive pregnancy test in our guest bathroom,”

After a moment, there’s a reply.

“OMG Are you preggers?!”

“No, it’s not mine,”

The next reply takes a moment more. “Oh, maybe ask him?” and you know that your friend hadn’t known what to reply at that moment. Because a random positive pregnancy test in your guest bathroom was NOT a good sign. To top it off, you didn’t announce to Zhongli that you were coming home early today.

Your perk up when you hear noise from the other room. You open the bathroom door slightly, and hear the unmistakable low voice of your fiance, coupled with...the voice of another woman. You close the bathroom door again, not bothering to lock it, and sit on the closed toilet seat. You’re sitting there with nothing in your mind, unable to think.

A few minutes later the voices are louder, they’ve moved to the living room, right outside the bathroom you were in. You tense up, and your jaw tightens. You don’t want to see them. You don’t want to hear them. For a moment you wish that you didn’t come home early, and just pretend this didn’t happen, but the door to the bathroom door opens, leaving you eye to eye with a woman you recognize.

Luna was a beautiful woman. Long cascading brown hair, they’re wavy and stops right at her waist. Doll-like blue eyes and a slender body. She sees you sitting there and you feel stupid, but she just breaks into a grin. “Y/N!” she grabs you by the wrist and pulls you out of the bathroom before you could even say anything. You’re numb, so you don’t respond to anything around you.

Zhongli turns around wide-eyed to see you standing there meekly, not meeting his gaze. He still goes to you though and asks curiously. “When did you come in? I didn’t hear you,” he places a hand on your arm while Luna releases you, but you still don’t look up and he wonders if something happened at your workplace to make you come home so early. “Luna and Childe stopped by,” Zhongli says, in at attempt to cheer you up. You look up, and only then did you realize that Childe was there too, talking animatedly to Luna. You tilt your head sideways, “They came with a surprise. Ah, but it’s not mine to tell,” 

That’s right... Luna and Childe had been together for a while and then it hits you when Luna shows you the same positive pregnancy test you saw on the counter, and announces that she’s pregnant. Your eyes are wide. You can’t tell if you’re more relieved that it wasn’t what you thought or more happy for your friends. You feel horrible about it but you manage to crack a smile and went along with the festivities. The more time passed the more you were able to enjoy their happiness and by the time they left, that was the only time you sighed and let your shoulders slump, exhausted.

“Is something the matter?” Zhongli asked. He noticed how your smiles were a tad bit forced. How you seemed to enjoy everything but also seemed to be on edge. You turn to him and shook your head. “It’s...stupid. It’s my mistake,” but he holds on to your waist and urges you to tell him.

And you tell him. How you came home and saw what you saw in the guest bathroom, what you thought it was and how you felt. The only thing you can feel now is embarrassment and shame. You couldn’t even feel happy for your friend. Zhongli only smiles and combs his hand through your hair. “It’s the normal reaction,” he reassures you, again trying to make you feel better. You only respond with your own hug but his next sentence makes you flustered, all thoughts of earlier gone as he whispers into your ear.

“Would you like your own positive pregnancy test?”

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[kyufessions]

boy on the bus

synopsis: you’re writing a letter that won’t reach him

pairing: non-idol! changmin x g.n. reader

genre: fluff turned angst (??)

word count: 1.2k

general taglist: @jwnghyuns @eaudenana @soobin-chois

tbz taglist: @ilovechanhee

i was told life is supposed to be boring. everyday we wake up and attend our normal jobs that we either love or despise. i did what was told of me, got my degree, and got that boring job. i also never missed a singular day of work, not daring to be looked down upon by my supervisors but rather being looked at as the employee that goes above and beyond, whether the company deserves someone like me or not. but i did what momma told me, and lived that boring life that i only dreamt of as a child. “life won’t be that boring, will it?” id promise myself i wouldn’t make it boring, but rather have it be fun and exciting. but still do exactly as momma said. and that i did- except, i felt little fulfillment and joy. until i met you.

it was just a normal wednesday afternoon after work, sitting in the back corner of the bus for the next ten minutes until i arrived at my destination. headphones played day6’s discography on a loop as i stared ahead out of the window, admiring the same view of the busy streets and occasional trees and bushes that i notice everyday through the changing seasons. but this day was different, because of you.

i noticed you coming in from the bus stop in front of the local college campus, you were wearing nothing but just grey sweatpants and a random graphic tee with a pullover flannel with frames glasses that accompanied your face perfectly. the way small strands of hair stuck to your forehead was something i couldn’t help but notice, my mind fluttering with curiosity. i watched as you looked around for a seat- your eyes finally meeting mine. once they did? i felt my heart do a kick that it hadn’t for several years up to that point. no one had caught my eye quite like you did, not a single soul. but yet here was a random stranger on the bus making my cheeks heat up at the shyest smile that’s thrown at me.

one afternoon, all the seats had been occupied- all except the one next to me. this was when my life changed for the better. instead of choosing a seat farther from me, you’d sit next to me instead. we’d catch up on life (mainly yours, mine was too repetitive for any curiosity to arise) until i got off at my spot, saying our goodbye’s until the very next day we’d do the same thing. one day, we ended up getting off at the same spot due to me having to do grocery shopping. and, funnily enough, you accompanied me. then it became a friday afternoon tradition for us to go grocery shopping until one of us had to leave- each friday becoming a little longer than the previous. it was sweet, it was slow.

one day, you didn’t show up. i said “hey, i’ll see him tomorrow. it’s okay.” but that day never came until three days later. playfully, i scolded you- jokes like that became our thing. instead of getting off at your spot, you got off on mine. that night, we just walked around my neighborhood and shared a bowl of tteokbokki and kimchi at the restaurant down the street from my apartment. you told me everything from your stressful college days, to overworking yourself i. both work and classes, to friend drama- everything. it made us closer, and it made my heart warm to know how close you considered me to be to gush your feelings out to me on a random thursday night.

that very next day, i didn’t need to go grocery shopping. after telling you that, you said words i thought i had only dreamt of: “let me take you on an official date then!” the excitement in your voice, that smile.. how could one say no? you took me to your favorite cafe, remember? i do. we had banana pancakes and coffee at 6PM, then we stayed at the arcade until they kicked us out. when your hand slipped in mine, butterflies erupted. everything suddenly started feeling okay. everything felt okay.

the weekends were our date nights. do you remember when you asked me to be yours? in the sunflower field? it had been my first day off of work in a while and you had promised to make it special. and that you did. you made all my days worth living again. you made them fun, more exciting. the light was no longer dull but rather blinding with endless possibilities. it was like that for an entire year until everything suddenly stopped.

no more bus rides. no more dates. no more gushy facetime time calls as we do our skincare routines as we complain about not living together yet. it had been one day where you didn’t show up on the bus. “sorry, got busy.” was all you said. silence filled my phone for the remainder of the night until the next day. you didn’t show up again, so i asked if you were okay. “sorry. meet you for dinner?” but you never did. you never met me at that same restaurant near my home, so i walked thirty minutes to your favorite cafe. but it was closed. during the thirty minute walk back i called you, but to no avail. by the third call, i gave up. assuming you fell asleep or became busy with your finals for graduation.

the next day you didn’t show up on the bus either. i texted. no response. i texted your friend. no response. “maybe he’s busy.” id say, making up every excuse in the book. instead, i got off at your stop and walked to your apartment to find it empty. no furniture, unlocked doors, an empty fridge. i asked your neighbors, and quickly called you once they said you had moved out almost a week ago. but once again, no answer.

it’s been months, and i’m still stuck on the boy from the bus; i’m still stuck on you, ji changmin. i should be mad whenever i think of our lazy mornings with our feet tangled together as you hum a soft tune into my hair, your fingers playing with the messy strands. but i don’t. i instead get butterflies, just like when i first saw you on that autumn day. you were my first love. you taught me how it felt to feel genuinely loved for who i was, you taught me how it felt to be loved back. whether that love was true or faux, i still thank you.

should i? should i really be thanking the man who has me sitting outside of our your favorite cafe with tears streaming down my face at 3AM? probably not. but i fell pathetically for you. and i fear i might still be doing so until i snap back into reality.

why did you leave suddenly? with no warning? are you okay, wherever you are? did you finally create your own dance studio? or did you debut? do you ever miss me, too?

you made my life worth living for a while, ji changmin. maybe i can find the excitement on my own this time? maybe you were a lesson sent by the universe. and for that i thank you. it was a very cruel lesson, but thank you.

sincerely,

[enhasfever]

𝑇𝐻𝐸 7𝑇𝐻 𝑆𝐸𝑁𝑆𝐸: 𝑆𝑈𝑁𝐺𝐻𝑂𝑂𝑁

➪ pairing: dragon!sunghoon x female human!reader

➪ genre(s): angst, fluff

➪ tw: hoon's overworked in one scene, near injury incident, painful shifting scene (poor hoonie :c)

➪ wc: 10.3k

➪ with being the town's resident heartthrob, there isn't a time in your day where you don't hear sunghoon's name leave the mouths of fawning teenage girls. you've never really gotten the hype about him, though maybe that's because you just needed to be given a chance to talk to him for yourself. you quickly find that you're learning more about him than you intend and maybe, just maybe, you start to understand the incessant chatter about him.

a crisp morning breeze swirled around your walking figure and left tendrils of your hair blowing wildly behind you. you shivered lightly, closing the ends of your school uniform jacket tighter around yourself as you made a conscious effort to quicken your pace to the bus stop. the weight of your school bag had you hunching forward at an angle that certainly wasn't going to be helpful to the growth of your spine. you swore that by the end of the year, you'd end up with a back like quasimodo's.

you arrived at the bus stop where your few friends greeted you with equally hunched backs and quivering limbs littered with goosebumps. yuna immediately curled her arms around you and shifted your back to the direction the wind was blowing, effectively using you as a human shield.

"gee, thanks," you murmured less than enthusiastically, but you allowed her to remain hidden nonetheless. "i need to stop by the school library on the way to class to return my book. anyone wanna come with?" you invited, searching between each of your friends' faces and receiving the same sheepish expression in return.

"we kind of already made plans to watch sunghoon's morning practice before class started," ningning confessed apologetically, twirling a strand of her hair mindlessly around her finger. chaerin shrugged her shoulders, mouthing the word sorry to you.

you grunted displeasingly, though you should've expected as much. it seemed to you like every girl and their mothers wanted to bend over backwards just to breathe the same air as park sunghoon. you never understood why, though. you'd admit that he was extremely gifted in the genes department and you knew he was an above average student with exceptional grades, but that also applied to many other guys in your town. what made park sunghoon so different? was it simply because he could skate without falling on his ass with every step he took? jung sungchan could burp the alphabet backwards yet nobody seemed to be impressed by that mad show of skill.

the bus ride was as excruciating as ever having to listen to your friends giggle obnoxiously over the forbidden boy. you let a long sigh draw from your lips as you dug out your library book and began to read it for a third time in a desperate attempt to block them out. the ride could not have lasted any longer and as soon as it pulled into the school parking lot, you, being the ever so lovely friend you were, nearly knocked yuna into the aisle as you clambered over her to be one of the first to exit the bus.

you rushed inside to get away from the incessant sunghoon chatter and the biting wind gusts that nipped the tips of your nose and ears a dull shade of red. with your beloved book clutched firmly to your chest, you easily navigated through the slowly crowding hallways in the direction of the library where you had become a weekly visitor to. greeting the librarian with a warm smile as you slid your returning book over the countertop to her, you turned on your heel to scavenge through the fantasy section for the next book in the series you'd been invested in recently. after locating the next book, you briefly flipped through some of the pages to look for any rips or signs of damage, and to secretly get that bookish scent you weirdly liked.

a ping chimed from your phone in the pocket of your school bag and you hurried to snatch it out, feeling a little flustered at not remembering to have turned the ringer off before you entered the school. a text notification from chaerin asked you to snag a book she needed from the nonfiction section tagged with a bunch of hearts and kissy emojis that had you rolling your eyes fondly. you ventured over to the appropriate book section and began to scan the shelves for the requested book, finding it in almost no time at all. you whirled around in a hurry to check the books out and get to class early and somehow didn't notice the presence slipping along the wall of shelves behind you until your two bodies collided.

"ah, sorry!" you rushed out at the same time the other person had, both of you reaching out to steady the other purely on instinct. your two books tumbled to the floor with muted thumps that the rough carpet muffled slightly. glancing up at the person who you'd nearly ran over, you felt the oxygen inside of you come to a screeching halt behind the invisible barrier your throat had created as your eyes made contact with the forbidden boy's.

"it was an accident, no worries. are you alright?" a gentle smile easily graced his lips as he retracted his hands from you before bending down to gather up the two books you had dropped, handing them out to you after straightening back up. you accepted them back into your own hands as you tried to force your lungs to start working properly again, quickly dropping your gaze from his face so that you could do so easily.

"i'm fine, thank you," you echoed quietly, immediately clutching the books to your chest like you had done previously. what was wrong with you? more importantly, what was wrong with him that resulted in there being something wrong with you? "shouldn't you be at the ice rink?" you blurted out, surprising even yourself with the question that really was none of your business nor did you really care what the reason was...didn't you?

sparing another glance at his face proved to be a fatal mistake as you were once again left with dysfunctional lungs. a short chuckle reverberated from him as he shoved his hands into the pockets of his uniform's pants. "i'm just looking for something before i go. are you eager to watch?" something about the way he asked the question didn't seem arrogant like you'd expected it to, though that definitely didn't stop you from instantly becoming defensive in the face of fluster.

you scoffed, letting the puff of air pass humorlessly through your lips as you moved to take a step around him. "i'm not exactly the fangirl type. my friends are going down there to watch you so i thought you'd be there already," you objected, beginning to take slow and languid steps towards the front desk to check out the books. sunghoon's eyes followed you as you moved and you couldn't help but feel nervous under his burning gaze.

"oh, i see. well, you're always welcome to stop by if you ever find yourself with some free time, no fangirl label attached." he flashed that charming smile once more before turning to slink further into the library, leaving you to scurry to the desk and then to your class.

"you'd better never give that book back," yuna decreed with an envious pout casted in chaerin's direction from across the table. you rolled your eyes briefly before returning to the paragraph you were in the midst of reading from your newly acquired book, only half listening to the conversation at hand.

"it's checked out under my name, don't do anything unspeakable with it. i'm not letting any of you ruin my reputation as a responsible book handler," you quipped, your eyes not once leaving the pages sat open before you.

"forget about the book, y/n actually made physical contact with him. look, i think her skin is glowing now." ningning abruptly grabbed your hand to inspect it too closely under the fluorescent lighting of the classroom, yuna leaning in to observe your palm as well.

jerking your hand back to yourself with your lip curled in revulsion, you placed your marker in your book and closed it up just as the professor entered the room to start the lesson. you hadn't made it more than half an hour into the lesson when you experienced your lungs failing you once more. the professor started the class by briefly going over a new project you would be starting this semester, only the project was one half of a collaboration with another class that you weren't taking and each person would be paired up with someone from the other class. it wasn't that bad in your opinion, though you'd definitely much rather work with one of your friends. where it all went south for you was the minute the professor began to read off the pairing assignments aloud.

"chaerin will be partnered up with yang jeongin." chaerin shrugged, muttering something along the lines of how her partner could have been worse. "y/n will be partnered up with park sunghoon."

the millisecond the words had been uttered into existence, it seemed as though everyone collectively stopped everything they were doing and turned to stare you down. your wide eyes frantically searched your friends' equally shellshocked faces, their mirrored expressions letting you know that you had indeed heard the professor correctly. slowly, you slumped down in your seat as you could feel dozens of envious eyes boring holes into you from all angles of the room. a dizzying mix of emotions flooded you at once and left you barely functioning through the remainder of the class.

as you wandered down the hallway with your friends pestering you about your newly acquired project partner, the dread you'd been feeling amplified tenfold after rounding the corner and spotting the forbidden boy just at the opposite end with his own friends. you kept your head down and prayed to every god, goddess, and magical holiday being that he wouldn't say anything to you. of course, you'd probably forgotten to have a little chat with the tooth fairy or something as the exact opposite of what you'd been asking for happened.

"hey!" you'd planned to just pretend to not have realized that sunghoon was calling out to you, but of course your conniving friends weren't allowing that to happen. ningning grabbed at the nape of your shirt, promptly halting you in your steps and simultaneously nearly choking you out. you swallowed back the urge to groan aloud and forced a tight-lipped smile as sunghoon veered from his group of friends to stop directly before you. "you're y/n, right? i think we're paired up for that project."

you nodded stiffly. "yep, looks like we are." you were acutely aware of the stares you got from students passing by and the much unwanted attention had you shrinking in on yourself slightly.

"when should we meet up to start on it? i'm free after practice so if it works out for you, we can head to the library or something." an invisible cloud of warmth seemed to envelop you out of nowhere, causing you to squirm in slight discomfort.

before you could open your mouth to respond, ningning's voice spoke up on behalf of you much to your dismay. "she'll meet you there!" she chirped, successfully dodging the elbow you tried to land against her abdomen.

"cool, i'll see you later then," sunghoon answered before moving around the four of you to catch back up to his friends once more.

"did you feel that? he's so hot that he has his own climate," yuna hissed out in a harsh whisper as the group of you continued on towards your collective destination to the art room. you rolled your eyes, this time allowing the defeated groan to slip past your lips. though now your curiosity had been sparked knowing that the other girls had felt the wave of heat, also.

by the end of the day, you were sick of hearing about sunghoon more than usual. but, with all the unlucky energy you'd somehow managed to absorb over this 24-hour period, you found yourself begrudgingly following your friends to the school's ice rink for the first time in, well, ever. your lack of appearances to sunghoon's practices proved to be more of a disadvantage than you'd first thought after seeing your friends bundle up in warm coats and hats. thankfully, chaerin had additionally brought a blanket that she was more than willing to let you use.

you weren't sure whether or not to feel surprised by the number of seats in the stands that had already been taken up by female students of varying grade levels. did all these people really not have anything more important to do? following your eager friends into one of the rows closest to the front, you dropped your school bag to the ground and immediately fished out your book before slouching in the cushioned seat. you had no problem tuning out the noise around you as it had been a skill you'd learned to do quite quickly in your school career. however, it wasn't the constant buzz of conversations being held around you or even the sudden burst of cheers and encouraging words shouted from the stands as you imagined sunghoon gliding out onto the ice that distracted you, but it was the sight you caught from your peripheral vision of a lithe body launching up into the air in a triple axel before landing with such grace back onto the ice.

from all the talk you'd heard around school, you knew he was good at what he did though you did convince yourself that his talent was being a bit exaggerated by overenthusiastic fans. you definitely didn't expect him to be this skilled, and you couldn't help but let your eyes subtly follow him over the top of your book as he continued to flawlessly execute impossible looking tricks. with each successful landing, high pitched shouts of praise would echo into the rink and it didn't take long for your head to start ringing with signs of an impending headache. the chilly air definitely wasn't helping your case either and left your ears, nose, and cheeks dusting a light shade of red.

"ooh, y/n's interest has been sparked," yuna crowed teasingly above the noise of another cheer, giving your shoulder a playful shake. it didn't take long for ningning and chaerin to join in on the friendly banter at your expense. though you once more showed your displeasure with a signature eye roll, you couldn't mask the small smile that crept onto your lips as you tried to fixate your attention back to the words littering the pages of your book.

"he's alright," you admitted quietly. he may be alright, but that didn't mean you were going to drop to your knees at the mere sight of him. you simply had to tolerate him long enough to get your project finished with a decent grade, then you'd hopefully never have to be seen with him again.

clearly you underestimated the effort you'd have to put into deliberately avoiding the forbidden boy. it seemed as though every corner you turned, he was there with his flock of fangirls crowding him and his friends. and of course he couldn't go a single encounter without acknowledging you each time with a wave or a smile which effectively drew the attention of his fanclub to you. you couldn't even use the restroom without noticing a trio of girls whispering in the corner and casting pointed looks in your direction.

ningning and yuna brushed your concerns off each time you brought up the situation which only frustrated you even more. maybe they were right, though, maybe you really were just overreacting. you had nothing to hide, there was no secret relationship to keep from the eyes and ears of the student body. in fact, you wouldn't even consider there to be a secret friendship to conceal. you met up at the library after school each day to work on the assignment, rarely speaking about anything off the topic of such, then you'd pack up and head your separate ways after about an hour or two of working. there was hardly anything for anyone to be jealous about.

one thing that you could appreciate, though, was sunghoon's punctuality. every day after his practice, he was meeting up with you in the library at exactly 4:45 sharp to begin working. it had become an unspoken agreement that was shared between the two of you that 4:45 was your designated meeting time. so, when you'd glanced up at the wall clock ticking above the library door and saw that the time read fifteen minutes past, your brows furrowed confusedly. pulling out your phone to make sure that the clock on the wall wasn't just running fast, the digital numbers on your lockscreen confirmed that it was indeed past time and sunghoon was late.

it was only then that you slightly regretted not exchanging phone numbers, of course only for emergency purposes such as this. deciding you'd wait just a few minutes longer, you continued to work on your portion of the joined project. after glancing up a bit later and noticing that ten more minutes had passed with still no sign of sunghoon, you let out an irritated huff and began to pack up your things, swinging your bag over your shoulders before wandering out of the library. there was only one possible place you could think to look for him in which, unfortunately for you, was located at the opposite side of the school.

you made the three minute trek to the ice rink and pushed inside of the double doors leading into the stands. unusually, there were no students occupying the seats, but there was one person occupying the rink. sunghoon. you ventured further into the chilly arena with your arms folded protectively over yourself, a shiver creeping up your spine as goosebumps rose on the exposed patches of your skin. you opened your mouth to call out to sunghoon when another voice echoed much to your surprise.

"do it again!" scanning the seats, you didn't see anyone else out there which only served to confuse you more. taking a few more cautious steps down the aisle, you could just barely make out the top of someone's head on the other side of the rink's walls, the person watching as sunghoon glided around inside.

"i need a break," you heard sunghoon call back to the person, the exhaustion in his voice painfully evident as he bent over slightly with his hands braced against his thighs for support, his back heaving up and down with heavy breaths. copious amounts of steam rolled off of him and nearly enveloped him in a smoky cloud, and you wondered just how cold it really was in that rink.

"what you need is to perfect that transition, now do it again," the person barked back mercilessly. your eyes grew slightly wide as you watched in silence, too afraid to make your presence known now.

without another word, sunghoon straightened back up and wiped at the sweat collecting on his forehead before skating a few laps around the rink to build his momentum back up. you noticed the way that he seemed to drag his feet as he went, and a small pinch of worry had your heart skipping a beat or two. as you'd seen him do the week before, he launched himself into the air in a perfect triple axel, then again in a double, and then– an involuntary shriek slipped past your lips as sunghoon's body collapsed onto the ice with a hard thud, your hands immediately flying up to cover your face.

"hey!" the man outside of the ring whirled around abruptly at the sound of your shriek. "we said no watchers today, get out!"

sunghoon's head lifted at the sound of you being scolded, the steam still rising around his body as he lay in a heap on the ice. "y/n?" he called out, tiredly pushing himself back up to his feet. despite the seething glare of the man, who you'd figured was a coach of some sort, you found yourself rushing down the aisle of the stands and hurrying to the gate leading into the rink. just barely making it to the wall before his legs began to buckle again, sunghoon grabbed onto your outstretched hand and hobbled over the threshold.

"are you okay? do you need to see the nurse? i think she's still here." you allowed sunghoon to lean against you as he slipped on the blade guards, the heat radiating off of him causing you to feel immensely hot in a matter of seconds. you pushed that to the back of your mind for the time being as you helped him over to the bench, gingerly lowering him down onto it.

"he'll be fine," the man sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as he followed the two of you over. wordlessly, sunghoon weakly lifted a finger to point behind you and you easily located the object he was asking for.

you grabbed the water bottle and even took the initiative to open the cap for him before handing it over, fixing a hard glare at the man standing over you shortly after. "i don't think that's for you to decide," you bit out harshly. "you should feel ashamed of yourself, he told you he needed a break."

a small chuckle sounded from sunghoon after he had lowered the water bottle from his lips, quickly wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "i'm not hurt, y/n, promise," he assured you with a warming smile. "just a little tired." still, you shot one last unfriendly look towards the man before rising from your crouched position in front of sunghoon, crossing your arms over your chest.

"we need to get back to practice, so if you'd kindly take your leave–"

ignoring the man, you pointedly kept your attention on sunghoon. "you should get back home and rest, it seems like you've been here long enough." you weren't sure where this sudden urge to look out for him came from. just minutes prior, you were thinking up new ways to dodge him in the hallways and had even considered asking the professor to trade partners. you definitely still weren't one-hundred percent happy about the situation, though something inside of you now deterred you from your negative thoughts. maybe you actually felt bad for sunghoon, at least for now.

brushing off your words of concern with another pretty smile, sunghoon instead sat his water bottle down next to his feet before leaning with his back against the concrete half wall separating the three of you from the stands. "i'm sorry i didn't make it to the library today. we can work an extra day this weekend if you'd like to make up for it," he apologized sincerely, reaching up to wipe more sweat from his brow.

you were quick to shake your head adamantly. "no, don't worry about it. we're almost done with it anyways and we still have plenty of time before it's due."

sunghoon's gaze remained fixated on your face as you spoke, his eyes tracing over your features with a certain intensity that made you start to feel hot all over again. you swallowed thickly, shifting your weight to one side as you were the first to break eye contact with him. you hated that, you hated how you slowly began to see and understand the things that your friends gushed about constantly. sunghoon had a way of making you feel like you were the main love interest in a cheesy romance drama with the constant lingering gazes and endless smiles casted in your direction. surely it was your own mind playing tricks on you as you gradually found yourself beginning to think more and more about him regardless of your persistence to avoid him. no matter what it was that you were thinking about, it somehow always involved sunghoon.

clearing your throat awkwardly, you adjusted your bag on your shoulders and began to take slow steps towards the stands in order to make your exit. "so, you're sure you're going to be okay?" you queried, your brows furrowed with uncertainty.

sunghoon nodded. "i'll be okay, thank you. i'll see you tomorrow, y/n, and i promise to actually be there on time," he answered lightheartedly despite having nearly suffered a serious injury just moments prior. with one last wary glance, you nodded before treading back the way you had come.

"are you going to the dance?" your hand paused mid-writing and your eyes briefly darted up to glance across the table, finding sunghoon still working diligently. you narrowed your eyes slightly before diverting your attention back to your open textbook.

"no," you deadpanned in response.

"why not?" sunghoon pressed. "i'm going."

you snickered, "is that supposed to make me want to go?" perhaps it did a bit, but you were far too stubborn to admit it even to yourself.

sunghoon just laughed lightly in return, then it stayed quiet between you two as you continued working on the last bits of your project. it had been three days since the incident at the ice rink and neither of you had spoken about it since. in fact, neither of you had spoken at all until just moments ago; he had even stopped saying hello to you in the hallways. it didn't bother you...no, really, it didn't!

"are you not going with your friends?" he asked, sitting back in his chair after dropping his pencil atop the table with a short clatter. once more, you glanced up at him briefly before adverting your gaze away from him.

"no, chaerin's going with someone from another school, ningning will be out of town that weekend, and yuna's stuck babysitting for the night. besides, i have tests to study for," you sighed heavily, also dropping your pencil between the pages of your textbook before leaning back in your own chair. still, you refused to meet sunghoon's gaze.

"i'm sure if you asked someone to go with you, they'd say yes. you only get to experience high school once, you know."

you snorted lightly in response, crossing your arms over your chest. "unless you're lucky enough to repeat a year or two. besides, i don't have anyone i'm interested in asking."

sunghoon hummed softly, nodding as he reached out to begin twirling his pencil between his fingers. "i see, but what if there's someone who's interested in asking you?"

you raised your eyebrows skeptically, finally managing to spare the forbidden boy a few seconds of eye contact. "if you're implying that you want to ask me, then i'm sorry for bursting your bubble but i'm not going."

sunghoon's mouth dropped open for a few seconds before it closed again and he cleared his throat awkwardly. "uh, actually one of my friends, jisung, wanted to ask you. don't worry about it, though, he'll ask someone else."

you wanted to punch yourself. of course sunghoon wasn't going to ask you, why would you assume he was going to? your face flushed red with embarrassment and you were forced to look away from him. "oh," you answered dumbly, your fingers finding each other as they twiddled nervously.

"i'm already going with someone." of course he was, you weren't surprised at all by this revelation. were you disappointed, though? maybe just the slightest bit.

you forced a tight-lipped smile as you picked your pencil back up, hunching back over your textbook once more. "she must be a lucky girl, then," you ventured, indicating with your lack of enthusiasm that you were done with the conversation.

picking up on your cue, sunghoon let a long sigh draw from his lips before leaning over his own book. you sucked your bottom lip between your teeth as your brain failed to focus on the task at hand and instead opted to flood with thoughts about the dance. your school hosted its annual halloween dance the week before the spooky holiday and you'd never been interested in going until that point. of course the one year you'd decided to try coming out of your antisocial shell, the universe wanted to work against you by taking your friends out of the equation. not wanting to go alone, you had stuffed the thought to the back of your mind, but now that you actually had a chance to go, you were definitely starting to rethink your decisions.

finally getting fed up with your overthinking, you hastily opened up your notebook and tore out a piece of paper. you scribbled your contact information down before folding it up and shoving it across the table at an unsuspecting sunghoon. "give that to your friend," you spoke shortly before resuming your task, thankfully with much more peace of mind.

another silent week passed before the halloween dance was taking place and you were anxiously waiting in your living room with chaerin and her date for jisung to arrive and pick the three of you up. you felt that you looked like the female lead in a cheesy coming of age movie who'd just had her glow up, and you honestly couldn't decide whether or not it was an experience you enjoyed. with your hair twisted up in an elaborate updo and shimmering eyeshadow decorating your lids, it was safe to say that you hadn't felt this feminine in a long time and it made you a bit self-conscious.

glancing up at the sound of a car pulling into your driveway, you were met with a momentary wave of relief as you stood from your seat and smoothed down the silky material of your dress. however, that relief lasted all of five seconds when your overenthusiastic parents came scrambling into the living room with cameras galore, insisting that they get pictures of you with everyone before you left. your cheeks flared bright red as you opened up the door to let jisung inside, muttering a quick apology for what was about to take place before accepting your defeat and letting the slightly embarrassing photoshoot happen.

after your parents were satisfied, the four of you left in a hurry and you hobbled to jisung's car in your uncomfortable heels. you thanked him genuinely with a smile as he opened the passenger door for you and helped you inside, even going the extra mile to make sure the skirt of your dress was safely tucked inside of the car before gently closing the door. jisung was a sweet boy, that much you had come to learn quite quickly. he was prone to becoming a flustered mess in your presence and he ever so shyly asked if you wanted to match color themes with him for the dance which you couldn't say no to. there was definitely nothing wrong with him, but your mind constantly seemed to be somewhere else.

that proved to still be an issue as the next thing you knew, your door was being opened once more much to your surprise. trying to mask the fact that you had just completely zoned out the entire eight minute ride to the school grounds, you placed your hand in jisung's offered palm and allowed him to help you slide out of the car with grace. your arm naturally slid to link with his as the four of you made your way to the entrance of the school where each couple or friend group paused to have their pictures taken by the school's yearbook team.

a short wolf whistle caught your attention after the last photo was snapped, then the unmistakable voice of the class president bellowed above the noise. "is that miss y/n?"

your cheeks flushed with embarrassment as multiple pairs of eyes instantly drew to you. "shut up, chenle!" jisung hollered back before swiftly leading you into the gymnasium with chaerin and her date close behind.

the vast room was fully decked out in halloween decorations and pulsing purple lights lit up the otherwise darkened gym. orange and black streamers seemed to hang everywhere you turned and decorative tablecloths lined the snacks and drinks tables. a photo booth was set up in the far corner and students were already moving around on the open dance floor as overplayed songs bumped from the large speakers placed near the stage.

"let's go, what are we waiting for?" chaerin called above the sound of the music before grabbing both your and her date's hands and dragging you to the dance floor, your free hand instinctively clasping onto jisung's to take him with you.

you had no idea how to dance and you quickly started kicking yourself, thankfully not literally, for not thinking to learn different moves other than the awkward shuffle you had been doing for the last two songs. luckily, it seemed that jisung had no idea what he was doing either and both of you continued to giggle and poke fun at each other into the third song of the night. well, that was until jisung got suckered into the middle of a dance circle where he completely changed your assumption on his dancing abilities as he absolutely decimated the classmate who had challenged him to the small dance-off in the first place.

"where's sunghoon?" just as jisung had returned to your side after being congratulated with slaps on his back and encouraging words, a girl whom you were slightly familiar with had strutted right up to the two of you with her arms folded unamusedly over her chest. "i've been looking for him for ten minutes, text him or something. he's your friend, isn't he?" she demanded jisung with an unpleasant scowl on her otherwise pretty features.

jisung's lips parted slightly in bewilderment before hurriedly starting to pat at his various pockets to locate his phone. you quirked a challenging eyebrow in her direction, "you don't have his number?"

she scoffed, fixing her steely glare at you. "no, do you?" she bit back venomously, a satisfied smug look crossing her features as you remained silent.

"i'll come find you when he replies," jisung announced, locking his phone to slot back into his pocket when the device was abruptly snatched out of his hand.

"or," she snipped, "you'll stay with me until he replies."

jisung glanced back and forth between the two of you unsurely, prompting an irritated noise to rumble from within your throat as you bent down to hastily remove your shoes from your feet. "for god's sake, i'll go look for him," you sighed before whirling around and storming out of the gymnasium with your bare feet slapping noisily against the tiled floors of the hallway. you immediately knew where to look as should anyone who knew anything about sunghoon.

bursting carelessly through the doors leading to the ice rink, your voice immediately rang around the echoey arena. "park sunghoon!" as you marched down the aisle between the stands, you found the body of none other than the boy of the hour laying flat on his back in the middle of the rink with his limbs spread out. his head turned in your direction as you eventually made it to the gate, your figure already beginning to quiver with the cold that blew over your exposed skin. "what are you doing in here?"

"i like to come here when i need to cool off," he answered nonchalantly, not making any effort to move from his starfish pose on the hard ice. surely it was uncomfortable, right?

"right, because it must be such hard work being adored by the masses," you surmised, rolling your eyes despite the small smile that wanted to tug the corners of your lips up.

sunghoon's mouth dropped open in mock offense. "ah, if it wasn't so cold in here, i'd almost say that burned."

once more, you granted him another eye roll though this time a half-hearted chuckle managed to escape from your lips. the steam rolling off of him caught your attention once more, and this time you couldn't find it in yourself to let it slide. "wow, you really do have your own climate," you commented, leaning forward to drape your arms across the top of the gate leading into the rink.

sunghoon raised his eyebrows in question. "i do? is that your way of saying i'm hot?" the amount of heat that rose to your cheeks should've created your own shield of steam in the chilly arena.

you quickly diverted your gaze to somewhere off in the distance to refrain from showing him just how flustered that stupid question made you. "no," you asserted, "it's something stupid my friends say."

"right, of course..." he trailed off before finally pushing himself up into a seated position. "how did you know i'd be here?"

you scoffed, "please, you're so predictable. the school's ice skater disappears during a time where he's needed, of course the only logical place to look would be in the ice rink. it doesn't take rocket science to figure that out."

sunghoon laughed lightly, giving a short nod in response. "i guess you're right. can i ask another question?"

"you just did," you deadpanned, "but sure, go for it i guess."

"why did you come looking for me?" the teasing glint in his eye gave away exactly what he was thinking and you were quick to shut that theory of his down.

"funny you should ask. your date is holding mine hostage until you return, so unless you'd like to explain to her parents why you're returning her home damaged, then it may be in your best interest to come claim her."

sunghoon held your gaze for a few moments longer before nodding and pushing himself up onto his feet. taking slow and stiff strides towards the gate, he once more grasped your outstretched palm and stepped over the threshold onto solid, non-slippery ground. the heat he radiated engulfed you just as it had done before and the goosebumps and incessant shivering you'd been enduring ceased at once. something about it felt odd to you, no person should constantly be running this warm. previously you'd just chalked it up to him overworking himself in the rink, but this time he had simply been laying there. your curiosity got the best of you as you fell into step next to sunghoon while making your trek back to the gymnasium.

"are you feeling okay?" you asked, twirling the strap of one of your heels around your hand as you walked. you peeked at him through your peripheral vision and noticed him doing the same in your direction.

"yes, i'm okay. just a little nervous, i guess. why do you ask?"

you almost wanted to ask why the hell he of all people would be feeling nervous, but you were sharp enough to see what he was trying to do. "you're always abnormally hot, and before you let it boost your ego, i mean it quite literally."

sunghoon breathed out a small laugh. "i wasn't going to think about it like that, anyways." he shook his head slightly before continuing, "i guess i just always run a bit warmer than other people. i get that from my father's side, he's quite a heater, as well."

you sucked your cheeks in slightly, not buying his story for even a second. but, for argument's sake and because ultimately it wasn't really your place to poke your nose in his business, you gave a simple nod and paused just outside of the gym to slip your heels back on. a sharp intake of breath filled your lungs as sunghoon stopped alongside you, then knelt down to begin fastening the straps of your shoes after you'd slid them back on. wordlessly, he rose back to his feet and flashed that swoon worthy smile of his before entering the chaotic gymnasium with you following in tow, your mind void of all things except for the forbidden boy.

"hey, y/n!" a voice hissed in a loud whisper. you turned to your left, ready to use the book in your hand to defend yourself with until you recognized who the owner of the voice was. you let your guard back down with a small sigh, clutching the book to your chest as jisung came trotting up to you. "are you busy this friday?"

you hesitated before shaking your head negatively, your brows creasing together slightly. "no, why?"

jisung scratched the back of his neck which, you'd learned in the few days prior to your date to the dance, was a nervous habit of his. it was endearing, you decided. "well, some of my friends and i are gonna go trick or treating and i wanted to see if you'd like to join us," he explained in a hushed tone, shifting from one foot to the other as he glanced between the library book shelves.

"oh," you started, "uh, who specifically does that include?"

"me, chenle, taehyun, jinha..." he listed off a few more students before the name you were silently hoping you wouldn't hear; or, maybe you did hope to hear it, "...and sunghoon."

you swallowed thickly before shifting your focus to your worn shoes below. "do you mind if i bring some of my friends?" you finally asked, bringing your eyes back up to meet jisung's once more. he nodded rapidly, and you found yourself agreeing to tag along much to his delight. he quickly told you where the designated meeting spot would be before bounding further into the library with a giddy smile. you knew how he felt about you, he was really quite horrible at hiding it whenever you were around, but you couldn't find it in your heart to shut him down. you'd never had anyone crush on you before, at least not to your knowledge, what were you supposed to do with this information?

it didn't take very much convincing for your three friends to agree to going after you'd said the magic word, that being sunghoon. so, that friday night you found yourself waltzing to the decided meeting spot dressed as one of four ninja turtles to correspond with the three others your friends represented. you honestly couldn't remember what your turtle's name was, but you did enjoy the fact that you got to carry around a huge wooden staff. at least you now had a reason to yield a weapon to knock yuna upside the head with if she pestered you about the forbidden boy too much.

"are we ready to go?" ningning asked aloud after the four of you had arrived, swinging her empty pumpkin bucket around.

"no, sunghoon's not answering," the only other girl there answered with a harsh huff, and you immediately recognized her from the school dance.

you frowned a little, glancing around until you caught jisung's eye from across the group. he only shrugged animatedly and glanced back down at his phone like he was waiting for a notification to suddenly pop up.

"has anyone checked up on him at his house or anything?" you questioned, a scoff of disbelief falling from your lips as everyone shook their heads. "some friends you are," you sighed heavily. "then maybe we should split up to search for him? some of us check at his house, some check at the places he's at most, and the rest can check at the school. maybe he got held back during practice or something."

slowly but surely, the group dispersed in small search parties which resulted in you traveling to the school with jisung and jinha. "hey, geniuses, how do you plan to get into the school? we can't break in unless we want to start criminal records," jinha nagged from the backseat.

"chenle snagged his mom's id card so we can get inside," jisung replied, holding up the school staff badge that all school workers wore clipped to their shirts during the day.

you took the badge from jisung's hand to examine it, seeing that it was indeed the vice principal's id stamped on the front of the glossy plastic. "why does he just randomly have this?" you implored before handing it back to the boy just as he pulled into the school's parking lot.

"he stole it last year and made her think she lost it so she'd get a new one. he keeps this one in case he needs to get inside for...certain activities." sensing that jisung wasn't going to elaborate any further, you didn't push for more details and climbed out of the vehicle.

"great, so now i'm associated with a criminal," jinha pouted as the three of you charged up to the entrance, jisung hastily swiping the card across the reader panel before the doors unlocked with a loud clunk.

you rolled your eyes, leading the way inside where you were met with nothing but darkness. "don't worry, i'm sure your boyfriend will find a way to bail you out," you retorted as the three of you collectively fished out your phones to utilize their flashlights.

"of course he will, but i still don't want it on my track record."

"i think we should split up to look," you announced, quickly growing fed up with jinha's whiny attitude.

"you're insane, there's no way in hell i'm wandering around this school alone! that's how the characters all die in horror movies. jisung, you're coming with me," she stated firmly before grasping his wrist and yanking him down the east wing.

"good riddance," you muttered to yourself as you made your way down the west wing. you had to admit, the school seemed much more daunting at night with the eerily quiet hallways and the usually blocked out sounds of various electrical units running. your heart began to thud harder and faster in your chest the further into the school you crept, and eventually you had to stop and lean against the wall of lockers to collect yourself. you'd finally gotten your breathing and heart rate back to normal when you heard it, and your blood turned to ice immediately.

you held your breath, the thumping of your heart rising again as you strained to listen for the sound to come again. you took a few hesitant steps forward with your flashlight shakily guiding you before you heard it a second time. a cry of pain, it was distant but you definitely heard it and it only served to frighten you more. immediately, you began to back up the way you had just come from when a sudden feeling struck you hard.

go look.

the feeling was intense and it had you halting in your backtracking steps. why would you want to investigate? you had no idea what or who was making that noise, and you wanted no part in whatever was happening. but, no matter how hard you tried, you couldn't shake the incessant feeling that begged you to go see what was going on. with a final deep breath to clear your body of its nerves, you began to move forward down the hallway again. you weren't sure where you were supposed to be looking, but you guessed you'd just follow the sounds. another anguished cry faintly tickled your ears, then–

the ice rink.

swallowing down the urge to break down under the immense fear coursing through your veins, you bolted for the arena and came to a halt just outside of the heavy metal doors leading into the stands. you pressed your ear against the door to listen for any signs of life inside and jumped back with a yelp of surprise as the heated metal made contact with your cheek. why was it so hot? was there a fire inside? what if someone was trapped?

clutching your phone tightly in your hand, you busted through the doors and were met with a wave of unbearably sweltering heat that choked you up for only a moment or two. the air was thick with humidity and it didn't take long for your body to begin reacting to the overwhelming warmth of the arena.

in the center of the ice rink, a thick cloud of smoke nearly hid the hunched silhouette of a person who emitted the same pained cry that you'd been hearing. it couldn't be...

"sunghoon?" you called out above the loud sizzle that echoed off the walls of the vast room. throwing caution to the wind, you charged down the aisle and over to the gate where you had stood all those times prior. the closer you drew to the rink, the hotter the air became until you were sure your hair would singe if you moved any closer. "sunghoon, is that you? what's going on?" you called again, watching with squinted vision as the shadowed figure curled in on themself after letting out a guttural groan.

"leave!" he growled out quite literally, the sound unlike anything you'd ever heard a human produce. it shot a spike of fear down your spine, but regardless you remained planted by the gate. the ice around him was rapidly melting into water and evaporating into the air, adding to the thick fog encasing his body.

"i'll call for help, just stay put!" you called out once more, your shaky hands fumbling with your phone as you tried to navigate from your flashlight to your phone app to call for emergency services.

"no, don't!" the same gravelly voice grumbled, effectively stopping you from proceeding with your actions as you glanced up with wide, panic stricken eyes. slowly, he began to drag his body out of the curtain of steam and a stunned silence fell over you as a pair of brightly glowing green eyes met with yours. your phone fell to the ground with a clatter and your lips parted in a silent scream that never made it out. "y/n, please, don't tell anyone," he pleaded before dropping to the ice with another cry, his body twisting and writhing around in discomfort.

red scales painted his bare torso in random patches that ran all the way down his arms and crept up his neck, and his spine visibly rippled as small spikes began to push through his skin. if you weren't in such a state of shock, you'd almost be sickened by the sight of it, though that shock quickly morphed into concern as you watched him drag his nails against the ice in a feeble attempt to relieve the pain undoubtedly coursing through his body. now, you felt bad, bad enough to have you pushing the gate open and crouching down to scoot along the melting ice towards him.

"y/n, i'll burn you. stay back," he wheezed out, taking immediate notice of your presence creeping closer to him. against your urges, you heeded his warning and remained planted in your spot near the rink's wall.

"what are you?" you couldn't help but ask as you watched more tiny spikes travel down the length of his spine.

sunghoon's green eyes tiredly met yours, then a small amused grunt tumbled from his lips. "what are you?"

sensing that he wanted a distraction from whatever it was he was going through, you found it in your heart to play along. "i'm a ninja turtle, duh," you proclaimed, pointing to the colored bandana tied around your head. "leo, i think," you mused, racking your brain for all names you could remember.

"you're donnie, y/n. he's the super smart one," sunghoon corrected with a fatigued laugh which quickly turned into a whimper as he winced in pain. your body screamed at you to crawl over and console him, but your brain won the argument and you remained seated.

"oh, well then i guess i should take that as a compliment since my friends threw this costume at me," you chuckled, gesturing to the props and clothing covering you.

"he's also kind of a nerd and hopelessly in love with a girl he can't have."

"there's always a catch, isn't there?" you sighed dramatically, leaning back on your palms. "well, i guess he and i aren't very different after all," you admitted, your face flushing even hotter than it already was. was this really how you were going to confess your feelings? in a melting ice rink with some sort of hot demon boy rolling around in front of you? the thought alone was absurd enough to pull a laugh from you.

"you like a girl?" sunghoon teased, and you soon found yourself wanting to use your staff to whack him with but decided he was already suffering enough.

"no, stupid, i like–" you cut yourself off before you could say it out loud, swiftly moving your attention to the watering layer of ice beneath you. "never mind."

you felt the air heat up even hotter for a split second before it suddenly died down, like a bucket of water had been thrown on the blazing fire heating the room up. taking a glance around, nothing seemed to have changed other than the cloud of smoke that had now moved to encompass the both of you. sunghoon pushed himself up with shaky limbs and began to crawl closer to you much to your surprise before dropping down right beside you with his head in your lap.

he was still burning up and the heat was highly uncomfortable, but the way that he instantly sighed in relief upon making contact with you had your heart doing somersaults in your chest. with a weary hand, you gently brushed the sweaty locks away from his forehead and allowed him to nestle his cheek into the palm of your hand. the blood rushed through your veins tenfold as little sparks of something ignited inside of your chest. there was no point in denying it now, it was inevitable from day one and you knew it no matter how hard you tried to deny your feelings.

you liked park sunghoon.

"you know," he cleared his throat, his eyes slipping shut, "i hopelessly like a girl who i can't have, too." you tried so hard to not stare at the sharp canines inside of his mouth as he spoke.

"oh please," you scoffed quietly, "name one person in this school who wouldn't throw themselves at your feet."

"you," he answered without missing a beat, a small smile gracing his lips as his eyelids fluttered back open to greet you with his glowing irises. "i wanted to take you to the dance, you know."

your mouth fell agape at the revelation, your brain turning to absolute mush as you tried desperately to form a single coherent thought. between the heat of the room and the heat of sunghoon's stare trained on your lips, you felt like you were mere minutes away from ascending to the afterlife.

you shook your head slightly to wake yourself back up, your brows drawing together slightly in confusion. "then why didn't you? you could've asked me before you asked jinha," you queried, finally able to collect yourself enough to speak again.

sunghoon scoffed, "did you not see the way you reacted to me when you thought i was asking you? i knew you'd reject me, it's kind of your thing."

"oh," you answered dumbly, busying yourself with combing his damp locks back away from his face as they insisted on falling down to cover his forehead.

"plus, jisung had already expressed that he wanted to ask you and it would've been shitty of me as his friend to ask you first." he sighed, pursing his lips as his gaze dropped back down to your own once more. "can we have a do-over?"

you blinked, your eyebrows shooting up in surprise. "right now? while you're like that and i'm like...this?" you gestured to his obviously exhausted figure laying in a heap before motioning to the ridiculous halloween costume you were sporting.

sunghoon shrugged, "why not? are you bad at dancing?" a glimmer of a challenge twinkled in his eye and you found yourself caving at an alarmingly fast rate.

"as a matter of fact, i am bad at dancing, especially on melting ice," you shot back, giving his shoulder a playful shove.

not taking your excuses, sunghoon began to push himself up to his feet and steadied himself before stretching his palm out to you. "you can just step on my feet then, come on," he smiled that same beautiful smile that you hated yourself falling for each time it showed. clicking your tongue defeatedly, you grabbed ahold of his hand and allowed him to pull you up onto your wobbly legs.

"one thing first," you paused before he could bring you any closer. "i want to know what's going on, sunghoon. what's happening to you?"

he let out a drawn sigh, glancing down at the scales covering splotches of his skin before turning back up to your concerned face. "it happens every time during this year. the lunar cycle makes everyone like me go haywire, though i guess i'm one of the lucky ones. not everyone can remember who they are during this time..." he trailed off before taking another deep breath, his voice shaking slightly as he declared his next words. "i'm a dragon, y/n."

you took all of ten seconds to digest the information before pushing it aside, instead stepping forward and nearly collapsing into sunghoon as your feet slid on the slippery ice. with quick reflexes, sunghoon caught you and brought you into a tight embrace until your feet were securely planted on the tops of his own. you'd have time to think more about it later, but right now the atmosphere was far too uncomfortable for you to give yourself a headache over it.

sunghoon's hands planted firmly on the dip of your waist whereas your arms found their way around the back of his neck, your fronts pressing flush against each other as he began to take small swaying steps that somewhat resembled a slow dance. your cheek found rest against the bare skin of his chest, and the once unbearable heat didn't seem quite so unbearable now.

"you're not hurting any more?" you asked softly, glancing up at him through your lashes as he continued to maneuver the two of you around.

shaking his head slightly, he smiled adoringly down at you. "not enough that i can't handle it any more. you took it away," he confessed with a hint of shyness crossing his features.

you pulled back just enough to look him in the eye properly, then your gaze drifted downwards to rest on his pink lips. "sunghoon," you whispered breathlessly, and as if reading your mind, he wordlessly leaned in and pressed his lips against yours in a gentle, perfect first kiss.

you slammed your locker door shut after gathering the materials you needed for your next class, struggling to hoist all the books up off the floor. suddenly, a pair of hands began grabbing a few of your books off the top of the stack and you followed up the length of the arms until you were met with the sight of an all too familiar face.

"this seems like deja vu, doesn't it?" sunghoon smiled warmly as you gathered the remaining books before straightening back up on your feet. gently, he placed the books back on top of your stack before turning to follow you to your next destination.

"thank you," you blushed, the heat rising to your cheeks amplifying as you felt sunghoon's arm snake around your shoulders protectively. "did you pass your portion of the project?" you asked, desperately trying to find a distraction from the attention being drawn to the two of you as you traveled down the hallways.

"i got a 96% so i'm pretty happy with it. how did you do?" he asked in return, never once removing his arm from around you until you stopped in front of the door of your classroom.

"i got the same," you smiled back, that expression only growing wider as he leaned in and planted a kiss against your warming cheek.

"good, i'll see you at lunch?" you nodded, trapping your bottom lip between your teeth to keep from giggling obnoxiously at the show of affection before bidding him goodbye and venturing into your class.

"y/n," yuna blurted out the second you'd sat your things down on the joined tables your three best friends occupied, "you have some major tea to fill us in on."

you sat down and watched as all three girls leaned in with eager smiles and twinkling eyes, and for once you found yourself excited to talk about sunghoon with them. you spent the entire class period filling them in on your newly acquired boyfriend, though you made sure to leave out the whole part about finding out he was a living, breathing dragon. the more you thought about it, the more ironic you found the situation to be. the school's ice prince turned out to harbor a creature inside of him that could easily melt the ice he skated on, and you'd watched that very scenario play out just a few nights ago. then, it slowly but surely began to make sense to you in your head.

it all explained the heat you'd feel whenever he was nearby and it explained why it seemed like he was always in that rink. the uttered confession of "i like to come here when i need to cool off" clicked perfectly like one of the many pieces of the puzzle you'd been trying to solve for weeks now. of course back then you'd assumed he meant it as a way for him to relieve stress, but now you saw that he meant it quite literally. it both amused you and made you feel a bit silly for having not read all of the clues so easily before.

"ugh, i'm so happy for you but i'm so jealous," ningning sighed heavily, dropping her chin into the palms of her hands.

"you have such a hot boyfriend, y/n," yuna agreed with a wistful sigh of her own.

"oh, i know," you snickered lightly to yourself. "i definitely know."

© enhasfever

[langernameohnebedeutung]

What is the take. Please share with the class.

Oh, right my take! (I actually posted the first...thoughts of this accidentally before I could finish it because I accidentally queued them instead of drafting but that gave me more time to obsess over this)

So you know how in 2.14 this happens:

Blaine gets kidnapped by Stacey Boss, has his throat slit, and gets buried in the woods. And then by the time he digs himself back out:

Sun's up.

For a really long time, I really never thought about these scenes beyond: 'heh, there is my boy again, good for him!' until it really struck me how fucked up that was. (Partially bc I watched that Buffy episode where the others bring her back from the dead and she has to dig herself out of her own grave and everyone is horrified by how traumatising that experience must have been. Which made me go: Hey, this reminds me of-)

Blaine was down there for hours buried alive. He dug himself out for hours.

But then I thought: Hey, I can do better! I want to find out how long he was down there!

So, at first I assumed that the abduction would have taken place in the middle of the night - because that's when it would make most sense to abduct someone. But that didn't really make sense bc in all the other plots happening at the same time, everyone was still out and about, the Positivity-café from the murder of the week plot is still open etc.

But then I found this:

This takes place just two scenes after Blaine gets buried - so even if we can't really pin down whether those events happen at the same time or this one takes place a little after Blaine got buried, we can still settle for Blaine getting buried between about 7pm and (at the very latest) 7:30pm.

I skimmed through the two previous episodes and the one after that but I couldn't find anything about when this takes place - but we do know that it's really dark outside at 7pm and we do know that New Year's Eve happened Method Head four episodes ago, so it's after Winter Solstice.

So like any normal sane adult I got me this diagramme of sunrise/sunset times in Seattle throughout the year:

Now, at least several weeks have passed since Method Head so this places us well within February (which makes sense, bc the episode also originally aired on the 23rd of February 2016).

Personally, I'm actually prone to dating it even earlier, in early February or late January because they go out of their way to give us this information:

And I found this on a website about Seattle's bird-life:

Now, working out way backwards about two weeks -

-places us in late January, or very early February. Which means (referring back to our daylight diagramme), Blaine couldn't have managed to get out of that grave before 7:20am or 7:30 am.

Which gives us a pretty exact duration for how long Blaine was buried alive of about - Approximately 12 hours (minus the time it took to actually fill up the grave. Something I'll come back to)

Which is fucked up. That would be a pretty traumatic experience on normal person terms, being buried alive for 12 hours and digging yourself back out. Possibly even longer than that because by the time Blaine arrives at the morgue, it is actually well past noon -

but that would obviously include the bus-ride and we don't know how long that was. (In fact, I had a look at Google Maps and dabbled a bit to see how long different public transport rides from any surrounding forests or parks or other green areas to the inner city of Seattle would take, and it could very well be possible that Stacey just really wanted to make sure that Blaine's body wouldn't be found and had him buried really far away in any of the surrounding National Parks or national forests - and from google maps tells me, public transport only goes so far and he'd have have walked the rest, which would explain why it's already noon.

(by the way, what do people without hyperfixiations do all day? Do you just ... not use bird-mating seasons and daylight hours and public transport schedules from a city on the other side of the globe to figure out the date and time of day of tv-show events?)

But this is where speculation actually starts:

As the audience, we learn that Blaine is returning to zombie state before he gets abducted:

he can't really taste his wine anymore (and god, is he whiny about it.)

What we don't know is whether Blaine connects the dots.

What does happen is that Blaine abandons his mission of getting wine-drunk over the woes of having to pay back his debts to Mr Boss and instead suggests that Candy and he have genie costume role-play sex. Candy apparently considers this a delightful and charming notion and agrees - and they go to have sex inside another couple's coffin. Which is fitting bc now they're both dying - Blaine from reverting to zombie form and Candy because she is now infected as well. Though it need be said that as the audience, we only learn about Candy's infection after Blaine’s abduction, when Don E finds her eating the coffin owners' brains the next morning.

This also gives us some insight into the stage of his infection (which is a bit hard to tell with Blaine because he's already dyeing his hair white) - He's already infectious and showing symptoms. We had characters like Sloane who even got turned after clinical death - so at this point, Blaine's probably pretty fit to withstand some throat cutting.

Now this leaves us with two working theories:

Either: Blaine doesn't know he's a zombie again. And really thought he was going to die in the forest, up until the point at least that he survived having his throat cut or until he found himself buried alive and started digging his way back up. The latter probably being the most terrifying option. (Also: this had me thinking about how something very similar happened to Liv - she fell off the boat in the Pilot episode - and then she wakes up in a body bag. Which most likely means she died of drowning.)

Or: He did know.

Unlike most people who get turned, Blaine already knows the signs. That's personally the theory that I'm partial to. The biggest reason being that one episode later, he actually argues in favour of letting Mr Boss continue to think that he's dead - so getting abducted and faking his death actually played pretty well into his hands. Also, he very abruptly switches subjects from drinking to sleeping with Candy. And not only is infecting people kind of Blaine's thing - he also now has the perfect alibi of allegedly not knowing that he's contagious again. He gets to tie Candy to him and his business (and his brains) with perfect plausible deniability if he says he didn't know he was a zombie again. Sure, there might be some hard feelings but what can she really do? She's gonna need the brains. That's a pretty classic Blaine plan.

(there is also the third option - which is that he can tell that he's turning back but because this round of zombificiation is very different from his first one he can't really tell what's happening to him or where he's at. So if he suspects that he's turning but can't really tell what's going inside his body at this point - sleeping with Candy is still a good strategy to find out (because either she turns and he knows he's a zombie again AND he pretty much guaranteed her loyalty to his brain business OR she doesn't turn - and he at least got some nookie out of it. Plus, she's probably more likely to go along with that than with experimental scratching or blood-sharing.)

Either way, they gave him an incentive not to reveal his reversion, if he noticed it, to Candy - and we know he actively wanted to make Mr Boss believe that he's dead so he doesn't really have much incentive to put up a big fight or reveal himself or go into rage state either, during his abduction. (In this context it's interesting to point out that neither in the car nor in the woods do they have a gun to his head. So if he knows he's a zombie and he actively wanted to get away, his odds would actually have been higher taking his chances with a surprise tackle and a jump out of the car than letting them bring him wherever they're bringing him.

Which then brings me to his 'execution':

Another thing that stands out is that there isn't a lot of blood for someone who had just had his jugular cut, even after several seconds of lying in the grave.

There is the Doylist interpretation (tv restrictions) and the Watsonist one - he's a zombie, so obviously he doesn't bleed much. Though, on iZombie these explanations often go hand in hand and the zombie-thing is a way of having the characters suffer severe injuries without too much gore going on. The reason I'm bringing this up is that - if this is considered weird inside the reality of the show (the Watsonist level), then there is a surprising lack of reaction from the three seasoned murderers witnessing this scene. No one going "Wait why isn't he bleeding properly???"

On the other hand, pretty much the same gambit works on the same people from Don E at the end of the season and he canonically is a zombie, so it seems fair to attribute this to their expectation that someone who has his throat cut and is not moving is probably dead enough.

So that's that for Mr Boss' guys, but the real question is -

what's going on with Blaine.

Now, throughout the show, we see several zombies suffer severe throat injuries. (And in fact, several of those people are Blaine because he's just such a popular guy) We have our poor pal Luta, who got stabbed into side of his neck with a Balisong -

Luta ends up almost completely losing his voice from this, something that doesn't really seem to add up in light of the healing abilities of the other zombie characters, but I'm willing to ascribe it to his vocal cords healing back together wrong or scarring in a way that makes it difficult to produce sound which is a condition that normal humans can get from as much as over-using their voice. Since we saw the wound having formed a scar in a later episode, I think that's as good an explanation as any.

Our biggest example would be Dino who literally gets beheaded -

(and that's one I really don't know how to explain beyond being an example of the extreme durability of zombies. But still, there is no way to make sense of this physiologically. You need lungs to produce sound or to speak.)

But the most obvious example...would still be Blaine himself because we see him get shot, stabbed, impaled through his throat and whatnot:

In Eat A Knievel, he gets shot through the throat and basically shows hardly any physical reaction at all:

And then, just a few episodes later -

They actually put a ...kind of popping sound-effect over this that I interpret as indicating a bone/spinal injury but again, there isn't much of a physical reaction beyond entering zombie-mode - something that didn't happen on either of the other occasion (maybe a reaction to the pin still being stuck inside?)

Anyway, both of these injuries are definitely much more severe than having his throat just cut - which really just relies on the rapid drop in blood pressure and the blood loss to kill you. Both of which don't really matter much for zombies (and, as I said, considering the lack of blood loss in the forest- scene, that probably wasn't much of an issue any more at this point/stage of re-zombification.)

So yeah, assuming all that, let's remember our two (and a half) options for the forest-scene: Blaine knows he's a zombie/He doesn't know/He suspects it.

Either Blaine doesn't know/isn't sure he's a zombie at this point - then this is the point where he definitely would find out. In that scenario, he'd actually think/consider the chance that he might be dying when he gets his throat slit, maybe react to the pain or enter some state of shock.

Considering that we still see a little bit more blood on him in the forest scene as compared to the other occasions, his cardiovascular system might still not have returned to zombie-baseline entirely and have supported his body somewhat. In which case maybe he is experiencing the symptoms of blood loss or rapid drop in blood pressure - but less severely/fatally - which might explain weakness or even unconsciousness. In which case he really would be waking up underground OR while they're filling up the grave.

On the other hand, if he's far enough along into rezombification (and possibly even aware of it) - - -

He could just be faking the whole thing. He might really just be faking the neck-clutching, the unconsciousness. In fact, considering the level of drama he has falling into that grave and his history/future of faking stuff, I wouldn't put this past him.

But this interpretation also adds a whole new level of insanity to what's happening. Now, I don't know how long it really would take to fill up a grave (and I suspect it has a lot to do with ground conditions and what not) but ...I suspect it does take a while, even for two dudes. Let's give it more than half an hour. Especially considering they do a pretty good job with that grave (until Blaine breaks through the ground again, the spot looks perfectly smooth and untouched).

This means, Blaine would not only have been inside his grave, digging his way up for about 12 hours - he was also fully conscious and playing dead while he was getting buried. That would mean he was just lying there while they shovel several hundred kilogrammes of dirt on top of him. Apparently being very optimistic that he will be able to dig his way out (before he goes Romero).

He did manage, I guess. But it's still a gamble.

So that's...just there.

But that also raises the question: If he knows or is beginning to suspect or realise that he's a zombie again - what exactly is stopping him from putting an end to this? I doubt that they kept a gun trained on a dead body that whole time. And with everyone busy with shovelling and he himself being a zombie, that would have been the perfect opportunity to get out of that situation. He could just enter rage mode and maul them. Actually, this was so far my biggest argument against Blaine knowing that he's a zombie or against him being actually conscious while getting buried - and again, that's just all personal speculation.

But I still wondered: Wouldn't it have been more useful to him to just kill Mr Boss there and then rather than fake his own death? In fact, it's just three dudes, he's a zombie, two are probably busy digging. And they're already in the most secluded area that he could ever hope to get Stacey in. There's even a grave ready to throw them into.

Except, then I realised something else -

So at this point, if something happens to Mr Boss, he'd lose his immunity - which is the only thing keeping Clive and Dale from putting into prison for 10 years for his old drug charges. (And I guess he loses access to Peyton which we know he also isn't hyped for). So yeah, that makes Mr Boss more useful for him alive than dead - as long as Boss in turn thinks Blaine's dead.

And on a completely related but also wildly different note:

(and this is where I abandon speculation and interpretation in favour of completely making things up) I talked about how being buried alive for a whole night, desperately trying to dig yourself up for hours would probably be a highly traumatising experience for a person. Like...that's the kind of shit that gives you a lifetime of claustrophobia one might imagine.

But the really interesting thing is, Blaine loves to threaten to do this to other people:

I mean, he really likes doing that - especially with the added threat of burying people alive in them. Or unalive. For all eternity. Now I hear you say 'well, he has a funeral home now, so that's probably convenient to dispose of them that way'.

But let me provide a counter-argument:

Shit's expensive.

He specifically mentions that Mr Boss' casket is mahogany. He has a human-sized freezer in the basement, he could be giving him the same treatment he did Major in season 1 (which was also a confined space he locked him into, mind you). He also has a human-sized incinerator where he can dispose of bodies. And a giant collection of tools to cut into and rearrange bodies with. But no, his favourite torture method is really that: Locking people into small spaces and abandoning them. Even dumping Angus into the well holds up with that.

In fact, when it comes to actually torturing Angus into changing his will in The Whooper - he let's Chief and Candy do that - while he walks away.

Now, with Angus, it's all a lot more direct and intentional - Blaine even spells it out himself in that scene:

It's revenge for ignoring his pleas for help when he was a child. So he's now ignoring his father while Chief and Candy can do whatever they like with him and he's going to ignore it in turn. I mentioned in another post how a lot of Blaine's anger at Angus is actually less about the physical abuse his father put him through - but he seems at least much, if not more, occupied with feelings of betrayal and abandonment due to his father's absences and disregard for him.

And in fact, it makes a lot of sense considering that he was (intentionally or not) abandoned by both his parents - his mother because she withdrew more and more from her husband's abuse and Angus because he's...well, Angus. Not to mention his grandfather being institutionalised which probably also meant losing access to him. Heck, damn kid even lost his dog which was probably the only living being still left who paid attention to him at home.

A lot of the stuff we learn about that Blaine did in his childhood (like stealing his mother's beloved earrings - instead of literally anything else on their fucking estate he could have sold) really resonate as a bid for attention more than anything. And it's pretty much a behaviour that continues into adulthood - from the way he inflicts himself on Liv and Ravi sometimes, the way he keeps bragging and lying to Al Bronson about how popular and happy he is, the way he starts being drawn in by his father actually showing an interest in him in season 4, the way Major manages to get his attention with promises of statues and schools named after him - he just really, really likes being noticed, whether that be in a good or a bad way. - - - so the threat of burying someone alive somewhere for all eternity and no one will ever know about their suffering - actually seems like he's subconsciously drawing on his own experiences of something he experienced as particularly terrifying and torturous as a child: His suffering being ignored.

Now add to that his very specific love of torturing people by forcing them into confined spaces for as long as he feels like it -

(again, I'm all out on the limb of speculation here but I don't look a gift parallel in the mouth.)

So yeah, 12 hours in a hole digging his way up or being forgotten out there and going Romero in the ground.

I don't think that was fun for him.

And then it's never mentioned again because...this is not all that deep, okay??? I'm normal about this.

[bellysoupset]

Story idea from this post, by @pukeyqt

Meet my new characters, Lucas and Bells.

---

Eating the tuna salad had been a mistake. And easily avoidable mistake at that, as her roommate Tonya had pointed out it "doesn't look right, babes," but Bell was nothing if not a stubborn prick, who wouldn't let the fact that the tuna salad had been sitting in their mini bar fridge for a week deter her.

Now she was paying for it. Her stomach was bubbling ominously and had been feeling uneasy since morning. One whiff of her usual black coffee had sent her retching over the toilet for 10 minutes, but nothing came up other than frothy spit. Her belly hurt.

Not that Isabella was willing to talk about it, knowing her best friend had a cocked-and-ready-to-go "I told you so". She just wanted to get through the last class and go to Lucas' place, curl up in his incredibly comfy bed, knowing for a fact he'd love to dot on her.

A burp sneaked up on her and she pressed the heel of her hands to her lips, muffling it. It brought up the taste of tuna again and she squeezed her eyes, nausea making her skin prickle. She breathed through the worst of queasiness, swallowed in the saliva collecting in her mouth and slowly pulled her hand back. Her stomach was digging on her belt. She had picked these pants because they were a little loose, but it seemed like it was no longer the case, the metal of her belt buckle was pressing hard against her belly.

She tugged at it for some sliver of relief and glanced at her phone. There were still five minutes more before class ended. Not a single text from Lucas, which made her pout. Bell wished he was magically connected to her, that somehow he knew she was about to puke in the middle of campus and just decided it was a great time to offer her a ride.

But no. He was probably at football practice at this hour and his phone was safely tucked away in the locker's room.

Bell let out a shaky breath, then clutched at her stomach as a particular harsh gurgle made itself not only heard, but also made her belly shake lightly. She gagged, swallowed in convulsively and started putting away her text book and her notes, with shaky hands. Even if there was just three minutes more, she couldn't stay.

She all but bolted out of the classroom and straight to one of the campus' bathrooms, crouching down in front of it and gagging harshly. Still, nothing came up. Her stomach felt filled all the way to the top, the salad sitting in her throat, but nothing came up but a couple wet belches that had her eyes tearing up.

She could shove her fingers down her throat and get this over with, but the idea irked her and Bell would rather not throw up at all if possible. She stood up as the noise of people entering the bathroom got louder, presumably because all classes had ended.

One extremely unpleasant bus trip later and she was in Lucas' building. He wasn't supposed to be home for another forty minutes, but it was better than going back to her dorms and she was so queasy she could barely think straight. She just needed to sit down, undo her pants and rub at her belly, praying her food stayed down.

He had given her the key a month before and slowly she was getting more comfortable with coming over uninvited or when he wasn't around.

Bell all but chucked her bag at the general direction of his couch and stalked over to the master suite's bathroom for some extra privacy, only to feel two strong arms wrap around her middle and squeeze her hard as her boyfriend pulled her off of her feet.

It was all it took.

The pressure that had been there all morning went up and she scrambled in his grip, only to throw up down her front. The mess stuck to her shirt, to his forearm wrapped around her stomach and she heard loud swearing, but Lucas didn't drop her in disgust, only set her back down gently, keeping the arm that was already dirty firmly in place.

She was incredibly grateful for it, because the minute her feet met the ground, she nearly went down to her knees with the force of another retch, this one bringing up an even larger gush and covering her combat boots with puke.

Isabella coughed, dug on Lucas' arm for support and then embarrassment hit her even stronger than the nausea, causing a sob to burst through her.

"Oh no, honey-" Lucas was rambling somewhere over her head and then his big hand was on her face, pushing the dirty locks of hair away, wiping her tears with his thumb, "Bella, what's hurting? Bells, talk with me-"

She whimpered, wanting to wrap an arm protectively around her middle, but just the thought of the mess slowly sipping through her ratty tank top made her want to puke all over again, "I'm- gross-"

Lucas widened his eyes at her, "you're crying because you're embarrassed?!" he scoffed and then finally pulled back his arm, wiping the vomit off of it with his hand and then cleaning the hand down his jersey shirt. Then he cupped her face and did the same to her, wiping the puke off her lips, not bothered in the least, "I'm in the football team, baby, you're the least gross thing I've seen today, trust me."

She snorted, still unable to stop the tears, "I really don't feel well, Luke."

"I can see that," he teased, only to receive a weak shove to his chest and chuckle, "let's move you to the bathroom, honey."

It was a testament to how sick she felt that she didn't say anything as her boyfriend manhandled her to the bathroom and then bunched up her long curls into a messy bun on top of her head.

"There, you look beautiful," he said, crouching down in front of her and tapping her arms up, "let's get you out of these disgusting clothes-"

"You just wanna see my tits," Bell groaned, feeling marginally better and he opened a blinding smile at the joke.

"Always," Lucas promised with a wink, before slowly maneuvering her top off and throwing it inside the sink, "feels better, uh?"

Bell sniffled, nodding, "I messed up your floor..."

"Eh, nothing that hasn't happened before," he promised, leaning in to kiss her forehead, "are you sick?"

"Now you ask me?" She eyed him skeptically, heart soaring, because even if she had the flu, even if she was contagious, he clearly didn't care. She had never been anyone's priority as she was with Lucas, it made her feel lightheaded sometimes.

He shrugged, cheeks blushing and she leaned back against the wall, starting to undo her belt, "No, I just ate some garbage yesterday. Felt awful since morning."

"I'm sorry," Lucas grimaced in sympathy, "better now, though?"

Bella paused, accessing herself. Her stomach was still unsettled, but the insane nausea from before was gone, at least for now, "a little... Still don't feel great."

"Let's get cleaned up and in bed, so I can rub your tummy."

"You're a dork," she groaned, blushing at him calling her stomach tummy.

"I don't have a better word for that cute little tummy of yours, Bells," Lucas scoffed, leaning in again and then planting a kiss over her lips, only for her to pull back with a groan.

"Lucas! I just puked!"

"I don't care," he rolled his eyes, grabbing her chin and giving her another peck.

"You're crazy, boy," she groaned, resting her forehead heavily against his and relaxing for the first time all day.