#also uh don’t mind some bigger stylistic changes

[beetlethinking]

Can u do a Mikitaka por favor? 🥺🙏🏻💚

Meepytaka….

[adorethedistance]

A Pretty Good Bad Idea - Owen Joyner x Reader

JATP masterlist

Warnings: swearing, peer pressure kinda, very mild n fluffy

Words: 1865

Summary: Touring with the Julie and The Phantoms cast as a dancer has been the best time of your life, and the only thing that could make it better is the reciprocated affections of a cute, blond drummer.

A/N: So this piece is 1) inspired by this interview and 2) entirely self indulgent. It’s something I haven’t been able to get out of my mind every time I’m doing warm ups, and putting it down on ,, digital paper is my only way to get rid of it lmao. I hope y’all enjoy bc I know this scenario makes me really happy and I love sharing my joy with y’all.

I let out an involuntary whine when I roll forward into my almost-center splits. My hips are so sore from yesterday’s performance I had to force myself to start stretching in the first place. Getting a head start, I arrived at the concert venue an hour earlier than call time to get my lengthy stretching routine out of the way before the other girls show up. Slowly but surely, the rest of the dancers arrived and we began getting ready together.

“I have a speaker!” Tori announces to the room upon entering which makes me jump up from my seat.

“Yes! May I do the honors and bless y’all with my musical theatre playlist?” The rest of the group cheers, exposing themselves for the theatre kids that we are. After hearing the chime that signifies the speaker-phone pairing, a few seconds pass before “Cell Block Tango” begins to play. The entire group feigns outrage but we know all the words and soon indulge in such shameful pandering. A good pre-show playlist is what really gets me amped up for performing and after yesterday’s queue of ‘today’s hits’ pop, the musical theatre is a nice change of pace.

Since I’d gotten here so early, I decided to do my makeup before stretching and I still had time to spare. The only thing left for me to do was to get in costume but I’d wait until a little closer to showtime so that I could still eat and drink for the time being. This also meant I was free to roam and bother other people as they got ready, doing what I’d done almost an hour ago.

“So, Y/n?”

“Hm?”

“What’s going on with you and Owen?” I feel my breathing halt for a microsecond before looking up at, one of the other dancers and also my friend, Ella. My eyebrows are cinched in confusion as I try my best to figure out what it is she’s getting at.

“I don’t know, Ella. What is going on with me and Owen?”

“Oh come on. Your Instagram story from yesterday?” Oh. That.

“We just went to lunch?” I seemingly ask more than state.

“Yeah. Just the two of you. Don’t hold out on us, we wanna know what’s going on!”

“Really, Ella, there’s nothing going on. We’re just getting to know each other better.”

“Just getting to know each other better? Or getting to know each other better?” Tori butts in, dusting her cheeks with a subtle highlight.

“The first one?”

“How many times have you hung out?”

“Just the once.”

“Are you planning another date?”

“It wasn’t a date-”

“Do you want us to help wingman you?”

“I really don’t-”

“Hey.” The rapid-fire of questions cease when the gang of us look up to see Owen himself standing in the doorway.

“Speak of the devil,” Tori snickers as the rest of the girls slowly disperse and smugly resume doing their makeup. Owen makes a face in reaction to her comment but chooses not to pry.

“Could I borrow some hairspray? This one piece of hair won’t stay.” Despite each of the girls having a full can of hairspray on hand, nobody makes a move to give him the product, indicating that I should be the one to help him out. Rolling my eyes at the look Ella is giving me through the mirror, I stand from my chair and hand Owen the can of hairspray. He then looks straight ahead and moves to use the product but I stop him before he can.

“What’s your plan?”

“What?”

“Are you just gonna spray the piece?”

“...yeah?”

“That’s not gonna work since the rest of your hair already has product in it. Can I help you?” Owen nods amiably and takes a seat after I gesture for him to sit in my chair. I then realize my mistake as I need the comb on the grey countertop, and have to consequently reach past Owen in a way that wouldn’t be so compromising had I not worn such a low-cut top. Thankfully it’s over as fast as it began, and walking to the sink in the corner of the dressing room, I run the cool water over the bristles. It isn’t until I turn off the tap that I notice how eerily quiet the room had gotten. None of the girls are talking, attentively studying my every move as I cross back to Owen.

“Is this Chicago?”

“Uh, yeah, We’re listening to my musical theatre playlist though, not the whole soundtrack,” I respond in spite of the nervous laugh that falls from my lips. The slight slouch in Owen’s posture doesn’t help me to see what I’m doing clearly enough. Using my index finger and an upturned palm, I tilt his chin up to get a better look at his hair, willfully ignoring the fact that he’s staring at me right now.

Still, silence fills the room as I take the wet comb through the front section of his hair where the stubborn strand won’t stay put. Once the water binds the pieces together, I grab my can of hairspray and struggle to uncap it. The outside is slick from god knows what, but thankfully Owen doesn’t let me struggle anymore and holds up his hands to wordlessly offer his help. I hand him the can, and he pops the top off after barely struggling. Handing the can back to me, he holds onto the lid, and the entire exchange remains completely silent.

I have to work quickly in my next step, but it’s not enough to distract from the fact that everyone in the room is watching me intently. Holding the aerosol can away from the crowd of people, I put some of the product on the comb and quickly work it into Owen’s hair while it’s still wet. Once the comb has formed his hair to my liking, I stop brushing it through in fear of the now dry hairspray ruining the shape. Then, I use my left hand to shield Owen’s eyes from getting any product in them before spraying the offending area to seal in my hard work.

The sound of a cell door sliding closed signifies the end of the song, and I wait for a second, eagerly anticipating the next song to play. Upon hearing the staccato piano notes of “Bad Idea” from Waitress, a smile appears on my face.

“I love this song.” Lunging back on my right leg, I create a little distance between us to make sure I didn’t completely butcher the rest of his hair, singing as I do.

“It’s a bad idea, me and you.”

“I know, I totally agree.” Pleasantly surprised by his joining in, my smile grows bigger.

“It’s a bad idea, me and you.”

“I’ve never known anything so true-”

“It’s a terrible idea, me and you.” The effortlessness that the two of us find in harmonizing is a genuine shock and an absolute thrill all at once. Once Owen sees how excited I am by his joining in me, it’s like a switch had been flipped; the two of us immediately slip into Actor Mode and begin to sing the song as if we were performing it on a Broadway stage.

“You have a wife.” I take a small step back out of the character’s hesitation.

“You have a husband.” Owen mirrors my action.

“You’re my doctor-” I cross my arms across my chest, but release my right hand to gesture to Owen standing in front of me.

“You’ve got a baby coming-” He uses both hands to gesture back to me in my ‘pregnant’ state.

“It’s a bad idea, me and you,” the two of us turn slightly away from facing one another in false bashfulness. When the music picks up, the two of us avidly step toward one another to come together. In perfect synchronization, I grab Owen’s forearms and his hands face upwards to hold onto my elbows.

“Let’s just keep kissing ‘til we come to.”

“Heart, stop racing, let’s face it-” Owen pivots his step out to the side to face forward, extending his right arm which cues me to turn into him and take his other hand to spin out.

“Making mistakes like this will make worse what is already pretty bad.” Then he extends his right arm forward, and I turn into him once again.

“Mind, stop running. It’s time we just let this thing go.” Instead of spinning out again, I stop in front of him where he wraps both of his arms around me.

“It was a pretty good bad idea,” in our harmony I cast my gaze upward to see Owen staring right back down at me, and I feel like I’m seeing stars, “Wasn’t it though?”

The two of us continue dancing and singing with one another as if the rest of the world doesn’t exist. It’s only the two of us, here and now. The other girls in the room don’t miss the way I seem to smile like never before, and I sure as hell don’t miss the way my stomach fills with butterflies. When he holds me so close and dear for each intimate moment of the song, I’m seeing stars. A bold happiness consumes me, the same happiness I felt when Owen and I laughed over lunch in that small pizzeria.

The final harmony draws the song to a close and when it finishes, the two of us fall into a breathless kind of laughter.

“I didn’t take a big enough breath for that last part.”

“Me neither.”

“Your hair stayed intact.”

“I must have a pretty good stylist.”

After recovering from our laughter the two of us wind up in a palpable stupor as we stare into one another’s eyes. A few blinks and my trance is broken, I become aware of our surroundings.

“I should get dressed soon, and you definitely need to get dressed.” Owen nods still somewhat breathless.

“Yeah. See you later for pulse?”

“Save me a spot,” I joke as he backs out of the threshold of our dressing room. Leaning against the doorframe I watch him disappear into his assigned dressing room with a small smile still lingering on my features.

“Just getting to know each other my ass!”

“What the heck was that?”

“Are you sure you don’t want us to wingman you?”

“Do you even need a wingman after something like that?”

Turning on my heel, I face the bunch of insatiable dancers and shake my head in disbelief.

“We were just acting, you guys.”

“Liar.”

“Excuse me?”

“Maybe you were acting, but he sure as hell wasn’t. Did you see the way he was looking at you? He is totally in love with you.” Ella shakes me by my shoulders.

“He’s just a really good performer is all.”

“When is your next date?” she completely ignores me.

“Okay-”

“Oh, and I want to be the maid of honor at your wedding-”

“It was just a song, Ella.”

“-Oh my god you guys are gonna have the cutest kids! I mean, your hair with his eyes and cheekbones? Ahh! The cutest.”

***

A/n: the way that being on tour isn’t the most unrealistic part of this fic, but instead Owen actually knowing the lyrics is? Work diva.

Taglist: @caitsymichelle13​ @kaitlyn2907​ @itz-jas​ @crybabyddl​ @kcd15​ @kinda-really-lost​ @calamitykaty​ @morganayenneferburnham​ @n0wornever​ @dream-a-little-bigger-x​ @mrstodorooki @vicesvsvirturesfanfic @curlybrownhairedboys​ @amazinggracy​ @kaitieskidmore1​ @asdfghjkl-fanfics​ @ghostlygreenbean​ @juliefromaustralia @merceret​ @jemimah-b99​ @ifilwtmfc​ @thesweetestsinner​ @imsydneywalker​ @lovesanimals​ @thebloodthirstyvampress​ @bumbleberry-pie​ @losers-club6​ @tefilovesreading​ @dmcfarland1​@joynerxmercer @kexrtiz​ @talk-on-the-street​ @phantompogues​ @konciousdreamer​ @sunsetcurvej​ @warmnesss0ul​ @celestialmolina​ @lilyjoyner​��

[tangledstarlight]

days go by and seasons change (lets try again next winter)

julie's ready for a year away from home, studying and trying to refind the magic in music. luke's about to start on a summer tour around europe opening for a band. they meet one night, sparks fly and emotions run hight. now they've just got to try and see if they can maintain a long distance friendship.

ok hello hi so this is my wild ride of a fic that i’m working on, a scene (much later on) came to me in a dream, and much like how smeyer wrote twilight, i just had to find out how they got there fhbdj there’s some drinking which would be classed as underage in the us but is legal in the uk which is where it’s set so 

trigger warnings!! alcohol and swearing

also on ao3 –– [ 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | extras 1 & 2 ]

winter

There was a line almost outside the door for the coffee shop, people wanting something to warm them up or just to avoid the sudden downpour of rain. Julie had been in England for just over a month now and she still wasn’t used to the randomly changing weather, how were you supposed to plan an outfit for the day if it started mildly sunny and ended in a thunderstorm? It was January! She had come prepared for snow, not rain, damn it.

From her table in the back corner of the cafe, hands wrapped around a mug and headphones blaring music, Julie people watched. Sure, she was supposed to be working on an essay, but she’d been there for half an hour already. She deserved a little break.

Even through her music she can hear the sounds of the cafe around her. Customers placing orders and rain on the windows and cups hitting tables and people laughing and it’s comforting. The sounds of life going on around her while she pretends to be doing work.

Pretends, because she’s been trying to work on this essay for a week now and getting nowhere with it.

When she’d signed up for the study abroad scheme her mind had been on experiencing a new country, on the places she could visit, the new friends she could make, the thoughtful looks she could escape.

She hadn’t thought much about the work she would have to do, the essays that would need to be written, the awkwardness of settling into a new place, the strangeness of hearing new accents.

The actual creative side of her course she found easy enough, but when it came to writing about her stylistic choices and her themes and her influences and how they all tied back with what they’d been reading about? She was drawing a blank.

Blowing on her drink, Julie let her eyes wander around the coffee shop. It was a fairly small place with an extensive collection of teas and fresh baked cakes and free wifi. She’d found it by mistake while looking for a music shop her first week in the city, they’d lured her in with carrot cake and coffee and she’d been coming back at least once a week ever since. A group of boys push through the door, shaking off hoods and laughing at something as they join the queue.

Something about them seemed vaguely familiar, like she’d seen them from a distance in a dark club, or scrolled past a group photo of them on her instagram suggested posts. Or maybe it was because they just looked like every other group of young adults she’d come across, both back home and in Liverpool. One thing she had learnt pretty quickly was that boys were the same everywhere.

She was saved from mulling it over by her phone vibrating on the table with a text, Carrie’s name popping up on the screen and Julie swapped her cup for her phone, a small smile already tugging at her lips as she read the series of texts on her screen.

Julie’s attention is dragged away from her phone by something – someone – knocking into her table, sending her pen rolling off and her cup to shake. Pulling her headphones out of her ears she looks up as the culprits eyes widen, mouth pulling into a grimace as he stares at the coffee now running down the back of her jacket that had been happily sitting in the spare chair.

“Shit,” he mutters, already pulling a napkin out of his back pocket and dabbing at the mess. “I’m so sorry, I uh– wasn’t looking and the chair leg and fuck I’m so sorry about your jacket, can it be dry cleaned?”

And he looks so sincere in his apology, all wide sad eyes and words stumbling out too quickly and messy brown hair curling out from under a beanie and accent that sounds like home, that Julie swallows back the annoyed retort she had ready to go.

It was just an accident. Accidents happened. At least it wasn’t over her laptop. Blowing out a breath, Julie shakes her head at him once, pushing back her chair to inspect the damage.

“It’s fine, honestly. Don’t–” she pauses, holding up the denim on either side of the collar and frowning at the pretty large brown stain. “Worry about it.”

Can she wash it? She’s never tried, but well. She bites her lip as she looks at it, the stranger awkwardly standing just a short distance away with a wad of used napkins and his half spilt drink, and yeah, she definitely won't be able to wear it tonight.

“I’m so sorry.” He says again and someone must catch his attention over her shoulder because his eyes dart away from her, eyebrows shooting up and shrugging his shoulders and, it’s kinda cute. The way he seems to be hovering, unsure if she’s going to shout at him.

“Seriously, it’s fine. Accidents happen, right?” She shoots him a quick smile – though not missing the way his cheeks turn slightly pink – before turning back to her jacket, carefully laying it out on the chair to hopefully dry out enough for her to stuff it in her bag before she needs to leave. She really hopes it stops raining.

“I uh– shit I’m sorry. Again. I gotta–” He gestures to the door where Julie can see his friends waiting for him, barely contained grins on all their faces that has Julie rolling her eyes. Boys. She looks back at him, raising an eyebrow even as her lips tick up into a small smile, she’s rewarded by his cheeks going red, the hand still holding the napkins rubbing at the back of his neck and a stuttered ‘goodbye’.

Sitting back down, Julie rolls her eyes again, muttering under her breath about ‘annoying cute boys’ and ‘favourite jackets’. Leaning down to pick up her fallen pen with one hand while the other tapped out a reply to Carrie. An hour more of sitting here, attempting to do her essay and then she’d have to go if she wanted enough time to get ready.

\\

“So where are you?”

Julie couldn’t hear what was being said on the other side of the phone, but judging by the way Carrie was rolling her eyes the answer wasn’t correct. Flynn leans her head on Julie’s shoulder, their linked arms drawing them closer as they walk, it’s not the most comfortable way to walk, but they’ve already had a few drinks and Flynn gets a little clingy after one. Julie puts her head on top of Flynns as they stumble along cracked stone streets.

“She actually might end up killing Bobby at this rate,” Julie mutters and is rewarded with Flynn letting out a laugh that has Carrie looking over her shoulder at them, eyes softening for a moment before she’s rolling them again. If she hadn’t known the other girl as long as she had, Julie would be worried about permanent eye damage.

“Fucking hell. Okay. Yeah, okay we’ll be like, ten minutes then. Yeah, yeah, okay bye.”

Sliding her phone into her back pocket Carrie took a half step back so she was walking with them again, linking her arm on Flynns other side.

“They’re at the Cavern Club,” Carrie looks at Julie over the top of Flynn’s head and lets out a loud sigh, “I know. That’s where we were going to go anyway. They’re so annoying.”

But she says it in a fond sort of way. Like how you talk about your neighbour's dog that barks too early in the morning and wakes you up, but always runs over to say hello to you through the fence when you walk past and brightens up your day. Annoying, but sweet.

Julie’s only met Carrie’s cousin Bobby once, it had been a short ‘hello’ and ‘goodbye’ type interaction as he ran into Carrie’s house to pick up his bag and then run straight back out again.

She’s never met the other three members of the band at all, but she knows, after doing a little bit of internet searching, that their band isn’t half bad. They’ve got some pretty good songs and a small following that she is sure is bound to get bigger by the time they’ve finished being the opener for whoever they’re touring with and their first album is out in the world.

The three of them flash their id’s to the security on the door, slightly giddy smiles on all their faces even now, still not used to it all being legal for them to drink under the age of twenty-one. But the security guy doesn’t even blink and then they’re walking down a flight of stairs, the air getting warmer and the sound of drums and guitars reaching them.

Carrie grabs hold of Flynn's hand and Flynn grabs a hold of Julies and then they’re weaving through people and avoiding knocking drinks out of hands.

Her attention is pulled from the crowd to the stage at the back of the room, a band playing a cover of something she can’t name, they don’t sound too bad, and the part of her that used to fall in love with music every time she heard it wants to stop and listen. But that part of her is small and quiet and shy now, so she keeps her grip on Flynn’s hand and follows along.

Julie doesn’t know how Carrie knows where she’s going but all of a sudden they’re coming to a stop, her free hand reaching out to balance herself on Flynn’s shoulder even as a small part of her is still trying to work out what the song is.

Turning her eyes away from the stage she looks at the five boys sitting at the table, a collection of bottles scattered across the wood, and Julie smiles at Bobby who’s standing up to hug Carrie, opens her mouth to say hello before stopping. Her brows furrow as she locks eyes with a shaggy haired brunette who’s own eyes are widening in realisation.

“You!” She blurts out before she can stop herself, and if anyone asks she would blame it on the three drinks she had before leaving the dorms, detangling her fingers from Flynn’s to point at him. With the music blaring so loud only the boys still sat at the table and Flynn heard her, the latter turning to raise her brows while Julie can see the boys trying not to laugh.

“He’s the guy who spilt coffee on my jacket earlier,” she shouts over the music, hand gesturing wildly at the table and Flynn follows her hand, eyes resting on the culprit.

“That was her favourite jacket!” Flynn props one hand on her hip and almost glares at him, but it loses part of its ‘scare factor’ when she starts swaying a little in place to the music. Well, Julie thinks it should lose some of it’s scaring power, but the guy still looks kinda worried, so who’s Julie to know?

“I said I was sorry!” He puts his hands up, shoulder raising to almost his ears, and with his eyes already open so wide and his hair curling slightly at the ends, Julie has to wonder how much trouble that look has gotten him out of over the years.

“You guys have already met?” Bobby jumps into the conversation before Julie has a chance to reply and Carrie is looking between them, lips pursed.

“This is the girl whose jacket Luke ruined earlier,” the blonde one says and Julie vaguely recognises him as being one of the boys from the cafe.

“Dude,” Bobby raises his eyebrows at the jacket ruiner – Luke, Julie reminds herself – shaking his head in disappointment.

“It was an accident!” Luke turns his sad kicked puppy look on Bobby before looking back at Julie, his hands lowering but his eyes still drastically wide, “I really am sorry about it.”

Julie tries, she really does, to hold on to that small kindle of annoyance that she’d felt upon seeing him again. But well, the jacket is already ruined and she’s come out to avoid doing an essay and she’s finding it really hard to be mad at someone so cute. Blowing out a breath she shakes her head at him.

“It’s fine, I’ll forgive and forget the whole thing if you buy me a drink.”

“That I can do,” the furrow in his brows smooths out and his shoulders relax and suddenly there’s a smile spreading across his face that seems to light up his eyes.

“So, you’ve met Luke. That’s Reggie, he’s our bassist,” Bobby nods at the dark haired guy sitting next to Luke who grins and waves, and it’s such an infectiously happy wave that Julie can't help but wave back. “Alex, kickass drummer,” the blonde who spoke earlier ducks his head a little, an almost shy smile on his face as he nods at them, “And Willie. Officially he’s one of our roadies, unofficially he’s just here to hype us up and do cool tricks in empty arenas.” Willie, who’s sat pressed against Alex’s side, raises his hand in a wave.

“This is Julie and this is Flynn,” Carrie points at them each before claiming the seat next to Alex and looking at Luke, “We’ll take 3 vodka lemonades. Please.” She only adds the please on the end after Flynn sits next to her, nudging her elbow into her side, Julie notices with a smile.

There’s a moment of bodies moving as Luke gets up from his side of the table, pulling Bobby along with him towards the bar and Reggie is waving his hand at her, nodding at the empty space along the bench next to him that she slides into gratefully.

They can’t really see the stage set up from here, but the music is still just as loud and Julie starts nodding her head along to the beat, trying to focus on the conversation happening on the other side of the table. Something about Carrie’s group and choreography and convincing someone to add in a dance break to a song. She’s laughing at something Willie said when a glass is slid across the table in front of her, a bottle of something passing over her to Reggie and she looks up in time to see Luke sliding into the space next to her, a small smile on his face.

“Forgiven and forgotten?” He asks, eyebrow quirked as he lifts his own drink, tilting it towards her in invitation.

“Forgiven and forgotten,” she agrees picking her glass up and tapping it against his beer bottle, shooting him a smile of her own before chasing the straw of her drink to take a sip, trying hard not to blush at the intensity of his stare.

//

It’s two hours later, three drinks and a deeply regrettable shot later, happily on the precipice of truly drunk but hanging out in tipsy land, when Julie shakes her head at Luke who’s standing on the bench. Tongue poking out of the corner of his mouth in concentration as he writes on the curved brick of the ceiling.

“Dude no ones gonna be able to even read that!” Reggie complains from next to her, his eyes squinting as if it will help him to read their names better. It doesn’t, Julie’s already tried.

“Why did we let the one with the worst handwriting do this?” Alex tilts his head to look up at Luke, who waves the hand not holding the pen in his face, almost hitting him but missing by several inches to the left and it sets them all off giggling.

“Because the rest of you are cowards!” He wobbles a little as he shuffles his feet to change angle, and Julie reaches out on instinct to hold his leg, fingers wrapping around his calf as if it will stop him from falling. His head drops down to look at her, teeth biting his bottom lip as he smiles at her quickly before going back to the ceiling.

To leave his – their – mark on a legendary musical site. Luke's words, the rest of them hadn’t been able to talk him out of it so they’d gone right into encouraging.

“I think you’re getting cowards and idiots mixed up,” Carrie mutters, head propped up on her hands, elbows resting on the table. Well, Reggie and Julie and Willie had gone straight to encouraging, the others were still on teasing.

“Do you want your name added or not?” Luke grumbles but Julie can see his pen moving, going over the letters of what she assumes is meant to be Dirty Candi, and bites her cheek to not laugh.

“Don’t forget it’s an ‘i’ instead of ‘y’ for candy!” Flynn leans forward, eyes on the ceiling as she shouts up at him and Luke says something, but it’s too quiet for any of them to hear.

It isn’t until he moves to get off the bench that Julie realises she still has her hand wrapped around his calf, her fingers idly tapping along to the song some guy with a guitar is playing behind them. Heat fills her cheeks (that she’ll blame on how warm it is in the club and the alcohol in her system thank you very much) as she lets go, pulling her hand back into her lap, watching from the corner of her eye as he jumps down and back into his seat, a proud smile on his face.

“Now when we’re big and famous people can come and hunt our names down.”

“And finally realise that you have awful writing and question how any of our songs get written,” Bobby grins at him, elbow nudging his side which sends Luke leaning into her to try and avoid it, sliding along the bench until there’s no space between them, and she can’t find it in herself to be too mad about it. He smells like tequila and mint and aftershave all mixed together, not really a good combination, but one she finds herself liking anyway.

“Well why don’t you start writing the songs, huh?” Luke retorts, and starts a back and forth with Bobby, Alex chiming in and Flynn watching it all like a tennis match, and Juile tries to follow it, but all she can think about is how Luke hasn’t moved back. How his thigh is pressed against her leg and his arm is resting around her back, hand near her hip and how if she wanted to, she could rest her chin on his shoulder and kiss his neck.

Not that she wants to kiss his neck. Does she?

Julie furrows her brows, biting her lip as she examines those thoughts, tries to decide if it’s the alcohol or the music or her lack of sleep or if she just wants to kiss him.

Flynn says something and it makes him laugh, loud and bright and unrestrained, head thrown back and eyes closed. And yeah, she just wants to kiss him. Fuck.

//

Reggie slings an arm around her shoulders, the other going over Flynns and tugging them together until their cheeks are all pushing together and Julie giggles, poking at his side with her partially trapped arm.

“What do we think chocolate tequila is like?” He asks, eyes glued to the chalkboard menu above them.

“Not as nice as the summer fruits one,” Julie says back, wrinkling her nose a little at the memory of when she’d tried it. If you liked chocolate, it was a bitter disappointment in her opinion. But she was also drunk enough now not to mind.

“Alex says we can’t get the coffee one. Thinks we’ll have a repeat of the red bull incident.” Luke appears on her other side, pushing his body into the small gap between her side and the next group of people. He’s stood so he’s facing her – them – and rests one arm on the counter top.

“Man he’s gotta get over that, it was one time,” Reggie mutters and Julie wants to ask what the ‘red bull incident’ is, but then Flynn is sliding three shot glasses towards them, salt and limes following, apparently having ordered without any of them noticing.

“We’re standing with mango!” Flynn shouts, shot already in one hand and salt on the other, clearly waiting for the three of them to catch up. Reggie lowers his arms and Julie can feel Luke’s hand brush past her arm as he moves to lick the back of his hand, she can feel herself flushing as she watches him do it. And is happy to note that he flushes just the same as he watches her lick her hand in turn.

Idly, Julie notices that Reggie counts them down, that Luke inclines his head at her before he lifts his shot to his lips, that Julie lifts her own, the liquid sliding down her throat with a slight burn that’s not eased at all by the lime she bites into. She squeezes her eyes shut against it and when she opens them sees Luke grinning at her, eyes full of something she can’t name but makes her want to blush again.

“Y’know what? Screw Alex, four of the coffee my good man!” Reggie shouts next to her, waving a hand at the bartender in front of them who just rolls their eyes but puts out four more shot glasses.

“Okay, you gotta tell us about the red bull incident,” Flynn finally asks what had been nibbling at the back of her mind from the moment Luke had spoken so she pulls her attention away from him and back to her friends as Reggie launches into his story that even grabs the attention of the bartender for a moment.

But Luke is a warm presence at her side, leaning into her space and breath ghosting against her neck as he chimes in the story. If she stepped back, just a little, she could lean her back against his chest. She wonders if he’d wrap an arm around her waist to hold her steady? Julie blinks and blows out a breath, raising an eyebrow as Reggie talks.

“Wait, how’d you get onto the roof?”

//

“So why Liverpool?” Luke asks, hands stuffed into the pockets of his coat as they aimlessly walk through almost empty streets, faint music coming from clubs and other drunk people giggling in doorways. The fresh air has helped a little to sober her up, but not enough for her to know where they’re going. But they’re following Carrie, who has a plan for the night and they’ve no option but to follow it.

Julie wraps one arm around herself, the other pushing hair over one shoulder as she thinks about it. There isn’t really a big fancy answer, no special reason for her choice, she shrugs at Luke, lips ticking up into a smile.

“It was the only place still with spots open,” she can see the slight confusion on his face and explains more, “I wasn’t going to take the study abroad year, but I changed majors and I needed to get away from home for a while. Carrie and Flynn had already signed up and the internet said the train didn’t take too long to get to Manchester or Glasgow.”

“You changed majors?”

Of all the things she’s said that hadn’t been the part she’d thought Luke would zone in on. It wasn’t really something she liked to talk about much, her fall away from music. She still loved it, still listened and wrote and sang, but the passion she’d once had, the magic she’d once felt whenever she sat at a piano? It had gone away. Had been gone for a long time. Had been gone for four years and she’d only been pretending she still felt the magic.

Everything she played or wrote was missing something and no one had seemed to notice but here.

It hadn’t been until one of her teachers in first year had pointed something out that Julie had finally confessed. And changed course and major the next week.

Everyone had tried to understand, had listened as she explained why she couldn’t do it. How her mom and music were so intertwined together in her head and her heart that it felt impossible to detangle them, to love and play music without always feeling like there was something missing. But she knew they didn’t really get it

So she’d signed up for the study abroad, and picked Liverpool because they had a good English Lit course and was close enough to her friends if she needed them. Okay, so maybe she’d lied a little, there was a fancy answer for why she’d moved, but picking Liverpool had just been random.

“Yup,” she pops the ‘p’ and glances ahead of them, where Willie has Alex clinging on to his back, running through a puddle and laughing loud and clear. She can’t help but smile at them, at the carefree way Willie spins around and Alex holds tighter, face red with whatever he’s trying to say between laughs. Luke must follow her gaze because he lets out a soft snort of laughter, and she can see him shake his head from the corner of her eye.

“I’d hate them if they weren’t so adorable together,” he muttered, but his gaze is soft as they both watch the couple; Willie lets Alex off his back and grabs hold of his hand before he had a chance to get too far away. They’re all soft eyes and teasing smiles and vibes that scream about being in love, you’d have to be blind not to see it. Julie looks away, feeling like she’s intruding on a private moment as they share a kiss.

“Tell me about the tour,” Julie says, drawing Lukes attention back to her and it’s the right thing to say because his face lights up with a smile that she’s sure is going to drive girls wild one day soon.

//

Julie nods along with the song blaring through the speakers, mouthing the words so herself as she scrolls through her phone, ignoring the press of bodies crowding the smoking area as best she can. From her spot near the wall, opposite the door, she can see Carrie and Willie and Alex dancing together, wide smiles and heads thrown back.

Flynn and Reggie are talking to a group of people off to the side and Julie can see the way Flynn has pulled her braids over one shoulder and is gesturing to Reggie every few words the way she does when she’s trying to hype someone up (she knows, from having been on the receiving end of it, many times). Bobby, standing with them, seems to find the whole thing hilarious, grinning around the cigarette hanging from his lips.

“Okay, favourite book?” Luke asks, leaning in close to be heard over the noise and if he doesn’t move back, well Julie’s not about to complain. The little space heaters on the wall don’t provide much warmth, and it’s January and she’s cold and someone ruined her jacket.

“Currently or of all time?” She asks, raising an eyebrow as she turns her head a little to look at him. Her heart stutters for a second at how close his face is to hers, she can see the small flecks of green in his eyes, can feel his breath ghost across her cheeks.

“Current,” he says and she can see as his eyes flicker down to her lips quickly before back up to her eyes and Julie really hopes she’s not blushing right now.

“Stardust. By Neil Gaiman. I’m reading it for one of my classes and it hits all the boxes for a fairytale.” She likes fairy tales, likes the idea of them, likes the message of true love and pure of heart and happily ever afters. This one just happened to involve lightning pirates which was a bonus. Okay, so maybe the lightning pirates were mostly a film detail, but still. “Favourite food?”

“There’s this little hole in the wall place down by the strip? They do the best cheeseburgers. If I could have one for every meal, I would.”

They’re still standing close together, eyes staring too intensely for a game of twenty questions and comments about cheeseburgers and Julie’s eyes flicker to his lips, can see the way they’re pulling up a little on one side. She wants to lean forwards, close the gap between them and press her lips against his. But then she shivers, shoulders hunching up around her ears as she rubs her bare arms, conscious of how close they’re sitting and how much she just kind of wants to steal his body heat.

“Are you cold?” He’s biting his lip, pulling back out of her personal space and Julie almost whines at the loss of contact and body heat and – well maybe she’s too drunk to be making smart choices right now if she’s five seconds away from whining.

“Well someone ruined my jacket,” she points out, eyebrows raised at him and is rewarded with his cheeks flushing and one hand rubbing at the back of his neck which she’s quickly coming to realise means he’s embarrassed or just a little flustered.

“I thought we’d agreed to forgive and forget about that?” He mumbles and before she can come up with a response Luke is standing up, shrugging his jacket off his shoulders and then he’s carefully draping it over her shoulders, fingers tapping lightly on her arm until she holds it out for him to slip through one arm hole, doing the same on the other side and then pulling her hair out from under the collar.

It’s too big on her, but the faux fur inside is soft on her skin and still warm from Luke and she can stick her thumbs through the little gaps created by the fastened buttons and if she turned her head a little she could smell his aftershave clinging to the collar. Julie can’t help the little smile that graces her face, rotating her shoulders to let the coat settle better on her body.

Looking up at him her brows furrow a little at the look on his face (if she wasn’t so drunk and giddy and tired she’d say it was something like awe but that made no sense. Why would Luke be looking at her in awe while she wore his jacket?), but it’s gone just as quickly as it appeared and he’s smiling at her, that wide smile from back at the start of the night when he’d handed her her drink and she’d tapped it against his.

“Thanks,” she tilts her head to the side, loose curls falling across her cheeks as she looks at him, a wide smile of her own and she opens her mouth to say something else – though she’s not sure what she’s going to say – when another voice cuts through and pops the little bubble they’ve created.

When did they even create their private conversation bubble? Julie doesn’t know, and from the way Luke’s head whips around to land on Flynn and Reggie and Bobby with wide eyes, he probably doesn’t know either. But it’s nice to know that he’d been enjoying their conversation as much as she had.

“We’re gonna get food, come on!”

//

“I wanted to be wrapped up in bed an hour ago,” Julie sighed but there’s no real annoyance in her tone as she hugs Luke’s jacket closed tight across her chest, shoulder brushing against his arm as they walk.

“But you also wanted pizza instead of McDonalds like everyone else.” And Luke has a point but she still pulls a face, sticking her tongue out at him and getting a laugh in return. She couldn’t even be annoyed at it, he had a nice laugh.

Plus, when she’d said she wanted pizza Luke was the only one who’d wanted to come with her, the rest of their friends going back to their hotels. He’d walked all the way to the takeaway with her, shared half of his chips and then started walking her back to her dorm, insisting on carrying her half eaten pizza too. It was all very sweet and kind and not helping her not want to kiss him.

“Where’s your first stop?” She asks, because he was about to start a tour and she had school and maybe if they were both back home they might have been able to give something a go, but they weren’t and Julie wasn’t really a one night stand kind of person.

“We’re heading up to Newcastle on Sunday to kick it all off,” there was a slight bounce in his step, his excitement almost palpable and Julie could tell that this was all he’d ever wanted. To play music to as many people as he could. A small part of her remembered what that was like, to want to share your songs with the world.

“Sing something!” She pulled him to a stop in the middle of the street, bouncing a little on the balls on her feet and grinning at him. Because she was still a little drunk and she missed feeling excited about playing music and here was this sweet charming guy who loved it so much and felt it with everything he had and Julie wanted to be like that again too. She wanted to think about music without it being tinged with sadness.

“What?” He laughed, eyes a little wide and glassy and with his hair looking more wild then it had when they’d started the night, but Julie was pretty sure she looked the same so she didn’t comment.

“Sing! Anything! Please?” Julie tried pouting at him, doing her best impression of Carlos and his puppy dog eyes and something about it must have worked because Luke huffs out a laugh as he looks at her, biting his lip in thought for a moment before he nods his head for them to keep walking before he starts singing.

His voice is a little rough, from screaming lyrics in the clubs and shouting to be heard in the bars, and his words are a little slurred because he’s a little drunk and a lot tired, but Julie’s sober enough to decide it’s one of the best versions of Mamma Mia she’s ever heard. As he gets to the first chorus she joins in.

They were just two slightly drunk young adults, singing in the street and if nothing else comes of his night she’ll always have this memory of unadulterated joy.

“You can sing,” he whispers and now it’s Luke’s turn to pull her to a stop with a hand on her arm and a look of wonder on his face. Julie shrugs a little and can feel her cheeks heating, but she keeps their eye contact and smiles at him.

“Only drunk in the streets.” Which is more true then he’ll ever know.

Luke opens his mouth to say something but she cuts him off by pointing over his shoulder at the building behind them.

“This is me.” She’s not sure what to do now, take her pizza and run? That seems a little rude, and unsafe. Julie’s not sure she can actually run in these shoes without falling. Luke looks over his shoulder quickly before looking back at her, blowing out a breath and nodding.

“Right, right.” He seems just as unsure as she is about what to do now, which makes Julie feel a little better about it.

“I should–”

“Can I–”

They both start at the same time and then Julie is laughing and Luke is huffing out a breath while a smile grows on his face. The only thing between them is a pizza box and she doesn’t miss the way his eyes keep flickering down to her lips.

“I can’t kiss you!” She blurts out, a hand quickly going up to cover her mouth and Luke’s eyes widen, taking a half step back, retracting his hand like he’d been burnt.

“That wasn’t– I– this–” Luke started stuttering, face going red and Julie quickly shook her head at him.

“That came out wrong! Fuck. I–” She curled her hands into fists at her sides, squeezing her eyes shut before opening them, “I want to kiss you, but I can’t.”

The shock on his face had softened at the start of her sentence only to morph into confusion at the end.

“You’re gonna have to explain this to me, Molina.” Luke still looks confused, but he’s still standing in front of her and that’s enough for her.

“I like you,” she dips her head as she says it, because Julie’s pretty sure she could really like him if given the chance, “but I’m no good at one night...things and you’re about to go on a tour and I’m stuck here and I just, I think– I think I’d like us to be friends. I think we could be really good friends actually.”

Because they’d only spent a few hours together and she’d laughed and smiled more in that time then she had in awhile. Luke was sweet and funny and had something to say about every song the DJ picked to play but sang along anyway. Which is why she doesn’t want to risk a friendship for one night in bed. The confusion on Luke’s face turns into understanding and the soft, slightly sad smile that he gives her tells Julie that she’s right. A friendship with him would be better than one really fun night.

“I get it,” and he carefully puts his hand back on her arm, squeezing slightly before pulling away. “And, for the record, I’m not very good at one night things either.”

Her heart beat sounds loud in her ears and it takes Julie a moment to refocus her thoughts. Friendship. No kissing. Friendship.

“Well, maybe if we can keep a friendship going until we next see each other we can try this moment again,” she waves her hand around them with a small laugh. They could probably keep a friendship going long distance, but Julie isn’t so sure that they’ll ever get a moment like this again.

“Deal,” Luke grins down at her and pulls his phone out of his back pocket and unlocks it, Julie raises her eyebrows at him when he holds it out for her, “In order to keep in touch we’re gonna need to exchange numbers.”

“You make a point,” she agrees, putting in her information and handing it back to him in exchange for her pizza box. “Text me when you get back to your hotel, okay? So I know you didn’t get lost.”

“Yes, boss.” His smile is a little teasing now and Julie shakes her head at him as she brushes past him to walk into her dorm. She’s half way across the road when stops in her tracks to turn back at him.

“Wait, I’m still wearing your jacket.” Julie stars to shrug the item off when Luke shakes his head, already starting to walking backwards down the street.

“No, keep it!” He shouts with a smile, “Means we’ll have a reason to see each other again and have another go at this.”

Julie just shakes her head at him with a laugh, watching as he walks away before tightening her grip on the box and finally making it into her dorm. She’s still got an essay to write and a pile of laundry to put away and magic in music is still missing, but she’s gotten herself a new jacket and a friend who she thinks could make her life a little brighter. So she’ll forgive and forget that she's home an hour later than promised.

[cheekysos]

The Maori Protector | Calum Hood | Bodyguard!AU x Plus Size Reader

Author’s Note:  Please be kind this is the first time I’ve written in like two years. Also I’m not writing this series to exclude any body type, shape, or size because everyone’s bodies should be accepted and celebrated. So I am very sorry if this in any way excludes anyone, that is not my intention. If there’s anything you’d like to read please leave a request in my asks and I will try my best to do it justice. Depending on the response I plan to make multiple parts of this.

Summary: Y/N is a famous plus sized actress and Calum is her bodyguard.

Warnings: Swearing, breaking and entering, and some light sexual comments

  From a young age you were always bigger, bigger than the girls your age and most of the time even the boys. It made your childhood rather difficult and usually pretty emotional. In spite all of those hardships the only thing that brought you solace was acting. It gave you courage and confidence, even if it was only temporary. Which brings you to now, you had stuck with acting, getting a few parts here and there, usually the stereotypical funny fat friend but then you got your big break.

�� You couldn’t believe that you were finally cast as the lead; a part that had nothing to do with your size and given the timing of the world it just worked out and people loved it. Your schedule was filling up and you were more popular than ever. But with all that good brings a lot of bad as well, which is why your manager had insisted on hiring you a personal body guard and wasn't taking no for an answer.

“I don’t know Carl, I still don’t see why I need a body guard.” You poked, aimlessly scrolling through your phone while Jane continued to curl your hair. You were about to make your first late night television appearance and were trying to keep your mind on something other than your nerves.

“We’ve been over this. People are starting to show up to places you’ll be at and paparazzi these days have no boundaries. It’s for your own good.” He sighed, the two of you have had this conversation multiple times already. “I interviewed like 20 dudes for this, I promise he’s the best of the best. Just please play nice.” He teased before walking out the door. It’s not like you were a mean person or anything just guarded more than anything and rightfully so. You can’t look like you do and work in show business without having some trust issues.

   Jane finished up your hair with some hairspray, “you’re all set. Go get changed you’re on in ten love.”                                           

   “Thanks. Looks great, like always!” You beamed looking at yourself in mirror before walking into the green room bathroom. You squeezed yourself into your beige spanx tucking and adjusting your lumps and bumps. The dress you and your stylist decided on was a deep red ruched midi length dress with off the shoulder 3/4 length sleeves. It hugged your body in all the right ways and still managed to leave something to the imagination. You paired the dress with black strapped heels and a small gold necklace. You stepped out of the bathroom, your back zipper still open, “Jane can you zip me up?”

As you lifted your gaze your eyes landed a large figure standing between Jane and Carl. His tall frame and broad shoulders were covered in a crisp black suit. You were way too caught up in how incredibly good looking he was to remember the fact that your backside was still exposed. You probably wouldn’t have noticed Jane zipping you up if it wasn’t for her cold hands.                                         

“Y/N, this is Calum Hood. He’s your new head of security,” Carl said. You could feel your cheeks flush as you made eye contact with him. His massive hand reached out to shake yours, you obliged taking note of the ink adorning his hand. Your mind started to wander, thinking of other parts of his body that might be cover in tattoos.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you Miss Y/L/N,” his accent catching you off guard yet again.          

 “Please just Y/N,” you said softly. He nodded in acknowledgment.                          “We can go over specifics later,” Carl interrupted. “Y/N it’s time to go.” He ushered you past Calum.

   Despite your best efforts to focus on the interview you couldn’t help but think about the gorgeous brooding man waiting backstage to protect you.

   It had been over a month since Calum started working for you and let’s just say it’s been a challenge. Every day you spent with him made it harder and harder to stay professional, you wanted nothing more than to jump his bones, but Calum was most of all a professional. He kept your conversations always about you and work. You tried so hard to get something from him; a lingering glance, a morsel of personal information, even a smile but have yet to be successful. Which is why you were trying so hard to stay professional, he clearly wasn’t interested and you respected that and a small part of you wasn’t surprised. Just because you were a successful actress doesn’t mean weren’t insecure and today was just one of those days.                                                  

    If your mind was going to choose a day to be in a funk at least it chose one where you can stay at home cuddled on the couch with a glass of wine and a pint of ice cream while watching an unhealthy amount of rom-coms. You got up from the couch to fill your glass when you heard something like pounding. You weren’t exactly a paranoid person but living alone in a fairly decent sized home and the three glasses of wine didn’t exactly help.  You paused your movie, listening just to be sure. You heard the pounding again this time louder, making you jump. Your fuzzy sock clad feet slid across the hardwood floor and grabbed your phone . The pounding started again, this time by the windows in your dinning room. You scurried into the bathroom and locked the door. You weren’t even really thinking when your fingers started to scroll through your phone book and landed on Calum’s name.             

   Four rings and he answered. “Hello?” His voice was soft and made you forget about your current situation for just a second.

  “Y/N? Is everything okay?” He questioned.    

  “Y-ya-yes it’s me.” you stuttered. “I - uh didn’t know who to call. I’m home alone and someone’s pounding....I don’t know if it’s a joke or if....”           

“Where are you?” He cut you off. His voice was different now stern and concerned.                  

 “In the bathroom. I locked the door.” your hands started to shaking.                         “Good. Stay there until I get there.” You heard his car start. “Did you call the police?”

    How could you not have thought of that first, he’s going to think you’re crazy, you thought to yourself. “No I...I wasn’t sure who to call”

 “It’s fine I’ll call them right no...” he was still talking when this time you cut him off.

  “Please don’t hang up.” Tears started pooling in the corners of your eyes. Your brother always teased you for being so over dramatic.

  “Okay... then I need you to text Carl tell him what’s going on and that I’m on my way to you and you need him to call the police. Can you do that for me.” His voice was steady and calming. You did as you were told almost immediately. Calum kept quiet on the other end until you told him the message was sent.

“Good. I’m almost there, few more minutes. I’ll probably make it there before the police. When I get there I’m going to...”

CRASH. They shattered a window.

You couldn’t help letting a scream escape before you covered your mouth, tears flowing down your checks now.

“Y/N! What happened?!” He yelled.

“They broke a window I think.” You quietly sobbed. Your hand covering your mouth and phone as an attempt to be as quiet as possible.

“Fuck!” You heard the sound of what you assumed to be Calum beeping the horn. “It’s okay turn the light off in the bathroom and stay quiet. I promise I’m almost there.”

 The rest happened so quickly. Before you knew it Calum was at your house smashing the remaining bits of glass and jumping through the window. He ran towards the bathroom calling out your name. You unlocked the bathroom door and wrapped yourself around his toned torso, silently sobbing into his chest. 

  He held you until the police arrived. He led you to the front door, his massive hand laid across the small of your back. He unlocked the front door and conversed with two officers while an EMT took you aside to check on you. You were fine of course just shaken up, they wrapped a blanket around you and gave you a glass of water to calm down. Another officer took your statement but you didn’t have much to tell.

You sat on your couch watching Calum intently. You couldn’t hear anything they were saying but that didn’t stop you from watching his plump pink lips move. You just realized Calum was in street clothes - black athletic joggers, a plain white tee, and Nike’s. Fuck he’s so hot and shit his hand was bleeding. You also noticed you were right...he did have more tattoos and they were glorious. By this time the Police officers picked up something put it in an evidence bag and handed it to Calum. His face dropped as he looked at it. What was it? Was he sad or angry? Calum and the officer approached you.

“Miss Y/L/N I’m Officer Callaghan. It looks like the only person to enter your home was Mr. Hood. Someone did however throw this through your window. He held out the object. It was a brick with ‘kill urself fat cow’ written on it in chalk. You didn’t everything you could to fight back the tears.

“It was most likely stupid kids, just a prank.” The officer explained.

“That’s not a prank that’s a threat.” Calum snapped. It was anger. He was definitely angry and honestly it was kind of a good look on him.

“Of course.” Officer Callaghan responded. “While Mr. hood gets his hand looked at I’ll have someone board up your window so you’re homes secure until you can get someone to come fix it. Do you have somewhere you can stay tonight?” Callaghan asked.

Maybe Jane? Carl was out of town and you really didn’t want to bother any of your friends. Maybe just a hotel.

“My hand is fine and I’ll take her wherever she wants to go,” Calum spoke.

You didn’t mean to zone out again but you did. Thank god Calum was there and dealt with everything for you. Your mind kept wandering back to the brick. Could someone really hate you that much just because you looked the way you did?

“I spoke with Carl, the window is boarded up and everyone’s gone. Just tell me what you need.” Calum sat next to you in the couch. His cut hand rested on his lap, covered in a paper towel.

“You really should have let someone look at that.” You said faintly.

“I’ve survived much worse.” He joked.

And that’s when you finally saw it. A quick subtle smile and shit he only got more attractive. You ignored the blood rushing to your cheeks, shrugging off the blanket wrapped around your shoulders before you stood up.

“Come with me.” You led Calum into the bathroom, just now realizing how ridiculous you probably looked - fuzzy socks, a massive hoodie, cotton shorts and hair messily twisted into a bun on the top of your head. At least you shaved your legs.

You got the first aid kit out of the cabinet, Calum leaned against the sink and offered you his hand. You carefully removed the paper towel to find multiple cuts in between his knuckles, his beautiful brown skin stained with dry blood.

“You really should have had this looked at by professionals. I think you might need stitches,” you meticulously started to disinfect the area, completely aware of Calum’s big brown eyes watching you.

“I-uh I’m really sorry this happened to you tonight and what they said I.... It’s not..” he sighed. “They’re cowards, scum honestly.” He winced slightly when you started cleaning the largest cut.

“People are entitles to their opinions. And like you said earlier I’ve survived much worse.” You joked, hoping Calum couldn’t pick up on hurt in your voice. But he did.

“I understand if you don’t want to talk about it but don’t try to justify their behavior or anyone else who’s mistreated you.” His voice was steady and calming again.

Dammit. Why was he like this, so perfect. It was becoming increasingly difficult to stay professional. Your body and heart ached for him. What were you supposed to say to that? You didn’t know so you changed the subject.

“Thank you for everything. I’m sorry I dragged you into all this.” You finished applying antibiotic ointment on his wounds before covering them with gauze and securing it with an ace bandage.

“It’s my job to keep you safe,” he cleared his throat. “Thanks for cleaning me up.”

So professional. Why couldn’t he just accept payment in the form of sexual favors.

You offered a half smile and nodded in acknowledgement as you cleaned up.

“Where do you want me to take you?” He questioned.

“I don’t know I’ll probably just stay here, like the police said it was just a prank.” You shrugged and turned on your heel to walk out of the bathroom.

Calum’s hand reached out for yours, turning you back to him. “You’re not staying here. It’s not safe and this wasn’t a prank, you could’ve gotten hurt.”

Your headstrong gene wanted to argue with him but his eyes looked worried and his voice was so sincere. Not to mention the fact that your hand was still intertwined with him and you were practically putty right now. His hand was soft, with the exception of a few callouses on his fingers.  

  “Ok..I can go to...a uh hotel,” you didn’t want to go to a hotel and you most certainly didn’t want to be alone but you lied.

Calum’s hand slipped away from yours, “if that’s where you’ll feel safe.” He replied.

“I won’t feel safe there. But the only place I think I’ll feel safe right now is with you.” Who knows what possessed you to blurt out the truth all of a sudden but you instantly regretted it. “I know you’ve already done way too much and I’ll make sure Carl compensates you for all your trouble but if you’ll just indulge me a little longer...You could stay in my guest room or I’ll pay for a room for you.” You tried to navigate yourself through this shit storm you’ve created so you could still stay with Calum but also be professional.

“Don’t be ridiculous, spending time with you is compensation enough.” He reassured. “And it’s no Ritz Carlton or anything but you’re more than welcome to stay at my place.”

Screw being professional.

[thirsty-x1]

Ice Cream Lick | Han Seungwoo

Request:

Hey! I really love all your fics♡ so... I notice your request are open! Can i request one? :") its smut with Seungwoo. Can it be like he got triggered bcs the girl is eating an ice cream? Lol thankyou in advance!

↬ Pairing: Seungwoo x gn!reader.

↬ Genre: Smut.

↬ Warnings: explicit language, semi-exhibition, oral sex, slight face fucking, cum swallowing.

↬ Word Count: 1.5k

It was nice to see them all like this, although it meant you had to work quite a lot. Their hair was a mess, some making it obvious that had barely gotten any sleep by the bags under their eyes, others nervously sweating at the idea of going out into the stage, but they were all natural and that had a certain charm in your mind. Or maybe that was just the stylist part in you speaking.

There was still an hour left and given how tired they seemed, the staff had agreed on giving them a little break and getting some ice cream so that they could fight the heat a little. Their smiles were priceless as each got their own, choosing whatever flavor suited them the most, except for Dohyon that got close to you and offered to give you his ice cream.

“I’m on a diet, so I can’t really eat it.” His words slightly hurt you, trying to decline his offer with your hands.

“You can eat this, sweetie, it won’t make that big of a difference and it’s a nice treat.”

Seungyoun laughed at your reply. “He would eat it if there weren’t two cups of ramen resting on his stomach right now.” Dohyon eyes got big, like a deer in highlights.

“It wasn’t two cups!”

“Right.” Hangyul agreed, careful to not drop his cone. “It was three.”

Everyone was laughing except for the victim that was blushing profusely, pushing the ice cream into your hands as he prepared to get scolded by his manager. With the whole sitcom happening, it was half way into becoming a melted pool of sweetness, so you just started licking it hurriedly, including the bits that were sliding down your fingers.

As you kept eating the ice cream, you went back to paying attention to the boys: Eunsang sharing a bite of his with Dohyon and Dongpyo reprimanding him for it, Junho smearing some into Minhee’s face, Wooseok elegantly holding the tiny spoon to eat it while Yohan made fun of him and Seungyoun, Hyeongjun and Hangyul starting a competition to see which one of them could finish it first without getting a brain freeze.

All of them were laughing and enjoying themselves, all of them except for Seungwoo, his stare completely fixed on you, although it looked like he was a bit lost. He tended to do so, you had come to realize that whenever he started thinking, his eyebrows would raise slightly and wouldn’t blink for a minute until someone called him out for it, which lead to some awkward situations. However, it didn’t seem to be like that this time, since his eyes followed each one of your movements, sucking on his bottom lip as he ate another bit of his own ice cream, cheeks tinting red as he finally made eye contact with you.

You got distracted as one of the members of the staff called you to specify which make up was going to be done today, confirming the final details. There was only a bit more than half an hour left until they had to get out so all of them started to get ready, but when you looked out for your client of the day… he wasn’t anywhere to be found.

“Yohan, have you seen Seungwoo? I still need to do his hair and finish his make up.”

“Uh, I think I saw him getting into the changing room? Something wrong with his clothes.”

After thanking him you walked there, knocking on the door a few times but without getting any reply, so you knocked again, this time asking.

“Seungwoo? It’s me, is everything alright?”

“Ah, yes! Nothing to worry about, the clothes are just… a bit tight…”

You furrowed your brows. “We checked the sizes before though, did you grab Seungyoun’s by mistake or something?”

“I d-don’t really think so… I’ll be out in a minute! Just–” Through his rambling you finished your ice cream quickly to free your hands.

“Seungwoo, there is only thirty minutes until the performance starts so just let me in and I’ll fix it in ten minutes tops, yes? This is my job.”

He seemed to doubt a bit before letting you in, hurrying to close the door the second you got in and pressed his forehead to the wall. You waited a few minutes before growing frustrated, asking him where it felt tight but he simply dismissed you with a wave of his hand until you turned him around, checking on his jacket and shirt before your eyes fell to the bulge in his pants.

“I-I’m sorry, I really tried to make it go but I couldn’t so I came here to, well, do something about it, I can’t go out like this…” You pinched the bridge of your nose, trying to think fast. “I’m really sorry.”

“Don’t apologize, it’s normal, it happens all the time.”

His played with his fingers, looking to the ground. “That’s not why I’m apologizing… it was when I saw you eating the i-ice cream and it just happened.”

“Oh.” Was there anything you could say in this situation? “Can you masturbate?”

The way his eyes started shaking and his face became completely red gave him away, getting a sigh out of you as you fixed your hair so that it wouldn’t bother you, fingers fast to unbutton his pants before dropping to your knees.

“W-what are you doing–”

“It will be faster like this and there isn’t much time…” As soon as you looked up, he twitched again. “Is this fine with you?”

“Y-yes…”

“Try to keep it low, not like the rest are very far away.” You went back at the task at hand, pulling down the pants along with his underwear just enough to take out his already hard cock.

“Of course I’ll keep it low, why wouldn’t I–!”

The sharp intake of breath as you engulfed his length was somewhat rewarding to you, proceeding to bob your head and take more of him, trying to keep track of the time. After making sure you had lubed him up correctly, you pulled him off your mouth, your hand stroking the base as your tongue teased the tip of his member, the taste of his precum mixing with the previous ice cream and resulting in a rather disgusting taste. You looked up at him only to find a gone Seungwoo, his head thrown back and his mouth agape.

“Are you okay?”

He looked down on you, bucking his hips at the view. “It’s cold.”

It wasn’t the reply you weren’t expecting but it made you laugh, the slight vibration sending shivers down his spine while his fingers tangled on your hair although he didn’t do anything at all, letting you control the pace. You went down on him again, hollowing your cheeks and gagging slightly as he hit the back of your throat, evoking a choked out whimper from him.

“I told you to be quiet.” The whispers against the underside of his shaft made him shudder, getting shy as he noticed you checking the time. “Fifteen minutes left.”

“It just feels too good…” He grabbed a hold of your head, his gaze turning slightly darker. “Can I? I’m close.”

Seeing him like this was beyond your expectations, all of a sudden feeling the leader vibes that the rest of the guys would always talk about. His frame seeming bigger, squaring up his shoulders, his jaw pointing upwards, his whole aura making you feel so small. With a tiny nod you gave him permission, relaxing your jaw as he rolled his hips, enjoying the cold feeling of the ice cream and the warmth of your mouth before he started thrusting, fucking your face at an almost rough pace. Your chest was starting to hurt a bit from the effort of holding back your gags, his brows furrowing each time he would hear the choking sound before he throbbed, spilling his seed on your tongue, leaving you no other option than swallowing each of his spurts with a bit of difficulty.

“Fuck…” Your coughs brought him back quickly. “I’m so sorry, sorry, I thought that it was the best way to not make a whole mess.”

“You… you really should jerk off more often, that was too much.” Your voice was slightly hoarse from the previous abuse, quickly getting up and signaling him to tuck his softening member in. “Now let’s go, your hair is a complete mess from you passing your hands through it.”

Seungwoo smiled a little seeing you try to make yourself look presentable again, his fingers going to fix your hair a bit, his thumb grazing against the corner of your mouth to clean a bit of his cum left, unsure of making his next movement… slipping his finger past your swollen lips, an approving hum leaving him as he felt your tongue swirl against his pad. He rushed to get out, afraid of getting hard again and sat on one of the chairs in front of the mirror, silently threatening the mocking smile that Seungyoun gave him.

“Ah, y/n… I think I also have some wardrobe malfunctions.”

“I’m not in charge of styling you.” You slapped the back of his head at his to giggle as you started to groom Seungwoo, pulling on his hair to erase the goofy smirk on his face.

I love the idea of sucking Seungwoo off. What a good boy he would be despite not being able to shut up. Also support him joining Victon because it’s not the end of the world and he needs support more than anything right now, otherwise I’ll whoop your ass and not in the nice way.

~Nani

| Masterlist |

[rosethornewrites]

Fic: The Rebellion of Adrien Agreste, ch. 6

Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth, Juleka Couffaine/Rose Lavillant, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Luka Couffaine, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Kagami Tsurugi, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Luka Couffaine, Lila Rossi/karma, Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth/aneurism, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug/Kagami Tsurugi, Plagg & Tikki

Characters: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth, Lila Rossi, Jagged Stone, Plagg, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Luka Couffaine, Penny Rolling, Anarka Couffaine, Rose Lavillant, Juleka Couffaine, Kagami Tsurugi, Alya Césaire, Chloé Bourgeois, Wayhem, Nadja Chamack, Nathalie Sancoeur, Sabine Cheng, Tom Dupain, Tikki, Fang, Principal Damocles, Caline Bustier, Ms. Mendeleiev, original minor character, Alec Cataldi, Lila Rossi’s Mother, Sabrina Raincomprix, Roger Raincomprix, Mylène Haprèle, Le Gorille | Adrien Agreste’s Bodyguard, Nino Lahiffe, Nooroo

Tags: Lila Rossi salt, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Teenage Rebellion, Swearing, Bad Parent Gabriel Agreste, Crack Treated Seriously, Lila Rossi’s Lies Are Exposed, Cuddling & Snuggling, Luka Couffaine Needs a Hug, Paparazzi, Parentification, Marinette Dupain-Cheng Needs a Hug, Gabriel Agreste Needs an Aneurism, Uncle Jagged Stone, we’re all queer here, the spirit of punk is sometimes just being allowed to be yourself, Kagami Finds Her Groove, punk rock fashion, Savage Kagami, Marinette protection squad, Good Parent Sabine Cheng, Good Parent Tom Dupain, Protective Kagami Tsurugi, Protective Luka Couffaine, Bisexual Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Pansexual Luka Couffaine, Sharing a Bed, Pet Names, LGBTQ Character, LGBTQ Themes, Instagram, Bullying, Social Media, Anxiety, Makeover, Hugs, will cure your acne, Face Punching, Bad Ass Juleka Couffaine, Rumors, Protective Juleka Couffaine, Protective Adrien Agreste, Lawyers, Hijinks & Shenanigans, Holding Hands, accountability, mental health, Jagged Stone’s well-paid pet shark, How to Make the Evening News, Sexy eyeliner for days, one fish two fish Lila is a screwed fish, How to have fun and piss Gabriel off, Fuckery, sweet litigious karma, Alya sugar, lawyer shark doo doo doo doo doo doo, Schadenfreude, Bad Ass Alya Césaire, Gaslighting, abuse denormalization, Jagged likes his lawyers like he likes his pets: toothy af, Blood in the Water, Everything you didn’t know you wanted and some things you did, Gabriel Agreste is shark bait, Denial, Consequences, Principal Damocles salt, caline bustier salt, the impotence of Gabriel Agreste, snarky Nooroo, lies and the lying liars who tell them, Lila’s brain is a narcissistic hellscape, Lila’s mind is built like an Escher piece, Alec Cataldi salt, Adrien Sugar, wholesome salt, Fu Salt, Kwami Shenanigans, Nooroo is a little shit

Summary: The Social Media Coup

Notes: Meant to put this on Tumblr days ago but yay depression.

AO3 link

Chapters 1-2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5

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Adrien was waiting for the dye to set when the girls returned, his hair securely under a shower cap. Apparently the stylist had decided to start by dying his entire head green, and the black would be applied to his roots afterward, with the logic of start with the light color, then apply the dark.

He’d never had his hair dyed, so he had just nodded. Luka hadn’t known if that was typical—apparently his normal hair color was black, and he just bleached and dyed the tips. It was amazing how much he was learning about his friends in just one evening.

The girls were carrying three large parcels, which they unpacked for them to take a look at. Several different styles of jeans—“We can return anything that doesn’t work,” Marinette said—a studded leather jacket, a hoodie that he just loved, and some jewelry.

“Chat Noir studs?” he asked incredulously. “They had those?”

Marinette nodded. “Kagami found them, and you mentioned Chat colors. We kind of changed that a little, but it seemed in keeping.”

Adrien grinned. “Thanks, girls. I really appreciate it.”

Kagami pulled out a large box. “There are also these boots. Marinette asked for my input on the choice, so I hope you find them to your liking.”

He stared after opening it, amazed to find what were basically stomping boots with huge buckles, reaching probably mid-calf.

“My father is going to have a heart attack,” he said after a moment, sounding not at all bothered by this. It was, after all, the point to freak the elder Agreste out. “You really went all-out! How much do I owe Jagged, Penny?”

Jagged was the one who responded. “Just some pics, I think. Hanging out like we’re jamming, yeah?”

That brought a bigger grin to Adrien’s face. If he had pictures, dressed in some of this and with his hair completely dyed, with Jagged Stone, it would be even more amazing. Not only for the sake of having those pictures, but for the reaction.

Luka brought it a bit further. “What about a video of the three of us jamming? Released to social media?”

Jagged and Penny exchanged a look, and she sighed. “Should I get a videographer?”

Marinette shook her head, a grin playing at her lips. “I think phones—we don’t want it to look set up. Just random. But we will need a keyboard for Adrien, and a guitar for Luka. And I know the perfect person to send it to first.”

All eyes turned to her.

“I babysit Nadja Chamack’s daughter, so I have her cell phone number.” Marinette’s voice was filled with glee.

Jagged grinned. “Bring out the big guns on this one.”

Penny nodded. “She may not be able to interview you without parental permission, but the video and news could make the rounds.”

“We’ll ruin my father’s announcement,” Adrien said with a laugh. “Serves him right.”

Kagami glanced at her phone. “We do not have a significant amount of time. Perhaps posting teasers on social media would be an apt way to start?”

“His hair isn’t finished yet,” Luka responded. “That will take perhaps another hour or so…”

Marinette nodded. “We can do other things. Adrien, you need to pick out a pair of jeans, and get dressed. We can get a shot of you and Luka cuddling, but without your heads in the shot. Start with a teaser to rile up social media.”

“We will want to drape the sofa with a sheet in order to hide the location. These sofas have a… distinctive color,” Penny added. “I have no doubt M. Agreste would recognize them, and then we would have difficulty.”

They got to work. Adrien chose a pair of the jeans that had silver decorative zippers randomly placed on the legs, moving to the bathroom to change out of his normal jeans.

As he did, something occurred to him. “Uh, Plagg?”

His kwami was nibbling on a bit of Camembert that had been in his jeans pocket. “Hm?”

“The hair… It’s not going to reveal my identity, right?”

Plagg laughed. “No way. I can change that without breaking a sweat. It’s worth it to see your dad’s face.”

Adrien relaxed—he’d been afraid he’d really screwed up. That was the last thing he wanted; Ladybug would kill him if he revealed his identity so stupidly.

“Anyway, I wouldn’t let you do anything that exposed your identity. But you’ll have to take off the studs before transforming—not sure if I could do much with those.”

When he left the bathroom, one section of the sofa was covered. Marinette eyed him critically before she nodded, muttering about fitting.

“You might need help with these boots,” Luka commented, holding one up.

“Definitely welcome. Do those lace, too?”

Kagami answered. “Yes. The buckles appear to be primarily decorative. Marinette was torn between these and a pair with three buckles and chains above and below. However, that seemed unnecessarily complicated.”

Adrien blanched at the idea. “Yeah, definitely.”

Luka helped him get the boots on, while Marinette snapped a leather bracelet on his right wrist. Kagami slid the green beaded one after that. Once the boots were securely buckled, he started to grab the box with the studs before realizing they wouldn’t show in the picture and could get ruined with the dye.

“Do you want to wear the leather jacket, or the hoodie?” Marinette asked.

While the leather jacket was tempting, Adrien didn’t think it was right for this. “I think the hoodie is more casual, and it’ll look better.”

“I agree,” Kagami said. “It will match with Luka, and add the appearance of being a couple further through the parallel dress.”

Marinette handed it to him, and then she and Luka fiddled with the sleeves so his bracelets would show.

Finally, they were ready, and Adrien and Luka sat on the couch. Not that Adrien knew what to do beyond that.

At Marinette’s urging, they slid closer together. After a few minutes of rearranging, Luka’s leg wound up bent behind Adrien, with him snuggled against the older boy’s opposite shoulder—he was careful that the shower cap didn’t slide up and cover them both with dye. Kagami rearranged one of his legs to be a shadow of Luka’s. It was a bit of an intimate position, but not too much; just enough to imply.

Then they played with arm positions, trying several options before deciding on one of Luka’s arms around him, and the other propped on Adrien’s bent knee.

“Adrien, lace your fingers with Luka’s hand, the one at your waist,” Penny interjected.

Adrien followed her instructions, hoping this looked natural. He was used to modeling, but had never done a shoot like this before—and Luka wasn’t a model, so hopefully it wasn’t making him uncomfortable.

Finally Marinette nodded and smiled. “Now just relax your muscles. Enjoy cuddling with your boyfriend. Both of you.”

“I feel like a mannequin,” Luka muttered, and Adrien couldn’t stop himself from laughing, easing against him helplessly. Luka’s fingers squeezed his slightly before easing, and the older boy pulled him a bit closer.

He barely registered the flashes from the girls’ cell phone cameras as they moved to different angles, catching multiple possibilities, even standing on different parts of the couch or the table.

A knock on the door interrupted them, and they hurried to hide in the kitchenette area. It was the hairdresser and some hotel staff carrying a specialty sink for washing the dye out, the time already come. He took off the hoodie so it wouldn’t stain.

While the stylist washed the dye out and applied the black, the others crowded around the two cell phones to decide the best picture, murmuring amongst themselves. Eventually they had a photo cropped and filtered.

When they showed it to Adrien, he was amazed they were able to get it to look so good with just a quick set-up. It showed his smile and Luka’s, but nothing above that, and the position looked natural. They looked happy, close. Just like it was a candid shot. He loved the way Luka’s painted nails offset his unpainted ones, their rings resting together in their interlaced hands. He wanted to get his nails done, too. Why not go all the way?

Marinette was born to do fashion, clearly, if she could put together a shoot like this in minutes.

One the stylist finished, Adrien used the computer to upload it to Instagram. It took a while to consider what message to include with it, but he settled on, “Someone very special in my life. Been keeping it quiet, but decided to go public finally. ♥”

He quickly shared it to all his official social media.

“Anyone want to bet on how long it takes my father to call?” he joked.

As it turned out, it took barely ten minutes, and Adrien’s phone was blowing up with social media notifications within the first minute. He rejected the call, and all the subsequent ones, and ignored the text messages. Especially the ones from Lila.

“You may want to turn off your phone so he is unable to track you,” Kagami commented.

The cacophony stopped once he followed her advice.

Luka smiled when his own phone pinged. “Juleka figured it out. She wants to know how long we’ve been dating.”

Marinette laughed, pulling out her sketchbook again. “Okay, on to the next phase. Details. How long, how many dates—and probably when you were supposed to be doing other stuff, Adrien, but Kagami and I can cover some of that. Maybe we can say we knew and helped you two spend time together?”

Then she got a wicked grin. “And you need to figure out pet names for each other, maybe?”

Adrien and Luka exchanged a look.

“I’m guessing Magic Fingers is inappropriate?” Luka drawled.

It took a while for them to stop laughing.

[who-is-olivia]

Track 3. Carolina

Harry Styles x OC

Olivia travels to Jamaica to help Harry on his album but finds him with another girl. [6.9k]

Genre: smut, fluff

Warnings: sexual language

October 2017

  Harry’s freaking out. For the last three weeks he had been brainstorming and writing songs almost automatically, pushed by the presence of so many creative people and the relaxing environment of Jamaica. But these couple of days, he’s been stuck. No two words seem to combine and make a perfect verse no matter how hard he tries, and he’s trying.

  Mitch can’t stand his wallowing anymore. He’s grown to love Harry as he is, but if he could delete the relentless perfectionist, he would. They’re running out of time and inspiration, so Mitch pulls out his secret weapon, getting his phone and walking to a far away corner of the manor. He dials the number and waits for her to pick up.

“Hey Mitch! How’s Jamaica?” Olivia asks.

  Harry and Olivia grew apart. They were still dear friends and nobody could replace each other in their hearts, but they still weren’t able to tune in the same frequency. One moment they had big plans for their wedding, the other they were on a break. When he booked the tickets to Jamaica, Mitch thought Oli was coming along – as she worked with Harry more than anyone in the team and is a brilliant songwriter – but she wasn’t in the plans. In fact, they barely spoke for the whole trip because Harry supposedly wants to rid himself from every other influence. Mitch was the one checking in on her, and that has been going on since they first met.

  Mitch and Olivia were more than just good friends. When he met her through Frank, he was of course intrigued. But then, working on her third album became something that he cherished, she’s a grand spectacle when she’s in action and it’s a privilege to watch. He grew extremely fond of her, it was almost offensive when Harry didn’t bring her along but it was also an opportunity for him to make a move.

“Fucking hot” he replies and welcomes her giggle on the other end of the line, “how you doin’? Everything good?”

“Good, yeah, Frank and I got some work to do, writing, producing, stuff like that”

“Are you terribly busy?”

“Not really... why?” she lingers on the last word with suspicious.

“We need you, Harry can’t write songs anymore” he blurts, looking around to make sure nobody’s listening. On her end of the line he hears a sigh.

“Mitchie, he doesn’t want me there”

“I do” he replies with a vocal pout, “I miss you, Oli”

He knows she’s smiling when she talks. “You’re such a softie!”

“Can you make it or not?”

“Ugh... fine, I’ll pack my bags” he hears someone approaching.

“Great! Let me know when to pick you up, bye!” he quickly ends the call and hides the phone in his pocket. The estranged visitor is Harry, half naked and wet from the seawater, coming around to hug his shoulder and look at the landscape. “What’s up?”

“It’s fucking awful man, I lost it” Harry mumbles, pulling him closer. “I was doing so good now I don’t feel it”

“Just give it a day or two, it’ll come to you” he bites back a smirk and rejoices in his clever use of words.

“Can’t wait” he unlaces Mitch and taps his back playfully. “We’re going out tonight, you coming?”

“Hm...” he stops, if Olivia arrives tonight he might need to get to the airport. It’s actually good that he’s away from the manor, it’ll make for a bigger surprise. “No, I’ll stay”

“Alright, grandma!” Harry taunts and takes a leave.

  Night comes and, as predicted, Olivia arrives at the airport. Mitch waits until all the guys leave the house so he can call a cab and meet up with her. Harry takes a lifetime to get ready and leave, but when he does he looks stylish and fresh, his perfume leaving a trace of him wherever he passes.

“You look smart” Mitch regards and he makes a little twirl.

“It’s been a while since we’ve been out but I still got it”

“Harry! Let’s go!” Ryan calls and he paces up to meet them, making sure to hi-5 Mitch before leaving the room. Once he hears the door closing and the engines leaving, he gets up and calls the cab.

  Harry and the boys end up in a club that looks a lot like a pool party with a privileged view of the Jamaican coast. For the first time in months he feels a bit like an alien, not only for his skin color but for the over-the-top stylistic clothes, as everyone else seems to wear swimsuits and very relaxed t-shirts.

“Thought you said it was a club” he complains to Ryan.

“This is a club, fancy pants!” he laughs despite Harry’s uncomfortable antic.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m gonna get a drink”    

  Harry turns to the right and steps down the stairs, aiming for the bartender. The loud Caribbean music is enjoyable but he’s not in the mood to dance, after the first embarrassment of walking in he’s quite unwilling to be here. He asks for a strong Sangria and takes a stool, focusing on his smartphone for a while. Every time he checks his texts, he hopes Oli will talk to him. Everything went south when she announced a tour right after he got the hiatus, and all the months he planned to spend with her went down the drain. Maybe she misinterpreted the fact he didn’t bring her to Jamaica, she might feel as if he’s trying to get back at her but that’s not what happened at all. He just doesn’t want the distraction, and their imperfect relationship is too distracting, when they’re together he can’t think of anything other than their difficulty to communicate. So they’re on a break, and he doesn’t like how that feels.

“Hey” a random female voice calls him and he turns to find a beautiful blonde lady smiling at him, “you’re not from here, right?”

A grin creeps on his face as he puts the phone back in his pocket. “What gave it away?”

“Honestly? The whole set” she points at his outfit and laughs, he does look dramatically out of place. “Where are you from?”

“England”

“Where in England?” she insists, sipping on some orange-reddish drink. As his eyes divert to inspect the drink, he unconsciously diverts to the creek of her shirt where he can see a faint outline of her breasts.

“Cheshire. You?” he shifts his gaze back to her face and notices her eyes wandered too, and by her sly grin she likes what she sees.

“I’m currently living in L.A, but my family is from Carolina” he nods, something in her accent made him frown when she answered L.A. Not only that, but the way she speaks makes him feel very welcome, as if he could do no wrong in her eyes.

“I love L.A” His drink finally arrives and he sips on it while she messes with her honey-colored wavy strands of hair. It’s hard to look away from her and it shows when he almost lets the liquid spill.

“It’s nice... but it’s not home, you know?” she squints her eyes, almost trying to hide how homesick she really is. “I didn’t want to move, but there was not much to do in my hometown so my grandma gave me some money and sent me to the big city”

“I know how it feels, Holmes Chapel was quite small”

“Do you miss it?”

“Just my mum, really. I like being out and about”

“Out and about?” she tries to mimic his accent but it doesn’t sound accurate, just really endearing.

  Back at the manor, Mitch helps Oli inside with her bag while she takes in the luxurious place. She looks around the living room then goes straight to the kitchen, him following short with an amused smile. She takes some fruits from the fridge and makes a small dish for herself, taking a seat on the isle counter as she so fondly does.

“Honestly, this place is beautiful” she says, biting on a green grape. “And look at you! You even got a tan line!” she mocks, fiddling with the collar of his shirt.

“I told you, it’s fucking hot out here”

“Mitch, I’m from Rio. You don’t know what heat is unless you’ve been there in the summer” he giggles while nodding, she’s got a point. “Hey, do you have coconut oil here?”

“Probably” he turns to check the cabinets and finds a small pot with a coconut logo in it. “Is it this?”

“Let me see” he hands it to her and after reading through quickly, she opens the lid. “Yeah, this is it. Turn around”

He frowns. “Why?”

“‘Cause your hair is disgusting” she insists, holding his shoulders and forcefully turning him. To make him more comfortable, she slides backwards and make room for him to lean his back on the counter between her legs. At first he’s a bit stiff, but when she runs her fingers through his scalp he feels something he can’t quite name. Her oil-soaked hands run from the root to the ends, massaging the length of his hair gently. He closes his eyes, leaning into her touch until she makes him face her to adjust the small hairs that frame his face. She’s close, so close he can feel her breath fanning his eyelashes, but before he can say anything all the boys walk through the front door.

“Hello there Mitch” Ryan greets walking into the intimate scene. “Who’s your friend?”

“This is Olivia” he helps her out of the counter and introduces her to the crew. “She came to help us with the writing”

“Oh! You’re the Olivia!” one of the guys points out. “Harry talks about you all the time”

“Really?” she smiles flattered.

“Where is he, by the way?” all the grins in the group fade a bit as they all stutter to find a decent answer that won’t offend her.

“He’s uh- he was with a few friends-“

“We didn’t want to take him, he was having fun”

  By their confusion, it’s clear they’re trying to tell a lie.

“Why don’t we settle you, huh? You can stay at Harry’s room, he won’t mind at all” Mitch tries clumsily to change the subject.

“I don’t think so” she shakes her head uncomfortably. He’s probably with a lady friend, judging by their embarrassment, and he doesn’t know she’s here. If he arrives with said lady friend and find his ex laying there, it’ll be so painfully awkward she can’t even fathom. “I’ll take the couch”

“Absolutely not! You’re a guest, take my room, I’ll share Derek’s” he suggests and Derek nods.

“Thanks Mitch” she smiles faintly and takes her bags.

  Down the coast, Harry and his lady friend – who’s called Townes – walk with their feet on the sand periodically being hit by small waves of seawater. She’s terribly sweet and captivating, he’s awfully kind and charming, they can see no other way for this night to end than with each other. At some given moment, Townes points a nice little bungalow with connection to the beach and walks them there.

“This is my place, do you wanna come inside?” she asks anxiously biting her lip.

“Sure” he nods and waits for her to make way. The place is clearly a summer house, there isn’t much furniture and the ones there are crumbling with rust due to the proximity to the ocean. Some of the rooms smell like mould and make him sneeze, but the overall charm of the house make it quite cozy. “This is nice” he plays with the shell lamps decorating the walls.

“You like it?” she leans on the same wall as he does, mere inches between their bodies.

He takes some time to answer, his head buzzing with alcohol and the desire to wrap an arm around her slim waist. “Yeah... I like it a lot” he opts to take a blonde strand of hair out of her eyes and she shies away, her eyes averting his. For a moment he wonders if he overstepped but then she moves, running her fingers over the open collar of his button shirt.

“Is this a butterfly?” she asks, trying to peak inside the fabric.

“It is... the other tattoos are just as stupid” he giggles embarrassedly.

“Can I?” she looks up at him, her pointer finger lingering over the next closed button and he nods. She tortuously opens them one by one, her eyes locked in his tanned stomach until she reaches the last one and pushes the fabric aside, gently leaning her touch against his warm skin. He tenses, urging to touch her in the same unapologetic way as she’s touching him. She slides her fingers to his ribcage, where some of the older tattoos are. Then, with one last subtle look at his eyes, she runs her finger down his stomach sparking a reaction wherever their skins meet until she reaches the vines on his v-line, tugging on the fabric of his trousers. He exhales sharply and she notices how... tense... he’s become.

  Instead of saying anything, Harry grips a handful of her hair and presses his lips on hers. She tastes of liquor and peach, her mouth warm and welcoming to his tongue. He regrets making it such an intense kiss at first, not taking the time to savor and please her, but the sensation of her curious touch worshiping his body loosens his reins. He presses her body against the wooden walls still with their lips attached, it’s his turn to feel her skin. She wears a orange shirt tugged inside her jeans, so he has to pull it up a bit clumsily before running his hands teasingly over her sides, the fabric clumping on his wrists, chilling hands sending goosebumps over warm skin. Just as a payback, he runs his touch over her stomach painfully slow, from her naval up to her bra and back down to the button of her trousers.

“Mhmm” she moans in his mouth and he smirks, having just confirmed she wants exactly what he does. He leaves the button there and slides to cup her ass, grabbing a nice handful of both cheeks and squeezing them apart.

“Townes” he parts the kiss momentarily but she plucks his lips.

“Yeah?”

He sighs, pulling her hips to crash against his. “I want you” she grins, breathing out a satisfied giggle.

“Come here” she pulls him to her bedroom, lights all down except for a window with a privileged view of the sea. She shuts the door and gets rid of her own shirt while Harry seats on the mattress still trying to process the situation. She cups his cheeks and kisses him intently, the strength unbalancing him for a moment as they almost fall backwards but get it right into a steamy make out. Aching for more, she takes his hands and presses their palms over the cup of her bra, urging for him to touch her. He squeezes them at first with her incentive, testing how they feel against his grasp, but then he digs into the fabric and looks for the two nubs throbbing inside the bra. He pinches her nipples curtly, sending tingles down to her core that immediately soaks. “Oh yeah...mhmm”

“You like that?” he pinches harder, wrenching a moan out of her. No one ever did that to her, she only ever had sex with her ex-boyfriend, and they barely experimented other than the missionary position. Although... there’s this one thing he always praised her for...

  She kisses him one last time before pulling his hands out of the way and getting on her knees. Harry’s breath quickens in anticipation as she undoes his button and zipper, struggling to reach the inside of his underwear and pull out his lean and long shaft. At first, she gives it teasing strokes from the base to the head, feeling his size, then she reaches to kiss his balls, earning a struggled groan.

“Right there... mhmm” he grasps a handful of her hair, trying to hold it out of the way. She makes her way up from his balls peppering his length with small kisses, his hardness doubling the length she has to take. He exhales sharply as she closes her mouth across the head, her soft tongue stroking the most sensitive parts of him. “Such a good girl... you’re gonna take it all in?” she looks up with his head on her mouth and smirks, slowly pulling him inside her hollow cheeks until her lips touch his base and all he can feel is the warm velvet of her mouth. “Fuck...”

  She bobs her head until she’s gasping for air, pulling him out and stroking his sticky shaft. The salty taste of precum is leaking and sliding over her tongue, so she recomposes quickly and hollows her cheeks once more, giving him the reins to thrust at will inside her throat, fucking her mouth until she pushes him away.

“You feel so fucking good” he strokes the hair he previously grasped, trying to provide at least some relief to her tension. He knew this night was going somewhere, and having her kneel between his legs was just the beginning for sure. She takes him inside her mouth again, and this time he thrusts her head faster, the warmth and the softness of her tongue against his stone hard shaft taking him closer and closer to an orgasm. “I won’t last long” he warns and she lets him out.

“You can come inside” she grins, putting him back in again in a haste so he won’t lose it. He humps inside her throat, she feels so good around him, so tight, he’s about to burst inside her delicious throat. With one final hard grip on her hair, he releases his thick cum inside her mouth and leaves it there for her to swallow. Taking his cock out feels sinful after such a good blowjob, he almost begs for another but it’s better to give her a break... and a reward.

“That was so good” he wipes the drool out of her chin and kisses her, tasting some of the salt he just dispersed. “Why don’t you climb over the bed and I’ll show you what I’m good at?”

  Back at the manor, Olivia lays awake in Mitch’s room with her earpods, listening to some of her favorite songs. The salmon bed sheets hug her body but give her no comfort, maybe it’s the jet lag, maybe it’s the anxiety of seeing Harry after a while, maybe it’s the fact that he’s probably getting some right now and it’s not with her. Sex with Harry is always wonderful, either when it’s flirtatious and exciting or when it’s passionate and calm, they never had troubles in their sex life. Maybe this is what they’re missing right now, a nice shag to remind them how connected they still are. Sadly, that seems like a distant prospect – for her, not so much for him.

  Right now, he has a beautiful woman on her fours screaming his name as he fucks her senseless. His grip on her waist tightens as her pulsing cunt throbs around him, showing the first signs of her orgasm. Townes reaches behind her, wrapping her fingers around his wrist as he violently thrusts inside her, skin slapping against skin, his long shaft reaching the perfect spot to make her gasp in pleasure.

“Harry, I-I... fuck I’m so close mhmm” she cries, leaning her head down but he pull it back up by the hair. Just a bit more, he’s close too, just a few more well placed thrusts and he cums, pushing all the way inside her. To help her get there, he humps in one more time, violently, making her lose balance. He keeps doing that and reaches between her legs to flick her pinky clit, causing her to scream in pleasure and tighten around him, her muscles tensing and twitching until she gives into her weight exhausted.

  Harry pulls out of her stretched cunt and removes the rubber, tying it on a knot before throwing it on the trashcan beneath the study. He turns to Townes, spread out in her bed and panting, the tingles of her orgasm still running through her veins. He climbs over her and strokes a few strands of hair out of her sweat drenched forehead, she eyes him and smiles tiredly.

“Hope you’re not passed out” he kisses her cheek and runs a teasing hand down her sides, “because I’m not done with you”

“Oh yeah?”

“I’m gonna fuck you all night” he whispers sensually on the shell of her ear. Olivia used to say a gentleman makes his lady cum three times before falling asleep beside her. Fuck... why did he remember her?

  He can recall vividly that time when she whispered those same words straddled across a fucked up post-orgasm version of him. The way her braids bounced on her shoulders while she rode him, her tongue sucking on his finger when she was about to cum, the way her dark skin rubbed against his fair one when fucked her from behind, hugging her warm body close, hearing her soft moans when he reaches that particular spot...

“Then we better get started” Townes replies, dragging him back to reality.

  At daybreak, Olivia wakes from her short nap with the sunlight creeping through the blinds Mitch forgot to close. She gets up a bit sore after playing with herself for most of the night to compensate for her loneliness, but she’s smiling nonetheless. Nothing like giving yourself some love to start the day with a bang. She hears knocks on the door and immediately try to lessen her grin.

“Come in” she yells and so Mitch walks in with swim shorts.

“Morning Oli” he greets.

“Good morning, Mitchie” she walks to hug his stiff self only to be reminded she’s only on her knickers and tank top. “We’re going swimming?” she tugs on his shorts.

“Yeah, we rented some stand up-paddles, do you wanna come?”

“Sure, but... aren’t we here to work?” she mocks, getting a bikini from her bag.

“We work after lunch, we’re not that lazy” he replies, walking back to where he came from as to let her change.

  Harry still hasn’t returned, confirming her theory that he got laid last night. Mitch says nothing and neither do the other guys, and she’s thankful for that. They’re on a break but it still stings that he’s getting some and she isn’t in anyway included in that.

  The party that walks to the beach takes lots of chairs, a cooler with foods and drinks, all that along with the stand up-paddle equipment. Back in her hometown – where beach outings are basically routine – things were simpler: she’d take only her bag and a silky towel to sit over, nothing more. While the guys establish themselves, she drops her bag with her silky towel and undresses.

“Harry just texted, he’s on his way” Ryan informs, “we better wait for him”

Oli and Mitch exchange an understanding look of tension, and she’s not in the mood for that. “Alright, I’ll just take a dip then. Mitch, you coming?”

“Yeah, he is” one of the men mock and the others tag along with laughter, messing with the tiny bikini she’s wearing.

“Very funny guys, can’t believe I’m stranded on this island with a bunch of 12-year-olds” he complains, walking along with Oli to the shoreline. She has no trouble walking in the sea but he refrains. “Too fucking cold”

She laughs at this stiffness. “I’ve got a trick for that...”

“Oh god...”

“You have to run and jump at once, no hesitation. Ready?”

“God no” he whimpers. She takes his hand anyways.

“On three. 1... 2... 3...” they run together until Mitch slips his hand out of her grasp and runs out of her reach, leaving her to play on the ocean alone. From a distance, he could mistake her for a mermaid, she’s just really at home swimming on the salty water. Thinking about it, this is the closest he’s ever seen her to her home, and that’s a privilege.

  On the sand, Harry walks in hand in hand with a blond girl none of the boys recognize. They smile and laugh in their bathing suits, carrying all the beach paraphernalia to join them. Instead of basking in his arrival, the men tense.

“Guys, this is Townes, she was in the club last night remember?” he introduces to the bunch, who stop preparing the paddles and boards to stand around awkwardly.

“Hi!” she waves shyly to the guys, who just nod embarrassedly.

“This is Mitch, he wasn’t in the club” he guides her to greet him and once again he’s also quite stiff.

“I love your hair” she comments, trying to break the ice.

“Thanks”

“It looks good, what did you put in there?” Harry strokes his hair and immediately the smell of coconut oil spreads in the air. It triggers him.

  He knows that smell, he would recognize it anywhere. How many nights did he fall asleep beside it and woke up to a pillow with that particular scent? It takes him back to nuzzling a silk sheet soaked with coconut oil, to sleepless nights when he would put her hair sheet back in place gently and pin it down so she wouldn’t wake up with messy roots – which made her very moody, as she turned out to be very vain. The smell brings everything about her back.

  Once he turns to the ocean his jaw falls agape. Few feet away from him is Olivia, the estranged love of his life, walking out of the ocean perfectly without even losing her balance, parading in a tiny and provocative bikini, twist rope braids framing her face beautifully. She smiles in his direction, not missing the presence of the other girl in the crew. The last thing she wants is to create an uncomfortable atmosphere where she wasn’t even invited, so she goes along with the ride. Who knows, the girl can be nice. She’s above letting a guy create discord between ladies.

“Oli... what are you doing here?” Harry rushes to close the distance and hug her wet body. This might be awkward but it doesn’t change the fact that he missed her. She laces his neck and squeezes him in a tight embrace before taking some distance to check him out.

“Mitch said you needed backup”

“Of course he did” he notices Mitch shrugging.  

“I guess I’m overstepping a bit” she comments between them while looking at Townes. Before he can think of a clumsy excuse, she makes a move to greet her. “Hi, I’m Olivia”

“Nice to meet you, I’m Townes” they smile at each other.

“Sorry, my hands are cold, the water is freezing” she plays a bit to break the ice while Harry shoots Mitch with a furious gaze.

“Don’t look at me like that, you were annoying me” Mitch crosses his arms over his chest, trying to keep his voice down.

“Then you though you could just call her here and be done with it?”

“That’s exactly what I though”

“Bloody hell...”

“Sorry, I didn’t think you’d find another girl in one night” he excuses, watching Oli and Townes at a distance. “Maybe I lacked imagination”

“You did”

“Or, you know, in my brilliant mind I knew that if you just talked to her that’d give you the spark” Harry shakes his head dismissively, but slowly cuts the movement thinking he might have a point. “And since you wouldn’t call her-“

“Let’s go everyone, before the tides stop helping” one of the guys calls out.

“Are you coming?” Oli asks.

“No, I’ve got a flight to catch tonight, better pack up” she replies looking behind her, at where Harry and Mitch are arguing. “It was nice to meet you”

“Nice to meet you too” she smiles, hugs her quickly and leaves to get her paddles while Townes walks up to Harry. Oli watches from the corner of her eye the way they say their goodbyes, exchanging phone numbers, giggling, whispering in each other’s ears... she looks away and sighs, missing the times when she used to do the same. When she realizes the party is heading for the water, she picks her board and tags along.

“Harry, you coming?” Ryan asks.

“In a minute” he replies. Mitch hurries a bit with his materials to meet up with her.

“That went alright” he drops with a hint of irony.

“Shut up” she dismisses lightly with a chuckle.

  She lands the board over the water and calmly paddles through small waves, the sea is very gentle. When they pass the shore break, it’s just a matter of standing up and paddling through. Underneath her, she can se the fish swimming in groups, taking cover under the reef, around her she can see distant islands, popping from the light blue surface. The sun is yet to reach it’s peak so the heat isn’t unbearable, when she sits on the board and closes her eyes, it feels like home. The other guys make a circle far from her and mess around with each other, but she enjoys a little private moment – that is, until her ears catch the sound of water breaking on another surface and look around to find Harry watching her from his board.

For a moment, they speak nothing, just look at each other with a bit of heartache. “You changed your braids”

She smiles fondly. “You grew a stubble, finally” he laughs, “it looks good”

“So do you. But then again, when did you ever look bad?”

“Not a day in my life” she taunts smugly and they return to a more cheerful quietness.

“I’m sorry about Townes, I didn’t know you were coming” Harry breaks the silence.

“It was meant to be a surprise”

“It was a nice surprise, I’m still happy to see you” she smiles bittersweetly and looks down.

“No, you’re not”

“I am” she still averts his eye, so he holds her board and climbs over it, making her almost lose her balance while exhaustedly shaking her head. “It was just a one-night-stand”

“Harry... you don’t need to explain yourself to me, we’re not together anymore” she replies gently, not willing to take a trip down memory lane and reevaluate their whole history.

“So what? You’re still important to me” he presses. They were together for 5 years, few months ago they were engaged, of course he owes her at least the decency of candor.

“I knew this was a bad idea” she grunts, burying her head on her hands, before recomposing. “Look... I’m not here to get you back or mess up your love life, I’m here because we work great together and you need help-”

“And while we’re at it, we could figure out what’s going on between us” she notices some of the boys can hear them from afar so she slides closer to him.

“What’s going on is that you can’t live with the fact that I also have a career!”

“What?!”

“You heard me!” she huffs angrily, “I’m not a huge popstar, I have to work to get myself out there, I can’t quit everything and play dollhouse when you finally get some time off!”

“That’s not true-“ he objects.

“Then why the fuck did you come here? Without even telling me? Do you know the mess I was when I finally got home and you weren’t there?”

“I told you I wanted to go!”

“Wanting and planning are very different things!”

He chuckles humorlessly, “Alright, that’s fair. But before you went on tour I though we planned on getting married, or was that also a wish?”

“Fuck off, I was going to marry you. Don’t get clever with me”

They stand at an impasse. “I thought we made decisions together, love. The fact we both worked so well is what made me want to marry you in the first place”

“Do you still think about that?”

“Of course I do!” he takes her hand to grab her attention, “I spent 5 years of my life with you, I made loads of plans, do you think I could just forget that?”

“It sure seems so” she raises a brow.

“Do I need to pull a ‘we were on a break’ moment right here in the middle of the ocean?” she tries to hold it but it’s stronger than her. She laughs hysterically as Harry takes advantage of her openness to get closer. “Also, am I supposed to believe you haven’t shagged anyone in three months?”

“That...” she lifts a finger, “is true-“

“Knew it!”

“I was sad and horny, leave me alone!” she raises her voice and pushes his shoulder lightly.

“Who was it?”

“I’m not gonna tell you”

“Was it Matty?” she raises an eyebrow at him in disbelief.

“Really? That’s your first guess?”

“Come on, I need to know for professional purposes” he insists mockingly, “so I know who to diss in the album”

“You’re such a child” she rolls her eyes, “It was Andy”

“Who?”

“Andy, Andrew?” it doesn’t ring a bell, “Hozier?”

“Fuck no” he chuckles, trying to picture the logistics of this exchange. “He’s twice as tall as you!”

“It doesn’t matter... horizontally speaking” she smirks fairly proud of herself.

“Can’t believe you fucked ‘Take Me to Church’ guy” they both snort at the title while they both let their short-lived laughter fade naturally.

“You know what? I’m really happy that you came here” her smile dies to a smirk. Despite getting caught in all of that relationship conundrum, she’s still the funniest, loveliest, most tantalizing person he’s ever known. “I missed you”

“I missed you too” she replies.

He leans closer to her, invading a bit of her personal space but she doesn’t back away, “Can’t we just pick up from where we left? Forget about the wedding, the tours and everything, just stay with me?”

“Do you think that could work?”

“It better work, ‘cause you’re all I can think about love. It’s ridiculous, I’m coming up with a whole album about you-“

“Oh, you didn���t...” she shakes her head in disbelief.

“I had this plan to reach out after we went back home, maybe pick up the wedding plans and then give this album made of a bunch of silly love songs-” he mocks himself, rejoicing in the feeling of breaking through her walls.

“You’re fucking ridiculous, you know that?” she replies, tired of fighting against his persistence.

“I know” he leans to kiss her and she doesn’t shy away, just welcomes his cold lips against hers. He cups her cheek in a way his hand seems to fit perfectly, and it feels like a punch in the guts how perfect she feels against him. Townes is good, all the other girls he ever hooked up with were incredible people in their own way, but Oli is extraordinary. A kiss is not just a kiss, a touch is not just a touch, being with her is an art even when they don’t see eye to eye.

Olivia is the first to break the kiss. “We’re getting so predictable, why do we keep breaking up just to get back?” he laughs.

“‘Cause we’re not boring, love”

“Alright, but we gotta fix this communication thing” he nods vehemently. “Because I don’t know how many more years I can go on with that messy ‘now I’m here, now I’m there’ thing”

“I was thinking the same thing” he pecks the corner of her mouth, “See? Totally connected” he licks her cheek and in a spasm she pushes him in the water.

  The rest of the morning they spend on the ocean, even when the other guys retire to the manor. She lays on her board, back flat against the harsh surface and Harry sprawled over her, head on her chest, her legs sunk in the seawater to make room for him. If he was mad at Mitch earlier, he’s not anymore. Nothing in the world feels as peaceful as the soft rumbling of the ocean and her fingers running against his scalp. It’s almost torture when they have to leave, paddling back to the house and walking in everyone else’s lunch.

“Thank god you’re back, we have to work on something, anything Harry!”

“Alright, I’ll just get a shower and meet you in the studio” he replies, leading Olivia with a hand on her waist. Mitch’s gaze on them lingers a bit longer, as he soon comes to realize he had no chance to make a move. “Where did they put you?”

“Mitch’s”

“Why don’t you bring your stuff to my room?”

“Because I’m fucking lazy, that’s why” she mocks. “I’ll be there in a minute” before she pulls away, he holds her close and presses a lingering kiss against her lips, brushing his stubble against her chin.

“Ok” he untangles from her and walks in the opposite direction.

  Few minutes later, she drops her bag on the bed and looks around the luxurious bedroom. She takes particular notice on how distinctly Harry makes a room his own, leaving few clothes scattered but not in a messy way: some are folded over the table, some are draped over the chair’s backboard, everything is organized except for one of them which is just thrown over the bed. She picks the flowery blouse and it is a bit wet – it’s the one he was wearing at the beach, he probably carried it with wet hands – but she dresses it anyway, checking herself out in the mirror with it. It looks great, as often his clothes do, that’s why they often wore each other’s clothes, but there’s something strange. Inside the pocket, there’s a piece of paper.

She’s got a family in Carolina

So far away but she says I remind her of home

She’s got a book for every situation

Gets sent to parties without invitation

There’s not a drink that I think could sink her

How would I tell her that she’s all I think about?

  Oli puts the paper back in the pocket and muffles a gasp. If she came to help him write songs, she’s awfully late. Something in her stomach turns and she feels like an alien in the room, in fact, an alien in the house. Completely out of place.

  She doesn’t mention the paper when he leaves the bathroom, nor at lunch, nor at the writing session where he also doesn’t bring that up. The tension of that unnamed subject plagues her all day as she fears the moment it will rise so much that she wants it to happen soon and be done with it. So, later in the evening, after they all retire to their chambers, she addresses it.

Harry is helping her to dry the braids with a towel, one by one, while they watch a silly romcom. With her cross-legged between his legs, he notices her mind isn’t really at it. “You’re strangely not-chatty today, what happened? Am I... rushing a bit?”

“No... That’s not it, it’s just... I’m sorry Harry, I wasn’t sneaking, I tried on your shirt and I found something...” she vaguely explains but recognition immediately dawns on his face.

“Right... about that-“

“You should take it to the guys” she interrupts, turning between his legs to face him. “It could be good”

“You’re not mad about it?”

“Who cares if I’m mad? It’s your album!”

“Yes, but are you mad about it?”

She huffs, opting for the truth. “I am, but it’s not what you’re probably thinking!”

“I’m thinking that it’d be awkward to help your fiancée write a song about another person” he argues, knowing better than to assume she’s jealous or petty or that she feels replaced. Olivia might have changed, but the foundations are still the same, and he knows her architecture by heart. She’s not jealous at all, she often taunts him about both of them being with other people, she never objected to his affairs with Victoria Secret models – she often participated on them –, so it’s quite far fetched to believe she’s jealous of Townes.

“Alright, it is what you’re probably thinking” he smiles smugly, leaning against the bed’s backboard. She picks on his hand earnestly. “Be honest with me”

“Always” he toys with their intertwined fingers.

“Do you want me to go home?” he ponders for a while, trying to examine his feelings and finding the perfect answer.

“I want a piece of you in the album” he explains, leaving the backboard and adjusting himself in the cushions until she’s on breathing distance. “I want to write that one song that, when I’m onstage about to perform it I have to give a bit of backstory about you, and about how this song was made” she smiles fondly, reaching to stroke his sweet cheeks while she drowns on his love drunk eyes. “After that, you pack your stuff and get the fuck out of here-“

She pushes his face away but he holds her close, trying to kiss her despite the resistance. “Yeah? And after I get the fuck out you can write about that pretty American girl you hooked up with”

“Deal”

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Masterlist

[heyktula]

Fic Breakdown for Closer, Chapter One (aka, the DVD Extras)

So, chapter one of Closer, the first installment in Somewhere in Canada (the Terror kink AU)... went up today! And let me tell you what, I am hype because this is my very first longfic in the Terror fandom, and it's centered around a subject very near and dear to my heart—BDSM. It's a love letter to power exchange, the sheer joy of kink, conventions, and sex education.

Like other fic breakdowns I've done, this'll be in three parts—technical notes (like POV and stylistic choices), story notes (like characterization and kink info), and then, instead of the editing section I usually include, I'm going to talk about specific lines at the end.

I blame Edward for the line notes, tbh. I love him, but he's a himbo, and many things went unobserved in the course of this story.

(Okay, fine, it's not entirely his fault. Some of it is that he's just so steeped in kink that he doesn't think twice about a bunch of the stuff going on.)

Technical Considerations

Inspiration: So this fic is a love letter to kink, and kink education, and conventions, which in my experience can be life-changing opportunities to meet people with similar interests, and also to be able to do some exploration of your own and figure out what makes you tick. I'm pretty sure there's an AU version of me that makes their living off kink education and the convention circuit, but (un)fortunately, in this particular universe, I am a fic writer (and, occasionally, a paid one as well).

Closer is also a love letter to rough physical play. I remember sitting in my very first workshop on the topic, and just being wide-eyed that a) this is a thing, b) it looks fun. (It is, actually, fun.) There's a ton of reasons I love it—and hopefully, after Closer concludes, you'll be able to see some of the reasons why—but I also love that physical play doesn't have any financial barriers to entry. (The irony of Edward "rich boy" Little being heavily into it has not escaped me.)

Timeline:  Hilariously, I actually started this verse for a Fitzier fic—it takes place six months from Closer, at the winter version of the conference—but while I was working my way through the Fitzier setup, I was like 'fuck it, I should write a quick one-off joplittle to establish the verse', and lo and behold, my "quick one-off" turned out to be sixty k, and it runs parallel to a Tozer/Irving that I  have yet to write, but which is visible in Closer if you squint. So, uh, oops.

So this story fits into a very specific space in the timeline—that is, it's prior to Fitzjames and Crozier having met, but it's after the (second) Cracroft/Crozier breakup. (If you were wondering if that's why Francis isn't running his own damn booth, yes, that's why. He's very likely depression drinking in London at this very moment.)

Setting: I wanted to stay true to the spirit of the whole, you know, boatload of white men going to Canada and being confused, but I wanted them to go for better reasons. It's so rare that we get shows set in Canada, you know? And I feel very passionately about our winters here, in that I complain about them while they're happening, but I do also kind of enjoy the challenge, in a really fucked-up sort of a way. So I set the fic in Canada too, and then, because I was explicitly setting it here, I also got to lean into a bunch of Canadian stereotypes (like Goodsir living his best life in plaid and denim and the inevitable Tim Horton's jokes) and I actually had a lot of fun doing it, so I guess that was something I learned about myself.

Story Considerations:

Primary Kinks: So most people involved in BDSM have a "thing"—you know, the thing that they care about more than they care about any other things. And one of the most fun things for me about creating an AU like this is going through the characters and figuring out what everybody's niche is. Like, it makes sense to me that Hickey would be that edgeplay asshole that's in the kink scene specifically so he can fuck with people. Tozer having a military fetish (and also being a bit of a kink snob) totally fits with his whole "now what the bloody hell do people think that means?" speech.

If you've ever been to a fetish convention, you've seen guys like Blanky, who have been in the scene forever, and made their name handcrafting BDSM gear. They're easy to talk to, and will totally tell you about that time they ran an entire scene using only items found in their kitchen. You've seen women like Sophia Cracroft, who have a cluster of people surrounding her at all times, and who is never short of someone who will bring her tea if it looks like she's thirsty. And you've also seen guys like Ross, who are reasonably famous in their areas of expertise—the kind of guy that you see across the hall, and you're like "shit, is that James Clark Ross?" (And it is! Holy shit!)

Canadian Kink: So! I live in the prairies, and it's as conservative as hell out here. That means there's some specifics to kink culture that I'm not sure translate to other parts of Canada—and they definitely don't translate back to England. For example, every public event I've ever been to (by which I mean every event that wasn't being held in someone's house) has mandated that penetration cannot occur during the event. No toys in orifices, no bits in other bits, no mucous membranes touching, no oral, no fingering, no handjobs, no intercourse, all that kind of stuff. I'm not convinced that you couldn't have sex in a dungeon in, say, Vancouver, or Toronto, or any of the other bigger centers—but that hasn't been my experience in the prairies, and I kept those restrictions for plot purposes in Closer. (Sorry, Jopson. I promise I still love you.)

Canadian weapons laws being what they are also means that some of the gear that's totally okay in other places (like butterfly knives) is totally illegal in Canada (sorry, Tozer. No apologies for you, Hickey.). The sap gloves that Edward is mourning are, unfortunately, one of the items that get lost in the shuffle. Sap gloves are pretty neat—they're leather gloves which are weighted with lead on the knuckles/backs of the hands. They make your punches harder, but they also protect your hands—and, for somebody like Edward, who does a lot of punching when he plays, that protection is definitely beneficial. Plus, they're a bit of a signalling thing—having a set of sap gloves hanging off your belt makes it very clear what kind of things you're into, and I think Edward is a bit bereft not having that this weekend, because he's not used to having to make those introductions cold.

Edgeplay: There's sort of a, er. Spectrum of what is and isn't considered to be "acceptable" kink, even within the kink community. Some kinds of kink are seen as more publicly acceptable, and some kinds are relegated back to the fringes and the dark corners. In the context of Closer, that means Tozer, Hickey, and Little are our resident edgeplayers. This isn't a judgement on the type of play they do (well, it is a judgement on Hickey, but we don't have time to go into *gestures* all that), but it is a statement about the way that type of play is perceived. Sophia Cracroft can, with very little finessing, put photographs of her in rope suspension onto her various social media accounts, and as long as she's clothed, it's perfectly acceptable content to just have out there, and people are going to call it artistic and Instagram-worthy. Tozer, on the other hand, ain't getting any recordings of interrogation scenes he's run posted anywhere except to Pornhub.  (The less we say about Hickey's knife-play, the better.)

Similarly, because the rough physical play that Edward does looks fairly intense from the outside (and is pretty intense from the inside), he gets to live in the not-that-publicly-acceptable area of kink. The area of kink where they usually put the crash mats at the far end of the dungeon, because that way, if you don't want to watch two people whaling on each other with their fists, you don't need to see it. This "stigma" is important in Edward's conception of himself, because on one hand, we see in his conversation with Goodsir that Edward absolutely knows his shit and, hero-worship of Crozier aside, has the knowledge base to be a fantastic educator in his own right—but we also see the subtle kinkshaming coming from both Hickey and Tozer about where Edward's place is in all this. That is to say—Edward's place is with them, in the dark shadowy spots, and not in the "socially acceptable" circles that Crozier's circle of people (Jopson included) are perceived to be running in. (There's a sense, coming from Tozer, that there's no point in Edward pursuing getting onto the org committee for the conference itself, because they won't want someone like Edward there—but, again, that's some pretty insidious kinkshaming coming from Tozer, and we could all just let that go and be better for it. Goodsir clearly doesn't feel like Edward's presence would be a detriment.)

So, yeah. I'll excuse Tozer's kinkshaming bullshit temporarily, as he needs to sort himself out. I don't think he's trying to drag Edward down so much as he just thinks Edward's being a bit delusional, and wants to save him the disappointment when Jopson invariably rejects him for being way too kinky and intense. (If Edward is moping around all weekend, he'll be in the hotel room, and how's Tozer supposed to get his dick sucked by random hookups then? "Yeah, come on back to mine, don't mind my roommate, he's a moody bastard and won't participate even if we ask." Not winning any prizes there, lads.)

I won't excuse Hickey's kinkshaming; he's definitely trying to make Edward feel like shit on purpose. I could speculate as to the reasons, but they're probably gross. (I mean, I know the reasons. Hickey's gonna Hickey.)

(There's a whole entire essay I could write about incorrect assumptions that literally everyone is making about the type of play Thomas Jopson must be into, based on his nice hair and nice eyes and nice smile, but I'll just let Jopson handle those corrections on his own, as he's very capable of doing so.)

Concerning the Chapter Title: If you were gonna take a risk, Neddo, the social was the time to do it—and you done fucked that up, sweetheart.

Tomorrow is another day. Give it another shot then, yeah?

Line Notes:

Edward looks across the hall again, cringes. “No, fuck, that’s—no, I think that’s Sophia Cracroft, Sol, I’m not—Christ. Sophia Cracroft, Jesus.”

I will never not find this introduction to Edward Little fucking hilarious, because he comes off as so competent from Jopson's POV when he's arguing with Hickey in the parking lot, and yet the moment we see Edward in his own POV, he's just a mess. I love him very much, but he's a mess. This was one of the deciding factors in the dual POV as well—I knew going in that the brunt of the story was going to be from Edward's POV, but weaving in those occasional Jopson bits lets us see how Edward looks from the other side.

(Also, Tozer three hundred percent knows exactly who Sophia Cracroft is, because he demonstrates that, like, two sentences later, meaning that he’s literally just winding Edward up here, and it goes right over Edward’s head. God.)

It’s the older guy across the hall that’s laughing his ass off, but the cutie is standing right next to him, looking down at his phone, his ears charmingly pink. 

As a reminder, Edward is wearing a white tank, and just stretched his arms out behind his back. The nipple piercings are very obvious, Jopson was three hundred percent staring, and Blanky definitely caught him and is laughing his ass off about it.

“…I know what this is about,” Tozer says, tying an orange bandana around his left bicep.

The orange bandana is a hanky code thing—which, yes, it's dated, and it's not really in use anymore, but Tozer seems like the kind of guy that would tattoo his kinks on his forehead just so everybody could see them if they would all fit. Failing to find any way to gracefully do that, we instead have the orange hanky ("anything goes") on the left arm ("top").

(Older guy, thankfully, is wearing a ring on the fourth finger of his left hand. Cutie isn’t. So there’s no obvious problems there.)

Jopson not wearing a ring indicates literally nothing about whether or not he's available, but I guess whatever makes Edward feel better about himself is fine. He's right with his assumption about Jopson, in this case, but it's literally nothing more than a wild guess, and the mental hoops he's jumping through only exist to make him feel better about himself.

(Esther usually attends these events with Blanky—but somebody needed to hold down the fort in London this time, and so she's in London at present. It's for the best, she can check on Francis every so often.)

[Hickey] sticks his hand in the pocket of his latex cargo shorts...

I won't take criticism on this fashion statement, constructive or otherwise.



So, that's it for this week! Chapter two, Aware, goes up next Friday! See you then! And if you have questions or anything in the meantime, you can always drop me an ask on tumblr or Curious Cat!

[velvetgons]

hyunsuk as your boyfriend

word count; 3.3k i’m sorry 

warnings; hmm i don’t think anything but possibly swearing i can’t be sure!! 

requested; no uwu i’m a new blog :) 

(also to gif makers; if you don’t want me to use your gif for any reason please just tell me and i’ll remove it!! apologies in advance if that’s the case!!) 

gif credit; bggon on tumblr!! please tell me if you’d like it removed :)

ok so uh let’s just give it a lil background

you decide to go out n get some new clothes bc u know. u got some extra money to spend why not

and you take some of your friends!! and you’re shopping and having a good time and everything is great

until you see this cute lil blue dress and you’re like ‘that’s The One, i need that dress……very necessary to my daily life’

so you tell your friends that you’re just gonna go find your size and they’re all “yes!! get the cute dress!! we’ll see you at the check-out!!”

so you’re about to grab the dress when you see,, the exact same dress except this time! it’s in red

so now you’re completely torn obviously because :// do you want the blue one or the red one,, they’re both cute,, but what’s gonna look nicer on you,,

and you’re just kinda stood there staring at them both because it turns out both colours have your size and now you don’t know what to do with urself

n just as your about to pout and go find one of your friends to help you pick you hear a Boy VoiceTM  

and it’s just a quiet lil, “you should get the red one!”

but it makes you turn around because whom said that to you

and you see….a cute boy….just kinda smiling at you while he looks at a shirt or something,, and he smiles even bigger when you look at him and just kinda shrugs before saying, “it’s a prettier colour!!”

part of you is like ?? i’m not gonna get the red one just because a random stranger thinks it’s a cool colour

but the other part of you wins because it’s like “:) you’re right red is a rlly cute colour :) i’ll get this one thank u fashion advice stranger”

and he smiles back at you before he turns back to the clothes he’s looking at and you know you’re supposed to just grab the dress and go now

but. you,, want the cute boy stranger to turn around again,, so u grab another random two articles of clothing and tap him on the back to be like “what about out of these two??”

and you just. keep doing it. and he keeps answering,, to the point where he doesn’t even turn around anymore because he’s giving you all his Focus

so now you have an armful of clothes that ur not gonna buy and he’s offering to carry some for u while u get them checked out and ur like “haha! of course! this is a great idea!”

and like. he isn’t dumb he knows what ur doing so he’s like. hyping himself up in his head like ‘come on!!! she’s clearly into you!! you’ve got this!! just…ask her out and if she says no! it’s all good! we’ve got this bro!’

so he takes a deep ass breath (n u think for a second that you’ve done something wrong) n is like “or…u could like idk man just…idk get the cute red dress and wear it…when i pick you up for a date…maybe like…tomorrow or something…” and in his head it sounds really smooth n nonchalant

but in reality it’s just a jumble of incoherence but you heard date and tomorrow so you’re like “yes!!!!!!!!!! yes this is Very Good i am free tomorrow pls do that” n give him your phone to save his number in

and he’d save it as ‘fashion god (a.k.a hyunsuk)’ with like fifty hearts next to it

((also as a side note you’d have to text him ur own name because he wouldn’t even ask for it in the store…… a charismatic king))

and that would be the story you’d have to give to your kids one day about how you met their dad :) very romantic

anyway! with that being said! let’s get into actually dating him

hyunsuk is a Loud Boy and is most of the time a Happy Boy

and he would constantly try and make sure that you’re feeling equally as happy as him because!! he really just hates the idea of you being upset or down

he hates it so much when your upset because of something outside of his control (like school, work, college) because he just doesn’t know how to fix it?? and he’d resort to doing really dumb stuff to get you to smile at him !! because seeing you :( makes his heart physically hurt

honestly he would melt if you did the same thing for him…..like….if you showed clear concern for him or hyped him up in anything he does the babey smile you know the one loll and feels his heart go zooooooom

i don’t think he’d actively go out of his way to show affection in public but it would definitely just happen

like. sometimes he’s just walking and the next thing he knows he’s tangling his hand with yours and giving your knuckles each a lil kiss

or you’re standing in front of him and his arms just kinda outstretch and pull you really close to him and he’s burying his face into the crook of your neck

or you’re just stood next to him minding your business when you’re tugged into his side and feel him leaving lil kisses on your cheeks while he calls you cute

all of his friends are Disgusted and beg him to not do that right in front of them 24/7 but like. he genuinely doesn’t notice until he’s already done it

however! if you initiated affection (in public) he,,,, blushes,,

in private you two are always attached somehow so it’s more unusual for you two not to be touching

his favourite form of affection would be when you were cuddling and you snuggled your face into his chest ! he’d literally go blank for a second before he’d yell something abt u being cute

i also personally see hyunsuk as someone who would wanna talk about so much all the time??? like…his mind is just buzzing with stuff all the time and he’d love having someone to share that with

and you’d have to do this late at night a lot (because of his schedule) but when he’d come to yours and if you were still awake, you’d both kinda just lay facing each other in bed with ur pinkies linked really loosely while you talked about a bunch of different stuff

they’d be long conversations too!!! you wouldn’t need to ask each other what you’d been up to that day because you’d be talking pretty much all day oof

so you’d be talking to each other about random stuff you thought of!! he’ll ask you about your views on stuff like ghosts and aliens and conspiracy theories, and you’ll get to hear his, and he’ll talk to you about his favourite songs and why they’re his favourites and he’ll really want you to explain yours too, he’d also ask dumb stuff like “do u think fish can see water” and would want a genuine answer 

but overall those would go on for hours and you’d only know he was ready to finally sleep when he curled an arm around your waist to pull you closer to him

speaking of cuddling!! hyunsuk would go between being the little spoon or having you lie on his chest to sleep

he loves being the little spoon because,, it’s such a warm experience,, so safe,, and bundled up,, and he’d definitely wrap himself up in a blanket before doing it for Maximum Comfort

but! he also loves having you sleep on his chest because “you’re my baby!! you’re so small it’s where you belong!!” (even if you’re taller than him hyunsuk what) he just,, loves how close you feel to him when he knows you can hear his heartbeat and he can feel how warm you are and he can see you falling asleep and it makes him feel so !! warm inside

he’d definitely introduce you to his friends really quick into dating you lol because?? what if you guys don’t get along?? they literally mean The World to him??

but of course you would i mean. what’s not to like

and they’d tell you embarrassing stories about him (seunghun would go into immense detail of how hyunsuk talked about your first date, including an oscar worthy rendition of hyunsuk talking about your first kiss)

you’d probably tell hyunsuk that you were scared of byounggon and hyunsuk would CACKLE

he’d be like “him?? he?? he’s a Baby! he’s the Sweetest Boy!” and then place all of his efforts into getting you and byounggon to be certified best friends

and like. it would work but more because you and byounggon had to bond over who would take care of him in his chaotic inventive ways to get you and byounggon to talk and communicate (including: accidentally locking you two in the practice room so you’d talk through ‘your issues with one another’ which would literally end up with you showing byounggon dumb pictures you had of hyunsuk on your phone and him giving you music recommendations)

[a/n; using that as a way to talk about something else,, writer of the year :)] we all obviously know that hyunsuk is very music orientated as a person!!! and he wouldn’t hesitate to share that with you through either his performances, his producing, or just music he likes

he’d make multiple playlists for you that would be for different things! (songs he wants to show you, songs that remind him of you, songs he wants to you to listen to and tell him whether performing them would be a good idea etc.)

he’d also love for you to show him your favourite music because he’d personally see music sharing as something very intimate and special!!! and if you ever told him about songs that reminded you of him he might actually have a heart palpitation

but i think in general he’d wanna be involved with something you’re interested in because you supported him so much in his passion!! if you were into art, he’d wanna know all about what you were drawing/painting and he’d find cute museums to go to together! if you were into writing, he’d wanna know what you were writing about and he’d wanna find you cool notebooks and stationary to use for it! he’d just wanna involve himself in any way possible to let u know he cared about it too!!

now onto his other Big Hobby

he…is now your personal stylist…a fashion king…he will not let you change his name in your phone…

he wants to go shopping to find cool clothes all the time! and now he has someone else to take with him! and someone else to try and dress!

i know there’s like the dumb Boyfriend Trope of ‘no :( you can’t wear that because it’s revealing :(‘ but like………hyunsuk wouldn’t care lmao

he sees something he thinks you’d look cute in?? he immediately jumps to get you to try it on for him!! it’s not a weird thing he’s just a fashion king and needs everyone to know that you two are the Best Dressed Couple

speaking of which! dating hyunsuk would be such a healthy thing !

he’d be a lil heavy-handed at first just because he’s not 100% on what he’s actually supposed to be doing

but once he figures out how dating actually works, it’s over for literally everyone else

like, at first, he might get jealous quite a lot because :(( what if u find someone better :(( but then he’d kinda re-evaluate and be like ‘i could…literally talk about this…what’s stopping me…’

and then you’d have a conversation about it where you’d reassure him that he’s your man!! you like Love him and stuff!!

from then on i think dealing with issues that came up in your relationship would just,,, get easy to him??

like, you’re jealous over someone else? that’s okay, you guys can talk about it and work it out!! he’s stressed and tired and just wants alone time? he’ll explain it to you in a calm n rational way without snapping at you!! you snap at him because you’re stressed and tired and just want alone time? he understands, but he tells you to tell him next time!!

he just can’t comprehend that any of the things you two work through are actually genuine problems for other couples because?? he finds them so easy to avoid

that’s not to say you two wouldn’t argue, because like, everyone does. but arguments would just,, end so quickly because

first of all: he hates there being tension between you two, and hates the idea of upsetting you even more

and second of all: he’d calm down quick enough to talk things through calmly and discuss a good way for both of you to fix your problems

and ! the relationship would never ever feel one-sided

you’d support him so much!! you’d remind him to get sleep, and to eat and drink regularly, and to not take the criticisms too harshly because he knows how good he is

((a side note: you’d probably Go Off at some point about yg and how gross he is for being so mean and never complimenting hyunsuk because you knew it upset him and you’d be ranting and gesturing around with your hands and probably yelling a lil bit and hyunsuk would just be looking at you like (✿╹◡╹) because his heart is so warm while you’re talking about burning the yg building down for him))

and he’d support you just as much!! he’d remind you to not overthink things, and to take breaks if you had studying to do, and would call you at least once a day if his schedule was packed just to get a quick run-down on how your day was going

also, on the topic of phone calls, sometimes he’d just call you and leave the call going while he did other stuff

most of the time it’d be while he did writing or producing

but if he wanted you to ‘be there’ during his dance practices he’d facetime and just kinda,,, leave it going while him and everyone else did their routine

and you’d either be doing other stuff or watching but either way you’d hype them all up for how well they were doing

and hyunsuk is（￣ε￣ʃƪ）because oh boy!! he loves you a whole bunch

onto another topic but he’d really wanna have you meet his family only after he knew it was gonna be serious with you two !

and he’d already know his family would love you so he wasn’t stressed (you definitely were, but he was just like “no!!! they’ll love you because they love me!!!”) and from then he’d really love for you to be close to his family

but oh boy meeting your family. he’d have a heart-attack

what if they didn’t like him?? what if they thought he was a bad influence?? he couldn’t handle that

(you’d go to meet them and you’d be calming him down because “you’re literally the cutest sweetest most charming boy i have ever met?? how could anyone ever hate you??”) and he’d still be super nervous but. two minutes into being through the door he has it! he’s got ur whole family just as whipped for him as you are by the time he leaves

he’s like the meme of ‘your mum asked me to ask if you wanted to come to dinner with us at your house tonight :)’

hyunsuk is also definitely the type to wanna get you guys a couple item!! and he’d try and find something really ugly because he’d think it was funny to see your reactions to the cringy couple shirts and hoodies

but then one day he’d come over n be like “hello i have done it again!!”

and ur like “oh no. why. what did you do. i’m too young to go to prison hyunsuk pls”

and he’s all “:) no silly we finally have a couple item”

and ur immediately like. “no. i won’t have it. take it back! no more micky and minnie mouse matching hoodies!! i won’t do it and you can’t make me!!!”

but he’s like “no i promise it’s a good one this time :( please”

so u allow him one chance…..just one….to prove himself…..

and boy! does he do it!

he gets out a cute lil box n he’s chanting like a lil kid when he gives it to you and he’s like, “open it open it open it!!”

and you do and :(( it’s this cute lil locket and you look up at him like :O

and he’s grinning so big and nodding for you to open it and when you do there’s your favourite picture of him in it and you’re !! so happy that you don’t know what to do with yourself

but then he’s like “wait! that isn’t even the best part!” and he shuffles about for a second and wham! he’s wearing a matching one

and ur like :O this is the cutest thing in the entire whole wide world

but ! he opens it up and he’s grinning at u n he looks like he knows something you don’t and there!! is a picture of you where you’re in a shirt of his and the lighting’s kinda bad because you’re kinda sat up in ur bed and ur grinning real big at something

and ur like “:/ hyunsuk that is the ugliest picture of me”

he would be. genuinely offended. he would pop off ! he would be gesturing around with his hands and rambling about how “that’s so dumb??? u look so happy?? and so cute??? and it’s my favourite picture of you ever???”

from that day obviously you wouldn’t take yours off because uhm that’s so cute

but like you just think he’ll wear his when it fits in with whatever the current days LookTM is

but………he wears it All the time…..(but he does take it off to sleep n shower because he’s scared to damage it!!!)

also i firmly believe hyunsuk isn’t the type to get jealous very easily anyway, but as i said earlier he wouldn’t find talking about it difficult

like,, if there was a situation where someone was being too touchy with you and it made him uncomfortable then he’d wait until later and then tell you kinda like, “hi idk what u think of this but it just made me kinda uncomfy :// can we talk abt it” and you would !! and you’d find something that worked for both of you !!

i mean hyunsuk really is like. that boyfriend

i know this is super long already so i’m gonna go into a quick fire bit;

he would completely and totally buy you chapsticks whenever he saw any !! like now he just buys two of each as a natural reaction to seeing them

leaves u notes if he has to leave early however they’re not like ‘ily see u later mwah’ they’re more like dumb jokes he thinks of or drawings of weird animal combinations he thinks of

totally accidentally steals the covers in the night if you guys move away from each so he buys you the cutest most fluffy blanket he can find as an apology

also!! his kisses would be the best ever?? he loves giving you lil cheek and forehead kisses 24/7

has to give you one (1) kiss every time you have to leave and one (1) kiss every time he sees you  

but he gives you two (2) kisses every single time you compliment him!!!

overall! i think hyunsuk would be one of the most relaxed and easy-going ((and best but you didn’t hear that from me)) boyfriends anyone could ever have

thank you for coming to my ted-talk

[cheeseandpoofies]

Entré - pt. 1

summary : Rachel, the daughter of super famous superhero actor, has a crush on the uprising pop star, Shawn Mendes, but too awkward to be around him. 

word count : 2,6k

warning : none

Met Gala is one of the most spectacular fashion event in Hollywood. There is no doubt on that. So when her dad, Robert Downey Jr. announces she gets to be invited to be there, she can't help but squeals in happiness. She fastly moves her legs following her dad as she start questioning things.

"I will be there because of you, or because of me?"

Her dad turns around with a frown on his face, "Why is it because of me? It's definitely on your side, yourself make it to the Gala."

She nods, definitely with sparks in her eyes, but with rather calmer way than the first time she reacts. Her dad gives her the invitation and she takes it very carefully. To be frank, she never expect that she will be invited. She herself is an uprising actress, still in her early careerㅡthe fourth year, to be exact and just finished her eight movie that will be released next year.

Earlier this year, she was starring in the romance movie, The Next Time We Met with Timotheé Chalamet. Which becomes a total hit, the movie that sets her on her throne after Seized by Desire the 2017 hit drama-romance movie.

So when Robert announces that she'll go to Met Gala this year, she shouldn't be that surprised. She still is, nevertheless.

"Are you going?" She asks after reading the invitation for like twenty times already.

"Me? I'm not, some of my friends will go, though. You can meet them there later."

"Who?"

Robert Downey Jr. glances at her with a smile. "There are more than one name but hers will be your favorite, honey."

The daughter and father duo is looking at each other waiting for him to continue. "It's Letitia Wright."

She gasps, "No Way!"

"I know, i know. Now go find your mom and ask her to help you find the designer you'll be working with."

++

Working in the same field as her dad was never easy. She started a bit late than the other celeb's children who continues their parent's legacy in the industry, but she never regret her decision. She started as a supporting role in her first movie, didnt have more than twenty minutes of appearance in total of 105 minutes movie.

But then she got another role, another role, and it kept bigger, more remarkable and more desirable each movies. The older she gets and the more movie she's starring in, the more hate she receives as many people thought she got the privilege of being RDJ's only daughter.

While she believes she got her first role thanks to her dad's connection, she doesnt agree with the saying "she can't act but she's there thanks to her superhero dad." She worked hard to be where she is right now, and she knows she can actually do her job right. So every time she heards or read the hate, she's hurt.

She's been very concerned about it and sometimes it gets her, no matter how much she tries not to think about it. With her going to Galaㅡalone, let's bold that oneㅡher mind wanders everywhere since this morning.

She and her crews booked some rooms in a hotel that very close to Metropolitan Museum of Art, considering they live in Malibu and there's no way they will go straight to the place from Malibu. Danielle, her stylist and also a close friend of her, sees how she keeps starring at the cells without blinking.

"Rachel," Dan calls her.

"Rachel Downey, you better not zoning out."

Rachel blinks her eyes several times and tilts her head, seeing a wary face of Danielle. "Oh, sorry."

"We'll start touching your face five minutes from now," Danielle announces. She was about to ask Rachel but knows people are around and Dan doesn’t want to make Rachel feels uncomfortable for asking things.

Rachel nods, "Well, tell me if I can sleep for a bit when they do my hair later."

"Didn’t get enough sleeping?"

Rachel shrugs, "Four hours."

Danielle's shaking her head in disbelief. "You kidding me. How can you not sleep in your big mansion and fluffy bed?"

"Oh trust me, when you're stressing out even the fluffiest bed cant help you to sleep."

"Don't take pills again." Dan replies with lower tone as she keeps her hand busy on a pouch. Rachel watches her closely and understand what she means, so she just casually nods.

The next time Dan starts announcing the make up artist can do their work now also the hair stylist that is responsible for Rachel's look this noon. Time goes pretty fast and her look's done for today.

She's wearing a haute couture dress from Elie Saab's 2017 Fall/Winter collection with straps on each side of her shoulder, it’s tight on the chest giving a sexy look. The color of her dress matches her pale skin perfectly.

She was given a lot of options that made her take some time to decide. But in the end, Rachel has decided she doesn’t want to steal that much spotlight so she just go with the dark color.

A half of an hour later, she's inside the van with Danielle, Seth, her driver, and Brad, her manager going to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

"You okay?" now that there are only four of them, Danielle tried to bring up the conversation about Rachel's well-being.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"If you need anything, Brad will meet you inside, right, Brad?"

"Yeah, as long as you don’t get lost."

Rachel chuckles a bit, "I won't."

"So, are you going to meet Letitia right away after you arrive?"

"Well, it depends. I think i'll just greet anyone that i know, around me, later. I've told Letitia and she said she comes with someone."

Dan stares at her, "She got a date?"

"Kind of."

"I have some names that you might want to greet later, Rach."

Rachel notices the change of her friend's tone so she looks to Dan, "Who?"

"Ansel."

"He's coming?"

"Yeah, I got it from someone."

Rachel and Ansel was once worked in a small budget movie four years ago and she remembers him, being too nice but she's too stupid to know that he's flirting. They are fine now, though. He's like an old friend to her.

"There will be Gigi, and Bella as well on the list. Maybe you want to greet them later."

Rachel knows that Dan tried to change the topic so she just nods. "Maybe."

"And, you know who else coming," Danielle changes her voice again and this time Rachel almost rolls her eyes.

"You didn't tell me, Dan. Of course I don’t know."

"You sure?"

"Of course."

"It's Mendes."

Oh. Shawn. Shawn Mendes

++

The moment she gets out of the car, she receives a lot of flashlights and people calling her name from every corner, making her immediately lost her control of breathing for seconds. Rachel manages to breathe properly and starts to walk through the red carpet with a tint of smile on her lips' corner.

Rachel manages to get inside, however, and finds a lot more people with cameras and lights coming for her. She keeps walking, sometimes stops for posing here and there, and then she sees Winona, E! Reporter waving her hand and coming closer.

Obviously, she's getting interviewed.

She puts her best smile as she is greeted with "Rachel! It's good to see you here."

"Nice to see you too, Winona."

Winona smiles widely and slightly switches from Rachel to the camera in front of them, "You look stunning! You take Heavenly Bodies quite literally, don’t you?"

Rachel laughs along with Winona, "I hope my look matches the theme well."

"It does, really. So dont worryㅡso, mind to tell us what are you up to after the success of your recent movie?"

"Ah, I'm still attending some interviews and tv shows. And, thank you by the way, I appreciate everyone who showed loves and support for my work."

"We'll do that for sure if it's you. And how's working with Josh Hutcherson?"

"It's fantastic! He's an amazing actor and he taught me a lot of things," Rachel chuckles. "I was awkward for doing some scenes in the movie but he's very gentle and supportive so I can loosen up."

"The make out scenes, isn’t it?"

Both of them laugh at the topic, and Rachel feels her cheeks are getting warm, surely will look a bit red on camera. "Yeah. Yeah."

"Is your dad okay with that?"

"Uh? Huh, he was fine," in fact, he wasn’t, at first. He took the script and do some screening before giving permission to her. "He's really a supportive parent, I'm glad."

"That's really great, I wish he was here with us," Winona looks a bit sad and Rachel lets out an "aww" to her.

"He wished he was here too, he said hi for everyone!"

"Okay, thank you so much for your time, send my hi back to your dad!" Winona sends her goodbye, Rachel follows her with nods and bid goodbye too, she turns around to take the stairs.

And there, she sees him. Her cheeks that was gotten warmer earlier, is getting hot as she watches him walking in and go straight to the stairs. Shawn Mendes, the uprising pop star that recently released a self titled album, a greek god straight from his face.

Rachel tries to not look and walk to the stairs, taking a few steps then stops to take a pose. She walks higher and stops again, moves around. The corner of her sight notices how Mendes sees to her direction for few seconds but she just pretend she doesn’t see.

She's getting there, almost, only to be greeted with a voice of a man. She turns a bit and see Ansel walking to her direction. Rachel smiles, "Ansel!"

"Rachel!" They meet and his hand almost goes to her wrist before realizing cameras still around them so he awkwardly takes his hand back.

"Very nice to see you, you look stunning."

"Thank you, you're not bad yourself."

"I'm always good, Rachel."

The remark makes Rachel chuckles and they keep walking inside. She's shifting her dress so she can keep walking without embarrassing herself, as she asks, "You're alone?"

"Yeah, you don’t get a date, do you?"

"My dad supposed to be, but he didn’t get the invitation."

Ansel looks surprised, "Him? How come?"

"I guess I'm getting more fame than him?" and that sends Ansel to a rather big laugh. He sees her laughing along, as well as trying to make herself not messing up the steps.

"Need a help?" Ansel offers his hand.

Rachel sees him, debating inside whether she should take his hand or not. But he's there, waiting for her with the same pose so she takes her hand and climbs the stairs with his guide.

"Thank you,"

"No worries."

They keep walking to the inside with his hand on hers and she honestly doesn’t mind it. He is a very carefree person, but also very thoughtful. He keeps his distance but still throwing some good jokes to make her laugh.

When they almost arrive, a pat landed on Ansel's shoulder and makes him stop to turn around. There they find Shawn Mendes, looking all smiley to see his friend.

"Shawn!"

"Ansel! How are you man?"

"I'm doing good, you're getting busier these days."

Rachel decides to stay a bit behind Ansel so he gets the space for himself, and she takes the chance to look at Shawn, the man she's been listening to lately. Rachel admits she's a fan of his music, saw him several times in award show but never got the chance to meet this close.

Shawn Mendes is a very attractive person, looking so tall and well-build. The smile he always shows to everyone is so warm, and lovely.

"So you got a date, huh?" Shawn's eyes move swiftly to her, giving a friendly look.

"Trust, me, I wish i did."

They laugh, and Ansel takes her closer to him, "Rachel, this is Shawn Mendes, you must be know him already. And Shawn, this is Rachel Downey."

"Hi. I'm Rachel."

Shawn's eyes are not moving anywhere as he takes her hands to handshake. His lips build a smile as they touch each other, "Hello, Rachel."

Rachel takes her hand first as she tries to maintain her feelings. She looks away a bit as soon as their contact broke, making Shawn taking off his hand as well.

"Where's Hailey?" Ansel asks.

"She's on the table already," Shawn points at a direction and they see Hailey sits with some other people.

"You guys got your table? I think it's okay to come with me and sits there."

Rachel notices his stares again so she replies, "Oh, actually I have to meet my manager first to take my purse. And Ansel.."

"Well, I don't mind sitting there, should I go with you to find your manager first? I'll tell my manager to switch my table as well."

Shawn's eyes sparks with his friend's answer and it gets Rachel's coughing a bit. "Uh, okay, if he doesn’t mind."

"He'll be fine with it," Shawn replies, sounds so certain.

Rachel nods and she tells Ansel not to go with her as she won't take long. They all agree to wait for her on Shawn's table so Rachel finally gets out of the awkward situation.

On her table she sees her manager waiting for her, Rachel walks as soon as possible and as she reaches her table, she lets a loud of sigh.

"You wont believe me, Brad!"

Brad watches her trying to control her breath, "What's going on?"

"I met Ansel, and he was greeted by his friend. And his friend gave an idea for me and Ansel to sit with him on his table. How's that possible?"

Brad creeps up a smile as he knows what happened, "Is it Mendes?"

Rachel gives him a look, "Don't tell anyone."

He laughs with her answer. "You should just go, he's the one who invited you."

"I know, but I’ve heard the committee don’t like who sits randomly without the guide list. So i'll just stay."

"You're being too uptight."

"I don’t care," she replies.

"So you're just staying here?"

"Yeah, it seems like that."

"They'll be waiting for you, Rachel. Sitting with them won't hurt you know? It's better than stuck in here without people you dont know."

"Yeah, I know.. But.."

She thinks being around someone as hot as Shawn wouldn't be best for her, a clumsy and stupid person.

Rachel looks up as Brad gets up from his seat. She notices the room is getting full and of course her manager has to leave and wait outside until the main event finished.

"I'll just text Ansel later."

Brad looks pretty amused, so he just nods and pats her shoulder. "I'm leaving. Tell me your time of leaving later."

"Okay, okay."

So that's what happened, with Brad's leave a small group of people coming to the table so she stood up to greet them one by one. Letitia Wright looks straight to her as she walks closer, definitely more than pleased to see someone she knows here.

"Rachel!"

"OH! Letitia!!"

They share hug to each other for few seconds, and Rachel takes a seat beside her to make Letitia sits there. More people comes, and they both greet them one by one. But clearly having Letitia beside her is more than enough, she's happy her friend is here.

The thought of Ansel and Shawn disappear from her mind for the moment.

++

[prettywordsyouleft]

The Sex Contract  - Part 14

Genre: friends to lovers au / friends with benefits / mature content / romance / angst

Characters: Shim Changmin x Kaia Ashton (OC)

A/N: Due to the overwhelming request I have followed your encouragement to bring back one of my older stories. This was back in a time where OCs were everything and writing one chapter in each main’s point of view was the trend. I hope that even though I have edited this drastically, that you can appreciate this story comes from my older style of writing. I definitely still read this often and find it enjoyable so I hope you will too.

Prologue | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 - FINAL

Chapter 14 – Kaia’s POV.

 Two days passed by quickly. Kaia had never truly had access to Changmin’s entire schedule before and although she did nothing but take notes and a few photos here and there, she was exhausted with trying to keep up. She constantly felt like she needed more caffeine in her system, whilst Yunho and Changmin seemed to power on effortlessly. They had an uncanny way to make the most of every minute of the day in Japan, working from dawn to dusk, and last night they had even continued through to nearly five am. It literally felt like Kaia had only closed her eyes for ten minutes before she was violently shaken awake.

“Kai, wake up, we have to get to the studio for our interview this morning.”

“Sleeping,” she mumbled and rolled over, only to feel Changmin’s weight now over her body, his hands prying her away from the blankets. “No Minnie, I need sleep. I’m not a robot like you, I’m human. I can’t sleep on ten minutes.”

“You’ve had four hours, now come on get up.”

“Lies, I just closed my eyes.” Kaia relented and squinted through her tired eyes to find the alarm clock on the bedside table saying it was 9AM. She was sure it was tricking her but the sun shining through the blinds that Changmin had opened proved that she was wrong. Kaia let out a loud groan.

“Now would you get up and shower so I can?” he urged impatiently, hoisting her out of the spare room’s bed and carrying her into the bathroom. He dumped Kaia on the cold tile floors and she gasped at the sensation, glaring up at him. He pointed at the shower cubicle. “Shower. Now.”

“Mr Grumpy pants, why don’t you just shower instead first?” she told him from the floor and he gave her a look.

“Your hair is ridiculously out of control.”

“So?”

“So you’re meeting Kaori Kimura today. Aren’t you going to put any effort in for me?”

Kaia shook her sleepy head. “Why? It’s you dating her not me.”

“What rubbish backup you’re turning out to be,” he grunted and yanked down his pyjama pants, turning on the shower and hopping in. Kaia finally was awake enough to move and got up, glancing into the slowly steaming up mirror and gasped.

“My hair!”

“I told you it was like a bush,” he said matter-of-factly from within the shower cubicle. “And I gave you the opportunity to shower but now I’m just going to enjoy my time.”

“Ugh!” Kaia exclaimed, whipping off her own bedclothes and yanking back on the shower door. Changmin gaped at her, but Kaia didn’t care, pushing her way into the water too. “Share with me.”

“Uh, no I like hot water too much.”

“You also like sex too much and you won’t get any if you don’t share,” she bartered, the taller man groaning at her fact. He complied, stepping an inch to the left.

“Now my side is getting cold!” he complained, shoving her aside instantly and letting the hot water warm him back up. Glaring at his rudeness, Kaia moved in closer to Changmin and reached around to reposition the nozzle head.

“Better?”

He shot daggers at her. “Would be so much nicer if you weren’t in here, but yes I suppose it will do.”

“Sharing showers in movies always seems so easy.”

“Sharing showers with people only works if you’re about to do something in it. You’re not worrying about being out of the water droplets then.”

“Ahhh,” Kaia murmured with a nod, stepping closer to Changmin again. He eyed her appreciatively and she stretched up to his face. “Something like this?”

Kaia kissed his lips and he instantly responded, grabbing her body and pressing it against his. Taking advantage of his weakness, Kaia continued to kiss him and spun them around, pulling away from his lips to smile in triumph. He stared at her for a moment and then realised what she had done. By then, Kaia was happily rinsing the shampoo she had previously put into her hair.

“Goddammit woman,” he cursed and then grabbed for the soap, the pair of them fighting over the water until they were both done.

Kaia could tell that Changmin was on edge as he completed his morning and afternoon schedules. As the time ticked forward, he grew quieter and brooding. She didn’t like this side to him much, whenever he closed her out there was nothing she could do to help him. And since Kaia was there as a press member for SME and Korea Star, she was hardly allowed to overstep boundaries in front of all the professionals surrounding them. All the same, at every opportunity she tried to get his mind off his task ahead. It was fruitless on her behalf; Changmin had been trained too well to keep his mind on his job, even the dirty work.

“You reckon he will crack tonight?” Kaia asked Yunho worriedly as they stopped for a quick dinner and the older Korean shook his head. “But he seems so-”

“He’s psyching himself up to put on the best acting you’ll ever see live. Don’t worry, he’ll do us proud.”

“Right. What will he be like afterwards?” she wondered and Yunho gave her a weird look before smiling.

“You like him, don’t you?”

“W-what?!” Kaia cried and then shoved him playfully. “He’s your friend too, and he’s not happy, why wouldn’t you be concerned?”

“Changmin’s a big boy. He’s survived bigger deals than pretending to date some woman. But you however, how will you cope?”

Kaia frowned. “What do you mean? I don’t have a part in this.”

“Don’t you?” he asked, and leant down to her ear. “What about the agreement?”

“How does that have any implication here Yunho?” she asked weakly, feeling her heart beat slower. It was an awkward topic to be discussing, even though Kaia knew he was aware of it all.

“Emotions are tied into everything we do, Kaia.”

She nodded slowly. “I’m not really following.”

“You will in time.”

Although Kaia wasn’t allowed into the event being held that night, she got to see Kaori Kimura several times that evening. Kaia had been lucky enough to be a part of the staff admitted into the building though, the boys’ manager taking a bit of a shining to her with every cup of coffee she bought him without being asked to. Because of this, he seemed to like having Kaia wherever he was, and thus she was able to watch the monitor in the dressing room of what was happening at the event.

Her first encounter with the woman was on that screen, watching as she brightly smiled at the audience, her thin and elegant face making Kaia let out a sigh in awe. She was truly a classical beauty and for a moment Kaia wondered what exactly made Changmin despise the idea of being with the woman. She was truly envious of her carriage, and could understand why she was so many girls’ inspiration looks wise back in Korea. With this new judgement, Kaia was determined to tell Changmin he was being silly as soon as she saw him. She knew he was stubborn, but from what Kaia had seen, Kaori seemed so lovely.

This view soon changed when Kaia went to the bathroom and managed to see Kaori and an entourage of staff around her in person. She threw her fur shawl at a small Japanese woman beside her, whilst prattling off in the language. Although Kaia couldn’t understand much, the body language and vicious sounds that accompanied her words were enough for her to get the gist of the model’s true nature. Kaia stepped towards the door of the ladies room just as Kaori approached it and she gave Kaia a hard look, her dark eyes travelling up from her legs to her face, and finally settled with a smirk adorning her pouty lips. Kaia dove into the bathroom quickly then, feeling like Kaori’s eyes had attacked her. Taking a deep breath, she shakily went over to a cubicle and then washed her hands, looking into the mirror. A poster of Kaori Kimura was conveniently reflecting from the wall behind her and Kaia sighed, feeling a little inadequate still. She could now understand why Changmin found her so vulgar. She reminded Kaia of UEE’s character in the Korean drama You’re Beautiful with the many faces that she shared with the people around her. Making her way out of the room, Kaia hurried back to the TVXQ dressing room and waited for the pair to return.

The only way Kaia saw them for the following hour was on the monitor and she was unable to take much more of the acting between Changmin and Kaori. Yunho was right; his younger friend was very good at playing his part when requested. To the average viewer, they would be able to see some kind of romance was about to blossom between the pair. Kaia almost started to believe it herself as she watched the show, and the stylist whom Kaia had enjoyed the company of soon clasping her hands together.

“Aren’t they a dream worthy match?” Nayoung sighed happily and Kaia merely nodded in response. “Do you reckon Changmin will like her as much as she seems to like him?”

“Hard-” Kaia stopped her first thought and cleared her throat. “I’m not sure, but I wish them luck if they do end up together.”

“Fans will go crazy over it though.” She seemed to get serious over the matter. “Do you reckon they’d accept it? I mean Changmin is deemed a god in Cassiopeia’s eyes. And she’s truly a goddess. So perhaps fans will be happy that two people in the same league are together?”

“I’m not sure,” Kaia repeated though she felt sad at Nayoung’s statement. It made sense and that was probably what SME was counting on. Even though fans wished to be with Changmin, the likelihood of any idol dating a non-celebrity was as small a chance as winning the lottery twice in your lifetime. Kaia had been incredibly lucky to get as far as she had with Changmin, and they weren’t even dating.

Looking back at the screen, Kaia watched as the glamorous couple danced around under the romantic lighting and nodded to herself. It was a good thing she was not trying to date Shim Changmin after all.

_________________

Part 15

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[wroteasongabouther]

We Have Tonight - Harry Styles Imagine

PAIRING: Harry/Y/N RATING: PG WORD COUNT: 4k

As the hug ended and you two looked at one another for a long moment, you both swore you couldn't remember what the big issue was. What was the point of the fight, of the break up? Had you really let the public and their opinion effect your relationship? Harry once swore he'd never let what anyone else thought ruin a relationship, and you showing up unexpectedly gave him another chance to make it all right once more.

"You're staying for the show then? Don't have a new movie to film or a beauty party to attend here later?" Harry questions.

You bite down on your bottom lip, wishing you didn't have to jet off to another country tomorrow morning, "my plane doesn't leave till 7am," you state.

Harry nods, "so we have tonight?" He asks.

"We have tonight," you smile.

or 

The one when Y/N and Harry get back together.

⏤

"I think you just need to get over her," Jeff says as Harry is staring out the window of their rented car whilst here in New York City. He rubs his bottom lip between his thumb and pointer finger, gently pulling at it as his eyes wandered the busy streets outside the car.

It was easy to say those words to Harry, but Jeff wouldn't ever understand how you made Harry feel. It wasn't some little crush, or a fling for lack of better words, it was falling in love in the worst of ways. Being the worst because it didn't work out. What Harry imagined as a long lasting love, ended with tabloids and teary eyes. Things didn't go the right way, instead it felt as though you and Harry had fallen while trying to made such a big leap together. Now all he had were some bruises and a broken heart.

"Don't think I'll ever get over 'er, mate," Harry mutters. Just then they're driving into the hectic area of New York that is Times Square. And there you are, plastered on the sides of the buildings.

"You'll figure it out," Jeff says and pats Harry's shoulder.

Your movie had broken box office records, you were sitting front row at every fashion show, and your beauty line was taking over the world. To Harry it looks as though you're doing just fine without him by your side. But in reality you're sitting backstage of another beauty launch, zoning out while twisting a strand of hair between your fingers. While being so deep in thought, you barely recognize your manager stepping into the room along side your hair stylist and makeup artist.

"What are you still doing sitting there?" Your manager asks, a hint of anger behind her voice.

You look down at the white robe you're still dressed in. It had been 30 minutes since you've had the room to yourself, in which you were supposed to get dressed but instead you found yourself staring at your phone for a moment as a tweet. Harry was smiling in the photo, a microphone in front of him while his eyes twinkled. It was hard seeing him so happy. His tour was about to start, you remembered him recording the album and now he'd be on stage every night getting to be the true performer you knew he was.

"Sorry," you mumble and sit up straight as your hair stylist takes all your hair back and starts doing his thing.

"What's going on in that head of yours?" He asks, ignoring the glares coming from the other side of the room. Your manager wasn't too happy you weren't all there today.

You look at the black phone screen as it sat in your lap. Your head was a scary place these days. While you were busy beyond your own ability it seemed, you were constantly finding yourself thinking about him. Harry wasn't just any boyfriend, he was who you thought you were going to spend quite sometime with. Hell, even marriage crossed your mind once or twice. But instead the world caught up to you two and instead of falling in love it became a crash rather quickly.

It had been a month since the break up. Almost 30 days of a sadness that you couldn't escape. You thought of ways it could have ended up instead of how it did. You thought of what it'd be like to walk the premiere of your movie with him by your side in a stellar suit. You thought of sitting beside each other at Coach, holding hands and gasping at outfits as they passed you. But instead you were more alone than ever it seemed, regardless of the many people whom surrounded you day-by-day.

"What are we doing September 19th?" You question. Your hair stylist shrugs in response while parting your hair.

"It's your last day off before the Japan promo and premiere," your manager stated while walking up to where you sat. She raises a brow at you, "why?" She asks.

"I'm going to San Francisco," you nod.

⏤

It was a mistake, you thought to yourself as you and your hair stylist - whom was also your best friend these days - arrived at the venue. You began to second guess everything. From your outfit choice to why you were stepping into the venue to begin with. You missed him, wasn't that a good enough explanation? But it wasn't, because what if he didn't feel the same way? Then this was about to get rather awkward.

Of course it's Harry's sister who sees you first. She's beaming as her eyes land on you. It eases your mind a little as she embraces you and rubs your back. You two hug for a while longer before she gives you a small smile.

"What are you doing here?" She asks.

"I uh," you sigh and look around, "I don't really know," you admit.

"Well I'm glad you came," she smiles, "Harry doesn't know, does he?" You shake your head. "Figured, he'd be an even bigger mess if he knew you were showing up,"

"I shouldn't have come then, there's no way I'm messing up his first show," you ramble out nervously while taking a step backwards.

"Oh don't be ridiculous," Gemma says and grabbed onto your arm, "he's going to love that you're here, he's missed you," she says with a timid smile - like she had just told you a secret or something.

You look into her eyes, identical to Harry's, and mirror the smile she has on her face. This was a good decision. You showing up didn't mean you were begging for him back, even though you wouldn't mind him being yours again, it just simply meant you were here to support a friend. In these past few weeks you not only missed Harry's love, but also his friendship too.

"He's not going to believe his eyes when he sees you're here," Gemma grins.

"Well, let's hope it's the good reaction you're imagining, Gem," you chuckle.

"What are you doing here?" You hear the same question after Anne gasps out your name. She's exiting the second door on the right, her mouth is open in shock while she's walking the few steps to envelope you into a tight hug. "It's so lovely to see you, dear," she says into your hair.

"You too," you smile. Anne leans back from the embrace, keeping her hands on your shoulders while looking at you. Her grin matches Gemma's, at least two of the three Styles' would be happy to see you.  

"Bunny?"

Harry stood just outside his dressing room to see you standing with his mom. He's in disbelief that it's really you. One month and you hadn't changed a bit. Or maybe he thought that since you've been plastered in every city he's visited this past few weeks. Truly, all he could think about was how much he missed you. With the nickname rolling off his tongue, you turn your gaze and see where he stands behind his mom.

The nickname was stupid, but it still made your heart weak. It was all because of the love you had for carrots and dip - a go to snack that's both health and easy. But it soon blossomed into a pet name from Harry, he'd even send the bunny emoji to you along with a heart when saying those three words that burned you to think about now. Did he still love you?

"Hey," you give him a shy smile. It felt like you were talking to your life long crush who was years older than you while playing during recess. Butterflies flutter inside of you while you're heat beats fast.

"Couldn't wait to see the show in LA?" Harry asks jokingly, a smile tugging on his lips now.

You chuckle and look down at the floor, "anticipation was killing me," you say while looking back up at him.

His sister, mom and your hair stylist had snuck back into what you guessed was Harry's dressing room as he took a few steps forward. Last time you were so close, it was a fight between you two. Now all you wanted was to feel his lips on your again. Instead you'd settle for a hug.

It felt good to have you in his arms again. Harry couldn't stop himself while bringing you into his chest, inhaling deeply as it felt like he was whole again. He didn't quite realize till you were wrapping your arms around his waist that he had felt like a piece of him was missing this past month. And now here you were, in his arms, at his opening show of his first solo tour - exactly where you were supposed to be.

As the hug ended and you two looked at one another for a long moment, you both swore you couldn't remember what the big issue was. What was the point of the fight, of the break up? Had you really let the public and their opinion effect your relationship? Harry once swore he'd never let what anyone else thought ruin a relationship, and you showing up unexpectedly gave him another chance to make it all right once more.

"You're staying for the show then? Don't have a new movie to film or a beauty party to attend here later?" Harry questions.

You bite down on your bottom lip, wishing you didn't have to jet off to another country tomorrow morning, "my plane doesn't leave till 7am," you state.

Harry nods, "so we have tonight?" He asks.

"We have tonight," you smile.

There’s a silence between the two of you then. Not in the venue though, the hustle and bustle kept up around you as the first show of Harry’s tour was only mere hours away. You’re nearly too busy staring into Harry’s eyes to realize someone’s waving at you from just behind him. The three members of his opening act, Muna, were walking down the hall together with inner ears around their shoulders and water bottles in hand. 

“Hey,” Katie Gavin, the lead singer for the trio, says as they stop just beside you and Harry. Harry smiles at the three ladies and takes a step back from you in order to be more polite and include his opening act. 

“Sorry to interrupt, we just weren’t sure if we’d get another chance to meet you,” Naomi McPherson, another member says while grinning at you. 

“Yeah, we’re big fans, Naomi also hasn’t shut up about how great your makeup line is,” Josette Maskin, the last member of the trio, says while bumping her bandmate. 

“Oh that’s so sweet, thank you,” you smile, “you know, I’ve been a fan of your music for a while now actually,” 

“She’s the first person I heard your music from,” Harry adds with a smile on his face while looking at the girls. You recalled the time, early last year, when you were obsessed with the bands first few hits. It’s either be playing in your car or through your house for weeks on end. When Harry forwarded you the email months ago saying that Muna would be opening for his tour, you were super excited. 

“Wow,” Katie says, “that’s awesome, thanks for kinda getting us this gig than,” 

“It’s all thanks to your talent,” you shrug. 

“We should get going,” Josette says as she notices someone beckoning them over, “it was lovely to meet you though,” 

“You guys as well,” you respond the the mix of goodbyes and smile widely to the girls before they’re trailing off down the hall. 

“I remember you saying you wanted to meet them,” Harry says once they have walked away, “glad you came,” he adds in a low voice. 

“Yeah, me too,” you smile. It was obvious it wasn’t about meeting his opening act. It was because you two got to see one another again. 

You admire Harry as his attention is being taken from you to his manager, Jeff, who gives him a short run down of things before his eyes flicker over and meet yours. You break your gaze from how good Harry looked to smile at Jeff, you’d spend enough time around him to still be polite even post-break-up. 

“How are you?” Jeff asks as you two hug, “quite busy huh?” 

“Really busy,” you chuckle nervously, “I knew I had to catch a show on a day off though,”

“Well it’s good to see you,” Jeff smiles before he’s walking off and taking a phone call at the same time. 

It was clear to both you and Harry that you weren’t about to get another free moment alone to talk. It was a busy night for Harry, there were several people around and a show to go on. You sigh and run your fingers through your hair nervously. There was so much you wanted to say, but needed to wait. 

“Can we talk after the show?” You ask, “room service food on me?”

Harry chuckles, knowing very well you were going to order a big plate of fries before going to bed tonight. “Sure,” he nods. 

“Okay,” you smile. Then things are the usual fast pace that you’re both so used to. 

⏤

You were hiding away at first. It was more a force of habit than anything, you really weren’t meaning to - but then one person noticed you, who told a friend, who told another person, and before you knew it the entire floor section and half of the venue were watching you. Then there was no point in hiding. You smile and wave to fans, trying to stay focused on your conversation with Gemma and your hair stylist. It’s not till the lights fade and purple lights and some fog come on the stage, Muna making their first appearance as Harry’s opening act. 

As the trio perform, you can’t help as your mind wanders off. You begin to think of the tweets, posts and snapchats that would be saved and scattered across the internet of you at Harry’s show. Then the tabloids would get ahold of all of the information and rip this whole night apart. It wouldn’t be about how great Harry performed on his first show of his solo tour, but instead the headlines would read - ‘Harry’s Styles ex girlfriend shows up, are they back together?’

A pit in your stomach grows heavy as you zone out of the stage and chew down on the sleeve of your cropped sweater. This was the whole reason for the break up, the reason behind the sadness that hung over you like a cloud. You close your eyes and let the music fill your ears. Coming to the show was a step towards the reunion you knew that you and Harry needed. And you weren’t about to let ‘what if’s’ ruin tonight. 

You open your eyes and watch Katie jump around as the beat picks up and she sings her heart out. A smile tugs on your lips and then your dancing around to the song too. Gemma giggles beside you and you throw an arm around her, making her dance along with you now. The both of you laugh before she brings you in for a hug. 

“God, I missed you,” Gemma says. 

You hadn’t quite realized till now, but you had missed Gemma lots too. You two had gotten quite a lot of time to bond over the near year of you and Harry dating. She was everything you looked for in a friend, but also held that older sister factor in her presences as well. 

“Missed you too, Gem,” you grin before you two bring your attention back to the stage - ignoring the fans who clearly couldn’t appreciate good music and instead wanted to watch your every move. 

Muna finishes their set and you soon realize with the house lights back on and a break before Harry goes on stage, everyone’s turning their attention back onto you. By now word had spread of you being here, meaning your phone was blowing up. Texts from your friends, family and of course your manager too, were flooding your phone. Instead of worrying and replying to anyone, you sat back comfortably in your seat and chat with Gemma and your hair stylist. 

You only turn your attention to the fans when they scream out your name, responding with a smile and small wave before blocking them out again. Gemma is in the middle of begging for your new highlighter when the lights go down again and Harry’s making his entrance. It wasn’t till now with the screaming of the fans and dramatically long pause between guitar strums that you wished your words to Harry were more than a small ‘good luck’. 

But lord knows he doesn’t need luck, he’s by far the best performer you’ve ever seen. Maybe you were a little biased because you were in love with him - there was no stuffing away those feelings over the last month - but he sure could perform. As the set goes on, you’re singing along to every song and humming melodies in between. 

“He’s doing amazing,” you say to your hair stylist with you eyes still glued to the stage. 

“He’s totally singing for you,” he says with a sly smile. 

“What?” You question his statement. 

He points to where Harry is strumming his guitar, while singing one of your favourites - Two Ghosts. You took notice of how his whole demeanor had changed. He was no longer grinning between his verses, instead he seems to focus somewhere out in the audience and his gaze stays there the whole time. He still sings the words beautifully. It’s then you realize how the lyrics are way too relatable. 

You bit down on your bottom lip and watch Harry. He’s performing with his heart out on his sleeve tonight it seems. You smile as the song hits the last course and Harry’s back into his normal self, dragging out notes and changing a few things as per usual. He finishes the song turned to where you’re sitting. If your chest didn’t hurt before, it sure as hell hurt now. 

⏤

“You did so well,” you tell Harry with a wide smile on your face. 

He’s coming off the adrenaline rush that is performing in front of his amazing fans, his heart already is beating fast but when he sees you standing backstage he swears it picks up the pace. There’s no way he’s missing this opportunity, so he steps forward and wraps his arms around your torso before lifting your feet off the ground. 

You’re laughing out loud as he spins the two of you around. In that moment, it felt as though this were back to the way you wished they were. And as he set you back down and looks into your eyes, all you two can think is why it couldn’t be. The breath taking eye contact is broken quickly as everyone else comes to congratulate Harry on his fantastic show. You stand beside him with a smile plastered across your face and a want to be under Harry’s arm. 

“Jeff,” Harry stops his manager as he’s busy - of course he stops whatever he’s doing to listen to Harry. “Can you make sure I can get out of here quickly and as low key as possible?” He asks, Jeff nods in response while glancing back at where you stood. 

“We can try our best,” Jeff says. 

You are too busy talking with your hair stylist - giving him the run down of how you plan to spend the night with Harry but not like in a sexual booty call sort of way. He pokes fun at you and your two exchange banter till Harry turns back around. Harry looks at the both of you, raising a brow but not questioning it. 

“Jeff is getting us a car, then we can head to the hotel,” Harry says. 

“Sounds good,” you smile. 

There wasn’t a thing low key about yours and Harry’s exit of the venue. As all fans do, they found any exit possible and surrounded it immediately in hopes to catch even a glimpse of you two. Thankfully Jeff had security set up barricades and the fans were all rather far away, as your getaway car was parked by the tour buses. It was the driver who was having a problem with police moving the pushy crowd till you were on the open road and the venue was behind you. 

Without a doubt in your mind, you knew everyone would be losing it over the fact Harry and you left the venue together. But all Harry cared about was spending the night with you before your flight in 8 short hours. You knew you probably needed to sleep, seeing as you were travelling all the way across the globe to Japan. 

“Sorry,” you apologize as a yawn escapes your lips. 

“S’okay,” Harry mumbles. You notice that his eyes haven’t left you since you two slide into the back seat. Then you notice how his hands are fidgeting in his lap. He was just as nervous as you were, yet Harry noticed how well you were hiding your nerves. 

You sigh and reach across the vacant middle seat in order to grab onto Harry’s hands. His hands loosen and you hold onto his, smiling while looking down. You both don’t say a word, the silence was just as comfortable as it always was between the two of you. In fact, neither of you say anything till you’re unlocking your hotel room - still holding hands. 

Finally you let go of Harry’s hand as you enter the room and take a few steps ahead of him. When you stop walking, Harry stops, watching your every move so that way he doesn’t over step and make you feel uncomfortable. He wasn’t about to make some big gesture that he was imagining and ruin the first night you had since breaking up. 

“I missed you,” the words came out of your mouth in almost a whimper. You couldn’t help it as the silent hotel room that you and Harry stood in felt like it was suffocating you. 

Harry stared at your back, your perfect posture falling as the three words left your mouth. His heart broke all over again. He took a step forward and overthought of what his next move should be. Does he reach out and hold you? Does he simply speak? He swallows as you turn around, bottom lip in a pout and eyebrows furrowed. His chest aches at the sight. Since the break up, you two didn’t say a word, and Harry had thought you were doing just fine - but seeing you like this, he knew he had it all wrong. 

“I missed you too,” Harry says. 

“All I could think about yesterday was how excited you were while planning this tour and how you would scribble down anything and everything into those journals of yours, then I thought about Jamaica,” you let out a heavy sigh and shut your eyes. The emotions you had been keeping in for so long were now overflowing inside of you. 

Jamaica wasn’t just when Harry had made his best music. It was when he fell stupidly in love with you. You had only been seeing each other for two months, he barely had to do any convincing to get you to come along, then the following two months were the best days of his life. It was the first time you had said your ‘I love yous’ and had so many effortlessly romantic moments. 

 “I still love you,” Harry says without another thought. 

You inhale deeply and look up into his eyes. Every word spoken those few weeks ago vanished. The fighting, the yelling, the hurt, it was all gone with those eyes of his. Harry was the love of your life, there was no denying that from anyone - especially yourself. 

“I love you too,” you say, your voice was just above a whisper in the quiet room. 

Harry feels like he can breath again. You take a deep breath before he steps forward and his lips meet yours. You head spins as his lips brush against yours. It’s by far one of the most passionate kisses ever. Laced with forgiveness and love. It’s not broken till your both can barely breath again. 

“Where are you going tomorrow morning?” Harry asks, his breath heavy as his thumbs brush your soft cheeks. He missed your moisturizer, he couldn’t remember the brand and had gone a whole month without it now. 

“Japan,” you sigh. 

Harry licks his lips and looks into your eyes for what feel like hours passing by. His thumbs keep brushing over your cheeks, causing a tingle to go down your spine. Him being this close again made your body react a certain way you knew should probably hold off for now. 

“At least we have tonight,” Harry smiles. 

You smile back but it’s quickly wiped away as Harry is kissing your lips again and again and again. 

[sindrafalcone]

Wrong Number, Right Call (part 3)

Part 1    Part 2

Fandom: BIGBANG/ Choi Seung Hyun x Reader

Synopsis: The truth comes out...

Warnings: none

Author’s Note: A little happiness for you guys... because, after this week, I think we all need it. Please note that I am not tagging this. I don’t want any of you to think that I’m trying to exploit current events for the sake of notes. I’m intending this post more as a gift for my friends and followers, to (hopefully) brighten your world during these dark times.

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. This story contains fictional representations of real people. None of the events are true. This is from an American standpoint, so some of the situations may not happen the same way they might in Korea. I make no money from the writing of this fictional work.

Masterlist

Mere seconds after he had sent the second text, Seung Hyun's phone rang.

"Everything alright?" you asked the moment he accepted the call. You sounded worried.

"Yeah, hang on just a mintue." Seung Hyun replied. Shit. This was way faster than he meant for things to happen. He thought he'd have a little more time to think it over.

But clearly he didn't and maybe that was a good thing, because he had spent the past couple of days thinking it over and arriving at no conclusion. He wasn't going to have this conversation in front of Jiyong though, so he waved at him and gestured towards the elevator.

Jiyong rolled his eyes and waved him off, sipping his coffee as Seung Hyun left.

"Sorry." he said once he was in the elevator and on the way up to his floor. "I was just... uhm. How are you?"

"I'm good... getting a little impatient here and also worried. How are you?" you returned the question pointedly.

He took a deep breath and, as the elevator pinged when he arrived on his floor, he stepped out. "I... there's something I need to tell you."

"Okay." your voice was patient and even, but it wasn't like there was much else you could say to that.

"I... well, I haven't been entirely honest with you."

"Okay." you said again, but this time you drew the word out, caution in your voice.

Seung Hyun winced as he ducked into a practice room that wasn't being used. "It's not... I... well. I haven't lied but I just, uhm. It was something I couldn't tell you right away and now I really want to because I trust you, but I'm worried, and-"

"Seung Hyun..." you gently interrupted his babbling. "Is this about the idol thing?"

It was like his entire brain ground to a sudden halt. He slumped against the closest wall & slid down it to sit on the wooden floor. "What?"

"Because that wasn't really hard to figure out." you said. "Is that what you're trying to tell me? You're T.O.P? Because I've known that for about six weeks now."

"Uh..." Seung Hyun stammered. "I, uh... how?"

You sighed. "Okay, admittedly, you weren't entirely awful at keeping it a secret. It was a number of things, I guess. Like, how you carefully didn't go into too much detail about where you were, but it was obvious you weren't in Korea sometimes. Or how you have tried really hard to not tell me exactly where you lived, like it was very important that I didn't figure out you lived in Yongsan. Or how you don't mention your friends' names. Although, you probably didn't know that Daesung already told me his name that night you drunk called me. Or that time you had to hang up quickly because of some mundane reason and minutes later it was all over the news about a Bigbang press conference. Should I go on? It's all little things, but put together it's not a hard leap to make."

"I guess..." Seung Hyun admitted reluctantly. Put like that... maybe it really wasn't that difficult to figure out. "So... six weeks?" He tried to think back, to remember if anything had changed six weeks ago, but nothing stuck out in his mind.

"Six weeks, Seung Hyun." you confirmed, sounding deeply amused. "So that's it? That's what had you all tangled up in knots?"

He took a deep breath, then exhaled, feeling a huge chunk of the tension that had been building up inside over the past couple of days release all at once, leaving him feeling much lighter.

"Yeah. I wanted to tell you, but at first I couldn't, for obvious reasons. And then it had been too long and I didn't know how. I'm sorry."

"It's okay." you said warmly. "I won't lie, when I first figured it out I wasn't really sure how to react, but then I figured I didn't have to react yet because I didn't officially know. And now that I do, well... it's not really a big deal, is it?"

Seung Hyun smiled and was just about to agree when you corrected yourself himself hastily. "No wait, scratch that. It's kind of a big deal, but... I've been working on keeping you, Seung Hyun, and T.O.P separate in my head. Though to be honest, it was a little bit of a shock when I figured it out."

"I couldn't very well immediately tell you I was T.O.P could I?” he said with a chuckle. “Besides, where it counts I'm really Choi Seung Hyun, so it wasn't really a lie."

"If you say so." you giggled along with him.

It wasn't a lie, Seung Hyun wanted to protest, but that was only half true, and instead he found himself asking something entirely different. "So you really don't... mind?"

"Seung Hyun..." you said patiently, then sighed. "Look. If I had known this in the beginning, maybe it would have changed something. I probably would have felt weird about talking to you, in any case. But I know you a lot better than I know T.O.P. and... look, do we have to talk about this? I guess we do." you sighed again. "I'm okay with it. I'm not about to fall to my knees in worship or anything, and I'm definitely not going around telling everyone that I've got an idol on speed dial. Okay? Are you okay with me knowing?"

"Yeah." Seung Hyun breathed. "I don't like... I mean, I know everyone has secrets and things like that, but I didn't like keeping something so huge from you."

"I'm not angry." you told him after a moment, voice soft. "I admit I was, initially, but I'm not anymore, okay? I get why you couldn't tell me. And I'm glad you told me today."

"Not that I had to, you clearly had things under control." he replied, a little rueful. That would teach him to underestimate you. There was a question that suddenly occurred to him and although he was apprehensive, he decided to just ask. "So do you... follow the tabloids on me?"

"Seung Hyun..." you said, voice entirely sober all of a sudden. "You're famous. That's not exactly something I can just shrug off, you know? Of course I follow the news. Not so much the gossip part of it, but you can bet I have alerts set up. Just in case something bad happens..."

"Okay." Seung Hyun said quietly. "Sorry."

"Don't apologize, you idiot." you returned fondly. "Just, you know, maybe text me that you're fine every now and then after you make headlines? Then I wouldn't have to flip through the news channels like a crazy person."

"Oh." he cleared his throat. "Of course, yes."

Not much changed after that conversation, not really. You still talked about the same sort of things in the same way and the same amount of time. The only thing that was clearly different was that Seung Hyun could now talk a little more openly about some things, but surprisingly, that secret turned out to have felt bigger than it actually was.

What did change, however, was this sort of... undertone, a vibe, maybe. Seung Hyun found it difficult to put to words.  Things just felt different somehow. He wouldn't say that you were actually warmer with him, or he with you, but it still felt warmer somehow. He found himself smiling more, long after the two of you had hung up. Even if all you had talked about was simple things like work or the weather, he still loved it. You even called him in a mild state of panic when your hair stylist gave you way more of a trim then you had initially asked for.

And Seung Hyun felt like he would have given a lot to see your new hair cut. Even with all this truth lately, he still didn't know what you looked like, but he was too afraid to ask for a picture.  Jiyong (now as up to date on the state of Seung Hyun's relations with you as possible) told him that it was probably the natural progression of things, though he admitted to not really having much experience in the field of screen-to-screen built relationships.

Which was how Seung Hyun ended up having lunch with Bom. Because somehow, by this point, all of the guys knew that he had made a friend, and that you only ever talked on the phone or text and had never met in person. As well as being a source of hilarity, this was apparently also something that Seung Hyun was in deep need of advice for, or at least everyone seemed to think so. Jiyong had set up this meeting in some hip new restaurant with his old friend.

"So, uh, how's it going on the 'Black Label'?" Seung Hyun asked, lamely searching for a topic of conversation.

Bom waved him off. "They're still denying that I exist. I have no idea. Anyways, we have much more important things to discuss, I hear." she leaned across the table towards him, expression intent. "Spill."

Seung Hyun blinked at her. She was nice, he knew that, and the fact that she was still counted as a friend by all of them meant she was also trustworthy, despite how flighty she might seem at first. But this was a little... intense, even for her.

"About what? Why are we even here? Not that I mind, but- "

"We're here...” she interrupted “Because, apparently, you've made an internet friend and everybody else you know isn't normal enough to know how to advise you to deal with that." she raised one perfect eyebrow. "Correct?"

Seung Hyun thought about the advice he had gotten so far (even though he hadn't actually asked for any). It basically amounted to "stalk her" (Jiyong) or "wait and see" (Youngbae). Daesung had suggested sending you an invitation to join them for their "feast", meaning the take-out movie binge thing they usually did on at least one Friday a month. Seungri had suggested a mix of stalking and wait and see. Seung Hyun had been strongly advised by all of them against asking Yang his opinion because as soon as he got wind of things, the stalking would happen whether Seung Hyun wanted it to or not.

"You're not wrong." he reluctantly admitted to Bom. "I still don't really know what you're supposed to do, though. I don't need help."

"That's okay." unconcerned, she shrugged and sat back in her seat and smiled at the waiter as he brought their food. Once the waiter was gone she added, "I'm having lunch with T.O.P. We could talk exclusively about the weather and I'll still tell my grandchildren all about this in fifty years."she teased, not really meaning it.

He glanced out the window, futilely wishing that it was you seated across from him instead. "It's nice weather, isn't it?"

"Surprisingly mild for the season." she nodded. Then she rolled her eyes. "I was kidding, let's not actually talk about the weather. So, you've made an internet friend. Has anybody told you yet that you can't actually be real friends because you've never even met in person?"

Frowning, Seung Hyun lowered his gaze to his plate of pasta. "No, they haven't."

"Good. If anybody says that, tell them they're full of shit."

Caught entirely by surprise, he looked up at her, but Bom was focused on dusting grated Parmesan all over her own pasta dish, even as she continued. "It's complete bullshit. Sometimes we're more honest with strangers than with friends. Besides, everybody knows that it's easier talking about things with a person you don't have to look in the eyes. Right?"

"Right." Seung Hyun agreed.

She looked up and beamed at him. "So anybody who tries to tell you otherwise, they're condescending and don't know anything, so screw them. You don't ever have to actually meet your friend if you don't want to." She paused, then narrowed her eyes. "Unless you want to. Do you want to? You look like you do."

"That's probably because I do want to." he replied, raising one eyebrow.

Slowly, he was getting reacquainted with Bom's speed. And also... it was true. He wanted to. He wanted to see you all covered in flour as you tried a new baking recipe. He wanted to know the face you made when somebody tried to put nuts in your ice cream (one of your favorite topics to complain about was the atrocity of nuts in ice cream) and how you looked in the evening, curled up in what you called a "blanket burrito", while watching TV shows with him. He most definitely wanted to know how your face looked when your voice sounded all delighted and bright like the morning sun.

Shit... he was in trouble.

"Okay.." Bom said, completely missing the tangent his thoughts had just run off with. "Well, a couple of important things have to happen first before you can meet in person. You each need to prove you're trustworthy and trust the other person by revealing sensitive information. It's not like a rule or anything, but that's what usually happens. Like, full names maybe."

"Or the fact that I'm an idol?" he deduced where she was headed.

She pointed her fork at him. "Or that, right. Does your friend know that?"

"She does." Seung Hyun confirmed. "I told her two weeks ago, but it turned out she'd figured it out way earlier. Six weeks before that, actually."

"Smart." Bom complimented you, sounding satisfied like she was actually involved. "Well that's a pretty huge thing so, unless you think she might be gathering information for a book or a grand reveal on T.O.P., that probably means she's trustworthy."

"She wouldn't." he said, feeling appalled.

"Alright. Have you ever actually talked about this meeting in person thing? I'm just asking 'cause, you know, if you have it'll be easier to approach the subject."

Seung Hyun nodded slowly and focused on his pasta again. "So you think I should? Meet up with her, I mean?"

"Look." putting her fork down, Bom leaned toward him across the table again. "See, me? I'm totally into the full disclosure thing. What you see is what you get. I really don't believe in the whole... cloak and dagger thing, especially not in relationships. If you want things to work out, you need to be honest with what you want from her and from your relationship and all that. Otherwise it'll just be all second-guessing and angsty. Worrying and wondering what she meant when she said she'd call later and if that time she kissed you good-bye longer than usual was her letting you know she's never coming back." She flushed suddenly. "You get the gist, right?"

"Right..." Seung Hyun said slowly. "So... honesty."

"There's a difference between honesty and full disclosure." Bom informed him reasonably. "You can be honest and still hide your feelings or thoughts. So if you want to meet with her, ask her what she thinks about that. See if she wants to."

That sounded entirely reasonable and sensible. It wasn't exactly news to him, but it helped a lot having it put to words by another person. He nodded slowly, then smiled at her. "You're right. Thanks."

To his surprise, she blushed. "You're welcome."

After he and Bom had finished their lunch and went their separate ways, Seung Hyun dithered a little before texting you. Meaning, he did some work on the computer and then rearranged his entire Be@rbrick collection. Then he decided to quit being a coward and sent you a text, painstakingly phrased.

I would like to meet you in person sometime. What do you think?

Twenty minutes later, you replied with just one word: No.

An hour after that, Seung Hyun got a text from Bom: Seeing how we're now in a relationship, I figured you should have my new number. I got yours from Jiyong. <3

'Wait, what?' he thought, but he was a little bit preoccupied, so his brain discarded the first part of her message, finding himself telling her instead:  She said no.

Wait... Bom replied immediately. She knows we're not a thing, right?

I have no idea what you're talking about. Seung Hyun told her, a bit impatiently. In reply he got a link from her to some gossip website, along with the words: Check this. She knows it's all lies, right?

"This" turned out to be a short news story about how T.O.P took his “ladyfriend” Bom out to some hip new place, together with a couple of blurry phone pictures taken of them from earlier in the day. A customer at the restaurant must have taken them... there had been no paparazzi outside, Seung Hyun was sure of that. In one of them he and Bom were leaning towards each other in a way that could be construed as intimate, if one were so inclined. In another, he was holding the door open for Bom, hand hovering over the small of her back as they left the restaurant. The gossip website wasn't subtle about their interpretation of the pictures.

Now, Seung Hyun was entirely confused, but at least he knew a little more now than he did before, even if it was only about what Bom was talking about. It didn't help him much with you and your rather abrupt rejection.

I don't get it. he wrote back to Bom. What does that have to do with _________?

Seconds later Bom was calling him. "Her name is ________?" she asked when he picked up. "That's adorable!"

Seung Hyun shook his head. "Bom... what's going on?"

She huffed a little. "How did she say no? Did she say she's not ready or what?"

"No. She just said no. No explanations." he couldn't help sounding a little bitter about it, even if what he primarily felt was still confusion, and hurt.

"Well this hit the internet about an hour after we finished lunch, so she probably read it. You need to clarify that we're not an item."

"You think this... would make her not want to meet me? Why?" it made no sense to Seung Hyun, none at all.

"Oh, Seung Hyun..." she groaned. "Look, going by your expression earlier... you're really into her. Imagine if you read something on the internet about her new boyfriend taking her out to lunch, and then she texted you asking you to meet. How would you feel?"

Inadvertently rejected, probably, even though he had no right to. But Seung Hyun thought wouldn't be so curt with you, even then.

"You really think that's it?" he asked, doubtful.

"Yeah, probably." she confirmed matter-of-factly. "Look, just check in with her to make sure she doesn't think this is true, okay? Even if she hadn't said no, you'd still make sure she doesn't believe this, wouldn't you?"

Yes, he would. Probably. Seung Hyun didn't usually worry about this kind of gossip that was written about him, unless it came up just before a public appearance and his manager wanted to prepare him for possible questions that might occur. He had been in all sorts of rumored relationships already, basically every time he was spotted with a woman who wasn't his mother or sister.

"Yes, okay. Thanks, Bom." he said after a moment and hung up after her cheerful. "No problem!"

Then he frowned at his phone for a second before he decided to just get it over with and called you. He was half-terrified you weren't going to pick up, growing more and more worried as all he heard was the ringing, until eventually you did pick up.

"Yeah."

"I wasn't sure if you were going to pick up." Seung Hyun said softly.

"Sorry." you said, and you sounded like it, at least a little. Mostly you just sounded weird.

Seung Hyun cleared his throat. "So. Do you read the gossip pages after all? Because, uh... I've been advised that... you know it's all lies, right?"

There was a bit of rustling at the other end, and then you asked. "What's lies?"

"Me and Bom." he huffed. "She's just a friend.”

"I..." you sounded visibly confused. "Okay?"

Seung Hyun deflated, this didn't sound at all like this was the problem, like he had thought. "Anyways, I just... Uhm...."

He had no idea what to say now. It was your right not to want to meet up with him. You were perfectly within your rights to say no and it probably wasn't fair forSeung Hyun to be hurt by that or anything. To be honest, thinking about it, he would think twice about meeting up with himself too, especially in light of what just happened with Bom. He knew she didn't care, she had been in the gossip rags for a while & had learned to just ignore it, but you clearly didn't feel the same way and that was completely understandable.

So, he took a deep breath and said. "I just wanted to tell you, it's completely okay that you don't want to meet me. I understand, and I'm not angry. I'm sorry I just sprung that on you, okay?"

"Okay?" you repeated, sounding even more confused than before. "Wait a second."

Now confused as well, Seung Hyun waited. All he could hear was your breathing.

"You don't have to apologize." you said after a moment of silence. "I was... that was harsh, and I'm sorry. I guess I just... panicked."

"Panicked?" Seung Hyun repeated the word. "Why?"

"Because, I... well, okay, I did read that thing about you and Bom and I was pissed that you didn't tell me and also hurt because I thought we've been... and then I realized that was a stupid assumption. I do want to meet with you, Seung Hyun. I just don't understand why you'd want to meet up with me? I mean, I'm pretty ridiculous."

That didn't make sense to him at all. Shaking his head, Seung Hyun frowned. "The most ridiculous thing to date that you've done is saying that just now. Did you really just ask why I'd want to meet up with you?"

"Yeah..." you said, sounding flustered. "I know. You're important to me and we talk every day and I just... panicked. The Bom thing didn't help. But what if we... what if we meet up in person and don't have anything to say to each other? That would be terrible, Seung Hyun. And when you meet me in person, you're going to see that I do ridiculous things a lot. I really like what we have now."

"Me too." Seung Hyun told you quietly. He wasn't sure where this was going. "I really do. And if that's all you want, that's okay. But I don't think that we'd have nothing to say to each other or not get along if we met up, and I just..." he took a breath and realized that it was now or never. "I'd just really like to take you on a date."

"A date?" you squeaked.

Heart in his throat, he swallowed. "Yes. It's okay if you don't want that, though."

"No!" you exclaimed. "I mean, yes! I want that. Yes." you exhaled noisily. "Crap. I used to be smoother than this.”

Seung Hyun blinked, then blinked again. "Yes? You mean you want to?"

"Yes." you repeated, sounding amused now and much surer of yourself. "Yes, I want to go on a date with you, Seung Hyun. What, did you used to be smoother too?"

"I doubt it." Seung Hyun told you honestly. "Okay, wow....That's good."

Still amused and much warmer now, you hummed. "So where are you taking me?"

Shit. He hadn't thought that far ahead...

Desperately casting his mind out for something, Seung Hyun eventually blurted out the first thing that came to his mind: "Seoul Land?"

You laughed. "Sounds good. When?"

He licked his lips. "Do you have any plans for tomorrow?"

You didn't.

[almasy-fics]

Retail Hell

Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh Chapter: 2/? Rating: M (Subject to change) Warnings: Swearing, perving and aged up characters Pairing: Seto Kaiba/OFC Summary: Seto Kaiba has no choice but to shop for himself when his personal stylist ends up sick and ends up in a store named Dapper Gentleman Boutique. He’s got the hots for the sales assistant. From Rose’s POV

Notes: A purely self indulgent piece of crap with added storyline!

AO3 Link Ko-Fi Link

“No.”

“Come on, please?”

“I said no.”

“Just one date.”

“The answer is still no.”

“How about you duel me and if I win I get your number?”

“How many times do I have to tell you that I don’t duel?”

Please God, if you’re out there, use your smiting powers on Rex Raptor.

Rose inwardly growled, keeping her composure on the outside to ensure her professionalism stayed in check. Though really, if she could set this serial pest on fire, she would, gladly.

And possibly dance around his grave as they lowered his charred remains in.

Yep, she would totally do that.

Now he was pouting at her. Disgusting.

“Why the hell do you keep on rejecting me?!”

“Why do you keep on asking me to go on a date with you if you know I will continue rejecting you?” Just fuck off you little twerp!

His eye twitched.

“Just give me a chance! One!” No, don’t beg at me you creep. And my eyes are up here, by the way.

Unbeknownst to the two, the front door chimed and the store suddenly became void of staff, except for her.

“Not gonna do it Raptor.” Don’t cross your arms over your chest, he’ll just keep staring at them. No, arms to the sides, that’s it, great. “And tell that Underwood friend of yours to knock it off as well, I don’t appreciate either of you coming in here and- fuck me sideways…” Is that Seto and Mokuba Kaiba? In here?

“Hey! What are you looking a- Oh…” At least she could get away with swearing in English in front of this ingrate.

Wait, where did everyone else go?

Hang on, isn’t Seto Kaiba notoriously the hardest person to shop for?

Fuck.

“I just remembered I have somewhere to be… Uh… Bye Rosa.”

It’s Rose you dickhead.

Maybe she would just have to thank the brothers later for inadvertently ridding her of her very own serial nuisance. That’s if her pride could take it.

The floor staff had bailed on her when they saw their chance, peeking out from the tea room door. Those bastards, how dare they run off knowing full well I was distracted!

She could hear the younger Kaiba loudly describing the suits in the Alternative section and she sighed inwardly. Time to straighten up, saunter over and be the most professional sales assistant in this joint!

“Look Seto, this one from a brand called Antons has people fucking on it.”

She was somehow able to skillfully choke down loud ‘HA’ just begging to be released into the world. If that didn’t make her like the kid, nothing else will.

“I think we’re in the wrong section Seto…”

Poor Seto Kaiba was covering his brother’s eyes to shield them from her favourite shirts, how cute.

“Can I help you today sirs?”

He was staring at the shirts, his eyes flickering over each design with held back curiosity. How did she know? She works in retail damnit, of course she knows when people are ever so slightly inquisitive about her favourite Antons shirts. Coitus is a beautiful thing and should be celebrated, on shirts, on pants, maybe Seto Kaiba’s pants on her bedroom floor.

Shut up Rose, just shut up.

He’s really ridiculously good looking, get over it.

“Sirs, is there anything I can help you with?”

Even if it were just momentarily, his cobalt blue eyes showed a minuscule bit of amusement.

The man has a sense of humour, does that mean he is not the customer from hell?

Her theory was quickly thwarted when his eyes made their way over to her, silently appraising her presence.

Like what you see? Maybe you should take a picture, it would last longer.

She had to avoid rolling her eyes when his eyes lingered perhaps a moment too long on her chest.

Making a good first impression is paramount to great customer service!

She could actually hear the store owner screech that in her all too happy high pitched voice. She wanted to vomit.

“I’m fine.” So now you’re glaring at me? I’m just trying to do my job here, jackass!

And yet his gaze still travelled up and down her body. Wonder if he's undressing me with his ey- No, don't make me get out the spray bottle! Bad Rose! Very bad!

She raised her eyebrow, hiding the fact that she was enjoying herself.

“We need suits, please. Big brother’s stylist is sick so we don’t know what we need to get.” Oh such a good kid, his older brother could definitely learn from him.

Ha, doubt that would ever happen.

“Oh?” She was most certainly intrigued, that was no lie. So they don’t shop for themselves.

Wait…

They don’t go clothes shopping themselves…

Oh god… keep the professionalism in check! Calm down, straight face! No laughing.

Fight that bubble Rose, it is totally not hilarious that the Kaiba brothers can’t dress themselves. Stop thinking about it.

But that also means she gets to undress Seto Kaiba. Yes! God it’s great to work in retail.

“Is there an occasion or is this business?” Yes, good job! High fives all around… Nobody? Fine.

“My twenty-first.” Monotonous and all, good on ya mate. Ten out of ten for expressionism.

Stop sassing Seto Kaiba, you might stop monologuing and end up word vomiting you stupid woman!

“And I am supposing we are wanting to steer clear from our exotic collection?” The three of them looked back towards her favourite printed shirts, an amused smirk formed on her lips when she swore that she could see the older Kaiba almost smile at the clothing. He was totally digging it.

“Yes please.” Adorable little Mokuba answered again. She just wanted to ruffle his fuzzy black hair, though Seto Kaiba may snap her hands off if she tried. That unruly teen was most certainly this CEO’s kryptonite.

She smiled and she was definitely certain that Seto Kaiba was checking her out as he watched her lips intently.

Shameless, I like it.

Motioning behind her, she spoke. “If you would just follow me, I will show you some more appropriate attire. Though to be honest, I do quite love our Antons collection. The store is based in Melbourne and we have an exclusive deal with them. We are the only place in Japan that stocks their products. It’s all so exciting!”

“This is what your stylist would choose?”

“Yes.”

“Are you certain this is what they would choose?”

“Of course.”

“In a suit? For your twenty-first?”

“Did I stutter?”

Your stylist is shit, your attitude is shit, but my job is not shit so I would prefer to keep it and be nice to the fact that you have just chosen the worst, nineteen-eighties anchorman piece of garbage suit I have ever seen in my life.

Where the hell did he even find it? And a matching one for his brother?

“Seto…” Even the kid disapproves.

Just looking at the grey plaid mess before her was making her feel sick. She couldn’t do it, no way.

“I’m going to kill myself.” She whispered in English. Seto Kaiba totally heard that...

Professionalism be damned, she now had the insane desire to make him look like the Earth was his mistress.

No, she was going to make him look so dapper that he would be using the Earth as a condom to fuck something bigger.  

Like her tits.

Rose, enough. You’ll start salivating.

“You know what, no. Get those abominations off and I will be back momentarily with something that isn’t from the nineteen-eighties.”

Her inner Fashion Design Major was showing, she loved being able to put her night classes to good use.

She walked away, completely flattered when she heard the younger Kaiba comment on her ass only to be half-heartedly scolded by his brother.

Just suave mate, very suave.

Yes. Yeeeeeees. I am a genius! All need to bow down to Rose Brikmore! Undisputed Queen of Fashion.

“Damn.” Approved Mokuba. He just looked so handsome and dapper in the navy Tom Ford she picked out for him. And Seto Kaiba…

“Damn…” She smirked to avoid licking her lips at the sight.

The dark silver Ermenegildo Zegna suit she matched with a cobalt blue tie made Seto Kaiba look absolutely delectable.

Stop undressing him with your eyes.

Yes, fairy godmother of common sense.

Their stylist could not possibly missed such beautiful pieces of clothing for the two men. The men could do so much better.

“Permission to be painfully honest?” Even if he said no, she was going to voice her opinion.

“Fine.” Oh, sweet.

“Your stylist is a fucking no talent wanker and needs to be fired.” He totally understood her English, she could see it in his eyes. He was impressed.

“Uh Seto, what’s a wanker?” Oh poor, innocent Mokuba.

Nuh uh, the real Australian is answering here!

“Australian slang for loser, moron, idiot, douchebag. You get the gist.” Oh that felt good.

“Right… So are we getting these ones Seto?”

She heard right, the Kaiba brothers approved of her choices for them. She could see all that commission money flowing into her bank account in the back of her mind.

Take that staff hiding in the tea room!

“I must admit.” She said whilst neatly hanging the suits and their accessories in their own bags, “I quite enjoyed this little encounter today.” She zipped up the suit bags and handed them over to the sparkly eyed Mokuba. “Perhaps we could do this again sometime.”

A flustered Seto Kaiba responded by pulling out a card, hastily writing on it and shoving it into her hand before escaping the store. Mokuba quickly followed him after saying a polite ‘thank you’.

What the hell was that?

What the hell is- Oh… Oh god…

“Did he just…?” Now the other employees are out, and hovering over her shoulder no less.

“Did Seto Kaiba just give you his number?”

“That must be his number, what else would it be?”

“Maybe it’s a prank.”

“Seto Kaiba doesn’t pull pranks, Yukari.”

“Shut up Steve.”

“No you shut up Celeste!”

“How about you shut up Meika?”

Rose folded the card and shoved it down her cleavage, all the while staring out the door in shock.

What. The. Actual. Fuck?