#also we decided sunny made the dress (with help from the rest of the eggs)

[vex-glitch]

i forgot to post this but last week the poar zine server planned hideduo’s wedding (we were coping hard) and i had to draw them in their pretty outfits we picked out

[vee-beeee]

Plant Shopping

HELLO

So I’ve essentially been dead and i apologize, lotta life stuff happening so that’s fun.

This isn’t a Connor x reader fic ;-; but ill get one out soon, but i wanted to try experimenting with another character and I’ve been playing omori recently so here this is

Basically: Set in a universe where Mari went to the hospital for a bit but was okay, and everyone’s doing good. You and Basil see that’s its a nice summer day outside, and decide to go plant shopping :)

A classic Basil x reader fic, both characters are 18 (reader has she/her pronouns)

Only other relationship mentioned is Mari x hero

This might be slightly out of character, as it’s my first time writing for these guys. This is also an au where Mari didn’t die so they main group is happier, and they got therapy 👍

Triggers: Panic attacks, but mostly happy and a comfort fic because these guys deserve it fr fr

——————————————————————————————<3

It’s always a weird feeling when you wake up and the sun is drifting into your eyes. It’s like your lids are glowing with the sun itself, catching on your lashes.

Your dreamy haze is startle when you try to gently shift in bed, realizing to late how close you are to the edge.

And you then fall off the side in a mess of blankets.

A body shoots up on top of the bed, a mess of blonde hair and a slender frame all you can see from your spot on the floor. It turns around the room to survey the surroundings, before mumbling something and falling back onto the bed.

“Basiiiillllll” you call out, sleep laced in your voice as you claw to get out of the sheets.

“Whatttttt” he mumbles back, shifting in bed to roll over to look at you.

Before realizing you weren’t there.

“Oh honey!” He instantly wakes up, crawling over the bed to look at you, before leaning down to help undo the blankets. “How did you do this?” He asks when you’re finally free, looking over your body to check for any bruises.

“Maybe you shoved me close to the edge in your sleep again” You laugh, standing up and stretching. You reach your arms above your head and hear your bones creaking, causing you to sigh in relaxation. When your finished you swing your arms down and look at Basil, you was laying on the bed, looking at you with the most gentle, loving gaze you had ever seen. He was also laying upside down, the goober.

“What” you laugh, adjusting your sleep shorts as you walk over to the closet and start rooting through clothes.

“Nothing” he replies, “Just that you look like a flower, blooming in the sun” he chuckles, rolling off the bed to walk and hug you from behind.

Over the years, Basil had hit a growth spurt and went from the shortest to the third tallest. Kel had him beat, next to hero. Sunny was a “short king” as your group called him, but he was still almost as tall as Basil. His blond hair was cut almost the same, done up with some sparkly pins in a low pony, a product of your self care night you had. (You both put on face masks and needed his hair out of his face)

You guys gently swayed in his room for a minute, being careful of the plants that littered his room.

You gently turned your head to kiss his forehead, which had been resting on your shoulder “We should do something today” you whispered, stopping your swaying. When he didn’t answer, you turned to look at him more in question.

And then he started fake snoring.

It was so loud and obnoxious that you couldn’t help but laugh, especially when it turned into the “me me me” snore. Basil broke and started laughing to, and you both chuckled to your hearts content in your happy little bubble.

After that you both got dressed, you in a flowery summer dress and him in some shorts and white tee that said “flower power” showcasing a variety of different flower types on it.

You were currently making eggs and toast with some blueberry jam that you guys made together. That was a fun, albeit messy experiment.

Basil was leaning on the counter next to you, telling you about the others in your groups plan for that day.

“Mari and Hero are driving out to the city, Aubrey is going out with some friends, and Sunny and Kel are meeting up so Kel can try to teach him basketball.” Basil chuckled at the thought of poor sunny getting hit in the face with a ball.

“So we have the day to ourselves?” You questioned, looking outside the window to the beautiful sun shining down on the house. Polly was out doing errands, and Basils grandmother was sleeping in her room.

It really was just the two of you.

“Yep, the whole sunny day” he smiled at you, before jumping and letting out an “oh!” You looked at him with a questioning gaze, and he smiled shakily before running to his room. He came back shortly with a scrap piece of paper and he looked at you in excitement.

“Do you wanna go plant shopping with me?” He smiled so bright you had to squint to see him. You laughed and nodded your head.

“Of course i will! What planets do you need?” This caused Basils brilliant smile to falter, and he chuckled and scratched the back of his head, guilty look plastered on his face

“A lot”

You smirked and held your hand out, and he gently gave you his scrap piece of paper he was holding.

You nodded a thank you and looked down, and saw that the entire sheet of paper was filled out.

Your mouth dropped open as you read all the different kind of plants, a lot of which you couldn’t recognize.

“That’s my list, these ones do well in the summer” He pointed out on the list shyly, before laughing and shaking his head.

“We need to get started then” you winked, and Basil was once again beaming.

After you both got ready, eating and saying goodbye to basils grandmother, you were off to the green house outside of town.

You stood in the driveway, looking at your guys bikes leaned up on the house. You turned to look at basil with a scrunched up look and he bit his lip. You both knew one thing.

You were not gonna fit all the plants in a flimsy bike basket.

Your next option was to call Kel.

Basil and Kel talked on the phone while you undid the locks on your bikes, rolling them over to where your boyfriend was standing.

“….thank you Kel, i promise ill pay for gas” Basil nodded as Kel talked in his ear, and the blonde turned to you to give a thumbs up. You smiled as the plan was set in motion.

Basically the plan was this:

Kel had saved up months ago and bought a truck, while you and basil had chosen to stick with bikes, being the healthier option for you too. But at times like this, extra help was needed.

So you guys were going to bike to park, where Kel and sunny were, and borrow/ steal kels truck, while he and sunny took your bikes home when they were ready.

Perfect plan.

You and basil started to the park, enjoying the warm summer morning. Basil, like basil does, took his camera. He was fussing over it all the way to the park, making sure the strap was tight around his chest. You chuckled as he shakily tried adjusting, before yelping when he realized he was heading into the bushes.

You got to the park (mostly) unharmed. Basil did have a couple scratches, but you were always prepared and brought band-aids for accidents.

(And you were always willing to kiss it better)

When you got to the park, you both beelined for the court. Before you could even see it, you could hear Kel.

He was screaming his head off and whistling.

You and Basil slowly looked at each other, before bursting into laughter. You guys continued walking to the court while giggling, and saw quite the sight.

Kel was guarding sunny, and yelling into his ear. Sunny looked frustrated, but was clearly concentrating hard. You and basil smiled as you watched Kel suddenly make a grab for the ball, causing sunny to turn and shoot for the basket.

The ball flew right over the net, over the board, and before you could register, the ball flying righttt over your head.

You stood there in shock as the ball thudded into a tree, and you blinked as a very worried Basil came into your vision.

“Sweet Pea! Are you okay?” He checked you up and down, giggling gone. Kel was running over, yelling about that almost being the perfect hit, and sunny was walking over, rubbing his arm and looking at you with a guilty look.

The black haired boy tilted his head in apology, and one you recovered from your stunned state, you looked at him and gave him a shaky smile and thumbs up. That was a close one.

“Hey you guys! Sorry about that, he’s still learning distance of shooting the ball” Kel had retrieved the ball from the bushes, and was jogging back to your small circle. When he arrived, he slapped a hand on basils shoulder, sending the blonde forward a few steps. Basil just awkwardly chuckled, never fully getting used to be touched by surprise.

“So I hear you guys want to steal ol’ hector?” Kel laughed, spinning the ball on his finger.

“I’ll pay for gas don’t worry” Basil assured the boy, biting his lip once again, a nervous habit he had picked up when he was a kid.

“Im not to worried about it” Kel shrugged, tossing the ball hand to hand “Just don’t crash it” the boy laughed, punching basil on the arm. Basil chuckled and nodded, giving him a ‘yes sir’ before Kel suddenly threw him the keys. Basil struggled to catch it, the small jumble of metal bouncing from hand to hand before he caught it against his chest. Kel laughed at the antics, and finally gave you once last nod.

“Make sure he doesn’t get lost in there okay y/n?” The boy winked again and patted Sunny’s back, who gave you both a wave while they jogged back to the court. You giggled while Basil sputtered and went red, making an exaggerated frowny face, making you laugh harder.

After dropping the bikes in the lawn, where sunny and Kel could keep an eye on them, you both saw Kel truck parked on the street.

Basil carefully held your hand as you walked across the park to it. You swung your hands back and forth, your both starting to hum a Taylor swift song and laughing.

When you reached the car, Basil unlocked it, and ran around to your side to open the door for you, doing a little bow.

“For you my rose” He blushed and smiled, making you laugh and curtesy to him, thanking the boy before climbing into the tall car. He ran around and pulled open his door, sliding into the driver seat and familiarizing himself with the cars controls. The car was stick shift, and luckily Polly had taught Basil in his Grandmas old car, which also was a stick shift. So you were set.

Basil turned the key and the car roared to life, sputtering with its loud engine. Basil jumped and turned to you with his eyebrows raised, and you laughed at his expression.

Pulling out into the road, you changed the music into some classic road-trip goodies, and you were both off to drive to the plant store outside the town.

Basil was a pretty good driver, albeit a little anxious. After Maris tumble down the stairs that landed her with a broken leg in the hospital, Basils anxiety went through the roof. With a little encouragement from you and Polly, he saw a doctor and got some medication. Now, he was doing much better, but sometimes glimpses of the monster called anxiety crept through. He would get a little nervous when a truck was going to fast, if someone was honking, or if someone even passed him.

But he had you to calm him down. To cheer the blonde up when he got to stressed, you would jokingly yell “PERVERT” at people who were being a little to aggressive on the road, making basil laugh.

The current song was one of your favorites, “She Lit a Fire” by Lord Huron. You both were humming along on the peaceful trip.

About 30 minutes of singing and talking about nothing and everything, Basil smiled and informed you that you were close. He pulled into a dirt driveway and yelped as the road got a little bumpy. You giggled in joy, feeling like you were on a roller costar. Finally, Basil pulled into a clearing, where the road became pavement again.

And then you saw it.

A couple of huge greenhouses, people flocking around them. There were plants everywhere, and it smelt like heaven with all the flowers blooming, and some sprouting.

Basil pulled into a free spot, turning the noisy truck off. You put your hand on the door, ready to exit the truck, when you heard heavy breathing coming from the driver side of the car. You turned to Basil, about to ask him what that noise was, but saw the boy looking out the rear view mirror to a bunch of people.

You understood.

Basil never did good with crowds, and the blonde turned and looked to you in alarm.

“Touch or no touch?” You asked gently, always making sure he was comfortable with it before touching him. He nodded, so you reached out and grabbed his hand, gently rubbing it.

Basils breathing was getting more labored, so you started breathing with him.

“In and out flower” you repeated that mantra, rubbing the back of Basils hand until you noticed his breathing starting to go back to normal. You both took a couple seconds to regroup, before basil quietly leaned over the car and wrapped you in a hug. You breathed out a sigh into his chest, kissing it once before leaning into the hug.

You guys stayed like that for at least 5 minutes, before basil pulled away.

“Sorry ‘bout all that sweet pea” He gave you a shaky smile and you gently gave him one back.

“It’s okay basil” you nodded “Take all the time you need.”

He closed his eyes and breathed, before jokingly giving you a thumbs up. “Im ready, I’ve got you by my side to help me” he stuttered out, making you blush and aww. He went red and quickly got out of the car, walking to the other side to open your door. You hopped out, dusting yourself off before turning and seeing basil close the door and lock the car with a beep.

“Talk about your plants with me” you spoke up, turning to basil and holding your hand out. He gave you a soft look before taking it, explaing all the different kinds of plants as you guys walked through the crowds.

You finally got to the entranced, and in Basils eyes, he was in heaven. The nursery was filled top to bottom with plants. Hanging baskets to little sprouts. It was so colorful in the building, and there was barely any room to walk around in. The ceiling was completely glass, so the sun shone through to bring light into the painting that was the nursery.

“Im gonna live here now.” Basil announced, laughing in awe. You chuckled to him and bumped into his side, causing the both of you to giggle.

Basil picked up a basket and you guys got to shopping.

Basil wanted to look at all the vegetables he wanted to grow, and you followed the boy to make sure he didn’t go ham spending his money. Basil started picking up plants and explaining which one was which, the ones that looked healthy, if they’d do well with the weather we’ve been having, and all sorts of facts about the plants.

You followed him with an adoring look, happy to see your boyfriend so happy after the little hiccup in the car. You figured out since you’ve been with him that even if you had a hard moment, it can always go up from there.

You eventually started to wander off yourself, getting lost in the leaves of the plants and trees and walking to a quiet corner.

There, you found her.

The most beautiful flower you had ever seen, an orange lily plant, sun beam shining down at the perfect angle to illustrate the softness of the petals, the color popping. You gasped and quickly walked over, picking up the flower and putting it up to your nose, smelling the aroma the plant was giving off.

You were lost in a haze, until you heard a tell-tale click. You blinked and looked up, seeing basil holding his camera down the corridor of hanging plants, and vines spilling over table tops. You smiled at him while he fanned the picture he took, holding it up to the light, and grinning.

“This is a good one” he turns to you and waves you over, showing you the photo when you get close enough to see it. You move the lily to your waist, and take a look at the Polaroid.

It’s you, smelling the lily, framed by leaves and vines. The sun is shining on your hair, bringing out the color and showing the blush on your face.

You giggle and look at basil, whose eyes are trained on your face. He smiles and kisses your check, hanging the camera down by his neck, and tucking the picture into his pocket. He pecks your nose and finally your lips, tucking a piece of hair behind your ear. You smile in the kiss, and put your free hand up on his cheek, squishing his face in the kiss, causing him to laugh and break away.

“You’re amazing my flower.” He bit his lip, blush finally creeping on his face as he closed his eyes and smiled. You blushed and slapped a hand on your face. You peeked your eyes through your hand and laughed a little.

“You are too, my delectable food garnish” Basil burst into laughter, and covered his mouth with his hands, shaking his head. He looked back up at you “Is that going to be my new nickname?” He asked, rolling his head to look up at the ceiling. You laughed and grabbed on of his free hands and rubbed it “Maybe” you just giggled.

After basil noticed you had a plant in your arms, he fawned over it, claiming it was “almost” as pretty as you.

That got you blushing.

As Basil continued around the nursery, he picked up more and more plants, until he had to get 2 carts. As he complained to you about the prices of maple tree saplings, you decided to name your lily “phoebe” .

Basil nodded his head and greeted phoebe by gently shaking one of her leaves like a hand. You and him burst into laughter, and you got some looks at the old folks peacefully shopping.

You and basil eventually got to the line, which went almost through the whole nursery. You were carrying all the pretty flowers, smelling each one.

Basil insisted on carrying the sprouts, because he wanted to make sure they did get to jostled. He was holding the whole basket at a specific angle, trying to make sure not one once of dirt spilled from their pots.

You and basil talked about the other plants you saw in line, and argued over who was going to pay for phoebe.

(Basil won)

As you were waiting, you got a text from Mari, asking how you were doing. She heard from Sunny that you guys had gone to the nursery, and you realized that you had been in there for at least a couple hours. You set down the basket and held your phone up, turning on the camera and pointing it to you and basil. You snapped the photo of you making a peace sign and silly face, while basil fussed over the flowers. You sent it to Mari, who sent laughing faces back and sent back a picture of her and hero, as they appeared to be at a coffe shop down town. Mari was making a thinking face, and hero, across the table, was making the smuggest face you’d ever seen.

You laughed and got basils attention, showing him the pictures. He blushed at the picture of him, and didn’t say anything but kiss your head.

You finally got to the checkout, basil talking to the kind old lady behind the counter. She commented on some of the sprouts, prompting basil to perk up and discuss flowers with her. When the lady was done typing in her computer, she announced the price and you blinked in alarm, looking at basil, who was surprisingly calm as he pulled out his wallet.

When everything was payed for, you grabbed a lollipop from the counters jar and picked up your share of flowers, sucker in your mouth as you walked out of the nursery, the afternoon heat washing over you.

Basil unlocked the truck, and you placed the planets in the backseat. You were about to climb into the car when basil grabbed your hand and squeezed it, causing you to look at him.

“I’ll be right back, I have to grab one thing.” He said and jogged away, leaving you confused.

You leaned on the truck and waited for a couple minutes, before you saw your boyfriend jogging back to the car,

With a full blown tree in his arms.

You gasped and ran to help him carry it, to which he thanked you. You both shoved it into the bed of the truck, basil putting a tarp down before hand to catch the dirt.

“Where did you acquire this?” You finally asked when basil started to secure the tree down so it wouldn’t fly out into the street.

“Well i payed for it, i wanted to surprise you” he awkwardly smiled, tugging on the ropes to make sure they were steady. You giggled and pat the leaves, trying to identify what tree it was.

“It’s a lemon tree” Basil announced after he saw you looking, and you gasped happily in surprise.

“I’ve always wanted a lemon tree!” You giggled, jumping into the car while Basil slid into the drivers side.

“I know, i thought maybe..” He mumbled the last part, at you smiled, looking at him in question. He looked at you and cleared his throat, sitting up straight

“I thought maybe we could plant it together, as a couple” he smiled and you gave him a happy look, quickly leaning over the dash to kiss his cheek. He went completely red and smiled, starting the car bringing your journey and outing to a close.

“Ill take that as a yes”

——————————-<3

I hope you liked this and it wasn’t to out of character! Im working on a Connor x reader rn, but if you like this and want more omori gang x reader hit me up! I think I’ll write a Kel one soon, also set in a universe where Mari is a-okay.

Thanks for reading!

[arrogantsonofabiscuit]

Adore you

Feat:- Kuroo and You!

Genre:- Fluff and mentions of pet names.

A/n:- Dancing with Kuroo while listening to your favorite song :)

Word count:- 1.4K

A post for @ohajime song fic collaboration 

Funny isn't it? When you plan something out and nothing seems to go accordingly? The excitement, the joy and the hard-work seems to be wasted when something messes it up. Well that's the situation you are in right now!

 Thinking aback, sleeping when the alarm snoozes for the umpteenth time but you seem to still doze off with sleep lingering within you and your body asking you to rest some more. You move to the other corner of your bed where your boyfriend sleeps. You groan when you find out that his spot on the bed is empty and cold. You stir back to your side of the bed and try to pull your plush blanket over your form for some kind of warmth. You tried pulling but something kept it on its spot , slightly opening your eyes you see your boyfriend with his arm  on his chest.

 "Blanket"

 "No."

 "What do you mean NO? I need my blanket!" you whine.

 "No, you can't have your blanket, we have to get ready."

 " Huh?" you replied with a confused face

 "Babe, did you forget what day it is today? We have to go to your brother's wedding?" He gets up from the bed and stretches himself so that the remaining sleep is gone. "Yeah I know , but we can do one thing " you reply with a yawn. "And that is? " he opens the closet to take out his towel. "You go bath and once you are done would you please wake me up?" your reply as you stir back to your previous position. He hums and enters the bathroom.

  The bedroom  was filled with dim light even though it was quite sunny outside along with  slight voice of water and a humming sound could be heard which lulled you in a deep slumber. Kuroo gently twists the door knob and the enters the bedroom with a towel hung loosely  on his body, just giving the glimpse of his perfectly sculpted body.  He then walks towards you ,sleeping on the plush bed with pillows underneath your head, your hair scattered everywhere on your face, your slightly parted lips had urged him to kiss you but he stopped as he remembered that you guys had to attend a wedding!

 He caresses your forehead and brushes your hair off your face, you grab his wrist and kiss his knuckle earning a chuckle from the ravenette and you get up. The blanket was now on top of your head and you spin your head with the blanket. He observes your mini performance and how you tangle yourself more into the mess of the blanket. You groan as you look at the time on the clock placed on the nightstand. You were supposed to be up by 7:00 but now it seems like you woke up an hour late as  it was 8:00 now. You get up from your bed irritatingly and fold your blanket and set your bed in order, Kuroo was observing you from corner of his eyes and had one of the biggest smiles plastered on his face. He could think of only one word and that was "Adorable." (Your mess is adorable 😣☹️)

 You take a towel with you and you tie your hair into a messy bun before stepping into the bathroom. You set your products on the flat surface of the tabletop and get ready to take a quick shower.

 Kuroo goes to the kitchen to look for something to munch on . He decides to make some breakfast as he knows once you get late you don't like to have breakfast and you also forget to carry some snacks with you. He takes out a pan and cracks open an egg and makes sunny side eggs the way you like it. He prepares some toast along with a cup of your favorite coffee. Your coffee preference always confused  him because you were known to be a sweet tooth but you always liked your coffee to be bitter so that it  would wake you up  and help you stay awake during work.

  You step out of your the shower-room and start drying yourself . As soon as you look up at the mirror you see some sticky notes on them. It had small messages written on them like "Before you forget I wanted to let you know that this big boy loves you and he fucking adores you!". "Good morning sweet cheeks ! You have no idea the amount of happiness you brought into my life! <3." You would call it cheesy or what not but those messages did make you giddy and lightheaded.

 You smile looking at them and start getting ready. You apply some of your products and take out the dress you were supposed to wear. You come out of your room and enter the kitchen to have a small snack before leaving, because you knew that you would always get angry at your boyfriend if you weren't fed well. You were flabbergasted when you heard him humming to your favorite song as you enter the kitchen from the long hallway.

 “Your wonder under summer skies

Brown skin and lemon over ice

Would you believe it?

 You don't have to say you love me

I just wanna tell you something

Lately you've been on my mind”

   You clear your throat as you look at  Kuroo's  flustered face and he whipped his head left and right to cover his pink cheeks and ears from your loving gaze. He  was already surprised when you showed up but what escalated was the way you continued to sing the song

 "Honey

I'd walk through fire for you

Just let me adore you

Oh, honey

I'd walk through fire for you

Just let me adore you"

 You walk towards him as he sets the plate on the dining table with an  enchanting smell of your coffee along with your favorite breakfast and to top that he also kept a small piece of the cake that you had bought a day ago. You were amazed at how much this guy knew you, your habits, your weirdness and what not. You guys look at each other for a brief second and continue to sing the song,

 "Like it's the only thing I'll ever do

 Like it's the only thing I'll ever do

I'd walk through fire for you

Just let me adore you

Oh, honey I'd walk through fire for you

Just let me adore you

 Like it's the only thing I'll ever do"

 You bow down as you perform this small set with your beloved and then hug him saying "Thank you I could not have done this without you " .After having your breakfast, you guys washed your dishes and finally after completing all the chores ,settled on your respective car seat.

 The sun was high in the sky, the light came seeping through the shades you were wearing . The sky was almost the color of pastel pink , soft for the eye and absolutely lovely. The scenario outside looked mesmerizing almost breathtaking as you reach the venue of the wedding. You met your mother and she was complaining about how late you were , but you couldn't find right reasons to explain her. The only possible reason was that you overslept but the way you got ready, the way you cherished the moments ,the way you twirled around your house dancing to your favorite song with the person you love made your heart fill with upmost love you had for your boyfriend.

 The wedding ceremony concluded and various toasts were made . A soft music played in the background which made you jolt out of your seat and you made your way to the dance floor with your boyfriend. He placed his arms around your waist pulling you closer and you placed your hand on his broad shoulder. You slow danced to the song and at that moment maybe today god was with you (quite rare), the sun had set in the background , the small rays making you look ethereal, the smile you had glowed more and the way your eyes shined made him blush. He looked so handsome as the way the sun kissed his features on his face , his wide smile and even his hazel eyes penetrating through your soul. It felt like he found the one for him , he found his home, his partner in  crime, his paradise. At that moment Kuroo and You came to a conclusion and that was,

 "You have to hold my hand tightly love, because it is a long journey ahead, lets dance till the end with your hand in my hand. Let's love till the end."  

[litteidiot]

Four Seasons With You

Volume one: Chapter 1- Spring

Easter Egg Hunt

Pairing: Victor x Mc

Summary: When an unexpected inconvenience gives you the opportunity to make this day unforgettable for him.

“I’ll see you later.” You chriped on a sunny morning. Basically hopping in front of him, you placed a gentle kiss on his lips before parting.

“So cheery today and the day barely started. Does a certain dummy has something in her mind?” Victor hooked his arm around your waist, giving you another kiss on the forehead. “Oh, it’s nothing, just springtime.” You smiled at him. “And it’s also Easter.” You added. He nod reminding himself about the holiday. Today he was supposed to be at home with you enjoying each other’s company. You made him promise you because he is on his day off he won’t look at any document nor report. He is yours only.

But last night in some ungodly hour, the management crew gave him a call, about some hiccups what occurred with the overseas department. The negotiation to collaborate with the new American company took a bad turn and they refused to do anything further if they can’t talk with the CEO of LFG. So it meant he has to go in for an impromptu meeting.

“I’ll make it up for you when I’ll get back.” He pulled you close again, hinting another soft kiss on your temple. It was still early in the morning. He tried to get up beside you without disturbing your sleep, but when you didn’t feel his warmth anymore, you woke up and followed him to the kitchen. You shook your head in refusal. “Don’t rush the meeting because you want to get back home earlier for me. Take your time I know you were in contact with this company for a long time. I’ll see you when you finished.” You smiled at him.

You know this deal can benefit LFG’s future in the overseas market. So of course you don’t want this to end badly because of some holiday. “Even though it means two batches of pudding.” The sweet smile on your makeup free face turned into a mischievous and greedy grin. “Such a dummy. Always thinking about her stomach.” He murmured pretending to be annoyed, but you knew this man long enough to know he will grant your wish. “When I get home I better not see chicklets, bunnies and an idiot running around the house.” With that he closed the door behind him and left.

While you made yourself a light breakfast, what only contained toast and eggs, your mind was furiously racing on how to spend the time while waiting for your boyfriend. As you kept musing on the possibilities on how to spend the day, you gradually remembered the little surprises you left in Victor’s office while you waited for him to finish his meeting a couple days back. A prankish smile tugged on your lips. Shoving down the remaining bites of your meal, and taking a few more sips of the coffee you hurried away to get dressed.

Walking in the step in closet you chose a casual wear for the day. Pushing and flipping the hanged up clothing articles you eventually found a nice beige colored dress among the many formal and ridiculously expensive clothings. When you became Victor’s partner and after the media acknowledged this information you got invitations to balls and fancier parties. It was a natural requirement you had to look high class just like him. Your boyfriend mercilessly spoiled you rotten with fancier and fancier dresses, personally tailored to your sizes by the finest taylors he could find. As the collection grew, it swallowed all your older clothes. The dress you posed with in front of the body sized mirror was like a scavenger hunt amongst the many night gowns and suit dresses.

Quickly putting on your chosen outfit, you left the penthouse in a hurry, barely being able to snatch your purse on the coat hanger. You were having an intense race with time. To not blow up your sudden Easter surprise you tried to do the shopping as quickly as possible. You don’t know when Victor comes home so it added another reason to make this fast.

***

“Goldman, the management team better have a good reason to call me in, because I have a better place to be today.” Victor’s stern voice echoed through his office the moment he stepped in. Several moments of keyboard clicking later Goldman began with his speach.

“The possible partner we are trying to convince suddenly got a more appealing offer from a different company. The deal was that the company will sponsor them PR commercials and advertisings, they can keep their position in the stock market and can have sixty percent of the income.” He said, flipping back and forth on the tablet.

“I see.— Victor rested his chin on his hands— “Remind me please about the deal LFG offered.” The assistant cleared his throat, opening the files what contained the agreement. “Comparing to the new proposal our offer is lacking. Because of their crash in the marketing area lately, you decided to not offer munch in case the collaboration would backfire.” After minutes of thinking, what felt like centuries Victor finally spoke up.

“Rewrite our proposal. Tell them LFG will ensure their stay in the stock market, and will back it up if any unpleasant problmes happens. Also mention they have a two months recovery time and we will give one hundred percent sponsorship with the possibility to function as an independent company like Kiseki Entertainment. This is the best deal they can get and they know it.”

From the very first moment, Kiseki Entertainment functioned independently. Under his guidance, you bloomed into a successful company in barely two years, becoming one of the most productive investments amongst the very few freelancers under LFG. “Arrange an online meeting in twenty minutes. During that, — he stood up, to make his way to one of the conference room— “collect informations about our opponent what can be used for LFG’s advantages.” Goldman nodded already holding his phone to his ear, summoning the staff needed for the conference.

“Anything else you want t— is that an Easter egg?” Goldman pointed at the bunch of tiny colorful eggs scattered around the coffee table. The more he looked the more he noticed. On the shelves, between Victor’s compture, on the coat hangers.

“Goldman who was the last person in my office?” He asked, walking around removing the candy eggs from their places.“Until this morning no one was in here. A few days ago only Ms. Mc stayed here, waiting for you to finish the meeting.”

Victor sighed.

Of course it was you.

***

You looked at the row of numbers at the screen, your purse, and then the ridiculous amount of Easter eggs piled up behind you. Maybe you carried away a little bit.

“Uh, excuse me for a second.” You kept digging in your purse in hope you will find your credit card. After minutes of unsuccessful searching you started to panic a little.

Your plan was to buy plenty of Eggs and hide them all around the mansion. You bought chocolate eggs and plastic eggs in all sizes and colors. Also a pink rabbit onesie because you couldn’t insist. You just didn’t expect the price what came with it.

“I’m sorry Miss, but you are keeping up the row. Do you wish to purchase these items?” The cashier lady asked what made you squeak and panic more. “Please debit these items on Victor Li’s account!” You blurted out. The cashier nodded typing away the informations. “Everything is settled, have a pleasant Easter.” The lady smiled handing you the bags. Thanking her and wishing for the same you made your way home. If you knew ypu will end up with multiple bags you will take the car.

“I’m back.” You opened the door of the house placing the bags on the floor. A small meow eachoed at the corner, a cat trotted towards you. “Hi Pudding, mommy is back.” You bent down to pick up the cat, a light huff leaving your lips. “Victor feeds you too well.” You giggle pocking at the fat at the cat’s belly. “I will bring some Easter spirit into this big house will you help me?” Like the animal just understood you, Pudding meowed and with a hop she escaped your embrace and walked away. Lazy cat.

Shrugging it off you unpacked and stared to hide all the eggs around the house. In the kitchen, the coffee table, the couch, hangers, in his suits. In other words you hide them everywhere you found it suitable. Now all you had to do is wait for his return.

***

Several hours passed, the sun was about to go down when he finally came home. Tossing away the book you were reading, you jogged to the entrance to greet him. “Welcome home!” You smiled at him, what left your face in a second. “Is everything alright at LFG?” You furrowed your eyebrows in conern when you saw his expression. “Sorry for keeping you waiting.” He said. “Nothing is wrong, my plans just takes a little more time to be accomplished.” Victor pulled you to his side, giving a kiss on the top of your head. “Let me make up for you with a dinner. It’s your call, I’ll make you anything.” He unbuttoned the sleeves of his shirt and rolled it up while walking in the kitchen.

“Pudding!” You smiled, Victor rolled his eyes at your remark. “Dummy, you want pudding for dinner?” He asked opening the fridge. “What is that?” He held a green chocolate egg in his hand. “Ah, I see. We are mischievous today.” A smile crept up on the corner of his lips, putting the sweet aside. “So I assume the plenty of chocolate in my office was your doing too.”

“I have no idea what are you talking about.” You shuffled away. “I didn’t do anything.” He chuckled. “Of course you didn’t, those eggs are from the Easter Bunny. So what do you like to eat?” He asked again getting the pots and pans ready. Without a word he put another handful of eggs aside, making it harder for you to comtain the fit of laughter what is about to erupt from your chest.

“Beef ribs would be fine.” You composed yourself. Victor nodded and began to prepare the dish. “So tell me, what were you doing all day?” He asked putting away another egg when he opened the cabinet where the seasonings were. “Aside from scattering sweets all over the kitchen.” A soft giggle left your lips. “Just the usual. I cleaned up, fed the cat. You knows, the things I usually do.” You chatted nonchalantly, like having Easter eggs around the house is ordinary.

“Why you are so clingy all off a sudden?” He lookes at you in confusion when he notices you are following his every step with your eyes. “What? No, I’m not!” You grinned, getting more eager every time he found an egg.

But what you didn’t know that the more he found the more annyed he got. He saw Easter eggs everywhere. On the kitchen counter, in the fridge, on the cabinets even in the cat bowl. But he didn’t have the heart to tell you. You waited for him all day so he can bear with your pranks a little longer.

He didn’t know what will coming.

“The ribs are almost ready.” He closed the oven after flipping them in the pan. “It’s smells so good.” You hummed, mouth already watering just from imagining how smoothly you knife will slide through the juicy ribs.

“I’ll go set the table.” You hopped down from the barstool and opened one of the cabinets to get the plates. While you clattered with the utensils, Victor opened his phone to check the notification he got from his bank during the meeting. The numbers he saw is what made him finally snap.

“What did you do?!” He exclaimed, looking at you, eyes wide as saucers. His sudden harsh tone startled you, almost making you drop the plates you balanced in your hands. “$150?! What did you buy?!” He questioned, his eyes shooting daggers at you. He sighed. “Don’t tell me all that were for chocolate eggs! Are you out of your mind?” He raised his voice at you, his eyes casting a frightening shade. The last time he looked at you this way when you barged in his office, demanding for funding. And that was many years ago. You flinched under his cold stare.

“I’m sorry.— you put everything in your hands down— “I-I’ll go clean that up.” With that you left the kitchen, and disappeared at the corner.

“Mc, wait.” He called after you, immediately regretting the way he spoke to you. A wave of guilt went over him when he caught up to you in the living room. Like you said, you obediently rummaged around to find the eggs. And it would be fine if you wouldn’t sniffling quietly, occasionally reaching up to wipe your eyes. And he hates it when you cry. And despise it if he’s the reason behind your tears. He didn’t mean to be this harsh with you. Or at all.

“Mc.” Victor called your name. Looking at the source of his voice you wiped off your tears in a quick motion. “Don’t bother, — you turned back, to hide your bloodshot eyes.— “I’ll get everything done. Go set up the dinner.” His heart ached, watching you turning away to hide your tears from him.

“No.” He walked up to you, folding you into a hug. “Today I almost lost the client I negotiated for weeks. They got a better offer and I had to change plans. The meeting was unplanned, I should’ve been at home with you.” He murmured into your ear. You stood there in sock while he kept talking.

“So I got frustrated. I shouldn’t have to release my anger on you. You just wanted to spend this day with me. I’m sorry.” He apologized. You on the other hand was shocked. Your boyfriend is a prideful person. And goddamn, he is also stubborn just as much like you are. The man you get to know almost never makes mistakes and if he does, the ground can crack, there’s no money in this world for him to make him admit it. He had to regret his actions very much to muster out an apology.

“It’s okay.” You turned to face him, knowing he meant it. Reaching up you scarping your fingers through his soft and well kept hair. “It was my fault after all. I went overboard with the sweets. And I scattered them all around the house.” You added. “Dummy.” He sighed, a relieved smile tugged at the corner of his lips when he saw you are hot angry at him. A soft giggle escaped your lips, remembering again how many chocolate eggs you hide in this big house.

“This looks better.” He pulled away, wiping the remaining tears from the corner of your eyes. “From now on just smile only. It looks better on you than the tears.” A pink color appeared on your face. When this stone cold man get so romantic?

“I’ll go pick up the eggs. Just keep making the dinner I’ll be fine.” You turned around and walked away.

***

“Almost got it!” You stretched further, balancing with a net in your hand while Victor had a firm grip on your hip. You were practically levitating above the pool to reach for the plastic egg at the bottom. Victor during that grew some gray hair.“I can’t believe you literally threw eggs in the pool. What if I’m not around? You straight up jump in?” You glared at him above your shoulders. “Hold me still or let me go. I can get them myself.” You puffed up your cheeks and reached further.

“Idiot, you can’t even swim.” He sighed. “Mc, stop wiggling you going to fall in!” And like this is what gravity waited for, you slipped on the wet tile, you fell in dragging Victor with yourself. With a swift motion, he scooped you up in his arms and brought you up in the surface. “I told you to hold me!” You screeched between coughs. “If you wouldn’t throw eggs in here like an idiot you are we wouldn’t be in this situation.” He fired back sitting you on the edge of the pool and then he climbed out himself.

“Dummy.” He sighed for the millionths time today, draping you in a towel. “Go get changed or you’ll catch a cold.” He helped you up. In that moment a little smirk appeared on your face, and it stretched wider. “What is it? Don’t tell me you still have eggs.” Victor sighed, a miserable look on his face. “Nothing.” You smiled and ran away.

“How many times I have to tell you? Don’t run by the pool!” He yelled after you but you were already outside. Grabbing the paperbag left on the bedroom you hurried away to the shower. After taking a shower you put on the pink, fuzzy bunny onsie you bought today. Stepping out your bringht pink color looked way too odd compared to the black and claret themed bedroom you two shared.

“What on earth are you wearing this time?” Victor looked at you from the bed. While waiting, he used the guests bathroom and changed into a black silk sleepwear. You giggled and hopped in next to him. “I didn’t remember keeping a rabbit at home.” He chuckled. “Childish.” He added. Rolling your eyes at his comment you laid down besides him. “Today is still Easter so I’m excused.”

“You have 5 more minutes to be like this.” He looked at the clock on the wall. “Then we are stretching it till tomorrow because I’m not changing.” You turned to face him.

Putting down his phone on the bedside table, Victor pulled you closer to his body. “I’ll make it up for you for being away. And for yelling at you.” He sighed, pressing his lips on the top of your head. As he moved closer to you something pierced into his side. Reaching to get it a small plastic egg was in his hand.

“Dummy.”

Your cheerful laugh echoed through the bedroom.

Still feeling tired? Grab some more story at Reading Corner

[descendantofthesparrow]

Shuffle Playlist - Rewrite - Part of Your World - Harry Hook x Reader - Part 15 - Sleepy mornings and try outs

*this is pretty much just a filler chapter srry if its boring*

=

You woke up to the sound of your alarm going off, Harry groaning into your neck as you smacked it to make it shut up. You peeled open your eyes, letting out a harsh breath as the sun just barely peeked through the shut curtains. “what time-“ you glanced at the alarm clock, harry yelping as you suddenly sat up and knocked him off your torso “WHAT THE FUCK ITS 9 AM?!”

You tried to remember what time you and harry had gone to take your nap…you got back to your room at like, 1:20 pm, Harry took a thirty-minute bath, it was twenty minutes doing his nails and-2:10pm that’s when you and Harry went down soo that was…19 fucking hours of sleep holy shit.

“What's wrong?” Harry's groggy voice finally broke through your bewilderment. You turned and let out a soft sigh, smiling at his slightly grumpy look, his eyes almost completely closed and his hair a fluffy mess.

“We slept for nineteen hours hun” you chuckled, bursting out into laughter as Harry just stared at you for a moment and then pushed his head into your pillow and tried to pull the blanket over his face. “Harry no, we have to get up, we missed lunch and dinner, we need to eat” you pulled back the blanket, leaning down to press a kiss to his cheek “Come on”

He made a grumbled complaint but obeyed, slowly sitting up only to rest his cheek on your shoulder and lean heavily into you. You rolled your eyes with a fond smile on your face as his arms wrapped around your waist and tugged you into him “Yes yes I know, cuddles are great, but Saturday pancakes are even better” he peaked up at you again and seemed to consider your bribe before closing his eyes again and tightening his grip. “Alright, then I guess I’m going to breakfast alone and leaving you here in this warm bed that’s going to turn cold without me here to cuddle you~” Harry groaned and finally sat up, pouting as he dragged his feet to his room to get dressed “Thank you!”

He let out a small grumble and opened your door, shaking his head to wake himself up more. The door closed behind him as he stepped out and you jumped off your bed to get dressed.

You decided on a comfy red long-sleeved shirt that you had also commandeered from Harry a few weeks back, your most comfortable pair of jeans, and some black sneakers.

You freshened up in your bathroom and sighed, grabbing your key to lock your door when you saw a note on your corkboard. You walked closer to it and took it off the board, holding it close to read.

-Thank you for helping me design yours, Harry’s, and Gil’s outfits, it saved me a lot of brainpower I needed for other things :3

-Evie <3-

You smiled and set the note on your desk, grabbing your bag and checking inside, nodding as you spotted your sketchbook, pencil, eraser, and some snacks inside. You grabbed your phone from your desk and walked out of your room.

As you locked your door you heard Harry's dorm room door open and close, arms wrapping around your waist moments later “Hi love” you hummed, turning in Harry's grip and pecking his nose, smiling at the small grin that came from your affection “Come on, let's go get some food, we need the energy for today” He gave you an odd look before he remembered

“oh, righ’ cotillion” he grumbled, hands sliding up your waist and trailing down your arms, intertwining his fingers with yours. You squeezed his hand and walked down the halls with him, humming to yourself as you walked towards the cafeteria.

“So how are you feeling today?” Harry thought for a moment, rolling his shoulders and tensing his arms, then shrugged.

“Not sore anymore, I think the bath helped with tha’” you nodded in relief.

“That’s good, I wouldn’t want you to be uncomfortable the entire day, soreness is not good for dancing” Harry rolled his eyes at that and snorted.

“Yes, because that’s all I’m goin’ ta do, dance” you gently pinched his arm with your free hand “oi!” you snickered at the noise he made and pushed open the cafeteria doors, the smell of pancakes, waffles, French toast, eggs, bacon, and many other breakfast foods invading your senses.

“Yum,” you hummed, squeezing Harry's hand one last time before moving to get in line for your food “find a table for us?” Harry nodded and looked around, spotting the vks sitting around a large rectangle table with two more spots open. He walked towards it and plopped down next to Carlos, who shifted to the side a bit to give harry a bit more room.

“morning~” Evie sang, giggling a bit as Harry crossed his arms on the table and laid his head down on them “oh someone’s sleepy~”

Harry just grunted and lifted one of his arms from below his head and placed it over his face, hiding the light from his eyes. “I haven’t seen you or (y/n) since the talk…where the heck have you been?” Jay asked through a stick of French toast, reaching forward and poking at Harry's bedhead.

“When I went to go drop off (y/n)s dress they were asleep…I think It was like, four-thirty? So, I think they’ve just been sleeping the entire time” Evie laughed, turning and smiling as you passed around the table and set a tray in front of Harry and sitting down across from him. Harry parked up, licking his lips as he looked at his pancakes, sunny side up eggs, bacon, and strawberries. “so, where have you two been for the last day?”

You snorted, facepalming a bit “we slept for nineteen fucking hours Eve” the table stared at you in shock as they snickered at the absurdity of your words “I know I know, but one moment it was two-thirty the next it was nine am”

Carlos sighed, shaking his head “you two are not going to be able to sleep for two days” Harry grunted through his fork as you rolled your eyes.

“Whatever, I have a fucked-up sleep schedule anyway not like that’s going to do me any worse” Harry snorted at that, pausing the inhaling of his food and gulping down his apple juice.

Evie clicked her tongue in disapproval and stood, taking her empty tray with her “I bet you’re happy that summer vacation is soon, then you can sleep till your heart's content without missing class” you grinned at her as she walked away towards the trash cans.

“When’s summer vacation start again?” Gil asked, shoving a hard-boiled egg in his mouth, nodding as Carlos answered for him.

“Monday, I think yesterday was the last day of school but I think we were all a little busy doing something else heh” you hummed, tapping your finger on your cheek.

“I think yesterday was a start of a three-day weekend, FG said something about letting everyone get a day of rest before cotillion” Carlos squinted a bit and nodded.

“Yeah, I think I remember her saying something like that, well, at least we won't get in trouble for missing algebra” the table snickered a bit, Harry pushing his empty try towards you and laying his head back down on his arms. “Geez you two sleep for nineteen hours and he’s still tired.”

“Well, I don’t think he slept on the isle, plus sleeping too much can make you even more tired, Harry come on, you can’t go back to sleep” you shoved at his shoulders, giving him a soft smile as he glared at you “I’m sorry love, I’ll get you some coffee from the café how bout that?” he kept glaring for another moment before it softened.

“Mocha-Caramel frappe” he flopped his head back down and his shoulders rose and sank in a quick motion.

You stared at him for a moment before looking at the others “those don’t have a lot of caffeine, right?” Mal shook her head “okay you answered that way too quickly” she snorted and smiled at you.

“Just order with an extra shot of espresso, that’ll keep him for the day and through cotillion” You mentally noted that and thanked Mal, turning back to Harry and pushing at his shoulder.

“Harry, come on, go with Gil to the amphitheater, I apparently have some people to watch try out for the team” he let out another grumble, pouting as Gil stood from the table, handed you his tray, and hoisted Harry from his seat, carrying him in a fireman's hold before Harry forced Gil to put him down. You giggled as Harry grumpily made his way to the amphitheater with Gil just behind him, hopefully preventing Harry from running back to your room to get more sleep.

“When did you learn ‘bout the new ones?” Jay asked through a mouthful of waffles, swallowing them down with cafeteria coffee.

“When I woke up to a text from Fergus, get this, we have ten people who signed up for the team” Jay and Carlos’ jaws dropped “I know right?”

“Probably cuz you kicked off Chad, right?” Mal guessed, popping her last strawberry in her mouth and laughing as you winked at her.

“yep, I’m fully betting on that” you took yours, Harry’s, and Gil’s empty trays and walked towards the trash can, raising your brow as you saw Evie was still standing there, now talking to some of the girls who had gotten their dresses asking styling questions.

“oh, I would do a natural look with some rouge lips, it would make your eyes and dress pop a bit more” Sophia; Robin Hood’s daughter, nodded and pulled out her phone, going to look up make-up references before you pulled Evie away.

“Sorry girls, I’ll be stealing the princess now” the others whined as you set your trays on top of the can and pulled Evie by her arm back towards the vks.

Evie let out a sigh of relief and slumped against you “thank you (y/n)! I would have been stuck there for ages! I love helping style but I’m still not fully awake and ready to deal with all that” you hummed in response and let go of Evie as you arrived back at the VK table.

“alright I’ll see you guys later, I gotta go look at R.O.A.R tryouts” the four VKs nodded and engaged in their own conversation.

You spun on your heel and walked out of the cafeteria building, making your way back towards the main school to get to the amphitheater inside. Passing by a couple of students who were grabbing the last of their school supplies before summer vacation started.

You pushed the doors to the amphitheater open and nodded to the group that was standing just to the side of the main ring, they nodded back and you walked over to Harry, Gil, and coach, the latter handing you a clipboard with the names of the those who were trying out.

Amra Triton

Raven Loxley

Kuzo Emporia (made up last name don’t come for me)

Ellie DunBroch

Alvin Oldenburg

Yuan Yao

Adrian Liddell

Tyron Maldon

 Eva Fitzherbert

 Pax Darling

You nodded to yourself as you looked over the names, you glanced up from the clipboard and let out a piercing whistle, the new recruits immediately falling into line. “alright! We’re gonna do this tournament style! The last one standing gets the spot! Any cheating and you’re permanently banned from even trying out for the team. Line up just in front of the boxes, two lines please!”

The recruits obeyed and lined up, two lines of five in front of you.

You started to call the match.

“Ressembler!”

“salute”

“lower the point”

“masks down”

“en garde!”

You waited a few tense moments before letting out another whistle, the chaos of the fight almost immediately deafening the room. Ellie quickly took out two others, flipping over Pax and landing behind them, spinning on her heel and smacking their butt. Pax quickly spun around and blocked another swing of Ellie's sword, the two quickly delving into their own match.

You looked over at Tyron and Yuan, the latter of the two easily kicking the former's ass. Tyron let out a yelp as he fell to the floor, sword sliding across the ring and hitting the wall.

“Tyron; out! Stand behind the line!” the teen smiled at Yuan and hopped up from the ground, jogging over to the line that was behind you and coach and continuing to watch the mini-tournament.

Amra and Adrian’s swords were flung out of their hands, coach quickly calling them out of the ring. They moved to stand by Tyron and watched the rest with rapt excitement.

Ellie finally managed to disarm Pax and caught the sword she had sent flying with her free hand. Pax let out a sigh and ran over to the others who had been called out.

Ellie turned to Raven and the two immediately began to clash swords, the others still in the match stopping for a moment to watch with wide eyes as the two girls easily matched the skill of the other and blocked and parried so hard the blades shook.

Eva took the chance of the distraction and took Kuzo out of the match, the latter pouting as they stomped over to the others.

It was down to five; you let out another whistle, making them split apart and stand at attention.

“stand around the blocks and wait for the signal” once more they obeyed and stood around the ring, just next to the parkour blocks.

You and Gil watched with rapt attention as the last five started at each other with giddy looks, Eva and Ellie flipping their blades to release some of their energy.

You let out another whistle, laughing a bit as Ellie launched herself at Alvin and took him down within seconds. The boy huffed to himself and scooted out of the ring, sitting crisscross on the floor and leaning back on his palms with a grin.

Now only four left, it was two versus two for a moment before Yuan kicked Eva out of the ring, leaving just the three girls to battle for the spot on the team.

Ellie jumped back as Yuan swung at her, the latter blocking a stab from Raven in a swift motion before spinning into a crouch and kicking Raven's feet out from under her. Yuan kicked Raven’s sword away and ran towards Ellie as Raven was pulled out of the ring.

“last two” Gil muttered to harry, mentally wishing he had popcorn, this was better than those action movies Ben had shown them. Harry let out a low grunt, while the fight was exciting, he was still pretty tired and was just wanting to go back to bed until cotillion.

Ellie and Yuan quickly clashed swords, the two evenly matched as they danced around each other.

Swing, parry, block, thrust forward, block, flip over parkour block, parry, swing, miss, flip, block, repeat.

Then, at last, Yuan’s foot slid just a bit more than she was meaning to and Ellie took the chance, placing her foot behind Yuan’s and sliding it back, throwing Yuan’s balance off.

Ellie ducked under Yuan’s arm and hoisted her up, flipping her over her shoulder and slamming her into the ground.

“call it!” Coach yelled out, the two girls halted in their fight and stared at each other, their chests heaving with heavy breaths.

You walked into the ring, holding out your hand to Ellie who grinned and eagerly took it “congrats Ellie, welcome to the team!”

The others who had been defeated cheered and walked over, ruffling Ellie's hair and congratulating her “and great job to the rest of you, if there's ever another spot open, I want you all to try out again!”

They call cheered in agreement, setting down their gear and walking over to coach as he called them over.

You walked over to Harry and cupped his face, tilting his head up to you and smiling at him “hey sleepy baby, how bout that mocha-caramel frappe now hm?” he gave a soft smile and nodded, grabbing onto your offered hand and pulling himself up, wrapping his arm around your shoulder and leaning towards the doors “Okay okay we’re going, see you guys!”

Ellie and the others waved back before turning back to coach.

You, Harry, and Gil walked out of the school and headed to the campus café.

-

It was only two hours to Cotillion. And Uma was pacing around Ben’s room, she had spelled the king only 10 minutes before, but now she had to wait the two hours till 6 pm to even do anything, lest anybody get suspicious.

Luckily Ben had let her stay in his room at the castle and informed everyone that his room was not to be entered till after cotillion. Possibly; that it could have also created suspicion but Uma was not aware of Ben's habits enough to know that it would or not.

But she would have her revenge on Auradon, and do what had been promised 5 months ago.

The barrier would come down.

And Harry and Gil would regret betraying her.

-end part 15-

Srry again if this one was boring but at least it ended interesting?? Anyway, cotillion starts next chapter!

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[their-name-is-morgan]

*hugs* Hello Hello~! Buongiorno~! It makes me so happy to finally see you again! I hope you're doing good. If it's VA characters requests you want, then may I ask for some Doppio relationship hcs?

Buonasera! Your words made me really happy <3 you told me I could turn this into a scenario, so I described what some of the moments you spend with Doppio would be like; I hope that’s ok! I also had a lot of fun writing this, so enjoy <3

Slice of Life (Doppio x Reader)

You and Doppio share an apartment in Sicily, a beautiful Italian island surrounded by crystal clear water.

When you met each other one day, during a relaxing morning stroll on the seafront, you never would’ve imagined that the man who stopped you from stepping on a grasshopper was destined to become your best friend, boyfriend and then fiancé.

And yet here you are, with your favourite apron on and your hair tied back, trying to bake a cake with the help of your soon-to-be husband, Doppio Vinegar, who is an absolute mess in the kitchen:

“Okay, do we have the four eggs we need?” you ask.

“Yes!” he points at the eggs on the counter.

“And what about the vegetable oil?”

“Um...” he looks through all the ingredients and lifts up a bottle filled with yellow liquid: “It’s here!”

“That looks terrible...” you can’t help but comment, examining it from up close.

“It kind of looks like someone peed in it.” Doppio adds, shaking the bottle.

“That’s gross, I was hoping you wouldn’t say that!”

You both share a laugh and then go back to going through the ingredients, just to make sure that you have everything in advance. You wouldn’t want to have to take a trip to the grocery store in the middle of your little baking session.

Once you can confirm that you have everything you need, you finally start with taking out all the pots and pans from the oven to heat it, since it shouldn’t take long to prepare the rest. While you’re dealing with that you address Doppio;

“Can you spray the butter in the pan?” you ask him handing it to him.

He takes it and looks for the butter sprayer:

“Sure! I can handle it.”

“I would hope so.” You say with a grin. His freckled cheeks tint a pretty pink and he stutters.

“Hey! Speak for yourself. I managed to live on my own for years, I’m not that bad at this.”

“Suuure.”

Once you’re both done with your tasks you stand next to him at the counter and place a large bowl in front of you. This is the part your fiancé always messes up when he tries to bake on his own: he puts too much sugar or water in the mixture, doesn’t whisk enough, reads the recipe wrong and throws in less or more eggs than needed, but this time you’re going to make a tasty cake no matter what.

“Okay Doppio, are you ready?”

“I am; are you though?”

He returns the question. You know the reason behind that mischievous grin; when you bake he can’t help but start at least one food war.

“...I may be. But! Pass me the cake mix.”

He does as you say without question; he then goes on to hand you the eggs, the fudge brownie mix, a cup of measured water and one of vegetable oil.

You throw everything in the bowl –you break two eggs each and he needs help with it or else he’ll make a mess- and it’s your turn to hand him something: a whisk.

“You know what you have to do, don’t you?”

“Whisk for a couple of minutes until all the lumps are gone?”

“Yes! And don’t mess it up, Tiziano and Squalo are coming over tonight and I don’t want them to feel sick from eating this cake.” You warn him. He raises and eyebrow;

“Can they feel sick because of a few lumps though?”

You wave him off and turn around to start preparing the whipping cream for later.

“No, but let me be a bit dramatic!”

Once the batter has been deposited in the pan and put in the oven and the whipped cream is ready to be poured on the brownie cake, you can finally rest until it’s time to let everything cool down until the evening comes.

You start cleaning the kitchen up but you notice with the corner of your eye that Doppio is rummaging through the cupboards. You’re about to ask him what in the world he’s doing when he sticks his hand in a sack and throws whatever is in it in your direction.

It takes you a second to realize that the thing he just attacked you with is flour, and when you do you’re fuming.

“What the-! Was it necessary?!” you try to get it off of your hair as he covers his mouth to stifle his laughter.

“Sorry! We didn’t use it, so it felt wrong.”

“It felt wrong to not make a mess?”

He looks at your expression and immediately starts feeling a bit guilty, so he steps towards you to help you clean up, but you quickly grab the flour sack and pour all of it on the top of his head, making him cough like crazy.

“Whyyy?! I didn’t pour this much on you!” he whines, but you don’t listen to him and rub his cheeks to spread it even better on his whole face.

“Well, you started it so you deserve it!”

“Okay, okay, that’s fair! Now get off of me!”

You both laugh and you let go of him, taking a few step back to admire your masterpiece: his hair is all over the place and all white, just like his face. Some flour got on his clothes as well, luckily you’re both wearing comfy things that you were planning change out of later.

“Now I have to take a shower before they get here!” he complains, pouting like a child.

“Ew, are you telling me you wouldn’t have taken one if it wasn’t for the flour?” you mock him and he throws some of the flour that got caught in his hair at you, making you giggle and try to run away from him.

“That’s not what I meant!”

 During these two years of living with Doppio, you’ve learned that yes, he may be clumsy and messy and a little bit too clingy sometimes, but surprisingly enough he can also be a real gentleman when he wants to.

It’s yet another day and even if the weather forecast said it was going to be sunny, it’s already pouring before you can even step inside of your apartment building. Walking home from work wasn’t the best idea after all...

Luckily you always keep a small umbrella in your bag, so you open it and quicken your pace to get home as soon as possible. All you want right now is to take a relaxing bath and then have dinner on the couch, possibly while catching up on that TV series everyone recommended to you.

You’re so lost in your thoughts that the loud ringing of your phone startles you; you pick it up immediately when you realize it’s Doppio calling you.

“Doppio? Why are you calling me? I’m almost home-“

“Where are you?”

“...In front of the convenience store we always go to, why?”

“Wait for me there, I’m already driving so I’m coming to pick you up!”

You slightly frown at his words:

“You’re on the phone while you’re driving and it’s raining? Doppio what the-!!“

He closes the call with a small ‘love you’ before you can even finish. You’re a bit annoyed at your fiancé because he’s always so careless no matter what, some may even say he’s stupid, but you can’t deny you appreciate the effort, so you sit under the roof outside of the store and wait for him.

He arrives not even five minutes later, and gets as close as possible to where you’re sitting so you don’t have to risk getting wet while trying to reach the car.

“Did you seriously call me while you were driving?” you ask him fastening your seatbelt, one eyebrow raised in disapproval. He lets out a nervous chuckle.

“You see... I decided to come pick you up, but I realized I had no idea where you were when I was already driving.”

“That’s not an excuse, you could’ve parked somewhere! You’re such an idiot sometimes...”

“Would I still be an idiot if I ordered some food and prepared a bath for you at home?”

You immediately stop complaining and stare at him in disbelief instead: he did all of that for you? And without even knowing you had a stressful day at work... he just wanted to treat you well. You do your best to avoid making him go off-road as you grab his face to kiss him all over his cheek.

As soon as you get home you happily find out that the water in the bathtub is still warm, so the first thing you do is taking a relaxing bath –Doppio even placed some scented candles here and there to make the atmosphere nicer-.

Meanwhile your fiancé prepares everything for your TV series marathon: he gathers all the blankets he can find, places the takeout food on the coffee table in front of the couch, turns on Netflix and makes sure all the blinds and windows are closed, so you don’t have to get up and deal with that if the weather gets worse.

You get out of the bathroom fully dressed in your comfiest pyjama, and smile when you notice he changed into his too: apparently he took a shower before your shift ended and he came to pick you up.

“Doppio.”

He’s sitting on the couch, wrapped in a blanket. His hair is down and slightly messy.

“Yes, amore?”

“Sorry for calling you an idiot earlier, you’re the best person on this planet.”

You sit beside him and grab your own blanket and a slice of pizza; as a response he leans over to kiss your forehead, making your cheeks tint pink.

He grabs the remote and selects the TV series you were planning to watch but, as soon as the opening starts playing, he gets up with a start, making you jump as well.

“Wait!! I forgot to go to the bathroom before starting. Wouldn’t want to pause an episode because of that!”

  Diavolo is Doppio’s boss and one of his dearest friends; or is he one of his relatives? You’re not that sure, the last time he brought that up was years ago and it was when you weren’t listening, so you didn’t understand, but you were too awkward to ask him to say it again at the time, so you continue living in ignorance to this day when it comes to that.

But what matters is that he often asks you how you even managed to get engaged with that scatterbrained man. You’d never tell him this, but you are sure why he never managed to even get a girlfriend- at least Doppio is a bit romantic!

“What’s with that face?” Diavolo asks you, tapping his manicured fingers on the surface of the small table you’re sitting at. You’re in a gelateria at the moment, waiting for your “waiter” to bring you your ice creams.

“It’s just! You ask that all the time! And I always tell you that I just do. You should try living with him for a day or two to understand.”

“And be his boyfriend as well I assume.”

“Yeah, that too. I guess he kind of just...”

The deep conversation between you and the well dressed man is interrupted by a loud scream that makes everyone’s heads turn towards the cash register.

There he stands, your “waiter” and soon-to-be husband, with his face all red because he probably didn’t mean to catch that much attention. But he still stares at you from across the room:

“(Y/N)...! Which flavours did you want again?!”

You’re embarrassed to say the least, and yet you can’t help but smile. You answer him before turning your head towards Diavolo again.

“...he kind of just makes every day of my life more exciting.”

[junosartsthetic]

In the Morning

Y’all gotta read till the end to find out who this is about. Bonus points if you figure it out beforehand. Also I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.

It was rather early. That much you knew. Your eyes remained closed, bare body still as the form behind you shifted. 

Would he leave? Just up and vanish after last night? You weren’t sure, but you wouldn’t be surprised. It wouldn’t be the first time someone had a one night stand with you. You didn’t mind too much, but after a while you started to wonder if you were unlovable.

His body shifted, and you prepared to hear his footsteps touch the wood floor, but instead arms wrapped around your waist, pulling you in close. His chest was warm and firm. You almost let out a delighted hum. It took you by surprise.

Was he not going to leave yet? Was he not like the others?

You pushed down the butterflies in your stomach. You refused to get your hopes up. Just because he was showing you a little extra care right now didn’t mean he wasn’t planning on leaving soon.

You debated whether or not to alert him that you were awake. It might just scare him off. Embarrass him. You shouldn’t.

Faking a yawn, you slowly raised your arms above your head. 

“Mornin’,” his voice spoke, rough from sleep. His arms tightened around your waist. “Sleep nicely?”

You cleared your throat before replying. “Mmhmm. You?”

He chuckled. “With you cuddlin’ up next to me? I slept like a baby.”

Cheeks flushing, you snorted. You knew you didn’t sleep too gracefully, but whatever.

“You hungry?” you asked, playing with his fingers against your stomach. “You can always stay for breakfast if you want.”

You expected him to avoid the question somehow or make up an excuse. Instead, he responded positively. “Makin’ breakfast for me? Thank ya’ kindly, sweetheart.” He gave the nape of your neck a kiss. “You don’t have to make me nothin’, though. I’m the guest here. How about I make you a homestyle breakfast? How'd ya like your eggs?”

For a split second the word ‘fertilized’ almost slipped out, but instead you cleared your throat swiftly. “Oh, uhh, sunny-side up. But you really don’t have to, I can—”

His arms suddenly shifted, and within moments you were cradled against his chest as his back rested against the backboard. “Oh, no ya don’t,” he said. “You did quite enough already for me, the least I can do is make ya breakfast.”

He pecked your forehead before setting you gently on the bed, getting up. You quickly remembered neither of you were wearing anything. Of course, you couldn’t help your gaze as you blushed furiously. Flashes of last night came back in a rush.

Your whines of pleasure. His low gasps. The way he gripped your hips so nice as he ground his—

You snapped out of it when he slipped on his boxers, discarding his other clothes. You quickly got out of bed, following him while throwing on your silk robe.

You wandered into the kitchen, noticing his cowboy hat was now on his head as he rutted through your fridge. You tilted your head as he did so, paying close attention to his back muscles moving and the curve of his—

“D’ya want anythin’ besides eggs? I don’t wanna waste all yer food, but I can make some mean bacon and sausage.”

Currently, there was only one sausage on your mind, but you let out a hum of agreement nonetheless. “Oh, make whatever you’d like. I can grab out some things too. Lemme help.”

You opened one of your cabinets, sights set on your frying pan. Sadly, your short stature made it rather hard to grab. Usually, you’d simply climb on the counter but you didn’t want to embarrass yourself.

A body soon pressed against yours, his hand resting on your shoulder while the other easily grabbed the pan you were looking for. Your eyes scanned his bicep and forearms as he did so. His large fingers gripped the handle of it, placing it onto the stove and turning on the heat.

And the heat wasn’t the only thing he was turning on. Your chest ached as you remembered how well he was able to maneuver your body, fingers fitting inside your—

He cracked an egg with one hand, dropping it into the frying pan. “Where’s yer trash can, sweetheart? I don’t wanna set this on the counter.”

You scurried to open the drawer where your trash can was, watching as he tossed in the cracked shells with ease. In moments, the pan was full of eggs simmering, the smell pleasant in your nose.

“Do ya have any coffee? I could use a cup a joe. I’m worn out.”

Your mouth opened to prompt why he was worn out, but quickly shut it. You supposed both of you were working quite hard last night. Heh.

Simply nodding, you moved over to your Keurig. 

You grabbed a K-cup to began brewing, placing a large white mug underneath it.

“Do you like sugar?” you asked, shaking a sugar packet for yourself.

“Only from you, sweetheart,” he quipped, winking at you before laughing.

A bright red hue dyed your face. You didn’t respond to him, just shaking the packet faster. You opened it, pouring the sugar inside while the coffee was still flowing into the cup so it’ll mix.

Throwing it away, you moved towards the fridge, grabbing the creamer out.

As you poured it into your cup you asked, “do you like cream?” Quickly, you added. “In your coffee, that is.”

He snorted. “I figured. But yeah, Cream and sugar both is fine, hun.”

You began to brew a new cup, now a black mug underneath. Once both cups were brewed and the cream and sugar were mixed in, you set them on the counter table in front of your bar chairs.

Deciding you’d just let him make you breakfast instead of butting in to help, you sat down to wait.

Now, any other person might find waiting boring, but you had something to focus on. 

The man in front of you was like nobody you’d ever met. His shoulder-length sandy blond hair looked nice all messy, structuring his strong jaw line well and whisping down his broad chest and muscled back haphazardly. Not to mention he was a gentleman at the bar where you two first met, and he even made sure you were alright often throughout the night, especially when it came to—

“Alright, soups on, sweetheart,” he said, placing down a plate in front of you. Two sunny side up eggs laid beside strips of bacon. You quickly grabbed the fork beside you and dug in, sipping your coffee intermittently.

Once you finished rather quickly, you simply sat in silence, hands clasped around the mug. You weren’t sure what to say.

He cleared his plate right after you, and luckily prompted conversation so you didn’t have to. “You’ve got a nice place,” he said, glancing about. “I didn’t really pay much attention last night, but now that I get a good look, it’s real pretty. Not as pretty as you, of course.”

Sipping your coffee to hide your red face, you mumbled a thank you. You figured he wouldn’t have been examining your house last night, especially since you’d gone from the front door to your bedroom in the course of about 2 minutes.

“When are you gonna leave?” you asked suddenly. You weren’t sure why you decided to speak your mind now, but it had been simmering in your subconscious ever since you woke up. “Not that I want you to,” you added hurriedly. “It’s just most people would be long gone by now. I wake up alone almost always.”

His eyebrows furrowed, his expression annoyed. “Who the hell is leavin’ ya? They’re bastards and sons-a-bitches. All of ‘em. Anyone leaving a beautiful gal like you alone in the morning is scum.”

“Oh uhh.” You picked at your robe sleeves. “I don’t blame them. I just was curious.”

“Well I do,” he retorted before his brows softened. “If it’s alright with you, sweetheart, I’d like to treat you to a day out. I’ll buy ya somethin’ nice and treat you like a real man should.”

“That’s really kind, but seriously. I’m alright. I shouldn’t have said anything. I didn’t mean to guilt trip you—”

“Oh hush,” he said, standing up and pulling you out of your seat gently by your hands. “Now you go get dressed and shower and such and I’ll do the same. Then I’m takin’ you out.”

You thought about arguing, but decided against it. It would do you some good, and why should you care if he pays? Because you’re nice. But still. Pushing that aside, you wandered back into your bedroom.

After spending a good half an hour getting ready, you two were at your front door.

“Alright-y, just hol’ my hand and follow me, I’ll walk ya to all the best spots around here.”

You did as he said, his large hands fitting nicely around yours.

With that, you two were out the door. You had a smile on your face. This was nice. He was nice.

You suddenly stopped. Wait. He. He, who? What the hell is his name? You didn’t remember! Did he even tell you? How were you supposed to figure it out without sounding rude?

He took note of your frozen stance, panic in your eyes. “You okay, sweetheart?”

“Uhh,” you spoke up, clearing your throat awkwardly. “I’m so sorry, but, what’s your name again?”

He let out a loud laugh. “Holy hell, I guess I never did tell ya’, huh? My mistake.”

He let go of your hand to take off his hat, putting it against his chest. With his other he held out his hand for you to grab. “The name’s Hol Horse, sweetheart. Pleasure to finally introduce myself.”

You placed your hand in his and he kissed the back of it before placing his hat back on his head. “Nice to meet you, Hol Horse,” you said. “Now, where were we?”

You two began to walk once more, hand-in-hand, down the sidewalk. 

[plaidbooks]

Everyone Deserves Love chapter 8

A/N: This starts with a little bit of fluffy cuteness, but don’t let that fool you! Jenkins coming in hot, and then it switches to angst. And it stays angst. So heads up, it’s gonna be angst for a bit haha.

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Tags: none, outside of feelings, oh, I guess minor character death that was mentioned in one line

Words: 6k+

Taglist: @the-baby-bookworm @beccabarba (lemme know if you want to be tagged!)

Apartment of Rafael Barba

Saturday, May 2nd. 5:00am

Devon woke up at 5am sharp, as usual, even after being up over 24 hours the day before. She uncurled on the couch, stretching while standing, then went through her morning routine: exercise, shower, dress. She tried to be as quiet as possible, since Barba was still asleep, and she planned to let him sleep in a little, their deal from the previous night. Normally on weekends, he would stumble out of his room around 8am. Glancing at the clock, it was still early; only 6:30. Devon planned on making coffee to go with the breakfast, so she decided that 8am would be the safest time to start it. Until then, though, she’d work on the abandoned report from last night, while trying to ignore the thoughts that had stopped that report. Having those types of thoughts helped no one and was wildly unprofessional. So, she shoved her feelings away, focusing on the events from the past two days instead.

Time flew by and 8am came faster than she thought it would, with no signs of life from Barba’s room. She still got up from the couch, report done, and started the French press. While waiting for the water to heat up, she went to the FBI database, trying to check on the last 12 Aces in the city. She looked up from her laptop when she heard Barba’s door open; she didn’t even hear him shower, yet his hair was still damp from the spray. He was in nice slacks and a plain polo shirt; his “casual” attire, unlike his “weekend” suits. It was always a little treat seeing someone who was normally in expensive suits dressing in something…not as expensive. Casual. He still looked damn good, though.

“Good morning,” Devon chirped, pouring herself a cup of coffee. “Coffee?”

“Please,” he grumbled. Even when he slept in, Rafael Barba was not a morning person. Devon grinned, pouring him a cup, and adding the appropriate amount of sugar that she knew he liked. She noticed, somewhere deep down, that she liked their almost…domestic tendencies. It made sense, with how much time they spent together, but it was still nice to have these little shared things. It was like his home was hers’, too. Which was comforting. And absolutely terrifying.

“Here you go,” she said, passing him the hot liquid.  He gratefully took a deep pull, letting the caffeine waken him. He went to the fridge, pulling out an assortment of vegetables and a carton of eggs. He set about making breakfast, an omelet with sautéed vegies; Devon hovered in the kitchen, but her attention was on her laptop, still researching.

“So, what time were you up today?” Barba asked casually.

“Uh, 5am?” Devon replied.

Barba shot her a look. “I thought we agreed to sleep in today. Why were you up so early?”

“I—I’m always up at 5. I have an internal clock, wakes me up,” she explained.

“Everyday?”

“Correction, almost always. Sometimes I’m up at 4.”

Barba looked shocked first, then concerned. “We go to bed so late; why the hell do you wake up so early? And how the hell are you so perky in the morning?”

Devon thought about it. “I’ve been waking up before the sun for a while, now, couple years, actually. Guess it’s just habit.” She gave him a playful smile. “The perkiness is all me, baby.”

Barba ignored the joke, all serious. “Years? That cannot be healthy. Have you talked to anyone about this?”

Devon took a sip of coffee, swirled it in her mouth before swallowing. “After doing a UC, it’s mandatory to talk to a therapist. So yes, I did ‘talk to someone’ about it…. Especially because it seemed to start a week into that assignment.” Barba flipped the omelet he was making. It looked like he was going to question further, so Devon cut him off. “Yes, both my therapist and I believe that it’s from stress. I—I think I’m just…” she took a deep breath; saying it out loud was acknowledging it. But it was also good to get it out of her mind. “I’m just afraid; my brain needs to be on alert at all times. I know it sounds silly, but people like you—victims--deserve to have 24/7 protection, but I can only give you 20 at most. I’m a light sleeper; anyone breaking in and I’ll hear it. But I don’t think that’s really good enough; it leaves at least 4 hours where you’re open, exposed, especially with the fire escape in your room.” Barba took the omelet out of the pan, placing it skillfully on a plate, and passing it to Devon. She took it gratefully, blowing on it before taking a bite. It was delicious. Is there anything he can’t do?

Barba sighed as he went back to the pan, starting on his own food. “Devon, I know that no one wants to hear it, but you are human. No one, including you, can stay awake and alert 24/7. Hell, even 20/7 is insane. I’m glad that this whole mess is almost over.” He flinched inwardly as soon as the words left his mouth. And the look on Devon’s face was a punch to the gut; it was only there for a split second before she went back to a neutral expression. But he felt it, too; as much as he would like life to go back to normal, he really didn’t want to lose her, lose this. Not yet.

“It will be nice to sleep in my own bed again,” Devon joked, though her voice fell a little flat. She knew that it was inevitable; she’d have to leave him eventually, go on with her work and life. But she really, really, didn’t want to think about that. She was disappointed that he was already there in his thoughts, that he was wishing for it.

Barba finished cooking his own food, standing at the counter next to Devon. They ate in relative silence, besides complimenting each other on the food and coffee, and idly talking about heading to the park afterwards.

“Oh shit, I need to call Liv,” Devon said, pulling her phone out of her pocket. Olivia picked up on the second ring.

“Hey Dev, everything alright?” she asked.

Devon chuckled, shaking her head. “Of course. Just wanted to let you know that Barba and I were going to Central Park for a little. Get some fresh air after the mess from the past couple days.”

“Are you sure that’s wise? You don’t think that you’ll be sitting ducks?”

“There’s only 12 Aces left, and I think after what happened with Marco, we should be good.” Devon waited a moment before adding on, “I’ll be armed, we’ll be safe.”

Liv sighed. “For one thing, I forgot to text you last night; we caught 5 more Aces in a raid last night. So now the magic number is 7. And second, I’ll station some extra unis in the park, just to be sure. The remaining members may be getting desperate, since there’s not many left.”

“That’s good to know. I’ll let Barba know, and I’ll keep my eyes open,” Devon replied. She hung up, then, and relayed the information to Barba.

“Hm, SVU must be busy; Liv doesn’t normally forget to inform us like that,” he said.

Devon agreed. “We can always stop by later today, see what’s up.” Barba nodded.

They finished their food quickly, suddenly eager to get out into fresh air. Barba’s loft was only two blocks from Central Park, so it was a short walk there, but before they even hit the park, they were already more relaxed, basking in the warm, sunny day. There’s something about getting out of the house, even for a simple walk, that was refreshing. It seemed like the tension, the heaviness, from the last two days lifted, and they joked and laughed, conversation flowing easily. They made it to a trail that went by the water, and just enjoyed each other’s presence. They talked about nothing, really, just idle small talk.  Devon did surreptitiously watch every person within eyesight; she saw at least 6 cops the first ten minutes there, two on bikes and the rest on foot. But no one looked suspicious, only suburban moms with their strollers, joggers, couples walking through the park. They wandered the trail for about an hour, slowly getting closer together, though neither of them noticed. It wasn’t until Devon’s hand brushed against his that they realized how close they were. They stopped walking, half turning to each other, Devon’s cheeks flushing, an apology on her tongue. Barba opened his mouth to say something, but he was interrupted by a woman screaming.

Devon was a flurry of movement, embarrassment from the simple touch forgotten. Her first instinct was to shove Barba behind her, turning towards the noise. It took a moment for the woman’s words to process in her adrenaline-clogged brain.

“Help! He stole my purse!” she yelled, pointing. A man dressed like a burglar from a shitty movie, complete with loose jeans, a black hoodie with the hood pulled up, and dark sunglasses, was running on the path that Devon and Barba were currently on, a tan purse clutched in his hand. As the man tried to push passed them, Barba stuck out his leg. The man got caught on his foot and went down, slamming into the ground, glasses flying off his face.

“Great reflexes,” Devon said, jokingly, giving him a half-grin. She knelt down, grabbing his hands and pulling them behind his back. “Senior Special Agent Motely, FBI,” she informed the man. She grabbed the purse from his clutches and handed it to Barba.

“Did you doubt me?” Barba smirked back. He took the purse, looking towards the woman who had alerted them. She was on her way over, as well as the two bike cops. Barba handed over the purse, and Devon let the unis cuff the man. Devon noticed Barba’s hands were shaking; he must still be feeling anxious from the past couple days for this small action to affect him so.

“Come on,” Devon said, giving him a soft smile. She took Barba’s shaking hand, ignoring the jolt of electricity she felt from touching his burning skin, and led him away from the scene at a slow jog. She was hoping that a short jog would burn off the extra energy coursing through both of their veins. She led him out of the park and towards a small café across the street; one of her favorite spots.

“That was…surprisingly fun,” Barba chuckled, trying to catch his breath. Devon laughed with him; at least he had stopped shaking.

“Oh no, please stay as a lawyer. Don’t switch to cop,” Devon replied, feigning concern at his life choices.

“Why not? Afraid that I’d take your job?”

“No, but I think the power would go to your already inflated head.”

Barba scoffed as if offended. “Don’t lie; I’d outrank you in a week.”

“And there’s that ego I mentioned.” They chuckled, before a waitress came out to them. They both ordered a coffee—Devon got a pastry, too--and resigned to people watching while they waited for her to come back.

“To be honest, though, I am glad that we were able to help that woman out,” Devon said.

Barba agreed. “We got lucky that he ran towards the two people in the park that could help her.”

“That’s a little rude to the cops working in the park.”

Barba smirked. “But am I wrong?”

“Not at all,” she replied. Their coffee and food came just then, and they sat in silence, drinking and sharing the pastry. Devon broke the silence. “Today’s been really fun. I’m glad we decided to do this.”

“Me too. It’s nice getting out of the loft every now and again. To not worry about cases, files, rapes, murders, and traffickers.”

Devon nodded. “It does get…taxing, after a while. You have to find a balance in this line of work. It’s not always enough to just go home at the end of the day.”

Barba thought about what he wanted to say, how he wanted to say it. “I—I couldn’t imagine doing what you do. At least I get to go home at the end of the day. You just finished a three-year undercover op before this; you didn’t even get to go home. You didn’t get to talk to friends, hell you didn’t even have your own name. That sounds like a type of torture. And now, you still don’t get to go home.”

“At least I have some good company,” she smiled at him. She took a small bite of her pastry, then continued, “sometimes, it feels like torture. But you have to get so into your character, your fabricated life. You have to be invested in your fake job, fake friends, fake relationships. Sometimes, none of those things feel fake anymore. It’s just life…. I’ve learned that you need to have something, anything, that can pull you back to your real life.”

“What…what did you have?”

Devon’s cheeks turned red, though she tried to hide it by drinking her coffee. “You, uh, you got to promise me you will not tell a soul,” she said after putting her coffee down. She locked eyes with him. “I’m serious; no one must know of this, especially Olivia.”

Barba kept his face neutral, trying not to smile at how flustered Devon got, how cute she was when her face got all red like that. Was it really that bad? “Okay, I promise.”

Devon took a deep breath, let it out. Then she reached into her pocket, pulling out her phone. She popped the case off, pulling something out. In her hand was a small square of what looked like folded paper. She went about unfolding it, and Barba realized it wasn’t a piece of paper, but a photo. It was so worn, so creased, that it was obvious how often she had needed to look at it during her time undercover. Once unfolded, she handed it to Barba, looking away sheepishly, sipping at her coffee.

The picture was faded, even though it was timestamped as only four years ago. It was a snapshot of what looked like a fun night in a dark bar. Devon was on the left, wearing a plastic top hat that read “Happy New Year’s! 2010” and with a drink in hand. She looked like she was laughing in the picture. Hanging on her, arm wrapped around the people on either side of her, was Olivia. It looked like she was trying to have them hold her up, but her face showed that it wasn’t happening. The photographer must have gotten her mid-fall—her mouth was open in a comical “O” shape. Barba only knew the man on the right because Olivia had showed her pictures before; his name was Elliot Stabler, Liv’s old partner. He wore a hat matching Devon’s, and it looked like Olivia was taking him down with her. His mouth was open in surprise, though a smile tugged at the corners. It was a great picture of three friends enjoying the start of the new year. Barba hated that he felt a pang of loneliness and jealousy looking at it. He looked up from the picture to find Devon watching him, cheeks still red.

“That was the first time since my childhood that I had celebrated my birthday; that I even had friends to celebrate with,” Devon explained, taking the photo back and gazing at it lovingly.

“Your birthday is New Year’s Eve?”

“Day, actually,” she corrected. She took one last look, then folded it up, stuffing it back into the phone case, popping it back on and replacing it in her pocket.

Barba wasn’t quite sure what to say. He was glad she had people to celebrate with, but also felt sad that it took her so long to find that kind of acceptance in her life. “Thank you for sharing that with me,” he said softly. There was nothing else to say. He was touched that she had opened up to him, had shown him something so personal.

Like in the park, they were both so enraptured in their thoughts that they stopped paying attention to their surroundings, especially their body language. They both had the same, stupid grin on their faces, as they stared into each other’s eyes. Barba had his hand on the table between them, and Devon didn’t even realize that she had placed hers on top of it. They were slowly leaning closer to each other, lost in the depths of their eyes, the closeness that they felt. Thinking about how today was a perfect date, yet neither would admit to the other that it even was one; it was just a walk in the park between friends. Sharing an intimate secret between friends. Holding hands, sharing a pastry, leaning closer, heads tilting, eyes closing…as friends….

Devon’s phone started ringing loudly, and they both jumped back, ripping their hands off the table. Devon fished her phone back out of her pocket, heart beating wildly. What just happened?

Barba looked flushed and a little…disappointed, grabbing his coffee and taking a sip, adverting his eyes. Devon looked at her phone screen, seeing her boss’s name lighting up across it.

“Uh oh…” she mumbled before answering. “Motely.”

“Is there a reason that NYPD’s Internal Affairs just handed me a file on you shooting a man two days ago?” Jenkins asked. He wasn’t angry; he just sounded tired.

Shit. “Oh, I meant to call you about that, sir,” Devon replied, heart still pounding. Her mind was going a mile a minute, stuck between thoughts of shooting Marco, IAB, and almost, maybe, about to kiss a certain counselor who was still avoiding her eyes. “You see, it’s a long story….”

“Well, you’d better come in and explain it to me, then.”

Devon looked to Barba, sipping innocently at his coffee. How much coffee does he still have? “Uh, permission to bring a civilian?” He finally looked at her at that, brow furrowed.

Jenkins sighed; he knew better than to ask questions. “Granted. Get here. Now.” And with that, he hung up.

Devon slowly put her phone down. She looked deeply into Barba’s green eyes. “Ever wanted to go to the FBI Headquarters?”

FBI Headquarters

Saturday, May 2nd. 12:37pm

Devon led Barba into the elevator leading to her boss’s office, his visitor badge bouncing off his chest.

“This is not what I had planned today when we agreed on a day off,” he mumbled, the doors closing behind them. Devon smirked.

“Sorry about this. I could’ve left you with a detective, if you really wanted. Or you can go back to the lobby; one of the field agents can watch you.”

Barba scoffed. “I’m not a child for you to pass around.”

“Then stop complaining like one,” she replied. He glared at her, and she stuck her tongue out in response. The elevator doors dinged and opened, and Devon led him down the long hallway to Jenkins’s office.

“Come in,” he said before she even had a chance to knock. Barba gave her a look, eyebrows raised. She shrugged in a yeah, that’s normal way, then opened the door for him, following him in. Jenkins kept his office space neat, tidy; a desk with two monitors, a couple of full bookshelves, and a small conference table in the corner. Although he was the Assistant Director, in charge of multiple sectors of field agents, he still didn’t spend much time in his office, usually only resigning to the space at night or on weekends to do paperwork. Much like Olivia, he worked his way up from field agent, and his heart and mind were still out in the field. He had trouble sitting still for too long, and was often out of the office, running teams or even in the field himself as much as possible. Which was why everyone respected him, whether they liked him or not.

“Counselor,” Jenkins said in his deep voice, nodding to Barba, before turning back to Devon. “Motely, report.”

Devon took a deep breath, then filled him in on everything that had happened since the end of January, starting from the night she met Barba, to talking to Olivia, to accepting the 24/7 protection of the ADA. “I honestly didn’t think it would be this…extensive,” Devon finished, lacking a better word. It was true, though; she knew what 24/7 protection was like, but she had only ever done it for a weekend at most. Never for months at a time. And though she knew that there was the chance of it lasting longer than she thought, it was different talking about it and actually doing it.

“So, this shooting of Marco Sorrel was in defense of Mr. Barba here,” Jenkins replied, looking at the case file from IAB.

“Yes sir.”

“And this protection order is still in effect? That’s why you brought him here, I take it?”

“Yes sir.” Devon felt Barba tense next to her; she had almost forgot he was there. He had said nothing since coming into the office. He knew when to bite his tongue.

“For how much longer? I need my top agent back to work.”

That knocked the wind out of Devon’s sails. It was the confirmation that after this was over, she would be going right back to work for the FBI. She wasn’t surprised, but it did solidify her resolve; she could not have a relationship with Barba, regardless of their feelings. She basically already told him as much that one day they talked a little too loosely about relationships.

“To my knowledge, there’s only 7 more Aces active in the city. Once they’re arrested, and the hit on Barba is off, I’ll be cleared for work again, sir,” Devon informed him.

Jenkins smirked. “Only 7? Tell that SVU Sergeant that I’ll make sure it’s taken care of before the weekend is over. I want to see you here, bright and early, on Monday morning; there’s a sex-trafficking ring I need you in on.”

Devon felt her stomach drop, her world crumbling. But she kept her face neutral, her voice steady. “Y-yes sir,” she said. Hearing the dismissal in his voice, she turned, Barba following suit, and left the office.

Apartment of Rafael Barba

Saturday, May 2nd. 3:05pm

“So, are we going to talk about it?” Barba finally asked from the kitchen. They both had been silent leaving the Bureau, and even more distant on the ride back to Barba’s loft. They tried small talk, but it sizzled out after a couple words. They both resigned to doing their own thing; Devon researching on her laptop, Barba doing the dishes from breakfast.

“Talk about what?” Devon replied, but she knew. Of course, she did. But she wanted to hear him say it.

Barba sighed, turning off the water. He placed the last pan on the drying rack, drying his hands off before coming to stand in the doorway. “Let’s be adults about this. Please. You know what,” when Devon stayed silent, Barba continued, “about what happened, well, what almost happened at the café. About the fact that you’re going to be leaving soon. About…about where that leaves us.”

Devon’s heart fluttered when he said “us.” God, she wanted there to be an “us” so damn badly. But she couldn’t force herself to take that leap, to fully commit to him. How could she, when both of their schedules were so busy, so crazy? Jenkins said it himself; she was about to go right back into the field. She could be gone for months, years at a time. She could be hurt or worse. How could she possibly hurt Barba like that, put him through that?

“The café was a mistake,” she said as flatly as she could. She stared at his chest, not able to make eye contact with him. “I’m sorry if I gave you the wrong idea, Rafael, but there isn’t an ‘us.’ This is a job, and once it’s over, I’m back to working with the Bureau.” Devon was glad that there were no tears in her eyes; her years of training, of becoming personas were coming in handy, even if her own heart was breaking at her words. She dared a glance into Barba’s face.

He was crestfallen, his face falling. He had been sure, was positive, that she had felt the same way about him. Especially when they brushed hands in the park, when they almost kissed in the café. It took him weeks and weeks to build up the courage to make a move, and when her hand had enveloped his at that table, he knew that that was his moment. Then that damned phone call happened. And then, that damned meeting with her boss! And now she was going to leave him, by tomorrow if her boss was correct. That’s why he had to tell her, he had to know if she had felt the same.

“I thought you said that we were friends. That you cared about me,” he said softly. God, he sounded desperate, pathetic, even to himself.

Devon’s eyes softened, if only for a moment. “You are, and I do. But Barbs, we can’t be any more than that. You know that, right?” Her resolve was shaking under his intense stare. She could see him caving in on himself, his shoulders slumping slightly, his head falling, knees bending. His whole body language just screamed defeated. And she was the one delivering the blows.

He took a deep breath, stiffening his spine, raising his head; the prosecutor heading into a losing battle. “You’re right. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be putting you in this kind of situation. Forget I mentioned it.” With that, he made his way down the hallway and into his room, closing his door softly behind him. Devon opened her mouth but couldn’t think of anything to say.

Great, she thought. There goes that friendship. Maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing, though; it made things a little less awkward. And it made her leaving easier. Plus, it’d be just like one of her many one-night stands anyways. No attachments: just cut all ties when she left. And leave the broken pieces of her heart behind.

As if the timing couldn’t be more perfect, Devon got an incoming call, from Olivia.

“Motely,” she answered, trying to sound professional.

“Devon! Great news: all the Aces have been rounded up and delivered to the NYPD. Did you call in the Feds to help?” Olivia asked.

Devon smiled grimly. “No, but my boss did offer his assistance after getting IAB’s report.”

“Well, he certainly assisted. Also, I just got a report that said that an hour ago, the Aces in Rikers got in a fight with the 32nd street gang in the prison courtyard. Jorge Ramirez was killed in the scuffle,” Olivia paused, letting her words sink in. “To our knowledge, the hit on Barba has been called off; you can go home, now.”

Devon sat in silence, trying to figure out what the hell the bombardment of emotions she felt was; it was all too much, too quickly. “Devon? You there?” she heard Liv say.

“Yeah, yeah sorry, I’m here. That’s…that’s great news, Liv. I’ll be sure to tell Barbs; I’m sure he’ll be relieved.”

They talked for a few more minutes before Devon made an excuse to hang up, citing the fact that she needed to pack and go grocery shopping before heading home. She sighed heavily, rubbing her hands over her face, but she stood and started collecting her small number of possessions.

“It’s done, isn’t it?” a voice came from down the hallway. Devon stopped, but didn’t turn to look.

“Yes; all the Aces have been arrested. Plus, Ramirez was shanked in a prison fight, so the hit’s been called off,” she turned to look at the man now, “congratulations, Barbs. You’re no longer a marked man.”

The door to his bedroom was wide open and Barba was leaning casually against the doorframe. Well, as casually as he could; his body was tight with tension, as much as he tried to hide it, and if Devon looked closely, she could see a small red ring around his eyes. He gave a stiff nod, peeling himself off the doorframe and coming out into the living room. Devon finished packing her things, zipping up her grip and slinging it over her shoulder. She felt a slew of emotions run through her; she needed to get out of there, but she was rooted to the spot.

“When will I see you again?” Barba murmured. It was barely a whisper, so quiet that it was hard to tell if he actually said it, or if Devon imagined it.

She gave him a soft smile, one that didn’t reach her eyes. “I’m sure we’ll end up working on a case together at some point…I do help SVU from time to time,” she replied quietly. He gave her another stiff nod, not trusting himself to speak. She no longer trusted her own voice, and turned away, unable to look at his face anymore. She felt tears spring to her eyes, and she blinked them away rapidly, swallowing past the lump in her throat. Devon made her way to the front door, unlocking it, opening it slowly.

“Wait,” Barba finally choked out. Devon froze at the door, one foot already in the hallway. She looked over her shoulder at him, eyes softening for a moment. His mouth opened and closed a couple times, but no sound came out.

She gave him a small smile. “Stay safe,” she whispered, and then she was gone.

 *********************

Devon didn’t go straight home. It was still early in the evening; the sun still hadn’t set, and it was still warm out. She also didn’t call a cab; instead opting to simply wander the streets, the grip slung over her shoulder soon forgotten as her mind, too, began to wander. She made it a full block before the tears began to flow, slowly at first, but then soon falling freely. She let them, ignoring the stares from strangers she walked by. It was good to let it all out, especially here, outdoors, rather than in her own space. She did wander in the general direction of her apartment—she lived about a 30-minute walk from Barba’s loft—and she took her time, weaving in and out of the streets. Finally, with the sun setting, and her shoulder growing sore from the weight, she made her way home.

 *********************

Apartment of Devon Motely

Saturday, May 2nd. 7:35pm

After her undercover op in California, Devon had the cleaners from the FBI clean her place so that it wasn’t dusty or gross. This was not the case with the past three months with Barba; the place had obviously not been inhabited. Dust covered every surface, there was a weird smell that wasn’t there before, and it was stuffy. Devon sighed, having no motivation to clean anything, emotionally drained. She looked at the clock and sighed again, realizing she hadn’t eaten anything besides breakfast and the little pastry at the café by the park, right before everything fell apart. She should eat, but she didn’t feel hungry. She didn’t really feel anything right now except for emptiness…a longing, and a loneliness that she hadn’t felt in years.

She went to her room and checked her bed, sniffing the sheets. They smelled musty, and she knew she couldn’t sleep in that. She stripped the sheets and threw them on the floor in the corner; that was a tomorrow problem. She went to her closet and pulled out her back-up sheets but couldn’t bring herself to make the bed. Instead, she threw them on the bed in a heap and made her way to the kitchen. Hungry or not, she should eat something, especially if she planned on drinking—and she did plan on drinking; maybe it would help lessen some of the emptiness, though she knew, deep down, that that was a load of crap.

First things first, she looked in her liquor cabinet, finding some cheap whiskey. Fingers crossed, she looked in her fridge and, hallelujah, she found an unopened bottle of Coca Cola. She quickly made herself a strong drink, then took another look in the fridge. No food to be found. She checked her pantry next. A couple cans of soup and some long-expired rice. She winced, remembering that she had been gone for over three years now; she really needed to go grocery shopping tomorrow.

Sighing, she grabbed a box of instant rice and opened it. It wasn’t fuzzy or discolored, so she presumed it was fine. The alcohol she was drinking would kill anything in it, anyways. While waiting for the water to boil, she unpacked her grip, throwing the clothes in a laundry bin, plugging in her laptop, and taking out her toiletries, to be replaced with new ones tomorrow. She went back to the kitchen, grabbed a notepad, and started making a list of foods. Once done, she had a thought, and went to her supply closet. After checking the small amount of cleaners she had, she added ones she needed to the list too. She was on autopilot, thoughts blank, afraid to stop moving. Actions kept her thoughts at bay. Speaking of moving, she realized that she could finally go back to the gym tomorrow morning, something that she thought she’d be excited for, but in this state, it was a dull thought. She dreaded the pain she’d be in tomorrow—her little morning routine wasn’t intense enough to replace a gym workout—but knew it would be worth it in the end.

Satisfied with her list, Devon took her food and drink, then sat in her living room. She didn’t like how the apartment didn’t seem…familiar, not in the way she was used to, or how his had felt. Even with her work, she had lived in this apartment for about seven years now, and it was always a welcome relief coming home. Now, it was like a piece was missing. Suddenly, the silence was pushing in on her, deafening her. She lunged for the TV remote, turned on whatever sports station she could find, and sat there, picking at her rice as the announcers were droning on about…the Mets. It didn’t really matter what was on, as long as there was continuous talking, hence, sports.

It didn’t take long, though, before the monotone voices seemed to tune out of her consciousness. Devon finished her food and drink, went back to the kitchen to dispose of her dishes, and brought the whiskey and coke back to the couch with her. She quickly lost count of drinks, thinking more and more about, well, everything that happened the past couple months. She remembered the first night she had met the ADA, before she knew who he was. She thought about how he didn’t want her help at first, how he had told Olivia that he didn’t need her. How she had made a deal with him that she’d never bother him again afterwards.

She thought about those first few weeks together, about how they were awkward around each other, learning about each other. She thought about how fascinated she was the first time she watched him in court, the pride and awe the first time he won a conviction. She remembered how his eyes lit up, how he set his jaw when he ran through his arguments with her in his office. She remembered how his green eyes conveyed concern when she got stabbed in the shoulder. She remembered his little smirk when he found something amusing. She wondered when she noticed all these little things about him.

She was shocked when she felt the tears on her cheeks, didn’t notice them pooling in her eyes. So, what if she loved him? It wasn’t going to work; she knew that! She had to move on with her life, let him move on, too. He deserved someone who could love him with their whole heart, who could be there for him when he needed them. She couldn’t be that person; she was always on call, and it was never a guarantee that see would come home at night.

Devon let out a loud sniffle, trying to control her emotions. It was final; she would forget about Rafael Barba. She would get a good night sleep, clean her apartment tomorrow, and then go back to work on Monday. And that was that. She finished her drink, wiped the tears out of her eyes, then went to her room. She saw the sheets clumped on her bed and let out a frustrated scream.

[suckmysupernatural]

Sunshine - Chapter 5

Series Masterlist

Word Count: 1810

Pairing: Sam x OC Sunny

Series Summary: The Winchesters meet a cheerful hunter named Sunny, who quickly captures Sam’s attention. Little do any of them know what lies in store when Sunny gets invited to join the brothers. Who can say how Sam, Dean, and Sunny will be some training days, a handful of hunts, romantic dates, a kidnapping, and one vengeful demon later.

Chapter Summary: Sunny and the Winchesters find a case.

Warnings: language

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

“Hey, Sunny. We found a case. You want to come?” Sam offered as he walked into the library. Sunny had been immersed in a book of zombie lore but hearing the word ‘case’ caught her attention. 

“Yes! Yeah, yes yes!” Sunny answered excitedly. Sam laughed, nodding.

“Okay, we leave in 10. Pack for a few days,” Sam said. He left to go to the kitchen, leaving Sunny to hustle to her room. She grabbed her empty duffel bag from under the bed, shoving some clothes into the bag. She made sure to put a mix of hunting clothes and a couple of nicer outfits in case they went undercover. Sunny walked up to her nightstand, looking fondly at the photos that sat there. 

“I’ll see you guys later,” she smiled, kissing two of her fingers before touching each photo. This was a ritual that Sunny had set in place soon after her family had died. While she knew that her family was gone for good, she couldn’t help but talk to them sometimes. There were times when she would just talk to her sister about the hot guy at the bar or telling her dad a joke. It brought Sunny comfort. 

Reaching the Impala, she saw Dean on the driver’s side, waiting for her and Sam. Sunny looked around for Sam, but he must still be packing. Laughing to herself, she hopped into the passenger seat for the first time. Dean looked over and laughed.

“Sammy won’t be happy about this,” Dean pointed out. 

“Well, now he gets the pleasure of staring at me the whole trip,” Sunny winked. It was then that Sam walked into the garage. He approached the passenger side and stopped, surprised to see his seat taken. Sunny rolled the window down, looking up at him. “Hello, can I help you?” 

“Wow,” Sam said in mock offense, “how dare you.” Sunny giggled as Sam made his way into the backseat. Dean turned to face his brother, one arm resting on the back of the bench seat. 

“Www-chhhhh,” Dean mimicked the motion of a whip. Sunny gave Dean a small shove, trying to hide a laugh. Sam simply rolled his eyes at his brother’s teasing. He was used to it. Dean turned to face forward, reversing the car out of the garage. Sunny bent down to pick up the Impala’s cassette collection. She looked through the titles, smiling when she found one that had been shoved to the bottom. She slid it into the player and turned up the volume.

It didn’t take long for the familiar upbeat electric guitar to flow through the car’s speakers. Dean was already speeding down the road but the music broke his focus. He whipped his head to look at Sunny as the lyrics started.

What I want, you've got 

But it might be hard to handle

Like the flame that burns the -

Before the first verse could even finish, Dean pressed the eject button. He kept eye contact with Sunny as he rolled down the window, grabbed the cassette, and chucked it out of the car. 

“Dean -” Sunny started to complain but was quickly interrupted.

“NO HALL & OATES IN BABY,” Dean yelled. He reached into the box of tapes, pulling one out at random. Soon the tunes of AC/DC filled the car. Sam and Sunny sat in shock at first before bursting into laughter. Dean quickly joined them, chuckling as he continued onto the highway. 

“Okay, so what is the case boys?” Sunny asked, her eyes shifting between the brothers. 

“Blair, Nebraska. We already have six bodies waiting for us in the city’s morgue. They have all been brutally murdered, some were stabbed while others had their neck snapped.” Sam explained.

“Couldn’t this just be a serial killer?” Sunny asked. 

“At first, it looked that way. But for a couple of the victims, their families have described a rotten egg smell in the home. One had even been visited by an electrician that morning after complaining that the lights in her home had been flickering even after replacing the light bulbs,” Sam gave a knowing look at Sunny.

“So we’ve got ourselves a demon,” Sunny said.

“Yep, one with an anger management problem it seems.” 

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

The drive to Blair, Nebraska was relatively short. Within four hours they had arrived at the city’s only motel. It was small, with only about a dozen rooms. The three checked in, only getting one room. Sam and Sunny had discussed it and decided to share a bed on hunting trips. They weren’t sharing one back at the bunker, but Sam felt better knowing that Sunny was in the same room when there was a dangerous monster roaming about. He knew that she was an incredible hunter, maybe even better than him, but didn’t want to take the risk. That was fine by Sunny as she liked knowing that Sam was safe as well. 

Going into the room, they all quickly changed into their FBI gear. They were all wearing suits by the time they had climbed back into the Impala. Sunny wasn’t a big fan of her gray pantsuit, wishing she could wear something brighter instead; she knew that neutral colors were best if she wanted to be taken seriously. 

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

“Please tell me that you guys got some info on this demon,” Dean groaned as he flopped onto the motel bed. They had decided early on to split up, each covering two of the victim’s families. Each hunter got barely any information that could lead to the motive behind these murders. None of them had any major successes within the last ten years, so a demon deal was quickly eliminated from the list. 

“So I have a pediatric surgeon who recently gave a pro bono surgery to a child with cancer and a high school football coach with a nicotine addiction and a tendency to sleep with cheerleaders,” Sunny told the boys. 

“The older woman, Marge, volunteered at her church and had a book club. I also met the very distraught mother of the dead teenager. He was constantly in trouble and his browsing history was filled with porn,” Sam stated. Dean raised his eyebrows in approval at the mention of the teen’s pornography habits.

“I got the woman that ran the non-profit and knit caps for newborn babies and a man who had a bad gambling debt. Like 100,000 dollars worth of debt,” Dean said dully. There wasn’t much to go on and the boys thought that they had hit a roadblock. That was until Sunny spoke up.

“Wait guys, I think I found a pattern. We have three women who were giving and kind, amazing people. Then we have three guys that are on the bad side of things,” Sunny said. The boys’ faces lit up in understanding. 

“So, sinners and saints?” Sam asked, looking at the other two. 

“It’s weird but we’ve seen weirder,” Dean pointed out. Sam nodded in agreement.

“So tomorrow, we just research what? Awesome women and shitty men?” Sam asked.

“Sounds hard to narrow down,” Sunny laughed. Both of the brothers looked at her as if they were deeply offended. It didn’t last long, with both guys agreeing. The three of them got ready for bed, deciding to call it a night. They had been working all day and tomorrow would likely be the same.

Dean fell asleep quickly, his snores filling the motel room. The sound was like a white noise machine was playing so Sunny and Sam weren’t bothered by it. It wasn’t long until they were also in deep sleep, their cuddling keeping them warm throughout the night.

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

“Rise and Shine, lovers!” Dean yelled out from the foot of the bed that Sam and Sunny were sharing. They both groaned at the older brother, Sam throwing a pillow at him. “Hey, Woah. Is that any way to treat the man who got you coffee?”

Sam shot out of bed, quickly grabbing the cup from Dean’s hand. The brothers both shared a slight caffeine addiction, using coffee to get through the day. Sunny, on the other hand, often preferred tea. Dean had remembered that fact and handed her a cup of Earl Grey.

“Thanks, Dean,” Sunny inhaled the enticing aroma. Dean sat down on his bed, looking at the other two hunters.

“So, how do we find the next victims?” Dean asked. It was a question that none of them truly knew the answer to. 

“Um… maybe we can just ask around town? See what the gossip is?” Sunny offered. She wished that there was something more concrete, but this was all they had at the moment. 

“Yeah, I guess. I’ll check out the police station, see if they have any repeat offenders,” Dean said. 

“Okay, Sunny and I will look for some do-gooders,” Sam shrugged. Dean nodded, going to the bathroom to get ready. It didn’t take long, putting on the fed suit once again because he was going to the police station. Sunny and Sam, on the other hand, got to dress casually. Sunny was glad to leave behind the pantsuit, trading it in for a light blue, knee-length sundress with buttons down the front and pockets. 

“Wow, you are beautiful,” Sam said at the sight of her. She could feel a blush crawling up her cheeks as she gave him a large grin.

“Why, thank you,” Sunny gave a small curtsy. Sam laughed, offering his hand for her to take. The two, now hand-in-hand, left the motel room to walk towards the town’s center. The city was small so they would be fine without a car. In fact, Sunny found it rather enjoyable. The sun was shining down on them, the slight breeze keeping them from overheating. 

It was difficult to focus on the case at hand as both were distracted by one another. Sam couldn’t think of a time that he was this happy. Looking down at her, he couldn’t believe his luck. Her eyes were closed, letting the sun wash over her face and trusting Sam to guide her. He was in awe of Sunny, how she takes something as small as the sun on her face and lets it fill her with joy. Her eyes fluttered open to meet Sam’s.

“What?” she asked.

“Nothing, I was just thinking about how I am the luckiest man alive,” Sam said matter-of-factly. Sunny let out a giggle that made his heart skip a beat.

“Okay, Mr. Luck. We gotta focus up, finish this case and I’ll show you just how lucky you are,” Sunny winked and gave his hand a squeeze. Sam’s eyebrows raised, his tongue darting out to lick his lips. 

“Let’s get to work then,” Sam said with determination as he increased his pace. Sunny laughed as she attempted to catch up with him and his long legs.

Chapter 6 ->

[taronfanfic]

Fast Forward

Chapter 21

A steamy, romantic, champagne fuelled hot tub was bound to get a bit handsy. You had to make things up to Taron and he didn’t seem surprised in the slightest when your fingers delved beneath the waistband of his swimming shorts. His semi soon became rock hard at your touch, slowly working down to his balls and then rubbing your thumb over his tip. He didn’t even try to hide his grin, just relaxed back smugly and let you see how much he was enjoying it. Your other hand caressed over his chest and shoulder, up to the back of his neck as you kissed him and into the back of his hair as you started to whisper filth into his ear.

“You feel so big, it’s making me throb for you.” Taron responded instantly, dropping his arms from the sides of the hot tub back into the water so his hands could take hold of your waist and move you to straddle over his thighs. “You like that?” You hummed back as you tugged his shorts lower and set him free. There was only a hungry kiss in response as his hands dropped to squeeze your bum.

“I really want to, but we can’t, not in here.” He looked over his shoulder to see the bistro chairs left on the other side of the balcony and then back into your eyes.

“You want me to ride you on one of those chairs? Out here in the open?... Or I could bend over the railing and you can take me from behind?” Even suggesting your ideas out loud was turning you on and you knew Taron could feel you tensing your thighs in excitement.

“Fucking hell, yes. It’ll be cold but if you keep talking like that it won’t take long.”

“Come on then.” You smirked and then giggled as you stood up from Taron and climbed out the hot tub, rushing over to the edge of the balcony and then leaning out to check that no one else could see you from either side. Once you’d seen it was all clear you flattened out your back and left your arse up for Taron, feeling his fingers tug your bikini to one side. “Pull them down, halfway down my thighs so I can feel everything.”

“Jesus this is hot.” Taron commented under his breath as he followed your instructions and was then quick to push himself into you and feel your warmth surround his erection. He wasted no time, thrusting hard and fast as he held onto your hips and had you rocking with him.

“Oh, yes! Fuck. Yeah!” You cried out as every move Taron made felt incredible. He didn’t let up the pace, panting heavily behind you as his eyes were fixed to the sight of his hips slamming against your arse. You wanted to be able to take a moment to look up, to look out into the forest and remember where you were, what you were doing and how fucking good it felt, but Taron never gave you chance. This was a quickie for sure. There had been so much pent up tension between you, mostly anger and frustration but getting to release it like this was the best possible outcome for both of you. Your orgasm rushed through your body, hitting you hard and fast, and leaving you breathless. Taron lost it just after you did, spilling out in such a rush that drips landed on the decking between your feet.

“Fucking hell, we’re good.” He sighed as he supported you into an upright position against his warm chest and then pulled your bikini back up into place. “We’re definitely having sex again tonight.”

“It’s our anniversary, we’re having sex all night.”

“But we’ve got a romantic dinner to get through first so hold those naughty thoughts.” He left a kiss to your cheek before wrapping one of the large, soft towels around your shoulders and leading you inside.

You started to fill the roll top bath, adding in the complimentary bubbles and then noticed Taron watching you from the doorway through to the bedroom. An offer for him to join you was made but he declined it, preferring to admire you as you stripped bare and relaxed back into the warm water with a sigh.

“Still not tempting?”

“I was thinking I could have a shower instead.” His eyebrow cocked to the walk in shower at the end of the bath and you nodded in agreement as you realised you’d have the perfect view of him whilst he was in there. There was no need to be subtle either as you took in every inch of his skin. Watching his shoulder blades as he rubbed the shampoo suds over his hair, then taking in his chest as he turned around beneath the falling water. He caught your eye contact for a second and then smiled as he saw you look down his body to his cock, his hand deliberately stroking down his length a few times as he watched you watching him. You were in heaven. You considered getting yourself off in the bath but decided to hold onto the feelings of arousal for the rest of the night, knowing something amazing would come of it in a matter of hours. Taron appeared to do the same, resisting his semi and reaching for the soap for distraction. The rewards would be worth it.

You smiled up to your boyfriend as he offered out his hand to help you out of the bath. The thirsty kiss he left to your lips could easily have led you straight into bed, but instead you wrapped a fresh towel around his hips and sent him on his way.

“Stop tempting me, I need to be hungry not horny.”

Having taken a minute to compose yourself you walked into the bedroom to find Taron in a black pair of boxers, only now unpacking one of the weekend bags he’d brought. Your new dress was hanging on the wardrobe door.

“Y’know I was quite concerned by what you might have packed, seeing as you did most of it in the dark. These are a cute touch though.” You nudged your toe against your favourite pair of silver heels, the ones you’d worn on your first proper date with Taron, which were waiting at the foot of the bed. “So do I get any underwear or am I going commando to dinner?”

“Like I’d forget my favourite part!” Taron scoffed back as he pulled his chosen pair of knickers out of the bag and threw them at you. “Bras and dresses are a minefield so I did grab a few extras from your drawer, hopefully one of them works?”

“This one’s perfect, so don’t worry.” You reassured him with a kiss to the cheek as you collected the one you wanted. “Let me unpack the rest of this too, you’ve done more than enough today.”

“Nah-ah. Bags are off-limits all weekend for you.”

“Why? What are you hiding in there?”

“Things for tomorrow!” Taron replied innocently whilst folding his arms across his chest.

“What did we say? No more secrets, no more surprises... So what’s in the bag?”

“Argh, fine…Coats, umbrellas, wellies and your beanie too. But it might be too windy for the umbrellas so we’ll see… Go on, have a look if you don’t believe me.” He added as you looked back to him with confusion.

“It’s not that I don’t believe you, I’m just wondering why that was being kept as a surprise? I saw the map of the grounds earlier and that there was a woodland walk that leads down to the coast. I was going to suggest it tomorrow if you’d not booked us in for something else at the spa.”

“Oh. Well that’s good then… apart from the weather looking crap for tomorrow.”

“Stop trying to make everything perfect!” You teased him lovingly, reaching out for his arm and stroking his soft skin. “Whatever happens, whatever the weather does, I don’t mind one bit as long as I’m with you so stop over-thinking all of this. Why don’t you grab a few of those little bottles of gin from the kitchen and bring them back in here so we can have a drink whilst we get ready?”

“Alright, sounds good. Sorry for stressing.” His face softened as he leaned in to kiss you quickly. “Love you.”

“Love you too.”

A glass of gin and tonic was placed next to your makeup brushes a few minutes later and you spotted Taron relaxing back on the bed, still wearing only his boxers. He had an ipad in his hands and was reading the screen closely.

“We need to select what we want for breakfast in the morning. There’s this hatch thing by the front door and they deliver it to us so we can have it in bed, or on the balcony if it’s sunny.”

“That’s such a good idea! What can we pick from?”

“Absolutely everything. Croissants, toast, eggs, full English, waffles, pancakes, fruit, bread and hams, bagels… it’s never ending!”

“Wow,” You spun around on your chair to face Taron. “Get a selection then? I don’t know what I’m going to want… might depend on how much of an appetite I’ve worked up over night.”

“Naughty.” Taron sniggered. “I’m ordering the unhealthy things seeing as we’re only here for one night. I’ve also booked us a lift back up to the main house for dinner in 15 minutes so we’d better get a move on.”

You gently curled your last strands of hair, wriggled your little black dress up over your hips and secured the ankle straps of your silver heels before standing in front of the full length mirror to check you’d not missed something. Taron appeared in the view behind you, a crisp white shirt tucked into his navy suit trousers but with the top two buttons left undone and the sleeves neatly turned up to his elbows. He caught you admiring his reflection and stepped in behind you, his hands naturally resting on the sides of your hips, and nose burying in against your neck so he could inhale the sweet scent of your favourite perfume.

“Gorgeous,” He whispered. “Utterly gorgeous.”

You grabbed your jackets on the way out and walked hand in hand down the wooden bridge to the awaiting cart, ready to start your anniversary evening together.

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[shining-red-diamond]

Ch. 2: London

Cast of Characters//Ch. 1//Ch. 2//Ch. 3//Ch. 4//Ch. 5//Ch. 6//Ch. 7//Ch. 8//Ch. 9//Ch. 10//Ch. 11//Ch. 12//Ch. 13//Ch. 14//Ch. 15//Ch. 16//Ch. 17//Ch. 18//Ch. 19//Ch. 20//Ch. 21//Ch. 22//Ch. 23//Ch. 24//Ch. 25//Ch. 26//Ch. 27//Ch. 28 (coming soon)

Words: 1173

Pairing: OT8 x OCs (Hongjoong x Dahae)

Rating: PG-13

Warnings: mentions of vomiting and illness

A/N: Italics mean they’re speaking in Korean.

A loud buzzing pounded in Dahae’s ears. She reached to her nightstand and pressed the button on her clock to shut it off. Slowly she sat up and stretched while letting out a silent yawn. Her eyes wandered over to the small window that was allowing the early morning sun to seep through.

This is going to be a good day, she thought.

“Good morning, beautiful,” Hongjoong greeted her while carrying a tray of food and setting it on the small coffee table in the middle of the bedroom. “I had Grace-Anne prepare you a meal that’ll help you with your strength today.”

Dahae had fallen ill with food poisoning two days prior. The crew had visited a dig site in the outskirts of Guatemala City, and she was the only one whose dinner had been wrongly prepared. Her fellow medic Yeosang was quick to diagnose her and make a list of what she needed to eat and take. Thankfully, she was recovering quickly but still felt a little weak. Hongjoong had forbidden her from finishing any of her work until she was completely well.

Hongjoong was a pretty flexible guy, but he also had a particular way of keeping things in order around the ship. If a crewmember was ill, they were quickly limited to what they could and couldn’t do after being checked and diagnosed by either Yeosang or Dahae. On cleaning days, everyone had to take part to clean their bedrooms, do laundry, mop the deck, whatever. He made sure everyone was working together by putting their skills to good use.

“Wake up, Sleeping Beauty,” Hongjoong sing-songed as he stroked his fiancée’s head. Dahae hadn’t realized she dozed off again.

“I’m up,” she claimed as she opened her eyes. Hongjoong’s smiling face was the first thing she saw.

“Stand up and come eat your breakfast, and I’ll believe you,” he chuckled before pecking her forehead.

“Yes, mom,” Dahae teased as she crawled out of bed.

Making her way over to her chair by the coffee, she could still feel her legs feeling as if they were a mix of lead and jelly, but at least her stomach didn’t feel like fire. Her breakfast consisted of scrambled eggs, a banana, and orange juice.

“I noticed the weather looked nice today,” she said as she began peeling the banana.

Hongjoong sat in his chair next to Dahae’s and began to study his maps on his computer. “Dinah predicts it’ll be sunny until we get to London.”

“What’s in London?”

“A friend of my dad’s is an archeologist and explorer there,” he explained. “He just returned from an expedition in the Conga and found something he wants us all to see.”

“What did he find?” Dahae sipped her orange juice before starting on her eggs.

“He didn’t exactly say. He just messaged me about it last night, and I told Mingi to set a course for London.”

“I see.”

“Speaking of London,” Hongjoong said as he shut his laptop and turned towards Dahae and took her left hand into his, “I was hoping we could go to a jewelry place and pick out your engagement ring while we’re there.”

Dahae’s eyes lit up. Hongjoong had proposed but didn’t have a diamond to put on her finger, only the white rubber ring she currently wore. She didn’t mind, but Hongjoong had always noticed how much she admired Celestia’s wedding ring and Grace-Anne’s engagement ring. All he wanted was for the woman he loved to be happy.

“I’d love to, Joong,” she smiled. “But will we have time?”

He kissed her cheek. “I plan on having us stay there for at least two nights.”

“Two nights? We usually stay only one night.”

“I’ve been doing some thinking lately, and I know that our explorations are becoming more tiring with each new challenge; so I decided to treat everyone with an extra day in London.”

“So, basically, a vacation day?” Dahae asked, a grin slowly blooming on her face.

Hongjoong nodded.

The crew had been getting more and more tired in the past few months, and Hongjoong had taken note. He had always put others first to a point he sometimes wears himself out doing so. Dahae admired how much he cared for everyone else around him, and she loved that about her fiancé; but the dark circles under his eyes worried her. He was a hard worker, but Dahae didn’t want him to work until his death. When he said they would all take a rest day, her heart was put at ease.

“Seonghwa, Yeosang, and I have been discussing a rest day for a while, but we could never agree on a proper time.”

“When did you decide now was a good time?” Dahae asked as she finished her meal, Hongjoong taking the tray.

“This morning just before I got your breakfast,” he replied as he headed towards the bedroom door. “We’ll be landing in about three hours. Do you feel okay to walk around?”

“Joong, I stopped vomiting yesterday morning.” She stood from her chair and began walking towards the bathroom. “I think I’m more than capable to explore.”

“Alright, but if you still feel bad later, please tell me.”

“Aye, aye, Captain,” Dahae saluted just before shutting the bathroom door.

Hongjoong chuckled at her remark as he strolled out of the room with the tray of empty dishware in his hands.

The captain made his way around the corner, past the dining hall, and into the kitchen where Yunho was busy with a boiling pot. The island counter was covered in utensils, vegetables and herbs. Yunho was dressed in his pajamas still, but his hair was combed.

“Good morning, Yunho,” Hongjoong greeted.

“Good morning, Captain,” his crewmate replied with a bow.

“Dude, it’s just us. You don’t have to call me ‘Captain.’”

“Sorry. Just a habit.”

Hongjoong placed the tray by the sink, and looked around the kitchen. “Where’d Grace-Anne go?”

“She went to go wake Seonghwa and get ready for the day,” Yunho replied. “How’s Dahae feeling?”

“A lot better.” Hongjoong leaned against the counter. “The color is back in her face.”

“I’m happy to hear that, but I’m preparing this soup just in case we have another emergency like that again.”

As much as he was the repairman and engineer for The HALA, Yunho was also a cook alongside Grace-Anne. He always had a recipe book with dishes made for those who were sick or had certain food allergies, and Yunho had been using it the past two and half days to help with Dahae’s illness. Grace-Anne had one similar but mainly used it to prepare Celestia’s meals, as she couldn’t eat certain foods while pregnant.

Yunho pulled the wooden spoon out of the metal pot, placed the lid on it, and turned down the stove. “So where are we going?” he asked as he untied his apron and hung it on the wall hook.

“London,” Hongjoong replied. “We’re arriving there in about three hours, so be ready by then.”

[detroitwhatitmeanstobehuman]

Chapter 8 - November 7th

Part 8/17 of What it Means to be Human

Word Count: 7204

Warnings: Swearing, mentions of sex.

Genre: Self-insert/Fluff

Pairing: OC (Detective Rachel) X Connor

Rating: Teens and Up

Summary: Waking up at Detective Rachel’s home, Connor wakes up earlier than she does and opts to make her breakfast. While he and Lieutenant Anderson take care of something for her, Connor decides to spend a whole day with Rachel to look after her and spend time with her. Both as a partner and as a friend.

First Chapter | Previous Chapter

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

Date: November 7th, 2038  Time: 08:30 AM Rachel - Partner Objective: Spend the Day with Rachel

At the time he had set for his stasis to be interrupted, Connor awoke. However, when he had opened his eyes, to his surprise, he found himself face-to-face with Rachel.

He remembered very clearly that she had his back to him the night before. He also remembered that her arms were not currently woven around him the night before. Which meant that in her sleep, she turned over and wrapped her arms around him.

Software Instability ^ Taking in the features of her face, he took in every detail. Her outline was round and soft, quite delicate which didn’t accurately portray her fiery nature underneath. Her eyebrows were rather thick and there was evidence that she regularly managed their shape. 

All over her face were scars, a couple that were slashes underneath her left eye that seemed to be very very old faded scars. But they mostly appeared to be acne scars. 

His eyes then drifted to her lips. They were small and to the upper left under her nose was a clearly defined beauty spot. There was a bit of hair on her lip that while visible wasn’t noticeable. Given that she regularly shaped her eyebrows, it seemed that it was a conscious choice to leave her lip hair alone. 

As he carefully catalogued every aspect of her face, he couldn’t help but notice the small soft smile on her face. She looked so peaceful, undisturbed, and blissful.

Software Instability ^ He tried to pry himself away to start the day, but she let out a small sad moan as she wrapped her arms tighter around him. “No...” She murmured, still half-asleep. “No leaving...not allowed...”

Connor sat there, somewhat taken aback as she continued to nuzzle herself into him. He thought for a moment if it would be better for him to stay there until she woke up, or if he should risk disturbing her. Though that second option made him feel unpleasant at the thought.

Wake Up

Stay

Leave

Taking painstaking efforts to detach himself from Rachel’s grip (of which was very persistent), he slipped out of her grasp without waking her and walked over to the bureau where he put his clothes the night before. Quickly getting dressed and placing the robe she allowed him to use back where he found it, he opened one of the drawers and found a pen and some paper.

--------

I blinked my eyes open slowly. I still felt some exhaustion, but I was at least trying to break the habit of going back to sleep once I started waking up. I was very much not a morning person, but it didn’t exactly feel great to waste so much of the day on sleep.

I then realized that something was missing, and the events of yesterday began to resurface and I quickly tried to suppress a blush. Connor spent the night. In my bed. With me. How tired was I?

Actually, speaking of which, I reached over to the nightstand to check my phone when I noticed a piece of paper folded perfectly to stand upright written in perfect font there in front of me.

Reaching over to grab my glasses, I picked up the note and started reading it.

Dear Rachel,

I had set the time for 8:30 AM for my stasis to be interrupted, and when I awoke, you were still asleep. I didn’t want to disturb you, so I took it upon myself to begin preparing a healthy breakfast for you. By my estimation, it should be ready by the time you awake properly. I hope my absence doesn’t alarm you, but I would have found it regrettable to disturb you before you properly woke up. Rest assured that I did not leave you and that I’m here for the whole day for whatever you wish of me.

Regards, Connor.

I smiled uncontrollably, feeling my cheeks bunch up. “Awwww, that’s actually really sweet.” I said out loud, placing a hand on my chest. But as I put the paper back on the nightstand and slipped out of bed, I realized I was...confused.

It was one thing to spend the night, I asked him to do that. It was another to make me breakfast. After all, it would be pretty rude and selfish to just take off in the morning without saying anything, and he had an advanced enough social program to know that. That at least struck me as a formality, even if breakfast was a little much.

But it was entirely another to decide to spend the entire day here. Just...for me. I didn’t ask him to do this. He just...decided he wanted to. I tried racking my brain for any possible relation to his mission. Any reason this could be related to apprehending deviants, but...I couldn’t find any.

He seemed to just be doing this because he wanted to.

Shrugging, I made my way downstairs, immediately noticing the unmistakable smell of frying bacon. Making my way into the kitchen, I saw him, clear as day at the stove frying up some bacon strips. His LED flickered yellow occasionally, but he seemed to be focused on his task. He noticed me enter and turned to see me, a slight smile on his face. “Good morning, Rachel.” He greeted. “I’m sorry, I expected you to be asleep for longer. Lieutenant Anderson mentioned that you were a heavy sleeper and tended to sleep in on mornings off.”

“Usually.” I replied, rubbing my eyes and taking a seat at the table, noticing Bear over by Connor, sitting in the way he sits when he wants food. “Bear!” I shouted, snapping my fingers. “Over here!” The dog sauntered over to me and I sighed, rubbing his head. “You know you’re not supposed to beg for food, you silly baby.” Then I realized. “Oh! I have to feed him! Sorry, baby.”

“Actually, I already have.” Connor replied, turning to me once again. “As per your instructions. I’ve actually taken care of all your early morning tasks as they are listed.”

He then pointed to the list of tasks I had posted on sticky notes on the wall of the kitchen above the counter. “Oh, you didn’t have to do that.” I said, feeling sort of light-headed from all this attention. 

“This is your day off.” Connor replied rather coolly. “I thought it best you have as little to do today as possible.”

I couldn’t stop the smile on my face. “Well, thank you...that’s really kind of you, Connor.” It was so...strange. This was so domestic and I settled into it pretty immediately. I guess I just...missed having someone else who I could share a day with and took to it out of that loneliness. I then glanced over at him. He went back to preparing breakfast. I noticed the plate already had some strips of bacon on it as well as some slices of yellow bell pepper. I widened my eyes at him in surprise. “How did you know yellow peppers were my favourite?”

“They were the only vegetables you had.” Connor pointed out rather matter-of-factly, a tinge of disapproval to his voice. I then sort of stared at the space on the table in front of me in embarrassment. Oh. Right. Yep, that makes more sense. “Speaking of which, I’ll have to take a trip to the nearest grocery store to stock up on ingredients for tonight.”

I snapped my head in his direction again. “Y-you’re cooking dinner?” I asked him in surprise.

“Of course.” He answered immediately, putting the last of the bacon on my plate. “How do you like your fried eggs?”

“Sunny-side up.” I replied without hesitation. “And I like my yolks to be runny.”

“Got it.” The sounds of the crack of eggs and the sizzle of them hitting the pan immediately followed. It was really weird that he glossed over the whole “making dinner” thing without much thought. As if that was just a normal thing he did. It was said so casually that it really threw me off. I glanced over at him from time to time and decided to open my phone. There was a text message from Bianca.

Hey, Rachel. I didn’t get a text from you last night, but I know you’re probably busy. Just text me when you wake up, okay? - 11:12 PM

I smiled and started to write a text back to her. Hey, Bianca. I sent. Sorry, yeah. A lot happened, but don’t worry, I’m good. Thanks to Connor. I waited for a moment before a thought crossed my mind. Could we FaceTime, actually?

I waited for a moment, glancing over at Connor again. “Hey, just a quick FYI, I asked Bianca if we could FaceTime.” I let him know. “I was going to text her last night, but...well, you know.”

“Of course.” Connor replied curtly. “Breakfast should be ready in just a moment.”

“Cool cool. Thanks, Connor.” I said casually. I checked my phone again, and sure enough, Bianca texted me back.

Sure - 9:32 AM

Navigating through my phone’s home screen, I found the icon and tapped on it. I then tapped on Bianca’s contact and propped the phone up on the table and waited for her to pick up.

And sure enough, she did. “Hi, Bianca!” I greeted brightly, smiling.

“Hiiiiiii!” Bianca said, once the connection settled for a bit. “How are you?”

“Doing pretty good, it’s my day off.” I replied casually, sighing. “How are things going with you?”

“Good! Good.” She replied in the way she usually replies. “Just, y’know, about to go to work. I wanted to see how you are.”

“Yeah, I had a fucking crazy day yesterday, holy shit.” I said, feeling a lot more comfortable now. If there was one person I trusted and felt like I could tell anything, it was my sister.

Connor then broke my attention when he set my plate down in front of me. “Your breakfast is ready.” He said, hovering a little bit behind me to get a good look at Bianca.

“Thank you!” I said, chipperly.

“Hiiiiiiii!” Bianca called, seeing Connor behind me.

“Hello!” Connor greeted curtly. “You must be Bianca. Rachel’s told me about you.”

“That’s Connor.” I explained. “He was assigned to work the case with Hank and I. Well, he and Hank were assigned the case and I was put on it yesterday.”

“Oh, okay!” Bianca said, smiling. “Well, it’s nice to meet you!”

“Likewise.” Connor nodded and stepped away. “How do you take your coffee, Rachel?”

“As black as my soul.” I replied with no hesitation.

He was quiet for a moment before he replied. “So, does a French vanilla latte with extra cream and sugar sound acceptable?”

I then heard Bianca start breaking into a fit of laughter on the other end as I grumbled at him, grabbing his tie and yanking him down to me. “Listen here, you little shit!”

I expected at least some reaction. Or maybe nothing at all. But the smug son of a bitch just tilted his head with a smirk and a quirk of his brows. “Yes? I’m listening.”

I glared at him as Bianca kept laughing. But the longer I stared into his warm chocolate eyes, the less I could keep up an angry front. He was too damn cute to stay mad at, and I think the fucker knew that. I just let out a defeated sigh and looked up at him with a gentle smile, letting go of his tie. “That actually sounds nice. I’d really appreciate that, thank you.”

“I’ll get started, then.” Connor said, walking away as if nothing happened. “You should eat your breakfast before it gets cold.”

I rolled my eyes and groaned at him. “Yes, mom.”

“I like him a lot already.” Bianca said from the other end, still giggling. “Oh my God, that was so funny.”

“Oh, he has quite the sense of humour.” I said, mostly sarcastically as I stole a glance at him.

Bianca was on the computer while she was talking to me and I could hear the absentminded typing on her end. “He’s cute.”

I raised an eyebrow at him, scanning him over as he had several coffee ingredients prepared. “No argument here.” I begrudgingly agreed. “Just don’t tell him that. He’s enough of a smug bastard as is.”

Connor then caught my eye and flashed me another one of his accursed smirks. “You don’t seem to mind.”

“Don’t you sass me, you microwave!” I snapped, narrowing my eyes and pointing at him while Bianca started laughing at me.

“Oh my God. That’s too funny.” She sighed, getting the laughs out.

I scoffed. “Yeah, hilarious.”

“He’s an android, right?” Bianca asked curiously. “He seems way more advanced than the other androids I’ve seen.”

I snickered a bit. “Yeah, that’s ‘cause he’s a prototype.” I explained. “An RK800 model. He was sent by CyberLife as an android detective designed to assist investigators to help us with this case. The police department, not us specifically.”

“No no, I get it.” She took in, nodding her head. “What case are you working on right now? You never actually told me.”

“No! I didn’t!” I exclaimed, realizing my mistake. “Sorry, I kept forgetting to. We’re investigating a bunch of incidents of crimes involving androids that turned deviant. It’s basically androids who’ve broken through their programming and think and behave more similarly to humans than their original programming.”

Bianca was quiet for a moment, listening and I was assuming that there was some lag in the connection. “Holy shit! That’s kinda scary.”

I sort of shrugged. “It sounds scary, I’ll admit.” I conceded. The concept of machines breaking free and developing their own free will was indeed a frightening concept. “But, once you actually talk to one, they just...seem like any other person. They’re surprisingly not that much different than us.”

“Huh.” Bianca responded. “Guess that goes to show what I know about androids.”

I sort of blinked at her and made a baffled look at her. “You worked with androids!”

“Yeah, their hardware!” Bianca pointed out. “Not their software. I know how to fix damaged parts and how they work, but I don’t know shit about their programming or how their brains fucking work.”

“You code for a living!” I retorted.

“Not super advanced android AI. That shit’s way fucking harder than video games!” Bianca clarified.

I nodded. “Yeah, okay. Fair point.”

A moment of lazy typing went by before she said anything else. “Speaking of which, how’s your arm, by the way?”

I deskined my arm and flexed my hand to show it off to her. “As per the usual, pretty good.” I replied, giving her the update. “No issues, just the occasional tune up. Although...I did come across something kind of unusual last night.”

Bianca took a little bit to give any indication that she heard what I had said. “Like what?” She asked, curious but also worried.

“Well, last night, we were investigating a homicide in an android sex club downtown.” I started explaining, glancing up at Connor, seeing that he was busily mixing the coffee.

“Oooooh, fun!” Bianca teased.

“You’d think so, but it wasn’t.” I said bluntly. “Anyways, we were investigating a deviant who had killed a patron approximately an hour before we got to the scene. We discovered that it was hiding out in the club still, and,” I glanced up at Connor who was giving me a knowing look, “something happened and I went to go hide in the warehouse where they kept the androids and the parts that came in. Apparently that’s where the two deviants were hiding as well. Now, because I was having a bad time, they saw me and...approached. And they were trying to help me.”

I then saw Connor approaching from my peripheral vision and he placed the coffee in front of me. “What do you mean?” Bianca asked.

As I took the coffee to give it a sip, I then glanced up at Connor, noticing that he was just...standing there. “Are you not gonna sit at the table?” I asked him, raising a confused eyebrow at him.

He seemed to be taken aback a little, shuffling in place. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t sure if you’d want me to sit with you.”

“We slept in the same bed last night.” I emphasized to him, trying to shove down the slight embarrassment at the memory. “You can sit with me while I have breakfast, Connor.”

“Wait, what?” Bianca said, her eyes wide and her eyebrows furrowed together.

“Not like that!” I shouted at Bianca as Connor pulled out the chair and sat down next to me. “You know I don’t roll that way. Last night was just really rough and I needed emotional support.”

“Okay, sorry!” Bianca said hastily.

I sighed. “Anyways, the thing that happened.” I continued, trying to get back on track. “Because last night was sorta real bad, I was curled up having a panic attack in the warehouse when the two deviants approached me. I don’t remember a lot of what they said to me, but the one with the brown hair - they were both girls - she deskinned her hand and grabbed my prosthetic hand. And...I could feel everything that she could feel. And she could feel everything I could feel. And we understood each other through just what we were feeling.”

“You were interfacing.” Connor said, a tone of astonishment in his voice.

Bianca blinked in surprise. “What’s that?”

Anticipating Connor’s explanation, I turned my phone so that we were both in frame. “It’s how androids interact with each other and other forms of technology.” He began explaining. “Androids can take and give information through physical contact and give inputs to other services such as phone calls and online orders. That’s likely what happened with Rachel when she was interfacing with that deviant.”

“But...I’m not an android.” I said with confusion.

“No, but,” Bianca interjected, “I designed your arm to be connected to your brain through the connections to your nerves. It was tough, but that’s how you’re able to move your arm the way you can.”

“You likely can’t receive information the way androids can because you’re human.” Connor added. “But you were able to feel its emotions. That’s something you can process and intake.”

“Huh.” Bianca said. “That’s super fascinating.”

I shrugged. “I guess that makes sense, huh.”

“Yeah.” Bianca said, but I could hear a disappointment in her voice that I knew meant she had to go. “I should let you go, then. I gotta get to work soon.”

“Yeah, yeah. No worries, Bianca. I get it.” I assured her, feeling that same disappointment.

“I just wanted to check in on you and see how you were doing.” Bianca said.

“Yeah, no, of course.” I then remembered something. “You’re still coming for Christmas, right?”

Bianca was quiet for a moment before she responded. “Yeah, yeah! Definitely. I just need to figure out what days to book off from work. But I’ll let you know once I figure that out.”

I nodded. “Okay.”

“Okay. Byeeeeeeeee!”

“Bye!”

“I love you!”

“I love you too, Bianca!” The call then dropped, and I let out a sigh. “I miss her a lot, but it’s nice when we get to have a moment to chat.”

Connor nodded, a surprising glimmer of understanding in his brown eyes. “In a way, I understand that feeling.” He said.

An interesting answer, but the smell of my breakfast was making me realize I was hungry and I decided to dig in, taking a piece of the egg white. I realized that he did the thing where you use the bacon grease to fry the egg to give it extra flavour.

Oh. I thought with a sharp pang to my chest. The way they used to make it.

Trying to push the feeling down, I kept eating my breakfast that was generously made by Connor, occasionally taking a sip of the, honestly really delicious, coffee he made for me.

The moment was quiet as I finished my bacon and eggs, left with the slices of yellow pepper I was absentmindedly nibbling. “Can I ask you a personal question, Rachel?” Connor asked, breaking the silence.

I regarded him curiously for a moment, my eyebrow raised. “Sure, go ahead.” I said with a shrug, taking another bite of a slice of pepper.

“Why don’t you have sex with androids?”

I nearly choked on my pepper and started coughing as I just looked at him with what I was sure was the most baffled look on my face he’d ever seen. “Excuse me?”

“You’ve mentioned multiple times that you don’t have sex with androids.” He continued, seemingly not noticing the sheer gauche nature of this conversation. “But you’ve also mentioned that you’re rather promiscuous, to use more delicate phrasing than you, but that your personal issues is the reason you haven’t had a partner in that time. But renting an android wouldn’t require any personal feelings or trust to be required.”

I sort of narrowed my eyes at him suspiciously. “Are you asking because you’re curious or because you’re interested?” Despite his blunt question catching me off-guard, I still couldn’t help but tease. “Because I’m afraid that rule also applies to you, sorry to disappoint.”

His LED flickered red for a moment before he responded. “Just curious, that’s all.” He replied coolly. “I’m always interested to hear your perspectives and reasons for your stances.”

I blinked at him a couple times, fighting the uncontrollable urge to smile. A weird question, but a fair one, I suppose. His face was so innocent and curious that I couldn’t help but feel obligated to give him an answer. “Alright, I’ll bite.” I conceded, finishing off a slice of pepper. “To put it simply, I do not feel comfortable having sex with someone who is incapable of rejecting or withdrawing consent. It makes me extremely uncomfortable.”

Connor’s LED was spinning yellow for a moment before returning to a neutral blue. “I see.” He said. “But, how is it different than perhaps purchasing a human sex worker?”

“Very!” I replied enthusiastically, continuing to munch on my pepper slices. “When you purchase a prostitute or an escort, you don’t just get to do whatever the fuck you want without complaint. First of all, they sort of know what they’re getting into beforehand, so they’ve already consented when you’ve made the purchase. However, they still maintain a certain modicum of control over the situation, in case things get too dangerous or go too far.” I explained, Connor’s LED spinning yellow, showing he was taking in the information. “But androids can’t do that, at least ones that aren’t deviant. They’re programmed not to refuse and certainly not to withdraw from intercourse. If someone cannot withhold or withdraw consent, then their consent has not been given in the first place. And that makes the prospect of having sex with androids extremely uncomfortable to me.”

Connor nodded, folding his hands on the table. “I think I understand.” He said.

As I was finishing my pepper slices, I noticed he was just staring at me. There seemed to be an uncertainty and a curiosity in his expression, and I finished my breakfast and properly looked over at him. “Was there anything else you wanted to know about?” I asked him.

“I was sort of curious about your prosthetic arm.” Connor admitted, his eyes fixated on my left arm. “An android’s biocomponents are powered by thirium, which is regulated by its thirium pump. However, I’m struggling to understand how your arm functions without any of that.”

I sort of scoffed at him, giving him a patient smile. “Just let me put my dishes in the dishwasher, and I’d be glad to show you.” I said to him, starting to get up from the table before he quickly intercepted me, taking my dishes from me.

“No need.” He interjected hastily, walking over to where the dishwasher was. “I’ll take care of it.”

I was about to protest, but I had a feeling he wasn’t going to hear any of it, so I just kept myself seated and went back to sipping my coffee. It was strange to be taken care of...but it wasn’t unpleasant. At least for one day, I could let someone else look after me.

After a moment, Connor returned, seated next to me, and I gave him a shy smile. “Alright, so.” I deskinned my arm to show him it. “Like you said, an android’s biocomponents are powered by thirium and regulated by a thirium pump, which functions like a human heart but for androids. But, considering I am not an android, how does my arm function?” I then quickly located the two buttons on either side of my forearm and pressed them, causing my arm to go stiff and I was able to remove it, showing Connor the two parts of it. “Well, since there’s obviously no thirium going through my body, Bianca had to come up with a creative solution. The part that’s actually attached to my stump is where all the inputs go. It was a really complicated process, but it’s through here where my brain tells my arm to do things. But my arm only accepts input once it’s actually clicked in.” I put my arm on the table and opened it up to show Connor the inner workings of it. “Because I obviously don’t have thirium running through my body, Bianca actually modified this arm to have a much smaller version of a thirium pump so that it can regulate its own thirium and thus not have to rely on an external source of power. But it only activates when it’s attached to my arm.”

Connor’s LED was spinning yellow as he was analysing my arm, seemingly taking note of its unique design and build compared to other android arms and committing it to memory. “Fascinating.” He whispered.

“Isn’t it?” I said with a rather confident tone in my voice. It was definitely some great work, and Bianca never ceased to impress me. I then closed up my arm after Connor was done examining it and took it and slotted it back into place, flexing my hand as it reactivated and started to skin over again. It soon looked no different than my other arm. “It’s definitely the best prosthetic I’ve ever seen in my life.”

I took another sip of coffee, settling into the quiet of the moment again. Clearly Connor had run out of things to ask at the moment, and I honestly appreciated the comfortable silence. That was one thing I really valued about certain friendships. The ability to be completely comfortable in each other’s presence, even if you weren’t doing or saying anything.

All you needed was each other. And there was something special about that sort of connection.

Soon enough, I had finished my coffee without saying anything, Connor took the empty mug and placed it in the dishwasher. “So, I was thinking,” Connor started, looking over at me with his hands neatly behind his back, “it is rather cold today. Approximately -3° Celsius and 6 centimetres of snow on the ground. But if you’d be interested, I was going to suggest that I accompany you for a walk this morning.”

I glanced outside towards my backyard. It was still snowing, but casually. The sight of the white crystals blanketing the rooftops and the trees made me let out a contented sigh. There was something to be admired about the quiet gentle nature of winter, even if it was associated with harshness and unforgiving landscapes and stories.

But it was that sense of solitude and silence that I loved about snow and winter. The sort of delicateness of it all. For as harsh and unforgiving as winter could certainly be, it was also remarkably beautiful and pure. If there was a Heaven, I usually imagine it as something similar.

“That actually sounds really nice.” I said softly, looking back at Connor, who was still standing there patiently with a smile on his face, regarding me carefully. “Was there anywhere specific you had in mind, or did you want me to pick?”

“I’ll leave that up to you.” Connor replied.

I thought about it for a moment. I wasn’t really in the mood to go anywhere specific, and I didn’t really feel like interacting with a lot of people today. Honestly, just a walk around the neighbourhood sounded like enough for me. “Well, the park’s really nice this time of year.” I suggested. “And it’s not too far from here.”

The android then nodded. “Then it’s settled.”

I then got up from my chair, stretching my back, and letting out a groan. My back felt stiff, so like I typically do, I wrenched my torso in both directions harshly to give a hearty crack of my spine. Immediately after, I cracked my neck, as my neck also tended to get stiff after awhile. “Ahhhh, there we go.”

Connor’s eyes narrowed in concern as he approached me. “You should see a chiropractor if you’re having issues with your spine.” He suggested.

I rolled my eyes at him and shrugged. “Yeah, probably.”  I was making my way towards the closet in the hallway before I remembered I was still in my pajamas. “Oh! Right! I should probably get dressed, shouldn’t I?”

“That would certainly be ideal.” Connor replied. “I’ll wait down here until you’re ready.”

“Cool!” I quickly made my way up the stairs and went into my bedroom, picking what I was going to wear.

--------

Date: November 7th, 2038  Time: 10:12 AM Rachel - Partner Objective: Go for Walk with Rachel

“Are you sure you’re not cold?” Connor asked Rachel, concerned. She didn’t leave the house in typical winter attire, just a simple thin winter coat with a hood and the leather boots she had worn the day before. “My scans are indicating that your outer body temperature has dropped significantly and that your core temperature has risen to combat it.”

The shorter woman scoffed at him, her arm hooked around his. “I appreciate your concern, but I’m fine.” She assured him. “I like the cold. I’ve always been a winter person.”

While they were walking, Connor was getting updates from Hank all morning and Connor’s been researching and relaying information to Hank. Last update was that Luis was known to have his own apartment in Detroit and even his own android, but nothing in regards to any evidence. That part was Connor’s job, and it wasn’t easy. 

“Although November’s always been my favourite month, despite it not being technically winter.” Rachel continued, the snow gently fell on them as they walked, the cold chill of the air permeating Connor’s sensors. He couldn’t really feel the cold. He could only really be aware of it. “Fun fact, I may have spent most of my life on the west coast, but I was actually born in the prairies. I spent my early childhood there. And trust me, there have been some real tough winters there. Blizzards started in October.” 

Software Instability ^ Rachel then smiled softly, her eyes racing the snow that was on the bushes and hedges of their path. “Novembers in the city I was born in were absolutely breathtaking.” She continued. “It was October when the blizzards started, but in November, the snow would sort of come to a standstill. The result was fields left almost completely untouched and blanketed by the purest of white softness. Sunrises were one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever had the privilege of witnessing. The way the snow just glimmers like a thousand tiny stars scattered on the ground and how the warm glow of the bright rising sun paints the pure white landscapes in soft hues of oranges, yellows, and reds. But the shadows would always be left in their dark cold blues and violets closest to the sun’s edges. But even in the shadows, the snow still glistened like little embedded diamonds.” She let out a contented nostalgic sigh, a cloud of her warm breath filling the space in front of her. “November was always that moment of respite in between the late October flurries and constant December blizzards. That one period of absolute peace and quiet. It’s still my favourite time of year.”

Software Instability ^ He couldn’t help but notice the blissful expression on her face. The android was fairly certain that he hadn’t seen her so at peace. He then noticed her breath in the air and realized it was much more than one should typically exhale.  Upon further analysis, he realized she was doing it on purpose. “Why are you doing that?” He asked bluntly.

She then blinked at him in confusion. “Doing what?”

“Breathing.” He clarified, earning a baffled look from her. “You’re exhaling excessively.”

Her eyes widened as she then finally understood what he meant. “Ohhhhh! Okay! Sorry, you asked that in a really weird way.” She apologized, leaning into him more. “I like seeing my breath in the cold. It makes me feel like a dragon. Though that’s probably something that you can’t quite understand. But it’s something small that just amuses me personally, I suppose.”

Software Instability ^ She was right in that Connor couldn’t understand that. But he nevertheless found it endearing that she found such amusement in something so small and seemingly insignificant to most humans. In fact, that was something that Connor couldn’t help but admire about Rachel. The fact that she paid attention or found strong feelings in things that seemed so small and insignificant to other humans.

She was right in that she was unique in the way she thought. And he could see it both in her casual demeanour as well as her detective work.

However, he was quickly pulled from his thoughts by a cold impact to his head. He registered the ice crystals that slid off his skin and embedded themselves in his coffee brown hair that it was snow that had hit him.

And when he looked over in the direction it came from, he saw Rachel intentionally avoiding his gaze and staring up at the white cloudy sky whistling nothing in particular. Due to her suspicious behaviour, Connor had easily deduced that she was the one who had thrown snow at him. But her demeanour didn’t suggest that it was malicious and all her behaviour towards him prior suggested it was out of mischief.

Tease

Ask

Throw

Ignore

Software Instability ^ Casting glances aside at her, to make sure she wouldn’t notice, Connor was able to scrounge up enough snow to make a decent snowball, and quickly chucked it at her at the earliest moment.

The snowball had hit her on the side of her hood, and she quickly turned around to stare him in the face. For a moment, Connor was concerned that he had hurt her when she stared at him wide-eyed in shock. 

Software Instability ^ But instead, she narrowed her eyes at him as a small smile spread across her face. In a much lower voice than Connor was used to hearing her speak in, she responded to the android. “So, you have chosen to answer the call to battle.”

--------

Dodging snowballs and taking cover behind trees and cobblestone walls, Connor was locked in a heated battle with his partner.

The android was expecting to have had to let her get away to preserve her ego, but she was actually surprisingly adept at dodging him. Not perfect, of course, but she had good reflexes.

And her aim was not much different. Certainly not perfect, but good enough to actually get some hits on Connor. He couldn’t help but be mildly impressed with her.

Software Instability ^ But the thing he couldn’t help but remain transfixed on was her laughter. It was pure joy. It was comfort. And it was genuine. It wasn’t the kind of laughter when she found something funny, or the kind of nervous laughter one did when they were uncomfortable. Her giggling was pure unadulterated happiness.

Something Connor couldn’t know or feel, really. But something he couldn’t help but want to. Something he couldn’t help but feel drawn to when he saw it so freely given to him in this brief moment of human enjoyment.

The android was aware of the ways humans often sought enjoyment. They were certainly interesting beings that found amusement in the smallest of things. They invented a whole plethora of games each with different rules to follow. But some games were done out of pure instinct, with no real rules to follow. This was one of those games.

Software Instability ^ It was one thing to vaguely know about such concepts. It was another to observe them. And then it was something completely different to be an active participant, and Connor couldn’t deny that it felt...pleasant. There was a certain warmth that bloomed in him to not just be included in, but invited to participate in something so innocent and joyful done for the sheer sake of it. It was something so foreign to Connor to engage in this game with Rachel just because she wanted to. Because she wanted to share this joy with him.

Managing to target and hit Rachel, she let out a shout. “OW!” She exclaimed, dashing behind a tree, clutching her back where Connor had hit her. “You shithead!” She yelled, throwing another snowball at him and missing him.

Tease

Apologize

Throw

“That was 30% strength at most!” He shouted back at Rachel.

“Oh, I’ll show you 30% strength, you Goddamn toaster oven!” Rachel yelled, responding with another thrown snowball in his direction.

Connor peaked around his cover and saw Rachel making a run for the next tree. Deciding to take the opportunity that presented itself to him, he made a hearty throw at her and managed to knock her down, and she quickly folded down into the snow.

Software Instability ^ And she stayed face down in the snow. After a moment of being unresponsive, Connor suddenly felt compelled to end this game and rushed over to her, worry for her consuming his actions. “Rachel?” He called as he approached her lifeless body. “Rachel!” He repeated, shaking her and turning her onto her side to see her face.

Her eyes were closed and she appeared unconscious.

Until she suddenly opened them and grinned at him, whipping her arm out and suddenly he fell onto his back, his vision going white for a moment as he felt a cold impact on his face. The only sound that could be heard was a triumphant laugh from Rachel. 

Software Instability ^ “HA! Well, well, well.” She bragged, her pride audible as the android felt her crawling up to him to tower over him, her arms caging his head. “It would seem that the human detective has bested the RK800 android detective prototype sent by CyberLife. I bet that must be pretty embarrassing for you.”

Scold

Concede

Continue

Connor then smiled up at her. “Indeed you have.” He praised, looking up at her. “A well fought match, detective.”

Software Instability ^ Rachel then rolled her eyes, pushing herself off of him with a scoff, sitting up. “You’re such a good sport. It kinda takes the fun out of this.”

He then raised an eyebrow at her as he sat up as well. “I’m sorry.” He apologized briefly. “Would you rather I appear upset?”

“No!” She cried, clutching his shoulder. “I’m sorry! I take it back! I don’t want you to actually be upset!”

Software Instability ^ Connor couldn’t help but smile at the transparency of her care before she pushed herself to her feet, extending a hand to help him up off the ground.

As soon as they were both back on their feet, both of them looking a bit disheveled, Rachel started waving her hands, sucking a breath in through her teeth seemingly in pain. “Ah!” She gasped. “I really should’ve worn mittens before doing this. This was kind of a bad idea.”

A scan revealed that Rachel’s hands had both dropped in temperature significantly compared to the rest of her body. Connor quickly took both of her hands and clasped his own around hers.

Software Instability ^ A blush quickly formed on her cheeks as she blinked up at him in confusion. “Wh-what are you doing?” She stammered.

“Androids have their own temperature that is maintained. However they’re typically at a much lower body temperature than humans, but they can overheat. While androids don’t technically need to breathe, it helps to prevent overheating. However, we do have some control over the heat our bodies produce.” He began explaining, noticing the intense focus in Rachel’s dark brown eyes fixed on him as he spoke. “Some androids are built to survive in harsh conditions, such as the ones that are sent on space explorations too treacherous for humans. But in general, androids cannot survive in extreme cold or extreme heat, as it damages their biocomponents and potentially causes them to shut down. With the circumstances of your hand, it would be unwise to allow it to remain cold for a long period of time.”

As she stood there, glancing down at his hands that were wrapped around hers, she then slipped her hands out of his and then grabbed them.

Software Instability ^ And to Connor’s surprise, she took them and placed his hands on the sides of her face, her hands resting overtop of his. She then closed her eyes, pressing his hands further into her cheeks, bunching them up as she settled herself further into them. “Warm...” She hummed contentedly, looking as though she might fall asleep in his hands.

Suddenly, Connor was getting another update from Hank. Android’s coming in to confess. Apparently she’s got a lot of evidence against this bastard. The android then tilted Rachel’s head up slightly, getting her to open her eyes at him. “We should probably head back.” He suggested gently.

She then nodded at him, pulling away from his touch. “Yeah, we probably should.” She agreed, making her way towards the path again. “Bear probably needs to go out, anyway.”

Software Instability ^ As they began making their way back towards her home, she linked her arm around his again, leaning more into his shoulder. “This was a really nice walk.” She murmured. “Thank you. I hope you had a good time, too.”

Honest

Indifferent

Software Instability ^ Rachel - Partner ^ “I did enjoy myself.” Connor replied, glancing down at Rachel, who was looking up at him with a meek and soft smile. “I was not designed with this purpose in mind, but I will admit that it was...pleasant to be able to break from my intended role if only for a day.”

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

Next Chapter

[ionlyreadfivebookslastweek]

Bless The Broken Road - 21

The next morning, Jane decided to get up early and make a big breakfast, including pancakes, scrambled eggs, bacon, and hash browns.

When Reid woke up, he followed the smell of food to the kitchen. He came up behind her and hugged her waist, snuggling his face into her neck.

“Good morning,” he mumbled.

“Good morning,” she chirped back. He began kissing her neck, causing her to giggle. “Stop or I’ll end up burning your breakfast,” she laughed. “Go sit down. It’s almost ready.”

“Why are you making breakfast?” he questioned as he obliged, taking a seat at the counter.

“We don’t know when we’ll get called away again so I thought we might as well make time for a nice meal before that happens.”

“Well it looks and smells delicious,” he complimented.

“Thank you.”

A few minutes later, Jane fixed both of them a plate and sat down across from him to enjoy the meal.

~~~~~

Weeks later at the end of the month, the team decided to go out on a Saturday night together.

“Jane, are you almost ready? We’re gonna be the last ones there,” Spencer called down the hall.

“Hang on!” she called back as she grabbed her shoes and headed out to the living room. “Since when do you care about when we get to the bar? I thought you’d rather spend as little time as possible there?” she argued as she took a seat on the couch to put on her shoes.

Spencer didn’t respond, distracted by how good she looked. He caught himself staring at her cleavage as she bent over to zip up her heels.

“Spence?” she questioned, looking up to see his dazed face.

“I, uh...wow,” he stammered.

She giggled and stood up to walk over to him. His hands found her waist and she wrapped her arms around his shoulders.

“You look incredible.” Jane looked down as a blush crossed her cheeks. He took one hand off her waist to lift her face up to look at him, leaning down to press his lips against hers. They kissed for a while before they had to break for air.

Breathing heavily, they rested their foreheads together. “We should get going. They’re going to wonder where we are,” Jane said.

Spencer reluctantly agreed, grabbing the keys and following her out of the apartment.

~

“Finally! You’re here!” Garcia cheered, getting up to greet the pair as they approached the rest of the team at the bar. She hugged Jane then stepped back to look at her. “And you look stunning!”

“Not as sexy as you!” Jane replied, grinning.

“Oh stop,” Garcia gushed.

“Come sit down!” Morgan called.

They joined the table and ordered a couple of drinks for the new arrivals. The team sat, drank, and talked. Spencer kept his eyes on Jane practically the whole night. Under the table, he put a hand on her leg and squeezed it. She turned to him and gave him a smile.

At one point, Jane offered to go to the bar to get another round of drinks for everybody. She returned grinning a few minutes later.

“Guess who just scored us all a round of free drinks,” she cheered.

“How’d you manage that?” Spencer asked.

“Isn’t it obvious? Look at her!” Garcia said. “She’s so hot!”

“And all yours,” Jane told him, giving him a kiss on the cheek, leaving a lipstick stain.

They stayed for a few more hours, taking a few more drinks, before getting a taxi ride back home.

Once home, Spencer took Shortstack outside while Jane slipped off her heels and went into the bathroom to wash the makeup off her face.

By the time he came back in, she had wiped her face clean and was exiting the bathroom.

“Spencer, can you help me unzip my dress?” Jane asked, a little too buzzed to get it herself.

“S-sure,” he answered, moving behind her to help.

He unzipped it then stood there, breathing heavily. She turned her head to look towards him over her shoulder and he caught her lips with his. She turned around to face him and deepened the kiss, letting her dress fall to the floor.

Jane worked to get Spencer’s clothes off as well. Once they were strewn across the floor, they moved over to the bed and Jane laid down, Spencer moving on top of her. He bent down and kissed her before looking into her eyes.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” he asked.

She kissed him again, answering between kisses, “Yes I do. I love you, Spencer.”

“I love you, too, Jane.”

~

Jane woke up the next morning to Spencer drawing circles on her back.

“Good morning,” he greeted her.

She moved to kiss him. “Good morning,” she repeated.

Out in the living room, they heard Shortstack barking, wanting to go outside.

Jane groaned.

“We better let him out. It’s later in the morning than he’s used to,” Spencer said.

“Yeah, I guess so,” Jane agreed.

Spencer got up and threw some clothes on before exiting the room to take Shortstack out.

Jane got up as well, putting on new underwear from her drawer and slipping one of Spencer’s shirts on on top of them. Hearing a knock at the front door, she went to go answer it, assuming it was Spencer. “Did you get locked out?” she questioned as she opened the door, only to find Morgan standing there instead.

”Whoa,” he breathed.

”Oh my god, Morgan. What are you doing here?” Jane asked, trying to hide behind the door as much as possible.

He held up a wallet. “Pretty boy forgot his wallet last night, but I can see now that he was a little too preoccupied to realize he left it.” ”Come in,” Jane told him, flustered. “I’m going to go put some real clothes on.”

She headed back towards the bedroom. Behind her, she could hear Morgan say, “Mmmhmm.”

She looked back to see him watching her. “Don’t stare at me!”

He chuckled and apologized, “Sorry, baby doll.”

”And don’t call me that when I’m barely clothed.” By the time Jane came back out, now dressed in jeans and a sweater, Spencer was back with Shortstack.

She saw Morgan clap him on the back and heard him say, “My man!” Spencer’s face turned red.

Jane, also still flushed, interrupted the exchange. “Do you want to stay for lunch, Morgan?”

“What are you cooking?”

“I don’t know yet. You’ll just have to stick around and see,” she told him.

Morgan accepted the invitation and Jane got busy cooking. She decided on making quesadillas. After lunch, Morgan went home.

“My god, that was embarrassing,” Jane told Spencer once they were alone again.

“What?”

“I opened the door thinking it was you and I was only wearing underwear and one of your shirts,” she confessed.

“Well, that explains how he knew what happened last night.”

“I wonder how long it’ll take before Penelope calls or texts me. He’s bound to tell her,” Jane said.

“Maybe she’ll wait until Monday to bring it up in person,” he suggested.

~~~

Sure enough, Garcia did wait until Monday.

Jane was heading to the break room to refill her coffee and ran into Garcia along the way.

“Good morning, Pen. How was your weekend?” Jane asked.

They walked together to the break room. Garcia let Jane enter first before going in herself and shutting the door behind them.

“OK. We have to talk about what happened Saturday night,” Garcia said.

“So Morgan told you,” Jane replied.

“I need to know the details! Tell me everything! Give me the dirty details!”

“I’m not going to tell you everything!” Jane insisted. “I’m sure Spencer doesn’t want me sharing the ‘dirty details’. So out of respect, I’m not sharing.”

“Alright,” Garcia sighed, disappointed. “I respect you respecting that.”

Morgan entered the room. “Oh hey there, baby doll,” he laughed, using the nickname Jane had scolded him for using yesterday morning.

Jane said hey then made an excuse about having lots of paperwork to finish in order to get away from him and Garcia.

A couple of hours later, Jane had finished all of her paperwork and was reading a book to pass the time until lunch.

“Hey, Jane,” Reid spoke as he approached her desk.

“Hang on,” she told him, holding a hand up. “I’m almost done with the chapter.”

He waited a few seconds before asking, “Are you done yet?”

“No. I don’t read 20,000 words per minute like you do,” she pointed out. “Hang on!” She took another minute before closing the book and saying, “OK, done.”

“Are you hungry? If so, want to go get lunch?” Spencer asked.

“Sure,” Jane accepted. “Where do you wanna go? Wait, I know, Indian food?”

Spencer grinned. “You know me so well.”

She stood up, took his hand, and headed out for lunch.

~~~~~

“So, Valentine's Day is coming up,” Spencer spoke up one day while he and Jane were taking a break from paperwork to hang out at her desk.

“Mmhmm,” Jane said, less than enthused.

“You don’t seem that excited,” Spencer pointed out.

Jane shrugged and leaned back in her chair. “I just don’t think there needs to be a day for people to show they love their loved ones. It shouldn’t be forced just because it’s a certain day of the year. It should be because they want to do it, just because,” Jane explained her views.

“Oh, yeah,” Spencer replied, dejected. “I guess you’re right.”

“Spence, what’s wrong?” she asked, reaching out to take his hand.

“I agree with you that you should want to show you love someone and shouldn’t be forced to. But I think it’s a good excuse to do something extra special. And this year is the first time I finally have someone to share that day with,” he shared.

Jane smiled and bit her lip. “Well, what did you have in mind?” she asked.

Before he could divulge his ideas, Garcia came by. “I hate to break up your couple chat but we have a case,” she told them. Jane sighed and looked back at Spencer. “To be continued,” she told him, standing up to head to the briefing room.

“Leave your winter coats on the jet, my folks. Once you leave D.C. you won’t be needing them anymore as you are all heading to sunny Arizona,” Garcia told the team as she began the briefing. “Three people, two men and one woman, have been found in the desert nailed to crosses. They all were wearing robes and crowns of thorns.”

“Clearly has to do with religion,” Rossi stated. “What’s he trying to say?”

“Jesus died for people’s sins. Maybe he’s killing people for their wrongdoings,”  Jane suggested.

Hotch told them they should get going, as it’d be a long flight. The team stood and moved to get ready to leave.

Once they arrived, Jane and Reid headed to the coroner. The others divided up between talking to the families of the victims and setting up at the police station.

Given information on the types of nails, wooden boards, and crown of thorns, Garcia searched for people who had purchased those specific items, concluding that many people use that kind of wood and nails but came up empty on the crown of thorns.

The next day, another body was found.

Spencer stared at the board, trying to connect the dots between the victims.

“I think I know what the connection is,” he told Jane, still keeping his eyes trained on the board.

“Go on,” Jane urged him.

“Each of the victims could have been perceived to have broken one of the ten commandments.”

“OK, you may be right, but that’d be hard to judge when people break them. It’s fairly easy to break some of them. Do not lie, do not say the Lord’s name in vain,” Jane pointed out. “Plus, he’s breaking the do not kill commandment himself.” “What if that’s his end game, to kill himself?”

Jane paused. “OK, you’re probably right. I’ve been thinking about the crowns he places on the victims. What if he works in herbology?”

“That’d narrow the list down,” Spencer agreed with a nod.

Together, they pieced together the profile before filling in the rest of the team.

~

They were able to find the UNSUB but were unsuccessful in stopping him from killing himself.

On the flight home, Spencer moved to join Jane by her window seat. He took her hand in his.

Jane looked down at their hands and smiled as he rubbed the back of hers with his thumb.

“So...” he said.

“So...” Jane repeated.

“I was thinking it’d be pretty great to go on a trip over Valentine’s weekend. Since it’s on a Sunday, why not make a weekend of it?” Spencer suggested.

“Where would we go?” she questioned.

“Mexico.” “Really? Spence, you hate the beach,” she argued.

“There’s plenty else to do there besides the beach. I just thought it’d be nice to get out of the cold.”

“Why not go to the typical places: Paris, Rome, Barcelona?”

Spencer paused a moment in thought. “Alright, how about this: we’ll each think about it and in a couple of days we’ll come up with a top 3 list and the highest average between the two will be where we go?”

“Sounds like a plan.”

~~~

When they got together with their lists, they found that the highest rated destination between the pair was London.

Hotch was gracious enough to give the couple Friday through Monday off and let them leave early Thursday to have plenty of time to catch their 8pm flight out.

Jack agreed to watch Shortstack while they were gone.

On the flight across the pond, they both decided to sleep in order to get their sleep for the night. The time change between the two places was five hours so they were be getting there around 8 in the morning London time.

After getting settled into the hotel, Jane and Spencer set off to start exploring the city and all of its tourist attractions. It was great to get to travel and actually enjoy it for once, as opposed to only be traveling for a case.

Jane’s favorite part, of course, was going to the Harry Potter Studio Tour. She also made Spencer take her to King’s Cross station to get her picture taken with the Platform 9 3/4 sign.

Spencer was also able to get his nerdy fix, however, as they were able to go see some locations for Dr. Who while there as well.

On Sunday, actual Valentine’s Day, they spent the morning down by the river. They walked hand in hand along the shore, enjoying a peaceful morning, until something caught their eye up ahead.

“What’s that up there?” Jane questioned, pointing ahead of them.

“I don’t know. It looks like a body,” Spencer spoke cautiously.

They hastened their pace and approached it.

“Damn,” Jane breathed, kneeling down beside the body. She found his wrist to search for a pulse but found none.

“Jane, there’s strangulation marks on his neck,” Spencer said.

“It looks like someone tried to dump the body but it got washed up here,” Jane stated.

“We have to report this.”

Jane sighed and pulled out her phone as she stood back up. “On it.”

When the police arrived, they asked Spencer and Jane to come in for questioning on what they’d found.

“I’m sorry this had to happen on today of all days,” Spencer apologized.

“It’s not your fault,” Jane insisted.

“This trip was going so well and some murderer just had to go and ruin it.”

Spencer and Jane waited in a room for a while before a woman with long, dark hair came in.

“Spencer!” She greeted with a smile.

“Oh my god, Emily!” His eyes widened in surprise as he moved to embrace the woman.

“When I heard two FBI agents found the body, I didn’t think it’d be someone I knew!” she said, stepping back. “It’s so good to see you!”

“Likewise!”

“What are you doing in London?”

Spencer moved to stand beside Jane again. “Emily, this is Dr. Jane Addison, my girlfriend and fellow member of the BAU. We were here for the weekend to celebrate Valentine’s day,” he explained. “Jane, this is Emily Prentiss. She’s the unit chief for Interpol right now, but she used to be a member of the BAU. You actually filled her position when you joined.”

“It’s great to meet you,” Jane told Emily. “I just wish it was under better circumstances.”

“Why exactly are you here?” Spencer questioned.

“The victim displays an MO that matches that of an UNSUB that’s been on our radar for a while,” Emily explained. “Five years ago, we believe this man started killing in Washington state before traveling the U.S. for around three and a half years. The FBI was on his trail, but he escaped to Europe and the case went cold. He resurfaced in France months later and now we believe he’s in London,” Emily briefed them. “I know you’re on vacation, but I could really use your help on this case. It’s up to you though.”

Spencer took out his phone. “Let me call Hotch and get him to assemble the team,” he said as he headed out of the room.

While out of the room, Emily apologized to Jane for ruining their Valentine’s Day.

“It’s alright. I think Spence is more upset about it than I am,” Jane admitted.

Spencer returned to inform them that the team would be there in the morning.

“Great! Why don’t you two enjoy the rest of your day and I’ll see you tomorrow,” Emily said.

Spencer and Jane agreed before leaving.

The two decided to head to lunch at a little cafe. Jane watched as Spencer picked at his food with his fork.

“Spence, talk to me,” she told him.

He looked up in surprise then back down at his food.

“I just can’t believe our luck. I thought if a case were to come up, it’d be one back home and maybe Hotch would let us join them later. But no, we just had to stumble upon a case here in London,” he grumbled.

“It can’t be helped now,” she told him, reaching out to grab his hand. “Besides, we still have the rest of the day. Emily doesn’t want us back until tomorrow.”

“That’s true.”

“So what do you say we go see some last minute sites this afternoon and then later tonight we can spend some time back at the hotel,” she suggested.

“You want to spend our last night of vacation in our hotel room?” he questioned.

“Well, it is Valentine’s Day and so I thought maybe we could...” she trailed off.

“Oh... oh!” he replied, catching on.

“Yeah,” she chuckled. “So, what do you say?”

He set down his fork and pushed his chair back. “Let’s go.”

Jane giggled as he took her hand and led her out of the cafe.

~

In the morning, Jane and Spencer met the rest of the BAU team at London’s Interpol office. Emily was already going around greeting her former teammates when they entered the room.

Not wasting any time, they set to work on the case.

“Do we know if they took a sample of the water in the victim's lungs?” Jane asked.

“I don’t believe they have,” Emily replied.

“Jane, you head to the coroner to get a sample of the water and examine it. JJ and Rossi, talk to the parents of the newest victim. Morgan and I will check out the victim’s house. Garcia, try to find a connection between the victims and Reid, start working on the geographical profile,” Hotch ordered.

Once Jane was done at the coroner, she met up with Garcia and Reid.

“I can’t find any connections between the victims. It appears that they’re random victims of opportunity,” Garcia shared.

“I’ve made a timeline of the kills on a map,” Spencer stated, gesturing at the board. Jane moved closer to him to look at his work. She stood in front of him, and he caught a whiff of her perfume. “You smell good,” he told her softly.

She whipped around and hit him gently. “Stop it. We’re at work. We need to focus.”

Behind them, Garcia giggled.

”The water in the lungs was not a match to the river water. It was tap water,” she told the pair. “It seems like he drowned the victims, revived them, strangled them, then dumped their bodies in a body of water.” ”Let me look to see if the victims in each city were near any bodies of water,” Garcia said, tapping away at the table. “Negative.”

The others filed back into the room and shared their information.

”Parents of the victim said that he was loved but he was also a strict team captain on his community soccer team,” Rossi shared.

”Wait a sec,” Garcia said. She began typing again. “It looks like all of the victims’ loved ones said something about them being strict.”

”So he’s going after strict people?” Morgan questioned.

Reid looked to the map. “Not exactly. It looks like the first victim in each city was a father. So he’s triggered by a father and then he generalizes to all strict people.”

”Looks like we have a profile,” Emily stated. “We need to find a name. Garcia, look into cases in Washington state dealing with child endangerment, water, and strangling.” ”OK, I found an article from 20 years ago. 10-year-old Daniel Porter almost drowned and had to be revived by a lifeguard. His father was so angry with him that he took him away from the pool and choked him. Two guys saw him and pulled him off the poor boy. He had to go to the ER and everything,” Garcia read.

”Where’s the father at now?” Hotch asked.

Garcia searched. “He died five years ago.”

”That’s the trigger,” Rossi stated.

”I’ll get a press release sent out and inform all cops and border patrol,” Emily told them.

“We need to find Porter’s location,” Hotch told Garcia.

“He fell off of the face of the Earth shortly before the killings started,” Garcia explained.

The team continued to work, trying to narrow down a location on Porter.

The next day, another body was found which ultimately led to the finding of Porter’s location.

Once he was apprehended, the team headed back to Interpol to say their goodbyes to Emily.

“It was so great to meet you,” Emily told Jane as she gave her a hug.

“You as well! I hope to see you again sometime,” Jane told her.

“Likewise. Probably at yours and Reid’s wedding,” Emily suggested with a smile. “Hopefully that won’t be that long of a wait.”

Jane laughed. “We’ll see.”

~

The team headed home on the jet.

“On the bright side, we didn’t have to pay for a commercial flight home,” Jane told Spencer, cuddling into his side, getting comfortable for the long flight.

When they got home to their apartment, Jack was there with Shortstack. Spencer took Shortstack outside so Jane could talk to her brother.

“I’ve decided I want to become a journalist,” Jack shared with her. “I’ve been an editor for so long. It’s time to write my own articles.”

“Well, that’s great, Jack! I could talk to JJ for you and see about getting contacts with people who work in the press who might be able to help you with any questions you have about the job and how to apply for a job,” she offered.

“That would be great. Thank you!” he said. “Oh, and I’ve also started seeing a therapist to help with my mood swings.”

“That’s good!”

“Yeah! I feel like it’s really going well!”

Jane stepped forward and embraced him. “I’m so proud of you.”

Spencer and Shortstack came back inside and Jane bid Jack goodnight.

~~~~~

Weeks later, Wednesday, March 10th, Spencer woke up in the morning and pulled Jane close to him. She groaned and opened her eyes as she felt him start to kiss her neck.

“Cut it out,” Jane giggled. “You’re making me want to stay in bed but you and I both know we have to get to work.”

“Alright, alright,” he mumbled into her neck before releasing her from his arms so she could get up.

When they got to work, they rode up the elevator to the BAU’s floor. The elevator opened up and another worker from a different floor got on. As he stood next to Spencer, he sneezed and coughed practically the whole time. The man finally exited on his floor. Once the doors were shut again, Spencer began freaking out.

“Oh my god, that was absolutely disgusting. Just great. Now I’m going to get sick!” he complained.

“Oh, calm down. It’s not that likely that you’d get sick just from that!” Jane told him.

“The average cough expels about 20,000 viruses,” he stated.

“But we don’t know if he was even contagious,” Jane pointed out. “You don’t know for sure, so why freak out if it could be nothing!”

As they continued to argue, they arrived at the BAU and came across Rossi.

“Rossi, please tell him that he’s overreacting and isn’t going to get sick from being coughed on,” Jane said, getting the older man’s attention.

“I agree with Jane. It’s gross, but it’s nothing to worry about,” he told him.

“See!”

Spencer mumbled something inaudible under his breath and walked off to his desk.

By the next afternoon, Spencer was sniffling and coughing frequently.

“You’re not fooling me,” Jane told him as she passed his desk.

“I’m not fake-” he paused to cough. “I’m not faking it,” he insisted. He began coughing violently.

“OK, you really aren’t faking it,” she realized. “Gather your things. I’m telling Hotch I’m taking you home.”

Once she got him home, she ordered him to change into sweats and lay down on the couch. Before he could do so, he made a dash to the bathroom and vomited into the toilet. Jane followed after him and held his hair back.

When he was finished, she stood up and rummaged through the cabinet for a thermometer. Spencer stood as well and washed his mouth out in the sink. She handed him the thermometer to stick in his mouth when he was ready. When it beeped, she took it out and read the results.

“101. Yup, you have a fever. Go change and lay down on the couch.”

While he worked on getting comfortable, Jane pulled some socks out of the drawer and ran them under cool water. She then grabbed a glass of water from the kitchen before going out to the living room.

Spencer hissed as she slipped the wet socks on his feet.

“I’m sorry. But this should help bring down your fever,” she insisted. She then moved to the TV and turned on Dr. Who for him. “Alright, try to get some rest. Let me know if you need anything else.”

“Janey?” She paused and looked back at him. “Can you stay?”

Jane considered it for a moment then sighed and nodded. “Alright, but if you get me sick, you have to take care of me.”

“Deal,” he agreed.

Jane sat down and pulled him to her, stroking his hair.

Hours later, Spencer had to run to the bathroom to vomit again.

Jane followed and held his hair back like before. When he moved to get back up afterward, he nearly fell over so Jane lead him to sit on the bathroom floor. She sat next to him.

“Ugh,” Spencer groaned. “I feel so gross. I need a shower but I’m not so sure I can stand long enough to take one.”

“I could help you,” Jane offered.

“No, you don’t have to do that.”

“It’ll make you feel better.” “I feel like a child.”

“Hey, I know how you feel. I felt the same way when I was hurt and you had to help me with things,” Jane pointed out. “We all need help sometimes and that’s OK.” She paused for a moment. “Do you trust me?”

He locked eyes with her. “Yes,” he assured her.

“Then start stripping.”

Jane helped him stand up and then went to the tub to get the water ready. As it heated up, she turned back to see Spencer struggling to keep his balance while taking his pants off.

“Sit,” she told him, guiding him over to the toilet. She knelt down in front of him and helped remove his pants while he pulled off his shirt himself. “What’s more comfortable, with or without underwear?” she asked.

“Whatever’s better for you.”

“Spence, I don’t care. It’s not like we haven’t seen each other naked before. Now, what do you want?”

“Without,” he said after pausing a moment. Jane undressed too, as it’d be better than getting her clothes soaking wet, and then helped him climb into the shower.

“I can help you wash your hair, but you’re going to have to kneel so I can reach better,” she told him.

He obliged and kneeled in front of her. As she massaged his head, he let out a moan. Had Spencer not been sick, it could’ve easier turned sexual, however, right now Jane needed to focus on helping him get cleaned up.

When they were done in the shower, Jane helped him dry off and put on PJs before doing the same herself.

As they climbed under the covers for the night, Spencer pulled Jane close. “Thanks for everything,” he mumbled into her hair. “I love you.”

“You’re welcome. And I love you too.”

~

The next day, they spent the whole day on the couch resting. By the end of the weekend, Spencer was able to get better and Jane managed to avoid getting sick.

~~~~~~~~~~

Bless The Broken Road Masterlist

~~~~~~~~~~

Tag List:

@cynbx @neon-deanmon @drw0301bieber @notsosmartbutcute  @banananna99

[chronicfangirling]

At that place (2 of 2)

Pairing: Jungkook x Reader (feat. Yoongi x OC, one-sided Jin x OC) Genre: Fluff/Angst, long-distance relationships, pining exes, idol problems, double/triple dates, GIRLFRIENDS (please appreciate female friendships more) Words: 9119 Requested by: Anon

Can i request a jungkookie scenario based on their song i like it pt. 2? A fluffy ending pleaseeeee or whatever you decide. Thank you. ❤

A/N: Writer’s block defeated! Better late than never?

pt1. |  pt.2

You woke up to Saren putting the final touches to a complete breakfast spread. After weeks of having to make do with toast and jam and whatever you can scrounge in the pantry, you blinked, almost certain that it was a mirage. Stacks of fluffy buttermilk pancakes,  strawberries in sweet cream, sunny side-up eggs, seared sausages, fragrant steamed rice… you've been dreaming of eating all those things again. Saren took a platter of perfectly crisped, thick-cut bacon from the counter and waved it in invitation. You pounced, grabbing a strip of bacon in each hand, and biting them alternately.

Mayu returned from her jog, the morning paper in hand. With purposeful strides, she sat down on the table across you and said proudly: "You're back, my dear."

"Yes." Saren nodded, tugging at a lock of hair framing her face, smiling sheepishly. "I'm sorry for being pathetic."

"You were pretty pathetic," Mayu agreed. "But it happens to everyone. Though this loser stint of yours has made Y/N has swear off toast for the rest of her life, it seems."

The older women looked at you and you shook your head in a panic. "No, no--I'm fine!" You were well aware that the way you clutched at fistfuls of bacon undermined those words, but you didn't want her to think that you were obliging her to make breakfast. "I like toast with jam and butter... and also, I'm glad you're feeling better." The last part sounded like an afterthought, but it was true that her uncharacteristic behavior had been concerning.

"Well, don't worry, because those loser days are over," Saren declared. "I'm giving up on Kim Seokjin."

You scrunched your nose thinking, that it wasn't as if they had a relationship anyway, but you caught those less-than-kind thoughts. Just because there wasn't a relationship, doesn't mean her feelings weren't real. They were simply unrequited.

"Good!" Mayu raised her mug of chai latte and clinked it with Saren's coffee. "I didn't like seeing you exert so much effort for that stuck-up pretty boy anyway!"

Saren shook her head. "For once, I tried my best, and I have no regrets. I used to never take chances when it came to love because I was too scared of being rejected. Rejection does hurt... but it's bearable, you know? It was a lot worse, not knowing what it would be like and being terrified to make any moves."

"I guess an old dog can learn new tricks after all, if our sempai could learn this in her ripe old age," Mayu teased, dodging when Saren threw a bit of pancake at her. You laughed, but didn't join in the ribbing--you had only known them for a few months, and weren't comfortable enough yet to do so. Still, this house had been a good place to take refuge in after your heartbreak and you hoped you would soon reach that level of camaraderie with them.

"Seriously though, I feel a lot braver now." Saren said. "And when another chance, another possible love comes along, I won't even hesitate--I'll try again."

"What?" You dropped a sunny side-up egg on your lap and winced; thankfully not breaking it. Gingerly poking at it, you muttered: "You'd still try again?"

Saren slipped a spatula under the egg and transferred it to a saucer with the yolk intact. "Of course, Y/N. What's there to life but to keep trying?"

Mayu made a face as you retrieved the formerly fallen egg and started digging into it. "But..." You frowned at Saren. "You got your heart broken! What if that happens again?"

"Then it happens," she said, taking an egg for herself and putting it on top of a bowl of rice, then sitting beside Mayu. "It's worth the possibility of finally finding love, isn't it?"

You watched her sprinkle soy sauce on her egg before mashing it into the rice. "Wasn't it Einstein who said 'insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results?'"

Saren shifted to lecturer mode, her voice deepening from its usual tone. "First of all, nobody's sure if this quote was actually misattributed to Einstein, although he does have a stronger claim to it than the other candidates. Secondly, this quote should be taken within the context of the scientific method, wherein controlled variables will naturally result in the same set of results. And lastly..." she reached across the table to pat your head, though she was shorter than you and had to strain. "Love isn't exactly rational, our dear baby."

"Sempai!" Mayu cried with exaggerated fervor. "You've truly had an enlightenment." She laughed while Saren whined about her cool moment being ruined.

"'Baby...'" you murmured, patting where she had patted your head. It was strange, but not entirely unpleasant, for you to be showered with this kind of affection, when most of your life, you hadn't gotten so much. Just like your ex-boyfriend Jeon Jungkook, Kim Seokjin was probably too accustomed to receiving so much love that he didn't appreciate it anymore, but for you...

You smiled at your roommates--Mayu was trying to feed Saren strawberries in apology, but Saren continued pouting. You didn't think it would be easy to do, this trying again thing, but you would at least have to think about it.

***

"Jungkook..." You stared at your ex-boyfriend, flanked by his older group members, as they stood at your porch. Yoongi wasn't a surprise, but even Seokjin had come with them again. Before you could stop yourself, you had already smoothed your hands over your hair, which was thrown in a messy bun--you didn't expect to be seeing him today--or on any day--after all.

"Hi... we have a lot of schedules in Tokyo so we're staying for a while." He gave you a small wave but made no move to step forward.

Yoongi side-stepped him and asked: "Is Mayu at home?"

"Yeah... umm, come in." You belatedly waved them into the living room. Mayu peered over her books and color-coded notes covering the coffee table and gasped in surprised delight at the sight of her boyfriend, gathering all her review materials and dumping them on the beanbag in the corner, which was already littered with Saren's novels. She tucked herself under his waiting arm as she led him to the loveseat. "I didn't know you're coming over."

"Surprise?" he shrugged, a pleased grin plastered on his face.

At that moment, Saren skipped in the living room, her long lace skirt whirling around her, her prized silver tea caddy engraved with cherry blossoms nestled in her hands. "Our baby, do you want chocolate chip cookies or peanut butter cookies with tea..?" She froze when she saw the guys, nearly dropping the tea caddy.

"Ah... you look nice," Seokjin mumbled, looking a little taken aback. After all, Saren had been taking extra care of her appearance, saying that pretty dresses and makeup can be like armor for women, especially after having been hurt. As you tugged self-consciously at the large black hoodie you had thrown over your worn yet comfy gray leggings while your visiting ex was in designer clothing, you had to consider that her idea had some merits.

"T-Thanks," Saren stammered in response, looking a lot more taken aback herself. "Umm, we were about to have tea, would you like some too... you guys?"

"Both," you said. "For the cookies."

"Yes, please." Seokjin replied. Yoongi nodded.

"If it's not too much trouble," Jungkook added.

"I'll help you," Mayu offered. "Y/N, you stay here with the guests."

"Me..?" You looked round at the 'guests': Yoongi who was pouting that his girlfriend had disentangled herself from his arms, Seokjin who was smiling shamelessly as if he weren't responsible for the current awkwardness... and Jungkook, who gazed at you with wide, innocent eyes. "I'm helping too!" You dashed after your roommates into the kitchen.

"Ah, but it's rude to leave your guests unattended," Saren remarked, as she measured delicate leaves into the teapot and arranged the cups on the tray while waiting for the water to boil.

"They're not my 'guests,' they're Mayu's guest and his companions," you retorted, leaning against the counter and not being very helpful.

"One of my guest's so-called companions is your ex-boyfriend, who doesn't seem to be happy about being an ex at all." Mayu pointed out. She was preparing a separate pot with dark, roasted leaves.

"Yah..." you pouted at your roommates. "It's not like that!"

"Look at our baby acting cute," Saren giggled.

"I wasn't!" you denied. But you caught yourself pouting again, so you set your lips in a straight line. For all the good that did--Saren still giggled as if she thought you were a precocious child. "And I thought we're giving up on trying to chase after relationships that don't mean anything."

"That's just me and Seokjin." Saren shrugged and moved on to pulling out sheets of freshly-baked cookies from the oven, plating some and setting the rest on the cooling rack. "That was just me, one-sidedly hoping... but there was nothing there."

"You and Jungkook on the other hand..." Mayu cocked her head at you. "There's still something there."

You silently watched your roommates brew the tea, and you could've let that thread of conversation die... but something compelled you to talk about it. "I just... don't want to misunderstand... that I mean something when I'm nothing." When their heads turned toward you, you dropped your gaze on your white-knuckled hands grasping the kitchen counter.

"You're not like me." Saren said. "You mean something."

"Hey! Just because you didn't mean anything to Kim Seokjin doesn't mean you can't mean something to someone else." Mayu turned from Saren to you. "And if you don't want to be with Jungkook, then that might be for the best. But don't use what happened to Saren and Seokjin as an excuse to deny your real feelings... nor the possibility of Jungkook's."

"I... I..." Stuttering, you tried--and failed--to make a coherent protest.

Mayu and Saren exchanged looks, the former shook her head with a chuckle and the latter smiled at you and squeezed your hand. "Well... think about what you want, alright?" Saren took the tray with the two tea pots, leaving you with the plates of cookies, but she waited for Mayu to lead the way back to the living room. For all her apparent calm, your roommate still wasn't completely confident to face the man who had thoroughly rejected her after all. Yet she took the seat before Seokjin, looking like the picture of poise as she poured tea into the cups, despite the slight tremor of her hands. "Here you go," she presented the first cup to Seokjin, as the oldest one among the guests. "This is a very special tea variety."

Emulating her, you took the seat before Jungkook and handed him a cup as well. "Y/N... thanks," he took the cup from you, starting as your fingers accidentally brushed against his, as if the simple contact had affected him as much as it always affected you.

"You should try it too, Yoongs, though I got you hojicha as well, you don't exactly have a subtle palate," Mayu teased, offering a cup of the dark tea to her boyfriend and settling in the loveseat with him.

He smirked, but his sharp eyes had softened as he gazed at her over the cup. "You know my tastes well."

"What a pretty, vivid color," Seokjin observed, swirling the cup. His eyes widened as he brought the cup closer to his lips. "And so fragrant!"

"It is so." Saren nodded, taking her own cup of tea.

Seokjin took a sip and sighed in wonder. "This is different from all green tea that I've had before."

"It's gyokuro," Saren explained. "It develops its special flavor and aroma by growing covered in the shade."

"I see. It blooms in the shade unobserved and then surprises you with its loveliness, how dangerous." He smiled at her, a little too charmingly, and you couldn't help but think, *how dangerous.*

Saren dropped her gaze to her cup and Mayu sneered at him. "I'm sure you didn't come here to talk about tea."

Saren gaped at her best friend's thinly-veiled hostility, but quickly recovered. "Obviously, Seokjin came here to accompany Yoongi who wanted to visit you."

At her words, Yoongi choked on his tea. "That's kinda cute," Mayu chuckled.

Turning red, he cried: "This wasn't my idea!"

"A grown man shouldn't play hard to get," Saren tutted.

You snickered, but Jungkook blinked at you with those clear, round eyes. "It really wasn't Yoongi's idea."

"Ah, I was the one who said we should come over." Seokjin set down his empty cup and raised a hand.

"Why?!" Mayu blurted out.

"What man wouldn't want to be in the company of such lovely ladies..?" Seokjin declared in his typical flirty manner, but he caught himself and looked round; at Mayu, who glared at him; at Saren, who blinked at him in disbelief; and at you, who winced. *Acting like this was what made Saren misunderstand... it wasn't just her fault.* Yoongi sighed under his breath and Jungkook reflected your own wince.

But then Saren laughed, with a feigned shudder. "How greasy! How can you guys live with this guy?" she asked Yoongi and Jungkook, dropping her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "Doesn't it get embarrassing?"

The tension dissipated with Yoongi smirking and Jungkook nodding emphatically. "He's seriously so embarrassing!" Jungkook stressed.

"Yah!" Seokjin protested. "What do you mean by 'greasy,' and 'embarrassing?' I'm totally charming and a point of pride for our group!"

"There he goes again, ugh!" Jungkook shuddered.

"Have some shame for the younger ones," Saren teased.

"Well, if she's going to be like that..." Mayu shook her head, smiling wryly. "Seokjin, don't embarrass my boyfriend, he has a way cooler image than you," she chided, but her tone was jesting, her animosity calmed when she saw how her best friend had responded in such a lighthearted manner.

"So aside from being embarrassed by this shameless one, what have you guys been doing?" Saren asked.

"I want to know too," Mayu said. "Yoongi never talks about work."

"I do tell you about work, but I don't want to talk too much about it." He wrinkled his nose.

"Since I'm your girlfriend, you should talk to me about it more."

"Since you're my girlfriend, I'd rather talk to you about other things." His arm draped around her shoulder and pulled her closer. "Like how you're doing or your own work. I find you very interesting after all." Mayu elbowed him lightly, her cheeks flushed.

"Well, isn't he greasy too sometimes?" Seokjin griped.

"Oh hush, it's cute." Saren said.

Seokjin and Yoongi talked about their current schedules in Tokyo at your roommates' request, while you listened idly and drank tea. It took a while for you to realize that Jungkook was watching you in silence.

"What?" you whispered, not wanting to interrupt your friends' conversation.

"Nothing..." He smiled tentatively. "It's just... I thought you didn't like tea."

You gaped at him, surprised that he had even noticed. To hide your shock, you refilled your cup and blew away the steam. "I didn't before. But Saren and Mayu drink it all the time, so I got used to it."

"Even on cold days, you wouldn't drink it, you'd rather drink cola or even iced water," he mused.

"Well, I guess I've changed." You were nearing panic with how your heart started thudding in your ears, so you grabbed a peanut butter cookie and pushed the whole thing in your mouth so you wouldn't have to talk.

"But... you still like peanut butter cookies as much as chocolate chip cookies, and you still stuff your mouth with food when you're nervous." He chuckled as your purposeful chewing slowed. "Even if some things changed, I still want to believe that you're the Y/N that I know... from the happiest times of my life."

"That's..." You nearly choked on your cookie, searching for a retort, but this wasn't the cocky, international Kpop star Jungkook who couldn't seem to care less about your break-up. In fact, this was more like that shy golden boy who seemed unaware of his own sparkle. The same one you fell in love with...

The Super Mario theme pierced through the heavy air and Seokjin answered his phone. Mayu and Yoongi rolled their eyes at the childish ringtone and Saren merely smiled. "Hey, Dongwook. I thought we wouldn't be needed for two hours? Ah, okay..."

"I guess that's our cue..." Yoongi mumbled.

Mayu gave him a smile that looked rather tight, but she also gave him a tender kiss. "Call soon."

"We'll meet again soon." he promised, squeezing her hand.

"Good luck with today's schedule," Saren said to all of them, with no particular attention to Seokjin. She cleared the tea set and plates into the tray and started to head to the kitchen.

"Oh--thanks for the the tea and the cookies!" Seokjin called after her.

She looked back over her shoulder and started to say something, but instead pressed her lips together and nodded politely. At another time, she would be overzealous about asking Seokjin's opinion and pressing homemade food as affection, but it looked like she was serious about keeping her distance.

"Umm, hey, Saren--!" Jungkook's cry stopped her in her tracks again. "Umm, well... is it okay..." he smiled sheepishly. "To have some of the cookies?"

"Yes!" Seokjin chimed in. "They were good."

She laughed lightly and winked at you. "You're going to have to ask Y/N about that, since I made them for her." Handily foisting the guys on you, she carried the dishes back to the kitchen.

Jungkook shook his head at you, "Y/N, you don't have to--"

You shook your head in turn. "Just wait here...  for the cookies." You went into the kitchen, all but pushing Saren from the sink to do the washing.

"Are you sure this is okay?" you asked Saren as you washed the tea set and she set aside the cooled cookies into separate jars and into a box for the guys. "Aren't you even a little angry at Seokjin for rejecting you?"

"I am angry," she confessed. "Even though I realize that the same way I couldn't help like him, he couldn't help not like me, it still makes me angry."

"So why would you welcome him into our home again?"

"Because to welcome him into our home means to welcome Yoongi and Jungkook into our home... means to support Mayu and you."

You finished the washing and faced her. "Mayu maybe, but me...?"

Saren smiled knowingly at you. "In any case, it's better for everyone that I don't hold a grudge against Kim Seokjin. Who knows, we may even become friends one day."

"Friends..." you mumbled. After Jungkook had broken your heart, being friends was the last thing you had wanted to do. You had only wanted to make him regret everything.

You returned to the living room and handed the box of cookies to Jungkook, who said: "Y/N... thanks. I... I'll see you...?"

"I... yeah, I guess." You shrugged, turning away. But when you heard his retreating footsteps, you looked over your shoulder to watch him get in the car driven by Dongwook and ride away with his colleagues.

The next day, you saw Mayu sneer then chuckle as she checked her SNS. You saw a selfie of Seokjin holding a paper cup of green tea latte and wearing a smile for his fans, and Yoongi's obscure post with a tumbler of konacha and cup ramen, and knew which post drew those respective reactions. Jungkook didn't make a post, but he did text you.

JJK: "I understand now why you like peanut butter cookies. The subtly sweet, slightly salty, crunchy cookies are good too, in a different way. I guess things don't always have to be soft and saccharine to be nice." Y/N: ":)"

You had agonized over how to respond, but ended up with a blandly smiling emoji. You found yourself disappointed when he had no follow-up messages--you understood that your response wasn't very inviting, but you hadn't wanted to come across as desperate and over-eager... much like before...

Back when you were a couple, you were the one who had tried, maybe not your best, but at least you had tried. Why was it that you were still the one with so many regrets?

***

(One week before the breakup)

Your calls went unanswered once, twice--maybe five times--that by the time that Jungkook picked up the phone, you screamed: "Who's that girl in that picture?"

You heard him hiss "hush!" and hurried footsteps--the background sounds of their upcoming song, his groupmates' chatter, and staffers calling them to lunch died down after a door slammed. "What picture?" he mumbled, his voice reverberating in a way that made you think he had shut himself in a closet.

"The one on your SNS!"

"I didn't upload any pictures."

"Are you really going to pretend not to know about it?" you demanded.

"Y/N..." he sighed. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"That girl--" you spat, "--tagged you in a pic looking all cozy! I'm not allowed to post pictures with you or to tag you, but it's fine when she does it, is that it?"

You heard him sigh deeply. "You know what, I'm tired. I was working--"

"So hanging out with girls in parties is working now?"

"You know going to those things is also part of our job!" He actually raised his voice at you, and you were taken aback. Perhaps he realized it, because his tone returned to normal. "She's the daughter of one of the company directors... it doesn't mean anything."

"She keeps showing you off to everybody! She obviously wants it to mean something!"

"It's not like that--"

"I don't know if you're stupidly innocent or you're so sly that you can act like you are!" You knew that you were starting to sound like the unhinged jealous girlfriend, so you bit your lip to prevent more accusations from spilling and took a noisy breath. "That girl's after you. So many girls are... and I... I can't even do anything to stop them!"

Instead of comforting you, Jungkook protested: "You're not supposed to do anything to stop them! You're supposed to trust me."

"Trust you? When you go around hanging out with other girls when they're daughters of directors?"

"... And what do you mean by that?" His tone was stiff, as if his jaw was clenched.

"I don't mean anything. Did you really do something suspicious for that to mean something?" you sneered, with grating disingenuousness.

"Y/N... I'm tired and you're angry. I'm going to hang up now before we both say something we regret."

"Jungkook!" you screamed. "Jeon Jungkook, don't you dare hang up. Or else--"

His voice was barely above a whisper, but cutting just the same. "Or else, what?"

"... Or else I'm going to break up with you!"

"Do whatever you want," he muttered. "That's all you keep doing anyway."

"What? That's not true... Jungkook! Jungkook!"

You never wanted to breakup, but you didn't really have a choice... At that point, Jungkook just seemed to be waiting for you to do it anyway. You had pettily thought that breaking up through text would cause him the most pain of all. But you found out that the only thing more painful than a "Let's break up" text message was to get a mere "Ok" in response.

***

You looked round at the three idols standing on your porch again. "You're all here. Again."

"It's like you don't want to see us, Y/N." Seokjin pouted, clutching his chest in mock hurt.

"It's not that, it's just..." It's just that I'm wondering why I'm seeing Jungkook a lot more now than when he was actually my boyfriend... "Come in," you said, suppressing a sigh as you stepped aside and let them through the door.

Mayu had been waiting for her boyfriend in the living room this time. She stood up and walked over to him, but kept herself at arm's length, a teasing grin playing on her lips. "Yoongi."

He raised an eyebrow at her and didn't reach for her either. "Mayu."

For a few seconds, they stared each other down in their weird tsun-tsun face-off game. He cracked first, looping an arm around her waist to draw her into a slow, passionate kiss. Your face burned and you glanced away, only to meet an equally flushed Jungkook's eyes. Both of you coughed and turned away from each other, and you could've sworn you saw Jungkook swallow hard.

To dissipate the tension, you called out: "Saren, Saren--umm, could you help me make tea?"

"But Y/N, we just had lunch--" Saren paused when she saw the guys taking seats in the living room, nodding at each of them. Her glance didn't even linger too long upon Seokjin. "Of course. I'll be right back." She waved you off when you made a move to follow her.

"We shouldn't let her do all the work," you murmured.

Mayu, who had disentangled herself from Yoongi to glance at Saren, shook her head and whispered to you: "Easier for her than to stay here. in awkwardness."

Saren returned with tea, several slices of Camembert cheesecake for the guys and buttery shortbread cookies. "I feel bad that you had to go through the trouble," Seokjin said, even as he ooh-ed over the cheesecake.

"I guess he's not so shameless after all," Mayu murmured.

"It wasn't much," Saren said. She handed him a box from the tray. "By the way, you said you wanted some of that gyokuro, so I got a box for you when I went to the tea shop to restock."

"Thank you! You're so thoughtful, I'm indebted to you." His eyes crinkled as he smiled, and her smile was melancholic as she dropped her gaze away, her cheeks pink.

"I take it back." Mayu muttered, leaning back on the loveseat that she shared with Yoongi as usual.

Yoongi rubbed her arm soothingly. "So there's a reason why we're here..."

"Oh, it wasn't because you missed me?" she gasped in mock outrage.

"It's related to that, babe." His hand caressed her arm lazily now, with more sensuous movements. "We've been nominated in this event... what's it called?"

"Gold Disc awards," Jungkook supplied helpfully.

Both Mayu and Saren gape at that. "You've heard of it?" Seokjin asked. Saren nodded.

"You impress me more and more, you know?" Mayu patted Yoongi's cheek and he smiled a giggly gummy smile, practically nuzzling against her hand.

"We're having an after-party at the Sky Lounge. You're coming." His declaration was followed by a far less confident question: "Umm... right?" You nearly snorted over how whipped he was.

"Of course," she agreed. "I wouldn't miss it for the world."

Jungkook took a deep breath and his next words tumbled out in a rush: "You too--Y/Nyoucangoright?"

"Umm, what?" you asked, though you had heard him. You had... but you weren't sure that you heard him right.

"Could you... come too?" he bit his lip, his endearing bunny teeth peeking through.

"Me?" You blinked at him. It was unprecedented, for you to come along to one of his fancy work events--you hardly got to go to any events with him, period. But he was looking at you with such wide eyes, that it almost seemed that he sincerely wanted you to come. "I, umm--are you going?" You turned to Saren in desperation.

Her grip tightened around her tea cup, and you realized she wasn't sure if she was part of that invitation and then you weren't sure either. You felt like kicking yourself. "Y/N... I... I don't think I'm supposed--"

"Oh, but it will be fun!" Seokjin interjected. "We hired a sushi chef and a tempura chef, and an open bar with wine from five different countries."

"I see... I may have to work then though, so... I'll have to check. Excuse me." She smiled politely and collected the empty dishes on the tray and took them to the kitchen before heading upstairs. By the time she returned, Dongwook had come back for Seokjin.

"Well, I'm off now, I just dropped by to say hi and give the invitation," Seokjin said.

"Before going on prowl for the girls of Tokyo, huh?" Mayu snorted, her words having a little more bite than mere teasing. It seemed to you that she could never fully forgive the man for rejecting her best friend, even as she deigned to have him around as one of her boyfriend's colleagues and friends.

Seokjin chuckled wordlessly and didn't deny the accusation. He looked at Saren and noticed that she was carrying her purse and had a light coat over her dress. "Oh, are you going somewhere?"

She nodded. "Yes... I need to go to work for a while."

"Teacher, it's not even your work day!" Dongwook cried. "You should take a rest, go on some dates--you look pretty enough to go on a date right now!"

She giggled uneasily. "Maybe some other time."

"I'll introduce you to some guys," Dongwook offered eagerly. Mayu raised an intrigued eyebrow at you and you dropped your mouth open in exaggerated shock.

"Thank you for the consideration," Saren said, without agreeing, and walked ahead.

"Yah, which guys do you know besides us... and other idols..." Seokjin frowned.

"Well, she seems to like idols." Dongwook grinned and cupped his mouth to whisper to Seokjin, but all of you could hear him. "If it all goes well, you don't have to be burdened anymore, right Seokjin?"

"Huh?!" Seokjin's brows furrowed even more.

But the junior manager had run after Saren then: "Teacher, wait up! We'll drop you off at work!" Seokjin followed them, shaking his head uncertainly.

"Well, A for effort, Dongwook." Mayu smirked. "Idols make such terrible romantic prospects though," Mayu remarked, drawing an offended grumble from her own idol boyfriend. She slung her arms around his neck and winked at him. "Of course, there are exceptions..."

It didn't go unnoticed to you, Jungkook's silent, stricken gasp at Mayu's words. But you didn't have much time to dwell on it, as Mayu and Yoongi started playing a movie and invited both of you to join them.

After an afternoon of hanging out with Jungkook and your mutual friends--which was remarkable in that it felt unremarkable, as if you were getting used to it--you spent the evening revising a paper for school, and then you were getting ready for bed. You had already switched off the main light and switched on your night light when your phone rang. It was Jungkook. You composed yourself, sat on the edge of your bed, and answered: "Hello?"

"I'm sorry," he said.

"... Eh?" You wrinkled your nose. "For what?"

"For having been a terrible boyfriend back then."

You hesitated. "You weren't.... terrible, per se..."

"If I wasn't, then why did we break up?"

You had no answer to that question.

"I didn't mean to make you miserable."

"But I wasn't."

"Huh?"

"I wasn't..." You had only said that out of an instinct to be polite, but repeating the words, you realize now that they were true. You had become increasingly frustrated towards the end of the relationship, and that frustration was still fresh in your mind when your paths crossed again, and you couldn't help but treat him with hostility. But your relationship wasn't what made you miserable, it was how it ended. The fact that it ended. Now that your anger over the breakup had dissipated, but you could be honest... you had never regretted having been with Jeon Jungkook.

"Really? But..."

"Even when I couldn't hold your hand, it was nice to walk beside you. Even when I couldn't post pictures with you, I liked taking pictures with you."

"I--I liked those things too!"

"I'm so glad to hear that. Because for me, even when it wasn't always good, there were still moments to be happy about. It seemed like a miracle, that the person I like had agreed to be with me, you know?" you chuckled, more to yourself. "That's why sometimes, just knowing in my heart that I was the one who was with you, even though the world would never know... it made me happy. That Jeon Jungkook was with me... more often than not, it was enough."

"Y/N..." His breath sounded ragged over the phone and you were glad that he couldn't see you cover your nose as it started to get runny while your eyes started to get wet. "There's something I should--" A firm voice in the background cut him off, calling for him and the other members of his group.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye..."

"But Y/N--"

"You've worked hard, Jungkookie," you sighed. "You've always worked hard..."

***

Saren may not have been active on SNS any longer, however she still had friends who were. As soon as you opened your feed, out popped a picture uploaded by the guys' junior manager, Dongwook, wherein he tagged Saren. It was from their academy's cultural exchange festival; Saren had pulled out the big guns--a furisode kimono patterned with cherry blossoms--and Dongwook had captured her in blooming glory. You would've suspected that they were getting suspiciously close, but you knew that Dongwook was now dating another one of Saren's students, thanks to her earnest matchmaking. Dongwook had been completely unsubtle about returning the favor and seemed intent to sell your roommate to any eligible men of his acquaintance. Judging from the reactions to the picture, he was doing well on that front. "Liked by Jaehyung, Mark, Myungsoo.... who are these guys?"

"This is quality." You grinned and liked the picture. It was then that you noticed the tag that said: "You and JJK liked this." You frowned as you clicked it, starting to overthink why your ex-boyfriend was going around liking your very single roommate's picture, only to be distracted when you saw that among the reactions was a '<3' from Seokjinnie.

You made a beeline for Saren, who was curled in the bean bag in the living room, nestled in her books littering the cushion. "Guess who--not just liked, but hearted--your picture?"

Saren looked up at you questioningly, and you could clearly see that she had no clue what you were talking about--she was too transparent to hide her emotions. Far be it from you to pick at a wound that seemed to be healing slowly, but surely, you said: "It's me, I did, your picture was amazing, and the way you looked in that kimono was just... wow, amazing!"

Saren's hand hovered over her phone--and to your relief--she stopped and gave you a wry smile. "Alright, what do you want? Is there something in particular you want for dinner?"

"Nothing, can't I give my sempai a compliment?" You shrugged. "But... doesn't mentaiko pasta sound super good right now?"

"Doesn't it?" she enthused. "You know I'm glad you like it, since Mayu hates it but there are days when I crave it. She'll have to make do with the leftover gyudon from last night." Saren skipped to the kitchen without checking her SNS.

Your sigh of relief turned into a yelp, when your phone vibrated in your hand. You checked the screen and your heartbeat started accelerating when you saw Jungkook's name. "Umm..."

"Hey, Y/N."

"Hi."

"How are you doing?"

"Good..." You tucked your hair behind your ear, as if he could see you.

"I see. That's... good." You could almost see him messing up his hair in the way that he did whenever he was nervous.

As if... I'm just projecting...  "Yeah... um, how about you?"

"Good. Busy, but good. We had a lot to do in Korea, that's why we haven't been to Tokyo in a while."

"Okay... I mean, that's expected. You guys being busy."

"Yeah..." The other end of the line fell into total silence, as if he had stopped pacing.

"So... why did you call?" Lest he think you were telling him not to call, you quickly added: "I mean, is there any particular reason...?"

"Yeah, actually I'm calling about that event. You know... the after-party?"

"What about it?"

"Just wanted to ask if you were coming..."

"Yeah... you guys invited all three of us, right?" You bit your lip. "Unless you don't want me to come--"

"I want you to come!" He yelled. He seemed to realize this, because his next words came out in a whisper. "It's just that you never did say if you could come, you know..."

"Oh... sorry." You untucked and retucked your hair behind your ear and sat primly on the couch. "That's bad form isn't it? Not confirming promptly."

"That's fine, that's fine," he said. "As long as you're coming."

"I am."

"Well... we don't have free time before the event, so I'll see you there."

"See you."

When the call ended, you sighed. How nice it would've been if you could've been this way while you were a couple--Jungkook bringing you to places and having him act like he actually wanted you there. But now all you were is an awkward failed couple tangled by your friends' relationships.

***

(Twelve months before the breakup)

It all started during a trip to Tokyo with your camera club. It was through the club that you met him, and you were certain that you could do nothing more but nurse a crush on him from afar, but it was the shining Jeon Jungkook himself who came to you. He was sweet and talented and humble, and despite his shyness, he was always friendly towards you, asking about your photography projects and drawing you out of your own shy shell. It was impossible--it would be a miracle that one such as Jeon Jungkook would return your feelings--but the way he acted made you feel that it was a possibility.

"W-Would you like to come with me?" you asked him as he slung his camera bag on his shoulder. "I know a nice place to take photos..."

"I was planning to go to Akihabara--"

"Believe me, this is better!" you insisted. You almost grabbed his hand, but managed to stop yourself and snatch at the strap of his camera bag instead.

"W-Wait, Y/N!" He nearly tumbled as you pulled him to the sidewalk, but he allowed himself to be pushed into the taxi you flagged down and went with you.

When the taxi stopped, you flung open the door and tugged him to alight after you. He nearly tripped, but he froze in a half crouch when he took in the sight before the two of you. "Wha... is--is that Tokyo Tower?"

You nodded.

"But... I've never seen it look like this before!" he marveled.

"They call this the Diamond Veil...it's a special style of illumination," you explained.

"It's like a nighttime rainbow..." his whisper trailed off into an awed sigh.

"We could get closer but I thought you might find this point more interesting." You tucked your hair behind your ear and lowered your gaze, too shy to risk meeting his eyes. "You... wanted to do long exposure for this project, didn't you? You can see the trails of the cars and the images of the people passing by..."

"You're right, this is a great spot for what I want." From the corner of your eye, you could see him unpack his tripod and set up his camera. "This view... it's so perfect to share with someone special."

"That's why I brought you here..." you mumbled, half to yourself.

"Huh?" Jungkook looked up from his viewfinder and turned to you.

You started--you never expected him to hear you!  But Jungkook was looking at you now... And he was here with you now, sharing this special view. So you confessed: "That's why I brought you here! Jeon Jungkook, I--I like you!"

"Huuuh?!--" he gasped, but his breath of disbelief caught as you pulled at his hoodie to kiss him. Your heartbeat thundered in your ears, and your held breath burned in your lungs, but his soft, sweet lips calmed you, and when you pulled away, it was slow and deliberate, gazing into his eyes for an answer.

"Y/N..." He stared down at you, his lips still parted in surprise.

You realize then that he hasn't said anything in encouragement, nor even agreement, and you started to step away. "Sorry--!"

He didn't say anything then, no confessions nor declarations, but his arms wrapped around your waist as he pulled you closer and kissed you. And that was how you found yourself with the shining Jeon Jungkook as your boyfriend. A boyfriend who often seemed more trouble than his weight in gold.

***

"I'm glad you talked me into coming along," Saren told Mayu. "It was worth it just to see this..." She gave you a sidelong glance, her eyes wide and bright.

"What?" You patted your hair, feigning unawareness at how good you looked with your braided updo and black halter-neck mini-dress.

The three of you were seated on the plush leather seats of a sleek black car sent by the guys. It was probably just Yoongi sending the car to take his girlfriend to the event, but the suited chaffeur had also looked for you and Saren, and Mayu had linked her arms with both of you... And now the three of you were on the way to the event.

"Our baby cleans up well, doesn't she?" Mayu winked at you.

"Hey!" you cried. "That's implying that I'm normally a mess!"

"What she means is that you're exceptionally pretty tonight." Saren clutched your arm and smiled up at you.

"Thank you..." you murmured. "Umm... you're really pretty too..." With a dainty floral headband in her wavy hair and blush-pink, chiffon gown, your roommate reminded you of a fairy.

"How about me?" Mayu grinned.

"You already know you look sexy," you grumbled. Mayu's wine-hued gown had a plunging V-neck and clung to her slim figure, and more importantly, she oozed confidence in it. "Yoongi's going to drool all over the club."

"Not as much as Jungkook," she snickered. You frowned, but before you could protest, the car stopped in front of the club and the chauffeur opened the door to allow the three of you alight. Mayu walked to the front desk, and said: "We're going to the party."

The woman raised an eyebrow. "May I see your invitations?"

"We don't have them," Mayu explained. "But we should be on the guest list."

"Sure." She rolled her eyes and nodded at the bouncer.

You had cowered back and Saren squeezed your arm tightly, but Mayu merely held up a finger at the imposing man. "Hold that thought, mister." She placed a call on her cellphone. "Well, hello to you too, sweetheart. I'm actually outside right now, and you wouldn't have been kept waiting if we had an actual physical invitation--I told you it would be troublesome."

In less than a minute, Yoongi had rushed out of the club, shouting: "Let her in!" Regaining his composure, he sauntered up towards her. "And... the others too," he added belatedly.

"So thoughtful," Saren quipped and you laughed.

"Y/N, is something wrong?" Jungkook stood at the doorway, looking out of breath. "I heard Yoongi..."

You shook your head and smiled in what you hoped was an assuring manner. When he gawked at you, you didn't know if you had failed at being assuring, or your look was having the intended effect on him.

"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry..." The woman at the front desk bowed repeatedly, face twisted in contrition. Mayu gave her a small smile and nodded at Yoongi.

"You're not angry?" he asked.

Mayu shrugged. "She was just doing her job."

"You're so... reasonable, you know that?" he gushed, looking positively besotted. His smile turned cat-like as he looked her over admiringly, in *that* clingy gown.

"You guys should've told me they were here!" Seokjin took one long look at Saren and a short breath. "You're beautiful." Somehow you could tell that this wasn't one of his meaningless compliments--he gazed at her with wonder, as if seeing her for the first time.

"Thank you." She smiled, her cheeks pink and graced by that elusive dimple.

"You... you have a dimple." He still sounded breathless. "I-I never noticed. How..?"

"Yeah... it doesn't appear often."

"That's so cute." His eyes turned into crescent moons and his voice cracked as he giggled.

You frowned. Seokjin is acting... weird...

"Save some of your compliments for the rest of the ladies here," Saren teased. She walked past, waving at Dongwook the manager, and completely failing to notice the arm that Seokjin offered. He appeared startled, but followed after her.

"You know that you're so hot, right?" Yoongi smirked at Mayu as he offered his arm.

"I do... but you should always tell me, anyway." She took his arm, and to your surprise, he kissed her with no regard for the fact that they were in public, before leading her to your table at the VIP area.

You were about to follow, but Jungkook all but blocked your path. "You--!" He took a deep breath. "You look... really good."

"Umm, thanks," you muttered. "You too." There was never a time that Jeon Jungkook didn't look good, but with him wearing a classic black suit, it was definitely worth mentioning.

He mumbled what sounded like thanks and presented his arm almost at your face. Awkwardly, you took it, and you saw him gulp as he adjusted it to a more natural angle.

When the two of you reached the table, Dongwook was standing between a familiar man and Saren, making them shake hands. Standing behind her, Seokjin crossed his arms over his broad chest, a rare frown on his face. "Nice to meet you," she said, her voice getting softer, something she did when faced by someone attractive, you know by now.

"It's good to finally meet you," the familiar-looking man said. You were quite sure he was an idol, or at least some kind of celebrity. "Dongwook has talked a lot about you."

"Oh no..." Saren bit her lip when she realized that she had muttered that out loud. "I mean--what kind of things?"

Laughing, he winked in response, and Saren flushed--either in embarrassment or something else.

"Ladies, this is Park Jaehyung. His band has promotions in Japan right now." Dongwook gestured at the man who nodded at you and Mayu politely, then turned back to Saren. "And these are Mayu and Y/N, but you don't have to shake hands with them because they're not available for dating, unlike my teacher--"

"Dongwook!" Saren cried.

Dongwook clapped a hand over his mouth. "Oops--I mean..."

"Dongwook?" Mayu prompted.

"Yes?"

"Shush." At Mayu's command, he nodded obediently. She nudged Saren forward, and your eldest roommate glared at her.

Jaehyung looked round at the rest of you, his eyes catching ever-so-slightly on Seokjin, and said: "Well... I hope you all enjoy the rest of your evening."

Saren looked ever-so-slightly disappointed, but inclined her head. Seokjin sent him off with a cheerful wave and invited her to sit; she took the seat beside Seokjin, but you saw her eyes linger upon Jaehyung's retreating back--and him looking over his shoulder in turn.

Jungkook all but deposited you into the seat next to Saren and sat beside you, squaring his shoulders as he set his elbows on his knees--you couldn't help but feel that he was boxing you in the table. The gesture annoyed you less than it should've. Jungkook popped open a bottle of champagne and poured it into flutes--and in a breach of protocol, offered the first one to you. His older groupmates didn't call him out on it, however; Seokjin led a toast and Yoongi ignored the champagne in favor of beer.

"I love this song," Saren commented, swaying slightly to the music.

"It's very romantic to dance to," Seokjin pointed out. She glanced towards Jaehyung; who was also swaying to the song.

Seokjin held out his hand, about to continue what he had meant to say, but Saren had turned to you and Mayu questioningly. "Hey, do you think...?"

Mayu winked at her. "A wise woman once said: 'What's there to life but to keep trying?'"

Despite Seokjin raising a puzzled eyebrow at both of you, you encouraged Saren with a single word. "Go."

Saren beamed at both of you. "May I take some of this?" Saren seized one of the chilled champagne bottles by the neck. When no one protested, she poured two flutes, excused herself and walked towards the bar. Seokjin's eyes widened, and he squared his broad shoulders as if every muscle in his body had tensed.

Despite her straight-backed posture and purposeful steps, you had seen her hands shaking and uncertainty in her wide eyes. You could all see her offer a flute to Jaehyung and when he shook his head, she nodded and turned to leave. Seokjin relaxed in his seat. But Jaehyung picked the flutes out of her hands, set them on the counter, and took her by the hand, leading her to the dance floor.

"They look good together," Mayu commented.

Both you and Yoongi nodded in agreement, but Jungkook shrugged. "They're alright..." He gave Seokjin a sidelong glance.

"Was she always this lovely?" Seokjin mumbled.

"Of course," Mayu huffed, startling him as if he hadn't meant to pose that question aloud.

"Of course she was, huh..." Seokjin gazed at the dancing couple and you saw him swallow hard. The song wound down to the last few lines, and he stood up and adjusted his suit before starting to walk towards her.

"Seokjin-oppa!" A simpering girl clung to his arm--she could've been any one of the many girls that hung around Seokjin, you couldn't tell them apart. "Are you busy?"

He opened his mouth to respond, but before he could say a word, Mayu cut in: "He isn't."

"Yay! Let's dance!" She dragged him with her, ignoring his stammered protests. His neck craned as he tried to glimpse Saren, but she was too preoccupied with Jaehyung, who raised a finger and smiled shyly, obviously asking her to another dance.

Yoongi's brows were drawn in concern. "Seokjin is..."

"Well, he's busy dancing. We should dance too." Mayu grabbed both his hands and Yoongi allowed himself to be led to the dance floor, even as he protested that he didn't slow dance.

To cover the awkwardness of being left alone with Jungkook, you reached for the wine bottle to pour yourself another drink. But he snatched both bottle and glass from you, before he stood up and bowed. "May I have this dance?"

"Yes... " you replied.

In the one year that you were Jeon Jungkook's girlfriend, you had never been his official date to any events, you had certainly never worn a fancy dress and danced with him in a trendy club... you couldn't even hold his hand in public. And yet right now, you were doing all those things, and Jeon Jungkook was looking at you in a way that, if he had only looked at you that way before, would've prevented any sort of breakup from happening in the first place.

"You really are beautiful, you know?" he said.

"T-Thanks..." You caught yourself before you could stutter more and tried to continue the conversation: "Mayu helped me pick this dress. And she also did my make-up, you know I'm hopeless with that--"

"You look really good today, but I meant... you're beautiful all the time," he clarified.

"Jungkook..."

"You know, Seokjin found it to be such a turnoff, the way Saren earnestly pursued him. Whether it's because he's tired of that reaction from women, or because he has some old-fashioned ideas about relationships--it repelled him." He shook his head. "And I thought it was so pitiful, to be rejected even as you put your whole heart on the line as she did."

You dropped your gaze, feeling those words hit a little too close to home.

"But I was wrong."

You looked up.

"What's truly pitiful is to not value that sincerity, isn't it? To throw away that sincerity gifted to you, or to never be sincere in turn." His voice gained strength... and certainty. "I played it safe all this time, never letting you know how much I felt for you, nor how much power those feelings gave you over me. I didn't want to be that pitiful person who'll only get dumped after being so sincere."

"Jungkook--"

"Even if you should reject me, I want you to know, sincerely, that I love you. I never stopped loving you. And that was my biggest mistake--not showing how much I loved you." He cupped your cheeks and planted a soft kiss upon your forehead. Your eyes fluttered shut as you relished the warmth of his lips. All too suddenly, that warmth was gone, his arms had released you, and when you opened your eyes, Jungkook was bowing to you and leaving the dance floor.

You gawked after him, frozen within the turmoil of emotions he left in his wake. Anger was the easiest to process--how dare he do this? How dare he make you responsible for what happens to your relationship again? Whether it was becoming a couple or breaking up, why did it always have to fall upon you to make the move?

So what? A tiny voice whispered in your heart. Is that so important? More important than being honest about your own feelings?

You looked around as you walked to your table: Saren was sitting at the bar with Jaehyung, both of them all smiles and laughter as they posed for selfies; Mayu was wrapped in Yoongi's arms, still swaying to another romantic song, and Seokjin was sitting at the table and sipping wine in silence, seemingly oblivious to the usual admirers thronged around him. "Hi... do you know where Jungkook went?" you asked.

"No..." he stared at you for a few moments, looking like he wanted to tell you something. Before you could ask him what it was, your phone vibrated, alerting you to SNS posts that you might be interested in. Yoongi's and Mayu's separate posts were pictures of their own hands, each wearing one of a couple ring set. Saren didn't post anything, but was tagged in a cute selfie with one Park Jaehyung. And Jeon Jungkook...

JJK: "If we could meet at that place and begin again..."

You gazed out the wide windows, at the illuminated tower, as colorful as a nighttime rainbow.

Seokjin started to speak. "Y/N, do you think--"

You pocketed your phone. "Sorry Seokjin, there's somewhere I have to be. If you'll excuse me..."

Rather than his usual bright and charming smile, the curve of his lips was subtle and wistful. "Of course. You should go while you still can." His gaze darted from the SNS app on his own phone, to the bar.

"Sorry," you repeated, returning his faint smile.

Aggressively flagging down a taxi as soon as you exited the club, you plead with the driver: "Shiba Park--please hurry!"

You didn't want to be like Seokjin, throwing away that chance for love only to second-guess it too late.

While I still can... as long as I can... I'll go to you, Jeon Jungkook.

***

You found him at the tree-lined avenue with the clear, perfect view of Tokyo Tower. You were sure your footsteps were loud in the stilettos that you were unused to walking in, but Jungkook didn't realize your presence as you approached him from behind until you had taken his hand. "Y/N...?" he murmured, before he had even glanced down at you.

"Let's do it."

"Huh...?"

"Us. Let's begin again."

He beamed at you with shining eyes and nodded. You both turned to the tower, and moments later, the lights switched off.

"I'm glad," he said. "Doesn't that mean that we'll finally be together forever?"

"No." Jungkook's head snapped back to stare at you and you smiled at the worried look on his face. "That's mere superstition. We won't be together forever after watching Tokyo Tower's lights shut down. But we'll be together forever because we love each other and we'll make it work this time... won't we?"

"We will." he promised, squeezing your hand.

***

(Four weeks after the new beginning)

Sprawled on top of the covers of your made bed, you scrolled through your phone.

Sarensaku is in a relationship.

"Omo... aren't you going a little fast, sempai?" you chuckled as you clicked *'Like.'* "But I'm glad... that Jaehyung's a good guy." Then you continued scrolling.

IshiiMayu checked in Hanazono Onsen.  YoonGi posted a status: "Hot springs are the best for relaxing."

"A hot springs trip together, that's going even faster!" You clicked 'Like' for both posts.

Seokjinnie posted a photo: "#hanakotoba"

It was a photo of a pond, covered with pink lotus blooms. You tilted your head, surprised that he didn't post a selfie and searched for the meaning of lotus blooms in your browser.

"'Being far away from the one you love,' huh... Why did you stay in Korea for your break then, stupid old man?" you sighed, clicking 'Like' for sympathy. "But even in Tokyo… it will be too far."

You were about to put away your phone when it buzzed with a message.

JJK: "Guess where I am?" Y/N: "Aren't you supposed to be boarding?" JJK: "Nope... I managed to snag an earlier flight." Y/N: "Do you mean... " JJK: "I can see it now. I'll wait for you there. At that place. ;)"

"No way, what a stressful surprise!" you cried. But you hopped off your bed in excitement and quickly pulled on your prepared outfit of a cute knitted sweater and a pair of skinny jeans that fitted you just right and fluffed out your hair as you flagged down a cab to take you to Shiba Park.

As he promised, Jungkook was already waiting for you there, standing in the central walkway. Even in his oversized hoodie and facemask, you could recognize him.

Jumping up and down, he waved at you with both hands. "Y/N!" he called.

You giggled at the sight of him--he looked like a big kid. "Hey!" you couldn't call out his name in public, but you waved back, matching his enthusiasm.

He met you halfway and shamelessly ducked to peck you on the lips. You pouted up at him, teasing: "What, you can't even steal a proper kiss?"

Pulling you into his arms,  he kissed you deeply, making you tingle all over. When he released you, you blinked at him, speechless. He smirked with pride, and before you could slap his arm in retaliation, he grabbed your hand and started walking.

With his free hand, he snatched off his mask and flicked his hood down, exposing his face.

"Ah.. " you started to point that out, but he pulled you closer. The other people in the park started whispering and pointing, trying to be subtle, but they were obviously noticing him walking with you. "Kookie, I know you don't get mobbed here unlike in other places, but they--they're going to know... about us--"

"Let them," he declared, grinning.  "I want them to."

"But... is it really okay?" you asked.

"Sure--just take responsibility." He waved his phone at you.

You reached for your own phone and found the notification of a relationship--with JJK's profile that had just been made public.

You pressed 'Confirm.'

Y/N is in a relationship with JJK. 

[pbandjesse]

I love my scarf so much. I did not actually wear it outside at the house. I wear a jacket. But I've had that scarf on pretty much all day. It is the best scarf even if it sheds a lot.

Today was a good day I did not accomplish everything I wanted to accomplish but I did a lot. I slept really well last night. Had very bizarre dreams. But I got up and felt good. I woke up and had biscuits for breakfast. Got dressed and walk to the grocery store. I brought my grandma card and bought lots of food for the week. I am trying to eat at home more this week. Especially since my hours are very weird. I wandered around for a bit and then went home. I am packed everything and then I had it over to Eddie's to get a couple things I can't get at streets Market. I biked over to Eddie's though and was only there for a couple minutes. I still need to get milk and I'll probably have to get eggs at some point but for now it's fine. I used my heart boiled egg cooker to while I was gone and didn't check the eggs but I'm assuming they're okay. I'm very excited about my hard-boiled egg maker though and I really hope that I can figure out the best time frame to leave them in there to cook.

Once I got everything unpacked I made lunch. I rested for a little while and made some plans. And then I headed out to go catch the bus. I left a little bit earlier than I really need to because I wanted to get the earlier bus just in case. I think I am going to be able to get away with getting the 12:30 bus. But just so that I get used to when I'm getting off going 20 minutes early. It's nice that that bus runs so often though.

It was nice and sunny out. There's a chill in the air but I was never uncomfortable or anything. In either direction. Hot or cold. I had a nice talk with an old man at the bus stop. And then the bus came. And it was a nice ride. It's like a 25-minute ride and it's very comfortable. I got up to Wildwood and like I said I was like a half an hour early. So I walked around the neighborhood.

The neighborhood very much reminds me of Mayfair in Philadelphia. It's mostly row houses with little front yards. Lot of Old Stone. In the direct neighborhood it's all houses in churches. There's not even a corner store. I think maybe at some point I'll try to wander out a little bit farther and see if there's somewhere to eat. Now that I really plan on it but just in case something happens and I have to get something close by.

When I got there Fitsum was already there and said that Tiffany wasn't in yet. So we sat in the waiting room and talked. We accidentally both were wearing the same outfit. Well not exactly. We're both wearing brown jackets and are in shirts. And I made us laugh. It seems like we are going to be together but it's still unclear at this point. I hope we do though because he's a sweetheart. Tiffany came and found us because it turned out she was there. But it was no big deal. We went back to your office and did a bunch of paperwork. Went through how are lesson plan is going to work. And I feel so excited about it. I was pretty nervous at first but now that all my questions are answered I'm like excited. And I have so many ideas. I've written 8 months of vague themes and topics in my tablet. I think I'm just going to keep everything on my Google Drive since now I paid for it for the year anyway. I was considering getting a Chromebook since I'm going to have to be doing a lot of writing. But instead since my tablet doesn't work very well I just decided to buy a Bluetooth keyboard for it. So that should be here on Thursday. And then I can actually do my lesson plans for real. I feel very excited.

We just did a lot of going through packets and making sure all of our paperwork was good and it was just nice to be able to honestly answer questions and not have to feel silly for wanting clarity. I got my direct deposit setup and we have to take 15 hours of professional development courses over the school year. And so she help me setup my account for that. And I was able to get into the CPR first aid training class on Friday morning. So I get my first three hours of PD in and I'm excited to have that certificate my record. Even though it was a little bit of a hassle trying to figure out how to make an account for some reason. They make it like all secret like.

After we finished all of her paperwork and spent a lot of time discussing how things go. We did another walk around the building. This time we actually got to meet the other teachers that we may be working with or will be the team with the 5th graders. They were both really nice and I would be equally as excited to work with them. I think it might be nice though to have a blank slate with the new class with fitsum and there won't be a weird power Dynamic there. Of having a current teacher and a new teacher. But regardless the students were there too. They were all so sweet. They liked my jacket and they asked me if I could teach him how to sew and they asked me about other different projects that they were interested in doing. And it was just so cool they were so engaged and so sweet. I'm really excited to get to work with them. There was a couple big personalities but in the best ways. I'm very excited for this opportunity. I really think that this is going to be the exact thing I've been looking for. The rest of my jobs and lives are going to have to sort themselves out. Maybe I'll slow down my work at the BMI and take my mornings for myself. Or maybe I won't and maybe I'll still do exactly what I'm doing now. I just don't want to burn out. I want to really enjoy being able to teach and museums and do all the things that I do. But today really made me excited for going forward.

Fitsum was nice enough to give me a ride again. I'm going to have to figure out a way to tell him I will give him money. Because him giving me a ride back is saving me like $16 every time. It's like even if I throw him like 20 bucks a week or something. It would be worth it to me. You also just lose them walking into my apartment though so I think he just it is being kind and just giving you rides. But I don't want to take advantage he's so nice. I really just hope that we become friends too cuz I think he's a really cool guy. He was telling me some about working in Ethiopia and the culture there. And I'm curious to learn more.

Once I got home I have kind of a going back and forth doing things all night. I watched the new Shane Dawson documentary series. And I ate snacks. I've been eating snacks all night. I work in my studio for a while. I played with the new Furbys. They both had some corrosion inside of them from their batteries leaking so I had to clean that up with vinegar. But they're both working just fine and they were chatting with each other. They do make that high-pitched screeching sound that I read about. So I may take them apart and disconnect the wires. Honestly I might disconnect all of their speaking wires because I'm not super a fan of their voices. But I still think they're very cute. I like the way that they move they're very active. So I think painting with them is going to be really interesting.

I talked to James for a little while he's at his apartment having a D&D night. I think I just have too much social anxiety to participate. I told him I would be a guest are at some point but I just don't know if I could play with them and feel comfortable enough to do it. But we'll see I don't know. I like doing it one on one with James that one time though I hope we can do that again cuz I did enjoy that.

I did fall down the stairs. I hurt my hand a little bit but I'm okay. I mostly just scared me. I took a shower and wash my hair. And it's just chilling at my apartment and I'm wearing Chenille socks and leggings and I feel very cozy. I think I'm going to switch my stuff for work into my new work tote bag. That I have gotten from my causebox. It's such a pretty bag and I think it's going to be perfect for carrying all my papers and things. And it stands so I feel like if it gets paint on it and stuff it'll be cool. I think now though I'm going to start winding down for bed. I have to wake up early tomorrow and try to get some more done. And then I have to go over to Northern Parkway to get my fingerprints done for the city to get an ID and a background check. And then I have to go to Wildwood at 12:30 for staff meeting. I'm very excited for that I think it's going to be very fun. I'm excited too more formally meet everyone. So I hope it's just another really nice day. I hope you guys all have a great night and sleep well. Be safe out there. Be kind

[pedroscurls]

Title: The New Candidate (Part 7.) 

Character(s): Patrick Sullivan and Ashley Wright (original female character) Summary: Tensions rise back at the Firehouse. Word Count: 2,111 Author’s Note: So, so much fluff!!! 

(GIF Source: @heartfulloffandoms)

Since their date, Ashley and Patrick had begun talking more and more with one another outside of work. They would constantly send each other text messages, talk on the phone – she felt like it was a beginning of a great relationship. Though, Ashley knew that once they were back at the Firehouse, they would have to act normally and unlike how they were during their first date.

At the start of her shift, Ashley had already begun cooking breakfast for the rest of the men. She was dressed in her navy pants, boots, and a fitted FDNY t-shirt that was tucked in. Her hair was neatly tied in a pony tail and she looked up every time someone entered the main room.

Larry walked to the coffee machine, pouring himself a cup of coffee as he watched Ashley cook.

“Morning, Candidate,” he smiled.

“Hey, Larry. Good morning.”

“Making anything new today?”

“I got bacon,” Ashley laughed quietly, looking up at him.

“Well, that’s exciting. I’ll save you a cup of coffee.”

“Thank you, Larry. I should be finished soon.”

Larry nodded, walking away from the counter of the kitchen to sit at the elongated table nearby. He opened the newspaper and began reading the news, sipping occasionally at his cup of coffee. Larry looked up when he noticed Patrick entering the Firehouse, quickly making his way to the coffee machine. He grinned to himself, noticing the way Patrick’s eyes lingered on Ashley.

Ashley bit her lower lip at the sight of Patrick. She dropped her eyes to the pan, using her spatula to scramble the eggs.

“Morning,” Patrick smiled.

“Good morning, Lieutenant.”

He walked around the counter, peering over her shoulder from behind to look at what she was making. His body heat hovered dangerously close from behind her and Ashley wanted nothing more than to press herself back against him.

“Looks good,” he replied, his voice deep and husky like usual.

“Thank you. I managed to convince Chief to let me get more ingredients to spice things up a bit,” Ashley nodded.

Patrick glanced around, clearing his throat. He leaned in, his lips dangerously close to her ear and whispered, “I had a nice time the other night.”

“Me too,” Ashley blushed, looking over at him. Their lips were mere inches apart and he quickly had to pull away when he caught sight of the Chief from his peripheral.

“Did you make the coffee?” Patrick asked casually.

“Yeah. Is it good?”

“Delicious,” he smiled, leaving her in the kitchen to set his things into his locker. The Chief nodded towards Patrick, walking to grab himself a cup of coffee as well.

“Hello, Ashley.”

“Chief,” she smiled. “Good morning.”

“How are you holding up here? Hopefully they’re not treating you too poorly,” he chuckled.

“They’ve welcomed me with open arms… And many chores to do,” she teased.

“That will all be done with soon. Patrick and the rest of the guys on Truck 81 have said that they love having you so far. That must be a good thing.”

Ashley grinned, looking up at the Chief. “Really?”

“Absolutely. The guys around here love when they see a passionate, dedicated firefighter in their midst. We need more like you, Candidate.”

“I chose this profession because I want to help people. I’m just glad that I’m slowly getting along with everyone here,” she sighed contentedly.

“Well, we’re happy to have you here with us, Ashley.” The Chief nodded and walked back into his office down the hall.

Ashley grinned to herself. She felt proud of herself that she was making a good impression on the men in this Firehouse. She just had to get over this probationary period and then she could truly be “one of the guys.”

Once she finished cooking, Ashley set the large plates onto the counter. She had made a variety of eggs – scrambled and sunny side up – bacon, sausages, and hash browns. Almost like clockwork, the rest of the firefighters walked into the main room and each grabbed a plate.

“Leave some for the Candidate!” Patrick told the men who seemed to be taking more than their fair share. “If she’s going to cook for us, the least we could do is leave her some.”

She turned to look over at him, smiling to herself. Ashley began washing the dishes, hearing the quiet sounds of utensils hitting the plates. Patrick walked over to her, gently resting a hand on her lower back.

“Leave those. Come and eat with us,” he suggested.

“Oh, okay…” Ashley dried her hands and grabbed herself a plate of food. She also poured herself a cup of coffee, smiling at Larry who saved her the last cup. Patrick led her to the table, sitting next to her as she looked around the table.

“So, what’s on the agenda for today?” Larry asked.

“Drills,” Patrick replied, taking a forkful of eggs. “Not too much though, but we’ve got a newbie on our hands and the more training we do, the better off she will be.”

Ashley looked around the table. She was expecting to see glares from the men, but instead, they simply nodded in understanding.

“It’s better than sitting on my ass waiting for a call,” Larry laughed, erupting a serious of chuckles amongst the group.

Ashley smiled, looking up at him. “I actually enjoy the drills. It’s a good workout.”

Patrick arched a brow, looking over at her. “I’d be careful what you wish for her, Candidate.”

“Oh no,” Larry widened his eyes playfully. “He’s just teasin’ you, Ash. Besides, I think you can take him… Like you did at the bar.”

The group laughed, causing you to blush and glance over at Patrick. He was narrowing his eyes, but deep down, you could see that he was just as amused.

“You guys underestimate me,” Ashley smiled.

“Well, looks are deceiving,” Larry chuckled.

“How so?” she asked.

Patrick glanced around the rest of his men, noticing how they were avoiding the question. Larry, however, decided to speak up. He was married, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t acknowledge a beautiful woman when he saw one.

“You’re pretty. We didn’t expect you to be really good at pool or soccer.”

Ashley smiled. It sounded very similar to what Patrick said about her interests during their date. “Didn’t your parents ever tell you to never judge a book by its cover?” she teased.

Patrick chuckled, glancing over at her. Ashley smiled to herself, holding the eye contact for a moment before looking away. “All Larry’s saying is that you’re the complete package.”

Ashley blushed. “Well, thank you, Lieutenant.”

Larry smirked knowingly, gently nudging Patrick. Ashley finished her food and looked around the group of men, standing from the table.

“You can set the dishes on the side of the counter and I’ll be more than happy to wash that for you,” she said, walking towards the kitchen.

Once she was out of earshot, Larry laughed and pointed at Patrick. “You asked her out, didn’t you?”

The rest of the group of men grinned, sipping their cups of coffee. “You’ve got a good one, Patrick. Don’t let that one go,” another man said. “Because if you do, I’ll take my chance,” he teased.

Patrick narrowed his eyes, gently punching the other man’s shoulder. “I like her. She likes me. It’s still too early to let Chief know about it.”

“You know how he is with in-house affairs, Patrick,” Larry said. “The sooner you tell him, the better.”

“I’m not even sure it’ll go anywhere,” Patrick shrugged.

The men laughed, shaking their heads. Larry spoke, looking over at Patrick with an arched brow. “From the way you’ve been looking at her, I’d say it’s going to go somewhere.”

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll let him know.”

Ashley was dripping with sweat and the rest of the men in her group were panting heavily. Patrick had overworked them and motioned for them to take a break. He didn’t want his firefighters tired and exhausted if there was a call that they needed to take.

She walked to the lockers, sitting at the bench with her own locker open. She removed her shirt and remained clad in a white tank-top that was also tucked into her navy blue pants. She ran a small towel along her neck, patting the dampened area.

Patrick watched her with a smile, walking quietly to her. He remained standing, leaning against the lockers with his hands in his pockets.

“Hey,” he grinned.

“That was brutal,” Ashley sighed.

“You said you enjoyed the drills. Did you not enjoy the ones we just did?”

She arched a brow. “Nope. I enjoyed it,” she lied.

Patrick chuckled, shaking his head. “What a trooper.” Moving, he sat next to her. His eyes raked over the newly exposed skin as he watched a droplet of sweat trickle its way down between the crevice of her breasts.

“You’re staring,” she commented, taking him out of his trance.

“Sorry,” he chuckled.

“I like it.” Ashley blushed, looking over at him.

“Yeah?”

“Definitely.”

Patrick chuckled, inching his way closer to her. “I was thinking we can tell the Chief about this… About us. I know it’s too early, but he doesn’t like things kept in secret.”

Ashley nodded, “Okay. Better to tell him now than for him to find out later.”

He was shocked. He hadn’t expected her to agree so quickly. “All right. You want to put a shirt on before we head into his office?”

“Why? Getting distracted?”

Patrick growled, leaning in so their lips were mere inches apart. “You’re teasing me, Candidate.”

“I like to see you all riled up, Lieutenant.”

“Do you kiss on the second date?” he blurted, his eyes darkening just slightly.

“What?”

“Do you kiss on the second date?” Patrick repeated. “We didn’t kiss on the first, so I’m just wondering if you kiss on the second.”

Ashley stood, pulling on a new t-shirt and tucking it in. She shut her locker and looked down at Patrick who remained seated on the bench. She bit her lower lip and gently ran her fingertips across his shoulder lightly. “I guess you’ll find out tomorrow, huh?”

He stood, shaking his head. “Such a tease.”

“That’s me,” she winked.

Patrick chuckled, resting his hand on her lower back. He led her to the Chief’s office and knocked quietly. When the Chief motioned them inside, Patrick allowed Ashley first and then shut the door behind him.

“Is everything all right?” The Chief asked.

Ashley bit her lower lip. She glanced up at Patrick and allowed him to take the lead.

“Well, Chief, I just wanted to let you know that–”

“You two are together?” The Chief answered.

“How did–”

“It’s really obvious, Patrick.”

“Oh…” he chuckled nervously, glancing over at Ashley.

“Plus, Christopher told me.”

“He’s the one that gave me the advice to ask her out.”

“I’d honestly tell you the same thing, Patrick. And Ashley?”

“Y – Yes, sir?” she answered, looking up.

“Do you like Patrick?”

“Yeah, I do…”

The Chief nodded, glancing between them. “Patrick, you know the rules.”

“I do, Chief, but–”

“If this continues, we’re going to have to relocate her to a different house. You both know that in-house affairs are not allowed.”

Ashley nodded, biting her lower lip. She had known that fact already. Despite wanting to say in this Firehouse, she didn’t want to jeopardize the potential relationship with Patrick. She felt something with him that she had never felt before and she wanted to explore it even more.

“For now, keep this under wraps. I’m assuming this relationship is new, still fresh. I want to be sure that this is serious before I relocate you, Ashley. If this doesn’t work out between you two–”

“It will,” Patrick interrupted confidently. “It will.”

“Well, give it a month or two. If you two are still going strong, I’ll have no choice but to relocate you, Ashley.”

“All right,” Ashley said. “That is fine with me.”

Patrick glanced at her, biting his lower lip. “Okay, Chief. Thank you.”

After they left his office, Patrick led her to his room that only the Lieutenants had. He shut the door and lowered the blinds. He looked down at her and took her hand, gently running his thumb across her knuckles.

“You sure about this?”

Ashley nodded. “We at least have to try, right?”

Patrick smiled. “So, tomorrow night? My house or yours?”

“You can come to mine. I’ll have dinner ready by the time you arrive.”

“Are you also baking dessert?”

Ashley smiled, leaning in to kiss his cheek. “You’ll find out.”

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