#also what do we think of the new signature. bats my eyelashes

[toshinoriyagisms]

scars <3

+ a bonus comic, bc toshi's top scars being based off his hero suit is the funniest thing in the world to me

idek why he's taking his shirt off tbh, he probably spilt juice on it

[insufferablelust]

blurb/one shot about reid coming home after prison and the team wants you to go home with him to his apartment to comfort him because you guys are good friends. he starts to talk about how lonely he was and how much he missed talking and laughing with you but also how much he dreamt of touching/fucking you while he was there. spencer is a very hard dom and rough considering he hasn’t touched anybody in months.

Warning : Smut! with some name calling, and dom!Spencer x Sub! Reader.

When you received the news that Spencer has been released from that god awful prison, you jumped at the first look of him entering the bullpen with JJ after the whole Cat ordeal. You hugged him like you would hug a boyfriend, but you didn’t care, you haven’t seen him in so long— he refused to let you visit him on prison because he can’t bear the thought of how the others would watch you and Spencer’s blood boiled at the thought.

Its how you two has always been together, since you joined the team after Emily depart to interpol, you have always been close to Spencer— from the outside, it would look like you two were too close, but neither of you really cared. It would be naive of course, if you lie and say you don’t love him— because you do, as a best friend and so much more. But you knew, how difficult relationships could get for him so you never tried to pry more than you were given even if you had to watch him break down after Maeve, and the stories that follows.

Morgan teased you about it before he left, saying how you should make your move now rather than later— only Morgan knows how much love you have for Spencer (and Morgan is also the only person who knows how much love Spencer have for you) but you shrugged and laughed it off, swallowing down the bitter pill of reality that he would never look at you more than just a friend— a very close caring friend that kissed multiple times because they were drunk, yeah that’s it, right?

Wrong.

It’s been a few weeks since Spencer’s release and the whole Mr.Scratch mess. You were just quietly enjoying your mandatory break with red wine on your hand and flashes of imagination that accompanied your thoughts. You sighed as you take a look at your phone to see a message from Penelope.

Garcia, P ❤️

Hey princess! how about you, me, em, JJ, and Tara go out to shop tonight? maybe we could catch up too? i miss you aaalll soo much.

You smiled at the sweet message, quickly typing a ‘yes i’ll be there, your majesty. and i miss you too.” It wasn’t that difficult of a choice, seeing as you weren’t doing anything anyways, and you sure as hell could buy some more things just for the sake of retail therapy.

You quickly changed into a comfy dress that stops just below your knee, with a vintage belt around your hips and a cute burgundy cropped cardigan to keep you warm. You were zipping your bag when you heard it, heard the pretty loud bangs on your door that had you startled. To say that you were a bit paranoid was an understatement, as you approached the door with a gun prepared on your hands— you squinted at the peephole to see if you should open your doors or not, to your absolute childish-crush surprise— it was Spencer, a very disheveled looking Spencer standing in front of your door.

As soon as you sees him, you placed your gun away safely tucked on your cabinet before opening the door and let him in. He was dressed somewhat nicely, shirt tucked underneath his pants with his signature dark blue cardigan, his hair was a mess, and the bags below his eyes indicated that he’s in fact not doing well— though you figured as much.

“Spence, are you okay? you look tired.” You mumbled carefully, as you sat down beside him on your couch, his eyes wouldn’t even look at you but rather taken a keen interest on the floor of your apartment.

“Oh..are you going on a date?” He asks timidly, his voice shaky and on edge as his gazed turned to your bag and then your clothes.

“What? No, no no! Pen asked me out on a shopping night with the girls so i was just about to go.” You laughed, and you swore you heard his loud sigh of relieve when you said that, but you’re convinced that your mind is telling tricks to you.

“Well um i can go.. if you’re—“ You cut him off instantly just as he about to stand, you grabbed his wrist tightly to pull him back down and shake your head, smilling softly, “No.. Please, i can shop another time— you came all the way here so stay okay?” You begged him, eyes desperately trying to lock with his.

“Okay... okay, Y/N.” He sniffled, eyes finally met yours— you were shocked to see they were brimmed with raw fresh tears, falling slowly down his cheeks— you didn’t say anything else, just immediately tucking him against your sides so his head was laid on top of your heart and your fingers on his hair.

“Oh it’s okay, shh it’s okay— you’re okay, i’m here just let it out..” You cooed, holding him tightly as he sobbed onto your chest.

~

“Got your pretty dress all wet..” He mumbled as you both were laying down on top of the soft rug near your fireplace on the floor, your cheeks warmed at the sound of his voice, “It doesn’t matter, it’s not that your teardrops are made of paint anyways.”

You both laughed at your answer, laying on each other’s side, eyes locked. You brushed your fingertips across his cheeks, feeling his breath shuddered, “Spencer..” You whispered softly.

“Hm?”

“What happened?” His eyes fluttered shut as he drew in a sharp breath, your fingers were calm and soothing on his skin. “You’ll hate me..” He suddenly whispered, voice shot and it nearly made you cry.

“No, no i won’t. Hey look at me, there you go.. Spencer.. you know i’ll always support you no matter what, and i’ll never judge you of any decision you made because i know you, okay? and i trust you.” You emphasized each word, as your nose brushed against each other— you could care less at the thoughts of breaking regulations now.

“I know Y/N, it’s not that.. it’s just..” He moved back a bit, before intertwining your hand in his and kissed the knuckles, “I missed feeling happy.. missed being.. being able to help.. to talk freely... to sleep without nightmares.. to just—“ His voice trembled as fresh stream of tears threatening to fall upon his skin, you were quick to held his hand tighter so he knows you’re there with him— that you’re real.

“To have a control over my life, over something.. everything is out of place, Y/N... I-I can’t live like this.” You could see it in his eyes, just how much he wanted to feel the control again— to make his own decisions without having the trauma of being drugged by a female serial killer or catched by the police.

“And.. and i can’t stop thinking about..” He stopped as he bit his lip, under the soft glow of the crackling fore— you could see just how pink his cheeks get as he stared at you still, his palm is now pressed against your cheeks, “About what, spencer?” You whispered, feeling overwhelmed already by the warmth of him pressing against you so closely, your heart thrummed against your ribcage like a drum going off on it’s own.

“You... you— one of the only thing that kept me alive.. alive on— you, you i can’t get you out of my mind. I don’t like it..” His lips were practically brushing against yours as you widen your eyes, letting a pained, “Oh..” Left your lip as you came to a realization at what he’s referring to, but before you could get out of his grasp— he cut you off,

“I don’t like it because i can’t do a damn thing about it, Y/N. I don’t like it because i can’t touch you whenever i want, I don’t like it because.. because i’m so used to having things so certain.. all my life, all i want to believe in was numbers, and— and science but the only thing that makes sense right now in my life.. is you.” He craddled your jaw so gently as your forehead pressed against each other.

The room grew quiet after that, just heavy breathing, and both of you savoring the moment, the warmth of each other’s skin. You could hear a pin drop, but the only thing that you heard was his heartbeat that beats at the same pace as yours— fast, and full of desire, pent up desire for each other. His leg tangled itself onto yours as he inch his lips closer so they were practically grazing against each other, before he kissed you softly, softly yet so rough.. Rough as in he was savoring you, indulging in your taste.

The kiss lit you on fire, your skin burned against him as you whimpered softly at the pace of his kiss, it was rushed— yet full of desire, desire to claim each other.. to control you, and if you said you didn’t want it then that would be a lie. Here you are, sober and bright, with his tongue shoved deep inside your mouth, battling dominance— as you submitted to him, letting him to own that control.

When both of your lungs ran out of air, you whined against him, to which he pulled back and pant. Both of you tried to catch your breath, but your whole body is burning with fire— that fire is insatiable, the desire for him is insatiable.

“You said... you need control... let me be your canvas.” You whispered as you put your hands above your head and bit your lip nervously.

The silence returned as he watched you, stared at you, with so much adoration, shock, and lust.. it took him a bit of time to respond to your declaration, his hand wrapped itself on your neck, just held it there with a bit of pressure before whispering, “I’m not going to go easy on you.. are you sure you want this?”

You only smiled, and bat your eyelash at him, whispering, “Don’t hold back, Reid.”

~

Your back was arched in an angle you never knew you could reached, your hips constantly bucking up as your wrist tugged against the belt that tied them up tightly. Here you were, body as nude as day, with your hands tight together on top of your head, your panties shoved deep inside your mouth and the love of your life— the new version of him, has been between your legs for hours now, sucking the poor swollen clit of your cunt, bringing you to orgasm after orgasm that your eyes was wet with tears.

He hummed softly as he felt you clenched around his tongue, and tasting the way you ache and gushed onto his taste buds— groaning at the sweetness. He pressed a soft electrifying kiss on top of your clit that sent you to a sobbing mess before crawling up and pull the panties from your mouth and smile so softly yet so condescendingly.

“Oh princess.. Look at you, your make up is ruined.. look like such a mindless thing,” He taunted, causing you to buck your hips instantly, which earned a chuckle from him, “I didn’t know you would be this much of a depraved desperate whiny little girl, Y/N. I should’ve claimed you sooner.” You were screaming inside your head, telling him yes-yes you should but it’s okay.. i don’t mind now, just please— but the only thing that came out of your sinful bitten raw lips was a small “I’ve always been yours.”

He sees red instantly, hands clamping down your neck, as he pressed his forehead against yours, feeling an overwhelming sense of power— control he’s been craving, and oh how kind were you, the light of his life to serve that control on a silver platter for him— silly thing you are.. of course he’s going to take you in every way possible.

“That’s right you are, keep that in mind, bunny. Try not to scream too loud yeah? hate to bother your neighbor right? how will i explain? that my baby just can’t take it when she get fucked til she goes mindless?”

Just as you were about to answer, his cock pushed past your tight entrance, so suddenly and deep that you yelled, yelled with pure pleasure of being stretched— burning with pleasure, “Oh! Spencer!” Your eyes rolled back to your skull, as he groaned, “Fuck— you’re so fucking tight angel, oh there’s a good little slut for me.”

At that, he began to thrust into you, so fast yet so deep, your lips wrapped itself around his thumb as he fuck the sanity out of you, feeling the overwhelming amount of raw pleasure— and love at the same time.

“Mmm! take me! oh god so deep, so— fuck!” You moaned after he pulled his thumb back, cultching your wrists together as the head of his cock hit that spot— the spot that has you seeing stars. He smiled as he keeps on working his thrusts “Yeah? yeah right there baby?”

“Y-Oh! yes, please please” Your whines were half coherent, but neither of you cared, nor complained, the only thing in your minds right now is to indulge in this burning fire of a pleasure, to relinquished control.

“Good girl, so fucking tight for me Y/N— god i love you..” He said it— said it, as his thrust became sloppier, yet somewhat deeper, his face were on your neck— biting a huge amount of marks, marks that’ll make sure everyone knows you’re his.

“I love you! i loveyou! god i—“ You were cut off as his other hand reach down to rub your clit fast, sending you into a spasm fit, back arched, nipples against his sweaty chest and the walls of your cunt clenched around his cock so tightly that it brings him to the very edge.

“Cum baby, cum for me, good- fucking girl do it.” He whispered, walls breaking down as he hold himself back as you cum, cum so hard around his cock that you were silent— only letting a very high pitched chants of his names, which brought him to his own release, coating— painting your walls with his cum, claiming you inside and out.

You both tried to catch your breath as he tried to pull out, in which you whined, “No.. wanna— wanna— ugh please?” Your glassy eyes were looking at him with such a pure adoration, pure submission, that he softly smiled and propped your both to your side with his softening cock still nestled deep inside your cunt.

You sighed as he unclasp his belt, bringing your wrist down to kiss them one by one. “I love you.. i do, i truly do Y/N.” He whispered, eyes looking at yours as you smiled widely, nodding and lightly sniffling.

“Hey.. dont cry, shh shh come here baby, hey hey.. are we taking turns to cry now?” He chuckled against your hair as he pulled you close, embraced you in his arm which you giggled at and pushed his chest a bit, before nuzzling your noses together,

“I’ve always loved you, Spencer Reid, and i always will.”

——

Oh my god!!! i know its not like the actual req, i changed it up a bit i hope whoever you are, you won’t mind!! anyways, thank you so much for requesting i love you! and thank you everyone for reading.

I’m gettting through my reqs right now, so if you requested in the past few weeks, expect them to be out soon! I love you all, blurb and tag list is always open. ❤️

[justreadingfics]

It’s a Deal (Chapter 4)

Chapter Summary: You have a challenge for Bucky.  

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader

Words: 5.1k

Warnings:+18 only, smut, masturbation, boytoy!Bucky, casual sex, open relationship, unrealistic sexual performance, the tiniest bit of angst related to past relationships.

A/N: Next chapters we’ll move forward with the plot and it will be less smut centric, maybe… I can’t promise anything, actually, lol.  I dedicate this chapter to @suz-123​, who’s a Rockstar and to @tilltheendwilliwrite​ who once wrote chapter 10 of Canadian Girl (if you haven’t read it, yet, I don’t know what you’re doing with your life) and this chapter is heavily inspired on a certain aspect of it, with a small twist. The link to my masterlist, where you can find the other chapters, is on my description. Feedback is highly appreciated. Tag list for this story is closed.

The sight meeting your gaze as soon as you step out of your bathroom is one to behold. There is the man himself, laying sprawled and careless across your bed, unashamedly naked while nonchalantly scrolling through his phone, like he hasn’t just now done unspeakable things to you right there.

You take in a contented sigh. How lucky are you to have found a fuck buddy like Bucky? Incredibly hot and handsome, with all those uncountable muscles on his whole body and the most gorgeous face you’ve ever seen. He’s breathtaking to look at and to feel in each sensitive part of your body.

But it’s not just that, that you’re lucky for. His damn personality… So uncomplicated, laid back, straightforwardly honest and, even in all his blatant whoriness, more considerate towards women than any man you’ve ever known, Eddie included. You know about his tragic backstory and you can only wonder the path he had to take to get where he is now.

Apart from the amazing fuck, it’s been so fun to get to spend time with him and get to know the way he thinks, his life philosophy. You’ve found out that relationships don’t have to be complicated, that you don’t need to love or date someone to have a nice time together and that fun and respect can walk hand in hand. Also, something you didn’t know about yourself: that you can be fun and laid back, too.

You can tell Bucky enjoys spending time with you as much as you do with him, you know he’s not faking. The only reason he would have to fake in that situation would be to get you in his bed and he wouldn’t have to, since you got into that deal just exactly for that. Also, he’s too transparent, he has been from the beginning. And with him, you’ve become a fun person in these last few days… or maybe that’s who you were all along and just didn’t know.  

“Enjoying the view, sweetheart?”

In your gawking, you haven’t noticed his cell phone now laying forgotten on the mattress beside him as he tilts his body to the side, facing you, and supports his head on his hand, with that signature smirk of his, completely unbothered by how exposed he is.

In fact, so are you, as you smile and walk back to your bed in all your nakedness, “And what a damn view,” you cheekily say, laying in front of him and mimicking his position. You can’t help but reach over and trace your fingers over the hard muscles of his flesh arm and ripped chest, “I’ve never seen so many muscles gathered in only one person,” you add, completely serious with your admiration.

He chuckles, “Well, that thing they injected in me helped a lot.”  

You don’t have to ask who they are. Every once in a while he mentions his past but it’s always quick and with no sign of heaviness. It does feel like you’ve met him in a new and brighter stage of his life. Your eyes, which have been following the path traced by your fingers, drop to his lower body. Like it usually happens right after you had sex or between the sexy sessions, he’s not as hard as you know he can get, but he’s definitely not completely soft. You’ve been nurturing that curiosity for a while and now you see the opening to bring it up.

“You know, I’ve been wondering,” you start, a little timid and avoiding his eyes, “Did the serum help with… ahm, other things, too?” You glance at him before letting your eyes drop to that particular part of his body, hoping you’ve made yourself clear.

“What do you mean?”

When you look back at him the confusion on his face is poorly feigned and you know he’s messing with you.

“You just want me to say it, don’t you?” You squint your eyes, pulling back your wandering hands from his beefy body, and when he only keeps the faked expression on his face and shrugs, you decide to play along and blurt out, punctuating each word, “Your cock, your fucking marvelous and precious huge cock, Bucky. That’s what I mean.”

You can’t help but grin widely as he lets out a belly laugh, his head falling backwards on the mattress before he comes back to the position on his side facing you with a satisfied and teasing smile on him.

“I’ll tell you what, it didn’t mess up with the size, sweetheart. That’s all good old human biology there, no evil super juice needed.” He bites his lower lip and winks, making you roll your eyes playfully, “But, like you know, I’m always honest and I’m not gonna  lie to you. It did pump me up with the…” he pouts and squeezes his eyes, as if looking for the right word, “Performance,” he adds, satisfied with his choice.    

“How so?” You cock an eyebrow, very interested in the information.  

“It basically raised my levels of stamina way higher. I’m always ready to go,” he says like it’s no big deal, “As long as I have motivation, of course. Like such a pretty dame like you,”  He gestures towards your naked body with a reverence and winks, prompting a heat to rush up to your cheeks at the old fashioned but still efficient term, which sounds surprisingly sexy coming out of his lips as he says it so naturally while you both lay stark-naked next to each other.  

“Oh…” it slips out of your lips before your forehead creases, “Hold on…You’re telling me that as long as I… ahm… motivate you, or something, you can keep it up, no matter how many times?”

That teasing smugness etches on his face again as he tightens and twists his lips, “Pretty much, yeah,” he answers, bringing a hand to stroke the curve of your hips. 

“Huh,” you let out in a puffed breath as you come to your conclusion, “You’re practically a human dildo.” Your eyes widen as soon as you realize what you just said, “Sorry,” you cringe.

“No offense taken at all,” he chuckles, the corner of his eyes crinkling in that way you find adorably sexy, “I’m actually flattered…”  he adds before boring a suspicious gaze into you yours, “I see something glimmering in your eyes, though.”

You bite your lower lip. The mere thought and the teasing hand on your body are enough to rouse your senses and make your entire skin prickle, “Just an idea that crossed my mind,” you answer, voice a little trembling with equal parts of horniness and nervousness in presenting said idea.   

“Ooooo… this sounds exciting. Tell me,” he encourages, putting a bit more pressure on where his hand touches your skin and dragging his body closer to yours.  

“Well…” Your gaze comes across his mouth now that is so closed to yours as you bring your eyes down to follow your fingers dancing over his chest again, brushing over the little whiskers of hair there, “Since we know you can keep it up… ahm…indefinitely,” Your fingers skim lower and lower and his breath hovers yours as a humming sound for you to continue not only touching but talking slips out of his lungs, “It would be interesting to find out how much I can take it, don’t you think?” You lift innocent eyes to his from under your eyelashes.  

A groan rumbles from his chest as his fingers dig into the skin of your hips, with the certainty of leaving marks, “Let me see if I got it straight… You wanna find out how many times you can orgasm in one night?” Like usual, he speaks more directly than you, the lust dark in his gaze.  

“I’m pretty curious… aren’t you?” Your hand wanders down the muscles of his body and follows the path of little hairs, which gets thicker and thicker till you reach his now fully rigid cock.

He brushes his parted lips over yours and lets out a deep exhale as you wrap your fingers around his dick. He’s hard as a rock and twitches in your hand, you’re still amazed that it has reached that point again just by the teasing exchange and little touches.

“Oh yeah, you’re very, very curious, too, I see,” you tease him again, slowly pumping him with your fist.  

“That I am… that I am,” he whispers, his hot and heavy breath hovering yours as his hips ever so lightly starts rocking against your hand. “But, tell me,” he asks putting on some seriousness on his voice, “Would this very obliging sex toy over here be allowed to use not only my fucking marvelous and precious huge cock,” he repeats your words using the same tone as yours, “But also other equally skilled parts of my body, like tongue,” he darts his tongue to lightly lick your upper lip, but quickly retrieves it back to continue speaking, tickling your skin with the tip of his fingers as he drags them from your hips towards your lower belly, “Fingers-”

You suck in a whine, already too turned on to prolong the teasing, “Now it’s definitely not the time to start with rules- ah-” Apparently you aren’t the only one ready to get into the real action as he bats your hand away and swiftly shifts on the bed, rolling over you and between your legs.

When he reaches over the nightstand right next to you, where he already knows is your stash of condoms, you stop him with a hand on his forearm. He looks down at you questioningly as he hovers you supporting himself with his arms on the mattress.  

“You told me before you can’t get sick due the serum. It means you wouldn’t pass me anything, either, right?” You ask, somehow managing to regulate your breathing.

“Yeah, that’s right.” He nods.

“I’m on birth control since forever,” you add, heavily implying what you want from him. 

“Are you sure?” He checks, “I really don’t mind-“

“I wanna fucking feel it. All of it.” You reach between you two and wrap your hand around his bare cock.

“Fuck…” His eyes flutter shut at your touch before snapping open at you, filled with renewed hunger, “You’re in for a ride, sweetheart,” he breathes before grabbing your lips withs his.  

Number four – because he had already graced you with the first three, moments before -  happens right there when he pulls your legs up and bend them backwards till your knees straddle your face and takes you hard and raw, because neither of you can wait. Number five he flips you over and keeps you completely still under him, almost crushing you with his delicious weight, having his chest glued to your back as he shoves his hips into yours.

Six and seven happen in a row when he eats you out while you sit on the countertop of your kitchen, after a quick snack and water to regain your forces. Eight, he pounds into you from behind as you grab with sheer force the edges of said countertop…

You have no idea how many hours pass. It happens on your bed, in the kitchen, balcony, table, chairs. In the living room, sofa, carpet, floor, over your desk in your small office… The filthy smells filling up the air of your home along with naughty fluids left on your way. You don’t even dare to think about the cleaning you’ll have to do the next day. Your mind is completely blanked by the constancy of pleasure and sensitivity your body has been sunk into. His cock, lips, tongue, fingers, thigh, hot skin… all of him devoted to you, to your desire, as his body merges into yours turning you into a blur of bliss.

When you become just a sack of numb limbs and dizziness, he scoops you up from the living room carpet and rests you on your bed, bringing you water right before laying behind you, forming a breathless spoon on the mattress. He might be thinking you’re finally done, but if that’s the case, he’s miscalculating the effect the heat of his body against yours has on you. So, after you roll your hips against his cock – which hardens almost immediately- he lifts your leg and eases himself inside your poor, but still somehow ready and eager, cunt. Knowing how overstimulated you are, he reaches over you and just ever so lightly brushes a finger over your clit. That’s how you reach the 24th orgasm of the night and, at last, throw the towel.

“That was… something,” you say when you’re in the shower with him after a deserved, but quick nap, still in your sticky and fervent skins. When you announced you needed a shower, he joined you promptly, “I thought I would reach 15, 16 at most. I’m pretty impressed with you.”

He clicks his tongue, while pouring some of your shampoo on his hand, “Nah… you’re just underestimating you, sweetheart.” He puts the shampoo on his hair and brushes the locks with his fingers, “I, on the other hand, know exactly what kind of insatiable minx you are,” he says right before sinking his head under the shower to rinse his hair. 

Under the water he doesn’t see your jaw dropping and your outraged gasp, but he certainly feels the little shove on his chest to express your protests, because he takes his head out of the water and brushes the water out of his face with his hand, “What?”

“Fucking rude,” you answer, already laughing quietly, while using the sponge to leather your body.   

“Ok, I could’ve used better words, but I didn’t mean it like that,” he says, “But I get it. It’s been almost 80 years and somethings haven’t changed that much.” He twists his lips, reaching over  for the hair conditioning, “I know women grow up listening to this fucking culture who teach men and women that enjoying sex is a guy thing… and when a woman shows the opposite she’s judged, which is stupid. The issue is pure fucked up sociology rather than biology. A man needs a damn super serum to reach that many orgasms in one night while all women need is their own body and will. It’s lame what society can do when it comes to repressing women.” He shrugs.  

Once again your jaw drops, but for an entirely different reason, and for a while you just watch him, dumbfounded, while he hums a tune, applying conditioner on his long locks and dives his head on the running water again, like he hasn’t just now slapped your face with a damn feminist discourse about female sexuality, “That’s… true…” You have no choice but to agree.

“Of course it is…” he smirks proudly, before squinting his eyes at you while you wash out the soap of your body, “And you know what? I bet you have one more there waiting for me,” he lifts his chin, like he’s challenging you, as water drips from his face and hair.  

Your eyes widen for a second at the implications of said challenge, “I can’t.” You’re quick to shake your head. You have no idea how you’re managing to stand there, since every little muscle of your body is sore.

“Actually, I bet you have one more there waiting for you… Wanna see?” He cocks an eyebrow.

“Shit, Bucky, I don’t think I can handle you one more time,” you reply, honestly. As tempting as the idea sounds, you can’t even think about taking him again.

“Don’t worry… I won’t be doing anything.” His voice lowers a tone, as he walks you back towards the shower seat Eddie was so adamant in adding to the bathroom.

Looking down, you’re not surprised at all to see his cock already hardening and you would be lying to yourself if you don’t feel a little tingle in your belly.  As soon as you’re seated, he props his metal arm on the wall above your head and wraps his flesh hand on his cock, which is inches from you, bumping it a few times till it’s quickly fully hard.

“Tonight was an interesting experience for me, too,” his voice, laced with silk and mischief, props your gaze to lift to his. As he stares down at you and his hand jerks on his cock, locks of wet hair fall on his face and droplets run down his naked body.

It’s only instinct when your tongue darts out to lick your lips. You can’t believe you’re already getting turned on after everything you’ve already done, “Yeah, how so?” You encourage him in whatever treat he has planned for you.

“Hmmm,” his eyes flutter shut for a second as he swipes his thumb over the rosy tip, keeping a slow pace on himself, “Getting to know your body even more… the little places I touch and your whole body trembles, yeah… open up for me, that’s it, that damn pussy of yours,” he coos when you prop one heel over the bench beside you, letting the other on the floor and allowing your fingers to dance over your breasts and skim down your wet body.

“What else…ha,” you gasp when your exploring fingers reach your clit. It’s still sensitive from the previous actions, but it doesn’t reject your touch as the water from the shower mixes up with your natural wetness. It’s not hard to feel your arousal rising again in your body, not when you have that obscene sight of him touching himself inches from you and that dirty mouth saying all the things he likes about having sex with you. Your body responds to the sensuous scenario instantly.   

“I lose my mind at how that pussy squeezes my cock when I talk dirty to you…  These fucking tits of yours,” he groans and you can see his cock twitching.

Your hand on yourself speeds up in rhythm with his, but it remains a light touch on your clit, the kind of touch your body is asking for right now, but it feels good, so damn good, like a feather tickling the sensitive nub. Your eyes are stuck on his as much as his is stuck on yours. You feel like the sexiest woman alive under his gaze and fuck if you’re not gonna reach your 25th orgasm of the night soon. 

“I wanna have my cock between them one day, would you do that for me, beautiful, fuck my cock with your perfect tits?” He continues his verbal fucking, biting his lip till the blood rushes out of his skin, “Fucking you is an experience I can’t seem to get enough, sweetie, what about you, huh? Tell me what you like about fucking me.”

So many things… “I-I like your fucking big cock,” you say before letting out a small laugh, “Obviously,” you wiggle your eyebrows making him laugh briefly with you, before you look down at where he’s jerking himself. You have no idea how you’re managing to talk like that, you’ve never been that verbal when it comes to sex, but with him… it’s different. “It’s so damn thick…” You lick your lips, breathing hard as the feather touch in your clit sparks laces of pleasure inside you. Looking up at him, you see him clenching his teeth, hooded eyes still on you, “I like when you’re rough to me, when  you throw me around like I weigh nothing, you’re so fucking strong, ah.” Your head falls back as you’re almost there… “I like that you know exactly what gives me pleasure, even before I know it myself…”

“Fuck, you’re damn sexy…” he breathes out and you can tell he’s holding himself back, probably waiting for you to finish before he does, “What about that ass of mine, huh?” The playfulness comes back to his voice between harsh panting.

You chuckle, “I fucking love grabbing it while you’re pounding your dick inside me and… oh, God… that fucking filthy mouth… Especially when it’s all over me.” Your toes curl as the pressure inside your core tightens, driving yourself closer and closer to the edge, the words come out of your lips like they have a mind of their own, connected solely to your desire, “I love how you love eating me out, oh, goddamn, fuck…” Your eyes shut and your body shakes as you close your legs around your hand, reaching an orgasm for 25th time that night, this time by your own hand. And is just as good and powerful as the others he has given you.

“Shit,” his voice falters and as you still struggle to breathe you look up at him, “Can I come on those tits, sweetheart?” He nods towards your body, his voice coming out tight from between his teeth.

“Fuck yeah,” You nod, arching your back and exposing your breasts even more to him.  

“Holy shit,” he moans as, after a few more expert bumps, he spills his climax all over your chest, “Fuck,” he keeps his metal hand on the wall as he stares down apparently in a spell, admiring his handiwork, before grabbing your arm and making you stand, pulling you to him and grabbing your breathless lips in a kiss.  

Your chest is tight against his and the thought of the mess between you two makes you moan through his kiss. He’s the one who pulls back with that signature smugness all over his face.

Your eyes roll playfully, “Yeah, I know… You told me so…”

~~~

After you finish the shower for real this time, you’re drying yourself with a towel while Bucky, already with his black boxes on, uses one of your combs to work on his hair in front of the mirror in your bathroom. He huffs in frustration as the long locks don’t seem to stay in the style he’s looking for.

The sound of your quiet laugh makes him glance towards you. He smiles tightly and shrugs, a whole new sheepish expression on his face, “I’ve been meaning to cut it, but… I don’t know… other stuff keeps getting in the way,” he shrugs again, turning back to the mirror.

“I like it that way, it suits you pretty well, but if you’d liked I could cut it for you?” you offer, lacing your towel with a knot around your body.

“Really?” He tilts his head while something like amused skepticism etches on his face.

“Yeah, sure, I have all the tools here now if that’s something you want.”

He looks at himself in the mirror, taking a good look at his locks before turning back to you, “Let’s do this.”

Next thing you know you have Bucky still only in his boxes sitting on a chair he carried to your bathroom while you’re on an old t-shirt, displaying the set of shears, combs and trimmer over the countertop.

Wrapping a towel around his shoulders, you look at his reflection on the mirror, “So, are we just cutting the ends or are you going overboard here?”

“Overboard,” he answers right away and you smile at the trust he lays on you, “But leave something to grab. You all seem to love that.” The corner of his lips twists.

You laugh, reaching for the shear, “We all love it indeed,” you agree and run your hands over his locks, analyzing what you’re dealing with, “Trust me, I know exactly what to do.” You wink at him through the mirror and get on to work.

“Haircuts, huh?” he asks as the little strands of hair fall over the towel and the floor, “Quite an arsenal you have here.” He nods at your tools in front of him.

“Yeah,” you don’t move the focus from your working hands to answer, “I used to cut Eddie’s. We’ve been on a low budget for years so we could buy this place.” You give him a brief tight-lip glance.

“Very nice place, by the way.”

“It is, isn’t it?” You beam at him before focusing back on his hair, “But it’s a bit strange, actually. When we found it and moved in, I thought I would spend the rest of my life here with him… And now…” you sigh.

“Now we’re ruining your furniture,” he beams when you look at him.

You can’t help chuckle and agree, “Pretty much, yeah.”

“Are you keeping it?”

Your lips tightens as you look down at your working hands… You haven’t really thought of it straight and you’re sure that not thinking about it means you still had some hope to resume your life from where it had stopped when Eddie broke up with you. But, now that you’re talking about it, the answer feels right when it rolls off your tongue, “I want to. I love this place…with my promotion and the money that comes with it, I think I could make it happen, but… I still need to work things out with Eddie, though.”

“You haven’t talked to him yet.” Bucky affirms rather than ask. All along, even when you’re not looking at him at times, you can feel Bucky’s gaze not leaving your reflection in the mirror as his hair goes through a transformation by your hands.

 “No.” You shake your head and decide to share with him an idea that has been wandering in your mind lately, “Stark mentioned a party to celebrate my promotion-“

“Of course…” He adds.

“Yeah…” You laugh, before clearing your throat, “I was thinking about calling Eddie, letting him know I was promoted… I mean… we went to collage together and went through our careers together…” You look back at him through the mirror, “I think he’ll be happy to know from me and maybe even go to the party to celebrate. Also, we’ll be working a lot with each other again since he’s the leader of Shield’s team.”

“Were you still together when he got his promotion?” He asks, genuine interest in his voice.

You shake your head no, “It was right after he broke up with me.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, what happened?”

“I don’t know, actually, “ you answer, going back on working with the shears, finding a bit funny how he’s been fucking you senseless and exploring every little inch of your body these last few days and still is careful in asking a personal question, “I noticed he was distant a few weeks before, but I brushed it off.” You shrug, “We’d been together for so long and we had our ups and downs… I just thought we were going through one of our downs. And then he woke up one day and said he didn’t want to be together anymore… Natasha thinks he has someone else,” you say, with a small and humorless laugh as you turn on the blow drier and positions it over his hair.

He tightens his lips through the reflection. Yeah… he thinks the same. 

You’re glad for the sound of the drier as silence settles between you two. It’s not awkward or anything like that… you’re just glad for the silence so you can evaluate how the possibility of Eddie having someone affects you. It’s fucked up to admit even to yourself, but it sucks. It’s not like you’re crying alone right now, but it’s different. There’s nothing romantic with Bucky and, honestly, you feel like shit picturing Eddie, your boyfriend of ten years, in a relationship with someone else.   

“Did he call you to let you know once he was promoted?” Bucky asks as soon as you turn off the drier.

“He didn’t. I sent him a text when I found out, he didn’t answer,” You bite your cheek, as your shoulders drop and you slowly comb his hair.

“It sucks, huh?” He twists his lips as you meet his eyes through the mirror. They’re full of kindness and understanding, and you’re glad he doesn’t make you feel more embarrassed than you naturally are in sharing that with him. 

“We had just split, though… now it’s been months… things should be a little less weird… and voi lá.” Thankfully for your embarrassment, you finish his hair right then, an opportunity to change the subject.

He takes his eyes from you to his reflection on the mirror and you bite your lip waiting for his reaction, since it feels like it’s the first time he’s paying attention to himself ever since you started cutting his hair. Like he asked, you went overboard and cut it a lot shorter than before, letting a fluffy quaff on the top. As much as you loved the long locks, you think he looks more handsome than ever, like a movie star.

“Oh, wow”, he lets out in a jovial voice, running his hand over his soft and shorter locks, “It’s awesome.”

“Really?” you smile, letting out a relief breath, “See?” You grab the fluffiness on top of his head and smirk, “Perfect to grab.”

He laughs, “I really like it, I don’t look homeless anymore. Thank you.” He nods.

“You’re welcome, but wait, there are still some final touches before we’re really finished.” You grab the trimmer, and turn it on to work on the outlines behind his neck.

“Alright, ma’am.” He promptly straightens up his posture as you go back to work, “So, is it important for you that he knows?”

He resumes from where you had stopped and doesn’t have to clarify who and what he’s talking about. “It’s important for me that he goes,” you admit with a sigh, turning off the trimmer and looking at him through the mirror. You run your hands once again through his soft and new hair, before grabbing a little brush, “It feels weird to not share this with him,” you mutter, using the tool to meticulously brush off the remains of hair on his neck and shoulders. 

“Ok, then you should call him, why not?” He shrugs, “It’s been ten years, you just don’t erase that.”

A small, but thankful, smile curls your lips. You could expect being scolded for admitting something like that. Not from Bucky, apparently. And his support is really significant at that moment, much more than any lecture one of your friends would give you about the troubles of calling an ex-boyfriend who broke up with you.

“But just so you know,” he continues, shutting his eyes for a second and letting out a long exhale, “It may be just me, but I don’t think a man who doesn’t like to eat pussy deserves any kind of consideration.”

You laugh, letting your head fall back, before shaking it in lighthearted disbelief.

Bucky smiles and, if the fact that he makes you laugh with his stupid jokes lights up a warm and mysterious sensation in his chest, he thinks nothing of it, concentrating only on the touch of your gentle fingers grazing the skin of his neck while you go back to cleaning the little hairs off him.

~~~

Next chapter (from Bucky’s pov) coming soon. 

[whump-town]

The Slow Crawl Back to Normal

This is the really long fic I wrote to connect the episodes in season five following Foyet’s attack. As there is a whole month between the episode 5x01 “Nameless, Faceless” and 5x02 “Haunted”. So, naturally, I can’t stand to let all the possible whump go unwritten. However, I am not amused with the material I have produced. I did write is so it is to your own discretion that you read it. Good luck

Word Count:  7870

Getting into all of this, there had been a level of expected conflict. Seven people, six of which are heavily conflicted with a broad spectrum of emotions about one of the others. Luckily, Reid’s managed to procure a little of that attention (mercilessly, really).

That doesn’t stop them, entirely.

Emily Prentiss blinks once, twice at the bulging supply bag in Penelope Garcia’s hands. The two stare at each other from where they stand. A distinct air of mischief in the room, the lightest thing to ghost through all day. And Emily lets herself immerse fully into that hope. Into its ease. “I thought I said only the important things,” she chides softly.

Garcia looks down at the bag in her hands and frowns. Setting it down beside Hotch’s leg, Garcia opens it with a distinctly sassy motion. “It is only the important things,” she defends. She opens the bag to allow Emily to look in and as she pulls it open Emily can smell Hotch. His soap and detergent soaked into the old beige sweater sitting at the top of the bag. Even in the thick cabin socks tucked into the spare spaces. “I had to pack his winter clothes,” Garcia explains. “He gets cold easily, you know that.”

Hotch does stay relatively cold most of the time. Which is how it’s so effortless for him to stay tucked under all the layers of his suits. Emily is glad someone thought of that in the face of all this madness. The paper-thin, rough blankets the nurses are allowing him now aren’t going to be very much help. They’ve all shared a room with him before. He requires several layers of blankets to sleep.

Something green catches her eye and without thinking, Emily reaches in. “What’s--” Emily moves the sweater aside and Garcia swiftly shuts the sides of the bag around Emily’s hand.

Garcia glances at Hotch and then back to Emily, whispering loudly, “that is his underwear. You can’t look at them.”

Emily tries to hide her amused smile. It’s cute, alright? Big bad Aaron Hotchner having his modesty protected by Garcia. “Alright,” Emily backs down, pulling her hand back away from the bag. “Did you bring me anything?” she asks.

Garcia nods, smiling once again bright in place. “I come with…” Garcia turns to the shoulder bag she has, pulling it around to her front. “Books!” She spreads out the pickings and Emily realizes these are Hotch’s books. Because one, even the books that are essentially just decoration they’ve been sitting on her shelves for so long, she still knows their titles. And two, the books are old classic romance novels. Pride & Prejudice, Wuthering Heights, and Jane Eyre. She would never seek out these sorts of books on her own.

There’s also the additional proof that she’s seen them in his boxes. He’s been in his current apartment for months and he’s still hardly put away a thing that doesn’t get immediate, daily use. She’d been there to help him move and had refrained from commenting on the fact that he buckled the coffee maker into the front seat so it wouldn’t fall over. Which had forced her to sit in the back seat (which might have been punishment for making fun of his “dad” jeans). So, she’d also opened his other boxes to help along the unboxing process and quickly sidetracked so she could bully him for his library.

“You’re a lifesaver,” Emily says, taking them with a grateful smile and presses a quick kiss to Garcia’s cheek. “What would we do without you?” Emily thumbs through the old novels distractedly and wonders what she’s going to learn from these books. Never mind, she already knows: that H0tch is an old boring romantic.

Which is also cute but she refuses to acknowledge that for too long.

“How is he?” Garcia asks.

Her tone is so hopeful that it makes Emily’s throat tight. The truth is grim. And her duty is to the truth but Garcia is all of the light of this job. Her hope and smile is always what greets them when they come home. In the times in which she falls, they’ve found themselves bathed in the darkest nights. Not a star in sight. Clouds hovering overhead. There is so much to consider and no time to dwell.

Emily never has to answer her.

“Sir!”

His head turns sluggishly to them, eyes moving around the rest of him as he takes in everything. Slowly, they slide back to them but he doesn’t ask where he is or what happened. He looks them both over. Typical Hotch behavior to take stock of a situation and then do little visual check-ins to comb them over for injuries. Even though he’s the one laid up in the hospital. “Hello,” he hoarsely greets. His pale lips curl up, a soft smile he has afforded only her. He can always do that one little thing for Penelope Garcia. But he can’t hold it for long and with a tired sigh, his lips fall to his more natural grimace. His blinks are slowing in rate, his eyelids already dropping again.

Although, yesterday, the doctor had been sympathetic to his situation today she is not. She’d allowed him to forgo from taking stronger doses of morphine and sedatives so that he might fight his body and stay awake long enough to say goodbye to Haley and Jack. The three different states of panic he’d worked himself into were enough not to allow her to make that mistake again.

Today, as drowsy and inactive as he has been, he has remained calm. Only waking once in a state of panic early this morning, writhing in pain and crying out softly for Haley.

“Garcia was just dropping some stuff off,” Emily informs him. “Some clean clothes so you can change out of this gown.” But she’s Emily Prentiss and she can’t stop there. “Not that I’m sure the nurses don’t love seeing your ass every time you go to the bathroom.” She looks far too pleased as she remembers-- “Oh and she was totally bragging about being able to go through your underwear drawer. She was just showing me a pair of your boxers when you woke up-- Ow!” Emily is taken by complete surprise when Garcia hits her.

Garcia red in the face vehemently denies this false claim. “I would never do that, sir! I did have to look inside the drawer but I promise I tried to keep my eyes closed so I wouldn’t see everything! I hardly saw anything at all! Just--”

“Garcia. Garcia?”

She comes to a stuttering halt, face still very flushed.

“I know you wouldn’t,” Hotch clarifies with a tired sigh. “Prentiss just has a flair for tall tales.” He says this under his breath, his eyes falling shut. It takes him a long moment but he manages to blink them back open. A few rapid shallow blinks as he forces himself to stay awake just a little longer.

Emily scowls down at him but she can’t really be mad. Not him, not when he’s like this. “I do not have a flair for tall tales,” her voice turns to a childish taunt near the end. Finishing it off with an eye roll and softly knocking the back of her hand against his.

It earns her a sleepy little huff and just the faintest smirk.

Garcia feels a little better having seen this demonstration. As the one left searching hospitals for news on him, half expecting someone to eventually break the news of his death to her, she’s relieved. No one has given her good news in two days. She hadn’t been able to leave the office yesterday in time to make visitor’s hours. All she knew is what Morgan had told her from yesterday: that he was agitated and weak.

Weak. Her boss? No. Her Aaron Hotchner is strong and brave and maybe a little sad but he doesn’t deserve this.

“Garcia?”

She looks up, taken aback by how softly her name comes out of his mouth. “Yes, sir?”

“Thank you for finding me.”

Tears gather in her eyes and she steps around Emily to squeeze his hand. “Of course, sir.” Then leaning down to kiss his temple, she adds. “Just in case though, I’m going to put a tracker in your underwear. I can’t have you all running off on me, okay?”

He makes one of those signature Hotch grunts, a soft noise that comes from the back of his throat.

“I love you, sir.”

If he finds anything in his boxers, he’ll consider that a lie.

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

Aaron Hotchner may be sedated and spending roughly 75% of the last three days hazing in and out of sleep but he’s not stupid. He’s been a profiler for the better part of a decade, longer really, and he didn’t just bat his eyelashes to work his way up to Unit Chief. “You’re angry,” he says.

Dave and Emily have been shouldering the majority of his visiting hours. Everyone has stopped by (even Reid, though it was two in the morning and that was an unapproved meeting) and continues to stop by but seemingly out of duty rather than because they want to see him. Not that Hotch can really blame them. He’s seen himself in the mirror, he’s not looking too hot.

Today is Dave’s day and he’s been with Hotch since seven-thirty this morning. Long enough to watch Hotch sip at some apple juice and neglect the chicken broth he was supposed to have for lunch. His lack of appetite is starting to become a problem and that is what Hotch assumes Dave is frustrated with. Reasonably, Hotch does know he needs to try a little harder but apple juice got boring two days ago and he’s not really a fan of room temperature soup.

Looking up from his Sudoku, Dave sighs. An obvious tell. He straightens the spine of his book. “I’m not.”

Hotch grunts, so he is mad. They’ve had this conversation enough over the years for Hotch to be able to tell.  If Dave weren’t mad he would have spent more time clarifying he’s not mad at Hotch, not denying it. Rightfully, Dave always assumes first and foremost that Hotch thinks he’s mad with him. Which is fair because, right now, Hotch is fairly certain Dave is mad at him.

The sound of his grunt makes Dave look up and Dave finds himself looking at the side of Hotch’s head. The younger man avoiding his gaze. Fuck. Sighing, Dave places his pen in the middle of the pages and puts the book down. Way to go, Dave chides himself. Now he’s going to have to backpedal. Might as well call Emily now and tell her to come in and sit here with him. But that would only make matters worse. Then Hotch would have damning proof Dave is mad at him.

“I’ll-- I’ll try harder,” Hotch whispers, scratching dully at one of the bandages wrapped around his forearm. “I will.”

Dave leans forward in his chair, head hitting the palms of his hands with a groan. Does this nonsense ever get easy? “I”m not mad at you, Aaron.” He rubs at his face, around his eyes until he can sit back up. He’s not mad at Aaron, really. He’s fucking livid with George Foyet. With Hotch’s landlord who Derek has been on the phone with for the last two days arguing about nothing and everything. He annoyed with this hospital and the stupid rules but he’s not mad at Hotch.

Dave can tell Hotch doesn’t believe him. “Aaron,” Dave calls softly. He reaches out and puts his hand on Hotch’s thigh, pushing a little to get his attention. “I promise I am not mad at you, alright? You’re doing great.” That’s not really proof. In all honesty, now Dave’s thinking about how all this could have been avoided. If he’d just left Hotch in Seattle all those years ago. Someone would have taken him, surely, he was too good for that office but if Dave had left him for someone else they wouldn’t be here.

Haley and Aaron might still be married.

“If I was mad at you,” Dave asks, “would I have asked Derek to bring you better soup and popsicles?” He forces himself not to react when Hotch glances over after hearing popsicles. “Those little plastic ones that you like--” Dave knows the name but he’s baiting him.

“The colorful ones?”

Dave nods, “yes, those.” He’s not sure what kind of soup Derek’s bringing, likely just whatever is offered at whatever takeout place he stops at. But they are getting the popsicles. They had been the only thing in Hotch’s fridge. Garica had been appalled by this when she told him.

“It was empty, Rossi! Old coffee creamer, a half-gallon of oat milk, and popsicles. That’s it.”

Hotch hums under his breath, turning his head into the pillows. The only positive side to being sedated is that he doesn’t think about Foyet. There are nightmares but he can’t remember them. By the time he wakes someone’s already at his side, walking him through the steps of calming down. He can’t even remember what upset him-- or even if it was Foyet. The attack is fuzzy, lacking the hard edges of memory, but he does know this is temporary.

Soon, two days from now, if not tomorrow, they’ll lift him off the hard drugs. Rest will come second to recovery and he’ll remember.

But for now, he sinks into the thoughtless, dreamless slumber.

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

Technically, this is day two in recovery and he should be up on his feet being forced to walk the long empty halls every hour or so. Core strength isn’t built overnight but as Hotch is learning, it can be killed that quickly. For now, they let him rest as his first twelve hours here on the unit were full of rapid downs. He’d nearly pulled stitches having a nightmare and saying goodbye to Haley and Jack did a number.

Sitting by his side, JJ finds herself thinking about the hours she wasted. Where was her conviction? That gut instinct everyone else seems to run on? She’s known him for years, longer than Emily, and yet she hadn’t thought anything of his phone going to voicemail. Nearly a decade of working by his side and she knows, she knows he always answers. No matter the time, no matter what he’s doing-- grocery shopping, trying to shower, or feeding Jack.

If she calls, he answers.

Her guilt means nothing. It’s just some cruel tactic she’s deployed to distract her from what’s really bothering her. He’s alone. JJ had made those calls to the marshalls. She’d packed Jack’s bag, throat tight as she stacked his little shirts into his even tinier suitcase. And now they’re gone. Already ghosts that Foyet will not be able to find.

That Hotch won’t be able to find.

Her voice is small and trampled but she can’t stand the silence. “Sometimes I forget how he used to be.” It surprises her to hear her voice just as much as it does Emily, who sits on Hotch’s other side, a book loosely held in her lap. She knows Emily’s silence is shock and not just her ignoring JJ. Emily is just one of those people whose silence is often more telling their words-- the same is true for Dave and Hotch.

It’s under that attention that JJ now finds herself a little shy if not stubbornly selfish. Suddenly, her desire to speak is gone. The memory she bathes herself in is her own. To share it makes it lose its depth and the warm familiarity of Aaron. But on Emily presses. She waits silently for JJ to find her voice once again. And JJ decides that she’s being silly. Wistful if not a bit melancholy, which there is no need to be. Aaron Hotchner is alive. Steadily he breathes, he aches, and he lives right between them.

She looks down at the thin white blanket lazily dragged up over Hotch’s hips. Conjuring the image of that Aaron Hotchner from so long ago. Young and smiling with suits that didn’t really fit his long legs. “He was one of those fairytale romancers,” JJ says. She smiles at the look of horror and shock on Emily’s face. This, for that face, is why JJ had begun. They each have this version of him, totally unique to them, that they get to have in these moments. He is not the same man to JJ as he is to Emily. “You could tell he believed in love. He was so--”

Emily is sitting forward in her chair. The book she’d brought lays face down on the bed, inches from Hotch’s limply curled fingers. On he breathes with his trembling crescendo exhales and raspily choked inhales. Oblivious to them.

“He was so enraptured by Haley,” JJ confesses softly, looking to him now. Attempting to manifest one of his smiles from his thin, pale lips. “But mostly,” she finally confesses, “he was so… boyish.” Emily makes a surprised sound, flinching back a little as she considers this information. JJ finds herself watching Emily’s every expression. She wonders who it is that Emily knows as Aaron Hotchner.

JJ smiles as she continues, humored. She’s thrilled by this idea that there might be more to him. That if she tells Emily about her Hotch, Emily will tell her own version. And now, in her hands, she’ll have a larger idea of him. More. She wants more of him so that maybe less might be stolen.

“Once,” she admits, “I told him about the girls from my liaison classes.” It was years ago. So long she needs a moment to really remember the whole thing. Specifically for those little moments and flashes in his eyes. The blush on his cheeks when he laughed and looked away. How he’d shaken his head. “The girls down there are just… they were in awe of him.” She smiles, “and how could you not be? He is handsome and has great manners.”

Emily smirks, rolling her eyes. “Just having manners makes him better than the apes down the hall.” True. Half of the men that work in the building with them are creeps. It seems as if the only half-decent men in Quantico work on their team. Everyone else is more than questionable.

JJ nods in agreeance.

“...Em’ly?” Hotch groans. His eyes are pinched shut in pain. “ ‘m gonna be sick,” he mumbles. He swallows thickly, loud enough for JJ to hear.

Emily gets up in a flash, nearly tripping over her own legs. “JJ raise the head of the bed up,” she instructs.

JJ freezes for only a moment. She hasn’t spoken to Hotch since yesterday when he woke up and they figured out Foyet was targeting Haley and Jack. He’s been asleep every time since. Now, there’s panic in his eyes. As she raises the bed, he grabs her hand. His fingers wrapped tightly around her wrist. Enough to make her stop.

“Wait, wait!” He pants softly, breathing hitching as he writhes uselessly. His chest is on fire, only making his stomach churn more. A few seconds pass and he realizes that he’s going to vomit regardless. “Okay,” he says tightly.

JJ glances at Emily but continues on.

Hotch makes a pained sound, moving his hand from JJ’s wrist. He doesn’t open his eyes, just presses his hand into his stomach. The cramp of his churning stomach more severe than the agitated stitched across his abdomen. “I need the--” his hand wraps around the bucket but Emily keeps holding on.

It’s just water, JJ notes. Being a mother has numbed her to bodily fluids so she doesn’t mind vomit.

Emily doesn’t flinch either. The first time she had. It had taken them both by surprise. Now, for about the fourth time, she just shakes her head. Offering the comfort she can think to-- rubbing his back as tears stream down his cheeks. She already knows they’re going to threaten an NG tube, a longer stay, or something. They always have something to say nothing to help. He’s maxed out on pain meds and still in pain.

They want him to drink something other than water to get his blood sugar back up but hasn’t managed to keep anything down since they started giving him the juices.

Breathlessly, Hotch falls back against the pillows. A light sweat had broken out over his face. “Sorry,” he groans, twisting slowly. His hips are stiff and chest tight but he needs to ease the ache in his stomach. Everything hurts and he can’t get comfortable.

“He can’t keep the apple juice down,” Emily mumbles as she passes JJ with the bucket. JJ follows her to the bathroom to the side of the room. Out of the corner of her eye she glances back at Hotch, watching him. Whether he simply doesn’t care if he’s being watched or hasn’t the presence of mind to consider it, she knows what she sees is a direct reflection of how he feels. No guards. No shields. Just his pale face and weak body leaning heavily into the pillows around him. Lips drawn in a grimace. Pained.

JJ tears her eyes away from the scene. She can’t stand it. Emily must be so strong, JJ thinks, to sit in here with him. To do what she does without blinking. If she weren’t so lost in thought-- stuck circling this stupid idea of all the ways she just keeps failing Hotch-- she would have come up with the idea earlier. However, it takes the sight of Hotch paling even more and grimacing to spur it.

Emily guides the apple juice back into his palm, despite the fact that he turns his head from her.

“Why don’t you water it down?”

Emily frowns, “what do you mean?”

JJ extends her hand and Emily hesitantly gives her the bottle. “Toddlers,” JJ says, “can have juice, right? But it can be a bit much. You have to dilute the juice with water. It can ruin their little teeth but mostly it can spike their blood sugar.” JJ takes the little pink cup Hotch has been sipping water out of and pours a significant bit of the apple juice out. Then she takes the bottle and fills the rest with water. Taking a sip… it’s about the same ratio she’d give a toddler. “You’re still drinking the apple juice, you’re just not going to upset your stomach.”

Hotch hasn’t been throwing up the water so it’s obviously an apple juice problem.

And, sure enough, he keeps the diluted apple juice down. It provides the extra benefit of forcing him to drink more water too as he has to finish at least, one bottle of apple juice a day.

JJ needn’t worry too much about the self-imposed diagnosis of her relationship with Hotch because he, sincerely, considers her a hero for that idea.

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

Hotch wakes from a nap he can’t remember falling asleep to take. His fingers are loosely wrapped around a popsicle. It’s long since melted into an overly sugared blue slush but there is only about a third of it left or what he guesses is about a third. As the palm of his hand is protected by a paper towel that was, at some point, wrapped around the popsicle but now just hinders his ability to see what’s left.

“What times is it?”

“Five thirty.”

Hotch flinches, looking over to his left and finding Morgan and Reid. When he’d asked the question he’d meant it for JJ or Dave. Both of whom are sitting on his right side, his currently favored side. He finds himself self-conscious of this blindness. How weak, stupid even, he must be to miss either of them. Reid is sitting in a bulky wheelchair. Each of either man’s movements measured out by the soft, plastic thunk of round game pieces being moved along the bored.

They’re playing checkers and he hadn’t even noticed them.

“Why does he always do that?” JJ asks no one in particular. She glances at Hotch with an eye roll of exasperation before adding, “always rounds up the time like a little old man. It’s 5:16. That’s hardly 5:30.”

Hotch swallows thickly around his confusion. It takes a whole minute for him to understand but, graciously, JJ has already moved on to another topic. Speaking to Dave now as she searches for something in the bags sitting at the table by his side. She’d meant Reid and his, admittedly, strange habit of significantly rounding up the passage of time.

She pulls out a little bowl, it’s lid fogged with steam, and sets it down. Even though it’s small enough for her to hold in one hand, Hotch’s stomach churns at the thought of having to eat it. Next comes another bowl. “Derek brought you soup,” she says to him. “Rice too but that’s just more so you have options.”

Vaguely, he can remember receiving his popsicle. JJ’s words filling in a memory. Derek had arrived in a flurry of white take-out bags. Emily and Garcia had been around at the time and he’d been only slightly up for small talk. Which they had been strangely understanding about. To the point, Emily hadn’t overwhelmed him with the options. She’d simply wrapped a napkin around the base and given it to him. Already open.

“Do you know which you’d like?”

He can feel himself working into a cold sweat. Overwhelmed with just a simple question. He looks at JJ and then at the rice and then the soup. He’s not sure what the right answer is. Over the last three days, that’s mostly what he’s learned. Though his body craves nothing, not food, and rarely even the need to use the bathroom, he knows it’s supposed to. His eating habits are now watched and, never once in his life, being the type of person to yearn strongly for foods he’s floored. He never knows what they want to hear.

Sure, he’s craved things. An oreo in passing or a specific brand go chips. Preferred a dipping sauce for fries but…

“The soup,” Dave says. He sees that look in Hotch’s eyes, the cast-off-- no one’s home-- look. “It’s your favorite,” Dave takes the soup from JJ’s hand, watching closely as Hotch comes back. He blinks slowly, taking in what’s happening, and nods. Hotch doesn't have a favorite soup but they don’t need to know that.

Hotch looks down, blankly, as Dave gently takes the melted popsicle from his hands. He feels… a strange attachment to that popsicle. Though melted he almost wants it still.

“Eat your soup,” Dave encourages replacing the popsicle with a spoon.

Hotch’s fingers curl slowly around the thin metal. He’s officially at a stage in his life where fine motor movements like this require heavy thought. Pure devotion. He can not think, breathe, or speak while doing these sorts of things. So, eating his soup is going to be far more difficult than he’d like it to be. Neverminded how humiliating his lack of coordination is.

And they’re all here.

His mouth opens, the words I’m not hungry forming but come with no sound. He shuts his mouth and swallows thickly. Again, his stomach twists with a strange vengeance. It’s just clear, brothy soup. Soup. So, why does it feel like his entire chest is pulsing with anxiety?

He flinches when a hand wraps around his own. Obscuring the view of the spoon, of his hand and he knows he can only fight off the tremble for so long. He drags his eyes up, forces himself to keep that hand steady. JJ is touching him but she’s not looking. “Would the rice be easier?” she asks.

White, tasteless rice. Unseasoned. Just rice.

He can’t make words pass across his lips but there must be something that his face betrays because without a word JJ puts the lid back on the soup and puts the rice in his lap. It’s closer than the soup had been. When he looks up, no one’s watching. Morgan and Reid are turned so he’ll see them if they turn to watch. JJ and Dave are settling down to their own respective tasks. JJ snacking on a piece of garlic bread and Dave kicking his feet up on the edge of his bed. No one's watching.

Swallowing thickly, he moves slowly. All of his attention goes to this task. The spoon grazes the top of the lid but no one looks at the sudden clink of the metal hitting the container. He glances up once more time before forcing the spoon into his mouth. He nearly misses but no one sees. A single grain falls back onto his lap. The white rice nearly lost in the sea of the other white blankets.

Though, none of them aware, tomorrow is going to be hard on them all. For today, he remains pliable. Succumbing easily to sleep and to their request. He flinches but he lacks the strength to get too far away. So he remains in his bed, watching them from behind hooded eyes and deep, sedated breaths. Tomorrow he will find the strength for defiance.

“Not too much,” JJ says, after a few minutes. He manages only about five bites and the spoon never has more than a pinch of rice but it’s setting heavily on his stomach and he’s done. “Done?”

Heavy and warm, he nods. He feels her take the spoon from his hands and lift the rice away.

“Hotch?”

It feels like only a second has passed but when he pulls his heavy eyes back open there’s only JJ. Reid and Morgan having left and Dave too, apparently. He hums, mouth too dry to form words.

“Can you finish this juice off for me?” She doesn’t wait for a reply, just places the nearly empty bottle into his palm. He’s tired and so he doesn’t fight the tender way she pushes his hair back from his face and places a kiss on his temple. She knows there are only a few more hours left before his guard slips back into place and he fights her every move. But, for now, she can appreciate that he doesn’t fight her help so long as it’s minimal.

There’s a straw in the juice so he only has to lift his arm a little to get access to the juice.

“Hello,” Emily steps into the room, smiling the whole way.

JJ glances at Hotch but he’s glaring down at the apple juice.

“JJ,” Emily greets, “you’re relieved of your duties. Hotch is safe with me.” Emily tosses her bag on the end of Hotch’s bed, right beside where his feet are. “Don’t worry about us Jayje, we're gonna watch movies.”

JJ glances once more to Hotch, satisfied he’s back to taking tentative sips from his apple juice. Okay. She needs to sleep and catch up on laundry. She’s leaving him in good hands. Nothing to worry about. Reaching out she touches his leg, getting his attention. “Behave.”

He nods and returns back to his own head, looking down at his lap.

It goes without saying that Emily is the one who needs to be doing the behaving.

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

He goes home far too early.

If the nightmares leave him paralyzed, the wounds ooze-- Surely, he is not healthy enough to go off on his own.

He’s a body caught in the loop. Just a capsule for time, each second measured out on his paling skin. Every minute, each hour-- the blood trickling down over his ribs. Slipping into the grooves of skin and staining his once white t-shirt. He breathes but he is not living. With no thoughts, no feelings is he even a thing at all? Just a body that remains where he was left five days before to watch the sunrise from his window and set on the other side of his house. Every day. For five days.

On the sixth day, as the sun sets over the top of the house-- noon-- there’s a knock at his door. The calendar on his fridge wrestles softly with the breeze coming in from the window Derek Morgan left open in the kitchen. Their names with their own smiling stickers and color-coded which had meant to be for Aaron alone wave pathetically with each coming breeze. It was meant to be a way to keep track of passing days and who would be coming to terrorize him every day. Garcia had hung it up and wrapped his fingers around a black sharpie, smiling when she added he could even use it to mark off the days until his hopeful return to the BAU.

The knocking on the door grows silent and breathily, Hotch whimpers out in relief. He can’t think, doesn’t want to, and is glad that today, not unlike the last five days, whoever it is has wisened up and chosen to leave him alone. All he wants is silence and pain. The only things he knows for sure are real.

As the nurse had watched them go, she spoke those same words over and over. Monitor. He’s meant to be monitored and watched.

Unless the shadows that warp into George Foyet-- and not just him but Hotch’s father, long and tall, and Carl Arnold and his cackling, taunting observations, and beasts and ghosts from his nightmares. Unless those monsters count, he’s been alone.

Outside his apartment door, David Rossi and Emily Prentiss argue loudly. Enough to stir the rest of the apartment complex’s occupants but none dare stick their heads out to inquire on the trespassing. They all know of the agent nearly killed and none want to get mixed up in that (that is, the few that remain).

“There.”

Emily looks up from her side bag and Dave from where he’s leaning, unhelpfully, looking in as well. For a moment, all Emily can do is stare down at the slightly ajar door. Slowly, her eyes lift to Garica and then back to the door. “You scare me,” Emily says as her face is split by a wide, proud grin. “That, though, was the sexist thing I have ever seen in my life! What are you hiding from us, Penelope Garcia?”

Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear Garcia shrugs modestly. Honestly, she’d learned a lot about picking locks from her brothers but, most of what stuck came from Reid and a phase he went through two years ago where he decided to learn how to pick every lock he could get his hands on. She’d picked up a thing or two, as well.

All the cheer dissipates quickly.

“Stay here.”

Emily glances at Garcia but neither disobey Dave’s order. Fearful of what they might find, really.

Dave pushes his way into the room, hit with the thick scent of heavy settling. Distinctly dusty scent. “Aaron?” He steps around a pair of discarded sweatpants, a puddle of dark grey fabric on the carpet. “Shit--” Dave winces as the sight of blood seeped into the fabric of Hotch’s shirt. “Aaron,” he cups Hotch’s cheek, shaking him.

Hotch groans, peeling his eyes open. Despite the deep panic settling in over his chest, his heart beating so hard that he can’t tell the difference between the rate at which his chest aches from the stab wounds and the pace of his heart. He shoves blindly at the arms grabbing at him. His mind chanting-- Foyet, Foyet, Foyet, Foyet--

“It’s me, Aaron!” Dave pins Hotch’s arms to the bed, startled by the ease at which it takes. “It’s okay, it’s okay!”

It’s not. It’s not okay. Hotch can see him, right now. George Foyet looms just behind Dave, knife poised in hand to kill. It’s not okay and nothing ever will be again. But… they can try, can’t they?

“We’re so sorry, sir.”

Hotch leaning heavily into Emily as Rossi crouches on the bedroom floor, making the best of the little light Hotch can take. He can’t sit up by himself, his head spinning and eyes burning, but with Emily’s right arm wrapped around his hips and Dave’s hand bracing his chest he manages to stay put. Mostly, numb to movement and their voices. He just… exists without thought.

Garcia is full of anxious movement and her constant shifting and rocking is hypnotic. It draws his shaky awareness to her. He’s nearly unaware of the cold air blowing against his bare chest. “Garcia,” he croaks. He feels himself wilting, shaking in Emily’s grip. She shifts their bodies and he remains upright, despite how far he’s pulling them down.

She perks up, “yes sir?”

“You don’t have to apologize to me.”

That doesn’t feel true. Not at all, not even a little.

They left him. For once in all the years that they have known him, they listened to him, and what made them think that was okay? They’d disregarded his orders in the field and pushed his buttons just to get a rise out of him. All for that disobedience to be thrown to the side the moment that he got home. He’d wanted to be alone and they fucking listened. Why did they listen?

There is a certain distortion that spoken word carries, impervious though is the thought. A fact only discovered through effect, is that there will never be the right word to express a thought. As it passes through the lips, it warps as all soft, loved things do. The teeth gnarl and grind and the face betrays meaning and the thought, as gentle as a butterfly's wing, with churn to dust right before the eye. Until nothing but the ash is left behind and there is only the fragment of an idea.

“I--I need help.” His words, the rocks on the boldface of a mountain, come crashing into the way of oncoming traffic. He means them feverishly, without reasons and no hesitation. No brakes, no way to stop. He’s nothing more than the stampede of tragedy as smoke fills the air, tires screeching as smoke plumes above. He, the rock, and them, the cars he collides so blindly with. “I’m, I’m afraid of what I’ll do if I’m alone.”

They are there in every moment, every breath. Overstimulated, he needs the breath of silence that passes between his own thoughts. A whirlwind of the fiber of his being lit on fire. He hadn’t known the loud thrum of the world in so long and he needs them to overpower it. He needs them to speak over the electric hum of the light bulb that hangs a fraction too low and swings with its loose wires. As the seconds tick by and the sounds kill him, he needs them gone. He needs nothing more than his thoughts and the hum and he doesn’t have the words anymore. No way to tell them that it’s all too much and entirely not enough.

That he hates how JJ touches his elbow when she’s near him. He’s certain that if she doesn’t touch him, if Garcia doesn’t ghost smiles his way, or Dave fondly knocks gently into him that he will find he doesn't exist. Nothing more than the air that he pulls lazily into lungs that no longer wish to function. Aaron Hotchner will simply cease to be and he’s no longer capable of deciding if that is what he wants. Still, his bones crave for the gentle stroke of a hand against his own. For someone to grab him by the sides of the head and kiss him until that dark pool of warmth settles once again in his stomach. To feel, in its full, love and hatred.

Please, someone, break down his so firmly built walls. Impose themselves. Force their love into the cracks Foyet’s knife has left. Anything.

It’s clear the line they walk with him. Waves lapping at his nerves. Left to perpetually guess at when they need to override his wishes and when they need to step back. It’s Hotch so it’s not easy work.

“You look good like this.” Dave smiles at the sleepy, inquiring glare Hotch sends his way but it’s hard to look intimidating while exhausted and with a head full of messy hair. Which is ink-like on the pillow, spread out in every direction. It makes Dave wish he were the type of writer that dabbles in the art of another world and, more than that, he wishes to create a character like Aaron Hotchner. So that he might force at least one version of this stubborn man to trust the love his team so willingly provides.

But men are often far more complex than what David Rossi is patient enough to put to paper so he is stuck in this world. With the grumpy asshole that he calls a close friend glaring up at him from underneath a hand-knit several toned green blanket, pulled all the way up to his chin and balled there in his fist. A gift from Garcia.

“I bought you a heating blanket,” Dave says, spreading the thick, soft material over Hotch’s long body. “Mmm,” he notes in disappointment when he finds the blanket just a little too small to cover all of his friend's long body. Which isn’t entirely surprising, nothing is ever simple with Aaron Hotchner. However, heated blankets? That’s rather simple.

Dave smiles, contently, as he cranks the blanket up. Turning the heat to the max and watching its immediate effect-- Hotch’s dark eyes drooping and his mouth falling limply from its scowl.

Garcia made him the green blanket he loves so dearly. She’s recently gotten really into knitting. Though, she’s not very good. The blanket she made Hotch is her best yet even if it’s somehow crooked. It’s a dark, dark green and Hotch has used it every night since Garcia gifted it to him in the hospital. He’s very partial to it.

Content (already falling asleep) Dave feels alright leaving Hotch in the living room while he makes some dinner. Of course, as soon as Dave has rolled up his sleeves and is trying to get some vegetables chopped up Emily has to go bothering him. Dave may not have raised children but he swears to deal with the two of them, is exactly like it. He’s seen the way children do one another. Going to brother the peaceful one to entertain themselves.

“Emily,” Dave fuses, placing a hand on his hip. He quickly drops it when he realizes he must look exactly like his mother had when fussing with him. “Leave him alone,” he finishes.

Emily acts offended, throwing her arms in defense. “I wasn't doing anything!” But they all know damn well she’s still going to go bother Hotch.

She’s stuck in this apartment and hasn't brought anything to entertain herself. Besides, he’s her friend. The whole point of him is to entertain her. That’s what friends are for. “Scoot,” she orders, glancing over her shoulder at Dave. He’s chopping vegetables, probably choosing to ignore them.

Obediently, Hotch pulls himself up. Scowling at her, not heated but just because that’s his face at this point, as he does as she requests. “I’m not sharing my blanket,” he mumbles assuredly. Mostly because he knows she doesn’t want the blanket anyhow, he just needs something to say.

Emily sits down beside him, hip-to-hip, it’s a snug fit. “Here,” she reaches around him and places a pillow in her lap, motioning for him to lay back down.

He’s already moving to obey when he grumbles, “why can’t you sit somewhere else?”

She rolls her eyes and Garcia grins at them. “I want to sit with my friend,” she answers. “Is that a crime?”

He hums, “no but it’s annoying.”

There had been a time when Dave had been jealous of the natural relationship between Hotch and Emly. Despite having known Hotch the longest, Dave can see that his friend is just easily comfortable with Emily. The oddness of that companionship is undeniable but he craves for the proximity they allow one another. So guarded except for when it comes to one another. But Dave has, also, come to terms with the fact that Hotch is just… odd.

Emily may be able to command Hotch to do things. As she had just moments ago when she’d gone into the living room and pulled his head into her lap. Dave wishes he could have that comfort. The sleepy way that Hotch had only minimally fought her until he’d settled down and caved to her. But Dave has what even Emily doesn't. Though he may allow Emily into his personal space he only wants Dave when he wakes up screaming from nightmares. When he needs help.

The same way that only Garcia can tuck blankets snugly around him. JJ can argue about how much food he’s eating and get him to eat more. Only Morgan can offer him help when he’s too tired to walk. Reid is the only person allowed to hold his hand. They take what they can get and pride themselves on what little that yields.

“What if I was bitten by a zombie?” Emily asks. “Would you handcuff yourself to me so we could be together?”

Dave quirks an eyebrow at that, shaking his head but continuing with his current task in the kitchen.

Hotch’s low response is inaudible but he hears Emily’s huff of indignance. “That’s not ridiculous, Hotch! I would handcuff myself to you! That’s love, you ass. Garcia would do it.”

Dave looks up, watching Garcia nod from the chair on the other side of the room. She’d been knitting silently, the clack of the plastic needles hypnotically drawing in comfort into the somber apartment. She doesn’t even stop knitting to look and conform with a serious nod that she would, in fact, handcuff herself to them if they were zombies.

Emily doesn’t seem to have learned her lesson with the zombie question. “What about if I was a worm? Would you let me live in your suit pocket?”

Dave hears Hotch’s zero hesitation reply-- “No.” He smirks but says nothing. Hotch adds, “I’d leave you on a pear tree.”

Emily frowns, “I don’t like pears.”

“I know.”

Garcia huffs a laugh but clamps her hand over her mouth when Emily shoots her a glare.

“Dave,” Emily calls. “He’s being mean to me.”

Dave shrugs, “I told you to leave him alone.” And as frustrated as he could let himself be he can’t. Lowly, he can hear Hotch replying to everything asked of him. The soft chuckle he lets out when Garcia says something to him and he can see the little grin in his voice when he speaks to the two of them.

Just give it some time, Dave assures himself. Before he knows it, they’ll have Hotch back. All of him and things will go back to the way they always are. They just need to decide if they’re really ready for that.

[notnctu]

to jaemin, my best friend’s boyfriend ♡

To All The J’s I’ve Loved Before Series by notnctu ♡ na jaemin x fem!reader  ♡ genre - angst  ♡ wc - 2.3k ♡ warnings - the act of cheating, explicit language ♡ synopsis - in which a kiss causes more consequences than satisfaction  ♡ taglist - @colpen ; @cestmoncoeur ; @hyucksberry ; @lexiluness ; @lovelycharm05 ; @dearlyminhyung ; @classic-antifood ; @pikijaemin ; @whorefortaeyong ; @jaeismytamtation ; @skrtbeepbeep ; @justakpopstans ; @macaroni-sly​  ♡ a/n - let us know if you want to be on the taglist for the next ones!

Jaemin,

Writing this letter seems wrong. The feelings I had developed for you were wrong. I shouldn’t have fallen for your wide, sparkling smile. Or your dazzling, charming eyes. Or your deep, soulful song. You were everything that I envisioned in a happy relationship, but the thing was, you were already in one. 

The moment she introduced us I tried to suppress whatever beating of my heart I felt when we made eye contact. She was my best friend and you were her boyfriend. But, I looked at you in the most selfish way.

I knew I liked you when you became my only motive to leave my house. When I felt the jealousy of your hand dangling on her shoulder. When I started to think about you more than I should’ve. When I couldn’t breathe at the sight of your happiness. I stole moments from you two like I wanted them to be ours. But the truth is, we never had an us. At least, that was what I thought before we kissed. 

The kiss was wrong too, but you felt so right in my arms. The night was almost perfect, I know you remember it as well as I do. You showed up at my door with tear stained cheeks and just fell into my arms. You told me I felt safe. I was the only person that made you feel that way, not her, not anyone else. Me.

I replay the scene in my head at night and the feelings I felt when our lips met. You tasted like serenity and I was greedy thinking about how she took it for granted. 

It’s so hard for me to admit these feelings and write them out. I have so much more reflecting to do and you’re honestly right to stop talking to me. But I fucking miss you like somehow I can’t live without you in my life anymore.

I beat myself up for falling hard for my best friend’s boyfriend. But somewhere along the lines and the times we spent together, even with her, you became much more than that to me.

I think I loved you, close to it probably. You were a feeling that intoxicated me so wonderfully, how could someone not wish to drown in all that you had to offer?

Jaemin, I really don't regret kissing you because she didn’t deserve you. I said it, she didn’t. We’re no longer friends, and it was for the better. She didn’t even seem hurt when I told her, like she was expecting it.

Maybe I had been too obvious with my feelings towards you, but she didn’t seem phased and let you go so easily. And trust me, you are not someone to let go easily. 

I miss you. I’m not saying I deserve you either, knowing that I didn’t even respect your relationship. All I just want is for you to also acknowledge you felt something too. Even for a second, that I made your heart stop for longer than she could’ve. 

-from my selfish thoughts, y/n

Na Jaemin had to be the most selfish love you’ve ever experienced. You were doomed from the moment you laid eyes on him walking hand in hand with your best friend. The sun rays highlighted his goofy, wide smile and added a distinct twinkle in his dark eyes. 

The way he kissed the back of her hand when he’d bid her goodbye. The pout that appeared when she refused to give him a small kiss. The loving stares that he only gave her. The bear hugs that engulfed her small figure. The melodic laughs that played when he radiated happiness. The possessive arm that always draped around her shoulder.  

Morals were thrown out the window when you felt the heavy, fast paced beating of your heart and your lingering stares exposed you before you could think twice. It was a wrong that felt right because of her mistreatment towards him. 

There was absolutely no place for you to judge someone else’s relationship, but Jaemin’s sad eyes spoke louder than anything else in the room. It was her neglect and constant lack of reassurance that this puppy craved. However, your best friend was always lost in her own world and it was sometimes hard to even call her your best friend.

Her disappearances and silence made it easy to distance yourself from her friendship, but she came crawling back when she needed you. In some ways, you felt that she treated Jaemin the same way too. 

So on this lonely night, when the couple would rather spend their evening strictly together, jealousy settled in your system in a horrible, distasteful way. Panning mindlessly through your friends’ social media, an adorable picture of Jaemin appeared on your screen. The moon crescents on his face from his big, beautiful smile and the signature peace sign. It had been posted barely an hour ago by her and a part of you wished that you never saw it.

How many times do you have to remind yourself? You were not entitled to their dates because they’re the ones in the relationship. Jaemin was only nice enough to always let you tag along. You took advantage of these offers, knowing that sometimes he invited you out of courtesy and not because they actually wanted you to be there. She mainly stopped inviting you because she noticed the hearts in your eyes whenever Jaemin looked in your direction.

The loud ding! of your phone startled you from your jealous thoughts. Your heart stopped when his name popped up on your screen and the message that accompanied it. 

na jaemin: open your door pls ): she said you’d be home 

you: you two are outside right now? 

na jaemin: just me 

The door revealed the unexpected company that stood with slumped shoulders on the other side. Jaemin’s red, puffy eyes blinked at the floor. His stature hunched forward in a depressing feat and droplets stained the hallway carpet at his feet.

“Hey, is everything okay?” Confusion, concern, cautious. He stepped inside when you allowed and lost himself in your arms. His heavy, tall figure almost caused you to lose your balance. Regardless, you caught him and embraced him tightly. He sobbed aggressively into your hair, and your hand patted his back awkwardly.

Jaemin hurried to your room, embarrassed if any of your housemates would catch him crying in their living room. Following the crying child, you grabbed a few snacks from the kitchen as a resource of comfort.

“I---” He peeked up at you through his wet eyelashes. “--didn’t know who else to go to. You’re the only person who I actually feel comfortable going to about all of this.” 

The happy boy from the photo was no longer present before you. It was like someone shattered him in every way possible or he devastatingly dropped his ice cream cone. The urge to kiss away his tears held onto you strong, but the will to fight it was the only thing that kept you from acting out. You merely wanted to bring his smile back.

“What happened? I thought you two were on a date, it seemed so fun!” There was a lack of enthusiasm and cheerfulness in your voice. Jaemin knew you had no way of lying to him.

He sighed and wiped the tears that kept falling, “maybe if you had been there, all of this could have been avoided.” 

“Jaemin, I can’t be at all of your dates as collateral damage. She already hates me hanging out with you two all the time.” You sat next to him on your bed. Almost instinctively, he pulled you into his side and rested his head at your neck. The intimate position made your heart beat sporadically and uncomfortably, scared that Jaemin would listen in to how easily he affected you. 

His lips tickled your skin as he mumbled, “no one else has made me feel so safe before, not even her. That’s why I ended up here, the place that was going to protect me from the pain I felt today.” 

His confession stunned you to a great magnitude. Until now, Jaemin has never expressed how he felt about you, even as his new friend. It had come to a shock to you that he admitted how you were his guardian angel, someone he’d turn to at a desperate time. He recognized he selfishly needed you to take away all the bad parts of life. To be with you meant only good times and a resolve that was nothing less of perfection. 

Then, what happened next was the unthinkable and the unstoppable. Jaemin held you at your shoulders, coming face to face to your still shocked expression. You two blinked back at each other in the silence. Jaemin saw your wandering eyes that admired his pink lips. He never noticed before how pretty you truly were, not simply by appearance. He knew your heart contained something much more innocent than his own.

He leaned in and there was no hesitation on your part. His hot breath mixed with your own as he kissed you fruitfully and open mouthed. It was hard to pull away from something you had been yearning for since the moment you two met. The one thing you craved was the flavor of his lips and his tongue to lap with your’s. He tasted like every heaven that existed, serenity and tranquility.

A hot kiss that produced an addictive warmth in your chest. Your heart was beyond ready to burst at how you were kissing your best friend’s boyfriend. Anger rested in your thoughts at how she managed to take all of him for granted. He was too hard to let go, the feeling of him belonging in your arms. The mixture of feelings overwhelmed your body, pulsing through every vein with a thrilling love. 

Jaemin kept surprising you throughout the night. Everything from him seemed platonic, like he didn’t bother to bat an eyelash at you or see you affectionately. But you were kissing him, in the most passionate way. Maybe you were being slightly delusional, but he devoured you greedily, like he had been wanting to taste you too.

His hand traveled to your jawline and caressed your cheek lovingly. Jaemin also pulled you closer by the end of your shirt, your right leg rested on top of his thigh. As you took everything you’ve ever wished for, guilt began to build at your needy fingertips. Not guilt that he had a girlfriend, but guilt that you had no self control and respect for his wavering, weak heart. You couldn’t be with Jaemin given the situation of how this had all started. 

With a pop! you released one another. Jaemin’s lustful eyes widen, turning doe-like and apologetic. Confused stares and a sense of reflection on what had just happened. A million questions ran through Jaemin’s mind as he saw how plump, and red your lips had become. 

His initial feeling coming here has grown to be much worse. There was a sickly, awful feeling that pulled at his heartstrings. How could he ruin even the good parts of his life? 

“I’m so sorry, (Y/N).” His head dropped into his palms, gathering deep breaths. His thoughts were intoxicated, too clouded for any possible good judgement. “That should’ve never happened.” 

“Jaemin, I’m sorry. We can just pretend it didn’t.” The feelings of love were being replaced by pain, probably the same Jaemin felt walking into your apartment. 

He shook his head, repeating no in nothing above a whisper. “We can’t pretend and stay friends like this.”

“Wait, you’re ending our friendship over a mindless kiss?”

The sad boy stood up and his hands balled up in a tight fist. The true secret was that he was incredibly angry with himself. “It wasn’t mindless, it was a mistake. I can’t look at you the same when you kissed me back with so much feeling. I can’t be around you knowing that I’d want to kiss you again.” 

Like a trigger, the tears slipped down your cheeks quietly. You both were aware of the consequences you had to face from a simple kiss. You just weren’t prepared for them yet. “Okay, you’re right. It’s only for the best and I’m not like her. I will prioritize you before my own feelings.”

Jaemin sighed loudly, like he was emptying all the air in his lungs. His jaw tightened at your words, “whatever happens, just know you are not the only one at fault. I won’t let her pin this on you.” 

Despite such a betrayal, he was such a noble person. Telling her didn’t even cross your mind because that would have to open another can of worms you kept sealed. But Jaemin would be practically eaten alive with this secret and this, you knew all too well.

“I’m sorry, not to her, but that I let my selfishness lose you.” You stood up by his side. He held your face once more, a thumb rubbing your stained skin. 

A small, hopeless smile appeared on his tired canvas. “I’m sorry to you too. We need the distance to reflect on the past few months.” 

With that, you walked your crush to the door. He checked his phone to reveal several missed calls and texts from his girlfriend. Sighing, he turned to hug you briefly, afraid of lingering for too long. 

“Lastly, I want to thank you for being a temporary solace and for dealing with even my vulnerable sides.” 

“I really don’t deserve you because you deserve someone who makes you happy.” Your tears choked you, making it incredibly difficult to speak without sounding like a mess.

Jaemin wasn’t going to waste his tears on you. He couldn’t possibly be hurting the same as you were, or so you thought. “As do you. I don’t deserve you either.”

He kissed you like he meant something from it and that’s why he needed distance. He was afraid of admitting his own feelings because his moral compass didn’t allow it.

A kiss brought more pain than it did satisfaction. If you could erase the ugly parts that followed, you would do it in a heartbeat. Jaemin was your’s momentarily, despite all the confusion and the consequences. 

[incorrect-julie-and-the-phantoms]

Jealous Luke+famous Julie (they’re both together now)

Hi there! Thank you so much for the prompt. I had a lot of fun writing this and I hope that this is what you meant when you sent the ask. You can read the fic under the cut or you can click on the link here to read it on AO3. Enjoy!

Green Eyes and Fame

Pairings:  Luke/Julie, Alex/Willie

Tags: Fluff, angst, jealousy, miscommunication

Five years since the band first made a splash, Julie and the Phantoms was one of the most popular bands in America. As the lead singer of the band Julie was the most well known and, thanks to her sweet disposition and how she went out of her way for her fans, everyone adored her. People just liked her, romantically as well as platonically. As her boyfriend of three years though, Luke kind of wished people would stop flirting with her in front of him.

Also known as the five times Luke was jealous because of people flirting with Julie, and one time he realized there was never a need to be. 

1 - The Number 1 Fan

Luke was really glad in moments like these that the band wasn’t required to do meet and greets. He loved playing for people and he loved meeting people who were genuinely touched by his music, but after performing for two hours in the hot stage lights for the third time that week, he was pretty wiped out. 

Management did require Julie to do these meet and greets once a week after a show though, what with being the lead singer and the name brand. Despite how she was just as physically drained as he was under the surface, and despite being at this for over two hours, Julie still greeted each fan with unending enthusiasm and her signature toothy smile. 

He was meant to be there to keep her company, but found himself staring at her in fond amusement as she started admiring the little girl wearing Julie and the Phantoms keds. “My daddy got them for my birthday last week!” The girl beamed at her dad who was standing slightly to the side so his daughter could have her moment. 

“They look super cool,” Julie said in an impressed tone, “and happy belated birthday.” 

“Can you sign them?” The girl bounced up and down in excitement. “Please, please, please, please please-”

“Easy there,” Julie laughed, “I can't sign them with you jumping around like that.” 

The little girl looked like she was gonna pass out from happiness as she hurried to pull off the sneakers. “Thank you Julie!”

A minute later, the little girl was sporting some autographed keds and a picture of her and her icon on her dad's phone. The man politely shook Julie’s hand before leading his daughter out of the room. 

“I love you Julie!” The girl shouted behind her as she walked out.

“That girl was so adorable,” Julie gushed once she was gone. 

“You think every little kid is adorable,” Luke reminded her. 

“That’s because they are.”

Luke laughed good-naturedly at his girlfriend’s defensiveness over literally every child on the planet. She wasn’t wrong, kids were adorable. Especially when they were bouncing around in excitement over meeting their idol. Luke had helped her babysit her brother when they were in high school though, so he knew exactly how much of a pest they could be. 

Luke pulled out his phone to scroll through Instagram as the next fan in the line up walked into the room. Luke only glanced at her briefly to see it was an older girl, probably around their age. He liked a picture of Alex, Flynn, and Reggie at an after-party and kept scrolling. 

“Hey there,” Julie smiled at the girl as she approached, “what’s your name?” She held out her hand which the other girl took for a handshake. 

“Lucille, but you can call me Lucy” the girl replied in a tone that sounded a little flirtatious. Luke raised an eyebrow and looked up, certain he had imagined it. He noted that the girl was holding the handshake just a little too long.

Julie just smiled back unaware, “nice to meet you Lucy. Did you enjoy the show?”

“I could watch you perform all day,” Lucy smiled back widely. Luke barely stopped his frown, definitely flirting. 

As subtle as he could, which wasn’t very, Luke began to take her in fully for the first time. She was kind of pretty, tall with dark skin and almond eyes, hair pulled into a ponytail that showed off the buzzed underneath. Her nose was pierced and she was sporting a pair of cuffed jeans. 

“I’ll take that to mean a yes,” Julie laughed warmly. “Well I’m glad you enjoyed it. And that you found the time to come for the meet and greet. You got a camera for the picture?”

Lucy pulled out a handheld camera and handed it to the photographer. “I was actually hoping we could do a pose?”

“Sure,” Julie smiled, “whatcha have in mind?”

“It involves your friend, if he doesn’t mind.” Lucy gestured over to Luke who startled in surprise at being addressed. 

Julie looked over uncertainly. “I’m not sure-“

“I’m happy to join in,” Luke interrupted her. Anything to get between those flirty eyes and his very hot girlfriend. 

Lucy smiled widely, “awesome! My idea was to have the hot guy look all jealous while I pretend to propose.”

Luke struggled to not glare at the girl. Choosing to keep an easy smile on his face and laugh. “Well I feel like anybody would be jealous of the person with Julie.”

He walked over to stand in front of the two while Lucy dropped to one knee. The jealous glare on his face was a little too easy for him to make as his girlfriend pretended to gasp in excitement. The camera flash finally went off and Julie hugged the girl goodbye. “It was nice to meet you,” she said brightly. 

Lucy smiled back and handed her a piece of paper. “my number, in case you miss me.” At that she turned around strutted out of the room. 

Once she was gone Julie turned to Luke, holding the paper between her thumb and pointer. “She was so sweet, it was nice of her to ask to hang out.”

Luke raised an eyebrow, “babe, you know she was flirting with you right?”

Julie’s eyes widened, obviously unaware of the fact. “Oh! I had no idea.” 

Luke laughed. “I can’t believe you didn’t notice. Babe she proposed to you.”

“Shut up,” Julie blushed in embarrassment, “I can’t believe she didn’t recognize you as my boyfriend.”

“Trust me, she probably barely even noticed me there,” Luke kept the possessiveness out of his tone as he said it. Instead he batted his eyelashes and made a dramatic kissy face. “Oh, Julie,” he tried to mimic Lucy’s flirty tone, “I could watch you perform all day.”

Julie groaned and playfully shoved his shoulder. “I hate you so much.” 

Once she turned to face the next person, Luke took the piece of paper with Lucy’s number on it to throw away. Feigning surprise when Julie told him she lost it with a confused look on her face.

2 - The Cute Barista

A couple weeks after the incident, the two were visiting their hometown for Julie’s father’s birthday. Before making their way to the house Julie dragged Luke to a hole in the wall cafe for breakfast.

“I don’t remember this being here in high school,” Luke mused.

“It’s new. I heard about it from an uh… Friend?” Julie’s smile was a little bit too innocent. Luke mentally prepared himself for whatever mischief she had planned, letting her lead him into the cafe. He was greeted with the intoxicating aroma of roasted coffee grounds and cinnamon pastries blended together and the din of people laughing, enjoying their drinks. 

Luke went to the counter to place his order while Julie left to find a booth for them to sit in. He made a double-take as he recognized the barista.

“No way, Carrie?” 

The girl’s eyes widened in surprise at the sight of him, mouth spreading into a wide smile. “No way.”

“What are you doing here?” He asked.

“I got the job for the summer while I’m not in school. If I had known they really let just anybody walk in here I wouldn’t have taken the job though,” Carrie teased him.

Luke laughed. “I remember Julie’s creative manager saying something similar when I signed on to be her guitarist.”

Carrie swatted his arm over the counter. “Shut up, we both know it wouldn’t be the Phantoms without you.”

He shrugged. “Doesn’t mean I didn’t nearly fistfight the manager when we first met. Anyways, how’s school?”

The other girl rolled her head to the side, a soft crack emitting as she cracked her neck. “Honestly? Amazing. I’m so glad I just decided to stick with the dancing side of performance, the whole singing and ‘dirty candy’ thing was kind of just cause I thought it was cool.”

“You’re cool though,” Luke insisted, “and I know that Julie is just waiting for you to graduate so she can snag you as a background dancer. She really misses you.” He paused for a moment. “Thinking about it now that’s probably why she dragged me here.”

Carrie blushed at the compliment and waved him off. “She knows that I want to make it on my own first, not ride on my friend’s coattails.” Still slightly pink, she gestured to nothing in particular, “what can I get for you in the meantime?” 

Luke rattled off his order which she deftly took down. She then began to make his drinks and put his pastries in the oven simultaneously. Luke listened politely to her chatter about her different classes at CalArts as she worked, only interrupting to ask questions when she started talking in technical terms that he had no clue about.

If somebody had told Luke in high school that one day he would be having a conversation like this with Carrie of all people he would have said they were crazy. The girl had been a constant negative towards Julie up until their junior year, always trying to belittle her or one-up her with her own band. 

One day though, Julie had decided she was through with being passively polite to Carrie as Flynn defended her. So, Julie made Luke drive her to Carrie's house in the middle of the night to verbally berate her to submission and hopefully get Carrie to back off.

The conversation had taken a different turn though. 

It turned out Carrie was mad at Julie because Julie had completely shut her out when her mom died at the end of eighth grade and started ignoring her for Flynn. Then, when Julie started to be better and more like herself, she had ruined Carrie’s big premiere performance that she had spent months working on by showing her up with a last-minute song. 

That hadn’t excused her being a bully, but after a lot of crying and apologizing on both ends, the girls were soon best friends again, this time with Flynn. 

When Flynn and Carrie had first spoken to each other after the argument with Julie, they had gotten on like a house on fire. Reggie, Alex, and Luke had been equally surprised that they were able to get along at all after three years of fighting and horrified of what the two of them accomplished when they worked as a team to roast them. 

It had been even more surprising when Reggie and Luke caught the two of them in a janitor’s closet at school, but that was a story for another time.

Despite constantly teasing him, she had turned out to be surprisingly cool without her ‘mean girl’ persona. She loudly called out people who were homophobic to Alex and verbally eviscerated people who made fun of Reggie. After she turned Dirty Candy from a pop group to a dancing group, she had let Alex join and would hang out with him until late teaching him. She also helped tutor Reggie in math when his ADHD had made it hard for him to focus, patiently explaining quadratics and Algebra.

In Luke’s eyes, anybody who was good to his friends was good to him. So, naturally, Carrie grew on him quickly. 

As she finished making his drinks, Luke looked around the cafe for Julie. Despite how small it was, there was a surprising amount of people there, filling the atmosphere with laughter and idle chit chat. He kind of wish it had existed while they were in high school, it would have been a great place to hang out.

He finally found her sitting in a booth by the window, freezing once he noticed that she wasn’t alone. There was a guy there wearing a barista uniform, admittedly handsome, who was braced on the edge of the table in a way that was obviously meant to show off his arms. His pose was suggestive, leaning slightly towards Jullie.

As Julie laughed at something the man said, a familiar curl of jealousy wrapped around Luke’s gut. He glared down the man’s head, wondering if it was possible to kill somebody from this distance with his mind.

“Easy there,” Carrie interrupted his thoughts. Luke startled and turned back to face her, surprised to see she had finished making his order without him noticing. “What’s got you so angry?”

“Nothing,” Luke mumbled unconvincingly. Carrie looked over in the direction he had been staring in and smiled in a way that Luke meant trouble. 

“Wow,” she said in feigned surprise, “I didn’t know that Jesús and Julie knew each other.”

“Jesús?” Luke asked. He knew he was being obvious but he had always been bad at subtlety.

Carrie’s smile was predatory, knowing she had caught him. Her face smoothed out innocently and waved her hand dismissively. “He’s nobody, just a new hire. His family recently immigrated from Spain so he’s still got the accent, has a habit of making nearly every girl here, and quite a few guys, swoon.”

Luke clenched his jaw and glared across the room at the man again. Turning back around, he paid for his food and slipped an extra hundred dollar bill into her tip jar. Hopefully she wouldn’t notice until they were gone. 

Right before walking away though, he turned back to Carrie. “Hey I might need your help later, Ray is going to give me…” Luke trailed off, eyes flicking back to his girlfriend, “a family heirloom. He told me about a shop to get it altered but I don’t want to go alone.”

Carrie’s eyes widened in understanding. “Are you-?” Luke nodded, smiling bashfully. The girl beamed, “you bet your ass I want to go with you.”

“Thanks Carrie,” he smiled at his friend as he grabbed the drinks and pastries, “it was nice to see you.”

Carrie grinned widely. “You too man, pick me up tomorrow. I’ll come up with some excuse so Julie isn’t suspicious.” After she finished speaking she turned to the next customer in line to take their order.

Forcing the glare off his face into an easy grin, Luke made his way over to his girlfriend. 

“Hey babe,” he said a little too loudly, startling the other man. Luke felt a curl of dark satisfaction as Jesús jumped a little in surprise. “I got one large black coffee with cinnamon for you, you sadistic weirdo, two lemon blueberry scones, and a salted caramel iced mocha, for me of course.”

Julie rolled her eyes as she took the coffee from the tray, “liking black coffee isn’t weird you know.”

“Plain black coffee is something that only people who hate themselves, are on a diet, or psychopaths enjoy.”

“It’s not plain,” Julie reminded him, “it has cinnamon.”

“The only reason I haven’t called a psych consult and you know it.”

Julie laughed and took a sip of the coffee, “you never know. I could be a psychopath.”

“Or a high functioning sociopath, if you do your research.” Luke grinned as Julie laughed at the reference. He loved watching her when she laughed, leaning back in a way that showed off the endearing gap in her two front teeth as her entire body shook with the force of her laughter. On rare occasions she would even snort, if the joke was funny enough.

Luke slid into the booth next to her and linked their fingers together while she laughed. Once she stopped laughing she gestured towards Jesús with the hand still holding the coffee. 

“Luke this is Jesús. Jesús, this is my boyfriend Luke.”

Luke felt warm all over, being introduced as Julie’s boyfriend. Even after dating for three years it still made him happy. “Nice to meet you man.” He held out the hand not entwined with Julie’s for a handshake.

“Likewise,” the man responded. Luke felt a flash of surprise at the lack of accent.

“Jesús and his sister were adopted by...” Julie trailed off, eyebrows furrowed as she did some math in her head.

“Your mom’s second cousin,” Jesús finished her sentence. “moved down here from San Francisco. I’m starting at Caltech once the summer’s over.”

“That’s neat.” Luke tried to not be embarrassed over being jealous and thinking Julie was flirting with family. “Whatcha studying?”

“Double major in mechanical and electrical engineering,” he said proudly.

“Jesús was just telling me he wanted to be a robot engineer so he could build Norm from Phineas and Ferb,” Julie said as she took a sip of her coffee.

Jesús grinned. “You laugh, but that man shaped my childhood.” Carrie shouted for Jesús as a crowd of teenagers walked in, loudly messing around and joking. He grimaced, “looks like Carrie needs some backup. It was nice to meet you though Julie, and you Luke.”

“See you at the party later!” Julie called after him as he walked away. 

“I didn’t know you had other family in LA,” Luke mused. He took a sip of the mocha, pleasantly surprised at how great of a job Carrie had done on it. 

“Neither did I,” Julie confessed, “when my aunt heard I was in town she told me about him though and said to keep a lookout.”

“Is that why we came here?” Luke asked, snagging a bite of his scone.

“Nah, I just heard Carrie was here and wanted to see the horror on your face once you realized I brought you here for a dark roast and a Carrie roast.”

He choked on his scone. “That was a horrible pun, and a horrible thing to do.”

“Pun still made you laugh though,” Julie said with a smug smile.

Luke glared at her for a minute before turning back to his scone, sulking. “Just shut up and eat so we can go to your dad’s house.” 

He tried his best to stay annoyed with her. When she leaned over and kissed his temple in apology though, his resolve shattered and he couldn’t help the pleased grin that spread across his face. Wow am I whipped, he thought to himself, but for the life of him he couldn’t find any problem with that fact.

3 - The ‘Nice Guy’

A month later, Luke had to miss a scheduled practice session with the band for the first time ever. 

The only reason he was missing in the first place was because of Bobby. The man had finally gotten back to him about a favor he needed, saying he was happy to help. However apparently there was only one opening at his recording studio for the next six months, something about the starlet booked being sent back to rehab? Six months was too long for Luke to wait though, and he was already in NYC. So, he told Bobby he would be there.

He knew that, even without telling them his reason, the band would all be fine with him missing. But even with Julie insisting that it was completely fine, Luke still felt like a horrible person that they would have to cancel practice because of him. 

The guilt gnawed on his chest until Reggie and Alex told him they were still going to practice as scheduled. Apparently, they had asked one of the backup guitarists to cover for him. Some guy named Billy?

“If you ask me,” Alex confessed to Luke while they were telling him, “I only asked him cause the dude really needs the practice. He’s literally paid to know all the songs in case you need time off and to play back up. But at the last concert, he was right next to me, and the dude couldn’t even keep up with ‘Bright,’ for longer than a couple seconds. The rest of the songs ” 

Luke raised an eyebrow, “that song is like, four chords. If he can’t do it then why did management hire him?”

“Do we all have backups for our time off?” Reggie piped up.

“Yeah, mine is some named Owen, seems pretty nice. I’m surprised you guys didn’t know about yours. Jeremy is a pretty funny guy, way more level headed than you.”

“You sayin I’m not level headed?” Reggie said defensively.

“I met Jeremy,” Luke said in surprise. “I’ve seen him around everywhere but I didn’t know he was the backup bassist. Did you know he does voice acting?”

“My backup does voice acting?” Reggie flipped from defensive to excited in a moment.

“Anyways,” Alex got them back on topic, “Billy’s only your backup because his dad is the head of Covington Entertainment. Dude could ruin us if we don’t let his son have the job.”

“On that note, I will be sucking up to him,” Reggie said nervously, “quite a bit.”

After that Luke had felt a little bit better about skipping. He left for the studio a couple minutes later, after saying goodbye to Julie of course.

Bobby himself was the one who sat in the recording booth for Luke’s session. “You think I would let just any old person produce your music? You’re family, and family looks after each other.” 

The whole thing didn’t last more than half an hour. It had been fun at first, messing with the different equipment and such that was usually off-limits. Without the band though, and he found it a little bit boring after a while. At the very least, this was a confirmation that a solo career was not for him. After Bobby called it a night he promised he would send over the demo once he was done editing it.

Luke thanked him a hundred times before running off to his car. Based on his watch, there was still an hour left to rehearsal. If he was careful and took the highway he could get there on time for a least a solid forty-five minutes of practice.

There was no music coming out of the studio as he arrived, probably meaning the band was taking a break. He was passing by the bathroom when there was the sound of an unfamiliar voice. Luke was going to keep walking until he heard something that caught his attention.

“-think I might actually have a chance with Julie, man.” Luke froze at the excited words, wondering if the person was talking about his Julie. He couldn’t hear whoever the man was talking to so he assumed it was a phone call. As quietly as he could, he inched closer to the bathroom door so he could eavesdrop. 

“I’m not crazy,” the man said defensively, “the band personally asked me to cover for their guitarist while he’s off doing god knows what. We’ve been practicing together for a couple hours now and the guys love me.” A laugh. “Alex is exactly as much of a Mary Sue as all the magazines said and Reggie is the biggest dolt on the planet though so it really wasn’t too hard.” 

Luke felt his teeth grind together. The Mary Sue thing was something that he knew bothered Alex. His friend was polite to everyone he didn’t know, even those who were rude to him, and tended to be a people pleaser. If the magazines ever had to deal with Alex when he was tired or stressed, they wouldn’t be so quick to call him a Mary Sue. 

And Reggie wasn’t dumb. Anybody who bothered to get to know Reggie figured out pretty quickly that he only needed to be told things multiple times because his ADHD affected his short term memory and made it hard to focus when people were speaking to him. And despite what people thought, Reggie was a little shy. So, being around new people made him a little nervous which made his hyperactivity worse. So random outbursts, fidgeting, or rambling made him seem ‘spazzy’ and outgoing.

Luke was about to burst in and give this guy a piece of his mind. Yell at him about how Alex was actually a grumpy dumbass and Reggie was not a dolt, but stopped himself once the guy spoke again. 

“I know that doesn’t mean Julie likes me. I’m not stupid. I know Julie likes me cause she keeps watching me while she sings and stuff. The chemistry is practically tangible dude. Trust me when I say that she wants a piece of Billy.” 

Jealousy began to pool in Luke’s gut. Usually Julie sang to him, not whoever this wannabe was. Now that he thought about it, when was the last time Julie and him got so into a song that she kissed him at the end? When was the last time they went on a date? When was the last time they even kissed period?

She literally kissed you before you left for the recording studio idiot, his brain reminded him.

The voice was silent as the guy listened to whatever the person on the other end of the line said. He made an offended noise. “It’s not weird to talk in third person, it shows confidence. And why would I make up practicing with the Phantoms?” So this was the Billy Alex told him about, interesting. 

There was another beat of silence, longer this time. “I’m not being delusional, you and I both know I would be amazing for her. I’m only here because her crappy boyfriend bailed on the band and I was man enough to step up and help. Once Julie stops being a stupid bitch and realizes I’m an actually nice guy- ” 

Luke felt the jealousy and possessiveness burn into anger, slamming the bathroom door open before the guy could finish his sentence. As he took in the guy he noted that, other than being tall, he was kind of unimpressive. Especially when he looked like he was about to shit his pants at the sight of Luke.

“Hey Billy,” Luke said icily, “I’m the shitty boyfriend, nice to meet you.”

Billy blanched. “I can explain-”

“I heard enough,” Luke practically growled, cutting the guy off. “I can understand saying that Julie is amazing since it is super obvious to literally even the stupidest people. I can understand wanting to treat her right. Hell, I can even forgive you thinking that I’m the biggest piece of garbage ever.”

As Luke spoke he stalked closer to the man in front of him, watching as Billy stepped back nervously to avoid him. He kept walking forward, herding the man until his back was pressed against the wall. He stepped closer still, until he was practically in the man’s face. Despite being nearly a head taller, Billy still cowered like Luke was twice his size.

“Do you know one thing I will not tolerate though?” Luke asked as he plucked the phone from Billy’s hand and hung up on the man on the other end of the line.

“N-no?” The man squeaked.

“I will not tolerate anybody calling my girlfriend, or any girl for that matter, ‘a stupid bitch’ just because she doesn’t want to get with them. And I certainly won’t tolerate you making fun of my best friends.” Luke’s voice sounded dangerous to his own voice, despite being at a quiet, even tone. “You feel me, nice guy?”

 “I’m sorry man, I wasn’t thinking.”

“You’re right,” Luke agreed, “you weren’t thinking, and I’m not even slightly finished with your dumb ass.” He stepped back just an inch, crossing his arms to prevent himself from throttling the guy in front of him. There was a nagging voice that sounded suspiciously like Alex in the back of his head telling him that this was a bad idea.

“I wasn’t gonna say anything cause I’m not one to rain on your parade, but you really pissed me off. First of all, since you are apparently unaware, it’s literally your job to cover for me when I can’t be there. There was no ‘being man enough’ idiot when it’s in your job description.”

“It’s not my job to go to practice, the team asked me personally-” Billy protested.

“That brings me to the ‘second of all.’ The guys only ‘personally’ asked you to practice cause you can’t even play the most basic songs, and rather than letting you embarrass yourself, they were trying to be nice and help you. Cause unlike you, they are actually nice guys. And what you,” Luke jabbed his finger into his sternum, “did to thank them is turn around and talk bad about him to your friend the second they were gone.” 

I didn’t mean any of it man. It just slipped out on accident.” Billy looked like he was about to cry, which was not a good look on him. The only reason Luke didn’t feel bad is that Billy looked like a petulant child who was only upset at being caught doing the bad thing and not remorseful because he did it in the first place. 

Taking a deep breath, Luke stepped back from Billy before doing something stupid, like punching the son of the guy who owned Luke’s career. He stared up at the sky, tapping his chin as he pretended to think. “Say, I just had a great idea. Wanna hear it?” 

Terrified, Billy nodded.

“Since I’m such a nice guy, I’m gonna do you a favor.” Luke practically growled at the man “Since your not thinking led to you ‘accidentally’ trying to degrade my girlfriend and talking smack about my friends, I’ll do your thinking for you for the rest of the night. Just so you don’t slip up again, understand?” 

Billy opened his mouth to reply. However, even though he phrased it as a question, Luke didn’t actually care about his answer. So, he just kept talking before the man could speak.

“So, I’m thinking that, since you just feel so bad about all of this, that once we walk out of this bathroom we pretend we never had this conversation okay? But when we go back to the studio you are going to be unbelievably polite and nice to Reggie and Alex. Then you are going to work your hardest for the rest of practice until you have a basic grasp of every song. Then you are going to leave.”

“Can I at least talk to Julie?” Billy asked hopefully.

A wave of anger rose up in Luke. “You aren’t gonna speak to her unless she speaks to you.” Billy sagged in disappointment, nodding to show his agreement. 

Satisfied, Luke backed up so that he was no longer cornering the taller boy to the wall. He felt Billy’s eyes on his back as he turned on his heel, marching out of the bathroom. 

As he opened the door to the studio, Julie, Alex, and Reggie were sitting in the center laughing about something. The three of them looked up at the sound of the door, eyes widening in surprise. 

“Didn’t expect to see you here man!” Alex smiled at him.

“Dude, do you know how weird it is to practice without you? I felt like I was in the twilight zone.” Reggie laughed at his own joke.

Julie walked over and placed a kiss on his cheek, rolling her eyes at Reggie’s joke. “Billy’s in the bathroom but he should be back any minute so you can meet him. He’s a nice guy, you’ll like him.”

Another irrational stab of jealousy pierced through Luke. “Great,” he answered her. His friends must have noticed the irritation in his tone because their smiles dimmed down.

“You okay?” Julie asked, a concerned frown on her face. He opened his mouth, ready to brush it off and pretend nothing had happened, as Billy walked into the room. He was all swagger now, a contrast to the boy Luke left in the bathroom who looked like he was going to pee himself.

“Hey guys,” Billy smiled. Luke didn’t miss the way his eyes passed over Julie and stayed just a moment too long.

Another stab of jealousy. “Just met this really rude guy today. You wouldn’t believe the things that came out of his mouth.” Billy froze, a flash of panic over his eyes that Luke only caught because he was looking for it. “It’s not that important though,” he continued, watching as Billy relaxed again. “I might tell you later if I don’t forget by then.” 

“How about we get back to practice?” Billy suggested nervously. “Any chance you can help me learn Luke?” This time when he looked up at Luke he pointedly avoided eye contact with Julie.

Luke felt another pang of guilt in his stomach. He knew he was being an ass, but he really didn’t like this guy. Trying out a genuine smile for a peace offering, Luke went over to his guitar mounted on the wall. “Let’s play.”

4 - The Old Fling

The day after Luke accidentally put the fear of God into him, Billy quit the band to go work for his dad’s company. Luke felt kind of bad for him, but to be fair he was wholly unqualified. Even with Luke painstakingly showing him each cord he still couldn’t get it. The new guy they hired for his backup guitarist was named Charlie, who he liked infinitely better because he never flirted with Julie.

After Billy went home, Luke ended up telling everyone about the incident in the bathroom. Julie had gotten annoyed with him for defending her honor like she was some helpless maiden, but she seemed glad about him defending Alex and Reggie. The two guys had just shrugged and said he was really annoying anyway.

As an ‘apology’ to Julie for defending her honor without asking, Luke took Julie out to Coney Island for a date. He was pretty Julie just wanted an excuse to go there but Luke didn’t complain, any time spent with Julie was a good time.

The trip started out great. They went on the ferris wheel, visited some candy shop Julie had heard about, and rode the cyclone. It was hot there in late August and there were countless people on the beach. Julie closed her eyes and looked up every once in awhile, basking in the sun.

“You’re like a cat,” Luke teased her.

“Cats do nothing but eat, sleep, poop, and play all the time and are called cute even if they are little devils to their owners,” Julie replied without opening her eyes, “sounds like the kind of life most people would be jealous of.”

“Cats also lick their own buttholes,” he reminded her.

A shrug. “Well we can’t all be perfect.” Julie looked down from the sun and grabbed her water bottle from Luke’s backpack. 

“Yeah, but I still think I’m gonna pass. I would have to stop eating taco bell, which is definitely a dealbreaker.” Great, now he wanted tacos.

Julie rolled her eyes at his bad joke, opening the bottle to take a sip. “Even still,” she said, “with all the team meetings, songwriting, and late-night concerts I’ve barely been able to enjoy the sun. I’m either sleeping or stuck inside.” Her shoulders slumped a little. 

Luke pulled her into a hug and kissed her forehead comfortingly. “I’m sorry,” he said sincerely, tucking her under his chin.

“Don’t get me wrong,” Julie said, voice muffled against his chest, “I love what I’m doing, and I love that I get to do it with you. I just wish that they didn’t make a meeting to decide if they wanted to make the ‘and’ in Julie and the Phantoms into that weird eight symbol.”

“Well obviously it was life or death,” Luke said in a grave tone, “can you imagine the outrage if we changed something that literally nobody would notice?”

Julie giggled, “I imagine it would be the same level of rage if we made the ‘J’ in merchandising a little larger.”

“Well that would just be unforgivable,” Luke said in mock horror.

His girlfriend laughed and hugged him back tighter. A familiar warmth spread throughout his core and his brain felt like it was saturated in happy hormones. He smiled and tucked his head in her neck. Luke let out a grumble of complaint once she finally pulled away, trying to pull her back into the hug.

“Luke, you’re cute and all but it's hot out.”

“Oh that? It’s just my burning desire for you.” Luke grinned as Julie groaned at his corny joke.

“I changed my mind,” Julie took a step back as she spoke. “I don’t think you’re cute and I actually hate you.” There was no malice in her tone though, and her exasperated smile was still fond.

“Nobody’s perfect,” Luke parroted back to her, inevitably bringing tacos to mind again. His stomach churned in anticipation.

Julie started laughing again, another one of those full-body laughs that showed off her toothy smile. “God you’re so…” Julie trailed off as she saw something behind him, eyes widening.

“I’m so what?” Luke pressed. He glanced behind him to try and see what caught her eye, heart dropping once he saw it. ‘It’ being Nick, Julie’s boyfriend from when they first started playing together and became friends. All distracting thoughts of tacos left his mind.

“Nick!” Julie called out, running towards the blonde man. He had grown up since Luke had seen him last, literally. Nick was definitely a couple inches taller than him, which  Luke stubbornly refused to acknowledge bothered him. His baby face was gone and he had five o’clock shadow.

Nick caught Julie as she ran to him and twirled her in a hug. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me you were in town,” he said in a pleasantly surprised tone as he lowered her, hands still on her hips. He looked up as Luke made his way over, giving him a polite smile.

“Hey Nick,” Luke waved. His eyes flickered down towards Nick’s hands still on Julie’s waist, trying to stifle his possessiveness. Julie was her own person and it wasn’t her fault that he was still jealous of Nick.

The blonde didn’t seem to notice, amazingly observant as ever. Thankfully, he still moved his hands. “Man, it's weird to see you guys outside of a magazine tabloid or a video call. How long has it been? A year?”

“Three,” Julie corrected him, “either that or I managed to skip to junior year of college alarmingly fast.”

Nick’s eyes widened, “it’s already been three years since high school?” He looked like he was about to have an existential crisis.

“And yet Luke is still a child,” Julie joked.

“Hey,” Luke complained.

“We’re actually about to get some tacos if you want to join us.”

“We are?” He turned to Julie excitedly, immediately forgetting why he was offended.

“Yeah, I know you. The second you bring up tacos you’re basically impossible to distract.”

Except for the blonde idiot I had to watch you obsess over for two years. It then processed that she had invited said blonde idiot to join them for tacos. Jealousy and hunger conflicted in his mind. Great, now Nick ruined tacos.

The blonde chuckled in amusement. “I would love to but I'm here with my mom. She’s not gonna last another five minutes without asking me to take her back to my apartment, let alone going out to eat.” Julie pouted at that, and  Luke couldn’t tell if he was more annoyed at the disappointment in Julie’s face or at Nick for disappointing her. 

“Well you have to tell your mom I said hi,” Julie ordered him. 

“Of course, my mom adores you,” Nick said sincerely. Out of the corner of his eye, Luke saw a familiar flash. Turning to look he saw a small group of paparazzi starting to form. Julie and Nick were completely unaware though.

“Jules,” Luke reached out to tap her arm for attention, to warn her. 

It was too late though. Julie propped herself up on her toes to plant a friendly kiss on Nick’s cheek. Luke couldn’t help the spike of jealousy in the pit of his stomach as he saw her lean over, feeling the frown on his face before he could stop it.

The paparazzi went nuts, cameras flashing like strobe lights as they tried to catch a picture of the scene. Julie turned in surprise as they surged forward and started hounding her with questions.

“Are the rumors of your split with Luke true?”

“Is this man your new boyfriend.”

“What’s your opinion your gay drummer.”

“Is it true that you had an illegitimate love child when you were sixteen.”

Julie’s eyes widened, frozen at the onslaught. Luke reached out his hand and yanked her free of the crowd. The paparazzi had drawn a lot of attention, causing a crowd to gather to see what they were going nuts over. 

“It’s Julie Molina!” Somebody shouted from the crowd. A bunch of people started murmuring in agreement, pulling out their phones. Luke cursed, their cover was blown. So much for a day without work.

Luke began to lead Julie away from the crowd at a hurried pace, making sure to wave and smile as he walked by them. Julie had recovered from her initial shock and joined him in their smile and wave.

Finally they made it to their car, breathless from exertion. The car was quiet, save for the sound of their labored breathing, until Julie broke the silence with a burst of laughter. Luke looked over at her in bewilderment, certain she had cracked from stress. She looked over at him and whatever she saw only made her double over harder, snorting between laughs.

“Are you okay?” He asked in concern.

“I’m, I-I’m just.” Julie struggled to catch her breath so she could form her sentence. “I’m just imagining the tabloid covers tomorrow. Poor Nick’s mom is going to think we’re a thing again.” Luke’s eyes widened in horror at her realization. Julie just started laughing again, “oh my god PR is going to kill us.”

“We’re so screwed.” Luke agreed.

The next day, the headlines showed Julie kissing Nick’s cheek while Luke stood to the side with a pained grimace.

“Sweetheart or Heartbreaker? : Popstar Julie Molina flaunts new relationship in front of ex-beau Patterson. Does this mean the end of Julie and the Phantoms?” Read all about it on page 3.”

5 - The daredevil

“I couldn’t have planned it better if I tried,” the PR representative declared as she beamed at the photo like Christmas had come early. “There’s nothing like a scandal to catch media attention, and ultimately what people think you did was unproblematic enough that people have no reason to ‘cancel’ you.” She looked up at the two of them pensively, “did I use that word right? My middle-schooler taught me it the other day.” 

“You used it fine?” Julie glanced at Luke in confusion which he returned with a shrug to convey he was equally lost. He wasn’t sure what to say here. They had been prepared for a lecture, to get chewed out. Not whatever this was.

“So just checking, you aren’t mad about us accidentally causing drama?” Julie sounded skeptical. 

The woman scoffed "Are you kidding me? Management is over the moon with your band’s popularity ranking. Sales for their latest album went up by 15% in middle aged women and 3% in college students. You’re even on the Billboard top 100 music charts now.”

The woman’s eyes widened. “Oh honey no of course not. Frankly it's a miracle you made it as long as you had without appearing on the front page of some crappy gossip magazine. This scandal was so mild that it probably helped you. Honestly you just show up a couple times acting like a happy couple and the bad part will be gone, leaving you with all the juicy benefits.”

“Wha…” Julie gaped at the woman like a fish, expression bewildered. If Luke looked hard enough he swore he could see the error message as her brain tried to process being freaked out for nothing. Luke reached out and linked their fingers together, squeezing her hand reassuringly. 

“We aren’t in trouble Julie,” he translated for her. 

“We aren’t in trouble?” Julie repeated skeptically.

“Look,” the woman leaned forward. “Your brand is defined by keeping your nose clean, not getting involved in anything controversial, being politically correct, and staying appropriate for all ages. All you did was make yourself a little messy, bored housewives and angsty teenagers like messy. And a little messy can also lead to good more messy.”

“Oh,” Julie nodded in understanding. She leaned over to Luke and whispered in his ear, “can you translate?”

“You were a perfect person, now you’re human, and something messy?”

“That’s so stupid,” she hissed, “I’m not perfect at all.” 

“I didn’t say I agreed with her,” he retorted. 

“Oh, so you don’t think I’m perfect?”

Luke felt the blood drain from his face. “Hold up-”

“And don’t even get me STARTED on Luke,” the woman interrupted him, “nothing is hotter than a heartbroken man.” 

“Julie is,” Luke said defensively. Julie blushed and kicked his shin under the table. She still had a pleased smile on his face though, so he figured he was forgiven for earlier. 

“Well not everybody is you,” the PR rep reminded him. “People want more of you now, and I have to say this is the perfect opportunity for you to start your solo career. Bobby sent over your rough demo to the big boss and is ready to make a team for you, just say the word.”

“I don’t want to release it now though,” Luke argued, ignoring the quizzical look Julie sent his way. With the argument with Billy, seeing Nick, and freaking out about them getting in trouble Luke had been too distracted to talk to her about it. The three days since recording the demo felt like an eternity ago now.  

“Well obviously not now, the demo song isn’t fully edited yet.” The woman rolled her eyes like ‘duh.’ “We want you to announce it on the red carpet when you go to the premiere of The Other Side of Hollywood next week.” 

Luke sat in quiet, thinking about what the woman was offering. “Can I have some time? This is kind of a big decision.”

The woman waved him off, “yes fine. We don’t have to announce it at the premiere, but we need your decision by the end of the month.” The end of the month was less than three weeks away, not too much time. The woman turned to her computer and waved them off, “just act like a couple and the scandal blows away. See you at the end of the month.” 

As soon as he left the room, he let out a breath he hadn’t known he was holding. “That was the opposite of what I expected.”

Julie laughed. “I think all it proved is that we are too goody two shoes to keep up with drama.”

“Maybe we should turn to a life of crime,” Luke suggested, “nothing too bad, just interesting.”

“What, like jaywalking?”

Luke staggered back in exaggerated horror. “I said nothing bad, you monster. I thought it was just a theory that only psychopaths drink black coffee but you just proved it right.”

“My bad,” Julie apologized, “how about cold-blooded murder?”

“Now we’re talking.” Luke smiled at Julie’s exasperated smile, leaning closer to link their hands together. “I got an idea on where you can start actually.”

“Jaywalking?”

“No, murder. You can kill me so I don’t have to go to the premiere of The Other Side of Hollywood.” It had been exciting to write a song for a big budget movie soundtrack, and he was excited to see the film. It was just the whole formal event thing that he wasn’t a huge fan of.

Julie rolled her eyes at her dramatic boyfriend. “It’s not going to be as bad as you think.”

“Wrong, I’ve been told if I want to go I gotta wear a tuxedo. Nobody should be cursed by the sight of me in a tuxedo.”

Instead of replying Julie stopped them in the hallway, turning him to face her and taking a step back. Her eyes trailed slowly up and down his body, her gaze hesitating on his neck, wrists, and lips. Luke felt himself start to flush at her shamelessly checking him out, nervously reaching up to scratch his forearm.

Finally, Julie nodded. “Thought so.” She turned heel and walked away.

“What?” Luke called after her.

Julie turned her head over her shoulder, eyes sparkling mischievously. “That it’s a damn shame you won’t see me in my dress.”

A week later, Luke was wearing the tux.

Unfairly though, Luke turned into a flustered mess once he saw Julie in her movie premiere dress. He struggled to pick his jaw up off the floor as he watched her blue-clothed figure make its way down the stairs. To be fair though, what did one expect him to do when an absolute goddess greeted him casually before leaning in to kiss his cheek.

“We get it,” Reggie sighed, “you two are in love and hot and all single people everywhere hate you. Can you just get in the damn car now, I was promised champagne and pigs in a blanket.”

Luke flushed at being called out by Reggie. He reached out his hand to lock fingers with Julie, helping her get the long dress into the limo. He kept that hand the whole ride, tracing the veins while he pretended he wasn’t staring at her. She could have told him to jump off a bridge that moment and he would have done it.

He wasn’t able to stick with her once they got to the red carpet though. After taking a band group picture she was pulled to the side for solo pictures, flashing an apologetic look their way. Luke knew she felt bad for being more famous than the rest of them but the guys honestly didn’t like the attention fame brought them. The three of them were more than happy to let somebody else be their face and stick to the background. Luke knew Julie couldn’t stand it either, but it was kind of hard to hide while being the lead singer.

He gestured to let her know that they would be inside waiting for her and she blew him a quick kiss goodbye. Luke felt the dopey grin on his face as Alex and Reggie dragged him inside to the party. 

“Can we stay here instead of watching the movie,” Reggie mused. Luke couldn’t help but agree with him. There were tables overflowing with food and a champagne fountain in the corner. There were also three separate bartending stations spread throughout the room that Luke was pretty sure were all open bar. Besides, the movie sounded kind of dumb anyway. It was just a drama musical about ghosts haunting the Ritz.

“Guys, we literally helped make the movie,” Alex reminded him. “The man who owns the company who manages us produced this movie.”

“Okay,” Luke agreed slowly, “ counterpoint, Caleb Covington is an ass and we should eat all of his food in silent protest.” 

Alex shrugged, “I’m convinced.” 

Skipping the movie meant that Luke lost Julie for the duration of the film. He sent a quick text to let her know the others were skipping and she replied that she was going to watch it still. It ended up being nice to goof off with his friends for a while, having hot dog eating contests with overpriced pigs in a blanket just hit different for some reason. 

He finally found her again later chatting with a guy Luke didn’t know. The man was wearing a black suit over a low cut flower print button up. His brown hair was tied in a knot at the base of his neck and there was a scar expanding down the side of his face. Luke made his way over to say hi with Alex trailing after him. He started catching their conversation the closer he got.

“It’s not that I’m against dating or hookups, it's just that people my type are usually not interested.” The man shrugged in an ‘oh well’ gesture and took a sip of his champagne.

Julie leaned in close to him. “Well I know somebody exactly your type who would be interested,” she whispered loudly. Luke frowned at the suggestive tone as she went to take another sip of her champagne. He was almost to them now with Alex not far behind.

“Oh yeah,” the man smirked, leaning  in closer to her, “and who might that be?” 

Oh HELL no, Luke’s inner voice growled. He pulled up next to them and coughed, startling the two out of their exchange. The man took a step back from Julie who just stared at him without moving.

“Luke!” Julie said in an excited tone, a wide smile spread across her face. “I missed you so much. Never leave me alone at a premiere ever again.” 

Luke wrapped a possessive arm around his waist, staring at the man in front of him to make sure he was getting the message to stop flirting with his girlfriend. He planted a kiss on her forehead, “I promise.” Julie grinned up at him, her eyes just a little too bright. Looking down at her empty champagne glass he wondered just how many she had already had. 

“You look too serious, Willie isn’t serious. Willie is the stunt double for the main character. Willie is a badass. Willie, Willie, Willie.” Julie laughed at some internal joke that he wasn’t privy to. Leaning towards his ear she whispered “Willie’s been keeping me company for you, slacker,” just as loudly as her earlier whisper.

Luke felt a flare of jealousy that his drunk girlfriend was waxing poetic about some guy he had never met while he was right next to her. The flare only fueled at Julie’s loudly whispered confession. He turned a dark stare towards the other man.

“You call it badass, I call it a paycheck,” Willie’s mouth formed a small fond smile at Julie, completely unaffected by Luke’s glare. 

“Bad. Ass.” Julie insisted, reaching forward to poke Willie’s chest to enunciate each word.

Willie looked up at Luke in amusement. “Is she always this stubborn?”

“Worse actually,” Alex spoke up. He slid up next to Luke holding his own glass of champagne. The glass looked completely full, and Luke would have bet money that it was purely for show. “She’s easy to distract when she’s drunk so you can just change the subject to start arguing.”

Laughing, Willie turned to face Alex. He opened his mouth to say something but paused halfway through, mouth snapping shut. As the two made eye contact Luke could swear the room got a little quieter. Alex’s smile faded into a small ‘oh’ of amazement as he stared at the other boy while the small smile on Willie’s face stretched out into a crooked grin, eyes crinkling. 

“Uh, hey.” Willie broke the silence.

“Hey there,” Alex replied awkwardly. 

Luke jumped as Julie poked his side excitedly. “Luke and I gotta got. Alex.”Julie gripped the boy in question’s arm and leaned toward him “You need to take care of Willie, cause he hung out with me all night. I’m drunk so I think I’m not good to take care of him. I couldn’t even take care of a baby.” Julie’s laughter at her own joke quickly transformed into a haunted stare, “my god could kill a baby.”

“Yeah, she’s done.” Luke pulled Julie back to his side. “Thank you for keeping her company,” Luke said to Willie, the words felt like poison in his mouth. 

“It was nothing, Julie’s cool.” Willie glanced over for just a moment before turning his gaze back to an oblivious Alex.

“Wait, we can’t leave until Alex promises me,” Julie protested as Luke tried to lead her away.

“I promise I’ll take care of your friend,” Alex’s tone was serious but his lips turned up in a very amused smile.

“I hope you take very good care of me,” Willie mused, casually raising his champagne glass to his lips. Alex turned red as a fire truck and started stammering at the bold flirtations.

And on that note. Luke grabbed Julie and began to lead her away from the pair, his good mood back. He was already looking forward to teasing Alex mercilessly tomorrow. Not to mention the green-eyed monster had calmed down a little now that he knew Willie was gay.

“Alex is so cute and Willie is so cute and they are both so nice,” Julie rambled. Luke smiled down at her in amusement, she always was a happy drunk. 

“How did you know Willie was gay though?” He asked, leading her down the hall to the cars. He pulled out his phone to order one of those discreet taxis that usually brought the other drunk celebrities home.

“What?” Julie asked in confusion, “Willie isn’t gay he’s bi. Bi bi birdie.” She giggled. “Willie is so cute.”

The green-eyed monster raised his head again to wink. 

+1 The Mother?

Luke was absentmindedly plucking the chords to Flying Solo on his acoustic. He had a flight that morning to Los Angeles, but his anxiety over what tomorrow had in store was making it hard for him to sleep. His plans to relax and spend the day with Julie had only made his nerves worse because she was pissed off at him for seemingly no reason.

So here he was at 2 am, less than three hours until he needed to be leaving trying to figure out what exactly he had done to piss her off. 

It wasn’t that he kept the demo to himself, as far as he knew, because they had talked about it already and she said she understood not wanting to say anything until it was official. Luke even gave her permission to listen to it before it was ready. It wasn’t for losing her at the party because he would have gotten an earful the day after. It certainly wasn’t because he had left the toilet seat up in their apartment, he had learned a while ago not to do that.

The only thing he wasn’t sure about was the whole ‘solo career’ thing. 

Luke had planned his trip so that he got back to New York the day of the deadline, which absolutely boggled his mind that he only had six days before making such a big decision. He and the rest of the band had discussed it at length, it was the kind of thing that concerned them after all. The other guys had been excited for him and Julie had been as encouraging as ever, talking about all the recognition and fans he would have.

When he thought about going solo though, he thought about how boring it was recording alone in the studio. How great it felt to be a part of the team, to succeed with his favorite people in the world. How much he hated being the center of attention. After talking to them it hit him just how much the idea of doing the music performing thing without them sucked. Luke was never in it for fame anyways, he just wanted to connect with people through music.

Luke told Julie as much in private, that he was pretty sure he wanted to stay with the band but wanted to wait to tell the others. Then he confessed that this trip would decide if he even wanted to release the single at all, since the song was so personal. Julie had patted his hand and given him one of her sad smiles. Since then, the crabby mood.

Hence, the solo career being the number one culprit.  There was a thought nagging at the back of his head though, insisting that he give it the time of day. What if Julie wants you out of the band because she’s getting tired of you?

It wasn’t the craziest thing to think about. Julie was meeting amazing people who did amazing things all the time, and Luke knew they all were well aware of how much of a catch she was. People like Willie, her highschool sweetheart Nick, even prince Nikolai of Denmark.What if Julie had realized she was tired of foster kid Luke and his issues and realized she could have a literal royalty. 

What if the only reason she hadn’t broken up with him already was that she was too nice? If that was the case, him refusing to go solo would have made her realize it would be basically impossible to escape being around him. Luke felt his stomach churn with anxiety over going home and jealousy. 

In Luke’s opinion, it would really suck if his girlfriend dumped him. Especially since part of his reason to go home being that he needed to pick up her mom's engagement ring from the jewelers. 

Or maybe she was just stressed because of her Rolling Stone celebrity profile photo shoot tomorrow, and Luke was making up her being mad at him in his head. Luke really hoped that was the case.

As the time neared 3 am, Luke finally accepted that he wasn’t going to calm himself down enough for even just a quick nap. Sighing in resignation, he began fingerpicking notes in random order until something started sounding good. He eventually realized he was humming to himself as he played, no words just a melody.

Lyrics he had written a couple weeks ago drifted in his mind. He had thrown out because they were a little too cheesy and knew the guys would have teased him if they ever read them. They hadn’t even managed to be half a song, so he wasn’t too beat up about ditching it. But now, he was alone and writing songs had always been a good backup to just practicing.

“Step into my world, bittersweet love story 'bout a girl shook me to the core. Voice like an angel I've never heard before. You set me free, me loving you is more than chemistry. I'll hold your music here inside me while my heart is in your hands. Melody and words are all I am, and when I’m with you there’s perfect harmony.”

Luke trailed off and sighed. All the song made him do is think about Julie, which made him sad again. Besides, the song didn’t feel right. He turned to put his guitar on a stand, pausing as he saw the figure leaning against the doorway.

“Julie?” Luke was confused. “What are you doing here?” The studio was a ten minute drive from their apartment, and last he checked she was asleep when he left. His girlfriend was wearing a pair of sweatpants and a band tee and her hair was pulled on to the top of her head in a messy bun. She looked like she had literally rolled out of bed.

“Why are you hiding in the practice studio at 3 am?” Julie raised an eyebrow in challenge. 

Luke sighed and looked down at his guitar. “I just needed to think, to clear my head.”

“Why? So you can decide whether or not you’re going to dump me for some girl in LA tomorrow?”

Luke felt his eyebrows rise so high on his face, he was pretty certain they were at his hairline, from his surprise at Julie’s accusation. What the hell was she talking about? Asking if he was going to ‘dump her for some girl’ like he was even capable of noticing somebody other than her. “What are you-”

“Oh I’m sorry,” Julie said in mock remorse, “I forgot I was supposed to play stupid about you pining over some girl named Emily. Silly me, I just got a little upset when you implied the whole point of your super-secret personal trip was to go see your long lost love. You know I have a little difficulty being properly supportive when I’m upset.”

Luke stared at his girlfriend in bewilderment as she glared back at him. Her words were processing slowly in his head, not quite understanding how she got the idea that he was in love with mom. Then it hit, his eyes widened in understanding.

“Oh! You listened to the demo.”

“Yeah,” Julie said icily, “I listened to your love ballad apology.” She looked up at the ceiling and took a deep breath. Luke realized in a start that she looked like she was about to cry. She looked back down at him, face melted from angry to devastated. “You know everything about my exes, you were with me through Nick breaking my heart. Why didn’t I even know about this ‘Emily’ girl? Did you not trust me?” Julie choked and a tear slid down her cheek. “Or did you know that the second I found out about her I would realize you were still in love with her?”

“Julie.” Luke felt his heart drop at the sight of her crying. His movements were so instinctive he didn’t even realize he was going to hug her until he was already doing it. Her body shook as she cried but she didn’t try and push him away. “Julie,” he said gently, “before you get more upset, I need you to remember what my mom’s name is.”

“E-Emily. But why?” Julie froze as she realized, pulling herself away from the hug. She looked up at Luke, tears still on her cheeks. “Unsaid Emily is for your mom.”

“Yes.”

“You aren’t dramatically telling a girl you are still in love with her.”

“Nope.”

“You just wrote a heartfelt emotional song apologizing to your mom.”

“Yes.”

“This trip is for you to go see your parents and try to apologize to them, isn’t it?”

“That’s right.” Julie stared up at him blankly. Luke watched her, waiting for her to say something else. Finally, the girl reached out to smack his arm not ungently.

“You jerk!” She yelled at him. “Why didn’t you tell me you were trying to do that. I would have tried to help you!”

“I know,” Luke sighed, “to be honest, I didn’t want you to come in case I backed out last minute or they rejected me. Cause if you were there, it would be real. And you got that big Rolling Stone article tomorrow, I didn’t want you to cancel.” 

Julie’s face dropped into something more sympathetic, reaching out to hold his hand. “I’m sorry. And I’m sorry for accusing you of leaving me for your mom”

Luke let out a short laugh, lacing his fingers with hers. “I can’t believe you thought I would leave you at all though.”

“To be honest if it wasn’t this I probably would have thought it at some point anyway,” Julie confessed with a shrug. “I’ve kind of thought you were getting bored of me honestly. 

His eyes widened in surprise. “What could I have possibly done to give you that impression?”

“You want a list?” Julie raised an eyebrow. “I saw the way you kept staring at that fan Lucy. Then you and Carrie were all chummy and went out together the day after my dad’s party without me. And while I was trying to set Willie up with Alex you got all mad at me and possessive over him.” Julie’s shoulders slumped, “I didn’t say anything cause it technically wasn’t cheating I didn’t want you to get annoyed and leave me.”

Luke stared at her sad face in bewilderment before bursting out in laughter. Julie glared at his amusement, “I really don’t know what you found that so funny.”

“Babe,” Luke grinned, “I was staring at Lucy because I was jealous of her flirting with you. At the premiere I wasn’t possessive of Alex, he may have been my ex but he isn’t my very sexy, smart, funny, and talented girlfriend. I was getting jealous because you kept rambling about how awesome Willie was and calling him your night and shining armor.”

“Oh,” Julie’s glare shifted into surprise. 

“You’ve been so worried about me getting bored and I was worried about the same thing,” Luke confessed, “I am so completely in love with you and I’m not sure what I would do if you didn’t do the same.”

Julie smiled, stepping into Luke’s space, reaching up to intertwine her hands behind his neck. “I kind of love you too Luke Patterson.” Luke beamed, moving his head down to capture her lips in a kiss, wrapping his hands around her waist.

Julie shivered under his hands, better than any kind of high Luke ever experienced. He smiled at Julie’s little gasp of surprise as he pulled her closer, arching her back to pull him into a deeper kiss. Luke slanted his head in a different angle, humming in contentment.

Julie was the one to break the kiss, still locked against Luke in his arms. “I should make you jealous more often," she gasped against Luke’s cheek, as he kissed the corner of her mouth. 

He froze, “don’t you dare.”

She laughed. “Well maybe you should convince me not you,” she teased flirtatiously.

“Well maybe you should marry me,” Luke blurted out. 

Mid laugh, Julie’s face froze in surprise. Luke felt his heart start to beat like crazy, instantly regretting his words.

He hadn’t meant to say it like this. His plan was to bring her to her studio at her dad’s place. To tell her how he had realized he loved her the first time she hugged him after they performed, how he realized she was the woman he was going to marry after they wrote Edge of Great at 1 am their senior year. How he wasn’t able to stop smiling for a week when she told him she liked him at graduation. How the past three years have been the happiest of his life.

It was not meant to be blurted out after the two of them just had an argument over whether or not Luke was sleeping with his mom. He didn’t have his ring, wasn’t down on one knee, and definitely looked like crap from not sleeping. Julie deserved better than that. She wasn’t going to say-

“Yes,” Julie blurted out, cutting through his train of thought.

His brain circuited. “What?”

“Yes I’ll marry you, you big idiot.” 

Luke beamed, heart soaring with joy. She said yes! He cupped her cheeks and started peppering her face with kisses. He was so happy that he was sure he could fly. Finally, he settled on her lips for a slow sweet kiss.

Once again Julie was the one to separate them, leaning back. “I am so canceling my Rolling Stones shoot.”

Three days later, Luke knocked on the door to a brick house in the suburbs of LA. He started fidgeting nervously, unaware of his fiddling fingers until Julie’s warm and slid into his own. He looked down at their joined hands with a smile, Julie’s mom’s engagement ring catching the light. He could do this, he could do anything as long as she was by his side.

The door swung open to reveal a tired grey-haired woman. Her eyes widened as she saw Luke.

“Hi mom. I’m home.” 

[thoughtsaboutshows]

"I though you loved me.” “Get over it, it’s just monopoly.”

Post Part-4 Witchy AU 

“So we’re set for Saturday then?”  Sabrina asked Roz as she pulled her history book out of her locker.  For Sabrina, the first class of the day was boring and wildly inaccurate.  And the annoyance had only gotten worse when Nick Scratch started attending Baxter High and began whispering to her under his breath just how much mortals got history wrong.  He’d nearly gotten them in trouble multiple times but Nick smirked and charmed them out of it, typically earning a smack from Sabrina to which he just smirked more.

“Yup!”  Roz confirmed, leaning against the locker next to Sabrina’s.  “Theo’s gonna stop at Dr. Cee’s to pick up food, Harvey will grab drinks out of his Father’s no longer in use liquor cabinet, and I will bring the music.”  

“And I got the games and location!”  Sabrina nodded as she closed her locker door.  She should have known she was about to yelp in shock when Roz pressed her lips together to suppress a laugh and looked down.  But she’d realized it too late and suddenly she was squealing in surprise as a steady pair of arms wrapped around her waist from behind, lifting her up.  A pair of warm lips pressed to her cheek and she giggled on instinct, praying his lips didn’t travel further as no one needed to hear the noises he’d draw if he reached her neck. 

“Nick!  Put me down!”  Sabrina cried, smiling wide as  Nick nuzzled his nose in her hair.  She had used her rose shampoo that morning and was one of Nick’s favorites.  It reminded him of walking through the woods with her.  Or perhaps the real reason why was because she sometimes let him massage it into her hair when they showered together.  Roz waved and scurried away in search of Harvey as Sabrina was obviously distracted by her warlock boyfriend wrapping her in his arms.  Roz didn’t mind, enjoying the beaming smile that was plastered on Sabrina’s face ever since the two had reconciled.  

“Fine.”  Nick said as he set her back on her feet.  But she still felt his sly grin on her face and his arms around her waist, despite the fact that she was on solid ground.  “But, babe, if you think I’m letting you go, you’re crazy.” 

“Nick…”  Sabrina breathed out as his lips reached the spot below her ear, and she knew she had to halt the breaks or they’d both get written up for indecency in the hallway.  So she turned in his arms instead and pulled him close so her back was against her locker and he was cradling her in his grasp.  She reached up and brushed away a curl and then grazed his cheek with her painted nails, perfectly aware of the hypocrisy of her next statement.  “Why so touchy this morning?”  

“Well someone sent me back to the Academy last night so I didn’t get to wake up with my girlfriend.”  Nick narrowed her eyes at her, only slightly faking his annoyance.  She rolled her eyes at his pouting and moved her hand to massage his brow, trying to get the furrow to un-crease.  

“Come on, you know why I did that.”  Sabrina said biting back a laugh at the way his pout only seemed to grow when she tilted her head and explained.  “It was one night, Nick.  We’ve hardly spent a night apart since-”

“Since you came back from the dead.”  Nick finished for her with a more intentional tone and took a slight step closer when he saw the way she cringed at his words.  When she wouldn’t meet his eyes he sighed and tilted her chin up with his finger, brushing her bottom lip and preventing her from biting on it like she so often did when upset.  “Spellman, I’m sorry.  I don’t mean to keep you all to myself it’s just that...”  She blinked at him a few times and didn’t try to stop a tear from falling down her cheek.  Nick didn’t hesitate to wipe it away with his thumb, but he wouldn’t let his own tears fall.  Not here in the halls of Baxter High, that was meant for the safety of Sabrina’s bedroom.  “It’s hard for me to accept sometimes that you’re actually here.  That you’re not going to slip through my fingers again.”  

“Nick.”  Sabrina didn’t care what anyone would think at that moment.  She placed her warm hand on the back of Nick’s neck and brought his face down to hers and pressed their foreheads together.  He sighed into the touch, remembering how cold her hands had been when she’d died.  “I know it’s a lot to wrap our heads around.  Me dying and Hecate bringing me back.  I remember what it was like when you were in Hell and…”  Sabrina swallowed down the crushing pain of when she had to hand Nick over to Lilith.   “And I don’t want to be separated from you either.  But when you lost me, my family did too.”  She paused again and gave him her puppy dog eyes, the same one she sent his way when she’d convinced him her party at the mortuary was a good idea.  “And last night Ambrose and I needed a cousin night.”  

“Sabrina, I’m not upset you sent me away to hang with Ambrose.”  Nick grumbled and Sabrina giggled in response, sneaking a kiss on his cheek.  

“Then what are you upset about, Nicholas?”  Sabrina wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him even closer as his hands went to her waist.  He looked down and shook his head, giving in eventually and meeting her eyes.  She was biting her lip, not in a worried way, but in a way that knew she was about to get exactly what she wanted.  The smile he gave her was adorable and one only she got to see.

“I just missed you is all.”  He shrugged and picked at her jacket.  He didn’t expect her to kiss him, but when she leaned up just a little bit and pressed her ruby red lips to his he couldn’t help but respond.  Kissing him randomly whenever she pleased cemented even further that she was here.  When the bell rang they broke apart, still breathing heavy despite the fact they’d kept the kiss PG-13.

“I missed you too, Scratch.”  She wiped her lipstick off of his lips before grabbing his hand and pulling him to first period.  “And you can stay over tonight.  And after game night Saturday.”  

“Well obviously I’m doing that, Spellman.”  He lifted their hands to his mouth and brushed hit against his lips.  “I have some games planned of my own.”

                            -

Nick sighed as he dug into more of the chili fries and leaned against the foot of the couch.  He, Sabrina and her friends had just finished a game of Sorry and somehow Harvey had managed to knock him back to the beginning four times.  He didn’t take it personally, but didn’t rule out hexing him in the near future.  Thankfully Robin ended up winning and Nick didn’t even try to hide his smile when Harvey huffed in annoyance.  Earlier they’d played Yahtzee and the mortals had made Nick, Sabrina, and Roz swear they wouldn’t charm the dice.  Nick was tempted but played fair.  And Sabrina didn’t even cross her fingers, but she won anyways. 

Sabrina dropped the final board game box on the floor and Nick turned his head to the side, slightly perplexed.  

“And now, the pièce de résistance, Monopoly.”  Sabrina smirked and plopped back on the ground next to Nick and placed her hand on his knee.  She turned to him to explain.  “This ones all about buying properties, building houses and hotels, and basically just taking everyone’s money.”

“And this one is way too good at it.”  Theo said as he pointed his finger at Sabrina.  She wrinkled her nose in response and leaned further into Nick who gazed at her adoringly.  

“Oh yeah?”  Nick wrapped his arm around her waist tighter and jostled her.  “You’re a Moneypoly master?”  

“Monopoly Nick.”  Sabrina laughed before ruffling his hair.  “And yes.  I win every time.” 

“She’s not even exaggerating either.”  Roz pointed out before taking a sip of her drink.  “She either wins or she gets so ahead that we all just quit.”  

“Well I just so happen to be very good at property acquisition.  I’ve been in charge of the Scratch Family assets for years.”  Nick teased, directly to Sabrina as she leaned in and brushed his nose with hers. 

“It’s more than just property acquisition, Scratch.  It’s also about luck.” 

“I also happen to know I’m extremely lucky.”  He was closer to her now, and they were both caught up in it.  Neither noticed the groans and whistles from their friends when Nick weaved his hand in her hair and pulled her in for a kiss.  

“We’ll see about that.”  Sabrina retorted with a wink when she pulled back, pecking his lips one more time before opening the box and beginning to explain the rules.  Nick hung on her every word, keeping his eyes on her lips as she enthusiastically explained each pawn and claiming the dog as her own.  Salem meowed in disagreement with that. And when she shrugged her familiar off he jumped into Nick’s lap, seeking affection from him.  

Nick caught on quick, getting himself out of jail right away every time.  Meanwhile Sabrina hadn’t managed to get any properties of quality and landed on the tax square one too many times.  

In the end, Nick had hotels on both Park Place and Boardwalk and their friends started to go bankrupt one by one.  Harvey was the first to go, having spent most of his money on buying houses on his properties so he had no money left when he landed on Nick’s spaces.  Roz and Robin went next, leaving Theo and Sabrina to take Nick down.  Theo gave up after landing on both expensive pieces of real estate, and Sabrina grew more determined by the second.  

No one had ever beaten her in Monopoly before, not even Ambrose and not even when he’d charmed the board.  Sabrina had just undone the magic and dumped her glass of chocolate milk on him.  She was seven at the time. 

She had been through a lot in her sixteenth year, but nothing prepared her for the dread and rage that fueled her celestial blood when she landed on Park Place, and knew she did not have enough money to pay.  Nick had been wearing his signature smirk all game, but it had reached a whole new level when he realized he was about to win.  Their friends noticed what happened too, and were quick to egg her on and cheer for Nick.  Sabrina was drinking wine now and came very close to dumping it on them all. 

“Come on, Nick.  You can give me a discount.”  Sabrina batted her eyelashes at him and traced his jaw with her fingers.  She’d been bartering with him for the past few minutes and decided to change tactics, knowing he struggled to resist her.  

“Rules are rules, Spellman.”  Nick smacked his lips and shook his head, making her hand fall away from his face.  “No discounts allowed.  You told me so when I tried to negotiate with Roz.”

“But I have something you really really want.”  She narrowed her eyes at him and slid her hand up his thigh.  He did his best to not let on how affected he was by her hand movements, taking a deep breath to calm his racing heart.  She didn’t care that her friends were right there.  She simply wanted to win.

“And I really really want to win this game of Monopoly.”  Sabrina scrunched her nose when she realized he wasn’t giving in.  He kissed it to prove his point before holding out his hand, palm up.  “Fork over the cash, Spellman or declare bankruptcy.”  

“You know I don’t have the money, Nick.”  Sabrina narrowed her eyes, voice dripping in annoyance.  

“Well then.”  He brushed a curl back and she smacked his hand away.  “I win.” 

Sabrina’s friends cheered and Sabrina leaned her head back and covered her face with her hands, still refusing to accept her defeat verbally.  

"Ugh. I thought you loved me, Nicholas.” 

“Get over it, it’s just monopoly, Spellman.”  He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and kissed her hair before whispering in her ear.  “And get over me later.” 

His husky voice made her blush and blood run hot despite how frustrated she was at losing to him.

“Okay well this was fun guys!”  Sabrina bolted from his side and stood up, beginning to clean up.  She ignored Nick’s smug look, knowing that it seemed like she was kicking them out so she could bring Nick upstairs.  And if she was honest?  That was exactly what she was doing.    

“Thanks for having all of us, Brina.”  Theo said as he hugged her goodbye.  Sabrina hugged the rest of her friends too while Nick waved his hands to pack all the board games up.  They both waved them off from the porch and when they drove away and their taillights were out of view, Nick turned to her.

“Sooo, Spellman.”  She pressed her lips together and turned to him, raising her eyebrows in his direction.  “You up for another round?”

“You think I’m gonna sleep with you after you crushed me in Monopoly?”  

“Sabrina!” Nick mock scoffed and pressed his hand to his chest.  “I meant a game.  Who do you take me for?” 

“Someone who’s gonna spend another night at the Academy if he isn’t careful.”  Sabrina crossed her hands and smirked at him, enjoying how his eyes lost their playful glint and went dark. 

“You wouldn’t dare, Spellman.”  He stepped closer to her and grabbed her waist and pinned her to the railing, similar to how he had her pressed against the lockers a few days ago.  

“Well I don’t know, Nicholas.”  Sabrina shrugged and pretended to consider sending him away.  “What’s your offer?”

“My offer?  It’s simple, Sabrina.”  He raised his eyebrows and leaned close to her ear whispering everything he wanted to do to her, making promises that made her toes curl just thinking about it.  Images of him between her legs flooded her brain as her eyes fluttered and rolled into the back of her head.  She was grateful the rest of her family were gone for the night as it seemed Nick had plenty in store for the two of them. 

“Nick…”  She barely got out with her exhale as he nibbled on her ear.  “I accept.  Take me upstairs.  Now.”  

Nick wasted no time, teleporting them to her room and tossing her to the bed.  She was frustrated from losing the game and from the way Nick was staring at her.  She’d never admit it to him, but she found the way he’d immersed himself into a mortal board game incredibly sexy.  

After kissing her soundly on the mouth and starting the trail down lower he paused. 

“I can stay right?”  His hair was already messy and he was panting, breathing heavy.  She brushed his hair back and he nearly whimpered at the intimacy of it. 

“Oh you’re not going anywhere.”  She winked at him before pushing his head back to her body.  She may have lost monopoly, but right now she was the winner. 

[tobebugjewce]

THE WALTEN FILES: my jumbled notes on my blind run-in with this web series

first off this is gonna be long and unorganized, also this is my second time writing this as i had lost literally half of my progress and im This (imagine two fingers almost touching with a 0.0000000001mm distance between them) close to ripping all of the fucking hair out of my goddamn head. but now this will be extra long and yes, i will lose some accuracy to my first writing but thats okay ill probably edit this a kajillion times over

which brings me to my next tangent; im literally braindumping here. so to have a smidge of organization all afterthoughts, edits and corrections will be boldened, i forgot what im gonna do with italicized text but ill probably bolden it here yeah im pretty sure its for side tangents, separate from Corrections, which are in bold. also theyre for emphasis too.

so in general, this post right here is all of my notes i wrote down on my grid-patterned sticky notes (which i used WAYYYY too much of) about the first 3 uploaded walten files youtube videos transferred onto my handy dandy digital notebook, this b(l)og. yeppers peppers. you know im serious about this shit when i typed probably over like a thousand fucking words including boldened shit, italicized shit and motherfucking links, lost it ALL, and im sitting here re-typing it again.

i feel bad about this but im not gonna trigger warn right here, but this is technically a warning. if you want a list of triggers as to what this post (and the walten files in general) i will link a little list to that here

without further a doo doo, (mama mia) here the fucking fuck we go again.

THE WALTEN FILES - VIDEO #1

clarifying this now, im gonna put some useless shit which i thought was code onto this because even though it was useless it was part of my notes and im physically going to combust if i dont put down every single thing i wrote on my papers. so what i thought was code was in the closed captions, i started writing it down when i got to the second video but came back to my first videos notes to include them. i wrote down the first letter to every word that was capitalized in the closed captions, which i had on as a default because number one i knew going into this id need them because most web horror things like args and cryptic shit like that has some of the most crucial shits in the closed captions. number two i am autistic and have auditory processing issues and have most closed captioning on as a default if theyre available.

firstly jotted, i wrote down the closed captions “code” so im gonna put the rest here too: HYWITB(BSI)Y A(BSI)BJWFKWITW ILHHFSBBSBTLBWI USOISTBNBSFIRBCAWHSHCBWHTAIGRNB*C*BTWLTSFA(20)MCFP ILITIIACPH(1978, 1979)SA(4)YTSCH*C*OGSSU SFTGRPATDBBUTFBNLLCHMIHLBRALLCLAYTUKB*LC*WHATWASTHATTHING 

the numbers in parenthesis are there because i wasnt sure they should be included in the “code” or not. i also thought of this with the BSI - bunny smiles incorporated and also the years 1978 and 1979. the shits in asterisks are coughs and light coughs, which were capitalized in the closed captions so i included them too just in case

i then jotted, in parenthesis of course, the names of the animatronics when they were listed in the animation section of the video; bon aka the blue bunny, sha aka the sheep one, boozoo aka the clown<3 honk<33, and banny aka the purpled eyelashed up one who is also a bunny btw. also i got boozoo the clown and boozoo the mustache guy confused because apparently the clowns name is billy???? but they named “boozoo” in bons sleepover and showed the clown? idk maybe im an idiot and theyre the same or just an idiot and theyre different or a super mega (matt and ryan?!?!??) idiot in general which is probably the case

i started drawing little stars to write down things i thought would be super important or to 100% look at again. the first subject of this pointy torture was the part of the video where at 3:00, i marked it down to make sure to reverse the audio as it was most definitely a weird audio that has that signature warp-y effect that makes sure you KNOW its in reverse. i then listened back to it Very carefully (still got it wrong) and got this: “you finally start to remember. that old doll. they will look out for you soon” im also pretty sure i heard “sophie” at the end of that audio but im not entirely sure and dont remember and i dont wanna go back to check lmfao but anyways it didnt matter because i was wrong anyway. after i had finished all 3 walten files i watched the film theory video on the walten files (which didnt cover all 3 but was dece.) out of curiosity and to hear matpats signature silly little voice explain some stuff i already knew, and click some shit in my brain that i couldve thought up of if i was a bit more... i dont know honestly. anyways yeah so the actual audio is “you finally start to remember. that old day. they will look out for you soon.” so yeah. day, not doll.

i then wrote down “sarah evelyn”, the name on the bons sleepover animation (i dont remember if she created it or animated it or whatnot) and scribbled will she matter? under her name. turns out no, as i didnt see her name in the rest of the series, let alone the first video. this is also a great time to mention how matpat theory helped me realize that the walten files are collections of videos, uploaded onto youtube by anthony. (i already knew about anthony as he signed his name in the descriptions of the youtube videos, making me categorize this overall web series more into an arg type genre.) but yes, the tapes, recorded “irl” footage, animated clips, vhs tape recordings and other audio-visual content is all collected and labeled the walten files, as i had mistaken each video to be a tape. stupid me. alrighty, onward!

i starred this one, good for me; MISSING: Jack Walten LAST SEEN: 06/11/1974

i jotted down with an arrow that; sophie was a nightguard? she was wearing the uniform explained in tape 2 i dont know why but i went back into my video 1 notes after i had watched video 2. organization purposes. i guess.?? 

i then paused the video when the screen flickered a date, the beginning of video footage dated 10/10/1982 (Brian Stells?) god my little genius ass assuming the videographer was brian stells, based on the id card i saw earlier.

i then wrote down what text i saw on the dead, mangled, bloody body in the purple security suit; “i cant feel anything” “he thought i was her” then drew a little arrow pointing to; thought brian was sophie? or ashley? i also starred the name Brian Stells this is totally out of order LMFAOOOOOOOO also i wrote down ashley because, again, my little pea brain went back on my video 1 notes after watching video 2. but yep thats all i wrote for The Walten Files 1 - Company Introductory Tape

THE WALTEN FILES - VIDEO #2 

Tape #1 - created 07/02/1978

awesome how thats first and foremost in the captions. god. so sexy of you martin walls. /j /nsx

this pack of notes is chunkier because again, like i have mentioned before i am an absolute goober and thought the capitalized letters of the words would actually mean something. I MEAN MAYBE THEY DO AND IM JUST DOING IT WRONG but i stopped doing it after this video because holy shit it was exhausting and my stupid little fingers couldnt take the writing anymore becasue i am WEAK. 

so write off the bat (squeak) i wrote down 197[] the blacked out rectangle over the last digit of that year and everything im also now assuming its probably 1978 or 1974 because lore reasons but whos to say but yeah i also wrote down this;

Tape #2 - created 08/13/1978

then, straight up in the beginning of the video i caught it, the flash of text, as i had by now realized i gotta be SUPER stupid focused on the screen in case i miss anything, i wanted to be crazy precise on my theorizing and mental notes, among other things. but yes i saw it, the first half of a youtube link;  “https://youtu” 

claps hands together and rubs them evilly. oh yeah baby. thats the hot lunch. this shit right here? the cats pajamas. lets fucking go.

i wrote down this goofy shit i pasued to inspect when i saw bon sorting through a file cabinet and naturally scribbled down the labels and other written things i could see on the files; 

relocate X/X/75 felix

storage K-9 07/23/1975 felix k(ranken)

Bons Burgers 06/28/1974 Jack Walten

Shipping Service 1975

New Location -> 1982

i also wrote down more goofy shit, like when banny was created for some reason; in 1974

starred, i noted to go back and reverse the audio at 5:09, when played back, i didnt write it down so i dont remember. lmao.

i also marked to screenshot and brighten the darkened image i saw at 5:20, i was going to do it on my phone then realized i can just do it on my computer so i quickly took a screenshot, brightened it and wrote down what i saw; a missing person poster that read MISSING: SUSAN WOODINGS(?) Last seen: 1974 i was very unsure of the spelling of her last name because the image was so goddamn low quality and grainy but its what i saw. this is where tape #3 gets thrown in, which im gonna type again because i like how the formatting looks;

Tape #3 - created 07/09/1978 (BEFORE tape 2?!//1/1??? its more likely than you think)

i wrote down more dates, any dates i saw, i jotted down. i wrote; 

Technical Support 1978 

then, 

Brian Stells (for some reason i dont remember right now)

alrighty this is where the stupid capitalized letters come in, but before it looks like i vomit a keysmash time infinity on this, ill put down the little inbetween things i wrote in the midst of the caps lockalypse like timestamps and stuff, so here you go;

- Reverse at 8:16 which i did but of course didnt write down what i heard. i think it was too warbled to hear anything clear out of it, or it was just the good ol auditory processing issues fucking me over yet again. WAIT yep yes i did here it is: “rosemary would go to the restaurant every night hoping that [her] beloved husband would reappear after being missing for weeks but no response until one day [s]he heard a voice [saying] ‘i know where he is rosie’ coming from the back stage” the bracketed stuff is the corrections, i misheard the audio and thought the audio said “his”, “he” and “singing” like a nimrod

- Brighten at 10:14 which was another missing person poster, but i dont think it had any information on it because i didnt write it down, just;

- Sophie again (pic at 9:08?) (dismemberd and put in Sha) i was stupid and wrong haha idiot it was rosemary who was put in sha but anywho

i starred and underlined a huge thing i discovered which was;

- Walten had 3 kids which i dont remember how i found out but it doesnt matter, its good important info i uncovered.

- Tape #4 - Unkown Date

- recorded 07/12-07/14 1978 

- Hilary B, Ashley P & Kevin W i made sure to get these names down as soon as i saw them on screen but then realized shortly after i wouldnt really need to have it as the closed captions made sure i knew which person was talking by using their first initial (capitalized of course) before each line of text. this is the perfect time to announce the arrival of the clusterfuck of capital letters, which is going to include colons which will indicate that the letter before it is the initial of the person talking. without further aedue, here comes another chinese earthquake;

TCWTSTATO(K-9)TBSSFWFCNEHAWBSUBIUC(BSIIDC)OWHISF INBIJTILNSPL(K-9)LCSCKCCCWTTLTLITTTYROTFAJAMHPYYSTCSPMBBWSBIB H:NTPPCCK:DA:HH:YCPRPMWTCBCRAWK:JH:SYYTCPBACPSTBAWCA:TK(?):FMTTCMK:TCPNOA:DTOFK:ITNPPRA:YBUTIRRFH:HKIBESRAIA:TCK:WA:WPCCFTRRIDPEH:GGK:GPA:LKK:WA:HNCGTKMK:YH:IGKA:ESK:MFH:RK:HILRLBNTRPPUWHITRRTPEIFEPH:YWBEBPK:MAHPBTRPTRPEL(LN)HTACPKLIKHPFITSKLTKLB(LB?)ISIBSUBIPRW AEBATHSPUAICTPURTWBBRPHTRTIIIILTCITCUCCP S(bpe, be)WA”IDCPBPSIB

holy shit its finally over okay now onto some MORE of what i wrote down in between and also after that keysmash attack;

12 doors? (backrooms) 27? 26? i was unsure because ashley was unsure too lmfao

found cassette (6/11/78) <- says “discard”? yeah it did

Tape in clown audio, speaking voice; jack, susan, charles(?), rosemary, sophie, last word sounds like “walrus” it was walten lmfao

Ashley died? yeah she did lmfao OR AT LEAST I THINK SO??

starred this one, Reverse @ 17:06, then got this;

“they left the next day, they thought ashley left early, but she was in the backdoors, screaming as much as she could, but no one heard the screams, the following days the caretakers would complain about an awful smell coming from the backdoors, company decided to shut down facility until new advice, the relocate project was unsuccessful. ashley is still there, but she is not screaming anymore, she saw something she wasnt supposed to see and now shes beautiful” the phrase “shes beautiful” was repeating like a bajillion times in that wall of text. then, god motherfuckng bless: 

at 17:23 i found the other half of the youtube link, “.be/k07QqEDOfQ” i pieced that bad boy together as instant as i think any form of ramen could never be, but remained ever patient. because i made sure to jot down this before moving onto my next segment;

@ end of vid 2, “shadow man sees* me when lights go off” im an idiot *it was actually “feeds” not “sees”, which AGAIN, i only found out after watching the stupid little film theory video *begins snarling and foaming at the mouth*

okay im not proud to admit im editing this to post it and realized ive lost my notes. well. 

might as well post what ive got! if i find my shit ill add onto this, i suppose.

[moody-blues-requiem]

Is it okay to request an NSFW au where Bruno is stuck in Diavolo's body instead of dying, and he and his s/o make love afterwards to celebrate him living despite the circumstances?

This has some end of part 5 spoilers but also gets really canon-divergent, and also starts angsty (me, writing angst??? what??????) but gets all soft and sweet. I hope you enjoy!!

n/s/f/w under the cut!

It’s going to take some time to get used to it all. 

Bruno was dying, you knew something was wrong but you didn’t figure out just how serious things were until you reached Rome. Knowing you were going to have to give up your last minutes with Bruno to fight the boss instead was devastating, but you held back your tears. Now wasn’t the time to cry. You blink and there he is, the man behind it all, Diavolo. You blink again, and you’re sleepy, the adrenaline is pumping through your veins like fire but something pulls you under and you black out. You come to, eventually, and Giorno is impaled upon a row of iron spikes, except it’s apparently Narancia? And Narancia who is apparently Giorno isrushing to his side. His quick movements are able to get him down and close the wounds, but he needs a real medic, badly. The boss appears to be working with you now, except that’s not the boss, that’s Bruno in his body. 

Giorno-in-Narancia’s-body figures out that Diavolo is hiding in Bruno’s body. He grabs the stand arrow, tears streaming from his cheeks, and strikes the body of his friend down. 

The next few minutes are an absolute blur. Everything was suddenly very, very bright, blindingly so. Lying on the ground with your eyes squeezed shut, you felt like you were being tossed around on stormy ocean waves. It lasted forever and it lasted only an instant. But eventually, your eyes opened, back in your own body. Your teammates were starting to stir themselves, Mista looking just as sick as you felt. Narancia remained on the ground, but upon carefully reaching out to his wrist, his pulse was still there. 

Giorno was kneeling on the ground in front of where Bruno’s body once was. On his left was a golden figure, a twisted, nightmarish reimagining of his stand, and on his left, was Diavolo. You nearly screamed for him to watch out as you saw Diavolo begin to move, but the man only put his hand on Giorno’s shoulder. It was still Bruno. 

--------

Time passed, as it tends to do. Narancia and Abbacchio got to share a hospital room while they recovered from their wounds. Trish promised to stay in touch, but “would rather die than deal with gang shit ever again”. Giorno ascended to Passione’s metaphorical throne, and got a spiffy new outfit. And Bruno learned to deal with his new body. 

He never let the gang see, but being trapped in Diavolo’s body broke something inside of Bruno, at least for a while. He stopped sleeping, barely ate, and avoided mirrors at all costs. You cut his hair to match his old style, even offered to dye it for him, but he said he didn’t want to mess with the chemicals. Sometimes at night you’d wake up to him crying in the dark bathroom. But one day, the tears stopped. “I’m done mourning this,” Bruno said to you one morning, as you handed him a cup of coffee. The sun had yet to rise as you two sat outside under the purple sky. “This isn’t Diavolo’s body, this isn’t my ‘new’ self. It’s me.”

You held him until the sun rose, carding your fingers through his silky hair. His hand rested on your thigh, brushing little patterns into your skin with the pad of his thumb, the way he always did. 

---------

Even with Bruno accepting his new body, it took a while before he was confident enough for the bedroom again. He got used to his new junk like he got used to the rest of his new body, but he figured at some point he should probably put it to use. Diavolo-- no, *his* length didn’t hide anything, it was nearly as long flaccid as it was when erect, and it was just a little bit longer and thicker than his old dick was. Surrounded by a well-manicured tuft of pink pubes, Bruno had to admit, he looked pretty appealing. And judging by how he caught you staring, he knew you agreed. 

“Does it, like… feel any different?” you asked, gently palming his erection. 

“It’s still a dick,” he replied. “I think it looks more different than it feels.”

You placed your palm under the shaft, letting it rest in your hand. “I think it might be a liiiiittle heavier? But maybe I’m just nitpicking--”

Before you could finish, Bruno had reached down and unzipped his dick (“Gross, Bruno!” you shouted, jokingly making a face at him), holding it in his hand and pretending to think hard. “I think it’s pretty close to the same.”

“Put that back on!” 

He laughed, reattaching his member. “That didn’t kill the mood too much, did it?”

“A little.” You looked down, and back up, putting on your best doe eyes and batting your eyelashes. “But I think you can make it up to me, signore.” 

You two teased one another like you had before, sharp banter laced with witty innuendos and Bruno’s signature brand of weirdness that was also somehow incredibly sexy. But when it came down to it, the moment of him lining up at your entrance, ready to push into your dripping core, he hesitated. It was almost an out-of-body experience, things felt… off. 

“Bruno?” you asked. “Is everything alright?” 

“Yeah,” he said, but his voice sounded distant. 

“We don’t have to keep going if--”

“No! No, I mean,” he stammered over his words, leaning his head down against your chest, pink hair tickling your bare skin. “It sounds silly, we’ve had sex lots before, but. I’m nervous.”

Bringing a hand up to rub gently over his back, you smiled softly. “It’s like first-time jitters all over again, huh?” Bruno nodded against your chest. “Maybe, I dunno, maybe Diavolo was a virgin--”

“Babe,” Bruno said, suddenly serious, green eyes looking up at you. “The man dressed like the head of a whorehouse instead of a mafia. He definitely wasn’t a virgin.” 

The two of you dissolved into giggles, and you pulled Bruno into a tight, loving hug. The sound of slow but passionate kissing filled the air, your lips meeting your lovers’. Bruno broke the semi-silence first. “I want to keep going, if you do.”

“I do,” you replied. “How about we switch, and I top tonight?”

“I think I’d like that,” Bruno nodded, slightly breathless from the kiss. “Very much.”

Rolling around on the bed to switch places, you settled your legs on either side of Bruno’s waist, his tall erection still standing upright and already brushing against your wet folds. You rubbed over him a few times, teasing his shaft and letting him feel just how badly you wanted him, before lining up his tip with your entrance and slowly, slowly sinking your hips down. Bruno bit his lip, watching his cock disappear inside of you, nodding to tell you he was ready for more. When you finally reached the base he threw his head back in a lust-fueled moan; the voice was slightly different from the old one, but the cadence and how he looked back up at you, love and passion burning in his eyes, biting his lip, was all so very, very Bruno. 

You worked up a slow but steady pace, bouncing on his lap, savoring the way he filled you up perfectly. Your hands gripped his hips like handles, nails slightly digging into his pale skin. Bruno always made the most beautiful noises in the bedroom, even with a slightly different voice his moans sounded like heaven. “Oh, oh, yes, amore!” he would cry out between gasps, snapping his hips up into you. “M-more! Please, god, mmmmore…” His hands found your own hips, bouncing you harder. The old Bruno was strong, but this body was stronger. He moved you over his lap with ease, murmuring “I’m close, love, I want to… can I…”

You leaned down, pressing your forehead against his own. “Cum in me, Bruno.”

Bruno slammed you down onto his lap as his hips bucked up and he came, releasing ropes of hot cum inside you. Your own orgasm hit from the overwhelming pleasure of it all, getting to be with your boyfriend once again and listening to every grunt and groan he made as he emptied his balls in you. Your walls contracted around him, making Bruno’s vision momentarily white out as a hard wave of aftershocks hit his whole system, pushing him directly through a second orgasm. 

When he finally pulled out, a line of thick cum followed, slowly running down your thigh, before being pushed back into place by Bruno’s deft fingers. You collapsed, laying down beside your boyfriend and pulling him into your arms. He leaned up for a quick kiss before resting his head on your chest, contentedly listening to your heart thrum as you came down from all the excitement. 

No matter the time, place, circumstances, or even what body his soul rested in, nothing felt more comfortable than being held sweetly and safely by his love. 

[aries-writingblog]

Stay With Me (2)

Summary: James Buchanan Barnes had never looked at himself as a family guy. He never even thought of it until she came around, flipping his world inside out. Bucky likes trouble and this girl? Well, she seems to invite chaos to dinner.

Pairing: Mob! Bucky Barnes x OC! Alex Grant

Chapter Word Count: 1898

Chapter Warnings: Language, mentions of violence, actual violence (one little hit, nothing big)

A/N: This is an OC story but I try to make them with the least amount of physical description as necessary. The pronouns used are feminine for the character.

“Hey, Alex- you’ve got another package on the front porch.” Wanda announced, walking through the door with Peter and Pietro in tow. The woman groaned, pressing her head to the kitchen island countertop.

“Again?” Alex asked, she looked over to Peter. “It’s the third time in two weeks- are you telling your boss the supplies we need?” Peter’s eyes widened and he shook his head. For the past two weeks, three unmarked packages arrived on Alex’s doorstep. The first just had some essentials for wood working- stain, paint, putty, a couple of new carving knives. The second had been similar- then she read back over a receipt as she was balancing her cheque book, noting the exact same products were present in the boxes. She could only imagine what was in the next one.

And she absolutely refused to change hardware stores- the workers were always so kind to her and the youth that typically dropped by- most of them attending the annual auctions to show support. More than once, they banded together and presented the group with a donation- which prompted Alex to make holiday cookies for the store employees every year. So, no- she would not give up on her family simply because of one idiotic, stupid rich criminal, who seemed hell bent on forcing his way into her life.

“What makes you think they’re from Bucky?” He asked, snatching a drink from her fridge. Pietro grunted, jumping up and sitting on the island, leaning over to Alex.

“If he’s giving you free shit, I wouldn’t complain.” He commented, tugging at her hair gently. Alex looked up, cocking an eyebrow at the teen. “Wring that fucker dry.”

“Pietro.” Wanda scolded, slapping her brother’s arm. “I don’t blame you, Alex. He’s a shady character, with even shadier money.”

“Okay, why are two teens giving me advice, right now? Shouldn’t you be... I don’t know, cleaning your rooms or something?” She snipped, pushing Pietro off the countertop. “People eat here, get your ass off.”

“I’m serious, Alex.” Pietro stopped her, gazing at her. She stopped pushing, meeting his electric blue eyes. “It would help with some of the expenses here. You know that.”

“We aren’t broke. You are, dickhead.” Alex shoved him down the hallway. “Now go- I need laundry in five minutes or your ass is grass.”

Wanda laughed, following her brother down the hallway. The two had been orphaned kids when Alex found them. They were on the streets, trying to survive. Pietro had been caught stealing from a grocery store, Alex stepped in and apologized for his behavior. The, at the time, nine year old played along and then told Alex their situation. She immediately offered them a place in her home. Pietro had accepted, trusting her fully. Wanda had been suspicious but eventually warmed up to her. They’d lived together for six years, the teens would have their sixteenth birthday in a few months. Every time Pietro or Wanda offered to help out and get a job, she turned them down.

“I make plenty of money at the hospital. You’re only kids now, enjoy your time as kids.” She’d tell them.

“They’re right, you know.” Peter supplied, tossing his backpack to the floor. “He may make dirty money but he has plenty of it. If he’s blowing it on you- what’s the problem?” Alex scoffed, swallowing her last bite of cookie.

“The problem is that you don’t live here, Pete. Why are you always here?” She passed the last of the dessert over to Peter.

“Aunt May is working night shift again and I told her I would stay with you so she wouldn’t worry.” He explained, trying to talk around a mouthful of cookie. He swallowed, taking another swig of his drink. “Plus, Pietro and I have a science report due tomorrow and we haven’t started it yet.” Alex took a deep, calming breath, closing her eyes.

“That’s great, Peter. But I’m also working night shift this week. So, you’ll be here by yourselves.” Alex stood up, stretching her back out. “Don’t burn my house down.”

“Sure thing.” He beamed at her, a chuckle falling from her lips as she started up the stairs.

Alex quickly got dressed for work, pulling on her scrubs. She made sure she had her ID badge, clipping it to her pocket. She then stopped by Pietro and Wanda’s rooms to double check if the clothes were picked up. On her way down the stairs, she heard quiet whispering from the teens.

“- what’s the harm in a date with the guy?” Pietro asked. Wanda sighed, Alex could almost picture her pressing her fingers to her temples in annoyance.

“So what she doesn’t want to date anyone? Just let it go, Pietro. And no one said anything about her dating Bucky, Peter just said that he has an interest in her. And sending random gifts isn’t gonna win that woman over, trust me.”

“What’s that supposed to mean, do you know something?” Peter asked. Alex stopped on the steps, curious to hear what Wanda was going to spill to the group.

“Well... here’s the thing. In the back of Alex’s closet, there’s a-“ Wanda stopped, turning around and greeting Alex with a sheepish grin. “Oh, hi Alex.”

“Kids...” she narrowed her eyes, skirting around the group and going into the laundry room. There was a pause before three pairs of feet scurried after her.

“Can we order pizza tonight?” Pietro batted his eyelashes at her, giving his signature pouting smile. She returned the smile, mocking him.

“Pizza in the freezer. And stop going into my closet, Wanda.”

“In my defense, you told me I could borrow that top a few weeks ago and it fell off the hanger. So, was I really in your closet?” She asked, narrowing her eyes. Alex cocked an eyebrow and continued the laundry.

“What would you do, if hypothetically Mr. Barnes was like really interested in you?” Peter asked her, leaning over the washing machine.

“Peter.” She sighed. “I’m not dating your boss. End of story.” She started the machine before turning to Wanda. “Pizza’s in the freezer, keep an eye on it while it’s baking. Don’t let strangers into the house and keep an eye on your brother and Peter. Keep the laundry going and don’t work with any of the auction stuff until I get home. I don’t want any of you showing up at the hospital, wounded. Got it?”

Wanda nodded, repeating everything back to her. Alex grabbed her phone and keys, tucking them into her pockets. She hugged Wanda goodbye, ruffling Pietro‘s hair, before going out. She passed by the large box on the porch, groaning. She pushed it over to the edge of the porch, kicking it for good measure. Then, she got into her car and started to the hospital.

~~~~~~

“I don’t think this is a good idea, Bucky.” Steve advised, crossing his arms. He’d been slightly pissed all day, as soon as Bucky told him of the plan. Sam laughed, watching the buildings out of the window. Bucky groaned, throwing his head back onto the headrest.

“I’m just gonna ask if she got the deliveries. That’s it. No flirting, no banter, nothing. Zilch. Just a question.” Bucky reviewed, once again.

“But in practice, the deliveries are flirting tactics.” Steve pointed out, rolling his eyes. “She threatened to shoot you if you came back, Bucky. Leave it alone.”

“What’s the matter with you?” Bucky griped, cutting his eyes over to Steve. “You never give me shit for anything- girls in clubs, you’ve seen me beat guys senseless, shoot people, more questionable things than being interested in a woman.”

“She’s a woman who has her life together, man. Don’t pull her into this life.” Steve sighed, causing Bucky to shut his mouth. The SUV pulled to a stop in front of the house. Bucky unbuckled his seatbelt and stepped out, slamming the door behind him. He jaunted up the steps and rapped his knuckles against the door. When it opened, he saw a teenaged boy with bleach white hair behind it.

“Can I help you?” He asked. He didn’t let the door open further than his shoulders. It was excusable. A strange, tattooed man at seven thirty standing on the porch of a woman who threatened to kill him. Bucky flashed a bright smile.

“Is Alex around, kid?” He asked, glancing over and spying the box still sitting unopened on the porch. “Ah... she hasn’t opened them?”

“You’re Bucky Barnes?” He asked, ticking an eyebrow up. Bucky nodded, reaching a hand out to shake hands. Pietro didn’t reciprocate, keeping the door tucked to him. Alex trained these kids well. “Well, thanks for the shit but Alex said she didn’t really want it.”

“Pietro, you left the oven-“ A girl with red hair stopped in her tracks. “What’s going on?”

“This is Barnes.” Pietro looked back at her.

“Oh, hi, Mr. Barnes!” Peter peeked his head around Pietro, opening the door wider. Pietro grumbled something but stood back a little to accommodate for the other boy. “What are you doing here?” Bucky silently sent a thanks to any deity currently listening in. Peter he could work with, the other two kids weren’t gonna give him the time of day. Much like Alex.

“Alex around?” He asked, trying to peek into the house further. Pietro shifted, blocking his view. He crossed his arms, scowling at the bulky mass of a man standing on their porch.

“No- she’s at work-“

“Peter!” The girl hissed, slapping a hand over his mouth. “Shut up!” She turned to Bucky again. “Listen, mister, we don’t want your gifts or you loitering on our porch. We’ve found Jesus, don’t need your depression pamphlet, and we don’t want any of your fucking cookies. Our mom doesn’t condone talking to strangers. Good day, sir.” She slammed the door in his face, the audible sound of several locks clicking.

“Wanda- what the fuck! He could kill you, you know that right?” One of the boys shrilled on the opposite side of the door. Bucky stood in shock- mom? Alex definitely did not look old enough to have two fifteen year olds.

“Oh please, as if. That’ll look real good to Alex, wouldn’t it? He won’t touch either of us.”

Bucky turned and jogged down the steps back to the car. When he opened the door, Sam was doubled over, laughing so hard he was crying. Steve was watching with a ‘I told you so’ smile.

“Alright, you’ve had your laughs.” He grumbled. Shoving his way into the car. Sam snickered, straightening up and looking over at the man.

“That little girl kicked your ass!” He burst out laughing again, pounding his fist on his knee. Bucky mimicked Sam’s words mockingly as he began a search on his phone.

“Whatever.” He breathed out, looking up to the driver. “Saint Quincy’s Hospital, Davis.” The driver nodded, starting the car.

“Why are we going to a hospital?” Steve asked, mirth in his voice. Sam began wiping the laughter from his face, sniffling. Bucky turned to Steve, unbuckling his seat belt.

“Punch me in the face.” He instructed, unbuttoning the top buttons on his shirt. Steve raised an eyebrow, cocking his head. Sam turned, serious again.

“Now, wait a minute-“ Sam was interrupted by Steve throwing a punch directly into Bucky’s nose. Bucky doubled over, holding his now bleeding nose. His eyes watered, stomach rolling.

“Shit!”

[reneesi]

i never would have thought // CH.10

CH.10 II the walk home

A/N: GUESS WHOS BACK?? I lived hoes 😎😎. So I've been feeling a lot better and I finally got enough sleep to remember how to write and I also got an editor!! so yay! Hopefully the quality will be a little bit better writing wise :)! We will be returning to semi-scheduled programing but for my sake I'm gonna change the updates to twice a week since three time was clearly too much for me to keep up with. Tuesdays and Fridays will be the new upload days! Anyways, enjoy the rest of the chapter~

WRITTEN PORTION

“I knew you’d make it!” Tanka roared, slapping Tsukishima’s back a little too hard as the blonde took a seat beside him. Tsukishima flinched ever so slightly, and grit his teeth as he reached up to rub his shoulder.

“I only came because this is a team event.” Tsukishima mumbled, rolling his eyes as more teammates piped in with hellos and comments of joking passive aggressiveness.

When Tsukishima had initially texted the group chat that he would be skipping that night's festivities the team had erupted into light disapproval and jokes of annoyance. Although (Y/n) knew she should have been angry, the feeling that overwhelmed her senses was much closer to disappointment. She’d tried her best to hide the way her stomach had sunk deep into itself by keeping her eyes low, but her slightly hunched posture had been a dead give away. Sugawara, ever so intuitive, had taken notice.

So while the rest of the team broke out into laughter and hypothetical plans to drag Tsukishima along, Suga had wrapped an arm around (Y/n)’s shoulder and offered a sympathetic smile. (Y/n) had smiled back of course, as convincing as she could muster, but had mostly kept her head down for the rest of the walk.

And while the team was slightly annoyed with Tsukishima’s lack of presence, they weren’t the least bit surprised since it wasn’t the first time he had bailed on them. Yamaguchi, especially, had tried his best to defend Tsukishima at first. That is until he’d caught a glimpse of (Y/n)’s face. One look at her frown immediately made him go silent.  A few minutes later he had broken away from the group, typing away furiously at his screen.

Now that Tsukishima was sitting right across from her, (Y/n) couldn’t bring herself to erase the stress that was crushing her chest. She looked down at her food in confusion, he was here.. so why did she still feel awful?

“You didn’t have to come, you know?” (Y/n) finally burst out, looking up just in time to see Tsukishima’s eyes widen ever so slightly. In the dim yellow-ish light his blush was easy to miss. Tsukishima reached up to adjust his glasses and let out a signature tch.

“Of course I didn’t have to come, stupid,” He replied in irritation, looking away to avoid (Y/n)’s heavy stare. When she didn’t look away, he added “I came because I wanted to.”

“That’s convenient.” Yamaguchi cut in, unusual smirk tugging at his usual innocent face.

“Just gonna casually leave the part out where I had to basically force you to come?” Yamaguchi teased, reaching over to poke at Tsukishima’s increasingly red face. The blonde quickly swatted his best friend’s fingers away.

“You didn’t force me,” He scowled, sending Yamaguchi a glare “I just reconsidered is all.”

The latter of his words were much quieter, so much so that for a moment (Y/n) considered they may have been just for her.  A secret message of reassurance that he didn’t in fact hate her, but rather had really just been feeling lazy. She turned those five words over in her head at least seven times, staring at him intently, before receiving another glare. She came to the conclusion that it was much more likely that he hadn’t meant for anyone to hear. (Y/n) thought about what it could have meant, narrowing her eyes as her vision lulled.

“Stop staring, it’s rude.” Tsukishima said flatly, reaching across the table to flick (Y/n)’s forehead abruptly. (Y/n) shook her head in surprise and finally noticed she’d completely zoned out straight ahead. Her eyes widened as a red tint flushed across her cheeks.

“S-sorry!” She squeaked out, looking away immediately.

If it wasn’t for Tsukishima’s light chuckle drawing her eyes back just seconds later, (Y/n) would have missed what must have been the first time she’d seen Tsukishima smile in what felt like forever. He rolled his eyes before turning to ask Tanaka a question, and being pulled into a long conversation about volleyball.

Following this example, (Y/n) turned to her upperclassmen and joined their conversation, but unlike Tsukishima, she was unable to focus. And although her eyes rarely made their way back to him for the remainder of dinner, (Y/n) couldn’t get her mind to do the same.

At around 9 PM, Hinata and Kageyama announced that they would be departing early, excusing themselves with a simple mention of early training. As he hugged her goodbye, (Y/n) could have sworn she saw a blush creeping its way across her cousin's cheeks, but when she tried to ask he’d practically jumped out of his skin and laughed a little too loud.

“I’m probably just sleepy!” Shoyo had chuckled, slapping (Y/n)’s arm with more force than necessary.

(Y/n) had squinted at the pair, watching as they made their exit, wincing as she rubbed her arm thoughtfully. She would definitely have to bring this up with Shoyo later.

As for the rest of the team, most of them had stayed until at least 10 PM. After that it grew even later and people began to bid their goodbyes until only Daichi, Sugawara, (Y/n), Yamaguchi, and Tsukishima remained standing outside of the restaurant.

“I never realized how late it had gotten!” Sugawara yawned, peering at his watch. Daichi took Suga’s school bag and draped it over his own shoulder, wrapping his free arm around his boyfriend’s waist. Suga rubbed at his eyes sleepily.

“Hinata-chan, will you be okay walking home so far this late at night?” Daichi asked, turning to face the first years.

“I think I’ll be okay… I’d usually just walk with Shoyo but he left early.” (Y/n) giggled awkwardly, rubbing at the back of her neck with her palm. Daichi’s eyes suddenly widened as he looked at something just behind (Y/n). She turned back quizzically only to be met with a sheepish Yamaguchi. (Y/n) narrowed her eyes and raised a brow.

“Yama..?” She asked slowly.

“Yes?” He replied, batting his eyelashes innocently. Tsukishima rolled his eyes and groaned.

“Okay, well i'm going home. Congratulations Hinata, have a good night everyone.” He raised a hand lazily, already turning to leave.

“Would you like me to walk you h-“ Daichi began before Yamaguchi, who had grabbed Tsukishima by the collar of his shirt at some point, cut in.

“Actualllllyyy Tsukishima is gonna walk her home! You guys go home! Don’t worry about it!” Yamaguchi beamed, waving at his upperclassmen in an almost aggressive manner.

“Looks like we’re being shooed away, goodnight everybody.” Sugawara chuckled lightly, following Daichi’s lead as he turned them both around and began to walk, arm still held tight around Suagwara.

“Goodnight everyone.” Daichi called back, footsteps growing distant as a silence fell over the three remaining first years.

“I’m not walking her home.” Tsukishima said, almost on cue, as he wiggled his way free of Yamaguchi’s gasp and began to walk away once more.

“Oh no you don’t.” Yamaguchi snatched him by the strap of his bag this time “You absolutely will be walking (Y/n) home! Last time you didn’t, so you still owe her.”

“H-hey it's ok! I can just walk home alone, I don’t wanna cause any trouble-“ (Y/n) tried, words wavering as her anxiety seeped through.

“Are you kidding? It’s almost midnight! No way you’re walking that entire way alone! What if you get kidnapped? Or worse! Tsukishima are you really gonna let some random killer get a hold of our teams precious third manager because you-”

“Oh shut up.” Tsukishima finally cut in, rolling his eyes in frustration. He glared over at Yamaguchi and ripped his friend’s hand off of the strap of his bag.

“Fine, I’ll walk her home…. But fuck you Yama.” He growled, turning briskly to walk in the direction of the Hinata’s house.

(Y/n) looked over at Yamaguchi in absolute horror, Yamaguchi only offered her a cheeky grin and two thumbs up in response before Tsukishima’s angry voice rose up.

“Come one idiot.”

The first ten minutes of walking were dead silent, with Tsukishima keeping a steady pace two steps ahead and (Y/n) trying her very best not to stare at the back of his head like a total creep.

“Sorry for being late.” Tsukishima eventually grumbled, not bothering to turn back.

(Y/n) was thankful for that, given that her cheeks began to glow pink almost immediately. She blinked at the back of his head for a moment too long before remembering she was supposed to answer.

“I-it’s okay!” She stuttered out, staring up at the sky in avoidance until her face finally cooled. After more silent minutes passed, (Y/n) furrowed her brows thoughtfully and asked,

“Why didn’t.. you wanna come… at first?”

Whatever Tsukishima’s face had done in response to her abrupt question would forever be a mystery, given that from behind he appeared completely unfazed.

“Reasons.” He finally said flatly, head tilting ever so slightly to indicate he was looking up at the sky.

“But I came didn’t I?” Tsukishima added after another long moment of silence.

“Thank you for showing up, even if you were late, it meant a lot.. to me.” (Y/n) replied, voice barely above a whisper.

Tsukishima’s shoulders seemed to tense, but not enough for (Y/n) to be sure. If only they were walking side by side she could gauge his reactions better… she quickened her pace ever so slightly but not enough to close the gap.

“Yeah, congrats on winning.” Tsukishima could have been smiling, it almost sounded like he was, but in all honesty (Y/n) never knew with him.

“You deserved it.” He added after another minute of silence passed.

The walk continued in quietude for a bit as the tension finally eased off of (Y/n)’s shoulders. Even if it was just one simple kind remark, (Y/n) understood Tsukishima well enough by now to know he didn’t go around giving praise to just anyone. His kindness was not to be taken lightly, even if it was barely notable at best. Maybe he had been mad, maybe not, but it had clearly passed given that he wasn’t being mean or ignoring her at the moment. If they were okay, if Tsukishima was tossing her light compliments and walking just a little bit slower until their paces matched up and they were walking side by side, then it didn’t really matter much to (Y/n) what had been going through his head earlier that day. They were clearly still friends, so she could stop walking on so many eggshells.

“You know you never did tell me much about your brother!” (Y/n)'s voice chimed up, bubbly syllables lifting her steps into light skips as she leaned forward and turned her head back to send Tsukishima a cheeky ass grin. He scoffed and reached up to adjust his glasses, breaking eye contact quickly.

“I already told you stuff about me. If anything you should be the one talking, idiot.” Tsukishima groaned, irritated brows crossing across his forehead.

“What do you wanna know?” (Y/n) asked, pestering tone vanished from her voice. Tsukishima only shrugged, eyes held taught to the sky.

“I could tell you about my family?” (Y/n) tried after neither first years said anything for a full five minutes.

“Ok.” Tsukishima said simply, glancing over as (Y/n) held a finger up to her chin thoughtfully.

She tried to ignore the way his eyes made her cheeks burn just a bit and looked up at the stars that had gradually begun to shine brighter and brighter.

“Well my parents are pretty nice people, they just aren’t so great at being parents.” (Y/n) laughed to herself softly, glancing over at Tsukishima’s confused face for only a moment. When he didn’t reply, she continued

“They love me, I know they do. The world back home is just… different. Honestly it's difficult for me to talk about this because I feel like it’s a hard place to explain to an outsider.”

“An outsider..?” Tsukishima narrowed his eyes, not in offense but in curiosity

“My parents are kind of… wealthy. The whole social bubble that comes with that is totally different from here..” (Y/n) explained cautiously, embarrassment seeping through the cracks of her words. Tsukishima’s face relaxed to an unreadable expression.

“Oh.” He mumbled, gaze drifting to the sky in tandem with (Y/n).

“Yeah. It kind of sucks..” She sighed, “And I mean I don’t wanna sound ungrateful or anything because I’m not! It’s just that everything has a price and mine was freedom.. My whole life growing up my parents were always motoring me like some kind of doll. I always had to dress a certain way and act a certain way and hang out with certain people and the more they made me the more I hated it.”

(Y/n) paused, sneaking a glance at Tsukishima, his brows furrowed again, but instead of frustration he seemed like he was deep in thought.

“Once, when I was 11, I remember overhearing them arguing about how I'd never end up happy if I couldn’t learn how to fit in. My dad wanted to send me away to boarding school and my Mom was absolutely opposed, but she agree with him that I needed to.. improve.. or I’d never find the right man and settle down and stuff. I was too young to really understand but it just seemed so unfair. I mean, I hated school. I was always having to hang out with these girls that would spread rumors about me behind my back and the guys were.. mean, and I was just so mad that my parents were blaming me for the way I was reaction to it all that I started pushing back as hard as I possibly could and-“ (Y/n)’s lips came to a halt as realization hit her

“I-I’m sorry I’m totally rambling about stupid stuff that you didn’t even ask abou-“

“Shut up” Tsukishima cut in, “if I didn’t wanna listen I would have just tuned you out.”

“H-hey!” (Y/n) protested, mortified blush still hugging her cheeks.

“I didn’t. So stop talking about pointless stuff and keep going.” Tsukishima scoffed, stretching his arms up to provide support for his head which was tilting back into his palms.

“Okay.” (Y/n) mumbled softly, embarrassment dying down to a subtle shyness.

“W-well, I ended up dying my hair brown two years later. I wanted to because I-I never really liked my hair but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t do it mostly because I wanted to piss my parents off.” (Y/n) giggled out the last bit, tugging at a strand of hair unconsciously.

“It suits you.” Tsukishima said simply.

“Thanks!” (Y/n) lit up, too distracted by the prospect of talking about her hair to notice exactly what Tsukishima had just said.

“I did it by myself and I’ve kept it up all these years because I think it looks a lot better and-“

“Okay, I’m tuning you out.” Tsukishima yawned

“Hey! Don’t be rude!” (Y/n) glared, reaching over to punch his arm lightly. Tsukishima made a face of displeasure but otherwise ignored it.  

“Anyways, AS I WAS SAYING before SOMEONE so RUDELY interrupted me,” (Y/n) began again, clearing her throat before delving into a ten minute rant about why dying her hair was the best decision she’d ever made.

Just as she was finishing up, the Hinata household came into view. The conversation fizzled to an end as Tsukishima walked (Y/n) all the way to the door, staying a good foot behind her. He watched her with the same bored expression as they made their way to the front steps and front yard respectively. (Y/n) paused and turned back to Tsukishima with a breath held tight in her chest, it would be rude to walk inside without even saying goodbye.

“T-thank you, for walking me all the way here.” (Y/n) stuttered, eyes trained on the ground that stretched between.

“Yeah.” Tsukishima shrugged, pausing for a long moment before finally asking “Hinata-chan?”

“Yeah?” Her eyes snapped up to him almost reflexively

“While you’re here, be yourself. It’ll be a waste if you’re not… I know we all want you to feel at home so if your other home is a bad place make this a good one.” Tsukishima’s tone was nearly impossible to pinpoint. It hadn’t been quite soft but his usual cover of aloofness was completely absent, it was the kind of comfort that was candid and honest in a way that Tsukishima rarely ever displayed. (Y/n) stared at him wide eyed, before slowly nodding. He stared back for another long moment, almost as if waiting for a reply before a look of finality overtook his features and he held up a lazy hand.

“Goodbye.” He said monotonously, before turning to leave without another word. His movement snapped (Y/n) out of her shock and she called after him,

“Goodnight, Tsukishima! Thanks again!” She exclaimed, waving a frantic hand even though she knew Tsukishima wouldn’t be turning back to acknowledge it. As she watched him go (Y/n) felt an unstoppable blush stream across her face as his words rang through her head once more. His kindness was so rare, and as a result it always ended up feeling like a special gift. She touched the heated flesh of her cheek with the tips of her fingers, why was she always getting flustered around him?

“Don’t be so loud, my parents are already asleep.” Shoyo hissed from behind her, sticking his head out of the cracked front door.

(Y/n) realized Tsukishima was gone and that she’d been staring stupidly at nothing, she turned around and offered a sheepish smile.

“Sorry.” (Y/n) whispered, making her way inside once Shoyo opened the door fully and stepped aside.

“Why did you stay out so late?” Shoyo asked as (Y/n) leaned over and began taking off her shoes. After a pause she said,

“Tsukishima walks reeeeally slow.” (Y/n) smirked, lying straight through her teeth.

Shoyo’s eyes widened for a moment as he tried to do the calculations in his head, staring at her in utter perplexity. (Y/n) only snickered, slipping into her slippers as she began to walk away. Shoyo brain finally caught up and he burst out after his cousin,

“Wait, what the fuck?!”

previous I next

MASTERLIST

Tagslist: @domtamaki @kodzu-ken @clowninfortodoroki @kageyamasbabygorl @miya-yume @chaelysian @kittyddandnyla @chaseyui @it-was-just-a-ship @melanie09astrid @naorii-chan @chaoticalybiased @saltyteefff @aristatrois @iamthepenguinwhosearseisonfire @raineedayze @freyafolkvangr @scftsugawara @genuinelytodorokisbitch @cleopatera​ @tskeiki @charliefredb​ @just-snog-already​ 

[the-great-imagines-of-1812]

Through The Years Pt. 10

A/N: feedback is so so appreciated! THANK YOU SO SO MUCH TO EVERYONE WHO WAS KEPT THEIR PATIENCE WHILE I WROTE THIS! (also, this is kind of short, my apoligies)

tags: @a-girl-who-loves-disney @the-romanian-is-bae @bihoeofmanyfandoms​

@thicc101q

takes place during: The Avengers

Italics= flashbacks

~~~~~~~

NEW YORK, 1942

SSR HQ

“As you all know, a threat has risen. Commander Johann Schmidt has his eyes on something new; they call it the Tesseract. The power it holds is unlimited and unknown. If it falls into the wrong hands, especially in times like these, this is a war we won’t win. Meeting dismissed.” Dr. Erksine said, as all the agents seated around the table got up, desperate to go home. 

You had dozed out ages ago, and would’ve practically fallen asleep if it weren’t for Howard. He laid a hand on your shoulder and shook you. 

“Y/N/N, it’s time to go. C’mon. I heard your favorite radio show is on tonight.”

“Thanks, Howwie. It’s just, there’s something-”

“This Tesseract thing? I know were supposed to believe everything Dr. Erksine tells us, but this is a stretch-”

“Except it isn’t, Howard. I got a bad feeling about this one. You know how strong my intuition is.”

“I know. That’s what worries me.”

~~~~~~

PRESENT DAY, 2012

BRUCE BANNER’S LAB ON THE HELLICARRIER

The Hellicarrier is quiet as it floats across the night sky, and you absentmindedly type some data that Tony had given you a few minutes ago. You weren’t going to  lie; you were scared then, and you are scared now. It seems like history is repeating itself; some bad dude wants to get his hands on the Tesseract and if he isn’t stopped, a lot of people will die.

Only difference was, you didn’t have a brother this time. 

Blinking back the tears that were about to escape, you kept typing as Dr. Banner was scanning the scepter for gamma radiation, and Tony was solving several different equations and theorems and god knows what all at once. 

“Well, we’re going somewhere now. The  gamma readings are definitely consistent with Selvig's reports on the Tesseract. But it's gonna take weeks to process.” Banner said, letting out a sigh, laying down the object he was using to measure gamma readings on Loki’s scepter.

“We bypass their mainframe and direct route to the Homer Cluster we can clock this at around 600 teraflops.” Tony replied from across the room.

“And all I packed was a toothbrush.” Bruce said, going back to the computer.

“You know you should come by Stark tower sometime. Top ten floors, all R and D. You’d love it, it’s Candy Land. I’m talking to you too, Auntie. Paris must be as boring as-”

“How- Tony, I can promise you its not. Paris is fine.”

“But Pepper and I miss you in New York. Think about it, will you?”

“Sure will, hun.”

“Thank you for the invitation, Mr. Stark. But last time I was in New York- I sort of broke Harlem.” Dr. Banner said. 

“Well I promise it’s a stress-free environment. No distractions, no surprises.” Tony says, while poking Bruce in his side with an electric current.

“Tony, leave him be!” you say, taking the current away from him. 

“Hey! Are you two nuts?” Steve says, scolding Tony as he walks in. 

“Oops. Jury’s here. Tell em your secret, Dr. Banner. Bongo drums, mellow jazz, bag of weed?”

“You think is is funny, Mr. Stark? Threatening the safety of everyone on this ship? No offense, Dr. Banner. You neither, Y/N.

“None taken, sir.” Bruce says, while still working on the scepter.

“Don’t worry about it, cap.” you say, while finally snatching the current from Tony’s hand and placing it down on the countertop to continue working.

“You- you don’t have to worry, capsicle. Last time I checked, you spent over 66 years stuck in the ice. You don’t know how anything works here. This little gadget-” he getsures to the comm in his hand. “will let us know everything S.H.I.E.L.D has been hiding from us since the beginning of it’s existence.”

“This is going to cause trouble.”

“Ding, ding, ding. We got a winner. Congratulations, you’ve just won a free box of popsicles. Or is that too cold?”

“What have you three been doing all this time?” Fury’s voice cuts in as he walks into the lab. “You’re supposed to be locating the Tesseract.” 

“We are. The model’s locked and we’re sweeping for the signature now. When we get a hit, we’ll have the location within have a mile.”

“You’ll get your cube back, director.” You say, crossing your arms, after hopping to sit on the table with Tony. 

“No muss, no fuss.” he passes you the blueberry bag, then looks at the screen “What is ‘Phase 2′ anyway?”

At this point, Steve has had enough and decided to intervene. “Phase 2 is S.H.I.E.L.D uses the cube to make weapons. Sorry, the computer was moving a little too slowly for my taste.”

“Captain Rogers, we have gathered every part of information possible related to the Tesseract. This does not mean-” He’s interrupted by none other than Tony.

“What about this Nick? What were you lying?” Tony said, turning the computer so Fury could see it clearly. 

Steve takes one look between the two men, but keeps his gaze on Tony, and says “I was wrong director. The world hasn’t changed a bit.”

Thor and Natasha enter the room and Bruce asks them “Did you two know about this?”

“Dr. Banner, you might want to think about removing yourself from the premises.” Natasha said.

“I was in Calcutta, I’m pretty sure I can handle this, Ms. Romanoff.”

“Loki’s been manipulating you.”

“And you’ve been doing what exactly?” 

“Dr. Banner, You didn’t come here because I batted my eyelashes at you.” She fired back, crossing her arms. 

You hopped off the table, and on the hilt of the sword on your left side, if tensions just so happened to go to another level. 

“And I’m not leaving because you’re getting a little twitchy. What I do want to know is why S.H.I.E.L.D is using the Tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction!”

~~~~~~

NEW YORK, JANUARY 1943

SSR HQ

“Starks, Ms. Carter, General Philipps, should the case arise that we get our hands on this - ‘Tesseract’ - as it appears, it shall not, under any circumstances, be used for weapons of mass destruction. It goes against everything we stand for. Everything the SSR stands for.” Erksine says, addressing the group.

“But Dr. Erksine, The rise of facism in Europe is a threat to our national security, and if the SSR can not make weapons of not necessarily of mass destruction, but weapons to protect the country, how are we to protect the nation?” General Philipps said from across the table. 

“Excellent question, General. That’s were Y/N and  comes in. Y/N, if you will.” Erksine said, gesturing to you.

Straightening yourself up, you opened a file. “I’ve thought of this concept for the past couple of months- although just a concept, It would, has General Philipps mentioned, make weapons not of destruction, but of protection. This is why, I’ve decided to name the concept- S.H.I.E.L.D. Get it? A shield is supposed to protect, and that’s what this will do.”

“And what does it stand for, Y/N?” Peggy asks. 

“Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division.”

“And it’s purpose?”

“To Protect and Serve, Dr. Erksine.”

“I like it, but we will discuss  it further on Monday. Meeting Adjourned.”

~~~~~~

PRESENT DAY, 2012

BRUCE BANNER’S LAB ON THE HELLICARRIER

“And I’m not leaving because you’re getting a little twitchy. What I do want to know is why S.H.I.E.L.D is using the Tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction!”

“Banner, calm down.” Natasha said cautiously. 

“No, Romanoff. He had every right to be mad and confused. With all respect, director, me and my brother did not start S.H.I.E.L.D so we could pull stuff like this.” you said.

“But we have a reason, Stark. It’s because-” Fury points to Thor “him.”

“Me?” Thor questions.

“Yes, you. Last year Earth had a visitor from another planet who held a grudge on a small town. We learned then that not only are we not alone, but we are hopelessly, hilariously, outgunned.” He finishes, diverting his eye to you, but saying nothing.

“Your work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki to it, and his allies, as a signal to all the realms that Earth is ready for a higher form of war.” Thor booms.

“A higher form of war?” Steve questions.

“You had us in a corner, Thor, we had no choice. We had to come up with something.” Nick fired back.

“A nuclear deterrent. Cause that always calms everything down.” said Tony.

“Remind me again how you made your fortune, Mr. Stark?” Fury asked.

“I’m sure if Stark industries still made weapons you both would be knee-deep in-” Steve was cut off by you.

“That’s enough, Steve! Leave it alone!” you exclaimed.

“No, hold up capsicle, how is this about us?” Tony asked, in a tempting manner.

“Are you midgardians really this naïve?” Thor asked.

“Oh please, are you that immature?” Natasha said, looking between Thor and Fury. 

“Everyone, we’re a mixture for chaos. A ticking time bomb waiting to explode.” Bruce said. 

“You should step away, Doctor.” Fury said to Bruce, before being overlapped by Tony. “Why shouldn’t the guy let off a little steam?” Tony asked, putting a ahnd on Steve’s shoulder. 

“You know damn well why!” Steve yelled.

“I’m starting to want you to make me.” Tony said, coming face to face with Steve.

“Big man in a suit of armor, take that off and what are you?” 

“Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist.”

“He’s not wrong-” Natasha said, shrugging her shoulders.

“Thank you, Romanoff! Someone with sense on this ship.” Tony said, thanking Natasha.

“I’ve seen guys none of that worth ten of what you are. The only person you fight for is yourself. You’re not one to make sacrifice play, to lay down your life for someone else. You better stop playing the hero.” 

“Steve-” you began, now both hands on both swords, both of them on your waist.

“No! You better stop acting so cocky, Rogers. You’re a lab rat, everything special about you came out of a bottle.” Tony fires back.

“If you think your think you’re so special, put on the suit then, lets go a few rounds.” 

“I’m not afraid to hit an old man.” 

“Stop it you two! You’re acting like children!” You yelled, cutting both of them off.

“You are ALL acting like children, man up, all of you!” Fury said. 

Bruce kept his eyes firm on Loki’s scepter. It seemed to glow even more now, but all of you had to resolve the argument first. 

“Something’s coming. Something bad.” Bruce muttered. “I can feel it.�� 

“Keep calm, Banner.” Natasha said, and both her and Fury put a hand of the holster of their gun.

“Dr. Banner, please-” You began. 

You were once again cut off, but not by anyone talking. Thor, Natasha, Bruce, Fury, Tony, Steve and yourself were knocked down to the floor, scattered all over the room.

“What the hell was that?” Natasha asked. 

“Engine’s been blown off. I didn’t want to say I told you so, Agent Romanoff.” Bruce said, while helping you up from the floor. 

“You alright, Tony?” you ask, as You help Tony up.

“Just fine, aunty. You?”

“Barely hurts, tones.”

“What the hell was that, Fury?” Natasha asked. 

Fury looks out the window before running out of the room.

“Agent Barton.”

[artificialqueens]

Down with the Recipe, Bake from the Heart, 4/10 - Juno

Chapter summary: It’s chocolate week, and temperatures rise in the tent as the bakers are confronted with a deceptively simple signature, a technical with a twist, and a showstopper that may send the bakers into meltdown. Meanwhile, Aurora is determined to get her first Star Baker badge, Ellie has a drunk confession, and Tia comes clean. But Tayce’s plan may prove to be the most interesting thing Aurora has heard this week.

A/N: I am still blown away by the support for this so far! Thank you so much!! I hope you enjoy this chapter.

WEEK 4: CHOCOLATE WEEK

Aurora was back in line with Cherry in the tent this week, as Ginny’s departure last week had shuffled Ellie and Lawrence and herself one row further up. There were just the four of them now on this side of the room, and five on the other.

Twelve had become nine really fast. That was a quarter of them already gone, meaning her chances of winning had gone from one in twelve to one in nine. Maths wasn’t her strongest subject, but she knew that was better odds.

She looked behind Cherry to Tayce, who was looking dead ahead.

Bread week, last week, was the first time she’d seen a sliver of Tayce’s softer side, and it was a side she wanted to know more about. It was fine to be calm and collected in the tent, but on Saturday night in her room, Aurora had finally seen the mask slip a little, seen a person under it.

And if anything, she’d found she was caring for Tayce a little more.

——

Signature: 24 Chocolate brownies

Chocolate week started with chocolate brownies, which seemed simple enough, right? But as Prue and Paul stood proudly at the front as usual, Aurora could almost hear Paul’s voice echoing from a previous season, saying he’d made thirty thousand brownies in his time. Her gut started to quiver a little.

“Your brownies should have an additional flavour to give the judges an extra kick,” Matt Lucas added.

“Not a real kick. We don’t want the brownies to be trained in kickboxing.”

“No, it has to be a kick at the taste buds only.”

“They’d have to reach a long way up to kick there, Matt.”

Aurora couldn’t tell if the rest of the tent were finding Matt and Noel funny, or if the nerves were really setting in for all of them, but she found herself giggling with a mixture of the two, drumming on the table again. She took her hands away hurriedly.

“On your marks -“

“Get set -“

They all waited, while Matt Lucas stood tight-lipped.

Noel put his hands on his hips. “You don’t need to pause this long between ‘get set’ and ‘bake’, Matt, the idea is to -“

“BAKE!”

Aurora shook her head with a laugh. They’re great TV at least.

“What flavour are you putting in yours?”

Ellie had already turned around, Monster in hand as always, seeming to need as many electrolytes that would fit in her body before midday. Aurora smiled, and turned back to weighing her butter.

“Ellie, not trying to be funny, but I really want to try to focus on getting my brownies right, so if I tell you, can that be the only question for now? Please?” She added the sweetest smile she could muster and batted her eyelashes.

“Sure. Cross my heart.” Ellie crossed her chest with her pinkie finger.

“Okay, well I’m making some pistachio and mint chocolate brownies. Hopefully with some pistachio shavings on the top.”

“Pistachio shavings?” Ellie tilted her head. “Where did you get pistachio shavings from, did you go to fucking Holland and Barrett or some health food shop or something for -“

“That was one question!” Aurora put her head in her hands, chuckling.

“Ah. Right. Sorry!” Ellie grimaced and turned back to face her own workbench. Aurora, still surprised Ellie had taken this as seriously as she did, smiled to herself as she placed one of her spare alarms on the very edge of her workbench, setting the timer, to see how long Ellie would last without turning to chat again.

“Brownies in the oven already, are they?”

Tayce’s familiar accent was surprisingly close, and Aurora turned to see her right there, her presence sending the familiar tingle down her spine, making her chest fill with hot air. But the last thing Aurora wanted was distraction at this point. Even when distraction felt this good.

She waved a hand in Tayce’s direction. “I’m trying to bake! Go to your own bench!”

Tayce’s brows furrowed in mirth, turning her head to the ceiling and then back to Aurora, her smile wide but confused. “McSqueeze me?”

“I want to concentrate! I need a bloody badge, Tayce!”

Tayce raised her eyebrows, the grin slowly fading. “Okie dokie pokie, I’ll let you bake in peace then!” And she flounced away in what Aurora hoped was mock-offence, back to her own workbench, turning to her own mixture.

I just want a badge!

The chocolate-themed badge wasn’t even a cute one, not like the cupcake badge Ellie wore proudly on her chest, or the bread one that Bimini was sporting, new this week. Initially, they’d worn it over one nipple before they’d been told to remove it by a producer, claiming something about the watershed, and Bimini had cried “Free the nipple!” in response, while they and Asttina giggled to themselves.

But it didn’t even matter what shape the badge was.

I just need a badge.

“Hi, Aurora!”

Goddamnit. More interruptions. She looked up - into the pale blue eyes of Paul Hollywood.

“How’s your brownies coming on so far?”

“I - yeah, alright,” Aurora garbled. Paul had been judging them for four weeks now, but still something about his gaze on her was debilitating, although Aurora knew she wasn’t the only one in the tent with this problem.

“Tell us about your flavouring.” Aurora chose to look at Prue instead, her face kindly, gentle eyes behind the bright purple rims of her glasses. Her voice was always as warm and sweet as honey, a welcome contrast to Paul.

“I thought I’d go for something a bit different, so I’ve got mint in here, but also pistachio, and I’ll be decorating with pistachio shavings.”

“Pistachio?” That was Paul and his infamous one-word takedowns. One word from Paul could make any baker doubt themselves, especially if he hit you with an icy blue stare; but Aurora straightened up, tossing her hair back over her shoulder.

“Yeah, pistachio. My nan loves them.”

“I think that sounds very intriguing,” Prue said, but Aurora knew that was the Prue Leith kindness takedown. Intriguing wasn’t much of a better word than pistachio at this point.

“You’ll be surprised!” Aurora smiled, tilting her head.

“Well, best of luck!” Paul said, as they all left her to it.

“Jesus,” Ellie hissed, turning around to face her. “They weren’t really into that, were they!”

“They’ll get into it,” Aurora replied, “I’m counting on it. I’ll convert them!”

“Yeah!” Ellie laughed to herself and turned back round, while Aurora looked at the Ellie Timer, as she was calling it. Seven minutes and forty three seconds.

By the time all the brownies were done and coming out of the oven, Ellie must have been regretting talking so much. When five minutes were called, she was still crouching in front of the oven door, and Aurora came to sit with her, her own brownies cooling in the baking tray.

“Nothing on telly tonight, is there Els?”

But Ellie huffed, her nails in her mouth. “I don’t know if they’re gonna be ready.”

“You’re gonna have to take them out soon to cool before you can cut them! What temperature have you had your oven at?”

“One sixty.”

“One sixty?” Aurora reached for the temperature control. “Please, yank it up for the last few minutes, Ellie, please -“

It probably wouldn’t be enough still, but it may just work to keep her around. Ellie turned the dial to two hundred, then sat back, finding Aurora’s hand and intertwining their fingers.

“What’s up, you two?” Lawrence had come over, her own brownies cut and cooling on the workbench. “What are you watching here that’s so riveting? Ellie’s brownies? Are they dancing?”

“They need a bit longer -“

“They need to be cut up, Aurora,” Lawrence interrupted, looking through the panel. “They should be alright - Els, you can’t leave them any longer now hen, they need to come out so they can cool enough to cut up -“

By the time Ellie’s were out and cut - Ellie cutting and Lawrence moving them to the tray - Noel called for one minute, and Aurora’s stomach filled with lead.

Shit. I haven’t cut mine yet!

Her legs shook for a moment and her head span as she rounded her own workbench, but someone was already there.

“Chillax! It’s in hand!”

Tayce was cutting along the lines Aurora had measured, measuring out the rows in four by six; and Aurora’s stomach tingled, spreading to her chest, as her breath came in weak shudders.

She’s never done this for anyone else before. I haven’t seen her do that for anyone before. But she’s doing it for me.

“Well don’t just stand there! Grab the pistachio filings you keep going on about and sprinkle like your life depends on it, girl!”

Aurora nodded at Tayce’s words, and as Tayce loaded onto the tray, Aurora went as fast as she could, pinch and sprinkle, pinch and sprinkle, and even Tia came over to help, followed by a tentative Veronica, pinching and sprinkling … Noel looking worriedly at the group of them … Matt looking down at his watch -

As the final brownie was sprinkled, Noel finally called for time.

Aurora sighed the biggest sigh she had probably ever felt. Tia looped an arm into hers to squeeze, while Veronica patted her back, as they both went back to their benches.

Tayce’s hand lingered on her shoulder, and just that contact left a ripple effect of goosebumps down her arm, the gentle tingle in Aurora’s chest overwhelming now, as Aurora leaned against Tayce’s shoulder, surprised at how much her heartbeat sped against her ribs.

She … cares. She cares if I stay or if I go.

——

The mood at Carr Hall was sombre after the Signature challenge.

“We all went into that thinking we were gonna be amazing. I mean, it’s brownies, right? We’ve all made brownies before. I suppose … we just can never be sure what the judges want?”

Tia grimaced as she spoke; but Veronica, clutching her hand in both of hers, bumped her on the hip.

“You did great, love. You got really good feedback, and you probably needed it after last week.”

“Yeah. I feel a bit crappy though,” Tia continued, turning her eyes to the rest of the room. “Normally everyone’s so happy when we all come back from a signature, but this time everyone’s upset, because you all got negative critiques. I don’t know whether to be happy or not.”

“I’m gonna go and see if Cherry’s alright,” Veronica muttered, standing, walking over to Tayce, currently talking energetically at a slightly grey-looking Cherry by the brownies.

“She doesn’t look good,” Tia muttered; and Cherry didn’t, nodding along with Tayce with pinched lips and folded arms, but not saying a word. “What was it the judges said about her brownies? Oh yeah. Too much mint extract, tasted like toothpaste.”

“Who’s gonna give us all the gossip if Cherry goes, though? She seems to know everything about everyone.” Aurora said, and Tia shuffled in her seat, lips twitching at the corners.

“What?”

“Well,” Tia said, the smile no longer contained. “She got us right, we might as well admit it.”

“Oh, did she now?” Aurora grinned. “Was it a case of neuken in de keuken or whatever it was, that Dutch phrase you taught me last week?”

“Not quite,” Tia said, eyes widening a fraction and her cheeks flushing. But before Aurora could tease Tia further, she felt arms from behind her creeping down her chest to loop round her neck, and a soft Welsh accent at her ear.

“Is now the right time to tell you all that I don’t even like chocolate?”

Aurora gasped, slapping Tayce on the arm, draped in front of her. “And you still got a Hollywood handshake! You jammy bitch!”

Tayce responded by pulling Aurora up from the sofa by her wrist, the butterflies already present in her chest fluttering at the contact.

“I wasn’t the only one though! You being modest again, Rory! I think you know what that means, don’t you? No middle grounds, no versy Percys! Which of us will be Star Baker this week?”

Tayce was millimetres away from her, or so it seemed. Aurora could see the exact detail of the colour of her eyes, could count the lines at her cheeks as she smiled. She smelt like mint gum and chocolate and the scented shampoo that hung in an intoxicating concoction in the air.

For a moment, Aurora forgot to speak.

“Me, of course!” Tayce spoke in her place, letting her go and throwing her head back into a cackle. “Who else! Leave it to the woman who doesn’t even like chocolate to be taking this round!”

“I don’t think so,” Aurora finally found her tongue.

“Oh, no?” Tayce said silkily, her face drawing closer, and Aurora didn’t really care if she challenged her at this moment, her skin tingling and something feather-light blooming in her chest as Tayce locked eyes with her.

“Game on, Rory,” Tayce purred.

——

Technical: Six molten chocolate puddings filled with peanut butter.

“The technical will be judged on a staggered basis this week, so you’ll all be timed individually, and live, with a five minute gap between each person.”

Noel’s announcement at Technical as they stood there, waiting for it to start, was completely unexpected. Prue and Paul had already left the tent as the Technicals were always blind, so they were expecting a normal Technical challenge.

Trust them to throw a curveball.

“The first person will start their bake, then the next will have five minutes to get ready to enter the tent and set themselves up,” Matt continued.

As long as I’m not first or last, please don’t let me be first or last -

“So everyone leave the tent, apart from …”

Please don’t say Aurora, please don’t say Aurora -

“… Ellie.”

Ellie made a noise at the back of her throat, but then took a deep breath, straightening to her full height. “Okay. Let’s do this.”

“Everyone else please leave the tent, and follow the path back out -“

Before long the rest of them were in the tea tent, the small tent with the hot drinks machines, all cramped inside on stools while the producer explained a little further.

“Everyone’s name has gone into a hat, alright, and we’ve drawn them all to put you in order, so just get yourselves ready to go back in, alright?”

Aurora nodded along with everyone else, but her leg was jogging against the stool, her nails finding her mouth. Tayce, next to her still, rested a hand on her knee and curled her fingertips, in a motion that sent a ripple of goosebumps up her leg and drew her attention away from the room.

She blinked, trying to focus on the producer as she read the names down the list on the clipboard.

“Lawrence, you’re going next. Followed by … Tayce.”

Aurora glanced at Tayce, whose smile gave nothing away as usual.

The other names came in order. Veronica was fourth, then Asttina, Cherry, and finally Aurora let the air go from her lungs when her name was read seventh. Tia looked relieved at being called next, while Bimini smiled lazily at their last position.

“Save the best ‘til last,” they said with a grin.

But as the tea tent started emptying, as people started heading to start the Technical, the mood dropped, gradually at first, but by the time only Tia and Bimini were left in there with Aurora, all of them were silent, Tia pacing up and down with a hand on her hip.

“Don’t worry, babes,” Bimini reached a hand to her, and Tia let them take it and rub her knuckles. “It’s the same as any other Technical, you’ll be fine.”

When Aurora finally got in, walking through the tent, she saw lots of baking going on in various stages, but Ellie, at thirty minutes in, was furthest along and Aurora still wasn’t sure what they were.

“Hi, baker number seven,” Matt waved to Aurora. “The judges would like you to make six molten chocolate puddings, filled with peanut butter. The instructions are in the top drawer for you, and the ingredients are under the tablecloth as usual.”

Aurora tried to hold back her sigh of relief. Finally, something she was familiar with. She’d made molten chocolate puddings before, not with peanut butter, but she was sure the idea would be the same.

Molten chocolate puddings. This makes a bit more sense as to why they want us all to go on a rolling basis now. They’d need to be judged straight from the oven to be fair.

“You have one hour thirty to make your puddings, starting now.”

Aurora whipped out the instructions, running her pencil down them. There were so many obstacles this week - overworking the dough, adding too much or too little chocolate, over- or under-baking, not to mention the amount and consistency of the peanut butter. She tapped the pencil against her chin, pushing wisps of blonde hair back from her face.

Looking over, she caught Tayce’s eye, and Tayce winked, mouthing you got this. Aurora’s insides were melting like the peanut butter she’d have to perfect today.

With everyone around her at various stages, she tried not to be too distracted as Ellie and Lawrence, just in front of her, were much further along - constantly silently reminding herself that she wasn’t behind, it was just part of the challenge to keep your nerve in this psychological minefield.

God, this is so daunting! You’re made to feel like you’re doing something wrong, like you’re behind!

Finally, time was called for Ellie. Aurora still had thirty minutes remaining on her own puddings, but Ellie had the daunting task of giving the first bake to the judges.

“You’re gonna be good,” Aurora muttered to her, but Ellie just smiled, looking a little more confident than she had last week, as she straightened up to her full height, Matt approaching her to bring her puddings before the judges.

“You can go back to now, and take a break,” the producer said to her. “Nice one, love.”

Ellie had left the tent in the blink of an eye, and now that the seal had been broken on the judging, the rest of the bakes seemed to be over faster and faster. Lawrence left next in what seemed like no time at all, followed by Tayce, who gave Aurora a little kissy face as she passed, a cheeky wink, and a whispered “see you soon, bitch!”

By the time Aurora had given hers to Matt, and left the tent herself, she felt like she was floating. Her puddings had come out much better than any other time she’d made them before. And all she needed was this one batch to be good and maybe she’d be taking home a Star Baker badge.

She didn’t even take two steps into the common room when Tayce had seized her hand and pulled her back outside.

“What?”

Tayce’s eyes were as wide as her toothy grin. “You’re not gonna believe what I saw when I got back from the Technical.”

“What was it? A squirrel with huge nuts?” Aurora tilted her head to the side.

Tayce threw her head back and cackled to the sky. “Alright! Jesus! If you’re gonna be sarcastic, then maybe I’ll just keep it to myself then! Maybe you’ll have to find out on your own!”

Her eyes sparkled with mischief, her smile was full and luscious. Her hand in Aurora’s was warm, and Aurora was struggling to resist the temptation to keep pushing her to keep talking.

Eventually, she swallowed down the lump of pride in her throat. “Go on then, tell me!”

“Oh, you want to know now, do you?” Tayce raised one eyebrow, showing all her teeth with her smile.

“Tayce!”

Tayce threw back her head in a moment of laughter. “Let’s just say that Tia and Veronica aren’t the only ones here swapping lipstick shades!”

“That was it?” Aurora rolled her eyes. “I saw Asttina kissing Bimini too, I was there as well you know!”

“Not them either,” Tayce purred. “Come on, Rory, it’s staring you in the face!”

… staring me in the face?

For one heart-stopping moment, Aurora thought Tayce was about to confess something about the two of them, here and now. Her gaze was steady and her face was so close to Aurora’s, with her thumb on the pressure point in the palm of her hand, her mind barely able to focus on any other sensation in her body …

“Who?” She breathed, blinking herself back to the present.

But Tayce’s smile widened. “Just think about who finished before me in the Technical, who I might have walked in on, and then you’ll get it!”

And Aurora’s stomach flipped when she realised.

Ellie and Lawrence had both finished before Tayce.

Jesus. Them too?

——

“In ninth place we have this one -“

Tayce’s hand gripped her right one so tightly that Aurora knew it would be ages until she got the circulation back. On her left, Tia raised her hand to claim ninth place.

“Tia,” Paul said with a small smile. “You took it out of the oven a bit fast, and the one I tried felt under baked. It had caved in on itself, looked a bit of a disaster I’m afraid. It tasted alright, though.”

Tia nodded, her eyes downcast, a sad smile on her face. “Accurate. Harsh, but accurate. Next time.“

That was what Tia always said when given bad critiques. Veronica had her hand in both of hers, rubbing her wrist. Aurora glanced at them both, but neither of them noticed anyone around them, their own little world encasing them from the rest of the bakers.

She did a bit crap last week too. Maybe it’s Tia’s week.

But her attention was on Paul as he made his way down the rest of the line of puddings, calling out names in reverse order - Veronica, then Cherry, then Ellie, Asttina, Lawrence, and finally Bimini.

“In second place - whose is this one?”

Tayce and Aurora were the only two left.

Aurora squinted at the picture that Paul was standing behind, and … no way.

Tayce squeezed Aurora’s hand, as Tayce herself raised her free one to claim second place.

“Tayce - really good, very little to pick apart here, well done, you were just beaten by a whisker in the bake. Which means that first place goes to - “

Aurora let go of Tia’s knee to raise her hand, while the rest of them broke into polite applause.

Fuck. First place in Technical! My second top placement in Technical in four episodes! God. Why couldn’t I have done that on bread week and I’d have been basically guaranteed a final three place!

But as the applause died down, and the bakers filed out of the tent back to Carr Hall, Aurora’s head buzzed with thoughts that threatened to drag her upwards to the clouds, only Tayce’s fingers intertwined with hers keeping her on the ground.

I’ve had two Technical wins, good critiques, and a Hollywood handshake. I’ve never had a disaster and I never seem to be in line for elimination.

Maybe … maybe I am a competitor. Maybe I can do this!

——

As soon as they got into Carr Hall, Ellie poured out nine shots, one for each of them because apparently if Ellie was drinking, so was everyone.

This was the first long day - the critiques for the Signature had brought everyone’s moods down, and the stress of the staged Technicals had simply fuelled the tension, but after a couple of shots of sambuca that Ellie had poured out, Aurora started to warm up and relax a little.

I need to remember I’m not a student any more, though. I can’t just down sambuca shots and get up for a 9am lecture.

Ellie was a bit more tipsy, and tipsy Ellie fell into the oversharer category. In the last twenty minutes, as the two of them chatted away from the others, Aurora had learned her dream of putting makeup on Blu Hydrangea, how she’d come out to her family, and the story of what Ellie and her friends referred to as ‘The Edinburgh Incident’ which had made Aurora shriek with laughter but definitely wouldn’t air before the 9pm watershed.

But when Aurora mentioned Lawrence’s name, Ellie clammed up, giggling.

“No, no no no, don’t go there -“

“Tayce said she saw you two together after the Technical!”

“Tayce,” Ellie sniggered, raising her eyebrows. “What’s happening with you two as well? You’re always together now, giving each other puppy eyes, holding hands -”

“What?” Aurora put a hand to her chest. “There’s nothing there! And don’t try to change the subject, Els! Tell me what was going on with you and Lawrence earlier!”

“Nothing was happening!” Ellie protested, but her chest was bright red and she hid her face behind her can of Red Bull. “I mean … we were getting, like, close …”

Aurora gently moved her hand out of the way of her face. “Do you want something to happen?”

“I - I don’t know!” Ellie spluttered with sudden nervous giggles. “I mean, yeah - but like, I don’t know!”

Aurora cocked an eyebrow at her.

“Come on, Els, give me some gossip for once, I’m sick of hearing everything from Cherry!”

Ellie shifted her shoulders. “I mean, yeah, evidently we both want something to happen if this afternoon was anything to go by …”

“Ellie!” Aurora’s jaw dropped open. “Did you two -“

“Wait, Cherry’s going out to smoke - wait -“

Ellie turned, drew her arm away from Aurora’s grasp, and left to go outside - following Cherry, still grey after her Technical critiques, who was going to smoke.

“Rory!” Tayce greeted her as she went to the sofa, running a hand through her hair. “I’m glad you’re getting to celebrate your win in Technical today, because I’m the one who’s gonna get Star Baker tomorrow. And the person who won the whole thing last year got Star Baker in chocolate week too.”

“Lightning won’t strike twice then,” Aurora muttered.

Tayce’s eyes widened a fraction. “The cheek! The nerve! The gall the audacity and the gumption! Lightning definitely strikes twice. Didn’t you hear about that bloke who got hit twice by lightning and survived?”

“That only happens in Saturday morning cartoons. Oh, and in Fleetwood Mac songs.” They were interrupted by Lawrence, coming over to them from the other sofa.

“Hey, Lozza,” Tayce clapped her hand on Lawrence’s knee. “I thought you were over with - oh.” Her eyes drifted to the other sofa, where Lawrence had come from, where Bimini had come to join Asttina, and they had both turned to face each other, their own little bubble looking like popping it would be unwelcome.

Aurora’s stomach twisted unexpectedly, suddenly hot and uncomfortable. She wasn’t sure why this was happening, but it wasn’t pleasant.

She disentangled herself, hand on her stomach; and made her way out the common room, out to the grounds, past Cherry and Ellie passing a cigarette between them, and out to the trees, shadowy in the creeping twilight.

She wasn’t sure what had prompted her to come all the way down here, spurred by the need for fresh air and enticed by the trees, but she was stopped by the voices ahead of her.

“… not that bad.”

“You don’t get it, Tia -“

“I mean, okay, I’m not you, but they’ve loved you all the previous weeks, this is just one slip up -“

A strangled sigh. She could see Tia and Veronica through the trees, realising they’d been missing most of the last hour. Aurora wanted to turn and leave them in private, but her feet wouldn’t move, leaving her cast in shadow by a tree.

“… you can do this, alright?” That was Tia’s voice, a tenderness that was unfamiliar to Aurora’s ears running along the edges of every word. “What are you making for the signature? What kind of cake?”

Tia was leaning with a shoulder against a tree, nodding along as Veronica muttered to her what she was baking; but Aurora couldn’t hear a word of it very clearly. Veronica had her back to Aurora, but she could see her put her hand to her forehead and shake as she sighed, her voice floating louder again.

“… all go wrong and I’ll be sent home!”

“Vee, look - things go wrong! Just let it go! Have fun with it! It’s not the end of the world. At the end of the day, it’s a baking competition, and you’re here, so you’re the best!”

“I just -“ Veronica sighed again, this time a strangled sob following it.

Aurora watched as Tia gathered Veronica into her arms, planted a long kiss on her forehead, holding her tightly to herself, running a hand in slow circles at her shoulder blades.

If she hadn’t felt like she was interrupting an intimate moment before, Aurora knew she was now, even through the veil of alcohol. She stole away as quietly as she could, hoping to just give them a bit more privacy.

Why is everyone acting so loved up? They’re all at it!

Tayce met her at the doorway to Carr Hall, leaning a hand against the doorframe and nodding as she approached. They were alone now, as Cherry and Ellie had gone back inside, and the chill in the air was starting to bite.

“You left quite quickly!”

“Yeah - I was just -“ Aurora motioned, but Tayce grabbed her wrist.

“Come on, down here -“ Tayce tugged her along in the other direction, towards the woods, this time in a different direction, out the way of Tia and Veronica as they started back towards the building.

“What’s going on?”

Tayce raked her fingers through her hair, her eyes to the sky, searching for the right words, as Aurora felt Tayce’s thumb start to stroke her forearm, not letting go of her wrist.

“There’s just -“ Tayce huffed, her voice dropping lower so as not to be heard. “Just so much … lovey dovey stuff going on, I don’t get why it’s all being done in the dark! I bet the viewers would love to see it.”

Aurora opened her mouth, and then closed it again. Tayce’s eyes were bright, boring holes into her, and she momentarily lost the power of speech.

“I - yeah, sure.”

“Everyone in the country was cheering on Blu and Cheryl last year, weren’t they? Whole country loved it. And with the amount of love in the room so far this season, it could happen again, couldn’t it? It’s not crazy to think that two people on this show could fall for each other, is it?”

There it was again - that shiver down Aurora’s spine that had started to happen whenever Tayce was near her, and a bubbling in her chest as the tingling spread down her whole body.

“What if it was us? What if the whole country was cheering on us, Rory?”

For a second, the world stopped turning.

Aurora breathed in a modicum of hope. “Do you mean -“

“A little flirting, on the screen, and the audience will be convinced we’re dating, or getting together!” Tayce said, her voice low but her eyes alight. “Doesn’t have to be anything over the top, it can be subtle - what d’you think?”

Aurora’s throat had a painful lump lodged in it, one that repeated swallows would not dislodge.

I think it just confirms that Tayce doesn’t see me like that.

On the other hand, maybe it would show Tayce how she really felt. Maybe it was a chance to get close to Tayce, and to … test out dating her, to let Tayce fall for her as hard as she’d fallen for Tayce.

“I think it could work,” she murmured finally.

Tayce’s eyes flickered, but then she grinned.

“Great! Let’s talk about it some more, set some boundaries.” Tayce led the way back to Carr Hall, while Aurora forced the smile to stay in place.

——

Showstopper: A melting chocolate ball with a dessert inside, with hot accompaniment of your choice.

“How’re you doing, Rory?”

Aurora squeezed her eyes shut tightly at Tayce’s voice.

“I’m trying to focus on my Showstopper.”

“I bet you are.”

On the bench in front of her, Ellie didn’t even attempt to contain the splutter of laughter as she choked on the mouthful of Monster.

“Tayce, I mean it - I need to focus.” She allowed Tayce to come a step nearer, for Tayce to lean leisurely against the workbench and survey her. “You don’t want me going home this week, do you?”

“No chance of that happening.” Tayce lazily kicked the bottom of the workbench with one foot. “How’s it going? What are you making?”

“A mess - at least, I am right now,” Aurora replied, leaning past Tayce to get to the bowl of sugar she’d already mentioned, the scent of Tayce’s perfume causing her mind to freeze and momentarily forget about baking at all.

“Well, have a nice time making a mess, and just make sure you make it a tasty mess, bitch!”

“Is that my new term of endearment?” Aurora teased.

Tayce cocked an eyebrow, with a slow blink that melted Aurora’s insides.

“You wish.”

She strolled away, back to her own desk, leaving Aurora to float.

Sure, what they’d discussed last night was more of an on-screen arrangement. A little flirting, some gentle touches, maybe a peck or two, to keep viewers hooked. But that didn’t mean Aurora didn’t still have to quell the butterflies as they fluttered in her chest every time Tayce was near her

God. I feel like I’m in The Hunger Games.

Tia and Veronica were being secretive, and Asttina and Bimini too, but having their romance more public could give them both an edge to go to the finale.

As long as she could still focus on baking.

And trying to think about chocolate and her Showstopper was distorted by Tayce’s face close to hers. Her mind, currently filled with thoughts of Tayce, was threatening to derail her. She couldn’t let this happen.

When Aurora looked round to the front again, she saw Ellie making no effort to conceal her stare, a smug smile on her lips.

“Don’t think I don’t know what you’ve been getting up to either, Els!”

In front of them both, Lawrence dropped her baking tray with a resounding crash, while Ellie whipped back round to her own Showstopper and didn’t disturb Aurora any more that afternoon.

“Hi, Aurora!”

Aurora arranged her face into what she hoped was a confident smile as she heard Paul’s voice. “Tell us about your bake this week.”

“I’m making a dark chocolate ball, with some additional white chocolate that I’m colouring with the pink and blue here,” Aurora said, pointing to the bowls over the bain marie she’d set up. “Hopefully it will give you a galaxy effect. And the dessert it will have inside is a sticky toffee tart with like, an orange sauce to melt it.”

“Sounds intriguing,” Prue said, and Aurora hoped she didn’t notice her wince. “Is there any inspiration behind the dessert at all?”

“Mostly I just love sticky toffee!” Aurora found herself giggling. “But like … I guess, I like galaxy themed things. It’s a reminder to myself, to … I don’t know, to reach for the stars, I guess.”

She didn’t take her eyes off the judges, but she could have sworn she saw Tayce’s head turn towards her out of the corner of her eye.

“That sounds wonderful. Good luck!” Prue replied, and the judges left her to it.

Having the judges over seemed to click something into place in her mind. She couldn’t think about Tayce right now. Tayce would have to wait.

—���

“Tell us about your bake, Tia.”

“I have made an adequate chocolate ball, made of chocolate that is in a spherical shape around a dessert. What’s the dessert? Well, once you melt the chocolate globe you will find out!”

None of them could contain their laughter at Tia’s commentary on her Showstopper, even the judges, as they poured the warm cream over the top and watched it melt away into nothing, the dessert inside it being revealed.

“That’s right - it’s an adequate dessert made of ingredients that I found in my cupboard at home,” Tia continued just as flatly.

Almost everyone was spluttering. Ellie reached a hand to clutch at Aurora’s, tears in her eyes; while Veronica, the only person who wasn’t laughing, looked a little tense, clicking her tongue.

Tia was the last one to be judged this week. Most of them had had reasonably good critiques, with only Cherry leaning forward anxiously to see if Tia had worse feedback than she’d had; her chocolate ball collapsing before she’d even taken it for judging.

“I love that flavour,” Prue said finally, “and the filling is just the right consistency.”

“Chocolate is good too,” Paul nodded. “You’ve really nailed the mint flavour, it doesn’t come across as toothpaste-y at all. Nice one this week, Tia.”

Everyone applauded politely but Cherry’s smile was forced, her gaze defeated.

“You’ve got a good chance this week!” Ellie whispered to Aurora once they got outside, and Aurora had to admit she was feeling it too. As much as she didn’t like the badge, a badge was still a badge!

But Ellie fell silent, looking over her head, before smiling wryly; Aurora turned to see Tayce at her side.

“Good feedback, Rory,” she murmured, her lips perking into a smile. “Think it’s between us this week. Good luck, bitch!”

——

“I have the great job this week of announcing who the Star Baker is.” Matt Lucas held the chocolate bar badge, turning it over and over as he spoke. “This person made a set of fantastic chocolate puddings, a great Signature, and their Showstopper was explosive. Star baker is …”

All around the tent, breath was being held, and Aurora felt Ellie’s elbow in her ribs -

“Tayce! Congratulations, Tayce!”

Everyone was clapping, but Aurora couldn’t; she wanted to, but Tayce’s hand gripped hers so tightly she couldn’t let go, so she clapped her free hand against her knee, waiting for Tayce to catch her eye so she could tell her well done …

Tayce waited, mouthing thank yous at everyone, waiting until the end to lock eyes with Aurora, and Aurora saw the delight in them, elation she hadn’t seen before. As Tayce leaned closer to her, to peck her on the lips, Aurora felt hope blooming in her chest, as much as she tried to reason with it.

In fact, she didn’t hear a single word more from the tent as she floated, only realising as Cherry hugged her, tears in her eyes, that Cherry was set to leave, her chocolate ball disaster sealing her fate.

Her feet were still felt two inches off the ground as Aurora waited for Tayce after her winner’s interview, after Cherry had to give her exit interview. Cherry had been tearful, sighing deeply, but her words had been lined with defeat, as if she’d known it was her time.

“You won Star Baker! Congrats!”

“Thanks, babe. This badge is just weighing me down now.” Tayce’s new shiny chocolate bar badge glinted in the lights of the tent as they dimmed, but Tayce wasn’t paying it any attention. She caught both Aurora’s hands, pressing her thumbs into the palms, a motion that never failed to draw all her thoughts away, good and bad.

Aurora’s chest filled with butterflies once again, batting their wings in elation against her ribcage, and suddenly she was looking forward to dessert week, when she could see Tayce again.

——

EIGHT BAKERS REMAIN

[marvelfansince08love]

The Pleasure is all mine  Chapter 2

Word count: 2616 

Pairing: Lou Miller x Fem!Reader, Background Platonic friendship Debbie Ocean x Lou Miller. 

Setting: Three weeks after their initial meeting, they finally meet again but does the reader assume things to quickly...  (of course she does because I wrote it and I’m an over-thinker)

A/N: I am so sorry for the late update, I was going to do it yesterday but I just needed to add a couple of things to it before uploading. Also I skimmed through this... does that count as proof-reading?

Tags: @waitingfortheendtocome​ @natasha-danvers​ @5aftermidnight​

P.S: Your comments puts fuel/gas in my car, much appreciated x

I do not own the gif below! ♥

Chapter 2 

Erin is a sweet five year old girl with the cutest blonde curls and crystal blue eyes reminding me of a certain hot knight in shining armour.

"See you around Y/N from Y/H/T"

"Miss Nurse do you have any fish?"

I shake the thoughts of Lou out of my head before focusing on the important question asked by my patient.

"No, but I did have when I was younger. He was a clown fish"

"Just like Nemo!" She squeals excitedly.

I grin softly at the innocent statement.

"Just like Nemo"

"Do you think if I ask mummy real nicely, she will get me Nemo once I'm better" she asked sweetly with a hint of sadness. I frown slightly thinking about the treatment that she's currently going through before quickly masking it behind a sweet smile.

"Well there's no harm in asking hey, my little munchkin?" I stroke my thumb across her cheek softly offering some comfort.

"Miss Nurse do you think I'll get any better?"

I fumble slightly trying to gather my thoughts. This has always been the most difficult part of the job but somehow, I wouldn't change it for the world.

"I sure hope so kid! But just know that me and your parents are going to be right here, with you, all the way" I reassure her before standing up and letting her know that she's due her medication.

 Leaving the room, I sigh gently before rubbing my tired eyes. After working three twelve-hour shifts in a row a girl could use a nap. I straighten myself up again and turn towards the nurse’s station, on my way over I see Erin's parents coming through the door and towards her room. They glance over and offer a polite smile and wave before entering. I turn back towards the nurse's station and see Rachel standing behind the desk going through medical files. She quickly glances my way before returning to her task with a mischievous grin.

"Someone looks like shit today; you want to borrow some of my concealer"

" Ha.Ha. very funny Rach, for that you can go on the next medication round"

She pokes her tongue out playfully before abandoning her task and turning her full attention to me. She places her face in the palms of her hands innocently before asking:

"Wanna come out tonight? Please, pretty please?" With a pout for good measure. I groan before rolling my eyes in displeasure.

"The last time I ended up out with you, I almost fractured my ankle" I complain. She scoffs and waves her hand in dismissal.

"Oh please! you were fine after a week besides you got rescued by some hot blonde, if anything you should be thanking me!" She teases. I roll my eyes in good nature before taking the medical file from her pile and walking away.

"I take that as a yes!" She states loudly, leaning over the desk. I turn my head to face her with a grin.

"Of course" with a quick playful wink before heading off to my next patient. I hear a loud "Yes!" from behind me before walking into the patients room.

................................................................................

The club is hot and dark with lightly dimmed blue lights. My tight black dress already clinging to my body like second skin from the heat. If I squint hard enough I can make out the sea of people dancing within the thick smoke on the dance floor.

"Okay before we hit the bar I need to dance the stress of work out of me" I state before being led by Rachel towards the dance floor in the middle of the room.

My hips sway in time with the beat of the song, warm bodies pressed close all around the busy dance floor. I can feel the floor vibrate beneath my feet. Rachel grabs my hand and twirls me around with Lucas our fellow paediatric nurse cheering us on. After half an hour of dancing I can feel my throat becoming drier indicating the need for a drink.

"You guys wanna get a round in" Rachel shouts to the both of us while gesturing to the packed bar in the middle of the room. We all cheer in agreement before grabbing onto each other and making our way through the crowd to the bar.

She waves over the bartender like greeting an old friend. She smiles charmingly at Rachel while leaning over the bar counter.

"There's my favourite girl! What can I get cha tonight Rach?" She says flirtatiously as she eyes Rachel's outfit. She's also opted for a tight-fitting dress in red. She giggles and places her hand on top of the flirty bartender's.

"Can we get a tray of vodka shots please?" She bats her eyelashes for extra measure. The bartender winks cheekily before turning around and preparing our tray

.

"You are such a flirt Rachel" Lucas says from beside me. I laugh in agreement as she pretends to be outraged by the accusation before grabbing the tray from the bartender and handing us both two each.

I bring the shot to my mouth and let the burning liquid travel down my throat. I splutter slightly from the first shot before downing my next one; this time going down a little easier - almost a little too easy. I grab another one from the tray that's still in Rachel's hand and down my third.

"Is it me or is the vodka a little weak?" I say loudly to the pair. They both chuckle and roll their eyes at me.

"Oh the big mighty Y/N thinks she can handle her drinks better than us Rach" Lucas mocks in good nature. I roll my eyes before giving him a playful shove on the shoulder.

"I'm sorry the vodka isn't to your likening"

That voice

Oh how I've dreamt of that voice.

I turn around with wide eyes my mouth opening in shock to see her stood with such confidence and beauty.

Lou

She's got the same signature smirk on her face just like that night in the food truck. I quickly close my gaping mouth and throw Lou a shy smile.

"Just point me in the direction of the club manager because there's no way that's just vodka" I awkwardly tease. I hear Rachel gasp next to me and with a quick glance her way she shakes her head as if indicating for me to stop talking, her eyes wide with slight fear and amusement.

"There's no need to take you to her when she's right here, love" she teases with her deep Australian accent. There's that damn smirk again.

Shit!

"Oh my god Lou, I am so sorry I didn't mean it in a bad way. I guess I can just handle stronger vodka" I ramble feeling embarrassed that I've managed to make a fool of myself TWICE in front of this woman.

She walks slowly up to me so we are in closer proximity and leans towards my ear, her breath smells of mint and is warm against my cheek. I close my eyes at the feeling of it – feeling intoxicated by it.

Maybe the vodka is a bit stronger than I thought.

"If you want something stronger all you gotta do is ask my darling" she pulls back and winks while chewing lazily on a piece of gum.

I shake the dirty thoughts out of my head before straightening up and quickly glancing at the two spectators in this flirtatious game. Their eyes moving back and forth between the two of us, Rach clashes her eyes with mine and winks before mouth "go for it". I quickly look back to Lou and notice that she's still staring at me waiting for a response her crystal blues look dark under the dimmed lights.

"Okay"

Her lips twitch in amusement before replying:

"Okay"

I smile wide at the similar exchange from our first meeting.

I turn back towards my friends to see them subtly giving me approval and making whipping noises.

I am so not whipped.

I feel her arm circle around my waist and her mouth close to my ear - barely touching.

"I hope you don't mind but I'd hate to lose you in the crowd after I've just found you again" she says loudly into my ear before escorting me through the crowds, her arm never loosening its hold around me.

As we come to a flight of stairs, I tense and turn towards her in confusion which effectively removes her arm.

"My office is up here and it's quiet, I'd like to talk to you. I know it sounds crazy, but I've not been able to get you out of my head" she looks deep into my eyes with slight insecurity. I smile gently before gently taking hold of her hand and heading for the steps. I look over my shoulder at her and see that her eyes are glued to one place only:

"I hope you weren't looking at my ass, Aussie" I say cheekily with a smirk. She quickly looks away and smirks; as if she's not ashamed of being caught. Just like that the insecurity is gone.

"I wouldn't dream of objectifying you like that darling"

 The cheek of this woman!

 You secretly love it though

 I blush at the nickname as well as my thoughts before hiding it by turning back around and continuing up the stairs.

We finally reach her office space and gestures for me to seat down on a very expensive black plush sofa.

This is place is huge!

Lou moves over to a small bar in the corner of the room and pours two small glasses of vodka. She walks over with confidence and hands me a glass before taking a seat next to me - hip brushing against hip. She leans her forearms onto her thighs and turns to look at me with those crystal blue eyes.

"Thanks for coming up here it gets a bit much downstairs, how are you? How's that ankle of yours?" She asks softly with some concern.

I smile and feel my heart beating faster at our proximity.

"Uh yeah I'm doing okay. I've managed to see more of New York and made a few friends, plus my ankle is a hundred times better now thanks to you" I say with a teasing undertone. I gently bump my shoulder against hers and grin.

She laughs, mouth wide showing her perfect white teeth.

"So I see you run your own little kingdom around these parts huh. First the burger truck and now a nightclub you must be pretty busy" I state jokingly, she shifts uncomfortably before masking her discomfort with a smug smirk.

"I'm a woman of many talents Y/N" I raise an eyebrow in question to her diverting away from the statement. Her shoulders drop before taking a sip of her drink.

"Growing up... I didn't have a lot. My father worked two jobs trying to provide for us, we moved constantly, never staying in the same place longer than six months. I guess it made me more determined to not have that constant worry of where my next meal was coming from or if I had a roof over my head. So eventually I moved to New York starting working a few highly paying jobs and managed to afford this place.... 5 years later I'm running one of the busiest nightclubs in New York" She stares at me with a soft expression.

"Your amazing" I whisper my eyes taking her in, trying to piece this beautiful woman together. Maybe there's a softness to the mysterious confident Lou. She reaches over and takes my hand into hers, her thumb brushing softly against my skin.

"Listen Y/N...

"Hey Lou baby, we need talk about this plan because I've been up all night thinking about and honestly I need a listening ear... oh you have company"

Lou quickly let's go of my hand and stands briskly, her eyes widen as if being caught doing something she shouldn't be doing.

"Debs I uh, this is Y/N you know the woman I helped a few weeks ago" her voice tight and rushed; as if trying to justify my presence. I reel off all the possibilities as to why she's retreating in this woman's presence until a cold realisation dawn's on me as I stare at them both.

She has a girlfriend

A hot girlfriend

Fuck!

I stand quickly and both women turn and look towards me. Lou seems to realise my conclusion and steps forward, mouth opening as if to reel off an explanation. I sidestep out of her reach and look at her crestfallen face.

"I uh, I should go. My friends will be wondering where I am, it was nice meeting you" I stutter as I clumsily make my way to the door. The hot brunette seems to raise an eyebrow, silently questioning my sudden departure.

"Wait Y/N stay please" Lou asks desperately. My eyes widen at her tone of voice and I can see the brunette is also surprised by her desperation.

"I really can't do this. I'm sorry" I whisper before fleeing the room and down back to the club floor. I quickly find my friends through the sea of people. I grab onto Rachel's arm and lean my mouth to her ear:

"I gotta go I'm not feeling well"

She wiggles her eyebrows playfully.

"Oh yeah I bet you are, how was she?"

There's that sick feeling again; or is it the vodka.

"No seriously I'm gonna head home I'm tired and think I'm coming down with something"

She looks at me with a frown noticing the serious tone of my voice.

"Are you sure? Do you want me to come with you?"

"No its okay, I'll grab a cab from outside and text you in the morning"

I blow a kiss over to Lucas who seems to be too busy with a tall handsome god of a man and quickly leave. As I get to the door a look up towards the office and see Lou looking down scanning the crowd; for me.

It's like a magnet charging between us because in a second her eyes turn to me. She looks pissed and, on a mission, as she quickly takes to the stairs. I turn around and head out of the door and take a deep breath in the cold New York air before heading for a cab. I feel a hand wrap around my elbow desperately.

"Wait Y/N there's been a misunderstanding somewhere, I thought we were getting along"

"Look Lou, I think you're great but this, whatever it is, needs to stop"

She let's go of my arm and stands still, her eyes boring into mine before scanning every inch of my face.

"If that's what you want, I won't pursue anything but I want to at least be your friend Y/N. I know it sounds crazy even I can't believe it but there is something about you Y/N from Y/H/T and I can't get you out of my head. I shouldn't want this but fuck! I need you around... your presence grounds me" she sighs in defeat looking lost her crystal blue eyes pleading for me to understanding.

"Lou I... can't do this. I will not be that girl who gets involved with someone who's already taken, I'm sorry" I whisper before taking a step back - away from her and fleeing before she can explain further.

Once in the cab I look out of the window to see Lou running her hands through her blonde hair in frustration before storming back inside.

What have I gotten myself into.

[coffeeyeol93]

Hi! So ever since I have read Yours (may I add extremely cute) Minhee timestamp, image of him decorating ipods case with stickers lives rent free in my head and I was wandering if I could request timestamp/imagine about stationery shopping date with him?

I hope You will enjoy this prompt i mean it kinda takes a particular type of person to enjoy writing about buying stickers lmao. Also take Your time with writing and i hope You are doing well! Take care!

🌼🌼🌼

[ 14:02 ]

prologue to the minhee timestamp [ 16:57 ]

a/n: aah hii ! you’re my first request so i was so so happy to see you !! i really enjoyed writing this prompt so thank you <33 + thank you for your compliments on my writing, it really means a lot <3 i really hope you like this + i hope you’re having a lovely week !

word count: 1094

genre: fluff

warnings: none :)

the sound of ‘broken record’ by gsoul poured into your ears as you waited by the entrance of the mall for your best friend minhee. he eventually appeared as he turned the corner, his face was tinted red and his lips slightly parted, letting out deep breaths as he jogged his way over to where you were stood. “took you long enough”, you remarked as he bent over to catch his breath. “hey cut me some slack y/n, not everyone can be as weirdly on time as you”, he replied with a smile, standing back up. you passed him the list you had curated the night before as he scanned it for anything that might spark his interest. you could see his eyes light up as he read over the last thing on the list ‘stickers for airpod case’ as he looked back up at you. “can i be in charge of the stickers?”, he asked with such enthusiasm that you couldn’t deny his request. “okay min, you’re in charge of the most crucial part of this shopping trip”, you responded with a wink as you began walking into the abyss of shops.

you had wandered aimlessly around a few shops, buying useless things that your subconscious persuaded you to waste money on, when you came across a store you had never seen before. stepping inside, your lungs were filled with the comforting scent of vanilla and orange, your eyes pleasantly surprised by the interior. the store was more spacious than you had imagined, a simple pink and white colour scheme running through the entire space which was filled with every bit of aesthetically pleasing stationary your heart could ask for. obviously as stunned as you were, minhee appeared from behind you and began ambling around the store, mindlessly picking up different coloured pens and pencils. as you made your way over to the stand of sticker sets, you saw minhee testing out a purple gel pen from the corner of your vision.

sensing your eyes on him, he quickly put the cap back on the pen and joined you in front of the stickers. “okay min, choose whatever ones you think would look good”, you expressed, holding your airpods case up to your face and batting your eyelashes. he answered with a quick nod, facing away from you for a second in attempts to hide the growing blush creeping across his freckled cheeks. leaving him to choose the stickers, you made your way around the rest of the store, stopping when you got to the keyring section. as you looked over the selection, one set of purple keyrings stood out. you and minhee had always favoured the colour purple as it was your favourite colours mixed together, yours being blue and his being red. it was adorned with sparkles and letters in the middle which read ‘soulmate’, a word often associated with yours and minhee’s friendship.

you quickly picked it up and strolled back to minhee, happily wondering which stickers he had picked out for you. he turned to face you as you approched, the pile of sticker sheets that had accumulated in his arms coming into view. “don't you think you went a bit overboard min?”, you inquired, looking down at his arms filled at least 15 sets of stickers. “i think this is just about the right amount”, he replied, “besides, i got some really good ones i think you’re gonna like”. he gave you his signature smile and you melted, no longer annoyed at how much money you were spending.

you made your way over to the tills with the stickers and keyrings, ready to sacrifice your entire wallet for the sake of your best friend’s happiness. as you were about to pay, he suddenly insisted on paying for the stickers himself, the financial weight of the abundance of stationary now resting on his bank account. you swiftly paid for the keyrings after him and started to make your way out of the store, promising minhee you’d catch up with him. your mind subconsciously stopped you from leaving as you remembered seeing minhee write something with a pen earlier, your curious instincts were getting the best of you. sauntering over to the stand, you started looking for the pen testing section.

you found it in good time as you tried to remember what pen he had used. a note on the paper, written in purple gel pen, stood out to you as it seemed to flick a switch in your memory. you read it over and soon realised that it was indeed in your best friend’s handwriting. the words, ‘i wish my best friend knew i was in love with her’ were inscripted on the little piece of paper, they were only ink on a page but knowing that minhee had written them made your heart jump out of your chest. you quickly tore the piece of paper out of the notepad and made your way out of the mall, meeting minhee, who was busy with his head in his bag full of stickers.

“took you long enough”, he mimicked your words from earlier on in the day with a smirk, earning a slight push from you in response. “so when can i decorate your case huh?”, he asked in anticipation. “we could just go back to my house now and do it together?”, you replied, the corners of your mouth turning up at the thought of spending more time with him. “sounds cool”, minhee said, trying to make his words sound as laid back as possible, despite his heart rate increasing.

you began walking away from the mall when you realised that you hadn’t told him about the keyrings.“oh, i bought us these”, you began, taking the keyrings out from your bag. you felt as though you could combust when you saw his reaction to the gift, his eyes visibly lighting up as his ears started to turn a dark rose colour. “it’s our purple”, he remarked as he turned the keyring over in his hands, reading the words printed on it. “this is 100% my new favourite thing”, he continued, swinging his bag around and attaching it to the zipper. his eyes travelled down to your lips before meeting yours as he straightened out his bag, prompting a shy laugh to escape from your lips. “let’s go home so we can get to business”, you proposed, trying to fight the blush growing across your cheeks as you thought back to the note, safe in your pocket.

[tuanhood]

designated driver

pairing: im jaebeom x reader 

genre: fluff, angst(?)

word count: 2.9k

summary: you and jaebeom are always the designated drivers.

a/n: this is kinda bad and unedited so as always don’t roast me. alsO if you’re just coming across this and my blog here’s a self plug for my mark social media au ------> blurred

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“Pretty boring party huh?” You heard someone say to the left of you. 

If you had to be honest, you didn’t want to engage. You were completely fine leaning up against the back wall of the room, sipping on what had to be your fourth La Croix since arriving with your friends. That’s what you tended to do when you weren’t sure what to do. Just mindlessly drink a La Croix or four. 

You had volunteered to be the designated driver once again. Somehow it seemed like you always ended up taking the role whenever you went out with your friends and you weren’t exactly sure how. Was it the sad look your best friend gave you all when everyone declared it was her turn? Or was it the awkward silence that followed the age-old question, “So who’s DD?” 

This time had been no different, except the stakes had been a little higher. 

Mark Tuan’s end of the semester party. 

Of course, Mark was notorious for all of his parties – his Halloween parties, his Winter Wonderland Blowouts, Toga Parties and Tailgates – but it was his end of the semester party that was always the biggest and always the messiest. If you had to gather statistics from all of the end of semester parties Mark had had since you’ve been at University, you would have guessed that at least 30% of partygoers experienced some level of alcohol poisoning. And you weren’t exactly sure how Mark got all of the funds to cover all of his gatherings – it wasn’t like he was in a frat or charged cover – he somehow just had the means to supply three fourths of the campus with an ample amount of alcohol. 

When the discussion over who would be driving occurred for Mark’s party, you had told yourself that this time you would not be the babysitter for the night, and you would be letting loose after the tough semester you had endured. 

“So, who’s driving tonight?” One of your friends had asked slowly, drawing out her words in a way that was meant to tell all of you that it wasn’t going to be her.

“I mean… I honestly don’t want to,” another friend had piped up. 

Your best friend sighed, knowing that left her since you had driven the last two times, but she pressed for an alternative, “what if we take Uber this time?” 

“Do you know how expensive the surge will be? And who even knows if we’ll be able to get one since there’s less drivers here nowadays.” 

You had tapped your foot nervously. It couldn’t be you again, it couldn’t. 

“And if that happens, I’m not staying over! That house is disgusting after everyone leaves and I’m not staying with that jerk!” 

You blinked slowly and replied, “Mark is your boyfriend.” 

“I know but he’s really pissing me off right now and I refuse to stay there while he has that other heathen staying with him.” 

“Girl, Bambam didn’t meant to push you in the pool last time. He didn’t know about your fear of water,” your best friend responded blankly. 

More bickering had continued, and that’s when you realized that once again it was up to you to be the responsible one out of your friends. To give up the binge drinking you had planned for and the large carb filled meals you had prepped to have before. 

When you offered it had felt like they had been waiting for you to say those magic words the whole time, but they retreated and strategically hid the smiles on their faces. They shook their heads and said things such as, “oh no you can’t! We’ll figure it out don’t worry.” Until finally they caved and let you do it. 

As if you had been begging for the job in the first place. 

That’s how you found yourself in the position you were in now, watching everyone have fun around you and get completely and utterly wasted. Everyone drank around you as if it was their last night on Earth and they would never see alcohol again. 

“Okay, so no response?” The voice asked again. 

This time you decided to engage and tell whoever attempted to bother you and your sober self-pity party to leave you alone. You were instantly met with warm brown eyes and a bright smile that belonged to none other than Im Jaebeom.

You had seen him at many parties, often in a similar position as you – being the one responsible friend who took on the role of getting everyone home safely. Sometimes at these events you would shoot a smile at each other, sometimes it would just be a quick eye contact to acknowledge one another, but usually it would be you and Jaebeom talking and laughing about all of the drunk idiots around you. You had to admit that he made being the designated driver a little more bearable as you watched all your friends have fun around you. And you would be lying to yourself if you said the butterflies in your stomach whenever you saw him meant nothing. 

Tonight, you felt those butterflies working overtime as you took what he was wearing. A light beige turtleneck that fit him tightly in the chest and shoulders showing off his broad frame but hanging loosely at his arms. It made you want to cozy up to him and have him make you scream his name all it once. How a stupid turtleneck did all that for Im Jaebeom you had no clue. The short sleeved khaki work short over his lower layer only emphasized his tall, broad frame and drew attention to the distressed, medium wash jeans that sat on his hip. 

He looked hot. Something you obviously already knew, but it still always left you surprised when you felt a large pang of attraction for him just based on his style alone. 

His entire look was complete with his current signature look – a backwards baseball cap. At Mark’s neon party a semester or two ago you remembered making a comment about how you thought backwards hats only looked good on a certain kind of guy. And that the certain kind of guy who was able to pull it off without looking like a douchebag was in your opinion, attractive. By certain kind of guy, you had meant Jaebeom, but you had figured he hadn’t caught on to that, but his fashion choices for the last few parties made you wonder if he was wearing them because of you. 

You immediately shrugged the thought out of your head. As if Im Jaebeom would do anything for me. He doesn’t do anything for anyone. 

With the time spent on his appearance you hardly noticed the red cup in his hand, which made you frown almost immediately. “Not the DD tonight?” You asked, a little bit sad that he wouldn’t be your sober buddy for the night. 

He smiled at you sheepishly and tipped the cup towards you in an effort for you to be able to view the inside, “It’s just water.” 

You pretended to be shocked  and gazed at him with wide eyes, “Im Jaebeom are you telling me that you’re ditching your one true love, strawberry milk for water?” 

He shook his head and rolled his eyes at you pretending to be annoyed, but you could tell by the glimmer in his eyes and the corner of his mouth moving upwards, he was attempting to tease you. As was most of the encounters you had with him. 

In a way you hoped that the teasing you often did to one another would lead to something more. In fact, it almost felt like your own version of a cat and mouse game, but most of your contact with Jaebeom was simply left to the confounds of a party. Never had you approached one another on campus, or ever had the slightest attempt to slide into one another’s DMs. Maybe all you two were good for was being designated driver colleagues. 

“So, who made you drive this time? Youngjae? Ooh no I bet it was Yugyeom.” At your question, you noticed him look down shyly. 

“Ah… Well you know…” He paused and rubbed the back of his neck, “A little bit of everyone.” 

You nodded your head in agreement, “same here. I was going to get wasted after the semester I had, but once again I guilted myself into after no one really volunteered.” Jaebeom cleared his throat, “well you know any time you feel like you’re being coerced into it I can always take you and your friends home? I could even do it tonight if you uh… wanted to.” 

You felt your heart warm at his offer. 

“That would be really nice of you Jae, but what about your friends?” You laughed and you could almost have sworn that he froze at your use of his nickname. 

He nodded slightly and looked away from you, out towards the party and the drunk people surrounding you both, “right, right of course.” 

“But you definitely make this whole always getting stuck with designated driver kinda fun,” you mused. He turned back to you immediately, batting his eyelashes, “only kinda? You know I make it kinda definitely fun.” 

His response caused you to snort and you couldn’t help but disagree with him. He didn’t make it just kinda fun or kinda definitely fun, but instead he made the whole thing fun and worth it. The moments over the last year or so that he made you laugh, warmed you with the gentle touch of his hand on your arm or made you freeze with just one look, had you thinking that if you had to stay sober for the rest of your life while your friends had fun and partied around you, it would be okay as long as you were with Jaebeom. When you were with him it was as though you were intoxicated in your own kind of way. It was as if you were drunk on him. 

But he clearly doesn’t feel the same way. Otherwise he would have done something already, right? 

You felt his hand comfortingly go to your shoulder as it always did when he was about to begin one of his big stories about his cats, a new track he was producing, something Jinyoung had learned in his Philosophy lecture or anything in between. 

Looking up to him with big eyes, ready to listen to anything Im Jaebeom has to tell you, you smiled softly to show him he has all your attention, “so what is it this time?” 

Jaebeom was just about to open his mouth when you heard a crash and a familiar voice suddenly yell, “watch out!” It’s at that moment you turn to see a football coming directly towards your face. You froze, too unsure and slow to react to the object. 

At that moment you felt warm arms wrap around your waist as you’re spun to the other side of Jaebeom, the football avoiding you completely and simply hitting the wall behind where you were originally stood. 

“Are you okay?” Jaebeom asked you, looking down at you with eyes full of concern. 

“Y-Yeah t-thank you,” you barely managed to stutter out. And you don’t know it’s from the the shock and fast pace of what just happened or Jaebeom’s arms still firmly wrapped around your waist, as if they were meant to always be there.

Jaebeom nodded at you and as he turned to face the culprit, you feel his arms move away from your waist and rest at his side. You felt yourself frown. 

“Bambam are you an idiot or something? Why the hell are you playing football inside?” Jaebeom asked the younger boy with annoyance written all over his face. 

The younger boy immediately rolled his eyes at him as if his indoor take on an outdoor sport was the most obvious thing in the world. “Jinyoung told me it wasn’t possible, so obviously I had to try.” 

“If Jinyoung tells you it’s not possible to jump off a bridge, would you do it?” As if on cue, Bambam rolled his eyes again, “no Jaebeom, of course I wouldn’t.” He turned to you and moved his eyes in Jaebeom’s direction as if to say can you believe this guy? 

“Sorry about your drink by the way,” Bambam suddenly said, leaning down to the floor by your feet. It’s then when you realize that Jaebeom was no longer holding his red cup, as he must have dropped it when he rallied to get out of the way of Bambam’s football game. Bambam picked up the cup and sniffed the inside of the cup once and handing it over to you, “here.” 

You shook your head at him, “It’s Jae’s.” 

Bambam looked at you with confusion and turned to Jaebeom, “are you already that drunk that you have to switch to water?” he cocked his head to the side and narrowed his eyes to take Jaebeom in, “you don’t look that drunk.” Once again you found yourself shaking your head at Bambam for his incorrect statement, “no, no, no. He’s the designated driver.” 

He looked back and forth between you and Jaebeom for a moment with wide eyes until finally deciding to fixate them on you, “what!? Are you telling me that Jaebeom is sober? If I would have known I would be halfway to the hospital for excessive alcohol consumption,” he groaned, “why does everything bad always happen to me?” 

This time it’s you who looked at him in confusion, unsure of what he was saying and that’s when you took notice of Jaebeom rubbing his hand against the back of his neck once again – his nervous habit. 

“If you’re just going to abuse your right to party, then I’m never volunteering to be designated driver again,” Bambam muttered. 

It’s at that moment when everything clicks, Jaebeom was pretending to have to be sober. But why? 

You turned to Jaebeom, “Bam’s your guys’ DD? Why aren’t you drinking?” You smiled at him and grabbed him a bit, shaking him excitedly, “you know taking part in organized binge drinking and alcohol poisoning?” 

“I- well you know I just knew that you would probably be the one who has to drive all your friends home again… A-And you know I thought it would be lame if you were sober on your own so I just thought that I would keep you company.” 

Bambam doesn’t hide his annoyance at Jaebeom, “I would have also been sober with her… and you know what? I am!” Jaebeom turned to look at Bambam with a scowl on his face, “Yeah but I’m the one who likes her so you should just shut your-” Jaebeom cuts himself off and widens his eyes, at a loss for words, not believing the confession he had just let slip from his mouth. 

“You like me?” You asked him, also not quite believing Jaebeom’s sudden reveal.  

He turned to look at you softly, lowering his head gently to the side, “Y-yeah and I planned on asking you to hangout away from all of our drunk friends and confessing to you somewhere a bit better. Like that tree you always sit under by the main quad or the rose garden near my apartment, literally anywhere else besides here.” He paused and groaned, putting his head in his heads woefully, “and now I’ve given probably the worst confession ever… Yelling at this stupid idiot,” he muttered bitterly, his eyes fixed on Bambam angrily. 

Just knowing he wanted to take you somewhere special to confess his feelings for you was more than enough to give you the same warm buzz you know you would have felt if he had performed a grand romantic gesture, but somehow him doing it here – at a party surrounded by drunk people and scolding Bambam was kind of perfect in its own way. 

In yours and Jaebeom’s way. 

You reached out to grab Jaebeom’s hand before he can stop himself from doing any kind of damage to Bambam. At your touch, and your hand in his you felt him relax. 

Delicately, you set your eyes on his and he returns your fragile look almost as though you both are having a silent conversation with one another. You had already known what you felt for Jaebeom was more than just casual friends who kept each other sane during a party, but for the first time since meeting him you realized that you wanted Jaebeom to have every piece of you and for the first time ever you weren’t scared of that. 

You rubbed your thumb over his hand and felt yourself look at him shyly, “why don’t we go talk about this… upstairs?” 

It takes a moment for him to figure out what you mean, and he almost chokes when he realizes, “t-that would be good. I would like that.” 

Without another word you tugged on his hand, leading him through the crowd of partygoers and towards the stairs, leaving Bambam to gawk at both of you in shock. 

“What’s going on over there?” Your best friend asked Bambam, slurring her words from her last few hours of too many cups of jungle juice. 

Bambam blinked slowly for a moment, getting out of his state of surprise. He placed his hand on her shoulder and pat it comfortingly, “your designated driver and my new designated driver are going upstairs to have sex, so I hope you’re not planning on going home any time soon.” 

She stared at him blankly, lost in confusion. 

He pats her one more time and began his walk towards the kitchen, “now if you excuse me, I’m going to go get hammered. I have some catching up to do.”