#also wow the TEXT part took literally over an hour

[brownsugarwrites]

Can't get enough.

continuation of superstar (read first!) ❥ warnings: smut. fluff. angst. slow burn. spanking as a use of punishment. crying. hair pulling. oral (m receiving). alcohol. reader is tipsy but is still consenting. sub!reader. yearner johnny.

❥ wc: 3.9k (😵‍💫)

❥ an: wow. this is a doozy. took me about a week and a half to write this but I can say this is best thing I’ve written in my hobby as a writer. special shoutouts to @lxnarphase & @dejwrld this is also dedicated to them. enjoy 🤍

Groaning softly as the sun poured into his eyes waking him up before turning over to see you not by his side. It was only 7:30 am when did you leave?

“Maybe she just downstairs,” he thought hoping you were there

Putting on a pair of pants he swiftly went downstairs to the living room to see you were there. Starting to break a sweat he checked every part of his house to see if there were any signs of you.

There wasn't.

You had left in the early hours without even leaving a note. Taking out his phone he quickly dialed your number to contact you. 

Your sweet voice rang in his ear as your voicemail message played

Calling you 5 times over you kept sending him straight to voicemail obviously not wanting to talk. Rolling his eyes he texted you back to back asking why you were ignoring him, and why you left. He was worried he had done something wrong. Maybe he was too rough or mean during sex or just maybe you didn't want this as much as he did.

Sitting on your L-shaped couch you looked out our balcony window to see the waves crashing into the shore as your TV played in the background. Hearing your phone ping constantly you saw a stream of messages coming from Johnny himself asking why you left and why you weren't answering the phone.

Putting his notifications mute you threw your phone to the other side of the couch and put your head face first into the decorative pillow.

“And she left without any notice? Wow, she pulled a you on you” Kenshi said before sipping his whisky.

“Now is not the time for jokes. I've been blowing up her phone for the past two weeks” he exclaimed pacing around his front room

His best friend watched as he continued to mumble to himself and tap on his phone to see if there was any trace of you on social media.

“Honestly Johnny, why do you think she's ignoring you right now?” Kenshi asked curiously

“I dont know! That's what I'm trying to figure out jackass.” he grunted plopping down on the loveseat “I took her out for drinks to celebrate and then we came back and had sex. She was ok with all of it. At least I think”

“Maybe she's just overwhelmed that she had sex with her cast mate. I just think she needs time to come around.” 

“I gave her two weeks-”

“Two weeks of blowing up her phone. I'm surprised she didn't block you” Kenshi responded rolling his eyes before setting his glass down. “Look… give her space. She's not gonna talk to you if you keep pestering her.” 

Sighing deeply Johnny ran his hand over his face defeated before giving a small “ok” 

Later that night E! News poured out of his surround sound speakers as he mindlessly scrolled on his phone getting ready for his first round of interviews for the upcoming movie. But, he was stopped in his scrolling when he saw you pop up on his screen.

Your bronze skin was illuminated by an artificial light as you smiled getting your hair combed and set by your hairstylist. 

Even though you spent most of your life in front of the camera you can't help but be a little shy sometimes, especially for social media. He thinks it's the cutest thing when you give that side smile before giggling a bit.

Watching you on a loop he quickly snapped out of his neverending gaze and shut his phone off before running his hands through his hair cursing to himself.

“So yeah, after that whole ordeal, I got up and left,” you told your nail tech who happened to be your best friend as well

“So, you fuck your costar get scared then leave”

“I wouldn't say I got scared but-”

“But what? Girl, you literally have this man on his hands and knees and you're not taking advantage of that,” she responded taking a break from filing your nails

Chewing the inside of your cheek you were annoyed to admit that she was right.

“I just feel like we crossed a very thin line between coworkers” you contested

Rolling her eyes she let your hand go and set down all of her materials.

“You know what I think? He always liked you and finally got his chance once you two were working on that movie. That thin line was gone as soon as you stepped into that board room. And I think you like him too.” she responded

Silence filled the air as ‘Go Gina’ by Sza softly played through the speakers. Your mind went blank as she admitted the truth you secretly lived in.

Maybe you did like him. Maybe you were scared of the next steps in the relationship the two of you created. 

There was no maybe. This was definite. You hated to admit your best friend was right. 

Moving your hair out of your face your nails clicked away as you scrolled on Twitter to see all the red carpet looks for the night.

Like always, you were late. You sat in the back of the blacked-out truck on the way to the theater where the award show was being held. You hoped that you were still able to catch the red carpet and have a chance to take pictures.

Looking up from your phone you realized you were close to the venue and prepared to exit the car. Coming to a halt, your door was quickly opened by security and you were met with a quick flash. 

Stepping out of the vehicle with the help of security you raised your head moving your hair out of your face before waving to the fans in the crowd. Reminding yourself to give quick autographs before making your way to the main red carpet area.

As you posed many calls of your name of your name could be heard throughout. As the sound of your name filled the room his ears perked up and quickly turned to the other end of the carpet.

Standing stunned on the other end Johnny stared at your angelic state. The champagne dewdrop dress adorned your body perfectly as you posed for the cameras.

Your bronze skin glowed under the lights as the body waves draped over your shoulder graced by a diamond headpiece. 

As you walked forward he watched as you mingled amongst the other actors and gave out hugs with your dazzling smile. 

“Are you gonna talk to her or sit here and drool all over the floor?” Kenshi said snapping him out of his mind

“No, she's busy right now I would hate to interrupt her” 

Side eyeing his friend he was astonished at who stood beside him. Thee Johnny Cage who is flamboyant in anything that he does. The one who doesn't care if he stops in the middle of an interview to talk to a friend. He was whipped for you and didn't realize it. 

Still staring at you he felt as if time slowed as the two of you locked eyes with each other. He watched as your eyes widened slightly revealing your brown irises before sending a teasing wink. Your head quickly snapped back to the group of ladies you were talking to currently.

Before he could walk over he felt a tap on his shoulder.

“It's time to go over the details for you announcing tonight's winner Mr.Cage,” one of the production assistants said before guiding him to the production area

“I curious to know who will announce this award with me tonight?” he inquired

“Hmmm as of now no one Mr.Cage.” 

“Is it possible for me to request a partner?” 

As you walked towards your seat you saw someone approach you rather quickly 

“I'm so sorry this is last minute but we need you to present an award tonight.” 

You felt your nose scrunch up in confusion. You weren't notified of this months ago when people started finding out they were chosen to present. 

“I think this is a mistake. I wasn't notified of this” You smiled gently but were still confused about what the change was about

“I know and I apologize but you will just read off the teleprompter then the envelope. It is rather easy” She assured you eyes shining with enthusiasm 

Reluctantly agreeing to this you were escorted to your seat as the show began. 

You watched as the nominees won their awards and the few musical guests who were there for the night. 

Soon you were called backstage to prepare to present the award. As you waited patiently you heard two voices come backstage. Your head tilted slightly because you were under the impression you were presenting alone. Soon the voice started to become familiar. Feeling like a deer in headlights the two of you soon locked eyes before Johnny waved to you.

“Haven't seen you around sweetheart. You look stunning tonight” 

This was his plan all this time. He was getting annoyed with the cat-and-mouse game you were playing with him. It seemed like this was the only way to get to you without you running away

“This has to be a fucking joke,” you whispered to yourself 

“This was last minute as you may know. Is this ok?” the backstage crew asked.

As you nodded your head the PA disappeared just before the cameras went back live. 

“Why are you ignoring me pretty girl?” he asked

Taking a deep breath you felt your stomach flip at the pet name. 

“We’re not talking about this right now.” 

“When will we be able to? I'm tired of chasing after you sweetheart.” 

Feeling your face heat in embarrassment you quickly turned towards the stage to prepare to walk on the stage

Before words could fall out of his mouth the production assistant told you two that the show was coming back on as he placed the envelope in your hand. You heard Johnny tell you to take hold of his arm as you walked on stage. But before you could rebuttal you heard your names being called and quickly held onto his arm as you made your way to the mic.

Letting go of his arm Johnny began to speak from the teleprompter introducing the category being presented

“...Here are this year’s nominees” he finished before the lights fell for the video presenting all of the nominees played 

Once the video ended you leaned into the mic to announce the winner. As their name tumbled out of your mouth the crowd erupted into cheers as the two of you left the mic to stand on the left side of the stage.

Feeling a hand on your lower back you took a glance at Johnny with a confused face before turning back to stand in the assigned spot. 

As you watched the winner give their acceptance speech you felt Johhny’s hand move from your back to wrap around your waist 

“I'm serious we need to talk after this” he whispered in your ear

You tried to ignore the way your body went into flames at feeling him so close to you as you got a whiff of his cologne. Remaining resilient you gave a stern look before scoffing quietly and turned your attention back to the awardee. 

As the speech finished up you began to clap giving a small smile before getting escorted off stage.

Your heels furiously clacked on the floor as your name could be heard from down the hall. You went as fast as your heels could take you as you wanted to avoid all interaction with Johnny

“Slow down sweetheart please-” he started

“No! Stop following me” you spat

Lightly jogging toward you he caught up quickly before grabbing your arm 

“What do you want?” you asked 

“I want you to stop playing games with me. Not only did you get up and leave after what we did but you ignored me for weeks on end. I am tired of playing these childish games with you.”

You stood quietly trying to formulate your words to the best of your ability. He had a point. You couldn't rebuttal anything he was saying. You felt queasy. You didn't know he felt so strongly about this. You felt your nails dig into your palms as you looked up at him with no words

“Say something. Please” he whispered pushing you against the wall.

Closing your eyes you let out a shaky breath as his breath fanned over your neck placing soft but teasing kisses there causing a weak whine to escape from your mouth. 

“I know you feel the same angel just say something” he begged.

Your mind started to get hazy as you got overwhelmed feeling more kisses being placed on your neck eventually going down to your collarbone,

Becoming frustrated with your silence he swiftly grabbed the back of your neck and kissed you deeply. His free arm wrapped around you and pulled you closer to him. As he pulled away he watched as the small string of saliva connected to the two of you. 

Not getting the chance to look in your eyes you pulled away hastily and rushed down the hall to leave. Letting you leave he ran a hand over his face in frustration before going back to the award show.

On your ride home, you couldn't help but think about what he was saying. He did deserve an explanation. You hated you shut down the way that you did. 

But it was so hard for you to say what you wanted in fear of things not working out. Putting in all that effort just to end up heartbroken did make sense to you. It wasn't worth it. 

You got a text from a friend sending an address of where the after-party was being hosted. 

You swiftly changed your clothes and refreshed your perfume and makeup before heading to your car to leave for the night.

As you pulled up to the valet lane of the nightclub you exited the car and gave your keys to the valet driver.

The bass of the music blared through your ears as you tried to find your friend. Seeing a hand wave at you from the crowd you smiled as you made your way to the section she brought. Opening your arms to give out hugs you mingled amongst the crowd before being handed a shot. 

As the liquor flowed through your body you felt your body sway to the music holding your dress down as it threatened to rise. Hearing a “let's go dance!” from your friend before being dragged to the dance floor. 

Singing along to the Rihanna song that blasted through the speakers you grinded on your friend sensually enjoying the way the liquor made you feel loose.

Not caring about anything you didn't notice the way your friend's body was replaced with a firm build as they wrapped around your abdomen.

“Keep moving like that and I'm taking you home” a deep voice ringing in your ear

Freezing at the sound of Johnny’s voice you stopped your movements and tried to pull away. Holding you tighter he kissed your neck gently as you mewled softly 

"I'm not letting you go this time"

“I have to go to the bathroom” you quickly said before walking away feeling Johnny’s hand capture yours before you could get off the dance floor.

Standing outside of the women's bathroom door he waited patiently for you to come out. 

You stood against the door conflicted about what you wanted to do. Part of you wanted to leave again and the other wanted to hear him out and actually talk.

You were petrified. The liquor didn't help either. Taking a deep breath you peeked your head out and told him to come in. Making sure no one was looking he came in before you locked the door. 

“What's wrong?” 

“I wanna apologize. Ignoring you was wrong I was just…scared about what would happen between us.” you started before you got to rambling

Watching you blabber about your feelings made him smile slightly. Who knew drinking got you all sensitive like this?

Coming closer to you he cupped your face gently before kissing you passionately shutting you up.

Kissing him back you threw your arms around his neck and pushed yourself further into him. You felt him grab your waist as he set you on the sink counter before pulling away seeing a tear roll down your face

“‘M sorry” you whispered

“‘S ok pretty girl no need to cry. You didn't do anything wrong” he reassured you 

Kissing you again you moaned softly into his mouth scooting yourself closer off the sink gripping on his shirt. Feeling your body heat up at the way he rubbed soft circles on your hips you felt your panties start to stick to you 

“Please I need you bad” you whispered almost embarrassedly.

Hearing those words fall from your mouth he watched as you looked at him with soft but pleading eyes. He felt his pants get tighter at your declaration restraining himself from taking you in the nightclub bathroom.

Saying nothing he helped you down fixed your dress and pulled you out of the bathroom.

Luckily his apartment wasn't too far from where the nightclub was so it didn't take long to get to his place.

The air was tense on the ride up the elevator. As yall mouths moved with each other with each floor yall went up.

“God you’re so perfect” he admitted before kissing you again. 

He didn't expect his night to go like this but god was he grateful to have you in his arms.

Hearing the ding of the elevator the two of you stepped off before entering his apartment and holding you against the door.

Your hands found their way to his belt buckle as you started to rub up and down on his bulge. Groaning at your touch he aided you in rubbing his semi-hard on before pulling away. 

Guiding you to the couch he sat down spreading his legs before watching you drop down on your knees.

“You dont have to do this if you don't want to sweetheart” he assured you rubbing his hand over your hair and face

Telling him that it's fine you smile a little before pulling his pants down and watching as his dick popped out and tapped his abdomen slightly

You started to get intimidated by his size. Even though you’ve seen it before and it had been inside of you it was a little different trying to fit it in your mouth. 

Nonetheless, you took a deep breath before sighing and kissing along his tip hearing the way he grunted quietly as you continued kissing down his shaft before leaving a longer kiss at the base of his dick.

You gave it kitten licks before swallowing it and bobbing your head up and down. You knew your limits and you knew you couldn't take him fully but this seemed to be no problem for him as his toes curled feeling the way your cheeks hollowed to apply more pressure as he gripped your hair slightly trying not to mess it up too much. 

Mindlessly your hand drifted down between your legs to relieve yourself through your underwear as your moans sent vibrations down his shaft.

Becoming breathless he quickly pulled you off of him watching as a thin line of spit connected between your lips and his dick. Not missing the way you continued to pleasure yourself. Cursing under his breath he pulled you up on his lap before kissing you deeply. 

He was already becoming overwhelmed with you whining in his ear and grinding on top of his dick. 

Pulling down the straps of your dress he watched as your breast fell before taking your pierced nipple into his mouth and pinching the other one

Your eyes squeezed shut at the ministrations your hips moving hastily against him as your cries became louder. 

You were already becoming undone and it took nothing but a few long hard kisses, sucking him off, and playing with yourself. It was a sight to see.

“Can you play with your little clit again princess? I want you to cum just like this” he asked watching you nod slowly

Doing what he asked your hips faltered a bit as you began to give yourself long languid circles through your panties

“Fuck just like that princess. You’re so good with following directions” he praised kissing you on your temple.

“‘M so close, please can I cum?” you asked sweetly 

Giving you the green light you moaned loudly feeling your hips stutter as you came on top of him. Laying on his chest you tried your best to catch yourself not wanting to over-exert yourself. Feeling him pull your dress over your head you sat completely naked on top of him eyes fluttering.

Turning you on your stomach as you lay against his lap your eyes threatened to shut until you felt a harsh slap go across your ass cheek. Yelping from the sudden pain you cried in pain feeling tears prick in your eyes.

“I want you to count to 5 f’me ok?” He asked sweetly rubbing your stinging ass cheek

Giving a weak “ok” another harsh slap came down onto you as your sniffles became greater squeaking out a “2”

You felt yourself get wetter with every hit he gave as small tears ran down your face. As you counted the last slap your sniffles were uncontrollable as you lay limp against his lap

“That's for ignoring me for so long” he smiled repositioning you so that you laid your head on the expensive armrest with your ass up. All you heard was him undressing behind you as your crying decreased.

Coming behind you he kissed along your spine admiring the way the moonlight enhanced your skin and glowed like you were a goddess as he entered inside you watching you wither under him hearing you cry out his name

Giving you long and intentional strokes he pulled your hair gently bringing his lips to your neck and sucking on it feeling the way your throat hummed in satisfaction.

He watched your long pretty eyelashes flutter with every stroke he gave you as the tears ruined your gorgeous makeup. Your once glossed lips swollen from the consistent biting of them.

“Fuck you're so beautiful my superstar. I want you to be mine forever. Does that sound good t’you baby? I'll give you the sun the moon and the stars if you want. Anything to see you like this every night” he grunted close to releasing 

“‘S too much, s’close baby please” you whine, hands coming to your nipples to pinch and squeeze them.

“Don't have to ask sweet girl just cum for me I'm right here I got you”

At the proclamation of his words, you came undone as he felt you cream around his dick causing him to cum as well

“Shit, that's it. Thats my pretty girl keep cummin f’me superstar” he encouraged giving two more pumps before he turning you over littering kisses all over your face 

“M-my car,” you said hoarsely a little dazed trying to keep your eyes opened

“What about it baby?” He cooed watching you try to gather your thoughts

Telling him that you left it he assured you he would have someone pick it up and bring it here.

Silence fell upon the room as your ragged breaths became controlled as he continued to hold you in his arms.

“I meant what I said. I'd buy you the world knowing I have you right here by my side” 

Kissing him weakly you smiled 

“I'd like that.”

[divineerdrick]

Homestuck: Beyond Canon Upd8 for July 23, 2024

Alright! We've got a new Upd8, and apparently it's a doozy! As usual, we'll start with the news post first!

Oh! There's a vod of the SAHcon panel. Might have to look that up.

James mentions a "big flash," and wants to give the team a break before either they start work on it or they drop it (wasn't sure here). I'm all for this. I don't want this team to burn out. Apparently there's progress on the plush, but James isn't telling us yet because it might not make it into the final version. Other than that, it's just this upd8. They're planning on more like it, so this won't be the only one of this style.

And what is this style?

It's a freakin' visual novel is what!

Looking at the options we have some basic VN selections, including options for skipping text. We have a History panel, which hopefully will allow us to go back to prior choices. We can also save and load. We don't have an option for full screen, so that's a little frustrating. But otherwise, away we go!

Yay! New talk sprites!

Absolutely love this one!

Oh man! Tavros got sucked into this too? Or is this some sort of construct or projection?

Oh wow. Vriska's trying to reconcile and every time she gets a prompt, she comes up with something else awful she did to him. I'd say we could be here a while, but I'm pretty sure she's going to lose patience soon.

"Hours later, but not many." Or we do that XD

Vriska doesn't get that the patterns that lead her here are the problem. She doesn't understand that being "an expert on this revenge thing," is part of the problem. The problem was that she was always trying to force Tavros to conform to some image of strength she had for him in her head, and used only the methods that she thought made her strong. That is, when she wasn't just losing her patience and doing something out of spite and anger.

Just as she thought she made things square with him before, she's not listening to him now. She's still never gotten that her failure to help Tavros wasn't Tavros's fault. It's always been her fault for not trying to understand who Tavros was and what he needed. By trying to help Tavros get revenge on her, she's just repeating the pattern again.

"Before I screw your life up," wow, I think she might have just had a genuine realization there! That's what she needs, though she still needs to understand why. She needs to understand why she did it, and why it caused Tavros so much suffering.

"Kill me." Oh wow. We've literally been exactly here before. How can she not realize that it didn't work then, and it's not going to work now!

"TAVROS: nO, i LOVE TO RUN AND, i DO NOT PLAN ON STOPPING, aNY TIME SOON,"

Ouch.

"Thief: Do the right thing."

Oh this is so not going to be the right thing.

Wow. She looks way too happy to have gotten Tavros to kill her. She is so not going to be happy when this almost certainly doesn't turn out to have worked.

Yep! That sure looks like we're back where we started! Respawn time!

Yay! Davepetasprite^2 talk sprites!

'Nother Vriska talk sprite. Is this a look from her past we haven't seen yet?

Hah! Groundhogs Day reference.

Sorry Davepeta, you can't help but make that innuendo sexual. It is your nature. Well half your nature.

Oh wow! When they said, Year 2, they weren't depicting a second point in the time frame. Vriska has been at this for over a year! "welcome to hell"

Whatever problems Dave and Nepeta respectively had, they just can't relate to the twisted mindset Vriska adopted to survive on Alternia.

"purrppets and then theres pawppet33rs" That one took me a while.

I think Davepeta just admitted that both Dave and Nepeta prefer to follow and let someone else be in control of things. No wonder Dave put up with so much of Jade's constant desires to form a stable polycule. I think I'll have some more to say about this later. Might even put it in a separate post.

Oh! Well that's that I guess! Might as well talk about this "panel" then.

So let's start with this. I do not believe in "leaders" and "followers". I think that's such a false dichotomy, that it barely deserves commentary. I think at best you can say that a person would be more likely to take charge, follow along, do there own thing, or disengage under sociologically normal circumstances. Already, that's four potential responses verse two, and these only apply under each person's "normal."

But even if we break it down to just "leaders" and "followers", Homestuck has already broken that dichotomy plenty of times. Take our beloved nub horned ball of of anger. Karkat presents at the beginning of Act 5 as a "leader." He was even somewhat good at it by Vriska's own admission. But Karkat was never happy as a "leader." He was doing it because he felt he had to. Being an exceptional bloodthirsty Troll warrior wasn't going to be good enough for him to avoid getting culled. He needed power, fear, and respect. He needed to be a "leader."

But once everything was over and he was given the chance to relax, he abandoned the role and was all the more happier for it. Pre Game Over, he wasn't particularly happy but he seemed less miserable than he did in game. And most of his anxiety revolved around not knowing where he stood with Dave and Terezi. Post Game Over he seems to have practically thrived. Letting Vriska, Rose, and Terezi handle all the planning and organization allowed him to finally enjoy life for once.

But now on Candy Earth C, he's a "leader" again. While he seems to be delegating a lot to Meenah, he's still the one everyone looks to. And while I can't say our beloved Knight of Blood is thriving, he's definitely much more comfortable as a "leader" now.

So all of that being true, has HSBC made any case for any character being a "leader" or "follower"?

But let's assume the premise and say Davepeta is correct. I think Nepeta can be said to be a "follower" in such a dichotomy. Even when it upset her, she still went along with Equius's wishes. But I would still stress she didn't exactly get a lot of screen time. We never got to know how Nepeta might have developed as a character over a full Homestuck run.

But what about Dave? Does Homestuck depict Dave as a "follower"? We definitely have plenty of examples of Dave going along with the plans and wishes of others. But I feel like we have far more examples of him taking initiative, doing his own thing, or even refusing to go along with a plan. Dave didn't want to play SBURB. Dave ignored Jade's advice to let the Crow hatch the egg. While he followed Terezi's plan, he eventually needed a break and basically broke with her after they finished the time loop. When Jade needed help, he acted on his own to get her situated in the game. He didn't like Rose's plan and refused to let her be the one to sacrifice herself when it seemed like that was the only option. He refuses to go along with Karkat's plans to try and setup quadrants with Terezi. In Game Over, he jumps into the fray to try and placate and then fend off Jack and PM. In Collide he takes the lead roll in the Strife at several points, including being the one to land the killing blow. Even Davepeta, as Vriska points out, was the one that secured victory against Lord English.

I think at most, what can be said is that normally Dave prefers to go with the flow. As he puts it, "maybe id rather just be like the dave of guy." This is one of those places where again, I have to ask if Homestuck has ever depicted a "leader/follower" dichotomy. Dave really seems happiest when he's just being Dave doing Dave things. Given a fully informed choice, Dave might have done everything he could have to avoid the SBURB session taking place. He stayed on the sidelines as things went to shit on Earth C, even as Karkat was looking to him for help. I just don't see Dave as a "follower."

That doesn't mean he has any angle to relate to Vriska. But for being an enlightened Sprite^2, I don't think Davepeta's take is a good one.

[casskaykingston]

THE KINGSTON FAMILY:

Cassidy Kay “C.K.” Kingston II. Patriarch. February 3, 1957. - 61

          There are few relationships so screwed up as the one between Cass and his father. It all truly began, however, with Cass’s grandfather - Cassidy Kay Kingston I, “King” Kingston. King was a different generation, reserved, an all work no play kind of man. He didn’t very much like talking to people, and unfortunately that included his own children, C.K. included. They were always distant, and C.K. wanted more from his father than King ever seemed to be able to give, so he buried his frustrations and the two of them never bridged the gap that yawned between them. His own neglect twisted itself into the way C.K. would raise his own kids. At first, all was normally, C.K. meeting and marrying Olivia, Cass being born first with Greer following along five years later. C.K. loved Cass, but he adored Greer with every bone in his body - and it didn’t help that she was a total Daddy’s Girl too. All the love he showered on Greer, and a few years later on Bailey, C.K. could never figure out how to give with his son. His own experience with King was no words all, so his thought process morphs into “I want to push him harder so that he can survive all the world throws at him.” That is where it begins.

      That mindset truly kicks in when Cass turns eleven, and C.K. starts taking walks with him around the ranch, telling him it’ll all be his one day and he’s got to learn how to take care of it. Cass wants his dad to be proud of him, so with C.K.’s encouragement starts working on the ranch a couple of years later. This is where their relationship truly heads downhill. C.K. would compliment Cass on how well he’d calmed down a bucking mare, and yell at him a few hours later for forgetting to muck a stall. When he’s tired at the breakfast table C.K. would tell him to be a better time manager and to get some more sleep, but later that evening will see him relaxing and instruct him that if he has free time, he should be spending it on his legacy. C.K.’s own relationship with the ranch, it being the thing his father loved most, merges with his twisted idea of fatherly love, and suddenly Cass matters more to him as a ranch hand and a good face for the family than as his own son. The ways that Cass can further his families status in town become more important than anything else Cass could offer his father. The first time Cass comes home, popular, successful, with a football trophy in hand, C.K. tells him he’s proud of him for the first time since his youth - and it’s the last time he ever hears it. Cass’s leaving at age 19 was the ultimate and grossest betrayal C.K. had ever felt, and each day he was gone caused anger to eat up whatever love C.K. had left for Cass on the inside. Nowadays, Cass avoids his fathers like the plague to try and take better care of himself, though deep down C.K.’s abuse has left many a mark on his bright spirit and soul and some part of him believes full in his fathers words.

Bailey Lynn Kingston. Free Spirit of the Family. March 29, 1993. - 25

        Olivia often said that Bailey was the most interesting pregnancy of her three kids, and it produced a child just as strange. Bailey was nothing like her older siblings. She preferred dark closed in spaces to the wild open spaces of the ranch, thought horses were okay but not that cool, and didn’t particularly click with either of her parents. She got away with everything, being the youngest, though was a constant sort of worry for C.K. and Olivia in her teen years as she snuck out way more than Greer and Cass did. Cass was seven when she was born, and Greer was three, so years separated all three siblings in different ways. As they grew older, Cass constantly grew frustrated with the leniency she was shown, how she never had any responsibilities and seemed to care so little about her well being. Greer, much closer to Bailey than Cass was, would often play the mediator between them, trying to get her siblings to see both sides.

       A couple of years ago after earning her associates at the local community college in a major no one else in her family could quite put a finger on, Bailey bounced completely and headed to Florida. She and Greer keep up with each other, having weekly Skype dates and texting each other, but she and Cass have never quite closed the distance between them. After his accident, however, she called to talk to him and they had a real conversation for the first time in years, so there is hope that they may get close one day. Last Cass heard, she’s having a lot of fun partying in the Sunshine State in between gigs with her band.

Cassidy Kay “Cass” Kingston III. Oldest of the Family. Weight of the World on His Shoulders. Bears it with a Smile. August 25, 1986. Resident Wilmington Cowboy. - 32

Greer Elizabeth Kingston. Light of the Family. January 17, 1990. - 28

      His right hand man. An odd thing to call ones sister, but thats what Greer is to Cass - at least now. When they were younger, they didn’t have a ton in common. They were of opposite genders with very different relationships to both of their parents, but they were pals. Tumbling around the ranch in their young, learning how to ride together. Sure, once Cass hit high school there was a bit of a barrier, he being thirteen and his sister nine, but he loved her. Greatly. Always had, and always would. He only stuck around the year after he’d graduated from high school to make sure that her first year would go well, threatening any guy that came within ten feet of her that if they hurt Greer’s feelings, they’d pay for it with a chunk of flesh. Of course, he was kind enough to let them choose where the hunk of flesh would come from.

      When he left Wilmington for what he thought was for good, in the beginning Cass was too ashamed to call Greer up. He’d abandoned her, after all, left no note or anything, and it took him two years before hesitantly calling home again. Her voice floating through the speakers kept Cass together on many nights where there was blood all over his kitchen sink, broken and busted body all alone in a shitty NYC apartment, and that was what truly cemented their bond. They kept up a steady phonecall relationship until Cass returned, and the two have been thick as thieves ever since. Though for most of his life he kept C.K.’s treatment of him to himself, recent events have brought that wall crumbling, piece by piece, down. @greerkingstcn

Olivia Charlotte Kingston. Heart of the Family. February 13th, 1962. - 56

        Cassidy has been the light of Olivia’s life since she first laid eyes on him. He loves his mother, still respectfully calling her Momma even at the age that he is not, and adores her with his whole heart. Trying to care of her family as a whole however, meant that Cass by proxy of being the oldest often fell through the cracks, a big proponent of that being the way her husband treated her son. Though she knew C.K. was hard on him, she never knew the truth of it. Never overheard the devastating speeches that tore Cass’s self confidence apart, never saw the brokenness in her sons eyes until he’d returned from NYC. Her biggest dreams for her son are to be happy and healthy (as well as in a relationship that will give her the grandbabies she so craves).

        She’s a little nosy, a serial gossip, and peace maker to her core, her strawberry lemonade becoming a staple of the Ranch and B & B itself, and her love for her kids known to all who’ve come in contact with her. Learning about the things Cass has let slip about C.K.’s treatment has been breaking her heart, but she doesn’t quite know what to do about it. Allegiance is a tricky thing, and seeing is believing after all.

[diavolosthots]

Hey dear! I hope that you have a good time! I want to make a request, but please delete it if you don't feel like doing it.

I saved that request in the notes and been waiting for you to open them 😊

For request

First fight with brother (any of your choice) and one of them (I mean MC or that brother) thinks that it's end of relationship (because never had anything serious), but they reconciled in the end. I want some heavy angst with happy ending. MC can be GN if that is OK.

If you don't mind you can do for Mammon, but feel free to choose another one if you don't feel like write for him. Or if that would be better to write as headcanons for all the brothers. That's up to you!

I haven't been doing requests for ages. Please don't hate me if there is something wrong! I've read the rules, and I hope I haven't missed anything.

Anyway, sorry for long ask. And thank you for your writings!

(I forgot to look if you did anything similar, and remembered it at the end of writing that ask. Sorry if you already did something like that!)

Hey babes ❤ I did end up doing HCs for all of them because I thought it would be cooler (or more like I know someone is gonna request separate fics for all of them if I dont and I'm saving myself that trouble lol) I still hope you like it ! ❤ also this got SUPER LONG so its under a cut

Warning: angst -> happy ending-ish

THE BROTHERS in a fight with MC and thinking that they’re over (yikes)

Lucifer:

Everyone always says Lucifer is quick to lose his cool but he’s honestly been nothing but patient with you. He may have hinted at several things he doesn’t condone and he definitely has that ‘look’, you know the disappointed dad look, but he has held back a lot so as to not ruin the beautiful relationship you have with him. Everyone snaps, though, and when he finally did, it was ugly. He did NOT call you names, but oh he didn’t. He went straight for your feelings and pointed out every mistake you ever made for as long as he’s known you. Ouch. In his defense, you weren’t nice either. The argument ended nasty and ‘I hate you’s!’ were definitely thrown around, but none of them were meant, right? Goodness, he doesn’t know. After you left, he threw himself on his bed, literally, and just stared at the ceiling. His anger slowly fled away and he began to feel… guilty. Not necessarily because of the argument itself, but because he delivered some low blows and he knows that. Are you over? Done with him? You haven’t texted or called or talked… you’ve been actively avoiding him and he doesn’t like that, but his pride is such an issue, goodness. He can’t straight up apologize, that dickhead, but he’s sending you flowers and standing in front of your door with a sad face that says it all. 

“Forgive me? I made reservations at your favorite’s? We can talk over a nice dinner?” 

Mammon:

Mammon is known to get mildly agitated over the silliest things, let’s be real. He’s also quick to revert to the “are you dumb?!” argument, which is never effective. But he loves you and he would do anything for you so even if you do do something that he deems ‘dumb’, he usually bites his tongue. Doesn’t mean that doesn’t get on his nerves, though, and he definitely has a short temper, although people tend to overlook that. You just managed to push his buttons today and he used the “are ya stupid?!” argument, to which you obviously defended yourself, and rightfully so. This ended in a massive screaming match and him saying “Then leave! Ain’t nobody keepin’ ya with me!” He regretted it the minute those words left his mouth and you could see his eyes grow wide in shock at his own words, but that didn’t mean you stayed. “MC!” he tried running after you immediately but you were faster and honestly, who can blame you? He fucked up, and he knows it, and he feels terrible about it. Honestly, he’s crying just at the mere thought of you taking his words seriously and he can’t… he can’t bear to lose you, you know? What’s he gonna do? You’re the light of his life, as pathetic as that may sound to some…. So he won’t let you run away. Homie will hunt you down and beg for forgiveness. 

“Please, MC! Forgive me! I’m dumb, not you!!! Don’t leave me…” Don’t leave him. He will continue crying. 

Leviathan:

His constant need to put himself down is frankly, quite annoying. To you anyway. But you put up with it and just reassure him that, at least to you, he’s the most amazing demon that ever existed. It’s just facts. But a person only has so much patience, right? You can’t always spend your days trying to lift him up when all he does is dig himself a bigger hole. Who has the emotional time for that? You sure don’t. “Oh my God, Levi! Shut up! I can’t take it anymore!” Followed by “See! You’re just like everyone else! Leaving me!” and then you slamming the door to his room shut. It’s frustrating and understandably so. It makes you feel awful that you can’t even make your own boyfriend feel good about himself and get at least a little bit of self confidence and it’s so, so, so very draining to have to constantly listen to that. At this point, it’s affecting your own mental health and you just… you just can’t…. But Levi can’t lose you because he knows you’re right. He has to work on himself if he wants to keep someone as amazing as you with him and that’s why he’s crawling back to you now. 

“Look I… I know you’re right… I’m sorry. I promise I’ll … I’ll try. For you.”

Satan:

For being the Avatar of Wrath, you always admired Satan for his ability to keep cool. He prefers the relaxed and easy going life much more than the type of life people expect him to live, and you respect that. That doesn’t mean his constant need to one up Lucifer, through whatever means necessary, didn’t bother the hell out of you, though. You tried talking to him about it once or twice in a calm manner, but you always got the same answer “Pfft.. it’s Lucifer. Who cares?” And it never sat right with you. Just today he decided to pull a prank on the eldest and you had enough, standing in front of Lucifer and letting the bucket of cursed green slime land on you instead, to everyone’s shock. “What are you doing?!” Now that you’re thoroughly green from head to toe, you were also beyond pissed. “What am I doing?! What are YOU doing?!” But Satan matched your anger tenfold, accusing you of favoring Lucifer over him and oh! “You probably got an affair with him, too!” Which was a stupid thing on his part, but it looked like it the way you defended him. Anger doesn’t even begin to describe the emotion you felt running through you and had it not been for Lucifer, you probably would’ve physically fought Satan for such a dumb accusation. Lucifer took you to get cleaned up and lifted the course, giving you your natural skin and hair color back within a few days and plenty of scrubbing, and Satan felt like shit. You’ve always been there for him and, rationally speaking, he didn’t have a reason to doubt your loyalty to him, but he just can’t help but feel insecure beside Lucifer…. He decides to come apologize anyway, a deep blush on his face and guilt in his eyes 

“I’m… sorry for accusing you. It wasn’t my right to speak out of anger and jealousy…” 

Asmodeus:

How can anyone fight with the Avatar of Lust? Seriously, the guy is super easy going and he loves pretty much everyone. Not as much as himself, but almost. You on the other hand… you didn’t. Well you didn’t NOT love him or yourself, but you were just… you. You didn’t spend 4+ hours in the bathroom trying to get ready when you knew you were only going to the kitchen down the stairs. Like?? Although you never brought it up to Asmodeus, he constantly bothered you about skincare and what foods to eat and what not to eat, etc… It’s quite annoying, honestly, and at some point you just gave him a passive aggressive “Okay, whatever. Can we move on now?” To which he didn’t take lightly. He was still nice and sweet, trying to convince you that at least one of these things will make your skin glow brighter than a unicorn’s ass but you just had enough. “Can you stop?! You’re indirectly saying I’m ugly without that shit ton of product in my face and a diet that would make me starve before it helped me! If you want a skinny VS angel that barely holds onto their skeleton, get one!” It was more hurt and frustration speaking than anything, but your outburst still shocked him and he was taken aback for a moment. And then you ignored him for a week straight and as someone who thrives off of attention, especially the kind he gets from you, he can’t handle that! So he showed up in your room in sweats and a tshirt and messy hair and no product on his skin. 

“You’re right… we’re all naturally beautiful…. Wow that… that really hurts to say MC but can you forgive me?” 

Beelzebub:

Oh the sweet, sweet angel. He’s far from innocent and you know that. We all know that. But for this story, I will give him the benefit of the doubt. His reliance on Belphegor is just really… annoying. Belphegor this, Belphegor that. “Belphie used to…” or “Belphie said….” or “one day when Belphie and I….” Like why does everything have to include his twin? It’s so annoying and so rude when your significant other is right here !!! and planning their own future with you, Beel, thanks. It makes you feel less than and like Belphegor will always come before you. It makes you feel like shit, quite frankly, and who is to blame you? “Hey MC did I tell you what Belphie---!” “No! Shut up! I don’t care! It’s always about Belphie! The day you come to me and don’t let that name drip from your tongue is the day Jesus comes back to save me and we both know that will be never! I’m tired of always being stuck with Belphegor! We are not equals!” Granted, you shouldn’t have yelled and Beel was more than confused at your outburst, but you wouldn’t talk to him anymore after that so he left you alone. He thought you may need an hour or two, maybe a day tops, but that day turned into a full week and he even lost his appetite just because he knows you’re angry with him. It’s been a week, does that mean you’re over? His heart aches just at the thought… 

“I’m sorry for bringing Belphie up… I don’t want you to feel less than, MC. You mean a lot to me and so does Belphie, but you’re not Belphie and I need to learn that…”

Belphegor:

Honestly it’s a miracle he hasn’t lost his temper at you yet. Well, he partially blames it on his own laziness because if being angry or getting upset didn’t take so much energy out of him, maybe he would’ve snapped by now lol, but he tries really hard not to because he thinks your relationship with him after everything is pretty good, considering yall kiss and snuggle and fuck on a regular basis. But anyway, that’s exactly the issue. Considering everything, you’re still holding *that* against him. It’s never direct either, which makes it worse. It’s always said in a joking manner and something like “haha look it’s just like that one time you killed me” or “Beel’s grabbing that ham like you grabbed my throat” or “I remember seeing jesus for a moment there” and it agitates him. It makes him so angry, and he finally snapped. “I know I fucked up MC! Stop holding it against me! What do you want? A medal of honor? A survivor's certificate? Maybe a pat on the back for developing some sort of Stockholm syndrome that made you come back to your abuser?!” And then he left. And you may have cried both from confusion and your own anger, he isn’t quite sure. It’s just so…. Aggravating. He can’t deal with it. He knows it was a mistake spurted by his own insecurities and survivor’s guilt which ultimately led to his hatred but please, stop holding it against him.. He can’t keep putting up with it from the person he’s grown to love. He’s the one ignoring you and he won’t budge either because he’s a stubborn ass, but maybe if you come up first… 

“I’m sorry for yelling at you… I’m just so tired for it being held against me… I love you, and you should know that, and I do feel guilty about what happened.” 

[princess-of-inarizaki]

Haikyuu manager headcanons!!

Okay so these adorable teams all have the softest spot for their tiny little manager-chan, and here's how they all treat her.

[Ari's note: okay manager fics and headcanons are my absolute favourite and I love writing them]

*.` | Karasuno

They are extremely laid back with you, compared to some of the other teams. They give you your space, at the same time listen to you when you have something to say.

Respectful simps. Similar to how they act with Kiyoko (ugh yes queen-chan) they're in tears whenever you do things to motivate them, like cheer at their practice matches or give them good luck charms.

They still have the good luck charms you fastened on their bag before one of the matches.

Tanaka and Noya would literally worship the ground which you walked on. Like wow how did they get so lucky as to have three?? Cute managers?? On their team??

Yachi and you would probably subtly simp over Kiyoko with them too ngl.

Hinata and Kags would probably see you as an older sister, eventho you're their age because you're so caring and responsible.

Suga is literally your mom and Daichi is your dad. They make sure you're all healthy and you're doing well in school.

Asahi gives you hugs whenever you're sad or upset! Fite me but I think this gentle baby gives the best hugs ever >:( he's like your comfort senpai and you'd do the same for him, especially when he's feeling insecure or down.

Yams would probably be very shy around you, but he'll warm up in time.

Ahhh the best part. Tsukki! He'd find you annoying and simply not get why you're so Mcfreaking happy at first (shut up u salty beanpole, manager-chan is just a ray of sunshine, okay?) But he soon finds it endearing and slowly gets closer to you.

You walk home with Yams and Tsukki every day since your houses are close, and Tsukki walks you to your door to make sure you're safe!

Ennoshita, Kinoshita and Narita all see you as a little sister and often help you with your managerial duties.

The team cares and respects you so much, and are so thankful you've joined them!!

Meat buns at Ukai's are your hangout spot, and everytime you see them chilling you're so thankful to have such great friends.

*.` | Aoba Johsai

Aaah we're at the team of one of my favourite characters!! I'll start with Oikawa (can't you tell I'm so biased omg)

Oikawa absolutely adores manager-chan because although she's tiny, she's very strict, and doesn't let his fangirls near the gym when he's practicing, which he appreciates.

"yn-chan, you're so good to me, can I take you out as a thank-you?" Cue Iwa-chan's ball which comes flying at Oikawa's head. "Stop flirting with the manager, shitty-kawa"

Iwa's very fond of you too, but he doesn't let it show too often. Sometimes he picks up your favourite coffee from the vending machine and claims that he bought it by "accident". (How believable<3)

Kunimi probably sends you weird tiktok videos and tags you in funny memes. Very wholesome 10/10.

Kyotani just?? Doesn't understand you?? Like wow, she's small but the team listens to her?? Why?? He later finds out you're the manager. Mad dork here didn't know you were managing the team for the past month, and thought you just came to the gym to watch them practice. Smh.

Matsukawa and Hanamaki give you headpats and like taking selfies with you, much to Oikawa's dismay. He wants to be the only one taking pictures with you.

Like no manager-chan. Stop. Get away from them. My phone's right here I wanna take selfies with you :(

Kindaichi is cool with you. Y'all are bros and you game together sometimes.

Watari and Yahaba join too, and they're surprised to know that you're so aggressive when you game.

Cue a jealous Oikawa who struggles learning how to game just so he's invited to play with you. Simp smh.

They're all very gentle with you, and since you're their first female manager, they make sure to never make you feel uncomfortable.

You guys like grabbing ramen together and having eating contests. They really bring out your aggressive side but you love them for it.

*.` | Shiratorizawa

Can I just say Semi bsf material? Yes? Yes. Semi Eita is best friend material.

Makes you cute little Spotify playlists and you help him write lyrics to songs occasionally. You play an instrument too and you guys can just jam out for hours on end together.

You get the idea of applying to be the manager because of him, and it all took off from there.

Goshiki loves you. You're fond of your kohāi, and you genuinely just give this touch-starved future ace a lot of hugs and cuddles, which he's SO grateful for.

Like wow, y/n-chan isn't just pretty?? She's also so sweet? And smart? And capable? Semi why have you been hiding her for so long??¿ >:(

Goshiki is just so protective of you, he'd commit murder if he had to.

You have to earn Ushiwaka's respect, yk? And slowly but surely he comes to realise how dependable and responsible you are, and treats you like an indispensable member of the team.

He's got your back. And if he ever senses you're upset, he's trying to cheer you up as best as he can.

"do not feel upset, those grades will mean nothing to you in the future. I doubt you will be able to remember what you got in your second year, third monthly test." You think he's being sweet, and yes he is (in a way), but he's also trying to be reasonable and logical.

Tendo loosens you up and you tend to play pranks on the others with him.

The funniest was when you tried to prank Ushijima by adding wasabi to his onigiri and he?? Didn't get it??

Like "y/n-chan, Tendo, why did you add wasabi to this onigiri? It would've been so much better with tuna mayo??" And he has no reaction whatsoever?¿?

Cue Goshiki who tries the onigiri because he wants to prove he has spice tolerance like Ushijima, eventhough you can low-key see him tearing up.

Shirabu is your voice of reason and you and him often study together. You also have deep and philosophical conversations at 12 a.m. over text, and it is just so wholesome.

He respects you so much, not just because you care for him, but because he finds your brain so fricking smexy.

These eagle babies bring out the best in you and you're always eager to push them forward and bring out the best in them.

*.` | Fukurodani

First thing's first, besides Akaashi, you are the only other person who can cheer up an emo-mood Bokuto.

Just say "Hey Bo, you're gonna look so much cooler when you spike the ball like the true ace that you are" and his hair's all perking up and his eyes are shining.

Akaashi thinks you are an angel sent from heaven.

You're very soft on your baby owls, and they genuinely just love getting positive affirmations from you.

Akaashi always blushes when you compliment him on his sets. And you can hear him murmur genuine words of gratitude.

The other members do too. They're glad because sometimes people focus on Bo too much and forget to give them recognition, yk? It's easy to get overlooked :(

But thanks to manager-chan who's so attentive with all of them, and who's aware of all their quirks and moods, they're all so touched and so so happy.

You have a habit of getting cold pretty often, especially since practice finishes late and it's pretty chilly by then.

Konoha always lends you his jacket and walks you home, since your home's are the closest. There's just something about you that makes you soft.

You get along really well with Kaori and Yukie, and you'd definitely consider them your best friends, considering y'all are in this thang togetherrrr!!

The Fukurodani team are just all a bunch of crackheads, but they're your crackheads and you wouldn't trade them for the world.

You're a very tight-knit family, (like ugh I just get lots of comfortable, safe vibes from Fukurodani :(( <3)

You guys hang out at the store near your school pretty often to recharge after grueling days of practice together.

*.` | Nekoma

My second favourite team, Nekoma!! They are precious, gentle, soft babies and I love them to bits and pieces >:(

I'll start with Kuroo. You've always had a tiny soft spot for Kuroo ever since you've become his lab partner in chemistry class.

His notes are immaculate. I mean, cmon we're all hoes for pretty notes

You think he's so incredibly smart and talented, so when he suggests you become the Nekoma manager, you just agree right away.

You guys grow closer since you've started spending more time with him, and you banter around more often than not with chemistry pickup lines.

"hey kitten, let's form a covalent bond"

He's so whipped after you retort back. Like wow she called me sodium fine and said I'm like an exothermic reaction? Permission to simp??

(Ari stfu this isn't a Kuroo fanfic)

Kenma and you definitely play animal crossing together, and he even lets you try his switch, after you guys grow closer.

Kuroo is so insulted, he's never even touched Kenma's switch before >:(

You also push Kenma to do better during practice and he starts to care more about volleyball, since you seem so enthusiastic about it.

Yamamoto isn't even subtle about his simping smh T-T unlike Kuroo, he shamelessly flirts with you, and can't wait to show you off to Tanaka and Noya at the next camp.

"we have such a gorgeous manager now, Nekoma is ThRiViNg" he says in his head with this ridiculous dopey ass smile on his face +_+

Since deep down inside, you're a huge baby, you, Lev, Shibayama, and Inuoka get along so well. They're just happy energetic kittens, and they make you feel so happy.

y'alls energy just match, yk?

Although Fukunaga is shy to tell jokes, he tells them to you, because he knows you'd never judge him, and you actually kinda enjoy laughing along :) he's so touched.

Momma Yaku!! Yaku always lends you his jacket and makes sure to carry snacks for you in his bag. He knows you care so much about the team that you often neglect your own health, which is why he's always there to make you're feeling healthy and good.

Kai and Teshiro help you with your homework and like talking about their favourite singers with you.

They're all just such amazing human beings who treat you so well, and you feel so blessed to be a part of their team. You adore them so much, and they adore you back tenfold.

*.` | Inarizaki

[Ari's note: Ello there luvs, you've made it to the bottom of this sweet hc post and just get ready for Inarizaki :( they're my favourite team of all time, and I'm just so biased, I'm sorry ;-;]

Inarizaki's entire team just adores you so much, they think you're the light of their lives.

They're all super touch starved babies, and once you realized that, you've made sure to ensure they never feel that way.

Aran is kinda like your protective senpai, and his heart flutters ever so slightly when you call him that senpai kink oops and give him headpats, and he loves patting your head in return.

The twins are so incredibly soft for you.

Their fangirls are sometimes pretty mean, but one glare from the duo is enough to shut them up.

Osamu cooks bentos for you and gives you the warmest hugs when you ask for them, burying his head in the crook of your neck.

Your hand is almost always in Atsumu's because he's so slick?? Like y'all, this mf would be like "y/n-chan, my hand has been aching for a while now" and when you go to observe it, he just pulls your hand into his and pulls you to follow him.

His entire body heats up when you kiss his cheek after a particularly good game, and his brain literally goes "grrrr empty", when he's usually so sly.

The twins are your bodyguards, they follow you everywhere and protect you all the time.

Enter Suna Rintaro, your meme king. He definitely records funny moments that happen during practice and send them to you, just to make you laugh, or memes of the members.

He also definitely takes pictures of you when you aren't noticing, simply because he likes the way your hair looked, or because you looked so beautiful.

Like the twins, his eyes widen whenever you kiss his cheek or ruffle his hair, and it's literally like suna.exc has stopped functioning.

Congrats manager-chan, you broke the kid -.-

Omimi might come across as stoic and cold but he's actually a huge softie, and you often give him positive affirmations.

He's also definitely a huge lover of your hugs, and looks forward to them as motivation to play well.

He'd never tell you though, he's shy™.

My baby Kita compliments you all the fricking time.

"y/n-chan, I mean this is the most sincere way, I think this hairstyle looks stunning on you"

Or "you're so capable and you work so hard, I'm so thankful to have you by my side"

And he has the most genuine expression on his face, his eyes are so earnest and shining so bright.

And when you smile at him, he's like oh shit I made her smile, depression whom? I only know serotonin.

Ginjima is usually rash but with you, he takes his time and weighs everything he says.

He doesn't wanna accidentally hurt you and regret it since he was being careless and not thinking at all.

You calm him down when he's getting too hotheaded with gentle words and he's suddenly a blushing mess.

Unlike some of the other teams that tease you a bunch, Inarizaki treats you so gently. Their little princess, as they think of you.

So mf-ing protective, like if someone looks at you wrong, you can totally bet Atsumu's going for their ankles, sangwoo style, or Osamu is trash talking them to their knees.

Would drop anything and everything to help you if ever needed.

They think you're they're entire world because you go above and beyond for them, and they genuinely love you. Like actually LOVE you to bits and pieces.

—*.`

[Ari's note: AHHH so the manager fic is done this was literally such a joy to write!! I hope you enjoyed it

Big big hugs <3 have a beautiful day, luvs!!]

[peanutpinet]

Lucas (mafia leader) x Reader (female)

A/N: I had this thought for days now and was like, ya know, just let it out. This is my first NCT (?) WayV (?) fanfic? Scenario? Yea XD For those who have read my past fanfics/scenarios, you know how horrible I am in explaining XD but yea, essentially I just imagine that you, the reader are a uni student whilst Lucas is part of the NCT mafia, "leader" of the WayV unit (I know Kun is technically the leader, but just for the sake of the story), okie, leggo

Sighing in defeat, you gathered all your books, stationery and some clothing before sneakily going out of your dorm and to your boyfriend's apartment since he gave you the spare key, saying that it was for emergencies or whenever you wanted to come over.

After texting Lucas that you were heading to his apartment, you went to grab a cab and head there. Truth be told, you never really went there and only got the address from Lucas. Which is why upon arriving, your jaw nearly dropped when you saw his apartment; even making sure whether the address Lucas gave last time was the exact one and making a mental note to yourself to look up things beforehand.

Upon arriving, you felt like you just came from the countryside to the big city. You went to the front desk and inform them who were you looking for, handing in your ID card and was immediately directed to the elevator, one of the securities pressing the highest floor of the elevator and left you in the elevator on your own.

Just when you thought that it couldn't get any fancier, the minute you stepped out of the elevator, you were amazed at the decor and the fact that there was only one door made it even grander. Taking out the key Lucas gave you, you were actually hoping that it wasn't the correct one and Lucas just sent you the wrong address but as it turns out, the key fits and you took a deep breath, walking into the room.

But on Lucas' side, he actually didn't receive your text message. So, the second he heard someone coming into his suite, he was already reaching for his gun because he wasn't really expecting anyone to come. But as soon as he heard your signature nervous voice, he felt relieved but worried at the same time. Did something happen to you?

"Lucas? Ar-are you in here? The people at the front desk just directed me here. I uh sent you a text" you called out

"I'm here sweetheart. Now, what brings you here at this late hour? Is there anyone I should be concern with?" Lucas stated, coming out of his bedroom

"Huh? Wow. I mean, no. Sorry, it's my first time here. I uh, I was just wondering if I could stay for the night. The dorm was so loud that I couldn't study nor sleep" you admitted, trying to avoid eye contact with Lucas, thinking that it was a lame excuse to come over

"Of course you can. I gave you the spare key for a reason, didn't I? Uh, sorry about the mess and all. I didn't expect you to come. I didn't receive any messages. C'mere sweetheart" Lucas mentioned, giving a hand motion for you to go to him

"Really?! I could've sworn I...(looks at your phone) I forgot to click the send button" you sighed, hitting your head as you went over to Lucas

"Hey, hey. Don't do that. You'll hurt your brain even more. No harm sweetheart. My place is yours. Come. I'll order some McDonalds as well if you'd like" Lucas cooed, bringing you into his office

"Damn. Two desktops?! Bro and this processor is the latest one?!" you commented, placing your bag down and immediately inspecting his desk

"Sometimes I play some games with the guys. Feel free to use it if you'd like. Lemon tea or coke?" Lucas asked, scrolling through his phone

"Lemon tea, no ice. It's worth the money better. Are you sure I can study here? Am I not disturbing you?" you questioned, sitting on the chair

"Not at all, sweetheart. It's almost 10pm. I'm done with work. You're free to use my computer. I've ordered your favourites already. I'm going to go for a shower for a bit. Feel free to turn on some music as well, alright? And please don't study for too long. I worry you'll hurt that gorgeous head of yours" Lucas chuckled, kissing your forehead before leaving you in his study room

After settling, putting on some music with your account (which was already in Lucas' Spotify), you grabbed your books and stationery then started to study for your finals. In the midst of it, you heard Lucas coming in with McDonalds; wearing a plain T-shirt and sweats.

Because there was only one chair in his office, with your consent, Lucas placed you on his lap as he was feeding you McDonalds whilst scrolling through his phone, occasionally leaning his head on your back as he does so.

After finishing the food, Lucas was about to get up and cleaned up so you could study a bit better since he knew you didn't like a messy space but when he felt your head slightly leaning backwards, he questioned whether you were already sleepy or not.

"What's wrong love? Tired?" Lucas murmured as he placed his chin on your neck, wrapping his long arms around your waist

"Huh? Oh? Sorry. I didn't realise I was leaning back" you yawned, scrubbing your eyes but Lucas stopped the motion

"Don't. Your eyes will get irritated. I think it's about time you sleep, hmm?" Lucas commented, tucking a hair behind your ear as he kissed the side of your cheek

"Hmm. I guess so" you sighed, leaning onto Lucas's chest

"Alright princess, let me just shut everything off. Kay, let's go to bed" Lucas chuckled, carrying your small figure in his arms and tucking you into his bed before going to the other side of the bed

The next morning, you were woken up by the sound of your phone's alarm but just stayed in bed whilst scrolling through your phone until you realised that you had exams that starts in 45 minutes. Immediately, you got up and went back to the study room to grab your clothes, without even calling out to Lucas and head to the bathroom to get ready.

After getting ready, you were so ready to rush out the door and call a cab until Lucas finally called out to you. Once you told him that your exam was starting in literally 15 minutes, he just chuckled and told you that he'll drive you there; which was a first since all this time, you guys just have dates near your campus since your dorm had strict rules and Lucas would just walk you there (A/N: how you guys met is a story for next time, lol).

After packing some food for you, Lucas grabbed his car keys in one hand and your hand in the other, making your way down to the parking lot where your jaw also almost dropped again since the car Lucas owned is probably enough to pay your whole entire undergraduate life.

Whilst in the car, Lucas told you to eat so you wouldn't be hungry during the exam. He also mentioned that he'll come to pick you up to celebrate finishing your finals since he knew that you've been stressing over this last final for weeks; saying that he'll treat you out.

Once you've arrived, Lucas pulled you to give a slight peck on your forehead, encouraging you to do well in your finals and that he'll see you right after you're done. You smiled and thank him. Getting out of the car, you saw nearly the whole campus that was by the front gate staring at you; even your friends were stunned before rushing to you, managing to get a glimpse at Lucas who just smiled before leaving.

"Gurl!! I knew your boyfriend was hot, but well off? You definitely hit the jackpot!!" one of your friends blurted

"Sis!! Can we save the conversation for later? I need to get this exam over with first" you bargained

"Okay, okay, good luck with your exams!! I'll see you later!!" your friend exclaimed as you went to your exam hall

Thankfully, the exam wasn't as hard as you'd thought. You didn't know if it's because Lucas actually helped you study since he actually knew the subject or something else but you were glad to finally be done with it. After the exam, you got a text from Lucas, saying that he'll be running a bit late which you didn't mind. Your friend, who was also done with her exam, came to your exam hall and didn't spare a second before plastering with all sorts of questions.

Asking you where you've been the night before since you weren't at your dorm; and when you told her you were at Lucas' place, she squealed, asking if you guys did anything spicy which you immediately cut her off, saying that you just went there to study because the rooms near yours were getting too loud and rowdy.

You also explained how kind and caring Lucas was; despite the amount of work he had to deal with, he was still soft when it came to you. Ordering your favourites from McDonalds, letting you just barged into his apartment whenever and even using whatever he had; hearing this, all your friend can do was just squeal, saying that Lucas was the perfect boyfriend.

And right on cue, Lucas texted you saying that he's almost at the front gate. Your friend saw your smile and teased the heck out of you before letting you off just because she supported your relationship; knowing that you had a rough past and it was nice to finally see you happy with someone; someone that genuinely cares about you.

But of course, life ain't that easy. Because just as you were skidding along the halls to the front gate, you accidentally bumped into someone and dropped your phone. You immediately apologised about to get your phone when the person you bumped into stepped on your phone. Looking up, you met with the campus' miss popular with her boyfriend.

"Can you please let go. I really have to go now" you sighed, looking up

"Can't your boyfriend get you another one? Oh wait, is he the one that you're meeting? Honestly, I dunno what he sees in you. Oh wait, I think I do. He's probably just in it to play around or probably did it because of a bet" the girl scoffed but you were just not having it and shoved her feet off, nearly falling if it weren't for her boyfriend being there

After getting your phone, you were about to make a run for it before she grabbed your hair, pulling you back and making you fall; calling you names and all. When you got back to your feet again, she nearly slapped you when you got ahold of her hand about to push her back when her boyfriend came and took your hand, twisting it behind your back, allowing an opening for her to get a good punch out of you.

It felt like forever since you were trapped between the two "bullies" of your campus and for Lucas, it meant something was wrong. It's been almost 30 minutes since he arrived and called you but there was no answer at all. Frustrated, he called Winwin to track your phone as he went in to find you; thinking that you were held captive by one of NCT's enemy.

When he did see you, he felt a slight relief that it wasn't one of NCT's enemy but he was still very much pissed at the sight. When the girl was about to hit you for like the 15th time, Lucas grabbed ahold of her arm, throwing her to the floor before looking at her boyfriend who turns out to be one of the bartenders in one of NCT's bars.

"B-boss..." the man stammered, letting go of your hand as you almost dropped if it weren't for Lucas catching you

"You better come to work tonight. We'll have a lil discussion about respect? Hmm? Make sure everyone comes. Or I'll just have to report Taeyong about this" Lucas growled, making the man cowered in fear

"N-no sir. Everyone will come tonight" the man stuttered as Lucas stood up, holding your figure firmly in his arms

"Good. Wouldn't want to make a big deal out of this hmm? Oh, and do bring your girlfriend while I take mine to treat the wounds you both caused" Lucas scoffed, bringing you out of the campus

Once you've reached his car, he gently placed you and put your seatbelt on before going to the driver's seat. Once he was in, he called Kun, telling him what happened and that he's planning to have a meeting later tonight in the bar. After the call, Lucas took your hand in his, stroking your knuckles as he drove back to his apartment.

Upon arriving, he helped you get out of the car and into his apartment. Inside, he brought you to his room before going to the bathroom and grabbing some medicine for your bruised face and cut on the lips. Lucas treated all your wounds as gently as possible, worrying that he might accidentally hurt you, treating you as if you're as fragile as an egg.

After he was done, he threw all the cotton buds and ordered some food for the both of you; knowing that you will tell him whenever you're ready. He put his hoodie onto you before bringing you to the living room to cuddle and just watch the whole day. Occasionally, food will come and it was all from your favourite restaurants.

After the next 5th Disney movie ended, you told Lucas that you wanted to take a shower and he told you that you can borrow any of his clothes. He even said that he'll run you a bath but you told him that you were just going to take a light shower which Lucas didn't mind. Whilst you were showering, Lucas prepared a T-shirt and shorts along with the hoodie you were just wearing.

After your shower and putting on the clothes Lucas prepared, Lucas came and redid the medicine on your wounds before going back to watching some heart-warming movies on the bed. Feeling better, you decided to tell Lucas what happened and whilst it seemed that he was calm, his mind was off wondering the endless possibilities of teaching the two that harm you; whether it'd be physically or mentally.

Either way, Lucas listened to all your rambles, wrapping his arm around your shoulder, leaning you onto his chest, giving kisses on your forehead, cheeks and occasionally your neck, chuckling when he saw you flustered; basically making you 10x better, treating you like a queen up until you fell asleep.

When you did fall asleep, he gently tucked you into bed, kissing your forehead, smiling at your sleeping figure before leaving the room to the bar where he was more than ready to make the two-person harmed you suffer; not forgetting to ask Hendery and Yangyang to come over to watch over you.

"Sleep tight sweetheart. I'll be back before you know it, alright? No one treats my queen like trash and gets away with it" Lucas mumbled, kissing your forehead as he left as quietly as possible

and let's just say that everyone in the bar that night experienced a side of Lucas that no one would like to see or hear ever again.

"Try and lay a finger on her again, I won't be so nice next time" Lucas scoffed, seeing all the staff looked down, especially the two-person who hurt you

A/N: I hope that this was alright but yea, this fanfic has been stuck in my head for days

[oh-boy-me]

I found your speculation of Satan having a crush on mc from the get go verry interesting. I was wondering if you have any speculations around the other boys? Like in what order do you think the boys fell for mc? Any specific points in the story that you think are the "fall for mc" moments for them?

(HFSDHFSD LISTEN I’ve had this in my drafts for AGES and I’m so sorry I’m just now getting to actually posting it ;w; )

I’m MORE than happy to speculate on this!  For the brothers, at least, because I haven’t read up to the parts where the other characters show notable interest in you

Putting most of this under a cut for long post and spoilers, but the tl;dr (with some mysterious elements to catch your interest heheheh) is that I believe the brothers “fall for MC” in this order:

1. Satan 2. Mammon 3. (Lucifer) 4. (Levi) 3. Belphie 4. Beel 4. Levi 4. Lucifer 7. Asmo

That must look a little weird; I hope I’ve piqued your interest!

Now, what am I defining as falling for MC?  For consistency, we’re going to consider a brother falling for MC being the moment when they themself realize that they might have feelings for them.

#1 Demon: Satan Moment: As early as day 4

First up is Satan, who I’ve already explained here.  An argument can be made that Mammon catches feelings first, but assuming a real-time progression, Satan’s first text reaches MC on their fourth day in the Devildom.

#2 Demon: Mammon Moment: Lesson 4-1

Mammon is interesting, because with this analysis he’s one of only two brothers for which you can actually get a calendar date for their falling for MC.  You can do this because the first few lessons cover a very short span of time.

According to the fact that Lucifer says you don’t want to be late on your first day of school after giving you a hint about Goldie, MC makes a pact with Mammon on their second day in the Devildom. (You don’t go to school on day 1.)

Lucifer blocks MC from the attic on the night of day 3, and after that things get shaky again until you hit the TSL movie night with Beel and Mammon.

The reason the movie night is interesting is because Beel specifically states that midterms are coming up soon.  Based on the game’s Japanese origin, we’re going to assume that RAD also follows the same three-term system that Japanese schools do.  This places the TSL marathon at about a month into MC’s stay.

Anyway, we’re basing Mammon’s interest in you on pretty obvious factors:

We basically don’t see any of Mammon’s trademark tsundere nature until after these lessons.  Before this it’s not him being tsundere, he’s genuinely annoyed with you.

He left a toothbrush and charger in your room sometime between Lesson 3-10 and 4-4.

This famous line: 

He probably developed feelings sometime during the TSL marathon, but I think it was when you were in danger, and even though he kept saying he’d let you die his first instinct was to save you, that he understood what those feelings were.

#3.  Demon: (Lucifer) Moment: Lesson 12-19

Crossed out and in parentheses Lucifer is the first one where we start to go off of assumptions and headcanon rather than concrete in game evidence, but.  I’m sure your bigger question is “why is he crossed out AND in parentheses AND why does he show up again later.”

The moment I listed is the lesson where you and Lucifer have to fall in love to escape the “horror game” that Levi “trapped” you in.  He spends most of the time seeming like he isn’t interested and doing it out of necessity, but then he turns around and says these lines.

Assuming that was almost a confession, I wouldn’t be surprised if he decided right there, in that moment, that he was developing feelings.  Lucifer is very self aware, and very sure of himself, and it’s also not like him to suddenly change his mind about how he’s treating things.  If he was hiding his feelings the whole time, I don’t think he would have almost slipped at all.

Of course, right after this, you announce that you’ve met Belphegor, and his developing feelings are overshadowed by rage.

And of course, Lesson 12-19 never happened.

What?

Let me remind you of the timeline.  Barbatos explains in Lesson 16-19 that he has the power to choose any timeline as the sole reality, and he chose the timeline you traveled to.

When you jump back in time, you end up in the moment right after making a pact with Satan (Lesson 12-10).  This means that everything that happened between Lessons 12-10 and 15-17 was erased from history.

The timeline in Season One looks a little something like this, to simplify.

Admittedly, we don’t know how far into their conversation MC and Lucifer make it in the second timeline, but on Lucifer’s part I don’t think it changes much.

This timeline stuff is important because

#4 Demon: (Leviathan) Moment: Lesson 14-4

Ok, first, I have to say that I really hate the way MC and Levi make up in Lesson 14.  imo it has the potential to be really manipulative on both sides.  But that’s not the point of this post.

Levi does NOT have a crush on you before Belphie shows up out of nowhere.  In Lesson 14-4, he’s talking to himself, and distinctly complains about losing a friend, and how Henry is his only friend.

He’s also refusing to acknowledge your existence, and he’s talking to a fish, so there’s no reason for him to hide how he really feels in the moment.

Then, later on in the same chapter, this is Levi’s response to seeing MC hug Lucifer.

I’m assuming MC isn’t the one he’s jealous of.  But what’s interesting here is that, as far as I can remember, this is the first time Levi ever expresses jealousy about you in any sense, platonic or romantic.  You don’t really interact with Levi one on one between Lesson 14-4 and this moment, so 14-4 is the most likely catalyst for this change.

Levi does say “you’re my true friend” at the end of 14-4, but you are not a fish, and that doesn’t change the fact that he could have been like “oh wow MC didn’t abandon me they really like me oh no I really like them”

Also, by 16-A he canonically likes you.

But just like with the last one, this exchange never happened and Levi never fell for you.

#3 Demon: Belphie Moment: Between Lessons 18-15 and 18-19

Now Belphie is interesting, because I would argue that he was trying to fall in love with you for a while.  All that “making up for lost time” and seeming to spend every waking hour with you in lessons 17 and 18 to me point pretty heavily to the idea that he wants to feel the same way about you that his brothers do.  Whether it’s to feel more connected with them or from a genuine interest in you is unclear though.

But then he decides to give you a pact as a present, which is a pretty big deal.  Most pacts in the game are made before the demon has feelings for you, but aside from Belphie, Satan is the only one who brings it up himself.  And since like I said Satan pretty clearly liked you before making a pact, the same can probably be said of Belphie.

I should also mention that Belphie muses over giving you a pact in Lesson 18-A, which takes place before Lesson 17-7 at the latest.  But we have to remember that this is before you’ve helped him mend his relationships with his brothers, and therefore he barely knows you.  Satan also barely knew you, but Belphie has the added problem of mixing up you and Lilith.  You can make arguments for the others when they were uber nice to you in Lesson 16-19, but for Belphie there’s really no other possible reason than Lilith.

However, Lesson 18-15 is the one where Belphie says he’s going to move forward with his life and stop putting things on hold for Lilith.

So, chances are his attachment to you is pretty unhealthy at first, but I’m choosing the timeframe I did as the moment because in 18-19 he explicitly states that he isn’t confusing you with Lilith.

This would be the moment of confirmation that he likes you, not the idea of what you might represent.

#4 Demon: Leviathan, Beelzebub, Lucifer Moment: Sometime during the time skip

I don’t think we see these three fall for you on camera.  The time skip covers literal months, and I think they fall for you in somewhere in that long period of time.

I don’t think I need to tell you that Levi and Beel like you by the time Lesson 20 comes along, since they both confess to you.

Lucifer doesn’t explicitly confess, but if you choose to hug him, he says this

Which heavily implies that he wants to be the one most important to you.  Also, I don’t think he’d have made a pact at all otherwise.

#7 Demon: Asmodeus Moment: Lesson 19-17

For Asmo, I think we see the EXACT moment he realizes he’s in love with you.

First off, in Lesson 16-A he noticeably isn’t openly interested in you in any way other than superficially.  Granted, 16-A never happened, but it does confirm that he didn’t like you before then.

Then, in his part of Lesson 19, you go drinking with him.  Early in the night, he says this.

His answer to your prompt of romance suggests that he doesn’t understand the fact that he does like you like that, or at least that he’s in denial.

However, then you beat him at a drinking game, and the reality of you leaving him behind comes crashing down on him.

The drastic change makes me think that this is the very moment he understands his feelings.

--

And that’s it!  I hope this was an interesting read, and sorry again it took SO long.

[helloalycia]

my happy ending [one] // kara danvers

summary: your crush from work decides to make a move, but she keeps putting off telling you something that you don't realise is actually really important

warning/s: none

author's note: i'm still working on a bunch of stuff but here's some old stuff to tide you over as i do. this is part one to a two-parter! enjoy :)

part two | masterlist

I sketched out some designs at my desk, ideas for some new Instagram and Twitter marketing CatCo we were planning to do. I was in charge of social media marketing at CatCo Worldwide, so things like this were routine at work. What wasn't routine was the cute blonde, Kara, AKA Cat Grant's assistant, approaching my desk with a chirpy smile on her lips.

"Hey, Y/N," she greeted, before setting down a coffee cup in front of me.

I smiled automatically, Kara's presence instantly affecting my mood in a positive way. I glanced at the cup and quirked an eyebrow.

"Hey, Kara. Is this for me?"

She pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose adorably. "I was picking up Miss Grant's order and I remembered you said you loved the chocolate orange hot chocolates Noonan's do. So, I got you one."

I felt my cheeks heat up. "Oh, wow, er, thank you. You didn't have to do that."

She shrugged, and I was sure she looked as flustered as I felt. "No biggie."

I took a sip of the hot chocolate and smiled at how good it was, but mostly because of who got it me.

"So, what are you doing?" she asked, walking around my desk and sitting at the edge. She glanced at my sketches and added, "Is that the new fashion post for our social media accounts? They look amazing!"

"Just some sketches, but eventually they will be," I said, before nodding. "And thanks. I just need the photos so I know what I'm working with. Gotta ask the new guy, James... you met him yet?"

Kara nodded. "Yeah, I just bumped into him earlier."

"Can you believe he knows Superman?" I asked with disbelief. "How awesome is that?"

She smiled with amusement. "Extremely awesome."

"Keira!"

Kara lost her smile when Miss Grant called for her, before looking to me apologetically. "I should–"

"It's cool," I said, nodding for her to leave before Miss Grant tracked her down. "Thanks again for the drink."

Kara flashed me a smile. "Anytime. See you later."

I watched her walk away, waving as she glanced over her shoulder. I found myself biting my lip to contain my own smile, feeling butterflies in my stomach.

Kara Danvers, assistant to Cat Grant.

Ever since she began working here, I found myself crushing on the blonde and her cute mannerisms. We were friends, occasionally hanging out outside of work and doing things together. But that's all it was, sadly. I knew she was friends with Winn – best friends, I think – and I also knew that the tech guy was practically in love with her. I didn't know him as well as I knew her, but I knew enough to not want to get in between the two of them. So, Kara Danvers remained a silly little crush.

I got back to my sketches, managing to draft up some mock-ups on Photoshop before my day ended. I was more tired than I thought that evening, ending up falling asleep earlier than usual. Which meant that I missed the biggest news in National City yet – a mystery woman saving a plane from crashing, possibly a new superhero.

I woke up the next morning to a million and one calls and texts from colleagues at CatCo, all expecting me to get on social media to post about this mystery woman. By the time I got to work that morning, I was caught up with everything and in awe at this new superhero we had. It was pretty darn awesome!

The amazement I felt however was short lived, as Cat was all over me when I got to the office, claiming I should have been on top of our social media coverage as soon as it happened. Apparently me falling asleep wasn't a valid enough point to miss it, so I was put to work instantly, working with the photography and marketing department to find some sort of coverage on this mystery hero.

As I was lining up some posts with the limited images available of this hero, I felt a presence stop by my desk and saw it was Kara.

"Morning," she greeted, before glancing at my computer. "Oh, so you heard?"

I chuckled. "Kind of hard not to. It's everywhere." I nodded to the many TVs around the office that were playing reruns of the news coverage from last night.

"Pretty cool, right?" she asked, a smile tugging at her lips.

"Very, but it also means I now have a lot of work to do, especially because I fell asleep when all of this went down," I said, jokingly. "Cat has been all over me about this all morning."

Kara laughed and it was literally the best thing I'd heard all day.

"So, I was actually hoping I could tell you something," she said, an excited smile on her face as she met my eyes.

I felt a little flustered under her gaze and found myself distracting myself with my computer screen momentarily.

"I actually have a lot of things to do right now,” I said regretfully. “Maybe later?”

Her smile faded as she nodded. "Right, no, yeah, that's totally fine. Sorry."

"No, no, don't apologise," I said instantly, feeling a little bad. "I just– if I don't get this done, Cat will kill me."

"I got it, you do this, it's cool," she said reassuringly, offering me a small smile.

"Sorry," I tried, a little sad that there was nothing I could do. I really needed to get this done, despite wanting to spend some more time with Kara.

"It's fine, good luck," she said, giving me a grin and thumbs up before leaving.

I sighed, before getting back to work. Unfortunately, it was a few hours before I could get away from my desk, and I managed to track down Kara at her own desk, remembering she wanted to tell me something.

"Hey," I said, earning her attention.

She looked up from her notebook, smiling when she saw me. "Hey, you manage to get that content done?"

"Just about," I said, before offering a small smile. "Sorry again for blowing you off."

She waved her hand dismissively. "It's fine, honestly."

"I'm free now though," I said optimistically. "Maybe we could grab an early lunch? You can talk to me then?"

Kara pushed a strand of hair behind her ear as she nodded slowly. "That sounds nice actually, yeah."

I felt a little relieved when she agreed. "Great. Well, I'll let you get your things and meet you by the elevator?"

She pursed her lips, suppressing a smile. "You got it."

We ended up getting lunch, as agreed, and it was nice to make it up to her. Though, I never really noticed that she never ended up telling me whatever it was that she wanted to tell me. I was so distracted by how smoothly our lunch was going that I forgot to ask her about it. Maybe if I'd asked, she might have told me the truth. Or she might have made something up and lied. I guess I would never know.

–

Did somebody say tiny umbrella drinks? #gottalovethetinyumbrellas #CatCoFoundation [image here]

I sent yet another tweet and picture out from CatCo's Twitter account, watching as it instantly got responses from everyone. I was at an event that Cat was throwing for all CatCo employees plus special guests. It was an event to raise money for Cat's foundation – a charity for children's hospitals in National City. My job was to live-tweet the heck out of the event, hoping to boost donations online.

It was a formal event, so I was comfortably dressed in some high-waisted pants and a silk blouse, it being my best attempt at 'formal' clothes.

The event wasn't too bad. There was free food and drinks, plus I got to hang out with some of my friends from work whilst doing the bare minimum. I just wasn't an evening person, I guess.

"Hey, stranger," a voice startled me, and I turned around, surprised to see Kara Danvers stood there.

I hadn't seen much of Kara in the past few months, despite working with her. She always seemed to be caught up with Winn, and she'd gotten quite close with the not-so-new guy, James Olsen. I wasn't stalking her or anything, but I began to notice when I would try to make plans with her like we used to – little things like grabbing coffee or going to watch a film after work – and she would decline or have plans already. Then I'd see her constantly being surrounded by Winn and James, so I figured she'd just made new friends.

"Kara," I breathed out, smiling as I took in her appearance. "Hey."

I hadn't seen her at all this evening and I was sure she just showed up because I definitely would have noticed how good she looked in that fitted red dress of hers.

"You look really nice," she said, looking me up and down before meeting my eyes.

"Thanks," I said, hoping my cheeks didn't look as warm as they felt. "So do you. You liking the event?"

Kara looked around, nodding. "It's beautiful."

"You did a good job," I said, giving her a knowing smile. "I know you planned it."

"This was all Cat, I just–"

"Kara, everybody knows you plan the events around here," I told her with a chuckle. "It's okay."

She smiled to herself, looking down. "Right." It went quiet for a moment before she looked up and said, "Do you want to dance?"

I was a little taken aback by her confidence, but nonetheless, I found myself nodding. She smiled as she held out her hand. I took it, feeling goosebumps from how soft her hands were.

She led me to the dance-floor, stopping and resting a hand on my waist, the other holding my hand. I nervously rested an arm on her shoulder as I focused on swaying to the music playing rather than stepping on her toes.

"I feel like I haven't seen you in a while," she said after a moment. I looked up and saw her blue eyes staring right through me.

"Well, we've both been busy," I attempted to give a reason.

She shook her head, smiling apologetically. "No, it's not that... it's my fault. I've been hanging out with James and Winn so much lately that I've been neglecting you."

I laughed a little awkwardly. "Kara, it's okay. You don't need to feel bad for having other friends. I mean, you don't have any obligations to me. They're your best friends. Of course you're gonna hang out with them."

She pursed her lips and I admittedly felt nervous as she stared at me, her expression unreadable. She was a little taller than me which didn't help with me trying to keep my emotions in check. She was extremely close to me as we swayed to the music and I could just about focus on it as she continued to stare at me.

"What if I want to have obligations to you?" she asked, and I almost thought she was joking until I realised that she wasn't.

I wanted to understand what she meant, but I didn't get to ask because she leaned forward and closed the gap between us with her lips. I was surprised at her boldness, pinning Kara for the shy type. Nonetheless, I returned the kiss, melting into her embrace and warmth.

We pulled apart soon enough, myself a little flustered from the kiss. My lips were still tingling as she met my eyes, a small smile tugging at her lips.

"I hope that was okay," she muttered.

I nodded slowly, still surprised. "Yeah, it was."

My stomach was doing somersaults as I mirrored her smile; the gala was merely a blur in the background as I realised Kara Danvers had just kissed me. I definitely wouldn't have thought she felt something for me other than friendship.

"I'm assuming you want this to go somewhere," I said, a little stupidly.

She laughed melodiously as she nodded, intertwining her fingers in mine. "That's the plan, yes. But actually, er..."

"Second thoughts already?" I joked, though inside I was genuinely believing she might be second-guessing her decision, judging from her sudden change of facial expression.

"No, no," she said, shaking her head. "It's just, I feel like we should talk first. I have to tell you something. Before this goes any further."

She sounded quite affected by whatever it was, so I nodded, losing my smile for a moment.

"Of course, you can tell me whatever you need to," I reassured her, giving her hand a little squeeze. "Do you want to talk now or after?"

She opened her mouth to reply, but tilted her head to the side as she grew distracted. I waited patiently, expecting her to snap back into reality, but she seemed caught up with something else.

"Kara? You okay?" I asked, growing a little concerned.

"What? Yeah, sorry," she said, shaking her head before meeting my eyes with apologetic ones. "I'm sorry, I have to go for a minute. I just realised I have to check on the desserts for the party."

"Oh, okay." I nodded, giving her a small smile. "You can tell me whatever it is afterwards then?"

She smiled, nodding. "Yeah. I'll be back after, I swear."

I believed her and watched as she let go of my hand, already in a rush to leave. I wondered what was so time-sensitive about desserts, but decided not to question it as I realised the very obvious and surprising fact that Kara liked me.

As she turned to leave, she quickly turned back to me and moved forward, pressing a haste kiss to my cheek. My face heated up as she flashed me a beautiful smile, before moving to leave.

Just danced with the most beautiful girl in the room #CatCoFoundation

I looked up and saw Kara by the door, about to leave, but she stopped when her phone vibrated. After glancing at the screen, she paused and a wide smile graced her lips. Her eyes lifted and she gave me a knowing look before disappearing. I found myself smiling like an idiot the rest of the night.

I guess I should have realised, once again, that Kara never ended up telling me whatever it was that she wanted to tell me. I was so caught up in the fact that she returned my feelings that I never remembered to ask her what it was that she wanted to say. Maybe if I'd remembered, things would have ended up a little differently.

–

Kara and I went on some dates, our relationship blossoming naturally. It was the best thing to happen to me at the time – finding someone who I thought truly understood me, and vice versa. We had inside jokes, an 'our song', a favourite restaurant we frequented; we were happy and it was amazing. I was really falling for her. I thought she was perfect. Nothing could change that, I thought. She was everything I wanted.

"What are you thinking about in that pretty little head of yours?" Kara asked, tilting her head to look at me.

It was moments like this when I was in awe of her beauty, inside and out. She was comfortable, with her hair tied in a loose ponytail and her face makeup-free. Her glasses were balanced on her nose as she stared at me with an easygoing smile and sparkling eyes. I felt a sudden overwhelming flood of love for her as she waited for me to reply.

"I'm in love with you," I blurted out uncontrollably.

She raised her eyebrows slightly, mouth agape as she realised what I said.

"I'm sorry," I said, shaking my head. "That was random. And weird. Too soon, right? I freaked you out. I'm sorry."

Kara blinked several times, straightening up as she shook her head. "No, it's not, it's..." I watched her with anticipation, as she found her words. "It's fine. It's... I feel the same way."

It was my turn to be surprised now. I raised my eyebrows, a smile forming on my lips. "You do?"

Kara pursed her lips, eyes flickering up to meet mine. "Yeah."

I breathed out. "I'm really happy to hear that, especially because I thought I freaked you out, but like, I feel like something is bothering you, Kara."

Resting a hand on hers, I squeezed it gently. She offered me a small, troubled smile and I wondered what was occupying her thoughts.

"I trust you," she said gently. "I do. I love you. And I... I want you to know that I think what we have is amazing. I've never been happier."

"This sounds like a breakup," I joked, chuckling nervously. She wouldn't break up with me right after saying 'I love you', right?

"No, no, it's not!" she reassured immediately, taking any doubt from my mind. She leaned forward and cupped my cheek gently. "I'm not breaking up with you, silly."

"Good to know," I said playfully, resting my hand on hers and moving it to my lips, kissing it softly. "What is it though? What's on your mind? You can tell me anything you know."

She nodded. "I know... I can. I will. Now."

I stayed quiet, watching as she had some inner conflict going on. What was bothering her so much?

"I want to say that I–"

But she was cut off by her phone ringing. She rolled her eyes and I offered her an approving smile as she reached to answer it.

"Alex, hey, what's up?"

I sat back, keeping ahold of Kara's hand as she listened to Alex on the phone.

"Are you sure?" Kara said, concern in her voice.

I wondered what was going on, as the blonde was scrunching her brows together with worry. Her hand slipped from mine as she stood up, pacing.

"Okay, I'll be there now," she finished, before hanging up.

"Hey, that sounded serious, is everything okay?" I asked, standing up, too.

Kara nodded, already in the process of grabbing her things. "Yeah, sorry, it's just some family stuff with Alex. I should get going and help her out." She stopped moving and turned to face me, a distracted frown on her face. "I'm sorry. I know we were supposed to spend the evening together and I wanted to tell you something, but–"

"It's fine, Kara, you can just tell me another time," I cut her off, moving forward and rubbing her arm gently. "I hope everything is okay with Alex. I'll just see you at work tomorrow, yeah?"

Kara smiled tightly, nodding. "You're too understanding. It's annoyingly admirable."

I chuckled, stepping forward and pressing a gentle kiss to her forehead. She had a few inches on me, so I had to step on my tip toes to reach, but seeing the little smile appear on her lips when I did made it worth it.

"Don't get stressed about whatever it is you wanna tell me," I added, meeting her eyes. "I'm sure it'll be fine. I love you and I'm really lucky to have you in my life. I don't think anything will ruin that. Just... remember that, okay?"

Kara nodded, her eyes flickering to the floor. "Thank you, Y/N."

"I'll leave you to it," I said, moving away to grab my coat and put on my shoes. "Good luck with whatever is up, and see you tomorrow."

As I was about to leave, her voice called out, "I love you, too."

I smiled widely at her before leaving, feeling lightweight because of all the love that was bubbling around inside of me. Once again, Kara managed to distract me from the fact that she had something big to tell me, as when I followed up the next day, she assured me that she just wanted me to know that she sometimes moved too fast in relationships and she didn't want me to feel like I was being rushed.

I believed her, blinded by what I thought was my happy ending, and that was that.

[oblxvion]

euphoric | eren jaeger (5)

-> pairing eren jaeger x f!reader

-> wc: 5.6k

-> warnings: use of alcohol, mentions of weed, swearing, angst, tiny bit of fluff at the end

you sat there in shock, with eren’s phone in your hands. you didn’t know how to feel, especially with the fact that you both had just had talked about your relationship together, and for him to receive this text, just proved to you that everything you knew about him in the past and what sasha had told you were true.

you didn’t know what to do but you sure as hell wanted to know what it was about. you quickly threw on your sweatpants and made your way to where eren was in the kitchen, quietly humming to himself as he was pouring your tea in a cup. he turned around to see you with your arms crossed, eyeing what he was doing.

“i got you mint tea, is that fine?” he handed you the cup, to which you accepted with a small smile. 

“yeah that’s fine,” you said as you took a small sip of the drink he had given you. you wanted to ask him about the text but you didn’t know how to start the conversation. maybe you shouldn’t even bother and just ghost him until he comes crawling back, if he does. but part of you wanted to confront him about the text. he had told you that you were the only girl that he was seeing, now you weren’t so sure. you had his phone in your pocket and you had to think of a way to give it to him without him being suspicious but also striking up a conversation about the text.

“i brought your phone, i don’t know if you wanted it,” you interrupted the silence by taking his phone out of your pocket and sliding it across the table. you tapped the screen of his phone before taking your hand back so he could see the text that was sent to him minutes before. 

eren looked down at his phone and felt his stomach drop. if you had brought him his phone, there was no doubt that you had seen the text as well. he didn’t even remember who’s number that was, much less the name of the person.

“so, who’s the chick?” you asked calmly but beginning to get agitated at the fact that eren had visibly tensed up when you had given him his phone. 

“y/n, i-” eren was at a loss of words, he didn’t know what to say. he had no idea who the number was on his phone but he didn’t know what to say to you. you both had a conversation about where your relationship was standing less than a couple hours ago and for him to receive this text, and for you to see it, made him feel horrible. 

“eren, honestly.” you sighed, putting your head in your hands before looking back up at him. “we literally just talked about what we were. who’s the girl?” you didn’t know what to feel. hurt? betrayal? you felt numb. was he playing you the whole time? 

“i don’t know.”

“what do you mean ‘you don’t know?’” you scoffed as you stood up from your chair. he was acting as if he had no idea what was going on. “after everything eren? really? you’re seeing other girls? you lied to me?” you could feel your voice wavering, all the emotions slowly crashing down.

“y/n, baby, that’s not what this is.” eren got up from his seat and made his way over to you, resting his hands on your forearms. you were trembling with anger and eren was not helping the situation right now. 

“don’t fucking ‘baby’ me, eren.” you pulled yourself out of his grasp, feeling the tears beginning to form in the corners of your eyes. “i don’t even know what to think. sasha told me about your past with historia, and frankly, i think she was trying to protect you as a friend for not mentioning the dozen other girls that you’ve fucked around with.”

he was well aware that he had a history with girls, he knew that he did have a reputation for talking girls up, making them fall for him, getting in their pants and then leaving. they always came back for seconds, but he never would really allow it, except for you and historia. things with you were different, you weren’t like other girls, he’d told you that before.

“i swear, y/n, i have no idea who that number is. i swore off other girls once i realized that i had a chance with you, i promise.” eren was practically begging you to believe him, but your gut feeling said otherwise.

“whatever, eren. i don’t have time for this.” you snapped back at him as you grabbed your keys from the counter top and made your way to the door, sliding your shoes on. you opened the door and looked back at him, leaning against the counter with his head in his hands. 

“reach out to me when you feel like being honest with me.” you slammed the door behind you as you made your way out of the building.

eren was left all alone in his complex, wondering what he had done wrong. sure, he should have maybe blocked the other numbers in his phone once he started becoming serious about you. you had been the only person that he could really be somewhat vulnerable with, he didn’t want to lose you.

“fuck.”

you had made your way back to your car, hands shaking as you turned on the ignition. there were tears running down your face as you drove. how could you have been so blind?

it had been almost a week since you and eren had gotten into that argument. in fact, you wouldn’t really consider it an argument, you had just discovered that there were girls in his phone. if there are other girls texting him, does that mean he’s texting them back? what if he’s cheating? we’re not like dating, but we’re exclusive, right?

you hadn’t really left your room, only for food, the bathroom, or school. sasha had noticed. the day you had come home from eren’s, you went straight to your room and slammed the door. she didn’t know if was appropriate to ask you or not because you were clearly upset. you hadn’t been eating as much as you usually did, and she was beginning to get worried.

it was around 5 in the evening and you were just starting a new season of your show when you heard a soft knock on your door, pausing before the episode started. 

“yeah?” 

“hey, y/n,” sasha said softly, before shutting the door and making her way over to the edge of your bed. you shut your computer and set it beside you as you shifted to make yourself more comfortable. “how’ve you been? i’ve noticed-”

“i’m fine, sash.” you whined at your response, you didn’t mean to sound like a complete bitch, especially to sasha. “fuck, i’m sorry. i didn’t mean to sound like an ass.”

“don’t worry about it.” she brushed it off as she came and sat next to you on your bed. you wrapped your arms around her waist, you could feel that you were about to break down, and sasha could too. “now, do you wanna tell me what’s going on?”

you took a few deep breaths, you knew that if you talked about the situation with eren that you would break down. but you had cried in front of sasha before, she was your best friend.

“okay, basically, i was at eren’s, right? after we had the whole conversation about our relationship. oh, did i tell you that historia practically barged in on our date?” you had decided to start from the beginning, hopefully you’d be able to be calmed down when you got to the part about the text. 

“no way.” sasha’s jaw slacked in complete shock. “what’d she say?”

“she kinda just came up to us, acting all bestie with eren. he was annoyed about it, but then she brought up how he had talked about me a lot when they used to hang, which made me uncomfortable. so i ended up telling her off, but i felt bad afterwards because she seems like a nice person.” you sighed, burying your face into her side, trying to hide your embarrassment from being mean to historia.

“well, if she was bothering you, you had every right to tell her to leave. she’s sweet, but i’m not gonna lie, she can be a bit much sometimes.” her comment made you chuckle, sasha never failed to bring you out of a bad spot. “i don’t mean to pry but what happened with eren? you came home pretty pissed off earlier this week.”

“jesus, don’t even get me started.” sasha gave you a look that said ‘uh-oh’ before you continued on with your story. “we fucked when we got home from our date, and he went to go get me a drink when some bitch texted him.”

“you’re joking.”

“nope.” you enunciated the p as you sat up in your bed, back against the headboard. “when i confronted him about it, he kept saying that ‘it isn’t what it looks like’ and that he ‘swore off’ hooking up with girls when he realized that he had a chance with me. i didn’t believe him because my gut feeling was telling me that there was something up.” 

“wow. that’s fucked,” sasha was getting angry herself, especially after she had personally texted eren and told him not to fuck with you. “if i’m being honest, i’m not surprised. he’s done this to many other girls in the past.”

“yeah, i guess i kinda got swooped into it.” you laughed as you played with your hair. “but i still care about him, you know? he told me that he sees me differently than those other girls in the past. it’s just, i don’t really know how to feel.”

“have you talked to him?” he had been texting you the first two days after you had left, trying to see you and talk to you as an attempt to clear up what happened. you only gave him dry responses, saying that you were busy or you weren’t feeling well. he’d ask to come and comfort you, but you couldn’t bring yourself to see him, so you turned him down. after that, he’d stopped reaching out to you.

“i mean he texted me a bit at the beginning of the week but he’s stopped now after i told him repeatedly that i was busy.” you said quietly as you played with your fingers.

“he probably wanted to give you some space,” she reassured you as she made her way off the bed, opening the doors to your very messy closet. “but, let’s not mope! we need to get you out of the house.” sasha looked through your clothes, as if she was trying to look for something, but she had no luck. you always seemed to have all the sweatpants and baggier clothing whereas she spent a lot of her money on the flashy clothes. you didn’t mind though, the both of you shared your clothes like siblings.

“ugh, where are we going?” you sighed, not wanting to go out. but part of you thought it was a good idea, since you had practically been barricaded in your room the whole week. by the looks of it, it seemed that she was trying to get you to go to a party. you hadn’t been to one in a while considering everything, but this sounded fun. “is it a party?”

“you bet!” she flashed a smile before it faded away slowly, leaving you confused.

“sasha, what’s wrong?”

“nothing, it’s just that historia’s hosting it…” she said quietly before scratching the back of her head, looking back over to you. “she told me she texted you.”

“oh.” you didn’t really know what to say, how did she get your number? you guys shared some friends so that could be it. you reached over to your phone, not seeing any texts from unknown numbers but then you remembered that your phone filtered out unknown numbers. you clicked there and saw the text she had sent you.

(***)-***-****

hey y/n! it’s historia, i’m hosting a party later 

on friday at 8 if u wanna come! 

i feel like i started off on the wrong 

foot w/ u and i wanna fix that

hope u can come!

you reread the text, and thought about what she had said. she did piss you off in the beginning and you were a total bitch to her, so partially it was both of you to blame. her text was nice, and it made you rethink some of the things that you had thought about her before.

y/n

hi! im sorry i didn’t see this until now

but i’d love to!

dw ab what happened 

we can start fresh :)

you began to realize that you shouldn’t be mad at historia for what she did, but eren for how he treated her. you have known him for a while and you never really knew about what he did with girls or to them, but you knew that he did have a large body count.

“what’d she say?” sasha asked, taking you out of your trend of thought. 

“oh, she just invited me and said that we got off on the wrong foot and how she wanted to fix it. i told her not to worry about it and that i’d come.”

“ah, i’m glad!” she beamed, turning towards the door of your room. “let’s go look in my room for some cute clothes for tonight! you need to forget about eren and have some fun!” you gave her a weak smile before getting out of your bed and following her out the door to her room.

she opened the door to her closet, revealing more presenting clothes, noticing that some of them were yours but you didn’t say anything. she rummaged through, humming to herself quietly before pulling out a black slip dress with a slit on the side. 

“here, try this on!” she grinned, handing you the dress. you gave her a unsure look before slipping the dress off of the hanger. “put it on!”

you undressed yourself before sliding the dress over your body, it fit perfectly on you. you didn’t like the way that your bra straps were showing so you opted to go braless for the night. the dress made your curves pop out, all you needed now was a bit of jewelry and you were going to be set.

“sasha, this is perfect!” you gushed, pulling her into a hug. you felt really confident in this outfit.

“you look so hot, y/n. i swear, the guys will be all over you.”

“oh, stop it,” you gave her a playful smack before turning around and looking into the mirror. the dress was perfect, you felt hot.

she continued to look through her closet to find an outfit for her to wear, deciding to go with jeans and a cute backless top. she looked really good, you made sure to tell her that.

“so, what time should we leave?” you questioned, peering over at her as she threw her hair up in her infamous ponytail.

“well, she did say that it started around like 8, so let’s go around 8:30. being the first ones there would be weird.” sasha was always one to show up fashionably late, especially to a party. she thought it was awkward to be the first people at events, you agreed with her.

“ok, so i have time to shower and take a quick nap!” you beamed as you made your way to the door of her room.

“you and your naps, i swear.” she joked, before taking off her outfit and placing it on her bed. “i’m gonna shower and i’ll wake you up so you can shower after i’m done.”

“perfect!”

“y/n!” you woke up to the sound of the sasha opening your door, letting you know that it was around 7 and that it was your turn to shower, to which you nodded your head. you grabbed your bathrobe and exited your room.

you entered the bathroom and turned on the shower for the water to get hot before you took off your clothes that you had slept in. you stepped inside and felt the warm water hit your back, remembering the time that eren was in with you. you felt yourself smile, reminiscing about the feeling of being so close to him. you still cared about him, but the thought of him lying to you and talking to, maybe even seeing, other girls, just didn’t sit right with you. was he lying to you the whole time? and tonight, would he show? he said that he disliked historia and hadn’t spoken to her in a while since seeing her earlier that week. there’s no way he would be there. 

you made sure to shave your legs and your intimate parts, along with washing your hair. before you knew it, the water began to run cold, signaling you that your shower was done. you grabbed the towel that you had set on the toilet beside the shower, wrapping your body. you took a second towel and dried your hair a bit before moisturizing your form and reaching for your bathrobe. 

part of you hoped eren would be there, but the other didn’t even want to look at him. why were you so attached? why were things so confusing?

the door to the bathroom opened and sasha came in with her makeup bag in hand.

“the lighting here is better, hope you don’t mind!” she said as she placed her bag down next to the sink. she was in her outfit for tonight and her hair was half-up half-down.

“oh, no i don’t mind at all!” your voice wavered and she noticed it.

“what’s up?”

“nothing!” you denied before making your way over to the door. “it’s fine, i’ll come join you in a sec, ‘kay?”

“whatever you say,” she laughed as she shook her head before taking out her makeup.

the door to your room was still opened, like you had left it. you slipped the dress on and grabbed your makeup bag to meet sasha back in the bathroom. you didn’t know why you were so nervous, it was just a party, you had been to plenty before. so why were you feeling this way now?

you shook off the feeling and began to put on your makeup beside sasha, chatting away at how she was hoping that niccolo would be there. she really seemed to have interest in him, in a way you felt jealous. he was always treating her with respect, while eren did that to you. 

“i’m gonna play some music, y’know, to get us hyped up and stuff like that,” you announced as you played your favorite playlist. you partially wanted to play the music to keep your mind at ease and forget about eren to focus on the party. 

“oh my god, i love this song!” sasha squealed as she danced in the mirror, earning a laugh from you. this continued until sasha got a text from connie asking when the two of you were going to head over, offering to pick you up on the way. 

“i think that’d be smart,” you told her as you applied setting spray, “cuz then we won’t have to worry about driving.” she nodded her head and told him that it’d be great if he could lend a hand. 

“so,” she set her phone down, and looked at her complete makeup look in the mirror before turning over to you. “jean and connie should be here around 8, it’s 7:50 now.”

“that sounds good, i should be done any minute.” you had opted to leave your hair natural, just gently brushing it. they arrived a bit earlier than expected, so you and sasha went to the door, slipping on your shoes. both making sure that you had everything you needed for the night.

by the time you arrived with sasha and the two other boys, there was a large amount of people outside and inside the house. the house was massive, she must have some very wealthy parents who lived near the school. the sound of music and the smell of weed wafted through once you entered. you were greeted by people that you didn’t really remember, but you didn’t mind. people were eyeing your outfit, asking you to talk but you merely turned them down.

“someone’s popular! i’m gonna go get us some drinks, ‘kay?” sasha called over to you as she walked over towards the kitchen. 

“okay!” you yelled back over the music. it had been a while since the last time you partied but you missed the feeling. you made your way over to the living room and saw armin and annie chatting over in the corner. “hey guys!”

“hey y/n!” armin exclaimed, he seemed happy to see you. annie mumbled a quiet hey before taking another swig of her drink. “how’ve you been?”

“oh, y’know the usual,” you shrugged before sliding your phone in the light weight jacket you had brought with you. “i’ve been cooped up for so long so i decided to come out of my cave.”

“yeah of course, i get that. how did your exams go?” he asked, setting his drink down on the table beside him. 

“they were fine, i hopefully should be getting my grades back soon. thanks for your help by the way, i would’ve failed without you.”

“it’s no biggie, don’t worry about it.” he chuckled as he rubbed the back of his head. “hey, are you here with eren?” so he doesn’t know? wait, is he here?

“no, him and i are in a rough spot right now.” you sighed, looking around for sasha who had promised to bring you a drink but she was still nowhere to be seen. 

“what happened, if you don’t mind me asking?” annie spoke up, clearly intrigued by where the conversation was going. 

“just the fact that i was at his place and we had just fucked, and then some girl texted him.”

“oh, so he cheated?” she questioned.

“well no, i don’t know. i kinda was really upset so i didn’t leave him much time to explain himself.” you had left his place in such a rush that you barely gave him a chance to speak, partially because you didn’t want to hear what he had to say. the text was enough for you.

“fuck, i’m sorry y/n.” armin apologized before opening his mouth to speak again but you cut him off. 

“do you know where historia is? i want to thank her for inviting me.” the two of them were clearly uncomfortable but sasha came over just in time with your drink. 

“here y/n, i got your favorite! oh hey guys!” she beamed as she handed you your beverage.

“sasha! it’s good to see you!” they continued to chat as you looked around the room trying to figure out if eren was actually here. armin’s comment about you arriving with him did not go unnoticed by him. 

“eren’s here and he’s talking to historia but i couldn’t tell y/n that, considering everything.” armin whispered, leaning over to sasha. she was furious at eren, he was doing it to you now too? 

“y/n, let’s go take some shots!” she urged you, hoping that you hadn’t heard what armin had just said. much to her despair, you had heard and your heart dropped once again. you nodded your head, hoping that a few shots would help. 

before you knew it, you were more than a few shots deep. the alcohol giving you a buzz and it made you feel like you couldn’t give a fuck about what was going on around you. you felt free, dancing across the living room with sasha while the music blared throughout the room. you couldn’t help but feel a pair of eyes watching you.

“sasha, baby! i love you!” you slurred before grabbing the handle of vodka and taking a long sip. the feeling burned your throat as you reach for a glass of water to wash down the feeling.

“i love you more!” she dragged out her words and pulled you into a hug before a tall blonde came in between the both of you.

“wow, you guys are fucked.” he laughed before bringing his head down so you both could hear. “sasha, niccolo is asking where you are, he’s over by the kitchen taking with a few of his buddies.” 

“you go have fun, you will be my new dance partner!” you dragged him onto the dance floor as sasha gave you a cheeky smile. you and many other moved your bodies to the beat as he looked at you in awe, he didn’t know who you were but you interested him. 

“what’s your name?” he yelled over the music as he came behind you putting his hands on your waist. you were equally as drunk as he was.

“i’m y/n!” you responded as you brought your hands on top of his. you couldn’t deny it, he was insanely attractive.

“i’m reiner.”

you could feel yourself growing hot, it probably was the alcohol. you were way past your limit, and thank god you had eaten earlier because you probably would’ve been over at the toilet. his hands on your body felt different than eren’s, like he was trying to be careful with you, as if you were a doll. 

his name was called over the crowd and he apologized quickly before going over to where it was called from. “i’m gonna grab us some drinks, i’ll be back.”

“i’m gonna go find historia and thank her for inviting me!” you shot him a sloppy thumbs up as you turned around to go find the blonde girl. you weaved through the people, trying to find her. 

it seemed impossible with the amount of people, but when you turned the corner into one of the rooms near the living room, you saw her standing there and whispering with some dude. a tall guy with a loose man bun to be exact.

eren. 

it took everything in your drunken will-power to not go up to him and slap him.

“historia!” you sang as you swayed your way over to the two. 

“y/n! i’m so glad you could come!” she squealed as she brought you into a hug. “i’m so sorry about before i felt really bad about it afterwards.”

“no worries! thank you so much for inviting me!” you pulled out of the hug and gave her a smile. 

eren didn’t know what to do, he didn’t know what to say to you. he just stood there as you talked to historia. more importantly, he had told you that he hadn’t talked to historia in a while and how he didn’t like her, you basically had caught him in a lie.

the way he was standing there, not saying anything, with historia, was driving you mad. 

“hey, eren, how are the girls? having fun?” you scowled as you stepped closer to him. you didn’t know what to say, your mind was clouded with alcohol. he was taken aback by your words, you really had no idea. his lack of response is what pushed you over the edge.

“you know what? fuck. you.” you seethed, bringing your hand up to his face with a hard slap before turning around on your heel.

“y/n, please, you’re drunk.” he reached out and grabbed your forearm. he needed to explain everything, he didn’t know what feelings you had endured this past week but he wanted to make it right.

“no, eren. let me go, please.” you felt the tears brim your eyes as you tried to turn away. he could hear the hurt in your voice, loosening his grip on your arm as you wiggled away and walked away through the crowd without turning back. “go be with her, for all i care. i’m leaving.”

what am i doing?

“y/n, that’s not - ” historia began as she reached out to you, before eren stopped her.

“let me go talk to her, she’s not in her right head right now.” he was worried, he didn’t want you to go do something stupid because of him. you meant so much to him, he had to clear things up with you. he left historia standing there and followed you through the crowd. he asked around if people had seen you, some saying they had no idea who you were and others just ignoring him. he needed to find you. the thought of some guy taking advantage of you while you were this drunk and emotionally unstable made his blood boil.

he searched all the open rooms in the house, only to find that you weren’t there. the only place he could think of where you would’ve gone would be outside. when he opened the front door, he saw you sitting down at the curb, it looked like you were waiting for some ride. he felt relieved, finding you here instead of inside. 

“hey,” he whispered quietly before sitting beside you, leaving some space between the two of you just incase.

“go away, eren.” your held your knees to your chest, seeing him would only make you break down.

i need to leave.

“can you at least let me explain?” your lack of response pushed him to continue. “the text, i have no idea who sent it, i’m not lying. whoever it was, i told them i wasn’t single anymore. and i haven’t been seeing other girls. back there, i was talking to historia trying to figure out how to work things out with you, you mean too much to me. nothing else, i promise.”

you still didn’t respond, you didn’t know how to feel. you weren’t necessarily ready to talk to him about this yet. eren could tell, but he didn’t need to hear your response yet. he just wanted to explain his side of the story so you’d hopefully understand. along with your relationship, your entire friendship was on the line. he didn’t want to fuck that up over some random girl who wanted to get fucked. 

“i just wanna go home, eren.” you whimpered, bringing your head to your knees to hide your face.

“okay, i can drive you.” he offered.

“didn’t you drink? i don’t want you driving if you drank too much. i can uber it’s fine.”

“nah, i barely had a beer. i was too anxious anyways. plus, i don’t want you getting in the car with some creep.” he gave you an apologetic smile before standing up and reaching his hand out of you to grab. you looked up at him and latched your hand onto his as he hoisted you up onto your feet. you stumbled into his chest as he held you there. he didn’t want to make you uncomfortable in any way but the way you gripped onto his shirt with your fingers with your soft whimpers, made his heart ache.

“c’mon, let’s get you home.” he brought his lips down to your forehead, not sure if it was okay to do. his hand traveled up to your back holding you against him, his heartbeat steadying. 

the car ride home was silent, but it was comforting. you both were gonna have to talk about this tomorrow once you were sober. you could feel yourself slowly drift off to sleep in the passenger seat of eren’s car.

once eren had arrived, he noticed that you still hadn’t stirred in your sleep. it was quite cute seeing you all cuddled up and he didn’t want to disturb you. he opened the door quietly and gently maneuvered you into his arms, carrying you bridal style through your complex and up to your apartment

he noticed that sasha still hadn’t returned from the party. you were cuddled up against his chest, breathing ever so softly. he smiled to himself, he was glad to have gotten that off of his chest earlier. 

he brought you into your room and gently set you down on the bed. sleeping in a dress would’ve been uncomfortable so he undressed you slowly, making sure not to wake you. he grabbed one of the oversized t-shirts that was on your desk when you had forgotten to do your laundry and he slid it over your form. he made sure to take off your makeup with the makeup remover that he had found in the bathroom. 

before he left, he made sure to tuck you in bed and shut off the lights. eren wasn’t sure if he should leave incase if anything happened in your drunken state. he looked over at you from the door. you looked so small, all cozy in your covers. your lips parted as you breathed in and out slowly.

he knew that he messed up earlier and gave you the wrong idea, but he’d do everything he could to make it right. you meant too much to him to be just one of those girls.

“goodnight, y/n.”

© all content belongs to oblxvion 2021, do not repost or change.

[hyuckssunchip]

Blooming Pt. 1

Pairings: Jisung x Reader, ft. nct dream, lucas (honorary member of dream)

Words: 7.5K

Warnings: Language (there is almost always language in my writings), angst, fluff

Synopsis:

Love isn’t as easy as it seems, Park Jisung is an advocate of that. A blooming relationship that has prematurely ceased can be re-sparked years later, or can it? Will Jisung be able to overcome his fears in order to succeed in what he deems love?

Part 1 | Part 2 

Freshman Yr.

Hey Jisung,

I know that this is kinda random and I only have the guts to do this now because I probably won’t see you again but here goes. I think you are a really sweet and cool guy and I wish I had gotten to know you better, probably because I had a big crush on you... I just thought I would send this to you because I know it’s nice to know and it’s probably a little bit of a confidence booster. (I also kinda wanted to get this off my chest). Sorry for the essay and you don’t have to respond to this if it’s awkward … I hope you stay safe especially with what’s going on right now 

You held your breath, panicking at the loading sign on your phone. Welp, it was too late now.

You were pacing back and forth in your living room, nail very much in your mouth as you bit them anxiously.

“I just sent it.” You breathed out, “Oh my god, I just sent it.” At this point you were nearly in tears you were so nervous.

“That’s good. It’s like one a.m. though, so don’t be too worried if he doesn’t answer right away.” You nodded into the receiver, and although your best friend couldn’t see you, she still understood your silence.

You had called your best friend earlier to ask for her advice about the guy you had told her about months ago. It was the last quarter of school for this year and you finally had the courage to confess to him. 

Your best friend Megan was a little bit more experienced than you and she laughed when you had told her you wrote drafts, and you promptly sent it to her.

“He’s not writing back.” You told her, staring intently at the screen, refreshing it every few seconds as if that would make him answer. 

“Well of course not, you literally sent it ten seconds ago. Besides I told you, it’s late, he might just reply in the morning.” She sighed at your panicked state.

“Oh my god! He read it.” You bit your lip, staring at the numbers below your text.

“Oh.” She giggled, “Cute, he has read receipts on like you.” 

You barely had time to comprehend what she had said when you gasped out, “Oh my god. He’s typing, he’s typing! There’s bubbles.”

She laughed, “Wow, that was fast.”

You weren’t exactly paying attention to her, focused very much on the bubbles that were still there. Then suddenly they stopped.

“They stopped.” You felt the need to relay everything to her.

“That’s fine, he’s probably just reading over it.” You nodded, trying to convince yourself. But you couldn’t because nothing ever came. It was almost 25 minutes later that you heard the familiar ding of your phone.

Hey Y/N! thanks for letting me know, it really is not easy but rip coronavirus really is kinda messing with everything. i think you’re a really nice person and if circumstances would have allowed, i would have wanted to get to know you more too. everything is kinda hectic rn and i wish you the besttt and stay safe too!!

Immediately you called Megan again. “It doesn’t look good…Listen to what he said.” You read the text, heart dropping with every word you read.

“What are you talking about? That’s a good thing. Y/N he said he wants to get to know you better too. That’s sweet. I think he’s just keeping it open though, cause there’s not much you guys can do anyways.”

“Yeah.” You tried to not let out how dejected you were, but it was clear to her.

“Hey don’t worry about it. If he doesn’t like you then he’s not worth worrying over.”

“Right.” You pouted despite what she said making sense. “Look I’ll call you later, I’ve got to go now.”

“Okay, Y/N, don’t stress too much about it, okay?”

You hummed back, mumbling out your goodbyes.

The moment you hung up, you threw your phone on the bed, falling next to it. You sighed, trying not to overthink everything.

That’s why you confessed now, so that if you were so badly rejected, you wouldn’t have to see him again. Right?

You groaned, closing your eyes, hoping that sleep would make you feel better. Or perhaps you would wake up and find that this was all a dream. 

You woke up and of course with habit, the first thing you did was look over at your phone. You rubbed the sleep out of your eyes, grinning at the screen. 

You weren’t thrilled that it was in reality a dream, but on the other hand things had become very real very fast.

NOTIFICATION

Park Jisung            5:18 a.m.

oh, are you still going back to school next year?

You smiled at the text, heart immediately choosing to beat faster than you would’ve liked. With a glance at the clock you realized it was 8:07 a.m. and you couldn’t stop yourself from replying the moment you saw it.

yeah, i’m planning on living off campus tho… are you gonna live off campus too?

You panicked, staring at the screen, knowing damn well that he wasn’t about to reply at 8 in the morning. You had to restrain yourself from calling your best friend that very moment, you were in a happy mood and waking her up would not keep that.

The entire day you were buzzing, constantly checking your phone for new notifications. For the first time you understood what phantom texts felt like. Every couple of minutes you were sure that you felt a text, but alas it was your imagination. 

It wasn’t until 4 p.m. when a real text came through, ringing loud and clear. You had turned your ringer on and off, making sure that it was working just in case.

yup! I’ll be living by the shopping complex in downtown. how about you?

Restraint was not easy for you, and you replied after a few moments passed. Megan had constantly told you to let at least a few minutes pass, but you couldn’t help it. Besides, read receipts were not in your favor.

Conversation seemed to come really easy to you, and after an hour of texting non stop he said he had one more final to take.

You understood and immediately felt bad, realizing that you had taken up precious study time for him. You wished him good luck and spent the rest of the night relaying every detail to Megan over the phone.

Little did you know that that conversation would be the last for a long time.

3 months later

It was time for a break. And what better way was there than a small kickback with your best friends after midterms?

“I brought the good stuff.” You were startled, laying on the daybed of your other friend, Camille’s room. It was the perfect spot for a kickback. A couple hundred feet from the main house, and completely stocked with all that you needed. 

You sat up glancing at the armfuls of alcohol Megan had snagged, don’t ask how she got it.

You giggled at the thought, watching as Camille helped unload. “Let the games begin.”

“Truth or Dare Y/N?” You groaned, turning away from the both of them. 

“You know I hate this game.”

Megan didn’t let up. “Camille has a pond.” 

That was enough information for you. You took a glance out the window, noting that it was freezing outside. You were not taking a chance on her intentions. “Truth.”

“Boring.” She sang, but nevertheless had a question set. “Have you talked to that boy since the last time you called me about him?”

You grumbled to yourself, taking a shot and grimacing. “No.” 

“Why not?” Camille asked, reaching for the bottle still in your hand.

You rolled your eyes. “I don’t know, I’m too much of a coward to text him now. But he could text me first too you know. Especially cause I took the first jump. It’s probably because he doesn’t like me.”

You sighed, staring at the bottle again, tempted to take another shot.

“I’m sure that’s not the case.” You missed the look Megan shot Camille, already coming up with a new idea.

In the end you caved, choosing that perhaps another shot could bring you happiness. But it just burned your throat.

“Megan truth or dare?”

“Dare, duh.” You watched the proud look on her face.

“I dare you to… snapchat that dude that sent dick pics to fuck off.” Camille said, watching Megan’s face contort into delight.

“Hell yeah! It would be my pleasure.” She giggled, and you noticed that she was feeling the alcohol as well.

You felt the need to roll your eyes again.

“Done. And blocked.” She tossed her phone in the middle of the group with satisfaction.

“I don’t know why you just didn’t block him right after he sent them.” You commented, chewing on a gummy worm. 

She just shrugged, “I don’t know, it was kind of fun I guess. Anyways. Camille, truth or dare?”

“Truth.”

“Do you really only see Carson as a friend?” Camille sputtered at the question, spitting out a bit of juice.

“No, I see him as a brother. That’s disgusting, besides he’s dating Bailee.” She shook her head, working to clean up the mess.

“Doesn’t mean you can’t like him.” Megan muttered, before dropping it and turning back to you.

“Y/N truth or dare?”

“Truth.” You mumbled out, not really paying attention.

“Come on, do at least one dare. It’s not fun if you only answer truth.” She whined, pushing another cup of jungle juice towards you.

You hesitantly sniffed the cup before taking a sip. A moment of silence passed as they waited for you. You let out a deep sigh, “Fine, dare. What do you want?”

“I dare you to text him.”

You froze, you knew that’s what she was going to say, but you were so out of it that you let it slide.

“You know I can’t do that.” You answered, wide eyed.

“It’s a dare.” Megan nodded at the window, insinuating the punishment.

“No, I really can’t. I’ll give you my phone though, but I can’t do it.” You dug the phone out of your backpack and tossed it next to hers, which she grabbed immediately typing in your password that she had memorized.

“Deal. I’ll just start it, then you can keep the conversation going.” You waved her off, choosing to drown yourself in as much alcohol as you could in hopes of forgetting that this happened tomorrow morning.

“Done. I just sent hey, with like three y’s and a smiley face. Not the emoji though.” Your mouth dropped at her.

“That’s so not me though. You know I use emojis, and I don’t do the all, heyyyy thing. He’s gonna know.” She just shrugged, sliding the phone back to you.

You sighed, staring at the empty screen, the other two returning to the game.

But it was three minutes later when your phone dinged, a text from Jisung lighting up your screen.

“Is that him?” Camille asked, peeking over at the screen.

“Yeah. I don’t wanna read it though, you do it.” You pushed it away, pulling your knees into your chest.

“I got you.” Megan paused. “See. Guys like the hey thing. He did it back, I don’t know what you were talking about, he’s totally into you.”

You grinned, crawling forward to see for yourself. The phone dinged again seconds later.

“Ooh, that’s hot. I like it when a guy texts in multiple bubbles, it shows they just text you what they think. They’re not planning it out or anything.” Megan commented, already typing in a response for you.

You watched over her shoulder, glancing at Camille who was doing the same. 

“Is this good?” You just nodded back, sitting back on your heels to take a break.

“Oh, wow. That was fast. He texted back.” Although she sounded impressed, she frowned at the text.

“What? What is it?” You asked, panicking at her expression.

“Nothing. He’s just… dry. Was he always a dry texter?” She asked, handing the phone back to you.

“No? I don’t know, I didn’t think he was dry, we texted for like an hour straight that one time.” You mumbled, looking at the phone disappointed.

“Well he seems pretty dry to me. Maybe you should text him, maybe you were right, my texting was too different from yours.” You bit your lip and nodded, trying to come up with a response to him.

You didn’t know if it was because you were drunk, or that he could tell you were drunk, but while the conversation did get slightly better, he seemed dry to you as well. It was after twenty minutes of texting that you couldn’t keep the conversation any longer. You became frustrated at the dwindling conversation.

You had chosen to contact him again after three months of ghosting each other, and now he was making it difficult to carry a conversation. Maybe he really doesn’t like you. You felt your face heat up in embarrassment. Fine, you thought, you weren’t reaching out anymore. You didn’t want to be seen as pathetic, you could catch a hint. He just didn’t like you and was being nice. If he did actually like you, he could reach out to you.

This didn’t stop you from thinking about him for the month following the drunken incident. 

2 years later  Junior Yr.

“I swear if you’re late for this one too, I’m not setting you up on anymore blind dates!” You winced at the sound of your roommate cursing at you.

“I’m going!” You yelled back, slipping out the front door before she had a chance to attack you again. 

You managed to close door without hearing what ever else she had in store for you. 

Your keys jangled as you quickly tried to lock the bright red door, giving it one last tug of reassurance when you turned on your heel to find your car.

“Oof!” A body collided with yours, you were partially, well mostly at fault. 

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry. I should’ve paid more attention. It’s just, I was in a bit of a rush…” You trailed off, finally getting a good look at the other person’s face. “Jisung?”

He simply stared back with a blank look on his face, mouth hung slightly open. “Y/N?”

You hated how your heart quickened at the sound of your name from his lips. 

“I-I… wow…” You stuttered out, not quite able to act as natural as you had hoped. “Do you live here?”

“Uh… yeah, I live next door.” He pointed to your left, and when you followed his finger sure enough it was right next to your apartment. You missed the way that he looked you up and down, gulping at the sight of you in years. 

“Oh. Wow, what a coincidence, I guess.” You laughed out nervously, hands playing with your lanyard.

“Yeah.” He nodded back, not really making eye contact. Not that you were trying either.

“Well…”

“Yeah.”

There was an awkward silence between you two, and you cleared your throat to break some tension.

“I was actually on my way out, so… I’ve got to get going. But I’ll see you around.” You put on a fake smile that didn’t really reach your eyes, and shot him a wave before rushing off to your car. Once under the safety of your car, you sighed and tried to discreetly glance at the boy you hadn’t seen or thought of in years.

You shook your head, starting the ignition. It’s time to forget him, you told yourself, besides I’ve got a date waiting for me right now.

It wasn’t until Jisung was positive you could no longer see him, having driven off minutes ago, that he threw his head back and let out the deep breath he didn’t know he was holding. The blush he had been so desperately holding out finally came over his face, as he felt the heat burn his ears.

He had just begun to forget about you, from time to time, pausing over your conversation stream. Although it was torture, every once in a while he would read back all the texts, hating the way that they abruptly stopped. On occasion, mostly when he was drunk, but there were times when he was sober, he would even type out a text but fail to send it.

Jisung was never the outgoing type, he envied those who were. Those that could just strike up a conversation and carry on like it was second nature. But it was hard for Jisung. It took work and energy, and sometimes he didn’t have that. It was stressful and scary to Jisung.

It was a godsend when you reached out to him years ago, claiming so boldly your feelings for him. He wasn’t going to admit it, but then he had asked for his friends help in responding. It was Mark’s wishy-washy personality that had unbeknowingly sent your mind in circles that night.

It was Haechan’s straight-forward nature that had forced him to text you at 5 a.m. the next morning. He was tired of hearing about Jisung’s concerns as to why you didn’t reply earlier, complaining that if he was that worried just text her.

So he did.

And it worked. 

It worked so well. That hour he had spent texting you had butterflies dancing in his belly. He had never felt happier or more connected than at that moment. It wasn’t until his alarm rang, notifying him that he had five minutes until his last final did he stop smiling.

He was more than disappointed when nothing came out of the conversation. Of course he knew that it wasn’t just your fault, after all he had a phone, he could text you too.

And he tried, he really did. Multiple times. But every text he drafted was soon deleted and so the conversation ran dry. That was until three months later, May 16th.

But you always seemed to catch him at a bad time. It was Saturday, but his professor had given him an extension on his paper and it was due at midnight.

Your first text came at 10:58 p.m. 

It took all he had not to answer the text, and eventually he did cave. But as much as he wanted to focus on you he couldn’t, after all he had begged his professor to extend his deadline, he had to finish this. 

Maybe that’s why this time you didn’t seem so responsive. Maybe that’s why this time it only took twenty minutes for the conversation to end.

Maybe that’s why, after it took him forty-five minutes to respond to your last text, you left him on read.

“What’s with the long face dude?” His best friend, and housemate asked, slapping his back passive-aggressively.

“Nothing. And I don’t have a long face.” He pushed back, shoving him softly out of the way.

“Who was that? At the front door?” Jaemin asked, shoving a cookie into his mouth. 

“No one, just someone I knew.” Jisung muttered back, reaching out to steal one from the jar.

“Just someone I knew.” Chenle mocked back, leaning against the wall of the kitchen. “Right. We all could see the look on your face, that’s not just someone you knew.”

Jisung shrugged. “She was a girl I was texting.” He tried to pull it off nonchalantly, but it was evident to his housemates that it wasn’t nothing.

“Shit. Was that that girl you were talking to freshman year? The one you were head over heels for?” Jeno asked, grabbing a seat on a barstool, his laptop tightly in his grip. It was obvious he was working on something.

“Y/N?”Jaemin asked around the crumbs that filled his mouth.

“Ew. Gross. Have some manners dude.” Renjun said shoving Jaemin off the counter where he was perched, “And how many times do I have to tell you not to sit on the counter, that’s not sanitary. We have chairs for a reason.”

Jaemin made a face, but still moved to take a seat next to Jeno.

“Yeah.” Jisung frowned at the rest of the guys. “Did I make it that obvious?”

Renjun laughed, pulling a plate out of the cabinet. “You just talked about her everyday for a month. But no, not that obvious.”

“You should talk to her again, does she live close by?” Jeno asked, typing away at his computer.

“Yeah, she’s… uh… she’s our neighbor.” He rushed the last bit out, knowing that they would take advantage of the situation.

“Ooh! Our Jisung’s little girlfriend lives next door guys!” Chenle cackled out, “Guys, this is fate. And it’s our job to help out.”

Jisung scowled at him, knowing that Chenle meant what he said, “No. Guys leave her alone. Don’t make things weird. We’re going to be neighbors for the rest of the year, I don’t want to have to avoid her.”

“Avoid who?” 

“Haechan, how many times did I tell you to give me that key back?” Renjun asked, narrowing his eyes at the boy.

“Too many.” Haechan shrugged, letting Mark close the door behind him. “You can have this one back though, I’ve got two more copies at my apartment.”

Renjun threw his hands in the air, “I give up.” He picked up his plate of leftovers, opting to sit at the bar next to Jaemin.

“Who are we avoiding though?” Mark asked, settling against the wall next to Chenle.

“Y/N.” Chenle said, giving Mark a knowing grin.

“Y/N? Wait isn’t that...?” Mark furrowed his eyebrows, sporting his signature confused face.

“Uh-huh.” 

“Why are we avoiding her?” He asked, turning to Jisung, who had been awfully quiet.

“We’re not.” Jeno spoke up, finally shutting his laptop. “We just found out she’s our neighbor and Jisung doesn’t want us to do anything about it, cause he doesn’t want to avoid her.”

Haechan grinned, pulling out a glass and filling it up with water from the fridge. “So you still like her?”

“No.” There was an empty silence. “Yes.” 

Jisung sighed at the commotion his confession caused. 

“Well, don’t you think it’s our duty, as your friend, to help you out? After all, I feel like I am very invested in this budding relationship. I did help send the text that set things in motion.” Haechan boasted animatedly, accidently spilling some of his water, which he wiped up with this sock.

“No. I don’t think that it’s your duty. And please stay out of it?” He all but begged the rest of the boys. Much to his dismay, none of them looked like they were swayed. 

Jaemin clapped his hands together standing up, “Okay, how about some neighborly cookies? Everyone likes cookies.” 

Jeno rolled his eyes with a smile, but stood up anyways. “Sure I’m down, but no more of those peanut butter ones, those are shitty. Can’t we just do chocolate chip?”

Jaemin frowned, digging through the pantry cabinet. “You’re lucky we’re out of those. Chocolate chip it is.”

Haechan strolled towards Jisung, wrapping an arm around his shoulder, “How about we get drafting then?” He snorted, “I think a nice love letter should do it.”

Jisung shoved him away with more force than necessary, “Get off me. And no. Stop it with the love letter thing, I was drunk and sad okay?”

Mark butted in before the two of them would really start fighting, “Actually I don’t think that’s a bad idea. I think she’d like that, like, slip it in with the cookies or something. Just say you’d like to see her again, and hang out.”

Renjun stood up, placing his dishes in the sink, “Dude this is why Jisung sent mixed signals in the first place, ‘i’d like to see you again’, ‘let’s hang out’. Can you get any more confusing than that?”

Mark frowned and cocked his head, opening his mouth to retort, but Haechan beat him to it.  “Then what would you say Renjun? ‘Oh how beautiful your eyes compare to a midsummer’s eve. May I court you this evening?’”

Renjun glared at him. “You’re not funny. And no. I was going to say, just tell her it was a missed opportunity. That you’d like to take her out on a date now that you can.”

Jisung shook his head violently at the sound of that. “How am I supposed to do that? That’s way too straight forward, what if she says no?”

“Dude, she likes you. Remember? She sent you that text. And if her feelings aren’t there anymore then… well… I don’t know. But the chances are low.” Jeno tried to reassure him, not doing a very good job of it.

Jisung sucked a breath in, ultimately letting out a hissing noise. 

“Trust me on this one Jisung. I make a mean cookie, we’ll just head over there later today and rekindle whatever you two have.” Jaemin cooed at the boy with a big smile.

“Right. Like I can trust all of you.” He muttered to himself, choosing to escape to the confines of his room.

“So… how was it?” Your roommate asked expectantly, a far change from the way she was speaking to you earlier.

You shrugged, “I dunno, he was nice I guess.” You shook your head. “I don’t know why you guys are all pushy on this stuff. Like I get it, but it’s weird trying to date someone that I’ve just met you know?”

Your roommate Alex just shook her head, waving you off. “Whatever, so did you like him or not? Is there gonna be a second date?”

You laughed at her, she was way too invested in your non-existent love life. “I don’t know, I think so. He was sweet and stuff, but like I said it’s weird.”

“Well, that’s the furthest you’ve gotten so far.” You sent her a glare. “I’m just saying. You always either end up leaving the date, or never seeing them again.”

“Shut up, I don’t-”

You were cut off by the sound of the doorbell ringing. Alex and you exchanged glances, you weren’t expecting anybody.

She stood up, grabbing the bat next to the door, that your mother insisted you bring, ‘just in case’.

You huffed, moving past her, “You know, you could just look through the peephole.” You leaned forward squinting into the door, only to find a group of boys that seemed your age.

“Who is it?”

You pulled back, tilting your head, “I don’t know, just a group of guys.”

You unlocked the door, peeking out through the crack slightly, and you were greeted very enthusiastically by the boy in front.

“Hi!” He grinned, showing off a perfect set of pearly whites. He was waving very aggressively with his free hand, the other seemed to be holding a plate of cookies. “I’m Jaemin! We’re neighbors.”

After his quick introduction he shoved the plate towards you, never letting the smile leave his face.

“Uh… hi?” You weren’t quite sure what to say. 

Luckily Alex did, “Hi, I’m Alex and this is Y/N. That’s so sweet of you.” She smiled back, taking the plate from you. “Do you guys want to come in? We can crack them open right now.”

You stepped back, watching the trail of six- no seven guys just stroll into your apartment. 

“What the hell?” You muttered to yourself, closing the door softly behind the last boy.

“Hi Y/N.”

You looked up to see Jisung again, and you took a slight step back, startled at the sight.

“Jisung. Oh.” You barely let out.

“Sorry, we didn’t mean to overstep or anything. The guys just wanted to meet you… all. They wanted to meet all of you… cause you’re our neighbors, and all…”

You blushed realizing that he had heard you comment, completely ignoring the way that Jisung was stumbling all over his words.

Haechan took no time in introducing himself, and taking the honor of introducing everyone else as well.

“I’m Haechan, this is Mark, Jeno, Chenle, and Renjun. You already know Jaemin, and I’m aware that you already know Jisung.” He grinned proudly after gesturing to each of the respective boys.

“Jisung?” Alex asked, eyebrows raised. You hadn’t told her about him. For one, it never came up, and secondly, it’s not like it was anything important now. That was years ago, you didn’t feel the need to inform her of every detail of your life, like him.

Haechan cocked his head, “Yeah. You didn’t know they knew each other?”

You furrowed your brows at him. “And how do you know that?”

Jisung shyly raised his hand next to you, embarrassed that he was outed for spilling the details to his friends. “Sorry, that would be my fault.”

You turned slightly, mouth dropping at his face, “Oh. I didn’t mean it like that. I..I- That came out wrong. I’m not mad or anything, I was just shocked.”

You bit your lip feeling guilty about the way he responded.

“Anyways.” Jaemin interrupted the awkward silence. “We just wanted to say hi and stop by. Maybe we can all hang out and stuff and be neighborly.”

He grinned, looking around at the group.

“Right.” You nodded slowly, “Thanks for the cookies, and it was nice meeting you all.” There was a forced smile on your face, but none of the boys seemed to notice or care.

Eventually the boys filtered out one by one, and you closed the door, sighing against it.

“They were nice.” Alex said, taking a bite in a cookie. “Oooh, and these are hella good.”

“Yeah.” You mumbled, moving to sit on the couch.

“Why do you look like that? You don’t like them?” She asked, grabbing a glass for milk. “You and Jisung already know each other though. By the way, how do you know him?”

You rubbed your hand over his face. “It’s a long story.”

“Well, I have the rest of the day.” She sang back, taking a seat on the cushion next to you.

And so, now that Jisung was back in your life, you were left no choice to fill her in.

“Damn! That’s awkward as hell.” Her eyes were widened to the max.

“Yeah, I know. But I didn’t want them to feel super weird, cause you know, neighbors right? I just can’t believe my luck though.” You sighed leaning back, slouching down.

“Yeah, but do you like him though?” She asked, to which you whipped your head towards her.

“What?”

“Do you like him? I mean this could be really good for you. Actually it’s a win-win for everyone here. I can stop forcing you on blind dates and you can date the boy you’ve been pining after for years.” She shrugged like it was obvious.

“Okay, I have not been pining after him for years, and we’re not going to date just because I liked him two years ago. I mean, didn’t you get it from what I told you? He doesn’t like me.” You tried to shut her down.

“What are you talking about? Did you see him today? He couldn’t tear his eyes away from you.” You frowned at her observation. You didn’t remember it the way she did, every time you looked at him, which wasn’t that often, he was desperately trying to avoid eye contact.

“No he wasn’t.” You nevertheless blushed at the idea. 

“Ooh, you’re blushing! Someone has a cru-ush!” She raised her voice, and you slapper her.

“Shut up, they’re right next door remember? They’re our neighbors.” She simply winked at you. 

“And no I don’t.” You added as an afterthought.

The small restaurant was bustling with energy, something the boys loved.

“Dude, why haven’t we been here before?” Mark asked, eyes wide with excitement, smacking Haechan’s shoulder unnecessarily hard.

Haechan tried to move away from him, but to no avail.

“I told you, Jeno always said this place was pricey.” He muttered back, giving in when he realised Mark’s habit wasn’t disappearing anytime soon.

“We shouldn’t have trusted Jeno’s cheap ass.” Renjun snorted, “The prices here look decent.”

“Hey!” Jeno tried to defend himself. “I’m a college student, everything is expensive.”

Jaemin threw an arm over Jeno’s shoulder, trying to comfort him. “Let’s just grab a booth.”

As they trudged down the busy pathway, Jeno spotted a familiar face.

“Hey isn’t that Y/N?” Jeno asked, elbowing Jisung in the side. But Jisung was already aware of your presence, he had been the moment they stepped into the restaurant.

“Don’t point.” Renjun slapped the boy’s hand down.

“I wasn’t-”

“Shut up.” 

“Wait… who’s that with her?” Jaemin asked the obvious, slurring his words at the end, as if just understanding the situation.

It seemed as if you were on a date, and Jisung’s heart dropped. It felt like his entire world came crashing down, like any and all hope he had in you went out the window.

Of course you would have a boyfriend, it’s been two years since you last talked, and it’s not like you were even an item. You texted for an hour. 

Jisung closed his eyes for a second, but the picture was still searing in his brain. Hell, he wasn’t even sure if he told you that he liked you.

“I guess we didn’t think about that. That she could have a boyfriend.” 

“Yeah, I mean it has been two years.” Mark nodded, agreeing with Jaemin.

“Guys, not helping.” Renjun said between gritted teeth.

Jisung bit his lip, silently running over the image of you. 

Is that your boyfriend? How long had you been dating? Was it after he ran into you? If he asked you out then, would that be him? 

He had so many questions he wanted answered, but he would never get them.

Chenle pulled his arm roughly, trying to drag him into the booth. “Jisung you’re staring. Try not to make it so obvious.” He teased.

Jisung quickly averted his eyes, choosing to sit where he could watch you from his seat. His stomach felt queasy, maybe that was a bad idea. Suddenly he lost his appetite at the sight of you smiling so widely at something funny your date had said.

Mark glanced up from his menu, staring at Jisung who was now downing his water. He elbowed Haechan who was concentrating on the menu. 

“Dude, say something.” He hissed at him, trying to get Haechan to lift the mood. But for some reason, today of all days, he wasn’t having it.

Haechan just shrugged, shaking his head, “What do you want me to do?” Then he went back to his menu.

Mark bit his lip nervously, feeling uncomfortable at the sight of Jisung so anxious. He shot a look at Renjun who understood and at least tried to spark up conversation.

“So Jeno, who’d you come here with again?” He asked, an attempt at diverting attention from the elephant in the room.

“Uhh… some girl…” Jeno mumbled back, blushing furiously.

“Jeno’s blushing!” Chenle shouted out, his loud voice carrying across the restaurant. 

This had Jisung cracking a smile. 

“Dude, not so loud.” Jeno groaned out, sinking into his seat. He turned to glare at Renjun, “Did you have to bring that up?”

Renjun shrugged, but sent a small apologetic smile. ‘Sorry’ he mouthed at the embarrassed boy.

You had Chenle to thank for alerting you of the group’s presence. You pulled away from your conversation with Lucas and craned your head to get a glimpse of your neighbors.

“Do you know them?” Lucas asked, following your gaze.

“Oh, yeah, they’re my neighbors.” You said back, tearing your eyes from their booth.

“Yikes, they’re kind of loud.” He chuckled, “That must be rough on you.”

You gave him a smile, accompanied by your own giggle. “Lucas, in case you didn’t notice, you’re loud.”

He let out a fake gasp, holding his hand against his chest, “Me?”

You laughed, “Lucas, on our first date you thought we had so many complaints about the ‘loud dude in the booth’ that they asked us to leave.”

He frowned, “It’s not my fault my voice carries. And I have a very pleasant laugh, they should’ve been happy to hear it.” He pouted, “But we got ice cream to make up for it.”

You bit your lip, holding back your grin at the memory. “Yeah and it was freezing out.” You paused watching his expression, “But it’s never too cold for ice cream, besides, I wouldn’t have gotten your jacket out of it. And by the way, I’m keeping it. It’s soft.”

He smiled widely, immediately agreeing with you. “I’m just gonna use that excuse to see you again.”

You returned his sentiment, it wouldn’t be all that bad to meet Lucas again. You seemed to enjoy yourself every time you met.

“Oh. Jisung, hey.” You let out surprised.

“Hi.” He smiled at you shyly, staring back at you.

“Hi.” You blushed at the awkward tension between the two of you.

You turned and locked the door quietly before facing your neighbor again. “I was just heading out.”

“Right.” He mumbled, retreating back towards his apartment.

“I was going to the bookstore to pick up some things…” You trailed off, watching his expression, “If you’d like to come…?”

You immediately regretted your offer, ducking your head to hide your embarrassment. “You don’t have to, that was-”

“Sure.”

You froze, quickly snapping your head to meet his gaze.

“I uhh… have some things to take care of too.” He stumbled over his words to accept your offer.

“Oh, okay.” You smiled shyly at your feet, a strange feeling in your stomach turning.

You nodded in the direction of campus, trudging forward slowly at first to let him catch up. Soon enough the two of you were keeping pace.

A few minutes passed before Jisung cleared his throat, “So what are you getting from the bookstore?”

You nodded to yourself, “I have a textbook I ordered. It’s ridiculous isn’t it? How insanely overpriced it is, and it’s not like it’s even possible to pass the class without it. I mean I’m paying enough for college, now I have to pay on top of that.” You took a breath and chuckled nervously, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to rant on you.”

Jisung grinned at the way you were so worked up, “No not at all. I totally agree. It’s a rip off, I mean why not just make it part of tuition, we’re paying enough as it is.”

You nodded, “Right? It’s not right to make it required, like I could totally pirate it online, but if the professors make our homework using the online site to turn it in, that’s not even an option.”

You sighed exasperated, and missed the look on Jisung’s face. He seemed to enjoy the way you raved on about something as simple as a textbook.

You paused at the sound of his laughter from beside you, and you turned to look at him with a smile, enjoying the sound. 

It was a fifteen minute walk to campus, and another five to the bookstore. And before you knew it the building was looming over your heads.

Jisung jogged a few paces before you, reaching for the door. You paused, watching as he stood aside, holding the door for you.

You blushed, perhaps, as they say, chivalry isn’t dead. “Thank you.”

You reached your hand up, pressing your cold fingers against your burning cheeks, an attempt to chase away the color.

“So which class is it for?” He asked, looking around, and thankfully not noticing your heated face.

“Economics.” You replied, lifting your head in search of your department.

The two of you wandered around for a few more moments, not searching particularly hard for the book in question.

“Look, introduction to Korean Pop Music.” He laughed, pointing at the textbook. “Can you believe there’s a whole course on that?”

You smiled, looking. “I dunno, it seems interesting. Besides, there’s classes for classical music, and pop music, why not K-pop?” 

He nodded back, giving you a glance.

“Here, economics.” You mumbled out, walking down the long corridor. You ran your fingers along the spines of all the books, stopping at the familiar title. “Jesus, 98 dollars.”

He frowned, sidling up next to you. 

Sighing you reluctantly pulled the book off the shelf. “Ready?”

Jisung looked at you under heavy brows.

“You’re going to get it?”

“It comes with the online version. I mean I have to get the online portion, might as well get the hardcopy for free with it.” You nodded towards the check out, stepping towards the staircase.

He followed in suit, stuffing his hands in his pocket. He ran into your back after you stopped abruptly, suddenly remembering something.

“Oh, didn’t you have to get a book?”

Jisung’s eyes widened, “Oh yeah.” At that moment he reached out and grabbed what seemed to be a random book from the closest table, but you chose to ignore it.

He raised the book, and gave you a smile.

Your eyebrows shot up, “Introduction to the female reproductive system?”

Jisung suddenly turned very pale, as he tried to play it off. “Yeah, ummm… for my biology class.”

You grinned, nodding like you believed him. But you chose to continue up the stairs, unable to watch as his face contorted. While you weren’t looking he quickly flipped over the cover, gulping at the sight of the price.

“80 dollars?” But he shook it off, trudging after you.

“Anything else for you?” A boy around the same age as you was checking you out.

“Nope, that should be it.” You smiled, fumbling around with your purse to find your wallet.

“Economics huh? Are you a ManEcon major?” He asked, leaning towards you slightly, ignoring Jisung who had arrived nearby.

You looked up from your bag, “Huh? Oh, yeah ManEcon. You?”

Your hand was still deep in your back when he replied. “Same, I’m a Junior, I managed to switch in last year.”

“Really?” You raised your eyebrows, “Was it difficult?”

“No, I mean I knew I wanted to switch early on, so I already was taking the classes I needed.”

You nodded back, “That makes sense. Have you taken macro yet? I’m signed up this quarter but I’m a little nervous.”

“I had Zeggert last quarter, she was pretty good.” He smiled, nodding, “She likes it when people go into office hours, really tries to help.”

You cracked a smile of your own, “No way, I have Zeggert. Thank goodness, I’m definitely going to use her office hours a lot then.”

You took a moment to successfully dig out your wallet, sliding him your card.

“That’s good, well, I’m here basically all the time. So if you ever need help, you know where to find me.” He winked at you, returning the card.

You murmured out a quick thanks, and stepped aside to let Jisung pay for his books.

Jisung didn’t take long, and you noticed that he was particularly cold with the cashier, who in turn wasn’t nearly as friendly with him as he was with you.

“He was kind of flirting with you.” Jisung mumbled out, picking at the brand new spine of his unneeded textbook.

You glanced at him, stepping through the door that he once again held open, not knowing how to respond to him.

“Don’t you have a boyfriend?” He asked under his breath as you caught up beside him.

“What?” You shot him a puzzled look.

Jisung raised his eyebrows, “Your boy...friend?” He slowed his words, questioning them himself.

“I don’t have a boyfriend.” You let out, not pausing in your steps. The same couldn’t be said for Jisung.

He jogged slightly to catch up. “But your date…?”

“My date?” You asked, now choosing to stop and face him. You shook your head, confused, “What date?”

“The- the guy you were with at the restaurant Wednesday.” He studied the sidewalk intently, flustered at his confession.

“You saw me?” You leaned down slightly, trying to catch his gaze.

“I-uh… I mean I didn’t mean to watch you. But we just happened to go to that restaurant.” He mumbled, choosing to walk forward and escape the situation, but you quickly caught up.

“He’s not my boyfriend, I mean, we were on a date, but he’s not my boyfriend.” You felt the need to defend yourself, or at least clear things up. Although you didn’t know why you felt the need.

“Oh. A date.” He mumbled. He was overjoyed at the fact that you weren’t dating anyone, but couldn’t help but be disappointed at the mention of a date. From what he remembered, you seemed to be enjoying yourself then.

The silence grew until you reached your doorstep. It had taken Jisung fifteen minutes to decide, fifteen minutes to pluck up the courage he needed.

“How about a date with me?” Although he refused to meet your eyes, you felt the genuinity.

Part 2

© Copyright 2021. hyuckssunchip. All rights reserved.

[spir1tfar3r]

— first date with Inarizaki members

reblogs are appreciated <3

❀ Kita- Plans literally an entire afternoon (he was worried you didn’t want to spend all day with him) for the two of you. He was a little worried that you may not enjoy it so he asked some of your friends if there was anything in particular that you enjoyed doing. Honestly he’ll take you to do wherever is your favorite place first and then he’ll ask if you’d be up for one more thing. Spoilers: he takes you stargazing. It’s literally like the perfect night for it and he is already so whipped for you whenever he sees you silently watching the stars. You found out that he’s absolutely wonderful at small talk and he’ll tell you a lot of things that he’s either never been comfortable telling others or that people just don’t know about him. He’ll also ask you things in return and if you ever don’t want to talk about something, he won’t pressure you into it. Kita will absolutely drop that topic and ask something you’d be more comfortable in sharing with him so he can still learn more about you. Walks you home and whenever he’s getting ready to leave he’ll tell you that he enjoyed spending time with you and that he hopes the rest of your night goes well.

❀ Aran- Takes you on picnic date don’t you dare try to change my mind. He finds them really nice and there’s this really nice spot that he’ll take you too. You two have been friends for quite some time so he’ll pack your favorite foods and drinks so you definitely don’t have to worry about him messing that up. Afterwards, he’ll take you on a museum date!! I really don’t know why but I can see Aran really liking them and it’s not something you knew about him so you definitely enjoyed getting to see a side of him that you hadn’t before. He was definitely nervous that you wouldn’t enjoy it and probably asked once or twice if you were having fun because he would never want you to act like you were enjoying the date if you weren’t. So relieved whenever you said you were and he talked to you about things that you had previously spoken about (for example an upcoming exam that you said you were worried for) while also asking you to tell him more about yourself. Answers literally any question you have for him so don’t worry about accidentally asking something he isn’t comfortable sharing with you. Made sure you got home safe and probably asked if you’d like to do something like that again but with things you wholeheartedly enjoy!

❀ Atsumu- Acts so fucking confident and when you say yes but the moment you leave he’s turning to Osamu and going “where the hell do I take them?”. Honestly chose so many different places to go and eventually hated all of them. He wanted to try and figure out what you liked on his own but eventually one of your friends told him because they could see how badly he was struggling. Atsumu buys you this really cute gift and as he’s picking you up, he’ll hand it to you. Probably said it reminds him of you or that it’s almost as cute as you (maybe even both). Takes you to literally your favorite place and if you ask how he knows, he’ll more than likely tell you that your friend helped him because he was worried that you wouldn’t like anything that he thought of. If you see anything that you like while on the date, there’s a huge chance that he’ll get it for you. Atsumu won’t do it because he wants to make impress you or anything, he just genuinely wants you to be happy and spoil you. Absolutely walks you home after the date and will give you a kiss on the cheek (he’ll ask if it’s ok first because he doesn’t want to make you uncomfortable).

❀ Suna- Absolutely has no idea what to do for this date. He’s been wanting to ask you for awhile but now that he asked and you said yes, he’s internally panicking. He knows you well enough to plan a date but what if he plans something that didn’t seem like anything but a casual hangout?? What if you didn’t want to do anything but something like that?? Texted the group chat with Inarizaki members and went “where the fuck do I take y/n on a date?”. Kita and Aran were the only helpful ones and everyone else was either giving terrible suggestions (atsumu) or going “wow they really said yes to you?” (Ren). Eventually he settled on taking you to this fair that was in town and if you both got bored, you could go to see whatever movie you wanted to see. He was a little nervous from what you could tell but on the inside this man is screaming. He’s never tried so hard to impress someone and Suna was trying to pick up on anything that you show if you were having a good time or not. He took you home after and made sure you got in safely before he went home.

❀ Osamu- He actually invites you over to dinner! He definitely kicked his twin brother out of the house for this because he knew Atsumu would embarrass him in front of you. At first he was really worried you wouldn’t be ok with coming over, he’s not sure why but a part of him had doubted that you’d agree. Osamu asked some of your friends what your favorite food was so that he could surprise you and this man goes all out for the date! He’ll also get these really cute flowers (I’m sorry if you hate flowers I’m trying to be cliche) because he remembers a conversation being brought up by his brother and you mentioned that you liked them. He really doesn’t seem like it but he’s really good at small talk and honestly a very good listener. Like you could ramble to him for hours and he’ll sit and listen with a small smile on his face. Refuses to let you walk home alone after so don’t try to talk him into it. He also felt really bad that he couldn’t get you before the date since he was busy cooking so he wants to make up for it. He made sure you got inside safely before he went home because your safety is his biggest priority.

[whomst-art-thou-whomst-whomst]

Texts from the Lost Tomb part 6.1

🎶 Back on the bullshit I never got off🎶

Is this another unnecessary story arc?? With three sections??

Yes.

Wushanju Crew Chat

Wang Meng: You know, I’m someone who appreciates consistency in my day. My life is pleasant, very few issues indeed if you ignore the big ones. And yet. Yet here we are. With unresolved messes at the end of a day.

Wang Pangzi: SOMETHIN YOU NEED TO SAY MARY POPPINS

Wang Meng: We need to talk about Huo Daofu and the glittery bead curtain.

Wang Pangzi: MY FAVE TEEN WIZARD SERIES

Wu Xie: did you turn on that suggested word thingy lol

What glittery bead curtain

Wang Meng: I closed the shop at 6:00pm this evening on the dot. I locked all of the doors in and out of the shop very carefully, especially in light of recent events. The hall leading to the back office was empty. I filed the day’s paperwork, updated and sent emails, and then spent an extra hour organizing receipts and dusting. When I came back out, there were glittery iridescent bead curtains over the front entrance to the shop.

What could this mean?

Wu Xie: uh that you need to spend less time at work?

Wang Pangzi: LOOKS LIKE WE GOT ONE FOR THE DETECTIVES. THE MYSTERY OF THE BEDAZZLED THRESHOLD COMMENCES

Wu Xie: I think we can be relatively secure in thinking a glittery bead curtain isn’t a hostile threat

Wang Pangzi: SAYS YOU

I REMEMBER YE OLDE EXPLORATION TIMES HOW FAST THINGS GOT FURIOUS

BEANBAG CHAIRS SET AFLAME AND LEFT ON DOORSTEPS AS A WARNING

GLITTERBOMBS FOR DAYS

PANIC AT THE DISCO

Wang Meng: Ugh, forget it. I should have just taken them down, regardless of who they belong to.

Zhang Qiling: They are not mine.

Wang Pangzi: A BOLD STATEMENT COMING FROM OUR PRIME SUSPECT

SOMEONE QUICK GO DRAW CHALK AROUND THE DOORWAY TO MARK THE SCENE OF THE CRIME

Wang Meng: Do we know anyone who *would* sneak in and put those up? For whatever reason, legal or not? Even as a joke?

Wang Pangzi: ARE YOU SERIOUSLY ASKING WHETHER WE KNOW ANYONE WHO IS CHAOTIC, AN OUTLAW, A PRANKSTER AND/OR SNEAKS INTO PLACES

BECAUSE THAT WOULD MEAN OUR SUSPECT LIST IS LITERALLY EVERYONE WE KNOW EXCEPT FOR YOU.

Wu Xie: okay let’s think about this; for starters, I didn’t break into my own shop

Wang Meng: You would be in danger of doing some work in the process, that’s true.

Wang Pangzi: LOL

Wu Xie: ANYWAY let’s keep going. For example, Xiao Ge would only break in somewhere for a good reason. Xiao Ge, did you do this?

Zhang Qiling: No.

Wu Xie: okay who’s next

Wang Pangzi: YOU REALLY MISSED YOUR CALLING IN INTERROGATION TIANZHEN

REALLY PUT THE SCREWS TO HIM

IN MORE WAYS THAN ONE;)

Zhang Qiling: How can we be certain *you* didn’t do it?

Wang Meng: Admittedly that was my guess, too.

Wang Pangzi: WOW I SEE HOW IT IS

BLAME PANGZI AS USUAL

ANYWAY HOW DOES HUO DAOFU FIT INTO THIS

Wu Xie: Oh yeah him! Oops I got distracted

Wang Pangzi: UR ENTIRE HISTORY IN A NUTSHELL

Wu Xie: Ugh fuck off

Wang Meng what abt Huo Daofu??

Zhang Qiling: ?

Wu Xie: oh sorry xiaoge I didn’t realize you wouldn’t have spent much time around him last year

He and I go way back

Zhang Qiling: Way back where?

Babysitters Club Chat

Wang Pangzi: I CANNOT BELIEVE HE IS BUYING YOUR INNOCENT ACT

IF YOU EVER TURN TO EVIL WE ARE FUCKED

Zhang Qiling: ?

Wang Pangzi: YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHO HUO DAOFU IS

YOU WERE EXTREMELY POLITE AND BORDERLINE FRIENDLY TOWARDS HIM

Zhang Qiling: I wanted him to feel welcome. I wanted to be sure he understands he has a place here. A specific place.

Wang Pangzi: FOR A SILENT GUY YOU ARE A MASTER AT SUBTLE POWER PLAYS IM ALL TINGLY

LMAO THE IDEA OF WU XIE LEAVING YOU FOR HUO DAOFU IS HILARIOUS AND ALSO NOPE

Zhang Qiling: Rationally, I understand that.

Main Chat

Wang Meng: Huo Daofu is coming for the weekend—didn’t Wu Xie tell you? Wu Xie asked me to check in a week ahead so we could start getting ready for his arrival

Wu Xie: oh yeah I did do that

Wang Meng: Fortunately I know you and so I already went ahead and took care of everything.

Re: the trip

He made a deal with Wu Xie’s doctor that he would do periodic checkups on him here at Wushanju

Bc Wu Xie hates being in the hospital

And frankly the hospital hates him too

Wang Pangzi: FAMILIARITY BREEDS CONTEMPT LOL

I FORGOT HUO DAOFU WAS DOING THAT

A VERY CHIVALROUS GESTURE

WOULDNT YOU SAY

XIOAGE

Zhang Qiling: Is it safe for him to be here with a criminal loose on the premises?

Wu Xie: Right, back to the curtain! Let’s focus on the curtain, hmm?

Wang Pangzi: I AM SO LOOKING FORWARD TO THIS WEEKEND.

ALSO WE CAN RULE OUT XIAO BAI FOR THE CURTAIN SHE JUST SENT A SELFIE FROM NORWAY COVERED IN GREEN SLIME WITH ZERO CONTEXT, UR PROTEGE INDEED

Wu Xie: okay but who else would do something so oddly charming yet illegal and—wait.

Snake Eyes Chat

Wu Xie: hey, Glasses hasn’t been in touch lately right?

Li Cu: uh nope

Unless u count the outdated memes

Why, is money or Xie Yuchen missing

Or is this curtain related, I saw Wang Meng’s tweet

Wu Xie: haha no nothing to worry about really

(I mean maybe? but who knows)

Wang Meng is probably just getting a little paranoid in his old age

Li Cu: better than getting reckless and stupid as hell in ur old age

Wu Xie: …hey:(

Unknown Number: Li Cu, we discussed this.

Wu Xie: ????????

Li Cu: *sigh* fine, reckless and stupid as heck

Unknown Number: …close enough.

Wu Xie: EXCUSE who is that

Madame, Sir, Non-Binary Tree Spirit, etc—whomst the fuck

Are you

Li Cu is underage FYI

So Im staying on this chat

Li Cu: okay first of all, it’s not like that

Second of all I’m literally not underage I s2g

u threw the embarrassing surprise bday party, okay so u should remember

And C, that’s my counselor and I invited her. She wanted to meet u and I knew u wouldn’t agree to a visit so I added her to our chat

we have been discussing u

Wu Xie: Oh wow!!!!!!!

What a surprise:)

hi so nice to meet you:)

Main Chat:

Wu Xie: RED FUCKING ALERT

FUCK THE CURTAIN FUCK THE VISIT

IVE BEEN TRICKED INTO FAMILY THERAPY BY A SMUG TEENAGER WHO TEXTS UNKNOWN NUMBERS

Wang Meng: I assume that means something to someone here?

Not my problem? Good.

Wang Pangzi: AHAHAHA GOD I LOVE LI CU

HES LIKE ADORABLE KARMA FOR ALL THE SHIT YOUVE PUT ME THROUGH

IM RAISING HIS ALLOWANCE

Wu Xie: wait i give him an allowance

has he been collecting on two allowances??

Zhang Qiling: Three. I knew about both of yours.

Snake Eyes Chat

Wu Xie: so uh may I ask your name?

Unknown Number: you can call me Ms. Lee.

Now, if you’re comfortable talking in this format, why don’t you tell me how things have been going?

Wu Xie: oh everything is normal and fine and safe as usual, why do you ask:)

Li Cu: I heard about ur necklace thing. nice of you to NOT mention it.

another dangerous adventure. again. prick.

Ur lucky your cool boyfriend cares about you so much or you’d have already died like ten years ago

Wu Xie: lol try twenty years ago

Li Cu: That isn’t funny.

Unknown Number: …What?

Wu Xie: shit ur right, okay that was a bit glib, my apologies.

…I use humor as a coping mechanism?

Unknown Number: and Li Cu, how do you feel about that?

Li Cu: he doesn’t even know what that phrase means

He doesn’t cope, like ever

In fact

It’s kind of why we met

Which is a funny story in retrospect tbh

Wu Xie: haha what are you talking about sweetie hahaha need I remind you of certain anecdotes that could idk send me to jail maybe lmao

Unknown Number: …You know, perhaps an in-person meeting might be more effective?

Wu Xie: haha such a nice idea but why

Main Chat

Wu Xie: If I go to jail, I’ll have to create alliances for protection, right, that’s how it works on tv

Who do we know who spends time in jail

Other than Hei Yangjing, he’s only ever there for like 12 hours and i suspect he just gets himself arrested bc he enjoys the breaking out process

Also how’s the curtain case coming along

Zhang Qiling: Has someone threatened you?

Wu Xie: well not yet but soon I’m sure

Wang Pangzi: WHERE WAS THIS PARANOIA WHEN WE GOT TAKEN TO THE TEA HOUSE HUH

Snake Eyes Minus Your Fucking Therapist Chat

Li Cu: okay how tf did u pull off spy and undercover shit

u are sus as hell

Wu Xie: damn son is it pick on Wu Xie night

I missed the flyers or I would’ve invited my uncles

Also re: the curtain it’s been mostly solved

Li Cu: I’m not your son, idiot.

Wu Xie: …oh. Sorry, sorry, you’re right, bad choice of words, haha

Forget i said anything

Delete this chat even

Li Cu: shit I meant

Legally, biologically, I meant—

shit

…I turn into an asshole as a coping mechanism?

Wu Xie: oh that’s all okay! I have to go do something else now let me know if you need anything okay kid thanks!

Li Cu: goddamn it calm down who’s the kid here

lemme organize my thoughts so I can articulate my emotions fuckin healthily or w/e

Ugh maybe for like one afternoon we could go to Ms. Lee together? She knows how to word stuff

Wu Xie: uh…okay.

Li Cu: Anyway you don’t need to worry abt jail

As if you would survive prison for one day you’d piss off half the place in like an hour or less

I gave Ms. Lee the heavily edited version of the desert highway to hell roadtrip and i discussed it more in terms of like “nightmarish but still wouldn’t take any of it back”

Well maybe the sand

that shit was everywhere

Wu Xie: oh kiddo. It’s fine, really…You don’t have to explain yourself to me.

Li Cu: no, no it’s just

I do technically have a dad

who is an asshole. Being a son doesn’t really mean shit to me bc it sucked.

So you need to stop backing down just cuz ur guilty abt stuff. I’m really really glad ur not my dad in a good way. Do u get what I mean there

Where’s the mafia widower I followed into hell, huh

Wu Xie: Ur a good kid, despite my influence. I’m really glad you have someone to talk to after everything I…after everything. Wow this talking through feelings thing is kind of weird but nice ur right

Jfc no wonder it took me and xiaoge so long to—you know what, we won’t get into that

Li Cu: ew tmi

Also re: this week’s recent necklace fuckery

I moved my stuff here, I live here now

So you can’t die anymore

Or else…Idk I don’t have a threat planned

anyways abt the curtain

Wu Xie: oh my god, kid…kid you have no idea

I am in tears.

Li Cu: see this is why I can’t be nice to you I can sense the hallmark channel from here

Ugh don’t be sad in ur room that’s dumb

Go hug Pangzi or something

Maybe delete this chat

Or the curtain thing

Focus on the curtain thing

Just stfu and go away

Wu Xie: <3 screenshotting this <3

Li Cu: I take back everything I said. This is why Xiao Ge sleeps on the roof. I hope the ghosts of the Wangs put up that curtain to strangle you somehow. Go die in a stupid way, it’ll suit you.

Wu Xie: lol don’t worry I’m not gonna embarrass you with it or anything

Main Chat

Wu Xie: omg guys look how cute my kid is *sending screenshot*

Wang Pangzi: I MEAN

HE IS WISHING YOU DEATH

BUT SURE

CUTE I GUESS

Wu Xie: no but read the whole thing:):):)

Zhang Qiling: It is indeed very hard to remain angry with you. And you are welcome to join me on the roof.

Wang Pangzi: UH NOPE

NOT WHENI HAD TO BLEACH THE COUNTER IN THE KITCHEN

DONT TRAUMATIZE THE EARLY BIRDS THEYRE ALREADY FREAKED OUT BY U YA HOODIE CRYPTID

Wu Xie: ok true but babe ur like a sexy cryptid

Wang Meng: so, are we just accepting that there is a glittery curtain of unknown origin, and Huo Daofu is going to have to see it while he’s waiting for you at Wushanju bc you’re going to family therapy?

Wu Xie: right

Wang Pangzi: SHOULDA TAKEN EARLY RETIREMENT HUH

Wang Meng: I’m going to go dust something.

Unnamed Chat:

Unknown number: so the curtain…

Unknown number 2: yep, not my best work but I kinda panicked last minute u know

Unknown number: what is in the water at Wushanju that makes everyone dumb and attractive

Unknown number 2: relax they’ll figure it out

[sirenascales]

-> Chuuya with a Black F!Reader who's a bit insecure because of her skin.

@furrypostsoul said: Hello admin, I hope you’re having a good day! So stoked to see a fellow bisexual bsd fan! I would politely like to request a chuuya Drabble with a black fem bisexual reader where she thought that chuuya wouldnt be interested in her romantically cause of y’know, her skin. If you could also add in scenarios where she was racially harassed in public (pls dont write this is ur not comfortable, I understand if you don’t! it’s something I want people to be aware about)

note: ahhh thank you so much for your request! i immediately had an idea as soon as I saw it and I believe I came up with a good one, especially after asking some of my pals for advice on how to tackle it! Hope you like it!

warnings: colorism, mentions of racial fetishization, microaggresion, and racism [not from Chuuya] insecure reader, angst to fluff i promise,

"I still don't understand why it takes so long to do your hair... aren't you just getting braids?" The confused look on Chuuya's face was honestly super cute and hilarious and you couldn't help but laugh behind your hand.

"That's just the way it is, man. That's why I said we can go out on Saturday. I can't on Friday since I'll be strapped to the chair."

"Man, whatever," Chuuya huffed and you rolled your eyes at him, crossing your arms over your chest.

"Don't whatever me. Just suck it up!"

You shook your head, the hustle and bustle of the shopping district around you fading as you looked to your companion. Red hair, blue eyes, fancy clothes and a dumb hat; Chuuya was honestly too handsome, too damn fine. The scowl on his face was cute and you resisted the urge to pinch his cheeks. You knew he would literally kill you for that, and you valued your life.

You and Chuuya were in that talking stage and finally decided to go out on your first official date on Saturday. Besides his... occupation, you found yourself very much liking the man. Not just for his looks, but his fiery personality made him interesting, the way he carried himself. He was great and you were so into him.

You hoped he felt the same way. He had to, he agreed to the date in the first place! And how could he not? You were a sight, rich brown skin and he sorta, kinda, absolutely loved the cute afro puffs you had on your head. You were beautiful, a bright spirit with a bit of an edge that Chuuya definitely liked.

After talking some more, Chuuya had to go off to do his own thing, and after sharing a very tight hug, you waved him farewell, promising to see him on Saturday for your first date.

You couldn't help the huge, happy grin on your face, giddy as you made your way over to a nearby bench, sitting next to an older woman. You paid her no mind, grabbing your phone to text your friend as you giggled to yourself.

"Was that your boyfriend?" the woman suddenly inquired and you blinked at her in surprise. Then, your face started to heat up and you laughed lightly.

"Well, not yet. We're just dating."

"Ah..." the woman trailed off and you didn't like the tone of her voice. Suddenly feeling awkward, you turned back to your phone.

"I don't mean to be rude," the woman started and you couldn't help the sense of dread you felt. Here we go again. "But you should be careful, dear. You're a beautiful woman but... Japanese men don't really like dark skin. Not unless they are with you for... ulterior motives."

Even if you were already expecting some foolishness, the woman's words still stunned you, striking you to your core as you gave her a look that exceeded shock. You were appalled, your chest tightening in anger and hurt. You took in a slow deep breath, your fists clenching tightly. Your body had gone numb, and you tried your best to keep it cool. You couldn't make a scene.

"Wow," you laughed softly, shaking your head as you stood up. You didn't pay that stupid bitch any mind, storming away, your anger just boiling.

Not only did that woman ruin your entire day, she honestly ruined your entire week. The anger had soon subsided and you were left with the insecurities you tried to push down, especially when it came to Chuuya. Your mind ran at one hundred miles per hour, overthinking as the cruel words lingered in your mind.

Was Chuuya another one? Like your last relationship, were you just a sexual conquest for someone just wanting to try having sex with a Black girl? That was what your ex-girlfriend did to you, so was this just the same? Did he even like you?

No. Chuuya wouldn't do that.

Even so, you canceled your date with him as you sat in the stylist's chair on Friday, eyes burning with tears. You didn't want to experience that again, so you figured you give it all up before you get hurt again. Or even worse.

After spending day getting your hair done, you gotten a quick bite to eat before heading home, feeling completely dejected. Your hair looked amazing, long box braids swaying as you trudged along. But Chuuya didn't answer your text at all, and that honestly made you feel even more like shit. Did he not care at all?

You sighed deeply, coming up on your apartment, stopping when you saw a very familiar red motorcycle parked along the sidewalk. Your heart skipped a beat when you spotted Chuuya leaning against his bike, and when he finally noticed you, your heart dropped when he yelled your name.

"Oi!" he hollered, stomping over to you angrily. "What the hell do you mean our date is canceled?!"

"I-" you were at a loss for words. "Why are you here?"

"I was waiting for you! I didn't know where you were getting your hair done so I just stood here."

"Th-the whole day?! Chuuya!"

"I mean, I went and got food and stuff but-"

"That's not the point!" you interrupted. "Why would you even bother?"

Chuuya scoffed. "Are you serious? You suddenly cancel our date and you expect me not to worry about you?" As he finished talking, Chuuya is shocked to find tears pooling in your eyes, your lips trembling as you hung your head. "H-hey, what the hell happened?"

"You don't just want to fuck me, right?"

Now Chuuya was at a loss for words, his jaw hanging open as he registered your ridiculous words. You spoke again, telling him about the things that woman said to you earlier that week, as well as the horrible experience you had with your ex-girlfriend.

"... I tried not to think too much about it but... I'm used to comments about my skin and race, I mean, hello! I'm Black, but... " you trailed off, lifting your hands up to wipe your tears away. Chuuya beat you to it, and you stared at him with teary eyes as he gently wiped your tears away.

"I'm not your ex-girlfriend." Chuuya was firm as he spoke. "And that old hag needs to mind her own fucking business. I fucking like you. Not because of some weird sexual thing, I actually fucking like you. The whole you. You're beautiful and smart, you keep me on my toes. And yes, your skin and hair are amazing, I love them, but those are only parts of you that I find amazing. I'm not giving you my love and attention because I want something from you, I'm giving it because you deserve it. And I want to be the one who gives it to you."

You didn't know what to say, what to do. You could hear your heart pounding in your ears, your mouth going dry. Still, after a moment you just end up punching Chuuya lightly on his chest, choking out a laugh while you cried.

"Shut up... all that sappy shit..."

Chuuya scoffed, lowkey offended. "Excuse me? I basically just confessed to you."

"Yeah..." you sniffed, looking and giving the man a watery smile. "You did. I..." Lips trembling again, you took a step forward and Chuuya wasted no time in pulling you in for a hug.

"And you better accept me or else I will kick your ass," Chuuya said, pressing his face against your hair. "You smell nice..."

"Hm."

"And you're perfect. Worth more than an experimental fuck and the words of some old bitch." There was a bite to Chuuya's words, and that made you feel so much better.

"I'm sorry for doubting you..." you whispered and Chuuya shook his head, pulling away from the hug.

"Don't be. I understand, I promise."

You smiled widely, face getting hot as he gently cupped your cheek. "Are you sure?"

Chuuya rolled his eyes. "Fine, you can make it up to me by un-cancelling our date. Let me show you off."

You giggled softly, hugging him again. "Okay. That's fair."

Send in your requests!

[imagines-r-s]

sticking it

chapter 9 

a/n: idk why this chapter took so long, but here it is. for reference - in gymnastics, US Championships are the last meet before Olympic Trials, they’re a two day competition. any feedback is welcome. i’m kinda upset that this series (or at least this part) is almost done, but there is more to come with this series i promise. also had to repost bc it wasn’t showing up in the tags 

taglist: @butgilinsky @barbienoturbby @sunsetholland @lovenhlboys @sortagaysortahigh @hockey-racing-fubol @oopsiedoopsie23 @iwantahockeyhimbo @dreamsndior @itsurgirlgracie @heartshapedkissxs @lwstuff @handwrittenheroes

warnings: uh, i don’t think there’s anything, but if i miss something just let me know (the jamie mentioned is jamie oleksiak, not j b*nn)

sticking it masterlist

wc: 5.8

(not my gif)

“Are you sure that you have everything?” Joel asked for the twentieth time in the past hour, “we can run back to yours if you need anything else”

“I feel like you’re just trying to get me to stay with you longer,” you said, skeptically.

“Is it working?”

“No, Bee, I have to leave at some point,”  you said, putting another bag of yours in his car,”I won’t be gone long.”

“Yeah, but you’ll be closer to the Stars and that has me worried,” he said, causing you to chuckle. 

“You worried about Seggy? Or Roope? Or Big Rig? Or Mi-”

“Okay, I get it.”

“Don’t worry your pretty little head about it, I love you and only you, shawty. Besides, I can only tolerate Texas weather for so long,” you said, leaning up to kiss him on the cheek.

“I love you, too, shawty,” he paused,”Wait,- that was rude.”

After packing the last of your bags into the car, you made your way to the airport to meet Marcus and Michelle. Once you arrived at the airport, Joel parked the car before the two of you headed into the airport. The four of you caught up for a while before Marcus suggested giving you and Joel time to say goodbye. 

“Is this how it feels when me and the guys leave for the road?” Joel asked, softly. 

“Yeah,” you said, smiling sadly. 

“Well, good thing I’m the one on the road all the time, I mean, I don’t like leaving you, but when I’m leaving it’s a different feeling, you know.”

“Well glad it makes you happy, buddy.”

“Did you just buddy me?” Joel asked, incredulously. 

“Did I?” you asked, laughing as Joel gasped in shock.

“Wow, I see how it is. I’ll remember that.”

“Go ahead, babe. Remember it however you want,” you paused when you saw the sad look on his face, reaching to hold his face in your hands, “hey, I’m only a text away, I might not be right here, but I will answer as soon as I can and we’ll facetime as much as you want these next few days.”

Joel nodded before looking up and seeing Marcus and Michelle headed your way, “we hate to cut this short, but we have to get going pretty soon.”

“I know I asked, but do you really have to go?”

“Yeah, Bee, I really have to go.”

“You better kick ass out there or else you’re just leaving for nothing,” he said, jokingly, “but honestly, I wish you the best of luck - I know you don’t need it, but I’ll say it anyway. Make sure to tell Nicole I said good luck and please make sure to wipe that smug look off Kathryn's face. Okay?”

“Yeah, of course,” you said, wrapping your arms around him as he pressed kiss to the top of your head. “I’ll miss you.”

“I’ll miss you, too, but if you don’t go, the only thing you’ll be missing is your flight.”

“Wow, Bee, you are so funny.” 

“Well, one of us has to be the funny one in the relationship. Your mom jokes only get you so far far in life, babe,” he said, causing you to elbow him in the stomach. 

“I’m leaving now. I love you and I will text you when I land,” you leaned up for a quick goodbye kiss before grabbing your carry-on bag and heading to your gate. You avoided looking back, knowing that if you did, both of you wouldn’t let the other leave. 

“I think you chose a good one,” Marcus said once the three of you had sat down. 

“What?” you asked, shocked. 

“Joel. He seems like a good guy. He clearly cares about you and I can see that you care a lot about him, too. He clearly makes you happy,” Marcus added. 

Heat rushed up your face, to which you simply looked out the window, “yeah, he’s a good guy.”

“A cute one, too,” Michelle interrupted. 

“Yes, that too. But Michelle, you better lay off,” the three of you laughed as the flight attendants started to announce the safety procedures for your flight. The three of you did your own thing the rest of the flight: Marcus planning out how podium training would go, Michelle analyzing your routines, and you sleeping.

“Alright, so as soon as we land, we get luggage and go to our hotel. There is a small media event tomorrow morning before podium training, then podium training, then probably some more media. You will have the rest of the night to do whatever, I know you’ll probably go see your Dallas friends and that’s fine, just make it back in time. Then, Friday is the first day of competition, Saturday is the second day, then we have some free time Sunday,” Marcus read off to you, even with you half asleep. 

“Sounds lovely,” you grumbled. 

…..

“So, y/n, with your injury being a top priority, how different have practices been since you are still somewhat in recovery?” one of the journalists asked. You had stayed prepared for a multitude of questions having to do with your injury, so this question had an easy response.

“I would say, it’s definitely a totally new experience. I’ve had to tailor my focus to other aspects of this sport since the start of my recovery, whether that be drills, more conditioning, or changing up my routines. My team and I definitely have figured out what things work and what doesn’t and we continue to learn as I continue training,” you answered, swiftly. 

“Now obviously, you were the highest scorer in most of your competitions, even before your injury, how has competition changed for you? And what has inspired you to train harder?” another journalist asked. 

“I have to say, competition is slightly more nerve-wracking than before. I mean getting injured at a major competition definitely changes perspective for all aspects of it. I feel that I have to be more cautious when performing, whereas before I would just go with the motions. Something that’s inspired me has been that my competitors have continued training, I have a fair amount of competition - all of which are excellent athletes - which has helped motivate me a lot, but I also have an amazing support system back home who have made sure to give me that extra motivation when I need it,” you smiled. 

“Now, having to deal with that support system at home, who and how have they influenced your decisions of your journey through recovery?” which was the first question that made you smile. 

“Well first, a huge shoutout to my family, especially my cousin, Kevin. Without his support, I wouldn’t have ever tried to get back in the gym, he’s been there this whole time and I couldn’t be more grateful. Um, my coaches were so supportive of my comeback; my physical trainor, Adrian, who told me all the doctors were wrong and gave me the reality checks I needed; the whole Philadelphia Flyers roster and their families cheered me on the whole time, especially my boyfriend, Joel Farabee. My friends, my teammates, all of them pushed me where I needed to be,” you said, gratefully. 

“Thank you for your time, y/n. We wish you the best of luck this weekend,” the main announcer said to you before you went off to podium training. 

Marcus and Michelle had both told you only to warm up simplified versions of your routine, so that you could bring shock factor when you were actually performing. You had upgraded almost all of your tumbling back to where it was before injury, but no one needed to know that besides you and those in your gym. Podium training had gone very well, better than you had anticipated, so you were looking forward to how championships would go. 

As you packed up your gym bag and grabbed your phone, you saw all the messages you had from the Flyers group chat you had somehow found your way to. 

Bee: did you guys see that too?

Tiki Bar: if we are talking about the same thing, i think we did.

Patti Lapone: did she actually say nice things about us?

Kev: i really think the texas heat is getting to her already

G: she’s probably just feeling under the weather about competition, otherwise we might want to check if she is okay

Scotty: i think i misheard or i got hit in the head and didn’t realize it

Frosty: hell has frozen over

Bee: haha. frost. frozen. get it

Tiki Bar: beezer. 

G: i’ll make you do laps if you make another frost joke

Laughing at the texts in the group chat in reaction to your interview, you simply typed up a simple response: this is what i get when i’m nice, now you know why i’m not like this all the time. 

Luckily for you, you didn’t have to do any media after podium training, so you were able to leave whenever you wanted to. After checking with Marcus and Michelle, you made sure it was alright that you went off to go see Tyler and the rest of the guys. Assuming that they would be at practice, after changing out of your leo, you took the drive to the Stars practice facility.

Having come to Fort Worth so much for gymnastics and Dallas for a few hockey games, you had run into some of the Stars roster on multiple occasions. By the third time you had ran into them, and this time ran into was a very literal statement, you had exchanged social medias and most of the roster kept an eye out for any updates in your gymnastics career. During your recovery, the whole team constantly asked for updates about how you were and how gymnastics was going. 

Once you parked, you quietly made your way inside - not wanting to interrupt the practice. There were a few officials walking around, but most either paid you no mind or recognized you from times before you had been here. Walking towards the rink, your eyes settled on the boys doing laps for the last part of practice. It wasn’t until most of the guys were only talking and about to get off the ice that they noticed you. 

Tyler was the first to notice you, smiling and waving towards you, which caused most of the team to follow where he was looking and notice you. As the team headed to the locker room to change, you simply waited on one of the benches for them.

“I feel like you only came all this way to see my dogs,” Tyler said, making his way towards you. 

“No, I would never do such a thing, I obviously came here to say hi to you,” you stood up to give him a hug. 

“Mhm, whatever you say. Didn’t you have podium training today? How’d it go?”

“Well, it went pretty well actually. I did a few of my dismounts, but kept most of my landings safe just to be careful. But other than that everything went well.”

“As long as you kick ass tomorrow, I’m fine,” he said, honestly, “do you have anything else to do for the rest of the day or did you just come to say hi?”

“Well, I have no plans for the rest of the day, but I don’t want to intrude on any team plans.”

“You know you would never be intruding on anything with us, even if you are dating a Flyer,” Jamie O said from behind you. 

“God, Jamie, what the fuck? Where’d you come from?”

“Your mom’s house,” he said, earning a fist bump from Tyler. 

“I can’t even be upset, that was a good one,” you smiled as Jamie hugged you,”and don’t bring Joel into this.”

“My condolences.”

“Condolences? No one died?” you questioned.

“You are dating someone that plays for the Flyers,” Tyler said. 

“Damn, that’s harsh,” you replied. 

“Anyways, moving on. Me and a few other guys were coming over to mine for lunch and to hangout, if you want to come you are welcome to,” Tyler said to which you simply nodded. 

“Is that who I think it is?” another familiar voice rang out, causing you to whip your head around to see Roope and Jake heading your way. 

“Well, if you thought it was me, then you would be correct, my friend,” you retaliated. 

“I’m surprised they let you in here, considering you are dating a Flyer,” Otter said, jokingly. 

“Quit bringing the fact that I’m dating Bee into the conversation.”

“At least Nicole is in the safe zone,” Roope said, causing your eyes to widen, “y/n. What was that?”

“What was what?” you questioned as Roope simply narrowed his eyes.

“You did the thing.”

“What are you talking about, bestie?” 

“Oh, you have a habit of your face changing when you know something that will ruin the whole perspective or something or if you know a secret that will change the entire story. Very entertaining and concerning that you didn’t know,” Tyler added. 

“Um, well, didn’t expect to be psychoanalyzed by a bunch of hockey players today, but here we are.”

“Ok, I think we should head to mine and then, we can continue psychoanalyzing you,” Tyler suggested to which you all agreed. Roope, who had gotten a ride from Tyler in the morning, immediately hopped into your car as soon as you unlocked it. 

“What’s up with Nicole?” he asked as soon as you started driving. 

“What happened to hello? How are you?” you joked. 

“Listen, I’m asking now because I don’t want to talk about this with the guys there. But what did you mean?” he said, causing you to take a deep breath. It wasn’t like Roope and Nicole were ever together, but it was always an unspoken fling of sorts, that they never made official. 

“Look,-”

“Please, just tell me what’s happening,” he pleaded.

“Nicole and Nolan are sort of together,” you rushed out, causing a moment of silence to break out. You didn’t know what to expect as a reaction, considering they weren’t official and hadn’t really talked since the last time you and her were in Texas.

“Is she happy?” 

“Yeah, she’s happy.”

“Okay, that’s all I care about,” he said simply, which made your heart almost break for one of your closest friends. 

…..

Being able to spend time with some of your close friends that you hadn’t seen in a while was just what you needed to destress about championships. Maybe an intense game of uno with five of the most competitive people was exactly what some might call a destressor, but here you were. 

Tyler threw down his cards as he stood up dramatically, “no, because there is no way that a.) she already has an uno and that b.) all of you used your draw two cards against me.”

“Don’t be upset, Ty, that’s just how the game of uno is sometimes,” you replied, hiding a laugh. 

“Oh, shut up. I think you guys cheated,” Tyler accused. 

“I think you just don’t know how to play uno,” Jamie mumbled.

“Oh, yeah, real funny. I think you all teamed up against me and Jake dealt that way on purpose.”

“And we all think, you just can’t accept a loss in uno,” Roope added. 

“Fine, let’s settle this like men,” Tyler grabbed all the cards, attempting to shuffle them before accepting he couldn’t shuffle and handing them over to you to shuffle, “I’m watching you.”

“Oh, wow, so scared,” quickly shuffling them, doing a little bit more than usual to get Tyler off your case, you handed them back to him, “there you go.”

Another final round of uno, which ended up with you and Roope head to head as far as who would win, while Tyler had ended up with at least 15 cards to which Jamie was the first to speak up, “I think we should end here before someone gets hurt.”

“No, no, we’re fine. It’s fine. y/n, take your turn,” he said, eyes narrowing as he watched from beside you. Even if it was your last card, you dropped the draw 4, which made Tyler draw more cards. 

“Damn, that sucks,” you said, hiding a laugh. 

“What was that, y/n?” Tyler said.

“I said, damn, that sucks,” you repeated, watching Tyler closely as he stood up quickly once again, before practically chasing you. “Tyler, it’s just uno. Stop chasing me.”

“Oh, wow, ‘damn, that sucks’” Tyler mocked. 

As the other three watched, Jamie just grabbed the bowl of popcorn as they watched their friends running around chasing each other. “I see why we don’t play uno much,” Jake said. 

“Yep. Exactly. But no one listened when I advised against it,” Jamie said, taking a drink of his beer. 

“Tyler, watch yourself,” you said, as he stood on the opposite side of the couch. He started running one way, as you ran the other to avoid him, but he quickly sidestepped and caught up to you. Practically throwing you over his shoulder, he made his way out to the pool, “Tyler, let’s not do anything crazy here.”

“Oh, you mean like hold a draw four card until the end of the game,” Tyler said, as he tossed you into the deep end of his pool. 

“Children. Literal children,” Roope said, shaking his head, going to grab you a towel. 

Rising up from the water and quickly moving the hair out of your face, you swam over to where Tyler was, “hey, can you help me out?”

“Nah, I’m not falling for that one,” he stated. 

“Seriously, I won’t do anything right now, I promise,” you said, as you saw him reach his arm out to which you quickly grabbed and stood out of the pool. Walking towards Roope, who had grabbed you a towel, you turned back around to see Tyler still walking near the pool. Using this to your advantage, you ran and pushed Tyler into the pool. “Sorry, bestie,” you said, running to get the towel from Roope and running back in the house. 

After getting changed into one of Tyler’s extra shirts he had lying around, you were just hanging out with the guys when a familiar contact flashed on the screen to FaceTime, Jake who was right next to you immediately noticed, “ooh, better go talk to your man, y/n.”

“Shut the literal fuck up,” you called back, standing up to go the kitchen for privacy. Answering, you noticed that Joel was at Nolan and Kevin’s apartment, “were you that lonely without me, babe?”

“No, well maybe, but I’m helping them set up for the watch party tomorrow,” Joel said, taking a seat at their kitchen island, “how’d podium training go?”

“It went really well actually, I didn’t work the 3.5 just so that way I have something over their heads, you know. But other than that, it was all good. How are things at home?”

“Well, I mean no one is dead, which is always good. Um, debated getting a dog, my mom called, I told her about you. Uh, already told you about the watch party. I don’t think anything else interesting happened,” he said, shrugging as if he hadn’t just mentioned bringing you up to his mom. 

“Wait, you told your mom about me?”

“Well, she does follow me on Instagram, so after seeing the post she texted me asking and then she asked while we were on the phone. She wished you good luck, by the way. She’s  also visiting here with my dad in a few weeks and I’d really love it if you would meet them,” he said, shyly.

“Uh, yeah, yeah, of course,” you rushed out, hoping you didn’t sound as nervous as you were. 

“That sounded very unsure.”

“No, it’s fine. I just have never been at the spot in a relationship where I meet the parents, I’m just nervous. I don’t want to mess it up.”

“Babe, my mom already loves you, she was getting on my case about not telling her, but she already thinks very highly of you and I definitely hyped you up a little bit. You have nothing to worry about,” he reassured you, which made you smile. 

“Hey, y/n/n,” Kevin yelled. 

“Hey, Kev.”

“You were very nice in your interview today, it had all of us worried,” Kevin said, which caused you to roll your eyes in response. 

“Hey, I can be nice sometimes.”

“On very rare occasions, yes,” Joel added. 

“Whatever.” As you talked a little while longer with the guys, eventually Roope and Tyler had come in to say hi to everyone as well, which had you dying laughing as both of them gave the ‘you hurt her, we fly to Philly and hurt you’ talk that almost everyone had given him. 

Telling Joel you would call him back whenever you made it back to your hotel, you stayed with the guys for another couple of hours before heading back to your hotel. Nicole had spent most of the day after podium training resting and had met you in the hotel lobby when you got back.  

“So,- “ she didn’t even have to finish her sentence before you knew what she was saying. 

“Roope is doing good, he said he hopes things are going well,” you said, watching as a small smile crept up her face. 

“Well, good to know. Did you know KD is also staying at this hotel?”

“Well, considering this is the host hotel and most competitors are here, I am not all that shocked.”

“Yeah, but you probably didn’t know she’s legit a few rooms away from us, did ya?”

“No, guess not,” you said, “how’d you find that one out?”

“Well, let me set the scene for you. I go to get ice and then I hear her talking with, uh, whatever her name is, Callie or Carly, it starts with a C. Anyways, they were talking about you and me and how our skills have been less than recently and all this stuff about you not catching up to where you were - which I found so fucking funny because who has won gold at the past few meets? Not her. Anyways, all is fair in the sport of gymnastics, but I’m just excited to see her reaction to you doing the 3.5.”

“Damn, no pressure there, Nic.”

“Okay, but the thing is, you have the skill,” Nicole said, as you got into the elevator. “You have it down. It’s all up here, in your cranium,” she said, pointing to your head. 

“Alright, let’s just go to bed now,” you said, slowly removing her hand and opening the door to your hotel room. 

…..

“Hello everyone and welcome to Day One of the 2021 US Gymnastics Championships. We are very excited to see how today’s competition goes as this competition will decide who makes it onto the National Team and who will qualify for Olympic Trials,” Joel heard the announcer say as he made his way to sit with everyone in the living room. 

“Did you talk to her this morning?” Claude asked from beside him. 

“Yeah, usual pre-comp anxieties. Nolan talked to her and Nicole to give the usual pep talk and then we talked for a while on their way to the arena,” Joel answered, looking back to the TV to see you prepping for bars, “she said podium training went well, but Kathryn was talking shit, so all I know is she better kick her ass.”

“You know she will, it happens everytime. She gets in her head and still does amazing, just a casual Tuesday,” Scott added. 

“It’s not Tuesday?” Travis questioned.

“Yes, I know,” Scott said, confusing everyone. 

“Alright, moving on,” Joel reiterated. 

“And starting on bars, we have y/n y/l/n. Now if you remember, less than a year ago, y/n was injured at another competition doing a beam dismount that she might be competing in today’s competition. She is definitely one to watch as she has a reputation of scoring high in these meets, before and after her return. Her teammate, Nicole Carter, will be following up.”

Joel watched as you stepped away from the chalk box to start your routine, he watched intently as you jumped from the springboard to reach the high bar. He watched intently as you went through your routine. Release skills. Giants. Pirouettes. More release skills. More giants. Dismount. Stuck landing. 

“A great start to Day 1 for y/n, who seems pretty proud of how that routine went,” the announcer said, “rotation two will be beam, where we might see that 3.5 twist, which is currently in the process of being named by Kathryn Davis, who was the first to compete it at a major competition. Now the question everyone is wondering is will we see this skill from y/n today?”

“She’s doing it. Fucking dumbass,” Joel grumbled at the announcer. 

“Damn, Beezer, tell them how you really feel,” Travis replied, as everyone else laughed at Joel’s behavior before watching Nicole compete. Nicole’s routine ended with a stuck landing, the camera following her as she made her way off the platform and hugged you before the two of you did your secret handshake.

Knowing the next event was beam, Joel waited as other competitors did their routines as you were warming up. He knew this moment would make or break how the rest of the meet went and with this only being your second event, it needed to go well. 

Everyone watched anxiously as you saluted the judges, shaking your hands out before you reached to mount the beam. You took a deep breath before actually starting your routine. Starting the beginning choreography, you kept your movements sharp and clean. All the skills in your routine were sharp - doing this so if the dismount didn’t go well, it hopefully wouldn’t affect your score too much. 

Joel had memorized your routines, knowing you were approaching your dismount, he saw your movements become slightly hesitant. Watching as you did a quick pivot on the beam to prep for the dismount, he watched you take a deep breath. 

“C’mon, babe. You got it,” he said, and by whatever power was listening he watched your lips twitch up to a smile as you started your dismount. Going for the round-off and starting the twists, you did the three and a half twists, opening up to find your landing, and stuck your dismount. Joel’s smile grew even more when he saw how happy you were with your routine.

The rest of Day 1 of Championships went well for both you and Nicole; the two of you ending in the first and place spot in all around, with Kathryn following close behind. After the competition, both of you had your media conferences before you made your way back to the hotel. As both of you checked your phone, you saw the multiple notifications from various social medias.

“Dude, did you see what Ryanne posted?” Nicole asked, a look on her face that you couldn’t easily recognize. 

“No, hold on,” you opened Instagram to see she had tagged you in multiple posts on her instagram story: starting off with a picture of all the guys wearing a jersey with your and Nicole’s name on it, a picture of all the guys watching warms ups intently, a video of Joel and Travis debating the name of a skill from Nicole’s routine (Travis was right), a video of Joel watching you do your beam routine and cheering you on right as you go for your dismount, and then a video of everyone cheering as you and Nicole as they announced the end of day 1.

…..

After falling asleep with Joel on FaceTime, you woke up to your 6am alarm to get ready for Day 2 of championship, Joel - who had told you he would wake up with you - was still sound asleep. Getting you and Nicole an apple from the lobby, you talked to a few of your competitors and a few fans before heading back to yours and Nicole’s room. 

“Wake up, bitch, it’s Day 2 of Championships,” you said, jumping to lay next to Nicole on her bed.

“Leave me to die here, I don’t want to go. USAG can suck a homeless man’s dick,” she mumbled into the pillow. 

“That’s truly something, wait til the media teams hear about that one,” you joked, only to get a glare sent your way. 

“You know what? You can suck on one, too,” she responded, pulling the blanket over her head. 

“Well at least, there's less competition,” to which she quickly peaked out of the blanket.

“Oh, you wish. We’re neck and neck this time, so we’ll see who gets bragging rights.”

“Well if you don’t get out of bed, then we’ll never know,” you said, to which she only sent a glare your way. 

“Do we really have to get up and compete today? Do you think we could petition to reschedule?”

“I mean, I’m sure if we talked to people, we’d get a lot of signatures, but I don’t think it would go over well,” you said, grabbing your garment bag that held your leo for today, “I’m going to go get ready because I know if we end up talking to Joel and Nolan first, we won’t be ready in time.”

After you got ready, both you and Nicole got your pep talk from Nolan and Bee. On the way to the arena, both of you got a bunch of good luck messages - not just from your friends and family, but also from teammates and even some from most of the Stars roster. You had a feeling in your gut that today would be a good day. 

….. 

“Alright folks, Day 2 of Championships have been off to a great start and are about to come to a close. With Nicole Carter in first with a 57.605 All-Around score and Kathryn Davis in second with a 57.1, Cassie Riley in third with a 56.2, it comes down to the final rotations. y/n y/l/n is one of the last to go on floor today, who will need a score of at least a 13.5 to get first,” the announcer said. 

“And compared to her average score, this will be easily attainable. If she scores at least a 14.5, she’ll be first overall for both days of competition. She already has a for sure spot at Trials, even when you don’t consider scores. As long as she is able to hit all elements of this routine, she’ll be fine,” another announcer said. 

“Ok, you’re good, you just have to hit this routine and there’s no doubt you’ll make it to where you want to be. Deep breaths, Twinkle Toes,” Marcus said. 

Walking up the platform to get up to the floor, you took your spot at the edge of the floor, ready to salute the judge, and get the last meet of championships out of the way. After anxiously waiting, the judge finally saluted. Entering the floor with a determined walk, you took your spot waiting for the familiar sound of your floor music to ring out.

That familiar feeling of doing the sport you loved, once again, rushed through your veins. Block everything out and complete the routine, that’s all you had to do. Going to your starting pose, the music started. Going through the familiar motions of your routine, you stuck your first tumbling pass. Then came the leaps and jump sequence and all that was in between, with the additional three tumbling passes. 

You didn’t give yourself a chance to overthink about your routine, you knew that it wouldn’t benefit you in any way, but as you stepped off the floor you knew that you did what you could. As soon as you made it back to where Marcus and Nicole were sitting, you waited to see what your score was. 

Joel and everyone watching at home watched as you sat down to see what your score was. He had this dopey grin gracing his features from the amount of pride he felt in that moment. He didn’t care what your score was, he knew you had put whatever you could out on the mat. He listened to Travis for a moment until the announcer started up again for scores and awards, “and y/n y/l/n pulled through with the score that she needed, a 14.9 on floor. She placed first in All-Around, Carter following right behind, and Davis in third. If all goes this well at trials, I’d say we have a lot of good representation for the Olympic Games.”

…..

After the meet and countless amount of interviews both you and Nicole were extremely worn out and had both passed out on the flight back. As you and Nicole stepped out of the terminal, you were met with the familiar faces of your friends and family. You smiled as you saw Bee for the first time in a few days and despite how tired you were, you couldn’t stop yourself from running to him. 

He immediately caught you and did the cliche spin (the one you swore you would never do) before pulling you into a regular hug, “I’m so proud of you, babe. You have no idea.”

“Thank you. I surprisingly missed you,” you joked, laughing harder when Joel pulled you away slightly to catch a glimpse of your face. 

“Wow, aren’t I glad I was blessed with such a nice girlfriend? It’s crazy.”

“Absolutely insane.”

“Preposterous.”

“Can the two of you shut the fuck up?” Kevin asked, coming over to give you a hug, “you did good out there, y/n/n. You also kept all your bones intact, I’m proud.”

“Shut the fuck up, Kev.”

“Okay, aside from you getting onto Kev and Bee, I missed you, too,” Karly said from beside Travis. 

“I kinda did, too. You did amazing though, y/n/n. I’m proud,” Travis said. 

“Thank you, thank you. All in a hard day's work,” you said, shrugging. 

“Dude, you might want to go back to Beezer, he looks like a lost puppy watching you talk to us,” Travis pointed out, nodding in Joel’s direction who smiled when you caught his eye. 

“Yeah, not a shocking development,” you said, before walking back in Joel’s direction, “hey, Bee.”

“Hey, honey,” he said, wrapping his arms around you again, “you ready to go home?”

“Yeah, of course,” you leaned up to kiss his cheek. 

“Ew, guys. Get a room,” Kevin called out, fake gagging. 

[strawberrymilkgeorge]

Part Two. Jackbox Shenanigans

warnings: swearing word count: 2.6k (not including pictures) behind the screen (irl dream x reader) series masterlist ultimate masterlist

Y/n flinched awake, startled by the sounds traveling from the kitchen. Once again, the frosty air pricked her skin, trying to convince her to not move, to stay in bed under the warm blankets. Despite the feeling pulling her into her bed, she rubbed her eyes and sat up, grabbing her phone from her nightstand. Texts from Karl flooded her screen and she replied as she took her comforter off her mattress and wrapped it around herself. She pattered to the source of the noise to find her roommate was making food.

"Sorry, did I wake you?" Naomi asked, eyes wide with concern as she looked at Y/n. "I dropped a pan."

Y/n, who was observing the world through one squinted eye, shook her head and she sat at the counter in the kitchen. "No, I should be awake anyway."

"You're usually awake much earlier. Late night?"

Y/n nodded. "George streamed and we all talked for a little after."

"Oh, yeah, I watched his stream this morning..." she started, eyes focused on the food in front of her but Y/n still caught the mischievous glint in her roommate's eyes.

"Of course you did," Y/n laughed through a yawn. "That's your lover."

Naomi rolled her eyes. "Maybe if you gave me his number he would be."

"He doesn't give it to many people. I just barely got it and I've been friends with him for a year. I'm pretty sure Karl doesn't even have it."

Naomi groaned, though Y/n knew it was a joke... for the most part. She got another text from Karl, and consulted Naomi for a second opinion.

"Should I post this?" Y/n asked, lazily holding up her phone with a picture on the screen. Naomi squinted as she looked back over her shoulder. "Karl keeps yelling at me too."

"Yeah! That's a cute outfit. Make sure to credit Karl or he'll yell at you for that as well."

"No chance I'm doing that."

.

Incoming FaceTime... karol <3

Y/n hit accept and held the phone up to make a face at Karl. He mimicked the position. "Hello, sir."

"Hello, ma'am."

"What are you doing?" she asked him, walking to the bathroom to brush her teeth, her comforter dragging on the floor behind her as it continued to protect her from the cold.

Karl got distracted and started messing with something out of the camera view. "Um, trying to figure out what to do for my stream tonight. What about you?"

"I'm waiting for you to give me a fit check!" Y/n yelled. Karl quickly looked at the camera and smiled. He set his phone down on his desk and ran backward so his whole body was in frame. He posed awkwardly a few different ways before running back and resuming his position.

"Yes!" Y/n hyped with a mouthful of toothpaste. "Let's go, Karl! Karl with the old man sweater!!"

He giggled. "You're the one that told me to buy it."

"Because it's sick. Doesn't mean it didn't belong to an old man before you."

Karl pouted before his face lit up. "Guess what. I met a girl."

"Oh?" Y/n cooed. "Where? Do you have pictures? Is she cute?"

"She's Jimmy's new cameraman. Camerawoman. I don't have pictures, and yes. She's very cute." His cheeks turned red and Y/n smiled, flipping off the bathroom light and heading to her closet. She threw her comforter back on the bed and tried to pick out an outfit.

"Come on, bud, elaborate. What's her name? Have you asked her out yet?"

"You don’t get to know her name, I don’t want to jinx anything. Plus, you’ll just look ‘Mr Beast crew’ and find out anyway. Also, no, I haven’t. I'm pretty sure she thinks I hate her because I have not said a single word to her. I get so nervous when she's around I freeze up and just like... act weird. And then as soon as she's gone, Chris freaking roasts me so bad."

"Aw, I can teach you how to flirt if you want!"

"Yeah, okay," he scoffed, sarcasm dripping from his words.

"What's with the attitude? I'm great at flirting."

"No, you're not. I watched Gogy's stream last night."

"What does that have anything to do with anything?"

"I heard the way you spoke to Dream."

"What?!"

"You have zero game, Y/n. Absolutely none. Zilch, if you will."

"Yeah, because I wasn't flirting with him?"

"Not successfully, at least."

"Karl, what?" Y/n laughed but she was so confused. "No part of me was trying to flirt with anyone in that stream."

"Oh, come on," Karl groaned. "Don't do this again. Don't pretend to not like a guy and then cry to me when you're wack ass attempts don't win him over."

"Karl," Y/n started, looking directly at him. "I genuinely have no idea what you're talking about. I wasn't flirting with him. I do not like him."

"I'm just saying, you talk about him a lot. Like, you always panic when he interacts with your posts because you're scared he's going to DM you right after. And you gush about him a lot."

"I do not gush. I admire the hard work he puts into his videos but I talk the same about him as I do with George and Sapnap. The only difference is I'm friends with them and not Mr. Minecraft. He's intimidating, that doesn't mean I have a crush on him."

Karl stared for a moment, trying to read Y/n's expression to detect any lies. "You'd tell me if you did, right?"

"Karl, I tell you everything. I'd tell you if I murdered your family." They both laughed. "It's impossible to hide anything from you, you're my best friend."

"Okay, sweet, but please don't murder my family, just to be clear."

"I won't. I love your mom too much."

"Well, how was meeting Dream, then? Despite apparently not being in love with him?"

"It was cool. Terrifying because it felt very forced but the four of us hung out on the call after George ended his stream and he was much more relaxed."

"That's true. Aren't we all?"

"Not you! You're the exact same person on and off camera. Just a little ball of giggles."

Karl giggled which made them both laugh more. Suddenly, as if he completely forgot until that moment, Karl sat up quickly and yelled, "What am I going to do for the stream?"

Y/n shrugged. "See if anyone wants to play Jackbox. Chat always loves those and it's relatively easy to throw together last minute. You just need to find people that are free to play."

"Genius. Who should we invite?"

"We?"

"Yeah. It was your idea, you have to play."

"But, I've never played! And I barely know all your friends so I wouldn't get half the inside jokes. I'd be a boring addition."

"Please? They're your friends too! You just talked to Sapnap and George for four hours yesterday and George was the only one playing anything. That's friendship if I've ever seen it."

"But... others.... like literally everyone besides Sap and George...."

"Things like this are how you get to know them better. Besidessss, you're never boring."

"Fine, I'll play."

"YES!" he shouted. "Okay, who should we invite?"

**********

**********

Y/n huffed and scooted her chair closer to her desk. She pulled up Discord and hovered over the voice chat everyone was in. An overwhelming number of voices chaotically spoke over each other as soon as she joined.

"Oh no," she mumbled.

"AYYEE!!" a voice yelled, the green bubble lighting around Quackity's name confirming her suspicions.

"Aye," she said back less enthusiastic. "Hi everyone."

"She's here!" George cheered.

Y/n could hear Sapnap huff. "Finally. Geesh."

"This isn't even your stream, calm down." Y/n's eyes scanned the names on the left to read who else was involved in tonight's games. She had suggested a few people to Karl but wasn't sure about the final list. Besides the boys who had already greeted her were BadBoyHalo and Dream.

"Hello, Bugsy! It's nice to meet you! I'm BadBoyHalo."

Y/n smiled widely at his voice. "Hi, BadBoyHalo! Nice to meet you too."

Her eyes slowly traveled to the last name on the list, which had yet to greet her. She wasn't bitter, but she was curious why he hadn't said anything yet. The boys hyped up him talking about her so much but she had yet to feel that energy from him. She picked at the bottom of her hoodie, eyes darting between the names as they lit up when someone spoke.

"Is Dream still AFK?" Sapnap asked.

"I think so," Bad replied.

Maybe that's the only reason he hadn't said anything. Y/n felt stupid for thinking it had anything to do with her.

"He's probably coding something or something like that," George teased.

"Haha nerdy ass man," Quackity cackled.

"Language."

"Don't you also code shit, George?" Sapnap called out. "You're probably helping him test something after this, huh? As Quackity said, nerdy ass man."

"You know what, Sapnap? I'm not sure I like your attitude all that much."

Y/n smiled. Despite feeling nervous, she was already having fun just listening to everyone talk. The real nerves would kick in when they were live in front of tens of thousands of people and she would have to be funny.

A message popped up in the general chat, notifying everyone that Karl was joining the voice call soon so they shouldn't say anything bad.

"Everyone say something weird," Quackity directed.

Discord dinged and Karl's name joined the list on the side. "AAAHHHH-!" he started yelling over everyone to let them know he was here in case they were saying anything bad. With his luck, they were going to say stuff anyway to mess with him.

"So, yeah, that's how I lost my virginity," Quackity said as if he just finished a story.

"To a prostitute?" Sapnap added quickly. "Wow, I never thought you... oh Karl!"

"Language!" Bad gasped.

"What the..." Karl laughed loudly. "What did I just join?"

"Oh, sorry, sorry, sorry," Quackity apologized, which was hard to make out since he was laughing so hard, surprised at what Sapnap added to his joke.

"Bad, you can't say language about a prostitute," Sapnap defended. "That's really rude of you. Maybe it's a little unconventional but they're just tryna make some money the best way they know how."

George laughed with Quackity as Bad sputtered. "I-I said language about what Quackity said!"

"What, virginity?" Karl asked innocently and Bad yelled again.

"Bad hates people who have had sex!" Y/n called, causing Quackity to laugh loudly.

"Bad! How could you?! That's so messed up!"

"Wait, guys, is everyone here?" Karl asked.

"Dream isn't. We don't know where he went."

Karl groaned and started typing something, presumably yelling at Dream to join.

"Let's goooo! We're popping off!" Quackity started saying, stalling. "We're popping off!" George joined him, becoming absolute fools to keep the chat entertained.

"Okay, he's here!" Karl said. "Everyone's here!"

"I'm here, I'm here, sorry. I was... yeah, sorry," Dream stuttered out.

"Welcome back, Dream!" Bad chirped.

"Hello!" he replied. Unexpectedly, his next greeting was directed at Y/n. "Hi, Bug."

Y/n instantly got shy for no discernable reason. She blamed it on his voice and its ability to manipulate emotions any way he wanted. That and she was getting attention from someone first. "Hi," she squeaked back, hoping the contrast of her icy hands would cool her face enough to focus on the game.

"Bugsy, you are adorable," Bad stated simply.

"Sapnap! What did you just send me?" George asked loudly, and just like that, the attention was off of her and she could breathe again.

"What?" Sapnap feigned innocence.

This was going to be a long game.

"Let's play!" Karl decided. "Should we warm up with some Quippy?"

Y/n focused intensely on her answers, silently hoping the others would find her funny.

"Oh my gosh," she mumbled as everyone else finished writing. "Y'all, I'm about to get Quiplashed so hard. Don't make fun of me."

"I seriously doubt it," Dream said. "You can't possibly be worse than George at this game."

"Shut up, we always-  it's like 3 am my time. I can't, like, think of things 'cause my brain isn't functioning."

"Yeah, that's why," Sapnap teased.

"Surreee," Dream said.

The first round wasn't too bad. Y/n was in 5th place but she got quite a few laughs so she didn't care too much about where she stood. She got a notification from Dream on Twitter as everyone laughed at one of Quackity's answers.

Y/n looked back at her screen and saw the new prompt and answers. She read them quickly as everyone was laughing and with a few seconds left to choose, voted for the one on the left. It was funnier anyway.

She loosened up substantially after another round, and she knew it was mostly because Dream had reached out to her. Something about him comforted her and made her feel safe, which warmed her heart.

"Bugsy! What the hell, that's so messed up. You're so messed up," Quackity yelled, laughing at the answer on the screen. They were playing Survive the Internet and her comment got taken way out of context, just as the game intended.

"Oh my gosh!" Karl cackled loudly. "Bugsy, I didn't know you felt that way. Oh my gosh? They're just kids?? Bugsy out the gang?"

Y/n hid her face in her hands and laughed. "Noooo!! Wait I never knew- I didn't know I was ever in the gang?"

"She really said, 'infant children? slaughter them all'," Sapnap joked.

"You know, I think you'd get along really well with Technoblade," Dream added. "Though his specialty is orphans, as it appears."

"No, no, no, whoever wrote that heading is SO messed up!" Y/n defended, rereading the heading that made her comment look bad. She knew it was a game but all the attention on her was making her embarrassed. "Who would think to put that?"

"Everyone cancel Busgy!" Karl yelled.

"Karl, no! You're supposed to be my best friend!"

"I don't know how I feel about my best friend killing children..."

"Karl!!"

"Nooo," Bad protested softly. "I like Bugsy. Don't cancel her."

"Everyone vote!"

The article with Y/n's name turned out to be Dream's. "Dream! What the hell is wrong with you?" she yelled, causing him to wheeze loudly.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I wanted point."

The whole night ended up being like that. Y/n had a lot of fun and by the end, she felt a lot more comfortable with all of them. Quackity, Karl, and Sapnap were loud and very high energy while George and Bad were quieter. Dream was half and half, sometimes matching Quackity's volume and sometimes going a while without saying a word. Overall, Y/n had a lot of fun and hoped to let back in the gang in the future.

**********

PREVIOUS • NEXT

**********

A/N: WOOO PART TWOOO!! Hope you guys enjoyed this part! Also thank you so much for all the love on the first part!! I did not expect it to get as much attention as it did!!!!!

we clearly haven’t got to dream and yn being close yet bc they literally met the day before this but i added a small little dream/yn moment :] pls let me know how you liked this part!!!!!!!!!!!! 

taglist: OPEN (at the time) @hydrate-tion @loraleiix @tinaswagbd @charsdummb @smileyyuta @1ghoste1 @cerberus-hellhound @gaysludge @queestionmark @carnations-red @letsloveimagines @the-fictionwriters-hairdo @boiled-onionrings @a-cryptic @fee-btheweeb @letsloveimagines @erwinss @just-a-stan

[atlafan]

Office Neighbors - Part Three

a/n: didn’t think I’d get the third part out so soon, but here we are! enjoy! (also reblogs/feedback is super helpful) not proofread

warnings: fluff and smut

words: 11K

masterpost

Harry couldn’t stop thinking about you and the night you just had. His heart was fluttering, and he had butterflies in his stomach. He liked you, and you liked him. This was reciprocated, and it felt great. He couldn’t wait for the chance to kiss you again. Your lips on his was something he didn’t realize he was so desperately craving. He had a taste, and now he wanted more. You wanted to go on a date with him, a real date. Not just a drunken night at the pub between friends.

He couldn’t shut his brain off. He was trying to think of something else he could do with you that would be fun. He didn’t want to just take you on another hike, you’ve done that with him already.

“The cabin!”

He could easily take you on a day trip up to his cabin. It was beautiful this time of year, and he also had lake property. He usually took Andy there for a good chunk of the summer anyways. You could get up early, drive there, and then have a nice relaxing day in the sun. Then he could take you to one of the nice seafood places in town. It would be perfect. Not to mention, he remembered you mentioning that you love the beach. Feeling at ease about a plan, he’s able to drift off.

//

“Wow, calling the next day, you’re not messing around.” You chuckle. Harry called you around noon.

“What can I say, I’m a stand up guy.” You could hear him smirking through the phone. “The weather’s supposed to be nice out Thursday, I was wondering if you had plans?”

“I don’t think so…”

“How would you like to come up to my cabin with me?”

“You’re, like, super into getting me stay overnight with you, huh?”

“No! It would just be for the day. It’s got its own private lake access…got our own bathroom, know how much you like that.”

“You’ve come to know me very well this last year.” You smile. “Sure, I think a day at the beach would be great.”

“And then I was thinking we could go out to dinner after. You’re welcome to use one of the showers and all that if you wanna change.”

“Okay, looks like I’ll be packing quite a bit. It sounds great, Harry.”

“Great! It’s about an hour north from here. I could pick you up around eight if that works for you.”

“That definitely works for me.”

“Cool.” He smiles. “I…I’m looking forward to it.”

“Me too.”

Harry really was very sweet. You were excited that he wanted to spend an entire day and evening with you. You already had been out together so many times, so nothing would feel too awkward. The thought of him kissing you again also didn’t sound too bad.

//

The two of you text on and off in between then and Thursday. You both had work you needed to get done, after all. You couldn’t help but bite your lip every time his name popped up on your screen, and he couldn’t help the butterflies that soared through his stomach every time he saw yours.

Andy: you’re taking her to the cabin?!

Dad: just for a day at the beach and some good food, that’s all

Andy: so you’re dating???

Dad: I don’t know what we’re doing…we like each other, that’s about all I know

Andy: well figure it out!

Dad: I’m trying!

Andy: tell her I say hi

Dad: I will, love you!

Andy: love you too!

Harry chuckles as he texts with Andy. He didn’t want to give him too much detail about what exactly went down with the kiss, but he was keeping him up to date on other things.

When Thursday morning rolls around you’re an absolute mess. You can’t decide what bathing suit to wear. Two piece tankini? Two piece bikini? A one piece? You groan loudly to yourself. He had seen you in less, sort of, but you wanted to keep things modest, so you go with a cute one piece, and that’s that. It was black on the top, and had a flamingos and greenery on the bottom. You throw on your cover up, and put your hair up in a sleek ponytail. You pack the sundress you’re going to wear to dinner, and anything you may need for a shower. You hear your buzzer and head down.

“Hey Ha-mph!”

Before you could finish your sentence, you were backed up against the door of your building, with his lips slotted over yours.

“Morning.” He says against your lip before kissing your cheek. He grabs your bag and puts it in the trunk, then opens the door for you.

“Th…thank you.” You clear your throat as you buckle your seat. Is this how Harry was while in a relationship? Breathless, passionate kisses hello?

“It’s gonna be a beautiful day, and the lake water should be warm enough to swim in.” He says as he pulls onto the street.

“I’m surprised you don’t spend the whole summer there.”

“Andy and I will go for, like, three weeks usually in the summer. That’s where we stay when we go skiing too.”

“When did you buy it?”

“Ummmm.” He puckers his lips as thinks. “When I officially got offered the tenured position a few years ago. Started making more money, and I got it for a steal. Took some time to fix it up bit by bit. It’s great for when my family visits too. But, even before I got it, I used to rent a place in the winter for Andy so I could take him skiing.”

“God, you’re such a good dad, Harry.”

“I try to be…I…I mean, I didn’t get to be around as much as I wanted when he was really little because I was working so much. He doesn’t really remember it, but it sucked. I always felt guilty, Paige was overworked, I’m lucky she doesn’t hate me, honestly.”

“It’s hard to believe with how…close you two are.”

“It took us a long time to get like that, believe me. I know it doesn’t seem like it because we’re so nice to each other, but we used to fight all the time. We were trying to make things work for him, and then we ended it, but then we…I don’t know…we’d come back to each other every so often, but then we both realized we couldn’t do that because Andy was getting older. It would be too confusing for him.”

“And Noah was the first guy she dated after you?”

“The first serious guy, yeah. She had been on other dates. Noah was the first guy she felt comfortable introducing to Andy, and to me, for that matter.”

“And…I mean…did you ever date?”

“Little soon to be having that conversation, don’t you think?” He teases you.

“Harry, I literally told you the other night about hooking up with someone.”

“And I’d like to forget.” He rolls his eyes.

“Aww…” You poke his cheek. “Don’t be jealous, I wanted you, remember?”

“Yeah.” He smiles at you. “I dated here and there, but I was honestly too busy to give time to a relationship. I wanted to spend my free time with Andy. I mean, when I was a little younger I’d go out to the bars and I’d bring a girl home with me if it was a weekend he wasn’t with me…but I stopped.”

“How come?”

“Uhhh, I…may or may not have almost hooked up with a student.” He hears you gasp. “It’s not what you think, she was, like, twenty-two, I thought she was a grad-student, but she wasn’t, and I found out before anything serious happened. I stopped going to certain bars after that and sorted out my priorities.” He shrugs.

“I get it…I mean…I’ll admit, I hooked up with a professor before.”

“You what?!”

“Yeah.” You shrug. “I was in grad school…we were both working late…it just sort of happened.”

“I can’t believe someone would take advantage of you like that.”

“But he didn’t, I wanted to.”

“How much older was?”

“I don’t know, like fifteen years maybe?”

“See, that’s manipulation right there. No guy that much older should be pursuing someone so much younger, it’s not right. Imagine how many other people there were.”

“Gee, thanks.” You scoff.

“I’m not saying you’re not special…because you are, but-“

“You think I’m special?”

“I wouldn’t be taking you up to my cabin if I didn’t think you were.”

“Oh.” You smile and put your hand over his. You hold hands for the rest of the drive.

//

Harry gives you a tour of the house once you’re inside. He shows you what shower you’ll be able to use later, and you put your things down. You both head out and walk down to the small beach and set up your chairs and towels. You take your cover up off and start spraying your sunscreen.

“That’s, uh, you’re suit is really pretty, Y/N.”

“Oh!” You turn around. “Thanks.” You smile. You watch as he takes his shirt off. “Do you want me to spray you?”

“That would be great, thanks.”

You nod and get the sunscreen on him his chest and back. You both sit down and look out towards the water.

“It’s beautiful here.” You say.

“Yeah, not too much to complain about.”

“No waves though…”

“Sometimes there are when the boats go by.” He grabs a book out of his bag. “You don’t mind if I read do you?”

“Not at all! I brought some things to read too.”

He smiles at you and gets settled. He looks at you when he hears the click of a pen.

“Why are you working?”

“This is just what I felt like reading. I really like learning and doing research.”

“Don’t we all?” He smirks. “Wouldn’t be very good faculty members if we didn’t.”

“Very true.” You grin. “Can I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

“How come you kissed me like that this morning?”

“Because I wanted to.” He looks at you. “You didn’t like it?”

“No, I did…I was just surprised. You’re such a mellow guy, I-“

“I can get a little excited sometimes. Just let me know if it ever bothers you.”

“I will.”

You both smile at each other and then get back to your reading. After an hour or so, you get up to stretch.

“Wanna test the water?” He asks.

“Yeah.”

He gets up and takes his glasses off, and then carefully takes your hand in his as you walk down to the water. You happily intertwine your fingers with his. You were shocked at how warm the water was, but you welcome it. You don’t realize that Harry’s let go of your hand until you hear the splash he makes as he dives in. You giggle when he comes back up, floating on his back.

“Feels amazing!”

You wade in deeper and swim towards him.

“Yeah, it does. This is perfect, Har, thanks.”

“We can do this whenever you want. I like coming here to work. It’s peaceful, gets me out of town for a bit.”

“Might have to take you up on that.”

You both swim for a while and get out when you start getting pruney. Harry grabs a fresh towel that isn’t laying on the sand to wrap around you, rubbing at your arms and shoulders.

“Are you getting hungry?” He asks. “I made cucumber sandwiches.”

“You’re always making food for me, it’s so sweet.” You press your forehead to his chest and he hugs you close.

“I like taking care of people, wouldn’t mind adding you to the list.” This makes you look up at him. His eyes never looked so beautiful, you think.

“Cucumber sandwiches sound great.”

He kisses your forehead before letting you go. He pops the cooler open and hands you a sandwich. You both sit on the large towel he had put out onto the sand. You guzzle some water down as well.

“Where are we going for dinner later?”

“There’s this nice, yet casual seafood place I thought you might like. Outdoor dining and all that.”

“Oh, that does sound nice.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

//

After a quick shower, you put on your simple blue sundress, and meet Harry in the kitchen. His smile grows when he sees you. He gets everything into the car, as you’ll be driving back after dinner. Your eyes light up when you see the restaurant. It was right on the water, and you’d get a beautiful view of the sunset.

You’re seated outside, and you both decide on some sparkling water with lemon for a drink. You order some broiled scallops, and harry goes for some baked haddock. You each snag a roll and butter them up.

“Mm! Is this maple butter?” You ask.

“Yeah! Isn’t it good? I never had anything like it before I came here.”

“It’s delicious. I love when restaurants have flavored butter, makes me think things are more homemade.”

“Same here!”

Your food gets brought out, and it’s absolutely amazing. You couldn’t remember the last time you had scallops so good.

“If you ever come with me to Boston I can take you to this great seafood place I know. It’s near the north end.”

“I’ve been to that area before, I went to an Italian place though.”

“There’s too many good places to eat, it’s a good problem to have.”

You both suck on mints and hold hands at the table as you watch the sun start to go down. He takes your rand and raises it to his lips a couple of times. Harry pays for the meal, even though you told him you could split it. He looked at you like you were crazy, and it made you laugh.

“This was a really great day, thanks again.”

“I really like spending time with you, Y/N.”

“I like spending time with you too.”

You hold hands the entire drive home, and everything about it just feels right. You chat here and there, but mostly you have a comfortable silence as music plays softly in the background. You both were a little tired from being in the sun for most of the day. Harry starts to feel a little nervous when he pulls up to your building. He wasn’t sure if the night was necessarily over or not. He unbuckles his seat when you do and you look at each other. He reaches forward and tucks some loose hair behind your ear. His gaze was burning into you. You felt a little like a teenager, sitting in a boy’s car, waiting for your kiss goodnight. It was cute.

He caresses your cheek, and slides it cautiously to the back of your neck to pull you forward. You lean in, as awkward as the positioning is with the console in the way, and his lips press to yours. Your eyes flutter closed at the contact, and you can slightly taste the mint that he had been sucking on earlier. His tongue swipe across your bottom lip, and you open up for him. At first he just gently bites down on your bottom lip, sucking on it with care. You moan softly, and you feel his smile grow as he kisses you. He licks into your mouth, and you mold your tongue to his. You reach a hand forward to cup his jaw, and his other hand goes to your back so he can pull you a little closer. The windows of the car were starting to fog up, and as you look up at him you noticed his glasses were too, and this makes you giggle.

“What is it?” He chuckles, knowing full well that his glasses fogged up.

“It’s a little steamy in here.” You pull them off his face and he takes them from you. He grabs the case he keeps in the console and puts them away.

He cups your jaw with both of his hands and he brings his lips back to yours. Your hands tug at his shirt. You wanted his body on yours, you wanted to feel his full weight on you. You were both adults, you’ve known him almost a year, just ask him the fuck inside!

“H-Harry?” You say against his lips.

“Yeah?”

“Do you…um…wanna come up?”

“I do…but…”

“But what?” You caress his cheek and rub your thumb over his cheekbone.

“I just, I don’t know, I don’t wanna rush anything…and I feel like if I go up there with you, we’re going to rush into something.”

He was right. Even though you just wanted to make out a little easier, something a little more serious could happen, and you wanted to take things slow with him to make sure this really was a good choice for the two of you.

“It’s really more me, I don’t trust myself.” He continues. “You’re so fucking beautiful and perfect, and you drive me crazy in the best possible way.” He presses his forehead to yours.

“Christ.” You breathe. “Okay.” You look at him. “Call it a night then, yeah?”

“Yeah…but I’ll walk you to your door.”

“Okay.”

He turns the car off and jogs around the other side to open your door. He walks you up and you look at him. You throw your arms around his neck and kiss him again. Just like this morning, he back you up against the door, and this time he presses his body to yours. The warmth you had been craving you were finally getting a taste of. His hands on your grip you tightly. When you press your hips forward to his he backs away and kisses the corner of your mouth, a slight whine leaving your lips. The noise you make feeds right into his inner narcissist, and he can’t help but grin as he steps further away from you.

“So, when would you like to get together next?”

“Definitely before the conference.” You breathe. “Maybe we could get together for a movie?”

“I’d like that.” He smiles. “Saturday night?”

“Saturday night.” You nod. He steps forward just to give you a peck on the cheek, and he turns to go to his car.

You take a deep breath and head up to your apartment. He was a good kisser, like, a really good kisser. You could kick yourself for not opening your eyes up to this sooner, to him sooner.  

//

“Dad!” Andy sprints out of the front door of Paige’s home on Friday afternoon.

Noah had invited Harry over for a boat ride with him, Andy, and Rachel, and Harry was missing Andy terribly so he didn’t turn it down.

“Hey, buddy.” Harry and Andy share a nice hug before going back inside.

“Hey, H.” Noah says, shaking Harry’s hand. “Glad you could make it.”

“Yeah, hi, thanks for the invite. Definitely nice to get out of the house for a bit. I was a little lazy this morning.”

“Must be nice to have the summer off, yeah?”

“Well…I mean, I’m still working, writing and all that, getting my classes prepared. It’s nice not being in my stuffy office though.” He chuckles.

“Hi, Uncle Harry!” Rachel gives Harry a hug.

“Hi, sweetheart, enjoying summer so far?”

“Mhm!”

Everyone heads out to the boat, and Noah fires it up so they can get going. It was a beautiful day out. Harry thinks you’d love it, being out on the open water. Maybe sometime he’d be able to bring you along for something like this. Andy plops down next to Harry and he grins at him.

“What’s that look for?”

“How was the cabin with Y/N?”

“Oh geez.” Harry rolls his eyes. “We sat outside, caught some sun, and then we went to dinner. It was a lovely time.”

“She had fun?”

“A lot.”

“That’s good.” They look at each other for a moment. “Did you kiss her?”

“Andy…”

“Just answer the question, Uncle Harry!”

“Yeah, Uncle Harry!” Noah chimes in and Harry groans.

“Yes, we’ve kissed, okay? A few times.”

“What?! When was the first time?!” Andy asks, almost offended his father didn’t give him the juicy details yet.

“When she came by with the pizza…we kissed, and then we kissed again yesterday. It was nice.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I just didn’t want to get your hopes up…mine either I suppose. I don’t want to get too ahead of myself in case it doesn’t work out with her.”

“Why wouldn’t it work out?” Rachel asks. “You’re really funny, girls like boys that are funny.”

“Is that so?” Harry raises an eyebrow at her.

“Who taught you that?” Noah asks. “Better not be any boys in school making you laugh.”

“Go back to the original question, why wouldn’t it work out?” Andy asks.

“I don’t know.” Harry shrugs. “It’s all a part of the beginning stages of dating, I guess. You go out so you can see if you’re a good fit, and you keep going out to make sure it works, that’s all.”

“When do you see her again, H?” Noah asks, anchoring the boat out at the sandbar in the lake.

“Um, tomorrow evening. We’re going to watch a movie or something. I have to call her to see whose place we’re going to and all that.”

“That’ll be so much fun!” Rachel exclaims as Noah helps her with some sunscreen.

“Yeah, just don’t watch something that’ll make you cry.” Andy says, putting on some sunscreen of his own. “You don’t wanna freak her out.”

“I actually don’t mind crying in front of people. It’s important to show when you’re vulnerable.”

“Maybe so, but nothing’s cute about you blubbering like a baby at the end of Titanic.”

“Oi! I don’t understand how her dying, and seeing that everyone, including Jack, was waiting for her, mixed in with the music doesn’t get to you!”

“It does, but it’s not that sad!”

“It’s not that it’s sad, it’s beautiful! It’s true love!”

“Hey, um, guys…” Noah clears his throat. “Other boats around, you know?”

“Sorry, we must have this argument at least once a month.” Harry huffs. “Someday you’re going to watch it and it’s all going to hit you, and I’ll be there recording you absolutely losing it. Now come here, I need to put your hair up.”

Andy sits down in front of Harry so he can make a little sprout on the top of his head with a hair-tie before him and Rachel go jumping into the water.

“Dad! Do a backflip!” Andy calls to him.

“Don’t think I’m quite limber enough for that.” He laughs. “Think I’m gonna sit up here for bit, you have fun with your sis…with Rachel.” He had to stop himself, he knew Andy didn’t really want to think of Rachel as his sister just yet, even though every adult around them saw them as siblings.

“You can do a backflip?” Noah asks, shifting his gaze between Harry and the kids.

“I used to be able to, don’t know if I could do it now.”

“Paige will be thrilled to hear things are going well with you and Y/N.”

“I’m sure Andy’s gonna tell her everything the second she gets home. Sucks she had to work today.”

“I know, I feel bad she can’t work from home as often as I can, but they need her in the office. He’s been having a great time with us, by the way. He misses you, obviously, but he’s been doing great.”

“Oh, that’s so good to hear, thanks. I miss him a lot at night, the house is a little too quiet, but I won’t have to get used to it for long.”

“Right.” Noah smiles.

“We’re going to a conference together at the end of the month, Y/N and I…it’s in New York, and we’re driving there together.”

“That’s great!”

“Yeah, I’m excited. We’re still staying in separate rooms though, little too soon to be overnight in a hotel, right?”

“You two already spent the together camping, is there a big difference?”

“It’s not like we shared a sleeping bag, we were just in the same tent, sharing the same space, and we had separate bathrooms to get ready and everything like that. I’d rather her spend the night at my house before we go to a hotel. It would feel like we were going away together or something.”

“She seems pretty easy going, try not to get too into your head about it.”

//

You: hey you! Hope you had a nice Friday. Did you wanna come to my place tonight??

Harry: hey! Yeah, I did. I went on Noah’s boat with the kids. And yeah, we can do your place :)

You: Great! Do you like those vegan chicken wings? I thought I could pop those in the oven for us along with some French fries or something of that nature…

Harry: sounds amazing, can I bring anything??

You: just yourself and whatever you may want to drink, I only have wine here

Harry: okay, what time you thinking?

You: 7??

Harry: works for me, see you then!

Harry loved getting to wake up to a sweet text from you. hey you! He thought it was really cute, like you almost wanted to call him a pet name or something, but you knew it was too soon. He gets out of bed to do his morning routine, and heads to the liquor store to grab some blueberry beer, his favorite for the summer time. He also knows that your sweet tooth comes out in full force when you drink, so he picks up some chocolate chip cookies as well. He wonders what movie you’re going to watch. There were so many good ones to choose from, after all.

He throws on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, and heads to your place when the time comes. You buzz him in, and you leave the door open for him. When he comes in your place smells like fries, which he doesn’t mind one bit.

“Hello!” He shouts as he closes the door.

“Hey!” You walk over to him wearing a pair of shorts and a tank top, and kiss his cheek.

“I brought cookies…”

“Oh, you didn’t have to do that, you’re so sweet, thanks. I just put everything out on the coffee table. Feel free to take more, I’ve just seen you eat so many times I figured I put enough, and there’s some dipping sauces too.”

“You think of everything.” He smiles.

“Do you want me to put some of those in the fridge?” You ask, pointing to his beer.

“Yeah, that’d be great. Feel free to try one if you like, it’s my favorite flavor.”

“That’s alright, I ended up grabbing some hard seltzer’s for myself. Need a break from wine.”

He takes one of his beers out of the six pack, and you stick the rest in the fridge. He sits down on your couch and you come to sit next to him.

“This looks great, thanks for putting it all together.”

“Of course! I didn’t really do much. Just turned the oven on and made sure nothing burned.” You laugh.

“So, what do you feel like watching?”

“Have you ever seen Fifty First Dates or The Wedding Singer?”

“Aren’t those Adam Sandler movies…?”

“Yeah! Two of his best in my opinion. I thought it would be nice to watch a lighthearted romcom, but we don’t have to watch either of those.”

“I could be down for Fifty First Dates, I don’t think I’ve ever seen it all the way through.”

“Really?! It’s so good, Drew Barrymore is in it with him. It’s super unrealistic, but really fun and sweet.”

Call Harry a snob, but he didn’t watch movies like these often. Guess it couldn’t hurt to not sit there and have to really analyze things, he thinks. They both scarf down their food during the first ten minutes of the movie, and sip their drinks. They were sitting closely together, but you felt like you were in high school again. Watching a movie with the boy you like and him not making a move out of fear a parent was going to walk in. But a parent wasn’t going to walk in, so you take Harry’s arm and put it around you, leaning into him. He smiles down at you and gives your arm a squeeze as you both get more comfortable.

“That’s…that’s not how memory loss disorders work.” He says.

“I know…suspension of disbelief, Har.”

“I mean…I know, but what a-“

“If you call this movie stupid I’m gonna smack you.”

“I wasn’t going to say that, I just can’t…like…oh!”

“What?” You chuckle.

“That’s why they call it Fifty First Dates…because every date to her is a first date.”

“Yeah, no shit Sherlock.” You laugh.

“Oi! I’m still trying to figure out the plot, leave me alone.” He pulls you closer to him.

“Stop trying to figure things out, just watch it and go with the flow.”

“Just can’t seem to turn my brain off, I guess.”

“Have another beer then.” You stand up and grab your empty can, and his bottle. “I can grab it for you if you want.”

“That’d be great, thanks.”

You come back a few moments later and sit back down with two new drinks. Harry puts his arm back around you and you feel incredibly cozy. You weren’t sure what it was about him, but you loved how warm he always seemed to be. He mindlessly lets his fingers move up and down your arm as you watch the movie. Everything just felt so natural, no nerves at all.

Well, you didn’t have any nerves, Harry, on the other hand, was a ball of nerves. He wasn’t quite sure what to say or do, and he didn’t want to get too tipsy either. It was nice being over at your place, he just wondered what may end up happening on this couch of yours. Not that anything needed to happen…but he certainly wouldn’t mind kissing you again. He casually takes his packet of gum out of his pocket and takes a piece out for himself.

“Gum?” He asks you.

“Sure! Thanks.” You take a piece and pop it into your mouth. “I feel like you always have gum on you.”

“That’s because I do.” He chuckles. “I used to smoke, like, a lot…think I just like having something in my mouth, honestly. I quit when Andy was born, but I didn’t wanna gain a bunch of weight, so I started chewing gum.”

“You pick at your lips a lot too.” You say bluntly, and his eyebrows raise as he looks at you. “Just something I picked up on.”

“Well, look at you reading me like the communication master you are.”

“I’m sure we all do it to each other.” You chew your bottom lip.

“You do that a lot.”

“What?”

“Gnaw at your bottom lip. You do it in meetings, or, like, when I come to see you in your office you’re doing it, when I observed you in class you did it while you were waiting for students to answer your questions. You’re a lip chewer.”

“And you’re a lip picker.” You chuckle, and he can’t help but laugh either. “I wish I knew why I did it…it’s like, I don’t know, it calms my nerves or something.”

“Is that why you like it when I do it while I’m kissing you?”

Everything feels slowed down now. Your eyes widen, and he does that thing he tends to do before he kisses you where he brushes some hair behind your ear, and cups your jaw.

“Yes.” You finally say.

He smiles and leans in, and your eyes flutter closed. He bites down on your bottom lip immediately, and you tug him closer to you.

“Can I please sit in your lap? I need to be closer to you.” You breathe.

He nods quickly and pulls you to sit on him. Your chests are now pressed together, and your arms around his neck, fingers tugging at the hair at the nape of his neck. His hands are squeezing at your hips as your tongues meet, deepening your kiss. His glasses get in the way a bit and you grunt.

“Do you own contacts?” You ask as you take them off his face, and set them on the coffee table.

“Yeah, but they’re uncomfortable.” He smirks. “What’s wrong, getting in the way?”

“Yeah.” You pout.

“Poor thing.” He pouts back at you.

He nips at your bottom lip again before moving to sponge kisses to your jaw and just below your ear. You gasp when you feel his teeth graze you. You tug at his hair and involuntarily roll your hips down on his.

“Like that?” He says against your skin.

“Yes…I…I really like being bitten, please…” You press his head back down into your neck, and he happily obliges. He mumbles something against you. “What?”

“Mm, I said, do you care if I leave a mark?”

“Nah, I can just cover it up with some makeup. It’s fine.” You smile. “Please, it feels so good, just keep going.”

You press your lips to his briefly before letting him continue. He moves your tank top and bra strap to the side so he can kiss and suck on the crook of your neck. You tug at his hair again and he grunts into you. You roll your hips onto him again as you start breathing heavier. His hands move up and down your back as he plants kisses back up your neck, jaw, and then to your mouth again. You lick into his mouth and start sucking on his tongue. His hips buck up to yours and you feel it. He’s hard, god is he hard. You both moan into each other, and you move to kiss on his neck. You know not to leave a mark on him, Andy would surely tease him, so you just mouth and lick over the areas you feel like. His hands slide up the front of your body and he starts kneading your breasts over your shirt.

“Is this okay?” He asks gruffly. “I can touch you?”

“Yes.”

He kisses on the top of your chest while his hands work over your breasts. He bites down on the fleshier parts towards the tops of your breasts, and your head rolls back.

“Your skin’s turning red…” He looks up at you and drags his fingers over the new marks on your chest.

“M’sensitive.” You pout. “It’ll go down later.”

“Maybe we should cool it for a bit?”

“No!” You whine and grind yourself against him again. “Don’t you want me?”

“Of course I do! I just…you know, we were watching a movie, and-“

“You don’t wanna take it farther than this?” You ask softly.

“Not yet, love.” He caresses your cheek and you lean further into his palm. “I mean…I do, but it’s been a while since I’ve liked someone this much and I don’t wanna rush into anything.”

“I get it.” You smile. “Would you wanna just cuddle while we watch the rest?”

“Yeah.” He kisses your forehead.

You get off his lap and lay on the couch, and he lays behind you, putting a leg between yours and an arm around your waist. You sigh happily and adjust into him.

“This is so nice.” You turn to look at him. “I love being held, I don’t know what it is. I really did sleep well when we went camping because of you.”

“I didn’t even realize I had basically latched onto you.” He chuckles. “But I know what you mean, I like being little spoon sometimes too.”

“Aww, really? I like being big spoon sometimes. It’s nice to hold someone.”

“It’s nice to be held.” He leans in and pecks at your lips before you turn back to face the TV.

Harry mindlessly strokes your hip and side while watching the rest of the movie. As the movie comes to the end, where Lucy wakes up to watch her tape like she does every day, and sees she has a daughter, you hear sniffling from behind you. You turn and look up at Harry who had a few tears running down his cheeks.

“Are…are you crying?”

“I just wasn’t expecting, I mean, goddammit the same fucking thing happened to me with Click! I don’t trust him anymore. He’s sneaky with these moment. I’m just glad they were able to make it work.” He sits up to wipe his eyes. “Love finding a way, one of my favorite tropes.”

You grip your hand around the collar of his shirt and yank him down to you, getting a surprised “Oof!” from him. You slot your lips over his and wrap your arms and legs around him. He sinks into the kiss and grinds himself against you. His lips kiss across chest and to another part of your neck.

“Ngh, you’re so hard.”

“I know.” He murmurs into your neck.

“And you really don’t want me to do anything about it?” He pops his head up at that.

He’d love nothing more than to shove his dick down your throat, but he knew how he was. Harry liked being physical in his relationships, and he knew once all that started, it would be difficult to stop. Hell, even now, after one kiss he couldn’t wait for more.

“Another time, I promise. Let’s try to get to a third date, how does that sound?”

“Sounds responsible.” You giggle and kiss the tip of his nose. You both sit up and look at each other. “You know what’s really nice about all this?”

“What’s that?”

“We don’t have to go through the awkward getting to know each other phase because we’ve done that already. I mean, we’re still learning about each other, but I like that I already know how to talk to you and stuff.”

“Me too! I feel the exact same way. Like, I was nervous to take this step with you because I didn’t really know how you were feeling, but I’ve always liked talking to you. I hope you know how much I genuinely value your friendship.”

“That means a lot to me.”

“I’m really glad we’re doing this.”

“Me too, Har.”

“I think I’m gonna call it a night, but I had a great time. Thank you for hosting.”

“Of course! I’m glad we could have an easy night in.”

He helps you clean up the plates from dinner. You each eat one of the cookies he brought over, and share a crumble-filled kiss before he heads out. The second Harry get through his door he sighs, and then sprints to his room. He rips his clothes off and grabs some lotion, and sprawls out onto his bed. His dick was throbbing from rubbing it on your for most of the night.

He runs his thumb over his now leaking tip and pumps himself. His eyes pinch closed and he grits his teeth. The one good thing about Andy being gone was that Harry a) didn’t feel weird about rubbing one out, and b) he could moan out as loudly as he wanted without care, which made the final result so much better. He imagines your mouth around him, you looking up at him with bleary eyes, gagging on him trying to take as much of him as you can because just want to be so good for him.

“Fuck, oh my god!” He cries out as he thick, white ropes of his come spurt out onto his hand and lower belly. He takes a few moments to catch his breath before cleaning up.

Once he’s clean he gets settled into bed. He’s too tired to read so he turns his light off and just as he’s about to set his phone on do not disturb a text from you comes in, and he smiles ear to ear.

You: that was a lot of fun tonight, can’t wait to see you again :)

Harry: I had a great time too…when do you think you’d like to get together next?

You: not sure…might be going to Boston in a couple of days to house sit for my parents, they have a dog they can’t bring with them to a hotel…I could let you know when I get back though!

Harry: yeah! Just let me know when you’re free

You: I will…goodnight Har

Harry: goodnight Y/N

Harry sighs happily and sets his phone down. You both fall asleep with smiles on your faces.

//

You end up having to go to Boston to house sit. Your parents had a wedding to go to. You had no problem hanging out with their dog, he was a sweet little thing. Your brother, Phil, and his partner, Julian, come over one night for dinner, and Phil notices the fading marks on your neck and collar.

“Damn, who you been seeing?” He chuckles as you all sit outside to eat.

“Oh god.” You laugh and touch one of the marks. “Okay, so you know how I was telling you guys about my cute office neighbor and how we’ve become pretty good friends?”

“Shut the fuck up.” Julian gasps.

“Turns out we like each other, and we’ve sort of started dating.”

“That’s great!” Phil says. “What’s his name again?”

“Harry, Dr. Harry Styles. He’s really sweet and we have a lot of fun together.”

“You went camping with him, right?” Julian asks.

“Mhm, we slept in the same tent, and we woke up spooning. We’ve made out a few times, nothing really serious has happened yet.” You shrug. “He was so cute, he said he hasn’t liked someone this much in a while and he doesn’t wanna mess it up.”

“When was his last relationship?” Phil asks.

“He said he’s dated here and there, but he hasn’t had something serious in a while.”

“Why?”

“He…has a son…”

“Oh, wow, how old?” Julian asks.

“He just turned eleven in May.”

“And how old is Harry?” Phil asks.

“He’s thirty-two, and I’m about to be twenty-seven, it’s the same our age difference.”

“You’re okay with dating someone who has a kid in middle school? What’s the deal with the mom?”

“I mean…he’s a really sweet boy, and I’ve known him for almost a year. Her name is Paige, and she lives like thirty minutes away from us. Her and Harry have this really good co-parenting thing going. She has a boyfriend that lives with her and he has a daughter. I’ve never seen such a civil set up, honestly.”

“I just can’t believe you’re comfortable with jumping into all that. I hope he’s worth it.” Phil says.

“I think he will be.” You smile. “We’re just seeing how things go, I’m not saying I’m going to marry the guy.”

“Then why date him at all?”

“Phil.” Julian nudges him. “I think it’s great you’re testing the waters. See how it goes, and then if things get serious you can talk about all of that other stuff.”

“I just know you wanna have kids and stuff someday, and I don’t want you wasting your time with someone who has done it all already and doesn’t want to do it again, and I’m saying that now because you know mom and dad are going to say the same thing when you eventually tell them.”

“First of all, they better not find out until I tell them. I’m not saying a damn thing until we make things official, alright? Second of all, I don’t feel like he’s a waste of time. I…I think he’s exactly what I’ve been looking for.”

//

Harry was working away at the library. It was a dreary, muggy day out, and he needed to get out of the house. He was working on his presentation for the conference, making sure his data was in order. Typically, he wouldn’t check his phone while he was working, but he just happened to glance and see your name, so of course he had to check.

You: hey! I’m back from Boston…shitty day out, huh? It was a monsoon driving back up lol, anyways, weather is looking good for tomorrow, have you ever floated the river in town?

Harry: glad you made it back in one piece! Course I have, tons of times. You didn’t go last year?

You: had no one to go with! Would you wanna give that a try with me? I could pack a cooler for us if you get the tubes

Harry: cute of you to think we’d use tubes, air mattress is where it’s at to float the river

You: so that’s a yes?

Harry: it’s a hell yes ;)

You: yay! If you want you can park at the end spot, and I can come pick you up there, and I’ll park where it starts

Harry: brilliant, looking forward to it

Harry sets his phone back down, and can’t wipe the smile off his face while he gets back to work.

You: doing anything fun…

Harry: working at the library, actually…so a different kind of fun

You: no shit? I’m actually headed there now…can I join you?

Harry: I’d be offended if you didn’t ;p

You: lol see you soon

You show up about ten or so minutes later, and sit down across from him. You whisper a hello and he whispers one back. It was nice to be able to just together and get work done at the same time. He wasn’t proving to be a major distraction, which was good. He hears you suck your teeth a couple of times and he looks up.

“You alright?”

“Yeah, my head’s just blanking…I’m trying to think of this particular word, and it’s not coming to me…oh!” You type fast before you forget it. “Got it, all set now.” You chuckle and so does he.

Since it was still raining when you both left you couldn’t exactly kiss for long, but you both confirm your plans again before you leave. You both were looking forward to your day on the river.

//

You pick Harry up at the ending spot, and he throws the air mattress in your trunk.

“How long does it take to float the whole thing?” You ask.

“With how today’s current is looking, could be roughly three hours.”

“Perfect. I love lazy days like this. It’s really hot out, I packed plenty of water, and I grabbed some seltzers and that blueberry beer you like.”

“Oh…um, thanks.” He smiles as his cheeks grow red. It wasn’t a big deal, but it was something you remembered about him, and it made his heart flutter a little.

“No worries, you had left a few in my fridge that night you came over, so I just grabbed more.” You shrug. “Tasted one, it was actually pretty refreshing.”

“It just tastes like summer to me, I don’t know how to describe it. There’s a brewery, like, thirty minutes north from here if you’d ever wanna check it out.”

“I’d love to! I like trying new things.”

Once you’re parked, Harry gets the air mattress blow up, and you grab the cooler. He furrows his brows at you for a moment.

“What?”

“Are you not wearing pants?”

“No, I just threw a big t-shirt on over my bathing suit. Do I need pants?”

“No.” He chuckles. “Was just slightly confused for a second.”

You both get settled on the water and start your float. You peel your shirt off and lay back on the air mattress. You have a different one piece on today. Floral on the top, black on the bottom. Harry lays next to you.

“This is perfect.” You say, turning your head towards him.

“Yeah…would you say this is our third date?”

“I’d say so.” You smile.

“Still having fun with me?”

“Loads.” You reach for his hand and give it a squeeze. “It was fun just working near each other yesterday.”

“I felt the same way.”

“How are you feeling about your presentation?”

“Pretty good, actually…I saw the itinerary came out the other day…do you think you’ll come to mine?”

“Of course! I wouldn’t miss it. Besides, the other presentations happening at that time didn’t really seem interesting.” You tease him.

“Gee, thanks.” He rolls his eyes. “How was your parent’s house?”

“Good, my brother and his partner came by for dinner one night. Got some work done. Nothing too exciting.”

“How come your parents didn’t just ask them to house sit?”

“Because apparently I don’t work in the summer.” You sigh. “They don’t really understand how my job works, and I’m too exhausted to explain it to them again.” You sit up and grab a seltzer out of the cooler. “Drink?”

“Please.” He sits up as well and takes a beer from you.

“What about your family?”

“Oh, mum’s over the moon about my career. She wishes I was closer, obviously, but sister and her kids keep her busy.” He takes a sip of his drink.

You look around and love how peaceful everything is.

“I’m surprised there aren’t a bunch of college kids out here, or even locals.”

“August is when it’ll really pick up. People are out traveling now. I think we also just came at a good time. You know, I have a couple of kayaks at the cabin, we could head up there again sometime and do that.”

“I love kayaking! I used to go with my friends when I was younger. It’s so much fun.” You smile and sip your own drink. “When do you get Andy back?”

“Mid-August, just to get him ready for the school year, make sure he has everything he needs, get back into our routine.”

“That’ll be nice. He’s a really great kid.”

“Thanks.” He smiles. “Really glad I get to be his dad.”

“Did you, um, ever want to have more?” You try to say it as nonchalantly as you can.

“I did…always wanted a younger sibling for him.” He smirks. “I was so stupid, I even asked Paige, like, forever ago, if she wanted me to just get her pregnant again, but she pointed out bringing another kid into a ‘broken’ home probably wouldn’t be a great idea.” He shrugs. “She was right, but it bruised my ego.”

“Why’s that?”

“Not exactly a great feeling when someone tells you that they don’t want to have another one of your kids.” He sips his drink. “But that was nearly ten years ago. I don’t know how we would have handled another, honestly.”

“Must have been difficult being so young when he was born.”

“There was a learning curve, that’s for sure. If I had another now I feel like I’d be a pro.”

“Please, with how competitive you are, you’d make sure you were the world’s best father.”

“Are you saying I haven’t already gotten that title? Because the mug I use every morning would prove you wrong.”

You burst out laughing and nudge him, and he laughs. You lay on your stomach for a bit while he lays on his back. It’s a nice, smooth float down the river. You steal kisses from each other, but you don’t go too crazy because, after all, you were out in the open. Things do feel a little…intimate, though, when you take turns getting sun screen on each other. Harry’s fingers were slightly calloused, no doubt from whatever handy work he did from around his home and gardens. You wanted to feel them all over you.

“Do you wanna come over for dinner tonight?” He asks as he drives you back to your car. “I could throw something on the grill. I have stuff to make shrimp kabobs.”

“Oh, you just happened to have that stuff laying around?”

“Yeah, don’t you?”

You loved that the two of you teased each other. It was playful and fun, and always made you laugh.

“I’d love to come by for dinner. Seems like it’s going to be a nice night.”

“It definitely will be.”

//

Harry was getting everything ready, running around his house. He wasn’t sure what might happen tonight, but he sure as hell made sure to put fresh sheets on his bed, and double checked he had condoms. He was just turning the grill on when he heard the doorbell. He heads inside to open the door.

“Hey.” You smile.

“Hi, come on in.” He gestures, and you walk in. You follow him outside to his deck. He had set the table out there and it looked lovely.

“Aw, this looks great, Har.”

“Thanks, just getting the food on now, can I get you anything? I got a bottle of white to go with dinner.”

“That’s perfect, thanks.” You pour two glasses of wine and sit down while he grills. Once everything is done he sits with you at the table. “This smells so good.”

He smiles as you both dig in, and you moan softly from the taste.

“So good, Har. You’re such a good cook.”

“Thanks, I’m glad you like it.”

After you eat and clean up, you sit on the other chairs he has on the deck, and suck on some mints.

“It was a perfect day.” You say. “Took a power nap after I showered.”

“You got a lot of color, I don’t blame you.” He looks you up and down. “That’s a nice dress, by the way.”

You were wearing a green sundress, nothing you thought was terribly special.

“Oh, thanks. I’ve had it for years.”

“Your birthday’s coming up soon, right?”

“Yeah! Beginning of August. Think I’m gonna have dinner at my parent’s house or something.”

“Do they ever come up here? I feel like you’re always going down there.”

“They’ve been up a few times, but I honestly don’t mind it. Gives me an excuse to see friends and just be in the city.”

“So…you’re just going to do a family thing?”

“Yeah, probably.” You shrug. “Birthdays aren’t really a big deal to me. Besides, we’ll just be getting back from the conference. My gift to myself will just be sleeping and not working.”

“Right.” He nods.

“That’ll be fun, the conference.”

“Yeah, I haven’t been to New York in a while, I hope it won’t be too hot out.”

“I know some really great places to get dinner if you feel like exploring a bit.”

“You’re a bit of a foodie, aren’t you?”

“A wee bit.” You giggle. You look over at him, and bite your bottom lip. In a bold move you get up and sit in his lap, straddling him.

“Hello there.”

“Hi.”

You run your hands along his shoulders and then up to his jaw. You lean down and kiss him. His hands squeeze at your hips as you take his bottom lip between your teeth. You press your chest to his and tug at his hair.

“Mm, you’re an eager thing tonight.” He tucks some hair behind your ear. You know he wants this too.

“Been wanting to do this all day.” You pout at him. “We’re nice and alone now.” You kiss his cheek and work your way to his jaw and then his neck.

Harry liked having your body on his. He liked the way it felt to have you all over him, showing him how much you wanted him.

“You smell so good.” You murmur against him. You move to kiss him again. “Can we go inside?”

“And what exactly would you like to do in there?” He smirks at you.

“Get even more comfortable.” You bite your bottom lip. His thumb comes up and pulls it away. He leans up and takes it between his own teeth to suck on. You moan softly as he lets it go. “Please.” He nods yes, and you get off him.

You both go through his sliding door into the living room. He wraps his arms around you from behind and kisses on your neck. You tilt your head to give him more access. He sinks his teeth in and you back up against him. He walks you forward towards the couch, and turns you around to lay you down on it. You tug him down with you, and wrap your arms around his neck. One of his hands kneads your breast and the other stays on your hip. You wrap your legs around his waist, and he looks down at you.

“What is it?”

“I don’t wanna be too forward, but can we move this to my room? I’d feel weird doing anything out here…this is a…family space.”

“Mhm, yeah, that’s fine.” You smile excitedly. It’s where you wanted to be anyways.

He has you keep your legs wrapped around him while he stands up. You crash your lips to his as he carries you to his room. He gets you onto the bed, and you’re both back into position, with him laying on top of you between your legs. He pulls away from your kiss and runs his thumb over your now swollen and bitten lips. Your chest was flushed and you were breathing heavily.

“Please, take your shirt off.” You tell him. He reaches behind himself to tug it off, tossing it to the floor.

Goosebumps raise on his skin as you run your hands up and down his chest and torso, tracing his tattoos. You let one hand scratch down his chest to his stomach. His hands rub circles into your upper thighs. He makes fists with the hem of your dress. You sit up slightly and lift your arms. He grins and lifts your dress off you.

Not that matching underwear was ever a big deal to you, but tonight you made sure to wear a special set. Green lace to match your green dress.

“God.” He breathes and brings his hands to your breasts.

“You can take it off if you want.” You use your upper arms to push your breasts closer together. “Or I could do it and you get rid of those shorts.”

“Deal.” He takes his shorts off and you get your bra off. His eyes grow wide when he sees you. “Christ.” He takes his glasses off and sets them on his side table before kissing down your chest.

He cups both of your breasts and licks over one of your nipples. He blows cool air on it, getting it nice and pebbled. You were fidgeting underneath him, your body writhing with anticipation. He rolls your nipple between his teeth before sucking on it. You rake your fingers through his hair and he groans against you. You could feel how hard he was and you grind your hips up towards him. He pops off your nipple and smirks at you.

“You really are eager tonight.”

“I want you, Harry.”

“I want you too…but…”

“You don’t wanna go all the way tonight?”

“I don’t know…is it too soon?”

“Why are you asking me?” You chuckle.

“Well, I mean, you really wanna just dive in?”

“I feel really comfortable with you, I wouldn’t mind if we fucked, but if you think it’s too soon we could…do other things.”

“If it were just me I’d say yeah, but…”

“I get it.” You smile. “So…can we do other stuff?”

“You mean like…” His fingers slowly drag down your stomach and over your clit before cupping you. “This?”

“Yes.” You gasp.

“You’re really wet, Y/N. Can feel it through these nice panties.”

“I-I know, I’m really turned on.”

“I did this to you?”

“Yes.” Your hips buck up when his thumb traces over your covered clit. You didn’t think Harry would be the type to tease, but you weren’t complaining.

“Yes, who?” He looks at you as he stops his motions.

“Yes…Harry.”

“You’ve told me a couple of things that you like, so you should know I really like hearing my name.” There’s that inner narcissist that he’s always talking about.

He moves his thumb back around your clit. He was killing you. Why not just take your underwear away? No, he wanted to see you squirm. He also wanted to watch and see what felt good. You move your hips along with the way he was moving his thumb, and as you feel yourself coming to the brink he takes his hand away.

“Not cool.” You huff.

“Aw, don’t worry.” He dips his fingers inside your underwear. “Is this alright?”

“Yes.” He raises his eyebrows at you. “Harry.” He smiles and rubs his fingers along your slit. “Could you…could you just take them off. I hate when I can feel it back against me, it’s cold.”

“Oh, sure.” He says, and hooks his fingers into your underwear to drag them down your legs. “Better?”

“Mhm.” You smile. “Thanks.”

He pecks your lips before getting his fingers back on you. You gasp when you feel his middle finger slip inside you. He brings it out and drags your wetness up to your clit, rubbing circles into it. You grit your teeth as you watch him. He slips two fingers back into you, and your legs fall open. He twists his fingers as he pumps them in and out, and then he curls them.

“Oh, fuck.” Your head falls back.

“Right there?”

“Yes, oh my fucking god, don’t stop, Harry.”

His fingers keep brushing your g-spot, and his thumb on your clit was incredible. You were panting and your body was starting to feel hot all over.

“Oh my god, oh my fucking god.” He starts using his other hand to rub your clit to rub better circles on you. “H-Harry, I’m gonna!” You cry out at as you release around his fingers. “Oh!” His mouth is on you the second his fingers are gone. He sucks your sensitive clit into his mouth as your hands fly to his hair. “Shit, fuck!” Your legs were shaking around him, and he was moaning into you. His tongue was working magic, and you already felt yourself getting ready to come again. “Ah, ah! Oh my god, Harry!” Your head rolls back into his pillows and it feels like you can’t see or hear anything. You feel him lick you clean and then he sits back on his calves waiting for you to come back to him. “Oh, wow.” You breathe.

“Good?”

“So good.” You look up at him. “I just, um, need a second and then I can-“

“You don’t have to if you’re tired…”

“No! No, I want to, I really do, um, can I just use your bathroom quick?”

“Yeah! Just through that door.”

You smile and get up, and quickly walk into his bathroom. You just wanted to clean yourself up, you were dripping still. You gasp when you see your reflection. Your eye makeup had gotten all smudged. You grin, wondering how much more fucked up you could look if he really fucked you. He was laying on the bed waiting for you.

“Hey.” You smile. “I really liked that, what you did. Felt so good.” You crawl on the bed and get between his legs.

“Yeah?”

“Mhm, and now I’m gonna make you feel really good. This isn’t something I do often, only for guys I really like.” You tug his boxers down and he lifts his hips to help you. Your eyes grow wide and your mouth falls open. “Jesus.” You look at him. “How the hell do hide this all day?”

“Y/N.” He chuckles.

“You’re packing!” You spit into your hand and wrap it around him. You pump him slowly and run your palm over his tip to coat him in his precome.

“I’ve thought about this so many times.” He says.

“Really?”

“You have no idea. I may not have been fucking someone else while thinking of you, but I’ve definitely thought of you.”

“Not gonna let me live that down are you?” You smirk.

“Nope, fed my ego far too much to forget.”

“Mm, well, how does the real thing compare to your thoughts?” You lean your face down towards his tip.

“Way better than, ah!” You cut him off by wrapping your lips around his tip. Just like he had hoped, you look up at him while you suck on him. “God, you’re so fucking perfect, Y/N.” He reaches forward to hold your hair back for you. “Don’t feel like you need to be pretty about it, I like it sloppy.”

With that, you don’t hold back. You bob your head up and down on him, lick him up and down, squeeze his ball, get him down your throat a couple times, gagging and choking, and then popping off. You suckle on his tip and pump the rest.

“Oh fuck, I’m gonna come.” He groans.

You keep sucking and breathe through your nose as you feel his come spurt into your mouth. Usually you didn’t like the taste, and not that you especially did now, but it was some of the better tasting come you’ve had. You wonder if he drank a lot of pineapple juice or something. You suck on him until there’s nothing left, and pop off. You look him in the eyes as you swallow and wipe the corners of your mouth. Before you can ask him how good it was he grabs you by the back of your neck to kiss you.

“So, you liked it?” You giggle.

“It was so good, thank you.” He kisses you again. “So fucking good. Let me, uh, get you a shirt or something, yeah?”

“Why?” You chuckle.

“So…you’ll feel comfortable to sleep.” He says as he pulls his boxers back on. “Unless you like sleeping naked, which I have no problem with.”

“Oh, I don’t have to stay.” You say, grabbing your bra and underwear off the floor.

“You…you don’t wanna spend the night?”

“I don’t have any of my stuff here, like, I need to wash all this makeup off, and I’d wanna brush my teeth.” You snatch your dress and throw it on. “I’d just feel better in my own bed I think.”

“Oh.” He wanted to cuddle, he needed to cuddle.

“Is that okay?” You stand up and walk towards him.

“I’m not gonna force you to stay here if you don’t want to…”

“It’s not that I don’t want to…I just…I just think I’m too old to stay at a guy’s house and be uncomfortable and wake up feeling gross because I didn’t get to go through my normal routine.”

“Did you…think this was going to happen tonight?”

“I was hoping.”

“Then why didn’t you bring some of your things with you?”

“Harry!” You laugh. “Do you know how psycho that would look?” You shake your head and start walking out of his room.

“Hey.” He grabs your wrist. “Next time, just bring your shit with you, yeah? We’re not kids, I wouldn’t have been put off.”

“Alright, good to know.” You smile at him. “Are you mad that I’m leaving?” You cup his cheek.

“No.” He pouts.

“I’ll be honest, I’m not usually the sleepover girl, but if that’s something you like…maybe next time we could do this at my place? Ease into it a little.”

“Okay.” He presses his forehead to yours. “When’s next time?”

“Probably when we leave for the conference…only a few days away.”

“Right.” He kisses your cheek and down to your neck. Your eyes flutter closed. “You sure you need to go?” He mumbles as he bites down into your skin.

“Fuck.” You breathe. “I…”

“Actually, you’re right to go. Leave you wanting more.” He smirks and steps back from you.

“Goodnight.” You roll your eyes.

“Goodnight.”

You peck at his lips before heading out the door. Harry was beside himself. Anytime he hooked up with someone they either wanted to spend the night or wanted him to spend the night. He surely thought you were going to want to cuddle, or even stay after he alluded to it. But you held your own, and didn’t let him pressure you. He couldn’t help but respect that.