#although i do feel bad cause he suggested getting coffee and walking around the park but i don’t really drink coffee i gotta break it to him

[gerards-way]

CUTE BOY ASKED ME TO HANG OUT SOMETIME THIS WEEK

[roniscloud]

psh - love affair

park sunghoon [f. 8516 words] love affair

so when i’m gonna know what to feel inside, baby?

maybe it’s just all in my head, so

don’t overthink, this is love

maybe it’s just a crush

baby, is this your love affair, your love affair?

synopsis: what happens when two childhood best friends make a deal to help each other’s reputations? an unforeseen circumstance prompts sunghoon to approach you, intriguing not just you but practically every other student at your college. you believe your reunion with him can only end in one of two ways: you resort back to being friends and go on with your lives, or you use each other and once you’re both done, you fall out and never talk again. how will you two navigate your companionship? is it just the nostalgia coming up? a revival of feelings? a new crush? could it possibly be actual love?

genre + tropes : fluff. comedy. the slightest angst. childhoodbestfriends!au. enemiestolovers!au. college!au. fakedating!au. 

warnings: fem reader. a little swearing. slightly suggestive themes, sorta. a few cliches. mentions of underage drinking. the american collegiate school calendar. does them geeking out over fantasy/sci-fi sagas need a warning? unknown mutual pining. they’re so helplessly clueless of their feelings. also appearances of the rest of enha plus txt.

i. prologue

if someone told you that you would reconnect with your childhood best friend—let alone date him, you would’ve laughed in their face and told them to fuck off. park sunghoon is bad news. well, at least to you he is. one of the infamous campus playboys, you can spot him around the quad flirting with a different girl practically every day. 

but to you, he couldn’t have been anymore unlike the sunghoon you grew up with. you grew up with the sunghoon who couldn’t stand being around others, mind always focused on his own interests. you knew him as the little shy boy who would hide behind his mom whenever new people came around. the first person he opened up to was you. you can blame your mom for that. you can vaguely remember her words, something along the lines of mrs. park and i have been friends for longer than you have been alive. when we found out we were both expecting, we knew you two were destined to be besties. 

she was right. everyone thought you were two peas in a pod. wherever one of you went, the other followed. always stuck together, like true partners in crime. your close bond stuck for years. if anyone needed you, you’d most likely be found in the seats of sunghoon’s ice skating practices and competitions, cheering him on and being obnoxiously loud. likewise, he always attended your showcases, spending hours complimenting your artwork.

but then the villain of everyone’s lifetime eventually appeared. puberty. 

alas, your friendship did what anyone could predict of a couple of preteens entering high school. the usual “no matter what we’re gonna stick together!” leading to “sorry for blowing you off, got really busy,” to the imminent “what happened to us? we used to be so close,” and eventually the end of it all. senior year, the two of you attempted to leave on a good note. by that, you mean your parents made both of you apply to the same colleges to have a chance at sticking together. well, it worked, you got into the same university. funny how the universe does things.

back to present day, you’re now in your second year at hybe university. let’s just say, sunghoon isn’t the only one who went through a personality change. sunghoon traded his late night practices on the ice to one-night stands at frat parties. you, on the other hand, traded your once outgoing and fun-loving persona for a more… cold grunge meets artsy introvert. overall, let’s just say you both have reputations for not being the most approachable people. well at least you still have one thing in common.

ii. the cafe

the busy campus cafe was roaring with study groups filling every table. the aroma of fresh coffee and tea being brewed filling the air, creating a warm atmosphere—contrast to the cold winter weather just outside the walls. the college students scattered around, just like their minds scattered as they prepare for finals. not immune to the dreaded time of year, a group of four boys enter, immediately grabbing the attention of those already nestled inside.

a quick roll call of the four known by the student body as en-4, a combination of the dance crew name enhypen and the notorious f4. lee heeseung—the campus heartthrob, captain of the dance crew, center of the basketball team, and an unknown hopeless romantic. park jongseong, although everyone calls him jay—the resident bad boy and party animal, but those close to him know that he’s actually the responsible one. sim jaeyun, otherwise referred to as jake—the friendly and flirty frat boy who you can catch playing soccer in the quad almost every day. finally, park sunghoon—the handsome heartbreaker. he doesn’t need more of an introduction.

the four of them make their way to the counter, placing their orders. of course jake doesn’t miss his chance to sound extra sweet and send a quick wink to the barista, getting elbowed by heeseung in the process. after getting their drinks, they look around to see almost no where to sit. not a single table to fit all of them was available. 

in one of the tucked away areas, sunghoon spots an empty seat at a smaller table. the only catch was there was someone sitting across from it, hunched forward over her laptop. he can’t see much of her figure but he immediately recognizes her features. it’s you. well, a more mature and grown up you, but he couldn’t forget that face for the life of him.

sunghoon’s feet drag himself across the crowded room, catching the attention from the neighboring groups he passed but sneaking away quiet enough to not alarm his own friends. the three are too caught up arguing about what to do. sunghoon can hear the faint voice of jay suggesting going somewhere else while the other two shoot him down as he walks further away. he makes his way all the way up to your side. you look up, scanning him, confused but unamused. “this seat taken?” the first words he said in a year and half to you. still not not giving him any emotion, you hesitantly shake your head once, immediately bringing your focus back to your essay.

ignoring him only works for so long, his gaze not leaving the top of your head. you can feel his stare piercing into you, finally meeting his eyes. “what’s your deal?” the irritation and bluntness in your tone is all too evident.

he shrugs and answers nonchalantly, “nothing, just go along with it.” his answer is hushed, almost as if he’s a bit embarrassed.

“what are you trying to pull here, park?”

“can i not just sit here and peacefully drink my latte? am i that disturbing to you?”

“considering that the second you started walking in this direction, everyone had their eyes on us, then yes, you are that disturbing.”

“they’re not looking at us.” he pauses before continuing with his rant, “they’re looking at you.”

“and why the hell do you think that is?”

“they’re all trying to figure out what could possibly be so interesting about you that i would choose this seat.” he says it like it’s the most obvious answer.

you scoff and turn to see the lingering stares of the others in the cafe. “well, if it isn’t the god park sunghoon being as humble as ever, gracing me with his presence and having mercy on a peasant like me.” the sarcasm dripping off your tongue like venom.

he smiles warmly at your animosity and chuckles. “i’ve always loved your sense of humor.”

“funny cause i’ve always despised yours. i’m gonna ask one more time. what do you want, park?”

he only shrugs. hesitating before responding again, “i like it here. i like talking to you. it’s familiar… comfortable.” he sees your expression change subtly. it’s only for a second before you regain the prior look. he tries to read you. he caught you off guard and his pride brings a smirk to his face. 

by now, he finally tunes back into the situation around him and can feel his phone going off in his jean pocket. he pulls out the phone to see dozens of notifications, quickly stealing a glance back up at you to see that you’re already back to typing away on the previously forgotten assignment. he laughs as he sees the boys blowing up their group chat asking what he was doing. he looks up, finding the three sitting at a cramped booth with shock and confusion written all over them.

“enjoying the attention?” your turn to break the silence. when he turns back to you, you continue, “you’re no stranger to it but you’ve always loved it.” he gives you a slow nod, turning the question back to you. you answer him, “you know that it’s not my forte.”

“and why is that? scared people will get to know the real you?”

“oh please, like you aren’t afraid of me exposing all the dirt i have on you. imagine the buzz i could create with all of your old baby pics.”

he jolts up from his relaxed position, eyebrows raised, and completely on edge, “you wouldn’t dare.”

you lean forward in your seat, elbow resting on the table, cheek resting in your palm, and chuckle, “try me.” the words leaving your mouth quickly and a smile immediately replacing it.

“you’re finally smiling at me. good to know you still have emotions.” he gets you to laugh again. you spend the next 20 minutes catching up. looks like you two kept more in common than you thought. things run smoothly between the two of you, some of your old memories and inside jokes being brought up. “why didn’t this happen sooner?”

“what, us talking? i mean, you and i stopped running in the same crowd and school got the best of us. i will admit, though, freshman year sucked without you.”

he sighs when he hears your admission. “how about this? a proposition. i’m sure you’re aware that i don’t have the best reputation.”

you cut him off, “you can say that again.”

“haha, very funny,” he throws in another sarcastic comment. “you know you’re not exactly the most approachable either. hate to be the one to break it to you but you’re pretty intimidating.” he notices the expression on your face turned into one of annoyance at his last statement, “don’t look at me like that, you know it’s true.”

you dismiss the slight jab, telling him to continue. what you don’t expect is the next four words to come out of his mouth. “go out with me.” he sees your face drop, “oh come on, stop looking at me like that.”

“so i see, a little bit of time without me and you go insane.”

“look, i don’t mean actually date me, i mean… pretend to.”

again, you stare at him like he grew another head. “you want me to fake-date you? what are we, in a k-drama now? sorry hoon, you’re attractive but i would’ve preferred hwang in-youp or song kang.”

now he’s a bit annoyed, answering cockily, “i am so much better looking than them.”

“you wish.”

his jaw drops for a few seconds and then he chuckles. “i’m serious, think about it. we go out and spend time with each other like old times. i don’t look like i’m so incapable of being in a committed relationship and you don’t look like such a loner. no offense.”

“offense taken… but i see your point.”

“see, look at you using that smart brain of yours. this would be no strings attached. just two friends helping each other out while simultaneously deceiving everyone else. i know how much you love tricking others.”

you sit quietly, weighing the pros and cons in your head. “deal.”

iii. bro code

a few days later, sunghoon sits in his shared apartment with the boys, slumped on the couch as they eat dinner. “why are you guys so against it? i thought you wanted to see me in a relationship and now that i’m in one, you guys don’t approve. make it make sense. i should be free to date whoever i want.”

“yeah dude,” pausing to take a bite of his burger, “we get that.” jay answers, seeing how defensive his friend is getting.

jake interejects, “we respect your choices, but like… her? of all the girls that are falling at your feet, you chose her? the one that has no interest in you at all? i know you’re powerful but i don’t get how you managed to pull that off.”

“i feel like you could’ve consulted us about it first. bro code, man.” heeseung says as he shrugs his shoulders and sips on his soda.

“that’s kinda why i like her, because she isn’t all over me like the others. she’s cute and fun to hang out with. just give her a chance. honestly, what’s the worst that could happen? we go out and it doesn’t work. no harm in trying….”

that seems to do the trick as the boys lay off from the topic, going back to their own dinners and watching the latest episode of the penthouse.

later that night, sunghoon leaves their dorm to meet up with you. you agreed earlier that if you needed to meet up and talk that you’d go to the art department. perks of being an art major allows you a studio to spend your time in, secluded from the outside world. in this case, you and sunghoon don’t have to worry about nosy roommates.

when he arrives, he makes sure to take the back entrance like you mentioned. he makes his way through the deserted halls, glancing at each room he passes, and taking note of the various pieces framed along the corridor walls. he gets to the end of the building, finding a studio decorated with your name on the door. he silently enters. you don’t notice him at first with your back against the entrance and the music playing too loud through your airpods, focused on molding the clay on the pottery wheel. he grabs an empty stool, propping it beside you and taking a seat. he takes off one of your airpods, putting it in his own ear.

you finally turn your head towards him, “how long ago did you get here?”

“just now. how long were you waiting?”

you sit up, facing his direction. “i had a couple of classes today and came here to finish some stuff, been here for… what time is it?”

“um… almost 11.”

“then like four hours.”

“you’ve been working on that for four hours? what even is it, and when did you start doing pottery?” he points at the unfinished ceramic.

“not just that. i had some paintings that i needed to finish for my portfolio and those are in a separate room to dry. this,” you refer to the clay, “is just something i’m working on for fun. i got into it cause one of my profs suggested i try another medium.”

he nods along while you explain. “you can keep working on it while we talk.”

you hum in confirmation and turn back to the wheel, rewetting your wands. “so how do we make this believable? seems like people already know. word spreads quick when it comes to you.”

“we just need to act like a couple. so hanging out, going on dates, posting each other here and there, and being affectionate.”

“wow you finally found an excuse to kiss me,” you laugh as you joke with him, him following suit. “sounds reasonable, not much different from how we were as kids, just now we have to call them dates.”

“shouldn’t cause too many problems. just don’t fall in love with me, babe.”

you smile at the new nickname, “likewise, hoon.” you continue throwing the clay, molding it to your desired shape. you hyperfocus on the sculpture, tuning out the boy sitting next to you as he watches—he catches on that you still have the habit of pouting whenever you work on your art. you hunch forward, letting some of your hair fall in front of your face. too caught up, you don’t notice that sunghoon left his seat to stand behind you. he takes your locks and ties it into a messy ponytail. you snap out of your tunnel vision to ask, “why do you just have a hair tie handy?”

“i always had to carry some around for you because you always lost them. i never grew out of it, i guess.” he grins warmly, “do you remember how many times you had complained when you would get paint in your hair and i would have to clean it up for you?”

“how could i forget?” the night ends with more laughs and reminiscing on your childhood. time really does fly faster than you think.

iv. rated pg

the bell rings as you and sunghoon enter the convenience store. you two are discussing the movie you two just watched as you walk through the aisles. 

you split up agreeing to meet back at the register. you make your way to the drinks in the back while sunghoon goes to get snacks. you grab an iced jasmine tea for yourself and an iced vanilla latte for hoon. sunghoon yells over the stands as he browses, “hey, what should i caption for my insta post?”

you respond loudly, “i don’t know, something related to movies.”

sunghoon looks at the picture on his phone: a photo of you two snuggled up in the theater, most of your face hidden in his hoodie. he types in quickly “rated pg for park’s girl <3”, hits post, and goes back to browsing. he goes to grab bento boxes, honey butter chips, candy jellies, and practically everything his eyes landed on. 

when you make it to the cashier, you see sunghoon with his arms full. “you good there, park?”

a muffled “yup” is heard behind all the food.

you look around, walking away when you find what you needed. going closer to him, “why didn’t you just grab a basket?” you start to take some things from his arms, lightening his load. 

“i… uh… didn’t think of it.” he pauses in between, an embarrassed expression adorning his face. you giggle as you take everything to be rung up, missing how his ears turned red. you catch the worker’s name on his tag, jungwon. before you can take out your wallet to pay, sunghoon’s already entering his card into the machine. you whip your head around, ready to tell him off. “nope, do not look at me like that.” you roll your eyes at him as you grab the bag with what you just bought. 

“oh come on… you can’t seriously be mad at me.” no response from you. “really? the silent treatment?” he scoffs jokingly when you cross your arms against your chest. he comes closer to bend down and wrap his arms around your waist. “it’s snacks. it’s not that big of a deal.”

you release yourself from his grasp and walk out of the store, still faking being mad. you mumble, “whatever,” under your beath but still loud enough for him to hear.

he bids jungwon a quick “have a nice night”, not missing him calling the two of you a cute couple. sunghoon meets up with you outside, already sitting on the curb of the parking lot. 

v. pretty boy

the start of a new semester. en-4 are sitting out on the grass of the quad. surrounding them are various groups of students, typical for the buzzing campus on a crisp spring day.

“you need to cook the noodles first. end of discussion.” jake says sternly. he and heeseung are in a heated argument over the proper order of cooking ramen.

heeseung defends himself, “you are so wrong. you make the broth first to build the flavor.”

jay brings his attention up from his phone, “neither of you should be allowed anywhere near a kitchen.”

out of nowhere, a loud car horn is heard, drawing the attention of every student in the area. sunghoon looks up to find you leaning against the passenger door of your car and yelling, “hey, pretty boy! get in.” he chuckles at both the label and how bossy you sound, turning to his friends to grab his things. the three of them are stunned at him.

jake breaks first, “wait, what?”

heeseung lets go of his argument with the australian, “dude, are you seriously leaving?”

sunghoon only nods as he walks away, not letting them ask any more questions. he notices all the watching eyes and decides why not put on a show? he shouts out to you, “thought i was picking you up later, babe.” he makes sure to emphasize the nickname as his infamous smirk tells you exactly what his intentions are.

“lecture ended early, love. prof had some emergency. thought why not surprise you…” you wrap your arms around his shoulders as he reaches you and let him lay a quick peck on your cheek. “now come on, i’m taking you out on a date so either hop in or lose your chance. your choice but i don’t have that much patience so hurry up.”

“yes, ma’am,” he leans in closer and guides his hands lower from your waist. “but i’m driving,” he says as he sneakily takes your keys from your back pocket, 

“you sly fox.” he laughs at the new nickname as he opens the door, letting you sit down before closing it. he makes his way around the hood, noting that all attention is still on you two. he meets eyes with his friends again, the three looking much like the faces he saw in the cafe almost six weeks ago. as he buckles in and starts the car, you rest your hand on top of his on the gear shift. he raises his eyebrows and gives you a charming smile. “by the way, why’s your friend looking at me like that?”

he looks back up to face the boys, “which one?”

“jay. since we started doing this, he keeps looking at me weird—like weirder than the others.”

he tilts his head to the side when he realizes that jay is indeed looking in your direction, but his eyes are focused solely on you. “jay is… how should i put this? you know what i’ll tell you later. for now, tell me where to?”

vi. jukebox

the hazy red glow of the neon lights and checkered tiled floors welcomed you as you led sunghoon into the local diner. this place was a staple in your childhood, your go-to hangout spot with the aforementioned boy when you were still in your youth. 

“i will say, this is a nice surprise.”

you look up to sunghoon as he sits across from you in the vinyl booth seat, “i knew you would love it.” you laugh with each other as you get situated, seeing a young but tall—why is he so tall? he looks like he’s only a teenager—server coming towards your table.

“hey, i’m niki and i’ll be taking care of you guys today,” the giant says cheerfully. “anything i can start you guys with?”

sunghoon looks up at the boy to take your order swiftly, “two strawberry milkshakes, please.” you watch as niki nods and walks back to the counter.

“well, well, well, park… you remembered?” you question teasingly with a cocked eyebrow.

“you’ve always had a sweet tooth. no wonder you loved me so much,” his turn to turn up the typical park sunghoon charm.

you scrunch your face in annoyance, “you should become a comedian.”

“i will never get tired of your sarcasm. it really just… keeps me going.” his way of joking back. “stay here. i’ll be right back,” he says quickly as he looks behind you and gets out of his seat.

you wait patiently for him, assuming he’s just going to the restroom. unbeknownst to you, sunghoon is making his way to the jukebox on the other side of the restaurant. he flips through the song list, finally finding the one he wants. he quickly puts in the coins and sets it in the queue. as he turns to go back to you, he sees an engraving on the side. he runs his fingers along it as he inspects the writing. property of sunghoon and y/n. he thinks back to your last day of eighth grade when you two etched the label onto the wood. he joyfully walks back to your table, ready to let you know about the memory. he sits next to you now, resting his arm behind you and around your back,

“what took you so long, park?”

right as he’s about to explain, niki comes to your table, “two strawberry milkshakes. anything else i can get you two?”

you turn your head quickly to the boy sitting next to you, seeing his eyes are already focused on yours. “um… no, i, uh, think we’re good.” you stumble and stutter a bit. you watch him as he nods his head and walks away. regaining your composure, you ask sunghoon again, “so what did take you so long?”

once again, he gets interrupted. the sound of “purpose” by justin bieber playing over the speakers makes him stop. he gives you a second to register the song, “that’s why.”

you tilt your head down and look at him quizzically, “really? this is why?” you reach to your drink, sipping on the straw as you wait for his answer.

he mirrors your movement, nodding his head in confirmation. he too drinks from the tall glass, contrary to your use of a straw, he opts to drink straight from the rim. he pulls the milkshake away, leaving some on his upper lip.

you burst into quiet laughter, turning your gaze away to not spit out your own shake.

sunghoon furrows his eyebrows in confusion, “what’s so funny?”

you turn back to him, “you got a little something there, park.” you wipe away the liquid from his face with your thumb, popping into your own mouth to clean it up.”there, all good now.”

sunghoon freezes in his spot, trying to comprehend what just happened. it’s quick but he feels something. trying to shake off the foreign feeling, he turns to face forward again. he feels you lean into him, head resting on his chest. a small grin appears on his face, humming along to the justin bieber tune still playing.

“i missed hearing you sing.”

sunghoon looks down at the crown of your head, “really? you used to always tease me about it, though.”

you shake your head with a light laugh, “i never meant it. whenever you sang, it always calmed me. i used to think… if you didn’t pursue skating, you could’ve been a singer.”

“and then what? i would bring you around on tour everywhere and sneak you in backstage?”

“that could’ve been fun.” you now laugh louder than before, him along with you.

there it is again. sunghoon’s not sure what it is, trying to suppress the odd emotion. he sits there, cuddling up to you in the booth, finishing the strawberry milkshakes, just hoping you can’t hear the way his heart starts to beat faster.

sitting at the bar, snacking on fries, and trying to not be seen by you two are heeseung, jay, and jake. they ask themselves would they really be considered sunghoon’s friends if they didn’t follow them and stake out their date.

vii. nerds

sunghoon picked you up from the art department today. he showed up about ten minutes too early, and he got permission from your instructor to monitor your class from the back. he waited outside the door while you cleaned up, earning a few prying looks from your peers as they exited. as you drove back to his place, you agreed to have a movie marathon. 

opening the door to his dorm, you say “we are watching star wars. luke, leia, and han solo are a way better trio than three child magicians.”

sunghoon defends his choice, “first of all, they’re wizards. second, i’m offended. harry, ron, and hermione use magic with their wands. all star wars has is weird weapons and robots.”

“they’re literally in space and excuse you, but does something called—oh, i don’t know—the force ring any bells? they’re jedis, duh.” you rolls your eyes, making your annoyance clear.

sunghoon stops in the hall, “harry potter has spells and potions.”

“star wars has chewbacca.” you stand next to him with your arms crossed.

definitively and matter-of-factly, sunghoon says, “quidditch.”

“you can’t seriously believe quidditch is praiseworthy?” you look at him crazily.

“you two are such nerds.”

you both freeze, turning to see the rest of en-4 sitting in the living room. in the midst of your argument, you both failed to notice the others were home. you realize that jay was the one to stop you two. you also realize it’s the dreaded time for the best friends to finally meet the “girlfriend”. sunghoon seems to realize it as well, reaching to intertwine your hands to both sell the act to his roomates and to calm you down.

he leads you into the living room, meeting eyes with the boys. “so… guys, this is y/n, my girlfriend.”

“it’s so nice to finally meet you! i’m jake. sunghoon here has been holding out on us. i mean, come on, it’s been like two months and he still hasn’t introduced you to us.” the australian continues on with his energetic and positive ramble, asking you questions about your relationship.

heeseung butts in to tell jake to slow down. “i’m heeseung. jake’s right though, you two started dating before winter break and we’re barely meeting you now. sunghoon is always hanging out with you and telling us everything about it. honestly, all i can tell you is to run while you still can.” the others all laugh at his antics.

sunghoon scoffs, “hey, i’m not that bad.”

you excuse yourself to get a drink from the kitchen. you can hear jake spitting out more questions like rapid fire to sunghoon as you walk away. you reach into the fridge, fishing out a water bottle.

behind you, jay enters quietly. “you two are cute together.”

you flinch at his voice, “geez, dude. almost gave me a heart attack.”

he chuckles under his breath and leans against the counter, “sorry, didn’t mean to scare you. i met sunghoon at freshman orientation and we immediately became friends, but i’ve never seen him like this.”

“really hoping you mean that in a good way.”

“don’t worry, it is. you know… he only has a soft spot for you. the three of us are his best friends but he only ever smiles like that with you.” he sways his head back and forth as he rambles, taking a pause between his words. “stay with him. it’ll be good for everyone.”

you smile at his approval, “you wanna know something? he actually said you would be the hardest to win over. he said something about you being super protective over your friends… yet, at the same time you trust their judgement. he told me that when he and i got together, he wasn’t scared to tell you but more worried as to if you would like me.”

he smiles with you now, “that all he said about me?” he asks while raising his eyebrows in curiosity.

“he also mentioned that you’re a good cook.”

viii. proud

a professor of yours is holding their annual spring showcase for contemporary art. every year, a handful of students are chosen to join and display their art amongst other renowned artists. you happen to be one of the few, a top contender chosen for your abilities.

you’ve invited your friends, including en-4 to come by the studio and see your work—albeit a bit nervous for their reactions. you stand on watch by your section, greeting the patrons and waiting for the boys to arrive.

thankfully, they show up within the first hour of the gallery opening. they each show up looking professional and chic, sporting all-black fits—most likely at the hands of jay. sunghoon immediately finding you and leading the way for the rest. you welcome them in, explaining your collection, the concentration being “vulnerability.” the works are a mix of several mediums, majority being oil paint, each displaying a closeup of various people. the paintings show their bare faces, imperfections and blemishes with nothing to hide.

the night continues with more and more passing by, complimenting your collection. by the time the exhibition ends, you and sunghoon are the only ones left in the studio. he’s stayed in the same spot, eyeing one piece incredibly closely. throughout the entire showcase, he had kept going back to the one canvas. you join his side, linking your arm with his. “this one is my favorite,” you hear him say.

you look up to meet his eyes, “why this one?”

“because…  it’s you.” you takes your arm out and moves to stand behind you, now wrapping himself around you and resting his chin in the crook of your neck. he holds your hands in his, “i am so proud of you. times like this, i am proud to call you my best friend.” he turns his head, kissing you once on your jaw, and then pulling slightly back to kiss you again on the cheek.

you turn around, hugging him closer with your arms around his shoulders, “thank you.” you hold each other for a few minutes. when you pull away, you lock eyes. you feel your heart beating against your chest and your breathing getting faster. you snap back to reality when you feel sunghoon’s lips on yours. you’re not sure why you tangle your fingers in his hair and kiss him back or why he grabs onto your waist while backing you into the wall. he continues placing pecks on the corner of you lips, creating a trail down to your neck. when you let out a sigh and say his name, he stops. there he stands, a few feet in front of you, awkward and unsure of what to do next.

he breaks the silence, “it’s late. i should drive you back home.” he watches as you slowly nod your head. the drive back to your apartment was dead silent. you tried to occupy yourself by looking out the window.

when he drops you off, he bids you a quick goodnight. “um… text me when you get back home.” sunghoon just looks forward, muttering “ok” before leaving.

in the elevator, you look at your reflection on the metal doors. you make your way inside your place and take a seat on your bed. your mind is too busy reliving the moments with sunghoon before. you try to comprehend what you should do but find yourself too tired, instead falling asleep and missing his text.

ix. spring break

it’s currently the middle of april and the boys have made you an honorary member of en-4. you and sunghoon have been pretending to be a couple and successfully tricking everyone for the last four months.

everyone has the week off for spring break. jay, being the generous guy he is, rented out a cabin in the mountains for the now five members of your friend group. you all rode in one car on the way up, and you totally didn’t fall asleep in the middle seat while cuddling into sunghoon’s side. 

you all decide to settle into your rooms once you arrive. “so there are four rooms, two downstairs and two upstairs.” jay pauses, looking towards you and sunghoon, “i assume that you’ll be fine sharing one.”

you immediately answer, “yeah, for sure.” you look to see sunghoon avoiding your gaze, sensing knowing looks from the others. sunghoon and you already guessed that they would make the two of you share a room and truthfully, neither of you minded. growing up together meant a lot of sleepovers and sharing beds so this was no problem.

he continues on, “great, you guys can take the master bedroom on the second floor cause it has the most space. i’ll take the room next to you, heeseung and jake can take the two down here.”

everyone agrees and sets off to their assigned rooms. you and sunghoon drop your bags onto the mattress, starting to unpack. the interior is spacious, the tall glass sliding doors allow lots of natural light to come in. the room itself is cozy, king size bed with matching bedside tables, and a big fluffy area rug. you’re too distracted to notice that sunghoon has gone outside to the balcony. he leans against the railing, taking in the scenic views and the breeze, basking in the setting rust-colored sun. when you finally realize that he’s not next to you anymore, you silently make you way onto the balcony, wrapping your arms around sunghoon from behind.

he tenses up at the sudden contact, relaxing when he realizes it’s you. there it is again, his heart is acting up like at the diner. he’s noticed it more often—the way that whenever he sees you, his heart beats differently. this weird feeling in his chest, this warmth that only shows up around you. he gets lost in his thoughts, envisioning what could become of your situation.

“what’s got you so lost?”

your voice snaps him back to reality. he turns around to face you, “uh… nothing, just thinking.”

just when you want to question him further and talk about what happened at the showcase, a knock is heard on the door. sunghoon walks away, going to open the door. both of you can feel the awkward tension when he leaves his spot. 

“hey, we’re kinda hungry so we’re gonna order some food and watch a movie downstairs,” jake informs you two when the door opens. “feel free to come down and join whenever.”

“yeah, we’ll be down in a bit,” sunghoon tells him as heeseung nods before leaving you two alone again. you both finish getting settled before heading downstairs. you gather around the couch as ponyo plays on the tv and you reach for a tray of sushi. 

the night continues, the moon sitting high amongst the stars. after the movie, dinner, and some drinking games, everyone retires to their respective rooms. you plop yourself onto the bed, tired after the day’s activities. you hear sunghoon getting something from his bag along with the rustling of some plastic. you crane your head up to see him approaching you. he sits on the edge of the bed, now with fluffy headbands and face masks in hand.

you scoot back a bit, “nope. no way you are getting me to do that.”

he laughs lightly at your antics, “oh come on… let me take care of you, at least just for tonight. please.” he gives you a pleading look with pursed lips, dragging out the “please” to show how desperate he is. 

that was the deciding point that led to a spa night. you both changed into comfier clothes, you borrowed one of his hoodies and sweatpants. sunghoon got settled in closer to you and you reached for his wrist to grab one of the elastic bands. you adjusted your position to sit on your knees, reaching up to tie his hair back. he, on the other hand, took one of the headbands to bring your hair back and away from your face. 

by the time midnight rolled around, you two were snuggled under the comforter with face masks, surrounded by junk food, and on the fourth episode of some random netflix show. as the night continues, a wave of sleep starts to overtake both of you. you help each other take off the masks and clean up, getting distracted every few minutes because one of you would start messing around. the boys had stopped by to say goodnight, catching you two in the middle of a mild pillow fight. after sending them off, you fall asleep in each other’s arms, basking in the warmth of your shared embrace. heeseung had snuck in at one point and stole a few quick pictures to tease you two with.

the dawn breaking through the sheer curtains causes you to stir in bed. you turn to see the alarm clock on the nightstand say 6:02. untangling yourself from sunghoon’s grasp, you sneak outside. you climb up to sit on the rooftop, feeling the cool chill of the dewy morning. the time alone gives you a sense of serenity.

meanwhile, sunghoon moves under the covers, confused why he can’t feel you. his eyes open and he doesn’t find a trace of you in the room. worried, he gets up and quietly searches the house, making sure to not wake the others. he goes into the backyard, seeing a shadow on the ground with an unusual shape. he looks up to find you perched on the roof, facing the opposite direction. he eventually climbs up to sit next to you. he hesitates before getting closer and putting his arm around you. you sigh as you lean into him. there you both stay, watching the sun come over the horizon in a comfortable silence.

x. disaster averted

the following week, you all return to campus. needless to say, the break was well used—the days at the cabin mostly being spent at the lake or around the campfire. another day spent hanging out at en-4’s dorm after classes. sunghoon went out to pick up food for everyone. you are in his room, trying to cram for an upcoming test and failing miserably because the other three are all playing fifa way too loud.

while the boys are playing, the doorbell rings. jay gets up to check who it is, seeing a young girl and immediately recognizing her. he lets in yeji, sunghoon’s little sister. she casually joins the boys around the tv, catching up on whatever has been happening in their lives. sunghoon arrives back home within twenty minutes. 

“i’m back with the food,” he shouts out loud enough for everyone to hear including you behind his closed bedroom door. he places the plastic bags on the table, looking up to see another face. “yeji? what are you doing here?”

she gets up to greet her brother, giving him a hug, “it’s my spring break and i wanted to stop by.” sunghoon then realizes that his family doesn’t know about him becoming friends with you again or about your current situation. he drags her into the kitchen hurriedly, “ok so here’s the thing… you remember y/n?”

“of course! she’s like my big sister.”

his breath gets caught in his throat for a second, “yeah, don’t call her that. anyways, her and i are friends again,” he sees yeji’s eyes widen with excitement and continues with his explanation before she can cut him off, “and she’s my girlfriend.”

“what?!”

sunghoon panics and covers her mouth with his palm, “fake girlfriend!” he rushes out the whisper. “the guys don’t know that our relationship isn’t real and i’d like to keep it that way. they don’t even know that we were friends beforehand. yeji, i’m begging you to go along with it. please do this for me.” he clasps his hands together in front of him with a pleading expression.

the young girl crosses her arms in front of her and pretends to think about it, “hmm… fine.”

sunghoon blurts out a chant of “thank you’s” not knowing that his sister only agreed cause she always thought that you and sunghoon would’ve been a good couple. he tells her to help the others set the table while he goes to you. he quickly explains what’s happening and you’re just excited that you get to see yeji again. you both leave his room and you make your own way to the living room, spotting the other girl and exchanging glances.

yeji stops what she’s doing to turn and face you, “who’s this?”

you answer back casually, “y/n. i’m a friend of the boys, and you are?”

“yeji, sunghoon’s younger sister.” she says it proudly, bringing a grin to the aforementioned boy.

“oh, you’re yeji? hoon was right… you are pretty.”

she tilts her head and cocks an eyebrow, questioning you “why would he tell you about me?”

jake chimes in like it’s second nature, “i mean, why wouldn’t he tell his girlfriend about his sister?” he states like it’s so obvious. “they’ve been together since december.”

“girlfriend?” she takes a step back in false shock, “since december? why didn’t i know about this?” 

“what? i don’t seem like your brother’s type?”

“it’s not that. i’m just surprised he managed to get and keep a girlfriend. you’re like, way out of his league and he’s a loser.” one thing to know about yeji is that as much as she loves him, she will never miss a chance to tease her brother. 

with a scoff, you finally hear sunghoon join in beside you, “not gonna lie, that one hurt a little.”

“i’m so telling mom,” she says with a mischievous smirk.

you laugh at sunghoon’s shocked face and smile at the younger park, “i like you, i think we’ll get along just fine.”

“i like you, too.” she looks at sunghoon, “keep her.”

everyone laughs at the interaction as they settle in to eat. sunghoon sits to your right while yeji sits on your left, wondering how his two favorite girls learned to be such good actresses.

xi. returning the favor

fast forward another month, the end of the semester means the dreaded finals week again. sunghoon has been, for lack of a better word, slacking on some of his classes and is now juggling to prepare for exams and revisions. couple that with yeji telling his mom about your “relationship” and her nonstop questions, all of this stress has been piled on. this all amounting to him getting sick. 

now, sunghoon being sunghoon means that he pushed everyone away and hasn’t told you about his condition. luckily for him, you’ve been cooped up in your studio trying to finish your portfolio and also prepare for your exams. unluckily for him, the boys have gotten worried and heeseung called you. 

which brings us to the present, sunghoon stuck in bed with a fever, congestion, and neglected notes. a knock on his door does nothing to help his headache but seeing your face meekly peek in makes him relax. “what are you doing here?” he asks hoarsely.

“did you really think i wouldn’t find out?”

he avoids your glare, “i didn’t want you to worry.”

“honestly i’m not upset that you’re sick, but that i had to hear it from your roommates.” you come closer to him, clearing out the scattered papers and textbooks from atop his bed. you sit on the edge, taking out some medicine and cooling packs that you picked up from the convenience store.

“you really don’t have to do this,” he twiddles his fingers in embarrassment.

you tie back his hair and place one of the packs on his forehead, “you’ve always been the one taking care of me, so i might as well return the favor.” 

you busy yourself with getting the cough medicine ready and sunghoon takes an actual look at you. he notices that you’re wearing his old skating jacket, the same one he gave you at your high school graduation. he makes more room under the covers, allowing you to come closer and lay next to him. he drapes one arm over you and holds onto the end of the jacket sleeve, “i can’t believe you kept this.”

“we stopped hanging out and we weren’t in each other’s lives for a year and a half after being together basically since birth,” you pause, a little saddened thinking back. “this was the last thing i ever got from you. it’s all i had left.”

he brings you closer, neither of you caring if you got sick. “well… now you have me again. for good.”

xii. the party

the end of the school year has finally arrived. some seniors from the txt frat are hosting a big party to celebrate. of course, en-4 was invited—mostly thanks to heeseung being close with them. although you have made more friends and now have a more active social life, parties are still not your thing. 

yet, much to your dismay, being friends with designated party people means that you’re getting bombarded with pleas to go regardless. sunghoon took the lead on convincing you, “please, i promise that it’ll be fun.” the boys join in, their voices overlapping. sunghoon practically tackles you onto your couch while pouting and furrowing his eyebrows in desperation.

“stop looking at me like that. i can’t think properly when you do that.”

right on cue, the boys start to tease you. jay clears his throat and jake makes kissing noises, meanwhile heeseung starts singing y/n and sunghoon sitting in a tree… while you just glare at them.

“if i say i’ll go, will you all leave me alone?” 

they all shout “yes” in unison. which is how you ended up at the crowded frat house. although they had begged you to come, they practically abandon you and sunghoon when you get there. jake had yelled back to you that his friend sunoo from his econ class called them over for beer pong.

you and sunghoon find a big bean bag in the corner and stay there for a bit. he offers to get you both some drinks and leaves to the kitchen. you’re not sure how long he’s gone but you eventually get uncomfortable. you start wandering the house for some space to get some air. you find an empty room and make your way into the connected bathroom to wash your face. you take some deep breaths, then realizing that you didn’t tell sunghoon. as you’re about to step out, he enters the room.

“i figured you would want some space.”

“how’d you know where i was?”

he comes up closer to you, “in the sea of people, in this mess, in this frenzy… i will always find you. no matter what happens or who comes into my life, i always find my way back to you.”

“what the hell is that even supposed to mean, park?”

“i mean…” he stops to compose himself, “oh for fucks sake, i’m tired of this being pretend. i’m tired of being allowed to call you my girlfriend in public but not treat you like it in private. when i kissed you at the showcase, i had wanted to do that for so long, and i’ve been wanting to do even more.”

“sunghoon, look-”

“wait, i’m not done. what i’m trying to say is that i want you to be my girlfriend, for real this time—not as a joke, not as a trick. i want us to be together as an actual couple because i like you, a lot more than you could believe-”

you cut him off this time, kissing him like he did all those weeks ago. you kissed him in the way that you weren’t sure what words to say other than, “i would love to be your girlfriend.”

sunghoon shines with the biggest smile, picking you up and spinning around. when he lets you down, he incessantly leaves pecks all over your face. he holds you close, “now, how about we go enjoy the party?”

you nod and lead him hand in hand towards the door. you turn the nob, only to have the three remaining members of your friend group fall at your feet. heeseung landing on top, shouting out, “i fucking knew it!”

[ryozoro]

Hades Playlist - i.

NOW PLAYING : I n t e r l u d e [J. Cole]

cw; name calling, blood, mentions of murder, major spoilers

“Fate is a very weighty word to throw around before breakfast.”

Despite the red-light district thriving through the night, it looked just as beautiful during the early morning. Yn was roaming the streets on her pedal bike for the first time since winter break as she plotted different ways to surprise her big brother at his newly opened bike shop. She had already purchased his favorite breakfast meal from the little café she worked at, and all that she was left to do was see the said man. Getting out of thoughts and returning to reality, she stopped at the side of the traffic light to press the ‘crossing’ button and to text Draken to make sure he was at work before she made the trip.

“hey there pretty girl, ya wanna come ride something more interesting than the little kiddie bike yer on right now?” some bleach blonde junior high kid called out to her, smirking as he man spread and took up most of the space on the park bench. “I know ya hear me pretty girl,” he leaned and rested his elbows onto his knees, “maybe ya want me to come over and beg for yer attention, huh? Want me to come and make ya listen to me?”

She scoffed and waited for the light to signal for her to cross, but its as if the gods wanted to punish her and traffic kept flowing out of her favor. Getting restless, she pocketed her phone and tapped on her bar handles in hopes of the cars to all be generous and let her through; of course, this did not happen and the young fuck boy in training had began to approach her alongside his friend who were hyping him up and recording the event.

“You might be older than me,” he walked up behind her and kicked her bike tire before circling around and leaning against the basket in the front, “but that doesn’t change the fact that I hit girls.” Yn had to refrain from spitting in his face because Draken always said ‘never start anything with others first, let them choose their fate.’ In other words, big bro just didn’t want her to put herself at risk due to minor inconveniences that were presented towards her.

Just as the light switched from a hand to a walking figure, yn politely smiled at the boy in hopes of him getting the hint that she did not wish to engage with him anymore, but – of course – that was just asking too much of him. He turned back and looked at the sign noticing it was their turn to cross, and he surprisingly moved out the way. Yn smiled realizing that her brother did know it best when he said that the ‘dumb young boys will leave you alone after they realize you’re not going to give them the time of day,’ and she moved to pedal across the cross walk with a large smile.

However, big bro’s words are not the golden rule amongst men and the boys did not leave her alone; in fact, they decided to run at her hit the back tire with a bat and caused her to lose control and fall in the middle of the walkway. The drivers were kind enough to wait for her to get up and cross the street with scraped knees and a dirty pull over. She turned back to glare at the boys, but their backs were already facing her as they leisurely walked away laughing. This wasn’t going to ruin her day, after all, she still gets to surprise her brother with her presence and might even have the chance to see his hot amazing friends whom you grew up around. After realizing that the former gang members might all be hanging around her brother’s workplace, she got up with a huge smile and skipped the rest of her way on the crosswalk. Once to the other side, yn hopped back on her bike without checking her bloodied shins and made her way on the quickest route to the shop.

Glancing up at the familiar billboards that danced in sky and looking down at the alleys being populated with street cats and new gen delinquents, she realized she was only a block down from seeing the man who has always put her first and raised her to strive to her fullest potential. Smiling as closed her eyes for just a second - she swears it – to bask in the excitement and next thing she knew, she was on the ground covered in coffee. She could hear faint voices but those were cancelled out by her skin screaming at her to get up and quickly remove any rubble and dirt that had entered. Moving to get up, she took note of blood staining the concrete and became slightly alarmed.

“Oi, you dumb bitch, you should watch where you’re going,” a man’s voice echoed through her head, “you got a drip of blood on my Milano’s.” Trying to get up, yn went to wipe her eyes, but as soon as she lifted her hands, she felt them share the similar sting that her knees and chin felt. “You deaf or something? Ha, lucky for you I’ll take the food in your basket and whatever is in your wallet as an exchange. Pin code for your card must be included, love.” Hearing as she was about to get stripped dry of her hard-earned cash, she shot a glare up at the well-dressed man’s body just to be sent in a more state of terror when she noticed the tattoo that decorated his temple; it was the infamous Bonten symbol.

“I say we just take her to the back alley and make her pretty throat match the rest of her bloody body,” she turned and seen a pinkette with long hair and two scars that sat on each corner of his ?beautiful? mouth. to be completely honest, he would have been very much at the top of her most attractive list if he weren’t just plotting to slice her neck right in front of her; she wondered if he ever heard of the Element of Surprise. “She hasn’t even apologized yet and it’s been at least 45 seconds, that is pretty rude don’t you think, Mochi-kun?”

“It is very rude,” the built man with slicked back blonde hair spoke up, “do you want me to take her in the alleyway?” He squatted down to meet yn at eye level and she didn’t know if it was the fact he was able to stare into her soul with lifeless eyes or the extremely structured shoulders that could break her bones if he had tackled her, but she genuinely felt that she was going to die. “You seem like a worthless kill if I am being honest, and I don’t like claiming meaningless prizes. So, if you want to live,” ‘Mochi-kun’ reached over and gripped her bloodied chin, “or are you going to be good dog and run your pockets?”

She couldn’t believe it; for all her life, death threats have never been directly shot at her as Draken and the others have always been there. Of course, she emptied her pockets as quick as she could and began wiping the man’s Milano’s with her cloth lens wipe.

“Good girl,” the man with the temple tattoo said mockingly, “but I’m gonna need you to put your pretty mouth to work since you don’t know – or rather – you act like you don’t know how to speak.” She felt her eyes began to fill with tears as she looked up from the ground; they mistook it for fear, but yn was just angry she was powerless to them. “Don’t worry, I like older women, so I won’t need your mouth for that,” he laughed loudly in her face, “lick the blood off.” Her glare returned and tears began to spill over her cheeks. “Be a good bitch, and lick my –“

“What are you idiots doing?” a man with a long pink and purple mullet-like hairstyle came from behind her. “Are you guys bullying young kids again? Oh, wait, you’re not a kid.” He stared at you through his multi-colored bangs and tilted his head, “Why are you all bloody like a sewer rat walking through the back alley of feral cats?” he pushed the girl’s forehead back, straining her neck to hold eye contact with him, “you’re not some whore, are you?” He craned his neck back to the man who has been treating her like a dog, giving yn a full view of his Bonten symbol tattooed across the middle of his pretty throat. “Neh, Koko, you do realize that if you want a girl’s attention you can’t just rough her up in hopes that she takes you to bed.” He turns back to yn before sighing, “You’re cute,” for some reason she felt herself swelling with pride, “but you’re not my type,” – well there goes her ego.

“Oh what-fucking-ever,” ‘Koko’ mumbled as he gently pushed her away, “I didn’t want some inexperienced princess anyway, so don’t get your hopes up.” He quickly bent down and took all the cash from her wallet and began to slide out the card, but a baton quickly swatted at his hands.

“Your obsession with money is crazy, but you can’t take hers if you still owe me 45,000 yen.” Yn turned to see a man with pushed back purple and pink hair holding the offending stick. Unlike the other members, his tattoo was in the same place as the mullet man – maybe they took over the organization after her other big brotherly figure, Mikey, left. She drank in his appearance, and although he was thinner than the other members, something about him just screamed ‘stay away;’ but for the first time in her life, yn didn’t want to listen to such obvious red flags. “Oh no, you’re bloodied up like a rat –“

“I have already said that nii-chan,” the mullet head said, “what do you say? Wanna jut get rid of her like Sanzu-san suggested?” The now known younger brother asks. She began to tremble but not out of fear, no, out of a weird feeling at the pits of her stomach that came about as soon as the stranger stumbled onto the scene. “Oi,” the younger brother flicked your chin, reminding your body that it is supposed to be in a state of stinging pain, “staring is rude. What are you – a deer in headlights?”

“Now, now, Ridou,” the man continued to meet yn’s gaze as he motioned for her to take his hand, “where’s the fun in hurting a good little lamb? Especially one who shows that she knows to yield to her Sheppard.” Against her better judgement, yn took his hand and allowed him to help her up. “Look at you go,” he smirked and scanned over her body through hooded lids, “such a strong little girl you are standing on wobbly legs after the big bad wolves tried to tear you down.”

She should feel offended, mocked, and appalled, but she couldn’t – not with the voids he called eyes staring at her. “T-thanks,” she weakly mumbled as she began to gather her bag back together and prop her bike back up, “I know you guys said you needed the pin number, but I can’t give it to you.” She hung her head and balled her fists; she was waiting for someone to hit her but that never came. Looking up she sees the ‘older brother’ standing in front of the brooding ‘Koko’ and the other members just staring around the streets.

“That’s fine, little one,” the older brother said, “we don’t need your card. Koko here will be fine with just the cash. But I will need payment of the sort since I did calm the bully over here, don’t you think?” He smiled at yn, quickly scanning her student ID and then turning back to her face, “You’re 18, yeah?” she nodded, and he smiled lazily, “Good, give me something of yours that is valuable. I want to talk to you again and if I take it, you are going to want to take it back, correct?”

“I – um,” she began to go through the bag and seen that the only things she deemed valuable were her phone and the spare keys to her room in the brothel, “all I have is my k-keys and phone.” She huffed out in hopes that he took mercy and just let her go already; if she kept in his presence any longer, she feared that every piece of knowledge on common sense would fly out of her brain.

“Well, no one wants a pedal bike here and your phone and keys wouldn’t be of use to me,” he spoke in a rather degrading tone, “how about, you give me that pretty little necklace that you’re wearing… hmm, ... oh! Give me your number as well. After all, how are you going to know when I want you to take back your precious gems without being able to plan a proper date?” His smile was too secretive to be comforting, but this was probably the best way to saving her own life.

“Okay,” she replied quickly, “just please, don’t break the necklace…” her hands shook as she unclasped it and placed it into the man’s hands. “That’s a gift from my brother, so I promise you I’ll come and get it whenever you ask.” Yn put her hands on her bar handles before straddling the bike.

“Thank you,” he smiled and put away the baton before fishing out his phone, “put your number in it and call to make sure you’re not fucking with me, yeah?” He tilted his head and softly hummed at the soft sound of her phone vibrating in her bag. “Thank you, yn-chan.”

“No, thank you,” she lightly coughed and waited for him to look back up at her after saving all her contact information. Once he finally looked up, she flinched but proceeded to stare him dead in his lovely irises, “May I have your name… if ya don’t mind that it.”

“Haitani Ran,” the older man laughed and shifted his weight onto his hip, “and I expect you to text me whenever you get the chance.” He turned around and the other members began to follow. For what felt like an eternity, yn finally let out a small breath, well at least until he had turned back around. “Oh!” Haitani-san smiled at her, “Leave it under ‘Ran-senpai’ so your brother and friends don’t get spooked. Don’t want the fun to end before it has barely even started.” With that, he turned back around and waved half-assed before disappearing into the distance.

Yn decided to just to walk the rest of the block because riding the bike has been nothing but bad luck so far. Once at the shop, she sighed and made her way to the back where she knew would be unlocked because no one dared walk up into her big brother’s place of work. Parking her bike, she quickly takes her phone back out with 3 texts from an unknown number.

Unknown: hey little lamb, its yer senpai <3

Unknown: yer probs with yer bro so ill call you later, mm around midnight so stay up

Unknown: text me back soon or I mite accidentally break your pretty necklace and youll have to  owe me a big favor for ignoring me :)

“what the actual fuck,” yn whispered as she quickly began typing away. She didn’t know if she be upset with his back-to-back messages treating her like she was his property, or mad at herself for feeling this little need inside of her that wants to please him. Yes, all of the gang members were extremely hot and DANGEROUS, but something about ‘Ran Senpai’ gave her the cold chills; what made it worse was the urge that she possessed to go against all her morals for him.

Yn: hi! Im sorry,, I was just trying to get to my brother’s shop

Yn: wait,, do you know draken-nii?

She tilted her head and rocked lightly from side to side, waiting for a reply instead of going in and surprising her brother like she initially had planned to do. While she waited, she changed his name to ‘Tani Senpai <3’ with a small smile as she imagined Draken freaking out over the fact that a boy has caught her interest. Of course, she wasn’t romantically interested in the man, but his face isn’t one that she would mind seeing from time to time – at a safe distance that is.

Tani Senpai <3: mhm, some good and bad history

Yn: oh?

Tani Senpai <3: you do know curiosity killed the cat, right little lamb?

Yn: you flirt a lot

Yn: how old are you ?

Tani Senpai <3: 28 years young bb

Yn: youre ten whole years older than me?? You look so,, young.

Tani Senpai <3: I have aged, but trust me, I am rather youthful in different aspects.

Yn: do you by chance,, like memes?

Tani Senpai <3: ofc, especially hornee ones.

Yn: haha.. well I gotta go,

Tani Senpai <3: mhm go ahead baby, remember. Midnight <3

 Yn: aye aye captain.

She felt another vibration as she placed her phone in her backpack, but she was finally able to see and surprise her brother and that is exactly what she planned to do. Quietly pulling the door open, she noted that the music blaring and Draken’s back was to her as he was fixing up what looked like Pah-chin’s old CBX 400F. It was a cute sight if she was being completely honest; her brother rebuilding his old friendships. She seen the other boys’ bikes lined up too: Draken’s Zephyr, Mitsuya’s little Impulse, Kazu-kun’s Rocket, Mikey’s CB250T, and even the late Baji’s Goki.

“Pah-san still has the old thing,” she decided to speak up instead of tackling her brother, “are you guys gonna give it to some younger kids?” right as she finished her sentence, draken whipped his head back and went to cradle yn to his chest. Suddenly, all of the stinging on her skin had vanished and she was giggling while circling her arms around her brother’s waist. “How are you ya wannabe greaser?”

“I’m doing fine you idiot, how are -,” draken lifted his head to get a good look at her, but all his excitement drained as he was met with a sight of dried blood and scraped skin. “Who the fuck did this to you? I’ll kill them right fucking now, what the hell happened yn?”

“DRAKEN,” he stopped and stared at you expecting an answer, “I tired riding my bike down the big hill by the park and this happened, okay? I’m okay.” She stared at him with a soft expression and relaxed once she noticed he slumped in his posture, “I know you said to stop riding down the hill because it’ll bite me in the ass one day, so I guess today was the day.” Yn laughed and draken tried to fight the small smile that was threatening to fall on his lips.

“Go sit on the counter and watch the store for a bit, I’m gonna get the first aid kit in the back and I guess I’ll patch ya up.” With that, he disappeared into the office hall and left yn to be lost in thought. She had never lied to Draken this heavy before. It might not seem like a big deal to others, but she just told her brother she fell down a hill instead of saying that some /Bonten/ men were just threatening her life 20 minutes ago and they treated her like a dog; well, she didn’t feel that bad anymore, considering that he would have gone and wasted his life against men that played dirty. “Get out of your head, I’m back.” Draken teased her before getting an alcohol wipe and wiping the dried blood, “don’t squirm too much, loser. iss’ gonna sting a bit tho, so try to not hit me.”

It went a lot more smooth than she had expected, yeah, the cleansing wipe and ointment burned, but now she was bandaged and able to not worry about even more blood staining her clothes til they go to the brothel.

“Here,” he handed her a spare shirt and some sweats, “I don’t like seeing you all beat up, makes me want to fight the side walk. You know where the bathroom is.” Draken slightly punched her shoulder before heading back to seat near the bike, “once you’re done, we can go meet the boys for breakfast. I bet yer hungry.”

“Yer the best, ya know that,” yn smiled before taking her bag and clothes to the bathroom. “It won’t be long,” she turned before entering the hall, “make sure the cute one is there!”

“Stop trying to fuck my friends,” Draken called out in an irritated tone as she walked away laughing. It was an ongoing joke yn had played on her brother, where she would pretend to have some crush on his friends and it’d just make him twenty times more protective around them; he never knew if she was serious or not so he had to be cautious.

Once in the bathroom, yn quickly changed into the clothes her brother had lent her and stared at herself in the mirror. She laughed when she realized she kind of looked like one of the main characters from her favorite psychological thrillers. Yn took out her phone and decided to message Mana, mitsuya’s younger sister and yn’s best friend from home, with a picture of her bandaged state and the caption, ‘take out my ankles next time, daddy <3.’ It honestly surprised her to get a reply that fast as Mana was always one to sleep until noon. She didn’t know what scared her more, the fact she sent it the wrong person, or the fact the person knew exactly what she was talking about.

Tani Senpai <3: you look hot like that

Tani Senpai <3: like being called daddy, but in this context arent I supposed to call you mommy or something LMAO

Tani Senpai <3: I can break your ankles with my baton

Tani Senpai <3: make you my little housewife and call you ‘Bum.’

Tani Senpai <3: don’t worry, I won’t turn into ashes ;) <3

“Yn,” Draken called out, “you okay in there?”

“Don’t worry about it nii-Chan,” she giggled in hopes of masking her terror, “just bumped into a wound. I’ll be out soon.”

“Okay,” draken slipped a pad and a tampon under the door, “don’t know if you might want these -,”

“LEAVE YOU IDIOT,” yn genuinely laughed and heard draken’s heavy chuckles through the door, “thank you though, I’ll be out soon.”

“I’ll be outside on the bike, bubs.”

After hearing draken’s foot steps vanish, she quickly began typing.

Yn: that wasn’t meant for you -

Tani Senpai <3: shame, I love killing stalking

Yn: wait,, really? 👀

Tani Senpai <3: mhm,, we’ll talk about it later tonite ‘bum ;)

Yn: .. deal :)

Despite every shitty thing that has happened to her since she got back, it felt as if they were supposed to meet; fate as one would call it. She was offering herself to one of the most dangerous men who rule the underworld, and she didn’t even find herself to minding.

masterlist | next

an: hi hello, hope yer all eating well :)

ryozoro©

[nostalgiabones]

Simple Sunday Afternoons // CH

This is just a random thing I wrote one day after talking to @calumrose as always lmao. I didn’t intend to post it but I think it’s a just a nice soft Sunday so, I thought I would! I also just wanted to make the point that the little moodboards I’ve made aren’t representative of what any of the ‘characters’ look like — they just represent the concept of the blurb! Let me know what you think, and as always, reblogs and feedback is so appreciated! ❤️

Word count: 4.2k

“Good morning,”

A warm smile rises on Calum’s lips at the words as he flips a pancake in a pan, clad in only his grey joggers and a messy mop of curls upon his head, along with the glasses he’s taken to wearing more often recently. He doesn’t hear the giggles or yawns of your daughter, just some of her usual sounds in the morning, and assumes you’re entering the kitchen alone without her.

He doesn’t have a chance to turn around and check before you’re wrapping your arms around his waist — his warm skin soothing against your own. It’s not often you get little moments alone like this — not without a baby in between the two of you, either resting in his arms or your own. Not that it’s anything to complain about; the two of you love Mara more than life itself. You just miss getting to hold Calum for a little longer in the mornings.

“Yes, it is,” Calum replies, taking one of your hands in his own, lifting it to his face and brushing his lips over your knuckles. “Where’s the little one?”

You rest your cheek against him, just wanting to be close, wanting your skin on his. “I just put her down for an early nap, she was kinda fussy. I think her teeth are coming in.”

He nods, pouting at the thought of his sweet daughter being in pain.

“We’ll have to keep an eye on her,” He states, and you nod in agreement. “She’s probably going to be asleep a while, isn’t she? Do you want to go back to bed?”

You take a sip of coffee from the mug on the counter, not caring whether it was his or one he made for you. Everything he has is yours, and vice versa — even something as insignificant as coffee. He feels the same way about your heart.

“We finally have some time together, I don’t want to waste it sleeping,” You murmur, your palm sliding down his back, the gesture familiar and soothing to him. Goosebumps break out over his skin.

“Okay, well..” He turns down the heat on the stove, moving the hot pan to a cold ring in order not to burn himself when he gets distracted by you. He spins around, a hand landing on either side of your hip, his nose brushing yours as he leans in. “I could just stand here...” he interrupts himself by brushing his lips against yours. “And kiss you instead.”

You sigh against his lips and bask in the moment, one that is so rare nowadays. He notices you pout and he chuckles — his warm palms landing on the small of your back.

“What’s up with you, pouty?” He asks, keeping your face close, his eyes searching your face.

“I miss kissing you,” You whine, and he can’t help but kiss you again with the way you’re looking at him. You think back to Sunday’s before Mara — it feels like a different lifetime, but it wasn’t so long ago. Now days are filled with tears, smiles, happy baby giggles and messy meal times — but you wouldn’t have it any other way. Even if the only time you got to be close to Calum was at bedtime, once Mara had gone down.

“You can kiss me whenever you want, baby,” He replies, his pointer finger brushing up your cheek as he furrows his eyebrows at you.

“I know, but we don’t get time anymore,” You remind him, and he nods. You know you both need to make more of a conscious effort to spend quality time with each other — instead of trying to clean the whole house whilst Mara is napping. “It’s nice to be close to you like this.”

“Maybe Mara should grow some teeth more often.” He jokes, and you slap his chest playfully as he laughs.

“Don’t say that! She’s in pain,” You scold him, your hands pressed against his chest as he holds you close. “You won’t be saying that when she wakes up in a bad mood and won’t sleep tonight.”

He knows you’re right. As much as he jokes, there’s nothing he hates more than seeing his sweet girl in pain — whether it’s her teeth or anything else.

“Touché.” He smiles, kissing you once more. “Do you want to eat? I made pancakes.”

“But that means we have to stop kissing,” You sigh, and he can’t help but laugh at you once more. Calum brushes his lips against yours, his hands rubbing up and down the tops of your arms as you stand there. There’s something about seeing you in one of his t-shirts that goes straight to his heart every single time — even after being married for several years.

“Come on, pouty. Let’s have one meal uninterrupted before we have to deal with a grumpy Mara.”

***

“Cal, I need to get up,”

The sounds of Mara’s cries fill your ears as you gently push on Calum’s shoulders; trying to get him to move from where he’s fallen asleep on your lap so you can get up to get her. The two of you decided to watch a movie (or as much as you can get away with) whilst Mara slept, yet less than halfway through, Calum had fallen asleep with his face pressed against your chest.

“Mara is crying,” You murmur, brushing your fingers through his hair to rouse him a little more as he wakes up. “I need to go get her.”

He shifts in your lap and leans on one arm so you can get up, almost face planting the sofa once you stand up and he’s left there alone. He yawns and listens to the soothing words slipping from your lips as you approach Mara’s bedroom, already knowing you’ll be met with her sad eyes and messy hair. Her cries slow down but your voice gets louder as you head back to the lounge, and he sits up so he can take her.

“Look who it is,” You kiss Mara’s temple as you carry her through to where Calum is, her tired eyes lighting up as she spots her dad. Her skin is warm and flushed from sleep, much like Calum’s — the similarity between your husband and daughter when they’ve both woken up makes your heart melt.

“Hi, honey,” Calum greets her, reaching out for her from his spot on the sofa as he wakes up a little more. She yawns and her lips curl into a small smile as you set her down in his lap, a hand coming to hold either side of her as he gets her. You sit down next to them, unable to stop yourself from smiling at their matching puffy eyes and flushed cheeks. “How was your nap, hey? Are those naughty teeth still hurting you?”

He gets an answer through her gestures — as he speaks, she presses her lips to his shoulder, like she was trying to find some relief for her angry gums. “Oh, my poor girl. Shall we get you something that’ll help, hey? I think some yoghurt might work better than my shoulder, little one.”

Calum stands up from the sofa with a dramatic groan as he lifts her, kissing her forehead as she whines in his arms, rubbing at her heavy eyes with little fists. He opens the fridge as he hums under his breath, picking out her favourite apricot yoghurt and a spoon in the hopes of soothing her mouth.

“Why don’t we go for a walk to the park in a bit?” You ask, watching as Calum sets Mara down in her high chair. He pulls up a chair in front of her so he can feed her - knowing he’s about to get as messy as she usually does. “It’s a nice day out, and we can walk Duke at the same time.”

Calum nods, coaxing Mara to open her mouth as he feeds her. “That’s a good idea. Although I think we’re gonna need a bath after this.”

“We?”

“Do you see how much yoghurt is on her hands?” He laughs, leaning forward to kiss Mara’s forehead. In the process, she reaches out for him, the sticky, dairy snack landing on his own skin. “I think there’s more on her than in her mouth.”

He’s right, she’s messy, but looks significantly less uncomfortable than she did when waking up — so it’s worth it.

***

“Watch her eyes whilst I wash her hair, Cal,”

Calum steps out of the stream of the shower so you can rinse Mara’s hair, after lathering a sweet smelling shampoo through her curls. Breakfast had been a messy affair, and in an effort to save both time and water, you decided to have a family shower together.

He cups his hand over her forehead as you gently rinse the shampoo away, your fingertips smoothing over her scalp as content noises slip from her lips. The smile on her face tells you how happy she is to have your joint attention; loving nothing more than being inbetween the two of you.

“What does she find so funny about showering?” Calum asks, laughing himself as he holds Mara, lips brushing her wet cheeks as she giggles. He grabs the sponge to clean under her chin, making sure all of the yoghurt is gone, the familiar smell of her lavender body wash a comforting one. She tries to reach for the sponge as he does — her eyes fixated on the purple object.

“I don’t know, actually.” You reply, watching her eyes follow you as you move to wash Calum’s hair, too, noticing how much the blonde has grown out and his roots have come through. “We need to swap places again.”

“We should let Mara shower with us everyday if it means you washing my hair,” He suggests, met with a playful eye roll from you. Showering together was something he’d do everyday if he could — it’s one of his favourite intimate moments with you, a wonderful way to start his day. It’s more difficult to find time for it with Mara now though.

“I don’t know why you’re acting like I don’t do it even when your hands are free,” You reply and he laughs, knowing you’re right. Having his hair played with whether you’re washing it or just running your fingers through it is one of his favourite things, especially now it’s longer — a way to instantly make him relax. “You’re just using Mara as an excuse today, isn’t he, honey? He’s using you to make me wash his hair.”

She giggles and gives you a sweet wide mouthed smile, one that you wish you could freeze in time and see forever. One that soon will be accompanied by the teeth that are causing her so much pain.

“She doesn’t mind,” He pouts as he looks at her, lips brushing over her forehead as she smiles. She follows your lead and reaches up to put her own little hands into his hair, tiny fingers grabbing the curls in an attempt to help you. You laugh at her action, with a “are you trying to help mum, sweetheart?”

Calum grimaces but can’t help but laugh as he feels Mara tugging at his hair, knowing she’s trying to help, but isn’t quite as gentle as you are. “I think you need some lessons in hair washing, my love, it feels more like you’re trying to rip my hair out.”

It hurts, but her smile makes him ache in a completely different way.

***

“Is her pushchair in the garage?”

Calum grabs a teething ring from the fridge with his free hand as he nods, Mara occupying the other as she clings to his shoulder. It’s been a few hours since her morning nap and he knows she’s getting tired again; evident through her rubbing her eyes and her little whines. He knows she’ll fall asleep on the way to the park.

“Yeah, it’s near the back, behind the car.” He replies, kissing Mara’s forehead as she leans against his chest. She yawns and he rocks her in his arms, resting his cheek ontop of her head and holds her close. “Are you tired, little moon? That shower has made you sleepy, hey?”

His voice is a soft murmur as he talks to her; the tone one that is reserved for when he speaks to her. He’s so gentle and loving whenever he speaks to her and it makes your heart melt.

“Here we go,” You open the door and push her pram into the entrance to the house, unbuckling the straps so Calum can put her in. “Do you think she’s wrapped up enough? I don’t know if it’s as warm as it looks.”

Calum lifts her in his arms and pats her back, rocking her on the spot as he judges the weather. She’s comfy in a little t-shirt, hoodie and leggings, complete with baby old skool vans that Calum got her, to match his.

“How about a hat, too? Should we get you a beanie to match dad, baby?” He asks, knowing it’ll keep her ears warm if it gets a little chilly. You smile and head to her bedroom to get one of her little hats; her collecting growing with every one that Calum buys. “Come on, sweetheart, lets get you all cosy.”

He moves her away from his body to put her down and she cries, little hands trying to hold onto the neck of his own hoodie. Calum knows she’s being fussy because she’s getting tired and her mouth hurts, yet it makes him sad all the same. “You’re okay, honey, shh.”

Calum manages to set her down in the chair without too much of a fuss; making sure she’s sat down properly, and has her little elephant in reach as well as her pacifier. He leans down in front of her and kisses her nose, making a little ‘mwah’ noise as he does to try and soothe her and make her laugh. It doesn’t though — she still tries to hold onto him so he’ll pick her up again.

“What’s with the tears, angel? What’s the matter?” He soothes, staying close to her and gently wiping her tears away with his thumb. She sniffles and his heart aches at the sight. “You can go to sleep when we get walking, okay? You’re alright, my love.”

It’s moments like these where he’s happy that her pushchair is back facing, so she can see the two of you whilst you walk. You join them near the door, Mara’s beanie in your hands, a pout forming on your lips when you spot Mara in her pushchair.

“Oh, baby, what’s wrong?” You ask, smoothing your fingers down her cheeks to soothe her. You tuck the hat over her head, making sure it covers her little ears to keep her warm. Calum hands you her soft blanket, and you tuck it around her knees so she’s snug — almost certain she’ll fall asleep as soon as you set off. “Your poor mouth is making you so sad, isn’t it? We don’t like having a sad girl.”

Calum grabs Duke’s lead and attaches it to his collar, handing it to you before he takes the handle of Mara’s pushchair. “Let’s go, my loves.”

You lock the door behind you before setting off; one hand holding Duke’s lead, and Calum takes the other — his calloused fingers slip between your own, warm and comforting. It’s such a small gesture yet it reminds you of the love between you both. Calum’s other hand pushes Mara’s pushchair at a steady pace. It’s a lovely spring afternoon — blue skies and birds singing in the trees, with just a slight breeze.

“It’s so nice to be out in the sun,” You comment, and Calum nods in agreement. His eyes land on Mara and he notices her squinting at the sun; stopping for a moment before he pulls the hood of her pushchair a little further up to shade her. “Is that better, honey? Can you see now?”

“It feels like we haven’t done this for a while.” Calum says, his thumb rubbing back and forth over the palm of your hand as you walk. He can’t help but feel a small amount of guilt nagging at his mind, knowing he’s spent a lot of time working recently. He’s always home for bedtime, but he’s always tired too — he knows you need to spend more quality time together. “It’s nice.”

“It is,” You reply, squeezing his hand in return. “When are you in the studio next week?”

Calum doesn’t answer for a moment as he thinks about the timing of you asking — like you also know that him being in the studio has meant less time together.

“I’m not going to go in,” He replies, and he knows it’s the right thing to do. “I miss you. I want to spend time with you and Mara this week, they can manage without me.”

It’s a small relief to hear the words. You never want to force Calum away from the studio, but he’s always in a different mindset when he writes. It’ll do him good to be away for a week — so you can spend more time wrapped in each other and with Mara.

You nod before speaking. “I’m so proud of you though, Cal. The songs are sounding great so far.”

A smile rises on his lips at the words, and he raises your joint hands to your lips so he can brush his lips against your knuckles.

“Thank you, honey. I know it’s a lot when we first start writing. I don’t mean to be distant, it’s just hard to get out of my head when I’ve been writing.” Calum explains, yet you don’t need him to; it’s a cycle you’ve witnessed several times throughout your relationship. You nod as he speaks.

“I know, Cal. It’s okay though.” You reassure him, leaning your head against his shoulder as you walk. “It’s all part of who you are, and I love you for you.”

Nothing else needs to be said.

It’s then that the two of you realise the gentle movement of the wheels of the pushchair against the pavement has sent Mara to sleep, and she’s tucked up under her blanket, fast asleep. Her cheeks are rosy red from the warmth and her sore gums, her little hands tucked up against her face. Calum smiles at the sight, reaching into the pram to push her curls away from her face.

“She’s so sweet.” He murmurs, his heart melting when she leans into his touch, even in her sleep.

“She’s all you,” You reply, watching as she wiggles in her sleep. From her wild curls to her full cheeks and pouty lips, every inch of her reminds you of Calum. He disagrees, though.

He shakes his head.

“No… she doesn’t get her temper and grumpy faces from me.”

Your mouth opens in shock and you playfully hit his arm as he laughs. “Hey! You know for a fact that her grumpy morning face is all from you, don’t try and put that on me.”

“Yeah, yeah,” He replies, leaning to kiss you in a silent playful apology. “Whatever you say, my love.”

***

“Should we sit down here for a bit?”

Calum nods and puts the break on Mara’s pushchair, where she’s still sleeping soundly, in between the two of you as you sit down.

“She’s been asleep for a while, there’s no way she’s sleeping tonight.” Calum tells you, and you fear he might be right, even though she needs the sleep with her teeth coming in. “Do you think we should wake her up?”

You gently push her curls away from her face as she snoozes, your heart melting at her pouty lips all smushed up as she sleeps. You realise it has been over an hour since she went to sleep, and that she’ll feel even worse later on if she can’t sleep.

“Yeah, as much as I don’t want to,” You pout, feeling how warm her skin is under your touch. “It’ll do her good to have some fresh air and wake up a bit.”

Calum gently moves the blanket from her lap and pats her tummy, slowly trying to rouse her. Ever since she was born, Mara had been a heavy sleeper - never one to be easily woken up. Maybe she did get that from you. There’d be times where Calum would take her outside with him in the morning to watch the sun rise and she’d happily sleep in his arms, undisturbed by any movement.

“Mara…” Calum murmurs, undoing the buckles so he’d be able to pick her up once she wakes up. He didn’t want to startle her, and knows she’ll just go back to sleep if he rocks her. “Wake up, sweetheart.”

He notices Mara twitch and start sucking on her pacifier — a sign that she’s a little more awake than she was. He brushes his thumb over her cheek and she whines, screwing her eyes up when she realises that she’s outside. She stretches, reaching her arms out for a moment and closing her eyes once more when she relaxes.

“I love watching her wake up.” You comment, chuckling as she very slowly comes round. Calum decides she’s awake enough to move her — carefully slipping his hands underneath her and pulling her up to his chest. “Hi, baby.”

Calum groans dramatically as he gets her settled in his lap and a few cries slip from Mara’s lips at the disturbance; fists lifting to rub her eyes as she wakes up. She sniffles and sucks harder on her pacifier, burying her face against Calum’s chest as he holds her.

“Good afternoon, my love,” Calum murmurs, rubbing her back with his fingertips as he cradles her. “Are you back with us, hey? You’ve been asleep for a long time, honey.”

You know she has no idea what he’s saying, but she loves hearing his voice all the same. He gives her a moment to wake up, brushing his fingers through her hair and cuddling her against him.

“Look how red her cheeks are,” You mention, pouting at the sight — rosy red from how sore her gums are. “Our poor baby.”

He lifts her up so she’s basically standing on his legs, her face in front of his - her hands lifting to cover her eyes from the light. There’s a few families around, children playing and birds singing — a lot of different sights and noises for her to take in. It’s a peaceful day — a feeling of contentment overcoming both you and Calum.

“Hi, little moon,” Calum kisses her pouty lips and gets her settled in his arms, a hand underneath her to keep her sat up. She yawns and her eyes land on you, a smile on her lips as she realises you’re there. “Oh, there’s a smile! We haven’t seen one of those for a little while. Should we get you home soon and have some dinner? How does that sound?”

Calum decides to carry her on the way home for a little while, and your heart melts at the sight — the way he points out different trees and her curious eyes take in the new sights. There’s no one else you want to discover more of the world with.

***

When Calum said Mara wouldn’t sleep that night… he was right. After an hour of rocking her in her room to no avail, you decide to let her join your movie night; there was no point in stressing yourself and Mara out if she didn’t feel like sleeping.

“She gets her stubbornness from you too,” Calum announces, kissing Mara’s temple as he sits down on the sofa next to you with her in his arms. Duke is curled up on one side of you, a blanket thrown over your knees as you waited for Calum to bring Mara down to join you both. “She is not sleeping anytime soon.”

Her big brown eyes look at you from her spot on Calum’s lap — evident that no sleep is about to take place. You laugh at Calum’s words and roll your eyes, shaking your head as Mara reaches out for you.

“Yeah, come here, sweetheart,” You take her and settle her in your lap, brushing your fingers through her hair. “Dad is so mean, isn’t he?”

Calum joins you under your blanket and throws his arm around your shoulder, pulling you both close to him. His cheek rests against your head as he looks at Mara, seeing so much of both you and him in her. He finds the discarded teething ring and hands it to her, hoping it’ll settle her down if it soothes her a little.

“Hey, don’t tell her that,” He replies, his free hand stroking her cheek as she yawns. “You’re meant to be on my side, sweetheart.”

“Sorry, we’re ganging up on you on this occasion, babe.” You shrug your shoulders, rubbing your hand down Mara’s back as she settles in his lap.

Mara finally falls asleep a little later that night curled up in Calum’s arms on the sofa — a warm bottle of milk managing to help her drift off. At the same time, you’re fast asleep with your head in Calum’s lap, and he decides that Sunday’s are his favourite day.

And that with his little family... every day feels like Sunday.

***

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Masterlist

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[julieloveupstead]

"It Was So Close" - Upstead 8x07

Description: They came so close to losing the most important person in their lives in an instant, but after all, they are police officers and that's their job risk, right?

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

Hailey was still asleep when Jay left her suite. They were going to start working separately that day. Jay, Adam, Kevin, and Kim were working on the Becerra brothers of the Latin Players, who Ruzek had been working on for the past few days, and Hailey had some paperwork due that had her at her desk all morning. She didn't know why, but she had the radio on on their shared frequency and was listening to something she didn't even know what exactly. Maybe she wanted to kill the boredom and the silence in the room or she wanted to make sure that the work the team was working on went according to the plan and that nothing unexpected happened, although she did not expect anything special to happen. She was almost finished with her report when Kim's voice came over the radio

- 5021, Eddie, 10-1, 10-1! Shots fired at police. We're at 4200 South Justine.

- Sergeant! - she called out and immediately a grey head emerged from her office.

- We have undercover officers firing shots. - Kim could still be heard.

- Let's go - decided the boss. Hailey took her jacket and ran to the car. When she heard her friend's words her heart stopped and the darkest thoughts came into her head and she didn't know how to throw them out. After all, Jay was surely fine, right? Shit what if he's lying there right now with a hole in his caltrop and oh god what if he's bleeding out right now and I'm not there with him? No, no, no, no. I'll never forgive myself for not being there, and I suggested to Jay that he wanted me to go with them, but he told me to get some sleep. Oh my God, what if this morning was our last? I'll never see his green eyes again, his wonderfully gallant smile that is reserved just for me and that makes my knees soften and butterflies dance in my stomach. Oh god, oh god, Hailey get a grip on yourself damn it nothing happened because if something bad happened Kim or Kevin would report it, right?

There was a war going on in Hailey's head, and her heart was rumbling in persi, and squeezing unpleasantly in her stomach. She was trembling all over her body and could barely keep herself from crying, but she knew that with Voight around, she couldn't afford to.

For Hailey, it took forever to get to the scene of the shooting, and when Voight finally parked, she took off running, praying that Jay would be okay and that she could scold him for freaking me out again.

- Jay! - shouted Hailey as soon as she saw Kim, who was waiting for backup. Apparently they had arrived first, which probably meant that nothing bad had happened, but as she got closer she saw a black cloth and a piece of shoe sticking out from under it. She froze at the sight and couldn't even move or breathe. She didn't hear someone say her name, she didn't feel Kim touch her arm. All that mattered was that she was late. That she wasn't where she needed to be, that she had let him down. She had promised Jay that she would always cover his back, that she would always be there for him. She was mad at herself for daring to tell him so late that he had long been more than a partner and friend to her. She regretted that they had so little time to themselves. She hadn't had time to tell him that she loved him, that she wanted to become his wife and grow old with him. Yes they had only been together for a month and hadn't really talked seriously about the next steps in their relationship, but it was so obvious to her that he was the one for her that she hadn't considered that something like that would happen. Or should she? She dropped to her knees a few inches from where the body was and, with trembling hands, reached to hide the bag, but then, as if from an abyss, a voice emerged that always brought her out of the dusk. She closed her eyes and let out a few tears that came unexpectedly, she wanted so badly to remember that sound.

- Hailey - she heard someone calling her more clearly now, but she still didn't open her eyes. She was afraid that if she opened them she would not see the most calming and amazing green of Jay's eyes in front of her. - 'Hailey, open your eyes, please,' she heard someone whisper, and someone's hands drawing unknown patterns on her shoulders. Just because she smelled a familiar scent she slowly opened her eyes. At first she thought it was a dream, but then when she studied with her eyes the whole face looking at her with worry, and steam escaped from his mouth, she believed that she was not dreaming that there was a whole and healthy Jay kneeling before her. Then all her senses seemed to awaken from their winter sleep and she realized what she had done, what a circus she had put on. Because of her, it was probably now anyone's guess that she and Jay were together. Damn.

When her breathing normalized and her thoughts returned to normal, she wordlessly got up from her knees and moved away from Jay, who now really looked worried and she knew he wanted to talk, but her survival instinct told her to put on the mask of a professional cop and go back to work as if nothing had happened. Because, after all, nothing had happened. Jay was alive and that was the most important thing, and they could talk later when they got back to her apartment after work. She let Jay know that she was okay and that they would talk later, and then she walked off in the direction of the arriving officers.

There was no time to talk for most of the day, about what had happened that morning. Hailey buried deep in her memory what had happened and did her best not to over-intellectualize the stares her colleagues were sending her, especially not to give into Jay's constantly sending her stares. She tried to work and act like she did on any normal work day, which was to say, professional and cold-blooded, as if it wasn't happening. She worked and functioned better that way. The only upside was that she wasn't avoiding Jay she just knew that command wasn't the place to talk, last time they broke that promise and she's pretty sure Kev suspected something. She'd promised herself she'd never let that happen again, and oh this morning it all came to a head, and now she was sure everyone knew about them. Damn. She could have acted more professionally, but emotions got the better of her.

On the other hand, no surprise there, right? Jay had already escaped death almost twice in front of her eyes, until now she sometimes wakes up at night with the sight of a bloody and unconscious Jay in that damn basement. More her reaction shouldn't surprise anyone and it doesn't have to mean anything right away. I'm sure I'm just exaggerating all these looks. She kept repeating to herself. Her head was starting to hurt from all this, so she got up from the desk she was sitting at and headed towards the breakroom with the intention of making herself some coffee.

Adam and Kim went to talk to Adam's CI, Kev disappeared as I suspect to call Vanessa who got a job in the drug department. Voight, on the other hand, went to see Deputy Inspector Samantha Miller, so it was just Jay and her left in the break room.

- Hey - she heard Jay's voice behind her who she didn't even know was standing behind her, she was still consumed with thoughts from the whole day and which she was trying so hard to keep out of her mind. She turned with a small tired smile towards the man. Jay also had a similar smile on his face, but she could also see that he looked worried and as she guessed probably because of her. This guy was unsmiling. He had barely escaped with his life recently, and he would always worry more about her than himself. Sometimes she felt guilty about it, because she didn't want to cause him even more problems, and now since they were together she felt overwhelmed by it, because no one in her life and the early one where parents in any normal family should do it and the later one when she grew up no one cared about her like he did. At every step he proved how much she meant to him. She almost felt like a princess with him. And maybe that's why losing him scared her so much back then.

- Hey, you want some coffee? - I asked, trying to sound as natural as possible, but it only took a glance at Jay to know that he didn't believe her one bit, but he slowly nodded.

Jay sat down on the couch waiting for Hailey to make them coffee in peace. He wanted to give her a moment to sort out her thoughts, he didn't want to rush her, his goal all along had been to reaffirm that she could always count on him, that he would always be there for her, despite everything. This was, after all, how their thing had started and how it would be until the end, because this was how they functioned. So without rushing, he waited patiently for Hailey to open her heart and soul to him. He did not care if it could be today, tomorrow, next week, next month or even next year, for him the most important thing was that in the end he would entrust her demons to him. And even the smallest secret from her childhood, or what she felt, would fill him with unbelievable love and pride, that she was able to trust him.

And so they sat in the kitchen, in the department and sipped their coffee unhurriedly. Jay often tried not to look at his girlfriend, but sometimes he couldn't help thinking what a damn lucky guy he was to have such an amazing woman by his side. When he heard the shots his first thought was Hailey and the guilt he felt for letting her down again, for breaking the promise he'd made to her a year ago and he'd repeated that promise last week, that he'd always come back to her. He couldn't do that to her, not when his biggest dream had come true. She was the only thing that had kept him alive for four years now almost. When he heard her calling him there that morning he felt so relieved that they still had time and a chance for everything that awaited them on their journey together. What bothered him, however, was the state Hailey was in and he knew full well it was all his fault. This overbearing little person must have been terrified and it reawakened old memories that they both wanted to forget.

- When I heard over the radio that there had been gunshots... - Hailey spoke so quietly, but Jay would have heard her even at the end of the world. He gave all his attention to his girlfriend, he would always want her to know that she was the most important thing to him, so he sat quietly letting her calmly express her emotions, he didn't rush her. - And then when she saw the two bags.... - he didn't need to see her face to know that there were tears in her beautiful ocean blue eyes. Jay stood up and slowly walked over to her. He set his cup down on the table and knelt by the woman of his life.

- Hey, Hailey will you look at me? - he asked himself just as quietly. His heart was breaking into a million little pieces when he saw how scared she was. He slowly wiped away the tears running down her cheeks with his thumb, then took her hand with his and squeezed it tightly. He wanted her to know that he was here, that he would not leave her. He did everything slowly and calmly, he didn't want her to cringe inside, to suffer. He dreamed of taking away all her pain, fear and anxiety and all the weight she carried on her back. - I'm sorry I scared you, I'm sorry it all came back again, I'm sorry you had to go through this again. - With every word, he looked centrally into her eyes. - I can't even imagine what you went through today. I'm so damn sorry, Sunshine.

- It's okay, Jay, it's our job, right? - she said trying to sound more confident, but Jay knew her too well. The green-eyed man merely nodded, knowing that slowly Hailey was trying to end the conversation, and he didn't want to pressure her or force her into anything knowing that then she would shut down completely. That's why he sent her a small reassuring smile, he hoped she could read from his gaze, his face, everything he wasn't able to convey with speech. He stood up and hugged the girl sitting in the chair and kissed her head.

Back then, Jay didn't know that he would soon feel a substitute for what Hailey probably felt every time she saw him in a more dangerous situation. Now he was more determined to be more careful, because the kind of fear and helplessness he'd felt out there under the warehouse when they'd managed to catch those responsible for that morning's shooting and when it got hot and he didn't have a good place to shoot he didn't wish on anyone.

Today was so close to both of them losing what is most important to them, but all the more reason for both of them to be determined to keep fighting and never stop.

[meltwonu]

| good in bed |     [chapter 1]

pairing; non-idol!chan x reader

this chapter’s notes; HELLO HELLO!! Gettin this ball rollin with the first chapter of good in bed!!!😚💕 Thank u for the interest in this fwb au with chan~ he needs more love yall hehe kind of an introductory chapter but fingering, (barely a) handjob and minor exhibitionism eheheh love u!!!💕💕💕💕

chapters; 1 - x - x - x

“So, how was your date with Jun-hyung?”

Chan toes his shoes off at the door, arms full of groceries and snacks for your weekly movie night at your apartment. You set your own bags down on the countertop before sighing and wiping the sweat from your brow. “It was okay. He kept asking me if I wanted to see videos of his hot dog roller and I couldn’t tell if that was sexual or if he really had a hot dog roller?” Chan laughs to tears, barely setting his bags down on the dining table before collapsing to the floor.

“Fuck, please tell me you’re kidding?” You shake your head ‘no’ at him, placing the various groceries in their places in the kitchen before grabbing the box of popcorn to make.

“I wish I was. He asked me if I wanted to go on a second date so he could show it to me in person.”

“Did you say yes?”

You shoot Chan an incredulous look, placing the bag of popcorn in the microwave and pressing start. “Uh, no?” He gets up from the floor, wiping the stray tears from his eyes before grabbing some of the other snacks and taking them to the living room to set up the space for your movie night.

“You should’ve. Maybe he would’ve shown you his massive dick and you missed out.”

You’re 3 movies in, 2 bags of popcorn cooked and Chan is already nodding off at 9PM.

“Chan, you ok over there?” He hums, sitting up on the sofa as he yawns. “Yeah, sorry, Soonyoung-hyung is really grilling us for the dance competition and we’re in the practice room a lot longer than usual. I’m beat. He could rip my legs off and I wouldn’t even feel it.” You look over to him rubbing his eyes, trying to wipe the sleepiness out of them as he reaches for the bucket of popcorn in between the two of you. “You should’ve just stayed home and rested, you didn’t need to come over for movie night if you’re this tired...” Frowning, you reach over, smoothing his mussed hair as he whines.

“I’m not a baby! And anyway, we’ve never missed movie night! Remember the time we got food poisoning from Jihoon-hyung’s cooking? We still had movie night, just with barf buckets.”

Laughing at the memory, you get up from your spot on the sofa, grabbing more drinks from the kitchen before settling back into your spot on the couch.

“True, I don’t know what we’d do without our movie nights.” Chan’s eyes flit to your form next to him, fingers in the bowl of popcorn. “I dunno, probably getting laid?” You choke on a sip of soda, the carbonated beverage getting onto your shirt. “What!?”

“What? Am I wrong? I don’t think I’ve heard you talk about any of your dates getting any further than the first date lately. And you’ve gone on a lot of them recently.”

The blush that coats your features is burning hot as you set your drink down onto the coffee table. You and Chan had talked about your dates and love lives before, but something about how blunt he’d just been surprised you. “Yeah, well, I dunno. I’m just not getting the right vibes, y’know? I know you’re friends with some of the people I’ve dated but just… I dunno. Maybe my chakras aren’t aligned or whatever.” He rolls his eyes at you jokingly, tired eyes back to the forgotten movie on screen.

“What if we just… I dunno, fucked?”

You can feel your pupils shaking as you stare holes into the side of Chan’s head. “Excuse me, what?”

He clears his throat, reaching for his glass of water on the side table before taking a sip and setting it back down. “I mean, you haven’t been getting any and I haven’t been getting any… We should maybe try it out?”

“You make it sound like we’re just trying kombucha for the first time! How are you so calm about this?!”

Chan laughs as he glances at you, noticing the blush covering your cheeks. “Because… Well, I don’t know. I guess cause we’re best friends? I trust you out of all people, you know? I know you won’t bite my dick off?” You bite the inside of your cheek; in all honesty, you had a huge crush on Chan for a while and the only reason you’d been going on so many dates lately was because you were trying to forget about your crush on Chan.

“Chan… I don’t know, this seems complicated?”

“You said you weren’t getting laid so…”

“Yeah, Chan, I said that but I dunno about this…”  He cracks a smile, hand in the bucket of popcorn next to you. “You also said you didn’t want random hook-ups either, not after Seungkwan tried to finger you in that Ferris wheel two weeks ago.” You grimace at the memory; you were 3 seconds away from getting the good ‘ol police escort out of the theme park.

“I did say that…”

“Well? I’m not random, I’m your best friend! And anyway, Soonyoung’s been so far up my ass with practice for the dance competition at the end of the year so I haven’t been getting any either. It’d work out for both of us?” Chan crams a fist full of popcorn into his mouth, eyes never leaving the tv screen. You contemplate his words for a minute; Chan was insanely handsome and if you were being completely honest, you’d had a crush on him for a while now which is why you weren’t sure this was the right route.

“Chan, I don’t know…”

“Okay, well, just think about it? I’m always here for you. Even if you want to tie me up to the bedpost.”

You nod, a quiet ‘okay’ leaving your lips before you turn to the tv yourself.

“Let’s finish this movie because Sonic the Hedgehog is next on our list and I wanna see it already.”

When Chan leaves your apartment at midnight, he hugs you goodbye, reminding you to think about his proposition. You nod, a tight lipped smile on your face when you shut the door.

You tidy up your place slowly, the thoughts of Chan swimming in your head the entire time it takes for you to clean up and get ready for bed. There was really nothing wrong with his suggestion; you just weren’t sure if it’d make or break your friendship with him. It was fine that you kept your crush on him to yourself, but you knew that adding any sort of physical relationship would make it hard for you to not fall for him even harder. On the flipside, you’d finally be able to fuck your crush without him noticing anything, probably.

Groaning, you reach for your phone, scrolling through various apps before sighing again. Was it worth all the risk?

Screw it, you think, if it destroys our friendship at least we went out with a bang.

You realize when you ring the doorbell to Jeonghan’s apartment that only an actual psycho throws a party on a Tuesday night. I guess that’d be Jeonghan. He opens the door and lets you in, a drunken flush already evident on his skin as he thrusts a cup into your hand.

“There’s more drinks in the kitchen, Minghao’s the bartender tonight!!” You grimace as you smell the contents of the cup, taking a sip before you walk further into the apartment. Noticing a few of your one time dates, you awkwardly wave at them before making a beeline for the kitchen in order to avoid conversation.

“Hey! There you are, come have a drink!”

To your slight surprise, Chan’s already there, arm outstretched with a shot in hand. You had barely talked to him all weekend, giving him and yourself some time to think about the decision you’d both made. Although he had texted you once at 3am asking you a list of your top ten things you wanted to try out in the bedroom; to which you had taken at least 3 hours to come up with before sending the text and throwing your phone at your bed as the sun began to rise into the sky.

Taking the shot out of his hand, you down it, setting the cup back onto the countertop. “When did you get here, Chan?” He downs his own before wrapping an arm around your waist and tugging you closer towards him. 

“Not too long ago, but Jeonghan’s been really shoving the alcohol down our throats tonight so it feels like it’s been hours.” He finishes with a laugh, fingertips digging into your clothed waist. “Been thinkin’ about you though, y’kno?”

“O-oh, really?”

“Mmhmm. Y’kno that fourth thing on your list that you sent me… I was waiting for you to show up cause I think we can try it out if you’re interested. I’m not gonna lie, I was getting a ‘lil ahead of myself and thinkin’ about all the things I wanted to do to you if you’d let me. Wanna get started?” You blush, almost crushing the cup in your hand when you remember what the fourth item on your list was.

Exhibitionism.

“I, um, o--okay, yeah let’s---let’s do it.”

When Chan pushes you into the storage closet of Jeonghan’s apartment, you can’t help but be a little confused, almost tripping over a misplaced wrench before plastering yourself against the wall.

“No offense Chan, but a storage closet?” He turns the flashlight on from his phone, searching for a light inside of the tiny room only to not find one before turning the flashlight off. “Aww, baby wants to fuck on a bed?” His voice is teasing, a stupidly handsome smirk visible on his face once your eyes adjust to the dark.

“Normally yes?”

“Well, too bad. The only bed in this place is Jeonghan’s and I know he’d make my life hell if I fucked you on it. Anyway, I… I wanna take it a ‘lil slow with you so we’ll start off with some basic shit, okay?” You roll your eyes, although you can’t deny the heat pooling in your lower abdomen. “I don’t know how basic this’ll be but … okay.”

Chan places his hands on your waist, pulling you towards him so that you can feel his hardness already straining in his jeans. “I’m not gonna lie, I was a little shocked when you sent that list of yours… But if I’m being honest, a lot of it is stuff I wanted to try too, so I guess it works out for us, huh?” He grinds into you, a small moan on his lips when he slots a leg in between yours. “Did you think about me at all?”

“Y-yeah…”

“Good. Can I kiss you?”

“Yes… please.” You’re nervous and about to change your entire relationship with Chan but the excitement overpowers all of your other emotions when he leans in, his lips on yours for the first time ever. He tastes like vodka and citrus when he dips his tongue into your mouth; your arms wrapping around his neck to pull him in closer.

His hips work against yours as the two of you grind against each other in the tiny space. Chan’s lips part from yours, trailing down your neck in soft movements. “Can I leave marks?” You nod your head furiously, moaning loudly at his lips sucking love bites onto your skin. “I’m surprised you asked. Don’t you want them to know what we’re doing in here?” Chan smirks against your skin, hands moving from your waist to the button on your jeans.

“Mmm, don’t we both?” Chan pops the button of your jeans, working the zipper down before he plays with the hem of your panties between his fingertips. “I want to make sure you want this before I start. I want to hear you say it.”

“I want you, Chan.”

You don’t know how long has passed since Chan’s fingers spread your pussy open, the sound of your wetness bouncing off of the tiny room’s walls. “Ugh, Chan, p-please, another finger? I need more!” The music playing outside in the living room is loud and you hope somewhat that your voice is muffled when you cry out. Chan obliges, adding a third finger as you grind down onto his digits.

“Aww, baby, I’ve been doing all the work. Won’t you give me a ‘lil something too?”

You tug him in for another kiss, trailing a hand down his torso before you’re undoing his jeans, pushing his underwear down to wrap a hand around his cock. Precum leaks from the tip as Chan moans against your lips, thrusting his hips up into your closed hand as you squeeze your hand around him.

“Bet you wish it was my pussy instead, huh?” 

You bite his lower lip before pulling away, “Too bad you didn’t just fuck me on Jeonghan’s bed but oh well~” Chan growls, thrusting his fingers into you particularly hard before his thumb starts to circle your clit.

“Don’t get cocky with me now, babe. Being a brat was only 8th on your list and I don’t think you want me to get mean with you just yet.”You grip on his cock loosens as you feel your orgasm building, moans freely spilling from your lips.

“Hey do you hear that?”

A muffled voice on the other side of the closet door has you pausing for a second, pussy clenching around Chan’s fingers. He smirks in the darkness, rubbing quicker circles on your clit. “C’mon, baby, cum for me, let them hear how pretty you sound when I’m making you cum.”

“Fuck, what the hell are you two doing in my closet!?”

Chan laughs, leaning down to kiss your cheek. “Cum, now.”  

All you can hear is the sound of your heart thrumming in your chest and Chan’s breathy moans as Jeonghan’s voice gets drowned out in the background when you cum. You’re sure nothing coherent is leaving your lips when Chan’s fingers continue to work you through it.

“Get the fuck out of my closet you nasty asses!”

“Ok but they sound good, ya’ll got an onlyfans or what?”

“Oof, is this why there was no second date?”

When Chan pulls his fingers out of your pussy is when you start to remember when you are, fingers still loosely wrapped around his cock when he licks his fingers clean. You run your hand up and down his shaft; hand coated in a sticky substance.

“Damn baby, even with the zero energy handjob I still came, guess you’re that powerful huh? Wonder what that pussy will do to me when we finally get to it.”

“Bitch, I will fucking kill you before you get to it, now get out of my closet!”

[2ynjns]

maybe peppermint hot cocoa isn't that bad || kang taehyun

sequel of day 10 of 31 days of christmas with ydale

find day 10 ‘peppermint hot cocoa’ here!

pairings: taehyun x reader

genre: barista!reader, idol!taehyun, fluff

warnings: none!

“hi welcome to bean sprouts cafe, what can i get for you?” you greeted your next customer, not taking away your gaze from the register’s monitor screen in front of you, clearing the order list from the new one.

“small peppermint hot cocoa, please.” the pink haired guy ordered. you punched his order on the monitor and grabbed a cup and the marker. “name?” you asked and finally looked at him.

“yeonjun,” he said and about to slide his card on the card reader. you gave him a discount for his drink since you knew he’s one of taehyun’s friends. “that’d be $2.50.” he slid the card and looked up after doing so and smiled at you, “you’re y/n, right?” the boys asked.

you nodded and gave him his receipt. “that would be me.” you smiled, “your order will be up in a bit.” 

you proceeded on making his peppermint hot cocoa and immediately gave it to yeonjun once you were done.

you and taehyun have been acquaintances for quite a while now and you’ve been texting here and there. however, taehyun didn’t properly introduce you to his friends yet nor take you on any dates unlike what soobin suggested to you when you met.

taehyun visits the shop here and there to grab a quick coffee in the morning or get pastries at night for his night snacks, you’d have a small talk but that would be it. both of you don’t really know how to act accordingly while facing each other especially with your first encounter replaying at the back of your head.

taehyun regretted coming off ruse when you first met. he’s usually not rude to employees but he was just having a bad day that day when you first met and he also hates anything mint food related, which added to his frustrations. he apologized to you the second time he met you and you reassured him that it is all okay, you’ve encountered a lot of rude and even ruder customers and always let it pass either way since it’s part of your job.

“peppermint hot cocoa for yeonjun!” you called. he walked towards you smiling and lifted his cup and said his thanks.

“thanks, y/n.” he said, “and oh before i forget.” he said and waved his hands to tell you to go closer to him.

you slightly leaned closer to the counter and yeonjun lowly said, “you should go on a date with taehyun.” he said and he backed off after. your brows furrowed from his suggested and you rolled your eyes.

“and why would i do that?” you crossed your arms and lifted one of your brows.

“why? cause you are definitely his type AND he nonstop talks about you.” he wiggled his brows. you let of an airy laugh and shook your head. “that’s a good joke.” you said and wiped the counter.

“i’m not kidding.” he sipped his hot cocoa and took tissues from the dispenser. “but you should go. i’ll tell him to meet you at lotte world tomorrow, yeah?” he took out his phone and started typing on it, sending taehyun a quick message.

you rolled your eyes sarcastically and giggled, “okay, mister cupid. tell taehyun i said hi.” you said and waved your hands. “adios! have a great day!”

you got to the amusement park and you checked your phone. taehyun eventually agreed on going on an amusement park date with you as yeonjun suggested and although he is a very rational person, he still can’t help to feel nervous around you.

“y/n, over here!” taehyun waved his hands, you quickly whipped your head around to see taehyun walking towards you wearing a black coat and white turtleneck and jeans. you looked down to look at your outside and you noticed how oddly similar your fit is with his’, black coat, white turtleneck and jeans. interesting. 

“hi tae.” you greeted him and rubbed your hands together. “it’s pretty chilly.” you said.

“yeah it is, wanna grab a coffee before we do something?” he pointed at a crowded stall. you giggled and patted his head.

“i think i’ll pass on coffee today as i smell coffee beans everyday, but maybe hot cocoa will do for me.” you said and grabbed his arms and pulled him to the stall.

he examined the menu in front you both and tried to decide what he would order. you looked at him and chuckled, “you should try peppermint hot cocoa.” you nudged him a bit and giggled. he looked at you weirdly with your suggestion and raised his brows.

“c’mon, it’s not that bad.” you assured him. he sighed and shook his head. “fine, but i’m switching drinks with you if i don’t like it.” he said and went closer to the counter to order.

“one small peppermint hot cocoa and one small hot cocoa, please.” he ordered and gave his payment. you waited for your drinks to be done and taehyun took the cup with the peppermint hot cocoa inside.

taehyun, at first, hesitated tasting the drink and watched you enjoy your drink. you sighed and rolled your eyes. “just try it, then here’s my drink if you don’t like it.” you offered him your cup.

he looked at your cup and shook his head. “lemme try this one first.” and he finally took his very first sip of peppermint hot cocoa.

after taking his sip, he savored the flavor in his mouth. he wanted to hate it so bad, given he doesn’t like anything mint related, but why is it undeniably good?

he looked at the cup to read the contents of it. “you like it?” you asked him.

he turned to you with wide, amazed eyes and said, “maybe it isn’t that bad.” he took another sip and savored it again. you giggled at his action and took your phone out to take a picture of him.

“you’re so adorable, stop that.” you said.

he laughed at you and locked his arms around yours. “no, you’re adorable. so where are we going next?”

“we should go on the carousel.” you said as you finished your cup. taehyun nodded and finsihed his cup of hot cocoa as well and threw away the cup.

you went on the ride and explored the whole parameter to see which horse you want to ride on. you patted the head of this blonde haired horse and rode on it.

“lemme ride on my friend terry right here.” you said and held on the pole. taehyun sat on the black haired horse next to you and held your hands. “and i’ll ride on bartholomew.” you laughed at the name he gave his house and the ride started moving. 

the beginning of the ride was painfully awkward and silent but taehyun finally started talking to start the conversation. 

“so uh… yeonjun hyung told you that… i liked you?” he wasn’t sure why he asked you, but he was eager to know what your response was.

his feelings for you are genuine and true. although your first encounter with his wasn’t ideal, he found that you’re actually sweet and understanding through your friendship with him from the few weeks you have been acquaintances. 

you adored him most especially when you two have been texting and having few interactions at the coffee shop. you saw how he was actually sweet and not a rude person at all. he’s very mature and you liked that about him. he takes things very rationally, unlike you, and that’s why you like him.

you intertwined your fingers with his and hummed in response. “mhm…” you gripped your other hand on the pole tighter and turned your gaze to him.

“is that all he said?” he asked, you smiled and shook your head. “apparently you talk about me often.” you giggled and lifted your connected hands. “don’t worry, tae. i like you too, but we don’t have to rush things.” you said and gave him your best, sweet smile.

“and thank you for trying the peppermint hot cocoa.” 

taehyun gave you his best smile back and caressed the back of your hand with his thumb, “no problem.”

[mojwisungie]

As A Friend & More

req (from: anon) ➥ jeno angst argument where one of you are jealous but eventually make it up to one another?

☄︎ summary: (im bad at these but) both of you never knew it would only take someone new for you to come through. ☄︎ genre: angst, fluff ☄︎ word count: 1.5k ☄︎ pairing: idol!jeno x bff!reader ☄︎ lou.note: aaaa anonie im really sorry it took so long and i did justice to what you had in mind. i really really really tried hhh hope you guys enjoy reading!

It has been some kind of a routine for you and Jeno- picking you up from your apartment and then he drives you both to the company. On days he needed to be there early for practice, expect him to take you with him at the crack of dawn.

Your officemates have been used to this by now as well. The ones who worked with you in SM have known that Lee Jeno and Y/LN Y/N are just best friends. They always see you come to work with him, eat with him, and go home with him. At this point, almost all of them would like to see you guys end up with each other. It always makes them laugh whenever an intern comes and asks meekly, “Y/N-nim… are you Lee Jeno together?” and your colleagues are also the ones who explain the cliché story that actually happened: you bumped into Jeno causing you to spill your coffee on his white training shirt. You always roll your eyes and say, “We’re the best of friends now though so, it’s still not that much of a cliché.” Oh how you wish it was, though.

“I’m gonna pick you up at noon for lunch,” Jeno says as the elevator goes up the building.

“No problem. Where do plan to eat?”

“I dunno, let’s just ask Jaemin where he wants to. He said he wants to eat with us today.”

“Alrighty boss Lee,” you tease as you exit the lift.

Jeno sends you a smile as the elevator door closes. He has a short day ahead of him because the only thing on his list is to attend a meeting, but even so, he’d rather wait for you to get off work. In that way, he wouldn’t have to worry about you not reaching home safe.

Soon enough, his meeting ends and Jeno drags his friend with him out as soon as they can. As they wait for the lift to stop on your floor, Jaemin looks at his friend and sees the excitement on his face which intrigues him. How can someone be this thrilled to eat lunch with his best friend?

Jaemin bumps into Jeno’s back as he stops in his place.

“Ow! Why did you stop?”

“Jaemin… who is he?”

“Who is who?”

“Him.”

Jaemin looks at where his friend was facing and saw it too. It didn’t give him a shock to his body unlike his friend, though. It was just you and Jungwon laughing together, it’s not really a big deal. He shrugs and pushes his friend saying he’s hungry so the three of you should just hurry and go out.

As you try to steady your breathing, you see Jungwon’s eyes widen a bit at whatever he saw behind you. You turn around to see Jaemin skipping heading towards you with Jeno keeping a straight face. You wait for Jeno to be beside you before introducing them to each other.

“Hey, you ready for lunch?” Jeno asks.

“Yeah but let me introduce you guys to first! Nono, Jaemin, this is Kim Jungwon, the newest member of our team. And Jungwon, I know you know who they are but this is Na Jaemin and Lee Jeno of NCT Dream,” you say.

They all bow to each other and shake hands. As you smile at their interaction, you fail to notice the grip Jeno has on the other’s hand. It was for a quick second, although Jungwon definitely felt it.

“Hold on Jungwon, do you have someone to eat with? You can come with us you know,” you suggest.

“I’ll be alright, I’m taking Harin’s offer of eating lunch with them. It would be better to know more people around and you’ll have to see me again after this anyway,” he chuckles.

You only nod at him with a grin. With that, you went on your way out with your friends. On the way to the restaurant, you feel weird to not hear Jeno shut Jaemin up with all his stories. You don’t pay much attention to it, thinking that maybe something happened during their meeting. The three of you went on with your lunch, having Jaemin to fill the silence coming from Jeno.

After eating, Jaemin says he’ll stay behind for some reason, but Jeno knows it’s because he wants him to talk to you already about his feelings. It’s been awhile since he recognized his true feelings for you, but he couldn’t just risk the friendship you have. As he decides to save it for another day, it was a quiet walk back to the building. It was only broken when he absentmindedly walks with you all the way to the glass doors of your department.

“Do you have something to say…?”

“Are you...” free later to go on a date? “getting off work early? or you guys need to go overtime?”

“Ah, I’m getting off work early, I guess? I only have to show Jungwon the common sections we work with and then I’m good for today.”

He thinks that he’s not showing any sign of discomfort upon hearing your reply, but you catch the slight change of emotions in his eyes.

“Well, you can come with us if you want? Unless you still-“

“Yeah sure,” he says. You smile and tell him to wait as you see if Jungwon’s ready with the little tour again.

As you explain your business with the other offices to Jungwon, Jeno only watches. He learns to know that he despises seeing you with another guy. He trails behind you always, and it irks him at how you only met each other today and yet you already have inside jokes. Jeno doesn’t notice but at the end of the day, he’s beyond upset. And for the first time, he feels jealous.

You grab your things from your table and say goodbye to your workmates. In a few minutes, you reach the lobby where Jeno was waiting for you.

“Are we good to go, Nono?”

“Yeah. Unless you haven’t said goodbye to Jungwon yet,” he says trailing off.

“What?” You ask as you didn’t hear what he said for the last part.

“Forget it.”

You walk behind him as both of you go to his car. When he starts the engine, it’s the start of a soundless ride. You tried to make small talk by asking him about the meetings he attended, but he only answered with short replies. Soon, you reach the parking of your apartment. Before he comes out of his side of the car, you stop him.

“Jeno, are you mad?”

Yes, he thinks. I was jealous for most of today but I don’t have a freaking choice to keep it all in.

“I’m not, Y/n. Now let go so I can open your door so you can go home and rest.”

“You know I wouldn’t ask you if I didn’t notice anything, right? Tell me what I did to make you mad, please,” you say while looking at him. He stares at you for a second before removing your grasp from hand.

“You didn’t make me mad, okay? Just go home so I can do so too.”

“I’m not leaving this car until you tell me why you’ve been in a bad mood today.”

“Y/n, drop it. I just need rest please,” he breathes out.

“Rest? Are you saying it’s because of your meeting?”

“It’s not-“

“So you’re lying…?”

“No Y/n-“

“Then tell me. You’re already proving that it’s not something small for you to get upset like this! Was it because of me? We’ve been friends for years and this the first time that you’ve gotten mad at me-“

“For God’s sake, I’m not mad you, okay! I’m not mad at something you did or whatever, I’m mad at myself!”

“Why?”

“I’m mad at myself because,” he inhales. “I’m jealous.”

“Jealous? Of who? Jungwon? You know he’ll never replace you right?”

“As what?”

You stare at him. “What do you mean as what?”

“Let’s just forget about it,” he sighs as he goes to open door. As he does, you hold his to stop him and decide to tell him your answer.

“He can never replace you, okay? Even when we become friends, he never can. No one can. It’s because I love you, as a friend and more.”

You look into his eyes in an attempt to see if he feels the same, but all you can notice is shock. You take it as a sign that maybe, all he thinks of you is a friend- nothing more, nothing less. You let go of his hand and say goodbye to him.

Before you can open the door of his car, he spins you around to face him. It’s now your turn to be surprised, as Jeno doesn’t waste any more seconds before kissing you.

When he pulls away, the first thing he says is, “I’m sorry for being jealous and making you confess first.”

“It’s alright, Nono. As long as I’m in your arms like I am right now, it doesn’t matter if it was you or me.”

You pinch his cheeks to get rid of his pout, and because of that he kisses you again. Jeno stares at you lovingly for a while, before he speaks again.

“I love you too, Y/n- as a friend and more.”

[skzafterdusk]

Stray Kids As Dates I’ve Been On

Unorthodox, but really this is just:

These are totally the dates each member would take you on

Chan: Why did you guys end up at Barnes & Noble? No clue, but you were here. And while you guys wandered through the sections, looking at various books, you stumbled across a book that intrigued you both:

500 Questions To Ask Someone

Luckily, there was a cafe in the store, so guys were able to order coffee, sit and go back and forth between asking questions.

Some were basic, some were very thought provoking, and it waged some lengthy conversations. You realized, as you watched Chan explain some of his most creative ideas, some of his plans for the future, that you’d never met anyone like him. To be so genuinely engrossed in what he was saying, to catch how he sent you soft smiles when you went on rants, it was a feeling you never had before. 

Even though you don’t remember which question it was, you knew to take a mental snapshot of that day, because it was one to remember.

Yes, you did end up buying the book for sentimental purposes.

Minho: (Should probably mention this now, there’s a lot of driving involved on these dates) He decides to take you to the lake. The summer is forgiving this year, and while the days can still be hot, the nights are met with cool breezes, whisping air that smells of the trees and grass that grow plentiful.

You sit on a bench after having stood near the lake, and you just talk. By this point, you’d gone on a couple dates, and still had so much to learn about each other.

Although Minho has a very forward personality, he stumbles a little when he suggests that you guys become official, exclusively dating only each other. He shakes his head quickly, almost like he is dismissing the idea, but you agree.

In the dark of the night, you can hardly make out each other’s faces that well, but even still you can see his grin and the way he looks back at you.

Changbin: Wasn’t a planned date. You guys closed the store you work at together, and you were both hungry and wired from the interactions with customers that day.

So he suggests you go to this diner. It’s one you’ve been to a couple times in the past, and Changbin has had some memorable late night meals with friends there. It was only fitting he took you to one of his favourite places, right?

The conversation you guys share is unexpectedly deep, you opening up about your relationship with your parents, him being the great listener like he always is. Given that it was your first time in this type of setting with him, you hardly thought this is what the night would bring. Sure, you’d had a crush on him before because he made you feel so comforted at work, but you had no idea that getting to talk with him -like, actually converse with him- would only make the crush turn into genuine feelings.

After the diner, neither of you wanted to go home, so you just drove. You guys ran unnecessary errands, anything to stay in each other’s company. And it was well past 2am when you finally said goodbye.

Hyunjin: The date hadn’t been planned. You just happened to be out near where he lived, and he asked if you wanted to spend some time together. 

It’s already late afternoon when you guys meet up. He suggests you guys go to a park near his home. After the day you had, it was nice to be out on such a lovely summer day, taking in the sound of insects buzzing around you.

After the park, you went to a Japanese restaurant in the downtown area. Sitting outside, you both could admire the skyscrapers just in the distance. And, afterwards, you took a stroll, the streets empty at night, so you took your time crossing. There was a memorial fountain nearby, and it looked lovely in the night.

All this random adventure just brought you back to his house, where you promptly spent the night just talking in your car.

You’re not even sure how or why you started kissing, but soon enough, the car was filled with heavy panting, the wet sound of your kisses. The center console was uncomfortable, so you ended up in the backseat. 

The only way you were able to drive home was because you had work the next morning. Yes, the Little Mermaid bandage on your neck to hide the hickey was a little ridiculous.

Jisung: There’s a college campus close to where he loves, and it’s almost like a hideaway for him. On a summer day, the campus is rather empty. Spacious lawns and intricate water fountains can be found across one cobblestone street to the next.

But his favourite place to visit? The archive room at the top floor of the library. Past the marble floors, sweeping candelabras and great oak double doors, there is a long room. The only way to illuminate the space is with its many fluorescent lights. Void of proper windows and the need for cool air, being in the archive can feel like being in another world. 

You split up, you get lost in towering shelves as does Jisung. But you find each other, given that you’re the only ones up there.

And when you do meet up, you stand close to his side. He’s skimming a book in the psychology section, and you don’t notice his gaze when you lean closer to look at the words on the page.

He puts the book back gently, turning his full attention to you. 

You feel one of his hands go to wrap around your waist, the other resting where your neck and shoulder meet. He gives a quick smile as he sees you won’t back away. Honestly, you’d been waiting for this, waiting for the moment where you could finally kiss him.

The automated voice that comes over the speaker is cold, harsh, and jarring. It makes your heart stop in your chest as you jump.

“The library will be closing in ten minutes.”

With a deep inhale, Jisung steps away.

“There’s some other places I wanted to show you,” he says, holding out his hand for you to take.

When you finally exit the library, the sun is going down in the night, but your adventures on campus do not stop until the sky is full of stars, and the horizon only shows ignited street lamps.

Felix: I never understood how people could go on dates in stores, but honestly I get it now. And Felix would definitely be the type to walk around Wal-mart with you as you picked up some essentials (toothpaste, a pack of UNO cards, etc), just talking about whatever that comes up. For example, going by the tire section and talking about how you love the smell of tires.

“They’re just rubber,” he’d say, simply.

And you would shrug. “I guess I like the smell of rubber.” And then, somehow, you get on the topic of enjoying the smell of ammonia, and he’s fighting off laughter because,

“Ammonia is in cat pee. You like the smell of cat pee?”

So, yes, you’re wandering aimlessly around Wal-mart for probably two hours when a storm comes by. Tornado and flood, to be exact.

You’re at the check-out line when Felix’s mom would call, telling him he needed to get home because it was supposed to flood really bad, and that a tornado was coming. Little do you know, it’s already absolutely pouring outside.

And you didn’t park anywhere close to the entrance.

So you both book it, a sad attempt at trying to shield yourself from the rain with your feeble hands. There’s so much water on the ground that it kicks up high as your feet pound the pavement. And once you get to your car, the both of you are soaked from head-to-toe.

He lives closer, so you drive carefully as the water is already collecting on the streets, and make it to his apartment. It’s not even a question of you coming inside since he wouldn’t dare make you drive back home in these conditions.

Hours pass by with endless conversation, laughs, giggles, light-hearted bickering. You’re both dry at this point, and he offers you guys watch Scott Pilgrim Vs The World because it was a movie you both really enjoyed.

But here’s the thing: we know Felix is a handsy person. No shame, but he needs physical touch at all times. And really, it’s not enough that you’re just sitting really close to each other on the couch. And soon, his arm is wrapped around your shoulders (smooth), and everytime he laughs, his head bumps into yours, endearingly.

So the movie is on for maybe 15 minutes before he decides to pause it, looking at you with intent. His eyes keep glancing down at your lips. Cheesy, you would think in any other situation, but your breath stutters when he finally leans in. It’s a simple peck, but it’s enough to make the room around you deafeningly silent.

Cue the makeout session that results, featuring some slight biting and mild choking. As a treat.

Then you get your ass home cause it stopped raining. (clearly a lot happened this night)

Seungmin: I don’t know where this idea is coming from, but something about him just screams, “How about you come over to my house and I cook you dinner?” as a date. He’s just that classy dude.

...you might have to help out, cause he’s not entirely sure what he’s doing.

But that’s what makes it so cool, to be in the kitchen with him, listening to some low music while you guys get in each other’s way. More than once thus he yells out in faux anger, and you laugh. Before he’s even done shouting, he’s smiling at you.

Did the dinner come out good? Well...it’s...edible. Luckily, he has a great selection of fresh fruit that makes a great sweet balance.

Jeongin: Movie and dinner sounds a little common, right? Here’s how it goes down:

Jeongin knows someone that works at the theatre. A manager (see where this is going?). 

So you guys essentially sneak into a movie for free. As much as you loved it, you spent a lot of the time curled into him as gorey scenes filled the screen. He teases you a couple times about being too weak, but he still gladly holds your hand, checking you to make sure you’re not getting too grossed out. 

Afterwards, you guys go to the sushi restaurant in the same parking lot. The place is rather empty, given that it’s late afternoon on a weekday, which is nice because you guys don’t have to talk so loud. It’s like you guys are in your own little world. 

From where you guys sit in the restaurant, you can watch as the sun sets across the parking lot. Not very romantic, but a chill date that still leaves you grinning when you get home.

Val’s Note

Hello, there! I hope you enjoyed my first post. This is something I’ve been thinking about since I got into skz, and I’m glad I could finally type it out and post.

I wanna be able to take requests for lists like these in the future, so feel to do so if you enjoyed this :) Until next time.

[wheelsupinhotch]

the 1 -- Aaron Hotchner x Reader (Folklore Series)

Summary - After leaving the BAU for some years, you find yourself back in Quantico running into an all too familiar group of people and reminiscing on that all too familiar person. 

Request - None! Part of folklore inspired series x Aaron hotchner 

Warnings - Slight angst, fluff, swearing, reader goes by they/them she/her he/him etc.. pronouns! ( note - I haven’t had chance to proof read this yet so if I slipped up anywhere please don't hesitate to let me know!). 

Word count - 2282

Pairing - Aaron Hotchner x Reader

Click here for Masterlist 

Requests are currently open but expect a slight delay in writing them as I am working on this series currently! :)

NOTE - I haven’t spell checked this so sorry for any errors!

‘ i’m doing good, i’m on some new shit , been saying yes instead of no’

The crisp autumn air cascades itself around you as the bronzed painted leaves danced their way around you, echoing the sounds of chatter around you.

The city of Quantico almost mocked you as your found yourself following the haunted pathways through the city. A career in the BAU was a once in a lifetime experience but it always seemed so ironic to you that you could lose such great friendships and relationships just as quick as you made them.

When you left the BAU, you did not only leave a job but you left friends. You left him.

‘I thought I saw you at the bus stop, I didn’t though’

Memories of your time with Aaron flooded into your mind subconsciously, each one playing over and over again like a movie reel, with every glance of your surroundings echoing the words of your past. Finding yourself paving the way to the once beloved coffee shop that was your scared place every monday morning for the smallest ounce of motivation. Turning each street corners your eyes pulled themselves towards the nearby bus stops.

And there he was.

The man who was once your home, your safe place. Stood across from you but vanished in an instant when you realised it was a mirage created inside of your head. ‘Did it mean something?’ you ask yourself as you continue on to the familarty of the smell of brewed coffee and low chatter of the busy lives. Although it was a feeling you tried to shake off there and then, you could not help but to be stained with every good and memory you had with Aaron.

‘I hit the ground running each night, I hit the sunday matinee. You know the greatest films of all time were never made’

The way you and him would stay until the late ghostly hours of the night at the office, never completing the paperwork on time because you were so infatuated by each other. How most sunday afternoons were spent at theatres or at the movies, never really interested in what was playing, just longed to be near each other, to be loved by each other. Or how he would wake you each morning, peppering kisses along your cheek and shoulder, the comfort of his raspy breath uttering the words ‘morning’ had such an effect on you, it was a memory that marked your mind like a red wine stain.

But the good came with the bad. You tried to forget the memories of you coming home late from a case. How he would shut you off in the office until he’d finish. Or how you shut eachother out whenever frustrated by a case.

‘I guess you never know, never know and if you wanted me you really should have showed. And if you’re never bleed you’re never gonna grow and it’s alright now’

And Jack. You loved that child like your own, offering him a safe place that he felt comfortable in. But you were young, the idea of responsibility scared you. You can’t help but wonder if these were the factors that caused your relationship to suffice. But you never knew. Each day love grew distant from you and Aaron . ‘If you wanted me you really should have showed’. One of the last words you ever uttered to him before leaving Quantico.

Growing sick with regret you find yourself at the footsteps of the once familiar coffee shop. Bustling your way through the crowd an inwards, your greeted with a welcoming sense, almost as if the place longed for you to be there. As you stood at the all too familiar counter, placing your usual order, you make your way over to a small table at the back of the cafe, across from an all too familiar spot where the team spent afternoons unwinding from hard cases. What you had not comprehended was that that exact spot was inhabited the same people it was all those years ago. There he was.

Eyes interlocked all over you, illuminating your presence like the elephant in the room. A small smile found its way building on Aaron's face, almost like he had been longing for the moment you would walk back in ever since you left. Feeling far too exposed, you decided to make your way over to the table where you were greeted with delight and love. A feeling all too well recognised. The feeling of a family.

Rossi was first to break the silence. ‘Y/N, How have you been? What are you doing all the way over here in Quantico’. Feeling slightly overwhelmed you pluck up the courage to respond ‘Good, great actually. Strauss actually invited me over here for the weekend, Something to do with a case in New York,’ The team nodded in response with JJ interjects and saying ‘ Well, It’s so great to see you. We’ve missed you’. She remarked as her arms opened up into a hug. Deciding to sit down with the team, you found yourself between Garcia and Aaron. His presence still making you feel the same way it did all those years ago. Wanting to break the unbearable awkwardness that was building you stare ‘It’s so good so see you guys again, feels like old times huh.’ you say with a smile. It was not until that moment that all too familiar, deep voice ‘Yeah, the team felt empty without you Y/N’.

In a state of shock from the unexpected remark. You stare back into his eyes and reply ‘The same goes for you guys too,’. It was that moment that your eyes interlocked, every memory came flushing back to you.

‘But we were something don’t you think so?. Roaring twenties,tossing pennies in the pool. And if my wishes came true, It would have been you.’

“You know for a first date Aaron, you are quite the romanticist’ you remark. Aarons low chuckle filling the air as you walk around the park. Secluded away in your own world, completely besotted by each other. You felt the way his hand left yours abruptly, guiding you other to a fountain. Playfully rolling your eyes, knowing what he was suggesting. ‘What? Come on Y/N make a wish.’. He remarked playfully. ‘Okay okay’. Smiling to yourself both of you threw pennies into pool. ‘So, what did you wish for?’ Aaron questioned. Playfully poking his chest ‘Oh well if I tell you it will never come true’. Little did you realise your wish of you and him lasting a lifetime was a wish that would have never came true no matter how much you tried.

The flashback of your fond memories with him quickly transformed into some hellish nightmare.

‘In my defence I have none, for never leaving well enough alone. But it would’ve been fun, if you would’ve been the one’

‘Aaron baby come on it's almost midnight, please come to bed.’ you beg of him, looking over at his desk that he’d been hunched over for the past four hours. Working a long case was never easy, and every now and then it took a toll over your relationship with Aaron. ‘Just go to bed Y/N.’ He snapped, with a realisation it was never his intent to talk to you in that manner as you saw the way his face dropped looking over at you in the doorway. ‘Fine Aaron’. you retort slamming the door behind you and walking to bed feeling frustrated and lonely. “Y/N…’ he shouts more lightly, an almost remorseful undertone to it’. Sighing, Aaron found himself turning back to his work, poking the drift that was building ever so much each day.

‘I have this dream you’re doing cool shit, having adventures on your own. You meet some woman on the internet and take her home’

Breaking yourself out of the daydream you found yourself, you found all eyes of the team on you. ‘So Rossi, anymore weddings?’ you joke lightly not wanting the awkward tension building any longer. The team letting out low chuckles between each other and Rossi playfully rolling his eyes at you. ‘No Y/N, If we are going to point a finger at anyone getting married it’s this man over here.’ Rossi remarked. Following his finger you found all eyes on Aaron. You wasn’t sure as to why it hurt when you realised they were talking about Aaron, but sill building a fake smile on your face. ‘You’re engaged?’ you ask almost disregarding the presence of the rest of the team with you, the question having an almost painstaking undertone to it.

‘We never painted by the numbers baby, but we were making it count. You know the greatest loves of all time are over now. I guess you never know never know, and it’s another day waking up alone’.

‘Uh yeah, recently. After well you know…’ Aaron stuttering trying to find the way to look his ex lover in the eyes and confess he moved on not so long after you left. ‘We set him up an online dating account’ Garcia interrupts, recognizing the growing tension between the two of you. Slightly smiling, the team almost afraid of how you were going to react to the news. You laugh lightly stating ‘Wow, online dating, I thought you would have never been the type considering the amount of killer unsubs lurking on there’. A low chuckle echoed as you sat back in your cheer not daring to make eye contact with Aaron. You weren't sure why it hurt so much, maybe you still had love for him after all this time. Sitting with a team of profilers, it was never easy to hide your pain but they silently recognised it between yourselves letting the topic of conversation drift away.

‘But we were something don’t you think so, Roaring twenties tossing pennies in the pool and If my wishes came true, It would’ve been you. In my defence I have none, for never leaving well enough alone, but it would’ve been fun, if you would’ve been the one’

Trying to keep focused on the conversation Emily had begun. You found yourself once again daydreaming back to the time when you and Aaron were in love. A time when you thought it would have been forever.

Light groans leave your mouth as your naked skin is exposed to the bright sunlight of morning, feeling Aaron kiss along your neck as you snuggle yourself further into his chest, enjoying the welcoming feeling in his embrace. ‘Morning beautiful’ he whispered fighting between his morning voice he was overpowered with. ‘Morning Aar-’ you sigh contently. Enjoying the feeling once again, your bubble of embrace is broken up by Jack’s energetic self storming into your room shouting ‘Daddy, Y/N come on wake up its the weekend’. Smiling to yourself you both sit up in sync as Aaron plants a kiss on your forehead, engaging with his son.

‘I persist and resist the temptation to ask you if one thing had been different would everything be different today?’

Bringing yourself back to the oreset once again, your eyes drifted to your watch noticing decide and decided it was time to leave. ‘Guys it's been so great to see you all, but really I should get going’ you announce. Low sighs and hugs and words of goodbyes interact with you as you get up to leave. Behind you feel Aarons presence as he lowly whispers ‘ I’ll walk you out’. Not wanted to persist he follows you out the coffee shop door as you found yourselves stood in the streets of the city. ‘Y/N about what happened in there. The engagement its-’. You cut him off immediately stating ‘ Its okay Aaron, you moved on, things change. I’m happy for you really.’ Aaron almost unsatisfied with your response sighs and stares into your eyes. You open your mouth and almost as ‘If one thing had been different, would everything be different today?’ but stop yourself instead saying ‘I'll see you around Aaron’ opening your arms up for an embrace. A feeling that had not been felt in a long time. ‘Yeah, you too Y/N.’  he responded lightly as you depart ways. Turning back to look at him one more time and remembering.

‘But we were something don't you think so, Rosé flowing with your chosen family. And it would’ve been sweet, If it could’ve been me. In my defence I have none, for never leaving well enough alone’

Smiling to yourself as you sat around the table at Rossi's place. Finding yourself once again at one of Rossi's infamous pasta nights. Bottles of wine and rosé over the table and light jazz playing in the background. After an exhausting case, you all used this time to unwind. JJ with her husbands, Garcias and Morgans playful banter between each other other the table. A place where you felt content and happy. The way you sat next to Aaron as he kept his hand on your leg and arm around your chair every so often rubbing small circles on your back to make sure you were okay. ‘Well to another successful case guys’ Rossi hosts a toast as you all clink glasses together. Smiling between each other whilst Aaron placed a small kiss on your cheek.

Memories like this make you regret leaving, wondering if Aaron was the one and you just let him get away. Consumed with your own thoughts following yourself through the all too familiar streets of Quantico with your mind left wondering.

‘But It would’ve been fun if you would’ve been the one’

[falseroar]

Dog Days Part 18: Peppermint and Silver

((Abe takes some time to consider things before going to the address Google gave him. Meanwhile, Y/N wonders if they really can trust the hunter--or risk being wrong again.

Links to Part 17: Meeting in the Park and to the whole series here.))

Abe read the address Google gave him over and over again so many times in the following hours that he had every line of the typescript burned into his memory by the time it began to grow dark outside. It didn’t stop him from looking at it again as he wandered restlessly around his office before coming back to his desk, where a few wards were lying next to some tools to help him get into the building and his gun.

Really the only things he thought he would need tonight.

Almost everything.

Abe dug through the pockets of his large coat until he found the case, not even half full, and dropped the five silver bullets inside onto the palm of his hand. He studied the bright casings for a moment before loading every single one into his gun. Because if he did come close to finding Wilford Warfstache tonight, then he wanted to be ready to finally return the favor after all of these years.

After he had enough time to make sure the Colonel knew all the pain he had caused on a very personal level.

Abe’s chest throbbed, the familiar pain sharp and almost as bad as when the gun fired, when the bullet pierced his heart and he heard you scream his name. In those seconds when he was sure his story was over, he heard the struggle, the second shot, the Colonel’s voice as his consciousness and you faded away.

To wake to an empty house and that stain on the floor, still there after all this time.

Abe took a shuddering breath and grabbed his dark leather jacket and the few things he had laid out, holstering the gun last. It was too early to go yet, but he couldn’t stay here.

The bell rang over the coffee shop door and Carla immediately responded, “Sorry, we’re closed.”

“Oh, I didn’t see the sign,” Abe started, now very aware of the obvious paper on the door explaining the shop would be closing early today. “I’ll just—”

“Abe?” Carla said, looking up from the table she was wiping down. All of the others already looked cleaned, and a mop and bucket were waiting in the middle of the floor. “No, it’s fine. I was just cleaning up for the night, but I can get you something.”

“You don’t have to, I can just get some coffee somewhere else,” Abe said, but she was already headed toward the counter.

“Don’t you dare insult me like that, hunter,” she said, but something felt off in her otherwise joking tone. “Are you going on another one of your stakeouts?”

“Something like that,” Abe said. “…Is something wrong?”

“No, I just…it’s been a long day, and I couldn’t get someone else to close for the night so I decided to close early.” Carla sighed, and Abe followed her glance toward the staff leaning against the wall behind the counter, the shape of it like driftwood.

“The Host was here?” Abe asked, ready to ask if he was still close when she shook her head.

Apparently, some guy and his dog found the staff in the park, and signs that the Institute had managed to find the Host before Abe could. Abe was disappointed at the missed opportunity to ask the guy some questions, but realized that Carla seemed genuinely upset.

“It happened so close to here,” she said, rubbing her arms as she leaned against the counter. “And he stopped coming around all of a sudden, so I don’t even know if something was wrong before that. I didn’t think…”

Abe waffled, vaguely sensing that he should say something reassuring here but coming up empty. After some thought, he asked, “You need any help cleaning up around here?”

Carla nodded, her lips in a thin almost smile as though she had expected as much from him.

“Tell you what, hunter, you put the chairs up on the tables for me so I can mop, and your coffee’s on the house. Deal?”

Abe nodded and moved toward the nearest table, pausing only when Carla asked, almost out of habit, “Feeling ready to try something new today?”

“…Do you have that peppermint stuff here, to flavor coffee with?” Abe asked.

Carla looked at him, but the hunter’s back was to her, his head bent as though studying the chair in front of him. “I think I can figure something out.”

He nodded again and the sound of the coffee brewer going mixed with the scrape and bump of chairs being put up, filling the otherwise silent shop. When Abe returned to the counter, he found Carla neatly filling two cups before passing one to him. He took his with a shrug and leaned against the counter next to her before inhaling the sweet scent coming up from the coffee.

For a moment, he could see them standing next to them, eyes closed in quiet delight as they inhaled the steam, their lips spreading in a smile before they even took their first sip.

Abe took a sip and Carla nearly inhaled her own drink when she saw his expression.

“You okay, buddy?” she asked in between coughs that suggested she wasn’t doing much better from trying not to laugh.

“It’s, uh, different than I expected,” Abe admitted. He couldn’t remember the last time he had drunk coffee that wasn’t strong and black enough to wake the dead, and even a second and a third sip just made his taste buds want to give up in the face of the peppermint overpowering everything until it was all he could smell and taste. Then again, that was half the reason they drank the stuff, wasn’t it?

Carla recovered and took another sip from her own drink before saying, “Tell me one thing that you’ve done since you got back that doesn’t involve a case.”

“What?” Abe asked.

“Every time you come in here, you’re looking into another case or just coming off of another one of your hunts,” Carla said. “What do you do in your free time, hunter?”

Free time? Who had any of that stuff lying around? Abe hesitated before saying, “I saw a puppet show the other day…”

She gave him a look and he added, “And kind of had to ask the puppeteer some questions, I guess.”

“Abe.” Her tone was exasperated, but she took another sip of coffee to give her time to think of another tactic to take before she asked, “Why peppermint?”

“I wanted to try something new,” Abe lied, only for her to give him another look daring him to try again. “…And I knew someone once, who seemed to like this stuff a lot. Not bad, but I’m not really sure I get it if we’re being honest.”

Not that it stopped him from taking another sip. Hey, it was still coffee.

“What about you?” Abe asked. “What do you do when you’re not here?”

“Baseball,” Carla answered without hesitation. “Watching, playing on a team with players from other local businesses, you name it.”

“…Really?”

“Why do you think I have all these team pennants up over there?” Carla asked, gesturing toward the colorful flags on one wall that Abe pretended he wasn’t noticing for the first time. “And I do other things. Believe it or not, you whole life doesn’t have to revolve around your work. What do you want to do, once whatever this is you’re working on now is over?”

Abe’s mind went to Wilford, to where he was planning to go tonight, to the loaded gun at his side. That was always his end goal, with everything else just being stepping stones to get him that much closer to finally putting an end to this. What came after that hadn’t ever been something he’d given himself the hope of even considering.

“Just something to consider,” Carla said when he failed to answer. She raised her cup to him with a wink and said, “Although it seems like you already have someone on your mind who might help with that.”

Abe looked down at his cup and didn’t have the heart to correct her. His next sip just tasted bitter in his mouth.

---

Chase was right about the others being less than happy when the two of you returned after being out for over two hours with nothing more than a note saying you were going for a walk. Chase waited through Marvin and Jackie’s questions and telling off for not saying anything with the air of someone who had been through this many, many times before, until you got so frustrated that you may have headbutted Jackie’s knee to distract him long enough for Chase to get a word in edgewise.

He told them about going to the park and finding the spot where the Host had been taken, and the talk with Carla afterwards. You noticed that he left out the run-in with his wife and kids, but you could understand why he wouldn’t want to talk about that.

Once he was done, Marvin said, “There’s not much we can do, if he really was taken in by the Institute.”

Jameson paused in the act of ruffling the fur where your collar had been to sign, “The Host, that man I talked to yesterday asked about him. He said this Carla was already worried about him, and apparently she had good reason to.”

“That’s who he was asking about?” Jackie asked. “The guy you were talking to just before I got there?”

Jameson nodded and Jackie sighed before adding for the benefit of the others, “He looked like a hunter to me. Not one I recognized from the Institute, but I think I’ve seen him hanging around the area before that.”

He shared a look with Chase that you missed because you were already connecting the dots yourself. The hunter, the familiar smell on Jameson and his things when he came in yesterday, it had to be Abe. The Host knew him, and it made sense to you that Abe would be asking around for him if the Host had sent Meri his way for some kind of help.

“Could be he just used Carla as a front to find out more information about the Host,” Chase admitted. “She said the Host had been coming around her shop for a while before he suddenly stopped last week. He might have realized someone was after him, and thought he could wait it out in the park until they moved on.”

You shook your head. No, none of this was lining up. If he was worried about Abe, then why would he send Meri to him for help? And if Abe was looking for him, why ask Jameson and not Meri? More importantly, last night the Host did not act like someone who was in hiding or worried about hunters. If he really thought he was in danger, he could have easily taken Captain Magnum’s offer and been on a ship and out of the harbor long before someone found him out in the open at the park.

“There are many eyes in this city.”

Even now, the Host’s parting words sounded more like a warning to you than any kind of concern for his own safety. After all, his voice and the effect it seemed to have on people should have gone a long way toward keeping any kind of conflict from reaching the level the scene at the park would suggest. So what had gone wrong? Had they caught him sleeping? Or had a way to silence him at the ready?

Jameson, noticing the shake of your head, signed, “I agree with Y/N. This seems like a lot of assuming about this fellow we know nothing about.”

Not exactly what you were thinking, and apparently Jackie seemed less than sure about that as well as he said, “Doesn’t change the fact that he’s a hunter and involved in this somehow. We should try to stay as far away from him as possible until we know what he’s after. Everyone understand?”

An entirely reasonable idea that the others easily agreed to, and one that you couldn’t have hated more. You tried to say something to defend Abe, to explain why staying away from him was the last thing you wanted, to give voice to all the reasons you had to believe he couldn’t be involved in the Host’s disappearance.

Could he?

But the only sound that came out of you just made Jameson wrap an arm around your shoulders and assure you that you were safe here in the house, with Chase affirming again that they would try to learn what they could about the Host. Only you suspected that would involve more suspecting Abe and less focus on who was really behind this.

You had to believe Abe didn’t do this, that he hadn’t taken the Host to the place Chase described in his shaking voice, unable to bring himself to give any details of what he had seen there. You had already messed up once, suspected Abe of a murder he did not commit, and you couldn’t do that again.

Not without proof.

Which is why you waited until later that night, when Jameson’s breath slowed to a deep sleep and both Jackie and the doctor had left, to slip out of bed and find your collar where he had left it on the floor. Once again, you leapt over the fence and managed to stick the landing before making your way back to the park, back to the torn-up ground where the struggle had taken place. There again you found the scent of blood, but this time you forced yourself to focus on the other scents, to try to find something else to latch onto.

It took a few tries, but eventually you found a faint, almost metallic version of the same smell you caught every time Marvin finished a smell, that brief wisp of a scent that suggested magic being used. And when you followed it, you found that it did not stop at the same place where the Host’s trail did but continued on in a very definite direction.

A trail, and one you hoped you wouldn’t regret following as you set off in search of where it led.

---

Abe pulled up to the address Google gave him and turned off his car and headlights. He sat there for a few minutes, taking in the low, dark building sitting alone in the middle of an empty parking lot, as quiet and apparently lifeless as every other place on the street. The large neon letters above the doors were out just like the tall lights spread around the parking lot, leaving Abe’s flashlight the only light in the area when he turned it on at the doors and checked the nearby windows.

No sign of movement, but the glass had been tinted to the point he could only get a dim idea of the space inside when he tried to look in. Multiple copies of the same notice had been pinned to both doors, declaring the building to be dangerous and unsafe for human use. Unlawful to enter as of late last week, but that didn’t stop Abe from trying the handle and then, finding that locked, pulling out his lockpicks.

When they proved less than helpful after a few minutes, he pulled out the backup plan and smashed the door’s window in with a short crowbar wrapped in a sheet to help muffle the noise.

At the crack of the glass, something else moved at the corner of the building with a cut-off yelp.

Abe’s flashlight swung around, his gun already out and pointed at the source of the noise, only to find the shape of a huge dog frozen in the act of backing away, the light completely washing out their eyes and fur so that his heart jumped at the sight before he got a grip on himself.

“Sorry, pooch,” Abe muttered, lowering his gun and pointing the flashlight so that it wasn’t shining right in the dog’s eyes. “What are you doing here, huh?”

The dog just stared at him, and despite its size Abe realized it was visibly shaking. Feeling like a jerk, he tried crouching down and clicking his tongue, but the dog made no move to come any closer and he suspected trying to do so would just scare it off.

He shook his head and stood up, returning his attention to the hole he’d made in the window that was just large enough to reach in and unlock the door from the other side. Abe’s shoes crunched on the broken glass as he walked inside, light up and his gun at the ready.

Abe. That was his voice, you’d know it anywhere, same as you knew his smell, the one that even now threatened to drown out the faint metallic scent of magic that had led you here. Straight from the place where the Host had been taken.

A hundred emotions and thoughts collided at once, the joy of finding Abe again splintering on the shame of being in this shape when it happened, the relief of not being recognized getting tangled up in the desire to pull off your collar, to have him see you, to know it was you, that you had found him. All above the doubt and fear that kept going even after he lowered his gun.

Why was he here? What was he looking for? What even was this place?

It was that sound, the crunch of glass under the hunter’s boots, that snapped you out of your shock and sent you following after him. You had to know.

Abe looked over his shoulder and saw the dog neatly jump over the small pile of glass. Great, it was following him. He probably should have shut the door behind him, but the idea of closing his only certain exit out of this place didn’t sit right with him.

“Just stay quiet and out of the way, okay?” he muttered, and could have sworn he saw the dog nod as it looked around, taking in the sight of the front room, carpet lining the floor and partially going up the walls, a desk apparently too large to move left sitting in between them and the curtained off door leading to the rest of the building. Abe’s flashlight caught indents in the carpet where tables and chairs used to be, empty hooks on the walls where pictures of some kind had been removed.

The place had an ashy smell to it, of stale cigarette smoke, and Abe flinched when he heard the dog sneeze after trying to give the carpet a sniff.

You definitely weren’t getting much out of this room. Whoever had owned this place before had apparently never bothered to try and vacuum this carpet everywhere, leaving you with too many faint scents that were all overwhelmed by dust and cigarette ash. While Abe looked behind the desk and sighed as he apparently found nothing, you went for the door behind the hanging curtain, and the lack of carpet you could see under the bottom of it.

Abe saw the dog’s tail disappear through the curtain and heard the click of its claws on the other side before they came to a sudden stop. When he pulled back the curtain, he found the dog standing a short way inside of a large room that made up most of the building. A stage took up one side, while the rest was all dedicated to the dance floor. Abe’s flashlight caught scratches and scuffs in the otherwise gleaming floor, and when he looked up the beam caught and reflected off of a mirrored ball hanging in the middle of the ceiling.

“Guess disco really is dead,” he said. “Took it long enough.”

He saw the dog’s forehead furrow as it looked at him before going back to sniffing the floor and then circling out as if searching for something. But now that Abe had started talking, it felt good to bounce his ideas off of someone else.

Even if that someone else happened to be a dog who didn’t appreciate his jokes.

“Place was shut down four, maybe five days ago,” Abe said as he started to walk toward the middle of the room, his flashlight moving back and forth to take in the details of the room. Or what was left of it. “Guess whoever owned this place didn’t have enough time to get everything. See, stereos and sound equipment’s gone, but they left the lights up there above the stage. Those won’t last long once vandals find this place.”

The dog, who obligingly followed his light to look up at the equipment in question, shot him a look that almost looked accusatory.

“It’s not the same,” Abe said, and the dog just huffed and went back to its searching. What was it looking for?

Even when he wasn’t shining his light directly on the dog, its eyes were surprisingly light, almost silver around the pupils. Was it blind? And underneath the dog’s dark coat of fur, its frame seemed slightly stretched out and wrong, like maybe it wasn’t eating enough to keep up with its size, but Abe could hear the tell-tale jingle of a dog tag whenever it moved.

A runaway, maybe. If he could get a hold of it, maybe he could take it back to whoever was probably looking for it now.

For now, though, Abe almost didn’t mind the company. It was something to keep his mind off of other thoughts or from overfocusing on every little sound or shadow out of the corner of his eye as he slowly walked around the edge of the room, looking at the posters on the walls of previous shows. None of the bands were ones he recognized, and he was just about to turn toward one of the back doors when something caught on his foot and dragged against the floor.

Abe looked down to find one of the posters had fallen, the tape on its back sticking to his shoe better than it had the wall.

“Come on,” he muttered pulling it off only to stare at the image.

You had just caught the scent that brought you here again when you heard the hunter swear quietly and then again, louder with a harsh breath of air leaving his chest. By the time you got to him, Abe was leaning hard against the wall, one hand to his eyes while the other held a poster by its top edge.

Or it did, until his arm dropped to his side and the paper slowly slid between his fingers to fall back onto the ground. When you looked, you could just make out the drawn silhouette of a person with a puffy hairstyle bigger than his head, the letters below him declaring him to be “Wilford ‘Motherloving’ Warfstache,” whoever that was, above a series of dates.

“He was here, he was here,” Abe moaned, sinking down to sit on the floor and look up at the ceiling with quickly filling eyes. “The same day I came back and he was here.”

The last date on the poster was the same day he returned to the city, the same day he found Google waiting outside of his office. And instead of telling him Wilford was here, he had sent Abe back to that damn house, outside the city, and on a fool’s errand to watch some stupid doctor.

“That was over a week ago! He could be anywhere by now,” Abe said, and swallowed hard to fight back the feeling he was going to be sick. “I was so close, I…”

His voice cracked and heard the clink of the dog tag come closer, looked away from the ceiling to find the dog sitting in front of him, one massive paw resting on his knee as though trying to comfort him. He placed a hand on top of that paw, which twitched but didn’t pull away, and they sat there while he tried to calm down, tried to tell himself it wasn’t too late. Again.

You sat there with Abe for a while, watching and trying to understand. He was upset about missing his chance to find this Wilford, clearly, but you didn’t think you’d ever seen him like this before. What was so important about this guy that not finding him could have this kind of effect on Abe, who had faced down countless monsters and murderers, who you had seen barely flinch in the face of his own friend’s (supposed) murder?

After a while, his breathing calmed and he rubbed the top of your paw playfully before reaching out. You flinched, afraid of what you weren’t sure, but his hand found the top of your head and scratched behind your ears before moving down to the side of your neck.

“Good dog,” he said, and you froze.

Not at the words, but at the familiar smell of peppermint and coffee on his breath.

You looked at him, but his eyes were tilted down, and you suddenly realized his hand was on your neck, on the collar.

Abe didn’t try to hold on as the dog shied away, figuring he was lucky it even let him get that close. “It’s okay, I’m not going to hurt you,” he murmured, but the dog still kept its distance as he stood before suddenly going back to sniffing the floor again, as though hoping he would forget that moment happened.

Distracted, it wandered away in the direction of the stage and Abe took a minute to pull out his small notebook and jot down the number he had seen on the dog’s tag, as best as he could while still holding the flashlight. He wasn’t sure what the cat symbol on the other side was about, especially since he was to find a name that might get the dog to trust him a little more, but oh well.

He looked up at the sound of the dog’s exasperated huff in time to see it rear up on its hind legs, one front paw scratching at the handle of the door behind the stage and failing to quite get it.

“What’re you after?” he asked, the dog dropping down to make way as he approached only to slip through the door the second that he pulled it open. There was a back hallway here, the doors on the end suggesting a back exit to this place, but the dog with its nose to the floor passed by a couple of storage closets and empty offices to stop dead at a door that just had an off-center star pasted on it. The dog looked back at him expectantly and then at the door and back again, as if waiting for him to get the hint.

“Something in there?” he asked, already on his way. He doubted there was anything even left in this room or any of the others, but if this was what he thought it was then it couldn’t hurt to look. He opened the door and tried the switch on the wall, which just flipped and failed to provide any light for the small room.

You looked around, taking in the mirror bolted to one wall with a string of unlit bulbs around it, the spaces where couches and chairs had once been, an empty metal rack on one wall and a tiny bathroom just barely large enough to contain a toilet and sink. The trail clearly led here, to this room, but why?

While you sniffed around, Abe checked the cheap desk underneath the mirror as he said, “Room for the performers, I guess, when they weren’t on stage. Nothing here though.”

The dog grumbled and kept sniffing, still trying to find whatever it was looking for. Maybe someone had dropped some food in here, although if that was the case Abe really hoped the dog didn’t find it.

He sighed, thinking it was too much to hope there would magically be just the right clue to tell him where to go from here, and started to turn around when his eye caught something in the mirror. Abe looked over his shoulder and had to check the mirror again before he could find the small, neat hole in the wall, so easy to overlook in the dark. He used his flashlight to get a better look and froze when he saw the light reflect off of something deep inside the hole.

There! The smell was so faint that you almost missed it, but there was a piece of paper so far under the desk that you doubted anyone standing up or even sitting where the couches used to be would have been able to see it. You had to grab it, as gently as you could, with the tip of your teeth and pull it out to have any hope of seeing what was on it, and even that was more difficult than it needed to be with Abe and his flashlight on the other side of the room.

It was a flyer, the graphic on the front a jumbled mess to your eyes, but you could smell two different kinds of ink on it. One used to print the actual flyer, and the other from a ballpoint pen which, you realized once you managed to get the paper to flip over, someone had used to write a short message which you could read:

See you there, W.

Why was this here? Why would someone come all the way from the park to leave this here, or alternatively, leave this note here before going straight to the Host? The trail was already so faint that it seemed to stop with this paper, as though who or whatever had dropped it here had disappeared completely.

The way it was written, it was impossible to tell if someone had written the message to ‘W,’ or if ‘W’ was the signature.

Either way, you were pretty sure Abe would want to see this.

Abe heard the dog make a vocal sound behind him, but he had taken his knife out and was digging it into the side of the hole.

“Why would someone fire a gun in here?” he asked out loud. “Bullet hole, about…chest, maybe head high depending on the height…”

He felt more than heard the dog stop by his legs and watch as he gave a satisfied grunt when the knife slid between the bullet and the wall and popped it out onto the ground. The dog startled backwards, but Abe just smiled and said, “Easy, partner, this could be just what we’re looking for.”

Abe paused when he picked up the bullet, quietly disturbed by how easily that word had slipped out. He was even more disturbed when he realized what he was holding between his thumb and forefinger.

“Silver.” He breathed the word and then, the thought hitting him like a freight train, he dropped his flashlight to the ground and used his other hand to pull out his gun and clumsily spill the bullets into the palm of his hand.

Each one had a small, easy to miss mark on the base to identify the maker, one that Abe knew for a fact wasn’t around anymore. A mark that matched the one on the base of the bullet from the wall. Five bullets in his hand, five in the Colonel’s. Five that Abe never shot, and two that the Colonel walked away with after wasting one, and then putting a second one in Abe and a third in his partner. And it looked like Abe had just found the fourth one.

“Damn it!” Abe’s fist struck the wall, the six bullets hitting the floor and bouncing uselessly off the ground as he hit it again, and again, and again, until the pain caught up with him.

He looked behind him and realized the room was empty, and in the distance he thought he could hear the click of claws on the polished dance floor.

Great, as if he didn’t feel bad enough.

Abe gathered the bullets, putting the unused five back into the gun before studying the last one again. Maybe there was something he could do with this, if it really had been with the Colonel all this time. He walked back through the building, calling for the dog, but there was no sign of it anywhere and the front door was still standing open.

You pressed yourself against the wall behind the front desk, heart hammering so loud that you could barely hear Abe’s voice calling for you, or at least the dog he thought he had scared off. You had seen the silver bullets catch the light from the flashlight as they hit the ground, most of them from Abe’s own gun. He sounded sorry now, but you had never heard that kind of anger in his voice before, not even when everything was going so wrong at the house.

You could hear him outside, still calling and looking around, and knew you were running out of time. If he left now, there was no guarantee you could find him again. Running into each other here had been an accident, and without a way to communicate to the others they would only try to keep you away from him.

Then again, maybe they were right to do so. Just because he was looking for Wilford now didn’t mean he wasn’t connected to what happened to the Host. And just because you thought you knew him before the mirror didn’t mean you knew him now. A lot could change, and if the party had showed you anything, it was that you could be wrong about anyone.

But, you thought as you heard a car door open in the distance, could you stand not knowing? Not even trying? What if this really was your only chance?

Abe sighed, feeling another pang of guilt as he opened his car and got inside. There was no sign of the dog, although considering how skittish it was before he went and did that, he couldn’t blame it for running. Plus, now his hand hurt like hell as he turned on the ignition and the headlights, catching one last glimpse of the empty dance hall before he turned and began backing up.

He didn’t see the dog that wasn’t there, or the shadow watching from across the street who was there. As the car pulled away, he didn’t see the figure that appeared in the doorway either, the very human silhouette that had to lean on the doorframe while you caught your breath, or hear your voice, cracked and strained from years of not being used.

“…Abe.”

((End of Part 18. As always, thank you for reading. And like I said before, this is where I’ll leave the story for now to take a little bit of a break, so, uh...*runs*

Edit: Story’s moving forward again, so here’s a link to Part 19: Good Branding.

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[tammythompson-singslikea-muppet]

Betrayal (Stan Uris x reader x Richie Tozier Reddie)

Soooo I wrote this a long time ago and put a lot of work into it but then didn’t end up being super happy about the ending and the fandom slowly dying so I never posted it. Revisiting the story and re-writing a few things I have decided to post it so ENJOY!! I couldn’t really come up with a better name if you have any suggestion I would gladly take them.

Warnings: swearing, some sexual references and mentions of sex

aged up 18/19

Bold = flashbacks 

Part 2

You walked into the dinner on a slightly sunny morning in July. It had started to get warmer in Derry but since it was still early in the day the temp was barely out of the seventies. You sat down next to a familiar mop of perfect curls at the bar,

 "I could kill a man for a coffee right about now."

 "Is that so." The boy responded sipping his coffee from his mug. You both let out a laugh. The same waitress as always came over and immediately poured you a cup of coffee without even having to ask.

 "Thanks, Josie." You picked up two packets of sugar and dumped them into your coffee along with a little bit of creamer. After taking a sip the boy looked over to you with a small smile, 

"I guess I shall live another day".

 "Lucky you."

A moan escaped your lips as you were pushed against the wall of the bathroom, basically swallowing each other's tounges. One hand was tangled in the beautiful mess of curls the other rests on his bicep which leads down to his hand at your hip, the other at the back of your neck. Heavy and passionate were two things someone from the outside might call it but you could only feel need. The door open and closed before a voice rang out,

 "I guess you're taking the break up with Richie pretty well then?" Beverly continued over to a stall. You and Stan pulled away from each other, the Uris boy quickly making his way for the door. When he opened it he was met with an older lady and immediately apologized, squeezing his way past her. A blush very noticeable on his cheeks. She walks in and glances over to you "Wrong door" You shrugged. She shook her head knowing better and went into a stall. Beverly walked out and just laughed at you. Failing to conceal a laugh you brought a hand to your mouth. Beverly washed her hands and you both exited the bathroom and walked towards the counter. "Stan took care of it all" Josie smiled. You pulled out your wallet and handed her an extra tip anyway. She smiled and thanked you. 

"Did you walk here?" You asked Beverly as you left the dinner.

 "No Bill dropped me off." She motioned over to Bill sitting in his car, it seems Stan found it first and was leaning against the car talking to Bill. 

"No Haystack today?" 

"He's still sick," She scrunched up her nose in disgust."-But he's getting better." When you looked up at the car you could see someone sitting in the backseat. Suddenly it was like you were fighting with yourself to turn around every step that you took. Beverly looked over to you and mouthed sorry. You told them that you didn't want people taking sides, and you were glad that they didn't. But that doesn't mean it hurt any less to see someone you used to be so close with, and not even have it in you to say hello. Beverly grabbed something from the front seat before joining you by Stan, who was conversating with Bill and the boy in the back seat. You didn't even want to say his name let alone look at him so you just stared at the ground.

 "Bye Bill, see ya, Eddie." You almost winced at his name. As you, Stan, and Beverly walked over to your car you could feel Stan about to apologize. He could barely get out the word 'I'm' before you pointed a finger up at him.

 "I said no apologizing," he sighed and sat down in the passenger's seat," I said no picking sides, and I meant it you do not need to apologize for talking to one of your friends." 

"But I feel b-," 

"I told you not to feel bad either." You looked over at him and showed him a smile. "Now be my DJ, we're going over to Mike's." Stan gladly turned on the radio as Bev in the back groaned, 

"But his music taste sucks,(Y/N)!" you laughed and pulled out of the parking lot.

                                               *          *            *

Mike welcomed the three of you with a smile and directed you towards the living room. Beverly walked up to Mike as you and Stan trailed behind. You could see her whispering into his ear. Being curious as to what was short-lived once Mike turned to you and Stanley.  

"So what have you two been up to today besides playing tonsil hockey in public restrooms?" 

"Subtle. very subtle." You glared between the pair on the couch. Stan looked around the room trying to avoid the question, and you just ignored it entirely. "How's your truck coming along?" 

"Yeah did you get that part Bill said you needed?" Stan butted in. Not even looking at her you could feel Beverly rolling her eyes.  Mike just laughed at your change of subject. 

"Yeah, I just ordered it this morning. Hopefully, it will be the only part I have to order and I'll be driving you losers around in no time."  The four of you spent most of the afternoon talking about a little party you guys are throwing for Ben over here at the farm. He had been gone the most June, out visiting family, and when he came back y'all did a welcome home movie night but he got really sick. So now it was your idea to just throw a whole dang party cuz why not, the kid deserves it. Although the only thing that really makes it a party is decorations. Seeing as it'll just be the eight of you as always goofing around. 

 "I think the final question is," Mike turned around to look at you. "Are you gonna be ok with Richie and Eddie here?" 

You didn't want to answer this question. Everything seemed so different the last time you were all together. It was actually that same night, that Ben came home when you caught them. You haven't spoken to or even seen Richie since that night. Although you still weren't very keen on the idea of seeing them, you weren't even sure how it was all gonna go with your dramatic little ass, but you were gonna face it for Ben. And s' mores.

 "I guess we'll see how it goes." Stan smiled at you, completely unconvinced that this wasn't going to turn into some sort of emotional disaster for you. 

"Have you talked to him at all?" Mike asked. You looked down at your feet causing Mike to put a comforting hand on your shoulder. 

"It sucks, I know. But, next to Bev respectively, you're the toughest girl I've ever met, and Richie is gonna feel like complete and udder shit for at least a month, maybe two, but that doesn't mean that you have to. We're gonna have loads of fun and you're totally gonna forget what a shitty week you've been having." A grateful smile graced your features, 

"Thanks, Mikey." Mike looked over to Stan who was talking with Beverly and leaned in closer to you. "So what's going on with you and Stan?" Mike has been very speculative over what has been going on with you and Stanley. The two of you were in vulnerable states, both going through difficult breakups. Mike didn't want to see his friends in any more hurt than they already were, which made him highly skeptical of your and Stan's, a bit, lusty escapades.

The question through you off a bit. The thing is you hadn't really thought of much about what you and Stan were doing. Neither of you treated it very seriously and were just trying to find someone to dull the pain. It wasn't a very healthy coping mechanism and both you knew that, but anyway threw caution to the wind. For once in his life, Stanley felt out of his head. He wasn't overthinking anything, because it just felt good. And at the moment that's all he really wanted to feel, same as you. Neither of you ever stopped to think that maybe it felt a little too good. So instead of hashing out all the pain and misery the both you just though it easier to get a little horny. You've never actually slept together, but you don't think the rest of the losers believe that. The other day you were at Mr. Keene's store with Bill picking up a few things and he proceeded to throw a pregnancy test at you and said

  "Here I-I'll call Stan and tell him thu-thu-the news" You started at him shocked for a second then threw it back at him. 

"Hardy har har, you want me to track down someone who's ACTUALLY pregnant then leave the test in your mother's bathroom? Hmm, I bet that would lead to an interesting conversation now wouldn't it Mr. Denbrough." You spatted out quickly and both erupted in laughter, then Bill motioned over to Greta sitting behind the prescription pick up counter. After that, you were turning heads with all the noise and loud laughter being made.

"Umm, I don't know. It's just a bit of tension release I guess. Something easy and simple between friends." The words came out of your mouth quickly wanting to move away from the subject. That seemed to be your new hobby, avoiding subjects. You could tell that Mike wasn't trying to pry. He was just worried about the whole thing. You were gonna reassure him that everything would be fine, but for one: You didn't know that and for two: The house phone started ringing. You nodded your head towards the phone and Mike went to take of it.

"This conversation isn't over."

 "Uh-huh," 

Stan walked over to you. "What's the conversation about?" Stan questioned. You sighed

 "Nothing. Just about us." At that moment Stan turned his head down towards your's then immediately stopped what he was doing. The next thing that was about to happen - that Stan stopped from happening - was something that told Stan that this whole thing was gonna come back to bite him in the ass. And that maybe Mike has a point being worried about you two. 

See the thing is, Stan is not a very affectionate person to someone other than who he is in a relationship with. When you are just a friend occasional hugs and a hand on a shoulder are about as touchy-feaey as Stan would get, unless it's movie night then he'll end up resting his head on someone's shoulder. If another loser was standing right beside you sensing your unease and possibly slight confusion, that Stan was sensing, it would be a totally normal Ben thing to just put a hand on your four-arm rubbing gently. And it would be a totally normal thing for Bill to lean down and press a gentle friendly kiss on the top of your head, of course not without a sly remark from Richie. 'But that's over now.' Stan thought to himself. But a thing like that, an innocent little kiss on the top of the head to comfort a friend was not a very Stanley thing to do. Yet there he stood looking slightly down, not being much over a head taller than yourself, having to stop and think to himself about what the heck he was doing. Because that was exactly what he was about to do, press a kiss to the top of your head. 'It's just an innocent kiss! That didn't even happen! Don't you dare overthink this Stan!! Don't ruin yet another good thing with stupid fucking overthinking!!' While yelling at himself in his head his gaze had never left the top of yours. Suddenly his eyes were no longer looking at your head but rather into your eyes. You had leaned your head up to notice that Stan was staring at you. 'Shit! Shit! Shit!' There goes Stan again yelling in his head.

 "Whatcha thinking about Mr. Boy Scout?" In what felt like years to him, Stan finally blinked, swallowed, then answered, 

"Nothing." And with that and much to Stan's luck, Mike walked back into the room.

 "Was just a telemarketer- anyway what are we talking about?" 

 "Absolutely nothing," Beverly smirked at you and Stan. The awkward silence didn't last long when Beverly spoke again. 

 "Uh, I have to drop off something at Richie's" 

"Count me out." The eye roll and tone in Stan's voice hurt you more then you expected. Another totally unexpected feeling was that you suddenly felt bad for Richie. He and Stan had been friends for ages.  It was this exact thing that you didn't want happening when you told everybody not to pick sides. And now you are standing right next Stan listening to the disdain in his voice when Bev mentioned Richie and it almost made you feel sick. 'Girl! Get your shit together! The last person you should feel bad for is Richie fucking Tozier! You lost a best friend because of him, its only fair he looses one too!' your mind screamed at you.’ But that still didn't get rid of that feeling in the pit of your stomach. 

The rest of them have been doing pretty alright with it, according to Bill, Bev has been a little snippy to them, but apologizes. Bill says he's Switzerland and honestly you're thankful for that but it must suck for him the most because of it. He tells Bev that he tries hard not to be mad at them, but he also feels like in doing so it's an injustice to you, so he really just tries to split his time with you guys down the middle. Mike is the true neutral out of them, he really doesn't like the confrontation but has admitted to wanting to punch them both in the teeth at least once. Ben says he is really upset at them and has been telling you that he's only not talking to them that much because he's sick and he hasn't been talking to anyone that much that isn't Bev. But you also once overheard Bill tell Stan that he hasn't even spoken a word to Eddie, on account of the fact that he was the one who introduced you and Richie and that just really struck a chord with him. You brought it up to him once but he faked a coughing fit to avoid it then changed the subject. He and Stan are the only two who have made an effort to avoid or not talk to Richie or Eddie, but as much as you tell them you just want everybody to get along and you don't want anyone else getting hurt you can't exactly control people.

                          *time skip to party*

"Eduardo, àndale, let's go!" You yell to Eddie in the car as you and Richie walk up to Bill's door. You were so excited to see Ben and were always happy to hang out with all the losers. Eddie gets out of the car as Richie opens the door,

 "Billiam, the threesome have arrived!!" You and Richie walk in hand-in-hand Eddie in short distance 

"Quit calling us that, Rich! It's fucking gross!!" Eddie shouted from the doorway, closing the door behind him. You walk into the living room to find Ben. Like always he's sitting next to Beverly on the couch so you venture over there 

"HANDSOME HANSCOM!!! WELCOME HOME!!" He blushes at your nickname and gives you a smile.

 "Thanks, (Y\N)" It felt nice to have Ben back with all of the losers. The bunch of you asked Ben questions about his trip and messed around for about an hour, before deciding to put in the movie. They all look at you and as you were leaning on Richie's shoulder. 

"What?" 

"The movie?" Stan questioned.

 "Oh right! It's in my car I'll be right back." 

You walked out to the car and sat down in the front seat grabbing the movie out of the glove compartment. You open the door to your car as Stan gets out on the other side. Standing in front of the car, preparing to go in, your breath hitches in the back of your throat as you see Eddie's car. Your mouth goes dry and you feel like you just want to crawl back into the car and drive home. Stan walks over to you and puts an arm around your shoulder. Suddenly he feels the same way, letting himself be affectionate like this. But when he looks down at you and sees the look on your face he throws all that aside. Stan squeezes you into his side rubbing his hand up and down your forearm. You take a deep breath and lean into him. Stan feels his heart flutter as he sees and can almost feel you finding comfort in him.  You turn your head to look up to him. You would've felt the same flutter had your mind, heart, and stomach not be so focused on your ex-boyfriend and ex-best friend.

 "It's gonna be alright. Right?" You ask, the smallness in your voice pained Stan. His nervousness was gone now, replaced with anger. Not enough to present on his face, but enough for him to hear your voice ring in his ears when he sees Eddie on Richie's lap when the two eventually get inside. 

"Yeah. Yeah, it's gonna be fine. I promise." He unwraps his arm from and holds out his hand, palm up. 

"You won't start shit with Richie or Eddie?" You said lacing your hand into Stan's, the pair of them dropping down to your sides as you start for the door. Stan gives you a smile and nods 

"Promise." 

You opened the door and entered the house again, this time with the movie. You handed it over to Bill then sat down on the couch next to Ben, on his other side was Beverly at the end of the couch. Mike sat down on the other side of you at the other end of the couch, Stan was sitting over in the recliner beside the couch on Bev's side. Eddie and Richie were on popcorn duty so they were in the kitchen. Far away enough from the loser's sight Richie wrapped his arms around Eddie's waist while he stood in front of the microwave waiting for the popcorn. 

"Stop, Rich, they're gonna see us."

 A muffled "No they're not," came from Richie who was now snuggling his head into Eddie's neck. Eddie looked around nervously for a second. When he saw no one present he relaxed into Richie and leaned his head up against the boy's who's was in his neck. The microwave dinged and Eddie jumped. Richie laughed and let go of Eddie getting a bowl from the cabinet,

 "Scared of a microwave Eds?" Eddie dumped the popcorn into the bowl handing back to Richie,

 "Take this dickwad. And don't call me Eds!" The rest of the losers heard their usual bickering as they entered back into Bill's living room. You gave a smile to Richie and he sat down on the floor at your feet. He handed Beverly the popcorn then grabbed your legs and threw them over his shoulders, leaning his head back. You laughed and your hands went to play with his beautiful, although messy curls.

"Stop! I worked really hard on these curls!" Stan smacked away your hand as Mike opened the door.

 "I just can't!! I'm a sucker for the curls." You whined. Mike laughed, smiling at his friends,

 "Come on Bev is trying to teach us yo-yo tricks." Stan let out a laugh. As you walk into the living room Bill is in front of the couch with one of Ben's yo-yo's failing to do a trick Bev is doing right next to him with ease.

 "You'll get it someday Denbrough." 

"H-h-how about you try it huh?" Bill sassed you, his eyebrows furrowed together, mouth in a pout. You couldn't help but chuckle at his frustration, which could mirror the frustration of a little boy or a toddler even. Your eyes move over to Ben and a smile grows big on your face as you pull Stan over to where Ben is patting the cushion next to him. As you sit down next to Ben your eyes wander toward the back of the room in reaction to your ears hearing laughter. You, obviously, didn't know Stan's eyes were following until you felt his person stiffen like a board 'It's gonna be alright. Right?' the look that you gave him and the tone in your voice haunting his brain, reminding himself to keep a lid on it. There they were right before you, Eddie sitting comfortably in Richie's lap, his legs hanging over the arm of the chair. Richie's arms holding him there securely. They were laughing at Bev doing funny tricks with her yo-yo behind Bill so he wouldn't see, still determined to get the trick right. You hadn't noticed you were staring until suddenly Eddie's eyes were staring right back into yours. Everyone else seemed to notice as a silence fell over the room. Mike coughed and you snapped your eyes down to the floor. 

"So are we gonna play a game or something?" Stan asked, putting a hand at the small of your back rubbing lightly. Ben saw out of the corner of his eye. He saw how your shoulders dropped as your body visibly relaxed. You had noticed it yourself. Ben looked over at Beverly and when she noticed he started quickly shifting his eye back from her to you and Stan. Bev gave him an 'I told you so' look. 

"Yeah, we got games in the closet who wants to play Clue?" 

"Yes!!" You yelled. You and Bill high-fived. 

Stan winced and rubbed his ear "Ow! That was my ear!" 

When Richie finally got the guts to look over in your direction he wasn't expecting to see your hand caringly rest itself on the side of Stan's head 

"Sorry" He heard you say with a soft laugh. One that he knew all too well. A little sign of embarrassment, but not too much that you would go shy. He could also hear the soft sympathy in your voice. He noticed something about it. Not that it was different. No, it wasn't different at all. That was the thing though; your tone wasn't even the slightest bit different from the way Richie remembers your voice sounding. Not when talking to anyone else, but when talking to him specifically. What he heard in your voice was what he had always heard in your voice whenever you would look at him with those eyes full of love and caring. 'But why would you have that tone in your voice talking to Stan,' Richie had wondered to himself. Then he saw Stanley's hand. Up at his ear when you had shouted, drop down to the small of your back. His eyes glued to Stanley Uris' thumb, as he rubbed it against the small of your back in a soothingly intimate way. It made an emotion surge throughout Richie. He didn't quite know what it was but he knew that he didn't like it. 

You were searching around a bit for Richie, confused when you couldn't find him anywhere downstairs. When the movie had finished up Ben didn't feel so good so Beverly took him home. You had gone along for the ride to get some more drinks for the rest of you. When you got back to Bill's, Richie was nowhere to be seen. When you first walked into the house you went to the kitchen with Bill to put away the soda's grabbing one for you and Bev. Going back to the living room you noticed it was only Bev and Mike. 'Geez, where'd everybody go?' You thought to your self. You looked over your shoulder to find Bill headed your way. You turned around and noticed Stan on the stairs face scrunched in frustration on the phone. 'Poor thing' You assumed he was on the phone with Patty, the two of them haven't been along too well recently. You turn back around, 

"Hey, Mike, you seen Richie or Eds?" He shook his head. 

"Richie I don't know, but I thought Eddie was talking to Stan over there." You gave him a small smile and muttered thanks before you went over to Stan. You felt bad disturbing him on the phone but he seemed almost relieved to get out of the conversation. You stuck your hand between the banisters on the stairs and tapped a finger on Stan's knee.

"Hey, have you seen Richie?" You hesitantly ask Bev. 

"He's over there by the stairs with Mike." She smiled reassuringly at you and put a hand on your shoulder. Richie saw you approach the two of them and put his head down expecting you to be there to talk to Mike. But when Mike walked away he looked up surprised.

"Hey, Rich." An awkward feeling settled in the air. 

"Hi" a hint of optimism in his voice. Richie felt relieved that you were actually talking to him, although you weren't all too thrilled about it, you wanted to get it over with. Maybe help things get back to normal. 

"Uh, thanks for letting me and Eds come to the party. I know you, Beverly and Mike planned it so, thanks." A pretty genuine smile mixed with a little unsettlement, not knowing what you were gonna do or say. 

"Well they're your friends too, and the party is for Ben anyway so." Your voice was small and fragile. Richie's felt his body relax. He didn't know if it was because the sound of your voice made me feel like the worst person in the world or because he was relieved that you weren't yelling at him. He supposed it was a little bit of both. 

"I'm surprised they all still talk to me." Upon hearing that, you immediately thought of what you overheard Bill say about Ben not talking to Eddie. 

"I truly don't think they would have cut you off forever, I mean they were your friends before they were mine-" 

"Yeah but your more likable" You chuckled and Richie smiled, 

"The truth is they had talked to me about it and I told them I didn't want anyone taking sides. But still, I think only maybe, Ben and Bev would have given you a real silent treatment. I'm sorry that Stan kinda has." 

"No, No you have nothing to be sorry for. It's all on me. But thank you. For asking them not to pick sides. It means a lot." The hallway fell silent again. 

"I don't want you to get offended or anything, I truly don't mean anything by this,-" Richie was now being overly cautious with his words, he really didn't want to hurt you more than he already has. "I was just a little surprised when Stan cut me off as he did. You two never really seemed that close, now he's practically glued to your hip." 

Richie's tone fell more toward anger as reached the end of his sentence, his mind thinking back to Stanley's hand on your back. A part of him added that in just to hear your answer. Had you already moved on? Is that why you were talking to him because you had moved on to Stan? Why did this upset him so much? When you answered with a little, 

"Yeah, honestly me too." Richie felt not just his confusion grow but also his anger.

This wasn't like Stan. If Stan would have wanted to be in a relationship with you he would have told you. 'Well maybe she just doesn't want to tell you?' 'No.' He thought 'That couldn't be it, she sounds just as confused as I do. What was Stan getting at with her?' Richie was snapped back into reality when Eddie came bounding down the stairs loud as usual, shouting, 

"Mike you're out of band-aids! You should put that on a list or something, do you know how infected cuts can get without the proper bandage or ointment?!" Richie laughed and smiled at Eddie. 

"Do you even need a band-aid?" Beverly asked amused by Eddie's usual antics.

"Well, no but still!" Eddie saw you and froze, but when he saw that you were laughing a bit he relaxed.

He had been extremely nervous to come to the party. It would be the first time all eight of you would be hanging out since you had caught him and Richie. Not to mention it was a party for Ben, and Ben hadn't even talked to him since Beverly told him what happened. Eddie couldn't even count how many times he had asked Richie if it would just be better if they stayed home together. But every single time Richie would reassure him that everything would be fine, even though he was asking himself the same damn question. Eddie was practically shaking about seeing you again. He felt so guilty about going behind your back with Richie, but he couldn't help himself. He had spent all that time in pain thinking Richie didn't love him back, so when Richie actually told him that he was in love with him. It was all Eddie could think about. All the voices in his head telling him how selfish he was being, were tearing at him, but they were pushed aside. He was so tired of longing for Richie on the sidelines. He deserved happiness too. Eddie Kaspbrak was not proud in any way of how he got it, but the happiness he felt when being with Richie was something otherworldly to him. How could he let it go? How could he let something so precious and important to him, something he wanted for so long, slip through his fingers?

"Well hey, me and (Y\N) could g-g-go over to Muh-mister Keene's." Bill threw a wink in your direction 

"I swear to god you throw one more fucking pregnancy test at me, Denbrough!"

Stan shouted, "What?" as the rest of you laughed. You had walked away as Richie's laughter died down when his mind had put two and two together. Richie then put his arm around Eddie and pressed a kiss to his head to try and calm himself down. 'I can't fucking believe he would do this to her!' 

You laughed with the rest of them and sat back down next to Stan who was looking more confused by the second. You explained what happened at Mr.Keene's to him. All of you laugh even more when you bring up framing Bill for knocking someone up. Stan leaned over and whispered in your ear 

"You did tell him we aren't actually sleeping with each other right?" You leaned over to his ear 

"Of course I did. He just doesn't believe me." You both shake your heads laughing 

"Bev and Ben didn't believe me when I told them either." 

"Yeah, I don't think Mike does either, but honestly it's not like we would really believe them if it was the other way around or something." Stan laughed,

 "I might believe Mike, but the others, probably not" 

"And what are you two whispering about?" Bev wiggled her eyebrows. 

"'Oh Stanley I love the way you cuddle up to me in the middle of the night!! You're such a good lover and such a strong man!!'" Bill squealed out in a girly voice. 

"What the fuck!!" You shouted in between fits of laughter. The whole room was in hysterics as Bill threw his arms around Mike. Richie stood by the entrance of the living room with Eddie who was dying laughing. Richie, however, was faking a laugh, trying his hardest to keep his cool. He put on a smile on his face and gave a little chuckle as he told Eddie he was going to get a drink. Mike then threw his arms around Bill the same, playing along. The pair was then pretending to make out, their hands foolishly caressing each other's bodies as they made kissing noises. Stan hoped you were too busy laughing to see the intense blush across his cheeks as he laughed as well. Lucky for him you were doubled over in laughter and lucky for you as well, as you were also hiding a blush behind your laughing. "Is that really how you see us?" You laughed asked Bill before he could answer Richie's voice was heard loud across the living room. 

"Hey, Stanley can we talk for a second?" 

Stan looked over to you. The soft expression on your face almost seemed to calm him.

"Hey, do you know where Richie went?" You asked softly. 

"I saw him go upstairs. I think." 

"Thanks, Stan." You walk up the stairs wondering what the fuck Richie would be doing upstairs. Your eyes immediately go to Georgie's room. You always got a weird feeling from that room ever since he had died. Forgetting about Richie for a second you take a few steps closer to the door of the, now forever, young boy's bedroom. You reached your hand to the handle of the door when you heard a noise coming from Bill's room. You're head snapped around at the sudden noise. You took a deep breath and headed towards Bill's room. 

"Why the hell are you in Bill's room, Richie?" you whispered to yourself. You opened up the door a crack deciding to peep on Richie in hopes of scaring him. You look into the room and see that Richie was with Eddie. Second, guessing whether or not you should go on with the scare, knowing Eddie will you chew your ass out for it, you heard your name in conversation, 

"Hold on I think (Y\N) and Beverly are back." You looked in and saw Eddie going for the windows. Before he could reach one Richie grabbed his wrist and pulled Eddie back next to him on the bed.

 "They went to go bring Ben home, they're totally not back yet just  relax." You notice the soothing tone in Richie's voice. Usually, when Eddie is freaking out over nothing Richie just sounds annoyed. You've never really heard him be soft with Eddie like that. Which drew you to the conclusion that he was being soft for a reason. 'But why would Eddie be so worried about me and Bev coming back?' You watched as Richie put a hand on Eddie's shoulder. 'What the hell is going on here?' You continued to watch Richie's hand very closely as it traveled from Eddie's shoulder up to his neck with a thumb rubbing gently behind his ear. Your confusion grew more and more with every passing second. Eddie then put his hand up to Richie's. 'surely to swat him away' you instinctively thought. Only he didn't, instead, he gently held the other boy's hand. You could feel your throat begin to dry, slowly becoming hard to swallow. You watched as Richie leaned in and rested his forehead against Eddie's. Everything in you stiffened as you begged for it all to be over. For Eddie to say, 'what in the world are you doing?'. Or for Richie to playfully shove Eddie over messing around. For the whole scene in front of you to fade away like some sort of hallucination. Hell!, maybe even for someone to say 'what about (Y\N)?' at that point you would take anything. Any sort of hesitation or wavering. But your internal pleas would never be answered. Probably never even heard no matter how loud they were screaming from inside of you. You were forced to watch by eyes that couldn't pry themselves away from the scene before them, almost like they were watching for answers or confirmation of what seems now to be what has been happening behind your back for God knows how long. You felt your stomach drop, your heart, and it plummeting down together. As Richie, confident as ever, took Eddie into his arms connecting their lips together with such passion. Your eyes couldn't watch any longer. Before you even knew what you were doing, your hand had balled into a fist and slammed itself against the white bedroom door. Two loud bangs echoed through the house: The first one from your fist connecting with the door, the second from the door hitting the wall of Bill's bedroom. Leaving a large dent Bill would have to explain to his mother later. The two boys jumped from the sound. So had everybody downstairs. Their eyes wide faces drained of any color, you wouldn't be able to think they could get any paler. But when they realized who was at the door, who made that noise. It was almost like they had turned to ghosts. Eddie looked into the eyes of his best friend. He didn't think eyes could hold so much rage yet so much heartbreak at the same time. It was enough to make him nauseous. He would have bet you good money that at that moment he would vomit. At that point, you had started to cry. Richie stood frozen his face-melting from shock into guilt as he watched the tears stream down your face. As if this wasn't humiliating enough, being cheated on with your best friend, when you turned around to run, you were met with the confused faces of all your friends, except Ben of course. 

"What happened?" Mike asked looking at you with sympathy. 

"They're fucking!" You stated with anger and betrayal. Beverly looked at the two with anger. 

"NO! No! We would never not while (Y\N) and I..." You couldn't hear the rest of what Richie was saying as you raced down the stairs to get out of there. Stan following in suit as Richie walked into Mike's room. Stan walked to the opposite side of the room as Richie closed Mike's bedroom door. Stan didn't know what Richie wanted with him, what he knew was that he did not want to be in that room with Richie, hell he didn't even want to be in that house with Richie. Stan didn't quite understand why he felt this fucking mad at Richie, all he knew was that he was this fucking mad at Richie. And with that much anger, he didn't know how to keep it in. Nor did he want to. Of course, Richie just wants to go back to being friends, he just wants his best friend back and everything to be back to normal. And that's what Stan thinks this whole thing is about. But boy was Stan unaware of the shit show that Richie was about to load on him. Stan stood against Mike's dresser, arms crossed waiting for Richie to spew some shit about, forgiveness or going back to normal, starting over. His eyes were almost already in the back of his head just thinking about it. Stan was starting to question just truly naive Richie was thinking things could just go back to nor-

 "What the fuck do you think you're doing taking advantage of (Y\N) like that!" 

Hold up, wait, WHAT! Stan looked at Richie like he had grown three heads, eye sharp like daggers, 

"What in the actual hell are you talking about?" his voice was cold and stern. Stan could not believe what Richie had just said to him. How fucking dare Richie of all people accuse him of taking advantage of (Y\N)! Richie flailed 

"I saw how she was with you, I heard what Bill said! How could you be so fucking carel-" Stan wouldn't even let Richie finish that last word. 

"Don't you even fucking say it." Stan may have looked calm before, but now you could see everything in his demeanor change. Sharp, anger-filled eyes, clenched jaw, clenched fists, with tall erect posture. Richie swallowed stopping for a second. There was still nothing changing his mind on what he believed Stan to be doing. 

"What is wrong with you, why would even think it's ok to just use (Y\N) for sex!?-" Stan was fueled with rage, he couldn't believe that Richie would think that. He has known Stan for years, and after all this time, this is the conclusion he makes about him. He watched as Richie shouted as he paced back and forth, spewing his mouth like a damn hypocrite, arms flying through the air and in Stan's face. Stan had just about had enough, 

"Cuz, of course, it never crossed your mind for even a second that I might actually care for her!" Richie was just about out of breath with anger, small pants were in between his words as he said: 

"If you really cared about her you would have left her alone not taken advantage of her while she's vulnerable." Stan didn't even need time to process that sentence before his mind had decided what would come out of his mouth. The truth. The last sentence to come out of Stan's mouth was something that Richie, the rest of the losers listening through the door, and LEAST of all Stan expected to hear. It was like something in him just snapped. The whole conversation, if you could call it that, Stan was able to keep his composure. He was never really one to yell, but something had just taken over him as he walked up to Richie,

"Oh really, you want to talk to me about caring about (Y\N), wake up and smell the roses Richie YOU FUCKING CHEATED ON HER!!! WITH HER BESTFRIEND!! YOU ARE THE REASON SHE'S IN A VULNERABLE PLACE! DON'T YOU STAND HERE AND TRY TO TELL ME THAT I DON'T CARE ABOUT HER YOU PIECE OF SHIT! I'M THE ONE THAT FUCKING LOVES HER!" 

They do say it makes you crazy. That's exactly what happened with Stan, over the year and a half that Eddie introduced her to the group and Richie and her starting dating, Stanley Uris had fallen in love with her. And it had made him crazy, either he wasn't able to admit it to himself, having had both been in relationships at the time of the meeting and falling for the young lady, or he was just that stupid and blind that couldn't see he was in love with (Y\N) (Y\L\N). Stan walked over to the door, twisting the handle, looking straight ahead avoiding all eye contact with anybody, walked out the door. (Y\N) trying to catch up right behind him.

[jamielea81]

Conversations

Chapter 10

Description: You accompany your friends on a day trip to Animal Kingdom Theme Park where you meet Scott Evans by chance. This one afternoon leads to a year long friendship with both Chris and Scott over text messages and phone calls.

Pairing: Chris Evans x Reader

Warning: Fluff and Angst, I’m sorry. Probably a swear or two.

Word Count: 6,157 (I know!)

A/N: I know nothing about the lives of the Evans family and mean no harm. This is purely fiction and for fun. Reblogs and comments are much appreciated! The tag list is now closed. Each chapter tends to get reblogged from me a few times, so if you’re following me, you can’t miss it. See additional note at the end.

*Italics are internal thoughts

Catch up with Chapter 9

**

A simple “I’m home” was texted to Chris when your feet hit your bedroom floor. You were slightly concerned you may have been too clingy about the “not seeing him again soon enough” comments you shared. What you really wanted to say was “I’m home and missing you already”, but you refrained. He replied with “glad you made it home safe, sweetheart”.

This was strange for you and you didn’t quite know what was going on with your emotions. With Ethan, it was all too much too soon. The spending nearly every day together was entirely too much. In the end, that relationship really made you lose sight of yourself. With Chris, your time together wasn’t nearly enough. And you couldn’t forget that fact that your relationship was undefined. It was new and not exclusive. You didn’t plan on seeing anyone else while you were seeing Chris, but did he feel the same way? You just needed to have the patience to see where it would go.

**

Before heading into work, you were stopping by Jana’s office to fill her in on your trip. She’d been busy as of late, more so than usual, so the two of you hadn’t seen much of each other. Up until today, you had successfully avoided Ethan on your two other trips to her office. Once by luck, and the second by careful planning. You hadn’t seen or talked to him since you ended it in your favorite coffee shop a couple of months back. It was still your favorite coffee shop, you just didn’t visit there on Sundays anymore. Jana had given you the heads up that she had already seen him that morning, so there was a chance of running into him as well. It was bound to happen sooner or later, might as well face the music now.

Grabbing two “I Love NY” coffee mugs from the shopping bag you picked up from the airport, you checked your reflection in the mirror once more before going to your car. In all honesty, you weren’t trying to look good for Ethan, not at all. But it didn’t hurt to look good in front of your ex. Besides, you really did have that new relationship and you just had sex glow going on.

**

“Could you be more cliché?” Jana asked, picking up one of the mugs.

“Most people would say thank you for the gift, Jana.”

“Thank you,” she says sarcastically, but offers you a smile.

You successfully made it from the lobby to her office without an Ethan sighting. Although, you kind of wanted to get the first run-in over with. You didn’t plan on ending your friendship with Jana despite her less than thrilled response to the souvenir you brought back, so you were bound to see him. Wasn’t like he was leaving the firm anytime soon now that he was partner.

“I don’t have Fifth Avenue money, woman. Besides, wasn’t like we did a lot of shopping. Figured that it was a classic New York souvenir,” you said, shrugging your shoulders.

“I really do appreciate it. It’s cute,” she said sincerely. “Besides, you know how much Brooks loves collecting coffee mugs.”

“Hence why I got you each one,” you said matter-of-factly.

“Suppose you didn’t leave the room much anyway.” Her eyebrows raising and lips forming a smug smile.

You leaned over her desk, smacking her arm lightly. Wasn’t like you were Instagramming all weekend. She apparently could read your mind.

“No comment,” you replied, leaning back in your seat, your arms crossing over your chest.

“You do know that no comment is admitting guilt?” she asked.

“Who says I feel guilty?” you replied.

“Good for you. Really, Y/N. I’m happy for you.”

You nodded and smiled slightly.

“It was a nice getaway. He makes me happy,” you said honestly. “I just feel so comfortable around him, you know? I mean of course, I was nervous. You know that. But when we’re together, it’s just nice.”

“It’s probably because you guys were friends first. You already had that existing comfortability.” She leans back in her chair with a soft smile. “That’s really great. When do you think you’ll see him again?”

That was the million dollar question.

You licked your lips and then chewed on the inside of your cheek. “Um. That’s a really good question and I’m still trying to work that out.”

“Well, hopefully soon.”

“I don’t disagree,” you replied.

**

You made it to the elevator with no Etahn sightings. Grabbing your phone out of your purse, you saw you had a text from Chris.

Chris: I like me better when I'm with you I knew from the first time, I'd stay for a long time 'cause I like me better when I like me better when I'm with you

“How does he even know that song?” you asked to yourself.

Y/N: You know that song?

Y/N: And I like me better when I’m with you too. 😘

Chris: It was on your phone. Played it a couple of times when I was at your house.

He’s got quite the memory.

Pressing the call button for the elevator, you wait patiently for it to arrive. There was one problem though, you couldn’t get out of your own head. It was going to become more difficult the more time passes without seeing Ethan. You didn’t want to be nervous every time you came to visit Jana. It was silly really; you had known Ethan over a year before you started to date. Taking a deep breath, you turned around and walked to his office.

He didn’t notice you at first. His eyes glued to his computer monitor while his pointer finger scrolls endlessly on the mouse. His door is open but you definitely feel like you’re intruding.

Just knock already! Say something!

“Knock. Knock,” you said while literally knocking on his door.

I’m such a dork.

“Y/N!” he blurts out. His face is one of surprise but he quickly straightens it and gives you a polite smile. “Please come in.”

“I’m not interrupting anything?”

“Just the usual.”

Surprisingly it isn’t as awkward as you thought it would be. Of course, Ethan is a lawyer and can keep a straight face when he needs to, so if he’s nervous, he isn’t showing it.

“I just haven’t seen you, so I wanted to say hi. Was just visiting Jana and on my way out,” you said in a rush.

Okay, so maybe this is awkward.

“What have you been up to?” he asks tentatively.

You’re still standing slightly in the doorway which is adding to your unease. Gesturing with your hand to one of the two chairs in front of his desk, he quickly nods. You sit down and you feel slightly better even though you are much closer to him now.

“I’ve been good. I’m doing more stories for the online edition of the paper lately and a few have been picked up nationally which is great.”

“That’s really great, Y/N,” he replied.

It’s sincere and you’re happy he’s lost that cocky demeanor he used give you before you were together. One fear of yours was that he’d put on the show again. Despite being together for only a couple of months, he really opened up to you during that time.

“How about you?” you asked.

“Good. Great actually. Works been busy but we’ve brought on quite a few clients. Busy is good.”

“I’m really glad,” you said. “So..”

“So, are you seeing anyone?” he asked.

Back to awkward then. You hesitated for a moment.

“Do you really want to talk about that?”

“Sorry. We don’t have to,” he replied. “Seen any good movies lately?”

You chuckled and then told him about the nature series you’d been watching on Disney+.

Were the two of you going to be best friends? No, but you never were and that was fine. At least now you felt that if you ran into Ethan, pleasantries could be given without running the other way.

**

For years, your boss has encouraged you to attend a writing conference. Every year you find an excuse not to go. Well, you went once, maybe six years ago, but you just hadn’t gone back. They were paid for by the paper except for food and spending money. That wasn’t the problem. Attending a conference took time away from your job. They were usually held in a ballroom at a hotel that had you holed up for hours, never allowing you to see the sun. And since they ran up until the time for you to fly home, it didn’t make much sense for you to travel to another city to attend one and never actually see the city. That is until you thought about seeing Chris. You could easily enough have your ticket extended to allow an additional night or two in order to spend time with Chris if you could get your schedules line up.

There were three upcoming conferences you could attend; Cincinnati, Los Angeles, and St. Paul.

You grabbed your phone and fired off a text to Chris figuring you’d bring it up to him before suggesting it to your boss.

Y/N: Any chance you’ll be in LA the week of August 2nd?

The conference was being held August fifth through the seventh which was a Friday. Staying until Sunday evening would make it a short weekend, but time together was still time together.

Chris: The short answer is yes. Taking a quick look at my calendar I have nothing scheduled, so I could be in LA then. What’s going on?

Y/N: I have to talk to my boss, but possible work conference. I’d be free the weekend though.

Chris: More time with you? I’m sold.

“I’m falling fast,” you whispered to yourself.

The truth was, you had already fallen and it scared you to death. If this were any other guy, it wouldn’t be as scary. You’d been in love once before but it ended on bad terms and you’d been afraid to give your heart away ever since. You were never in love with Ethan, but the relationship was rushed and you fell into it easily. But this was Chris. The two of you would never have a normal relationship and that’s what made you hesitant. If you were having a bad day, you couldn’t call him to come over. You couldn’t crawl into bed with him after working on a story late into the night. He couldn’t stop by to watch a movie with you. This was long distance to the extreme.

Chris: I still feel bad last weekend fell through.

Chris planned on flying into Orlando to spend a few days at your place, but something came up and he had to cancel. Sure, it was a little bit of a letdown, but his life was busy and he was in demand, you couldn’t fault him for that. You had seen him a couple of weeks prior so it hadn’t even been that long.

Y/N: Baby, it’s fine. Honestly. Hoping August works out. I should know soon.

While you and Chris still hadn’t discussed the status of your relationship, it had kicked into high gear. He was texting you more often, usually with sweet words and telling you that he missed you. Some of the texts had reached into that R rated category which made you blush, especially if you were out with friends or at work. There were no nudes exchanged or anything like that; neither of you trusted the security of your phones completely. But there were a few occasions that you needed to call him right after receiving one of those messages.

You fired off an e-mail to your boss explaining that you wanted to go to a conference next month. You gave him the dates and asked for approval. Now you just needed to wait.

**

It was quarter to midnight and you were in bed reading Circe. Looking to expand your reading beyond the latest Disney news as well as the articles published in your employer’s paper, you joined a book club a friend from college started. You were determined to finish the thing on time for once, even if it cut into your normal viewing of the late-night talk shows.

Just as you were getting into a flow with the chapter, your phone rang. Scott had impeccable timing. You had already had your almost nightly phone call with Chris, and no one else besides Scott dared to call you so late.

“Good evening Grumpy. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“You seem to be in a fine mood. What’s got you so cheery?” he asked.

“Let me guess. You’ve talked to your brother?”

“What makes you say that?”

“Unfortunately, I know you both too well at this point. Might as well end the friendship now since there’s nothing new to learn,” you sassed.

“You’re such a brat!” Scott groaned. “Yes, I talked to my brother. It’s how we do.”

“Ahuh. I know you can’t see me, but I’m sticking my tongue out at you.” And you did.

“So, tell me about the trip,” Scott said in a cheery voice.

God, you loved Scott. You could give him shit and he could give it right back but at the end of the day, you both loved each other.

“Well, nothing’s official. I still need to wait for my boss to approve the trip and for the admin to confirm my travel. But if all goes well, I’ll be able to see Chris for a few days. So, hopefully.”

“I’m sure it will all work out,” Scott replied.

“Any chance you’ll be in town that weekend?”

“Maybe. I’ll have to check with Zach,” he said.

“Ooooh! Do I maybe get to meet the famous Zach?”

“Maybeee. If you’re good,” he replied.

“Hey! I’m always good.”

“Ahuh. Moving on,” he said dismissing you.

“You realize, if this all works out, this will be the first time the three of us will be hanging out.”

“That’s not entirely true. The day we met, Chris was there,” Scott reminded you.

“Yeah, but barely. I think he said hi to me and that’s about it,” you chuckled.

“My how the times have changed,” he laughed out.

**

Much to your delight, you had an e-mail from your boss approving the conference by the time you made it to the office. You quickly typed out an e-mail to your boss’ admin Patty, asking that she extend your flight until Sunday, but advised you wouldn’t need a hotel for those additional days.

Y/N: Guess who’s coming to LA in a couple of weeks?!

You spun around in your chair much to enjoyment of your co-workers.

“Sorry, just got some good news,” you said, smile on full display to Allie and Erin who looked on.

Your phone buzzed in your hand with a text from Chris.

Chris: Baby, that’s great!

In about two weeks, you’d be seeing Chris again. You couldn’t wipe the smile off your face even if you tried. Granted you had to attend three days of lectures and small group discussions, but you get to see Chris! You made a promise to yourself to try to enjoy the conference and learn something from it. By doing so, you would award yourself by being in the company of a man you really liked. It was well worth the reward.

Chris: We are so going to Disneyland.

You smiled at his response. The two of you really belonged together, at least you felt that way.

Y/N: Anything you want. Just excited to spend time with you.

Chris: I feel the same way. I’ll call you later.

**

Always the last-minute packer, you stood in your closet two nights before your flight to California starring at the clothes you no longer deemed good enough for such a trip. It was silly really, you wore business casual daily, even owned a couple of suits. Then your weekend with Chris, besides the trip to Disneyland, you probably wouldn’t be wearing much clothes. You smirked at that thought. It was a nice one to have and you hoped it played out that way.

Y/N: What should I pack for a writer’s conference?

Jana traveled a lot for work and her style was always impeccable. If you were going to trust anyone to help you pack, you’d trust her.

Jana: You’re not packed yet?

Y/N: Have you met me? Best friend of seven years.

Jana: I’m coming over, but we’re drinking after.

You could handle that so you quickly agreed to her deal. Who were you to argue with a high-powered attorney?

**

Jana’s idea of drinking was not from the bottle of vodka you kept in your freezer. No, she made you put on actually pants and leave the house. The sweats you were wearing were name brand, you did not see the problem. The central air in your house was set to ice cube, so you often lounged in sweat pants even in the dead of summer. Neither of you wanted to drive far for a drink, so you settled on a nearby chain restaurant with a bar. You were always down for chips and salsa with your margarita.

With chips stuffed to capacity in your mouth, Jana chooses that moment to ask your relationship status. As if she doesn’t already know.

“There’s no status, at least not yet,” you said, hand covering your mouth to avoid any crumbs from escaping.

“Do you think you guys will discuss it?” she asked, popping an overflowing salsa covered chip in her mouth.

You shrugged your shoulders. “I would like to talk about us, at least come up with a definition. Are we just having fun? Is this friend’s with benefits and I just don’t know it? Are we dating? Is he seeing other women?”

“And you have the right to ask that. What do you want it to be?”

“That’s a really good question,” you answered honestly. “I’m realistic about this whole thing, at least I’m trying to be.” Taking a sip from the frozen concoction in the oversized glass, you really thought about what you wanted. It wasn’t hard to figure out. “If we can make it work, I’d like to say that we’re together exclusively. I just don’t know if it’s too soon or if he’s not on the same page. I know he cares about me. He’s said it.”

Jana nodded along to your reasoning, stealing a few sips from her own glass. She set her glass down, placing her chilled hand over yours. “Be honest with him.”

You gave her a small smile and nodded in agreement.

**

The flight to Los Angeles was longer than you expected. Summer storms didn’t help with the time or the comfort of the flight. Patty was nice enough to get you a window seat since you hated having to let the others in your row out ever time they wanted to get up. But since it rained through the first half of the flight, you kept the window shade lowered.

Patty booked you at the Hilton Los Angeles in Glendale where the conference was being held. At least this way you didn’t have to pay for transportation to and from the conference each day, but once again it proved your point that you would never see the city. Hopefully Chris would be up for a drive this weekend so you could see some of the sights. You’d been to California twice. Once on a family vacation to San Diego when you were a kid and a trip to Disneyland with your dad shortly after your parents got divorced.

After settling into your room and doing a quick Google search for a place to grab dinner, you sent Chris a text to let him know you were in. The two of you discussed him joining you, your first night, but he wouldn’t be in town until late and the conference started bright and early the next morning. You wouldn’t have much time to see him in the evenings after each session, so you needed to deal with waiting until Friday like originally planned.

Y/N: I’m here. Lots of storms on the way out, so my nerves are pretty shot. Text me when you get settled at home.

Dinner was quick at Italian deli a few blocks away. You picked up a couple of snack sized bags of chips and freshly made rice krispie treats to bring back to the room. You almost let the guy at the counter talk you into a giant pickle, but you’d figure somehow the packaging would open and you have a mess in your room. Smelling like a pickle wasn’t the impression you wanted to make tomorrow morning.

Chris didn’t text until close to three in the morning. You’d kept the volume on your phone up when you started to fall asleep around eleven. You really wanted to make sure you received that goodnight text from him. The thought of it coming in at three in the morning and him being drunk off his ass didn’t cross your mind.

Chris: Baby!

Chris: You in my 2nd state home

Chris: 2nd home state

Chris: So drunk

Chris: Miss you

While you were glad he texted, you were a little pissed that he waited until the early hours of the morning to do so. A quick goodnight would have been great before he got drunk. Deciding that arguing with a drunk person didn’t get you anywhere, you put your phone on silent and went back to sleep.

On your lunch break, you sent Chris a text, but kept it simple. You almost called him before your eight AM welcome breakfast, but you knew he’d still be sleeping at that time.

Y/N: Hope you’ve slept off that hangover.

The morning sessions hadn’t been as bad as you imagined they would be. You met a couple of great people during your first breakout session and already agreed to drinks in the hotel bar later. Brooks had sent you a message that one of the senior writers from his new employer was there as well. He had given her your name and you promised to keep an eye out for her name tag since he hadn’t scheduled a meet up between the two of you.

You were already wrapping for the day before you were able to check your phone again. Chris had sent a text around two in the afternoon.

Chris: I’m so sorry about that. A buddy picked me up from the airport and we went out.

Chris: Hope your first day is going well.

Scott had also sent a text to check in with you. A week after the two of you discussed all being together in California, he let you know your schedules wouldn’t line up as he would be in New York that week. You were bummed but you knew you’d make it work eventually.

After a quick elevator ride to your room, you called Chris before changing into comfy clothes for drinks with your new friends.

“Hey,” Chris drawled out.

“Hey yourself. Just got done for the day.”

“How was it?” he asked.

“It was a lot better than I figured. A couple of really great journalists are presenting each afternoon, so I’m learning a thing or two. Most of it is pretty inspirational.”

“Good. I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself,” he said.

“Me too. I’m actually meeting a couple of ladies I met today for drinks in the hotel bar before I crash tonight.”

“Speaking of drinks,” he said, clearing his throat. “I’m really sorry about last night.”

“You mean this morning,” you corrected.

You heard him let out a sigh. “Yeah, this morning. I apologize for texting to so late and for being a drunken idiot.”

You laughed lightly at his response. “It’s fine babe, just maybe text me before you start drinking next time.”

“Absolutely,” he chuckled. “Do I need to worry about late night drunken texts from you tonight?”

“Nope. Technically I’m working, so two and I’m done. Besides, don’t need to embarrass myself in front of people in my industry. There may be a lot of people employed in this field, but word travels fast. Before you can blink, I’ll be known as the drunko from Orlando.”

“The drunko from Orlando. I like it.”

“You would,” you chided. “But listen, I need to get ready.”

“Have fun, but not too much. I’ll be sure to keep a look out for drunko from Orlando trending on Twitter.”

“You’re such a brat. Lucky, I like you,” you replied.

“I could say the same sweetheart.”

“Two more days,” you muttered. “Two more days until I can kiss those lips to get you to be quiet.”

“That all you’re gonna do?”

“While I would love to delve into this conversation further, I need to get going,” you sighed out.

“Alright beautiful. I’ll talk to you tomorrow,” Chris said.

“Night handsome.”

**

You were on your second vodka sour, heavy on the lime, of course, when a woman had stopped at your table of three and smiled brightly at you.

“Are you Y/N? Y/N Y/L/N?”

You laughed nervously, might have been the drinks. “Yes,” you drawled out.

“I’m Asia Williams. I work with Brooks,” she said, offering you her hand.

“Oh my gosh, hi!” you replied, standing up to firmly shake her hand.

“Brooks had sent me a picture of you. Don’t worry, it was flattering,” she said with a smile.

“It’s nice to meet you. Would you like to join us?”

She looked down at your companions and then back to you. “I won’t be imposing?”

The other two ladies shook their heads.

“No, not at all. We all just meet today so we’re just getting to know each other,” you replied.

After introductions, Asia ordered a glass of white wine and chatted with the other women.

It was about nine when the other two ladies said goodnight. You all had ordered appetizers to munch on in place of dinner and you found yourself still picking at the humus and carrots, trying your best not to speak with your mouth full.

“I looked you up. Occupational habit,” Asia said, ducking her head slightly. “I really loved your piece on education in the climate change era.”

“You read that?” you asked, slightly embarrassed. It was one of those pieces that was really outside your norm, but you felt compelled to write after watching a nature documentary that you tended to get wrapped up in. “I know it got picked up by a few outlets, but I never hear feedback on my non entertainment pieces.”

“It was great. You actually have quite a few great stories in your portfolio. Ever think about writing that fulltime?”

The truth was, you had. You loved writing entertainment, it was fun and it barely felt like work most days. You however longed to be taken seriously outside your immediate area. The challenge of writing outside your comfort zone was thrilling and you often longed for that feeling again weeks after a story was published.

“Uh, yes, actually. It is something I’ve been thinking about. But I’m also hesitant because I’ve been writing entertainment for years. Even before I started working at the Sentinel, I worked the local beat for smaller papers. It’s a little intimidating. Kind of scary to go from being kind of a big fish to a small fish,” you answered honestly.

“Listen. Brooks is a big fan of yours and after reading quite a few of your stories, I am too. I’m going to leave you with my card. When you’re ready, give me a call. I’d like to bring you on.”

You’re sure you looked like a cartoon character at that moment because your eyes couldn’t possibly be any larger than they were. She stood up and you followed suit.

“Thank you. Are you based in Orlando?” you asked.

“No, I’m in New York. We have writers all over the country. If Orlando isn’t for you, you don’t have to stay there. We don’t offer a moving budget, but do offer a large signing bonus that many have taken advantage of. No pressure. I’ve enjoyed getting to know you.”

“Likewise. I’ll be in touch. And I’m sure I’ll see you at the conference,” you said with a smile.

Lots to think about. But that would need to wait.

**

Thursday kept you busy with non-stop breakout sessions. You had to switch tables at least three times and ended up with a table full of sports writers at the end of the day. You were never one to follow sports outside of school, so you mostly just nodded and pretended to understand what they were discussing.

Rather than going back to your room to change, you decided to walk to the deli for dinner first. You picked out a small table against the window and dug out your phone while you waited for your sandwich to be finished.

Y/N: I’m so excited!

Y/N: See you soon!

Chris would be picking you up promptly at three tomorrow afternoon. The hotel would hold your luggage after you checked out that morning to attend the final day of the conference. The last session was scheduled to end at two thirty, so you’d have a half hour to grab your luggage to change and freshen up.

Rather than text back, Chris was calling you instead.

“Hey you,” you answered.

“Hey sweetheart. Are you all done for the day?”

“Yep, just grabbing dinner from a deli down the street. I’ll probably watch a movie on my iPad and pack when I get back. I’m so excited to see you tomorrow.”

You heard him let out a big sigh.

“Somethings come up. I’ve a, I’ve got a meeting with a director tomorrow night. My agent set it up. It’s for a huge movie that they’re considering me for which is why it’s important I take the meeting.”

“So, so, I’ll just hangout at your place while you’re at the meeting? Do you need me to Uber to your place?”

“Sweetheart,” he breathed out. “Listen baby, the meeting is in New York, so I actually have to fly back out East tomorrow morning. It’s not going to work out this trip.”

Your heart hit your stomach.

I will not cry in public. I will not cry in public.

“Oh,” you said, it was the best you could muster.

“Sweetheart I’m so sorry. If I could move it I would.” When you didn’t respond, he continued. “I’ll a, I’ll set you up in any hotel you’d like. Have a car bring you there until your flight on Sunday.”

Oh right, my flight’s not until Sunday.

“Um.” You had to think for a moment. “No, no,” you said softly. “I’ll just change my flight to tomorrow night or early Saturday.”

“Y/N, I don’t want you to have to scramble to change your travel plans. Do you want to go to Disneyland still? I’m sure I could get you a room at the Disneyland Hotel. You could make a story out of it, comparing the two parks.”

He was trying, you had to give him that. It sounded like a good story idea, but your head wasn’t in it. You were just so disappointed at the moment that all you wanted to do was go home and get into your bed.

“That’s really sweet, but um, I think I rather just go home. My foods here so I’m gonna eat and then head back to the room. I’ll a, I’ll call you later.”

He groaned slightly. “Please call me when you get back to the room. I want to talk about this more.”

“Okay, yeah. I’ll call you. Bye Chris.”

“Bye.”

You numbly picked at your sandwich while you checked the airlines app regarding change fees. You didn’t want to stay in Los Angeles, not alone anyway. There goes your plan about defining your relationship. The reasonable part of your brain tried to reason that this was his job and sometimes you have to make sacrifices for work, but the part of you that was falling more and more for Chris each day wanted to be selfish.

Chris had texted you at some point during your walk back to the hotel. You fished your phone out of your purse once you kicked off your shoes and laid down on the bed.

Chris: I’m so sorry

Y/N: It’s fine

Chris: Don’t do that.

You could see that he was typing something out, but you clicked out of the text and back to the airline’s application. There was a flight out at six tomorrow night, you figured you could leave the session a little early and request an Uber to the airport. Before you could change your mind, you changed the flight, accepting the one-hundred-dollar change fee.

Rather than looking at the text, you called Chris back since you promised you would.

The phone rang only once before he was answering.

“Are you mad? I feel like your mad.”

“Hi to you too,” you replied. “I’m not mad. I’m disappointed.”

“I know. I am too. Trust me,” he insisted.

“What time’s your flight tomorrow?”

“Early, around seven I think.”

You let out a frustrated sigh. “This is twice Chris. Work is important and I’m not going to be one of those girls that wants to be put as a priority, but I don’t have the capacity to just take off and come meet you whenever. I can’t go to another conference for a year. This just sucks.”

“I know. I know!” he growled. “I’m coming over.”

“You’re what?” You started to do the math in your head. With traffic, he wouldn’t make it to your hotel for at least an hour, maybe two. It was already late. Then he’d have to turn around and go back to his place to get some sleep before going to the airport before dawn. “Babe, don’t. There just isn’t time. When would you sleep?”

“You’re right. You’re right. Please let me set you up somewhere nice. We’ll book a couple of spa treatments. It could be a mini vacation for you,” he offered.

“I’ve already changed my flight. I just don’t feel like being here alone. But I appreciate it. Just promise me you’ll make time and come stay with me. I’ll have to work, but at least we’d have the mornings and the evenings.”

“We’ll do that and I’ll stay until you get tired of me. I’ll be your pool boy while you’re working.”

“God, you’re such a dork. How’d Scott put up with you all those years?”

“Ma’am, watch your lip. It was I that had to put up with him.”

“You can be my pool boy as long as that means you’re shirtless while I’m home,” you said.

“Wouldn’t have it any other way.”

**

Walking into your house at midnight, you barely had enough energy to change into your pajamas. Settling for a t-shirt, you slipped under the covers and sent Chris a goodnight text.

Y/N: Back in Florida. Hope your meeting went well. Call me tomorrow sometime.

**

Waking up to a three text messages from your brother on a Saturday was pretty out of the norm. Granted it was almost noon.

Heath: Are you guys not together?

Heath: Call me when you wake up.

The third text was a direct link to TMZ. Clicking on the link brought you to an article titled Boozing It Up. Your phone screen was filled with pictures of Chris surrounded by bottles of beer and alcohol. He looked heavily intoxicated from what you could tell. A few pictures had who you assumed were friends holding him up. In one picture, a woman had herself draped across his lap with her arms around his neck. One of his hands was resting on her lower back, close to her butt while the other held a bottle of beer.

That talk defining your relationship was apparently not needed. Now you knew. You were just a girl he was seeing. You definitely were not exclusive. Didn’t mean it was any easier to swallow. You were in your thirties and really thought you’d left casual dating behind in your twenties.

Your phone started to ring in your hand.

Chris.

You hit the decline button. Wanting to take a chance to breathe and center yourself. You weren’t exclusive. You shouldn’t even be upset. Neither of you talked about what you were to each other. He said he cared about you and you cared about him, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s not allowed to care about someone else. Or more than one someone.

Chris: Please call me before you read anything today.

Chris: Some photos came out, but I want to explain myself.

**

A/N: I’m sorry! Just know I am a happy endings girl.

Chapter 11

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[frederikandersens]

All I Want (3) F.A

Warnings: sex! Brief mention of couple counselling & Auston being a dick! (shocker)

A/N: i have been doing SO much research on how to write sex scenes it’s not even funny, i tried my best lmao, enjoy😌 ALSO this is the last part🥺

You still stayed at Austons, however Freddie did sleep in the guest room with you. You two were finally making progress, but when you finally come to your senses you realize he’s no longer in bed with you.

You let out a loud, frustrated sigh as you force yourself to get out of bed. Making your way downstairs, you were clearly in a bad mood until you see a note with your name on it, raising an eyebrow Auston notices the confusion.

“Fred left that for you, not sure what it says, he told me not to read it” Auston winks. The bitch definitely read it.

Y/N,

I know it was stupid of me to leave you so early in the morning, but this is all so crazy. I need time. I’m my love.

“Time? What could he possibly need more time for?” You scoff. He couldn’t be serious, he’s the one that fucked this up, right? “Think he said something about him going to the one café in Yorkville that you two always went to, might wanna meet him there, not sure if he’s still there but-” Auston says, “no- no I’m not letting him do this! I’m not gonna come running to him, I’m done, I tried Auston, I really did but I can’t do this with him anymore” you feel tears form in your eyes but refuse to let them fall- you didn’t want to cry over Freddie anymore.

“That’s fine” auston pours his coffee, “although I do have a question” he says, “yeah what?” You ask, “it may be too soon but I was just wondering if maybe you’d like to go out sometime?” He smiles confidently.

“You’re fucking with me, right? Freddie put you up to this?” You ask, he shakes his head, “no! Are you stupid, Auston!? Why would I ever date my boyfriends bestfriend?! I’m going to go see what Steph and Mitch are up to and hang out there for the day” you say putting on your sandals and grabbing your car keys, slamming the door behind you.

As you drive you can’t help but think of Auston and yours conversation, how stupid could he be? Isn’t it bro code or something to not go after your boys girl? He didn’t think he actually had a chance, did he? Though this is Auston Matthews you’re talking about and he had a habit of being a bit entitled at times.

You contemplated going to Freddie’s, but you really wanted him to know how mad you were for him leaving you this morning, it hurt you to say the least. You were disrupted by a phone call as you pull to the nearest parking lot.

“Hello?” You ask, “yes hello, is this miss. Y/L/N? It’s about the apartment, you got it if you want it”

Yesterday while it was just you and Auston you had applied to an apartment, assuming you wouldn’t hear back, “yes this is” You reply, “the place is ready when you are, get back to me this week if you want to make the move” That was pretty much the just of the conversation, nothing worth mentioning, “finally” you let a sigh of relief fall from your lips.

Y/N:

got that apartment, i’ll be out in a few days

Auston:

damn, so soon?

Y/N:

take the fucking hint auston

You roll your eyes at that message, you had also shot Freddie a quick message saying you’d be by to pick up the remainder of your things at a later date.

-

“Hey” you walk into Steph and Mitchs home. They always told you to just walk in, that you were family to them, “oh” you sigh as you see Freddie, “I didn’t know you’d be here” he nervously wipes his hands on his pants, “yeah, I just needed to leave for a bit, where’s Steph and Mitch?” You ask.

He waits a few seconds before talking, “sorry- um- they left for the night and asked me to watch Zeus” he says, “oh” you nod. Why was this so awkward? You went from easily having a conversation about anything and everything to nothing.

“I think we should talk more- about last night specifically” he says, “and I just want you to listen, no fighting” he says, you nod your head in agreement.

“We’ve been struggling, no doubt. And we’ve let it go on for too long and I feel it’s gotten to a point where there’s no fixing it” he says.

“No, I don’t understand this at all, we’re Freddie and Y/N, we’re the couple everyone looks up to, this can’t happen, I can’t lose you” you drape your leg over his.

“I told you to listen to me for a minute, please, Y/N, just listen, that’s all I’m asking from you” he sighs, you wish you could understand why he thinks there’s no fixing this, but you couldn’t come up with anything.

“I love you and-” you cut him off, “prove it then, Fred, prove to me you love me, because if you did this bullshit wouldn’t be coming out of your mouth” you cry.

“Y/N” he says sympathetically, rubbing small circles on your knee, “I can’t lose you, Freddie” you wipe your eyes with the sleeves of your hoodie, actually, Freddie’s hoodie that he gave to you because you were cold, even though you had your own hoodies.

It was so sad how fast things changed between you and Freddie, you just wanted things to be normal again, like how when you two first started dating. How innocent you were at the time. It was just like yesterday his arms were wrapped around you as you’d fall asleep, or his quiet snores that you absolutely hated and were now missing more than ever.

He stares at you for a moment, trying to read you before he pulls you in for a kiss, pushing you on your back, enjoying the feeling of his lips on yours, your hands travel up his shirt, “I’m not doing anything with you if it ends up in you leaving... again” you pull away, not letting him distract you from your end goal, he lets out a sigh, as he brushes a hand through his hair, his messy hair that always turned you on so much, “don’t worry, we’ll figure this out” he kisses your neck before his lips meet yours again.

“I can’t do this infront of the dog” you sigh, he lets out a breathy laugh and picks you up, you wrap your legs around his waist as he carries you to the guest room, kicking the door shut behind him before putting you down and pushing you agaisnt it, he pulls his shirt off tossing it across the room, his lips instantly meeting yours and it’s not long before your granting his tongue access to your mouth, your hands running up and down his now bare chest, feeling every little detail.

You push yourselves as close together as possible, trying to make up for the months you hadn’t been there for eachother physically. You feel him hard and ready agaisnt you, “bed” he says sternly.

You quickly take off the clothes you had been wearing, Freddie watches your every move as he gets off to you getting undressed, you had no clue when he took his pants off, but you weren’t about to question it, “lay down, angel” he says, his voice suddenly softer than before.

It’s not long before he’s leaning over top of you, opening your legs for him, letting you know you’re ready for him. You both moan in sync as he presses into you, the feeling of not being together finally begin to fade away, you draw him in deeper and deeper into the kiss, he knew what you were trying to do, he knew you wanted to give him a reason to stay. He also wanted this as bad as you did, he wanted you.

“C’mon, Fred, doesn’t this make you wanna stay” you bite your lip, digging your nails in his back, “mhm, forgot how good it is” he kisses your jaw, “yeah?” You moan.

His thrust were slow and steady, and truthfully it was making you so much more frustrated than before and you push your hips into him, “so needy, huh?” He smirks as he pulls out to throw your leg over his shoulder, you missed him so much, missed his touch, missed the feeling of him inside of you, “Fred” his name falls from your lips, this only encourages him more as he thrusts faster and harder into you, the headboard hitting the wall and the bed obnoxiously squeaking.

He keeps this steady pace, only slowing down for a few seconds just to speed up again. You hear his pants in your ear, “Y/N” he whispers, to what felt impossible his thrust get faster, practically bashing the headboard agaisnt the wall, causing pleasure-filled screams to fall from your mouth, it’s not long before you come to your high, and he only last a few minutes after you. The feeling of being apart was too much.

Once you both calm down, he pulls out, and you let out a soft, quiet moan, “I can’t leave you, I really can’t” he leans down for a soft kiss, “I’m glad” you lazily smile, “one of us needs to tell Steph, Mitch, and Auston that we’re okay now, that we’re working on things” Freddie suggests, “I will” I smile, “I’ll gladly do it” you both make your way to the bathroom to take a shower.

The shower consisted of possibly another round or two, and washing eachother, and maybe a blowjob, and maybe even shampoo getting in your eye. It was an interesting shower to say the least, but you won’t complain about the shampoo in your eye since Freddie was right there wrapping his arms around you as you wiped at your eye.

sqaud

Freddie:

Hey

Auston:

Hi?

Steph:

Hello

Mitch:

How’s my zeusy boy doing?

Freddie:

He’s good

Y/N:

Fred and I are good, we’re working on things:)

Steph:

WHAT

Mitch:

OMG NO

Ur joking?!

Omg let’s cry

Auston:

Aye

You smile as you put your phone down, you never expected a man to be the cause of your happiness, but love does some fucked up things to you.

A pair of warm arms wrap around you, pulling you as close as possible and it’s all you could ever need, “does Zeus need out?” I ask, Freddie sighs, “yeah” he gets up, “I’ll come with you” you hold his hand as you exit the room.

You both stand at the patio door as you watch Zeus run around the yard, letting him burn off some energy before bedtime.

“One day maybe we can move into a house and get a dog, or maybe a baby?” I look up at him and smile, “not for a couple years anyway” I add, “of course, love” he presses a kiss to your head, “whenever your ready, I am” he wraps his arm around your shoulder.

As you let Zeus in, he goes straight up on the couch, and honestly he probably wasn’t allowed on there but it’s one night, let the dog live. Freddie picks you up bridal style and carries you to the bedroom where you then cuddle, running your hands up and down his stomach, tracing the dip in his collarbone, tracing his abs, and giving him soft kisses on his neck and jaw, “it’s 11 Y/N, we need to sleep, especially you, I know it’s been hard” he kisses your head.

It’s a few minutes at least before you say anything, “hasn’t it been hard for you?” You ask him, “of course, but you’re my main priority, my mom said she was concerned about you because when she’d call you, you weren’t upbeat as usual, she knew something was going on but I didn’t wanna tell her becau-” you cut him off, “I told her” I say, Freddie’s eyes go wide, “that’s why she was mad at me?” He sighs, “hang on” you lean over Freddie to grab your phone.

Y/N:

Freddie and I are working on things. You’ve raised a good man, thank you.

Charlotte:

I’m glad to hear. I was very angry with him after hearing what he was doing with your friend. I tried my best with him. Thank you for sticking around, I love you my dear

Y/N:

I love you, thank you

“I’m so glad the two of you get along so well” he smiles, rubbing your shoulder, “me too, I love your mom a lot” you look up at him, causing him to smile, “she loves you.”

“This is so perfect” I wrap my arm around him, “this is all I want is to be with you like this, just cuddling and talking” I smile, “I’m very lucky to have you, I love you so much” he says, his voice soft, “i love you too baby” and it’s not long before sleep overtakes you.

You both would finally be together and happy. Attending couples counselling every other week. And as far as the Auston thing goes, Freddie didn’t need to know, and you and Auston weren’t exactly super close as you had been before, but you tolerated him for the sake of Freddie.

“I love you” he whispers planting a kiss on your head, pulling you closer into him as he also falls asleep. And when Steph and Mitch get home, they see you two peacefully sleeping and couldn’t help but smile at the sight of their bestfriends finally happy again.

[kylorenskitten]

Strange Magic - Adam Sackler x Reader - Chapter One

[[A/N: Yes the title is stolen from the ELO song expect many of my fics to be named after 70′s era songs because I’m not good at naming things. Anyway I finally watched all of girls and I really adore his character in the show. More fics to come and more chapters for this one too! 

3k Words Rated: +18 only

Features lots of dirty talk and explicit scenes. Hope you all enjoy!

_______________________________________

It was a Thursday night, you’re walking down the streets of New York City. The destination in your mind is a little Italian restaurant that you’ve never been to before. Your friend Alicia set you up on a blind date with some guy she met in the theater and that’s where you’re headed. You don’t know anything about this guy other than his name is Adam Sackler, he’s super tall and he’s an actor who’s been in multiple Broadway productions. You’re a writer of romantic novels, erotic romantic novels. You have a couple titles under your belt that have done so well in sales, you’ve made a name for yourself here in this city. 

You’re almost there now, the clicking of your heels on the pavement following you and your hair blowing in the wind. You open the door to the restaurant, going inside. Looking around, you walk through the restaurant and try to find someone sitting alone, someone tall. You turn the corner and see who you think may be the person you’re here to meet. He sees you and stands up, confirming that he’s the one. Now you’re face to face. He’s got to be one of the most handsome guys you’ve ever seen, unique facial features with freckles that dot it all over. 

“You must be Y/N.” He says with a smile, pulling out your chair for you.

“Yes, I am. You must be Adam then.” You respond, sitting down at the table. He sits across from you, eyes locked onto you. 

“Have you ever been here before?” He asks, trying to make casual conversation. 

“No, actually. Have you? I do love Italian food though.” You say, picking up a menu and browsing through it. 

“I haven’t, but I heard it’s good.” He picks up his own menu and starts looking at it. It’s quiet now for a moment, before he speaks up again. “So you’re a writer?” He says. 

“Yes. I have a few novels published.” You respond, hoping he won’t ask what your books are about. 

“I used to know a writer.” He mentioned, picking up his glass of water and taking a sip quickly before continuing to speak. “She was crazy.”

“Well I’m not crazy.” You laugh and sip the wine that he must have ordered for you before you arrived. 

“I know, I was just saying.” He says and the waitress comes by to your table, ready to take your orders. You and Adam tell her what you want and she leaves again. “What do you write about? What kind of novels? Anything I’ve read before?" 

I sure hope not. You think to yourself, trying to figure out what to tell him. "I write romance novels. I doubt you’ve read any of them.” You said. 

“Alright. Then I’ll have to read one of them soon.” He says and the waitress brings over a salad for you two to enjoy before your dinner. You hope he doesn’t ever read your novels, although you know your secret will have to come out soon. You’re just afraid of being judged if he finds out that you write erotic fiction romance books, ones with intense sexual scenes that you’ve never let anyone you were dating read. You know he’s going to get a hold of one and read it, you’re just afraid of what he will think of you after. 

You both eat your salad, engaging in more casual conversation about any old random thing that comes to mind. You can’t deny you’re unbelievably attracted to Adam. He’s so handsome, you love looking at him from across the table. “How’s the theater been treating you? I’d love to come to your show when it opens.” You offer him a smile. 

“You should definitely come see it. It’s wonderful, I’ve finally found my calling. I love acting and becoming different characters.” He smiles back just as wide, it brings butterflies to your stomach. 

“I will! I’m happy for you. It’s a big achievement, being a Broadway actor.” You sip your wine some more, finishing off your first glass. He picks up the bottle from the bucket of ice on the table and pours you some more. Next your waitress brings out your entrees and they look delicious. The two of you eat dinner, you drink more wine and continue your date together, getting to know each other. He doesn’t drink and he tells you it’s because he’s in AA, to which you congratulate him on his sobriety. This night has been absolutely wonderful, not what you expected this blind date to be like. He’s so sweet to you, he listens so well and you can’t help but be ridiculously attracted to him. After you’re done having dinner, he pays the bill and the two of you leave the restaurant, walking outside onto the sidewalk. “Would you like to go back to my place?” You suggest to him, surprised in yourself that you made such a bold move. To be honest, you don’t want to say goodbye to him just yet. The night is still young and it’s only just getting started. 

“Of course!” He says, taking your hand and holding it. You hail down a taxi and the both of you get inside. You tell the driver your address and he starts taking you there, your body relaxing in the back seat against Adam’s. It feels amazing to be so close to him. He smells wonderful, his strong arm around your shoulders, your head resting against his pec. The cab trip doesn’t take too long and soon you arrive at your apartment, getting out of the taxi. You live in a very nice apartment building near Central Park. He follows you inside as you say hello to the doorman and walk to the elevator. It takes you up to the tenth floor where your apartment is. You unlock the door and open it, shutting it and locking it behind you once you’re both inside. 

“Well here it is. My humble abode.” You say, taking off your heels and putting them by the door for you to actually put away later. Your apartment is decorated in expensive decor, there’s a shelf of awards by the fake fireplace and the walls are lined with bookshelves full of novels of all different kinds. He kicks off his shoes too and takes off his jacket, hanging it on the hook on the wall. 

“Very nice.” He says, looking around. “How long have you lived in New York?” He asks you. 

“I moved here to go to University when I was 18. I’m 24 now.” You tell him. He goes over to a bookshelf, the one with the novels you wrote on it. He sees that those books have your name on them.

“Are these the ones you wrote?” He asks you and picks up a book, looking at the cover. You rush over and try to take the book away from him. 

“Yes I wrote those but I’d rather you not read them right now.” You say but he won’t hand the book back over. 

“Why not? What’s in them that I can’t see right now?” He opens the book to the first page and starts skimming over it. The anxiety in your chest is rising, you’re so nervous right now. 

“Nothing, I was just hoping we’d get to spend some time together right now, you know.” You say but he turns the pages further and continues to read. His eyes widen, now glued to the words on the page. You can tell he’s reading an erotic scene, it’s probably the first one of that novel where the main character gives her love interest a blow job. 

“Is this why you didn’t want me to read them?” He asks you, not taking his eyes off the page. 

“Yes.” You frown a little and cover your face with your hands. He flips the pages and skims them, seeing more and more vulgar words strawn together to make the many sex scenes in that novel. 

“I’ve never read something like this before.” He says softly, looking over at you as he shuts the book and puts it back. “I’d love to read it more for real and the other ones too.” You stare at him, unsure of what to say. “What? Are you embarrassed? Obviously you’re extremely successful.” He said, waving his hand around momentarily at your apartment that surrounded you. 

“I’m not embarrassed. I just didn’t want to show you those quite yet.” You said and went to the kitchen, pouring yourself a glass of red wine. He follows you, watching you. 

“I get that. Sorry I read them when you didn’t want me to. I was just very curious.”

“It’s okay.” You take a sip of your wine. 

“I’m still very curious.” He walks over to you, placing his hands on your hips and you love the way his touch feels. “How do you get the inspiration to write those?” His question makes you chuckle lightly. 

“How does any writer get inspiration? Experiences, fantasies, ideas. Then I put them all together to make a story.” Your eyes are locked on his face and his on yours. 

“That’s true… Let’s go sit down? I’d love to hear more about your creative process.” He takes your free hand and leads you back into the living room, causing you to chuckle again. You two have a seat on the couch, real close to each other like how you were sitting in the back of the taxi. “I’d be lying if I said it doesn’t turn me on that you write smutty stories.” He says ever so boldly. 

“Well thank you for being honest.” You grin, setting your glass on the coffee table in front of the sofa. 

“I bet you’re really kinky, aren’t you?” He strokes your cheek with his thumb, your faces so close to each other. His voice is soft and sensual as you’re surrounded by the warmth of his body. 

“You could say that. I guess one has to be when they write erotic novels.” You confess, a little smirk on your lips. He presses his lips to yours in the first kiss you’ll ever share and it’s absolutely perfect. His lips are so soft, plump and they feel amazing against yours. Your hands rest on his big arms, tasting his tongue when he slips it into your mouth. He kisses you with passion and desire, one of his hands rested on your cheek and the other one on your hip. He breaks the kiss for a moment to whisper on your lips.

“I like you. You’re gorgeous, you’re talented and I like the way it feels to be around you." 

"I like you too. Very much. Would you like to see my bedroom? I just feel bad not showing you the entire apartment yet.” You say and it’s really just an excuse to get him inside your bedroom. 

“Yes, of course.” He smiles and you two stand up, you take his hand and lead him around your apartment. You show him your study, your library, the bathroom and laundry room and then you lead him into your bedroom where your king size bed is. He immediately puts his arms around your waist and your lips lock again, your arms going around his neck. Your tongues begin a battle against each other, tasting each other and it makes you moan a little into his mouth. He moves his hands to grope your ass and then breaks the kiss to attach his lips to the skin of your neck, collarbones and shoulders, leaving kisses and little bites all over you. Your fingers tug his shirt up and he raises his arms to help you remove it. You have to stop yourself from drooling when you see his chiseled, hard chest and his bare, muscular arms. He reaches behind you and unzips your dress, pushing it off your shoulders, watching it fall to the ground. Adam sees you in your bra and panties, reaching his hand to squeeze your breast for a moment. As he’s taking off your bra, you go for his belt buckle and open it up, unzipping his jeans zipper and pushing his pants down his waist. He kicks them off, now the two of you are just in your underwear. 

“You are so beautiful, I don’t know how I’m gonna thank Alicia for introducing us.” He says and tucks your hair behind your ear. 

“I’ll have to find some way to thank her as well. You’re pretty stunning yourself, Adam.” You say and sit on the edge of the bed. He stands in front of you, eyes locked on your face as he stares down at you. You hook your fingers to the waistband of his underwear and slowly pull them down. His rock hard cock pops out and it’s way bigger than you expected. You figured with how tall he is, he’d be big but you had no idea that this is what he was hiding in his pants this whole time. “Fuck.” You mumble, wrapping your hand around his erection and pumping it slowly. He steps out of his underwear and tugs at your panties. 

“Take these off. I want to touch you.” He tells you and it makes you feel like there are volts of electricity rushing through your veins. 

“Yes, sir.” You say softly and wiggle out of your panties, letting them fall to the ground then stepping out of them. 

“Good girl. Lie down right here on the edge of the bed in front of me.” He orders you and you obey. You lie on the edge and open your legs enough for him to have access. Adam sticks his fingers between your thighs and starts to rub your slickness up and down. You take his length in your hand and start stroking it again, watching as he makes a face of pleasure. His touch feels so good in your most sensitive area, you’re moaning as you lift your legs up a little to give him better access. He slides a finger inside you and pumps it in and out, over and over. 

“Oooh, yes please.” You moan and he bites his lip, moving his finger faster. He’s making you very wet and your hand moving on his cock is just making you want him more. He sticks another finger inside of you and continues to work his digits in and out of you, harder now. “Oh shit! Yes! Yes!” You moan, encouraging him, staring up at him with lustful, needy eyes. 

“You want my cock inside of you? Deep, deep inside of you?” He asks you, your cunt soaking wet from the touch of his fingers. 

“Yes! Yes I do! I want your cock deep inside of me, Adam!” You moan loudly and honestly then he retracts his hand from between your thighs, moving it to his cock to transfer the wetness from your pussy to it. 

“Adam, will you sit up against the headboard on the bed? I want to ride you.” You ask him, knowing it would be best to start this way because of how big he is, you can have control at first to get yourself adjusted to his size. 

“Sure, of course.” He says and nods eagerly getting on the bed to sit in the middle with his back against the headboard like you asked. He was typically very dominant in bed, but he just couldn’t say no to you asking to ride him. You climb on top of him and straddle his hips then he guides his cock inside you slowly, filling you all the way up as you slide down on him. 

You can feel every inch of him stretching you out, not moving for a moment to relax yourself around him. His hands are on your hips and his gaze is locked on yours. He tilts his face forward and kisses you longingly to which you return the kiss with passion. Your fingers are woven into his long dark hair while you start to move your hips slowly, it helps that he got you so wet earlier with his fingers. His cock slides in and out of you again and again with ease as you ride him, both of you moaning into each other’s mouths. 

He breaks the kiss with a deep breath, moving his hands down your body behind you to your ass, squeezing your cheeks as they bounce on his dick. Next he does something a bit bold but it’s certainly not unwelcome. He raises his hand and brings it down with a hard smack to your ass cheek, making you moan. 

“You like being spanked? You’re a dirty girl who likes when I spank her ass?” He says while keeping eye contact. You nod quickly and begin to move your hips even faster. 

“Yes I am!” 

"Shit, fuck! You are so fucking tight, Y/N!” He says, feeling like he’s in pure heaven. You grip his shoulders and stop moving for a moment to get on your feet in a squatting position, his cock still buried inside you. You’re so wet as you bounce again harder than before and he reaches his hand to your chest, squeezing your tits. His thumbs rub your nipples adding another sensation of pleasure. He can feel your cunt tightening around his cock, you’re going to cum soon. 

“Yes, yes, yes! Right there! I’m going to cum!” You moan out to him, riding him as quickly as you can.

“Be a good little slut and cum all over my cock!” He orders you and the way he talks to you in such a filthy way turns you on so much. The way you moan when you orgasm and the sounds your cunt makes from how wet it is let’s him know you’ve reached your climax. In a state of pure bliss you nearly lose your balance and Adam helps you get back on your knees. He wraps his arms around you and moves your bodies, lying you down on the bed with him on top of you, still inside you. He supports himself on his knees and grips your thighs, snapping his hips in a quick pace. “You’re such a good little slut for me.”

“Adam, Adam, Adam…” You moan, clawing into the sheets beneath you. This makes him pound you faster and harder, getting himself closer to his own release. You’re moaning so much now that it’s become incoherent, a mixture of jumped words and sounds of pleasure. 

“I’m going to cum.” He says, looking at your eyes. 

“Where do you want to cum?” 

"All over your perfect tits.” He growls. 

“Please cum all over my tits.” You moan, licking your lips and seeing him stare at your tongue while you do it. He stops moving his hips, pulls out of you and kneels next to you, aiming at your chest as he pumps his cock with his hand. He spills out and covers your breasts with his hot sticky cum and you watch his face the entire time he does it. You love knowing that you’re the one who makes him make those kinds of expressions when he cums, that you’re the one who makes him moan like that. He collapses next to you, both of your chests heaving. 

“You’re incredible.” He says to you, making you get that fuzzy and cozy feeling in your chest. 

“So are you.” You reach for his hand and hold it, turning your head to look at his eyes. 

After both of you had a shower, Adam stayed the night and spent the rest of the evening with you. He had to go home sort of early in the morning to prepare for a theater event he had to attend later that day but told you he would call you soon. It wasn’t fun to say goodbye to him, although you knew you simply must. You look forward to seeing him again and perhaps pursuing a relationship with him. Will he be interested in that? You don’t know yet. You can only patiently wait for the next time you’ll get a chance to talk to or see him. 

Hopefully it won’t be too long. 

[marinaaniseed]

Touch-a, touch-a, touch-a, touch me

Song: Touch-a, touch-a, touch-a, touch me from The Rocky Horror Picture Show soundtrack.

Summary: You’re very inexperienced. Clint runs you a bath and jumps in with you, leading you to explore each other’s bodies.

Characters: Female reader x Clint Barton

Length: 1,545 words

A/N: This is probably 18+ in that while nothing explicit happens, it’s implied. This is for @hopesbarnes​ 1k challenge, hopefully you like it. I chose this prompt as I have the RHPS soundtrack so it fitted in nicely with the songshots. See here for what that’s all about. If you’ve been following me for a while, you may also remember me dressing up as Magenta last year for Rocky Horror fun with my friends, back when we could do such things.

***

It’d been a pleasant walk with Clint and Lucky, right up until the moment the heavens opened. There’d been nothing about it on the forecast when you’d watched the morning news, so you, and everyone else in the park, had been taken by surprise. Clint blamed Thor, although there was no sign of him anywhere. By the time you made it back to Clint’s, you were sopping, puddles of water following you through to the bathroom along with Lucky.

Clint began running a bath and the idea of getting out of your soaked clothes was appealing. A long soak under the bubbles would definitely help.

You just hadn’t realised he’d be joining you.

He’d left you to get undressed and said he’d be back with an extra towel for you. Bathing was always something private for you, but you were well hidden under the bubbles when he came back in.

The large lavender towel was draped over the heated towel rack and you were about to thank Clint when he peeled off his jeans and underwear without warning.

“Oh,” you said, cheeks burning and eyes turned up to the ceiling.

“What’s up?” Clint asked. “I thought it’d be nice for us to warm up together.”

“Y-yeah,” you stammered unsure how to respond. It was a nice idea, you just weren’t prepared for it.

“Am I really that ugly that you can’t look at me?” he teased, stepping into the bath at the other end.

“No, it’s not that… it’s just I’ve never seen a man naked before,” you admitted, hoping that the bath plug would pop out and suck you away from this moment.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable,” Clint said, standing back up. “I can go away.”

“No, no stay… I think it’s about time I know what you look like.”

Clint hovered awkwardly, one leg in and one leg out of the tub, as Lucky licked bubbles off of his calf.

“I just assumed, because of your job, that you’d be comfortable with nudity. I’m sorry.”

“Clients don’t get fully naked for a massage, which you would know if you ever came to see me for some physio instead of trying to train through your injuries,” you told him with a small smile.

“So you’ve never…?”

You shake your head.

“That’s why you want to go slowly,” Clint realised. “If I agree to get back in, do you think you could look at me? Like you don’t have to look there but maybe try looking at my chest or something? You’re making me feel bad about all the cobwebs up there.”

You take a deep fortifying breath and lower your gaze. There was nothing to be scared or ashamed of, Clint was just a man, just like in a textbook.

Well, mostly. The men in textbooks had a lot less scars than Clint.

He eased himself into the water slowly, watching your expression as you took him in. It was both an honour and deeply terrifying to be the first man you saw up close and personal. He hoped the sight wouldn’t put you off men completely.

“Ok?” he asked when he finally sat down, extending a hand along the side of the bath for you to hold.

“Ok,” you said with a smile. “I’m sorry, that must’ve been quite weird.”

“You know who I work with and what I do, nothing is weird anymore. I’m just sorry I made you uncomfortable.”

“No, it’s ok. I had quite a conservative upbringing, but logically I know it’s ok to see someone naked. I’ve only ever kissed before. I thought there's no use getting into heavy petting. It only leads to trouble and seat wetting,” you admitted. “But I’m an adult, you’re an adult. If it’s something we both want, then there’s nothing to be ashamed about.”

“Absolutely, but please tell me if there’s anything you do or don’t want to do.”

“I will.”

“You can touch me, if you’d like to,” he offered.

“I don’t think I have any choice, your legs are against mine.”

“Sorry, I can move.”

“No, no it’s fine. Honestly, Clint, it’s fine. I would like to touch you, but maybe after our bath I could give you a massage, get to explore your body in a way that’s more familiar to me?”

“Sure, I think I’d like that… just maybe go gentle on me and don’t give me a Steve-style sports massage.”

“I promise it’ll be a relaxing massage, nothing too deep, I'll oil you up and rub you down. Assuming you have any oil.”

“Have a rummage in the box next to you, that’s where I keep all my bath stuff.”

Leaning over the side of the bath, careful to position your arm to maintain some modesty, you began rooting through the box. There were purple rubber ducks, lavender bath bombs, and a coffee face mask. Somewhere near the bottom you found an almost full bottle of coconut oil.

“Oh yeah, Nat brought that back from Fiji. Said it was great for the mosquito bites,” Clint observed as you waved the bottle triumphantly. “Will that work?”

“It’s perfect,” you said, before adding, “you’re perfect.”

“I appreciate the compliment, but that might be the voice of inexperience,” he chuckled. “What would you be comfortable with me doing to you?”

“You can touch-a, touch-a, touch-a, touch me,” you stammered out. “Maybe you could wash my back?”

“I can do that,” Clint said, closing his eyes so you could turn around without him watching.

“You can look,” you offered. “It’s only fair.”

“I don’t want to look because it’s fair, I want to look because you want me to look.”

“Um, ok. I’m not much to look at, but I’d like you to look.”

Clint knew that was a lie. Clothes could cover you but they couldn’t entirely hide the shape of you, especially after the rain had caused them to cling to your body. You were awkward in your movements as you stood and turned to face away from him, eyes downcast, and cheeks magenta. You were absolutely gorgeous and he had to will himself to calm down. An erection poking into your back was not going to help your nervousness about the whole situation.

Grabbing a purple pouffe from where it hung from the tap, Clint dipped it under the water and began to rub gentle circles across your shoulders and down your back, smiling to himself as you slowly relaxed back against him, so that your head was leant back against his shoulder.

“It’s funny,” you mused. “I always tell clients about the importance of touch and relaxation, how it soothes and calms stress, yet I don’t practice what I preach.”

“Why don’t you put your hands over mine and guide me where you’d like me to touch you?” Clint whispered against the top of your head. “You’ll be in control and I won’t touch anywhere you don’t want me to.”

Your hands were so soft covering Clint’s, so unlike his own, which were thickly calloused from all those years of handling his bow and arrows. The rest of you felt soft too, as you guided his hands, fingertips skimming against your skin. You didn’t stop guiding him until the water was lukewarm, and your fingers were wrinkly.

“Perhaps we should continue this out of the bath?” you suggested shyly. “I could dry you and you could dry me?”

“I’d like that a lot,” Clint said, very much admiring the view as you stood up in front of him. He didn’t want to get ahead of himself, but he could already foresee the need for another bath, or at the very least, a cold shower, if the massage you’d offered turned the way he thought it might. He would never pressure you, but it was interesting to watch you become more comfortable around him. Now you’d had a taste, it was clear you wanted more, and he was all too happy to oblige, no matter how much or how little you wanted. If you wanted to make the massage a more intimate one, he was happy with that, and would be more than happy to return the favour if you wanted him to.

He didn’t think he’d ever been dried as thoroughly in his life as you carefully patted and rubbed the towel over his skin, and he took the same care drying you. He felt a little bad when he considered the rough towelling off he’d given Lucky when the bath was running.

Clutching the towel around your chest, you followed Clint to his bedroom, bottle of oil in hand.

“Sorry dude,” he said, shooing Lucky back out after you stepped inside, “I’m gonna need a little alone time. Don’t want you trying to lick oil off me or anything.”

Massage was what you did but it was like being back on your first day of training, you were nervous to touch Clint, even though he was putting you in control, and lying modestly on the bed under his towel. Just like Clint, you realised that this might not be just a massage. That it might bring your relationship to a whole new level.

And beneath the nerves, that thought felt good.