#and Foggy really need to get out that drama as soon as he can

[starkholme]

"Have you got any bright ideas?" she questions.

"I'm thinking, I'm thinking..." he's rambling, the eyes focused on the crowd circling them.

"You better think of something fast, because if he turns me into a mummy, you're the first one I'm coming after." Karen declared with her voice trembling, she turned her head to look at Frank for what it could be her last time ever looking at him.

Karen Page, a librarian and aspiring Egyptologist, and Foggy Nelson, her best friend and an excellent lawyer, usually have drinks together in one of the best — according to Foggy himself — bars in town: Josie's Place. On a friday night, the two friends found themselves in the middle of a bar fight and after hiding behind one the tables, Karen is quick to realize an intricate box fell from the pocket of one of the fighters and takes it for herself before even thinking twice.

She only got a glimpse of his face, yet she remembers him too well.

When she finds the map of Hamunaptra inside the box, Karen convinces Foggy to go along with her to find the mysterious man. They find ex-military Frank Castle in a local prison and Karen makes a deal with him to lead them to the City of the Dead if she gets him released, he agrees.

It wasn't in Frank's plan go back to Hamunaptra, although a certain blonde Egyptologist makes it hard to not go back to the place he once served alongside The French Foreign Legion. So when Karen accidentally wakes up a 3000 year old mummy who begins to wreak havoc in searching for the reincarnation of his long-lost love, Frank's got no other choice than to stop the terror and save Karen in the process.

Kastle x a different version of The Mummy 1999

[itsgrimeytime]

Magnolia in May (Part Fourteen) || Rick Grimes (TWD) x Greene!f!reader Regency AU

Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13...

MiM Taglist: @loliakeoghan23 @belaballs @curlycarley @queenie32 @mgparker

rick grimes taglist: @golden-hoax

AVAILABLE ON AO3

Inspiration (in honor of Speak Now Taylor's Version): Enchanted by Taylor Swift.

Summary: Your town was small, not the smallest you knew, but anyone of high fortune was the gossip of the week. Predictably, Richard Grimes was a thing of whispers -rumors of a search for marriage among the grassy hills. You weren't one to buy into town gossip, but something about him... just seemed a little too intriguing.

TWS: drama, yelling, crying, death mention, dueling mention, gun violence mention, mentioned infidelity, and angst.

[[A/N: Drama, have you ever wanted a man to duel over you??? Well, you just might get thatttt, you'll have to see :)))!!! Also, I know I promised The Nurse next, but my one true love regency drama got in the way. I'm so sorry!!! But soon, I swear. Enjoy this, for now, ly all <3 ]]

You hadn't heard it from him. That was what had bothered you the most, really, is that you heard through someone else -the whispers of the street. They had graced your ears before he had even stepped to tell you.

Your Headmistress was frozen, words that you couldn't hear echoing through the air and it almost felt like the entire square froze. Like the world had frozen right as your heart stuttered in your chest, your ears ringing, and your hands were shaking-

"Darling? Darling-" Headmistress was all you could see -big brown eyes peering at you in a concern you felt was rather unmatched, "-hey look at me, will you? 'Can't have you fainting in the square-"

Her voice wasn't her anymore, rather, a sort of muffled noise in the back of your head. Your throat felt dry, and suddenly, it felt as though you couldn't breathe. Like your lungs were tied with a rope, and no matter how hard you tried, they would not fill. Something in your head spun and your stomach twisted -a fear that gripped you unlike anything else you'd ever been afraid of.

The words, although they seemed to be in a tone you knew to be gossip, felt so real -bouncing around your skull.

"There is to be a duel in two days' time. The Grimes heir and the man who captured the heart of his estranged wife! Just dreadful."

"A little late for such a battle, is it not?"

You didn't know the women who spoke them, all big hats and lacy dresses -any feature you could see didn't ring to be familiar. The two spoke as if it were nothing. As if he wasn't... As if that wasn't a life-

"I'd hate to be the mistress."

"Darling," you felt hands holding your arms -guiding you, "-let's return to the carriage at once, such trips can happen later-"

You couldn't even remember the purpose now, your mind a rather foggy place, and all you could really hear was the pounding of your heart in your chest. It was a heavy sort of thud that rattled your head, and your breathing could hardly catch up. Yet, the Headmistress's steps were sure and evenly tempered -quick as to not let anyone see you in such a state. There were already rumors about your family, they truly didn't need to know more.

Before you could truly blink, you were brought into the carriage -the door shutting effectively silencing your brain. The buzz of the crowd was now not overwhelming, and yet, you still felt as if the wind had flown out of your lungs. Like the ground had crumbled beneath your feet like your entire world had shifted-

"Y/N dear, please, breathe."

You blinked, swallowing, fingertips brushing against the cushioned seats -bringing yourself down. Each breath is a slow, deep inhale, and your nails push into the fabric to keep you there. To steady you, as the roar of your heart became timid in the silence -quiet.

"D-Did you know?" you asked -slowly and shaky, there was something in your throat-

"No," she answered quickly, "-no. I know I've done my misdeeds, but believe me when I say this... This is something I would've told you."

"Do you-" you started, "-do you believe there could be truth to it? Could he-"

"Stop, no. We'll get nowhere with such conspiracies," Headmistress shushed, sitting forward to open the door ever-so-slightly -speaking to the driver, you assumed, "-it's best we hear it directly from the source."

That brought you to now, the Headmistress guiding you by the arm up the stairs to the Grimes estate -her stance was one of anger, and each worker almost seemed to be widely avoiding the both of you because of it.

Her face had twisted into a rather sour frown, the wrinkles in her face more prominent than you had ever seen them - a heavy furrow resting upon her eyebrows. It was all pinched together -you could feel such frustration, and you were sure if she had not held you by the arm, you would've run in the other direction as well.

And it only pushed forward, through doors through startled faces and orders halted on their lips -you were quite sure you had seen Mr. Dixon somewhere along the mix. You weren't focused though, everything grew rather blurry as tears began to gather behind your eyes -you merely wiped them away. You couldn't give any extra thought to them. You had too much to think about, too much-

Headmistress pushed open the door to his office like it was a public ladies' room, like she had every right to be there and like it was her own. Her face had not let up a smidge, the sour look only grew more bitter by the moment -the frown pulled further down her face and her hand grasping you ever so tighter. Mr. Grimes startled for a moment, standing at his feet at the sight of you -almost like he couldn't help it.

His eyes dipped to your red cheeks, evidence of you crying, and you watched the flex of his hand -as if he wished to wipe them away himself. Something in your stomach twisted.

"Ms. Elisa, Ms. Greene-" he breathed out -something like concern hidden deep in his tone, "-a lovely surprise. If you would've let me, I would've walked the two of ya in-"

"Mr. Grimes," your Headmistress interrupted -strong and confident, unwavering, "-we have come upon some rather disparaging news. I wish to have you settle the truth of such things."

He stilled, slightly, a leak of his composure and you were certain it had gone under Headmistress's radar but it hadn't your own. You could tell such things, his eyes spoke volumes but learning his tics had been something delightful for yourself. It felt rather distant now.

Your mouth opened before you could rationalize it, "Headmistress? May I... May I speak with him alone?"

She paused, brown eyes turning to you -flickering over your figure, "If you wish to, of course, dear, but-"

"I wish to," you answered, frankly, the sniffle of your nose rather loud in such a thick layer of tension, "-I believe I shall ask him such things on my own."

"If you insist," Headmistress frowned slightly, before squeezing your arm once -comforting, and stepping aside, "-I'll be by the door."

She spoke only to you, rather cold to the man in the room, but you knew of her reasons. She was always stubborn in such things, especially with things considering you or your sisters. You, briefly, wondered how long it would take her to forgive such faults.

Mr. Grimes spoke first, a sort of desperate plea hanging out in the empty air, "Ms. Greene-"

You sniffled, wiping at the bottom of your eye -hoping to clear up what you had shed, "Mr. Grimes, I believe you know why I'm here."

There was a long silence then, as he merely looked over you and you saw his hand fidget over his handkerchief for a split second before falling to his side once more. He looked at though he itched to approach you then, to care for you. You truly weren't sure how to feel.

"I do," he responded -finally.

"Then," you cleared your throat from the biting back of a sob, "-you must know of what I'm asking."

"I do..."

"Tell me," you started, slow and you could already feel the tears build up again, "-Tell me if it's true."

He spoke, a low, tired tone, "Ms. Greene, I never intended-"

"Do you not wish me to believe it?" you questioned, the silence in the room a thick layer of tension draped over the air -it almost felt choking.

He faltered, "Ms. Greene..."

"Then, tell me it isn't true. Tell me that it's all made up and I shall believe you-" you spoke in a rising sort of pitch before it all fell once more -desperation edging along your words, "-But... I believe you cannot tell me such a thing is a lie."

Mr. Grimes remained silent then, eyes rather downcast and despite his standing, he still felt sunk in. Hiding, ashamed. Like he had known this was the outcome.

And... perhaps he did.

Something in your chest snapped, despite asking, you hadn't expected the answer, "It's true, isn't it?"

"He spoke to me soon after ya left my estate," he spoke, a sort of desperate sort of tone -explaining, "-wouldn't leave until I spoke to him."

"He challenged you."

"He wasn't..." he sighed, a deep sort of heavy one, "-I could tell he wasn't of a right mind. I should've refused to speak to 'im-"

"What of the children?" you spoke, it all sounded sort of hollow now, "-what of... What of me, if you... if you-"

"Ms. Greene," he hummed, carefully, slowly, "-I hadn't... I didn't believe anyone had heard him. I didn't- I hadn't answered, he wasn't of the right mind. And then-"

"Someone heard you," you spoke, gathering the path on your own, "-and you were proposed again."

"Yes," he continued -defeated, almost, "-and a man propositioned to a duel would be a fool to refuse."

"You would be an alive fool," you spoke, now close to him -hands itching to reach out, to feel him beneath your fingertips, warm, breathing, "-alive."

"Y/N, please."

"Don't," you relented, "-don't speak as if you don't have a choice. You do."

"It is a matter of honor," Mr. Grimes continued -heavy with purpose, "-and I won't 'ave my name dragged through the dirt by someone who I used to trust the most."

"You wished to marry me," your voice broke -something in you grieving, "-how am I to marry a dead man?"

"Y/N, I wish to marry you, presently. This does not change-"

"No, I-" you cleared your throat, stepping back a measured few steps -clearing your throat, "-I cannot be promised to a man who may be dead in a few days' time. You must understand my worry."

"'Course, I do," he answered, moving forward the steps you took back staying within your space, "-I... I cannot imagine."

"And yet," you responded -broken and angry, "-you instill such an experience on me. On your children?"

"Ms. Greene-"

"I just wish to understand," you hummed -something forlorn in your tone, "-but I'm not certain I ever will."

"It's not-" he started, before breaking off, "-I did not think of it 'at way, but you... I can't-"

"I love you," you echoed, "-and if I... It's too short, I wish to have it much longer."

"You will," Mr. Grimes spoke -desperately, "-you will."

"It's one thing to say and another to know, Mr. Grimes."

"Y/N-"

"No, I-" you cleared your throat -straightening slightly, and dabbing at your eyes, "-I have things to attend to."

"Please, don't leave on such a note-"

"Mr. Grimes," you spoke lightly -tears gathering behind your eyes, "-I love you, truly beyond belief. Stay alive."

"Y/N..."

"Please, I-" you breathed out -voice shaking, "-I can't... I can't stay here any longer."

Mr. Grimes opened his mouth, but you couldn't listen, not then. Mind running a mile a minute, your brain seemed to fuzz along the edges. You swore you were getting dizzy-

You merely curtsied and headed out of the office. You heard him, calling to you, but you refused to turn back -something in you ripped open and vulnerable, you needed to go home. And perhaps such a thought was selfish, leaving such a man begging for you to speak.

But, you couldn't. Not now. The weight of a bullet heavy on your brain, you couldn't look him in the eye with the possibility it might be the last time-

The last time, it bounced around your head and didn't stop. Even when the Headmistress rushed to your side -keeping up with your footsteps, even on the carriage ride home, even in your bedroom that night -staring upon the dark vast ceiling. Maggie was just beside you -comfortably asleep; you, on the other hand, tugged the blanket tighter around yourself.

Hoping for dreams of a berry basket and blue eyes, in a much simpler world. Just you and him in a market stall. Where had such thoughts gone?

[bravewolfvesperia]

This was partly why he didn't want to say much of anything. Karol had a tendency to panic over things like this, even if they were manageable. Right now Yuri couldn't actually confirm if this was, but Karol's body a tendency to mirror his emotions, much like the time he got that Panacea Bottle and started running to the Halure tree. If Yuri was in a state well enough to get to the shop himself he would have, but "well enough" was only in the mental sense here. His body probably wasn't.

"Probably one of those weapons on those guys we had to deal with for that last job the other day. One of them had barely sliced my arm, but if I can assume that weapon was dipped in poison, it would have gotten into me through the open wound from the knife. I didn't notice yesterday likely because the wound was small, but the poison has probably settled and spread by now..."

Not fatally as of yet or they would have noticed without Yuri having to say anything at all, but he did feel too foggy to do anything work related or really put any effort into anything. Really, if he did go to Raven's place, Raven probably would have kept him there and went back to Karol by himself if Yuri was worried enough about leaving Karol on his own.

No matter how he presented this information to Karol though, he wasn't sure he would have gotten any different of a reaction. If he had just admitted it outright and said "hey I think I'm poisoned", Karol would have leaped at that. The Weak Bottle would probably handle the sluggish feeling, but they'd probably need a Mind Bottle for the fogginess... At worst though, removing all his symptoms with poison in his body still probably wasn't the best idea lest he felt too well and moved too much.

Yet even with all of this, his mind still wandered to the men they'd had to deal with the other day. Most of them had been arrested as far as he knew, and he wasn't sure if any of them got away. Judith had been there so it was unlikely Ba'ul would have missed any of them. That didn't mean they were in the clear though if and when those guys got out. Nobody in Dahngrest wanted to deal with more drama that had been started because of Alexei and Yeager, so the general populace did want them dealt with... but the guys had definitely taken their illegal activity being frowned upon with spite.

"Don't panic. For now, just... get two or three Poison Bottles. I've barely moved today so it shouldn't be life threatening yet or even any time today. Whole day is gonna suck, but... the poison wasn't a particularly strong one if it's taken over a day for me to even notice it. Probably the kind that will only be fatal if left alone for too long but works pretty slow. Obviously I could be wrong and it could start to move fast once it does, but... if I can solve it with just the Poison Bottles, we won't need to run around trying to support ourselves just to eat by going broke over seeing a doctor."

If it was staring to take affect at all he would feel it well enough soon, but it still didn't mean he was dying yet, and that was why he didn't want Karol in such a fright. No matter how bad it looked or sounded, Yuri was pretty sure he would recognize if his body was actually in that bad of a state. He could thank Karol's insistence later, but watching the boy practically lose his mind over this felt pretty awful.

"I know you're gonna want to be in a hurry, but don't run on the way back, either. You'll have to go back and get more if they break, which means more money and more time I'm laying here poisoned. So... don't run on the way back, got it? Walk fast, don't run."

“Not saying something when you’re not feeling well is the same as denying it outright.” Karol pointed out, moving back to his bag to put the rest of their items away. He didn’t expect Yuri to come to him every time he had the sniffles but he at least wanted Yuri to keep him informed if he wasn’t feeling well. How long had Yuri been feeling this way? How long had Karol been pushing him to go on jobs for the Guild when he wasn’t feeling that well? 

Would Karol have even noticed if Yuri hadn’t decided to stay home today? What if it was worse than it seemed? Yuri always kept how he felt close to his chest at all times so for Yuri to be mentioning it now… maybe Karol should run and get a doctor.

“But what does being a kid have to do with it? I am a kid, yeah, but who made this dumb rule that kids have to tell the adult that they’re sick but the adult doesn’t have to tell the kid?” Why was it that adults had to keep secrets between each other that kids weren’t allowed to hear? When would Yuri start trusting him with adult conversations?

Granted, he should be (and was) happy that Yuri was telling him now. It was better now than never but… would Yuri have told him if Raven were in the building? Or would he have just pulled Raven to let him know and avoid telling Karol altogether? Was it because Yuri didn’t want to worry him? Or was it because he was a kid? 

The possibility of it being poison pulls Karol into a standstill for a moment as he nearly drops one of the Dark Bottles onto the floor. … Yeah, with the lack of barriers in Dahngrest, that would have been bad. Really bad. Shoving it into his bag, he whips around again to face Yuri with wide eyes. “Poison? You’re poisoned?! Since when? For how long?! What poisoned you?!” 

Already, Karol was throwing his bag over his shoulder, making sure his gald pouch was still in there before stopping beside the couch where Yuri laid. “You shouldn’t be getting up! So, no! No leaving to get Raven.” That insecurity begins to bubble up again, lips twitching as he frowns. “I’m capable of buying items from the store, Yuri! But– But are you sure we shouldn’t get a doctor? If the poison spreads, it could be bad. Really bad!” 

Upon watching Yuri sit up on the couch, Karol carefully placed trembling hands on the man’s shoulders and tried to push him back down onto the couch. “Don’t try and get up or move too much until I get back, please!”

[eyelessfaces]

plus one

matt murdock x reader

summary: matt is going to his college friends wedding and he basically asked you to be his plus one

(matt being his cheeky and flirty self, two oblivious idiots in love)

warnings: really small insinuations to rape (really small), drugs, random man shamelessly hitting on reader over and over again

word count: 4.4k

"Stairs" You told Matt before stopping to them, even though you were well aware that he knew his surroundings probably way better than you. It was an habit.

You looked around you, scanning the place. Most people had gathered to talk to each other, catching up on life.

"Are you sure I'm actually fitting in" you asked him, nervous, staring at the huge open door serving the church. There were lots of people, all strangers.

Matt had invited you to his college friends' wedding. You didn't even know them, but he needed a plus one, so there you were.

He let go of his grip on your arm to pat your shoulder with the same hand. "Why wouldn't you be fitting in? Don't worry. You're gonna be fine"

"I'm not so sure. I'm gonna look stupid, standing there knowing no one except you and Foggy"

"I would've been the one looking stupid if I came here on my own." he said putting his hand back on his cane. "And as long as you're by my side you can't look stupid" he said wearing a mischevious grin on his pretty face. His chin twitched to his right side. "Ha see, on your right, someone staring at us. At you." he cleared his throat lightly. "Your chest more precisely."

You flushed, looking around you, catching the man in question, who deviated his look as soon as you caught it.

"Thanks." you said clearing your throat, embarrassed. "A shame you can't see it" you chuckled realizing what you had just said. "I mean the face he made when I looked back at him, not my chest"

"Such a shame. Both" he said turning to you, a charming smile on his face. You nudged him, laughing at his cheeky remark.

He smiled, proud of himself, before stopping suddenly. "Foggy's here. I can smell his perfume."

You turned around, looking for him. "Who is he coming with?"

"Marci Stahl." he said rising eyebrows.

"So they're serious aren't they" you frowned.

"So people coming to a wedding together makes them serious?" he asked with the same previous smile.

"Not what I meant but I see your point. Fuck off though" you said grabbing his forearm.

"Come on I know you want me sooo bad" he said whispering into your ear. Your heartbeat fastened a little and you were really hoping he wasn't listening to it at this moment. Of course you had a crush on Matt. But he could pull anyone, so why would he want you?

"Yeah I sure do" you said sarcastically, squeezing his arm.

He laughed before going back to being serious. "See any Foggy around?"

You squinted your eyes and spotted Marci first before seeing Foggy talking to what seemed to be an old aquaintance from law school. "He's chatting with someone. Ginger, rather long hair, bangs"

"Oh she must be Lucy Dawn. She's the bridesmaid. Her bestfriend."

"Oh"

"She had a crush on me at some point and Foggy wanted me to get with her so he could get closer to today's bride" he said gesturing to the entrance of the church.

You chuckled, stunned at the drama. "No way" you said staring at them talking.

"Yes. She's the one he took punjabi for" he said laughing. "Needless to say he bitterly regretted taking it when today's bride got with today's groom"

You laughed, amused by the twist. "Aw poor Fog. Thank god he met Marci to take care of him right"

He chuckled. "I wouldn't thank god and mention Marci in the same sentence."

"Right" you laughed. "Maybe we should go say hi"

"Lead the way my dear" he said putting his cane ahead of him.

You rolled your eyes and walked to the small group.

"No way! Matt Murdock!" the ginger exclaimed, in awe in front of the man.

"Lucy Dawn" he smiled, taking out his hand for her to shake, what she immediately did before turning to you, her hand still out.

"And his girlfriend, ..."

"Oh, uh" you chuckled. "Y/N. Not his girlfriend" you said shaking her hand, smiling.

"Not yet" Foggy whispered loud enough for you to hear.

You nudged his side, seeing Matt smiling. Of course he had heard it, the man heard everything.

"It's good to see you too Y/N" Foggy said with a large smile on his face.

You mockingly smiled back at him before greeting Marci.

---

Matt was away and so was Foggy, catching up with people from law school. The wedding wasn't too bad, though you didn't know anyone and people mistook you for Matt's girlfriend just because you were his plus one. It didn't bother you tho, it was funny having to justify yourself everytime and Matt enjoyed witnessing you struggle with it.

You took another sip of your wine, leaning against a wall, watching Marci talking with her old friends from a distance. You kinda felt like an intruder, but you knew it would get better as the night will go, because the more drinks you will get the funnier it will get, especially if you're surrounded by Matt and Foggy.

You got out of your mind when a man approached you. Aaand it was the same guy looking at you - or your honkers - before the ceremony, in front of the church. It was safe to say you weren't interessed at ALL, and a man mistaking a woman for meat could immediately fuck off.

"What is a so wonderful woman doing here all on her own?" he asked, raising an eyebrow, with a - what he probably thought was charming - so disgusting smile.

You giggled in embarrasment, scratching your neck from anxiety itch. Well, that was awkward.

"Just waiting for my friends here I guess" you said still trying to be polite, but not enough to show him you could be interessed.

"You came with the blind fella right" he asked looking right at Matt, who was happily laughing with a small group of people.

You looked at him too and cleared your throat before talking. "Uh yeah. I came with him"

He nodded slowly and took a sip of his drink.

"This party's kinda lame honestly." he said looking around the room, a judging expression on his face.

"Well I mean it's barely seven" you chuckled before bringing your glass to your lips, desperate at the man's remarks.

"Yeah right." he said laughing dryly.

You raised your eyebrows, hoping he would go away from the lack of conversation.

You took advantage of the awkward blank between you and the stranger to look at Foggy who had Marci's arm wrapped behind his back. Interesting, now you had a shot to throw him for when he would make his remarks about you and Matt. Not that you cared, it was funny, but going back to Marci after what he had told you about her wasn't his smartest move in life so you could poke him with the subject.

"You seem so alone and bored. How about we go and do something funnier than just waiting for the fun to start?" he whispered grabbing your shoulder, pulling you out of your daydream. "If you see what I mean"

Was he just unshamelessly and openly asking for sex or was your mind just badly biased? You hoped it was just a bad dream. How could a man be so straight-to-the-point about it?

You frowned, confused. You could feel your breath thicken, unable to get a single word out of you mouth. You were scared at how he would react if you declined his offer.

You quickly glanced at Matt, that had joined Foggy to another conversation, with the freshly married couple. You didn't see any option to get out of this awkward situation.

You looked back at the man, really not comfortable with him touching you and feeling his grip diffuse inside your whole body. You didn't know anything of him, you clearly rejected his advances and yet he was still touching you.

You loudly swallowed your saliva and parted your lips, unsure about what to tell him. You weren't gonna accept, obviously, but you were trying to find a way to tell him no, and a no that sounded like a no. "I uh... I'm fine with casually waiting for the party to start actually" you said giving him an awkward small smile, trying to push him away without having him getting mad. You hoped it would do the job.

He nodded slowly before brushing his lips with his fingers. "Okay... Okay then can I just go fill your glass again? Please at least" he offered, gesturing to your right hand.

"Seems okay to me" you said nodding, handing him your almost empty glass.

He walked away, what allowed you to calm down for a second, even if you knew you will have to bear with him again in a few seconds.

It made you sick honestly, you just knew he was gonna hit on you until you were gonna accept his advances, precisely what you absolutely did not want to do.

He eventually came back and handed you the glass. You thanked him silently and tried to think of a way to get out of this situation without seeming impolite. You thought about telling him you had to go to the bathroom. It was lame, but it was a good plan. But at the same time, he still would want to talk to you later.

You mentally sighed when he started opening his mouth again. "So do you wan-"

You gasped when you felt a hand on your right hip, but you were more than reassured when you turned to your right and realized it was Matt's. Thank god.

"Anything wrong love? Is everything alright?" he asked, lifting his chin towards the annoying man. You couldn't help but mentally thank him over and over again for intervening.

You covered his hand on your hip by yours and decided to play along, quickly understanding the plan he had in mind. Him being here made you feel safe and allowed you to ground yourself a bit.

"We were just talking about how lifeless the night was right now but now that you're here it's fine sweetheart" you said looking at him, genuinely smiling beyond the role.

The annoying man cleared his throat and looked at his glass.

"So I guess we're done here then, if the night is saved" he said fake smiling at you before throwing a nasty glance at Matt.

"Have a good night" Matt said before the man left, leaving the both of you there.

"Jesus thank you so much" you said sighing and pressing your forehead against his shoulder, tension finally leaving your body.

"Not jesus, only me" Matt replied smiling at you.

"Sorry" you said chuckling. "I didn't know how to get out of this and I have a vague idea of the purpose he had right off this conversation." you paused. "He's the man that was staring." Matt formed an O with his lips and gripped on his cane with his free hand. His hand was still on your hip, still covered by yours. You let go off his touch and he silently apologized before removing his hand.

"Oh also don't drink that shit" he said adjusting his footing and grabbing your wrist. You looked down at the glass. "He drugged it" he continued, his hand following up to yours to find the glass and take it from you. You opened your eyes wide. "I'm gonna get him out of this wedding party one way or another, no one needs to get poisoned or worse tonight."

"Thank you Matt. Really." he smiled awkwardly at you. "How did you know what was going on?"

He cleared his throat, hesitant. "Your heartbeat was faster than usual"

You sighed. "Well it's the first time that you spying on my heartbeat is actually worth it" you chuckled. He poked your foot with the end of his cane and laughed. "I can't believe he made sure I was with 'the blind lawyer' before following up his plan" you said sighing.

You could see his eyebrows rise behind his glasses frame. "Little does he know I can feel and sense way more than he can see." He took one step to go and catch the guy, but you grabbed his left wrist before he was able to do so. He turned to you, confused.

"I gotta admit, I kinda like it when you call me love" you declared, grinning, sarcasm filling your voice.

He worn one more of that charming smile. "So that drug got to you. Join Foggy and Marci, I'll take care of the guy that was bothering you sweetheart"

"Nodded" you said snorting before he left the room, following the guy's path. You smiled thinking about the nickname and joined Foggy and Marci.

---

It was now nine, and the night had started on a much better note. Matt had managed to take the guy out and everything felt better since. The food was good and it made the event actually worth attending.

You were eating, sat next to Matt. He was trying to make sure you were okay and threw some jokes here and there to make you feel better. It was very sweet from him and you were thankful he was being there for you.

"Dude you're not gonna believe me" Foggy said arriving from behind Matt.

"What's up" Matt asked turning to his friend, his mouth still full of the meatloaf you had shared.

"Derek Vaughn is here!" Foggy exclaimed.

"Holy shit" Matt said, starting to get up.

"Who?" you asked. "Probably another lawyer right"

"Not exactly a lawyer but he's the one who recommanded us to our first firm." Matt explained.

"We basically owe him everything" Foggy nodded. "His uncle worked there and since we were close friends with him it was easier"

"Wow then go tell him about the so-much-better firm you guys founded" you said smiling at them.

"The superior firm" Foggy said grabbing Matt's arm.

You smiled as you watched them go away and picked up the rest of Matt's meatloaf from his plate.

You listened to the music, tapping your foot to the rhythm. A lot of people were dancing, it was nice to see. You estimated you weren't drunk enough to do that yet. You threw a glance at the just-married-couple dancing, and you could tell they were in love. You didn't know them but you felt the sincerity floating upon them. You wondered for a second what it would have been like if the groom was actually Foggy and if his plan of taking punjabi for that girl had been worth it. The only conclusion you got out of it is that you probably wouldn't have met Foggy if he got with her. So by proxy, you wouldn't have met Matt either. So your life would have been way more different, and probably less funny. Less drunk nights at Josie's, less dumb but hilarious jokes from Foggy. Less witty stories from Matt. Less all nighters helping two great lawyers buckle up files, less tv shows reviews with Foggy. Less music sharing sessions with Matt that sometimes ended up just dancing around his apartment for hours.

Your life reassessment slipped from your mind when your peripheral vision caught someone sitting next to you, filling Matt's empty chair.

You turned back to the table only to discover that ginger girl you had met earlier.

You tilted your head to your right, trying to remember her name.

"Lucy, right?"

She nodded, smiling at you. "Matt's-not-girlfriend... Y/N."

You laughed. "Just Y/N"

She licked her lips, looking around the party room.

"You know, I had a crush on him right. Everyone did" she said rising her eyebrows.

"I know, he's like that"

"You should have seen him in college. A real heartbreaker. It took me months to get over him." she nodded slowly. You took her words for it. "But it was worth it. I never regretted it. You know how embarrassed you can feel after finally getting over your previous crush? Never felt it with Matt. He was just... Ugh." she winced.

"Are you sure you're really over him?"

You both giggled "Stop my boyfriend is standing eight feet behind us" she whispered still laughing. "No but seriously, all I gotta say is that if you want him, don't hesitate a single second because you certainly are not the only one."

You raised your eyebrows, surprised at the advice. "Who said I was interested?"

"Oh I don't know if you are but he definitely is" she nodded, eating a chip. "I mean, what guy casually brings a plus one when he could easily pull everyone in this room?" she said, her mouth still full. "You're very lucky. I knew some girls who would have killed to be you right now" she said pointing at you.

---

You had talked and drank with Lucy for a while now. You weren't actually sure her words were true or made sense, at least the ones about Matt. You and Matt had always had an ambiguous relationship, and teasing each other was a part of your way of communicating. And what did she know about it anyways? She probably hadn't seen Matt in ten years and she had just met you hours ago.

You had managed to forget about the incident earlier. It wasn't a traumatic experience - it was not that deep, but who knows what would have happened to you if you had drunk that glass. You caught up by drinking many many more. You weren't exactly drunk right now, but you were kinda starting to lose your mind. Lucy had left you to go back to her best friend. Matt's chair was empty and you happened to miss his presence. You decided to go and bring him back, because after all you were his plus one.

You came to him and wrapped your arm around his. He turned to you and showed you to his friend.

"Derek, this is Y/N" you took your hand out and smiled at Derek.

He shook it and smiled back "Nice to meet you Y/N"

"Nice to meet you too Derek"

"She has saved us so many times honestly" Foggy declared. "We owe her so much and that's not even her job"

"Stop it Franklin I'm gonna blush" you chuckled. "He's a hell of a lawyer." you told Derek pointing at Foggy. "So impressive. Matthew too by the way. Best lawyers out there, no offense to your firm." Derek laughed at your remark.

"Are you drunk?" Matt whispered into your ear.

"No, just honest" you said shrugging before realizing he couldn't see it. "I shrugged"

"I know you're honest, what doesn't sit right with me is how you used our full names. You never do so unless you're angry or drunk. I'm leaning towards drunk right know" he said tilting his head to the side.

"I wouldn't say I'm drunk. Eh, just a bit tipsy."

"I'm not so far from it either. Let's go have some drinks then" he told Derek his goodbyes before turning to the direction you were coming from.

You lead him to the alcohol buffet and pourred him a glass of Jack Daniel's. You handed him it and told him to wait before drinking it. You pourred one to yourself and crossed your arm with his before drinking your glasses, struggling. You laughed, putting down the finished glasses. You grabbed the huge bottle again and filled the glasses again until Matt gasped, grabbing your wrist, making you spill some of the liquor on the table before putting the bottle back on it.

"What's wrong Matt?" you asked looking up at him. His stunned expression changed into a wide smile.

"Listen. The music" he said pointing a finger in the air.

You squinted your eyes and immediately recognized it.

"Oh my"

"Come on let's go" he said pulling your wrist.

"No way" you said stopping him before taking a sip from your glass. "I already almost fell a thousand times trying to dance with you in your apartment"

"Please" he said smiling with his teeth, tilting his head to the side.

"No. You are terrible at dancing, we're gonna embarrass ourselves. And don't use that smile on me, it may work on other girls but not me"

"But this is practically our song! And see, you almost falling a thousand times made it memorable." he said raising his eyebrows behind his glasses. "And I will convince you to dance with me, I convince people for a living, how many times do I have to tell you I'm a really good lawyer?"

You laughed in despair, having to admit he was indeed a good convincer, or he just had that effect on you.

"Fine, I will dance with you, but let me finish that glass before I do" you said turning to the table to drink your whiskey. "Helps being a better dancer" you said raising an eyebrow.

"I get the message" he said stepping forward and letting his hand wander on the table until you put his glass in his hand. "Thank you" he said before drinking the glass bottoms up.

You took his hand and led him to the dance floor. Arriving there, you took both his hands and started dancing and laughing, not giving one shit to what was happening around you. You were just having fun and it was all that mattered to you right now. You wished this moment would never end. The chorus came and you laughed as he mouthed the words to it. Towards the end of the song you got closer to him and put your hand on his shoulder, before resting your forehead on it, catching your breath. He smiled and placed his hand on your hip. "Am I that bad of a dancer?" he asked.

"Honestly? You're fine, I was just teasing you" you said still laying your head on his shoulder. "Or alcohol makes it seem better" you both laughed.

"In reality I think you're jealous of my skills"

You suddenly raised your head back.

"Me? Jealous of your dance skills? You're dreaming Murdock."

"Come on admit it, I'm a great dancer" he said with a sly smirk.

"Well I don't know, I think I'd need another dance to judge you properly"

"Is this you asking me for another dance?" he asked sarcastically, teasing you.

You put your hands on his shoulders.

"Mhh I don't know, maybe it is" you said shrugging.

"Okay" he said under his breath. "I'm not against the idea of it" he said covering your right hand with his.

"Oh I know you're not" you said letting go of his hand to adjust his shirt collar back correctly.

The music faded out and came back to a slow dance song. Things seemed to be perfectly aligning for the both of you. Like the universe wanted this to happen.

Matt smirked, hearing the start of the song. "Great, a valid excuse to hold you close to me" he said with his hands finding your hips.

"Come on you know I'd accept any excuse, valid or not" you replied, getting closer to him with a sly smirk.

"I'd die to see the look you're giving me right now"

"Don't die just now, you could sense way better" you said sarcastically, teasing him.

Matt showed a fake impressed expression paired with a small hoot that you interrupted by gently hitting his arm. He laughed it off and you came back to being serious by putting your arms around his neck for the dance.

You started dancing and both remained quiet. This moment felt serious. You checked your surroundings and felt the spinnings. Maybe that bottoms up of whiskey was a bad idea after all. You spotted Foggy at the corner of the room, taking advantage of the eye contact to tease you about the dance, which you replied to by simply flipping him off before going back focusing on the dance. You thought back about what Matt did for you earlier and frowned a bit when you realized a detail.

"How did you hear my heart out of every heart in this room. Like how did you know it was mine"

"Because yours is the one that matters the most" he said with a small smile. You interpreted it as sarcasm. He licked his lips in reflexion. "Yours is the most proheminent one because I care about you"

"Cheesy"

"Shut up"

You laughed and he smiled at you.

"I mean it" he said nodding.

"Oh Matty don't pull the charming pick up lines on me"

"I'm not using my pick up lines I swear" he said letting go of your hips to hold his hands up with his usual cocky smile.

"Sure playboy" you said softly hitting his arm.

"No but that's true I swear."

"So you admit to often check on my heartbeat?"

"You caught me." he said raising his eyebrows. "I can't deny it"

"Why do you do that?" you asked frowning.

"I don't know. It sort of became a habit" he said shrugging. "I look like a creep don't I?"

"No you don't. That's embarrassing for me" you said raising your eyebrows.

His lips curved into a smile against his will. He knew what you meant.

Your heartrate going up everytime he showed up, everytime he touched you; and you knew how much he liked to touch you. Everytime he sat next to you at Josie's booths and your hands brushed together, that time where you guided him to play pool. That time where he walked you home and kissed your cheek in front of your building and that time where you almost fully kissed at Josie's, dancing to The Lovecats by The Cure before Foggy came back from the bathroom.

He had that image of your heartrate peaking engraved in his mind, and he felt proud to know it was because of him.

He could feel heat taking over your body right now. He was almost sure your cheeks were going red and it definitely wasn't because of the alcohol or the dance.

"Don't be embarrassed. I'm more than fine with it" he said smiling. "And it's not like you can control your heartbeat" he shrugged. "Or you feelings" And boom, here it was, peaking once again. He smiled at it. "You wanna know something really awkward so we're even?" he asked whispering.

"Sure"

"I really wanna kiss you right now but I can't because Foggy's staring at us"

You could feel your cheeks rising hot. You looked to the side and indeed noticed Foggy and Marci looking right at the both of you. As much as you loved them, you were mentally cursing them right now. You looked back at Matt and licked your lips in reflexion.

"Do you realize how cruel you sound? It's like telling a kid on Christmas Eve that their presents are here but they will only be able to open them after sleeping."

Matt laughed at the metaphor and smiled at you.

"Well maybe the kid can go outside to open their presents after their friends will be done looking at them" he said shrugging with a wicked smile.

"Very much sounds like a plan" you replied, happy at his request.

Your heartbeat went high once again and he couldn't wait to do it over and over again all night long.

[blahkugo]

Omakase

Pairing: Shouto Todoroki x Reader 

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: 18+, smut, slight overstim, all characters are aged up, ofc. 

A/N: Happy birthday to the woman that literally birthed my blog, the writer of the best fics I’ve ever read-- *cough Notice, Seven Minutes, Of Love and Lemons, etc.*-- @lookslikeleese​. It’s 5 am right now and my brain cannot come up with the proper words, but just know I love you so much. Thank you for creating our entire friend group. I LOVE YOU. 

omakase (noun): 

(in a Japanese restaurant) a meal consisting of dishes selected by the chef; chef’s choice. 

Thirty minutes into supper with the Todorokis, you think your heart may actually stop beating. It’s not the awkward silence, nor the snowstorm of icy glares traveling across the table. You’ve long since made your peace with the scents of charred leather couches and melted silverware that linger in your hair whenever one of the men gets riled up. 

No, it’s an issue far more pressing than the typical family drama, a matter that needs to be resolved with stealth— immediately. 

It’s Shouto’s fingers, darting into his pocket and pressing a single button. It’s your heels digging into the cool tile beneath you. It’s every nerve standing on end, every passing second sending a wave of heat to your core. Your knuckles blanche, gripping the oak table with such ferocity that it may just snap, and your thighs shake, overwhelmed.

The issue is that there’s a little pink vibrator pressing against your clit and the bi-colored bastard chews his food as though this night is no different than any other. 

It doesn’t matter that the toy’s been placed at the lowest setting all night, doesn’t matter that your fingernails relieve a bit of the pressure every time you dig them into your exposed thighs. The only thought crossing your mind is your impending orgasm. How are you supposed to stifle euphoric pleasure when you’re barely able to hold it together now? 

“So, how’s that new job going?” Enji asks more out of courtesy than interest. While you typically humor his attempts at placid conversation, you’re too troubled to speak to the stoic man in front of you. What if your juices seep through your soaked panties right onto the chair? 

“It’s— ah- it’s really good.” 

And this has been your entire night thus far. Feeble efforts to remain coherent, whines and gasps hidden behind awkward coughs— anything and everything you can possibly do to maintain your dignity in the presence of your boyfriend’s father. 

“What was that funny story you were telling me earlier today?” Shouto doesn’t miss a beat, sending a quick slant your way before stuffing another bite of rice into his mouth. He knows precisely what he’s doing, can feel the pointed daggers you dig into the side of his head, but his relaxed smile reveals nothing to the three pairs of eyes gazing intently at you, awaiting your response.

“Oh, Mt. Lady, she— oh my god,” As soon as you begin speaking, he cranks the toy up to a new level. Though it’s only for a second, the sound that leaves your body is inhuman, a mortifying cross between a sob and a choke that has your palm slamming onto the table fiercely.

All at once, the table is bustling with concern for your safety. To their naive eyes, it seems you choked on a bite of food, and Fuyumi hurries to grab you a glass of water. Shouto simply remains seated, a slick grin plastered across his face at the sight of your heated cheeks and teary eyes. What the fuck could have possessed you to agree to this in the first place? 

“I-I’m okay,” you mumble out, embarrassment shaking you far worse than any sex toy ever could. And that fact— the way your eyebrows knead together in discomfort as you squirm in your seat— is precisely what Shouto wants. You’re no stranger to humiliation, no stranger to the tugging deep in your gut or the heated flush that darts onto your mattress and makes its home on your cheeks.

But this? This type of shame is foreign; it makes your head spin and refuses to waver no matter how much you silently gripe and plead. “Honestly, I feel a bit—” another pulse, another pained gasp from you, “ill.” The words barely make their way out before you’re gritting your teeth, thighs pressing together so tightly they may leave pretty purple marks. 

“Maybe I should take her upstairs,” Shouto sighs, faux apology slipping through his mouth with ease. When did the fucker get so good at lying? 

And then he’s helping you up from your seat, rubbing tender circles into your back, like any good boyfriend would. But every graze is unbearable, sends a tidal wave of warmth rushing through your core. The most innocent of touches has become obscene, twisted in a way only you and the cool man next to you are able to acknowledge. 

As you climb the stairs with shaky legs, you can only pray that the rest of the family doesn’t notice the slick juices trailing down your thighs. 

—

“Who knew dinner and a show could be so entertaining?” He teases, just barely dodging the fist you throw half-heartedly at his shoulder. His supple lips are glued into a smirk, one that probably won’t drop until the night is long over. 

“Please– I-” you attempt to stifle your moans, but in the comfort of his childhood bedroom you find yourself slipping into a high-pitched whine. “Turn it off.” He seems to debate the plea internally, slender fingers brushing over the buttons until you grip harshly at his bicep. You’ve endured enough misery to last you months. 

When he finally switches it off, you feel your entire body slacken and relief wash over you; however, it does nothing for the throbbing in your clit or the pool of desire still brimming in your core. What you crave is his touch, the warmth that pokes and prods at your every muscle, loosening each nerve until you’re a babbling mess— wholly at the mercy of his lithe fingers. 

“Shou,” you mewl, voice dripping with desperation. His eyes widen for a quick second, brows raised and shocked by your blatant come-on with his family only a level down. “I need you.” 

Those three simple words have him springing into action, shoving you against the mattress. Pinning you beneath him with ease, he hikes your skirt up to your hips before running a slender digit against your clothed slit. 

“You made a mess,” his words carry no weight, only amazement at the juices flowing freely through the thin panties and down your thighs. “Probably made a mess all over your chair too.” 

With that comment, your shame is back with a vengeance, tinging the tips of your ears and causing you to cry out. Before Shouto, you’d have never thought this sort of depraved commentary could have you shaking. Hell, you’re not sure he even knew what he was doing to you at first; ever oblivious, Shouto simply speaks his mind. 

Only when he noticed the effect of his words, did he begin using those passing observations against you. Now, he lives for your reactions, spurs you on if only to see how far a gruff remark can push you— and typically, your limit is reached in wanton sobs and bright red scratch marks down his back. 

He doesn’t bother with removing the lace panties, only tugs them to the side so he can brush his fingers against your naked slit. When he pushes a thumb against your clit, you can’t help the loud cry that escapes you. “Bite,” he offers up his wrist so that your moans don’t carry through the thin walls. 

Your teeth sink into his flesh, eliciting a sharp breath at the sudden pain. And he enjoys that part too— the lengths you’ll go to achieve pleasure, the stinging reminders of your desire. “Stay quiet for me, yeah?” He tests a finger, then two, knuckles deep in your doughy walls as you writhe on the bed. “Good girl.” 

“Mmph,” you feel your eyes roll back at the soft praise, thighs tensing as he begins to pump his digits in and out. “Faster, ah– please.” Your moans are muffled against his arm, but he complies nonetheless, fingers curling and hitting the spot that drums against your heartbeat, that rattles through your brain.

The second he brings his lips to your clit, you feel the coil in your stomach about to snap. Hair slick with sweat, your hands roam through his own wet strands, gripping and tugging him closer, closer, closer. He suckles hungrily, his last meal long forgotten as he pushes you further over the edge. 

All at once, you see stars. You’re unsure whether you’re keeping quiet like he asked or sobbing loudly, the tidal wave of pleasure consumes you whole, stomach going taut and twisting as he allows you to ride out your orgasm. With the toy slowly edging you all night, this bliss feels fully merited— is exactly what you deserve after being subjected to his teasing for so long. 

Shouto only lets up when your entire body has gone slack and you push his head away. Bringing his fingers up to your supple lips, he watches hungrily as you slurp at your own slick. 

His eyes are the darkest you’ve ever seen them, pooling with eagerness and a longing for more; he brings a thumb to his chin to wipe at your juices— licks a long stripe up the digit to fully savor you. The image is immodest at the least, animalistic at most.

It reignites your own thirst immediately. 

Though you’re exhausted, core spasming from overuse, you find yourself tugging at his waistband, pulling him close so he can sheath himself inside you in one fell thrust. 

“Fuck,” his voice is husky, groan stifled in the nook of your shoulder. “Still so fucking tight for me.” The only sounds that fill the air are your joint moans, the squeaky springs of the mattress, and the headboard clanging against the wall— sweat soaked skin as his hips snap against you. 

“Ah— please, please, please,” it seems to be the only phrase that falls from your loose lips. Every jerk sends shocks across your damp flesh, vision going foggy as he sends your brain spinning. Once again, you teeter at the edge, so close. Your legs wrap across his back, digging into the globes of his ass to pull him impossibly closer. 

“What do you want?” He grunts into your jaw, peppering wet kisses down your neck and across your chest. It may leave a mark or two, but it’s something to worry about later. 

“I–”At this point, you’re just a teary, blubbering mess, “please, Shou– need your cum.” You manage the words, knowing exactly what effect they have. His movements quicken, pace faltering as he chases his own high. 

And then, you’re both seeing stars. With one final shudder, his cock twitches, and then he’s spilling into you. Your groans intertwine, his a loud sigh of your name, you sobbing helplessly. 

Once he finally stills, he collapses on top of you, both of your chests heaving. His fingers smooth at your matted hair, whispers of ‘so good for me’ and ‘fuck, baby’ into the shell of your ear as he allows your body— still trembling uncontrollably— time to regain composure.  

Now you remember why you agreed to this little game of his.

–

“I hope you feel better,” Fuyumi hugs you goodbye, though your eyes are glazed over in post-coital bliss. Her gaze doesn’t quite meet your own, anyways. But they couldn’t have heard; you were quiet. Weren’t you? 

As you stumble into the passenger side of Shouto’s pristine Model S, you catch the gruff comment Enji murmurs to Shouto, 

“You two could stand to be a bit less obvious next time.” 

[apuff]

ngl if there was a guy in my class who always had his hands clenched and acted strangely and leaned away from my and seemed to be in tension id just assume he had chronic pain

i get why bella as a character is ahead in school, as it allows her to be focusing on ~interpersonal drama~ and ~misery~ rather than having to focus on learning

yaaas cemetry drive is playing

the dramaaa

bruh

this girl is like describing paradise

tbf after this she gets almost hit by a car bc of the ice but still

bellas like "ugh i got hit by a car and went in the ambulance so annoying 🙄 🙄 "

wait bella is popular now 😭

girl has EVERYTHING WHY IS SHE SO GLOOMY

dude mike is in love with her HWY DOES SHE HATE EVERYONE

i feel so bad for mike

hes actually pretty nice she just only loves special shiny vampire boy............

hmmmmm

the drama

SORRY WHAT ANOTHER BOY JUST ASKED BELLA OUT

WHY IS EVERY BOY SO INTO HERRRR

THIS DOESNT MAKE SENSE

WHAT

ANOTHER FUCKIGN BOY JUST ASKED HER OUT????????

THE KID WHO CRASHED HIS CAR INTO HER ????

HOW DID THIS HAPPEN

im annoyed with this writing choice but im not going to act like its not really funny

meyer deadass wrote "grrr" into her book like omg bella is just like me fr

i gotta admit this is pretty funny

first i was annoyed by the triple proposal in one day but i think that might actually be a dracula (lucy gets proposed 3 times in one day) reference sooo im less annoyed by it

the year is 2005 and making disparaging jokes about mental health is funny

OMG

BELLA GOT ASKED OUT BY EDWARD 😭

 IS THIS STILL A DRAC REF IDK

 well lucy turned it down twice and accepted the last time so her turning down 3 times and accepting last makes sense??

 idk why edwards being so wishy washy about her

i guess its that he needs to feed on her so thats why he acts rudely cause he doesnt want to give in,,,,,but he feeds on something else so his urge is satiated so he feels okay talking to her again??

anyways im sort of bummed out by how non-monstrous or magical these vamps are so far, i suppose anything could change since i'm only on like chapter 3 or something. but like. in drac the vamps are like people, but demons, scary and gross, but sexy, their bodies and age totally change when they drink blood, they have these frightening effects on the health of others, they hypnotize people, they feed on them, they turn into giant bats and dogs and even mist itself....... they can only work in the shadows (literally and figuratively), are totally nocturnal, they pick people off one by one, they sleep in boxes of their home dirt during the day, they crawl on the walls like damned lizards. they are weird asf.

 MIST???

 FORKS, RENOWNED FOR BEING WET AND FOGGY AND-DARISAY-MISTY??

 please myer do something with this..

 i get why edward wants to live here tho bc it's so wet and there's less of the sun...although im p sure in drac it's not just the literal actual sunlight but more the day in general thats bad for them....

 anyways.. i hope we get to see some crazy stuff with the vamps in twilight soon

 you now what also annoys me

 theres thsi literal 6 week timeskip

 and bellas relationship with the 2-5 people she hangs out with all day every day seems to have progressed 0 and she has no new feelings about them and doesnt care about them so she has any sort of complicated feelings about bluntly turning them down

 she only cares about edwarddddd

 this is so sinister

anyways i think the descriptions of edward are getting more boring by the second. ive been thinking more and more hes just ur average hot boy driven to angelic status by her crush on him NOT that he is unnaturally ephemerally beutiful already and shes just acknowledging that fact

please describe the way the darkness pools under his eyes and around his chin like the chiaroscuro of the old masters. please describe how his hair is thick and voluminous like a renaissance statue. please describe how he floats from place to place like a gliding angel. please stop just calling him beautiful

this is actually so scary if this happened to me id be calling the cops

i still think that sounds scary as hell but reading more i kinda understand the appeal... edward is old and scary and knows a lot, but bella is someone he cant read and she argues with him ON AN EVEN FIELD.. the power dynamics are still concerning but in the real of fiction it's a constant push-and-pull with a dangerous hot love interest. i understand the appeal. bella may be mopey but she has this fighty, independent spirit yo her. the fact that she fights edward instead of just acquiescing to him makes it less scary

HUH?? maybe i will get some of my wishes just the boring hot boy versions of them tho

blood type stuff..hmmmhmmhmmmm

HMMM

is edward gonna go shark crazy

also this sounds really illegal who just stabs childrens fingers randomly w/o their consent

what if they have hemophilia or a fear of blood or anemia or something 😭 bruh this teacher oughtta get fired

sorry bella can smell blood?? is she half vamp or smth??

okay im gonna stop it for this reblog because im getting really tired of pasting text from discord to google docs then fixing it then pasting it into tumblr then fixing it and i'm like a third of the way through my channel so i'm already afraid at how long this is going to take

i wanna read twilight just to see if its as bad as everyone says it is

[achubbydumpling]

Modern Bucky is fat and Steve’s sugar baby. Steve likes to spoil him. :3

eyy only took me a month and a half to answer 😂😂 I'm sorry, nonnie, but I'm highjacking your idea and using it for today's chubtober prompt :D

(I ended up having a lot more ideas for this than I could actually finish writing in time, so this ends pretty abruptly as soon as Steve and Bucky actually meet)

[unfinished] Oct 3: Masks and Malfunctions

Rating: Mature Words: 1911 Relationship: James “Bucky” Barnes/Steve Rogers Additional Tags: Sugar Daddy AU, Daddy Kink, Belly Kink, Weight Gain, Verbal Humiliation, Stuffing, Corsets, Age Gap

Bucky’s phone chimed and he didn’t even have to look at the screen to know that “Steve” just sent him more than enough money for the costume Bucky wanted. He didn’t actually know if that was the guy’s real name, but he’d been funding Bucky’s lifestyle since the beginning of college and Bucky wasn’t about to fuck that up by questioning the guy’s identity.

If this were a normal Halloween party Bucky would have just bought a random costume at Spirit Halloween, but his kinda boyfriend Jonas (it’s complicated) had invited him as a plus one to an actual masquerade ball. Bucky didn’t even know those kinds of things existed outside of fantasy novels, but right now he was at a high-end clothing store getting an “appropriate” costume.

[Bucky] Thank you, Daddy❤

Bucky texted Steve and then went back to trying on another dress shirt. This one had a looser cut that reminded him of something the male love interest in a period drama would wear or a pirate.

“Wonderful choice,” the store clerk told Bucky when he stepped back from the mirror. Bucky would probably never get used to having someone help him pick out clothes, but the higher-end stores Bucky had been to all offered this type of assistance.

“It drapes very well,” the clerk said with a sneer on his face. Bucky turned back to the mirror. Yes, he had to admit he’d fallen victim to the freshman 15. A small belly was rounding out even against the loose fabric of the shirt, but he didn’t actually feel self-conscious.

Steve had complimented him on every single one of those pounds. Bucky probably wouldn’t even have noticed all the changes to his body if Steve hadn’t been constantly talking about them. Bucky had never put much effort into maintaining his physique, but being hyped up by Steve over the smallest changes of his body made him feel desired and his heart fluttered every time his sugar daddy complimented his thicker thighs and soft belly.

“Any other suggestions?” Bucky asked and the clerk scoffed.

“A corset,” he muttered under his breath, but Bucky’s ears pricked up at the suggestion. His first instinct was to text Steve. Bucky didn’t know why it was important for him to know Steve’s opinion when Bucky was going to the party as someone else’s plus one, but excitement stirred in Bucky’s stomach at what Steve might say.

“Sure, get the corset.” Bucky sent the clerk on their way and then sat down to text Steve. He could feel his belly straining against the shirt buttons now that he was sitting down and he snapped a picture of the way the buttons on the otherwise loose shirt were straining over the thickest part of his belly.

[Bucky] Daddy~ they’re telling me I’m fat

[Bucky] they said I need a corset

[Steve] You will look incredible either way.

Annoyance prickled at the back of Bucky’s neck from the generic compliment.

[Bucky] that’s not what I asked

[Steve] You didn’t ask anything.

Bucky rolled his eyes at how literal Steve could sometimes be, but Bucky also didn’t know how to ask for what he really wanted to hear.

Some of his classmates had teased him for his weight gain and instead of making Bucky feel insecure, the hot shame had shot straight to his dick and he’d had to excuse himself to deal with the problem. Since then Bucky couldn’t stop thinking about Steve telling him those things.

Bucky didn’t even know what the guy looked like, but he’d quickly developed a crush just from texting him. It was actually fun to talk. Bucky couldn’t understand how the guy was single when he seemed like this perfect, interesting and kind guy—and rich on top of all that.

There has to be something wrong with him, but so far Bucky hadn’t been able to figure it out. Not for the first time Bucky wondered who Steve actually was, but his thoughts were interrupted when the clerk came back with three different corsets.

All the same material and color, just different cuts. Bucky’s eyes were immediately drawn to the tiny waist cincher—just tall enough to cover the widest part of his belly. Despite his grumblings the clerk helped Bucky lace up the corset and when he looked in the mirror he couldn’t believe it was him looking back.

His entire body shape seemed different. From the billowing sleeves of the shirt emphasizing his wide shoulders to the waist cincher doing an excellent job of making it look like he still had a waist instead of the soft belly that was hidden underneath. The simple black slacks he was wearing completed his outfit. Simple colors, just black and white.

The mask he had chosen matched as well. A deep midnight black that contrasted with his piercing blue eyes and gold detailing that caught the light when Bucky turned his head. He snapped another picture for Steve, but didn’t wait for his response. Bucky could still hardly believe that a single outfit could be this expensive, but Steve of course had transferred enough money to pay for it. On his way home Bucky finally checked his phone.

[Steve] What did I tell you? Incredible.

[Bucky] better than without the corset?

[Steve] This feels like a set-up.

Bucky groaned at Steve’s response. Of course, Bucky would luck out and get the sugar daddy that won’t humiliate him for gaining fifteen pounds before the semester was even over and wasn’t that a personal revelation. Bucky had never thought of himself as someone who could want something like this, but since gaining weight he had become more aware of his body—and how others perceived it.

[Bucky] it is

He quickly pocketed his phone after sending that text. Bucky immediately regretted it. He’d had a good thing going with Steve. Why risk fucking that up? His phone vibrated multiple times, but Bucky was too worried to check his messages until he got home. As soon as he’d closed the apartment door behind him he fished his phone out of his pocket.

[Steve] What does that mean?

[Steve] If you don’t want to continue this arrangement, you can just tell me.

[Steve] Bucky.

[Steve] Answer me.

[Steve] What do you want me to say? That you’re a spoiled pig? That you’ve gotten fat on your Daddy’s money and need a corset to look good for your little boytoy?

Bucky’s throat went dry as he read Steve’s message. The wave of lust that crashed through him, threw him off balance and he sat down heavily on the bench in the entry way of his apartment. He read the message again. And again. His dick gave an interested twitch. It was embarrassing how much he reacted to Steve’s words.

[Steve] Is that what you want?

[Steve] Don’t leave me on read.

Bucky didn’t know what to say. He typed and retyped the same message again until another one from Steve popped up.

[Steve] ‘Yes’ or ‘no’? It can’t be this hard to type one fucking word.

Bucky couldn’t breathe. Steve had always been kind and considerate, it made Bucky’s heart race to see this side of him.

[Bucky] Yes.

[Steve] Thank you, but we will talk more about this tomorrow.

Bucky’s phone chimed to tell him, he should be on his way now if he wanted to get to the party on time. His mind was still caught up in foggy arousal, his cock tenting his slacks. It’s too much, he wasn’t thinking straight and Steve wasn’t even here—wasn’t even touching him. Just a text and Bucky was a mess.

At least the walk to the subway station helped to clear Bucky’s head and chase away some of the immediate, burning need that had been burning in his guts just a few minutes earlier. It left him frustrated, but slightly more level-headed and in a more appropriate mood to be out in public.

When Bucky met up with Jonas outside the high-rise office building the guy was already wasted. He was surrounded by his office buddies and Bucky was honestly about to turn on his heel and go back home when Jonas called out to him. With all his mates there Jonas treated Bucky like another one of them and Bucky was already over the metaphorical dick-measuring contest that was happening whenever one of these guys opened their mouth.

Once they got inside Bucky split off from the group, Jonas didn’t even seem to notice. So, he explored the venue. The party stretched across multiple floors. The bottom floor was full of rich and wanna-be rich people schmoozing and socializing, barely anyone of them had stuck to the masquerade theme and Bucky kept debating whether he should take off his own mask.

He was much more comfortable on the upper floor. There were less people here and most of them kept to themselves. He felt less out of place when he noticed that most of the people here stuck to the masquerade theme, there were only a few people who’s face wasn’t at least partially hidden behind a mask.

Jonas didn’t even shoot him a quick text to ask where he had disappeared to, so Bucky was more than ready to just find whatever food this place offered, eat for free tonight and make the best of the situation. He didn’t know what he’d expected dating someone his age, but Bucky was done settling for anything and he made a resolution to break up whatever was going on between him and Jonas.

When Bucky finally found the buffet that was standard for these types of events, he couldn’t stop himself from loading up two plates and searching for a quiet, secluded place to eat. At this point it had become a reflex to send Steve a text whenever he sat down to stuff himself.

[Bucky] found the food

He sent a picture with his hand next to the plates to give Steve a sense of how big they were. Some guy’s phone went off as soon as Bucky hit send two tables over and for a moment Bucky wondered if that’s Steve.

He had a commanding presence even sitting down. Bucky could tell he’s a gym buff from his ridiculous shape. His shoulders looked almost double the size of his waist. As well as the large plate of food in front of him. This man needed to fuel his body with all those calories, but Bucky was eating more than him and only planning on getting fatter. Bucky dug in.

His little costume went from fitting perfectly fine to too tight within half a plate of food. The corset was throwing a wrench into Bucky’s plan of stuffing himself. He already felt full before he had even really gotten started. The blond guy from two tables over caught Bucky’s eye again. He was frowning at his phone and looking back up at Bucky.

[Steve] What are you doing here?

[Bucky] what do you mean?

Another phone chime from two tables down. Bucky re-read the text two times before he looked back at the blond guy. No way that’s Steve. That would be too much of a coincidence, right? Bucky sent another message and the guy’s phone went off again. For a moment Bucky contemplates just getting up and walking away, but then Steve was already out of his chair and walking up to Bucky’s table.

[lunarianillusion]

A change in fate

a maribat fanfic

Chapter 08

It was so noisy; it was too noisy.

Marinette’s thoughts were running a mile a minute through her head. They were whirling around and around like a tornado. The thoughts were consumed in worries about everything that had happened in the last few days and could possibly come in the following. Her mind was overflowing with possible plans that her anxiety would then throw down into the void, only for them to resurface and overflow her mind again and the cycle would repeat itself over and over.

“Mari-”

The guardian knowledge, her thoughts, plans and worries colliding and overlapping with each other ripping each other apart, mending back together and whirling around her head like a hurricane. Her thoughts losing coherency until only a buzz like sound could be heard and it was only getting louder and louder.

“-ette…MAR-”

Her body began to feel numb as her brain stopped working coherently. She could barely move or feel her quickening breath, she did not notice her vision becoming blurry. Al the while her mind kept spiralling down, down, down, dow-

“MARINETTE!!”

The noir haired omega’s head shot up from where it had been laying on her crossed over arms. Her wide glazed over eyes locking onto a pair of concerned ocean blue eyes, but any other facial features were obscured in her hazy vision. A muffled sound, almost like rhythmic drumming sound, cut through the static haze in the girl’s ears. Was someone talking to her? She could not tell. Then her tingling hand was moved even though she did not will for it to. It took her a second to realise that the person infront of her had taken a hold on her wrist and had paced her hand a solid but warn surface, their chest.

The warmth of the clothed chest slowly chased away the numbing cold that had taken over most of Marinette’s body. She could now feel the slow rhythmic beat of the person’s heart and breathing, a stark contrast of her own erratic beating heart and stuttering breath. As if by instinct the omega began to copy the steady breathing pattern of the person infront of her and as her breath came back to her so did her vision. When it cleared up, she could see the person that had been helping her, it was Timothy.

“That it Mari, breathe. Just breathe,” The alpha spoke calmingly, his voice finally breaking through the static noise. The feeling soon returned to the girl’s body as her other senses started to calm down and her head started to clear.

Marinette let out a deep breath as she slowly removed her hand from Tim’s grip and used it to lean her head on top of instead. Closing her eyes to straighten out her last few disordered thoughts. That was one heavy attack and bless the kwami for their protection.

“You back?” the voice of the male infront of her once again breaking through her train of thought. Her eyes opening to look again at the raven haired alpha and giving him a small smile of reassurance. Her eyes drifted to her surroundings in order to pick the pieces of the morning for her memory had been foggy. With just a miniscule glace she was able to make out that she was in her classroom way before the bell would even ring. From their her memory started to piece itself back together. After having gained all the collected information from mist she had barely gotten any sleep even after the kwami’s had forced her to her bed. Her head had already started its downward spiral at that moment. That morning she had past her parents through the front of the bakery instead of going through the front door. They had said something to her, but even now she did not care what they had said and had gone straight to class when the whirlwind really overtook her.

“Y-yeah, I-I’m back,” the omega spoke softly to the alpha, who was now watching her like a hawk, with a small stutter. A moment of silence followed allowing Marinette to collect the final pieces of her scattered thoughts.

“Is it okay for me to ask what was happening inside of your head, or is it too soon?” Tim asked in a soothing tone. Marinette gave him another small smile to show her appreciation for his care. The genuine care he showed her warmed her heart, even with the suspicions she still held.

“S-sometimes the bottle cracks from all that we try to keep inside, away from the surface,” the noir girl spoke with a chuckle coming out of the alpha and omega duo. “How can I get your mind out of those thoughts?” “Just talk, the silence drags me back under,” The omega responded to the alpha’s question.

Tim gave a moment of thought to a possible subject to talk about and came to a different topic instead. “How about we ask each other some basic questions to get to know each other better?”  Though this was a nice and normal suggestion to everyday people this suggestion made Marinette’s hero mindset jump to attention at the possible recon opportunity. Maybe she can get a clue on him possibly being Red Robin. “Sure,” she answered softly.

And so, the asked each other several simple question. The very obvious questions of favourite colours and hobbies one enjoyed. Over the short time they talked Marinette noticed a topic that seemed Tim avoided talking about. “Say what is your family like, I don’t think you ever truly mentioned them since we met. Did they move with you to Paris?” The omega asked. An innocent enough question on the surface but could aid Marinette in discerning Tim’s possible relationship to Red Robin. She could ofcourse ask the kwami’s or use soul vision again. However, the headache was still bothering her greatly and made it hard to focus and this was good train for her growing detective skills. That still did not prepare her for his answer.

“They died some time ago,” the alpha’s voice was soft as he spoke and his sent was spiked in discomfort. The words made Marinette silently wince. “I am sorry. I did not mean to bring up bad memories.” Tim gave her a small smile, understanding showing in his eyes.

Still a question rose up with this revelation and concerning his age. “Do you have a guardian though? I don’t mean to say that I do not believe you can’t take care of yourself but we are of the same age and both underage, so should you not have a family or guardian with you?” Marinette asked, or rambled, as carefully as she could, maybe not as subtle as she would have wanted to be though.

Tim gave her a gently smile to reassure her from her anxious nerves. “I was taken in by a family acquaintance of my parents, who took me into their pack. But I emancipated myself a few months back, because I could not stay their any longer,” he told her in a calm manner, that made Marinette tilt her head with a hope for elaboration. Which the alpha gave. “Things started out really well but over time that foundation cracked and I did not feel welcome or save there anymore. So, I decided to start anew. I decided to move contents because I really do not feel like seeing them again and that is basically how I got here.”

No lie slipped from the raven-haired male’s lips. It took the omega slightly by surprise how honest he was about his situation. Marinette could easily tell as the emotions behind that statement lay bare in his eyes to see and the scent of regret seeping through the cracks of Tim’s control. It made Marinette feel more relaxed and made you over thinking brain ease up on her suspicions as her more sympathetic side came to life.

“I am sorry that all happened to you,” she started off, “To a certain degree I can relate to you in regard to worsening pack relationships,” The omega’s eyes were down cast as she reflected on the past few years. Timothy tilted his head with a gentle look in his eyes curious about the full story, what most likely included the lying orange sausage haired spider but waited for the girl infront of him on her own terms. The gesture was appreciated and so the words easily started to flow out of her mouth. “Believe it or not before Lie-la came along I was ‘friends’ with all of our classmates. Then the spider came along and turned all on me making them think I was a bully and now she has even ensnared my parents into her web of lies,” the midnight haired omega huffed before a conclusion she had come to hanks to this whole drama. “To a degree though I am grateful to the lying bitch,” She stated honestly, making Tim look at her in shocked surprise. “Thanks to her I was finally able to see who my friends are truly and who were nothing more then parasitise piggybacking on me for special favours,” Marinette elaborated gaining a nod of understanding from the alpha.

“I do envy you in a sense,” She continued, taking the ravenette by surprise once more. “I hate the situation that you got pulled into and I truly wish you did not have to go through that, but at the very least you were able to pull yourself out. Leave all the bad shit behind and start anew. I have tried getting out several times, but each and every time something or someone block my way to freedom.”

“Trapping you in a cycle of neglect and pain,” the alpha led out a pained breath at his own words as Marinette nodded in affirmation. The two fallen into a surprising comfortable silence, their presence soothing to the other. A part of Marinette’s brain thought that this was mostly due to the bond between true souls, but though that was definitely a factor a small part of her also thought that the raven-haired boy was someone she would truly able to trust. And being honest she did want to trust him.

“If you ever need help,” The male of the wo spoke, breaking the silence. “With trying to get away from humanity’s fucked society. Just say the word I will be happy to help,” he finished with a snap of his fingers, almost in a theatrical way.

A small playful smile grazed the female’s features as she spoke. “I will certainly call upon you should I be in need of your aid,” the omega tone sounding playfully posh. That was quickly caught by the alpha before her. “But pray tell how you would give me your aid?” This sent a banter ball rolling.

“Why can’t I look out for my fellow coffee loving insomniac with a likewise neglectful past,” Tim responded in likewise posh playful tone. “Truly one would think us to be related.”

“Oh, good heavens no,” Marinette gasped dramatically, as she placed the back of her hand onto her forehead. “I as the goddess of coffee am far too radiant to be related to you my dear friend.”

Tim gave a snort at the girl and her theatrics, before responding in in kind once again. “You are right. Your freckles make you to beautiful to ever belong to this mortal realm. I implore for forgiveness from my mistake a great mistress of the divine elixir that gives me life.”

“My, my is quite the development,” A new voice broke into the conversation. The dark-haired duo flushed at the amused voice and turned to the front of the classroom and the one who spoke. Their just on the steps leading to their seats stood an amused looking Chloé Bourgeois, a glimmer to her eyes that send a small chill down the dark-haired duo spine, and an equally amused Nathaniel Kurtzberg. At least it was not Lie-la and her posse of brainwashed fanatics.

In a graceful yet still dramatic motion, as per Chloé style, did the blond take her place beside her female omega friend. Her grin never leaving her face. Nathaniel two shuffling into his seat beside the male alpha. “Nathaniel we must prepare for the future,” the blond girl spoke first, finally turning away from the blushing pair. “If they are already fliting one this level, it will only be a matter of time before the two are married. And it is only the second day no less.”

The duo’s faces turned even more red with the statement and Nathaniel seemed to want to add some more fuel to the fire. “Yes, I think you are quite right Chloé. Before you know it, little dark-haired pups will be running amuck across Paris.” That statement drew a sound kin to a dying animal out of the dark-haired girl, much in contrast to the blonde’s badly hidden laughter. “Truly the end is nigh!”

Marinette’s face was ready to combust, if it had not already, from embarrassment. Looking through her fingers, with she had covered her face, she turned her eyes to Tim who was trying to cover his own face and was also as red as a lobster. At least she was not the only one on the receiving end of the teasing. She watched the dark-haired male take a peek at the clock and copied his action. It was almost time for the bell to ring.

“Though this is truly an enjoyable subject,” The alpha male spoke, his voice laced in sarcasm. “But unfortunately, the toxic spider and her gaggle of annoying flies will soon be upon us.” His statement made Marinette’s fellow Parisians groan along side her in misery.  

“I suggest that after this day of hell, we go over to my place and have some pack bonding time. Even get a head start on our investigation in that deceitful orange sausage, sound good,” The only blond of the group spoke. She may have said it was a suggestion but her tone left no room for question.

It still surprised the two boys at how easily the two females accepted them into their pack. A small warm smile graced Tim’s face for a moment as a warm feeling rushed through his pained heart. It soon changed into something more mischievous as the annoying sound of the liar graced his ears. “Say who wants to make a bet on the lies we will hear today.”

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

The two hidden kwami’s, Duusu and Wayzz, smiled at the turn of events. A rush of relief and feeling of gratitude flooding over them as the young dragon helped the young peafowl and new guardian out of the dark corners of her mind. A feat they had not been able to accomplish, no matter how hard all the kwami had tried, since the child’s awakening.

Marinette may not yet fully trust the boy, but in time hopefully she would. For even though the new guardian could see ones souls she could only see the surface level and could not see the dragon’s scars that reflected her very own. The two kwami present dearly hoped the two true souls would be able to help one and other heal, but only time will tell.

taglist: @moonlightstar64 @iloontjeboontje@mickylikesstuff@myazael @scribblinggraveyard @incredulous-reader@mewwitch@woe-is-me0 @fan-written@coolspidermanmusicflower@heretopasstimebi@jjmjjktth@ichigorose@cmouse @nyx-in-line@chocolatecatstheron@bookgirl14 @toodaloo-kangaroo@iglowinggemma28 @itsmeevie01

[vostokovasmelina]

— 𝐀𝐏𝐀𝐑��𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝟑𝐂. (𝐬.𝐰.)

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐢  |  𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐢 | 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭

characters: fem!reader; sam wilson; archibald the tabby cat; sarah wilson

word count: 3.1k+

warning: mentions and descriptions of alcohol, death, grief, trauma, therapy, depression – i call this post-snap realism

series summary: after the blip, sam wilson gets home to an unpleasant surprise - his key doesn’t fit the lock anymore and his apartment is now inhabited by a stranger and a grumpy feline. however, the unusual encounter is only the beginning of their post-blip lives and the reader soon learns that what life takes away, it can give back in the most particular ways.

a/n: the ending is a dark unedited mess, so proceed with caution

Taking a cautious sip of your hot beverage, you watched this absolute gatecrasher of a man trying to make up his mind about whatever he was so confused about – Sam kept looking all around your apartment as if searching for something he had left there, his slightly lost and disoriented expression sending a sudden wave of guilt rushing over you. Now that you thought about it, it really must have sucked absolute cheese for him to come home hoping he could finally have that huge cup of strong black coffee he had been anticipating ever since having defeated that enormous purple bastard from Outer Space, only to find that his coffee machine was long gone and now this random lady with a philodendron problem and a judgmental cat were inhabiting the place with absolutely no room left for him whatsoever. It did sound tragic when you put it that way.

However, it really wasn’t your fault that you had needed to find a brand new residence approximately five years before. He really should have checked in with someone to make sure he still had somewhere to go home to. You were quite clearly the real victim here. And Lord only knew how poor Archie was going to process all the excitement of the day.

For a few seconds, you contemplated whether or not to put your thoughts into words, and eventually decided against it for the time being. The man had just helped save the world a few days before, after all, and out of what? Good conscience? Personally not for you, but you could appreciate it in others. And it would have been a real shame to die right when your fan-favourite succulents and killer new posting schedule had been attracting more Instagram followers than ever before. Thanks to the savior complex flaming inside of the gentleman standing before you though, the regular civilian had luckily escaped such terrible hardships. And special thanks to approximately a thousand and one other superheroes. Oh, and to an African country filled with similarly public-spirited people.

For a few awkwardly long seconds neither of you said a word. Sam kept looking around and you watched him look around, slowly lowering your mug onto the table and tilting your head slightly to the left. Weird how Sarah had never mentioned the brother believed to be dead for the last five years was this handsome. It is unfair, really. Some people are just naturally gorgeous no matter the shitty kitchen lighting, that tiny confused frown that had been sitting on their face for the last half hour, or those shiny black bugs for eyes tearing up ever so slightly to snitch on a long repressed yawn.

“Now that the drama is over and the Avengers as such are non-existent – have you considered a career in modeling yet?”

Sam snapped his head towards you with such force and speed that for a moment you were afraid you’d have to spend the rest of the afternoon sewing it back on his neck. You grabbed your mug still pretty much filled to the brim with tea and raised it back up to your mouth to hide your lingering half-smile behind a faded portrait of baby Archie on the ivory porcelain.

“Just saying, I would buy anything for this face on the package alone,” you continued with the confidence of a woman who hasn’t got a single drop of shame left in her body. But it was fine ‘cos you didn’t actually mean it, right? It was all just a joke, an attempt at lightening the mood and snapping him out of his puzzled melancholy. And that tiny flutter of your heart upon hearing Sam’s perfect little chuckle was but a momentary malfunction of the organ. The incident was purely physiological. No contribution from any emotional factors. It was simply an innocent coincidence that these two, completely unrelated things had co-occured.

So when your gazes met, you didn’t tear yours away in embarrassment – you stood your ground, completely unaffected and unbothered, ignoring the increasingly hot sensation in your cheeks when you saw Sam raise a cheeky eyebrow at you. Before even more damage could have been done, however, you decided to cut the party short.

“Oh, no. Don’t get your hopes up, Birdman. I simply couldn’t keep watching you in your deeply disturbed state.”

Very, very smooth. Cleared of all suspicion. Good job.

“Wow. Okay. That was cruel,” Sam scoffed and gave emphasis to his words by bringing up his right palm dramatically to his chest, right above his now most definitely broken heart. The overall effect got ruined by an annoyingly goofy grin in the end and before you even realised, you had already reached out for your massive mug again to drown your own erupting smile in the hot liquid.

In the silence that followed, however, you saw Sam’s smile fall ever so slightly, as if exhaustion or worry were holding onto the corners of his lips, physically tugging them down, and you shifted slightly uncomfortably in your seat. It was time you had stopped messing around with the poor guy.

“Look, I know this is weird but I’m sure we can find a solution. Just call Sarah so she can stop worrying now,” you suggested, finishing your tea and pushing the now empty mug to the middle of the table before leaning back in your seat.

“Ugh, yeah,” Sam started slowly, squatting down to get his mobile and the charger out of his massive sports bag. “Can I plug this in somewhere?”

You blinked at him a couple of times while he waited patiently for your answer. You could only imagine the number of missed calls and unread texts waiting for Sam on his phone, but you decided you didn’t know him enough to give him a lecture on behalf of his sister. So you just gave him a tired nod and gestured lazily towards your battered kitchen counter, Sam following your direction with his gaze.

“Above the microwave. Oh, and the socket farthest to the left–”

“–doesn’t work. I remember.” Sam flashed another exhausted but friendly smirk at you above his shoulder, and you allowed yourself to return the gesture to his back once he wasn’t watching.

“Right, sorry. Forgot I was the intruder here,” you joked, delighted to earn another one of those irritatingly lively chuckles of this man’s.

You seriously needed to get your shit together.

“Okay, while your phone is doing its thing, let’s call Sarah from mine, I guess” you continued, jumping up from your chair the moment Sam returned to the table and you headed towards your worn little couch where you scratched Archie gently behind his right ear. “Where have you put my phone, you dirty old man?” You cooed, smiling softly while sliding your hands under the cheap cushions and booping your irritated cat’s tiny nose when your fingers finally touched the cold metal you had been looking for.

Once seated again, you caught Sam staring at Archie, his eyes slightly narrowed in what appeared to be deep concentration. You furrowed your eyebrows and tilted your head, waiting for your uninvited guest to notice you.

“I don’t think your cat likes me too much,” he finally said, slowly tearing his gaze away from the pet feline’s and looking into your slightly more welcoming human eyes instead.

You chuckled dryly, turning around to see Archie in all his glory on the couch. He simply gave you an unbothered look before completely losing interest in the two of you, and he hopped of the couch, slowly making his way towards your bedroom where you knew he would bundle up under your bed on the cosy carpet. He had apparently decided it was time for his beauty sleep.

“Yeah, he’s like that with everyone. Nothing personal,” you assured Sam, who offered a tired half-smile in return. You cleared your throat gently, eyes fixed on your phone’s screen and fingers already searching for Sarah’s number. Once you had found it, you handed it to Sam whose only job left was to press the call button. You raised your eyebrows at him expectantly and he let out a sigh while reaching out for your mobile.

* * *

It wasn’t like he didn’t want to talk to Sarah. Quite the opposite, actually. But he was embarrassed. Sam knew full well how furious his sister was going to be. And honestly, rightfully so. He couldn’t argue with that. After all, she did say there had been something she wanted to talk to him about. And Sam did hang up on her without a passable excuse. And he did let his phone die on his way back home to Louisiana.

Yeah, he most probably wasn't going to be nominated for this year's Brother of the Year award.

Their last call had happened two days before. Two days is a long time without any news from a brother who had just returned after having been believed to be dead for the past five years. And if you had been to ask him, Sam wouldn’t have been able to tell you what had gotten into him either but ever since the Blip, something had not been exactly right. He couldn’t quite put his finger on what was going on, so he hadn’t brought it up to anyone, but his brain felt slow and foggy as if it hadn't had time to catch up yet.

Sometimes, Sam worried that the molecules in his brain had been mixed up and hadn't been put back into their original places in the process of the whole turning-into-dust-and-back-into-human-form-again thing.

It was a silly thought, yes, but with everything going on in the world, would it really be that hard to believe?

"Hey hon! What's up?" Sam's thought process was cut off by the endearing voice of his sister, and though he was aware all this affection was not directed towards him – given that he had called Sarah on your phone – his heart did swell upon hearing her again.

And then he said hi and it all went south from there.

Sarah was obviously pissed.

She asked Sam if he had any idea how many texts and missed calls she had left him, and no, he had no clue but if he had to guess, the number would have been way high up in the double digits.

Then she started going off on Sam, using different kinds of actually very creative euphemisms – which was a problem because Sam got so distracted by his sister's choice of words that her short, well-thought out rant had very little effect on him, but at least he had enough self-respect left to get his sister off speaker at this point.

"Look, Sarah, I know I messed up but I'm fine! I swear," he started, cutting his sister short while subconsciously picking at the skin around the nail on his index finger with his thumb. "What if I stop by Andy's and tell him to give me their best apple pie?" Sam added, hoping this promise would serve as an ice-breaker. Sarah did love her desserts. A lot. And Andy always gave a discount to the Wilson family, too.

When he heard his sister's tired sigh, Sam's heart gave a hopeful flutter, but he was rudely dragged back onto the ground on his way to cloud nine the very next second.

"I'm doing the shopping at the moment. Just got here and it's gonna take long," Sarah replied, annoyance poking through all her words. Then, the tension that had been dominating the pair's call suddenly seemed to evaporate as Sam sensed a weak shadow of a smile in her following sentence. "But that apple pie does sound good."

Sam couldn't help the grin that creeped its way onto his face and he didn't even care about Sarah's semi-serious threat, saying how they were nowhere near finished yet. He muttered out a quick sorry again, promised Sarah to give her regards to you and finished the call with a charming 'I love you' to which his sister replied with a snarky 'I bet' before hanging up with a promise that she would call again when she got home.

Sam let out a relieved chuckle before handing you back your phone and taking the final sip of his slightly lukewarm coffee, watching your bright red-nailed fingers tap away on the device, and he swallowed harder and probably louder than he had meant to. You just happened to put your phone down the very next second, so he tried to cover up the gulp by clearing his throat and shifting his gaze from your nails to your eyes.

Beautiful eyes.

Well shit.

"So, I guess you're staying," you started hesitantly, raising your eyebrows at Sam in a slightly impatient manner, which snapped him out of his blissful thoughts and thrust him back into reality.

Was he staying? He certainly had nowhere to go now that he was practically homeless and his sister was unable to welcome him in her own home for the next two hours, at least. But then again, you were a complete stranger whose afternoon he had just disrupted, and it didn't matter how weird it felt seeing you be so at home in his apartment because it wasn't his anymore. It was yours and you had all the right to kick Sam out and he had absolutely zero right to argue.

But, thankfully, he didn't have to.

"Which is fine, by the way. I did promise you an explanation, after all." Sam couldn't quite ignore the hint of dread behind your words and he was ready to object, to leave you alone and spend the rest of his afternoon doing God-knows-what, but then you offered him another cup of coffee followed by a tiny but honest smile, and Sam just couldn't bring himself to say no.

* * *

Sam Wilson was ridiculously easy to open up to.

It made you want to commit a crime.

His gaze was so intensely warm that after a while, you were looking at everything in your apartment but him just to avoid accidentally trauma dumping on him, especially when you got to the part about group therapy.

Because you had met Sarah at a group therapy session approximately four and a half years before.

It had been clear from the very first minute that neither of you had actually wanted to be there and that both of you had been forced into this situation. Sarah had been dragged to group by an overly enthusiastic co-worker of hers whose crush on the counselor had been probably more intense than the trauma she had suffered – she had lost a dog and her neighbor to the right whom she had always talked shit about behind his back. She was a nice enough woman, but considering that people had lost actual family in the Snap, her presence had always been mostly aggravating, to say the least.

In your case, it had been your grandmother who had bullied you into going to one of the sessions because 'she had the same rotten mentality when Miss Taylor told her to go but then she found it life-changing'. At this point, you had become so indifferent to everything in the world that you hadn't needed much convincing to go. You had told yourself it would be one session anyway after which you would have told Grandma Ethel that 'therapy was simply not for you' and could have been back to your usual Thursday evening routine consisting of a cheap bottle of red wine and depressing reruns of trashy British reality shows from the late 2000s.

The actual sessions had never worked for you. They might have if you had actually spoken up at any of them but you had never become quite ready to talk about your loss in front of a dozen other people, most of whom you had already known. But then you had met Sarah and something about her had made you feel secure, secure enough to talk about them for the first time, so you had started hanging out at a café not too far from the community center and it had become the best thing in your life.

"And the rest is history," you finished, getting up from your chair to put both yours and Sam's mug in the sink and watered your nearby plants while at it.

"I'm really glad Sarah had someone by her side," Sam commented and you could hear a hint of guilt in his words but you decided to ignore it. You simply nodded and muttered out a weak 'yeah', saying you were just as happy to have found a friend like Sarah.

Then Sam said something that made all the muscles in your body tense up and you froze completely for the next couple of seconds.

"And have you seen your family yet? Now that they've come back?"

It was an innocent question. He doesn't know the whole story. So calm down.

You slowly put down the glass you had used earlier to water your plants and tried with every particle in your body to put on the best toothpaste commercial-worthy smile you could force out of yourself before turning back towards Sam and answering his absolutely understandable question.

"Yeah!" No. "They're doing well, actually!" They're fucking dead.

Sam's genuinely happy smile was way too much to handle and if it hadn't been for a call from Sarah, you would have broken down in tears right in front of him the very next moment.

So instead of all that, you decided to turn right back around, pour yourself a huge glass of cold tapwater and down it in one breath while Sam finished his brief conversation with his sister. The stinging pain in your chest that followed was enough to distract your thoughts until he was finally at the door, saying goodbye and thanking your for the coffee and saying sorry for intruding and taking absolutely way too fucking long to finally leave.

"Hey, um... I could give you my number? If you ever need anything or..."

He can't be serious.

"Sure! You can, ugh, put it in my phone," you replied, your hands shaking dangerously as you reached into your back pocket for your mobile and handed it to Sam, who knew better than to comment on it.

Once finished, he returned your phone with one of those irritatingly joyful smiles of his and with a final 'see you around' Sam Wilson was off and you proudly patted yourself on the back for successfully holding it together until you finally reached your couch.

* * *

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[gay-otlc]

Perfect (Keefitz)

Summary: And yet... he can't shake the feeling that, if he wasn't a Vacker, if he wasn't stuck in the cage of perfection... he would love to be with Keefe.

That didn't matter. Whether he likes it or not, Fitz is in his cage of perfection, so he can't want Keefe.

He can't. Because he's perfect.

(Alternatively: 4.5K words of Keefitz angst and about 100 of Keefitz fl*ff)

Trigger warnings: Internalized homophobia, cursing

Words: 4352

(Read on AO3)

Fitz Vacker is perfect.

His friends call him Wonderboy, and that's for a reason. He knows they're making fun of him when they say it, but he can't help but feel the smallest glimmer of pride when he hears the nickname. Maybe a bit more than that. Yes, people are making fun of him for being perfect. That still means they see him as being perfect.

And that's good. That's exactly how he wants it to be.

No, he corrects himself- not how he wants it to be. How it is. People don't just see him as perfect- he is perfect. (Or so he tells himself. But is he, is he really perfect? Or is he just lying, trying to convince himself. Convince everyone else.) Wonderboy is at the top of his class. He's passable at Base Quest and actually quite good at Bramble. Even though his father doesn't approve of the hobby, his talent at baking is undeniable. Every girl at Foxfire is in agreement that he's handsome, with bronze skin, teal eyes, and a smile that makes all of them swoon.

(He doesn't care how many girls like him. He's never liked any of them.)

And Sophie. He's a key member of the Black Swan, and he's Sophie's cognate. They're cognates. And everyone expects them to be a couple.

He's supposed to love her. He can't.

They would be a perfect couple, if only he could feel what he was supposed to.

He can't.

The point is, Fitz is perfect. He's sunshine, blue skies. Flawless. Golden.

Fitz Vacker is perfect. And he can't shake the feeling that perfection is a cage.

---

Keefe Sencen is anything but perfect.

It's obvious from the very moment they meet. Keefe is too loud, too energetic, too obnoxious. He barely pays any attention in his classes and lands in detention every other day. Taking anything seriously seems to be impossible for him. Even his appearance, with messed up hair and the way he "forgets" his cape, reflect on his personality.

Alden disapproves immediately. Keefe would never be a good influence for Fitz, could get him in trouble, damage his reputation. Blah, blah, blah. He does make sense, too; Fitz is a Vacker, and he's the golden boy, so he can only be surrounded by the best. Which likely doesn't include Keefe. But after one conversation with that boy, he finds himself inviting him over to Everglen after school.

After that, they're inseparable, no matter what Alden says.

And Keefe is still far from perfect. He hides everything in jokes and spends too much time obviously crushing on Sophie. (A fact that gives Fitz a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. He isn't sure why; maybe it would be weird if two of his best friends started dating?) Keefe's mom is part of the Neverseen and the council banished him to Exillium and he makes reckless decisions.

Odds are, Keefe is a ticking time bomb, and Fitz needs to get away. That's what his brain tells him to do. Then, Keefe tells him Lord Cassius's theory on head and heart emotions, and something clicks. In his head, he wants Keefe gone. In his heart, he needs Keefe to stay.

Shit, he thinks.

Keefe is anything but perfect. He's a hurricane, a natural disaster. Flawed. Broken glass.

Keefe Sencen is anything but perfect. And Fitz cares about Keefe way to much to ever let it come between them. Shit.

---

Fitz nearly dies once, a time most people have forgotten about. He remembers it perfectly.

It's soon after he, Sophie, Dex, Biana, and... Keefe, though Fitz doesn't yet know why he has the ellipses, run away to join the Black Swan in Allavuterre. When they break into Exile to visit Prentice, and the Council comes to stop them. It's the most stupid way to nearly die, but a giant bug stabs Fitz. An arthopleura, eight feet tall and full of poison, stabs him.

And he nearly dies.

Even though he doesn't have a photographic memory, the time plays out perfectly in his mind- everything suddenly aches, he can barely breathe and the world swims before his eyes. His brain feels foggy, clouded by the poison. Through the fog, he can only think of one thing. A name, that he clings to like a lifeline.

And it should be Sophie's name. It should be Sophie's name. He's usually perfect enough to keep control of his thoughts, make sure he wants the right thing and doesn't spend too much time ever longing for the wrong thing.

In his poisoned state, that sort of control is gone, and all he can think of is what he actually wants.

Keefe.

The name echoes in his mind, over and over. When he feels himself only at his last point of consciousness, Keefe's name is still repeating, but he doesn't remember what it means.

Who's Keefe? he thinks.

A memory tickles at the back of his mind. Keefe... he... I... I think I'm in love with him.

He gives into the poison, consciousness gone.

---

When he wakes up, his head still feels foggy and slow. Keefe's name is still there, and it doesn't take long for the rest of Fitz's memories to come slotting into place. I think I'm in love with him.

Where the fuck had that thought come from?

Fitz isn't in love with Keefe. He can't be. He isn't. Fitz is the perfect Vacker, the golden boy. He's going to marry someone on his match list that his father approves of, and then he's going to further the Vacker family name and not dishonor generations of Vackers before him. He'll continue being perfect, something that can't happen if he loves Keefe. Because Keefe is so far from perfect, nothing like anyone those generations of Vackers want him to marry. He's chaotic and disobedient and, well, a boy.

If Fitz is to be perfect, he can't like Keefe.

And he will be perfect.

No, he is.

---

His friends come in, full of concerns and well wishes. Keefe comes in carrying Mr. Snuggles, and thought he's laughing at Fitz, all Fitz can think about is how cute his laugh is, how Keefe hasn't smiled in so long and he's so happy that Keefe is happy. Keefe lights up Fitz's world, and after a bug-induced realization, Fitz notices that Keefe is... well, really hot.

Don't think about that.

Eventually, the rest of his friends leave, and Livvy gives him various elixirs. Della and Biana stay behind, but eventually, Livvy and Della have to talk about something, and he's left alone with Biana.

Biana smirks. "Does Fitzy have a crush?"

His face burns. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Please," she scoffs. "You've been making heart eyes ever since our friends came in. Spill."

"I don't- I'm not-"

"Fitz, you're a terrible liar. Come on, just admit you like Sophie."

Sophie. Yes, he likes Sophie. Sophie is the Moonlark, the most powerful elf; just who the perfect Vacker boy should like. She's pretty, and she's a girl, and she's just as perfect as he is. They're meant to be together.

---

"Yes," he lies. "Fine. I like Sophie. I realized it after almost dying. Happy now?"

"Very."

"But don't... don't tell her." Fitz knows that Sophie has a crush on him; no matter how hard she tries to keep it a secret, it's fairly obvious. He doesn't want her thinking that he likes her, though, because then they'd have to date, and he wouldn't like her. Well, he likes her a lot, but not like that. He likes her enough to not lead her on like that.

Biana gives him a strange look. "You know she likes you, right?"

Shit. Now he has to think of a lie, and as Biana pointed out, he's not good at lying. "I'm... I don't really want a relationship right now. While we're dealing with the Neverseen and all that. I kind of just want to wait, and I'm worried Sophie will take that as I don't like her."

He feels Biana's eyes on him for a long time, but she finally nods. "Makes sense. I'm gonna go... get some sleep, Fitz."

When she leaves, he feels like he can finally exhale. He was nearly caught with a crush on Keefe Sencen, of all people. He managed to lie and divert the attention to Sophie... but that was fucking hard.

It shouldn't be hard. He should forget all about Keefe right now, before he falls in deeper, and like Sophie instead. That's what he has to do, to be perfect again.

And yet... he can't shake the feeling that, if he wasn't a Vacker, if he wasn't stuck in the cage of perfection... he would love to be with Keefe.

That didn't matter. Whether he likes it or not, Fitz is in his cage of perfection, so he can't want Keefe.

He can't. Because he's perfect.

---

As the world continues on, with a mess of Neverseen attacks and near death experiences and drama with their friends, Keefe Sencen never fucking leaves Fitz's head. His stupid smirk and stupid Hair and stupid, stupidly imperfect beauty. He's so stupidly funny and caring and brilliant, and oh, Fitz is so stupidly in love.

It's infuriating.

And yes, he's well aware it's kind of an asshole move, but ever since he recovered from the bug stabbing incident and the feelings for Keefe didn't go away, he's been avoiding him. Every second he spends with Keefe makes him fall even deeper in love. And as he falls deeper in love, he comes closer and closer to falling off his throne.

He can't risk that.

Even strained conversations are difficult. Fitz feels something he can't name, a combination of fury and frustration and love bubbling up in his chest, and he sometimes thinks he'll explode if he doesn't scream it. I'm in love with Keefe. I'm in love with Keefe.

But he can't scream it. So he'll just have to stay away.

Keefe thinks he's jealous, that he and Sophie have something going on, because he thinks Fitz likes Sophie. Fitz is jealous whenever Keefe and Sophie are together, it's true. He wishes he were jealous of Keefe. It's safer to have him believe that. Safer to stay away.

It kills him.

But he can't have both Keefe and perfection, and he's chosen perfection.

---

The perfection he wants (this isn't what he wants, he wants Keefe, he's never wanted this) comes in the form of Sophie Elizabeth Foster and a walk through Everglen. They're discussing matchmaking, dangerous territory- and then the danger becomes real, tipping Fitz into the deep end of a conversation he'd rather avoid.

Sophie starts crying. He's not an idiot; he knows why.

Because she thinks he'll never like her.

(And she's right. He can't like her. He can't like girls.)

Before he can think it through, the words are out of his mouth: "I want it to be you," he blurts. "I want it to be you. On my match list." It's not a lie. He wants her on his match list, and him to be on hers, so they can be matched, and together... and, well, married, as horrifying as that thought is. Married to Sophie. Together for eternity.

(That sounds like a nightmare. He loves her, but not like that. The mere thought of spending eternity together feels like he's already trapped. Caged within perfection.)

He wants to want Sophie like that. And that means he wants her, right?

(He wants Keefe.)

This is what he wants, he reminds himself, as he leans towards her, ready to kiss. He'd never admit it to anyone, but when they're interrupted by Silveny, he's overwhelmingly relieved.

No he isn't.

This is what he wants.

---

He's relieved again when he and Sophie break up. And terrified. She was his safety net, and now, when he falls for Keefe, nothing is going to catch him. Then, he regrets feeling any bit of relief- what kind of boyfriend does that make him?

A gay one.

That's what he is, isn't he? He's not perfect. He's gay. And he thought it would go away. It hasn't. It isn't going to. He's gay, he's gay for Keefe Sencen, and he'll never be perfect. Never be fucking perfect. Unless he pushes the feelings down until he forgets about them. Unless he never tells anyone. Unless he bites his tongue and marries a woman and does everything exactly right. Never slips up. Convinces himself, and everyone else, that he's... normal.

Not just normal.

Perfect.

Fucking perfect.

His plans to repress all Keefe-related emotions fails horribly within a few days. Keefe, the fucking idiot, manages to get himself in a coma, and now Fitz doesn't know whether he'll wake up, and dammit, even ignoring Keefe was better than this. 

He just wants Keefe back, even if it'll be harder to be perfect.

---

The universe rewards him, the time he spends by Keefe's bedside whispering I'll stay away from him, I won't fall in love, I'll forget all about him, if he can stay alive works, or maybe it was just luck. Either way, Keefe is awake.

At first, he has no idea what to feel. Overwhelmingly happy, for one. It's hard to push that down.

He's your best friend. It's normal to feel happy about your best friend not dying. It's fine. This is fine. You're fine.

You're still perfect.

Then, everything spirals very quickly, and it turns out Keefe's mother- shit, Fitz hates her- has managed to ruin everything once again. Fantastic. Now Keefe is scared of himself, and if Fitz is being honest, he's a little scared... but then again, he was always scared of Keefe, wasn't he? Scared of how his laugh made Fitz feel like he'd won a million lusters and how he could be so imperfect yet so wonderful and how sometimes, Fitz thought maybe, it'd be worth it to not be perfect, as long as they could be together.

And scared of how he can't stop thinking about Keefe, so he buys flowers- fucking flowers- and goes to visit him at Elwin's house.

Elwin opens the door. He glances at Fitz, then the flowers, then Fitz again, and smiles knowingly. Fitz wants to shrink into a hole, knowing that Elwin knows- or even suspects- his secret, that he's so far from perfect. Elwin doesn't think of it as a bad thing, though. It's still terrifying. "Keefe is in his room," he says. Fitz nods, not trusting his voice, and walks up the stairs.

---

Keefe opens the door. "Elwin, I said I'd- you're not Elwin."

"Not unless something very confusing just happened, no," Fitz agrees.

"What are you doing here?"

Fitz swallows. "I came to check on you," he says. Then he holds out the flowers. "And to give you these." Keefe stares at the flowers for a long time, long enough to make Fitz extremely uneasy. Oh why did I do this, this was so stupid, Keefe thinks it's stupid, it obviously is, and now Elwin knows, or at least suspects, and maybe Keefe suspects too, and why am I such a fucking idiot? But Keefe takes the flowers eventually.

"Thanks."

The word is clipped, not particularly grateful, but Fitz lets his eyes meet Keefe's and he seems sincere. "No problem." Awkwardly, he shuffles his feet. "How are you?"

"I'm... I'm alright, I guess."

"You guess?"

"I don't really want to talk about it, if that's okay." When Fitz nods, Keefe gives a small smile. "How about you? I heard you and Foster broke up."

Truth be told, Fitz had nearly forgotten about that, which didn't bode well for his whole Yes, I definitely like girls act he was trying to do. "I'm... I think it was the right decision for us. Can I tell you a secret?" he blurts, the last sentence not planned. He hopes Keefe will say no, but of course he says yes, so Fitz swallows. "I don't think I ever liked her, really. I mean, I like her a lot. But not like that. Never like that. I've never liked a girl like that."

Instantly, Fitz regrets specifying a girl, but that was the only way to keep it truthful. Despite that, he regrets not lying as he watches Keefe connect the dots. "You like me, don't you?" Before Fitz can say anything, really even register the question, Keefe continues "It's not bad if you do. In fact, it's good, because I... I like you. A lot. Like that. So it's okay to tell me if you like me. And I promise I won't tell anyone unless you're alright with it."

Fitz nods. Almost in a whisper, he answers "I like you. I... I really like you, so much, so much it physically aches, but Keefe, I can't. You know I can't."

A look Fitz can't quite decipher comes over Keefe, a mixture of pain and anger and joy and... determination. "Tell me if you want me to stop," he whispers, before cupping Fitz's face. Even before their lips touch, Fitz knows it's so unlike the times he and Sophie almost kissed. This time, it feels exactly right.

It feels perfect.

That word, that fucking word, draws Fitz back abruptly away. "I can't," he repeats, taking a step back towards the door. Twists the doorknob. "I can't. I'm sorry, Keefe, but I can't."

Keefe nods. "I know. You have to be perfect." He doesn't sound angry; just resigned.

"I have to be perfect," Fitz agrees, and he leaves.

---

Once again, the world continues on. Keefe slowly begins trusting himself around other people again. Fitz still doesn't trust himself around Keefe. If they're too close for too long, he thinks he might just disregard everything and kiss him again. He thought it was hard before, but after he knows who fucking wonderful it is to kiss Keefe, it's nearly impossible. Keefe is like a drug, and Fitz has to do everything he can not to relapse.

So he stays away.

They fight the Neverseen a few more times. Nearly die once or twice. Elwin basically adopts Keefe. He and Sophie work to rebuild their trust as cognates, but it's hard, because now he's keeping such a big secret.

I never liked you.

I don't like girls.

I'm gay.

I like Keefe.

I kissed Keefe once.

He can't tell her any of that. Can't tell anyone. Keefe is the only person who knows, and even that is far too many people. He has to trust that Keefe won't tell anyone- though Keefe doesn't have as much to lose from it, it can't be good for him either. And Sophie... she's a really good friend, but he still... he can't. He just can't.

Even as their friendship repairs itself, they never date again. He's glad.

And disappointed.

Because he really needs a safety net, now more than ever.

---

Alden convinces him to get a match list, one without Sophie on it. One with a hundred girls, each one of them someone he can never love. Maybe he'll find one he likes well enough. And he can pretend to love her until he's convinced everyone, including himself. A new safety net.

A new mask of perfection.

He throws a Winnowing Gala then, mostly for the food. Unfortunately, he doesn't get to just eat the whole time. He has to dance with people, talk to them, hope to find some sort of spark. It never comes, of course. When he first met Keefe first, he knew that boy would be bad for him, but he couldn't stay away. Every moment talking to him felt like electricity. This is just... dull.

It's nearly torture.

Also, it's what the rest of his life is going to be like.

Fitz already knew perfection was a cage. He chose the cage instead of Keefe. Now he's living with the consequences. This was his choice, and he made his choice, but it's still... so hard. It feels like he's suffocating.

---

"I need some fresh air," he chokes out to the girl he's dancing with now. He can't even remember her name. She's nice, but nothing like Keefe. All of these girls blend together, because none of them are Keefe, and he's too focused on surviving the next few hours to concentrate on any of them.

Without waiting to here her response, he stumbles outside.

"Fitz?" a voice asks. He groans. Keefe. Why did it have to be Keefe?

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"It's nice to see you too. I came to pine as you chose a girl to marry, of course. Didn't expect you to come outside."

Fitz groans, burying his head in his hands. "Sorry to snap at you. I just..."

"You hate this. You hate this so much."

"How do you know?"

"Empath. Also, I know you," Keefe says. Fitz sighs. They fall silent for a long time, but finally, Keefe speaks again. "I still... I can't stop thinking about the kiss. It feels like forever ago, and I still sometimes feel your lips on mine like some sort of phantom. All I can do is think about kissing you again. I really want to kiss you again. I... I really want you." He takes a breath, then resumes, cutting off whatever Fitz was about to say. "But I know. You can't. I understand."

"I... it doesn't feel like I can. At all. But..." Fitz took a deep breath, gesturing at Everglen. "I can't do this either. I can't keep doing this, pretending to be perfect."

Keefe tilted his head to the side. "Fitz?"

"I'm done pretending," Fitz said, and he kissed Keefe once again.

Perfect.

---

When they finally separate, Keefe's ice blue eyes are wide, pupils dilated. "That was... incredible." He touches his fingers to his lips, never taking his eyes off Fitz. Fitz can't see himself, but he's sure he looks just as lovestruck. He's wanted this for years, and finally, finally...

"I want to tell people," Fitz says, his own voice sounding foreign to his ears. He didn't plan to say that, but repeats it. "I want to tell people about... about us."

"You know there's no going back after that," Keefe says, the beautiful smile on his face widening anyway.

Fitz nods. "I know. I don't want to go back. I told you, I'm done pretending."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure." He pauses. "Unless you don't want to?"

After a quick kiss that makes little fireworks go off in Fitz's head, he smiles again and says "No, I want to. Do you know what you're going to say?" Fitz shakes his head. "Just making it up as you go along. That works. Honestly, the best way to do things. Can I come in with you?" In response, Fitz takes Keefe's hand in his and squeezes it. "Great. Let's go."

With every step Fitz takes, he knows his time being perfect is running out. He's never been happier.

---

"I want to thank you all for coming tonight," Fitz says, waiting for the room to fall silent from the talking and laughing and music. While he waits, his eyes meet Keefe's. His boyfriend's. Keefe smiles, and he gives a tentative smile in return. His stomach flips with anxiety, and doubts of Do I really want to do this? start to creep back in. He briefly closes his eyes and lets the memory of the kiss wash over him, and it's the only thing to get them to go away.

Distantly, he hears a girl whisper-scream "Is he about to propose to someone?"

He clears his throat and continues. "I've really enjoyed getting to speak of all of you and get to know you. Unfortunately..." he swallows. "None of you... my perfect match. There's nothing wrong with any of you, and if I could be attracted to any of you, I would have some good options to choose from. But... I'm not attracted to girls. Any girls. At all."

Behind him, he hears his father hissing "Fitz, what are you doing?"

"Let him finish," his mom murmurs, voice low.

After letting his eyes drift back to Keefe, he takes a deep breath and blurts it out to the entire room. It's been bubbling up in him for so long, with no one knowing, and by tomorrow, everyone in the Lost Cities will know. That's terrifying. But strangely liberating. No more pretending. "I'm gay."

"Fitzroy," his father snaps, instantly. "Stop talking at once."

"No."

"Fitzroy Avery Vacker-"

"No," Fitz repeats, meeting Alden's eyes and ignoring every voice of wisdom telling him to look away. "No. I'm done pretending. And I'm done being perfect. I'm gay, and I'm in love with Keefe, and you're just going to have to fucking deal with that."

---

Without waiting for a response, he turns and walks over to Keefe, collapsing into a hug. "I'm proud of you," he hears in a whisper.

"That was terrifying," he breathes.

"I know. But it's going to be okay."

Fitz tangles his hands in Keefe's stupidly beautiful hair and meets their lips in another earth shattering kiss. "I love you."

"I love you too, Wonderboy."

Things won't ever be perfect again. Alden and Della divorce, and though neither of them says it, Fitz knows it's his fault. Keefe's father is furious, which he knows upsets Keefe even though he lives with Elwin now. Some elves are supportive, and some even come out after Fitz- including Sophie and Biana, who have apparently been dating for months- but other elves whisper about the gay Vacker boy, and how unfortunate it is for the family. The Council has been arguing for months about whether or not Fitz should be allowed to be matched with Keefe. Fighting the Neverseen is still a necessity, and they keep getting hurt.

Things won't ever be perfect again. Fitz won't be "perfect" again.

But it doesn't matter whether he's perfect. He's happy.

[xpeachesncream]

acquainted | three

summary: the biggest goal of a grad student is to get through school in one piece - no petty drama involved, no sweating over the little things. however, that plan almost always never follows through. sometimes, you can’t help but fall into the most unthinkable, unexpected traps and learn the hard way. like, exhibit a: being unable to resist your engaged, substitute teacher, kim seokjin.

pairing: (2nd bts member to be revealed later on) x reader x engaged!teacher!seokjin

genre: grad school au, student life au | fluff, angst, smut (to come)

words: 2.0k

warnings: hoe-ish thoughts / implied sexual content, cussing, mentions of death/car accident, your friends being extra like always

notes: flashback scene towards the last half of the chapter. start and end of flashback will be indicated!

tags: @laurynne5​, @yiyi4657​, @bluesharksandfish​, @miinoongi​ @teamtardis-notdead​ (pls msg me if you would like to be added to the taglist!)

It was a cold morning, with the wind slowly picking up, bringing the clouds over from across the bay. You grabbed yourself a cup of coffee and sat on a table near the food cart on campus, finishing up your last items on your to-do list for work. You didn't wanna sit in the office for remainder of the day, and luckily, your job gave you that flexibility. You rubbed your hands together, hoping it could provide some relief to the cold taking over. You were too lazy to make your move at this point, and Mr. Kim's [or shall we say Jin since we aren't in a classroom right now] class wasn't too far away from where you were sitting. It'd be an easy, breezy walk.

Your brain felt foggy; even though you didn't have much left on your to-do list, you couldn't seem to focus and you knew why. Chance's death anniversary was coming up, and it was always something you dreaded. You wish you could skip the day and continue on with the week without having to revisit shit like this. Your friends are your biggest support systems, but they too, have their own lives to tend to. And as much as they tried to physically be there for you, sometimes it just didn't end up happening that way.

"Miss Y/N, are you doing alright?" You looked up to see Jin standing in front of you, a concerned expression plastered on his face while he held his cup of coffee.

"Oh yeah, sorry. Just spaced out trying to get things done for work."

"No need to apologize. I feel that, 100%." He chuckled. "Mind if I sit for a minute?" You shook your head and moved your things closer to you so he had some room for himself. "Glad to see you got home in one piece."

"Sure did." You smiled at him, tilting your head slightly to get a good look at his handsome ass face while he brings up his foot to rest on his knee. Honest question: is it ever too early for hoe thoughts to make an appearance?

Did I put on deodorant today?

"You work nearby?" He sipped on his coffee and glanced at you.

"Yeah, I work for a cloud-based software company as a project manager. Sometimes, I'll help chime in with graphic design projects too, if I'm not too swamped." He nodded.

"That's pretty amazing."

"What about you? I assume this isn't your only gig." He chuckled.

"You're right, it's not. I, uh-" He paused. "I'm a CFO for a tech company in the city." Your eyes widened. Handsome, and a fucking boss? You have got to be kidding me.

"W-wow. Holy shit." You quickly shook your head and shut your eyes in embarrassment. "Sorry, holy crap." You corrected your previous statement.

"Y/N, I don't care if you cuss." He laughed. "I'm a 30 year old man who still finds the need to slip it in between every other word when I'm not in class."

"Sorry, just— holy fuck. I wasn't really expecting that, but good on you!"

"What do I look like to you? Honest question."

"Oh, I mean. I just thought you worked in business or something like that. As someone important, but not that important. I-I mean—"You sighed and pursed your lips into a fine line. "You know what I mean, I hope."

"I think I do, don't worry." He smiled, feeling slightly amused with how cute you were acting.

"You must be really busy all the time."

"Mm, no actually. I do have quite a few meetings and deadlines to reach but other than that, it's not too bad." You rested your chin on the palm of your hand. "Are you from here?"

"I am, born and raised. Are you?" He shook his head and slightly pouted.

"I moved here a couple of years ago from Seattle when my fiancé Grace started to get serious about her cooking. She wanted to open her first restaurant here."

"Oh, that's neat. She's a chef?" Stupid question, but you weren't sure how else to keep the conversation going about his soon-to-be wifey.

"Yep. She's a wonder woman, for sure." He pauses to sip more of his coffee. "Do you have family members that live around here?"

"Yeah I do, my parents live about 30 minutes away from here. I go and visit them when I can. But sometimes, I get too occupied with work and school that I just long for time to myself. Being 25, you'd think I could handle more but I'm still learning how to balance my time, I guess." He nods. He's a little relieved to hear you aren't that far off in age, to be honest. He wasn't sure if he was being weird harmlessly getting to know his students. He genuinely wanted to build relationships with them so they didn't think he was a professor they couldn't turn to. However, when it came to you, he couldn't help but feel slightly captivated. He was impressed with the way you carried yourself, down to how you'd participate in class and how you didn't come off like a student who hated every fucking professor they came across in their academic career. He appreciated the tiny details. "Not gonna lie though, I do get a little homesick whenever I don't get to visit for awhile, even though they don't live far. Truly makes me appreciate having my friends around."

"Ryujin, Taehyung and Jimin? No siblings?" He asks. Impressive. He paid attention.  Although, it's definitely not hard to figure out when you four were constantly [for the most part] stuck at the hip.

"Yup, those punks. I'm the only child so they've become family to me." You smiled hearing your friends' names. They honestly meant the world to you, and you weren't sure where you'd be without them.

"That's sweet. It's good to have people like that on your side of the court."

There was silence for a moment, with Jin looking at you over the rim of his cup, while you tried your hardest to keep yourself together. You felt the heat radiating throughout your body the longer you kept your gaze on him, the tension slightly building. You were a little relieved he didn't bounce the question back about your love life or anything regarding the matter. You almost feel guilty that you're digging pretty deeply into this situation yet again, but you felt comfortable with the way the conversation was going and the energy he was exuding.

"I, um--" You pause as you tuck a strand of hair behind your ear. He keeps the same gaze on you, almost like he's trying to figure out what you'll say next by reading you and your body language. "I hope--"

"Y/N!" You hear Taehyung's deep ass voice yell for you from behind. "Oh fuck, sorry dude. Am I interrupting something?" To be quite frank, you were happy Taehyung interrupted when he did because you were just about to tell Jin how good he looked, respectfully, of course. You were going to keep it PG and comment on the tie he was wearing and how the pattern complimented him and the rest of his outfit.

"No, not at all." Jin chuckles. "We were just wrapping up, I have to get going." He stands and smiles at the both of you. "See you both in class soon."

"Peace out, Mr. Kim." Taehyung throws up the peace sign like a dumbass as you both watch him take his exit and walk towards his classroom.

"Peace out, Mr. Kim? Really, Tae?"

"I mean, he seems cool enough for me to do that, don't you think?" You shake your head and continue finishing up your work on your work laptop. "What was that about? Are you in trouble already? What'd you do?"

"Why do you have like, so much fucking energy right now?"

"I downed two redbulls before I got here."

"You're an idiot."

"Me and Jimin were up all night hunting."

"I stand corrected— you both are idiots." Taehyung clicks his tongue before raising his eyebrow, manspreading and leaning back into the chair.

"So, what was that really about?"

"We just had a chat!"

"Sure. You both were definitely eye-fucking each other. It was weird to walk into."

"Not everyone is like you, trying to fuck everything they see." You rolled your eyes. "He had just sat here for a minute and we talked about work and where we were from."

"Okay." He snorts and shrugs.

"You're being so dramatic. It was harmless."

"Definitely looked otherwise."

"You weren't even here for the majority of our conversation?"

"Didn't have to be, sweetheart." He winked, playfully caressing your chin. "Your secret is safe with me."

"You are so full of shit. I don't know how I've dealt with you for so long."

"Who's so full of shit?" Ryujin comes strolling along, with a tired Jimin who was sipping on an iced americano. He wore a cap and sunglasses with sweats and a fitted crewneck, looking like he just rolled the fuck out of bed.

"Taehyung, who else?" You both stood up to start slowly walking towards Mr. Kim's classroom. "Are you okay, Chim?" You asked, genuinely worried about him, but also trying to change the subject.

"Tired. Just tired." He shakes his head, lowering his the brim of his cap even more. "This dumbass kept messing up our hunt last night."

"I didn't mess anything up, you just weren't clear on the directions." Jimin smacked him upside the head. "And Y/N's just mad I caught her and Mr. Kim on a date." Ryujin gasped, while Jimin choked on his iced americano and coughed trying to get himself together.

"Excuse me, come again?" Ryujin squeezes your arm, causing you to slightly wince in pain before you can shake her off.

"Tae, really?" You rolled your eyes. "It wasn't a date! He just sat with me for a minute and we talked for a little bit. That's literally it."

"You forgot the part where you both were eye-fucking each other when I came along."

"What the fuck is even going on right now?" Jimin finally chimed in, making you sigh deeply.

"We were not!" You pushed Tae. "You're such an instigator."

"First, helping you with your groceries, now this? I didn't think you had it in you, girl! Actually pursuing an engaged professor." Ryujin joked, making herself laugh out loud. Jimin is now walking alongside of you, while Taehyung throws his arms around both you and Ryujin, swinging his big ass head back and forth between the both of you.

"He helped you with groceries last night? What?" Jimin is honestly so confused and is unable to keep up with the chaotic conversation.

"Look, I just ran into him at Trader Joes and he offered to bring my groceries to my car since it was getting late. And today, we just ended up talking for a little bit. That's it. Can we drop this?"

"Mr. Kim has the hots for Y/N!" Ryujin teased.

"That's it. I'm going to find new friends." You shrugged. "Unbelievable." Did they not listen to one word you just said?

"You should go for it and have fun." Taehyung winked.

"No, no. She shouldn't go for him or do anything." Jimin states loud and clear, making sure he grabs both Ryujin and Taehyung's attention by waving his hand in the air.

"Ah, come on Chim, it's just a little fun."

"Ry." Jimin says sternly.

"Okay, kidding." She rolls her eyes.

"This is getting so out of hand." You say as you all approached the door to Mr. Kim's classroom.

"Hey Mr. Kim." Ryujin waved her hand playfully, followed by Jimin and Taehyung who simply nodded and gave him a toothless smile. He happily returns her greeting, then flashes a small smirk as you pass him while arranging the papers on the front desk.

"Hmph." Ryujin smirks. "Told you so." You roll your eyes.

Chance's death anniversary arrives quicker than you'd like, causing you to pick yourself up and force yourself to get on with the day whether you like it or not. After work, you quickly visited his grave at the cemetery, balling your eyes out as you spend quite awhile sitting in silence, staring at his photo on the tombstone. Every memory, every good and bad moment that you shared with Chance flashed right before your eyes.

It was irreplaceable.

[ start flashback ]

"So, who would you want next to you if the end of the world was coming?"  You kept your gaze on the 'List of questions to ask your significant other' photo on your phone.

"What kind of morbid question is that?" Chance laughed as he continued to hug you tightly while you laid on his chest. "You, of course."

"Aw, thanks bebe. Same here."

"Are there any happy questions in there?" He scrolled down the list. "Like this one - what's the cutest thing your partner has ever done for you?"

"When we had dinner on a boat and you sang to me and everyone else having dinner." You laughed.

"Yeah, that was pretty cute wasn't it?"

"Shut up." You playfully covered his mouth. "Your turn."

"The cutest thing you've done? I don't know sweetheart, you've done a ton of cute things. I'd have to say you waking up next to me. It reminds me how real you are." You smiled and pecked him on the lips.

"I love you, chance."

"I love you too." He says almost at a whisper while caressing your chin. He was pulled out of the moment when his phone rang. "Ayo." He says. You watch as his facial expression changes. "For fuck's sake man, alright. Hang tight, I'll be there. Yo, don't be stupid and drive home drunk. I'm about to leave, okay? Your ass better be there by the time I get there." He sighed as he hung up the phone.

"What's wrong?"

"Josh is drunk as hell. I'm gonna go pick him up before he does something stupid."

"Can't he find a ride there?"

"Everybody left him. I can't just leave him there."

"I know, but--"

"It's gonna be fine, okay baby? I promise. I'll be back before you know it."

"Alright." You sighed. "Be safe, please."

"I will."

[ end flashback ]

When you finally arrived at school, you checked out your appearance to make sure you looked decent enough to get through class. You were hoping your psychology classes would go by quickly, just so you could get out of there and feel less suffocated.

"I'm sorry I can't come over." Ryujin pulls you into a tight hug and caresses your back. She had planned to spend time with you, but her sister called her last minute to ask if she could babysit her niece until late night. "But let me know if you need me, okay? I don't care if it's 1AM, I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Same. I'll do what I can to get out of this family thing." Jimin gives your arm a gentle squeeze. Jimin's family was visiting from Korea on a whim, so he had been pulled into some family festivities for the evening.

"Look, you guys. I'll be fine, okay? Don't worry about me. You know I love you both no matter what, do what you need to do."

"I'll text you when I'm on my way?" Taehyung is the only one who is able to spend time with you tonight, after he helps his younger brother with a project. You simply nodded before you split ways with your group and headed for the library. You were going to stick around and do some work at the library until Taehyung was free because there was no way you were going to go home alone, feeling the way you were feeling. You weren't going to get anything done, and you weren't going to have the energy to pull yourself together.

Today was heavy.

The library wasn't any better for you because your thoughts seemed to be louder in such a huge, quiet space. You were looking at the clock time and time again, hoping Taehyung would text you, letting you know he'd be on his way with tons of dessert and wine. Just cause that's what you wanted, right at this moment.

You sighed and cracked your neck from side to side, getting yourself into Steph Curry "Lock in" mode so you can push through your assignments that needed to get done. But, it just didn't happen that way. You were becoming frustrated and restless, so you quickly packed up your things and shoved them into your bag before walking out. The campus was lit with street lights, with barely any students walking around. It felt a little eery, but the walk to the lot wasn't too bad being that the garage was well-lit, with security guards on every level. You felt your phone buzz in your pocket, causing you to try and reach for it even though you were hauling the rest of the books that didn't fit in your bag. Next thing you knew, you had your phone, but your books had fallen to the floor, the papers stuffed in them falling out and getting wet from the wet grass next to the concrete walkway.

"Fuck!" You groaned to yourself as you quickly glanced at Taehyung's 'be there in about 30 minutes or so' text and bent down to pick up your mess. You really had no reason to cry over this shit, but all of the pent up frustration and emotions you had been feeling today pushed you over the edge. You aggressively wiped your tears away as you stuffed your wet papers back into the books and stacked them on top of each other.

"Y/N?" You look up to see Jin, tears still falling from your eyes. "Are you alright?" He bends down to help you gather your books, towering over you as he gathers the majority of your things.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Thank you." You slyly wiped your tears once more as you grabbed the books from him.

"Hey." He placed his hand out to prevent you from walking any further. You look up at him, watching as he dips his head down to examine your face, your eyes still wet and glossy from the tears. "Do you wanna talk about it?"

"Look, I'm fine and I don't wanna take time away--"

"You clearly aren't." His expression fills with worry. "And you aren't going to be taking time out of my evening." He finishes your statement for you. You sigh and close your eyes as your head dips lowly.

"It's just been a tough day, that's all."

"Let's talk about it." You look up at him as he nods for you to follow him to a bench near the parking garage. "Come on. I really won't forgive myself if I went home without trying to help." You silently follow him and place your things down before sitting. He sits next to you, with enough space placed between your position and his. "What's on your mind, Y/N?"

"Um." You pause and look at him. "On this day 3 years ago, I lost the love of my life to a car accident." You wiped your tears in between words. Jin's expression softened as he watched you break down in front of him, his heart breaking seeing you in pain like this. He wanted to do everything in his power to comfort you, hoping it would relieve some of the pain even though he knew it was something that would forever be embedded in you. But if he could provide any relief, then that would make him feel a little better.

[ start flashback ]

"It's been close to two hours, where the hell is he?" You said as you looked at your phone, sitting on the couch as you, Ryujin, Taehyung and Jimin watched a movie. Suddenly, breaking news flashed through the screen, cutting the movie to another commercial break earlier than expected.

"Breaking news - a white Lexus sports car and a Ford truck were involved in a head-on collision early this morning on Highway 101."

"O-oh my god." Ryujin says, as they look at the totaled cars. The Lexus was completely sandwiched at the median, while the truck was wrecked, but still stood in one piece off to the side.

"T-that's Chance's car." You said as you put your drink down on the coffee table to take a closer look at the car.

"Y/N, I'm sure Chance is fine and is on his way back." Taehyung chimed in from behind you.

"N-no." You stuttered, the feeling of despair in the pit of your stomach growing bigger by the minute. "N-no, I know his car."

"We might just be overthinking this." Jimin says, gently grabbing your wrist to pull you back down onto the couch, but you continued to stand.

"There was said to be one intoxicated passenger in the white Lexus, who is in critical condition and is being taken to the nearby trauma center. The driver of the truck was also intoxicated and injured, but is expected to survive. However, the driver of the white Lexus was pronounced dead at the scene." All of a sudden, you felt weak and dizzy because you just knew. You knew Chance wasn't okay, and you knew he wasn't on his way back to you. Soon after the news announcement, loud knocks came at the door. You looked back at your friends before making your way to the door, revealing two police officers standing before you. At this point, you felt like your entire life had been sucked out of you as you fell onto the floor, crying loudly while your friends tried their best to comfort you and speak to the officers for you. All you could remember hearing was the "i'm sorry's" from both police officers before everything turned into white noise. Everything felt numb.

[ end flashback ]

"I am so sorry, Y/N. I know my apologies are going to do much to ease the pain, but please know that I'm here for you whenever you need someone to talk to. I wanna do what I can to provide some relief." Is all Jin says as you continue to divulge about that night's details.

"You know," You looked up at the moon. "It's been 3 years, but it feels like it just happened yesterday. The pain always feels so fresh and it still feels so painful to think about it. It used to make me question why I was so deserving to continue living my life. I'm not an angel, I haven't been perfect. You know? Yet, someone who was so close to perfect, someone who was always so selfless and never hesitated to put others before himself was taken away from this world so easily? How did Josh survive, but Chance didn't? He was just going to help his friend out because he didn't want anything to happen to him, yet he ended up getting the short end of the stick. I was so mad." You shook your head. "I was so mad at Josh for awhile. I never understood and I still don't. I still don't fucking understand this." Your tears fell as you looked back at Jin.

"I can only imagine. There's things we'll never understand and quite frankly, it fucking sucks. But, I really don't want you to beat yourself up over this. I'm sure Chance wouldn't want you to, either. A lot of things happen for a reason, whether we like it or not, and it's hard to look at it in a different perspective. He's still with you, all the time. You're strong, and he knows this."

"I just don't know how I did this without him. It hurts so bad."

"I know, and it's okay to let yourself ride it out. Don't try and suppress the feelings just because you feel the need to act strong. If you don't let yourself process these feelings, it'll never get easier. It's okay to not be okay." He nods reassuringly. You smile at him toothlessly before sighing and getting yourself together. Although it had been quite the day, you felt a little relieved being able to talk to Jin about what's been going on. You felt a little more put together than you did earlier in the day and that's all that mattered. Baby steps.

"Is it okay if I give you a hug?" You asked shyly. You didn't know how else you could thank him for listening to you. You were sure he had tons of things on his plate, yet he still took time to sit with you out in the cold just to make sure you were okay. He chuckles and stands, his arms wide open, ready to envelope you. You wrap your arms around his torso, taking in his scent and breathing him in. He gently rubs your back before you pull away and smile up at him.

"I'll take a hug any day."

"I hope Grace won't be upset with you for coming home a little later than expected."

"She'll be fine. She's at the restaurant working late." His lips were pulled together in a fine line.

"Thank you again." You pull out your phone to check the time. 30 minutes from the last time Taehyung texted you was almost up, so you felt the need to get going sooner than later.

"It's not a problem." He puts his hand out, signaling for your phone. "Do me a favor and just let me when you get home, though? I'd feel better knowing you're safe and sound." You nod and hand him your phone. You knew you couldn't get wrapped up in whatever this was, no matter how flattered you were from the attention you were getting from him. He was still engaged, and he was still planning a life with Grace. The last thing you wanted to do was ruin that for someone genuine like Jin.

But God, was he making it difficult for you.

"I can do that."

"Thanks." He smiles toothlessly at you. "If you're ever in need of company or someone to talk to, don't hesitate to let me know. I'll be there in a heartbeat."

"Okay." You grabbed your things before walking away. Jin stood there, watching you walk deeper into the garage, feeling good about having been there at the right time. Something as simple as the hug you gave him had his thoughts running wild, just feeling your touch and your body against his. Albeit, it could be the lack of attention between him and Grace causing him to feel this way, but it was enticing all at the same time.

You were enticing.

And he could pick up on your little habits that made him want to know more. The way you'd look at him inside and outside of class. The way you always dressed so nicely when you had to take his class. The way you passed closely to the front desk, allowing him to take in your scent. The way you and your friends acted around him, knowing they were teasing you.

He knew, and he also knew what he was doing when he put his number in your phone.

He gets home and just as he mentions, Grace is still out at the restaurant working late. He kicks his shoes off to the side and heats up some leftovers to eat before retreating up to the master bedroom to call it a night early. As he's getting out of his clothes from today and heading into the shower, he notices his phone vibrating on the bathroom countertop, signaling a text.

[unknown number] 9:37pm: Hi, I'm safe and sound at home. :)

He smiles to himself before responding and heading into the shower.

[jin] 9:38pm: :) Goodnight Y/N, see you tomorrow.

[key201303]

😭i meant to reply yesterday but i got busy😭 it's good to hear that you're doing well tho💛💞 I'm doing pretty good! I have two days off from school soon and I don't have that much schoolwork yay ^^ As for that request, barista! au w/ Leedo with y/n as the barista and Leedo is a constant customer who always orders black coffee but y/n always manages to slip some sugar in his coffee. If you don't like the idea you don't have to do it! And if you do it, please take your time and don't rush💖

Okay but this is the C U T E S T concept I needed with this amazing boy 🤧🤧😍😍 not gonna lie but barista au is my weakness 🙂 Sorry for taking so damn long to write this but still I hope the wait was worth enough and that you enjoy this little something ❤❤ Love ya buddy 💛💛 

 (09:42 am) 

 Another foggy morning at work has finally arrived. You somehow managed to feel the cozy feeling everyone said the little cafe you worked on had, getting a bit excited about going to work in the past few days when at the very beginning working on that cafe felt like a big burden to you. But the bills for your small apartment and the tuition of your college wouldn’t get paid for themselves so as soon as you noticed the small ad at the entrance that said they were looking for staff, you had to go for it and accept the job even if you weren’t really an enthusiast of serving coffee. 

 But all of that changed when that boy named Geonhak appeared one fine day. His deep voice did not make justice to how kind and soft he actually was and his shy talks at the very beginning did not make justice to how funny he actually was once he got confident. Day by day you just wanted to arrive at your workplace and wait for him to arrive and order his regular sized americano with extra shots of coffee and have your daily amusing chat about whatever came to your minds. Somehow, both of you grew closer and closer just by seeing each other everyday in that cafe, it felt like it came out of a drama plot.

 And soon you started to catch feelings for him, only noticing how much you actually liked him and cared about him when you managed to pour some sugar on his coffee. “Did you really put sugar on it once again?” He said, knocking you out of your thoughts and taking you back to reality. “How can you even drink the coffee as dark as that one? You’re going to have a heart attack someday because of that amount of caffeine.” You replied while you kept preparing the rest of the coffees for the rest of the customers. “Do I have to remind you sugar gives you diabetes?” He said mocking you. “And do I have to remind you caffeine can cause insomnia, headaches, dizziness, fast or abnormal heartbeat, dehydration, anxiety-.” You started to enumerate every single consequence of caffeine on health. “Okay, okay fine.” He cut you off rolling his eyes clearly annoyed. “Since when do you care about me this much?” He suddenly asked sipping his coffee. His question made your cheeks burn in red, just now realizing how much you liked him once again. “I guess I consider you a friend now after all this time…” You confessed, your eyes glued on the coffee you were making obviously unable to meet his gaze. “Cool, I like it.” He said, sipping once again on his coffee. 

 And just like that, another amazing morning with him finished, making you think about a future with him. At first it felt crazy but nowadays, after dating him for a year and celebrating your first anniversary in the same cafe, it didn’t feel crazy at all.

[notgalaxii]

ah! can you do 55 with asmo?? ❤ please

Woo! This one was fun if we ignore the fact that I've written it twice now because I wasn't satisfied. There might be grammar errors here and there because Im sick and all foggy headed and shit, I'll edit her another time. Anyways, happy reading! Thank you for the request my love 💕🤞

Prompt: Shut up and kiss me already 

"MC, how about we go out tonight?~" 

It was a sweet prompt from one of your best friends in the world, not just in the Devildom. However, it almost always led to something chaotic. Some nights Asmodeus disappears into the night and takes part in some wild orgy; some nights he tries to hook you up with someone; some nights he gets crowds when he really doesn't want to. Nine times out of ten, something happens.

This night was no different for the two of you. He dressed you up, styled your hair to his liking, then ushered you into some crazy nightclub that you definitely couldn't have gotten into on your own. Now, you danced together, pinkies locked so you don't lose each other in the mass of drunk demons, holding your alcohol in your free hand. The pinky holding had been Asmo's idea; it was a lot cuter than handholding and less intimate so you weren't uncomfortable. 

"Would you like a refill, cutie?" he quizzed, a bright smile stretching from ear to ear. 

“Yes, please,” you hummed, passing your cup over to the demon. Asmo took the glass from your hands almost gracefully, as gracefully as he could when he was buzzed, before turning on his heel and waltzing back to the bar. 

“I’ll be right back then, my dear!” he called over his shoulder. You chuckled to yourself, resuming the rhythm you had created to the beat of the music that was blaring through the club. 

He did this pretty often: holding you close for a few hours and then disappearing into the night, coming back a solid half hour later with a drink and a lipstick stain on his cheek. It was a little annoying at first, but you grew accustomed to it throughout your friendship with him. Seeing him throw compliments and flirts at any passing beautiful face like he was asking the time of day made your stomach churn still, even though it’s a part of your new daily routine. Not only did he nonchalantly chat it up with anyone, but the demons fell for it. Even when he wasn’t using his charm, strangers seemed to throw themselves at your best friend left and right. It wasn’t the flirting itself that entirely bothered you. It was what they were looking at. 

On the outside, Asmodeus was nothing more than a self-centered bratty perv who’s diet consisted of nothing but drama and attention. He was so much more than that to you, though. Asmodeus was a gentle and passionate man in more ways than one. When he loves people, he loves them. He learns them, he spoils them, he lives them, he breathes them. Asmodeus knows the ins and outs of everyone he cares for, what they like, what they don’t like, and every way to supply them with their needs. He’s thoughtful and kind.

The case was no different with you. You hadn’t spent a day without Asmodeus by your side since you started your stay in the Devildom. He’s taken you to all of his favorite stores, showed you all of the most beautiful sights to see, he’s fed you the most delicious food he could think of, and most of all, he’s spent quality personal time with you. Your favorite nights were those spent in his room before bed, trying out new face masks together, and just talking about life. For someone who seems self-centered, Asmodeus had always been the best listener when it came to you. In your eyes, he was no less than a glistening jewel that had caught the moonlight in the depths of a hidden cave. 

Just as expected, you spotted your favorite demon in the crowd near the bar, chatting with a beautiful woman. The look on his face read a combination of, “I can’t wait to get out of this conversation,” and “I should buy more alcohol.” Hers, however, was reading unadulterated desire, something that you had learned to pick up on when spending time with Asmodeus. By some miracle, you managed to meet his sunset gaze through the mass. It felt almost as if the smile he directed towards you had roped you in, dragging you closer to him. 

“Ah! It looks like you found me!” Asmo giggled once you fell at his feet.

“You’re not that hard to find, you know,” you teased, flickering your gaze to the woman he had just been chatting with. She was definitely more attractive up close, as she was shooting daggers at you with her eyes. 

“Well, I believe we had a lovely chat but I have previous engagements to attend to,” Asmodeus told her, lowering his hand to lock his pinky with yours again, “Perhaps I’ll see you sometime again in the future?” 

“I hope I can count on it,” her voice was low and almost sultry. Paying no mind to her comment, Asmo beckoned you to follow him off into a more secluded area.

“She seemed like a treat,” you scoffed before sitting down. 

“Hmm? You seem like you desire something. Tell me, MC, what is it?” Asmodeus inquired, not bothering to sit down. You looked up at him, watching the way the pink and gold hues danced in his eyes with glimmers of content, how his champagne hair effortlessly curled just out of the way of his gaze, how his skin looked so delicate and soft to the touch. He was absolutely right, you desired something. You desired him. You desired to reach up and run your fingers across his perfect skin. You desired his sunset gaze to be fixated on you and only you. You desired him to make an attempt to charm you again even though he knows it won’t work in the way he wants it to. You were already charmed by him, no magic involved.

“I just want to know what possesses you to make you walk up to random strangers and try to charm them,” it wasn’t a total lie, but it definitely wasn’t what you really desired. 

Asmodeus quirked an eyebrow at you in surprise, but it soon settled. The expression of shock was replaced by an arrogant smile. It was mesmerizing, the way his rosey lips pulled into an enchanting gleam. You wondered if he knew that he had your heart on strings and with every pull of his smile, he tugged on them. 

“She approached me, actually. I just wanted to get you a drink,” Asmodeus leaned down closer to you so that your faces were level. In doing so, a few strands of his hair fell in front of his eyes. There was a new thing you had desired, to run your fingers through his hair, push it out of the way, see just exactly how soft it was. “Is that all you wanted, MC? I feel like there's something still locked deep away in your chest. Why don’t you help me open it?”

“Oh, I’m sorry! If I had known that it was her doing then I wouldn’t have pestered you about it. Forgive me, Asmo,” you fumbled, brushing aside his last statement in hopes that he would drop it.

“Shh, just be quiet and kiss me already, would you?” Asmodeus cajoles, “That is what you’d like, isn’t it, love?” 

A warmth invades your face, peppering your cheeks with a deep shade of red. It takes a brief moment of contemplating whether it’s worth it or not, sacrificing your friendship to soothe your inner desires, but you comply with the Avatar of Lust’s demand. Once you’ve closed the distance between the two of you, your lips melt right against his. 

The kiss is everything you hoped it would be and more. Asmodeus’ lips were soft, smooth, and tasted faintly of the sweet chapstick that he had applied before the two of you set off. Unexpectedly, however, his kiss was gentle and loving rather than fervent and needy. He moved his lips against yours very slowly, yet skillfully. The feelings that Asmodeus’ touch gave you as his hands made themselves home on your waist and cheek were second to none; he sent ripples of euphoria throughout your entire body and chills down your spine. 

“I-I was really hoping you didn’t figure that one out,” you scrambled for words the moment his lips vacated yours. 

“I know you, MC,” he giggled. You almost hoped that he didn’t know you well enough to pick up on that you were desperate for more. 

[colehasapen]

(ONE SHOT) haaranovor STAR WARS

(belated) Whumptober no.30 - Now Where Did That Come From?

Comfortember no.9 - Confession

Cody sees it out of the corner of his eye. They’re three hours out of a massive battle that had seen a large portion of Ghost Company laid up in the medbay under Pace’s tender care, and Cody had been going over each squad’s report on the bridge with his General. He’s just signing off on Patchwork’s requisition for more hypos, listening with half an ear as Wooley talks himself through his own report out loud, when he sees Kenobi sway. Cody, hyper-aware at all times of his Jedi, is turning immediately, just on time to see the man’s legs give out from under him.

The datapad clatters against the holotable, and Cody is lunging around the blockade between himself and his falling General. He catches the Jedi before he hits the ground, but not on time to save him from hitting his head off the edge of the table, and the command bridge goes deathly still.

“Get a medic in here!” Cody barks at the troopers around him, but it’s not needed. He and his Vode are too well trained to freeze for long, and he knows that someone is already comming the medbay.

Confident that a medic would be arriving soon, Cody turns his attention to his di’kutla Jetii. A little frantic, Cody starts scanning across what he can see of the older man’s condition. His face is pallid, forehead dotted with sweat and smeared with blood from the new wound carved into his temple. His mind is churning, trying desperately to figure out what could have happened to make his Jedi collapse like he had, but he keeps drawing a blank. Until, that is, he pushes his memory beyond their return to the Negotiator, and starts studying the battle. There had been one heart-stoppingly long moment planetside that sticks out to him. They had been pinned down by artillery fire, and the General had gone for the tanks, recklessly drawing attention away from his men and to himself instead. He had put himself in danger once again for the troopers under his command, blowing up the tanks aiming for them.

General Kenobi had been caught in one of the explosions, and Cody’s heart had leapt into his throat, afraid that his Jetii wouldn’t be walking away this time. Those seconds had been the longest in Cody’s relatively short life, filled with the choking, heart-stopping fear over losing one of the people he cared about the most.

Cody is a clone, one face in thousands, just a single cog in the machine that is the GAR. He’s unimportant and replaceable, but Obi-Wan Kenobi - he makes him feel otherwise. They never spoke of the thing that had grown between them over all the long campaigns they had run together - something soft and warm that flutters in his chest and makes his cheeks heat up. It’s late nights in the office and sweet-smelling tea, secret smiles and private jokes that only they know. It’s quiet comfort on bad nights, and gentle touches to bring each other back to the present and out of bad memories. His Jedi is a light burning in the sky, a sun that Cody can only bask in, and a life without him would be like one in perpetual darkness. They both knew that any day could be their last, but Cody had come to see his Jetii as unkillable - he walked away from everything with a quip and a smile, and maybe Cody had come to depend on that.

His General had come bursting out of the flames like a warrior of legends, just like he always did, looking singed but still moving. His lightsaber had been alight and already sweeping through droids, and the battle had continued without a hitch.

The fear is back now, smoldering in his chest like fire, because his General collapsing now can only mean he was hurt under Cody’s watch, and he never noticed.

General Kenobi jackknifes into consciousness when Cody’s probing hands press down on his abdomen, gray-blue eyes flying open as he gasps in agony before he crumbles again with a moan of pain. Cody loops his arms around his Jedi with a gentleness that should be foreign to him, having been bred for war, but kindness and softness had always come easily to him, despite the trainers attempts to beat it out of him.

Wooley is next to him within seconds of the General’s return to consciousness, letting Cody lower their Jedi’s head onto the padded leather of his kama, and Cody has an absent moment to mull over if he should start wearing his own again - but the heavy armour had always gotten in the way when Cody had tried to utilize his legs to their fullest extent - before he’s pulling at the layers that separate him from his Jedi’s injury. His General makes a quiet noise, clumsily trying to push Cody’s hands away, but he’s uncoordinated, his eyes glazed and a flush that could possibly hint towards an infection on his pale cheeks as Wooley presses his gloved hand against the gash on his temple.

Even a Jedi like his has limits to what their body can take, and Cody honestly hopes he never finds it.

Cody hushes the Jedi quietly, then bites off a curse when he finally manages to push away the many layers of fabric the man wears to reveal thick bandages. Obi-Wan would have needed to tend to the injury himself, because the wrappings, while done well and securely, weren’t done in the way clones were trained in and blood had begun to seep through the white. “Jareor.” He grumbles under his breath, and foggy blue eyes flicker towards Cody’s face and holds there.

“Cody.” The Jedi breaths in greeting, and the Commander can’t help but wonder how cognizant the man is as he stares deeply into Cody’s eyes. “Gold.” He murmurs, and despite Wooley’s hands on his head and the bridge crew around them, he’s still staring at Cody like he held the answer to all of the Galaxy’s mysteries in his gaze. “Mesh’la.” Obi-Wan’s voice is quiet, barely audible, but Cody hears it, and so does Wooley, if the look his ARC shoots him means anything.

Cody goes carefully still, trying to push away the heat burning in his cheeks, and the fluttering of his heart in his chest. “General, now really isn’t the time-”

“I love you.” Cody jolts like he had been struck, the slurred words rattling around his head, and all he can do in response is let out a strangled squeaking sound that he would deny to the grave. His Jedi doesn’t even look fully conscious, and yet his eyes don’t leave Cody’s. “So amazing - you’re great.” Copper lashes flutter against flushed, but pale, cheeks, and Cody can feel his grave being dug when Wooley giggles. “You - you fight good. Love you so much.”

Face on fire, Cody can only let out a strangled wheeze of faintly hysterical laughter, because of course his Jedi says this the moment he’s lost his silver tongue. He’d be able to handle flowery language, he’d come to expect it so it never fazes him, but something as stupidly sincere as you fight good has his heart pounding.

Luckily, he’s saved from making a complete fool of himself by Patchwork bursting onto the bridge like a bleach-blond hurricane. The senior medic is accompanied by one of his shinier underlings and a biobed, and soon the injured General is whisked away to Pace’s domain. Cody finds himself staring after them, glad for his darker complexion because his cheeks are still burning. With the drama over, the crew has gone back to their work, though there’s a cloud of worry over them. They all love General Kenobi, and he loves them in turn.

He loves Cody too.

Wooley is the only one to not have moved back to where he had been before, and is watching Cody with undisguised glee, and a grin on his face that has Cody knowing that the ARC had heard everything.

“Not a word.” Cody gives him a warning look, but Wooley claps his hands in front of his face, grin widening and dark eyes looking too innocent to be trusted.

“Fives owes me so many credits.” The younger trooper breathes in awe, and Cody can’t quite stop the shiver of horror that travels down his spine.

If Fives finds out, then Rex will know, and if Rex knows, then so will his batchmates. Cody will never know peace again. None of them will ever let him live this down.

[slightlymore]

Pride | Part 7

Pairing: Doyoung, Y/N, new character, Johnny cameo Genre: Series | Smut | Angst | Crack | Fluff Warnings: as usual, language, little hand cut, same issues around mental health and unhealthy coping mechanisms, angsty, smutty scenario Words: 5.8K

Just one part to go peeps, Part 8 is going to be the last whoop whoop (I can create conflict and drama every chapter but after a while it’s kinda boring, so let’s end it soon lmao) 

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 |  Part 8 THE END

The rain was pouring heavily on the roof as if a thousand fingers were tapping on it. You could see it slide down the little cabin’s windows, dragging down tree branches, frightening and beautiful at the same time. It was a cold night but you were feeling so cozy, skin bathed in the yellow hue of the fireplace. 

It was loud and scary outside, but you couldn't hear it. Not really. Your mind was foggy and occupied with so many things. It was difficult to express what those things were. But you knew what they formed altogether. Pleasure. 

Intense, breathtaking pleasure, traveling from the tip of your curled toes, up to your knees, bringing lust and passion all the way to your head, as a slow caress. 

The culprit was Doyoung. Or better, Doyoung’s tongue, while he was holding your thighs so tightly that you were seeing the bruises underneath his fingers. You wanted to see his eyes as well, you wanted to bath in that darkness full of desire, but they were closed. His eyebrows were furrowed as if concentrating and you ruffled the hair on his forehead, to drink in his every expression. When he let go of your clit, a little string of saliva connecting it to his tongue, you whined and arched your back, showing him everything that you wanted. His eyes pierced finally through yours and he smiled. Then those lips, still curved up teasingly, kissed your stomach, painfully slow, rising in a single line, going between your breasts, on your collar bones, on your neck and chin. He brought his hand up to cup your cheeks and rubbed your lower lip with his thumb. You opened your mouth, ready to fall into him, but a little sparkle at the corner of your eye got your attention elsewhere. Looking at his hand you felt your head a little less foggy. You blinked as if hallucinating. Was that a ring? He had no rings, you were sure about it. Why was a ring adorning his finger, but also, why was that fact making you feel so confused and uneasy? "Where did you get that from?", you asked grabbing his hand and analyzing the piece of jewelry. Doyoung looked at the ring first, then at your face with a chuckle. "What are you talking about?", he asked as well. "This is a wedding ring", you explained. Doyoung grinned. "Yes, I can't believe this either, my love". An unpleasant shiver caressed your spine and you already knew before looking. You could feel it. It was cold and secure around your finger as well. Near the other one, with a big stone on it. Your engagement and marriage rings. You gasped as if falling underwater. The corners of your vision started to get dark as blurry stains made it difficult to see. No, no, no, no. You swallowed. The air from your lungs disappeared and even if you tried hard to breathe, nothing came in as your focus shifted. Doyoung wasn’t on top of you anymore. You looked at him and his fiancé from above, the way her hand caressed his back, listening to their whispers and you found yourself panting. Again. No, please, no, stop. Let me alone. Please. I don’t want this. I don’t want it. Your legs kicked the covers and you sat up, hands restless, chin trembling and communicating that you were about to cry. Again. From a stupid dream haunting your nights. _____

You were the first thought that would wake Doyoung up in the morning. The last desire that lulled him to sleep at night. And in that split uncountable moment between consciousness and unconsciousness, he let himself flow. He promised to do it only in those circumstances when his rational side couldn't hold him in his grip. Even if lately he felt himself slowly slipping its hold every second more. Dreaming is only causing you pain, the Rational side would say. Not doing it is going to cause pain anyways, Doyoung would reply. Yes, but the first type of pain is going to end soon, it insisted. How do you know that? Doyoung would ask. I just know, it would get irritated. What if I don't care? Doyoung would inquire again. The Rational side wouldn’t reply as if tired to argue yet again.   What if I don't care about anything? Legit nothing in life matters. What if I just do whatever the fuck I want? Future me doesn't exist, does it? Only I do, right now. And right now I just want to fucking dream, alright? The Rational side was judging silently while Doyoung would get worked up by himself, in a pathetic fight. Let me, please, please, just let me dream for a second more. I beg of you. Okay? I beg. Just one second. Then I’ll stop. I promise. Just this time. Please. Please. Please. Doyoung would mumble to himself until finally forced to open his eyes and stare soullessly at the first rays of sun entering his room. Breathless. Ashamed. Defeated. Time’s up. No more dreaming, the Rational side’s little voice would wake up as well. ________ Jealousy was something you didn't want to think about. When Johnny was seeing other people, it felt like a sting in the heart, a little oh forming on your lips. You've made an effort to not let it be a selfish sentiment. I'm not a jealous person, you would say with a proud smile. But the truth was that you were. And after waking up, drenched in your own sweat after being so sure that your dreams were a reality before they could become nightmares, and even worse, fantasy, your chest would boil in pain. In pain and rage. You were so angry. You were so jealous. It was no more a sting, or a little oh, it was a hit in the stomach and a soundless scream. You would walk around to class, taking your exams, eating, talking, and laughing with your friends, but never alone, always with this ugly feeling on your shoulders. You felt jealous, possessive, selfish, hateful. You would alternate thoughts of I have to stop, I can’t change it, I can't be a bad person, with I'm a bad person, so what, I am like that, I feel that, that’s me, until feeling like you were driving yourself into madness. When you shook your rector’s hand, while the other was holding your degree, a few months had already passed after seeing Doyoung’s face for the last time. It felt like decades and a few days at the same time. “This is a new beginning, huh?”, Johnny’s face light up in a bright smile. You looked up at him and a soft fuzzy feeling flooded your chest. If Doyoung’s experience was helpful in some ways, one of it was the fact that you finally sorted out your feelings for your best friend. And he did as well, you could see it in the way his eyes looked free and calm, in the way his voice called your name, in the way he felt sorry for you after you told him everything that happened with Doyoung. It took you both some time, but you did it, and you started to breathe more easily after you saw Johnny’s understanding eyes instead of his previous jealous ones. He also realized that your romantic relationship wasn’t a healthy one and he felt better about himself for a long while giving the fault of your fights to Doyoung, when in reality, deep down, he knew you would have behaved like that towards each other anyways. Smiling back at him, you both linked arms and walked away to where your seats were. “I have good news”, you interrupted the silence, whispering to his ear after you sat down. “You know that company you said were hiring?”, you asked, building tension but unable to hide your smile. Johnny looked down at you with wide eyes. A few days before graduation, Johnny came up to you with the most euphoric expression. “Y/N, please apply to this job”, he slammed a piece of printed paper on your desk. You looked at it, confused, then up at him. “Why?”, you asked. Johnny breathed in as if preparing for the longest monologue of his life. “You must”, he just said though. He was so on the edge, sprinkling happiness like a child, that you found yourself chuckling. “Why don’t you apply to it? We’re graduating the same day. You also need a job”, you commented. Johnny crossed his arms on his chest. “You know I want to take a year off and travel the world. I won’t sit my ass in an office chair from 9 till 5, thank you very much. But you,” he shoved his finger into your face, “you love that kind of job, and this,” he slammed the paper again making you jolt, “it’s the perfect opportunity for you. Trust me. You’ll see. You’ll thank me”, he finished. You laughed and shrugged putting the paper inside your books. “Wait, they accepted you?”, now Johnny asked loudly, several heads in the graduation hall turning to hush you. You waved your hand in front of him as to indicate to keep his voice down. But then you nodded while a little smile forming on your lips. “Fuck!”, Johnny exclaimed. “I am- fuck!”, he just cursed again and hug you tightly. _______ Doyoung never realized it before how you were the reason for his every gesture. Not until you weren't there to hold him up anymore. He wasn't as melodramatic as to say that what he did now was pointless, but it had no real meaning either. Like it didn't have before meeting you. He was getting overwhelmed by everything now, he had no patience, every sound and image and person were unbearable. His thoughts were out of control. “You’re under great stress right now, Doyoung”. Doyoung sighed. Yeah, I know, old man. "It's just", he finally spoke slowly, staring out of that window yet again, "I'm always waiting for something", he added, trying hard to explain his thoughts. The therapist nodded. "It's always-", Doyoung paused again, recollecting himself, "-I always think like, it's going to be over soon, just a little bit. I’m assuring myself that this won’t last long, that it’s going to end. While my hands are itching and I can’t stay still. I am waiting and waiting and looking around for something. But what am I waiting for? Death?", he chuckled bitterly. The man in front of him shook his head with a sigh. He put his notes down and rested his elbows on his knees, eyes piercing over the eyeglasses frames. "The answer is - life, Doyoung”. Doyoung jerked his head towards the man as if someone punched him in the face. “You're not waiting for things to be over. You're waiting for things to start". ________ Your limbs were shaking and your throat was completely closed off not letting you even to swallow, as you clasped your hands together, playing with your fingernails. You had to explain to the guards why you had no pass to enter the building yet, then to explain what were you doing there, then you had to wait for a young girl, the HR director’s secretary, to take you to her boss - a woman with a dry smile on her face. “You have arrived at the right moment”, the young secretary smiled at you kindly while taking you through the company corridors, giving you a short tour. The place wasn’t just big. It was humongous. You were in the marketing wing at that moment, with an open mouth, in shock while passing near the windows seeing how tall the building actually was, while the secretary was about to tell you at which desk you will be spending the next few years of your life. This, if they don’t fire you sooner. “Really? What does that mean?”, you asked politely, entering the office. A few people raised their eyes from the computer, most didn’t, some of them were discussing between themselves, some of them were yelling into their phones before slamming it on the desk. Great, you sighed. Looks inviting.  “Tonight there’s a company party. It’s going to be a great occasion to get to know your colleagues. When there are alcohol and music, they all loosen up a lot”, she winked at you as if telling a secret. You smiled back grateful for her being the first person you had the pleasure to meet and not some random rude one. Then you sat down after she introduced you to the department manager, who promptly left you alone talking about being very busy in the same second the secretary left as well.  The evening approached fast as you spent the whole day trying to understand how the phone line worked, how to use the computer efficiently, what your first tasks were. You had to learn most of those things alone as the people you had to shadow were “too busy to babysit someone right now”. You sighed. You kinda knew it was going to be like this so you weren’t that surprised. Getting into such a big company right after graduating university was a big deal and you weren’t about to whine but you still hoped that after that night you’d have at least one new friend. At least someone to talk to you and that would want to answer your questions.  It took you a lot of effort to go back to your new small apartment after the exhausting day, to shower, to try to find something appropriate to wear to a party, but a classy one, but still, a party, to put on makeup again, to do your hair, then to come back to the company building, all before 9 pm. When you got out of the taxi, you were already sweating, heels pierced by the high heels, spirit crushed and mind absolutely ready to go to bed already. You didn’t really like parties in the first place, even during your university days, but you still had the energy to dance at least until 4 am and get completely hammered when in the mood. It definitely wasn’t the case anymore. Entering the hall you stopped to breathe in and out and just awkwardly looked around. All types of people were standing in small groups, smiling fakely, and chatting about boring stuff, probably work. Your outfit wasn’t too off, thankfully and you felt lowkey grateful that no one gave you any attention. You were the type of person to want to socialize but at your terms and being shoved in the middle of a group full of strangers didn’t sound very appealing at that moment. For how intimidating, it was still a pretty gathering. The high windows were letting people admire the little city lights against the dark night. Some waiters were walking around with tall glasses of champagne and finger food. It was alright, you reassured yourself. You could do it. Come on. You closed your eyes as if gathering courage, still standing in the frame of the tall door, and opening them again after a moment you made the first step inside. A waiter walked right in front of you so you awkwardly grabbed a glass to look occupied while strolling the place alone. Your feet took you towards the windows. Sipping on a drink and looking at the night view? Great plan when you have no idea what to do to yourself. So, you picked up the pace, as if physically needing to get to those windows as soon as possible. But you probably shouldn’t have as you suddenly felt a cold liquid all over your chest followed by a deep swear. “I apologize. I didn’t see you coming-”, the man spoke but soon his voice flattered, becoming a tiny sound then nothingness. You blinked a few times looking down your dripping dress, then at the hand holding the glass that just got the champagne all over you, then up at the man’s face. Two fiery eyes were wide enough for you to see yourself in them. "What are you doing here?", Doyoung asked with a breathy voice. You had no idea what a heart attack felt like but somehow, in that exact moment, you thought that you probably were about to die. Yes, definitely. This feels like dying. Your muscles were like paralyzed and your fingers couldn’t keep the grip around your glass anymore, letting it fall, making you close your eyes when it shattered all over the floor. Angry heys surrounded you as some fragments probably went flying to their faces but they sounded so far away. You weren’t able to understand anything that was happening so you just looked at the man in front of you moving in slow-motion. "I got this", his lips formed to someone, probably a waiter, while he knel. You imitated him, crouching down like an automaton, your limbs moving without your brain telling them what to do. Doyoung carefully gathered all the biggest pieces of glass and for some reason grabbed your hand afterward, calling you stupid all of a sudden.  "What?", you asked with a tiny voice, looking down. The party sounds started to return slowly, infiltrating in your brain and shaking your nerves just like the sting on your finger. "It's alright", you said, putting it inside your mouth and sucking on it. "It's just a little cut". Doyoung didn't comment on that and you knew that you probably could have understood what he was thinking by looking at his eyes, but you were too much of a coward to look up. He was still holding your wrist and all your brain cells were concentrated on that spot, trying to memorize the way his cool skin felt on yours. God, you missed it, you missed it so much that you were about to let yourself fall in an agonizing cry. Then you realized what you were doing and felt like running away. You can’t. Don’t feel. No. Stop. "Come", he spoke suddenly leaving all the mess behind and you couldn’t do anything else but to let yourself be dragged like a lifeless puppet. You looked at his back as he was walking in front of you, then at his styled black hair, you listened to the sound his dress shoes made on the marbled floor, then he let your hand go entering a small room. "There should be something here…", he mumbled by himself, opening and closing all the cabinets in the bathroom. It was a pretty one, not like the public ones on your floor. It looked luxurious and almost intimate as if it was private. Doyoung was standing in front of the sink, eyebrows furrowed as if trying to see better. You were left in the frame of the door, holding your wrist, finger raised up, weight shifting from one foot to another. The déjà-vu was so strong to leave you breathless. You wondered if Doyoung remembered as well. Or if he cared at all. You couldn't stop yourself from letting your eyes fall to his hands, afraid, trying to see the ring. God, oh God. No, please, no.  You felt all your blood abandon your brain. You felt like falling. It was there, shiny, adorning his pretty hands. So he did it. He actually did it. So quickly? It felt like years but only months passed from the last time you saw him. How was that possible? Wasn’t that a dream? You couldn’t believe it was actually reality. His number has been on your phone screen multiple times a day for the past months, fingers hovering over it, to call or not to call, to text or not to text. Then his voice had bounced on the walls of your mind every time. Let me go. Let me go. If you’re not giving anything to me, just let me go. Then his last kiss had ghosted your lips as if he had just kissed you one minute before that, and you would have gently caressed the thin skin with your fingertips. Was it your fault? Should you have just called, just once? Would that have helped you, him, both of you? Or did you do the right choice? Not contacting him at all, leaving him, letting him go? God. After all of this time. Your breath was still going missing. "Here". he turned around and getting closer, he handed you the wet cotton. You stared at it as if not understanding what he was saying. Right. It’s not like he was about to hold your hand again, taking care of you, making the scenario intimate, medicating the cut for you. This was no Tumblr fanfiction. This was reality. You took it with a trembling hand and placed it on your finger. It burnt like hell but the pain somehow helped you feel better. "I'm sorry", Doyoung then said. You looked up. "For spilling my drink on you", he explained quickly. You nodded. "It's alright", you answered with a tiny voice. And just when you thought that he would go away and leave you there just the way he did months ago, he spoke again. "There's no Johnny to lend us clothes this time, huh?", he joked with an uneasy little smile.  His eyes were curved in a warm half moon and you thought you could drown in that sweetness. "Yeah", you managed to say after a moment of silence, a little smile intruding on your lips as well. He remembered. He was thinking about the same thing. Your knees were feeling even weaker than before. Then you both bounced on the silence wall between you. "Why are you here?", he finally spoke after a little while, finally about what you both were dying to talk about. His voice was cautious and polite while you put a bandaid on your cut. He looked like speaking to a scared kitty and you were feeling like one indeed. “What are you doing here?”, you asked but as the words left your mouth you already knew. That was his company. Of course. You felt so stupid. You closed your eyes. Dammit, Johnny Suh. Doyoung sighed silently, as if a little uncomfortable, noticing how you knew the answer to that already. You suddenly panicked, realizing how that looked like to his eyes.  “No! I am not here because of you!”, you spluttered out quickly, feeling your eyes widen. “I didn’t know this was your father’s company. I really just thought about it. I had no idea. I swear-”, but he interrupted you by placing his hands on your shoulders. “Hey, hey, Y/N”, he spoke softly, “it’s alright”. You shook your head. “But it’s true. I don’t want you to think that I am here…” you added but drifting off, unsure what words to use. Doyoung let his arms fall slowly. “It’s fine. I believe you”, he assured you. “There’s no need to explain yourself”. You sighed, still frustrated but didn’t add anything else, not wanting to embarrass yourself even further. “Are you alone?”, he looked behind you as if expecting to see someone. “N-no”, you shook your head. “I am- with a man”. The last word sounding way too high to be considered normal conversational pitch. Doyoung looked down at you again, not saying anything for a few instances. “Let me take you to him, then”, he simply said and walked out of the bathroom. “Doyoung!”, you called before realizing how much you’ve missed having his name roll on your tongue. “Please, don’t bother. It’s alright”, you added when reaching him. He stopped, waiting for you to catch up. “I insist”, he replied sternly. “This is the least I can do to make it up to you for destroying your dress”. You knew how stubborn he could get and if you weren’t feeling so many different things altogether, you would have rolled your eyes at him. You sighed and followed him. Entering the hall again, you gulped and lifted yourself on the tiptoes, staring around the room as if effectively looking for your man. “Uhm-”, you murmured unsurely. Doyoung crossed his arms on his chest and looked around as well. “Uh…”, you were about to get a panic attack. What should you do? Be honest? Yes, be honest then go outside and dig a fucking hole to bury yourself in, you fucking loser. What were you thinking? Why was it necessary to tell him that you were over him? Why was it necessary to invent a stupid ass story? “There!”, you exclaimed after a minute and just walked hurriedly towards a random guy, praying that he would play along. Please, please, please. Doyoung followed you and as you reached the man’s shoulders you just slid your arm underneath his. The man turned around, reasonably surprised, and just looked at your wide eyes, telling him to just shut up and do what you were about to tell him to do. “I’m sorry for being away for so long. What a bad date I am, right?”, then you opened your mouth in a sequence of loud “ha ha ha”, making the guy feel even more uncomfortable. He furrowed his eyebrows at your almost desperate expression, not missing the way you were tilting your head towards Doyoung, standing with hands in his pockets behind you. “Oh”, the guy finally said as if finally understating. Then his eyes light up amused and he tugged at your arm, making you come closer. “It’s alright, darling. I hope you’re fine?”, he put on a worried expression eyeing your bandaged finger and holding your hand to look at it closely.   You looked at him, surprised that he was able to catch up on that so effortlessly but pleased at the same time. Thank God. “It’s just a little cut. I dropped my glass”, you explained and inhaled sharply as the guy brought your hand to his lips and kissed your knuckles. It was so sudden that you definitely felt your heart flutter. “To make the boo-boo go away faster”, the guy explained as if obvious. Doyoung was still standing there like a big and dark shadow, so you turned around to face him when he cleared his throat. “Oh, Doyoung, hi, didn’t see you there”, the guy looked up as if suddenly aware of the other’s presence. “Yeah, sure. Then I’ll be going now. Take care”, Doyoung spoke directing the last phrases to you. “Wait, you guys know each other?”, you asked surprised, staring at one first then at the other. You were already preparing yourself for the embarrassing moment of having to introduce them to each other, not knowing what to say about Doyoung and not even knowing the guy’s name. The fact that you didn’t have to do that made the air feel slightly easier to breathe in but at the same time, a weird shiver of worry caressed your spine. The guy, indeed, pressed his hand on the small of your waist as a warning. You looked at him and saw the way he smiled, showing all of his teeth, speaking through them. “This is a company party, darling. We all work together. Did you forget?”, he asked with a tight smile. You swallowed nothing feeling your throat suddenly dry. “Oh yeah, haha, wow, I must be very tired”, you chuckled bringing one hand to your head as if suddenly exhausted. “Haha indeed”, the guy replied with a big smile but it was almost obvious that it was fake.  Doyoung looked at both of you, unamused as if watching a terrible play. You were about to say something else since the embarrassment was crawling on your skin, but you didn’t need to as Doyoung spared you of further awkwardness. “See you on Monday then, and please, for the love of God, help me finish that assignment, alright?”, he spoke. The guy put his hand on his hip with a daring face. “I’m too good to be your helper”, he smiled. You gasped. That guy was speaking like that to the CEO himself? Was he doing that to help you out? You tugged at his hand trying to tell him to stop, that there was no need for him to act like that. But Doyoung just sighed as if already used to that behavior and rolling his eyes he just walked away. You couldn’t help but look at his back and legs as they were drifting away every step more, as if praying for him to not go, not again. “What are you doing?”, you finally whispered concerned to the guy after taking your eyes off Doyoung. “Are you insane?” The guy looked at you as if you were the insane one between the two. And maybe he was right. “Aren’t you afraid he’s going to fire you?”, you asked again, explaining your shock. The guy furrowed his eyebrows at you as if not understanding, then he laughed. “Who? Doyoung?”, he laughed even harder. You looked at him confused. “He’s the CEO of this company. What are you laughing about?”, you were getting a little irritated. The guy swiped an imaginary tear out of his eye. “That loser wishes to be the CEO”, he commented. “What are you talking about?”. You felt your head hurting. He breathed in and out, suddenly bored, looking at you from head to toe, as if finally asking himself what the fuck do you want from him. “Who are you anyway?”, he asked. You puffed your cheeks. “Later! What do you mean he’s not the CEO?”, you asked urgently. “I mean”, he started, finally sliding his arm away from yours, “that he’s not the fucking CEO”, he finished. “We’re just co-workers. We work in the same department”. You unfocused your gaze as if thinking about what he has just said. The guy shook his head as if dealing with a weirdo and grabbed a glass of champagne from a passing waiter. “I just don’t understand”, you finally spoke again. The guy didn’t reply and just drank, but his face was screaming “because you’re fucking stupid”. Then you tugged at his arm, making him lean down towards you, closer to your face, and whispered to his ear. “He is the former CEO's son”, you shared the secret, wondering if Doyoung was working in a lower position to hide his origins. The guy listened with wide eyes then looked at you and gasped when you finished. “No. fucking. way”, he articulated theatrically.   “Hey”, he then stopped a random dude by slapping the back of his hand on his chest. “Did you know that Kim Doyoung from the IT department is - the CEO's son?”, he asked. You jolted and squeezed his arm as to stop him from talking. What the fuck was he doing? But the dude looked at him with no particular reaction besides pure confusion. “Yeah?”. The guy turned around to you with a fake surprised face. “Oh no! Did you hear that? Everyone knows!”, he exclaimed putting his hand on his cheek.  You stared at him for a few seconds, breathing in slowly, then you just hit his arm. The guy giggled at your reaction and sprinted one step away. “You’re a fucking asshole”, you accused him. “It’s just”, he laughed, “your face was priceless. You thought you were sharing a top-notch state secret. I can’t believe I’m having so much fun at a company party. I’m glad I came”, he said. You were shocked and angry. How dare this guy to mock you and laugh at you like that? You were already out of your own fucking mind because it was the first working day of your whole life, you’ve just met Doyoung after being sure to not see him again, you’ve discovered that he is indeed married after struggling with the most excruciating pain for months because of that, you acted in a full-on rom-com just now, and you still had to be the subject of this guy’s jokes? “Well, then why is he working such a low position as you when he can be the CEO?”, you tried to insult him, but the guy looked unbothered. “What is this? A Korean drama?”, he chuckled. “He can’t just climb the ladder with blood alone. He has to work his ass off just like everybody else. From the bottom”. You really had no idea what to do with all of the information roaming your head. What the fuck was that? Did he marry a random girl just to have a normal position in his own company? Did he sacrifice his life for something that anyone could have?  The guy looked at your expressionless face. “What’s up with this situation anyway? Was Doyoung bothering you before?”, he asked suddenly. You jerked your head towards him surprised. “What? No, why would he?”, you shook your head. “I mean, why wouldn’t he?”, the guy replied, staring you down with a little smirk. You rolled your eyes at his flirt.  “Well”, you crossed your arms on your chest, “maybe because he’s married?”, you said confidently and hoped he didn’t see the way your lower lip trembled while saying that. The guy choked on his drink. “He’s married?”, he asked shocked. “You didn’t know?”, you eyed him, secretly pleased that you were one step ahead of him but at the same time worried dead that you’ve just made a huge mistake by saying that. “He also has the ring”. The guy tilted his head to the side as if thinking. “That doesn’t look like a wedding ring to me”, he commented. “Not that I look at men’s hands or anything”, he added quickly, going back to sipping from his glass. “Well, he is married. Trust me. But don’t say that to anyone else”, you spoke, your eyes drifting to where Doyoung was talking to some people. Even from afar, you could see the way his lips curved in a fake smile. You sighed. You couldn’t believe he was there, in the same room, and you talked, and you saw his face again. God. You were feeling so much as so intensely that you were under the impression of not being able to feel anything at all. “Ohhh”, the guy suddenly exclaimed giving you a mild shock for how close and loud he was, “so, he’s your ex-boyfriend. And now you discover that he’s married!”, he added even louder with wide eyes as if finally understating everything. “God, I fucking love this party”, he chuckled to himself. You grabbed a drink as well, finishing it all in one go. “He’s not my ex-boyfriend”, you replied not giving him any other explanations. “And be quiet. Maybe he doesn’t want people to know”. The guy clicked his tongue as if not believing you but not wanting to be seen as rude by asking other questions. He sighed and you sighed as well, both looking at the way people were moving around, forming groups and changing them up, laughing, chatting, having a good time. You felt like they were on another planet, their energy so different from the one you had inside. It was inevitable. You knew it. It was about to come. You would end up crashing down in the taxi going home, or randomly as you were pouring down cereal for breakfast. You were feeling them crawling under your skin, the feelings, but at that moment, you decided to still bath in the bliss all of the shocking experiences gifted you. “Thank you, for, you know, before...”, you added vaguely after a few moments. “No problem. I was getting bored anyway”, he shrugged. “I’m Y/N, by the way”, you extended your hand. He took it. “Nice to meet you”, he smiled. “I’m Haechan”. 

[debbiechanclub]

Best Two Out of Three, Part 19

Alright, folks, thank you for your patience. This was the longest we’ve gone between parts, which is honestly kind of insane. Reason being: @what-does-mine-say and I can’t make up our damn minds. I need to avoid my dash when I’m trying to write this thing because I’m too damn easily influenced.

ALSO, I owe a HUGE apology to my dear co-writer. So wrote a SHIT TON that ended up getting pushed to the next chapter (I’m sorry please forgive me I <3 you). So this chapter is a little shorter than the last few, but don’t worry - it’s not lacking in any of our signature angst and drama.

Just a note as you read: the night of the gauntlet match where you-know-what happens is right around the corner *evil Seth laugh*

Best Two Out of Three

Part: 19/26

Pairing: Kenny Omega x OFC x Cash Wheeler and Adam Page x OFC

Word count: 4.7k

Warnings: Language; angst.

My tiny tag list: @freshlysqueezedmox @gabbynorth98 (if you’d like to be added send me a DM!)

Catch up on previous parts here.

“Someone’s blowing up your phone.”

Callie gave Cash a look as they stepped onto the hotel elevator. “It’s Britt,” she said. She pushed the button for the third floor and pulled her phone out of her back pocket, clearing the screen without reading any of the messages. Britt was the type who texted one thought at a time—and she’d had three thoughts in a row. “She texted while we were at the restaurant asking where I was. I just told her I’d gone out. She thinks I’m with Adam.”

Cash made a sound of understanding as he nodded. And then he said, “She’s gonna interrogate you as soon as you get back in there, isn’t she?”

“Oh, one thousand percent.”

They shared a grin, and soon the elevator arrived at Callie’s floor. She was surprised when Cash got off with her. “Aren’t you above me?”

He shrugged. “Yeah, but I figured I’d walk you to your room. If that’s alright with you?”

Warmth crept into her cheeks again. She nodded. “Yeah, sure.”

They walked down the hall in silence that was something between comfortable and awkward. Comfortable because she’d enjoyed the time she’d spent with Cash; awkward because she couldn’t help but feel a little guilty about it. After they’d gotten the obvious topic of conversation out of the way, they’d just talked and gotten to know each other. He’d told her about his time in WWE and how it compared to AEW; she’d told him about how she’d first gotten into the business after meeting the Bucks at a PWG show she’d gone to with a friend. It had been an unexpected distraction from the emotional turmoil of the last few days and weeks. But now that they were back at the hotel, her thoughts couldn’t help but return to Adam. She wondered where he was, what he was doing. If he was trying to distract himself, too.

“Well, this is me,” she said as they arrived at her door. She turned to face him and gave an awkward smile. “Thanks for commiserating with me. I actually had a good time.”

She fidgeted, wondering if she should have said that. But Cash didn’t seem to take it any sort of way. “It was better than drinking alone, that’s for sure,” he said.

Callie bashfully bowed her head. And then, suddenly, she thought of Alex. What would she think if she knew she’d been out with Cash? Guilt gripped her all over again. “Well, goodnight.” She stuttered, already reaching to open the door.

“Night,” Cash waved; and as Callie went back into her room, she couldn’t help but think that tonight had been the first time in a while that she’d felt something other than pushed away. And, despite all her guilt, that was a nice feeling to have.

* * * * * * * * * *

It had been maybe thirty minutes and a drink and a half since Alex and Adam had seen Callie and Cash walk into the hotel together, and Alex’s thoughts hadn’t stopped spinning since.

“It was probably completely innocent,” she said, more trying to convince herself than she was asking Adam’s opinion.

“Stop thinking about it,” he said.

“They probably just met up as friends to drown their sorrows together. I mean, that’s exactly what we’re doing. Right?”

He shrugged. “Sure.”

Her brow furrowed in confusion at his apathetic response. She didn’t understand how he could just sit by and be so calm about this. “How are you not bothered by seeing them together like that?”

“I didn’t say I wasn’t,” he returned. “I’m just choosing to ignore it.”

That only confused her further. “Don’t you care what they might be doing right now? What if they’re up there fucking each other?”

He sent her a hard look. “Would you really care if they are? Because it seems like you want to be with Kenny, anyway.”

Alex’s eyes hardened. She knew exactly what Adam was doing. He was being a fucking asshole in attempt to mask just how bad he was hurting. And she wasn’t going to stand for it. “I’m not the only one who fucked up my relationship, Adam. You pushed Callie away and now what? You’re just gonna let her go after more than a year? She loves you. Don’t throw that away like I did with Ken…ny.”

She trailed off, stunned by her own words. She hadn’t realized that’s what she would say until it was already out of her mouth. She gripped her beer harder. Maybe Cash was right. Maybe she had already chosen.

Adam stared down into his drink. His jaw tensed. “Then go be with Kenny.”

Alex let out a frustrated breath. He was completely missing her point. “Fine. If you don’t want to talk to Callie, then I will.”

She stood from her seat and limped as quickly as she could on her still-tender ankle out of the bar. Adam jumped up, told the bartender to charge the drinks to his room, and went after her.

“You don’t even know where she is,” he said as he caught up with her.

“Well, she’s staying with Britt. And I know where Britt is, so we’ll try there. And if she’s not there, then we know who she is with.”

She punched the up button for the elevators and the furthest one immediately opened with a ding. She hobbled toward it more quickly than she should have on her ankle.

“Alex, slow down. You’re gonna hurt yourself.” Adam took her arm and helped her onto the elevator. She pulled away from him as she hit the button for the third floor. He frowned. “Why are you doing this?”

“Because you won’t!” she shot.

“And you didn’t stop to think that maybe there’s a reason why?”

Alex blinked. She hadn’t expected that response, nor the earnest look on his face. But before she could even think to ask what he meant the elevator arrived at the third floor. She turned away from him and limped off, down the hall toward Britt’s room.

Her ankle was throbbing by the time she got there. She banged her fist hard on the door. It wasn’t long before Britt answered.

“Can I help—”

“Is Callie here?” Alex cut her off and pushed her way into the room. Adam gave Britt an apologetic look as she glared at them.

“Um, excuse me,” she said, but Alex paid her no mind. Callie was sitting on of one the beds—and she looked like she’d seen a ghost.

“Hi, it’s been a while,” Alex clipped. “What the hell were you and Cash doing out together tonight?”

If possible, Callie’s face went even whiter. She looked back and forth between her and Adam, wide-eyed with shock. “What—”

“Skip the innocent act,” Alex interrupted. “We were at the bar and saw you walk into the hotel together. What was that about?”

Callie hesitated to answer. She was frozen on the bed, her gaze fixed on Adam. The alcohol in Alex’s system made her even more impatient than usual. “The longer you wait, the more suspicious it looks, Cal.”

“Alex,” Adam started—but Callie finally fessed up.

“We just went out for dinner as friends,” she said. “That’s it. I left the show early. FTR did, too, and Cash and I ran into each other in the elevator when I was going out to get dinner. We ended up going together, just to talk. That’s it.”

She finished, and an uncomfortable silence gripped the room. Alex glared at her, putting the pieces together as best she could in her foggy brain. If Callie and Cash had left the show early and not come back to the hotel until well after Dark had wrapped, then they’d been out for hours. Hours talking about what? But before she could ask, Adam did.

“To talk about what?”

There was more than just a hint of accusation in his voice. It sent Callie on the defensive. “About everything that’s going on,” she returned. “Cash and I are going through the same shit right now, Adam. It was nice to talk to someone about it. Isn’t that why you and Alex were at the bar together? Or are there some questions I need to ask you, too?”

“Oh, come on,” Alex interjected with a scoff. “That’s completely different.”

Callie’s brow lowered. “How the hell is it different?”

“Because Adam is one of my best friends! I’ve known him a fucking decade of my life! You’re not friends with Cash! You barely know him!”

“That doesn’t mean anything!”

“Yes, it does!”

“No, it doesn’t! And unlike you and Adam, Cash and I have never made out!”

“Oh shit,” Britt muttered.

Alex’s eyes darkened. “So we’re going back to that now?” she asked Callie. “To you constantly worrying that Adam and I want to fuck each other?”

“I don’t know.” Callie’s gaze shifted to Adam. “What do you think, Adam? Do I have reason to worry that you want to fuck Alex?”

Both Alex and Britt’s mouths dropped open in shock. They looked at Adam, awaiting his reaction with bated breath. But, aside for the tension in his jaw and brow, he looked calm. Too calm.

“Think whatever the fuck you want, Callie. I’m over having to constantly reassure you,” he said, and he turned and walked out the door.

Callie watched him go with glassy eyes, still frozen on the bed. Alex went after him.

“Adam, wait!” She struggled to keep up with him on her bum ankle as he took long strides down the hall. “Would you fucking stop!”

He stopped and turned halfway back around, his hands on his hips. She frowned at him as she approached. “Are you alright?”

He glared at her. “Really? That’s what you’re gonna ask me right now?”

Her brow lowered. “Yeah, it is. Sorry you have a fucking problem with it.”

“I didn’t even want to go in there, Alex!”

“Well we had to, Adam! Did you even know she was worrying about us again?”

He ran a frustrated hand over his face. “I don’t know. Maybe.”

“Maybe?” Confusion contorted Alex’s face. “What does that mean? Why would she think—”

“I don’t know, probably because she surprised me in fucking lingerie the other night and I turned her down!”

Alex stared up at him, mute. So that had been the surprise Callie had tried to ask her about when she’d been in Philadelphia; the surprise that Adam had told her hadn’t gone as planned when she’d called him while he was driving to her house. Suddenly, Alex understood why Callie had been giving her the cold shoulder lately. And she even understood why she would be worried about her and Adam.

“Look, you got your answer about why she was out with Cash, alright?” Adam said. “I’m going to bed.”

He turned and disappeared around the corner toward the elevators. Alex let him go that time. Yes, she’d gotten her answer about why Callie had been out with Cash. But now she had a million more questions that needed answering.

She pulled her phone out of her back pocket, thinking of maybe texting Cash; but when she unlocked it, she saw she had a new text from Kenny.

Hey, I just got back. Do you want to come up?

Alex bit her lip as she read it. She’d completely forgotten that Kenny had said he would let her know when he got back from dinner; she’d completely forgotten that she’d tentatively agreed to go see him when he did. But now, seeing him sounded like a welcome distraction.

Yeah. I’ll be there in a minute, she sent back, and she pushed her phone back into her pocket and limped toward the elevators, Adam’s words still turning over in her head.

* * * * * * * * **

“How’s the ankle?”

Alex let out a little whine as she walked into Kenny’s room. “Aggravated,” she said, and she wrapped her arms around his middle and buried her face in his chest. He hugged her back tight; she felt some of the tension leave her body. It felt good to have his arms around her.

“Why?” he gently asked. “What’d you do?”

She looked up at him. “Just haven’t been resting it like I should be.”

He smirked. “Of course not.” He dipped his head down and gave her a tender kiss. Alex melted into him before he pulled away, a curious look on his face. “Have you been drinking?”

She gave him a sheepish look. He just grinned and took her hand. “Come on; you really need to rest it if you only want two weeks out instead of four.”

He helped her to the bed and fluffed up the pillows behind her as she sat down. Then he grabbed another pillow and used it to prop up her ankle. Alex smiled to herself as he sat down by her feet and started untying her right sneaker. She hadn’t expected him to take care of her. It was sweet.

“Were you with Adam?” he asked.

She nodded, unsure if it was a good thing that he’d just assumed she was with Adam because she’d been drinking. And then, before she could stop herself, she asked, “Do you know what’s going on with him and Callie?”

He shook his head as he pulled off her shoe and set it on the floor. “No. There's something going on?”

Alex frowned; that answer disappointed her. It highlighted the widening gulf between Adam and the rest of The Elite. She watched as Kenny moved his attention to her left shoe, thinking. It wasn’t her place to tell Adam and Callie’s business… but Kenny was his teammate. Maybe if she told him, he’d go easier on Adam.

“Callie walked out on him over the weekend,” she said. “She’s staying with Britt.”

Kenny paused to look up at her, his eyes wide. “What? Did they break up?”

“I don’t know,” she honestly returned. When Adam had told her about it back at the arena, it had sounded like they were just taking some time. But after what they’d just said to each other not ten minutes ago… after what he’d just said to her… she wasn’t so sure anymore.

“He did seem pretty depressed today,” Kenny commented, drawing her out of her thoughts. “But I had no idea. He doesn’t really talk to us anymore.”

He doesn’t talk to you or you don’t talk to him? she thought. But she figured it would be better to keep that herself.

Kenny carefully removed her left shoe and put it on the floor next to the right. He looked at her ankle, inspecting it the best he could through the compression wrap that the trainer had applied. “It still looks a little swollen,” he said, and then he stood up and disappeared into the bathroom. When he came back out, he had a washcloth in his hand. Alex watched as he moved to the table where the ice bucket sat, opened it, and started putting ice inside the washcloth.

“You went and got ice?” she asked, surprised.

He nodded. “Yeah. I had a feeling you probably weren’t icing it like you should be.”

He sent her a smirk over his shoulder. She rolled her eyes.

“Don’t get mad,” he teased. She just pouted at him. He sat back down on the bed and placed the makeshift ice pack on her ankle. She winced as the cold seeped into her skin.

“Well, thank you,” she genuinely said. “It’s actually really sweet that you thought of that.”

He smiled at her. “Of course, baby.”

Alex flushed, butterflies teeming in her stomach.

“Are you staying here tonight?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” she returned, even as she laid back and made herself comfortable. “Do you want me to?”

“Of course I do,” he said. “Always.”

Alex couldn’t help the smile that spread across her lips. Today had been physically, mentally, and emotionally draining; nothing short of chaotic. And now that she was here with Kenny, all she wanted was to fall asleep in his arms. “Well, I need something to sleep in, then,” she said.

“No, you don’t,” he returned. She gave him a flat look. He let out a laugh. “I’ll get you a shirt.”

She sat back up to hold the ice pack in place on her ankle while he moved across the room to his suitcase. It wasn’t long before he tossed her a black t-shirt. Alex arched a brow as she looked at it.

“Bullet Club?”

He shrugged. “Nostalgia.”  

* * * * * * * * * *

The Saturday afternoon sun felt pleasant on Callie’s skin as she laid out next to the pool with Britt. As much pain as she was in, Orlando’s warm, beachy atmosphere had been a like a balm for her soul. It reminded her of home, back in California. She missed it. She just hadn’t realized how much until now.

“I have to admit, this is definitely better than Virginia. We don’t have a pool.”

Britt smirked. “Didn’t you try to talk Hangman into moving down here?”

Callie rolled her eyes behind her sunglasses. “He didn’t even want to consider it.” When Adam had first asked her to move in with him, she’d floated the idea of getting a new place together in Jacksonville instead. He’d laughed at her like it was a joke. “He’s perfectly content to stay hidden away in his comfort zone in the middle of nowhere.”

“Sounds about right,” Britt commented. She brought her glass of iced tea to her lips; but she abruptly paused and looked at Callie, her brow furrowed. “Doesn’t Alex live near him?”

She pursed her lips. “A couple hours,” she muttered. “I’m sure it’s part of the reason he wants to stay.”

Britt scoffed. “Well after what he said to you at the hotel, yeah.”

Callie stared at the pool in anxious silence, watching as the sunlight danced on the water. She hadn’t been able to get Adam’s last words to her out of her head. Think whatever the fuck you want, Callie. I’m over having to constantly reassure you. It had hurt; it still did. And the more she thought about it, the more uncertain she became that they’d be able to repair the emotional damage they’d both caused each other.

Her phone chirped, breaking her out of her thoughts. She picked it up from where it sat on the sun lounger next to her. She had a new text—and the name on the screen surprised her.

Britt sent her a sly grin. “Is that Cash?”

“What?” Callie shot, both confused and a little bit offended she’d assumed that. “No. It’s Matt.”

“Jackson?” Britt asked, surprised. But Callie didn’t answer, too preoccupied with reading what he’d sent.

Hey, I heard what’s going on with you and Adam. Just wanted to check in and see how you’re doing.

She stared at the message, unsure how to respond; unsure how to even take it. Who had told him? Adam? It couldn’t have been. Adam wouldn’t have opened up to Matt about something so personal; not with the way things had been between them lately. She wracked her brain, trying to suss out the culprit. As far as she knew, the only people who knew what was going on were Alex, Cash, and Britt. Well, and Adam Cole. Could he have said something to Matt? He had been in Bullet Club, once upon a time.

“Earth to Callie!” Britt snapped. “Is it Big Brother Buck?”

Callie sent her an annoyed look. “Yeah.”

She arched a brow. “What does he want?”

Callie ignored her as she typed back. Hey, I’m kind of surprised to hear from you. I didn’t know anyone besides Britt knew.

She hit “send,” hoping the little white lie would get Matt to take the bait and tell her who’d told him. It wasn’t long before he responded.

Sorry, I know it’s not my business. Kenny told me; Alex told him. And I assume Adam told her.

An agitated sigh escaped Callie’s lips. Of course Alex had told Kenny. She should have assumed as much.

“What?” Britt asked.

Callie shook her head. “He just wants to know how I’m doing. Apparently, Alex blabbed to Kenny about what’s going on and then Kenny told him.”

Britt pushed her sunglasses further up her nose. “That’s not surprising. But it’s nice of Matt to check in, at least.”

Callie absentmindedly nodded; it was nice of him. She and Matt were old friends—as she’d told Cash the other night, the Young Bucks were the whole reason she was even in the wrestling business. But they weren’t as close as they used to be. Things had changed since she’d started dating Adam.

She typed back. Don’t apologize. Everyone will find out sooner or later. And thank you for checking in; I actually really appreciate it. I’ve been better obviously. I’m honestly just trying to pretend I’m on vacation.

She set her phone back down and tried to relax again. But another text came through.

Well in that case I would have invited you to Cali if I’d known.

Callie blinked when she saw the message. She hadn’t expected him to come back with that. But she didn’t think too much of it. Matt was a flirt; he always had been. So she just sent him back a tongue-sticking-out emoji and relaxed back on the lounger, doing her best not to think about Adam and Alex—and what they might be doing.  

* * * * * * * * * *

Alex didn’t plan on doing a damn thing but sitting her butt on the couch and having a movie marathon. She couldn’t do much else thanks to her stupid ankle, and with an entire week left until the next Dynamite due to the NBA playoffs bumping them from Wednesday to Saturday, she needed to fill the time somehow. 

Furthermore, she needed a distraction. Because, so far, all she’d done since arriving home was overthink about everything.

Kenny. She couldn’t stop thinking about the night she’d spent with him at the hotel—and they hadn’t even done anything. He’d just cuddled her and kissed her neck, and she’d fallen asleep with her back tucked against his chest, his arm around her, wearing his old Bullet Club shirt. They’d done that dozens of times before; but that night had felt different. More meaningful. And then, when she’d woken up the next morning and seen him, his curly mop of hair an absolute mess and a sleepy smile on his face, she’d felt it—those three words, so little and so big at the same time, swelling within her chest. She’d wanted to say them. But she hadn’t. Things were still too messy.

Cash. She didn’t know what she felt toward him anymore. When she’d seen him walk into the hotel with Callie, she’d been jealous; shocked. But over the last few days that jealousy and shock had given way to sadness and regret. She wasn’t even sure how they’d gotten here anymore. It was all just one giant clusterfuck of emotion.

And then there was Adam. Alex was worried about him. But after all that had happened the last time she’d seen him, she wasn’t sure what there was left that she could say or do to try to get through to him.

So she settled down, all ready with snacks and a blanket to watch Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. But before she could hit “play,” her phone pinged with a text. She let out a sigh and picked it up, thinking it was one of the boys again—their group text had been going nonstop all morning—but she froze when she saw the screen. It wasn’t one of the boys. It was Cash—and he’d sent her a photo.

Her heart started hammering in her chest. They’d had no real contact in over a week, and now he’d suddenly texted her a photo? Part of her wanted to clear the message without even opening it. But her curiosity got the best of her.

She opened the text—and let out a breath. It was a picture of his dog. She smiled despite herself. It was cute, but confusing. Maybe he’d sent it to her by mistake. And then, against better judgment, she decided to ask him exactly that.

Did you mean to send that to me?

She set the phone back down and pressed play on the remote. She was almost certain he’d sent it by mistake; he’d probably just leave her question on read. But then he texted back. Alex immediately reached for her phone and opened it.

Yeah. I figured a cute dog picture would be a good icebreaker.

That only confused her more. An icebreaker for what? But then those three dots appeared—he was typing again.

I had no idea what happened with Dark Order until I got home. Are you okay?

Alex frowned when she saw that. She was grateful he’d asked; but it felt too little, too late.

But she couldn’t bring herself to say that. Yeah, it’s just a bad sprain. I’m out two to four weeks. She sent that off, and then added, Thank you for asking.

She placed her phone down again and bundled back up under her blanket. A minute passed, and then another, and she figured that was the end of it. But then her phone chirped again.

I wanted to text you after the show. But when you ran off earlier that day it seemed like you weren’t interested in talking.

Alex stared at the text, a conflict of emotions bubbling up inside her. On the one hand, she did regret running off how she did when he’d mentioned her Dark match. But on the other hand, he’d run off, too; he’d run out of the arena entirely. If he had really wanted to talk to her, he could have made more of an effort. But he’d gone out with Callie instead.

Her fingers flew over her keyboard. She sent her next message before she could stop herself. Did you want to text me before or after you went out with Callie?

She threw her phone aside and refocused on the movie. Several minutes went by with no response from Cash; she was sure that text had caught him off-guard. But when he finally did respond, she immediately read the message.

We just went out as friends. And it was both before and after.

Alex closed her eyes. Then why didn’t you just do it, she thought. Maybe if he had, she wouldn’t have spent the night with Kenny. Maybe she’d be with Cash right now instead of all alone in her house watching Harry Potter. Her mind started spinning; this whole mess of a situation was plagued by endless “what ifs.” What if she hadn’t kissed Kenny when he’d given her that locket? What if she hadn’t gone to that cookout at Adam’s? What if she hadn’t listened to everyone’s opinion about her personal business? How different would things be right now? Would they be better—or worse?

She reopened her eyes. Despite all the what ifs, Alex liked to believe that everything happened for a reason. And if Cash hadn’t bothered to text her, maybe it was just supposed to happen that way. Maybe there was a reason for all this heartache. Maybe she had to take the long away around to get to where she was supposed to be. Maybe that was how it needed happen so that she knew it was real.

Her phone chimed again. But it wasn’t Cash that time—it was Kenny. He’d sent her a photo, too. She opened it; and her smile split her face in two. It was a selfie of him with his giant fluffy cat. It was one of the most adorable things she’d ever seen.

He’d sent a message, too. We wish you were here.

Alex’s heart swelled. There it was again; that feeling, those three words in the back of her mind. She couldn’t ignore them.

I wish I were, too, she sent back. And she knew she absolutely meant it.