#and a certain someone is very happy to get to see her boys again. now it’s time for them to kiss

[peterabelard]

shoutout to @myhappyhotel for the lovely lovely package !! 🤍 i cherish you my sweetest friend(s)… you just made a bad day much much better

[lomltrentarnold]

someone — jude bellingham  ₊˚ෆ

contents: 1.6k words, fem!reader (she/her), fwb!bellingham is down bad, lil angsty but happy ending, they like each other so much SIGH

🍓 hana’s note: hi my loves!! hope u enjoy <33 i actually had fun writing this, please tell me what u think 🫶 sorry if nothing makes sense LOL

📞 main masterlist!

Jude was sure that the muscle on his wrist had gotten stronger in the span of three days. He moved to check his phone again for the hundredth time that day. The whole situation feels like a thirteen year old boy waiting for his girlfriend to reply to his text. 

The only difference is that he’s twenty one years old, and his ‘girlfriend’ is not actually his girlfriend. 

His gloomy mood attracted his assistant who was off clicking the keyboard computer.

“Whose text are you waiting for?” they asked, immediately bringing him out of his little pity party.

His heart stuttered, “No one.” he replies, shaking his head, before tucking the phone away into his pocket.

A skeptical look was thrown, “Yeah, sure.” 

Jude took a minute before he relented, “She’s…someone.” he sighed, not really in the mood to throw up his gut to his assistant.

He ran his hands through his hair down to his face, frustrated.

They were sure this ‘someone’ was not just anyone, “The same ‘someone’ who had you giggling and kicking your feet last week?” his assistant smirked, noticing the little smile that Jude always wears every single time he stares at his phone.

But not in the last few days.

Recently, he has been more sad when he stares at his phone.

Heat trailed from the back of his neck to his cheeks, “I was not giggling and kicking my feet.” tummy twisting with nerves.

“Oh, you so were. She has you wrapped around her fingers, Bellingham.” the keyboard clicking stopped, as a teasing smirk was sent his way.

Jude’s heart made a backflip–oh she definitely does– “She’s just.. special. And I really really like her.” his cheeks heating up more as your pretty face fresh flashes in his mind. 

“So? Why don't you ask her out on a date?”

He sighed, “I would, but she’s ghosting me.”

“Someone ghosted THE Jude Bellingham? Damn, your ego must be hurt.” they laughed.

Jude took a deep breath, “It's not about my ego, I just–” he paused, “I thought we were going somewhere, I like her and I thought that she liked me but I guess...” his voice trailing out as sadness coats his words.

His assistant noticed how Jude’s head dropped in disappointment, immediately feeling bad for him, and an idea lightbulb immediately went off, “Go to her place then.”

“What?”

The assistant shrugged their shoulders, “Go to her place. Ask her out.”

He coughed out, “She doesn’t wanna see me.”

“Ask her face to face, get confirmation. If she really doesn’t wanna see you then, fine. But try at least! Fight for her!” their encouragement send Jude into a full dedicated state. Already having a full plan in his head.

˚ʚ♡ɞ˚

Screen lights from the tv illuminated your already dark room with a movie playing in the background. You really should be asleep right now. But your mind was too cloudy with a certain, seriously attractive, very sweet and nice footballer. 

What did you think was gonna happen?

Getting into a friends-with-benefits with someone you harboured a big fat crush on was not the brightest idea. 

Jude is a bigshot footballer, everyones’ starboy, all he needs to do is smile and all girls fall to his feet (including you). The strategy of pushing him away was pretty solid, considering that he might not even notice that you haven’t been replying to his texts. 

He probably has hundreds of girls on his phone anyways.

Not that you care, he can do whatever he wants, he’s not your boyfriend. 

Not your boyfriend. 

Then why does it still bother you?

A sudden knock, broke you out of your spiralling session, shooting your heart rate up. Who knocks at 2 in the morning?

A buzz from your phone alerted you.

—

bellingham :)

I’m outside your apartment

I need to talk to you

—

You contemplated opening the door, what do you even say to him? Another knock. 

Another buzz.

—

bellingham :)

Please.

—

The door swung open and Jude was met with the sight of you, with tired eyes and a scowl on your face. You don't look too happy seeing him, and he doesn't blame you.

“Are you insane?! What do you want, Jude? It’s two in the morning!” you huffed out, taking his wrist and pulling him inside. You do not want to get a complaint from your old cranky neighbours. 

Both of your hands tingle the second it touches, fingers twitching as you hope the other doesn't notice. You move to pause the movie, hands gravitating towards the blanket on your couch before draping it around your shoulders. Trying to cover up your well-loved worn pyjamas.

You look like a mess. 

Jude’s hand sweats in his pockets, his heart was pounding after finally being in your presence. With your messy hair, pretty droopy eyes, paired with your profile being highlighted by the tv. His heart rate shoots up when your eyes meet his. 

You look really pretty.

Focus, Bellingham!

He awkwardly coughs, trying to cut the thick tension in the room, “You still watching that show?” he voiced out, hand gesturing to the tv behind you. 

It was a show recommendation from him. You had made fun of it at first, but then the plot was too good to be ignored, you needed to know how it ends. 

You shrugged your shoulders, “Yeah, I was curious.” voice small as your hands tightened around the blanket, bringing comfort to you.

A beat of awkward silence went on.

And Jude has had enough of it and decided to go for it, head first, no thoughts.

"Why are you ignoring me?" he finally said, saddened brown eyes met yours. You can feel your defence chip away the more you look at him.

You avert your eyes immediately, trying to formulate words, "I'm busy."

"That you ghosted me for three days straight?" he scoffed.

"Jude-"

"I don't think you understand how much you’re in my head." his voice shook, heart trembling in his chest, “I wake up and my first thought is to check if you have texted me back and you know how embarrassing it is to not see anything?"

You scoffed, “So this is about your ego?”

“No! I didn’t say that–“

Another scoff, "Jude don’t lie, you get messages every single day. Your notifications are always flooded! Don’t act like I’m suddenly special!” you rolled your eyes, lungs burning with anger.

His face contorted into confusion before turning into hurt, “Did I give you that impression? That I don't care because you’re not special?” Jude’s voice cracked, maybe it was your head playing tricks but you swore his eyes were glossy with tears. 

Anymore second looking at him than you might just break. 

“Jude-” you started.

“Because I do! I’ll buy you more flowers, pick up your favourite coffee, watch those reality shows that you love so much, we can have a picnic or even a fancy dinner!” he rambled, hands animated as his feet started to move towards you, eyes pleading. “I really want this to work. I want to be in your life, as your boyfriend.” 

The distance between two got so small that you can feel his warm breath hitting your lips, sending a shiver down your spine.

He smells like mint.

Did he chew one before he got here?

The call of your name hits your ears, his voice soft and sweet. You really like how he says your name. You miss it. You like him. You miss him.

“Please say something.” Jude whispered, eyes involuntarily dropping to your lips, cheeks warming under his gaze.

“I really really like you.” you softly said, nothing but a whisper but it sends just into cloud nine.

His eyes shined, mouth already opening to say something before you cut him off.

“But-“

His heart dropped.

“But?”

“Jude, you can literally have anyone you want in the world!” you raised your voice. Tears pricking at the edge of your eyes. Why does he have to be so complicated? Why won’t he understand that you will never be enough for him?

By now, he can have a general sense on why you ghosted him. You have been insecure and worried ever since this little relationship started. Jude partly understands it, his popularity is intense and the media is poking at every nook and cranny of his life. Judging at the littlest things he does.

But he also doesn’t understand because-

“But, I want you! Don’t want anyone else!” he exclaimed, big calloused hands move to the sides of your face, thumb softly running on your cheeks. “I want you.” he added, softly pressing a kiss at the apple of both of your cheeks.

A lovesick smile broke out on your face before you can even control yourself. “I want you too.”

Jude eyes twinkled at the sight. His heart elevates in the process. Was this a dream?

“Pinch me.” he snickered.

Your hands move around his waist to pinch his skin, “Dork.” you giggled, his smile getting wider at the sound.

A comforting silence blankets over you both. Smitten eyes staring at each other with heavy yearning. Hearts fully enamoured with the other.

A soft kiss was planted on your lips, tender and gentle as his hands moved to the back of your neck, pulling you closer. He can’t get enough of you.

Your whole body was on fire. It has been so long since you both got together.

“Jude-“

“Mhm.” he hummed, lips still pressing against yours. His hands wander to wrap around your waist. It feels like he wants to eat you whole.

He definitely does.

You carefully pull away, chuckling at the small whine that leaves him as he chases you again, “It’s late.” you affectionately scolded.

“Let’s go to sleep then.”

“Together?” you teased.

“Yes, please.”

Well, how can you say no to that?

reblog for a kiss <3

[ivvyela]

imagine with me, if you will, a nwh potential fix-it involving none other than the multiverse saving duo deadpool and wolverine.

i know, i know - but please, let me cook.

wade and logan now jump across timelines to "fix" things aka travel the multiverse for funsies and deal with the consequences later and somehow end up in a universe where peter parker doesn't exist, but spider-man does. and wade, blessed with the power of "i know this for the plot", immediately knows that is bull. shit. and sure enough, they find one very depressed, very lonely, and very jaded peter parker.

after much annoyance, light stalking, and following spider-man while he's on patrol, they get peter to spill how he ended up in this situation. and after hearing everything, logan breaks the silence with a simple, yet effective: "shit, kid. that... shit."

"yeah, well... now you know, so you can, like, leave me alone."

"nope, not gonna happen." wade shakes his head and tactfully ignores logan's imploring look of what-the-fuck-are-you-getting-us-into-now "i take my job as marvel jesus very, very seriously, so frankly, this is my job to fix your sorry little life, buddy. and if flat-out telling them you exist didn't work, then - "

"oh, i actually... i never told them."

"...come again?"

"i tried to tell them, but i couldn't. so..."

"i'm sorry... your best friend and girlfriend were crying, telling you to come find them and remind them of you, and you chose not to?"

"they're happy and safe without me! i wasn't going to ruin - "

"oh my god. you sweet, self sacrificial, idiot spider-baby. okay! we can fix this! we're no tony stark, but consider us your pseudo daddies for the time being, kid. let's get you your life back."

which is how one very emotional and determined deadpool, followed by a stoic, nonchalant wolverine (who, in all honesty, probably should be completely against this, but once wade commits to something, he can't be talked out of it, and the sooner he gets his fix from this the sooner he can go home, so fuck it we ball), end up in a certain cafe, all up in a poor barista and her friend's face with a cut-out yearbook photo of some kid, yelling "LOOK AT HIM! LOOK AT THIS BOY! HE'S SO LONELY! LIKE A SMALL, FORLORN, VICTORIAN CHILD! REMEMBER HIM, GODDAMMIT!"

(their efforts result in two confused and scared teens, and getting kicked out of said cafe.)

peter practically begs them to just leave him alone, that this was his choice, and he's fine with it, but both wade and logan know a lie when they hear one. they both know what being alone can do to a person, and peter is just a kid who got dealt the shittiest cards in life and at this point, it just feels wrong to leave him here without trying to do something. and maybe they both have a small soft spot for the teen, so what?

and peter knows both men can see through his broody, teenage angst front he's been putting up since the spell, and he's tried so hard to hate the two of them, get them to hate him so they would leave, but they're not budging, so really, there's no point in trying to push them away, right?

and so, he lets them in. he learns that while logan is stoic and intense and kinda terrifying, he's also someone who just wants to do the right thing for the people he cares about. he's also lost people, and he blames himself, but he's come out on the other side. he would tell peter about his daughter, laura, who wouldn't let him wallow in self pity because she is good, better than he has ever been. he never saw himself as a father, but she's still around, so he must be doing alright.

and at first hearing it would result in a pang in his chest, memories of thai food after walking into a smoke-filled kitchen, assurances that things will work out when everything feels hopeless, a tombstone that can never convey everything she was, but now... it's nice to hear that logan still had someone after losing everyone.

so, peter listens to logan's stories. in return, peter tells logan all about his mom.

and wade was brash and loud and conceded and really, really annoying, but he's... no, that's it. he's all of those things, but in a weird way, it's like all those bad qualities merge together to make him a good guy. and yeah, he can walk away at any point, he has absolutely no obligation to help peter, but he does it anyway.

("nonono, don't you dare make me some selfless hero type, kid. i know for a fact that every deadpool has a peter. i'm doing this for the me in your world."

"you're... huh?"

"bottom line, i'm a selfish bastard. i'm doing this for me, 'kay?")

peter didn't fight it. he's had experience with seemingly self-absorbed, deflecting type heroes.

wade doesn't replace him, not even close, but... still.

maybe peter will never get back what he lost. but, for the first time, peter sees a light at the end of the tunnel. that, maybe, he can stop being just spider-man, and he can start being peter parker again, too.

(and if there's a barista talking to her friend about how it's weird that two guys would show up holding a photo of an odd customer from weeks ago, demanding they remember him, and despite not knowing him she felt something, and her friend couldn't help but agree, well... that's neither here nor there.)

[two-white-butterflies]

lover boy | c55

Description: Carlos is jealous when someone begins hitting on you.

Pairing: carlos sainz/lawyer!reader

"Are you seriously on twitter right now?" Lando scratched the back of his head, attempting to get a clear view of Carlos' phone. "It's important," he shrugged - seeing that John Mayer's comment about you. "Wait, is this about (Your Name)?" he asked, knowing about his friend's little crush on his co-worker.

Lando remembers you as a funny person, the type of girl who'd tell jokes but her laugh would be the funniest part. He could see how his friend fell in love with you. "You didn't hear it from me, but Taylor's ex has a crush on her too." he informed, taking a sip of his champagne.

"He looks desperate," Carlos was quick to insult, feeling the blood pump through his veins with fury. Wasn't this the guy that Lewis couldn't stop complaining about? Apparently, Shakira doesn't like the John Mayer man too. "Desperate until he's in her dm's," Lando glanced at his friend - seeing if anything changed in his features.

Bingo! Carlos was frowning.

"She wouldn't, no? She's a Taylor Swift fan. We're going to the Era's Tour together." he defended himself, still staring at your tweet. "Going to a concert with no label? Carlito - you have to make it fast or else you're gonna be in the friendzone forever." Lando continued teasing, wanting to see his friend with a girl.

"Loco," he mumbled underneath his breath.

But deep inside, he knew that Lando was right.

And Carlos had to make his move.

babylemem1 J*hn Ma**r after seeing Carlos Sainz' post

carlosleclairfan: CARLOS SAID "UR NOT HITTING ON MY *ALLEGED* GIRLFRIEND" WAHHAHAH 🤣 - havanagomz22: gf?? - - carlosleclairfan: yeah, I FEEL LIKE THEY'RE DATING

"Carlos," you knocked on his door impatiently. "What's wrong?" he asked, turning his phone off and giving you his full attention. You take a step inside of his room, settling on the couch beside him. "Is everything alright between you and a certain singer?" you ask cryptically, not wanting to spook him just yet.

He probably hasn't opened twitter - and Lando - well, he's Lando.

"John Mayer, hate him." he rolled his eyes, already knowing where the conversation was headed. "Well, you'll be happy to see the tweets that Lando made about him." you bite your lower lip, turning your Ipad in his direction for him to read the tweets. "Madre mia..." he mumbled - resisting a laugh.

"I couldn't stop laughing the first time I saw it. Does this have something to do with me?" you inquire, knowing that John Mayer was currently sitting in your twitter dms (ignored.)

"Maybe," he lied - looking away from you.

"You know that you can tell me anything, right?"

carlossainz55: I don't believe in soft launches 😛

149 comments 125,923 likes

LandoNorris: Looking very respectful! 💪🏽

Y.N_Official: I like that picture of me, very good Carlito! - carlossainz55: ❤️ te amo tanto

Y.N_Official: all along there was some, invisible string. 💗

812 comments 12,842 likes

carlossainz55: Handsome ❤️ - LandoNorris: who lied to u? - - carlossainz55: I'll let you pass this one time...

twilightfan22: OMG OMG OMG Atty. Y/N Sainz. The fucking power.

----

AND THE TUMBLR IMAGE CAPACITY STRIKES AGAIN

Requests are open

[littlemissshoei]

I WANNA BE YOURS

TABITO KARASU X READER

18+

⭑ CONTENT WARNING: FRIENDS TO LOVERS, BROTHER'S BEST FRIEND, READER IS EITA'S TWIN SISTER, "FORBIDDEN" ROMANCE, SLIGHT SLOWBURN, ANGST, CONFESSIONS, L BOMB, READER GETS CHEATED ON, COMFORT, INEXPERIENCED!READER, VOICE KINK, 69, MISSIONARY, GENTLE TO ROUGH, PRAISE, MARKING, DIRTY TALK, CREAM & THROATPIE, AFTERCARE (characters are aged up to 21.)

⭑

YOU WERE DOWNRIGHT PERFECT in his eyes. Everything about you was inexplicably captivating, to the point he was reminded of you through every single thing he did or saw. Be it the beautiful flowers with their sickeningly sweet aromas on a field, or the sunset that graced him each time he walked back home after practice. The first thing that popped into his mind was you, always had, ever since your very first meeting.

You two go way back, and with way back it means all the way to elementary school, where your brother — no one other than the infamous Eita Otoya — tried to hunt down any interested girl in the sandbox without success. Instead, he managed to hunt down a friend; Tabito Karasu.

While the white haired boy was slightly dissapointed with the lack of courted girls, he was happy enough to chitchat about something he enjoyed doing most, that being football. The two boys seemed to have similiar interest, and so, a rather peculiar friendship ended up blossoming on a beautiful summer day.

One of the first things the ravenette noticed as he played football with his newly acquired friend was this certain girl that would walk up to him every now and then, either handing him a water bottle, telling him off or bringing him a snack. It was surprising to see Otoya being able to conversate with a girl normally, hell, he even seemed annoyed by her at times! This obviously piqued Karasu's interest, leading to him asking the burning question:

"Who is that girl?"

"Who? [name]?" He replied, pointing in the [haircolor] haired girl's direction, who just so happened to see it, sticking her tongue out at the little boy. "My twin sister. She can be soo annoying.." Otoya copied his sister's move, sticking out his tongue before turning his gaze back to Karasu. "You wouldn't wanna be friends with her, trust me! I'm way cooler."

The ravenette simply nodded, yet his mind wandered back to her over and over again.

"You don't look like each other!" He blurted out in hopes of keeping the conversation running, even if it was just for a little longer. "Good! She's ugly. Now let's continue this!" Was the reply he was met with, a clear sign of the conversation reaching its end. It was fine though, he had more than enough time to get to know her anyway.

And he was right! His friendship with Eita grew with the day, and soon enough the two became closests friends, a benefit of that being visiting his home.

THE RAVENETTE'S FIRST "OFFICIAL" meeting with you was nothing out of the usual. His parents had dropped him off at your house, and the first person he saw in the livingroom was you.

"Hello. Are you Eita's twin sister?" he asked you oh so politely, smiling softly when he took notice of your soft, almost shy nod. "You're Karasu?" "Yes." Before the two could continue their conversation, Otoya showed up, swooping away his friend. Luckily, the older you grew, the better you got along with Otoya, and the closer you managed to get to Tabito.

You found him an interesting guy. He had a strange way of doing his hair, almost rooster like. But that didn't tarnish any of his beauty. He looked almost sculpted, straight out of a painting. Beauty marks adorning his face, sparkling blue eyes, a killer smile, tall. He was everything someone could wish for, and so much more.

Alongside the fact he looked good, he also had the personality that could swoon any girl off their feet. Calm and collected, good with his words, patient, and a smart guy. While he was annoying for his constant teasing, You couldn't deny your admiration, and the fact he managed to stick around your excuse of a brother for so long.

It wasn't like you HATED Eita, no. You loved him very much. It was just his constant habit of cheating on girls and changing relationships like socks that always managed to start an arguments. Aside from that, the two of you were like two peas in one pod.

While you enjoyed hanging around Eita, the evenings seemed to get more pleasant whenever his best friend was around. You couldn't understand it exactly, but you KNEW that there was something there. It was like a strange, bubbling sensation in your chest each time you looked into his eyes, accidental brushes against hand or bumping into each others causing butterflies in your stomach. Then there was also the fact that being around him simply felt right. You recalled the amount of times he sat down, listening to your endless rants about Eita's stupid behaviour without saying a single thing. And each time, he'd comfort you, reassure you, and most of all, side with you. It was something you never really understood, after all, you guys weren't that close, meanwhile he and Otoya had a tightly knit friendship, so why would he choose your comfort over defending your brother's pride?

Everything unfortunately finds it end, and so did your closeness with Tabito. You never knew why he decided to distance himself, and to be frank, it hurt you, very much so, but deep down you knew that it had something to do with a certain someone.

"You know.. I'm just glad you're not into my sister or some shit, you know. like in all those cliche romance movie." Eita snickered, combing a hand through his wet, messy hair. The two had taken a small break from practice to hydrate and catch their breath. "Oh? How come you find that cliche?" He asked innocently, eyebrows arching up and scrunching slightly as the white haired boy's lips formed a grin "Come on now, it's just so weird. Why would you even, I could hook you up with one of my girls, you know?" He replied, nudging the ravenette. "You know I'm not interested in dating right now." Karasu stated, shaking his head dissaprovingly. "Yes man, I know. I was just joking, can't take things these days now, can you?" "I know bro, I know. I was just teasing you." Otoya seemed satisfied with his reply, waiting for him to finish his drink before heading back onto the field, leaving the conversation long forgotten.

That didn't mean Karasu didn't notice the underlying tone Eita had been putting up, no. He understood that his best friend had created a wall, one that he in no way was allowed to climb. Maybe he noticed and didn't like how close the two of you were, or maybe he just didn't want any bad blood between you if something were to ever happen, but, the message was clear.

Stay away from [name] Otoya, his sister is off limits But there is just about a limit that a man can take.

FAST FORWARDS, THREE YEARS had passed since his unspoken promise to Eita. He had significantly distanced himself from you, struggling to keep it up each time you so desperately looked him in the eyes, hoping to restore what you guys had before, but soon, you stopped, and finally accepted that this wasn't going to go anywhere.

The ravenette couldn't deny his dissapointment, but he understood that it was for the better. Atleast, in his best friend's point of view.

Over the years you had become more and more beautiful. And your personality changed too. You went from preferring to shy away from people, to someone that enjoyed any types of interaction. Your brother definitely had part in that, but you certainly didn't seem to mind. You became slightly bolder, not caring about anyones words, but most importantly, you started dating. Something that felt like a knive in his back.

Yes, he had dated too, but not once did he feel that same, warm, fuzzy feeling like he did around you, but he couldn't back out of his promise.

Words reached his ears that you had gotten a new boyfriend, and he couldn't stop himself from asking Otoya all about the news.

"[name]? Oh yeah. She's got a real asshole now. Looks good but I can smell a cheater from miles away. They've been together for how long now? A month? She says he's a good guy but I cannot trust that man."

Once his name had rolled off his tongue, Karasu's eyebrows furrowed. The name was all too familiar, Aiku Oliver was a renowed playboy around. Why would she go for someone as low as that, someone that went against all her principles? Hell, even Otoya was against him!

Either way, it wasn't his business. As long as you were happy, then so was he. His best friend made him an appealing invitation of getting drinks, which he gladly took. He most certainly didn't expect everything to turn around that summer night.

EVEN WITH THE PARTY atmosphere, his mind kept wandering back to Eita's words. And almost as if on cue, a notification reached his phone

"I'm going to fucking cry.. that bastard cheated on me and left me out in the rain.. Toya please pick me up."

His eyes widened, feeling the anger boil inside him. Karasu's gut feeling was always right. And even if he knew the message wasn't mean for him, the ravenette knew it was time to act up.

Just as he put his jacket on, Otoya came back from the bathroom, confused to see his best friend on the brink of leaving.

"Where you going man?" He asked, a little caught off guard and tipsy "Got some urgent business. I'll see you around." He replied before hurrying off into the night. It was a convenient mistake that [name] sent him the location too before checking who the message went to. Before he knew it, his car arrived in front of a bench where a girl was sitting in the rain, drenched and crying. Her face slowly looked up, not understanding what was going on until Tabito rolled the window down.

"Get in [name]"

You didn't even question it, instead, nodded before slouching towards the other side of the car, taking seat in front and putting on her seatbelt.

"You sent me the message, not Otoya. I came here the moment I saw it."

You didn't reply, just nodded and kept your head down. The male sighed, stopping the car in front of an apartment building near college.

"I'm not letting you home in this state. Come on upstairs, you can take a shower and lend some of my clothes."

You understood that you couldn't deny his offer and silently followed behind him, doing everything mentioned before you found yourself sitting in the middle of his couch, wearing some of his older clothes, pillow cradled on your lap as you looked into the distance, deep in thoughts.

"[name]?" His voice managed to snap you back to reality. You blinked a few times before turning your head slightly, looking at the male that sat next to you. "Tell me, what happened?" Those were the only words you needed to hear before bursting into tears, pouring your heart and soul out to your brother's best friend. It was almost as if your sobbing intensified the moment he wrapped his arms around you, pulling you closer in the progress. He smelled so good, he felt like home, but you remembered how he distanced himself, causing you to push him away and refuse to meet his gaze.

"Hey now, what's wrong [nickname]?" He asked, his voice oh so sweet, like fresh honey. You murmured something under your breath, ignoring his questions until his fingers wrapped around your chin, lifting it up to make you forcefully look at him. Your eyes widened in surprise, unsure why he was so so persistent. "Drop it, Karasu." You whispered, a faint blush spreading across your cheeks.

His face backed away slightly. What was up with these formalities? "Why are you calling me Karasu, I thought we established it's Tabito ages ago." It was hard. With each sentence rolling off his tongue you wanted to scream and yell at him, to tell him how much he hurt you, how unfair it was for him to cast you aside. What happened to all the lingering eyecontact? The subtle hugs? The kind words? Nothing was left of them, they're nothing but a memory you clutched onto, desperately waiting for its return.

"Please.. don't do this to me, tell me what's wrong [nickname], please."

That just so happened to be her last straw.

"Why would I?! Why are you suddenly acting so caring and concerned after you casted me aside so easily all those years ago?" Your voice was laced with venom, tears intensifying with each accusation thrown his way. All he could do was bow his head down in embarrassment. You were right. He fucked up big time.

The ravenette knew that right now might not be the best time. You just got cheated on and broken up with. You were hurt, overwhelmed even. And he made a promise to his friend.

But he simply couldn't help it.

Before you knew it, his lips had crashed into yours, hands holding both of your cheeks as he pulled you closer. It wasn't an unpleasant surprise, and it didn't take long for you to melt into the kiss, gasping and giving his tongue access after he bit your lower lip.

It was a passionate kiss, one that left you breathless. The way his tongue swirled around yours, exploring every nook and cranny of your mouth while his thumbs lovingly caressed the skin under your eyes. After what seemed like an eternity, the two of you parted, only connected by a string of saliva, witness of your act. "Look at me."

You couldn't look away anymore, and finally met his gaze. The same, strange glisten in his eyes from all those years ago was still there.

"Do you think I wanted to distance myself..?" He asked, tone dropping as he inched closer towards her ear. "Do you know how much I regret it..?" His words sent shivers down your spine, and you shuddered, face flushed. "Then why did you...?" You asked, muttering up the courage for the much anticipated question. "Eita made it sure you were off limits. I was scared to cross the line.. what if I ended up hurting you?"

His voice was trembling slightly, and you couldn't stop your hand from cupping his cheek. Karasu was slighyly caught off guard by your action, but leaned into the touch.

"But why would you care about what Otoya said?" You continued, voice laced with a slight desperation.

"Because I love you."

You froze, eyes widened at his sudden confession. At first, it didn't make sense, but then every puzzle piece found its place on the table. And your feelings became clear too.

Who cared about Eita right now, the two of you could handle him later.

Instead of returning his words you pulled him into another heartfelt kiss, even more heated than the last one, and soon enough you found yourself laying on the couch, arms wrapped around his neck as you moaned into the kiss

WHEN YOU FINALLY PARTED you muttered up the courage to say it. "I love you too, Tabito." This time it was his turn to stare at you in disbelief, but that expression quickly got switched out for a warm, loving gaze. "Then would you give me the honour of being your boyfriend?" You nodded "There is nothing else that i've rather would've wanted."

You don't know how much time had passed since your confession. Within the blink of an eye he had lifted you up, and now you found yourself laying on his bed, with him hovering over you.

"Fuck.."

He muttered as he leaned down, hot breath ghosting over your skin as he started peppering open mouth kisses all over your neck, trailing down to your exposed collarbone, leaving hickeys in its wake.

"I'm much better than that asshole anyway, fuckin' hell. Look at the treasure he just lost."

You tried to cover up the string of moans rolling off your tongue, but the ravenette stopped you.

"Don't do that. You sound so good moaning out my name with those pretty lips of yours."

You understood what this could lead to, so before he had the chance to take things further, you stopped him.

"I uh.. I'm not really.. good with this stuff." You admitted embarrased. "Wait, you're a virgin?!" "Ah.. no. I just.. did it once. And never again since." "Bad experience?" He asked softly, a reassuring smile on his face. "You could say. Definitely not pleasurable." Karasu chuckled. "We don't have to do it. I want you to feel comfortable." "It's not that! I am. Very comfortable in fact.. I just don't wanna ruin it for you.."

The boy shook his head.

"You're not ruining anything for me. In fact, I'm glad I can be the one to change your experience for the better. If you'll allow me, that is."

You nodded with no hesitation. The last confirmation the boy needed before taking action.

Soon enough you found yourself back in his grasp, hands roaming all over her body, leaving no inch untouched. Moans and whimpers escaped your lips, only fueling his desire and the growing warmth he felt. You were stripped naked, a little nervous to reveal yourself to him. But any doubt quickly washed away once you noticed the bulge in his pants, and the flushed expression adorning his face.

The sound of rustling snapped you back to reality, and you were met by a sight so lewd, you had to squeeze your legs together. There he was in all his glory. It was like you JUST started noticing how well built he was. Those chiseled abs that look too unreal to be true, his somewhat muscular form, and the moles littered across his body. And obviously the hard, throbbing cock to was standing proudly, precum leaking from the tip. This whole situation was to die for.

You gulped nervously, wondering how this was gonna fit you, but Karasu already had the plan worked out. His hands pushed your legs open while he lowered his face, dangerously close to your core. You could feel his hot breath fanning across the skin of your inner thighs, instinctively wanting to close your legs again before his large hands took hold of them, keeping them pried open.

"Let me make you feel good baby, okay?"

"But you're hard too, what about you?"

A devilish little grin spread across his face as he lifted his head up.

"I might have just the solution for that?"

And with that you found yourself hovering on top of him minutes later, facing his hardened lenght while your dripping cunt dangeled in front of his face. You were nervous, and even a little embarrassed. This whole scene was so dirty, but you couldn't help but get turned on by it all.

"Come on. Lower yourself beautiful. Nothing's gonna happen."

Slowly, agonizingly slow, you started doing so. Karasu being the impatient man he is couldn't wait any longer, instead, his hands took hold of your waist, pulling you down within the blink of an eye. A muffled moan escaped your lips as his tongue started its attack on your hole, licking the folds clean like a madman.

Your hands found their way to his cock, face lowered a little more as you gave it a few kitten licks, feeling his nails digging into your skin with each contact. The sensation was overbearing, but you managed to finally wrap your lips around his cock, tongue swirling around it as you did whatever you could to make him feel good.

If it wasn't enough already, you suddenly felt his fingers grazing your skin, just before plunging two digits inside you. You were a moaning mess, trying to keep up as his tongue fucked you into a mess. Your head bobbed up and down, taking his lenght like your life depended on it.

You felt your orgasm nearing, and he knew it. The ravenette kept you in place, wanting to savour every last drop of your essence. He was close too, and moments later, the both of you reached your climax. Your throat got painted white, and you swallowed the salty substance, slowly taking his still hard cock out.

Karasu carefully lifted you off him, laying you back onto the bed. Your eyes widened when you noticed him licking his lips.

"Thank you for the meal."

"What?! Don't say that!"

"Why? Is my girl getting all shy? We're not done yet."

With one swift movement he got between your legs, positioning his member to be aligned with your aching hole. His gaze met yours, searching for any trace of doubt, any trace of unwant. But all he could find was a fiery passion burning in your eyes, desire glistening in the dimly lit room.

"Last chance to back out.." He whispered, tip grazing in between your wet folds. "Not in a thousand years."

The male smirked, hands gliding from your thighs to your knees, settling there.

"Your wish is my command."

His tip found its way to your entrace, pressing against it as he carefully started pushing it in.

"Deep breaths, [name] You can do this."

You nodded, hissing at the sharp pain that enveloped you as the ravenette pushed his lenght inside you. Little by little, you got filled up, letting out a stiffled moan when you felt him balls deep inside. The male let out a heavy breath as he leaned against you, pushing you deeper into the matress with all his weight. The skin on skin contact, the feeling of him buried deep inside you, his hot breath against your neck, it was deliciously overwhelming.

"Tell me when you're ready."

You nodded shortly after his words, and seconds later his hips started moving oh so carefully, pulling his lenght all the way out, just to move it back in. You were a moaning mess, fingers tangled in his hair as he bullied his throbbing cock into your tight, sopping cunt. Your brain felt like it could melt at any second, his words of praise only fueling the satisfaction.

"You're doing so well for me, look at that, you're such a pretty mess for me baby.."

The pace went on for a while, until you started whinining for him to go faster.

"Thought ya'd never ask.."

He replied, pressing a soft kiss to your temple before snaking his arms around your waist, slamming his length back in so deep, you felt it all the way in your stomach.

Karasu had never felt so good before. The way your walls clenched around his hard cock, squeezing it to the point it felt suffocating. The loud moans escaping your lips, your nails digging into his back. The way your cunt sucked him right back in, making it impossible to pull out, it was simply heavenly.

"Feels good, doesn't it?"

He cooed, watching you nod and moan. He was fucking you dumb, and enjoying every single second of it.

"T..tabito fuck! I'm gonna.."

"Me too.. fuck. Wanna feel you come around me.. can I?"

"Yeah.."

His pace intensified, mercilessly pumping in and out. He felt your orgasm nearing, and his too. Soon enough, you moaned out his name, legs wrapped around him as you rode out the pleasure, having made a mess on his cock.

"Good girl.. me next now."

He slurred, the words barely leaving his lips before he released inside you, filling you to the brim with his essence. With a few more deep, lazy thrusts he fucked his come into you, making sure it's as deep as it can be, before pulling out and laying next to you. He watched you as your chest heaved with each breath, still recovering from the wild ride.

"Are you alright? I didn't hurt you, did I?"

"No, no. It's fine. You didn't."

He smiled, his fingers pushing away strands of hair from your face.

"Let me go get you some water and a towel."

After helping you clean up and making sure you're alright, the two of you laid there in his bed, surrounded by a comfortable silence as he cradled you in his arms. This was how it was supposed to be, you were there, with him, exactly where you belonged. Eita was gonna have to suck this one up.

DEDICATED TO VIKY, NENI AND ALL THE KARASU FANS OUT THERE THAT ARE STARVING FOR CONTENT

[littlemissayu]

TWST Boys as ✨ PARENTS✨(Part 2)

ft: Octavinelle, Scarabia | pt.1; ft.Heartsabyul & Savanaclaw | pt.3; ft.Pomefiore, Ignhihyde | pt. 4; ft.Diasomnia

TW: kids, pregnancy, reader is depicted as female, domestic, fluff

Azul Ashengrotto-

4 very well behaved children. For the majority of the time they are really good kids, listening, getting good grades,and respectful. Until you make one of them angry, bc they will hold that grudge and with find a way to pull a fast on you; yet will they admit they're mad if you simply ask? No. They DO know how to forgive and they do to the people they love. Honestly Azul would be a very gentle parent because he has a soft heart and doesn't think his kids could do anything wrong, definitely the parent who will find some excuse for his kid.Don't get me wrong he knows where to draw the line like if their kicking someone's chair on an airplane. 2 boys and 2 girls, and he would never have it any other way(even if originally he was sort of scared of messing them up).

Jade Leech-

2 kids, two adorable little girls. His daughters were super calm children. When you two first brought your first home you were gald yet worried because she rarely cried throughout the night. All you could think is 'This is so jade's daughter'. Both of your kids are absolutely brilliant and catch on fast. Your 2nd daughter was very into photography and would snap pictures of family and her dad's mushroom garden.One father's day she gave her dad a photo album filled with pictures of him with his family (and his mushrooms & terrariums); he almost cried tears of joy. Jade loves to spoil his little girls, he tries to say no to them but they give him those sad, sad eyes and he just gives in. Very protective of your and your girls, you guys are the most important people in his life.

Floyd Leech-

6-10 kids, two words ; baby machine. He loves seeing you pregnant so he does it over and over again. The most chaotic dad to ever have, wanna egg the neighbors house? He'll help. Wanna troll local Walmart employees? You guys will get kicked out together. Wanna rustle with a good ol' dad in the mud? Let's do it!! To others he may seem like a horrible parent but his kids know he always means best and they love him. He hates parent-teacher conference, bc now he has to listen to some strange rant about his kid for 25 minutes; but the upside is if his kids do really well they get to treat them for whatever they want. He'll also get to be super proud!! He has at least 2-3 sets of twins only one of them is boy-girl, other(s) is boy-boy.

Kalim Al Asim-

9- whenever you tell him you don't want anymore kids!! This man wants a huge family like he had growing up. Most of his kids seem to be super happy go lucky like their dad. He has more self-control by the time he has kids so thankfully he isn't throwing parties everyday, but if his kids want to have one ; go all out!! (Just don't do anything illegal). All his kids are given unlimited cards by the age of 13, he wanted to do 7 but you said it was too young so he agreed on 13. His kids are the life of every party, you either really love 'em or really hate 'em. These kids are 100% either home-schooled or in a prestigious private school and have bodyguards for the obvious reasons being they are Asim kids they have constant threat someone will assassinate/kidnap them. But Kalim is a great dad and his kids love him!! I'm not gonna list all his kids but his first is a little girl <3

Jamil Viper-

2 kids, very strict. He is the first Viper in years to break the long line of servitude to the Asim family. It's hard to break out of certain habits but, although it made his kids super sneaky, it also made them work really hard to not have dad be disappointed. His kids are super smart and always on top of their class. Like their dad they are very talented, his daughter takes up painting and martial arts, and his son takes up spelldrive and culinary. Jamil may be strict but he is also a very proud parent, as his kids seem to always do amazing things. He does tell them when he's proud and tells them how great they're doing and how much he loves them. Lucky for them they also inherited his gorgeous hair.

Octavinelle Masterlist

Scarabia Masterlist

TWST Masterlist

[generalsmemories]

3 in fluff scenarios with Dan Heng for the event? :3

Lovely melody

✧ dan heng x gn!reader

✧ prompts used: that warm feeling they get when they successfully make the other one laugh out loud || 1k event

✧ content: established relationship, fluff, hurt/comfort, spoilers for main quest and 1.4 main event, and dan heng's companion quest

✧ a/n: i think everyone heals a lot inside whenever dan heng shows a hint of a smile (me going into camera mode with both his forms to see that tiny little smile) so let's give this boi some well deserved laughter after his very good job onboard the luofu

ya'll know the drill, not beta-read so if you see any mistakes - you didn't.

Dan Heng seemed to behave differently after he decided to meet with Bailu. A meeting you were first incredibly worried about after getting to know what had once to him onboard the Luofu years ago - but he had only given you a tiny smile and a brief hug to console you, whispering that he would bring the trailblazer for safety measures.

You had noted that it was the first time that he had personally left the archives after the initial expedition had come to an end and the stellaron disaster had been solved.

And normally you would've been delighted over the fact that he had taken the effort to come out to hang out at the cabin area with the others, even if he spoke less than before. While you're worried about his reason for stepping out of the express once again, you know that its his wish - and by no means are you to hold someone back from wishing to face a certain part of themselves.

Especially when it comes to Dan Heng.

Either way, when he came back after taking a trip back down to Luofu, he had once again shut himself back into the archives - there was an attempt to console you in the form of a brief nod with a small smile.

It did not help at all.

But you knew better than to actually rush him into explaining things or even tell you something - he still needed to wrap his own head around what had just happened after all.

So you were in utter glee when March and the trailblazer had suggested to bring Dan Heng back to Belobog for their annual Solwarm festival, deciding to wait outside of the archives as they went in to ask him. But your happiness is short-lived when the duo comes out with a frown, the trailblazer shaking their head while March just sighs out in disappointment.

"He won't budge at all. I would ask you to come and join us [Name], but you're probably too worried about him now to join, huh?" March asks in a futile attempt, and you can only give her a resigned smile yourself, "Sorry, you two. Do enjoy the festival for both of us though. I think Himeko is at the end of this cart if you're going to ask her for help," you say, waving the two goodbye - entering the room only when they turn the corner.

Dan Heng is still standing with his back turned towards the door when you enter, and he doesn't turn around when he speaks out loud either. "You really don't have to stay behind at the express for me, you know? I'm fine, just a bit tired."

You don't answer, merely taking a few cautious steps towards him although you stop moving when you're just within arms reach "... Do you want me to?" you ask instead.

"..." he doesn't answer at first, but he quickly turns around to take a few steps towards you, reaching for your hand to pull you towards him before immediately burying his face into your neck and wrapping his arms around your waist. "... Thank you."

While Dan Heng doesn't say anything more after his initial vulnerability, but you can tell very quickly from the way he's acting that he doesn't want you to leave his sight. You've resigned yourself to spend majority of your time inside the archives - getting a lot of updates of March's and trailblazers situation and condition through various selfies and long rants from March.

You show all of the pictures to Dan Heng who has his head resting on your lap whilst reading the updates from March out loud. While he doesn't comment on anything, content with hearing your own thoughts about the matter - you've managed to see him crack a small smile or let out a light chuckle at some of the stories March gives or even your own thoughts.

While it doesn't seem like a lot from the outside or to anyone else, the small chuckle he lets out makes your heart soar. And when you glance down at him after putting away your phone, he merely raises an eyebrow in silence. "What is it?" he asks, ever so oblivious at your newfound joy.

"Nothing," you answer, not able to hold back your smile as you bend your neck a tiny bit to peck him on the lips.

A few more days passes, and whilst March and the trailblazer wasn't able to enjoy the festival because of circumstances (that you have very much been updated on) they had instead found a newfound joy in a new game that had taken Belobog by storm - having sent a picture to you about their new companion who they had affectionally named: Puffball.

It seemed that keeping himself to the archives and accompanied by your presence seemed to help Dan Heng tremendously, now able to take more trips down to the main cabin instead of you having to make the trek to the kitchen yourself to bring food back to the archives.

He's even made some comments on the mutual groupchat of the express, giving March and trailblazer a few pointers - to which he was responded with a flurry of stickers from March you could practically feel her excitement through the screen.

And whilst Himeko and Welt made the trip down to Belobog to watch the final tourmanets in person, you and Dan Heng had resorted to watching the livestream on the holographic screen inside the archives.

Dan Heng wasn't as hooked to the game or the tournament, but seeing your excited expression whenever you saw either March or the trailblazer on the screen did make him relax significantly - having his attention on you and your expression most of the times than the livestream.

Not that you noticed though.

He had started to pay attention to the screen when the grand finale was about to commence though - just as curious as you about this mysterious player that had participated in the event.

"They won!" you shouted in glee before the trotter had even landed the final blow, making Dan Heng jolt in surprsie at the sudden loudness - but you were too ecstatic to even notice, turning towards him with a glint in your eyes that made Dan Heng's words die in his mouth.

"I knew they were going to win! Sure Hook as an elite player surprised me, but there was no way March and the trailblazer would lose! After all they even went with your tips and strategy with the right chips and had that amazing line up - they were almost unkillable!" you spouted, going on and on about the strategic points and the efficient use of their set up - Dan Heng still blinking in mild surprise at your sudden informative outburst.

You still don't notice how he's completeley shell-shocked at your new vigor, and while 70% of his attentin was on your continued rant on how they could optimize the team further, he gets a personal message from Himeko - the video showing Welt having jumped up from his seat with as much excitement as you during the finale.

And maybe it's that video about Welt along with your own enthusiasm about a game that you were previously very neutral about is what finally cracks him.

But you first hear the light snicker come from him, which makes you immediately quiet down because of sheer surprise. The light snicker that comes from your lover soon turns into a hearty laugh while his body starts to shake slightly.

And you swear you've never been so in love.

There's a few stray tears forming at the corner of his eyes, to which Dan Heng brings a delicate finger to brush away, mouth still spread into a smile - his cheeks are a tiny bit flushed from having laughed way longer than he normally does and his body is still trembling slightly.

If only you could've recorded this entire interaction.

It takes Dan Heng a couple of deep breathes before he notices your awestruck expression, his smile fading a bit as he grows concerned, but before he can ask you only cup his cheeks again and shuffle closer to him - the same sparkle in your eyes still present, but now for entirely different reasons than before.

"You laughed!" you state with a broad smile, and the male before you blinks in surprise, cheeks reddening a bit at your upfront statement.

But before he can even say anything, you let out a chuckle yourself, "You laughed!" you reaffirm, now with a softer voice.

Dan Heng is still confused, but you only shake your head before leaning in to kiss him, "You finally laughed again."

And only when you say that does Dan Heng piece together all of your worries for the past week. The realization making him let out a resigned chuckle, bringing a hand behind your head to pull your face closer to him and press his lips against your own again.

"How can I not when you were acting that excited over a game of all things?"

You don't refute or say anything, only laughing more which makes his small smile widen.

[rdng1230]

Sal Deluca Meta

Okie dokie here we go. Just remember y'all asked for this.

Here are some repeated talking points I’ve seen about Sal and why I think most of them are ignoring certain contexts or misattributing things to Sal that were said/done by somebody else. Also just general thoughts about our little mook.

Hen Begins

That Sal was a raging racist/sexist/homophobic. 

Let’s deal with the first one first. Is he a member of the white boys club? Absolutely. He makes no effort to include Hen and doesn’t really acknowledge her at all until he’s complimenting her for her skills at the end of the episode. This is OBVIOUSLY not good. He should’ve been kinder and more welcoming to her. But the only one who specifically makes negative/mean comments about Hen is Gerrard and Tommy. Literally the only thing you could even interpret that way is him saying “for real?” to Gerrard’s diversity hire comment and the fact that he drops the pick axe or whatever the hell that metal thing was on the floor along with everybody else besides Chim. Not great, but also with what we know about how other rookies are treated even by Hen herself, I don’t think any of this behavior falls into “irredeemable racist monster” Buck chased Ravi with a chainsaw for christ sake. 

Ok now the sexism. He actually stares daggers at Gerrard for the entirety of his stupid “waste of taxpayer money/women won’t be able to rescue my guys” spiel. Like the camera specifically focuses on Sal looking pissed as hell. Another thing I’ve heard falsely said is that after Gerrard storms off, Sal/Tommy follow him. That’s not true. They do get up and leave but they actually leave in the ass opposite direction. Sal’s face when he signals to Tommy to get up reads to me as “let’s get the hell away from the fallout of that grossness.” not “I agree with what that dinosaur just said.” But I also realize people can interpret that moment differently. 

I think the sexist reading largely comes from the Kristen Stewart conversation. And come on, This is the lesbian website, if we start dinging people for finding Kristen Stewart attractive, we’re all going down. Plus again, Buck was STEALING EMERGENCY EQUIPMENT TO GO GET LAID AND HE’S EVERYBODY’S FAV SO I DON’T WANT TO HEAR IT. We see Sal kind of ignore Hen but also agree with her at the same time during this exchange. Again a case of Sal not really acknowledging Hen but not attacking her either. Go and look at his face when Tommy says that NY bitchiness comment. Sal does not look at all happy with him. Most of the time when anyone is being actively mean Sal looks pissed off, not approving.

Ok now the homophobia thing. And it's at this point I’m going to bring up the idea that some characters seem bad/good not based on their actions but on whose perspective we’re viewing those actions from. I see this being a problem with several characters. Most notably Taylor Kelly. But that's a whole other post. 

Sal’s team Jacob comment is homophobic and gross but it's also 1) 2009 and 2) directed at someone who he clearly knows incredibly well and who we KNOW gives as good as he gets. I easily could’ve seen this interaction reversed with Tommy saying that to Sal because that's who they are and how their friendship works. But because we’re seeing this from Hen’s perspective it's another thing that makes her feel isolated and othered. And again THAT IS NOT GOOD SAL SHOULD NOT BE DOING THAT. But I don’t think Sal at all said that with the intention of putting Hen down, it very clearly reads to me as Sal teasing/riling Tommy up as they always have. Now obviously the harm still hits even if the intent wasn’t present. But I think if we can forgive Tommy for comments that were MEANT to be mean, then we can forgive Sal for comments that were just him fucking around with his best friend of several years. 

That Sal was the ringleader or Gerrard’s right hand man

Does Sal have a sort of in charge vibe? Yeah absolutely. But very notably the only thing he actually initiates is the olive branch. It’s him that offers a hand to Hen and says nice job and you’re good at what you do. I also will die on the hill that the hemorrhoid complaint was his. Chim would definitely say that but not in an official report, Tommy would definitely bad mouth Gerrard, but not like that. Now who is known for kind of cruder language and a short fuse and absolutely would put that down in an official report? Sal motherfucking Deluca that’s who. 

One notable thing that I find interesting is that Hen herself distinguishes Gerrard’s behavior from the rest of the team's. She definitely gives them hell during her big speech but when Chim does dishes with her she specifically says men like him not men like them. Just something I realized on my most recent rewatch. 

To summarize, the only real thing Sal did that was unique to him (because they all failed to stick up for Hen, yes even Chim. Chim was nice to her but he never actually stood up for her to Gerrard’s face. He tried to redirect the conversation a couple times but that was it.) was the Kristen stewart comments and the Team Jacob comment. I would argue Tommy’s comments in Chimney begins and his NY bitchiness comment in Hen Begins are way more targeted, hateful, and fucking rude. (said with all love because we know Tommy had a bunch of growth and change and became the man we all know and adore.) IMO nothing in Hen begins that Sal says/does is as bad as what Tommy did/said.

Bobby Begins Again

Ok another reason why I don’t think Sal is this irredeemable sexist/racist/homophobic pig is WHY ON EARTH WOULD HEN STAND UP FOR HIM IF HE WAS???!?!?!? Hen is THE FIRST PERSON TO CALL OUT THAT CRAP even from the first episode she says something like “why is that always the first instinct with you whiteboy macho types?” So why why why why would she stand up for Sal if he hadn’t shown any improvement in that area in the now 7 years minimum that she’s worked with him. Answer: she fucking wouldn’t. Ok moving on.

The Bobby stuff

So remember how I said perspective changes everything? This is the major reason why. We as the audience love Bobby and know intimately the struggles he’s faced, so we’re naturally going to be angered by anyone who is antagonistic towards him. The thing is Sal doesn’t know ANY of that. This is what Sal knows about Bobby.

He’s from somewhere in middle America and has never worked in a MAJOR American city like LA/NYC. That’s it. He COMPLETELY ACCURATELY I MIGHT ADD predicts that anybody with that background will struggle to adapt to the specifics of LA. It’s Sal that has to pick up Bobby’s slack as he adjusts, calling out the shots at the tree trimmer call, taking the initiative with Maurice even though Bobby does ultimately do the saving. (Which Sal actually seems impressed by btw.) Bobby still can’t even read the city map when they pull up to the restaurant fire call. 

Now imagine you’re Sal. First you had Gerrard as captain, who (I think it's fair to say) you DID NOT LIKE. One of the things he did was put down firefighters who disobeyed orders by rescuing people. We saw this with the “fetching a tide” call and with saving the boy in the submerged car. Hen disobeyed orders but showed real skill as a firefighter. And all she got for her troubles was being berated by her Captain. 

Ok then after Gerrard you have an interim captain that seems like a decent dude, but he leaves and for a while you have a revolving door of retiring brass that are checked out, behind the times, or just generally disengaged. You become used to filling in as captain and get actually pretty damn good at managing the team. (I say this because Sal leads the team several times in BBA and nobody looks at all like this is a new development) Then they finally pick a nobody who has never worked in a proper city before and to you he’s just the newest asshole that will probably screw up and get someone killed. Sal has no idea about the challenges or traumas Bobby has had to face, just like we have no idea what might have happened in the 5+ years between HB and BBA. Sal has probably MANY REASONS not to trust Bobby that we don’t know about. 

So how would you feel after you’ve successfully rescued a teenage boy’s life, if your new captain who you’ve known for like a day and still doesn’t even know how to get the engine to calls on time, calls YOU stupid for SUCCESSFULLY SAVING A CHILD’S LIFE. I think you’d be likely to blow up a little too. 

Was Sal a hothead? Absolutely. Was he being smart by mouthing off to Bobby? Absolutely not. But I think his lines to Bobby during that scene are so telling. “You’re just the latest jag off in a long line of jag offs to come to this house and think you know how to run it.” In other words, he’s not really seeing Bobby during this exchange (he couldn’t possibly, Bobby is still being very closed off and won’t tell anyone what his story is for years) he’s seeing the long line of assholes that started with Gerrard that Bobby is unknowingly falling into the pattern of. Just like how Bobby didn’t really see Sal and one relatively tiny restaurant, he saw his wife and family and a massive apartment building with no way out. That to me is the tragedy of Bobby and Sal. I genuinely think they could’ve learned a lot from each other if they had left their baggage at the door. 

In other words, would we judge Sal if he had gone after Gerrard in the way he went after Bobby? I doubt it. And that to me is what Sal is actually doing, going after Gerrard and all the other nameless asshole captains he’s been dealing with for YEARS. Sal was hotheaded and impulsive, but at the end of the day I think he was just dealing with misplaced anger that he put on Bobby, something both Buck and Eddie have done at some point or another even when they DID have all the information. If you can forgive the lawsuit arc, and Eddie’s comments in season 5 about Bobby’s kill count than dear god I think Sal has more than earned a pass. 

Overarching things I find interesting about Sal that I don’t see anyone talking about 

He cares a lot about the people they save on rescues, he’s the one on the majority of calls saying some variant of “its gonna be ok/we’re gonna get you out/don’t worry. Whatever the firefighter equivalent of bedside manner is, this guy has it. 

His personal code of who he gives a shit about seems to boil down entirely to who has skills/is talented and who isn’t. The minute Hen shows real promise by saving that little boy, he is down there hand shaking and complimenting her. Ditto Freddie Costas. “Smart kid, probably saved his own life with that move.” You see this in his conversation with Bobby too “that wasn’t luck man that was skill.” You have to earn Sal’s respect and the way you do is by demonstrating competence. Sal genuinely does look impressed with Bobby for apprehending Maurice and showing ingenuity, the problem is it's immediately undercut when Bobby belittles him for saving the kid. 

Anywho, that’s my Sal defense thesis. There’s probably other stuff I forgot but that's the bulk of it. I reserve the right to randomly reblog this with any other shit that comes to mind. Also as a disclaimer I still LOVE reading toxic Sal or asshole Sal content, absolutely eat it up with a spoon gimme gimme gimme. But I think it would be unfair to say that’s the ONLY read of him. He clearly does give a shit and is capable of growth and change, he just also happens to have a short fuse and very little willingness to go about things in a tactful way. 

TLDR: free my man, he did do some of that shit but so did your blorbos, it's just your blorbos had the narrative on their side when they did it.

[i-fucking-hate-ppl]

Sup mah dude! I've just finished binge reading your HH hcs and I freaking love them! ✨ If you're still taking requests, may I get how getting married with our demon boi Alastor would be like? From what lead him to deciding he was gonna marry our reader, how he proposes, what's the marriage gonna be like, etc., etc. And if you can, maybe include how our other main characters would react? Thank you for blessing us ❤️✌️

Wassup! I hope you enjoy this fluffy bundle of fluff!

Alastor decided he was going to marry you the moment he came to term with his feelings. He hasn't even thought about courting anyone since, well he was alive! Even then it was mostly to please his dear mother!

He can't recall a time he's ever felt this way about anyone before, and if he was ever going to marry someone he knew it'd be you.

Of course he's a gentlemen though, he won't start with that. No no no, it simply won't do.

He'll test it out first. Make sure you two are actually compatible. It'll be a few years before he starts asking subtle hints about what you like it rings, like certain cuts or perhaps gold vs silver, ring size.

To be safe you don't know, he'll buy you a ring for you birthday to throw you off.

And once he's done browsing and has found the most perfect, stunning ring he'll propose.

He'll make sure it's your anniversary to once again throw you off, and take you out to the best restaurant. He'll make sure to plan quite a few activities, and at the end he'll take you for a walk. Of somewhere private and most importantly quiet with the most beautiful view you could possibly find in hell.

He'll find the perfect opportunity to step back, while you're distracted by the site seeing to kneel and just wait patiently for you to turn around.

And the moment you say yes he's up and slipping that ring on your finger with a peck to your forehead.

-

Charlie was flabbergasted. She didn't think Alastor would ever, in a million years, propose and get married. Although that didn't stop her excitement. She's quick to congratulate you two and squeeze you both in a big old hug!

Vaggie really couldn't care less, she was shocked but just doesn't care as much. Giving a smile congratulations and a smile. She does wonder if you have magical, voodoo love spells or something though..

Angel Dust most certainly said something inappropriate and is now trying to fight off a pissy Alastor during all the congrats.

Sir Pentious is just "Really? That's who you want to marry? For the rest of your life that's who you want to be stuck with? I'm not judging.. but I'll be praying for you dear!"

Husk gives no fucks, he tried warning you and you ignored him. It'll be your own bad decision he already made his. No congrats either.

Nifty is jittery and beyond excited. Talking and asking questions a mile per minute. Climbing all over you while she does. She also can't believe Alastor will be married, what is your secret to a bad boy's heart! Tell. Her.

-

The wedding is most certainly in cannibal town, it's the place close to Alastor's heart. It reminds him so much of his era in life, honestly can't imagine the wedding taking place anywhere else.

He would prefer if the wedding was more traditional, such as you wearing a white dress/tux. But if you would prefer a dress/tux of a different color he will be willing to bend since he wants you to be just as happy as he will be.

He'll also want it to be very, very small. Just a few people.

He will try to do most of the work so you don't have to worry about anything.

Rosie will most certainly be the wedding officiant, she got certified just for him! She didn't expect an Ace in the hole such as Alastor to ever get married and is beyond excited to do this for him!

Zestial is his best man, and the rest of his best "men" are Husk (who was most certainly forced to be there) and Nifty.

He didn't care who you chose as your best, as long as it wasn't Lucifer.

He'll most certainly go for a red and black theme and hope you agree.

The flowers would be deep red roses with black lilies, with a small touch of pink roses just to brighten it a bit.

Cake would most certainly be yellow, with black frosting and deep red frosting roses on it, decorated beautifully.

He'd pretty much make sure the whole wedding was perfect and beautiful. Just for you.

Zestial will be walking you down if your Father isn't in hell. He doesn't want you to walk alone down the aisle!

His vows would be

"You know dear, you are very special to me. There isn't a single soul in heaven or hell that could possibly make me feel the way I do for you. You're one in a million! A random, wild chance that I will never take for granted! The first and only one that could ever warm my heart! I promise that I will always take care of you and protect you until the very end! A promise that will never be broken, forever and always my darling."

He'll make sure no one can see the sealing kiss, but he most certainly seals that shit. You are his now, always.

Zestial will also act as your father for the first dance and give you away to Alastor after as well, if your Father isn't present. Just to keep things traditional and make you happy.

Of course the music is played from a radio and of course it's mostly Jazz.

After it's all said and done and you're home, Alastor might feel the very rare want to have sex. But if not he'll hold you close and read to you from one of your favorite books without his radio static. He'll have tea and snacks on the side table for you to enjoy as you listen to him speak. If you doze off he'll change you into some pajamas and lay down you down in bed before getting ready and laying with you and holding you close.

Then it will be your turn to plan the honeymoon, he will let you have free reign to decided where you'd like to go and what you would like to do and only give input if you ask for it.

[togrowoldinv]

Reconnecting

Milf!Wanda Maximoff x Female Reader

It’s been ten years since you’ve seen Wanda. A lot has changed for her

Note: This is a soft one. Enjoy it!

Wanda Maximoff Masterlist, Main Masterlist

You were always certain that Wanda Maximoff is the love of your life. She was your best friend in college, and you always felt like there was something more.

But it takes two people to start a life together. And you never told her how you felt.

You watched her marry a man as you stood by her side as her maid of honor. She was happy with him. You knew that much was true.

But still you longed for the woman. Eventually, her husband caught air of it and he told you to stay away from Wanda. You didn’t have much choice but to do so.

Ten years have passed and you haven’t so much as seen the woman on the street, but when you go into a restaurant for lunch today she’s sitting there in a corner booth.

You know it’s her. It has to be her.

Approaching her table cautiously, you overhear her speaking to two boys you hadn’t seen before.

“Boys, you can get milkshakes today,” she tells them. “If you promise to be good for Uncle P later.”

A couple of responses come from the kids. Wanda glances up at the feeling of someone coming towards her.

Her eyes catch yours before she quickly looks away. Could it be you after all of these years, she wonders.

“Hi Wanda,” you speak first. She looks into your eyes again. It’s really you. “Sorry to interrupt. I just wanted to say hi.”

“Hi- hi y/n,” Wanda says, her voice cracking from the shock of seeing you again.

“How are you?” You ask her. “It’s been so long.”

“Yeah, it has,” Wanda agrees. “I’m doing okay.”

You’re about to speak again when one of the boys asks who you are.

“Oh, I’m y/n. An old friend of Wanda’s,” you introduce yourself.

“I’m Tommy and this is my brother Billy,” the boy says. “Wanda is our mom.”

Of course she is. Wanda always dreamt of being a mother. And you always knew she’d be a damn good one.

“It’s very nice to meet you boys,” you reply. “I’ll leave you to it. Good to see you again, Wanda.”

You begin to walk away when Wanda calls after you.

“Y/n, do you still have the same number?” She asks. You nod. “I’d like to see you again soon. To catch up?”

“Yeah, that would be nice,” you say. You flash her a smile.

After all of these years, you truly would love to reconnect with the woman. She texts you later that night and asks if you want to meet her for coffee. You agree easily.

The next morning you get dressed in an old college tee you’re pretty sure began as Wanda’s and some pants.

Wanda is early to the coffee shop. You walk to her table and she stands to greet you.

“You look nice,” you tell her. She’s wearing a black dress that frames her body well.

“Thank you,” she says, a tinge of pink on her cheeks. “I’ve got a meeting later.”

You order a drink and settle at the table with her. Neither of you know what to say first.

“So, how have you been Max? I mean other than you having the boys. How old are they?” You ask her.

“They’re 10,” Wanda says. “Twins.”

“Like you and Pietro. How sweet,” you remark. “I’m really happy for you. I know you always wanted to be a mom.”

“It’s the best,” she says. “Most days.”

“Not all?”

“Not anymore. I’m on my own,” Wanda says.

You notice there’s still a ring on her finger. But the look on Wanda’s face tells you something has happened.

“Oh Wands, I’m so sorry,” you say.

“It’s alright. It was sudden. One day he was okay and the next he was gone,” Wanda says, barely scratching the surface of the grief that tries to bury her. “About a year and half ago.”

“Can I- is it okay if I hug you now?” You ask her.

She nods and you cross the table to wrap her into a hug. Years of missing each other and grief of your own friendship makes the moment heavy.

Wanda cries into your neck as you rub her back soothingly. It feels like no time has passed but at the same time like you’re completely different people now.

“I missed you,” Wanda says through her tears.

“I missed you too,” you say.

She pulls away from your neck, but you keep your arms around her. You give her a small, reassuring smile.

“Would you want to come over for dinner sometime?” Wanda asks. “After yesterday, I told the boys about how much fun we had in college. They want to get to know you.”

“I’d love too,” you say. “As long as you’re cool with me telling them all about you back then.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that,” Wanda says, a chuckle following her words. “Tomorrow night?”

“Tomorrow night,” you agree.

Soon, you say goodbye to the woman for the day. And you have to admit you miss her since you’ve left.

It’s late in the night when you send her a text. It’s not risky in content, but it’s risky in reaching out to her.

Your phone rings two minutes later.

“Wanda?” You answer it. “I wasn’t expecting you to call me.”

“I was up,” she says.

“Stressed?” You ask. She usually was when she couldn’t sleep.

“Very. What are you doing right now?”

“Laying in bed thinking about us,” you reply. “About you.”

Your hear Wanda take a deep breath on the other end of the line.

“Was there an us?” She asks. Taking another her breath, continues, “Is there an us?”

“Wanda,” you breathe out. “You must’ve known at least partially that I loved you.”

“I think I tried to ignore it,” Wanda admits. “I didn’t want it to be true. I didn’t want to possibly not be friends with you, but then you left anyways.”

“He asked me to leave,” you say. “I didn’t want to do it.”

“I was worried about that,” Wanda says. “That he asked you to. It felt so sudden.”

Wanda’s breath is shaky. She is finally letting herself feel everything.

“I never would’ve left you.”

“I know,” she says. “I was about to tell you I was pregnant when you disappeared.”

“Wanda,” you mumble. There’s silence on the line.

“Can you come over?” She asks you.

“Now?”

“Yes please.”

You throw on some clothes and drive to the address Wanda had texted you. Just about ten minutes down the road from your house.

When you get there, your hands shake with nerves. You really couldn’t tell how Wanda was feeling. But you weren’t going to say no to seeing her again.

Just as you’re about to knock on the door, Wanda opens it wide. She steps outside.

“Hey,” you say.

“Hi,” she greets you. “The boys are asleep so I thought we could talk out here.”

She gestures to the swing on the front porch. You sit down next to her.

“I was going to ask you to be their godmother, you know,” Wanda says.

“I would’ve loved that.”

Wanda nods. You take a good look at her in the front porch light. She’s older, but she still looks the same. Her green eyes grab your attention, but her warm smile keeps you drawn to her. Wanda has always been so kind.

She notices you examining her face, but you don’t feign any embarrassment. You just lean in closer to her.

“I can’t ever get over you. I’m here. And it’s torture being so close and not being able to kiss you,” you tell her.

“So kiss me then,” Wanda says. It’s music to your ears.

Over fifteen years of longing comes to fruition with the feeling of her lips on yours. Wanda sighs in content against your lips. Being with you feels so safe, so warm.

The kiss becomes heated and Wanda pulls at your shirt.

“Come inside?” She asks.

“I dreamt of the day you’d ask me that,” you say. Wanda answers with another kiss to your lips.

You stand up together and walk inside her house.

Maybe Wanda Maximoff is the love of your life after all.

[allwaswell16]

A fic rec of One Direction fics where the characters miss an opportunity to be together but reconnect at a later time as requested in this ask. If you enjoy the fics, please leave kudos and comments for the writers! You can find my other fic recs here. Happy reading!

- Louis/Harry -

🩵 Next to your Heartbeat (where I should be) by jaded25

(M, 130k, cheating) All it takes for them to fall in love is one night. All they have to do is wait one year to see each other again.

🩵 I'll Fly Away by @juliusschmidt

(E, 122k, friends to lovers) Harry and Louis grew up together in Lake County, Harry with his mom and stepdad in a tiny cottage on Edward’s Lake and Louis in his family’s farmhouse a few minutes down the road. But after high school, Louis stuck around and Harry did not

🩵 Home To You by Crowsonthewire / @crows-onthewire

(E, 54k, friends to lovers) At fifteen, Harry wrote his first song for an oblivious seventeen year old Louis Tomlinson. Ten years later he’s a singer/songwriter who cant find any words for his second album and Louis is a closeted actor tired of LA.

🩵 Late Night Talking by @kingsofeverything

(E, 53k, famous/famous) Promo season gets underway with a stop at Late Night Talking, the late night show hosted by Harry Styles, and Harry Styles just happens to be the man who blew a chance to date Louis a decade ago.

🩵 It Had To Be You by @kingsofeverything

(M, 45k, When Harry Met Sally au) Ten years after their post-college road trip, Louis and Harry meet once again, but this time they become friends. Eventually, things get complicated.

🩵 Runner on Third by kikikryslee / @flamboyantommo

(M, 39k, friends to lovers) the AU where Louis and Harry were best friends growing up, but lost touch after Harry moved away. Ten years later, Harry has moved back to town, but he and Louis don't pick up where they left off.

🩵 Heart Beat by @allwaswell16

(E, 33k, kid fic) When Harry returns to start a music academy in his hometown, he finds himself face to face with his high school crush—and his charming daughter who wants to learn to play the drums.

🩵 With the Rising Sun by Tomlinsontoes

(M, 33k, sister's best friend) Louis had been living in NYC for two years now while studying at NYU, and was probably the least social 21-year-old ever. Somehow he got roped into his sister's brilliant idea of getting her college best friend to help him branch out and meet people. 

🩵 It's Been So Long by elsi_bee / @elsi-bee

(T, 31k, crush) Harry Styles' first crush was one of his sister's best friends, a certain someone named Louis Tomlinson. And Louis? He just vaguely remembers Gemma's younger brother from back in the day. A lot can change in ten years.

🩵 The Melody You Never Heard by bananasandboots

(E, 30k, camping) the one where Harry gets roped into a four-day camping trip with the boy who kissed him and never called back.

🩵 once bitten and twice shy by @pinkcords

(M, 19k, Christmas) in a rush of bravery only senior year can bring, Harry confesses his feelings in a letter to his neighbor and best friend, Louis, only for the entire school to hear it and laugh him out of their small town in Wisconsin. Ten years later, Harry's a successful lawyer at Columbia Records, coming home for Christmas for the first time since he departed for college. 

🩵 What do you mean he's coming? by MediaWhore / @mediawhorefics

(G, 15k, wedding) Now, not only does he have less than two weeks left to find something moving and inspirational to say, but Gemma just confided in him that her old childhood best friend is going to be in attendance. 

🩵 through the jungle through the dark by YesIsAWorld / @louandhazaf

(E, 15k, ex-friends) Louis and Harry were best friends, until they weren’t. Five years after they last spoke they’re forced to drive cross-country to visit an injured friend. If they can’t get over the past, it will be a very long week together.

🩵 You Turned Up (Like a Friend of Mine) by @lululawrence

(NR, 10k, parallel universes) the one where Harry disappears on graduation day only to show up on Louis' door looking exactly the same ten years later. 

🩵 Read My Lips by superglass / @gaymoustache

(NR, 6k, friends to lovers) Old Uni friends Harry and Louis reconcile for the holidays after Louis’ early success as an indie singer. NYE 1999/Y2K scare au.

🩵 We're Getting Better With Time by @haztobegood

(T, 5k, social media) the one where Louis is single, Harry is recently divorced, and they reconnect on Facebook forty years after they first met.

🩵 Any Man of Mine by QuickedWeen / @becomeawendybird

(T, 5k, childhood friends) Harry goes to visit his old friend Louis at his ranch in Texas after they reconnect during the pandemic. He learns a thing or two about cowboy hat etiquette.

🩵 Seems You Cannot Be Replaced by QuickedWeen / @becomeawendybird

(M, 5k, swimming) Harry and the popular boy in school, Louis Tomlinson, share a tension-filled night together when they're young. Fifteen years later they see each other again.

🩵 Time will tell, I suppose, or at least, these pages will. by Spiralblissx

(G, 5k, pen pals) Harry goes to a public diary reading thing at his local coffee shop and gets more than he bargained for

🩵 On a Day Like This You Know It's Meant to Be by @allwaswell16

(T, 2k, fate) Harry is certain he'll never see him again, even if they did make a pact to reunite should the Chicago Cubs win the World Series.

- Rare Pairs -

🩵 It’s About A Boy by @missrefridgefreetorator / mynameispiaivy 

(G, 4k, Louis/Luke Malak) when a mysterious boy turns your birthday celebration into a night you will never forget, or when it's like, what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas unless someone asks for your number and you just don't want the night to end.

🩵 Costumes Must Be Sexy, Slutty and/or Stupid by LadyAJ_13 / @ladyaj-13

(T, 4k, Louis/Nick Grimshaw) It's a bit of a blast from the past to get an invite to Nick Grimshaw's fancy dress housewarming.

[endthedream]

impress him

pairing: kindergarten teacher!sunoo x kindergarten teacher!y/n (she/her)

summary: Having a crush isn’t easy, especially when he has a naturally flirty personality. But luckily you have friend that has a great plan on how to impress your crush and get him to like you back.

words: 6.7k

story color: dark orange

warnings: mention of dead parents (very short and quick tho)

note: a little cute story for you :) I’m actually quite happy with how it turned out and I hope you like it too!!!!

masterlist of ‘enhypen as jobs’

Sunoo.

You can’t remember when or how you developed a crush on him. It all happened quickly, like a train passing by on a rainy day. With one blink of your eyes, one beat of your heart, one breath in your lungs, suddenly all you could think about was him. Night and day, first thing when you wake up in the morning and last thing when you fall asleep late at night. Your mind is filled with him, his smile, his laugh, his eyes, his mouth.

And watching him right now sitting at a table with two of your other colleagues, laughing and talking, drives a knife right through your heart, twists it and leaves you bleeding.

Sunoo has always had a flirty personality, compliments flying left and right when you spend time with him. It’s part of him to wink at everyone after saying yet another flirty comment, or placing his hand on peoples’ shoulders when he laughs. And you know he never means it serious. That’s just the way he is, the way he always has been. But it bothers you, because you don’t know what it means when he does those things with you. You don’t know if he sees you as just a friend, or more. You don’t even know if he could ever consider you as anything more than what you already are.

“Maybe you should stop staring at him because it’s slowly getting creepy.”, Jungwon, another one of your colleagues and your closest friends, says with a teasing grin on his face. He knows about your crush, because while you succeed in hiding it from Sunoo, everyone else in your life has guessed it after just spending a few hours with you. “I still don’t get why you don’t just go and confess to him.”

“Because…”, you answer, a sigh escaping your lips as you divert your gaze away from your crush and look at your friend instead. “The possibility of him rejecting me is pretty high. And we work together, every single day. I don’t want it to get awkward or make him feel uncomfortable.”

“Did you ever think about the possibility of him returning your feelings?” A laugh bubbles out of your throat after your friends’ question. Of course, you have. You have thought about Sunoo liking you back, but you quickly threw those thoughts away. Never has he shown any signs of feeling the same thing. He has always treated you the way he treats everyone else as well, there is nothing special there. And yet you still get your hopes up every single time he looks at you.

“Yeah, no. Jungwon I don’t think he likes me back.” Your friend blows out a breath before taking his phone out, typing furiously. “What are you doing?”

“I am searching for something.” A few seconds pass with your friends’ eyes skipping over his phone, typing every now and then before scrolling again. You wait patiently, stabbing at the food on your plate every now and then, eyes drifting to a certain someone more times than you want to admit. It’s hard not to look at him, to get engrossed with him. He is so captivating, his beauty lighting up the whole room. He has a presence that shines brighter than the sun. “There you go.”

Jungwon lays his phone down on the table, turning it around so you can see the things he has typed down in his notes. “How to impress your crush. Really, Jungwon? This is what you wrote down for the past few minutes?”

“This is a good plan, Y/n. You want Sunoo to like you, don’t you?” You nod your head carefully, eyes flickering to said boy just to see him already looking at you. He shows you one of his bright smiles, before looking at the people sitting at his table again. “Then just follow these steps and I promise you, by the end of the month Sunoo is going to be madly in love with you.”

1. Learn your crushes interests

Breathe in, breathe out, you repeat to yourself as you enter the kindergarten you work in. Just breathe and everything will be alright. But as soon as you see Sunoo sitting at a table with two children, your mind already begins to panic again. Seeing Sunoo with little kids has never been easy to you, melting at the gentle way he was playing with them. The children look up to him, idolize him, obsess over him. You get them, honestly, because you aren’t any different.

Jungwon and you spent the last two days gathering information on Sunoos interests, thinking of any possible way of engaging in those interests, figuring out how to approach him without being too obvious.

Upon seeing you, a bright smile appears on the boy’s face. Sunoo makes a move to stand up, to greet you, but the small child in front of him pulls him down again, complaining about not being done playing the game with him. You just show him an understanding smile, before putting your things down and starting to prepare breakfast for the kids.

“You need help with that?”, you hear a voice behind you, startling you out of your thoughts. You look up to see Sunoo standing beside you, gentle smile on his face.

“Oh, yeah, sure. You can cut the carrots if you want to.” He nods happily, grabbing a knife and doing your assignments immediately. Your gaze shifts to him every now and then, your head spinning with possible topics to start a conversation between the two of you. But every time you open your mouth to say something, your body stops you and you end up biting the words on your tongue.

“You look really tired today.”, Sunoo says, breaking the silence between the two of you. “I don’t mean that in a mean way, you still look beautiful, Y/n. I just want to ask if everything’s okay?”

Your cheeks turn into a faded shade of crimson, and you have to tell yourself to keep calm, before answering his question. “Yeah, uhm, I’m fine. I just stayed up the whole night watching a K-Drama and didn’t get much sleep.”

“A K-Drama?” A gasp escapes the boys’ lips, and his wide eyes look excitedly into yours. You smile at him, mimicking his excitement. “I love K-Dramas. I always watch them; I mean there is not a day going by where I am not watching one. What did you watch yesterday?”

“I finished watching 21st century girl.” Another gasp leaves Sunoos’ lips and you can’t help the chuckle that escapes you this time, enjoying his reactions.

“How did you like it? I cried my eyes out when I first watched it. I mean, I always cry whenever I watch it.”

“Yeah, I cried too. That’s another reason why I couldn’t sleep last night. I just kept on thinking about it and whenever I did the tears just streamed down my face. I couldn’t even stop it anymore.” Sunoo laughs slightly, nodding his head at your words.

“Yeah, I get what you mean. I’ve been there too. Do you watch a lot of K-Dramas or is it something you recently started doing?” A bright smile lights up your face. He is asking you questions about yourself. He is actually showing interest in you. Maybe Jungwons’ plan wasn’t so bad after all.

“Honestly, I just started getting into it. I’m currently trying to get through all the ones available on Netflix and I am honestly starting to get obsessed. Like what are they putting into those shows to make them so addicting?”

“Yeah, right? It’s like once you started watching K-Dramas, you can’t escape them anymore.” Sunoo turns his body to you after cutting the last carrot, hip leaning against the counter. “If you want to, I can make you a list with good ones to watch. I think I am an expert at this point, judging by the number of dramas I watched so far.”

“Oh, yeah that would be so nice of you, Sunoo.”, you tell him honestly. Your eyes meet his for a second, but you can’t face him for a long time. He stands so close to you, eyes not leaving your face for a second. It makes you flustered, lets you feel exposed under his burning gaze. That’s the effect he has on you. It’s easy for him to get you flustered, make you a stuttering self-conscious mess.

“I will get to it as soon as I’m home, I promise.”

-

There is a process between you and Sunoo, it’s small, but it’s there. Every break the two of you sit together, talking about one of the dramas he recommended, gossiping about characters and philosophizing about the deeper meanings, the hidden messages. You laugh, you smile, you grow. But it is still not enough, not enough to confess, and not enough to know if he feels the same about you.

But luckily you overheard a conversation Sunoo had with one of the other colleagues, talking about foods, snacks, desserts. So, it really wasn’t a surprise that you showed up the next day with his favorite ice cream in your back.

“Is that mint chocolate ice cream?” You smile at Sunoos question, seeing that your plan succeeded. You turn around to him, ice cream still in your hand, cocking your head at the boy in front of you.

“Yeah. Why? Do you also like it?”

“Like it? That doesn’t even come close. I love it.” He shows you a bright smile, eyes gleaming like those of a little child in a toy shop. “I didn’t think I would meet another person that likes mint chocolate. Every single one of my friends hates it. They make fun of me all the time for eating it.”

“Doesn’t sound like your friends have taste, because mint chocolate is an amazing flavor.” Sunoo nods in agreement, softly laughing at your statement. “I guess I found myself a new person to share this ice cream with. I can never finish this whole bowl by myself.” Taking out two spoons, you reach your arm out to offer him one of them. He happily takes it, sitting down right beside you, so close you almost forget how to breathe for a few seconds.

“I guess I found myself a new favorite colleague.”

2. Engage in more conversations

You curse under your breath as you read Jungwons’ message telling you the next step of your plan. Until now Sunoo started almost all the conversations with you. It isn’t like you don’t want to talk to him, there is nothing you want more, you just don’t know how. As soon as you stand in front of him, looking into his beautiful eyes, hearing his breathtaking voice, your brain stops working, your mouth loses the ability to form sentences and your breath only comes in rapid hiccups. It’s embarrassing, awkward, humiliating. That’s why you have been avoiding starting any conversation, but there is no way around it anymore. If you really want him to like you, to be intrigued by you, you have to make more first steps. This being the first one.

“Y/n, you came” Sunoo exclaims as he sees you enter the apartment of one of his friends. Two days ago, you found out that Sunoo and Jungwon have a shared friend named Jake, and that said friend just moved into town a few days prior. Jake decided to throw a little party for him and his friends, asking them to invite them their friends as well. Jungwon immediately sent you a text, informing you of the party and asking you to tag along with him. At first you were opposed, not being the type to go to parties or even socialize with anyone that wasn’t in your close friend group, but when Jungwon told you that Sunoo was also going to be there, you immediately agreed to come with him.

“Hey Sunoo.” You ignore Jungwons teasing chuckle behind you at the crack of your voice and show Sunoo a charming smile instead. “You look great.”

“Thank you, Y/n, that’s so nice of you.” Sunoos’ smile turns your stomach around, shakes it and drops it to the floor. Fogginess covers your brain, and you have to blink a few times to make sure you don’t drift back into the awkwardness you adapt as a habit whenever Sunoo speaks to you. “How about I show you around a bit? Jake is busy trying to figure out how to open a Champagne bottle, so we have some time before he will want to meet you.”

You nod at him, smiling brightly, and nervously taking his outstretched hand. You almost forgot Jungwon was still standing behind you, but quickly get reminded as he gives you a small nudge in Sunoos’ direction, making you stumble forward. Giving Jungwon a stern, but yet slightly appreciative look for bringing your back into reality, you follow Sunoo around the apartment. He shows you the bedroom, the bathroom, living room, kitchen and lastly the balcony. It’s where the two of you stop, taking in the view of the bright stars in the night sky.

“I used to always watch the stars with my mom.”, you start speaking, gathering all your nerves before continuing with your story. “My mom was obsessed with stars, their alignments, their meanings. She would tell me about all the constellations. When my dad passed away, she would always tell me that he is up there now, in the stars. That he is the brightest star in the night sky, watching over us every single hour of the day, even when we can’t see him. I would spend hours staring up at the stars, talking to the brightest one thinking it was my dad. I told him about my day, my thoughts, my worries and dreams.” Sunoo listens to you attentively, eyes never leaving your face while yours are focused at the million little lights shining in the sky.

“I really thought it was real, you know. I still think so. Every now and then I still talk to him, to his star, and I tell him about my life.” You smile to yourself, searching for the star in the sky and when you find it, you can’t help the sigh of relief escaping your lips. “I believe it because when my mom passed away a few years later, a star appeared right beside the one of my dad. I like to think that it’s them, watching over me. That even death couldn’t bring them apart.”

“Wow.”, Sunoo says, eyes not being able to leave your face. He can’t help the emotions he is feeling, sadness, grief, compassion, admiration. “Thank you for sharing this beautiful story with me. And I believe so too.” Sunoo scoots a bit closer to you, following your gaze up into the sky. “I think they are watching over you right now and I think that they are proud of the person you became, proud of every single thing you achieved so far.”

You smile softly, swallowing the tears that threaten to fall down on your cheeks. “Thank you, Sunoo. God, this means so much to me.” But before any of you can say anything a voice calls out to Sunoo, asking him to come in again.

“Guess Jake needs my help. Sorry we have to cut this short, but I really enjoyed spending more time with you, Y/n. I feel like I learn something new about you every single day.”

-

“No, Dylan. It’s not nice to take away someone else’s toy. How would you feel if someone took away your teddy bear?” The little boy in front of you sniffles a few times, wiping his eyes as small little tears roll down his cheek. This was the fourth time that he was taking away other kids toys and no matter how often you tell him to stop it, trying to get him to understand that it hurts the other children when he does that, he never seems to understand it. And while you know such behavior is a call for attention, it still frustrates you to tell him the same thing over and over again.

“You wouldn’t like that as well, right? That’s why you shouldn’t do it to the other children here as well. They want to play with the toys just as much as you do.” The little boy seems to only cry harder as your words, and you feel the patience running out of your system. Watching the whole encounter from further away, Sunoo sees you struggling. He sees that you need help.

“Dylan, come here.” The little boy waddles over to Sunoo, taking a seat on the older boys’ lap, looking at him with his big doe eyes. “You know what happens when you take someone’s toy away?” The little boy shakes his head. “It hurts the other person’s feelings. You take away something that brought them a lot of joy, and for a moment you take that joy away. That isn’t nice, is it?”

Sunoo gently wipes away his tears, showing him a soft encouraging smile. “Next time instead of stealing a toy from somehow, how about you ask them if you can have that toy? And if they say no, you can either wait until they are done playing with that toy, or you can ask them if they have another toy you can play with until they are done. How does that sound? Is that a good compromise?” Dylan nods his head, a small smile appearing on the boy’s face. “Thank you for listening and thank you for agreeing to the compromise. You can go back to playing now.”

You shake your head as you step closer to Sunoo. It never fails to impress you just how good Sunoo is with kids, always knowing the right things to say, always having a solution to every problem. “How are you so good with kids? Do you have younger siblings? A niece? A nephew?”

Sunoo chuckles at your words, shrugging his shoulders. “Nope, I have an older sister. That’s it.” He stands up again, dusting off his pants. “I guess I’ve just always been good with kids. I always wanted to work with them, and of course have some when I’m older.”

“You are going to be an amazing dad.” Those words slip out of your mouth before you can stop them, and as soon as they are out in the open, you drop your head in your hands with a groan, too embarrassed to look at the boy in front of you.

“Hey, no need to be embarrassed about your words.” Sunoo lays a comforting hand on your shoulder, not knowing that his touch is making it worse for you. “I really appreciate your words. You don’t know how much they mean to me.”

You just nod at him, head still buried in your hands, waiting for the blood that rushed into your cheeks to fade again. “Y/n.”, he calls out your name, lifting your head with his fingers, so you can’t do anything but to look at him. “I think that you are going to be an amazing mother as well.”

3. Make them laugh

Humor hasn’t been your greatest strength so far. You have always been too awkward to perform a joke with confidence, to make the whole room laugh or even slightly snicker at things you say. Jungwon swears you are one of the funniest people he has ever met, you think that he is biased and that it doesn’t count since he is your close friend and Sunoo is your crush. You could never joke with Sunoo the way you do with him.

Jungwon also told you to maybe search up a few jokes you think Sunoo would like and drop them at a random- fitting- time. You emphasized that it wouldn’t end well, that you would turn the situation awkward, the way you always do. But Jungwon just said to be confident, to trust in yourself and the process you made so far with Sunoo. Easier said than done, because while you stand beside him in the kitchen of the kindergarten, preparing their lunch, you find no right way to tell any of the jokes you spent hours trying to remember the whole night.

“You want to hear a joke?” Stupid. That was definitely the worst approach for this. Straight up asking him wasn’t what you had in mind, not at all. You wanted to be smooth about it, waiting for the right time. But as the right time never came, you got nervous. And the more nervous you get, the more likely you forget every piece of information in your head, including the jokes.

“Sure, why not? I always like a good joke.”

“I can’t promise you it’s good. All I can tell you is that they made me chuckle.” Sunoo turns his body to you, a sign you learned that shows you he is putting all his attention on you. You take a deep breath, wiping your sweaty hands on your pants. “How do you make an eggroll? You push it.”

Silence. Gruesome silence fills the space for a few seconds, and you know this was it. You just ripped apart the small chance you had with Sunoo, with one joke. Everything you worked on for the past weeks, you just tossed out of the window in not even ten seconds. You make yourself ready to dig a grave and bury yourself deep in it, never ever showing your face to anyone again. But before you can do that, a laugh tumbles out of the boy’s throat. An actual laugh, and it grows the more time passes. All you can do is watch him with wide eyes and mouth hung open.

Sunoo holds his stomach, wiping his eyes as he still laughs at your joke. “That was the worst joke I’ve ever heard.” He still lets out a few giggles, tipping his head back. Sunoo takes a few breaths, trying to calm himself down before facing you again. “Please tell me you have more of those jokes.”

You nod at him, still not processing the scene in front of you. But when you realize Sunoo is watching you with expecting eyes, you snap yourself out of your haze, telling him another joke you learned. “What do lawyers wear to court? Lawsuits.” And yet again the boy in front of you breaks out into another fit of laughter, but this time you join in, slightly chuckling at your own joke.

-

It has become a thing between the two of you. Whenever Sunoo needed to hear a joke, he would ask you to tell him one and proceed to laugh at it just the way he did the first time. Your confidence grew the more jokes you told, getting bolder and bolder with them. And Sunoo seems to love it, since he searches for you more often the past few days.

“I had the worst day.”, he says after the last parent left the kindergarten with their child. “First of all, I overslept today, and came way too late as you probably noticed. Then, as a punishment I got assigned to clean pretty much everything, but guess what, three children decided to throw up today and I had to clean it up. And to top that, I just got into an argument with a parent, because apparently their child isn’t getting educated probably in this kindergarten? Like excuse me, we are a kindergarten not a school. Your children aren’t here to learn math or geometry, they are here to play, make friends and prepare themselves for school.”

Sunoo drops his head on your shoulder. He has also been getting bolder when it comes to initiating physical touch with you. He is a very touchy person, you’ve seen it with his other friends, but noticing that he is adapting those same habits with you only shows you the progress you have been making. “I really, really need to hear one of your jokes right now.”

You smile at him, softly patting his head, but putting your hand down quickly after again. You have to hold yourself back from not engaging in those small touches, not wanting to overwhelm him or overstep any of his boundaries. “Okay, let me think about one.” Sunoo lifts his head again, looking at you with waiting eyes. “Why didn’t Han Solo enjoy his steak dinner? It was Chewie.”

And this moment right there, this short, sweet moment, is your favorite part. The moment when you can hear the soft sound of Sunoos’ laughter, the sweet melody filling your ears, warming you with the soft touch of joy. You can’t get enough of his laughter, wanting to hear it every single second of the day.

“How can you get better with every joke you are telling?”, he speaks between laughter, shaking his head in disbelief. “Oh, Y/n, you really do make my days so much better.”

4. Make subtle hints

After all those weeks, engaging into more conversations with Sunoo, getting to know him more and making him laugh countless times, you feel a lot more confident about the next step than you thought you would. Making hints, showing him, you are interested in him, doesn’t seem so frightening anymore. It suddenly seems so easy, as if you have been doing it all along already.

“I told you that you can do it.”, Jungwon exclaims, a bit too loudly, catching the looks of a few people around you in the small café the two of you decided to meet up. “I told you the list was going to work.”

“Hold your horses.”, you say, shaking your head at the boy in front of you. “Yes, we did grow closer, but nothing happened as well. I still don’t know if Sunoo likes me, or if he just thinks we are friends. I can’t be sure until he has told me.”

“You can be so stupid sometimes.” You frown at the words of your friend, not knowing what he means with that statement. “Come on, everyone can see from miles away how Sunoo is pinning over you. It’s extremely obvious.”

“You are reaching with that, Jungwon.” You can’t help but roll your eyes at him. Normally you appreciate Jungwon for feeding into your delusions, supporting your wishes, and routing for you and Sunoo, but with the real progress you made lately, this isn’t something you want to hear anymore. You want the truth, the honest truth. You don’t want the mindless support anymore; you want him to keep it real with you. “If he likes me back, I would have noticed that by now. And I haven’t. He isn’t even showing me any signs. Sunoo is treating me like he is treating his close friends.”

“You are so blind.” Ignoring that last comment, you take a bite of your cake, sighing at the familiar taste. “I still wish you luck with this step, Y/n. Let’s pray and hope you won’t embarrass yourself too much and ruin the chance you have with him.”

-

Sunoo smiles at you as he watches you enter the room again after leaving to put a band aid on a girl’s finger. It’s a Friday afternoon, twenty minutes before the parents are going to pick up their children. And you think it’s the perfect time to shoot your shot, to make the first move subtly hinting your crush to Sunoo.

“What are your plans for this fine Friday afternoon?”, you ask Sunoo as you both start packing your bags, ready to head home. “I planned on spending the night on the couch, watch one of the dramas you recommended to me earlier and enjoy a nice bowl of mint chocolate ice cream. And I thought that maybe you would like to join me?” Your heart is racing faster than a car on the highway, ringing loudly through your ears.

“That sounds like an amazing plan to spend the night.”, Sunoo says and for a moment you think he will take up on your offer, but when you see the sad smile on his face, you brace yourself for rejection. “I would love nothing more than to join you tonight, but I promised Jake I would hang out with him tonight. Him and his girlfriend broke up recently and he really needs some distraction.”

“Oh.”, you say, nodding your head at him. “Yeah, no, I totally understand that. I hope Jake feels better soon. You are a great friend for being there for him in such a time.”

Sunoo sighs at your words, ruffling his hair softly. “How about we do that next weekend? I am free then.”

“Next weekend? Yeah, of course. We can do that.” Hope fills your veins again, spreading through your whole body. And you forget the disappointment that lingered inside you just a moment ago.

“Great. Then that’s a date.”

-

Sitting beside Sunoo on your couch, in your apartment, in front of your tv, is definitely something that will take you a while to get used to. It’s so foreign seeing him in sweatpants, his hair falling softly onto his forehead and his face rid of any makeup. You swallow the lump in your throat and force your gaze away from him and back to the drama on the tv.

“God, they are so cute.”, Sunoo says after a while, watching the couple in the drama hold hands for the first time, shy and flustered. “This is the kind of love I want; you know? It’s so sweet and innocent. It’s so pure.”

You smile at his words, nodding your head softly, agreeing with his statement. “Yeah, me too. I love how soft dramas portray love. It’s so different from American dramas.”

“Yeah, I agree.” Sunoos’ eyes are trained to the tv, immersed into every single detail, not wanting to miss even a second. “This is the kind of love I want to give as well. I know I’m capable of this, but I just have to find the right person.”

“I think you would be an amazing boyfriend.”, you tell him, honestly. “The person who will call you their boyfriend in the future will be the luckiest person on this planet to have scored someone so kind and compassionate as you. Everyone deserves a Sunoo in their lives.” This is probably the boldest thing you said to him. And you are not sure where it came from, how you got the confidence to say what you said. But Sunoo seems to appreciate your words, showing you the softest, sweetest, smile he has ever given you. And you swear, you even see a faint hint of blush on his cheeks.

5. Be yourself

Be yourself.

Be yourself.

Be yourself.

You keep on repeating to yourself. This has to be the hardest step yet. You don’t know how to be yourself. You don’t even know how you are if you are being honest with yourself.

You don’t know how you want to live, how to find your flaws and your strengths, how to build up a security in yourself. How can you be yourself when you don’t even know yourself? Does Sunoo know who you are? You have been getting closer, opened up to each other, shared secrets in the whisper of the night, wishes as the gloomy sun filled up the sky with its light. But does he know you? Does he know what you are, who you are, where you are?

How can he know it when you don’t?

It’s been bothering you, day and night, robbing you from your sleep and stealing your appetite. You can’t stop thinking, obsessing. But no matter how much time you invest into thinking, you never seem to be getting an answer.

But spending so much time thinking also meant you started distancing yourself. Especially from Sunoo. You don’t know how you can engage in the last step, to ask him out, if you don’t know the simple answer to who you are. You think that Sunoo deserves a securer version of you, the person who knows what she wants, knows where her strengths lie. He doesn’t deserve the insecure, overthinking version of yourself that you are right now. So, you thought it would be for the best if you just distanced yourself from him, at least until you figured everything out.

But Sunoo doesn’t like that at all. He started worrying about you, but every time he tried asking you, you dodged him. And while he wants to give you your space, he can’t stop himself from worrying even more. Has he done something wrong? Did he say anything, do anything, that hurt you, that made you distance yourself from him?

He can’t take it anymore. He can’t keep watching you from a distance, hoping you would just tell him what’s wrong. He needs answers, and he needs them now. So, when the last parent leaves, Sunoo grabs your arm and pulls you into the break room.

“I know you probably need your space right now and the last thing you want is to talk to me, but I can’t take this anymore. Can you please just tell me what I did wrong for you to completely pull away from me? Did I hurt you?”

“Oh, God, Sunoo. No, you didn’t.” You shake your head hastily. When you started taking some space from Sunoo, all you thought about was getting a clear mind space first, getting answers before confessing to him. But you never thought of how Sunoo might feel. It didn’t cross your mind once that he could think it is his fault, that he would care so much. “Please don’t worry. This has nothing to do with you. I’m just not in the right mind, and I have a lot to think about.”

“Well, but it feels like it has to do with me, because you are normal with everyone else. You talk to all the colleagues the way you normally do, but it is me that you act different with.” You sigh as you hear his words, not ready for this conversation. This is the last thing you wanted to do today, not prepared for what is about to come. You didn’t think of the right words, the heartfelt message, the longing feelings.

“I can’t talk about this right now, Sunoo. If you just give me a bit more time, a few more days, then we can talk about all this.” But Sunoo isn’t listening to you, he just shakes his head, a long sigh slipping past the boy’s lips.

“But I can’t wait a few more days, Y/n. It’s already been days. I want to know now. It’s keeping me up at night, it’s driving me crazy. It hurts my heart just thinking about the possibility that I might have hurt you, drove you away. Please, just tell me. Whatever it is, I swear we can fix this. You have become such an important person in my life, I don’t want to lose you. I can’t lose you, Y/n.”

“I like you.” The words tumble out of your mouth before you can stop them. “I like you, Sunoo. I have for a while now. And I was trying to think of a way to confess to you, a way to find myself, to give you the best version of myself.”

“That’s it?”, Sunoo chuckles, shoulders lifting, and face overcome with amusement. “That’s why you have been avoiding me?” You nod your head carefully, scared of his next words. “I knew, Y/n. I’ve known it for a while now.”

“You knew?”, you ask him, eyes bulging out of your head.

“Yeah, I mean you haven’t been subtle about it. Especially lately. Don’t think I didn’t notice you picking up my interests, talking more to me and flirting with me.” You look to the floor, embarrassment evident on your face. This is it, your end, your misery. This is the part where you will get the rejection of your life. This is the part where you have to quit your job, because you will never be able to face Sunoo ever again in your life. You wait for it. You wait for the bomb to drop on you, to rip open your heart, to put a knife in it and twist it until it bleeds out. But it never comes. The bomb never explodes, and the knife never enters your heart. “I mean why else do you think I have been flirting back, engaging in all your little tries?”

“What?” Is all that leaves your mouth.

“Yeah, I like you back, Y/n. I have for the longest time. And I was so happy when you showed interest in me. I was always too shy to make a move on you, scared you would reject me. But when you started staring at me more, and when I noticed how you completely changed how you approach me, I knew that you like me back. That’s why I have been so bold as well. I thought that if I touch you more, or invite you to more hangouts, you will get the hints, but apparently that didn’t work out as planned.”

“You like me back?”

Sunoo laughs at your words, nodding his head and gently taking one of your hands in his, giving it a soft squeeze. “Yes, I like you back.” You just stare at him, not believing the words leaving his mouth. You followed this whole plan, for weeks, just to find out that Sunoo liked you all along. It’s almost funny, and you almost laugh at how absurd this all his. But you don’t because you remember that you still haven’t really said anything to him. “Aren’t you going to ask me out?”

“Yes, sorry, yes. I’m sorry, I’m still processing your words.” Taking a few breaths, you can’t fight the smile on your lips as you look at your intertwined hands. “Sunoo, would you like to go on an official date with me?”

“It would be my pleasure.”

Bonus

“I still can’t believe the two of you actually ended up with each other. I still remember Sunoo going on and on about his crush on Y/n.”, Jake says, making you all laugh softly at his words.

“I always knew.”, Jungwon turns in, making you look at him with confusion in your eyes. “I saw the way they looked at each other when the other one wasn’t watching, and I just knew they liked each other. And I overheard Sunoo talking to Jake about his crush on Y/n.”

“Wait, what?”, you exclaim, voice raising in more confusion. “You knew this the whole time? You knew Sunoo liked me and you didn’t tell me? You knew he liked me, and you still let me follow that stupid five step plan that YOU made for me?”

“Yep.”, Jungwon proudly says, showing you one of his wide grins.

“But why?”

“Wouldn’t it have been too easy if I just told you? I wanted to see you try, see you get out of your comfort zone. And I also wanted to have my own fun and believe me when I say I thoroughly enjoyed watching you get frustrated over every single little thing you said to Sunoo.” You gape at your friend, not believing the absurdity of this situation. But before you can complain to him, voice your anger at your friend’s disappointment in your suffering, he speaks up again. “But it worked, didn’t it? It took you longer, but it still worked out in the end.”

And you can’t disagree with him. Because it did work out. And you know it every single time you look at the boy who’s holding you in his arms. You know it from one single look that it worked out, that it was meant to be. And he knows it too, feels to, sees it every day.

It’s the kind of love he always wanted, the kind of love he dreamt of having, the kind of love he sees in all the dramas he watches. And now he has it. Now he has finally found his one person, the one person he always talked about.

He has found his soulmate, his love, his forever. Just like in the dramas. Only that it is so much better.

[thought--bubble]

She is Happy Now Part (1/5)

Modern Aemond X (Ex Girlfriend Reader)

Warnings Below

Word Count: 1,816

She is happy now Master list

Modern Aemond Master List

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Banners by @arcielee

Warnings: Swearing, mentions of cheating, angst, a little bit of fighting.

High-school sweethearts was a term that actually made you sick. You hate the fact that your memories of those oh so important teenage years are tarnished by the memory of him.

Aemond Targaryen. The boy everyone who knew you as a teenager knew was your High-school sweetheart. As well as the man who crushed your heart just a mere 6 months after graduation.

The two of you met freshman year. He was a bit nerdy, and you were one of those alternative girls wearing as much black as possible and begging your parents for a nose ring. You grew super close super fast. All of your firsts were with Aemond. The first time you ran from the cops drinking with friends in the local cemetery. Your first kiss. Your first dance. Your first break up. Your first angsty reconciliation, your first fuck. Everything.

You had been doing well for the past few years, not thinking about him at all. You had graduated from university and started your job as a revenue analyst for Lannister & Co. You had a sweet, kind boyfriend in Cregan Stark. Everything was going well for you. Until you got that invitation.

You had been invited to the wedding of Aegon Targaryen and Cassandra Baratheon. Two people you loved very much and were incredibly happy for. But you under no circumstances wanted to go to any type of Targaryen family gathering. You may have moved on and are doing well now, but there is still a deep-seated anger that rises in you when you think about Aemond. The idea of seeing him in person makes bile rise in your throat.

You're halfway through your shift. You're excited for it to end. this week has been exhausting, and now that it is finally Friday, you want to just curl up on the coach all weekend and watch mindless TV.

Your phone buzzes in your pocketbook on your desk, and you groan. You know who it is. You have been ignoring her calls all day. You pull your cell phone out of your bag, and just as you suspect, Heleana's name and a photo of her smiling with a butterfly on her finger illuminates the screen. You hit the end call button and shove your phone back into your bag. You know that you haven't RSVP'd to the wedding yet, and she is calling you to try to talk you into going. You hate ignoring her, but you really don't want to talk to her about the wedding and the reasons you don't want to go. It doesn't matter what you say to her because she will know the real reason and she will try to talk you into it.

She doesn't call again that night much to your glee. Your shift ends, and your phone dings with a text message from Cregan, letting you know he is downstairs. You pack up your laptop and throw your dooney & bourke leather satchel over your arm and head out waving to a few co workers as you make your way outside.

When you get out front, you see Cregans black range rover idling and slide into the passengers seat, letting out a long sigh as you reach to buckle yourself in.

"Long day love?" He says while shifting the SUV into drive.

"Yes very" you say exasperated.

"You know, I got a strange call from Heleana today"

Your eyes shot open and you clenched your jaw.

"Hun...." he continued

"Why don't you want to go to Aegon's wedding?"

"I just don't want to, there doesn't always have to be a reason for everything. Sometimes the answer is just no and everyone needs to accept it " you snap.

"Is this maybe about a certain brother of his?"

You roll your eyes "nope" short, curt responses are all you can muster at the moment.

"Should I be worried?"

This makes you turn your head to look at him

"About what?"

"When someone is over someone, truly over them, they don't harbor this kind of anger"

You open your mouth to respond but can't find the words your looking for.

Cregan releases a sigh

"I'll drop it"

"No Creg. It's OK. Trust me I am completely over him. I just feel like he got away with it ya know? Makes me want to gouge his other eye out. You know settle the score. His brothers wedding would probably not be a good venue for that" you huff.

Cregan laughs. " the best revenge is to show him how much he doesn't effect you. How happy you are now without him. How much better your life is without him."

You sit there silent looking out the window of the car watching the sidewalks fly by.

"If you don't want to go I support that, but I don't think you should miss a good friend's wedding because his brother is a dolt"

You laugh at that "I'll think about it ok?"

He laughs, too. "That's progress, and I'll take it!"

Two weeks later, you are standing in front of your mirror in a baby blue slim summer dress staring at your reflection. You ended up agreeing to go and were confident about your choice until right now. Now that you were actually ready to go, you were feeling nauseous.

"Well daaaaaaamn!" Cregan yelled as he came in the room whistling

"Aren't you just the sweetest little thing?" He took you into his arms and kissed you on the nose. "You ready to go?" You took a big gulp and nodded.

The car ride to kings landing was about 20 minutes. You stared out the window as memories flooded your mind.

"Make sure you record his reaction! I want to see it. He's gonna be so excited to see you!" Heleana gushed over the phone

"Oh I will, I have never come to visit him at school before so this is going to be epic. OK I'm at his dorm building I'll text you later"

You hung up the phone entered the building and made your way up to room 3F. Where you always addressed all your letters.

You get your phone ready, turning the recording function on and knock on the door.

No one comes to the door, so you knock again a little louder.

Aemond swings open the door

"What man. ....." he freezes. Sweat on his forehead and a blanket wrapped around his waist.

"Hey baby, what are you doing here?" He asks you with a look of utter terror on his face.

You freeze. You can feel your heart beating in your throat. You don't say anything and just push passed him into the room. You see an older black haired woman naked with a sheet wrapped around her, trying to tiptoe her way into the bathroom.

Your legs start to shake and your stomach lurches.

"Shit! Baby, Hold on let me explain"

"Oh, ummm. Nope. No thanks." You push passed him back out of the room.

He grabs your arm "wait please give me just one second"

You swat his arm away "do not fucking touch me. Forget my name. Loose my number. I no longer exist to you." You're not yelling or screaming. This all comes out as more of a growl.

"Love?"

"Huh" you shake your head.

"Hey, we're here." Your stomach lurches, and your palms begin to sweat as you reach for the latch to open the door.

You both get out of the car and he comes around to your side and wraps his arm around your waist.

"We can sit in the back ok?"

"Yeah sounds good"

You enter the grand Sept to see a septa urging people to the left or right side. Left for guests of the groom and right for guests of the bride. You go to the very last row on the left and slide in.

People finish filing in, and the music starts. Cregan is at the end of the aisle with you beside him. First, the flower girl, Jaehaera heleanas's daughter, with her husband gwayne and then the ring bearer Jaehaerys , her twin brother. Then the grooms men and bridesmaids. The first pair is Cassandra's sister Floris with Aegons brother Daeron, then Heleana and Gwayne, followed by Cassandra's other sister Maris and Aegons long term friend Criston Then your face starts to heat up, and your stomach tightens as you see that stupid head of shaggy silver hair enter the room with his arm linked to Ellyn Cassandra's other sister. You immediately look down, not wanting to make eye contact.

They pass by your row, and you finally raise your head, seeing just his back now as he makes his way up the aisle. He takes his place, and you turn your head back to the entryway, seeing Aegon standing there with a huge smile plastered on his face. You can't help but smile. He was such a fuck boy in High-school and college seeing him so happy and proud to be getting married now was such a beautiful thing. You chastise yourself for almost skipping such a wonderful occasion. He makes his way up to the altar, and your eyes only follow him halfway there before turning around to look back at the entryway. Once the wedding March starts to play, you see Cassandra. She is in a beautiful white flowing wedding dress adorned with pearls with a beautiful veil that goes down her back and to the floor trailing behind her. Her father borros has his arm linked to hers and is walking her up the aisle to Aegon, and she has this huge smile plastered to her face.

"Would you want to get married in the grand Sept or on the beach?"

"Anywhere, as long as I'm marrying you " Aemond leans in kissing you softly.

"I'm serious! " You squeak hitting him with a pillow."I want to have it all planned out way ahead of time"

"Then plan it out, baby. Because no matter where it is, I'll show up to marry you"

Your eyes are watering through the rest of the ceremony. You keep your gaze locked on Aegon and Cassandra making sure to not look at the members of the wedding party at all.

Aegon and Cassandra kiss and everyone stands as they make their way out of the grand Sept to cheers and well wishes. Behind them the wedding party starts to filter out and on instict your turn your head and for the first time since your surprise visit to his dorm you make direct eye contact with Aemond. His good eye staying glued to you until he walks passed you and out of the Sept. Your stomach feels cold and your palms are sweaty.

And standing there wracked with nerves you think to yourself that you still need to make it through the reception.

A/N: I have a pt 2 for this almost ready to go. Just fixing it up a little. :)

Part 2

To be added to taglist click here

[silverflqmes]

໒⦂ 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐒 𝐈 𝐇𝐄𝐋𝐃 𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊.

synopsis. dan heng, a person of very few words, has been meaning to confess his love, and even more so now as he prays you are not in love with someone else.

genre. fluff

for @diorlumx <3

dan heng x gn!reader.

a pair of cerulean hues eyed you as a laugh escaped your lips at another joke jing yuan made.

dan heng wasn’t one to get jealous, at least he considered himself not to be. but right now, watching you as you as he was, the vidyadhara couldn’t help the envy that crawled into the deepest layers of his skin.

“there was no reason to be bitter,” he’d told himself not too long ago, forcing himself to forget the way serval held you so closely to her. the blonde was naturally warm and physical with her affection, anyway.

but even if you likes one of them or someone else, it was something heng had anticipated from the very start. something he’d expected.

of course you would want someone with less emotional baggage, who wasn’t running away from their past. you’d most certainly favor a lover that made you laugh, smile and feel true happiness with.

anyone would want someone that wasn’t dan heng. an introvert, closed off individual; even a coward to some. whatever characteristics or titles he’d received throughout his travels. nobody wanted someone like that, and he accepted that.

and so, he told himself not to care so much if someday you did turn up at the express, hand in hand with somebody you deeply loved.

after all, it was your life to live and your choice, always. he would never ( ever ) take that away from you or chain you down to him.

however, the thought of you being in love with someone else.. without the knowledge of his feelings for you, stung him a little more than it should have.

with that in mind, the onyx haired boy did the last thing he would have ever caught himself doing.

with tentative steps towards you, he willed his lead filled legs to move, the beat of his heart thundering — echoing your name through his pointed ears.

dan heng wasn’t sure what came over him, let alone compelled him to muster the courage to grab you by the hand as he pulled you away from the albino haired general.

confusion replaced your initial cheeriness before turning into concern as you watched the male lead you elsewhere.

ever since his secret had been spilled for all eyes to see on the xianzhou luofu, he’d been acting off. which to you, was well, completely understandable. although it didn’t stop your worries as you slid your eyes to him. “dan heng?”

silence was his response as he looked ahead of him, thundering heart in his throat. what was he supposed to say? what was he meant to answer with that didn’t sound weird or out of character to say?

you took his lack of words as a sign to be quiet; patient. dan heng, you realized, required a bit of patience. if he didn’t want to say something, he would say it when he was ready. same with the appearance he hid all this time.

as you got a better look at him, you couldn’t help the warmth you felt on your cheeks despite the ocean breeze. he was beautiful. and he was forced into hiding all of his beauty, not that his norm wasn’t alluring to begin with.

when he reached a far enough- a safe enough spot, the aquamarine eyed male slowed his tracks, turning to face you properly. “i have,” he paused, taking in a breath before loosing it softly. “something i have been meaning to tell you for a long time now.”

your thoughts immediately went to the recent events — was he planning to stay on the luofu, now that he had been accepted among his people once more? no, you couldn’t jump to conclusions. “is it something bad?”

dan heng wasn’t certain. was it good? was it really just bad? it all depended on how you would see it. and if you thought it to be bad, the shame would probably haunt him until his dying days.

but he had to speak, now.

“i’m hoping it isn’t.” he answered finally, meeting your gaze again. it was now or never. “y/n, you are the light in the darkness i have lived in so long. the dreams that drive out my nightmares — and i have been afraid, so afraid of telling you.” the male began, steadying himself from fumbling with his words.

this was it. “that i have liked you for quite a long time now — and i just, wanted to tell you..” he paused, grasping his clothing. “before it was too late for me to say.”

as you processed his words, you were reminded of what jing yuan had said that made you laugh as you did. “i think there is more to what dan heng feels for you than what he leads on.” it was a joke, it had to be one. this was your stoic comrade you were talking about. he wasn’t one for romances and affection.

but as you weighed his confession, as it repeated in your head.. you realized more and more, that it wasn’t a joke. dan heng had his sarcastic comments, yes. but this, this wasn’t one of them.

this was him pulling the heart out of his throat and putting it in his hands, vulnerable and true, for you to see.

and now, it was your turn.

“well.. you’re just in time — you will always be on time.” you finally willed yourself to answer, reaching for his hands as you took a step towards him. “because it’s you — dan heng, that i’ll choose. no matter how long i have to wait- if i have to spend forever wondering.”

your hand slid to his cheek, bringing his eyes to yours. “in every life you might live or be reborn in — i will be there to say yes, and return the feelings i share with you.”

notes. this is so enchanted ( taylor’s version ) coded, it just felt fitting tbh.. such an iconic song like fellas ain’t nobody pouring their hearts out in music these days like my girlie taylor does. anyway, i hope you enjoyed luma! i apologize if it was short, i wrote this in several sittings since i’ve been on trip.. so i’m hoping it’s what you were looking for and that you enjoyed reading it!

↳ return to main masterlist . request rules . send an ask

[qu1cks1lversb1tch]

Aw those best friend hcs were fun! Can you do everyone else at the hotel? Especially Vaggie?

A/N: I absolutely can! I'll make a part 3 or edit this one if I somehow forget someone (it could happen). This is quite the little grouping 🤣 I hope you like it!

Having them as best friend's part two:

Includes: Vaggie, Sir Pentious, Niffty, and Cherri Bomb.

Part One

Vaggie

Her deal is tough love.

As her best friend, you're used to being called an idiot half a dozen times a day.

You'll just be chilling after making some decision or saying something and she'll be like: "Not only are you blind, you're fucking stupid too!" But it wouldn't hold any malice

She's never really been one for gossip, but you can bet that she'll listen to how your day was.

Definitely the friend who would interrogate anyone you show interest in.

If someone says something out of line about you, she's putting them in their place before you can open your mouth to defend yourself.

Vaggie isn't very touchy, but she'll hug you sometimes. Especially if it was something like after the battle and she was just happy you were alive.

She's almost always there to ward off the bad.

Sleepovers! They're never her idea, but she can't say no when you give her those puppy dog eyes.

Really, she's always there for you, but with a sibling dynamic that makes some question if the two of you really tolerate each other at all. You do, but barely lmao.

Sir Pentious

He's a drama king. Sweet, but definitely dramatic.

100% the friend to hold your drink at a party. . . Because he's HOLDING EVERYONE'S DRINK!

If you had to go anywhere, he's sending the Egg Bois with you. They call you 'not master' and it's the cutest thing ever.

Sleepovers would be his idea, no doubt. An offer that couldn't be refused.

He calmly interrogates any potential suitors of yours, and if they seem fine, he might let them go on a date with you.

Will literally cry if you call someone else your best friend. Friend's are okay. But if you called Angel Dust or Charlie your best friend? Immediate tears. "But. . . I thought I wasss your besssst friend." Apologize, right now.

Gives you some new weaponized invention and your favorite Hellish sweet treat every year on your 'death day'. He takes it very seriously.

He's all for the tea, but only if there's 100% truth behind it. Like you witnessed the HOTTEST tea of the month and just went 'Sir P NEEDS to know'.

Everyone mistakes the calmness and caring nature of Sir Pentious as having feelings for you. Common misconception. That's just your slithery best friend.

Y'all take naps together at random because you can. And naps are life.

Niffty

You're almost as chaotic as she is, but you're better at hiding it. Sorry not sorry.

Because of her, everything you own is cleaner than when you got it and you found it disturbing at first, but eventually got used to it.

She climbs you like a tree and uses you to see better in large crowds.

She talks so fast half the time you could barely understand her until it clicked and you could reply.

She's very knife happy. Someone breaks your heart? "STAB! STAB! STAB!" Followed by maniacal giggles and her footsteps down the hall.

She tries new recipes and uses you as the taste tester to see if the others would enjoy it. The answer is usually yes.

Niffty is super blunt. She won't hold back a single thought, even if it could potentially hurt your feelings.

She rarely takes breaks, but when she does, her small frame is usually beside you, watching TV or relaying the latest drama she heard on the streets.

She's a good listener, but once again, she's also blunt.

Every picture of the two of you, she has that same far away look in her eye. Every. Single. One.

Cherri Bomb

She's a bad influence, that much is certain, but no amount of peer pressure could get you to do something you didn't want to do. That's why you're best friends.

She loves partying and dragging you out, but most nights, you stay in, which then in a way, forces her to stay in too.

"[Y/N/N], you bitch, why aren't you dressed? I thought we were going out tonight!" No. No you weren't.

She encourages you to step out of your comfort zone 24/7, because you're in Hell and it could only get so much worse.

She listens, but doesn't really pay attention all that much. There's almost always something else on her mind, but she makes it up to you somehow.

She'd probably push you down the stairs for fun if she felt like it.

Most likely to sing karaoke with you, absolutely plastered in a bar somewhere on the outskirts of the Pride Ring.

If you handed your cup to her to go to the bathroom, she'd probably misunderstand and drink it.

Glares at anyone who looks in your direction, purely because she doesn't trust very many at all.

Would reluctantly agree to a sleepover if you asked, just because you're her main bitch.

[artzee-bee]

Jealousy

Fandom: My babysitter's a vampire; Ethan Morgan x reader

Request: "basically, reader acts like she hates ethan because she thinks he has a big crush on Sarah, but eth hears her talking about him to Erica or smth??? I just think it would be sooo cute tysm"

Genre: fluff

Warnings: cussing

A/n: anyone wanna come up with titles for me? I'm done.

~~~

“Is she still staring at me?”

“Yep” Ethan went to adjust the hood of his hoodie again.

“Can you be any more obvious than that?” Benny remarks and Ethan’s hands go down slowly

“What’s her deal anyways? What did I even do wrong?”

“Why are you asking me? How would I know?”

“Hey guys!” a certain blonde boy appears , with a tray of food in hand

“Rory, sit down and eat your food!”

“Well someone’s in a bad mood today, damn Benny.”

Ethan is still staring down at his lunch. The mere thought of putting something in his mouth feels overwhelming. Anxiety runs through his body and he can’t stop his leg from shaking under the table. He’s trying not to make it obvious that he can feel your gaze on the back of his head from the other side of the room but that’s very difficult.

“What’s wrong with you E? What's wrong with everyone today?” Rory, the ever-so-oblivious, picked up on him acting weird. That’s definitely a bad sign.

“Y/n has been tearing him limb for limb with her eyes for the last 5 days and he has no idea why.” Benny answers

“Why?”

“...didn’t I just say…” and the normal banter starts again

Ethan does the same thing he’s been doing every night for the last 3 days: think. Think back to the day you stopped talking. Where was he? Well at school, it was monday. What did he do? Nothing unusual. Just classes and then lunch with the guys. He’s gone through his routine a dozen times by now, there was nothing to point out new and the more time passed, the more blurry his memories got.

The most frustrating part was how sudden it had all been. You two were so close, in fact you were the closest you had ever been. Ethan met you around 3 years ago now, when you joined their little friend group but in the past month, it was like you and him were growing so much closer within your own relationship. There was a lot more time spent between just the two of you, a lot more messages exchanged. Late night video game competitions and sometimes study sessions, although those would more than definitely turn into a regular hangout session with no work done. Ethan was enjoying how much more time you would spend at his house everyday and how happy you seemed to always be. He felt so comfortable with you. There was a sense of never having to worry about being anything other than himself, because he knew, without a doubt, that you liked him just as he was. He didn’t need to show off, and that was nice!

And then suddenly you’re not wishing him good morning when you walk past his locker. You take a seat at a different table in your shared classes. When Ethan approached you to see what’s up, you quickly made some lame excuse and got out of there, every time! You stopped replying to messages, let alone come over like you used to. At first he thought you were going through something and needed your space, so he tried to respect that. But the more time passed, the less ignored he felt and much more resented. The nasty glares, purposeful ignorance of him. You didn’t even make the effort to reply to him when he approached you at school anymore, instead walking right on ahead without eye contact. Now you were sitting at a different table for lunch, staring arrows at the back of his head. It was really aggravating how what he considered to be a nice, open and honest friendship was now turning into what felt like a rivalry. He didn’t like accepting it but your behavior was growing aggravating. It was getting on his nerves and even he could tolerate it any longer. He couldn’t stand the thought he did something wrong. He was perfectly innocent! None of the people he asked could think of something he did wrong. HE couldn’t think of something he did wrong. You were so absurd for this! You were so absurd in your behavior for no reason at all!!

The days passed on like that. One week turned into 2 and you still weren’t talking. In fact Ethan had resolved to send you his own nasty glances. When he catches you staring at him again, with the same aggravated frown, he simply raises his eyebrows in a challenge instead of pretending not to notice. It sure didn’t help mend things but he was exhausted of you. If you were looking for attention you’d have to find it elsewhere!

And things kept getting worse! Ethan was still upset and could not get over you. Could not go back to being his old, cheery self knowing you were mad at him. He tried to push his questioning thoughts away but sometimes they were just too much. One positive thing came out of that though: he created a mechanism. When he felt his head too heavy with thoughts, he would go out for a walk. It’s not anything he generally did, but it helped now and it was probably good for him to get some fresh air so it’s ok. That’s how he found himself hearing your laugh. At first he thought he was imagining but no, it was definitely you. Even tho he wasn’t sure where the noise was coming from, it was definitely you!

He tried following the sound, which led him down the street to a convenience store. He didn’t have to pass the corner of the building to know you would be there. He could now clearly hear you and Erica talking.

“It’s not my fault!” your annoyed voice was somehow comforting after so long of no contact

“Listen, I’m never gonna be the one to blame you. If anything, boys are always at fault!”

that got a laugh out of you. So sweet and innocent, it made Ethan feel weak. He knew he shouldn’t be listening into your private conversations but God, it was too interesting to back out now.

“Whatever. I mean he can like who he likes, it’s not my problem to deal with but also, I don’t wanna just sit on the sidelines and watch that happening. Gross!”

“Do you think she would say yes to him?”

“Erica I seriously don’t wanna think about it”

“I mean Sarah is way out of his league in the first place. And definitely uninterested. I mean could you actually imagine them together?”

“Ethan and Sarah? Yeah, I’ve done my fair share of imagining, thanks!”

This made E’s heart drop to his stomach. Him and Sarah? What the hell was this about? There was nothing going on between them. Yes, she was a pretty girl and he used to have a crush on her but that was a long while ago now. He’s swiftly moved on since she made it very clear that she was uninterested. Plus, the closer they got, the more he grew to understand that they would really not work, so it was all fine. So why were they the subject of conversation?

“Of all the girls in the world, you were the closest to him. Honestly, if he was gonna fall for someone, it should have been you!” and you scoff at this

“Well it wasn’t. I heard them talk. He’s into Sarah and all the guys are supportive of that. They are good friends and I wish them all the best but he made his decision and it was not me so I’m moving on in the only way I know how. Creating distance.” “Whatever you say girlie!” Erica’s voice seemed uninterested

Ethan left after that. He had heard too much. ```

He couldn’t find the courage to approach you about what he’d heard immediately after. A part of him was worried you would get mad for listening in on your conversations, the other part of him kept questioning what he’d heard and if it was really true. Did you want him to choose you? Because he will. He already has damn it, just didn’t have the courage to express it. Is that why you were so cold all of a sudden? Would this count as jealousy? He blushed anytime he thought about it. You were jealous because you wanted to be with him! How much luckier can a guy get?

At first he wanted to talk to Benny about it, get some advice but on second thought, decided not to. For a small second he considered asking his mom but quickly changed his mind. He had never really had ‘girl problems’ if you can even call it that, he wasn’t sure who to go to for advice. 

It took about a week for him to build up the courage to talk to you. He had pondered the idea back and forth basically every waking moment and was never sure what to do really. When he saw you waiting at the bus station one day after school, all alone and scrolling on his phone, he pushed back every thought and insecurity he felt and approached you, almost mechanically.

“Hey!” his voice cracked a little, giving away the nerves swirling in his head. You barely spared him a second of your time to look at him before going back to scrolling 

“How have you been?” he tried, admittedly lacking the old confidence he had around you

“Just peachy. You need something or what?”

“Just making conversation.”

“yeah…don’t really feel like it. Long day, y’know?” but when you caught his eye, the boredom was so clear in your eyes. It hurt him more to see you didn’t even care about hiding your distaste for him anymore

“Yep, got it.” Ethan laughed in response. All his courage, gone! Within seconds!! That irritated him so much. He had prepared for this. Went through every possible scenario, even tried acting out some speeches in his room in preparation and you still had him at your feet with a glance. He felt pathetic and for the first time ever, genuinely enraged by this whole situation. You used to be best fucking friends and look at you now! All within a matter of weeks and from a misunderstanding at that too!!! He knew how to fix this, he just had to say it so why couldn’t he? 

“I don’t even like Sarah like that…'' he snarled, under his breath and frankly it was a miracle that you heard him over the white noise of the busy town.

“Like shit you don’t.” 

That’s what you had to say? Of all fucking things that was your first reaction?!

“How would you even know how I feel?”

“Clear as day on your face and actions! I don’t need to be a mind reader to crack into that big head of yours!”

“You have no idea what you are even talking about! I act with her the same way I act with all my friends!” Ethan’s voice failed to hide the anger surging through his body. Now, as he faced you completely, head tall and fists clenched in frustration, you seemed just as uninterested. Your gaze didn’t shift from the cracked screen of your phone, shoulders hunched, totally disengaged. It just fueled E more.

“ You don’t even have a problem with Sarah!” he started again, throwing all logic to the wind and speaking whatever came to him “ You just hate that she’s a girl! You would have made this shit up regardless of who it was I got close to!”

Finally, your attention was on him!

“What the fuck makes you think I care enough for that?” you stood up, looking him in the eye

“You mean to tell me we’ve been friends for years with no problems but the second a new girl enters my life and I start spending time with her, you act all crazy and throw a fit? What am I supposed to make of that?” “This has nothing to do with Sarah to begin with! See? There you go making false assumptions again and acting all smart about them, like you actually did something!” “I’m not the one making unbased theories and running with them! You never even asked me about my feelings for Sarah! You just draw a conclusion yourself and then go complain about me to Erica, don’t you?” Anyone would have been able to see the dots connecting in your head at that time. You didn’t spend that much time with Erica anyways.

“You were there?”

“I was behind the corner of the store”

“You were hiding?! What the hell?”

“I wasn’t doing anything! I was out on a walk, I happened to hear your voice!” but his explanation gains him nothing but an irritated scoff. You go back to your phone, seemingly ready to ignore him again, but that just won’t be enough

“So now that all the cards are on the table, can we address the elephant in the room?”

“As I said, you like Sarah. It’s very clear. And that’s fine and you can do whatever you want!” your voice didn’t carry the same rage as before, much more mellow and distant. 

Detached.

“I liked Sarah! A long time ago. I don’t now!”

“Okay” said with absolute indifference. Ethan, couldn’t help a roll of the eyes

“You’re unbelievable!” “What do you honestly want me to do right now?!”

“Just say that you like me, if you do!” “I fucking like you Ethan! God damn, I’d think you’d be smart enough to piece it together yourself but clearly you’re just-”

The grasp Ethan had on the back of your head felt strangely powerful and as he pulled you into him, locking your lips together, you genuinely felt yourself considering if this was the same man you knew! Truth be told, Ethan thought about this moment forever! About kissing you, about confessing to you! When he heard your conversation with Erica however, perspectives changed. Now all his thoughts were clouded by you confessing to him, admitting that what his speculations were, in fact, true. He thought about what he would say, how he would react to receiving that confirmation. He practiced the soft smile he’d give you in return, the quiet but tender confession of his own feelings. One thing he never expected himself to do is to aggressively pull you by the back of your neck and kiss you powerfully. He never thought himself the kind to have enough confidence to just go in for such a shameless kiss, but in that moment he wanted nothing more than to just shut you up!

It took a little bit to register, to wrap your head around the sharp pull of your hair and the sloppy moves of his lips on yours. Every conceivable thought in your head told you to pull away, slap him, tell him to leave you alone but your body had a mind of its own and you found yourself tugging him closer by the collar. Your lips moved on his with just as much intensity and fervor as his! The build up of emotion, frustration, anger, all of it boiled down to this moment. Ethan’s hand sneaked around your waist, pulling you impossibly closer and finally, as if satisfied with this outcome, his grip on you loosened. His kisses turned progressively softer. The hand in your hair moved to cup your cheek and almost instinctively, you followed his lead, letting go of the tight grip you had on his shirt, resting your hand of his chest instead.

It felt like a real kiss. Like all the kisses you dreamed about every time you thought of him. You knew your cheeks were burning up and that now, after your anger had subsided, the reality of your situation, the confession, Ethan’s fingers pressing into the plush of your waist, all of it made you shy. When he finally pulled away, bruised lips and breathing heavily, you couldn’t look at him. All this time, you used your anger to cover for just how weak in the knees this man had you but now, somehow, even that had been stripped away.

“I…um..sorry about that! I...should have asked” Ethan was blushing just as much. He was starting to second guess his actions. He took 2 steps back, giving you room again, the feeling of your ragged breaths so close to his lips made his head spin

“It’s ok” you whispered. This was an unusual situation. In one move, all your cards had been turned upside down and now there was no point in even trying to deny the truth.

“So are we good?” Despite trying to sound confident, you could hear the edge of nervousness in Ethan’s voice. It’s the kind of knowledge that comes with many years spent together, and the thought makes you smile.

“Yeah. We’re good.” “Can we possibly be more than good?” Ethan’s chuckles, as if he already knows the answer, if the blush on your cheeks is anything to go by anyways. You giggle in return and nod.