#and actually favors my sister's boyfriend because he gives him a lot of big boy pats and they share a favorite couch

[eats-the-stars]

nothing in the world really compares to having a cat that is firmly attached to you, specifically. i just honestly love it when we get a new cat and it hangs out with everyone and then one day it just looks at me like “yep, I choose you pikachu.”

[witchlyboo]

Definitely, maybe.

Part five: The one who belongs to someone else.

Introduction. Part one. Part two. Part three. Part four.

Paring: Latina!reader x Logan Lerman x Tom Holland x Ben Hardy x Timothee Chalamet x Pedro Pascal x Michael B. Jordan

Warnings: Swearing, angst, misspellings, some Spanish, me learning how to write properly, and NY stuff that I've learned from movies that we all agree to pretend are real.

Word count: 6.4 k

a/n: You been asking for smut, I know, I know, I just wanted to introduce you to all the boys first, and we're getting there, just one more ahead. Also, I'm working on a masterlist because we are getting too many parts already.

All body types and skin tones friendly. You can also enjoy it as a no Hispanic reader. Constructive feedback and misspellings correction is always welcome.

Red and blue lights flash the driving mirror.

—No, no, no, por favor que no sea a mi—You beg to the sky looking at the patrol that is asking you to park, or someone else, there's a lot of cars in this part of the city, there's a big chance is the panic who's controlling your senses.—Dios, mi abuela fue a la iglesia cada domingo de su vida y nunca te pidió nada, please let me have some of her divina recompensa.—But that's not how it works, you end up parking with just a few seconds to think what to say. There's a perfect explication of why you are driving a car that is not yours in the middle of the night and smelling like a minibar.

Then this ridiculous thought comes to your mind, you look expensive, you've never seen the daughter of a senator but you must be close to it, it would make you less of a feminist if you just use your attributes? Ugh, you feel sick just to think about it but don't have enough money to pay a fine, and the constant paranoia of being chased all the time as an immigrant will only get stronger.

You pull down your dress a little so your neckline can do its job but you regret it immediately, and you're pretty sure you look more like an expensive prostitute who stole the car of his lover than some influential men's daughter.

—License and registration.—You hear him say when he approaches your window. You don't like this but you have to play the dumb tourist, the pretty foreign girl that is too stupid to be dangerous, with the look you have tonight it shouldn't be hard. But damn you hate cops, any uniformed man that works for the government is your eternal enemy, and you don't know how long you could keep the nice dumb Latina game before spit on his face.

—There's something wrong, officer? ...You?!—Your sexy and fake high voice is ruined when you see the face of the man who stopped you. This night couldn't get worse.

—Wait, what happened with the party?—Evan interrupts you while you finish some notes for work, little remainders for later when you don't have an eleven years old kid running around you, he's not usually this energic and you have to blame yourself for that, you're describing a life of excess and eccentric fun, something you let behind so many years ago that your own son doesn't know even a bit of it.

—Ugh, a nightmare doesn't worth telling.—You remember vaguely most of it but what keeps fresh in your mind is bad enough to don't want to bring it back.

—But if Timothée is my dad I have to know the important things, including the bad stuff.—Sounds perfectly reasonable and that's what makes you groan at him. Sometimes you feel blessed that your kid is better than you in any possible way, and sometimes you want to kill his brain with video games and reality shows like the rest of the parents.

—Ok, cool, but I'll keep all the +18 content for myself, so this part of the story might be blurry for you.—It kinda is for you anyway.

You should’ve known this night was cursed, you had a feeling because a) your earring fell off at the same time Timothée texted you to give you the party address and say he can't pick you up. And b) he won’t pick you up. Your mother would say that’s reason enough to not go, a real gentleman wouldn’t make you go to an unknown place in the middle of the night on your own in a city like this. But you decide to ignore it because you are a modern woman and because it’s worth it. It better be.

The outfit must be something special. You always take your time to choose what to wear, even if just another regular day, and since this isn't the case you thought about it for hours, that made your mind busy enough to not thinking about Tom and the whole love confession. He texted you saying he'll come for you to go to class together on Monday, which is completely impractical because he's way closer than you but is progress and you're going to take it.

You wanted to ask for Sheep's opinion but you thought she might not care, has been a few days since she started acting strange like she's bothered just to see you breathe. You want to blame his boyfriend to take all her time and attention from you but is probably just her new job, she got a small role in a Netflix show, and even when you're so happy for her, that's the event that has changed her into someone completely different. But you give her time, stress can do bad things to people.

The winner is the exact copy you made of the black and white striped dress Cameron Diaz wore in "The Mask" beautiful, classy, and sexy enough without being too scandalous, not that you have any problem with that, but this isn't the occasion, you don't want to feel like you're being too much or too little, just enough, it's supposed to be easy, right? you were born for this. Just adding some big shiny earrings you got on a thrift shop that look like real diamonds and you're ready, not that you own any to compare. Red lipstick, dark eyes, and a messy bun to get that disinterested pitch every look needs.

Getting there wasn't a problem, you were in the rich part of the city, everyone know who, where and what just to brag about it. The excitement is growing with every second, you check your makeup like thirty times in the elevator and send texts to your mom just to let her know where you are, and because you have to share that moment with someone and you are limited of friends these days.

Timothée opens the door with red eyes, drunk, high, or somewhere in between, you know then you were right about the bad feeling. He jumps on you to kiss you and no matter how much you try to explain the delicacy of your lipstick, he does it anyway, leaving a taste of alcohol and shrimps in your mouth. Taking you by the waist he walks you to a group of people you don't know while you're trying harder to fix the red color of your mouth without a mirror.

—Here is the companion I bought, look at her, that's how five grand per hour look like.—They laughed but you were too disoriented to process all the things he said, it was supposed to be a joke? if it is, why isn't he correcting? Instead, his hand goes straight to your ass and presses it to get you closer to him.

—I'm actually an intern in the costume designer department of the new version of "Sense and Sensibility".—You wanted to mention your recent promotion to hairstylist and makeup artist but that might be too pretentious. Anyway, they don't seem to care what you are or not, in fact, they don't even see you, all eyes are on Timothée

—Oh, well, is easy to forget when you're paying them—All laughs again. Who is this person? Who are all these people, actually? You recognize some influencers, a few cast members but there's no sign of the director, other main actors, not even his co-star. You feel like an extra in a movie where someone will be killed in a luxury party, hopefully not you. You take his hand from your body and clear your throat.—I'm just joking my love, she looks stunning, isn't she? I’ll get you a drink.

He leaves and the group of people surrounding you suddenly dissipated like boiling water, you were on your own again and despite some judgmental gazes is like you’re not there, you’re sure you could just take your dress off and throw it to someone’s face and unless Tim says something about it, no one would care. You’re there as his companion, an ornament, and that’s not enough to earn their attention because it’s too obvious you’re the one in turn.

You walk to the only window no one is smoking and check your phone, you know, the thing you do when you pretend you have important issues to attend, but no, you end reading some old messages, pictures, texting your mom of how much fun you’re having at the party, and somehow you check your filed Facebook messages to find Logan’s name. You cover the screen so fast you hurt your nail, his name is enough to make you tremble like a Chihuahua, you haven’t talked to him since that night, you know from his sister he lives in the house he bought for you two and he’s having the happiest life without you. You want to believe that because that means you took the right decision but deep inside… no, you can’t be that person, you want him to be happier than ever.

You find the guts to open the message, and you read as slowly as is humanly possible. “My angel, I hope this finds you in perfect health…” Dios, just Logan could start a message like that, your smile is almost too big to fit in your face so you bit your nail to cover it a little. “I recently found one of the human body drawings you made for me to study, you’ll be happy to know…”

—That’s a fucking long-ass message.—Tim appears behind you and takes your phone from your hand, spilling some of his drink on your dress in the process. Apparently, he's been there long enough to read part of the message.

—Give it back.—You command in the most severe voice you have, your magical moment got ruined and you remember the hole of hell you are.

—"My angel, I hope this finds you in perfect health. I recently found one of the human body drawings you made for me to study, you must know I still use them now and then"—Timothée starts reading the message, and even when no one is close enough to hear it and you don’t really care about this people’s opinion, that’s not for anyone to read, that’s one of the few parts of your life you treasure the most and you’re not ready to get over it.—You little slut, are you cheating on me with a med student?

—Give it to me.—You repeat trying to take the phone from his hand but he’s faster and walks away putting it out of your reach.

—"I meticulously preserve them, I certainly know any piece of art made by you will be priceless in the near future"—You don’t want to hear it coming from his drunk mocking voice, so you try to ignore what he’s saying and put more effort on chasing the phone.—Should I had kept the jeans where you left the wet spot on? I didn’t know you were an artist, my love.

—Timothée, por el amor de Dios.—Now you're trying to climb him, it wouldn't be that hard to take him down, he's skinny and you're fierce. That's what you thought but he's not moving even with you are on top of his shoulder and his opposite long arm keeps the phone away from you.

—Who is this guy and why is he talking to my girl like this?—You see the olive eyes getting darker and the tone of his voice went deeper than you thought he could do. You desist from taking the phone, you know the bullies love the attention, maybe that's exactly what he wants and give it to him just makes it worse.

—I'm not your girl.—You claim fixing up your dress having enough of games, and you have no reason to keep worrying about losing your job, the filming is done, and apparently your relationship with him too. You don't care about any of that anymore, just want to read Logan's text.

Even behind all the alcohol and the eyes injected in blood thanks for who knows what kind of drug, you can see the disappointment and anger, but it's not a broken heart, Is the hissy fit of a child that loses his balloon and now everyone will pay for it, especially you.

—Are you sure about that?—You can see him swallow hard, almost looking vulnerable, but his voice is defiant and threatening to prove you wrong. He just has to stretch out his arm to reach the open window with your phone in hand, his intentions are clear and the only thing you can do is raise your hands as a reflex.—You were mine the moment you put a foot on my trailer, and I don't fucking share my stuff.—Before you can say a word he drops the phone from the fourth floor.

You know is senseless but you find yourself running out of the party and going to search the device, using it also as an excuse to get away from that place. This is the first time someone makes you feel meaningless, you know the famous' world is cold and lacking in empathy but this is ridiculous, they're a bunch of parasites fed by attention and power. By Timothée.

The screen is crashed and the rest of it is probably beyond repair, not that you're surprised, its life is longer than you've been in the country and you admit you should have replaced it much earlier but you're not the kind to throw away things that still work. However, is not the phone you are worried about, not as much as what it contains.

—That was obsolete anyway, I'll get you a better one.—You didn't know he was following you, his voice interrupts your self-wailing. He sounds calmer and a little embarrassed, but not enough to say sorry, you don't think he's capable of saying it.

You shake your head and start to walk away without a word, you don't want anything from him, not materially, at least.

—Don't make a scandal out of it, it's just a phone!—He yells erasing any trace of regret in his voice. He doesn't see the reaction he expected and that's when he runs after you and with a hand on your upper arm pulls you back, you gasped for the sudden bluntness.—That annoying habit you have of leaving when I'm talking to you.

You push him away with all the strength you have, which resulted in him almost falling on the ground.

—I don't care about the stupid phone!—You finally break, but sadly is not as satisfactory as you thought it would be.—You are mean, vain, arrogant and the worst part is that you enjoy being this despicable human because you have absolutely no consequences to it. Everyone around you just accepts it and I feel so sorry for you because the only possible way for you to fill the void inside is to be surrounded by that crowd of mules licking your steps—To your surprise, he has nothing to say, he's just standing there with no facial expression, whatever he feels is easily covered by his years of experience acting, even drunk.—I can't give you that and it's obvious they don't want me either. What am I even doing here?—You ask yourself thinking where would be the best way of getting a cab, is a rich zone, must be easy.

—Everything is better when you're around—His voice is thin and fragile, you have to process what he said three times in your head to understand his words. You're not willing to look at him yet.—You're not like the others.

—Pure bullshit. You love to repeat that misogynist discourse of girls being in a certain way because is easier than be responsible for the people you choose to be—You were hugging yourself the whole time, is a cold night, but not enough to be bothersome, you enjoy Fall weather—You got me for a moment, I give you that, you fooled me but I'm too tired of guessing what version of you is real—When you return your gaze at him, he doesn't try to hide the guilt anymore, but there's still haughtiness in there.—Now, if you don't mind Mr. Chalamet, I need to get a cab.

—No, you came with me, you leave with me.—There's no trace of alcohol in his voice anymore, a good scolding is enough to put you sober, you know that thanks to your mom. Oh god, you're becoming her.

—You didn't bring me here, gigantic head—You look at him and put your hand in front of him with the palm up. He stares at it for several seconds before put his own on it—Not that!—You shake it and start looking inside his jeans pockets until you feel the metal of his key car.—You can't drive and I have to get home. You'll find it in the studio tomorrow.

That's how you ended with a car way more luxurious than you expected, driving so slowly and carefully that the police stopped you. What a night, but at this point, you couldn't care less about anything that is not that message, is been months and you can't get over it, over him. Not even Ben moans, Tom's comforting arms, or fight with a movie star at 3:00 am. is enough to get him out of your mind.

—So is true, you don't wear anything that hasn't appeared in a movie, huh?—Michael B. Jordan is leaning on the car window with a mocking smile and a sparkle of satisfaction that you would love to punch but his uniform keeps you in line, where you come from police is not equal to justice, most of the times is oppression.

—You know where it's from?—That was kind of comforting, no one at the party noticed. Not that you care.

—Is The Mask, not some Adam Hitchcock's blurb.—He smiles and even when you really don't like him, it's nice to be with a familiar face, you are really tired of running away, scaping for problems that are a result of your null capacity to deal with emotions. Ugh, what a word.

—Is Alfred Hitchcock, actually.—You didn't want to sound priggish, but you correct him with no time to stop yourself, an old habit.

—You got me, smarty, you know more than movies than me. Where did you get this car?—You feel really nervous even when you got this legally, you have your documents and license on time and he's being nice enough to not want to run away in a car that you technically borrowed for yourself.

—It's not mine.—No shit, Sherlock.

—No shit, Sherlock, I was asking where did you steal it.—You wanted to laugh but there's something with the uniform that just doesn't allow you to be yourself.—Are you drunk?

—No, no, fuck, no, it's just, I don't feel comfortable with cops—He raises his eyebrows but that is his only reaction.—Listen, is my boss' car, I'm doing the favor to take it to the studio, and I'm really nervous because is fucking expensive, he's an asshole, I haven't drive un almost a year because you people only use cars if you're rich or your work and lives depend on it. I'm starving.—The last part came out of nowhere, you haven't eaten anything in almost 13 hours, maybe that's the actual reason why you are that moody.

He doesn't answer right away, takes his time to look at you, what makes you blush, he's really close, closer than he's ever been. Does he smell like green apples? Not the actual apples, the artificial smell they had given to them.

—Get out of the car.—Oh no, is he arresting you? Is he finally taking revenge for every time you make fun of his Hawaiian-type shirts? You know you have too much karma accumulated and a cop making you pay for it when you don’t believe in their sense of justice is kinda poetic, and evil.

You don’t want to discuss with someone with a taser, gun, pepper spray, or who knows what else. So you take your bag, the key car, and get off defeated.

—My turn is almost over, I’ll take you to eat something, c’mon.—He walks back to his patrol and you stay still for a few seconds still processing his words, you must look totally devastated for him to offer that. How you see it you have two options, go with him and spend an awkward hour with a person you don’t like or risk getting a fine, Tim can pay it, it’s not a big deal but you don’t want to owe him even the minimal thing.

You get in the car holding on to your bag to feel calmer, this is the first time you’re fully alone with him since you found him half-naked in your kitchen. Those defined abs may never leave your brain.

—Are you cold?—He interrupts your thoughts with his question, you didn’t notice you were shaking. He looks for something under his seat and gives you an NYPD hoodie, you hold it doubting your next move, is not like you don’t appreciate the gesture but it’d be easier to take if it doesn’t get that words printed—Is clean.—He says chuckling when he sees the way you’re looking at it.

—Is not that, just, you know, fuck the police, defund the NYPD, demilitarize the pigs and that stuff.—You say putting on the hoodie anyway, is a cold night and you won't help the institution wearing their propaganda.

—Yeah, I get it, but you can't change the system just from within.—You decide is not the right moment to have a political conversation so you shrug your shoulders and discreetly smell the hoodie, a mix of cologne, green apples, and cheap soap, you know is cheap because you buy the exact same, do its job.

—I'm in the mood for pizza.—You say casually, making a deal to yourself to try to be his friend, he is a small part of your life anyway.—Domino's is open at this time of the night?

—Tell me you're not consuming that shit, dear Lord, you been here for how long, two years? I can't believe your idea of a good pizza is Domino's. Stella hasn't taught you anything?—You're surprised by the level of condescension with a pizza and you mirror his smile, suddenly feeling embarrassed. Your school program includes people from all around the world so you don't have that much experience with actual new yorkers. Logan is rich, so he doesn't really count.

—What's wrong with Domino's? I don't buy much street food, is cheaper to buy things on the food market. Besides, all pizza is good.—The mention of Sheep makes you a little tense, so you don't say anything about it, is not a conversation to have with him.

—Don't blaspheme in the patrol, I just washed it—You laugh, finally, after a terrible weekend. You can see why she likes him, there is something about his voice, smile, and his eyes that feel... calm, like watching Friends after a marathon of Lord of the Rings.—There are rules to survive this city, and I'm surprised you have made it this far without a proper guide.

—Chill out Mr. Miyagi, I'm not from the jungle, and I've learned a lot by myself.—He gives you a lopsided grin as a request, and you put your fingers up ready to enlist your acquired knowledge.—Walk fast, like you're about to be stabbed, something that actually happened to me, with an umbrella—He nods and laughs being related to it.—Number two, no small talk, no one cares, even if they ask. Number three, if you look a stranger in the eye, especially a homeless person, you have essentially invited them to approach you.

—Number four, we never eat from Domino's, Papa John's, Pizza hut, or any other chain restaurant, only trucks and local places are allowed.—You roll your eyes but you get the point, is just, again, you're not much into street food, it doesn't taste like home and the only way to eat food like that is preparing it yourself.

—Fine, fuck capitalism, let's support local places—You make an obvious fake enthusiastic tone but he nods proudly.—Number five, you don't need a car to live here, not even know how to drive. I would have successfully avoided this police brutality if I had followed that rule.

—For someone who is about to eat for free, you whine too much.—He parks the car and gives you a sign to go with him. You see him go to a pizza truck and order, you realize at the moment how ridiculous you look, so before chasing him you let your hair down, take your huge earrings off, and roll up the skirt of your dress until your mid-thighs letting the hoodie cover the rest, and clean the red lipstick with a Kleenex from your bag. Now you look more like a college person and not a rich girl who just got seized.

—Here you go.—He says giving you a slice as big as your head, looks oily and spreading cheese everywhere. Perfect.

—Is it vegan?—You ask receiving the food with an obnoxious face. His kind grind turned into a dread expression and you give him your second laugh of the day.—I'm kidding.

You are about to give it a bite when you see passing next to you a huge rat with the exact same slice as yours in its mouth, running into the dark of the night happy to have obtained the food for its family. They use to scare you when you just moved out but now they're like any other pigeon in the sky.

—Rule... whatever, a rat with a slice of pizza is a symbol for good luck, congratulations.—He pets your head awkwardly, not sure if you're ok with the physical contact, which, surprisingly, you are.

—I see rats with bagels all the time.—Pizza and bagels, that's the main culinary wonders of the city, you like it, not much to object but is hard not to compare it with your home's food.

—Is easy to confuse a rough diamond with a simple rock.—You both eat in silence, enjoying the mixed sounds of the city and all the different smells, the whole situation feels like one of those lofi music videos. You remember thinking about moments like this before getting the scholarship, what would it be like to feel normal in the city of your dreams.

—How do you know that much about movies?—He asks after a few minutes when you take a break to drink something, that pizza is not easy to take.

—When I was a kid a spent much time on my own, so my dad bought me a used DVD reproducer, and at the corner of my neighborhood was this movie store where you could buy 5 pirate movies for one dollar. They were blurred, with a terrible sound, and most of the time with the wrong movie inside but they helped me to not feel lonely. Eventually, the store closed but I've watched everything in it by then—He gives you a warm smile, you never told that story to anyone, not because is too intimate to share, but because no one asked, it doesn't sound like a question with a complex answer.—Anyway, I watched Marie Antoinette when I was like eight, and I decided at that moment that however is done I wanted to be part of that magic.

—You hear all kind of people chasing dreams in this city but is hard to find someone who actually deserves it.—You blush and you cover it with your hair but the smile on your voice is impossible to hide.

—Is that a compliment? You must really want me to like you to date Sheep.—You laugh but you can see his face tense, so you can guess your friend has been busy breaking everyone’s hearts.

—She hasn’t returned my calls in three days so I don’t think there’s much you can do—You nod, all this time you thought he was the reason she is ignoring you but apparently you are both in the same boat.—But yeah, I don’t know what I was thinking, what I should have said is, Marie Antoinette at eight? I can see where all the damage started.

You gasp and throw your napkin at his head, he easily catches it without even looking at it and laughs; that was unexpectedly attractive.

—Why a cop?—You ask, not sure where that question came from, maybe you authentically want to know more about him, he just bought you food, and honestly, that's the easiest way to win your trust.

—I wanted to be an actor when I was a child. This is the city of opportunities so you may think that if you want to chase the big wonder, this is the perfect place to do it. But I grow up surrounded by these people giving their entire lives to get something just given to one in a million so I decided is not worth it. For many years I wondered what I wanted to do with my life and the answer was really clear, my dad was a cop, a good one, or that’s what people say. I don’t remember much because he died when I was seven—Conversations about death are not your strength, everything can turn out uncomfortable if you choose the wrong words.—It might not be that glamorous but if my father died for it, it surely worth it.

—For the good ones.—You raise your almost empty can of Coke and he does the same with a grin that warms the cold weather of the night.

—For the good ones.

The next two hours passed like minutes talking about anything and everything. It just felt right to talk freely with him, you didn’t feel judged for your awkward family moments or your random thoughts, not even once because he told you his too. At some point of the night he borrowed you his gym sweatpants, any of you could just suggest going home but that was off the table, end that peace just for weather reasons would have been a tragedy.

—I read Timothée Chalamet is a dick. Is that true?—The mention of his name remains you of your life and everything that comes with it, including the middle semester project that you must dedicate your entire day, one that is about to start.—What, you can’t talk about it?

—He is a complete dick with no sense of privacy or human decency—And when he interrupts a deep kiss to look at your eyes, smile, and caress your chin, you feel like a character of his Victorian movies. But he didn’t ask that.—But the next week he’ll be no longer my problem.

—That’s why we have rule twenty-three, don’t ask for a picture of a celebrity unless they are local—You have heard about it before but you haven’t got the opportunity to decide if you like that rule because the only celebrities you have seen are from work and that club’s party opening.—That means you’ll be free to go to the Stephen Kings’ movie projection there will be for Halloween.

You don’t know if that was a proposition, a suggestion, or just a simple recommendation, and whatever it is, you noticed he was nervous to ask. Is it wrong? It feels wrong like you were betraying your friend accepting to hang out with his boyfriend without her consent. But he didn’t ask you to go with him so is safe to answer.

—Yeah, I guess—You get a moment, four seconds top, where you shared innocent, curious, and tenting gazes like three graders in the playground. And that’s the further you will allow yourself to go.—We better leave, if the sunlight touch me I’ll turn into dust.

You get off the car hood and go to the side door, but this time he opens it for you. You give him a “seriously?” Look, receiving a little push in your arm as a response.

↬☀︎︎

A distant voice asks you to wake up, softly whispers that turn into caresses on your cheek, your eyes feel so heavy, even when you are well aware of your environment your eyelids keep closed.

—Good morning, Princess—This is the first time Tom calls you that way, the change from silly nicknames to Princess is enough to get you out of hibernation. He is squatting beside your bed, his smile is the promise of a better day, and chasing that idea you give him one small back.—Your mom has been texting me desperately all day, she said you're not answering her calls and is worried.

—Fuck, my phone broke last night, can I call her from yours?—That’s an oversimplification but in the search for a better story, that's what you decide to believe and tell. Tom nods and gives it to you, he looks happy, beyond that, this is the first time you see that subtle blush on his cheeks and the eyes sparkling. You sit on the bed next to his body looking for your mom's number, slowly he moves between your legs, you have shorts and an oversized Back To The Future t-shirt, you got took the time to prepare yourself to bed last night and keep Michael’s clothes inside your closet to wash them, like The Tell-Tale Heart, a little innocent secret who feels dirty somehow

The conversations with your mom are always long, nostalgic and the tears are hard to hold for both parts; after a long life sharing almost every day with her, her absence never feels smaller. But this time is different, Tom is exploring the bare skin under your knee with his warm hands, asking for permission with curious eyes, and when you don’t object to the touch the British boy keeps his exploring mission cautiously, giving special attention to see your eyes in case something change. Is time to hang up when he gives a long and loving kiss to your knee, the less erotic kiss you could think of but so intimate to bristle your skin.

—Not nice to touch someone's daughter when is talking to her mom.—The protest of your voice loses strength at every word, he heard that and just straight his back to reach your face, the gap is almost extinct.

—We're okay, she likes me.—He assures holding your hips and pulling you a bit to him. Tom looks very comfortable with the new closeness authorization, you like it but are not very sure about it yet, most of you still think of him as your best friend.

—Did she tell you that? Are you talking with my mom behind my back?—You laugh when he does, almost like nothing changed.

—She adores me, I swear, I'm invited to Christmas, you know?—You're not surprised, she invites everyone, Logan was too but the first time he got family plans and didn't make it to the second.

—You should go, maybe we can do...—His lips touch yours in a peak at the middle phrase and makes you forget what you were about to say.—Man, the audacity to interrupt...—Then he kisses you again, deeply, using his tongue to taste your inner lip and his hands holding your shirt in fists. That's a twist of events.

—Is that ok?—You hear a weak whisper coming out of his voice but you got so mesmerized on his lips that decided to ignore it and kiss him back instead. He responds to your touch and starts to lean over you to make you lay on the bed.

Jesucristo bendito, is this happening? like, actually happening? you must look like trash, you barely took all the makeup from the night before and didn't take a shower, you start to get so worried about smells, feelings, and what that'll mean to your already too much-spoiled friendship.

However, the time of doubts is done when Sheep starts yelling in the living room, you both reacted running to the sound and looking for your blonde friend. Michael is there but doesn't look like the same as a few hours ago, is annoyed and tired for the lack of sleep, a look that doesn't match him at all.—What did you do?—You ask him fast assuming she's mad for something he did.

—Just in time, the star of the movie, I was wondering how much it will take you to be the protagonist of this.—That is Sheep's voice talking about you and what must be your heart breaking from her words.

—Excuse me?—You wish your tone would be less savage but you can't help respond the same way she did.

—Logan wasn't enough, then you got the drummer, fucking Timothée Chalamet, Tom and now my boyfriend. I'm so glad I didn't leave you alone with my dad or I'd be calling you mom now.—You have no words to that, Michael doesn't even dare to look at you, he must have told her something she misunderstood, but Sheep, or well, Stella is saying things she actually thinks and keep to herself. Tom walks in front of you whispering things to her to calm her down but she is not looking at him, you didn't tell her anything about Tom either so he's taking responsibility this time.—Go ahead and fuck the whole city, Michael if that please you but you're crossing the line with Tom and you know that, you're going to ruin him as you ruin every man that enters in your life.—She has a very you moment having the last word of the dispute and getting out of the apartment with Michael going after her but not putting much effort in it.

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Taglist:

@eridanuswave @cjand10 @deluxeplanteater @rorodendra @navs-bhat @coxxxxxpi @leviosatothestars

Thanks for all the love and support, if you have opinions, suggestions, or want to be part of the tag list (Or don’t want to be part anymore) let me know, I appreciate every message.

[ncssian]

A Favor: Part Seventeen

Nessian Modern AU

Masterlist

a/n: 70% of this fic is written on my phone lying on my side in bed while using swipe typing bc im too lazy to type out words and it shows

TW: discussion of SA

***

Nesta has an easier time adjusting to a third person in the cabin than she thought she would. Maybe it’s because Azriel indeed minds his business, and half the time Nesta isn’t aware he’s there at all.

Cassian seems to be more irritated by it than anyone else—not his brother, of course, but the fact that he and Nesta no longer exist in their own little bubble. Which is how he ends up at Nesta’s apartment with an overnight bag, sprawled out stomach-down on her mattress while she gets ready for bed.

“TV show or movie?” he asks, clicking through her laptop. Shows are Nesta’s thing and movies are Cassian’s; she feels generous enough tonight to say, “Movie.”

“Thank god,” he mutters, typing something on the laptop. “There’s a Turkish horror flick that I was saving for you.”

“Where do you even find these films?” Grabbing her hairbrush, she flops onto the bed beside him and starts brushing out her brassy locks. Before he can answer, Nesta’s phone buzzes from the stool she uses as a bedside table. Feyre’s name flashes on the screen.

Nesta frowns, but picks up without a second thought. “What is it?”

“Nothing serious,” her sister replies. “Just checking in.”

Before Cassian, Nesta didn’t very much understand the purpose of “checking in” without reason. Now she empathizes with Feyre a little. “I’m fine,” she says.

Deciding she can do better than that, she adds, “Cassian and I are about to start a movie.”

“Is it his choice? I’m so sorry for you.”

Nesta peeks over to where Cassian is still intently searching for his obscure movie and smiles a little. “I like Turkish horror,” she replies.

Cassian overhears and grins approvingly.

“Well, I’m looking at wedding dresses with Rhys so he can prepare for when he inevitably proposes,” Feyre says. “In case you wanted to know.”

Nesta did not particularly want to know, but she doesn’t say this. “Sounds fun. Is that it?”

“For what?”

“This conversation.”

Feyre sighs over the line. “Yes, I’ll let you go now. Thanks for picking up.”

The bar is in hell, Nesta thinks. Mostly because she put it there, but she still feels embarrassed to be congratulated over such small things. “Thanks for keeping it short.”

She’s about to hang up when she hears a male voice speak up in the background, and Feyre interrupts, “Wait—before you go, can you tell Cassian to call Rhys back? He wants Cass’s help picking a new team leader for the Italy project.”

Nesta has no idea what that is, but she says, “Sure, fine.” They say their goodbyes and hang up.

“What’d she want?” Cassian says without looking over at her.

“She said Rhys wants you to call him about the Italy project.”

Cassian turns toward her, half sitting up. “Really? What for?”

“Something about picking a team leader.” She returns to brushing her hair. “Why? What’s the Italy project?”

“Something I thought we put aside for good,” he grumbles. “It’s a year-long overseas project in Milan. Rhys thinks it’s gonna bring in a shit ton of money.”

“Sounds big. What do you have to do with it, though?” She’s never heard of Cassian being involved in Night Court’s international operations, even though he takes on more work than the usual employee.

Cassian shrugs, going back to movie searching. “He wanted me to be the one leading the team, and I guess he still feels petty about me turning him down. Honestly, choosing team leaders outside of my department isn’t even part of my jurisdiction.”

Nesta hesitates. “He offered you the job? When?” She didn’t know this.

“On New Year’s.”

“And you turned it down?”

“Yeah.” Cassian clicks on a link that looks like it’ll plant fifteen different viruses in Nesta’s laptop. “Found the movie,” he says.

“Why would you do that?” Nesta demands.

“The movie?”

“The job offer! Why would you turn down such a big opportunity without even telling me?”

Cassian laughs in confusion. “Are you angry right now?”

She’s astonished at his nonchalance. “Cassian,” she says. “It’s Italy.”

Italy with the art and history and seaside beauty—it’s on their top five places to see before they die.

“It’s Milan,” he says like there’s a difference, “and it’s an entire year away from you.” He shakes his head, sitting up to face her. “Are you out of your mind?”

She goes still. “Don’t tell me you said no because of me.”

“Of course I said no because of you.”

“It’s your dream job!” she bursts. “Traveling, exploring, being on your own—”

“Those are our dreams. I made those plans with you. The hell am I supposed to do all the way in Italy without you?”

“You sound codependent,” she retorts.

He narrows his brows. “Like you wouldn’t do the same thing in my position?”

He’s right, of course. Nesta would do the exact same thing for him. But Nesta and Cassian are not the same, and they both know it. “You can’t make that comparison,” she sighs.

“Why not?” he demands.

“Because—” She struggles to put it into words. “I would give up a long distance job for you because it would be worth it. You’re worth it. It doesn’t work the other way around.”

“Again: why the fuck not?”

So he’s really going to make her spell it out. “Because you’re a good boyfriend. You’re affectionate and caring, you always go the extra mile for those you love, and you come with all these free perks. It’s a great deal. And I’m not anything terrible, but I’m the bare minimum compared to you. Why would you give up Italy for the bare minimum?”

Cassian looks at her in disbelief. “I don’t even know how you can say so many wrong things in a row.”

“He’s blinded by love,” Nesta mutters to herself.

“First of all,” he holds up a finger, “I don’t know where you learned to compare yourself to me, but I don’t like it. You make it sound like I need to be paid back for every half-decent thing I do, and that is not the case at all.”

“Of course you think that,” she says. “You wouldn’t be a good person if you didn’t.”

“Then let me be a blunt person.” He puts a hand on her knee and looks her in the eye. “You will never be like me. Very few people are; you can’t take it personally.”

“Oh my god.” Her eyes might roll out of her head.

“But you’re not the bare minimum. Not even close.” He states it like an undeniable fact.

“How so?” she challenges.

“Like how Elain told me about this boy who broke her heart in her high school, and how the next day he walked into class in a leg cast. And how she just knew you had something to do with it, and you two had a huge fight about it that lasted a week.”

Nesta does not enjoy that memory being brought up. Elain called her a psychopath for the incident, and to save her feelings, Nesta (rather unconvincingly) said it had been an accident.

“I didn’t push anybody into a creek,” she maintains the lie. “Sometimes people just fall down there.”

“To be fair, you’re a lot more stable now than you were then. Now when people hurt those you care about, you find sneakier ways to hurt them back. Don’t you?”

“I do not,” Nesta defends.

“Really? Because Eris texted me earlier saying you’ve been ignoring him since New Year’s, and he’s starting to get worried that you have something heinous planned for him. I asked him why he would ever think such a thing of you.” Cassian leans forward and rests his chin on her shoulder. “Why would he think such a thing of you, Nesta?”

Cassian looks pretty well off from here, doesn’t he? She remembers Eris’s smug face. Did you know Rhysand’s parents found him sleeping in the streets?

“Because he said a bad thing,” Nesta says, looking down at her fingernails. “And I have an unfortunate reputation at school for getting back at people who say bad things.” Like the time Brian O’Connell made jokes about a rape trial the class was studying, and then couldn’t find an internship at a single firm the following summer.

“And what did he say? Because I can’t imagine he would directly insult you. He actually likes you, ass that he is.” His face is warm so close to her neck.

She looks away. “I won’t repeat it.”

That seems to be all Cassian needs to get an idea of what Eris said. “And how long are you planning on holding it against him?”

“Forever.”

“That’s what I thought.”

Nesta meets the eyes that haven’t left her face this entire time and snorts. “What’s your point?” Seriously, she’s starting to redden at how close he is.

He buries his face in her neck, his stubble rasping against the sensitive skin there. “The point is that you also do a lot for the people you love. Just in a different way.” He pulls away to look her in the eye. “Don’t do anything to Eris, though,” he says. “Not that I care for him or his shit opinions, but whatever you have planned isn’t worth it.”

Nesta wants to scoff in disbelief at the sincerity on Cassian’s face. He’s always choosing kindness, even at the worst moments. “So that’s your argument?” she says. “You won’t go to Italy because your girlfriend has a bad temper and a taste for revenge?”

“That’s my final argument, Your Honor.” He takes her hand. “Forget Milan, will you? One day I’ll take you to Portofino.”

The longer Nesta knows Cassian, the more she finds it useless to hide from him. Which is why she lets him watch the thoughts flit across her face as she considers his words, deciding whether she believes him. Deciding whether he’s right to give her so much devotion.

“Fine,” she finally says. “You’re right.”

A slow smile spreads across his face as he realizes he won. Wrapping his arms around Nesta’s waist and legs, he hauls her into his lap and shifts around until they’re both comfortable. The movie is forgotten for now.

“Out of curiosity…” He noses at the nape of her neck. “What did Eris say about me to make you so angry?”

When Nesta doesn’t answer, he says, “I’ve already heard everything that could possibly be said. The shit that used to get me when I was eighteen doesn’t have the same hold on me a decade later.”

She lets herself relax into his hold. “It was about the time you spent as an orphan.” Technically, he’s still an orphan, but it was different back then. “I didn’t like the tone of his voice.”

Cassian’s answering hum is a low rumble against her shirt. “Did you know my biological father was from Italy?”

Nesta perks up at that. “No.” She assumed he was entirely Algerian, even though he and Azriel probably look ethnically ambiguous to most. “Isn’t that all the more reason to see Italy someday?”

“Not at all,” he says. “If I could pretend that half of me didn’t exist, I would.”

She can’t think of a response that doesn’t involve a question, so she doesn’t reply. She waits for Cassian to speak on his own terms.

“I went to Italy once,” he admits. “For less than a day while my brothers were partying in Monte Carlo. I was young and stupid, and thought I would never be complete if I didn’t know who my father was.”

“Who was he?” She doesn’t know why she’s whispering.

“No one worth remembering,” Cassian says, his arms unconsciously tightening around her. “I put some dots together and realized how he and my mother must have met, how he must’ve—forced himself on her, and I decided that I didn’t care about bloodlines at all. I never returned to Italy after that.”

Nesta’s hands want to reach out and touch him, soothe him. But her muscles are suddenly very cold, and she can only stiffen. “And what about now? Do you… not want to go back?”

“It’s just a place to me,” he says. “Nothing special, nothing terrible. But I like the way it sounds when you talk about it.” His eyes sparkle. “I’d like to pretend it’s my first time going with you.”

“Alright, then.” She nods. “One day, we’ll go together. It’ll be our first time.”

***

Cassian refuses to let Nesta leave bed the next morning, dragging his heavy mouth across her body whenever she tries to get up. She’s about to surrender to him altogether when her phone starts vibrating loudly, insistently.

Breaking away from Cassian’s attempt at cuddling, she answers without checking the caller ID. “Yes?” she croaks sleepily.

“Where the hell have you been?” Emerie demands.

Nesta shoves Cassian away despite his protests, untangling her legs from the sheets. “At home,” she says, getting out of bed and heading for the bathroom. “Am I supposed to be somewhere else?”

“We haven’t seen you in two weeks,” Emerie says. “Gwyn thought your boyfriend’s weird family killed you.”

“That’s not what happened,” Nesta assures, pulling her shorts down and sitting on the toilet. “I just needed some alone time.” People are all around her these days, it seems. Her body still can’t quite adjust to it.

“Well, have you had enough—are you peeing?”

“Yeah.” She wipes and flushes the toilet.

“Well, clear your day and kick your sorry boyfriend out of your place. I can’t remember the last time I went out.”

“Why does everybody always want to go out?” Nesta says as she washes her hands. “What’s wrong with staying in, being safe, never leaving the house?” She dries her hands on a towel and returns to the bedroom, where Cassian is now sitting up and checking his emails.

“You’re preaching to the choir, but this actually wasn’t my idea,” Emerie says.

Nesta and Cassian alert at the sound of a knock from the front door. Nesta never has uninvited guests.

“Hold on a second, Em,” she says, jogging up the short set of steps to the door. She opens it to the sight of an exasperated-looking Gwyn.

“Jeez, next time send a text that you’re alive, will you?” Gwyn says, shoving past Nesta to enter the apartment. “Do you know how worried I’ve been—” She halts midsentence, one foot hovering above a step as she realizes that Nesta isn’t alone. As she sees Cassian in her bed, bare-chested and highly amused.

“Hey.” He raises a hand in greeting.

Gwyn pales.

“Hello?” Emerie calls over the line.

“You girls both share the same brain,” Nesta sighs. “Let me call you back, Emerie.”

Gwyn whirls around just as Nesta hangs up. “That won’t be necessary,” she says quickly, looking embarrassed. “I’ll be outside. I’m sorry.”

She hurries out of the apartment even faster than she came in, ducking her head to hide her face.

Nesta tosses her arms up in the air. “Great,” she says to Cassian. “Your abs scared her away.”

“But I didn’t do anything—”

She shuts the door behind her as she follows Gwyn outside, barefoot and all. She barely notices the freezing cold air or the awful press of damp grass beneath her feet as she catches up to Gwyn and grabs her elbow. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

Gwyn jerks suddenly, yanking out of Nesta’s hold. Her breathing seems a little shallow, and she looks even more embarrassed for it. “It’s nothing. I just didn’t know you had someone over.”

“Cassian? He’s cool, you don’t need to be weird about him,” she tries to reassure Gwyn. “Though I did use to tell him that not everybody wants to see him shirtless all the time.”

“It’s not that,” Gwyn says, waving her off.

Nesta gestures to the apartment. “Do you want to come back inside, then? I’m sure he has clothes on by now.”

Gwyn clears her throat uncomfortably and looks down. “I’d rather not. I’m—I don’t like being around men.”

Nesta pauses, not sure if she heard right. “Like, in a ‘check the backseat of your car before getting in’ way, or…?”

“No, like I can’t be alone in a room with a man without feeling sick. It activates my fight or flight, it’s weird.” She’s carefully stiff, like she’s ready to be met with humiliation.

Nesta remembers that Gwyn has never told her about her therapy sessions before, but she knows they’re more intensive than her own weekly conversations with Lana.

“Not that I think your boyfriend is a bad person,” Gwyn adds when Nesta doesn’t respond. “He looks really nice. He sounds nice, too.”

But Nesta doesn’t care about any of that. Unsure of what to do next, she reaches out and awkwardly pats Gwyn on the arm. “Good thing you’ve never been to the cabin, then. Cassian’s brother is staying…” She trails off when she realizes none of this is relevant. “Why are you here so early?” she asks instead.

Gwyn eases up a little at the change in subject. “I missed you. We’ve barely talked since Christmas.”

Nesta didn’t realize people would take such notice to her absence. “Yeah.” She flushes. “I do that sometimes. I’ll send a message next time I go into hibernation, though.”

“You’re freezing,” Gwyn suddenly scolds, noticing how Nesta’s goosebumped arms are wrapped tightly around herself. She unzips her red hoodie and shrugs it off. “Go back inside and get dressed.” She flings the hoodie around Nesta’s shoulders before Nesta can protest. “Meet me at my car. We’re hanging out.”

Nesta knows that a last minute change of events is not the end of the world, even if it sometimes feels like it. For Gwyn and Emerie, she can bear the discomfort of unexpected plans, same as she does for Cassian. But she at least has to know: “How long will we be out?”

“You can come home after lunch.” At Nesta’s face, Gwyn adds, “Lunch will be at two and shouldn’t take more than an hour.”

Looking her friend up and down, someone who has such an easy time understanding her, Nesta nods in satisfaction. She turns around to go back inside.

***

They end up at the library where Gwyn works, in the stacks of the long-abandoned encyclopedia section.

Emerie takes a loud sip from the huge McDonald’s soda she snuck in. “So all this show was because Gwyn didn’t want to work her shift alone?”

“I just have some last minute cleanup to do,” she hisses for the third time, shoving an old book back where it belongs. “Go to the porn section if you’re so bored here.”

“Oh, I definitely will,” Emerie says. “But I’m glad that we’re congregating now, even if it’s in the most depressing part of the library. I have a present for you girls.” She hands Nesta her drink so she can dig around in her purse.

Nesta personally has no complaints. The library is quiet, it smells of paper and old ink, and it holds all her favorite books. It’s almost better than staying in.

Emerie successfully pulls out a handful of folded and wrinkled papers from her bag, smoothing them out as best she can. “One for each of us,” she says, passing the papers around.

Nesta takes her paper and stares at the header. Gwyn is the first to speak. “Pole dancing classes?”

“Why?” Nesta says.

“Well, I originally offered them to Justinian and Isaac but they said no—”

“It’s really not for me,” Gwyn interrupts, trying to pass the registration form back to Emerie. “Sorry.”

Nesta doesn’t give her form back.

“Look,” Emerie says. “I get the hesitation. We’re a handful of boring bitches who hate having fun. But don’t you think that has to change at some point?”

“I’ve known you guys a month,” Gwyn retorts. “We’ve only been boring bitches for a month. This is too much.” She turns to Nesta for help.

Nesta is still staring at the paper. Dancing—on a pole, yes, but it’s still dancing. “I’ll do it,” she says.

Gwyn looks betrayed and Emerie looks elated. “Really?” She hops up and down. “That’s two against one, Gwyn. You have to do it, too.”

Gwyn’s cheeks are turning red in frustration. “You can’t just force this on me—”

“Gwyneth,” a sharp voice interrupts their conversation. Nesta spins around to find a young woman with dark skin and bleached white curls heading in their direction, a stack of books in her arms.

She halts before Nesta and glares. “No food or drink in the library.” She looks pointedly at the 32-ounce in her hand.

“It’s not mine.” Nesta shoves the drink back to Emerie.

But the librarian has turned to Gwyn, who hides the dance class form behind her back. “And what are you doing here?” she demands.

“Just putting up a few books, Merrill,” Gwyn answers quickly.

“While socializing?” the woman named Merrill sneers.

“We were just asking for help finding the romance section. Is that a problem?” Emerie crosses her arms and steps forward, letting a little of her beautiful deadliness slip into her stance. It’s the deadliness of someone at the top of her law class, someone who will graduate in a few months with all the power she could want in the palm of her hand. Nesta gets a rush from playing the lawyer game, too, but she’s never had the kind of ambition that Emerie has. Emerie is a shark sitting around in a small pond.

Merrill is not impressed. She snatches the styrofoam cup dangling from Emerie’s hand and tosses it in the nearby trash can. She turns back to Gwyn. “Hand your badge over and clock out.”

“But I’m not done yet—”

“Now.”

“Okay,” she squeaks. She pulls her ID badge off her neck and hands it to Merrill.

Nesta gapes in disbelief. Before she can speak up, Merrill says, “No loitering in the library. If you don’t have anything you need to check out, leave.” With one final judgmental look, she turns down an aisle of dusty books and disappears.

Gwyn makes a face at her back.

“That woman is not old enough to be acting that misanthropic,” Emerie says after Merrill is gone.

“Whatever,” Gwyn mutters. The registration form is still in her hand. She crumples it into a ball and throws it into the trash. “Let’s get out of here.”

Nesta stares at the trash as Gwyn turns to leave. “Coward,” she says.

Gwyn’s head snaps toward Nesta, her auburn hair swinging. “Excuse me?”

She shrugs. “You heard me.” Emerie’s eyes bounce back and forth between the girls.

“I did,” Gwyn says. “I was just making sure this wasn’t coming from the woman who would sooner bite someone’s head off than do something she doesn’t want to.”

“Girls,” Emerie snaps before Nesta can bite back. “It’s just a stupid dance class. I thought it would be fun to do together, but it doesn’t matter anymore.” Taking Gwyn by one arm and Nesta by the other, she starts steering them out of the stacks like a stern mother. “Now let’s go eat. I’m fucking hungry.”

Gwyn’s mood from the library doesn’t recover, even as they sit down for lunch at the local diner. Nesta thinks Gwyn might actually be sick when the male waiter winks at her while taking her order, and it’s not until long after he’s gone that color returns to her face. When their food arrives, Gwyn only picks at her plate.

“What’s wrong?” Nesta finally has to ask bluntly. “You look pukey.” Did the coward comment affect Gwyn more than she let on, or was it Merrill’s attitude that threw her off?

At Nesta’s words, Gwyn becomes even more pallid. “I just don’t feel great today,” she murmurs, looking around like she’s seeking a way out of the diner. “Sorry guys, I didn’t mean to be such a buzzkill. Maybe I should go home early.”

“Absolutely not,” Emerie says. “If you’re going home, we’re going home with you.”

Gwyn bites her lip, trying to decide if she wants that or not. But something about her antsy demeanor is too familiar to Nesta, because she says, “If you really want to be alone, do you mind driving me home first? Emerie’s car is a mess.”

“You just need to move around a few papers,” Emerie protests.

But Gwyn nods distractedly, already gathering her things. “Sure, no problem.” They pay the bill and go their separate ways.

During the ride home, the sky that’s been gray all day finally breaks open, unleashing a spattering of rain over the town. Nesta watches it sprinkle while Gwyn drives in silence.

“Why are you scared of Merrill?” she eventually asks. “She doesn’t look much older than you.”

Gwyn snorts, but there isn’t much heart to it. “Merrill is my superior, but I can handle her on most days.”

“Just not today?”

Gwyn eyes Nesta warily from the corner of her eye. “No, not today. Or this week.”

Nesta chooses not to push. The dull metal of the cars surrounding them glints under the rain, and they arrive at a red light.

After a minute, she takes a breath and blurts, “I’m not always like that around guys, you know.”

Nesta watches her closely, remembering how ghostly she seemed around Cassian, then the waiter. “Keep going.”

Gwyn stares straight at the traffic ahead, her fingers turning bone white on the steering wheel. “I’m just going through a hard period. Everything upsets me and I don’t know how to think straight. It’s like my brain accidentally traveled to the past and now it’s stuck there.” She sounds shaky, breathless, and it makes Nesta wonder what exactly her mind is experiencing.

Nesta knows what it’s like to be unable to move on. Her own brain has only recently started looking toward the future. “Where are you stuck, specifically?” she asks hesitantly. Maybe she can help Gwyn navigate her way out.

Gwyn’s chin quivers. “In a dark room.” Her lips form a tight line. “Being held down. I’m outnumbered.”

Nesta’s stomach turns. “How far back is it?”

“Two years,” Gwyn whispers. “Lately I can’t even look at anything without—remembering it. Thinking about it. Every time I feel like I’m moving past it, I end up being wrong.”

The light turns green, and Nesta puts a hand on Gwyn’s knee in an attempt to ground her. “Drive,” she commands softly.

Gwyn presses down on the accelerator, but Nesta can feel her leg trembling beneath her hand. She squeezes her knee hard. Even with the dark parts of her own past, Nesta has never felt what Gwyn is feeling right now. So she tries to stick to what she knows.

“It’s like you said,” she says carefully. “You’re going through a period where your brain isn’t being friendly to you. It’s horrible, but you can live with the knowledge that it’ll be over eventually.”

Gwyn shakes her head, holding back tears. “It doesn’t work like that. Once it goes away, it’ll just come back again. And it’ll be like that for the rest of my life.”

“You’re right.” Nesta doesn’t have a solution for that, and she hates it. “You’ll never forget. You can be at the peak of your life and still remember all of it. But,” she says slowly, “whether you reach a point where it barely fazes you, or if you keep crippling under the weight of it decades later, you’ll still be normal. You’ll be a perfectly normal human.”

Gwyn lets out a tearful laugh at that. “What does that even mean?”

Shit. “It means…” Nesta tries to explain herself better. “In case you’re worried that there’s something very wrong with you, I’m here telling you that there’s not. There will never be anything wrong with you.”

Gwyn eyes her skeptically as they turn onto a residential road. “Even if I never get past one nightmare I lived years ago? Even if that nightmare defines me until the day I die?”

“That won’t happen.” Nesta’s tone is simple, factual. “But yes, even then.”

“Really? You’re not gonna tell me to live for the better days or whatever?”

“Does that sound like something that would help you? Because I can say it if it does.”

Gwyn snorts. “No.” But her limbs are steady and her eyes are clear on the road. She clears her throat. “Thank you for listening. I think I might feel a little better now.”

“Was it because of what I said?” Nesta tries not to be too hopeful.

“I wouldn’t give you that much credit,” Gwyn says, crushing her hope. “But I’m glad I told you. It makes things…a lot easier for me.” She exhales deeply.

“You know my plate is mostly empty these days.” Nesta pats her knee. “That means I’ll always have room to help carry your shit.”

They pull up to Nesta’s apartment, and Gwyn parks at the curb. “Give me your dance class thing,” she says suddenly.

Frowning, Nesta pulls the wrinkled paper out of her purse and hands it to Gwyn.

Gwyn smooths it out on the steering wheel and grabs a pen from a cupholder, clicking it. “If you’re going to help carry my shit, I guess I have time for pole dancing now.”

“But that’s mine,” Nesta protests as Gwyn starts filling out the form.

“It can be both of ours,” she says, writing Nesta’s name under hers.

“Really?” Nesta grins with an excitement that she doesn’t easily feel. “You’re going to do it with us?”

“Why would I let you do it without me? So I can become the third wheel in our girl group?” She gives Nesta a look that says No way in hell.

Nesta rolls her eyes. “That would never happen to you.”

“Sure,” Gwyn drawls. She finishes the form and folds it in half before pocketing it. “I’ll give this to Emerie as a gift.” She leans over to peck Nesta on the cheek. “Now get home. Love you.”

Nesta turns red at the words and coughs. “Thanks for the ride,” she responds, getting out of the car.

“Say it back!” Gwyn calls after her. But Nesta shuts the door in her face and waves, pretending she can’t hear her. Gwyn mock-scowls at her through the window, but lets her off easy and drives away.

That’s enough feelings for today, Nesta decides. Even if her chest is swelling with emotion for her friend. It’s a sweet hurt that lingers long after she returns to her empty apartment.

***

a/n: i’m back in my no plot, just vibes era

taglist: @hellasblessed @sjm-things @thewayshedreamed @drielecarla @valkyriewarriors @superspiritfestival @aliveahaahahafuck @cupcakey00 @sayosdreams @rainbowcheetah512 @claralady @thebluemartini @nessiantho @missing-merlin @duskandstarlight @lucy617 @sleeping-and-books @everything-that-i-love @cassianscool @swankii-art-teacher @awesomelena555 @julemmaes @wickedqueenoffantasy @poisonous-bloom @observationanxioustheorist @gisellefigue08 @courtofjurdan @theoverlyenthusiasticwriter @wolfiixxx @cass-nes @seashade @royaltykxx @illyrianundercover @queenestarcheron @monstrousloves-explodinggalaxies @humanexile @that-golden-lyre @agentsofsheilds @mercy-is-alive @cassiansbigwingspan @laylaameer01 @verypaleninja @maastrash @bow-dawn @perseusannabeth @dead-on-the-inside666 @jlinez @hungryreadingaddict @anidealiveson @planet-faerie @shallowhighwaters @ghostlyrose2 @chosenfamily-valkyriequeens @rarephloxes

[idunnoficsorsumthing]

JJ Maybank x reader

This doesn’t have a title. But, it will have a pt 2 soooooo

You had been working all day, cleaning dishes and serving tables. It didn’t pay a lot. But, it paid enough for you to chip in at home. Especially now your father was gone, and your shit uncle was off somewhere in Mississippi, you weren’t sure what John B was up to but he hustled around with his friends most of the time, making cash here and there. The person who said the oldest has all the responsibility was wrong. Your brother was older than you by 6 whole minutes, and he acts like he is 6 years younger. You open the front door to be met with loud laughter from John B’s friends. Your eyes immediately met those of JJ, he gave you a wink, it was barely even noticeable at first you thought it was just in your head. “Sis.” John B greeted you, holding out his blunt to you. He knew you wouldn’t, you hadn’t smoked in months. You declined the blunt, and made your way to the kitchen. “Did you guys eat yet?” you yelled out to them. You see the dirty dishes in the sink, but no pots or pans, making your way back into the living room. Kie was already passed out, snuggling one of the blankets on the couch, and Pope was hitting a new blunt that JJ undoubtedly just rolled for him. You were going to sit on the ground as Kie was taking over the entire couch except for JJ's seat. “Come here.” JJ said, pulling you into his lap, you hated when he did that. You hated a lot about him actually. He’d get high or drunk and want sex, you never gave into it because you weren’t dumb enough to fall for it but it did create a big disliking towards him. “Did any of you go to the grocery store today?” you asked. But, glared at John B, you already knew the answer to this question. JJ was being touchy as he snaked his arm around your waist. You were too upset to stop him, it was always like this with them. All they wanted was to get high, and cruise the waters with their dumb boat, not a care in the world. “Thanks for doing the one thing I asked you to do!” You snapped at your brother who in his state of mind didn’t care that you were upset. You take JJ's arm and push it away from you to be able to get up. 

Almost an hour later, and you returned from your trip to the store. Three big bags of groceries, and a twenty minute walk because everyone was too high to drive, and they never let you drive the van, meaning you could finally make some dinner for yourself. You opened the door, and this time completely ignoring the people on your couch, quickly making your way to the kitchen, setting down the grocery bags. JJ came stumbling in wrapping his arms around your waist, and leaning his head on your shoulder. For a second you let yourself lean into him. You take a deep breath in, and remind yourself not to fall for his stupid games.  “Can you not do that?” You ask him, as you take out the bread from the bag. “Do what, princess?” he asked. You take his hands from around your waist, and push him away from you. You turn your attention away from him. “Fuck off JJ” you tell him. He didn’t leave, instead he went over to the counter, and leaned his arm against it. He didn’t say anything, and just started lighting another blunt. Ignoring his presence you decided on making dinner, which was a fish stew. John B entered the kitchen opening the fridge for another beer, Kie and Pope had left some ten minutes ago, probably not sober enough to pass their parents suspicions but Kie had to help at the Wreck, and Pope wanted to study some more. How the hell they were going to do either of those things, when they were as high as a kite was not your problem. “What are you making? I’m starving.” he said, handing another beer to JJ. “Stew.” you said short, you couldn’t help but be annoyed with your brother. “She’s being bitchy today, man.” JJ said, you glared at the blond boy. “Yes, I’m mad. None of you did anything today.” you said, you look at your brother who just looked at the ground, trying not to look guilty. “That’s not true. I have been mowing lawns all mornin’” JJ defended himself. You didn’t even bother looking at him this time, you just stirred the pan. “I can smell that.” you said, and John B started snickering. “Grab some bowls.” You told your brother. For once he listened to you. 

Taking the meal to the living room, John B sat down on his lounge chair, and JJ was already on the couch eating from his bowl. You made your way to sit down in the lounge chair  Pope had previously been sitting in but JJ pulled at your arm to sit with him. Or rather sit on his lap like you had done previously. You didn’t agree with it, and slid down next to him instead. “If I catch some fish tomorrow. Will you make this again?” John B asked. You let out a laugh. “You haven’t caught any fish in months, but sure yes. If you catch fresh fish.” you promised him. After that, you let your brother and JJ talk, zoning yourself out of the conversation. You move yourself to the other side of the couch, and let your feet rest in JJ’s lap, your head on the armrest. It wasn’t a lot longer till you fell asleep. 

When you woke up, John B was already gone off to bed, and JJ was still there. Undoubtedly John B had promised him the couch to sleep on. He was staring at the tv, lightly drawing circles on your foot with his index finger. You couldn’t help yourself but start to tease him. Sliding your foot up and down his leg. He must’ve thought you were doing that in his sleep. After a few minutes JJ takes your foot, and makes you stop, taking his foot in yours he rubbed it once. “You think you can tease me like that?” JJ asked. He turned around to look at you with a stupid smirk on his face. You had expected him to push you away, instead he got up and crawled over your body, with his knee in between your legs, and taking your hands above your head. With his body towering over you, and his hot breath on your skin, you wanted to push him away, and tell him to go fuck himself. That was John B’s little sister talking, no, you wanted JJ to take you here, even if you’d regret it in the morning. He didn’t say anything, he just looked at you, and it made you intensely nervous. “Dude, stop looking at me like that” You snap. JJ quickly pushed his lips on yours, he hadn’t taken you by surprise but you still didn’t think it was possible. He tasted like weed, an intoxicating taste. He let go of your hands to touch your body, sliding his hands down your body to your hips as he made himself comfortable, leaning his body on yours. Your hands found themselves in his hair, slightly tugging at it to pull him closer. You could only think about the times he had picked you up from school or the way he’d pull you into his lap when he was high. Maybe he felt your hesitation because he pulled away from you. The absence of his lips made you lean forward to get another taste. “I- I don’t want you to think-” he started out but he couldn’t figure out the words to say. “Hey, just sex okay tough guy.” you said, giving him a smile. A slight frown appeared on his face.”Y/n, you are my best friend's sister.” he said: “It could never be just sex with you.” you chuckle, pushing him off you, making him sit up on the couch, as you follow his position. The two of you are now looking each other in the eye. “I don’t have time for a boyfriend, JJ. So either you fuck me as a favor or we go back before we kissed and forget it.” you tell him. The look in his eyes is of betrayal. “I’m not good enough for you, princess?” The hurt in his eyes was almost enough to just give into his wishes. “JJ. I am sixteen years old and every day after school I buss tables to afford living here. Because my father is dead. I know John B doesn’t want to face that possibility. But, he is dead, I can feel it.” You tell him. As you spoke your words, you saw JJ being patiently waiting for the moment you tell him he is deadbeat weight, like his father. “I am trying so hard to keep it together, JJ.” your eyes were filled with tears. “I can’t be what you want, I can patch up your bruises. But, it is killing me that he is killing you. But, I won’t be your girlfriend if you are on a self destructive war path.” Silent tears were on your cheeks as you explained to him. He hesitantly put his hand on your cheek. But, you pushed his hand away, getting up and running to your room. 

[whatyouandihave-makesmefree]

How to say “I love you” without actually saying it - or 137 Milkovichy ways to say “I fuckin’ love Ian Clayton Gallagher”.

1. Kiss me, and I’ll cut your fucking tongue out.

2. I’ll meet you there in 20.

3. You say that again, I’ll rip your tongue out of your head.

4. Take your hand off the glass.

5. You wanna chit chat more or you wanna get on me?

6. Fuckin’ tough guy, huh?

7. Jesus Christ, you want us to spread a blanket out and look for shooting stars next?

8. Sorry, I gotta go kill your dad, but I’m doing a lot of people a favor, including you.

9. -I missed you-  You did?  -Yeah, man.-

10. So, uh, what you going down for, then, huh?

11. Don’t know what you see in that geriatric viagroid.

12. -You fuck anyone in there yet?-  God, no.  -Wise choice.-

13. Hey, my dad took my brothers on a run out of town for a couple days, so you wanna ditch that dump and crash at my place, you can.

14. Fuck you, is what you were invited to.

15. What are you hoping, I tell you not to go? I’m gonna chase after you like some bitch?

16. -Don’t.-  Don’t what?  -Just…-

17. -You seen him?-  Why do you care?  -Don’t.-

18. You heard from Gallagher?

19. Not fucking Frank. The other one, the redhead.

20. I like fucking carrot-tops, like, with the freckles and the pale skin and fucking alien-looking.

21. He in trouble? What kind of trouble?

22. You wearing cologne?  -No. It’s Kenyatta’s perfume soap shit.-

23. I gotta take care of something important.

24. No, I’m not having fun. I spent the whole day looking for your coked-out ass.

25. You coming back?

26. I’ll do it.

27. Those fingers go anywhere near that cock, I’m gonna break every knuckle in your hand, all 15 of them.

28. Together.

29. That all you think he is? Some twink?

30. Probably best if you don’t, tough guy.

31. Of course we are.

32. You want me to go?  -No, I don’t want you to go.-

33. I’m not lying to you.

34. Ian, what you and I have makes me free, not what these assholes know.

35. Well, good. Leave. What the hell do I care, bitch? Fuck.

36. Hey! Excuse me! Can I get everybody’s attention, please? I just want everybody here to know I’m fucking gay. A big old ‘mo. I just thought everybody should know that. You happy now?

37. Fuck you! Don’t worry about it! I’ve been staying at Ian’s since you’ve been in the can, bitch! Guess what we’ve been doing, daddy! We’ve been fucking! And I take it! He gives it to me good and hard, and I fucking like it.

38. You’re a fucking dick. Yeah, there. That’s what you get.

39. You love him?  -Maybe. I don’t know.-  Because he has a real penis?  -Yeah, I guess.-

40. Rise and fucking shine, Cinderella.

41. Yo, sleepy-face.

42. Hey, you okay? Feeling sick or something?

43. All right, you want me to bring you back something to eat?

44. Ian, are you high? You take something?

45. Fuck’s wrong with him?

46. Before, he was fine. He was happy. He’s staying up all hours of the night, dancing, telling fucking jokes. He kicks my ass every day. I can’t keep up with him.

47. No, no, look. He– he’s low… We cheer him up.

48. What do you mean, hos– Like a psych ward? No fucking way! No fucking way! He’s staying here.

49. I can– I can take care of him. Okay? Let me take care of him until he’s better.

50. Don’t fucking tell me what’s impossible! We’re taking care of him here. You, me, us. His fucking family.

51. He’s not going to some fucking nut house. You hear me? He stays here. He’s staying with me.

52. I’ll be there.  -Better be.-

53. All right. I guess I’m going with you.

54. She’ll send him to a fucking shrink. No. We fix this ourselves.

55. I came out for you, you piece of shit.

56. What’s your type?  -Redhead.-  I am downstairs.  -Batshit crazy.-  Check.  -Packing 9 inches.-

57. I got to take you to a hospital, Ian.

58. I’m worried about you.

59. His partner. Lover? Family? You know?

60. At least he’ll be getting some kind of fucking help.

61. Relationship to the patient?  -Sister.-   -You?-  -Uh, boyfriend.-

62. Hey. Sorry I’m late.

63. We gotta get you to a fucking clinic. Get some meds. Today.

64. Hey, it’s okay. It’s all right.

65. He’s not a fucking lab rat.

66. He’s got me.

67. Hey, Ian’s sleeping in there.

68. All right, breakfast of champs. We got your mood stabilizer, anti-psychotic, anti-depressant. Gatorade.

69. Shut the fuck up. Take the pills, bitch.

70. Hey, no caffeine on your meds.

71. Eat it. Take all those pills on an empty stomach and you’re going to have diarrhea real bad.

72. I didn’t know which Bs to get, so I just got all the fucking Bs. I got B-complex, super B-complex, B-12, B-6.

73. The hell happened to your hand?

74. Did a doctor take care of that?

75. You can’t go anywhere unless you get that looked at, man.

76. Your hand, man.

77. No, no. Look, you’re not supposed to drink on lithium. It makes your blood fucking toxic, and it gets you hammered in like two seconds flat. You can’t-

78. You look like a fucking wet rat.

79. We’re going on a date.  -Fuck, yes, we are.-

80. Where the fuck are you?

81. Where the fuck you been? 

82. You okay?

83. It means we take care of each other.

84. It means thick and thin, good times, bad, sickness, health, all that shit.

85. You look good.

86. Got a new tattoo. Did it myself. Hurt like a son of a bitch.

87. Been thinking about you. You ever think of me? Gonna wait for me?

88. Will you? Wait?

89. You like the high school bleachers? Our spot, man.

90. Look, I’m, um I’m getting some new IDs, some cash, and heading to Mexico.-  Wow.  -You should come.-

91. Thought a lot about you inside. You’re under my skin, man. The fuck can I do? Hmm? Can I do?

92. Knew you’d come. 

93. Come here.

94. I’m gonna see you again?

95. The fuck you looking at?

96. It’s what kept me going in the joint. The beach. Us.

97. Oh, check it out. Ian Gallagher putting his big boy pants on!

98. You never fucking visited me.

99. What am I leaving behind? My family? Who cares I never see those shitheads again. You had my back more than they ever did.

100. You ever think about me? When I was in the joint?

101. Fuck, I missed you.

102. What the fuck is that? I don’t want your fucking money! I want you to come with– me.

103. Don’t do this.

104. Fuck you, Gallagher.

105. I rolled on the cartel I was working for, and in exchange, guess who gets to pick where he gets locked up?

106. No, I just did it ‘cause it was the right thing.

107. Would you be fucking happy?  -Yes, fuck, yes!-

108. I guess I need some advice. It’s about my partner, Ian.

109. You’re not throwing your fuckin’ parole for me. We need to get you the hell outta this shit-hole.

110. You don’t belong in here, Gallagher.

111. I shouldn’t have asked you to stay.

112. FaceTime your brother. See the baby.

113. You seen Ian?

114. About time, man. Your Panda Express is getting cold.

115. Eat your Szechuan beans.

116. Chill your fucking tits and eat your noodles, man.

117. Let’s get out of here, get some Pinkberry.

118. No. No. I’m not running. I need to protect him.

119. Jesus Christ. You proposing to me over fucking patty melts?

120. Fuck it. I do.

121. When you know, you know. You know?

122. No, just saying you don’t love me enough now. And that’s fine. It’s cool.

123. Jesus Christ, save the fucking speech, you pussy. I’ll marry you. Of course I’ll fucking marry you.

124. You must really love cock.  -I definitely love one.-

125. You ever try to get me to move to Milwaukee, I’ll fuckin’ murder you.

126. Hey, I like the blue ones.  -Yeah?- 

127. You sure you still wanna go through with this?  -Yes. Why?-

128. You’re a sneaky bastard.

129. -Take your meds?-  Yes.  -Good.-

130. The son of a bitch is never gonna let me be happy. He needs to die today.

131. Well, there’s plenty of strays wandering around the neighborhood. I’m sure we can pick one up for cheap.

132. Yeah, well, at least I don’t have to hide in a coffin till the sun goes down.

133. Damn straight, Gallagher.

134. I, Mikhailo, take you, Ian, to be my husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health,  to love and to cherish you till death do us part.

135. Good morning, Mr - Millagher?

136. You hungry?

137. You wanna go again?  -Absolutely.-

[popculturebuffet]

Lilo and Stitch Crossover Arc: “Rufus” (Kim Possible) Better and Worse (Paid for by WeirdKev27)

Aloha all you happy people! It’s back to Kauai for the third of my look at LIlo and Stitch’s crossover episodes! This retrospective was made possible by WeirdKev27, who had the idea for it and paid for me to review these episodes. You too can buy reviews for only 5 bucks a pop. Just go to my ask, Direct Messages or discord.

Now with my plugging out of the way, this one, out of all four is the one I looked forward to the most, and out of the four shows in this crossoverathon to make the trip to the Kauai, this one is hands down my faviorite. 

Kim Possible was just damn good and having rewatched a handful of episodes and the movie (Easily one of my faviorite Disney movies and the best DCOM, I will not back down on either), I can say it holds up every bit as good as it did in the early 2000′s. Frankly like Danny Phantom i’m surprised I never thought to get to it till now. But no time like the present: The show proper is a fun super spy sendup, but still feels unique: Instead of i’ts Teen Superspy working for some knockoff of MI6 or S.H.I.E.L.D., Kim is self employed, simply helping people because it’s the right thign to do and not for any reward with the help of her bumbling  but loveable sidekick and future boyfriend Ron, though the romance angle wasn’t overplayed with the two, just hinted at here and there, enough to make it plausable for Ron to realize he has feelings in the movie and for Kim to return them and frankly it’s probably the best handled “Friends to lovers’ plot i’ve seen in a children’s cartoon. I”ll get more into that if I hit my stretch goal for it on patreon, more on that at the end of the review, but while it has no baring on this review I still felt it worth noting as that trope is NOT easy to pull off.

Point is, the show was smart, funny, engaging and had two great characters, a tremendously talented voice cast, and more anchoring it. It was a treasured part of my adolsence. It also had one of the only succesful “Save our show” campagins from fans i’ve ever seen. Despite So The Drama having been written as a finale and having reached Disney’s episode count, fan demand for a fourth season was so incredibly high we got one and it’s to this day one of the very few Disney shows to live past three seasons as a result. The show is in full on Disney Plus, along with the movie, which I HIGHLY recommend and hope I get to talk about, and the recent live action remake movie which .. is not bad. Not GREAT but the leads do make a good kim and ron, paticuarlly my boy Sean Gambone as Ron, and for a live action remake it really does get the spirit of the show. 

But obviously we’re not here to talk about the show proper, though I REALLY want to now, but instead it’s crossover. So far the crossovers for Lilo and Stitch have been, much like said live action remake, OKAY, but nothing amazing, often shoving in sideplots related to Lilo and Stitch proper we didn’t need, forced morals and not really having a good amount of character intraction. The good news is this crossover DOES fix a lot of that.. the bad is that it also has some new problems, and still falls into some of the same traps the other episodes have. See what I mean with the full review under the cut!

We open at night, with Lilo and Stitch playing hide and seek. Adorably though Sttich dosen’t quite get the hang of it and proudly announces where he is. However things are quickly interupted when he’s kidnaped by a mystery ship out of the blue. It’s a good hook to start with, leaving us wondering who it could be...

And thus, if you hadn’t gone into this episode knwoing it was a crossover, giving us a hell of a reveal with a cut to Dr. Drakken being the one to kidnap stitch!

Look I love this Doofus. He’s easily one of John DiMaggio’s best roles, up there with Jake and Bender, and the one along with Bender that cemented his career. as one of voice acting’s finest. He’s just so loveably incompetent, over the top and quick to bicker with Sheego, which leads to some of the funneist moments in his home series as she’d either skewer him good or he’d shove his boot in his mouth and help her point instead of his own. He’s just such a great character and he not only fits neatly into Lilo and Stitch’s world, but the writers clearly get him perfectly. We get a hilarious bit where, fed up with Hamsterviel, who he’s teamed up with, he simply fakes the radio going out, adjusting the dials purposfully to make it come in buggy something I GUARANTEE he put in for SHeego and I gurantee she saw right through. His plan is to create a clone army of Stiches.. meaning Hamsterviel’s big evil plan.. is a copy of someone else’s.

Lilo goes to Jumb and Pleakly, the latter of whom has been collecting magazines adorably. Lilo plans to go after Stitch but Jumba says she can’t go on dangerous missions without him and to get a professional and this part.. does not work for me. Most of the time Jumba ENABLES Lilo’s behaviors and while not wanting an 8 year old to run out into the night is a good call, he also suggests getting help.. instead of you know GOING WITH HER WHEN IT’S LIGHT. It sounds more like Nani’s idea... it fits her more to not want Lilo to run out and to want to get help versus Jumba whose admant about keeping secrecy yet very lax on things, and you know would BE concerned that his prized creation was suddenly stolen and actually think about it. He’s just so horribly out of character it hurts. 

And Nani’s absence really hurts the episode. See the last two, as much as I missed the lovely and talented Tia Carrere’s presence, didn’t really need her, though still could’ve included her: she could’ve made a cameo at the start since Lilo was there to visit her and she woul’dve made a better target for Spats than trudy, with Oscar fighting Jumba instead, allowing us some crossover interactions instead of having Jumba argue with a random asshole the episode wrote in. But it’s minor stuff. Here though? Her being the one to tell Lilo not to go would’ve made more sense: She’s protective by nature, and while she’s let go more since the movie, it’d make sense for her NOT to want Lilo to blindly chase after someone who beat stitch of all beings, as well as for her ot be the one to later tell Kim not to let lilo be involved. It’d be stronger coming from her sister and surrogate mother than Pleakly and it would’ve been a better arc to have Nani let Lilo off the leash so to speak and accept she needed to save kim. Instead she’s just gone for no reason and Jumba is grosly out of character and i’m disapointed. 

That said the setup is the best and most intergrated so far: Pleakly sees an article about kim so he reaches out to her via a message on her site, while Lilo is stubborn about not being help.. obnoxiously so to the point it hurts the episode. While her being inscure about someone else saving Sttich would be fine, the episode never adresses that and instead just has her say she can because shut pu instead of accepting help. The episode would’ve flowed better if instead she accepted kim but Nani had Kim push her away, and thus create more problems. More on that in a bit. 

But as I said this setup is great: it uses BOTH shows for once isntead of feeling like the first two, and honestly the next one judging by the blurb on the wiki, where its just “Hey x character visits Kauai”, here it blends both: The two main villians team up, and Kim is logically called for help since that’s what she does and they don’t want to risk lilo’s saftey. It’s good stuff. 

So our other heroes enter the episode, on a ritzy jet as Kim’s dad had an old college friend with an airline. I admit the episode weirdly downplays Kim’s penchant for getting rides, getting a helicopter that appears to be a touring one and getting this one via her dad instead of the usual person who owes her a favor. IT was a neat part of her character: that she got help from people she already helped on adventure’s we hadn’t seen to establish she can’t drive herself yet and to show she’s an experinced heroine with a lot of history before the show started. I also like how a handful of episodes after season 1 had returns from people we HAD seen before or linked to them, a clever way of having callbacks. 

It’s simple stuff Kim is ready for the wrold saving mision and ron hopes to get a vacation in. Nothing too out of the ordinary. 

So the next day Lilo tries to go it solo but is spotted before she can leave, while Pleakly has built a.. photo colloage of Kim’s face on the wall...

... no wait i’m getting paid for this. Nevermind. 

It is funny as it is unsettling though and Kim arrives and Pleakly faints.. Ron also arrives doing fake kung fu moves. This episode gets ron about half right... they overdo it a bit on the shenanigans, but Will Freidle’s natural charm and talent mean that even standard ron bits coughed up by a cat onto a page and used for this script still work simply because he’s that good at delivery. 

We also get the who’s on first bit you all knew was coming as Kim asking what’s the Sitch confuses lilo and i’ts .. pretty funny. Again you could see it coming from a mile away, but Daveigh Chase and Christy Carlson Ramano really sell the hell out of it and we get a nice runner after of Kim misprouncing his name and trying NOT to say her usual catchphrase. 

She also gets filled in on the alien thing... and while she admits i’ts a lot to swallow, she also admits she’s seen weirder. And given this episode would, by airdate (ignoring the one for So the Drama as that aired before the last batch of season 3 episodes but continuity wise takes place between seasons 3 and 4), take place around the same time as the season 3 intended finale “Team Impossible”, by this point she’s seen vengeful fishteens mutated by a horrifying summer camp, a rogue gentecist who basis her crimes against nature on a beanie baby knockoff, magical monkey based kung fu, a magican egyptian amulet, killer robot’s resembling teenage girls, a body swap episode, a plan using a barcode to destroy the internet, an attack on canada, a giant poodle, a complicated time travel plot, a trucker with a mullet, her sidekick getting turned into a surprisingly competent supervillian, and draken’s plan to use his rap career to promote brainwashing shampoo. And that’s just a handful of the things I was reminded of on the episode list. So yeah, this isn’t THAT much of a stretch. Oh and lest you think Kim never encountered aliens the series finale was an alien invasion by aliens Draken had pissed off earlier in the season. Suprised Lilo didn’t you know have Stitch and the family army pitch in. Maybe Leory and Stitch was going on at the same time? 

Point is she’s in but goes with Pleakly in trying to keep Lilo out of it. And here’s yet another place the episode missteps: Kim’s REALLY patronizing to Lilo, treating her like she can’t do anything and later ignoring her advice when she brings up the current later, something that ends up getting Kim caught. The latter part especially bugs me since Kim normally listens to her clients pretty well, and had she doubted him could’ve at least asked Waid since she contacts him in the same scene. Speaking of which THAT’S why I feel her patronizing “not now kiddo” atittude dosen’t work: her spy master IS a child, her brothers have helped out multiple times, and the incident I mentioned from where she met her younger cousin who idolized her at an old west town was understandable: Her cousin was getting into dangerous stuff and throwing herself out there recklessly with no regards to her own saftey and impeding the mission with her well meant antics. Lilo.. knows who their looking for, knows the island well, and knows stitch’s weaknesses. And she goes from being annoyingly hostlile to kim to helpful, so it makes kim even more obnoxious for not accepting said help. It’s just.. draining as when this part of the plot ISN’T in play, Kim is fine. She’s her usual self.. not AS well written as the parent show, a bit too reliant on her catchphrases, but still not half bad and Christy Carlson Romanao, like Fredle helps paper over the weaker bits of the script.  She’s not even out of character in her actions, as she does have a tendency to think she knows everything or undereistmate people.. the problem is it’s written poorly enough she comes across as insufferable, and unlike the show, where she actually learned something here.. she just learns to work as a team? When she does on a regular basis with Wade and Ron? 

It’s just so frustrating because they almost had it just right, but instead just had to try and put some half assed moral about teamwork in there. They broke from the formula of having an experiment of the week but they still just HAD to keep to their own formula. And look Kim Possible has it’s own formula.. but it used that to great effect, often using the episode’s plot to shake it up in fun ways, and the plots were still diffrent enough and the villians bold and intrestin genough that it didn’t grate.  This is starting to grate. And I do remember good and intresting episodes of the show.. but i’m starting tor ealize why I don’t remember NEARLY as much of Lilo and Stitch as I do the other shows it’s crossing over with: it’s so bolted to the formula they all just sorta blend together. It’s really fucking disheartning to realize something you loved so damn much as a kid just.. isn’t as good as you remember. And with these other shows.. I don’t have that as much. I accept proud family’s fault, Jake Long actually seems MORE intresting than it was at the time, and rewatching kim possible it’s excellent, same with recess coming up. I really need to watch more Recess. The most disheartining thing about this arc is the crossover just shows how BETTER the other shows were. Lilo and Stitch wasn’t a BAD show, and it isn’t here.. but it’s a mediroce one. it has a good premise. but it feels like they just don’t break away from the premise enough. This just... hurts a lot to type and realize. I really loved this show and movie as a kid and while the movie likely still holds up this.. this just dosen’t. 

I need a moment... i’m breaking open the glass case containing my emergency patrick stewart clip excuse me...

That.. I needed that. 

So before the bicker sisters can head off, we get our goofy comedy subplot: Jumba thinks Rufus is one of his experiments, one that could destroy the universe if not cancel and is highly unstable. As for why this one wouldn’t of worked out, I get why: it’s TOO powerful. Stitch is a weapon of mass distruction in a cuddly package, but he’s also easily deployable, kind of like Wolverine if he was in the body of a cartoon mascot. Having the THREAT of destroying ap lanet is fine and good for the long term but it does you no good if you can’t control it and i’td just destroy you too. 

So he and Pleakly try to steal rufus without telling Ron why after Ron naturlaly refuses to sel land a chase insues. So while the boys and gender fluid person have their comedy plot, the girls head to where stitch was taken and find Draken’s glove.... they know it’s his because he put a note saying “return to dr. draken, his mother gave it to him”. That’s just.. fucking precious. And entirely in character. So kim aranges a ride, and dives into the ocean, but finds lilo in her parachute, and tries to send her back despite LIlo offering valuable advice both about the area , the current I mentioned earlier, and about stitch, i.e. Draken’s base is underwater (something Kim didn’t realize which feels odd for her), because Stitch can’t swim, something I genuinely forgot. 

So while Kim sends Lilo back, or rather intercut with that but I choose to compress plots for my own convinence we cut back to Drakken and Shego. And I WAS worried that Shego wouldn’t show up, she wasn’t in the synopsis or anything and was delighted to find that nope she’s here. Drakken just isn’t the same without her.. I mean I liked the recurring subplot in season 4 where other villians would break her out, that was great, but in the end the two need each other. I may not ship them romantically but as a comedy team one just needs the other: Drakken needs Shego to cut down his ego and Shego needs someone to snark at and complain about. Sullivan and DiMaggio just had perfect chemistry and it’s easy to see why Drakken and Shego went from just another part of the Rogue’s Gallery to Kim’s arch enemies. 

Which is why I am sad Gantu and 625 don’t show up for this one. I mean I can buy it: Hamsterviel likely is doing this on the sly to see if he can find a better minon, but the two sets of villians have similar dynamics and i’d love to see Shego and 625 dunk on their bosses together. It’s a really big missed opportunity but I do get it as they may of just nto been able to fit the two together or it may of been hard to block a lot of scenes iwth the human sized drakken and the giant sized gantu. So unlike a lot of missed opportunites in the other episodes, this one I at least can understand. 

We get some GREAT banter with the two though. Out of the four guest characters in this one the crew really got Drakken and Shego down and the two bicker like any episode of Kim Possible, with Shego pointing out the massive bill on Stitch’s cage and how Drakken’s tried cloning about five times now and it’s never worked, and of course how he’s 50 50 splitting with a hamster bellow his station. Seriously why get rid of Gantu and 625 but keep the annoying rodent, I don’t get you episode. 

Of course while they quack quack bicker bicker Stitch escapes and Shego gives chase. Sadly we don’t get a fight between the two like we did with Jake, another missed opprotunity but Stitch getting out of her grasp by licking her is objectively funny. Stitch finds he’s underwater though and gets recaptured. 

Kim gets captured for the first time shortly after as the current caught her, but luckily she has kimunicator gloves and calls waid to call ron. Meanwhile Ron finally catches rufus back and Jumba explains the situation.. but Ron understandably dosen’t want to give up his buddy especially since Rufus has shown no signs of being a planet killer before. He’s not mooncake... althought i do think those two could hang. God now I just want a final space kim possible crossover to wash this out of my mouth. 

So it’s down to Lilo, the really not all that ambigiously gay their pretty darn gay duo, and Ron to save the day. Lilo finally gets to do what she kept asking kim to do: use jumbas hot rod car spaceship thing to go down under the sea, and they send Lilo and Rufus in since hteir small enough to get in and suriive the pressures. Our heroes arrive and Drakken is nonplussed.. only for Lilo to prove WHY she can keep an alien in line by freeing stitch from teh leash drakken has him on using kim’s grapple gun, and then frees kim. The good guys win and the bad guys loose and the base starts to self destruct.. eh they’ll be fine. They still have the movie to get to. 

So time for the wrap up: Stitch sniffs Rufus and confirms what the audience knew... that he’s a naked mole rat not an experiment. Which didn’t make sense to begin with for either show: Jumba’s archive should’ve been able to scan him or something (And if not he could build something to do that), and Kim Possible not only implied from day one Ron had Rufus a while, long before the rain of the pods, but A Stitch in Time outright confirms Ron bought him years ago in middle school. It just makes no sense and while it thankfully dosen’t take up a ton of the episode it still takes up too much. 

But with that our heroes prepare to part on good terms but Pleakly decides to celebrate with  Luau. Kim’s repsonse “Well I can do anything...”

And we get a gratuitous luau sequence! I do love a job that allows me to type the phrase “Gratuitous Luau Sequence’ They clearly ran short and we just get a good minute of everyone doing hula dances for no reason. I mean.. you could’ve done a quick gag with the experiment who was mistaken for Rufus... who I now realize given the finale was befriended by someone. I’m headcanoning now Kim and Ron came back for that one and Kim had him sent to space as part of one her dad’s projects where he and earth would be safer and he could help with space missions or something. 

Final Thoughts: As you could tell I had mixed thoughts. As a crossover this melded things better, had a more original plot and the actors from Kim Possible brought their a-game.. but once again some disapointing characteteriztion and downright stupid decisions really let the episode down. These episodes just depress me every time and I’m looking forward to being done.. which given how excited I was going into this.. yeah. Like all of these despite their flaws I recommend checking it out if you like Kim Possible, if nothing else than for some extra drakken shego banter but.. keep your expectations low.

Next Time on Kim Possible: A team of spiteful assholes who are in a way repsonsible for Kim’s Career try to shut her down. It’s the intended finale episode outisde of hte movie people buckle up.. or you would if I was doing any of these. Though I should do “Team IMpossible” at some point. 

On the finale of these crossovers: The Recess Gang are the final visitors to Kuai as Lilo must find and stop a lazy monster... no i’m not guest starring too. 

Tommorow: Another kev one this time by patreon as I put two similar episodes of a show or franchise against each other and ask “Who Did It Better?” This time it’s two episodes of Celebrity Death Match, original versus revivial may the original.. probably win. 

If you liked this review, please consider supporting my patreon, YOU CAN FIND THE LINK TO IT HERE.  For just 2 bucks a month you get access to my discord, to pick a short each time I do one of my shortstravaganzas, and acess to my Patreon exclusive reviews! Next month I intend to do one for the show whose crossover gets the most likes within a week of it’s relase. Proud Family has already passed American Dragon so you have a week to get it ahed. And if you like Kim Possible, help me reach my 25 dollar stretch goal! At that i’ll review So The Drama, along with the Recess and Proud Family Movies. So check it out and i’ll see you at the next rainbow. 

[shinahbee]

February Favs 2021

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GREETINGS

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March 6. 2021

Hello!

Another month has passed by really quickly, maybe because February had only 28 days.

This month also was lunar new years or Chinese New Year, so happy new year to all of you who celebrate it! Our household celebrated safely with just my family, in previous years we would celebrate with extended families, but of course every one’s safety is important.

There was also Valentine’s Day, which I helped my sister make some cheese tarts for her boyfriend as a gift. I’ve been working on a few things, including art for more of my manhwa recommendations, but I’ll put that on hold for now and work on a few for some recent anime that I have been watching. I feel like I’m winding down when it comes to filtering the shounen ai manhwa, there really isn’t much that I have read currently that I want to really want to share.

There are some of the ones that are popular that I dropped, I named two of them in my last favorites, but there have been a lot more since then, if you’d like I could add another segment under the hell segment that talk about the ones I dropped and why I dropped them, I feel like if someone had similar thoughts to a certain manhwa and why they dislike the content , It would honestly help me filter out a lot of the ones I never really should have read, if that makes any sense.

Not instagram though...it keeps showing me the pictures of manhwa that I dropped ...I’m like omg instagram your algorithm is screwed...I don’t even like these.lol. Thus this is how it thought of the new segment idea. I feel like I’m adding a lot to this segment alone.lol.

So how is everything going for all of you? Anything exciting happening? I’ll keep you guys updated when something good happens, but there is nothing currently. Thank you for taking the time to read my nonsense blabbering.

Enjoy reading!

Sheena

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DRAMAS:

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No dramas this month to talk about.lol.

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MANHWA/MANGA/WEBTOONS:

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Recap:

1) Whose baby is it? (ongoing)

2) Social temperature (ongoing)

3) Salad days (ongoing)

4) To be or not to be (ongoing)

5) Path to you (Completed)

6) Here u are (Completed)

7) BJ Alex (Completed)

8) No way, vampires don't exist (ongoing)

9) Unintentional love story (ongoing)

10) Karasugoka don’t be shy! (Completed)

11) Semantic Error (ongoing)

12) Tied up in Twins (Completed)

13) My Suha (ongoing)

14) Crash into me (Completed)

15) Dine with a vampire (ongoing)

16) Inner beauty (Completed)

17) False memories (Completed)

18) Hand in Hand (Completed)

19) Stanning 101 (ongoing)

20) Private lessons (Completed)

21) Behind the scenes (Completed)

22) Turn off the camera (Ongoing)

Updates on ongoing titles:

So I thought I would start off with some updates on some of the titles in the recap section since it has been a while since I last talked about them.

No way vampires don’t exist:

This is almost done soon so I’m glad that the manhwa updates are consistent, what I didn’t know is that there were extra chapters of side stories for this manhwa, and I discovered them through a Chinese manga site, I really hope the licensed site will be able to translate these as well cause it goes into the later lives of all the housemates and of course an in depth development of juwon and dongha’s relationship which I am living for since they are so cute. Lol.

I really hope these get translated since my Chinese is lacking, I’ve just seen the raws and thought I may be able to read them but of course my 8 years of Chinese school has failed me once again.

Dine with a vampire:

This manhwa is giving me so much gripe when discussing the story so far, the recent update of course was a little better in showing the relationship between chi hwan and sooin, so i’m happy they got their feelings across to each other and sooin was able to really begin to trust people again. BUT....I was spoiled by the raws for this week’s update, and let me give a big F*CK you to that harry potter asshole...I still don’t know his name, i think my memory did me a favor and selectively removed it for my mind. I obviously can’t spoil all of  it for you but stuff happens and harry potter has found his way to sooin and basically kidnapped him while he was vulnerable and he’s trying to make him his partner...I’m like...great...In all honesty let’s look at this situation in modern society, think about a person who had made your life living hell, who then dies and you think that’s the end of it , but this asshole still haunts you even after death and still tormenting you...i’m not going to lie, I honestly think I would just kill myself at this point.

I feel like when I first read this manhwa , I thought it was disgusting but I still read it thinking that it will be better, it’s like watching season one of a show and being annoyed hoping that it will get better later and then finding out in season two is just...I need anger management.

I really hope what I think might happen will not but the author seems to be a sadist, so it might end up that way. Props to the creator for making one of the most detestable characters i’ve seen so far. I will watch out for people like this in my actual life.

Semantic Error:

This is updating a little slow and again I tried reading the raws, but of course that didn’t go too well, from what i’ve seen there is a bit of character development between the two main leads so far. Also I’ve seen on twitter that semantic error is going to get a mini anime adaptation, in Korean of course but that is so awesome either way! This is one of the manhwa’s I would like to see an anime of because it’s really good.

In terms of Japanese anime seiyuu who would play these roles I wonder? Sungwoo I feel like anyone can since he’s very ambiguous, but for jaeyoung, I think I’d like to hear sakurai takahiro ( cloud from ff7, miyuki kazuya from daiya no ace) play him, in all honesty it’s because of his role as miyuki in daiya no ace, jaeyoung is basically the same character but more intense.lol.

Turn off the Camera:

Oh this piece of work, i’m glad this is completely satire because if I were to take this story seriously I would have an aneurysm thinking about all the bad choices these people have been making. So recently, our boy jihoon who wanted to protect his virginity from the two co-stars has finally lost it to yoojin, one of the co-stars. I’ve heard a lot of people say they don’t know about him because his intentions are still very unknown, and I agree that I don’t know what his intentions are but from what I've seen, it’s not like he treats jihoon badly, he won’t do anything that jihoon would not like so i’m not opposed to it, but I really would like to see romantic development between jihoon and yohan because of how straight forward yohan is, he isn’t hiding his intentions and says whatever is on his mind, it’s reassuring knowing that there’s nothing he would hide.

Jihoon doesn’t really seem interested but it’s more like that push and pull relationship, where despite him not seeming interested he still had a wet dream about having sex with him...lol. Where as with yoojin, Jihoon does not oppose to having intimacy with him. So we’ll see how this dumpster fire plays out as it continues. I absolutely HATE love triangles cause this whole concept alone is so unrealistic, it’s hard enough to get ONE person interested in me, this dude has like 2 without really doing anything. Also it’s just really messy and annoying to read and I always want to route for the guy who never wins.lol.

This is merely a suggestion, but I feel like authors should make alternative endings with different characters, if you think about this in a realistic perspective, you can end up with different people depending on the decisions you make, which is why harems exist in this genre, because there is not just one person you can love, and how alternative timelines can exist. So if the author would consider this idea and make alternative endings for the main character, then I would feel more satisfied with the story overall, because i’m always wondering what if...he ends up with this person ? What would that be like? This only applies to love triangles where abuse doesn’t happen, because there’s no way I would be happy with an abuse victim ending up with their abuser...

Anyways, that is all the updates that I have for you, in this heaven segment I’m going to talk about some titles that I don’t really think is that popular but I decided to read them after reading the summary and they turned out better than I thought.

In the hell segment, I’m going to be discussing some manhwa titles that are a bit “ quirky” you know in my hero academia where these kids were each born with a super power, seem like some of these manhwa characters also have unique abilities, which I will refer to as “ quirks” in this segment. Let me tell you...there are some interesting ones out there.

So let’s begin.

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Welcome to heaven

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Murderous Lewellyn Candelit Dinner:

“Shevon is a writer who lives in a run-down apartment in the streets of the slums. One day, strange memos start showing up at his front door. Before he can uncover the mystery behind them, he encounters a beautiful young man that keeps peeling onions on the staircase next to his unit. After accepting a dinner invitation from the young man, Shevon discovers a dead body in his host’s bedroom...”

Okay so starting off with this one, it’s very different than the usual types that I would read. This story is more of a mystery drama with implied romance, but I have yet to see that happening in the story so far. It is fairly new so I suppose it will be a slow development. Like the summary for the manhwa says, it is a about a guy named Shevon, who I believe is a writer that is trying to get a job at a writing firm, but he ended up free lancing for a while with no luck of getting a paid job. He was being harassed by an ex boyfriend when he encounters his neighbor that is sitting on the stairs peeling onions. Since that day, Shevon would always run into his neighbor peeling onions while exchanging small talk with him, which makes him curious about why he does this at the same time each day, one day his neighbor wanted to invite him over for dinner and Shevon obliged due to being curious and other advances the neighbor has made to get his attention. As he went up to his neighbor's apartment he noticed that he had a bunch of candles lining every inch of his apartment and there was a very strong smell coming from here. Lewellyn (neighbor) just says that it was the onions that he had been peeling, he wanted to use them for tonight's dinner. Shevon didn’t want to just eat onions...I mean who does. So he told him that he will make him a proper meal instead. So he was in the kitchen making food when the door bell rang and Lewellyn went to check who it was. Shevon didn’t see him for a while and decided to just head back to the dining area, but before he could head there the smell from earlier was getting stronger and he noticed it coming from a certain room, he opened it and there lays a dead corpse surrounded by candles covered in blood. Being shocked accidentally took the candle he used to light up the room and left the room; just as Lewellyn entered he said he had to leave for the day.

After that incident there were suspicious activities involving Shevon’s apartment, such as the name plate on his door being moved, the feeling of being watched when he was alone in the room, and some creepy mail he had been receiving, which all points to the fact that he had a stalker.

Shevon starts to suspect Lewellyn as a murderer because of the obvious corpse found in his apartment, but there was no evidence he could find to report him, meanwhile the stalking had been getting worse he found himself getting more entangled with Lewellyn than he’d like to be.

So yeah, it was really creepy when you read those letters, so far we knew Lewellyn is involved in some sort of murder and although he has been helping Shevon find the suspect he himself is also one as well. It’s still too early to make judgments as to what actually is going on, there’s a lot of mystery behind Lewellyn that isn’t explained yet.

So if you like murder mysteries you might like this manhwa, I don’t see any romance involving them yet, but maybe curiosity will lead to something eventually.

Unripened Expression:

“Jaewon has known that he likes males since he confessed his feelings to a boy named Yoonsung in elementary school, but when Yoonsung tells him that liking other boys is weird, Jaewon tries to hide his "weird" feelings and push them away. Now in high school, he's developed a strong crush on his kind, handsome classmate Karam, and Jaewon decides it's time to finally confront the reality that he might be gay. He asks for advice over the internet and befriends another gay student named Junseo, who becomes Jaewon's emotional support in his quest to win Karam's heart.”

So for this one it was not listed as a harem but it actually is, all the guys you see on the cover is related to the main character so how. I usually don’t like harems in any genre, but this one wasn’t as bad as I thought. Actually every guy in here was a good contender and I was not upset with who he chose in the end even though it would be obvious in the first chapter who he would end up with...lol. and you know me, always picking the “ other guy” in these situations, I really do have bad second lead syndrome.

They guy I wanted him the end up with is named “ junseo ” he’s the gay friend that jaewon the main character met on an online forum while asking questions about his sexuality, they felt comfortable enough to exchange numbers but not give their identity away to each other. Jaewon realizes that from talking to Junseo that he went to the same school he did, coincidently, and found out his identity through his friend. Junseo didn’t want to associate with jaewon but he was really persistent. Junseo then gave up and decided to listen to jaewon whenever he wanted to talk.

Junseo had some trauma in the past involving a ex boyfriend and getting bullied at school when someone found him kissing his boyfriend in a room and started spreading rumors of them together, but instead of just denying it, his ex boyfriend accused junseo of leading him on and that’s why junseo ended up being bullied and shut himself off from people, even though he forced to leave school cause of all the bullying he endured he still understood why his ex boyfriend did that, everyone had to protect themselves first after all.

After opening up to jaewon and telling him his story, jaewon cried because he was sorry he had to go through that. Junseo was happy that someone would cry for him, who had just accepted everything until now. Their time together lead to some feelings developing between jaewon and him but although jaewon is aware he has feelings for junseo, it doesn’t compare to the feelings he had for karam..Which is the guy he ended up with.

Okay. Compared to karam who didn’t have much development, junseo had a much better chance to be perfectly honest. It’s not that I don’t like karam, he just didn’t have much back up story to convince me that his feelings for jaewon is real. Lol

But I guess that’s the trope in these types of manhwa right? The Main character always ends up with the guy that he meets first...OMG. Come on authors ...work with me here and try something different for once. Anyways, it’s all good it’s not like any of them were sexually harassing and/or abusing jaewon so I’m happy with whoever he chose.

If you are into harems with good characters, you might like this one.

Oh! My Assistant: (18 +)

“Naive comic artist Seonho, who draws R-19 series, hires beauty(?)-and-brains Muyoung with outstanding skills to be his assistant. However, working with Muyoung who is too task-oriented and has a prickly temperament, turns out to be a little difficult. Seonho asks Muyoung to pose for him one day to help with a sexy scene, but when he sees how erotic Muyoung's pose is, Seonho's "junior"... that hasn't stood in 2 years, got up. It's hard! It got hard! It finally got hard! This is an unpredictable, comical and chest-tickling BL story brought to you by Milla and Yalgae!”

The first thing that came to my mind was Oh! My goddess... LOL let me know if you guys have ever watched that anime, i’m really showing my age with that comment.

Anyways, so this is about an adult mahwa artist named Seonho and he was getting really popular and needed an assistant to help with his busy scheduled serialization. He held an interview with a couple of selected candidates after viewing their portfolio, and of course muyoung was chosen out of all for his pristine work. Of course there was several conditions that muyoung had listed in exchange to work here, most of which applies to a 9 to 5 job, but of course artists out there know that we make our own time...we don’t have a scheduled work hours, but of course seonho needed a person soon and he liked muyoung’s work so he hired him under those conditions.

Muyoung was actually the heir to a prosperous kimchi making firm and did not need money because he was already wealthy, but his grandmother wanted him to have some independence and so muyoung wanted to look for a normal job to get his grandma off his back. He quickly learns that not everything that you ask for will be complied there are times where you will need to work late for a dead line and such.

This made muyoung wonder if he should just quit, the only reason he doesn’t is because he liked seonho. He liked seonho since he first laid eyes on him as he is exactly his type.

Without realizing it seonho also thought muyoung is attractive and ended up in situations with him that are presumed romantic. In the end, the two of them ended up together, but of course there’s always an inconvenience that disrupts this romantic development, and this came in the form of his best friend, who is by the way married to a woman, but as you know in BL...that doesn’t matter...

His best friend was actually in love with him for a very long time and the marriage was just a family arrangement that he had no say in. He tried to separate muyoung and his seonho by trying to convince muyoung to quit several times and even got into an accident and used this as an opportunity to guilt trip muyoung to stay by his side.

He basically just said that he would die if muyoung left him alone...now, here is some advice from me, if anyone says that to you don’t believe them, you have no control over what a person does and you are not responsible for any of their actions, so call their bluff on it.

This incident caused some strife between muyoung and seonho’s relationship to the point where it was getting pointless for seonho to keep up something that not working, he wanted to break up with muyoung but after talking to muyoung’s grandmother he decided not to since what muyoung needs is his support at this moment. So they overcame it and muyoung made it clear to his best friend that he had no feelings towards him and that he only loves seonho, which made the friend only, had to accept it. So in the end muyoung and seonho moved in together and continued working as a mahwa company, and even hired a new assistant who strikingly had the same conditions as muyoung when he was first hired.

Lol. In the end this story worked out great, and it was really good read, the drama was minimal though that friend of his was an inconvenience. It was an overall a good story and the relationship development was really cute since muyoung was in love with seonho first, I’ve never seen that happened before actually, so if you like all of my recommendations so far you will like this one as well.

The Good Teacher: (18 +)

“Hojun’s recent breakup was pretty rough. His partner told him it wasn’t him, per say… Hojun just wasn’t good in bed. But it turns out Drunk Hojun is surprisingly resourceful; singlehandedly managing to find and set himself up with a sex tutor by the name of Mr. Ahn. Ahn Seunghyun was only half serious when he posted the sex tutor ad, but he quickly finds himself in too deep to call the lessons off. And the more he sees Hojun, the more he can’t help but notice how much attractive he is. Seunghyun is making it up as he goes along, so what will the final exam look like?”

This is basically “Sex for dummies” .LOL. I don’t know how your sex education went in school, but for me all I remember is that the teachers would leave he girls in classroom where they took the guys out and talked to them about masturbation. So needless to say I didn’t have much of a sex education until later in life. Or you can read this manhwa which basically taught me more that my sex ed teacher ever did.lol.

So basically Ahn seunghyun ( Mr. Ahn) was drinking with his friends and thought that they would pull a prank by posting an ad for a sex tutor, not thinking that anyone would fall for it. But Hojun found the ad and took his chances to reach out to seunghyun, so he decided to play along for the first meeting to see who he was dealing with, he made fake lesson plans and prepare a lot in order to make him sound convincing as a teacher. What started off as a joke became very educational for hojun whom had very little sexual experience and how his previous partners would claim him being very bad in bed. Seunghyun had a lot of patience and taught him from the ground up. I’m not going to lie, this was pretty educational and I think Mr. Ahn looking really fine does not help either.

So as the lessons progress they began to have feelings for each other, one thing that doesn’t add up is the fact the seunghyun is not a n actual teacher to begin with, although he did his research before every lesson he was not a an educator in trade, so he didn’t tell hojun the truth until the end and they had a fight, but made up quickly right after when they both realized their feelings for each other.

Now you’re probably wondering if there is a third wheel in this relationship, well there is a guy who is seunghyun’s ex boyfriend, he was a little bit of an inconvenience but not really causing too much trouble, just enough to make hojun a little jealous, the only thing he was out of line for saying was that three of them should have a threesome...LMAO not with you f*cker you look like Tarzan...lol. Hell no!

I say that but there is a special chapter at the end where hojun was having a nightmare where the three of them did have a three some and it was gross...i’m like wtf he’s so ugly...I can’t imagine anyone thinking this is hot.

Yeah take this as you will, if you lack sexual education I recommend this mahwa to educate yourself cause lord knows when that will be when you get proper education for that. If you liked reading BJ Alex, you may like this one because of the similar art style, if not then just read it for Mr. Ahn..cause he is so fine...lol.

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Welcome to hell

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*Warning *

These titles are suitable for 18+ audiences, because of the mature content in discussion, you have been warned.

So finally onto the hell segment for this month! This month we will be discussing some of the quirky titles, people born with unusual abilities, I have come across a few of them and from that I chose these three to talk about since their stories alone are interesting in many ways.

Whether these stories are satiric or serious, I enjoyed finding out by reading these more hellish stories. So here we go...starting off with...

My purrfect boss:

“Sunwoo is thrilled to be starting his new job! Full of energy and enthusiasm, he’s eager to please Manager Kang. The problem is, he keeps making dumb mistakes and getting in trouble. Things come to a head one night after work when he pours soju all over his boss. Typical! But hang on… Why is Manager Kang blushing like that? And what are those cat ears sprouting from his head?! After discovering his boss’ secret, it isn’t long before Sunwoo has him purring with pleasure.”

Let me start by saying that the funniest thing in this manhwa is that Mr. kang has both cat ears and human ears...lol. How is that possible?

So basically in this story manager kang is an anthromorph, which are humans with animal characteristics, they only make up of the minority of the population. He is basically a human with cat characteristics and has hidden his identity until sunwoo spooked him and his ears popped up from being surprised. This seems to be his “quirk” and of sunwoo being really innocent only wanted to find out what he was, then was caught by Mr. Kang having his heat cycle and sunwoo was dragged into the meeting room where he and the manager had jerked each other off.

Mr kang needs the cone of shame after the next day realizing what he and sunwoo had done. He started to avoid him until they were set up on a business trip together, in which they had to spend the night in the same hotel room. Manager kang looked apologetic for having sex with him just cause he was in heat but sunwoo said that he wasn’t repulsed by it and actually enjoyed it, therefore manager kang proposed they do it again...and so they did...lol. Many times after that too.

And sunwoo became a furry. The end. lol. I’m kidding, but sunwoo really liked manager kang and decided to make it official with him, they decided to see each other but not make it public since he was scared. Later there was another manager from another department who participated in a joint project and that other manager is also an anthromorph and knows manager kang as well. This manager cha was like an ex boyfriend but he calls himself his “owner”. He tried to force manager kang into this abusive play and now he’s scared of him. But even knowing that sunwoo didn’t really give up on manager kang but instead gave him courage to confront his fears and stand up for himself, and if anything it made him love him even more. Even if sunwoo didn’t know much about manager kang the way the other manager did, manager kang listed out all of his favorite things to him so that he does know now.

I really like this part of the story, just because a person’s past partners know more about the person you are dating doesn’t mean they know everything, people’s preferences can change over time and all you have to do is ask. So i’m glad they communicated with each other.

So in the end, sunwoo and manager kang was able to be together and he was thankful for having sunwoo in his life. There’s a lot that happens in between but you’ll have to figure that out on your own by reading it.lol. Can’t say that this story is relatable since I don’t have feline features but it was an interesting read in the end.

The Sales Departments Cupid:

“'Taejun', who has the ability to see auras from people who have been in contact with him since childhood, connects with people with similar auras, and at his company he is known as 'the Cupid of the Sales Department'. Then, Hongyeon, a new employee with a rainbow-colored aura, approaches Taejun...”

In this manhwa, Taejun’s quirk is that he has the ability to see people's auras in the form of colours and that way he matches people by the compatibility from complimentary colours between two people’s auras. This is why he is the match maker of the sales department, because anyone who he consults ends up married happily with their partner. The only thing taejun can’t see is his own aura which made him feel like he will be forever alone, Until the new employee Hongyeon showed up and started a conversation with taejun at a drinking party. There was a slight issue though...taejun also has this uncanny ability to kiss anyone who is in close proximity to him when he drinks, and hongyeon was told to sit next to him by his supervisor, basically they wanted to sacrifice him.lol.

But this development made hongyeon very happy and they kissed and did other things after wards. Taejun didn’t really notice it when he was drunk but took notice that hongyeon had a rainbow like aura emitting from him. Which he had never seen before.

I find it really cute to see people’s auras but not your own, which means nothing can be predicted in terms of who you end up with, but why was he able to see hongyeon with a rainbow aura?

Makes me think that is an indication that he is the “one” for him. This concept is really cute and the relationship between hongyeon and taejun started off really romantic for just having a first encounter, after things progressed they started to catch feelings for each other.

This manhwa is still ongoing so I’m not sure how and when it will end, but really liking it so far, even with the crazy amount of sex scenes, I can still feel the intimacy between to two characters and it’s not just showing sex for the sake of it. This is a really cute story so please read it if you are curious!

Pearl Boy:

“ Do shik is a host who ran away with a large sum of money and has a bunch of people chasing him down, he fled to the country side to lay low for a while and noticed that he was essentially running out of funds to survive. He tried to pick up a few men in hopes of getting some money for his services, but none have been taking the bait. He noticed a clam grilling restaurant and thought he would try his luck in getting a free meal, the boss of the restaurant over heard doshik’s plans and told his worker to pay attention to him in case he runs away. the restaurant’s worker jin juha was aware of his schemes and stopped him from eating and running at the very last minute, saying that he should make it up by paying with his “ body” doshik thought that meant sexual favors and began to touch juha inappropriately. Before juha says that wasn’t what he meant, there was a bunch of men coming towards the restaurant, which made juha panic and forced doshik to leave and forget about paying. After doshik left he was loitering around the restaurant and noticed the back alley had an entry way to the back of the restaurant, there he saw something that he should not have seen.....”

Shameless plug before we begin here, I did draw a fanart of juha from pearl boy if you would like to see it please do so, I explained in the summary that I would write my own synopsis since the one i found was really bad.lol.

I wrote a little summary of the plot up till now below:

so it goes Boss  sexual abuse juha by making him work as a sex toy for old ugly bastards -> juha has ability to produce pearls from cuming after sex lol. i’m sorry this seems so absurd, but it is how the story goes, which the boss monopolizes him -> juha can’t run away because he is scared and owes boss money  juha was about to be assaulted by the ugly bastards-> doshik shows up and saves him a couple times and ends up working at the shop as a co worker-> juha and doshik get to know each other after doshik saves him a couple times juha asks doshik to have sex with him ( in order to produce pearls for debt payment) -> doshik discovers juha’s ability but thought it was beads coming out of his body...LOL. he actually thought he had kidney stones and was genuinely concerned ->  doshik had a pearl that he found at the beach earlier on and used it to compare to the bead that came out of juha and found out it as an actual pearl after getting it appraised by the bank person ->juha met up with doshik and wanted to tell him he wanted him to come over again cause he liked doing it with him -> juha and boss confront each other and boss is angry he didn't show up meet his business partners that night that juha and doshik were together -> juha says that he’s only going to pay it off by himself with his one partner, he didn't tell boss it was doshik, but i think he found out later -> juha and doshik became roommates ->Boss goes to doshik’s old work place to find out more about him

And that is the summary until the official licensed chapters, so I have a lot to say about this manhwa, since this one has been on my mind for a while, but juha’s “quirk” is to make pearls by cuming after sex.lol. Firstly that must hurt, it really would feel like having kidney stones wouldn’t it? It sounds so absurd to say “my ability is to cum pearls” although it’s quite unique, not really sure if you’d save any one with that power.

So the reason why I couldn’t tell if this manhwa is satirical or serious because the whole plot started off with juha being used as a sex toy for crusty old men, these people were getting paid by the boss to basically have sex with juha in order for him to produce pearls, it’s sounds so far-fetched when you explain this to someone, it sounds like some hentai plot line with ugly ass b*stards...but it’s not just one, it’s like 10 of them...so imagine the ugliest being you’ve ever seen in anime/manga but x10...

That freaken boss, I get that some of you would see him and simp over him cause he looks hot but he’s a terrible person, looks can’t begin to compromise for his actions, he’s involved with sex trafficking and sexual abuse, that alone is enough for me to hate this person. So just keep that in mind if you decided to read this.

That aside, he complains and hurts juha because he does not produce quality pearls after having sex with all those men...and i’m like can you blame him? Satirical point of view speaking, you only gave him crusty old ugly ass men to work with, i’m surprised he produced any at all, if you want quality then get better looking men, look at how much he made with doshik...doesn’t that tell you anything?...ugh. the idiocy...

Speaking of doshik, I really like his ballsy character, when one of the crusty ass men was assaulting juha he literally grabbed the ugly ass’s balls and says he will take care of it for him, since he’s good at this stuff. Lol. He is an awesome character and he cares so much for juha, even in the beginning when they were not close and always ended up arguing, he would be genuinely worried for him. Fast forward when juha and doshik were getting close and juha wanted to have sex with doshik instead of the dudes he was supposed to meet that night, doshik really showed how much he liked him and handled him gently and sweetly, I honestly blush every time they have any sort of intimacy, I could feel their affection projecting off of my screen, it’s really sweet. If you can’t tell I simp so hard for this couple and will probably continue to do so. You’ll need to read the manhwa to know what I’m saying but their love scenes are really passionate and affectionate. This of course makes me believe that juha was a person who only knew what pain and suffering was due to his situation and that led to his cold and indifferent expressions early in the manhwa, but after meeting doshik his expressions begin to soften and you can tell as a reader that he starting to develop feelings for doshik. The author actually drew an illustration on her twitter that was quite symbolic to the recent chapters and where the story was going, and I decided to write an entire tumblr post, breaking down the symbolism and foreshadowing in her art. If you’d like to read that post I’ll link it down below.

This manhwa is fairly new and currently is still ongoing so there is very much a lot of stuff to unravel as it continues down the line. Please read this if you have not you won’t be disappointed, I thought this was going to be some satire bull shit and I was proven so wrong... lol.

Alright, that is it for the manga and webtoons section this week, we ended off with the theme of “quirks” in time for spring when My hero academia season 5 will be starting again in the spring.

I hope you all are enjoying reading this since I don’t have any feed back after doing this every month. I do enjoy sharing these since not many people talk about manga/webtoons and I feel like this topic should be more popular. Like I said in the beginning please let me know if you’d like to see the titles of manhwa that I dropped and why I dropped it, in case there are some you are not sure whether or not to read it and would like some feedback, I don’t beat around the bush when I don’t like something so you can be sure that my opinions are 100% genuine.

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ANIME

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Kemono Jihen:

“When a series of animal bodies that rot away after a single night begin appearing in a remote mountain village, Inugami, a detective from Tokyo who specializes in the occult, is called to investigate.

While working the case, he befriends a strange boy who works in the field every day instead of going to school. Shunned by his peers and nicknamed "Dorota-bou" after a yokai that lives in the mud, he helps Inugami uncover the truth behind the killings but supernatural forces are at work, and while Dorota-bou is just a nickname, it might not be the only thing about the boy that isn't human.”

- Summary from my anime list

I started watching this because it reminded me of old series like inuyasha, and I thought I would try it out. I think it’s interesting so far, half demons living among-st the humans and a group of them are solving cases together, this is only my understanding so far. I think that main character is in need of some development because I can’t really read his expressions very well so he doesn’t have much of a personality. I’m not really getting the whole plot as of yet, but maybe when this show is over I’ll have a better understanding.

I’m not going to lie, there is nothing that is intriguing me in terms of new anime series, I have watched the same ones I talked about last month, plus this one. I am waiting for attack on titan to finish before watching it all at once. I don’t think waiting every week for a new episode is something I can do for this series.

I am also waiting for shaman king to show in the spring, I loved shaman king when I was younger and I really want to revisit this series since it was one of my favorites. Also my hero academia season 5 is in the spring as well, so looking forward to seeing that.

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MUSIC/PODCASTS:

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Music for this month is mainly a playlist called dandelions playlist, this YouTube channel has a plethora of indie k-pop music and I love listening to this while painting and drawing, it really relaxes the mind.

I did say in the last months’ favorites that would maybe include some podcasts that I have been listening to and it’s also on YouTube as well

This one is not a podcast, but she may as well have one since she has really interesting takes on bad movies, her channel name is KennieJD, and she talks about bad movies in her series called “bad movies in a beat” I watched a lot of them and I really like the one she did on the “death note” live action movie, this is why I avoided watching that movie, being a huge fan of death note back in the day. All the things she said in her video are valid and I whole heartedly agree with all of it.

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So you have reached the end! Congrats!

I hope everything was informative and if you decided to read/watch any of the things mentioned in my favorites for this month, please let me know down below what you thought about it,

I also am doing a draw 6 characters challenge so if you’d like to participate please see that post on my tumblr page for details!

With that being said, please take care of your selves, we are still in the mist of this pandemic and I hope you are all well and taking care of your selves and your loved ones.

I’ll see you in the next monthly favorites.Thank you for reading,

Sheena

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SOCIAL MEDIA

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Instagram: shinb_art

Tumblr: shinahbee

Deviantart: she-be.deviantart.com

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[bellakitse]

You had to know this was coming — “Can you keep holding my hand, please?” 🥰

of chicken flautas and intimidating mothers

“I know we saw each other just last night, but I already missed you.”

Carlos' heart flutters at TK’s words and touch, but he can’t forget the tiny force to be reckoned with, not forty feet away. “That’s really sweet, and I feel exactly the same way,” he continues. “But my mom is here, and she’s watching us – no, don’t look around!”

*

It’s the annual first responders’ cookout and Carlos is about to introduce his boyfriend to his mother.

30 days of Tarlos - Day 7

It’s the annual first responders’ cookout. Every year at the start of summer, every available Austin Police, Fire and EMS gathers at Zilker Park for a barbecue as a way to bond with the community, and every year since he joined the force – whether he’s free to attend or not – his mother Carlota has been there with enough food to feed an army.

Carlos can’t deny the pride he feels from having his mother always participate; everyone loves to comment on her incredible cooking. There truly isn’t anything more adorable than his tiny mother smiling happily as people eat and enjoy her food. This year he’s lucky enough not to have a shift while the cookout is happening and gets to attend much to his mother’s delight. She’s happy to have an extra pair of hands to help serve.

He’s in the middle of doing just that, handing a sweet little girl and her mother a plate when he spots the 126 firehouse making their way across the grassy field towards him and the tables of food. He starts to smile, remembering how sad TK had been the night before because he had a shift, and wouldn’t have the chance to stop by and check out the cookout after he, Judd, and Mateo had talked the event up so much.

“Hey!” he shouts out happily as the crew gets closer. “I thought you guys couldn’t come today?” he asks, taking in the fact that they’re in their uniforms.

TK comes around to his side and wraps an arm around his waist, hugging him close. Carlos returns the embrace, shivering slightly when TK uses the moment to brush his lips softly right under his ear.

“Hi,” TK whispers, giving him an extra squeeze. It’s been four weeks since the solar flares, and Carlos is still basking in the change in his and TK’s relationship – in actually being in a relationship with the young firefighter. He’d known TK was sweet since their first kiss, it’s what had driven him crazy from the start, how underneath all that passion was a gentleness to TK that not only made him crave more, it also made him want to protect TK at all costs.

“Hi, cariño,” he whispers back, enjoying the way it makes TK turn a little pink. He stares at TK, quickly getting lost in his green eyes and gentle smile. He reaches out and takes TK’s hand; the same thrill he feels at being this public with him makes his stomach flutter.

“Are you two just going to keep staring at each other like lovesick teenagers?” Judd interrupts their staring, and when Carlos turns towards him, he finds the other man giving them an unimpressed look, while the rest of TK’s crew members smirk in their direction. “Cause we’re hungry,” Judd continues. “And cap said we could only stay until our next call. That can be any second, and you two have proven that you can stare into each other’s eyes for eternity.”

“Judd,” TK hisses at his friend, his face turning red, it’s probably almost as red as his feels.

“Yeah – ah – sorry,” he mutters, still hot behind his ears. “Please, grab a plate, there’s so much food. Everyone really outdid themselves this year,” he continues, waving at the four picnic tables they pushed together to put all the food on. There’s a little of everything, barbecue, more sides than they knew what to do with, fruit and a whole table just for desserts.

“Carlos, man,” Mateo starts, his plate is already half-full as he grabs some potato salad. Marjan and Paul each are grabbing some roasted veggies. “Please tell me we didn’t miss your mom’s chicken flautas.”

Carlos lets out a laugh at the younger guy’s pleading face and the way Judd perks up at the mention of his mom’s flautas. They’re legendary at the cookout. He doesn’t say anything for a moment, letting them sweat it out before he uncovers a platter full of them.

“Yes!” Mateo shouts excitedly, while Judd is already leaning over to grab one. “Marjan, Paul, you guys have to try these. Carlos’ mom is a cooking goddess.”

Carlos rolls his eyes at the comment, it’s true, but it’s comments like this that make his mother so smug. He’s not done thinking that, when he feels eyes on him. Doing a quick scan of the park, he’s not surprised at all to find his mother, a few feet away sitting under a tree watching him. When their eyes meet, she raises an eyebrow at him, her gaze going down to his and TK’s linked hands and then back up to his face. His stomach drops, and he feels like a teenager again, getting caught with his first boyfriend, when she crooks her index finger motioning him over.

“Shit,” he swears softly.

“What’s wrong?” TK questions, he’s half-way through a flauta. The rest of his team has walked away to find somewhere to sit and eat. “These are really good by the way.”

“Okay, so I’m really happy you’re here,” he begins, earning another smile from TK.

“Me too,” TK says softly, he leans in and brushes his lips across Carlos’ cheek. “I know we saw each other just last night, but I already missed you.”

Carlos’ heart flutters at TK’s words and touch, but he can’t forget the tiny force to be reckoned with, not forty feet away. “That’s really sweet, and I feel exactly the same way,” he continues. “But my mom is here, and she’s watching us – no, don’t look around!”

TK stops from turning his head, keeping his eyes on him, waiting for him to continue.

“She saw you greeting me and just now signaled for us to join her,” he says quickly, and he can’t deny, nervously.

“Okay,” TK says slowly, and Carlos can hear the hint of nervousness in his own voice. “Okay, well – I mean, I don’t have a problem with meeting your mom; it was bound to happen sooner or later now that we’re dating, right? And besides, you know my dad, and that went fine.”

"Yeah, but – and this isn’t to crap on Captain Strand,” he rushes to say. “He's an impressive guy, but he's not intimidating like a 5' foot no-nonsense Latina mom.”

TK chuckles at his comment, the amusement clear in his eyes. “It’s going to be okay, I promise,” he says as he gives his hand a squeeze. “What do you need from me?”

“Can you keep holding my hand, please?” he asks, getting a soft smile from TK in return.

“Easy,” he says, bringing their linked hands up to his mouth, pressing a kiss over his knuckles. “One of my favorite things to do. Now be a big boy and introduce me to your mother.”

Carlos rolls his eyes at his boyfriend’s teasing, but it loosens the ball of anxiety in the pit of his stomach. It’s not that he doesn’t think that TK and his mother aren’t going to get along. The opposite actually, he’s sure that his mother is going to spend five minutes with TK and then mentally start planning their wedding. It’s just that his mother is one of the most important people in his life, and TK is quickly climbing up that list.

Hand in hand, he and TK cross the distance between them and Carlota Reyes, who is now standing up from her seat, waiting for them with a glint in her eyes that spells trouble for him.

“Mami,” he starts, swallowing hard when she just raises an eyebrow at him. “This is TK Strand, my boyfriend.”

“Nice to meet you, ma’am,” TK says, holding out a hand. His mom stares at TK for a moment before one of the corners of her mouth lifts.

“Carlota Reyes,” she says, finally taking his hand. “Strange, this is the first time I’m hearing about a boyfriend,” she looks over at him, her other brow going up too. “Carlitos?”

“Mami – “ he says again, not being able to hide his wince.

“We only just made it official a couple of weeks ago, Mrs. Reyes,” TK jumps in to save him.

“Hmm,” Carlota makes a sound in the back of her throat that only moms can make as she looks at him up and down. “You’re too skinny, TK,” she says with that glint in her eyes again. “Maybe stop walking out on my son’s dinners, that should help.”

TK snaps his gaze to him, his eyes wide as his face starts to turn pink again, and he wants to reassure him, but he’s too busy staring at his mother in disbelief.

“How did you know about that?” he asks, rearing back when his mother rolls her eyes at him.

“You and your sisters like to think I’m deaf,” she says, pursing her lips. “You told them about the failed dinner when you came home and asked me to sew the buttons on your nice blue shirt.”

Carlota looks at TK again. “Your doing, I presume.”

“I – ah,” TK stammers, and Carlos can’t help the whine that escapes his throat.

“Mami, por favor, para de asustarlo,” he says, begging his mother to stop scaring TK.

Carlota narrows her eyes for a moment, making TK squeeze his hand tight before she finally lets out a chuckle.

“You never let me have any fun, mijo,” she scowls playfully at him. She turns towards TK, now more welcoming.

“It’s very nice to meet you, TK,” she says with a grin. “I would apologize for teasing you and my son, but I would be lying, it was a lot of fun, and I’m not sorry.”

TK looks over at him helplessly in the face of his mother’s amusement, but all he can do is shake his head.

“But I wasn’t lying about you being skinny,” she continues easily. “Come on, I’ll fix you a nice big plate of food,” she says before walking away back towards the tables, expecting them to follow.

They watch her go in silence for a moment before TK lets out a deep breath.

“Okay, you were right,” he says, still looking in his mom’s direction. “She is definitely more intimidating than my dad.”

Carlos lets out a laugh, and with the hand holding TK’s, he pulls him closer until he’s pressed at his side. “You did well against her.”

“Nope, not yet,” TK shakes his head. “But I will. Before this cookout is over, I’m going to make sure she loves me, you’ll see.”

Carlos grins against TK’s temple after pressing a kiss against it. They start to make their way toward his mother, who is watching them with a smile on her face. “She won’t be the first Reyes to fall head over heels for you.”

TK stops in his tracks, looking at him shyly. “Yeah?” he asks, hopeful.

“Yeah, baby,” he answers, the smile he gets in return fills every inch of him with warmth.

“Well then,” TK starts, smile firmly in place. “I still want to win her over, she’s your mom after all, but knowing that I already won over the most important Reyes,” he says, tapping a finger over Carlos’ heart. “That’s already good enough for me.”

[stitchandani]

Why didn’t Lilo show up to meet Stitch like they promised in 2019. Or at least tell him she couldn’t make it? I know the anime explained it, but from what I hear, it’s a pretty flimsy excuse.

Doverstar Excellent point. This is the big question, isn't it? She did show up, she was just too late. Lots of details under the cut! READ IT IF YOU WANT THE MAIN EXPLANATION, EVERYONE. I don't wanna repeat it a lot (but I will)!

When Lilo graduated college, she had about a day in between the ceremony and her flight back to Kauai to pack up, say goodbye to her schoolmates, and get on that plane. She went home to Kauai to be with her very pregnant sister Nani and brother-in-law, David, and to begin a brief, long-distance relationship with her fiancé, Zeke Lau.

Stitch was slated to return to Kauai in the evening a week after Lilo graduated and came home. He was coming back from his year-long missions in space given to him by the Galactic Alliance. Lilo was on Kauai before Stitch that day, but something happened to prevent her from meeting him until much, much later that night:

Nani went into labor that morning and had the baby (her son, Kai), but it was a hard birth. For one thing, Kai was premature, and for another, Nani had to have a C-section, which is pretty rough on a person. (Don't worry, no gory birthing details would ever be shown in the storyline or artwork! These are just details you'd need now.) The point is, the situation was so fragile, Lilo couldn't get away for ages. She opted to be with Nani during that evening, and knew she'd be late. She tried to get a message to Stitch (and to Pleakley, who was off-planet for a research trip). She didn't reach either of them (by this time Pleakley's ship had crashed on an asteroid belt, so he had no contact with anyone). Stitch didn't have a communicator on him; he had no idea that Nani had gone into labor that day. The last time he'd spoken to the family (the last time he'd had intergalactic service to reach Earth out in space) had been a week earlier. That evening, he had come right off the B.R.B 9,000 with Gantu and Reuben, having used teleportation devices to appear in Jumba and Pleakley's Bed-and-Not-Breakfast (their big red ship behind the house), because that was the quickest way to the beach where he was supposed to meet Lilo. Without pausing to say hello to Page, Gunner, or even Angel in the ship, he headed straight for the rendezvous point. Meanwhile, Lilo was stuck in the hospital further up inland on the island, trying simultaneously to reach Stitch and to find out where the doctors were taking baby Kai next for Nani. It was a super stressful day, to say the least, for all involved. I agree that the anime didn't provide a sufficient explanation for their split, other than the lines "Just because [Lilo] has [a] new boyfriend now and is all washed up with 626...." and "The Little Monster was given a mission by the Galactic Alliance" and "My sister Nani was having a baby and I couldn't get away". That and some flashback scenes in Season 3 Episode 23 were all we got, and it seems so lame and out-of-character that Lilo never called Stitch to tell him it was a misunderstanding, and that Stitch didn't wait as long as was necessary to see her again like they promised. That's why I made Stitch and Ani in 2010. I wanted all those hints we got in the anime to come together and make sense. I mean, why would Stitch not wait? Why did he give up? Why couldn't Lilo reach him? What would make them stop trying and split like that? The answer lies in 2 things: Lilo getting older, and Zeke Lau. I thought, there had to be some reason why Stitch would just leave like that when she didn't show up. There had to be more to the story. So I created more. Lilo and Stitch had been emotionally drifting apart ever since Lilo left for college. Stitch couldn't come with her, and though they called each other and stayed in touch, the addition of Lilo beginning a serious relationship with my character, Zeke, in college (hey, her daughter in the anime had to come from somewhere!) put a strain on their friendship. Stitch has always been the type of character to get bent out of shape when he feels that Lilo is forgetting him in favor of someone or something else. He gets angry, jealous, naughty, frustrated, very insecure. And Lilo has always been the type of character to prioritize other things over Stitch for a while before she realizes it's hurting him. Examples? I'LL GIVE YOU EXAMPLES. IT'S NOT OUT OF THE REALM OF POSSIBILITY THAT, GIVEN ENOUGH REASON, STITCH MIGHT LEAVE LIKE THAT. READ IT AND UGLY SOB, GUYS:

Stitch gets jealous of a puppy in one of Disney's story-collection books, in a story called Doggone It, Stitch!, and he feels like Lilo doesn't like him anymore because she's taking care of this actual puppy, so he feels forgotten and disappears, and Lilo finds him at the dog pound watching the puppies (she knew he'd be there, it's really cute) to find out how to act cute like they are so that, and I quote "Lilo like him again".

Stitch gets jealous of Finder in the series and tries to out-do him in everything, because Lilo gives Finder more respect and chances to preform than she does Stitch.

Stitch gets jealous of Mr. Stenchy in the series and literally allows Gantu to trash the house and steal him because Lilo gives him more attention than she does Stitch.

In Elastico (again, in the series), Stitch RUNS AWAY FROM HOME because Lilo's special hula dance has taken priority over him and his cousins, and Stitch feels left behind by her poor treatment of him and leaves the family!

In Phoon, he's furious that Lilo leaves him at the house to go and impress the new hula fusion girls in the gated community, and scoffs at Pleakley's fond observation that Lilo is "growing up".

In Stitch Has A Glitch, winning that contest to prove herself to her mom is suddenly the "most important thing in Lilo's life", and she doesn't see that Stitch has a huge problem and is malfunctioning, and she and Stitch fight and argue throughout the film, and he leaves the island (because he feels too dangerous to be around his Ohana) and Lilo never helped him figure out what was really going on. She was too preoccupied with feeling worthy of being her mother's daughter (fair).

Keoni Jameson is a pre-teen kid in the series on whom Lilo has an enormous crush, and in HunkaHunka, Morpholomew, Melty, and almost every other Keoni-centric episode, Stitch unabashedly displays his disdain for Lilo's crush. He thinks it's gross and silly and even though he tries to help Lilo win Keoni over several times, it's clear he doesn't approve. He crumples up her picture of Keoni and throws it in the trash. He makes gagging sounds when she sighs and fawns over him. He groans when Lilo puts off rehabilitating HunkaHunka so that she can spend time with Keoni. He never gets jealous, because Lilo doesn't really neglect Stitch for Keoni, but the idea of Lilo having a crush on someone isn't met by Stitch with anything resembling happiness or approval. Just tolerance.

Now, when Lilo is older and leaves for college and has new friends, Stitch understandably is unsettled at first and feels a little lost without her. Then she re-meets Zeke, and then they start dating, and suddenly Stitch is feeling more forgotten than ever. This isn't like Keoni. Lilo is actually in a relationship with this boy, and it moves fast, and they're headed toward marriage, and Stitch is wondering if things will ever be the same again. He doesn't want to hear about Zeke or talk about Zeke, and he's so rude and nasty about it that he and Lilo end up fighting a lot during the years she's in college. They both say horrible things to each other, and it gets so bad that by the time he's in space for those missions and she's in her last year of school, they still call one another but it feels like it's a risk just to have a conversation. So many things have been said over the years that they feel like they're on thin ice with each other, and everything is uncomfortable. They never resolve it, so it's always hanging over them. Stitch refuses to let Lilo share with him how things are going with Zeke (who she loves, and who is important to her, so that's not fair of Stitch as her best friend to do) and Lilo refuses to call Stitch's feelings anything other than petty jealousy (which is not true of Stitch's feelings, and that's not fair of Lilo not to take them seriously). So they are both wrong. But they never talk about it and confront the main problem, because neither of them want to give in even though they're both quietly hurt by the other all the time, so it's just this cloud hanging over them every time they talk. That's why, when Lilo doesn't show up on the beach, Stitch literally can't take it anymore. This is the final straw for him. Lilo didn't show up, and she promised to show up, and he waits until the sun is almost set and she's still not there and there's no word from her. Did she even come back to Kauai? Is she still on Honolulu with Zeke? She's forgotten all about him. She doesn't care about him. He gives up (he shouldn't, but he does), and he leaves his tiki necklace (which he promised never to take off in Leroy and Stitch, so it's a clear message to Lilo there, yup) on a branch where she can find it and leaves the planet, devastated. He goes on a joyride and doesn't really have a plan, and ignores one or two calls on the ship's communicators from Lilo (he's still crazy upset). Jumba goes after him after a day passes, but they get sucked into a black hole, which transports them 8 years into the future (unbeknownst to them), they end up somewhere else for three more years, reunite with Lilo, and the rest is Stitch and Ani. For Lilo's part, she finally gets away from the hospital when things have calmed down, and it's pouring rain and the sun has set, and she reaches the rendezvous point and Stitch is gone. She finds his necklace and realizes what that means, and she stays on Kauai for another week trying to get in touch with him. Jumba leaves to bring Stitch back and neither of them return. Lilo is absolutely crushed and tries everything she knows to get in contact with Stitch, but Stitch doesn't answer any of her calls. (She doesn't know he and Jumba got sucked into a black hole; Stitch might've answered those calls later if the black hole hadn't happened.) The fact that they've fought so often for 4 years now, and Stitch left his necklace behind and won't answer her when she tries to reach him, really hits her hard and communicates to her that he's never coming back and it's over. She doesn't see Pleakley or Jumba again either. You can imagine how much pain that causes Lilo, to be forgotten and left behind by her own Ohana. Suddenly it's just her, Nani, and David again (and Kai). She can't handle it. Being on the island with all of Stitch's cousins is too much, and Lilo runs from the reality that she might never see Stitch, Jumba, or Pleakley again, and goes to Honolulu to live indefinitely. She gets married to Zeke Lau, they have Ani, she reunites with Stitch years later, and the rest is S&A.

It follows what happened in the flashbacks and hints given by the anime, but you'll notice I didn't mention that Stitch and the others ended up on Izayoi after the black hole incident. This is because, while that is technically canon, Stitch and Ani is meant to be seen either way. They could have ended up on Japan. Or they could've ended up somewhere else. Either way, the theme of Stitch and Ani hinges on the fact that Lilo and Stitch were apart for so long. The theme is forgiveness, and that's why I kept the idea that Lilo and Stitch had a falling out, a misunderstanding, and split up for a while. He didn't have to meet Yuna or anything. But I wanted the anime's explanation to make a little more sense, and there is evidence for it if you work at it. So. That's the story. You'll get loads more details on it throughout the blog, but that is the reason why Lilo failed to meet Stitch.

[bqstqnbruin]

No way

Ok here I am with something that was requested days ago but I suck whoops. I’m always taking requests, especially since it’s now technically my summer vacation (!) and I’m incredibly bored with nothing to do. This also took me like nine years to figure out the title for it and I was so close to leaving it untitled but I’ve been on a roll lately with them I couldn’t let that end.

Here’s the original request!

_______________________________

Just call him. Worst case he says no, and you bring someone else. You tell your mother that he was busy. She knows he’s a hockey player, he could have practice or games or other commitments that she doesn’t know about. She didn’t know he was your best friend. You have to ask him, though. Why are you nervous. 

You dial his number, frantically pacing around your kitchen praying that he answers so you don’t have to call back. “How much do you love me?” you spit into the phone as soon as you hear his voice on the other end.

“What are you going to ask me to do?” You can practically hear him roll his eyes at you, picturing the smile on his face that would also accompany it if this conversation were happening in person. 

You stop pacing for a minute, slightly stunned that he’s caught on to your normal tactic. “How do you know I was going to ask you to do something?” 

“I have known you for five years and not once have you asked me how much I love you without following it up with a favor.” You think back to all the things you’ve asked him to do in the past; go with you to the concerts that no one else was free to, go out to dinner with you when you needed to get out of the house, he’s even come to some of your presentations for classes when he knew he had practice immediately after. You were slightly annoyed that he figured out your plan. 

“Ok, fine, but, you always do the things I ask you to when I start with that, so really, this is your fault.” 

“What am I doing?”

“So you’ll do it?”

“Y/N, I need to know what I’m doing before I say yes.” He laughs, knowing he’s going to end up saying yes anyway.

“So remember how I told you that we’re having that big family reunion in like two weeks?”

You hear him take in a breath, letting out a heavy sigh, “Yes.”

“Well. My mom gave me two tickets.” 

“Why?”

“So remember -” 

“Stop saying so remember and just tell me,” he interrupts. 

“So remember how we took that picture together after the game against the Habs and I posted it on Instagram?” you ask him, ignoring his interruption. 

“Yes. Why? The longer this takes you the more likely I am to say to no.”

“Ok, my Instagram got connected to my Facebook and my dad saw the picture and showed my mom and she assumed we were dating so she sent me two tickets to the family reunion for, and I quote, ‘me and my boyfriend, Matt.’ I’m sorry,” you say really fast, hoping that he won’t process what you just sad in time to say no. 

“What?” he yells. You hear something land with a thud through your speaker, “Ah, fuck. Remind me to clean up my kitchen later.” 

“I’m sorry,” you say again. “Please? Please, please, please? Everything is already paid for. Free flight, free food, free everything. You just have to come and pretend that we’re dating for a weekend and then I can tell my family in like a month that we’re just friends because we’re both wicked busy.” At this point, you’re bouncing up and down on your toes out of the nervousness of a negative answer.

He sighs again, “A few things. One, you’re from Chicago, you don’t say wicked. Two, what if I was busy? Three, why didn’t you tell her I wasn’t your boyfriend.” 

He sounds annoyed. He’s going to say no. “One, I’ve lived here long enough that I pick up the vernacular, you would do the same thing if you lived in the south or something. Two, she would kill you. Three, she would kill me.”

He stays silent, probably trying to think of ways to kill you himself. “I would not be asking unless I really needed you to come.”

“Oh my god, fine.” 

“Matthew Grzelcyk, you do love me!” 

“Whatever.”

 -----------------------------

“I can’t believe you actually roped me into this,” he groans as you work your way through O’Hare Airport. You two had just landed, trying to find your parents who said they would pick you up.

“Think of it this way. You pretend that we’re dating now, and I will owe you for the next fifty years that we are friends.”

“The fact that you’re assuming we’re still going to be friends after this weekend, let alone in fifty years is absurd.” 

You ignore his comment, knowing he’s cranky partially because your mom got you the earliest flight she possibly could, and because he was with you under these circumstances in the first place. 

“Y/N!” You hear someone call, snapping your head into the direction of the sound. You see your twin brother running towards you, looking like a child who hadn’t seen his parent in years. 

“Hey, Tommy!” You hand your bag to Matt, grabbing your brother in for a hug. 

He turns to Matt, “You must be Matthew, she must have some shit on you if she convinced you to come with her.” You had to tell Tommy that this was fake. He would have killed you if you didn’t explain why you all of a sudden had a boyfriend. Your parents didn’t care, but you talk to Tommy every god damn day. No way would it not come up. He and one of your cousins, Julianne, were the only ones who knew. 

“She owes me for the next fifty years of our friendship.” 

“Let’s just get you home before she does something else,” Tommy says, taking yours and Matthew’s bags, “And I would start acting like a couple before we reach the car, Mom and Dad didn’t want to come in.” 

Fuck. When you saw Tommy, you were hoping you could give Matt more of a crash course on the family; your grandparents had eight children, your dad was the youngest. You had 25 first cousins, ten of whom were married, with fourteen first cousins once removed of whatever your cousin’s kids were called. Your family was huge, and you weren’t sure he realized how big it actually was. 

“Hope you’re as good an actor as you are hockey player,” you let out, praying this would actually work. 

“Trust me. Have I ever let you down before?” He puts his arm around you as you approach the car, kissing your head as Tommy opens the trunk to throw your bags in. You have to admit, something about his act was comforting. It almost felt right. For a minute, it didn’t feel fake. 

“My baby is home!” your mother shrieks as soon as you get into the car. 

“And you must be Matt.” your dad echos your brother from earlier, reaching from the front seat to shake his hand. “Hurt my daughter and you’re dead.”

“Oh, my God. Dad!” He was always a protective papa bear when it came to your boyfriends, but he’s never threatened them to their face.

“I’m joking!”

“He can’t even kill a spider, let alone your boyfriend.” Tommy, jokes, knowing that if your dad wasn’t driving, he would be smacked upside the head. 

The entire car ride is spent with your mother interrogating Matt about his family, your dad pretending he knows more about the Bruins other than the fact that they were your favorite team growing up. You were just hoping they didn’t ask him anything too uncomfortable: the last boyfriend you had was asked about his medical records by someone in your family. It wasn’t your parents, but it’s not like they wouldn’t ask something like that. The best thing you could do was try to keep Matt with you, Tommy, and Julianne for as much time as possible. A weekend with your family would drive anyone insane. A weekend with you, your twin and your brother wouldn’t be the worst in comparison.

“Ok, so, you two, will be staying in Y/N’s old room,” your mom says once you pull up to your childhood home. 

“Did you put the air mattress in my room?” you ask, helping Tommy get the bags out of the trunk.

“No, your cousin Danny is using that in the basement. You two can share your bed,” your dad says.

Sharing a bed? Your parents are old fashion, what do they mean you’re sharing a bed with Matt? “Uh, it’s a twin bed, and Matt is kinda big.”

“Well, yes, but, no one else could take Danny in for the weekend, so unless you want to share a bed with your cousin instead of your boyfriend,” your dad starts. 

“It’s fine with me, sir, as long as it’s ok with you,” Matt tells your dad. From the short car ride, it seems like your dad actually likes Matt. Who would have thought the boy he threatened as soon as he sat down in the car would be someone he actually likes. 

You spend the rest of the night with just your immediate family, thankfully. The reunion was a two-day event that was going to start tomorrow, so you could spend the night quizzing Matt as needed. By the time your parents go to their room, you, Tommy, and Matt just sit in the family room with the TV on in the background. Matt had been asking Tommy the entire time about what you were like growing up; how annoying you were as a sister, the iconic fight you had at the bus stop because he was standing on your shadow, when he pulled your loose tooth out at the shoe store as payback for when you pulled his tooth out with a pair of toy plyers because he asked you to, when you nearly pushed him out the window but instead spilled milk all over the dinner table and the floor. 

“So, Y/N never actually told me how you two met.” 

“How did we meet?” you ask. It seems like one day he just showed up in your life and then never left. 

“You don’t remember?” he asks you as you were shaking your head. “We had dinner in the dining hall, you were friends with what’s his face that was friends with one of the guys and you just came and sat with us. Everyone else left and we spent the rest of the night playing bagel hockey with the knives and I haven’t been able to get rid of you since.” 

You think back to your freshman year. Matt was a junior when you were a freshman, but you don’t even remember that day in the dining hall. “I don’t,” you admit.

“It’s something I’ll never forget,” he says, getting up, “I’m going to go start getting ready for bed. I have a feeling that I’m going to need a lot of energy for tomorrow. Goodnight, guys.” 

“Night,” you and Tommy say in unison. 

As soon as you hear your bedroom door close upstairs, Tommy starts, “You’re sure this is fake? What aren’t you telling me?” 

“What do you mean?”

“The last person to act like that around you was your ex.” 

“My ex is the human equivalent of the dog shit you started crying over when you stepped in it when we were five.”

“Yes, but before we agreed he was my stepped in dog shit he acted the same way Matt did around you.” 

“He’s just one of my best friends.” There was no way Matt would like you. There’s no way you liked Matt. No way. 

“If you say so.” 

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

Your house and yard were filled with the million people that made up your immediate family. The children were running around, your cousins were in the backyard drinking, your dad and his siblings were in the kitchen and living room, while you, Matt, Tommy, Julianne, and two of your other cousins were sitting on the front porch. You were doing everything in your power to stay awake, practically falling asleep on Matt’s shoulder while he kept rubbing your arm and nearly force-feeding you in a poor attempt to try to keep you awake. 

You went up to your room right after Tommy said he was sure Matt liked you. With his words ringing through your head and driving you insane, paired with the fact that Matt was sleeping in the bed next to you and at one point was spooning you, you couldn’t fall asleep until 4:30 that morning. Then, at 5:00 on the dot, your mother burst into your room, yelling about how you needed to help get everything ready for when Dad’s family was arriving at 1:00 pm. Except 1:00 pm really meant 2:00 pm or later to your dad’s family, and you had gotten almost everything done the night before. You tried to go back to sleep while Matt was resting peacefully in your bed because your mom insisted your ‘boyfriend’ doesn’t need to help, but she kept thinking of different things for you to do, to go get, to make sure you had enough of. 

You were exhausted, long story short. “Babe, do you need coffee?” he whispers into your ear.

“Yes, please,” You share a quick kiss, Matt getting up to find caffeine as your other two cousins start to grill you on your ‘relationship with Matt. Julianne and Tommy stay silent, trying not to start laughing, exchanging looks that are driving you crazy. Julianne probably thinks the same thing Tommy does: they both think there’s more going on between you and Matt besides a fake relationship. You admit, you’ve always loved Matt, but that love was the same love that you had for Tommy or Jules. 

Eventually, the two others leave to go find more food, leaving you, Tommy and Jules sitting there while Matt is still nowhere to be found.

“Don’t say it,” you start. You know exactly what Julianne is going to bring up, and her having the same wrong opinion as Tommy was dangerous.

“This relationship is in no way fake.” Julianne shrugs, Tommy shooting you his annoying ‘I told you so’ look.

“It’s fake, I promise.”

“It might be, but, Y/N, you like him and he likes you.”

“Not true.” 

“Ok, well. He’s here with our crazy ass family. You look at each other the way Izzy and I look at each other,” Julianne starts, referencing her girlfriend, “That kiss was not something I would do with a fake date. I know what you were like with your dog-shit ex, and it was the same way you are with Matt right now.”

“Could it just be that we’re good at pretending?” 

“No one would play pretend with you because you took everything too literally when we were children and you have not changed,” Tommy butts in.

“Shut up. I’m going to go find Matt with my coffee,” you tell them, getting up to leave them with their ridiculous theory. You didn’t like Matt. You couldn’t like Matt.

You finally find him in the kitchen, surrounded by your aunts and uncles. He looked so natural sitting there with your family. He was making everyone laugh with his stories from the locker room, growing up on the Garden ice with his dad working there. The cup of coffee that he was supposed to bring you, still in his hand as your entire family just stares at him in intrigue, his eyes sparkling, his dimple showing as the smile on his face is plastered there that starts to make you melt.

Wait, shit. He couldn’t make you melt. If he made you melt, that means Tommy and Julianne were right. He makes eye contact with you, but you can’t stay there looking at him. You can’t like him. You don’t like him. You practically run to your bedroom, praying he doesn’t get up and follow you until you hear him say, “Excuse me, I need to deliver this coffee to Y/N.” 

“Hey, what was that about?” he asks, not even bothering to knock on your door as you pace back and forth. You like him. You fucking like him? How did this happen?

“What do you mean?” you try to play it off like you didn’t just look like a deer in headlights once he looked at you with that dumb cute face. You can’t even look him in the eyes right now. Why did you have to bring him? You could have just brought your friend and told your mother he was busy. You shouldn’t have even brought it up in the first place, because then you wouldn’t be in this situation. 

“Did you hear what I just said? Y/N, why are you acting so weird?” You didn’t even notice he had been talking while you were internally freaking out.

“Because I’m sleep deprived and have a crush on you and I don’t know how to act right now!” you spit out, your mouth working faster than your mind. You were stunned that you actually just said that to him. You just told him you had a crush on him? How stupid were you? “This was just a bad idea. I shouldn’t have asked you to come with me in the first place because then I wouldn’t have realized that and Tommy and Julianne wouldn’t have gotten into my head and made me so crazy.”

You look at him. He hasn’t said anything while you’re rambling, his eyebrows still raised in shock over the bomb you just dropped on him. You just ruined your friendship with him. How are the two of you supposed to fly back to Boston and stay friends after this?

“I’m just going to go back to my family and try to not... not cry, I guess?” you say, trying to push past him.

“Y/N,” Matt starts, grabbing your arm trying to keep you from leaving.

“No, it’s-” Before you can finish, his lips find yours, kissing you. Not the kisses that he had been giving you in front of your family. The kind of kiss that would drive you crazy when you were a teenager. The kind of kiss that made you feel like you could travel through to the stars, that you would never come down from the high you were feeling in that moment. You didn’t want it to end, even though you know it would. You could hear your family downstairs start to call everyone in for dessert, Matt pulling away even though it felt like neither of you wanted to. “What?” was all you could let out.

“I might have been a pain when you asked me to come, but you have no idea how excited I was for something like this. You were the girl that I couldn’t get since we met and played bagel hockey all night.”

“This wasn’t fake for you?”

“It was only fake for me because it would be fake for you. It would be pretty pathetic on my end if I thought it was real and you didn’t. It would also be something that would need a restraining order,” he laughs, pulling you closer to him. 

“So then, are we pretending still?” 

“Nah, we don’t have to. Let’s go get some dessert?” he asks, leading out of your room, your mom still trying to round everyone up. 

“Yeah, why not.” 

[calpalirwin]

Confessions

Summary: Anon request- I may have sent this request to you last week so if I did just ignore me. 🤦🏻‍♀️ So I NEED a one shot/fic where Luke’s twin sister just got out of a bad relationship and comes on tour with the boys. Luke is really protective over her and he finds out she’s been dating/sleeping with Ashton behind his back. Idk why I’ve had this story in my mind forever but I’m a horrible writer. 😂 Thanks!!

A/N: Thanks for the request! Gave the reveal some fluff because the idea of the brothers hating the boyfriend dating their sister always rubbed me the wrong way.

Content: Abuse, protective dynamics

Word Count: 3.3k

And away and away we go!

__

“Is there anybody you’d like us to call?” the nurse asked her.

Leia Hemmings shook her head. She couldn’t tell her family about this. Not that they wouldn’t rally behind her, but because despite all the pain Wyatt Miller had caused her, she didn’t want to return the favor. Wyatt could break her ribs, but he could never break her spirit which was to love with all she had.

“Do you have a safe place to go?” was the follow up question.

Leia nodded. “Yeah. I’m good.”

The nurse pushed a few pamphlets for domestic abuse services and women’s shelters into her hand anyway. “I’m going to sign your discharge papers, but feel free to stay in here as long as you need, okay?”

Leia let out a sigh of relief as the nurse left her. She was grateful that for all her stupidity, she had kept her apartment, not giving into Wyatt’s demands for her to move in with him. It had earned her three broken ribs and the worst bruising of her life, but she was steadfast that in all her bad decisions with Wyatt, that wasn’t one of them. That being said, she knew she couldn’t stay at her apartment. So with shaking fingers, she dialed her brother.

“Hey!” Luke greeted happily, picking up on the first ring.

“Hey,” she answered.

“What happened?” he asked, detecting the slight wobble in her voice.

“Wyatt and I broke up,” she whispered, offering up the simplest part of the truth.

“Oh, Leia” was the heartbroken response.

“It’s fine, Luke. I’m fine. It just… uh… gonna need to get a new place.”

“Shit,” he cursed. “What happened?” The question was repeated with a much sterner tone than the first time.

“It didn’t end well. It’s fine. Hey, I gotta go. But we’ll talk later to make plans for when you’re back out here, yeah?”

“Yeah, of course. Hang in there.”

“Who was that?” Ashton asked as Luke ended the call.

“Leia. Wyatt and her broke up.”

“Fuck. Is she okay?” He had always liked Leia, more so than the other siblings of his bandmates. It was something in the way she held herself in a manner that made her seem older but still clung to the childhood innocence that spoke to him right from the get go.

“I don’t think so.”

“How can I help?”

~~~

“I’m fine!” she huffed for the millionth time.

“No, you’re not. You’re coming with me. End of discussion.” Even through Facetime she could see the hard glint in his eyes. As the youngest boy, Luke had learned the mannerisms of getting his way. But Leia was the only girl, and the baby by five minutes. And she could be just as stubborn as he was, if not more.

“I’m fine at home with Mum and Dad.”

“Fine with sulking in bed you mean?”

“Oh, because sulking on a tour bus is so much better? C’mon, Lu-lu,” she pleaded, using a nickname only she had ever called him. “I’m just gonna bring everybody down. It’s better if I stay here.” At home with her parents, she could hide the bruises on her body better. At a week, the bruises only looked worse, making her more certain of her decision to hide it from her family. All they knew was that her and Wyatt had broken up and that she was looking for a new apartment to get a fresh start. And that was the way she wanted it.

“Le-le,” he used, using her nickname only he had ever called her in retaliation, his blue eyes pleading softly. “You’re not gonna bring anybody down. We want you with us.”

“Really?” she asked, trying to keep the hope out of her voice and remain skeptical. She didn’t get a lot of time with Luke these days, what with his band constantly traveling and him living on the other side of the globe. And she always got along with his bandmates, especially Ashton. But ten months of touring? It had been a long time since she had spent that large amount of time in such a confined space with her twin brother. Add three other fully grown men and a crew to the mix? Well, it would be a good way to ensure a certain you-know-who stayed far away from her mind.

He was still talking as her mind went through her thoughts. “So you’ll just meet us at the show and we’ll go from there. Le-le? Leia! Are you listening?”

Her long blonde curls shook with her head as she cleared her thoughts. “Sorry, what was that?”

Luke’s eyes rolled in feigned annoyance. “Our first leg starts in Sydney. So you don’t have to worry about traveling to us. You can just meet us at our first show and we’ll go from there.”

“Yeah, I just have to worry about my job… Not all of us can just pack up and leave, Lucas...”

“Hey!” was the hurt and offended retort. “You think that I don’t miss always being there for you like when we were kids? God, Leia, if I could be there all the time, don’t you think I would?”

“Alright, alright!” Leia huffed, feeling her eyes water at his sentiment. “It’s okay. We’re okay. I’m okay.”

“Well, I think the family can handle running Hemm Clothing without you for a while. And you can put those marketing skills to use by helping Andy and Ryan with merch?”

“Wow, way to sweeten the deal…” The eye roll was playful.

“So is that a yes? You’ll come?”

“See you in a few days, Lu-lu.”

~~~

“Fancy seeing you here,” a voice breathed and Leia’s body tensed.

“Get away from me,” came the barely audible reply through clenched teeth as her vision blurred with unwanted tears.

“Came to see big brother play?” was the sneer. “Think he’s gonna protect you from up there?” Wyatt’s head nodded towards the stage.

“I don’t need protection…” She threw as much malice and venom as she could muster behind the words but her shaky voice betrayed the fear that had seized her body.

The laugh was anything but humorous as it entered her ear.

“Go away. Please…”

“Aw, c’mon. Aren’t we having fun?”

“Hey, she said leave,” a voice barked and a tall figure strode toward the pair. Two shocks of pitch black hair framed the set of hazel eyes as Ashton’s large arms crossed in front of him as he tried to come across as menacing as possible. Leia felt herself relax at the sight of him alone. “Now leave, or I’ll gladly call security to throw you out,” Ashton used his slight height advantage to tower over Wyatt. “On second thought, I think I’ll just throw you out myself. Save security the trip.”

Wyatt, smart enough not to start a fight in public, muttered under his breath about how this wasn’t over and slunk off.

Ashton’s demeanor dropped the tough guy act and his hand was soft as it rested on Leia’s shoulder. His voice was equally soft as it asked, “Hey, you alright?”

Leia looked up at him and shook her head before letting out a blubbering wail.

Ashton’s eyes went wide before he was wrapping the younger woman in a tight hug. “Hey, it’s okay. Shh. He’s gone. I got ya.”

She froze, her body tensing immediately, and when her face involuntarily flinched, Ashton dropped his hold, a wave of disgusted horror washing over him. When Leia had called Luke up to tell him about her breakup with Wyatt, she had severely downplayed the damage he had inflicted if she was jumping away from a touch she knew she could trust. His heart shattered in his chest for her and he knew he had to keep this from Luke the same way she had. The look of pity in his eyes as she turned to look at him made her throat close up. “Please don’t tell, Luke,” was the pleaded request of a woman who was barely holding it together.

“Hey, look at me,” he implored and blurry blue met steady gold. “I’m going to get security to make sure he stays far away from you. He’s never getting near you again. I promise.”

“Ash, you can’t promise that. Eventually I have to come home. And he’ll be waiting. And the longer he was to wait, the angrier he’s going to get. And the angrier he gets…”

“I wouldn’t promise it if I didn’t think I could keep it. I’ll figure something out.”

“Promise me you won’t tell Luke.”

“I won’t,” he said, holding up his pinky. “But why didn’t you? Why didn’t you tell him the truth?”

“Because it makes me feel weak? Because I feel like I should’ve known better? That I should’ve fought harder? Take your pick…”

“None of this is your fault and you’re stronger than you think.”

She gave a sad shake of her head. “I shouldn’t be here. I should just go home. I’m just gonna bring everybody down. Tell Lu- Tell Luke I’m sorry. I can’t do this. I can’t be here.” The words fell from her mouth and she stumbled backwards away from Ashton, tears streaming down her face.

“Whoa, easy there,” Ashton said, keeping his voice calm and low. “We want you here.”

“You guys really want me here?” she asked skeptically.

Ashton nodded. “We really do. I do. C’mon, give this a chance. Please stay. Please?”

How could she say no to that dimple and those soft eyes?

~~~

“Let’s play a game of spot the goth,” Calum laughed at the camera before Ryan was moving the shoot upwards to Ashton and Leia, hiding in the shade.

The duo waved and shared a laugh. “You sure you don’t wanna go for a swim?” Ashton asked her. “Awfully hot out.” He was still in a pair black jeans with rips in the knees, but his shirt had been discarded long ago, while she stayed clad in her shirt and shorts.

She shook her head. Her sides still ached terribly when she laughed, but she could finally withstand a hug without having to excuse herself to cry out in pain after. The bruises, while no longer a horrendous shade of blues and purples, were a sickly faded yellow. No. She would much rather hide out with Ashton.

Ashton sighed. While she hadn’t actually confessed the truth of what Wyatt had done to her, Ashton was highly certain his speculations about what had happened were closer to the truth than what she had been telling Luke. “He hit you didn’t he? That’s why you’re hiding up here with me, isn’t it? To hide the bruises?” His voice held only concern, not even the slightest trace of judgement, which somehow made it worse. She didn’t deserve sympathy.

“He broke three of my ribs,” she confided anyway.

Ashton’s jaw tightened and he swore under his breath. “When?”

“The day I called Luke. So about two weeks ago.”

“Any other times?”

“No,” she shook her head. “That was the only time. I swear.”

As much as he wanted to, he wasn’t stupid enough to ask why. It didn’t matter. Wyatt shouldn’t have laid a hand on her, period. “Is that why you left your apartment?” he asked instead.

She nodded. “I’m scared of him, Ash. I don’t know what’s going to happen when this is over, and I have to come home. I can’t live with Mum and Dad forever. If I let him scare me from living my life then he wins. He already took so much from me. I can’t let him take what little I have left.”

“Come to LA with us,” he suggested.

She started to laugh but winced. “Ow! Don’t make me laugh!”

“I’m serious.”

“What would I do in LA? Live with you? Keep helping run merch for your band?”

“Well, you could get your own place if that would make you more comfortable.”

“Ow!” she chuckled, clinging to her sides. “It hurts to laugh! Stop!”

“I’m serious!” he repeated, not being able to help his own giggle. Even her pained chuckle was infectious.

She leaned her head into his shoulder, sighing in the daydream coursing through her head. Would living with Ashton really be all that horrible? She was as close to him as she was to her own twin; closer even now that they had this secret between them. It could be just like this, him making her laugh her worries away. “Mum will never forgive you for taking both of her babies to LA, you know that don’t you?”

“Hey, Luke took me to LA.”

She shook her head against him with a soft chuckle. “I’ll think about it, okay?”

“And I’ll help you pack when you realize I’m serious.”

~~~

She woke up in a cold sweat, eyes wild, hair even wilder. Her hand felt her heart racing underneath her fingertips as she kicked off the covers. The bruises had faded, her ribs had healed, but Wyatt still haunted her dreams nearly three months later. She rolled on her side to check the time on her phone: 2:17 am.

They hadn’t played a show as they were traveling to a new venue so everyone was catching up on much needed sleep.

She tried to tame her curls by pulling them into a messy ponytail before she shoved her curtain aside and crawled out of her bunk.

“Oh, hey,” a smooth but raspy voice called out to her as she pulled the fridge open to grab a water. “Couldn’t sleep either?”

She whirled around, spotting Ashton on the couch, plucking softly at a guitar. “Something like that…” she muttered, kicking the fridge closed and moving to sit beside him.

“Nightmare?” he asked, setting the guitar aside to wrap an arm around her shoulders.

“How’d you know?”

“I can hear you at night. Everyone here can sleep like the dead. Everyone but me. Always been a light sleeper.”

“Did I wake you up?” she asked, worried.

He shook his head. “Nah. I haven’t gone to sleep yet.”

“What were you playing?”

“Nothing really. Just messing around. Any requests?”

She brought a finger to her lips in thought. “Hmm… Safety Pin?”

He chuckled lightly as he reached for the guitar again and they both shifted around on the couch. He strummed quietly and sang even quieter through the song, her voice humming softly along. “You should try and get some sleep,” he told her as he set the guitar aside again. “Luke may think he’s hiding it, but he’s worried about you. We all are.”

She leaned her head back, staring up at the ceiling. “That’s not what I wanted. I never wanted anyone to worry about me.”

“Sweetheart, we’re always gonna worry about you. We love you.” And that was as close to revealing himself to her as he was going to get for now, but he placed his lips briefly to her forehead anyway.

“Ash,” she breathed, peering up at him. The tenderness was too much to bear. The ache for someone to show her that type of soft affection left her desperate and needy. “Please don’t do that…”

“Do what? Care for you?”

“Kiss me.”

“It was just a forehead kiss,” he defended, feeling guilty he had crossed the line.

“I know. And it’s going to make me want more.”

“And what if I want to give you more?” he pressed, her words assuring him of long buried feelings.

“Ash… I’m heartbroken over a boy who doesn’t deserve my tears. You’re my brother’s bandmate. We shouldn’t do this,” she said, drawing the line in the sand.

“Alright,” he relented. “But for the record, I’ve…” he paused to find the right words. “Have you ever looked at someone and just known deep down that there’s something there?”

She nodded.

“I feel that when I look at you. And I’m still going to feel that when I look at you tomorrow; the same way I’ve felt it every time I’ve looked at you.”

“Ash,” she started, but he cut her off by pressing a finger to her lips.

“Shh, it’s fine. I won’t cross that line. But I couldn’t keep that inside anymore, either. G’night, sweetheart.” He pushed himself up off the couch, heading for his bunk, but her hand reached out to wrap around his forearm. “Need something?” he asked.

“You,” was the mouthed reply and his lips were crushing down on hers, pulling out the ache she had been drowning under.

~~~

The set of light blue eyes bounced back and forth between the laughing duo as Leia tried her best to mimic Ashton’s yoga poses. “This is impossible!” Leia’s laugh rang out as she struggled to keep her balance.

“What are you talking about?” Ashton laughed with her, his hand shooting out to help keep her steady. “You’re doing great. I gotcha.”

“Whatcha guys up to?” Luke spoke up, eyebrows raised as he leaned against the wall.

Leia let out a yelp of surprise and wobbled, taking Ashton with her as they crashed to the ground, erupting in more giggles. “Lu-lu, you scared me!” Leia scolded her brother lightly as Ashton helped her to her feet.

“Mmm,” Luke nodded, pursing his lips in thought. “So, you gonna tell me? Or are you going to keep lying to me like you lied about Wyatt?”

“What are you talking about?” Leia asked, narrowing her eyes. She and Ashton had taken every precaution to keep their growing relationship as hidden as possible. The plan was to tell everyone when the tour was over, along with announcing that she’d be moving into his place in LA. Wyatt, however, was the secret she had wanted to take to her grave.

“Mum and Dad got the hospital bill, dumbass. They called me wondering if I knew anything about three broken ribs because you tell me everything. Imagine my shock when I was just as in the dark as they were.”

“Luke I-” she started.

“Why’d you lie?” he cut her off.

“I was embarrassed!” she screamed, throwing up her hands. “It’s embarrassing, Luke! I got beat up by a guy who swore he loved me! Who had us all fooled that he was a good guy! Do you know how embarrassing it is to have been that bad of a judge of character?!”

“You’re not a bad judge of character, Leia. Like you said, he had us all fooled. And you’re with Ash, aren’t you? Yeah, definitely not a bad judge of character. Not by a long shot.”

“Wait… you’re not mad?”

“No! Well… yes. But only because you lied.”

“We were gonna tell you, mate,” Ashton jumped in. “We were going to tell everyone after the tour wrapped up.”

“I’m not talking to you!” Luke snapped.

“Luke, you just said you weren’t mad about this,” Ashton said, his jaw setting.

“You lied to me! I’m your friend, Ashton! Damn near your brother!” His fiery gaze flickered over to Leia, “And I’m your actual brother!” His words held no malice, only a deep hurt that two people he cared deeply for thought that they had to keep their relationship a secret from him.

“Lu-lu, we were going to tell you. We just…”

“How long?”

“Six months,” Ashton answered. “And if we’re clearing the air, then you should know that when we get home next month, she’s moving into my place.”

Luke nodded. “Okay then. Break her heart, and it’ll be you who ends up with your ribs broken.”

“Lucas Robert!” Leia scolded, punching her brother’s arm.

“Too soon?” Luke laughed.

“Way too soon,” Leia laughed with him. “So, you’re really not mad?”

Luke shook his head. “I only ever wanted you to be happy, Le-le. You’re my twin. I’m always on your side.” He wrapped her in a tight hug.

“We’re sorry, mate,” Ashton apologized, placing his hand on Luke’s shoulder and a kiss on Leia’s hairline.

Luke fake gagged, stepping away. “I’m not that happy for you! That’s still my baby sister you’re kissing.”

“Well, I love her, so you better get used to it.”

“You fuckin’ better,” the siblings responded in unison.

“So fuckin’ much.”

__

Tag List

@goeatsomelife​ @flameraine​ @cashtonasff5sos​ @here-for-the-uproars​ @cxddlyash​ @1-irwin-94​ @baldcalum​ @sparkling-chaos​ @tea4sykes​ @youngblood199456​ @5-seconds-of-obsession​ @gosh-im-short​ @aquarius-hood1996​ @talkfastromance4​

[jiminniethemarshmallow]

What You Deserve pt.2 (M)

Pairing: Jimin x Reader (side plots ft. Jungkook and Taehyung)

Genre: Fluff, angst, Smut, crack

Warnings: Mentions of emotional abuse, semi-public sex, cum eating, oral (m & f), creampie, thigh riding, light hair-pulling, cringey, cheesy fluff that makes me want to set myself on fire

Word Count: 37k

(A/N): Jesus Christ this took so long to write 🥵 Originally I wasn’t going to make a second one but seeing as so many people wanted another one, here we are! Btw, Hani is based off of one of my friends and some of the crazy shit she says are actual quotes... so yeah

"Wait what?! You guys are dating... like dating dating? And you didn't tell me?!" Hani exclaims in the middle of the shopping mall you were walking through.

"Can you shut the hell up, please? Not everyone needs to know my business." You huff.

"Uh, yes they do! This is revolutionary!" She throws her hands in the air dramatically.

"What would be ‘revolutionary’ is if you and Tae started dating too." You smirk, causing her face to go red.

"Ahaha, yeah, how about no?"

"Be honest with me Han, like 100% real right now, sister to sister." She nods. "Are you and Tae fucking?" She gasps loudly, causing a few heads to turn in your direction.

"WHAT?! You heathen, you goon, you cRoOK!! How could you accuse me of such... VULGAR ACTS!” A fake look of offense splays across her face as she throws a hand over her heart, and for a second you consider apologizing. You don’t get the chance to do so, however. “-But yeah, we're fucking." She admits easily with a shrug, catching you off guard. A drama queen at her finest.

"Since when?" Your eyes practically bulge out of their sockets as you turn your head to her.

"Since we went clubbing that one night. But I did do him a few favors before that." She mentions casually. This was not new information for you, you had your suspicions, but you didn't know she would admit it so fast.

"Then why the hell won't you guys just date each other? And why have you been hiding this from us?!" You move closer to her as an attempt to keep your voice down. You were in public after all.

"Okay listen, I'm allergic to commitment, you know this. And I'm pretty sure Tae doesn't want a relationship with me. We're fine being friends with benefits because at least we're still just friends; free to go out with whomever we want with no strings attached." She says nonchalantly and you frown.

"So you're telling me that if he brought home another girl, you wouldn't be jealous?"

"I'd like to think that I'd be completely fine with it. That's a part of our unspoken rules and regulations. No jealousy." **When is this bitch gonna stop lying to herself? You think as you shake your head at her. "But back to you and Jimin! How did this happen? I mean, I knew he had a major crush on you but I never guessed you would be into him.”

“That’s because I kinda wasn’t... until I was.” You’d been ignoring all the signs he was giving you: the especially caring gestures that you just passed off as general kindness, the pure joy and fondness in his eyes every time you spent time together, his bashful and shy side that only appeared when you two were alone, the jealousy he tried to hide whenever you would tell him you were spending time with your boyfriend. You remember one time in specific when you announced in a passing comment that you wouldn’t be free over the weekend because you’d be holed up with your boyfriend, and Jimin barely said a word to you after your brief mention, not even going out with the rest of your friends when they continued to make plans without you. In retrospect, he was probably sulking at home and keeping his distance, something he does only when he’s trying to control his anger to prevent himself from lashing out on others. But you had your head too far up your ex’s ass then to notice.

“Spill the tea. Now.”

You tell Hani about everything that happened after they left his house that night, save for the inappropriate details that she still pried you for. It had been a little over a week since then and you were happy to report that things are going great. You initially thought things would be awkward, but it turned out to feel like the most natural and normal thing in the world for you. He took you out on a date the day after and you stayed at his house again to cuddle and watch movies. Actually, not much had changed from when you were friends to now, except for the fact that you could be more intimate with him— something you really should start taking advantage of. And what made it even better was that you didn't have your stupid ex to yell at you for spending time with him.

"That’s cute and all, but how is he in bed?" Hani pushes, nudging your arm as she leans in closer to you. "I've always been curious about that since he seems like such a soft person."

"Oh my god, best I ever had." You give her a sly look for emphasis and she raises her eyebrows at you.

"Really? Is he a dom? Cuz I think he has the potential to be, but also I see him as maybe being a soft sub." You had piqued her interest and there was no going back, so now you were about to tell her what Jimin was like in bed. While you walked in the middle of a semi-crowded mall. And you didn't even care who heard. Had you no decency?

"He's not overly dominant, though he did take the lead, but he's very sensual. Eye contact, neck kisses, body worship: everything. But I've only had sex with him once, so I haven't unlocked all his secrets yet. It's only been a week for god sakes." Hani nods along attentively as you speak.

"And his..." She motions down to her crotch suggestively and you get the message pretty quickly.

"A lot bigger than you'd expect."

"It's big?! Huh, who would’ve thought."

"What's big?" Jimin's voice comes from behind you and you turn quickly to find him and Taehyung walking up to you.

"Your ego." You reply naturally, blushing when he gives you a peck on the lips when he gets to you, unable to stop himself. You’re still not used to that yet.

"For good reasons though." He says.

"And what might those reasons be?" You quirk up an eyebrow as he loosely wraps an arm around your waist.

"I have many, but the biggest one is that I'm dating my best friend and perhaps the greatest girl in the world. No offense Hani." Jimin smiles at you and you swear your face feels like it’s about to explode into flames. He’s so mushy, you can hardly stand it.

"None taken." She replies.

"You guys are so gross," Taehyung comments, sparkles in his eyes. "I fucking love it. Do you know how long I've waited for this? Jimin's been in love with you forever."

"I never told you that?" Jimin turns to Taehyung quizzically.

"All you ever do is talk about her to me and Kookie like we don't know her already. You’re not the most subtle person in the world, it was kinda obvious. I don't know how she didn't notice." He shakes his head.

"I'm amazed honestly. WAIT, I want pictures." Hani whips out her phone and starts snapping pictures of you from various angles. You try to hide your face and detach yourself from him while groaning protests. Jimin poses like it's a photo shoot as bystanders roll their eyes at you, and Taehyung pretends not to know who any of you are.

"Send those to me. I'm going to make it my lock screen." Jimin says when she finishes and you groan out loud. Yeah, you were going to be that couple. The ones that you hated and would otherwise yell at for being sappy all the time. The ones that have matching lock and home screens of each other.  He was turning you into a monster and it had barely been a full week.

"Cute. Sure I'll send them, right after I send them to Jungkook. He's not going to believe his eyes when he sees these." She laughs, typing furiously on her screen.

"Well he can see it with his own eyes when we hang out this weekend." Jimin inserts, earning confused looks from Tae and Hani.

“We’re hanging out this weekend?”

"Remember we planned that trip to the amusement park a while back? That's happening this weekend." He reminds them and they both let out a collective “Oh”.

"You're still coming right? We can go as couples, like a triple date!" You say excitedly.

"You and Hani can go as a couple and Jungkook can bring his new love interest." Jimin suggests. Hani narrows her eyes at him menacingly.

"We are not a couple." She corrects, but Taehyung seems hung up on something else.

"Jungkook has a love interest? Who?" He asks.

"The girl he took home after the club. Apparently he's been "getting to know her" and wants to use this as an icebreaker date." Jimin explains.

"Eh, I'll give it a week." You shrug.

"What do you mean?" They ask.

"I mean, I'll give their "relationship" a week before things break off. When has Jungkook ever kept a girl around for more than 2 weeks?" They all stop and think about it. "It's not that he doesn't want a girlfriend, it's just that he always manages to do something stupid to screw it up. It's like he's trying too hard to be a fuck boy but it's all unintentional. It's sad, really." You shake your head.

"I remember the good ole days when Kookie was afraid of girls." Taehyung laughs.

"Yeah, we were probably the first females he's ever befriended or had an actual conversation with." Hani nudges you and you laugh along.

"He was so cute though! So innocent and pure. Now he's corrupted." You sigh, jutting out your bottom lip.

"Wonder how that happened." Hani deadpans and you both look toward Taehyung and Jimin, but mostly Taehyung.

"Why are you looking at meee?! I have done nothing wrong." He defends.

"You're just a bad influence. Even when you're not trying to be, you still are. That's just how you are." You shrug.

"Like that time you bet that you would kiss 5 girls in one day. And you actually kissed 10. Within 2 hours." Hani recalls.

"With a face like this, it really wasn't that hard." He... defends? Brags? It's hard to tell with him sometimes.

"That's not the point! You're just not a good role model." Hani stares at him as you all recall the incident. Literally no one even asked him to do that. That was the day that earned him the title of "man whore" and he didn't seem the least bit bothered by it.

"But we've learned to accept and love that part of your personality." Jimin comes in quickly before Taehyung can get offended or start exposing other people. It was a habit of his to bring others down with him when he felt wronged or cheated and usually that person was Jimin.

"Hey, lets go in here, I need a new outfit and bathing suit for this weekend." Hani says as she drags you by the hand into a clothing store nearby. Jimin and Taehyung follow you both as you immediately head to the swimwear section.

"Don't you already have a bunch of swimsuits at home?" Jimin asks as you search the racks for something decent.

"Yes, but you've seen me in all of them already. A girl knows never to wear the same thing twice. Especially when she's trying to impress someone." You mumble the last part and he furrows his eyebrows in confusion.

"Why not? Why don't you just wear the blue and white one with the gold straps? That one's my favorite." You don't question how he remembers exactly what your wardrobe looks like, but you're touched by the fact that he remembered enough to have a favorite.

"It's my favorite too, which is exactly why I'm not wearing it to the amusement park where it can get dirty or ruined." You've had a few bad experiences with amusement parks and ripped clothing. The water parks were especially bad. High pressured water shooting you down a plastic tube has proven to be disastrous to bikinis for girls everywhere. You were planning on going with a safer option. "I don't want you to see what I pick out before we get to the park so go away. I'll find you when we're done." You smile at him and he sighs, walking over to where Tae and Hani are standing.

"We might be a little while so you might as well go over there and find something for yourself while you wait." Jimin walks over to find Hani sending Taehyung away too and they both take her suggestion and head over to the men's section.

"Hey Han, what do you think about this?" You ask, holding up a one piece bathing suit connected down the middle of the front and back, leaving your sides exposed. It was cute and they had various colors for it in your size so naturally it caught your eye.

"Cute, but no." She says flatly and you frown. "It'll give you weird tan lines." She brings up and you nod, immediately placing it back on the rack. "What about this?" She pulls up a bikini that looks like it belonged in a magazine and not intended for actual use and you raise your eyebrows at her.

"How do you manage to find the sluttiest clothing EVERYWHERE we go?" You scoff.

"What do you mean? This isn't slutty." She mumbles, looking at the flimsy material from multiple angles.

"It's almost all lace!"

"Yes, almost. Not all of it." She smiles and you sigh.

"Do you really think that will survive the water park? I've seen better bikinis get torn to shreds." You were specifically recalling one incident where you had taken a trip with Hani and Jimin and she decided to go down the super slide. Let's just say the thin material didn't take too kindly to the harsh twists and turns and rushing water, leaving Hani with one boob exposed and the other side hanging on by a thread, literally. Not to mention the wedgie. You had to run over and cover her so she could stand up out of the water and get her clothes, opting to wear a sports bra the rest of the day to avoid any more wardrobe malfunctions. Clearly she hadn't learned her lesson.

"Oh, I don't plan on actually getting in the water. I just got my hair done." She says with a flip of her hair.

"Don't be lame. The water park is half the fun! And don't think I'm missing out on it just to stay with you and watch you flirt shamelessly with innocent bystanders." You whine with a pout.

"Whatever." She rolls her eyes but you notice that she puts the outfit back and pulls out a more modest one. You find something a bit more protective, a one piece that has less intricate designs, and then move on to find a shirt and a pair of shorts. The outfit you chose wasn't anything special, but it felt natural, like it was from your own closet, and when you tried it on it felt even better. The clothes you chose made you feel like you could conquer the world, made it seem like you were in charge of your life and could take whatever you wanted, and you knew you were probably being over dramatic, but for some reason you were extra confident and you couldn't wait to show it off to your boyfriend.

Jimin and Taehyung were perusing through the men's section for anything decent to wear. Jimin was looking at some shorts since he mostly only owned ripped jeans and it was supposed to be obnoxiously hot this weekend, and Taehyung was browsing the flannels and beanies, really pushing for that boyfriend look.

"I like this beanie, do you like this beanie?" Tae asks Jimin as he throws it over his fluffy hair.

"You know who likes those hats? Hani." Jimin smiles and Taehyung sighs defeatedly and puts it back down. "Why won't you date her?" He asks in a hushed voice, glancing in her direction from across the store.

"I.. I don't know. It's complicated." Tae mumbles, getting a stern look from his friend.

"Then uncomplicate it and explain it to me." Jimin pushes, causing Taehyung to groan and roll his eyes.

"I like her, I do, but..."

"But?" Jimin leans closer in anticipation.

"I don't think she wants to date me. She hates relationships and commitment, so why the hell would I think she wants that with me?" He turns back to a rack of shirts and mindlessly shuffles through them. He seems really down about this.

"Well you guys seem pretty close now."

"We're slightly more "friendly" than just friends but I'm no closer to being with her than I was before. And I don't even know what she thinks about me other than the fact that she likes my dick." Taehyung sighs as he turns helplessly to his friend. Jimin's never seen him like this and it makes him want to help.

"Maybe you can make some progress with her this weekend. It might help if you said more than just dirty jokes around her." He suggests, but before the taller man can reply, another voice addresses them.

"Finding everything okay here, gentlemen?" A petite young woman walks up to them with a bright smile on her face. She shamelessly looks both of them up and down and they observe as the twinkle in her eye shines brighter.

"Yeah, we're fine." Taehyung answers and he can see how the bass in his voice makes her shiver.

"May I make a few suggestions?" She offers and before they can refuse her, she continues. "I think this shirt and these shorts would look really nice on you." She picks out an outfit expertly and holds it up to Jimin, checking to see his size. He takes the clothes and looks at them, and as much as he wants to completely dismiss her, he has to admit that her sense of style is quite good. That's probably why she works here. "Do you mind if I do some measurements?" She turns to Tae.

"I'm personally not a math person, but if you want to go around measuring things, go for it. It's not my store." He shrugs and she just laughs, rosy lips curving flirtatiously.

"No silly, I meant can I measure you." She clarifies and he makes a sound of realization, causing Jimin to face palm. After half heartedly agreeing, Taehyung allows her to pull out her tape measurer and wrap it around various lengths of his body. It was a pretty uncomfortable situation for him, but he doesn't stop her.

"Hani, let's test those ‘unspoken rules’ of yours." You say to her as she chooses her last top. She walks over to where you are and you point across the store. "Are you telling me that you aren't jealous that that girl is flirting with Taehyung?"

She looks at where you are pointing and for a moment, you see something flare up in her eyes before simmering back down. She watches the woman wrap a tape measurer snug around his hips and compliment his body figure, something that Hani has seen first hand and doesn't appreciate the way this lady is drooling over it.

"I'm not jealous." She says with a purse of her lips, but not a minute later she's calling Taehyung over.

Upon hearing his name being called, Taehyung unwraps himself from the lady and quickly begins walking away, leaving Jimin to thank the woman for her "help" before rushing to follow.

"Are you guys ready to go yet?" Taehyung scratches the back of his neck, still holding onto the beanie he was looking at earlier. As you check out, you catch the dirty look Hani gives the sales woman as she continues to drool over an uncomfortable looking Taehyung.

There's an urgent knock on your door and you pull it open to find a distressed Jungkook standing in your doorway. He enters without invitation and you shut the door behind him, furrowing your eyebrows in concern.

"Kookie, it's 10:30pm, why are you at my house when I'm literally going to see you tomorrow morning?" You grumble, taking a seat next to him on your couch. He doesn't seem bothered by your unkempt appearance, having seen you in your pajamas multiple times.

"I need to talk to you." He says, nibbling on his lip anxiously.

"Again, why couldn't this wait until the morning? We already have to get up at the ass crack of dawn to meet up."

"I-I'm kind of freaking out." He turns to meet your gaze and you stare blankly at him, waiting for him to elaborate. "The girl I'm taking to the amusement park is amazing and I don't know what to do."

"What do you mean?"

"Her name is Jieun and not only is she gorgeous, but she's talented too!"

"Wow Kookie, that's great! I don't see the problem here." You watch as a deep frown settles onto his face, his teeth returning to chew at his bottom lip.

"I guess I'm worried about keeping her." He responds after a few seconds of silence. "You know I have trouble keeping girls. I always manage to fuck it up somehow and I never know what I did wrong so I can't fix myself and stop it from happening the next time. But I really want things to go well with her. I want her to like me."

You look at him sympathetically and pat his knee. "I'm sure things will work out, you're a great guy. Just take it one day at a time, there's no need to rush anything. Focus on having fun tomorrow and go from there, use it as a stepping stone to help you get to your end goal." You tell him and he nods.

"How did you and Jimin start dating? Like, how did you break that friendship barrier?" He asks, looking up at you with puppy dog eyes. It was almost like a kid asking his parents how they met, expectantly looking forward to the love story that connected their hearts.

"Well," You half laugh. "It definitely wasn't intentional. After we went clubbing that one night, I stayed over at his house and he confessed to me when he thought I was sleeping."

"But you weren't?" You shake your head. “Ohhh sneaky.” He snickers, earning a hit on the shoulder.

"It wasn’t on purpose! Anyway, I told him that I felt the same way and now we're dating." You shrug.

“Yeah, I could totally see you two together. That man is head over heels for you.” Jungkook laughs, to which you blush and look away. Could everyone else really see it but you? “Ugh, I wanna date someone so badly. Jieun is such girlfriend material and it kills me.”

“Okay, slow down. I don't think you should ask her to be your girlfriend just yet. It's different because me and Jimin have known each other for years and you've only known each other for a week, right?" He nods. "Take it slow, get to know her more, tell her about yourself, don't do anything too crazy."

"I don't even know how to act around women; it's not like anyone's ever formally taught me how to talk to ladies." He sighs.

"First things first, forget everything you've ever seen Taehyung do around women. He doesn't know the first thing about relationships and he's too immature to even start a real one with Hani." You point out sharply.

"What's going on between them anyway? Are they fucking?" This sparks Jungkook's interest just a bit and he seems more eager to gossip about his friends than to talk about his own problems.

"That’s not for me to tell. Don’t change the subject!" You scold with a point of your finger. "Second thing: just be yourself. We're going to an amusement park so you should be focused on having fun instead of being stressed out over how to impress her. This is a great place for a first real date because what better way to bond is there than sharing multiple near death experiences together?" You smile. Roller coasters are terrifying, but you've read online somewhere that fear boosts attraction in couples, so this should work like a charm.

"I don't even know if she likes roller coasters." Jungkook thinks out loud for a moment.

"Even if she doesn't, there's plenty of stuff to do there, I'm sure you won't be riding rides the entire time. You have to think more positively." You give him a reassuring look and he relaxes a bit. "Lastly, don't try too hard. Girls like effort, but usually we don't want anything too extravagant. Big gestures are sweet and all but it's the little things that we pay attention to, like if you let her win in a game, or offer to hold something for her, opening a door, pulling out a chair, things like that. Maybe you can try to win her something at one of the booths there? I'm sure she'd appreciate that."

"Okay, I'll try." Kookie says after letting your information soak in for a minute. "Thanks for the help (Y/n), I knew you'd have some advice for me." He gives you a cute bunny smile and you just want to pinch his cheeks.

"I've had a pretty shitty boyfriend for the past two years so I'm surprised you thought I'd have any real advice to give, but I'm glad I could help." You stand as he walks to the front door. "And Kook," He turns to look at you. "Relax. She's just a human, talk to her casually like you talk to me."

He nods and gives you a hug, leaving you to get ready for your day tomorrow. You were really excited to see this Jieun person, preparing to see if she really lived up to Jungkook's hype and was worth his affection. But he's had pretty good taste in women in the past so you didn't doubt him.

"What's the hold up? We were supposed to leave half an hour ago!" Hani shouts into Taehyung's house; you, her and Jieun waiting by the front door for the three boys to come out.

"We can't take them anywhere." You mumble, rolling your eyes as you check the time on your phone. You all were supposed to meet up at your house but Taehyung texted in the group chat that he "needed help with something important" so everyone just decided to meet at his house. Jungkook had picked Jieun up earlier, but since then he hasn't even said anything more than a greeting to her, which concerned you. He and Jimin told you three to wait outside while they helped Taehyung and you've never seen Jungkook look more relieved to get away from someone in your life.

"I can't do this." Taehyung says to Jimin as he enters his room.

"Me neither, go without us." Jungkook chimes in, taking a seat on the bed.

"What the hell are you talking about? Why not?" Jimin squeaks, looking between the two of them in shock.

"Jieun looks so good today and she smells so nice and I can't even look at her without blushing so obviously this isn't gonna work out." Jungkook speaks quickly, rubbing his face in stress.

"I don't want Hani to think this is a date. She keeps insisting that we're not dating, but if we all split up today it's definitely gonna seem like a date and then she'll freak out about it! And then she'll start stress flirting with other guys and I do not want to be caught in that situation." Taehyung groans, sitting beside the youngest.

"First of all, you're both going because I am NOT going to be stuck at an amusement park alone with three girls like I’m some sort of pimp, so get up and get dressed Tae." Jimin pulls Taehyung by the arm until he's standing then pushes him over to his closet. "Kookie, you've already seen each other naked so I don't know why you're acting shy now. This isn't even a real date so suck it up and have fun. This isn't supposed to be this stressful!"

The other two boys don't say anything after that and just look at each other, moving slowly into action as Taehyung pulls clothes from his wardrobe. He goes for a boyfriend look, a plaid shirt over a deep cut black tee, his signature loose fitting pants, and of course he pulls on his new tan beanie and a necklace to top it off. It takes him forever to choose his shoes, even with the help of his friends, and even longer for him to check himself out in the mirror, debating whether or not he looks good enough to go. By the end of it Jimin is emotionally exhausted, his voice already cracking from yelling at Taehyung for so long and for a second he thought your genders had switched. Weren't you and Hani supposed to be the ones that take forever to get ready?

Meanwhile, the two of you had a chance to catch up with Jieun outside.

"So, you're Jieun?" Hani asks after yelling into the house for what seemed like the tenth time. The girl only nods. She looks to be around Jungkook's age, maybe a year older than him but definitely at least a year younger than you. "Nice to meet you again, I'm Hani."

"And I'm (Y/n)." You introduced yourself and she bows at you both in greeting.

"I remember you guys from the club. You seem like a fun group." She comments, looking into the open door as if expecting the boys to walk out at any moment.

"We try.” Hani says with a flip of her hair. Jieun was just as Jungkook said she was. She was absolutely gorgeous, her dark hair, bright eyes, and vibrant smile making her very attractive. Talking to you now, you realize that she is very modest, although not at all shy and rather confident, and is very passionate about many things. You and Hani asked her about herself and learned that she was quite athletic. She danced on a recreational dance team and worked at a studio with children. Aside from that she engaged in many sports and did just about anything that required physical activity. Jieun also mentioned that she sang as a hobby and occasionally wrote songs because she had a dream of becoming an idol, which amazed both you and Hani. She seemed perfect for him.

“Why is she so perfect? Why can’t we be like her?” Hani whines to you when Jieun excuses herself to use Taehyung’s bathroom, both of you feeling terribly inferior to her.

“If I didn’t already have a boyfriend I would totally be jealous.” You say, thinking about how much attention she probably gets on a regular basis. From your short conversation, you found that she was actually a chill person. Polite and sensible. A stark contrast to when you first met, when her tongue was shoved halfway down Jungkook’s throat, but you’ll excuse her behavior because she was probably drunk and everyone seemed to be making risky decisions that night, including you. You were happy for your friend for finding someone as good as her and now you could see why he was so nervous for today.

“He picked a good one.” Your best friend comments, nodding in approval. “I’m surprised she’s into him, considering how much of a dork he is.”

“Hey! Don’t talk about my son like that! He’s just troubled.”

“No, he’s troubling. For a moment I thought there wasn’t any hope for him. That he would just repel women forever, like that time he wore too much cologne and women literally ran away from him because he smelled so bad. I’m proud he’s making progress.” Hani sighs.

“Maybe he just needs advice from the right people to get his act together.” You shrug.

A few years back you started calling Kookie “Baby Kook” and claimed him as your son as a joke since you always ended up protecting him, but somehow the name stuck and now you feel a certain attachment to him, an obligation. Like last night when he appeared at your doorstep. You contemplated telling Hani about that before Jieun came back, but then she’s looking at the door behind you.

“Oh my God, are you guys finally ready?” She groans when the three boys walk out together, two of the three looking weary and one looking mildly irritated.

“Where’s Jieun?” Jungkook notices the absence of her presence immediately and thinks the worst, wondering if she had left while he was inside because they took too long, but much to his relief, she walks out behind them, enthusiastic as ever.

“I’m here, let’s hit the road!” Clearly she’s a morning person, but the rest of you are not.

Filing into Jimin’s car, there is a bit of a skirmish for the seats. You want to sit up front with your boyfriend, but Jungkook pushes past you when you reach the door and attempts to take your place, but you push back.

“Hey! I called shotgun, I want to keep my boyfriend company.” Butterflies flutter in your belly at your use of the word, making you smile. Just on the inside, though, because on the outside you’re straining to fight off the younger man.

“Well, I want to sit in front today.” Jungkook retorts, continuing to strong-arm you out of the way so you can’t enter. The others look at the two of you as they take their own seats, Taehyung offering for Hani to sit on his lap but getting flatly rejected.

“Why? What’s the matter with sitting in the back?” You stop fighting against him to look him in the eye, crossing your arms and giving him a disgruntled frown. It takes a moment for him to answer, glancing at his date and then back at you. He leans in closer and speaks as quietly as he can.

“I can’t sit back there with her, I’ll die.” His eyes are wide and fearful as he looks at you pleadingly, hoping you’ll have mercy on him.

“You’re supposed to be on a date with her, why would you just leave her back there alone?” You look at him incredulously, wondering if he was serious or not.

“I’m not ready to be that close to her yet; please, just on the way there?” He begs, searching your eyes. Jimin yells something about leaving the two of you if you didn’t get in the car and Jungkook raises his eyebrows at you.

“Fine, but now you’re in charge of directions. If we get lost I’m kicking your ass.” You finally relent, sighing and moving to the back, squishing into the other passengers until Hani finally takes up Taehyung’s offer and sits on his lap.

You politely change seats with Jieun and take the middle seat so that she can have the window and won’t be as squished and she gives you a grateful smile, staring out of the window as you embark on your hour and a half long journey. About 5 minutes into the car ride half of you are asleep, your head leaning on Hani, whose body is leaned completely back on Taehyung as he rests his forehead on the window. Jieun expected the ride to be full of conversation and questions, but when she sees that is not the case, she allows herself to take a nap too. And it wasn’t like Jungkook was going to talk to her anyway.

Jimin looks over at Kookie at a stop light, the younger boy reading directions from his phone. Jimin pushes his lips into a tight line, knowing exactly why he fought you for the front seat.

“What are you doing?” He asks abruptly but quietly. Jungkook looks up with wide eyes.

“What do you mean? I’m reading you directions.” Kookie states as if he doesn’t understand the question.

“Why didn’t you sit back there?” Jimin speaks even softer now, motioning with his head. “With your date?”

“Oh, um, (Y/n) is smaller than me so I thought it made more sense for her to sit in the back instead. Since there’s so many people...” He lies unsteadily, sensing the glare on his older friend’s face. Jimin knows it’s a lie, but since he’s too nice to expose innocent Kook in front of Jiuen, who is most likely not fully asleep, he doesn’t say anything. But later, when he’s sure everyone’s out cold, he addresses Jungkook.

“You know, you’re going to actually have to interact with Jieun in order for this to be considered a date, right?” Jimin comments, looking in his rear view mirror to observe all of your sleeping faces. His eyes linger on you for a moment and his lips curl into a tiny smile before he pulls his gaze away to look at the road again.

“I-I know that.” Jungkook stutters, looking back as well to stare at his date. Although she was fast asleep, her hair and makeup was still perfect and her lips were parted in the most beautiful way, and Jungkook couldn’t control the blush on his face. “I just need to relax a bit more. I’ll be better when we get to the park, I promise.” He mutters, more so to himself than Jimin.

“I believe in you. She seemed really excited to hang out with you this morning, I doubt there’s much you can do to ruin that.” Jimin smiles.

“I mean...” There were thousands of ways this day could be ruined, and they all seemed very possible, some even seeming likely to happen, and the anxiety was eating Kookie alive.

“Stop worrying so much. As long as you actually talk to her and spend time together, this day will be a success.” The older reassures.

“Please don’t leave me alone with her.” Jungkook begs, but Jimin only laughs.

“You’ll be fine, it’s not like she’s gonna bite your head off or anything.” The worry left in Jungkook’s eyes makes Jimin sigh, taking pity on his cute friend. “We’ll all meet up a lot throughout the day, you won’t be alone with her the whole time.” He sighs, to the delight of the boy in the passengers seat. He really was Baby Kook.

Despite the clusters of traffic, the ride to the park is smooth and straight forward, your group arriving in less time than expected. When the car is parked, Jimin wakes up the other passengers, letting you all know that you’ve reached your destination. Everyone files out of the car, stretching your cramped limbs and retrieving the bags from the trunk, prepared for a day of fun. Already the sun is blazing, not even fully up in the sky yet, but still beaming down on you.

“Sun screen is the most important thing to remember on days like this.” Hani lectures the group, assuming the mother role. “I don’t want anyone coming up to me later complaining about sunburn. I’ll probably just laugh in your face and give you a hard pat on the back,” She says, looking directly at Taehyung to show him how serious she was. He just scratches the back of his neck sheepishly, preferring not to relive the last incident. “So, let’s take preventative measures and protect ourselves.”

You all turn to Jungkook, who was assigned the duty of bringing the sunblock, but instead he just looks back at you with wide and innocent eyes. He makes eye contact with you and you raise your eyebrows expectedly, causing confusion and slight panic to cross his face. “Wait, was I supposed to bring the sunscreen?”

A collective disappointed groan sounds among your friends and you can see Kookie’s face reddening, feeling horrible about his slip up. He was so focused on Jieun that he forgot his duties.

“It’s okay, I have some.” The fair skinned girl standing next to him smiles, dropping her bag to the ground to pull out 2 bottles of sunscreen. “I always keep it with me since I burn so easily.”

Jungkook’s eyes light up with hope as his date passes around the spray, already saving his ass and they hadn’t even gotten into the park yet. He was thankful for her, more-so than he was embarrassed, and he made a mental note to make it up to her.

“Great, we can apply now and then reapply when we go to the water park.” Hani instructs, grabbing one of the bottles.

A bottle is handed to you and you offer to spray Jimin, prompting him to take off his shirt and bare his toned upper body to you, a sight which you drink in greedily with a smirk. When you begin spraying, he jumps at the coldness on his already heated skin.

“Fuck, that’s cold.” He hisses, body flinching and contorting as you continue to spray his exposed skin. You laugh at his expense, targeting his sensitive parts such as his back and neck, enjoying the way he squirms. “Yah! That’s enough.” He shouts, snatching the can from you.

“You can never be too careful...” You muse, apologetically rubbing your hands over him to spread the lotion and make sure you haven’t missed any spots. The touch of your warm hands against him makes Jimin shiver as he watches you feel him up shamelessly, so he decides to turn the tables and spray your exposed stomach unexpectedly, causing you to scream.

Taehyung and Hani are engaged in similar shenanigans, the female trying to wrestle the bottle from the tall boy. He suggests she “strip down a little more” so he doesn’t miss any spots, but of course she refuses and tries to grab the spray can from him, to which he dodges and insists that he isn’t done applying sunscreen on her yet.

Once Jimin finishes with you, he hands Jungkook a bottle so he can help Jieun. She wore her swimsuit under her normal clothes, so she takes off her shirt and shorts so she can get total coverage. Jungkook swallows hard as she basically gives him an unintentional strip tease, revealing her thin athletic body and muscles that hide beneath her pale skin. It’s like she was made for him. He has to stop himself from drooling when she’s done, arms outstretched and ready to be sprayed. The four of his friends watch with amusement as he shyly applies the sunblock, trying too hard not to stare at any one spot and finish as quickly as possible.

“I’m just gonna say it: Jieun, you’re fucking hot.” Hani breaks the silence, smiling at the way the younger girl blushes a little. You all laugh and shake your heads at her, noticing how much shakier Jungkook becomes. “What? Everyone was thinking it.” She shrugs.

While getting sprayed, Jungkook looks for something to talk about, feeling incredibly awkward and uneasy from the silence. Everyone was already ready to go into the park so you were just waiting on him. Glancing at Jimin as he locks his car, he speaks.

“You should name your car ‘Jimin’.” He comments spontaneously, causing said boy to look up at him.

“Why would I do that?”

“Don’t fucking say it.” You groan under your breath, obviously being ignored.

“So you can park Jimin.” Kookie replies simply, laughing at his own joke while only Taehyung and Jieun giggle in response. You weren’t sure if she was just giving him a pity laugh or if she actually found it funny, but you know Taehyung did. You, Jimin, and Hani just roll your eyes at them.

“You’ve made that joke before and it still isn’t funny or clever.” Jimin sighs, walking back over to your side. But Taehyung keeps running with it.

“No, (Y/n) should name her car ‘Jimin’.” He says with a dirty smile. You give him a blank look and anticipate his next words, hoping he doesn’t say what you think he’s about to say. “So she can ride Jimin.” He announces the punchline proudly.

Immediately you turn on your heel, walking off in the direction of the park entrance followed closely by Hani and Jimin who leave the other three to chase after you.

“Hey, where are you going?” Taehyung laughs as he jogs to catch up. Hani sneezes loudly.

“Bless you!” You all reply in unison and she waves you off.

“Ugh, allergies.” She says rubbing her nose.

“Yeah, she’s allergic to stupidity and it’s just oozing from you right now.” You tell Taehyung with a motion of your hand, receiving a cackle from Hani, who continues to rub at her nose as you keep walking toward the gate.

After security checks, you all finally enter the park, taking in the scenery. A worker at the front hands you all maps and offers to take your picture by the large fountain, to which you agree. Of course it takes a few times to get a good picture, someone was always fighting or blinking and in one of the pictures all of you are running from a bee, but eventually one came out right. When the worker walks away, your group just stands there, a bit disoriented in such a big setting.

“Where do we want to go first?” You ask, looking over Tae’s shoulder at the map he’s holding.

“Everyone’s riding rollercoasters, right?” He asks, looking up at your friends. Everyone nods so he points to the nearest ride on the map. “We should go here first, this one doesn’t seem too bad so it can be like a warmup for the more serious rides at the back of the park.”

Without further discussion, you set off for the wooden ride to the right of where you were standing, nervous jitters fluttering in your stomach. Jimin grabs your hand as you walk and you thread your fingers with his without hesitation. Hand holding was so rare with your ex, it felt weird to do it in public. But Jimin has always liked to hold your hand, it’s just never been in a romantic way before. You like this new experience.

Reaching the ride, you see how big it actually is. The drops are massive and the sound the carts make as they zoom past at surprising speeds makes your heart race. There are aggressive twists and turns that are sure to give you a thrill, and you become more and more excited at the thought of it.

“This is the warmup?” Hani looks like she’s going to vomit. She’d get on anything if you could convince her to get in line, but if she stared at it for too long she would chicken out. Sure, she acts tough on a regular basis, but everyone has their weaknesses. Jimin is similar to her. He loves roller coasters when he’s riding them, but he doesn’t like to look at them too much beforehand because then he would get scared. Knowing this, you usher everyone into the queue before anyone can say otherwise.

“Don’t worry too much about this one, the only thing intimidating about it is the speed.” Jungkook explains like a seasoned amusement park connoisseur, noting how Jieun gives him an impressed glance. “As long as you don’t swallow any bugs, you should be fine.”

You can feel Jimin’s hand becoming clammy as you near the front of the line. The plus side of coming to the park so early in the morning is that the lines are shorter because there’s less people, but he felt as though that was working against him because everything was happening all too fast. You squeeze his hand reassuringly, smiling at him to calm his nerves.

“I love rollercoasters.” Jieun quips, practically bouncing with excitement and skipping down the rows. “It gives you such a rush; the high speeds, the wind in your face, not to mention the view of the park..” She sighs longingly, momentarily stuck in her thoughts. “If you aren’t awake by now, this’ll definitely do the trick.”

You reach the front of the line faster than expected; Kookie was right, this ride was quick, either that or it’s just really short. You bunch into carts of two, you and Jimin sitting in the middle of the train, Hani and Tae seated behind you, and, as expected, the daredevils Jieun and Jungkook sitting in the very first car.

“You can hold onto me if you’re scared.” You hear Taehyung say to Hani, the two linking arms to brace themselves.

Glancing at your boyfriend, you teasingly repeat the same thing. “You can hold onto me if you’re scared.” You purposely lower your voice a little to mock Tae’s own and the four of you laugh, although Jimin grabs your hand again, holding on tight. A worker comes around and checks your safety devices, signaling to the other staff to start the ride. It makes a slow ascension up the first hill, every loud click beneath you rattling your nerves and making you bubble with anticipation. Jimin breathes heavily beside you, trying to focus on the view of the park that Jieun mentioned before, but you could see the distress on his face.

“You okay up there, Jiminnie?” Taehyung calls. You can tell he’s enjoying this already. “(Y/n), he hasn’t passed out already has he?” He teases as you creep closer to the top.

“Shut up, Tae.” Jimin protests weakly. “This isn’t even that bad.” As he finishes his statement, the ride reaches the summit and stops, holding you in suspense as Kookie’s car hangs partway down the slope. Jimin sees this and gulps, knowing what lies ahead in just a quick moment.

“Are you sure about that?” As soon as the last word leaves Taehyung’s mouth, the ride releases and you all plummet down the tall drop, deafening screams coming from everyone involved. You scream and laugh as the cars take you through turns and drops, the high speeds pushing back your hair and making your eyes water. Jimin never stops yelling, horror in his voice the entire time as he squeezes the life out of your hand, but it only serves to make you laugh harder and by the end of it you’re struggling to catch your breath. Hani’s shrill screams come from behind you, her voice resembling a whistle more than anything, and they harmonize with Taehyung’s more joyful shouts and ‘woos’. As the ride slows down to a stop at the terminal, Jimin’s body relaxes then seemingly liquifies, making your eyes widen as he slumps in his seat.

“I survived,” He murmurs, looking over at your smiling face. “I thought I was going to die.”

“Congratulations, Minnie, you made it through the warm up.” You laugh patting him on the head gently after combing through his unruly hair with your fingers. The workers unlock the safety devices and everyone stands up, retrieving their bags from the platform and walking down the exit ramp. You all wobble slightly, still disoriented from the fast ride.

“Daebak!” Jieun and Jungkook shout in unison, both talking a million miles an hour and laughing at each other’s banter in a language that only they could understand, from the sounds of it.

“Oh God, my life flashed before my eyes at least 3 times during that ride.” Hani huffs, out of breath and throat already sore.

“I’ve never heard you scream like that, are you sure you weren’t blowing a whistle?” You ask, causing everyone to giggle.

“I don’t remember most of that ride, I think I blacked out after the first drop.” Running a hand over her face, she wipes tears from the corners of her eyes while you do the same, except yours are from laughter and hers are from anguish.

“Guys the pictures are up!” Taehyung points, directing your line of sight to the screens in front of you that display the many different facial expressions of your friends. The group erupts into laughter after just one glance, Jimin falling into you and leaning against your smaller frame as he goes weak with laughter. His small hand covers his mouth as he lets out his distinctive high pitch giggles, and you have to take a moment to stop and notice him. Fuck, why didn’t you ever pay attention to him before? He’s absolutely adorable. He stumbles around and nearly crumbles to his knees in glee as Jungkook points out everyone’s faces, other groups of people crowding around the monitors to get a look at themselves too.

“Look at Hani, she looks like her eyes are about to pop out of her head! I’ve never seen her eyes get that wide before!” Jungkook howls as she practically wheezes beside him. She’s doubled over with one hand on Taehyung’s shoulder for support, and even through his laughter he tenses up at her touch, cheeks reddening just the tiniest bit.

“Jimin and (Y/n) look like the drama masks,” Jieun comments, pointing to your expression of pure joy and excitement next to Jimin’s face of unconcealed terror and regret. “Why does it look like he’s about to cry?” She can barely get out the sentence through her snickering, wiping away her own tears.

Your attention returns to your boyfriend, who is barely holding himself up from the ground. His eyes are almost entirely shut from how hard they’re smiling and his fluffy hair bounces with every shake of his body, quiet squeaks all he can manage to release.  The light reflects off of his round cheeks and he seems to glow, his happiness contagious and making everyone around smile unconsciously. You wish you could get a picture of this face instead. Even when you’ve all calmed down and Taehyung is buying the picture (presumably for future blackmail purposes), Jimin just can’t seem to get it together and you practically have to drag him out of the way.

“Come on, let’s get in line for the next ride before the adrenaline wears off!” Jieun shouts, grabbing Kookie’s hand and sprinting off in the direction of the tallest ride, both of them apparently forgetting that they’re with a group. And apparently Jungkook has also forgotten his shyness around her. You let them go, though, since this was technically a date and it seemed like they had broken the ice and moved past their initial awkwardness of being alone together. The remaining 4 of you walk in that direction too, before realizing where they were going and stopping in your tracks.

“Woah, wait!” Hani stops abruptly, eyes scanning the height of the rollercoaster. It’s a simple ride really; nothing more than a steep incline and a straight death drop that leads into a few twists and turns. But when you see how fast the ride accelerates to go up the hill and come back down again, a collective chill crawls up each of your spines. “They’re going on that?! Oh hell no! Do you know what this means?” She asks, looking around at your confused faces. Taehyung shakes his head in reply. “I can’t be friends with them anymore.” She announces resolutely, much to your surprise.

“Why not?” Jimin asks, eyebrows raised in mild amusement.

“Because people who would willingly go on something like that clearly do not value their own lives, which means they surely do not value mine.” She turns on her heel and presses past you, walking in the other direction and not waiting for you to follow. “Let’s find something else to ride.”

Usually people knock out the big rides first, leaving all of the smaller attractions for later when their energy starts to deplete and they can take the time to calm themselves down, so when Hani leads you all to a small indoor ride, there’s virtually no one inside. It’s themed after some cartoon you heard of when you were a kid and the interior of the building is colored with neon and fluorescent paint that glows in the black lighting. As you wind through the long pathways and different rooms, it becomes apparent that this must be a very popular attraction because the queue seems never ending. Taehyung’s laughter seems to echo through the empty rooms as he skips ahead, stopping at every interactive object like a child, playing in the funhouse mirrors, watching the short clips of the cartoon that appear on the screens, pointing out how everyone’s clothing glows in the dark whenever you pass under a black light.

“Walk!” Hani hisses, pushing him from behind when he stops in the middle of a narrow pathway, the sounds of the ride finally coming into earshot. “This rollercoaster better be worth the trouble of us walking for so long.” She sighs, keeping her hands firmly on Taehyung’s back as she pushes him along. He seems to enjoy it, purposely slowing down so she runs into the back of him, pressing harder against him to urge his body forward, and he knows she doesn’t mind the way he’s messing with her, he can hear the smile in her voice every time she yells at him.

Shuffling slowly behind them, Jimin silently pulls your arm, holding you back so he can hold you firmly to his body, hands on your waist and eyes smiling down at you. Your eyes are wide as you look at him, about to ask him what he’s doing, but then he swoops down and claims your mouth in your first kiss of the day. It’s not rushed or needy, it’s the kind of slow, relaxed kiss that makes your heart pound against your chest and blood rush to your cheeks. Your back meets the wall and he pins you there with one hand leaning beside your head for support, the other still locked onto your hip. The kiss is a welcomed surprise and you can’t help the way your knees get weak just from his touch. Despite being cuddled up with Jimin almost everyday this week, you still can’t get over the fact that he wants you this way, that he’s yours. He’s told you many times that now that you’re together he won’t hold himself back anymore when it comes to you, but you didn’t expect him to mean it like this. Though, you can’t say that you don’t enjoy the affection.

“Excuse me,” Hani clears her throat loud enough to catch your attention and when you pull away, you find both of them staring at you two in shock. “This is neither the time nor place for that. Seriously guys, there are cameras everywhere. Have some decency.” Taehyung shakes his head along with her words in fake disapproval, clicking his tongue when you shyly pull away from each other to walk up to where they are.

“C’mon lovebirds, we’re almost at the front!” He leads the way around a few more corners until you’re finally at the front of the queue, the line only consisting of a single couple boarding one of the carts. You take your seat next to Jimin and the carts exit the station in two’s, leaving you alone with him as you enter the dark tunnel. The ride is all indoors so it’s pitch black for a few seconds before you ride through another room with vibrant flashing lights that highlight the scenery around the track.

“I don’t think I got to properly say good morning to you.” Jimin’s eyes are focused on you already when you turn to him, whimsical music playing around you to accompany the action happening around you that you aren’t paying attention to.

“Is that what that was about back there?” You point with your thumb, raising an eyebrow.

“No, I just felt like kissing you,” He shrugs, “but this morning was busy and I didn’t get a lot of time to talk to you, so I’m saying it now. Good morning, gorgeous.”

“Ew, you’re so cheesy.” You nudge him with your shoulder playfully, barely noticing that your cart was ascending a small incline.

“I told you, I’m gonna say it everyday just to remind you. I have to make up for all that lost time.” You know he’s referring to the time you wasted with your ex, all those wasted days of not being appreciated or acknowledged. Neither of you have talked about him since then, but he’s always there, hanging in between the lines, and Jimin is always trying to prove what a trash man he was to you by overcompensating. Or maybe he’s just always this tooth rottingly sweet, you still haven’t figured it out yet.

“You don’t have to...” You mumble.

“I know. I want to. Plus, I don’t think I can stop myself.” Just as the two of you start to giggle, you reach a drop and your car speeds down the hill, flashing lights passing you at every turn. You go through a few more dips, spinning around and even going backwards at one point, following animated characters and a storyline that you haven’t been paying attention to. Somehow during the ride, you managed to scoot closer to each other, your sides touching and your hands wrapped around his arm, not in fear, but out of pure joy. This ride isn’t nearly as scary as the last, it moves slower and the drops are shorter and more gradual, so you and Jimin enjoy it equally, laughing throughout the entire experience all the way until it reaches its end at the same place it began. His cheers and laughter of amusement echo in your mind as you come to a stop, finally untangling yourself from him.

Taehyung and Hani are just getting out ahead of you, laughing to themselves and stumbling onto the platform. You take note of Taehyung’s manners as he extends a hand out to Hani as she steps out of the car after him, and you see her hesitation to take it before she grabs hold, pulling it away quickly after she regains her balance.

“That was fun, we should go on more rides like this.” Jimin comments when all of you walk outside, squinting in the bright daytime light.

“Why? Because it’s dark and no one can see you making out in there?” Taehyung replies with a sassy purse of his lips. Hani snorts beside him.

“No, because it’s a kiddy ride and it doesn’t make him scream like a baby.” You tease, causing an uproar of laughter from your friends.

“Okay, ouch. What is it, ‘gang up on Jimin’ day or something?” He pouts, though he can’t stay mad at you for long and ends up smiling along with everyone else as you walk towards the next attraction.

“We have a winner!” A few spectators clap as Jieun grins triumphantly, accepting a small stuffed monkey from the merchant as he proclaims that she is the fastest racer.

After knocking out all of the most exciting rollercoasters, Jungkook and his date have made it to the back of the park in record time. Instead of moving on to the smaller rides, they agreed to try out some of the games, mostly because Jungkook wouldn’t stop bragging about how easy some of them seemed.

“I thought you said you were bad at carnival games?” He points out as they begin to walk away.

“Yeah, but we were just shooting water at a target. It wasn’t that hard.” He watches as she offers her prize to one of the children they played against, the youngest one whose face was scrunched in disappointment. The little girl looks at her and nearly snatches the monkey away before sheepishly muttering a thanks upon her parents request, but Jieun only laughs.

“That was nice of you.” Nicer than he would have been.

“Eh, the monkey was kinda ugly anyway.” The brightness of Jieun’s smile makes Kookie blush slightly as he laughs along, allowing her to pull him through the crowds of people amongst the other stations. “You aren’t purposely letting me win these games, are you? That’s the third time I’ve beaten you.”

“What, you don’t like winning?” He quirks up the corner of his mouth and she shakes her head.

“Not like that.”

“Fine, then I won’t show you any mercy next time.” He promises, to which she accepts with a nod and a competitive sparkle in her eye. The truth is, Jungkook hasn’t been letting her win, she’s been beating him fair and square this whole day, but he didn’t  want her to know that because he’s been talking trash about his skills since they got here. They approach a station that is unoccupied, the merchant beaconing them over as soon as she sees that it has caught their eye.

“You two look pretty cute, first date?” She questions as they approach and Jieun is the only one who can respond. “Aw, that’s adorable. Hey man, if you wanna impress her, you should show her your skills. You look like the athletic type.” The woman challenges Jungkook, and he isn’t one to back down from a challenge.

“Let me win you something.” There’s this cockiness in his voice that makes his date giggle, his shoulders seemingly swelling with pride and arrogance as he stands in front of the counter. It’s basketball, something Jungkook isn’t too bad at, and he’s confident that he’ll be able to win this game.

“You don’t have to do this for me.” Jieun reasons, tempted to tell him that the game is probably rigged anyway, but Jungkook doesn’t look like he’d care all that much.

“Don’t worry, I got this.” Famous last words.

“$3 for 5 balls. All you have to do is make it in the hoop 3 times and you win.” Seems easy enough. He hands over the money and the basketballs line up in front of him, cheesy arcade music starting up when the worker presses a button. A bell sounds as a cue for him to start and he grabs a ball immediately, missing the sigh coming from the girl behind him.

He makes the first shot easily, the second goes in with a loop around the rim, and his pride is through the figurative roof. But on the third shot, the hoop begins to move side to side. He is surprised when his ball misses its mark and as he stares, trying to get his timing right, the speed of the moving basket increases.

“Two more chances left!” The worker announces. But his luck wanes and the forth ball bounces off the rim. “Only one ball left! Really follow that hoop, c’mon. It’s all about focus.” She coaches, much to Jungkook’s annoyance because he really was trying, but his final shot misses entirely and the game stops with a buzzer noise and defeated sound effects. “Oh! How unfortunate. Do you wanna try again? You still gotta win your girl that prize— looks like she really wants one.”

With a heavy sigh, Jungkook turns to Jieun and stares at her in thought. She’s just standing there looking impartial to all of the giant superhero plushies lining the station, but he really wants to prove to her that he can do it. He needs to win her this game. In reality, she’s about to open her mouth and tell him that she doesn’t want him to waste his money on something she doesn’t even want, but before the words can leave her, he’s handing in another $3 and preparing to take his first shot. The second time around doesn’t go as well and he’s already down to 1 ball when the hoop starts moving, his last chance bouncing off the edge again. Watching this really is painful and Jieun finally decides that she needs to put an end to this.

“Hey, it’s okay. You don’t have to win me anything, let’s just move on.”

“No, I can do it,” He tries to reason, reaching into his pocket for more money, but she grabs his wrist and gives him those big pleading eyes and he melts. “Fine.”

“Why don’t you let her try? She looks like she can play. I’ll even change the price to $1 just for her.” The saleswoman suggests, playing with one of the basketballs. She watches as their eyes meet and she can see that they truly think about it before Jungkook decides that he would like to see her try— probably just so he can prove to himself that the game is actually hard and it’s not just him— so he hands the woman another dollar. “Awesome! Let’s see what ya got.”

“Wish me luck!” Jieun says as she picks up a ball, but it soon becomes apparent that she doesn’t need it because she’s knocking out the baskets like it’s her job. Jungkook stands silently beside her, mouth open comically as he witnesses her aim and shoot with the ease of a pro player, making the third basket with a flashy swoosh and two balls to spare. The world around him erupts into noise as Jieun, the saleswoman, and a group of random bystanders who were watching them play begin to cheer and shout praise.

“That was amazing!” The merchant announces, and he only just realizes that she’s been using a microphone this entire time. It’s loud. “Did you see that last shot? The ball didn’t even touch the rim! I wish I had an instant replay of that!”

“Omg, I can’t believe I did that!” She gasps, covering her mouth in shock and joy. She looks just as dumbfounded as Jungkook and he can’t find it in himself to be upset with her.

“You looked so cool! Maybe you should be a basketball player instead of a dancer.” Sure, his ego definitely took a blow, but he felt an odd sense of pride at her accomplishment. Even though she wasn’t “his girl” per se, he still felt like he could claim her, and amidst the celebration, it kinda felt like his win too.

“I haven’t seen anyone win this game since I started working here,” The worker admits. “You’ve got skills. Pick your prize.” She motions to the wall of plushies and Jieun pauses in thought, glancing over at her date.

“Which one do you like?” She inquires.

“Oh, n-no this is your prize. You pick.” Jungkook hates the way he stutters at her sudden attention.

“Like I said, I don’t want one. Hm, I’m thinking you look more like a Hulk guy?” She’s studying him up and down and he can feel himself heating up the longer she looks.

“Actually, I like Iron Man.” He says, scratching the back of his neck. She simply nods and points to the biggest one, and the woman happily retrieves it, waving them away with well wishes on their first date. As they walk, Jieun hands the Iron Man figure over to Jungkook and he pouts.

“You know, I would have won if you’d let me try one more time.” He grumbles, looking back at his recent failure. She finds it cute.

“Yeah, I’m sure you would have.” She reassures and nothing in her voice makes him think she is mocking him. “But be grateful I won you that anyway. That thing is half as big as me!” She giggles, a slight triumphant glow on her cheeks as they make their way through the park.

Sometime after your third ride together, Hani and Taehyung separated from you and Jimin to do their own thing. Hani claimed that her heart couldn’t take any more rollercoasters for the moment and Taehyung graciously accepted this by agreeing to go on the smaller attractions with her. Kiddy rides, really: the large swing ride, the one that looks like an octopus, the pirate ship, etc. Taehyung had suggested they go on the Claw, but that looked a little too intense for Hani because of how high it goes, so they skipped that one. Finally, they make it to Hani’s absolute favorite ride, the Teacups, and she pulls him all the way to the line.

“The Teacups is your favorite ride?” He questions with a laugh, bracing himself for the hit he receives on his shoulder.

“Shut up, you still request kids menus to draw on when we go out to eat. I don’t wanna hear it.” She crosses her arms over her chest, but Taehyung finds it adorable.

“I wasn’t attacking you, I just think it’s interesting.” It is interesting, how someone who acts so menacing can be such a baby on the inside.

“What’s with that?” She asks suddenly, facial expression turning skeptical as she looks him up and down.

“What’s with what?”

“You haven’t picked on me all day, why are you being so nice?”

“Well, you haven’t flirted with any random guys all day so I guess today is strange for everyone.” There really isn’t anything Taehyung can think to say to her question, so he deflects. There’s not a chance in hell that he would ever say that he’s trying to be nicer to her so she likes him more and will consider dating him— if he says that, he’s sure she would run away screaming.

“That’s only because no one has flirted with me yet and I’m not going to throw myself around like a thirsty hoe. But it’ll happen, just wait.” Hani pushes hair away from her face in that sassy way and Taehyung can’t resist snorting in laughter.

“That doesn’t seem conceited at all.” He mumbles sarcastically as they step up in the line.

“Oh fuck off, Man Whore. You’re one to talk.” A few parents look back at her but she doesn’t seem to notice.

“Hani, there are literally children everywhere around here, watch your mouth.” Tae scolds, but she only rolls her eyes and turns away, apparently forgetting about her earlier question of his behavior, much to his relief.

As they near the front of the line, they spot Jungkook and Jieun passing by, but the pair is walking too fast for either of them to catch their attention. Jungkook seems to be hugging something red and yellow, but he disappears before Taehyung can make out what it is.

“Jungkook and Jieun just walked past,” He states as he leans against the railing.

“I saw. This day seems to be going well for them, I’m glad he finally grew some balls.” Hani smirks, still gazing in their direction.

“I’d say this day is going pretty well for us, too.” As soon as the words leave his mouth, Taehyung regrets them. Hani turns to face him with an odd look on her face, not really disgust, but rather skepticism.

“Yeah, but they’re on a date.”

“Couldn’t you say that this is sorta like a date, too? Not exactly a romantic one, but it’s still a date.” He’s making it worse for himself, he knows it, but he just can’t stop the words from coming. And so he digs the grave deeper.

“It’s not a date.” She shuts that idea down quickly, but there is an ease to her words. Almost like she doesn’t know that she’s hurting him.

“Why are you so touchy about that word?” He tries to laugh it off.

“It just... bugs me. I haven’t been on a date in, like, a year. I don’t do dates.”

“And why is that?” Taehyung is genuinely curious to know. She probably assumes that he’s like her, that he doesn’t date or have interests that go further than finding a quick fuck, but that’s not true at all. He’s just never had the best luck with women— and he is mostly to blame for that.

“When it’s a date people expect things from you. There’s an etiquette that society has deemed acceptable, especially for women, and I’ve never really been into all of that. I’m not a dainty lady and I hate when people do things that I didn’t ask for. Guys just seem to be too overbearing for me on dates: picking up tabs, trying too hard to be polite, scrutinizing my every detail and flaw. And on top of that, we’re supposed to do cute couples stuff like kiss and hold hands and shit. It’s a lot of pressure.”

“Not all dates have to be like that. They can be casual like this.” So she isn’t into the “nice guy” act. Taehyung should probably dial it down a little bit then.

“Yes, but this still isn’t a date. We aren’t a couple.” She insists, leaning against the railing across from him.

“You don’t need to be a couple to go on a date. That’s what the date is for. Jungkook and Jieun aren’t a couple yet, but this is a date for them.” He tries to keep his voice stable and calm. Why is he so adamant about proving this point?

“But it’s different with them because they actually want to become a couple. And they act like one too.”

The gates open and the two of them enter the attraction, Hani booking it for one of the teacups toward the back. She sits down and waits for Taehyung to close the gate and take a seat across from her before her hands are on the wheel in the center, itching to start the ride. She begins spinning their teacup before the ride starts like all the other kids around them, and Tae places his hands on the wheel to help.

“I think we’re acting like a couple, too. We’re doing everything together and having a good time.” He offers, pulling her attention away from her giggling that he finds to be contagious.

“I agree, we are having a good time,” She smiles. “But really, that’s it, isn’t it? I find you attractive, you find me attractive, we fucked a couple of times, but that doesn’t make us a couple. There aren’t any real feelings involved and we’re still free to do whatever we want. None of that mushy couples crap like Jimin is sucking (Y/n) into. I’d say we’re fuck buddies, at most.”

It feels like a dagger has sliced through Taehyung’s heart at her words, each one adding a deeper and deeper wound, and all he can do is sit there quietly as the attraction begins to move and ponder her words. He turns the wheel with her, their cup spinning almost at top speed, and he watches as Hani fights to stay upright against physics, laughing and trying to look at all the other moving vehicles around them. He thinks then, how can someone so beautiful say something so cruel to him? But he knows her well. Hani is the type of person who hides her feelings by saying the exact opposite of what she wants, never explicitly telling anyone what she desires, then waiting for them to figure it out. He can only hope that this is one of those times. The more he thinks about her words, the less he pays attention to the present world, and before he knows it, Taehyung has stopped turning the wheel and is staring blankly at her joyous expression.

“If that’s all we are, then why do I feel this way? Why does it feel like my heart will fly right out of my chest whenever we interact? I wish I could let you see how I feel for once because maybe you’d feel differently. I know you feel something too. Why is this so hard for me? Why is it so hard for you to accept me?”

“Hey, why’d you stop spinning? I need help here!” Taehyung knows she can’t hear him over the loud music and wind rushing past their ears. His voice was nothing more than aimless murmuring, but it felt good to say it out loud. A part of him is curious about what would happen if she did hear him, but it’s probably better if she doesn’t.

“Sorry.” He apologizes, their cup accelerating when he joins her turning once again. She thinks he’s apologizing about the ride, the thought of him apologizing for his feelings for her never crossing her unbothered mind. He thinks she doesn’t notice how hard he’s trying to be happy, the thought of her heart aching with disappointment and fear never crossing his puzzled mind. He doesn’t know that she’s afraid of the feelings she already has for him.

“It’s 12:30 bitches, where are you?” You speak out loud as you type into your group chat. Jimin fans himself beside you, sitting on a bench near the entrance to the water park, staring down at the park map.

“Why do the rides here look scarier than the roller coasters?” He frowns. You lean your cheek on his shoulder to look at the map and shrug.

“I bet they’re not even that bad in person. I can’t wait to get in the water.” This heat is something else, and as the temperatures keep climbing, you want nothing more than to dive into the nearest pool and float away. “Maybe we should stop by the Lazy River first just to get wet before going on the slides?”

“It’s so hot that I might just stay there all-“

“What’s up, losers,” Hani interrupts, sliding right into the place next to Jimin and squishing him between your bodies. Taehyung stands in front of you all.

“Wait, come here, Tae.” You pull his arm and he moves toward you with one eyebrow raised as you shift him until his body blocks the sun from your face. “Ah, don’t move.” Letting go of his arm, you enjoy his shade and close your eyes. He scoffs but stays put.

“We still waiting for Kookie?” Jimin asks, handing the map off to Hani.

“He said they’re almost here in the group chat. I wouldn’t be surprised if they finished the whole park already— did you see how fast they were walking?” She answers, shading her eyes with the flimsy paper.

Taehyung chuckles, looking around the area. If they were on their way, they would probably be here soon. “They better hurry up because I’m so fucking hot I feel like I’m about to die.”

“Do you know how disrespectful it would be to die right in front of me? Go die over there.” You send him away, but as soon as he moves you whine from the loss of shade. “Wait, no, come back!”

“I’m gonna buy a water bottle, you guys want anything?” Tae asks and the three of you shake your heads, watching as he walks away toward a small cart where a lady is selling drinks and ice cream. As he approaches, the lady straightens and fixes her hair, flashing him her best smile and batting her lashes. Both you and Jimin look over at Hani, who is watching the entire exchange, and you can practically feel the fumes coming off of her.

“We made it!” Jungkook announces, stepping up beside the bench with Jieun in tow. “Where’s Taehyung?” You all point and the pair follow your eyes to where the young lady is leaning into her cooler of drinks very seductively in front of a somewhat indifferent Taehyung. He isn’t showing much of a reaction, but you notice his fidgeting, either from anxiety or impatience. When he hands over the cash, the woman brushes his fingers intentionally and all of your jaws drop at her blatant flirting.

“I know he’s not my boyfriend, but he’s not her boyfriend either, so she needs to hop off his dick before we have to fight.” Hani is trying her hardest to contain herself, she really is, but the way that that woman is flirting with Taehyung is triggering something inside her that looks pretty damn close to jealousy.

“You okay there, Han?” You ask from the other side of the bench, keeping an eye on her to make sure she doesn’t get up and snatch that girl by her bangs.

“Oh yeah, I’m perfectly fine.” She says through gritted teeth.

“Remember what you said about it being okay if he ever decided to take someone else home?” You remind her, smirking when she crosses her arms.

“Absolutely.”

“How are you feeling about that now?”

“I said what I said. I said what I meant and I meant what I said.”

“I thought you didn’t like hyung like that?” Jungkook asks, confused.

“They’re fucking.” It comes out so easily that you don’t even realize that it was supposed to be a secret until Hani yells out your name in betrayal, causing you to suck in your lips. But it’s out there now.

“And I oop-“ Jieun feels like she shouldn’t be here for this, but things are starting to get interesting and she can’t bring herself to leave.

“You and Tae?!” Jungkook whisper shouts at her as if Taehyung would be able to hear him from all the way over there where the woman is still flirting with him.

“We fucked once.” She holds up a finger for emphasis, but you give her a look of disbelief and she purses her lips. “Okay, maybe it was a few more times than that.”

“I can’t believe you didn’t say anything!” You pout, turning away from her.

“Yeah, what the fuck is that about? I thought we were close!” Jungkook steps forward, clearly hurt that he’s been left out.

“Jimin doesn’t look that surprised.” Jieun points out, drawing everyone’s attention to your boyfriend, who sits there nonchalantly as he listens to you argue.

“Oh I already knew all of this. Of course Taehyung couldn’t shut up about it.”

“See, Hani? Even Tae told Jimin! What kind of bestie are you?” You fake cry, pulling the most hurt face you can muster, throwing a hand over your face just to guilt her, and Jungkook tags along.

“I’m sorry, okay? But let’s not forget the fact that you waited a whole week to tell us that you and Jimin are dating.” She brings up, shutting your whole argument down. She’s right about that, and you almost feel bad about it, but since she also kept a secret, it kinda cancels out.

“So are you guys like... a thing?” Jieun asks.

“No, we are not a thing, we’re just friends. He doesn’t like me like that.” Composing herself, Hani relaxes back into the seat, but she still can’t pull her eyes away from Tae walking away and the lady eyeing him up and down. You don’t bring up how it seems like she’s implying that there would be a relationship if he did like her that way, but you’re sure everyone else noticed.

“Really? It sounds like you’re trying to convince yourself of that more than anything.” Jimin snickers, earning a razor edged glare from her.

“Watch it, pretty boy, before I shove this map up your ass.” She hisses, sending Jimin recoiling into you. “Let’s just go into this stupid park so I don’t have to watch him flirt with anymore ugly tramps.”

Just as she stands up, Taehyung reaches you, oblivious to her obvious jealousy. “Are we ready to go?”

“Yup! To the changing rooms!” You point and everyone follows Hani as she leads the way toward the changing rooms, the group of you renting out a locker to place all of your valuables in.

“Jungkook, what the hell is that?” Jimin questions, finally noticing the giant stuffed Iron Man that he’s been holding.

“Aw, did you win Jieun a prize?” You ask, looking between their faces, but Jungkook only looks down sheepishly.

“Actually, she won this for me.” He answers shyly, cheeks pinking up at your faces.

“Yeah, turns out he’s terrible at carnival games.” She smiles, nudging his shoulder playfully.

“Wow, Kookie. And after all that shit you were talking yesterday.” Taehyung laughs, the rest of you joining in on the teasing.

“I get it, I’m dumb. Can we please move on?” He whines, hiding his embarrassed bunny smile behind the doll.

“For the record, he did make some great attempts to impress me. I think he still has a chance with me.” At this, Jungkook uncovers his face, grinning down at her. “All will be forgiven as long as you share a funnel cake with me at some point today. I really want one.” She groans, mouth already watering. He agrees enthusiastically. You feel pride swell in your chest, your baby is growing up.

“That thing is not going to fit in the locker.” It’s Hani that breaks the moment, looking back and forth between the doll and the small locker size. “Guess I have to stay out of the water and watch it so it doesn’t get stolen. Damn, it’s too bad.” She shakes her head in faux disappointment and you immediately shut her down.

“No, nope, you’re getting in the water, we’ve been over this. C’mon let’s get dressed.” You nag as you pull her away.

In the changing room, you and Hani put on your swimsuits, showing them off and praising each other, as best friends do. Jieun already had on her swimsuit so she stayed out by the lockers, so it was just the two of you getting ready. While standing in the mirror to tie up your hair, you spot a familiar face in the background and your eyes go wide, elbow nudging into Hani's side a bit harder than you intended.

"Ow, what the-" You shoot her a look and she quiets down.

"That's her." You whisper, eyes staring down a woman through the mirror, glancing away after your friend sees who you were looking at.

"His side hoe? Candy the Stripper?" She whispers, eyes now locked on the unassuming lady.

"Yes, now stop staring." You say, so she looks away and continues struggling with her hair.

"She's not even that pretty." Hani scoffs. "Should we go over there and say something?"

"No! I don't want to ever have to interact with her or that asshole ever again." You roll your eyes, preparing to leave as soon as possible. "Come on, just leave your hair down, it's gonna get messy anyway." Hani stops to look at you with attitude, running her fingers through the long ropes of her hair.

"The goal is to not look like Medusa by the end of today, this monstrosity needs to be contained." She was right. Sometimes it seemed like her hair had a mind of its own and did whatever it wanted, so you let her take her time pushing it back into a loose ponytail, offering Candy a few quick glances before grabbing your things and walking out.

"I'm heading back to Jimin. We'll be out there waiting." You say, not looking back to see if Candy was looking. Honestly you felt like you looked way better than her. Your body was better, your personality was better, and you were rocking your outfit. This was your moment to shine.

Walking out of the changing room felt like you were walking down a runway. Maybe it was just the clothes you were wearing but something felt different. You felt good, sexy even, and all you wanted to do was put yourself on display for everyone to see the new and improved version of you. Things seemed to move in slow motion as Jimin turned his head and saw you walking— no, striding toward him in the middle of the busy walkway. From the way your hips swayed, to the swing of your hair, to the slight attitude you put into every movement especially when you put on your sunglasses, you looked like a freshly opened box of sunshine, radiating confidence and beauty for the world to see. But then you caught sight of that sickeningly greasy grin from behind your boyfriend and just like that the box was slammed shut, sealed with chains, and shoved into a bedroom closet.

You almost stopped dead in your tracks when you saw his face, the face that you wished you would never have to look at again, the face that made you sick to your stomach just thinking about it. You were glad your shades were partially covering your expression because you were sure you looked mortified. But it was as if he could sense your discomfort and his smile grew when he noticed the effect he had on you. He always did that. Smiled when you would crawl back into your shell and turn into a passive being. It was like he fed off of your anxiety and it somehow made him bigger, or at least feel bigger, and it was instances like this that gave him the opportunity to walk all over you. Your perception of him is now strongly skewed since you broke up with him. In only a week’s time, you have been treated better by Jimin than your ex ever did in the two years you were together and you quickly realized just how much he had abused you. Not physically, but emotionally. He abused his power over you because he knew you wouldn't do a damn thing about it. Told you not to get too confident because "you could always look better". One time he even yelled at you in public for "dressing like a slut" when your skirt was an inch too short, which is ironic considering the woman he ended up with. But all of the little things like that crushed your self esteem and you had turned into a timid girl around him without even noticing it.

You were never like that with Jimin. Even when you were still just friends, you were a completely different person. It wasn't just that you were comfortable around him, but somehow you knew he would never pass judgment on you and that you always had a listening ear, shoulder to cry on, and a ball of happiness to brighten your days. It was good to know that he stayed consistent with that as a boyfriend.

Chopping your steps, you shift your eyes back to the man who actually loves you and scurry toward him, nearly tripping over your own feet. Your head and shoulders had dropped without you realizing it, but Jimin noticed. He was watching you the whole time.

"What's wrong?" He asks, analyzing your face. He could see the small frown you tried to conceal and the nervous way you wiped your clammy hands against your leg.

"Nothing's wrong. What do you mean?" You respond, trying to sound convincing and failing.

"You look like you've just seen a ghost." He chuckles. You laugh along halfheartedly, but don't reply. As far as you were concerned, your ex was dead to you, so Jimin was not completely wrong. It felt as if you **had seen a ghost. A ghost from your not so distant past.

“Uh, where did the others go?” Changing the subject, you shift the attention away from yourself.

“Still over by the lockers. They wanted to lounge by the wave pool, but I think we should eat lunch first.” As he speaks, you try to pay attention, but your eyes keep flicking behind him nervously. Quite honestly, you weren’t sure whether or not you wanted to know if your ex was still staring at you, but curiosity gets the better of you.

“Oh, okay.” You respond absently.

“Unless you don’t feel like eating now? I know they always say not to eat before you swim...”

“Uh huh.”

“But it’s up to you. What do you want to do?” You don’t notice how he rambles on, eyes bouncing around your body as he tries to control himself. You look so damn good and you don’t even know it, and all he can think about doing is pulling you aside somewhere to show you just how hot he thinks you are. Shit, he better stop before he makes himself hard.

“Huh?” You’re a little startled, only now snapping out of your worrying, and he looks at you expectantly. “Let’s just walk around first and see what’s here. I think I might want to go on some rides before eating.”

“Okay, let’s go tell the others.” You follow as he leads you back toward the lockers where Hani is putting away the rest of her things and Jungkook is avoiding Jieun’s eyes at all costs as she stands in her bikini, spraying herself with sunblock.

“Put the hat in the locker!” Hani groans at Taehyung, but he just shakes his head like a little kid.

“No, it looks good on me.” He pouts.

“Yeah, but we’re at a water park. Take it off.”

“You said you liked it.” Oh, so that’s why he’s being like this. Jimin can only sigh. He thinks that stupid beanie is his good luck charm simply because Hani thinks it looks nice on him.

“Tae, don’t be like this.” You reach over and snatch the hat from his head, throwing it into the locker so Hani can finally close it. Jungkook looks over at you gratefully, moving away from his date to stand beside you so he can breathe a little easier.

“We’re about to head over to the wave pool, you coming?” He inquires.

“Actually, we’re going to go on some slides first. We’ll catch up with you later.” Jimin answers, receiving a nod from the group.

“Okay, we’ll try to save you some seats.” Jungkook assures with a wave as you and Jimin turn to leave. Your eyes scan the area while you walk and Jimin catches on to the odd expression adorning your face, sliding his hand into yours and making you jump a little.

“You okay?” He’s concerned and that’s the last thing you need him to be. “What’s with that look?”

“What look?”

“That look you get when you’re overthinking something. You had that same look on your face when we woke up the morning after the club last week.” Heat blooms across your face at the memory, how you tried to act as if everything was normal and cool while getting dressed, but ended up freaking out internally and staring off into space during breakfast. You were worrying about how your friends might feel about your relationship and how things might change between you and Jimin, but of course he was there to dispel all of your worries with kisses and a cute date.

“I’m just thinking.” Brushing off his concern, you mentally scold yourself. This day wasn’t about your ex, seeing him isn’t the end of the world, you should be paying more attention to having fun with your current boyfriend, who wants nothing more than to adore you and make you feel comfortable. Stop giving him things to stress about.

“Would you like to share what you’re thinking?” He asks carefully.

“Nope, it’s not anything important.” Walking a little faster, you squeeze his hand. “Let’s get on this ride, I’ll race you to the bottom!”

It always amazes you how spending time with Jimin can change your mood so easily. He had the ability to erase every doubt and anxiety out of your mind with a simple smile or laugh, and it’s always been like that with him, but now you finally understand the love behind each of his actions toward you. Plus, now he can shamelessly check you out and touch you whenever he wants because you’re officially his. It seems like every time you climbed up the stairs to get to the top of one of those water slides, he made sure you were in front of him just so he could stare at, grab, or smack your ass at any point and time. And each time you would squeal and laugh, shooting him a look when he’d act like it wasn’t him. The two of you breeze through half of the water park before you know it, skin and hair soaked but drying quickly in the heat and sun. Jimin keeps you close and all times, wanting to make sure all the guys who stopped to stare knew you were his.

“Are you hungry, babe?” You ask Jimin, tugging on his arm a little as you pass a food court.

“Starving.” He exaggerates, making you giggle. After you make a stop by the lockers, which you had apparently made it back around to, he returns. “You go order, I’ll find us seats.” He hands you a wad of money from his pocket and sends you off, knowing you already know what to get him since he always orders the same thing anytime you go out somewhere. He watches as you walk away, swaying your hips just a little extra because you can feel him watching, and you smirk to yourself as you imagine the cute blush on his cheeks.

Once in line, you look past the row of heads in front of you toward the menu, deciding what you want to order. The line gets longer behind you, but you pay no attention as you wait for the person at the front to finish, who is apparently ordering every item on the fucking menu, you assume. But then a nauseating stench hits you, one that smells of hair gel and too much cologne and you know who it is before he even starts to speak, already standing too close to you.

“Didn’t expect to see you here.” The man behind you speaks with a hint of amusement in his voice and you shudder, turning slightly to look at him from the corner of your eye. Unsurprisingly, you see that it is indeed your ex who has snuck up behind you. After getting no response, he continues. “This can’t be a coincidence; are you following me? Wow, (y/n), I never thought you’d go as far as stalking me while I’m on a date- I mean that’s a bit much, even for you.” You let out a heavy sigh, knowing that if you keep quiet eventually he’ll stop talking or leave, but also knowing how comfortable he is with having one sided conversations since he never gives anyone a chance to respond to him. “And I was just thinking about you yesterday too, wondering how you’ve been holding up without me... figured you were probably somewhere sulking or crying to your friends, but this? This is just sad. Showing up to spy on me during my date? I didn’t think you were that lonely. I bet you came here alone, didn’t you?”

He keeps talking and you take a step forward as the line moves up, clenching your fists tightly and looking toward the tables, seeing that Jimin had found an empty one and was patiently waiting for you. You hoped he didn’t look up and see your ex talking to you because if he did, you were sure he would storm over and punch his face in for even having the gall to talk to you, and you didn’t have the time or money to bail Jimin out of jail.

“And did you wear that slutty outfit in hopes of winning me back, cuz it’s not gonna work. You can show off all the skin you want, it’s not gonna make you any more attractive.” His malicious words sting a little bit, your rage building up with every word that came out of his sour mouth and all you wanted to do was curse him out in front of everyone. But break, my heart; for I must hold my tongue. You think, feeling like Hamlet, caught in a web of misfortune and inconvenience. You settle for turning around calmly, speaking to him in an even and firm voice as not to draw attention to yourself.

“Did you come here just to harass me?” You ask, mustering the straightest face you can hold.

“I’m not harassing you, you’re the one that followed me here to spy on me.” The smug look on his face tells you that all he wants is a reaction from you, your acknowledgment of him giving him exactly what he craved: attention.

“Okay wow,” You scoff. “Don’t flatter yourself. I will never be that desperate, especially not for you. And what makes you think I want you back?” You’re insulted that he even has the audacity to think that about you, much less to say it out loud.

“Well considering how poorly you treated me and my girlfriend last time we saw each other, and how you ruined all of my stuff by throwing it out on your lawn, I figured you wanted to apologize.” Girlfriend. Just the thought of him calling her that makes you sick because, at the time of the incident, you were supposed to be filling that role. It takes everything in you not to yell at him and slap him across the face, your blood boiling at this point.

“Don’t you dare try to play the victim. I caught you cheating. You cheated on me, not the other way around, so don’t even try to act like I’m the bad guy here.” You hiss, speaking lowly and shooting daggers at him with your eyes. You don’t even bother to address all the stuff he said about you before, you don’t care about what he thinks of you anymore, but you would not accept him pretending as if you did something wrong. Jimin spent too much time assuring you of your innocence for him to come and fuck it all up.

Before he can retort, you finally reach the front of the line, addressing the worker with a smile and beginning your order. You can feel him standing behind you, scrutinizing your every movement: the nervous way you rock back and forth on your toes slightly as you recite your order, the way your fingers tap at the counter distractedly while the cashier calculates your change, the politeness in your voice when you thank her and take your large tray of food, skirting past him without giving him a second glance before heading toward the crowded tables. You were always the same and he supposed you shouldn’t change that much in 2 weeks, but there was something different about you. And he only noticed it when he saw you sit at the table with Jimin, smiling and giving each other heart eyes. You were... happy. And confident. And possibly even in love. And he wasn’t sure how he felt about that.

Lunch passes quickly, your overpriced food tasting below average yet fully satisfying your hunger, and soon you and Jimin are on your way back to your friends, deciding that now is the perfect time to sit and relax on the beach chairs. There are seemingly hundreds of chairs lined up, clustered together in front of the wave pool where children and adults splash around and play, and there is no way that you’d be able to find where your friends are.

“I think I can see Jungkook in the water over there,” Jimin points, grabbing your hand to lead you into the shallow end of the giant pool. “He’s all the way over in the deep end. Wait here, I’ll go get him.” He announces to you before wading deeper into the crowded waters, avoiding careless children too wrapped up in their games and moving a little too far from their parents. Your eyes are on his bare back as he walks, muscles flexing with every step as he makes his way, and you follow him until he’s chest deep before you look away.

Sitting down on the sloped bank of the pool, you watch the people around you enjoying their day in the sun and think about how this day could have been perfect. How it would have been a perfect date with your perfect boyfriend if That Bastard hadn’t shown up and tried to talk to you. Actually, it still is the perfect date, you’re the only one ruining it. Jimin probably doesn’t even know your ex is here, the thought of him never crossing his mind, but your mind is plagued with images of him and the harsh words he spoke to you back there. You don’t want Jimin to have a bad time because of your mood, but as you’re left alone, it’s starting to become harder and harder for you to fight these negative emotions. You were pretty quiet while you were eating, you wonder if he noticed. If he caught the way you would zone out occasionally and miss his words. Jimin was right earlier, you are overthinking, you always do, and if he tried hard enough, he would probably be able to figure out what exactly you were thinking about. Maybe he’s already figured it out, maybe he saw your ex and has been trying extra hard to cheer you up and show you a good time and you were just being stupid and stubborn by not making an effort to be happier. Once again, you’re screwing up. Just like how you screwed up your relationship and how you ignored all of Jimin’s efforts to show his love for you over the years.

A splash of water hits you straight in the face, jolting you out of your stupor and you’re dragged back into reality by the water that drips down into your ear. “Oops! I’m sorry Miss.” A young girl apologizes, turning back to her brother to yell at him and chase him around. You wave them off, tilting and shaking your head until you can hear from your right ear again.

God, you hate your mind. How did you dig yourself into this self-depreciating hole again? All of the insecurities Jimin has been working so hard to erase have come back so easily after one 5 minute conversation with the narcissistic asshole that cheated on you, and now you’re back to square one. Of course, he’s only had a week to change your mentality, but you were making a lot of progress and you’re throwing it all in the trash right now. You need to pull yourself out of this one this time, it’s not fair to Jimin if you don’t. Plus, you’re in the middle of a water park where you are supposed to be having fun, this is no place for sadness or guilt. Pull yourself together. The only person that thinks you’re a fuck up is you; your boyfriend absolutely adores you and cares about you and that’s all that matters, so you owe it to him to show him that same attention.

Speaking of, here he comes now, and damn does he look fine. Emerging from the water like some sort of god, Jimin makes his way toward you, Jungkook following closely behind, but your eyes don’t even see him. Droplets of moisture slide down your boyfriend’s hard chest and abs, glistening in the light beautifully. Your mouth gets dry and starts to water all at the same time when you take in how he looks when he sweeps the hair off his forehead, bicep bulging at the subtle movement in the most delicious way. His thighs pop from underneath his trunks, golden skin pulled tight over the strong cords of muscle that are built from exercise, and you can feel your pussy clench. Anything you were thinking about prior to seeing him is long gone from your brain and you can barely function until he’s standing right in front of you, looking angelic with the sunlight beaming behind his head. Your savior. The only one who can snatch you from your thoughts. You forget everything you were feeling insecure about moments before.

“C’mon, let’s head over to the seats.” You blink at Jimin when he speaks, only half registering that he’s talking to you. You don’t even notice that the waves have started up again, the increasing tide nearly knocking you over as you continue to sit and stare. He reaches a hand down to you and you take it, allowing him to pull you up from the water with a laugh.

“When did you get so sexy?” You manage to mumble, still ogling him as you follow Jungkook into the maze of lounge chairs.

He blushes, caught off guard by your sudden compliment. “I’ve been shirtless this entire time, why are you only noticing this now?” Cockiness: the ultimate cover up for shyness. You mirror his grin.

“Oh I’ve noticed, Jiminnie. I just keep noticing every time I look at you. You literally make me breathless.” To this he has nothing to say, looking away from you so you don’t see the bashful smile splitting his cheeks. He could say the same about you, but that would go on forever.

“Hey, there you are!” Hani exclaims, jumping up from where she was reclining to run up to your side. “Come with me, I want shaved ice.” Before you know it, you’re being dragged away before you even have a chance to put your things down. The boys look on in confusion.

“What was that about?” Jimin asks Taehyung, who looks utterly unbothered from where he sits. But as soon as he removes his sunglasses, his two friends can see the furrow in his dark eyebrows.

The concession stand isn’t far away, close enough that you can see where the seats are from where you stand in line. Hani stares straight ahead, instructing you to do the same and you listen, not looking at her when you speak. “So what the hell was that?”

“I don’t know what’s up with Taehyung today,” She blurts, causing you to glance at her, but she quickly reprimands you. “But he’s been acting really weird lately.”

“How so?”

“He was being super nice to me earlier and we actually had, like, a real conversation for once.”

“About?”

“About the word ‘date’. I told him I didn’t like that word and he tried to convince me that this is a date.”

“Oh?”

“But that’s not what’s weird. He’s been really clingy and lowkey possessive of me and it’s starting to freak me out.” You hum in thought and she continues. “Like a few minutes ago, when we were trying to find more beach chairs, because originally we could only get 3 that were next to each other, and I went over to this group of guys sitting next to us and finessed them into moving. Then Taehyung had the nerve to look all butthurt and upset like I did something wrong.” You can tell by the way her voice gets higher in pitch that she’s upset.

“Well, were you flirting with them?” You’re well aware of her definition of “finesse” and it usually involves using her body and charm to get what she wants. And it works almost every time.

“No! ...I mean, I can see how it would look like I was flirting from his point of view.” She scratches her cheek and you sigh.

/////

“What happened?” Jimin asks Taehyung, sitting on the recliner next to him after placing down his towel.

“Hani has no respect for me,” He starts, pouting and turning his body away from where you and her are standing.

“I don’t think Hani respects any of us.” Jungkook states, closing his mouth when Taehyung shoots him a glare.

“What did she do?” Jimin presses, glancing up at you two in the distance.

“We were trying to get seats for you guys when she sees these 3 dudes sitting next to us. She goes ‘I’ll ask them to move so we can have 6 seats together’ and I nod, thinking she’ll just politely ask them to sit somewhere else, but the next thing I know is she’s over there bending over and showing off her tits and ass and flipping her hair and those guys are loving it. I swear, I think one of them was actually drooling. Five minutes later, she comes back like nothing happened and says that we can have the seats.”

“So, you’re upset that she used her body to get what she wants?” Jimin questions with a raised brow. As if she doesn’t do that all the time.

“No, I’m upset that she... well... yeah.” Thinking about it, that’s exactly what’s gotten Tae’s panties in a bundle.

“Hyung, she does that to you all the time.” Jungkook points out, snickering at the look of despair on his friend’s face.

“This is different.” He can’t quite put it into words, but this time her antics struck a nerve in him. Tae can’t really explain because they weren’t there, they didn’t see it like he did.

“Why? Because it wasn’t directed at you this time?” Now Jimin is also chuckling, patting his friend on the shoulder as he weakly tries to defend himself.

“That’s exactly what it is,” Jungkook mocks, imitating Tae’s deep voice. “‘I’m Taehyung and Hani’s only allowed to show off for me because we’re fucking and she’s mine now. Her ass belongs to me and nobody else.’” He laughs loudly, Jimin joining in when Tae frantically turns to make sure you and Hani aren’t heading back yet. He doesn’t even question how Jungkook knows about the two of them.

“Shut up! Both of you!” He hisses.

/////

“Maybe he just doesn’t like you flirting with other men.” You reason to her, almost at the front of the line. “Probably because he likes you.” You wiggle your eyebrows at her and she turns her head from you, accidentally looking back toward your friends and making eye contact with the very man she’s trying to avoid. They both look away quickly.

“It’s not my fault if they flirt with me first. I will not apologize for being Fine As Fuck™, sorry not sorry.” Crossing her arms, she steps up in line ahead of you.

“I’m just saying that you don’t always have to flirt back.”

“Whatever. What do you know, you didn’t even notice Jimin had been flirting with you for 5 years.” She rolls her eyes and you choose not to take offense to that.

“Yeah, but once I finally realized, I actually did something about it and that’s why we’re dating today. I know you’re ‘allergic to commitment’ or whatever, but he likes you. And if you like him back then you need to grow some balls and speak up if you want anything more to happen between you two. Lord knows he’s terrible at taking hints. And apparently you are too.” You side eye her. She ponders your words for a few silent seconds before it’s her turn at the register and she orders her beloved shaved ice. She stays silent when you order too, getting an ice cream cone that’s probably too big for you, and you both head over to the flavor station where she can add her favorite flavored syrups until, finally, she breaks the silence.

“Since when did you get so wise?” She sounds a little spiteful, but you just shrug.

“Seems like I’m good at giving everyone advice but myself.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m just,” You let out a deep huff, causing her to look at you. “I saw He Who Must Not Be Named here, right after we saw Candy.”

“That Bastard-!”

“Listen!” You whine, cutting her off. “He approached me when I was getting lunch and tried to talk to me.”

“What did he say?” Now the two of you are standing in front of the station, blocking anyone who needs to use the machine, but no one seems to need it so you stay in your position.

“Some bullshit about how I’m spying on him and his whore while they’re on a date. I really don’t feel like repeating it,”

“Understandable.”

“But he really got into my head. Jimin didn’t see him, thankfully, but I felt really bad and insecure and all this shit that made me realize that I’m still not fully over the break up. Of course I’m over him, but this whole thing still feels so fresh and I kept trying to ignore it and distract myself with Jimin, but I’m still so broken. I think... I don’t know.” Bowing your head, you try to control your emotions. Saying this out loud felt worse than you thought it would. You probably sound so pathetic right now.

“Honey, no one expects you to be healed yet. It’s been, what, two weeks? Break ups take time and no amount of friends or perfect new boyfriends is going to change that. We can certainly help to make the healing go faster, but it’ll take time. And maybe these feelings will never go away, but you’ll get stronger and learn to deal with them. It’s way too soon to see him again, I can’t believe he even had the guts to come up to you. Actually, where is he? I need to have a word with him.”

“Don’t. I don’t want anyone interacting with him, he’s not worth it.” A small inkling of you really wants to see Hani beat the shit out of him and his new girl, but you have to be more mature than that.

“Fine, but just say the word and I’ll be there to kick his ass any time, any place.” She smiles, and you thank her fondly. “Anything for my main bitch.” Hani may be salty, loud, and obnoxious most of the time, but there are a few select moments where she can be really sweet. Her loyalty is unmatched by anyone you’ve met and that’s why you’re proud to call her your best friend. She’s had your back since Day 1 and you know that’s not going to change for a very long time. The tender moment is cut short, however, by some douchebag bumping her out of the way to get to the machine you’re both blocking.

/////

“I don’t think you have the right to be angry with her, hyung. She’s not your girlfriend or anything.” Jungkook takes a seat now too, sipping from Taehyung’s water bottle, which he snatches back from his hands.

“Don’t you have a date to entertain or something? Why are you over here with us?” Realization hits Kookie as he remembers that he left Jieun alone in the water, and he gets up in a hurry to rush back to her, hoping she doesn’t think he’s a dick for leaving her.

“He’s right.” Tae scoffs at Jimin, sliding his sunglasses back over his eyes. “I’m not here to tell you that it’s wrong for you to feel that way, but until you actually tell her that you want more, she’s free to do whatever she wants. And so are you.” Both men turn their heads to Hani just in time to see some guy bump into her while she’s flavoring her ice. She looks at him, irritated, but he smiles regardless, bowing his head in apology. They watch as he sparks up conversation, ignoring her raised eyebrows and tight lip to lean in closer to her.

“I know that, but if I’m being honest, I don’t think the flirting will ever stop, regardless of what I do.” Tae slumps.

/////

“That’s not what I meant.” The mystery guy chuckles nervously, clearly intimidated by Hani’s attitude, but obviously not enough to stop talking to her.

“It doesn’t matter what you meant, that’s what you said. Besides, you were already being rude by interrupting our very heartfelt conversation and you’re still being rude because you seem to think it’s okay to start a new one in the middle of ours.” Her pretty eyes bore into his and he’s left speechless for a moment, trying to recover the smooth ease he had a few sentences ago.

He looks to you seemingly for some sort of help but you just take a lick of your ice cream and look him up and down with a judgey raise of your brow. “That was pretty rude of you.”

“Then I apologize, it was my fault-“

“It absolutely was.” Hani cuts him off and his mouth is left hanging.

“I just wanted to know what you two beautiful girls are doing over here all by yourselves.” His toothy grin is back, though he doesn’t pull it off nearly as well as Jimin does, and both of you roll your eyes at his cheesy pick up line.

“We’re not interested.” Hani begins to walk away and you follow at her heels.

“And who says we’re alone?” Looking over your shoulder, you see that he’s taken a few steps toward you, but stops when you glare at him.

“Wait, I didn’t catch your name.” He calls to Hani, to which she replies:

“I didn’t throw it.” Without even glancing back at him. Then she turns and smirks at you triumphantly. “See, I didn’t flirt back. I’m making progress already.”

Back over with the boys, you finally get the chance to sit and relax, offering to share your ice cream with Jimin because it truly is huge, and he gladly accepts. He bites it like a serial killer, but you decide to let it go this one time because it feels nice sitting next to him and just being with him like this. Hani’s reassurance has instilled new confidence in you and you realize that you don’t have to pretend that everything is normal again. Jimin understands that you’re still hurt, he knows he isn’t the Magic Cure to everything, but he’s doing his best to be there for you and keep you happy and okay for now. That’s all he can do, that’s the only thing that’s in his control, and now that you know your role, it’s easier to see his intentions. All he wants is to be happy with you and show you that you’re loved. He isn’t trying to be a replacement or what your previous boyfriend should have been. He’s just being himself and doing what he’s always done best: be there for you.

Jimin isn’t sure how well he’s been doing at this whole boyfriend thing, but you seem to be okay. Something is definitely going on with you today, but he won’t press you if you don’t want to talk about it. Plus, he knows that if you don’t tell him, you’ll most likely confide in Hani, and he’s fine with that. You seem to be doing better than before, more at ease, comfortable, and as you share licks of ice cream, he can’t help but stare at you and get lost in his emotions. He doesn’t understand how someone had this, had you, and let all of it go to ruin so carelessly. God, you’re so beautiful it kills him. The way your eyes sparkle whenever you look up at him, cheeks curling in laughter when he gets a brain freeze. Even the way you swat at tiny bugs that surround your face is cute, your little frustrated huffs making him chuckle. But his eyes are locked on one thing in particular and he can’t seem to focus on anything else: your mouth. It should be illegal for you to look this good, glossy lips parting so you can lick your way up the dripping cone, the action almost seeming erotic when you do it while making eye contact with him. That sinful tongue of yours peeking out to lick away white, creamy goodness that sticks to your chin and the corners of your mouth, leaving them slightly wet and shiny. It reminds him of something else, something he hasn’t been able to stop thinking about since your first time together last week, and the imagery is driving him nuts.

“You’re so perfect.” He comments randomly, making you raise your brows at him.

“I’m not.” Pushing hair away from your face, you look down bashfully. He lifts your chin with one finger in the most cliche way, but in all honesty, if you weren’t already sitting your knees would have gone weak.

“Okay, nobody’s perfect, but you’re about as close as it gets. You’re perfect to me.” You can feel yourself blushing, face hotter than the metal of the lounger you’re sitting on, but you’re starting to get used to feeling that way around Jimin. The increased heart rate, flushed face, butterflies, those are all symptoms of being around him and you’re sure they won’t be going away any time soon.

“Where is this coming from?” You ask, smiling as his face nears unnoticeably.

“I told you, I’m going to say it every time I think it just so you know how often I’m thinking about you. So you better get used to taking compliments.” Before you can say anything, your lips collide in a sweet kiss, not deep or hurried, but careful and loving.

“Look at them, it’s like they’re in a fucking movie.” Hani chides playfully at Jimin’s first compliment to a still disgruntled Taehyung. He doesn’t say anything to her but looks at you two, envious of what you have. Yet his heart still bursts with joy that his best friends have found love. This could be us but you playing, he thinks. “Are you still mad at me?”

“I’m not mad at you.” He says simply, returning to his laid back position and shutting his eyes.

“You’re also not a good liar.” She’s too tired to play along, this is becoming painful. “If you’re still in your feelings about me ‘flirting’ with those guys earlier, I’m sorry. I was just trying to get these seats, I didn’t know it would make you feel that way.” Was she apologizing? Hani never apologizes, at least not sincerely. He wants to see where this goes.

“I don’t care about who you flirt with, you’re a grown woman, do what you want.”

“And I’m sorry about the guy at the concession stand. I know you saw. I didn’t flirt back.”

“It’s not about the flirting, Hani-“

“And I’m sorry about what I said earlier, on the Teacups.” This makes Tae stop, looking up at her over his sunglasses before realizing that he probably looks silly and taking them off. “I know what I said sounded harsh, I didn’t mean for it to come out like that. I said we would never be more than fuck buddies but... I don’t know that. And I don’t know how you feel. Really, I don’t even know how I feel!” She lets out a humorless laugh, shifting her eyes away from him. “I’m... I’m just... such a fucking idiot sometimes. The truth is, I panicked when you said all that stuff about being a couple. I- I got scared because it made me **feel something and I didn’t know what to do with that so I got all defensive and... I’m sorry. We can be whatever you want us to be. I need to stop jumping to conclusions and making decisions for the both of us, it’s not fair to you. So, we can be whatever.”

Tae doesn’t respond, just looks at her looking at him, blinking wordlessly. He isn’t too sure what he should say or what she was expecting to hear from him. Should he forgive her? Leave her on edge a little? He doesn’t know what to do, so he just nods.

“Okay.”

“Okay?” Hani blanches, and for probably the first time ever, Taehyung sees her show a little shame and humility. She’s a person that lives unapologetically with zero regrets and here he is turning her cheeks pink and making her mouth drop open like a fish. “The fuck is ‘okay’ supposed to mean?” But her words don’t hold the usual spice in them, it’s genuine and soft, vulnerable.

“I believe ‘okay’ is a word generally used to show acknowledgement for what someone has just said,” She narrows her eyes at him and he grins. “It means that I’ll take what you said to heart and think about it.”

Before she can reply, you gasp loudly and stand up, streaks of translucent white sliding down your chest between your boobs as Jimin sits there flush faced and dumbfounded. The ice cream (yes it’s ice cream, get your mind out of the gutter) had dropped out of its container and landed straight on your chest while you and Jimin were making out, leaving him sitting there with an empty cone in his hand and a spatter of frozen dairy on your chair. The coldness sends chills down your spine and you shiver, hands up and ready to do something, but there’s really nothing you can do at this point.

“I’m gonna go to the bathroom to clean up.” You stutter out, avoiding the amused and questioning looks from the people around you. Taehyung stands up too, leaving Hani with words right on the tip of her tongue.

“I have to go to the restroom too, I’ll walk you there.” And then the two of you are gone, Jimin and Hani staring at your backs as you disappear into the crowd. As you walk, he turns to you, smirking cockily. “Your timing could not have been better.”

“What?” The initial shock is gone but you’re still uncomfortable, keeping up your fast walking pace.

“I don’t know what you said to her earlier, but Hani just apologized to me and I think she was expecting me to confess my feelings to her or something. Then I just stood up and left.” He’s laughing now, almost like he’s lost his sanity, and you don’t know what to say to that. Thankfully, he doesn’t wait for your reply. “I feel invincible right now, like I can do anything! You should have seen her face, I don’t think anyone’s ever left her hanging like that, especially on the rare occasions when she shows emotion. Now she knows how I feel all the time.” It almost feels like justice to Taehyung, the way he’s flipped the tables on her like that. He’s the one being sought after now, not the other way around, and she has to sit there and guess what he’s thinking until he decides to open up and tell her. It’s a game of wit, control, and finally it’s his turn to deal the cards and give her a taste of her own medicine. When he glances over at you, you hear his snort. “You know that looks like cum, right?” He points with one of his long fingers, and you answer him with a glare and a slap at his hand, ignoring his comment.

“I’m happy for you. Just don’t drag it out for too long, or else she’s gonna give up on you and start hating you.” You’ve seen her do it before.

“I won’t.” He sighs as you reach the separate restrooms. He does plan on basking in the mini victory while he can, however.

In the bathroom, you try to collect yourself. Your mind is still reeling, not from the ice cream incident, but from that kiss. You’ve never kissed in public before and now that you’re thinking back on how you probably looked, it’s embarrassing. But it didn’t feel wrong. Everything about it felt right, like his lips were made for you. You wonder how long he’ll keep the complimenting thing going, you’re not complaining, but you imagine that he’ll stop at some point. You don’t want him to stop. You don’t want it to ever stop because it makes you feel good, special, important, loved. It’s amazing how much the little things matter in a relationship, things you never needed or wanted before suddenly become something you thrive off of and you can’t pull yourself back from the high. Jimin calling you perfect, you never thought you needed to hear that until now. And it was sincere, everything in his body language showed you that, and that kiss made you feel more than a little loved. It also made you a lot horny, and now you have to deal with that familiar throbbing between your legs, only this time it calls for Jimin and nobody else.

Fixing your appearance, you take a few deep breaths in the mirror. How can one man make you forget yourself so quickly with just a touch of his fingertips? Jimin has so much power over you in the best way possible and you’ve only been together for a week. But his power is not like the kind your ex gained and abused, no, Jimin earned his by treating you like a human being and loving you with his heart, and you’re certain he would never use that against you. With high hopes, you walk out of the bathroom, only to run into the same metaphorical brick wall that’s been holding you back all this time.

“I saw you with your new little girlfriend and the three stooges over there.” A voice approaches you, causing an immediate headache to form behind your eyes. Something tells you to keep walking and ignore him, but your body freezes against your will and allows him to near you.

“I already know how you feel about my friends, I’m not stupid. But obviously I’m not that smart either because I was dumb enough to date you in the first place.” You mumble out. “And what makes Jimin my ‘little girlfriend’ and not a man? Does he need to act like a dick all the time like you to gain your approval?” The scowl on your lips only deepens when you see his smirk.

“He doesn’t need my approval, he’s just a rebound anyway. I always knew you were quick with the guys...” He drawls. The degrading insults are right on his tongue and he doesn’t even need to directly say them for you to know what he’s implying, to know what he thinks of you.

“So you get to move on immediately after our breakup with no remorse, but when I move on to someone who actually loves me, I’m the slut? Yeah, that makes a whole lot of fucking sense.” You roll your eyes, fed up with this conversation and wishing he would just walk away already.

“I’m not the bad guy here, I found someone better than you; did you expect me to hold myself back just to appease you?”

“No, I found someone better than you; you downgraded from me to whatever the hell that is.” You say, eyes pointing directly behind him and he knows exactly who you’re looking at— the short woman still too intimidated by your last encounter to approach any closer. Your level of sass shocks him for a moment and you know you’ve caught him. Looks like you’ve finally realized you don’t have to take his shit anymore. While he is still speechless, you decide to continue. “And if you weren’t the ‘bad guy’ here you would have taken the shorter, less complicated route and broken up with me long before you started seeing another woman. But you decided to take the most painful way around things and cheat, then lie about it, only to break up with me when you got caught and acted like it was your plan all along!”

He opens his mouth to say something, possibly to defend himself or insult you more, but a third voice cuts in before he can respond.

“Excuse me, ma’am, sir,” A park security guard interrupts, walking to stand right next to you two. He’s not super strong or tall or anything, but he has a uniform and you can tell it makes him feel big. He puffs out his chest a bit as he speaks. “I’m going to have to ask you to keep your arguing and profanity down to a minimum, this is a family friendly environment.”

You make eye contact with him and you must be giving him a death glare because he instantly shrivels up at the sight of it. The guard clears his throat, wishing both of you a good day before thanking you and walking away awkwardly, leaving you to continue your conversation.

“Please stop approaching me, it’s to the point where you look like the stalker here, not me. And I’m gonna repeat this old childhood phrase because apparently you don’t know it: if you don’t have anything nice to say, keep your mouth shut.” With this, you turn your back on him and walk back to where your friends are. He reaches out for you, but you’re quick enough to evade his hand. If he would have touched you, you were sure you would have lost it and punched him in the jaw, but luckily his hand misses and you are able to walk away peacefully. You look up to see a concerned Taehyung who watched the entire scene unfold.

“Do I need to go over there and fuck him up?” He asks in his sweet baritone voice once you reach him.

“No. Why does everyone want to fight him?” You sigh.

“Because he deserves it.” Taehyung shrugs, throwing an arm over your shoulders, and you lean your head into his side as he walks you back over.

“What happened?” Upon seeing the look on your face, Jimin gets up and moves toward you, not taking no for an answer when you try to wave him off.

“She saw-“

“Don’t say his name.” You snap, and Taehyung rolls his eyes.

“She saw That Bastard over there and he felt the need to come up and say something to her. It looked like she handled him pretty well but I was watching to make sure nothing else went down.” Passing you off like a baby, Taehyung hands you to Jimin who pulls you into his arms to cuddle you tight.

“I’m fine, really. It’s not that big of a deal.” You muffle into his chest, cheek pressed against his bare skin.

“That’s it. Where’s Jungkook? We’re going over there to rough him up a bit for talking to our girl like that.” Hani stands up too and now you feel like you’re surrounded, so you push Jimin away gently just so you can breathe.

“Guys stop. Leave it alone. This doesn’t have anything to do with you guys, it’s something that I can handle on my own.” That’s a damn lie and they know it, it shows on their faces.

“But you don’t have to.” Hani stresses, looking straight into your eyes. “We’re your support system, let us help.”

“The best thing you guys can do for me is to help me forget about him. I don’t want this day to become more about him than it is about us having fun together. Can we just pretend that never happened and move on?” With sympathetic stares, everyone nods and let’s it go. The day progresses as if nothing is wrong, you all finish the rest of the slides at the water park before deciding to get dressed once again and head back to the regular park to experience the remaining few rollercoasters.

Jungkook and Jieun have long disappeared from your group, it is their first date after all, so you completely understand that they want to do their own thing for a while. Eventually, Jimin makes the point that you are also on one of your first dates as he pulls you away from Taehyung and Hani, who barely realize as they’re absorbed in their own conversation. From what you heard, Taehyung is finally enlightening her about his feelings, though probably not confessing to her directly, and you wonder if today is the start of something new for them. They’re talk must have went well because you later see them strolling around together, Hani tapping out from the rollercoasters for the rest of the afternoon and instead focusing her energy on winning prizes at the game counters.

You and Jimin just walk for a while, taking in the beautiful scenery around you. He’s watching you, you can feel it, but you try your best to ignore it. Now that he knows what has been bothering you all day, Jimin feels a little guilty. As your boyfriend, he should have done something about your ex, told him to leave you alone and never talk to you ever again or something. But he is more concerned about your feelings more than anything. Gloom has consumed the rest of your energy and you seem almost sluggish now, dragging your feet and staring off into space. He feels responsible in a way and tries to make up for it by actively looking around for anything that may upset you so that he can protect you, but he gets the sense that you’re doing the same, even if it’s not intentional. The two of you get on a few more rides, Jimin even suggesting it despite you knowing how terrified he was of them, but nothing he does seems to lift your spirits.

“Can we just... sit?” You ask him quietly, leading him over to a bench on the side. The oppressive heat swirls around you, but you don’t seem to mind it anymore, refusing his offer of a cold water bottle. So you two just sit in silence and people-watch, observing the hyper kids, disciplining parents, goofy teenagers and their friends, happy couples. Happy couples. Gut feelings are the worst, especially if you don’t know what to expect or why you’re even feeling that way. Jimin’s gut is telling him that trouble is coming. He studies you as your eyes bounce couple to couple, old to young, clingy to awkward. Then your expression changes to one of disbelief and he follows your line of sight until they land on a sickeningly familiar pair. He has never seen your ex’s new fling, but he can tell by the way his arm is coiled around her that she must be Candy. He frowns, watching That Bastard pause with a venomous smirk to make eye contact with you before diving in and devouring her mouth. It’s obscene and unnecessary and 100% a power move just to get under your skin— and it works. Before he can even inhale to say anything, you’re on your feet and bolting away, leaving Jimin in your dust as he scrabbles to grab his bag and chase after you.

You always thought it was so stupid in movies when girls would run away from things that upset them, stumbling through suddenly dense crowds to get away, blinded by their distress and gushing tears. You never understood it— until now as you push people out of the way so that you can get through, sensing their hard stares searing into your back as you run as fast as you can. Of course, you don’t even know where you’re going, searching for anywhere that will allow you to shed your tears in peace and process it all, but privacy is scarce in a place like this and you most certainly don’t have a clue where to find it. Jimin’s voice calls desperately behind you in an effort to get you to stop or at least slow down. He’s faster, but surprisingly less agile in the skill of dodging people, and his frustration grows with every group of people he gets stuck behind as he watches you distance yourself from him. Miraculously, you find an unoccupied family restroom that locks from the inside, and as soon as you reach it, you shut and lock the door behind you to keep out the outside world so that you can finally break down and crumble to the floor.

The room is spacious and astonishingly clean, probably rarely used because of its placement in the park. You don’t know where you’ve run off to, but Jimin doesn’t recognize this part of the park when he looks around, standing outside the locked door, trying to catch his breath. You weren’t running from him, no, but now that you think about it, maybe you were.

“Baby, please open the door.” He pleads.

Maybe you didn’t want him to see you like this, crying hysterically over the fucker that cheated and dumped you two weeks ago. Maybe you didn’t want him to see this side of you. It wouldn’t be the first time you’ve cried in front of him, the two of you have been through a lot over the years, but there’s something about this situation that makes it different. He can hear you sobbing on the other side of the door, voice bouncing off the walls of the room and echoing in his ears even from the outside, and you know he knows you’re crying. But you can’t let him see it for himself. There’s a difference between him knowing you’re a mess and actually witnessing it. Something that makes it realer for you. Showing your vulnerability for a man that never loved you, who mentally and emotionally abused you, it makes you feel stupid. And weak. And the worst part is that he’s the reason why you think of yourself this way.

“(Y/n). I’m here for you- I want to be here for you. I know you’re distraught, you have every right to be, just let me comfort you.” Jimin’s gentle voice is slightly muffled through the heavy door. With head and hands pressed to its surface, he hopes you can hear him.

“I don’t want you to see me like this.” Your response comes after another minute or two of sniffling, frantically trying to calm yourself down enough to speak to him.

“I don’t care about what you look like right now, I just want to see you.”

“No, I mean I don’t want you to see me crying because of him.” He’s silent for a moment before you hear his sigh. Imagining the disappointment on his face. “Did you see him?”

“Yes, I saw him. Babe, it doesn’t matter to me that you’re crying about him. The only thing that matters is that you’re okay. It is my job as your boyfriend and best friend— as someone who loves you deeply— to make sure that you’re alright and to comfort and reassure you. That’s always been my top priority and that’s never going to change. So if you need to cry, I’ll be there with tissues. If you need a hug, I’ll be there with open arms and forehead kisses. If you want to hit something, I’ll be your punching bag. But I can’t help you from the outside like this, I never could. Please let me in this time. Don’t shut me out.”

As soon as he finishes speaking, another wave of emotion hits you and drags you under. And this time it’s because of his words. Jimin has always been there for you, and you’ve always been there to push him away. Your stubbornness to open up to him on various occasions has built up a virtually indestructible wall between the two of you, one that you reconstruct every time you feel the slightest bit sensitive. He tries every way he can think of to reach you on the inside of it: go around the wall, jump over it, break through it, but your forces are impenetrable when you want them to be. And now you’ve even created a physical barrier for him to get through. What is wrong with me? Why do I keep doing this? Sitting here thinking about it, you realize that you’ve been hurting Jimin all along. He’s right outside that door, waiting to give you his love and unconditional support and here you are, alone, focused on yourself and the actions of another man. If this relationship is going to work out, you need to learn how to let him into your head and be there for you. He can’t read minds.

When the door finally unlocks, you snatch Jimin in with you before locking it again, back still facing him. Your name slips from his lips and you relent, turning to look at him, and his heart shatters in its cage at the sight of you looking so broken. Immediately, he pulls you into his arms— or were you the one to fling yourself at him?— and your cheek connects with his firm chest. The only time you’ve cried over your recent breakup (that he knows of) is the day that it happened. He remembers when you showed up at his house hiding your tearstained cheeks and puffy, red eyes behind a bag of comfort food and a fake smile as you watched him play video games, avoiding his questions. At that time, all he wanted to do was engulf you in his arms and never let you go, but that’s not what you wanted; you were too stubborn to admit your emotions, using distractions to keep your mind off things so you can overcome your feelings alone. Except, you were never really overcoming them, you were pushing them off to the side, and they kept piling up until the weight of them became too much and they tumbled over, slamming down into you from the slightest push.

Jimin lets you cry for a while, stroking your hair and back, shushing you and whispering sweet nothings to make you feel better, but it was clear that you would need more than this. He could tell that you were still trying to calm yourself down, taking deep, ragged breaths only to burst into another wave of sobs, each one more intense than the last. You’re mind is a whirlwind of torment: thoughts of your ex trying so hard to disturb you, how you’ve been distancing yourself from Jimin, and the fact that you’re not over this whole thing yet and how much you want the pain to be over already. Everything is just pouring out of you right now and you don’t know how to stop it.

“Hey,” He starts softly into your hair. “What’s going through that pretty head of yours?” He wants to say something helpful, but first, he needs to know exactly what you’re upset about. He doesn’t want to assume.

When you manage to peel your face away from his body, you discover that his shirt is soaked with your tears. You apologize weakly, running a hand over the material, but he shakes his head at you. He’s staring down at you expectantly, awaiting your explanation, but you can’t look him in the eyes knowing you look so crazy right now, makeup smeared and ruined, eyes swollen and bloodshot, lip trembling, nose dripping. He reaches over to give you something to wipe your face with other than his shirt and you thank him before attempting to speak.

“What does he have against me? Why does he want to see me suffer so badly?” And you’re crying again, this time into the saturated paper towel pressed to your face. But you try to continue. “Even when we dated, he always tried to hurt me. Convince me that I would never do better than him, that I should be honored that he chose me. I feel so dumb because I’m only just realizing that he sucked me into his little game; that he only wants to break me, and he won’t even stop now that we’re not together anymore! You all told me he was a piece of shit. I should have listened. And I’m starting to accept those past mistakes, but seeing him kiss her-“ You fight to hold back your cries. “It felt like a slap in the face. That was him telling me that I meant absolutely nothing, that he didn’t care about me or my feelings and that he wanted me to see how fucking happy he is with his new whore, without me. I just don’t understand why anyone would do something like that! I want him out of my life!”

“You’re not going to like this, but I have to say it.” Jimin starts, making you look up into his eyes finally. “(Y/n), the only reason he’s still in your life is because you’re keeping him there. He may be physically away from you, but he’s still controlling you in a way. He controls how you think, what you wear, even how much fun you have while you’re doing things that have nothing to do with him. It’s almost like you’re waiting for him to come back and say something to you, comment on the way you’re living your life, and all of that means that you still care significantly about what he thinks about you— about us— when he probably never cared about your thoughts and emotions to begin with, even while you were dating.” Your eyebrows knit together and you shut your eyes, trying to control your breathing. “I know that hurts, it’s supposed to, but you needed to hear it. I love that you care so deeply about people, you have the biggest heart out of anyone I know. But I almost wish you didn’t because then this wouldn’t be so hard on you.”

“I can’t not care about him, I spent 2 years caring and worrying about him. I think I just want to see something, anything, that shows me that he had any feelings for me at all. And he’s doing everything in his power to show me that I was nothing to him.” Jimin wipes away your slowing tears with his hand, grabbing another paper towel.

“But I think that’s just it. You did mean something to him, he wouldn’t have stayed with you for that long if you didn’t, but now he’s overcompensating to hide the fact that he regrets his mistake and is just as upset as you are. I’m sure he hasn’t paid any attention to Candy ever since he saw you earlier today. If you were unimportant and she meant anything to him, don’t you think he would have spent his time with her instead of following us and plotting how to get a reaction out of you? He’s just using her. To get to you. We know he’s manipulative, you know that, so you can’t let him keep controlling you like this. You have to let him go.”

“I’m trying.” More tears fall down your face, but he’s quick to catch them.

“I know you are. And I’m aware that it’ll take time, but I’ll be here for you every step of the way. I just want you to be happy.”

“I am happy. I’m happy with you. I’m the happiest I’ve ever been! Please don’t think that this means I love you any less.” Your arms wrap around his body again, pulling him close to feel his heartbeat. “He thinks you’re just a rebound, that I’m just dating you to spite him. That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.”

“I’m not going to lie, I have thought about the possibility that I’m just a rebound...” His body tenses slightly and you can’t believe your ears. “I know I’m not, but I also knew that you would need time to recover from this. Maybe we were too quick to jump into this relationship-“

“Jimin, I would never do something like that, especially not to you. I love you and I want to be with you, and that has **nothing to do with him.” Suddenly you’re stoic, tears dried and eyes alight with flames at the thought that he would even think that. You were completely unaware that he felt this way, that your obsession with your ex’s obsession with you was making him feel insecure and unsure of your feelings for him. And you suppose that’s all on you.

“Good.” He can’t help the smile that lifts his lips, the corner of yours lifting a bit too. “Sometimes I’m selfish and I want you all to myself. I know this isn’t about me or my feelings because you still need time to heal, but sometimes I get jealous when you think about him while you’re with me.” A cute pout forms on his lips and his aegyo is unmatched. “Like earlier when you kept zoning out. I knew you were thinking about him, but I wanted so badly for you to be daydreaming of me. Because I’m always thinking about you.” Pulling you closer, your hips connect so that your bodies are flush against each other, faces an inch apart.

“But I do think of you, you’ve been running through my mind nonstop for the past week.” Your hand climbs up to brush his cheek, tracing the soft flesh as you look into each other’s eyes.

“Well, you’ve been running through my mind since the day I met you. You must be exhausted.” A playful scoff leaves you when he says this, a genuine smile lifting your cheeks.

“Terrible joke.” The mood breaks and you’re both caught in a fit of giggles, bodies still pressed together.

Jimin can only think about how beautiful you look right now, even after you’ve been crying, and he takes this time to admire you. You think you’re weak for breaking down over your ex, but Jimin thinks you’re incredibly strong for having the guts to move on from a person like him and make the effort to live a normal life again after everything you’ve been through instead of locking yourself in your home and moping all day. He recalls that time his ex-girlfriend broke up with him and he didn’t leave his house for several days in a row until you came and forced him to get up. You’d said that the best revenge he could get on his ex is to resume his life like nothing happened and to move on. And that’s what he did. Of course, it was much easier for him to do this when the woman that he truly loved all along was right with him every step of the way. He was really thankful that you were there for him and he’s even more thankful that he gets to be here for you to return the favor.

Before you both realize it, you’re leaning in, laughter having died down until all that remains is genuine longing and trust in your eyes. The first kiss lands softly on your lips, tentative and sweet before he pulls back to look for your reaction. But all you do is wrap your hands around his neck and pull him down for something deeper, surprising him with the force you use as you part his lips with yours, nibbling his bottom lip and encouraging sounds from both of you. The temperature in the room seems to spike higher as you continue to make out, and the sudden urge to rip each other’s clothes off starts to consume you. His hips roll into yours slowly, his semi erect length pressing into your stomach and pulling a moan from you when you break the kiss for air. Biting your lips, you drop your hands down to his bulge, palming him through his pants and pressing kisses to his chest.

“We don’t have to do anything if you don’t want to.” Jimin says, although his fingers press against your waist when you undo his button and zipper. “I don’t want you to think that you have to do anything for me.”

You appreciate his concern, always the gentleman, but at this point the fire in the pit of your stomach from earlier has reignited just from being alone with him and you can’t think of anything you’d rather be doing than this. “That’s nice and all, but I’ve been dying to do this since we got here this morning. I’ve been wet ever since I saw you walking around at the water park.” You say as you push his shorts down just enough so that you can pull him out.

“I’m glad I wasn’t the only one that was horny while we were there.” He finally relaxes when you sink down to your knees, licking your lips when you are eye level with his dick. “But I need to hear you say it first, just to make sure. Tell me that you want this.” He stares down at you expectantly as you adjust your position, looking up at him with sparkling eyes.

“I want this,” You say, placing kisses along his hips as you speak, running a hand up his stomach to move his shirt out of the way. “I want your lips... I want your cock... I want your cum...” Finally reaching his tip, you give it a small lick before moaning. “I want you.” And then you’re leaning forward to take his entire length into your mouth, still only half hard so he fits easily. A loud hiss of surprise leaves his lips, followed by an unfiltered groan of pleasure when he feels how wet and hot your mouth is around him. One hand falls to the top of your head, tangling in your hair as you begin to bob up and down on him.

“You can have me, baby, I’m all yours.” Jimin can’t take his eyes off of you, the sight of his cock stuffed down your throat enough to hypnotize him. He’s pictured this thousands of times, yet somehow this still surpasses every one of his expectations. Your smooth lips slide easily up his shaft, tightening as you suckle on his tip, running your tongue all around the head. Precum leaks onto your taste buds and you groan, pussy throbbing with desire when you feel him rapidly stiffening inside you, his weight heavy on your jaw. You take him in all the way a few more times to wet his flesh with your thick saliva and he watches with glazed eyes as it dribbles down your chin while your hands twist expertly along him.

“You’re getting hard so fast. Like what you see?” You tease, earning yourself a little tug on your hair, but to Jimin’s surprise, you moan in response. Before he can say anything, you reconnect your lips to his head, bobbing shallowly along the sensitive area as both your hands squeeze and jerk the rest of his now completely erected cock. His breath hitches and his abs contract, already glistening with the sheen of sweat.

“Ah, fuck,” He throws his head back when you suck harder, eyes still peering up at him beautifully. “This is the best thing I’ve ever seen in my life. You’re amazing at this, baby girl.” The breathless quality of his praise makes you hum, cheeks heating up at the view you have of him from this angle. He looks like a classical piece of artwork, sculpted and chiseled everywhere that counts, his plump lips wet from the amount of times he’s licked them as his dark eyes fall on you. His stare makes your knees wobble beneath you, already damp panties now gushing with wetness at the way his fingers caress your scalp gently in appreciation. You use your tongue to eagerly lap at his sopping slit, tasting more of his salty flavor as he finally lets loose an honest moan that you can feel through your mouth. “Can you take more of me, baby?”

He moves his hips a bit, sliding just a little further down your tongue and you smile up at him through your eyes, humming an answer before removing one, then both of your hands and letting him penetrate your throat when you press forward until your nose tickles his base. Another loud groan rips from his chest, reverberating against the hard walls and ringing in your head. His fingers grip your hair tight and you have to squeeze your eyes and legs shut at the bolt of pleasure and pain that travels through you, satisfaction written all over you despite the dampness of your eyes. You deep throat him a few more times, relaxing your jaw and focusing on breathing through your nose so that you don’t gag around his thick girth, but the moment his hips jerk, your muscles tighten again and you lose your rhythm, producing an obscene gagging noise as your throat closes around him. His hand in your hair offers the slightest bit of resistance when you pull back, and upon looking up at his face, you find pure, unadulterated bliss on his features, teeth sinking into his lower lip to hold back the slew of sounds on the tip of his tongue. Jimin wants so desperately to look at the wonders you’re working below his waist, but he feels like if he looks down at you he’ll lose his load right there and that’s not how he wants this to end. Especially not when he noticed the way that one of your free hands snuck down into your shorts not long ago.

“Good?” You ask when you see that he still hasn’t opened his eyes yet. You’re still trying to catch shaky breaths, swallowing hard to regain use of your throat and Jimin is still standing there looking shell shocked. As soon as he opens his eyes to reassure you, you go down on him again, this time intentionally making yourself choke once his tip enters your throat. Holding yourself there for a few seconds, you listen to the ragged breaths and small whimpers Jimin makes above you, thighs and fingers trembling ever so slightly in restraint.

“Holy s-shit, (Y/n), just like that,” He curses, trying his hardest to keep his eyes open. “That’s my good girl, taking this cock so well. You look so pretty choking on my cock.” You had already witnessed his dirty talk the first time you fucked, yet you’re still surprised by the filthy words he produces so easily. You wonder if you’ll get to see another side of him today. He strokes your cheek with one hand, loving how he can feel himself sliding in and out through the thin layer of your hollowed skin. He takes in your gorgeous face as you continue to take him deeply, using one hand to stroke what you can’t fit, and he thinks he’ll go insane. Your glittering eyes brim with fresh tears, this time not from sadness or anger, but from the effort you put into making him feel good. Your cheeks are splashed with color both from the heat and from your actions, and sweat beads at your forehead as you work tirelessly on him.

You’ve slowed to a steady pace, sensually licking up and down his cock while making intense eye contact with him, just like you had done with your ice cream earlier. He’s getting close now, you can tell by the subtle throbbing that starts at his base, and you work on making yourself look as visually pleasing as possible. He’s watching you like a hawk as you pull your mouth off of him, gazing at him innocently as you lick up and down his veins, teasing the frenulum and circling around the tip. You allow more spit to drip onto him, everything now soaking, and the sight makes him dizzy with arousal, but when you remove your hand from your panties and use it to play with his balls, that’s when he draws the line. Your fingers are sticky and wet on his spit slicked sac and he feels he’s reached his breaking point, so he yanks you away from him by the hair and pulls you up before you can even blink.

He doesn’t want to cum like this, he needs to be inside you.

Smashing his lips against yours, Jimin backs you into the nearest wall so he can push his body against yours, wanting to feel all of you. By the time he pulls away, you’re gasping for air, taking in large puffs as he kisses his way down your jaw, your neck, down to the collar of your shirt. And then it’s gone. He has it up and over your head in no time flat along with your bra, tossing them aside onto the counter. Once you’re exposed, he dives in to kiss around your chest, licking everywhere but the erected peaks that practically tingle for his attention.

“Jimin, please.” You moan, eyes shut as you rest your weight against the wall. He plants pecks and love bites all along your skin, sure to leave them in covered areas, and you hiss at the sting of his teeth, whining when he uses his tongue to soothe over them. Your fingers card through his hair, pushing it away from his face gently as you try to be patient about the call of your nipples and the drip between your thighs, but you don’t have to wait long because soon he’s licking over the buds hungrily, sucking one of them into his mouth and pinching at the other with unforgiving fingers. “Ah!”

The thigh he has pressed between your legs catches you by surprise when your hips roll into it unintentionally. Toes curling in your shoes, you jolt at the sensation, throwing your head back to crash into the wall. He looks up at you in shock and concern when he hears the noise and you both stare at each other for a second before breaking out into cute giggles, his hand reaching up to rub the back of your head.

“Be careful, silly.” He grins, offering a quick peck to your lips before slipping back into that dominant, lust driven mask he wore just moments ago. “Grind on my leg, baby.” The duality is shocking. His words stir something within you, though, and you immediately comply, rubbing against him experimentally. To help you, he quickly removes your shorts, leaving just your drenched panties as a barrier against his clothed thigh. And then he’s back to sucking your other breast with enthusiasm. The feeling of his hard muscles rubbing on your clit is more than relieving, and you practically melt into a nice rhythm that has you moaning instantly. “Fuck, you’re so wet I can feel you soaking through my pants.”

“S-Sorry.” You apologize quietly, cheeks burning when you realize that it’ll probably leave a stain, but Jimin doesn’t care.

“I want you so badly, baby girl.” He groans, hands on your ass to help you move on his thigh. Your breathing picks up, chest rising and falling right in front of his face as he places more marks between the valley of your breasts. Circling your hips, you can only focus on the empties inside of you, wishing it was filled with his thick, hot cock that rests only a few inches from you, twitching with the need to be touched. The thought sends heat throughout your body and you speed up your movements, gripping onto Jimin’s shoulders when you feel your high approaching. He flexes his muscle and your eyes roll to the back of your head from the new sensation, and suddenly you’re moaning his name desperately, bucking into him a few more times before you finally reach your peak, both of you groaning into each other’s necks. You cling to him, legs shaky and body weak, but your pussy still aches and pulses for the cock that he has pushed against your upper thigh.

“Watching you cum never gets old,” He sighs, playing back the moment in his mind until you snap him out of it.

“Jimin, fuck me.” You whisper, balling up his shirt in your fists. Ever since your first time together last week, you’ve been dying to experience him again. You’d never tell him this, but you’ve masturbated to memories of that night almost everyday this week, and you can’t wait to make new ones. You think you’ve fallen in love with his dick.

Grunting in agreement, Jimin grabs hold of the back of your thighs, lifting you effortlessly to pin you against the wall with his body weight. His lips meet yours hastily as his hands move to grip your ass, fingers slipping beneath the crotch of your panties to play with your slit before pulling the material to the side and finally exposing you. He wishes he could see what you look like below him, shiny and swollen with arousal, pussy silently pleading for him to enter you.

“Such a needy little pussy you have, baby girl.” His eyes drop to watch as he easily inserts two fingers into you. “Always wanting more, huh? Cumming on my thigh wasn’t enough, you need to be filled with something before you can be satisfied, is that it?”

“Yes,” You gasp when a third finger stretches you, thrusting quickly until you’re completely relaxed, ready to take more. Jimin leans in to kiss your neck, just barely holding himself back from sucking dark marks there for everyone to see. He wants to mark you, claim you as his, show you off and remind you that you’re his now and that he’ll never let you go or do anything to hurt you.

“All you have to do is ask, baby, I’ll be more than happy to please you.” Mumbling into your neck, he skims his tongue higher and nibbles on the lobe of your ear, loving how you shut your eyes and roll your head in delirious need.

“Babe,” You whine in disappointment when he removes his fingers from you, grinding into his hips for some type of friction as you watch him lick his fingers clean while holding heated eye contact with you. He raises an eyebrow, waiting for you to speak. “Jimin, will you please fuck me?”

“You want this cock?” He asks, sending pleasant chills down your spine as his breath tickles your ear, one of his hands positioning his tip to barely brush the outside of your weeping folds. He makes a noise when he feels a long string of your juices drip out of you to kiss his head, the cool liquid making him twitch against you. You whimper then nod, his nose skimming the side of your face delicately. “Then beg for it.”

“Beg for it?”

“Beg for it.” He confirms with a wicked grin, watching the way your eyes search his in doubt. He’s serious, you realize, and that only makes it hotter. You’ll do anything he asks at this point, all if it means that his dick ends up inside you at the end of it.

“Baby, please, I need you inside me. Show me I’m yours, take me against this wall and make me forget about everything but your cock.” Saying these words while looking him in the eyes affects you more than you thought it would and you’re surprised just how into dirty talking you are. He’s starting to bring out another side of you that you didn’t know existed.

“Keep talking.” He rasps, his soft tip finally beginning to push inside. The stretch isn’t as bad as last time, but you’re far from used to it, lacing your hands in his hair and pressing your forehead to his to endure the slight burn.

“God, you’re so big,” Your mouth hangs open, gaping at the way he manages to rub all of your sensitive spots with his shallow strokes, still pushing himself in deeper. “I’ve dreamt about you every single day since that night— how you touched me, how you kissed me, how you made me feel so loved even as you fucked me into your mattress.” It’s hard to breathe when he’s stealing your breath away like this, staring into your soul with his chocolate eyes and reaching for your cervix with his cock. “Fuck, why did we wait so long to do this again?”

Jimin grunts, lowering you the rest of the way down his shaft. Your eyes roll to the back of your head when he’s fully sheathed inside, your legs tight around his waist to keep him close. “You’re everything to me,” He replies, kissing your lips slowly and delivering soft circles of his hips so you can feel him moving inside you. “I didn’t want you to think that I was only after sex from you. You’re so much more than that.” His lips feel cool in the now stifling room, tongue soothing against yours.

“I never thought that about you, Jimin. And I want you to know that that’s not what I’m after either.” You smile. “But right now, I really need you to destroy me.” Wiggling your hips as much as you can between him and the wall, you urge him move. With one more kiss, he slips back into his dominant persona, squeezing your ass hard in his hands, cold rings pressing against your skin as he pulls out of you, relishing in the sound of your slick before slamming into you with enough force to jolt you up the wall. You can’t even breathe with the first thrust, but the succession of thrusts that follows pulls heavy gasps and moans from your lips.

His hips settle into a rhythmic beat, slapping against the back of your thighs and ass as he readjusts so that his arms are hooked beneath your knees. He groans when he’s allowed the slightest bit deeper, pushing you tight to the wall to make sure you don’t move as he plows into you. The pain of your bare shoulder blades digging into the hard concrete goes practically unnoticed, you’re on cloud nine. The ache you’ve been feeling, the void left inside you that just so happens to be in the shape of his dick, the need to be closer to him: it’s all being relieved right now. Feeling him drag against your insides and hold your body close to his is damn near euphoric, you practically feel high.

“I missed this pussy,” Jimin’s teeth finally give in and nip at your shoulder and collarbone. The thought of warning him against it briefly crosses your mind in the one second between thrusts, but as soon as he’s back in— deliciously deep— you drop all complains. “So warm and soaking for me. I can feel how it sucks me back in, so greedy, baby girl.” You hear the smirk in his voice, shaking slightly with the power of his movements. It’s loud in here, every little sound bouncing off the surfaces of the room and magnifying. Every slap of his hips, every ragged breath, all of the whimpers and moans leaving your throat. It’s not hard to hear the sounds Jimin makes for you, how he sucks in through his teeth and groans quietly, trying to control himself solely for the purpose of not cumming too soon. People outside can probably hear it too, but right now, it’s only you and him in your own little world. “Fuck, you feel like heaven.”

He pulls you away from the wall so that he’s standing on his own, your arms instinctively tightening around his neck until your chest is flush with his. The hands placed on your ass slide higher onto your thighs as he starts to bounce you, up and down, up and down, gliding effortlessly along his pole.

“S-Shit,” You whine, a mixture of lust and fear coursing through you at the height you’re getting. Jimin carries you like you weigh nothing, his delectable biceps looking solid as ever as he repeatedly lifts you into the air and drops you down to impale yourself on him. From this angle he can see the sweat dripping off of you, face contorted in ultimate pleasure from the depth he’s getting, tip kissing your cervix in a different angle each time. Your breasts bounce harshly in front of him looking jiggly  and soft and he holds his mouth open, hoping one will land there for him to suck. This is definitely one of his fantasies— not fucking you in a family restroom— but him having you like this, fully suspended in the air and scratching at his shoulders in delight. He’s only seen this in porn, all of the girls looking like twigs in comparison to the bulky men that carry them, and he didn’t think he could do it. But the adrenaline and testosterone flowing through his veins right now is enough to convince him to do anything— even fuck you in a public space and make you moan in a room that may or may not be soundproof to the outside world. But he couldn’t care less about that now when you feel so good around him.

He grunts through gritted teeth, going hard and deep and neglecting the fast pace he set earlier. Your soft walls steal every thought from Jimin’s brain as his fluid hips snap into you on every down stroke and you can’t help but cry out.

God, it feels like he’s in your guts, rearranging your organs with the tip of his cock and carving out a home for himself. “Keep going,” You thought going this deep would be painful, but now that you’re here, it’s never felt better. This was exactly what you’ve been craving since last time, wanting him to fill you up in every sense and leave you breathless. You feel like your pussy just might swallow him up, his balls smacking against your ass with every collision, and it’s so good that you don’t notice the bright red lines you leave on his nape and back. “I think I-“

He looks up to find your eyes rolling back again, eyebrows knit and lips parted. “Like this, baby?” He keeps up the steady pace, head thrown back to peer up at you when he feels your walls begin to flutter.

“Yes, like that,” You nearly whisper, feet flexing at his sides where your legs flop helplessly. No more words can escape you, only loud whines of what he assumes is his name, and before you know it, your orgasm is suddenly crashing down on you, locking up all of your muscles as Jimin continues to bounce you languidly, moaning his own praise into the skin of your chest.

As you come down, he moves you to the counter of the sink, your ass meeting the cool marble, but you’re too fucked out to have a reaction. Having slipped out in transition, Jimin stands there and strokes himself as he watches your hazy eyes refocus on him. He’s not as close as he was before, but he has a feeling he won’t have trouble getting back to that point once he’s back inside your sopping heat.

“Mm, I wish I could take a picture of you right now.” His voice is almost a growl, his unoccupied hand lifting your thigh to pull you to the edge. “You look so fucked out; but I’m not done with you yet, baby. Can you take it?” He stares at you with genuine eyes, rubbing himself on your sensitive clit. It throbs under him and you jerk your hips, taking a deep breath to compose yourself.

“I can always take it for you.” Batting your lashes at him, you bite your lip and hope he doesn’t question you further. You were starting to feel empty again. Thankfully, he doesn’t and plunges in without further hesitation, moaning out your name and digging his fingers into your hip.

“That’s my good girl.” He grins when you clench at his praise. With your legs spread as wide as they can go, you lean back on one arm, keeping one hand latched to the back of his neck for support. You can feel yourself leaking onto the counter top where your ass is perched on the edge, making a mess as it covers his balls and the inside of your thighs, further soiling your panties that remain pushed out of the way of your opening. He’s rough with you, speeding up with every flex of his powerful hips and gripping desperately onto your waist to prevent you from slipping away. His eyes are focused between your legs and you follow the pink of his tongue with your eyes when it swipes against his lips, nearly salivating from the view. “Look,” He growls, grabbing the back of your neck to angle your head down to where you are connected. “I want you to watch how I split your pussy open, see how well you take me as I stretch you out. I could look at this all day, fuck.” He slows down, only for a few strokes, mesmerized by how shiny you make his member and how your lips open wide to accommodate him. “You’re so beautiful.”

You see what he sees, but pay more attention to his appearance. The thighs beneath him bulge with defined muscle, skin now glistening with the sweat that builds on both of your bodies in this humid room. His prominent v-line and hipbones look so enticing that you crave to kiss at them and leave marks on his milky skin. He doesn’t pull out very far, but every glimpse you get of his cock seems to affect you. God, you could worship his cock for hours if he’d let you. Maybe you’ll ask one day. It’s fat and veiny and a deep red color due to the blood that’s built up there from being hard for so long. On its surface gathers a creamy mixture of your cum and wetness, collecting at his base and sticking to the fine hairs of his pubic bone. You can hear the way he sucks in air as he watches himself glide through your folds with ease, a tense pressure sitting in his balls as he gallops toward his release.

“Baby,” You sigh, pulling him down to your lips to swallow the sounds in his throat. “Are you going to cum soon?” You ask between pecks, both of you struggling to breathe as you grind your hips into his to help him when he starts to falter. Forehead pressed to yours, he nods and squeezes his eyes shut, the clench of his jaw defining the strain on his face. You can’t help kissing him again, moaning when he tangles a hand in your hair and tugs lightly.

“Where do you want me to cum?” Jimin slows down a little, rolling his hips sensually instead of the brutal thrusting from before so he can make sure he hears you properly.

“Cum in me.” You state, leaning back on both hands and arching into him.

“You sure?” The surprise on his face is so pure, although the way he bites his lip at your confirmation is anything but. The groan that grazes your ears as he wraps his arms around you makes you shudder and clench. No one has ever cum inside you before, not even your ex, despite you being on the pill. He liked to cum on your face and chest and leave it to dry— quite degrading in your opinion— but he said it looked good on you so you’d let him do it. You never let him cum inside you no matter how many times he begged, it just never felt right, but now that Jimin is in his place, you want it more than ever. You want him to know that you are truly his. That he can have every single inch of you.

A succession of moans fall from Jimin’s lips, each one louder than the last, and fuck, if that isn’t the hottest thing you’ve ever heard, you don’t know what is. He keeps up with the grinding, muscles clenching and tightening as he nears his end, hips becoming less fluid as he rubs himself between your velvety walls, eyes squinting to stay open as he looks in your eyes. You nod at him, sucking on your lips to quiet your own whimpering so you can hear him better. Taking his hand, you bring it to one of your breasts, encouraging him to squeeze it in his palm, and that seems to be what finishes him, his fingers digging into the soft flesh when you feel him pulse inside you.

“Fuckfuckfuckfuck,” Jimin groans, dropping his head to your chest and struggling with himself to keep his hips moving to milk out his release. You move your own hips to his benefit, relishing in the hisses and uncontrollable moans that fly from him as he spills his love into you, the thick white substance leaking out alongside his shaft every time he withdraws from your warmth. It feels nice, satisfying. You never thought feeling him this way would make you feel so... complete. His tip rests inside you as he catches his breath, panting between the valley of your breasts and kneading at your hips with his gentle fingers. Your hands run through his sweaty hair, pushing it from his face and cradling his head to you, and you hope he can hear how hard your heart is beating, how full it feels. When he’s collected himself enough to move, he pulls away to smile brightly at you. “That was...”

“Incredible.” You finish for him, pulling him in for a deep kiss that quite literally steals your breath away. He pulls away, panting, and finally allows his softened length to slip out of you, though he’s not completely flaccid yet. His cum dribbles out of you despite your best efforts to keep it in and the uncomfortable feeling causes your face to scrunch up.

“Damn, that’s sexy.” Jimin’s eyes scan the mess dripping from your lower lips and it’s almost embarrassing, but the way he groans and drops to his knees in front of you quickly dispels your shyness. “Can I clean you up, baby?” He asks, all doe-eyed and cute, thumbs on either side of your entrance spreading you apart. He isn’t about to do what you think he is, is he? He can’t be serious. But the want in his expression tells you that he is.

“S-sure.” You aren’t sure exactly what you’re agreeing to, but he makes it a point to show you, diving tongue first into your slick lips, licking up everything that covers the inside and outside of you. Your walls throb at the sight and feeling of him slurping up the mess between your legs, making sure not an inch of you goes untouched by his tongue until you’re licked clean, his gaze never leaving yours. When he’s done, he leans back to show you the ungodly mixture of cum (both yours and his), arousal, and saliva in his mouth before swallowing it all down. You may have just discovered a new kink of yours.

“There,” The handsome man in front of you rises from his knees to stand before you. “All clean.” You can’t help kissing him again, wrapping your limbs around him in hopes of staying in this moment forever. Comfortably in his arms and still feeling the rush of endorphins that your previous activities provoked. It is with great reluctance that he pulls away from you.

Neither of you know what to say in this moment. The room is quiet again and your surroundings begin to return as you try to relax, taking it all in. Clothes are scattered all over the counter and floor, you’re in a public family restroom at an amusement park, and you and your boyfriend stand here naked in the center of it. Not to mention, this room is sweltering. Beads of sweat trail down the sides of your face and you wipe them away, noticing the discomfort of your now sticky spot on the sink counter.

“Wanna get out of here?” You ask, both of you giggling as Jimin helps you to your feet, gathering your clothes and handing them to you so you can get dressed. You’ve almost forgotten the whole reason you locked yourself in here in the first place. Almost. But it doesn’t really bother you that much anymore. You stop Jimin with his hand on the door, pulling him into one more tight hug. “Thank you, Jimin, for everything. I love you a lot, don’t forget that.”

His hands meet your cheeks and he pulls your lips to his for a gentle kiss, reluctant to pull away. “I love you, too. And I’ll always be here for you.” He stares into your eyes for another deep moment before moving back to the door.

You meet up with Taehyung and Hani as you make your way back to where the rides are, and they look you up and down, at first in concern, and then in disbelief.

“You seem to be in a significantly better mood.” Hani comments with a knowing look on her face. Usually you were able to keep your cool around her and not let on to more than you want her to know, but your reddening ears give you away when you think back to your recent encounter. You can practically feel where her eyes are glued to the colored faint marks at the base of your neck. Jimin’s arm pulls you into his side proudly, making some comment about being an amazing boyfriend and being able to take care of your “needs” which makes Taehyung chuckle, and then the four of you are off to look for Jungkook and his date in preparation to leave.

“Should we try to find the others?” Jieun inquires adjusting the straps of her bag on her shoulders. Having just finished the last rollercoaster of the park, the adorable pair had just completed all of the main attractions for the day and were almost back around to the front of the park where most of the souvenir shops and restaurants were located. It’s late afternoon, the sun beginning it’s descent toward the horizon, temperature cooling off just the slightest bit.

“We could do that...” Jungkook hesitates and avoids his date’s eyes. “Or we could keep walking around by ourselves? I like spending time alone with you.” The boy rubs the back of his head bashfully, showing off a bunny smile that Jieun can’t resist. He can’t tell what she’s thinking— and he hates making assumptions— but her responding grin is enough reassurance for him to boldly take her hand in his and squeeze.

“I like spending time with you too, Jungkook. I like you.” Her eyes disappear behind a blush, but she doesn’t look away from him, instead reaching up on her toes to plant a kiss on his cheek to then watch it blossom into a spread of red all over his face and neck. He’s as red as a tomato yet oh-so-satisfied.

“How about we get that funnel cake? I’m buying.” They share a huge serving of the treat, powdered sugar sticking their fingers together but enjoyed nonetheless, and Jieun couldn’t be happier. “After meeting my only requirement, I officially declare you as redeemed. I will completely forget about that whole carnival prize ordeal, but there’s one more condition. One more thing I want before I can do that.” Jungkook gives a fake exasperated sigh, tilting his head cutely.

“And what would that be?” His dark hair hangs in front of his eyes, jawline sharp and inviting.

“I want you to...” She leans close to him, eyes deadly serious, and anxiety builds in the pit of his stomach, “kiss me.”

“Pardon?” He isn’t sure he heard her right, but when she cocks her head coyly, an arrogant smirk finds his lips before he’s leaning in to steal hers. The kiss is quicker than she’d like, but there’s a knowing look in Jungkook’s eyes that tells her that he knows exactly what he’s doing. He’s teasing. Almost as if to say “there’s more where that came from’ along with promises that will be fulfilled behind closed doors. She just shakes her head at him, getting up to throw away their trash and pulling him up by his hand, intertwining their fingers as they stroll around.

Walking into one of the gift shops, they begin to look at clothing and accessories printed with cartoon characters and the theme park logo, something to take home as a memory of the occasion. Well, aside from the giant Iron-Man plushie they had left with Hani and Taehyung. Just as they make their way over to the hats and fanny packs section, Jungkook catches sight of something that makes his blood boil. Yes, something—the monster of a person that hurt you and your precious heart, to be more specific. His sharp inhale catches Jieun’s attention and she questions him, concerned gaze skimming the store as Kookie explains through his teeth.

“That’s the asshole that cheated on (Y/n). What the fuck is he doing here?” His eye are like knives as they point toward the unsuspecting man, who has the nerve to look happy and carefree. He doesn’t know if you’ve seen him or not, but he has the strong urge to protect you and get a little revenge in your name.

“It looks like he’s with someone.” She points, face scrunching at the greasy looking woman.

“I should go over there.”

“What? No! I don’t think it’s a good idea to pick fights with your friend’s ex.” Jieun, the voice of reason, whispers, looking alarmed.

“I’m not going to fight him, just mess with him a bit. Pulling pranks on people is my specialty.”

“What are you going to do to him?” She’s less concerned now and more intrigued by his confidence.

“Watch.” Jungkook sets his hat low on his face, walking with his head down and heading straight toward the couple that shamelessly flirts in front of the shelf containing ceramic mugs. They take up the entire space of the small aisle, so no one can really pass though, but Jungkook squeezes his way between them roughly, grunting an ‘excuse me’ all while intentionally shoving the man back and out of the way. Your ex stumbles, arms and elbows flailing about to catch his balance and knocking over a total of 5 mugs onto the cement floor. They crash down around him, the entire shelf he leans on threatening to go down with them, but he catches it with his hands and readjusts it, looking down in horror as shards of porcelain scatter around his feet. A worker shouts “You break it, you buy it!” from across the store at him, and that’s when he looks up to hiss at his offender.

“The fuck is your problem?!” He steps up to Jungkook aggressively, as if he would even have the balls to fight someone, and throws a few more curses his way. But all color drains from his face when he meets eyes with your little Baby Kook, who isn’t really so little, round eyes glaring right in his face. They’re about the same height, but your ex looks like a twig standing next to the broad and muscular Jungkook. He’s always been intimidated by Kookie, steering clear of him when you were still together and even confessing to you that he’s afraid of the fact that the younger man can probably break him in half with his bare hands and crush his head between his thighs. It was funny at the time, but that fear is very real and very present as the two stand toe to toe.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t see you standing there.” A cocky smirk plays on Jungkook’s lips and it makes your ex seethe, though he’s too afraid to show it. He tries the tough act still, though.

“You little shit, you better pay for all of the stuff you broke.” He steps closer over the crunching of shattered pieces but the younger man doesn’t flinch.

“Yikes... I would, but I’m not the one who broke them. Plus, I only have five dollars. Want it?” He flashes the bill quickly and reaches into the man’s pocket, depositing both the bill and an expensive looking ring he grabbed earlier, hidden in the palm of his hand. The ring falls in.

“Get your hands out of my pants!” He shoves at Kookie’s solid chest, pushing himself back a few inches and stumbling at his surprising sturdiness. Dignity lost in front of the prying eyes of everyone in the store, he sucks his teeth and growls. “I don’t want it.”

“No? Your loss.” Jungkook is still holding onto the bill between his fingers, pocketing it quickly before he can change his mind. He fakes an innocent look as he leans in to the man’s ear, eyeing the woman that stands shocked behind him. Your ex flinches, startled by the proximity and probably anticipating a hard punch in the gut. “I’m not going to hit you,” Jungkook chuckles, enjoying the way the man twitches uncomfortably. “I’m just trying to help you out. But hey, isn’t it illegal to hire prostitutes? Especially here, of all places.”

Gritting his teeth, That Bastard pushes him away successfully this time, spitting curses about disrespecting his girlfriend as Kookie turns his back and casually walks away, just in time for a worker to approach the cursing man and force him to pay for all of the cracked and shattered mugs surrounding him. Jungkook heads back to Jieun, laughing, and takes her hand, guiding her to the front of the store where he taps an attendant stocking toys on the shoulder.

“Excuse me, I saw that man over there steal something.” Pointing to the disgruntled man who digs in his wallet as the cashier rings him up. “You should search him, I think it was a ring.” The worker sighs and makes a call through his walkie talkie for security, thanking them before making his way over to the register. Both of them make their exit, laughing to themselves all the way out of the store until they reach their group of friends, who happen to be standing just outside.

“We saw the whole thing,” Taehyung starts excitedly. “Dude, that was awesome!” They high five and continue laughing, eyes still on the man in question.

“He looked like he was going to shit his pants when he recognized you. I wish I could have got that on camera.” Hani nods, clicking her tongue at the missed opportunity.

“Hani.” Jimin frowns.

“What? He deserves it.” They both look to you, who is conflicted with emotions. You didn’t want any of them to confront him for you, but this was different. This was harmless. And you’re certain your name didn’t come up at all while they were interacting.

“What did you do?” You finally ask, a little curious about what actually happened. Just then, security guides your ex to the entrance, walking him through the door sensors to check Jungkook’s accusations. He looks confident that it won’t go off, but that look is wiped clean off his face when the alarm sounds and the guards grab hold of his arms and push him toward the back of the store for an official search. “WHAT DID YOU DO?” Now you’re a lot curious, but you’re also smiling uncontrollably.

“Eh,” Jungkook shrugs. “I slipped a ring into his pocket. They’ll probably find it but at least he’ll get a pat down. Oh, and I also accused him of hiring a prostitute in front of his new girl just to piss him off.” He chuckles. A new kind of happiness swells in your chest at that. It isn’t much, but it almost feels like justice was served. You like to imagine that he is being fined and questioned by police because of what he did to you instead of for the petty shoplifting he unknowingly committed. And what’s even better is the scowl you catch on Candy’s face when she glances up and finds you watching the ordeal, narrowing her eyes and crossing her arms before storming off to follow her man. You hope to never see them again, to leave with the impression and image of them being dragged away by security as your last memory of their terrible faces. It will always be seared into your brain, like retribution for a cardinal sin, and you’re feeling better already.

“Thanks, Kookie. That just made my day.” You’re beaming as Jimin reclaims your hand, offering a proud pat to Jungkook’s shoulder.

“I say we celebrate with some dinner!” He grins to your group, leading everyone to a restaurant a few stores down, where you all enjoy deliciously overpriced park food and talk about your day. Everyone seems to have had an amazing time. Jungkook and Jieun are cuddled up on their end of the booth, sharing bites of food and giving each other The Look. The same look they had that night when they walked out of the club together. Taehyung and Hani seem infinitely less awkward, apparently having resolved some of their issues while you and Jimin were working out your own in the family restroom. And you finally felt like you were back to yourself while being surrounded by all of your friends. Jimin kept an eye on you, but saw no evidence of your previous sadness— just joy and relief— and for that he’s thankful, whether or not he is the reason for it.

As the last activity of the day, you all decide to shop for souvenirs (at a different store from the one your ex was in), and everyone picks out their favorite gifts. Taehyung watches as you and Jimin and Jungkook and Jieun mull over various objects at the front of the store, chatting and laughing with each other as you browse. He’s a little deeper in the store following Hani as she looks over the clothing lining walls and racks, enjoying watching her shop more than doing any real shopping himself. As he looks at her, he remembers their conversation from earlier— when they were left alone to work out their issues while you and Jimin disappeared to work out your own.

“After much debate, I have decided to officially forgive you.” He announces to Hani as they walk through the crowded carnival area. There are many more people here now than there was a few hours ago, most people having finished riding the rollercoasters and hoping to win a nice prize before heading home. Neither of them intended to actually play any of the games, agreeing that it was a waste of money and ultimately a scam, but the area was nice and the highly populated walkway was the perfect place to have a private conversation.

Hani gives him a look of disbelief from the corner of her eye with pursed lips before deciding to humor him. “O’ Great and Merciful Taehyung, I thank you deeply! What ever would I have done without your forgiveness?” She acts out dramatically, throwing her hands over her heart and swaying side to side. They laugh for a bit, the mood still light when he straightens up and his face becomes serious again.

“I’m sorry that I acted that way at the water park, it was really uncalled for. I was-“ He hesitates, voice a little deeper, “I was jealous.” That’s enough to stop Hani in her tracks. He sure seemed like he was jealous in the moment, but she didn’t think he actually would be. Because why would her fuck buddy be jealous of her using her ASSets to get what she wants— something that she always does? But that’s not even the part that really surprises her as he goes on. “I don’t think I can be fuck buddies with you anymore. I want more. I want more with you, and I only recently noticed. We started fucking in the first place because we both kept talking all that shit about how good we are in bed and it just happened out of curiosity and sexual tension. Then I realized that I actually felt something when we were together— and at first I thought it was just the bomb ass sex— but then the feeling didn’t go away after we were done fucking. I still felt that way when we’re just doing regular shit like hanging out. I felt it when you came to my job just to bother me because you were bored early this week. I thought my heart was going to explode because it was beating so fast. Something about knowing you came there just to spend time with me, even if it was just to pass the time, it made me so... happy. I couldn’t focus, you were so distracting.” She looks away, concealing a smile. “And I feel it now even when we’re on a fake triple date with our friends, walking aimlessly around this giant park and talking about the simplest things...” He trails off, trying to find the words to finish his speech and Hani trying to process it all. They start walking again after a few beats of silence, albeit very slowly, until he speaks up again. “I don’t know, I’m not good with words.”

This seems like a concluding statement, Taehyung suddenly getting shy as he scratches behind his ear. His head drops as they walk, not sure what to make of her silence, but he’s not even sure he wants to hear what she has to say. And when she opens her mouth finally, he prepares himself to be rejected.

“I was jealous of you too today.”

“What? When?” That’s a surprise that neither of them expected her to admit.

They walk past a booth containing large superhero plushies just like the one Jungkook and Jieun earned, the woman running the game pointing at them and waving them over. They ignore her as they keep walking, passing faces blending into the background. Hani sighs.

“When you were buying water when we first got to the water park. That lady was eye-fucking you the whole time, ready to risk it all for you at that concession stand.” She rolls her eyes, trying not to get angry again as she remembers the way that woman was trying her hardest to show off for him. “(Y/n) even called me out on it, I was 5 seconds away from knocking that bitch to the ground.” At this, Taehyung cracks a smile. He would never say it, but he’d love to see Hani fight someone for him. “Anyway, I guess that means that I... probably... feel... something...” It sounded like she was a foreigner trying to figure out the proper way to form a coherent sentence, unsure if the words she was producing were correct or not. He looks at her expectantly, raising his eyebrows and causing her to pull out the last few words of her statement painfully. “...similar to you.”

“You feel the same way?” He lights up, turning his whole body to her.

“Something. Similar.” She corrects strictly, though that does nothing to stop the goofy celebratory wiggle he does. “You know I haven’t been in a real relationship in a long time so I’m a little rusty at this. Don’t expect me to change so suddenly for you.” He pouts. “But, I’ll give you a fair chance and we’ll see where it goes from there.”

“This is so ugly that it’s kinda cute.” Hani laughs, showing him the brightly colored shirt she’s pulled from the rack. Not her usual style, but she could probably find a way to make it work. She’s been looking through the ugliest t-shirts and sweaters for the past five minutes and it’s getting to the point where it would be ridiculous for her not to buy one.

“Hey, about what we talked about earlier,” Taehyung starts suddenly, trying to be as casual as possible while leaning against a clothing rack, stumbling when the wheels begin to move beneath his weight.

“What about it?” She doesn’t even bat an eye at his clumsiness.

“Does that mean you’ll go out with me now? It was a little unclear for me.” Gnawing on his lower lip, he gives her a hard stare as she mulls over his words briefly.

“Absolutely not.” Her tone is cold and brisk, barely lifting her eyes to glance at him. His face and heart drop, scrambling to come up with words.

“Wh- I thought that’s what we-“

“Nothing about what we talked about had anything to do with me going out with you. I mean, why would it? You haven’t even asked me out on a date yet.” Oh. Her eyes linger on his for a split second, looking away just before his boxy smile reappears. “If we’re going to be anything more than friends, I need you to know this: I don’t do subtleties and indirect hints. If you want something, ask for it directly. I never sugar coat my words and I don’t expect you to either. So, if you want me to go out with you, ask.”

Taehyung steps closer, grin still playing on his lips as he seems to hover over her frame with his tall stature. She’s still flicking through rows of hangers absentmindedly as if they’re not in the middle of a conversation, and only stops upon his call.

“Hani,” He coos sweetly, blush coming to his cheeks. Hani thinks she’s the inexperienced one here, but it’s also be a while since Tae has asked anyone out himself. Usually women tend to throw themselves at him and use him for his dick— which has never bothered him before— but rarely has he ever gone on a date with the intentions of actually dating someone seriously. And if he had, the girls are most likely the ones who asked him out. Hani turns to him, batting her eyelashes innocently. Such an actress.

“Yes, Taehyungie?”

“Would you like to go on a date with me? I’m aware dates really aren’t your thing, but I think you’d quite enjoy this one.” He puts on a knightly voice for her, puffing out his chest like a suitor in court trying to win the heart of a princess. She tosses her hair around her shoulders, fluttering her eyelashes a few more times as though flustered before giving him a flattering smile.

“No.” His mouth drops open in disbelief, face morphing into a fake cry when she laughs and responds with her real answer. “I’m kidding! Yes, I’d love to go on a date with you.”

“No, you hurt my feelings.” He turns away from her like a child, breaking into a smile when she wraps her arms around his midsection and presses her check to his back in apology.

“I said yes, Taehyung, did you hear? There’s no way you didn’t hear with those big dumbo ears of yours,”

“Hey!” This isn’t the first time she’s teased him about his ears, but he pretends to be offended, trying to shake her off of him.

“Yes, I’ll go on a date with you.” She repeats, lifting to her toes to speak loudly into one ear, catching the attention of a few others in the store.

“You WHAT?!” You’re stomping over before either of them have the chance to respond, eyes wide and mouth open, Jimin trailing closely behind, pulled by the hand you squeeze in yours.

“Way to go buddy.” Jimin mouths as he gives a thumbs up to his best friend, ignoring Hani’s glare.

“Yes, you heard correctly. Hani agreed to go on a real date with me.” The two of you clap as Tae bows and blows kisses to the imaginary crowd, relishing in the glory.

“Don’t make me regret it.” Hani is embarrassed by the attention, not used to being the one with relationship news, and she separates herself from the situation as quickly as possible, grumbling something before picking a shirt and walking to the front of the store to pay.

Your group is loud on your way out of the park, shouting about all the highlights of the day, Jungkook proclaiming how he “knew” Tae and Hani would end up together— even though Hani swears that it’s just one date and it doesn’t truly mean anything. The ride back home is calmer and you sit up front with Jimin, Jungkook taking his spot in the back next to Jieun like he promised, and you feel a little bit better about everything.

Though that lingering discomfort in your heart is still there, you’re no longer sad or upset about the events of today. If anything, you think they did more good than harm in regards to your interactions with your ex. The only time you’d really paid attention to how much of an asshole he is was when you broke up with him in front of Candy, but the harsh words he spoke to you today were more than enough evidence for you to dispel any doubts that maybe, by some unholy power, he wasn’t as bad as you’d made him out to be in your head. You keep replaying Jimin’s words about how valuable you were to your ex, and the truth about why he was trying so hard to fuck with your mind today. And now you understand. It’s really quite simple actually. He had a good thing, you, and he let you go. So now you’re moving on to bigger and better things in your life and he can’t do shit about it. Period. He can’t get to you anymore because you have the amazing friends that keep you afloat and his angel of a boyfriend that continues to prove his indispensable worth to you, and you know you’re going to be okay. You no longer wish any harm to your ex and his whore of a girlfriend (oops), but you think pretty soon you’ll be able to close this chapter of your life and start a new one; one where your friends are all in happy, healthy relationships and live happily ever after— at least for now. But that’s good enough for you.

[bangtan-madi]

546 Days Without You — Six: Day 73

Pairing — Seokjin x Reader, also get bonus platonic!Jimin x Reader and platonic!Taehyung x Reader in this part

Tags — boyfriend!Seokjin, older brother!Yoongi, producer/songwriter!MC, military au (ish), idol au (ish)

Genre — fluff, angst

Word Count — 2.6k

Summary — Kim Seokjin is your entire world, and that world falls apart the moment he and your older brother Yoongi are conscripted into the South Korean military.

Part — 6 / 15

Warnings — None.

A/N — Taglist is open! Comment or submit an ask if you want to be added :) 

Previous — Next

“You know what would be really cool?” Jimin says aloud, half to himself and half to whoever might be within earshot of hearing his voice. Which is nothing out of the ordinary.

“What’s that?” you reply, shifting your headphones off your head for the first time in over an hour. 

Behind the glass, you hear Jungkook going through his warm-ups. Another day, another recording session. This particular afternoon is for the Busan boys, and you were happy to have them in such good spirits. You knew that you were going to have some long months ahead, preparing for the new album, but now that the songs had all been written and pre-produced, now it was time to actually get in the booth and sing their hearts out.

Today’s just a run-through of the solos, as well as Jimin and Jungkook’s sub-unit duet. They were over the moon about the selection and begged you to be there to give them pointers. While the youngest warmed up for his solo, you’d settled in behind the glass with Seokjin’s song playing over and over in your ears. Even while reading music sheets, you loved hearing his voice. It gave you the placebo effect of him still being there, which was a welcome feeling after seventy-three days in the military. There hasn’t been a single album before Map of the Soul: Dream for which Seokjin or Yoongi haven’t been in the recording studio. It’s a strange situation for everyone, but between having another Min and some pre-recorded segments from the missing boys, everyone is managing their emotions satisfactorily.

The blond spins his chair around, his head lulling against the cushion with a grin plastered on his face. At this moment, curled up in the seat as the room twirls around him, he looks more like a five-year-old than a twenty-five-year-old.

“Nah, it’s not worth saying. You’ll never go for it.”

Tossing your headphones onto the table, you reach out and stop Jimin’s actions with the edge of your foot. He jolts to the side, giving you a small glare at the intervention.

“Park Jimin, you’d better start talking or else.”

Your best friend arches a playful eyebrow. “Or else what, Min [Y/n]?”

Narrowing your eyes at him in a way that mimics your older brother, you grab the younger boy’s right forefinger and twist it back, moving it in an unnatural way. It’s not enough to actually hurt him, just enough to get his attention.

Instantly, Jimin is contouring around your touch, trying to escape from your grasp. “Owowow! What the hell, Min!”

Having got his attention, you loosen your grip, even if only a little bit. You lean closer and look him directly in the eye. “Spill, Park—”

“—All right, all right! Aish, you’re persistent!”

You drop your grip and allow Jimin to slip his finger from your hold. As he glares daggers in your direction, you slump back into your chair with a pleased expression.

“Where did you learn to be so evil?” the younger member mutters under his breath, adding a hint of babying to his voice. “Crazy lady.”

Choosing to ignore the comment, you wave your hand. “Go on.”

Jimin rolls his eyes and gestures to the tablet behind you, laying on the desk. “I was just going to say…wouldn’t it be cool if you recorded something of yours? Something you wrote, lyrics and melody and everything?”

“For what?” you laugh, finding the idea hilarious. “Shits and giggles?”

He shakes his head, wicked and beautiful grin returning. “For the album!”

You roll your eyes and turn back to the work station. “Sure, I’m the crazy one.”

“Why is that so crazy?” Jimin asks, pushing his chair so it rolls over to the desk beside yours. He rests an elbow against the surface so he can look straight at you. “Tell me.”

“Because no one wants to hear my voice, Chim. Let alone on BTS’ album. People only know me ‘cause I’m the great Suga’s little sister.”

“I’ve heard your voice! It’s pretty, and you’ve learned how to rap, too. I’ve heard you practicing Yoongi’s work with him before it’s recorded. You’re every bit as good as he is. You’re like Jungkook, or Hobi, or Namjoon, or your brother. You’re a triple-threat: you can write, you can sing, and you can rap.”

Shaking your head, you shove the blond’s chair, causing the piece of furniture to shoot to the other side of the room. “You’ve got some praise kink, Jimin. I hope you’re not trying to flirt with me.”

Despite being pushed back, Jimin scoots over once more and continues, “That’s not what this is and you know it. I’m serious! I know you have your own melodies and lyrics you’ve written. Yoongi’s always talking about how proud he is of your work, and it used to get under Seokjin’s skin so much because you never shared with him. And if I’m honest, as your best friend, I’d like in on the fun, too!”

You shrug your shoulders nonchalantly. “It’s personal for me. What I create is very close to my heart.”

“And what we create isn’t?” Jimin pauses for a second. “Look, I’m not trying to convince you to do anything you don’t want to do. You’re one of my best friends. I wouldn’t do that. But there’s a big difference between wanting to keep your work private because you want it to be yours alone and being too scared to share.”

Something he says resonates with you on a deeper level, and you’re forced to consider both options. Are you just a private person, or are you scared? Does the weight of what people might think weigh you down, the idea that Min Yoongi's—the legendary Agust D and BTS’ Suga—own sister isn’t half as good as he is?

Maybe…

“Believe me, I know what the latter is like,” Jimin murmurs. “It’s a big reason I never shared a lot of what I wrote and let Yoongi and Namjoon do most of the lyrical work. With 'Friends,’ I finally broke out of my shell. And who sat me down and gave me a big 'you should do this for yourself’ talk?”

A smile tugs at the corner of your lips. “That would be me, the obnoxious friend.”

He reaches for your hand. “I needed that then, and so I’m returning the favor because I believe you need that same advice now. You’ve been holding all this creative energy inside, and it’s only grown in the past few months as an outlet of healing. But you refuse to show anyone. I know low self-confidence when I see it.”

“I don’t have low self-confidence, Jimin.”

“Maybe not in most areas,” he agrees. “When it comes to sharing your own lyrics and melodies with the world? You do. You always shy away from it. You won’t even share it with Seokjin or me or the rest of us. Do you really think that we would ever judge you?”

“No,” you sigh in agreement.

Jimin sees he’s getting through, so he gives your hand a reassuring squeeze. “So…to quote your own words back at you, do this for yourself, [Y/n]. If not for anyone else, do it for you. You don’t have to share it with the world, or the company, or us at first. But one of these days, get in that booth and record something spectacular. Then, one day, show someone what you can really do.”

You reach over and run your fingers over Jimin’s hair, messing with the shorter strands at the back of his neck. “This is why you’re my best friend, Chim. You always know just what to say.”

Jimin’s cheeks turn a light shade of pink, and he pulls you closer so he can wrap you in a tight hug. The Busan-native has always been physically affectionate, and it’s one of your favorite things about him. His touch is eternally warm and reassuring. Even in the darkest days, Jimin is a light you know you can walk towards.

Seokjin might be your sun—the object of warmth that you revolve around. Yoongi might be your moon—the emotional stronghold of a satellite that’s always been there. But Jimin is your stars—all the twinkling lights that give you grace in the night.

Your best friend lets you go, and you settle back into your producer’s chair as Jungkook slips his headphones over his ears, ready to begin the practice session.

“Let’s take this nice and easy first round, okay?” you say through the microphone. 

Jungkook gives you a smile and a thumbs-up. Jimin merely smirks and shakes his head.

“Have you ever known Jungkookie to go nice and easy on anything?”

“Oh, not at all, but it was worth a shot.”

Later in the day, after practice is finished and the Busan boys have wandered off to do whatever it is they wanted to do, you find yourself swinging by your oldest friend’s favorite burger joint. Taehyung had a hankering for this place ever since he first went there, but that was almost seven years ago. If you recall correctly, it was the place you both stopped on your way to Big Hit for the first time since he joined the group. You would have thought that the hunger for this hole-in-the-wall diner would have been sated by now, but you couldn’t be more wrong.

And that greasy, delectable burger is your secret weapon.

After grabbing take-away for you both, knowing his favorite order by heart, you scurry off to the dorms. Holding the paper bags in one hand, you hammer the other on his door. The jazz playing on the other side quiets, and the door opens moments later.

“On a scale of one to Winter Bear, how creative do you feel tonight?”

Taehyung cocks an eyebrow. “Are you implying that Winter Bear is the epitome of creative?” His eyes shift down to the bags in your grasp, eyes slightly widening as he spots the logo. “What’s that?”

You lift the bags and unceremoniously shake them in his face. “You wanna help me with something?”

His boxy grin appears, quickly turning sneaky as he grabs the bags and giggles. “You know just how to bribe me, [Y/n].”

Ruffling the taller man’s curly dark hair, you retort, “You’re not too hard to please, Tae.” Reaching for his free hand, you thread your fingers through his and tug him down the hall. “C'mon. I need your artistic expertise.”

After seeing you taking him towards Genius Lab, Taehyung asks, “Wait, why do you need my help? And on what, again?”

You press the code and usher him inside. Once seated on the sofa, Taehyung begins unpacking the meal. You take your usual perch in Yoongi’s studio chair and roll over towards Taehyung, scooping your burger from the coffee table and taking an enormous bite.

“I had a talk with Jimin today while we were waiting for Jungkook to warm up.”

Taehyung smirks and takes a bite out of his own, resting back against the sofa with his attention split between you and the meal. “Should I be scared to ask what about?”

With your free hand, you pull your notebook of melodies and toss it in Taehyung’s direction, feeling your heart rate quicken at the thought of someone else seeing your innermost creative work. Forcing those fears away, you nod towards it and encourage him to open it.

Your companion, sensing that this is something important to you by the way you stay silent, puts his burger down and gently picks up the notebook. With tender fingers, he flips from one page of drafted melodies to the next, seeing approximately a decades’s worth of what you consider your best work. 

For several minutes, the room is silent. He doesn’t touch his food, nor does he speak up. He merely observes the work on each page with wide and curious eyes. Taehyung isn’t one to keep his attention on anything for very long, especially when his favorite take-away is a foot in front of him. The thought gives you butterflies, and you can only hope his attention is focused on the good and not the bad.

“Are these the melodies you only show Yoongi?” he eventually asks, his voice deep and quiet.

You nod. “Until now. You’re the second person to see them, and I’m not sure even Yoongi has seen all of them.” Another beat of silence passes, and you start to squirm in your seat. “Well, what—what do you think?”

Taehyung laughs, shaking his head as he looks up at you for the first time since seeing your work. “I think you’ve been holding out on us.” He gestures to the pages. “I’ve never been the best at reading sheet music, but I can play all of these in my head and they sound beautiful. You have a talent, [Y/n]. Really, and you know I don’t say anything I don’t mean so don’t doubt it when I say these could all be songs in and of themselves.”

A heavy sigh of relief slips from your lips. “Oh, thank god. You were so quiet. I thought…” You shrug. “I don’t know.”

“And I’m honored to be the second person to see them, by the way.” He hands your notebook back to you, handling it like some sort of precious treasure. “What on earth did Jiminie say to make you change your mind after all these years?”

“You know Jimin,” you chuckle. “He’s got a silver tongue.” Taehyung scoffs in agreement. “But he didn’t tell me anything I didn’t need to hear. 'You love being creative, [Y/n]. It’s your outlet. Why don’t you combine your melodies and lyrics and record something for once?’”

The brunet’s head perks up. “Record? Like…you would sing?”

You make a noncommittal gesture with your hands. “I was considering it. I mean, I love to sing when I’m by myself. Sometimes I sing around Seokjin, and I’ve helped Yoongi practice his parts, both pre- and post-production. Jimin thinks I can rap and sing, and I’ve done both for a while…”

Taehyung’s boxy grin returns, even bigger than when he saw what food you’d brought him. “I think it’s a great idea! I’ve heard you sing in bits and pieces and always thought you had a pretty voice. How can I help?”

You tug a second notebook from the desk and hold it up. “These are newer. They’re my lyrics. I’ve…written a lot these past few months. It’s been a healing experience, but I’m struggling with putting lyrics to melodies. Your music gives me—and everyone—immense comfort, and they’re always blended seamlessly. I was hoping you could help me figure this out. It’s no fun doing all this alone all the time.”

The man from Daegu nods fervently. “No way I’d rather spend my evening.” He shoves the remaining bits of his burger into his mouth and makes grabby hands towards your notebooks. “We’re going to need a couple of plain sheets of music, a new notebook, all the colored pens you can find, and a bottle of wine. You get the first three, and I’ll get the last. Do you prefer red or white?”

You shake your head as Taehyung bounces excitedly off the sofa and towards the door. “You’re going to pick red no matter what I say, aren’t you?”

He doesn’t stop moving as he shouts over his shoulder, “Absolutely!”

Taglist — @joyful-jimin, @gracehiii​, @live-2-fangirl​

[lemonpeter]

Catch Me if You Can- chapter 4

Tags: @sherly-not-obsessed @mykale-yellow @avaxxc @alette606 @starkravingspiders @smidnite @indecisive-mess-named-me @mercury-deacon-taylor-may @seaweedbrain3000 @aoifelaufeyson @ironspiidey @ironfestivalgoopmaker @darknessyuu @john--imnotgay--watson

Warnings: little bit of steamy stuff (Harley x Peter), no cheating but Peter keeps having thoughts about Tony

**

But then, Peter’s bad mood seemed to dissipate just as soon as it appeared. 

By their next class he was back to normal, playful banter filling the room. 

“Stark, are you actually trying to finish the problem or are you contemplating your life’s decisions? Because at this point...I really can’t tell. Can you?” Peter teased, not even looking up from his paper. He scribbled down the last answer just as Tony stood up, racing to the front of the room to turn his paper in.

“Oh, I was just beating you, Parker. That’s what.” Tony grinned, leaning against the teacher’s desk. 

Their teacher, Mr. Carter, chuckled, already used to their silly rivalry. He checked the answers on Tony’s paper, humming quietly to himself. Then he looked back to the boy when he was done. “Very good. All correct.”

Peter huffed, handing him his now-completed paper next. 

As a surprise to none, his answers were all correct as well.

They sat back down, right back to bickering as the teacher stood to go over the assignment from the night before.

“Parker, did you even do the work? Or were you too busy staring into your boyfriend’s eyes?”

Peter’s face went red, but he still responded. “I was busy puking my guts out, but I still got it done. What about you? I’m sure you had to give your person of the night some attention, did you get the paper done?”

Tony snorted. He hadn’t had anyone over, but he could still play with that. “Oh, I’m multi-talented, haven’t you heard? But I’m sure you wouldn’t know anything about that, with-”

“Boys!” Mr. Carter interrupted, shaking his head. “I’m amused as much as anyone with your little game, but it can’t be going on while I’m teaching. Wouldn’t want your lack of attention to reflect on your work, hmm?”

Both shook their heads, looking back to the front and pointedly not looking at each other. They weren’t going to let anything mess them up. 

As soon as the first question was asked, both boy’s hands shot up. 

The force was enough to lift the hem of Peter’s sweater just a fraction of an inch against his stomach. But it was just enough.

Tony’s eyes drifted momentarily, catching the pale sliver of skin that peeked out. Then he was focused on the lean muscle there. Woah.

“Yes, Mr. Stark, do you have the answer?” Mr. Carter asked, calling on Tony.

Eyes still fixed on Peter’s skin, Tony couldn’t seem to find the answer he had just seconds ago. “Uh…”

The class erupted into laughter, the teacher just shaking his head. “Maybe don’t raise your hand unless you know the answer next time.”

Tony’s face burned, finally tearing his eyes away. “I-I did…”

But he found his brain a bit clouded with the image of the delicate muscles Peter fucking Parker was hiding. Damn. 

***

The end of the day came quickly. 

Peter met Harley at his locker. Maybe the other boy had upset him earlier, but he still loved him. It was just a stupid comment. Not a big deal. Peter had determined he had just overreacted. So Harley was still coming over after school.

Harley kissed his boyfriend softly when he saw him, smiling. “Hey, sugar. We’re still planning on me staying for dinner?”

Nodding, Peter tucked himself into Harley’s side. “Of course. And...I have a surprise for you.” He smiled shyly, looking at the ground. He had decided to show him what the spider’s bite had done. He wouldn’t give the full story, but he could show the physical change.

Eyebrows raised, looking interested. “Oh yeah?” The other boy grinned, shutting his locker and wrapping an arm around his boy’s waist. “And...I’m assuming Ben and May aren’t home?”

Peter shook his head, slight smile tugging at his lips. “Nope.”

“Awesome. Let’s get going.” Harley grinned, kissing Peter again. 

They started walking to the doors, leaving school. Peter was full of jittery excitement, nearly trembling. Maybe Harley had been upset with his gained weight before, but he was sure he would appreciate the cause of the gain. 

He hoped he would, at least. 

Tony was nearby, listening to them and watching just enough to not be noticed. 

He watched them go, sighing. He didn’t understand why Peter could just so easily forgive the guy that had made him cry so much earlier. 

But he figured he just didn’t really understand relationships. Why tie yourself to one person? It seemed stupid to him.

But he found himself thinking about whether or not he would want that with Peter.

Definitely not. (Yes.)

He left school as well, trying to shake off the thoughts. He didn’t want that with Peter. He told himself not to be stupid.

***

 Peter and Harley got to Peter’s building, getting into his apartment and dropping their bags near the front door.

“So, what was this surprise?” Harley asked immediately, grinning. He sat down on the couch, stretching out and holding his arms open.

Peter chuckled, crawling into his lap and kissing him softly. He hoped he wasn’t too heavy. So he shifted his weight a little, ending up straddling his boyfriend to keep the weight mostly off of him. Neither of them would complain about the new position. 

“I just have something to show you,” Peter murmured, moving his lips to Harley’s neck.

The other boy hummed, hands drifting to Peter’s waist and pushing his shirt up. He just wanted to get his hands on that creamy white, flawless skin. Then he paused, eyebrows furrowed. “What…?”

Peter blushed, hiding his face in Harley’s neck. “Surprise,” he murmured.

Pushing up the sweater, Harley’s eyes ran over the unfamiliar expanse of muscles over his boyfriend’s torso. “When...how…” He looked to Peter, obviously confused. “Pete, what is this?”

Peter pulled back, face a pale pink that made his freckles really stand out. “I told you it was a surprise.” He giggled softly, trying to hide his face again.

Harley nodded slowly, pushing the sweater the rest of the way up and pulling it over Peter’s head. His tongue darted out, wetting his lips quickly. “This...wow…” He seemed unable to form an entire thought.

Not fighting it, Peter stretched a little as if to show off a little. “You don’t need to keep your hands to yourself, y’know. You can touch…”

Harley grinned at that, hands immediately reaching out. His fingers traced over new abs, trailing over jutting hipbones and the muscled V between them. “This is incredible. God, you’re gorgeous”

Peter blushed, hips rocking forward a little. He found that he was seeming a lot more sensitive in his lower half and was reacting accordingly. And he was suddenly nervous. “Harles, maybe we should slow down a little. Maybe I’m not as ready to explore this as I thought.”

Harley looked at him, sighing softly. He didn’t move his hands. “C’mon, sweetheart. We haven't done anything in such a long time. Let’s have a little bit of fun.”

Peter bit his lip, thinking about it. That wasn’t entirely true. Peter would help Harley get off quite a bit, whether with a hand or with his mouth. It was just that the favor was never really returned. It had been so long since Harley touched him that it was believable that he had bulked up like that without him noticing. In a normal amount of time. 

He sighed, giving in a little. He wanted to feel wanted. Wanted to be touched. So maybe just this time he could give in…

Harley leaned in, kissing him softly. “Come back to me, Petey. You’re spacing out again.”

“Sorry. Sorry. Just thinking. I think...we can do a little bit. But not all the way.” It wasn’t like they had gotten that far anyways. “I think they’re going to be home soon anyways.” Who it was went unsaid. It was just a bit of a mood killer to mention parents or parental figures while feeling each other up. 

“Okay. We can make this quick.” Harley grinned. 

***

To be fair, they made it quick.

Making out, grinding on each other like the horny teenagers they were until Harley decided it wasn’t enough for him. 

So, Peter helped him, without complaint, until his stomach and abs were painted with pearly white streaks of cum.

Not his own, of course.

Then Harley claimed to be too tired to help him out, so Peter got himself off after he was cleaned up.

And just in time, too. May and Ben got home just after that.

So they sat at the dinner table, everyone silent as they picked at the pasta dish that Ben had fixed. 

May was the first to speak up, smiling a little bit at her nephew’s boyfriend. “It’s so good to see you again, Harley. It’s been a while.”

He grinned, shrugging a little. “Yeah, I’m sorry about that. School just keeps me so busy. And home does too. And work.” He just had a lot going on all the time. 

But Peter knew that it wasn’t that much. Not so much that they couldn’t go on a date once in a while. Not so much that Harley couldn’t help Peter make plans for anniversaries. Yet he always seemed to be too busy. 

So the other boy stayed silent, just eating. 

May nodded. “And how is your sister doing?”

Peter tuned out the small talk, just eating. 

He found his mind drifting to Tony. What was he doing? Did he have someone over? Did he ever think about Peter aside from the rivalry?

How would Tony react to Peter’s new body? Would he be interested? More interested than Harley had been? Would he actually pay attention to Peter and what he wanted?

He sighed softly, trying to chase those thoughts away by shovelling more food into his mouth. He didn’t need to think like that. He had a boyfriend. And Tony didn’t want him like that.

So he was with Harley. Who loved him. He knew he loved him.

He hoped so, at least.

[alistonjdrake]

Of Rust and Gold: Season Two

Or more like...the beginning of my world building posts for Of Vipers and Saints (the sequel) 

My other world building posts:  1  2  3  4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Main Wip Intro here

Below you’ll find a rundown of the key figures/prominent characters of the sequel so let’s get to this, shall we?

OVS, Of Rust and Gold’s first sequel takes us back to the Escana Empire where the Harver reign faces new struggles when they’re asked to join a war on foreign soil, rebellions against their rule are sparked, and an assassination attempt threatens to tear it all apart.  Prince Argus and his ex-pirate lover Leo are finally given the chance to be together, but as the political climate gets hot even they might turn against each other.

Prince Argus: Older and (slightly) wiser, Argus has said goodbye to his party boy nature although not by choice and spends much of his time as a councilman and still pushing his nose into other people’s business and matters that go over his head. Now with fewer friends, a bigger rift between him and his cousin, and a boyfriend he spends all his money on. Lonely but still well dressed. Oh. And he proposed to Leo. 

King Cidro: King of Escan and Emperor of all her territories. Cidro’s reign is still young and he struggles to emerge from the shadow left by Frederick and to move Escan away from the history that stains them. Can be found either doting on his wife or cooing at one of three children he now has. Being a king can get busy but he’ll be damned if he doesn’t get in his family time. A very nice guy but possibly not very keen of his youngest brother’s sugar baby?

Prince Leonides: With their father gone, Leonides has possibly occupied an even bigger space in court. Still striking fear and reluctant attraction into the hearts of others. Between him and the queen, sometimes it’s hard to tell who’s really pulling the strings behind the scenes but at least we can always trust Leonides to know everyone’s deepest darkest secrets. Or does he? 

Queen Liliana: Queen Consort of Escan and Empress of all her territories. After pushing out 3 kids (1 girl and twin boys) she’s moved onto other “duties”. Such as shadowing Cidro everywhere he goes and constantly whispering in his ear before he makes big decisions. What’s she saying? No one knows but no one is gonna ask either because of the resting bitch face. 

Princess Zurina: The only daughter of the late King Frederick and Argus’ oldest sister. The past couple of years have not been easy for her and she’s tired of not being included. She also thinks she’s cursed and that demons are gonna pry the empire from their hands and hates when their religious neighbors come to court.

Princess Damaris/Dame Havisa: Having pushed more of her focus onto knighthood and her work, Damaris is just one step away from leaving the Harver family entirely. After Argus, she’s been engaged several times. Luckily, nothing stuck.

Councillor Gilabert: A councilman who sits next to Argus during meetings. He’s in charge of a whole ass committee put together specifically to find Argus literally anyone else to marry as long as it’s not A. an ex-pirate and B. an ugly ex-pirate. He’s a nice guy. Ask him about his aunts.

Chancellor Harver: Or Prince Manolo. Although he took priestly vows and is technically no longer a prince. He lives and works in the holy capital of Mignola but is back to ask for a favor as war wrecks havoc throughout Codua and the most religious Santivians seem to think this is the Saints saying that something ain’t right with the world. He started growing a mustache. No one has the guts to tell him it’s not a good look. 

Prince Aayden Ponsonby: Possibly Argus’ only friend at this point. Friend, being used liberally. He still has a short temper, but now with more angst considering his father has been locked in his room for 3 years and now he has a family and legacy of his own to consider. 

Lady Cordinia ana’Gustavo Carvallo: Ex-queen, still a stepmom. Cidro put her in charge of the royal nursery. Keep as far away from Argus has possible.

Lord Enyo an’Tomas Serafin: After being dumped he’s actually been away from court for quite some time but could be tempted to come back. Or forced. Depending. 

Reverend Mother Ulrike: Mother of all Santivian nuns and here to pull Escan and Oskya into a war in Codua. It’s a messy situation but hey, some of the Harvers have a bone to pick with the Justice (religious leader) too and she’s hoping to pull them in if only because this might have a negative effect on their empire. 

Ambassador Ulmer: Oskyan Ambassador who literally will never be able to get a break. 

Hartanti Telak: King Frederick might be dead but she remains in the palace as a kindness from King Cidro. Not for any other reason. She has no other job. We swear. 

Maltoq Zamen: So...is he a prisoner? Is he a guest? Are people really still mad at him over the whole “almost fed Argus to a living god” thing? Wow. Get over yourselves. Oh. Also the figurehead ruler of Theassau, one of many territories controlled by Escan. He’s been held in Graza Palace for some time now. 

Marcel: A man traveling with Mother Ulrike because he sought help after fleeing religious persecution caused by the wars in Codua. Certainly not a con artist and definitely not someone Leo recognizes.  

Leo Dianglo: Still grumpy, still drinks a bit too much, and still would rather not talk about it. All he wants to do is put his life of crime behind him (or does he?) and spend some well-deserved time with the man he loves but it’s hard when literally no one in Graza wants him there and he’s constantly being pushed in different directions. Not to mention being the guardian of two teenage boys have put him in more troubling scenarios than he ever signed up for. At least now he’s the captain of his own ship and what he does is totally LEGAL.

Mel: Angst-riddled teenager, definitely cursed, and struggling to understand something no one can really explain to him. With his dad still on the run, people keep coming to him for answers he doesn’t have. But worse yet, they’re trying to teach him things. 

Mung: Pirate orphan #2. When he’s not threatening to murder Mel, he’s also spending way more time with him than he’d like to admit. Sure, Mung is definitely hiding something but he also slouches too much. Let’s pay attention to that instead.

Officer Gerwin: Commander of Escan’s Knights. He’s never having a good day.

Sir Erasmus: Knight elected to keep an eye on Leo and his wards to watch for any illegal activity.  

Tarley Vilardi: A Fate (solider of the Saints) who survived the night all hell broke loose in the holy city. An ex-lover of the now-dead Niels Dursten and blames a certain Harver for it. 

Lady Ludovica: A woman living in Mignola with her children and a distant relative to Mother Ulrike. Might speak up in a case against the Harvers because another one stopped writing her back after their affair. 

Duchess Benedetta Onesta Cassiopeia de ave Astorino: Yes. You have to say her whole name. She’s young and the daughter of a warlord who had a dedicated following, as such she’s been raised as a soldier and her men would die for her. And that’s likely why she’s been waging war in Codua since she was 10. But recently she’s gotten more ambitious and that can’t have anything to do with the fact that her uncle is Justice and hoping to build an empire of his own? In the process of trying to work out an engagement with someone that would give her land on Escana soil and no one wants her to step foot out of Codua. 

Justice Zisa: Well polite in manners he’s known to be quite ambitious and selective when it comes to telling people his intentions. Is he putting any effort into stopping his bloodthirsty niece or is he party to the destruction she’s causing?

Wiara: A girl Leo found in a shipwreck. She claims to be a princess but she was also smelled like blood magic and no one is really sure how she ended up there or what she wants. 

Sister Rosalie Pélissier: Working in the Kallenbach household, a Kellish nun working out the terms of engagement between Lord Gaius Kallenbach, one of the last of the Kellish nobility, and Duchess Benedetta. She also has some radical ideas about the Saints and could possibly be tempted to guide someone else who isn’t a warlord if they’re willing to listen/bring the change she believes the world needs.

Lady Philomené Kallenbach: One of the last of the Kellish nobility. At one point she was engaged to Argus and at another was the symbol for the last Kellish rebellion against the Escana Empire. She and Sister Rosalie are very close.

Lord Gaius Kallenbach: Phil’s younger brother. Might marry Duchess Benedetta and invite her onto Escana soil.  

Lord Elas an’Rodro Barraza: The rivalry between the Barrazas and Harvers goes back to the beginning of Frederick’s reign. There’s a lot of bad blood but current events invite the Barraza family to Graza for a celebration and surely an old man with a grudge is no worse than all the other threats surrounding them. 

Tamune: The living god in the cells deep within Alda. 

 An Assassin: Someone tried to kill a Harver. The question is who?

[medea10]

My Review of Grand Blue

How did I get into this anime? Well, I heard there were some good reviews about this particular title. It was one of those animes I probably should have watched in summer 2018, but more than likely I was watching some sequel no one remembers.

Iori Kitahara just moved to an ocean-front town to live with his uncle since he lives near Izu University (a school Iori was accepted into). His uncle owns a scuba diving shop that serves as a local hangout for members of the school’s diving club. Little does Iori know that this is a local hangout to get FUCKING SHIT-FACED!!!

I am not making this up. These members drink like it’s going out of business. And usually these drinking binges end up with blackouts and public nudity. In Iori’s case, he got so black-out drunk that he woke up in front of his new university’s courtyard…on the first day of school…only wearing his boxers! I’m beginning to see why Amazon put out an advisory at the beginning of each episode about drinking responsibly. But aside from drinking with a bunch of meat-head senpais, there’s also diving. Yeah, club activity is actually diving into the ocean.

So let’s dive into this college-leveled, binge-drinking club as we meet some interesting characters like, a raging otaku (Kouhei), Iori’s cousin with “Permanent Resting Bitch-face Syndrome” (Chisa), a girl who should get a makeup tutorial on Youtube (Aina), two meat-head senpais (Bukki and Tokki), Drinky McStripsItAll (Azusa), and Chisa’s “loving” older sister (Nanaka).

BETWEEN THE SUB AND THE DUB: So this is an Anime Prime exclusive, so I doubt I’d be hearing a dub to this any time soon. The sub has quite the line-up of seiyuus including that upcomer I’ve been raving about all 2019, Yuuma Uchida. But a lot of well-known folks like Kana Asumi and Hiroki Yasumoto (who can literally play anything at this point) shine in this anime. Here’s what you might recognize these folks from.

*Iori is played by Yuuma Uchida (Kyo on Fruits Basket 2019, Uenoyama on Given, Chika on Kono Oto Tomare, Sun on Oresuki, Ash on Banana Fish, and Shirazu on Tokyo Ghoul :re)

*Kouhei is played by Ryouhei Kimura (known for Hinata on Angel Beats, Hachiken on Silver Spoon, Takizawa on Eden of the East, Judar on Magi, Taishi on Tokyo Ghoul, and Hiyori on Free!)

*Chisa is played by Chika Anzai (known for Mina on Attack on Titan)

*Aina is played by Kana Asumi (known for Taneshima on Working!!, Ran on Shugo Chara, Kazakiri on Index, Yuno on Hidamari Sketch, Nagisa on Madoka Magica: Rebellion, and Tachibana on Nisekoi)

FAVORITE CHARACTER: I’m gonna say that after watching all 12 episodes; Aina (a.k.a. Cakey) grew on me. Horrible caked-on make-up aside, let’s be real here.

I think it’s because of the development we see with her ever since she was introduced early in the series. We see a girl trying her damndest to fit in with the tennis club only for it to blow up in her face (literally when we’re talking about all that makeup that’s “caked” on her face). Yeah, these guys treated Aina like garbage! But after joining the diving club, we see her be herself and slowly trust those around her. I think it’s more of this character resonating with me in some sad aspect, but I too feel the pain of trying to fit in or not wanting to let anyone down. Anyways, Cakey is my girl!

Poor dear, I feel your pain.

SHIPPING: So Iori is now a college lad and getting smashed eight ways from Sunday. And I’m sure he’s going to have his own picks of the ladies when he isn’t drinking with an otaku and a bunch of meat-heads.

…Or he can get freaky with his blood cousin!

*eyeball twitch*

ANYWAYS, Chisa has made her point clear with the disgusted face she makes whenever she’s around Iori. But in anime terms, we know that she has that classic tsundere syndrome. So when someone like Aina comes into the picture and Iori sticks up for her, jealousy arrives like a fucking A-bomb! Despite Chisa announcing to a wide, public setting that Iori was her boyfriend (while he was passed-out drunk), nothing too scandalous happened with this. It was just so she could keep creepy boys away. Honestly, I really have no problem if Chisa and Iori hook up. It’s actually better than Chisa being with someone who has an unhealthy obsession with her.

I don’t want to say Nanaka has a thing for her baby sister, but this is getting too borderline Yuru Yuri that I have to say something about it.

I’m pretty sure Aina might be a contender after all Iori has done for her throughout the series. It’s just that she can’t stand all that binge-drinking and getting buck-naked at any moment.

And then there’s wild card Azusa! She’s a flirt! What else can I say about her? She teases Iori every chance she gets. Hell, near the finale she tantalized Iori in sex. Wasn’t sure if she was kidding or if she really meant it! However she did shove a leek up Iori’s ass, but that’s because he was sick.

I swear this is normal behavior.

By the end of the series, we really didn’t get much in terms of full-on hookups. Many misunderstandings have occurred involving word-play. Iori, Kouhei, and their band of geeky friends are still virgins (though one of them came very close to sealing the deal). One of the meat-heads has a girlfriend (did not see that one coming). But on a positive note, Chisa and Iori’s friendship has been pretty steady. I wonder how long that’ll last!

ANIMATION: I gotta say it, the facial expressions on these characters were a laugh-riot. It wasn’t like this was pathetically sad that I have to laugh at it. But more of how expressive these characters got when they have to express hatred or disgust! This is more for comical expense and I happened to like it. It’s like with the anime Prison School, all the facial expressions worked in their favor. This, while out of place some of the time, never fails to make me laugh.

ANIME REFERENCE: While shopping for gear for an upcoming diving expedition, Kouhei came across two suits that would make any old-school otaku squeal.

The suits of Rei Ayanami and Asuka Langley Soryu from Neon Genesis Evangelion in diving suit form. And Kouhei got Chisa and Aina to try them on!

ENDING: At the end of episode 9, the diving club is heading to Okinawa for a special trip that is promised we will never forget. They made sure of that when the anime gives us a two-minute preview of what to look forward to in these final three episodes. Just be warned a lot of things mentioned really didn’t happen. It almost felt like one of those gag previews Gintama is notorious for.

Well Iori, Kouhei, and Aina are going to attempt at getting their divers license so that they can go even further down the ocean. It seemed like all three were doing pretty well when it came to the basics of diving underwater. However, it was quickly noticed by Nanaka that Iori was having trouble keeping water out of his goggles and that could result in immediate failure. So Iori practices all night (with help from Chisa and Aina). However, Iori ended up in some trouble when a patrolling policeman comes upon him in the pool. And Iori spent the rest of the night in the water because he was naked.

Because I’d be concerned if he wasn’t naked!

Well, the next morning, he caught a cold. Then dumbass thinks it’s a good idea to get rid of a cold by drinking vodka.

Because I’d be concerned if he wasn’t drinking!

And as a result he ended up missing his chance for obtaining his diving license. Kouhei and Aina were able to get their licenses. So the big diving expedition of Okinawa is about to commence and Iori has to sit this one out. But he remains hopeful to one day dive with his friends in Okinawa. After all that, the group travels to another spot and get fucking hammered. You all see the theme to this series, right?

But the last few episodes gave us a few moments involving Kouhei and Aina. Kouhei ended up stumbling into this group on accident (much like Iori), but discovered how much fun he had (aside from getting drunk as a skunk night after night). As for Aina, she learned that despite the diving club being full of a bunch of drunken meat-heads, these people care about her (unlike the previous club she belonged to).

So it was a memorable trip.

This was absolutely NOT what I expected when I picked up this anime. I notice Grand Blue being taken place in a cute ocean town and thought it would be just as cute as Tsuritama. But it turned out to be the anime equivelant of Animal House. I can easily tell you that my college years were NOTHING LIKE THIS.

Despite going to school in a state where the drunk-driving rate is sky-high, I did not witness any strange anomalies like arriving on campus and seeing a bunch of drunk, naked lads sprawled across the courtyard.

Now then, I do feel like this series could have focused a little more on diving and oceanography. It felt like the majority of the series involved characters binge-drinking, meat-heads fighting with tennis club members, more binge-drinking, sad geeks never getting laid, studying for a German test where you only get 20%, and drinking more than Sterling Archer. Not so much on the ocean like I would have hoped. And even though Iori gets the short-end of the stick in almost every episode, I do feel bad that he couldn’t join the rest of the club under water in the finale. That felt a little disheartening, but that’s just me. Short answer, I like this anime! If you’re in for a good laugh and are not turned off by all the drinking and nudity, I say go for it.

For what it’s worth, it’s a silly adventure I can see myself rewatching one or two more times. And if you’re interested in watching, Amazon Prime has all 12 episodes available for streaming.

Okay, this was quite the trip! Let’s pick our next Amazon/Netflix/Crunchyroll exclusive anime!

Think Zootopia, but set in high school.

Beastars!

Great choice as I even heard good things from celebrities who don’t normally watch anime.