#and he liked her enough to ask advice to go on a proper date with her

[automaticsoulharmony]

I feel like we NEED to discuss this more

[chleem]

Not a big deal pt3

miniseries; basketball player drew x high scl student reader

Summary: You lose your virginity to a random guy at a frat party miles away from your home. A few days later, you find out that he’s your brother’s competitor, for the regional colleges’ basketball tournament. 

Genre: strangers to lovers, smut, angst, fluff

Warnings: cursing, age gap (18 & 24), protected sex, etc.

⋆.˚ please dont copy my work, if inspired please tag me

⋆.˚ this is entirely fictional, if uncomfortable then don't read

♡⸝⸝ bit long but enjoy! | p1 | p2

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──

4 years later

“Drew, Drew Starkey.”

The waiter checks his name off the list, and gestures inside, “follow me then, Mr Starkey.”

Drew follows the waiter in, looking around the place. Hawks rented the entire restaurant for the night, just like every year, to celebrate the new season. It's his third season with Hawks, so he knew the procedures well enough now. 

Tonight will just be free food, bonding with teammates, etc. Could you say he was looking forward to it? No. He would much rather stay home, especially this year. 

Why especially this year? Because of his new teammate, Luke. 

It wasn’t hatred or anything; in fact, they had amazing chemistry on the court. Communicating through nods or glances, as if they’ve known each other for forever. Really, the coach was shocked at how good they did during preseason; he’s now convinced there’s a chance of winning. 

Luke seems to have matured, anger issues not the same as before and actually willing to listen to advice. He was friendly towards Drew, and overall, did not look so bothered about losing the championship during college anymore. 

It was Drew who felt uncomfortable around him. Why? Well, he fucked his virgin sister, who was 18 at the time. Worse, whenever Drew stares at Luke for too long, he sees your face. Your eyes, nose, lips, everything. 

“Nice suit, man,” one of Drew’s teammates and best friend, Jay, compliments him, as the two approach each other first. Every year it was required to wear formal for this occasion, since high executives would be here to celebrate too. Drew, has worn the same black suit for the third time now. 

“Yeah, same with you,” Drew smiles, the two of them engaging in a small hug. “Um, are we seated together?”

“Yeah, over there,” Jay points over to a table near the window. Each table had a maximum of six people, and already two of their teammates were there. “Man, we should some drinks first.”

“No need to remind me,” Drew replies, as the two of them head to the bar area. The goal is to get drunk enough so that the executive's’ speeches would sound interesting, but sober enough to make basic human interactions.

“So, you came alone this year too?” Jay asks, ordering a whiskey, which Drew also signals for. 

Drew smiles sourly, his friend reminding him about his single status again. Plenty of hookups throughout the years, but never a proper girlfriend due to his busy schedule. “Y’know me. Too busy for that shit.”

Jay nods, as the whiskeys are presented in front of them. Drew immediately downs his, while Jay just takes a small sip. “Well, I’m seeing someone, if you’re wondering.”

“No shit,” Drew laughs, thinking his friend is kidding. Jay smiles down at his drink, probably thinking about the girl. Oh. He really is seeing someone. “Who’s the lucky girl?”

“Her name’s Phoebe.”

“…and?”

“Yeah. That’s all I’m telling you.”

Drew shakes his head, ordering another whiskey. So much for being friends. “She has a sister, by the way,” Jay speaks up. Oh. Drew knew where this was going. “She might be the perfect one for you.”

Jay’s setting him up. Again. His friend has failed every single time, and it seems like he wasn’t gonna give up. “Hey man,” Drew pats Jay’s shoulder, pursing his lips. “Just quit, okay? I don’t date. Y’know that.”

“When’s the last time you’ve dated then? Have you ever even had a girlfriend?”

Drew frowns, taking his hand off his friend. “Just, no. Please.”

Drew hears a sigh from beside him, and when his second whiskey arrives, he sips on it slowly. “Fine. I just think, that you would be very happy in a relationship.”

Drew smiles against his cup, finding that statement ridiculous. Society was weird, thinking that if one stays single for too long, it meant that they were…depressed in some way. It was tiring. 

“Hey, Luke’s here,” Jay suddenly comments. Drew turns around, scanning the place for Luke. 

Sure enough, there he was. 

And fucking hell.  

His eyes land on you, standing beside Luke. 

Was it even you? He wasn’t so sure. From far away, it did look like you. 

“We should go greet him,” Jay elbows Drew. 

Drew did not want to greet him. He is very comfortable here, right next to the bar. 

But Jay urges him, leaving him no choice but to walk over. And until Drew was standing directly in front of Luke, was he sure that it was you. 

Fuck. 

Four years later, and Drew’s body still has reaction towards seeing you. It brings him back to the first night he laid eyes on you, thinking how innocent & pretty you looked in a crowd of drunk and chaotic college students. 

You look…amazing. Drew was pretty sure his eyes were widened to the maximum point right now, his brain trying to process the sight of you. Especially, the red dress you were wearing, that's making his imaginations run wild. 

No. He must be dreaming right now. After four years, he sees you again? No, this shit only happens in movies, red-string type shit. Was he getting drunk already?

“Um, Drew, you okay?”

Drew quickly averts his gaze back to Luke, his grip on his glass cup tightening. “Yeah, yeah, um, who’s this?” Does he sound cool right now? Because he wasn’t so sure if he was playing his usual chill self. 

Luke wraps an arm around your shoulders, pulling you closer. “Meet my sister. Y/n. Y/n, this is Drew and Jay. My teammates.”

Shit. So it is you. The girl that Drew can’t seem to forget, the girl that haunts his wildest fantasies for four years now. 

When Drew makes eye contact with you, he expects you to have some sort of reaction. But you don’t. In fact, you just quickly glanced at him, a polite smile on your lips. Do you even remember him? “Nice to meet you,” your voice causes Drew to freeze yet again, his mind going back to that night. Your moans, your laugh, your-

“Dude,” Jay elbows Drew yet again. “Aren’t you going to shake her hand?”

It seems like you already shook Jay’s hand, and it's Drew’s turn now. 

He licks his lips embarrassingly, and he shakes your hand. Yep. No doubt it was you. He remembers clearly about the way you scratched his back that night, the tug of your hands in his hair, and your fingertips on his abs-

“Um, kind of need my hand back,” your voice cuts him out of his thoughts. 

Oh. He was still holding your hand. He retreats it reluctantly, feeling his ears heat up. Gosh, why is he so flustered right now? He feels the stares of Luke, or more, like glares. “So…where are we seated?” Luke asks. 

“Near the window.”

“Great. Um, we’re not late, are we?”

“No one really cares.”

Luke and Jay continue to engage in small talk, whereas Drew just gives up on listening. Not just give up, he literally was unable to engage in anything right now. It feels like he's in a dream.

He can’t tear his eyes away from you, absolutely captivated by you. By this matured, attractive presence you gave off. You were just standing there, trying to appear interested in this small talk. 

And a question he kept repeating in his head was: do you remember him, like how he remembers you? Do you still think about him from time to time, like he does about you?

You definitely can feel Drew’s stare, his stare making you feel as if you were under a microscope right now. You turn and meet his eyes, and he panics, yet again. 

Your eyes tell nothing, of whether or not you remember him. And the small smile you give him confirms it; you forgot about who he was. Fuck. Now Drew felt like the biggest fool to exist. 

“If everyone could get back to their seats! The food will arrive shortly,” the host announces through a loud microphone. 

“Let’s go then, I’m starving,” Luke squeezes your shoulders, to get you moving. 

“Same,” you look away from Drew, and let Luke guide you over to your table. 

Drew immediately gulps the rest of his whiskey down, loosening up his tie. Fuck. This was going to be a long night. 

——

Drew wasn’t one to eavesdrop. In fact, he hated eavesdroppers. Why are you listening on someone else’s private conversation?

Well, Drew hates himself very much right now. 

You sat near the window, at the very end of the table. Across from you was Drew’s other teammate, Kirk. He sat next to Kirk, and across from Luke. The whole night, it was very obvious that Kirk had a thing for you, asking you questions about your life, hobbies, etc.

So now, Drew knew that you’re currently studying law in college, you hate tomatoes but love ketchup, you like museums, you have a horrible sleep schedule, you want to adopt a cat, you hate the cold-

“You’re single, right?”

That makes Drew choke on his food, causing the table to pause and stare at him. He coughs, feeling his whole face going red. “You okay, dude?” Kirk chuckles, patting Drew’s back, as if it’s any help. 

Drew nods, trying to suppress his coughs with the help of water. While drinking, he glances at you, who looks at him with worried eyes. He puts his cup back down, clearing his throat, “so, are you?” 

He ignores the skeptical stares from Luke, his eyes only focused on you. Please, please, say yes. 

You turn away from Drew, just as Luke suddenly speaks up, changing the topic, “can we get another round of this lobster? Its fucking delicious.”

What? Drew’s gaze stays on you, seeing how you bite down on your bottom lip, eyes glued to your plate. Was it, a violating question? Drew had no idea, but seeing how quickly your mood changes, it leaves a bad scar on him. 

——

Huh. you’re staying at the same hotel as him. Well, not just him. The entire team, actually. Luke must have arranged it for you. 

Drew stands behind you, hands in pockets, trying to look as if he wasn’t bursting with joy. While waiting for the elevator, you lean on Luke’s shoulder, your body ready to give up. 

The elevator opens, and the remaining people all squeeze towards it. 

You eventually get squeezed into the corner, with Drew close by. Super close by. With no space at all, Drew is forced to lean into you, his arm against the wall to support him.

This close proximity was driving him insane. 

He feels your breast press closely to his lower chest, your face planted really close to his neck. From this proximity, he certainly can smell your perfume, shampoo, everything. He looks down at you; and surprisingly, you were already staring up at him. You send him a lazy smile, your eyes squinted up at him. 

Cute. He sends you one too, although his smile might be bigger. 

The ding sound is heard, and most of the people inside rush out. Drew was disappointed; he wanted to stay like this for a bit longer. 

He gets himself off of you, now that there’s more space in the elevator, leaning against the wall. He wants to look at you (he already stared a lot during dinner though), memorize more of you before he goes to bed, but Luke turns around and faces you. Drew bites his lip, staring into the ceiling. “Told you tonight was fun, right?”

Okay, now Drew needed to eavesdrop. 

“The guy in front of me was asking too much.”

Yes. Fireworks went off in Drew’s head. “Yeah, Kirk’s a dick. Don’t, don’t date him,” Luke…jokes? Drew wasn’t sure. “Or, I’ll kick his ass.”

“Wouldn’t even dream of it,” you chuckle, which makes Drew glance at you. He makes sure to get a quick look of your smile again; fast enough so Luke doesn’t notice. 

“Do you at least feel better now?”

“…yeah.”

“…I know you’re lying, y/n,” Luke disappointedly says.  

No reply heard from you; the ding of the elevator ending the conversation. Drew looks at the screen; the 18th floor. “Goodnight,” you say to Luke, pushing yourself off the wall. To Drew’s surprise, you wave at him. “Goodnight,” you repeat, the same lazy smile on your face. 

“Goodnight,” Drew replies, the smile appearing on its own.

The door closes after you leave, and Drew gets hit with a sad realization; he might never see you again. And he hates that thought. 

Four years. After four years, he gets another chance to see you. And he’s just gonna let you walk away? Just like he did the first time? 

He gets mad suddenly; remembering the lack of interactions the two of you had the entire night, all stolen by Kirk. Luke’s right, Kirk’s a dick. But also, a lucky bastard. He got to sit directly across from you, as well as talk to you. Lucky son of a bitch. 

“Are you… gonna get out?”

Drew snaps out of it, looking up at the elevator screen. 24th floor. Luke is holding the door open for him, wondering why he hasn’t stepped out. “Sorry,” Drew murmurs, walking out. Luke follows him, as the two of them had rooms right next to each other. 

“You okay, man?” Luke laughs, walking beside Drew.

“Yeah, just drank a bit much,” Drew shrugs, scratching the side of his face. 

Luke gets to his room first, “see you tomorrow, then.”

“Yeah, yeah sure,” Drew takes his room card out, pressing it against the door. He gets in without another look at Luke, closing the door behind him. 

Huh. So this is how tonight was going to end? Him alone in his hotel room, consumed with the thought of you? (As if he hasn’t been thinking about you for the past four years already) Even Drew was disappointed in himself. 

“Fuck,” he curses, still standing in the entrance of his room, running his hands through his hair stressfully. “Fuck.”

—— 

After knocking on 17 doors, this one might be yours.

Drew stood at the entrance of his room contemplating for ten minutes, whether or not to go see you again. After long chains of thoughts and scenarios, he made up his mind: he’s going to see you.

Problem: he didn’t know your room number. So, he spent almost twenty minutes on the 18th floor, knocking on each door hoping it would be you. 

And now, on room 1818. He was mentally & physically tired, but he wasn’t going to give up.

He presses on the doorbell, twice. He waits for a few seconds that felt like minutes, tapping against the wall impatiently. Just as he gets ready to move onto the next room, the door opens. 

He looks up, and his eyes widen. 

You. You’re as shocked as he is, wondering why someone would knock on your door at such a late hour. 

He first notices your slightly wet hair; droplets dripping down your neck. Your makeup is off, and he just finds you even more beautiful than before. His eyes naturally wander down to your body; finding you in a white lingerie dress. 

Fuck. His brain is malfunctioning yet again.  

“Hello?” He hears you chuckle, which makes him bring his attention back to your face. “Can I help you?”

“Yeah, um, Drew. I’m Drew, from earlier, the dinner?”

“…I know. Can I help you?” You ask him yet again, a polite smile on your lips. You quickly glance down at his body; he’s still wearing his suit from earlier. He must’ve not showered yet, despite it being almost two hours after. 

“Um,” he awkwardly licks his lips; All the lines he rehearsed back in his room are now gone. Drew realizes that he’s still standing in the hallway, and he didn’t want to talk to you while standing out here. “Can I, can I come in?”

You furrow your eyebrows, your face clearly showing discomfort. 

He mentally panics, and hurries to add, “I want to talk to you, and it’s rather private. And, important.”

You think about it for a few seconds, listing out the pros & cons of this man coming into your room. You look into his eyes, seeing a sense of urgency and yearning in them. Okay. Maybe he can come in for a while. 

You step out the doorway, opening the door wider. “Sit on the couch, I’ll prepare…tea? Wine?”

“Anything’s fine,” he says, walking in. You close the door behind him, and when he spots your shoes by the door, he takes his off too. 

As he makes himself comfortable on the small couch in front of the bed, you grab your cardigan that rests on one of the dining room chairs, putting it on.

You open the hotel fridge; finding red wine in there. Opening the cupboard, you reach for two glass bottles, and walk towards Drew. He’s taken his suit jacket off, his tie hanging loosely by his neck, his sleeves rolled up. And he’s manspreading, a  position you find to be very hot. 

You have to admit; Drew was attractive. Even more attractive than your ex. Actually, the most attractive man you’ve ever seen. And, he’s got a charming personality to match it. 

But he’s oddly familiar. During the dinner, your gaze can’t help but always drift over to him. Have you seen him from somewhere? Crazy, you can’t seem to remember where you’ve seen him before. An ad? Tv? Huh. 

“So?” You start, sitting beside him. You try opening the bottle, but the cork was screwed on too tight. 

Drew takes it from you; his hands brushing yours. You watch him effortlessly get the cork out, the pop heard in the room. He pours it into the two glasses, and sets it down. He sends you a small smile when he notices your stares. “Wine?”

“Well, you said anything’s fine,” your lips curl up on their own, as you reach for your wine glass. He offers to clink against yours; and you do, the two of you maintaining eye contact while sipping. After, you put your drink back down on the small coffee table. “Why a late night talk?”

Drew licks his lips, glancing down at his lap. He seems to have trouble forming words, fidgeting with his fingers. You lean back into the couch, curious as to what he’s thinking about. 

After seconds that felt like minutes, he said, “You study law?”

Due to the unexpectedness, you chuckle, “yeah. Why?”

He shrugs, “Suits you.”

What is he even saying? “What?” You giggle, at his response. 

You don’t miss the tip of his ears going red; even he thinks his response is funny. “I mean, law sounds fun, and you look like lawyer material.”

“Awesome,” you smile at him, trying to hold back your laughter. “And you look like basketball player material.”

His smile mimics yours; just more awkward. 

He seems to not know what to say, despite telling you that he had something to say to you. Weird. So, you help him, by asking, “are you nervous about the new season?”

His eyes light up, “My third season with Hawks now. But, still nervous.”

“Third season?” He nods, and you reach for your wine yet again. “Hawks fan?”

“Always been the dream,” he admits to you, “grew up watching them, and when they offered, I just had to say yes.”

“Or because no other team offered?”

Shit. That sounded wayyy too rude. But that was your humor, and also your way of talking. Does he find it offensive? Wait, anyone would find that offensive. You should apologize-

He laughs lightly, taking a huge gulp of his wine. “Come on. Give me more credit.”

So…he isn’t offended by your words? You shrug, “never seen you play.”

He furrows his eyebrows at you, leaning back on the couch. “You’re lying.”

“Didn’t even know you until tonight.”

“Liar,” his voice drops low, but a smirk is seen on his lips, as if he’s catching you in a lie right now. But you were being honest; you really didn’t know him until tonight. 

Unless…maybe there’s a reason why he looked so familiar to you? Ugh, why can’t you remember where you’ve seen him from?

“Really,” you say, looking into his blue eyes. 

His eyebrows furrow even deeper, trying to figure out if you were being honest or not. You were. Eventually, he leans forward and pours more wine into his glass. “I believe you,” he murmurs, before sipping on the wine. You watch as he gulps it down; his Adam’s apple moving. “But surely, you’re…a fan of Hawks?”

You shake your head, which makes Drew chuckle. “I…know nothing about basketball.”

“What?”

“Yeah, it’s my brother’s passion, not mine.”

“Okay,” he adjusts himself on the couch, his body now fully facing you. “Then tell me about law, or stuff like that.”

“‘Stuff like that’?”

“I might bore you if we keep talking about basketball. So, I’ll listen to you.”

“And law isn’t boring to you?”

“Not if you’re talking,” He sends you a warm smile. Woah. Butterflies that you haven’t felt in forever are now forming inside of you. Butterflies that feel different compared to the ones with Zack. “Come on. Tell me. Like, what’s…what new laws have been enforced?”

You laugh; his perception of law is cute. So, that’s exactly what you explain to him, just in simpler terms. His eyes, lips, body tells you that you’ve got his undivided attention; something that makes you smile while talking.

Huh. Weird how this stranger is willing to listen to you yap about laws & everything, as if what you’re saying was as simple was pie. Huh. 

——

“Yes! He said that to me!”

“The audacity,” Drew laughs, making you nod even more. 

You’re telling him the story of your classmate, who’s also your academic rival. Once he accused you of sleeping with the professor, that it’s the only reason why you’ve got such good grades. Thinking about it now, it just sounds funny. “It wasn’t true but he was so sure,” you laugh, recalling his red face while confronting you. 

“He’s a fucking loser,” Drew continues to add, reaching to pour more wine into your glass. The two of you realize that it’s now empty, and you just shrug at him; not really bothered by it. 

You take the chance to glance at the clock; it was two a.m already. The two of you have been talking for more than an hour. You suddenly remembered that Luke told you about an early schedule the team had tomorrow, yet Drew was still sitting here, getting tipsy with you. 

“It’s..getting late,” you bring up, pointing at the clock. 

Drew turns to it, and his eyes widen. But he turns back to you, shrugging. “I guess?”

Is he not getting what you’re hinting at? So, you just tell him, “Luke told me you guys are doing something early tomorrow.”

Drew stares into your eyes, in a way that gets you nervous. But then he looks away, and nods, biting down on his lip. “Um, yeah, totally forgot.”

You smile politely at him, even though deep down you didn’t want him to go. You liked his company, and although it was mostly you talking, he didn't make you feel bad for it. Drew’s…very comforting. 

He grabs his suit jacket, the both of you getting up. “Now I can confidently say, that I know y/n.”

“What?” You smile, wondering what he was saying. You watch as he walks to the doorway, putting his shoes on. 

When he’s done, he opens the door, turning back to you. “A very successful lawyer, that handles cases for the president or something.”

You laugh; that only happens in your dreams. You lean against the doorway, staring into his eyes. You really didn’t want him to go. 

He leans towards you; giving you a hug. His arms wrap around your shoulders, and you hug his waist. Your nose is now filled with the smell of Drew; just like in the elevator earlier, a mix of cologne & alcohol. 

Drew slightly pulls away, just so he could look at you. You do the same, staring up into his eyes, then his lips, then back to his eyes.

He also glances down at your lips, his eyes squinted. 

Then, he kisses your cheek. 

Then, you stand on your toes, planting a light kiss on his cheek too. 

Then, he kisses the corner of your lips. 

Then, you kiss his jawline. 

You look into his eyes, giving him a smitten smile. 

And just like that, Drew couldn’t hold back anymore; he kisses you. The kiss is hungry, passionate, intense, and…

And way too nostalgic for your liking. 

Wait. Wait. 

You pull away from him, feeling a bit overstimulated. Not just from the kiss itself, but…but because of what it reminds you of. 

No fucking way. 

It’s all coming back to you now; this was Drew. The Drew. 

The one you lost you virginity to, the one that didn’t want you.

Wait. Was this even the right Drew? He looks pretty similar to the one you remember, talks similarly, and strangely, also kisses the same. 

“Is something wrong?” His deep voice snaps you out of your thoughts. 

Fuck. No. No, it’s not the same Drew. Because, what are the chances of this being the same Drew that took your virginity? Awfully poetic, if this happens to be the same person. Maybe, Drew is somewhere in West Carolina, coaching for some basketball team. And this Drew, was just some doppelgänger. 

Okay. Yeah, this, this is just a coincidence. You’re just feeling weird because you broke up with Zack a few days ago. Not a big deal. Just, enjoy having this one-night stand with this attractive man. 

You smile, shaking your head. “Just kiss me already,” you murmur, leaning into him. You kiss him lustfully, and he returns it, his hands touching all over you. 

He backs you up into the room again, all while his lips are on you. You giggle at his urgency, the door slamming shut behind him. 

“Don’t you have to get up early?” You giggle, pulling away. 

“I think…it’s not that important,” he throws his suit jacket on the couch, kicks his shoes off, and kisses you again. He kisses you as though it might be the last time he does. 

You pull away, just to push him onto the bed. His head lands on the pillows, and he readjusts himself so his back’s against the headboard. He puts his arms behind his head; and suddenly, you’re hit with the same nostalgic feeling. 

But you ignore that feeling; it’s in the past now. 

He gives you a lazy smirk, as you hover over him, straddling his waist. You can feel his erected cock pressing against your folds. Fuck. 

You lean down and kiss him, a euphoric feeling that you might never get over. Your hands are busy; undoing all his buttons in a messy order. He helps you; slightly sitting up and throwing the shirt to the side. 

Wow. His body? Sculptured by god himself. “Damn,” you voice out, the words just slipping out. Maybe mostly because of how tipsy you were. 

He kisses your collarbone, murmuring, “damn?” There’s a slight chuckle and tease to that, which just makes you smile. Your hands go up to his face, cupping it and forcing him up to stare at you. His eyes…most mesmerizing shade of blue. 

Again, you ignore the nostalgic feeling, that similar look in his eyes that the Drew gave you, four years ago. The similarity is uncanny.

“Such pretty eyes…” he murmurs, sharing the same thoughts you have.

His hands slide your cardigan off, discarding it somewhere else. His eyes go down to your neck, leaning forward and sucking on it. 

Your head leans back in pleasure; his tongue was skilled, you had to admit. He sucks, bites, licks the area, his hands kneading your breasts through the thin material of the lingerie. His lips are warm and soft, compared to the necklace on you. You shamelessly moan out how good it felt; which just drives him crazier. 

Drew’s lips slip lower, sucking on your nipples through the fabric. 

“Shit, Drew…” you moan, your hands slipping down his shoulders, running through his abs, and then to the belt. Your hand brushes his boner; fuck. You want him now, the wetness in your underwear proving it. 

He smirks against your skin, before pulling away. He glances down at your hands tugging his belt, “didn’t know you were the impatient kind.”

You roll your eyes, pushing him back down on his back. “Just shut up,” you groan, even though the smile was apparent on your lips. You back yourself off his waist, until you were on your knees between his legs. You undo his belt as if you’ve done it before, tugging his pants down. 

Holy fuck. You’re salivating at the sight of his dick, fully up and proud. 

You just want to wrap your lips around him, letting him use your mouth to satisfy himself. You palm his length through his boxers, leaning down and planting soft kisses along it. 

He knows you want to give him a blowjob. He can see the thirst in your eyes. He wants it too; but he stops you, his hand going to wrap around your wrist. “Fuck,” he groans, as you look up at him between his legs. In his perspective, it was a very hot sight to see. But it won’t be as hot as what he’s about to purpose to you. “You… I, I wanna taste you too.”

You cock your head to the side, slightly confused. “So you don’t want me to suck your-“

“Yes, I do but I wanna eat your pussy too-“

“What, what, are you saying-“

Oh. Oh. “69?” You gasp, a slight curl on the corner of your lips. 

His lustful and excited eyes confirm it, ���you up for it?”

Your pussy is screaming ‘yes!’ But your brain is hesitant; you’ve never done the 69 before. With Zack, he’s tried missionary, doggy, cowgirl, spooning, etc, but never the 69. 

Hell, why not? Sounds interesting, and with Drew, it might feel heavenly. 

“Teach me,” you say, sitting up. 

His eyes widen; either from your approval or your unknowingness to this position. But seeing how intrigued you were to try this, he smirks, nodding. He adjusts himself on the pillows, “you’re in luck, I’m a great teacher.”

“Really?” You lift your dress over your head, now, only left with your underwear on. Drew licks his lips at the sight of your breasts, and when you glance down to his boxers; you see pre-cum already soaking it up. 

“M-hm,” he’s clearly lost in the sight of your nakedness. “Back yourself onto my face.”

The way he says it; just makes you even more horny. 

You do just as he says, not before sliding your underwear off. You keep looking over your shoulder; spreading your legs as you plant your pussy on his face. You make sure to not fully sit on him; afraid that your weight might suffocate him. 

You feel his hands on two sides of your thighs, gripping it tight and pulling you further down. “Relax, babe,” he coos. “Just, sit on me, I can take it.”

“You sure?”

“More than ever.”

And you sink your ass onto his face; until you can feel the tip of his nose poking your entrance, his hot breathe fanning it. Oh shit. “Look, you’re wet already,” he teases, licking the side of your thighs, very close to your pussy. 

You groan at the feeling, but Drew quickly reminds you to stay on task, “Lean forward.”

You do; leaning your upper body down till his dick was right in your face. You hoist your upper body up with your elbows, creating a bit of space for you to suck his dick comfortably. You pull his boxers down; and moan at the sight.

“Ready?” He murmurs against your pussy. 

You pull your hair to the side, “m-hm.”

You wrap your lips around his the tip of his dick, at the same time, he starts licking your folds. You moan around him, your mind consumed with the pleasure of him making out with your pussy.

You force yourself further down on his cock, the salty pre-cum taste on your tongue. His tip hits the back of your throat; gag reflexes triggering slightly. He was big, so it was a bit struggling to fit him entirely into your mouth. 

“Taking it like a good girl, huh?” He manages to groan out, his breath fanning our pussy. 

You just moan against his length; starting to bop your head up and down along it, occasionally sucking or biting. Your hand goes to massage his balls; which causes him to moan loudly. Shit. That motivates you to continue massaging his balls, knowing now that it’s what he likes. 

He moans against you, while his tongue keeps thrusting itself into your pussy. Fuck, this all felt…so surreal. Is one even able to feel so much pleasure at once, just through oral sex?

The room is now just the sounds of the two of you, moaning and grunting, the bed slightly shaking. 

You feel yourself coming close, as Drew continues to make out with your pussy. “Fuck…I’m close, Drew,” you breathe out, bopping your head slower now. 

“I’know,” he murmurs, his tongue going slower too. “Just, continue with that, ‘kay?”

A sudden slap to your ass causes you to moan out of surprise, but also a reminder for you to continue wrapping your lips around his dick. 

You do so; but only about half-way. With your orgasm coming close, your mouth was close to giving up. Eventually, you pull your mouth entirely away from Drew, wanting to focus on your orgasm.

“Fuck,” he groans, and just when you get ready to come over his mouth, his tongue stops, and you don’t feel his head nuzzled in your ass anymore. You glance back, curious as to what happened. His grip on your thighs loosens, but still resting there. “Lemme take over, yeah?”

You had no idea what that meant. But, you don’t object to it, nodding your head. 

In a second, he lifts you off of him, and gets off from his comfortable position on the bed. “You got a condom?” He asks, standing up. 

“In my purse,” you point over to the black bag on the small kitchen counter; the one you brought to dinner. 

He gives you a teasing smile, while he walks over to get it. “So you knew you were getting laid tonight.”

Well, you always needed to be prepared, right? You lay yourself on the same spot Drew was just in, warm and smelling just like Drew. You prop yourself up with your elbows; eyes looking at his back as he rummages through your bag. He has a nice ass, by the way. “Couldn’t hurt to have it,” you reply lazily. 

He turns around with a condom, ripping it open as he walks back to the bed. You watch as he positions himself between your legs, wrapping the condom around his dick. 

He leans forward and kisses you, a very sloppy kiss. 

You’re taken by surprise when his fingers enter you; causing you to moan into his mouth. “Fuck,” he curses against your lips, his fingers thrusting in. He adds a third digit, which is close to sending you over the edge. 

He stretches you out, while his lips now move to your breasts. You arch your back in pleasure, moans showing him how good it felt. 

His fingers pull out, and you watch as he aligns his dick with your entrance. Fuck, no matter how many times you see him, it’ll always shock you with how big he is. 

You make eye contact with him, which makes him send you a lazy smile. “You good?” Teasing but also caring is heard in his voice. 

“Will…I fit?” you ask unsurely. 

He chuckles, placing a small kiss on your jawline. “Don’t worry; you’ll fit. And it’ll feel good.”

You nod, trusting him. 

He enters you slowly, making sure you can adjust to his size. You moan when his dick is fully nested inside of you, your hands scratching his back. He leans his forehead gently against yours; the both of you catching your breaths. 

He feels you relax under him, and intertwines his fingers with yours. His head pulls away, and for a few seconds, it’s just him staring at your face. You watch as his eyes linger to every spot on your face. 

“Hey,” you softly say, which comes out more flirtatious. 

“Hey,” he returns the greeting to you, sounding breathless. “You’re pretty.”

That makes you smile, and you pull him back down to kiss him. He kisses back, while thrusting into your core. You moan, even though his thrusts were slow. 

“Faster,” you moan.

“Yes ma’am.”

Hot. Hot. Hot. Hot. The way his deep voice adds to that line, gets your pussy closer to coming. And a man of his words, he picks up the pace, slamming into you. 

The bed shakes even harder now, the moans the two of you produce are shamelessly loud. He trails small kisses along your neck, sucking occasionally. 

And as crazy as this thought was; you knew Drew was going to be the best sex you’ve ever had. Might even be better than the night you lost your virginity. He knows all the ways to feel good, to make you feel good. 

With each thrust, you feel yourself coming close again. “Shit, Drew. I’m close,” you groan, tightening yourself around his dick. 

“I’know babe,” he kisses the corner of your eye. “Cum on my dick; I got you.”

He continues his fast pace, hitting your g-spot repeatedly, until you feel a knot in your stomach go undone. 

You cum all over his dick, your body giving up now. Drew helps himself, and you feel him twitch inside of you too. His pacing slows, and you feel warm cum entering his condom. 

“…You squirted,” you hear him chuckle, as he rests his head on your shoulder. 

Oh shit. How embarrassing. You didn't know you were even capable of squirting. Is Drew grossed out by that? Based on his tone, he might not be, but then again-

“That’s…really fucking hot.”

You feel your cheeks go red just because of his compliment, letting go of his hands. You cover your face out of shyness, “shut up.”

You hear him chuckle again, “really…you’re very hot. And beautiful.”

He holds down on your waist as he slowly pulls out of you. You hear him walking across the room; probably to discard his condom. The warmth of him is gone; but a dip on the side of you tells you that he’s laid down on the bed with you. 

This man was unbelievable. First, he shamelessly looks at you during dinner, not engaging in any way with you. Second, he comes into your room in the middle of the night, claiming he’s got ‘important’ stuff to tell you. Third, he listens to long, boring stories about your life. Fourth, he fucks you so good you squirt. 

Unbelievable. 

You pull your hands away from your face, and you turn to face him. He’s already staring at you, his arms resting behind his head. 

The two of you just lay in silence; your eyes dancing all over his facial features. He really does look like the guy you lost your virginity to. Same face, same eyes, nose, lips. The resemblance is…uncanny. 

“You…” you want to ask him if he’s Drew. The Drew from four years ago. 

But you don’t. For some reason, you just can’t. You can’t bring yourself to ask him.

It was a horrible memory; crying at home for days, just because he rejected you. Crying over a guy that you weren’t even together with. It was a stupid memory, that you kept deep in your heart. Eventually, that memory was pushed to the very back with Zack’s help.

“…we just did 69,” you say instead. 

That makes him laugh; sending butterflies to your stomach. “Yeah, we did.”

You’re feeling a bit sleepy now; the tiredness of the sex washing over you. Drew suddenly gets up, and for a moment you think that he’s leaving. 

But he wasn’t; simply grabbing some tissues on the coffee table. He spreads your legs, and starts wiping the cum off it. “What a gentleman,” you sarcastically comment, even though you were happy he’s cleaning up after; Zack never does.

“The bare minimum, y/n,” he tells you instead, before getting off the bed again, throwing it away. 

Huh. You didn’t know; you’ve ever only been with Zack. 

He lays down beside you again, but not before pulling the blanket over you. “Tired?”

“Very,” you murmur, your eyelids feeling heavy. You don’t know why you said it, but you just did, “you can stay here.”

“Wasn’t gonna leave anyways,” he replies back almost instantly.

Warmth spreads throughout you, the comfort of Drew just laying beside you was enough to make you fall asleep. 

And you do drift off to sleep, with the last thing on your mind being Drew. 

Soon enough, Drew falls asleep too, but not before hugging you closely to him. 

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

word count: 6.8k

ִ ࣪𖤐 a/n: damn they freaky (69 after four years...freaky bitches)

anyways, this is the longest chapter i've so far ...but i hope you enjoyed part three (there will be part 4!) ignore any mistakes...got real tired towards the end. i want to thank everyone who reads my work, u don't know but means a lot to me<3 also thanks to the person that also thought of the time skip idea...tysm! so...will y/n and drew open up about the past? and... who's zack👀👀

[97-liners]

out of the frying pan and into your heart

jeon wonwoo x female reader

tags: college au, fraternities, fake dating, misunderstandings, childhood friends to lovers, this all could have been resolved with some proper communication, lots of pining specifically for em, fluff, rom com, best friend minghao, y/n is oblivious!!!

warnings: alcohol, weed, frats, american college setting

words: 9.3k

synopsis:

it starts, as it always does with this particular collection of friends, with shenanigans and cahoots.

well, more specifically, for wonwoo it starts with shenanigans, when soonyoung and junhui somehow manage to collide brain cells and write in to the school newspaper's love advice columnist about his crush on his childhood best friend.

and for you, the aforementioned childhood best friend and, in secret, also the aforementioned love advice columnist, it starts with cahoots when kim mingyu manages to convince you to fake date him so he can win some popularity contest for his frat.

for @notesof-mh

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It starts, as it always does with this particular collection of friends, with shenanigans and cahoots. 

Well, more specifically, for Wonwoo it starts with shenanigans, when Soonyoung and Junhui somehow manage to collide brain cells. 

He had barely been awake for 15 seconds when they had barged into his room, laptop in hands, just to show him the text in a pink-colored submission box surrounded by heart emojis. Wonwoo squints, the blurry words coming into just enough focus for him to make out what they say. “Dear Cherry, I’m a third year computer science student and I’m in love with my best friend, except I’m— what the hell is this?” 

He glares at Soonyoung who grins cheerfully and points again at the screen. “Read the rest, Wonwoo!”

Wonwoo sighs and continues reading. “Except I’m a huge awkward loser and she’s so cool and pretty, and I don’t know how to tell her I like her. What should I do?”

“Alright, hit send,” Junhui instructs, tilting the laptop away and laughing maniacally. 

Wonwoo pushes his hand across his face, trying his best to wipe away the last vestiges of sleep-addled confusion, and then he realizes what’s happening.

“Wait, you can’t do that,” he tries to protest, but Soonyoung giggles and clicks a button.

“No, this will be good,” Junhui says, plopping down on the edge of Wonwoo’s bed. “Minghao told me that whoever runs the advice column in the school paper is, like, a love guru, and she has four thousand followers on instagram. And she’s never shown her face, but she’s probably also really pretty.”

Wonwoo groans. “I don’t see what that has to do with anything.”

“Just trust us,” Soonyoung pats Wonwoo’s knee through the blanket, “this is a good idea.”

And for you, it starts with kahoots, when your chemistry lab partner, Mingyu, pulls your stool closer to his side and whispers a proposition to you.

“Do you want to be my fake girlfriend?”

You narrow your eyes at him through your fogged up department-issued safety goggles. “Are you insane? What kind of fumes are you on?”

“None,” Mingyu replies. “I’m Sigma’s nominee for the Greek God award at the inter-fraternity tournament this year and I’m the only nominee who’s single.”

“And so I’m your pick,” you respond flatly. 

Mingyu nods eagerly. His safety glasses slide down his nose, and he has to push them back up. “Yeah, you’re so pretty and cool, I think it’d be really impressive if I somehow managed to pull you.”

“Huh.”

“And,” he adds on, lowering his voice even more, “Jeonghan thinks my only real competition this year is going to be Jung Jaehyun from Nu Kappa Tau, and rumor has it you rejected him in high school. Twice. So I think it’d be pretty funny if we ended up together.”

You scoff and turn back toward the titration in front of you. “You can’t go up to people and ask for things like this.”

“C’mon, you know the winner gets free parking for an entire semester,” he whines. “Ok, how’s this? If you’ll pretend to be my girlfriend for the Greek God award, I’ll write our lab reports for the rest of the semester.” 

His offer makes you pause, and he jumps on that pause, wedging his way in there. 

“I’ll give you executive editing power, but I’ll do all the work,” he wheedles, “and I’ll give you a perfect peer eval at the end of the semester. I promise,” he puts a big meaty hand on your lab notebook and smears the ink under his fingers. “Kim Mingyu isn’t a liar.”

“I’ll conveniently ignore the fact that you’re lying about having a girlfriend to win this award, then,” you roll your eyes.

“That’s different, though,” he protests, “the award is dumb and meaningless and I really want it. But a promise made between buddies is important.”

He looks earnest, so you decide to lay off on him just a little. “When we’re fake-dating,” you sigh, “you can’t call us buddies anymore.”

“So that’s a…”

You groan, hating yourself for being so indulgent. “Yes. That’s a yes.”

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.

“Hold on Y/N, have you seen this?”

“Seen what?” You look over the top of your laptop screen, where you’re halfway through a paper on the Cuban Missile Crisis. 

Minghao, your co-admin of the school newspaper’s (infamous) advice column turns his screen towards you. “Someone wrote in calling themselves a huge awkward loser.”

“Huh,” you grin to yourself as you read over the message quickly. “That’s kind of cute, actually.”

“Of course you think it’s cute,” Minghao rolls his eyes. “I’m going to assign this one over to you.”

“Yeah, sure, but please,” you mutter, “can you be a bit more discreet about it?”

Minghao looks at you over the top of his glasses. “What, about us being Ask Cherry? It’s not as embarrassing as you make it out to be.”

“Be quiet,” you hiss, looking around, “someone could overhear!” You frown, and then quietly, you add on, “and it is embarrassing. I’m supposed to be a journalism major, and I’m here making up horoscopes and giving fake relationship advice three days a week.”

This is an overstatement, and Minghao rolls his eyes. You only make up horoscopes and give fake relationship advice one day a week (Mondays are for Matters Of The Heart, your schedule says). There’s also Am I The Asshole Wednesdays, a campus favorite, and Friday Free-for-alls, when you field confessions of all types. Dear Cherry, I need to get this off my chest. I’ve been using my roommate’s shampoo this whole semester, and today I found out that our two other roommates have also been using this roommate’s shampoo. He doesn’t suspect a thing. 

You hadn’t meant to end up in this position. You write serious pieces for the school newspaper too, reporting on the Student Government’s legislative sessions and the university’s semesterly budget for grants to culturally-centered student organizations. Those articles, you have your name attached to. But at the end of last year, the new editor-in-chief Jeonghan had approached you and convinced (strong-armed) you into becoming the new writer for the infamous advice column, Ask Cherry, since Cherry himself was quitting to make more time for other priorities.

(“And the kicker is,” you had complained to Minghao, “nobody will ever believe me.” Choi Seungcheol, fraternity president, football player, gym rat, jock, fuckboy extraordinaire— relationship advice columnist? No, it’s simply not realistic. 

“I’m sitting on the juiciest piece of gossip to cross my path in my entire life, and I can’t do anything about it,” you say dejectedly.

“Hmm.” Minghao doesn’t even pretend to be interested.)

But, despite your disastrous real-world love life, your clumsily dispensed life advice, and the completely made up horoscopes, Ask Cherry readership skyrocketed under your intrepid watch. Once, you told a reader that the albino squirrel that lives in the tree next to the physics building was a good omen, and the next day, rumor spread that an albino squirrel sighting would grant you an A on your next exam. For weeks after, people would scatter peanuts and pieces of toast by the base of the tree next to the physics building, until campus facilities had to fence the area off because raccoons were starting to show up instead. 

Minghao finding out had been a complete accident, after you had lent him your laptop to print out a paper that was due the next hour, but you had forgotten to minimize the window with your Ask Chrery submissions. Minghao, being someone who loves giving advice, both solicited and unsolicited, naturally joined in on this scheme of yours. 

“Anyways,” you shrug. You look up as Junhui steps into the public study area of the library and scans the tables twice before making eye contact with you, and then waving. “Minghao, did you invite the others over to study with us?”

“Yeah,” Minghao responds, raising an eyebrow at you. “You got a problem with that?”

“No, it’s just—“ you’re about to complain about never being able to focus on your work with the rest of them around, but the words die on your lips when you spot Wonwoo trailing behind Junhui with a bemused expression on his face and a cardboard tray holding bubble teas in his hands. You can’t help the grin that spreads across your face. “Hey guys,” you wave over to them, clearing off the table space next to you to make room for them. 

“I brought you a taro milk tea,” Junhui announces, gesturing behind him, “and a Wonwoo to boot.”

“He made me walk with him because he didn’t know your favorite drink,” Wonwoo explains quietly as he slides the drinks onto the table and takes his seat next to you. “Are you working on that international relations paper?”

“Yeah.” You take your taro milk tea. No ice, 50% sweet, tapioca pearls and grass jelly, just the way you like it. 

“Do you think you’ll be done by Friday?”

“I will be free by then,” you promise him, punctuating your statement by stabbing your boba straw through the film covering the cup. You’d rather suffer through an all nighter on Sunday than miss your regular Friday night gaming sessions with Wonwoo, a tradition the two of you have kept up since both of you were in middle school and still playing Starcraft.

“Anyway,” Junhui leans over the table, resting his chin on top of his interlaced fingers. “I have a funny story.”

You tear your gaze away from Wonwoo. “Hm?”

“So, you know that advice columnist for the school paper? Wonwoo submitted a question the other day. Well, Soonyoung and I did, but for Wonwoo.”

You feel your blood run cold. It’s not that you’re ashamed of running a love advice column, but it’s more that you’re… embarrassed. And you’ve been running it in secret for so long that at this point, you can’t even fathom anyone outside of Minghao knowing. Maybe when you graduate, you’ll do an identity reveal, but you’re not quite there now.

“Can we talk about literally anything else,” Wonwoo grouses, somewhat to your relief. he glares at Junhui, but the effect is somewhat dampened when he lifts his bubble tea to his mouth and loudly slurps up some tapioca pearls.

“Yeah,” you quickly agree, not eager to have your secret identity exposed.

Junhui steamrolls on ahead, however. “So. If you’re reading the column and there’s a question from someone who has a big stupid crush, you know who it’s from.”

Your breath catches in your throat. Wonwoo? A crush?

“Junhui,” Wonwoo groans, digging his fingers into the bridge of his nose, brows furrowed in an expression of exquisite pain. 

Minghao, however, leans forward and lets his glasses slide down his nose. He laces his fingers together. “A crush? On who?”

Junhui and Minghao both turn to stare at Wonwoo, who flushes beet red. 

“Oh, hey guys!”

You feel a heavy arm around your shoulder and turn to see, to your abject horror, Mingyu, who scoots his way onto the bench to squeeze in next to you. “What are you doing here,” you hiss at your oversized interloper, but Mingyu just glances pointedly at the spot two tables down where a bunch of upperclassmen are sitting and chatting. You recognize Choi Seungcheol, the president of Mingyu’s frat, and you sigh and deflate. Fine. A promise is a promise.

You smile weakly at the other three guys sitting at your table. “Surprise,” you say flatly,” Mingyu is my boyfriend now.”

You’re momentarily distracted by a loud honking noise as Junhui narrowly avoids choking on his bubble tea and spraying the table through his nose. 

“Mingyu?!” Minghao sounds simultaneously dismayed and slightly judgemental.

“C’mon, dude,” Mingyu whines, slumping like a kicked puppy. You pat his bicep soothingly. “You don’t have to make it sound that bad.”

Minghao and Junhui share a conspicuous glance. Mingyu isn’t the type of guy you’d usually go for, but you think this reaction is a bit uncalled for. “He’s not that bad,” you find yourself defending your fake boyfriend. “Mingyu is nice, and he’s really tall.”

You blink. Mingyu turns his pout on you now. “Nice and really tall? Are you for real?”

“It’s true,” you scowl at him. “Are you here to study, or did you just come by to get on my nerves?”

“Okay, well,” Junhui interjects sharply, “Wonwoo and I should get going.”

“Wait, but you two just got here,” you attempt to protest, but Wonwoo, who had been quiet this whole time, stands up and slings his backpack over his shoulder.

“I’ll see you later, Y/N,” he says to you, before leaving along with Junhui. 

(It’s not until later, when you’re lounging with Minghao in the living room of your shared apartment, that it hits you, again, but this time with its full weight.

“Wonwoo likes someone,” you say out loud. It’s not a question.

Minghao glances up form his book at you with a frown plastered across his face, his brows creased with irritation. He evaluates you carefully over the silver rims of his glasses, which you know aren’t prescription but are mainly there to make him look elegant and intellectual.

“...yes,” he finally acknowledges.

You frown despite yourself. “I wonder who it is.”

“What does it matter to you,” Minghao scoffs, “you’re dating Mingyu, remember?”

“You can pretend to hate Gyu, but I know you like him better than any of the rest of us.” You really hadn’t been expecting to defend Mingyu twice in a day, but you suppose that’s life as Kim Mingyu’s girlfriend. “And anyways, Wonwoo and I have been friends since we were kids. I can’t believe he didn’t tell me earlier.”

“Yeah, he probably can’t believe it either,” Minghao mutters under his breath so quietly, you almost miss it. Then, in a louder voice, he chides, “don’t think too much about it, yeah? You still have to reply professionally to his advice request. His anonymous advice request.”

“Right,” you sigh dejectedly, frowning at your laptop balanced across your knees. “How do I tell him that he’s not a nerd and a loser without giving away that I know who he is?”

Minghao shrugs. “Maybe tell him to be patient. Or maybe tell him to try to start getting over his crush.”

You consider his suggestion for a moment. It’s appealing, but then the thought of Wonwoo wasting away in his dark bedroom, sighing as he pines over his unrequited love, flashes across your mind. “I just don’t want him to be sad.”)

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“C’mon, he was right on top of you,” Wonwoo complains. You can hear the creaking of his gaming chair in the background, undoubtedly as he rises from his reclined position to gulp down more of whatever energy drink he has in his mini fridge this week. You groan and dig your fingers into the junction between your neck and shoulder, trying with little success to work out the knot that’s developed over this last round of PUBG.

“Wonwoo, that’s the problem, I suck at close range,” you huff in response, “you know I get panicky and forget to turn off auto-fire.”

It’s game night, and you and Wonwoo have been at it for the past two hours. Your paper isn’t done yet, but it can wait. It’s been over a decade since the years when the two of you would spend your summers together playing video games and walking aimlessly around the neighborhood with half-melted popsicles, talking for hours. But even as your social circles diverted from his, it’s always been something of an unspoken agreement that for this, you’d always make time for Wonwoo, and he’d always make time for you.

“Another round?” You and Wonwoo both ask the question at the same time. There’s a pause, and then you’re both laughing. Even over the headset mic, Wonwoo’s laugh is loud and unrestrained. It feels like a secret, a side of Wonwoo that he saves just for you and for Friday nights spent on opposite sides of the monitor.

“So.” You’re still waiting for the next match to start when Wonwoo breaks the comfortable silence. “Mingyu?”

You fidget at the ties of your hoodie. It’s stolen from Wonwoo, and you’ve had it since middle school at least. “Yeah?”

“Interesting choice.”

“What does that mean?”

He makes a casual, noncommittal noise. “I’m just surprised. I didn’t see it coming, and you didn’t tell me about it.”

You open your mouth to tell him that it’s actually all a ruse, to explain the whole situation, but the hard, petulant edge to his voice makes you pause. Wonwoo sounds… upset. But not quite upset. Jealous?

“Wonwoo,” you laugh. Onscreen, the timer counting down to the start of the match appears, and you jam on the space bar to make your character jump over his character’s prone body. “Wonwoo, are you jealous?”

Over your headphones, you hear the sound of his gaming chair squeaking. “I’m not jealous,” he says, in a tone of voice that sounds exactly like Wonwoo when he’s jealous. 

“You are. Where are we landing?” You toggle to the map in the game and zoom in on the path that the plane is taking. The player count in the bottom starts dropping as other players jump out. 

“Blue marker, does that look good to you? There’s a few houses we can loot, and it’s not close to the flight path. If we get bad circle placement, you can shoot me in the foot, if you want. As a treat.”

“Yeah, fine. Lead the way, boss. Anyways, why are you jealous?” You suppress the flutter in your chest. There’s no reason for you to get your hopes up. 

“You’re my friend,” Wonwoo says simply. It feels like a heavy towel being thrown over you. “You used to tell me everything. Mingyu is… fine,” he admits reluctantly. “He’s a good guy. I’m happy for you.”

Your heart clenches. You want to say something soft and sincere, but instead, you return with a jab. “You can’t be upset at me for keeping secrets, Wonwoo. What was Junhui saying about you liking someone?”

“Junhui just says stuff sometimes,” he replies curtly. 

You frown. “Junhui isn’t a liar, though. Who is it?” You ask, despite everything in you telling yourself that you don’t want to know the answer. “Who are they? Maybe I can talk to them for you.”

He laughs humorlessly. “It doesn’t matter. She’s in a relationship with someone else.”

You almost sigh in relief, but you stop yourself just in time. Why are you relieved? “Oh, Wonwoo. That sucks. She doesn’t know what she’s missing out on.”

Wonwoo makes a noise that tells you he’s shrugging. “She deserves better than me.”

“Hey!” You sit up, straightening your spine in indignation. “Don’t say that. You’re great, Wonwoo. You’re criminally underappreciated. You’re smart and you’re so sincere and kind, and maybe other people don’t acknowledge it, but you’re really funny and interesting.”

He’s quiet for a moment, and the only thing you hear is the game audio as your character collects supplies and clears the building the two of you are in. “Let me know if you find any gun that’s not a pistol, by the way. I have a 2x scope on me.”

“Thank you,” Wonwoo replies. You know he’s not talking about the scope.

Even though the two of you are gaming individually in your own rooms, you want nothing more than to tug off your headphones and go down the two flights of stairs to Wonwoo’s apartment and give him a hug.

“I have an AKM and a bunch of healing items on me,” Wonwoo says, “come to me and you can have whatever you want.”

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.

It would have been much less embarrassing if you had realized it last week when you were walking to class and Wonwoo had stopped you in the middle of the sidewalk to pluck a fallen leaf from your hair with that stupidly fond expression plastered on his face; or maybe when you accidentally fell asleep in his bed during an afternoon study session and woke up later with your head on his shoulder, legs tangled together, the sound of his soft snoring puffing in your ear, his hand held loosely in yours. Maybe in another life, it would have been one of those soft, romantic moments, like something out of a coming of age anime. But no, because you’re you and your life is the way it is, the moment you realize you’re in love with Wonwoo goes like this:

It’s Sunday, noon already, and you’re in Wonwoo’s shared apartment. Junhui had let you in earlier when you had knocked at their door until your knuckles were sore. When you burst unceremoniously into Wonwoo’s bedroom, he’s still asleep with his glasses on, smudged and crooked, and his phone on his chest. You frown. “Wake up, Wonwoo. Did you fall asleep while watching dramas again?”

Wonwoo jumps slightly and lifts his head, brows furrowing. “Huh?”

“You said you’d go to lunch with me.” You extend your arms and spin to show off your cute, perfectly coordinated outfit, picked out specifically to match the instagram trap you’re going to. You even broke out the eyeliner and glitter eyeshadow to match the cute knit cardigan and wool miniskirt you put on. “What hat should I wear? The fuzzy bucket hat,” you hold up option one, “or the beret,” you hold up option two, looking down at Wonwoo expectantly.

Your best friend groans and collapses back onto the bed, eyes sliding shut. “Um. The beret.”

“Okay great, now get out of bed. Our reservation is soon and you still need to wash your face and get dressed.” You poke at his cheek, which is greasy from sleep and still bears the imprint of his pillow. 

“Can you get Minghao to go with you instead?” He doesn’t bother opening his eyes.

“Nope,” you respond, popping the ‘p’, “he has dance practice.”

“Mingyu?”

“He said he had a textile arts club meeting?” You frown. “I’m not sure what it is, but he’s been crocheting like crazy for it this week.”

“Um,” Wonwoo smacks his hand over his face, clearly trying to think of other options. He forgets, however, that he fell asleep with his glasses on, and ends up jamming the frames against this cheek. “Ow. Ok, what about, uh, Seokmin?”

You pout at him even though he can’t see it. “Wonu,” you whine, sitting down on his bed, “I want to go to lunch with you, though.”

At that, he finally cracks his eyes open. “Why?”

Because, you want to say, I don’t want to do this with anybody other than you. You briefly try to imagine doing this whole thing– dressing up, making a reservation, taking pictures and walking around town, huddling together in a cafe in the afternoon to watch the latest Nintendo Direct together– with anybody else, but you just quite settle on it comfortably. No. It has to be Wonwoo. Because Wonwoo is your best friend, because Wonwoo has always been there for you, because Wonwoo just gets you, better than anybody ever has, and every moment you spend with Wonwoo, you feel your mood lifting and relaxing. Because you trust Wonwoo and he trusts you, and because you know him, and you love him–

You love him.

Oh.

Oh.

You’ll have to process that later. “Because you have a car and you can drive me,” you tell Wonwoo instead, shoving the revelation down to the back of your mind and putting it in a box labeled problems for future me.

“Fine,” Wonwoo acquiesces, sitting up with enormous effort. His hair is still sticking up in all directions, making him look like a big dark dandelion. A part of you expects to see him in a different light, now that you think you love him, like there’s supposed to be cherubs singing and starlight in his eyes or something, but instead, you just see regular old Wonwoo. Your best friend. He doesn’t suddenly look like a vision sent from heaven, he just looks sleepy and crusty and a little greasy.

“Hurry up and brush your teeth,” you tell him, slapping him lightly on his belly and laughing at the resulting ouuff that jerks out of him, “you have morning breath and I can smell it from here.”

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From: kwon.soonyoung@svt.edu To: ask_cherry_svt@gmail.com Re: advice

Dear Cherry, my friend is in love with his childhood friend but she doesn’t love him back :( how do we make her fall in love with him? from anonymous

“Hm,” you sigh out loud, “I wonder if Soonyoung knows that the anonymous signoff is made moot by the fact that he emailed this one in instead of using the anonymous submission box.” You’re draped on the couch with your legs propped all the way up and your laptop on your chest as you scroll through this week’s Am I The Asshole Wednesday submissions.

“You can ignore him,” Minghao says, passing by with a full bottle of wine in each hand on his way to put them away in the kitchen. “I don’t think you should be giving any love advice when your own love life is a mess,” he sniffs. 

“You’re the asshole,” you announce, not looking up from your screen. “That was for you, Minghao.” Clearly, he’s still mad at you after you had revealed the whole Mingyu situation to him a few nights ago. You still remember the blistering look that Minghao had thrown at you, like you’re the dumbest human he’s ever had the supreme displeasure of knowing.

“I guess you don’t want to go to the dance team party with me, then,” your roommate responds smoothly, returning from the kitchen. It’s only 6pm, but Minghao is already dressed in a silk pajama set with a matching robe, lenseless glasses frames perched on the tip of his nose, smelling of strawberry-scented lotion as he pours himself a glass of wine.

You scowl at him.  “Fine. I don’t care.” Turning back to your laptop, you scroll past a few more boring submissions on your hunt for the truly salacious stuff your classmates get up to. “I wonder what Soonyoung is even talking about, though,” you mumble, half to yourself, as you click on the next interesting subject line.

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.

In retrospect, Mingyu was definitely going to win that Greek God competition, even if Jaehyun from Nu Kapp put up a good fight.

Mingyu’s physique is certainly impressive, and the audience erupted when he won the (shirtless and oiled-up, for some reason) pushup contest, but his clumsiness eventually led him to lose at every other physical challenge. It was his overwhelming victory in the popularity vote and personality contest that got him to first place. It’s probably all because of his unwavering friendliness and his constant need for affirmation manifesting into an overwhelming desire to be helpful, but you like to think that maybe you helped too.

That’s why you’re here, in the kitchen of the Sigma house, absolutely wasted at the celebration party the frat is throwing in honor of Mingyu being crowned the best frat star on campus. Between the blunt that you, Mingyu, Minghao, and Seokmin, another friend in your year, had passed around upstairs, and all the shots that Mingyu had plied you with, you’re feeling weirdly bouncy and giggly and not entirely sure if you’ll remember this the next morning.

“Okay, so,” Mingyu mumbles, pulling you closer as the two of you nestle in a corner, away from whatever is going on at the beer pong table, “we should stage a breakup, right?”

You giggle against the hollow of his throat, arms looped over his shoulders. “Can we make it your fault?”

He whines like a kicked puppy. “Why can’t we make it mutual? Jeonghan would kick my ass.”

“Fine, fine,” you huff, not at all reluctant. “We should give it some time so it’s not suspicious, right?”

“Yeah.” Mingyu nods, accidentally knocking his chin against your forehead. “You’re so smart.”

“Which means I’m still on girlfriend duty tonight,” you conclude.

“Oh, come on.” Mingyu’s hands come down to rest at your waist, his fingertips skimming along the waistband of your skirt, eliciting a shiver from you when you feel his rough, warm skin against yours. “You make it sound like a chore.”

You sigh. Oh well, you could do much worse than Mingyu.

You’re not sure if it’s the weed or the alcohol, or maybe just jealousy at this fake version of yourself that’s happy with a boyfriend and not moping over an unrequited crush on your childhood best friend, but you find it strangely easy to lean up and attach your lips to Mingyu’s, feel the wet heat of his tongue in your mouth. and Mingyu, pliant under your grip as always, kisses you back, going along with it without a second thought.

“No offense,” he pants as he parts from you, “but I don’t think I want to hook up with you.”

You blink at him. “Do you want me to leave?”

“No, no,” he clarifies quickly, “you’re a good kisser, I just don’t want things to be weird between us, which I think might happen if we hook up.”

“If fake dating didn’t make things weird, I’m not sure that hooking up would,” you laugh, more of a giggle than anything. You attach your lips to his jaw, pulling him down towards you so you don’t have to crane your neck. 

“And also,” he nudges at the hair behind your ear with his nose, “you’re like, totally wasted right now.”

“You’re not sober either,” you shoot back, accusatory.

“More sober than you,” he shoots back. He’s right, though. His large stature means that he can hold his liquor much better than you. “It wouldn’t be fair,” he pouts, stubborn, “and I’m not a creep.”

“Fine.” You tug lightly at the short hairs on the back of his head. 

“Are… are you okay?”

Mingyu’s question makes you hesitate for a moment. You lean your flushed cheek against the jut of his collarbone. “I’m drunk,” you respond flatly.

“No, not that, you’re just usually not this…” you feel Mingyu gulp, “clingy.”

You wonder if you should tell him about Wonwoo and your stupid pointless crush that’s starting to feel less like a crush every time you’re with him and more like… something deeper. Something frightening, like a yawning chasm, just waiting for you to fall in.

You’re saved the effort of further deliberation, however, when Mingyu suddenly raises his head and interrupts your thoughts. “Hey, isn’t that Wonwoo?”

You lift yourself off of Mingyu’s chest and look behind you. True to his word, it really is Wonwoo, standing by the door, jacket on, looking at you like a deer caught in the headlights. 

“Huh, he doesn’t usually come to these,” Mingyu observes, tugging idly at the bottom of your shirt. “I wonder why he’s here.”

You think you know why he’s here, though. Earlier, back upstairs, you had excused yourself to the bathroom to take a quick breather. Through an alcohol and weed induced haze, you had belatedly realized that it’s Friday night, and you’re late.

you: cn you come pick me u you: at sigma wonu: are you ok? i’ll be there in a few you: sry im drunk you: wanna go home w u

Now, staring Wonwoo dead in the eyes, you realize with a jolt that you had never told him why you asked him to pick you up. You peel yourself off your fake boyfriend and stumble, clumsily, towards Wonwoo, trying your best to ignore the way the room spins around you.

“Wonu,” you whine reaching out to him.

He frowns. “Are you okay? What’s happening?”

“I’m drunk,” you tell him.

“I know.” He extends his arm and lets you cling on to him as you stumble into his torso.

“And it’s Friday night,” you look up at him.

“Yes.”

“We’re supposed to be playing Overwatch together.” You give him the best puppy eyes you can muster, and he blinks at you, looking flustered.

“Huh?”

“Overwatch,” you insist, tugging him towards the door. “Friday night. It’s Wonwoo and Y/N night.”

“Is… is this what you called me over here for?”

You nod and begin dragging Wonwoo out by the wrist. 

The cool air outside hits your flushed skin like a wave, like you’re jumping into a pool. Wonwoo is silent and lets you continue to cling onto him as he walks you to where he had parked on the side of the street, directly under a streetlight.

You slide into the passenger seat. Wonwoo hands you a bottle of water, cap already removed for you. “Hydrate,” he orders. 

“Sorry,” you whimper, somewhat pathetically.

He frowns. “Why are you apologizing?”

“I must be so annoying,” you mumble, feeling tears welling up in your eyes.

“No,” Wonwoo reaches out and takes your hand over the center console. “You’re not annoying.”

You watch him as he drives. He’s so handsome, your alcohol-addled mind supplies. 

“You don’t think I’m annoying?”

“Never.”

Wonwoo says it like a promise.

Silence falls over the two of you as he drives through campus, all the way back to the student housing unit that both of you live in. He turns off the engine, leaving a silence that feels even more all-encompassing. He looks over at you, face half hidden in the shadows and half illuminated by the orange lamplight outside. “Is Minghao home?”

“N…no, he’s back at the party.”

“Okay, we’re going back to my apartment, then,” he decides.

You blink. “Huh?” But you’re already stumbling out of his car and spilling onto the sidewalk, all wobbly legs and loose limbs. 

“I’m taking you back to my place,” Wonwoo repeats. “You need someone to watch you and make sure you don’t wander off and get lost in the city,” he explains drily.

“‘M okay,” you whine futilely. It’s especially unconvincing, since you’re still stumbling over your own feet and leaning against him. 

Wonwoo lets you rest your cheek on his shoulder and cling onto him as he lets you into his apartment, gets you a glass of water, and digs up a pack of makeup wipes from out of nowhere and sits you on his bed and starts to get to work. 

A small (very drunk) part of you bristles at the appearance of the makeup wipes, and you try to scowl, even as Wonwoo gently wipes at your smudged eyeliner. “Whose are these? Do you have a lot of girls over here or something?”

“They’re Junhui’s, he uses them,” Wonwoo explains. He dabs at one last spot in the corner of your right eye, then announces, “there, you’re all done.”

You open your eyes to see Wonwoo grinning dopily at you. “You’re cute,” you poke at his cheek, and he laughs quietly. Seokmin used to be afraid of him, he had confessed to you, and you wonder why, because the Wonwoo you know is so soft, so loveable, so goofy and cute. 

The Wonwoo you know is shy and awkward and doesn’t quite know how to fit himself into social situations. He’s clumsy and absentminded and needs someone to take care of him, to dote on him and give him attention.

The Wonwoo that you know, you’ve known since you were in second grade, standing over the boy you had knocked over with a rubber kickball, staring at him as he sniffled on the woodchips and glared at you through big watery eyes. That day, you decided right then and there that this boy would be yours, and now…

“Wonwoo,” you blurt out without thinking, “I’m in love with you.”

His breath catches. Wonwoo pauses, digesting your clumsily delivered confession, and then he makes the most awful expression you have ever seen on him.

It’s raw hurt, sharp, painful. His mouth twists and his brows furrow and he looks at you like you’re something to be afraid of. You hate it. You hate that you’re the cause of it, that he’s feeling this, whatever it is, because of you, even though you’re not sure why.

“Really,” you insist. You reach out to grab his hand, but he pulls away from you. “It’s true. I’m in love with you.”

You hear a sharp intake of breath. “You’re not,” he says. “You’re in love with Mingyu. You’re happy with him.”

“I’m not… I’m not in love with him,” you try to explain, but your liquor-numbed lips are clumsy and you trip over your words. You lean towards him, slanting your face up, because you want to kiss him so badly it’s all you can think of. Wonwoo shoves you back, hard. 

“Don’t,” he bites, voice sharp and tense.

“I’m in love with you,” you repeat, reaching out to him, but he pushes your hand back and steps away. Like he’s afraid of you.

“Don’t do it. You’re drunk.” His voice wavers slightly. “Don’t do something you’ll regret tomorrow.”

You shake your head, but Wonwoo looks at you with so much hurt and confusion in his eyes, you can’t bring yourself to argue. “Wonu,” you whisper, reaching out to rest your fingertips on his wrist, “please don’t cry.”

He takes a long, shuddering breath, eyes closed, and then when he exhales and opens his eyes again, his expression is impassive. Unreadable.

“Go to sleep,” he says flatly. “Tomorrow you’ll wake up and go back to your boyfriend, and you’ll be happy that nothing happened tonight.”

He closes the door to his bedroom, leaving you in the darkness.

(Wonwoo is cold.

He’s always a little cold, but in his haste to escape earlier, he hadn’t gotten a blanket or even changed into sweats before closing the door behind him, and now Wonwoo lays on the couch, his feet hanging over the armrest, staring at the ceiling. 

I’m in love with you, your voice rings in his head. Wonwoo’s cheek still burns where you had gently rested your hand earlier. If he hadn’t known any better, Wonwoo might have believed you and given in to his most guilty, far-off fantasy, the one where you love him back.

But Wonwoo does know better. He saw the way you were draped all over Mingyu at the party, the way you giggled into his neck when Mingyu slipped his fingertips under the him of your shirt. Mingyu is good for you, Wonwoo decides. Like you, Mingyu is bright and out-going, popular, well-liked, good at receiving love and gives it readily in return. 

Wonwoo closes his eyes, tries to push away the memory of your body curled into his, and wills his mind into silence so that maybe he can get some sleep tonight.)

You wake up, nauseous and hung over and feeling not at all rested, in Wonwoo’s bed.

Groaning, you swipe at your face, expecting to see a gloopy mess on your fingers, but your makeup has already been removed. You squint at the dim sunlight streaming in through the closed blinds, and you reach around blindly until your fingers close around your phone. 

There’s a smattering of random social media notifications and updates from group chats, but one notification in particular catches your eye.

wonu: i’m outside wonu: where are you? are you ok? wonu: i’m gonna head inside to look for you

You feel your cheeks flush as the memories come trickling back– your drunk texts, insisting that your best friend picks you up, kissing Mingyu, leaving the party with Wonwoo, clinging on to him like a koala…

Gathering your courage and steeling your woozy stomach, you stumble out of bed and throw open the door, poking your head out. Wonwoo is sprawled across the couch, undoubtedly playing some kind of mobile game, when he looks up at you. His hair is sticking up in every possible direction and his shirt is crumpled. “Hi,” he says, expression impossibly neutral.

“Hi,” you grin, waving lamely. “I feel like shit. I didn’t say anything weird or embarrassing last night, did I?”

He raises an eyebrow at you. “You don’t remember?”

You shake your head. “I remember you picking me up from the frat, I think.”

For a split second, he looks relieved. Then, he puts his phone down and laughs at you. “You didn’t do anything embarrassing,” he grins, “except for abandoning your boyfriend at the party because you wanted to play Overwatch with me. C’mon, do you want to get brunch?”

You press your palms against your throbbing forehead. Your brain hurts, and you’re almost sure you half-remember telling Wonwoo that you’re in love with him, but Wonwoo is looking at you expectantly and you’d like nothing more than some french toast and a hot coffee right now, so you shrug. “Sure, lemme wash up and get changed in my apartment first.”

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.

.

“Dear Cherry, my friend is hopelessly in love with his childhood best friend, who is currently dating a hot frat dude. Should he just give up? The moping is starting to bum me out and I’m worried my hair is going to fall out. Love, Wen Junhui.”

You wrinkle your nose at the message. “And has anybody ever told Junhui that the whole point of anonymous submissions is defeated when he signs his messages with his full name?”

Minghao looks up from the canvas he’s busy splattering paint on. It’s his semester final project, and you had promised to accompany him in the basement of the fine arts building as he works.

Instead of answering, he looks at you like you’re the densest human he’s ever had the misfortune of meeting. “Maybe he’s not trying to be anonymous. Maybe he’s trying to complain about someone we know.”

You squint at your laptop screen. “Who is this supposed to be about, anyways?”

This time, Minghao actually rolls his eyes at you. “Whatever. Have you broken up with Mingyu yet?”

“Yeah, we broke up two days ago. It was mutual, because Mingyu was genuinely afraid that Jeonghan would kick his ass if we said we broke up with me.”

The two of you had made a whole show of deleting all your carefully staged couple photos off your social media accounts, and then unfollowing and refollowing each other within the span of two days, because as the story goes, you and Mingyu had talked it over and are better as friends than as a couple.

“That’s nice,” Minghao says. He unscrews a jar of turpentine and starts to clean off his brushes. “Maybe you should respond to Junhui’s advice submission.”

You groan. “I’ll just tell him to tell his friend to get over it,” you scowl.

“By the way, what’s wrong with Wonwoo?”

“What do you mean?” You look up. Minghao is now attacking the canvas with a palette knife, carving some dramatic impasto into the paint.

“The last two times all of us hung out together, he’s been all…weird.” Minghao wrinkles his nose. “It’s like he’s some kind of guilty dog. He stares at you when you’re not looking, and then he looks away when you are.”

You chew on your lip, work now long forgotten on your idle laptop. Minghao is right. Wonwoo has been different, but not… different. He’s as unwaveringly weird as always, and he’s been texting you links to youtube cat videos and starting arguments on video game theories as always, but it feels like Wonwoo has been aggressively normal. Like how best friends are supposed to be. Light and easy.

“I don’t know. I feel like he’s been acting weird these days too, but I can’t figure out how.”

“You should talk to him,” Minghao says, like talking to Wonwoo about his feelings is easy or something. Or like talking about your own feelings is easy.  

“Or maybe I shouldn’t,” you sigh. Whatever is going on with Wonwoo, you’re just glad he still wants to hang out with you. You’re not entirely sure what you even did wrong, but you’d be willing to beg on your hands and knees for him to forgive you and to stick by your side. “Whatever. We’re gaming together this Friday, I’ll think about it then, I guess.”

.

.

.

“Wonu, I’m scared,” you whine into the mic. It’s another Friday night and the two of you are playing PUBG again. You’re in the endgame now– the original 100 has been whittled down to just 5 players remaining, including you but not including Wonwoo, who had been killed earlier and is now spectating you in-game like some sort of ghost. 

“Just sit tight,” he instructs. In your mind’s eye, he’s leaning back in his gaming chair, arms crossed as he observes your gameplay. 

“There’s gunshots,” you complain, “North? I think they’re hiding by those rocks. It sounds like they’ve got a good sniper rifle, too.”

“They don’t know you’re there. Just let the other teams fight it out. You have enough ammo?”

You huff. “I have like, twelve shotgun shells.”

“And you have the location advantage. Just sit and wait for now.”

You sigh, aimlessly panning the camera back and forth in your anxiety. “Fine,” you agree, because despite it all, Wonwoo is still better at this game than you are, and because you trust him. 

Seconds pass. The audio of distant gunfire in crisp surround sound keeps you on edge and tense, so that when you hear Soonyoung, one of Wonwoo’s roommates, you nearly jump out of your skin. 

“Hey, are you busy?”

“Yeah,” Wonwoo replies. His voice is tinny and quiet, but still clear, like he’s slipped his headset off and mic is pushed away. “I’m gaming with Y/N. I’m muted, don’t worry.”

You’re about to shout and let him know that he’s not actually muted, but your curiosity gets the better of you when you hear Soonyoung’s next words:

“Right, speaking of Y/N, that reminds me. Did you hear that Y/N and Mingyu broke up?”

“Oh.” There’s a pause, and then you hear Wonwoo ask, “why?”

“Dunno. Mingyu wouldn’t give me any details. He said something lame, like that they’re better off as friends, or something.”

“Oh. When did this happen?”

“I think on Wednesday? At least that’s what Seungkwan told me.”

“Hm.”

“Anyways, isn’t that great? You can finally shoot your shot!”

“Are you insane, Soonyoung? It’s been less than a week!”

“Well, okay, fair. But next week? She didn’t seem too sad about it in class today.”

“That’s because she was in class. And anyways, this doesn’t change anything between us, so I’m not going to do anything either.”

“Are you kidding me? So you’re just going to keep it a secret forever?”

“Yeah. I’ll die before I tell Y/N that I’m in love with her.”

Oh.

You sit at your desk, staring at your monitor but not seeing anything. Very quietly, you press your fingers against your lips, as hard as you can, and feel the blood rushing past your ears. 

“I’m not going to ruin our friendship over nothing,” Wonwoo continues.

“It’s not nothing,” Soonyoung replies with a pout in his voice. “You’ve been in love with her for years. Since high school, at least.”

“She just sees me as a friend, that’s all,” Wonwoo sighs. 

Since high school. He’s loved you since high school.

You remember the way he looked at you after prom when he was dropping you back off at home. You had gone with him because the boy you wanted to ask you, some boring soccer player, had asked your friend instead, and Jaehyun had already asked (and been rejected by you) twice, and nobody else had asked you to be their prom date. And Wonwoo, awkward and quiet as he was, had fully expected to skip prom completely, but three days before you had shown up at his locker after school, desperate because you already had a dress and a group to go with and tickets but no date, practically begging him to go to prom with you. And without even thinking, Wonwoo had agreed.

That night, when he drive you home, you leaned your head against the car door with the windows rolled down and felt the wind on your face. At the end, when he parked his car on the side of the street in front of your childhood home, you looked over at him and told him. “I’m so glad we’re going to college together, Wonwoo. I want to be with you forever.”

And he had watched you as you said it, quiet, like he was breathless. Like you had said something terrible and incredible at the same time. 

It’s always been Wonwoo beside you, lazy summers spent playing video games, late night phone calls where you’d talk and he’d listen, after class in his car listening to the radio and eating junk food. Had he loved you then? With ketchup on your shirt and acne across your face and poorly box-dyed hair? And had you loved him then too? Before you even knew what love is?

The weight of it is heavy, settling in your stomach like a hot stone. It almost hurts, how much you feel.

You’re interrupted by a very loud spate of gunfire piercing your eardrums and making you jump,  shrieking loudly as you’re killed in-game. Onscreen, your bloodied character rolls limply down the hill as “Better luck next time! #2/48” flashes on top of your game stats.

“Aw, second place, so close,” you hear Wonwoo say. Then he pauses. “Wait. Was I not muted just now?”

“Wonwoo, I’m going downstairs,” you tell him.

“Wait–” his voice is tight and panicked, but you’re already tugging your headset off and grabbing your keys.

You nearly avoid tripping over your feet as you run to the stairwell at the end of the hall and fly down the two flights of stairs, to where Wonwoo is. By the time you’re banging at their door, you’re out of breath and flushed. You’re not sure if the pounding of your heart is from the exertion or if it’s from something else. Anxiety, maybe. Fear. Exhilaration.

Wonwoo answers the door. He looks exactly like you’d expect, with his rumpled tee shirt and sweatpants and bare feet, his glasses on and his bangs pushed back with the bunny shower headband you bought for him last year.

“Hi,” you grin breathlessly at him.

“Hi,” he replies.

“Can I come in?”

He takes a deep breath, like he’s steeling his nerves. “Yeah.” He opens the door wider and steps aside to let you in, and you follow Wonwoo to his room.

It’s dimly lit with the rainbow glow of his gaming setup and the ready screen for PUBG still up on one of his monitors. Wonwoo flicks on the overhead light, which throws the room into sharp relief. The sudden brightness makes everything feel more real, somehow. 

You sit on the edge of Wonwoo’s bed and pat the spot net to you, which he takes. “Wonwoo,” you say.

Wonwoo purses his lips. “How much of that did you hear earlier?”

“All of it,” you chew the inside of your cheek, drumming your fingers against the bedspread. 

“I’m sorry,” he blurts out. “You can pretend I didn’t say any of that.”

“Did you mean it?”

“Huh?” He stares at you with wide eyes.

“What you said earlier.” You pick at a loose thread poking from the hem of your shirt. “Did you mean it when you said you’re in love with me?”

He hesitates, frowning as a conflicted expression briefly flashes across his face, eyebrows drawing together. 

“Wonwoo?” You call his name gently to get his attention. “I’m in love with you too, Wonwoo.”

“I–what?” Wonwoo looks at you like you’ve brown another head. “But, you...  Mingyu?”

You furrow your brows at him. “Mingyu? Didn’t I tell you? We were just faking so he could win that Greek God competition and get free parking next semester.”

“Wait,” he sputters, “so all of that was fake? You were just pretending to be in a relationship?”

“Yeah. I don’t care about Mingyu, I have feelings for you, Wonwoo.”

“You.” Wonwoo takes a deep breath. “You didn’t tell me.”

“I did!” You widen your eyes, adamant. “At karaoke back in October. You, me, Minghao, and Junhui?” It had been after a particularly grueling set of midterms, and the four of you had gone out for some korean barbeque, followed by boba and an extended noraebang session. While Junhui was crooning to an old Cantonese ballad, you were squished on a couch with Minghao and Wonwoo, and the three of you were talking idly about Junhui’s most recent date.

It’s funny, you remember turning and mumbling to Wonwoo, did I ever tell you that Mingyu and I are faking our whole relationship for clout? But Wonwoo hadn’t responded, so you assumed that he didn’t care. Now, it’s looking more like he didn’t even hear you.

“I was asleep,” Wonwoo states in flat disbelief.

“You were asleep,” you repeat slowly.

“It was dark and I was tired. You didn’t notice that I passed out as soon as we dimmed the lights?” He raises his eyebrows as he defends himself, and you bury your face in your hands.

Click. The pieces are all falling in place.

“Wonwoo. I’m so dumb,” you moan. “I run the Ask Cherry column. All those messages from Junhui and Soonyoung. They were about you, weren’t they?”

“Messages? There were more after the first one?!”

“And they were about you being in love with me,” you recall. “This whole time, I thought you liked someone else. Someone who isn’t me.”

There’s a pause. You can hear the sound of Wonwoo’s PC whirring in the background. And then, Wonwoo starts laughing, choked and quiet at first, and then loud, incredulous, almost.

“God,” he gasps between laughs, “we’re both so, so stupid.” And then you’re laughing too.

In retrospect, it’s all ridiculous, this entire situation. You collapse back onto Wonwoo’s bed and laugh until your ribs hurt, and when you turn your head to the side, there’s Wonwoo laying beside you, glasses askew, grinning.

You giggle and reach out to straighten his glasses. “Hi,” you say to him.

“Hi,” he says back, getting up to lean on one elbow. “I’m in love with you, Y/N.”

You feel your smile widen so much, your cheeks hurt. “I’m in love with you, Jeon Wonwoo.”

He looks at you with so much fondness, it takes your breath away. It’s the way he’s always looked at you, you realize, since the two of you weren’t much more than a pair of kids.

“So, now what?”

“Hmm.” You pretend to think. “Can you kiss me about it, then?”

Wonwoo nods, and his hair flops over the bunny headband as he moves his head. “Yeah,” he says, “I think I can do that.”

.

.

.

(Afterwards, a lot less changes with your relationship with Wonwoo than you thought. After all, he was your best friend for much, much longer than he’s been your boyfriend. He still sends you cat videos at strange hours of the night, and he still sticks sullenly by your side during social outings. Friday nights are still game nights, of course, but now it’s mostly spent on your shared Stardew Valley co-op or cuddling in bed while playing Pokemon together. 

But one thing that changes is the kisses. You kiss Wonwoo whenever you can, because you have so much love to give him and not enough time in the day to tell him all the ways you love him. You try, though, to tell him every moment you can that he’s the cutest, smartest, sweetest, kindest, funniest boy in the world, and that he’s the best friend and boyfriend you could ever ask for.

Wonwoo has a harder time with his feelings, but you know, even without saying. It’s in the way that his fingers linger over your hand when he drops you off in front of your classroom, and the way he gives you first pick on all the best loot when you’re gaming together. And when it’s really late at night and the two of you are huddled under the blankets together, listening to the way your heartbeats collide, he whispers it too. “I love you.”

And, Minghao finally admits it. “Fine,” he grumbles reluctantly while the two of you are preparing the upcoming edition of Ask Cherry, “maybe you’re qualified to give love advice after all.”)

[razorblade180]

Genshin Polycule Things

Aether:Zzzz

Amber:*big spoon*Zzzz

xxxxx

Aether:But what if it isn’t pure all the way through?

Xiao:Just skim the top layer of snow. A little dirt is no worse than karma-

Keqing:*carrying Ganyu* She fell asleep on the trip…

Xiao:*takes Ganyu* You could’ve said my name.

Keqing:I have that right?

Xiao:You’re with my partner and closest friend. It’s not an issue.

Keqing:Ah… I wish I knew that. Aether, legs….

Aether:*picks her up*

Keqing:Thank you.

Aether:Does that curtesy extend to all my partners?

Xiao:*grumbles* I will think about it.

xxxxx

Aether:*walks in*

Scara:Well if isn’t the resident bicycle.

Aether:….*tears up* The what?

Scara:!? It was a joke! Relax!

Mona:*closes book* Scara…

Scara:Relax!!!! Aether, insult me back!

xxxxx

Yanfei:Madam Ping! I need your advice! Can you read this for me and tell me what you think?

Ping:….This is just a letter from the Traveler asking how you’ve been.

Yanfei:Yeah, but he wrote “My dearest, Yanfei” instead of “My dearest Yanfei,” with the comma after my name! Was that intentional or a mistake!

Ping:….

Ping:Bless your heart.

Yanfei:Not helping!

xxxxx

Kamisato porch

Aether:*enjoying the scenery*

Ayaka:*leaning on him*

Ayato:*opens door* I’m back Ayaka. How are things?

Ayaka:*drinking tea at the table* Uneventful.

Ayato:Is that so? Hello Aether. Enjoying our garden?

Aether: *20 feet away* Yep! Thought I’d swing by and say hello.

Ayato:Hehe, so it seems.

xxxxx

Waiter: Your total will be 1000 mora.

Amber:Okay. That’s easy enough t-

Aether:*puts down 1000*

Eula:I’ll handle the tip. *gives 1001*

Aether and Amber:….

Eula:What? Did you think I’d allow myself to lose to you? We are both treating her.

Aether:Lose t- I paid the tab! I would’ve let you spend 600 while I gave 500 mora!

Eula:…These are the type conversations that should be discussed beforehand!

Amber:Frankly, I’m just happy you both agreed to this. *smiles* I like this quality time. *holds their hand*

Eula and Amber: *silently bashful*

xxxxx

Aether:Zzzz

Scaramouche:Zzzzz

Mona:*in the middle*….(Why do they insist on me in the middle when one of them will never to pee!!!)

xxxxx

Aether:*starting a fire*

Charlotte:*focuses lens*

Aether:Uh is this really picture worthy?

Charlotte:I’m just testing out my new zoom function.

Aether:So what, the focus is on my hands?

Charlotte:Uh huh. *zooms in on crop top*

xxxxx

Furina:*head on his lap* Aether?

Aether:*playing with her hair* What’s up?

Furina:Is this what healing feels like?

Aether:I’d like to think so. If not, then we’ll find another way.

Furina:Hmm *closes eyes* This is perfect.

xxxxxx

Tighnari:Welcome to the seminar on proper forest travel. Everyone, find a seat.

Aether:*sits on a chair*

Nilou:*sits in his lap*

Collei:*red* N-Nilou? I think there’s a few more chairs.

Nilou:I saw, but all Tighnari said was to find a seat. Someone else can have the chair.

Cyno:You make a compelling argument, but I’m that’s not what Tighnari-

Candace:*sits on Cyno’s lap*

Cyno:Please begin whenever you’re ready.

Tighnari:This is not what I meant when I said “bring a friend.”

xxxxxx

Aether:Do you ever wonder what Kokomi writes about in her diary?

Gorou:Not really. It’s her business.

Aether:Yeah, you’re right.

……

Aether and Gorou:(I can’t let him know she’s let me read the pages about him.)

xxxxx

Aether:Paimon, I’m going on a date. I already made your lunch and dinner.

Paimon:Tell Keqing hello for Paimon.

Aether:…How’d you know it was Keqing?

Paimon:You woke up ten minutes earlier than usual and got a head start on commissions. Now you’re leaving after chores and your braid redone.

Aether:….

Aether:Can you not watch me so keenly?

Paimon:Nope.

[idlerin]

I JUST WANNA FEEL YOUR PRESENCE

celebrity!akaashi keiji x f!reader

part 1 | part 2 | part 3

the ikarus incident (band au)

+ word count: 3.8k

content — light angst, fluff? fluff!, insecurity, and akaashi keiji being hopelessly in love w u

it's not easy dating one of the most sought out and influential men in the industry. the conflicting schedules and how you always have to share him with the world, but in the end, your heart desires what it desires.

AKAASHI KEIJI didn’t mean to make you feel neglected. You knew that. You knew that. Maybe you could even talk to him about how you’re feeling when you could actually find the means to contact him. Which isn’t anytime soon. You’re hitting your fifth anniversary this weekend and you weren’t even sure if he could make it. You understand of course, it’s not like he could stop a whole event just because his girlfriend wants his company. You weren’t the selfish type, you’ve never been. You would feel guilty if that were to happen. It’s just that, it’s been six months since you’ve last had a proper conversation. Six months filled with missed calls, late texts, ‘i’m sorry’s and ‘it’s okay’ except that it wasn’t. Just because you understood didn’t mean you could shake off the irrationality of wanting his attention.

“You should focus on yourself more, [name],” Kaiya tells you through the phone, you’ve turned to her for your– as you say– immature problems, “Okay, listen to me, you’re always putting others before yourself, try to catch a breather. Your problems are not irrelevant just because they seem quote en quote immature. You’re allowed to whine once in a while, you know? Stop keeping all of your feelings bottled up.”

“I know,” you slump on your bed, placing your phone on your bedside table so you could comfortably place your arms around yourself like the sad lonely potato you are.

“You say you know but I know my advice is going through one ear and out in the other,” Kaiya deadpans, you hear rustling and you could only assume she was baking again.

“To be fair I don’t exactly know how to focus on myself more. You know I’ve always been a bit of a people pleaser and liked to well, focus on others,” you rub your arms as you stare at your ceiling, recalling your high school days. You’d like to think you were tough, but only on the inside.

“A bit? You used to do every favor anyone’s asked of you before I stepped in and made them all shut the fuck up–” you cut her off.

“But what if they really needed my help!” you even used your hands to make a gesture to fully emphasize your point even if she couldn’t see you.

“They were taking advantage of you. There’s a difference between helping someone once and acting like their bell boy.”

“They were our seniors.”

“They were assholes.”

“Assholes are a bit harsh of a term.”

“See! You haven’t changed, maybe just a bit, thanks to yours truly. But you’re still so pure I want to put you in my pocket sometimes and take you away from my brother.”

You laugh, not really believing her when she calls you ‘pure’, “Thanks for distracting me, Kaiya,” you say softly instead, you weren’t even sure if you were heard on the other line.

“You’re welcome, always. I’m sure my brother’s going to show his face to you anytime soon.”

“I hope so,” you murmur.

He doesn’t.

It’s your anniversary.

The time 11:52 PM flashes on your home screen.

You bite your lower lip to stop the tears from flowing as you grip your phone. You’ve been waiting for a text or call from him all day. He was in a different district this week for a fan meeting, lucky fans, you can’t help but think of it in spite. Lines and lines of them, you could only imagine how exhausting it was to entertain them all. You guess he was just too tired to remember your anniversary. Because let’s face the truth that’s been bugging your mind all day, he forgot. He forgot.

He forgot but you were still hopeful enough that he would remember before the day ended.

He forgot and it’s–because his world is constantly moving and it feels like yours is only revolving around him.

He forgot but you understand.

You could think of a hundred different ways the day could’ve been a bit better. And all of them involved him communicating with you in some type of way. But perhaps he really was just too caught up with work. You understand.

But it hurts.

And it’s not okay.

You’re not okay as you tuck your knees to your chest and let yourself cry for the first time in months.

Akaashi only realizes his mistake the next day when he sees the date. You knew of this with the way he frantically called your phone. You merely stared at the screen flashing his contact name, and honestly, you weren’t ready to talk to him yet. As much as you should answer immediately and shout at him for forgetting such an important day, you couldn’t find it in you to show a bit of anger. All you could feel was defeat.

So you stared at the screen, not making a move to pick up your phone. You were willing to suffer the incessant sound of ringing until.. until…

Until he realizes you weren’t going to answer.

It was as difficult as you thought. Ignoring Akaashi Keiji wasn’t something you were good at, but something you were good at, was restraint. It wasn’t difficult since he was miles away from you and it’s not like you weren’t already suffering from the bare minimum of conversation from his side for months. So you’ve managed to hold up the wall, a wall that’s in the brink of shriveling up and collapsing on you because how could you practice restraint when he’s on the other side of the door and not on the other side of a phone.

“[name] can we please talk?” you missed that voice, you clench your fist, there was nothing you wanted more than to open the door and immediately gather him in your arms and say you forgive him.

“I’m sorry,” ah, that word again, how many times have you heard that from him now? But what else could he say or do? There was surely nothing that could soothe you. Akaashi knows you well enough for that, “I’m sorry, please open the door so we can talk.”

You stay silent, giving yourself the privilege of thinking it over.

“Alright.. It’s okay, as long as you’re listening it’s alright, you’re listening, right, my love?” it wasn’t something to gauge out a response from you, because you were heavily intent on giving him the silent treatment.

“I didn’t mean to forget about our anniversary, the event was held up until 10 and right after the band and I had a meeting and I lost track of time. I know that it sounds like an excuse. I'm sorry, there isn’t anything that would justify what I did. I haven’t been a good boyfriend at all these past few months, and you deserve better. But can you please not give up on me?” his voice cracks and you swallow down the words you want to say to reassure him with instead because Akaashi was overthinking these past few days just as much as you, your boyfriend and you were similar in that regard, but you aren’t exactly sure if you could provide reassurance you would mean.

You open the door so abruptly Akaashi almost stumbles inside, the result of leaning on the door. You gather up your courage to look him in the eye enough so your knees wouldn’t grow weak. You were always soft and weak whenever you were around him. Most of the time it would feel like bliss but right now it was only a painful reminder of how you would take whatever he could give you, no matter how much it would break you.

But Kaiya was right, you needed to focus on yourself more.

Akaashi’s eyes lit up the moment he finally catches a glimpse of you but when he saw the look in your eyes he understood immediately what you wanted to convey without saying anything. You gulped trying to control your emotions as you reached for one of his hands so you could grasp it in both of yours, this was your way of saying sorry. A tear slips and you become a silent crying mess in front of him as he tries to process everything.

“[name], are you thinking about.. do you want to break up with me?” Akaashi says it in a fragile tone, it shattered your heart, you didn’t.. mean to.. you didn’t want to feel like this. You just couldn’t help the sobs that rattle your chest, him saying it outright makes it feel more real. That you were actually going through with it. Breaking up with him. Something you’ve thought of thoroughly between these days of silence.

“I.. I,” Akaashi gulps, “It’s.. okay, if you want to,” you watch as his jaw tightens and his forehead ticks for the slightest second, he was trying to act normal for you, so it would be easier, “I don’t want to see you hurt and I know I’ve only been hurting you these past months. If breaking up would be good.. for you, then.. then it’s okay,” he takes a move to take your face in his hands and wipe your tears.

“Ah,” he inhales sharply, you look up to see that he was tearing up too, “Sorry, sorry. It’s just, I couldn’t hold it in,” Akaashi tries to laugh. You attempted to laugh too but it ended up with you shedding more tears.

“Can I hug you?” he asks, “Please?” his voice cracks, your answer was wrapping your arms around his shoulders.

He rests his head in the crook of your neck and that’s when he finally breaks, “[name].. [name] I love you so much.. I.. I don’t want to break up,” he couldn’t control his tears anymore, “Please don’t break up with me. I love you. I don’t want to.. I don’t want to. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry I promise I’ll find a way to make it better, I’ll be better for us [name].. please don’t leave..” he hugs you tighter, “..don’t leave me.”

You pat his back, a ridiculous aim to calm him down, this is only one of the few times he’s broken down, you recall a conversation you’ve had with him where he said he could only ever be vulnerable around you, “Keiji,” you say his name as a plead, “I love you.. I love you so much, but I think I need a break from… just everything. But I’m not leaving you, I swear. It isn’t going to be permanent, please give me time?” 

A moment where your cries and his intertwine as you clutch his shoulder as if basking in the last moments you could hold him. It just makes him hold onto you tighter.

“Okay,” Akaashi says after a few minutes of basking in each other’s warmth, “..Okay,” he squeezes you once more before letting go.

“Thank you,” I’m sorry, you mean it, as you stare up at him with watery eyes, you take a step back and close your door with shaky hands. Your last sight of him was of his distraught expression and tear stained cheeks parallel to yours..

I’m sorry.

-

You miss him.

More than ever before.

It’s been 3 months since you’ve broken it off. You’ve cut your contact with him for now but of course you couldn’t truly escape him. His life was just too thoroughly intertwined with yours. You still feel longing for him, but that was inevitable. Things have been better with you, it felt like a step to something better, for the both of you. You’ve tried new hobbies lately, such as your yoga sessions to calm your mind and running every morning. You’ve tried balancing it along with your new job in a traditional publishing house.

Late at night, when you’re all alone and wallowing in self pity you miss him, but you always manage to stop yourself from searching his name on twitter to see what he was up to. It’s been 3 months of no communication and it’s killing you, even if it’s a self-inflicted rule you manage over. But as you said, your lives were too intertwined.

That was why you’re standing in a corner in the Akaashi family reunion beside Kaiya who was arguing with her cousin, who, when left, turned to you.

How could you resist an invitation from Mrs. Akaashi, his mother? She was way too nice to you and you’ve always attended Akaashi family gatherings, what would be your excuse to not attend, surely not anything good enough, but you didn’t even attempt to say no. Because you did want to go.

“The two of you are so obvious,” your best friend rolls her eyes.

“Huh?” you ask, confused while eating a hotdog an auntie gave you.

“My brother and you are. so. obvious,” she points her stick where a hotdog was once to Akaashi who was talking with an Uncle, “He keeps glancing here and looking at you longingly like a lovesick puppy, it’s kinda gross,” she grimaces, “It’s a surprise my other relatives haven’t figured out that you guys have been dating for years. Whenever we have a get together he’s always hanging around somewhere near you like a moth to a flame. What did you feed him dude?”

Your heart ached, you were trying to ignore his presence because you didn’t know how to initiate an interaction that wasn’t going to be awkward. You greeted him stiffly earlier when you were approaching his parents and he was unluckily beside them. You tried to act like you usually would, as if this wasn’t the first time you were seeing him in person after your break up. You didn’t want it to be this way, in fact, you want it to be the opposite. After all these months, you’ve realized you can live without him, but you didn’t want to.

“We dated for years. Not anymore,” you mumble, bad habits die hard, and one of those is your pessimism, but you quickly say something else before she could hound you, “And it’s your fault for always inviting me to your family gatherings, they got used to it, do I look like an Akaashi?” you roll your eyes at her.

“Soon to be,” she winks at you. You blush at the implication, “You’re going to get back together anyways,” Kaiya was so sure of it, when you told her about how you broke up with her brother her immediate reply was ‘He deserves it, he was being stupid. The both of you are too stupidly in love to completely call it off, so let’s talk about my recent dior purchase because look–’.

“Okay but really, you’re family, just not blood-related, my parents love you to the point that I think they considered adopting you once, my aunts and uncles think you’re absolutely adorable, and my nieces and nephews are always looking for “[n/n]-chan”. You’re practically already Akaashi [name],” she gestures dramatically, just then one of her cousins that was arranging the tables to make a big long one for the whole family to sit in says ‘Bring out the food!’

You soon find yourself seated in one of the chairs beside Kaiya, all would be well if Akaashi Keiji hadn’t decided to sit in front of you. Now you were avoiding meeting his eye, oh you only wish for this dinner to go fast and smoothly because you don’t know how long you’re going to last in this avoiding eye contact game.

“[name] when are you going to date our Hiroki?” an auntie asked, catching your attention, they were pertaining to Keiji's cousin. Oh there they go again, they have always teased Hiroki with you since around 4 years ago when he said that his ideal girlfriend was you, the family never let go of it, you always laughed it off since it was harmless, and there was no way you have eyes for any other Akaashi that isn’t Akaashi Keiji.

A few adults laughed, most teasing Hiroki, you distantly heard a choking sound coming from your best friend, and Hiroki himself was very red. You laughed awkwardly before an uncle said something that caught you off-guard.

“I thought Keiji and [name] were in a relationship?” which made your heart beat unbelievably faster. You almost dropped your fork, Kaiya was trying to contain her laughter but she slapped your thigh as if she was saying ‘See? You guys were obvious’ and you did the one thing you didn’t want to do. You locked eyes with Keiji.

Auntie laughed, “Come on honey, our Keiji is too busy being a celebrity to be in a relationship.”

Ouch.

It felt like everything that happened flashed before you and the gaze you were holding with Keiji right now was delicate. It definitely looks like he wants to say something but you stop him with one simple shake of your head. He complies as he always did in your relationship. And just like that, you move your attention elsewhere.

“Hiroki has liked you since forever [name], does he not make moves? Silly boy,” Auntie continues.

“Ma!” Hiroki shouts in embarrassment, “[name] will feel awkward, I’m sorry [name],” he bows his head to you, you shake your head and wave your hands, you wish for the conversation to change to something not revolving around you.

“It’s okay, Auntie just teases a lot,” you chuckle, taking a bite of your carbonara.

“Hiroki nii-san said earlier [name]-chan looked very pretty today!” one of the kids added.

The adults were about to comment rather joyously when Akaashi clanged his glass to get everyone’s attention, “That’s enough guys, [name] is getting uncomfortable,” he says calmly, you were the only one who noticed how there was a slight off in his movement, like he was annoyed but pretending not to be, the vein in his hand that was holding the cup a little too tightly gave it away.

“Keiji has always looked after [name] like his own sister, it’s cute,” Keiji’s older cousin Aiki says.

Your best friend couldn’t contain her laughter then, everyone looked at her as she cackled like a maniac, “Yeah, sure, he totally thinks of her like a sister,” she says, full of mirth. Aiki was sitting on her other side so she was looking at Kaiya like she was out of her mind.

Everyone thought she was just spouting nonsense again and veered into a different topic. You couldn’t help but glance at Keiji who you knew whose gaze on you never faltered.

For some reason, the universe liked to play with you. You didn’t know if it loved you or hated you. Surely trapping you in the kitchen with Akaashi Keiji when he was supposed to be out buying more alcohol with a cousin was a coincidence or maybe methodical plans made by the person you call best friend you’ve spent more than half of your life with. Whatever it was, it led you to this moment with him. You and him, alone. Most of the family were still out in the backyard, the ones that were still awake of course, most of the kids were asleep, the older kids were watching a movie in the living room, the young-adults were with the aunts and uncles drinking outside.

You were planning on staying over and having a sleepover with Kaiya, who was one of the young-adults getting shit faced outside, but you wouldn’t have put it past her to not have meddled in a little with your relationship with her brother before getting shit faced.

You get a glass of water, using it to sober yourself, you haven’t consumed any alcohol, but you didn’t trust yourself to be composed around Akaashi Keiji. So you drink your water, inhaling before you find the right words.

“I miss you,” Keiji spoke first. He was closer than you initially thought, with your back on the entrance you hadn’t realized he was caging you in. His arm is on the counter beside where you’re still holding down the cup. Now you were truly trapped, and this is how you knew that everything was going to be fine.

“Until when is our break going to last?” he says in a trivial way, like he was asking you if you liked the weather. As if he wasn’t saying it directly in your ear, making you shiver. You remember telling him once that you liked how you could feel his voice when he spoke close to your ear. It was something very Keiji to remember and use at a time like this, you expect nothing less than perfect composure while your insides are malfunctioning.

“Keiji,” you finally turn to face him, but you don't have much room to work with, quite literally. Your hands are behind you on the counter as you look up at Akaashi and soak in his features. You missed everything, his voice, his eyes, his perfume. Everything that makes him, him. He reaches a hand out to gently cup your face, he looks into your eyes, testing the waters. If you would allow him to touch you so he could ground himself. As if feeling you was getting back his sense of reality.

“You look better,” he murmurs, using his thumb to caress your cheek, “I’m glad,” he smiles.

“Thank you for giving me time,” you place your hand over his, leaning into his touch more, “I’m sorry too,” you say.

“I should be the one saying sorry,” Akaashi’s brows furrow, “I still haven’t made it up to you.”

“So.. should we start again?” you say in a soft voice, shyly looking up at him through your lashes.

Akaashi leans down to place a kiss on your forehead, as if it was something he had wanted to do all evening, “We’re picking up where we left off.”

“That sounds nice,” you murmur, tilting your head up to place a sweet kiss on Keiji’s cheek. “We still have a lot to talk about,” you add, reaching over to brush his hair out of his face while his hands have moved down to your waist.

“And as I said, I have a lot of making up to do. I’m sorry for everything I put you through,” Akaashi has a troubled expression on his face, “I won’t make the same mistakes again. I can’t promise you that it would be easy dating me, you know that it isn’t, because of my job. That’s why I’m so thankful you've still stuck with me all these years despite all my misgivings. I love you, so much. And I.. want to show you off to the world, my love.”

You bite your lower lip, it was here, another step in your relationship, “Let’s start with your family?”

Akaashi couldn’t help but pull you in for a kiss, one that leaves you gasping and breathless, “I love you,” you say.

“Stay with me forever,” Akaashi states, not even giving you a choice, it makes you laugh with giddiness, you were the only one who got to see this side of him.

“Sounds like a good plan.”

Being selfish once in a while felt nice.

a/n — guys i have to wake up for school in like less than 2 hrs but my brain said no syl finish your akaashi fic and i listened to my monster

general taglist + @rintarousprincess @giyuus0nlywife @luvrsthrist @cherries4denki @cloud-lyy @misscaller06 @noideawhothatis @wolffmaiden

[snowyh2o]

Hazbin Hotel Episode 7&8 Spoilers:

Ok, ok. I’ve finally calmed down a bit. I have. SO many thoughts on Alastor, that I’m just not gonna touch on them in this post, aside from I FUCKING KNEW HE WAS LOSING IT FBSKDNFBSHHDHFBS.

But what I wanna focus on is Rosie! And how she’s been described as the nicest overlord. And how Cannibal Town is like, the nicest place we’ve seen in hell??? The streets are relatively clean, no one is trynna kill each other. There’s so many people out on the streets, just? Going about their days? Aside from the fact that they’re all cannibals, it’s almost like any other town you’d visit! (I am not familiar enough with the fashion styles over the years to like, accurately date what time period Cannibal Town is supposed to reflect, but it feels old (and somewhere Alastor would fit right in with) lol).

And then we actually meet with Rosie, and she’s in the middle of consulting one of her people, where there’s a HUGE line up of others looking like they’re waiting to consult with her too! And like, even before she spoke with Charlie about her love life, she’s giving advice and comfort and support and connecting to the lady she’s speaking with who apparently wants to eat her husband. Before saying that she’ll set the man straight if the lady sends him to her, and gives her a card if she ever needs any more help.

Like. First minute into seeing Rosie and like. WOW. You can IMMEDIATELY tell that this is the reason why everyone in Cannibal Town’s so chill and happy? Why there’s such a sense of order and security in a place that’s basically just anarchy?

Rosie is both the Overlord, the unofficial mayor, the therapist and consultant and your best friend all wrapped up into one. She’s got an entire lineup of people who are waiting to tell her their woes and listen to her advice. And she’s happy to help!

Even the actual cannibalism is like, so posh and proper? Or it’s treated in Cannibal Town as like, normal food. But also it’s very telling that no one’s killing each other for said cannibalism. In fact, the only times we’ve seen them do so is after an extermination, when there’s a bunch of dead bodies that aren’t reviving lying around. (And they seem to lose their manners when eating then) It is likely tho that they just, target outsiders, since everyone we saw aside from Alastor and Charlie were a part of Cannibal Town.

Just the Juxtaposition of a town literally full of Cannibals being probably THE nicest place in hell for sinners to live in??? Immaculate.

Also, Rosie’s snide comment on how Alastor’s got no manners when it comes to being offered food LOL. And, I just LOVE their relationship and interaction. First time chatting in years and she’s already offering up place with a deal for Alastor to go make. That AMAZING little joke about him being Ace and having it COMPLETELY flying over his head. Alastor letting her touch him, and how genuinely excited and happy the two of them are just talking and interacting. Their little duet in the middle of the song, the way Rosie pulls Alastor out of his scheming to just enjoy the moment. Their dance!!! She’s never been wronged by Alastor before!!! She trusts him to follow through on his side of the unofficial bargain/favor. Looking like proud parents when Charlie finds the courage to sing her pitch. I love, everything about these two, oh my god.

Anyways!!! Back to Rosie being just, a genuinely good aunt? And giving so much good advice for Charlie. Asking her the questions that needed to be asked. Rosie has, such good insight? On what the issue was, and why Vaggie would’ve kept something from her. She didn’t shy away from how big the secret was, but she also didn’t let Charlie spiral into questioning every little part of their relationship. And that little end but when she’s saying that Vaggie is flawed, but so is everyone else down in hell. GAWD. How it’s difficult to admit your regrets. Like, if that isn’t the core of the show, the core of Charlie’s dream, then I don’t know what is. Rosie cut through to the heart of the matter, she didn’t tell Charlie what she should feel or how she should act, but asked her what she’s actually feeling, and why, and told her to trust herself and her own judgement on if Vaggie’s actions were sincere or not. Man she’s such a good therapist.

(I’m half convinced Alastor didn’t just bring Charlie to Cannibal Town and see Rosie just because they needed support and numbers to fight against the exorcists, but also because she’s the best person he knows who can give out good relationship advice and he’s getting a little tired of Charlie venting at him. Especially now that she’s past the self loathing phase and has stepped into the unrestrained anger and frustration at someone else phase)

Also, unrelated topic but here’s a thought: only angel steel/holy weapons/powers can do permanent damage to someone’s body/soul. Vaggie’s eye is torn out by Lute’s exorcist blade, but her wings were just ripped off by hand. Vaggie’s eye never regenerated or recovered, but she was able to regrow her wings. Alastor was struck by Adam’s holy weapon across his chest. What if the injury never fully recovers?

And also, Alastor’s talk about “unclipping” his wings. My friend, once a bird’s wings are clipped they can’t be unclipped! You have to wait for the feathers to shed and grow in new ones. To regenerate. Also what is this talk about you having wings??? Don’t tell me you’re ALSO a secret angel??? Probably not cause your blood is red BUT. Where are you hiding those supposed clipped wings of yours eh?!

[hyacinths-in-a-storm-writes]

Day 6- Getting Together

(Azula x Ty Lee)

You can also read it here on ao3

A/N: Slowly getting through all the prompts

“You’re going to be fine, she’s head over heels in love with you.” Zuko yawned from the spot on Azula’s bed where he was perched.

“You don’t know that! It’s just her personality to be polite and nice to everyone!” Azula argued, throwing another article of clothing onto the bed, “What are you even doing in my room?”

“You have my charger, and you won’t give it back until you calm down and go to bed.” Zuko laid back down on the bed, “If you want advice, then I would say just be honest, that usually works.” Azula throws a sock in his direction,

“I will not be taking advice from someone who dated the school stoner, and only for a week at that.” A pillow hits the back of her head,

“At least I had the guts to ask him out! You can’t even look Ty Lee in the eye anymore!” Azula throws the pillow back, knocking him back.

“You know I’m right.” he huffs, tearing the pillow from his face.

“Are you going to help, or not?”

“Like I said, you're worrying too much about it.” he pulled his phone out, “Look either you can tell her, or I’m texting her right now.”

Azula nearly tackled Zuko off the bed, reaching for his phone.

“You better not! I’d kill you.”

“I was just joking! Calm down, don’t scratch my good eye out!” Azula responded by dragging her nails harshly down his arm,

“Ouch! Azula get off, or I’m calling Mom, and we’ll both get in trouble.” reluctantly she did,

“I’m just gonna do it, I’ll tell her tomorrow. I’ll tell Ty Lee my feelings for her, tomorrow.” she decided, curling her hands into defiant fists.

“Good.” Zuko mused, “Can I have my charger back now? Or do you have something else to break down about?”

Azula answered with a phone charger to the face.

~

“Azula!” She heard her name only as somebody tackled from behind. Anyone else would’ve stumbled, but Azula, who had been dealing with this since the age of six, only lightly tripped over her feet, slamming her forearms into the lockers. 

“Hi Ty Lee. How are you?” she said weakly, massaging her arms,

“Good enough, hey can I talk to you about something?” Ty Lee grabbed Azula’s arm,

“Yeah, what is it?” she tried not to notice how nice Ty Lee’s calloused hands felt, gently holding her arm,

“Can we discuss it in private?” she asked, dragging her out the double doors into the relatively quiet outside.

“Ok, what would need to be so secretive?” Azula was starting to get nervous,

“Oh don’t worry, I just wanted to tell you about a girl, I think I have a crush on her.” her heart sank, settling at the bottom of her stomach as it tossed and turned with jealousy.

“Really? Who is this special someone?” Azula tried to keep her voice as light and teasing as she could manage.

“You’d probably know her, she takes AP Psych, just like you.” The only other person Azula could remember who took AP Psych was Katara. Did Ty Lee have a crush on Katara of all people?

“Well you’d have to specify, there’s a lot of people who take AP Psych.” Azula huffs,

“Hmm, well she’s also on the swimming team.” Ty Lee ponders, glancing at her. Katara was also in the swimming team. Seriously? Katara of all people? It might’ve hurt less if it had been someone Azula had never met.

“Speaking of which, when’s your next swim meet?” she asked, Azula didn’t respond, seemingly lost in her own head.

“Azula?” Ty Lee pokes at her side,

“Hmm? Oh, next week, why?”Azula said snapping out of her thoughts,

“I was thinking of coming with you. We could get something to eat afterwards.” Ty Lee offered,

“Sounds great.”

“It’s a date then.” Azula wished it was a proper date, but she shoved that feeling aside, “Oh, did I also tell you that my crush is extremely oblivious?”

“Well she doesn’t sound like a very good fit for you then. If she can’t even realize that you like her.” Ty Lee sighed,

“You do know crushes don’t work like that right?” Azula did know that, otherwise she’d be in love with anyone else besides her best friend.

“Anyways I asked her to dinner next week.” Azula looked to Ty Lee, who was staring very intently at her nails.

“Which day?” she hoped it wouldn’t interfere with their dinner times.

“Which day is your swim meet?” she asked casually,

“Thursday, but why does that matter-” Azula paused, “Oh.”

“Oh, indeed. Seriously Azula for someone who is a straight-A student you can be a bit slow at times.” Ty Lee let out a long breath, but she was still smiling looking for Azula’s response. Azula on the other hand looked like she had been hit by a truck, so she said the first thing that came to her mind,

“You like me? Are you sure?” Ty Lee raised an eyebrow,

“If I didn’t I wouldn’t have said so, or asked you out on a date, would I?” No, she supposed not,

“Does this mean you would want to be my girlfriend?” Azula asked tentatively, despite all the hard evidence, she was still unsure if this was a joke or not.

“Yes, Azula. In fact I could say I want nothing more than to be your girlfriend. That is if you would want to be my girlfriend as well?” she quickly added,

“Yes! I mean we can start it off slowly, but yes definitely I would love to be your girlfriend Ty Lee.” Azula knew she sounded like an overeager toddler, but excitement was lodged into her throat and was slipping into her words. Ty Lee didn’t say anything but just held her hand, squeezing it gently.

“Are you two finally dating?” Azula heard across the quad. It was Zuko sitting on a table next to Mai. She was ready to charge at him, but Ty Lee held her back,

“Yes! Unlike you!” she yelled back, Azula swore she saw Mai choke back a cough and Zuko’s jaw drop open. She laughed; how lucky she was to have a girlfriend like Ty Lee.

[steviesbicrisis]

part 1

[TW: internalized homophobia | compulsory heterosexuality]

Eddie doesn't want to have a problem with Steve.

Steve is great, he's one of his best friends, contrary to all predictions, he enjoys his company, he feels at ease around him, and he knows he can always count on him.

He really doesn't want to have a problem with Steve.

When he had come out to him, a few weeks ago, Steve looked so scared and worried about his reaction. Eddie had reassured him immediately that nothing was going to change and he meant it. He hated the look on Steve's face, the idea that he didn't know if he could trust him.

Of course, Eddie was surprised. Never in a million years he would have thought of Steve as a gay - actually, bisexual - person. But other than surprise, Eddie desperately wanted to be cool with it, to be there for Steve.

It wasn't as easy as he thought.

Slowly, Steve begins to be more open about it - as much as a small town in Indiana could let him: he talks about it with Robin, sometimes with Eddie; he comes out to other people, like Dustin, Nancy and Jonathan; he ventures gay bars outside of Hawkins, he tests the waters until he's comfortable enough to actually make a move on someone.

Eddie feels bad every second of it. For every little milestone in Steve's journey, Eddie has an ugly rancid feeling at the bottom of his stomach. "I kissed a guy last night", Eddie wants to puke.

"There was this hot dude, we got out for a smoke and then-", Eddie stops listening because he knows he's close to snapping.

"I told Dustin, you wouldn't believe how cool he was with it!", Eddie feels bad, wishing he was a better friend.

Eddie tries to overcome these emotions, he really does. But sometimes he would make a face, say the wrong thing, huff or roll his eyes and Steve would notice every time.

The last straw for both of them comes on an ordinary Thursday evening. Steve is beaming and sighing as he looks out of the family video door, until Eddie has to ask what is going on.

«I have a date, a guy asked me out last night. Like, a proper date!»

«Wow Harrington, I didn’t know you gave up on women entirely» it is supposed to be a joke, but comes out bitter.

They fight. Steve can’t take any more of the snarky comments and the bad looks and Eddie knows that he’s right, but also he’s doing his best, he just needs time.

Steve tells him it’s better if they stop hanging out for a while and Eddie protests, but he can’t do more when Steve tells him «if you can look at me in the eyes and tell me you don’t have a problem with me, then I can go past this and pretend it never happened.»

He tries but Eddie can’t do it, he can't lie to him. Steve’s face falls and Eddie gets out of the store being mad at everything but mostly at himself.

—

No one says it, but it looks like a breakup. Their friends pick up sides: Robin refuses to talk to him, Nancy and Jonathan are disappointed in him but still hang out with him when Steve isn't around, Dustin doesn’t know what happened but calls him a dick for good measure.

Eddie doesn’t complain, he knows what he deserves.

The only person who's still happy to talk to him is Chrissy. After their disastrous first date -Eddie will never ask Robin for movie advice ever again, a musical about pirates with reincarnations and lightsabers, what was she thinking?- somehow she was still happy to keep dating Eddie.

Eddie likes her, she’s nice, pretty and she isn’t as clingy as other girls Eddie dated before. They mostly talk and do stuff together, sometimes they make out but nothing more, Eddie likes it better that way.

They’re going back to his van after dinner when Eddie spots Steve in his own car, with a guy. Steve is laughing at something the guy says and then they’re kissing.

Eddie doesn’t know where the rage inside of him comes from, but he needs to leave. He realizes too late that Chrissy saw them as well. The rage turns into fear.

«Chrissy, don’t tell anyone what you saw, please» he pleads, worried about Steve.

She takes a look at Eddie’s face, then back at Steve. A thought crosses her mind.

«Uhm yeah, sure… can we go back to your place?»

Eddie is nervous for the whole ride. Half of him is worried about Chrissy saying something about Steve around, the other fears that she plans to have sex with him tonight.

Eddie opens the door for her and follows her inside, nervously.

She asks for a drink but she doesn’t step any closer to Eddie which makes him relax a little.

Actually, she sits at the opposite end of Eddie’s couch and only after they had a good amount of alcohol in their system, she faces Eddie.

She comes a little closer to him, and he feels nervous again. She seems nervous too so he completely misunderstands the situation.

«I don’t wanna have sex tonight!» he blurts out, surprising the both of them. She stares at him for a second before chuckling.

«Eddie, relax» she smiles reassuringly «this is not about us- I mean, also us but- I wanna talk about Steve.»

Eddie looks at her, completely thrown aback by her request. She knew that they had a fight but she didn't know about what, obviously, so she probably connected the dots after what she saw and his reaction.

He tells her about everything, the words come out easily and she is a great listener, mostly nodding from time to time. By the end of it, she looks determined.

«So, I get you wanna get over these ugly feelings because Steve is your friend, right? I think I can help. Drink more» she lends him another beer from the coffee table «and bare with me, okay?»

«First of all, let's talk about gay people. Does it bother you if you see two guys together?»

«Well no, not really» he answers, after giving it some thought.

«So this is about Steve» she concludes for him «it bothers you thinking of him with a guy?»

He doesn't want to admit it, but he also trusts Chrissy «yeah, it does...»

«And, does it bother you thinking of him with a girl?»

«What does that have to do with-» Chrissy interrupts him «just answer the question. If he got a girlfriend, someone that he really liked, would that bother you?»

Eddie gives it some thought. He had seen Steve dating girls before, but all of his dates turned into a disaster. It was something he expected, he had noticed and made that comment about him dating nerds.

What if he found another girl like Nancy? or someone like Robin who liked him back?

Horrified, Eddie realizes he doesn’t like the sound of that either.

«Oh shit.»

AN: the final part is almost done, I thought it would be better to split it and not make you wait too long after the first part, I hope it’s okay! Thank you for the support on the first part, really! If everything goes well I'm posting the last part tomorrow.

If you’re curious, Robin made Eddie rent The pirate movie, please google it if you have time. It’s so bad. Robin is a great friend to Steve, not so much to Eddie.

Part 3

----

Tag list: @funnymagicman-named-dandy @manda-panda-monium

[at1nys-blog]

Next Door

When you try to save your friends from bad press (your father's opinion on them) ending up having to find a way to survive it turns different than what you expected, but along the way there are your best friends, new friends and a very annoying gym bro that lives just Next Door

Previously on... Next Door//More about... Next Door//Next on... Next Door

Vol.5 Ch.23-plan in action

After she made sure everything was ready she locked her phone and went back to Nami as if nothing happened.

“What you wanted to talk about?” The ginger girl asked.

“Some advice. I don’t know what I’m doing with Kidd. Like he is a nice guy and everything but I don’t know.” She wished to be a lie for the sake of the plan but something inside her told her it wasn’t.

“Is because of Zoro? I told you if he bothers you, tell me.”

“No is not about Zoro.” It was about Zoro, she guess because every time Kidd texted her or they were hanging out together she always wished to be Zoro instead, the reason? Unknown. She was supposed to hate him but couldn’t. It was stronger than her.

“I say you give the punk a chance. Go on a proper date and then see how things evolve from there.” Maybe she was right and all she had to do was to ask the guy on a date.

Someone knocked on her door, finally Zoro and Luffy were there. Opening the door the green haired guy gave her a … grin

“Hello my favorite neighbor. How are you doing?” She rolled her eyes, pretending to be annoyed.

“I was doing good until you showed up.”

“So happy to hear that.” he walked past her and Luffy followed behind apologizing for his friend behavior, oh if he only knew this time it was staged. “So, you have something we can eat?” Good boy, keep it like that. She thought.

“Check the fridge yourself if you are on the verge of starving” and he did, opening the fridge he gave a quick look but nothing was of his taste. “So?”

“Is empty” he answered closing the door. “Nothing I would like in there” walking to the living room he took control of the tv, both Nami and Luffy were lost, they didn’t know what to do, nor what to say. They both knew a single wrong word and all Hell was going to get loose.

Zoro started zapping groaning about how nothing interesting was on tv.

“You are annoying”

“You sound like a broken record.” He turned around to come face to face with her “don’t you have a better come back?”

“A better come back would be my fists against your pr… your face” Zoro noticed that, everyone did but said nothing. She was really going to say he had a pretty face.

She stopped outside, the only way to be followed by her friends, for Luffy that was Zoro’s problem.

“Were you going to say he has a pretty face?” Nami teased her.

“Sadly he does so what? Is not like I’m into him or something” she defended herself. “Besides when are you going to tell him?”

“I don’t have to tell him anything, is not like he feels the same”

“Then you are blind. Look at him” looking back at the living room both girls noticed Luffy looking at them, sorry, looking at Nami as if saying to her he doesn’t know why his best friend was acting this way.

“Let’s say you are right…”

“I’m always right” she interrupted

“Really?”

“What? When I am not? Please tell me”

“You are not right about Kidd. You are just trying to not think about…” Nami just looked in Zoro’s direction.

“No, you are wrong. I like Kidd.”

“Oh come on, don’t lie to me.”

“I AM NOT”

It was at that moment Luffy, finally walked outside. Now she just had to think of a good enough excuse to go back inside and lock the door, but Zoro was ready, giving her the perfect reason to leave.

Sprinting outside she was quick, one minute all her attention was on the green haired man and the next one she closed the doors whispering a ‘I’m sorry’ to her friend, both victims started to bang their hands on the windows but it was useless, she wasn’t going to open it any time soon.

“I hate you.”

“talk it out and then we’ll let you free. Bye” and she went to grab Zoro by the wrist getting him upstairs, into her bedroom where the two could hear everything that was happening downstairs.

“If you wanted me in your bed you just had to ask”

“Shut up” she let him go and ran to open the window and sitting on the bench against it. Zoro followed her lead and sat in front of her.

Something in Zoro's mind switched, why and how he couldn't tell but now, seeing her so immersed in the situation unfolding downstairs something was happening in that little brain of his.

He wanted to kiss her, maybe to get the taste of her lips, maybe just to annoy her and steal that first kiss from Kidd, maybe it was just because he felt like it, no other reason in mind.

Kiss her; do not kiss her; GROW SOME BALLS AND KISS HER; DONT YOU DARE DO IT; man please kiss her already don't chicken out now; DON'T. DO.IT

He kept staring at her, and if it wasn't for the sea witch screaming and getting their attention he would have kept staring.

"What are you screaming for?" he said pulling his head out of the window to get a better view of the situation. “Is damn late, people are going to complain about the noise.”

“I’m coming to kill you Zoro.”

“EHY THAT IS MY JOB” YN said rushing outside the window too, to have a better view on her friend.

“You know what? I actually would love to live so you…” he turned to come face to face with Luffy “jump on my balcony and you, sea witch don’t you try and sneak in my apartment.” Both Zoro and YN went back inside.

The girl wanted to laugh so bad but didn't want to upset her friend more than necessary, so she tried her best to keep in the laugh but she couldn't.

"Ehy, stop laughing, right now." this only made her laugh more. "what did I just said?"

"Sorry, sorry but all of this is just so funny" Nami started blabbering "I'm sorry but it is" she yelled from inside. All that time, while the two friends were bichering with each other Zoro was there, not a word from his mouth or a giggle or snort or anything else of that sort.

"I have to go, and please don't upset the sea Witch more than necessary please." a quick kiss on her head, followed by a 'good night' and he was off, sprinting downstairs to leave as fast as possible from an embarassing moment he had created.

Y/N was left with her thoughts for some minutes when the voice of her friend got her attention and made her walk downstair to open the door of the balcony.

Entering his apartament Zoro wished to dissapear at that right moment, how could he face her after what he did? Was she going to use it as lavarage? What was she going to ask him so she could shut up about the kiss?

Thoughts after thoughts he was cought up in them that every single movement seemed robotic, staged beforehand and he was now following the patterns of the orders he was given. He needed to destress, he needed to go to the gym as soon as possible.

"Ehy Luffy, would you like to come to the gym with me tomorrow?" he asked hoping for a positive answer from his best friend.

"I need to sleep after what you put me through. Don't you ever invite me over."

"okay sorry, but did you..."

"I asked her out, and before you ask me. Yes, she said yes." Zoro smilled "oh shut it now, as if you was expecting a different outcome. Please don't say anything yet."

"sure captain, see you tomorrow?"

"I'll be at the diner at some point. See you tomorrow." and with that the green-haired man was left alone once again, thoughts filling his mind once again.

"I need a nap"

[stuffymcstuffsworld]

Welcome home!

Having thirteen children instead of one was difficult, but so rewarding. Iruma was your ray of sunlight in the dark abyss of hell, and you literally sold your sold to a demon just to take care of him the way he deserves. Worth it.

And when he started making friends and doing normal teenager stuff, you couldn't help but cry. You were so relieved that he was able to have sleepovers and get a proper education. Course being in demon school as a human wasn't easy and you were proud of how he kept climbing and pushing forward when the old him would have tried to keep quiet and hide.

Somehow, along the way, though, you started to notice that your small family grew. Before you knew it, you had thirteen children asking for advice or seeking comfort. You had thirteen trouble makers causing chaos and you being a good parent/guardian, unlike some *cue cursing under breath*. You actually attended every family teacher meeting, addressed all concerns about schooling, and ensured that they were being properly fed and taken care of.

Somehow, you were the one expected to sign all permission slips, and you were the first one that got called if anything went wrong. And you gladly took each responsibility without hesitation. The fact that you and Opera went and remodeled a room for each child because you had said firmly. "They each need the option of having privacy. The house is big enough."

Sullivan was happy to pay as well as claim more grandchildren. Course, they didn't all live with you all the time, much to the entire households disappointment. But it was soothing knowing you had a full house. There were some circumstances where you just took one of your kids and decided with them that they were not going back.

For instance, when Kalego-San described Jazz's living conditions. Sure, he had casually brought it up, and yes, it was 8 o'clock at night. But you'd be damned if one of your babies had to live like a slave for anyone. After telling Opera to get a carriage ready, you quickly informed both iruma and Sullivan that jazz was coming home to stay before leaving to get him.

That would be when you had the displeasure of meeting your baby's disgusting older brother. Who happened to be having sex in the living room for anyone to see much to your misfortune after you had kicked open the door.

At first, he learned and tried to get you to join him, but after decking him in the jaw and having Opera keep an eye on him for you. You made your way deeper into the house, eyeing all the knickknacks. "Jazz!" You called out carefully stepped over more junk. "Jazzy!" You called out again.

You heard some shuffling and turned to see a door open to reveal the one you were looking for with bags already packed. "Iruma already texted me. I'm all packed." The excitement to leave this place made your heart ache for a moment before you opened your arms to him.

"Let's go home, Jazzy." He had rushed in bags and all nearly making you both fall over, but that was fine. Your baby was coming home.

Or when Soi had runaway from home, you had been the person he ran to. You gave a hell raising call about how stupid it was for his father to attempt to force the families ways down his throat and that if he kept being stupid, he would lose Soi forever. Which was a shame cause he was a great kid.

Soi had ended up crying and rambling to you all night as you gently rocked him in your arms and planted kisses on his head. He just wanted to be heard. You and Soi's mother had agreed that Soi should stay with you until he decided what to do. At least someone in the family had some decency.

There were other instances such as lied staying over cause he fought with his sister. Alice who was avoiding their mother, who was on an evil cycle. Clara wants a play date. The door was always welcome to her. Even if she didn't want to play, you would remind her happily with a kiss to the cheek.

But truthfully, you couldn't be happier. Your life was a thousand times better than it had ever been on earth! Watching as Elisabetta strutted through the doors with Lied and Kamui on her heels. Shaking your head, you called out. "Welcom home, sweetheart, hello baby bird, hey little man." They immediately swarmed you and began telling you of their day as you basked in the attention listening happily.

[fics-by-em]

Amorous Facades - Chapter Ten

A wild night out leaves the lives of Jamie Tartt and Ophelia Adams more intertwined than they ever would have imagined.

Will their decision to try and use the situation to their advantage work out in their favour or will they realize that they should have cut their losses when they had the chance?

———-

previous chapter

———-

Surprisingly to Lia, there hadn’t been many times since she met Jamie that she really missed Katie. There’d been fleeting moments when she heard her favourite song on the radio or saw something that reminded her of her, but for the most part she was doing okay without her best friend. However, as she was getting ready for her date with Jamie, her absence was more pronounced than usual.

She was nervous. And her nerves were making her over think. She couldn’t decide what to do with her hair, she couldn’t decide what to wear and she couldn’t decide how to do her make-up. She’d tried several different outfits and hairstyles and nothing felt right, nothing felt good enough for their evening together because despite the fact that Jamie was supposed to be proving to her that he wanted more than just someone to find a physical release with, Lia felt an unshakable pressure to prove to him that she was worth it.

She’d laid it on the line - she’d told him that there was no road forward as anything more than business partners if it was less than a proper relationship - and she was terrified that despite his heartfelt words and reassurances, he’d realize that she wasn’t really what he wanted. She was desperate for some outside perspective and for the advice that Katie had always been so happy to provide, but without that encouragement, she tried to soothe herself with the memories of how nice the previous few days had been.

They were in a somewhat of a limbo situation that Lia knew was her own making and it left them in a bit of an awkward position. They were waiting for their date before anything officially changed between them, but things had already shifted and it was hard to uncross that line. 

And Jamie craved affection. 

It was clear in the way he sought physical touch when he needed comfort and in the way he was so effortless with his touches when they were putting on their little show for everyone. Ever since the kiss they’d shared on the couch, he’d lavished that affection on her every moment that he could. It was like he felt a physical strain every time they were in each other’s company and not touching in some way, but Lia appreciated the fact that he never went too far. He hadn’t even asked for another proper kiss and as she put the finishing touches on her lipstick, Lia hoped that their date would go well enough that he would be begging for one by the end of the night.

The thought put a smile on her face, but it wasn’t long before the doorbell pulled her attention away from her reflection in the mirror as she slipped on her shoes and headed down to answer the door. To her surprise, Jamie was standing on the other side.

“Hi,” Lia greeted him, her brow furrowed in confusion. “Did you just ring the bell?”

He had a bouquet in his hand and was dressed in a way that was smarter than his usual style while still looking rather casual, giving Lia no more clue about where they were heading.

“Yeah, I did,” he nodded, handing her the flowers. “Wanted to do this right, including the whole picking you up part.”

“Oh yeah?” Lia smiled. “Are you going to call my dad too and let him know that you’ll have me home by midnight?”

“I could,” Jamie smirked. “But I’m not sure it would be all that reassuring when it’s my house that I’d be bringing you home too.”

“Hmm, probably not,” Lia agreed. “So, where are we going?”

“Not too far away,” Jamie assured her without actually answering the question. “I ordered an Uber, should be here in about five minutes.”

“Oh, perfect. That will give me time to put these in some water. Do you have a vase?”

“Uh, no…”

“I didn’t think so, I’ll have to improvise.”

Lia hurried off into the kitchen and found a pint glass in the cupboard and filled it with a bit of water to keep the flowers alive until they got home and she could arrange them more carefully. She had to admit that he’d done a good job in picking out a beautiful summer bouquet and she was touched that he was going to so much trouble despite the fact that their situation was so different than a typical first date. She knew her standards were probably low, but he was off to a good start as far as convincing her that he wasn’t just looking for a hook up and her cheeks were already starting to hurt from the smile on her face as she headed back to the door.

The drive to their mysterious location was fairly short, but Lia was a bit surprised when they were standing on the pavement outside of what looked like it could be just a normal pub. She was in no way disappointed and she’d chosen the sundress she was wearing because it was suitable for casual or fancy just to cover her bases, but the nervous look on Jamie’s face as she studied the outside of the building was rather endearing.

“This alright?” He asked. “I’ve never been, but they have board games and stuff. I thought you’d like that more than some stuffy five star restaurant, but we can go to one of them if you’d prefer.”

“No, this is perfect,” Lia rushed to assure him. “It’s actually a really sweet idea.”

A proud smile slid onto Jamie’s face as he took her hand and opened the door before leading her inside. The hostess greeted them and took them to a table before explaining that they could order at the bar and pick any game from the wall at the back of the room. Ever the gentleman, Jamie offered to get the first round and suggested Lia start looking at the games.

“What would you like?” He asked. “I think they do tea and stuff like that if you don’t want a proper drink.”

“Oh, that’s fine, I think I’ll have a pint of cider, please.”

Jamie smiled and nodded before heading off towards the bar, leaving Lia to peruse the huge wall of games available to them. 

The pub was busy, she noticed, but no one seemed to care who Jamie was if they even realized. It wasn’t entirely surprising considering she hadn’t known who he was when they met either, but after seeing so many of his matches where hundreds of people were either chanting his name or booing him, it seemed unbelievable that he could go anywhere without drawing attention. Especially with such a handsome face and cheeky smile, it amazed her that every woman in the room hadn’t been distracted by him from the moment they’d walked inside. She was so caught up in her thoughts as she watched Jamie at the bar that she forgot about her task until he was walking back over to her, drinks in hand.

“Did you pick one?”

“No,” she admitted, taking the drink he held out for her. “I wasn’t sure what you were in the mood for.”

“Anything,” Jamie shrugged. “Nothing too complicated though, yeah?”

“Okay, what about…” Lia scanned the wall briefly. “Chess?”

The look of disgust on Jamie’s face told Lia the answer before he even opened his mouth.

“Uh, I said not complicated.”

“You don’t know how to play chess?”

Her words were mostly teasing, but the hint of disbelief clearly made Jamie a bit defensive as he shook his head.

“No, because I’m not a dork.” He said it like it was obvious and Lia simply rolled her eyes as they turned their gaze back to their options, browsing until something caught Jamie’s eye. “Oh, Snakes and Ladders! I loved that game when I was a little lad, used to play it all the time with my mum.”

“That’s a classic,” Lia smiled. “Should we play that one?”

“Do you wanna? We don’t have to, if you had something else in mind.”

“I didn’t and I like that one too,” Lia assured him, reaching for the box. “But I’ll warn you now, I do have a talent for it.”

Her claim earned a laugh from Jamie as he followed her back to their table.

“Talent? How can you have a talent for it? You just roll the dice and move where it says, it’s all completely random.”

“Hmm, I dunno about that,” Lia teased. “I’ve won every game I’ve ever played, it’s hard to imagine that I’m just that lucky.”

“Who were you playing?” Jamie asked. “Your dad? I bet he let you win every time.”

“If it’s just random, how could he let me win?” Lia questioned. “It’s skill, I’m telling you.”

“Sounds like you must be a cheater then because I don’t see how this game has any skill involved at all.”

“A lot of people would say the same about football,” Lia teased. “But you’ve managed to make an entire career out of it.”

Jamie’s jaw dropped from the shock of her cheeky remark, but after taking a moment to recover, a laugh fell from his lips.

“Alright, babe, didn’t expect you to be so competitive, but if this is how you’re gonna be then bring it on.”

Lia simply grinned as she set down her drink and started to take the game board out of its box. They laid the game out between them and picked their pieces - Lia chose to be red and Jamie wanted yellow - and rolled the dice to see who went first. When Lia rolled a six over Jamie’s one, her grin only widened.

“See?” She giggled. “Talent.”

Jamie simply rolled his eyes in response, but there was a smile on his face to match her own. However, by the end of the first game, his smile had shifted into a look of suspicion as he stared in disbelief at her piece sitting at the finish line while his trailed behind on space number forty.

“You definitely cheated,” he accused. “How did you win so fast?”

“Because I’m talented, I keep telling you!”

“Okay, let’s play again and I’m going first.”

“That’s fine,” Lia shrugged. “But it won’t matter.”

The second round was even faster and twenty minutes later her warning came true again as Jamie hit every snake he came across while Lia sailed through to the end.

“You must be a witch,” Jamie accused. “If you’re not cheating somehow then that’s all I can think of.”

“Maybe it’s a curse,” Lia smirked. “Like from a fairy godmother when I was a baby, doomed to spend my whole life never losing at a game of Snakes and Ladders.”

“Sure,” Jamie scoffed out a laugh. “But I think cheating is more likely.”

Lia simply giggled and sipped at her cider, amused by his annoyance before asking, “So, you used to play this with your mum a lot?”

“Yeah,” Jamie nodded, the soft nostalgic smile on his face warming Lia’s heart. “Every Friday night was game night for a while when I was little. It was just the two of us back then, my dad didn’t bother with me and Simon wasn’t around yet. This one was my favourite so even though we used to take turns choosing the game, Mum always picked it too.”

“That’s really sweet, you have a good mum.”

“I do,” Jamie agreed. “She’s the best mum in the world. She’s the reason I am the man I am today - well, the good parts at least - and I never would’ve even given football a chance if she hadn’t suggested it and encouraged me. She was always at every game even if she was exhausted from working so much.”

“She’s definitely your number one fan,” Lia smiled. “The way she talked about you when we met, she’s so proud of you.”

“I hope so. I do my best to make her proud, but I don’t always think I have.”

“She knows you’re a good person,” Lia insisted. “That’s what matters at the end of the day.”

“I guess so,” he shrugged. “But your dad seems to feel the same about you.”

“I think so, but I think he would be more proud of me if I went to university,” she admitted. “He feels guilty that I got stuck working in the bookstore with him, but I started when I was a teenager and I really love it so I never really considered doing anything else.”

“Yeah? What do you like about it?”

Despite her efforts to stop it, Lia felt her face light up at the question. Her dad always teased her about the way she gushed about books and reading or anything to do with literature and she tried to force down some of the bubbling excitement she felt at the opportunity to talk about it. She didn’t want Jamie to think she was too much of a nerd, after all. Their date had been going surprisingly well and she didn’t want to start scaring him off, especially not after he had asked her with such genuine interest in his voice.

“Everything. I just love books and I love reading so having a good reason to stay on top of all the newest releases for every genre is perfect. I like talking to people about the things they like to read and then helping them find something that I know they’re going to love. And my favourite part is when they come back a few weeks later, excited to talk about it whether they liked it or hated it. I just love helping people get passionate about reading.” She paused as she realized that her plan to temper her enthusiasm hadn’t worked out very well and her cheeks heated up as Jamie watched her with a ghost of a smirk on his face. “Sorry, I know I sound like a huge dork.”

“Yeah, but it’s cute,” Jamie teased. “You’re passionate, I like that.”

“Thanks,” Lia mumbled shyly before turning the focus back to him. “Do you read much?”

“Nah, not really,” he admitted. “Sometimes I do, but I never really have the time.”

“You should make time, it’s good for your brain,” Lia informed him. “I can bring you a few books home that I think you’d like if you want me too.”

“Sure, as long as you let me give you the money for them.”

“Oh, you don’t have to do that. I get an amazing employee discount of one hundred percent off.”

Despite her teasing tone, Jamie shot her a stern look.

“Doesn’t matter, I should be supporting your business,” he insisted. “I haven’t really been holding up my end of our bargain.”

“I wouldn’t be too sure about that, my dad said that a man came in the other day and asked if the ‘Tartt girl’ was working so you might have helped get a few curious people in the door,” she smiled. “And really, have I been doing all that much for you? Has your reputation dramatically increased?”

“Kinda,” Jamie nodded. “A lot of the women who were slagging me off online and saying that I’m a ‘fuck boy’ have decided I’m not so bad again.”

“Oh, great,” Lia rolled her eyes. “I’m so glad that I’m helping women everywhere fall back in love with you.”

“Well, there’s sponsors too,” Jamie rushed to add. “A lot of the ones that ditched me after I went on TV have decided they’re interested again. That matters more to me than the women, couldn’t care less about that actually. Not when I have you here.”

“Awwe,” Lia cooed dramatically despite the way his words warmed her cheeks. “You’re so sweet.”

There was a hint of sarcasm to her words, but Jamie reached out across the table to take her hand.

“I mean it,” he insisted. “Haven’t even glanced at another woman since I met you. I don’t need to when I have you at home.”

The words ‘except Keeley’ were on the tip of Lia’s tongue. While she was trying to let it go and push it from her mind, it was a stretch for to believe that he hadn’t even looked at any other women when she’d recently caught him confessing his love to one, but she knew if they were hoping to move forward then she couldn’t keep holding it against him.

“That’s nice to hear,” Lia smiled, forcing all other thoughts out of her mind. “If I’m being honest, I’ve been feeling the same. Having you at home makes it hard to be interested in wasting my time on any other men.”

“Can’t say I’m surprised, but I’m glad to hear it,” Jamie smirked, his cockiness earning a playful roll of Lia’s eyes as he tossed back the last sip of his pint. “Let’s get out of here, yeah?”

“Already?”

The surprise was clear in Lia’s voice as they hadn’t been there very long and, again, her reservations about Jamie’s motivations had her hoping he wasn’t assuming that an hour of playing a board game and reminiscing about their childhoods was all it took to get her into bed with him.

“Yeah, I was thinking we could walk home,” he informed her, her hesitation making him look a little unsure. “Thought maybe we could stop for some ice cream on the way, but if you wanna stay here we can do that too.”

“No, that sounds perfect,” Lia quickly agreed. “It’s getting a bit warm in here, ice cream would be nice.”

The temperature had been climbing as they moved into the beginning of June and the lack of air conditioning in almost every business in London was quickly becoming apparent as it did in every recent summer. The thought of a relaxing stroll home in the - hopefully - cooler evening air while indulging in a refreshing treat sounded much nicer than sitting in the pub they were in - especially as it started to fill up with more and more customers and their extra body heat.

“That’s what I thought,” Jamie nodded. “It was a hot one today, I was sweating my balls off at practice.”

Lia snorted out a laugh at his honesty as she packed the game back into its box.

“I can imagine, training must be unbearable when it’s hot. I was trying to figure out why the football season runs through the cold, rainy winters, but I guess it beats running around in the heat.”

“Definitely, I think we’d all die if we had to do it for the whole summer.”

“I bet you would,” Lia agreed as she rose from her seat to take the game back. Jamie stood to follow her just in time to see her pull a face. “And you’d be so disgusting and stinky.”

With a chuckle, Jamie waited for her to put the game on the shelf before throwing his arm around her shoulder.

“You’d love that though, wouldn’t you?” He teased. “Getting to see me all sweaty and sexy, maybe even running around with my shirt off.”

She wanted to roll her eyes again, but the image that his words put in her mind had her mouth suddenly feeling rather dry. She was stunned for a moment, but as they reached the door and she glanced up at Jamie to see his smirk widening, she snapped out of her thoughts.

“Maybe I should get a private show this summer,” she mused. “That would be better than sharing that view with a stadium of fans.”

A noise that sounded suspiciously like a growl rumbled from Jamie’s chest as they stepped onto the pavement outside the pub. His hand slipped down to her waist as he pulled her tightly against his side and dipped his head until his lips were hovering by her ear.

“You can have a show whenever you’d like, babe,” he assured her. “All you have to do is ask.”

The suggestion was enough to have Lia biting her lip, but the purpose of their date was to make sure that Jamie was interested in more than just a physical relationship so she forced down her quickly growing desire and shook her head.

“I’ll keep that in mind. Now, where’s this ice cream place?”

The growing smirk on Jamie’s face told her that he had noticed her sharp change of subject, but he simply chuckled as he pressed his lips against her hair and led her down the road.

——

The ice cream parlour that Jamie had taken her to was packed. It was unsurprising given the warm temperature that day, but Lia was amazed again that no one seemed to recognize that a famous footballer was in their midst. Jamie did keep his head down and tried his best to be incognito, but Lia was just starting to think that she’d really been overestimating his level of celebrity when a little boy sitting by the door caught sight of them as they were about to leave.

“Oh my god,” he gasped. “You’re Jamie Tartt!”

The boy couldn’t have been more than ten and the excitement on his face was adorable to see even as several heads turned in your direction after his announcement.

“Uh, yeah,” Jamie nodded, smiling at the child. “I am.”

“You’re a legend!” The little boy gushed. “You’re my favourite player ever!”

“Wow, thanks, mate,” Jamie chuckled. “You like football, yeah?”

“I love it! I’m on a team and I practice every day! Wanna be as good as you one day!”

“I bet you will, if you’re working that hard. Sounds like you’ve got the determination.”

“Oh, he definitely does,” the boy’s dad chimed in with an affectionate smile on his face. “He goes to bed cuddling his football most nights.”

“You’re on the right track then,” Jamie assured him. “Do you want me to sign something for you? Or a picture?”

“A picture!”

His answer was so enthusiastic that it was bordering on frantic as he turned to his dad and begged for his phone. His dad quickly obliged and unlocked it to open the camera, but when he passed it to the little boy and Jamie squatted down beside him - ready for a selfie - Lia intervened. 

“I can take it for you,” she offered. “If you’d like.”

The boy eagerly nodded and handed Lia the phone before going back to pose beside Jamie. Lia snapped a few pictures, making sure she got a good one before she handed the phone back - well aware that several other people in the room were now taking pictures of them as well. Almost before Jamie could even realize what was happening, the child beside him turned and threw his arms around his neck as he pulled him into a tight hug. He seemed stunned at first, but quickly leaned into the embrace and gave the child a tight squeeze before moving away.

“What’s your name?”

“Sam,” he said proudly. “Like Sam Obisanya.”

“That’s a great name for a footballer,” Jamie informed him. “Keep practicing, yeah? I bet you’ll be running circles around me in a few years if you do.”

“I will, I promise!” He insisted before turning to Lia. “Thanks for the pictures, Mrs. Tartt!”

The name caught Lia slightly off guard, but she flashed him a smile and a quick ‘you’re welcome’ before Jamie came back to her side and they headed out the door.

“That was really cute,” Lia smiled as she ate a bite of ice cream off the tiny spoon that it came with. “He was looking at you like you hung the moon.”

“Yeah, kids are always the nicest fans to meet,” he admitted. “No critiques or complaints, they haven’t got caught up in all the shitty politics that comes with it. They just like the game and admire the players.”

“You were really sweet with him.” When Jamie shrugged at the observation, another thought popped into Lia’s mind and out of her mouth before she could stop it. “Do you want kids one day?”

She saw him tense out of the corner of her eye and he stayed silent as he took a slow bite of his ice cream.

“Uh, maybe,” he shrugged after a moment of thought. “I like kids, but I haven’t thought too much about having any of my own. Didn’t have the best example with my dad, not sure I’d be very good at it and I wouldn’t wanna fuck up like he did.”

It was a perfectly reasonable concern given what Jamie had been through with his own dad - and she only knew bits and pieces of that story - but she knew without a doubt that it wasn’t something he had to worry about.

“You’re not like him,” she insisted. “I might not know you all that well, but I know you well enough to know that you’d never be like he was. You might have your own flaws, but I bet you’ve learned a lot from his mistakes.”

Her assurances simply earned a shrug from Jamie and a silence fell between them for a moment until he turned the question back on her.

“What about you? Do you want kids?”

She should have expected it, but Lia still felt the panic grip her as she thought about her answer. Her hands felt clammy and her chest felt tight, but Jamie had been open and honest with her so she tried to do the same.

“I think I do,” she admitted. “But it scares me. With my mum dying in childbirth, it really terrifies me. I think it’s more common than people think and even though I don’t think her death makes it any more likely to happen to me, it’s hard not to think about it. But then I feel kinda guilty because she made that sacrifice for me, but I might not be willing to risk it for a child of my own so…it’s complicated I guess.”

“Makes sense,” Jamie assured her, reaching out to squeeze her hand as she wiped the sweat from her palm on her dress. “It’s harder not to worry about things when they’ve happened to you.”

“That’s true,” she agreed, squeezing his hand and flashing him a smile. “Sorry for bringing it up, I guess it isn’t the best first date conversation.”

“It’s fine, we’re getting to know each other, aren’t we?” He pointed out before adding, “And we’re married so we should be having these kinda conversations.”

“I think you’re supposed to have those conversations before you get married,” Lia giggled. “But I must admit, I kinda liked being called Mrs. Tartt.”

“Oh, did you?” Jamie raised an eyebrow as a smug look slid onto his face. “Does that mean I’m doing alright at this whole date thing?”

“Hmm, I think I’d give you a solid seven out of ten.”

“What? That’s it?”

The shock was clear in his voice and Lia bit back another giggle as she shrugged her shoulders.

“You’ve got time to move it up to a ten, we’re not home yet.”

Jamie’s jaw dropped as he scoffed at her reply before slowly shaking his head.

“So fuckin’ cheeky.”

His indignation had Lia letting out a laugh and she was happy to hear Jamie chuckle along with her.

——

The walk home was full of more of the casual conversation and effortless teasing that they always seemed to fall into and what struck Lia more than anything else was how easy it was with Jamie. 

She was so prone to overthinking, to shying away from sharing her personality in case whoever she was with didn’t like it. It was the reason that none of her previous relationships lasted very long and the reason why she was so nervous around new people. But with Jamie, she didn’t have any of her normal anxiety. She felt so at ease with him like she knew that he would understand her, that none of her lame jokes or playful cheek would scare him away. She could be herself around him in a way that usually took her ages to feel comfortable sharing and her heart clenched with the hope that he was serious about wanting them to have something real because - by the end of their date - she had no doubts left that she wanted it too.

“So,” Jamie started as they walked up to his front door. “How did I do? You gonna invite me inside?”

“Into your own house?”

“Can’t just assume, not when I’m dropping you off after a first date,” he informed her. “So, can I come in?”

“Hmm,” Lia dramatically pondered before she flashed him a smirk. “I’m not sure. You’ve only reached a nine out of ten on our walk home.”

A grumpy look immediately slid onto Jamie’s face as he clearly disagreed with her assessment.

“Why?” He huffed. “What do I have to do to reach ten?”

It was the question that Lia had hoped he would ask, but she felt a sudden shyness wash over her as she squeaked out an answer.

“How about a kiss?”

Jamie’s annoyance visibly shifted into surprise as he took a moment to process her request, but as soon as he’d wrapped his mind around what she was suggesting, he joined her on the doorstep and slid his arms around her waist. She felt her cheeks heat up as she settled against his body and let her hands rest on his chest.

“If that’s what you wanted then you should’ve just said so,” he murmured, his voice low. “Been dyin’ to kiss you all night, but I thought you wanted to take things slow.”

“I do,” Lia admitted. “But…please, it’s just a kiss.”

She hadn’t intended to sound quite so desperate as she practically begged him for what she wanted, but the emotions of their wonderful evening together, the tension from the closeness of their bodies and the build up of anticipation that she’d been feeling all night left her unable to resist. The pleading in her voice had Jamie’s jaw clenching slightly before he caved to her demands and leaned down to press his lips against hers.

As much as she was embarrassed to admit it, she almost moaned into his mouth the moment it met hers. She felt intensely aware of the sensation, the romance of the moment, and the softness of his lips as his fingers dug into her hips. The way his tongue lapped at her lips, coaxing her mouth open just enough for him to deepen the kiss. His natural scent mixed with a hint of cologne surrounding her. It was all enough to have a wave of heat flooding through her body as her hand slid to the back of his neck to hold him in place as long as she possibly could, but as the need that she’d been resisting and fighting for so long began burning between her legs, she forced herself to let him pull away and catch his breath before she got too carried away.

“Wow,” she murmured, rubbing her thumb across the nape of his neck. “That was nice.”

Jamie hummed in agreement as he looked down at her in a way that told her he was struggling with restraint just as much as she was.

“So, do you believe me?” He questioned after a moment of silence hung between them “You know that I’m all in yet?”

“I think so,” she admitted, her voice soft as she felt a flicker of nerves float through her stomach. “Tonight was really nice, you were a perfect gentleman.”

“Can we make it real then? No more pretending, can I sleep next to my girlfriend tonight?”

It seemed like such a silly question - like such a silly distinction to make when the entire country already thought they were married - but Lia knew it was important. It felt different. Labelling the feelings between them, the relationship that they’d built up over the last few weeks. It was something just for them, not the rest of the world to know about, and Lia knew that she wanted it just as bad as Jamie did. There were still doubts, she couldn’t deny that, but Jamie was a work in progress by his own admission and she decided that she was willing to accept him - flaws and all - in the hopes that he would do the same with her.

So, with a deep breath to steady herself, she slowly nodded her head.

“I’d really like that…”

The words were barely out of her mouth before Jamie captured her lips again and Lia found herself feeling incredibly relieved that she would no longer have to live in a world where she was denying herself such a pleasure as she briefly wondered how long she’d be able to stick to the plan of taking things slow.

-----

chapter eleven

[sevenrs]

if you're gonna talk about your ocs unprompt let me prompt you to talk about them

seriously i wanna read anything on ur ocs i am very interested

thank you for the interest! my guys mean a lot to me so it's very touching someone else would want to hear about them

i usually work on my ocs one at a time. and it is flight of the crows' turn

i dont have a proper reference outside of my iterator lineup so this is the best picture i have (that i did draw)

crows IS named after the jhariah song of the same name. im kind of obsessed with jhariah's music and i wanted an iterator inspired it. flight of the crows is also a kickass name. design is also inspired by the colors that he uses in his albums and i do have art of crows (and lost. but i will get to her later) using album palette

crows is one of the older iterators out of my guys (not one of the first few ever made but more like. 2nd-3rd gen iterator, maybe a bit higher depending on how many generations there really were)

crows' city was home to a large population of engineers, which helped improve and revise newer iterator designs. naturally, crows would lean about this as well, and became very invested in the subject

they were eventually skilled enough to alert their ancients to problems before the automated systems they made, or routine checks by the ancients. crows became pretty self-sustaining while they were around

but with them gone, they continued their learning by themselves, designing their own mechanical blueprints in simulations or using their puppets' hands to work with real materials. i imagine their can seems a little dangerous at times, with tools and spare metal and wires, but it is kept organized like pearls are (having control of gravity and all)

personality wise, crows is very reserved. quiet type, really doesn't speak unless prompted to by someone else. when prompted, has very detailed and seemingly well-thought out, calm responses. a great listener, but they tend to keep people at arms length

everyone except 2 people

before the ancients died, crows made contact with an iterator of a different local group (meatcatt's) lost in the dark.

lost's ancients discovered that she was build right on top of a huge pool of void fluid, and was being converted into more of a drillsite. lost was expected to come up with efficient solutions for how to do this, but she wasn't familiar with void drills.

and therefore asked for help in broadcasts. crows responded because they like building things and the two of them worked together on the projects, and also began to naturally know each other beyond the projects. and then were also gay

one day, lost requested assistance with enhancing herself. and crows, a mechanic, naturally agreed. they made and passed blueprints to lost in order to alter her puppet, and eventually their whole structure

however lost's ancients did not take kindly to this at all. and they decided to cull lost before she got very out of control. i imagine it is something crows feels a lot of guilt about, and it is very bottled up

their relationship with my other iterator, chains by summer, was a very close friendship. maybe almost dating but im going to say friends. i think crows often gave advice to summer when his ancients were overbearing or got into spats that they made him decide. i think the others in crows' local group would also come to them for advice, but summer made an attempt to get to know crows better as a person. i imagine he was very persistent on asking how they were feeling and what they were up to in their projects. and crows would share, also choosing to trust summer with a bit of their own feelings. mostly.

there was one project that they kept a secret from them-- and it honestly ended their friendship

with no more ancients, their structures were dying. it would eventually fall, killing some of the older model iterators and leaving the newer ones to rot in a fate worse than death. crows wanted to see if they could escape their rotting body, and live simply as the puppet. it was a very risky ordeal, and crows, knowing summer, knew that he wouldnt take kindly to an idea that had a very high chance of sudden death regardless

so as they were making preparations for their plan, they stopped talking to summer, saying that they were being distracted from their work, and the two of them should just stop.

and after cutting it off with summer, and the rest of their local group, they would lure creatures with dexterous hands (mainly scavengers and slugcats) to find them scrap metal pieces and wire so they could build their own, autonomous tools that they could write code to automatically preform actions (can't reach their umbilical with their hands!)

and eventually it would work. crows needed to learn how to walk and balance with gravity involved, but they could leave their can. as long as they were around centipedes or had electric spears to charge

crows would then go on a journey to free the iterators of their own local group, as well as the local group nearby where lost used to be

summer was the last iterator they freed because they felt awkward. which was really torturous for summer because suddenly all of his iterator pals stopped talking to him and that boy lives on social interaction day to day

[rapunzelforlorn]

I made my friend watch heartstopper and here are his reactions

Part 2!

(Season 2)

Ep1

They're too cutsie...understandable

Secret rendezvous

Do they ever not lock lips lmao

A proper couple mates when they aren't smooching

Tao's really warming up to Nick

Tao & Elle being cute

Imogen is good friend

And her dog 😍😍

GSCE like SAT?

Why yell quiet when it was already quiet???

Ben trying to talk to Nick, be buddy buddy ick 🤢

Rugby is BACK

Aye, rugby lad warming up to Charlie?

Flirt with Tao!!

Two month anniversary

Why do only high schoolers celebrate monthly anniversaries?

Kissing in the locker room...boy things

Paris trip mentioned

I wish Tori would hang- Mysterious but supportive

Elle flirting making Tao nervous is everything

Issac single and in his lane as always

Imogen the ✨️Ally✨️

Tao the model

Nick genuinely trying to connect with Tao over a hard situation and him getting overly sensitive

I feel like Tao picked the movie for the night

I'm bisexual actually

NOT BEN!!!! NO IMOGEN NOOOOO

These heartstopper moments got me feeling a type of way

Isaac never leaves that book, is it the same book?

And actually he's bisexual

"Hanky-panky"

Why does Tori use a straw at all times?

Charlie wanting to be protective is great 💜

Ep2

Charlie's grades slipping?

Tao also struggling?

Fuck Ben!

The ban seems...unfair

Nick has a brother??

Charlie's room is rather dark

Makes me wonder why I didn't do school work, it actually wasn't that difficult

Poor Imogen 😭

Who's this new girl??

Elle&Tao's "relationship" becoming p a i n f u l

What happened to 🤢 Ben's other "girlfriend"?

"I hate you cause you literally assaulted him"

What's Nick's deal with his brother? And vice versa

Do we like David?

Just do your coursework Charlie!

Why is sharing clothes a form of romance that isn't romanticized enough?

Charlie offering study advice & help to Nick when he's ALSO struggling

Elle's fits on point as always

The representation in this show is unmatched

Tao might be getting jealous

Is Tao a single parent household?

Imogen 🥺

Nick having ✨️anxiety✨️

Charlie gonna get in trouble 👀

Elle & Tao 🥺🥺🥺

Nick made him watch a marvel movie!!! Tao was right about him 🤣

I'll have a cup of tea, so briiish of him

David...oh Nellie doesn't like David either all I need to know

Fuck David

I'm bi actually!!

David is such a dick!!

Charlie's in trouble now 😬😬

Mom's stern but she's just concerned

Nick's abs 👀👀

Nick being brave and reassuring Charlie

Oh Tao's little heart

Just apple?

Tao does only have his mom 🥺

Fight for love Tao💪💜

Ep3

Issac's dream date is amazing 👏

Tao over thinking the date plan

Rugby lads 🥺

"Good Mates"

Smooching in school again

THEY GOT CAUGHT!!!! 🤣🤣🤣

At least the coach seems reasonable

Go coach!!!

Google's "how to ask out friend?"

Charlie you are a liar!

Issac is so cute

Come on Charlie get it done!!

The teacher kicking out the students 😂

Tara & Darcy don't say I love you??

Isaac 👀👀

Feels like Nick is rushing himself to come out

Oh darn boys & girls can't share rooms

Tao 💀💀💀 over the top

They're so awkward

Tori's at the party 🥳

This is such a big unsupervised party, with alcohol and a bonfire, something bad is gonna happen

That's so much popcorn for the two of them

They're being so awkward 😅

Tao you dork

Darcy is really weirded out about the "L" word

Tao's gonna muck this up

This turned into a fucking rager

Nick is visibly uncomfy with Harry

TAO!!! SHUT YOUR MOUTH & BRAIN UP

Tori came to the party to sit by herself...in the dark...I'm sure she's only there for Charlie but still

Nick is having a BAD time

Charlie to the rescue!

Nick's mom is so sweet

Charlie is so good at comforting Nick on his journey to come out

Interesting is only Elle who's been talked about going to any sort of schooling after high school

Wanting to tell the world about your partner is such a relatable feeling, I feel for you Charlie

Ep4

Paris trip already?

Charlie doesn't seem sure about being sure

Aren't they sharing rooms??

Why is Faruk always yelling?

Isaac not as worldly as I thought

Nick & Tao bonding again?

Nick's dad's French??

I like these bonding moments

Darcy has a point, if we're REALLY underwater why can't we see the fish?? Real questions

Feels like a short drive

Darcy playing dumb about the "L" word incident

Ben is such a fucking jealous creep!! 😫

Isaac never leaves his book

Tao & Isaac splitting the beds feels very dickish but unintentionally

Mr. Faruk & Mr. Ajayi 👀

These are very very small rooms

Love a good breakfast bar

Tao is such a dork

"I wanted to share a bed with you" -C

"I'm sure we'll get to do it someday" -N

Nick you beautiful dummy 🥰

They're gonna miss breakfast

I couldn't imagine a trip like this as a high schoolers

Ben is SUCH A DICK!!

Let Imogen be happy and do couple shit

Darcy calling Tara the mischief maker 😂

My dad's French sounds like such a secret

Charlie being jealous of Tara & Darcy is understandable

And then the reverse Tara being jealous

Darcy...how do you go from mint chocolate chip to strawberry of all flavors, that's not a jump I can accept

Charli not eating??

Oh baby is depressed

Museum dates are also underrated, go enjoy some art with someone you like

I don't think your supposed to photograph the artwork Tao

They make such a better couple "being friends"

Tao knows French?

They both admire each other so much

Poor Imogen stuck with that pos Ben, I can already see it running her trip

Yes! Hang with the gang Imogen

Elle asking good questions lol

Imogen is so smart, so smart

Tao is best when goofy

This poor restaurant dealing with this whole school of kids

Ben next to Charlie 😖😖

Tao would order snails

Awkward dinner seating

Got AWFUL quite all the sudden 😳😳

Go Imogen!!

Woooooah, Harry being a voice of reason?!?

I think that's Harry?

Imogen is the coolest

Again Tao & Nick bonding is my absolute favorite thing

Isaac is not getting that bed back lol

That challenge lasted...maybe a day

Oh there's gonna be hickies 😅

I was right 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Ep5

Nick's dad kind of a no show

"Did I do that?" No Nick what do you think 🤣

Why's Tao shirtless??

Issac just cruising through these books

Charlie really isn't eating anything

Is Issac not out?

These pairings for the tower are uncomfy

Annoyed we only saw three pairings

Issac giving Harry the business lmao

Darcy has some real commitment issues or maybe just issues expressing her feelings

Ben is such scum

The eiffel tower song is a vibe ✨️🎵

Nick & Charlie lead the way up that tower lol

Bit of bants between Nick & the rugby lads turned out alright 😏

Harry growing up?

They had the same reaction to Harry 😂

Papa 😅

Tao opening up is so sad

Baby Charlie & Tao 🥺

Charlie & Tao are such good friends

Mona Lisa, rubbish, confirmed

You don't need to understand something to enjoy it, Elle is so wise

Charlie looks like he's gonna be sick

Darcy isn't out to her parents???

Oh he is having a BAD time

Tao & Elle admiring each other 🥰

They smooching!!!!

Mr. Ajayi forcing Mr. Faruk to have fun

Nick addressing Charlie's lack of eating

Charlie is depressed and relatable with the lack of eating

This little shit ignores the bread Mr Faruk gets him and goes straight for the croissant Charlie had in his bag since this morning 😂

Why is being French such a secret??

"You're so cringe!" 😂😂

"Let's promise to tell each other when we have stuff going on?" Yes Charlie let's fucking do that!!!

Couple of runaways

Eps 6-8 coming soon!!

Hes got the right idea

[hypergamiss]

Hello 🤗, long post on advance

Growing up my family was the helicopter family (always asking where I am even if I'm in the house, wanting me to be literally in their eyesight and would have my brother literally follow me while in their eyesight)

always advocate for education (which to most people is good but I had to be perfect the "perfect indian daughter" ) as my friend refer to me no dating, no rebel, has to always agree with my mother in family drama even though I never wanted to be involved, had to take on all the emotional trauma while my brother does nothing, gaslight, manipulate, and degraded all of my life you know that type of family so im finally leaving and going out of state. Yay!

However, I am on the curvy side never was skinny nor was "soft or shy" when I wasn't around my family, I am loud and outgoing so no boys ever showed me interested personally now sexually yes (I seen the eyes wonder) so I never dated and I am a bit insecure bc of my family but in a week friend of mines has a birthday party and her cousin fancy me (which at first glance I'm thinking it's a prank or he saw a picture of me and wants to sleep with me) and my friend is so admitted about setting me up bc I set her up with her bf

low-key I'm about to enter a period of the rest of my life where I'm doing the things I want to do without my toxic family on my shoulder and I the first thing I don't want to do with my freedom is date. Even though I grew up in a toxic family I consume media content about self love and healthy relationship with myself (which I'm actively working on) so I feel at this point in my life I don't want to date and when it comes to dating I personally don't want to date in my environment now, but rather later in life when I'm living by my own rules.

But I'm thinking about it and should I give him a chance bc I'm second guessing if this is what my gut wants or is my toxic family way thinking the no dating. Ik that there will be other guys in the future but should I let him be the first one or wait. Note: he hasn't reached out to talk to me or anything and he's from my culture and let's say guys aren't loyal and I'm not trying to deal with that headache.

So should I take the chance? should I tell my friend I'm not interested in getting with her cousin? Or should I wait till the party and reject him? Any advice will be grateful, I never had a sister or proper female role model in my life (I always was the role model) so you're the closest to it 😅

"But I'm thinking about it and should I give him a chance bc I'm second guessing if this is what my gut wants or is my toxic family way thinking the no dating."

I love that you're fully self aware of what you've had to go through in the past and your intentions to prioritize yourself because it shows how much you care about yourself. I'm sorry that you've had to live through all of that and I am proud of you for choosing to not let it define you and waking up every day to make a better life for yourself. It's heavy on the soul! The real question is: DO YOU FANCY HIM? If you do, then go on the date and get some experience. It's just a date, not a marriage proposal. If it doesn't go well you can just move on with your life. There doesn't need to be all this unnecessary pressure added to it. Don't think about your family or even your friend. The only thing that matters is if you even like this person enough to go on a date with. It's all about how YOU feel, not anyone else.

"Note: he hasn't reached out to talk to me or anything and he's from my culture and let's say guys aren't loyal and I'm not trying to deal with that headache."

If you really don't feel like going on the date, listen to your intuition and do what's best for you. If it's not a "hell yes" then it's a no for me personally😅

I would be honest with your friend about how you feel. She seems to have good intentions so make sure you also let her know that you appreciate her effort, but that you'd much rather have a girls night out or something😊

"Any advice will be grateful, I never had a sister or proper female role model in my life (I always was the role model) so you're the closest to it 😅"

This makes my heart warm, I'll always be here!🫶

[mountphoenixrp]

We have a new citizen in Mount Phoenix:

           Shinomiya Reina, a 25 year old daughter of Freyr.            She is a piercer at Marimo Ink.

FC NAME/GROUP: miyawaki sakura / le sserafim CHARACTER NAME: shinomiya reina AGE/DATE OF BIRTH: 25 / october 15 1998 PLACE OF BIRTH: oosaka, japan OCCUPATION: piercer at marimo ink HEIGHT: 163cm / 5'4" DEFINING FEATURES: dyed blond hair; faint scars on her knuckles that she covered up with flower tattoos, piercings on both ears, bottom lip, tongue and belly button; tattoos around her arms and torso.

PERSONALITY: with a carefree bordering on inconsequential energy, not really seeming to be bothered by most if not all things in life, reina has a more easygoing personality with a teasing striek and therefore being able to get along with most if not all kind of people. she's also rather adaptable, not seeming to be able to get frustrated regardless of how much things don't go her way or when she doesn't get things that she wants, also partially because of her more pragmatic side that simply accepts that things that must be done will be done and impossible things are impossible; that sometimes giving her the impression of someone very detached, bordering on apathetic towards things and even people around her. however, she's still enable/encourage any and everyone who comes to her asking for advice and/or if they should do this or that thing, coming back full circle to her carefree nature and just i do what i want so why shouldn't you do too sort of person.

   and, well, that end is a little more than an impression considering she does feel rather detached from the people around her, almost being unable to feel like she genuinely fits in whenever she goes since she never felt like that in the (admittedly few) places that she has been; simply being the type that has a lot of friends but few (if any) are people that she genuinely cares for and would put above her own needs and wants. reina doesn't necessarily keeps things about herself to herself, but won't talk about them unless prompted, however it might feel like she's telling stories of someone else, as if she was more of an witness than an active participant. she also used to have a much worse temper that mellowed down as she matured, though she still carries the scars of those times and will still break someone's nose if they tempt her enough.

   reina is a little of a flirt— that playful type that doesn't really mean it and is doing it more for the sake of getting a reaction from the other person than actually trying to pursue anything. she also isn't necessarily against casual sort of arrangements, but considering how she vehemently rejects any inheritance that she might've gotten from her father and how he walked away from her and her mother, she doesn't let herself indulge too much into them and would rather just pursue a proper relationship.

HISTORY: [tw: bullying, violence, death]

there are three (3) lessons that life taught reina so far.

lesson number one (1): do not fall for pretty faces.

   because mom did and that ended up with her carrying a child she didn't want, then getting kicked out of the family not long after. japan isn't a kind place for single mothers; neither is korea, however there were only so many times that you and your mother could take of her coming to school and bow her head because you picked yet another fight with someone who said something mean about your hair or the way you spoke. your mother is tired of having to raise a child with no support, juggling two jobs to make sure you two stay afloat and you're tired of people pointing faults at her for your raising as if they aren't the one with bad manners, talking shit about things they don't know anything about.

   there's an old friend in seoul, your mom says one day, offering a job that pays a little better and the weather is supposed to be a little nicer; there are a lot of great options for school and korean shouldn't be too hard to learn, even more so when it'll be a language that they'll be exposed a lot. she also says that a change of environment might be good, that you might finally be able to make some friends without the reputation of having broken someone's teeth at the age of fourteen because they looked at you weird — you don't have the courage to tell her that it was because they said something about her, questioning her character and her abilities as a mother. it'll be good, yeah? she holds your hand with so much hope and exhaustion in her eyes that you don't have the courage to say no; not that you would considering you had nothing in japan but resentment anyway.

   she never talks about your dad, not really, and after the first time that you tried to bring the subject up — because your school was organizing an event for father's day and it made her curious, not necessarily yearning, but curious — and the only thing that she had to say was don't fall for pretty faces, reina, they'll only ruin you with this weird look on her face, an expression that was between resentment and longing, you decide that it isn't really worth it.

   there's one time though— mom is doing first aid to your scraped knuckles, a soft tut that you're too young to have scars like that, but there's also a smile tugging at the corners of her lips, small and amused. you don't seem like your father's daughter, she says like it's a good thing or maybe it's because she's reminiscing something; either way you simply huff because i'm your daughter, you say like this nullifies who your dad is and that only makes mom smile a little wider.

lesson number two (2): do not pick up fights you can't win (and that fists aren't the only way to fight).

   not only physically (because you can win most of those anyway) but also socially. you learn the hard way to not punch someone whose parents donate a lot to the school and/or have a prestigious job in society— or you should at least beat them up enough that they won't have the courage to tell on you to their parents or the teachers. japan wasn't a kind place for the daughter of a single mother; neither is korea— you still hear whispers about your broken korean, the character of your mother, speculations about the reason you had to move out in the middle of the school year, the reason why your nose looks so ugly. you still have your belongings messed with and cold milk spilled on your head.

do not pick up fights you can't win because losing leaves a bitter aftertaste in your mouth, because the floor that you and your mom press your foreheads on as you apologize is freezing, because that's what your mother tells you when she grits her teeth and swallows down her pride because they don't have the money to move out again, because you two are hanging on a thin thread in this new country and coming back to japan isn't really an option.

   maybe your pretty face is the only good thing he has left for you, your mom comments without specifying who this he is but you know anyway. then you grit your teeth while swallowing down your temper and play on your pretty privilege instead; that's how you survive the rest of high school.

lesson number three (3): no one will care for yourself besides yourself.

   well, there was mom, but then she dies all of a sudden and now you're all alone.

   the world seems to be in the way to its end with how hard is the downpour outside while you pick up your mother's bones after the cremation; it was hard to find a funeral home that made the ceremony under japanese traditions but your mom's friend helped. your japanese family came all the way from japan for her funeral but you refuse to let them come in and participate; were tempted to kick them out of the ceremony as well however not even yourself was that petty. besides they seem regretful enough while promising that they'd never leave you alone again, that they'd do things properly this time.

   rationally you know that punching an old lady, even more so when she's your grandmother, is going to land you straight on jail, but you almost forget lesson number two when she starts talking about how they'd go back to japan with your mom and you; when she looks at the tattoos on your hands and arms and tuts, saying how it's a pity that you tainted your body in that way but nothing that long sleeves won't resolve, and they'd get the ones on your knuckles removed with treatment, the piercings on your face being able to be removed without much struggle either and a list of other things that at that point you aren't listening anymore; when she apologizes with a condescending sigh that she was too late, that she should've picked you up sooner because then you would've been raised "right".

   the rain outside gets even worse. there's an argument when you throw water at grandma's face in lieu of breaking her nose. you tell them to fuck off if they don't you want to throw the glass in your hand on them as well. they leave.

   still you aren't left alone; there's another person who seemed to be watching the whole spectacle, someone that you vaguely recognize that was also at mom''s tsuya. they offer their condolences that are easily brushed off, then they offer a place to start anew— a place away from all of this, all of the things that you struggled with so much so far. you don't accept the offer right away, not really, but in that moment the rain finally seems to give in, even if just a little.

PANTHEON: norse  CHILD OF: freyr POWERS: 

+ weather manipulation: through her emotions, when felt strongly, she can manipulate the weather — i.e. causing a downpour when upset, and prompting a sunny day when happy.

+ enhanced charm: due to her affinity to physical forms of affection combined with her easygoing personality, she does end up attracting more people to her than an average person is able to.

STRENGTHS: is very adaptable to the environment and people around her; always aims to excel in whatever she puts herself to do and has a good control over her emotions so usually when she ends up changing the weather it's on purpose. WEAKNESSES: so pragmatic that she can feel detached (bordering on apathetic) to the people around her; will always prioritize herself over other people and her carefree/teasing nature can rub off some people the wrong way.

[allie-campbell-bradshaw]

Chapter 16: First Date

A/N: I’m guessing by the title of this chapter that you know what’s about to happen! This is one of my favorite chapters ever. This chapter has additions to the Brallie playlist as well as the wardrobe, so make sure you check it out! I mention this in every chapter, but in case you missed it- I do not give permission for my work to be re-posted without credibility. If you do want to post this story to your page, please be sure that you tag my account or at least mention its original source in your post. 

Also: This story is sequential…please go back and read my other chapters, in order, for the best results!

Again, thank you for being here and I hope you enjoy :)

Chapter 16: First Date

AUTHOR’S POV

Friday was here. Allie had just finished up her shift and was getting dressed in the locker room–putting her hair in a waterfall braid, letting her loose curls hang down. She was in a navy blue and white striped t-shirt dress. She reached up and grasped onto her locket, the one with an A in cursive on it that was shaped in a heart. She held onto it as she looked at herself through one of the warn out mirrors, knowing that this was the first time in years where she was actually going on a proper date, and a date she was planning. 

She didn’t know how he would take this, but was hoping he would be as entertained and enthused as she thought he was going to be. Allie let out a deep breath and tucked the locket into her dress so it would not be visible. Allie packed up everything into her backpack and threw it over her shoulder, holding her set of keys in her hand as she made her way out the doors and towards the tarmac, heading for her aircraft carrier.

***

Bradley was looking at himself in the mirror in his dorm room. He didn’t have many formal clothes, just a bunch of Hawaiian shirts and jeans. Thank God he and Javy were around the same size and his friend was kind enough to lend him his dark pink shirt that had a circular shaped pattern in it. Bradley looked down the lower half of his body, kicking the Emmett’s brown shoes in the air and running his hands over his own khaki pants. It felt weird to be in shoes that weren’t the boots that the military made him wear. The brown shoes perfectly complemented the color palette that he had on.

Bradley adjusted his tactiks watch on his left wrist, taking a deep breath as he adjusted himself one last time in the mirror.

Emmett was watching him in admiration, loving how anxious his roommate, and best friend, looked. “You look lovely dear.” he said to him in a mockingly admiring tone.

“Thanks hun,” Bradley responded playfully, running his hands through his hair so he could set it just right.

“You really like this girl don’t you?” Emmett asked, realizing that this was no longer a fling, but something Bradley was actually working very hard for.

Bradley raised his eyebrows in response, sort of saying ‘no shit’ to his best mate.

“Alright then,” Emmett said, conceding in his tomfoolery, “I will stop teasing you about it”.

“Thanks!” Bradley exclaimed, happy that the constant comments would finally be over, walking over to his desk and putting his wallet in his pants pocket. “Do I look okay?” He turned over and faced Emmett.

“Simply breathtaking” Emmett responded, fighting back a smile that was peeking through his cheeks.

“Any advice?” He asked his roommate, before rolling his eyes, “Why am I asking you?”

“Hey,” Emmett fired back, “I’m a hit with the ladies!”

“Oh yeah,” Bradley said sarcastically, “You’re a star man.”

Emmett made a ‘twinkle, twinkle’ sign with his hands before turning his attention back to the TV that was right in front of his bed. Bradley wasn’t much of a TV watcher, and when he did watch a show with Emmett, he didn’t mind looking over towards his bunk.

The door then swung open and Natasha and Javy made their way in, “Oh good!” Natasha exclaimed, “You’re still here”. Both her and Javy looked like they were on a mission, shutting the door and walking over to Bradley.

Natasha adjusted a wrinkled piece of fabric on his shoulder and pushed him so he turned around, inhaling, “What are you wearing”? She asked him, inhaling deeply.

“Javy and Emmett’s clothes,” Bradley answered matter of factly, a little confused because he knew that Natasha knew that.

“Not your clothes dipshit!” She fired back, “Cologne, what cologne are you wearing?”

“Ummmm,” Bradley asked, giving it away that he was not wearing anything.

Natasha looked at Javy, who took out a blue bottle from the pocket of his deep gray joggers. Natasha sprayed it on Bradley without asking for permission or allowing him to smell it.

The aroma filled the room quickly, “What the hell?!” Bradley yelled, touching the part of his neck that was sprayed.

“Relax,” Natasha said, “Trust me, you needed it”.

“Yeah, but I didn’t need something this strong”.

“But it’s nice!” Natasha exclaimed, “Strong, but nice”.

“Are you sure?” He asked, now second guessing their move.

“Oh yeah,” she responded, grabbing his arm and starting to move him towards the door, “You smell like a successful Black man”.

Bradley looked at Javy, not knowing what that even meant. Javy gave him a look before answering the question that he could tell was on Bradley’s mind: “Don’t worry about it. It’s just something that my friends and I have. Got me laid multiple times in high school”.

Emmett interjected much to everyone’s surprise: “I’m not sure that’s the goal there today, Javy”. 

Javy looked back at Bradley with a questioning look on his face. Bradley rolled his eyes and shook his head, “I don’t think so,” he said, giving Emmett the all-clear to stay in his own dorm room tonight.

“Well, let us know if anything changes,” Natasha said as Bradley made his way to the door.

“Oh yeah,” Bradley said, turning back to them: “I’ll send a pigeon with a note”.

Bradley left after that, waving to Denzel who was on duty as he made his way out of the dorm room. Yesterday, Allie passed back his weekly score report for his flying performance. An 82% being a fair grade for the first week of simulation flying. On the last piece of paper Allie wrote: “Friday- On the tarmac. 7:30pm”.

Bradley was taken aback by this chosen meeting spot, knowing full well that Allie had not told her father about them yet, or if she had, was utterly shocked that her father would be okay with it. No she hadn’t told him yet, he thought to himself, Rear Admiral Campbell would have murdered me by now.

Bradley made his way to the tarmac and found it empty. He looked at his watch and saw that it was 7:23. Proud of himself for being prompt. He took this opportunity to wander over to the parked Texans that were not put in a hanger yet. He was completely admired by the jet-like qualities that this aircraft had that the cessna did not. It could reach speeds that were almost twice that of the cessna, requiring students to wear a helmet and oxygen mask.

Bradley was at the left side of the aircraft, when he noticed lights approaching him from the tarmac. He walked over and saw a little red, two seater cessna approaching. The propellers on the nose of the plane were beating fast as the plane turned and faced west.

He watched in amazement as Allie approached from the opposite side of the running aircraft, walking over to him, looking breathtaking!

“You coming stranger?” She asked, smirking at him as she made her way closer to him. He was frozen in shock, not thinking for a second that this was going to happen. Nothing in his wildest dreams could have predicted that they were going to go in the air tonight!

“Is that-” Bradley started to ask, freezing as he pointed to the plane that was sitting on the tarmac, his mouth hanging open wide in amazement.

Allie looked over to her plane and then back at him, “I call her Big Red”. she said, smiling at her prized possession. 

“She’s beautiful!” Bradley exclaimed, still admiring the aircraft.

“Thank you!” Allie beamed back to him, turning on her heel and making her way towards the aircraft, “And she’s also running on gas, which is expensive, so let’s stop drooling at her and get in”.

Bradley snapped out of it and followed her to the edge of the runway. Allie opened the passenger door and held her hand up for him to hold onto as he made his way to his seat, crossing over to her side of the plane and climbing in, both of them shutting their respective doors and putting on their seatbelts.

“Here you go!” She said, holding a headset for him. 

“Thanks” Bradley responded as he put on his headset, adjusting his mouthpiece to the optimal length from his lips, 2.5 inches.

Allie did the same for herself, her mouthpiece a little further out than it should be. Bradley thought about correcting her, but then choked back his words, not wanting his newfound knowledge to get in the way and reminder her as to why she doesn’t date Navalmen in the first place. He was just excited to finally be in a real plane again! It had been years!

Allie could tell he was anxiously excited because his demeanor had changed. He was now holding himself upright and tapping his hands on his lap like a drum. He looked like a little kid during Christmas time, on his way to see Santa. 

“What?” He questioned as he saw her smiling hard at him.

Allie immediately snapped out of it, “nothing” she said, insecure and blushing at being called out.

This caused Bradley to start laughing, which became contagious on her as she let out a few laughs.

“AK-217 are you ready for departure?” Someone from the control tower questioned, causing both of them to stop laughing.

“AK-217 ready for departure” Allie said back to the person in the control tower, dropping her laugh and getting right to her work.

“AK-217 you are clear for departure, immediately head 26 degrees west,” they came on and said again.

“AK-217 departing and heading 26 degrees west”.

Allie then adjusted in her seat and reached for her controls, pushing up on the lever while they gained speed. Bradley looked out the window of the plane, watching as they kept speeding down the runway. Before either of them knew it, they were in the air, his ears popping immediately at the change of pressure. They used to not do that right away when he left the ground, but it had been so long since he was in a plane that he wasn’t surprised.

Allie must have noticed his giddiness, because she started to let out a giggle behind her smirk. “What?” He asked again, pushing more than he did the first time when he asked.

“Nothing!” She said back playfully: “You just look so excited. Is this your first time on an airplane?”

Bradley laughed at her joke, knowing full well how crazy you would be to go into aviation if you had never been in a plane before. His first plane ride was when he was on his way to visit his dad in Top Gun, right after his second birthday. He couldn’t remember it, but his mom always told him how giddy he was to be on the plane, commenting on how it just looked like his toys!

“Dat?” Bradley asked, sitting up in his mom’s lap, pointing to the 15th new thing he found on the aircraft.

“Air” His mom responded, reaching up and turning the dial of the air so that it started hitting them.

Bradley closed his eyes as the air hit his face, “No air!” he yelled, bothered by the cool breeze that hit him and dried out his eyes.

His mom immediately turned the dial back, wanting badly to not have her toddler have a meltdown on the flight.

Bradley’s eyes widened and his hands covered his ears, “Dat?” he asked scared, not knowing what was happening, tears starting to form in his eyes.

“That’s your ears popping,” she said, knowing he had no idea what she was saying, “I’ll teach you how to get rid of that when you’re older.”

“Dat?” He asked, pointing to something far away that she couldn’t tell what it was.

“I love you so much little goose” His mom said to him, kissing him all over his cheeks. 

Bradley erupted in giggles as his mom kissed and tickled him. She was shocked how easy he was in the air, hoping it would always be this way, and he and his dad could go out flying all the time.

“Did you?” Allie asked Bradley.

“Did I what?” Bradley questioned, snapping out of it and back into the conversation he was having with Allie. He had been in such a trance in the air that he hadn’t realized that they were almost 5,000 feet up and that he had been sharing the story of his first plane right out loud for Allie to hear.

“Did you ride with your dad all the time?” She asked, keeping her eyes on the sky ahead.

Bradley’s face turned and he mentally punched himself in the gut for letting it slip. “We never got that far…” He said to her quietly, creating an awkward moment in the airplane.

“I’m sorry,” she started, “I know what it’s like for your old man to keep you grounded”.

“You do?” He asked, surprised at her admission.

“Yeah,” she answered, “I didn’t start flying until I was 16. And even then, daddy didn’t like having me in the air. The first time I flew without him in the seat next to me was my 21st birthday. And I told him it was either this or drunk driving.”

Bradley chucked again at her, loving her sense of humor. He looked over at the front of her plane by all of her controls and noticed something he had never seen before, “You have a radio in your plane!?” He asked, super impressed.

“Hmmm?” She said, dropping her eyes from the sky. “Oh, yes. I’m quite acclimated”.

“What are you listening to?” He asked, turning the dial and listening to the song that came on, recognizing it real quick as an 80’s hit.

“80’s music helps me calm down,” Allie said, “About 3 years ago, I had engine failure and I think listening to this station was the only thing that saved me when I brought the plane back to base”.

“I’m sure your dad was having a heart attack!” Bradley said sarcastically.

“He was!” Allie confirmed, “It took forever for him to allow me back in the air again”.

“So you’re a nurse,” Bradley said, “And you love flying, yet you want to be a surgeon. Why didn’t you become a pilot?”

Allie’s face dropped as she finally hit her desired altitude and set her plane on auto-pilot, looking down at her lap at his question.

“Oh,” Bradley said, noticing her change in demeanor, “I’m sorry. Is that a sore subject?”

Allie shrugged, fighting back the tightening of her throat. “It used to bother me,” Allie brought her eyes back up and looked at him, “But I love what I do now, and I’ll love being a surgeon”.

Bradley nodded and looked out the window. It was completely dark now and the stars were starting to make their presence known. “God it is so beautiful!” Bradley beamed.

Allie smirked at him and looked out the window herself. “This is my favorite time to fly” she said, “Perfect timing, perfect weather, perfect company”.

Bradley looked over at her and her at him. He was stunned at her comment: “I think this is the first time you’ve ever flirted with me, nurse Dr. Pilot Campbell”.

Allie laughed both at his comment and his name for her.

“It is so perfect out tonight” Allie said, looking out her window.

“Yes it is,” Bradley said, keeping his eyes on her.

Allie looked up at him through the reflection of her window, noticing that he hadn't stopped looking at her, “here,” she started, turning around to face him, “close your eyes”.

Bradley closed his eyes and noticed the room get significantly darker. Allie got on her radio and asked to change direction, which someone in air traffic control gave.

Allie turned direction and increased her speed slightly. After a few moments she finally spoke: “Okay, open your eyes” she whispered to him.

Bradley did and looked out the window, seeing nothing but water as they continued to move, he looked down and saw the waves beneath him, looking still as they continued their journey through the sky.

“Oh, my hell!” He exclaimed, taken aback by the beauty of it all: “It’s like we’re birds!”

“Exactly like we’re birds” Allie said, as she continued to move, eventually regaining her altitude and putting her plane back to auto-pilot after a few minutes of fun.

“How did you learn to do that?” Bradley asked, amazed.

“My daddy taught me. I’ll show you one day, when we’re in the air”.

At that moment, the reality that Bradley was living in came to full realization. He was in a plane, on a date, with his flight instructor, whose dad was an Admiral in the Navy. Well, a Read Admiral, but equally just as intimidating.

“This plane is magnificent,” Bradley said, breaking the silence.

“Thanks,” Allie said, proud of Big Red.

“Where did you get it?” Bradley asked.

Allie’s face dropped again, getting that same look of sadness that it had before when he asked her about being a pilot. “My dad,” she answered shortly. It was the truth, just not complete, “It was his when he was younger, and now it’s mine. And one day, I’ll pass it on to my children-If I have children” she corrected herself.

“Do you want children?” Bradley asked, hoping she would say yes, and bonus points if she said more than one.

Allie just shrugged, “It’s hard for me to answer, because a baby is not in my current plans nor in any near future plans of mine. But I would like a baby. I’m an only child, and I know what that’s like growing up, so if I had it my way, I would have two babies born right after each other, that way my oldest never knows what it’s like to be alone”.

Bradley looked at Allie as she became vulnerable, opening up about something he didn’t think she would be willing to do. He looked down at her right hand and reached over for it, giving it a squeeze and watching her look as he gazed into her eyes: “I’m an only child too.” Bradley said reassuringly: “And I also don’t want my children growing up knowing what it’s like to be alone”.

Allie and Bradley kept their eyes on each other for a moment before she broke it by slightly smirking at him, which he returned. They kept their eyes on each other as the plane slowly kept cruising into the direction of the water.

“I think this really makes up for everything,” Bradley said softly, both of them looking at each other before Bradley looked away, reaching towards the radio: “Let’s play a game”.

Allie looked at him questioningly: “What kind of game?”

“Well,” Bradley started, turning the dial of the radio, “The first ballad we find, if it’s sung by a female singer, means that I have to take you out on our next date. And if the ballad is sung by a guy, you have to take me out,” Bradley kept turning the dial, skipping past all the fast songs,

“And if I don’t want to go on another date?” Allie questioned.

That’s when Bradley froze, finding the first ballad, Lady Gaga’s voice filling the plane as he turned up the volume, letting it sink in that Bradley owed her the next date:

So when I’m all choked up

But I can’t find the words

Bradley sat up and looked at Allie, his eyes no longer worried at her threats. His eyes were fiery and twinkled in the moonlight that was hitting them.

“Is that what you want?” Bradley asked, not letting her win this time.

Allie started by shaking her head before silently letting out a “no”.

Bradley met her low volume, “good” he said as he slowly started to lean into her.

As Lady Gaga started to sing ‘I’ll always remember us this way’, Allie thought she saw Bradley mouth the lyrics, moving even closer to her, making his intentions completely known.

It was now on the acoustic solo, the climax of the song, when his lips met hers. His kiss was strong, passionate, slightly possessive. Her’s started out soft, but became as strong as his, wanting to meet his strength.

He kept kissing her, bringing his hands up to cup her face. She placed her hands on his elbows, her fingertips rubbing softly on his skin and increasing its grip as the kisses became more passionate.

They kept kissing each other for the remainder of the song, which was only a few more seconds.

As the climax of the song came down, Bradley pulled away, allowing both of them to remain centimeters apart, breathing heavily as they comprehended the moment that they just had.

And the whole world fades

I’ll always remember us

This way.

A few moments later, Allie broke the silence: “Things just got complicated”.

Bradley chuckled at her as he finally looked up, meeting her eyes. He put his right hand on the outer left side of her neck, running his fingers in her few strands of hair and rubbing the skin of her neck, looking at her eyes again. 

Yes, things just got very complicated.