#and she’s like ‘I support you but……maybe just try this first’

[makeitmingi]

Let The Heart Love Again

Genre: Romance, Fluff

Pairing: Wooyoung x Reader (y/n)

Characters: DanceTeacher!Reader, SingleDad!Wooyoung, Daughter!Yoonseo

Summary: When Wooyoung's daughter expressed interest in sharing his passion for dance, he immediately signed her up for the next class. However, he didn't think that he would be star struck by his daughter's teacher. Maybe, just maybe, he was ready to open his heart again.

[A/N: Thank you to my girls @songmingisthighs and @luvt0kki for being such great supporters and cheering me on <3 This story is centered around Wooyoung and Yoonseo (mostly Wooyoung and his internal feelings), slowly inviting (y/n) in.]

Word count: 10k

Wooyoung was always known as one of the better dancers in the group with his seductiveness and sharp lines. Especially after he got the chance to be Artist of the Month and perform his dance piece live with BB Trippin.

"Appa! Appa!" He emerged from the kitchen when he heard his daughter, Yoonseo, call for him.

"Oh, Yoonseo ah. You're home. How was your day?" He dried his hands on the towel hanging on his apron and went to the daughter, wrapping his arms around her.

"Good." She grinned, throwing her arms around his neck.

"I'm starving!" San declared, making Wooyoung slap his arm for yelling when the front door was still open.

"Thanks for bringing her out." Wooyoung smiled. San shook his head with a smile. He never found it a chore to help Wooyoung look after his daughter.

"No need to thank. We both had fun." San chuckled, ruffling Yoonseo's hair.

"Dinner will be done soon. Go wash your hands and face then we can sit down to eat." Wooyoung kissed his daughter's cheek and patted her back. San lifted Yoonseo up and she squealed with laughter as San brought her to the bathroom to wash up. Wooyoung laughed and shook his head at them.

"Don't make a mess in the bathroom and leave the ground wet again!" Wooyoung called out, remembering how the two were splashing water at each other the last time.

"She started it!" San complained. Wooyoung sighed and dished up what he cooked.

"You're helping me wipe the floor later." Wooyoung said, leaning against the bathroom door frame.

"Let's go, gongju nim." San lifted Yoonseo onto her boosted seat. Wooyoung placed her rice bowl in front of her, another in front of San and went to get his own.

"I want jelly." Yoonseo declared.

"Later, baby. Have dinner first." Wooyoung stroked her cheek as he sat down next to her.

"No... I want it now~ Jelly first." Yoonseo whined, frowning and even pushing her rice bowl away from her. Wooyoung sighed and placed his chopsticks down, one thing he was still trying to master as a parent was disciplining Yoonseo.

"Gongju nim, we should have dinner first. Appa cooked all this delicious food for you." San stepped in, sensing Wooyoung's internal struggle. Yoonseo pouted.

"No pouting. I promise you can have a jelly later, alright?" Wooyoung told her, gently holding her chin to make her look at him.

"Promise?" She held her pinky up.

"Promise." Wooyoung nodded and laced pinkies with her.

When it came to Yoonseo's tantrums, Wooyoung always tried to speak as calmly as he could. He was afraid of letting his stress and own emotions get to him.

It happened before. He unintentionally yelled at Yoonseo when she was throwing a tantrum, startling her. It ended with the both of them in tears while Wooyoung was apologising profusely to her.

"Thank you for the food." Yoonseo said before eating a spoonful of rice. Thankfully, Yoonseo was a good eater and not picky.

"Good girl." Wooyoung patted her head and San smiled proudly at her, already starting his dinner. Wooyoung would eat his food then cut up some food to give to Yoonseo. Having cooked for her since she was born, he already knew what she liked. And like her dad and Ateez uncles, she likes beef and noodles.

"Is it good?" San asked and Yoonseo nodded happily. Wooyoung cut up more beef into cubes and put it on her rice bowl, making sure she had plenty of white kimchi.

"Baby, soon you'll be able to eat regular kimchi like uncle Sannie." Wooyoung smiled.

"Spicy." She pouted.

"We can ask halmeoni to make it a little spicy. But it's perfectly okay to just eat white kimchi too." Wooyoung chuckled. All the kimchi in his house was made by his mother.

"Eat your carrots, baby." Wooyoung said, noticing Yoonseo not eating the carrots in her japchae.

"You usually like carrots." He tilted his head, using his chopsticks to put the small strip of carrot that she pushed away onto her spoon.

"Uncle Sannie doesn't eat carrots." She pointed out. Wooyoung looked up, raising an eyebrow at San, who was picking the carrots out of the japchae too. San froze in his spot, staring pleadingly at Wooyoung, silently begging to not eat it.

"Fine." He muttered under his breath, eating the carrot and making fake happy noises.

"It's so good! I love carrots!" San strained. Seeing that, Yoonseo copied and ate the carrot too.

"You need to stop learning the bad habits from your uncles." Wooyoung scoffed. Mingi and Hongjoong didn't like vegetables too but Wooyoung forced them to eat it around Yoonseo.

"More." Yoonseo held her empty soup bowl.

"I don't hear a magic word?" Wooyoung raised his eyebrows.

"Please?" She said in her cute voice. Wooyoung smiled immediately and stood up to get her more soup. After scooping her more, he placed it down in front of her.

"Thank you, appa." She grinned.

"You're welcome, baby." Wooyoung cooed and went back to eating. One of the things Wooyoung swore to do was to raise Yoonseo right. While she could be whatever she wanted, Wooyoung wanted to raise her to be polite, kind, caring and respectful. He made sure she had manners with whoever was around her.

Especially since he was known as one of the ATEEZ members that would call juniors out for their lack of respect towards seniors. Even when Yoonseo couldn't talk yet, he taught her to bow to elders.

"Uncle Sannie, can we show appa the pretty clothes later?" Yoonseo sat with with a beam and a sparkle in her eye. San laughed and nodded his head.

"Of course. You can show him all the dresses you chose on your own." San said.

"You picked them all by yourself?" Wooyoung feigned surprise. Yoonseo nodded proudly.

"That's great, baby. I can't wait for you to show me later." He stroked her hair. Hearing that, Yoonseo let out an excited squeal, even kicking her legs.

"Done. Thank you for cooking, appa." Yoonseo balanced herself on the table to give her dad a peck on the cheek.

"I'm glad you ate a lot." Wooyoung said, happy that Yoonseo cleared her bowl. He brought her dishes to the sink first while he and San finished up their meal. Yoonseo was colouring in the living room, waiting for them to finish.

"Did she forget about the jelly?" San leaned over to whisper to Wooyoung, the two of them looking over at the girl who was busy colouring her Pooh Bear book.

"I think so... But I'll still give it to her. A promise is a promise, whether she remembers it or not." Wooyoung shrugged.

"You're such a good dad. I would have just not reminded her." San giggled.

"Other things maybe but a small jelly? I'd rather not hang on to that guilt. She was pretty upset." Wooyoung chuckled. When they were done, San insisted on helping Wooyoung with the dishes.

"Baby, did you forget about the jelly I promised you?" Wooyoung called from the kitchen.

"Oh!" The pattering of her feet against the floor was heard before she appeared right by Wooyoung's leg.

"Here we go. You can choose which one." He lifted her up so she could see the bag of jelly cups in the fridge. She took her time, jutting her lips out with a small frown on her face as she decided which flavour she wanted, as if this was the last jelly cup she was going to have forever. Wooyoung found her adorable.

"I want strawberry. Grape for Uncle Sannie and apple for appa." She grinned, holding Wooyoung's, San's and her own jelly cups to her chest protectively.

"My baby is so kind." Wooyoung smothered her in kisses before putting her down.

"Why don't you give this to Uncle Sannie and I'll open your jelly cup for you?" Wooyoung suggested. She nodded and ran to San.

"Uncle Sannie, for you!" She tiptoed as she held the jelly cup out to San. San turned to see her and quickly wiped his hands. Wooyoung took a picture of the two of them.

"Thank you, gongju nim." San smiled softly, patting her head.

"Appa, I did it!" She giggled as she ran back to Wooyoung. He held out the opened jelly cup to her.

While Yoonseo enjoyed her jelly cup, she sat with Wooyoung in the living room. She casually just sat in her father's lap, the two of them enjoying each other's company, not needing to have the television on or multiple toys around.

"You two are such father-daughter goals." San laughed as he walked over, his phone in his hand to record the two of them. Wooyoung scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"That doesn't even make sense, San ah." Wooyoung called out.

"Gongju nim, are you ready to show appa what we bought today?" San crouched down. Yoonseo's nodded excitedly.

"Appa, sit here!" Yoonseo patted the couch. Wooyoung saluted and sat on the couch while Yoonseo grabbed San's hand and dragged him to the room.

"Close your eyes, appa!" Yoonseo yelled from the room. His daughter could be so dramatic, he doesn't know where she gets it from.

"My eyes are closed!" He replied, covering his eyes with his hands. He could hear her excited running.

"Don't run, baby. You might trip and fall." He cautioned.

"Open your eyes!" She giggled, her voice a lot closer, telling Wooyoung she was right in front of him. When Wooyoung opened his eyes, he saw her in a cute white linen dress with strawberries all over. Wooyoung's eyes practically sparkled like his daughter's did. To him, Yoonseo looked good in everything.

"You're so pretty, baby!" Wooyoung cooed. Yoonseo shyly giggled, fiddling with her fingers as she twirled for him. San came out of the room, clapping his hands.

"This is my favourite." He sat down.

"I wouldn't be surprised if you say that for all the outfits." Wooyoung scoffed. San nodded in agreement, he was a fool for Yoonseo too.

One by one, San helped Yoonseo change into the clothes that he bought her to show off to Wooyoung. Yoonseo was basking in all the compliments from her dad and uncle.

"Last one." Yoonseo ran out. Wooyoung melted, seeing Yoonseo in a ballerina outfit.

"Ask him." San leaned over to whisper encouragement to Yoonseo. Wooyoung raised an eyebrow, having heard that.

"Appa, can I do ballet?... Please?" She added the magic word at the end, not wanting to be reminded again for forgetting. Wooyoung got down from the couch, coming over to his daughter and holding her hands in his own.

"You wanna learn ballet?" He asked.

"I want to dance. Be cool like you!" She grinned, swaying her body, making the chiffon ballet skirt move too.

"You're already cool, baby. You don't need dance to be cool. But if you really want to try ballet, let's do it." Wooyoung smiled, tucking her stray hairs behind her ears.

"Yay! Thank you, appa!" She threw herself into Wooyoung's arms, wrapping her own arms around his neck.

"You're welcome. But are you sure you want to learn ballet? Not other types of dance." Wooyoung checked. Yoonseo nodded her head.

"Okay, we can start with ballet. Also, did you thank uncle Sannie for buying you all these clothes?" He pulled away to look at her. Both her and San nodded.

"That's my girl." Wooyoung smiled, stroking her hair.

That night, Wooyoung stayed by Yoonseo side a little longer, having read her a story to help her fall asleep. He couldn't help but stare at her and smile fondly at how she has grown. It wasn't easy raising a newborn on his own. He had help from Ateez and his parents but he still did a lot on his own.

Yoonseo's mother thought that having a daughter with Wooyoung would make Wooyoung quit being an idol.

When it didn't happen as intended, she left Wooyoung and Yoonseo before Yoonseo could even be discharged from the hospital. She wanted nothing to do with both of them.

Wooyoung begged her to stay, not for him. She didn't need to love him anymore. He wanted her to be there for Yoonseo.

But she refused and left. The nights Yoonseo would cry for hours and couldn't be consoled, Wooyoung silently cried along with her.

He felt so much guilt towards Yoonseo for lacking and being unprepared as a parent raising a baby. Furthermore, he had to juggle his idol life and being a present father to her.

The last thing Wooyoung wanted to do was be absent. Yoonseo's mother already abandoned her, he wasn't going to do the same. He was going to make sure that he was there for Yoonseo when she needed him. She became his priority.

It was hard and he knows it will continue to be but he'll continue to learn. And one thing's for sure, he'll never regret having Yoonseo in his life.

"Oh my gosh!"

"What happened?" Wooyoung ran out of the recording booth when he heard Mingi exclaimed loudly.

"Yoonseo just flipped on her own!" Yunho explained. Wooyoung's eyes brightened as he bent down to scoop Yoonseo up into his arms, showering her in kisses.

"There's my smart girl. You flipped on your own?" Wooyoung asked her, even if she couldn't reply.

"Put her back down!" Yeosang urged. Wooyoung rolled his eyes and put Yoonseo back down on the mat, laying her on her back. Having just learnt how to flip onto her stomach, she was obviously having fun with this new skill.

"Show appa how you flip!" Wooyoung clapped. Yoonseo grunted a little, struggling to lay on her side. She then rolled onto her stomach, letting out little happy babbles.

"My baby!" Wooyoung cheered.

"Man, I love tummy time." Jongho said, recording the whole thing. However, Wooyoung's cheer was apparently too loud, startling poor Yoonseo, making her burst into tears and wails.

"Aww, shh, shh. It's okay, darling. It's just your loud appa." San lifted Yoonseo into his arms, comforting the crying baby.

Her first steps took place in Hongjoong's studio. Until now, Hongjoong still claims that he was the 'chosen one', whatever that means.

"See? She likes me better." Hongjoong said, holding Yoonseo in his arms in a forward facing seated position.

"Just don't drop her please." Seonghwa shook his head, he didn't like that Yoonseo was in the recording booth. There were wires every where, Hongjoong could trip and fall with Yoonseo in his arms.

But as Hongjoong rapped into the mic, Yoonseo stared up at him with wide eyes, not scared or startled by Hongjoong's seemingly loud and/or powerful rap. Wooyoung laughed, taking his phone out to capture the moment of Hongjoong rapping but looking down to meet Yoonseo's gaze.

"First, you're taking your first steps here. Now, you're in here, recording with me. You like me the best right?" Hongjoong chuckled.

"Not true!" San yelled from behind.

Wooyoung felt like he had disappointed Hongjoong the most when the news of Yoonseo's conception came about but he was relieved to see the captain playing with her and helping to take care of her.

Now, they're inseparable.

That was Yoonseo's charm. Not just her natural charm but the personality that Wooyoung cultivated by teaching her manners and kindness.

"I love you." Kissing her forehead, Wooyoung left Yoonseo's room.

After Yoonseo's mother left, Wooyoung never trusted anyone new again. It was how he guarded and protected himself and Yoonseo. He wasn't going to let anyone abandon Yoonseo again.

-

"Are you that excited, baby?" Wooyoung chuckled, seeing Yoonseo jump up and down while giggling, still holding Wooyoung's hand as they walked down the hall of the dance studio.

Prior to this, Wooyoung did extensive research on what dance studio was recommended for kids, reading through tons of reviews and asking friends for recommendations. This studio was well reviewed and parents seemed to like the teachers.

"Hang on, baby. Before you go in, I want to talk to you." Wooyoung squatted down to be on eye level with Yoonseo.

"I'm going to be late." Yoonseo pouted.

"It's alright, baby. I just wanted to tell you, it's okay to not be the best from the start, alright? You'll learn and practice." He held her hands but Wooyoung wasn't even sure she was listening.

"Okay." She nodded.

"Jung Yoonseo, you're not even listening to me." Wooyoung scoffed, tapping her on the nose. But he knew she was just excited.

When they knocked, there was a small reply before the glass door opened. You stood there with a soft smile on your face. Wooyoung hadn't even realised he was staring.

"You must be our new friend, Yoonseo. Oh wow, your skirt is so pretty." You bent down with a kind smile. Only when you spoke, did Wooyoung break out of his trance. Yoonseo shyly giggled at your compliment, fiddling with her skirt. When you held your hand out to Yoonseo, she gladly let go of Wooyoung.

"Let's sit here and do some stretches." You sat Yoonseo down with the other students in class before walking back to Wooyoung.

"Don't worry, Mr Jung. She's in good hands." You assured, assuming he was still standing there because he was worried about Yoonseo. But honestly, he was still stunned by you.

"T-Thanks. And call me Wooyoung, Mr Jung is my dad." He smiled with a chuckle. You giggled and nodded your head.

"We'll see you after class." You bowed respectfully to him and closed the glass door.

"Jung Wooyoung, what was that?" He scolded himself softly. He peeked through the viewable gap on the glass door.

"Let's all say hello to our new friend, Yoonseo. How do we greet everyone?" You asked the class, clapping your hands as you stood on your knees beside Yoonseo.

"Hello." The other girls in the class curtsied like ballerinas would.

"Let me help you, Yoonseo. First, we're going to open our arms up, point our foot to the side. This is the starting position." You gently and patiently adjusted Yoonseo's feet, arms and posture to teach her how to curtsy.

"My name is Yoonseo." Yoonseo shyly curtsied while introducing herself to the rest of the class. She looked at you with uncertainty but you smiled at her, encouraging her.

"That was great, all of you." You clapped for everyone in class. Taking a deep breath, Wooyoung left the dance studio.

"You dropped Yoonseo off for her first day at dance?" Yeosang asked as Wooyoung entered the KQ studio.

"Yoonseo's learning dance?" Jongho's eyes sparkled.

"Yeah. She wanted to learn ballet and luckily there's a really well reviewed studio near here so why not? You guys would faint over how cute she looks in her ballet outfit." Wooyoung smiled.

"Awww, look at the little princess." Yunho cooed when Wooyoung showed them the picture.

"Then she got annoyed with me taking so many pictures, saying I was making her late." Wooyoung slid to show Yoonseo's frowning, pouty face.

"Guess she learnt to be impatient from someone..." All 7 boys turned to the captain, who blinked in confusion then realised they were talking about him and frowned at them. Hongjoong was the one that always had to yell at the boys and rush them because they were running late. He had to, he was the captain.

"I'm not impatient. You guys just have no respect for punctuality." Hongjoong scoffed.

"Okay, okay. Let's start practice before we have our other schedules." Seonghwa rounded everyone up before Hongjoong could start lecturing them on punctuality.

"Oh! Yoonseo's ending soon." Wooyoung sat up after seeing the time.

"We should go pick her together." Mingi suggested and everyone nodded excitedly.

"W-Wait, maybe we shouldn't. It may overwhelm the other kids there and stuff. It's her first day there, I don't want her to be awkward around her friends." Wooyoung said.

"You're acting weird..."

"Is the dance teacher cute or something?" San raised his eyebrow.

"No! I didn't even notice her... I just don't want Yoonseo to be nervous or uncomfortable, okay?" Wooyoung said a little too defensively, making the boys look at each other knowingly. In the end, Yeosang volunteered to go with Wooyoung, who reluctantly agreed.

"This is the studio." Wooyoung said as he and Yeosang walked down the different dance studios. There were other parents there, waiting for the class to be over.

"Oh, she is pretty..." Yeosang tilted his head, peeking into the class. Wooyoung slapped his arm.

"There are other people here. Don't make comments like that." Wooyoung hissed, bowing to the other parents respectfully.

"Can you see Yoonseo?" Wooyoung asked.

"Yeah, she's so cute." Yeosang chuckled. He moved aside to let Wooyoung see. Yoonseo was giggling as she ran around the room with the other children.

"Arms up and down, pretty like a butterfly!" You encouraged, running alongside the children.

"Alright. I'll see all of you next week. Let's say goodbye and line up." You said at the end of the class. You stood at the front of the dance studio, before the mirror to curtsy to the class. The girls did the same to you, thanking you. They lined up obediently as you walked to the door to open it.

"Oh!" You and Wooyoung jumped as you opened the door, coming face to face with him. He apologised, rubbing the back of his neck while Yeosang snickered beside him.

"No, it's alright. I should have noticed you standing there." You chuckled and Wooyoung shook his head to deny it.

"Appa! Uncle Sangie!" Yoonseo beamed and waved.

"How was class, kiddo?" Yeosang bent down to talk to Yoonseo while you and Wooyoung were still flustered from earlier. You briefly broke away to say goodbye to the other kids and greet their parents.

"It was so fun!" Yoonseo jumped happily. You smiled softly, patting her head.

"She's a natural. And I mean it. Her musicality, flexibility, ability to comprehend the steps." You said to Wooyoung.

"That's good. She must have her dad's dance genes then. Wooyoung here is one of the best dancers in our team." Yeosang cut in. Your eyebrows raised in interest.

"I'm sorry I don't really listen to a lot of kpop but Yoonseo, here, tells me that you're in a group. I assume you are in the same group too?" You respectfully gestured to Yeosang with two hands. Yeosang nodded in confirmation.

"Sorry about him. We should go, come on baby. Say goodbye to Miss..." Wooyoung blinked, realising he didn't ask your name.

"(y/n)! Her name is Miss (y/n), appa!" Yoonseo informed enthusiastically. Wooyoung nodded stiffly. Suddenly, he found himself finding your name so adorable.

"I'm Yeosang." Yeosang waved, making you laugh. Yoonseo hugged your legs, surprising you slightly. But you patted her back with a smile.

"See you next week, Yoonseo and Wooyoung sshi." You giggled.

"Thank you." Wooyoung bowed. Yoonseo followed suit, bowing at the waist respectfully.

"That's my girl." Wooyoung praised as Yoonseo grasped her dad's hand. You smiled at the two of them, it was the first time meeting them but you could tell they have a good relationship.

"Thanks again, (y/n) sshi." With a final wave, the 3 of them walked away. After strapping her into her car seat, Yoonseo couldn't stop rambling on about her first ballet class, telling her dad and uncle what she did. Yeosang glanced at how distracted Wooyoung was as he drove, a knowing smile on his face.

"I can't wait for next week!" And for some reason, Wooyoung found himself excited for Yoonseo's next dance class too.

-

Wooyoung's subconscious mind did want to do 'well' to make a good impression on you. However, the following week, he ended up calling the ballet school, stuck in a KQ meeting and late to pick up Yoonseo.

"Miss (y/n), Yoonseo's dad just called the front desk, saying he'll be a little late." The receptionist told you.

"No worries, I'll watch out for her." You smiled before she could even request or suggest. Yoonseo was a great kid, you didn't mind.

"Yoonseo ah, your appa will be a little late. Wanna stick with me for a bit?" You chuckled as you poked your head into the dancer's den where the students changed, kept their belongings and prepared for dance. She nodded excitedly.

"Do you know your appa's phone number?" You asked, bending down in front of her. She shook her head.

"That's okay. I'll ask. Come on." You held your hand out for her to hold as you walked to the front desk to get Wooyoung's number.

'Hello, Wooyoung sshi! This is (y/n), I hope you don't mind that I got your number from the front desk. I wanted to let you know that Yoonseo will be with me. - (y/n)'

'Oh! (y/n) sshi, thank you so much. I'm so sorry to trouble you, I'm trying to get out as soon as I can. - Wooyoung'

'No worries, I love having Yoonseo around. If it's okay with you, can we go out for some ice cream? - (y/n)'

'Of course! - Wooyoung'

"Shall we go get some ice cream? Your appa said okay." You asked. Yoonseo cheered and jumped happily. After you got changed and packed, you took her to the ice cream parlour nearby.

"Alright, you can pick what you want." Wrapping your arms around her, you lifted her up to the glass so she could see what flavours there were. Yoonseo chose cookies and cream while you chose raspberry white chocolate. The worker scooped Yoonseo's into a cup and came out to hand it to her.

"Thank you." Yoonseo said politely, receiving the cup with both hands. You smiled at her and paid for both your ice creams.

"Thank you, Miss (y/n)." Yoonseo turned to you as you both headed to a table to sit.

"You're very welcome, Yoonseo." Seeing Yoonseo at eye level with the table, you lifted her up to sit in your lap. She leaned slightly against your arm, comfortably eating her ice cream.

"Appa is always busy during comeback." Yoonseo told you.

"Does that mean you're usually with your omma then?" You asked back. Yoonseo shook her head.

"I don't have an omma. I only have appa." She replied. You didn't realise how possibly insensitive you were, assuming that Yoonseo had a mother.

"And that's okay." You smiled softly, stroking her hair.

While eating your ice cream, you learnt a lot about Yoonseo, how she was raised by her dad and 7 uncles, whom you assume are the other ATEEZ members that you googled about. Wooyoung's effort paid off because he raised a great kid.

RING RING

"Hello? Wooyoung sshi?" You answered the call. Yoonseo perked up when she heard you address her dad.

"Hey, (y/n) sshi. I know I already asked a lot of you but is it okay for you to bring Yoonseo to my company? I should be ending soon. I don't want to take too much of your time."

"Oh, it's no trouble at all. But I'll bring her over." You told him.

"Thank you so much! I'll let the front security know you're coming. Just go to the 5th floor."

After getting rid of your empty ice cream cups, you and Yoonseo headed over to KQ. Like what Wooyoung said, the security at the front let you in after asking your name and recognising Yoonseo.

"Do you come here often?" You asked Yoonseo.

"Yeah. Appa comes here to work and dance. Uncles too." She replied. You nodded with a hum, you've never been into an entertainment company before. Since Yoonseo seemed familiar, you let her lead the way. There was a door labelled 'Artist Lounge' that she entered. However, it was empty, only tables and chairs around.

"I wait for appa here." She informed, climbing onto the loveseat with familiarity. You sat beside her, not feeling comfortable leaving her here alone, even if she was familiar with the place.

So, you stayed with her.

"Oh my god, I have to go." Wooyoung shot out of his seat the moment the meeting concluded. They were discussing their next comeback.

"Everything okay?" Hongjoong asked.

"Yoonseo." Was all Wooyoung said. Not offering much else, the boys thought something happened to their niece and rushed alongside Wooyoung to the artist lounge.

However, Wooyoung froze, making the 7 of them crash into him like an animated cartoon. Wooyoung saw you sitting on the loveseat with Yoonseo in your lap, her front leaning against yours as you held her while the both of you slept.

"What the... Who is that?" Seonghwa whispered.

"That's Yoonseo's dance teacher. Woo's new crush." Yeosang replied. At Yeosang's words, Wooyoung broke out of his trance.

"She is not my crush. She's not." Wooyoung frowned defensively, directing the last part at Hongjoong, who stared back at Wooyoung with raised eyebrows.

"She is pretty though." Yunho smiled. Wooyoung felt oddly protective at his friend's words.

"Yoonseo~ (y/n) sshi~" You jumped a little when Wooyoung lightly shook you and Yoonseo. You blinked, realising where you were.

"Oh my, I'm so sorry." You apologised, realising Yoonseo was still asleep in your lap. Then you saw Yeosang and the other Ateez members standing behind him, looking on.

"Mmm..." Yoonseo groaned, rubbing her face against your chest.

"Yoonseo, come on." San stepped forward to lift Yoonseo up. Yoonseo comfortably leaned into her uncle's arms, pressing her cheek into his shoulder. You stood up and bowed deeply to the others, feeling your cheeks heat up. You didn't think you would be meeting an idol group, dressed in sweats.

"I'm so sorry." You apologised, bowing repeatedly.

"No need to apologise. Thank you for taking care of Yoonseo and staying with her. Sorry for taking so long." Wooyoung shook his head and you smiled sheepishly.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Yunho. You're Yoonseo's ballet teacher?" The tall male held his hand out for you to shake.

"Hello. I'm (y/n), it's a pleasure to meet all of you. Yes, I teach ballet. You're the main dancer in the group right?" You asked with a laugh.

"Yeah! How did you know?"

"When Yoonseo told me her dad and uncles are kpop idols, I went to search online. She said you're all really great dancers." You smiled, looking at the sleeping girl.

"(y/n) sshi, it's late. Let me drop you back home?" Wooyoung cut in, offering you a ride home. Before you could open your mouth to refuse.

"Please, I insist. You stayed so late with Yoonseo, it's the least I could do, make sure you get home safe." He cut you off. You closed your mouth and nodded. Wooyoung reached over to carry Yoonseo in his arms while you helped to carry her dance bag.

"Thank you, Wooyoung sshi. It was nice meeting all of you. Have a great night." You bowed to the Ateez members and left with Wooyoung. The members all waved to you as you exited.

"By the way, I went back to watch Ateez videos. You're a really good contemporary hip hop dancer." You complimented.

"Ah, I'm shy. You're so much better with how difficult ballet is." Wooyoung coughed.

"No, your artist of the month dance was amazing. Yoonseo definitely had your dance genes." You giggled.

"Thank you. I'm glad she wanted to start with ballet for the foundation. Maybe she'll progress to other genres." Wooyoung shrugged. He dreams of performing with Yoonseo one day.

"Whatever she chooses, I know she has a great teacher to guide her." You looked at him, making him all flustered.

"Anyway, I hope she wasn't too much trouble. Thanks again for looking after her." Wooyoung chuckled, changing the subject. You opened the car door for him to strap a half aleep Yoonseo into her booster seat and fastening the seat belt.

"Not at all, Wooyoung sshi. Yoonseo's a great little girl, very kind and courteous. You've raised her well." You giggled.

"... I'm guessing she told you that her mom isn't in the picture then..." Wooyoung said after a short pause, seemingly uncertain of what to say. You hummed and nodded your head.

"I'm sorry, it must not be easy." You said.

"Oh, you thought- No, she's alive... I think? She left right after Yoonseo was born." Wooyoung corrected.

"Ah, I guess I shouldn't have assumed... But you know, maybe it's for the better. Rather than have a parent that feels forced to stay... If that makes sense... Yoonseo still has a parent and uncles that love her... and want her." You said, rubbing the back of your neck. Wooyoung nodded, he knew what you meant.

"Don't worry, it does make sense. And I agree. All I want is for Yoonseo to be happy, to grow up feeling loved. As long as she is happy, I'm happy." He smiled.

"I'm sure she is. The way she talks about you and her uncles, I can tell. You've done great. My opinion doesn't matter since we just met but-"

"No, it does. It really does. Thank you for saying that, it means a lot." Wooyoung said.

"She's going to grow up to be an amazing person." You smiled softly, turning back to see the sleeping Yoonseo.

"She teaches me so much too, reminds me to enjoy the simpler things in life." He smiled. Right on time, Wooyoung's car pulled up to your apartment building.

"Thank you for the ride, Wooyoung sshi. I'll see you next week?" You bowed and unbuckled your seat belt.

"It's no problem. We'll see you next week. And please, call me Wooyoung." He said confidently and bravely, hoping to indirectly imply that you have both become friends of some sort. You weren't just his daughter's dance teacher.

"Sure but that means you call me (y/n) too. I hope I'm not overstepping but if you ever need someone to watch Yoonseo, you can always ask me." You smiled.

"Not overstepping at all. Thank you. I might just take you up on that, Yoonseo really loves your company." He chuckled.

"I love her company too. Goodnight." With a final greeting, you stepped out of Wooyoung car and headed into the building.

Watching you disappear into the building lobby, Wooyoung let out a long exhale, leaning back against the driver's seat. Many questions raced through his head.

Did he see a future with you and Yoonseo?

Furthermore, was he ready to open his heart again? Because letting you into his world would mean letting you into Yoonseo's world too.

Following that night, you didn't expect Wooyoung to text you again. But he did. It wasn't anything personal, it was Yoonseo forcing her (surprisingly inflexible) uncles to do ballet stretches with her. The pained expressions on the grown men's faces made you burst out laughing as you had a break from your ballet class.

'Poor uncles!! I hope Yoonseo goes easy on them. - (y/n)'

'If she's anything like me, she definitely will NOT go easy on them. Needless to say, she's the best in this class. And she wanted me to tell you that she reminded them to point their feet. - Wooyoung'

'As her teacher, I am proud to hear that. She has improved so much! - (y/n)'

"Who are you texting that's got you all giggly?" Your friend asked, sipping her water.

"Oh, just one of the parents from my littles class." You shrugged, playing it off as nothing special. You were hyper aware of Wooyoung's celebrity status so you were extra careful.

"A dad, I'm assuming? Is he single?" Your friend raised her eyebrows, nudging you playfully. You rolled your eyes.

"Yes, it's a dad. And I don't know why it matters but yes, he's single. Whatever you're insinuating, it's not gonna happen. He's 100% dedicated to his daughter, as he should be." You scoffed. She sent you a knowing smile.

"Give him a medal then. But don't assume anything, my dear (y/n). Anything is possible." She slung her arm around you.

"Yeah, whatever. Let's head in, I want a good barre spot." You said and headed into the studio for your dance class.

Maybe she was right. Because the conversation didn't die there. You and Wooyoung were texting almost everyday. Both of you were not dry texters and genuinely enjoyed chatting with each other.

-

"Baby, you can just give her the cookies after class." Wooyoung said as Yoonseo excitedly pulled him along.

"No. I want to give it to her before!" Yoonseo insisted. Yesterday, Yoonseo baked cookies and of course, she set a portion aside for her dance teacher.

"Okay, okay." Wooyoung gave in. He wasn't going to fight his daughter on this when she's been excited to give the cookies that they she worked so hard on. But (y/n) wasn't in the studio when they arrived. Wooyoung assumed she just hasn't arrived to prepare for the class yet since they did come early.

"Aww, she's not here." Yoonseo pouted.

"I think we're a little too early, baby. I'll ask the receptionist if she's here yet, okay?" Wooyoung offered, not liking to see his daughter so disappointed. Yoonseo nodded and followed him to the front.

"Excuse me, is (y/n)- I mean, Miss (y/n) here for class yet?" Wooyoung asked the lady.

"Let me check... Yes, she's here but she's in class. It'll be ending soon." The lady informed after checking the log.

"Oh, okay. Thank you." Wooyoung nodded. So you were the student in ballet classes for more advanced dancers. It should be a 'duh' moment but obviously it didn't occur to him.

"Miss (y/n) is like you, taking class with a teacher." Wooyoung informed Yoonseo.

"Oh... But she's also a teacher?" Yoonseo tilted her head.

"She's a teacher to you. But to an older teacher, she's a student." Wooyoung tried to explain it. to her. Yoonseo nodded, walking beside Wooyoung back to wait at the studio where Yoonseo usually had her classes. Until they walked past the biggest dance studio.

"Miss (y/n)!" Yoonseo pointed, now that the dance teacher had opened the door to the studio.

"Shh, Yoonseo. No shouting." Wooyoung chided but looked to where his daughter was pointing. Your hair was in a bun and you were basically wearing what Yoonseo wears as you did pointe work.

"Squeeze your ankles! Engage your core!" The instructor shouted as he clapped his hands to the melody of the music.

"And gracefully, come down. Close with arms in first position." He went around, checking.

"Psst, (y/n). I think that's one of your students." One of your friends leaned over to whisper. You blinked, turning your head to see Yoonseo and Wooyoung there.

"Oh, it is..." You gave the father and daughter a small smile. Yoonseo waved back.

"Wait, one of your kiddos is Ateez Wooyoung's daughter? And you didn't think to mention this?" Your other friend whispered harshly. You laughed and shrugged. Honestly, deep down, it was a secret that you liked to keep to yourself. Maybe you were feeling a little selfish, you had no idea.

"Class dismissed." The teacher concluded. You grabbed your bag and was about to leave when Wooyoung saw one of the males stop you. He leaned in to whisper something to you.

"Mmm, of course." You said with a laugh, nodding your head. After that, he let you go and you walked over.

"Sorry, am I late for class?" You asked Wooyoung and Yoonseo.

"N-No, we came early." Wooyoung said, snapping out of his trance. Yoonseo held a plastic pack of cookies out to you. You bent down to be on her eye level.

"For me?" You pointed to yourself. Yoonseo nodded with a proud grin.

"We made cookies yesterday! This is for you. The samchons ate everything else..." She sulked.

"Well, thank you for making sure I have some, Yoonseo." You patted her head with a giggle. Yoonseo beamed, happy to have made you happy with her cookies.

"Miss (y/n), was that your boyfriend?" Yoonseo asked as you walked with her to your class studio. Wooyoung nearly choked at his daughter's direct question but admittedly, his ears did perk up to listen to your answer.

"No, he's my dance partner. We have a performance coming up and we're doing a dance together." You explained.

"Oh." Yoonseo nodded. Wooyoung found himself subconsciously nodding too.

"I don't have a boyfriend." You said to her casually, opening the studio door for her to enter. Wooyoung stood by the door, not entering the studio.

"You can come in, Wooyoung. Just remove your shoes." You chuckled, leaning into your bag to grab some water to drink. You grabbed an overshirt to wear over your leotard and tights.

"Thank you." Wooyoung bowed as he entered. He has never felt so awkwardly, he felt like he was the kid, sticking to Yoonseo as if she was the parent, not him.

"Can I wear special shoes like you one day?" Yoonseo asked, sitting next to you as you removed your pointe shoes.

"Of course. If you work really hard, you can be an amazing ballerina." You smiled. Hearing that, Yoonseo looked up at her father with sparkling eyes. Wooyoung smiled softly, Yoonseo never really had a female figure she could look up to. And as he got to know you better, Wooyoung couldn't have asked for a better role model.

"I better go before the other students come. Have a great class, you two." Wooyoung stood up. You and Yoonseo both waved to Wooyoung as he took his leave.

He bowed to the other parents on his way out, his heart feeling fluttery after that encounter with you.

"Calm down, Jung Wooyoung." He scolded himself in the car.

Letting out a long sigh, he drove to the dorms to find Yeosang and San. Them having been friends for so long and being the closest, Wooyoung needed to speak about this with them.

"Wait, you're talking about Yoonseo's dance teacher, right?" San raised an eyebrow as he sat down.

"Mhmm." Wooyoung sighed, hugging Yeosang's pillow to his face, groaning in frustration.

"This goes without saying but are you sure you like her? In that way..." Yeosang threaded cautiously. Wooyoung took a while to reply, sitting up on the bed.

"I am in denial of whatever feelings I have for her. But I know it's something more because the last time I felt this way was with Yoonseo's mom. I can't even describe it, I'm almost scared of that feeling." He sighed.

"I'm not scared for me, I'm more scared for Yoonseo. I have to protect her, even if it means sacrificing what I want for her." He continued.

"That's where you're wrong, Woo. You are scared and it's okay to be. You have given up a lot for Yoonseo but at the same time, you didn't give yourself a chance to grieve." San stated.

"I don't need to grieve for that woman." Wooyoung scoffed.

"I think San means grieve for your relationship. At the end of the day, at some point, you saw a future with her." Yeosang said.

"A future that she didn't want." Wooyoung glared. Yeosang reached over to rub Wooyoung's back. He and San were the ones that were there the most when Yoonseo's mom left.

"It's okay to afraid, cautious, whether its for you or Yoonseo. But shouldn't close yourself in forever." San adviced.

"Don't give up on love so quickly." Yeosang smiled softly.

"A date won't hurt. If you're compatible, you're not. But you never know. And from what I see, Yoonseo does love her dance teacher a lot. I don't know her personally to judge whether she is or will be a good mother but I think she liked Yoonseo a lot too and seems to take great care of her." San said.

"She's an amazing role model to Yoonseo. And I'm not just saying that because I feel some way for her, she's great with her. And Yoonseo idolises her." Wooyoung said.

"And I know you're worried about the whole idol thing but don't assume things on her behalf. Let her honestly tell you herself."

"Okay, I'll... think about it. But Yoonseo and Ateez still come first." Wooyoung chewed on his bottom lip.

"Sure, sure." Yeosang laughed.

True to his words, Wooyoung didn't act on his feelings right away. His focus was still on Ateez schedules and Yoonseo but he did think about his feelings.

He continued to text you as per usual and you always replied happily, the both of you took turns starting the conversations.

"Appa, appa!" Yoonseo's feet padded into Wooyoung's bedroom and he watched her climb onto his bed. Wooyoung put his phone aside, blinking as he watched Yoonseo excitedly climb into his lap, his arms reaching out to support her.

"Can I help you?" Wooyoung chuckled.

"I want to go for Miss (y/n)'s concert!" Yoonseo excitedly bounced in Wooyoung's lap.

"Why do you suddenly want to go, baby? Also, is that how we ask for things around here?" He raised an eyebrow at his daughter. Yoonseo covered her mouth with her hands.

"Please? Today, Miss (y/n) wore a pretty dress! Like a princess. She said she's dancing in many many pretty dresses!" She grinned.

"No promises, baby. Let me see if I have schedule. If not, we'll buy tickets to go." Wooyoung said.

"Yay!" Yoonseo cheered. Wooyoung couldn't help but laugh, Yoonseo is generally a happy kid but he's hardly ever seen her so excited about seomthing before.

"Do you really like Miss (y/n)?" Wooyoung asked. Yoonseo nodded her head vigorously.

"Why?" Wooyoung tilted his head.

"She's pretty! And... and... she's nice! She takes care of me like you and samchons. I want to make her a lot of cookies." She listed out, tapping her chin. There was a lot more that she wanted to express to Wooyoung and he knew that, but this was the best that she could with her limited vocabulary.

"Wow, you really do like her..." Wooyoung said with amusement. Yoonseo nodded in confirmation, shyly leaning down onto her father's chest.

"But I love appa most!" She added.

"I'm happy to hear that, baby." He chuckled and stroked her hair, kissing the crown of her head.

"What about you, appa? Do you like Miss (y/n)?" Yoonseo blinked innocently. Wooyoung opened his mouth but closed it, unsure of what he 'should' be answering. Instead, he shrugged.

After that, Wooyoung broke his own rule and let Yoonseo sleep in his bed with him. He just wanted her close.

"I'll always protect you." He whispered.

-

"Umm, excuse me. I was wondering if there are still tickets for the senior company showcase?" Wooyoung hesitantly asked the receptionist of the ballet school.

"Wooyoung?" You entered the school, seeing the father and daughter there. Yoonseo squealed and hugged your legs.

"Hello, Yoonseo. It's nice to see you too." You giggled and bent down to her height so you could hug her back. Even after you stood back up, Yoonseo still glued herself to you. You put your hand on her back, holding her.

"We're hoping it's not too late to buy tickets to the senior showcase. Princess, here, wants to go." Wooyoung explained. You looked down at Yoonseo, who grinned back at you.

"Oh... Y-You both wanna come for the showcase?" You asked.

"Yes! To watch Miss (y/n)!" Yoonseo cheered. You looked to Wooyoung, who nodded in confirmation.

"You don't have to buy tickets. I have two free tickets, you can take them." You chuckled, nodding over to the hallway for you and Wooyoung to walk towards the studio.

"No way, I can't take them for free. You should save them for your family or something." Wooyoung shook his head.

"If I had people to give it to, I would have. My parents are out of town, as usual. So who better to give the tickets to? Rather than let them go to waste." You explained. Yoonseo looked to you then her dad.

"Plus I think they're actually sold out." You added with a laugh.

"Well, I guess there's no other option. Alright then, we'll take them. Thanks." Wooyoung rubbed the back of his neck.

"Thank you for coming to support us. I have the tickets in my locker, I'll give them to you at the end of class?" You asked. Wooyoung nodded with a hum. He would have corrected that he and Yoonseo were going to support you, not the entire senior company. They were solely going to watch you.

After class, Wooyoung didn't come to pick Yoonseo up alone. Yunho and San wanted to tag along. They stayed back until almost all the children and their parents were gone.

"Samchon!" Yoonseo excitedly ran to her uncles.

"Oh, hello." You bowed to San and Yunho. They waved before bowing back with kind smiles.

"Here are your tickets, Wooyoung. Thanks again." You handed the envelop to Wooyoung with two hands. Yunho and San leaned over to peek at it.

"What are the tickets for?" San asked.

"We're going to watch Miss (y/n) dance!" Yoonseo informed. You laughed and nodded your head.

"Are we invited too?" Yunho tilted his head. You were stunned by his question while Wooyoung's eyes widened before he punched the taller male's arm.

"No, none of you are going except me and Yoonseo." He glared.

"I'm sorry, Yunho sshi. I only have 2 free tickets and the rest are sold out... But I do appreciate you wanting to support the senior company. If there are future showcases and performances, I'll definitely let you know." You bowed in apology.

"I look forward to that." Yunho winked, making you choke slightly and look away shyly.

"Tsk, stop that. And don't apologise to him." Wooyoung interjected. You nodded your head slowly, unsure of how to react.

"Alright then. Let's go." San bowed to you and you bowed back. Yoonseo waved as San dragged Yunho and Wooyoung out of there. You just stood there and waved to all of them.

"Yun, cut it out." Wooyoung said once they were in the car. He didn't need to explain further, Yunho should know what he was referring to.

"Just being nice and making more friends in the dance world. Why are you all bothered?" Yunho asked back.

"I am not. Just stop with whatever it is you're doing." Wooyoung frowned. Yunho shrugged, he wasn't too affected by Wooyoung's pissy attitude towards him.

"Okay, both of you stop. Kid in the car." San cut in, reminding them that Yoonseo was there. Luckily Yoonseo was distracted by something out the window, not really paying attention to whatever conversation her dad and uncle were having. Wooyoung sighed and just continued driving.

Honestly, he didn't know why he got all bothered too. That's how Yunho usually is with new people, very friendly, which Wooyoung should be used to.

When he pulled up to the dorms where they were going to have dinner together, Yunho walked with Yoonseo.

"Hey, man. You gotta tone it down a little." San said as he and Wooyoung walked behind the two.

"I know. I don't know what came over me. It really looked like he was flirting with her and I just... I felt possessive almost." Wooyoung sighed with a shake of his head.

"There's my baby girl!" Hongjoong yelled as Yoonseo jumped into his arms.

"How was dance class, my little ballerina?" The captain walked in with Yoonseo while the 3 members removed their shoes and went to greet the others. Hongjoong sat down on the couch with Yoonseo in his lap. Seonghwa came out of the kitchen and scoffed.

"That's it, he's just going to stay there the entire night and not help." Seonghwa glared.

"Be honest though, hyung. Do you actually want him in the kitchen?" Jongho asked. Seeing that the maknae had a point, Seonghwa went back to the kitchen.

"Let me help, hyung." Wooyoung came in, washing his hands. He and Seonghwa were usually the ones in the kitchen.

"So, Yeosang told me about your little... dilemma." Seonghwa said as he cooked the chicken.

"Tattletale." Wooyoung muttered under his breath.

"Don't blame him, he's just concerned for you and not sure on how to help. I think it's great, by the way. That you're slowly allowing yourself to trust and accept new people into your life." Seonghwa said.

"You think so? Because I'm terrified. I feel like I'm being selfish if I act on my feelings, not putting Yoonseo and Ateez first. I already made that mistake once."

"A mistake, maybe. But we all make mistakes. Don't be afraid of making mistakes, Woo. It's part of life. You got a really great kid out of it. And sometimes, you have to put yourself and your feelings first. If not, you'll always be missing out or losing out on great opportunities. We won't blame you." Seonghwa smiled.

"Thanks, hyung." Wooyoung gave a small smile.

"Don't be so hard on yourself. Let yourself love again. Just don't bring home another kid yet." Seonghwa chuckled.

-

"Tickets, please." The usher held his hand out. Wooyoung handed the guy his and Yoonseo's tickets. He led them to their seats, which was quite near the stage.

'Friends and Family'

That was when Wooyoung realised the tickets the dancers had were better seats, closer to the stage.

"Are you excited, baby?" Wooyoung asked. Yoonseo nodded her head, kicking her legs excitedly. More than excited, Wooyoung felt nervous, rubbing his hands on his thighs.

"Why are you hiding your face?" Yoonseo asked, pointing to the black mask Wooyoung had on.

"I think I have a stuffy nose." Wooyoung lied. He wore his mask in case any fans recognise him. He wanted to the attention to be on the performance, not on him. The plan was to remove the mask when the lights were dimmed.

"Appa, where is Miss (y/n)?" Yoonseo questioned as she held the programme book. Wooyoung held the booklet and flipped through it.

"Let me see... There. She is in 4 dances." Wooyoung said, pointing each time your name appeared. He hoped that Yoonseo was tall enough to see you on stage.

"When is it going to start?" Yoonseo stood up.

"Sit back down, please. It'll start soon, baby." Wooyoung patted the seat and Yoonseo pouted, climbing back on.

And as Wooyoung said, the lights dimmed a little later, signalling the start of the showcase. Yoonseo let out a little excited squeal and Wooyoung softly hushed her.

When it was your first item, Wooyoung felt his heart race a little. The moment the curtain opened, he saw you.

You looked absolutely beautiful, mesmerizing even. The costume fitted you perfectly, flowing along with your movements. To Wooyoung, you were like the main dancer with a glow around you, as if the spotlight was on you the entire time you performed. And no, he wasn't being biased, so he says.

"Do you see her?" Wooyoung leaned over to ask Yoonseo softly. She nodded and pointed to you with a big grin on her face.

"Can she see us?" Yoonseo whispered.

"Maybe." He chuckled, patting her head. They continued watching through the rest of the performance. Wooyoung loved each one more than the last.

Except when you performed a duet with a male partner. If looks could kill, your partner would be 10 feet underground.

He eyed the way your partner held your waist to support you during your turns and he hated the part where you stared into each other's eyes before he dipped you down.

"Appa? Are you okay? Do you need to pee?" Yoonseo asked softly, placing her hand over Wooyoung's when she saw his expression.

"No, baby. I'm fine. I don't need to pee." Wooyoung smiled.

At the final curtain call, everyone stood up to applaud the dancers. Wooyoung supported Yoonseo to stand on her seat to wave to you. You definitely saw them and waved back. Your eyes met Wooyoung and you smiled softly. He waved back to you and clapped.

"Miss (y/n)!" Yoonseo let go of her father's hand and ran straight to you when she saw you come out backstage.

"Yoonseo!" You dropped your bag and bent down. Opening your arms, you let her run to hug you tightly. You hummed, swaying from side to side.

"You were amazing!" Yoonseo excitedly squealed.

"Thank you. I'm really happy you came. I saw you right from the start." You softly pinched her cheek.

"For you." She held out the rose that she was carrying with her.

"It's beautiful." You patted her head. Wooyoung broke through the crowd, panting as he was looking for where Yoonseo ran off to. You straightened up and smiled at him.

"Yoonseo, you know you're not supposed to run like that! There are so many people here." Wooyoung frowned.

"But I saw Miss (y/n)." She pouted, hugging your leg.

"Thank you for coming, Wooyoung." You bowed. The both of you walked away from the main crowd to have some more privacy. Wooyoung handed you the bouquet of flowers that he was holding. You blinked at it, feeling your cheeks heat up. This wasn't the first time you got flowers but from Wooyoung, you felt flustered.

"You were great, by the way. Thank you for the tickets. We enjoyed the show a lot." Wooyoung complimented and Yoonseo nodded in agreement, holding her father's hand.

"Thanks, I'm glad you had a good time. These are beautiful." You smiled shyly, holding the bouquet and Yoonseo's flower in your arms.

"Are you hungry? Want some burgers?" Wooyoung chuckled.

"Starving, actually." You giggled. Yoonseo walked between you and Wooyoung as the 3 of you headed back to the car. Wooyoung went to a drive thru so you ate in the car.

"This hits the spot. Barely had time to eat today." You sighed happily as you took a bite of the burger.

"I'm glad. You deserve it after working so hard all day." Wooyoung laughed.

"You alright, baby?" He turned to see Yoonseo happily eating her nuggets. She grinned at him, happy to get nuggets to eat. The two of you looked so similar, blissfully happy with your food.

With how hungry you both were, the food was demolished quickly. But being past her usual bedtime, Yoonseo did fall asleep in the backseat, leaving you and Wooyoung to have hushed conversations. You talked about the most random things.

"Thanks again for coming tonight, Wooyoung." You said.

"Ah, stop thanking me. It was a great show, I really enjoyed it. It was great watching you. You'll have to come for our next concert, okay?" Wooyoung laughed.

"If you'd have me. I would love to see you perform on stage." You said honestly. Wooyoung felt himself get shy now.

"Our concerts are always fun. You'll have a great time there." He promised.

"Thanks for the burgers and for dropping me off. I guess I'll see you next week when Yoonseo has class?" You tilted your head as Wooyoung pulled up to your place.

"Actually, (y/n). Can I take you out for a proper meal some time? As a date." Wooyoung couragiously asked.

"I'd like that. And Wooyoung, even if you wanted to do drive thru in the car again, I'd be more than happy to do that." You giggled.

"As much as I appreciate that and enjoyed it too, we have to go to a proper restaurant. A first date always has to be special. I'll text you and we'll fix a date." Wooyoung smiled. It warmed your heart how seriously Wooyoung took this but you were serious too, you felt happy as long as you were with him.

"Alright. Goodnight, Wooyoung." You got out of the car.

"Goodnight, (y/n). Sleep well." He waved. He watched you disappear into your building and turned back to check on the sleeping Yoonseo before driving back home.

It'll take a while but Wooyoung knew there was no other person he would rather reopen his heart to than you.

[guilty-pleasures21]

Dragon!Miguel

@captain-liminal it took me a while, but I did it! I also have to credit @exhaslo on this for supporting me and answering my dragon questions and giving me a foundation to build on. I hope it's all right and I look forward to any future requests!

Based on this request.

Warnings: none. Just grumpy and whipped Miguel 😉.

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

     “Miguel!” Gabriel yelled, chasing his brother down the palace hallway. “It will be good for both our kingdoms-”

     “It will be good for her kingdom,” Miguel interrupted, refusing to slow down his unrelenting pace. “What do we need an alliance for?” Of course they didn’t need an alliance: not when he was the most powerful fire dragon to be born in five centuries!

     Gabriel rolled his eyes at the haughty implication of his brother's question. “Well, number one: you need an heir, obviously, and combined with her powers, your children would be the most powerful beings to have ever graced this earth!”

     Miguel let out a snort as he pushed open the double doors, unconvinced by his brother’s argument. “I'm only twenty-three, Gabriel. What do I need heirs for?”

     He finally stopped, arms folded across his chest and brow furrowed stubbornly as he turned around to face his brother. Gabriel clenched his jaw and took a deep breath, trying to hold onto his patience. Dios, his brother was annoying. “For when you make stupid, reckless decisions that cut your lifespan by half, hermano.” 

     “Hmph.” Miguel sniffed as he glanced away, not wanting to admit that his brother maybe possibly could have been a little bit right. But that didn’t mean that he needed kids; it just meant that he had to be a little more … thoughtful. 

     His heart thudded in his chest as his brother’s expression turned pensive and Gabriel jumped on the opportunity to change his mind. 

     “Look, just … just be a little open to the idea when you meet her tomorrow,” he suggested cautiously. “I'm not saying you have to fall head over heels in love with her immediately, but just … be nice, Miguel.”

     Miguel narrowed his eyes at the plea in his brother’s voice, but continued to avoid his gaze. “I can be nice.”

     Gabriel raised his eyebrows, fixing Miguel with a knowing look. Miguel slid his gaze over to him and huffed when he saw his expression. 

     “Whatever. I’m going to take a flight.” And before Gabe could stop him, Miguel had turned around and leapt into the air, his body lengthening into his dragon form as he flew away.

     He clenched his fists as he strolled around the edge of the village, his thoughts still focused on his earlier conversation with his brother. How dare his ministers arrange an alliance on his behalf?! Without even consulting him about it first?! Of course, if they had consulted him about it, then he'd immediately have disagreed. Which was probably why they hadn't asked him in the first place. But to marry a woman he'd never met?! To give himself over to her and have children with her?! The thought lit his insides on fire. He stopped suddenly as an unfamiliar scent wafted through the air towards him: warm, slightly spicy, like a good soup being cooked atop a strong flame. He looked up and his heart stopped when his eyes landed upon the most beautiful creature he'd ever seen. Her hair was dark, the silky strands cascading down her delicate shoulders as she moved gracefully along the path; her skin was golden, like she'd been left in the fire for the perfect amount of time and would be comfortingly warm to the touch; and her eyes were round and dazzling, framed perfectly by long, curly lashes that brushed her cheeks everytime she blinked. She was perfect. Miguel rushed over to her, desperate to make her his, but he stopped abruptly when he reached her, his mind going blank as he got close enough to see the shards of gold scattered around her irises. “Hi.”

     She raised an eyebrow, amused by the handsome stranger who had approached her without a plan in mind. 

     “Hello,” she greeted him calmly, her voice as melodious as a nightingale’s. “Nice to meet you, sir. May I know your name?”

     She held a hand out to him, but he watched it carefully, hesitating. Finally, he took a step back from her, afraid that he might accidentally burn her with his flames - there were a few downsides to being the most powerful fire dragon to be born in five centuries. “Miguel.”

     “Miguel …” she repeated carefully. His heart pounded in his chest at the sound of his name in her sweet voice; at the sight of her rosy lips puckering to form the letters. Dios, she was beautiful. 

     “And yours?” Miguel asked, his features melting into a dazed smile as he continued to gaze at her. 

     “X,” she replied, her heart fluttering at the look he gave her. He really was handsome, this tall stranger, especially when he smiled like that. 

     Miguel felt his insides start to heat up at the wide grin on her pretty face and he took another step away from her for good measure. X raised an eyebrow, confused, but Miguel refused to provide her with an explanation, embarrassed by his lack of control over his own emotions and powers. 

     “I … I don't recall having ever seen you here before, my lady,” Miguel said, wanting to carry on the conversation and spend more time in the company of this exquisite creature. X’s eyes widened in surprise. 

     “Oh!” she gasped, suddenly looking a little nervous as she stammered out an explanation. “I … I have come to visit some distant relatives of mine.”

     Miguel nodded slowly, filing the information away for later: if he was able to find out which family she belonged to, then he’d have a definitive way of finding her when they eventually parted ways later that day. “And how long are you planning on staying for?”

     X pursed her lips in thought and Miguel felt the saliva begin to pool in his mouth as he wondered what they would taste like against his. “It depends.”

     “On what?”

     Her smile turned mischievous and she took a moment to let her gaze travel over his broad and muscular form. “On if I find a good enough reason to stay.”

     She glanced up at him from beneath her dark and curly lashes and Miguel reflected her thrilled expression as they two of them gazed at each other in silence, the both of them studying and admiring the other shyly. Finally, Miguel cleared his throat and straightened. 

     “Well, perhaps I can help you with that,” he suggested, gesturing to the path in front of them. “If you would join me for a tour, my lady?” A soft giggle escaped X’s lips as she took a step forward and Miguel swore his heart melted in his chest as he followed beside her. 

     Gabriel tugged on the collar of his shirt, trying to dissipate some of the heat that had gathered around his neck. His brother was furious - he could feel it in the stifling heat that radiated off of him and engulfed the entire room. But he refused to give in to his brother's temper - someone had to make sure he didn't blow up all their diplomatic relations when he became king and if Gabriel was the only one unafraid of him enough to do it, then do it he would. “Calmate, hermano.”

     Miguel continued to glare out the window, arms folded across his chest as he refused to look at his brother. He grunted in response and a puff of smoke blew out of his nose. 

     “Presenting Princess (your full name) of Risendelle,” the steward announced, stepping aside to allow their esteemed guest to make her way into the room. Miguel turned to face the princess, the irritated scowl still spread across his face: he didn’t want some spoiled princess he’d never even seen before. He wanted the lady he'd met yesterday - the most perfect treasure he'd ever laid his eyes on. But then X walked into the room and Miguel’s heart stopped in his chest.

     She paused, startled to see the handsome stranger she’d met yesterday waiting for her. He looked especially impressive in his princely outfit, his dark blue tailcoat perfectly matching the black collar and trousers he’d been fitted in. She dropped into a curtsey, then flashed him a smile when she straightened, her heart fluttering at the dazed grin stretched across his lips. 

     “Thank you for journeying all this way, Princess,” Gabriel began, sweeping into a low bow in greeting. “We are grateful to finally be able to make your acquaintance.” He straightened and slid his gaze over to Miguel, still frozen in place, stupidly wide smile fixed on his face as he gazed at the princess. Gabe frowned and elbowed his brother’s side, finally pulling him out of his reverie. 

     “Uh, yes! My lady!” Miguel exclaimed, giving a bow as well. “I mean, my princess! I mean, uh, not my, but … um … hi?” 

     X giggled at his flustered demeanour before straightening her expression once again. “Thank you for the warm welcome, Your Highnesses. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance as well.”

     Gabe glanced between his brother and the princess, the both of them smiling shyly at one another in silence. Then he let out a sigh of relief: thankfully, his brother seemed enamoured enough with the princess to have not tried to set her on fire immediately. Not that it would have mattered anyway considering that she was a phoenix - another reason he’d been so desperate to make this alliance work. 

     “Right! Well! Miguel?” Gabe turned to him, clapping his hands together to grab his brother’s attention. “Why don't you take the princess on a tour of the Royal Gardens?”

     “Huh? Oh! Yes! Would you like to see the gardens, princess? They are especially lovely this time of the year,” Miguel agreed, gesturing to the doors. X gave him a sweet smile as she passed him and he felt his heart start racing in his chest. They strolled together quietly for a while, the both of them flashing each other the occasional thrilled smile. Then finally, Miguel broke the silence. “So, about yesterday …”

     “Oh! Right! I came to your kingdom a day earlier so I could get a more accurate sense of what it would be like,” she explained, her expression turning sheepish for a moment. “I didn't expect to get a more accurate sense of what you would be like too.”

     Miguel let out a huff of amusement at that and X tried to take a step closer to him, but he moved away, maintaining that bit of distance between them. 

     “Miguel,” she began, stopping in her tracks so he’d be forced to turn around and face her. He fixed her with a quizzical look and she gave him a little pout. “Why won't you let me touch you?”

     His eyes widened, taken aback by her bluntness. 

     “I-I … I just …” He lowered his head, embarrassed, and his shoulders slumped in defeat. “I don't want to hurt you, princesa.”

     She swallowed hard as her heart fluttered at the nickname. “Then don't.”

     Miguel glanced up at her again, surprised by her response. “It's … not as easy as that.”

     She tilted her head, waiting for an explanation. Dios, she was cute. Miguel slid his gaze away from hers, embarrassed. “I … I tend to … lose control of my powers … when I get too … ‘emotional’.”

     She took a step closer to him causing him to panic and take a step back. 

     “Miguel …” She raised her eyebrows at him. “I'm a phoenix. We don't burn in the flame; we rise from it.” Her eyes flashed golden, fire dancing around her irises, and Miguel sucked in a breath at the captivating sight. X quickly took advantage of the distraction to step forward and place her hand on his forearm, letting him know that she wasn’t afraid. Miguel swallowed hard at the rare moment of physical contact, but didn’t pull away, allowing her instead to move even closer to him. X stretched onto her toes and leaned over to murmur in his ear. 

     “If you can become this shy from me just touching your arm, oh great and fearsome dragon prince, however are you going to make love to me on our wedding night?” She lowered herself back to the ground and grinned as he lit up in embarrassment, swallowing the both of them with his fierce and beautiful flames. 

     He clenched his fists, trying to tamp down his fire, but then she dropped her hand to his side and told hold of his, twining their fingers together. Miguel relaxed at the encouraging smile on her face and allowed his fire to take over the both of them. 

     He studied her carefully where she sat at her dresser, fully made up for the ball that night. He pointed at one of the many piles of jewellery around the room, gesturing for her lady’s maids to hurry over to it. “Put that on, too; the head thing. The one that clips into her hair and hangs over her forehead.”

     X flashed Miguel  an amused look. “Querido. Any more jewellery and I won't be able to walk!”

     “I’ll carry you,” he replied immediately. X let out a soft snicker, amused by how much he doted on her: he was almost like a child sometimes, chasing after her with whatever new treasure he’d found and then insisting she carry it around for at least a week to show it off to everyone. But she’d have to draw a line eventually considering the rapidly growing hoard accumulating in their shared bedroom. 

     “That wouldn’t be a very good first impression, mi amor,” she pointed out, not wanting to let down her new people at her introductory ball that night. 

     His jaw tightened, annoyed by the knowledge that she was right. But then she flashed him one of her soft smiles and he felt some of the tension leave his body. “But … But …”

     “How about this,” X suggested calmly. “I'll wear the maang tikka if you let me remove one of these necklaces.”

     Miguel growled as she pointed to one of the many shiny necklaces layered elegantly across her neck. She was his wife - his most precious treasure of all - and he always felt a surge of pride whenever he saw her decked out in whatever finery he’d collected. Everything was just so much more beautiful when it was on her, so much shinier and so much more irresistible. But she was his wife and he never wanted her to be upset or uncomfortable.

     “Fine,” he grunted, folding his arms across his chest.

     X stood up when she saw the steam start wafting off of him. She sank down onto the bed beside him and placed a hand on his shoulder, rubbing him soothingly. Miguel glanced away from her, not wanting to give in so easily, but then she pressed a kiss to the side of his head and he melted instantly. 

     She stood up and held her hands out to him, waiting for him to get up. “Vamos, querido. We’re going to be late otherwise.”

     Her husband smiled up at her as he took her hands and stood up too. He rubbed his thumbs across her skin, then guided her hands to his shoulders before sliding his around her waist. X giggled as he wrapped her up in his arms and Miguel felt his heart turn into a puddle before he leaned over and pressed his lips to hers. “Vamos, querida.”

     Her lady’s maid knocked on the door, waiting for a response before entering. But no reply came through. 

     “Ma’am? May I come in?” she called through the door. Silence. She opened the door a crack and tried again. “Ma’am? Are you a-”

     She gasped loudly when she saw a mound of blankets, pillows and hot water bottles piled on the bed. “Your majesty!”

     “I’m here!” X’s muffled voice broke through together with her hand, sticking out of the middle of the pile. “A little help, please?”

     The maid rushed over and started digging through the pile, tossing some items aside to clear a space for the queen. Finally, there was enough of a gap for her to sit up. She sucked in a deep breath of air as she stroked her swollen stomach. Then she turned to her maid with an amused smile. “I knew that dragons built nests too, but I didn’t know that they'd be this obsessive about it!”

     The maid held onto her arm as she stood up, helping her maintain her balance. “Yes, well, the King is … especially in touch with his dragon side.”

     X straightened her dress around her baby bump once she’d steadied herself. “Indeed. Well, while he is still out, perhaps I should seize the opportunity to take a turn about the gardens?”

     His claws maintained their firm grip on the crown the elves had gifted him at their meeting. He couldn’t wait to show it to his beautiful wife, his most glorious treasure of all. She’d make it look so much more dazzling, the intricately crafted golden vines sitting perfectly atop her tumbling dark curls. He spread his wings as he approached the Royal Gardens, the sudden resistance slowing him enough for him to transform back into his human form and land gracefully on his feet. He smiled smugly at the way the crown glimmered in the sunlight as he made his way towards the palace - to the nest he’d so lovingly built for his pregnant little wife. But then her smoky scent wafted through the air and into his nose and he froze in his tracks. He spun around in the direction of the scent and his eyes narrowed into reptilian slits as the fury took over him. His wings popped out of his back and he sped off towards the Royal Gardens.

     She bent over to take a whiff of one of the many exquisite roses thoughtfully planted around the gardens. Then she caught the scent of her husband and turned around to greet him with a delighted smile on her face. Miguel stormed over to her in a cloud of smoke, the air around him radiating with heat. He swept her into his arms as soon as he reached her, holding her firmly against him and refusing to let her go. 

     “What are you doing out here, mi reina?!” he exclaimed, glancing around until his gaze landed on one of the guards unlucky enough to be situated nearby. “You! How dare you let the Queen leave her nest in her current state! I should have you-”

     A plume of smoke escaped Miguel’s nostrils as he huffed in frustration. “But you need to rest, mi reina!”

     "Querido." X slid her fingers up her husband’s broad shoulders and into his hair, tilting his head down to hers. She glided her fingers along his scalp, calming him down until he was no longer on fire. “Calmate, mi amor. I was the one who chose to leave my nest. You can’t keep me locked up at all hours of the day, mi vida. I’m a bird, remember?”

     X retained the amused smile on her face: she always knew exactly how to deal with his temper. “Any more resting and I’ll forget how to walk, mi querido!”

     Miguel grunted at her response. But, as always, he ended up giving in to his wife. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head, then turned to walk with her as she continued around the gardens. 

     The midwife gave a victorious smile as she held the screeching baby in her arms. “It’s a girl!” 

     She handed the baby to Miguel who gazed down at her adoringly as he cuddled her against his chest. She was so pretty with her wide eyes that roamed around the room and her rosy lips that were pursed in curiosity and her tiny fingers that reached up to her father. He held a finger out to her and she grabbed it quickly before giving a little yawn that expelled a stream of flames. Miguel laughed at the display of power, delighted, then sank down onto the bed beside his wife. “¡Mira, querida! It’s our baby! Isn’t she such a treasure?!”

     X gave him a tired smile as he carefully transferred their daughter to her arms. She stroked the little wisps of their baby’s hair, then turned to smile at her husband. Her chest filled with warmth as she watched him play with their baby, tickling her gently as he made funny faces to try to get her to laugh. Their daughter sneezed, letting out another puff of flame, and X’s heart swelled as her husband laughed again. 

     “Yes,” she agreed softly. “The most precious treasure of all.”

[barcaatthemoon]

green whistle || sydney lohmann x reader ||

sydney gets hurt in practice and accidentally outs your relationship when given a green whistle.

the worst part of your job was having to see the players go down. you absolutely loved being a trainer, and when you were finished with your studies, you were excited to be a sports doctor. still, you had become close friends with the players and you hated having to be the one who told them how long they'd be out for when they got hurt. your least favorite was sydney, it killed you to see such a sad look on your girlfriend's face.

you had been working on some paperwork concerning the girls' physicals whenever sydney was rushed in. with all of the commotion, you would have thought that someone broke something. you rushed out of the office with urgency to see your girlfriend being partially dragged in by two of her teammates with a green whistle in her mouth.

"baby!" sydney exclaimed, dropping the whistle immediately. she tried to move out of the grasps of the other girls, but they held on tightly. "let me go, i want (y/n). she's pretty and gentle with me and gives me the sweetest kisses."

"why would (y/n) be kissing you of all people?" lea asked. it was a pretty poorly kept secret that you and sydney were seeing each other. however, the team was very respectful in not bringing it up until one of you did first. that did not mean that lea wouldn't tease sydney about how she constantly stared at you with a disgustingly lovesick look.

"because she's my girlfriend, duh! yeah, that's right, i got the very cute trainer girl's number. remember when you and georgia said i couldn't, well i did!" sydney shouted. your cheeks were red with embarrassment as sydney continued. it was fairly safe, mostly just about how cute she thought you were.

"quiet, and sit still for me," you told her. sydney promptly snapped her mouth shut and sat up straight in front of you. you checked her out and patched her up, glad that it was nothing more than a bit of muscle strain. it felt pretty bad, but wouldn't need anything more than maybe a week or two of rest. "you can rest here for the rest of practice, and before we leave i'll get you something if you're still in pain."

"you're so good at your job," sydney said as you taped her up. you glanced up at her to find her staring at you. lea and georgia looked a bit uncomfortable, but neither of them made a move to leave. "i'm so proud of you. i love you, liebe."

"i love you too." you stood up and pressed a quick kiss to sydney's lips. this time, georgia did turn away from the two of you, but lea didn't move. you watched sydney try to kick at her for fake gagging. "can i talk to the two of you for a moment?"

"we won't say anything if that's what you're scared of," lea promised you. you nodded, greatly appreciating that they already knew that you wanted to talk about. "you guys are cute together. everyone would be supportive if you did want to be open about with us."

"i'm not sure that it would matter. neither one of you seemed phased earlier," you pointed out.

"don't take this the wrong way, but you guys are not subtle. it's like neither of you were born with a subtle bone in your bodies," georgia told you. you chuckled at that, having known that sydney wasn't subtle, but never thinking that you were just as bad. it made sense, even if you weren't overly thrilled about the news that everybody had caught you openly checking your girlfriend out.

"it's cute though, don't worry!" lea reassured you. "all of us really care about syd, and i haven't seen her so happy with anybody else before. just know that sooner or later, you'll get the talk from the national team."

"as if she'd ever let them threaten me," you scoffed. sydney was off in her own little world on the bench, but you knew how protective your girlfriend was. there was no way she'd let more than one or two members of the national team whisk you away for a shovel talk.

"(y/n) has a point. remember when tod went to shout at (y/n)? surprised that he came around the next practice," georgia said. lea laughed at the memory of your girlfriend tearing into the senior medical trainer. you wouldn't have called what tod was doing shouting, but it was enough to have lea run at him from halfway across the pitch.

"liebe!" sydney whined as she reached out for you. georgia and lea took that as their cue to leave. you turned around to see her laying outstretched on the bench as she reached out towards you. her hand made a little grabbing motion over and over again until you walked over so she could grab you. immediately, sydney latched onto you with her arms around your hips as you ran a hand through her hair. "that's better, i missed you."

"yeah? i missed you too," you said softly. sydney fell asleep after barely three minutes of your fingers running through her hair. you went back to the office, but left a hoodie for sydney to cuddle up with while you finished work.

[ashwhowrites]

Hi! Can I request a Mungrove x Reader fic with 1 from angst and 16 from fluff from the prompt list?

I hope this is what you wanted and you enjoy it. Thank you for requesting 🫶🏻

"What’s the point of trying if it just proves that I’ll never be good enough?”

“I never thought I could miss someone this much,"

Enough

Y/N and Billy graduated, which left Eddie behind to repeat another year. The three have been dating for a while and got used to being together all the time. But now the summer is over and Eddie had to return to Hawkins High.

Eddie was jealous and upset that Y/N and Billy got to stay together while he was left out. Y/N and Billy missed him too, upset that they had to wait to see Eddie until the school day was over.

Billy was worried about Eddie being left to the wolves but believed he'd stand his ground. Y/N was more worried about the girls, but Eddie reassured her there was no one else.

She wished she could believe that. Eddie had been in school for three months, and all Y/N heard about was Chrissy Cunningham.

It made Y/N's blood boil. Chrissy had years to get to know Eddie, but she waited until Y/N was no longer around. That was snake shit and broke every girl code rule ever made.

Billy was always collected in himself when it came to jealousy. And he never saw Chrissy as a threat, until Y/N got all the ideas in his head.

It was routine for Y/N to drop Eddie off in the morning and for Billy to pick him up. Y/N clenched her teeth every morning because Chrissy would be waiting at the front doors.

Billy began to notice that Eddie would talk all the way with Chrissy to his car. It was like she was attached to his hip. But Billy bit his tongue, something he learned from their girlfriend.

Billy's knuckles were white as he listened to Eddie talk about Chrissy the whole drive. Eddie didn't notice, so lost in talking as the short drive home came to a stop.

~~~

It didn't end with Chrissy, soon he was making friends with all the popular kids. Billy and Y/N wanted to be supportive, but they couldn't help but notice he was changing.

Eddie never cared about being popular, that's what made him unique. Y/N didn't care if he was popular or not when they first got together. Billy was popular but he learned not to care about it once he fell in love. Once Billy was off the market, his time was focused on his relationship. The three got to be in their own little bubble.

But Eddie popped it so he could escape.

~

"Any word?" Y/N sighed as Billy walked to the seat across from her.

The two waited at the restaurant for Eddie but lost hope.

"I called his house, Wayne said he was out with friends. And he's not with us, so I'm guessing he's with..." Billy trailed off as Y/N's frown deepened.

"Chrissy and his new friends" Y/N snapped

"He'll come around. Let's order and have fun. It's date night, and I am the best at date nights." Billy said with a wink

Y/N laughed and agreed. She flipped open the menu and the two began talking like nothing was wrong.

That was the first time Eddie ditched and sadly wasn't the last.

~

"If we wait any longer we'll miss the movie" Billy groaned. He leaned against the wall in the theater as they stared at the doors.

"I know, babe. But maybe just another minute?" She asked. Her hand slipped into his as she squeezed it.

"Like I could ever say no to you" Billy teased, leaning down to press a short kiss against her lips.

"If he's not here in a minute, we'll go," Y/N said as she pulled away. She smiled, but they both knew it was fake. Her eyes went back to the door, waiting and waiting.

But he never showed.

~

Y/N and Billy lost count of how many times Eddie didn't show up for dates. At this point, they expected it. Their relationship of three was really just a relationship between the two.

Y/N was hurt beyond anything. She felt replaced as the special girl in Eddie's life. She felt like she couldn't compare to the pretty cheerleaders Eddie was spending all his time with.

Billy was pissed. He wasn't too upset about being ditched like she was, he had his girl and he'd make the best of it. But what made him mad was watching Eddie hurt Y/N. Billy tried his best to cheer her up and distract her. But how could he make her feel better when he wasn't the one hurting her. Billy promised to kick anyone's ass that made her cry, he just never thought Eddie would become his target.

~~~

Y/N sat silent as she drove Eddie to school. He was going on and on about his new friends and all the things they did together. She could feel her heart shattering more and more. It was like he had no idea how much he'd been missing in their relationship.

~

Before Eddie could speak a word when Billy picked him up, Billy spoke first.

"Tonight you are staying home. Y/N and I are coming over because we need to talk."

Eddie felt a nervous chuckle leave his lips

"What's going on?" Eddie asked

"We'll talk when I grab her," Billy said

The car ride was silent as they pulled up to Y/N's house. She hugged herself in Billy's sweater as she walked to the car.

She slid into the backseat, a small hello from her lips.

Eddie got more nervous as no one spoke, just the radio playing.

They pulled up to the trailer and all walked inside. Billy had his arm wrapped around Y/N as he led her to the couch. Eddie stood in front of them as he looked confused.

"Okay, what's going on? You guys are freaking me out" Eddie sighed, his eyes looking between his partners.

Y/N took a deep breath, clenching Billy's hand.

"We need to talk about the way you've been treating this relationship." Her wet eyes looked up at him.

"What do you mean?" Eddie asked

"You've been ditching us for weeks because of your new friends. It's okay to branch out, but you need to put time into this relationship too." Billy said, trying to stay calm for Y/N's sake.

"Are you guys seriously jealous of this?" Eddie scoffed

"Not jealous, but Eddie you haven't spent any time with us unless it's driving you!" Billy explained

"I can admit that I'm jealous of Chrissy but more hurt that I haven't had any time with you," Y/N said, blinking away tears.

"Why would you be jealous of her?" Eddie asked, his voice was snippy and short. She could tell he was starting to get defensive.

"You're replacing me with her!" Y/N argued, standing up. Annoyed that he clearly didn't see the big picture. Billy quickly stood.

"Oh don't be dramatic. I am not" Eddie denied

"Don't call her dramatic!" Billy stepped in, starting to get angry.

"She is! I hang out with Chrissy and all of a sudden I'm a bad guy? It's jealousy, plain and simple. I'm not replacing her." Eddie fought, and the two boys were head to head. "Do you have a problem with it? Or is it her?" Eddie's head nodded towards her but his eyes stayed on Billy's glare.

"What is wrong with you? Spend a few weeks with those assholes and think you can treat our girlfriend like shit? If she feels replaced, then show her she isn't being replaced." Billy growled, his finger shoving into Eddie's chest, hard.

Eddie scoffed, "Out of everyone I thought you would understand. I'm popular, Billy! I don't have to have a target on my back or get shoved in lockers now that you two are gone. I'm standing my ground like you said!"

"Understand? I would never understand hurting Y/N the way you are. And I would never make her feel like anyone could replace her. You can stand your ground without treating us like shit, Munson." Billy said, shoving Eddie across the room.

"Okay, now. Let's just relax!" Y/N said quickly

Eddie panted hard as he charged at Billy, shoving him right back

"If you two wanna team up so damn bad, then why don't we just cut me right out." Eddie puffed

"Eddie, that's not what we are saying or what we want," Y/N said, standing in front of Billy. Her movement caused Eddie's eyes to drop down to her. His glare softened as he took in her sad face.

But he felt targeted by his own partners. He felt like he wasn't in the wrong and teaming up on him was unfair.

"We just want you back." She said softly, she reached to touch his face but he stepped back.

Y/N gulped at his reaction, nerves in her stomach.

"I think I need to think about some things," Eddie said, looking at her.

Billy sighed behind her, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Think about fucking what? Either you want us or you don't!" Billy's voice rose as he got angrier.

Y/N turned around and grabbed his hand. Billy looked down at her.

"Let's just go" she whispered, "we did all we could."

Billy could see in her eyes she had given up. She felt replaced and now she felt useless.

"Okay, we'll go," Billy said, giving her a small smile. He squeezed her hand and led them to the front door. Right as he opened it, Chrissy went to knock.

"Oh! I'm sorry. Am I interrupting?" She asked, her eyes looking from Eddie, who was running his hands over his face, to Y/N, who looked like she was going to burst into tears, and Billy, who looked as pissed as ever.

"Nah, my girl and I were just leaving," Billy said harshly as he walked past her.

Eddie bit his tongue, trying not to lash out at Billy's petty comment.

~~~

Y/N respected that Eddie needed time, so she gave him it. Billy wanted nothing more than to fight until it worked out, but he knew Y/N wouldn't like that.

It killed her to not be with him, but she was glad she had Billy during it. Someone to hold her and show her love. Billy missed him too. After the fight, he was more hurt than anything. He felt like they weren't good enough to choose. That Eddie's friends were more important.

Y/N struggled with that too. She already felt replaced by Chrissy and now she felt not good enough to fight for. She and Billy were really to forgive and forget, and Eddie still backed away.

Why weren't they good enough?

~

Eddie did what he said he would, he was thinking. But he didn't even know what he was supposed to be thinking about. He felt like he was up against a wall and needed to hit pause. His brain couldn't think straight and he didn't know what words he was supposed to say.

And with three days all alone to think, he had nothing. All he did was wonder what they were doing. Are they sad he was gone? Did they not care and go back to normal?

Then he would see Y/N's soft eyes begging him to do the right thing. And he can feel all the guilt eating him alive that he had no idea how to make her feel better. He didn't like Chrissy, and he never would. Y/N would always be the most beautiful girl he had ever seen and it would stay that way.

He didn't like that he got so mad with Billy. He didn't want to be in a relationship where it resulted in a violent fight. But Eddie felt like she was just Billy's girlfriend at that moment. He was protecting her...but from Eddie and that hurt. It was like she wasn't even his.

But he did that. He was so blinded by all the popularity and going out that he forgot about them.

~

Y/N walked into Billy's small house, sighing as she finished another work shift. It was day four without Eddie and it was taking a toll on her. She looked at the phone but knew it wouldn't ring.

She slipped off her shoes and began walking into the house. She walked to his bedroom, the door open as he sat at the edge of the bed.

"Billy?" She asked

He turned to look at her and her heart broke. She was quick to run over to him as his blue eyes were red and puffy. His cheeks were stained in tears that kept falling.

"Oh baby" she cooed, standing in between his legs as she wrapped her arms around his head. He took shelter in her stomach, wrapping his arms tightly around her.

She held him as he cried it out, her own tears starting to fall.

"It's okay to cry" she whispered

"What’s the point of trying if it just proves that I’ll never be good enough?” Billy cried out

Y/N bit her lip as she kept back a loud cry. Sniffling her emotions back she became the shoulder he needed.

She dropped to her knees, now holding his face as she looked into his eyes. She placed a soft gentle kiss on his nose.

"You are good enough, you're good enough for me." She whispered, using her thumb to wipe away his tears. "We're good enough for each other."

It was something they both needed to hear. Something they needed to begin to heal their own hearts.

"Let's go get some ice cream or something." She said, smiling as Billy nodded.

"If they don't have cookie dough I'm going to be pissed," Billy warned, but Y/N laughed. She took his hand and they both headed out to his car.

~

They arrived at the ice cream shop, hand in hand as they walked up to the counter.

Thankfully, cookie dough was available so Y/N didn't have to stop a fight from breaking out.

The couple sat in a back booth, she was tucked under his arm as she fed him spoonfuls of the ice cream.

~

Eddie walked into the small ice cream shop. Chrissy demanded he leave the house and dragged him here.

He looked at the flavors and could feel even more sadness in his heart as he saw the flavors his partners loved.

He settled for chocolate and slowly picked at the ice cream with his spoon as Chrissy led them to a table.

He knew Y/N didn't like the relationship with Chrissy, but Chrissy was all he had right now. And she was a girl and she knew how to give advice. She said she'd help him figure all of this out.

~

Y/N and Billy finished their ice cream. Both are feeling a bit better, just going out and being together. It wasn't the same without Eddie, but maybe that was what they had to get used to.

"Wanna go back to the house? I wanna sleep." Y/N yawned, Billy laughed as he ruffled her hair.

"Princess needs her nap," he threw away their cups and grabbed her hand. Helping her out of the booth as his hand slid into her back pocket.

They walked down the small shop, freezing as they spotted Eddie straight ahead...with Chrissy.

Y/N grew nervous, they needed to walk past them to get to the door.

"It'll be okay," Billy said

They started walking again, and right as they went to pass Eddie looked up.

All three froze as they stared at each other.

"Um hi," Eddie said, barely above a whisper

"Hi," Y/N greeted politely, she turned to Chrissy, "and hi to you" with a smile

"This isn't a date!" Eddie rushed out, standing up as he scrambled out of his chair. The chair scraped against the floor.

Y/N and Billy looked at each other, very unconvinced.

"Well you said you needed time, looks like you are spending it well," Billy snapped, with a smile on his face.

"I'm gonna let you guys talk," Chrissy said as she got up from her chair and left the shop.

"Can we talk?" Eddie asked, nodding to the open table

They sat down across from him

"It really isn't a date. I asked for time to think and I didn't even know what for. I just felt like I was running out of time to fix my mistake so I needed to hit pause and figure it out." Eddie explained

"I can understand that, it was a lot," Y/N said as she reached for his hand. This time he laced his hand with hers. The warm feeling of comfort flooded through his body. "But we are all in this relationship together. You could have told us you just needed a second to breathe. We would have stayed and talked it out."

"I know! I just panicked and made everything so much worse." Eddie sighed

"Then why wait that long? It's been four days, Eddie and neither of us heard anything from you. How do you think that makes us feel?" Billy asked

"Like ass? I'm sorry, incredibly sorry to both of you. I shouldn't have put you guys on the back burner just because I was getting attention elsewhere." Eddie started, his eyes moving to Y/N as he kept a grip on her hand. "And I feel like a dick for making you think Chrissy could replace you. Baby girl, no one would ever replace you. I love you so much. I'm sorry for not taking you in my arms that night and proving you have nothing to worry about."

Y/N smiled, the words were exactly what she needed to hear. "I accept your apology"

Eddie smiled and moved to Billy.

"I'm sorry I got so heated and up in your face. It just felt like Y/N was only yours. I know you were protecting her, just like I would have. But it felt like I was losing her to you. And I don't want to lose either of you. I love you and I'm sorry for hurting both of you."

Billy nodded as he talked. He understood what Eddie meant and he knew he could have reacted the same.

"I get it. It killed me to have to protect her from you. I love you and I don't want you to be the bad guy." Billy said softly, "I'm sorry for getting in your face and shoving you."

The boys smiled at each other and all was forgiven between them

"Let's go to my place? Maybe talk some more there?" Billy asked

They nodded and stood up.

~

A few hours passed and they talked everything out. They cried and laughed. But everything felt healed and Eddie was back where he belonged.

Y/N was smashed in the middle of both boys as they cuddled on the couch. Her head was on Billy's shoulder and her legs on Eddie's. Eddie's soft hands rubbed the skin as the movie played in the background.

"I missed this" Y/N said as she closed her eyes. Soaking in the feeling of being together again.

"Me too" Billy said

“I never thought I could miss someone this much," Eddie said as he looked at them.

Y/N looked over at him and sat up. She softly kissed his face.

"You don't have to miss us anymore"

[heartz4shauna]

my kink is karma.

word count: crickets..

warnings: nat cheats. mentions of lottienat. angst. she/her pronouns used for reader and nat. mentions of sex. swearing. making out. super light smut. probably ooc. not proofread.

don’t like it? don’t read it.

tags: @ludupedia @butterfliesandivy @thankynext

natalie and you are dating! well, were dating.

your whole relationship kinda collapsed when she left the state for nationals. you kept asking to go with her to support her but she refused, telling you how lottie, a girl on her soccer teams parents couldn’t afford it. bullshit. you’ve seen the shit lottie rolls up to school in. prada, chanel, the whole works. they couldn’t afford one extra seat? yeah right.

the whole time natalie was away you tried calling her, calling the hotel she and the team were supposed to be staying at, only for a blatant receptionist to tell you there was no one saying there under the name, as she said it, annalee scatario, whoever that was.

she confessed to you when she came home that she and lottie had, to put it bluntly, fucked. jesus. it was a lot for your poor heart at the time. you two had been intimate before, you thought it was something you did. or maybe didn’t do. “was i not good enough? was she better? was there something else i could’ve done?” you asked pleadingly, your eyes watering. she just looked at you and shook her head, “it’s not that.”

you truly thought you and nat had a connection. true, you felt like that with every little crush you had since you were nine, but, she was your first relationship. your first love. your first what you thought was love.

it was hard for you to get over her, of course, having to see her almost every day in your classes. having to sit beside her in classes, damned with an ‘S’ lastname.

she’d glance at you during class and, the odd time, she’d try to talk to you. “hey, look. i’m sorry for… what i did. are we cool?” you’d just look back at her and tense your jaw, that’ll show her.

you started seeing more of lottie and nat together and it made you boil with anger- no. jealousy. that’s what it was.

your whole life wasn’t great. you grew up in the same trailer park as natalie, and that’s how you got to know each other. your mom wasn’t around all that much, working multiple jobs to support you and your siblings and your dad wasn’t in the picture. she’d listen to you when you had to complain and you’d do the same for her. you cried in each others arms some nights. connection.

but, lottie? what was she to cry about? she had parents, both parents, drowning in money, choking on their wealth. she was pretty and got good grades, she played soccer. everything in her life was perfect, you thought. they should just have each other, the princess and the stable boy.

after the initial shock of the breakup, you started to pick yourself up again. instead of staying focused in class, you’d skip class, just how you always did with nat. you waltzed into the bathroom, backpack on your bag and leaped into one of the stalls, glad to be almost back to your regular self.

you threw yourself onto the toilet with a sigh, pulling out a pack of cigarettes from the front pocket of your backpack that was perched on your knee. you took out a cig and lit it, putting it to your lips.

just as you were about to take a puff, two pairs of shoes stomped into the stall next to you. “god, natalie. why didn’t you tell me you two were serious?” oh my god, it’s lottie. is she.. talking about you? you heard a sigh and a chuckle. okay, that’s natalie. lottie and nat. they’re both talking about you. right next to you.

“lottie,” natalie drawled, “we’re over now. she doesn’t matter,” she chuckled out. rude. lottie sounded as if she was about to cry, “i’m a home wrecker, natalie. oh my god! i wouldn’t have even came into your room if i had have known.”

you couldn’t begin to believe what you were hearing. lottie was.. being kind? to you of all people? wow.

“lottie! we’re not together anymore, yeah? you don’t need to worry about her, i’m sure she’s already fucking someone else,” natalie reassured her, chuckling. what the fuck? already fucking someone else? that’s not very ‘i feel like i can only be myself around you’ of her. not very ‘i only want you’ of her.

you raised the cig to your lips and took a puff, feeling yourself become genuinely interested in what the pair had to say about you.

you could practically hear lottie roll her eyes before she stormed out of the bathroom. you let out a breath you didn’t know you were holding, as well as an earth shaking cough. unfortunately for you, natalie heard it.

“who’s in there?” she called out. you kept your mouth shut, barely breathing. she continued, “if you know who.. we were talking about, don’t tell her. please.” you allowed your voice to go as deep as it could and spoke loudly, “yes! i have no idea who you are talking about! good luck with that though. ha! women, am i right!” natalie chuckled awkwardly, “ha, yeah..”

she left the bathroom and you felt yourself tear up slightly. already fucking someone else. who does she think you are? you wiped your tears and took a deep breath, finishing off your cigarette.

a few weeks after that.. interaction, you noticed lottie and natalie hanging out a lot less than before. they wouldn’t even sit next to each other at lunch. yeah, okay, granted nat did skip lunch every other day to go bum cigarettes from the other goths in school. but, you’d seen them together at lunch often. sitting opposite each other and giggling, it made you sick.

but now, lucky for you, they were hanging out less. which in all honesty made you jump up and down and shoot your fist in the air.

you thought that maybe they broke up? if you’d even call it that. a fuck up? basically, they stopped hanging out and only really talked when they needed to. for example; whilst playing soccer or if they were partners on an assignment.

you noticed lottie becoming a lot more like you knew her before. she was back to that popular pretty rich girl and less like the girl who was trying to defend you in the bathroom. you were fine with it, you never cared for her much. but natalie on the other hand, she was a mess.

i mean, going through two break ups in the same.. what? month? must be rough. you felt bad for her, just a little. even after what she said in the bathroom. maybe it was her way of coping? making jokes of everything. that’s what she normally did anyway. but you knew what she actually felt on the inside.

you both used to walk home together after school, you’d wait for her after practice after you finished study. now, you two stood on opposite side of the street, natalie giving you glances every few steps.

finally getting back home, you knocked on your door, “dipshit! open the door!” dipshit was a common name you used for your siblings. you could hear one of them groan and stumble over to the door, pulling it open, “hello.” “hi,” you greeted, shoving your way into the trailer. natalie took one last look at you before she walked into her home.

natalie had been planning this for days. trying to work it out in her head how she would make it up to you. she regretted, deeply, sleeping with lottie. she did love you, she did, she just got caught up in the moment, apparently. then it all fell apart with lottie and now it was her turn to be sad.

what was her plan exactly? okay. so, it wasn’t clear to her. she knew what she was supposed to do, go knock at your door, apologise and get back together. she knew you would never agree though.

you walked into your cramped bedroom and flung yourself onto your bed with a sigh. homework. you took out your papers from the day, a pen and got to work.

about an hour or so of doing homework, you finally finished and it was already dark outside. you got up from your bed and decided it was time to change it something more comfortable. you threw on a pair of pyjamas pants and a Hello Kitty shirt.

your stomach growled as you exited your bedroom, your sibling was sprawled out on the couch, playing a video game, “hey, we’re gonna head out in a while. tell mom we’re staying at a friends house, cool?” you nodded, walking over to the small kitchen, “don’t drink too much. mom worries for you guys.” they waved you off dismissively, switching through tv channels.

you popped some bread in the toaster and waited for it to toast. you buttered it once it was ready and jumped onto the couch next to your sibling, “anything good on?” you asked them through bites. they shook their head and handed you the remote, “nah. i’m heading out anyway.” so quickly? alright. “oh, okay. have fun,” you said with a shrug as they got up and left.

you searched through the channels on your tv, with nothing interesting. you finished the last bite of your toast and tossed the remote onto the coffee table.

there was a knock on the door, you sighed and got up. “who is it?” you called out, walking over to the door. no reply. you rolled your eyes and swung the door open, it was natalie.

she looked up at you as she fidgeted with her fingers, “hi,” she said quietly. you sucked in a breath, “hi. what do you want?” she cleared her throat, “uh, i wanted to talk to you. about us.” “about what? what about us? there is no us. you know that, you knew that after you and lottie..” you huffed, rubbing the bridge of your nose,

“what happened between you two anyway? you just stopped hanging out all of a sudden, did lottie feel guilty or something?” you asked her, knowing the answer. she shook her head, “it’s.. complicated. can i come in?”

you opened the door for her to enter, albeit reluctantly, “fine.” she gave a small nod and walked in, making a beeline to your bedroom. “nat!” you called out, trying to stop her, “jesus christ,” you sighed in defeat.

you followed her into your bedroom and shut the door behind you. natalie was laying face down on your bed, her head smooshed into your pillows. “natalie,” you gritted out, “get up.” the only response you got from her was a grumbled “why?”

she flipped herself other and stared at you at the door, “yeah, me and lottie aren’t.. talking anymore. she felt guilt after. she didn’t know that we were serious,” she admitted. your eyebrows knitted together in confusion, “what are you talking about? you slept with her because she didn’t know we were serious? you do realise you slept with her, too, don’t you? it wasn’t just her who did something wrong, natalie. you’re so full of shit.”

her expression softened, “i’m sorry. i- i really am. it wasn’t my idea, that’s why i said that. look, if it means anything, i was thinking of you the whole time.” you walked over to the bed and stood in front of were she was laying, “you were thinking of me, really? you didn’t think of anything else? not even.. i dunno, telling her you had a girlfriend?”

“i’m sorry!” she yelled, “i am, believe me, please.” she sat up, looking at you pleadingly. “natalie, i want to believe you, i do,” you took a shaky breath, “but i loved you. and you obviously didn’t care about us. but, now you do, because it’s not just lottie that feels guilty, it’s you, too.”

she stood up, her eyebrows furrowed and you knew what she was thinking. you shook your head, “we’re not doing this again.” “please.” was all she said before she crashed her lips into yours.

your body instantly reacted, a warmth spreading all over. a warmth that you haven’t felt since before she left. “i fucking missed you,” she grumbled, pulling you closer to her. “shut up,” you groaned pushing her back onto your bed. “i knew you missed me,” she said with a smirk, pulling you down onto her.

you moved her hair out of the way of her neck and began kissing down it as her fingers made their way through your hair, “fuckk,” she groaned out, “s’ nice..”

“you’re such a bitch,” you mumbled against her neck, “you know that, right? wouldn’t even be doin’ this if you hadn’t come over.” natalie chuckled at your words, tilting your head to look at her, “had a choice, didn’t you?” “fuck off,” you moaned, going back to kissing her neck.

she pulled your face back to hers and pushed her lips onto yours once again as you straddled her lap. “haven’t done this in a while,” she got out in between kisses. “i wonder why,” you muttered, a grin spreading across your face suddenly. “lay down,” you instructed her, and she did so. she looked up at you with a smirk, “why?” you shook your head as you tried to unbutton her jeans, but failed.

she sat up slightly and helped you taken them off before you threw them to the other side of the room. “where were we?” you questioned, kissing down her stomach lightly which caused her to groan, ‘c’monnn.” “patience, please.”

she threw her head back against your pillows with a sigh. “come on, nat, don’t give in so early,” you joked, squeezing her side gently.

gaining your composure once again, you snaked downwards to her thighs, pressing gentle, wet kisses onto her hot skin. “c’mon, seriously.” she groaned out once again. you looked up at her, feigning innocence, “what?” “stop fuckin’ around maybe?” you hummed thoughtfully at her suggestion, your lips still on her skin, then shook your head.

“nah, i don’t think so,” you answered. you heard a sound of.. rattling from the front door. someone was trying to get in. fuck.

you instantly shot up and looked down at natalie with panicked eyes, “if it’s my mom, she’ll kill us both.” “oh, shit,” she said, looking almost as panicked as you and shoved herself under your covers, covering her lower half.

you got up and left the bedroom to go open the door. it was your sibling, “forgot my keys,” they explained. oh. “oh, yeah, okay,” you opened the door and let them in. they noticed you looked a bit panicked and asked “you okay?” you just nodded, walking back over to your bedroom.

they walked over with you quietly and peeped their head inside, “is that natalie? i didn’t know you two were back together,” they said, punching you in the shoulder playfully. you turned back to them, rolling your eyes, “we’re not.”

natalie nodded to your words, “yeah, we’re not back together. yet.”

[jakesaverse]

ECHOES OF YESTERDAY | JAKE SIM CH.3

Synopsis: On her 21st birthday, Y/n wakes up overwhelmed by guilt and sorrow. It’s not just her birthday; it’s also the third anniversary of her high school boyfriend Jake’s tragic death. Surviving the accident that took Jake’s life, Y/n is haunted by memories of their love and the future they lost. In a moment of desperate longing, she makes a wish to see Jake again and is miraculously transported back in time to when Jake was alive. However, she finds that Jake now hates her, adding a new layer of pain and confusion. Determined to change his fate and earn his tolerance, she resolves to do everything in her power to ensure he escapes death this time.

Reader: Jake x reader

Authors note: Hello! I know it’s been awhile since I’ve uploaded or really updated about my process and I am SOOOO sorry 😭. I’ve had a pretty rough writers block right after I posted my second chapter. And I’m still having it but it’s slowly getting better ❤️‍🩹. This chapter is more on the emotional side ( all of them have been but yk what I mean I hope). Also, this is meant to be slow burn so please keep that in mind. Anyways, thank you for your patience and hopefully it was worth the wait 🥰! Thank you for your support 🫶🫶!!

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Jake jolted awake, drenched in sweat, his heart pounding like a drum in his chest. The remnants of the nightmare clung to his mind, vivid and tormenting. He could still see the shadows closing in, suffocating him, and the echo of Y/N's words, "I’m trying to save you," haunting his every thought.

He sat up, gasping for air, and looked around his dimly lit room. The broken mirror on the wall caught his eye, a cruel reminder of his earlier outburst. Anger and despair had driven him to punch it, shattering both the glass and a piece of himself.

Jake's hand trembled as he reached for the first aid kit on his bedside table. His wrist was still bleeding, the pain sharp and relentless. He wrapped the bandage around it, each twist of the fabric feeling like a futile attempt to hold himself together.

As he tightened the bandage, tears welled up in his eyes. He couldn't escape the image of the man in the mirror—so lost, so alone. The reflection was a stark contrast to the facade he showed the world. In truth, he was drowning in his own isolation, burdened by the weight of his past and the guilt that gnawed at his soul.

Y/N's words echoed louder now, cutting through the silence of the room. "I’m trying to save you ." At first, he had dismissed her as crazy, but now those words felt like a lifeline. Why did he need to be saved? What did she see in him that he couldn't see in himself?

Jake's thoughts spiraled as he tried to make sense of it all. He thought about his life, the constant feeling of not being enough, and the relentless self-blame. He had pushed everyone away, convinced that he didn't deserve their love or friendship. The loneliness was suffocating.

And yet, Y/N's words had pierced through his defenses. Despite everything, they had reached him. Maybe, just maybe, she was right. Maybe he did need saving—from his anger, his guilt, and the darkness that consumed him.

As he looked at the shattered mirror, Jake made a silent vow. He would find out what Y/N meant. He would confront his demons and try to understand why he needed to be saved. It was a small glimmer of hope in an otherwise bleak existence, but it was enough to keep him going.

Sunghoon arrived at Jake's apartment early in the morning, the sun barely peeking over the horizon. He had been worried about Jake ever since their last conversation. Jake had seemed distant, lost in his thoughts, and Sunghoon knew all too well how his friend tended to shut down if he didn't talk about what was bothering him.

Quietly, Sunghoon pulled out the spare key Jake had given him for emergencies and let himself in. He carried a bag of food, hoping that a warm meal might help lift Jake's spirits. As he stepped inside, he was struck by the silence and the disarray. The broken mirror, the scattered shards of glass, and the overall mess painted a clear picture of Jake's turmoil.

Sunghoon found Jake slumped on the couch, looking disheveled and exhausted. His eyes immediately went to the bandaged wrist, the blood seeping through the white fabric. Sunghoon's heart sank.

"Jake, what the hell happened?" Sunghoon's voice was a mix of concern and frustration as he set the bag of food on the table and rushed to his friend's side.

Jake looked up, startled. "Sunghoon? How did you—"

"I used the spare key. I was worried about you." Sunghoon gestured to the bandage. "You hurt yourself again. You can't keep doing this, Jake."

Jake sighed, his head in his hands. "It's nothing, Sunghoon. Just had a rough night."

"Nothing? This is not nothing!" Sunghoon's voice softened as he sat beside Jake. "Talk to me. What's going on? You can't keep bottling this up. It's eating you alive."

For a moment, there was silence. Jake struggled to find the words, his emotions a tangled mess. Finally, he looked up, his eyes filled with pain. "I had a nightmare. It felt so real, and I woke up feeling... broken. I can't shake this feeling, Sunghoon. I feel like I'm drowning in my own thoughts, and I don't know how to stop it."

Sunghoon placed a reassuring hand on Jake's shoulder. "You don't have to go through this alone, Jake. I'm here for you. We all are. But you need to let us in. You need to talk about what's going on inside your head."

Jake nodded slowly, tears brimming in his eyes. "I know. It's just so hard. I feel like I'm not enough, like I'm always failing."

"You're not failing, Jake. You're human. We all have our struggles, but we face them together. You don't have to carry this burden by yourself."

Jake took a deep breath, the weight on his chest feeling a little lighter. "Thanks, Sunghoon. I don't know what I'd do without you."

Sunghoon smiled, giving Jake's shoulder a gentle squeeze. "You'll never have to find out. Now, let's get that wrist properly cleaned up, and then we'll figure this out together. One step at a time."

As Sunghoon helped Jake with his bandage and then unpacked the food, a sense of hope began to bloom in the room. It wasn't a solution to all of Jake's problems, but it was a start. And sometimes, that's all you need to begin healing.

Sunghoon sat across from Jake, he was talking about their plans for the upcoming weekend, but he noticed Jake's eyes drifting away, staring blankly out the window. Sunghoon knew this look all too well. Jake often spaced out like this when he was really struggling with something heavy on his mind.

Sunghoon's voice softened, careful not to startle Jake out of his thoughts. "You know, Jake, it's been a while since we went to the beach. How about we get some fresh air?"

Jake blinked, his focus slowly returning to the present. "The beach?"

"Yeah," Sunghoon said with a gentle smile. "It could be good for you. We can invite Jay too. Just the three of us, like old times."

Jake's lips curved into a small, grateful smile. "That sounds nice."

Sunghoon pulled out his phone and quickly sent a text to Jay. Within moments, Jay replied with an enthusiastic "I'm in!"

"Jay's on board," Sunghoon said, standing up and offering his hand to Jake. "Let's go."

They gathered their things and headed out the door. The drive to the beach was filled with light chatter, mostly led by Sunghoon, with Jake giving occasional nods or short responses. Sunghoon didn't mind; he was just glad to see a hint of relaxation in Jake's demeanor.

When they arrived at the beach, Jay was already there, waving at them with a big grin. "Hey, guys!"

"Hey, Jay!" Sunghoon called back, returning the wave.

Jake managed a small smile as they joined Jay by the water. The sound of the waves crashing against the shore and the salty breeze seemed to lift some of the weight off Jake's shoulders. For a moment, he felt a sense of peace.

They walked along the shore, the sand cool beneath their feet. Jay, always the joker, started telling funny stories about their school days, trying to coax a laugh out of Jake. Sunghoon watched as a small spark of amusement flickered in Jake's eyes.

"Remember that time we tried to build the biggest sandcastle and ended up with more sand on ourselves than on the castle?" Jay said, laughing.

Jake chuckled softly, the sound like music to Sunghoon's ears. "Yeah, and we were so proud of that lopsided thing."

Sunghoon joined in the laughter, feeling a warmth spread through his chest. "We should try building another one today. What do you say, Jake?"

Jake looked at his friends, feeling a swell of gratitude. "Yeah, let's do it."

They spent the afternoon building a sandcastle, their laughter mingling with the sound of the waves. For a while, Jake forgot about his troubles, lost in the simple joy of being with his friends. As the sun began to set, painting the sky in hues of orange and pink, they sat down on the sand, watching the horizon.

"Thanks, guys," Jake said quietly, his voice filled with emotion. "I really needed this."

Sunghoon wrapped an arm around Jake's shoulders. "We're always here for you, Jake. No matter what."

Jay nodded, his expression serious for once. "Yeah, man. We're a trio. We stick together."

Jake felt tears prick at the corners of his eyes, but he didn't try to hide them. He let them fall, feeling the warmth of his friends' presence. In that moment, he knew he wasn't alone. He had Sunghoon and Jay by his side, and that made all the difference.

You stood motionless in front of the bridge, the biting wind whispering secrets of the past as it brushed against your skin. The bridge held a profound significance, a silent witness to a night that had changed everything. You could still feel the weight of that evening, the crushing despair that had driven you to the edge.

It was late, the kind of late where the world seems to hold its breath. You had been ready to let go, to escape the relentless pain that had become your constant companion. You had stepped onto the bridge, your heart pounding, your mind a chaotic storm. The darkness below had seemed inviting, a final respite from your suffering.

But then, out of the shadows, Jake had appeared. His presence had been like a beacon, a light cutting through your darkest hour.

"Y/N, please don't," he had called out, his voice trembling with fear and love. He had approached you slowly, his eyes never leaving yours. "You don't have to do this. You're not alone. I'm here with you."

Jake had wrapped you in his arms, holding you with a strength that belied his own fears. His embrace had been warm, a sanctuary where your broken pieces could find solace. He had whispered words of comfort, of hope, convincing you that your life was worth living. That night, he had saved you, pulling you back from the brink.

But now, as you stood before the bridge once more, Jake was gone. He had died, leaving a void that nothing could fill. The memory of his sacrifice haunted you, a constant reminder of your guilt. You had never wanted to live, yet Jake had fought so hard for your life. And now, he was dead, and you were still here, drowning in a sea of remorse.

The tears began to fall, slowly at first, then in an uncontrollable torrent. You sank to your knees, your sobs echoing in the emptiness around you. The guilt was overwhelming, the pain unbearable. It felt as if your heart was shattering into a thousand pieces, each one cutting deeper than the last.

"Jake, I'm so sorry," you whispered through your tears. "I miss you so much. Why did you save me?"

The wind continued to blow, carrying your words into the void. You clutched at your chest, the ache of loss and regret consuming you. You remembered his smile, the way his eyes had sparkled with life, and the way he had always known just what to say to make you feel better. But now, those memories were all you had left.

You cried until you had no more tears to shed, your body trembling with the force of your grief. In the stillness that followed, you felt a faint sense of release, as if your tears had washed away a part of the burden you carried. You knew that Jake would never truly be gone, that he lived on in your heart and in the memories you had shared.

As you stood up, you took a deep breath, feeling the cool air fill your lungs. You looked out over the bridge, the place where Jake had saved your life, and you made a silent promise to him. You would try to live, not just for yourself, but for him. You would carry his memory with you, letting it guide you through the darkness.

Jake stepped out of Sunghoon's car, waving a tired goodbye to his friends. The night air was cool against his skin, a stark contrast to the warmth of the car's interior. Despite his exhaustion, he felt a restless energy coursing through him. He knew he needed to clear his head, so he decided to take a walk, even though it was pretty late.

The streets were eerily quiet, the only sounds being the occasional rustle of leaves and the distant hum of traffic. Jake walked aimlessly, his thoughts a jumbled mess of regrets and what-ifs. He found himself heading towards the bridge, a place he often went to when he needed to think, to escape, to breathe.

As he approached, he noticed a figure standing by the railing. It took him a moment to realize it was Y/N. She was crying, her shoulders shaking with each sob, the sound barely audible but piercing through the night. Jake's first instinct was to turn around and leave her to her privacy, but something stopped him. He saw himself in her—broken and lost. The raw emotion on her face mirrored the turmoil he felt inside.

Despite everything she had done to get under his skin, he couldn't just leave her there, struggling alone. Taking a deep breath, he walked over to her, his footsteps soft against the pavement. Each step felt like a mile, the weight of the moment pressing down on him.

"Y/N," he called out gently, his voice almost a whisper.

She looked up, startled, and quickly tried to recompose herself, wiping away her tears with trembling hands. But as soon as she saw him, the facade crumbled. Her eyes, red and swollen, filled with fresh tears. Without thinking, she lunged forward, wrapping her arms around him in a desperate hug. Jake stood still for a moment, surprised, but then he felt her body shaking against his, her sobs muffled against his chest.

He hesitated, then slowly brought his arms around her, holding her as she broke down. They stood there for what felt like an eternity, the night wrapping around them like a comforting blanket. The world around them seemed to fade away, leaving just the two of them in their shared pain.

Jake could feel her tears soaking through his shirt, her grip on him tightening as if she was afraid he would disappear. He gently rested his chin on top of her head, his own eyes stinging with unshed tears. He didn't know what to say, didn't know if there were any words that could ease her pain. So he just held her, letting her cry, letting her release the torrent of emotions that had been building up inside her.

"You're not alone," he whispered finally, his voice breaking. "I'm here."

Y/N's sobs grew louder, more anguished, as if his words had opened a floodgate. She clung to him, her body shaking with the force of her crying. Jake tightened his hold on her, his heart aching for her, for them both. In that moment, all the resentment, all the anger he had harbored towards her seemed to dissolve, replaced by a deep, aching empathy.

They stood there for what felt like hours, the night growing colder around them. Eventually, Y/N's sobs began to subside, her breathing becoming more even. She pulled back slightly, looking up at him with tear-filled eyes.

"Thank you," she whispered, her voice hoarse.

Jake nodded, brushing a strand of hair away from her face. "Anytime," he replied softly.

They stood there in silence, the bridge their silent witness, the night their only companion. For the first time in a long while, Jake felt a sense of purpose. He didn't have the answers, didn't know what the future held, but for now, being there for Y/N was enough.

You and Jake walked side by side, the dim streetlights casting long shadows on the pavement. The silence between you was thick, but not uncomfortable. You reached the nearest shop that was still open, a small convenience store with a flickering neon sign that buzzed faintly in the cool night air.

"I'm going to get something to drink. Do you want anything?" Jake asked, his voice breaking the silence. There was a softness in his tone that made your heart ache.

You shook your head. "No, I'm good."

Jake raised an eyebrow but didn't press further. He disappeared into the store, leaving you standing outside, your thoughts racing. You couldn't tell him the truth—that you had traveled back in time to save him. How could you explain something so unbelievable?

As you waited, memories of the accident flooded your mind. The screeching tires, the shattering glass, and the overwhelming sense of helplessness. You squeezed her eyes shut, trying to push the images away, but they clung to you like shadows.

A few minutes later, Jake emerged with a bottle of water and a small bag of chips. He handed the chips to you. "I know you said you didn't want anything, but I got these for you anyway."

You took the bag hesitantly, your fingers brushing against his. "Thanks," you whispered, your voice barely audible.

You started walking back, the crunch of gravel under your feet the only sound. Jake glanced at you sideways, his brow furrowed with concern. "So, why did you say I needed to be saved?"

Your heart skipped a beat. You had to think fast. "Oh, I was just... you know, being dramatic. I didn't mean anything by it."

Jake stopped walking and turned to face you, his eyes searching yours. "You don't have to lie to me, Y/N. I can tell something's been bothering you."

Tears welled up in your eyes, but you blinked them away. "It's nothing, really. Just... a lot on my mind."

Jake reached out and gently touched your arm, his expression softening. He wasn't your biggest fan, mainly because it always seemed like you had your life together, and he couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy. He knew it was wrong to assume and dislike you for that, but those feelings had lingered for so long.

However, when he saw you a couple of minutes ago, with that same look and feeling he had been battling his whole life, something inside him shifted. The realization hit him like a ton of bricks—how much of a jerk he had been. Jake's heart ached with regret as he looked at you, finally understanding the weight of his misguided resentment.

"You can talk to me, you know. I'm here for you."

You felt a lump in your throat. You wanted to tell him everything, to unburden yourself of the secret that weighed so heavily on your heart. But you couldn't. Not yet. Instead, you forced a smile. "Thanks, Jake. That means a lot."

You continued walking in silence, the tension between you palpable. As you guys neared the corner where you would part ways, Jake stopped and turned to you, his expression serious.

"We should probably figure out when to meet up for the project," he said, breaking the moment you had shared.

You nodded, grateful for the change in topic. "Yeah, how about tomorrow after school?"

"Sounds good," Jake replied. He hesitated for a moment, then added, "And if you ever need to talk, I'm here. Anytime."

Your heart ached at his kindness. At the kindness you haven’t been able to witness for a couple of years now. “Thanks, Jake. I'll remember that."

As you went your separate ways, you couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness. You wanted to tell him the truth, but you knew you couldn't. Not yet. For now, you would have to carry the weight of your secret alone.

Jake sat alone in his room, the weight of his actions crashing down on him with unbearable force. He had always prided himself on being strong, on keeping his emotions in check, but now he felt like he was unraveling. He had misjudged Y/N so badly, and the realization of how much he had hurt her was like a punch to the gut.

Tears welled up in his eyes as he thought about all the times he had let his resentment and jealousy guide his actions. He had been so blinded by his own insecurities that he failed to see the pain he was causing someone else. Y/N didn't deserve any of it. She was just trying to navigate her own struggles, and he had made it so much harder for her.

Jake's heart ached as he remembered the look on her face, the vulnerability he had overlooked. He had always managed to hurt people, even when he didn't mean to. It was like a curse he couldn't escape. The guilt was suffocating, and he couldn't hold back the tears any longer. He broke down, sobbing quietly in the darkness of his room.

He glanced at his injured hand, which he had managed to hide earlier. The pain was a constant reminder of his own mistakes. Tomorrow, he would have to figure out how to hide it at school. He didn't want anyone to see his weakness, especially not Y/N. He had already caused her enough pain.

But as he sat there, crying and clutching his injured hand, Jake realized that hiding his pain wasn't the answer. He needed to make things right, to show Y/N that he was truly sorry. It wouldn't be easy, and he knew it would take time, but he was determined to change. He couldn't keep hurting the people around him, especially not Y/N.

With a heavy heart, Jake wiped away his tears and made a silent promise to himself. Tomorrow, he would start making amends. He didn't know how, but he would find a way to show Y/N that he was sorry, that he wanted to be better. For her, and for himself.

taglist: @belovedsthings @en-chantedtomeetyou @syazzzlisa @k1ttylvr @jaeyunpinkyring-deactivated2024 @dreamiestay @soobs-things @capri-cuntz @beomgyusimp @heelariously @thinkinboutbin @jyunsgf @lwavander @chaewonshoney @maliakealoha @addictedtohobi @likeemilia @shaniandme @chocminteu @lilyuwon @kgneptun @dojaejunging @binniesbabe @asteria-wood

[nightghoul381]

Ellis Twilight ~ Chapter 6 - His Side Story: “A Faint Wriggling, Deep Inside My Chest”

Disclaimer for route warnings | Masterlist

Additional Content Warnings: This is a side story from Ellis' perspective of the events of Chapter 6, as such it too contains depictions of murder and several mentions of blood.

This a fan translation so it is definitely not 100% accurate. I do not own anything related to Ikemen Villains. Support Cybird by buying their amazing stories!

(For me, Kate is the person I want most to be happy.)

(I’m happy that she’s been smiling more and more lately. And…)

Kate: “Please tell me about what you like, Ellis. Then I can make you happy tomorrow.”

Kate: “So, what’s your favorite food?”

--

Kate: “Oh,  I spread a lot of butter on the toast before it got cold.”

Kate: “Thank you, as always.”

Kate says she wants to make me happy too.

She listens to my preferences and feelings and remembers them carefully.

(Kate is a wonderful person.)

(…I don’t want to make you unhappy.)

The night I went with Jude and Kate to look for the ‘ring-leader” involved in the kidnapping incident.

I’d seen the woman who had come into contact with the ‘ring-leader’ being dragged into a back alley, and reflexively ran after her.

Reaching the back of the alley—I saw multiple men surrounding the woman and trying to restrain her by covering her mouth.

Scenes like this aren’t uncommon—What I do is the same as usual.

Ellis: “Are you the kidnappers?”

The kidnappers were startled by the sudden voice and immediately attacked me.

I just have to deal with them one by one.

A man who looks like a kidnapper: “—Women are worth money, ‘em alive. Kill the bastard.”

(Women…Ah)

Kate: “Gh…”

I heard a gasp behind me and realized that Kate had followed me.

(…it was her.)

(Kate is a hard worker who can muster courage even in times like these.)

I gently restrained Kate, who was holding a deck brush in her trembling hands.

Ellis: “Kate, stay here.”

(I’ll finish this quickly.)

I kick off the ground.

Taking a life is as easy as polishing a shoe if you know how to use the tools.

If you cut a vital point with a knife, the body will collapse to the ground as though a string has been cut.

(Just a few more.)

(I need to finish this quickly and give her peace of mind.)

Kate had been scared when she saw the men attacking the woman.

(I’ll end it right away.)

I silence the last one and let my feet settle on the ground.

Ellis: “…I guess that’s everyone.”

The timing must have been relatively good.

I looked around the alley that looks like I’ve spilled jam all over it, see there are no survivors, and look up.

“Kate…”

Kate: “Eh…Ah.”

Ellis: “Your face is pale… Are you okay?”

I put the knife in its sheath and reached out to Kate.

At that moment her body trembled.

Ellis: “…”

(--it was)

(From Kate’s point of view, these men and I are the same.)

I’m a ‘human being who kills people’ for his job.

(I had a feeling that Kate, was learning to trust me just a little bit… I forgot.)

I want to make her happy, though.

I’m the kind of person who scares her in the first place.

(I should’ve been more careful)

Ellis: “…I’m sorry. You’re scared.”

Ellis: “I should have asked you to keep your eyes closed so you wouldn’t have to see it.”

Kate: “Um, what… what about the woman?”

Ellis: “Hmm, she’s fine… I think she’s just passed out.”

Jude: “Tch… Ya killed everyone?”

Ellis: “Jude. What about the store?”

Jude: “When I came in, he’d already escaped in a horse-drawn carriage from the back door. He’s quick to run.”

Jude, who was supposed to have been chasing the ‘ring-leader’ walked over to a corpse and inspected it coldly.

(…Ah, I think I’m going to be scolded.)

Jude: “Jeez, let at least one of ‘em live. Otherwise I can’t interrogate ‘em.”

(On second thought)

Ellis: “Sorry. He said as long as we didn’t kill the commander I would be fine…Also.”

Ellis: “They were trying to harm Kate.”

Kate: “…”

Kate took a quiet breath again.

(Maybe I reminded you of what happened earlier.)

(…Sorry.)

Ellis: “… It’s okay now, Kate.”

Her frozen expression never relaxed… and I felt a little sad.

(Kate, you’re still silent)

Step by step we proceed down the hallway.

I walked behind her a little ways so as not to make her even more anxious.

(Is this okay…?)

(If you’re worried, if you’re scared, I want to be by your side.)

(But with me, it might have the opposite effect.)

While I was wondering what I should do to make Kate happy, we ended up in front of her room.

Ellis: “We’re here, Kate.”

Kate raised her head and looked straight at me.

(If you look at me, it might remind you of something scary, but… you’re so kind.)

Kate: “About earlier… Thank you for protecting me, Ellis.”

Ellis: “No. It’s my job to escort you, Kate.”

Ellis: “But, this time I failed…”

Ellis: “If you hadn’t seen that, you would be happier.”

Ellis: “I already knew you were a hard worker and that you would push yourself even if you were scared.”

Ellis: “I should have said, “You follow Jude” before going into the alley.”

Ellis: “Next time, I’ll be careful not to kill someone in front of you.”

(Even if I show you something like that…I wonder if I can make you smile again.)

(I need to think of a way.)

Thinking about this, I was about to turn on my heel, when—

Kate: “…Ellis…!”

My palm was grabbed by something warm.

(Kate…?)

Kate: “Ellis…Aren’t you having a hard time…?”

Ellis: “…”

Even though she must have been scared just a moment ago, Kate held my hand and looked straight at me.

(…I…?)

(Why would you say that?)

I was a little surprised when Kate asked me if it wasn’t hard being the object of her fear.

Then I was convinced.

Ellis: “Ah… I see.”

Ellis: “I thought you were just scared of me.”

(Kate is a wonderful person)

She’s the kind of person who listens intently to my feelings, my happiness, and remembers things like that.

Ellis: “You were worried that I was hurt, so you made that face…”

Ellis: “…You’re so kind, Kate.”

Ellis: “If I say it like this, I might scare you again.”

Ellis: “It’s not that painful, so don’t worry.”

Kate: “…Really?”

Ellis: “Yeah, really… See, my hands aren’t shaking like yours.”

As if to reassure her, I held up our joined palms.

--“Killing people and laughing is what the devil does.”

The words I’d once heard echoed in my head, making me feel a little sad.

(But the reason I’m smiling now is not because I’m happy.)

My heart is not moved by the idea of taking people’s lives as a part of my job.

(My desires have nothing to do with it, so I’m neither happy nor sad.)

I still hold the lid on my desires tighter and tighter.

(This time, I’ll take care of someone as wonderful as Kate.)

Kate seemed to have made up her mind and grabbed my hand tightly.

Kate: “…Hot milk.”

Ellis: “Eh…?”

Kate: “My body is cold… don’t you sleep better after drinking it?”

Ellis: “…”

I suddenly remembered drinking it on sleepless nights when I was little.

It has a sweet, relaxing, and calming taste.

(…I loved it.)

(Especially when drinking it in the middle of the night.)

Ellis: “I’d like that.”

Ellis: “In the middle of the night, I actually like hot milk with butter and sugar.”

Even though she wouldn’t know anything about my heart or the memories I had just remembered,

Kate looked happy, but somehow sad, and took my hand.

(Kate… is a bit of a troubled person.)

(…she’s too nice.)

I want to make her happy, and that’s all I feel, but something seems to be mixed in with it.

The desire I had pushed deep inside my heart began to stir in my chest.

Next Chapter

[ragzonacamrencruise]

Could you do Azutara and the soulmate au for the send a ship prompt?

soulmates au is #1

hehehehe okay let's do this!

this is an universe where the first words spoken to you by your soulmate gets tattooed anywhere on your body.

...

Azula never really believed in this soulmate stuff everyone was always talking about. Maybe it was because her mom realised her dad wasn't her supposed soulmate and left with another man who she thinks is. Well, if you ask Azula, she'd fume that her mom should've figured it out before she had two kids. No, really, what kinda universe would like for a 6 year old and an 8 year old to be motherless?

So, it comes as a surprise to Azula when she turns her head to the seats next to her. She's always been a cricket geek. Don't ask her why, she doesn't know. It can be a nail-biting, edge-of-the-seat thriller sometimes, and she likes it for the excitement, maybe. She'd always come to this stadium whenever the Fire Ferrets are playing. And she'd always book this row of seats to watch from. It had better vantage over the whole ground and she liked the distance too.

The stairs beside her seat meant, she could up and leave whenever she wanted, if the match was getting quite boring or if she realises her team is losing. But today . . . today is different.

Today she looks to her left and across the stairway, and sure enough, there's this moron of a fan who's wearing blue from top to foot and is screaming his lungs out at the ground whenever his team, the 'Pole Waves' is losing or winning. The weird thing that stands out is his quirky pony-tail.

But that's not what gets Azula's attention. This screaming, pony-tail guy leans forward and backward now and then and that reveals glimpses of the most gorgeous girl Azula's ever laid eyes upon. Sure she could use a little make-up to boost her prominent features, but from this distance, Azula's pretty sure that up close, the girl would sure be dazzling.

From the glimpses she's been getting, Azula bets that the girl is embarrassed by the screaming, pony-tail guy. Surely, they've come together. A petty resentment bubbles up inside Azula's chest. Not because she's jealous. But because she doesn't believe in soulmates and she has no idea what the universe has in store for her, if it decides to act up. She doesn't wanna get her hopes up with that pretty girl, who she's only gonna see this one time and probably never gonna see again.

She averts her eyes from seat across the stairway. And good thing she did too. Because the Pole Waves just hit a 6 and the ball is coming straight to Azula's face.

Azula, being Azula, extends her arm out in a cat like reflex, catching the ball in her hand, efforlessly.

The whole stadium erupts in cheer for the Pole Waves, and people around Azula erupt in cheer for her, amazed at the way she caught the ball. She looks at the ball in her hand. It feels gross and wet. Her face takes up a disgusted look before she throws the ball towards the ground, in order to resume the play.

And the next thing she knows, she's flinching from a sudden shrill sound in her left ear.

"OH MY GOD! THAT WAS AWESOME!! HOW DID YOU DO THAT?! I KNOW WE SUPPORT OUR OPPONENTS BUT THAT WAS PRETTY COOL!!!!! I'M SOKKA BY THE WAY!!!!! WHAT'S YOUR NAME?!?!?!"

Okay, so, Azula's pretty sure that she just went deaf.

She looks to her side and her eyes instantly find the pony-tail guy with an excited look on his face, looking expectantly at her. The guy spent too long yelling at the ground that he almost forgot what it is like to talk normally, Azula assumes.

Her face is still warped, trying to recover from her ringing ear, when the girl she spent most of the tournament stealing glances at, comes up behind the pony-tail guy (did he say Sokka was him name?! No, she's pretty sure it's Succa-), and the girl grabs his arm and pulls him away, muttering something in his ear, that Azula guesses is supposed to ask him to behave himself.

Azula leaves for her home then, having had enough of this debacle. Her team is losing badly anyways.

...

She doesn't know how. She doesn't know why. But when she looks to her left side across the stairway near her seat in the stadium, Azula's eyes fall helplessly on the same girl her eyes fell on weeks ago and her stomach does this curious back-flip. It's like a weird sort of deja vu, Azula thinks, but somehow she also remembers both the events as clear as glass.

She shakes her head and tries to watch the game. But her wandering mind doesn't stop flying over the details. Azula had spent the better half of an entire week after the last match to forget about the girl with the brilliant blue eyes, brown locks of hair that fall on her shoulders like waves, and her loud as fuck companion (Azula gave up on remembering his name and just calls him 'Pony-tail guy' in her head).

But, Azula never thought she'll be seeing that girl again, considering how she's seen a lot of beautiful girls but never had the chance to see them again. But this . . . this feels different somehow. She doesn't want to think about it, but it's all she can think about. Maybe she also thinks about how the girl would look up close, or how full the girl's lips are-

Wait- The girl's lips are full, right?!

Azula's eyes immediately shoot to her left, unable to resist herself anymore. But she almost reels back in shock when she finds the other girl staring straight at her, hypnotic blue eyes locking on to Azula's golden brown orbs for not more than 2 seconds, before she averts her heated gaze to whatever the pony-tail guy is screaming about.

There's a significant distance between them, but Azula's body reacts to the silent interaction (if she can even call it that) as if the blue-eyed girl was standing right in front of her. What will Azula do if the girl actually stands before her and stares at her like that, Azula doesn't like to spend too much time mulling over. This is hard enough as it is.

The rest of the match, Azula feels eyes on her. Blue ones, to be precise. But she almost nails her own eyes to the ground in front of her, trying not to look back to her left. She even finds herself getting distracted by the game for a little while. After all, that's what she came here to do, didn't she?!

At recess, the pony-tail guy moves to the stairway towards the area where snacks are sold, and he immediately recognises Azula, much to Azula's resentment.

"Hey! You're the girl who caught the ball last match!" He calls over to her. Azula looks at him awkwardly, giving him the fakest smile she could muster. He pays no heed to her unease. "I'm Sokka, remember?! We met last match!"

Actually, she remembers him as 'pony-tail guy', but he doesn't need to know that.

"Yeah . . ." She trails off, not really wanting to have a full-blown small talk. "I remember."

"Cool!!" He beams. "I'm here with my sister. Wanna come join us?!"

Okay, so they aren't together together. They're siblings. Geez, she should've known better. Also, who joins a stranger on their first time meeting?! Second time meeting but it doesn't really count.

"I . . . uh . . ." Azula doesn't know what'll happen to her if she ever has a proper conversation with the blue-eyed girl. Her brother seems to sport the same eye shade too; must be a family event.

The overly-excited brother seems to catch on to Azula's hesitation. "Hey, it's okay. I get it! You don't have to if you don't want to. Have a nice day!" He chirps and gives her a wide smile before heading his way to the snack stands.

Azula's eyes land on the pony-tail guy's sister as he leaves and she looks . . . wait, pissed?! Why does she look pissed off?! She's glaring at her brother's retreating form and Azula's body shudders at the look on the girl's face. She looks extremely fucking hot when she's pissed and Azula doesn't know what to do with this information.

Blue eyes fall on Azula suddenly, and Azula panics and turns to the ground in a hurry, not wanting to look at the girl when her mind is starting to fill with unholy thoughts.

When the game ends, Fire Ferrets gaining victory quicker than she anticipated, Azula walks out of the stadium at top speed, not wanting to dwell there any longer.

...

It's the blue-eyed girl.

She's here.

From this angle, only the blue-eyed girl's wild, wavy, brown locks are visible and yet Azula recognised her in a jiffy.

Azula's pretty sure she hasn't seen this girl in this coffee shop. She would know cuz this is the shop she comes to regularly and never once had she seen this girl here. It's all very suspicious. It's already the third time her eyes are finding the girl in like two months and Azula's getting worried that it's the universe playing tricks on her.

She averts her eyes from the line before the coffee shop counter where the blue-eyed girl is standing at.

No, she thinks. She wouldn't let the universe dictate her life. She's already had enough of it through her mother. She has her coffee order on the table she's sitting at and that's all she needs to look at. NOT the counter.

Maybe the girl and her loud-as-fuck brother are new to town or something. Yeah. That could be it. All Azula needs to do is wait till the girl leaves the shop and then continue on with her life like nothing happened.

Azula looks at the counter slyly, through her lashes, trying to see if the coast is clear for her. But unfortunately for her, the blue-eyed girl turns around from the counter, having received her order, and steps out of line.

Maybe it really is Azula's unlucky day or something, when the blue eyes that's been haunting her from day one, falls directly on her in a sharp glance and Azula's stomach jumps up to her mouth.

The girl stops dead on her tracks, coffee almost spilling from her hand. Azula's heart skips a beat when the girl stares at her with her lips falling open slowly.

But it only lasts a second more, before blue eyes frown deeply and rush out of the shop in a hurry.

Azula blinks at the blank space left at the girl's wake.

She really needs to get her health checked.

...

Azula gets a ticket far away from her usual seat. She does NOT want to run into that damned girl again. Azula would never ever admit to the way her stoamch flips every time they have a silent interaction though.

She walks into the stadium for a much awaited relaxing match, a little strange with getting a different seat from her usual one. And she made sure that the Pole Waves were NOT playing this match, so the chances of running into the girl and her pony-tailed brother are almost zero.

She melts into her seat, excited for her team.

...

Azula's in the middle of watching her team win deliberately, when she hears a sharp voice near her.

"Are you stalking me?"

She whips her head around, almost missing a whiplash. And the moment she does, her eyes fall on wavy, brown hair and stunningly deep, blue eyes that's all too familiar; and her heart jumps to her throat.

The moment she recognises who it is, there is a sudden sharp pain in the nape of her neck. Her eyes are locked on the girl's hypnotic ones, but she can't help but get distracted by the pain she's feeling on her neck.

She hisses softly, her palm flying to her neck and catching hold of her nape, trying to ease the pain. But the girl in front of her is having none of it.

"I'll call the cops if I catch you trailing me next time." The girl says, before turning on her heel and walking away briskly.

Azula stares after her, still wincing from the pain on her neck.

What just happened?!

...

Azula spends almost fifteen minutes trying to angle her phone in a way that would photograph the back of her neck. She's in her room, trying so hard not to think of the girl and how the hell she found her in a stadium full of people.

And damn this cursed pain.

Her neck is sore, and Azula's pretty sure that a bee stung her or something. She really needs to see what's going on in order to plan the best course of action.

She gives up after fifteen minutes though. It's tiresome to twist and turn your hand in order to take a picture of the back of your neck. Then suddenly, and idea hits her. She's seen hairstylists do this and it really is the best course of action.

She runs to her dressing mirror and opens the front camera in her phone. She holds the phone behind her neck and the reflection of the front camera's image falls on the mirror in front of her and-

Wait a damn minute-

Is that a tattoo?!

She gasps and drops her phone in shock.

No way . . .

She picks her phone back up and holds it behind her neck again, not believing her eyes.

It's a tattoo, for sure. It says, "Are you stalking me?" in neat, cursive, black letters and the skin around it is tender and red. But that doesn't stop the faint blue glow that's emanating from the etching on her nape.

It looks . . . beautiful.

The reality of the situation sinks in Azula's brain.

Sure, she knows the significance of this. It's been literally told to her a million times by million different people, what happens when the first words are spoken to you by your soulmate. But she never really wanted it to happen to her, and the fact that it happened with the girl she's been dying to get out of her head is completely insane for Azula.

And imagine the look on the girl's face if Azula goes and proclaims this revelation to her.

Keyword: IF.

...

Azula's scaning through the different varieties of milk kept at the shelves of Walmart. She's been here for five minutes and still hasn't arrived upon a choice.

And that's when she feels herself getting yanked by the arm all of a sudden. She yelps at the quick tug, stumbling along the store out of balance, trying to pull her arm away from the deadly grip.

She feels herself getting dragged to the back of the store to where the restrooms are. The door opens and shuts and Azula feels a sharp pain on her back as she gets slammed against the closed door of the surprisingly big Walmart bathroom.

She hisses in pain, closing her eyes and throwing her head back.

Her collars get yanked forward and her hazy vision focuses on the person in front of her. Her eyes immediately widen as she realises it's the blue-eyed girl standing close to her, breathing hot air against her face in short gasps.

"Didn't I tell you not to stalk me?! I don't even need the police to take you down."

Azula flinches from the proximity, her heartbeat through the roof. She rests her hands on the girl's hips, readily available for her to hold.

And what's this whole thing about Azula being a stalker?!

Azula was literally buying milk. The whole thing is just confusing as fuck to her, so she takes a deep breath. She contemplates the situation for a whole minute, staring at her supposed soulmate in question.

Then she speaks in a firm, soft voice. "I'm Azula, and I'm your soulmate."

The blue eyed girl stares at her. "What?"

"I'm Azula, and I'm your soulmate." Azula repeats herself, thinking that the girl didn't hear her properly.

"No way-" The girl cuts herself short and suddenly winces in pain.

Azula's brow raises as she notices the girl's hand fall away from her collars and clutch her chest. "Ow!" She exclaims.

A faint, golden glow erupts from the girl's chest and Azula can't help but notice that the colour is so pretty bouncing off of the girl's deep, blue eyes.

The hand still clutching Azula's collar is now doing it for a different purpose. The girl is completely bracing herself against Azula and she can't help but think that she wants the girl to do it more.

She's trying so hard to soothe the pain, but Azula knows exactly how that pain feels, as she experienced the same thing mere days ago. It's especially hard if someone hasn't had a tattoo experience before.

"Don't fight it." Azula quips, not really knowing what to say or do.

When Katara looks up finally, Azula notes that she's completely in a state of shock, still trying to make sense of whatever is happening. Her delicate, brown fingers catch hold of her blouse and removes the top button carefully.

When she pulls her shirt collars apart, revealing her chest, a small gasp escapes both of their throats.

The faint gold-tinted glow is wrapped around fine, neat, and precise, black, embedded writing that says, "I'm Azula, and I'm your soulmate."

The blue eyed girl's delicate fingers run over the tattoo that conveniently sits right on top of her chest bone, as if to proclaim that she's Azula's property and no one is supposed to touch her other than Azula herself.

She won't admit it, but Azula likes that idea too much to the point where she wants to kiss the tattoo on the girl's skin over and over again, claiming the blue eyed angel for herself.

The girl stares at Azula, eyes wide with shock.

Then like a whirlwind, she exits the bathroom, leaving Azula blinking at the empty space she left at her wake.

...

Katara's pretty sure she's going crazy. It's not even been a whole week since her soulmate was revealed, and she already feels like the whole world is conspiring against her to make her meet the girl at every chance she gets.

Azula.

Katara would never admit that the stalker's name feels exquisite, rolling off her tongue. She's spent countless hours staring at the glowing tattoo on her chest. It strangely matches the stalker's eye colour and Katara doesn't know what to do with this fact.

She's been trying to avoid anything and everything that is even remotely related to the soulmate situation. It didn't take the humans long to commercialize this whole thing. Anywhere you turn there's a shop that asks you to buy stuff that your soulmate might like.

It's exhausting.

Especially when Katara wants nothing to do with it. She's been dreaming of having her soulmate and ever since she was a little girl, she's been planning their wedding and whatnot. But she certainly did NOT expect a freaking STALKER to be her soulmate.

It crumbled every expectation she's ever had about the whole soulmate situation.

Now, walking rapidly in uptown Republic City, she's determined to avoid any and every commercial shop that is intent on selling her stuff that offers to make the soulmates happy. She's already taken a different route, walking in uncharted territories just so that she might not have to deal with street vendors.

One in particular is this balloon guy. He's been pestering her for full five minutes now, asking her to buy a balloon for her soulmate just because she has the glow surrounding her that only happens to people who've found their soulmates.

"Make them happy today!" He calls out loud towards her, bombarding her with a face full of balloons.

"No, thank you!" She tries to clear out the balloons in front of her face, blocking her vision.

But she isn't quick enough as her foot, unfortunately, finds the step to the sidewalk and she's falling.

She's falling hard and fast, until suddenly, she feels a steady grip on her arm and she's not falling anymore. She jerks forward, her whole body launching in the opposite direction due to the inertia it wants to stay in. But the grip on her arm is firm. A moment later, she's being pulled up.

She's so incredibly grateful for the person who caught her, cuz without them, she would've totally ate dirt.

"Thank you so much for-" Katara's eyes suddenly find the person who helped her and the words die down in her throat.

It's her.

The stalker.

She's looking down at her, casually holding a blue balloon in one hand and Katara with her other. She has this smug smile on her face, as if she knows something Katara doesn't and Katara just wants to slap it away.

"YOU!" Katara exclaims, eyes wide and nose flaring in rage. "This was all your doing, wasn't it?!"

The stalker's eyes narrows ever so slightly. "What?"

Katara's at her wits end here. This is getting waaayyyy outta line and Katara is pretty sure she didn't ask for any of this. "You arranged for that balloon guy, didn't you?!"

Azula's eyes lift up to look over Katara's shoulder and sure enough, the balloon guy is standing there, silently witnessing this happen. All it takes is one harsh glance from Azula and he's running away from them at top speed.

"He was selling balloons for soulmates and I thought something was up." Azula addresses Katara. "So, I bought one."

"Wha-?!" Katara is cut of yet again as she tries to step forward, forgetting that there still is a step to the sidewalk and she ends up falling right into Azula's strong, and ready arms. This time, Azula takes a precautionary step to wrap her free arm around Katara hips, so that she doesn't try and fall on her face again.

The act puts them both closer than Katara would want. But she doesn't yet realise it that it's what she needs.

"And here you are." The stalker emphasizes her point. "Falling for me right on my doorstep."

Katara perks up. "Your what?! NO. YOU are stalking ME."

"Yeah . . . I'm stalking you . . . In my own house . . ."

"Huh?!" Katara frowns comically. "Your house?!"

"Yeah . . . This is my house." The stalker points to the huge mansion behind the gates at the sidewalk. "Wanna come in?" She asks her. "I'm Azula Sei'naka by the way."

"Yeah, no kidding! You've already tattooed that on my chest, didn't you?!"

"It wasn't my fault! You really think I want to have a person like you as my soulmate?!"

Katara blinks at her, offended. "A person like me? What's that supposed to mean?!?!"

Azula wastes no time. "It means that you're obnoxious and entitled."

"Oh-" Katara pauses. "I thought you were offending my ethnicity . . ."

"What? No." Azula's face scrunches up. "Why would I do that? That's lame. I would only intentionally hurt your personality."

"Bold, coming from you, you stalker!"

"I didn't stalk you!" Azula exclaims. "I don't even know your name for god's sake! And you're supposed to be my soulmate! The universe really is trying to test my patience."

Katara's eyes suddenly fall on the balloon clutched in Azula's hand. "That's . . . actually my favourite colour."

Azula pulls back her head. "Yeah . . . I figured." Her golden eyes scan Katara's costume from top to bottom. "That's why I bought it."

Katara takes a step back from Azula's immediate vicinity, giving them both a little room to talk instead of getting distracted.

"Look," Azula begins, already having had enough of this. "You can bicker with me for all eternity, I don't care. But you can make this easier for the both of us and cooperate. I don't think the universe is gonna let you go until you actually talk with me properly. Trust me, I would choose otherwise, but I don't think we're in control. Maybe there's a reason we're paired up."

"Okay . . ."

Azula takes in a deep breath. "So . . . you wanna come inside?"

Katara nods.

***

if i'm ever this inactive here again, come and kill me with a rock. hehehehe.

but here you go! i've been gatekeeping this for long enough and y'all deserve some azutara in your lives :)

if you see any typos, no you didn't 🙈

[russsiangirl]

dating tashi duncan.. ( at stanford )

dating tashi duncan had been somewhat of a dream, you had never expected to get yourself tangled up with her. i mean, she's just such a dream and she's all yours. or maybe it's the other way around, you're all hers. yeah, that's it. she owns you, has you on a leash like a dog. she likes having control, relishes in it. the honeymoon phase is heaven, you two are walking each other to and from class, you're going to her practices and games - spending just about every waking moment together. but sometimes you wish she just wasn't so.. well known around campus. she tells you "it's fine, you're the only one i have eyes for baby." one night when you're holding her close and playing with the hem of her shirt. you try your best to believe her, you know deep down that she does mean it. you're the object of her affection, her prized possession. there's just one thing you can't compete with, tennis.

tennis is the one thing you're convinced that tashi could never let go of, without tennis she would simply perish. you don't mind her dedication to the sport, it's one of the things you admire most about her. how she's managed to love and cherish tennis all these years and not get bored from it. she dominates on the court with the racket in her hand - that's her kingdom and she's the fucking queen. she has her claws in the sport, taking it's blood and making it her own. it was her destiny to play tennis. when it's clear her career is gonna take off, you start having doubts. could she really balance all 3 things? what if she met somebody else at a tournament? would she just leave? no, she wouldn't, she loved you so much. or that's what she told you. that's what you chose to believe, that's what you told yourself at night when she was asleep in her dorm. you tried your best to support her, showing up at her games. helping her as best as you could at practices, making sure she was eating properly. making sure that she was in top shape. it's not like your relationship was rocky, it was pretty stable. you two didn't fight often - but when you did. it was bad. tashi was stubborn, she would never let you get the last word in. she was the one who decided when you were forgiven. it pained you to be away from her, pained you to worry about her when she was out and about. you remember when i told you tennis was her first love? i wasn't lying. after your arguments, she would go down to the courts, play her anger out until she almost passed out from exhaustion. sometimes you wished she wasn't so fucking stubborn and she would just accept the fact that you were worried about her. you just wanted her to be okay, to not have all this pressure with classes and the public and tennis. you wished you could just take it from her, lessen the burden a bit. things were going well, until her injury. you had a test that day that you couldn't miss, so you didn't go. you told art that it was okay - he could go in your place as long as he told you how she did. what you didn't expect was that text from him that said 'nurse, now. she's hurt, it's bad.' you immediately spiral. how, why? is it going to fuck up her career, can she still play? you can't really imagine tashi without tennis, the two were conjoined. you run as fast as you can to the nurse, only to find art at her side with her knee wrapped up in something that you don't recognize. there's tears tracks racing down her face and you just want to wipe them away, to kiss her face and tell her that they'll get past this. you pause at the doorway, look at art and pray that the question in your eyes can be answered. that your worries would be just you overthinking once again. but all he gives you is a solemn shake of the head. he stands up from the chair and slowly makes his way out the door to you, his voice a small whisper as he spoke. "they don't know if she'll be able to play again." you stare dejectedly at the tile floor, watching how it reflects your face back at you. the world goes silent around you, the only sound is your heart pounding in your ears. tashi can't play tennis. she can't play the one sport that she's truly loved, the one thing she can't let go of has been ripped away from her. you give art a small nod which he offers back before he makes his way out of the nurse's office, letting you and tashi be alone. you go to her side, hand reaching out to gingerly wipe her tears away. she doesn't yell, doesn't cry, just sits there silently. her body trembling. you two will find a way to work past this, you promise yourself. she had to wear a brace, her steady walk was reduced to a limp as her knee healed up as best as it could. she could continue playing tennis, just not in way she could before. you could see the pain in her eyes, how she was disgusted with herself for letting such a thing happen. it wasn't her fault, you knew that. but she didn't. "tashi, it's not your fault." she hums and nods, pressing a small kiss to your lips. "i know."

her voice is firm, confident. you trust tashi to know her limits. she knows herself better than she knows anybody. you loved that about her, her confidence in herself.

you two eventually settle back into a schedule, eating meals together when you can. going out for dates at least once a month, walking each other to classes. you missed this, the mundane of it all. it was simple and enjoyable. spending time with tashi was as easy as breathing, it felt natural but you also needed it to survive. without her, you felt empty. like a piece of you was missing. to make things a little more official, you buy each other promise rings. a commitment. it wasn't anything too crazy, just a simple band with some jewels - but when you looked down at your hand and saw it - you automatically smiled. it was like having her with you at all times. 

you both met the other's family and it went stellar, they both clearly approved of the other and family dinners also became a regular occurence in y'alls schedules. everything felt kinda perfect, for now.

yayy more tashi stuff !!! uhm i didn't expect to write this much but i love her character so much. i need her so bad :(( tashi duncan the woman that u are give me a chance plsss 🙏🙏

also wrote this for a friend of mine bc we both love zendaya.. yea!

like and repost if u liked it !!!

[infiniteeight8]

What if Stephen wins the lottery? Like, literally. Maybe he and Tony enter as a joke or as publicity or all the funds go to a certain charity or whatever. Idk.

And then Stephen *actually wins*. Now he has 2 million dollars. The aftermath is up to you.

Stephen never actually checks the lottery ticket. He bought it on a whim, more as a prop for a joke he was playing on Tony than anything else. He doesn’t need to check it; it’s served its purpose. But FRIDAY checks for him, which is how he finds out he’s won 2 million dollars.

Tony looks amused at her announcement. “Why’d you even enter the lottery? It’s not like you need the money.”

He’s not talking about himself. Stephen had been heavily insured when he was a doctor, not just against malpractice lawsuits (which were an unavoidable hazard of the profession, no matter how good you were) but also against interruptions to his career. It had taken a long time to push the claim through the system (once he started trying; in the immediate aftermath, it had felt like surrender), but his benefits were quite generous now. More than he needed, really—most of it went to support Kamar Taj.

“I needed a ticket for that joke I played on you,” he says.

“Wait, that was a real ticket?”

Stephen nodded. “It was easier than faking one.” He rubs his forehead tiredly. “I don’t even know where it is now.”

FRIDAY has the answer, of course. “It’s in a drawer in the boss’s lab,” she provides. 

Stephen winces. “Shit. What the hell do I do with it? I can’t claim it, how would that look? Someone with a seven figure income, who is dating an actual billionaire, claiming a prize that would be life changing for someone else? What a disaster.”

“If you don’t claim it, they’ll just roll it into the next prize,” Tony suggests.

“No, taking the easy way out got me into this situation in the first place,” Stephen says. “With my luck, someone will track down the ticket.”

Tony shrugs. “Then claim it and donate it. You can tell the truth and everything: you bought it on a lark, never expected to win, and want to make sure it goes to people who need it.”

Stephen considers that and nods slowly. “Yes, that could work.” Relieved, he leans over and gives Tony a grateful kiss. “Thank you.”

[otaku553]

omg pjsk fan?? whats your fav song (chart-wise) and fav character??? maybe fav band if you have one?

Piano forte scandal is the only one of these that I’ve full combo’d and I specifically enjoy it a lot because it’s a lot of very consistent tapping with minimal sliders and flicks I think. Honestly feel like it should be a 29 for now nice it is

Jinsei is just fun for some reason? The slow portion is almost always a combo killer but the fast tapping portions have some very nice satisfying patterns. Closest I’ve come to FCing is 2 misses I think

Invisible is difficult but it’s also a song I used to listen to a lot so some of the patterns just come intuitively with that lmao. Also the beginning part is fun.

I have sooooo many more favorites I’ve been a vocaloid fan since like,, middle school so I know a lot of the songs. But these are the ones I’m most actively trying to clear rn probably

Past this point I’m just going to be rambling so here we go:

I’m very bad at picking favorites but if I had to say favorite character, probably Rui? I can probably write an essay on it but I enjoy how his dynamic with the group has developed and how despite how he comes across at first as a crazy genius type he’s actually incredibly considerate of safety and his group’s wellbeing. He strikes an excellent middle ground between characters in excitement and the creativity born from that as well as rationality and knowing when to tone things down

And then for favorite band, I honestly Cannot Choose between wondershow and n25. Wondershow is excellently well-balanced and I can see clear dynamics and foils in pretty much every possible pairing or trio in the group, as well as in the group as a whole. They’re very good also at balancing humor and angst along with plenty of character development— I’ve heard people cite emu as a weak point in the group but honestly emu holds quite strong as her own character with the dreamers event and her ambitions/motivations and traumas!

And nightcord, though focusing really strongly on Mafuyu, is also pretty excellently written imo. It doesn’t seem like it at first I think with the main storyline and the sort of “oh no she’s going off to produce her own music because she wants to be alone” sort of thing and they sort of are a bit cheesy about their depiction of mafuyu’s depression at time but the events have really fleshed out her conflict very well. I think what gets me about nightcord is that their later depiction of the relationship between mafuyu and her mother is scarily realistic, all the way down to the manipulation tactics her mother uses against her to make her decisions seem like her own choice and not something her mother has railroaded her into. It’s the way that mafuyu’s mother seems to never do anything out of malice, but out of a genuine desire for her daughter to grow up successful and satisfied with her life, while her daughter never pushes back because she’s been conditioned to never do so since childhood, so her mother never gets that crucial feedback to stop pushing, eventually breaking mafuyu in the process.

Idk I wasn’t a big fan of their early writing for mafuyu but they’ve built her up to the point that she is scarily relatable in how she’s grown up to become lost and directionless and you just can’t help but root for their friend group and hope that the support system they’re building for mafuyu works out. I think that really is what project sekai’s writing excels in: making friend groups that have realistic dynamics and that act as strong support systems. It’s kind of therapeutic to watch them interact with each other and help each other out

[apollothesunrat]

That moment when after weeks of TMNT brainrot, you get hit with sudden Percy Jackson/Heroes of Olympus brainrot and now your thoughts are genderfluid Percy and nonbinary Nico and a hell of a lot of headcanons. Now I'm sharing some.

Thats all my mind is now. Along with gnc Leo who will wear literally anything, Percabeth wearinf matching dresses, Piper and Nico friendship. Percy steals Annabeth's clothes cause they're similar in height and stature due to training. Piper lends Nico some of her clothes wgen Nico first comes out cause Nico is wary about buying their own fem-type clothes at first due to internalized transphobia(this is helped by Will and their friends supporting them unconditionally).

Its all demigods. And Zeus bein a dick, and only calling Percy and Nico he/him. But hey, at least Poseidon and Hades are trying!

Another headcanon, despite Triton claiming to hate his half-sibling he always seems to have a sense as to what pronouns Percy is using whenever he visits Atlantis and he always gets Percy's pronouns right. And whenever Percy switches midday, Amphitrite makes a point to make sure Poseidon knows and doesn't fuck it up. (we need more of Percy getting along with his seafam. Give me nice step-mother Amphitrite and protective half-brother Triton)

I have so many things to say.

Percy, Nico, and Thalia go thrifting together to get new clothes. They choose thrifting cause: 1.None of them like Hot Topic or Spencer's prices or stuff, it just isn't exactly what they like, 2.Thrifting allowing them to also pick up stuff for their friends as well, 3.It's easier to find actual vintage type clothes when thrifting and easier to diy some other clothes they find. All in all, the three of them just find a lot more when thrifting than compared to anywhere else.

Sally hosts monthly Big Three Kid sleepovers and monthly "The Seven + others" sleepovers. She and Paul love having demigods over and have given both of their phone numbers and the home phone number to Chiron incase any Campers(especially Percy's friends)need a quiet/safe space. She sends containers of blue cookies to all of Percy's closest friends on their birthdays.

Clarisse and Percy friendship!! They respect eachother and have friendly spars often. And if they send eachother Birthday and Christmas gifts? No one has to know, it would ruin their rivalry setup! Except everyone knows they do respect eachother.

This is all for now. Might post more headcanons and maybe even drawing later on.

[thetwilightroadtonightfall]

so I’ve been trying to think of the best way to talk about Skuld’s fate for a while now and I think I’ve finally got it. My feelings about how she could be handled are a bit complicated (maybe even controversial? lol) but I hope I can make myself clear. This is essentially gonna be the post I point to whenever and if ever I need it later in the future. Thanks in advance if you read this!

If for whatever reason it’s confirmed that Skuld isn’t Subject χ and she gets together with Ephemer in canon (which I don’t believe will actually happen, but who knows), I do genuinely think there’d be something incredibly poetic about both of them leaving behind a legacy together.

Skuld as Subject χ is a super intriguing concept that I want to see get played out in canon, and even outside of that possibility, I would really love to just see her go on her own journey, have her own story where she can grapple with the events of khux in her own ways. But as someone who also happens to love her and Eph’s dynamic, I like to indulge in the possibility of them founding Scala together too.

Believe me when I say that I’m very skeptical of Skuld getting the credit and spotlight she deserves given the track record of how female characters are treated in this series. It would break my heart if Skuld got turned into an accessory or got shafted or worst case scenario, is used only to kickstart the Ephy lineage and nothing more outside of that. She deserves good, solid writing no matter what her fate is, I’m sure we can all agree on that at least.

And then there’s also the question of whether or not Nomura would ever establish a canon romantic relationship, and if he even should do that in the first place. I think it would be great, as long as it’s written in such a way that it doesn’t impede on the other types of relationships he’s already established. It could delve into some interesting new territory that can highlight the themes of kh, and make them even stronger and more profound. But you don’t absolutely need romance in order for that to be accomplished, ya feel?

Do I love Skuld and Eph together? Yes. Do I think they should be together (romantically) in canon? Not necessarily. You can both enjoy a ship AND recognize the nuances involved.

But anyway anywaaaaay, long disclaimers aside, these two characters have been through so much together…they witnessed two apocalypses. They’ve suffered the loss of a dear friend at their hands, along with their other friends as a result of horrible circumstances they had no control over. They stayed side by side as their home collapsed around and on them. But they also laughed together. They looked out for each other, stood up for each other. Encouraged and comforted and teased each other so they would smile.

From the very beginning, to the very end, they had each other over and over again. Clinging to hope with incredible resilience. From party members, to friends, to leaders. They’re both wonderful characters who I have no doubt would support each other throughout the rest of their lives, just as they always have.

I’ll be fine if a romance between them doesn’t become canon, in fact I’ll probably be pretty relieved. But I can’t deny that the idea of the two of them being entwined forever, bonded by the tragedies they’ve been through, yet also by all of their happy times and shared memories, is a beautiful thought to me.

Surviving to see the other side and building everything from the ground up again together, and seeing the legacy that follows their love, is a story worth telling, in my opinion. In the end, if that’s a story left to us fans to tell, that’s more than enough for me. We have so much to work with. Regardless of what Nomura and/or the rest of the writing team choose to do, I don’t need them to be a canon couple to enjoy the profound love and care they have for each other.

TL;DR - Whatever happens with Skuld, I’m down for the ride. As long as she’s present, period, I’m here for it. Just…please for the love of god, let her be written well. I miss her so much and I need all these years of loving her character to pay off

[motleyfam]

PLEASE COULD WE MAYBE GET LIKE A VIBE OF WHAT THE NEXT INSTALLMENT OF SETTLE OUR BONES IS GOING TO BE ABOUT NO PRESSURE JUST CURIOUS

The vibe is it’s kicking my ass 😂

[theyonapodcast]

I love the first time Soo-Won supports Lili.

It feels like an overreaction to burst into tears over, essentially, "Go for it," but makes sense when you realize no one takes her seriously.

Her father, Tetora, and even Yona view her as someone in need of protection. They coddle her.

And then here comes Soo-Won, telling her she's capable of making a difference.

That she did make a difference. He acknowledges her strength and believes in her with ease while people closer to her struggle to accept that she's useful.

[moonchild-in-blue]

Oh.