#and that was unnecessarily rude to her i kinda regret it but at the same time i cant help that this is my first reaction to her

[kagayakimasu]

.

[justanotherlifeff]

Hi I saw you were doing bnha x readers, I was wondering if you could do a bakugo x reader where they go one their first date or one where bakusquad tried to set them up cause they both like eachother please fluff and IDC of it's smut or not

Phase 2

"Bakubro, you're already 25. Don't you think you should go for a serious relationship by now?" Kirishima asked the explosive hero infront of him, who only glared at the hardening hero. "You don't get to tell me what to do shitty hair! My goal is to be the number 1 hero. Not play house." Bakugou barked at Kirishima, making Kirishima sigh. The two of them were good friends since their UA days and while Bakugou was more matured than he was back then, that explosive attitude surely didn't change at all. "What about after being the number 1 hero? Do you even have any plans for then? Bro, right now, fighting and having random hookups may sound nice but in the long term, when you’ll have to retire at some point, you're gonna regret wasting away your life just for one goal." Kirishima tried to reason. "Shut your trap, shitty hair. I don't do love or any sappy bullshit like that." Bakugou grumbled, taking a sip of the beer in his hand. "Unless it's (Y/N)... Too bad that she friendzoned me to oblivion..." Bakugou thought internally. At the moment, Bakugou, Kirishima and Kaminari were in a bar after a long day of hero work to catch up. Bakugou still hung out with the infamous Bakusquad every once in a while, though he usually hung out mostly with Kirishima or you. "Bakubro? Are you scared of the responsibility that comes with relationships? Didn't take you to be the one to be scared of something like that... Even I had the courage to get Kyoka with me." Kaminari teased Bakugou on que. "HAH? I'M NOT SCARED OF ANYTHING DUNCE FACE! FUCKING THROW A RELATIONSHIP AT ME AND SEE HOW I HANDLE THAT SHIT!" Bakugou barked at Kaminari. To that, Kirishima and Kaminari fistbumped behind their backs as their plan was going perfectly.

In a completely different bar, you were sitting with Mina and Sero, sipping the (Drink/N) in your hand. "So, (Y/N)! When are you gonna bag a hot guy into your clutches? My married ass can't see you single for any longer and I am itching to play cupid at this point." Mina elbowed you with a smile. "Sero's single too. Why don't you bother him?" you scoffed in answer, gulping your drink. "Hot guy my ass... The hot guy I like is an egoistical bastard..." you thought internally. "Actually, I'm not single? I kinda started dating a colleague last month..." Sero countered your statement bashfully. "Seeee? You're the only one between us who's single. THAT NEEDS TO CHANGE!" Mina slammed on the table to make a point. "Zeez... Calm your tits Mina... I'm single cause not everyone is manly enough to actually marry the girl he dates. You're one lucky bastard Mina, bagging Kiri like that... The guys I have a thing for usually ends up being fuckboys who only want a one time thing and I'm not into that shit. So it's best to stay single and not get hurt." you sighed. "Alright, (Y/N), if we can get you a guy who isn’t a fuckboy, would you finally go on a date?" Mina asked, looking all mischievous. "Why do I feel like you're plotting something?" you sighed, looking at Mina, tired of her antics.

You became a part of the infamous Bakusquad back in your first year at UA. You were in class 1A and Mina pretty much adopted your antisocial ass into the group. It wasn’t that you were introverted because you talked enough. It was just the fact that you were way too straight forward, to the extent that you sounded kinda rude. However, you tried to be a nice person in general. While it may come as a surprise, the only other person you were close to most in the group except Mina was Bakugou. That was probably because Bakugou respected your brutal honesty and the fact that you could shove reality on people's face without a second thought. Not to mention that Bakugou was quite fascinated by your quirk too. You were interested in Bakugou for the exact same reasons though you found him to be unnecessarily rude sometimes. With time, the two of you started having a thing for eachother, which was pretty much common knowledge within the class when you all reached your third year at UA. However, that's when everything went wrong. Bakugou had finally manned up enough to ask you out at the end of your third year and you made the mistake of hugging and calling him "the best FRIEND you can ever have" after he took you on a date. In your defence, he never mentioned that it was a date and you figured that the two of you were hanging out as friends. Hell, you didn't even know that he had a thing for you as both Bakugou and you were completely oblivious when it came to feelings. Unfortunately, Bakugou felt as if you completely and utterly friendzoned him at that moment, and stopped trying to win your affections and instead, went for random hookups while you were deeply saddened by your crush's sudden change and you pretty much stopped having a love life.

Did that stop the two of you from all the passive agressive flirting you threw at eachother? No, it did not. Infact, to both of your surprise, you two ended up hanging out quite a lot. Ofcourse, they always ended with a weird giddy feeling in both of your stomachs and blazing anger in your minds as the two of you pissed eachother off quite a lot. To be fair, Bakusquad was tired of you two pining on eachother for 9 whole years. They had no idea about Bakugou trying to ask you out at some point as Bakugou would never reveal a failed attempt at sonething. To Bakusquad, enough was enough. After all, who the fuck pines on eachother for 9 fucking years and not make a move? Ever since Kirishima and Mina got married to eachother, they had enough of your and Bakugou's shit. Like every other happily married couple, they decided with the squad that this time, they would finally set the two of you up together. Hence, it all led to them planning the entire thing out and you were now sitting at a reserved table at a fancy restaurant after taking a day off from hero work so that you could meet your mystery date. Did you know why you even agreed to this? Blame Mina for bribing you with the entire series of a very rare first edition of a manga signed by the author himself that you have been saving up for. You honestly expected it to be a rather boring date as you had no interest in being with a random dude and you were only here for the manga and the food. However, you did not expect that random dude to be Bakugou.

Did Bakugou expect to see you instead of some random woman sitting there on the table that Kirishima forced him to reserve for the so called date? No, he totally didn't. You looked as surprised as he did when he entered the restaurant and found you sitting there. This was one of the extremely expensive restaurants in Tokyo and Bakugou always chose the best even if it was some stupid worthless date because it was either classy with Bakugou or nothing. Upon realising the fact that none of you expected something like this, Bakugou felt the bad memories of him trying to date you years back plague him, drowning his self confidence to some extent which in return pissed him off. "What the fuck are you doing here?" Bakugou asked you with a scowl as he approached you. "Guess our idiot friends were trying to get us together." You sighed, motioning him to sit on the chair infront of you. "Fucking shitty hair..." Bakugou grumbled, not looking at you. "Mina lost her damn mind... Here I was looking for a loyal dude and she sent the Ground Zero who's specifically known to be a womanizer." you teased Bakugou, trying to ease up the gloomy mood. "Ya know, you could leave if this isn't your thing." Bakugou looked at you and stated with a scowl. "Meh, Mina bribed me enough to stay. Plus we didn't hang out in a while so it's a win win for me. I honestly thought I'll have to make a conversation with some random weirdo." you answered carefreely. "Did she bribe you with that rare first edition manga that you were obsessing over?" Bakugou asked, raising an eyebrow. "Guilty as charged" you answered, winking at him. Only if you knew that your action made him literally have butterflies in his stomach (something he would never admit).

Kirishima, Mina and Kaminari were hiding outside the restaurants, looking over at you and Bakugou by the window of the cafe. "Bakugou looks too constipated... Ya think we need to get to phase 2?" Kaminari asked. "Uh... I still don't think that's a good idea..." Kirishima tried to reason with the two weirdos beside him but Mina was already calling the cafe to prepare for the said 'phase 2' of the plan.

Bakugou was already uncomfortable about the entire thing from the begining but now that a random dude came at them with a violin and started playing some sappy romantic music, Bakugou was this close to losing his temper. It didn't take long for you to notice Bakugou's dilemma. "You wanna get out of here? Our friends clearly crossed the limit..." you asked him. Without any hesitation, he said, "Fuck... Fine, let's go." before he stood up and left the restaurant with you following him, leaving the violin man and the waiters confused as to why you left without your order even after you already paid for it. "Wow, that was intense." you laughed as Bakugou sulked about how shitty their friends are. "Well, how did they convince you to get here? Didn’t you tell enough interviewers that you 'don't do love'?" you asked Bakugou, teasing him though you were kinda curious. "Shitty hair asked me about what I'd do after I retire and said that I'll regret not giving love a chance so I decided to give it a shot." Bakugou grumbled without looking at you. Ofcourse he wasn’t gonna tell you that they got him into their trap simply by challenging him cause you'd tease him to death over it. "Oooo someone's growing up. Good for you." you answered him with a smile before continuing, "I guess I listened to Mina about this shit cause, well, I used to like this guy but it wasn’t mutual and I guess I wanted to forget about him for a while. I mean, I pretty much never had a love life so...". "Dude must be dumb. You're cool." Bakugou answered, not looking at you as the two of you entered a park that was nearby. "Nah, he's amazing. It's just, love isn't really his thing and I can't exactly change his views." you muttered sadly. "Well, he's still a dumbass." Bakugou huffed in answer. "Okay? I guess he really is a dumbass. I mean, I'm quite sure he came into this date cause Kaminari or Kirishima challenged him to and he actually thought I wouldn’t figure it out." you scoffed, looking away from Bakugou.

Bakugou's face was priceless. At first, he was pissed that you called him a dumbass but then it hit him. "You... You like me?" he choked out, looking shocked. "Well, wasn’t it obvious by now? Our friends set us up together and there was a weird dude playing violin. It seemed that Mina understood that I have a thing for you and did all that. Mina or Kirishima wouldn’t want me to be hurt as they are my friends and if you didn't like me, he wouldn’t set me up with you given that you have serious fuckboy tendencies. Well, it doesn’t really matter if I like you anyway cause you're not into long term shit." you answered his question with a sigh. "Ya know (Y/N), I only got into this fuckboy phase cause you rejected me once." Bakugou muttered. "Huh? When did I reject you? What are you talking about?" you asked, visibly confused. "Don't you remember that day at the end of third year? I took you out on a date to see that sappy ass movie together and you hugged me and friendzoned me?" Bakugou accused you. "That was a date?" you asked him with an incredulous expression. "Hah? You didn't realise that was a damned date?" Bakugou barked at you. "OFCOURSE I DIDN'T! YOU NEVER MENTIONED THAT IT WAS A DA..." Bakugou didn't let you complete that sentence as his lips were already on yours. After a kiss that took your breath away, he pulled away, leaving you completely flustered. "I'm not gonna date you if you're gonna fuck around." you stated, still out of breathe from the kiss. "Ofcourse I won't you dumbass! We are fucking official from now! Tf do you think I am?" Bakugou snapped at you? "Idk, you called yourself a dumbass a while back?" you teased him. "DIE!!!!" Bakugou barked at you to that.

"Well, I guess that worked?" Kirishima muttered as they were hiding in the park, watching Bakugou chase you with small explosions in his hands as you kept cackling with laughter, running from him. "Phase 2 never fails." Mina and Kaminari stated in unison with smug expressions as Kirishima looked back at them in disbelief.

[sweetlilpaulie]

The Magical and Mysterious Wishing Well Pt.II

Request for a Pt. II w/ angst. I’m really sorry guys.

George X Reader

Caution: Language, misty eyes (maybe, depends on your mood)

~~~

The boys had just gotten back to the studio, and started recording again. Cynthia had to go back home, get ready for work, and so (y/n) was left alone with the boys, Eppy and George Martin.

She couldn’t believe her eyes. She was the first outsider to hear these songs. She watched intently, listening to each take, each change, each improvement and each step towards the song she knew would be a #1 hit in a few months. 

“I think I'm gonna be sad, I think it's today, yeah. The girl that's driving me mad, Is going away.”

She closed her eyes, getting lost in their voices, tapping her foot gently on the carpeted floor. 

“My baby don’t care,                                                                                               My baby don’t care,                                                                                                 My baby don’t care,                                                                                                 My baby don’t care...”

(y/n)’s eyes opened once they had finished and they immediately landed on the shy Beatle, who was looking at her, amusement in his own eyes.

“Excellent. We’re done for today, you can go home now.”

The boys let out a cheer, and escaped the room, taking themselves outside. (y/n) found herself following them out into the chilly breeze. 

“So, how’d we do?” George questioned her.

“Excellent. I have a feeling that song’s gonna be legendary.”

“You think so?”

Oh, I know so, honey.

“Yeah, I really do.”

He smiled.

She smiled back.

“George, a light if you please?” Paul had come out of nowhere, fag between his lips. George, clumsily shoved a hand in his pocket, in search for his lighter. Unfortunately, before he could grab it, it fell out of his pocket. 

He picked it up sheepishly, and thrust it into Paul’s palm. 

“Care for one, m’lady?” Paul pulled out his pack.

Only get to live once, right? Probably a really dumb idea.

“Sure. Thanks.”

He handed her the ciggie, and she licked her lips before placing it between them. Then George yanked his lighter back, and lit (y/n)’s for her. 

Taking in a breath, she felt the immediate need to cough. She forced herself not to, eyes watering slightly as she did so. She blew out the smoke.

Huh. Definitely a bad idea. Oh, well. 

Paul and George chatted with her, almost aggressively. It was as if the two boys where seeing who could get the most information out of her sooner. There was definitely also some tension in between the two boys, (y/n) had noticed. 

She cleared her throat, after the two had started arguing about something completely off topic, and very childish. 

“Er..boys, do you happen to know where the loo is?”

George pointed to the studio and was about to give directions, but Paul interrupted him. Again.

“Here, let me guide you.”

He put a hand on the small of your back and urged you forward.

“Oh c’mon Paul, it’s the loo for Christ’s sake.” George grumbled.

As much as you liked Paul, you felt he was pushing it just a little bit. You were having a bit of a moment with George, and he rudely interrupted. 

“And here we are.” 

“Yes, thanks. There was no need....”

“I know. Actually, I was hoping we could have a moment alone.” he bit his lip.

You raised an eyebrow. “For what reason may that be?”

“I was wondering...If you weren’t doing anything...maybe we could...get to know each other a little better? Maybe...dinner? Tonight? 5:30 or so...?”

Oh, God this can’t be happening. 

“Erm...well, I was actually gonna have dinner with George so...” she awkwardly wrung her wrists as she looked down at her very non 60s shoes. 

“Oh, of course...” he seemed a bit disappointed at that. “Maybe tomorrow then?”

How could I say no? I mean he’s Paul c’mon! Two dates with Beatles in the same week? 

“Yeah, I think that should work.” 

He looked like a giddy schoolboy. 

“Gear! I’ll see ya soon then!” he then surprisingly gave (y/n) a peck on the cheek.

Now, she slightly regretted saying yes. She felt bad for George, and somehow, even though they weren’t dating, they had just met for Christ’s sake, she still felt she was letting him down. She thought it best not to dwell on it too much though. 

~~~

Since (y/n) didn’t know where to go, she decided to head to the Lennon’s house, Cynthia being the only girlfriend she had in this time.

Knock, knock.

John opened the door, and gave a wide smirk. 

“Can’t seem to get you away from me, eh?”

Rolling her eyes she simply replied “I was looking for Cynthia.”

“Right. CYN!” he called for his wife.

She came running to the door, a wide grin on her face. 

“That’ll be all John, thank you love.”

He gave her a peck on the cheek and headed inside. 

“So, how may I be of assistance?”

“Uhm, well...I wasn’t sure what to wear, I’m kinda....er...going on a date with George, and I didn’t pack anything nice...”

“Say no more.” she pulled (y/n) into the house, taking her to her walk-in closet. 

She pulled out several things: a shift dress, a blouse and skirt, a beautiful chiffon gown...

“Ah, here it is!”

She finally pulled out a very cute salmon cocktail dress with ruffled straps.

She held it against (y/n)’s body.

“I think it should fit well.” 

“Thank you Cyn.”

“Of course, darling.”

Cynthia headed out of the room, and (y/n) quickly changed into the dress.

Once she had left the room, she found Cyn and John sitting on the sofa, both of them smoking a cig, John reading a book, and Cyn resting her head on his shoulder. (y/n) perceived it as very intimate, and felt bad for intruding. Cynthia seemed to notice her presence in the room and waved a hand for her to come and join them. 

“Would you care for a cuppa?”

“Yes, thank you.”

Cyn pushed the cup and saucer on the coffee table, towards (y/n). 

Soon enough, after 3 cups of tea, and to (y/n)’s dismay, another cigarette, a knock came on the door. John glanced up from his book, at the door.

“Another visitor, ay?”

“That must be George.” (y/n) started to stand up, but Cynthia beckoned her back into her seat. 

“Here, allow me.”

She opened the door. 

“Hello George! Er... and Paul?”

What?!

“Hello Cyn.” (y/n) could recognize that voice from anywhere. 

What the hell is Paul doing here?!

“Well, (y/n) is coming.”

She stood up, legs wavering, slightly. 

When she came to the door, sure enough both George and Paul where standing there waiting to greet her. 

“Uhm, hello...” she muttered awkwardly.

Paul gave her a toothy grin, along with a greeting, George merely mumbled a ‘hi’ and barely glanced her way.

What’s with him?

They escorted her to the car. Paul, gentlemanly, opened the door for (y/n) as George went to the driver’s seat to start the car. She very uncomfortably, had sit in-between the two boys, who took up a lot of space.

This is not what I was thinking. 

Paul tried to initiate some conversation, but she just ended up giving monosyllabic answers, still wondering what his problem was. 

They had gotten to a club, which when they entered was filled with heat, music, and the stench of potent alcohol. 

So much for a nice dinner. 

They sat at the bar, and the bartender asked what they wanted. 

“A brandy for me.” George offered. Then he turned to you, which was the first time he had done so this entire night. But, it was not a look she liked very much “What d’ya want?”

“Er, a bottle of red, please.”

“I’ll have a scotch, ta.” Paul piped up.

George slammed the cash on the wood, making (y/n) jump slightly.

They drank some of their beverages. She never really liked the taste of alcohol, but she supposed that’s all you’d get at a bar. 

Paul once again, tried to start a conversation, whilst George silently nursed his drink. He was quickly becoming very drunk. 

They call it liquid courage for a reason.

Or more like, liquid stupidity. 

George slipped, rather awkwardly, out of his seat, and off to a girl who happened to glance his way several times through the night. 

Right in front of (y/n), he kissed her long and slow, eyes still on his date.

Asshole.

After having a very unnecessarily long make out session, he pulled her into the bathroom. Before the door had fully closed, he sent a smirk her way. Paul had seen the whole escapade as well, and was very annoyed himself.

“I dunno what’s up with him. He come’s to me askin’ if he wants to join ye at the club, and I knew he fancied you the moment he saw you. Now he’s off ter shag some skank.” 

“I don’t know either.” you frowned at the now closed door. You had worshipped George, always adored his style and his voice, his seemingly kind personality, but you guess maybe you didn’t know him well enough. He was, at the moment, being a drunk blockhead, and you lost all the admiration you had once had for him.

Soon enough, they came out the bathroom, recent activities, evident in their faces.  He gave her another kiss, and walked back to where Paul and (y/n) were sitting.

“So, you gonna fuck yet?” he snarled. 

“Excuse me?!” she choked out.

He rolled his eyes at her. “’ts obvious. So why don’t you get it done already?” 

“I have no idea what the hell is up with you, but you’re acting like a ass, and it’s pissing me off.” she glared at him, arms crossed. 

“Yeah, it’s pisses you off? I should be the one who’s pissed off! Leadin’ me on, and then goin off with Paul. If ya didn’t want me, just fuckin’ tell me so!” 

“Well, I certainly don’t want you anymore, George Harrison.” she fumed. And before she knew what she was doing, she pulled Paul’s face to hers. He lips melted into hers and they had a fight for dominance. When, they pulled apart, Paul looked at her with an air of shock, but obvious pleasure and lust in his eyes. George’s mouth dropped open, but then he quickly scowled, and headed towards the entrance.

“I see you’ve made your choice. I hope your happy.” he spat bitterly.

“I hate you George Harrison. I’ve now seen how cruel you really are.”

And with that, she never spoke another word to the man.

~~~

I’m so SO sorry, that took me 5 million years, I’m finally done! Hope you enjoyed. It’s kinda long, so yeah.. anyways, have a good day!

[writing-for-amusement]

Commission for Confidence, 4

Summary: Y/N has been struggling with her self-esteem for years. After incessant pushing from your best friend, Y/N decides to commission an artist to draw her, expecting everything to happen via Internet. However, when your phone is stolen, you try to cancel the commission, but Peter Parker has other ideas. He quickly becomes enraptured by you, and a friendship forms easily. Will it lead to something more? Or will your past fears get in the way?

A/N: Okay, so the end of this chapter is admittedly a little choppy, but if I had included more, it would have been probably unnecessarily long (especially since I’ve kinda developed a pattern for myself with length of chapters). I’m so glad that people seem to be enjoying my work!! I’m thinking of posting some other stuff sometime soon, so I don’t burnout on this story, but idk yet. Anyway, enjoy this chapter, please give me feedback, I crave it.

I feel like I should mention that I try to be as neutral with looks as possible. Even if you have darker skin, you still blush, even if it might not be visible. Hence why I often refer to it as “heat rushing to your face” or whatever, but I try to not mention how red it makes Y/N look. If anyone has advice on how to do it better, please let me know!

Also, if you want to be in the taglist, just let me know!!

Taglist: @pparkerwrites, @scatterbrainedgenius, @jordyns-library, @wildfirecracker

Word Count: 2557

Warnings: mental illness (depression and anxiety), brief mention of deceased loved one, insecurity, lots of awkwardness, awkward “flirting” (??), Peter being a cutie pie as always

Peter helped you gather your things and waited patiently as you gave a bright thank you to the owner, Morgana. Then, he was holding the door open to you with a bright smile.

“So,” you prompted as you both started towards the subway.

“So,” he echoed, sending you a playful grin.

“We talked so much about me,” you pointed out, “so why don’t you tell me more about you? If I may be so bold, I’d like to become actual friends with you, instead of just minor acquaintances.”

Peter turned to face you, walking sideways, and was beaming so bright you thought you’d need sunglasses. “Really??? I feel the same way!”

You blushed slightly, looking at the ground for a brief moment. “I’m glad,” you admitted in a murmur.

Soon, the two of you were entering the subway, intent on getting back to Queens before the amount of people traveling got worse.

“So,” Peter began, letting you take a seat as he stood in front of you in the rather crowded car, “I’m trying to think of what medium to capture you in.”

You blinked in surprise.

“I mean, there is a raw beauty to just charcoal or regular pencil, but you are so vibrant and gorgeous, I want to do something more.”

Peter was staring out the window in thought as the heat filled your cheeks, neck, and chest. You bit your lip to try and stop the squeal or giggle of happiness from leaking out (you couldn’t tell what it would be, so you kept your mouth shut). You found yourself looking up at Peter, noticing how he himself would make a great model for any type of art.

Brown eyes suddenly looked at yours and you were thankful that the subway was coming to the next stop. It gave you an excuse to look away, his curious gaze making you feel tingles up your spine. As a tired mother entered with two small children in tow, you and another passenger quickly got up and let them take your seats.

Now, you were standing almost chest to chest with Peter Parker. You awkwardly tried to shuffle around him, so that you were standing next to him, but another passenger quickly took that spot. That left you right there, closer to Peter than you thought you’d ever get.

“Hi,” he blushed down at you.

“H-hello,” you stuttered. “So, you were saying?”

Your weak attempt at saving face actually worked, and Peter began to talk you through the pros and cons of other mediums of art. You found yourself to be incredibly intrigued by the way that Peter spoke.

He spoke so passionately that you could basically see the different aspects of each medium before your eyes. You could see brushes of acrylic paint, or the subtle blurring of watercolors, as he went into greater detail than you almost thought possible.

“Of course, photography will always hold a place in my heart, but sometimes you can’t capture the same emotions as you could with actually making the art yourself. The best part of photography, though, is when you—”

Peter was cut off as the subway car jerked and you fell into him in shock. You had never been particularly graceful, but at least this time it wasn’t your fault. You expected to knock him over; he was a fit man, but you knew you had some heft to you, especially with that violent of a jerk. Something like that would make you, or really anyone, knock over even the largest of men, you were certain of it.

To your surprise, Peter caught you easily, not even moving his feet as he was clutching you to his body. His hand was like comforting and warm candle fire on your waist, slowly heating your muscles. Beautiful brown eyes regarded you with concern.

“Are you okay, Y/N? That was quite the jerk. They’re normally not that bad.”

You nodded sheepishly, removing your hand from where it was splayed on his firm chest. You cleared your throat and took a slight step back, nearly regretting it as the warmth seeped out of your waist slowly.

“Thanks, Peter,” you smiled, albeit a little nervously. “I definitely would have fallen over if you weren’t there.”

"Well,” Peter began, smirking at you, “I can tell you that I’ll be here to catch you, anytime you need it.”

You giggled, covering your smile with your hand. “Then I hope you’re around a lot, because I’m the clumsiest person around,” you told him, realizing as soon as it left your mouth that it was incredibly flirty, at least for you.

Peter was looking at you with a look you couldn’t decipher, but his mouth was grinning. “Hey, I won’t complain about that.”

The heat rushed through your body and you looked at the floor, trying to calm your stampeding heart. Your throat felt a little dry, not expecting his response. You looked up and saw a skinny little thing staring at you with contempt, and your heart crashed to the ground.

Your brain quickly clouded over with negative thoughts. Of course, she’s staring, you’d never fit in with a guy like Peter. Look at him, he’s gorgeous and fit. And you are definitely not. She thinks you’re crazy for flirting with him. And you are crazy for flirting with him. He’d never go for a girl like you, you’re not his type.

Now wait just a minute, you interrupted the hissing whisper, how do I know what his type is? You can’t just assume someone’s type, you know.

Doesn’t matter, the hiss replied easily, anything as big and jiggly as you are is never anyone’s type. You should know that by now.

You ended up heaving a sigh, the hissing getting louder and louder in your head. It was blocking out every positive thought you’d ever had about yourself, pointing out the jiggle in your thighs, the fat of your stomach, the stretch marks that decorated your skin. It pointed out how your laugh was too loud, your smile too big, your fingers too fat, your cheeks unnecessarily full. The clouds became a storm, torrential rains freezing your body, turning your blood into the slowest river in the world.

“Hey,” a shining light of a voice broke through the storm, making you look up at Peter. “Are you okay?” he asked, his hand brushing your arm.

The tingles that his touch brought started to drop-kick the clouds from the forefront of your mind. Peter was looking at you in a way you couldn’t quite tell, but it was like he could tell you were upset about yourself, like he would tear the world to pieces to make you feel better. It made your heart crack, fighting to escape your chest and screech to the world that you were beautiful and worthy.

Because that’s how his gaze made you feel.

You suddenly brightened, the clouds on the far horizons of your mind as they always were, but they were done storming and flooding. “Yeah, Peter, I’m alright,” you told him sincerely, a small but genuine smile on your lips.

Peter’s molten brown eyes assessed you critically, making your body warm and thaw from that freezing storm. After a few more moments, and the subway car nearing your stop, Peter seemed content with your answer. He gave you the sweetest smile you’d ever seen.

The car came to a stop and Peter gestured for you to get off the car. As you fought the crowd of people entering, Peter hooked his pinky in yours in order to stay together. It made your stupid heart flutter up to your throat, but you managed to swallow it back down.

The two of you broke through the crowds and Peter unhooked his pinky from yours. The loud pounding of your heart began to quiet as you and Peter made your way out of the subway; the “fresh” air of the outside (as fresh as it could get, of course) helped clear your mind a bit and you relaxed ever so slightly.

Peter started leading the way to his apartment, which was in the same direction as yours. “The place is kinda a mess,” he informed you as you walked next to him, “but it’s not too bad. Mostly just a couple of unfinished works running around.”

“Hey, I don’t mind,” you told him, stepping farther into the sidewalk as a crowd of people walking the opposite direction tried to take over the small space.

“I grew up in Queens,” Peter stated, and when you looked at him, he was scowling slightly, “but lately, all these crowds have been even more rude than usual.”

You chuckled lightly and shrugged your shoulders. “You grew up in Queens, huh? So, you were here when Spider-Man became a thing, yeah?”

If you didn’t know any better, Peter’s shoulders tensed as he waited for the streetlight to change. Then, an almost nervous chuckle flitted over to your ears.

“Yeah, I remember. I saw him swinging around in that cheap ass suit one day after school. How embarrassing for him.” Peter’s ears turned a light pink color.

You hummed in thought slightly, glancing at him as he glanced at you. “I liked that first suit, actually,” you admitted. “I mean, obviously it wasn’t as effective as his following ones, but I’ve always admired homemade creations. It was creative in its design, at least I always thought so from the YouTube videos I’d seen.”

“For real?” Peter asked as you began to cross the street.

“Yeah.”

You were surprised when Peter began to laugh, pulling you into him by your shoulders as you walked. Your heart plummeted as he appeared to laugh at you.

“I’m glad someone liked it!” Peter then said, removing his arm and grinning at you. Your heart slowly began to clamber back up to its new home in your throat. “Especially someone with such good taste as you!”

Your heart raced to your throat like a mountain goat on the hunt for the sweetest grass at the top of the mountain. With your heart came a rush of blood and warmth.

God, you really needed to get it together. You didn’t know how you were supposed to survive around such a sweet man, with such a bright personality.

Eventually, you and Peter made it to his apartment building, which was closer to the subway than your own. He kept you entertained for the short walk, regaling amusing stories from high school and college. You learned of his best friend and now roommate, Ned Leeds, rather early on in the conversation. And you learned that he absolutely adored his Aunt May.

Peter opened the door for you, and you thanked him with a dramatic bow of your upper body, your nerves tingling happily as he laughed and copied your gesture. He introduced you to the doorman (making you realize that this was a really nice building) before pressing the button to call the elevator.

“Geez, this is a nice building,” you remarked as you stepped into the elevator. “The elevator in my building has been out for like three months.”

Peter chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “Yeah, well, I haven’t told you about my full-time job yet.”

“I didn’t know a building this nice existed in Queens,” you muttered to yourself, though you were exaggerating just a little.

“I work for Stark Industries,” Peter stated, making your head snap over to him. “I-I started an internship when I was in high school,” he explained nervously, shuffling his feet. “And through college, I worked there too. And now I have a full job with Mrs. Potts-Stark.”

You tilted your head in thought, thoroughly impressed. “Wow, I knew you were smart, but damn, you’re a full-blown genius!”

Peter’s blush crept up the back of his neck and he shifted again, obviously sheepish. He muttered out a shy, “Thanks,” along with a sweet smile. “The great thing about my job, is that it actually leaves a lot of time for my creative endeavors. Mrs. Potts-Stark makes sure of it, actually; she’s very big on preventing burnout.”

“Stark Industries, man, they’re prestigious! I’ve always admired Mrs. Potts-Stark,” you continued as the elevator opened and you both walked out. “She’s one of the smartest people I’ve ever read about. She’s so strong, too. And not to mention Tony Stark. I always knew that he wasn’t as selfish as the media made him out to be; I once did research on Howard Stark, and honestly, Tony Stark, before and after developing weapons, makes so much psychological sense. Some people only point out his faults, like his ego or oversight. They say this like it makes him a bad man. I say that he was a great man, with his faults.”

Peter was staring at you, his jaw slightly agape, and there seemed to be tears in his eyes. Concerned, you stepped forward and tilted your head to look into his eyes.

“Peter? Are you okay?” you asked gently.

“Y-yeah,” he stuttered, closing his jaw. Slowly, a smile made its way to his cheeks. “I, um, I was very close with, with Mr. Stark. Sometimes, it’s hard to hear people talk about him like he was this perfect human, or like he was the worst man ever. But, just, hearing you talk about him like that? It means a lot. Y/N, it—it makes me so happy.”

Your hand twitched as you ached to wipe the happy tear from his cheek. You kept it down, instead pulling out a handkerchief and giving it to him. Peter took it from you and glanced between it and you before chuckling wetly.

“You owning a handkerchief is so on-brand,” he chuckled as he wiped his tears quickly. Quite unfairly, it almost looked like he’d never been crying at all.

You chuckled nervously and shifted your weight back and forth. “Sometimes, it makes life a lot easier.” As he tried to hand it back to you, you held up your hands and waved them a bit for added emphasis. “No, no, it’s okay. You keep it. I have… I have more at home,” you ended in a shy whisper, almost not wanting to say it aloud at all because you’d been made fun of before.

“How many?” Peter asked, no trace of malice in his voice. “Enough to be a proper damsel in distress?” This time, he grinned at you before turning to get to his apartment.

“I’m not a damsel,” you scoffed playfully. “Nor am I proper. I’m in distress at lot, but it’s mostly internal,” you chuckled. You waited behind Peter as he unlocked his apartment door (it was painted a dark red, and you quite liked it).

“I’ll have to introduce you to Pepper sometime,” Peter said as he let you inside. “I think you’d both get along really well.”

It was then that it really sunk in for you. You were about to go into the apartment of a man that you met just a few hours ago. While you were fairly certain Peter wasn’t a serial killer, you were worried about what this evening would bring. With your awkwardness, you thought it to be quite possible that the sweet and passionate Peter would kick you out.

[dykexion]

tagged by @minatodilf ty Ash 👌👌

What was your last

Drink: just plain water

Last phone call: my dad (I'm not big on phone calls so only my parents really call me normally)

Last text: telling @vulturousculturalist to go to sleep because it was 1am and I'm the responsible friend uwu. if discord messages don't count then I was texting one of my friends calling Zero from megaman a himbo at like 5am

Last song you listened to: Kansas by Gorillaz

Last time you cried: a few days ago I think

Have you ever dated someone: nope! being a small town dyke that goes to a catholic school unfortunately doesn't give me many dating prospects 😅

Been cheated on: nah

Kissed someone and regretted it: I don't think so actually, I once kissed a friend and it was,,,,a lil weird and we're not actually friends anymore (unrelated) and I don't like her but,,,,it was just something that happened I guess

Lost someone special: not really

Been drunk and thrown up: never been drunk! I never drink enough to make me more than just a lil tipsy

List three fave colors: black green and purple

In the last year have you…

Made a new friend: yeah!

Fallen out of love: nope

Laughed until you cried: many times, I laugh at things really easily

Met someone that changed you: I have no sense of self so maybe lmao

Found out who your true friends are: haha yeah. it was fun having an "intervention" staged about me being "unnecessarily rude to everyone and unable to make friends" when I reported a kid for harassing my other friend and making sexist and racist comments. needless to say the person who did that's not my fuckin friend anymore

Found out someone was talking about you: hahaha.

Kissed someone on your FB friends list: don't have facebook

General

How many people on your FB friends list do you know irl: don't have facebook

Do you have any pets: unfortunately no though I adore all kinds of animals. I do lay somewhat of a claim to my friend's cat because she actually apparently likes me better than the people who live with her lmao (take that Lorna!)

Do you want to change your name: hmmm i don't think so tbh, I was thinking of going by a shortening of my middle name (Louise -> Lou) occasionally but idk lmao

What did you do for your last birthday: I don't think I've actually done anything for my birthday since I was like 10. I was gonna meet up with a few friends last year but coincidentally there was a school trip the same day and we got stuck in traffic on the way back so I couldn't do that :/

What time did you wake up today: about 4am. I went to sleep just after midnight and woke up four hours later unable to go back to sleep. I'm out of school for the summer but I've still been instinctively waking up at around the time I'd get up for school anyway but today just took the biscuit and woke me two hours before that

What were you doing at midnight last night: watching the snapcube Sonic 06 fandub

Name something you CANNOT wait for: uhhhhhhhh idk tbh. something will probably come to me immediately after I post this though

Last time you saw your mother: saw her like an hour ago

What is one thing you wish you could change about life: not to be stereotypical but money probably. my family's kinda in deep shit atm because we're paying out our arses to keep my grandma in the care home she's at bc we can't take care of her but that costs a serious amount of money so we don't have too much left for other stuff and it's just a tad Worrying

What are you listening to right now: I've got Gorillaz on shuffle on spotify and I can also kinda hear the rain outside

Have you ever talked to a person with the name Tom: unfortunately yes.

What’s getting on your nerves: thinking about my exam results that I'm not gonna get back until the end of August that decide my academic path for at least the next two years

Most visited website: YouTube and Tumblr

Nickname: not too many people call me nicknames anymore but cookie and amy-lou are what people used to call me (still do occasionally)

Relationship status: single

Zodiac sign: libra (+ aquarius moon and rising)

Pronouns: she/her or they/them + I also go by he/him in my head sometimes.....indecisive

Fave tv shows: I don't watch too much TV but uhhh recently I watched good omens and lucifer they were alright

Hair color: brown but I used to be super blonde when I was little. I'm also hopefully dyeing it soon, probably purple

Long or short: I prefer having my hair short and I've gone through cycles of long hair to short hair through my life lmao. the current short hair has stayed for three years so far though so thats A New Record

Height: 5'3

Do you have a crush on someone: idk tbh

What do you like about yourself: uh. despite being a major dumbass I'm actually quite clever and I like that I can help people with that. when I'm not hiding them behind my glasses or fringe I get complimented on my eyes occasionally so that's a nice physical thing. oh and also being gay as hell yeehaw

Tattoos: I don't have any but I'd kinda maybe want a simple one in the future

Righty or Lefty: righty

First surgery: never had one. I've never even fractured a bone somehow

First piercing: not actually got any piercings yet....my mum always said no piercings until I was 18 but I'm working on getting my ears pierced this summer

First best friend: this (only) girl I was friends with in like year 1 and 2. she left school after that and I never saw her again, Elizabeth if you're out there....

First sport you joined: ballet! I've been doing it for over a decade now lmao I'm almost at the point where I could become a qualified teacher if I wanted to (cue identity crisis over what I want out of life)

First pair of trainers: why??

Right now

Eating: toast

Drinking: woter

Listening to: this question has been asked three times now lmao, Gorillaz on Spotify

Want kids: probably not

Career: I want to be a translator or smth like that

Which is better:

Lips or eyes: eyes

Hugs or kissed: hugs

Shorter or taller: don't mind

Romantic or spontaneous: romantic

Nice stomach or nice arms: Arms For Hugging

Sensitive or loud: sensitive probably

Hook up or relationship: relationship definitely

Troublemaker or hesitant: hmmmm idk

Have you ever:

Kissed a stranger: nope

Drank hard liquor: nope

Lost glasses/contacts: fuckin constantly

Sex on a first date: nope

Broke someone’s heart: uh maybe? there was this one kid that seemed to have been really into me for a while that I turned down when we were like 14 (sorry Jamie lmao but you were instrumental in me figuring out I didn't like dudes so thanks mate)

Had your own heart broken: nah

Been arrested: never

Turned someone down: yea

Cried when someone died: yea

Fallen for a friend: unfortunately lol potentially multiple times but I'm still a disaster who can't differentiate between strong romantic and platonic feelings wassup

Do you believe in:

Yourself: eh they're alright occasionally

Miracles: nope

Love at first sight: not really

Santa Claus: nope. not sure if my parents ever bothered that much keeping it secret that he wasn't real

Kiss on the first date: sure why not

Angels: nah

i tag: (only if you wanna do it since this is super long) @vulturousculturalist @jothriku @comicsansisasin + anyone who wants to do it. I'm not tagging too many people since this is A Lot and it seems like other people are already doing this stuff atm, have a fun tuesday

[tommoholland2013]

Bad Boy Parker: Peter Parker

Word Count: 1.8k

Warning(s): Bad Boy!Peter Parker

Pairing: Peter Parker x reader

Request: Heyyy I really need a bad boy Peter Parker imagine!! I will love you to death if you write one for me :) thank you for all your amazing imagines💕 A/N: The dear anon who requested this imagine didn't give me much to work with, so I kinda just... wrote this and made Peter Parker a Bad Boy? Idk I hope you all enjoy and it’s not too bad.

Note: Reader and Peter are sixteen

Y/N was new to Midtown High School and was still learning her way around. She had only been there for a day, and was now on her second day at the school. On her first day, Y/N had met a girl named Leila who had been quick to befriend Y/N and to show her around the school along with invite Y/N to join her and her friends during lunch. 

It was only her second day at the school and she had already managed to be late. Great, now she was going to end up making a grand entrance, which would do exactly what she didn't want to happen: draw attention. "God damnit, Y/N." Y/N cursed herself under her breath as she paused outside of the door to her first class. She took in a deep breath and opened the door. As expected, the teacher stopped his talking and the entire class turned to face the door.

"Ah, Ms. Y/L/N. How nice of you to finally join us. It is only your second day at this school and you’re already late."

"I know, I'm really sorry. Had a couple bumps back home and it just made thing... and you don't care. I'll just be taking my seat." Y/N said as she tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear and as she walked towards her seat. She set her book bag on the floor by her desk and pulled her books out. Minutes into the class and Y/N was extremely bored. She had learned this material at her previous school. Her eyes wandered around the classroom until they landed on the most handsome boy she had ever seen. He also hadn't been there the previous day. He looked beyond disinterested in what the teacher was saying as he fiddled with the pen in his hand.

Y/N was staring shamelessly and Peter knew. He could feel her eyes on him and this pleased him immensely. His lips stretched into a small smirk as he turned his head to meet Y/N's gaze. Y/N didn't break eye contact with the mystery boy until he sent her a discreet wink. Of course, Y/N felt like she was going to melt and had to look away. The rest of the time, Y/N avoided eye contact with him in fear of saying something she would regret.

When the bell rang, Y/N didn't hesitate in the slightest to quickly shove her books in her bag and practically sprint out of the classroom. She was aware the sound of the heels of her ankle boots were loud as she sped walked away from the classroom, but she didn't care. Luckily, Y/N had her next class with Leila, who would hopefully take her mind off of whoever he was. And after this class was lunch, which would give Y/N even more time to come up with ways to avoid whoever he was.

Y/N casually snacked on her chips as she didn't have an appetite big enough for a full meal while she listened to the conversation flowing at the table she and Leila sat as. Then she saw him again, the boy from this morning. Their eyes met briefly and his lips displayed the same smirk that was present in the morning. Y/N nudged Leila.

"Yeah?" Leila answered.

"Who's that?" Y/N asked as she watched the boy walk out of the cafeteria.

"That's Peter Parker. Used to be one of the sweetest guys in the school. Then something happened six months ago and he completely changed. He's dangerous now, gets into fights a lot, almost suspended twice. Stay away from him. Though, there's nothing wrong with admiring from a far, s'what the rest of us do." Leila commented with a light laugh. Y/N's curiosity kicked in; full swing. Now she wanted to know what it was that changed Peter. What happened to him? That's all she thought about for the rest of lunch. Once lunch was over, the rest of Y/N's day went by fairly quickly. 

In addition to being new to the school, Y/N also happened to be new to the city, which meant she knew little to no parts of the city. On her way home, she found that she got lost. She couldn't use her phone to call anyone for help because conveniently enough, it died before she even left the school, and she was in a part of town she wasn't even acquainted with. And to add the cherry on top of the crap-cake, her car had broken down, leaving her completely stranded. She stood out by her car as she tried to figure out a way to get home. She ran her hands through her hair as she paced in front of her car. She was trying not to panic. She didn't know her address yet, her car had broken down, and she had no way of calling her parents for help. It couldn't get worse. As soon as the thought crossed her mind, a black 1967 Chevy Impala screeched to a halt beside her car. Y/N began to panic when the window rolled down. It was... Peter?

"Peter?" Y/N voiced her question as she walked to the car and leaned over the window.

"Y/N. What's a city girl like you doing in this part of Queens? Before you answer that, answer me this, how have you not been mugged yet?"

"So, I'm assuming you were going to offer me some assistance until the stick shoved up your ass got shoved up a little farther?"

"Ah, so she's feisty too, huh?"

"Yes, she is. She also happens to need a ride, and possibly a phone."

"As much as it kills me to do this, get in. I'll give you a ride." Peter muttered the first part of his statement.

"Thank you. I was gonna get in anyway, by the way. One more thing, I have no idea what my address is." Y/N stated as she opened the door and got into the car.

"I think I know where a girl like yourself lives, rich girl." Peter commented as he turned the car around and started on his drive.

"You don't know me." Y/N laughed. "You know, before you decided to make that unnecessarily rude comment, I was gonna compliment your ride. My dad used to own a ‘67 Impala. Until he wrecked it, or course." Y/N retorted.

"I'm surprised you even know what model this is."

It was half insulting, half humorous banter between the two. Peter had admitted to himself that he really had her all wrong. Whereas he had expected Y/N to be just like the rest of the girls in Leila’s group- entitled and shallow-- she had turned out to be quite funny and could really hold her own. He appreciated that she wasn’t easily offended by his comments, and could actually give a reasonable response.

“So, what’s your deal? Why’s everyone got you labeled as the bad boy of the school?” Y/N asked with curiosity. Peter had no response. His jaw clenched and his grip on the steering wheel.

“I don’t know.” Peter said lowly. Y/N had no response. The silence that had been left due to lack of conversation was now filled with the humming of the engine of the car and the song playing quietly over the radio. What could have been one of the most interesting car rides Y/N had ever had turned into the most intense one. She didn’t say anything and neither did Peter, his grip on the wheel remained borderline deadly.

Peter pulled up at the familiar apartment building and Y/N stepped out of the car.

"Thank you." Y/N said as she leaned over the window.

"Don’t ever ask me that question again.” Peter’s voice was low and sounded quite dangerous.

“Bite me.” Y/N said boldly as she narrowed her eyes at him. She then took a step back and stood to her full height.

“A damn ‘you’re welcome’ would’ve sufficed.”

“I just did you a huge favor. Don’t fucking try me.” Peter got out of the car and stood directly in front of Y/N. He looked angry and Y/N didn’t look like she was going to back down. Peter leaned in and Y/N remained frozen. He brushed her hair out of the way.

“Don’t fuck with me, I’m not friendly.” He whispered. Y/N pulled him closer by his leather jacket. 

“That’s exactly what I’m counting on.” Y/N whispered before she leaned in and connected her lips to his. Admittedly, Peter was shocked at first, but then his hands moved to rest on Y/N’s hips and he pulled her in closer. Her arms wrapped around his neck and her fingers played with the small curls at the nape of his neck.

Y/N knew she would regret kissing Peter once the kiss was over, and Peter knew he would regret the kiss too, but in the heat of the moment, the kiss just felt so... right. Running out of air, they pulled apart. Brown eyes met Y/E/C and locked in an intense gaze. Then reality hit, bursting the bubble that had sheltered them for reality in their brief moment. Without a word, Y/N unwound her arms and Peter’s hands dropped from Y/N’s hips. Peter backed away from her and turned towards his car.

Y/N’s heart thumped heavily against her chest as she watched Peter get into his car. The engine roared as Peter stepped on the gas and drove away. Y/N watched the car drive away until it was no longer in her line of sight. She let out a shaky sigh as she turned to walk into her apartment building.

In the car, Peter was completely shaken. What the hell happened? How? And why did he have such a strong urge to kiss her again? Why did he want her to be a close as she has been again? Why did he have such a hard time pulling away from her? Then it hit him.

He barely knew the girl, hell he had just met her that morning, but God, he was addicted to her already. He was hooked.

A/N: Yeah, I'm not very proud of this but you know, I'm never proud of any of my works so I guess this is no exception.

[niigoki]

TWICE title: we’re a mess (let’s finish what we started) - Chapter 6 pairing: NaMo, MiMo, Saida, JeongMi, 2yeon, Chaeyu Read on Ao3 or AFF

Momo was eating.

Now, this wasn’t unusual; after all, it was lunchtime, and Momo is known for her excessive eating habits. What was so weird about it was what she was ingesting.

Her plate was filled with nothing but chocolate. Bars, muffins, even a piece of chocolate cake. All around the cafeteria people were eating a balanced meal, with carbs, proteins and vegetables, but Momo sat all alone at the far corner of the place with an entire plate piled high with sweets. The sight was amusing, to say the least, but with a body like hers, there was clearly no room to judge– at least when it came to food.

Momo had just stuffed her mouth with the last of her muffins when Chaeyoung sat in front of her with her tray. Momo stopped chewing to look up and Chaeyoung stared back. Then she resumed eating as if she hadn’t even seen her.

Chaeyoung snorted. “What the hell happened to your diet?”

“Dead in a ditch.” Momo replied with her mouth full, nearly spitting everything.

“Okeydokey.” Chaeyoung said, eyes flickering towards her friend’s plate for another brief moment, and then shrugged, grabbing her knife and fork. “Don’t let me stop you.”

They ate in silence, but Chaeyoung could tell that the atmosphere was weird; this wasn’t the usual peaceful lunch they sometimes shared, but a rather hostile one. It was like Momo was enveloped in invisible thorns and rough edges – a warning to keep distance. Chaeyoung couldn't help but wonder what had happened to change her behavior so drastically.

“I see an empty spot,” Dahyun’s cheerful voice recognizably rang out and Chaeyoung slid to the other side of the table before the obnoxious girl crashed into her. “Hey, Chaeng.” Then she eyed Momo. “Wonka.”

“Very funny.”

“Is this what all the fitness Instagram accounts are doing nowadays?”

Momo rolled her eyes and bit a chocolate bar. Chaeyoung almost laughed, but stuffed her face with more salad. Momo was being weird, but at least Dahyun was somehow back to normal. Her circle of friends had been… unpredictable, lately.

The three girls ate casually; none of them were in a hurry for once. Their tests were pretty much done, and they only had to worry about a few assignments. Chaeyoung thought about her poem as she munched on a potato chip, trying to figure out words and metaphors.

“Oh, Tzuyu was looking for you, by the way.” Dahyun mentioned after a while. “She said she needed help with her photography project.”

“Hm, she told me.” Chaeyoung replied. “We’re taking photos in a dumpster.”

“Edgy.”

“I don’t really get it either, but I’m sure it’ll come out great.”

That’s when someone else walked by, sitting beside Momo. “Hey.”

Momo just nodded in acknowledgement, not really looking up. Dahyun and Chaeyoung smiled at her. “Jihyo-ah!”

Jihyo smiled back, then turned her attention to the obviously unhealthy plate her friend was wolfing down. “Uh… are you done with your diet?”

“Oh my God, can’t a girl stuff her face with chocolate once in her life without being judged by the entire world?” Momo’s voice was a little louder than she intended and Jihyo flinched. Regret filled Momo immediately and she was about to apologize—

“Hey!” Chaeyoung interfered with a frown. “It was just a question, you don’t need to be a jerk.”

Momo knew that she was wrong, but the sudden confrontation made her feel defensive, and the apology that was on the tip of her tongue vanished into thin air. Her pride spoke louder and the anger that was already growing in the pit of her stomach suddenly awakened.

“I don’t need a babysitter, either!” She yelled, now fully aware of her voice tone.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Chaeyoung slammed her hands on the table and got up from her seat, and Momo snapped out of it.

There was one particular trait of Son Chaeyoung that no one besides the nine of them were aware of – the lengths she would go to defend the group. She usually kept quiet and didn’t interfere in conflicts because of her anxious nature, but that was when the parties involved weren’t her friends – when it was someone from the nine of them, well, that was a different story altogether.

Chaeyoung had a natural instinct to stand up for the group, it didn’t matter the situation. She acted first and thought about it later – most of her anxiety attacks happened after her outbursts, when she realized what she’d done.

And that didn’t just pertain to interactions with strangers; if someone from the group was being unnecessarily rude to another, Chaeyoung called them out in the same way. Just like Momo to Jihyo at that moment.

The table quieted down and it took a couple of seconds for Chaeyoung to realize that people were now staring. She felt her stomach drop and sat back down, face flushed and sweating. Dahyun, familiar with how much her roommate hated attention, pulled her into a side hug and stroked her hair. “There, there, let’s all calm down.”

Momo avoided the girls’ eyes and looked back to her plate, now ashamed of her erratic behavior. Just because she’d been feeling on edge lately didn’t mean she could lash out at anyone – especially her friends.

With a sigh, she mumbled. “I’m sorry.”

Jihyo scooted closer until their shoulders bumped slightly; when Momo didn’t pull back, she knew she was back in a safe territory. “It’s okay. You’re stressed, I understand.”

Momo just nodded, then slowly grabbed the strawberry on top of her chocolate cake, offering it to Jihyo. “Here.”

“You don’t have to sacrifice your favorite part of the cake just to apologize.” Jihyo was smiling now at the pouting girl who had turned back into a harmless puppy.

“But…”

“I’ll take it, then.” Dahyun reached across the table, snatching the strawberry from Momo’s hand in a flash.

“Hey!” Momo got up to try to take it back, but it was too late; Dahyun had already bitten into it. Jihyo laughed at their antics and Chaeyoung, apparently calmer, let out a soft chuckle as well.

“And for you.” Dahyun stuffed the other half of the fruit inside Chaeyoung’s mouth, and the artist coughed, hitting her roommate with several light smacks. Momo sat back down and crossed her arms, but the corners of her lips turned up slightly. The atmosphere was finally lighter again.

Jihyo laughed with them for a bit, but Momo’s behavior was now a thorn in her heart; another one of her friends was going through troubling times. It didn’t sit well with her. She knew they were all adults, but in the light of current events, she wasn’t so sure that this problem was something unique to just Sana and Nayeon anymore. Something was definitely going on and Jihyo felt her stomach tie in a knot.

It was like they didn’t trust her anymore.

“Oh, isn’t that Nayeon?” Dahyun spoke up suddenly, and Momo and Jihyo turned around at the same time.

The actress was alone, which was surprising considering her popularity. She held a lot of papers in her hands and was exiting the cafeteria in a hurry.

Jihyo was about to get up, but Momo beat her to it. She left the table in a rush, almost tripping on her way out.

Chaeyoung and Dahyun raised a questioning eyebrow at the scene, but Jihyo just shrugged, sitting back down. Whatever it is that was happening, maybe Momo and Nayeon could talk it out together.

‘Since they won’t talk to me anymore,’ Jihyo thought with a heavy heart.

  --

  It was automatic. Momo was getting up and sprinting towards Nayeon before she could even think about it.

Something about the whole mess with Jeongyeon had lit a spark inside Momo, and that spark was steadily being fanned into a flame. She was mad, but was managing to control her temper – for now. Jeongyeon shared a room with her after all.

Yesterday the film major had come back really late for some reason that Momo didn’t want to know. This gave her an excuse to not see her during the day, since Jeongyeon was still sleeping when she woke up. Momo wondered for how long she could avoid her roommate’s face.

For now, her main concern was Nayeon. Jeongyeon had lied to her and Nayeon seemed vulnerable ever since the party; seeing her walking by so distantly had suddenly awakened this huge protective instinct on Momo and she didn’t know what to do with it.

Leaving the cafeteria, Momo stretched her neck and looked around, finally spotting the girl going down a crowded corridor. She walked as fast as she could, diving into the crowd of students and repeating ‘excuse me’ quite loudly until she finally made it through. Nayeon was now going downstairs, her head down and her hair disheveled, as if she’d just woken up. Momo frowned and started moving again.

“Nabongs!” She yelled, but the actress didn’t listen – or pretended not to. Momo clicked her tongue and went after her; she would not stop until she reached her. She didn’t even know what she was going to say.

Momo just wanted to be with her.

Nayeon was almost out of the building when she managed to catch up. “Hey!”

The actress stopped with a jump and a hand on her chest. “M-Momo.”

The brunette smiled, catching her breath slightly. “In a hurry?”

“Yeah,” Nayeon swallowed dry, her eyes frozen on Momo’s beautiful face. “I need to practice my lines.”

She didn’t expect to see Momo again so soon, – the campus was pretty big after all— but it wasn’t like Nayeon had a schedule of her classes. Maybe she should; it would make avoiding encounters like this a lot easier.

“You have a musical coming up, right?” Momo asked.

“I do,” Nayeon was touched that she knew about it, even though there were fliers all over the campus announcing this new performance. “But that’s not all I need to memorize.”

“Kinda figured, with all of this you’re holding.”

Nayeon looked at the messy scripts in her hands and sighed. “It’s a lot.”

They stood there in an awkward silence for a bit, then Nayeon turned on her heels. “I need to go, I’m already late.”

Momo nodded, then followed her.

This was not in Nayeon’s plans.

They walked side by side in silence until they were by the fountain, and Momo’s nonchalant posture was driving her nuts. Nayeon needed to find an excuse to get away from her, but at same time, she didn’t want to. She was still emotionally compromised from crying on Jihyo the day before, and Momo was a calming presence in her life. She’d always been. Nayeon sighed at her own weakness.

“So what’s all of this, anyway?” Momo asked after a while.

“Oh, the scripts?” Nayeon fumbled with them. “It’s… for this series of commercials I’m going to star in soon.”

“Wait, what?”

Oh, that’s right, Nayeon thought. I just told Jeong about it.

“My professor received a call from an agency. They want to hire me.” Forgetting to tell Momo about it made her feel really bad all of a sudden; despite all the drama going on, this was still something Nayeon was proud of and wanted to share with her friends. She couldn’t believe that she’d been so caught up in her own shit storm that she forgot to announce it to all of them.

“So… you’ll get paid and everything?” Momo’s confusion was adorable.

“Well, I hope so, or else I’m gonna have to go to court.” Nayeon smiled a little, amused.

“This is so cool?” It came out as a question for some reason, but that just made the girl even more endearing. “I always knew you’d be the first one of us to get a real job.”

“Don’t say that,” Nayeon hated to be put in a pedestal by the people closest to her. She didn’t mind when others did it, – in fact she loved the attention and praise – but with Momo and the others it felt suffocating. “You’ll become a choreographer soon and I’ll have to beg you to teach me Beyoncé’s new dance moves or something.”

Momo laughed at this and pushed her gently with her shoulder as the walked. They were almost arriving at the theater building and Nayeon still didn’t have the heart to push Momo away.

“So, what are you endorsing?”

Nayeon let out a chortle. “Diapers.”

The laughter after this was sincere, and honestly, Momo needed this. “Ew!”

“It’s not disgusting!” Nayeon said, baffled. “There is going to be a baby on set. Do you have any idea how amazing this is? I’ll get to hold my co-star.”

“That’s so you.” Momo smiled harder. Then she moved her gaze to the scripts. “Let me help you.”

“Huh?”

“Practice. You need a partner for your scenes, don’t you?”

“Are you… implying you want to act as a baby?”

“Not the commercials, dummy.” Momo scrunched her nose. “Your musical. This way you can get it over with faster, and practice for the commercials earlier.”

Nayeon had to admit, the idea was pretty tempting; she was in a really tight schedule. Mr. Kwon expected her to have memorized at least the entirety of Act III by now, but she was still struggling with Act II.

Still, she couldn’t allow herself to do this.

“Thanks for the offer, but I’m pretty much done with the musical.” Nayeon lied, getting into character. “I’m rushing because I wanted some pointers on the commercials, and Mr. Kwon is a really busy teacher.”

“Come on,” Momo was not giving up, however. “They put up the fliers for this show two days ago, you can’t possibly have memorized the entire play by this point.”

“You don’t know how long I’ve been prac—”

“I take classes with some drama students, Nayeon.” Momo’s grin was lazy, as if she knew she caught her lying. “They don’t shut up about how huge and difficult this script is. Act III, was it? That’s what Mr. Kwon wants to see from you today, isn’t it?”

Betrayed by my own comrades, Nayeon sighed internally. She needed to make something up quickly, but when she realized it, they were already walking into the theater. She had been cornered, and she was too tired to fabricate an elaborate scheme.

“…Fine,” Nayeon said, quickening her steps. “You can help, but we have just an hour.”

Momo nodded, her huge puppy-like smile lighting up her features, and Nayeon felt her heart skip a beat. Then Momo grabbed her hand and ran with her backstage, making them both laugh stupidly.

‘An hour is a long time when you count every second.’ Momo thought.

  --

  Mina had been Jeongyeon’s friend for years, and she liked to think that she knew all of the girl’s nuances and behavior by now.

Jeongyeon was kind and had a knack for helping others, even when they didn’t ask; the way she spoke was soft at times, but really loud when she was being playful. Her laughter was hypnotizing and silly; she paid attention to details and was always looking after others. She wore her passions on her sleeve and wasn’t afraid of chasing her dreams; she was stubborn, too. Most times, her jokes were terrible, but Mina laughed at all of them, because they were endearing nonetheless.

That was the usual Jeongyeon.

But right now, she was Yoo Jeongyeon, the professional, and she was making Mina weak.  

“Can you move a bit to the right— Right there. Now stay.” Jeongyeon’s voice was stern as she looked through the camera, capturing Mina’s best angles and testing the movement in a circular motion. She was wearing her glasses – a rare sight – and looked absolutely concentrated on getting every detail right.

Jeongyeon pushed her hair back, eyebrows furrowed in thought, tongue sticking out to lick her dry lips. She adjusted her glasses every now and then and kept giving Mina directions.

This was the Jeongyeon that strived for perfection.

“Now I want you to look to your right, eyes downcast, as if you’re thinking about someone you recently lost.”

Mina sat down on a chair in the corner of the studio, the only illumination coming from a lamp on a desk next to her. The place was cramped; that studio was meant to fit two people and a camera, and Jeongyeon had brought an entire piece of furniture to complement her scene. Mina really thought that they could have the same effect if Jeongyeon had decided to film inside her dorm, but what did she know.

Trying her best not to disappoint, Mina looked down, her head filling with thoughts of the party; she didn’t need to act much to feel sad when she replayed that scene over and over again.

“Okay, let’s do this one more time.” Jeongyeon’s voice didn’t waver.

“Was that okay?” Mina asked meekly; she worked better under clear instructions.

“It was good. I like to have backup material. One more time.” Jeongyeon replied in paused intervals, without taking her eyes off the camera. Mina nodded, swallowing hard.

She did the expression again when Jeongyeon gave her the signal and kept at it until she heard the girl say ‘cut’. Her shoulders relaxed, and Mina didn’t even realize how tense she had suddenly become.

“Okay…” Jeongyeon replayed both scenes in the camera screen, cracking her knuckles in a manner that might have been perceived as threatening to anyone else.

Mina wanted to watch the scene as well, but was afraid of moving an inch from her position. “Alright. That’s good. Now let’s film the sixth scene, before we move to the outdoor ones.”

“Right.” Mina grabbed her script with shaky hands, blinking the sweat off her eyes. Her body was reacting in really… unexpected ways to all of this, and at first, she thought it was simply nervousness from being filmed.

It quickly became clear that something else was affecting her.

She stole a glance at Jeongyeon in front of her and wetted her lips. Watching her work so diligently, with a critical eye to how the shots should look and telling Mina what to do in a very commanding tone was—

Well. Hot.

Mina ducked her head a little, cheeks warm; she was so embarrassed at the thought, at the wave of sensation that she now realized was arousal.

“Are we good to go?” Jeongyeon finally looked at her, clearly in a hurry.

“Y-yes.” Mina stood up, hiding the script under the desk. “I just need to walk around staring at the ceiling, right?”

“Yes. Think about it as looking up at the night sky, filled with countless stars.” She moved her hands. “You’re amazed at it, and you’re amazed at your own imagination for being able to see stars in a simple roof. Then I’ll tell you to close your eyes and bring your fingers to your bottom lip… and slid them down your neck… until your you reach your collarbones.”

Watching Jeongyeon mimic the gesture was hardly fair. Mina just nodded, hoping that by doing it herself, she would get rid of the extremely attractive mental image.

“And… action.” Jeongyeon grabbed the camera, following Mina’s steps.

The ballerina walked slowly in tiny steps, tilting her head up, her gaze fixed on various spots of the ceiling as she tried to picture the universe above her head. She imagined galaxies spiraling at that very room, stars twinkling weakly, and parted her lips slightly in amazement. She blinked very few times, as if she was afraid of missing the spectacle if she closed her eyes even for a second.

“Very good…” Jeongyeon said lowly, sending a shiver through Mina’s spine. “Now close your eyes.”

She did, listening to the velvety voice right next to her.

“Bring your right hand to your lips…”

Mina’s touch was electrifying on her own skin.

“And calmly slide your hand down… to your chin…. now your throat…”

Her heart was about to burst.

“…Stopping at your collarbones.”

Mina could feel how warm her skin was. She hoped that the dim illumination hid the redness of her features.

“Good job,” Jeongyeon approached her with the camera to zoom on her fingers and lingered there for a few seconds. “And… cut.” She stepped back, a smile gracing her face for the first time that day. “This was really good, Mina. I’ll stick with this one shot.”

Opening her eyes so quickly and trying to turn her head was a mistake; Mina felt dizzy and leaned on the chair next to her.

“Wow, are you okay?” Jeongyeon was by her side in seconds, holding her waist gently.

“Y-yeah. Yes. I think it’s just… a little cramped in here.” Mina balanced herself again, stuttering like an idiot. Lifting her chin up was another mistake, because Jeongyeon was right there, too close, and Mina became too self-aware. “I’m— I’m okay.”

“Let’s get out of here, it’s too hot.” Jeongyeon let her go hesitantly, then turned on the lights. They squinted their eyes at the sudden brightness, then Jeongyeon opened the studio’s door. “Fresh air!”

A rush of wind burst into the room and Mina breathed in deeply; now that the temperature was lower, she could feel how hot her whole body was.

She needed to get a grip.

“Do you want to take a break?” Jeongyeon was already putting the camera back in the case, her concern visible.

Mina was about to deny it, but there was no way she could go on in her current state. “That… sounds nice, actually.”

“Let’s go eat something, we’ve been locked in here for an hour.” Jeongyeon’s smile was sweet and when she lifted the case all on her own without breaking a sweat, Mina swallowed. “Good thing I booked the studio for the week.”

Mina got out of the room first, her friend following. “So… this place is all yours for as long as you want to use it?” She tried to distract her very unwarranted thoughts with random questions.

“Well, just for the afternoon. I still don’t have permission to use it at night.”

“It’s like the dance studio, then.” Mina hummed. “We need to book it with weeks in advance, though. It’s really hard to have one room all for yourself.”

“How big are the dance studios?” Jeongyeon blinked. “I don’t think I’ve been there once.”

“There are a lot of different sizes,” They turned left of the hallway. “The one I usually use fits up to ten people.”

Jeongyeon whistled. “That’s a lot.” It dawned on her that she didn’t know much about Mina’s major, and this bothered her for some reason. “You’re a ballet major, right?”

“I’m a dance major, and in the ballet program, yes.” Mina smiled at that.

“It suits you,” Jeongyeon returned the smile, looking forward. “Can I confess something?”

“Sure.” Mina hated that a small part of her hoped for something that was definitely not happening.

“I think that I kept thinking of you when I wrote my script.” She let out a chuckle. “I wanted to depict a sensitivity through actions instead of words… I always thought that ballet was a perfect example of that.” She turned her soft gaze to Mina. “I remembered that recital last year and how graceful you were on the stage. It was kind of like watching a movie. I think that’s why it got stuck in my head, y’know?”

The sudden compliment and tenderness of her voice didn’t help Mina’s cheeks to return to their normal color. She blinked twice and looked down, a shy smile tucked on her lips. “Is that so?”

“Yeah, it is. Oh, and thanks again for agreeing to be my actress, Minari. You did a great job!”

Mina had always been surrounded by love and warmth, from friends and family alike, and still, it was surprising how much impact such those words had on her. She really wanted to tell Jeongyeon how much she adored her, and not even necessarily in a romantic sense, either. Their friendship was something she treasured beyond measure. It was… special to her.

“This makes me really happy.” Mina declared.

“Hmm? What does?”

“You,” A little bravery didn’t hurt anyone. “You make me really happy.”

Jeongyeon stared at her as they arrived at the cafeteria with questioning eyes, but Mina just smiled and couldn’t hold back a joyful laugh. Jeongyeon felt her heart swell with affection—her chest filled with warmth she hadn’t felt in years.

Then Jeongyeon laughed with her, pulling her in for a side hug and a gentle bump of heads. The hand around Mina’s shoulder made its way up to her head, and she could feel Jeongyeon stroke her hair.

It was soft and sincere, and it made Mina feel so safe, and so taken care of.

For so very long, she had daydreamed of moments like this.

She had pined, yearned, ached—maybe, just for now, she could let herself believe that her dreams could become reality.

  --

  “Hey, tell me a number.” Chaeyoung spoke suddenly as they walked towards their last class for the day.

“Sixty-nine.” Dahyun replied without missing a beat, receiving a slap on her arm in return. She laughed. “What? It’s a number!”

“Be serious.”

“Fine, four-twent—”

“Forget it.” Chaeyoung rolled her eyes and walked faster. Dahyun caught up to her with a stupid grin.

“Okay, okay. Ninety-six.”

“That’s just sixty-nine backwards!” Chaeyoung’s arm was ready to slap her roommate again.

“No, I’m serious, I swear.”

“Ugh, okay.” She lowered her arm, then wrote it down on her notebook, without explaining anything further. Dahyun knew better than to ask – she was probably working on something artistic again.

Finally arriving at their class, Dahyun took her seat, with Chaeyoung next to her still concentrated on her notes. Dahyun yawned automatically and stretched, tiredness washing over her. It was like the past few days were just now catching up to her and she felt like taking a three-day nap. Momo’s weird behavior was still on her mind, too.

She wondered how Sana was feeling. Maybe she should give her a call later.

“Hey.” A girl sat down next to Dahyun, poking her arm. She blinked quickly, recovering from her yawn. She frowned a bit; she’d never seen the girl before in her life. Was she even in her class?

“Yes?”

“Kim Dahyun, right?”

“Uh… last time I checked, yeah.”

The girl’s smile widened, and she leaned forward. “Say, how did you get so lucky?”

Dahyun stared at the girl with dull eyes for a good five seconds, then shook her head slightly. “Excuse me?”

“Come on, you know what I’m talking about,” Her tone was playful, and it could’ve been a friendly conversation if Dahyun had any idea what this random stranger was going on about. “I just wanted some advice. Can you give me some tips later?”

“…Um.”

“I promise I won’t tell anyone. Just between us.” She winked.

“Yeah…” Dahyun smiled awkwardly, leaning further. “I’m sorry, I really have no clue what we’re talking about right now. Do I know you?”

The girl’s mischievous aura was replaced by confusion. “Why are you hiding this? It’s not like it’s a secret.”

“Hiding what?” Dahyun was starting to become borderline desperate; she just wanted this person to explain what the hell was going on. “Please, help me out friend, I’m bad at puzzles.”

“Your thing with Minatozaki?”

Dahyun froze at Sana’s name. The way the girl said that was really shady, like something bad that people shouldn’t know about, but everyone did. Dahyun’s face might have given away whatever it is that this girl was looking for, because she smirked again. “So, you do know what I’m talking about.”

It was like time stopped for a fraction of a second, but the professor’s voice brought her back to reality.

“In your seats, all of you, class is starting.”

The girl clicked her tongue and got up from the chair. “I’ll catch up with you later. Don’t forget about those tips, I still want to know!” And with that, she left the room. Dahyun followed her with her eyes and managed to see that two other girls were waiting for her outside, as if expecting her to return with some kind of valuable information. When she didn’t, the girls sighed, annoyed, and finally left.

Everything just got even more confusing.

Dahyun had a really bad feeling about all of this.

  --

 “And where were you when the thunder struck the Tomorrow Tree, shattering it in pieces? Thousands, even millions of pieces were scattered around the fields, in every dimension, for everyone to see. Now it’s a mess, and we, the Collectors, will have to dive into it head-first to clean it up!” Nayeon’s voice was boisterous as she said her line with confidence, moving her arms around.

“Why should we?” Momo read the script, sitting down with her back to the wall. “It wasn’t our fault. Humans should be held accountable for their actions for once. I say let them gather the pieces.”

“Humans are weak-minded!” Nayeon turned around and put both hands on her hips, frustrated. “None of the humans that ever came here stayed for long. You know why? Because they couldn’t handle the truth of the world. The fact that time is not a straight arrow, but twists and turns divided into thin lines… it drove them crazy.”

“Insane.”

“Huh?” Nayeon broke character, facing Momo again.

“The line is ‘it drove them insane’.”

“Fuck,” She breathed, then her expression changed again. “The fact that time is not a straight arrow, but twists and turns divided into thin lines… it drove them insane.”

Momo nodded and turned the script page. “But how will humans grow, if time is a loop, and they’re given everything on a silver platter? Isn’t the job of Collectors to make sure disasters don’t occur?”

“Your point being?”

“That disasters will only stop occurring when humans learn from past mistakes. So I repeat: Let them gather the pieces of the Tomorrow Tree.” Momo then put the script away. “And, scene.”

Nayeon’s whole posture relaxed and she made her way over to her friend, sliding down the wall and sitting next to Momo on the floor. “How was it?”

“Hmm, you sounded good to me.” She smiled lazily. “But then again, you always do.”

“Shut up,” Nayeon pushed her away, unable to contain a grin of her own. Momo fell down dramatically, but the actress just rolled her eyes. “I think I got all the lines for this part.”

“How do you even do it?” Momo looked at the pile of scripts next to Nayeon’s leg, still lying down. “This whole story is confusing as hell and this is only the third act. I already forgot half of what I said.”

“Your brain gets used to it,” Nayeon grabbed the script for her performance, rereading it. With a pen, she circled important key words to help her. “It’s like the dances you choreograph. Muscle memory, right?”

“Hm.” Momo nodded slightly, then glanced over the various notes on Nayeon’s scripts; the girl was diligent and organized. No wonder she was cast as the lead in virtually every production the school put on. Nayeon worked hard for it and deserved the recognition.

They were alone backstage, right behind the fallen curtains. Nayeon said that she liked to practice on-stage – it just helped with setting up the scene; where she should stand, how wide her movements were going to be—the details.

Momo enjoyed the atmosphere of an empty backstage, it gave her the sense of freedom that Nayeon probably felt every time she performed in front of hundreds of people. The lights were dim since the place wasn’t being used, making the stage look cozy despite its size.

“How about me?” Momo asked suddenly.

“You?”

“How did I do?” She sat back up, letting her head fall slightly towards Nayeon, facing her.

Nayeon let out a snort. “Could use some practice.”

“Well, at least my mom thinks I’m special.”

“You’re ridiculous.” Nayeon felt giddy in her stomach with how silly Momo was being right now. Despite everything, she didn’t regret letting her help; it did make the whole process a lot easier since now she was in a better state of mind. Being with Momo was like being enveloped by a warm blanket, if only for a moment. Nayeon just needed to be careful to not let herself doze off against it.

She was the fire that would burn the fabric with her destructive nature, eventually.

“You love it.” Momo retorted, looking down with a sheepish smile.

Nayeon flickered her eyes towards her lips for a second, then knocked her head back against the wall softly.

I do.

The silence was growing heavier by the second and she didn’t want to think about it. “I should go talk to Mr. Kwon.”

Momo watched as Nayeon turned around to gather her scripts and tried to put them all neatly inside her bag. It dawned on her how familiar Nayeon’s body movements and gestures were – if she was a silhouette amongst thousands of others, Momo would immediately recognize her. Her hair, her height, the way her right shoulder was a tad lower than her left when she stood still; all of these things fit so perfectly together. Nayeon’s own existence was a performance in itself, and Momo never got tired of watching it. Seeing Nayeon getting ready to get up and leave made Momo want to hold her and never let go.

Perhaps it was too dramatic.

Perhaps it was that untamed anger still inside of her.

Some selfish, overprotective part of Momo didn’t want to let anything else happen to Nayeon. The girl didn’t remember kissing her ex-girlfriend, but that didn’t mean that it hadn’t happened; they do say that alcohol just makes people more honest.

Deep down, Nayeon still had lingering feelings for Jeongyeon, and even if it broke Momo’s heart, she just wanted Nayeon to be happy – she hated that she couldn’t do anything to make this come true.

And the only person who could have helped had lied to her.

And Momo was lying too.

Everything was wrong. She was so tired of hiding things.

“We should run away.” It was sudden, but honest. She just wanted to get away of everything.

Nayeon stopped and turned back to her slowly. “What?”

“Run away. Just leave this place. You and me, throw ourselves into the unknown.” The corner of Momo’s lips turned up. “Perform to people on the road, take baths in the lake. Bring a bunch of instant ramen and some water.”

Nayeon’s eyes softened and she turned fully towards Momo, shoulder against the wall. “Yeah? With what car?”

“We can sell our rare anime figures and buy a shitty car.”

“No, not my Sailor Saturn.” Nayeon whined. Momo laughed.

“Sacrifices are needed in the name of freedom, Nabongs.”

“Yeah… sometimes, they are.” She lowered her gaze. They were both muttering now, and it took Nayeon way too long to realize that Momo was mirroring her pose, far too close to her face. She didn’t have the strength to pull back, however, so she just stood there basking in the sensation.

“Would you come?” Momo reached out and tucked a strand of loose her behind Nayeon’s ear, getting closer. Nayeon’s gaze was intense and she shivered at the touch.

There was something so hypnotizing about Hirai Momo, something too strong to put into words. She was completely and utterly irresistible, and it was incredibly taxing to keep denying her over and over again.

Nayeon’s eyes fluttered shut slowly and she felt herself leaning in as Momo’s fingers brushed behind her ear. She wanted to be so close to her, to allow herself to devote her whole body and soul to this girl, to be selfish for once and take what she wanted.

Indulging to this fantasy, playing pretend with an open heart, saying that there was no one else in the world she would rather have by her side right now than Momo—

That would be half a lie.

Another face flashed inside Nayeon’s mind and her heart ached.

Nayeon turned her face before she could taste the forbidden fruit, and she felt Momo’s lips grazing her cheek softly.

She did not deserve that kiss.

“Would you really leave everything behind?” Nayeon asked in a whisper, lips trembling. “Everyone?”

Momo’s lips were still sliding against her cheek gently, waiting for Nayeon to pull back – but she wasn’t. This entire moment was so delicate that she was afraid of breaking it with the wrong answer.

And Momo thought that she knew the answer, too. She was about to reply against her skin, when she froze.

Now that she was forced to truly think about it, there was one person that Momo absolutely could never leave behind. The weight of the realization hit her hard, and she finally pulled back, opening her eyes.

Nayeon looked at her, and Momo stared back. She seemed shocked.

“Momo?”

“I—” She sighed, shaking her head. “Never mind. I was just teasing.”

Nayeon blinked, then smiled sadly. “It’s okay.” With a final nod, she finally got up, taking her bag with her. “I need to go. Thank you for helping me.”

“Always.” Momo tried to smile back, but she was still processing her thoughts. Nayeon bit her lip and waved her goodbye, leaving the stage.

Momo looked at the dim lights in the ceiling with parted lips.

Suddenly everything was really confusing.

[gloryformore]

all the gay asks :~)

thx babe you're my favorite ;)1. describe your idea of a perfect datea picnic in the park in spring or fall, where it's warm but not stifling like the summer heat of the south. snacky foods, we bring our journals and run around taking pictures. maybe we go on a lil walk around the lake but honestly, as long as it's with someone I like (i.e. my gf) I don't really care (also museums!!!! r hella cool)2. whats your “type”femme, kind, passionate, I guess I kinda have a thing for short people??? bc I've never dated anyone taller than me3. do you want kids?yes, if that was something my SO wanted as well (vi wants kids)4. if you do, will you adopt or use some other form of child birth?with vi, I would carry the child(ren) or we would foster/adopt5. describe the cutest date you’ve ever been onlast Wednesday!!!!! vi and I went on a date for our 4 month anniversary and went to this adorable little coffee shop / art bar thing??? and it was warm outside and nice and we sat in big comfy chairs and worked on friendship bracelets and art journaling and it was wonderful6. describe your experience having sex for the first time (were you nervous? or was it easy peasy?)I've never had sex with anyone7. are you a morning time gay or night time gay?night time gay for sure!8. opinion on nap dates?yes please (vi and I are both constantly in need of naps)9. opinion on brown eyes?adorable!!!!!! beautiful!!!! underappreciated!!!10. dog gay or cat gay?BOTH I used to be dog gay but I was catsitting for my neighbor this week and fell in love with her cats???? but considering vi is allergic to cats I'm more likely to be a dog gay11. would you ever date someone who owned rodents or reptiles??????? potentially?????12. whats a turn off you look for before you start officially dating someonepeople who are rude unnecessarily. people who don't CARE about anything, don't seem to have any passions and aren't willing to express their love and excitement. people who don't care about others or themselves very much at all. 13. what is a misconception you had about lgb people before you realized you were one?that all lgb people wish would rather be straight (tbh it's the absolute opposite I love who I'm attracted to and I love being able to embrace myself and having the opportunity to challenge the biases of those around me)14. what is a piece of advice you would give to your younger selfit's okay to embrace femininity in yourself and in other people. it's okay to struggle and change and don't let anyone discourage you from exploring yourself and liking others. it's brave just to be you. you don't have to do anything more than embrace yourself. 15. (if attracted to more than one gender) do you have different “types” for different genders?n/a really? because I'm really just attracted to women and woman-aligned nb people and I kinda have the same type for both??? 16. who is an ex you regret?my first girlfriend (her name is elana) who was very rude about my struggle with mental illness and just generally forced me into boxes I wasn't comfortable with in our relationship17. night club gay or cafe gay?cafe. I hate partying. I love tea and hot chocolate. 18. who is one person you would “go straight” forcole sprouse riverdale era19. video game gay, book gay, or movie gay?book gay (movie gay is close second)20. favourite gay ship (canon or not)mal and molly from the lumberjanes comics and Betty and Veronica from riverdale! and Kelly and yorkie from black mirror: san junipero 21. favourite gay youtubercece (@problemsofabooknerd) is a gay booktuber and she does videos with her gf sometimes and they're absolutely adorable (plus she makes lots of queer recs videos!!!!!! check her out)22. have you ever unknowingly asked out a straight person?nope23. have you ever been in love?yeep24. have you ever been heartbroken?yeep25. how do you determine if you want to be them or be with someoneI think it depends on the qualities I admire in a person? like with my current gf I fell for her because of how energetic and passionate she was (qualities I already have myself) and realized those were things I wanted in an SO (someone who was just as excited about things and hype as I am about music and books and things) and things I wanted to express with her26. favourite lgb musician/bandhalsey? I don't listen to enough lgb musicians it's honestly very sad27. what is a piece of advice you have for young / baby gaysgive yourself time to explore. it's okay if you change, it's okay if you pick new labels or no labels or if your language becomes more nuanced along with your personality. it's okay to do whatever feels most comfortable for you. there's no rush, you have a long time to love ahead of you28. are you out? if so how did you come outmostly, yes. I came out as bi in 7th grade and over time have realized I'm not really attracted to men/man-aligned people so now I identify as a nonbinary lesbian and mostly I come out to people by talking about my gf (I am assumed a gay girl, which is close enough to my identity that I don't feel too uncomfortable if gender is harder to explain to certain people)29. what is the most uncomfortable / strange coming out experience you have I haven't had many weird ones????? except I came out to half of my math class when a guy said he wanted to go balls deep in me and I was like "no thanks I'm gay I have a girlfriend and you are the LAST person I would let near my body"30. what is a piece of advice for people who may not be in a safe place to express their sexualityexpress it however you can. don't suppress your identity, but please be safe. journal using code words. start a blog. find a support group. join a forum. do whatever you need to feel like you aren't destroying yourself by hiding. I promise, your safety is the most important thing. just don't let bigotry convince you that there's something wrong with you. I love you so much and you deserve to love in the way your heart wants.