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#and then i read another book by the same author expecting that maybe it was a fluke that the first one was bad and this would be better
vampirebiter · 3 months
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its so hard being an extreme horror fan because a lot of it is just. more or less edgy for the sake of being edgy and kinda ass and most of the ones that get popular so they get recommended are also kinda ass
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lindssunflower · 17 days
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𝐈 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔, 𝐈'𝐌 𝐒𝐎𝐑𝐑𝐘, bradley bradshaw
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♡ ✈︎ authors note: guys i'm attempting to write again! this is gonna be so sad or not necessarily sad I guess? idk lol - also this is based on the song "I love you, I'm sorry" by gracie abrams.
♡ ✈︎ summary: you and bradley had been in a semi-serious relationship, at least it was to you. that was until you asked him about you and his future. he decided to end it that day. completely breaking your heart. you wanted to settle down and he wanted to fly. communication was completely cut off after the breakup. that was until bradley almost gets shot down by an enemy aircraft. his mindset changes.
♡ ✈︎ pairing: bradley bradshaw xf! reader
♡ ✈︎ warnings: lots of angst. mentions of a near death experience.
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it has been three months since you've talked to bradley bradshaw. three months since you've seen him. he's blocked you on all social media, but of course that's never stopped you from reaching out to phoenix to ask her how he's been. even if he completely broke your heart over wine and reality tv.
you still loved the pilot.
you were sitting on the ugly jean blue couch that once belonged to you and bradley but its just yours now. you were curled up on the couch reading another sappy romance novel, light music playing in the back. it was a regular saturday night. you would usually be at the hard deck bar with bradley's all- so -familiar arm around your shoulder as you laughed at something stupid with pheonix and bob.
you miss the feeling of his arm around you. his smile when he'd talk about his mom with you. or his stupid dancing in the kitchen. the scars on his face and neck. everything about the man.
however, he didn't want you anymore. he left you. he didn't want the pickett fence and the golden retriever with the two kids. no, bradley wanted to fly. he wanted the rush of dogfights and the pride of fighting for the country he loved more than he wanted a family with you.
and that hurt. you knew you couldn't ask him to give that up. of course not, he loved flying with his entire heart. you wouldn't ever ask him to give that up, but just the fact he didn't want to give up a little bit of that for you that hurt. you realized the night he broke up with you his heart wasn't all for you the way you're heart was all for bradley.
you sighed as you went back to reading your novel, until your phone dinged on the coffee table. you weren't expecting anyone to message you, especially not at 1:18am.
you assumed maybe it was your best friend ranting about her new situationship of the month. bradley hated her drama.
what you didn't expect was for your heart to completely drop when you saw bradley's caller I.D to show up on your screen.
what you really didn't expect was the message he sent.
I know this is sudden. I almost died today. I don't want to get into the details of it. It made me realize that I've been such a coward and I want what you want now y/n. I can't imagine my life without you. I love you, I'm sorry.
is this real? you thought as the book that was in your left hand dropped to the soft carpet that you and bradley have too many times danced on.
you feel tears brim your eyes as you put the phone on the coffee table and contemplate if you message him back. is he okay? is he hurt? is he realizing that he actually loved you? these thoughts ran through your mind.
nobody could fake the way he looked at you, not even him. cause you sure didn't fake the way you looked at him.
what do I say? what do I say? the four same words raced in your mind. do you text your best friend? your mother?
what? > sent
that's all I could come up with? you mentally scolded yourself for the pathetic, boring response. but then again, what were you supposed to say? this was the same man who walked out of your life just as quick as he walked in.
your phone rang the familiar text tone;
I miss you y/n. I miss us. and I just now realized that and I'm so sorry. being in that cockpit today not knowing if I was going to make it made me realize how much I loved you and that I want that pickett fence and even the stupid dog. It changed my perspective on everything.
tears fell down your face as you stare at the message.
come over. let's talk.
you sent without even thinking of the response twice. is this a bad idea? probably. you quickly stand to your feet and try to clean up the fact you've been sitting on this couch for at least 5 hours. you wipe your face and run to the bathroom to brush your hair before bradley shows up. what if he doesn't? is this a joke?
I'm on the way.
what am I thinking?
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♡ ✈︎ authors note: SO what do we think? let me know! part two?
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nikkento-writes · 2 months
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Bad Romance
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Pairing: Toji Fushiguro x f!reader
Rating: Explicit - MINORS DO NOT INTERACT
Word Count: ~2.7k
cw: Wild West au, no curses au, violence, implied sex work, explicit language, explicit sexual content, smut - PIV sex, blow job, cunnilingus, dirty talk, pet names, creampie
Summary: You’re the Vixen Viper, an outlaw on the run with an outstanding bounty. You find a temporary safe-haven at the Star Saloon, protecting the women who work there while they protect you from the authorities. One night, a bounty hunter by the name of Toji Fushiguro shows up, threatening to cause some trouble. Somehow, you find the perfect way to subdue him.
Author's Note: This is a repost from my old blog! I originally wrote this as a request for a milestone event I was doing and it's still one of my fave fics that I've written, so I wanted to share it on here. I'm thinking of writing a Part 2 to this, we'll see! I just love the idea of Toji in the Wild West, idk, I think it fits him very well. Likes, reblogs, and/or comments are never expected, but always appreciated. Thanks for reading! Divider credit to @/fic-dumpster.
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Midnight at the Star Saloon is always lively with rambunctious activity. It’s the perfect time for stragglers moseying through town or the miscreant locals to stop by for a break, meaning booze, gambling, or sex. Usually all three in one night. You’ve been a regular here for almost three months now, befriending the women and men who work hard to keep the patrons satisfied. Whether it’s serving alcohol until they fall out of their seats, enabling poker addictions, or riding their cocks in one of the private rooms upstairs at a special rate, they do it all to make an honest living. Though on occasion, customers will cross the line.
And that’s where you come in.
It started two months ago, after you had frequented the saloon enough times to be considered a regular. It was around three in the morning when one of the barmaids approached you, asking you to follow her upstairs. She led you into the private room all the way down the hall, and inside was another worker, sitting at the foot of the bed, cheek swollen and a black eye all on the left side of her face. That’s all you needed to see to set you off. The perp had already left, but you knew who he was as soon as she described him. And, of course, like all assholes do, thinking they got away with it, he came back. When he did, it was you this time who took him upstairs to that same bedroom, dressed in one of the barmaid’s outfits. You, who flirted with him and stripped him naked on the bed, promising to give him exactly what he deserved. And finally, it was you who robbed him and held a sharp blade to his pathetic penis, threatening to slice it right off if he ever showed his ugly fucking face in this town again. You haven’t seen him since.
At that time, your friends at the Star Saloon already knew you were someone who could handle things. Maybe it was the way you dressed at first, often showing up in cowboy attire, ready to book it if the situation called for it. Or maybe it was because they recognized you from the wanted posters plastered in the next town over, your silly nickname the Vixen Viper in big bold print below an unflattering photo of you from the last time you landed in jail, right before you escaped. They never mentioned it; never reported you to the authorities. Instead, they welcomed you in with open arms. There’s a bounty on your head for the crimes you committed against sleazy men like that, but you hold no guilt for your actions. To you, and to all the women in the saloons you’ve frequented, it’s justice. They need someone like you to protect people like them. Because lord knows that no one else in this godforsaken world will.
You’ve lasted three months in this town without the authorities catching on to you yet. You look quite different from your poster when you’re done up in makeup and a frilly dress, dagger concealed in the garter wrapped around your thigh. And with the help of your friends, you’ve managed to hide in plain sight, posing as one of the barmaids while you patrol the late-night crowd for any possible threats. Violence against these women has significantly lessened since you’ve been around. The rumor amongst the patrons is that men who misbehave get their money taken and their dicks chopped off, which is pretty spot-on to the actual truth. So fortunately, for both the workers and the customers, there isn’t any trouble. 
Tonight is a little different.
You lean against the bar doing your usual inspection, checking for people who are causing a ruckus or getting rough with any of the ladies. You’re dressed similarly to them, though you never get requested to entertain in one of the private rooms above, considering you don’t go out of your way to flirt with any of the men. You lack the illustrious charm the others do; you’re only here for when things get ugly. It surprises you when a mysterious stranger on the other side of the room points to you directly, wiggling his finger to beckon you over. He smirks, the prominent scar on his lips curving with it. You grab your drink and walk over to him, curious to see what this is about, sensing that it can’t be anything good.
When you reach his table, you give him your most cordial smile. “Good evening, sir. Is there something I can help you with?”
He grins, waving to the seat across from him. “I was hoping you can join me for a little chat.” His tone is even, though there’s a hint of something sinister in there. Maybe it’s your imagination or better yet, your intuition. You’ll soon find out.
You drag the chair out, plopping into it, laying your hands flat on your lap, palm pressed to the knife hidden beneath your skirt. He scans you up and down before asking, “What’s your name, sweetheart?”
Resisting the urge to roll your eyes at him, you answer, giving him a fake one, of course. He nods, accepting it. “Toji Fushiguro. Pleasure to meet you.” He holds his hand out, which you take reluctantly, shaking it. His grip is firm, callouses rough against your own. “I saw you and knew I had to meet you.”
Your raise a brow at him. “Oh? What about me caught your eye?"
“Thought I recognized you from somewhere.” His gaze lingers on yours, expression unwavering.
Your heart stops momentarily, a rock settling in the pit of your stomach. Not here, not now. You swallow thickly, feigning ignorance. “Really? From where?”
He slides you a rolled-up paper, nodding his head for you to open it. “Take a look.”
Trembling now, you obey, unraveling it slowly until you see the words WANTED: ALIVE and your face staring back at you. There’s no need to go any further. You fold it up immediately, heart racing, glancing at your surroundings hoping no one else is listening in on your conversation. As calmly as you can, you lean forward towards him, muttering, “So what, are you going to arrest me? Hog-tie me in front of all these people?”
He inches even closer, noses nearly touching now, his breath tickling you. “Now, I’m a gentleman. I like to know a woman first before I tie her up.”
You scoff. “So what, am I supposed to come quietly then?”
He glances at your mouth, then back to your eyes. “I’m willing to negotiate if you have something to offer.”
You clear your throat, intrigued by his response. “Let’s discuss this somewhere more private,” you say, grabbing his wrist and dragging him up the stairs with you.
“Lead the way, Vixen.”
You lead him to the very end of the hallway, the furthest room away from the bar downstairs. There’s a fire escape just outside the window, your best chance to evade arrest. First, you’ll have to subdue him.
Inside, you lock the door shut, turning to face him. “Are you a police officer?”
He shakes his head. “Guess again,” he answers, opening his coat to display the gun and knife hanging on his belt.
“Bounty hunter,” you state, glaring at him.
“Yup. And you, my dear, have a very hefty bounty on your pretty little head.” He steps towards you, caging you between his arms, your back flat against the door. Although you remain untouched, his presence is suffocating.
“What do want?” you ask him, breathing in deeply through your nose.
“All the loot you robbed from those scumbags. Enough to exceed the bounty I’d get if I brought you back with me.”
You smirk. “Is that it?”
“And a deal,” he adds. “A partnership.”
You stare at him, confused. “What?”
He laughs, amused by your reaction. “I’ll admit, I’m a fan of your work. Drifting through town-to-town, robbing sleazy assholes. And you haven’t been caught until now. It’s impressive.”
You’re caught off guard by the praise, relaxing just the slightest bit. “So, what do you propose?”
He lets his arms down, placing his hands in his pockets while he explains himself. “There are several bounties for men exactly like the ones you hate. If you promise to help me get them, I won’t take you in tonight. I’ll even give you some of the money. If you’re good.”
“And why can’t you do this yourself?”
“It’s easier to get a guy when his guard’s down. If there’s a pretty little thing like you seducing him, catching him will be easy as pie.”
You stare at him, contemplating his proposition. It’s an easy decision for you to make. It’s either this, or jail. “Fine. You have a deal.”
He offers his hand to you. “Put it there, partner.” His tone is soft, almost sincere. You can’t help thinking that if this were any other scenario, you’d find him attractive. Hell, even in this one, you’re drawn to him. You take his hand, shaking it. He tugs you in closer, voice low and seductive. “I think we should celebrate this new friendship. What do you say?”
You smile at him, what feels like the first genuine one of the night. Maybe this isn’t as bad as you initially thought. When you close the distance, his mouth is on yours quickly, lips smacking, wet and sloppy. He slides out of his jacket, letting it thud loudly on the hardwood with his weapons weighing it down. The shirt he wears is tight on his body, clinging to him, emphasizing his muscular physique. You can’t remember the last time you were intimate with a man without the intention to backstab him. In fact, it’s been a while since you were intimate at all. With him guiding you, however, you match his movements naturally, sliding your hands up his torso, pawing at his chest as his hands squeeze your hips, pulling you towards the bed.
He moans, slipping his wide tongue past your lips, deepening the kiss and exerting his dominance. “Can’t wait to see what the Vixen Viper can really do,” he huffs, hoisting the hem of your dress, bunching it in his fist. His fingers trail the inside of your thighs, stopping at the garter, feeling the handle of the knife strapped to you. He clicks his tongue, mouth hovering your ear, hooking his finger to snap the elastic against your skin. “You really are dangerous.”
You let out a whimper, your pussy throbbing with arousal. He grabs the blade by the handle, whipping it out from its holster, tossing it to the other side of the room away from you. You chuckle, lifting your arms up so he can strip you properly. “Are you scared of me?”
He removes your corset swiftly, squeezing your bare breasts in his hands, thumbs flicking at your nipples. “I don’t want to get stabbed in case you change your mind.”
You shove him onto the bed, where he lies flat on his back, watching you straddle his lap, naked. “If I do that, then I wouldn’t get to fuck you.”
He laughs loudly, biting his lip. “Oh? You’re the one who’s gonna fuck me?”
“Yeah, I reckon,” you reply, unbuckling his belt and undoing his zipper. He continues to watch you intently, groaning when you shimmy his pants off to release his cock. It flops against his abdomen, even bigger than you imagined, all veiny and girthy. You salivate at the sight of it, opening your mouth for a taste.
“Fuck,” he curses, head relaxing into mattress, staring wide-eyed at the ceiling as you sink down on him, swallowing him up until the tip hits the back of your throat. You bob up and down on his shaft, gripping the base of his cock, swirling your tongue around the head. “You suck cock like a fucking whore. Did your friends out there teach you that?”
You grasp his balls in your hand, squeezing them tight, causing him to shudder. Shaking your head, you say, “I learned this from experience.”
He smirks. “Yeah? Come here. Put this pussy on my face. Bet I can teach you something you haven’t learned yet.”
You release him, crawling up his body until your wet cunt is pressed to his lips. His tongue laps at your arousal, swirling around your aching clit. You grip the top of the headboard, grinding on him. “Oh fuck!”
His hands surround your ass, squeezing at your soft cheeks, fingers digging into your flesh. He hums into your skin, the vibrations adding to the sensation. He nods beneath you, encouraging you. “That’s it, sweetheart. Take it. Take it like a good slut.”
He takes you into his mouth, slurping at your clit until your gushing all over his face, your orgasm shiny on his lips and chin. His eyes are wild with excitement, peering up at you between your legs. Kissing the plush of your thighs, he says, “Well, go on then, Vixen. Fuck me.”
Soon, you’re sinking down onto his fat cock, pussy already soaking wet with slick and spit. He fills you up to the brim, taking a few seconds to adjust to size comfortable. When you’re ready, you start to bounce on his lap, his cock thrusting in and out of you smoothly. He hits your sweet spot over and over, stimulating you into another messy orgasm after just a few solid strokes. Your tongue hangs out of your mouth, drool leaking down your chin, throat dry from the incessant moaning.
“Look at you. So fucked out for me,” he growls, planting his feet on the bed, taking control. He grabs onto your hips firmly, pounding up into you, watching your entire body convulse with each delicious thrust. “You talk a big game, but you like being manhandled like this. You’re just a slutty little hole waiting to be ruined. Waiting for the right man to use you.” He presses his thumb to your clit, massaging it with deep strokes. “Seems like you finally met the perfect partner.”
“Fuck, Toji!” you cry out, unraveling once again.
He increases his pace, the bed creaking noisily below you. “That’s it, baby. Come with me. Gonna breed this perfect pussy. Gonna fill you up so fucking good.” He pulls you down towards him, wrapping you in his arms, kissing you fiercely as he pumps his load inside you.
You both lay still for a moment, catching your breaths, Toji peppering delicate smooches along your neck. You’re surprised at how gentle he’s being, considering his brutish behavior from earlier. When enough silence passes, you look at him, grinning. “What a way to celebrate, am I right? Partner?”
He laces his fingers with yours. “The beginning of a beautiful friendship.”
After you clean yourselves up as best as possible, you snuggle together under the covers, him spooning you from behind. “’Night, Toji Fushiguro.”
He nuzzles his nose to the nape of your neck, whispering, “What’s your real name?”
You smile, grazing your lips on his knuckles, actually giving it to him.
~~~
Toji Fushiguro, the most sought-after bounty hunter in all the west, wakes up the morning feeling fantastic.
He glances to his side, hoping to see his lovely new partner still peacefully asleep beside him. To his surprise, no one is there. He inspects the room, searching for clues on where she ran off to and notices nothing.
And that’s when it hits him. There’s nothing in the room.
All his clothes are gone, his weapons, the wallet full of cash buried in his pockets, even the very blanket they fell asleep under. He’s as naked as the day he was born, confused and beguiled until he finally realizes it. He’s been robbed. And it was the Vixen Viper who robbed him.
The only thing he finds is her wanted poster, folded up on the bedside table, a small note scribbled to the back of it:
Toji - Thanks for the fun night, but I don’t do partners. Maybe the next time you catch me, I’ll reconsider.  
He laughs, unable to contain his smile as he reads her real name signed at the end of it.
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marasvenus · 11 months
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How An Author Would Describe You & Your Person ┊ ༑ ࿐ྂ。
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Disclaimer: This reading is for entertainment purposes only. Tarot readings are about possibilities based on your current energy. Energy is forever changing and nothing is set in stone. Always remember, you have your own free will to make whatever decision you feel is best.
Book a reading with me here!
Pile 1 ࿐
This is actually a very cute energy 🥹. If you were in a book, I think the book itself would be about your child/children but you and your person would play such a huge part in it.
An author would describe the two of you as a couple that had been through so much but came out of all of it stronger than ever. Maybe the two of you got together very young and struggled through some of the most transformative years of your life together, loving each other through a million different stages as you worked to find yourselves and each other. An author would write a lot about the bond the two of you share, the way it’s almost like you can read each others minds and understand each other on a level that is rare and beautiful. An author might write about financial struggles or loss that you may have faced together early in your relationship and how those struggles shaped each of you and your relationship as a whole for the better. There’s a strength and stability in your relationship because you survived your lowest points together and loved each other through your worst moments so you could become your best selves together.
Because this books seems to be from the POV of your child, it seems as though your relationship and the strength/stability of it would be referenced a lot in this book. You and your partner would be written in as voices of wisdom and words of advice when it was needed, helping guide the story in the right direction and give the reader hope and a sense of peace. I heard “the book wouldn’t feel whole without you” for some readers, you’d make the book really worth reading.
Pile 2 ࿐
An author would describe this love as a beautiful, all encompassing kind of love. Possibly a first love, the kind of love that you only feel once. There’s a rush of so much emotion and excitement but also fear of the unknown. This love is about embracing the uncertain and opening yourself up to another person in a way you haven’t opened up to someone before. Laying all your cards out on the table and hoping the other person is prepared to do the same. This love would be described as watching curiosity and infatuation bloom into love and admiration for someone that you’ll never get tired of getting to know. It’s about taking someone in for all that they are, mind, body, and soul.
This love would be described one of the most beautiful things that we get to experience as humans and part of what makes life so worth living, written as every beautiful emotion that makes all pain and suffering that we face at some point so worth it. I think you would be the author of the book this love is written in, writing from a place of wisdom and looking back on the past and everything that made you the person you become to be, writing about all the moments in your life that shaped you as a human and shaped you for better or for worse.
Pile 3 ࿐
This love is a love you haven’t found yet. Some of you may be going through heartbreak and I think this reading is meant as a beacon of hope, your guides reminded you that there is better for you out there and it will come when you least expect it. I heard “don’t hold on so tightly to something that no longer serves you”
This love would he written as devotion and certainty from the point of first eye contact. A love that never weavers and doesn’t leave room for any doubt. A love that you are deserving of. This love is a love worth fighting for. This is something you’ve dreamed about since you were a child, to finally receive everything you’ve been giving for so many years. It would be written as kind, gentle, forgiving, safe. This love is pure happiness and bliss and you will never be left doubting it or wishing for more.
This book would be a fantasy or fairytale book. Filled with beautiful scenery. You and your person would be apart of some sort of series of books, a couple that readers root for and want to see succeed. The book would provide readers with the same sense of comfort and safety that you and your person provide each other with. Stories of your love would give readers hope for themselves and their future.
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yoonieper · 4 months
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For the Birds— Prologue | JJK
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I want you to stay even though you don’t want me.
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♡ Pairing: Jungkook x Reader (feat. Yuri) 
♡ Genre: angst, smut, future fluff
♡ Rated: D for Disappointment
♡ Series Warnings: Lots of smut (not always healthy), cheating, discussions of depression, this series includes Jk in a pretty toxic environment, degradation (not the sexy kind), manipulation, and overall Jk being in an emotionally abusive situation! This chapter is not too bad, but please read with caution going forward!
♡ Chapter Warnings: Jk sad boy, Yuri being… :/, oral (f. receiving), masturbation (m)
♡ Word Count: 12.6k
♡ Summary: As the son of the CEO at Golden Tech, a marriage was arranged in the name of business. Jungkook really tried to make the most of his situation and be the best husband he could be, but no matter how much he tried, his wife just doesn’t seem to want him. Then you… you came into his life and his eyes couldn’t help but wander.
♡ Now Playing: LOVE. by Kendrick Lamar (feat. Zacari)– see masterlist for full playlist!
♡ Betas: Thank you so much to @illyrian-book-lover and @teawithhoneyandlemon for reading this part for me! If you’re interested in betaing future parts, dm me. If you're interested in becoming a permanent beta for this series please first click here and refer to 'details about the job' section for more details and dm for any questions you might have! 
♡ Author’s Note: I’ve been working on this for a while, but I got sudden inspiration to finish the prologue~ This series should get pretty exciting, so stay tuned! ← Omg y’all the prologue has been in my drafts since 2020 :’) This series has gone through a lot of evolution that I might talk about in the future. This series is very different from where it started, but the prologue has always remained vastly the same, so it has a special place in my heart! Hope you enjoy the series my friends, this one is very emotional, so prepare for the rollercoaster ahead! I’m excited to show you what’s to come <3!
No reposting, modifying. Translating is not allowed unless given explicit permission. Thank you so much : D
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main masterlist ✩ series masterlist » next chapter
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“Secretary Yu, could you remind me of the schedule for the day?”Jungkook let his disgruntled sigh fill the room as he rubbed his temples, doing anything he could for a chance to soothe the subtle pounding in his head. Displeasure was painted all over his features, and his eyes were tightly closed while he listened to his assistant’s clicking heels stop in front of his desk. 
The room was dark, but that hadn’t kept his retinas from burning any less as he looked at the woman in front of him— he didn’t know at this point if it was because of all the crying or the exhaustion from waking up so early. The day had only just begun, and he already wanted it to end; to just climb back in bed, sleep away his troubles, and forget everything that transpired over the last 24 hours. Hell, maybe there was still a chance he was asleep, and that this was all just a bad nightmare his brain had conjured up in nervousness.
“Director Jeon? I didn’t expect you to be in so early.” Secretary Yu Min-ju tried to smile but the furrowing of her eyebrows made it obvious she was a little confused. This hadn’t been part of the plan they discussed. Jungkook didn’t let the moment linger, instead, gave her a firm look of exasperation that made her hastily pull out her tablet to find his schedule. 
Her usual cheerfulness was not what he needed today. 
Min-ju couldn't stop the smile appearing on her face when she saw its rare emptiness. “Your hard work these past few days has paid off. Today is pretty light. A meeting with the financial team at 12, and then another meeting at 1pm with Mr. Cho. You should be able to go home after that.” The secretary warmly smiled.
Jungkook’s eyes drifted down to the picture sitting on his desk as she spoke. It was of him and his wife on their honeymoon last year to The Maldives. They had been walking on the beach and his mother had texted and begged for a picture of the new couple; Jungkook could do nothing but oblige. Yuri had clung onto his shoulders when he held up his phone, and upon counting down to one, gave him a surprise kiss on the cheek leading to Jungkook’s eager, unnaturally wide smile being captured forever and memorialized on his desk. He couldn’t help but frown. 
He wanted to be excited, craved for it, yearned for it, but home was the last place he wanted to be right now. All that hard work for nothing. For once he wished he had more to do, anything to keep his mind busy.
“Didn’t I have deadlines for a few upcoming reports?” He suddenly questioned. 
Min-ju looked farther down her list and she nodded. “There are a few documents that need reviewing and signatures, but a majority of them aren’t due till next week. But you don’t need to—“ 
“I’ll get them done today.” Jungkook’s tone was astoundingly emotionless, completely void of the delightful emotion he had spoken with in the days leading up to today. Min-ju was at a loss for words. She knew how hard he worked to free up his day for the special occasion. What's with the sudden change of plans? What happened? 
It was Jungkook himself who had requested for her to try and free his schedule so he would be in the office for as little time as possible. There was no joy or giddiness behind his eyes like she had expected. Min-ju had pictured her boss walking in with a strange cheerfulness in his mood, rainbows and sparkles practically dancing around him as he skipped through the halls and greeted her good morning. But his tone lacked spirit altogether. Jungkook was like a husk compared to the person she said goodbye to the evening prior. 
“I— uh alright, I’ll make sure to send them to you later sir.” Min-ju bowed, before she scrambled away. 
Jungkook listened intently to the way her heels tentatively clicked while she walked out, it was at a certain speed that told him she was rushing to get out of there. As soon as the door closed behind her, he let out a loud sigh as he leaned back in his chair. 
What a fucking disappointment this whole day turned out to be.
Jungkook had planned today to be one of the most preeminent days for him and his wife as a couple and those plans were all squashed within a second last night. It had been playing over and over in his head since he woke up this morning.
He tangled his hands in his hair, his grip growing tighter and tighter on his short locks as the reality of the situation hit him for the billionth time. It just wouldn’t stop, replaying in a loop hoping something might change. That he’d wake up from this nightmare, or maybe even realize something that in the heat of the moment had gone entirely unnoticed— anything to explain what happened. Last night still didn’t feel real. 
The cancellation had been entirely unexpected.
•────•──────────•────•
Last night Jungkook had been in high spirits all day. A radiance was cast on his features by the pure, exorbitant elation flowing through his body. It was like the most beautiful display of fireworks were going off all at once, tickling his insides, and making the smile on his face grow so wide it hurt his cheeks but he couldn’t find it in him to stop. After all, tomorrow was going to be the turning point for their relationship. Something was about to happen, he was sure of it.
Jungkook was lying on their shared bed, having just recently come out from the shower. His hair was still slightly damp, and a giddy smile was plastered on his face as he scrolled through his phone. He was eagerly reviewing their itinerary for their plans tomorrow. 
D-day. The day that Jungkook and his wife were meant to celebrate their one and a half year anniversary. It might be a weird occasion to commemorate, but after being apart for too many holidays and milestones for various reasons, Jungkook went out of his way and made it a point to plan something to make up for all the lost time. 
He let his attention turn from his phone and settled on his wife who was meticulously going through her nightly routine at her vanity. His smile softened as he silently watched her dab night cream across her cheeks. 
How was this his life?
Sometimes it was a little hard to believe Yuri was actually his wife, it was almost intimidating at how beautiful she was. Her eyes were round yet sharp in their gaze as she focused on the mirror. Her skin was usually so soft but it shined even more so at that moment from all the various oils and moisturizers she made sure to use every night. Her long, dark hair flowed nicely down her back but was pushed out of her face by a cute, fuzzy, gray headband. And even in pajamas, she managed to carry this level of elegance that pulled him in so easily. 
Jungkook bit his lip to contain the smile that was threatening to envelop him entirely. 
The outfit was especially a big deal. It was different from the shorts and tank tops she’d normally wear. It had been his idea to start the celebration with matching pajamas, a slight preview to the day he had planned for the both of them. Jungkook’s heart had hammered in his chest when Yuri relented and agreed to wear the set he had given to her before she went to shower. It matched his own exactly. It was nothing too special, but a nice way to bring them together before the big day. A simple, gray pajama-button-down-classic; the material was so soft and he knew Yuri would look just as amazing as it felt. 
She always did.
His excitement was almost overflowing, Jungkook couldn’t stop himself from getting up so he was right behind her. He wrapped his arms around her small frame, and gently placed a quick peck on her neck. 
“I’m so excited for tomorrow~” He hummed lightly into her skin. 
Yuri didn’t say anything, her attention trained on her reflection. 
“What about you? Are you looking forward to spending the day together and doing all the fun stuff I have planned?” He sang. As soon as the words left his mouth he knew it sounded cringey, but for once he didn’t care. He just wanted to hear it, that she was excited to be with him.
Yuri’s gaze eventually flickered over to him before she turned around to face him. 
“Jungkook, I have to tell you something…“ She sighed. He tried to ignore his uneasy feeling about her tone. 
“Oh, you did?” Jungkook attempted to fight back his disappointment. That wasn’t what he hoped she’d say. 
“Yeah, I did,” she muttered. He hated the look on his face as he peered into the mirror. A slight frown had dimmed down his smile, and he wanted to do anything to wipe it away. There was no time for frowning, he didn’t want to ruin tomorrow before it even started. He shouldn’t overthink it.
“I had something I needed to mention too.” He went back over to the bed. “I wasn’t able to get out of my meetings tomorrow so I’ll have to go in for a few hours, but I promise I’ll come straight back here.” He had really tried, but there was no way to reschedule them any further into the week. At least that was the only thing on his agenda tomorrow, however, he had wanted to take the day off completely and spend it with his wife. 
Jungkook saw Yuri’s face drop. 
“Don't worry, I’ll be here all morning! I worked hard to clear my schedule as much as I could, it’ll just be two meetings and then I’m back.” He tried to smile. Hopefully, she wouldn’t mind the brief interruption too much.
“Actually—“ Yuri dragged it out as she looked back into the mirror to make sure she rubbed in the cream well, “I have plans tomorrow.” She put it frankly. 
Jungkook blinked a couple of times before a look of confusion settled on his features. “Plans?” His voice had grown small. It didn’t have a reason to yet, but maybe all along he knew where this was going the minute she brought it up.
“I have a friend from when I went to school in the US coming to visit.” She mumbled. Jungkook couldn’t hide the disappointment from showing. 
“Oh? Um…”
“We’re planning to spend some time together, so…” 
“When will you guys be done?” He questioned, still a little shocked that she was just telling him about this now, the day before their plans. “Hopefully we can work around it. Maybe you guys could meet up while I’m gone so it doesn’t mess up—“ 
“Jungkook, this is going to be an all-day thing.” He could see the way Yuri watched his expression from the mirror as the gears started turning in his head, now realizing what that meant. The silence that settled in the room was painful. 
“But… but we had plans.” 
“I know we did, but—“ 
“But?! Yuri I told you weeks ago!” Jungkook retorted. He was angry now. He didn’t want to be angry.
“Weeks Yuri, weeks!” He continued, unable to process this was happening. There was no way she could have simply “forgotten” about the day they were supposed to spend together. He’d literally been talking about it since they both agreed to do this a few weeks ago.
“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” He accused, confused how news like this would just go unsaid. 
“She just called me two days ago,” Yuri argued, as if that would make this any better. 
“Two days ago— and you didn’t say anything until now?” He was baffled. There was no excuse why she couldn’t have brought this up sooner. 
“Well— look how you’re reacting.” She scoffed and crossed her arms.
That just set him off even more.
“How I’m reacting, Yuri?! We talked about this for weeks; it’s the only thing I’ve been talking about for the past few days. I’m sorry that I was excited to spend the day with my wife.” Jungkook exploded at her. He was furious, and he didn’t like it. This wasn’t how this day was supposed to go. 
Yuri didn’t say anything but instead rolled her eyes.
“And you can’t just cancel?!” He finally asked, getting up and pacing around their shared room. 
“Jungkook, she's my friend! I haven’t seen her in a while and—“
“But what about me?!” He snapped. The words seemed to hang in the air, a painful silence following it. Jungkook noticed the look on her face, and he sighed as he sat down at the edge of the bed so he was facing her. He ran his hands through his hair and took a couple deep breaths to get himself to calm down.
“I didn’t mean for it to come out like that… it’s just… Yuri, we've been married for a year and a half and I feel like I hardly know you. I know this is technically only meant to be business, but I thought we said we’d try and make this work.” He cried as he grabbed a hold of her hands. He looked her directly in the eyes, wanting her to know that he meant every word. 
Was he really asking for too much?
“We’ve hardly gotten time together since our honeymoon. Our schedules are full, and I know that’s not our fault, but I just wanted some time alone with you even if it was only for a day.” He pleaded; the desperation was so evident in his voice. He felt pathetic. 
“We can do that any day. My friend will only be here for the next two weeks.” Yuri acknowledged before she turned back to her vanity. 
“And why can’t you just hang out another day?” He asked, defeat overtaking him and his efforts to convince her. There was no point really. It seemed she had already made up her mind.
“I said she’s leaving in two weeks. We only have a limited time to hang out before she’s catching a plane back to California. Besides, we can just do something after she leaves. We will have all the time in the world when she’s gone in two weeks.” Her words were punches straight to the heart. She always says that when she needs to cancel plans— that next week never comes. 
Her excuse was ridiculous, but this wasn’t the first time it had happened. He’s used to it now and knows there isn’t really any point in trying to negotiate. 
“Yuri, I have a business trip that week.” 
“Well what about the—“ she was cut off. 
“You have a shoot in Hawaii that week.” Jungkook just sighed and got back up to sit on his side of the bed. “We can just forget about it all together in that case.” He fumed as he flipped over, now too upset to even face her right now. 
Part of him was hoping she’d just say “Never mind, I’ll just reschedule,” jump in the bed and cuddle with him because she realized just how much this meant to him, to herself, and to them both as a couple. Everything would be fine and–
But no… Yuri just sat there, seemingly unaffected by the cancellation of their plans.
He began to think it was a little sad at how upset he was. Yuri didn’t care; maybe he truly had made this a bigger deal than it needed to be. She was right in some sense— they live together and can plan something any day of the year. 
But it still hurt that just for this one day, Yuri didn’t want to spend time with him. 
•────•──────────•────•
It did not get any better the next day. He woke up in a bad mood. She wasn’t even there in the morning. Everything just made him upset: Yuri’s cold, empty side of the bed, he forgot to turn off his alarm so he missed his opportunity to sleep in, and he nearly slipped in the shower as he was ranting to himself about how dumb this was. Their annoying, squeaky bedroom door that Jungkook’s been meaning to call someone about. Even the milk for his cereal pissed him off because he asked Yuri last night to pick up more while she was out but of course, she forgot, and he forgot to tell their cook about it thinking she’d get it, so he only had a little left for his breakfast this morning.
The last place he wanted to be was at their apartment so he left for work as soon as he was ready.
Jungkook took out his phone knowing he had some time to kill and he needed someone to rant to or else he was going to go crazy. A few minutes later, like the trusty friend he was, Jimin was bursting through the door like he was the Kool Aid man, ready to listen to all of Jungkook’s problems. 
“Ok, who’s ass do I need to kick?” Jimin came in, hands up, ready to fight– which might have been Jungkook’s fault with the ambiguous text he sent to his hyung. Saying “the world’s ending, need help now!” might have been a little too drastic, but it felt appropriate at the moment.
“Mine...” Jungkook groaned, his head was on the desk but he could hear Jimin’s footsteps hurrying over, before taking a seat in the chair in front of his desk. This was routine at this point.
The two of them had been friends for a number of years now. Jimin was two years older than Jungkook and had mainly been friends with his brother at first. But when Junghyeon left, apparently he decided he needed to leave his big brother duties to someone, and he thought who else would be a better fit to watch over him than Park Jimin? Those were Junghyeon’s words when Jungkook first mentioned that he was getting close to his old friend. Jimin occasionally checked up on him when he was still in high school, and their bond grew really strong soon after Jungkook had started college. Jimin became his guide as he navigated adult life and a very real friendship was born from his brother’s efforts. 
When Jimin graduated, it only felt natural for Jungkook to extend an invitation to work at his family’s company, knowing how good of an addition he would be to the team. As of about three and a half years ago, they’ve also been work buddies. 
“So,” Jimin stretched it out. “What is it this time?” He asked when Jungkook still hadn’t said anything. 
Silence followed.
“Is this about Yuri?” Jimin finally questioned, that being the most obvious, considering Jungkook shouldn’t even be in right now.
The younger man nodded. 
Jimin hummed as he thought about it for a second. “Ok, is this another rant about your sex life because I have some—“ 
“No, no, no, well… maybe, yes? I don’t know hyung, I'm just…” All Jungkook could do was sigh, his frustration getting to a boiling point again. 
“I’m guessing with the way you’re acting, things didn’t go as planned…?” Jimin asked wearily, knowing precisely what Jungkook had in store for today. He’d helped Jungkook plan it out. The first thing that was supposed to be on the itinerary was waking Yuri up with a good time. Jimin was the one to suggest it, but the fact he was in a bad mood was enough to let him know things hadn’t gone the way that they’d discussed. 
“The whole plan didn’t happen,” Jungkook lamented as he leaned back in his office chair. He could feel Jimin’s confusion without even having to look at him. “She canceled our whole day because of a friend visiting from the US.” He scowled and saying it out loud made it sound even more unreal. 
Jimin blinked a couple of times, obviously just as confused as he was. “A friend?” 
“It’s something she knew about two days ago before even bringing it up last night. It wasn’t even a full day before our plans!” At least he could’ve gotten a heads-up. He wasn’t sure what that would have done, but at least he could have had more time to cope with the disappointment.  
“What?” Jimin questioned in disbelief. 
“And maybe, maybe I’d get it if today was the only day they could hang out, but she said they’re going to be here for the next two weeks.” Jungkook was getting angry all over again. 
“I’m sorry, what?” Jimin repeated, honestly just baffled. 
“And! And when I asked her why they can’t just hang out the next day, she said it’s because they’re only here for a limited time and that we can just hang out whenever!” It didn’t make any sense that she would say that when Jungkook had to spend days working into the early hours of the morning trying to clear his schedule enough so that they could have some time together.  
“What the fuck…” Jimin looked just as confused as he felt. 
“I know, it’s ridiculous…” He trailed off with a laugh, but the pain from the sudden cancellation made it hard to even pretend this was anywhere near comical.
“Jungkook, I think that’s a lot more than ridiculous…” Jimin tried to reassure, his tone quickly turning sympathetic.
“I know we’re arranged, but I just… I thought being married would be more than this, you know?” He leaned back in his chair. Jungkook simply had dreams for his future and this wasn’t anything he pictured it would look like. 
“And there’s nothing wrong with that. You both agreed to try and she has never given you a reason why she’s practically avoiding you.” Jimin said, recounting the fact this wasn’t even the first time something like this has happened.
“I’m wondering if it’s me. Maybe I’m not doing enough or maybe I’m doing it all wrong? Right? It had to be something I did.” Jungkook tried to rack his brain, thinking of anything he did that might have made Yuri so upset at him.
“I don’t think it’s your fault. You’re trying your best. It doesn’t make sense to me why she did this. It wouldn’t make sense to anyone, but I don’t know… maybe she wants her space.” Jimin suggested, it being the only explanation he could come up with to make sense of her behavior. 
The words sat in the air for a second, a painful second, like the wrong note reverberating at the end of a musical piece. Jimin didn’t notice the shift fast enough before Jungkook suddenly sat up to look at him, and his brows were furrowed like what he said was crazy. 
“Space? We have space all the time, this was the one day I wanted us to be a couple— or at least try and be a couple.” Jungkook chided and Jimin immediately knew he didn’t phrase that in the best way.
“I meant it more so for yourself. I’ve seen and been in enough relationships, situationships, you name it, to know when to back away. Things are obviously going to be even more complicated because you’re in an arranged marriage. I can’t imagine what you’re going through, but maybe taking a step back so you don’t get hurt is something to think about.” Jimin laid it out plainly, but Jungkook maintained his hard expression. If anything, he seemed even more displeased. 
“I have to make this work. I’m obviously not doing what she wants!” Jungkook seethed.
“We have no idea what’s going on. I’m just trying to stop you from getting hurt.” Jimin's gaze filled with sympathy, but Jungkook just seemed to grow more angered as he rolled his eyes at him. 
“Like you would understand— everyone wants to be around you.” Jungkook scoffed, turning away. 
Jimin sat there for a second, dumbfounded, wondering where that came from. 
“What are you talking about?”
“Everyone likes you! Everyone practically flocks to be around you. You have no trouble in relationships– yet I can’t even make the one woman I’m married to at least be comfortable by my side.” Jungkook cried out, and it was here that any anger that was threatening to boil over cooled the minute Jimin saw the wetness in his eyes.
Jimin had only been a bystander for the last few years in Jungkook’s life, but he could hardly comprehend this was the same man he’d been friends with for years now. 
Jungkook had gone from the guy who shied away from relationships, to suddenly being the only married man in his friend group.  
He could never forget the day that Jungkook came to his apartment late one night, it felt like forever ago now. Those were different times; they weren’t the same people anymore. His eyes had been wide and petrified, like he’d just seen a ghost. It practically took the whole night to get it out of him that apparently his parents had made some kind of deal and were basically forcing him to get married to solidify it. 
Jimin could hardly keep up after he’d finally managed to get him to speak, and a lot of it went over his head. To be honest he didn’t believe it even after Jungkook explained it over and over again. It didn’t sound real. Whose parents would make their twenty-two year old son get married without at least talking to him first? It didn’t make sense.
It also didn’t make any sense considering Jimin had been the listening ear to how well their three dates– yes only three dates– went before the engagement.
“They were ok.” Jungkook would sigh, before showing a picture of her and talking about how much he struggled to say anything because of how nervous she made him.  
In the months leading up to the marriage, Jungkook had eventually heard the details of the deal, and that’s when the mood started to shift. Jungkook’s protests grew quieter to the point the wedding day managed to come and go without any intervention. Jimin still didn’t believe it, even as he saw Jungkook stand at the end of the aisle, even as he watched them get pronounced husband and wife, even as he witnessed the contract getting stamped, and even as he helped Jungkook pack to move to their new shared apartment after they came back from their honeymoon.
It didn’t feel real, but Jimin tried to remain as optimistic as Jungkook appeared when he came back.
“We said we’d try.” Jungkook told him with a toothy grin. The honeymoon had been good apparently. 
But that optimism was short-lived and Jimin was forced to sit back and watch as something in his friend shifted. Things weren’t right in the relationship, that much he was sure of. Jungkook had finally said something towards the beginning of the year. It was small things at first, things Jungkook made sound like the typical lovers’ quarrel. But as time passed, it grew more vague, unusual, and desolate. It was never detailed enough for him to get the full picture, but he could see the way Jungkook was practically deteriorating right in front of him.
He had no idea what was going on, but it was moments like this that made his blood boil. Jungkook was normally a closed-off person. He didn’t share his problems with others easily. For him to come to Jimin to talk about his issues in his marriage made him wonder how bad the situation truly was. The alarm bells wouldn’t stop going off in his head. 
“Jungkook, what’s going on?” Jimin sat up and rubbed his friend’s back. Jungkook’s office was dark but when he lifted his head, Jimin could see that the tears had finally started running down his cheeks. 
“Hyung, it’s me right?! I don’t understand why she… w-why she…” He stammered. The words caused the emotions he’d bottled up to spill over, and the tears became uncontrollable. 
“I must be doing everything wrong, right? Am I really that bad? I just… I just wanted to spend some time together. Am I really that bad of a husband?! I try so fucking hard, I swear I do, I just— Hyung I don’t know what else to do…” Jungkook ranted, sounding so dejected. 
Jimin only felt the fire burn harder ​​while his brain worked to try and understand Yuri. He wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt, that there had to be some rational explanation that he just wasn’t seeing that would explain why every chance Jungkook made plans for them to be together, something had to get in the way. The only thing he could see was how much this affected Jungkook, and she was starting to piss him off. 
He got up and went behind Jungkook's desk so he could give him a hug, the younger man only sobbing even harder in his arms. Jimin didn’t say anything, instead ran slow, comforting circles over his back. 
Jimin couldn’t help but think that he needed to talk with Yuri. They weren’t close but hopefully they’ve met on enough occasions that he could have a comfortable conversation with her to at least get her side of the story. It would be the opportunity to try and get the chance to understand what was going on. Maybe then he could actually help Jungkook try and win her over.
The moment was interrupted by the blaring ring of the phone that sat on Jungkook’s desk, letting them know that Secretary Yu was calling. Jungkook quickly tried to wipe his eyes, doing his best to pull himself together, but Jimin stopped him in his tracks, already picking up the phone before he could object. 
“Hi Secretary Yu~” Jimin chirped, putting on that notorious charm that so easily put people at ease. “Yeah it’s Jimin, I’m taking over the phone for this one….. uh huh, right, wait but I thought— ohhhh, really…?… I see….. Yeah, I’ll let him know, he’s right next to me…. Nice talking with you…. bye.” Jimin frowned as soon as he put the phone down. 
“She said we have a meeting we need to go to. Apparently, finance has an emergency that we have to oversee.” His eyes remained trained on Jungkook as he grabbed some tissues, seemingly trying his best to switch back to boss mode. 
“Sorry, I probably look very pathetic right now,” Jungkook sadly chuckled as he wiped his eyes, but Jimin wasn’t having it. 
“Stop calling yourself pathetic. It’s alright. Cry as much as you need to,” Jimin attempted to reassure him when he noticed Jungkook’s lip still quivering. He looked like he was on the verge of another breakdown. “Don’t push yourself, we still have a few minutes before the meeting starts.” He tried to get Jungkook to slow down but he was already up and out of his chair.
“I’m fine… I just really needed that. This will be good, don't worry.” Part of Jungkook wondered if he was trying to convince Jimin or himself. 
He walked over to a mirror. “Are my eyes red?” Jungkook questioned, worried that it looked like he had been crying his eyes out. 
Jimin walked over and shook his head. “Just a little, but no one will notice unless they knew what you were doing.” 
He nodded, affirmed. “Ok, let’s do this.”
With that, Jungkook pushed through the door, passing Secretary Yu’s desk as she got up to join him, along with various higher up employees who had gotten the message about the meeting. 
Secretary Yu pulled out her tablet and moved a little closer. “Director Jeon, I just wanted to quickly give you a better brief of the situation before the meeting starts.”
“Go ahead…” Jungkook’s voice was shaky, but he hoped she didn’t notice.
“Production had encountered an unexpected issue. Good news is that it has been solved already so there’s no need to worry about it. The bad news is that we can’t use any of the inventory they made prior to the fix.” Secretary Yu tried to speak calmly but grimaced when she noticed the change in her boss’s demeanor.  
Jungkook’s eyes widened, and he stopped dead in his tracks. All the executives that were walking behind them came to a sudden halt along with him, making everyone nearly bump into each other. 
“Wait, what?! But production had been running for–” Jungkook didn’t need to finish that, already knowing the answer. It was far too long and their launch date was about a month away. 
This was bad. 
“What was the issue?” 
“I’m not sure yet—“ The ‘what’ didn’t really matter right now, all that meant was this launch was screwed. 
Launches were some of the most important moments of the year. The fact it had been slated for the last quarter of the year, the most important quarter for a company like theirs in turning up profit, they had been counting on it even more than normal. This put everything in jeopardy, particularly anything they had planned for next year. This line had already been delayed to the utmost limit because of numerous other complications so delaying it was almost entirely off the table. 
“Just great huh. Really fucking great. This day can’t get any worse can it—“ And he should have learned that words like that challenge the universe to see what other shit it could throw at you. 
They finally picked up their hurried pace to the meeting room, but right as Jungkook rounded the corner he collided with something hard and suddenly he was cold and soaking wet. Jungkook just stared down, his suit covered in what he could immediately smell was coffee. A sliver of luck for him was that it was iced, but that didn’t stop him from being covered in coffee— he could only imagine the stains on the beige fabric.
Part of him wanted to scream but as his eyes trailed up to see a woman frantically picking up the cup and her scared, apologetic eyes when she realized it was all over him, he found himself unable to speak. Jungkook immediately knew he had never seen you before; he would have remembered you. 
Your red blouse was tucked into your short pencil skirt, which perfectly fitted to your form. Your legs were long as you stood up, accentuated even more by your tall, black stilettos, and Jungkook couldn’t stop the way his eyes ran over the exposed skin. What seemed to hold his attention the most was your vibrant, red lipstick. For a second he was left a little dumbstruck and forgot about the coffee that was everywhere. You were beautiful, ridiculously beautiful, it was almost crazy. For a second he wondered why you were here and not walking down some runway or the face of every brand imaginable. 
He would have noted this a lot more if he didn’t have coffee soaking into his clothes. Right now he just saw you as another problem, making his day that much worse. It was one of his favorite suits too, he wore it to make himself feel a little better about today, but you… 
Things just can’t get any worse.
•────•──────────•────•
This can’t be real. 
It was your first day and all your worst fears seemed to be manifesting. You slept through your alarm, you missed your bus, and your much needed caffeine was all over this handsome stranger— though you really couldn’t say you saw that one coming. The embarrassment you felt creeping onto your cheeks in front of all the people staring at you in the hallway was enough to melt you into a puddle. Worst of all, your supervisor who was walking right next to you saw everything. 
It couldn’t get much worse.
“I’ll clean this up. I’m so sorry! I should have paid more attention to where I was going!” You panicked as you scrambled to find something to help fix this. You looked to your supervisor, but he seemed even more distressed than you for some reason. 
You finally turned back to the stranger and his gaze met your own for a brief moment. His eyes were wide and looked almost like a kicked puppy at how much sadness filled them for a split second. It really was only a second before you noticed the more expected glare of annoyance. 
“Just,” He sighed. “Clean this up, okay? Director Son, please tell the team I’ll be a bit late. Hyung, can you…?” Jimin quickly nodded before speeding away. 
Jungkook just walked past them, not bothering to acknowledge anyone any further. In truth, he was a second away from bursting into tears again, but they didn’t need to know that. Instead, he just hurried off to the bathroom and waited for Jimin to bring the spare suit he kept for emergencies such as these. 
It seemed things could get worse.
Your eyes were wide as you watched him swiftly walk past you, not even bothering to look at you. You knew he had every right to be upset, but he was a bit rude. It was clearly an accident and he didn’t even give you time to apologize properly. 
“Yah, what’s up with that guy?” You mumbled. His annoyance had been a disease and it was quickly spreading.
“That guy?! Y/n do you know what you just did?!” Your new boss was clearly exasperated and that just made you a little confused. It was then you noticed everyone who was still in the hallway had their eyes on you, their hands were over their mouths, and they all had this look of horror on their faces like you had just committed the worst crime imaginable. 
“Who was that…?” You finally questioned, your heart already beating out of your chest.
“I swear you’re going to get us both fired and you only just got here. I swear…” Director Son rubbed his temples and cursed silently to himself, a look of worry speedily etched its way into his features. 
“Director Son, what did I just do?” You asked, growing even more anxious. He finally turned to face you. 
“Y/n, that was Jeon Jungkook.”
You still looked confused and this made him laugh— a worried, nervous laugh that made you know you had royally fucked up.
“You just spilled coffee all over the CEO’s son.” He put it plainly. It was only then that the pieces of the puzzle came together and started to make sense. 
What….have…you……done?
“That’s my boss, your boss, everyone who works on this floor’s boss.” The words only seemed to set the reality into both of you. 
“We’re going to have to pray. Get on our hands and knees, beg for forgiveness, and hope he doesn’t fire us or tell his father.” Suddenly, Director Son sprinted to the office area and returned with a bunch of napkins. 
“We have to see him in the meeting too. What am I going to do?” Director Son said with apprehension, throwing his hands up in the air. He already had so much bad news to deliver and now his newest employee had spilled coffee all over his boss. 
He was fired for sure. 
You hurriedly went to help him start cleaning up the coffee, but you were barely paying attention. You were just dazed because, at this point, you were convinced you were about to get fired on your first day. 
Suddenly, someone else was coming up beside you. “What a great entrance, huh?” A deep voice chuckled as he put more napkins on the ground. 
“It’s only my first day and I’m already ruining everything.” You huffed, getting the feeling you wouldn’t be here much longer. 
“You have to admit it was pretty funny~” 
You stopped. “No, it wasn’t. Do you know how humiliating that was?!” You finally turned to see yet another handsome stranger, but this time this guy had a warm, welcoming, boxy smile on his face. 
“I do, but it made my day better. Nice to meet you, I’m Kim Taehyung!” He stretched out his hand. 
You smiled weakly, feeling better that someone could laugh about this. “I’m Y/n. Nice to meet you Taehyung.” You said as you quickly shook his hand.
•────•──────────•────•
Jimin burst through the doors, emergency suit already in hand.
“You alright?” Jimin questioned as he set the suit on the counter. 
Jungkook turned toward him, clearly teary-eyed. He shook his head. “I just want to go home.” He tried to laugh as he started unbuttoning his shirt. He would have been better off not coming in today.
“Maybe you should. Today just doesn’t seem to be your day, huh?” Jimin tried to joke and smiled when he saw Jungkook chuckle. 
“I have meetings later though. I have to stay till then.” He just sighed. Jungkook had already felt guilty about leaving and hardly being at work today because of his plans with Yuri, but going home right now seemed selfish considering the dire situation. He didn’t want people to think he was running away and leaving them to deal with this mess alone. It’s not like he had anyone waiting for him back home anyway. There was no need to rush anymore.
Jungkook spent most of his time at the office more than at home. He wanted to show that he was working hard, it was something he knew was essential to gaining everyone’s trust. Since he was still pretty young, people often doubted his leadership, but he earned his spot in the company just like everyone else did. Jungkook had been working here since he was nineteen, interned even longer, and started off at the bottom like everyone else. He didn’t want to be the spoiled, rich kid inheriting the company simply because his father is the CEO. He wanted to make sure that by the time he became CEO he would have built up the same respect that the rest of the employees held for his dad. 
As a result, leaving earlier or taking days off was something he tried to steer clear of as much as possible, but today… things just weren’t working out. He feared that being here any longer might make him explode. 
Once they figure out this whole situation, he’ll immediately go home after his last two meetings are over. Right, that was the smart thing to do. He couldn’t risk having a breakdown in front of everyone. 
“Hyung…” Jungkook said suddenly after he managed to get his pants up. Jimin hummed. “Thanks for being here with me.” His voice wavered slightly.
“Of course, I’ll always be here when you need me.” Jimin said softly. Jungkook was extra sensitive today. He usually was able to reserve the waterworks for sad movies or when he was alone in the apartment, but today he couldn’t seem to keep his emotions at bay. 
When they both came out of the bathroom, Jungkook and Jimin hurried to the meeting room ready to assess the current crisis at hand. Everyone was already in their seats when they walked in, and upon seeing Jungkook, they scrambled out their chairs to stand up and bow. 
Jungkook took a seat at the head of the table and Jimin in the seat to his left. Director Son was already standing at the pedestal in the corner of the room with a gloomy expression practically carved into his features. This was probably even worse than what he was told, judging by the solemn tone of the room. 
He was antsy to hear just how bad it was, and was about to tell Director Son to continue, when he spotted you at the end of the table. 
“Director Son,” Jungkook said, curiosity peaking. He knew pretty much everyone who worked on this floor, but you were definitely not familiar. 
“Who’s she?” He pointed directly at you, making your attention turn toward him. 
Director Son scrambled from behind the pedestal, realizing he had forgotten to introduce you because of the incident earlier. 
“My apologies, sir.” Director Son addressed Jungkook before turning towards you and motioning for you to stand. You quickly bounced on your heels, not wanting to piss him off even more. If Jungkook didn’t fire you, surely he would. 
“Everyone, this is L/n Y/n. She’s our newest member of our financial team. It’s her first day here.” Everyone gave you strange looks as most people here at this table had witnessed the incident earlier.
It’s like you made the worst first impression you possibly could have. 
The silence was deafening as everyone stared; you were tempted to run away, fake your death, get a new identity, and attempt to start your life over knowing things couldn’t get much worse than this. It took a moment, but eventually Taehyung, who sat right beside you, started clapping— slowly but surely everyone joined him. You looked down and smiled, mouthing him a thank you before you sat down. 
Your eyes flickered over to Jungkook who was still staring at you. Your skin warmed as his gaze bored into you. 
“Thank you, you may begin.” Jungkook finally said, leaning back in his chair. 
A new line of products was supposed to be released shortly before the holiday season— namely a new line of TVs that had already been delayed multiple times, all for various reasons during development. They had been forced to push the date back as far as possible, right to the point before there would start to be major repercussions. Production had promised that they would be able to meet this new date, and production began a few weeks ago. Jungkook had thought the most troubling stage was over and the only thing that was left was handling this launch with the marketing team now. But a malfunction that was only realized this morning had been noticed, and all of the inventory they had managed to produce before today was completely unusable.  
To make matters worse, the date they needed to have everything shipped out by was too close to have the now scarce inventory hit even the low range of their planned profit margin. It was a disaster and after Director Son explained the issue, Jungkook was ready to pull out his hair. Of course this had to happen today, of all the fucking days everything just had to go wrong. He couldn’t even think straight as everyone around the table started suggesting ideas, too busy trying to pull himself out of the funk that made him practically useless. He was convinced he was cursed, that had to be it because how does this all happen in one day?
This fuck up jeopardized everything— it was their biggest source of profit for the year and they thought they’d be able to make up for all the delays by having it at such an important part of the year. They already decided to invest extra in advertising to help boost sales far beyond what they’d traditionally expect. Now without the numbers they had planned for, the profit they had wanted to reach was virtually impossible. This was detrimental to next quarters budget and especially the following year. Any plans, projects, anything they had planned was now at risk, and— 
The meeting ended up going on for quite a while. Everyone panicked as they tried brainstorming ideas that could be used to rectify the situation: 
Some suggested seeing if they could push the launch back, but at this point that was even more disastrous than just releasing whatever they can manage to get done. Others suggested that this fell on production and that they should use intimidation to try and make the numbers get as close to what was planned. Jungkook normally was against ideas like that, but it was mind boggling how poorly these products had been handled so far. He had already been planning to meet with the executives over at the factories to figure out who he needed to hold liable for this. Others went on about distribution, how their department who handled Seoul, should be prioritized and that they should focus on the bigger stores, such as malls, in order to hopefully increase the chances of selling everything they could to at least get the highest profit they can. It went on and on. Another radical suggestion was increasing the price of the line of TVs to try and force a similar profit margin.  
People just kept going and going and Jungkook was ready to bang his head against the table to hopefully get himself to wake up from this nightmare. Everyone was so loud as they bickered and fought that their way was better, and he tried his best to suppress wanting to just scream for them to just shut up and walk away from the situation all together. He was overwhelmed and it was even worse that he felt unhelpful, all efforts went to keeping himself firmly planted in his chair and not letting the tears spill over again.
What ended up surprising him was that it was you who came up with the best solution. In between all the nonsense, you were also very vocal during the meeting. You were knowledgeable as you spoke, asking questions any time you could and also giving your two-sense on the suggestions the rest of the team kept spewing out. Most of your takes he found himself easily agreeing with as you countered how none of those ideas worked. If Jungkook hadn’t encountered you before, he wouldn’t have guessed you were the same clumsy woman who spilled coffee on him earlier today. It was absolutely shocking considering the fact that today was your first day and you had only been briefly filled in on the situation. 
Eventually though you had given your own opinion and one that stood out from the masses.
“Do nothing.” You had put it so simply. You argued that there was nothing that could be done and instead that they should just send out the inventory they created after today, though less of it, as planned and capitalize on the opportunity to create even more demand for the line. If production could get their shit together and deliver the product as promised, plus with the added reputation of the company, they should certainly sell, and sell quickly. While this would not prove fruitful immediately, during the time they would work on getting the next shipment together, this would create a demand that would hopefully be able to make up for any losses encountered during the launch.  
It wasn’t the best considering what they had thought this new launch would bring, but it was the best idea he heard all afternoon, and the one he ultimately picked they should explore further. The team first had to crunch the numbers to make sure they could afford that type of risk, but at the moment, waiting, letting the scarcity create demand, and gently still pushing the production team to try and get the inventory as high as possible, was what he sent everyone away with in mind.  
Jungkook wanted to hate you, you had basically ruined his favorite suit, but seeing you in this meeting had him momentarily forgetting about the incident in the hallway. He never really considered firing you. Despite being incredibly petty about the suit, he didn’t want to take his anger out on you or Director Son. This meeting just made him realize how great of an addition you would likely be for the team. If this was your first day and you had already managed to help work out a crisis, he could only imagine what you would do for the team’s future. 
But today just wasn’t the day he could forgive you completely. 
Thanks to you he was able to go home around the time he had planned. Since the entire financial team was there, they were quickly able to cover the points of their original meeting that was scheduled, and he ran off directly afterward to meet with Director Cho in his office for a discussion about marketing. It was still in the afternoon by the time he got back to the apartment. Part of him hoped he would find Yuri waiting for him with open arms, and they would leave together to start their day as he had planned. 
It was wishful thinking, but that didn’t stop the disappointment from burning his heart when he came back to find it exactly how he had expected.
Empty.
Jungkook sighed and kicked off his shoes. Today was horrible. 
He was about to head straight for the beer they kept in the fridge, but the various ingredients he found inside gave him an idea. If he didn’t try at all, how would he ever make this work? As much as Yuri hurt his feelings, he would still put on a happy face and be a good husband. 
He got straight to work, tying up his apron and rolling up his sleeves. 
Jungkook first contemplated what should make, and he decided pretty quickly once he double-checked what they had. Then he moved on to pulling out all the ingredients and putting them onto the counter. 
He wasn’t a master chef or anything, Jungkook had hardly cooked for himself his entire life— his parents always had a chef to prepare their meals. It was when he moved out that he realized how much he enjoyed it. It wasn’t too often that he cooked, but when he did, it always brought him so much satisfaction knowing he made it. Not to brag, but despite his lack of experience, Jungkook could easily follow a recipe and turn out with something pretty decent at the end. 
He decided to go with gimbap— it was relatively easy to make and increased his chances of not messing it up. By the time he had the rolls cut and ready on the plate, the sun had gone down.
Jungkook smiled as he looked at his creation. It was a little misshapen and the ingredients were spilling out from the sides, but he had high hopes on how it’d taste; he’d thrown in all of his favorite ingredients. It was cute and showed it was made by his own hands. He hoped this would be enough for them to at least spend a little time together when she got home. 
He sent her a quick text telling her about a ‘little surprise’ waiting for her at the apartment and to hurry home as soon as she could. He even added a heart at the end, a sign of peace, so they could put what the day could have been behind them and move on to shaping what they could make of it now.
Jungkook let out a satisfied sigh before taking off his apron, grabbing one of the nicer containers they owned, placing the food inside, and setting it on the dining table ready to be eaten whenever Yuri came back. 
He hoped this would be enough to get her to come home soon. 
He changed into more relaxing clothes and headed straight to the couch, deciding to continue that show he had started a little while back. He hadn’t planned to be here long; for some reason, he pictured Yuri bursting through the doors at any second, but he should have known he would end up disappointed yet again.
After more time passed, Jungkook eventually pulled out his ice cream and the beer he’d promised himself not to go for. 
He was depressed. It was worse than when he was in his office earlier. He wanted home to be his escape from the day he had, but it only made the problem worse just like he feared. All he could do was drown out his darkening thoughts with comfort cream and beer. 
Even more time passed by and there was still no Yuri. At this point, Jungkook had to call Jimin knowing he couldn’t be alone right now. He was on the verge of another breakdown. 
True to his nature, his hyung was at their apartment in no time. 
Jimin’s face fell the minute Jungkook opened the door. His friend looked even worse than when he left the office, his eyes were lifeless behind the smile he tried to show. It hurt even worse when he noticed the uneaten dinner on the dining table. He could see Jungkook had pulled out all the fancy candles, plates, and silverware, but they remained untouched; clearly, he was waiting. 
“Sorry I called you so late… I just didn't want to be alone right now.” It was more than that, and Jimin knew it. 
In truth, the thoughts that seemed to keep echoing in his head worried him. Not even his favorite movie could take his attention away from the harsh realization of what he was facing right now. He knew not even Yuri coming home at that very moment would solve everything. He just needed someone to talk to, someone to distract him from his thoughts.
Jimin pulled him into a hug before guiding them inside. They both ended up sharing a few beers together, Jungkook venting nearly the entire time. It was good and played as the much needed therapy he wanted. 
It was well into the night that after a few crying sessions and more beers, Jungkook was tipsy and better enough to send Jimin away. 
It was late, really, really late. 
He sent a few more texts to Yuri, now starting to get worried. None of them were answered.
The only thing that kept him sane was the fact that this wasn’t the first time it’s happened. She’d ghosted him before, leading Jungkook to nearly have a panic attack before she came back, claiming her phone had died. He just hoped maybe that’s what happened today. 
More time passed by and his eyes started getting heavy as he continued to stare at his TV. He probably would have fallen asleep if it wasn’t for the sound of beeps from someone putting in the passcode for the door. 
Jungkook sprung off of the couch as the door opened to reveal the girl he’d been wanting to see the entire day. Yuri slowly closed the door behind her, probably thinking he was asleep. All the lights were off except for the TV. 
“Yuri?” He asked hesitantly, a bit scared he was dreaming. 
She quickly turned around as soon as she heard his voice. 
Part of him was tempted to yell, even scream at her for abandoning him the way she did, but he was in no mood to pick a fight. Instead, he steadily waddled over to the front door where she was standing, careful not to bump into any furniture but the room had started to spin.
Jungkook was a bit stunned when he noticed her outfit. It was dark, but he could still see she was wearing this short, little red dress that seemed to sparkle even in the darkness. He had a feeling that she and this mysterious “friend from the US” had probably gone out to a club. He didn’t even feel like interrogating her. Nope, instead he finally made his way over, wrapped his arms around her frame, buried his face into her shoulder, and bathed in her warmth. 
Maybe he was a little more than tipsy…
“Missed you so much…” he whispered quietly into her skin as he placed gentle kisses on her shoulder, the slur in his words even noticeable to his ears. 
Jungkook felt her arms wrap around his neck, pulling him closer, a wave of excitement that he’d been missing all day washed over him. 
“Did you really?” She lulled like a siren’s song, leading him down a path to forget everything that happened. He wanted to say something, but being drunk left him unable to form any cohesive thoughts to convey his feelings; the hurt he felt being abandoned, how much had he wished he spent this entire day running around Seoul with her by his side, how much had he hoped she would just come home so they could, at the very least, share a meal together. All of these moments, memories, time, and energy wasted.
But he didn’t want to turn this into another fight, instead he just nodded into her skin. “So fucking much.” It was a little more crude than the romantic declaration he was going for, but it didn’t matter. He meant what he said, he really did miss her. 
Yuri hummed lightly into his ear, and he couldn't stop himself from pressing her against the wall, pulling back slightly so they were eye to eye, and resting his forehead against hers. Her presence was intoxicating, in a way that made all the worries so easily wash away. He was supposed to be mad, he had every right to be, but for some reason that didn’t stop his hand from coming up and his thumb gently caressing her cheek; so soft and warm.
He was definitely more than a little drunk at this point. Not to the point he was confused where he was, but he was faded enough to be wobbly on his feet, and the liquid courage was certainly flowing through his system to make him bolder than usual.
A moment passed, one that if he was more sober, he would have thought through more. Did he want this? Should he turn back? But whatever he felt in the past, it didn’t really matter anymore. His wife was here now, he should be happy. 
If he was questioning it anymore, the look in her eyes was enough for that seesaw to finally land. It was sultry, like she wanted him to forget and he wanted to as well. 
Jungkook felt the rush surge faster than any rational thought could stop, his lips were on hers in a haste to finally feel her. It was slow at first, Jungkook wanting her to know just how much he wanted her to be here with him. It made him feel so warm, the affection he’d been craving for all day was finally happening.
He couldn’t stop himself from pushing her further into the door and picking up the pace. It all happened so fast.
Suddenly his tongue was down her throat, he could taste the sweet alcohol she had probably drank, and with the fleeting reminder of the dress she was wearing as his hands ran up her thighs, an odd sense of possessiveness came over him. He had no idea who she was with, if this “friend from the US” even existed, but he had the odd feeling of making her remember exactly who she was to him. She was his wife, everyone, everywhere should know that. 
Jungkook hastily picked her up and put her on the kitchen counter that was closest to him. His hands roamed her sides, tracing every curve with a hunger and need that saw no end. Soft sighs of pleasure fell from her lips as his hips steadily rocked into hers, and he relished in any sound he was able to draw out of her. All he wanted to do was make her feel good, that’s all he ever wanted. Her hands gripped his shirt tightly and he wished for nothing more than for her to rip it off of him. His skin burned and pleaded for more. As much as he enjoyed kissing her like this, this wasn’t enough.
He couldn’t wait anymore. He picked her up again and led them over to their shared bedroom, he didn’t even bother turning on the lights as he gently laid her on their bed. Jungkook quickly slotted himself between her thighs and dived straight back to her lips. 
His mind felt fuzzy, maybe it was just because he was more drunk than what he thought, but as he ground himself into her clothed core, the sudden realization of everything hit him hard. 
They haven’t had sex in months, literal months since the last time he felt the warmth of her walls around him. They’ve done other things, but full-blown sex…
“Yuri… please….” He cried as his hand traveled under her dress to hover over her panties. Yuri quickly nodded and that was all he needed to lose his mind. 
He pulled her dress up and moved down so he was staring at her clothed core. 
He quickly pulled her panties down her legs before his face was buried between her thighs, and he was diving in for his rightful meal. Jungkook was good, using his tongue to work her clit and he had two fingers buried deep inside her, all the while he was practically fucking the mattress in a haste for any kind of friction. 
When he said they hadn’t had sex it was more so that Jungkook hadn’t been touched in months. Jungkook was a good husband, always there to take care of his wife when she wanted him. But she never let him take things further. This was just another running problem in their marriage. His sex life was pretty much nonexistent. He never wanted to be that guy, and especially with the fact that their marriage was relatively new and they were still getting to know each other, he knew sex was going to be a tricky subject. 
There were clear boundaries set, and he was okay with taking things slow right now, but does it leave him frustrated sometimes? Yes, extremely. 
The amount of times Jungkook has done this for her, he knew her patterns and how to get her cumming on his tongue in no time. Her moans and pleas were all music to his ears, knowing he was doing something right for once. 
By the time he pulled away, Jungkook was hardly keeping it together. He practically ripped off his shirt and pants, tossing them off the bed somewhere into the abyss of the darkness. 
When he turned back to her, he was practically drooling at how fucked out she looked; Yuri’s hair cascaded around her, reminding him of the angel she looked like on their wedding day, and her dress was pushed up to her thighs and the straps were brought down revealing her tits. 
Oh fuck. Now, now, now. 
Jungkook hurriedly kissed her, before reaching over to his nightstand, and opening the drawer to grab a condom. The box wasn’t right there so his hand had to search and feel his way around— it didn’t take long, but it was too long in his desperation when he was finally pulling one out.  
“Jungkook, wait… what are you doing?” Yuri asked once he finally managed to pull one out of the box. 
He looked at her hoping this didn’t mean what he thought it did. He kissed her again and buried himself into her shoulder. “Baby please… wanna feel you…” he pleaded, grinding slowly into her heat. A moan fell from his lips, the friction was desperately needed. He would take anything at this point. 
“Been so long… I missed you.” It was bad. His body was crying out for something, and he wanted Yuri to give him just that. It was starting to hurt. 
“But it’s late, Jungkook. I’m tired.” Yuri sighed, making his heart drop. 
“But…but…” he mumbled. He moved so he could see her face and he could immediately tell she wasn’t joking. 
“It’s fine, I promise I’ll be quick. You worked me up so much, just—“ 
“Jungkook, not tonight, okay?” She grumbled, clearly done with the moment they shared. This is what happens all the time. He didn’t know why he thought it was going to be different considering the occasion, but that didn’t stop him from feeling a bit disappointed. 
Jungkook just sighed and rolled off of her. His skin burned with need and he knew he had to do something. It hurt, it had been so fucking long.
He tried not to be mad but he was. He hurriedly got up from the bed. 
“I’m going to take a shower… a very long shower.” He huffed.
“Jungkook you better not do that shit in our—“ was the last thing he heard before he slammed the door. 
He tried to be calm; he didn’t want to get mad over something like this. The marriage was still new, there were going to be hurdles. It happens. 
Today had just been terrible. All the emotions he had tried his best to suppress were coming out; he was angry, he was depressed, he was frustrated. There hadn’t been one moment that he felt like things were okay, today had been just as horrible as he thought it would be and then some since he woke up this morning.
All he wanted was some type of relief. 
He quickly turned on the shower to hopefully stop her from hearing him, and got to work pleasing his body in the only way he could. His hand covered his mouth while the other traveled down his body, finally grabbing a hold of himself. 
He thought about how today would have turned out if it went the way he wanted. Jungkook would have woken his wife up with every affirmation of how much he loved her, how happy she’d made him since they got married, as he showered her with all the praise his mushy heart would come up with in that moment. 
Jungkook wouldn’t have wanted to leave her that morning, but duty calls and with the taste of her still on his tongue he would have gone to work. It was hard to be apart for those few hours. He would have struggled to keep his eyes off his phone as she cutely texted and pleaded for him to be home soon because she missed him so much.
The minute he would have returned Jungkook could hardly get inside before she was tackling him with kisses. She would have been already dressed for their day out, wearing that pretty off-the-shoulder dress with flowers all over it, knowing how much that one drives him crazy. But none of that mattered because the dress was hitting the floor before he could close the door behind him.
Another moment of passion and love as they did it right there on the floor. Jungkook would have been enthralled by her warmth and her love. She would have let her heart’s declarations spill from her mouth continuously as he held her in his arms; that she wanted him here, that she cared for him just as much as he did for her. 
Then they were finally able to pull away from each other. It was just long enough that Jungkook could whisk her around Seoul to all the destinations he’d planned to take her. They’ve both lived in Seoul for most of their lives but Jungkook made sure to pick obscure but momentous places around the city that he was sure she’d enjoy:
 A jazz lounge for a late lunch, he’d seen videos of the band that played there and he knew it would have been perfect to have in the background as they conversed. He also planned to take her to the mall– one of her favorite spots to go with her friends. He hoped to share some of that excitement and treat her to whatever she stumbled across that day, showing his wife just how much she means to him. He had pictured holding the bags while she dragged him along to wherever she wanted to go, sitting down for hours as she tried out dresses and him struggling to convey that he really meant it when he said she looked beautiful in whatever she put on. There was so much more, a day full of wonders, kisses, hugs. But the night would have ended with a nice, romantic walk by Han River, enjoying the sights and scenery in the cool September air. They would have hopefully gotten the chance to stop by this dessert place Secretary Yu told him about that she promised Yuri would love. Maybe they would have kept walking as they ate and talked their hearts out. Jungkook had practiced all these cheesy lines he hoped she would have liked, at least laugh at, anything to see her smile. 
It would have been magical and when they would have made it back to the apartment, they would’ve immediately gone back to the room to end the night with a bang. She would have felt so good, he knew she would. He probably would have lost his mind just having his wife close and by his side. His heart would have melted every time she would look into his eyes. Her hands on him, pleading, pleading for him to make her feel good. 
No, maybe… maybe even in this reality, the one where he had a horrible day, even then it would have been so nice to be with her. That’s all he wanted.
He whined and whimpered as his thumb traced along the tip, precum leaking profusely. His hand made quick work of its strokes, hastily trying to chase the pleasure he’d been denied of the whole day. 
He had to resist the urge to scream when he ended up spilling all over his hand, stomach, and thighs. It had been way too long. 
Jungkook ended up in the shower not too long after, the water cool against his skin to keep the burning desire for more at bay. Instead, he just thought about his day, how shitty it was. 
Like of all days, he got coffee spilled all over him? It sounded like something out of a sitcom.
But you… 
Suddenly he thought back to you, your long legs and red lipstick. You were definitely one of his saving graces. Without you, he would have been stuck worrying about this launch. That wasn’t completely alleviated, but the team had texted throughout the day that your method had looked promising, and especially considering what they already invested into advertising, the wave of demand would hopefully nearly double by the time the next shipment rolled out. Though it wasn’t going to be exactly the profit they had expected to bring in from this quarter, this method should hopefully in the long run make up for the botched launch.
Without you he might have still been at the office, the teams and him trying his best to come up with some sort of solution in dealing with the consequences and ramifications of such an unexpected fuck up. It was still odd that it had been weeks since production started, and they had only noticed this malfunction now…  
He needed to head down to the factories and see for himself what exactly happened, but he already had a few names in mind of people who might not be here for much longer.
But he wouldn’t worry about that now, instead his mind drifted back to you during the meeting today.
He already knew working with you was going to be interesting, and despite the rough start, he was looking forward to seeing where you might go. 
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Happy For You | Yandere Malleus Draconia
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Malleus had read extensively about the matters of the heart. As the prince of Briar Valley with a castle older than a millennium it’s natural, he’d delve into different fae authors as they detailed triumphant and tragic love stories. Filling his imaginative prepubescent brain with dreams of him dazzling his love and finally sharing true love’s kiss. 
But he was grown now. Long gone were the days he needed to rely on books and Lilia and Silver to simulate a sense of community. There were others that he learned to value their company. None stood out as much as the prefect of Ramshackle dorm—(Y/n).
Who in a matter of days after meeting them had ignited those dreams of romance. Unlike his past though this was real. You were real. It was a common event to find you coming through the gate of Ramshackle to talk into the late hours of the night. To say he was enthralled was putting it mildly. Passing thoughts of his time with you turned into bundled excitement that would persist through the week. Where he’d simply dream of sharing holidays turned into a reality he never wanted to end.
It was bliss.
It would have been bliss. 
If not for the measly rock on your finger.
“Tsuno-taro I’m engaged!”
Coupled with your shining smile, there was no way he could express the shattering of his heart with anything but a smile. As a dear friend of yours, it was his duty to stand by idly as you paraded around sharing your good news. Unaware that you were smothering the fae in his heaping regrets. That bubbling anger with himself, with the one who gifted you that diamond, and with everything that had ever been presented themselves as an obstacle. Maybe if he hadn’t spent time destroying them he’d have caught this much sooner. 
He smiles and congratulates you with all the elegance of a prince of the Draconia name.
Inserting himself into plans as he offers to be a part of the wedding in whatever way you need him. Help with decor, finding the venue, handcrafting your accessories—-all you have to do is ask and it’s done. Naturally securing himself as a member of your wedding party, rehearsing to stand by your side up until the moment you say your accursed vows. 
How it burns to witness the developing of a ceremony that’d promise he’d never have you. Not without ruining the joy you’ve been glowing with. The only comfort he deluded himself with was the searing pain described by tragedies of old. Convincing himself amid his stormy sphere as he reread the strong conviction of a character.
“Love is that condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own.”
He hoped this would be true. If fae were to surpass humanity in everything then it’s expected he ascend from his desires. To abandon his selfish fantasies of cursing the one who holds your heart. To keep the dreams of reverting to his dragon form during the beautiful ceremony as figments of imagination. The same way he imagined burning the decor to the ground as he demanded his child of a man be returned to him. Banishing those thoughts as he watched the sunrise on the big day. 
“Tsuno-taro…do you think I look alright?”
You look like everything he’s ever wished for. Like a painting prized as a global treasure. You look as worthy of world domination as you did the moment you ignored the first alarm. Just as irresistible as the day you handed him his first invitation in so long. Alright, that is an understatement. You’re a vision of perfection on earth. Greater than any natural rare mineral or obscure literature that depicts the origins of the world. You are everything Malleus hopes for. 
“You look immaculate, (Y/n).”
He didn’t walk you down the aisle or stand at the altar or throw rice in the air when you shared that binding kiss. 
But he watched. While reciting that your happiness was his. Your happiness was his. Your happiness was his. Your happiness could never be his. Downing a drink that wouldn’t get him drunk as the other guests let loose with rowdiness. He was thankful for the rabblerousing it blocked his vision when your spouse snuck you away from the reception. 
It was then that he left. 
Engulfing his tower in a torrent of violent storms, hoping to soothe the despair that gripped his being. The image of the intimacy he dreamed of sharing with you, stolen by someone who proposed with such a small token. 
He knew he’d be unreachable for days.
But he would pull it together. 
Ruling his kingdom and writing to you with just as much vigor as always. His child of man may never be his but their happiness would be. He’d just have to make do with that. 
__________________________________________________________
“They cheated on me!? Tsuno-tarou can you believe it?! What happened till death do us part!?”
Malleus never thought he could throw up.  He hasn’t gotten sick for many a century but it reappeared at the revelation of your unscheduled visit. Bags in hand and tears on your face it was an avalanche of emotions the King of Briar Valley had closed himself to. 
Anger at the tears on your face. It took you far too long to tell him who’d put them there. Collapsing into his chest brought dismay. His darling human was strong, a paragon of a survivor. Now reduced to a shriveling mess barely holding onto him, shaking with exhaustion. 
Then relief.
There was the conviction in his mind that called for guilt, those thoughts of envy and want, quelled with the truth about your partner. It was rejuvenating that he didn’t have to fight himself any longer for the sake of your happiness. Shattered in their careless actions it was as though fate had created a caveat for the King. No longer would he have to stifle every insult he’d been waiting to spout the second their name left your lips. 
With you by his side, in his arms, it was time he’d silence those regrets of his. Older and wiser now his expertise in running his kingdom extended well past the governing of his people. In his solitude, he learned of the hunger within him. The broiling spirit that beckoned him to cast a spying magic on you in your day-to-day life. The side of him that knew how to speak a honeyed truth into your weakened ears. 
A truth that would one day have you offering a humble but promising stone. 
“I know it’s not much but Malleus…will you marry me?”
Those characters who would have refused knowing what unblinded happiness their love was entitled to were incredibly wrong—in Malleus' opinion. As the King of the Draconia line, he’s read a plethora of literature. Some depict love stories and others tragedies all fueling the romance he had chased after. Malleus had decided that the dreams he had were his greatest wish was fulfilled. Where his child of man looked only at him, where their happiness was him was better than what those books had suggested before. 
His happiness has always been in (Y/n) and by any means necessary he was going to be the happiness his child of man needed.
“I will. I always planned to.”
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slackerlifewhere · 4 months
Text
Cale Henituse and Kim Rok Soo
After I posted yesterday, I saw an opinion that I kind of agree with about the difference between Cale Henituse and Kim Rok Soo.
I'm gonna say my opinion without trying to offend the whole fandom. Again, you can read fics about OG Cale as MC. I will not stop you just because I have my own opinion. You are free to read whatever you want. If you don't agree with this, it's fine and if you do, don't antagonize or attack the fanfiction authors who made these fics. Let them do their own thing, okay?
This post is not a rant but me sharing my own thoughts and opinions about this topic.
To make this easier, I'll call OG Cale as Cale and OG KRS as KRS.
[✋SPOILERS for the first part of the novel✋]
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Some say that Cale Henituse and Kim Rok Soo are the same person. While I don't know if this is true because I haven't read the second part of the novel yet, in my opinion, they are not the same.
Again, I repeat, I like Cale Henituse. He's very intelligent and kind to Basen to the point of destroying his own reputation, he targets thugs and scammers whenever he's "drunk", he's willing to sacrifice his whole identity in order to save his world after surviving for twenty years by himself. He's a complex character and in another world, if given the chance, he would've been a great MC.
But that's the thing, he is not the MC of TCF, Kim Rok Soo is. And I think some fans forget the reason why Kim Rok Soo became the MC and not Cale Henituse. Because in some fics that I see whenever I scroll down to look for something to read, Cale completely replaces KRS' presence in the story, to the point that he doesn't exist anymore.
Let me explain.
Kim Rok Soo
Kim Rok Soo is a very integral part of the story. You can't easily replace him with another person, normal or otherwise, and expect the story to go the same way it did in the novel. He did things his way because he's a chaotic little shit. He's a different person from Cale, no matter how many or few similarities they both have.
It's not because he's simply smart or OP (as some would say) that he won a war that ended in only two years, but it's also because of his past and the bonds he made as himself.
He's a person full of empathy for these people that he meets wherever he goes, regardless whether he knows them from a book or not, because he understands them and their pain. He does not hide his personality and in a way, his charisma attracts these people who see him for who he is, a kind person.
Kim Rok Soo is different because he survived in an apocalypse by himself until he meets Lee Soo Hyuk and Choi Jung Soo. Plus, he did not have a great childhood. He was abused and lived by himself for the rest of his childhood and teenage years because of a curse (or maybe because his uncle is just a shitty person, who knows).
The opinions he has and the way he thinks are shaped by his own experiences. He is the Kim Rok Soo we see in the novel because he grew up under these circumstances.
To say that he's easily replaceable would be too disrespectful to the sacrifices he made as both Kim Rok Soo and Cale Henituse.
Cale Henituse
Cale, on the other hand, is different. He lived alone for how many years because he deliberately pushed everyone away because of his grief and after what Jour told him. It's not because of a curse that he became this way but because he chose to.
Yes, everyone he knows should've tried to make an effort by comforting him or talking with him (his family, the nobles he's close to, Ron and Beacrox) but that did not happen because he's the one who chose to live like this. I've mentioned it in my post about Deruth but if a person doesn't want comfort or doesn't want to talk, they will not talk, especially someone as stubborn as Cale. To blame all these people (including the kids) and the rest of the world because of his own choice is simply not right or fair since the only one responsible to actually help him is Deruth. Violan is not given this chance nor did she try as his stepmother but it all comes down to Deruth. But of course, he did not get any help nor did he seek any.
He lived his years shrouded in grief until the very end. He's a kind person but unfortunately, life is not kind to him.
Later, he survives in the war until the White Star kills him. What did he choose to do in the end when he made that deal with the God of Death? To return to the past so he can save everyone? No. Instead, he chose to go to KRS' world to find his mother. If CJS were given the chance to decline a proposal, why didn't Cale? He could've said he'll do it himself but instead, he left it to KRS. We all know he's stubborn enough to ruin his reputation, is he not stubborn enough to make a deal to save his world as himself?
You can argue it's maybe because the God of Death didn't give him the chance to argue with it but there are other ways the god could've sent KRS to this world. Like Choi Han or Choi Jung Soo.
Choi Jung Soo
Choi Jung Soo is a prime example of what could've and couldn't have happened if he agreed with the God of Death's proposal. He is not KRS. He has his own opinions and experiences that make him unique. He is not like Choi Han who drowned in his despair in TBoaH but instead, is a man who wants to survive with his friends (brothers) and smile with them despite the pain he suffers in.
If he were to replace KRS, the story would've gone differently. He might find Choi Han and they would do their best to survive in this new world together. He may or may not find Raon and the kittens, depending on the time and location when he arrives in this world. Alberu may or may not completely trust him like how he didn't completely trust Choi Han in TBoaH because unlike KRS who is too similar with Alberu, CJS is different. He might not look for the ancient powers since he has his own ability, leaving some that the White Star could've taken like the Sky Eating Water and Super Rock. In fact, the shield could've been left at the tree unless CJS knows about it and takes it. (Let me remind you that no one in this world knows there's an ancient power in that tree in the Henituse territory.)
I can list down things he could've or couldn't have done but it might be too long.
But my point is, it could've been Cale, Alberu, or Choi Han who were sent to the past but the story would've gone differently because these people are all different in their own ways. Heck, if the God of Death truly wants to save this world, he could've sent back Choi Han or Alberu instead of Cale. Because these two are also powerful in their own ways that do not need the help of ancient powers. Just give them enough information and they could've ended the war faster than twenty years.
Conclusion
So, yeah. Kim Rok Soo became the main character for several reasons. He was an ability user and team leader back in his world, he has the curse attached to him because of the White Star, he was an abused kid who had a sad childhood.
And I think there are other reasons why, if KRS is not the MC, that the story could've ended differently. Put aside Raon who is powerful and has a connection to Sheritt and the Dragon Slayers and would be integral to the story, On and Hong could've died with no one knowing about them because they were barely mentioned in the books. Mary could've stayed in the City of Life because no one would need her to help Ron. Hannah and Jack could've died because no one would've known that they were killed. Paseton has a chance to live but no one knows where he is.
Some characters would live and some would die if Kim Rok Soo is not the main character. That's basically what I think about all of this.
The reason why they survived, aside from the books, is because Kim Rok Soo's heart is so big that he wants to help people or give them the chance to survive. Some people would ignore or not notice these people because they have their own problems to deal with.
But Kim Rok Soo just wants to live. And I think that's why the story went the way it did.
Kim Rok Soo, the man who became Cale. His life motto was pretty simple.
Living long without pain. Enjoying the small joys of life.
Living a peaceful life.
- Chapter 2: When I Opened My Eyes
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Again, I'm not stopping you from reading these fics nor am I telling you to attack fanfic authors because of what they write. This whole post is just me sharing my opinion.
You don't have to agree with anything I said. You can ignore this and read whatever you want to read.
This is not a post undermining or disrespecting what Cale sacrificed and felt as a person. This is a post to share my opinion that Cale and Kim Rok Soo both deserve the respect that they should get for everything they did and to not completely erase a character for the other. But if someone does it, then I can't do anything about it.
As a Mob Psycho 100 fan, I will end this with one line that perfectly summarizes what I think about this topic.
Your life is your own.
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bakugou-jpg · 16 days
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-Pregnant s/o Kaminari & Sero-
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REQUEST: Hello! Can i request a headcanon for Sero and Kaminari when they find out their S/o's pregnant? And maybe how'd they be through out the pregnancy? Thanks! by Anonymous - Genre: fluff, headcanons - Characters: Hanta Sero, Denki Kaminari - Tags: pregnancy, established relationship, - Word count: 3.1k words - Warnings: infertility [hinted], pregnancy, birth, needle [mention], mature [brief mention] - Author: noelle
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Hanta Sero
-You and Sero were the most perfect example of that one high-school couple that had gotten together pretty early on in the first year of being there and lasted throughout the entire three years of being there. The couple that survived the 'doomed high-school sweethearts' stereotype.
-From the very first time he walked through the doors of 1A ready to start his journey of becoming a hero he was immediately smitten. When his eyes immediately snapped towards the person who's laugh blessed his ears to the moment when you made eye contact with him.
-It wasn't long after that, that the two of you became close friends. Especially after you moved into the dorms you were practically attached at the hip, constantly hanging out in Sero's rather cozy room it was only a small matter of time before you got together.
-You constantly talked about the future together. What sort of house you dreamed of and the interior of it. Of the large kitchen island you could share dinner with after coming back from a hard day of work, the dog you'd have and the hero agencies next to each other.
-Of course there was the talk of children. Sero wanted at least four, a comment he immediately got hit in the face by a pillow by before you protested with the fact he didn't need to get his private parts ripped apart four times. So you settled on two.
-Sero was absolutely smitten by you. The thought of coming home to you one day, seeing you in a wedding dress, cooking with you, doing laundry with you,, growing old with you. Life was short and he could not waste a single second of it.
-When your graduation had arrived, Sero got on his knee with a wobbly smile and a ring in his hand. It wasn't long after that before the two of you moved in together and married only two years later.
-Having reached the age and financial situation in which you both agreed was suitable to take the thought of having children a little more seriously was one you hadn't expected to be one that was so incredibly difficult.
-Tracking cycles, changing diets, changing daily routines, many many failed pregnancy tests and doctor's visits. Along with that came many doubts. Sero blamed himself for it all, blamed himself for being the reason it didn't work. It ate away at him.
-It was when he came back from work with his helmet in hand and zipper half way down, dirt smeared on his cheek and he was pretty sure he reeked of sweat at that point when saw you standing before him with a trembling smile with two hands tightly wrapped around a plastic stick.
-Sero couldn't remember the last time he cried so hard. His arms were so tightly wrapped around your shoulders you were sure if he held onto you like that for another 5 minutes you would've suffocated.
-The two of you stood there in that hallways for awhile just crying together while holding each other. He sniffled when he pulled back and slid onto his knees, arms wrapped around your waist before he hugged your stomach.
"T-thank you..i love you so much, god (y/n) you don't even know.."
-Throughout the pregnancy Sero is an absolute doll. The most perfect partner you could wish for in this time.
-He had already read all the pregnancy blogs and books way before you two actually conceived. Sero left for the grocery store that very same evening and came back with bags full of vitamins, fresh vegetables and massage oil.
-Sero is there when the morning sickness hits, rubbing your back and holding your hair. Telling you he's sorry and even though your hunched over a toilet bowl you still look incredibly beautiful to lighten the mood.
-Especially the first trimester he's incredibly nervous since its the most crucial one to your baby's health and he's worried about you. The minute he found out about your pregnancy he immediately demanded you don't go out patrolling anymore.
-Craving a specific kind of snack which is most definitely gonna make a normal person throw up at the thought of the combination alone at 3 am? Your husband is there in the kitchen, happily cooking it up while chatting with you as if he doesn't have to get up at 7 for work.
-Oh? That ice cream that you want so badly isn't in the fridge anymore? No worries, your husband is already holding his car keys ready to scan the evening market for it and bringing it home to you asap while wearing the mustard yellow crocs he's owned since he was 16 and his pajamas.
-Every week he brings home the fruit or vegetable that your baby's size is compared to. Starting small with blueberries and grapes but slowly and surely they turned into an apple, a tomato and a mango. It was a fun way to celebrate every single week.
-He's so fully prepared for when your stomach gets a little bigger and your back starts hurting. Sero has had to undergo a lot of physical therapy and professional massages throughout his life due to his elbows sometimes feeling sore if he overworked them. His hands are genuine magic.
-He'll make it into a whole thing too. First drawing you a warm bath with your favorite bath bomb and some candles, he'll bring you a bowl of your favorite cut up fruits and a cold glass of whatever juice it is you like. He'll sit behind you, washing your head for you and just enjoying his time with you before his hands make their way to your shoulders and back.
-You sleep like an absolutely baby that night.
-Pregnancy can cause a huge hit on your confidence, especially once you reach your third semester and really start showing. None of your clothes from before fit you anymore and you hate the way pregnancy clothes look on you.
-Whenever Sero catches you staring at yourself in the mirror just a little too long than you usually would he's immediately behind you with his arms wrapped around you from behind and his face nuzzled into your neck.
"You're so magnificent. Growing a human being by yourself and looking fantastic while doing so, i can't believe i get to call you mine."
-Sero would always be there. No matter what, you still felt as loved by him as you did when you were in high school together. Possibly even more. He always knew the right things to say and do.
-A fact proven yet again to be true when your water broke when you got up in the middle of the night to go pee. 
-Two weeks before your due date causing Sero to immediately stress out only for you to reassure him two weeks isn't that bad, not considered to be premature at least.
-For a man who throughout the entire pregnancy seemed to be quite calm and collected he's now shaking and cursing to himself softly as he goes to pack your bags and get the car keys. As much as he tries to hide it from you, you can still notice his hands shaking slightly and his knee bouncing up and down as the two of you sit in the delivery room.
-He's such a worry wart as you sit in the delivery room, constantly pacing up and down and looking over the nurse's shoulder whenever they come to check up on you while biting on his fingernails.
"Do you need water? Want me to get the nurse? I should probably call your mom right? Are yo-" "I'm fine, Sero"
-Sero needs to sit down for a bit after witnessing the size of the epidural needle. He knew it was a bit longer than usual vaccine needles but he hadn't expected it to be that long. For a pro hero who had witnessed all sorts of medical procedures this had been one of the few that made his head spin and face turn white.
-When the time had arrived he's there by your side holding your hand, willing to sacrifice it with the strength you were squeezing it. His complete attention is on you and only you. He's turned to you, head right besides yours as he whispers encouragement to you.
"C'mon you got this, just a little more yeah? God you're so strong its crazy! Almost there, you're doing so good i love you."
-The minute the cries of your son echo through the room he lets out a sigh of relief before laughing softly. Such a weight that was lifted off his shoulders, one he had been carrying for so long he was overwhelmed by two years of emotions.
-Sero sobs so loudly when they put your son on your chest, immediately grabbing you and littering your face with tear mixed kisses as the two of you coo over the little boy you had so anticipately waited for these last few months.
-Your son is an exact copy paste of his father aside from the color of his eyes. Its not hard to notice that his elbows are a little thicker than usual as well, you could make a pretty good assumption on what his quirk was going to be already.
-The rest of the night Sero is sitting next to bassinet admiring every little detail about the little boy while you take some hard earned rest. He's smiling to himself, once again wiping his eyes as he's overwhelmed by the love he feels for his little family.
-Great hero, fantastic husband and now an even better father. He really was the whole package.
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Denki Kaminari
-You and Kaminari got together around two years after graduating. It was through a mutual friend and you couldn't lie about the fact he always caught your eye whenever there was a hero event and you saw him from the opposite side of the room.
-It was pretty casual at first, neither of you two wanting to fully commit and just have fun with it. Yet here you were with a shared two bedroom apartment in which one of those bedrooms was used as a half storage half workout room and a cat that adored you and tolerated Kaminari.
-You could say the two of you were quite committed to 'the bit' as Kaminari once called it before he spent the night sleeping on the couch.
-There were no grand plans you made for the future together such as a house or a family or anything along the lines of that. You liked living in the moment of it all. See what the future would bring you along the way.
-And sometimes three unexpected positive pregnancy tests come along your way. One to try and see why your period was late. A second to make sure and the third to see whether it was just those specific cheap brands or if you really were pregnant.
-You were very pregnant.
-The fact Kaminari thought you were joking at first and therefor moving along as if nothing happened didn't make the whole, already stressful, situation any better. To the point where you started angry crying thinking he didn't care only for him to then realize this in fact was not a joke.
"Damn i guess my pull out game is not stro- ACK" 
-Best believe he was sleeping on the couch once again that night.
-The two of you had a long conversation that night, sitting across the table from each other while thinking of all possible outcomes, possibilities and things that would have to be done in order to even consider committing to such a responsibility. 
-You couldn't lie when you said you hadn't thought of the idea of raising a kid together with Kaminari. And that that idea made you somewhat excited about the whole thing. You were both pretty well known heroes, you a little more than him, with fantastic income. There was a spare room that didn't really get used and your cat had always loved Kaminari's nieces and nephews.
-Kaminari wanted it so badly but couldn't help the doubt of him not being responsible enough for a kid. Would he even be a good father? What if he dropped the baby? What if he forgot to feed the-
-A good knock on the head followed by reassurance with the fact you two were doing this together and that he would be a good father were enough to get him in a giddy mood, immediately going on a rant about possible baby names and how cool their kid was gonna be.
-Best wish your morning fatigue isn't too bad because even though Kaminari's gonna be next to you holding your hair up and patting your back best believe he's puking along side with you. 'An empath' as he calls it.
-Kaminari and you hadn't exactly planned on this so you're making sure to read into a lot of the things that come with pregnancy. You have your books and Kaminari,, has different sources for his pregnancy knowledge.
 "Reddit says-"
-Once again he's sleeping on the couch. At least he decided to pick up on your pregnancy books and actually learn something real this time.
-He has such a hard time keeping it to himself its killing him. Especially whenever he's with his friends Kaminari really needs to bite his tongue to not just burst out that you are pregnant. The first trimester rule was gonna be the end of him.
-Makes it a whole when telling his friends, inviting them all to your home to show off his new 'men cave' only for them to walk into an unfinished baby room that only had a crib in the middle. Clearly unfinished but they got the idea and were very happy for you two.
-He's so proud of having put it together as well up until Bakugou inspects it and lightly touches it before it falls apart. Kaminari's getting a good scolding from the blonde before Bakugou rolls up his sleeves and starts putting it together himself.
-The two of you actually get a surprising amount of help from Bakugou with the baby room who is apparently an expert in a lot of handiwork.
-Once the media gets a whiff of what's going on in your private lives and he's finally able to speak on it Kaminari is BOASTING about it in interviews. He seriously can't shut up about how excited he is and how he has the most amazing partner in the world. All the fans love it.
-Kaminari is the type of person to join you in whatever abomination of a craving you have. Pickles wrapped in roll-ups? Instant ramen with chocolate sauce? Oh he's making two portions of both and happily munching away besides you on the couch at 2 am.
-Poor guy can't keep up with the mood swings to the point he starts getting them himself. One minute you're shouting at him for breathing wrong causing him to get irritated then you start crying and he's crying alongside you.
-God what a burden he must carry to satisfy his pregnant wife who's eagerness is through the roof. What a rough life it is for poor Kaminari Denki.
-When you near the end of your second trimester Kaminari takes a leave from work to do pretty much all house chores for you. There might've been a chemical gas in the bathroom from cleaning supplies that should not have been mixed and a white shirt turned pink in the wash but he got the hang of it eventually. At least the spirit was there.
-He loves talking to your stomach when you're asleep. He's a little embarrassed about it so he keeps his voice down but you've caught him doing it a few times. Didn't have the heart to interrupt him so you just try not to smile as he has his head resting on your thighs while keeping his hand on your stomach.
-Talking about all sorts of things. His day, funny stories from your high school life or just random things in general. He'd always get all smiley and happy whenever the baby reacts to his voice by softly kicking against his hand.
“I love you so much, which is funny because you’re not even born yet,, Only 2 months, which feels much longer than you’d think. But i guess if you’re looking forward to something times goes by slow”
-When the time is there, Kaminari is freaking out. He's running around this house, calling all friends and family to let them know, triple checked whether or not he fed the cat and looks for his car keys even though he's already holding them.
-You just stand by the door, bag in hand while you wait for him to calm down so he can drive you to the hospital already.
-Kaminari for sure passes out somewhere when it starts getting serious. A combination of nerves and seeing what was going on down there gets a little too much for the man and the light in his eyes goes out for a good two minutes.
-Do NOT show this man the epidural otherwise he's gone again.
-Constantly asking the nurses and doctors what they're doing, trying to sit still but you can feel the shaking in his hand when he holds yours in his.
-Its quite normal that during labor people end up screaming. A lot of people do especially during the pushing process,, and so did Kaminari. To be more specific, he was the one screaming the loudest as the grip of your hand on his got so strong that you managed to break it.
-He genuinely couldn't care about his fractured bones when the first cries of his daughter rang through the room, his heart immediately stopping when she was laid down onto your chest. 
-She was perfect. Absolutely perfect. Kaminari always thought new born babies were a little ugly, with the way their head was shaped and they always managed to look a little cranky but she was the embodiment of the word angel. Barely any hair yet but it was so clear she had your hair color.
-He was peppering your hand with kisses while trying his very hardest not to cry.
-After she got cleaned up Kaminari was allowed to cut the umbilical cord which made him panic because he was scared he'd hurt her. It was then that the nurses noticed how purple his hand had become before rushing him to the ER.
-When the nurses and doctor left and Kaminari had come back with his hand in a cast it was finally just the three of you. It was then that you noticed Kaminari nervously fidgeting with his shirt while you were holding your daughter.
"C-can i hold her..?" "She's your daughter, Denki."
-Something about Kaminari holding the car seat with your daughter in it while walking out of the hospital that really made you fall in love all over with him again.
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inawickedlittletown · 1 month
Text
Handsome Little Bookworm (BuckTommy) - one-shot
Summary: In which Buck discovers how avid of a reader Tommy is.
BuckTommy Positivity Week Day 4: hobbies and dates
Rated: G
Words: 1.1k
@bucktommypositivityweek
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Read on Ao3
Buck realized fairly quickly that his boyfriend was a romantic. He didn’t seem to think that he deserved romance or that anyone would be willing to go to all that trouble for him, but he certainly loved to watch romcoms and he read more romance books than anyone that Buck had ever met. The first time he was invited over to Tommy’s house he’d zeroed in on the built in bookshelves that held both books and DVDs. He’d been interested right away, especially because of the insight that it might give him to Tommy. 
“This is quite the collection,” Buck had muttered as he perused the movies. “Chimney did say you were a big movie guy.” 
“When you grew up the way I did, escapism is all you really have, Evan.” 
Buck nodded. “I went with the route that kept me out of the house until I broke something. Usually my bones.”
“Evan,” Tommy said, exasperated.  
“I don’t do that anymore.” 
When he got to the book section of the bookshelf, Buck pulled out a dark blue book with white writing that read Boyfriend Material. 
“Is this a guide? Do I make the cut?” Buck asked. 
Tommy plucked the book from his hands and returned it to its spot. It brought him close enough that Buck could smell his cologne. It was earthy and warm and Buck wanted nothing more than to press himself up against him and maybe turn around and kiss him silly. 
“You are definitely boyfriend material,” Tommy responded and he took a step away from Buck. 
Buck knew he was blushing and thinking about how it hadn’t even a week since they had defined what they were doing. After not having had a boyfriend his whole life, it felt amazing to actually have one. Some might say it sounded a little juvenile, but Buck loved it. He loved that Tommy was his boyfriend. 
Buck ran his fingers over the spines of a few more books and slowly came to the conclusion that half the books Tommy owned were romance novels. It was a little unexpected, and Buck didn’t know what he had expected to find on Tommy’s shelves because Tommy had never struck him as someone that spent their time reading non-fiction or the thrillers that had become popular due to all the true crime podcasts. Maybe he just hadn’t expected Tommy to be very invested in reading. Romance books made sense, though. So did the mix of sci-fi/fantasy. 
“So which of these is your favorite?” Buck asked. 
“I don’t think I have a favorite,” Tommy admitted. 
Buck glared at him. “Which one have you read more than once?” 
“Not that many.” 
Buck perused the books himself, looking for one that might be a little more worn than the others. It was difficult entirely because Tommy seemed to take meticulous care of his books. But, of course he did. He had an entire section made up of classics whose titles Buck recognized from reading lists at school. Going up a few shelves, two books whose pages faced out caught his attention. Buck could understand putting the books that way on the shelf because the edges of the pages were pretty. He grabbed them both out. 
The books were by the same author, TJ Klune. The covers were cartoonish in a way. One featured a house at the end of a cliff and the other a house in the middle of a forest that looked entirely like it was ready to collapse. He looked at the back cover of one and then the other. 
“These sound interesting,” he offered. 
“They’re very good. Your favorite?” 
“Nope.”
Buck hummed and put them back. He grabbed another book at random. Less. The cover featured a suited up guy falling backwards. 
Next he looked at a very thick white book with some kind of ship on the cover. And then The Hunger Games which Buck had actually read. A Sherlock Holmes story collection and a few books by Andy Weir. He recognized The Martian because he’d seen Hen reading it a few years back. 
“Have you read everything on here?” 
“Most of them,” Tommy said. 
“Hmm, I think I like knowing my boyfriend is well read,” Buck said as he put Good Omens back in its place. 
Tommy snorted. “If you count romance and speculative fiction well read.” 
“You read more than me.” 
“And I bet if we found a book in a topic you found interesting, you’d be in a deep dive,” Tommy said. 
Buck didn’t deny it. He did smirk at Tommy and pull him into a kiss. “How about we keep you my handsome little bookworm.” 
The rest of the tour of Tommy’s house resulted in Buck finding even more books. He hadn’t been looking, it was just that Tommy had books literally everywhere. He had another bookshelf in his bedroom and a small pile on his bedside table. He had cooking books in the kitchen, even. It was cute and Buck had no idea when Tommy made time for reading, but he did. He knew that he took a book to work with him for the downtime in between calls, but with everything else Tommy did, it was still shocking how many books he got through. 
In the months that followed, everytime he stayed the night, he found that Tommy had already finished the book he’d previously had on his bedside table and that it had been replaced with something entirely new. He liked looking at the current book and asking Tommy to tell him about it. 
As far as hobbies went, reading was not one that Buck had expected to find hot. Not like Muay Thai which involved tight shorts and a very sweaty and delicious looking Tommy, or even Tommy tinkering away at a car wearing a backwards cap and a tight tanktop that would invariably get covered in oil or grease stains. Buck just hadn’t known what it would do to him to know that Tommy wore reading glasses. 
He’d kissed him about it and begged him to keep the glasses on during sex that night. He had absolutely no regrets about it. 
Buck was also a little amazed by how much of Tommy’s mail consisted of books getting delivered to him. Or how whenever they went anywhere that had a local bookstore they had to make time to go inside and peruse the wares. Tommy always bought at least one book. 
Some of the best nights were the quiet nights where Buck had his headphones on and he watched a documentary or dived into his research and next to him, glasses perched on his nose and a book open in his hands was Tommy. Buck could picture them doing that for years. 
He could see it so well, the two of them a bit older sharing in each other’s space but doing their own thing. Occasionally sharing a smile or a kiss maybe with rings on each other’s fingers to top it all off.  
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lazycats-stuff · 1 year
Note
PLEASEEEE DO A PART TWO TO THE ORPHAN READER MAYBE THEY GET COMFY WITH THE FAM AND THERES TIMES WHERE THEY SHOW IT?? and their reactions too? And at the end they accidentally says they're the best robin and the bat bros + bruce tease them!! if u can do this tysm!! (Sorry 4 caps i just loved that story!)
I was planning a part 2, no worries. All right, time to get to writing. Famous last word of the author who will procrastinate... Oops. Also, people who didn't read the first part, they can read it here: PART 1
Summary: (Y/N) is slowly getting more comfortable with his new family. The others are happy.
Warnings: fluff, (Y/N) thinking about his new life, teasing.
Quick note, this GIF is too adorable to not put here...
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It has been a month since (Y/N) came to live with the Waynes. It was a difficult adjustment for (Y/N). After spending years on the Gotham streets, it wasn't easy to adjust to a warm room, a comfortable bed or 3 regular meals a day.
He also didn't like that he had to go to school. He preferred to learn on his own, it was much more better. But Bruce left him no choice. Bruce used his suit as leverage, using the threat of taking it.
(Y/N) disliked him even more due to the threat.
(Y/N) sighed as he walked down the school corridors, adjusting the straps of his bag. He was really going to escape one day. He thought about escaping often, but Bruce made sure that the house was secure like Pentagon. No out.
He was walking to his biology class, just ready to end the day. And he was hoping that he would avoid Damian, who disliked him. Even after a month of living with them, Damian still didn't tolerate him and would be set off by anything that (Y/N) did.
(Y/N) could only hope that he didn't have biology with Damian. He would rather shoot himself then sharing this class. He was avoiding Damian in school like a plague.
For a moment he thought about the other members of the family. Tim was the only one that (Y/N) could come to talk to. If one had a question, they would go ask another one. But he was still iffy around Tim, not knowing if he can trust him just yet.
Dick? Well, (Y/N) found him annoying with how much he was trying to welcome him into the family and into the home. But at least Dick was trying.
Jason was not welcoming towards (Y/N), but didn't fight with him like Damian. He just stayed out of (Y/N)'s way.
And Bruce? Well, he tried his best to get closer to (Y/N), but (Y/N) refused to open up to him. He can't expect (Y/N) to open up when Bruce adopted him by force.
Out of the corner of his eye he could see Damian, but he ignored him, turning his head completely.
" (Y/N) can you come and help me? " Tim asked him, popping his head into his room. (Y/N) lifted his head from his sketch book, sketching a new version of his bites.
" With what? " (Y/N) asked from the bed.
" It's a case, I'm just stumped. " Tim explained, scratching the back of his neck, clearly not wanting to admit the defeat.
" Sure, why not. " (Y/N) said, putting the sketchbook down and standing from the bed. He followed Tim to the cave. It seems like Tim was tired from the case itself.
" What is the case about? " (Y/N) asked.
" It's a murder case, my guess Professor Pyg, but I can't prove it. It's just... This case is so annoying. " Tim said, entering the cave.
(Y/N) didn't like the cave very much. It brought the memory of being brought here and (Y/N) didn't want to remember the night that changed his life. For the better or for worse? He still didn't know.
Tim pulled two chairs and (Y/N) sat down next to him, looking up at the big screen of the computer. Tim pulled up everything he had.
" So what is bothering you about this? " (Y/N) asked.
" Well, Professor Pyg was in Arkham, but he escaped, but there was a string of murders before hand. It seems like he was in Arkham and killing in the city at the same time. " Tim explained.
" Okay, well, it seems like he has a helper. Did you look into who spends the most time with him in Arkham? " (Y/N) asked Tim, now realizing that the others were in the cave too.
Shit.
" I didn't, but I will look into it. Thanks. Oh wait, I figured out the problem with the bites you said you had. " Tim said, giving him a few pieces of paper.
" You did? Thanks. " (Y/N) thanked Tim, moving to walk back upstairs, passing right past the others without a word. Bruce watched him walk off. He had a plan to get closer to (Y/N).
" I think that (Y/N) might be right about this. " Tim said, biting his nail.
" Good. " Bruce said, moving closer to the screen.
" Did you talk to (Y/N) about the internship at Wayne Enterprises? " Tim asked Bruce, looking at him.
" I will talk to him tonight after dinner before we go to patrol tonight. "
Tim nodded, turning his head back to look at the screen.
And after dinner, after (Y/N) went upstairs to his room, Bruce went after him, knocking on the door. He opened the door after her heard a faint come in.
Bruce entered the room, closing the door behind himself. (Y/N) was sitting at his desk, books open all over the desk.
" Are you busy? " Bruce asked, trying to ease the tension.
" At the moment no. " (Y/N) said dryly, turning in his chair to face Bruce. Bruce noticed how tense (Y/N) was and he hoped that this idea would work. He wanted (Y/N) to be comfortable with him and he knew that it would take time.
" So, I have an idea and you can say yes or no to it. " Bruce started, sitting down at (Y/N)'s bed. " I know you love to work on your suit, but I feel like there is more to your intelligence, so I talked to Lucius Fox, one of my trusted friends. He is the one who is responsible for making our suits. " Bruce stopped for a moment, watching (Y/N)'s reaction. He is interested, good.
" I talked to him about you helping him out as an intern. And you will be paid for your work. " Bruce said, making (Y/N) stand up from the chair in excitement.
" Really?! " (Y/N) asked, just shaking with excitement.
" Yes. I thought about you going everyday after school, but for a few hours. I can't forget about your school. " Bruce said and (Y/N) just flew into his arms into a hug.
When (Y/N) stopped hugging Bruce, already composed. He always dreamt of working in such a lab.
" And the money would be mine? " (Y/N) asked, liking the idea of earning his own money.
" Yes, you would have your own account and that is just yours. " Bruce said, happy to see that (Y/N) was happy.
" Thank you Bruce. " (Y/N) said, moving to sit back at the chair.
" No need to thank me. I saw how you don't really like being in school and the fact that you don't go out on patrol anymore, I thought that it would be nice to let you get out sometime. " Bruce said, suppressing a smile.
Everyone in the house could see the change in (Y/N)'s demeanor. He was happier since he started his internship and more so, he got more comfortable with Bruce. And Lucius was an amazing teacher and a mentor. And Bruce was definitely happier knowing that (Y/N) was more comfortable with him.
While (Y/N) was more comfortable with Bruce and Tim, the other three weren't so lucky. They didn't want to look like they didn't want (Y/N) here, but still, there was still some resentment towards him for taking their missions.
Jason came home from patrol, stressed out from the criminals and the lack of leads for a case. He had a plan. Take a shower and go on the roof to smoke.
Important note, be alone.
Jason took a quick shower then took his pack of cigarettes. He opened the window and climbed onto the roof. Jason shared a wall with (Y/N)'s room so he was and wasn't shocked when he saw (Y/N) sitting on the roof.
Jason noticed how tense he got when he saw him and simply put his cigarette in his mouth to raise his hands, to show that there is nothing to be tense about.
" Don't worry, I just came to smoke here. I had a rough night. " Jason said, taking a lighter and lighting up his cigarette. He took a long drag before letting the smoke out.
" What is bothering you? " He asked, letting the smoke out.
" It's nothing. " (Y/N) said, waving Jason off.
" Are you sure? I know we aren't close, but you can tell me. I won't tell Bruce. " Jason said, shocking himself with his statement. Since when did he care?
" Promise me that you won't tell Bruce? " (Y/N) asked.
" Promise. " Jason said. " You smoke? "
" No, I don't. " (Y/N) said, taking a deep breath.
" I just miss going out on patrol and I just miss my old life. " (Y/N) admitted to Jason, who nodded.
" I mean, it's nice to have 3 meals a day and a home, but all I knew all my life are the streets of Gotham. It's difficult to just switch your mindset. "
Jason took a drag, before letting his smoke out. " You know, I had the same problem when I first came here. I didn't really live on the streets, but I was close to. Bruce saved me and it was difficult for me to adjust too. " Jason admitted to (Y/N).
(Y/N) just raised his brow, maybe shocked to hear Jason's confession. But it felt nice knowing that he wasn't the only one who has felt the way he has. After going back into his room, Jason smiled at himself. (Y/N) got more comfortable with him...
Alfred asked Dick to pick up (Y/N) from his internship, since he couldn't make it. Dick didn't mind picking up his younger brother, in fact it meant that they could spend more time together. Usually Bruce would drop him off at home when he was done with work, but he had more work today.
Dick parked his car just when (Y/N) came out of the building. He waived him over and (Y/N) sped up to the car. He sat in the front, putting his bag down onto the car floor and putting his seatbelt on.
" How was your day? " Dick asked, driving to a cafe that he knew (Y/N) would love.
" It was fine. " (Y/N) said.
" What did you work on today? "
" Just some minor improvements for the suits and something for the company, just to keep up the façade. " (Y/N) said vaguely.
" That's nice. "
" Where are we going? " (Y/N) asked, noticing that they weren't going to the manor.
" You and I are going to hang out today. " Dick said, with a far too much of a cheerful voice than (Y/N) would have liked.
" Great. " (Y/N) said dryly, clearly not happy with the idea.
" Don't be so negative Jinx. We are going to go to a cafe to get some drinks. "
(Y/N) didn't know why they would do that, but he has no choice. he doesn't want to walk back home.
" Don't be so negative about it. You will like it. " Dick said, finding a spot. He turned off the car and both of them stepped out. Dick led them into the quiet cafe and they both order coffees. They sat down, waiting for their drinks.
" I heard a rumor that you miss going on patrol. " Dick said, taking a sip of his coffee.
(Y/N) remembered the talk with Jason. Did he spill? " Who told you that? " (Y/N) asked, tilting his head.
" Nobody, I'm just messing with you. I can see it in your eyes. " Dick admitted, seeing the relief in his eyes. Jason definitely told Dick, but threatened his if he told anything to (Y/N) about his involement.
" I do miss it... It was way more free than now. "
" What if I tell you that Bruce wants you to go? " Dick said, bringing his mug to his lips.
" What? " (Y/N) asked, now completely shocked. What is Dick talking about?
" He told me that he is sure that you will like to be back on patrol. He saw how you miss it and since you have been here long enough for Bruce to trust you, then he said you are allowed to go. " Dick said, reaching for his pocket. There was the USB he handed out to (Y/N).
" I know you were working on a case when we... Took you in. So, I took it upon myself to investigate it. Here is everything I have collected. " Dick said, nodding to (Y/N) who was hesitant to take it.
" I know you are still hesitant, but I just want you too feel comfortable with me. " Dick said, watching (Y/N) sip his coffee.
" Well, it's not easy to get comfortable with the people that forced this on you. " (Y/N) said, tapping his fingers against the wooden table.
" I know, but it's better than you living on the streets. " Dick said, fixing his jacket.
" You are right about that, but I had fun on the streets. There wasn't a set of rules... "
" But there was a struggle. " Dick said, saving themselves an argument.
" Yeah, but still. " (Y/N) said, shrugging his shoulders.
And that same night, Jinx was officially back on the Gotham scene. It was obvious to all of them that patrol was something to bring out the old (Y/N) and not the new withdrawn (Y/N).
Bruce had to say, (Y/N) listened to them and let them know where he was and he listened to the orders and plans. He was paired with Damian. On tonight's agenda was destroying Penguin's weapons cache.
" Alright everyone, lets go. Watch out for the henchmen. " Batman said through the comms.
Everyone let out noises of agreement and on they went. Robin and Jinx moved swiftly and quietly, taking everyone out quietly. They didn't talk, they just moved around like shadows.
After a while, they met in the center of the building, looking at the weapons piled up here. There was enough to start a civil war in the city and probably the tristate area.
" Okay, even I don't need this much weapons. " Jason said, looking at the caches, whistling afterwards.
" Lets just destroy it and go home. " Jinx said, looking into his belt for explosives.
" Hang on, if we can put them into those vaults and in the process destroy the money..." Dick started, pointing at the vaults with his baton.
" That's not a bad idea. " Batman said, ready to push, but the doors closed and locked.
It was Penguin sending his goons in to kill them. All of them jumped into fight mode, each of them holding their own. During the fight, Jinx saw a goon pulling out a gun. It was pointed and Damian and Jinx didn't think before jumping in front of it, protecting Damian from the shot.
Damian was shocked to find that (Y/N) was shot because he was protecting him. None the less, they finished fighting and went straight to the cave. Bruce drove like a maniac, every single second precious to them when it came to being shot. They had notified Alfred to get the medical wing ready.
After coming to the cave and Alfred taking over the medical for (Y/N), everyone was silent. Damian didn't know what to say. It was weird and incomprehensible to him why would (Y/N) do that for him. They changed into their pajamas, just waiting for Alfred to come out with good news.
After what seemed like an eternity, Alfred came out, giving them those good news.
" He is going to be fine gentlemen. I will spend the night here just in case. You can go up and sleep it off. "
That same day, more precisely morning, they all came into the medical wing of the cave, waiting for (Y/N) to wake up. They were all anxious, watching like hawks.
After a while, (Y/N)'s eyes opened and everyone was silent. " Look, it's the best Robin. " (Y/N) giggled, pointing at Damian. Jason had to step out to let out a laugh. Bruce looked up to at the ceiling, wondering why did he adopt him.
Dick coughed, covering the snort that came out. (Y/N) is going to get teased relentlessly for the next couple of months.
Tim was shocked that it wasn't him. He felt slightly betrayed.
And Damian was outright shocked, which doesn't happen often. Holy shit. He was going to use this piece of information at every opportunity possible.
(Y/N) giggled and got quiet again. (Y/N) was okay and he was going to fit in with them.
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fairysluna · 10 months
Text
unrequited.
Aegon was unable to keep his love for you as a secret, but he did not expect for you to shatter his heart into pieces after realizing you do not feel the same way.
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MASTERLIST
PAIRING — Aegon II Targaryen x Fem!Reader.
TAGS — angst, unrequited love, inspired by THAT scene from little women, hurt/no comfort, a bit of miscommunication, one sided love, a lot of crying, guilt, cursing, aegon was named heir. If something is missing, let me know!!
AUTHOR'S NOTE — i was sad, i was watching little women, and then i remembered that i haven't written angst in a very long time. It's short, but well, it is what it is. I'm trying to escape the writer's block so bear with me if this isn't perfect, hope you all like it!🤍
WORD COUNT — 1.6k
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤenglish is not my first language.
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There was something in the way his eyes looked at you that should have warned you about what was going to happen. Maybe the way his company felt slightly different, or the way he purposely brushed his hand as he walked beside you along the shore of Dragonstone.
A peaceful silence reigned between you two, where only the sound of the sea and seagulls were heard. There was never a need to be talkative whenever you were with him, you two did not need words to express to one another, just a single glance at him and you would be able to read him as if he was a book. It had always been that way. Aegon had never attempted to hide how much he enjoyed your company; no matter how many duties and responsibilities his position might have, he would always find some time during the day to make you company. The mere sound of your cheerful laughter was enough for him to feel whole. Happy.
Your friendship with Aegon began unexpectedly; you were a Lady of a small house, bannermen of the Tyrells. Not even in a million years you would have thought you were going to be one of the heir's closest friends. But you were, and Aegon loved it. You were not like other maidens, you always saw beyond his royal title, beyond the power he would once hold. You saw him as Aegon, Egg as you would sometimes prefer to call him. He loved that you were a breeze of fresh air that would wake him up from his torment every time he felt too overwhelmed.
You were everything for him, an escape of the four wall prison that would often be disguised as a castle. You set him free.
Aegon, inevitably, fell for you in the most beautiful of ways; slowly and unexpectedly. One day he woke up and felt the urge to hold you in his arms each morning; he could not stand another minute without you by his side - it felt almost unnatural to be without your company. His heart found a reason to beat with your presence, his brain would often overshadow his thoughts with silly daydreams about you.
You, you, you. It's always you. It has always been you.
Now, as you were complaining about your Septa scolding you that same morning, Aegon was in awe, mesmerized by you doing such a mundane thing like talking. And, bewitched by the way your lips moved, he stopped his pace. Salty air filling his lungs as he encouraged himself to say what he has been dying to say to you.
You did not realize about it until you were a few steps further than him, and you turned around. He was just looking at you; his puppy, lilac eyes staring at your face almost without blinking. You chuckled nervously, confused about what was happening. You smiled awkwardly, feeling a bit too exposed all of the sudden.
“Is something wrong?” You asked, frowning.
He did not reply, but you saw it in his eyes.
Your smile slowly faded away once the realization hit you, and the atmosphere changed immediately.
“Aegon…” You mentioned his name so differently, it felt almost foreign due to the way it left your lips. It was a plea, you were begging him to not say the words that were about to be pronounced.
He took a step closer; the dreamy glow in his eyes was still there, as if he had not seen the look on your face yet.
“Please, don't,” you managed to say, breathlessly. Your heart was beating so fast that you felt tired. Exhausted, even. You desperately tried to stop it before it was too late.
But you failed.
The weight in your chest became heavier, almost unbearable. Your lower lip was shaking, your legs trembling. You were heartbroken because you knew what you would have to do. Shaking your head, you refused to let him speak, both of you interrupted your words as a desperate attempt to silence each other.
“You need to hear me-”
“-stop this, Aegon-”
“-there’s no use to keep hiding it-”
“-don’t do this-”
“-you know what I'm about to say-”
“-Aegon, please-”
“-I love you.”
The heat of the burning sun was not enough to vanish the coldness that suddenly grew between you two. You closed your eyes, defeated. The silence became painfully awkward, and in that moment Aegon knew the truth.
His heart shattered.
You lifted your head to meet his eyes; they were covered by a layer of tears that were reluctant to escape. He was trying so hard not to fall apart, almost shaking as he stood as stiff as a rock.
“I love you,” he repeated in a whisper, thinking you might have not heard it the first time. “Please… please say it back.”
“Aegon-”
“Please,” he pleaded. His voice was broken and weak, trembling as he choked on a sob. “Please, say it.”
“You cannot do this to me-”
“I have loved you since the first day,” he confessed. “I’ve been trying to deny my feelings, trying to convince myself that it was nothing more, but it is. I need you, I love you more than words could tell, and my heart cannot bear another day without you being mine.”
“Aegon, I don't- I can't-”
“I want you to be my queen, my life companion,” he continued, watching you as you kept shaking your head. “My love, I want everything with you. I want to rule this fucking kingdom with you by my side. Please…”
“Aegon, I'm not fit to rule-”
“Me neither, but we can be a great team, I- I know that-”
“I can't be a queen, I can't marry you,” you interrupted him, trying to make understand your point.
You hated the prohibitions of a title. You see how Aegon was trapped in an invisible cage without escape, and you did not want that for yourself. You wanted freedom, you wanted to travel, to cross the Narrow Sea and meet foreign lands. As a queen, you would be caged; and as a wife to a king, you would be forced to provide him with heirs you do not wish to have yet.
It was selfish, you thought, but it was the thing that would make you happy.
“Aegon, this would never work,” she murmured as she grabbed his hands. He took a sharp breath when he felt your touch. “We're too different, we do not wish for the same things.”
“I know you love me too…. I know you do,” he told you. Some part of himself knew that it was a desperate attempt to try and convince himself that his words were true. But, deep inside, he knew it was not the case; one single glance at you would tell him what he's too afraid to accept.
“You are my best friend, you are the person that I trust the most, you-”
“Because you love me!” he raised his voice.
“I don't, Aegon…” you stopped him before he could say more. His nostrils twitched once he felt the itch on his nose, his lips trembling. “I don't love you like that.”
There was another silence. It was torturous. Aegon pulled his hands away from you. You quickly wiped the rebel tear that fell down your cheek.
“I know you think I'm the one, but I'm not. We would never work, this would only make you miserable-”
“You're the one for me,” he murmured, his eyes lost in the ground.
“I'm not,” you said, trying to reach him, but he just took another step back. “You'll find someone who will love you, who truly deserves you-”
“Am I not worthy of your love?” He suddenly asked, your heart aching at his broken voice.
Gods, you were about to explode.
“You're much more than what I truly deserve, Aegon, you're way better than-”
“I want you, I don't want another. I love you, I could never love anyone else the way I love you!”
“But you will!” you raised your voice to match his. “You will love someone else, and you will forget about me.”
“I can't ever forget about you,” he muttered. He remained quiet for a while before he looked down at you, noticing your teary eyes; a part of him hated himself for making you cry. After a few seconds he said, “I figured you would love me too… After everything we've lived and felt together. I thought we were gonna be happy-”
“You will be happy, Aegon. You'll find a fine young maiden who will give your life a purpose, but that is not me. It cannot be me.”
“You were my purpose,” he murmured, his face covered in tears as his puppy eyes would not look at you.
He felt embarrassed for how broken he was. For how naive he had been to even dare to believe you could possibly love him back. He wondered how he could be so foolish.
“I wish I could be the woman you want, I wish I didn't have to say these things- Aegon!”
He walked away, not wanting to hear any other of your excuses. It hurted enough as it is, your words would only wound him even more.
You tried to stop him, to grab his arm, yelling his name, and try to make him understand you, but he just walked away leaving his footprint on the wet sand as you stood there.
Tears were streaming down your face as you watched him go, one of your hands pressed against your chest as if you were trying to take the pain away. It hurted you to see him so broken, especially when you know it was you the one who caused it.
You had just lost your best friend, and there was no returning point from that.
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ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤ ㅤㅤfollow @by-fairysluna for more updates!
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itscherrylipsforme · 8 months
Text
The missing piece: Oliver Quick x fem!reader
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Part 2 here
Summary: A few months after Saltburn becomes completely his, Oliver still feels like something is missing. Without being able to put a finger on it he decides to pay a visit to Oxford, where all started, trying to find the answer between his old memories. Fate believes that a pretty and sweet student he meets in a bookstore is the piece of the puzzle he needs right now. After all everyone wants to be showered with love, don’t they?
Warnings: Post Saltburn fic, a little bit dark (it’s Oliver, what you expected?), age gap (he is around 15-17 years older), slightly innocent kin? (nothing sexual)
Words: Around 1700
Author's rambles: Okay, I feel in love with him the movie and I am kind of embarrassed about it (It’s not my fault hat the actor has pretty eyes and a gorgeous accent, fine?) For your own good, don’t aspire to have a boyfriend as toxic as him in real life. Also this is my fic on Tumblr, please be nice
Masterlist Characters I write for
Likes and reblogs are appreciated ღ
I do not authorize any of my works to be copied, translated or plagiarized ✗
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There is a psychological phenomenon that claims that after achieving something we have been longing for some time instead of the sense of satisfaction we were expecting we feel incomplete, hopeless and already looking forward to our next success. After having the Saltburn's keys just for himself, Oliver experienced that piercing emotion for the first time in his life. If he was painfully unaware of it or simply decided to ignore it remains as an open question until today. The only thing that was certain for him at that time is that he needed some action, a new goal, maybe some entertainment, and specially he needed answers. That’s why he decided to go back to the place it all started nearly sixteen years ago
Oxford hadn’t changed a lot since he graduated, as he had the chance to notice it. Different names, different faces, different decades… But still the same social scheme it was back them. Groups of rich daddy’s and mommy’s children swarming around the campus, pubs where you had to drink to be accepted, and poor little nobodies who had to adapt or die in the process
He rented a large flat not so far away from the university, and in the café just below it he rediscovered a hobby he had always had, but which have been almost forgotten on those last months on the mansion. Looking at the students, being able to read through their facades while accompanied by a cup of coffee, became his new pastime. But people always talk and after some weeks spending the afternoon in the café terrace just lost in his thoughts he realized the odd glances the staff shot towards him, so he decided to hide his true interest behind a less complex and unique one. The next day he went to the closest bookstore to buy any novel that would help him with his purpose, after all, people just ask fewer questions when you are reading on your own. That was when he found you sitting on a couch, legs crossed with a book between your small and soft hands
Pretty, beautiful, gorgeous even. Young, probably still studying at Oxford. On the shy aspect, lovely and smart as he guessed correctly. Sweet smile. Bright eyes. Oh, and some soft curves he was able to peep while he seemed to be looking at the shelves by your side. Wait, was that a blush, what he saw on your cheeks? Another scholarship student as he was back then. The fact that your clothes weren’t from big and expensive brands and that you spent your afternoons in the bookshop without really buying anything was the clue he needed to be sure about it. God, you were adorable, perfect, just what he needed right now and he decided to start working on it
Time had shown him that patience and a good plan could take you far away, this is the reason why, although he was eager to come to you and straight-forward mesmerize you with his tricks, he waited. He spent the next five weeks going to the library more or less daily hoping to see you, and luckily (since he was used to building his own luck) your schedules always matched. He always sat on an armchair to read next to yours, close but not enough to be suspicious. Just after he had made sure you have not so subtly looked at him a few times, he decided to make the move
“The Secret History” a deep silky voice said from behind your seat. His face slightly near to your face which made the words linger in the air for some honey-like seconds “You have a good taste”
“Thanks… Thank you” you manged to say in sweet and shy whisper
“First time you read it?” he asked and a shake of your head was the response he got
“No, I have already read it a couple of times in pdf. But I have never owned the physical book”
“We can have that keep happening, can’t we?” he grinned, and you couldn’t remember if he was the first man who had smiled and looked at you in that way “May I have a look at it?” his large and firm hands came to hold the cover as he stood up and went straight to the cashier “Follow me, darling” the nickname rolled in his tongue, sweet as candy, and before you thought about it, you did as he said. You were obedient, good thing, he thought to himself. He pulled the money out of his wallet in merely seconds, paid for it and hand it back to you
“Thanks, but I can’t accept it” you said slightly embarrassed
“Of course, you can! It truly is an amazing novel, you deserve it” he smirked. His words have had just the reaction he had expected from you, cheeks covered with a tiny hint of pink “I have always found myself relating to Henry Winter, I just need my Camila now”
You were taken back, was that an attempt to flirt? Because if it was, he had your attention. While you tried to make any sense out of your thought, he spoke again
“I am usually on a café nearby, if you are interested you could come sometime” Another smirk, and at that moment you knew that this man was going to be the death to you. Things like this only happened to the main characters in romance movies
“I don’t even know your name”
“ You can call me Oliver, darling”
“I am y/n”
“Beautiful, beautiful y/n, it was a pleasure to meet you. Hope we see each other again”
And you did. Between coffees, books, conversations and more, he had you wrapped around his finger by the time your classes ended. Oliver was sweet, devoted, intelligent… all you could ever ask for in a man. He was straight out of your dreams, and damn he felt you were straight out of his. Innocent, easy to make blush, could keep with his ramblings and most important, you were eager to love, and he was eager to be loved
Yesterday it had been your graduation, when you left the ceremony in that beautiful dress he had insisted on buying you and wrapped your arms around him, he felt like his plan has almost completely succeeded. Almost, you wanted a fairy tale romance, and he was going to give you one. Keeping things slowly and delicate. But when he woke up and felt you laying on his chest sleeping peacefully, he couldn’t help but want to make you his. That had been the only night you had spent in his apartment in your months together. He had sworn to himself that he wouldn't rush, so he didn't. At least he was glad you were coming with him to Saltburn for a few weeks in the summer and you could bet he wouldn’t let you leave the mansion again if he could. After all, you were all that he wanted. His missing piece
Part 2 here
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gigglz · 9 months
Text
Peace and Quiet.
Lee!Peter Ler!Loki
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(this is a tickle fic!! Purely fluff! NSFW don’t interact.)
Summary: Loki is trying to relax, but a little pesky teenager is bothering him with questions upon questions upon questions. God, someone make this kid shut up!
Author’s note: The fic is pretty short! Also this is my first fic in 6 months so im sorry if its not the best😭
Word count: 1.2k+
———————————————————————
It was a quiet evening. The Avengers were away on a mission, so Loki was left alone at the tower… or so he thought.
Loki was deep in the storyline of his current book of choice, relaxing peacefully on the couch as he read.
Suddenly, he heard the front door open as someone let themselves in.
Peter walked into the living room, where Loki was sitting. “Hey guys! I- oh…” He paused, looked around for a second, and then spoke again.
“Wheres.. uhm… wheres Mr.Stark?” Peter said nervously, clearing his throat.
Loki shrugged, not bothering to explain where the Avengers were.
“Okay well…” Peter stood there awkwardly for a few seconds before setting his backpack down near the entrance and walking over to the couch.
Peter plopped down, and Loki groaned silently.
Peter spoke “O-Oh i can move-“ “No, it’s fine.” Loki cut him off, a little irritated that his peace was disturbed.
They sat in silence for a few minutes, which Loki didn’t mind, but Peter, being Peter, couldn’t bare the silence.
“What’re you reading?” Peter turned to look at Loki.
“…A book.” Loki responded, lazily turning the page.
“Ah… nice… what book?” He asked more specifically.
Loki glanced at the cover “Lord of the Flies…” He went back to reading.
“Oh! Ive read that one!” Peter perked up.
Loki glanced at Peter. “…You have?”
“Yeah… a while ago.” Peter said enthusiastically.
“Hm.” Loki hummed and went back to reading.
Peter didn’t know what else to say, he was trying to make small talk, but that obviously didn’t work.
Peter spoke again, much to Lokis annoyance. “Can I ask you a question?” He blurted out.
Loki sighed, he thought maybe its just better to get this over with and then he can get back to his peace and quiet. “Go ahead.”
“Okay, cool. So… how… how is it like being here on earth and seeing all these stories about you?” Peter asked, he was genuinely interested.
Loki thought about it for a second. “…Its weird, but i am a god so i would expect no less.” Loki said, being his usual egoistical self.
“…Right.” Peter paused, and then asked again. “What were you thinking while trying to invade New York?”
Loki rolled his eyes. “I’ll let you know, that thats in the past. I’ve realized that being king of Earth would be pretty… underwhelming.”
Peter nodded, even thought he’s pretty sure Loki had just called ‘humans’ dumb he wasn’t going to press it. “Why are you still here? Why not go back to Asgard?”
Loki sighed, the kid was starting to get on his nerves. “I did go, but then i was imprisoned. So after that i decided to come here, lay low.”
Peter nodded again, feeling more relaxed around the ‘god’. “What are your powers?”
Loki turned another page, biting the inside of his cheek. Just a few more and then the kid will leave him alone. “I have many.”
“Like what?” Peter asked, resting his head on his hand and looking at Loki.
“…Illusions.” Loki was getting really irritated, he responded dryly.
“…And?” Peter leaned a little closer.
Loki sighed. “…shapeshifting.”
Peter looked at Loki like he was expecting something more. “Thats it?”
“No.” Loki answered.
Peter stared for a few seconds, waiting for Loki to say something more. “Then what else?”
Loki brought up his hand to rub his eyes. Why wont the kid shut up?? “Mind control.”
“Thats it?” Peter asks again.
Loki groans louder. “…no, thats not it.”
“What else?” Peter asks innocently, he really is just curious.
Loki keeps repeating the same two words in his head ‘don’t yell, don’t yell, don’t yell.’ “A lot more stuff.” Loki replies blandly.
Peter twists his head to the side “Like what?” He really wasn’t trying to annoy anyone, he just wanted to know.
Loki turns to look at the kid.
Peters curious expression turns to confusion. “…what?”
Loki murmurs something to himself. “…nothing.” He turns back to his.
“So…….. like mind control..?” Peter asks quietly.
Loki sighs. “I just said that.”
“Oh. Right….” Peter thinks for a second. “So.. teleportation?”
Loki closes his book, very annoyed. “Do you ever shut up??”
Peter is taken aback but the sudden outburst. “I- what..?”
Loki narrows his eyes. “You’re clearly disrupting me. Im trying to read. Don’t you know the others are on a mission? Why are you here???”
Peter scoots back a little. “I uh… i didn’t know..?”
Loki tries to calm down. “Go do something. I don’t know, go to Starks lab for gods sake!” He waves his hand dismissively.
“I would but uhh… its always locked.” Peter says, unaware of how annoyed Loki is.
Loki puts his head in his hands, reminding himself he isn’t allowed to hurt the boy.
Theres a moment of silence… before Peter breaks it. “…you want tea?”
Lokis eye twitches, thats it. “Im done. You’re done.” Loki grabs Peter’s ankle, and pulls him down flat on the couch.
Peter yelps. “W-waitwaitwait!!” Peter puts his hands in front of his face, to shield himself.
“Im not going to hurt you.” Loki says with an angry tone.
Peter removes his hands from in front of his face, a look of confusion plastered on it.
“Y’know Stark talks about you when he’s drunk. Its quite amusing, some valuable information he gives us.” Loki states, with and edge of amusement in his tone.
“W-what do you mean?” Peter asks nervously.
Loki groans at the question, enough with the questions. “This ought to calm you down.”
Before Peter can ask of what Loki means for the second time, he sees Lokis hands dart to his sides.
Peter yelps. “Wait! No! Hold on!”
“Shut up.” Loki starts squeezing Peter’s sides rapidly.
“Gahah! Wahait!” Peter squirms, trying to fight Lokis hands off.
“Don’t try and fight me.” As he sees the kid laughing he cant help but smirk to himself.
“Wai-no! Plehease! Im-nahaha!” As Peter tries to form words in between his laughter Loki chuckles.
“Oh now you decide to shut up?” Loki says teasingly.
Peter shakes his head, his cheeks becoming a warm shade of pink.
“No? Youre not going to shut up?” Loki hums, switching to tickle his stomach instead.
“AHAH! Thahats not what ihi meheheant!!” As Peter squirms wildly Loki has a harder time holding onto him.
“Tell me youre not going to bother me anymore, then ill let you go.” Loki says in a monotone voice, yet theres a slight smirk present on his face.
Peter nods, too busy laughing to actually say it.
“Nonono, say it. I want to hear it.” Loki doesnt let up, his hands moving even faster.
“I cahaHANT!!” Peter threw his head back from laughter.
“Thats too bad then.” Loki suddenly dipped his hands into Peters armpits.
Peter practically howled. “OKAY OKAY OKAY!! FUHUHUCK!!” Peter shook his head violently. “IM NOHOT- IM NOT GOING TO BOHOTHER YOHOHOUAHAHA!” Peters whole body shook from laughing so much.
Loki stopped after a few seconds, chuckling.
Peter gasped for air. “Man… ah…”
Loki picked his book back up, flipping a page, smirking. “Had enough?”
Peter nodded, getting up.
“Good. Now run along, or do you want to go for round two?” Loki looked up from his book, locking eyes with Peter.
“No! No. Im good. So good.” Peter quickly got up from the couch.
Loki nodded, going back to his book.
Peter quickly went to get his backpack and went upstairs. He was definitely not going to bother the trickster god again… or at least that's what Loki thought.
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supernovafics · 1 year
Text
𝐀𝐔𝐆𝐔𝐒𝐓
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pairing: steve harrington x fem!reader
word count: 6.3k words
summary: in which the summer of ‘84 was both the best and worst time of your life
warnings: explicit language, underaged drinking, angst, fluff, implied smut, cheating
author’s note: second part to cardigan (but could be read out of order). i fully did not expect this to end up this long but hope y’all enjoy<33 (full “folklore” album series masterlist here!)
.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.
“but i can see us lost in the memory. august slipped away into a moment in time.”
.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.
July 19, 1984
Ten. 
That was how many days in a row you and Steve had seen each other. 
From the first time you two talked to one another outside of Ralph’s Sandwich Shop, his first ever words to you being, “Potato chips on a sandwich? That’s kinda weird,” and the conversation that proceeded from that somehow led you to watching a movie in the theater room at his house that same night. To now this— him spending the majority of his afternoon with you at the library, where you had been working for the past year and a half. 
You wondered how long the two of you would keep the streak alive. 
If it was anyone else you probably would have gotten sick of seeing them that many days in a row, but with Steve you weren’t. In fact, you looked forward to whenever you got to see him again. And maybe that feeling, the anticipation toward seeing this guy who you probably shouldn’t even be seeing this often anyway, should’ve worried you. 
Whenever you thought about how easily the two of you were able to go from absolutely nothing to this— an unlikely friendship that somehow felt like you’d known each other so much longer than barely two weeks— it startled you. 
Before, you had simply known of him; of course, you had, he was practically royalty at your high school. “King Steve,” a charmer, a perpetual flirter, somehow dating straight-A student Nancy Wheeler. It was the combination of those things that told you during that first conversation you had with him that you should stay away from him, but for some reason, you still said yes. 
Maybe it was because the home theater he had been bragging about sounded way too tempting not to take up the offer. Or maybe it was because you liked being an idiot sometimes. 
If it was the latter that was true then you still were an idiot because there you were ten days later still hanging out with him and not regretting it one bit. 
“I need to bring you better games here,” Steve said. He was standing across from you on the other side of the counter. 
“What’s wrong with Uno? Is it because you keep losing?” You jokingly asked, a small smile on your face as you started shuffling the deck. “Also, I’m technically working right now, so I shouldn’t even be playing any games with you.”
“There’s no one here except you and me,” He said and then gestured to the quietness that surrounded you both. “Actually, I think the only other person that’s been in here all day was that old lady who just wanted directions to the park.”
You loved your job at the library and you really didn’t mind how it was rarely busy, especially during the summer, because it meant that you could spend most of your shifts reading instead of helping someone find what they needed or reshelving books. Now the majority of your non-busy moments during your shift were spent with Steve. 
“What are you doing tonight?” He asked as you began dealing the cards, because what else was there to do but play another round of Uno? 
“My guess is hanging out with you,” You answered. “What’s happening?” 
“Party,” He stated simply, and you realized that probably should’ve been your first guess. “Need us to be beer pong partners again.” 
It had been last week, two days after you and Steve unspokenly decided that hanging out with one another would become a common occurrence, when he dragged you to a party; some too big thing at Matthew Lancaster’s lake house. 
A beer pong table was set up, which was not all surprising for a high school party, and you suggested that you and Steve play and be on a team with one another. You were insanely good, practically making every shot, and Steve wasn’t too bad at playing either, which made your team pretty unstoppable. It was a random hidden talent of yours that you would only show off every once in a blue moon because you deliberately didn’t frequent parties. 
“I’ve retired for the time being,” You told him. “I can’t show off my beer pong skills too often or it won’t be a cool talent anymore.”
He laughed a bit at that but still nodded. “Okay, what do you wanna do tonight instead?” 
“Don’t let me stop you from going to the party.”
Steve shrugged and shook his head. “Probably wouldn’t be fun without you, anyway.”
His words confused you as much as they made you feel so happy. And you quickly pushed that “happy” feeling away because you knew just how fast it could lead to feeling other things; things that would make you look like the worst person in the world.
Once again, you wondered why you were doing this. Why were you allowing yourself to get close to him when you’d probably just look like an idiot in the end? And why had he wanted to talk to you in the first place? Those fleeting questions would hit you a lot over the past few days, but you’d quickly push them away because you didn’t want to think too hard about everything. However, this time you couldn’t force them away. 
“Why?” You asked, breaking eye contact with him for the first time probably that entire afternoon. “Why… are we friends right now?”
If he was surprised or confused by the randomness of your question, he didn’t show it. 
“I don’t know. I wanted to talk to you that day, so I did it,” He made the answer sound so simple. “I didn’t really expect it to turn into this friendship, but it’s nice finally having something that actually feels so easy.”
What about you and Nancy wasn’t easy? 
You wanted to ask that but refrained from doing so. He probably didn’t mean her when he said that. You knew that the only reason why he was with you instead of her, and had been for the past ten days, was because she was out of town for the summer. That thought hurt a bit, knowing that you were essentially some sort of “consolation prize,” but it kept you from looking too much into things. You took everything Steve said that could be read as flirtatious with a grain of salt and forced yourself to see it as solely platonic. 
And you’d rather it all be completely platonic anyway because you really liked the friendship you’d developed with him. 
“You’re right. This does feel easy,” You ultimately responded, smiling at him because now that the unspoken lines were finally verbally drawn— the two of you were friends; nothing more, nothing less— you felt the tiniest bit better about it all. “But, I’m glad it does. I’m happy we’re friends.”
Steve smiled back at you. “Me too.” 
.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.
“you back beneath the sun. wishin’ i could write my name on it.”
.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.
July 28, 1984
The only reason why you allowed Steve to bring you to this party was because you were a sucker for a bonfire. 
And the only reason why you were currently drunk off your ass was because you couldn’t say no to a game of hide and seek, especially a drinking version of the childish game, which Steve had suggested and you quickly agreed to. 
There was something about this game that made you realize that maybe your entire friendship was a game; a game of who would break first. But, that was something to think about at a different time. Or actually not at all, because thinking further about that would probably only complicate things. 
It was easy to pretend that there was nothing more to you and him when you both were sober. It was also so much easier to lie to yourself that you didn’t feel anything romantic toward him and that you didn’t see that maybe he actually felt the same way too.
There was a constant back and forth happening in your mind, with you continuously telling yourself that being friends with Steve wasn’t a bad idea, even though maybe it was because it was slowly making you want something more. Sometimes it felt as if it made sense to like him; it felt obvious. The way you could talk to each other about anything and everything mixed with how constantly you two wanted to spend time together made you fall in so deep so fast. 
But, you couldn’t accept or think about any of that, and the reasons why were painfully obvious. 
However, with the alcohol currently clouding your brain, that felt like a slightly different story. 
“Sitting behind a tree? Not your best hiding spot.”
Hearing Steve’s voice right then should’ve made you feel at least the tiniest bit upset because it meant that you lost that round of hide and seek, but you drunkenly smiled up at him. 
“I wanted to be original and we’ve been playing for so long I feel like we’ve done everything else at this point. But, that was at least two minutes, though, right?”
“It was actually barely thirty seconds.”
“Oh, wow,” You said with a laugh as you extended a hand up toward him so that he could help you up. You wobbled a bit before getting your balance and then you grabbed the red solo cup in Steve’s free hand to drink the rest of what was left in it as your punishment for losing; the exact contents of the drink were unknown, but it tasted fruity. 
When you were done, you handed the cup back to him and then leaned back against the tree because it somehow felt nice and you weren’t bothered by the roughness of it touching the parts of your skin that the tank top you were wearing didn’t cover.
There were a ton of people at the infamous “Lover’s Lake” because of the party, but nobody had been paying attention to you and Steve running around like five-year-olds playing hide and seek and getting severely drunk in the process.  
The lopsided grin taking over Steve’s features let you know that he was just as inebriated as you were, maybe even more so because he’d been drinking a bit before you two started the game. 
“Maybe we should be done with hide and seek now.”
You gave him a nod. “That sounds like a good idea.” 
Things became quiet for a few moments with the two of you solely staring at each other in the darkness and ignoring the loud rowdiness of everyone else who was only a few feet away. Steve closed a bit of the distance between you both and leaned in close to you; his gaze flickered down to your lips for a hint of a second before going right back to your eyes.  
If this was any other moment, your mind would be running a million miles a minute, screaming at you to not allow the inevitable to happen. But, somehow, you were actually calm. 
“We can’t do that, friend,” You told him, making your voice sound as serious as possible, but you couldn’t help but smile a bit. 
“I know,” He responded but still shut the final space of distance between you both, bypassing your lips and kissing your cheek instead. “That’s okay, though, right?”
The reasonable side of you was obviously telling you to say “no,” but it was hard to make yourself care enough to listen to it. “I’ll allow it.”
The three words came out so quietly, but Steve heard you. He kissed your other cheek and then your forehead and then your nose before pulling away and smiling at you. 
Before he could say anything, you did the same to him; kissing both of his cheeks, his forehead, and his nose, and then pulling back to lean against the tree again. That time it was your eyes that glanced down at his lips before going back to his eyes. 
You were so close to doing it, and he almost begged you to, but then you were pushing off of the tree and asking him to turn around. 
“Piggyback ride to the car, please?”
“We can’t drive right now,” He said as he leaned down a bit so you could hop onto his back. 
You nodded even though he couldn’t see you. “I know, but I will die if I don’t sit down.”
The walk to your car should’ve taken less than a minute, but instead, it nearly took five because, of course, the two of you got a little lost and it took way too long to realize that the first car you had walked past was yours. 
“God, we’re acting like such idiots right now,” You said, laughing as Steve let you down so you could get into the car. 
He laughed too as he got in on the passenger side. “Yeah, definitely not our finest moment.”   
You sighed in contentment when you leaned back against the seat, immediately finding comfort in it, which definitely said a lot about how drunk and exhausted you were because you never usually found your car as super comfortable. 
You turned on your side to face Steve, and as if feeling your gaze on him, he turned to look at you as well. You silently admired each other. Sometimes it felt as if a thousand things were being said in the silences you two shared with one another, things that would probably always be left unsaid. 
“I really like you,” He whispered suddenly and you realized that maybe not everything silently said would be left unspoken. 
You let out a small breath before closing your eyes because it felt too hard to look at him right then. “I really like you too.”
“Please let me kiss you.”
It was difficult to describe exactly what his words managed to do to you, and you tried your hardest to disregard those feelings. 
“We can’t.” You shook your head, eyes still shut. “It’ll ruin everything.”
“What if that’s okay?” He said, voice still quiet. 
It could’ve been easy.
To finally do what you both had desperately wanted to do for weeks at this point, but had refused to admit. And doing it at this moment instead of any other time because, with the drunken states you both were in, none of this would be remembered. Which would also mean that it didn’t really happen, right? 
Your eyes finally opened and you looked at him. “Neither of us is gonna remember this conversation in the morning.”
“You’re probably right.”
“And if you did, you’d regret saying any of this,” You said, and your words were met with silence from him. You couldn’t tell if that meant that they were the truth, or instead, quite far from it. 
Even in your inebriated state, you were too scared to push him further and get an answer because you were unsure which response would be worse; “Yes, I’d regret it,” or “No, I wouldn’t regret it at all.”
Before he could potentially say a version of either of those responses, you began speaking again. “I’m really tired.” 
You then pulled your eyes away from him and looked straight ahead at the people that were still partying around the fire. A part of you wanted to join them, but the other part of you just wanted to fall asleep. 
“Me too,” Steve said and with how long he had been quiet, you were actually surprised to hear his voice right then.
Both of you fell asleep just like that for the time being, putting an end to a conversation that would not be talked about in the morning because just as you’d both assumed, it seemed as if it had been long forgotten.
.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.
“salt air, and the rust on your door. i never needed anything more. whispers of ‘are you sure?’ ‘never have i ever before.’”
.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.
July 31, 1984
The sun had long ago set behind the trees, but you and Steve still had no plans to leave his pool anytime soon. 
You swam close to him, your hands finding his shoulders and then pushing down to dunk him under the water. A laugh fell from your lips as you immediately started swimming away, but Steve’s hand quickly found your waist and pulled you back toward him.
“What was that for?” He asked, one arm still wrapped around you, causing your back to be firmly pressed against his chest, while his other hand pushed back his wet hair. 
“For pushing me in the pool earlier,” You answered, only trying for a moment to wriggle out of his grasp but failing miserably so you stopped. 
“That was hours ago.”
“Revenge is best when you don’t see it coming,” You said, smiling widely. 
He laughed against your ear. “You’re evil.” 
You attempted to pull away again but he was still holding on to you, so instead you maneuvered so you were simply facing him instead. 
You were smiling up at him, and you assumed he’d match it with a smile of his own, but he didn’t. Instead, there was a certain look on his face that you couldn’t necessarily decipher. You almost asked him what was wrong, but he started speaking before you got the chance to.
“I remember the conversation we had in your car at the bonfire.”  
You could feel your heart start to race a bit, not expecting things to take that turn. “Oh… You do?”
He nodded his head. “Do you?”
“I remember the whole thing,” You told him, and that was entirely true. You’d spent the past few days constantly thinking about that moment and running through every single thing that was said. You had also tried your hardest to push the memory away because it seemed as if Steve didn’t remember it. 
“I don’t regret anything I said,” He told you and then a hand came up to cup your cheek. “I still really wanna kiss you.”
You were quiet for a moment, letting Steve’s words settle over you, before responding to him in a small voice. “Are you sure?”
Instead of verbally responding, he gave you the smallest of nods and closed the tiny bit of space between you both, dipping his head down and slotting his lips against yours. 
All you could think at that moment was finally.  
Finally, you were this close to one another.
Finally, you were kissing.
Finally, you were doing what you had wanted to do for so long.
The thing that both of you told each other and even convinced yourselves wasn’t going to happen, finally happened. And in a way, it sucked because neither of you felt bad about it, at least not bad enough to stop. 
Your legs wrapped around his waist beneath the water and your arms came up to wrap around his neck, one hand finding its way into the hair at the nape of his neck.
You weren’t in the deepest part of the pool anymore so Steve was able to stand, but both of you were still almost completely submerged in the water. He walked you both over to one of the sides of the pool, pressing you back against it and deepening the kiss. 
Nothing was said, and nothing needed to be said. In fact, you thought that if either of you said something, it would ruin the perfection that was that moment and harshly shove you both back to reality. A reality that told you that this was the farthest thing that should have been happening. 
For the time being, with Steve against you and his lips finding that particularly sensitive part of your neck, you were happy living in this fantasy world. It was a dream that you didn’t want to wake up from, and you convinced yourself that it wouldn’t hurt too bad when you did finally have to wake up from it. 
“We should…” You took a breath, biting back the moan that threatened to spill from your lips as Steve continued the assault on your neck. Your next word should’ve been “stop,” but stopping this was the absolute last thing you wanted to do. “We should go to your room.” 
He finally, and sadly, pulled away from your neck and pressed a quick kiss against your lips. “That sounds like a great idea.”
You detached yourselves from one another just enough to step out of the pool and into his house, wet bodies leaving drops of water across the floor that weren’t the slightest bit cared about. 
You couldn’t keep your hands off of each other.
After getting as close as you just had been, it was hard to go back to how it used to be; the friendliness and innocence that had surrounded the brief touches you two would usually share. Instead, your hand was intertwined with his as he led you up the stairs, and then his arms circled around you when you entered his room, cocooning you in the towel he’d grabbed from behind his door. 
It was you that kissed him that second time. 
You reached up to push his wet hair back and then leaned in, inwardly sighing in contentment. Both of his hands found your waist, causing the towel to fall and it was immediately long forgotten. 
When you pulled away you took the smallest step back and simply looked at him, his pretty face and soft brown eyes that were full of nothing but adoration for you. You tried your hardest to find something within you that resembled regret or made you want to stop this, but you couldn’t. And you knew exactly what that said about you, but it was also difficult to force yourself to care about that either. 
Steve eagerly brought you close to him again, which made you smile into the kiss he pulled you into. He slowly started leading you back toward his bed.
“Wait,” You said, detaching your lips from his and softly pushing him back a bit. “It would be really rude of me to lay on your bed with my bathing suit on.”
He slowly nodded and swallowed harshly as you removed your top first, letting that fall to the floor, and then going to your bottoms. “That’s very considerate of you.” 
You only smiled at him and his sudden nervousness, which managed to wash away any and all of your own shyness at that moment. 
His eyes met yours. “You’re so fucking pretty.” 
“You’re not too bad yourself,” You whispered, reaching out to grab his hands and pull him close to you again. You were about to kiss him again, but it was then that you noticed the time on the clock that was hanging on the wall behind him. “Shit, shit.”
His eyebrows furrowed in confusion and a look of concern crossed his face. “What’s wrong?”
“The time,” You answered and then sighed as you started grabbing your bathing suit. “It’s 12:40, and if I’m not home by one, my mom will kill me and then you.” 
“Your mom loves me too much to kill me,” Steve responded, grabbing a t-shirt for you to slip on too. 
“Yeah, kinda weird how after only one meeting where you two barely even talked, she somehow likes you more than me now,” You said as you put on his shirt which kind of swallowed you whole but you loved it and already knew that you would never be giving it back to him.  
You looked up at him and your next words came out quietly. “I’m sorry I have to ruin this right now.” 
Steve shook his head at you. “It’s okay. Don’t be sorry.” Both of his hands found your hips again, squeezing softly. “We’ll pick up where we left off next time.” 
You couldn’t help but smile at that. “Next time?” 
“Mhm, next time,” He said, smiling back at you and nodding. “If you want there to be one?”
“I’d like that,”  You responded and pressed a quick kiss against his lips. 
Even as you headed back downstairs and Steve walked you to your car, kissing you for a few more minutes before you reluctantly drove away, your stomach had yet to fill with even a hint of regret or guilt. 
.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.
“wanting was enough. for me, it was enough. to live for the hope of it all.”
.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.
August 12, 1984
The constant sound of something softly pinging against your window pulled your attention away from the book you were reading in your bed. 
There was only one person that could've been throwing something at your window, but still, you were the tiniest bit surprised when you opened your curtains and saw Steve standing on your front lawn. 
Even though seeing him was such a natural thing at this point, it made sense that you were at least a little surprised because no part of you felt secure with this “thing” you had going on with him, which was more than just a friendship but so much less than any type of actual relationship. You lived in the perpetual state that it would all abruptly end. And maybe that thought process came from you knowing that eventually, this would all have to come to an end; there weren’t that many days of summer left. 
But then there was that tiny slither of hope that maybe it all wouldn’t have to end. You kept that thought buried deep down inside of you, though. 
You lifted your window. “Throwing rocks at my window? That’s very rom-com of you.”
“Sometimes I like to be cheesy,” Steve said, smiling at you. 
It was a sweet, adoring smile that you shouldn’t have been on the receiving end of; it was a smile that didn’t belong to you. It was so easy to see that, but it was nearly impossible to actually do something about it and let him go.
“Can I come up?” He asked. “I promise I’ll be quiet and your mom won’t hear me.” 
“She’s gone for the weekend, actually,” You told him, smiling a bit. “I’ll be down in a second.”
When you opened the front door, he was quick to greet you with a kiss before pulling you in for a hug. 
After that first kiss in his pool, there was an almost immediate shift that happened. An easy shift where you’d gone from constantly telling yourselves that everything was solely platonic to finally allowing yourselves to do every little thing that deep down you both had always wanted to do. With him now always greeting you with soft kisses, and you secretly spending so many nights in his bed because his parents were never home and most of the time it was easy to make up some sort of excuse to your mom. 
Something else shifted too, though. It was a shift that neither of you spoke about because you never really wanted to acknowledge what exactly your friendship had transformed into and what it really meant. Not talking about any of it was a decision that you were unsure if it was completely yours or his because it was all so unspoken. 
When you thought about it hard enough though, you could see that the decision was mutual, because on both sides it was easier to pretend that none of the outside things existed. In that fairytale, he didn’t have a girlfriend, he didn’t belong to anyone else. You were his and he was solely yours. 
“Tell me about this thing that your parents forced you to go to tonight,” You said as Steve kicked off his shoes by the front door and the two of you started heading up the stairs. One of his hands was intertwined with yours and there was barely an inch of space between you both. It had become really hard not to be close to one another.
“It was this big event for my dad’s job, and they always drag me to stuff like that as a way to prove to his coworkers that they’re ‘good parents.’ It was very boring,” Steve responded with a small sigh and then gave your hand a light squeeze. “It would’ve been much less painful if you came.”
He sat down on the foot of your bed when the two of you walked into your room, and the oversized t-shirt you had on as your pajamas rode up a lot as you settled yourself in his lap, knees on either side of his thighs and hands resting on his shoulders. It was an un-innocent position that, for the time being, felt quite the opposite. 
“Going to something like that is something a girlfriend would do, not…” That was the first time you’d even minorly referred to Nancy, and it felt both weird and wrong. It woke you up for a second and made you falter a bit in your next words, breaking Steve’s gaze. “Not a… friend.” 
One of his hands found the side of your thigh, rubbing the skin softly and trying to pull you back into this moment with him. You could feel him reading you so easily and knowing where your mind was going, and he didn’t want you to go there, and neither did you. 
You didn’t want this– you and him, him and you– to break just yet.
“Um, anyway, you didn’t tell me that it would be so formal,” You said, gesturing with your head to the suit he was wearing. 
Your eyes met his again and you could see the relief wash over his face because you didn’t bring up the unspoken topic. Things shifted right back to normal. Well, the normal that you two created for yourselves. 
“I feel kinda ridiculous, and I hate this bow tie,” He responded, hand continuing to rub your thigh. “I should’ve probably changed before I came here but I just really wanted to see you.”
You let his words further push away any thoughts of Nancy that lingered in your mind, thoughts that finally told you that what you were doing with him was wrong.
“Stop. You look good,” You told him, your fingers playing with the bow tie for a brief moment. “Like, really good.” 
“Okay, now I’m really glad that I didn’t change, then.” He smiled before leaning in to kiss you. 
You only deepened the kiss in response and focused on nothing but the feeling of his mouth on yours and his hands beginning to snake underneath your shirt. 
He pulled back, maneuvering things so you were sitting at the foot of the bed and he was standing. The black suit jacket he had on was the first thing to fall on the floor. You slipped your t-shirt over your head and tossed it to the side before helping him unbutton the long sleeve white shirt he had on. 
His hands found your bare waist and squeezed softly. “I’m so fucking happy I’m here right now.”
“Me too,” You responded and then sighed in contentment, eyes slipping shut for a brief moment, when you felt his thumb graze over your already hard nipple. 
Sometimes, usually in moments like these, it felt as if it was your sole purpose to be with him; canceling your plans just in case he’d call or show up, and meeting solely at his place, or yours, or the library.
How deeply intertwined you felt with him let you know exactly how much it would hurt when this all came to its eventual end. But then you were hit with the thought that maybe you would deserve it because you put yourself in this situation. 
Steve’s hand came up to gently stroke your cheek and pull you out of your thoughts. “What are you thinking about?”
Your gaze met his as you shook your head. “Nothing important.”
But, maybe it was the most important thing. 
.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.
“i remember thinkin' i had you.”
.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.
August 23, 1984
You expected to see him that night. 
So maybe him unexpectedly showing up to the library– which was now busy with a bunch of kids scrambling to do their summer reading assignments– was what should have told you that everything was about to go to shit. 
“Hey,” You said to him and placed the book in your hand in its rightful place on the shelf and then did the same thing with the other one you were holding. “I didn’t think I’d see you until tonight.” 
Steve was quiet for a few moments too long, which made you look at him, and your eyebrows furrowed in confusion when you saw the look on his face. It was hard to exactly decipher his expression because it looked as if he was experiencing a thousand different emotions at once. 
“What’s wrong?” You asked, voice quiet. 
“I got a call from Nancy,” He told you, and you nearly flinched at hearing him saying her name to you for the first time ever. “She said she’s coming back tonight.” 
“Oh…” Was the first thing that fell from your lips. It was the word that perfectly encompassed your initial shock at that moment. “That’s, um– That’s really, uh…” You almost said “great,” because if the circumstances were different and if things were actually normal between you two, it probably would’ve been great that his girlfriend was coming back after being gone for almost two months. But, things were far from normal and the circumstances weren’t different at all, so you were at a loss for words.  
Finally, after what felt like hours of silence, but what was really probably only seconds, you said something. “I really don’t know what to say to that, honestly.” 
“I’m sorry,” He said softly and pulled his eyes away from you. He looked down and ran a nervous hand through his hair. “I guess we, uh, both know what that means.” 
“Say it, Steve.” You muttered. You had to hear him say the words in order for it all to be real for you. You couldn’t take all of the unspoken, reading-between-the-lines bullshit. 
He was quiet for an unbearable amount of time before he finally spoke. “We can’t see each other anymore.” 
From the second he kissed you in his pool nearly a month ago, you knew that those words would ultimately come. Each happy day that passed with you tangled up in his bedsheets or cuddled up on his couch laughing about nothing was leading to this moment. 
It had all been so inevitable, but it still hurt harder than you had expected it to. You quickly decided to pretend as if it didn’t, though. 
You nodded at him. “Okay. Got it.” 
“I’m sorry. This shouldn’t– I didn’t–”
“Don’t,” You quickly shook your head, not at all wanting to hear whatever pitying thing he would say to you at that moment. “Please don’t.” 
You were suddenly glad that you were at work right then because you could distract yourself from thoughts of him and everything that had just ended with the current busyness of the library. You looked away from Steve and noticed a little girl struggling to grab a book that was high on a shelf.
“It’s really chaotic here right now, and I have to actually do work for the first time probably all summer, so yeah…” You forced a small smile and then walked away from him, ignoring the words he said to you that you barely heard and couldn’t make out. 
Over the next two final hours of your shift, you’d silently accepted that that brief conversation would be the last time you talked to Steve Harrington. Although there were a thousand more things that probably could’ve been said, it was okay. That ending was okay. Or at least in the long run, it would be. 
So it slightly startled you when you saw him in the parking lot, leaning against the side of his car. When he noticed you, he waved. 
“Have you been here this whole time?” You asked, walking toward him, but leaving a wide space of distance between you two. 
“Maybe, yeah.”
“Why?” 
“I don’t know…”
For the first time probably ever, he confused you. 
“I just— I wish things could be different,” He ultimately said, and hearing those words simultaneously made you feel happy while also making you feel so fucking upset. 
“Things can be different,” You told him as you stepped toward him, the tiniest glimmer of hope inadvertently beginning to swirl in your stomach. “We could be together.”
Your hands found his, slowly intertwining them. His gaze met yours and you let the silent conversation play out. Your eyes pleading with him to not let go of what you two had, and him looking at you so softly while also battling whatever else was going on in his mind. After a few moments, he gave your hands a quick squeeze before he let go of them. 
“I love Nancy.”
Not you. Those were the words he didn’t say, but you could read between those lines a little too easily. 
“I love you” was the one thing you hadn’t said to one another, but you thought that you could feel how much he loved you through each soft touch, every longing look, every plea for you to stay in his bed for just a minute longer; one minute that always turned into at least five. 
Apparently, you were wrong, though. 
And now you knew for certain that you were wrong about every single thing that happened that summer. 
Because you knew that you felt that way toward him. You loved him. 
But he didn’t love you. He didn’t want to be with you. 
He loved her. 
His girlfriend— the only girl he was supposed to love. 
You let the feeling of regret and guilt toward everything that happened this summer crash over you like a tsunami. 
“I should’ve never done this,” You said, whispering that more to yourself, than to him. 
“What?” He asked, unsure of what you’d just said.
“You love her.” You said as you moved away from him. “Go be with her.”
“I’m really sorry,” You heard him say as you walked toward your car. 
You didn’t say anything in response to that. Mainly because there was nothing to say, but also because you refused to talk to him any longer. And quite frankly, you never wanted to talk to him again. 
.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.
“so much for summer love and saying ‘us.’ ‘cause you weren't mine to lose.”
.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.
let me know ur thoughts<333
(read “betty” here!)
532 notes · View notes
wttcsms · 1 year
Note
“she fell first, but he fell harder” with any inarizaki boy of your liking please! 🩵 have a good day~
pairing rintarou suna x f!reader word count 2.6k content contains mutual pining, tutor!au, right person/wrong time, bittersweet ending, unrequited love, slight angst author’s notes maybe not what u anticipated hehe
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i.
You don’t look up from your book even though the slamming of a bookbag on top of the table obnoxiously announces the arrival of another student, one who’s obviously going to take the seat next to yours. 
“Hey—” So it’s a boy then.
“—can I ask you for a favor?” 
Now you look up, partially annoyed that he’s interrupted you while you were in the middle of reading a particularly interesting paragraph, but more curious than not. You tilt your head, taking him in. Of course, you know Rintarou Suna — it’s hard for any student in the school not to know him. But just because you’re aware of his existence — and if you dare to allow yourself to be bold enough, you think he’s aware of your own — doesn’t exactly make the two of you chummy enough to ask each other for favors on a Tuesday morning. 
You must have a bad poker face because he raises both hands in mock surrender. “Look, just hear me out. I need to pass this English class or my coach and captain won’t sign off on allowing me to play in the next few matches. I’ve seen the rankings; you’re top of our class. You know this shit a lot better than I do.” 
A beat passes. 
Two startling and equally scary revelations:
Now that you’re finally seeing him up close, Suna’s eyes are a much lighter shade than you thought they were. (Not that you’ve given his eyes much thought up until now, anyway.) It suits him. And,
Suna is absolutely aware of your existence.
“I’ll owe you one.” He says, hands shoved deep in his pockets. He’s playing at being nonchalant, but you can see it in those lighter-than-you-thought eyes of his that he’s practically pleading with you. 
“I want you to convince Atsumu Miya to do an interview for the school paper.” You finally say. 
Raised eyebrows is the closest thing you’ll get to seeing emotion on his face, you think. “Done.” And then, “Why Atsumu?”
“He’s not an easy person to get a hold of, but I know being the first person to ever interview him will probably mean something in the future.” 
He nods, taking it in. “So it’s not because you’ve got a crush on him?” 
You can’t tell if he’s teasing you or not; his voice and facial expression give nothing away. Shifting a bit in your seat, you frown. “No. His bad dye job makes him an eyesore.” 
The corners of Suna’s mouth curve up at that. 
ii. 
“I didn’t know you wrote for the school paper,” Suna says. 
“I’m the president of the club.” You push a paper covered in red pen marks, all of them corrections and criticisms against him. “Suna, we’ve been going at this for almost two weeks now. How have you barely improved?” 
“Maybe you’re just not a good tutor.” You can read him well enough to know that he’s only joking. “You wanna be a journalist or somethin’?”
“Don’t try to change the subject. At least pretend to look over your paper.” Sighing because you know he won’t actually do anything unless you appease him, you shrug. “I want to be a sports reporter.”
“So that’s why you were so excited to meet with Atsumu!” You don’t expect him to actually be invested in your life, but you excuse his exclamation as him being bored out of his mind and savoring any distraction he can get. 
The idea of being just a pleasant distraction from the pain of schoolwork makes you feel weird. 
iii. 
As you near the two-month mark since your tutoring sessions began, you make progress with Suna. He’s funnier than you realize, both of you sharing the same dry sense of humor that has jokes that can only properly be delivered if you say it with a straight face. He’s shown you about 200 of the images and videos cluttering his camera roll, and you pretend there’s no intimacy in that. His grades in English have substantially gotten better, to the point where you’re certain one day he’s going to decide that he doesn’t need tutoring anymore. 
(For some reason, that makes you kind of sad.) 
For now, you’re content to just be sitting next to him, both of you silently working on your assignments. He’s rewriting his essay due tomorrow (he’s a bit of a procrastinator, really) and you on your latest article for the school paper. The silence in the library — the silence wrapping the two of you together — is surprisingly comfortable. 
Sometimes, Suna can’t make it to the tutoring sessions, and you pretend that it doesn’t matter. You just shrug and smile and move on. After the third time he does, he confesses that it’s because he’s seeing someone. 
We’re just talking, he tells you. But you know that he must really like her because Suna doesn’t usually waste his breath talking about things he doesn’t care to talk about. He’s the one who brought her up completely unprompted. You actually would have been more than okay with remaining completely oblivious to whoever Suna decides to enter the talking stage with. 
He yawns, stretching his arms while he does so.
It should be illegal, you decide, for someone so out of reach to still be so close to you. If you shifted your body back against your chair, nothing would stop the inevitability of his outstretched fingers brushing against your hair. The thought of that happening makes you far more excited than it should. 
(He never tells you when they stop talking, but you know when they do because somewhere in between all these tutoring sessions, you started to learn him.) 
iv. 
“You really think I’m just messin’ around?” He’s got his elbow resting on the library table, cheek and chin laying against the open palm of his hand. When Suna smiles, it’s a little crooked, almost like a smirk, yet warm enough to cause heat to rise to your cheeks, especially when he’s smiling and staring at you like that, like you’re the one person he actually wants to see. 
“You’re always messing around,” You point out. 
“I wouldn’t joke about this.” There’s that familiar pleading look in his eyes that contains enough superhuman strength to pound away at your steely resolve. It’s the same look he gave you all those months ago when you two were nothing more than classmates exchanging favors. It’s the same damn look that got you caught up in all sorts of messes: rearranging your schedule to tutor him, suddenly spending more time making sure you look good for school, rejecting the other guy who first asked you the same question Suna’s asking now… 
“I’m serious. Please go to the dance with me.”
“You didn’t even give me chocolate or flowers.” You manage to say, trying to ignore the pleased sensation that overtakes your body. It’s a different reaction from what you felt when your other classmate asked, and he at least had the decency to bring you your favorite drink from the vending machine when he did it. “This doesn’t seem like a very serious request.” 
He snorts. “Would you have even wanted me to show up to homeroom with a poster and a bouquet and the twins serenading you as I asked you to a school dance?” 
He knows you well enough that an extravagant proposal like that would have you wanting to run into the nearest bathroom stall and lock yourself in there until school ended. The fact that he knows you would hate anything remotely close to that, less dramatic or not, makes you agree to go with him.
(Perhaps he’s spent these tutoring sessions learning you, as well.)
v.
“Hey!” 
You turn around at the sound of a familiar voice, smiling when he comes into view. Donned in the same oversized gown, graduation cap hanging from one hand, Rintarou Suna is smiling back at you. 
“Knew you would graduate top of our class. Congratulations.” 
“And you were ranked within the top twenty. Being a volleyball star just wasn’t enough for you, huh?” 
It feels good to be out here, freshly graduated and knowing the rest of the world is out there, just beyond the boundaries of your high school. The heat is getting the best of everyone wearing the thick graduation gowns, but instead of looking like a sweaty mess like the rest of you mere mortals, Rintarou just seems to shine, as if he’s made for summer. His hair sticks up, probably an effect of being stuffed in the cap for so long, and you find yourself pressing down on his hair. This isn’t the first time you’ve tried to help him tame his cowlick, and the action is so familiar, that it doesn’t even catch him off guard.  
“My tutor carried.” He says, grinning at you. 
(You feel considerably warmer now, and it’s not because of the sun.)
The laugh you give him makes his grin only grow wider. You sound equal parts pleased and surprised, just like how you always do whenever he decides to randomly compliment you. Is it bad that he wants to make you laugh like this for the rest of his life? 
Before he can make a proper quip, one that will surely have you laughing even harder, someone is gently tugging you away from him. 
“Hey, babe, my parents wanted to get pictures of us together.” And then, as if realizing Suna’s right there even though he’s tall enough to be hard to miss and close enough to tug you back towards him, the boy stares at him. “Oh, hey. Suna, right?” 
Everyone here pretends as if it’s not already obvious that you all know each other. 
“Congrats on nationals, man.” 
“Thanks.” Suna says, without sounding the least bit thankful, even though he should be. He thought the two of you broke up already, and he’s been preparing for how he’s going to confess his feelings for you for the past two months now. At least now, he won’t have to suffer your rejection and embarrass himself for making a move on a taken girl.
“C’mon, my mom’s going to hate us if we keep her waiting any longer.” Your boyfriend is holding your hand, leading you toward wherever his parents are. You turn your head, looking like you want to say something to Rintarou, anything at all, but instead you give him a shrug and a small smile. 
He keeps that smile of yours tucked safely in his pocket, not knowing that it’ll be a few more years until he gets to see it again. 
vi.
Staying in touch is hard, but Suna is nothing if not stubborn. A random TikTok sent to you at 2 AM here, an attempt to meet for lunch if the two of you are in the same city at the same time there. 
Getting drunk from your high school reunion and sneaking into the library the two of you spent the better half of your high school years pining after each other in is the most fun Suna’s had in years. The two of you are lying on the plush carpet, too drunk to care about how dirty it must be.
“Gosh, we spent so much time in this place.” You’re looking up at the ceiling, tacky glow-in-the-dark stars still stuck to it, remnants left behind by students who graduated way before you two. 
“Some of the happiest times of my life.” He’s being too honest without realizing it. 
You laugh, thinking he’s just joking because you always think he’s joking every time he tries to hint at his feelings for you. Feelings that didn’t hit him until he realized how pretty you are, even with your hair tied back and your bottom lip being bitten to death by your teeth as you type away at an article none of the students in this school will even bother to read. Feelings that he wished he confessed to you on the dancefloor, when the two of you slow danced, and you asked him are we doing this as friends? and he didn’t have the balls to say anything but of course it’s as friends. 
“Yeah, I bet having me roast the shit out of every paper you wrote was the highlight of your second year.” 
“It’s because it was you doing it that made me so happy.” 
You laugh even louder at that. “Oh my God, Rin, you’re such a sap when you’re drunk.” 
“I’m not just sayin’ shit just to say it, y’know? I mean it.” He tries his hardest to make the sincerity in his words stick, but he’s drunk, and his words are kind of slurred, and his intentions just slip and slide away. “I liked you back then.” Still do, he doesn’t say. I still like you.
“No way, really?” You turn to face him, wide-eyed with a tipsy smile on your face that lets him know that you just don’t know how serious he is right now. “Because I had the biggest crush on you in high school too!” 
He always assumed the feelings were returned, but the possibility that they weren’t — that him confessing would just fuck up your friendship and have you leave him — was too large for him to risk it. Swallowing hard, he asks,
“Did you… Did you ever think we would end up together? Back then, I mean?”
You hum, too inebriated and maybe too distant to him now to recognize the pleading look in his eyes. “I wanted us to, but then I thought there wasn’t a chance in hell you would actually like me back. Gosh, this was all so long ago, though. I can’t believe we used to like each other, isn’t that so funny, Rin?”
The used to reveals enough to him. 
vii.
You’ve made a name for yourself now. You’re not just a mere sports reporter (he doesn’t know that he’s the first person you confessed your dream career to), but every professional volleyball team in Japan has deemed you their favorite reporter to see out on court. Rintarou blames the fluttering of his heart and the excitement that floods him every time he sees you at one of his games on your popularity, but he sees through his own flimsy excuse. 
You don’t show favoritism when it comes to conducting your post-game interviews, but tonight, you’re standing in front of the camera with him, smiling up at him with a microphone in your hand. He’s happy you’re here, but the only question he cares to answer is the what if? that’s been haunting him ever since that reunion. What if he confessed in high school? What if he sobered up after that night and told you the truth? Would this interview be different, then? Would you still say,
“Congratulations on a game well played!” 
And would he still say,
“I heard some more congratulations are in order.” He’s giving you the same lopsided smile he always gives you, the smile that rests on his face yet belongs to only you. It’s all anyone could talk about. Pictures of you flood his timeline; his teammates, other players, and sports fans alike all were overjoyed at your happy announcement. You didn’t just win his heart over, but a good portion of Japan’s as well. 
“Congratulations on your engagement.” 
You smile at him, practically beaming, shining so much brighter than these stadium lights, and he holds onto this one even tighter. A smile just for him, placed right next to the memory of the one you’d given him at graduation.
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softboo · 6 months
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love me, ever so gently - part II
pairing: austin x reader
summary: you recently moved to a new apartment, making some new eccentric friends along the way. but what you didn't expect was falling in love with a stranger. a stranger you somehow couldn't stop thinking about
words: 2.8k
warnings: more hints of domestic abuse, dark themes in relationships
author's note: soo i made a part II and i made it so quickly that it kinda blended into part III. i also want to say thank you to everyone who read part I because my heart melted. like i was already excited when it hit more than zero lol. but wow thank you so much!! it truly means the world :3 i hope you like this next part heh c:
previous part // next part
part II
you piled the books onto the cart, the last group needed for organizing before the store closed. today was pretty slow as customers came and went, but your thoughts were somewhere else. on someone else rather.
it's been almost a week since the fair and this stranger was eating away in your head. maybe some part of you wished you would see him again. but what were the odds of that happening? the days started to blend into each other and you were so afraid that if you stopped thinking about him, just even for a little bit, the memory would disappear.
the more time that passed, the less you thought he would show up again.
but you missed seeing him. you wished for anything just to talk to him just a little bit longer than the last. you felt crazy for feeling so attached to him, but there was something so pulling about him. the way he would listen to you talk about the stories you loved and hated. the way his eyes would just gaze right through you, like you were someone he had missed seeing.
oceans filled your head, the calm waters flowing through your heart. but knowing it was going to disappear just as quickly as it came.
because he was only temporary. the waters weren't yours to stay in.
the backdoor swung open and you heard george hobbling over at you, almost tipping you both off balance as he wrapped his arm around your shoulder.
"look who it is! my favorite girl!" he smiled, completely disrupting your last task before you had to close the store. he flashed a toothy grin as cassandra appeared right behind him.
"george please, you're going to fall on the poor girl." her tone annoyed, but with a hint of concern. "do me a favor and go to the storage room to get the books for the events before i throw something at you."
she shot him a glare before he waved goodbye to the both of you. cassandra came towards you, picking up a few of the novels on the cart to help you finish.
"you're still thinking about him, dear?"
you quickly turned your head to look at her, eyes widening at the sudden accusation.
"how did—?"
"sweetie, it's written all over your face. and you've had that same expression since the fair. i'm not clueless."
you gave her a weak smile, confirming exactly what she thought. you couldn't look at her now though, feeling as if she could see right through you if you did.
"am i crazy cassie?"
she let out a small chuckle, settling the last book down on its appropriate shelf. she shook her head.
"no, you're just being young. and there's nothing wrong with that." she reassured you, not realizing that she completely finished organizing the rest of your books.
"if he ever decides to show up again, then you'll have another chance with him. if not, then you learn to move on."
that last sentence was something a part of you didn't really want to accept. your heart was still holding on to that possibility. but the more days that passed since the fair, the more you wavered on your certainty.
~ ~
"there's only two new neighbors cassie... why did we make three welcome gifts?" evelyn stated, all four of you were now squeezed into your apartment, staring at the gifts on the kitchen counter.
"because the other one is for our favorite girl!" george exclaimed, jumping up to give you the last gift. cassandra swatted at his arm, glaring at him.
"you ruined the surprise." cassandra remarked, as you gave them a weak smile.
it's been almost a month now and the thought of you ever seeing him again was fading even more. you reassured them that you appreciated the surprise anyway and george pulled you into a hug.
"if i only knew it was for her, i would've baked more cookies." evelyn stated, but you truly did appreciate the gesture regardless. they all knew something was wrong for awhile, but cassandra was the only one that knew why.
"it's okay, thank you. really. i love the gift."
cassandra caressed your cheek again as evelyn added, "if anything, i can bake more tonight and stop by to drop them off."
you smiled and nodded. "i would love that."
evelyn gave you a warm smile with her rosy little cheeks. she loved cooking for all of you, even remembering the first time she gave you your personal welcome gift when you moved in. and you remember it vividly because george ate half of those cookies.
"alright let's go drop off these gifts," cassandra stated, "george and i will go downstairs. you two will go to the one across the hall."
you all held your respective gifts and walked to where you needed to go. you and evelyn approached the apartment, evelyn knocking on the door as you held onto the gift.
you could even smell the cookies inside as it fogged a bit of the plastic, knowing how much hard work evelyn put in them. george made the little welcome sign, cassandra wrote the card with all the events planned for the year, and you placed two books. each from the ones that the store no longer needed.
it took a while for someone to answer, evelyn had to knock a few times but soon enough, the door swung open and suddenly something caught in your throat.
there she was. the same dark haired woman from a month ago. you couldn't believe it, the fact that she was your new neighbor. the fact that you saw her a month later instead of him.
and the fact that she stood there, her eyes in flames as you both somehow were at fault for knocking on her door.
"how can i help you?"
her tone was dark, it almost felt like she spat at you. evelyn noticed the slight negative connotation in her voice and opened her mouth to speak, but you came in first.
"we just wanted to drop off a gift to welcome you to the building." you gritted through a fake smile and evelyn saw you tense up. she just couldn't figure out if it was from annoyance or something else.
"oh how thoughtful," her voice was so empty. there was nothing behind it other than wanting to push you both out of her apartment.
"we also added a list of events that happen in the building like a cooking class, taught by—"
"my boyfriend and i are not interested thank you."
she cut you off again and you felt that spark of a flame growing right inside your heart.
"i'll take the gift though," and the woman snatched the beautiful piece from your hands. "austin loves this kind of thing."
she gave you a big toothy grin, something that vaguely made you uneasy but also reminded you of a poorly painted clown. she didn't even say thank you before shutting the door on your faces.
you couldn't even fathom any words, just blankly stared at the closed door. you glanced over at evelyn who was as shocked as you, opening her mouth to speak.
"what a bitch."
~ ~
your mind was racing as you ate your dinner, your favorite tv show playing in the background. the thought of austin's girlfriend being your new neighbor placed a sour taste in your mouth. like you couldn't catch a breathe as the whole situation wrapped around your throat. you had no idea if austin was living with her, but if he was, you weren't sure if you could face him with her breathing down your neck.
or if she'd even allow him to be in the same vicinity as anyone else but her.
the things you saw during the fair flashed in your head, the bruise on his hand. the tight grip of her arm around his. you shook your head, doubting that that possibility could be even true.
but if it was...? you weren't sure how you would react.
a sudden knock on your door broke you from your thoughts as you slowly got up from your chair to check who it was. as you looked through the peephole, you didn't see anyone.
you hesitated for a moment before opening the door, to find something that shattered your heart into a million pieces.
your welcome gift was staring back at you from the floor. the plastic wrap was ruined and the sign was ripped. the card splattered with wine stains and the cookies looked like they were stepped on. the only thing that was missing were the books and the event page.
you had no idea what to do, all of your hard work. everyone's hard work was ruined. a kind gesture completely taken advantage of and it was fueling your hatred even more.
you tossed it to the side, gently placing as much of the gift together as you could before closing the door. you wondered if austin took those missing things. if he knew how badly his girlfriend was treating other people and if he was even aware of the hold she had on him.
maybe that part of you was right.
~ ~
you sat in your assigned seat, the second table from the center. evelyn was busy up in the front, preparing her demonstration table full of ingredients. the kitchen right behind her with all the other food items needed for their meal. you could see how nervous she was with the way she kept fidgeting the same utensils and pans, making sure it was facing a certain way.
george appeared from the kitchen entrance, carrying supply bags out so it was easier for the class to get what they needed. he was beyond ecstatic for this as he was not only going to see a huge turnout of people again, but he was excited for the secret batch of food evelyn promised she would make for them when this was over.
you noticed cassandra passing through, a sign up sheet in her hand and you noticed a compile of names, each having their own seat and assigned table.
"so why can't i look at the list of names?" you asked her when she passed your table. all she did was smile as she handed you your name tag.
"cassie, he's not going to come." you remarked and she shook her head at your negativity.
you weren't able to tell anyone about your suspicious, thinking it probably wasn't your place to begin with. it wasn't until evelyn talked about "the dark red haired bitch from 4B" that cassandra started to connect the dots.
you just weren't sure if they were connecting all the dots.
weeks passed since the incident and each passing event with him not being present made it harder to stop thinking about him. even so when he would put his name and not show up.
this was yet, another one of those times, which was why you were doubting cassandra's optimism.
"we'll see. you never know dear," she let out a soft smile, "but if he does, give him his name tag for me?"
she handed you the tag with austin written on it, just like she did for all the other events. and yet each time, your heart skyrocketed in hopes that he was actually going to show up.
soon enough, the class started and evelyn began her introduction. the turnout was quite a lot; families, some friend groups, a few couples, an empty table in the back, and you.
with one empty seat next to yours.
~ ~
you were halfway through rolling the dough when you heard the main entrance door open. you didn't really have time to look because your stupid dough wasn't flat enough.
but it wasn't until you heard the footsteps and the water that followed suit from the rain that your now empty seat was occupied.
and your heart stopped.
"hi i'm so sorry i'm late. i'm usually not like this," his voice wavered, he sounded so flustered and embarrassed. so different from when you first met him.
you finally had the courage to look at him and you saw those same calm waters in his eyes, except they weren't as blue anymore. it was muted, like a greyness overshadowing its true color.
he had a hat on that covered his wavy blonde hair and some kind of shadow near his eyes, but he no longer had a mask and you could've sworn you heard your heart beating against your ears.
you were so overwhelmed by who he actually was that no words came out so you could respond to him. a part of you was so grateful he didn't see you as he was so preoccupied with his mistake of being late.
and when he finally settled into his seat and placed his things down, he looked at the nametag you placed on his side of the table. he quickly pinned it on his sweater to hopefully catch up on what he missed.
"i'm austin," he introduced himself, hoping you would say something to him. anything.
"hi."
your voice was so meek compared to his, even when he was the one all flustered.
"how much did i miss?" his was soft, and somehow sounded like he was comforting you.
"oh um... just the mixing part. i have the dough ready, but i can't seem to..."
you stopped as you noticed yourself ramble, completely avoiding his gaze as you looked right at the roller and your very stubborn piece of dough.
you heard him chuckle and it made your heart flutter slightly.
"can i?"
you just nodded as he placed the dough in front of him, taking the roller to knead the whole piece out. it wasn't long until he flattened it to the perfect shape that he gave you a small smile. he even followed the next few instructions from evelyn, placing the dough into a pie crust pan.
"have you cooked before?" you asked him, as he noticed the way you looked extremely impressed. and something about your expression made him flustered all over again.
"not really, but i do love cooking. i even thought about becoming a chef."
"really?"
"yeah," he let out the softest little laugh, pressing against the dough to form the crust, "that's why i moved here. i wanted to take a break for awhile and learn about the things i love to do... like cooking."
"you live here?"
a part of you wished he wasn't going to say it, but you already knew his answer.
"yeah on the 4th floor, apartment 4B."
and your heart sank to the ground.
"do you live around the area too?" he asked curiously and you nodded absentmindedly.
"yeah, i think we're neighbors. i'm 4A."
and you could've sworn you saw the blueness come back in those storm covered oceans.
"really?"
"yeah..." you hesitated for a moment, debating whether or not you should say the next part, "my friend and i actually dropped off a welcome gift for you."
and the blueness left as fast as it came.
you bit your lip, scared he might react a certain way. you started to doubt yourself. what if he was the one that ruined the gift, not the girlfriend.
he paused for a moment, going quiet as he finished mending the dough in place.
and you panicked.
"i totally understand if you didn't like the gift."
"no i liked it... i liked it a lot actually."
there was something hanging in the air now and you felt this immense guilt that you ruined the whole thing. you've thought about meeting him again for months and now that the chance arose itself, it felt like you were sabatoging everything you ever wanted.
"whenever you're both done filling your pie and adding the top crust, you can go to the kitchen and place it in the oven," evelyn instructed, smiling at the both of you as she passed your table. she cut the tension between you two for just a moment before it all came crashing back again.
you filled the pie pan and topped everything with another dough crust. the silence wrapped around you two as you finished the pie completely.
"i'll put it in the oven," austin offered, but as he got up, he winced in pain, clutching at his torso.
and that was all the confirmation you needed.
"let me, it's okay."
you took the pie from him, his body settling down on the seat again. he seemed so exhausted all of a sudden, like he no longer had the energy to put up a front anymore.
and it killed you on the inside that you had to sit there and watch.
when you came back from the kitchen, you noticed he took off his hat to fix his hair.
and that's when you saw his eyes. just above his eyebrow was a bruise and few cuts, a small bandaid on his upper temple, right where the brim of the hat would be.
but what broke your heart was the way he no longer had those lights in his eyes anymore. he rubbed his face for just a moment and you saw something else stain his hands.
it was makeup.
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