#and then the train to the airport that i was supposed to miss was even more delayed than mine

[whyshedisappeared]

I'm at the airport for a job interview and I can't wait for all the times I'll be here for a flight to see taylor

[sweetbans29]

Exposed - CC

Pairing: Caitlin Clark x Reader

Summary: 3 times Caitlin almost exposes your relationship and 1 time when you do (based on THIS, THIS, and THIS request)

Warnings: fluff, like 3 curse words?

Word Count: 4.4k

Sweetbans Masterlist

AN: I like this.

ONE. live.

It's the summer before senior year and the team is back together for the first time in over a month. A handful of the girls spent some of what they would call 'summer' (aka - the month they had off) together at a lake house, Caitlin included. You, on the other hand, were on a month-long family vacation throughout several European countries to celebrate your parent's 25th wedding anniversary.

You had the best time and were glad to be able to travel with them but you are happy to be back on campus. Yes, you were excited to get back into training, but you were mostly excited to be back with your girl.

You and Caitlin had started dating halfway through junior year. It was something that you decided to keep just between the two of you. Neither of you wanted your relationship in the media especially since you were teammates. Cait went as far as suggesting not telling the team until senior year which you combated at first then ultimately agreed to when seeing how big their mouths can be.

It wasn't too hard to keep your relationship just between the two of you considering everyone knew you were best friends. It was normal for everyone to see you together and get up in each other's personal space. That is until one warm summer afternoon when Jada decided to go live after the first team practice back.

Caitlin hasn't seen you in over a month and the first time she does it is with the whole team. The two of you tried to get together before practice but thanks to some delayed flights you landed just in time to make it to practice.

It was not ideal to go from the airport straight to the gym but you were not going to miss it. The first practice is more of a team bonding than anything and you know how important that is to go into training.

Practice itself was good - the hardest part for Cailtin was keeping her hands off of you in the presence of others. Even if she couldn't directly put her hands on you, she was always standing next to you and/or leaning into you.

It started when you were greeting everyone. You gave hugs all around, ending with your girl who had no desire to release you. You had to pinch her sides to get her to let go before anyone got suspicious. She settled on standing with her arm around your shoulder as the coaches laid out the plan for training. When everyone was dismissed she hugged you from behind and waddled with you over to the first group activity.

"Caitlin, you aren't in this group," you say as you try to remove her arms from around you.

"But I want to stay with you," she says as she hides her face into your back.

"We can catch up later - this time is for the team," you say, still trying to remove the girl from you who just seems to be squeezing you tighter. She doesn't say anything, just keeps attaching herself to you like a child.

"Caitlin Clark, we are not doing this right now," you say in a warning tone.

"Fine," she says releasing you and stomping over to the group she is supposed to be in. You shake your head and roll your eyes at the girl.

After practice, a handful of the team decided to head back to Jada's apartment to go live. It was an end-of-summer tradition when the team got back to campus and was one they fully intended to keep.

Caitlin attempted to get you to go back to your place to spend some time together but that would be a major flag to your guy's relationship. You promised that you would be all hers after hanging out with the team which she reluctantly accepted.

Now the team is sprawled out in Jada's living room as she starts the live. Everyone is so excited that their favorite team is back together and starts asking all kinds of questions about what they did with their month off. You and Caitlin were on the couch in the back - really just there for visibility.

You are sitting next to Caitlin when she realizes she wants you closer. She brings your legs up in one seamless motion and drapes them across her lap, drawing small patterns on your shins.

"CC - what else did you do over the summer, aside from the week we were together," Jada asks, relaying one of the questions that someone asked in the comments. Caitlin's hands come to a stop, one of them planting firmly on your thigh and the other on your ankle.

"Not too much, just some strength and conditioning training," she says. "Oh ya, and wait for this one to get home." She squeezes your thigh causing you to jerk a little as her thumb, unseen to anyone except the two of you, rubs the inner part of your thigh. She is teasing you and you both know it.

"Ya, we all waited for her to get back from her European getaway. Did you meet any cute guys while you were there?" Jada asks as the chat goes crazy. You can feel Cait tense underneath you. If she can tease you, you can do the same.

"Oh you know I did," you say with a sweet smile. "The trip was amazing but the people were even better."

Caitlin moves your legs off of her as you bring yourself to a sitting position again, making sure you are tucked right next to her.

Jada asks the other girls there and you are thankful the attention is off you. Caitlin leans over and whispers in your ear.

"You are joking right?" She asks as her breath tickles your ear.

"Well wouldn't you like to know," you say and lean away from her, She wraps her arm around your shoulder and pulls you in closer to her.

"I wasn't there to show them you belong to me," Caitlin says possessively and you become extremely aware of your surroundings.

"Cait, this is not the time nor the space," you say and smile sweetly at the camera. Your hand comes up to hold hers - keeping her arm around you so she can't do anything else. You were wrong as her free hand comes to rest on your crossed knee.

Kate keeps glancing over at you guys - she knows Caitlin is typically handsy but the way she is around you is different than how she presents herself around others. Kate wasn't the only one to catch on as there have been several comments that Jada has avoided asking if the two of you are a thing.

You are trying to hide the fact that you are extremely flustered, which Caitlin is aware of. You start to get up and think you are free from her touch when just as you are about to take a step, her arms wrap around your waist pulling you to sit in her lap. She holds you as her head comes to rest against your back.

"M just ready to have you to myself," she says, rubbing her face into you. You blush a little hoping no one heard your girlfriend's comment as Jada closes out the live. You believe you are in the clear but Kate sits there trying to process Caitlin's actions and words.

TWO. fight.

It is the third quarter when Caitlin has pretty much had it with no.30 on the other team.

Typically Caitlin can keep her cool, at least when it comes to you in games. But there was something about the way your defender kept her hands on you and would make little snarky comments to you that had you laughing. Little to Cait's knowledge, every time you laughed it was sarcastic.

She was good - anyone on and off the court can see that the girl defending you was doing everything in her power to put you off your game. Little to everyone's knowledge, she was affecting Caitlin's game more than yours.

Caitlin is bringing the ball up the court, looking at all her options - waiting to make the play coach called. You are moving around to break free from your defender and move around a screen getting open. Caitlin passes you the ball and you fake a three, driving in the paint for a difficult layup.

As you are jogging back, your defender catches up to you.

"Not bad, ma," she says with a little smirk. "The way you move is flawless."

You wave her off. Caitlin hears her comment and feels her blood being to boil for what feels like the 20th time this game.

"Why don't you just shut up and play the game," Caitlin mutters under her breath, but loud enough for her to hear. She glances over at Cait, face smug but intrigued by her reaction.

The third quarter comes to an end. As you are making your way back to your bench, the girl who has been all over you bumps into you, grabbing your arm and saying something in your ear. You shake your head and move along but Caitlin is making a beeline to her.

When Kate sees Caitlin moving in a direction that isn't the bench she runs after her and grabs her.

"What are you doing?" Kate asks as she tries to pull a seething Caitlin back to their bench. At this point, Kate is the only one who knows about your relationship. After seeing how touchy-feely Caitlin was towards you at the end of summer and how protective she became of you it was hard to unsee. Kate then finally got Caitlin to spill - which ended with Kate swearing not to tell anyone. In your opinion, it was nice having someone know.

"Going to teach no.30 a lesson," Caitlin is fighting Kate's pulls.

"You aren't going to do anything with a whole 10 minutes left," Kate states.

"You see the way she is touching her and talking to her - that’s my girl," Caitlin says - eyes burning into your defender.

"You can get her back by kicking their team's ass," Kate says finally making headway with getting Caitlin back to the bench.

The fourth quarter begins. You would think Caitlin would settle down but that is far from the case. She is watching your defender's every move, making sure her hands stay within a certain range.

There are 4 minutes left and you are up by 20 when Caitlin snaps.

You had just poked the ball away from the other team when you felt a shove from behind, knocking you down face-first into the floor. It startles you at first but once you realize nothing hurts more than normal, you work your way to your hands and knees. That is when you feel a pair of hands come snaking around your waist, helping you stand from behind.

You instantly know they don't belong to your girlfriend.

As you stand, you feel the girl's hands slide from your stomach to your waist lingering much longer than necessary.

Before you know it, you see Caitlin pass you and shove the girl who has been guarding you all night.

"Keep your fucking hands off of her," Caitlin yells as she pushes the girl, who you learn very fast is not one to back down from a fight. She pushes Caitlin back which causes Caitlin to grab her and throw her to the ground.

You are frozen in place - watching as another girl comes and tries to punch Cait in the face, which she just barely dodges. You are brought back to reality and go to grab your girl, wrapping your arms around her from behind making sure to enclose her arms in yours as some other teammates from both teams come over to separate those who are getting too heated.

The refs come over and help break everything up as you walk Caitlin away.

"You can't do that," you whisper in her ear.

"She is crazy if she thinks she can touch you like that and in a fucking game where everyone can see. Bullshit," Caitlin mutters and you can feel how heavily she is breathing.

You walk her all the way back to your bench before finally letting her go. You turn her around to see if there are marks on her face from the girl taking swings at her. You go to grab her chin but she swats you away mumbling 'I'm fine'.

"Quit it Clark," you say firmly and she knows you are mad at her. Over the years she has learned how you use different ways of addressing her to show your mood. Caitlin, CC, and Cait were all endearing. Caity and Caitlin Clark were used only in sarcastic situations or to get her attention. Which left the use of just her last name to signal your anger.

You grab her chin and examine her face to make sure she is okay.

"She didn't get me," Caitlin says quietly.

"Sure as hell, glad she didn't," you mutter. "Imagine if she did? You would have lost it more than you already had and gotten yourself kicked out for the next few games. So stupid," you say shaking your head. Caitlin began to fume again.

"Do you think I was just going to stand aside and let her touch you like that? Sweet talk you the entire game and not do anything about it? She was flirting with you the entire game and you just let it happen!" Cait whisper-yells as she throws her arms up.

"You can't let the personal interfere with the professional. You know I am capable of holding my own. I agree - she was much more handsy than she needed to be but we both know who I am going home with. She was doing it to get in your head - and she won." You say frustrated.

Caitlin groans in frustration knowing the two of you are on the same page but she let her temper get the best of her.

"I'm sorry, babe," she says pulling at your jersey for a hug. Her overprotective nature during the game melts away as she just wants to cling to you.

You remove her hands from your jersey, knowing if she hugged you now it would lead to exposing the two of you as more than just friends. She gives you a needy look and you shake your head. Despite her apology, you are still upset at the fact that she lost her temper.

The refs announce that Caitlin and the two girls from the other team are ejected from the game. Security comes over and escorts each of them out.

"I'm never going to let her live this down," Kate says to you as the two of you take the floor for the final few minutes.

"Girl needs to learn how to bite her tongue," you say.

"You know she can't do that when it comes to you," Kate says. "I mean if I was in her position, I would have knocked the girl out cold."

You let out a laugh. You know Caitlin has the best intentions when it comes to you but doesn't always know how to navigate that with her actions. You really aren't mad but know the two of you need to figure out a way for her to control it better.

THREE. sick.

Caitlin wakes up and feels like death. She wakes up in a pile of sweat with you nowhere to be found. She tries to get up to find you but knows her body is weak. A groan escapes her lips. Eventually, she makes her way out of bed and to the couch.

You make your way through the front door just minutes after Caitlin sits on the couch.

"Woke up without you," she says disappointed and you chuckle. "S'not funny."

"I went to go get you some soup," you say taking it out of the bag and putting it in a bowl.

You woke up in the middle of the night to see Cait had sweat through the sheets, causing you to move to the couch for the rest of the night. You already knew you were going to get her soup when you woke up because the two of you have a game - one that had the potential to be pretty important.

"Don't want soup, want you," she says and you know she means cuddles.

"Soup first," you say knowing you don't have time for cuddles.

You sit on the couch next to her and feed her the soup. You also got her electrolytes which you force her to drink.

"How are you feeling?" You ask, knowing she feels and looks like trash.

"Better," she says and you know she is lying.

"How do you feel about today?" You ask.

Caitlin sits there and thinks. You watch as she thinks through all the different outcomes of today, what it meant if she played and what it meant if she didn't.

"Wish I didn't feel like this, but I have to play," she says and you nod.

It's the reality of the situation. Nobody understood that better than she did. Caitlin was willing to endure in the toughest of times and you admire her for that.

"Alright, let's get you ready," you say and help her up.

The two of you get ready and get to the gym. The bus ride is a long one, which Caitlin sleeps for most of it. When you arrive in Nebraska, you go over to your girl and rub her back.

"Caity girl, time to get up," you say lightly and you feel her stir. Everyone has gotten off the bus except the two of you.

She groans and sits up. You grab everything and help her up, passing her just her backpack.

"You got this, I am right here if you need me," you say and have her lead you off the bus.

The team goes through shoot around and you can tell Caitlin is feeling weak. She is making her shots, but the way she holds herself is far from normal. When the team is in the locker room getting fired up, you can see her begin to shift.

Going out to the court - Caitlin looked normal. She held herself well and kept her energy up as much as she could. You kept an eye on her as you you both played the first half.

When the team heads into the locker room at the half, Caitlin immediately finds you and opts to sit in your lap while the coaches are talking. Any other day and you would be pushing her into the chair next to you but knowing how terrible she feels, you sit there and hold her. Her head is buried in your neck as her arms are in her lap. Your arms secure her on you, making sure all she needs to do is lean into you.

The team looks at the two of you but doesn't question your actions. They know Cait is sick and they know you are best friends, but watching as Caitlin buries her face in you has more of the girls suspecting something is going on.

When it is time for the team to head back out, Caitlin gets up but stands right in front of you - blocking your ability to stand.

"Caitlin, step forward," you say as the team files out soon leaving the two of you alone.

"I don't know if I can do this," she says as she comes to stand between your legs. You bring your hands up to rub her hips as her hands fall to your shoulders.

"You don't have to," you say looking up into her eyes. "But I know you can. Use the team - we got you."

"Hey you two, come on," Kate says as she sticks her head back in. She gives the two of you a knowing look then waves her hand for you two to go out and join the team.

You push Caitlin back and stand, bringing her into a hug.

"When we get home, I will cuddle you until you are 100% okay?" You say rubbing her back. You feel her nod.

"Love you," she mumbles into you.

"I sure hope so," you say and she pushes you away, hitting your arm. You laugh at her. "Love you more."

FOUR. pro.

Life has been a whirlwind - Caitlin got drafted to the Indiana Fever and the two of you moved to Indiana in the short span between the draft, graduation, and her season starting.

Up to this point, the two of you had told your Iowa team that you had been dating and it really didn't come as a surprise when you finally did tell them. They all had talked about the two of you and tried to pinpoint when it happened, which left you and Caitlin in disbelief. Kate on the other hand was proud that she as able to keep your secret for so long.

With moving to Indiana - the two of you didn't explicitly publicize your relationship but also didn't plan on keeping it a secret anymore. It was just sort of in this place of 'when it happens, it happens'.

It became a little game between the two of you to see who would crack in the public eye first.

You believed it would be Caitlin because of how physical she was but she believed it would be you in a moment of overflowing adrenaline.

The point was - the two of you had placed a little bet on who would be the first to cave.

Caitlin had begun training camp and every night when she came home you could see how tired she was. As exciting as it was to be playing pro and living out her dream - it was also a very quick turnaround. It has only been weeks since the two of you were playing in the NCAA championship game and now she is busting her butt in practice again.

You did the best that you could to make sure she was taken care of. As much of an adjustment it had been for her, it was also an adjustment for you. No longer being on the court in a competitive nature was both a relief and a heartbreak. One of the things that you prioritized was finding a gym that you could join for weekly pick-up games.

After moving you were planning on getting a job - mostly to keep yourself busy and to help with income. Caitlin wasn't a huge fan of that.

"No," she says, giving no explanation for her response.

"What do you mean no? It's not a big deal," you say frustrated at her response.

"No," is all she says again.

"Cait it is nothing major, it's literally an animal care assistant - it honestly seems more fun than work and it will keep me busy while you are busy. A win-win," you say trying to get her to hear you out.

Caitlin takes a second to think about what you said.

"No," she says and picks up another chocolate chip cookie.

You grab it out of her hand and take the plate away.

"Why?" You ask. She looks at you like you just took her firstborn child (not that you two have one...yet). She only had a couple of inches on you but you know how to use your body to keep her away.

"Give me back my cookie," she says reaching for it over the counter that's separating you two.

"Not until you tell me why you don't want me to get a job," you say and slowly take a bite of the cookie you confiscated from her hand. Her eyes widen.

"Stop eating my cookie!" She yells and you give her the 'you are only doing this to yourself' look. She sighs.

"If you get a job, you can't come to all my games," she says. "Now give me my cookie."

"Babe, I would still be at all of your games," you say and take another bite before handing her back the half-eaten cookie.

"Not my away games," she says shyly.

"Caitlin," you say now making your way to her side of the counter. "I need something to do while you are at practice and this way I am helping contribute to rent and stuff."

She holds your hands.

"Babe, you know you don't need to work for financial reasons," Caitlin says in all seriousness. "Anything you want and it's yours."

"Even a job?" You say knowing her answer.

"Everything except that," she says with a laugh. "How about this, you can volunteer at the zoo whenever you want. That way you can keep busy when I am not here and you aren't tied down for any of my away games."

You think about it.

"Fine," you say. She smiles and kisses you.

You find yourself booking trip after trip when you get Caitlin's schedule. You don't mind it but feel a little overwhelmed when you put it all in your calendar.

You are currently sitting in College Park Center watching Caitlin play in her first preseason W game. It is crazy to wrap your head around the fact that she is actually living out her childhood dream and you are a part of it.

The game ends in a loss but you are extremely proud of her. You make your way down to the court and get overwhelmed by the crowd and space resulting in you running and jumping into Caitlin's arms.

She catches you and hugs you back, only putting you down after spinning you around once. When your feet hit the ground, you pull out of the hug and pull her in for a kiss. Your hands on her face and her hands on your hips.

"You're a pro," you mumble against her lips. She laughs and pulls away, pulling you back into a hug. Both of you blind to all the camera flashes, only focused on each other.

"I am," she says with a smile, looking down at you. "And you, my love, lose."

You look at her in a questioning manner and then it all clicks. You facepalm completely forgetting your little bet.

"Looks like someone owes me a massage," Cait says in a teasing tone.

"Ya, ya, ya," you say. "Swore it was going to be you."

She laughs and brings you into a side hug, letting the reporters get photos of the two of you.

You both stand there smiling. The next day you are bombarded with tags and comments about Caitlin's fans and your Iowa fans saying they knew the two of you were together.

AN: I think these are cute, but let me know what you think! And as always, thank you for your love and support 🤍

[alotofpockets]

Travel day | Arsenal WFC

Pairing: Arsenal x Teen!Reader & Kyra Cooney-Cross x Best friend!Reader

Summary: A travel day with Arsenal, where you and Kyra can't seem to sit still. [requested]

Masterlist | Woso masterlist | Words: 1k

-----

Ever since you had joined Arsenal at seventeen, you were deemed the child of the group. All of your teammates were immensely protective over you. Leah was the most protective, she had let you move into her apartment, the captain not wanting you to stay somewhere on your own. At first the overly protectiveness was a bit annoying but once you realised that they all meant it well, you started to enjoy the way the team had taken you in as their family member. 

When Kyra had joined the team a year later, you were grateful for another youngling on the team. The girl had quickly gotten the “annoying little sister” status, and it was to no surprise to the team that the two of you got along great right away. 

Today was a travelling day for the team, you were heading overseas for a day of training, and a match the day after. You walk into the living room with your suitcase, kit bag, and your backpack, plopping them all down next to where Leah had put hers. “Hey kiddo, got everything packed?” You nod and sit down on the couch. “Socks, pyjamas, and a charger too?” You get up and walk towards her, handing her the checked off packing list. “I packed everything you wrote down for me.” She looks over the list, and is pleased with all the check marks she sees on the paper. “Alright then, Lia will be here shortly to pick us up. Oh, before I forget. I made you some sandwiches, you can put them in your backpack.” 

You take the sandwiches from Leah, “Lee, what am I supposed to do with this many ham sandwiches? It’s like a two hour flight max.” You laugh at the girl but put them in your backpack anyways. “You can share with Kyra, as I am guessing that the two of you will use up enough energy to need those later.” 

A couple minutes later, Lia arrives to pick the both of you up. “Hey kid, ready for today?” Lia asks as she gives you a quick hug. “Yeah, I’m excited.” With your luggage in the car, Lia drives the three of you to Colney where the team would meet up to head to the airport together. 

When you arrive at the airport, and have checked in your baggage and gone through costumes, you arrive at the gate. You drop your backpack to the floor where Leah sits down, and rush off to find Kyra again. When the girl notices you, she dropped her own bag next to Katie, and started running away from you. You sprint after her, chasing her around the gate.

The team watches the two of you run around amused, wincing when you’d nearly miss other airport goers. “Should we stop them?” Katie says to Leah, when you finally manage to catch up to Kyra, and tackle her to the ground. “I say let them tire themselves out, so we have a peaceful flight.” She said the last part as a joke, but seeing the amount of energy the two of you had at the moment, it was best to let some of it out now. 

They let you run around, and go back to their own conversations. Occasionally someone films the two of you, many of the clips either ending up on their Instagram stories or on their Tiktok’s. You had no clue about any of it though, as you were having the time of your life running with Kyra. 

You were grateful for the sandwiches that Leah made for you, when your stomach started growling. Grabbing both yours and Kyra’s backpack, you head back to her. She was sitting by the window, watching the planes move around in the distance. Like Leah had suggested, you shared the sandwiches with Kyra, getting through quite a few of them until Kyra pulled a ball from her backpack, with a sly smile on her face. 

The two of you start kicking the ball back and forth for a bit, before you start to do keep ups together, trying to not let the ball hit the ground. That’s when Katie steps in, and grabs the ball from midair, “Where did you even get a ball?” The older woman asks. “From Kyra’s backpack.” You say in defence, raising your hands up in surrender. Kyra rolls her eyes at how quickly you threw her under the bus, but she would’ve done the same thing if it would have been Leah that stepped in. Katie takes the ball with her, as she sits back down next to Caitlin. “Kids.” She shakes her head, but looks in your direction with a smile.

Once the plane had taken off, it didn’t take long for both you and Kyra to fall asleep.

-----

leahwilliamsonn just posted to their story

-----

Only to be full of energy again as the both of you woke up when the plane landed. You were bouncing your legs up and down, waiting to be able to get off the plane. There was no time for you to let out your energy now, as you went straight to baggage claim and onto the bus that was waiting to get you to the stadium you would be playing in a couple of days. 

However, the moment that you set foot onto the field, you were back to running around on the field with Kyra in tow. Occasionally either one of you would be taken aside to take a picture with some of your teammates, but you always found each other again. 

Once Kyra was taken aside by Alessia for a picture, you ran over to Leah. The girl welcomed you with open arms, “Hi kiddo, having fun so far?” You step into her arms, and hug her tight. “Yes, I can’t wait to play here.” You stay in her arms with your head leaned against her chest.

Kyra walked back up to you with a ball in hand. You look up to Leah, “Yeah, go on. Have fun.” And with that you made your way onto the field with Kyra, finishing the game of keep ups that was interrupted in the airport.

-----

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[wosostories]

Heath Sisters PT 1 (USWNT x Teen!Reader)

Masterlist

USWNT X Teen!Reader

Tobin is called up to her first national team camp. Along comes her sister as she has no where else to go.

This is a Reader story with Y/N, but I wrote it in third person because that made more sense in my head.

Part 1

“Come on Y/N, we’ve got to go. We’re going to miss our flight.” Tobin yells to her sister in the next room. “We need to be on time to make a good first impression.”

“I know, I’m sorry. Have you seen my shoes? I can’t find them. I’ve searched my entire room.”

“You can’t find them because they’re out here,” Tobin tells her sister, as she picks them up off the floor. “For once you put them where they are supposed to go.” Y/N bursts out of the next room and takes the holy shoes out of her sister’s hand. 

“I really need to get you a new pair of those.”

“No you don't, they're fine.” Y/N states slipping them on. “I’m ready.”

“Good, the Uber’s here grab your bags.” Y/N grabs her bags and goes to walk out the door. Tobin grabs the back of her backpack. “You don’t need to worry about the money ok. That's my job. You can tell me when you need new things.”

“I-I know. I just can’t help but worry sometimes. I know that it’s hard with you trying to finish college and your last season of soccer. And you are worrying about the draft. I just,” she sighs, “I just don’t want to put more on your plate is all.”

Tobin gives her sister a small smile. “I know and thank you for worrying about me, but taking care of you is my job so let me do it please.”

Y/N gives her a nod, “Alright Kid, let’s get out of here.” 

The sisters Tobin and Y/N head out of their apartment building and begin their ride to the airport. 

“Do you think that anyone will have a problem with me being there?” Y/N asks her sister nervously once they’re settled in the car. 

“I told you that I got it all cleared with coach. She knows that if she wanted me there that you would have to be there too. You have nothing to be worried about, ok. You’ve been worrying about things all day, can you take a deep breath for me?”

Y/N nods and sucks in a deep breath holding it before letting it go. “Feel better?”

“A little bit I guess.  It’s just they may say that it’s good cause they want you there, but no one wants a kid hanging around. I’ll probably just end up getting in the way.”

“One you know that’s not true, you are great to be around. And two, do you plan on getting in the way?”

“Well no, but…”

“Then you have nothing to worry about.” Tobin looks down at her little sister and sighs, “And if there is a problem you know to just come to me and I’ll handle it. You know that I’ll protect you from everyone and everything.”

“I-I just don’t want to be a burden to anyone,” Y/N whispers.

“Kid… You could never be a burden to anyone, you know that.” 

Y/N looks down to where she is picking at her fingers. Tobin takes them into her own and holds them still to keep Y/N from hiring herself, “You have to keep up with your own studies as well as with your own training. Club starts in like a month and you need to be ready.”

“Ya, but I don’t want to embarrass myself.”

“How would you do that?”

“I’m not as good as everyone else.”

“Why would you be? You haven’t been called up yet, not even to the youth team. You are still young and you still have time. Just play your game, you know that I’ll always be there to help you learn new tricks. And maybe some of the other girls will come help to. Give you some pointers. Then you are sure to get your own call up soon enough. And you’ll have a leg up on the other kids because you will already know what they are looking for.”

Tobin laughs as Y/N shrugs her shoulders and they spend the rest of the ride to the airport in silence curled up next to one another. They manage to make it through security and check in with no issues and make it to their flight to California on time. 

After an exhausting five hour flight they touch down at LAX and are ready to get to the hotel. 

“You have your back pack?” Y/N nods. “Perfect, let’s get our luggage and to the hotel for a nap.”

“And food?” Y/N asks quietly.

“Yes, and food.” Tobin’s bag is one of the first to come out, but when the last one comes they still havent seen Y/N’s both sisters start to panic a little. 

“Tobs?” Y/N asks her sister. Her voice quite and almost scared. 

“It’s ok. Just give it another minute,” Even though Tobin knew that it wasn’t coming and was already locating the nearest service desk. 

When Tobin finally had enough of pretending to wait to make her sister feel better  she led her over to the service desk where they got in line to ask about the luggage. It took about 15 minutes to get through the line and another 20 to locate the bag. “Looks like it got on the wrong flight and went to Florida. We can either put it on a flight here or one back to the New Jersey airport and you can pick it up upon your return.” The lady says.

“How long would it take to get here?"

“It will most likely get in early next week."

“We are only here for two weeks, just send it back to New Jersey.”

“But Toby…” 

“It’s fine Kid, we’ll figure it out. Thank you for the help.” Tobin turns and leads Y/N out to find a car to the hotel. 

“What are we going to do?” Y/N asks, tightening the grip on her back pack. 

“What do you have in your backpack?”

“I have my school and soccer stuff.”

“Any clothes?”

“My soccer gear.”

“Alright, that will work for now. First we are going to go to the hotel, we are already running late.”

“Sorry.”

“Not your fault. Then we are going to eat, take a nap, and then see if there is some place where we can get you some clothes.”

“But we don’t have the…”

“I told you this morning that that isn’t something that you need to worry about. I’ll figure it out.”

“But…”

“I said don’t worry about it.” Tobin raised her voice a little, annoyed. 

“S-sorry,” Y/N says again looking down at her feet, tears threatening to fall. 

“Kid look at me,” Y/N doesn’t budge, Tobin kneels in front of her and gently grasps her shoulders. “Look at me, Kid. I’m sorry, I’m just a little frustrated at the situation, but I shouldn’t have taken it out on you. None of this is your fault. Accidents happen and we’ll figure it out.”

“Promise?”

Tobin sighs again, “Ya Kid I promise.”

Tobin stands and pulls out her phone to call an Uber as they make their way outside. Tobin stops as she feels a tug on her sleeve. “What is it Kid?” Y/N points to a couple of people in front of them holding a sign that reads ‘Heath’.

Part 2

[girlgenius1111]

love you anyway

r returns from losing out on going to the olympics with england to barcelona. alexia reminds her that she is more than just her losses.

You stared out at the rising sun, oranges and yellows painting the sky. This loss felt different than the world cup. At least then, you'd known you'd done everything you could. At least you'd made it to the final. Now, you weren't even going to the competition. You felt the weight of the loss land squarely on your shoulders. You'd missed the goal by barely an inch, you'd had the chance to score after Lucy. If you'd made it, the team would have made it. Instead, you sat on a flight back to Barcelona all alone.

You were supposed to leave with Keira and Lucy later in the day, but you'd moved your flight. You told them you just wanted to get home faster and see Alexia, but that as only part of it. You found that you couldn't look Lucy in the eye. She'd told you probably 10 different times that it wasn't your fault, but you knew it was. You'd seen how she'd collapsed on the pitch. It was her last chance at an international tournament, and you'd blown it. Lucy, who helped make you the player that you were, who'd been there for you from the beginning.

All you wanted was to get home and see Alexia. She'd been texting you, trying to gauge how you were handling the loss. If your lackluster responses were any indication, you weren't handling it well. You hadn't told her you were catching an earlier flight. She was supposed to train, and you didn't want to distract her from getting back to 100%.

A part of you was also kind of nervous; logically, you knew Alexia wouldn't be disappointed in you for missing the goal. She held herself to impossibly high standards, was so incredibly hard on herself, but she'd made it clear early on that your performance on the pitch would never affect how she saw you. While your brain seemed to know this, your heart clenched uncomfortably whenever you thought of her watching the missed opportunity, the disappointment you imagined on her face.

So, after you landed, making your way quickly through the airport, you left her texts on read, knowing she'd see you soon anyway. You got your luggage as fast as possible, hopping in an uber. You directed it to your and Alexia's apartment; she would be at training, which meant you had plenty of time to shower and make yourself presentable. You're sure you looked like a disaster, eyes puffy from crying yourself to sleep last night. The drive was a blur, and you got lost in your thoughts again, startling slightly when the car pulled up in front of your building.

Your phone dinged again while you were in the elevator, and you pulled it out.

-How are you this morning, mi amor?

-What time does your flight get in? I'll come get you guys from the airport.

-Y/n?

The texts were spaced a couple hours apart, and you sighed, knowing you had to respond before Alexia freaked out. You didn't want her to rush home from training for you though, so you kept your answer vague.

-Sorry. I'm on an earlier flight, you'll have just finished training. I'll just uber and see you when I get home.

You put your phone away, stepping out of the elevator and walking to your door. Unlocking it, you stepped inside, dropping your bags to the ground heavily. You leaned back against the shut door, resting your head on it and closing your eyes, enjoying the feeling of being home immensely. Sighing, you pulled your bag into the bedroom, not even stopping to unzip it before hopping in the shower. You went quickly, desperate for a quick nap before Alexia got home.

Getting out, you heard your phone ding again, and you picked it up. You hadn't been expecting a response from Alexia yet, as she normally didn't check her phone much during training.

-Bebita, you know I have your location right? I checked to see if you were at the airport yet and you were already home. If you needed some time alone, you could have just said so.

Normally you would have remembered that key piece of information, but your brain was a mess. You responded right away, feeling bad that she thought you wanted space from her.

-No, Ale, I don't want time alone, I want you. I just didn't want you to rush home from training, you just got back. I'm good here, take your time.

Awaiting a response, you walked to the closet, not even bothering with your side. Instead, you pulled on a pair of Alexia's shorts, walking over to the chair in the corner of the room where she'd discarded the sweatshirt she'd worn to bed. Pulling it on, you inhaled deeply, the comforting smell of Alexia washing over you, a soft floral scent flooding your senses.

Figuring that if Alexia was going to respond anytime soon, she would have already, you climbed onto the bed, grabbing a throw blanket from the end and wrapping yourself up in it. You settled on Alexia's side, burrowing into her pillow and shutting your eyes. You drifted off rather quickly, completely missing a text from your girlfriend.

-Too late.

You didn't hear the front door open, the sound of Alexia dropping her bag right by the door and searching for you. You didn't even hear her enter the bedroom.

Alexia walked in quietly, having expected you to be asleep. She'd heard from Keira that you'd had a rough night, and she knew how exhausting traveling was for you. Her heart melted at the sight of you curled up in her clothes, head buried in her pillow. You were out cold, so she decided to shower before climbing in with you.

She'd checked your location in a panic after you hadn't responded, shocked to find that you were already almost home. She'd figured that you'd just wanted some space to process the loss; it's what she would have wanted. Your response to her told a different story though, and she was again reminded of how thoughtful you were. Fully lying about when your flight got in so she wouldn't miss training? She really couldn't have been mad if she wanted to be.

Alexia showered quickly, wanting nothing more than to be snuggled up next to you. The past week without you had been torture; international breaks were always hard, but since she'd returned to Barcelona after the first day, she'd been bored out of her mind without you here.

She pulled on clothes, before climbing onto the bed, careful not to jostle you. She rested her head by yours, facing you. She took in the sight of your puffy eyes, and knew you'd been crying. Not able to help herself, she brushed a piece of hair out of your face, keeping her touch soft. You stirred slightly, and she froze. You only mumbled incoherently though, before reaching out and grabbing her sweatshirt in you fist. You leaned into her, and she kept still, letting you wiggle closer until your face was pressed against her neck, both hands now gripping her top tightly.

Alexia wrapped her arms around you and you sighed contentedly, even in your sleep, pushing yourself impossibly closer to her. She felt your soft breaths hitting the skin of her neck rhythmically, inhaling the scent of your shampoo. She wasn't tired at all, wide awake really, but she was more than happy to lay here with you while you slept, right where she knew you wanted her. She held you close to her with one arm, picking up her phone in the other, where a text from Lucy waited for her.

-Hola Capi. Keep an eye on y/n. I think she's really beating herself up over this one.

-----

You woke up naturally an hour or so later, to the feeling of someone running their nails up and down your back. You immediately recognized the body under you as Alexia, and you blinked your eyes open, pulling back slightly from the crook of her neck. She met your gaze with a soft smile.

"Hola, mi amor." She murmured, her low voice the best sound you'd heard in days. You hummed in response, still sleepy. You rested your chin on her chest, looking up at her. She tangled her hand in your hair, scratching lightly at your scalp. Your eyes fluttered shut, thoroughly enjoying the close contact with the midfielder.

"How is my girl, hm?" She asked, not stopping her motions.

"Missed you," you replied, voice still thick with sleep.

" I missed you too, bonita," she paused. "I'm really sorry about the olympics, y/n." She kept her voice soft, but still felt you tense slightly against her.

"Me too," came your response, tone defeated. Alexia thought about the text from Lucy, studying you closely. Your eyes were closed, still laying against her, but your shoulders were tense, and you looked like you were incredibly weighed down.

"You played two incredibly games, though. I'm really proud of you." She said, speaking with conviction. You shook your head on instinct, opening your eyes to look at her. "Yes you did, amor. I watched." She said, raising an eyebrow at you.

"Then you saw me lose the game for us." You said, voice catching slightly.

"I saw you take an incredible shot on goal, and just barely miss. I wouldn't call that losing the game for the team."

"If I'd have made it, we would have gone through, Ale." Your voice was really wavering now.

"And if the Dutch player had missed, you would have gone ahead. Or if any of your teammates shots had gone in. You can't blame yourself for that." Alexia told you, watching carefully as tears began to well in your eyes.

"No, Ale, it's different. I fucked it up for everyone. I let the whole team down, I let Sarina down, I let Lucy down, I let you-" You broke off, clenching your jaw shut tightly in an attempt to stop yourself from crying. Alexia's hands came to cup your face, tilting your head to look at her.

"I don't want to hear you talk about yourself like that," Alexia began, face fixed with intensity. "That could have gone either way, it was just chance." You said nothing, blinking hard. "And you haven't let anyone down, baby. Not the team, not Sarina, not Lucy. None of them blame you for this. And you absolutely didn't let me down, mi niña. You made me so proud, like you always do."

Alexia watched as you continued to valiantly fight off your tears, your lip trembling hard. "It's alright to be disappointed, but I won't have you blaming yourself," she said, almost sternly. She watched you for another second. "You can cry, bonita. Come here."

At her words you let yourself go, allowing her to tug you up into her arms. She held you tightly as you cried against her, murmuring soothing words into your hair, interspersed with pressing kisses to your head. You cried for a while, getting her shirt extremely wet with tears. Her hold on you was unrelenting, though, and she didn't pull away until your sobs had slowed to occasional sniffles. Using the sleeve of her sweatshirt, she delicately wiped the stray tears off your face, before pressing a long kiss into your forehead. You gave her a weak smile, unsure how to put into words how much she meant to you.

"Well, I still get to go to Paris. Really live out my WAG dreams." You joked, and Alexia chuckled.

"Will I finally get to see you in a jersey with my name on the back?" She asked.

"You'll have to marry me if you want to see me with your last name on my jersey." You replied, smirking up at her. Her mouth twisted into a grin, and she shook her head at you teasingly.

"Well, I better get moving then if you're gonna be properly dressed for Paris." She wasn't joking. You knew this, but you didn't realize to what extent she really wasn't joking. If everything went according to plan, she'd have an engagement ring on your finger by June. You settled back against her, soaking up the time with your girl, as she did the same, her mind getting lost in engagement plans.

-----

[drvscarlett]

DOWN BAD

Charles Leclerc x Kpop idol!reader

Summary: When kpop meets formula 1 and its a relationship PR stunt. What happens then?

The Tortured Drivers' Department series

A/N: after a long long long while, we are so back! Congrats for charles winning his home race. Let me know what you think or if you wanna be added to the taglist.

Taglist. @tea-bobba @boiohboii @c-losur3 @haikyuen @stelena-klayley @stinkyjax @0710khj @jinimon-tr

Cause what if I was in love What if I can't have us.

Liked by Charles_Leclerc, todayis_wendy, and 790,456 others

xoxo_y/n 💍💖

user8 MOTHERRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!

user4 she remembered her account again!!!

user10 can we get a smile miss maam???

user11 she is ice princess for a reason duhh user10 it wouldn't hurt for her to smile sometimes

user55 someone tell me why charles is in the likes??

user7 charles??? like king charles?? user67 dumb dumb, its charles leclerc

user90 another day, another slay from Y/N

Y/N have never been a fan of fake dating.

However, it was not an uncommon practice in the industry. If someone wants to hide their relationship, create a fake relationship to throw off the media. If someone wants to boost their popularity, fake a relationship and get the attention.

It amazes her how good people play that part of being in love when they are really not. The thought of it also disgust her because she can't even control her emotions to the people she doesn't like let alone pretend to love someone.

So this entire meeting seems ridiculous.

"Isn't there any other way to solve this situation by not doing this?"Y/N asked.

"The company doesn't want to give you a comeback until your popularity rises and this fake relationship will guarantee a boost" the manager convinces "You are the only girl in your group that has not been involved in any dating scandals"

"Isn't that supposed to be a good thing I'm not into scandals"Y/N rebutted

"Normally it is but your image is not doing well because everyone thinks you are too cold and unreachable"

Y/N slumps back at her chair, there is really no way out of this.

"C'mon Y/N, do it for the team please"the manager begged "Think about Wendy, Joy, Seulgi, and Yeri. This whole thing will do them good"

As the leader of the group, this was her main weakness. She will do anything for the betterment of the group. Its what a good leader does.

"Just make him someone nice" Y/N surrenders.

The immediate change in expression almost made Y/N retract everything she said. This was happening whether she likes it or not for there was already a plan in mind. With her verbal agreement, its set to motion.

"Don't worry, he is a very nice guy" the manager assures "It's that f1 driver, Charles Leclerc"

Y/NFansite Y/N was just spotted boarding a flight to Japan.

user4 what is she doing in japan??

user2 what is she doing alone in japan? user3 japan huhhhh

user7 safe flight y/n

user8 it might seem crazy what im about to sayyyyyy

user9 i love love her airport fashion so chic and comfy

She knew that she should have listened to the members advice to look up her "boyfriend" but of course Y/N was too stubborn. Now, she is here sticking like a sore thumb and looking like a headless chicken in the Ferrari garage.

This was the week that they are supposed to be soft-launching their relationship. She haven't even meet the guy yet, she resist the urge of rolling her eyes as cameras might be lurking.

"Love the color of your nails" the voice comes from behind.

Y/N snaps her head giving her famous resting face as she meets the grinning Charles Leclerc.

"Ferrari Red or Red Velvet?" Charles wondered.

"It can be either"she shrugs.

He sits next to her. He was a little bit taller than her even when they are sitting down. She noticed the friendship bracelets that that he wears on his wrist with red and yellow as its dominant colors.

It was the first time that she has been able to take a long look at the man, she has seen posters of him at the train station. She will admit that she kind of sees why the girls were shrieking when they looked up the photo of Charles. He certainly looks good and she bets he knows it too with that charming smile plastered on his face.

"My name is Charles, sorry that it took me so long to meet you"Charles held out his hand

"Y/N, nice to meet you"

She didn't reach out to touch his hands in return, she just wants enough distance as much as she could. After all this whole thing is just a pretend thing.

Charles didn't seem to be dismayed by the action and he smoothly covers it up by running his open hand to his hair. He continues to smile at her brightly.

"Ice princess right?"he mentions the nickname.

"How do you know that?"Y/N asked

"I googled you last night" Charles replied "Of course I have to know something about my new girlfriend."

Y/N felt her cheeks burn at the way he spoke girlfriend. It was uttered in such a teasing manner that she is beginning to understand how some people are good at making fake dating situation work.

"I didn't look you up"Y/N admits.

She was expecting to see a falter or a tinge of disappointment but the smile on Charles face only went wider. It's as if he was a kid given a his wish on Christmas day.

"Well then that's perfect" Charles clapped his hands "We have some time before free practice, I could show you around and I could talk to you about Formula 1"

Charles_LeclercUpdate Charles is spotted walking with kpop leader Y/N before FP1. They were also spotted hanging out after free practice.

User4 what????

User7 BIG DAY FOR THE KPOP X F1 GIRLIES (its me)

User8 so that's why she went to japan!!!

User9 omgggg they will be a power couple

User14 y/n pick anyone, pick anyoneeeeeeeeeeeeeee. leave my husband alone

"Sooooooo when are we meeting our new brother-in-law?"Wendy asked.

The minute that Y/N steps back to Korea, she was immediately bombarded by her members regarding her Japan trip. They were all over their groupchat and they kept sending the photos that were tweeted by fans during the weekend.

"I think he will be busy a lot"Y/N answered "You might not meet him any time soon"

The Japanese GP was quite disappointing for Charles with him landing on a P4 and missing out on a podium. Although if Y/N could argue, she overheard people talking about how Charles did extremely well especially with the one-stop strategy. Y/N mentioned it in their conversations but Charles still insist that he has to do better so he will be training a lot.

"Tell me you took pictures"Joy asked

Y/N nodded her head as she opened up her phone. Her gallery was filled with a lot of pictures during the weekend. There were also some fans of Charles that she took photos with.

They stumble upon a selfie by Charles and Y/N, they could not stop giggling.

"Unnie, you two looks so good"Yeri, the youngest cheers "Everyone keep saying how you two are the original visual"

"What if this can be your first real relationship" Seulgi encourages.

"This is just work Seulgi"Y/N reiterated "We'll fake date for a year and a half then its done"

Before the members could voice out their protest, the door rings.

"Did you guys order food or something?"Y/N asked.

The four other members shook their head communicating that there is a stranger outside the door. Y/N cautiously opens the door because she didn't want her private apartment leaked to fans.

Y/N felt a sigh of relief upon seeing the lady at the frontdesk of her building. What was highly unusual was the bouquet of red flowers of various shades and sizes that she was holding.

"Y/N, I wanted to give this to you because I think your boyfriend forgot your room number"she greeted.

Stunned silence, she wasn't aware that there was something to do for today. She normally doesn't gush but receiving flowers is something really nice. Y/N mutters a small thanks before getting the flower and getting inside.

"Ohmygod, that must be from Charles"Yeri was jumping up and down "Isn't he romantic?"

"What did he sent it for?"Joy quizzes.

Y/N picked up the card and saw a scrawl signed by Charles' name.

"I never got to thank you for being with me during the weekend. Thank you for being a wonderful addition to the garage. Its nice to see you. I'm hoping to see you maybe in Shanghai?"Y/N reads.

"You have to go!!!"Wendy pushed.

"Unnie c'mon bring us with you"

"Let me see the letter"

While the girls were busy talking, Y/N took the opportunity that they were occupied to quiz the man who sent the flowers.

Y/N: Why did you send the flowers? Charles: You don't like it :<< Y/N: Well, I love it and I appreciate that. Y/N: Should I post this on social media or something to tag you? Charles: I just want you to enjoy the flowers. I really appreciate meeting you. Charles: Have a great day cheri Y/N: Thanks Charles, you too!

Charles_Leclerc what a weekend, shanghai you have been great.

User4 what a weekend for feudrari

User5 Charles you look so good!!!!!

User10 a smiling Y/N???? WHAT IS HAPPENING

User45 am i the only one thinking how random this whole relationship is?

User7 i know like who introduced them??? User8 ngl i dont give a crap, i just think they are perfect with each other

She was easily getting a hang of this new life. She feels like as an idol, she was well-prepared with the flashing cameras and the people bombarding her wherever she goes. It was no big deal for her to stop by and meet people since everyone seems to want a picture or a sign of Charles.

"Y/N can you give this to Charles?"

"This bracelet is for you and Charles"

"Would you sign this?"

"Y/N I hope you can have a comeback soon!"

There were so many voices and people. She kept a smile on her face as she tries to navigate her way out of the crowd. There is probably an increase in the amount of people crowding her since she is now known as Charles' girlfriend besides being an idol singer.

The crowd was moving in a snail pace and she politely thanked people giving her gifts for her or even the ones that are supposed to be for Charles. She was so preoccupied that Y/N didn't notice that Charles was worriedly squeezing his way to the crowd to retrieve her.

"Excuse me, can you give her some space please"Charles tried to get a hold of her.

"I'm okay"she squeaked.

Still, Charles waded through the crowd and once within reach he interlocked his hands with her. Y/N also noticed how his other hand has been gently placed at her back in a protective manner as if he is guiding her.

There were cameras flashing and Y/N felt a cap being placed on her head. She can see the number 16 etched on the flap of the cap and Charles suddenly missing his iconic hat.

"Please don't crowd my girlfriend please" Charles begged the crowd "I don't want her harmed or you guys to be harmed so lets just calm down"

It felt like Charles has a certain pied-piper charm to his voice because people listened. The two of them made their way to the garage and Y/N didn't miss how he still kept the protective arm gesture.

"You should have used the more private gate, next time I'll teach you that so you won't be bomarded by people" Charles explained "You could have been lost in the crowd if Fred didn't tell me"

The worried look on Charles face was evident. He was looking at her if she had any bruises or scratches, he knows that there was a tendency for avid fans to accidentally leave some scratches.

"Charles, I'm okay" Y/N rested a hand on his shoulders to soothe him "This is not my first time to deal with crowds"

"I know but I don't want to create a bad experience for your grand prix, you might not want to go next time"Charles pouts.

"I can assure you that it will take more than a crowd to scare me into not going to Grand Prixs"

Y/N's remark seems to place a smile on Charles' face and she couldn't help but to smile as well. It was simply infectious for Charles to do that.

"Good because I want to keep inviting you to more Grand Prix"Charles stated.

xoxo_Y/N 🎹🎵 #solo

User1 were finally getting an Y/N solo ???? FINALLY

User2 Y/N SOLO???

User3 I spy with my little eye, thats charles!!!!

User16 CHARLES WILL BE PLAYING FOR YOUR SOLO??? User24 no wayyy!!!!

User15 were going to be blessed!!!

Todayis_wendy why are we not informed???

xoxo_Y/N he is only here for a couple of days Charles_Leclerc I promise, I'll hang out next time! Todayis_wendy get me some gp tickets in canada and were good! Charles_Leclerc that can be arranged user55 wendy here is getting the bag LOL

After a couple of grand prix, it was now time for Charles to enter her world.

Its the summer break, they made use of the time by bringing Charles to Korea. Y/N had a lot of things planned because she wanted to treat Charles with the whole korean experience but her company had other plans.

"I'm really sorry, this will be just a quick thing" Y/N apologized as they walked the halls of the recording studio.

"No worries, I don't have anything planned" Charles smiled.

"This will be just 30 minutes or so then we can go exploring again" Y/N explained.

"Hey, its okay. "Charles assures "This is your world and you know I'm really happy to see you do your thing"

Y/N felt something weird again with how Charles placed his hands on top of hers. It wasn't her nerves because she recorded multiple times so this is something else. In the back of her mind, she knows what exactly this is but she wants to deny it for a little bit longer.

"There you are Y/N, I'm sorry but your recording last week glitched" The producer noticed she wasn't alone "We might rerecord"

"Can we do a quick run?" Y/N pouted.

"It might take some time"

She helplessly looked at Charles expecting him to be disappointed. Charles has a big supportive smile on his face as if reassuring her that she could take all the time she needs.

"I'm alright being here, your studio is awesome" Charles piped in

He was immediately making his way to the piano and looking over to the other equipment in the studio. Y/N noticed that Charles has a certain crinkle in his eyes when he is in awe with things, she used to see it with the cars.

"You wanna play?" Y/N asked

Charles looked at her as if she was kidding. He looked to the producer, seeking confirmation, and the producer just gives a go signal.

"I mean, maybe I can contribute to your recording"Charles suggested.

"Gee, are you coming after my job?"Y/N joked

"Maybe I'm just trying to do this so we can spend more time together" Charles winks.

And so the re-recording started. Charles was busy playing and making suggestions, which the producer takes into account. He even made a rough draft of a new song that Y/N noticed when he stepped out to take a call.

"Your boyfriend has an ear for music"The producer admits.

"It seems so"

Y/N glanced at the musical notes and lyrics that he has written. It was something that she might have to discuss with Charles soon because these have big potential to be a part of an album.

"You two are a match-made in heaven"

The comment caught her off-guard. It was her internal crisis that she was getting used being with Charles and it reached to the point that they are still acting like they are together even without cameras on them.

Is everything still pretend?

Charles_Leclerc Red Velvet should be played at the garage tbh

Arthur_Leclerc a blast to see her perform!!!

xoxo_y/n thanks arthur! Arthur_Leclerc my bias is Yeri btw! any chance you can get me one of those yeri card? xoxo_y/n talk to her yerimiese yerimiese hi???

xoxo_y/n consider me surprised, thanks for seeing us perform

Charles_Leclerc wouldn't miss it for the world mon chou! user81 the nickname is mon chou???? user50 i want what they have

user9 the fact that charles literally took the time to surprise his gf by staying lowkey and buying tickets like a fan would, Y/N wins the jackpot!!!!

User4 what a supportive boyfriend, i wish my boyfriend is like this

User7 why is that every time Y/N smiles, charles is always there at the receiving end??

User8 i wanna go to a red velvet concert too!!!

Charles knew that this was beyond the contract but he was pretty curious after knowing that this was Red Velvet's first european tour. Y/N was always doing her best to be present in GPs and he wanted to return the favor. He had a bit of free time and he did a little snooping.

"Let me ask you why did you call me here again?"Arthur asked.

"I need you to go on your laptop and get tickets"Charles repeated.

"Tickets for what?"

"Red Velvet tour in Paris"Joris answered.

He really brought the whole battalion to secure the concert tickets. From what he researched, it was quite chaotic once the ticket starts so he enlisted everyone within the vicinity. This is why Joris and Arthur are camped in his living room with their laptops on.

"You know I honestly think we shouldn't go with this big of a trouble when we can just call her and ask for tickets"Joris added

"But she will be surprised and this is too sweet of a gesture" Arthur cooed "I'm definitely down to do this"

"We have to focus on getting the tickets"Charles reminded.

They watched as the clock ticked closer to the selling time and then it was quite chaotic at the household. Charles would like to think that his fast reflexes would be a great advantage to this but it was all futile.

"What do you mean that were in line?"

"My site just crashed"

"This button is not working, what is this wifi?"

"WHY IS THIS SO STRESSFUL?"

Charles_Leclerc recharging the batteries with her.

xoxo_y/n i dont wanna leave monaco

Charles_Leclerc stay with me even longerrrrr hi_sseulgi stop stealing her!!! Charles_Leclerc sorry lolz user9 lolz, charles ur so unserious

user4 posting two photos of Y/N and one of him, he is head over heels

user7 i mean if Y/N is my girlfriend then i will do the same!

user16 i just wanna take a long walk and lie down the highway

xoxo_y/n always so proud of you Charlie!

Charles_Leclerc thank you! i couldn't ask for anyone better to support me

xoxo_y/n saranghaeeeee Charles_Leclerc love you more mon chou

user12 im not a huge fan of Y/N but she is always there to support Charles therefore i like her a lot

User5 why are they so wholesome???

User6 i just saw them walking to the paddock and how Y/N looked so proud of Charles is everything

Charles finds that Abu Dhabi is that one track he hates every season.

It serves as a bitter reminder that another season is ending and he doesn't have a championship in his belt. It was a heavy burden on his shoulder especially when everyone has dubbed him as someone who will bring back the glory days of Ferrari.

"You look exhausted"Y/N pointed out.

He was so into his thoughts that he didn't notice her arrival.

"When did you get here? I'm sorry if I wasn't able to pick you up at the front"Charles apologized.

"It's okay Charles"Y/N assured "But are you okay?You seem a bit out of it"

"Just a lot of things"Charles sighed.

Charles fiddles with his ring, a habit that Y/N observed that Charles do when he is stressed. After being together for nearly 10 months, even if its fake, Y/N was observant to pick up these characteristics.

"You could tell me anything"

Something that Charles learned that despite the whole cold atmosphere and aura Y/N has, she was a very good listener and comforting shoulder to cry on.

"It's just the championship, I wish I could have a better car and a better chance to win this thing"Charles admitted.

"You always have next year" she suggested

"Maybe but everyone is getting restless"Charles' voice felt like cracking "Next year, its a new team mate and a new car and new struggles"

"Well no one said that the road to championship would be easy"Y/N said "Things are never easy but that's what makes victory so sweet"

Y/N's hand reached to touch Charles to stop him from fidgeting his ring. There was that feeling of warmness again but this has been occurring for so long that this was not a foreign feeling anymore.

"You'll get it next year Charles"

"Thanks for believing in me Y/N"

Charles_Leclerc love spending time with you as always!

user8 the rings??? dont tell me you two are engaged???

user76 im so happy to see them be like this huhuhu

user2 i love it how open Y/N and Charles is about their relationship

user6 why is she in monaco again? doesn't she have a job or sumthing?

user7 jealous much?? user8 why does she need to work when charles can provide

It was so easy to do the whole relationship with Charles that they haven't noticed that a good year and a half has been done. Y/N knew that sooner or later the phone call will inform her that its time to call it off but she would like to pretend that its never happening.

"Charlie!"she greeted as soon as she enters the apartment "I remember we were running low on fruits so I bought some apples and oranges while I was going home"

Y/N frowns because usually Charles would come running already to ask what did she get but today there was a certain stillness. She immediately went to Charles' office and she spotted him in front of his laptop.

In her heart, she knows what's happening judging the grim look on his face.

"We need to talk" Charles broke the ice "I just got the email"

Y/N understood english but why are the words like floating in the air and not making any sense to her. She felt like she could just vomit at the moment with the amount of stress.

Everything was coming to an end.

"Hey, hey look at me Y/N" Charles held her hand "This whole thing may be over and we just need to give it a few months but we are still friends"

Friends? That was even more painful than ever. How can Y/N go from acting all domestic and being a couple to simply being reduced to a friendship. She clutches the necklace hanging around her neck as if it was the thing suffocating her.

"Do you need water?" Charles asked

"I need to go"

"Go? Where are you going?" Charles was confused.

But Y/N was already picking up her bag and things. She felt so claustrophobic being in Charles' place and having so many thoughts running in her mind. She just wants to get away.

"I just need to go for now Charles"Y/N repeated.

"Mon chou, you don't seem like in a good state to drive by yourself, let me drive you mon chou-"

"Don't call me that"Y/N snapped.

There were so many emotions in Y/N's eyes. It was filled with regrets, begging, and most of all pain. It was swimming with emotions that he was lost at what to do.

"This whole thing is about to be over so I think its best to start dropping nicknames so its easier for us to part"Y/N's response was on autopilot and Charles could only nod in agreement.

soompi Red Velvet leader Y/N and Scuderia Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc confirms break up.

user4 what???did i miss something???

user88 you have got to be kidding me!!

user7 i knew it, they were bound to end.

user9 good news, my wife is freee!!!!!

User8 we are checking, we are checking

"Charles?" Y/N's voice felt like fresh air for Charles.

He can't see her but he can feel how there was so much that has changed about her. There was this certain tone and intonation that he remembers whenever she speaks to him. Now, its just empty and void of emotions.

Its been 2 weeks since they received the termination email and they haven't been together in the same place ever since. Frankly, Charles misses her.

"Charles, are you there?"Y/N asked "I'm gonna hang up this phone if you're not going to speak because I have some stuffs to do so-"

"Don't hang up.. please"Charles interrupted "I just didn't know what to say to you"

There was a silence on both ends of the phone call but their heavy sighs acknowledges that they are still both on the line. They are both waiting for each other to say something.

"You know its snowing today" Charles started.

"The first snow?"

"Yeah and I remember that you told me that in Korea that whole tradition about when the first snow falls then you have to call someone really special"Charles remembered.

"Charles don't do this"she begs.

"Don't do what?"

"This, whatever this is. It has to stop because were about to announce to the world that were breaking up and we have to adjust back to what we used to be"Y/N said.

She was begging Charles to give her some time and space. It was for her own good because she knows that she was already in too deep with this whole fake relationship and its going to break her the minute that this whole thing finally ends.

"I like you Y/N" Charles was first to cave in "I have been thinking about this for months that I really like spending time with you and I really like you way beyond than this whole fake dating thing"

There was desperation in Charles' voice and it was not comforting for Y/N to hear it. She often hears that love is not supposed to be something that scares you, it should be your peace or tranquility.

"This is all wrong, you're only saying that because we spend too much time together"Y/N denies.

"Then we can start this again. Properly and real this time around" Charles insisted "We can hide away this relationship from the media, we can do secret studio session, we can just have private vacations here in Monaco"

Everything was too good for Y/N to be real. She was scared that she might wake up and this is all a dream for her.

"I like you Charles but I think I needed time to process this whole thing"Y/N answered "We have to think this through because I think were transitioning from everything way too fast. We're acting and now we're turning this to something real."

And there was silence, she knows that she messed up by being too open and too direct about what she's feeling.

"You're scared?" Charles asked

"Yeah"

"Okay then I'll wait for you until you're no longer scared"

Y/N felt like she could cry with how Charles replies. It was somehow very comforting to hear that he wouldn't run away and that he would be here.

"And when you feel like you are no longer scared and afraid then I'll be here" Charles assures.

CharlesY/NUpdates is Y/N and Charles back together?? We spotted a new girl in his vlogs and it looks like Y/N. The photo from the left is a screenshot from Charles' new vlog while the one on the right is a photo of Y/N in her IG a few weeks ago.

User4 ohmygod!!! I KNEW IT!!!

User7 anyone thinks that the timeline isn't adding up because Y/N hasn't left korea

User8 we don't know if she's been riding private jet planes

User91 no, that's not Y/N. Look at her nose

User20 and the skintone User4 but they look eerily similar

Its been 8 months since they "broke up" and true to their words they haven't been contacting each other. They really took the words taking time to navigate what they are feeling so that they can work things out properly this time.

Y/N is currently doing some songwriting when the members barged in her room. They were giggling and excited that it made Y/N confused if she missed any new memes.

"Okay what is going on"Y/N asked, putting down her pen.

"Oh c'mon unnie, why are you still hiding from us?"Yeri giggled

"Yeah, did we really have to know things from the internet" Wendy agreed.

This only confuses her even more and the members seem to realize that Y/N truly didn't know anything.

"Unnie be real with us? Is this you" Joy asked.

Scrolling past the different set of photo of Charles and mystery girl, Y/N felt her heart drop.

"I haven't talked to Charles ever since.."Y/N admitted.

There were so many questions in her head if this is one of those fake ones or is this a true relationship. Truthfully, she didn't want to know the answer because it will only pain her more.

"What are you going to do about this Y/N? I thought you two are working things out to be real"

"I don't know.."

There was something broken about Y/N that she can't feel anything.

WagF1 look at the new gf of Charles Leclerc and his past gf, does charles get deja vu?

user6 charles i cannot defend you with this

User7 its called, he has a type!!!

User88 i miss Y/N and charles

User9 can you all get over the old ones, they have new lives already

CharlesY/NUpdates Charles and Y/N at the same event tonight! After a year of their break up!

User6 anyone wanna bet with me that there will be chaos

User8 nah Alex and Y/N are too sweet to be involved in a fight User10 oh to be a fly in that room

User1 did they know about this or are they as surprised as each other?

User2 i mean if my ex shows up looking like that, i would have started packing my bags

User3 but alex is also too beautiful!!! User72 alex looks like Y/N

User84 i just miss Y/N at the paddock :((

If Y/N has been informed that Charles would be in attendance then she would have called in sick or skipped her flight. It was a punch in the gut to see him but she felt like someone twisted the knife when she saw the company he was with.

Alex, a beautiful name for a beautiful girl.

They were a few tables away from Y/N's table but to her luck she has the perfect view of the couple. She have to thank the years of media training that she underwent during her debut days that prevents her from showing any emotions she is feeling at the moment.

"Y/N do you want to switch seats?" Seulgi asked

"I'm okay, I don't wanna make anymore trouble"

She watches how Alex whispers to Charles and how he nods in attentiveness. It was the same way that Charles used to talk to Y/N when she was fake dating him.

How is this not confusing for Charles? This was the question that bothers Y/N.

"I need to go and powder my nose a quick second" Y/N bids the table.

The members look at their leader with a worried expression but they let her off. Y/N went outside of the hall and out of the view of the cameras. She was suffocating in that room.

The door creaks open again and she fears that oh so familiar footsteps.

"YN"

"Charles"she greeted without stopping with her stride.

"I need a second with you"Charles was catching up.

"I don't have a second for you"

"C'mon Y/N hear me ou-"

Charles grabbed Y/N's wrist and she made a mistake of facing him. Everything just comes flooding in her memory and she hates herself so much that none of these feelings have any semblance of hatred towards the man.

"Give me a chance to explain myself. I know this is all so confusing for you and I know that I hurt you but I didn't mean to do that to you"Charles explained.

Another mistake that Y/N did was she looked him straight to the eye. It was a recipe for disaster as months of trying to heal suddenly went down the drain.

"I love you. I really do. And I waited for you and then Alex entered and then I liked her a lot and I know this is not an explanation that you need but you deserve to hear this and-"

The whole thing was passing on deaf ears because Y/N already confirmed what she was feeling ever since the first sentence. She was ready to settle this out even if it hurts her.

"Loved Charles. You loved me"Y/N points out "Past tense"

"What? What do you mean?"

"You love Alex now right so you only loved me" Y/N restates.

Charles was at a lost for words.

"You shouldn't feel guilty, I can see it in your eyes that you truly love Alex." Y/N explains "I'm happy that its something real and sure"

Real and sure, its something that she cannot give but she is happy someone else can give that to Charles.

"But what about you?"Charles asked

"My feelings, I'll get over it."Y/N knows that she has to.

They stand there with a more comfortable silence.

"Does that mean were okay? No more hard feelings?"Charles wondered

"of course charlie"she musters a smile.

"Great" Charles awkwardly runs a hand down his hair

"You should get back to the hall, I'm sure Alex would be wondering where you went"Y/N suggested.

"What about you?"

"I'll follow soon, I just need to go to the bathroom"

"Okay Y/N, I'll see you inside later" Charles replied.

The fading footsteps of Charles allowed Y/N to let out a heavy sigh. She briskly walked to the bathroom and in the far end of the stall, she locks herself. It was the only moment that she allowed herself to be true to whatever it is she feeling.

She did everything good but why does she feel like crying now.

[lucy90712]

Christmas at home- Pablo Gavi

WC: 2.6k A/n: in this story Gavi never got injured so he's still playing with the team 

Christmas has always been an interesting topic of discussion in mine and Pablo's relationship. When we first got together it was right at the start of November so we spent Christmas with our own families that year and last year we spent it with Pablo's family. This year we are going to see my family which has taken a lot of planning as my family don't live in Spain I'm just there to study so we had to book flights and see how long Pablo could be away for before he had to go back to training. We had everything sorted then the club decided to play a friendly in Dallas right after the last league game which ruined our plans a bit. Now instead of coming with me when I go home Pablo has to go to the states and then back to Barcelona and from there he's coming to see me and my family. 

I went home the day after Pablo's last league match and have enjoyed spending time with my family but I have been waiting for the day that he finally arrives as we don't get much quality time together so having him for the holidays is always my favourite parts of the year. All last night I couldn't sleep waiting for Pablo to text saying he'd got on the plane but instead I got a text saying his flight was cancelled and he's was having to get another later flight. This later flight would mean he's not landing until this afternoon which would be fine if we weren't supposed to go to a big family gathering at my grandmas house. Every year my grandma gets everyone in the family to come round a few days before Christmas so we can all celebrate together and I was so excited for Pablo to come and meet the rest of my family that he hasn't met before but now I don't think he'll make it. I was also supposed to collect him from the airport but he told me not to and that he'd find another way there. 

As much as I tried to hide my disappointment my parents could tell straight away that something was bothering me. To start with I refused to tell them what was up as I didn't want to ruin everyone's day plus there's nothing they can do so I just wanted to deal with it myself. Eventually though I could feel myself getting more and more upset so I decided it would be best to confide in my mum just to get my feelings out.

"Whats wrong sweetheart?" My mum asked as I sat down next to her 

"Pablo's flight was cancelled now he's not coming until later so he's going to miss the gathering at grandma's and I can't even go and get him from the airport" I explained 

"I'm sorry honey I know you wanted him to meet the rest of the family but at least he can get here still you'll still get to see him today just later" my mum said trying to make me feel better 

"I know it's just I told everyone Pablo would be here and now they are going to think he's a bad boyfriend" I said 

"Well you can explain the situation and if some people don't get it that's ok me and your dad love Pablo and we know he treats you so well and eventually everyone will get to see that whether it's now or another time" she said 

"Thanks mum that makes me feel a bit better" I said 

She gave me a hug and then we set off to my grandmas which isn't too far luckily. The entire car journey I was texting Pablo and just before we arrived I gave him the address of my grandma's place just in case he arrived in time to meet us there but I don't think his flight will land in time. Once we did arrive though I put my phone away and promised myself I wouldn't check it again until we left as I want to spend quality time with my family and not worry about how long it will be until Pablo gets here. 

After going in and seeing everyone I felt so much better my grandma greeted me with a big hug and took me off to the living room to tell the family what I had been up to as apparently I now lead the most interesting life out of everyone so they all want to hear how my life has been. Luckily I remembered to bring some things with me to give my younger cousins who are all obsessed with football, Pablo wanted to give the stuff to them but seeing a he's not here I did it for him. Everyone ended up crowded around my phone as I showed them pictures of the places I'd been and some of the amazing matches I'd been to. 

At these gatherings we always have a big family dinner and because I missed last year I've really been looking forward to today as there's nothing quite like homemade food from your grandparents. Being one of the oldest grandchildren I'm usually tasked with helping set the table and bring in the food which when I was younger I hated but now I like getting to be a part of everything plus I can get some of my cousins to help if I promise them more dessert. As we all sat down I felt a few people staring at me which made me feel a little uncomfortable but I just continued to eat and talk to the people sat next to me. 

"Y/n I wanted to ask didn't you say your boyfriend was coming for Christmas this year?" My uncle asked 

"Umm yeah he will be he had a match to play over in the US and he was supposed to fly in today but his flight got cancelled so he's arriving a bit later than expected I wanted to bring him here but things just didn't work out" I explained 

"He's rich could he not have got a private jet if he really wanted to be here" my aunt said 

"It's not that easy and he's not like a millionaire he really wanted to be here but the situation is out of his control one day I'll bring him to meet you all" I said trying not to show how annoyed I was feeling at the interrogation 

Just as everyone else was about to continue berating Pablo and our relationship the doorbell rang so I excused myself to answer it as I happened to be seated closest to the door. I was drowning in my own thoughts to the point that when I opened the door I didn't even pay any attention to who was stood there and just said hello like I would to anyone stood at the door. It was only when I heard the person stood in front of me speak that I really paid attention and once my eyes confirmed what my ears heard I freaked out. 

"Is that how you're going to greet me after I've just rushed here to see you" Pablo laughed 

"Oh my god you're here you made it" I smile jumping into his arms 

"I did make it there was one free seat on an earlier flight and I managed to get it thanks to the airport manager knowing who I was and now I'm here" he explained 

"What's wrong you don't seem very happy I thought you were excited to come here" he questioned 

"I was but just now everyone was questioning how much you actually cared about me and our relationship" I admitted 

"I'm sorry amor this is my fault if I was here earlier they wouldn't be so mean but I can show them now how much I really love you" he said 

He left his suitcase by the door and gave me a quick kiss before I led him through to where all my family were sat. There was a long silence as everyone realised that they were wrong about Pablo. I knew from the second they all met him they'd love him as everyone does you can pretend to hate him but deep down there's no way anyone can't not like Pablo he's just too sweet. My mum pulled up a spare chair next to mine so Pablo could sit and I got him some food as I know he'll be hungry. He didn't get much chance to eat though as everyone wanted to ask him a million questions but he didn't seem to care at all he was more than happy to talk to everyone especially my cousins who were so excited to have a footballer as part of the family. 

Dinner went a lot smoother with Pablo there and everyone apologised to me for thinking that Pablo wasn't a good boyfriend. In fact so many of my aunts and uncles as well as older cousins told me how lovely Pablo was and how obvious it was that he was that he was completely in love with me which was really nice to hear. I know Pablo loves me but to hear others say that they can tell just by watching us makes me happy as sometimes I get a bit insecure as Pablo and I don't exactly lead the same lives and I always worry he'll find someone better. We had a great time for the next few hours until it was time to go and everyone said their goodbyes and I had to make a promise to come home more often. I expected Pablo to be exhausted after so much traveling in just a few days but to my surprise he stayed awake for the entire car journey back to my parents talking to them while holding my waist and letting my head rest against his shoulder. Once I had helped him unpack Pablo wanted to go straight to bed so that's what we did but not before he smothered me in kisses. 

~~~~~~~~~~

Most days I am woken up by Pablo's alarm as he gets up ridiculously early every morning but this morning was different. Just before my eyes opened I could feel something trailing up and down my side and as my eyes began to open I felt soft kisses being pressed to my neck and cheek. Being woken up by kisses I think might be by favourite way to wake up especially on Christmas and at home with my family. As soon as Pablo noticed that my eyes were open he pulled me on top of him and held me close like we hadn't seen each other in months even though it was just a few hours ago before we went to sleep. 

"Merry Christmas preciosa" Pablo whispered 

"Merry Christmas guapo" I whispered back 

"How long were you waiting for me to wake up?" I asked 

"Not too long you are a quite a light sleeper at times although I did spend a bit longer staring at you" he said 

"Staring at me while I'm asleep that's a bit creepy don't you think" I laughed 

"You just look so pretty I can't help it" he smiled 

We joked around for a few more minutes before I rolled off of Pablo and out of bed pulling him up with me once my feet hit the ground. We both got changed into Christmas pyjamas as thats a tradition my family have we spend the day in Christmas pyjamas and seeing as it's Pablo's first Christmas with us my mum gave us both new matching ones to wear. Of course I had to take a few pictures of us in our matching pyjamas one of which I secretly sent to the rest of the team as I knew they'd like to see the pictures and tease Pablo about it. When we made our way downstairs the Christmas tree lights were already on and I could smell food cooking in the kitchen which meant my parents were already up and preparing for later. They greeted us both with a merry Christmas and we did the same before sitting down to enjoy the breakfast that had been made for us. 

After breakfast it was time to open presents but as soon as I started sorting through the presents Pablo sprinted upstairs and came back downstairs with his stacked with presents. He handed a few of them to my parents then put the rest in front of me which earned him a glare as I told him not to get me too much but clearly he didn't listen. My parents opened their presents from Pablo first and he nailed it he got them both things they really liked. He refused to let me open any of my presents from him until last so everyone opened their other presents first then finally I was allowed to open mine. 

Pablo really spoiled me. He got me the perfume I like, loads of new clothes from brands I could just tell were expensive even without knowing what they were. He also got me a really pretty dress which he told me was for a date that we were going to go on before we leave to go back to Barcelona. There was also lots of books as he knows I like to read and some new baking supplies as I'm always trying out new recipes and he's always trying what I make even though he says he shouldn't. Pablo got me so many things but when I thought I had finally opened them all he pulled out a small present from behind his back and handed it to me. The look on his face didn't really give anything away so I just took the wrapping paper off which left me with a little jewellery box. Inside the box was the prettiest gold ring with three tiny little diamonds across the top giving it a bit of sparkle but not too much at the same time. Pablo gently took the ring out of the box for me and then held my hand which made me look up at him. 

"This is a promise ring I want you to have it because I know you're the one for me and in a few years I'll replace that with a real engagement ring but for now I want you to be able to wear this and be able to look at your hand at any time and know that I'm there for you and I love you more than words can describe" he said sliding the ring in my finger

"Thank you so much Pablo this ring is beautiful" I replied shakily trying not to cry 

"A beautiful ring for the most beautiful girl I've ever met I know there are times that you don't feel that statement is true but I promise you are the only girl for me and this ring is there to remind you of that" he added 

"I love you so much thank you" I said finally letting a few tears escape my eyes 

"I love you more and don't even try to fight me on that" he laughed while wiping my tears

Of course my parents were both so happy for us and my mum had to take pictures of the both of us and of the ring to send to the rest of the family and Pablo sent some to his friends so my phone was blowing up for the rest of the day. I ignored it though as I was having such wonderful time playing board games and eating far too much food to really care about what was going on with my phone. This Christmas has been all I could've wished for getting to spend it with my family and my boyfriend at home has made for one of the best Christmases I have ever had and now I can't wait to do this again a few years down the road. 

[chelseachilly]

til you come back home

pairing: reader x ben chilwell summary: you really miss your boyfriend while he’s in the US for preseason, so you decide to give him a special surprise when he returns ;) warnings: smut, 18+ word count: 3.1k

author’s note: thanks for the request @a-little-bit-rascal​ ! also inspired by everyone (myself included) thirsting over all the ben content in preseason lmao. i hope this is something like what you had in mind ☺️ i’m not super experienced writing smut so bear with me but i hope people enjoy this, i have a couple more one-shots i’ll be working on in addition to the next chapter of this love. oh and the title is from i don’t wanna live forever by taylor & zayn

-

Not to be too dramatic, but you’re pretty sure the two weeks Ben is away in the US for the preseason tour are the longest of your life.

You’ve been with Ben for a little over a year now, and you’ve always found him incredibly attractive. From the moment you saw him at a mutual friend’s party, you were drawn to him. It only took you one drink to decide that you wanted to sleep with him, and two more to actually go for it.

You’re very grateful you didn’t ask him what he does for a living until after he shagged you in your friend’s guest room, as you may have chickened out if you knew he was a hotshot footballer. And also because Ben found it incredibly endearing when you complimented his toned body afterward and asked if he played any sports in his free time.

A few days later, when he finally used the number you gave him and called you up, you were somewhat expecting it to be a booty call. The sex had been great, for both of you, so you weren’t totally surprised by that. You were surprised when he asked you to go to dinner first.

The rest was history, as you found it to be just as easy to fall in love with Ben Chilwell as it was to fall into bed with him.

Your sex life has never wavered since that first date, except for when he’s been away for games or injured and under doctor’s orders not to engage in any physical activities - though he certainly still tried.

Even after all this time, Ben still has a power over you that no guy ever has, the ability to make you crumble with one look from his piercing eyes or the touch of his hand on your thigh.

Which is why it’s incredibly frustrating when he’s looking so fit and he’s thousands of miles away in stupid America.

He’s been looking particularly good recently, and you’re not sure if it’s his tan from the summer holiday, the way his hair has grown out a bit, the extra time he’s been putting in at the gym, or maybe even the confidence he’s getting back after a tough season. Regardless of what it is, it’s really making it challenging to be apart from him.

Every time the Chelsea Instagram posts a picture of him training or he FaceTimes you from his hotel room, you find it increasingly hard not to drop everything at work and just fly to the States immediately.

Watching him play in the match against Wrexham, when he scores a goal in the 94th minute wearing the captain’s arm brand and proceeds to tear off his shirt on live television, nearly makes you scream out of sheer frustration.

How dare your boyfriend be so hot when you can’t immediately have him?

By the time the tour is over and they��re set to return to London, you’re bursting at the seams with pent-up desire. They’re supposed to land in London around eight that evening, and the thought of waiting for him to get through customs, take the team bus to Cobham, then get an Uber to your flat feels torturous.

As soon as Ben texts you that they’re about to take off and that he‘ll be at yours by ten, you decide you can’t wait that long.

You know they’re flying into Stansted, so you whip out your laptop and your credit card and book a room at the nicest airport hotel you can find.

You’re not only eager to finally touch Ben and have your way with him after two long weeks apart, but also to show him how proud you are of him. Despite all the adversity he’s faced over the past couple of years, he’s going into the new season with a positive attitude. He’s not only playing well, he’s taking on more of a leadership role within the club and showing everyone just how crucial he is to their success.

So you’re determined to make your reunion romantic and special for him as well, taking the opportunity to treat your boyfriend before another intense season.

You head over to the hotel in advance to set up the room for him, pulling out all the stops - champagne, rose petals on the bed, candles. You have a romantic playlist ready filled with songs you both love. Ben has frequently shown his love for you with romantic gestures, whether it be whisking you to Paris for a weekend or surprising you with fancy dinners, so you’re excited to be returning the favour for a change.

As their arrival time approaches, you head over to the airport and wait for him.

It seems to take ages, but eventually you see some of the boys begin to trickle in and your heart thumps with anticipation.

A few of the guys who you know well stop to smile and say hello to you on their way to the bus, all clearly a bit surprised to see you there.

“Hey, Y/N!” Reece says with a grin as he passes you. “Does Ben know you’re here?”

“No, it’s a surprise,” you say a bit sheepishly.

“He’s gonna lose his mind,” Reece chuckles. “Bro hasn’t shut up about you the entire time we were in the States-“

“Y/N?”

You look over Reece’s shoulder to see Ben standing there, luggage in hand, looking absolutely awestruck.

He’s wearing his club t-shirt and joggers, and his hair is a bit messy from napping on the plane. He looks adorable, especially his bright smile that only seems to be growing with every second that he looks at you.

You begin to run toward him on instinct and he barely has time to drop his bag before you’re throwing your arms around him and he’s catching you.

Ben’s arms wrap around your waist and he lifts you off the ground for a moment, spinning you around slightly with unbridled joy. It feels so good to be in his arms again, his warmth enveloping you.

“I can’t believe you’re here,” Ben murmurs in your hair, pressing kisses to your shoulder. “How - I mean, why are you here? You didn’t have to pick me up from the airport.”

“I know, but I wanted to surprise you,” you say with a smile, pulling back to look at him and cup his face with both hands. “I missed you like crazy.”

Ben stares back at you for a moment, his eyes overflowing with affection, before leaning in to press a long overdue kiss to your lips. You sigh into the kiss and slide your fingers into his hair, tugging at it slightly.

“Best surprise ever,” Ben murmurs against your lips before deepening the kiss.

You continue to kiss him until you’re both out of air and you realize you can’t go any further in a busy airport surrounded by his teammates.

“Let’s go home,” Ben whispers, pecking your lips once more. “Did you drive?”

“Mhm, but I actually have another surprise for you,” you smirk, patting his cheek. “I got us a room at the Raddison across the street.” You lower your voice slightly. “So I can show you how much I missed you.”

Ben’s eyes light up as he realizes he’s going to get to have you a lot sooner than he thought, and he leans in to kiss you again.

“You’re amazing.”

Ben says goodbye to the boys, receiving a lot of knowing smirks and pats on the back before he hastily grabs his suitcase and your hand and begins to drag you away.

You both quickly make your way over to the hotel, holding hands tightly, filled with anticipation.

When you get to your room, you barely make it through the door before Ben is pushing up up against it and kissing you firmly, his bags discarded on the floor and his arms around your waist.

“I missed you so much,” he sighs against your mouth as you eagerly respond, your hands once again finding his fluffy hair and messing it up even more. “I missed this.”

“Imagine how I felt,” you say between kisses. “Having to watch you be all sexy on TV and you posting all those thirst traps on Insta-“

“Babe, they’re not thirst traps,” Ben defends, slipping his hand under your jumper so he can feel your bare skin.

“Well, it‘s still not fair for you to be looking so fit when I’m not able to have sex with you,” you whine, tugging at his shirt so he’ll get the message and take it off.

Once Ben has removed his shirt, you allow both your eyes and your hands to explore his toned shoulders and arms, gently squeezing his biceps.

“I’m sorry, baby,” Ben says with a small smile as he watches you check him out. “What’s my punishment?”

“I’m not going to punish you,” you say with a sly smile, pecking his lips once more before backing away from him, making him pout a bit at the loss of contact. “You’re getting rewarded tonight, Benjamin.”

“For the wins?” Ben asks, quirking an eyebrow.

“That, and for finally getting your arse home to me,” you smile, reaching out a hand for him to follow you further into the room.

Ben eagerly follows, his eyes lighting up once again when he sees the effort you’ve gone to for your little reunion celebration.

“I get all this just for coming home?” he asks, his voice thick with emotion and his eyes shining with awe.

You shake your head as you light a few of the candles and hit play on your Spotify, creating an even more romantic atmosphere.

“No, you get all this because I love you,” you say softly, shimmying out of the light sundress you were wearing to reveal his favourite black lingerie set. “This is what you get for coming home.“

Ben’s eyes darken and he wastes no time crossing the room to meet you, grabbing your waist and kissing you with such fervour that you immediately moan into his mouth.

His hands trail down to your butt and squeeze slightly before gripping your thighs and hoisting you up into his arms, your legs wrapping around his waist and the friction making both of you sigh with pleasure.

He carries you over to the bed, the rose petals scattering as he lays you down and begins hastily removing his joggers. When he’s in only his boxers, he climbs over you and kisses you again.

The sight of him hovering over you, his strong arms holding him up and his fluffy hair in his forehead as he meets your gaze is enough to make you melt into the duvet, your centre already burning with desire.

“What do you want, baby?” you breathe as he begins to trail kisses over your neck and collarbone. “It’s up to you tonight.”

“I wanna fuck you,” Ben says in a gravelly whisper, making you throb even more for him. “Been too long.”

“Then do it,” you reply, bucking your hips upward, desperate for friction.

Ben doesn’t have to be told twice - he immediately brings one of his hands down to touch you over your underwear. He strokes the fabric for a second before slipping his fingers underneath and feeling your folds.

“So wet for me already, love,” Ben murmurs as he begins to rub your clit with his thumb, making you moan.

It doesn’t last nearly long enough before he’s pulling away, and though you want him inside you more than anything right now, you can’t help but whine a bit.

“Patience, baby girl,” Ben says, stripping off your knickers and tossing them to the floor.

He abruptly sits up, pulling you with him so you’re sitting in his lap, and kissing you passionately. You can now feel his hardened cock through his briefs against your bare pussy and it’s becoming torturous to go another second without him inside you.

“Ben,” you breathe between kisses. “Need you.”

“I thought I was in charge?” Ben comments, reaching for your bra clasp and removing it in one swift movement.

“You are, but-“

You’re shut up quickly when Ben takes one of your nipples in his mouth and sucks on it teasingly, making your eyes shut tightly with pleasure.

You run your hands through his hair as he pays attention to your breasts that he so clearly missed, eventually trailing his kisses back up your chest and to your lips.

You kiss him hungrily, tugging at his hair a bit and exploring his mouth with your tongue.

Much less gently than before, Ben flips you over and presses you down against the bed, continuing to kiss you as he finally rids himself of his boxers.

Glancing down at you, now laid out on the comfortable mattress completely naked with your hair fanned out against the pillows, Ben takes a moment to catch his breath.  

“You’re fucking unreal,” he exhales, dropping another kiss to your lips. “So beautiful.”

You blush a bit - of course Ben could find a way to fluster you with his words even as you’re moments away from him being inside you.

You kiss him once more before reaching down to take his length in your hand, and it’s already hardened enough that it only takes a few pumps of your hand before he’s fully erect for you.

He positions himself at your entrance and, despite both of your eagerness, waits for your small nod of confirmation as always before he sinks down into you.

You gasp and Ben lets out a low groan as he enters you fully, and he has to pause and hide his face in your neck for a moment to regain control before he begins thrusting into you.

You’re aware that two weeks isn’t that long, but it certainly feels like it’s been ages since you’ve done this. The two of you have a very healthy sex life, engaging in some kind of sexual activity nearly every day unless you’re both exhausted or Ben’s away for a game or something.

The pleasure begins to grow as Ben starts to pick up the pace and intensity of his thrusts, both of your sighs and groans mingling together.

“You feel so good, baby,” Ben says as he reaches up to tangle your fingers together, squeezing tightly. “Missed you so much.”

“I missed you more,” you sigh. “Had to get myself off after I watched you score that goal. Missed our tradition.”

It’s become a tradition since you’ve been together that you and Ben have celebratory sex after he scores a goal - as quickly as possible. Sometimes you have to wait until you get home, other times it’s happened in empty rooms at Stamford Bridge or even his car once.

“Fuck, so did I,” Ben groans, thrusting a bit harder this time and making you cry out. “Wasn’t as good, though. Nothing’s ever as good without you there.”

As Ben starts to go faster, you wrap your legs around his waist to shift the angle and get him as deep as possible, making both of you see stars as you’re approaching your climax.

“I wanna cum with you, baby,” Ben breathes, “are you close?”

“Mhm,” you manage to choke out as Ben’s cock hits a sensitive spot inside you.

Ben reaches down and lightly massages your clit with his thumb before thrusting into you once more.

The combination of him stimulating you and burying himself deep inside you makes you lose control, and you cry out his name as feel yourself coming all around him.

Ben is just moments behind you as he pushes into you one more time then crumbles with a low groan, collapsing on top of you.

You stroke his hair as you both come down from your climax, Ben pressing soft kisses to your collarbone.

“I love you so much,” Ben murmurs against your skin, sending a new wave of goosebumps across your body.

“I love you too, Ben,” you whisper, kissing his forehead.

Eventually your bodies stop twitching with reverberated waves of pleasure and Ben gently pulls out of you, leaving you with a peck to the cheek as he quickly runs to the bathroom to get a washcloth and clean you both up.

After you’ve sorted yourselves, Ben climbs back under the covers and opens his arms wide for you to climb into. You happily curl up against his chest, feeling his arms tighten around you, and you think you may have missed this almost as much as the sex.

“I hope you know you’ve set my expectations for coming home unreasonably high,” Ben jokes as he strokes your bare back with one hand. “I’m gonna need you to pick me up at the airport every time now.”

“That doesn’t sound so bad,” you respond sincerely, kissing his chest a few times. “Have I mentioned I missed you?”

“Once or twice,” he laughs, tilting your chin up for another long, tender kiss that makes your toes curl and your heart soar. “I missed you too. I’m so glad we have tomorrow off. We have a lot to catch up on.”

“That’s true, we still haven’t finished the new episodes of The Bear-“

“I meant sex, sweetheart, but that too,” Ben chuckles, “and loads of cuddles. It was so hard sleeping without you while I was gone.”

“I know,” you sigh, burrowing impossibly closer to him and his warmth. “My bed was too cold without you.”

You rest in silence for a few minutes, enjoying the feeling of Ben’s embrace, before resting your chin on his chest to look up at him.

“You ready for round two already, darling?” Ben asks with a relaxed smile, brushing his nose against yours.

Without a reply, you slip out of his arms and walk over to pour each of you a glass of champagne, still fully unclothed. Ben’s eyes remain fixed to your body the entire time.

When you walk right past the bed, Ben whines a bit and you can already picture his puppy dog eyes before you turn back around to face him.

“Where are you going?” Ben complains.

“I need a shower,” you say nonchalantly, taking a sip from your glass. “You ready for part two of your reward?”

Ben’s eyes nearly roll back in his head as he rushes to get out of bed comically fast, following you into the bathroom as you giggle at his excitement.

You realize later, after you’ve sucked his dick in the shower and he’s returned the favour back in bed, that you may have sent him the wrong message by rewarding him for driving you mad while he was gone, but oh well.

You’ve got a girls trip to Capri coming up in a few weeks, and you can think of a few ways to get your revenge.

-

thank you for reading!! also let me know if anyone wants to be added to a taglist for any future ben fics! 💕

[malarign]

unfair

(meeting your internet best friend)

contains: crush!Heeseung x gn!reader | genre: fluff, angst at the end with no comfort :) | tw! none (lmk if i missed anything) | wc: 1,3k

reblogs, likes and comments are highly appreciated!!!

You covered your whole body with soft bedsheets as you just finished your night skincare routine. Tomorrow is a really important day, you could even say the most important in your whole life. You were finally going to meet your best friend, Heeseung, whom you met thanks to similar hobbies. Unfortunately for both of you, the distance that split you up was much bigger to your dismay. His mornings were your late-night hours and your school hours were his bedtime. If it was somebody else than him this whole friendship wouldn’t last this long, yet it was almost one and a half a year since you met him.

For the first few months, you could only imagine how he looked but it didn’t interfere with you falling for him completely. Once you video-called for the first time you needed to hide your pink-tinted cheeks and uncontrollable smile of adoration. He turned out to be a perfect guy not only personality-wise but also by his gentle facial features.

Your phone suddenly buzzed a few times and you quickly picked it up to see texts from Heeseung.

You smiled at your phone for a few more minutes when he told you it was about time to check in his baggage and that he’ll text you once they take off, even though you’ll be deep in your sleep already.

But you stayed up, anticipating his message to help your racing heart calm down. Once the text notification dinged in your quiet bedroom you could finally rest thinking about all the things you were going to show him.

You woke up much earlier than you were supposed to. The first thing you did was check where he currently was. You had plenty of time but already started your morning routine and dressed comfortably. Walking back and forth you kept on checking where his flight was like a maniac. When it finally said he’ll land in an hour or so you took your car keys and made your way to the airport.

Since it was the beginning of summer vacation many people gathered to either pick up their kids from student exchange or to go on their getaways.

Heeseung’s plane already landed which meant he was about to come out with his luggage any moment. What seemed like the last moment to think about it, thoughts of what you should do flooded your mind. Should you hug him? Or just wave at him? Or maybe give him a high five?

Your train of thought stopped once you heard your name being called. You looked up and saw a silhouette of your best friend walking up to you with open arms. Without noticing it you realized you were in his arms, in his warm and comforting embrace you dreamt about. None of you knew for how long you stood there hugging but when you finally pulled out he spoke teasingly: “Hope you were daydreaming about me just a second ago.”

“You wish.”

The time you had spent together was filled with laughter and sharing interesting stories that definitely sounded better in person. There was no moment of silence, and even if there was one it was a comfortable type when you could gather your thoughts and start a conversation again. Everything seemed to be so easy around him, so comfortable, so perfect. You tried not to think about saying goodbye to him, you really didn’t want to let that thought in, but it was unavoidable. Whenever you were silent you fought the urge to cry, wanting to savor this moment for as long as you can at the same time.

Both of you sat in the cafe, thirsty for some caffeine. It was one of your favorites - you came here almost every day to study, read or just chill in the fuss and smell of coffee. Soon the barista called your names to collect your orders and he immediately stood up saying he’ll get them for you.

“Thank you,” you smiled as you thanked him, taking a cup from him.

In response he just smiled back at you, sending you an indefinite amount of butterflies. He sat next to you this time, not in front of you, on the other side of the table. He showed you some pictures of him and his friends, his hometown, his work, and his hobbies. You stayed silent, listening intently to him sometimes forgetting not to stare too much, but people around you already seemed to know how much you adored the boy.

Soon, comfortable silence embraced you and you just enjoyed each other’s presence in the slight chaos of a busy coffee shop. Suddenly, you felt his head softly lay on your shoulder, taking you off guard and making you flustered. Apart from that, the only time you touched was a hug at the airport and unintentional hand brushes while you wandered around the city.

Then, it hit you.

“Oh Hee, you must be tired. Do you want me to walk you home?” you asked looking at the top of his head.

He slowly looked up at you with a smile.

“Lovely, don’t be silly.”

You froze at the spot. Throughout your friendship, you realized how a flirty person he was, but he never called you those cute nicknames. Not knowing how to react you just remained silent and averted your gaze from him.

Heeseung could feel how his cheeks burned at the slipped nickname he only dreamed of calling you. He thanked the universe that you didn’t look at him, since all you would have seen would be his flustered and embarrassed face.

Two weeks passed quickly, way too quickly. You were currently in each other’s embrace savoring the last minutes you were about to spend together. None of you knew when will be the next time you will see each other. Will it be a month, half a year, or maybe whole 12 months? Both of you had your own lives, you were busy with college, and Heeseung was immersed in his work.

Both of your hearts were beating so fast as if they were racing with each other. People around you watched as you and he tried to contain tears, with success. Both of you very much aware how none of you wanted to part ways.

What you didn’t know was how big of a hesitation and battle Heeseung had in his mind. He wasn’t blind, nor was he stupid. He saw how you looked at him, how much adoration your eyes held whenever he caught you staring. As much as he wanted to shout out to the world how he adores and cherishes you, he couldn’t. The time he spent with you made him sure he loved you truly with his whole heart, but it also helped him realize how difficult it would be to not be around you while in a relationship. For the last time, he fought the urge to leave a sweet and chaste kiss on your forehead and pulled out, faking the brightest smile he could.

You wished to see that smile every day for the rest of your life. You were so sure of him that it hurt to the core of your heart. Why does he have to live so far away? Is this a test? Or were you just not made for each other?

“I guess I have to go,” Heeseung suddenly said.

You tried to smile but failed miserably. You didn’t want to smile, not when he was leaving you, after making your two weeks the best you’ve ever had.

“I already miss you.”

“I miss you too,” you whispered as he slowly wandered off still facing you. He gave you one last smile and wave, crushing both of your hearts into small pieces.

“It’s so unfair.”

thank you for reading! back to the masterlist

permanent taglist: (send an ask to be added) @nicholasluvbot, @en-chantedtomeetyou, @kpopstanmeg, @skzenhalove, @nfrgirl

[octuscle]

Hey there. I guess this is the place to contact? I’m a college student visiting my family for the Fourth of July next weekend. I’ve been away all year. The person who’s most excited to see me is my little brother Zach. He’s eighteen, I’m twenty one. We used to be really close as kids, but when he hit puberty, he started getting wayyy into wrestling and hanging with the jock crowd. It’s like he became a whole different person; even though he was popular for his boyish good looks and his winning smile, his grades really suffered, and we stopped spending time together. Now I can’t even have a conversation with him because he resents me for going to college. He has this huge disdain for “book-learning” and, I think, is jealous of my authority as the older and smarter brother. The last few times I saw him it was all arguing.

Anyway, just a few days ago, I got this package from him in the mail. It’s this Chronoviac thing—I don’t even know what it is, really, and he didn’t include a manual or anything. Just a note that, in his messy and only semi-legible handwriting, reads “For the 4th. Luv u bro”. I googled the chronoviac and came here to ask if you know what any of this means, why he might have sent me this, or hell, even what the goddamn thing is…

To be perfectly honest: You are putting me in a huge conflict of conscience here. What I can and will tell you is that your little brother wants a Fourth of July with his brother. And that he wants to celebrate the Fourth of July the way he's always imagined it. And for this he has defined a scenario on the Chronivac that will only become active if you execute it. What happens then, I can not tell you, that would be a breach of trust against your brother. And it would be above all a violation of what your brother wishes. Whether you will like it? I cannot say. But I can promise you that I will keep the process under control and make sure that nothing happens that cannot be undone. If you're up for it, on Friday morning, before you head home, hit the "Activate Scenario" button.

Friday morning. You're still unsure…. But what is the worst that can happen. Honestly? You don't know. But just because of your parents, you want a harmonious Fourth of July. So what? You press "Activate scenario". It's now 7:00 in the morning. Your flight leaves at 12:30. Shit, then you can go to the gym before. You can already pack your bag and take it with you. Actually, you've already got a decent pile of clothes ready, but there's definitely some sports gear missing. And do you really want to see the fireworks in a button-down shirt? It's supposed to be a hot evening. Fuck, where are the tank tops. After ten minutes your room looks like a bomb has hit it. And you stuffed your clothes into the gym bag just like that. In the side pocket are your sneakers, your socks and your water bottle with the second protein shake. You quickly drink the first one before you leave.

On your way to the gym, you remember that you left your laptop and books at your dorm. Huhuhu, it's the Fourth of July, there's no studying for a few days, there's celebrating. You've worked hard enough, you're allowed to treat yourself. There are only a few of the big boys in the gym. Of course, all the others are already on their way home. But after what you've seen of your not-so-little brothers on Instagram lately, you should pump up your muscles again. After all, you are the big brother. Fuck! Is it really 11:00 o'clock already? Then you have to go to the airport right now. Take a shower? You can forget it. You go once with the towel over your sweaty body, take a training jacket over the wet tank top and you chase your Mustang to the airport. Now every minute counts. And the only chance you have is to use every ounce of your charm. And damn it, you're doing great. Your radiant smile, discreet dancing of the pecs. And the lady at the counter still accepts your gym bag. And in the queue at the security check you are let in. And the boarding staff puts you in a free seat in business class. Because seriously, neither you nor your seatmates would have had any fun in the middle seat that was left in economy class. Because you really need a lot of space. And because, frankly, you stink. Fortunately, the two back rows in business class are empty.

In the in-flight program, you first watch a movie. But that is too exhausting for you. Then you discover the cartoon channel. And you can't stop laughing. Ren and Stimpy are simply the coolest of all. Especially Stimpy, he's just as dumb as you are sometimes. Huhuhu! When you turn your phone back on after landing, you have half a dozen messages from your lil bruh. Photos of his armpit. And the question if you can smell him yet. To the displeasure of the lady next to you at the baggage carousel, you send back a picture of your hairy cave and write that you beat all the stink.

Fuck, you both can't believe you haven't seen each other in a year. You almost crush each other as you hug. You both would have the strength to do that. Fuck, your lil bruh has become a beast. You don't take much from each other anymore. As you sit in the car and your brother drives off, he asks if you want to do a bruh-reunion pump before you go home. I thought you'd never ask, you reply with a laugh.

Happy Fourth of July to you both!

[yeeehwa]

Turbulence (Part Three)

pairing: ot8 x fem!reader

warnings: language

word count: 4,457

summary: you finally land in Seoul and meet some unexpected people

Turbulence has been put on permanent hiatus

taglist: @layzfeelit @dream-in-progress @mingkilovur @jenseok17 @camzpetite @jjaelly @yeosxxx @8tinytings @marsattacks

previous | next

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

You pushed the cart that held both your oversized suitcases, Major in his crate, and your large carry-on bag out the doors of the airport and stopped for a second. Taking the new scenery in. 

You took a deep breath and a smile spread across your face. Your first real breath of fresh Korean air. Your smile grew even more as it finally hit you that you were here. About to work a job that will catapult you to your dream job. 

Major whined in his cage as his ears finally popped, and you glanced over at him. His eyes were wide, and he was huddled in the back of his crate, shaking.

Your heart broke seeing him like that, and you crouched down and cracked the door of the crate open. “I’m sorry baby,” you coo at him, teaching your hand in the cage to give him some reassuring pets. “We’re almost done. I promise.” Your eyes shone with love for your companion, knowing that the flight was extremely stressful for him. You reached into your carry on bag and grabbed the dog treats that you had buried under your coat and books. “Here.” You held the great out for him.

He hesitantly sniffed your hand, and once he realized it was you, you saw him relax a little. He gently took the treat out of your hand and licked you as if to say thanks.

“You’ll like this next part. We’re gonna be in a car, and you can stick your head out and feel the air! Even if it is cold.” You scratched his chin. “You know I’ll happily freeze for you puppy.”

A car horn went off in front of you, snapping you out of your one-sided conversation. A black van sat, idling, and the back door slid open to reveal Mina. 

“Finally. You’re here.” She smiled. She looked gorgeous even in her black sweatpants and gray oversized hoodie. Hair pulled back and out of her face.

“Mina!” You smiled at her. “You’re not gonna abruptly leave me again, are you?” You teased her. Your eyes fully trained in her sweatpants. “Wait a second. Are those real Balenciaga’s?” Your eyes were saucers as you took them in. “How did you get real Balenciaga?”

Minas eyes darted around the area, wary of explaining just yet. “I’ll tell you once we’re out of the cold and in the nice warm car. You can let Major out in there too.” She hurriedly grabbed a suitcase and you followed, confused by her vagueness.

You both lugged the suitcases into the back of the van, Mina muttering under her breath about her driver and how he’s no help. You laughed and rolled your eyes at her as you heaved the heavy bag into the back of the van.

Slightly out of breath, you grabbed Major and entered into the spacious van. “This van is huge,” you noted. 

“Yeah well. It’s supposed to cart around eight grown men. But I borrowed it to come and get you. I figured you would bring more with you.” Mina crawled into the van with you and slid the door shut behind her. She then turned to Major and started cooing at him, and opened his crate to let him out. “Look at you Mr. Cutie! I missed you so much!” 

Her talking to him helped him relax even more. He knew and loved Mina. He playfully nipped at her hands as the car started moving.

“I got the Balenciagas from the company. I may or may not have stolen them from the company closet.” She smirked at you. “No one but Hongjoong has noticed anyway, considering they were his in a shoot a while ago.”

You laughed at your friend's antics, knowing that it fully sounded like something she would do. “Of course you would steal them.” You shook your head at her. “Very in character for you.”

“Yeah well. When they’re cute and fit and your size, why not? It’s not like they’re missed.” She laughed, absentmindedly petting Major. “I don’t live far from KQ. I walk most mornings. When you start we can go early and I can give you a tour before you meet KQ Fellaz and Eden-ary…”

Your mind wondered as you stared out the window, taking in all the buildings and beautiful ocean you caught glances at as you moved more inland. Mina talked to you and Major in the background, but you didn’t pay attention to her. This was home now. Your home.

“Y/N?” Mina snapped to get your attention. You had been zoning out, staring at the fashion you saw on the streets, excited when you were able to pick out pieces from some of your favorite designers. 

“Huh?” You questioned, brain trying to process what was happening now that you were snapped back into reality. 

“We’re here.” Mina smiled as she pulled open the door. “Welcome home!”

You smiled at her and coaxed Major back into his crate, promising lots of treats and love once you get inside and unpacked a little. You heard Mina grunt behind you as she pulled your suitcase out the back of the car. “What the hell did you pack? Bricks?”

“No. Not bricks. That’s my sewing machine, some things I was working on, fabric, all my miscellaneous things that I use to make jewelry. Some clothes.” You listed off. 

She snorted. “I’m inclined to believe that you packed bricks.” She huffed and pulled the other one out. “And this one?”

“Clothes, shoes, makeup, jewelry. You know. Basic stuff. And a few toys for Major. His bed, some food. You know. His necessities too.”

“How in the fuck were you able to pack all of that in 2 suitcases?” She pulled them up over the curb in front of her apartment building and waved at the driver, who promptly drove away. She huffed a bit, as if out of breath, but you know she was faking it.

You laughed and playfully pushed her. “You’re being dramatic.”

“How very in character for me” she sasses back. 

You rolled your eyes and grabbed a handle of a suitcase with one hand and Major with the other. A cold breeze blew your hair out of your face and you shivered. “Let’s go. I’m cold as hell.” 

You followed Mina into the complex, you were stunned at the opulence of it. Large, white columns separated the desk from a cute little sitting area. It almost reminded you of a hotel. A gorgeous chandelier made of jewels made you want to pull your sketchbook out.

You stopped in front of an elevator and Mina swiped a key, and the elevator dinged. She becomes you to follow as you were too focused on looking at your surroundings. 

“Wow Mina.” You complimented as you entered with her. “This place is gorgeous!” 

She shot you her signature smirk. “I knew you’d like it. I bet you’re just itchin to get your sketchbook out.” She teased, and sent you a wink. 

Your hand twitched at her words. “Maybe” you looked down at Majors cage in your hand, slightly embarrassed. 

“Well. Good thing you have a few days until you actually start. You have all that time to explore the city and sketch and create to your heart's content.” She absolutely glowed at you. She adored your passion, having worn and owned quite a few things that you’ve made for her. Even though she teased you, she admired your hand work and passion for what you did.

“Here we are.” She led you out of the elevator and down the hall. Doors with keypads lined the walls, and you followed her until you reached the last door. She keyed in a code and you heard the door unlock. 

“It’s not much. But I’m barely here as is.” She opened the door and stood to the side, letting you take in the gorgeous but simple room. One wall was pure window, overlooking the streets of Seoul. You could easily see yourself sitting there and just watching as people walked by the streets down below. A kitchen opened up the area to your left, and a hallway to the right you assumed was where the bedrooms were. 

“Your room is down that hall and it’ll be the door on the right. End of the hall is the bathroom. Door across from you is my room. Around the corner and up a few steps is my office. You’re welcome to set up shop there. I made some room, and I barely use that area as is. So you’re welcome to move most stuff around. Just don’t touch my laptop.” She walked in behind you and closed the door. “Welcome home.” She smiled at you. 

“It’s gorgeous Mina. Really. And I really appreciate you letting me stay with you. I promise I won’t be too messy.” You set Majors crate down and let him out. He slowly emerged, but smelling Mina everywhere, he was already comfortable, bouncing up into the couch, curly tail wagging.

Mina chuckled and went to pet him. “I have to leave in an hour. Ateez is having a comeback soon, so I need to be at the meeting for it.”

“Comeback?” You questioned, turning your head towards where she stood. 

“Oh honey. I have so much to teach you.” Clicking her tongue at you, she beckoned you into the kitchen. “But first. Coffee. You’ve been up a long time, and I know you. You’re already itching to explore.” 

You smiled at how well she knew you. “Coffee it is,” you agreed. 

After warming up with coffee and Mina changing and yelling a goodbye to you, and telling you the code to lock and unlock the door, you unpacked and looked around your new home. Major laid on the gray couch, bored eyes never leaving you. 

You opened the last little pack of things, finding Majors toys and leash. You pulled it out. “Come on puppy! You wanna go explore a little?” Your excited tone made Major perk up from his spot on the couch. “Wanna go on a walk?” You fully sat down on the floor, legs spread as you patted the floor.

At the mention of the word “walk” Major was up and running towards you. He did an excited little stretch and sat in between your legs, patiently waiting for you. You grabbed his collar and hooked the leash to it. 

“Ready?” You giggled at him as he pulled you towards the door of the apartment. “So excited! You get to explore a new place!” He barked in excitement and you opened the door, him basically pulling you down the hall and out the lobby. You waved and gave a slight head nod to the front desk attendant. 

The winter air bit at your face as Seoul was draped in a white blanket. Instead of going on a proper walk, Major hopped from snow pile to snow pile, fully digging himself into one before jumping to another. 

You laugh as he gets snow on his nose, and starts freaking out to get it off. “You’re ridiculous.” You tell him. He barks back at you, the white snow stark against his dark coat.

You walked, taking in the sights of downtown Seoul. It made you think of New York; of home. You sighed, a small ache in your chest bloomed as you thought about it. You’ve only been in Korea not even a day, yet you already miss America. 

The sunset was beautiful, even with all the buildings around. The gorgeous orange casting a glow on the blanket city. You still couldn’t believe that this is your new home. You couldn’t wait for all the memories you would make here. 

A smell caught your attention, and you saw a couple sitting outside a convenience store, steaming cups of ramyeon in front of them. You inhaled deeply, letting yourself feel the hunger you had ignored all day as you packed.

You tied Majors leash to the bike rack that stood along the brick wall and went inside, the warmth immediately sinking into your bones as a small chill ran through you. 

Ramyeon. Ramyeon you thought to yourself as you looked up and down the aisles for the little black bowl that you saw the couple outside had. Your eyes finally zeroed in on the item, and you decided to grab 2. Mina would thank you when you brought it home, if she was even there when you got back. 

You walked up to the register and in your somewhat competent Korean, attempted to make your purchase, when the male of the couple that you saw outside came in. 

“Miss! Your dog! He got loose! I tried to catch him!” He looked at you, face flushed and heavily breathing. 

In a panic, you tossed some cash onto the counter and ran outside as soon as he told you Major slipped his collar. “Major!” You yelled after him as he took down the street. “Shithead.” You muttered as you took off after him, the bag full of ramyeon hitting your side as you sprinted down the street. 

Yunho saw a small black dog barreling down the street towards him. He stopped, staring, until the dog decided to jump up on him, happily wagging his curly tail. He thought about the same exact scenario that happened a few weeks ago while he was in the States. 

“Major!” He heard a voice yell down the street. Yunho smiled. It was the same dog. He crouched down and started scratching him behind his ear, the same place you had done it before. He basically had your dog putty in his hands. 

“I’m so sorry!” You said as you finally caught up to Major, and the poor man he was jumping on. 

“It’s not the first time,” Yunho laughed. “It’s nice to see you again, Major.” He moved his hand to scratch under the dogs chin. 

You looked at him in confusion. “Agai- Oh my god!” You smiled at the realization. “It’s nice to see you again.” You managed to pull Major off of him, calming him down with a treat that you had in your bag. “Sit.” You commanded. He immediately obeyed and you smiled and patted his head. “Good boy” you cooed. 

Yunho looked you up and down while you were distracted. He can’t help but notice how cute you were. Even after running after a dog in the freezing cold.

You paused for a second to catch your breath and clutch your jacket closer to you. Eyes darting between Major and the man who had caught your dog twice now. “I’m Y/N.” You said, finally settling your eyes on him. 

“Yunho” he said back. “It’s nice to finally have a name to put with the face.” 

You blushed at his words. “I would say the same, but I don’t know what you look like. Every time I’ve seen you, you’ve had a mask on. And a hat.” 

He shrugged at your words. “Maybe one day I’ll show it to you.” A teasing lilt in his voice. 

“Oh. Cryptic and mysterious. I like it.” You giggled. 

Major barked up at you, trying to get your attention. He was starting to shiver, his thick coat only keeping the cold away for so long. “I should probably get home. He looks like he’s starting to get cold.” You started to turn around.

“Wait-“ Yunho put his hand on your shoulder. “Let me walk you home. It’s getting late, and the city can be confusing at night.”

“Oh, that’s not really necessary. Major here is great protection.” Major barked happily and wagged his tail at you.

Yunho chuckled, eyes flicking from you, to the happy dog at the end of your leash.”Oh yeah, he’s absolutely terrifying.” The sarcasm dripped from his words as he leaned down to pet Major again. “Seriously though. I don’t want you walking in the dark. Especially if you haven’t been here long.”

You looked sheepishly at him. “I flew in this morning.”

Yunhos head snapped up to look at you. “Yeah, definitely not letting you walk alone.” He stood up and dusted his hands off on his pants. “Let’s go.” He started walking, leaving you standing there and laughing into your hand. He turned to look at you, saw your face, and paused. “I’m going the wrong way, aren’t I?”

You nodded, still laughing into your hand. “How about Major leads, and we follow him?”

Yunho grinned, shaking his head and laughing a little. His eyes scrunched at how wide he was smiling. “Fine.” He walked to you and you nudged Major on, and you both walked in a comfortable silence. Yunho made a conscious note to keep his strides smaller to stay in step with you. A gesture that you noticed and were a little touched by.

He broke the silence. “How do you like Seoul so far?” 

“Well,” you cleared your throat. “It’s beautiful. Reminds me of New York a lot, except the streets are much cleaner, and the people tend to keep to themselves, which is nice.” You felt a blush creep up your neck, remembering the rude man who had fallen into the puddle when trying to catch Major. “I’m sorry about being so vulgar in front of you then.” An embarrassed giggle left your lips. “I promise I’m not always like that.”

Yunho smiled, shoving his cold hands in his pocket and kicking at a snow bank. “It’s alright. You should see how my friend Hongjoong talks when the eight of us are together, his favorite word is fuck. Especially when it comes to Wooyoung.” Yunho’s eyes shone as he told you about his friends, and the memories they all had.

“That sounds like a fun time,” you sigh. “I wish I had friends like that. All I have is Mina, and even then I think she’s only stuck with me this long because we were close in college. I honestly have no idea where I would be without her.”

You got lost in the memories of all the times Mina had come into your room in the middle of the night to make sure you were actually sleeping, and not working on one of your passion projects. How she forced you out to socialize a little instead of staying holed up in your room. Making sure you were eating and staying hydrated. Making sure you kept up with your school work. A fond smile found its way onto your face as you thought about how, even now, she’s taking care of you in a way. “I wouldn’t be here, physically, if it wasn’t for her. Probably would’ve burnt myself out a long time ago.”

Yunho listened, and watched as you had lost yourself in your memories for a moment before he put two and two together. When he heard you say the name Mina, his brain had started processing exactly who you were, and the information his co-manager Mina gave him. “Ah. It’s nice having friends like that. That’s how my friends are to each other.” He nodded his head in agreement as you kept walking.

After a few more minutes of silence, and admiring the way the buildings reflected the glow of the final moments of sunset, you came upon your apartment building. “Well,” you said awkwardly. “This is me.” You stopped, Major tugging on the leash towards the door, desperate for the warmth that the building provided.

Yunho looked at the building, and his suspicions about you were confirmed. “Alright.” There was an awkward moment of silence. “Are you okay getting in?” His ears started turning red, mentally scolding himself for being so awkward.

You smiled at him, slowly letting Major drag you to the doors. “I’ll be fine! Thank you for walking me home. Maybe I’ll see you around sometime? Preferably without my dog getting loose.” You saw Yunho’s eyes crinkle in a smile as you got to the doors. “Have a good night Yunho! It was nice to meet you!” A smile on your face as you walked into the building, leaving him to watch you go.

You dreamily smiled while making your way back up to your apartment, thoughts on the man you had just met. You knew he was a kind soul, had a beautiful heart, but the only downside was that you didn’t see his face. You weren’t sure if you would ever be able to recognize him if you saw him without the mask and hat. You shrugged, keying in the code to get into yours and Minas apartment. Only time will tell.

You walked into the living room, and seeing lights on in the kitchen, you called out. “Mina! I brought home some ramyeon!” You leaned down to take Majors' leash off, and he bolted for the kitchen.

A crashing sound could be heard from around the corner and a screech, as you heard two male voices bickering back and forth, and Minas exasperated sigh. “Mina?” You turned the corner and saw two men, one with strawberry red hair, and the other, black hair, a pout on his face as Major jumped on him. Mina was standing in between them with a pot in her hands.

All three of them wore aprons. Mina was back in her Balenciaga sweatpants and you cringed inside, knowing how expensive they were, and that she was cooking in them and potentially ruining them. Her hoodie already had some kind of unknown substance on them.

Both the men wore dark jeans, holes in the knees, and the redhead had on a black sweater, sleeves rolled up to his elbows, while the other one had a plain red t-shirt tucked into his jeans. The way they were both styles showed how fit they were, and the perfect triangles their bodies made. You shook your head, snapping yourself out of those kinds of thoughts.

“Hi?” You raised your eyebrow in question.

“Ah! Y/N. Just the person I was talking about!” Mina set the pot down on the counter. 

You quirked your eyebrow up even more. “You were talking about me?”

“Only good things,” said the redhead cheekily. Something about him seemed familiar to you, but you weren’t sure what. He had a cute little mole under his eye, which you couldn’t help but smile at. He grinned at you as you placed the bag of ramyeon down. “What’s that?”

Mina glared at him and slapped him playfully in the arm. “Manners, Wooyung.” He shot her the side eye, tongue in his cheek, when the other man spoke.

“I’m Choi San.” He smiled at you, chestnut eyes filling you with warmth. He then bowed towards you, and you did back, out of respect. 

“I’m-”

“We know,” the redhead said again. Mina filled her eyes and smacked him again, A resounding smack echoed through the apartment. “This” Mina sent him a ‘do not speak of else I will make your life hell’ look, “Is Jung Wooyung. He doesn’t know how to keep quiet for the life of him.”

You giggled when he stuck his tongue out at her back, causing her to lift the frying pan she held in her hand as she spun towards him. “Jung Wooyoung, I swear to god, if you make me start graying now, I will end you.” She looked at you like a tired parent. “They’re two out of the eight boys I babysit.”

Both men whined at her at that statement. “You don’t babysit us!”

You chuckled and sent them a smirk. “Oh. I see. You’re, how did you put it Mina? ‘Pain in my ass WooSan,” I think?” 

Both men whined again and faced Mina, who flared daggers at you. You shrugged back at her and winked, opting to walk out of the chaos you antagonized.

Walking back to your room, you heard lots of whining and complaining from all three of them, with Mina screaming at you to “GET YOUR ASS BACK IN HERE!” You entered your room, grabbed your headphones and pulled out your case of jewels and separate chains, and got to work.

A while later, while lost in your music and focused on your work, a tuft of red hair out of the corner of your eye made you jump. “Je-sus” You clutched your hand to your chest, trying to slow your racing heart. “Don’t do that.” You pulled your headphones off, and shot the man a glare.

Wooyoung looked at you and laughed. Your eyes widened at the absolutely psychotic sound that left that man's mouth.

 “You didn’t say she was that jumpy!” He yelled into the other room. He finally caught sight of your opened sketchbook and the pliers in your hand. “What’s that?” He reached over you, hands going to the sketch of Hunter with the jeweled chain across his face you drew a few days ago. The smirk that was on his face changed to awe when he saw the chain in your hand. You blushed at his next words. “Are you. . . are you making that?!”

“Yes?” You smiled sheepishly up at him.

“Sannie-ah! Mina noona! Come here!” His words, mixed with how loud he was, shocked you, making you jump again.

“God, can’t you calm down for five minutes?” Mina complained as she turned the corner and entered your bedroom. “So help me god, what is it Wooyung?” She froze when she saw that he had your sketchbook in his hands. “Did you share something with him? You don't even share with me!” She whined at you.

San came into your room then too and slid himself between the doorway and Mina. He made his way over to you and Wooyoung, and looked over your shoulder. His eyes got wide and his mouth formed an ‘O’ shape. “I want one.” He didn’t ask. Just stated.

Your eyes widened as you went to grab the book out of Wooyoung's hands. Mina watched, knowing you’re usually shy about showing your creations before they’re done. She huffed and stalked further into the room. “Oh no no no. Nope. Nu-uh. Get out. Both of you.” She grabbed each of them by their ear and dragged them out of the room. “Leave Y/N alone! If you want one, Sannie, you’ll have to trust me when I get her promoted to working with you guys.” She looked over her shoulder at you and sent you a wink. You mouthed a silent ‘thank you’ as she closed the door behind her. You could hear her scolding the two men, but mostly Wooyung, as you put your headphones back up over your ears, and was left alone again to your work.

[addamsology]

Now Hang From my Lips (Like the Gardens of Babylon)

alternative universe, the bright side of things.

A squeal interrupted Wednesday's train of thought.

She stood up straight from crouching next to her DVD player, her head turning in the direction of the ear-piercing noise. "Enid? Why are you-"

Wednesday was cut off by Enid rushing into the room, a dumb grin on her face, and two black cowboy hats in her hand. Wednesday blinks, looking between Enid and the hats. She was sure she had thrown those away a while ago. 

"Why did I find these gems in your closet, Wednesday?" 

"You were supposed to be looking for a sweater, not this."

Enid hushed Wednesday, holding the hats out to her. They were a little dusty, it had been at least six or seven years since she had last worn one. They were a stupid joke between her and Bianca during high school, she wasn't sure why she never threw them away. "Why do you have these, hm? Are you a secret cowboy?"

"No. No, I am not." Wednesday sighed. "They were a gift from a friend, that's all." She attempted to take them from Enid but the blonde was faster, swiping them away. "Well, ex-girlfriend but that doesn't matter." 

Enid's socked feet slid across the wooden floor until her toes hit the edge of the rug, pushing the hat onto Wednesday's head. She took a step back to admire her work, lips pursed and brows furrowed. "It's missing something."

Before Wednesday could even voice her opinion, Enid was out of the room, dashing back soon enough. She grabbed Wednesday's chin, positioning her face right, and sticking a fake mustache on her face. Firstly, why did Enid just have those at her disposal, and secondly, why wasn't Wednesday piercing a dagger into her heart? 

"Why do you have those, Enid?" Wednesday asked with her face scrunched up. "Actually - I don't want to know."

Enid giggled. She slipped a hat onto her own head, alongside a fluffy fake mustache on her face. "You look cute, Partner." Enid put on a fake (and horrible) Southern accent with a wink.

"We're supposed to be watching The Shining, Enid. You finally agreed."

"We can another time." Enid smiled and suddenly Wednesday didn't really care too much about it. "I get the gist, with the Johnny dude and stuff."

"Johnny dude?" Wednesday made a face and it looked like a part of her had died inside - Enid just laughed. "Then what is your plan for-" Her jaw shut abruptly as the sound of Taylor Swift started playing in her apartment.

And the tennis court was covered up

With some tent-like thing

And you asked me to dance

But I said, "Dancing is a dangerous game"

Oh, I thought

This is gonna be one of those things

Now I know

I'm never gonna love again

Enid sang dramatically and off-key in Wednesday's direction, grabbing the other girl's hands with a big grin on her face. "C'monn, Weds!" 

Wednesday scoffs but she can't help but notice the weird feeling in her chest as Enid giggles and sings along. "I'd rather not sing to this monstrosity. And I thought I told you not to call me that." Wednesday complains, Enid faking a gasp in return. 

I've got some tricks up my sleeve

Takes one to know one

You're a cowboy like me

Never wanted love

Just a fancy car

Now I'm waiting by the phone

Like I'm sitting in an airport bar

You had some tricks up your sleeve

Takes one to know one 

"I never said you had to sing." Enid loosely wrung her arms around Wednesday's shoulders, swaying side to side. "Now dance with me, Partner."

You're a cowboy like me

Perched in the dark

Telling all the rich folks anything they wanna hear

Like it could be love

I could be the way forward

Only if they pay for it

"Fine, but if you tell anyone about this I'll-"

"Murder me or something that you'll never actually do?" Enid moved Wednesday's hands to her waist. "Your life would be boring without me."

"Maybe you're right-" Wednesday nods. "-Sherriff." That gets a giggle from the taller girl.   

You're a bandit like me

Eyes full of stars

Hustling for the good life

Never thought I'd meet you here

It could be love

We could be the way forward

And I know I'll pay for it

"I can't believe you don't like Taylor Swift, she's basically my mother," Enid says, not noticing just how Wednesday was looking at her. Well, until she does. Enid takes a double take, her brows furrowed in confusion. "Why're you-"

Wednesday was the one to cut Enid off this time. She leaned up slightly, cupping Enid's face, and closing the gap between them. It's short, sweet, the tips of their hats tipping each other upwards, and Wednesday pulls away first. 

Enid was blushing and if Wednesday could, she would be. "I can't believe you like this ear torture."

You're a cowboy like me

Perched in the dark

Telling all the rich folks anything they wanna hear

Like it could be love

I could be the way forward

Only if they pay for it

Enid kissed Wednesday this time, it was just as short as the first. Wednesday looked a little dumbfounded as if she didn't just do the same thing to Enid. "Oh, are we not doing that now?" The blonde asks, a short laugh escaping her lips as she finished her sentence.

"Touché." 

"Touché indeed."

Cowboy Like Me, Taylor Swift

AO3 LINK

[superherotiger]

Time Falls Away - Dadneto Whumptober 2023

Prompt: Borrowed Clothing

Summary: Peter wasn’t worried about Erik’s safety. He was one of the most formidable mutants on the planet after all, and he had been taking care of himself long before Peter arrived. No, as pitiful as it sounded, Peter just missed his dad.

AO3 LINK

~~~

As the fastest man alive, it was only to be expected that Peter hated waiting.

It was how he spent most of his days. Waiting for others to catch up. Waiting for food to cook. Waiting for something interesting to catch his attention. While his speed was a gift he wouldn’t trade for anything, it could also be a curse.

On this particular day, time weighed on Peter’s shoulders almost oppressively.

It had been nearly three weeks since Erik left to track down a rather violent group of mutants over in Europe. Supposedly they were avid believers in the ‘True Magneto’. The one that had publicly terrorised the president on live TV, and who would accept nothing less than mutant superiority. While the news that his father had garnered a cult without even realising made Peter burst out in laughter, Erik had not been so amused. Within the week he had packed a bag and bought flights over to Europe, and when Peter asked why he would need a plane when he had a speedster as a son, Erik’s response was brutally clear.

“You’re not joining me.”

“What?! You’re joking right?” Peter tried to laugh it off, but his father’s expression lacked even a hint of humour. “You’re going to fly to the other side of the world to fight off a cult centred around you, and I’m supposed to- what? Just wait?”

“Precisely,” Erik answered without hesitation.

“That’s just stupid. I could get you to Europe within minutes.”

“And then you would stay far longer than needed.”

Peter leant back, affronted. “Are you saying you don’t need me?”

Sighing, Erik placed his bag aside and turned his full attention to his son, resting both hands firmly on Peter’s shoulders as he said, “I’m saying I need you here. Safe. Far away from the mistakes of my past.”

“But I can help you,” Peter insisted, the indignation replaced with pleading.

Unfortunately, his father’s resolve was unwavering. “Help me by being here in one piece when I get back,” he said, causing Peter to roll his eyes, before eventually hanging his head in defeat.

Convincing Erik to change his mind was a near impossible task. Even Peter -as stubborn as he was- knew better than to waste his time trying.

So they had said their goodbyes at the airport; a quick hug and a quiet promise to stay safe from both parties. Peter waited with all the patience of a raging wildfire until he his father’s plane disappeared into the skyline. Over the next few weeks, Peter would consider running over to Europe nearly a hundred times a day, though he never found the strength to truly follow through with it.

Instead the restless speedster spent his days alongside the X-Men, distracting himself with missions where he could be useful and winding up Scott when he was feeling particularly impatient. None of it really helped ease that horrid, aching sense of waiting, but Peter pushed through each second and tried not to worry about what dangerous situation his father had found himself in on the other side of the world.

Peter wasn’t worried about Erik’s safety. He was one of the most formidable mutants on the planet after all, and he had been taking care of himself long before Peter arrived.

No, as pitiful as it sounded, Peter just missed his dad.

Erik had been a constant in his life for nearly three years now. They shared meals, trained together in the danger room, played rounds of pool and the odd game of chess. They could discuss the most menial or meaningful topics, or simply enjoy the silence in each other’s presence. It wasn’t really anything special. They were just little moments that forced Peter to slow down in a way that wasn’t painful. Made the passing of time less… tedious.

Instead of feeling like he was always waiting for something to happen, with Erik, Peter actually got to enjoy the moment for what it was.

Safe to say it had been a torturous few weeks.

On this day though, Peter found himself wandering into Erik’s room in another futile attempt to burn time. There were only so many missions the X-Men were needed for, and he’d already pranked Scott twice since the morning, so Peter figured he better not push his luck. As bored as he might be, getting eye-beamed through the mansion wall was not his idea of fun.

Instead he sat down on the edge of his father’s bed with his trusty Walkman to fill the silence, taking in every detail of the tidy room. Erik had always been a minimalist when it came to possessions. Other than the clothes folded neatly in drawers and a few books sitting on the shelves, the only sign that someone even inhabited the room were the two photo frames sitting on the bedside table. One held a picture of his late wife Magda holding their newborn daughter Nina, while the second was a rather candid shot of Peter leaning against Erik’s shoulder- grinning like an idiot and flashing the camera a rock on hand sign as Erik smirked in amusement.

While the photo normally brought a swell of fondness to Peter’s heart, now all he could feel was the eerie absence of his father’s presence.

So, desperate for a distraction, Peter began to explore the orderly room. He sped-read through all of Erik’s books. Brought Charles’ chess board in to play a few rounds against himself. Even rummaged through the wardrobes in search of any spare telepath-resistant headwear. And while he didn’t find any dorky helmets like he’d hoped, Peter did find a familiar crimson cape folded neatly in the back of his armour stores.

When he pulled the garment out into the light, Peter was quick to recognise it as the one Erik had worn when he fought by Apocalypse’s side. It was a time his father didn’t like to discuss, and with fair reason. But seeing it now gave Peter a rush of nostalgia as he recalled the moment he saw his father again after a decade of searching. Remembered how the cape swept hypnotically through the wind as Erik stared down at him through the magnetic field…

“And you?”

“I’m your… I-I’m your son!”

…Remembered the way the cape had enveloped him as Erik locked his son in a fierce embrace, promising to never lose another moment together.

Smiling fondly, Peter swung the cape around his shoulders and let the weight of the fabric ground him, heavy and secure like his father’s arms were that day. It wasn’t the same- Peter knew that. The cape didn’t have Erik’s strong heartbeat or his steady breathing, but it was warm and familiar and it was his. And right now, that would have to be enough.

Peter spent a long time just sitting in Erik’s room that day, tucked comfortably under the folds of his father’s crimson cape. It was the first time in weeks that time didn’t seem to drag for eternity. In fact, it passed by so easily that it was only when Charles sent out a telepathic message to tell him that dinner was ready that Peter finally snapped back to awareness.

As Peter stood to go join his fellow teammates, he unclasped the cape and felt the weight -and with it, the sense of ease- fall away with it. Before the fabric could even touch the ground Peter had snatched it back up in superspeed and held it to his chest, knowing that he was being childish- knowing that it couldn’t replace that one thing he truly longed for.

But sick and tired of waiting, Peter figured it was the least his father could give him for taking so damn long.

And so Peter dashed to his room and threw the cape over the end of his bed before joining the others for dinner. When Ororo asked where he had been all day, Peter was quick to make up an excuse about visiting his mother and sister back in Washington. Everyone accepted it without a second thought. Everyone except for Charles, who offered him a sympathetic glance and a gentle telepathic word.

“Erik misses you too, if that is of any consolation.”

Smiling through a bite of steak, Peter shot to Professor a grateful nod before continuing their meal as normal.

Another week passed by without any news on his father’s whereabouts. Charles assured him that Erik was fine and that he was checking in on his progress through Cerebro at least once a day, but Peter couldn’t help but grow more antsy. It became harder to convince himself not to just run over there and help, regardless of his father’s objections. But the one time he did try to leave, he was swiftly caught by Jean who reminded him that the team needed him just as much as Erik did.

As painful as it was to wait, Peter forced himself to stay, if only for his friends’ sake.

Peter found himself curling into the fabric of Erik’s cape whenever the ache in his chest grew too fierce to bear. It was a small comfort- a brief reprieve from the claws of time. Sometimes he put it on hoping that -like something out of a sitcom- Erik would suddenly appear at the door to snap at him for going through his things. He never did, but it didn’t stop Peter from trying.

While the speedster hadn’t become so desperate as to wear the cape outside of his room -genocidal red wasn’t really his colour- he had noticed his teammates cast a curious glance towards it whenever they visited his room. Nobody said anything about it. Peter was grateful for that, because after five weeks of torturous waiting he really didn’t have the will power to try and make up excuses either.

Instead of growing concerned though, his friends did something unexpected.

They started to fill in his time.

Dragging him into board games and challenging him to silly dares. Taking impromptu trips into town to visit the arcade or spend Charles’ money in the mall. Ororo roped him into making pancakes with her for breakfast, and Kurt taught Peter some acrobatic tricks he’d learnt from his time in the circus. Scott raced Peter in his motorcycle even though it was obvious who would win, and Jean introduced him to Star Trek which she claimed was the Professor’s guilty pleasure. Even Hank and Raven tried to help break up his days, though their ideas of fun were more like scientific tests or extra Danger Room training.

Regardless, they were all attempting to help him through the drag of time, and for that Peter couldn’t be more grateful. He was incredibly lucky to have a family like them. And even though he still missed his father every spare second of the day, having his friends to burn the time with made the wait slightly more bearable.

Peter had expected Erik to call when he was on his way back. Maybe even a heads up from Charles with the help of his handy Cerebro.

What he hadn’t expected was to run into the man -quite literally- on the way out of the mansion for a morning jog. Peter had rushed through the front door without even looking, too busy putting a new cassette tape into his Walkman to realise the figure that had just approached on the other side. They crashed into each other rather unceremoniously, and with Peter too stunned to think let alone catch them, they lost their balance and swiftly plummeted to the floor.

Thankfully Erik’s senses were far more attuned though as he softened the fall with a magnetic field, his hands instinctively wrapping around Peter’s frame in the chaos before he lowered them gently to the ground.

With wide eyes, Peter quickly pushed himself up enough to meet his father’s startled blue gaze, his heart nearly racing out of his chest as he exclaimed, “Dad?! You’re back! Why didn’t youtellusyouwerecominghome?! Icould’vepickedyouupyouknowI’mliterallythefastestmanalive-!“

“Whoa, slow down my boy,” Erik suddenly urged, his hands gently squeezing Peter’s arms to draw him out of super speed. “I can’t understand you.”

Shaking his head until time crawled back to ‘normal’, Peter said sheepishly, “Right… sorry. I just- wasn’t expecting you man!”

“That was the idea,” Erik replied as fondness overflowed through a smile. “I was hoping to surprise you, but it seems we surprised each other.”

Letting out short chuckle, Peter felt himself instinctively slip back into superspeed as he searched his father for any sign of injury. They were made of the same DNA after all. He wouldn’t have put it past the man to be mortally wounded and pretend it was nothing but a scratch.

But finding nothing but a healing bruise near his temple, Peter returned to a comprehensible speed and immediately punched his father in the shoulder, earning a sharp sound of surprise from the man.

“That’s for making me wait so long,” Peter snapped.

Offering an almost apologetic glance, Erik said, “Right… I suppose that’s fair.”

Peter tried to hold a glare, but his façade was quick to crumble in the way of relief as he dropped his forehead against the curve of his father’s armoured shoulder and returned the embrace, muttering, “Hope you brought something real cool back as an apology.”

“Is a box of blank tapes enough?” Erik asked playfully.

Snickering, Peter mused, “Yeah old man, that’ll do.”

Erik’s arms coiled around him in a warm embrace, and Peter was suddenly reminded of how much he had missed this. Missed the steady thud of his father’s heartbeat. The sharpness of his banter. The steadiness of his arms. No garment could provide that level of comfort, and Peter felt the vice that had taken hold of his chest for so many weeks finally ease. Suddenly, it didn’t matter how long it had taken for Erik to return. It didn’t even matter that they were still lying on the cold, cement floor after an ungraceful crash landing. Considering Erik only raised a hand to card his fingers through Peter’s hair, it seemed he wasn’t phased either though.

And in that moment time seemed to slow, though no superspeed was used.

Peter breathed a sigh of relief.

The wait was finally over.

~~~

Thanks for reading! ✨

[richmonds-disaster-bi]

Roy/Jaime: Jaime has to fly out somewhere or go up to Manchester and shares tender goodbye with Roy. When he's scheduled to come back, a terrible disaster happens like the plane he's supposed to be on or the train he's meant to take crashes with multiple fatalities. Roy is beside himself thinking Jaime's dead. In reality Jaime is safe and sound on another flight or a different train with his phone switched off. Roy is grief-stricken and has to be medicated and put to bed. Jaime comes home late at night, completely oblivious. He climbs into bed with Roy who is completely unconscious with plans to wake up first and make his man his favorite breakfast. I expect Roy to full on faint when he comes downstairs the next morning, still thinking his Tartt is toast, only to find said Tartt toiling away in the kitchen making him fucking crepes. Cue the chaos, especially when Jaime learns of what went down and everyone thinking he was fucking dead! This can be Roy/Jaime/Keeley too if you like!

This is heartbreaking and I love it

Jamie getting invited to do a little travel documentary type thing for a charity he's involved in regarding suports in underfunded areas across the world during the off season. He's sad to miss training but it's only for two weeks and he's excited to do this. Him and Roy have been together long enough that they're serious. Roy has even cleared space in his closet for Jamie's clothes. Their goodbye involves a lot of kisses, some inappropirate groping (Roy will miss Jamie's ass, Jamie will miss Roy's....) but Roy drops him at the airport and waits until Jamie disappears through security before he leaves and goes home but it doesn't feel like home without Jamie and he already wants him home.

Jamie is due to fly in during the evening about two weeks later, and Roy is in a good mood which the team is delighted about. They were worried he'd try the strings on dicks again with the mood he's been in. They're all in the conference room, watching a match to analyse the plays when Rebecca rushes in and grabs Ted. Everyone is confused, and then their phones start pinging and one of them rushes to switch the laptop to the news and suddenly they're all staring at the BBC coverage of a plan crash that currently has no survivors.....and it was flying from where Jamie was last filming to London.

Roy instantly goes into denial, and when Rebecca renters the room with Ted, he just goes "No, it's not his plane", depite the flight number matching with the screenshot Jamie had sent Roy of the flight details along with a text saying "So you don't strand me at the airport grandad". He refuses to believe it, and they all sit there in disbelief watching, waiting hoping until Keeley is there.

"Roy....we have to....we have to give a statement. People have gotten word of him...that he was....that Jamie was on the plane"

"No. It's not him"

"Roy, there's no survivors"

"No, fuck you, fuck you for thinking it. Jamie isn't....He's not..."

"Roy...."

"He's not Keeley, he's not...he can't be...he's not gone"

When the news reports that Jamie Tartt is among those that were on the plane along with some of the crew of the documentary....Roy finally snaps. He just goes catatonic, stops responding. He's panicking, and thats when his sister arrives and when she hugs him, he breaks. She's the one that gets him home the team, even in their grief, distrat the media that has gathered despite Rebecca theatening to sue them all, and she gives him something to help sleep before she hasto go collect Phoebe, but she plans to come back in the morning.

Jamie, on the other hand, had actually finished filming early and decided to go straigh to the airport to get an earlier flight. He didn't charge his phone, so it dies while roy kent

he's waiting in the lounge and playing games to distract himself. When the news hits, he's on the plane, and people had seen him boarding so in the chaos, no one actually checks the logs until after 24hours and by that time, Jamie had made it home.

Its about 3am when he does. The driver of his transport that was order hours before his phone died barely paid attention to him, so no one actually realises Jamie Tartt isnt dead and he hadn't had to go through passport control. So when he slips into bed with Roy, he has no idea about any of it.....until he's cooking breakfast and turns around to find Roy, pale and wide eyed staring at him and just whispering, "Did I....Did I die too?"

[bun-parade]

I need teachers to realize that most of their students are not going to give a shit about 9/11 anymore.

1. Because they either weren't alive when it happened, or they were so young they don't remember.

2. 9/11 doesn't mean the same thing for younger generations as it does older generations. For older people, 9/11 marked the "end of American freedom." Younger gens see 9/11 as the start of the huge surge of anti-Muslim sentiment in the US, stricter Airport security, and harmful hyper-patriotism that paved the way for Trump. For many young people who have been living in this post-9/11 world our entire lives, it feels like a joke to keep memorializing it when many of us know the huge role the US government played in making 9/11 possible.

3. Younger gens have seen more people killed via Covid and school shootings than 9/11. I wouldn't say we are desensitized, but I would say that our bullshit meters can pick up the bigotry parading as patriotism automatically now.

I was barely in kindergarten when 9/11 happened. I have no recollection of it at all. The only reason I even slightly care is because my mom was supposed to be in the Pentagon when it happened, but she missed her train that morning.

So yeah. If you're a teacher, don't expect your students to hold 9/11 in the same regard as you do. Each year, it's going to matter less and less to students until it will basically be like Pearl Harbor. Just another history lesson.

[whoistartaglia]

Hello there! I absolutely love your work and it's absolutely amazing! I was wondering if you could do "spending the holidays with them" headcannons with heizou, albedo, kazuha, and any other male genshin character you would like to add in? Ofc no rush and take all the time you need. It's your choice if you would like to do it or not and I'm fine if you don't 😊 Again, I just really wanted to say that I love your work and think its amazing! Happy Holidays!

you spend the holidays together.

i ran with kazuha’s part. sorry for the angst, i just couldn’t help myself. happy holidays!

includes: heizou, albedo, kazuha.

warnings: gender neutral reader, slight angst in albedo’s and kazuha’s part. i tried to make it so that no matter what holiday you celebrate, you can still read (and hopefully enjoy!) these.

heizou.

you spend a day in the city together.

you take the train down to grand central station, and immediately head towards rockefeller center. it’s cold, and you really want to take a cab, but heizou insists its “too expensive” and that it’s “easier to walk.”

you relent, allowing heizou to walk you past the waiting cabs, and into the bitter cold. he leads you on forty-fifth east street, and then onto fifth avenue, but after about fifteen minutes of walking, you’re still not there.

“are you sure we’re going in the right direction?” you ask, the new york public library coming into view.

“yeah, we’re fine,” responds heizou. “new york city’s like a grid, and since we’re on fifth, we’ll be fine.”

you were most certainly not fine. especially when the empire state building comes into view. you didn’t know much about the city, but enough to know that it was nowhere near rockefeller. and when you ask a random stranger—a new york city native who does not want to deal with wide-eyed tourists—they confirm your suspicion.

“they said we should have went north from grand central,” you say. “we went south!”

“oh.” heizou tilts his head to the side, and then shrugs. “that’s okay. we’ll just walk—“

“we’re taking a cab.” with that look in your eyes, heizou doesn’t dare argue with you.

when you do eventually reach rockefeller center, you marvel at the decorations—the giant tree, the architecture surrounding you, the ice rink filled with figure skaters. you even take a couple pictures together—a true new york city holiday adventure.

albedo.

“it’s okay,” you promise, even as disappointment replaces the hope inside of you. “don’t worry about it… okay, i’ll see you later—bye.”

you hang up before albedo can respond back. he’s stuck half way across the country. you were supposed to celebrate the holiday together tonight with your friends but now… well, albedo wouldn’t be able to catch a flight until tomorrow morning.

you can’t stand your friends pity when you come back to the living room. you explain that albedo’s stuck in an overcrowded airport, and that he won’t be back until tomorrow. the words of condolences mean nothing; you still feel like crying, you put on a brave face, anyways.

after all, your holiday party has only just started, and you still have hours left to celebrate.

and after the initial shock and disappointment of albedo’s absence, you do eventually start to have fun. you miss him and wish he was here, but you can’t help but laugh when kaeya and diluc start arguing over who should open their present first, nor when klee opens theirs herself.

it’s only when the night’s about to wrap up when you feel the pang of absence again. soon, your guests would leave, and you’d be in an empty house all alone, with nothing but—

the sound of your front door opening halts all the “goodbyes” and “happy holidays.”

“who—?” kaeya begins, but you’re already moving past him to the door.

there he stands, illuminated by the warm porch light against the background of freshly-fallen snow.

“albedo?” you almost can’t believe your eyes, not even when you pull him in for a hug, not even when he whispers, so quietly that only you can hear it: “i’m home.”

kazuha.

this was the first holiday you’d be spending without kazuha in a long, long time.

you’d be okay, you told yourself. you had to spend the holiday season single plenty of times before; this would be no different. except… except that this was also your first time going to itto’s holiday party alone. you were only invited as kazuha’s plus one in the past—first as a friend, and then dating by the end—but itto didn’t have the heart to leave you out this year, even if you weren’t dating kazuha anymore.

that’s how you ended up standing on itto’s porch steps, debating whether you should just turn around and go home. you’re about to when the door bursts open and—

“hi.” you say lamely. the first words you’ve spoken to your ex in months.

“oh! hi,” he says. there’s an awkward silence, before he ushers you in saying, “we’ll about to have dinner… oh, you can put your gifts on the couch. i—we’ll—be in the kitchen.”

it’s so strange, the weird formality between you two now. but you do your best to ignore it. you also try to ignore the sideways glances kazuha continues to give you, but… well, based on the amount of times you’ve locked eyes, you’re not doing very well at that.

if your friends notice the tension (and how could they not?) they ignore that, too.

what you can’t ignore is that kazuha… didn’t get you anything. he doesn’t even look at you when you all exchange gifts, not even once. so you shove the gift you bought him away, and pretend your smile is real as everyone else opens their remaining gifts.

“i should get going now,” you annouce to no one in particular. and after several goodbyes and warm wishes and happy holidays, you’re almost out the door. that is, until kazuha stops you.

“[name], wait,” he says, coming to the door. “you… you forgot this.”

your face warms when he presents the bag with his gift in it. you debate just taking it and saving your pride—that’s what you should do.

“that’s…” you sigh. “that’s your gift.”

the room quiets. itto whistles. kazuha freezes. he looks down at the bag, at the name tag addressed to him.

then he’s moving, to where he was sitting earlier, back to the front door, standing right in front of you. kazuha holds out a neatly wrapped present. “and this… is your gift.”

you both stand there, not quite knowing what to do, what this means. but, if you were able to start dating during your first holiday party spent together… maybe, just maybe, something like that could happen again.