#and your best friend obviously pries and pries and teases you for being in love with a grumpy prude “super hero”

[mrsoharaa]

"He...just gave me this look"

"What 'look'?"

"That look where he sought for comfort...sought for some sort of closeness一 shelter and security...like I could feel his beautiful eyes carry this overbearing weight of sorrow and melancholy behind them...just seeking for some sort of light and liberation...like he was pleading for some form of一 affection and endearment"

"...Like he saw the stars themselves move when we made eye contact...so intently focused and luring..."

[meazalykov]

please (don't) go

salma paralluelo x reader

summary: friends to lovers, and lovers to strangers

warnings: angst

the first time salma held your hand, her thumb grazed over your knuckles like she was afraid you’d pull away. 

you didn’t. 

instead, you interlocked your fingers tighter, smiled up at her, looking at her brown colored eyes which sparkled with love. your heart raced inside of your chest in a way you hadn’t known was possible.

that moment inside of the barcelona locker room was the beginning of something beautiful, something you hadn’t expected to happen but somehow couldn’t imagine living without.  

a few months go by and that spark did not dim. 

if anything, it burns brighter. salma has a way of making you feel seen, like the rest of the world fades into the background when she looks at you. on the pitch, she’s this force of nature…speed, power, and precision. 

off the pitch, she’s your salma. she’s soft, affectionate, and always knows how to bring a smile to your face, even on the hardest days when you feel like you have no energy to do what you needed to do.  

winning the champions league together for the first time back in 2021 was something out of a dream. 

the night before the final, you barely slept. obviously, you and salma were not going to be starters since you both were callups from la masia.

however, it was huge being on the lineup. you tossed and turned in your bed and salma noticed, of course she did. she always notices.  

“you okay?” she whispered, her voice barely audible over the sound of the hotel air conditioning.  

“yeah,” you lied, staring up at the ceiling.  

she didn’t buy it. salma rolled over, propping herself up on one elbow as she looked down at you. 

“you’re not. talk to me.”  

salma says in spanish.

you sighed, turning your head to meet her gaze. her brown eyes were warm and filled with concern, and it made your chest ache in the best way. 

“i just... i don’t want us to lose tomorrow. it’s such a big game, salma. what if…”  

“stop,” she interrupted gently, leaning down to press a kiss to your forehead. 

“if we get any playing time.. most likely it will be you since we need another right back.. you’re going to be amazing.” 

her words settled over you like a blanket, calming the storm in your mind. 

“are you saying this because you think i am a good player, or because i am your girlfriend?” 

you teased. 

“shut up!”

salma laughed. 

“no.. seriously?”

you smirked. 

“its both, okay!”

salma and you laughed. 

you reached up to cup her cheek, pulling her down for a soft kiss. 

“i love you,” you murmured against her lips.  

“i love you more,” she replied, her smile so radiant it made your heart skip a beat.  

the final was everything you hoped it would be..and more. 

the crowd, the adrenaline coursing through your veins as you sat on the bench for 87 minutes before being subbed on, the way your clearance in the 90 + 2 minute sent the stadium into a frenzy. 

you dropped to your knees at the final whistle, overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of it all. la masia became your home a few years ago, when they brought you over from your childhood club. an amazing right-back you were, it was going to be time before the senior team needed your 18 year old self.  

salma found you seconds later after the whistle, pulling you into a tight hug as tears streamed down both your faces. 

“we did it,” she whispered, her voice cracking with emotion.  

“we did it,” you echoed, holding her like she was your lifeline.  

your first champions league title.

the celebrations that night were unforgettable. you and salma danced in the locker room, champagne soaking through your jerseys as the team sang and laughed. at one point, salma grabbed your hand, spinning you around like you were in some dumb cheesy rom-com, and you couldn’t stop laughing.  

a few days afterwards.. the trip to ibiza was the perfect way to unwind after the season. just you, salma, and the sun-soaked beaches. the two of you rented a small villa with a private pool, thanks to the bonus of winning the champions league.

all you and your girlfriend did was spend your days lounging in the sun and your nights exploring the island’s vibrant nightlife. you're young, of course you guys wanted to have fun without one of the older barcelona girls watching the both of you.

one evening, well the evening before the start of the next season.. you both sat together on the barcelona beach, her arm draped over your shoulders.  

“i do not want this to end, as much as i love football,” you said softly, leaning your head on salma’s shoulder. 

“it doesn’t have to,” she replied, pressing a kiss to the top of your head. 

two years go by, and its the world cup in australia. it was your first, and the excitement of representing your country on the biggest stage was unparalleled.

you were one of the few barcelona girls that did not play for spain. so, you had to be seprated from salma throughout this whole thing. that was okay though, you understand the concept of space and so did she. 

however, salma’s world cup journey would last way longer than yours. after holding two of your teammates on each side.. you look ahead at the scoreboard on the stadium screen.. the clock hit full time, and the score was still level. 

your legs felt like they were made of lead, your lungs burning with every breath. this knockout game had drained every ounce of energy from you, but there was no time to dwell on the fatigue. 

penalties. 

it was all going to come down to penalties.  

as the team gathered in a huddle, your coach spoke quickly, assigning the penalty takers. you weren’t first, but you were on the list. 

you could feel your heart pounding in your chest as you nodded, trying to steady your breathing.  

“we’ve got this,” your captain said, her voice steady despite the tension radiating from the group. 

“trust yourselves.”  

strangely.. you weren’t thinking about your girlfriend throughout all of this. it just was not the time.. but salma’s voice echoed in your head: 

you’re an incredible player. trust yourself.

that is something she used to tell you before barcelona games. 

however, it was hard to believe it now, standing on this stage with so much at stake.  

sweden took the first penalty, and your goalkeeper dove the wrong way. 

1–0.  

your teammate stepped up next, slotting the ball into the bottom corner. 

1–1.  

the tension was unbearable, every kick feeling like a dagger to your chest. you watched, helpless, as sweden scored their second, then their third. 

when it was your turn, the weight of the moment hit you like a freight train.  

walking up to the spot, the noise of the crowd felt distant, like it was coming from underwater. the ball sat there, mocking you, as the swedish goalkeeper stared you down. 

you tried to block out the sound, the pressure, everything, focusing only on the ball.  

the twenty year old penalty taker… you…took a deep breath, ran up, and struck it.  

the sound of the ball hitting the post was deafening.  

you froze, staring in disbelief as it bounced away. your heart sank, and your legs nearly gave out as you walked back to the center circle, your head hung low. your teammates patted your back, whispering words of encouragement, but none of it stuck. 

all you could think about was that missed opportunity, that moment where you let everyone down.  

sweden scored again, and now it was all riding on the final kick. your goalkeeper needed a save to keep your team in it.  

she guessed right, diving to her left, but the ball was just out of reach.  

the whistle blew, and it was over.  

you stood frozen as the swedish players erupted in celebration, their cheers drowning out everything else. the way that the wave of yellow stormed the pitch seemed to be mocking. 

your teammates collapsed around you, some crying, some staring blankly ahead. 

someone grabbed your arm, emily you think…trying to pull you into a hug, but you couldn’t move.  

your chest felt hollow, your vision blurred with tears you refused to let fall in front of the crowd. you were not going to let the opposition get the joy of seeing you in tears. 

you had given everything, left it all out on the pitch, and it still wasn’t enough. the sting of failure was unfamiliar, and no amount of words or gestures from your teammates could dull it.  

you sank to the ground, your knees digging into the grass as you buried your face in your hands. the weight of it all…the missed penalty, the heartbreak, the dreams that ended with that final whistle…crashed down on you like a tidal wave.  

the swedish players walked past, some offering gestures of comfort, even fridolina. 

the barcelona player, your club teammate, stayed with you as you sat on the grass. you zoned out as she told you how amazing you still were, and to please not be discouraged by this moment. 

it didn’t matter. nothing mattered in that moment.  

you felt a hand on your shoulder and looked up to see your captain crouching beside you. 

“y/n,” she said softly, her voice thick with emotion. 

“it’s not your fault. you hear me? it’s not your fault.”  

it felt like it was. no matter how much she said otherwise, no matter how much your teammates tried to console you, the guilt was suffocating. you had trained your whole life for this, dreamed of this moment, and now it was gone.  

when the team finally made its way back to the locker room, you sat in silence, staring at the floor as your teammates cried and tried to comfort each other. someone handed you a water bottle, but you barely noticed. 

the noise around you felt distant, like you were trapped in a bubble of your own despair.  

your phone buzzed in your bag, but you didn’t have the energy to check it. you already knew who it was. 

salma. 

she was probably watching the game from her hotel room with the rest of your barcelona teammates like alexia and aitana. 

the thought of her seeing you like this, knowing how much you were hurting, made the tears finally fall.  

you wiped them away quickly, not wanting anyone to see.

that night, you checked your phone. you had to. 

of course you were not going to doom scroll at the thousands of tweets that rae probably bullying you.you just wanted to see salma’s name lighting up the screen. 

it did, and  you answered immediately, her voice soothing as it filled the silence.  

“hey, amor,” she said, her tone gentle. 

“i am so sorry..”  

salma frowned. 

“its whatever,”

you sigh. 

“its not ‘whatever’, i know exactly how you are..” 

salma says. 

“huh?” 

your eyebrows flared. 

“you’re going to come back to barcelona and think about that penalty for months. you cannot self-destruct over that. you still did great throughout that match, trust me when i say that you were the best defender on that pitch.” 

salma explains. 

“still wasn’t enough.. it did not pay off.” 

you mumble, laying in your hotel room bed, staring at your packed luggage. 

“it didn’t now, but it will later, amor.” 

“i don’t think the future is important right now, salma,” you admitted, your voice thick with emotion. 

“i feel like i let everyone down.”  

“stop that,” she said firmly, but not unkindly. 

“you didn’t let anyone down. you gave everything you had. that’s all anyone can ask for.”  

you didn’t respond, your throat tightening as tears threatened to spill.  

“i wish i was there with you,” she continued. 

“to hold you and tell you how proud i am of you in person. since i can’t be, you need to know this: you’re an incredible player and an even more incredible person. and i love you, no matter what.”  

her words broke the dam, tears streaming down your face as you whispered, “i love you too.”  

salma stayed on the phone with you for hours that night, talking about anything and everything to distract you from the pain. however, you made her go to sleep at some point since she still had the world cup to win.. even if it was not you. 

when spain went on to win the world cup, you were in the stands, cheering louder than anyone else. seeing salma lift the young player of the tournament trophy was a moment you’ll never forget, her smile so bright it could have lit up the entire stadium.  

a year later, at the start of the 24/25 season.. you were heartbroken. 

it started after the champions league final against lyon. it was supposed to be another high point for you and your girlfriend.. another moment to celebrate together like back in 2023 and 2021. 

somewhere in the aftermath of victory, you felt her slipping away. 

the texts became shorter, the kisses less frequent, the way she used to look at you, like you were the center of her world, was gone. you tried to convince yourself it was just the stress of the season, and the upcoming olympics.. that maybe she was dealing with something she didn’t want to share yet. 

however, the distance grew, and with every passing day, you felt more like a stranger in her life.

especially when you won the olympics with your country and salma did not win anything. she sent you a simple, “congrats.” but with no excitement or happiness added. you were happy for her when she won the world cup, why can’t she be happy for you here? 

in your apartment. she was sitting on the couch, scrolling through her phone, barely acknowledging you as you stood in the kitchen, watching her. 

you had spent the entire day trying to think of what to say, how to bring it up without making it worse. as the silence stretched on, the knot in your chest tightened until you couldn’t take it anymore.

“salma,” you said, your voice quiet but firm.  

she looked up, her brows furrowing slightly. 

“yeah?”  

“we need to talk.”  

salma’s expression shifted, guarded now. 

“about what?”  

you took a deep breath, walking over to sit across from her. 

“about us. about how... distant you’ve been. i don’t know what’s going on with you, but it feels like you’re not here anymore. not really.”  

she sighed, putting her phone down and leaning back against the couch. 

“i’ve just been busy, y/n. especially with the injury.. it’s nothing personal.”  

“it feels personal,” you said, your voice breaking despite your best efforts to stay calm. 

“you barely talk to me anymore. you don’t hold my hand, you don’t kiss me, you don’t even look at me the same way. i feel like i’m losing you, and i don’t even know why.”  

“you’re not losing me,” she said quickly, but the words felt hollow.  

“then why does it feel like you don’t love me anymore?” you asked, your voice barely above a whisper.  

the spanish woman’s silence was deafening. she looked away, her jaw tightening, and in that moment, you knew.  

“salma,” you said, your throat tightening as tears pricked at your eyes. 

“do you still love me?”  

she hesitated. that hesitation was worse than any words she could’ve said. when she finally spoke, her voice was soft, almost apologetic. 

“i don’t know.”  

the air left your lungs, and for a moment, you couldn’t breathe. 

“you don’t know?”  

“i’m sorry,” she said, her voice cracking. 

“i didn’t want it to get to this point, but i’ve been feeling... off. something’s missing and i don’t know how to fix it.”  

you stared at her, the woman you thought was your forever, and felt your heart shatter. “i love you,” you said, hoping that it would be enough to bring her back to you.  

she didn’t say it back.  

salma’s silence was the final blow, and you felt tears streaming down your face as you stood up. 

“i think you should go,” you said, your voice trembling.  

“y/n—”  

“please,” you said, wrapping your arms around yourself like you were trying to hold yourself together. 

“just go.”  

she left without another word, and as the door closed behind her, you collapsed onto the couch, sobbing into your hands.  

doing anything with the barcelona team became unbearable after that. seeing her every day, pretending like everything was fine when it wasn’t, was a constant reminder of what you had lost. 

salma was always there…laughing with your teammates, scoring goals in practice, living her life as if nothing had happened. 

meanwhile, you were barely holding it together.  

every time you heard someone mention her name, your stomach twisted. when esmee casually mentioned seeing her on a date, it felt like a punch to the gut. you plastered on a fake smile, nodding along like it didn’t matter, but inside, you were breaking.  

your performance on the pitch started to suffer. you couldn’t focus, your touches were off, your passes lacked precision. it wasn’t long before people started to notice. 

your coach pulled you aside after practice one day, his tone gentle but firm.  

“y/n, is everything okay?” he asked.  

you nodded quickly, avoiding her gaze. 

“yeah, i’m fine.”  

“you don’t look fine,” he said, his eyes narrowing. 

“you’re not playing like yourself, and i’m worried about you.”  

“i’m just tired,” you lied.  

he didn’t look convinced, but he didn’t push it. 

“if you need to talk, my door’s always open.”  

later that night, your agent called. 

they had noticed too, and after a long conversation, they suggested you needed a change.  

“as long as you’re in barcelona, you’re not going to be able to move on from your ex,” they said. 

“you need a fresh start, somewhere you can focus on yourself and your career without all this... baggage.”  

you were stunned. leaving barcelona had never crossed your mind, but the more they talked, the more it made sense. 

every day here was a reminder of salma, of what you had lost. maybe getting away was the only way to heal.  

when the winter transfer window opened, an offer from bayern munich came in. it was a good offer, one you couldn’t ignore. sydney, one of your friends outside of the barcelona team, played there and has for years. the thought of having a familiar face in a new city was comforting. 

after a lot of thought…and even more tears…you made the decision.  

telling your teammates about your leave was one of the hardest things you’ve ever done. after practice one day, you gathered everyone in the locker room, even salma.. your hands shaking as you tried to find the right words.  

“i, uh...” you cleared your throat, looking around at the faces of your teammates, your friends. 

“i just wanted to let you all know that i’m not staying with barcelona after the winter break.”  

the room went silent.  

“what?” alexia asked, her brow furrowing.  

“i got an offer from bayern munich,” you explained, your voice trembling. 

“and i’ve decided to take it. it’s been an amazing five years here, but... i think it’s time for a change.”  

your teammates were shocked, but one by one, they came up to hug you, telling you how much they would miss you. you felt tears pricking at your eyes as you said goodbye to each of them, the reality of your decision hitting you all over again.  

salma stood off to the side, her arms crossed as she watched the scene unfold. the woman’s expression was unreadable, but you could see the sadness in her eyes. 

when it was finally her turn, she stepped forward hesitantly, her voice barely above a whisper.  

“you’re leaving?” she asked, her voice cracking.  

you nodded, avoiding her gaze. 

“yeah.”  

“why?”  

you hesitated, unsure of what to say. 

“i need a fresh start,” you said finally.  

salma’s face fell, and for a moment, she looked like she wanted to say something more. 

she didn’t. 

instead, she just nodded, stepping back as keira came up to hug you.  

the day you left for munich, you stood in the airport with your bags by your side, trying to hold back the tears threatening to spill. 

sydney had already called, promising to pick you up with georgia when you landed, but it didn’t make leaving any easier.  

as you boarded the plane, you couldn’t help but think about salma. about the way she used to make you laugh, the way she held you after games, the way she looked at you like you were the only person in the world.  

that was all in the past now.  

back in barcelona, salma sat alone in her apartment, staring at the empty space where your things used to be. 

it hit her all at once…the weight of what she had lost. you.

she thought back to the fight, to the distance she had put between you, to the moment she hesitated when you told her you loved her.  

for the first time, she wondered if she had made a mistake.  

masterlist

[lovelyhan]

Hi, for the Seventeen member + song drabble...

How about Hoshi and "I knew you were trouble" by Taylor Swift?

⟣ i knew you were trouble ⟢ wc: 0.9k words warnings: alcohol, implied cheating minors do not interact!

from this ask game~

"don't look now, but kwon soonyoung's been staring at you all night."

you shoot your best friend, mai a pointed look before promptly downing whatever concoction was dumped into your solo cup. the unknown liquor leaves an aftertaste that leaves you cringing with disgust, but you'd do anything to appear nonchalant.

especially since kwon soonyoung's been staring at you all night.

to her right, mai's long-time boyfriend chan shakes his head. "babe, i know he's the hottest piece of ass at this frat party, but hell is going to freeze over first before she fucks soonyoung. isn't that right?"

your companions' expectant stares are heavy against your bare shoulders and the unwarranted attention makes you roll your eyes.

"exactly," you agree instead, despite the fact that the heat of soonyoung's gaze continues to burn into your skin. "besides, i heard he's got himself a new girlfriend a few days ago. why would he be staring at me?"

mai snorts. "'cause he's the biggest manwhore on campus? but anyway, chan's right. you've got better taste than that."

you're a little happy to know how much faith your friends have in you. of course you wouldn't fuck someone like soonyoung. of course you don't have questionable taste in men.

but little do they know, hell has long frozen over in your book.

the force of you being abruptly slammed against the door of one of the upstairs bathrooms has you moaning with delight as the man you thought you'd already flushed out of your system stakes his rightful claim on your lips. soonyoung pries your mouth open with his skillful tongue, an arm circled around your waist as his free hand hooks your thigh across his hips.

"been teasing me all fucking night, baby," he rasps into the heated kiss, pressing two fingers against your clothed core only to find you wet and wanting. "you know how much i love this dress on you."

you do know—that's exactly the reason why you wore it to the party when you found out he'll be in attendance as well. part of you wonders why you still try for someone who obviously wants nothing to do with you outside of a good fuck.

you just know mai will be heartbroken if she found out, but soonyoung is like a gateway drug and you're too addicted to let him go.

"t-thought you already have a new girl, soonie," you stutter as he continues massaging your throbbing cunt through the flimsy gusset of your underwear. "why're you picking one of your old toys back up, hm?"

soonyoung breathes out a mirthless laugh before dragging the flimsy fabric down your thighs—tossing it somewhere on the dirty bathroom floor. you let out a surprised squeak that's muffled by the loud music outside when he hoists you up by your thighs and lays you on top of the bathroom sink.

there's a dangerous look in his eyes when he rests his forehead against yours. soonyoung is so close, you can hardly breathe, but you know better than to mistake the vibrations of an edm track for the heartbeats he'll never have for you.

"'cause no other pussy can ever come close to yours, sweetheart," he sighs, teeth grazing the cut of your jaw in a way that has you shivering from his touch. "no one can make me feel the way you do."

then why don't you just choose me?

that small blip in your consciousness fades into the backdrop of lust and intoxication when soonyoung hauls his cock out of his jeans and buries himself in your awaiting heat.

there's no preamble in the way he fucks you in that lone second floor bathroom. your cunt grips him like it doesn't ever want to let him go—walls clenching deliciously around his hard length as he pounds you into the cold tiles.

"love fucking this pretty pussy so much," he groans hoarsely into your ear, his grip on your thighs tightening with each stroke. "you take me so well, baby. always so good, so pliant. you'll let me have this cunt whenever i want, right? let me use you anytime i need you?"

you should feel insulted by how casually the words tumble out of soonyoung's lips. but instead of offense, all that fills you is a sick sort of thrill that he unknowingly capitalizes on when the fat head of his cock grazes that sweet spot inside you. he hits it again and again until your toes are curling and eyes are rolling to the back of your skull.

"fuck! yes, yes—soonyoung, please," you whimper pathetically, digging your nails into the fabric of his shirt. "s-so close, you feel so good. more, more, more—"

"i know, sweetheart," he laughs and the sound bounces off the walls and sinks deep into your skin—making a home out of your body with the full intention of overstaying its welcome. "come on my cock and i'll give you what you want. it's been too long, baby, want to feel you milk me fucking dry."

you hate him. you hate how much he knows your body; how easy it is for him to make you fall apart time and time again. but no matter how horribly kwon soonyoung treats you, no matter how many girls he fools himself into thinking will be better than you—

you'll always welcome him with open arms when he comes crawling back to you.

[almondtqfu]

genshin characters being hot pt.1 ✦ childe, zhongli, itto, thoma, kaeya, diluc

📄 : just a new series about genshin characters and how they’re hot and you have a crush on them and they are hot, and also some cuteness and soft stuff, and also did i mention they’re hot?

✧.*.:｡ gn reader

✧.*.:｡ warnings: explicit language, it’s a bit suggestive here and there, but overall nothing too crazy. lemme know if there’s anything i missed tagging tho

✧.*.:｡ ✉️ : had brainrot for the tall genshin men (specifically childe, zhongli and itto) and so this came about. oh and lowercase was intentional! OH I FORGOT! this is set in like a modern, college!au type of thing forgot to mention that when posting so as to not confuse ppl this isn’t in the teyvat canon universe

childe

he’s the type to tease you obviously. but he never takes it too far or would make you uncomfortable, he’s quick to apologize if he does so. he literally is both the best friend you’ve always wanted and also want to trade away every 0.00002 seconds.

he likes it when you play with this hair. i won’t debate this one. he ADORES when you card your fingers through his hair and believe me it’s so soft and fluffy you genuinely just wanna push your fingers into it all the time. (you also wonder what it’d be like to tug on it but that’s neither here nor there).

he likes to have his hands on you all the time, and yes that sounds suggestive but he genuinely loves to have a hand on you or hold onto you in some way. he loves to hook his chin onto your shoulder and wrap his strong—very defined—arms around your waist. or he pulls your back into his chest when you’re standing together, he’ll swing his arms around your shoulders and hold you close. he just does things to you…

you think he knows the effect he has on you—he has to—but he never comments on it, so he’s got you hella confused. he does a lot of things that would be considered FAR AWAY FROM THE FRIEND ZONE.

he likes to wrap his arm around your shoulders when you walk, he doesn’t like the looks you get sometimes, they aren’t friendly, they feel icky and a simple look from childe sends any creep packing.

he whispers things in your ear and his lips brush the shell every. fucking. time. you’re scared he’s gonna nip your lobe at some point but he never does. he just lets you melt to the sound of his rich voice.

he offers you his clothes all the time. he says you look cute in them and his favorite articles to lend you are his hoodies and his t-shirts. seeing you walk around in his clothes always leaves him smiling like a dope.

he spoils you constantly. he absolutely refuses to let you pay when you eat out with him. he buys you little things that you mention you’d like, or thought of buying. you tell him to stop but that only makes him spoil you more because in his words “you deserve every little thing you want love!”

speaking of nicknames, his favorites for you are baby/babe, and love. whenever he uses those, it is a guaranteed hit to your heart. you melt and cover your face in shyness, that only makes him laugh though and he pries your hands away from your face to leave a teasing peck on your nose.

childe would be the type to tell you to call him ajax. like it’s not everyday he tells someone his real name, he prefers the nickname he has most of the time. but with you? no, he wants to hear you call him ajax.

the first time you do though, WHEW you’re lucky he didn’t jump you and kiss you right then and there. you’re just friends though, so that’d be hella awkward to explain later. after a while he gets comfortable with hearing his real name fall from your lips, he’d hum in content to himself every time he hears it.

still childe is a little shit so he can’t stop his dirty mind from picturing you saying it breathily while he kisses every inch of you. or maybe when he has you on his lap, back to his chest, and he’s sucking marks into the skin of your nape and leaving ghost touches on your body.

yep. he’s got a dirty little mind and he both scolds and thanks himself for it.

zhongli

without a doubt he’s the tutor type. he just is. i won’t argue. how else is he gonna make himself some money? he can use his large knowledge-filled brain too.

you met him when you needed help on a particular subject, and lo and behold he tutors a wide variety—to say the least—of topics. so when you arranged a meet up at the library with him, you came early to get prepped, but again, behold, he was already here.

you check your phone and you were almost forty minutes early, you expected to get some of this material in your brain before he came, but nope. how long had he been here?

as you walked up to him, you were graced with one of those serene smiles you’d ever witnessed. his whole aura radiated, gentle, caring, warm.

“you must be _____, i’m zhongli. nice to meet you in person.” he greeted you.

his voice… dies…

you also couldn’t get over his beauty, like what the hell he’s fucking gorgeous. his amber eyes were piercing, his dark hair looked so shiny and soft and the orange tips added a little flare to it.

“_____?”

you jumped after you realized, yeah you were just openly staring at your tutor. you apologized hastily and introduced yourself properly.

needless to say zhongli is the best tutor ever. he’s also a student himself but he says he loves helping other students who need some assistance. “there’s nothing wrong with asking for help.” as he so kindly put it.

he literally is the best though. he’s calm and patient, he helps you whenever you feel lost or don’t quite get what he’s explaining to you. he goes back and repeats things as much as you need and he’s never annoyed by it. the patience he has is insane, you’re so sure you’re bothering him when you say you still don’t quite get it. instead he lets out a very low chuckle and the bass from it is about to knock you back. he tells you it’s fine and he explains it another way, when it finally clicks you smile and look to see him giving you a proud smile as well. it makes your stomach do a fucking thing.

you’re honestly sad when it comes time to end the session as zhongli says he has three other tutor sessions today. you know you’ll see him again as you paid for more than one session, but some part of you hates that you won’t see him until then. what the heck was this?

you don’t know what compelled you to do this, but you called out to him gently, making him turn with a curious look. so you trot up to him at the library doors and ask him “um would you… maybe like to grab a coffee sometime? i’d really like to talk more… and not just about studies.”

zhongli’s eyes widen, and for a minute you think you screwed up. you hear how it sounds and you wanna backtrack and say it’s not supposed to sound like you’re asking him out. he can see the visible panic on your face as you try to think of a way out and he chuckles again. he knows you don’t mean what you’re worried you meant by it and he pats your head. yes, he fucking pats your head. as quick as you felt his warm hand on your head, it was gone.

“i’d like that very much.”

after that you and zhongli get closer. you both meet up regularly for coffee or a meal, and it’s some of the most pleasant times you can remember. he just has a gift for relieving all your stress and anxieties. something about him is so goddamn calm. he just emanates peace and serenity.

you felt so lucky that you and him became friends. zhongli was the best tutor yes, but he was also the best friend. all the little things he does make you swoon for him even more and you feel ridiculous but at the same time, ecstatic.

he checks in on you regularly, and sends you little tidbits of info via text that probably have nothing to do with anything but they make you smile nonetheless. it was just so very him.

if you’re sick he sends you a ton of texts with tips and pointers on how to handle whatever your ailment is. the wall of texts he sends is definitely his way of showing you he’s worried. he also says he’ll come by with homemade food for you and you insist he doesn’t have to.

he is very attentive and notices when you’re stressing. if you’re studying together—which by the way he tells you to stop paying him for sessions because you’re friends and you wanna melt because he’s soft—he’ll notice your furrowed brows and you chewing your lips as you try to force yourself to focus.

he’ll literally do that thing where his finger move across the shell of your ear, like he’s tucking the hair back but it’s just the movement even if your hair is already tucked or you don’t need or have anything to be tucked. he will do it anyway and the feeling of his finger tracing that same pattern repeatedly soothes your nerves tremendously.

you thank him but he’ll tell you it’s no trouble at all and he’ll give another signature warm smile.

best person ever award goes to this man for real.

if you lived in a dorm he would stop by to visit from time to time. whether it’s to invite you out, or check up on you. and you would get “those looks” from your dorm mates. you swear it’s not like that, and they just have mountains of questions for you when he leaves. like how the fuck did you manage to befriend one of the hottest guys on campus?!

you didn’t think it was big deal, but you should’ve, because if you thought zhongli was kind, and handsome, and smart—and really fucking hot—why wouldn’t the rest of the university? you weren’t the only person he tutored, and he had other friends as well. how in the hell did you not think that zhongli would be massively popular?

you won’t lie, you have a weird possessiveness over zhongli. not the creepy kind where you feel gross and you think of him like an object. it’s more like you don’t wanna share his attention with others sometimes. you just want him all to yourself.

you want him to look only at you, and no one else. you want him to save all those warm smiles and low chuckles for you.

you’ve never felt this way and the small prick of jealousy you feel when you spot zhongli tutoring someone else makes you want to scold yourself.

because zhongli is not yours. he is not something to be owned, of course you know that. he is a person and he shares his kindness with everyone. teachers, students, strangers, you’ve seen it yourself. he has an infinite amount of kindness to give, and it doesn’t make you feel as good as it should, which in turn, makes you a little mad at yourself.

you just can’t help that small part of yourself that wants him to see you as special. see you in a different way that only he gets to see. you want to see him in a way that no one else gets to see too; hear what no one else gets to hear. you want to be special to him. you want him to look at you like no one else matters in the way you do.

that’s when you gasp and realizing just how deeply you were thinking, and when you catch yourself thinking like this, it hits you like a fucking freight train.

fucking hell. you like zhongli. you like him a lot.

itto

BIG. BOY. yeah there’s all the discrepancy about his game model but we’re not gonna talk about that here (fyi he’s still beautiful). we’re just gonna appreciate itto’s himbo vibes and also how hot he is.

anyways beefy itto. so yeah he’s your friend and he’s ginormous. it has its benefits though, mundane things like lifting heavy stuff for you or reaching all the things that are too high for you. he freakin’ towers over you and you never even ask him to help you, he just does.

still the cons to this are… slightly beneficial you suppose. like seeing him shirtless on accident more times than you can count now. the worst part? you never acclimate to it, so you always go into shock when you see his defined abs, his broad shoulders and back, the dips that make up his v line. you’re mentally drooling and trying to not stare. it’s really hard though because fuck he’s hot.

itto knows he’s hot, he’s a self-love king. he doesn’t need people to tell him things he already knows. when he catches you flustered he can’t help but tease, in fact he honestly stops caring about being shirtless when you visit him in hopes of catching your flushed cheeks and your stuttered speech.

the thing you don’t know is that the fact that you even get flustered at all, FLUSTERS HIM! he likes knowing that you think he looks good. he doesn’t really care about what other people think of his body, but to know that you like his body has him over the moon. it makes all the days at the gym and all the sports clubs he joins worth it. you’re probably the only person—other than himself—whose validation has him flying over the moon when it comes to how he looks.

piggyback rides. they happen more often than you think. you’re walking to class together? you sprained your ankle? you’re just feeling down? he kneels down—which somehow still has him looking way too fucking big and tall—and offers you his back. you gently climb on and he grips your legs, ignoring the heat from his palms that you feel on your thighs.

he insists that you hold on tight sometimes, so you wrap your arms around his neck and tuck in (this makes him blush, feeling your warmth so close) and he starts running. it’s wild and a little bumpy but it honestly has you laughing which in turn makes him laugh.

itto. loves. skinship. like I’m not even joking, even if you guys aren’t in a relationship, he wants you close. he melts with you, he’s like a big puppy for you always. his favorite forms of skinship with you are your infamous piggyback rides, having you on his shoulders, picking you up so you can look just a smidge taller than him, and… get this… having you on his lap.

yes, he likes it when you sit on his lap; it wasn’t supposed to be a suggestive thing initially. he would plop you down, your back pressed against his hard chest, and he’d still tower over you like the tall freak he is. he’d nuzzle into your nape, he’d play with your fingers—you paint his nails in this position too and he LOVES it—and sometimes he’ll just wrap his beefy arms around your waste, you love it all. you feel safe in his strong hold, like nothing in the world can put a finger on you.

now here’s where it got a bit risqué. itto was sitting on his bed once, and he asked if you could pull out one of his shirts from his closet for him because yes, again, he was shirtless when you came into his room. this was fine, sort of, you couldn’t help but peak at the dips in shoulders, his collarbones and his thick neck. he was totally unaware this time as he was messing around with his phone. so you took a deep breath and refocused as you opened his closet. his shirts looked like goddamn blankets to you as you pulled one out for him.

this was fine. that is, until you trip on something and itto sees you stumbling so he preps to catch you, but you just stumble forward, a knee on his bed and you come face to face with him. he presses his hands into his bed as he leans back to give you space. however it doesn’t do much as you grabbed his shoulder for support and to not fall on him. your fingers grip his muscles and you try not to melt because itto is this close to you, your fucking breathing the same air, noses almost touching, and neither of you have the guts to move.

“i-i’m sorry..” you whisper. your breath fans his face and it makes his hands shake on the bed. “s’all good..” was his muttered reply.

uh oh. this was bad. because you were imagining things. you had sat in itto’s lap before, plenty of times. but it’s always been facing away from him, never facing him. part of you couldn’t stop imagining if you just sat down, and maybe he’d grip your thighs, or press one of his huge hands to the small of your back and keep you close. maybe he’d kiss you.

WAIT! you were getting carried away, you tried to shoot those thoughts into the stratosphere but he was so close and god he was beautiful. honestly you understood why other people were jealous of you because you were so close with him. who wouldn’t be jealous of someone who got to spend time with such a fucking specimen? still you didn’t hang out with itto just for his good looks. he was funny, kind, caring and an overall lovable idiot. he was your idiot.

this was new territory though, it was both scary and thrilling.

itto felt the exact same way as you though, he wanted to pull the bends of your knees and have you plop right down on his lap. he wanted to leave little marks on your neck, and hear you hum at the feeling. he wanted you to push your fingers into his hair and tug.

yeah this was new. it’s not as if he didn’t think about the possibilities from time to time. you were adorable and kind, he's had times where he thought, yeah, he might’ve had a crush on you. this just fucking confirmed it though.

thoma

best. man. ever.

honestly it’s kinda insane how amazing he is, and it’s super unfair of him.

like come on, he cooks, he cleans, he loves animals! you’re just soft for him every single second you’re around him.

he has this insanely infectious optimism that’s practically beaming off of him. when things just seem awful or stressful, he has this magical gift to turn your mood around. his laughter makes your stomach jump and your heart soar, because when he’s happy you just can’t help but be happy too.

now let’s look at the other side of things, thoma is very very hot.

he’s quite lean but he’s very fit. all the chores and going out for early morning runs and dog walking he does on the side pays off.

I’m not sure what exactly he’d study in school but I could honestly see him wanting to become a vet, I just think he cares for life and animals so much, it just fits him.

you live in a dorm but he lives in a small apartment across the way and so you see him, tank top and shorts and all, leaving for his early runs. when he gets back you’re usually headed to school early, while he comes home to get ready for school himself. when he does though you take a pause to look (respectfully).

his muscles are a bit taut, droplets of sweat fall off of him and he runs a hand through his blonde hair, panting for breath after running who knows how far. still when you see him like that you can’t stop your mind from falling down the rabbit hole and god you just wanna stare at him all day.

school waits for no one though and so you pry your eyes off of him, only to hear him call your name and run up. he asks if you’re heading to school and when you say yes, he asks if you’ll just come in and wait for just a bit while he gets ready. that way you can walk there together.

yeah, you’re pretty early so you have time, so the first time you accept this offer it’s fine. you sit on his couch and when he comes out, freshly showered and casual clothes on, you smile and leave with him. it’s pleasant, and nice, and you make the nicest small talk you’ve ever had with someone.

this becomes a routine with you and thoma. you stop by his house early and then walk with him to school. he’s either coming back from his run and you wait for him, or you knock on his door to find him just about ready and then you head out.

this was one of those times where it was the ladder. you had nailed down the times when he went running and so you had hoped that when you knocked on his door he’d be there.

just as you did, he came to the door and you know what happened? he was shirtless, absolutely, shirtless.

he smiled at you like nothing was out of the ordinary, but the sweatpants he’d thrown on were low on his hips and you could see his v line and the little trail leading below the band. his abs were toned and his shoulders were broad, you had to keep from drooling on the spot because HE IS HOT! it only made you pay attention to the other things, when you looked up you saw his beautiful smile, his stunning green eyes, his soft blonde hair that was still wet from the shower.

thoma snapped a finger in front of your face to bring you back from your trance and he looked a bit concerned “you okay?”

“y-yeah! totally! ready to go yet?”

it was a dumb question as you looked at the half-dressed man, he giggled and he told you give him a couple minutes to change. he of course invited you in rather than have you wait outside, so you sat on his couch like you always did, only this time your heart was racing.

no dear god, he’s so hot, you wanna run your fingers along his body and feel every inch of him. you bet he feels soft, but his muscles must be firm. oh god no, you cover your face with your hands and groan.

your friend and neighbor is really hot and now you wanna kiss his stupidly pretty face.

kaeya

this hoe man I swear to god he’s such a fucking handful and he knows it.

like don’t get me wrong, kaeya is great. he’s incredibly attentive and kind in ways that take you by surprise in comparison to his normal joking and smug personality. he’s also just that though, smug and a major tease.

he loves loves LOVES making you blush. that’s the first and foremost thing.

whenever he gets the chance to see those cheeks burning, he’ll do it. be it by complimenting you on something, or telling you one of his many many naughty jokes, a chance to make your cheeks and ears burn is a chance he will take every single time.

he’ll always point it out too like a little bitch. he’ll touch your cheek with the back of his cold hand say something like “aww baby your cheeks are burning up. are you sick?” and yeah that sounds nice, but he says it with a shit-eating, smug as fuck grin that makes you wanna punch his pretty face. but it’s too pretty to look at—and you don’t think your shot will even touch him anyway.

he also does like to catch you off guard and fluster you. his hands are always cold so when you’re focused on studying or literally anything else, he’ll come up and place both his hands on the side of your neck. you’ll yelp and look back to see him laughing, he apologizes swiftly but part of you doesn’t think he’s sorry.

he kabedons you. yes he does. all the time. when you can’t help but get a little distracted by his perfect face and his pretty hair and oh god his voice-

BAM he will slam a hand on the wall closest to you, trapping you and you can’t help but get shy. he leans in and smirks at you “why aren’t you listening darling?” he’ll ask and fuck him because he already knows why. you stutter and can’t get any words out as you choke on all of them, he’ll giggle and lean in to whisper in your ear “you need to pay attention.” and his breath is somehow cold too, or at least you think that because it has you shivering.

he knows exactly what he’s doing, he had assumed you’d had a crush on him, but every time he even joked about the possibility, you flat out denied anything of the sort the very second it came out of his mouth.

now kaeya knows how to hide his emotions, he’s dealt with so many people both genuine and fake, he knows how to handle it all. but it kinda hurts, a lot, when you deny liking him at all so quickly. you’d never be able to tell, as he simply laughs and teased you saying you’re being harsh. but no, he means it, it’s kinda harsh and makes him think, okay, maybe you don’t like him.

does that stop him from teasing you and flirting with you though? no. he just decides that if you don’t like him, then he can get bolder. and no, kaeya no, please you can’t handle more.

he takes it further from time to time, he’ll pinch the back of your neck now with his icy fingers. he’ll wrap his arms around your waist and lean into you, he’ll nuzzle into the crook of your neck and hum. he will fucking kiss your cheek or the palm of your hand too and that was the final straw.

you melt into his hands despite how cold he always is, and it confuses kaeya because if you didn’t like him like you said then this shouldn’t be an issue right? you’d just brush it off as him playing.

but no, you do like him, you’re just absolutely terrified of him rejecting you. it’s not as if you think kaeya would stop being your friend but hearing him say “sorry i was just messing with you.” would absolutely destroy you! you always had a small hope that his teasing was because he liked you back, but it’s scary, kaeya is always composed, he never shows his true hand. all of this could really be him playing around and finding your reactions funny. then he’ll be swift to reject anything real.

you want him badly, and yet you’re scared to even reach, fearing his cold hands will slap yours away.

diluc

hi. i love this man. he’s honestly that guy that just seems unattainable sometimes to me. at least at first, then you get to know him and you realize he isn’t unattainable. he’s just the right amount of perfect once you dig a little deeper. but yeah, at first you think, there’s no way.

i mean come on, he’s nice, he’s a perfect listener, he’s attentive to your feelings, he’s protective in just the right way that doesn’t make him an ass, and also if it isn’t obvious, he’s fucking beautiful.

god he’s just so perfect, he even cooks you meals. like for real he will cook you dinner if you visit him and he will make you lunch for work/school. you just wanna hug him and kiss him till he’s begging for air because you wanna push all the love you have for him out and into that one kiss.

still with how perfect he is, it almost seems like he’s too perfect sometimes, and by that I mean you just feel like there is NO WAY you can ever see him liking you back.

he’s the type of guy to me that’s a rich boy if it’s modern, because yeah I just can’t see him any other way. like he’s a college student, but he’s also the heir to something really gigantic and so he’s also studying for that.

he’s got this fancy black car that’s sleek and shiny and he picks you up in it sometimes which makes everyone look at you like “bitch wtf?”

diluc doesn’t seem like he’s just a college student—that happens to be amazingly wealthy—he honestly is so dignified and elegant that he already seems likes ceo. it’s also because his mental age skyrockets whenever he deals with kaeya or any of the others of the loud and rowdy bunch so he just carries himself as a bit older than he is.

he’s definitely the chaperone/sober friend as he hates alcohol. so if you drink you can guarantee he’ll look after you, and if you don’t then you two then become the pair of sober friends in your group.

diluc is not one for public skinship at all, he prefers for intimate moments—romantic or platonic—to be private. he does enjoy smaller showings of physical touch, like you resting your head on his arm or shoulder to relax, or when you hug his arm tightly to show your thanks to him—he always thinks that looks adorable.

his favorite though? holding hands. his hands are always warm, he loves holding your hand, interlocking fingers and giving little squeezes. when you thumb over the back of his hand it leaves him with his odd, giddy feeling he can’t pinpoint.

diluc is a very stoic man, this we know, but when it comes to you he’s very soft. don’t get me wrong, he’s definitely still stoic, but there are these minor changes that set how he interacts with you and how he interacts with others apart.

he makes sure you’re the first to enter the first leave, always opening doors for you and watching you go in and out of places. he likes being aware of where you are.

he reads to you, now this is a very private affair when it does happen. he lets you sit next to him or on his lap as he reads the story he’s engrossed in to you. his smooth voice lulls you to sleep and he dares to kiss your forehead when he knows you’re fully off in dreamland.

he is always first to check on you if you’ve injured yourself or are sick. everything stops. full stop. if you’ve hurt yourself or have fallen ill he is on his way. it doesn’t matter where he is he is coming. he also wants to be the one to take care of you as well.

needles to say diluc is very much whipped. you are too though, how could you not be?

[halstudandruz]

Research Purposes (NSFW)

*Not my gif*

Pairing: Jay Halstead x Reader

Requested: Yes

Prompt: Bearded Jay Smut

Warnings: swearing, smut (18+)

A/N: I know the timeline is off but just go with it.

Sitting at the bar, you couldn’t help where your eyes wandered across the room. You were at Trudy and Mouch’s wedding, and even though it was a joyous occasion you were kind of ready to go home from the start. The night before you had discovered your ex-fiancé and the new girl in intelligence were dating, and it was safe to say you were drowning in your sorrows. You and Adam had been broken up for almost a year, but you still loved him and in the back of your mind you just hoped time would give you both the perspectives you needed and you would be back together. You had no right to be upset, but you were having trouble convincing yourself of that. The night was starting to wind down, as you downed a shot. You had held it together for Trudy wanting her to have the best day ever, but since they had left a few minutes prior you were ready to get drunk enough you couldn’t remember your own name.

“You know the longer you sit still the harder it’s gonna hit when you stand.” Jay teased sliding in next to you.

“Good.” You sighed, turning around to take another drink.

“Well in an effort to ensure I don’t have to carry you out of here would you like to dance?” He asked, holding his hand out to you. Contemplating for a minute he smiled when you took a hold of his hand following him out to the dance floor. Frank Sinatra played in the background while his hands slowly moved to rest on your hips. You and Jay were friends. You worked together and were around each other a lot. You got along well, and you weren’t afraid to admit he was an attractive guy, but you had always been locked in on Adam. So, your friendship never even toed the line. You never even thought about it, until tonight.

“I’m going to go out on a limb and say you found out.” Jay whispered into your ear looking down at you.

“Found out about what?” You eyed him curiously until he nodded towards where Hailey and Adam sat laughing together.

“Wait..you know?” He nodded, “How long has it..?”

“I only found out a week or two ago so it probably hasn’t been that long.” He shrugged,“How’d you find out?” He continued. Sighing your hands rested on his chest.

“Today was actually supposed to be Adam and I’s wedding day. Before we decided to push it. So, I kind of went down a dark hole after the rehearsal dinner and went to see him. When he answered the door I saw her come out of his room.” You chewed on your lip.

“Oh fuck. What’d you do?” He pried.

“I made some excuse about not being able to find something I needed for today so I thought I might’ve accidentally left it there when I moved out or left or whatever. I was just going to leave, but then I had to pretend to look for it, and when I went into his room a bunch of her stuff was there. You know in the dresser I used to use.” You recounted the night before swallowing hard.

“That sounds awful. I’m sorry.” He shook his head pulling you closer as he moved a hand to rub your back.

“Yeah it wasn’t my finest moment. I’ve been avoiding him all day,” you chuckled blinking tears away, “How are you feeling about it?” You looked up at him hoping to shift the focus off you.

“What do you mean? Why would I care?” He masked.

“Come on Jay.” You scoffed giving him a look.

“I don’t have any say in what or who she does.” He said.

“How do you let it roll off you so easily? Not let it bother you?” You wondered.

“I want her to be happy, and wishing that I was the one over there isn’t going to do anything for either of us.” He shrugged nonchalantly, “You deserve to be happy. You deserve to have fun too right?” He continued.

“I don’t know. I guess.” You replied.

“You do, and that is why you’re out here dancing with me.” He smiled, spinning you effortlessly, causing you to laugh. You and Jay would spend the next hour talking and dancing letting your minds push away the two people across the room.

Jay and you were caught up in conversation, your bodies practically up against each other causing heat to surface on your face at the feeling of his hands holding you close. His tie now hung loosely on his shoulders, the top few buttons of his dress shirt open, and his sleeves had been rolled up allowing you to see the veins throughout them. You had never realized how attractive he actually was until you were this close, eyes counting the freckles that covered his face.

“Incoming.” he mumbled looking over your shoulder; breaking you out of your thoughts. You turned to see Adam walking towards you.

“No no no.” You whined hands gripping Jay’s shoulders tighter. Adam clearing his throat when he reached you,

“May I cut in?” He asked, looking between the two of you. A glint of confusion present in his face. Jay’s eyes shifted from him to you, registering your panic of having to face him right now.

“Uh actually I just offered to take her home. We were just heading out.” Jay attempted to save you.

“Oh well we’re going to be going right past your place we could just drop you off so Jay doesn’t have to go out of his way, and I’d actually really like to talk to you for a sec-“ Adam started to grab your hand.

“No it’s all good. No big deal. I already promised her I would.” Jay stepped slightly in front of you.

“Yeah I’m just going to go grab my coat and say bye to Sylvie. See you on Monday.” You pointed walking off to leave Adam and Jay alone on the dance floor. “You didn’t have to do that.” You smiled softly when Jay fell back by your side.

“He shouldn’t get what he wants all the time.” Jay shrugged.

“So is the ride offer actually on the table?” You asked.

“Of course.” He smiled helping you put your jacket on before pulling his on and heading out to his truck.

Walking outside you had made it almost to his truck ensuring you were far enough away from the door that people wouldn’t be watching before grabbing onto his arm to stop him. This could be a terrible, horrible idea, but that thought didn’t seem to over power your want.

“What’s wrong?” He asked, turning to face you where you leaned against the brick wall.

“You know I had every intention of waking up tomorrow either horribly hungover, or in someone else’s bed, and considering you prevented the latter..” You trailed off looking up at him.

“Are you serious?” He asked after a few seconds of silence.

“I’ve been holding out, hoping for something to change with him. I’m done waiting around.” You admitted weakly.

“I don’t want to just be some outlet to make Adam jealous.” He shook his head.

“This isn’t about him. This is about me and what I want. For once.” You laid a hand against his neck.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” He whispered stepping closer to lay a hand against the cold brick, body just inches away from yours.

“Jay, I am going home with someone tonight, and I really hope it’s you.” You bargained. You hadn’t done this in months, and you were just ready to let all the pent up need out. Jay searched your face for hesitation before leaning in to capture your lips. You quickly responded, hands wrapping around his neck to pull his body against yours. Letting him take control of the kiss when his fingers moved to tightly grasp your jaw. Tongue slipping into your mouth in time with the movement. You hummed when he nipped at your lip pulling away to take heavy breaths.

“My place?” He whispered lips almost up against yours again. Nodding quickly you reached into his coat pocket fishing out the keys to unlock the vehicle. Chuckling he took them from you opening the passenger door to help you in before walking to the drivers side and starting the truck. You could see him looking at you from the corner of his eye as you chewed on your bottom lip appreciating his features lit up from the street lights. He turned to wink at you before putting the truck into drive and heading towards his apartment.

The silence was tense and a little bit awkward as you started to second guess your forwardness. You weren’t just using him to get back at Adam, right? You were a grown woman and you had needs. Needs that hadn’t been met in far too long, and the person that was going to satisfy them just so happened to be your co-worker from the same unit. That’s all. It was all coincidence. Plus Jay was hot. Everyone knew that. Why couldn’t you enjoy that fact when the opportunity presented itself? “What’s going on in that head of yours?” Jay asked jarring you out of your thoughts.

“Nothing. I just..I don’t know. Kinda embarrassed.” You admitted shrugging.

“Why?” He questioned grabbing a hold of your hand.

“I could’ve approached that better instead of acting like a horny teenager.” You laughed looking down.

“I would be lying if I wasn’t hoping you’d say something though.” He looked over at you grinning.

“What?” You looked at him confused.

“I mean you’re obviously beautiful and I thought we had a great night together, but I didn’t want to overstep bounds or make it awkward. I was just hoping you picked up the same vibe I was catching. I’m not the greatest at saying what I want.” He chuckled. Shaking your head you looked down smiling to yourself, feeling a little lighter in the knowledge that he wanted you too. Lifting the center console up you scooted closer to him. “Well hello.” He smirked, hand falling onto your thigh.

“I like your beard.” You smiled running your fingers through it. The last time you had seen him with one was when Erin left, and the only time before that was when he had been kidnapped. Remembering the bruises that accompanied the facial hair. Tracing his face where they had healed completely.

“Yeah?” He replied smiling at the gentleness of your hands as you admired his face.

“Yeah, I think you should keep it.” You voiced your opinion.

“Maybe I will.” He squeezed your thigh when you leaned over to lay soft kisses along his neck, nipping at his ear as you moved your palm over the crotch of his jeans. You felt his breath hitch at the movement, letting out a low growl when your lips attached right below his ear, heel of your hand pressing down simultaneously. “Oh god, I can’t wait to get you inside.” Jay whispered, breaths becoming labored at the insistent pressure of your hand. Quickly pulling into the parking garage of his apartment two minutes later. Putting the truck into park he let his eyes fall shut, head falling back onto the rest his hips finally moving up in time with the movement of your palm. The sight before you and the feeling of his obvious arousal already causing moisture to gather between your legs. Giving him a couple more rocks of pressure before slipping your hand up his shirt to rest on his stomach.

“Jay?” You whispered pressing a gentle kiss against his jaw, his facial hair tickling your nose. He turned his head to look at you, pupils already visibly darker than before. “I want you.” You stated. He grinned giving you a quick but hard kiss before shutting his truck off and guiding you towards the elevator. Pushing you against the wall as soon as the doors closed mouth molding over yours, hands bracketing you in against the wall. “Mmm.” You hum when his lips start to trail down your jaw. “Someone could walk in.” You remind him head falling back to give him more access. The dinging as you pass each floor prevalent in the background.

“Don’t care.” He growls lifting one of your legs to rest on his hips, fingers moving up your thigh, starting to move your panties to the side when the elevator comes to a stop on his floor. “I don’t think it’s ever moved that fast before.” He joked letting your leg down and grabbing ahold of your hand to pull you towards his apartment before pulling his keys out to unlock it and ushering you inside. “Do you want anything to drink?” He asked casually as he set his keys down slipping off his shoes, ridding your heels in the process you giggled stepping towards him to take the lapels of his jacket in your hands.

“I’m definitely thirsty but not for water.” You winked pulling him back towards your lips, before you pushed the jacket off his shoulders. Beginning to unbutton his dress shirt his hands moved down to your ass, lips breaking from yours long enough for him to whisper,

“Jump.” You let him pick you up, shedding his shirt on the way towards his bedroom.

“You have too many clothes on.” You sighed when he laid you down on the end of his bed tugging the bottom of his shirt. Laughing he stood up to pull it over his head for you.

“You haven’t taken one piece of clothing off and I’m the one that’s wearing too much?” He teased falling back on top of you.

“Lucky for you, you’ll find there’s next to no obstacles once this comes off.” You snapped the strap of your dress. Jay eyes trailed down your body slowly, hands following as he pulled you up to slide the zipper down slowly, lips falling to your collarbone in the process.

“Tell me if this is okay.” He hesitated sliding the straps down.

“It’s okay, Jay.” You voiced helping him pull the tight dress from your body. Face instantly blushing when you looked up to see his eyes wandering all over you, left in only your panties.

“You’re fucking gorgeous.” He complimented hands squeezing your hips.

“Your voice is really sexy when you’re turned on.” You blurted out, causing Jay to laugh.

“Well I can assure you I am in fact very turned on right now.” He grinned nuzzling your neck.

“Can I..?” You asked tugging on the button of his pants popping it open when you felt him nod. He breathed a quiet sigh at the pressure being released when you opened his zipper, pushing them to the ground with his help. He returned back on top of you leaning down to press his mouth to yours, moving slowly to appreciate the action. In no hurry for this to end. Your hand trailed from his chest to his stomach, tip of your finger sneaking under the hem of his boxers. His hips involuntarily bucking at the anticipation, coaxing your mouth open with his tongue. Reaching further down you took a hold of him giving him an experimental squeeze earning a groan against your lips. Beginning to slowly move your hand his forehead fell against yours eyes closing while his hips began to move in rhythm. Swiping your thumb across the tip, gathering the precum that had started to leak out. He watched as you brought it to your mouth, licking it off your finger to enjoy the taste of him. Breath hitching at the sight, seemingly flipping a switch in him as he lunged forward capturing your wrists and forcing them above your head, his lips capturing yours in a bruising kiss. Roughly biting at your lip before moving down your body. Stopping first at your chest. His teeth nipped at the skin, laying soft kisses all over before taking ahold of your left breast tongue swirling around your nipple. Other hand pinching and rolling the right between his fingers. Swallowing a moan your legs opened further letting him slide between them more comfortably. His mouth moved farther south as his fingers gently started to make soft circles to your center outside of your underwear. Sighing your hips moved slightly trying to get more pressure as you felt Jay smile against your hip bone. Teasingly his fingers fumbled with the side of your underwear occasionally swiping his finger inside while his mouth bit and sucked the inside of your thighs no doubt leaving a few marks. “Oh, yeah you’re keeping the beard.” Your fingertips dug into his head, goosebumps rising at the rough feeling of his facial hair against your thighs, jaw tightening, not wanting to make a sound.

“[Y/N] [Y/L/N], are you insinuating we will be doing this again?” He looked up at you, eyebrow raised, cocky smirk on his lips.

“Stop talking.” You ordered, face going a little red.

“If I remember correctly you just said my voice was sexy.” He quipped.

“And if I remember correctly you were in the middle of something.” You pushed his head back down.

“As you wish.” He winked teeth grazing the inside of your thigh as he moved closer and closer to your core. Your legs were starting to shake at the anticipation, your mind picturing your juices covering his mouth and throughout his beard.

“Jay, please.” You actually whined when he laid a kiss on your clit outside of your panties.

“I just wanted to hear you say my name. I can tell you’re trying to hold back, but all I want is to hear you [Y/N]. Helps me figure out the best way to make you feel good.” He admitted hooking his fingers into your panties and slowly sliding them down your legs before tossing them to the floor, “Let me hear you baby. Let me know I’m doing a good job.” He reminded you before his mouth connected to your center, eliciting a moan that you wouldn’t have been able to hold back even if you tried.

“Such a pretty sound, sweetheart.” He commented, before his tongue swirled around your clit, gently sucking it. Head falling back you let yourself give into every sensation. The way his hands pinned your hips down, preventing you from moving. The way his tongue worked you so soft and smooth like he did the research on exactly how your pussy was structured so he could hit every sweet spot imaginable. The way he pushed a finger in slightly curling it up to perfectly hit your g-spot over and over again while his tongue flicked against your clit. The way his stubble burned against your thighs only heightening the realization that this was Jay. Jay Halstead: your co-worker, friend, and apparently now fuck buddy. Your legs started to shake, hips trying their hardest to fight their way out of his grasp, uncontrollable noises flowing from your lips, knot growing tighter with each tap of your sweet spot.

“J-Jay.” You warned, hoping he could hear your voice that was barely there. Your fingers tightening in his hair, the other one moving down to his cheek, thumb rubbing over the roughness.

“Go ahead, sweetheart.” He encouraged fingers moving faster, tongue licking harder. This was Jay Halstead and he was eating you out like no tomorrow, and with that thought your thighs came up to trap his head, back arching as you screamed out the knot inside of you unraveling hard.

Legs falling back apart you released him and Jay made his way back up your body. Kissing you, taste of yourself covering his mouth. “That was beautiful.” He smirked, cupping your cheek.

“That was incredible, how did you even learn how to do that? It’s like you knew my body better than I do.” You laughed still a little light headed.

“Everyone is different. You just have to pay attention to the signs. For example I already know you’re not going to be able to cum from just penetration. Just like you have a hard time cumming from just oral. You need the best of both worlds. I always knew you were high maintenance.” He joked.

“You already have me all figured out.” You rolled your eyes, but. what he was saying was true. You don’t know how he came to the conclusion, but you weren’t about to complain.

“If you want to stop here I completely understand. We don’t-“ He started to say when you cut him off.

“And deprive myself of discovering whether your dick game is as good as your head? No thank you.” You grinned starting to push his boxers down.

“Well I could never live with myself if I left you wondering.” He shrugged, getting up to push the last remaining piece of clothing between you two to the ground before reaching over to fish a condom out of his nightstand. You took a hold of him again, twisting your hand up and down his shaft to make sure he was fully ready. He ripped the condom open with his teeth, rolling it on with your help. “You’re absolutely sure about this?” He asked again, positioning his dick at your entrance.

“Yes, completely.” You nodded.

“Just tell me if you want to stop at any point.” He reiterated, leaning down the rest of the way to kiss you when he started to push in. Groaning you focused on his tongue slipping into your mouth knowing the pain would subside soon, and a few short thrusts later the pleasure started to seep in.

“Ahh fuck.” You moaned relaxing into him.

“That’s my girl.” He smiled feeling the way you loosened more for him still making small movements, knowing there was no way he would be able to go hard right away, but within a few strokes your pussy started to clench him even harder than before. “Baby, you gotta loosen up for me or I’m not gonna be able to move at all without blowing it.” He groaned biting his lip, hips shuttering.

“I’m sorry you just feel so good.” You cried, it wasn’t your fault. Well not really anyway you had a hard time controlling it.

“Okay okay okay.” You closed your eyes, begging yourself to relax when he hit your g-spot for the first time. “Shit!” You cursed nails digging into his shoulder blades. “Right there. Again. Please.” You informed him, but you knew he was already aware as he hit it again before you were finished talking. He took one of your legs positioning it on his shoulder as he bracketed himself above you. Hitting harder this time, earning a loud moan from you. “Jay, faster. Please baby.” You begged.

“You feel incredible [Y/N]. I’m gonna cum so hard. Jay moaned above you.

“Your dick feels amazing babe. I love that I get to make you cum.” You reciprocated attempting to move with him. His thumb moved down to start rubbing circles on your clit in time with his long thrusts. “I h-hope you think a-ahhh-about this every time you - fuck - see me at w-work this week.” You got out between heavy breaths.

“I’m not going to be able to think about a-anything else baby. How f-fucking good you taste. How much I loved being between your legs e-eating you up. How good your pussy feels s-stretched around my cock. Holy fuck [Y/N] I’m so fucking close. Fuck fuck fuck, [Y/N].” He screamed louder with each word, collapsing onto you as he worked through his high, but you were already gone. Pulsating around his dick the minute he reminded you how good he looked between your thighs. Opening your eyes just in time for you to watch his orgasm and to catch your name falling off his lips with a few curse words.

“Is it true?” You asked after a few minutes of silence, heavily breathing being the only sounds that filled the room.

“Is what true?” He replied confused when he started to pull out of you before carefully disposing of the filled condom.

“You’re going to think all that stuff when you look at me this week?” You explained, causing him to chuckle still breathless.

“Maybe not every time, but I’d confidently wager 80% of the time.” He smirked rolling over to kiss you, “unless you don’t want me to?”

“Well it wouldn’t be fair for me to be thinking about it and not give you permission to as well.” You shrugged, knowing full well this wasn’t disappearing from your mind anytime soon. You got up to use the restroom as Jay cleaned himself the rest of the way.

“Is he bigger than me?” Jay asked, when you walked back into the room.

“I am not answering that question.” You laughed loudly laying back down beside him.

“Why not? It’s for research purposes. You know purely for your benefit.” He smirked down at you.

“Oh yeah? How so?” You urged.

“I just gotta know the level of game I have to bring. Should I be more focused on the motion or does the size make up for it?” He gestured south.

“Motion is always more important than size.” You rolled your eyes.

“I don’t think that’s true.” Jay scrunched his eyebrows,“Next time this happens I’ll just use my finger and remind you of what you just said.”

“I said it was more important. I didn’t say it’s not important at all, but I can assure you the level of game you brought tonight is better than I could’ve imagined.” You smiled completely satisfied.

“I totally am.” He decided, wiggling his eyebrows at you.

“So what’s the plan here?” You changed the subject.

“I think that all depends on what you want.” Jay answered.

“Well..I’m not going to deny this was fun and you did say I need to have more fun.” You shrugged sheepishly.

“So then we keep having fun.” Jay said simply.

“But we need ground rules.” You laid your chin on his chest looking up at him.

“Okay..” He looked down at you waiting for you to continue.

“Like I don’t know..is this purely friends with benefits? Do we go out for dinner sometimes? Do I bring you coffee in the morning?” You started to list the things running through your head.

“If you want to bring me coffee and dinner, who am I to tell you no?” He joked causing you to sigh.

“Jay, I’m serious.” You pushed.

“Can’t we just kind of roll with it?” He asked, hand rubbing up and down your back.

“I guess I’m just scared of what will happen if they find out.” You admitted.

“So what if they do?” He seemed unfazed.

“You’re not concerned at all how Hailey would react?” You asked.

“I like her. I really do. That’s not a secret, but she’s sleeping with Adam. Why should we have to wait around and agonize over it? You deserve to be just as happy as he does [Y/N].” He tucked a piece of your hair behind your ear.

“What if this turns into some fanfiction shit where we end up having feelings for each other?” You giggled.

“Well then I hope the author writes us a happy ending.” He smiled kissing you on the forehead. “Now I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty tired after that performance.” He yawned. You agreed, waiting for him to slide further down into his bed before pulling you back into his side, your head falling back down on his chest.

“Promise me you’re not going to freak out in the morning.” He whispered kissing the top of your head after a few minutes of silence.

“I promise.” You replied kissing his chest before letting his heartbeat lull you to sleep.

Waking up the next morning you felt the heat before your eyes even opened. Quickly registering that you were laying on someone. Slowly opening your eyes you looked around the semi dark room, black out curtains trying to reduce the amount of light peeking through. You knew who it was, but you had to confirm it. Gently sitting up you were met with Jay’s figure still sleeping beside you. Oh shit. You started to panic, memories of the night before suddenly flooding your mind. Remembering the things you did, the things you said. Eyes darting around the room you started to contemplate an escape. You’d sneak out and pretend like this never happened. That’s probably what Jay would want you to do anyway and-

“Lay back down and stop freaking out.” Jay grumbled beside you, eyes still closed. You reached for the sheet to cover your still bare body.

“How did you even-“ You began to ask causing Jay to smirk.

“I’m a detective for a reason, [Y/L/N]. Come back to sleep.” He urged pulling you back into his chest.

“It’s probably just a better idea if I leave.” You sat back up causing him to sigh heavily.

“You promised me you weren’t going to freak out.” Jay reminded you.

“I’m not freaking out.” You tried to defend, voice squeaking a little.

“Then stop biting your lip.” He challenged. Stopping your actions you looked over to still see his eyes closed.

“Okay seriously how the hell-“ You started

“I know you better than you think.” He opened his eyes to look up at you, dark circles obvious under them reminding you of late the two of you were up last night a blush covering your cheeks at the thought. “What’s going on, what are you thinking about at 6:30 in the morning?” He asked, looking at you like you were crazy after seeing the time on his alarm clock.

“I don’t know.” You shrugged looking away from him.

“C’mon talk to me.” He pushed sitting up to face you where you clung tight to the sheet that was also still covering him up to his hips.

“I just said a lot of stuff last night that’s kinda embarrassing looking back on it now.” You admitted remembering distinctly how you encouraged him to fuck you.

“Like?” He urged making you groan.

“I am not answering that.” You shook your head looking around the room for any piece of clothing.

“I can’t think of a single thing that didn’t sound incredible coming out of your mouth.” He shrugged just as you found a shirt slipping it on before realizing it was his.

“It’s probably just a good idea for me to leave.” You sighed contemplating what to do.

“We’ve gotten like 3 hours of sleep. Please lay back down.” He looked at you with puppy dog eyes.

“Jay.” You sighed running a hand down your face.

“Just come back to bed and let me cook you breakfast later. Then if you want to leave you can.” He bargained, voice still raspy from lack of sleep. Your mind was all over the place. You did want to be here, and last night was great and you’d be lying if you said you weren’t hoping for a morning encore. That’s what friends with benefits were for right? But how would this end? You just didn’t want to get hurt again somehow, but maybe that was just something you had to risk.

“Only if you make French toast.” You reasoned making him grin.

“That can be arranged.” He lifted his arms to pull you back to his chest.

“Your voice is sexy in the morning too.” You whispered after a few minutes, hoping he was asleep already.

“I think it’s a little worn out from all the sounds you had me making last night.” He retorted making you giggle.

NSFW Taglist:

@beautiful-bunny89 @justadreamxx @grettiwrites @life-treatments @weepingfestivalmentality @toomuchtv95 @malrunaway @queen-of-arda

[arvinsescape]

could you please write something like tom and actress reader obviously like each other but they haven't taken it further yet bc reader is scared it will mess up their friendship but they're still flirting with each other at comic con panels or interviews for spiderman? 🙏

Flirts.

A/N: I love this, thank you so much for sending it in and thank you for your patience in me getting back to you. I hope you enjoy 💕

Warnings: Suggestive content.

You and Tom had been close for years, ever since you met on the set of Civil War, you had a close bond. He was there for some hard points in his life and vice versa, you kept each other grounded. Most people thought you were together, theories that you'd been together for a long time, engaged even, the two of you would laugh it off.

Of course you were in love with him, you had feelings for him, had for a long time. But you had such a close bond that you just couldn't jeopardize, not for anything. You also didn't wanna make things awkward because you had a few films left to film together.

You had a very flirty relationship and this extended to interviews, Zendaya had asked multiple times why you weren't together.

"Z, I've been over this." You groaned, you were in your trailer having a few drinks together.

"Yeah and I'd understand if it wasn't so obvious that you were into each other." She said with a laugh.

"I don't know," you groaned. "Why are you hassling me, he hasn't said or done anything either." You tried to end the conversation.

"I'm talking to you about it, I don't need to talk to Tom, it's so obvious how he feels, no one needs to ask."

"Z, please can we not?"

"You are so close though."

"Which is why I don't wanna ruin it."

"Y/N, I'm close to Tom but you two are different."

**

"So Y/N? Celebrity crush?" The interviewer said.

"I would have to say Tom." You said and Tom looked at you with a wide smile.

"I knew it." He fist pumped the air. "You're mine to." He said with a wink.

"Oh sorry, I meant Hardy." You smirked and Tom almost visibly deflated.

"Well that's my dreams shattered." Tom said and everyone laughed. "I feel emotional wounded."

"Aw it's okay, I'll keep in my heart that I'm your crush."

"I changed my mind."

"No take backs Tom."

**

"I have a question for Y/N." A fan said as they stood up at comic con. "How do you do all those scenes with Tom when he's topless, do you get distracted?"

"Oh massively, all the time. It's a wonder these films ever get finished." You answered as Sebastian laughed.

"In between all the flirting these two do, I agree, it's a wonder we ever finish filming." Anthony chimed in and you laughed. "You should see her face when Tom walks around set, just love eyes all the time." He added.

"That's good to know." Tom laughed as he placed a hand on your knee which sent the fans into a frenzy.

"Like this one can talk," Sebastian said. "He literally looks at her like no one else exists, I am convinced they are dating and it's the best kept secret ever."

"Are you?" The host asked the two of you and everyone watched as you both smiled at each other.

"No." You answered at the same time. "Just really close." Tom added and your heart did a flip, he didn't use the word 'friends' like you expected him to, like he usually did.

"You know, we had to do this scene and Y/N here decided to do her own stunt and somehow knocked herself out," Anthony started and you groaned. "And this one?" He said as he clapped Tom's shoulder. "Wow, you should've seen him, you'd have thought she'd nearly died."

"I was just making sure she was okay." Tom defended himself.

"It's because he's in love with me obviously." You said as you leant your head on Tom's shoulder and he put his head on top of yours.

"Secrets out." He teased, placing a kiss to your head as you laughed and playfully shoved him.

**

"So who's seen Y/N's recent film?" The interviewer asked and almost all the cast raised their hands. "Because there was a lot of her in that." He added.

"Tom's seen it loads, but he always watches it alone." Anthony teased as you laughed.

"It was a good film!" Tom said in defence.

"Oh yeah? Which bit is your favourite." Anthony asked.

"You know the bit with the-"

"Y/N's sex scene?" Anthony interjected as Tom laughed embarrassed.

"Yeah that bit was pretty good." Tom said through a laugh, both of your hands where now covering your face in embarrassment as you shook your head.

**

"So are you both aware that people write fanfiction about the two of you?" The interviewer asked and Tom burst into a fit of giggles, you kept a straight face as you looked at the interviewer.

"Yes."

"Oh really? How'd you know?"

"I write it." You said as a laugh escaped your throat.

"Based on real life events." Tom added and you both burst into laughter as his head fell on your shoulder and a hand rested on your thigh, high enough to get your heart racing.

"Have you ever read any?" The interviewer asked, amused look on his face.

"Oh loads." You said sarcastically.

"It's just about the only reading I do aside from reading a script." Tom snorted.

**

"You and Tom are close?" Graham Norton asked as he pulled up a picture you'd taken and posted to Instagram.

"Yeah, we are." You said with a smile.

"Be honest here, is there anything else going on?"

"No." You shook your head.

"Seriously?"

"Yup. Just really close."

**

It'd been a long day of promo, everyone was quite tired. You yawned as you sat on the couch in the dressing room, Tom joining you.

"You tired?" He asked as he looked at you.

"Yeah." You yawned as you held back another yawn.

"Come here." He said as he coaxed you to lay your head in his lap, something you'd done a thousand times. What you weren't expecting were Tom's hands massaging your scalp and the way you instantly relaxed into it.

"You should get some sleep." He said as he lent over to look at you and gave you a kiss on the forehead, yet another action you weren't prepared for. You were to tired to fight or question it as you felt yourself succumb to sleep.

**

"Now, Y/N L/N," Graham started with. "The last time you were on my sofa I felt lied to." He said and you placed your face in your hand, knowing what was coming as you heard him laugh.

"Did you?" You squeaked out as Graham pulled up a picture from the other night.

"Yes, now if we study this picture for a second. Daniel Radcliffe what would you say is going on here?" Graham teased as you fanned a hand over your face to cool your rising temperature.

"I mean it looks like Y/N's kissing Tom Holland but I could be wrong." Daniel shrugged as the audience and the other celebs burst into laughter.

"It does doesn't it. Y/N, you told me you were close and nothing else was going on but can you tell me what was happening here?" He asked as you looked at him, smiling in embarrassment.

"I, we, I don't." You stuttered out.

"Leave the poor girl alone, she looks like she's about to combust." Emily Blunt defended you as you shook your head and took a deep breath.

"I technically didn't lie, not when I was last here. We really were just friends then." You said.

"So you're not now?" Graham clarified.

"Sorry?" You tried to dodge the question.

"Just friends, you're not just friends now?" He said with that signature grin.

"No." You huffed in defeat as everyone erupted into squeals and cheers.

"When did this happen?" He pried and you smiled.

"Around eighteen months ago." You clarified.

"And who made the first move?"

"He did. Well, no, I suppose we both did." You said. "It was after the last movie came out. We had a bit of an argument about something and the next thing I know we were kissing, I'm not really sure who kissed who first." You said and Graham laughed.

"But now you're official?" Graham asked and you nodded.

"I mean they've been in love for years, trust me. I'm happy they decided to give into it." Robert Downey Jr said from next to you as you smiled shyly. He was here promoting a different movie and it had been good too see him again.

"So is the other rumour true?" Graham asked. To say you'd been together for eighteen months you kept things pretty quiet, both being private people. You never denied the rumours but you hadn't properly confirmed them either.

"What rumour?" You asked, knowing exactly which one he was probably talking about.

"You know," he said as he held his cards up to his face, feigning being discreet. "The engagement rumours?" He said as you placed a hand on your face to hide your embarrassed laugh and smile, holding your left hand up for the audience to see and when they did, they erupted yet again into a fit of screams and cheers.

[byunbaekby]

title: haven’t been caught pairing: badboy!haechan x goodgirl!reader word count: 1.7k genres: fluff, established relationship au, high school au, secret relationship warnings: mentions of weed, suggestiveness, one cuss word, not proofread additional: based on the song “good girls” by 5 seconds of summer. also, big thanks to @florence-cvrt​ for all their help <3

-

She's good at school, she's never truant She can speak French, I think she's fluent.

“Lee Donghyuck, if you don’t get your hand off my thigh right this instant, I will tell Mr. Qian to fail you.”

You bring a light slap down on his hand, which is threatening to slide up your skirt. Your boyfriend’s hand immediately leaves your leg, innocently tucking it back into his lap. When you turn to him, his pretty lips are spread into a fake virtuous smile and his long hair barely covers his entertained sparkling eyes. Still, he complains, “Wait until I tell the student body that their vice president is actually violent and manipulative.” 

He tsk’s as you show no reaction, instead flipping through the pages of the French textbook. “What would you tell them?” 

Donghyuck leans back in his desk chair where the two of you reside in an empty classroom, adjusting the collar of his leather jacket before running a hand through his hair. “That even though you walk around school smiling at everyone and kissing teachers’ asses, you love hitting your boyfriend and threatening him.”

“You, my boyfriend?” You laugh at him, eyes never leaving the book. “They’d never believe you.”

You’re right, because the school has no idea that you, the It Girl and vice president of the student body council, are dating Lee Donghyuck, the guy who smokes weed behind the school and always skips class for no important reason other than to entertain himself. How you even started dating is another story, but now your relationship is on the infinite downlow.

“You’re right,” he relents, but he’s obviously not given up yet as he leans closer to you. You try not to get swayed by the sudden infiltration of his scent, and continue scanning the pages of the French book. “They won’t. But it wouldn’t be a surprise. I mean, we’d be the hottest couple ever. So, maybe I should put a nice big hickey, right there on your pretty neck. Maybe then they’ll believe you’re not as innocent as you pretend to be,” teases your boyfriend, his voice dipping lower into dangerous territory. 

You roll your eyes. “Sure,” you respond sarcastically.

“If you say so.”

Before you know it, your boyfriend has leaned in to kiss you, lips inches away from yours. When you realize what he’s up to you put a hand up, so his lips meet your palm instead of their intended destination. “No.”

A whine leaves him, a stark juxtaposition from his dark appearance. “Why not?”

“Because it’s not appropriate.”

“Not appropriate?” he questions, crossing his leather covered arms across his chest. “You’re my girlfriend.”

A shake of your head tells him no, along with a teasing smirk upon your lips. “Not right now. Right now, I’m your French tutor. Now pay attention,” you tell him, gaze skimming the textbook page. 

“Fine,” he scoffs, leaning back in his chair. 

“Je suis allé au café et j'ai pris une tasse de café. Translate that for me.”

“That means,” he starts, rolling his neck back to stretch it out, looking less than interested in the lesson. “My boyfriend is so sexy and I wish he would kiss me right now.”

Your eyes narrow, and you shake your head. He speaks up again. “I was kidding, actually it means, Donghyuck, I love when you wear your leather jacket, it makes you look so sexy.” 

You lean forward, capturing your head in your hands in frustration. He just laughs. “Tu es une telle honte, pourquoi je sors avec toi,” you sigh out, exasperated. 

“Oh,” he hums, leaning forward to hold your hands instead. “Maybe that one means, My girlfriend is so beautiful and smart?” You look up at him, raising an eyebrow at his sudden attempt to appeal to you. “Because you are.”

You roll your eyes, a smile spreading over your lips. “Actually I was calling you a disgrace and wondering why I’m even dating you.”

“Not surprised,” he chuckles softly, but immediately closes the French textbook on the desk before the two of you. “Come on, you know I’m not good at this school thing. Mr. Qian already knew that when he asked you to tutor me. How about,” he tilts his head at you, about to put up an offer. “We ditch this tutoring session and go get some ice cream? On me.”

A purse of your lips tells him you’re considering it, and he adds, “If anything, I’m just studying more by being with a beautiful lady who speaks fluent French.” 

You chuckle, leaning forward with pursed lips. “Je t'aime.”

“That one I know,” he smiles as he presses a sweet kiss to your lips. “Love you too. Now let’s go,” he says, standing and pulling you along by the hand. 

'Cause every night she studies hard in her room At least that's what her parents assume But she sneaks out the window to meet with her boyfriend.

Carefully you climb down the side of the house, trying your best not to make any noise against the wall but also trying not to fall to your death. A sigh of relief leaves your lips as both your feet touch the solid ground.

“Going somewhere?”

Immediately you jump, eyes widened as you turn to meet the owner of the voice. “Donghyuck!” You hiss, voice still low. “I thought you were my dad!”

“Well, you can call me daddy too,” your boyfriend says as he approaches you to press a kiss on your cheek. The tip of his light chin stubble brushes on your skin as he does so. 

“Don’t even joke about that,” you roll your eyes, allowing him to slide an arm over your shoulder and walk you down the street to where he parked his car out of view from your house. “So, where are we going?” “A friend’s party. His name is Mark.”

A cautious eyebrow is raised by you. “Will anyone from school be there?”

He shakes his head in response, knowing you can’t be spotted together especially with you under his arm at a college party of course. You’ve got to protect your precious reputation. “Nah, he’s in college. There’s no way he’d let high schoolers in.”

“We’re high schoolers, silly.”

“Well, yeah,” he shrugs before turning and grinning sinfully at you. “But we’re cool.”

“Yeah, keep telling yourself that,” you tease as he releases you and unlocks his car.

She may be clever but she just acts too square 'Cause in the back of the room where nobody looks She'll be with her boyfriend, she's not reading books.

As you slide up onto your tiptoes, the feeling of your boyfriend pressing against you is much too present and you scoff. “Can you stop being a horndog and get this book for me?”

“Darling,” he chastises, reaching up to grab it easily above you. “That’s what I was doing.”

As he hands the book to you, you roll your eyes. “Sure, like you weren’t trying to rub up on me.” 

“Not at all,” responds Donghyuck, dark eyes glinting with mischief. You leave him behind as you turn into the next aisle, searching carefully for the next book you were looking for. As you get deeper into the library shelves, the light gets further away and the tall shelves begin to cast a shadow upon your hidden figures. “Why do you even wear your uniform, anyways? You know it’s not required by the school.” 

“Yeah,” you respond matter-of-factly. “But as the vice president I should adhere to the suggestions set by the administration. Clearly you don’t care,” you say, glancing over his usual outfit of ripped jeans (which definitely didn’t fit normal dress code anyways) and his trademark leather jacket over a white Adidas shirt. 

“Okay, but your president Huang Renjun is a lame virgin with a stick up his ass and even he doesn’t wear his uniform everyday,” retorts your boyfriend.

“More reason why I should have been president instead,” you respond, scanning over the back of a book sounding not at all petty.

“That’s because at the time, you were more focused on becoming my girlfriend than campaigning, you minx,” Donghyuck teases as you slide the book back into its place, unsatisfied with its synopsis. When you don’t respond, instead turning into yet another aisle, he follows you, fingers tugging slightly at your skirt. “That’s okay, I like the skirt anyways,” he says, his famous smirk over his lips as your mouth gapes and a flustered warmth slides up to your cheeks. “S’cute.”

She said to me, forget what you thought 'Cause good girls are bad girls that haven't been caught

“Oh my god, Y/N,” Donghyuck already starts as he approaches you in the front of the school, already losing his bad boy personality in the fear that you’d be upset at him. “I’m so sorry.”

The two of you had been caught making out in the bleachers by a few members of the football team after school yesterday. Okay, perhaps it wasn’t the most discreet of places but you swore they’d announced over the intercom that football practice was cancelled for the day! Unluckily, it seemed a few players still wanted to get some practice in. 

Surely, rumors flew in less than twenty-four hours. Y/N, with Donghyuck? No way. Impossible.

Yeah, that was what you thought too, until it happened. You fell for him, for all his rough edges and playful teasing. He doesn’t deserve to be hidden. 

The smile you give him must throw him off, because he blinks. He’s probably forgotten his pre-made apology; he knows how important your reputation is to him. In his silence, you speak up.

“I don’t want to hide anymore. Let’s,” you propose as you interlace your hands, surely feeling eyes on you already. “Show them what a hot couple looks like.” 

He blinks, eyes flying to your hands and it’s probably the first time you’ve seen the snarky Donghyuck speechless. He recovers smoothly, smirking and nodding. “Okay. Let’s blow them away.” 

“But if you fail your French test in third period, I will break up with you.”

A boisterous laugh leaves his lips as he kicks open the doors to the school hallway. “Noted.”

Before the two of you enter the hallway to expose your unlikely clandestine romance to everyone, you lean up and whisper in his ear. “Je t'aime.”

“I know what that means,” he smirks as he presses a proud kiss onto your temple, and takes a step inside. 

[taetaespeaches]

“I don’t want her looking at anyone else that way.”

taehyung x reader (or oc) (feat. platonic yoongi) genre: angst; fluff word count: 2.8K

a/n: Hi lovelies! I got a request a little while ago to write something for Tae and Peaches based on ‘Is There Somewhere’ by Halsey, so here it is, though it’s kind of loosely based. This takes place about two weeks after “You should call me daddy more often” and Tae is jealous that Peaches is still seeing the girl mentioned briefly in the above fic. This also gives you some insight into Peaches and Yoon’s friendship. As always, thanks for reading and I hope you all enjoy! :))

THE beat resounded through the studio for the fifth time in a row as you tapped along against the couch you were sat upon. What started as just a fingertip tapping quickly turned into your whole palm slapping the leather, knowing it would get on your host’s nerves.

Sure enough, a sigh sounded from the man sitting in the chair in front of you, causing you to smirk. “Can you stop?” He asked in annoyance, though you knew he wasn’t really all that bothered.

“I’ll think about it,” you teased, Yoongi shaking his head. Pulling out your phone, you opened your messages with Taehyung, re-reading the last texts sent, the conversation mostly in blue, various texts going from cheerful “Morning sunshine!!!” to “Hey, how are you?” to “Hi” and ending with “Ok?”

The last text conversation you had, and conversation in general, was Tae asking about your date with the same girl you started seeing a few days after everyone went to karaoke. When you mentioned that it would be your fourth date in the matter of two weeks, he acted almost bitter, becoming distant before halting replies altogether. “No, that’s fine, you can date who you want. I just didn’t know you were actually into her” was the last you’d heard from him.

Still beating on the arm of the sofa, Yoongi turned around and shot you a silent glare until you looked up from your phone. “You’re being a pest.”

“Yoongles, I’m bored,” you whined, Yoongi huffing.

“You’re supposed to be listening to what’s missing,” Yoongi told you, biting back a smile as you rolled your eyes.

“If you think I can detect a single individual sound in that beat, you’re horribly mistaken,” you informed him, Yoongi chuckling at you.

Turning to press pause on the beat, he looked back to you, avoiding eye contact as he picked at the fraying around the edge of the tear in his jeans. In true Yoongi fashion, he was trying to figure out how to address the elephant in the room without having to, you know, talk. “Your best friend is in the building,” he started, you raising your eyebrows at him.

“And?” You questioned, Yoongi scoffing.

“So, you could quit bothering me and go hang out with him,” he told you.

“He told me you missed me coming by your studio,” you pointed out with a smirk, Yoongi pulling a feigned disgusted look. “Just play the beat again, I’ll try my hardest this time,” you giggled as you tried to deflect the conversation away from Taehyung. You didn’t want to talk about the man who occupied nearly all your thoughts.

“Are you just trying to avoid talking about Taehyungie?” Yoongi asked you knowingly, you scoffing.

“There’s just nothing to talk about,” you lied.

“Why do you keep looking at your phone?” He asked, nodding at the device in your hands just as you locked it.

“I’m talking to my date,” you lied again. Yoongi’s eyes widened in surprise.

“You’re dating someone?” He asked, you waving him off.

“Play the beat, Yoongles, I don’t have all day,” you told him with a smirk, Yoongi smiling.

“Don’t you though?” He teased, turning back to the computer.

“You know what, you’re nicer when our girlfriend is here,” you joked back, noting how Yoongi shook his head at the word our. “Where is she anyway?”

“She’s working,” Yoongi told you overtop the instrumental. “Like you should be, shouldn’t you?”

“I took the day off,” you said simply.

“Why?” Yoongi questioned, looking over his shoulder at you. It was sweet but also highly entertaining watching Yoongi try to get you to open up while also trying to maintain distance as he attempted to respect your boundaries, all while battling his own instinct to not dig into people’s business.

“No reason,” you dismissed. There definitely was a reason, it was just centered around one Kim Taehyung, and you weren’t talking about him. About two week ago, Taehyung had mentioned wanting to take you on a friend date, where you could go and visit museums and eat a bunch of food with a few surprises Tae wouldn’t tell you about. You obviously took the day off work, not wanting to miss out on a day dedicated to your best friend. But that was before he started blowing off your texts and calls.

Yoongi gave you a disbelieving look, you groaning. “Shush, I’m trying to produce,” you told the man. The comment earned another scoff from Yoongi, probably the twentieth one you’d heard since entering his studio an hour earlier.

Just as you both stopped talking, a knock was heard on the door, eliciting a groan from your friend. Scooting his chair away from his desk, you held your hand up to him, standing from the sofa. Without a word, Yoongi watched as you went to answer the door.

Opening it, before you even gave a greeting, you rolled your eyes and stepped away, allowing Taehyung inside. He gave Yoongi a look of surprise, pointing to you to silently ask the older man what you were doing in the building. Yoongi simply shrugged, turning back to the computer screen and bracing himself for whatever was about to take place.

“Why are you here?” Taehyung asked you in confusion, you giving him a displeased look.

“I’m hanging out with Yoongi,” you told him plainly, Taehyung’s eyebrows pulling together even more.

“Ok, but shouldn’t you be at work?” He asked you,

“I had the day off,” you said coldly, looking away from him, directing your gaze to the back of Yoongi’s head. “Remember?”

“On a Thurs-” He cut his own question off as the realization came to him. The friend date. Asshole, you thought to yourself. Stepping closer to you, you stubbornly kept your eyes pointed toward the older man. “Why didn’t you tell me you were here?” Tae asked you, Yoongi leaning back slightly to listen in on the conversation.

“Really?” You asked Taehyung, looking up at him. In retort to his shrug, you scoffed. “Why would I tell you when you’ve been blowing off my text and calls all week?”

“Because we were supposed to hang out today,” he noted, sitting down next to you on the couch, you scooting away from him and closer to the arm.  Looking at him, you glared at his wide-eyed innocent expression. How dare he have the audacity to look so adorably wholesome right now.

“You literally haven’t replied to me in three days, Tae, that’s a pretty clear sign that you don’t want to talk to me or hang out with me, especially for an entire day,” you told him angrily.

Yoongi turned to look at you both, his gaze widened slightly as he took in the scene of your angry expression in contrast to Tae’s apologetic one. “If you two are going to be in here, can you not argue? Or whatever the hell it is you two do when you disagree?” Yoongi posed to you both, you rolling your eyes and turning from Tae, Taehyung licking his lips as he looked to the side of the room.

A tense silence enveloped the studio, Yoongi’s eyes scanning between you and your best friend, your gaze set to the floor and Tae’s drifting from the wall to Yoongi.

“You still should have told me that you were here, I mean you’re at my work,” Taehyung persisted, you groaning.

“Literally why? Why would I tell you what I’m doing, where I’m doing it, and who I’m doing it with?” You asked, looking back to him to see his expression had switched from sad to angry.

“Good point,” he nodded. “You never tell me that stuff anyway.”

“Oh my god,” you let out a bitter single laugh. “Is that what this whole thing is about? Because I didn’t tell you I was going on another date?”

“It’s not that you’re going on a date, it’s that it was going to be the fourth one and I didn’t know there was a second and third,” Taehyung complained, his face getting angrier the more he opened up about his frustrations.

In perfect timing, or maybe not such perfect timing, your phone dinged. Yours and Tae’s eyes darted to the screen, seeing it was the girl you had been seeing. Yoongi watched you both intently as you unlocked the phone, observing how Taehyung’s expression dropped as he looked away, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Is that your date?” Yoongi asked, nodding to the phone. You simply nodded, Yoongi humming. “Well you gonna tell me about… him? Her? They?”

“Her. And no,” you told him, looking up and smirking at him. He scoffed just as Taehyung sighed next to you.

“Why not?” He asked challengingly. “We share a girlfriend. I think that makes your dating life my concern.”

Giggling at the comment, you nodded. “Points were made.”  

“Is it serious?” Yoongi asked, his eyebrows raised as he pried.

You moved your head side to side in debate. “Not really,” you decided. “She’s just kind of fun to hang out with, but I don’t think it’s long-term compatibility.”

“Oh fun, huh?” Yoongi asked suggestively.

You flashed him a flirty smile, raising your eyebrow quickly, Yoongi chuckling.

“Wait, fun?” Taehyung asked, suddenly interested in the conversation as he looked at you expectantly. You gave him a knowing smile, Taehyung forcing a smile onto his face as he nodded. “Get ‘em girl.” The comment felt forced, but you appreciated the effort… you suppose.

“But just fun?” Yoongi asked, you nodding with a chuckle. “How fun?”

“Yeah, how fun?” Taehyung echoed in a teasing tone next to you, bumping your shoulder with his.

You sighed, looking between the intrigued men. “Decently fun.”

“Oh,” Yoongi pulled a disinterested look. “Well that doesn’t sound very fun.”

“I’ve had more fun,” you agreed. “But, I don’t know, it passes the time,” you shrugged, wanting to get away from the conversation. In the past, Tehyung had called you out on your inclination to date people simply for entertainment, never really making deeper connections, and you weren’t keen on hearing him call you out again. Especially when the reason you never wanted to let anyone in and connect with them was because they weren’t Taehyung. What was the point of getting serious with anyone else?

“I would have had a lot more fun with you today,” you told the man next to you, lowering your face to his shoulder to poke him with your nose.

“I’m sorry, I’ll make it up to you,” he apologized sincerely.

Shaking your head, you gave him a sad smile. “You don’t have to make anything up to me, just don’t ignore me anymore.”

“I won’t,” he agreed as he reached for your face, placing his palms on your cheeks and squishing the flesh together. “And I absolutely will make it up to you.”

“I’m holding you to it,” you mumbled through your forced pucker, Taehyung giggling cutely at you.

“Please do,” he said through his adorable boxy grin.

“You two are so strange,” Yoongi noted, sitting back in his chair as Tae released your face from his grasp.

“Soulmate vibes,” you grinned to Yoongi. “I’m getting a coffee, want one?” You asked the older man as you stood up. Yoongi gave you a close-mouthed smile, looking quite cute, as he nodded. “Cool, how about you, Tae?” You teased, knowing his distaste for the drink, your best friend smiling fondly at you as you exited the studio.

“So,” Yoongi started, looking toward his younger friend. Taehyung hummed in response, Yoongi turning to his computer to pause the instrumental that had been playing throughout the whole conversation that just took place. “What’s your issue with her dating?”

“I don’t have an issue with her dating,” Taehyung lied, Yoongi scoffing. They sat in silence for a moment before Taehyung sighed. “I don’t even know,” he admitted truthfully.

“It seems a lot like jealousy,” Yoongi noted bluntly.

“It is,” Taehyung admitted. “I don’t know when it happened.” Yoongi didn’t say anything, instead allowing his friend to gather his thoughts as he waited patiently. “We’ve been through so much together, and she’s been such a constant in my life. She’s always been there, without fail.”

“She’s great, Taehyung. It makes sense,” Yoongi assured him.

“We hung out after we all did karaoke,” Taehyung started, a small smile curving on his mouth. “I don’t know, it just felt different.” Yoongi watched him carefully as he spoke about you. “We’ve always flirted a little, we’re playful, but it felt like it crossed over into new territory.”

“How so?” Yoongi asked, leaning forward so his elbows were resting on his knees.

“It felt like we were pretending to be in love,” Tae said, almost as if he was admitting it to himself for the first time. “Or maybe, it felt like we stopped pretending we weren’t that night.”

“Holy shit, are you in love with her?” Yoongi asked in surprise.

“I really don’t know. I know I love her,” he thought out loud. “But it was the way she looked that night. The way she looked at me.” Yoongi’s eyebrows pulled together at the comment. “She looked like she fell in love. And having her look at me like that, I don’t know, I don’t want anyone else looking at me like that. And I don’t want her looking at anyone else that way.” The friends both sat there, avoiding eye contact as their minds attempted to comprehend everything Taehyung just said.

“I just wish there was somewhere she and I could go, like a pause in time, where we could exist together without all the worries and overthinking,” Taehyung spoke sadly, Yoongi’s heart aching as his younger friend processed his feelings possibly for the first time.

Yoongi opened his mouth to speak but cut himself off before he started when his passcode was entered, you stepping inside, balancing two coffees and a juice for Taehyung. Tae jumped off the couch to take one of the coffees and the juice off your hands.

“It’s quiet in here,” you noted, directing your gaze at the two men skeptically. “Were you talking about me?” You teased, looking from Yoongi to Taehyung, noting the troubled expression Taehyung wore, despite trying to hide it. You knew you and him would be just fine, it was far from your first argument and it wouldn’t be the last. But you felt there was something deeper going on that he wasn’t telling you about.

“Yeah, about what a pest you are,” Yoongi told you, breaking you out of your concerns for Tae, Taehyung forcing a smile and a low chuckle.

“Oh whatever,” you dismissed him, walking to his desk to hand him the coffee that was still in your hands before returning to your spot next to Taehyung on the sofa. “You both love me,” you noted as you took a sip of the coffee Tae had placed on the table in front of you.

Yoongi noticed the sad smile that overtook Taehyung’s face, you completely oblivious to the man’s feelings and confession from just moments ago.

“Yeah, well,” Yoongi started turning back to his computer. “That’s for sure.”

Silence overtook the room again as Yoongi clicked various buttons on his computer, you and Tae sitting shoulder to shoulder as he read the nutrition label on his juice, you trying to pretend you didn’t feel the awkwardness radiating from the man. With a sigh, you tapped his thigh with your you index finger, Taehyung’s eyes darting to meet yours, his innocent and stunning.

“Are we ok?” You whispered, Taehyung immediately nodding.

“Of course we are,” he assured you with a small smile. Though you knew the awkwardness might sit with you both for a few days, you would eventually go back to normal. You would put your feelings back into the confines of your chest and appreciate the friendship you had with the man.

“When’s your next date?” Yoongi asked you without looking at you, still focused on the song, dissected by element on the screen.

“Uh,” you stalled, looking to Taehyung as he watched you intently. “I think that whole thing has run its course actually,” you noted. Where did that come from? You hadn’t been meaning to break things off with the girl, but looking at Taehyung in that moment, you simply realized things would never progress with the girl past being a decently fun time.

Yoongi hummed, his lack of surprise evident as if all three of you were expecting the eventual demise of your fling. Taehyung rested his head against your shoulder, grabbing your hand in his. “I’m sorry,” he apologized.

“For what?” You asked.

“Lots,” he let out a single breathy laugh. “But right now, I’m sorry she didn’t work out.” You giggled at the comment.

“It’s ok,” you smiled. And it really was. You had Taehyung, and whether he was simply your best friend or by chance something more, at least he was yours. 

[airis-paris14]

Wonder What She Thinks 4

Summary: She learns to put herself first and he loses the best thing he ever had.

Masterlist || 4 || 5

I’m not the jealous type, I like the other guys, I wish you all the best, I’ll help you pick her dress… I’m actually happy for you. - “Wonder What she Thinks of Me” Chloe x Halle

“I can’t believe y’all are making me do this,” Zoe huffed as she dipped all three tests in the cup by the sink. “Girl please,” Sylia dismissed, “you’re lucky you got a roommate who’s an OB. I can spot a pregnant lady from a mile away.”

“And if you’re not pregnant, at least you know you aren’t,” Kenois shrugged from her position on the closed toilet. “And what if I am?” Zoe frowned, setting the tops back on each of the clear blue tests. “What do you wanna do? You wanna terminate? Give up for adoption? Keep?”

“I wanna keep it. I can financially support a baby and I’m already kind of attached to the idea of having a little me running around. I just don’t know how the father is gonna take it,” the young nurse admitted. “Who is the baby daddy?” Kenois prodded. “Is it that dude you had the one-night stand with?”

“That’s the only timeline that fits.” Zoe tapped her fingers on the counter behind her. “Well, at least it isn’t T’Challa’s. With his engagement he-“ Sylvia trailed off noticing the change in her friend's face. “Unless the one-night stand was T’Challa.” She raised an eyebrow and Zoe dropped her face into her hands.

“Zoe,” Kenois groaned.

“I know. I know. I regretted it as soon as it happened,“ She moaned. “Not that! How come you didn’t tell us!”

“You said you hadn’t heard from him in months,” Sylia frowned. “I haven’t. We had a drunken conversation when I spotted him out, I cussed him out for ghosting, he made the usual promises, and we had sex. I left before he even woke up the next morning,” Zoe shrugged. “And now you’re having an engaged man’s baby,” Kenois added.

“We don’t know that she’s pregnant yet,” Sylvia pushed back. “I thought you could spot a pregnant lady from a mile away?” Zoe teased.

“Heaux, I'm tryna help you!”Sylia kissed her teeth.

The group dissolved into laughter and Zoe raised her hands in surrender. “Besides I’d be a bad doctor if I didn’t consider that the symptoms I’m seeing couldn’t be the result of something else, like your recent switch in birth control, which you should really stop taking until we can get an official test done in the lab.”

The nurse nodded before looking at her two best friends. “What would I do without y’all?” She began tearing up and the other women pulled her into a group hug. “You’ll never have to find out, because we’ll always be here,” Kenois pulled back, wiping her friend’s tears. Sylia nodded in agreement. “We’ll be here every step of the way. I’ll deliver the baby, and Kenois will be her pediatrician until she graduates college, then we’ll all cry as we watch our baby go off and live life.”

“What if it’s a boy?” Kenois teased. The gynecologist shrugged, “He’d throw off the dynamic, but we’d make it work. Make sure he knows how to treat a woman and get him all dressed up in little suits and sweaters.” Sylia gushed.

“Y’all, I’m terrified,” Zoe whispered out, causing her friends to stop their chatter. “I mean I’m not married, my baby’s father is royalty and engaged to someone who is not me-“ Zoe paused before dropping her head between her knees, “and I kissed Michael,” she moaned. “Umm come again?”Kenois demanded with a smile covering her face. “When he took me to the club last night, we kissed,” she repeated.

“Okay, well how do you feel about it?” Sylia pried, trying to understand where her friend's head was at. “I loved it,” the nurse sighed. “I loved being with him, but this is gonna mess all that up.”

“You don’t know that,” Sylia soothed, hopping up to sit next to her friend. “And if he’s gonna stop talking to you over this, then he wasn’t the right one in the first place,” Kenois added. “Y’all are close because you communicate well. So sit him down and just talk about it. See where his head is at before you assume your friendship or relationship is over.”

“I don’t know. If I’m pregnant, it’s not just me anymore. I’ll have a child and we’ll be a package deal. He didn’t sign up for that.”

“At least give Michael a chance to prove you wrong,” Kenois frowned, wiping her friend’s tears. Zoe nodded as they heard the front door open and shut. “You expecting anybody?” Sylia looked at her two roommates who shook their heads.

“Iman! Sylia! Keni! Y’all left your door open again! Where y’all at?”

“Damn that nigga yelling like he pay rent,” Kenois laughed and shook her head. “I’ll go get him,” Zoe wiped her face and left the bathroom. “Where y’all at?” Michael yelled, bumping into Zoe as she came into the living room. “We were in my bathroom. And you just walking into people’s houses now?”

“Y’all the one with an open door policy. I just took advantage. No one was answering my calls and I was knocking on the door for ten minutes,” Michael moved around her to place takeout bags on their kitchen table, “Y’all need to stop doing that, what if I was some dude tryna do y’all harm?” He pulled Zoe-Iman into a hug and she relaxed in his embrace before he pulled away.

“Well I’d be calling the police right now, not standing in the kitchen,” Zoe smirked following him as he started pulling food out of the takeout bags. “Haha,” he deadpanned, “just try and lock the door, please. I already worry about y’all enough as is. Three black women living alone in this non-gated apartment complex. Weirdos just be walking in off the street-“

“Like you?”

Michael stopped and frowned, “You bout to make me pack up this breakfast and leave Iman.”

“I’m just kidding I’m sorry,” she walked over and wrapped her arms around his waist. He reciprocated the gesture and frowned as she finished speaking, “We’ll do better at locking the door. Your concern is noted and appreciated.”

“Why you been crying?”

Zoe blanched, remembering the cause of her tears. Michael had that magic effect, he could make her worries fade away effortlessly. “Oh,” she mumbled, looking away before he turned her face back to his. “I just wanna help Iman.” He searched her face as her muscles relaxed. Zoe cleared her throat,” I might be pregnant,” she answered. The room went silent and Michael dropped his hand from her face. “Okay, have you taken a test? You need me to get some?”

The nurse shook her head, “That’s what we were doing in the bathroom. Just waiting for the timer to go off. It’s probably gone off by now though,” she murmured. “Okay,” the actor ran his hand over his head, “You wanna go look?”

Zoe shook her head, “Not yet. I’m actually terrified to go back in there.”

She and Michael chuckled, “Do you know who the father is?”

“T’Challa.” She whispered.

“I thought you hadn’t seen him in months?”

“I haven’t, but before the disco club, we had a drunk one-night thing about two months ago. I was so embarrassed when I woke up. I left before he got up and swore I’d never tell anybody. Then I broke it off with him after the first night at the club and here we are,” she explained. Michael pulled her in for another hug and the two stood in the kitchen laying on each other just enjoying the embrace. “You know, this doesn’t change how I feel about you,” Michael started.

“Really?”

He nodded, his chin remained stationed on her head, “If we get together. I want all of you and that includes the child growing inside of you. They are a piece of you and for that, I already know I’m gonna love them. Even if we don’t work out as a couple, you and this child will always have me.”

Zoe felt tears filling her eyes and Michael laughed as she tried to hide it, “You so emotional” he laughed wiping her tears. “It’s not funny. It’s probably hormones,” she excused standing up to wipe her own tears. “It’s definitely hormones,” Sylia interjected from where she stood at the entrance to the kitchen. “All three?” Zoe asked and her friend nodded. “What do you mean?” Michael frowned. “All three of the pregnancy tests came back positive,” Sylia elaborated.

****

“You can’t see it right?” Zoe fretted checking to see if her five-month baby bump was visible in her dress. “No, but I still think you should tell him” Kenois pushed while watching her friend search for her shoes. Zoe stood up with one shoe in her hand, “And say what? I haven't seen you in 3 months but I’m having your baby. Oh and congratulations on getting married!” The nurse rolled her eyes and bent back down to slip the heel on her foot.

“He deserves to know he is going to have an heir in six months. Preferably before he gets married.” Kenois's eyes followed her friend as she moved around the room. “He made the decision to delete my number,” Zoe-Iman argued. “He wanted me out of his life so that he could curate this perfect image with this perfect bride and now I have to show up at their perfect wedding to play the perfect supportive best friend when I haven’t seen this man in months. He obviously still knows where we live so if he wanted to have me in his life he would have come by. But he didn’t. I will not put my child through the heartbreak of only having a father who will love them in secret.”

“Iman-“

“That is my final decision,” the nurse interrupted, grabbing her purse off of the bed and walking into the front room. “You’re going to regret this,” Kenois sighed, turning off the light and following her out.

“Hey hey,” Michael stood up off of the couch hugging Kenois then pulling his girlfriend in for a hug and kiss. “Hey baby,” Zoe smiled. “How’d you get in, I’m sure we double-locked the door last night,” Kenois asked, watching her friend interact with her new boo. Even though she was upset that Zoe-Iman wouldn’t tell T’Challa that they were expecting, she was very happy her friend had moved on. She’d watched the prince string her along for years, pretending he’d only wanted to be friends while doing everything a boyfriend should do. Zoe tried to explain it away, but Kenois saw the signs. She knew T’Challa would only break her girl’s heart and she was glad Michael could intervene and show Zoe what real love looked like.

“I let him in,” Sylia replied, leaving the kitchen with two bottles of water, handing one to the actor. “But, thank you for locking the door. Gives me some peace of mind. Especially with my main man staying here too,” Michael reached for Zoe’s bump as she swatted his hand away. “Stop. I’ve got it draped just right so my bump is hidden,” the mother fussed. “Girl,” Sylia raised an eyebrow, “that’s like trying to hide a boulder under a blanket,” the woman teased and shook her head. Zoe-Iman scoffed, “Wooow,” Zoe squinted, “I just don’t want all eyes on me. I just wanna get there, play the supportive best friend, and leave. No questions and no pitiful looks from anyone who can make an educated guess. And moreover, no drama in the press. I want a clean break.”

Ima, you know y’all are having a baby right? That’s never gonna be possible,” Michael took her hand in his and squeezed. Zoe looked away biting her lip. “Unless you’re still not planning to tell him he’s having a baby?” Sylia raised an eyebrow.

“I am the one having the baby! Not him,” Zoe insisted. “Baby, you should at least give him the option to have the child in his life. Tell him now and if he cuts y’all off again it’s his loss and you never have to see him again. But him being involved in this child’s life, is not your decision to make. He should know.” Michael frowned and lifted her face to his.

“I’ll think about it. But it won’t be today. I can’t do that to his fiancée on her wedding day,” Zoe grabbed a light jacket and walked out of the apartment leaving her boyfriend, and best friends behind.

****

“You okay?” Michael whispered in his lady’s ear. His hand rested on her lower back guiding her to their seats in the grand venue. “Right as rain,” she sighed, accepting his help to sink down in the seat. “We’re gonna go find the guys,” Kenois let the couple know before she and Sylia wandered off. “You’re ruining your perfect drape,” Michael teased as he lifted her hand that had started rubbing her five-month belly. A nervous habit she’d acquired since the moment it appeared. “Thank you,” she offered a shy smile.

“You ever think about your wedding?” Michael asked. “Sometimes,” Iman shrugged.

“Well, what’s it like?” Michael nudged her shoulder.

“I don’t want anything this big, but I want to go all out for the people I love. Small guest list, but really over the top. Flowers from ceilings, dance floors, chandeliers, maybe that really good quality fake grass in some areas so I can walk around without my shoes on.”

“I don’t understand why you always wanna be barefoot,” Michael shook his head and bit his lip. The expectant woman shrugged, “It’s the country in me. My toes feel trapped in socks and shoes. You ever walked a creek?”

“Walk a creek?”

“Yeah we used to have this creek through our yard and we’d take off our shoes, roll up our pants, and wade down the stream. Just walking on the rocks.”

“With the fish and everything?” His eyes bugged. Iman laughed, “You leave them alone, they leave you alone. Besides I learned to swim in a lake, fish don’t scare me anymore.”

“You swam in lake water? Y’all wildin’,” the actor cackled. The nurse elbowed him before joining in his amusement. “It’s not that bad. At least it ain’t got sharks,” she reasoned.

“Umm-hmm, all I know is you’d have to convince me before I go hopping in a lake anytime soon.”

“We can start with creeks and work our way up. Once the little bean is old enough, I definitely wanna make it a tradition. I want Lil bean to appreciate nature and the finer luxuries in life equally.”

“Like a boujee country hybrid?”

“Exactly,” Iman smiled, “Imma take them to the camp I went to-“

“ZoeZoe,” Camden tapped the mother on her shoulder, “What’s up Mike?” he dapped him up before addressing Zoe.

“T wants to see you,” Camden sighed. Zoe felt her heart drop, “Me? Why does he want to see me?”

“Look, I wish I knew but he’s throwing a mini tantrum. I just need him to either call off the wedding or be out here at that altar in fifteen minutes and you’re the only one he’s gonna listen to.”

Zoe huffed as Michael helped her up from the seat. “You’re a lifesaver Iman,” Camden kissed her cheek as he took Michael’s position and escorted her to T’Challa’s dressing room.

“Yeah, yeah,” she sighed. “How’s the little bean?” Camden asked as they navigated the long hallways of the venue. Zoe smiled and glanced at her little baby bump, “They’re great. Their little heartbeat is easily my favorite thing to hear in the world.”

Camden smiled as she talked about her child. He, like the rest of their friend group, was ecstatic to welcome their new addition. He or she was gonna be everybody's nephew, or niece since Iman insisted it was a little girl. He was also glad that Iman moved on from his friend, he loved T, but the man was too indecisive for his own good. He’d definitely lost a jewel in choosing Nakia over Iman. Not that he didn’t like Nakia, she seemed like a really sweet woman, but T’Challa had so much history with Iman that nothing would be able to replace it. Especially now that they were having a baby.

The A&T alum stopped in front of a suite door and sighed. “This is it,” he reached for the door but paused when Zoe stopped him. “Is my bump, is it noticeable?” She bit her lip and Camden scrunched up his face. “Yeah, but why you trying to hide it?” The nurse's face said it all, “You haven’t told him?”

Camden led Zoe away from the door and into a private corridor. “I knew y’all weren’t on good terms, but Zoe you have to tell him! How would you feel if a girl had my baby and kept it from me?”

“This isn’t the same! T’Challa is a prince. T’Challa is engaged! It’s his wedding day for god's sake. I can’t ruin this day for him!” she whisper yelled. Cam sucked his teeth, “Girl, you know that man would end this whole ceremony for you in a heart-“

“No, no he wouldn’t. This whole image ordeal has changed him. Maybe in college, he would have done that but I’m not what he’s so desperately searching for. Add in a baby and I’m definitely not what he needs anymore. He’ll be fine,” Zoe insisted.

“Look I cannot force you to tell him, but if you do not, I will. And that’s a promise,” Camden cut Zoe off as she opened her mouth. The young mother sighed and walked back over to the door. She knocked twice before letting herself in. “T’Challa?”

The groom looked up as Zoe shut the door behind her. “You came,” his face softened. Zoe took a moment to see how much he’d aged in the past three months. His eyes looked tired and he hadn’t been eating well. He looked like this quarter of a year had been exam week every week. He stood and reached for her hand but she moved away. “You look nice,” she offered, looking him over quickly. “I look like a joke,” the king scoffed. The pair stared at each other in silence. “Am I making the right decision?” The prince asked.

“You’re asking me?” Zoe raised an eyebrow.

“Iman, I always ask for your advice.”

“Yes, but you do realize you’re asking me whether or not you should marry the woman whom you cut me out of your life for right?”

“I-“ the king walked over to the couch and sunk into it. “I don’t know what I’m doing anymore. I feel so lost without you by my side Iman. I want you to be the one wearing white and walking down the aisle at this white wedding-“

“That’s not what I want anymore T’Challa. You threw me away like I meant nothing to you. At her first suggestion, you erased me from your life.”

The future king stood and moved closer to her but Zoe-Iman moved in the opposite direction. “I made a mistake Iman. If I could take it back I would-“

“But you can’t.” She cut him off. “What you fail to understand is that you broke me T’Challa. You strung me along with promises of a relationship for years. Then we started being together physically and there were more promises. Then you broke my heart and didn’t even stay around to make sure it would start beating again. You just vanished, then we had that one night, and I realized I had to protect myself. Which meant leaving you behind. We both made the best decisions for ourselves at that moment. Only one of us regrets it. I want us to just be friends.”

“I can’t just be friends!”

“Well your majesty, that's your decision and your problem,” Zoe shrugged. “But I’m here now,” the prince insisted, “I’ll stay this time. I’m gonna call off this wedding to show you my promises aren’t empty.”

Zoe raised a hand to stop his rambling, “T’Challa stop. Call off this wedding because you don’t love Nakia, not because you want to prove something to me. I have already moved on, or I’m trying to,” she admitted.

“You are with somebody else? Already?”

“We were never together, T'Challa. You made that very clear,” the mother reminded, “You were dating and proposing to other women the whole time we were having sex. So don’t say anything to me about finding someone who is proud to be with me in front of everyone. Someone who loves me out loud. I am happy now, and I want that for you. It just will not be with me.”

“So that is it? There will never be anything between us in any official capacity?”

Zoe fidgeted with her hands, “I wouldn’t say that your majesty,” she rested a hand on her bump.”We will be forever linked.”

“You are pregnant?” His eyes widened as Zoe smoothed out her dress to reveal her bump. The prince looked like tears would fall any second.

“We didn’t use protection that last time in the hotel, and I was switching birth controls. But obviously, I wasn’t thinking about that when I was drunk,” Zoe rambled. “May I?” The king interrupted, gesturing towards her stomach. The nurse nodded and the king bent down running a hand over her bump biting his lip. “Zoe,” he looked up, “I have to marry the mother of my child.”

“T’Challa no,” she stepped back, “We can co-parent but I have found something else worth fighting for. I won’t marry you just because I am having your child.”

“Iman please,” the prince begged, “I can’t lose you and this child on the same day.”

“No T’Challa. Do whatever you feel necessary today, marry Nakia or not, but everyone thought you at least deserved to at least know you were having a child. I did not do this to win you back.”

“And what about you? You were not going to tell me, my love?”

“Don’t call me that,” Zoe replied, purposely ignoring his question. “Zoe-“

“Whatever decision you make about Nakia, it does not matter to me. They just thought you should know so you can decide how or if you want to be in this child’s life.”

The king stood and nodded. “I want to be there, I will be there. But it will take some time, just trust me.”

“You are not making this promise to me, you are making a promise to this child. There is nothing for me to forgive,”

“Ayy, T’Challa we gotta go man. Make a decision!” Camden banged on the door. “Just promise you will forgive me. I need you to promise-“

“What am I forgiving?”

“Just promise me,” T’Challa pleaded as he grabbed his suit jacket, pausing to kiss Zoe’s cheek. “I love you,” he cupped her cheek before hurrying out of the door.

“What’s he gonna do?” Camden asked, walking in and offering her his arm to lead her back to her seat. “I don’t know, but I told him about the baby.”

“And?”

“I truly don’t know. He just said it would take time. Well, he asked me to marry him then when I rejected his offer, he asked me to forgive him and wait for him.”

“Forgive him for what?” Camden asked. “I don’t know,” Zoe glanced at the altar, “but I have a feeling we are about to find out.” She gave Camden a quick hug before re-finding her seat in the venue.

****

“Well that was awkward,” Michael whispered in Zoe’s ear as he helped her settle into her seat at their assigned table. “Stop,” Zoe hit his shoulder fighting off her own laughter. He only offered a grin as he took his own seat next to her. “You feeling okay? You need anything?” The expectant mother shook her head, I’m fine. Just ready to go honestly.”

Michael nodded and wrapped an arm around her shoulder before the master of ceremonies stole their attention. After each member of the bridal party had been introduced came the moment Zoe had been dreading since T’Challa appeared at the altar in the front of the church. “Now presenting, for the very first time, Mr. and Mrs. T’Challa Udaku, Their Royal Highnesses Prince and Princess of Wakanda!” The young married couple processed in and Zoe immediately regretted even showing up. Sensing her distress, Michael wraps her hand in his own and leaned into her ear, “I can’t wait to do that with you. If you’ll let me of course.” Zoe smiled at her boyfriend and bit her lip, “You want me to have your last name?”

“Yeah if you’ll take it,” the actor grinned. Their conversation was interrupted once again by the MC as T’Challa and Nakia headed to the floor for their first dance. As the song cued up Zoe turned back to the actor, “What if I wanna hyphenate?”

“You wanna be Mrs. James-Jordan?” The actor stared. The mother took a moment to think before giggling and shaking her head, “Nah, Mrs. Jordan sounds better.”

“Damn right it does,” Michael pulled her in closer as they broke out into quiet laughter. Across the room, T’Challa’s attention was pulled to the sound of Zoe’s laughter. He never stopped dancing, but his new wife could tell that she’d lost his attention. Not wanting to make a scene, she laid her head back on his chest and sighed, hoping she’d made the right decision in bowing to her father's wishes. Sure she loved T’Challa, but she couldn’t help feeling that his heart belonged to another. He’d been doing well for the last six months leading up to the wedding but all day, it seemed that his attention had been elsewhere and the bride couldn’t help but feel neglected. She snuck a glance at the woman who her husband had been staring at all night. She was here with a man, who seemed to be her significant other. They’d been giggling and sneaking glances the whole day and Nakia found them quite adorable. She hoped that she and T’Challa would get to that point one day, including the slight baby bump she could make out under the woman’s dress. Not because it was overly noticeable, but simply because she’d been longing to see the same bulge on her own form for a few months. As the dance ended, Nakia watched the man lead the mysterious woman out of the main room onto one of the many ballroom balconies. With the couple out of the room, T’Challa’s attention turned back to her and they continued through the reception motions. After receiving her plate of food, Nakia glanced out on the balcony to see the couple slow dancing as the sunset behind them. The boyfriend had the woman’s shoes in his hands as she danced barefoot on the marble tile. She smiled to herself and made a note to try and escape to one with T’Challa before the night was over.

****

“You thought about any names?” Michael murmured as he swayed slowly to Zoe-Iman’s slow dancing playlist. All the Man I Need by Whitney Houston was pouring out of her phone as the two held each other close. “I don’t know, I’ve really only ever thought about girl names to be honest.”

“What do you like for a girl?”

“I’m between Oyne and Ellijay for her first name. But for her middle name, I love Ka’iulani.”

“That’s different,” Michael hummed. “It’s Hawaiian. It means royal sacred one. Kind of ironic given her parentage, but I’ve had it picked out for years.”

“I think it’s beautiful,” Michael pulled back and leaned down to peck her lips. Without her heels, Zoe’s 5’6 frame seemed short compared to his six-foot stature. “You want me to help you think of some boy names,” he offered as the song switched to Blue by Beyoncé. “Maybe, if T’Challa comes around I’d like to let him name it if Lil bean is a boy,” Zoe revealed. “That’s fair,” the star nodded as Zoe returned to her position on his chest, “I’m glad you told him,” Michael smiled. “Yeah, it feels better knowing that he knows.” Zoe agreed. “What made you change your mind?”

“Cam threatened to tell him if I didn’t.” Michael laughed and Zoe fought back a grin of her own. “Cam is always playing the big brother.”

“And he does it well,” Zoe sighed as the song switched to I Will Always Love You by Whitney Houston. The couple settled into quiet, Michael placed a kiss on Zoe’s lips as the balcony door further down opened and interrupted their silence. “Oh, I didn’t know that the balconies were all connected,” Nakia apologized once they noticed Michael and Zoe’s music playing. T’Challa eyes were glued to the way Michael was holding Zoe, kicking himself for never dancing with her when she asked.

He recognized this song as one of her favorites and felt his heart crack even more. She was glowing with happiness and he hated that he’d never get to be the reason for it. “It’s alright,” Zoe reassured the new queen, “We should probably go eat anyway.” Zoe looked up at Michael who agreed. “Congratulations, to both of you,” Michael smiled. “You two as well,” Nakia grinned, glancing at Zoe’s tiny bump. “Sorry,” Zoe looked confused before Nakia quickly elaborated, “On the baby,” she gestured and Zoe froze as did T’Challa. If only this poor woman knew, “Oh thank you,” Michael squeezed her hand in reassurance before they grabbed her phone and headed inside.

“I think I’m ready to go,” Zoe sighed. “Aight then. You wanna wait here while I go grab our stuff from the table?” The mother nodded. With a final kiss to her forehead, Michael headed off and someone else caught her attention. “You can not leave without saying hello to your sister,” Shuri grinned. “A smile spread across Zoe’s face at the sight of the princess. The teen pulled her into a quick hug, frowning when she felt the bump, but the Queen mother joined in before she could ask any questions. “ I knew I had been dreaming of fish lately,” she whispered in Zoe’s ear before pulling back from the hug. “Hey,” Michael smiled, confusion lacing his eyes as Zoe stepped back from the queen. “Michael, this is Her Majesty Queen Ramonda, Queen Mother of Wakanda, and Her Royal Highness Shuri Udaku, Princess of Wakanda. T’Challa’s mother and sister. This is Michael B. Jordan, my boyfriend.” Zoe introduced and couldn’t miss the slight frown that ghosted Ramonda’s face. “It is so nice to meet you both,” Michael grinned, kissing both Ramonda and Shuri’s hands.

“It is nice to meet you as well. Are you all leaving?”

Zoe nodded, “Yes, the little one has worn me out for the day.” The Queen chuckled and nodded, “Yes I’m afraid they will drain your energy from now on. We should have lunch though, are you free tomorrow?” Nodding, the queen and Iman scheduled a time and place to meet up. After a quick detour to say hello to the king and goodbye to their friends, the young couple was finally able to escape the party.

You never told me what exactly happened when you went to talk to T’Challa,” Michael traced his fingers leisurely over Zoe’s arms as she lay in between his legs. “Nothing much,” she sighed. “He asked me if he should marry Nakia, and of course I wanted to cuss him out.”

Michael chuckled as Zoe continued, “Once I explained why that question was inappropriate for him to ask me, he finally revealed that he wanted to get back together and I turned him down, told him that I was pregnant, and-“ Zoe hesitated remembering what had happened next. She bit down on her lip as she felt Michael shift below her. “And what?”

“He asked me to marry him and I rejected him,” she finished. “Asked you to marry him?! Is he serious?”

“I don’t know but I flat out told him that it would never happen, I had something else worth fighting for and I wasn’t just gonna leave it behind,” she smiled up at him. “Damn right, I’m not giving you up without a fight, but are you sure it’s not a law or something?”

Zoe frowned, “I hadn’t thought about it but he’s gonna have to figure it out. Either that or I’m having two husbands.” Michael scoffed as Zoe died of laughter, “Nah, once you Mrs. Michael B Jordan I am not sharing you with anyone but Lil bean.”

*****

“And T’Challa knows about this?” King T’Chaka frowned. The royal family and Zari had been enjoying a rather peaceful lunch as Zari caught them up to speed about what had been going on for the almost two years since her visit to Wakanda. “Yes sir, I told him yesterday.”

“Yesterday? And he still married Nakia?” Shuri exclaimed. “Not that I don’t like her,” Shuri clarified under her parent’s stare. “Why did you wait so late to tell him, sweet girl?” Ramonda frowned.

Zari looked up confused, “T’Challa cut me out of his life about four months ago. Yesterday was the first time I’d seen him since then.”

“He told us that he was talking to you often.”

The mother shook her head, “I think Nakia got suspicious of how close we were and he blocked me on everything.”

“How did this happen then?” The king gestured at her bump. Zoe felt the blood rush to her face, “One day we saw each other in passing and he convinced me that he was ready to make our relationship official with you all-“

“So when you came to visit, there was something going on between the both of you?” Ramonda interrupted.

“Yes ma’am. T’Challa insisted it stay a secret-“

“Because he thought I would not approve?” Zoe nodded and the aging king sighed. “Dear girl I- We- have all always approved of you. In T’Challa’s younger years I was very adamant about him not marrying an outsider, but we all mellow with age.” The king and Zoe laughed, “I want you to know, and I believe I speak for everyone when I say, that we are all overjoyed at welcoming a new member of our family.”

Zoe teared up as Shuri, the king, and the queen all reached for her hands. “I’m sorry, I've been a bit of an emotional mess recently.”

“Totally understandable, it will only get worse as they get older.” Ramonda smiled. “Well let's celebrate!” The king clapped, “if I recall correctly, Raspberry Cheesecake is your favorite dessert?” The king smiled. Zoe-Iman wiped her eyes as a laugh tumbled out from her lips. “Yes, your majesty.”

“Please! No formalities before and none required now. You are carrying my first grandchild. Father or baba is fine with me if it is fine with you,” the older man smiled before ordering a raspberry cheesecake to be brought to the table.

***

“So, who was the girl from yesterday?” Nakia rubbed the last of the coconut oil on her hands into her skin before placing the lid back on the jar. “Who?” T’Challa asked, walking out of the closet buttoning the second to last button on his shirt. “The girl from the balcony. You were staring at her and her boyfriend the whole night.” Nakia stood and shrugged out of her robe to step into her outfit for the day. “Oh, you mean Zari? I wasn’t staring at her,” the prince replied, sliding into his shoes. He watched as his new wife slipped her dress over her form and turned so he could zip it up for her.

Nakia laughs, “T’Challa you were staring so hard I’m surprised the poor girl didn’t have a hole burned through her head.” The woman turned to smooth his shirt and smiled up at the frowning prince. “Aren’t wives usually upset about things like this?”

“Should I be?” Nakia suddenly frowned. “No, but it just seems like you wouldn’t like the idea of me staring at another woman.”

Nakia stepped away to slip into her shoes. “Well, I wasn’t, but you are starting to make me feel like I should be upset. She had a boyfriend, who she’s expecting a baby with. I assumed she was just a friend you had not seen in a while. Besides, you married me so I hoped I had nothing to worry about.” She grabbed her purse before turning back to her husband. “You do not have anything to worry about. She is, was, a really close friend at one point she was more than a friend.” The newly married man admitted.

“How recently was this, we’ve only been dating for a little while,” Nakia raised her eyebrow. “She was the girl whose number I deleted,” the prince sighed. Nakia set her purse down and wiped a hand over her face. “T’Challa, be honest with me. Is there any chance that the baby could be yours?”

T’Challa cleared his throat, “We will be late-”

“Do not ignore me T’Challa! I am your wife, no matter how much I am regretting this expedited engagement.”

“The child is mine.”

Nakia nodded, “And just when were you going to tell me? When the child was born and you suddenly have an heir who did not come from my womb!”

“I just found out yesterday!”

“Do your parents know?”

“I am not sure,” the future king sighed. “Then we need to tell them today, at brunch.” Nakia grabbed her clutch and walked out before turning around. “And do not even think about returning to the same bed as me tonight.”

***

Michael: I’m outside when you are ready love

Zoe-Iman smiled at the text message that dinged across her screen. She finished the last bite of her cheesecake and looked up at the family. “I really hate to leave, but I have a doctor’s appointment to get to.”

“You’re not driving, are you? We can have someone take you if you’d like?” Ramonda offered, concerned at the thought of the pregnant woman driving alone. Iman stood from the table and the rest of the family followed, “No, Michael is outside waiting to take me.”

“Good,” King T’Chaka smiled, “He sounds like a keeper.” the older man winked. “I think he is,” Zoe laughed.”Next time, you bring him to lunch as well. We want to meet him.” Ramonda grinned. “I’ll let him know,” Zari promised, “It all works out because you all have crazy schedules, we’ll schedule it ahead of time.”

“You got my American number right? So we can facetime?” Shuri double-checked. “Got it,” Zari reassured showing her where the number was saved in her phone as ‘little sister’. “When you call please make sure you talk to us as well. I wanna know everything,” Ramonda reminded Zoe and laughed.

“I promise, I’ll text Shuri an update after my appointment. Can you all make sure T’Challa receives them as well, we still don’t have any contact.”

The monarchs frowned before T’Chaka nodded, “I’ll talk to him about that as well. For now, we will make sure the messages get passed along.” Each member of the family pulled Zoe in for a hug, Ramonda pressing a kiss to her forehead before letting the girl go. She waved goodbye as some of the waitstaff cleared and replaced their table settings. Glancing down to text Michael back she walked into someone before realizing it was the prince himself, with his new wife. Nakia glanced at her husband before offering Zoe a tight smile. “Your highnesses,” Zoe-Iman bowed her head in respect. Nakia bowed her head in return, “I don’t believe we’ve officially met. I’m Zoe-Iman, but you can call me Zoe.”

“Nice to meet you,” Nakia replied, wishing that she didn’t know what she knew. “What are you doing here?” T’Challa asked. “I- your mother, she invited me to brunch, to catch up.”

“You’re already leaving?”

“I have a doctor’s appointment-”

“Is everything okay?” T’Challa interrupted looking panicked. “Yes, it's just my bi-weekly check-up.”

“You’re going alone?” Nakia interjected, not wanting T’Challa to go, but understanding she had absolutely nothing to resent this woman for. “No, my boyfriend Michael is waiting outside,” Zoe glanced at her phone that held several missed text messages, “And he’s freaking out slightly so I should probably get going. It was nice to see you both. I’ll send any news to Shuri if you’d like to hear what happens,” the expecting mother glanced up at the king. He only nodded in reply before Zoe took her cue and hightailed it out of the door.

****

“Mrs. Jordan?” the nurse called and Michael nudged his girlfriend to stand up. “You think you’re slick don’t you?” Zoe laughed as he helped her out of her seat. “Manifestation,” he winked as she slightly waddled over to the smiling woman. “Zoe-Iman you didn’t tell me you’d gotten married?!” Kenisha gasped as she led her coworker to the back. “I didn’t,” the mother rolled her eyes and hugged her friend, “Michael’s trying to be funny.”

The actor had become well known to many of the women in the office, even before he officially started dating Zoe. He’d always show up waiting to take her out to lunch, or bring her lunch on days he knew she couldn’t step away or he didn’t have much free time. “A test run huh?” she wiggled her eyebrows at Michael as he helped Zoe onto the scale. “You better believe it. It sounds good too doesn’t it?”

Kenisha laughed,” That it does. Sylia will be in in a minute. She just got back from the hospital.”

“What happened?” Zoe asked as she waddled behind the nurse into the exam room and Michael helped her onto the bed. “Girl, Peggy Johnson almost went into labor when her husband did one of them tik tok pranks on her. You know sis pregnant with her second set of twins. He needs to sit himself down somewhere. That poor woman do so much as sneeze them babies gon come flying out.” Kenisha shook her head as Zoe laughed. “Sylia just said they were Braxton-Hicks though, but I think they’re gonna keep her overnight just in case.”

Zoe nodded, “Yeah, you know twins tend to come early. Bless her heart, I couldn’t do it. I can’t imagine pushing two babies out at once. I would like my body back after this is said and done.”

Kenisha nodded as she finished setting up the room, “Yep, and this is her second set! She said at the last appointment she wants them tubes tied, sniped, and cauterized.”

“Who can blame her,” Zoe laughed. “You're not getting your tubes tied are you?” Michael rubbed his thumb in circles over Zoe’s hand. “Why? You want your chance to knock me up?” Zoe laughed but Michael nodded seriously. “At least once. I know you are already gonna have this baby, who I love as my own, but I would like a little you or me running around hopefully.”

Zoe nodded. “I know, I wasn’t going to tie them anyway. I want at least three kids.”

“Aww y’all are so cute, “Kenisha gushed before raising the ready colored marker outside of the door and heading off.

“Hey, mama!” Sylia grinned as she walked into the room a few seconds later, rubbing in her hand sanitizer. “Hey Syl,” Zoe laughed. Sylia hugged her friend and Michael before scooting over on her rolling stool. “Well, if you’ll lift your shirt, we’ll get started with the ultrasound. I live with you so no need to go over the diet and medicine formalities. Just let me know if something feels off.” Zoe nodded as the machine whirred to life and Sylia prepped her stomach with the clear cold gel. Michael pulled Zoe’s hand into his lips and pressed a kiss to it as the heartbeat filled the room. Sylia frowned at the screen before moving the wand closer to the top of Iman’s stomach. Zoe felt her stomach drop as two heartbeats filled the room.

“Why is it echoing? Michael looked between the two women. “Bakari, that’s not an echo. Zoe is having twins.”

Taglist: @almostpurelysmut @blackbypurpose @tchoking @sisterwifeudaku @wikiwakanda @royallyprincesslilly @90sinspiredgirl @thedelightfulone @autumn242 @purple-apricots @kumkaniudaku @queertrex @kaciidubs @halfrican-heat @skysynclair19 @dramaqueenamby @gorjiss @leahnicole1219 @kreolemami @mzbritt @derangedcupcake @chaneajoyyy @lalapalooza718 @ororowrites @leahnicole1219 @sarcastic-sunshines @sarahboseman @faatassbitch @lady-love-and-glitter-roses @cxnismajcr @tchallasbabymama

[pomegranates-and-blood]

Headcannon: Shieldmaiden friend with his brothers

My Masterlist

Pairing: Ivar/Reader

Summary: “I was hoping I could request a headcanon of Ivar being nervous around a new shieldmaiden that is friends with his brothers? He finds her attractive, but that makes him nervous bc of his legs and what ppl have said all his life.”

Word Count: 1.9k

Warnings: My horrible attempts at whatever the fuck this ended up being, nothing else I can think of.

A/N: So yeah, I made a thing. Am I happy with the thing? Nope. Am I proud of the thing? Nopity nope. Am I gonna post it anyways and hope you guys don’t hate it? Yep.

But yeah, first time writing headcanons, first time diving head first into season 4 Ivar. I sincerely hope you like it, and idk, would love to hear your thoughts, good or bad, on this one. Thank you!

Taglist: @1950schick​​

·         You were one of the shieldmaidens to accompany Björn to the Mediterranean, and you grew close to both him and Hvitserk on the journey.

·         You joined the Great Heathen Army alongside your brother, and everyone was surprised to see Björn sprint towards you as soon as he saw your ship, lifting you off the ground in a tight embrace.

·         Although Sigurd isn’t too thrilled or interested in you, both Ubbe and Ivar are immediately drawn to you.

·         The former, because there’s rumors about how you once bested Björn when sparring with those curved swords.

·         The latter, for completely different reasons. Though, you being a great warrior does help.

·         With you being close to his brothers Ivar finds himself knowing more and more about you with every passing day, and in the midst of the war to avenge his father, with his heart heavy with pain and loss, he finds you, with your easy smiles and your friendly nature, a welcome distraction.

·         That’s what he calls it, at first. When he spends each chance he has watching you from afar, witnessing your interactions with the group of shieldmaidens you call sisters in arms; when he finds himself thinking of you late at night and early in the morning; when he realizes he misses you when you’re gone, even though he tells himself he has nothing to miss.

·         The realization that he actually feels something for you dawns on him when he sees some Dane warrior dancing with you on a feast after Aelle is conquered, and the urge to stake his claim, to go there and interrupt whatever it is that is happening before his eyes, fills him, makes an impulsive hand reach for the axe at his side.

·         Ivar is…well, Ivar, so there’s no way he’d willingly let you -or anyone else, for that matter- know that he’s interested in you.

·         Which he is. Very much so. Because, much to his growing frustration -in more ways than one- he can’t get you out of his head.

·         Still, that doesn’t mean he’d willingly disclose it. He isn’t subtle, though.

·         But people notice. His brothers notice.

·         Björn isn’t thrilled with it, but considering Aslaug isn’t alive to bend to Ivar’s will and have some poor girl forced into marriage with the youngest son of Ragnar, he isn’t too concerned. If something happens, it is because you choose it so, and that’s enough for him.

·         Ubbe bristles up. He knows bits and pieces of what happened with Margrethe, but he has been witness too many times of how Sigurd uses what happened with her against Ivar- something he swears one day will end in tragedy, thankfully nothing too difficult to contain or heal so far-; and he still feels responsible about setting up the whole thing. The last thing he wants is for it to happen again, with someone that is quickly becoming a close friend of him and his brothers.

·         And of course, Sigurd notices, and is cruelly delighted in it. He does try a couple of times teasing Ivar about it when you’re near, but you never stood for those kinds of games, so he was eventually discouraged from continuing.

·         Doesn’t stop him from privately tormenting Ivar about it. It is his duty as older brother after all, and since Ubbe is too busy mothering Ivar, and Hvitserk too busy trying to fuck his way through England, it falls unto him. He may go too far once or twice, but their relationship has always been that way.

·         Sigurd’s teasing only manages to put Ivar more and more on edge about these stupid -pathetic, useless, soft- feelings, and the few times you try getting close to him, he usually snaps at you or reacts badly.

·         Because you are very interested, even if you are much better at hiding it. Ivar proves to be incredibly smart, and with the march of the Great Heathen Army being the first time you’ve travelled this far from home, fought in so many important battles, you find yourself fascinated by him and the way he seems to understand what goes beyond fighting, what becomes war.

·         But, when you are try getting close to him with subtle flirting or soft touches, Ivar thinks you are pitying him or mocking him, and when you are more direct and try finding common ground to get to know each other, he thinks you’re pushing him away.

·         It confuses you, and frankly, it confuses him too.

·         It confuses everyone that has become an unwilling spectator to all of this.

·         Ivar does try his best at being nice to you, it just manages to backfire most of the time.

·         You could be sharing a meal with him and his brothers, and he’d try complimenting you, saying something about how you have proven to be a fine shieldmaiden. But feeling too many eyes on him, feeling like he left himself open for ridicule or rejection, he’d add something else, like how you are obviously aided by the fact you use weapons not familiar to Vikings.

·         He’d fuck most things up, is what I mean.

·         And he’d know -and you’d make it very much clear- that he has upset you, or made you angry.

·         He would try apologizing, but it is Ivar, so “I’m sorry” won’t leave his lips unless someone pries it off him, so, he’d try…alternative approaches.

·         First, gifts. Women like those, right? He’d try buying the prettiest, most expensive thing he can find, and leaving it for you to find. Or, if he is in a particularly good day -if he managed to get one up on Sigurd, maybe, that’d be a good day- he’d give it to you in person.

·         Throwing expensive things at you wouldn’t exactly work, making you feel inadequate and cheap. He notices, so he’d try something else.

·         He wants you closer, so he makes it so that you always sit with him and his brothers at the table where the leaders of the army dine.

·         Before long many men -including Harald, to whom Ivar notices you giving easier smiles than the rest, much to his horror- manage to sleaze their way to the chair at your other side, chatting with you during the nights, making you smile and laugh.

·         When word of how one of them tried talking your brother into a marriage arrangement reaches Ivar, he pulls back on his idea of having you sit with him.

·         To you, it just looks like a rejection, and Ivar notices you grow colder, more distant.

·         With the threat of how desired you have proven yourself to be, a beautiful woman and a fierce shieldmaiden, hanging over his head, Ivar grows more and more restless, and resolute he has to prove to you he can offer you much more than any of these men can.

·         He tries everything he can think of. Make it so that you are there when he beats his brothers in target practice, boast about how his strategy was what won them many a battle against the Saxons, repeat the tales about how he and his brothers are descended from the Gods themselves.

·         When Ivar makes the contraptions for his legs, he goes to find you with -barely contained, he shouldn’t even bother trying to hide it really- enthusiasm, trying to show off in front of you.

·         He ties a lot of his self-worth into how people perceive him, into how much of a ‘normal man’ he can pass off as, and as we know he stands a lot prouder and a lot more confident once he gains more control of the Great Army and manages to make those things.

·         When you see him, though, even though he is preening and standing tall, chin high and shoulders squared; all you do is look at the contraptions around his legs and back into his eyes.

·         “You’re a better fighter without those.” You’d say, and nothing else.

·         Ivar would sulk. There’s no way to impress you, nothing he can do to make you look at him with that mischievous streak you share with Hvitserk, or that companiable closeness you have with Björn.

·         Anger would quickly enough win over any impulse to sulk and feel sorry for himself, though.

·         He’d eventually grow colder, crueler, towards you. He’d feel like you rejected him, and being angry towards you -and in return making you be angry towards him- gives him someone to blame, gives him some way of letting the pain have form, have a target for all the mess of emotions it leaves inside him.

·         When Björn starts making plans to return to the Mediterranean, he fully expects to see you depart following his brother and never seeing you again.

·         He hates himself for grieving the loss of you, someone he never had, someone that -as far as he knows- never cared about him anyways.

·         But he does. The day when Björn and those who choose to come with him will depart East approaches, and Ivar is more on edge than ever.

·         Restless, angry, and with no one to blame but himself. But, of course, he won’t do that, no.

·         He taunts you, makes jabs at you and how you run after Björn like an enamored thrall, points out you choose to sail a ship like a coward instead of staying here -staying with him- and fighting the Saxons.

·         When you snap back, voice loud and eyes furious, that you were never planning on sailing back with Björn, you manage for once to stun Ivar into silence.

·         You don’t even give him time to hold on to cruelty, to the pain and anger he uses as both a weapon and a shield. You stand up from the table and leave the hall.

·         Hvitserk doesn’t lift his head from his food, but still grumbles that he should go after her. At Ivar’s affronted frown, Ubbe insists that he should, offering his little brother a sly smile and something about going to find his woman.

·         Ivar would deny to his very grave and beyond it that his ears turned red at the implication behind Ubbe’s words.

·         But he did, trying to dispel thoughts that told him how he was running after you like a lovesick puppy.

·         When he finds you, you are still angry, because of course you are. And your anger is to Ivar like an electric shock over an exposed nerve, drawing out all the vitriol and fury and explosiveness.

·         Before long he has managed to make you angrier than he has ever seen you, and your voices rise with your tempers.

·         A second time you manage to stun Ivar into silence comes shortly after the argument between the two erupts.

·         He doesn’t even remember what he was about to say, only that with a few words about how you chose to stay with the Great Army for him makes all the thoughts on his head disappear.

·         Before he can twist himself into knots about it, thinking how it must surely be a lie, how you are playing some cruel trick on him; you lean in and kiss him.

·         Ivar doesn’t know how to react, not at first. The only woman he has kissed before was a slave his brother instructed to sleep with him, and he refuses to think of that night, of that woman.

·         He stays frozen under your touch, until you pull back, and smile.

·         He realizes when lack of air makes your kiss end that in your eyes you don’t have that glint of playfulness you share with Hvitserk, or that comfortable understanding you have with Björn; but something more tender, more real, and definitely hungrier.

____

So yeah, that’s that. I have never written headcanons before, and I struggle a lot with season 4 Ivar (who am I kidding, I struggle with writing Ivar in general) even tho he is my favorite Ivar. Idk, I gave it my best, hopefully I can learn from this and get better at it lol

Thank you so much for reading, lovelies!! <3

[peachtree-dish]

A Te Che Sei il Mio Grande Amore Ch. 7: Niente ti farà del male piccola

23 Gennaio, 1970

The first indication of Luca’s growth spurt began with his school blazer suddenly feeling too tight as he raised his hands in class. The second indication came from bursting seams on his pants and his pants becoming more like capris as he wore them each day. The third time his inseam split, Signora Mia finally resigned herself to the reality of new clothes. Now, standing in front of his mirror, Luca could see the changes he had been too busy to notice before. His body was lengthening and becoming more svelte, with his legs becoming toned from cycling around the city. His face had slimmed down, losing most of the baby fat and child-like roundness he had grown accustomed to for most of his life.

The only features that hadn’t changed with time were his eyes; richly brown with flecks of gold and red. Luca wondered what Alberto would think of when he saw him. His friend’s voice had begun to deepen when they spoke two months prior, and Luca had all but melted into the warm depths of that voice. Would Alberto have a similar reaction to seeing Luca as he grew into himself? His thoughts were mildly put on hold as a gentle hand knocked on his bedroom door seeking permission to enter. Giulia entered, her hair damps from her bath and her skin glowing from the warmth of the water.

Dante and Luisa had left about an hour ago, having visited for after-school studying. He was not overly excited for their upcoming midterms, and with the added stress of assisting the teachers, he felt nervous about how his grades would fair. She plopped none too gently on his bed while the sounds of Signora Mia’s poor singing and the radio blasting in the kitchen echoed into his room.

“They’re playing the Beatles again?” He inquired, picking up the familiar tunes under Mia’s caterwauling. He pretended to brush imaginary dust from the light blue shirt he was wearing while strains of ‘Let it Be’ floated through the air. Giulia grinned and nodded, wincing when her mother’s voice reached for a particularly high note.

“I think Beatlemania has finally bitten her.” She rolled onto her stomach and faced him. “Were you going to try on the clothes we bought?” She inquired. He flushed under her scrutiny, not wishing to appear vain, and instead opted for sitting nonchalantly in his chair by the window.

“No, I was just thinking about changes.”

“Like what kind of changes?”

“The physical kind; I didn’t realize we were growing up.” Giulia hummed in thought. Just like her mother, both women had a gift to perceive and understand those around them with hardly any words or context.

“You don’t seem overly happy about it?” She cautiously pried.

“I wouldn’t say that, exactly, it’s something new.”

“Well, if it helps, you look good in your new wardrobe. I can hear the swooning girls now.” Giulia grinned wolfishly. The thought of girls noticing him more made Luca nervous and uncomfortable.

“I sure hope not,” he looked out the window to the hues of sunlight bathing the coral and cream houses orange. The lighting reminded him of Porto Rosso, and in turn, reminded him of Alberto.

“Don’t you want to start dating? Dante hardly shuts up about girls and most everyone in your grade is going out. Unless you’re only allowed to date sea monsters.” He continued to avoid her gaze, instead focusing on a flock of pigeons strutting along the rooftop to the left.

“No one interests me here.” He hedged after a moment.

“Not even Luisa?”

Now that got his attention.

“Ew, what? No!” He wagged his arms in horror, nearly losing his balance on the chair.

“Okay, okay, I’m sorry!” Giulia soothed, baffled at his reaction.

“No offense to her or anything, I just… no. Definitely not.”

“Bene, she’s not interested, if that helps.”

“Why did you ask her?”

“I never said I did,” Giulia blustered, pink spreading across her face. Luca just stared at her with an unimpressed expression. She laughed nervously, glancing to the side.

“I was just curious,” she mumbled. She began to wrap strands of hair around her fingers, obviously avoiding his gaze now. A light suddenly clicked in Luca’s brain.

“Do you like her?” Giulia’s head snapped up and she glared at him.

“Do you like Alberto?” She shot back.

Looking back at this moment, Luca would realize he should have felt fear, or nervous, perhaps even anger, but Giulia’s question felt like a shock to his system. A switch flicked on and flooded his body with realization and for the first time in years, Luca understood everything.

A shock of laughter escaped him, “Yeah, actually. I do.” He laughed again, this time harder, unsure as to why tears were starting to leak down his cheeks, staining them green. Luca pressed his face into his hands as his laughter turned into hysterical gasps for air.

“Actually, I-I think I’m in love with him.” Oh shit, shit, shit, shit. “O mio Dio, I’m in love with my best friend, Gules.” He didn’t hear Giulia move until her arms were suddenly wrapping around him and she was awkwardly rubbing circles into his back.

“Is this okay?” She asked. He could no longer form words, so Luca nodded his consent instead.

When he eventually calmed down and the only evidence of his initial panic were the scale tracks on his face and neck, Giulia quietly went to grab him a glass of water and held it out for him to take.

“Sorry, that was dramatic.” He whispered croakily. Giulia laughed kindly and patted his shoulder.

“I think dramatic is a requirement in our family. Besides, you already know how I can be too much.”

They sat in silence for a time with their arms around each other, the light outside fading to the familiar dark and loud nightlife of Genoa.

“Per favore, don’t tell my mama.” Luca cast her a look of confusion. “About Luisa.” She amended. “As kind and accepting as she is, I think this is something that would be too much of a sorpresa.”

The red-headed teen scuffed her big toe against the floor, eyes downcast.

“Hey,” Luca nudged her softly, prompting her to look up at him. “She might be the one to surprise you. I’ve never met two people like your parents, Giulia, who truly only lived to make their child happy.”

“Ad ogni modo, I’m still not ready for that conversation. Besides, it’s not like I have a chance. Luisa’s, like, super pretty and smart, and Santa mozzarella! When she sings, it’s incredibile!”

Luca smiled as his friend rambled on about the Sicilian sea monstress, wondering if this was how he looked every time he gushed about Alberto. Eyes bright, cheeks flushed, and an endless amount of knowledge about the one person you consider to be your whole world. It was a wonder no one else knew of his feelings.

21 Marzo 1970

“Santa ziti! You’ve been in love with him this whole time?!”

“Zitto, Ciccio! I’d rather not have the whole town know, thank you.” Alberto flung flour at the blonde’s face, nervously checking to make sure no one had heard them. They were currently working in the kitchen behind the Pasticcini’s front area, with Alberto kneading the dough and Ciccio creating scores in the bread or decorating the more delicate sweets.

Ciccio winced apologetically and lowered his voice, leaning in for good measure.

“Does he know, or have you not told him yet?”

“Of course, he doesn’t know, stupido! I’m trying to not ruin our friendship.

“Don’t call me stupido, and how do you know it would?”

Alberto threw the ball of dough down on the wood surface with more force than necessary, the surrounding flour splattering like snowballs after the season’s first snowfall.

“I just know, é tutto.”

They worked in silence for a while, taking turns with switching pans from the clay oven and glazing sweet rolls with fruit jellies and powdered sugar. When the sun was beginning to set everything on fire, its orange gaze turning the sweet rolls into apricot imitations, Ciccio’s mother brought warm cider and a platter of buttered bread. Alberto liked Ciccio’s mother, she was as warm as the bread she baked and her personality as strong and opinionated as the spices she used. Bella shared the same round features as her son, with a strong nose and bowed lips that were quick to smile. Ciccio once explained to Alberto that he and his mother got their strong noses and blonde hair from Bella’s German heritage, but it wasn’t something they spoke openly about.

Today, Signora Bella’s smile was strained, but it had lost none of its warmth. Alberto knew that meant either some customers had been more difficult than others or some pastries hadn’t turned outright. He recoiled at the thought of her being disappointed in anything he’d done.

“Come va tutto, ragazzi?” She lovingly patted Ciccio’s halo of curls and squeezed Alberto’s shoulder with a large hand. “It’s smelling really good in here. Ah, che bello!” She motioned to the cooling racks on Ciccio’s right. The sweet rolls and scored bread glistened perfectly in the afternoon light and the Signora’s words made Alberto glow as well.

“If you keep this up, Alberto, I may have to bribe Massimo to let me keep you all year long,” she teased. Alberto could only shrug nonchalantly, hoping his pride didn’t show.

“How did the sales go, mama?” Ciccio asked cheerfully, taking a large bite from his buttered bread. Alberto watched nervously, eating his own snack at a slower pace, his stomach suddenly feeling as if hermit crabs were marching and pinching at his insides.

Bella waved the questions away, her mouth pulling sourly at the edges. “Bah, Signor Tafani nearly scared away my customers this morning with his complaining. That man is never satisfied.” She sniffed dismissively. Alberto’s fingers began to pick at the bread, the smaller crumbs slipping from his lap.

“Was there something wrong with the baked goods?” He managed to ask, focusing on Bella’s crocifissione that hung around her neck. The older woman’s hand rested over Alberto’s, pausing the destruction of his bread.

“As I said, piccolo, he is never satisfied. No matter how perfect the bake is,” Her smile was small but firm and it made the hermit crabs release their pinching in his stomach. “God help that poor man’s wife.” Bella sighed heavily as she heaved herself to her feet.

“Ora,” she stood and clapped her hands together and both Alberto and Ciccio swallowed their bread quickly, the butter coating Alberto’s mouth with salt and cream. “Alberto, will you be staying for dinner?”

Alberto’s mouth watered at the thought; the signora’s food was always amazing, rich in seasonings and filled with love. Not to mention Ciccio’s father would usually play his guitar and serenade his family with music and singing. If he drank enough wine, Massimo would usually join in and the resulting cacophony would leave the rest of the family in tears and howls of laughter. Outwardly, the curly-haired teen hesitated, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

“I don’t know Signora, I don’t want to leave Massimo hanging…”

“Bah, but of course he is invited as well, what do you think telefoni are for?”

“To make long distances seem short.” Ciccio supplied cheekily, earning an inconspicuous kick from Alberto. Signora Bella gave her son a bemused look.

“Si, mio figlio, for that too…” deciding that it was safer to not question the odd antics of teenaged boys, Bella left to call Massimo and prepare dinner.

When she was out of sight, Alberto gruffly shoved Ciccio in the side, earning him a loud laugh.

“I think I preferred it when you were trying to hunt me,” he groaned miserably. Ciccio merely grinned.

“It’d be hard to catch a fish that’s already been caught.” Alberto kicked him harder in answer.

28 Aprile 1970

“You want me to start applying already?”

The headmaster grinned expectantly at Luca.

“Ma certo, Luca! You’ve shown so much potential these past two years, which is even more impressive considering your, ahem, background.” The balding man stage whispered behind his hand. Luca could only stare in confusion.

“Why are you whispering, we’re the only ones here?” Signore Bonetti flushed red for a moment, his thin lips disappeared under his obnoxiously large mustache as he frowned.

“It doesn’t matter,” he waved his hand away, his smile returning instantly. “What matters, mio caro ragazzo is that you could have the opportunity for great things.”

“Bene, I don’t know, Signore Bonetti.”

“You don’t know.” The signore’s mustache quivered as he peered at the curly-haired youth before him. Luca shrugged awkwardly under his gaze, feeling a nervous trickle of sweat make its way down the back of his neck.

“I still have two years here and I have to consider prices as well. Moreover, I would like to discuss future possibilities with my family first.” He offered what he hoped to be a placating smile at the headmaster.

“All the more reason to start now,” Signore Bonetti pressed, his hands inching university pamphlets across the oak desk. “Signora Castello has already agreed to help write your application letters along with several recommendations from our staff. And, I should add that we’ve had a growing handful of universities reach out with interest once I sent a copy of your grades.”

Luca sighed internally, he had a feeling that he wouldn’t be escaping this conversation without some sort of agreement.

“How many universities would accept a full-grown sea monster into their halls, Signore Bonetti?” Luca asked bluntly. Thin lips open and closed in an “o” shape. The mustache covering the top half of his mouth reminded Luca of an octopus who couldn’t quite catch its food. He decided to keep that thought to himself.

“Actually, quite a few would be ecstatic, if you were willing to supply their science departments with some information.”

Luca clasped his hands to keep them from shaking. “I will not be some science project that is locked away and never seen again.” He said firmly.

The headmaster quickly backpedaled, “No, no of course not! We would never allow-”

“I’ve seen what humans do to those they consider different. Fear is a powerful, if uneducated, weapon. If I am to go to any university, I do not want them to know about my…background, as you say.” Luca smiled condescendingly.

The bald man paled, his eyes round with shock.

“No, mio ragazzo, I don’t think that would be wise.”

“Bene, if that is everything, I need to head back to class.” Luca stood, he considered the colorful papers on the desk before grabbing the lot and turning towards the door. Signore Bonetti stuttered a farewell to his retreating figure. He didn’t look back.

“What’s got you looking so glum, chum?” Dante’s question sprayed crumbs everywhere, much to the rest of the group’s disgust. Luca glared up at his large friend, dusting the rejected food off of his copy of ‘Fantastic Mr. Fox’.

“Is it really that hard to swallow first then speak, Castello?” Luisa asked, her cupid bow lips curled in distaste.

Dante rubbed a large hand across his face, dispelling a few straggling crumbs from his mouth. Without saying anything, he stared challengingly into Luisa’s eyes and took a larger bite of a dinner roll, the crumbs falling to their doom. Luisa scoffed and turned back to braiding Giulia’s red locks in intricate patterns. Giulia hadn’t said much during their lunch hour, and if Luca had to guess, he would wager having Luisa sit so close with her hands combing through her hair had something to do with it.

They were currently sat outside on the campus grounds, good weather permitting it. Around them, other students sat on benches or laid out on the grass, soaking up the weak rays of spring sunshine. Today, Luisa brought an intricate blanket that they all rested on, with Luca lying on his stomach and Dante munching beside him sitting cross-legged. A very flushed Giulia sat leaning back so that Luisa could access her hair easily.

Dante made to speak again, but Luca interrupted him. “I’ll tell you if you promise to keep your mouth shut and your food inside it.” The larger teen rolled his sky-blue eyes in annoyance but didn’t say anything, much to everyone’s relief.

“The headmaster wants me to start applying to universities.” Luca started, immediately his friends turned to him, their expressions matching.

“Cosa?!” Their table received several odd looks from the surrounding students who were simply trying to enjoy their meals.

“Yeah, that’s what I said. Apparently, there are universities already showing interest in me.”

“You don’t think they know about, ya know.” Giulia mimicked swimming, wincing when Luisa yanked her head back into place so she could continue braiding.

“I honestly don’t know, I told Signore Bonetti I don’t want universities to know about it, I didn’t think to ask if he’d already brought it up.” Luca allowed his head to rest heavily against the pages of his book. Up close, the letters were indiscernibly blurry.

“I’ve never heard of a sophomore applying for university before, my mom has never allowed it. Have you been getting tens this whole time?” Dante looked at him incredulously. A red flush crept its way up Luca’s neck.

“That and a few extra-curricular.” He mumbled. Who knew joining the swim team and being the chess club captain would be so impressive?

“Aspettare, why aren’t you happy? Isn’t this a good thing?” Luisa intervened, her honey eyes never leaving her work.

“I dunno, I’m worried about more people finding out, and then there’s Alb- my family, I don’t want to make any decisions without them.”

Giulia shot him a look through her curtain of hair, he responded by nudging her foot with his book. They hadn’t spoken much since that incident happened, something that Luca wasn’t eager to change.

“Ya know, I’ve heard my mom talk about these exchanges that universities will offer to promising students for a few weeks.” Dante tapped his lips thoughtfully. “You’d have to wait until the summer after next to do it, but that would allow you the chance to experience college life without the full commitment.”

“Veramente?” Luca felt a flicker of hope and excitement flicker in his stomach.

“Yeah, take a few classes, sleep in one of the dorms, meet your professors, etc. That kind of stuff.” Dante waved his hand nonchalantly, “You know my mom would be happy to help, it’s her job, but, like, she reaaally likes you. So, instant win.” He popped a cherry tomato into his mouth.

The bell sounded, causing the group of teens to quickly finish what they were doing. With a hum of contentment, Luisa tied Giulia’s hair and helped the other girl to her feet. Dante and Luca helped wrap the blanket up neatly, being sure to shake out any remains of Dante’s lunch. The group split into two and headed to their respective classrooms with the promise to meet after school per usual. Luca’s last two classes of the day were physics and music, and he hurried towards his physics class which rested resentfully on the other side of the school.

As he passed a darkened alcove, his ears picked up the sounds of muffled giggles and whispers. He slowed down against his better judgment and peered around the corner of faded, blue lockers that lined the walls. Two boys, at least a year older than him, were leaning against each other in the darkened hallway. The tall, lanky blonde Luca recognized from the group of teens that Luisa had soaked near the beginning of the school year. The shorter brunette was unrecognizable, especially with him facing away from Luca and most of his body being overshadowed by Lanky.

He knew he was interrupting a private moment, but Luca couldn’t find it within himself to look away. Lanky leaned down and began to gently press kisses to Brunette’s neck who laughed breathlessly in response. Luca felt his stomach flip at the sight, and if he gripped his books harder than necessary, well, that was nobody else’s business. He wondered if Alberto would kiss him like that, or if he would prefer to have his own neck pressed with gentle ministrations. The thought made him sigh forlornly and rest his head non too gently on the lockers before remembering he wasn’t alone. The two boys jerked apart as if burned but Luca was already turning the corner at the end of the hallway before either could see him.

03 Maggio 1970

“Finalmente!” Luisa exclaimed, slumping against her towel in the sand. Luca could only continue to itch at his skin, flakes peeling off and leaving red scores wherever his nails scraped. Next to him, Dante was already removing his clothing, the pale moonlight making his skin glow like marble. The tall Italian hid a yawn behind his hand, his eyelids still struggling to carry their own weight. Due to both Luca and Luisa being sea monsters, it was agreed that they couldn’t attend the beach during the day where people might see them. Thus, it had become a monthly ritual for midnight swims since Luca’s first year in Genoa. With the weather being too cold during the winter, Luca had to settle for long soaks in Signora Mia’s bath.

However, this time around his skin had felt particularly itchy, and transforming during his morning showers had revealed new scales pushing underneath his older ones. He had panicked and ran from the bathroom with nothing but a towel and a shriek. After a rushed phone call with his mother, Luca learned about the extra joys of growth spurts and puberty.

“You’re going to have to swim daily to help your body push out the old scales,” his mother explained in her matter-of-fact way. “Your tail fins especially will need the help and they’re also going to be the sorest.” Daniela’s voice turned sympathetic. “Just a few weeks more and then you’ll be home, we can help manage it from there.”

So, for the past week, Luca with his trio of friends would all pile into Mia’s small, bright yellow Fiat and drive the half-hour to the ocean at three in the morning. Without a second thought, he was in the water, pushing through briny waves allowing the ocean to peel scales away with gentle brushes. His mother had been right, his tail was instantly sore once it unfurled in the waves. The spines along his fins were growing longer and sharper, their bases pink with tender new skin. Luca did his best to stretch his body gently in the dark waters, taking brief breaks to check his location in comparison to everyone else on the beach. The signora could be seen snoring loudly on her quilt and Dante was doing his best impression of a starfish, his face mashed into the corner of the quilt. The only two who weren’t passed out were Giulia and Luisa, who appeared to be in serious conversation near the water’s edge.

Luca dove back into the cool depths, the water burned his eyes in a barely noticeable way, and he wondered if it was because more tourists visited Genoa in comparison to Porto Rosso. There were also fewer fish here, although a stray school of fish could be found here or there. He felt a familiar tug in his chest at the thought of Porto Rosso’s waters. The year was finally coming to an end, with finals taking place for the next few weeks, and then Giulia and he would be heading home. Luca grinned freely as he thought about Alberto again, the tug growing stronger in his chest the more he thought about him. He wanted so badly to talk to his friend about his newfound feelings, but there was also the risk of losing Alberto over said feelings. And then there was the decision of attending university in two years, who knew what could happen during that time? The fifteen-year-old groaned in frustration, sending a burst of bubbles to the surface. A smoothhound shark swam past him, appearing to roll its eyes at his dramatics. Luca stuck his tongue out in defense, not willing to argue with a shark at the moment.

When he rolled onto the beach with a swell, the sun was beginning to crest over the ocean’s face. Giulia and Luisa both nodded to him, neither having moved from their spot on the sand.

“Did you want to swim a bit before we head back?” Luca asked Luisa, already knowing the answer. The Sicilian girl smiled gently at his offer before shaking her head in a negative.

“Is it a self-conscious thing because I totally get that. But just to be very clear, you have nothing to be embarrassed about.” Luca balked at Giulia’s sudden boldness. The redhead in question looked at him as if to ask why he’d let her say that her face turning the same shade as her locks. “Sorry,” she muttered, wrapping her arms around her knees. “that was too much.”

Luisa had the most genuine smile on her face that Luca had seen in their entire time together. She wrapped arms the color of caffè around Giulia, pressing her grin into her shoulder.

“You’re too cute, Giulietta.”

Giulia looked dazed out of her mind, her face the definition of a satellite that had gone to space and made no motion of returning to earth.

Pulling away, Luisa’s expression turned carefully neutral, and she appeared to be at war with something in her thoughts. As the sun began to pour its warm rays along the sandy shores of Genoa, the young sea monster seemed to come to terms with something. Sighing, she gracelessly flopped forward and began to push her fingers deep beneath the sand’s surface.

“When I was really small, I was taken from my parents by fishermen.” Luisa began slowly, “I was sold to a Circo da baraccone in Napoli, and I was their star of the show. The circus was filled with other people who had anomalies, like me. For the most part, they were really nice.”

“For the most part?” Luca asked quietly. He suddenly felt oddly cold, even with the rays drying his skin.

“Our… master,” Luisa bared her teeth at the word, “was not kind. He wanted perfection instantly and he was very greedy, he barely met our basic needs for food and water. Instead, he would spend money on alcohol and parties with powerful people.” Luisa traced vicious lines through the sand, contrasting light and dark with her fingers.

“When he was particularly ubriaco, he would wake us up at all hours of the night and run through shows with us. Every time we would make a mistake, he would use his whip.” Her fingers stopped. “I was just seven years old.” She whispered.

Beside her, Giulia had become rigid, her face pale and her cheeks were glistening with tears.

“One night, he was more violent than usual, and he knocked over a lantern. The whole circus went up in flames. In all the chaos, my tank broke and I was afraid I would die without water, I’d never made the change before. When I realized I could breathe, it didn’t matter because the fire was too big by that point. The smoke and heat were everywhere, and I couldn’t run.

“But then, Marta came back for me.” Luisa gave a small smile and finally met their stricken gazes.

“She carried me to safety, and we escaped together, never once looking back.”

“Is that what brought you here to Genoa?” Giulia’s voice shook, though she tried to hide it. Luisa turned to her and laced their fingers together and they both held on tightly.

“No, I was only nine. Marta tried to help me find my parents, but I couldn’t remember where I had been taken from and I couldn’t find other sea monsters near Napoli. Actually,” she finally looked at Luca, “you’re the first one I’ve encountered in all these years.”

“I’m sorry,” Luca murmured. Luisa raised her eyebrows in question.

“Don’t be,” She answered easily, though her voice caught, “for the first time, in a long time, I have hope.”

“Anyways,” she continued, “we moved to Sicily to avoid recognition and Marta did what she could to teach me how to be a human, including teaching me my letters and numbers. Eventually, she was able to enroll me into a school.” Here, she frowned.

“I didn’t mean to reveal myself, but there was an accident with water, and I changed. I escaped school, which wasn’t hard to do when everyone is afraid of you. Marta and I fled here and changed our names, she’s sacrificed for me so much and I feel terrible about it.” Tears began to leave pink scale marks over her skin.

“No,” Luca corrected gently. He shared a look with Giulia, and wordlessly they embraced the weeping teen. “You did what you had to to survive. And there is no guilt or shame in that.” Luisa sobbed harder, years of heartache bleeding out and dampening the crystals of sand. They stayed that way until there was no guilt left.

[palettepainter]

Part of the family

Idk what Ecto’s birth name is so I’m going to have his parents/other characters refer to Ecto as Ekuto. It translates to ecto in Japanese, real creative but I’ll use it as his birth name till we get a cannon one confirmed

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Higari scratched at the collar of his shirt, and then tugged uncomfortably at the waist of his trousers

“I’m really not used to wearing this monkey suit..” he said mostly to himself, looking down at his blazer he’d dusted off from his cupboard. Higari only owned one formal suit, and only ever wore it on rare occasions. Even after spending so many years teaching at UA and attending so many events or interviews, he’d never gotten used to all this fancy shmancy stuff.

“Well you look very handsome in one~” Ecto stood near by in the hotel room comparing bow ties, one hand on his hip and other on his chin. He too was also in a suit, the two both dressed up for a night out at a formal party event. The two had been invited as guests to a charity event by Ecto’s parents, who where two key supports of said event. Really they where attending as undercover security, so obviously they had to fit the part

Higari peered over to his husband, gave him a cheeky glance up and down before walking over. “You don’t look half bad yourself” he said with a lazed smirk, hand snaking it’s way over and around Ecto’s hips. Ecto hummed again him, raising one brow before he lifted up a red bow. “Hm..how about this one?” He asked

Higari shrugged “You know suits better then me, not like I got any clue which bow goes with what dress shirt”

“Oh stop it” Ectoplasm said, kneeling down to help tie the bow in place. With Higari’s altered finger tips it made things like tying bows all the more challenging, thankfully Ecto was skilled in the art and had the bow on Higari in a matter of seconds “You look wonderful!” he straightened out his blazer, and for good measure, nuzzled his nose on Higari’s forehead in the form of a kiss “Besides, it’s only for a few hours. When we get back you can change into something more comfortable”

“Or waddle around naked” Higari suggested, waiting eagerly to see Ecto’s reaction. Knowing it was oh so easy to get Ecto flustered

Ecto hummed, as if pretending to think it over, managing to remain calm before the corner of his mouth crinkled up into a smile “Hm..maybe~” Higari’s trade mark grin spread across his face with a giggle. Ecto tried to keep cool even if the face of his husbands adorable little laugh “But lets save that for after the party. I don’t want you causing mischief”

Higari hummed, humoured, sensing a challenge. Expertly he sauntered his way over and looped his arms around Ecto from behind, pressing his face into the small of Ecto’s back “Hm, are you calling me a bad boy?~”

Ecto turned as best he could to peer down at Higari, his brow cocked in amusement at his antics, struggling to keep a neutral tone despite how flustered he was actually feeling from Higari’s flirting - the sneaky mink “I won’t hesitate to put you in your place if that’s what you’re implying”

Ecto could tell Higari had one of those smiles on his face, but before Higari could say anymore Ecto pried his arms off him. Higari let out a small whine, disappointed the fun was over “However, we do have a charity event to get to” he said while releasing Higari’s hands, pulling on his blazer that he hung on the chair. Higari crossed his arms, hiding a pout behind his fringe “Mn, yeah I guess so..”

“Don’t whine” Ecto said, mocking a tone a mother would use with a child. “..It won’t be that bad” he reassured while looking himself over in the small mirror by the cupboard “They’ll be food and drinks, and all we have to do is mingle and be prepared if something calls for us to step in”

“Mm, yeah I guess” Higari said

He joined Ecto over at the door before the two walked out together into the hall. Higari had been to a few arguably fancy events, the fanciest it ever got at UA where interviews with the press outside UA grounds, or the UA prom for the third years, that was about it. Don’t get him wrong, Higari still preferred a pair of joggers to a suit and bow, but alas he’d signed up for this when he became a teacher at UA. As much as he didn’t like formal events, too crowded for his liking, they had to set a good example for UA

And going to a formal event with Ecto made it bearable.

Upon arriving at the venue the first thing he noticed was how bright everything was, didn’t help his sensitive eye sight. He tried to not let it bother him as he and Ecto stepped out of their car and made their way inside to a large main room where all the guests where gathered. Thank god Ecto was tall, at the very least he could navigate this maze, Higari couldn’t see over the top of all the other guests even if he tried! After checking in with the rest of the security and into the main hall Ecto grabbed for Higari’s hand

“Lets go and wait over at the side” Ecto said, already making his way through the crowd with Higari on his tail towards the side of the room, where the two where somehow able to find an unoccupied table in the sea of people. “Didn’t think it’d be this busy” Higari said while observing the room, he couldn’t help but feel a little weird - being in such a decorated room with all these fancy rich people.

“Me too” Ecto said, returning to the table with two wine glasses. “Regardless, we should try and enjoy ourselves” he handed Higari a glass, which he accepted with a small nod of thanks. He swigged it down in a swift gulp, Ecto blinked, taken a back. “Careful there..” he teased, drinking lightly from his own glass. “Sorry Ecto” Higari said, placing his glass back down onto the table “Big events like this always make me nervous..” he admitted, if it was anyone else other then Ecto he wouldn’t have shared such a personal fear

“It’s alright, just remember it’s only for a few hours. And if nothing goes wrong we may be allowed to leave early”

Higari hummed in reply, one hand tapping on the table while he idly glanced about the room, trying to see if their was anything else in here other then a crowd of bustling people. With his hair brushed aside it made seeing things a bit more easier, which is why it didn’t take him long to recognise an approaching face in the crowd.

“Angel!” Mrs. Kurōn, Ecto’s mother, happily emerged from the crowd and rushed over as quickly as she could towards the table, Ecto already standing from his chair to greet her. “Oh I’m so happy you two could make it!” She said, greeting Ecto with a quick hug before she looked to Higari “It’s so nice to see some familiar family faces! - and Higari, it’s lovely to see you could make it too dear!”

“Evening Mrs. Kurōn” Higari said, waving his hand. Despite having already met Ecto’s parents he was still a little shy around them, maybe it was added nervousness of the fancy party making him feel particular shy, he wasn’t sure.

“Where’s dad?” Ecto asked, looking around to try and identify his other parent “I haven’t see him yet, he’s not with you?”

“Your father is catching up with some old work colleagues” Mrs. Kurōn answered while she straighten out Ecto’s tie, smiling at the dorky spotty pattern he’d chosen. “I doubt he’ll be too long” she said “He’s a social butterfly, I’m sure you’ll bump into him at some point - you remember Mister Zeikin?”

Ecto thought for a moment before his eyes widened with realisation “Yes I remember, didnt dad say he was one of his old team members before you and him married? He came round for dinner a few times”

His mother nodded “Yes he was, he’s the one who helped organise the decorating for this event. Oh! And you remember Megumi? She’s here too!”

“Megumi?..” Ecto repeated, thinking once again before he smiled “I haven’t seen her since..god it must have been at our prom party at UA” he said, my how time flied. Higari looked to and from between them, not understanding who they where talking about but obviously seeing that Ecto must have clearly known of them “Seems like centuries ago doesn’t it? I still have those prom photos laying about somewhere at home” Mrs. Kurōn suddenly gasped, and put a hand on Ecto’s shoulder “Why don’t we go over and see them? You two where good friends back at UA, I’m sure she’d be very surprised to see you again!”

“Hm..well, mum-“ Ecto looked back towards Higari, who sensing Ecto’s worries raised his hand “Don’t worry about me, you can leave me alone for ten minutes” Higari smiled and gestured away “Go mingle, tell Mr. Kurōn I said hi”

“Are you sure?” Ecto repeated, clearly not convinced. “You could always come with us” Higari again simply repeated his gesture “I’ll be fine! I’m a grown man, don’t worry. Sides-“ he shrugged “I don’t her, I wouldn’t know what to say. I’d just be awkward”

“Hm..” Ecto threw a glance over his shoulder to the crowd and then to his mother, who smiled wider. He hummed again “..Well” his worry melted away, a relieved smile coming to his face “Alright then!” He turned around, his mother leading the way “I won’t be long!” He called to Higari just as they got swept up into the crowd. Higari waved goodbye until Ecto and Mrs. Kurōn was out of sight, guess it was just him now.

Thirty minutes passed, and Higari restrained himself from glancing down to his watch again.

“Hm..Ecto’s been gone a while” he said to the empty table, one hand holding his face while the other fiddled with the salad fork. Busying himself with tinkering away at one of his inventions was off the table with the current location he was in, he figured it wouldn’t be very ‘proper’ of him to suddenly start rebuilding a toaster in front of all these guests. Not like he needed to give them a reason to stare. “Maybe I’ll see what there is to eat” he suggested, sliding off his chair as he tried to locate the food table.

These kinds of parties always had the weirdest foods, and always in such small servings, Higari could never wrap his head around it. He’d hoped there’d be something at this food table that would satisfy his hunger until they could back to the hotel room, where he’d already decided he’d order the most greasiest take out junk food if this party food ended up being like all the rest. Reaching the table he was glad he kept his expectations low, as expected all the food was tiny, bowls of expertly prepared salads, a board full to the brim with cheeses, beautiful made sushi pieces, rice cakes - nothing he hadn’t seen before at fancy events.

Thinking it was better then nothing he picked up a plate and two rice cakes “Guess this’ll do” he muttered, and tried to make his way back towards his table...key word being try. Trying to navigate his way back from point B to A was harder then he thought, finding a needle in a hay stack seemed easier then this! With a snort he gave up on his mission, and instead made himself comfy on one of the balconies overlooking the venues garden, which was also lighted and decorated appropriately to match with the main hall.

He picked up a rice cake and munched into it, blinking slowly - god this was boring. At this rate he was starting to wish something would happen that required security to step in, at least that would give him something to do..

“Excuse me?”

Higari hummed, mouth full of rice cake as he turned to the owner of a voice. A fairly sizeable man stood at the entrance back inside the building, his shirt looked just a bit too tight over the skin of his stomach, his eyes looked at Higari with a somewhat studying look. It made Higari feel fidgety. He quickly swallowed his mouthful, trying to discreetly wipe his mouth to get rid of any rice that stuck onto his face “Uh, did you need something?” He asked, turning back up to the man who approached with a hum

“By chance are you..Higari?”

Higari rose a suspicious brow under his hair but tried to keep his suspicion hidden “Yes” he answered. The man stood next to Higari with a look he couldn’t place his finger on, there was something about it he didn’t like. It made a sickly familiar feeling of worry present inside him. His lips where pulled back into a smile, at least, Higari thought it was a smile - despite how it gave him the unfortunate impression that it was forced “Hm, my I didn’t think I’d get to see the man himself..” the man peered down at Higari for a long moment, as though he was a specimen under a microscope, it made Higari shudder

“I’m sorry, but I don’t think I know you..”

“I’m Mister Zeikin” the man seemed to puff out his chest, as if to symbolise his importance or his name was a grand title. Zeikin? That name sounded familiar “Hm..Oh yeah” Higari nodded lightly “Ecto’s m-Uh..Mrs Kurōn told me you where talking with her husband” the man nodded, turning his gaze to the horizon, one hand lightly swirling the wine in his glass. “Hm yes yes, my dear friend Akarui, known to you as Mr Kurōn, mentioned you when his wife and son came over.” He took an unhurried sip of his drink, eyes admiring his glass once he was finished “And I just had to see if his words held true”

Higari still didn’t understand, but the man was soon turning back to look at him before he could remain confused for much longer “Well done, Higari. You truly are a fascinating man” he praised warmly “So very charming from what I hear of, and sweeping Ekuto off his feet. Lucky him indeed”

Higari felt surprisingly flattered at the praise, growing sheepish at this flood of compliments. He awkwardly rubbed at his neck, smiling regardless “...Well, thank you.”

“But of course!” Zeikin pressed “Its astonishingly brave that you can be so open with displaying such affections..” His gaze slowly returned to Higari, his eyes lingering on him, a glint in his eye. “...Well, all things considered”

Higari bristled, though the man was still smiling, Higari felt attacked at the way he’d worded his sentence. His eyes narrowed “..Whats that supposed to mean?” He asked, leaning his head back to peer up at him.

Zeikin took another slow sip from his drink, smooth and slow as though Higari’s suspicion wasn’t noticeable. He had an air of confidence around him, as he turned back down to Higari “My fine fellow I mean no ill will. I’m sure you are a very...adorable lover” he offered politely “I just can’t help but think about the insecurities that come with the role”

“...Insecurities??” Higari blinked, his cheeks heating up “Theres nothing about our relationship that-“

“You’re from country aren’t you?” That cursed smile finally dropped, his tone all of a sudden flat “It leads a man to wonder just how it is Akarui’s son ever settled for..” Higari didn’t like the look he was giving him, regarding him with the same interest someone may give a piece of gum on the sidewalk “..someone so inferior”

“I...” Higari tried to bite back his temper, he’d hate himself if he lost his temper at an event that was so important to Ecto’s parents. He’d never forgive himself. He tried to take a calming breath, tried to think of happy things, but his insecurities - insecurities this man had targeted - they began to mock him, making his anger rise more. “That’s not any of your business sir” Higari tried to say without growling

“Ah, but it is” the man insisted with detached happiness, as though he was talking with a child. Higari stiffened “You see, Akarui and his family are dearly close to me, despite his.. imbecility” he casted a side ways scowl off into the distance “I would simply hate for something to taint their families image. Wouldn’t you agree?” He looked back down to Higari, who remained frozen, not seeming able to move, his legs not responding to his mind telling him to just walk away. Turn around and walk away! But he couldn’t, he felt offended, how dare he even think Ecto would view him that way!

Ecto would never!...r-right?..

“Ecto would never think of me that way” Higari was now furious, and it was becoming increasingly hard to keep his cool

“Oh well of course he wouldn’t” Zeikin held up his hand, trying to appear passive, and fixing Higari with a look that dropped with artificial sympathy “The dear Kurōn family are far too polite to ever show such disbain openly.”

“...I don’t know what you’re talkin’ about” Higari managed to conjure words despite still being paralysed, face hot, eyes shiny. “They wouldn’t-..” he corrected himself “Don’t think of me that way”

“Hm, perhaps” Zeikin nodded, peering skyward, not meeting Higari’s eyes. “Perhaps I am wrong, perhaps my years of knowledge through being their work colleague and associate do not mean a thing at all to you, perhaps the idea they may look at you differently is so foreign to you. You play the role very well, I commend you!” He gestured towards Higari with a titled head “Dressing up in that fancy suit, attending a formal gathering such as this, all for an attempt to fit in with a crowd not meant to house someone of your background. Yet, you try anyway. How very brave of you”

Higari’s throat suddenly felt tight, eyes stinging as tears swelled in the corners “Are you...mocking me?” His voice was shaky, something fragile behind the front he tried to put up.

“Heavens no” he looked offended at Higari’s weak question, scoffing “Conformity happens with everyone, I just find...amusement in your particular case.” He smiled, teeth an all, eyes narrowed cruelly at Higari, who looked timid. “To think you ever thought someone like you would ever be accepted.”

Higari stumbled back a foot, breathing going funny as he desperately tried to think of a response-

“I do hope we aren’t interrupting anything important.”

Higari startled, almost falling over his own feet. Behind him, standing less then three feet away was Akarui, Ectoplasms father. Brows creased like gathering thunder heads, mouth pressed into a thin frown with his arms crossed, not looking impressed. Behind him just off of the balcony, just looking to have caught up, was Ecto and Mrs Kurōn. At the sight of Ecto Higari flinched, curling up and looking away. Akarui’s look softened, concerned, before he fixed the business man across from his with a withering glare.

“I do hope you have a good explanation for this, Zeikin.” His eyes narrowed “For your sake.”

The man looked to do a double take, blinking “Ah, Akarui” his calm facade still held, but it was obvious the man standing behind Higari was not falling for it, cocking a bold brow. “So..wonderful you could join us” he smiled, walking closer. Akarui stepped forward without hesitation to shield Higari from view with his taller stature. Higari glanced up to him in confusion, blinking back tears

“We where simply having a talk amongst men” He assured, but Akarui’s frown only deepened. “It didn’t soundthat way” he stated, not subtly at all. Zeikin looked to him as though he’d been slapped, as Ecto and Mrs Kurōn hurried their way over.

“Higari? Are you okay?” Ecto asked, crouching down slightly to be at eye level with Higari, sensing almost instantly that something was wrong. Higari flinched away when Ecto reached for him, and he felt guilty immediately after. “Higari?..” Ecto said quietly, his hand lowering

Zeikin offered his colleague a grin, one that looked too wide “Whatever are you talking about Akarui?” He glanced down to Higari who Akarui stood in front of, he shot Zeikin a warning glare while Higari tried to hide himself from the mans sight. “It was but a simple conversation, a time for me to air some..thoughts on your..” Zeikin looked to be struggling to find the right words, everyone’s eyes (minus Higari’s) all on him.

“..new acquaintance-“

Slap

Akarui slapped away the others hand that was gesturing to Higari, eyes boring into him with a look that could kill. Zeikin baffled, pulling his hand back to him while fixing Akarui with a scowl. “I will have you know, that acquaintance you are referring to, has a name.” Zeikin opened his mouth to repomand Akarui for daring to hithim, but Akarui beat him to the punch, not giving him time to find his words.

“And he, Higari, happens to be my sons romantic other, and my son in law” he said sternly, loosing patience, what little of it had left for the fat cat before him.

Zeikin looked caught off guard, not expecting that kind of powerful reply from his work partner. He rose an unimpressed brow, fixing him with an equally icy look, Akarui failed to cower even as Zeikin took a step closer. “How very noble of you Akarui. Always playing the role of hero infront of your son aren’t you” he whispered, Akarui growled, a warning. “Can’t help but want to defend those who feel..out of place-“

Ecto had heard clearly what had been said, his mother gasping quietly. Ecto sneered, and leapt to speak-

“Perhaps I am not making myself clear enough.” Akarui stated calmly, closing his eyes “Allow me to say this once. Nicely.”

White, powerful light suddenly burst from Akauri’s eyes, like the birth of a new star. His eyes glowed hot with the heat of the sun, the light pouring from his eyes startling Zeikin, his own scared reflection staring back at him from Akauri’s empty white eyes. “My sons happiness, means everything to me and my wife. If you ever dare to try and intervene with that again, or try to approach Higari again..” he narrowed his eyes, his eyes glowing brighter, making him appear imposing, powerful. Eventually, Zeikin looked away, accepting defeat “You will be answering to me.”

Akarui blinked, and the light vanished, his cold merciless glare remaining as he fixed Zeikin with another deep frown “Do I make myself clear?”

“....Crystal.”

“Good” Akarui said, his tone to the point. “...I think it’d be better if you took your leave Zeikin” Akarui stepped aside and tilted his head over towards the entrance back inside the building.

Zeikin looked stuck, refusing to admit his loss, he straightened his tie and stood up straight - pretending as though his scare mere minutes ago hadn’t happened “Hm..Yes, maybe I will.” He dusted off his arm, acting aloof “Company in the main hall will be far better then wi-“

“No” Mrs Kurōn, who had remained quite until now fixed the man with her own scowl, Ecto doing the same with his arms wrapped around Higari. “We think you should leave” she repeated. Even Higari was taken aback by her sudden shift in tone, not knowing the gentle women could be capable of sounding angry. Zeikin gawked, working his jaw and looking rapidly between the two, waiting for one of them to admit it was a joke.

“...Hurry along” Akarui said, tilting his head again towards the building, not flinching even as Zeikin got dangerously close to his face to glare at him. Akarui remained standing where he was, before Zeikin, with a small snort, hurried off back inside and out of sight

Akarui let out a breath, shoulders slumping.

“Higari are you okay?” Ecto’s hands cupped Higari’s cheeks, noticing how his eyes looked teary, his worry grew ten fold at the sight as his heart plummeted at seeing him so sad “He didn’t try anything did he?” Ecto shook his head “I shouldn’t have left you alone!..”

“N-No no!” Higari waved his hands, taking Ecto’s hands away from his face as he tried to desperately rid the tears that where close to pouring down his cheeks. “I’m- I-I’m fine, he just..don’t worry about it” Ecto didn’t look convinced, nor did his mother, who’s eyes widened when she caught sight of a single tear falling down his face. “Oh honey..” she quickly pulled a tissue out of her small bag and held it out to him, just as Higari sniffled, the dams beginning to break.

“Come on” Ecto gently held Higari’s hand, the feeling of something familiar, something tender and soft helped calm his racing heart beat. He accepted the tissue, drying his eyes, overcome with embarrassment at being seen crying of all things - he’d only ever cried in front of Ecto and his family back in the country. “Let’s head back inside” Ecto stood and began to guide Higari back towards the building “No point in staying out in the cold”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

An hour had passed, Higari was now a little calmer.

He currently sat in the buildings parking lot, having some air, he needed to have a moment to himself to calm down and gather his thoughts. He felt ashamed, feeling to need to walk out of the party to properly calm down. Ecto and his mother had both been understanding aside from their worry, offering to come and keep him company - which he’d politely declined.

And though quite it was around him in the car park, his mind was screaming.

The mans words refused to leave him, and he hated it. He hated how right he was! he hated how out of place he felt just being near a place so fancy and posh, he hated how that small self conscious part of him constantly felt the need to prove his worth when around Ecto’s family, to prove he was more then just some..grungy looking engineer

“Higari?”

Higari pulled his head from his hands and peered up to the side “..Mister Kurōn?” Mr Kurōn walked over to him but kept some space between them for Higari’s sake “I’m sorry, would you mind if I had a word?” He asked, pointing to the space on the edge of the pathway Higari was sitting on. Higari blinked “Uh, sure?” He said

Smiling Mr Kurōn took a place on the floor next to him, arms propped up behind him as he peered up into the sky, as if looking for stars. Higari gave him a sideways glance, before slowly looking away, tensing up, he really hoped he hadn’t come to talk about what had happened

“...How..” Higari nervously cracked his fingers, an old habit he’d developed since he was at UA. He didn’t want to talk about what had happened, but there was one thing he wanted to know “...How much did you hear?..”

“...Enough..”

Higari chewed his gum, all of sudden very interested in the floor as he avoided making eye contact with the older man.

“Higari?” Mr Kurōn was the first to break the silence, finally turning to Higari “May I ask you a..personal question?” He asked, watching Higari’s reaction carefully to make sure he didn’t step on a nerve. Higari turned to him, raising a brow “...Okay?” He said, slightly unsure

Mr Kurōn hummed, looking away again “...I don’t think there’s any way I can put this lightly” he admitted, Higari felt nervous at that. Mr Kurōn turned back to Higari and narrowed his eyes just a tiny bit, trying to read Higari as though he was a book. Higari felt his shoulders tense, after what had happened he’d been put off curious or studying gazes, and probably would be put of them for a while-

“Are you scared of me?”

Higari’s brain buffered, not quite understanding the question at first. Mr Kurōn said nothing, not removing his eyes from Higari as he waited for an answer. “.....Uh, well-“ Higari scratched at his neck “I don’t think- I...I wouldn’t say scared..” Higari admitted quietly, hand moving to tug at some strands of hair “I just..Uh..Well, I wanna make sure I don’t..” Higari’s tone became close to a mumble, yet Mr Kurōn continued to be patient “I just...really don’t want you two to be disappointed, I guess. I mean-..I don’t know the first thing about all...this” he gestured to his suit “I can’t make heads or tails or fancy of cocktails or caviar! A work bench and tools, a construction sight and mapping out underground tunnels, machine parts and dirty oil rags- those things I get!”

Higari had only opened up his worries about Ecto’s parents to Ecto himself, but before he knew was what happening, his worries where spilling from his mouth before he could stop them.

“And when I found you’d sent me an invite to this event too, I was...I didn’t want you to be..” Higari looked ashamed to even finish his sentence, and sheepishly turned his head away from Mr Kurōn to try and hide from his gaze “E-Embarressed by me..what that guy, Uh, Zeikin said. I..I hate to admit it but, most of what he said, ‘bout me being...insecure...most of it, held..some truth”

After he was finished there was a lengthy silence, then Mr Kurōn hummed, Higari tugged harder at his hair “.....Ekuto, he always tells us how happy you make him” he smiled, peering off at nothing before he smiled down at Higari “In school, at UA, I don’t think he had many friends” he said, shrugging “He didn’t really talk about it much with me and his mother, he always assured he had friends but, never wanted them round....Then you came along!” His smile widened, the light seeming to come back to his face “You where the first person from school that seemed to have changed him for the better! He was always so happy when he came back from school each day, after spending it with the mysterious friend he had”

Another pause

“...Do you make Ekuto happy?” He asked, looking to Higari.

Higari wasn’t sure if this was a trick question, so answered with a nervous “I...I like to think I do”

“You think?” Mr Kurōn titled his head “Or you know?”

“....I know” Higari said “...I really want to make Ecto happy, I try to keep him happy!”

Mr Kurōn seemed pleased with that answer “Then why would we want you to be some else?” He asked, leaning forward.

Higari’s eyes widened, his eyes darting up to him to see if what he had said was genuine. Mr Kurōn held nothing but honesty on his face, no trace of a facade or act anywhere, just..a genuine smile

he rose his brow at Higari, as if his thought on the matter should have been obvious.

“..I-I..” Higari tripped over his words, stuttering like a fool “I-I-..I-Uh..T-That’s-“

“You have nothing to prove Higari” Mr Kurōn insisted, saying the words he knew Higari needed to hear - and probably wanted to hear for a long time. He placed his hand on Higari’s shoulder, giving him a friendly shake “You are very easily likeable!”

If Higari’s eyes had been wide before, now they had shot open to the size of plates. Turquoise pupils staring at Mr Kurōn in shock, mouth hung open in a small o shape, causing Mr Kurōn to chuckle a little. Higari’s mouth snapped shut, realising he must have been gawking in his surprise. “Uhm-that’s-“ Higari turned away, feeling embarrassed, praying it wasn’t as obvious as if felt “T-Thank you..”

“You’re welcome”

Me Kurōn stood to his feet, stretching his arms out above his head before they flopped to his side, hands resting in his pockets “Hm..I think I’ve had enough of parties for one evening” He stated, looking down to Higari who craned his neck just to peer up at him. “Why don’t we all go out, get some proper food - my treat!” He said “...It’s the least I could do to make up for what happened. I can assure you, Zeikin will not be hosting business with us any time soon”

He offered out a hand “Come on, let’s not hang around in the cold. Besides-“ he looked back in the direction of the building “Ecto is starting to get worried, I’m sure you know at this point how he can be when worried”

....Higari chuckled, letting Mr Kurōn help pull him to his feet “Yeah” he said with a nod “He can be a bit of a worry wort” he admitted with a laugh, Mr Kurōn joining in lightly.

One meal later and drinks down at a small pub and Higari was feeling more like himself, the way he’d always tense up when Ecto’s parents so much as looked his way vanished entirely, for the whole evening he seemed to forget all about trying to uphold a certain image in front of them. He’d had a drink, he’d ordered what he wanted, he’d taken off his bow and untucked his shirt - and he’d had fun!

He and Ecto returned to the hotel room, and flopped back tiredly onto the hotel bed in sync “Well..” Ecto said, eyes on the ceiling “That was...something” he said. Higari hummed, eyes closed behind his frazzled hair, he’d given up trying to keep it neat once they’d all gone out for food. Shyly, Ecto peered down to his partner, nagging guilt knawing at his consciousness “Higari I...I’m so sorry about what ha-“

He was silenced when Higari had lazily shuffled his way up the bed and smashed a kiss confidently to Ecto’s lips. Half of Ecto’s next words where muffled into the kiss, body jolting on the bed before he kissed back. Higari pulled away, leaving Ecto wide eyed, red faced and panting

“Ecto...” Higari let himself become comfy on top of Ecto’s chest, nuzzling his nose into the crook of his neck as he let out a sigh “I’m fine, really” he said “You don’t have to worry about me all the time..” he reassured, still half sprawled ontop of him while Ecto peered to him “B-But-“

Higari gently pressed a finger to Ecto’s mouth “Shhhh..” he gently shushed him, his eyelids feeling heavy as his body registered how tired he was from the night out “We’re good Ecto, I’m good, you’re parents are good..” he slowly slid off Ecto’s chest, curling up into his side like a puppy, his body unconsciously seeking out Ecto’s warmth “In fact, despite what happened..” Higari smiled up at his boyfriend “...I really enjoyed tonight!”

Ecto blinked, not used to seeing Higari act so soft, but a tender smile soon took its place on his face “...I’m glad” his hand moved to Higari’s hair, sweeping aside his fringe to peer down into Higari’s half lidded sleepy eyes. He pressed another one of his kisses to Higari’s cheek, his heart jumping in his chest at the giggle Higari let out

He pressed another kiss to Higari’s other cheek, Higari let out a snicker.

Ecto pressed one of his kisses to Higari’s nose, Higari bit his lip to try and stifle his laughter.

Ecto then moved to Higari’s neck, where he knew he was terribly sensitive. So when he nuzzled his face into the crook of his neck, Higari let out an honest god squeal from shock - Ecto could hardly contain himself as he chuckled, before counting his nuzzling assault on his small husband who cackled and tried to escape Ecto’s death trap hug “Ectooo!~”

Maybe people like Zeikin would have his opinions, no questions there: but you know what, if Ecto and his parents loved him the way he was

Why should he care anyway??

[hopekiedokie]

That’s Rough Buddy (Seokjin)

SUMMARY : You were invited to your friends' annual Halloween Costume Bash™ and were supposed to go on a matching couples costume but your date cancels at the very last minute. Nevertheless, you pushed through with going to the party in your costume not knowing that you would still end up matching with someone. But unfortunately, it was with that very annoying (yet very attractive) guy that you despise so much.

PAIRING : Seokjin x reader

GENRE: humor, fluff, a sprinkle of angst in the end, enemies to lovers or frenemies to lovers (kinda?)

WORD COUNT : 16.6k+ words

WARNINGS: A swear word or two or seven, Jin is a crackhead (shocker), too much halloween games, excessive use of Avatar The Last Airbender quotes and references (aka Jin channeling his inner Azula)

NOTES: I originally was gonna make y/n and Jin dress up as Team Rocket and title this AU "Prepare for Trouble" but I ultimately decided on this. It pained me to do so because I am such a simp for purple haired Jin. Even if there are SO many hidden ATLA references here, I don't think you need to see it to understand this AU. Although, what on earth are you doing with your life if you've never watched the show?? Anyways, I hope you like this even though it's well into November now. Also, this is my very first fic so hopefully you’d enjoy this! Appa yip yip!

The smell of pumpkin seems to be enveloping the entire Park residence. You have barely reached the front porch and the scent has already hit your nostrils. How could a simple scent have possibly diffused into such a huge proximity, you wonder to yourself as you knocked on your best friends' front door. It wasn't until you entered the household when things became clear to you. Dozens upon dozens of pumpkins in different sizes were littered from their front hall to their living room. Some were already carved, some were sitting idly, and some were lined up to be carved by Park Jimin and Park Luna.

You were invited here on this lovely afternoon with the promise of free food. But after being handed a plate of pumpkin muffins and a bunch of carving tools, you felt a strong urge to just go home and maybe sleep through the holiday. Of course the two gremlins sitting on the floor, seemingly a pair on a mission, did not allow that to happen. So here you are on your seventh pumpkin, scooping out its contents, definitely not thinking of a million other things you'd rather be doing now. You were just about to stab your eye out with the sharp stabbing tool due to a possible mental breakdown when you got a text from Kim Taehyung.

Taehyung is Jimin’s best friend whom you might have had a crush on for about a year now since you’ve become friends with him. The two of you are going in matching costumes for the annual Park Halloween Costume Bash™ and have been texting non stop for two weeks now. Everyone in town takes this party seriously, including the adults. Even their parents are in on it though unfortunately this year, they're out of town so they aren't really involved. But the chosen winners for best costume are still to be awarded with a free dinner at the famous Park's family restaurant.

Tae Tae 🌻 : So that's a solid no on shaving my head? Cause I really wouldn't be opposed to it if it means a free heavenly meal from Papa Park 👀👀👀

You quietly chuckle at the thought of a bald Taehyung running around. The commitment of this man amazes you. You were about to type a reply when you felt something aggressively tap against your forehead. You look up to see an annoyed looking Luna.

Feeling something is stuck to your forehead, you slowly brought your hand up to touch it and you instantly felt a bit of pumpkin mush. "Did you just hit me with your filthy ladle?!" You disgustingly shouted at her.

"Dude, now is not the time to be all lovey dovey when the party is in three days and we still have about...uhm..." She looked around, started counting and then went to add stuff with her fingers, "A total of 27 pumpkins to stab and a whole house to decorate!"

You groaned loudly and fell on your back on the floor. You feel a headache start to develop from being surrounded by too much pumpkin flavored and scented things. If your two best friends' goal is to put any pumpkin patch to shame, then they definitely have achieved it. At this point, the stench of halloween in this area is strong enough to linger until the holiday comes back next year.

"Okay, but I don't understand why I'm being subjected into pumpkin slavery as well when this isn't even my party to throw?"

"When you're this behind on everything, all hands on deck are needed. We literally have not started on any of our to do list aside from pumpkin carving." It was Jimin who replied to your question. You watch him puncture a bunch of holes on the purple pumpkin he is working on. If you hear the word "pumpkin" one more time, you just might spontaneously combust or repeatedly bash your head with the wooden ladle in front of you. (A/N: Tbh, same here. It's only been a couple of paragraphs and I've already used the word 12 times.) 

"I thought we'd be on top of this without mom and dad's help!" Luna started as she too began poking holes on her [word redacted]. "We are so behind! I mean, this guy still doesn't have a costume!"

"YAH! Stop exposing me like that! I told you, it's a…a work in progress."

Luna snorted at his step brother's remark. "In order for a work to be in progress, it must first be started-" Jimin cut her off by throwing her some [word redacted] meat. 

It effectively stopped her from further embarrassing Jimin from his lack of costume days from the single most important party of their year. But it did start a revolting [word redacted] meat fight which lasted about a good minute. For the good of everyone, you stomped over to the war zone and pried the two idiots from each other. For a bunch of fools who are supposed to be rushing to get things done, they seem to be just fine with wasting their time. 

"OPPA STOP IT!"

"I wouldn't have declared war on you if you hadn't outed me like that to y/n!"

"Well, it's not my fault you're so unready!"

"ALRIGHT THAT'S ENOUGH FROM YOU TWO!" You shouted as you yanked Luna off of him. Why on earth did their parents think it would be alright to leave these two on their own is beyond you. You gave Luna a reprimanding look and said, "Seriously, you'll make no progress if you continue with your antics." 

Her eyes widen, looking like a little child being scolded by her mom. "He started it!"

From behind you, you can hear Jimin snickering. Probably feeling smug from her sister taking all the scolding. Honestly, are they five? You faced him with a much dirtier look than the one you gave Luna and he instantly stood straight, lips pressed into a thin line. 

"And as for you!" You started, "I can't believe you still don't have a costume! This is so disappointing coming from you. How could you have let this happen?"

This may seem over dramatic, but this costume party is really THAT important. It's the highlight of the autumn season. This family really knows how to celebrate it and they do not fail to over shine what they had the year before. So this is really a bunch of steps back for these two.

"I know, I know!" Jimin yelled exasperatedly. "It's not that I haven't been planning. It's just that, how could I possibly top what I dressed up as from last year?"

He does have a point. He and Luna teamed up last year on what might be the most iconic costume ever. They both dressed up as the Wilson sisters from the movie White Chicks. They even had prosthetics on just like how Kevin and Marcus impersonated the twins. You guess you would not know how to beat that costume as well.

"I don't know what you're talking about. Maybe you're just uncreative cause I found a costume that will surely be a big hit to the people." Luna taunted her brother.

"What is it?" You and Jimin asked at the same time.

"You'll just have to wait and see!" She answered in a sing-song tone and proceeded to clear up the mess they made.

Jimin began helping her sister pick up [word redacted] mush with a long face. "Well that sucks hard for me. How about you y/n? What are you dressing up?" 

"Oh, she's going as Katara, alongside Taehyung who is dressing up as Aang!" Luna answered for you, uttering the latter part in a way that sounds like she's teasing you.

"Oh, sweet! A date with Tae! I didn't know you two were finally going out?" 

"What? No, don't listen to her. It's not a date! We're just friends." The two stared at you with a "yeah right" kind of look so you were compelled to explain further.

"Look, we were talking about The Last Airbender a few months ago and I mentioned how much I really wanted to cosplay as Katara. One thing led to another then poof! Here we are going as Aang and Katara to your party. It's not a big deal."

Jimin had a knowing sly smirk that made you somewhat uncomfortable. "Yeah, except Aang and Katara were madly in love and ended up making babies AND you obviously have a crush on each other." He said.

You reached for the nearest bowl of discarded [word redacted] meat and flung it towards the boy whose eyes have now disappeared and is in a laughing fit.

"No, no, no! You've got it all wrong! Y/n doesn't have a big fat crush on Taehyung." Luna defended you. Thank God for her! Between the two goons, she really is the one you can truly count on. You were about to say thank you when she added, "It's obviously Seokjin she has a huge ass crush on!"

Your mouth fell agape.

"Wait, oh yeah it's him!" Jimin agreed and tag teamed with his sister to tease you. Sometimes, you forget that they were born with different parents. Apart from their DNA, they’re pretty much identical. And it's scary.

"Okay, you know what? I take it back. You both deserve this!" You grabbed the mushy bowl and threw gloop after gloop towards the siblings.

Needless to say, you spent more time cleaning up afterwards than working on the decorations.

The next few days went by like a huge storm. Chaos definitely ensued. You spent more time and effort on making this party possible than you ever did with anything in your life. All you see are purple and orange with a hint of red even when you close your eyes. Halloween seems to haunt you even in your sleep. Just last night, you dreamt you were being wrapped in spider webs (Which let's be honest, is pretty much just cotton) by that huge scarecrow standing in your best friends' lawn.

You were out in town with Jimin doing last minute shopping, telling him that weird and disturbing dream of yours when he suddenly told you he has something to do and pretty much dashed away to the direction of a women's shoe store. What's that all about?

He's been absolutely frazzled since that afternoon you spent terrorising [word redacted]. You can't blame the lad. It's hours away from the party and it seems like he still doesn't have a costume. You and Luna don't know how he's gonna pull this off. If he does though, you'll thoroughly be impressed and would never question Park Jimin's capabilities.

On your way to the nearest bus stop, you received a message from Taehyung. You instantly felt giddy. The fact that you're going to a party with him in matching costumes have only sunk in this morning when you finished with the party preparations. You opened the text and your face instantly fell.

Tae Tae 🌻 : Y/n! I really don't know how to say this. But I don't think I can come to the party tonight. My little sister woke up to a very bad fever this morning and both my parents are working this evening. I'm so so sorry to cancel on you. I know we've been looking forward to this for so long 😔

You know you can't be mad at him. It's not like he planned for this to happen. But you can't help but feel absolutely gutted. He's right, you've been looking forward to this for so long. Since April this year actually. If he's not coming, everything just seems pointless.

You : Aww that's a shame. Don't worry about me though. There's always next year. Worry about your sister! I do hope she'll get better soon. She shouldn't miss out on halloween ☹☹☹

Tae Tae 🌻 : I know. She's not gonna be able to go trick or treating. But I'll make sure we'll watch halloween films! 

Tae Tae 🌻 : Wait what do you mean there's always next year?? 

You : We'll just have to wait for next year to debut our costumes!

Tae Tae 🌻 : WAIT NO. Don't tell me you're not going to the party?? Just because I can't come??

You : Well yeah. It seems pointless to go.

Tae Tae 🌻 : Don't be like that! You're making me feel guilty 😭 Your costume deserves to be flaunted. Go or else I'll never talk to you again 🤧

Despite his order for you to come to the party, all desires to go left you the moment you read his initial text. The entire point of coming is to go as a pair. You both have been working hard to make your costumes as accurate as possible. To come alone doesn't make sense.

You were too engrossed with your phone that you did not realize you were going to crash into a person when you took a turn at the corner of the street. "Oww." You clutched the top of your head, as if you hit a hard wall instead.

"I'm so sorry-" the guy began to apologise but stopped short after he saw you. "Ah y/n! Watch where you're going! Don’t just mindlessly walk around!” he said, rubbing his chest where your head presumably collided with.

“Oh! I bet you're going as Wonder Woman tonight. Get it? Cause you wander too much around!" 

The hollering buffoon in front of you, laughed at his own joke so hard that people around you started looking at the both of you. Wanting to get out of this embarrassing situation, you circled around him and proceeded to walk towards the bus stop. But he unfortunately followed right after you.

"Hang on." He jogged in front of you and held both of your arms. He looked you in the eyes with such seriousness that you think he has something very important to say. But alas, you should’ve known that nothing intelligible ever comes out of his mouth. 

He opened his mouth and said, "Are you actually going as Wonder Woman?"

You made an annoyed sound and slapped his arms away as he said things like "I knew it!" and "I am such a genius!".

"No Seokjin! I'm not going as Wonder Woman.” you said as you reached the bus stop.

“Well that’s a relief! Honestly that’s super low and pedestrian even for you.” He jabbed at you but you stayed silent, not wanting to banter with him, unlike the usual. He carried on blabbering for the remaining time, telling you how “Spicy and scorching” his costume is. Whatever that means. At this point, you have half the mind to believe that he’s dressing up as a jalapeño. Knowing Seokjin, you wouldn’t put it past him to do so.

“You know what, actually, I'm not going at all." you butt in as an attempt to shut him up. His head whipped towards you at such a lightning fast pace, you were sure it would have snapped off. Oh how you wish.

"You're not going?" He said in what sounded like a very disappointed tone. Huh, why would he be disappointed, you thought to yourself.

You shake your head no.

For once, Seokjin seemed rather speechless and something else. Dare you say sad. This is really weird for him but you chose not to analyse him further and stood at the bus stop. You both just stood there in silence for a couple of seconds until a bus came parking.

You were already inside, swiping your bus card, when you heard him say, "Well that's rather disappointing. Who would go and scare the little kids away now?" 

The bus doors closed just as his infamous laugh came rolling. You weren't able to hear it but the sound of his signature windshield wiper laugh still rang in your ears. You flipped him off and hastily took a seat after an old man looked at you with such distaste. You took one last look at Seokjin giving him the finger once more but much discreetly as the bus abandoned his still laughing form.

When 8:30pm arrived, you were sprawled on your bed watching this god awful halloween film starring Adam Sandler. You, honest to god, love Adam Sandler. But this film isn’t it. You stopped paying attention half way through the movie and started scrolling through your phone when your mom unceremoniously barged in your room.

“Mom, for the last time! I’m not coming to the party!” You told her for like the thirteenth time since you got home this afternoon. It most probably wasn’t the thirteenth time and was probably just the third time. But you’re really not in the best mood.

“Are you extremely, positively, a hundred percent sure about that, honey?” 

You rolled your eyes at that. Your mom is never the one to keep repeating stuff as she is also easily annoyed just like her daughter. “Yes, mom. I am firmly, undoubtedly, and conclusively stating that I am staying in this room for the rest of the night.” You proclaimed, not even sure you can string up further words to describe how sure you are with your decision.

Your mom sighed as you closed the movie, not interested in it anymore. You look up at her with a raised eyebrow, silently asking why she’s still in the room. She fully opened the door and said, “Well, if that’s the case, then you need to tell that to Freddie Mercury downstairs.”

Not really understanding what she meant, you just stared at her dumbfoundedly until your brain finally started to function properly. “Uh, excuse me. But come again?”

She sighed once more, probably already tired from the night and the high jinks that came along with it. She never really liked halloween.

“Just come downstairs. Now.”

You hurriedly got up from your bed and sprinted out of your room. You haven’t even stepped foot at the top of the stairs when you indeed caught sight of the one and the only Freddie Mercury at your front door, rocking his iconic Live Aid outfit, topped with a lavish red robe, and a completely blinged out crown. Of course, we can’t forget the aviators and his emblematic moustache.

“Ay oh!” Freddie yelled at the top of her-I mean his lungs. It was so loud that your cat ran out of your house. Meanwhile, you shamelessly gawked at the person in front of you as you descended downstairs. You were absolutely confident that your best friend wouldn’t be able to top her costume from last year. Oh you were wrong.

“Darling, I know I’m fabulous but don’t ogle at me like that. Now do tell me, what’s this news I’ve heard from the grapevine that you’re not coming to the party??” She asked annoyedly in a pretty decent posh London accent. You on the other hand, ignored her.

“Woah that looks utterly real.” You touched her moustache and she slapped your hand away. 

“Oi! Focus, lass! How could you possibly spend the last three painful days with us on what seemed like the halloween edition of Amazing Race, only to bail on us at the finale?!" Her accent slowly slipped away as her voice progressively got much louder. Once again though, you chose to ignore her.

"Your crown is so beautiful! Is this custom made? Oooh can I touch it?" You asked while reaching for it, not even waiting for her approval.

"Y/n stop it! I asked you a question. Answer it! Why all of a sudden, you decide to not go--"

"Dude, you really hit the nail on this one! Although I have to say, I don't think Freddie had protruding boobs."

Luna dramatically gasped at your statement and covered her chest using her robe. "I do not have protruding boobs! You make it sound like they're massive!"

"Well, compared to Freddie Mercury's, I guess they kinda are."

She hit you for the second time since she got here. "This is as much squeezing I can handle to flatten them out. Nevertheless, I believe I have normal sized breasts! Besides, I'm sure Freddie would've loved to have protruding boobs anyway."

A couple of seconds passed with you two just staring at each other, feeling the weight of your conversation. Realising how stupid your topic is, the both of you burst into laughter.

"What on earth are we talking about? I can't. This is too stupid. What the heck are you even doing here?" You managed to spit out in between laughs 

Luna stopped laughing and gasped once more. She hit you for the third time now and ignored your protests of pain. "You little shit! What are you still doing here in your pyjamas! The party started 30 minutes ago! Come on, let's get you dressed up!"

She yanked your arm towards the direction of your room but you stayed planted to where you stand. "I can't. I told you, I'm not going."

She dropped your arm and took off her aviators. She had a really disappointed look which must be mirroring your own expression. "You can't be serious. We've been working hard for this. We've been excited for it since the first day of autumn!"

You didn't reply to her, you just looked at the ground. "But what about Taehyung?"

"Taehyung isn't coming."

Confusion spread across her face so you told her about his dilemma with his sister.

“Well that’s just bullshit.” She concluded with such spite. Your eyes widen at her aggression towards Taehyung. You can’t believe she would be this hostile about him choosing to care for his sick little sister. What else was he supposed to do? Abandon her for you?

“What the hell, Luna! HIS SISTER IS SICK! How could you be so bitter to him?”

“Woah! Woah! Woah!” She waved both hands up in a defensive manner, “I’m not mad at him! I’m mad at you!” 

You rubbed your face with both of your hands. You guess it makes sense for her to be mad at you but now is really not the time for you to agree with her. You're not in the best mood to carry out an argument. You just want to crawl back to your room. That dreadful Adam Sandler movie suddenly sounds so temptingly riveting. Having said that, you still made it clear to her as to why you would prefer staying in tonight. 

Luna, being the stoic person that she is, completely disagreed with your reasoning. "Oh quit being dramatic! He already gave you the heads up to go tonight. What more do you need?"

"I don't know, Luna. I just feel like I'm betraying him if I go."

She glared at you for a good second as if trying to telepathically make you change your mind. When it dawned on her that you're not conceding, she sighed the longest sigh you've ever heard from anyone, dramatically placed her aviators back, turned around while flicking her robes on your face, and then strutted away from you. 

"Fine then! If you'd rather sulk here over a boy rather than spending an astounding good time with your friends, then be my guest! I guess all that hard work you've put in will be for nothing. But that's fine! There's always next year anyway, right?"

You watch her shimmy her tush towards the front door as she spews out reprimands after reprimands. And she says you're dramatic. Birds of the feather, really do flock together.

Her hand is on the doorknob when she gave you what meant to be her last look on you. It seemed more of a plea to you though. At that moment, you felt a pang of guilt. Are you really going to abandon your best friends for Kim Taehyung? 

You gave her a small smile and said, "I'm sure you'll have a fucking marvelous party!"

Finally, she gave out a groan of defeat and opened your front door. "Oh whatever y/n! I should've left the second your mom told me you're not coming. Jimin needs my help, anyways"

Jimin. Somehow, you remembered that that boy didn't have a costume even until this morning. You wonder what on earth did he pull at the very last minute. So you called out to Luna.

"Luna, wait a second!"

"WHAT NOW?!" She yelled exasperatedly 

"I just want to know what Jimin dressed up as."

She let go of your front door knob and crossed her arms. "Why'd you wanna know? It's not like you care about this party."

"Oh give me a break! Just tell me what it is!"

The smirk she has on her face tells you that she's not giving you what you want. Which you are absolutely correct.

"I'm not telling you what he dressed up as. If you want to know, then you find it out yourself. All I'm saying is that his costume is literally everything."

Some way or another, that statement of hers stirred something inside of you. Somewhere, a few blocks down, is a Park Jimin dressed up as something "literally everything" (Park Luna, 2020). If there's something you know about Jimin is that his definition of marvelous is a normal person's definition but times ten. She could be bluffing, but your curiosity is really peaked. 

Damnit, you need to know what he dressed up. Right now.

You stood at the doorway of the Park residence living room with your mouth on the floor. 

In the middle of their room is where a really cool light up dance floor is. You already know that since you were there when it was set up yesterday. What caught your attention was the guy dancing wildly right smack in the middle of everyone. A wild Jimin was twerking, doing high kicks, and *gasp*! Did he just do a split???

Beside you, stands a preoccupied Luna, too busy taking a video of his untamed brother. “What did I tell you? Fucking everything!” She hollered and yelled at him to do some more of his high kicks.

You looked at your thick blue Southern Water Tribe coat lined with fur and then at Jimin, wearing his Patrick Star hooker costume. Suddenly, you feel overdressed. He was only wearing a tight pink sweatshirt, Patrick’s famous green shorts, fishnet stockings, and some sexy thigh high leather boots. Yet he is indeed stealing everyone’s attention. How could he possibly bust out those kinds of moves in those thin stilettos? A normal woman can even barely stand in them. Hold on, so that’s why he bolted to that women’s shoe shop this morning, you thought to yourself. It all makes sense now. 

Luna was left enabling his brother's thotty attitude as you walked to the kitchen. Luna was right, staying at home was a dumb idea. You can't help but admire all the halloween decorations the three of you have placed everywhere. Now you understand the vibes the two siblings were going when they said they wanted the house to be illuminated by jack o lanterns only. It looks really pretty here. Let's just hope and pray that this house won't burn down at the end of the night because this is definitely a fire hazard.

A guy approached you as you were standing by the snack bar. You don't really know who he is but he's dressed up as Dumbledore so you felt obligated to talk to him. "Your Katara costume is so cool! I'm a huge fan of the series! (A/N: Honestly who isn't?) Is it okay if I take a pic with you?" He asked and instantly whipped his phone out. 

Who were you to say no? So you awkwardly stood close to him and smiled for the camera. Is this what fame feels like?

"Gee thanks! I'll have to take another picture with you later but with your date too." 

Your face fell for a fraction of a second for being reminded by Taehyung. How does this guy know that Taehyung and you were supposed to go in matching costumes?

"Oh, I'm sorry! Taehyung won't make it tonight which is a huge shame." 

He looked at you weirdly. "Who's Taehyung?"

"Uh my date..?" you stated but ended up sounding more like asking a question.

"Oh, your date!" Realisation hit him and you slowly nodded. "But he did come!"

"WHAT?" 

"Yeah. I saw him arrive earlier. I must say, he looks sick!"

Taehyung came? But what about his sister? Did she magically get better? Why didn't he text you or something? You are so confused.

"Have you seen him anywhere?" You asked rather hopefully.

"Yeah! He's out back giving palm readings in his fortune telling booth."

Well now you're even more confused. That booth was meant to be a prop display only. What the hell is Taehyung doing, playing fortune teller with it? 

You thanked the guy and zoomed out to the backyard as fast as you could. There were no signs of Taehyung anywhere. You roamed around for a couple of minutes, trying to maneuver around the massive crowds towering over your pretty small form, until you heard a loud guy complaining about some drink.

"I'm telling you man! We need cactus juice up in here!" Oh, that annoying voice, you're sure you'd recognise that anywhere. It's only a matter of time until you run into him.

"It'll Quench Ya!" Hold up, that’s a Sokka line! Why would he be quoting from “Avatar: The Last Airbender”?? 

"Nothing's Quenchier, It's The Quenchiest!" You hear him say before he bust out his windshield wiper laugh. His voice seems to be coming from that large group of people by the fortune telling prop. You approached the group not for Seokjin, but to see if Taehyung was around. The two of them are in the same friend group.

It was difficult to scout around the group since everyone is a lot taller than you. You jumped around until you caught a glimpse of the hollering man in the middle, wearing something red and what appears to be a large scar on his face. Why does that scar look familiar? Realisation hit you like a ton of bricks. It seemed like time stopped for all the wrong reasons when you took in the entirety of Seokjin's costume. 

"Hey, look! It's Seokjin's date!", someone said and every single head there was in that group turned towards you at the same time. Even Seokjin, himself. It's so comical and stupid that you'd think you're in some sort of sitcom.

You looked like a deer caught in headlights, just stood frozen in front of the crowd. To be fair, how were you supposed to react anyway?

“Damn, she looks really pretty!

“Those are some fine hair loopies!”

“I don’t understand why they would go as Zuko and Katara. It doesn’t make sense.”

“ZUTARA MOTHAFUCKAS!!!”

One, you agree that you look banging tonight. Two, You also agree that if the two of you were indeed on a date, it wouldn’t make sense to go as Zuko and Katara when they weren’t even a thing. But three, yes, Zutara all the way and you would go down with that ship faster than you can say Bonzu Pipinpadaloxicopolis The Third.

Although the crowd had valid points, you would still think that Seokjin would contradict some of them. You know, like the accusation of the two of you being on a date? So it was a shock when he approached you with open arms and a huge smile while saying, “AH! There’s my sugar queen! Flameo, hotman! I was beginning to think you’ve bailed on me.”

You stepped back even before he got the chance to hug you. 

“Uh what the heck is this all about?” You were pointing out the ridiculousness of him acting like the two of you twinning was planned but he thought you were talking about his fortune telling booth.

“Oh you know me! As a theatre arts major, I can’t help it when situations arise that forces me to slip into a different character.”

You looked at him unamused. “That’s literally a mental disorder you just described and literally, NO ONE forced you to do this. That prop was happily chilling in the background and you just have to go and torment it.”

He shushed you with a finger to your lips and it took all the will in you to not bite it off. “You’re just saying that cause you haven’t tried getting my expert opinion.”

“Expert opinion- You know what? Whatever! I don't have the patience to do this right now. I'm out here looking for my date so this night could get better. So why don't you just tell everybody here that we are not- hmmp!" Seokjin's rather large hands covered your entire face to shut you up or maybe slap you. Honestly you weren't sure. He was intending to cover your mouth but in his haste, he managed to smack you instead.

"Hey, guess what? I think you're the only person here I haven't told their fortune yet! That's just a shame, that won't do. No, no, no. What's that? You wanna go now? What a brilliant idea! Let's go, sugar queen!", he said all that in one breathing then pushed you towards "his" fortune telling booth that YOU had set up before the sun even rose this morning.

It was a very small purple tent (Actually, it was just a massive piece of cloth hanging from a tree trunk) with a little table set up and a crystal ball in the centre. He yanked the front part close for some privacy and you think you've never been more repelled in your entire life. To be stuck in such a small confinement with Seokjin and his ten foot wide shoulders is something that should be illegal.

He pushed you aside so he could sit at "his" table with you nearly falling through the cloth at the process. Once he's settled, he looks at you expectantly with a huge grin as if you actually wanted to get your fortune read by him. As if you volunteered yourself to be in this position.

His brain really is something and whatever that something is, you don't even want to try and decipher it.

Against your better judgement, you dragged yourself to sit in front of him. You're already here, might as well just try and enjoy the ride. Right? 

Your butt had barely touched your seat and Seokjin was already declaring some insights about your future.

"Your future is full of struggle and anguish. Most of it, self-inflicted.", he said in all seriousness.

And of course, this is just some mischievous way to rile you up. What else did you expect from this guy? Or better yet, why do you even bother with him? 

"You're not even gonna read my palms or bust out some tarot cards? Maybe do a little gazing into the crystal ball?"

"I didn't need to. It's written all over your face."

It took you a second to realise that he just directly quoted from Avatar again. You are quite annoyed at his childishness and slightly amused at his apparently extensive knowledge for Avatar references.

"I'm gonna give you the count of three to get the hell out of my face. If you're still here, I'll make sure your destiny ends right here." You replied, also quoting from the series.

He chuckled at your threat, finding it real cute just how easy it is for him to irritate you. "Okay, calm down. No need to get murderous."

"One."

"Hey, it's not my fault you're bound for failure!"

"Two!"

"Wait, are you actually being serious now?"

"THREE!", you yelled and lunged at the scarred boy.

He made a high pitched scream as you went and grabbed one of his shoulders. Your tiny chair went tumbling down and the crystal ball rolled off to the ground in your vicious movements. 

"Please, not the face! Anything but the face! It's too VIP!"

"Oh, I'll make sure that stupid scar becomes a permanent part of your face!"

One of his hands were on your arm while the other was held tightly around your hand that was trying to claw his "VIP" face. For a small person, you seem to be putting up a big fight against him.

The scene that was unfolding inside that small tent is a sight to behold. If anyone ever walked in right now, they definitely would think that a more salacious thing is going to go down. All of the ruckus the two of you are making can probably be heard from the outside. But the both of you are too out of it to even consider the embarrassment you might get if someone barges in. Which is why you didn’t notice Jimin’s head poke inside the tent.

"Wow you guys. If y'all wanted a room, you could've just asked. As a very supportive friend, I would gladly give you one." The voice of Jimin rang from behind you and you instantly let go of each other, feeling a bit flustered.

"It's not what it looks like!", you tried reasoning with the boy. "He's being his usual little shit self and I'm just trying to purge it out of his system!"

Jimin, equally being a little shit like his older friend, brushed your reasoning aside. "Y/n, y/n, y/n. Out of all the people here, you're really the one to mess this perfectly set up prop? Didn't us setting this up at midnight meant anything to you? Couldn't you have just let Seokjin hyung here to peacefully give you his readings?"

You rolled your eyes at him. “Can you just shut up? Also, you knew this shithead was using our prop and you just let him be?”

“Of course he did! He’s taking 25% of my total earnings tonight.” Seokjin muttered. 

“Total earnings- You’re making people pay for your made up bullshit?!” You hollered at the wide shouldered guy. Why are you even surprised about this? It’s Seokjin we are talking about. He could probably convince people to pay him just by walking past him.

“Oh you bet! But don’t fret, I’m not gonna charge you. With that kind of fate that you have, I’m sure you need every bit of kindness.”

Steam could might as well visibly come out of your ears right now with how enraged you are at him. You wanted to strangle him, bloodbend even. You didn’t have the chance to do anything though because Jimin was pulling you away. “Would you two stop with the lover’s quarrel for like a goddamned minute?”

He shoved you outside then did the same to Seokjin. “Everyone’s already inside about to play games and you two are still out here, too busy being all over each other!”

Jimin didn’t even need to say anything else or to further force you two. Just the word “games” made you both run inside at record speed. If people got real competitive with the costume contest, the halloween games are a whole other thing. Usually, after an hour or so since the party has started, the Parks hold a series of halloween themed games. The winners get various coupons. They aren’t as good as a free four course meal but that’s better than nothing especially if we're talking about the Park’s restaurant.

Sometimes, these games are done in groups but usually it’s in pairs. You weren't surprised that this year, all games are going to be done in pairs but unlike recent years, the games are going to be done in a "last man standing" manner. You knew all of this since you helped pick these games. You'd be more hyped up about them if it weren't for the fact that you don't have a pair to play with.

All these talk about games reminded you of Taehyung. You completely forgot you were supposed to look for him. But it became clear to you that he didn't really come when almost everyone who you came across with to your walk back inside pretty much assumed that Seokjin was your date. They all made some comment regarding your matching outfits which Seokjin didn't even try to deny. He was just gobbling up their compliments.

You listened to Freddie Mercury and Patrick Star explain the mechanics of this year's "Halloween Olympics". Now, what you didn't know was that they also changed the prize system. Apparently, they upped the prize since it's going to be a bit more difficult to win and there's only going to be one winning pair. This year, the winning pair is also going to win a free dinner. That got people buzzing.

With that, Luna explained that only the first 20 pairs to find a small, red, and hidden [word redacted] could compete in the games. Chaos ensued as you watch everyone scour around the house. All at once, you felt like you don't want to be competing against anyone in this room. Everyone seemed too terrifying as they went berserk. But alas, tonight doesn't seem like your night.

One by one, pairs came towards the siblings with their [word redacted] until only one was left hidden. Some guy, for some stupid reason, made the wrong decision to point and scream out the location of the last one. Obviously, everyone else made a beeline towards it. 

Everything went in a complete blur for you. All you remember was seeing a tall guy in red jump for it. Then you were yanked by the said guy. Next thing you know, you were competing in the first game. Well, “competing” is a strong word. Seeing as you were dragged here unexpectedly without your consent and were in a total daze, your partner took full control of the reins. Now that you're coming back to your senses, you think this is for the best if you want to win. For once in his life, he can finally put his frat boy skills to good use. 

The first game was announced to be a game of eyeball beer pong. It seems like the siblings are trying to get people drunk this early. You guess it’s a good strategy to easily kick people out of the games. But you and your partner ain’t going to be one of them. You watch your partner make perfect shots after shots, hitting every cup of the opposing pair. It wasn’t long before you both had won and eliminated the other pair.

“I can’t believe we lost! I really thought we had it in the bag.” One of the other guys had the audacity to say in front of Kim Seokjin, a true blue frat boy.

“Oh don’t flatter yourself! You were never even a player.” Seokjin muttered to the guy and held his hand up to you as if you were actually going to give him a high five. Instead, you gave him a long hard stare as cold as any of the water tribes. Any sane person would be decent enough to feel remorseful. He didn’t. Instead, he grabbed one of your wrists and gave himself a high five. 

You smacked him upside his head. “You insolent fool!” You hollered like a villain in a Disney movie.

“Yah! What was that for?” his feigned innocence made you want to tear out not only his hair but also your own.

“You think I want to compete with you?” 

He crossed his arms and slowly shook his head at you. Almost as if he is disappointed in you. “Tsk tsk tsk. I carried the whole bench and this is what I get from you? Just say ‘thank you’ and go.” 

You scoffed. “For your information, I didn’t ask to be paired with you. You just yanked me from nowhere!”

“Well then, you're welcome, sugar queen!”

“YOU’RE WELCOME?? I don’t want to be paired with you!” 

Your seething rage seems to somewhat alarm him. “Okay, okay, calm down!” You opened your mouth to interrupt him but he didn’t let you. “I admit that I did just yanked you and didn’t ask for your permission. Sure, that wasn’t really cool. BUT! In my defense, I was so deep in my competitive zone that I didn’t take the time to notice who I was pulling.” 

He looked at you to see if you had anything to say but the annoyance remained etched on your face so he continued reasoning with you. “Listen, we both just want the same thing and that is to win. That ain't happening to you seeing as you're all alone. So really, I kinda did you a favor here. Come on, it'll be fun!"

You hate to admit it, but he does have a point. Maybe it's not that bad of an idea to pair up tonight. You both are pretty competitive. Besides, you do need a little cheering up err- a distraction, I mean.

"I guess we could try and not tear each other apart even just for tonight. This is for a good cause. We do both really want that free meal. Fine, I'll call truce for now." You finally conceded and held your hand out to him. He took it and you shook hands.

"I'm glad you're seeing it my way. Because to be honest, you're not winning a free meal with that costume." He confidently said with a shit eating grin.

You squeezed his hand a little too tightly and ignored his yelps of pain. "And neither will you because guess what?! Your scar is on the wrong side!"

"Ah! I knew someone's gonna tell me that sometime tonight. I can't even be mad at that reference."

"No Seokjin. Your scar really is on the wrong side."

"Yeah, and tea is just hot leaf juice."

"Uh, it really is though. But I repeat, your scar’s on the wrong side, buddy!"

“No it’s not.”

“Believe it or not, it is!”

"Are you actually being serious?"

You let out a really long sigh of disbelief to what you'll have to put up with. This is for sure going to be a long night.

To your surprise, the night did not go on as a drag. The next game did start off rocky with you not being able to guess any of the given Halloween charades. Either you are not as cultured as you think you are or you just don't get the mind of a theatre major. Or maybe, it's just his mind you don't understand, to be honest.

"How on earth was that Silence of the Lambs?!"

"What do you mean 'how on earth was that Silence of the Lambs'? What else does this even mean?" He replied while acting like his arms are pinned to his sides then proceeded to cover his mouth and then did a fluttering motion with one of his hands that seemed to be coming out of his lips.

"That could literally mean anything! For all I know, that could mean The Mummy!"

He scoffed at you as if you just told him the most offensive thing in the world. "The Mummy?? Oh, you are absolutely hopeless. We are so doomed if we keep letting you guess."

"No, we are SO doomed if we let you act out the things! You dare call yourself a theatre major?" To any other person, you would think that your comment is in fact just downright offensive. But that's not the case with you two because it seems like you could push all the wrong buttons of the other person and somehow still not end up really hurting anyone. You wouldn’t admit it, but maybe both of you find this weird comfort in these silly banters and in the midst of it all, you've unknowingly built some form of bond.

You collectively agree to switch roles and just like that, the tides shifted. The two of you were suddenly getting the correct guesses each round. At the very last round, you drew the movie Caroline from the witch hat. If it were you and Luna playing, you guys would have guessed this in a heartbeat since it's your favorite movie. But you're with Seokjin and you are extremely positive that he has never even seen the movie.

When the one minute and thirty second counter started to tick down, you immediately made a circle around one of your eyes and made a sewing motion to it. You thought it couldn't be anymore obvious than that but he just stared at you. By the time forty seconds have passed, your hope for him trickled down. You could hear the opposing pair celebrating prematurely on the side which ticked you off so much.

Your sewing motions got a lot more aggressive as you gave Seokjin the most desperate look you could ever give him. He in turn, gave you a very rare apologetic look. Yup, you guys were doomed from the beginning. All you can think of is how much this night really sucks for you. You probably should have stayed at home.

Once everyone started counting down from fifteen, you bid goodbye to the grand prize. The idea of it was just too good to be true. You stopped with your motions and gave Seokjin a small nod of defeat. He acknowledged this by giving you a slow nod as well and this seemed like the end for your pair. His gaze on you, however, flitted towards something or someone from behind you. His eyes stayed there for a good five seconds, appearing to be in deep concentration. You didn't even have the chance to look back since right before the audience counted to one, Seokjin was screaming the correct answer.

"CORALINE! It's Coraline! Of course, how could I not know?" He announces while flapping his arms wildy just a second before the timer rings. Everyone cheered at this sudden victory. The turn of events left you stunned. You thought for sure he wouldn't get it. He just keeps surprising you.

Seokjin approached you with a huge smile on his face and you can't help but return it to him. Not only that, you gave him a big hug which caught him off guard. You didn't know what came over you to do that but it felt like the right thing to do. He didn't seem to show any signs of protest as well.

"What the fuck? I really thought that was the end of the line for us!" You told him after sharing a brief hug.

"You really need to put a little trust on me. What can I say? I'm a genius." Just like that, you went back to wanting to punch his face again.

Rolling your eyes, you murmured, "Did the definition of genius change in the last 100 years?"

While you turned your attention to Jimin who was already announcing the next game, Seokjin glanced towards Luna and gave her a smile. Unbeknownst to you, this so-called "genius" partner of yours actually had help. He, did in fact, was never going to get the correct guess. He has never seen Coraline nor does he know anything about it. But your best friend, Luna, decided that she wanted to keep you two in the games so she tried so hard to discreetly mouth "Coraline" to Seokjin a couple of times.

You didn't need to know that though.

He didn't mind receiving a few assistance to win, but it does hurt his pride and it will hurt more if you find out. Fortunately for Seokjin, he didn't need any further helping hands. Even from you. 

Either the games are too easy or you're just completely and utterly incapable because Seokjin pretty much breezed through them without even batting an eye. If you didn't know any better, you'd think he's trying to impress someone. You, maybe? Wait, no. That doesn't make any sense. Why would he do that? Besides, he made sure to gloat on you everytime your pair wins with you contributing nothing.

A couple of games and one harrowing round of What's Inside the Box later, just six pairs remained. It wasn't exactly all fun and games since along the way, your pair or rather, Seokjin made a rivalry against another pair. This couple dressed up as Team Rocket really got on his nerves. You can't blame him though. They kept on flirting with each other after every round and not to mention, they also kept taunting you two. You'll bloodbend them if you hear "Prepare for trouble and make it double" one more time before a game starts. To be fair, they do play very well. Actually, they seem to be the only other pair that puts up a good fight.

By this time, everyone has migrated outside for the last few games. For this one, as you already knew, you'll be playing blindfolded bean bag toss. One person would have to guide the other as they go through three different levels. The pairs that don't make it through would obviously get eliminated.

"Oh, we are so gonna dominate on this one!" You hear the girl dressed up as Jessie says.

"For sure. Why don't they all just pretend to be a tree and leave?" The guy dressed up as James condescendingly said and they both laughed out loud at his joke.

You visibly cringed at that. Can they get anymore intolerable? That's saying a lot coming from someone who knows Seokjin, arguably the most abhorrent creature in your life. Jeez, and you thought his jokes were the worst.

Seokjin made a gagging noise beside you, voicing out your sentiments. You can't help but laugh out loud with him until Patrick and Freddie approached you two.

"Okay, who's going to lead and who's the blindfold wearer between you two?" Patrick said and snickered a little after realising the other implications of his question. This little shit.

"Well, seeing as her skills are lacking, I'm gonna once again step up to the plate and handle this one." Seokjin reached for the blindfold but you snatched it from Luna's hand before he could.

You can't just let this night go down like this. Honestly, you're kind of having fun watching all the chaos ensue from the sidelines. But you're a woman of honour. You can't possibly go for a win while doing the bare minimum. You dare dress up as Katara and let some man take over?

"I'll be playing this one." You calmly but confidently declared.

"Sugar queen, I love the assertiveness. But I think you should-"

"I'm playing this one." You interrupted him with such firmness in your tone, they couldn't do anything but just nod to you.

Hell no are you gonna let Seokjin annihilate this night all by himself. You need to prove that you can match up to him. You'll show his stupidly pretty face and wrongly placed scar not to mess with your capabilities.

You took a long hard look at the three targets. Each one going higher and farther than the one before. You are to be given a practice round each level to get your bearings. Yada yada yada. You tuned the siblings out, of course you already knew all this. As the person who placed the goals, you'd think you have the upper hand. You were overly confident, bordering the line of cockiness, that you could do this. You even had the audacity to sneer at Team Rocket when they uttered their catchphrase to you.

You watched each pair try and make their shot. Surprisingly, everyone made it. That only added fuel to your fire. You were excited. You couldn't wait to finally do something. On top of that, Seokjin kept muttering things to you that if they can do it then so can you. 

When it's your time to play, you are extremely buzzing. Going last is always an overwhelming feeling. All that built up confidence died down though the second you put on your blindfold. The darkness that enveloped you instantly made you feel unbalanced and disoriented. Confusingly, it's as if all your other senses heightened but it also felt like they all shut down at the same time. 

"Fuck, fuck, fuck." You chant in your mind as you feel your awareness of your surroundings slip from you.

This is not good. Why did you subject yourself into doing this, again? You should've let Seokjin play when he had the chance. You clearly cannot do this.

In the midst of your swelling panic, you feel hands place on both of your shoulders. You jumped at the unexpected contact but it was just Seokjin. "You can do this, Okay? Just focus on me." He whispered in your ear with such comfort and softness that you had to shiver a little.

He rubbed small circles on your back with his thumbs, soothing you for a second until Luna gave you the go signal.

You slowly walk as straight as you possibly can even if you feel like toppling over the entire time. Please don't. The entire time, Seokjin was behind you. You halted when he told you and to the best of your abilities, you "delicately", as he instructed you to, tossed the bag to the left.

"Okay, that was shit." He truthfully told you in a nice tone as you hear the people around begin tittering at what you assumed to be such a horrible shot. You think you just heard Team Rocket announcing their victory. Shit, shit, shit, shit. You are royally fucked.

"Seokjin..." You can't help but whine, your anxiety creeping up ten fold.

"Hey, hey, hey. That's fine! What are practice rounds for?" He tried easing you.

"But everyone-'

"Forget about everyone. It's just you and me right now. Calm down and focus." The gentleness of his words and the lulling of his voice somehow allowed your breakdown to dissipate a little. If you're in a better state, you'd be surprised at how he is behaving towards you. You'd probably dismiss it and reason that he just badly wants to win. That's the only fitting explanation.

Sensing that you've calmed down a little bit, he let out a breath that he unconsciously has been holding. Your sudden mood shift made him really nervous. "Okay, sugar queen. I know you're a waterbender but mind channeling a little bit of your inner Toph for now? Just try and maybe get in tune with the surroundings? Come on, you set this thing up. Can’t you, like, use that to your advantage somehow?”

Easier said than done. But the way he’s practically cooing at you as he talks makes you want to subconsciously do anything for him right now. He could ask you to go find him a dragon egg and you’d most probably follow his orders blindly. Which is a concerning thought that you’d mull over later. For now, you focus only on his voice and try your best to toss the bean bag inside the goal.

You took a deep breath and said you're ready to attempt your shot. Seokjin instructed you to make your throw a bit more vigorous. By how much? You have no idea. Hell, you don’t even remember how hard you threw your last shot. This is literally all up to chance, if we’re being real. So you prayed to every spirit out there to put all odds in your favour. 

Around you, some people began cheering. Some people were kind of waiting for you to completely miss again to get some good laughs out of it. Other pairs were taunting you, making a distraction. But you tried your hardest to tune them all out. Right now, all you can focus on is your aim and the nice words Seokjin is throwing at you. With shaking hands, you make a swing with what you hope is enough force to get to the next level.

You weren’t aware of it but to everyone else, it’s as if time went in slow motion. People’s heads comedically followed the direction of your bean bag. Your two best friends were both wide eyed, Jimin had both of his palms on the top of his head and Luna had her mouth wide opened. Seokjin stood nervously behind you with his hands intertwined in front of his lips as if reciting a prayer. Your bean bag’s hang time felt like an eternity but it was more than enough to realise that you still weren’t going to be able to make it. Seokjin almost cried on the spot at that realisation until your bean bag hit the rim of the basket. That split second of it hitting the rim made all the difference in the world. Everyone literally went silent as the bean bag bounced off the rim and went straight inside the basket.

With your vision completely obscured, you were clueless to all the spectacle that’s happening. In contrast to everyone, everything went in fast forward to you. Right after you made your shot, you instantly heard people yelling your name and a pair of arms encaged you from the back. Seokjin lifted you up and started spinning you around, obviously a sign that you made it. 

With everyone’s reaction, you would think you made a championship winning shot. You don’t really understand the hype but you were just glad that you did it and it did wonders to your confidence.

“I told you that you were doing great! You just need to follow my voice.” Seokjin told you as he set you down and you took your blindfold off. Everyone still kept cheering wildly as Luna declared the start of the second round.

“Well, it is hard to ignore.” You joked at him but for some reason it made him blush. If his long hair weren’t hiding his ears, you would also see how harshly they’re flushing. He didn’t have a witty comeback and just avoided your gaze. He is flustered. How cute. You openly thought to yourself without even feeling an ounce of shame. It seems that the tides are indeed shifting and you’re not even fighting against the current.

The game continued with less dramatics, oddly enough. Even more odd is that you easily made it through the entire game. In the end, you weren’t even sure why you panicked in the first place. Two pairs got eliminated so you are now down to four. That’s fortunate for you. What’s unfortunate is that Team Rocket still hasn’t blasted off.

The next game was a round of Paper Dance. You were relieved that you both had to actively participate on this one and not have one of you slacking off to the side. You weren’t quite relieved when you remembered the mechanics of the game. Basically. You are given a sheet of newspaper and are forced to dance around it. When the music stops, both persons need to step inside the paper and stay there. Every round, the paper gets folded in half so the pair gets pretty close and intimate with each other. 

The thought made you nervous and you slightly broke into a sweat. You were feeling rather uncomfortable with your heavy layers so you opt to take off your outer coat. Some tall and lanky guy dressed up as a sunflower, which you believe is also one of Jimin's close friends, started hollering, “Take it off now girl, just take it off!” 

As objectifying his words are, you choose to laugh at how ridiculous he looked. A soft delicate flower uttering such promiscuous things. You thought maybe humour could divert your fluttering heart long enough for one pair to get eliminated so you could all move on to the next game. It didn’t, of course, what were you even expecting?  

As the newspaper shrank, the more agitated you became. The fact that it was taking so long for one pair to get eliminated makes you weak in the knees and you don’t know if it’s a positive or a negative reaction. At this moment, the paper is still relatively in a decent size but it could only accommodate one pair of feet inside. Due to your lack of communication, you both stepped one foot inside when the music stopped and you collided with one another rather harshly. You immediately went flying down to the ground but Seokjin managed to grab your arm and pull you towards him. Once you were flush against each other, both of you instinctively wrapped an arm around the other person to gain balance.

The action might have saved you both from getting eliminated but it definitely put you two in quite a dangerous spot. Just like when you were blindfolded a while ago, everything around you tuned out and all you can focus on is you and Seokjin. Only this time, you weren’t facing just an empty dark abyss. You were face to face with the dark abyss of his eyes. Your faces were mere centimeters away. An hour ago, you would willingly defenestrate yourself, horrified at the idea of getting this close to this guy. But right now, as you two stare and hold on to each other, you weren’t so repelled. Neither is he.

You two were just getting comfortable with each other if it weren’t for Jimin blatantly calling you out for this really personal moment. “Oi! The music is back up! You two can get back to your lovey dovey moment later but for now we game.” The actual buffoon roared at the mic. His very public comment made everyone start hollering and teasing the two of you. Just like that, you went back to square one, an awkward mess.

At one point, Seokjin almost fell off when he gave you a piggyback ride. You thought it was either because you were too tense to even jump properly on his back or you are just plain heavy. You’re not even sure which option is better. The way that you are so conscious around him has never been a problem to you. You have an inkling as to why this is happening but you refuse to say it to yourself.

While you mentally kept cursing yourself, Seokjin was having the same problems. He was too shaky to properly hold you. He too was cursing at himself for acting so muddled around you all of a sudden. This is getting pretty bad. He needed to get a hold of himself fast. By that, he means go back to being a cat and mouse with you. In other words, go back to insulting you. But his inner self is telling him to just let this moment be and to let himself indulge in it. 

Another agonising round later, one pair finally got eliminated. Thankfully for that, Seokjin was only tiptoeing on one foot at this point whilst carrying you. You, on the other hand, had other reasons to be thankful for.

Now, you were down to just three pairs. The semi finals are up next so you really need to get back to your senses. You are so close to achieving the grand prize. Remembering what the next game is, you knew you were monumentally screwed.

The semi finals, as Jimin is explaining, would be a bat doughnut eating contest. Five doughnuts shaped in a bat are individually hung on a string in their clothesline and both pairs would have to stand on either side, eating them all as fast as they could without using their hands. Both pairs are only allowed to work on one doughnut at a time. Now, that’s just on a completely different level of invasion of personal space. But you can’t blame anyone because you came up with half of these games, including this one.

“Let’s quickly push through this one.” Seokjin told you from his side. “We can’t let the others win. Remember, only the first two pairs get in the finals.”

You admire how composed he is right now. Why can’t you be as unaffected as he is? This is for the sake of the grand prize. Do you even want it? If yes, then you badly need to keep your eyes on the prize and nothing else. Definitely not on Seokjin, or on his piercing eyes, or his soft looking lips. NO STOP. Just what on earth is happening to you?

Realising you haven’t given him an answer, you simply nodded. With that, you heard the go signal and all three pairs started devouring the doughnuts. 

They are [word redacted] flavoured. Of course, what did you expect? You try not to gag at that and you also try to avoid accidentally making out with Seokjin while making sure you eat the entire thing at lightning speed. There were way too many things going on at the same time for you to handle. Your brain could not possibly keep up. It’s like your brain and body were being controlled by two separate things.

One doughnut down and you move on to the next one, then the next one, and the next one. “That’s it, keep going!” Seokjin kept on muttering motivating words whenever he could. Again, how could he be so composed at a time like this? Somehow along the way, your brain completely shut down and your body went into autopilot. The two of you fell into an unspoken strategy of having sides so to have some boundaries. The moon spirit knows you badly need that.

Your pair is on the lead when you reach your fourth doughnut. For the first time since this game started, you felt comfortable. Did you stay like that for the entire game? Of course not. Naturally, the universe just loves aggravating you tonight. 

Half way through your fourth doughnut, you accidentally brushed lips with Seokjin. The action was absolutely brief, but it was enough to halt you two and send tingles that you would feel throughout your body down to the tips of your toes. You two stared at each other for a second too long because Luna was announcing Team Rocket to have taken the lead. You two couldn’t care less though. For the third time tonight, all you could focus on is each other. 

Wide eyes filled with something you two are too embarrassed to accept, lips slightly molding into shy smiles, and faces covered with icing and powdered sugar. In that moment, you two seemed to have some sort of self understanding that didn’t need to be said.

The moment didn’t last though. As brief as your little kiss was, you two were back at the game instantaneously. The other pair seemed to have gotten past you two as well. With a new found comfortness, you find yourselves working together without anymore awkwardness. You were back to your old competitive selves. You gobbled up the doughnuts at a jaw dropping speed. All that matters now, is winning especially since Team Rocket is advancing to the finals. The two of you didn’t even bat an eye when your lips would unintentionally touch a couple of times in your haste. You certainly weren’t complaining about it now. As a matter of fact, you felt him linger a few times. So were they really unintentional? We would never know.

You amazingly caught up with the last pair even with a few cheeky antics on the side. The two of you are currently on top of the world and just breezing through. For sure, you would end up beating them. There is no need to worry about anything. 

What sealed the deal was when one person of the remaining pair mildly choked at a particularly large chunk that she had swallowed. You two took that opportunity to finish up your fifth and final doughnut. You swallowed for the last time and cheered for your partner to finish chewing. Everyone else was completely yelling at this point, it was such a euphoric feeling. Once Seokjin finished, you went and engulfed the larger man as best as you could in a bone crushing hug.

You two were all laughs, happily celebrating even if you haven’t won yet. “We are so going to come home with that prize.” You declared with such finality while you break away from the hug. You kept each other very close though.

“Oh yeah? You’re not gonna freak out on me again?” He teased you but you can’t help but just hit him. 

“Only if you keep yourself in check.” You playfully replied. You fell into a comfortable silence, once again staring at each other with shy smiles. His eyes dropped to your lips for a second and you felt compelled to lean in. When he realised what you were allowing him to do, he leaned in too. You were slowly leaning towards each other, taking your sweet time and savoring every second of it. Your lips were pretty much fully touching, you could feel the warmth and softness of his.

“You’re lucky that chick choked up.” James, whatever his real name is, from Team Rocket woefully stepped into your moment. It took every fibre in you to not punch the guy. 

“She’s obviously inexperienced. Couldn’t be me!” Jessie quipped and they both started laughing together. This time, it took every fibre in you to not bash their heads together. But as mentioned before, you are a woman of honour. You are willing to take the higher road and settle this fairly through the games.

Seokjin, well, he is Seokjin so he didn’t let the two slide so easily.

He let go of you and approached the two. He laughed along with them in such a forced and sarcastic laugh that it pained you. “Yeah, you’re right. We are lucky!” He said then squished himself in between the couple and placed his arms around them. What on earth is he on about, now?

“We definitely were just born lucky. But at least we’re not like other people who are only lucky to be born. Right, hotmen?” He said and slapped their arms in a playful manner but ended up being too hard. He left them completely offended, sauntering back to you with his windshield wiper laugh that you know all too well.

"Was that necessary?" You scolded him with both hands on your hips.

"Don't be such a Katara! I know you're dressed as her but please don't take it too seriously. Unless you really do want to be a sugar queen?" He wagged his eyebrows irritatingly. 

You rolled your eyes at his usual foolishness. Glad to know he hasn't gotten fully soft on you. You would prefer for him to stick to his playfulness even if it annoys the crap out of you.

"And then there were two." Jimin starts, grabbing everyone's attention. Yeah just two left and it just had to be with Team Rocket. Oh, it would feel even better to win knowing you were up against them.

You were one step closer from a satisfying free full course meal cooked by Jimin and Luna's parents. Is that heaven or what? In the middle of fantasising and practically drooling about the impending prize, it dawned on you that once you win, (Yes, once and not if) you'd have to go on that dinner with Seokjin. An actual dinner. As in a date???

The thought made you slightly pale. You don't get why the thought of going on a date with him made you all nervous when you were practically stealing kisses from each other just awhile ago. The idea of going serious with him is nerve-wracking when just this evening, you wanted nothing more than to punch his guts. Now, you still do want to punch his guts but also kiss him. 

You needed to snap out of it. All you did tonight is think of this guy. You were probably overthinking things. He probably doesn't even want anything serious with you. Maybe, he's just playing with you. Wait, no. That's too cruel even for him.

Your internal battle was stopped when Seokjin, himself, flicked your forehead.

"Oww! What was that for?" You grumply asked as you rubbed the sore spot.

"Your brain seems to be flying a couple hundred miles away. Y/n, now is not the time to be daydreaming about me. Did you even catch what I said?" Is he a mind reader? Most definitely not but even so, you are too embarrassed to say anything so you quietly hummed to him.

"What do you think? You agree with me?" You absentmindedly hummed again.

He clapped his hands together so loud, it made you jump out of your haze. "Good! That settles it. You're bobbing then." 

"I'm sorry, come again?" You think you misheard him but it sounded like he said you're going bobbing? As in bobbing apples? What?

He stared at your dumbfounded expression. He realised that you weren't listening to the siblings' explanation and you obviously weren't also listening to his plan of attack just a few seconds ago.

He sighed and repeated everything to you even if he didn't want to. "We're bobbing apples for the last game. Since I don't want to ruin my perfectly good scar, you're up for it." 

You scoffed. "And I want to ruin my perfectly good hair and makeup?"

"Hair dries off and without your makeup, you're still Katara. I, on the other hand, would just be some random handsome firebender without my scar. So really, it's better that you do it."

"But I don't want to do it!"

"Well boo hoo for you. You already agreed to it." He said and dragged you towards a large basin near Jimin and Luna.

"Wait, no I wasn't fully aware of the situation!"

"That's what you get for zoning out at a crucial time. It's too late now, you already agreed. A consent is a consent."

He was seriously being mean right now. You pulled your arm back to stop him but he wouldn't let go of you. So you kept your feet planted firmly on the ground. It ended up looking like he was dragging a very stubborn kid. "Y/n quit playing around! You need to do this."

"But Seokjin, I really don't want to do this." Your innocent looking eyes paired with that same whining voice that you used when you didn't make your first shot with the bean bag instantly turned him soft. 

He stopped pulling you and placed a hand on your neck. The way he is genuinely looking at you makes you think that he'll probably switch with you. He didn't. Big shocker.

"Y/n, I know you don't want to do it but you need to." He started using that gentle voice of his that he used on you earlier. You knew you were a goner now. He's definitely found your weakness and he isn't afraid to use it on you. Curse him and his captivating soothing voice. What are you supposed to do now other than obey him?

"I, without a doubt, believe that you can do this. I'm sure you can defeat those two wobbuffets over there and we'd win! Don't you want that?" You nod your head yes.

"So will you please do me the favour of winning this game for us?" You nod your head yes without thinking twice. So much for being a woman of honour.

He smiled at you and caressed his thumb over your cheek. "Good girl." He said and you'll be damned if you're not going to do whatever it takes for him to call you that again. Forget everything. You want him to call you that again.

That is why you find yourself involuntarily walking up to the water and apple filled basin assigned to you. 

"Step aside, filth." Seokjin jokingly muttered at James from Team Rocket. You hear Jimin and Luna giggle but you were too out of it to even appreciate his Zuko reference. 

To your left, Jessie stands in front of her basin. She gives you a sly smirk and winks at you condescendingly. You want to burn your eyeballs. 

You can't believe you're in this position. You can't believe you would willingly let your hair, makeup, and quite possibly even your costume get ruined. Lastly, you can't believe at just how much power Seokjin has had over you in a single night.

You stared hard at the apples. You've only bobbed for apples once when you were nine and it was one of the worst things you've ever done. You weren't even able to successfully capture an apple with how bad you were. Well, you're back more than ten years later and you're back with a newly found determination. Vengeance will be yours.

You hear Luna count down from three.

Seokjin's "Good girl" rang inside your head. No one's letting this magenta haired girl beside you win. You gripped the sides of the basin hard. Alright apples, it's time to face your doom!

"...One and go!" 

Inhaling a sharp breath, you plunge your face inside the deep basin. You tried to keep your eyes open to see the apples but it was proving to be difficult as light was barely passing through the metal basin. Nonetheless, you kept biting around until you reached one apple. You tossed it outside the basin and took another breath, repeating the same actions. 

You don't know how many times you did your little routine. All you know is that this is the longest minute of your life and you just want it to end so much. You were having such a miserable time. Your snot, your saliva, and even your sweat too were mixing with the water. Even though you avoid it so badly, you still manage to drink the water in your haste. Some of it even got inside your nose at one point. Bobbing for apples just might be one of the most disgusting things you could ever do. This must bloody well be worth it in the end.

Everytime you come out of the water, you hear the cheers of the people. You most certainly hear your partner, ear piercingly shrieking your name. It further feeds into your hunger to win. You don't care if you look absolutely ridiculous or that you were probably gonna end up throwing up later. All that matters is to win this for you and Seokjin.

At long last, Jimin blows an air horn to dramatically end the game. You came up gasping and snorting for air. How fucking graceful and beautiful. Seokjin rushes to you with a towel in his hand and wraps it around you right away. He pats you dry, careful to not smudge your very wet makeup. 

Luna began making a speech on how much fun this year's Halloween Olympics were. You didn't pay much attention to her as Seokjin kept murmuring words of affirmation while he was still gently patting you dry. In all honesty, you could've done that yourself. But after what you were just subjected to, you definitely could use a little pampering.

"Again, thank you to everyone who participated in the games. As for the rest, you've been absolutely wonderful, cheering our players. Until next year's Halloween Olympics!" Luna concluded. Well, they did more than cheer, alright.

"And now, let's count the apples these lovely ladies bobbed so we can find out this year's victors!" Jimin continued and everyone counted magenta head's apples with him.

"Twelve apples in total!" Everyone cheered wildly and you felt your heart clench. That's a lot. What if you had less?

"Twelve?? Ha! Suck on that!" James ridiculed.

Seokjin just glared at him and he grabbed hold of one of your hands. He squeezed it tightly as everyone started counting your apples. Oh please be higher than twelve, please be higher than twelve, please be higher than twelve, please, oh please, oh please.

"Eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, and eighteen!"

"A grand total of eighteen apples! Wow that's a lot more! Which means we have this year's victors!" Jimin announced.

Eighteen? You bobbed six more apples than her? Wow, your nine year old self would be proud of you now.

Seokjin couldn't contain himself, he grabbed you by your waist and lifted you up in an embrace. "Y'all hear that? My girl just beat your asses badly! Suck on my poké balls!" He finally cracked and straight up insulted Team Rocket while still holding you up. You ignored the sickly sweet feeling that bubbled inside you when he referred to you as “my girl”.

"You will never rise from the ashes of your shame and humiliation!" Instead of a maniacal laugh, his windshield wiper laugh came out. The punchline was already perfect if only his stupid laugh didn't ruin it. As annoying as it is, you didn’t seem to be complaining about his laugh now in your head unlike always. Actually, it’s kind of endearing in a way. Crazy to think just how much one night can change. You wonder what happens now to the two of you.

Jimin and Luna called the both of you up on their makeshift stage to properly announce your rain of terror- I mean, your victory. Along with that, they are also going to announce the winner for best in costume. With all the action that’s been happening, people have forgotten that the awarding for best in costume is actually the main event of the night.

As Seokjin predicted earlier, you didn’t win. Some guy, Jung something something, dressed up as Shrek won by popular voting. You think he is also a part of Jimin’s friend group. You can’t be too sure as there are too many guys in that circle of friends for you to care. Which leads you to believe that maybe Jimin did some rigging of the results because his Shrek costume kinda deserves to be kicked out of the swamp. Not that you care though. As far as you’re concerned, you already won the grand prize as well.

“Told ya, you wouldn’t win best costume.” Seokjin says as you leave the stage. 

“Neither did you. All because your scar is definitely on the wrong side.” 

He groaned loudly. “You’re never gonna drop that, aren’t you?”

You laugh, thinking just how stupid he is for messing up his scar. For someone who seems to be able to quote directly from the show with ease, it’s really funny that he would overlook such a crucial detail. 

“Neverrr!” You said in a singsong voice.

“Whatever.” He said while waving his hand in a dismissing manner. “It’s not like anyone else noticed it. I guess you were paying too much attention to my face, huh?”

You blushed at his remark. “Jeez, get over yourself, will you?” 

You rushed your steps towards the house to leave him. You are sure Jimin and Luna are now tearing it down on the dance floor. He easily caught up with you though with those long legs of his and draped an arm over your shoulders.

Cackling at your flusteredness, he said, “Okay, then! So let’s say you weren’t gawking at me the entire time for you to notice my mistake.”

You hummed at him.

“Then I guess the only explanation why people seem to have failed to notice is because of my handsome face! They are too distracted by my beauty to notice my misplaced scar. Don’t you agree?” You elbowed him hard and left his yelping, laughing ass. What a weirdo. You giddily smiled though.

The rest of the night went by pretty fast. It was filled with dancing and laughing with people you know and don’t know. You even got to hang out a little bit with Team Rocket. You wouldn’t say you’d become friends with them but they aren’t all that bad. 

The only missing thing though is that you didn’t share any more “personal” moments with Seokjin. He disappeared off with his group of friends after you left him. Not that you were fully expecting anything to happen, but you were slightly disappointed. Luna was quite chill about it at the start. She was probably wanting to discuss it in private. You know, for your own sake. But as she got tipsier and tipsier until she was full on drunk, she was practically squealing about it every few seconds. Hence, why you decided to socialise with other people which you would never do. Honestly, what is going on tonight and who are you even?

After the party, you remained to clean up. But Jimin told you that none of you would have to deal with the mess right now. He understands that everyone is completely knackered at this point. There were still a few people left but he ushered you to go home now. He assured you that he could deal with them and his hammered sister. 

With that, you said thanks and hugged each other goodbye. 

Walking out of their house, you thought back to earlier when you were thoroughly convinced to stay at home. You wonder how things would be if you had stayed. You would have totally missed out on so much! But you also wonder what would happen now. It seemed like Seokjin was unmistakably giving you the vibes that he likes you. You were too. So why did he suddenly vanish?

“You want me to walk you home?” A very familiar voice said from behind you. Ah, speak of the devil.

You faced him and smiled a little too big of a smile. “You live in the complete opposite direction. What are you talking about?”

He chuckled and made his way to you. “I was just thinking, what kind of gentleman would I be if I let you walk home all by yourself at 2 in the morning?”

He stopped a few feet in front of you. You find yourself a bit irritated with the distance between you two. You wanted to be a bit closer than that so you made the move to get nearer to him. “I think I can handle myself pretty well.” You said as you approached him until you were inches away from him.

“Oh, I’m sure you can.” 

There was a brief moment of silence that fell between you. It wasn’t at all awkward or anything unpleasant. Actually, it was the complete opposite. You were just drinking everything in.

“Surprisingly, I had heaps of fun tonight. I never thought I would ever say that in the company of Kim Seokjin.” You said in a hush tone. You don’t know why you were speaking in such a way. The entire moment just seemed too delicate.

“I told you, you need to put a little faith in me, sugar queen.” He whispered. You smile at the term of endearment he had given you tonight due to your Katara outfit.

“I think I already have.” You said and his face started inching down towards yours.

Just the mere thought of finally getting to properly kiss him released thousands of butterflies in your stomach. You wanted to rush him to finally feel his lips but at the same time, you wanted to drag this moment as long as you possibly can. If someone told you this morning that you would be having these thoughts as you were about to kiss Kim Seokjin tonight,you’d laugh at their face. You’d probably also tell them that you’d rather slam your tongue in a car door.

He took his time with you, also wanting to milk every second of this moment. There was no need to rush anything. He was literally ghosting his lips against yours. He was probably teasing you. It annoyed you so much. So much so that you made the executive decision to take full control of the situation. You made the move to press your lips against his but before you could, someone walked out of the house and started yelling towards you two.

“SEOKJIN HYUUUUUNG!” A guy dressed up as Snoopy literally yeeted himself between you two and placed an arm around him. What is everyone’s deal with interrupting you two? At this point, it’s like the universe is telling you a sign or something. Wait, what?

You frown at the thought you just had. It’s a stupid thought. But then why are you having this sinking feeling inside you?

“Hoseok, for the last time, I’m walking home. I live just two blocks away. I don’t have a car to drive you home.” He told the guy, obviously exasperated just like you.

Hoseok started whining and arguing at the older guy. It’s clear that he was dead drunk. You wouldn’t try to argue with him right now. Seems pointless since everything will fly over his head.

“But why walk when you can drive???”

“Hoseok-ah! You’re really gonna ask Seokjin hyung to get you home when I’m here?” Another guy came out of the house. You turned to the voice and saw Yoongi approaching, dressed up as Garfield. You’re friends with him because he seemed to be the closest to Seokjin so you see him more often than not.

Hoseok immediately let go of Seokjin and went to hold on to Yoongi. Yoongi seemed to be in a rush to get home. Can’t blame him. It’s really late and it’s been a long night. So he said goodbye right away. But before they could leave, he turned to you.

“Before I forget, by the way, Taehyung wanted me to tell you to call him. He said you haven’t been replying to him all night. I think he wants to take you out later.” He made a fast but pointed stare towards Seokjin when he said the last part. It seemed like his way of telling him to do something about it. You didn’t notice though.

“Oh, okay. Thanks Yoongi. Good night and drive safely!” 

With that, the two went off.

Another silence fell between you two. This time though, it wasn’t as comfortable. You didn’t know whether to continue off from where you got interrupted and how to continue. The both of you looked like you were in deep thought. 

Taehyung. You completely forgot about him. Now, you feel really bad and shameful.

You notice Seokjin pulling something from his trousers that appeared to be two small envelopes. That’s probably your prize. 

He held them both and looked at them for a few seconds. “I want to ask you something.” He started, not looking you in the eyes. He’s nervous. Is he going to ask you on a date? Well, that just made you nervous. 

“Yeah?” 

He didn’t say anything for a while. You watch him clearly having some sort of argument with himself. It felt like an eternity when he finally looked you directly in your eyes.

“Y/n, I want to-” Once again, he got cut off. Maybe the universe really is saying something here.

Your phone started ringing. It was Taehyung, calling you. 

“I...You should answer that.” He instructed you. You should. But you didn’t make the move to. Your eyes switched back and forth from your phone to Seokjin a couple times. You were completely torn and didn’t know what to do. 

You were just going to answer his call. What’s the big deal about that? It’s not like he knew everything that happened and was supposed to happen between you and Seokjin. It’s not like he was going to chastise you for all of that.

Before you pressed the answer button, the call dropped and you became tense. 

Seokjin sensed your inner turmoil. He didn’t like seeing you like this. But he thought that this was becoming too much to handle right now. He looks at the envelopes he is holding. Sighing, he can’t believe he is about to do this.

He reached out both envelopes towards you. “Here, take them both.”

“What? Why?”

“Take Taehyung with you.” You could not believe what you were hearing right now. To say you were dumbfounded is an understatement.

Seeing as you made no move to get them, he took your free hand and placed the envelopes in your grasp.

“Listen, it’s bad enough that Taehyung didn’t get to enjoy the night. I think it’s only fair if he went with you.” 

“But you worked hard for this too. It was a team effort between us.” You told him, still not understanding why he would give up the prize just like that when he was so adamant to win them the entire night.

“I know. But it’s fine, really. Don’t worry, I could always find a way to get free food from Jimin. Besides, you deserve to spend some time with your Aang.”

You still didn’t fully understand the situation at hand. But it appears that he is not going to let you go until you accept the prize from him.

You finally conceded and pocketed the envelopes.

“It’s getting late. We should really go home. It’s been one hell of a tiring night.” You nodded at his statement. 

“Thanks for being an amazing partner tonight, Y/n. I genuinely enjoyed every single moment of it.”

“Me too, Seokjin. Me too.”

You wanted to hug him. But he didn’t make any other move. He was clearly just waiting for you to leave. You thought, maybe this isn’t the right time with him. With all the interruptions and should haves tonight, it’s most likely for the best to leave things here.

With a heavy heart, you gave him one final look and said goodbye. With an equally heavy heart, he watched you leave and disappear down the street.

“What the fuck was that all about?” Jimin’s sudden appearance from the front door made Seokjin jump.

“Yah! Couldn’t you have been a bit more careful?” He asked the younger boy while placing a hand over his chest to calm himself down.

Jimin paid no attention whatsoever to his agony. “You deserve to spend some time with your Aang.” He mocked Seokjin. “What on earth were you thinking?”

“I don’t want to- hang on. You were listening to our conversation???” Seokjin felt violated. Does this boy not know the meaning of privacy? First he kept interrupting you two all night then now he eavesdrops on your conversation and has the audacity to mock Seokjin.

Jimin did not feel nor look like he regretted what he had done. If anything, he looks really mad at Seokjin. “That’s besides the point. The point is, why are you just letting her go? You already had her!” 

“No, I don’t think I ever had her to begin with. I mean, come on! She went dressed up as Katara and I’m dressed as Zuko. I think it was never meant to be.”

Feeling utterly frustrated, Jimin rubbed his face harshly. He had half the mind to take off his boots and impale his older best friend with them.

“That’s just bullshit! You’re too superstitious. You don’t listen to these signs! You take matters to your own hands.”

Seokjin knew that Jimin wouldn’t understand his point of view. He’s the type of person to chase anything and everything if he so pleases it. Which fair play to him, isn’t a bad thing. But that’s not how Seokjin rolls.

“Listen, you won’t understand me.” Seokjin started and Jimin openly agreed with him. “All I’m saying is if it’s not your time, then it’s not your time. You need to accept that and patiently wait. I did what I had to do tonight.”

Jimin did not respond to him. Truthfully, he does get what Seokjin is trying to explain. He does not agree with it at all though and still thinks it’s bullshit. But he can’t really do anything other than to support his stupid best friends and to let them learn things on their own. When that happens, he’ll for sure throw another party.

“Wow. Just wow. That’s rough, buddy.” Is all he can reply to Seokjin. 

Indeed it was.

[emiewritesthings]

a place of our own - jay halstead

jay halstead x fem!reader

summary: in which y/n and jay throw a small get together in celebration of buying their first house together

requested?: yesss by anonymous  (can I request a Jay x reader where it took some time for the together but they've been now dating for 2 or 3 years and decided to move in together and they celebrate it throwing a party with close friends and jay surprises her proposing with a heartfelt speech? please and thank you 🥰 )

warnings: none

a/n: thank you for all your support over the past week :) it literally makes me so emotional to think people are liking what i write. any feedback is always welcomed, thank you for everything 

- emie <3

masterlist

in all honesty, when jay had put the deposit down for the house, y/n didn’t know what he saw in it. it was their first time buying a house as a couple, both giving up their apartments that were on the opposite ends of the city to be reunited in a place of their own. 

it was beaten up pretty badly; a few of the front windows were missing the glass, spray paint decorated a few of the bricks courtesy of some local kids. not to mention it was cold and damp, not giving off the warmest of welcomes. but jay was adamant that it was their house, their home.

it took its time, but months later y/n had to admit that the transformation the brick structure had undergone was remarkable.

everything y/n could want was handed to her on a silver platter. the once yellow tinted cream, mouldy walls had been covered by a fresh layer of grey paint. the broken floorboards replaced and covered by thick, soft carpets. y/n had nominated herself as chief decorator, since she had no desire to help jay deal with the technical stuff earlier on in the project. not that jay was complaining.

y/n could still remember the look of shock when she had returned from her ‘quick trip’ to ikea with a large amount of pillows and throws, stressing they were essential pieces of her aesthetic. but jay didn’t mind, he loved the thought of living a house that was covered in reminders of the woman he loved so dearly. 

it was sometime in mid-july when y/n had declared she had officially finished the renovation of 1135 Butterfly Gardens. for a week or so, the pair allowed them to soak in their hard work, admiring how each room was a reminder that they were finally together. 

to think that the two had been so hesitant to start dating in the beginning felt ridiculous. y/n cursed her past self for never daring to admit her feelings to jay earlier, but she was thankful for the last 3 years they had spent together. 

side by side till the end of the line.

 it had been one of those cliche quotes that jay had bought on a card for their first anniversary, but it had strangely stuck. y/n had assured that in their room hung a picture of the two with the words carefully printed beneath it.

of course, in traditional y/n style, she couldn’t wait to invite their friends over. it had been on their day off that they had invited the members of their chosen family over to the house. y/n had been rushing around cleaning every surface in sight, as if their friends would turn their noses up at the sight of a speck of dusk. but y/n couldn’t help it, cleaning was her coping mechanism. and she couldn’t deny the anxiety raketing through her veins.

unfortunately she had been so caught up in her own head, that she had failed to notice the strange behaviour she was receiving from her other half. jay had been acting rather distant in the days leading up to the party. he would go out for long ‘walks’, coming back and locking himself in what y/n called his ‘mancave’. he would take calls outside and when y/n asked him what was wrong he would brush it off and just kiss her lips in hope of distracting her. obviously it worked every time, who wouldn’t be with a man like jay halstead kissing them?

the ringing of the doorbell had caught y/n off guard. having spent the majority of her day in the kitchen cooking every recipe her grandmother had ever taught her, she abandoned the oven mitts and sprinted in the direction of the front door. thankfully, however, by the time she reached it, jay was already stood with kevin, adam, will and nat. 

“there she is, the woman of the hour!” kevin cheered, being the first to embrace her tightly into his large, muscular arms. his lips pressing a sweet kiss onto her forehead in joy of seeing the woman.

kevin and y/n had gone to school together since elementry, in fact y/n had helped kevin for years raising his two siblings. he had been the one to introduce jay to y/n, when she showed up to the district, ready to spend her lunch break with her best friend.

let’s just say kevin had given her a slight nudge to reveal her true feelings to jay, telling her he had already brought a suit for their wedding. classic kevin, dramatic as always. 

letting her go, y/n hugged the rest of the group. thanking them for their house warming gifts that they had given to jay. by the end of the hour their house was filled with close friends. y/n had been so busy catching up with those she hadn’t seen in weeks that she had hardly seen jay all day. the times she had seen him, he had made an excuse to leave and go find will, who now she thought about it had been smiling at her an awful lot. 

walking into the backyard with kim and nat stuck to her side, she couldn’t help but feel her entire soul relax at the sight of her man sat in a garden chair, chuckling along with something that adam had said.

with a mission in her hands, she didn’t even glance at the spare garden chairs littered around the garden. instead, y/n walked up to jay and perched herself on his lap. a worrying thought passing her mind that she was too heavy, but before she could consider getting off, jay weaved his arms around her waist pulling her closer. 

“hey, baby.” he greeted, pressing his lips against the skin her yellow sundress exposed on her shoulder. the feeling was addicting, but with company around, it was gone as quick as it arrived. 

“am i losing my mind or have you been avoiding me?” blunt as always, y/n looked back at jay. her eyes studying how his adam’s apple bobbed as he gulped. y/n knew jay was a good liar, i mean part of his job was going undercover and keeping up a lie. meaning whatever he was hiding, whatever he wasn’t telling her had to be big. 

“of course not, i’ve just been busy, you know?” y/n didn’t know, because he had been taking extra measures to spend time with anyone but him. she had seen him have a thirty minute conversation with mouch about his favourite type of chile. if that was what busy looked like, she might have muddled up her definitions up. 

“okay then.” she stated blankly, standing up with such force that jay’s arms instantly fell off her body. jay watched with cautious eyes, half expecting y/n to dig deeper into whatever was going on, but instead she took a seat in between adam and kevin. her eyes didn’t glance over to him once, instead she began conversation with the two men with no intentions of inviting jay into their whispers.

jay frowned, knowing she was serving him a large dish of his own medicine. the feeling of someone patting him on the shoulder made him draw his eyes away from y/n and land of his brother, who was smirking like an idiot.

“she really has you wrapped around her finger, huh?” he teased, handing jay another beer that he had left for a few moments before y/n’s arrival. not bothering to give his brother the satisfaction of answering, he brought the bottle to his lips and took a large swig. feeling the taste ease his nerves before shoving it back in his brother’s hands.

“i’m gonna do it.” he confirmed, nodding his head more to motivate himself than will. the doctor patted his back lightly, urging him to go on. subtly jay tapped his jacket until he felt the cube-shaped object against his chest. briniging himself to his feet, he wandered away from the group and stood in the middle of the garden.

“excuse me! excuse me!” the music that was lightly playing from the various speakers placed around silenced, thanks to the help of will. all eyes, including that of his beloved, moved to him. a slight chill running through him as his mind reminded him that he was doing this and he was doing this now. “i just wanted to say a big thank you to all of you for coming to celebrate with me and y/n. hell knows, we would most likely not even be together if it wasn’t for some of you guys, so it’s a pleasure to be sharing this step in our relationship with you guys.” 

jay’s chest fell tight with anticipation. breath, come on halstead, he thought.

“sometimes i think about the first time i met y/n, i think about how much time we wasted trying to trick ourselves into believing we were ever ‘just friends’. quite frankly i think i fell in love with her the moment i met her. i had this beautiful, intelligent, unbelievably challenging woman in front of me and i nearly let her go.”

jay had to take a second to keep the tears in his eyes at bay, mustering up the courage to look at y/n, who had began to become emotional herself. with a simple outreached arm, y/n got the hint that he wanted her by his side, as she pushed herself away from the white plastic chair and joined him. hand in his, smiling up as he continued.

“i don’t want to imagine a life without you. without your awful singing, without your obsessive cleaning, without your strange taste in tv shows,” the crowd chuckled, but jay wasn’t even paying attention, caught up in the loving storm behind y/n’s eyes. “i’m done wasting my time because for once in my life i know what i want.”

not knowing what was about to happen, y/n’s face dropped as jay fell to one knee. his hands shaking as one of them searched into his jacket pocket before bringing out a scarlett velvet box. y/n had to swallow the sob of pure joy, when he pried it open revealing the significant jewel resting on the gold band. 

“y/n y/l/n i love you,” his voice cracked, making the crowd hollar in excitement. the sound of people taking photos didn’t throw off jay’s roll though. “and it would make me the happiest person alive if you would do me the honour of being my wife.” jay’s words were deep from his heart, as both pairs of watery eyes held one another’s gaze comfortingly. 

y/n had never imagined a life with anyone but jay. she couldn’t remember how many times they had stayed awake deep within the hours of the morning talking about their future together: getting married, having kids, getting a dog. but none of it felt quite as real as the moment she saw jay on his knee, with hope glazing all his features.

“yes.” she sang so softly that it could have easily been missed by anyone, but to jay it might as well have been yelled through a megaphone. 

“she said yes!” kevin yells, erupting the audience of the intimate moment into an uproar. jay stood from his position on the ground, not giving it a minute before pushing his lips against her’s. the kiss was filled with every ounce of passion they had felt over the years they had known one another. 

when y/n felt her chest squeeze against her lungs, she allowed herself to retract. keeping her forehead against his, she watched as he slid the ring out of the box and onto her finger. the midsummer sun catching the large diamond, making it light up like a disco ball. 

“so this is why you have been ignoring me?” she snorted, feeling ridiculous for thinking that he had been hiding some bombshell of a secret. jay’s cheeks filled with heat, as he looked from her eyes to her lips, before returning them to the loveable pools of colour.

“side by side,” he began, looking at her expectantly.

“till the end of the line.”

[ivyprism]

Ahem... Prism. Compliment your brother-in-laws and your future in-laws.

(Italics is Ivy. Bold is Prism)

"Oh, Prism~."

"Do I HAVE to?"

"Yep."

"....Fine. *Sigh*... Where do I start?"

"Butch, obviously."

"Butch, you're an asshole-"

"Pris-"

"-but you're my best friend. So, you're MY asshole. I wouldn't even be here... Complimenting you if it weren't for your dumb ass taking me up on my fistfight instigation. You're loud, obnoxious, and a total jerk... But, I admit, I wouldn't have asked Ace out if it weren't for you. Your teasing is dumb, but... I guess I wouldn't change it for the world. Plus, Fox adores you and loves you a lot."

"Aww, Prism-"

"But you're still an asshole."

"So close. Okay, it's Boss's turn."

"Boss, you're passionate! I can respect that. Your daddy obsession weirds me out, but eh. I was the same with my older brother. You're a respectable and surprisingly stand-up guy. I probably would've died... Like a whole lot... If it weren't for your mother hen side. You're like TERRIBLE at showing you care, but I can tell you do."

"Aww, that was genuinely nice-"

"But I swear to god, if you try to fix my hair because of your stupid perfectionism, I will throw hands."

"You just can't leave things nice, can you?"

"Nope."

"What does Ace see in you? Anyways. Moving on... Snipe."

"Snipe, you're reliable and you make me laugh. I don't like being lied to, but I can get why you do and I lie a lot too, so I have no room to talk. You're reliable and I trust you. You look out for your brothers and I respect that. I know what it's like to worry about your family. Trust me."

"Please leave this nice-"

"But I swear to God, you ever lie to me about where my phone is again, I will sick Ace on you."

"Okay! Next up, Bruiser. Please be nice."

"Bruiser, you make me laugh. You make my day and you're really sweet. I love when you take care of Fox, Robin, and Jay when I can't go to PTA meetings. I don't know what I'd do without you. Robin is always looking forward to your visits and I look forward to it because you're really sweet. I love that you remembered Fox's favorite color when I forgot briefly. You're my friend and I appreciate you."

"And...?"

"And what? That's it. I like Bruiser. I love the boys. I just poke fun."

"Whew... Next up, Slim."

"Slim, I like it when you come to visit me when Ace can't. It helps brighten my day and my kids adore you. I am glad and happy that you're not too well known... You're a gem, ya know? I wouldn't trade you either. I appreciate you and all that you do for my kids... Even if they have to beg you."

"Whew- That's nice-"

"I have no complaints... Except for the times you mess with me about Ace."

"Now, for the final skeleton... Your boyfriend."

"Ace? Where do I even start? You tried and you succeeded. I hated you, but you never gave up. I told you I wasn't going to fall for you, but here we are. Your incredible, charismatic, and loving... My children adore you... They even call you "dad". You managed to persuade me to join the mafia. You never stopped pursuing me, and I didn't expect feelings to blossom as quickly as they did when we worked together. You're the love of my life, and you've managed to discover all of my secrets. You're dependable, and you helped me in becoming a member of your wonderful family. You also don't try to fix me, which I appreciate."

"Awww. That's so sweet. Are you gonna make it bad?"

"Don't let what I said get to your head, love."

"Next are... I think Madame and Don?"

"Madame, Don, you are amazing people who raised all of these boys. You raised them well and I appreciate how you care for my children. Madame, Fox loves you and the twins love you. They all love you. You're amazing parents and I'm glad to have met you."

"Anything.. Else?"

"No?"

"Okay. Welp! Then, that's all!"

(*cough* @ratsoh-writes *cough*)

[anika-ann]

Errare Humanum Est - Pt.22

What Happens After 2 AM... Doesn’t Hate To Be a Disaster

Type: series, soulmate AU series  (part 1, part 2)  x Supernatural

Pairing: Steve Rogers x reader    Word count: 4420

Summary: Celebrations are in order! And when it comes to the Avengers, it’s always ‘the more the merrier’.

Warnings: swearing, brief angst, nightmares, guilt trips, attempt at humour, fluff

Story masterlist ༻༺༻༺༻ღ༺༻༺༻༺

Tony took off, too eager to try and get in touch with his friend via intergalactical channel. You almost felt sorry for not witnessing it, but as the biggest excitement tuned down, everyone once more invested in their own business, you and Steve were the only ones left in the kitchen – and were approached by Natasha.

If you didn’t know better, you’d say the spy even looked shy in her supposedly casual stance.

“Hey, uhm… you guys mind if I ask someone to tag along?” she threw to the open as if it wasn’t a big deal. Her plan didn’t work, because you nearly fell off of the stool with how quickly you spun to her fully.

One corner of her lips twitched at your clumsiness, but then she casted her gaze down, only making your eyebrow rise.

“Oh?”

“It’s just… a friend.”

Riiight. She was so full of shit. A teasing smile slowly spread on your face and you exchanged a meaningful wordless conversation with Steve who had insisted on him cleaning up.

“A friend, you say?” you pried, unable to hide the suggestive tone – and not even trying. She shrugged it off, clearly downplaying it once again.

“For now. A little flirting here and there maybe…”

She fooled no one, but you were in too much of a light mood to torture her and actually call her out on the fact that unless she was thinking about getting serious, she wouldn’t have wanted to introduce the mystery person to the team.

“Good for you, Natasha,” you noted instead and you might have imagined it only, but her ‘casual stance’ eased for real. “As for me, I’m all for it. I might be glad to take some attention off me.”

“And vice versa,” she pointed out and it dawned to you just how sneaky her planning was. It shouldn’t surprise you – she was a spy after all and one brilliant woman to begin with.

“Smart. I’d love to meet them.”

“I’m sure he will be too. Thanks. Uhm… Steve?” she hummed in his direction, just to make sure he was alright with it too.

The man in question raised his hands as if he wanted to say it was not his decision to make – and sent a spray of tiny drops of water your general direction with that movement. You snorted at that unattractively.

“I think it’s safe to say it’s her party, so it’s her call,” he stated with a grin and dried his hands.

“Then I say yes, of course he can come, Nat-- I meant-“ not Nat. You wanted to bit your cheek at the silly slip, probably caused by hearing the name so often, but the redhead smirked.

“Nat’s fine. I’m still honoured, by the way. Naming yourself after me...”

“Would have done it again in a heartbeat,” you reassured her with a matching smirk, relieved. She winked at you and at Steve, spinning on her heels and walking away. It was the spur of the moment what you blurted out before she could leave. “And Nat? He’s a really lucky guy. I hope he knows that.”

“Thanks,” she threw over her shoulder almost carelessly, but once again, you knew better. Natasha Romanoff felt like any other human being, only she didn’t show it as often as you for instance.

You glanced at Steve as he circled the bar and you exchanged a brief smile with him. You simply couldn’t stop smiling today. You couldn’t say you minded.

Steve’s fingers found your face and hair, caressing softly and his lips brushed yours. It seemed he couldn’t stop touching you today. Once again, you couldn’t say you minded.

༻༺༻༺༻ღ༺༻༺༻༺

You were purposely postponing the inevitable question of what was coming next; and Steve didn’t push you. It was as if the two of you had made a deal about working out worries and obstacles later, except you hadn’t.

Chances were that Steve was avoiding the topic, because there was so much to go over and you couldn’t quite blame him. Should you go public with your resurrection? Or was it safer and overall better to keep you hidden? Perhaps you should tell at least your family and friends? What about you having a job – you couldn’t exactly sit around all days long doing nothing. The paperwork if you officially came back. The scandal. Were you even allowed to tell anyone about such thing as coming back from the dead?

Oh yeah, you were very much happy that Steve was ignoring the obvious problems in making as expertly as you were.

So, you idled. You cuddled, you watched movies, stole kisses, you spied on him while he trained with his teammates (after you spent about twenty minutes on a treadmill and decided you had to either focus on running or on ogling Steve, choosing the latter, obviously) and momentarily was searching for recipe for the best cookies, because why the hell not bake when having the time on your hands.

Relaxing for the whole day, you did not expect the sudden burst of thunderclap and lightning that followed. You jumped in your seat nearly falling off of the bar stool for the second time that day and shot Steve, who was sitting on a couch with an actual cookbook, a puzzled look.

He sighed when Tony passed the room, a grin plastered on his face.

Right. Calling Thor. God of thunder. Apparently, it worked.

“Brother Anthony. Where is the fight?” the thunderous voice demanded from the hall, your chest vibrating with the decibels of it.

“There’s no fight,” Tony responded light-heartedly. “Party is in order.”

“A party?”

“Yep,” Tony hummed, clearly amused by the shock he had caused his friend.

“You’re… you’re doing well then?” the god lowered his voice a fraction, but still was loud enough for you to hear him clearly despite the pair not being in the room with you. “How is the Captain? I requested of Heimdall to watch over him, but Loki orchestrated an escape from his prison, so I was too preoccupied to visit sooner.”

Oh. Oh. Even Thor knew just how harsh life had been to Steve lately. Also, you forgot how strangely he spoke – orchestrated, who did ever say the word orchestrated in a casual converstion?

You spared a glance at the Steve, not surprised he didn’t meet your gaze, truly engrossed in the book all of sudden. His skin paled a little, besides his ears that turned an uncomfortable shade of red as if they were on fire.

You bit your lip and decided to say nothing. What was there to say, really? He had been mourning; you wouldn’t exactly expect to find out he had been playing the welcome committee during Thor’s last visit, whenever that had been.

“See for yourself, Point Break.”

You rolled your eyes at Tony’s dramatics, and watched the God of Thunder himself, the walking rock he was, basically tiptoe into the room, eyes instantly focused on Steve. You remained graciously unnoticed. It was almost as endearing as hilarious.

Steve lowered his book (laying it down without bothering to mark the page he had been ‘reading’, while avoiding your gaze really) and stood up, offering a short hug to the God, who was adorably perplexed at such behaviour.

“Hello, Thor. It’s good to see you,” Steve welcomed him warmly, lightly patting his friend on his back. Tony watched amusedly as the men retreated, one of them utterly confused, shooting him a not-so-subtle puzzled look.

“Brother Steven, you-- look well! I am pleased to see that you are feeling better…”

“Use that famous beyond-eyes eyes of yours, Thor,” Tony snorted in laughter, gesturing vaguely around his own face. “I imagine you’ll be surprised at what you’ll see.”

To your surprise, Thor actually examined Steve with an absent gaze, blinking after few seconds, understanding mixing with confusion on his face now.

“Oh… you are… bonded,” he let out in disbelief, quickly switching to warmer voice. And nope, he still hadn’t noticed you. The corner of your lips twitched. “I am happy for you, brother. I could sense your sorrow for your soulmate during my last visit here without taking as much as a glance at you. You deserve another soulmate, one that can make your heart equally happy. I hope you do not feel unfaithful for you love again – I believe you still carry your love for your past partner in your heart and her soul knows that even in afterlife.”

Steve smiled at him, sad tones in the otherwise wide smile. “More than you know, Thor. But thank you. Would you like to meet her? She’s why we are celebrating and why we invited you to join us.”

“Of course. I’d be honoured to meet your lady-“

“You can,” you made your presence known at last, causing the God to snap his head to you at instant. You offered a grin and a tiny wave. “Hey, Thor. Long time, no see.”

The poor Asgardian stared at you incredulously, his eyes wider than Steve’s and Tony’s smiles. Then he shook his head, joining all of you in the lifted spirits.

“…now I understand why Heimdall had that secretive smile on his face when I was leaving… my lady! I am delighted to see you alive!”

He crossed the room in swift strides, nearly making you back out with how fierce he looked at the moment. But he wouldn’t punch you, right?

Nope, he wouldn’t.

Instead, he pulled you into his strong arms, lifting you a foot above the ground, squeezing you in a bone-crushing hug that brushed your tender ribs. You were so surprised you didn’t even hiss in pain. He released you as quickly as he embraced you, greeting you with his typical kiss on the back of your hand. Was there a hint of red in his cheeks as if he was embarrassed at the open display of friendly affection that preceded his gentleman’s manners?

You shook off the thought quickly, dropping a little curtsy to entertain your company. You met Steve’s eyes behind Thor’s enormous shoulder and he squinted at you playfully as if he was warning you to stop what could be considered flirtation. You winked at him, earning a gape from him and a chuckle from Tony.

“But… how?” Thor’s voice brought your attention back to him and you saw nothing but wonder on his face. “I can see your spirit, it is still glowing magnificently, clear of dark forces that could have tried to bring you back to life despite the natural order. This must have happened differently… how?”

“It’s a long story, Thor. Can you stay?” you asked hopefully, pleased by the warmth in his eyes when he nodded.

“To celebrate your return, the reunion of soulmates with one of the strongest bonds I have ever had the chance to witness? ...with pleasure, my lady.”

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Asking Thor to join was a good plan. The Avengers had introduced some of the board games they knew to him, highly amused by his frustration during monopoly; to be fair, everyone but Tony was frustrated, so no one was mad when the game ended; with the billionaire’s victory, naturally. But it wasn’t just that; he also got Steve tipsy thanks to some special liquor that was meant for ‘no mere mortals’ and Steve with his cheeks red and a smile more relaxed than you had ever witnessed was a sight to behold.

Also, Thor wasn’t the only special guest. Sam had joined you; Natasha’s special friend. It was very much clear he was special and not only because of their body language. He proved to be worthy of being her man by surviving the grilling he was put through; you didn’t blame Natasha that she had chosen this occasion of all to introduce him, because naturally, there were enough distractions… like you coming back from dead… and such.

You came to like Sam immediately. He was another person to join your verbal combat with Clint and Tony, he was funny, but somehow knowing the limits of everyone despite barely meeting them and he was another person who was giving away the friendly vibe that was impossible not to love. He was an amazing match to Natasha, who was used to hiding her feelings, making her crawl from her tough shell. Match made in Heaven. He was a therapist, a former soldier and apparently their encounter was a story they wouldn’t share until they were completely trashed. You couldn’t wait.

The family-feels-filled party was officially ending at two a.m. You were dead on your feet by then, which resulted in Steve nearly carrying you to your common suite, earning a streak of ‘awww’ that registered even in your sleepy brain. You had no care in the world, curling in Steve’s embrace on the bed and falling asleep as soon as you felt his arms relax around you.

You didn’t quite count on the retelling your story about what preceded the re-encounter with your soulmate to cause your dreams going off rails; again. Snapping your eyes into the dark, your heart was hammering in your ribcage, the remnants of a nightmare slowly leaving your mind.  Sparing once glance at Steve’s fast asleep face, you carefully wiggled away and went to brush your teeth. Instantly recognizing you wouldn’t fall asleep any time soon, you decided to wander the Tower in your pyjama, a thin sweater over your shoulders.

Maybe a tea would make you good, calm your restless brain?

Heading for the kitchen and common area, you didn’t expect to find the light on; and you sure as hell didn’t expect Samuel Wilson being the person occupying it.

“Hey,” he greeted you in low voice and a tired smile on his own. “Can’t sleep?”

You couldn’t help the sigh that was drawn to your lips. “Nope. I didn’t want to wake up Steve, he could use a few hours extra, not less.”

“I bet,” the man hummed thoughtfully, motioning for you to sit in a kind offer. You shook your head and gestured towards the kettle.

“Tea?”

“Nah. Thanks.”

You went to make a cup for yourself only then, keeping the talk up. “What about you?”

“Nat’s in the shower. Woke me up.”

“Then what are you doing here?” you teased him with a chuckle and his face scrunched as if he tasted lemon and was not expecting the taste.

“Nightmares are kind of a moodkiller.”

“Ah,” escaped your lips intelligently as you sat beside him, placing the tea on the table. Honestly, you weren’t surprised at how brusque he was after the evening you spent together, but at the same time, you were – a little. You offered him a half smile. “She looks happy though. You do that.”

He smiled a tiny smile back, but his crinkling eyes said more than the curl of his lips. “I hope so, ‘cause I’m trying. Nat’s amazing. She could have anyone, but deserves the best. For some reason, the Universe seems to think it’s me.”

“Yeah, I know the feeling,“ you hummed, recalling the feeling way too clearly. Sam’s eyes bulged then, guilt and shock and only then you realized what he said. Oh. Oh.  The Universe. Natasha was Sam’s soulmate. Now you understood why they ended up not sharing their meet-cute yet. “Your secret is safe with me, just in case you wonder. And I can see the two of you being soulmates. I mean… at least you used to be a soldier, like her. And you still help people.”

You could feel his relief rolling off in waves. It was quite funny how afraid he was, probably having been promised death delivered by Black Widow if he shared. Then, his eyes turned curious, gentle brown wondering.

“You’re still self-conscious about your soulmate?”

“No!” you blurted out automatically, hesitating when his eyebrow rose, calling you out on your bullshit without words. You huffed. “Yes? I mean… no. It’s just-- sometimes… I guess it was just being confronted with it again when I met him for the second time… like, second time, the first time. It kinda hit me again. That our worlds are so different, mine’s so… plain and normal., while his… well.”

Getting it out felt good, but your admission sent the room into heavy silence, soaking through your skin, making you question whether you had told him too much. Why did you even say that? To Sam, of all people? You had just met him tonight!

You must have scared him off. Freaked him out. Now he was about to leave and tell on you and he would never talk to you-

“Did Natasha tell you what kind of therapy I do?” he asked kindly instead, causing you to release the breath you didn’t realize you were holding.

You shook your head, intrigued, happy to learn more about him and ignore the silly overshare slip you had managed.

“Soulmates,” he said simply, your heart stopping at the single word. What? … like… what exactly was he doing? Huh? “I deal with people who lost their soulmates. And I spent a good portion of time digging into relationships, soulmates-related or not… and I can tell you that sometimes when people are exactly the same, they are a disaster in making.”

Well. That was loop that returned to your case faster than expected. “What… uhm, what do you mean?”

“I mean that I’m not in the battlefield anymore, but maybe… I could be good for Nat. Grounding. Just like you can be good for Steve, be exactly what he needs,” he explained, his eyes locked with yours, not releasing you; yet, you didn’t feel trapped. Damn, he was good. “Do you feel that you two… work?”

You blinked at the sudden stupid question. “Of course I do.”

He grinned victoriously and you realized you just proved his point, so you chuckled self-depreciatingly.

“That’s because it’s not always about being the same in every aspect of your lives. It’s not about similarity – it’s about completion. About two people who simply fit. From what I saw so far, from what you told me, you two fit. That’s what’s important.”

Yeah, it seemed the Universe’s choices in soulmates were pretty swell; Sam was one of the kindest and most amiable people you had ever met and Natasha deserved nothing less.

But now, it wasn’t about Nat and Sam; no, Sam had spoken to you about this for your benefit. You smiled at him softly, reaching out and squeezing his hand for a short second. He returned the courtesy, letting your mouth speak your mind.

“Thank you. I… I think you two do as well. I guess it was just heavy dreams and everything that happened…” you shrugged, already feeling calmer. You couldn’t recall what particular dream was making you lose sleep tonight, but it left you with a strange feeling in your stomach that now seemed to resolve into nothing.

Sam shrugged, huffing with an undertone of bitterness that quickly disappeared.

“Well, we sit here at four a.m. Both of us. Every single person in this building has shit to deal with. You’ve been blown up – you came back from death, much like Steve did, in a way. He’s seen you die on top of that. Nat’s past is a case of its own and… and I saw my soulmate fall from the sky and for some reason I’m blessed with another… I’m just a firm believer in handling that kind of things together, that’s why I lead group sessions rather than individual ones.”

Your lips parted at his admission. He had lost his soulmate? For real? And he found the strength to deal and to help others? Yeah, Nat definitely deserved this guy. You just hoped neither of them would have to go through losing one another – in battlefield or anywhere else.

“Nat… is your second?” you pried carefully, only making certain.

Judging by how absent his gaze grow for few moments, she was.  

“Yeah.”

As if talking about her summoned her, she appeared in the door behind Sam’s back, observing silently and motioning for you not to babble out on her when you noticed her.

“Oh. Uhm… I’m sorry for your loss,” you whispered honestly and Sam smiled at you sadly, but undeniably grateful for such simple words.

“Thank you. I guess… the Universe does have a strange sense of humour. She came to me to help Steve, because she knew I lost my own and could relate and that’s how we found each other. It clicks in a weird way and I’m glad it seems to be working out so far.”

No way. Shit. Natasha had been… looking for a therapist for Steve? Just how bad Steve had been? The icy fist squeezing your heart gave you enough of an answer. Bad enough. You tried to silence the irrational guilt that gnawed at your stomach; it wasn’t exactly your fault, was it?

Curiosity was also knocking at your door, but you repressed it as well. As much as you’d like to ask whether Sam ended up having a session with Steve despite usually doing group ones, it felt wrong. Not to mention that Sam was a respectful and respecting man, who probably wouldn’t answer anyway.

“Yeah, it does,” you agreed with his musing instead, your own mind set off. “I thought it was rare to have two soulmarks and here we are.”

He snorted in an unattractive amusement. “Well, I have thought the same as you. And yet here we are. With you, coming back from the death as if two marks weren’t rare enough on their own.”

“That’s fair. But I suppose that… who else than people who spent smaller or larger part of their life saving the world deserves more than one chance at happiness?”

“True that,” he said with a light curl to his lips despite his eyes flickering behind you for a fraction of a second.

Letting your mind wander, you continued speaking, paying no mind you must bore him. “Or maybe it’s getting less rare. Maybe it’s part of something bigger, what we have yet to understand. Something… something might be changing. Cosmic…or maybe I’m just babbling. It’s just a feeling, something is in the air. A change.”

“That’s some heavy conversation to handle at four a.m,” a new voice spoke to the silence that had settled after your monologue and you whirled around, nearly jumping out of your skin.

“Steve!” you yelped, shocked and embarrassed. How much had he heard? Oh god…

Steve only shrugged and exchanged a look with Natasha, standing in the other doorway, which caused Sam to turn to his soulmate as well.

“Yeah, no shit,” Nat agreed, smirking.

“Hey, Nat,” Sam hummed, clearly less embarrassed at being eavesdropped on than you were.

“How about we cut this short and actually try to get some sleep?” she offered, carefree.

“Yeah, try,” you mimicked wryly with a sigh.

“We can try together,” Steve coaxed as he walked to you, running his hand through your hair tenderly. “Come with me, doll?”

How could a girl resist a sleepy supersoldier, when he combined his puppy eyes with being shirtless and inviting her back to his bed?

Couldn’t. The answer was: she couldn’t. You were a girl; hence you stood no chance.

“Sure,” you mumbled in a slight haze, before you managed to look back at your loyal listener. Sam had a smirk on his face, seeing what a goner you were for Steve, but his eyes were still kind.  ”Thank you, Sam. Must be that face of yours, making me verbally vomit my emotions.”

“Did you just compliment my face?” he asked, fake-shocked and turned to his own soulmate, scandalized. “Nat, watch out! She might wanna steal me.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t do that if I were her,” Natasha grinned at him and he chuckled, comeback prepared.

“And why is that?”

She rolled her eyes, but her smile turned fond and you felt like you were missing something. Ah, private joke perhaps?

Not that you cared much as Steve squeezed your shoulder lightly, his thumb slipping under the sweater you hadn’t bothered buttoning up, caressing your bare arm.

“You’re so corny,” the spy snickered.

Sam stuck out tongue in response, at which Nat placed a palm over her chest in theatrics. You chuckled and rose to your feet.

“Well, this looks like the right time to leave. Night, guys!”

“Please, as if you are about to sleep! You fool no one!” Sam called after you and you would swear you heard a slap after that, making you giggle.

Steve wrapped his arm around your shoulder, pulling you to his side and pressing a kiss to your temple, his lips lingering in your hair then.

“I thought we agreed that we fit perfectly,” he hummed, only a trace of accusation in his warm timbre.

You sighed and curled up to him as close as it was possible while walking.

“We do. I… it really was just a strange dream, I guess, and this… whole thing. I saw it from a new perspective, you know? Basically an outsider who had no clue how soulmates worked at first. I went through the shock of you being my soulmate twice.”

“Ah, so you thought I was too handsome-“

You slapped his chest playfully as it instantly started shaking with hushed laughter, showing you he was only joking. You snuggled into his warmth, hoping your face didn’t quite had on display that yeah, he wasn’t that wrong. It was exactly that and like twenty other things about him and that was before you even met him. You didn’t expect him to ever understand that, not really, but Sam was right; you worked as a couple, or you liked to think so. Nothing else mattered.

Reaching your room, he released you from his embrace only to keep his hand on your shoulder to spin you, making you face him. You reluctantly raised your gaze, meeting his soft smile.

“I love you. You’re my everything and we are meant to be. Well, at least I believe that,” he mused, a fraction of doubt flashing in his eyes until you shook your head and planted a kiss right to his lips, feeling the smile widen. “If you’re not convinced… well. I’m making it my newest personal mission to prove it to you.”

Your eyebrow rose in challenge at his suggestive tone. “Are you, now?”

You couldn’t imagine saying no to that, but truth to be told, you were getting tired again; after spilling the beans to Sam, sharing your worries and getting them out of your chest, you felt like you would be able to actually fall asleep again.

“Yeah, doll. And I think I’ll start right in the morning after we get some sleep.”

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Epilogue

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Thank you for reading! (Potentially for leaving likes and reblogging)

There’s an epilogue left (full chapter-length), but you know me – I’m considering a short bonus chapter that I’m not sure will fit into the timeline – just something for fun, I guess. We’ll see.