#anyway I love Valentine’s Day the excuse to send a bouquet to my loved ones and tell them what they mean to me? | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

tobesobri · 4 years ago

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Traditions | 17.3k

a/n: it's been a while since I uploaded writing and for some reason I decided to sign up for this challenge and by some miracle actually managed to write something for it 🤯anyways, this is for the Valentine's Day Challenge by @1dffchallenges and it's honestly just a bit of fun, enemies to lovers little bit of angst and some smut! so i hope you enjoy! I'd always love to know your thoughts!! (also pls excuse any errors, I wrote this in a week with little editing lol)

prompt: doube date

dialogue: “So let me get this right. You want to hire me as your date for a Valentine’s Day Party?”

Pink and red were speckled throughout the entire office, whether it was a bouquet of chocolate roses, a banner of hearts, or stuffed bears residing next to bowls full of heart-shaped candies. Every employee’s section of the office had been filled to the brim with decorations as well. Pink and red ribbon taped carefully around the edges of their desktop computer, little store-bought balloons, also heart-shaped, grouped together and tied to desk chairs.

And Y/N, dressed in her typical all black outfit, rolled her eyes as she paced through the office toward the one section in the back that was immune to all things heart-shaped, pink, or stuffed.

She sat down at her desk with a loud sigh, her purse hitting the floor in its usual spot just before she slipped out of her jacket and draped it haphazardly between her back and the chair. It’d be wrinkled by the end of the day, but she didn’t care all that much, nor did she put much thought into the stains on her purse from leaving it on the floor. All she concerned herself with, after settling in, was getting straight to work… which was put on hiatus when she came face-to-face with both a pink and heart-shaped sticky note plastered onto the center of her computer screen.

Groaning, she ripped it off and moved to turn her computer on before she bothered to read whatever was written on the note. She considered three potential suspects while she pulled her keyboard down onto her desk and logged in. There was Kayla, who worked front reception and was one of the main culprits of all the Valentine’s decorations. A strong contender. It could’ve also been Ines or Carmen, her closest work friends whom Y/N knew both owned a pad of pink, heart-shaped sticky notes.

However, when she finally let her eyes fall to the note as her computer loaded up, the handwriting didn’t match any of the women she knew, and she was quite positive that none of them would have written was was sprawled out in black ink either.

Roses are red, violets are blue. I will fill your office with teddy bears and balloons, if you don’t send me your half of the proposal by two.

Harry.

She crumpled the note and tossed it into the bin under her desk. He could go fuck himself for all she cared. Sure, she was nearly done with her portion of the work and would be able to send it to him before then, but now that he’d pestered her about it, he’d be lucky if she even bothered to send it to him at all.

She didn’t doubt the promise, i.e. threat, he made on the note, but being surrounded by teddy bears and balloons would be worth making Harry’s life just a tad miserable.

After opening all the apps she’d need to get her work done, namely Photoshop and Illustrator, she connected her drawing tablet and set up the rest of her work station for the day, both on screen and off.

Harry had worked at the company for about two years longer than her and she’d started off as an intern while she was still in college and, after graduating, was hired as a permanent graphic designer. They had never really gotten along ever since Harry—jokingly—asked her to get him a coffee once… or twice. Unfortunately for her, though, they ended up working well together and their boss had stuck them both on the same projects ever since. Especially after the month-long project last spring that had been their most successful one to date.

While she came up with the design parts of client projects, Harry handled the more technical side of things and they’d never really argued much over each other’s work even though they clashed constantly at a more personal level.

“I see your feeling festive.” Just as she’d gotten into the groove of her typical morning and had forgotten all about Harry’s stupid note, his voice interrupted her entire thought process. So when she swiveled around to find him leaning into her little office space, it was hardly a surprise when she glared at him, even though he feigned offense at her bitterness.

“You got my note, I presume.” He let himself into her space anyway, holding a mug of steaming coffee she was sure he’d just made in the workroom, and leaned up against the opposite side of her desk that housed a much larger, digital drawing tablet for when she needed to do more intricate design pieces.

She just swiveled back around to face her computer again and went back to work as if he was no longer there. Pretending to ignore his existence proved to be quite difficult when the very particular woodsy, vanilla scents of his cologne met her nostrils and filled her entire office. Not to mention, the sight of what he’d been wearing singed the backs of her eyelids so that she still saw him every time she blinked. It was as if her brain refused to let her forget what he looked like in his white button-up, sleeves rolled to the crooks of his elbows, all tucked into his fitted black trousers that tended to get the imaginations going of all the women in the building.

Not her though, of course. She was better than that. Obviously.

He cleared his throat, still very much present in her space and still very much giving her a migraine. “So will it be ready by two?”

“Well, I planned to send it to you before lunch.” She tweaked the spacing between letters of a potential logo for the millionth time. “But now… I think I might need the rest of the day.”

She heard rustling behind her and knew he was shifting his weight impatiently and running a hand through his hair as he often did when he was… displeased. “I told you I’m leaving early tomorrow and I need it no later than two.”

She cocked her head to the side, still staring at her computer screen and not giving him an ounce of satisfaction. “Did you tell me that?” She teased, an amused smirk lifting the corners of her mouth when she heard him groan behind her. “I must’ve forgotten.” Shrugging, she went back to her work.

“Unlike you,” he snapped, “some of us actually have a love life and I’d appreciate you not fucking up mine.”

She froze then, only for a split second, when his words sank in. Two thoughts raced through her head. The first a string of curse words because of his assumption that she didn’t have a love life. But the more prominent and worrisome part of his statement was that he did have one. And that he was leaving early tomorrow—Valentine’s Day—so he could get ready for a date.

Throwing both her prickly exterior and heartbreaking smirk up again, she turned to face him. “I’ve known you for three years now and if anyone has the potential to fuck up your love life, it’s you.”

He narrowed his eyes at her and her gaze fell to the hand that seemed to wrap a bit tighter around his Bugs Bunny mug. His knuckles whitened and she met his heated stare again, pleased with herself for getting him riled up before he’d even finished his morning coffee.

“So,” she continued before he get get a word of retaliation out, and sat back against her chair, crossing her legs confidently as she folded her hands in her lap. “Who’s the poor girl you’ve tricked into going on a date with you this time?”

Harry had a terrible track record. The longest relationship he’d been in lasted for two months, and that was well before she’d known him. Everything else he had was just a one or two night thing and nothing more. Sure, it was all more than she had, but she preferred it that way. Harry seemed to resent the fact that he couldn’t keep a girlfriend to save his life.

“You don’t know her.”

Her smile widened. “How long have you been seeing her?”

“Couple weeks.”

“Ooh, that just might be your second longest relationship, Styles.”

“Well at least I’ve had one.”

His jab didn’t have an affect on her however, and he knew it wouldn’t because it never did. He knew she didn’t give a damn about relationships, or at least that’s what she claimed anyway. He couldn’t think of many twenty-four year old women who actually wanted to be alone. He actually couldn’t think of a mid-twenties anyone who wanted that.

“You’ll have to try harder than that.” She said nonchalantly, which irked him even more than he already was, and then swiveled away from him one last time, picking up her drawing pen and getting back to work.

“What’s your issue with relationships?” He went on and she knew he was headed right down a path intended to hurt her feelings just as much as she had his. So, she tensed slightly and braced for impact. “Is it a commitment thing? Or can you just not find anyone to put up with you for longer than five minutes?”

She let his words sink their teeth in and then smiled to herself. “Hm. Seeing as you’ve been in my office now for,” she checked the time at the top right-hand corner of her screen, “eight minutes, maybe we should date.” She lifted a brow, awaiting his next response.

It felt a bit like a cat-and-mouse chase bickering with Harry and since she was usually the cat, it brought her way too much pleasure fighting with him.

He scoffed. “Like I’d lower my standards for you.”

That one hurt, she had to admit. Not out loud or to Harry, but it still stung because it was true. He’d have to drop his standards to the floor to even consider dating her and she knew it.

“Maybe,” she began, still half focused on her work, and ignored his comment all together, “some of us like being alone.”

“Nobody likes that.” He responded quickly and she heard a shift of his weight again and then his voice once more a few moments later. “It’s nice to be by yourself sometimes, yeah, but you can’t tell me you don’t want someone to come home to at the end of the day.” He crossed one leg over the other as he gripped the edge of her desk for support and just when she thought he was done, he kept going, “Someone you can vent to about your annoying co-worker.”

She glanced at him through the little portable mirror hanging above her desk—mostly used to make sure she looked decent before meeting with clients or, sometimes, Harry—and saw the tight smile on his lips. Almost as if that’s what he wanted, like he was talking about himself and not her.

She’d slowed her progress down while he’d talked until she was no longer working at all. She no longer swiped her pen across the pad or had any idea what she was even doing when she focused solely on his words. Because, once again, whether he was talking about himself or about her, he was right.

“Yeah well,” she quickly hid herself back behind her wall and made her hands function properly again. “Some of us also don’t have the luxury of choosing whomever we want.”

She imagined him smirking at that one because, buried deep within her words was a compliment. That he was handsome enough to actually have anyone he wanted.

Instead, when she glanced at the mirror again and found him, there was the complete opposite of a smirk on his face, and as he stared down into his mug, clearly lost in thought, she wondered what the tightness in his jaw and the frown pulling on his lips meant.

She sighed and stole his attention away from his coffee. “I’ll have it to you before lunch. You can go now, unless you’d like to argue some more and slow me down by another…” she glanced at her clock again, adding up all the time he’d been standing in her office, “fifteen minutes.”

Without another word, she listened to the drag of his footsteps as he finally left her office space. And although she was glad to be rid of his distraction, the room felt so much bigger and so much colder and emptier without him in it. Shivering, she slipped back into her jacket and spent the next few hours doing nothing but staring straight ahead at her screen as she made final adjustments to her designs.

Any other conversations with Harry were had over email as he worked in his own respective office, messaging her with every little concern he had in order to get his work done efficiently so that he wasn’t stressing to finish it tomorrow before he had to leave. Even though Y/N considered not responding to him a few times, just to spite him and slow him down for her own amusement, she found herself feeling guilty after leaving him hanging a couple times. Sure, she hated Valentine’s Day and everything surrounding it, but she’d almost hate even more the idea of both her and Harry being miserable tomorrow, so she inevitably gave in and cooperated with him. She’d probably regret it when he came back on Thursday spreading around the office all the gory details of his date, but at least he wouldn’t also be in a shitty mood. Her days were both boring and slow whenever Harry wasn’t having a good day. And although she’d blame it all on selfish reasons, it did also make her sad to see him frowning around the office and sulking when all she wanted to do was bicker with him and make him smile again, even just a little bit. But it was easier leaving him to his own devices than risk him finding out she cared about him enough to not wish sadness upon him.

She couldn’t say the same for him. Harry probably relished in the days she came into the office in a sour mood. He probably celebrated and threw a party whenever she was upset, and, even so, it didn’t change how she felt about him.

The sun had long set and most of the office was gone by the time she finally called it quits and began packing up her things and giving her computer a rest for the night. There were still quiet murmurs from other workaholic employees, which comforting her knowing she wasn’t completely alone in the building, since the last time she’d done that, it took everything in her not to have a panic attack all the way to her car.

Even though her boss told her countless times not to stay past five o’clock, as he told every other female employee that worked for him that he didn’t wish to see attacked after sunset in the city. Of course, when she was the only one who didn’t listen to him, he hired more guards and one of them rounded the corner into her office space, ready to escort her all the way down to her car.

“Figured you were still here.” He leaned against the walls of her cubicle and watched as she startled, twisting to meet his eyes for a moment before she settled and returned to slipping her belongings into her purse.

“I don’t need you to escort me.” Zipping her purse, she rose from her chair, checking one last time across her desk to make sure she’d grabbed everything she needed to take home with her before turning to him as he still lingered in the opening of her little office.

William had been hired a couple months ago, and was only a year older than her, but even so he was more than a foot taller than her and his biceps were about as big as her head. While the entire office drooled over him, she tended to keep her eyes and her thoughts to herself.

“You say that every night you stay late. Just let me do my job and shut up about it.” He smirked at her and when her eyes met his again, sharply, glaring at him, she groaned and whirled past him toward the elevators. He followed swiftly behind, knowing she’d close the doors on him if he didn’t keep close enough pace with her, mostly because she’d done it before.

As he took his spot beside her and she pressed the button for the parking garage at the basement of the building, a familiar voice rang out through the office.

“Wait!” As if she wasn’t already annoyed enough with William’s presence, his stupidly large arm held the elevator doors open as Harry slipped inside a moment later.

“Thanks, mate.” Harry said exclusively to William as he caught his breath and stood wedged in the middle between the guard and Y/N, who was inching closer and closer into her corner to get away from Harry.

“You have any plans tomorrow?” Harry asked, his attention solely on William again while the elevator took off down through the levels of their building. Not fast enough for Y/N, of course.

William sighed, crossing his arms and trying to resist smiling. “Me and my girlfriend take turns surprising each other every year. And it’s her turn this year… so I guess I have plans, but I don’t know what they are.”

“Damn, way to make us feel incompetent.”

Y/N whirled her head to glare up at the side of Harry’s face. “Speak for yourself.” She warned.

Harry just ignored her though. “What did you guys do last year?”

Again, William stifled a grin. “I had been saving up for a while and took us both to Paris.”

“Shit.” Harry’s eyebrows rose and Y/N rolled her eyes away from him, watching the LED screen above the elevator doors as they neared the bottom levels of the building. She knew Harry and William had become friends, mostly because Harry was annoying and befriended everyone. Except her, of course. She heard his stupid voice again and wished she could just transport herself directly into the front seat of her car and be done with the both of them. “And now she has to do better than Paris.”

Y/N glanced around Harry just in time to see William smirk and she should have known what was about to come out of his mouth before it did. “Well, I don’t consider much better than her mouth ar—“

Y/N cut him off. “Ew! Are you serious?”

Both men eyed her curiously just as the elevator came to a stop and, with a ding, the doors opened. She flew toward them quickly.

“Y/N wait, I have to—“

Again, she cut him off, turning once she was out on solid ground. “I’ll be fine, besides trying to rid my mind of that image you just burned into it.” She turned on her heel and headed off toward her car.

William made a move toward her and Harry grabbed his arm, “I’ll walk her. Forgot she’s a bit of a prude.” They shared an amused look and Harry jogged out onto the concrete and asphalt until he reached her side.

“I heard that, you know… and I know for a fact your car is not parked in this direction.” She seethed and he just smiled to himself, happier than ever that she was in the mood to bicker with him, because he wasn’t quite in the mood to leave yet, where he’d have to wait till tomorrow morning at nine-thirty to see her again. And she wasn’t always the most talkative person on Valentine’s Day, either.

“Why are you the only female in our building not foaming at the mouth over him?” He asked instead, referring to William.

He heard her scoff. “Just because he’s attractive doesn’t mean I have to be interested… or want to hear about his girlfriend sucking his—“

“Cock?” Harry finished for her and within a second she spun around to face him, forcing him to stop in his tracks just inches from her now. His smirk only grew when he saw just how quickly he’d gotten her all flustered.

And then, as they started each other down, the hardness in her face softened and she drew out a breath, forcing his eyes to fall to her lips and his smirk to fall from his mouth. He thought back to last spring, when there were numerous late nights with her just like this one. When he went home and couldn’t stop thinking about…

“Why are you looking at me like that?” She asked and he blinked a couple times before he lifted his eyes.

“Like what?” He furrowed his brows, trying to track down all the resentment he had for her but he couldn’t find it anywhere anymore. He couldn’t summon it and say something that would save his ass from being caught looking at her like he wanted to kiss her.

Like he wanted to taste her and feel her against him, and hear what she sounded like when he tugged at her hair for more.

“Nevermind.” She shook her head, silencing the chaos going on in his brain. And then she turned, continuing the walk to her car with or without him, but, when she heard the echoing click of his shoes against the asphalt once more, she knew she wasn’t rid of him yet.

“I don’t suppose you’ll give me a ride back to my car, will you?” He easily stepped back into place beside her like nothing had happened.

She didn’t say anything for much longer than he was comfortable with. And then, finally, they reached her car and she sighed. “Get in before I change my mind.”

As she went for the driver’s side, he took quick steps to the opposite side, watching her over the top of her little Honda as she unlocked her door, and then, after clicking the button, his door as well. They both slipped in at the same time and while she fastened her seatbelt and settled in for her drive home, he sat perched with his backpack in his lap, knowing he’d be out of her car within only a couple minutes.

He still glanced around at his surroundings as she backed out of her parking space. “Should’ve guessed your car would be as neat as your desk.”

She didn’t say anything as she drove in the opposite direction of the exit toward the section of the garage Harry always parked in. It was closer to the elevators because he always came in before her and snagged a prime spot. She preferred an extra few minutes of sleep over walking an extra fifty steps.

And he started up again when she continued to not talk to him. “Most artists I know of are super messy.”

“I’m not an artist.” She gritted out through her teeth as she came to a stop once she spotted the rear-end of Harry’s BMW. Although she knew it well enough to distinguish it from the other black BMWs in the garage, it also helped that Harry had an old, faded license plate cover filled with a collage of cute pictures of puppies. He’d said it won him bonus points with women, but she also knew his screensaver at work was a picture of puppies as well, and no women he was interested in ever saw that.

He peeled his eyes off his car and looked over at her. “I know you can draw, too.”

She paused, gripping her steering wheel. She did enjoy both art and design and she knew Harry knew the difference between the two. She just didn’t know why he always insisted on bugging her about it.

“Yeah, well that doesn’t make me an artist.”

When he didn’t say anything, she glanced at him just in time to find him shrugging a shoulder like he was agreeing to disagree. Even if she couldn’t draw, he’d still consider her an artist because the things she managed to design always blew his mind and if that wasn’t art…

She rolled her eyes. “Are you going to get out, or do I have to drag you?”

He grinned, and it was almost as if her eyes refused to see anything else but his dimples and the bright whites of his teeth, and the birthmark to the side of his mouth…

“I’m going.” He assured, and yet he still hadn’t moved an inch. “Even though I’d love to see you try to drag me.” With her knuckles whitening on the steering wheel, he chuckled and unzipped the small pocket on the front of his backpack, withdrawing his keys as he finally swung her door open.

Once he was out, he gripped the top of the door and leaned back in to find her staring straight ahead. “Drive carefully, yeah? Would be quite tragic for your bitter ass to die on Valentine’s Day.”

She reached over and, despite having to brush her knuckles along the side of his thigh, grabbed the handle of the passenger door and yanked. His body remained in her way, however, and he was unfortunately a lot stronger than her.

Then she finally looked up at him, and those thoughts he had earlier surfaced again as much as he’d tried to bury them. This time though, he didn’t fight it as he glanced at her lips once more, then back at her eyes, which had widened slightly just before the dimples reappeared in his cheeks. “And I guess I would miss bickering with you every day.”

With that, he was gone and she retreated back to her seat as he shut the door for her. She had no idea what to think about what had just happened. Why he’d looked at her like that again. What that look even meant.

By the time she reached the freeway, she’d convinced herself she was just seeing things. Harry wasn’t looking at her in any other way he had before when he was intent on pestering her. But, as she took in the scent of him still lingering in the cabin, she allowed a small part of her to hope she was wrong.

Her eyes fell on the man down the hall from her door as she slipped her key into the lock, her brows furrowing as she watched him. It wasn’t unusual for their paths to cross, as they tended to get home around the same time, but it was quite odd to see him sitting on the floor outside his apartment, his head in his hands.

They’d said hi to each other a couple times in the mailroom, but she definitely didn’t know him well enough to go up and ask what his issue was or try to fix it for him. And after it was confirmed that he hadn’t, in fact, lost his keys, as they sat beside him on the floor along with his phone, she figured it best to leave him be.

Turning her key, she pulled her gaze from him and disappeared from the hallway.

The second she was inside her apartment, she felt all the weight lift right off her shoulders, especially when her cat came racing up, screaming at her from the floor while also coaxing her toward the kitchen to fill the food bowl. Whatever was going on with her neighbor still very much on her mind, she tried to focus instead on relaxing and getting both her and the screaming Pretzel some dinner.

She tried to remember his name as she heated up leftover pasta. She knew it started with an A, but her brain was coming up short. So, while Pretzel crunched on his food in his corner of the kitchen, she tried her hardest to remember.

And it was no question why she cared so much. Her neighbor was someone she was actually interested in, and she had been since she first saw him. Of course, she was never foolish enough to think he was into her, but she still let herself fantasize. He was tall, nearly black curly hair atop his head always in a state of disarray, and he had the most beautiful blue eyes she’d ever seen hidden behind his glasses. And, if she was being honest with herself, he was just a darker-haired version of Harry. Maybe that’s why she liked him.

The beeping of her microwave tore her thoughts from the dangerous path they’d been headed down. Harry’s voice rang in her head a moment later.

Like I’d lower my standards for you.

She’d needed to hear him say that, because sometimes her thoughts got carried away when it came to Harry and sometimes she did let herself be a fool who hoped. But after he’d said that one damning phrase, it was enough for her to stop. She didn’t meet a single one of his standards, inside or out.

Still, she tried her hardest not to go back out into the hall and make sure her neighbor was alright. Maybe he just needed someone to talk to and it wasn’t like she was doing anything important. Even if she didn’t have a dumb crush on him, as she did Harry, she still didn’t enjoy seeing him in the state he’d been in.

Before she could work up the nerve, however, a knock sounded through her quiet apartment.

She held her breath as she opened her door, really hoping it wasn’t the boy from across the hall, since she was still blanking on his name, but she couldn’t imagine anyone else knocking on her door this late into the evening.

So when she inevitably found him there, looking down at her through his annoyingly long lashes as she took in the horrible state he was in—red, inflamed eyes and hair that needed to see a brush rather than his hand—she completely lost her breath instead.

“Uh, sorry, I… saw you come in and I know we don’t talk and this is a weird thing for me to ask but…” He ran said hand through said messy hair and she found her breath again while looking up at him like she’d do whatever he’d asked just so he’d stop frowning.

He sighed, glancing down the hall toward his apartment and then met her curious and somewhat concerned gaze. “Can I come in?”

She recoiled. “Um… why?”

“Well, um, I was hoping you could help me with something and I’d rather not have the entire floor know about it.”

She was beyond confused now, but still, she stepped aside and let him pass, assuming that if he was actually a murderer he would have done her in a lot sooner than this. He had plenty of other opportunities. Plus, something in his face just… made her want to trust him.

She closed the door and turned to him, watching as his eyes scanned her kitchen and where her food still sat before he twisted around, eyes wide. “Shit, I’m sorry for interrupting.”

She shook her head. “It’s fine.” And after clearing her throat, she crossed her arms over her chest. “What do you, um… what do you need help with?”

He swallowed and she watched his Adam’s apple budge in his throat. “I don’t imagine you’ll like me very much after I ask but… I need a date.”

“What?” Again, she nearly flew out of her skin.

His eyes darted back and forth between hers, gauging her reactions and very obviously on the verge of seeing himself out and pretending this never happened. Instead, he stuffed away his pride and went on. “My ex… she, uh… well we broke up a few months ago and I saw her the other day and she’s seeing someone and we were talking and I… told her I was seeing someone too and so she invited me to go on this stupid double date with her… but the thing is… I’m not actually seeing anyone and I just told her that so she’d be jealous but she didn’t seem jealous at all and I don’t exactly have many friends to ask for help and I saw you and…” He rambled, but she managed to understand his predicament just fine.

“A double date? With your ex?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know either. She’s… she does weird shit but… I still want her back.”

Y/N’s heart ached in her chest. As much as she detested relationships, she was a sucker for other people’s relationships and she was definitely a sucker for her beautiful neighbor, even if he was asking to use her to make his ex-girlfriend jealous.

“Not that I’m saying yes but… when? And where?” She finally asked after thinking things over for a moment.

“Tomorrow night… I can pay you. I will pay you, I mean… but, seriously, you don’t have to do it I just thought I would ask.”

“Where is this date at?” She repeated when he didn’t answer that part of her question.

“At this party… and bef—“

She cut him off. “Okay so let me get this right. You want to hire me as your date to a Valentine’s Day party?”

He lifted a brow, “Well, there’s more… she wants to get dinner before going to the party.”

She shook her head, looking away, “I don’t really do Valentine’s Day…”

“You wouldn’t have to do much. I’ll pay for your dinner, too. Whatever you want. I just… really need your help and you’re my only option.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “You realize I’m not exactly…” she waved at her face and his eyebrows screwed together in confusion. “I’m not easy on the eyes and I don’t think taking me will make anyone jealous.”

He didn’t say anything for a while, just stared at her incredulously. She shifted her weight nervously and he finally opened his mouth. “You don’t actually think that, do you?”

Her features scrunched up and she kept her eyes planted on the middle of his chest. And then he realized that she, in fact, did.

“I’m so sorry… I shouldn’t have asked you to do this.” He also realized that using her to make his ex jealous would possibly hurt her more than it would help him and he could no longer fathom putting her through that. “I’ll figure it out. I’m sorry.” He moved to walk past her, back to his apartment but she stopped him before he got far.

“No… I’ll help you.” And then she realized his identity was still somewhat of a mystery to her. “This sounds even worse than what you just asked me to do, but… I completely forgot your name.”

He breathed out a laugh. “It’s Adam.”

She knew it had started with an A!

“Y/N.”

He smiled wider and nodded. “I know.” And then his face grew sad again. “I am really sorry I’m asking you to do this on Valentine’s Day, it’s definitely not my proudest moment.”

She waved him off. “I wasn’t going to do anything anyway. Just tell me what you need me to do.” She didn’t bother brining up the whole payment thing. She didn’t really care about being paid. He was nice, the only nice person she’d encountered in her apartment building and if getting him back together with his ex meant she’d never have to come home and see him in the fetal position on the floor again, she’d suffer through a date and a party on her least favorite holiday.

It was somehow even worse than it’d been yesterday. The decorations seemed to triple in size. Not an inch of the office was untouched by something pink and she prayed whoever had put up even more decorations had spared her little cubicle.

“Oh, hey, Y/N!” One of the receptionists most responsible for the overflowing decor, Kayla, called her over to her desk not even a minute after Y/N had arrived. And she stalked over until she saw the package Kayla pulled out that instantly lifted her spirits.

She stopped in front of Kayla’s desk and took the thin box from from her, already knowing what it was and thanking god for the timing so that her entire day wasn’t completely miserable. It was a new drawing pad she’d ordered, a bigger one that she hoped would be a bit more efficient to use than her current one.

Even with her back turned to the rest of the office, she sensed Harry’s presence long before he stopped beside her with his mug in hand.

He lifted a brow at the package in Y/N’s hands just as she reluctantly turned to look at him. “Getting gifts sent to the office? That’s a first.”

She rolled her eyes and stuffed the box under her arm, holding herself back from running off to her office to set it up. “Jealous?” She cocked her head.

And instead of his condescending smirk and a hateful response to go with it, the sparkle in his eyes seemed to fade as he eyed the box again, genuinely worried now that it was actually a gift from someone.

Before either could say anything, they all turned to find a delivery man walking up to Kayla with a giant bouquet of flowers in tow. And so it began. Although, when Kayla took the vase from the man eagerly, a bright smile on her face because Kayla loved love a little too much, Y/N couldn’t help but think about Adam. About how the only time she’d managed to get a date on Valentine’s Day was when it wasn’t even real. Instead, she’d stupidly agreed to help her cute neighbor win back his ex-girlfriend in exchange for a free dinner.

It was… pathetic. To say the least.

She felt Harry watching her, too, while she eyed the bouquet of flowers as they departed reception with Kayla and made their way to their recipient. As stupid as she found everything about the holiday, she couldn’t help but want someone to send her flowers. To give her anything for that matter. To have thought about her for at least a second of their day. Harry cleared his throat and she tore her eyes away.

“So… what’s in the box?”

“None of your business.” She rounded him, heading to her office, but he grabbed her free arm to stop her short and didn’t speak until she met his gaze again.

“Can we meet up in my office to finish the proposal? Think it’ll be easier to get it done than over email.”

She had every reason to be suspicious of him. They almost never worked in each other’s offices. When they did work together, which was often, it was in one of the empty conference rooms and it was usually at the beginning of the process when they needed the space to plan things out. The last time they’d really been in each other’s offices was last spring. Figuring he just wanted to get things done so he could be out of the office on time, she let it go.

“Give me fifteen minutes.”

He watched her walk away, watched her even as Kayla returned and noticed his gaze and giggled at him as she took her spot back behind her desk.

“It was something she ordered for herself, by the way.”

“What?” Harry whipped around again, not having even realized the other woman until now.

“I know you two pretend to hate each other but I see the way you look at her, Harry.” Kayla lifted a brow at him as she began typing on her keyboard.

He feigned disgust. “I’m seeing someone, you know.”

“Are you?”

“Yes.” He insisted. “I have a date. Tonight.”

She lifted her hands in surrender. “Okay… I’m just saying.”

“I don’t look at her.”

Kayla suppressed a smile and snorted instead. “If you say so. I guess you didn’t also sneak into her office this morning, either.”

“I think all these flowers and stuffed bears and heart-shaped things have gotten to your head.” He pointed around to the decor littering her desk while holding his mug steady.

Kayla met his eyes and her smile slipped off her face. “Harry, please don’t mess with her.”

His face screwed up. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“If you don’t like her then don’t lead her on.”

“I don’t think she’s capable of being led on.”

Kayla froze for a moment and then nodded. “You’re right.”

He wasn’t sure what she meant by that either. “Why are you being weird?”

“Because,” Kayla sighed, brushing her curled brunette hair onto one shoulder and then lowered the volume of her voice. “I happen to know she doesn’t think very highly of herself and I’d rather not see her get hurt, especially not by you.”

Now Harry froze. The hand that gripped his mug tightened and he didn’t even flinch as it began to burn his skin. He heard Y/N’s voice in his head then as he drowned out his surroundings.

Some of us don’t have the luxury of choosing whomever we want.

He had instantly regretted what he’d said to her yesterday when she’d told him that. And now hearing Kayla, in a way, confirm what he’d read between the lines of Y/N’s words… his chest tightened in quite possibly the worst way ever. He’d hated himself most of the day after telling her he’d never lower his standards for her and he could say he was just bickering all he wanted, but he knew now for certain she took it the wrong way. And he wished more than ever that he hadn’t said something so horrible to her, especially when it was the farthest thing from the truth.

And the real truth, that he was trying desperately to shove away with stupid remarks like that, was that he didn’t meet her standards. She wasn’t into relationships and he knew he wasn’t good enough to change her mind.

“How do you know that?” He finally asked.

“That Christmas party last year… she’s a really happy drunk until she’s not.”

He flinched. “Did she say something?”

“I don’t want to get into it, mostly because I don’t think she remembers and would probably kill me if I told you but… just leave her be.”

He hardened back up again. “She does’t have any interest in relationships anyway, ‘specially not with me.”

Kayla scoffed. “She’s a really good liar.”

Harry stood there for a few more moments, feeling as if his life had just gotten flipped upside down. He’d been in such a good mood mere minutes ago before his dumbass waltzed into reception all because he’d seen Y/N. Because, despite everything and despite the fact he was already attempting to date someone else, it was Y/N he wanted to be close to all the damn time. Groaning, he turned on his heel and left for his office, hoping she wasn’t there waiting for him so he could have a moment to himself to gather his thoughts.

In a hurry to open her package, Y/N slumped down into her chair tossing her purse on the ground at her feet and pulling out her box cutter in a rush of movements. She was so distracted, in fact, that she didn’t even notice the little stuffed frog, the box of chocolates and envelope sitting on the other side of her desk near her mouse. Instead, she unboxed her new tablet and began setting it up, not noticing the gifts until she went to turn on her computer. And then she froze.

With reluctant hands she grabbed the envelope first, her name printed on it in perfect cursive. She knew nobody in the office who had such good penmanship. Opening the card in hopes of finding out who had placed the items on her desk, instead, she just found it signed as ‘secret admirer.’ Rolling her eyes, she set the card down and realized it had to be from her boss. Sometimes he remembered to go around and give everyone little gifts on the holidays. Obviously he’d remembered this year.

She dug into the chocolates as she set up her tablet and began calibrating it to suit her needs before finally testing it out in the little bit of time she had before she needed to make her way to Harry’s office.

And once that time came, she left everything in its place, besides the box of chocolates, which she continued to pick at while she made her way through the room. What she didn’t notice while stuffing her face with candy was that… no one else had a stuffed frog or chocolates or a cheesy little card on their desks.

She rounded the corner into Harry’s office, which was a real office and not a cubicle that he usually shared with one other person who was thankfully out with clients for the day. She knocked on the doorframe to get his attention after just watching him focus on his screen for a moment. Harry was cute when he was focused.

But then he turned to her and his eyes fell to the box in her hand.

When he didn’t say anything, she held it out toward him. “Do you want some? I think Andrew was feeling generous this year.”

Harry’s eyes quickly panned up to hers and his brows furrowed as if she’d just punched him in the gut. And she couldn’t make out what that expression meant no matter how hard she tried.

“He didn’t give me anything.” Harry motioned around his desk.

“Maybe he doesn’t like you.” She shrugged, setting the chocolates down on his desk while she grabbed his office mate’s chair and pulled it up beside him.

Harry sighed, turning to his computer for a moment and then watching her from his peripheral while she picked out another piece of chocolate. “I didn’t see anyone else with chocolates on their desks this morning.”

Y/N just shrugged. “There was a frog too. And a card.”

“And why do you think he’d give you all of that and no one else?” Harry hoped she’d get the hint but he didn’t hope too hard. She was still Y/N after all. And he really didn’t mean to sound so bitter… well, okay, he did. But he knew she’d misplace his bitterness, crushing what little hope there was to bits.

“Maybe he likes me better than all the rest of you.”

Harry scoffed, shaking his head as he put his attention back on his screen.

“No one else in this office would give me a card signed as a secret admirer so… maybe I did something I don’t remember doing and he’s thanking me?” Now that she really thought about it, and if Harry was right… then it really didn’t make much sense. It’s not like she was Andrew’s favorite employee.

Harry just lifted a brow and then pretended to lose all interest.

Sensing the tension, she slipped the box closer to him. “Here. I think you need a knock-off Snickers if you expect me to work with your grumpy ass.” He made no move to indulge her, however. And so she went on, continuing to poke the bear. “Why are you in a lousy mood anyway? Isn’t this your favorite holiday? And you get to leave early.”

His eyes fell from his screen and he stared at the brick of sticky notes below his monitor before mumbling, “I’m sorry about what I said yesterday.”

Taken aback, she searched what she could see of his face for answers to what he was apologizing for. He’d said a few things she could imagine deserved an apology and yet, so did she. Maybe she should have been the one to apologize to him first.

“I didn’t mean to say what I did.” He finally turned to meet her face on. He’d hoped the frog and the chocolates would have been atonement enough, but considering she thought they were from their boss and not him, he just had to suck it up and actually say what he meant.

She shrugged. “It’s fine. I can be a prude sometimes.”

He searched her eyes for a moment and then shook his head, “No that’s not… I meant what I said earlier in your office… about lowering my standards. It was a stupid thing to say and not true in the slightest.”

But then she smiled and he grew confused. “Yes it is. It’s okay to have standards, you know.”

“I know that. But if we… I wouldn’t have to lower my standards. And it was cruel of me to have said that to you.”

She couldn’t stand looking at him any longer and averted her gaze, clearing her throat. “Well it doesn’t matter so… can we just get this proposal done?”

He’d wanted to spend how ever long it took to convince her that it did, in fact, matter, but Y/N was persistent, more so than him, and so he’d given in and they moved on to being productive with their time. And in less time than he’d anticipated their proposal was finished, being sent off to Andrew for approval before their presentation at the end of the week with their clients.

Harry sat back in his chair and she returned her own to the other desk where it belonged, all while he watched her.

“What do you do on Valentine’s Day?” He asked, just trying to get her to stay longer, knowing that if those were his true intentions, then he was fucked. That he wanted to be around Y/N, even though he was seeing someone else, albeit for just a week so far, even though she’d never want the same from him.

Maybe he was just as terrible with relationships as she claimed if he always chased after what he couldn’t have.

“That is also none of your business.” She grabbed her box of chocolates from his desk, his voice pinning her in place again though.

“Let me guess… it involves chocolate, your cat, and the most anti-romantic movies you can find?”

He would not think her very prudish if he knew what else she did on Valentine’s Day while alone in her apartment, but she figured it was best to keep that to herself. Instead, she smiled at him. “Something like that.”

He narrowed his eyes and threw his arms up behind his head as he laid back in his chair, watching her curiously like he was trying to figure her out. Meanwhile, she was trying to not make it obvious she was staring at his biceps as they just about bulged from underneath the sleeve of his pink button-up. He’d done it on purpose though, so as much as she tried to hide it, he still grinned with satisfaction when she became flustered.

“Well, have fun with that, then.” He nodded, and for a moment while she was lost in his eyes and growing embarrassingly hot, she wondered if he could read her mind. If he knew exactly what not-so-innocent things she did on Valentine’s Day. Then he brought his arms back down to rest his elbows on the edge of his desk, pinching his bottom lip between his fingers and watching as she rolled her eyes, held her chocolates close, and left his office.

Adam arrived right when he said he would at five-thirty. It had given her plenty of time to change out of her work clothes and into one of the few dresses she owned, to at least seem somewhat convincing that this was a real date. She also fixed her makeup and put on a pinkish-nude lipstick before switching out her bulky purse for a smaller crossbody.

When she opened the door to him, he most certainly did not disappoint. She almost let herself get lost in the delusion that it was a real date when she saw him dressed to the nines and cleaned up for the first time since she’d known him. And she especially got a little lost in it when he pulled a small bouquet of flowers from behind his back and handed them to her.

“You didn’t have to—“

“I know.” He gave her a once over when she wasn’t looking. “You didn’t have to do this for me either.”

She quietly accepted the flowers and let him in while she found a vase and filled it with water. He leaned on the counter, watching her as she did so.

“You look… beautiful, by the way.” He blurted out once she had cut and placed the stems into the vase. Her hands froze, though, and when he met her eyes, he knew he’d made a mistake.

“You’re paying me to make your ex-girlfriend jealous. Please don’t flatter me.”

“Sorry.” He muttered, although he was beginning to wonder if the bigger mistake was not taking her out on a proper date that had nothing to do with his ex.

She sighed and adjusted the strap of her purse. “Let’s go then.”

He went over all the final details on the Uber ride to the restaurant. Things about his ex he thought Y/N should know about. And he made sure she knew, for about the hundredth time, that she didn’t have to do anything she didn’t want to. And she reminded him for an equal amount of times that she never did anything she didn’t want to do. So, settling that, he helped her out of the back of the Uber when they arrived and opened the door to the restraint for her as well. Everything that she’d expect from a normal date, which only left her disappointed when she reminded herself it wasn’t.

She waited quietly, and tried to catch her nerves, while Adam talked to the hostess and gave her his ex’s name for the reservation. The place was packed and anyone who didn’t call ahead surely would not be getting a table tonight. She’d never been out on Valentine’s Day, though, so it was like stepping into a brand new world for her. And as she followed both the hostess and Adam, she paid more attention to all the couples enjoying their meals than anything else.

Except for when he reached back and grabbed her hand, entwining their fingers just before they came to a stop. She blinked her eyes at their hands for just a moment before he gently pulled her around next to him. And whatever way she’d felt about holding Adam’s hand went right out the window when she locked eyes with Harry.

Shit.

Shit, shit, shit.

The last thing she expected to find, while Laura, the gorgeous blonde ex-girlfriend, stood to hug Adam, was Harry fucking Styles. And what a fucking coincidence it was, almost as if this was her karma for feeling the need to constantly help people.

Adam’s hand slipped from hers but she didn’t even notice it anyway. She and Harry still stared each other down and neither of them moved a muscle either. Well, besides the one in his jaw as it tightened. Then he did move, glancing over at Adam with a blank expression before landing his gaze back on her again. And then his eyes fell to the glass of water in front of him and she felt like she’d been released from chains he’d tied around her wrists.

“This is Y/N,” Adam’s hand went to the small of her back, guiding her forward to meet his ex-girlfriend and Harry’s current… whatever they were.

Laura held out her hand, her smile a little too forced. “Laura. It’s nice to meet you. Please, sit.” She ushered them to the table as she took her spot beside Harry again. Adam, of course, took the chair opposite Laura, which left Y/N in the one opposite Harry.

This would be a long, hellish night.

She couldn’t help but wonder what Harry was thinking. That maybe she’d come to crash his date. Or, even worse, that he’d already figured the whole thing out. That Adam was paying her to be here. She really hoped he’d never find out because it was just embarrassing enough to make her want to change her name and move across the country, thousands of miles away from him. Harry finding out that she couldn’t get a real date to save her life… beyond humiliating.

“This is Harry.” Laura motioned to him and he just barely lifted his gaze, nodding at Adam and ignoring Y/N entirely. “You know,” the blonde went on, glancing between Adam and Y/N, “I was a little shocked when you told me you were seeing someone again.”

Adam just shrugged.

“How did you guys meet?”

Y/N left all the talking to him. Mostly because she was still in shock that she was sitting across from Harry. And she hadn’t even taken the time to properly take him in and realized he’d also changed his clothes since work. Swapping his wardrobe out for a fitted black button-up, that wasn’t buttoned all the way to the top as his shirts normally were. The sleeves were already rolled to his elbows. He’d shaved off the scruff along his jaw as well and fixed his hair so that it was combed back out of his face, although a a couple rebellious strands hung down onto his forehead. He looked… like absolute perfection. And he was being forced to be on a date with the ex-boyfriend of the girl he was seeing and his annoying co-worker. She felt terrible for him.

“Oh, uh, well we live on the same floor.”

Laura nodded, clearly anticipating more. “Is that it?”

Y/N felt Adam tense up beside her and so she took over, easily spinning a lie. “I ran out of milk one night a few weeks ago. He’s the only one who answered the door.”

She noticed a flash of movement in her peripheral and turned to find Harry’s gaze on her again, one eyebrow lifted curiously. He was either wondering how she hid it so well, or trying to figure out what to ask in order to reveal their ploy. He never said anything, though.

“Sorry, um,” Laura’s tone changed as she glanced between Harry and Y/N, both of them looking away when the other girl interrupted. “Do you two know each other?”

Harry grinned, sitting back against his seat and folding his hands in his lap. “Something like that.”

Y/N rolled her eyes. “We work together.”

“Really?” Although her tone said otherwise, Laura’s face said everything about how she felt upon hearing that bit of information.

Adam twisted his worrisome gaze to Y/N, but she ignored it. Harry, however, did not.

“Don’t worry, mate. I was under the impression she was celibate up until now.” With that, Y/N kicked him under the table and he sat forward to swallow the groan that very nearly left his lips after she’d jabbed him in the shin with the toe of her heels. “Guess she’s really good at hiding things, though.”

Adam just chuckled nervously and Y/N shot him an apologetic smile, trying to reassure him that this date would still work out despite Harry.

“What a small world.” Laura laughed, trying to break the tension but dinner hadn’t even started yet.

Sometime during the main course, Laura excused herself to the bathroom and Y/N almost, in a desperate attempt to flee both Adam and Harry, invited herself along. But she figured it’d be worse to be alone with Laura than with them. Laura might ask questions she wasn’t prepared for. So, she stayed put, as much as it pained her to do so.

“So, Adam, what do you do for a living?” Harry asked suddenly and she wanted to kick him again. Mostly because his tone was that of a jealous teenager and he’d waited until Laura was gone to pester her ex-boyfriend who most certainly did not deserve Harry’s pestering.

“Oh, uh, I’m an artist. I work for an animation studio at the moment but I’m trying to get into freelance.”

Harry’s eyes shot to the suspiciously quiet girl sitting across from him. “So is Y/N.”

Adam turned to look at her, but she just glared at Harry. “Oh, I didn’t know that.”

Harry titled his head as he narrowed his attention in on Adam again. “So you’ve known her for a few weeks and you never asked what she did?”

“Harry.” Y/N warned, trying to kick him under the table again but he dodged out of the way.

“Well… she said she was in graphic design… not art.” She had told him that, during their crash course yesterday while they got to know as much as they could about each other in a span of a couple hours.

“I think it’s the same thing.”

Adam just shrugged. “I guess. I don’t think I could be a designer, though. Most artists make what they think looks good, designers create things to appeal to customers.”

“Just ignore him.” Y/N advised and Harry was the one shooting her daggers and attempting to stomp his foot on top of hers under the table this time.

“You and Laura used to date then? She never told me how you split up.” Harry moved on.

Adam swallowed nervously. “She broke up with me.”

“Why?” Harry pushed and Y/N looked at him like she wanted to kill him, which he ignored.

“I, uh… I had a drug problem for a while. I was not the best person to be around sometimes. But after we broke up, she helped me with rehab and everything.”

“Guess that explains why you’re on such good terms.”

Now Y/N really wanted to do more than just kick him.

Adam grabbed Y/N’s hand under the table and pulled her straight from her violent thoughts about Harry. And he didn’t lace his fingers between hers, instead, it felt as if he had just been looking for something to ground himself with. And her hand resting on her lap was the closest thing he could find. It didn’t, however, go unnoticed by Harry and his jaw clenched as he stared at the point in the table where, just below, there their hands met almost as if he was trying to set everything on fire.

Laura returned shortly after that.

As promised, Adam paid the entirety of both his and Y/N’s bill, even though she attempted to snag it from him, seeing as the date had gone to shit and it was all her fault. Well… maybe it was also Harry’s fault a little bit too. But she definitely did nothing to make Laura jealous. Adam, on the other hand, did a great job at making Harry jealous just by existing and being Laura’s ex, whom she was still friends with.

The four of them stood outside on the curb awaiting their Uber after dinner was over, agreeing upon splitting one car to get to the party instead of taking two. Laura was apparently very cautious about fossil fuel consumption.

Y/N shivered as she stood between Adam and Laura, wishing she’d bright a jacket instead of relying on a long-sleeve dress to keep her warm. Then an arm wrapped around her shoulders and Adam pulled her close, running his hand up and down her arm to form heat. She tensed up, though, forming into an immovable brick. She had no idea the last time she’d been that close to another person, let alone a member of the opposite sex. When he felt her go rigid, he leaned down until his lips were at her ear. “Is this okay?”

She just nodded and tried to relax. Which turned out to be quite easy because Adam was warm and he smelled nice. She, of course, didn’t let her mind wander off too far. He was still in love with his ex. He’d still shove cash into her hand at the end of the night for her troubles and go on with his life.

Adam let go of her when the car pulled up and quickly went to the passenger door to confirm with the driver. Then he opened the back door for the three of them to climb in, Laura going first, then Harry, and, at last, Y/N, while Adam slipped into the front seat beside the driver.

While the car took off, Y/N was shoved into the corner when Harry moved closer to her in order to find both his and Laura’s seat buckles in the dark. Eventually, he settled back into the middle and gave her some space again. When she made no move to do the same as them, Harry turned to look down at her.

“Put your seatbelt on.” He whispered.

Her eyes whirled up to his. Wordlessly, and of course after rolling her eyes, she grabbed her seatbelt and he made room for her to buckle it in. Then she sat back in her seat, crossing her arms over her chest while she stared out at the traffic through her window.

She would have stayed in that exact position the entire trip, too, if Harry’s knee didn’t insist on bumping into hers constantly. And she couldn’t tell if he was doing it on purpose or not.

When she glanced up at him, and found the corner of his lips curl upward, she figured it was, in fact, purposeful. So, with the hand closest to him as her arms were still crossed, she poked him in the side, right against his ribs, hoping it hurt.

“Ouch.” He whined, covering the spot with his hand dramatically. Everyone in the car glanced at Harry, all except for Y/N who snickered as she returned to staring out the window.

Harry wasn’t giving up, though. This time, with his arms crossed in his lap, and glancing at Laura to be sure she wasn’t watching, he walked his pointer and middle finger up the outside of Y/N’s thigh, close enough to her hip to make her squirm slightly when his touch tickled her. And as soon as he got her attention, he looked down at what he was doing and pressed his middle finger against her, meeting her gaze with a smirk.

In the same moment, the driver turned up the music in the car as they waited tirelessly at a red light. It was better than silence or listening to his passengers breathing. But Harry mentally thanked him and turned his attention back to Y/N, leaning into her slightly until his lips were at her ear and she shivered for an all new reason.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in a dress before.” He whispered for her ears only. The music was especially loud in the back and he wasn’t sure Y/N had even heard him.

Especially since she didn’t respond right away. But how could she? Harry’s fingertips were still grazing her thigh, as if trying to emphasize the dress she had on. And his stupid knee was pressed right up against hers. She couldn’t think straight.

Though when she finally turned to him and whispered back, “Don’t get used to it,” he knew she had, in fact, heard him well enough.

He leaned again, “Afraid I already am.”

She hated that there were butterflies in her stomach. That he was saying such odd things to her when his date was sitting just on the other side of him. The date who most definitely met all Harry’s standards.

Huddling away from him, she stuck her eyes out the window and kept them there the rest of the trip.

It was just past eight when they arrived, a fifteen-minute trip up through the city taking half an hour due to all the Valentine’s Day traffic. Another reason she hated this holiday.

The party was being held by Laura’s best friend, who’s name Y/N did not care to commit to memory. In the elevator ride up to the penthouse, though, Harry stood close to Laura, his arm wrapped around her waist and Adam to Y/N, although he didn’t touch her. She wouldn’t have minded if he did, but she figured it was best to keep those boundaries in place anyway.

Pink and golden balloons littered the ceilings of the penthouse. The drink cups were also pink, as was the communal punch bowl that Y/N steered clear of, having no idea what was in it, or who had already spiked it. She knew nobody at the party besides who she’d come with, though she assumed both Adam and Harry were somewhat acquainted with Laura’s friends.

It was most definitely not someplace Y/N ever saw herself being at, not only because it was a Valentine’s themed party, but also because she wasn’t exactly comfortable around so many people. Especially when those people were all so unfamiliar to her.

“Here,” Adam handed her a drink and then grabbed one for himself. She downed the thing in one go, needing to take the edge off. It might’ve been a slight mistake when the alcohol burned the back of her throat, but she didn’t care too much when she grabbed another.

Then he was leading her into the dancing pit of bodies where they huddled close enough so that his lips were at her ear. “Is it alright if I touch you?”

She glanced over at where Laura and Harry had been left, finding both her hazel eyes and Harry’s green ones glued to the both of them. She wasn’t sure what Harry’s deal was, but this was her moment to fix things and make Laura jealous, so, turning back to Adam, she nodded.

He eased his hands onto her waist as they began swaying to the music. And then he pulled her closer, his hands slipping to the small of her back as her arms wrapped around his neck, being careful with her own movements even though she desperately wanted to sink her hands in his hair.

And, god, he smelled so good as her head rested in the crook of his neck. And he felt good, too, as he moved against her body. She knew it wasn’t real, and that the alcohol was making skewing her perception of things, but it was still nice. Nice to be held and to just let go for a change.

Over Adam’s shoulder, Y/N caught Harry’s eyes again. His jaw clenched and he looked the same as he did back at the restaurant. Angry. And then she realized that maybe she wasn’t really trying to make Laura jealous anymore at all, but rather Harry.

It was dumb, she knew that. He’d have to like her in order for her to make him jealous. But… the way he was looking at her. The way he had looked at her. His eyes lingering too long on her lips. What he’d done in the car ride here.

She heard Adam in her ear again. “I think it’s working. She just stormed off into the kitchen.” Then he pulled away and she realized she hadn’t even seen Laura. Just Harry. Harry and his stupid, obnoxious green eyes.

“You owe me more than just dinner.” Y/N teased but Adam grew serious.

“I know. And since you refuse to accept my money, I’ll have to figure out another way to repay you.” He smiled and then twirled her around so that she no longer had any line of sight toward Harry. He pulled her close again, one hand going to her waist while the other stayed locked to one of hers. “Suppose I could start with making your coworker just as jealous… although I think he already is.”

Confusion flooded her features as she peered up at him.

“Oh, come on! He was ready to rip my head off when he realized I’d grabbed your hand. And when I put my arm around you? I thought I might be better off just giving you my jacket and freezing to death instead.”

“I don’t…” she shook her head in disbelief. It was one thing for her to be pretending to make Harry jealous in some delusional hope that it’d work. But this… this was a whole other thing.

“I’m actually quite interested to see what he does if I kissed you.”

She was shocked at first and then, possibly due to the alcohol, just as interested. “Are you asking my permission?”

“Are you saying yes?”

Y/N hesitated. “Is she back?”

Adam’s eyes scanned the room and Y/N realized he hadn’t asked to kiss her for Laura’s sake at all.

“She is.” He finally announced.

Without any more second guessing, Y/N’s hand slipped to the back of his neck and pulled him in. As soon as their lips collided and she tasted the alcohol on him, she knew that she’d never agreed to this without it. Or maybe she would. Adam spun them back around again, deepening the kiss as her eyes opened and fell into the direction she’d last seen Harry.

He was still there.

Still watching.

His hands in fists. His jaw tightened into a crisp line. His nostrils flared. His eyes… sad.

She pulled away. Adam steadied her, grabbing her shoulders when she swayed. But, as she caught her breath, the dizziness went away.

“I’m going to find the bathroom.” She told him and after he nodded, she left, forming a rift for herself through the bodies that danced all around them until she was in the clear. Then she was avoiding Harry as she walked past him, not so sure his gaze was still set on her. Maybe she’d gone too far. She didn’t often just kiss people for no good reason and that’s exactly what she’d just done with Adam. She barely even knew him.

She didn’t exactly need the bathroom, just an open, empty and quiet place. And so, she fell back against a wall in the foyer and ran a hand through her hair.

“That was quite the show.”

She startled at the sound of his familiar voice and looked up just as he stopped a few feet away from her. “What are you talking about?”

He lifted a brow. “You expect me to believe that that you, anti everything to do with this holiday and with relationships and romance, are actually dating that guy?”

“Is it that hard to believe?” She crossed her arms, willing to go as far as she needed to before she let Harry see the truth. That she was that pathetic.

“Yes.” He didn’t even hesitate to respond and she flinched.

“Well, I’m sorry that you have a hard time believing that someone may actually like me.” She had no reason to nearly be shouting at him and no reason to be saying what she was because Adam didn’t like her.

“That’s not what I said. It’s hard for me to believe you just dropped all your ideas about relationships for some guy with obnoxious blue eyes.”

“I didn’t.”

“So then what is this?”

Y/N hesitated. Hating that the truth was about to boil over out of her mouth for him to see all the embarrassing bits of it, but she had no other way of convincing him. And it didn’t really help that Adam was so far out of her league that it wasn’t even convincing to begin with. Nor did she want to convince Harry of anything either. It was clear now that he hadn’t been jealous, he was just trying to figure out when she stopped hating relationships so much.

And the truth of that was she never really hated them. It was just easier telling herself she didn’t want it than admitting no one ever actually wanted her.

She trembled, not even sure why, but he was making her incredibly nervous, so much that she wished she could rewind and stay squished next to him in the back of the car forever. Being that close to him... his stupid fingers on her thigh, whispering things in her ear that made her head spin. She’d much prefer that than standing in front of him now, seeing every ounce of judgment he was about to throw her way.

“What do you want me to say, Harry?” She shrugged and dropped her eyes to the white marble floors between them, focusing on calming her anxiety while she was no longer looking at him. “He needed a date and I felt bad for him.”

“What does that mean?”

Letting her head fall back against the wall, she stared up at the ceiling this time as her eyes burned with embarrassment. “He paid me to be his date so his ex-girlfriend didn’t find out he wasn’t actually seeing anyone. That’s what it means.”

Harry didn’t say anything.

“So, yeah.” She folded her arms, looking down at the floor again, still unable to meet Harry’s eyes and see the look that would be on his face. A smirk of amusement at her expense. Even probably his dimples, taunting her and turning her into the joke she already was. “You were right. I can’t find anyone to tolerate me, which is why I’m on this stupid date that isn’t even real.”

“Him kissing you seemed quite real to me.”

There was more exasperation than humor to her laugh. “It wasn’t.”

Harry seemed to finally understand. “He’s trying to make Laura jealous.”

Y/N just nodded. “I promise I didn’t know you were going to be there, that he was trying to get her back from you.”

“You still kissed him though.”

She couldn’t argue that, nor could she tell him the real reason she’d agreed to the kiss. That it wasn’t exactly Laura she was trying to make jealous. She’d never live that one down, if she ever managed to live any other aspect of this night down.

When she didn’t say anything, he stepped closer. “Why did you kiss him?”

“I’m sorry, Harry I just... I don’t know.”

He shook his head and took another step, making her eyes widen when he was close enough that she had to crane her head back to meet his gaze. “Seemed like you were trying to make me jealous.”

She swallowed, not exactly in the position to laugh it off and argue with him when he was this close and all she could feel were the traces of his fingertips on her thigh. Her voice was quiet when it finally came out. “Making you jealous would mean I assumed you liked me in the first place... which I’m definitely not stupid enough to assume.”

A crease formed between his brow and his stupidly perfect jaw hardened as if he was biting his tongue from saying something. And fuck him for choosing then to finally stop opening his mouth.

Just then, a pair of drunk guys, one on the other’s back, came racing through the foyer, screaming at the top of their lungs while a few others followed quickly after them. It was enough to force Harry away from Y/N again, enough for the both of them to step out of the little bubble they’d been in together the past ten minutes.

Once they were alone again, their eyes gravitated toward each other and just when she thought Harry might say something after all, he flipped around on his heel and left. And she watched as he turned the corner and mixed back into the party.

After a few moments to gather herself, she followed him, not exactly sure what she was going to do now that Harry wouldn’t talk to her and it felt weird being with Adam while Harry knew everything. But, whatever plans to keep herself occupied no longer matted when she spotted Laura.

Making out with Adam in the middle of the room.

Without even thinking, she turned to locate Harry and he might as well have been a source of gravity because her eyes fell right to him within a second. And he was watching them too. He knew.

He met Y/N’s eyes and she wasn’t quite sure if he was upset or not. She couldn’t really read anything on his face, and stopped attempting to when he moved towards her and she had other things on her mind, like where he was going and if he was going to bother taking her with him.

Shortly after he stormed past Y/N she made sure he wasn’t going to leave her behind and chased after him. She didn’t know Adam very well and definitely not Laura to want to stay with them. And everyone else in the room were complete strangers to her. Adam had promised he’d take her home, but he probably hadn’t expected to be making out with his ex by the end of the night, either.

Harry didn’t say anything, not even when they’d reached the foyer and Y/N asked where he was going. He just located his jacket and slipped it on before making his way out the front door.

And right when she thought he really was going to leave her behind, since she was the reason he’d just lost Laura to her ex, he held the door open and glanced over his shoulder at her while she still stood on the other side of the threshold.

“Are you staying?”

Without a word, she sprung into motion and trailed right behind him into the hallway like a lost puppy, letting the door shut behind her that cut them off from the music as it faded into the background behind them.

It was a silent trip down the elevator, mostly because she had no idea what to say that would sound sincere and he didn’t say anything at all. At least not until she followed him through the lobby until he stopped on the curb just outside the main doors.

She took up the spot next to him, eyes glued to the side of his face as he took in a deep breath of fresh air, or at least as fresh as traffic allowed it to be.

Then he spoke, and it seemed like the first time she’d heard his voice all night. “I’m the one who gave you the chocolates and the frog.”

She narrowed her eyes, both not exactly sure why he’d just said that or if he was even being serious. “What?”

He looked down at her. “It wasn’t Andrew, it was me.”

“Why?” She breathed and while she was positive she’d be freezing cold soon, the fresh air after being surrounded by so many people felt good. It felt freeing and she wondered if he felt that way too.

His eyes scanned hers before he looked away. “Well partly to apologize for what I said.”

“What’s the other part?”

Sighing, he turned his entire body to face her now. “Something else entirely…” He trailed off, only confusing her more as he stuffed his hands into his pockets and stared at his feet. “I didn’t tell you because I know you don’t like all this stuff, but seeing you with him tonight... I wish I had.”

“It’s not that big of a deal. It’s just a frog.”

He shook his head, grinning. “It’s not just a frog, Y/N... because the thing is,” he paused to catch his breath, “I’ve been in love with you for... a really long time… since last spring. But with you being the way that you are, I never thought you’d feel the same way.”

She opened her mouth and then closed it.

“And then you come in with that guy and...” He pulled his fingers through his hair. “I don’t think I’ve ever been more jealous in my life... because all this time I thought you weren’t interested in relationships, but you just weren’t interested in me.”

Inhaling, she summoned every ounce of courage she could fathom. “You were right about why I kissed Adam.” He lifted a brow, waiting for her elaboration which never came. “You were right about other things, too. I wish I had someone to come home to almost every single night I got to bed alone. No one—“ She cut herself off, trembling again as tears stung her eyes. “I pretend not to be interested so I can ignore the fact that no one’s ever wanted me.”

“That’s not true.” He had that same look on his face as before, when she’d told him she wasn’t stupid enough to think he liked her.

She just nodded. “And I’m sorry but... why would you want me when you could have someone like Laura?”

“Y/N...” He huffed and stepped closer to her, the heat from his body making her shiver. “This is not the first time I started seeing someone to get over you... in fact, all my relationships since I met you have been shit.”

“Why didn’t you just tell me?”

“Well you’re very anti-relationships so I think I was justified in wanting to avoid you rejecting me… especially since we work together and it would have been really awkward.”

“I don’t, uh... I...” She stammered, not really sure what to say to him even though her heart was screaming at her in full volume.

He held his breath and then, in almost a whisper, “Is this the inevitable rejection?”

“No.” She didn’t even hesitate that time and at this point, her mind no longer controlled the words coming out of her mouth as she let another organ finally speak for itself. “No, I liked you the second I saw you, Harry... and at no point tonight was I ever trying to make Laura jealous.”

The corners of his mouth began to curl into a smile. “That was very cruel of you to do to me.”

“I didn’t think you liked me at all twenty minutes ago, Harry.”

“Twenty minutes ago,” he fully invaded all of her space now, leaving the smallest gap between their bodies as he could get away with, lifting his hand to her jaw and rubbing his thumb over her cheek. “I was still on this date with the wrong person.”

“I think the date is over now.”

“No,” his eyes fell to her lips just like they had before. “It’s not.”

“You’re looking at me like that again.” She mumbled, out of breath.

He lifted a brow and didn’t once remove his eyes from her lips. “Like what?”

“Like…” she trailed off, not having the courage to say it in case she wasn’t right.

“Like I’ve wanted to kiss you for a very long time and I’m tired of pretending?”

“Something like that, yeah.”

He grinned, both of his dimples making an appearance just before he leaned in and brushed his lips against hers. And once her brain realized what was happening, she sunk right into him, letting his arm wrap around her waist as his other hand tangled its way into her hair to bring her closer. She threw her arms over his shoulders and he hunched lower to meet her. She staggered back a step when he did, nearly losing her balance but he caught her instantly and then drew his lips back as he laughed.

“This is not how I expected tonight to end.” She couldn’t help but think the way he struggled to catch his breath was possibly the hottest he’d ever been. Not to mention the tiny bit of her lipstick smeared on his face. She could look at him just the way he was right there and then for days and be perfectly satisfied.

“It doesn’t have to end yet.” She fully blamed her sudden burst of confidence on the cold, but refreshing February night. And maybe she also just wanted to get out of it before it caught up to her and she would, yet again, regret not having a jacket.

“Oh?” She wanted to smack the mischievous smirk off his face and leave him there on the curb. “And here I thought you were a prude.”

“You thought a lot of things about me that weren’t true, Harry.”

He thought about that for a moment and after realizing she was right, he then wondered just how wrong he was when he’d called her celibate. “I suppose… I’d quite like to find out just how wrong I was.” He slipped a loose strand of her hair back behind her ear, which is where his lips ended up as he whispered softly, “And I’d also quite like to show you just how wrong you were about me not liking you.”

They stumbled into her bedroom in the dark, Pretzel racing out between their twisted feet in a hurry, screeching at them in the process. Harry giggled against her lips, “Your cat sounds friendly.”

“Well, since I was supposed to be spending tonight with her, and chocolate, and anti-romantic movies…” She pulled away from him, watching as his smile spread further. Maybe she could actually believe he’d been in love all this time.

“Right… I’d be upset too.”

She shook her head and kissed him again, then pulled back a second later. “You know that’s not actually what I do on Valentine’s Day.”

He lifted a brow and waited for her to explain but she didn’t.

“And what is it that you do, then?” He finally asked, curiosity getting the best of him, although he had some inkling as to what she was talking about.

Her smile was devoid of innocence as her hands fell to his belt. Harry’s shirt had already been lost to the kitchen floor. Her dress hardly covering what it was supposed to once Harry had gotten his hands on it.

“Maybe you’ll get to find out.”

When she brought her lips back to his, after undoing the buckle just under his navel, he spun them around and led her backwards to the bed. He wasn’t sure how far it was, but hoped he was headed in the right direction. And because of that, when her knees did finally bend over the mattress, he practically came flying down on top of her.

She squirmed out from under him, crawling back towards the pillows as she watched him at the end of the bed while he stood and removed his belt completely, trying not to drool at the sight of him. At the sight of Harry, her fucking annoying ass, perfect, beautiful, coworker standing shirtless at the end of her bed where he was also about to be…

He pushed his trousers down off his hips and they fell to the floor with ease, almost with the same amount of ease that her eyes fell to the tight boxer-briefs he wore underneath. She swallowed as he adjusted the waistband back into place, quite certain that, even in the low light, her eyes were not deceiving her.

The bed shifted at her feet as he joined her, and then it took all her willpower to not fling herself at him as he crawled up the length of her. As he settled himself between her thighs and she felt every last, very hard, inch of him pressed against her. She couldn’t be blamed for the whining moan that she let out in his ear as his lips became familiar with the shape and taste of her neck. She also couldn’t be blamed when her hips instinctively collided with his.

He just giggled again and shook his head, the loose strands of his curls tickling her forehead. “Easy now.” He warned in a hushed mumble, his lips vibrating right against the vein in her neck that pulsed so much faster the more his free hand began to wander up underneath her dress.

He left her speechless for multiple reasons, but the main one was when she felt his fingers tracing down her thigh and then, moments later, after he shifted his weight and used his knees to keep her legs open, she sucked in a breath of air as she felt him pressed against her clit, forcing her nails to dig into his back but he didn’t seem to mind.

Coming back down to kiss her, he began moving his hand in expert little circles, grinning against her mouth every time her body begged him for more. It wasn’t long that he complied, either, when he sat back on his knees between her legs and tugged her underwear off for good, throwing it to the depths of her bedroom floor. He wouldn’t have known where they landed even if he tried because his gaze belong to her only as he lowered himself to his elbows before her, kissing his way up her thighs until he reached her center.

When she squirmed away from him, he wrapped his arms around her thighs and pressed his hands into her hips after gently moving her dress out of the way.

“You know when we used to stay late at the office working?” He asked suddenly and the heat of his voice against her made her squirm again, but he held on tight. “And you would get sick of sitting in an office chair and made me promise not to tell Jim when you sat on his desk instead?” She had no clue where he was going with it, but still, she nodded. “Every single time I turned to look at you, I thought about doing this.” Before she could get words out or even a coherent thought, she felt his tongue on her. And this time when she jerked against him, she nearly slipped out of his hold until he grabbed her again and pulled her back down, digging himself further into her as she struggled to breathe properly.

She dug her fingers into his hair when he brought her close to the edge and showed no mercy. And somehow, she’d managed to get the sole of her foot up onto his shoulder in order to kick him away, but it didn’t matter much because he never budged. Not that she wanted him to, but he just felt so good…

“Harry!” She shouted, pulling at his hair and making matters worse for herself when he moaned against her sensitive bundle of nerves. He let her come, never once lifting his mouth from her even as her hips jerked off the mattress and she very nearly pulled his hair out. When she stopped screaming, her voice caught in her throat because she was lost to her own orgasm, is when he lifted his mouth, replaced it with his fingers and watched her as she came down. As her eyes fluttered shut and her chest heaved, her lungs struggling to get oxygen back into her system. Her hold on him loosened as she came undone around him, melting into his hands it seemed like.

And when he began rubbing his index and middle finger into her, once she was far and beyond overstimulated, and he knew that, she reached down with a whine and grabbed his wrist with what little strength she had in her and pulled him away. His hand fell to the other side of her hip, which he used to his advantage to pull himself up over her again, his other hand taking her dress with it until he was able to tug it over her head and toss it. Then he came back down to kiss her, letting her taste herself on her lips. He rubbed his thumb across her cheek and when he pulled away, found her looking at him finally. Although it was with heavy lids as she still struggled to regain her bearings.

Before they could get much further, a loud crashing sound from the other room made both of them nearly jump out of their skin. She shot up instantly, grabbing hold of Harry’s bicep before moving him out of the way and sliding off the edge of the bed.

“It’s just the cat.” Harry would have probably said the same thing even if it was not just the cat, he’d say anything just to get her to stay with him.

“I know but it sounded like…” her voice trailed off as her feet hit the floor and the moment she went to stand on her own two legs, her knees buckled. He reached to grab her waist but she righted herself before he could. She didn’t see the way he hid his cheeky smirk at the fact that he’d been so good, she was still dizzy.

“You good?” He asked as she stumbled her way into a shirt. With only a groan in response, and what he was sure was her middle finger, she left him alone in her bed to investigate the noise. Sighing, he laid on his back and got comfortable amongst her pillows. And after about three minutes, decided to locate the remote to her TV to entertain himself.

He flipped onto his side and felt around her bedside table, but his fingers never landed on anything remote-like. So, frustrated, he reached up and switched the lamp on. Again, he found nothing. Looking further, he realized the table had a drawer and so he pulled it open in hopes of finding the damned remote before she got back.

But what he found instead was so much better than turning on late night news.

“Fucking cat knocked over my vase.” Y/N was back within ten minutes. Harry had left the light on, but made sure it wasn’t obvious he’d gone snooping into her drawer, at least not yet anyway. She crawled back into bed beside him and it was then he noticed the bandage on her thumb.

“Are you alright?” He forgot all about what he planned to tease her with when he gently grabbed her hand to inspect the damage.

“Yeah. I was in a bit of hurry trying to clean up the glass…”

Harry rolled his eyes and dropped her hand. “I would have come help you.”

She just smiled up at him as he fit his arm around her shoulders, his bicep under her neck. “That’s alright.”

He shrugged. “It was for the best anyways that I didn’t.” When he smirked, she narrowed her eyes suspiciously at him.

“And why’s that?”

She followed his other hand as he reached for something and then, moments later, it reappeared with a very familiar pink object clutched in his grasp. “Because then I wouldn’t have found this.”

Her first reaction was to pry it from his snooping fingers, but when she reached across him to grab it, he way too easily held her back and, at the same time, held it far out of her reach.

“So this is what you do on Valentine’s Day, then?” He flicked his wrist back and forth, waving her vibrator in the air as he taunted her.

“If you don’t give that back to me,” she reached for it again to no prevail, “you won’t be doing anything, least of all, me.”

He clicked his tongue. “Why would I give it back when I plan on using it?”

She froze and he chuckled at her reaction.

“Would be rude of me to break your traditions, wouldn’t it?”

She swallowed, her eyes slowly meeting his again. The appearance of his right dimple told her he wasn’t playing any games. She had no idea how many times he planned to make her come tonight or whether or not she’d even be able to walk tomorrow at work. But, given the stupid look on his face, she almost began making plans to call out sick instead.

“Do you actually know how to use that thing?” She finally asked, glancing at the wand still held very firmly in his hand.

He looked at her like she was crazy moments before he pivoted and pinned her onto her back, settling himself into the position they’d been in before the interruption of the cat.

Just, this time… he was clicking on her vibrator and watching her face as she began to regret her words.

“‘Course I know how to use it. The real question is,” he brought his lips to her ear, the soft vibrations and the sound of his voice mixing together like sin itself. Even more so when he nipped at her earlobe. “Do you know how to handle it?”

#1dffvalentine #harry styles fic #harry styles smut #harry styles x reader #harry styles writing #harry styles fanfic #harry styles imagine

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i-am-a-closet-fanfic-fiend · 4 years ago

Text

What in Carnation? ~ Bucky x Reader College!AU Oneshot

A/N: Happy Valentine’s Day, lovelies! Whether your single or in a relationship I wish you a very happy day filled with all sorts of love.

Summary: The swim team is holding a flowergram fundraiser for Valentine’s day, and you have a secret admirer.

Characters/Pairings: Bucky x Reader, Wanda Maximoff, Pietro Maximoff

Warnings: Mentions of alcohol, fluff

Word count: 1763

Divider by @whimsicalrogers

“Please, please, please!” Wanda begged as she tugged on your arm, guiding you away from the library that you really needed to get to.

“Didn’t I already participate in your fundraiser? I’m pretty sure we have like a box and a half of candy bars that I bought,” you teased.

“That was last semester’s fundraiser. This is a new semester.”

“I gathered. Alright fine. What is it this time?”

“Valentine’s Day flower-grams.”

“Excuse me?”

“You order flowers for people and we deliver them to their dorms for Valentine’s Day,” Wanda explained as she moved around to the other side of the sign up table.

“And who exactly am I sending flowers to. I don’t have a Valentine,” you reminded her.

“I’ll be your Valentine, Y/n,” Pietro offered with a wink.

“Thanks, Piet. But I think a certain computer genius would be awfully upset,” you grinned at him.

His cheeks turned pink at the mention of his crush, Skye, and you couldn’t help but giggle at him.

“It doesn’t have to just be for a valentine. Lots of people are sending them to friends or roommates.”

“You angling for some flowers, Maximoff?”

She shrugged, grinning at you.

“Maybe. But seriously you can send them to anybody. Just one or two. Pleeeease.”

You laughed and rolled your eyes.

“Alright. Alright. Since it’s for such a good cause.”

“The swim team thanks you, doll.”

Your eyes widened at the voice, and the Maximoff twins held back laughter at your stunned look.

“Oh hey, Bucky.” You turned and greeted him, fiddling with your pen.

“Hey. How’s it going?”

“Oh you know. The usual. Midterms are kicking my butt. How about you?”

“Pretty much the same. I’m looking forward to the break in a couple of weeks.”

“Do you have any plans?”

“Not really. Probably just binge watching something on Netflix.”

“Sounds ideal. I’ll probably do the same.”

“Nice.”

He trailed off, straightening out the pile of order forms.

You weren’t sure what else to say, so you started filling out the tags Wanda had slid towards you, relieved when Bucky was distracted by another customer. You sent Wanda and Nat a few each, and one each to Pietro and Thor– all white carnations for friendship.

You were going to just give Wanda a twenty, so you had two flowers left to go. You hesitated, nibbling your bottom lip before sneaking a peek at Bucky. You had had a crush on the swim team captain for a while, but you’d never really worked up the courage to say anything.

In a brief moment of bravery (or insanity) you filled out one last tag and circled the red option on the order form. You handed them over to Wanda along with the twenty dollar bill. She grinned and gave you a thumbs up when she saw the top one.

“Thanks a million, Y/n.”

“You’re very welcome. Now can I go study?”

“Yes, you can. Did you want to grab dinner tonight?”

You shook your head. “I’m going to stay here until closing probably. I’ll see you back in the room.”

“Okay. But at least go get some snacks before you go in there.”

“I’m all stocked up. I’m good.”

“Good. I’ll see you later.”

“See ya. Bye, Piet. Bye, Bucky.”

You waved and hurried away to claim your carrel for the night.

The next two weeks flew by as papers and exams took over your life. But before you knew it, you had successfully navigated the midterms season of your final semester of college. You were in good spirits, and even the prospect of being single on Valentine’s Day couldn’t dampen them.

You picked up a bottle of sparkling wine, a pint of Ben and Jerry’s, and a bag of mini donuts on your way home from class. You were looking forward to taking a long hot shower and settling in for a date with your neglected Netflix account for the rest of the weekend, and possibly your entire week off.

The last thing you were expecting was a doormat full of red carnations.

Vision really went all out.

You scooped up the bunches of flowers and unlocked the door. Inside, you set everything down on your desk before putting the ice cream and alcohol away.

They can wait until after a shower. You decided after eyeing the flowers.

You took your time in the shower, letting the hot water wash away the stress and anxiety from the last two weeks.

Your roommate was sitting on her bed typing when you stepped out of the bathroom.

“Hey, Wanda.”

“Oh hey, Y/n. How’d your exam go?”

“Pretty well I think. I felt like I knew everything they covered, but we’ll see. But it’s over with so I’m not going to worry about it.”

“That’s a good attitude.”

“You know, you’ve got a really supportive boyfriend,” you remarked as you sat down at your desk.

“What makes you say that?” she asked, cocking her head at you.

“I mean he bought all those carnations for the fundraiser.”

You gestured to the pile of carnations.

“Viz didn’t buy those. They’re for you.”

“What?”

“Yeah, I took mine.” She pointed to the small bouquet occupying an old cookie tin.

You quickly sorted through the predominantly red bundle. The few white ones were from your friends – Wanda, Nat, Pietro, and Thor. But what you hadn’t realized was that the remaining red ones – all two dozen of them - were bound together.

You flipped over the tag attached and read it to yourself.

To: Y/n

Happy Valentine’s Day!

These carnations aren’t nearly as beautiful as you, but I hope they make you smile anyways.

I couldn’t quite find the words in person, but I’d really like to take you out.

If you’re up for it, meet me in front of the fountain at 8:00.

- Your Secret Admirer

“Who are they from?” she asked with a knowing smile.

“It just says a secret admirer. This has to be a prank,” you frowned.

“Why would it be a prank?”

“I mean, who would have a crush on me. Brock or someone is probably trying to get me there and then I’m going to end up on youtube, Loser Gets Stood Up on Valentine’s Day. It’ll be ten minutes of jump cuts of me standing alone set to Wii music.”

“That’s a tad cynical don’t you think? Besides I have it on good authority that they’re really from someone with a crush on you.”

“Whose authority?”

“Mine. He bought them from me.”

“Who is it?”

Wanda shook her head.

“Can’t tell you. Flower gram seller/buyer confidentiality.”

“Not a thing,” you grumbled.

“Y/n, trust me. This isn’t a prank. And you’ll be glad you went. I promise.”

“Okay. I trust you.”

And you did. She would never lie to you or set you up to be embarrassed.

“So what do I do?”

“Put on your prettiest dress and meet your Prince Charming, naturally.”

You glanced at the clock. It was nearly seven.

“Will you help me?”

“Of course.”

In a surprisingly short amount of time, Wanda had helped you pick out a dress and shoes and helped you with your makeup. At 7:55 you found yourself walking across campus towards the fountain in the quad. You hugged your black and white peacoat more tightly around you, grateful for the headband you’d grabbed on your way out the door and the black tights you’d decided to wear.

You hesitated a few yards away from the back of the fountain. There were a few people milling about and you were trying to see if you could recognize anyone. You caught sight of someone dressed in all black in front of the fountain, holding a bouquet of red roses and checking their watch but you couldn’t quite make out who it was.

Taking a deep breath, you walked closer gasping when you saw their face.

Bucky?

You nearly turned tail and ran, but he turned and spotted you. The smile that bloomed on his face quelled your nerves and before you knew it your feet had carried you to him.

“You came.”

“I came.”

“You look beautiful.”

“Thank you. You look very handsome.”

He extended the flowers to you.

“These are for you.”

“They’re beautiful, Bucky. You really didn’t have to. The carnations were more than enough.”

“I know but red roses are your favorite.”

You cocked your head, surprised by the matter of fact statement.

“You mentioned it once when we were all watching a movie.”

“I can’t believe you remembered that.”

“I remember lots of things about you, doll. Shall we get going?” he asked offering you his elbow.

“We shall.” You slipped your arm through his. “What is on the itinerary?”

“Dinner at the Hub. And then I thought we could see a movie.”

“Sounds perfect.”

Dinner was delicious and you loved how easy it was to talk to Bucky. You’d never hung out one on one before, but he was quick witted and smart and the few silences you had were companionable. You took an Uber to the movies, but decided to walk home afterwards.

Warmth spread through you when he grabbed your hand.

“Did you know that it was me?”

You shook your head, smiling shyly. “No. But I hoped.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“I’ve kind of had a crush on you for a while,” you admitted.

“I’ve had a crush on you for a while too. The team knew and kept trying to get me to say something but I thought you were out of my league. But then I saw you’d sent me carnations and I got my hopes up.”

“Isn’t it lucky you guys held a flowergram fundraiser.”

“Yeah, lucky.” Bucky’s cheeks tinged even pinker in the cold.

You smirked and cocked an eyebrow at him.

“Whose idea was the fundraiser, Bucky?”

“You know I don’t really remember.”

“Bucky,” you drawled his name.

“Alright, mine. I figured even if you didn’t like me. I’d get to give you flowers, and you absolutely deserve flowers.”

“You’re too sweet, you know. And I’m very flattered you planned a whole fundraiser around me.”

“A very successful fundraiser,” he pointed out, taking a step closer to you.

“I bet.”

You grinned up at him.

“Can I kiss you, doll?”

You nodded eagerly. His lips were soft as they pressed against yours and your fingers clutched at the lapels of his jacket.

“Happy Valentine’s, Bucky,” you whispered against his lips.

“Happy Valentine’s, Doll,” he whispered back before kissing you.

And it was.

A/N: Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed!

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blossom-hwa · 4 years ago

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valentine’s day + stray kids ✧

the enablers: @wingkkun by virtue of their existence and @thepixelelf bc of her @newskynet valentine’s day prompt list (which can be found here! check it out :D) anyway you can blame them for my word vomits tonight tomorrow <3 happy early valentine’s day and I hope you enjoy these blurbs!

pairing: stray kids x gender neutral!reader (one blurb for each member!)

wc: 3.5k (total)

genre: fluff, lots of fluff, university!au

triggers: cursing

golcha version | the boyz version

SKZ Scenarios Masterlist | SKZ Drabbles Masterlist

1. “shit, what day is it again?”

when chan opens the door to a beaming you, he has no idea what’s going on. he still has headphones around his neck, there are definitely bags under his eyes, he hasn’t slept in maybe close to twenty hours, and there is definitely something important that he’s forgetting, judging by the nonplussed expression that has now slid over your face.

“chan, when did you sleep last night?” you ask, stepping into his dorm. you’re holding something behind your back that chan’s craning his neck to see, but you catch sight and twist away. “hey, no looking.”

the knowledge that you have something is more than enough, though, to get his overly tired brain actually thinking. his eyes narrow. what the heck is he forgetting -

oh.

oh no.

chan scrambles around for his phone as you look over, eyebrows rising as he pats his pockets. “shit, what day is it again?”

you hold up your own phone, giving him an eyeful of your lock screen set to a picture of himself laughing into the camera. he isn’t focused on that, though - he’s focused on the words underneath the time that say “february 14, 2021.”

“oh my god, it’s valentine’s day.”

“no shit, sherlock.” you put a finger to his forehead and press hard. “i made reservations.”

“what? okay, no, i swear you didn’t tell me about this -”

“i didn’t, chan.” you smile, shaking your head. “it was supposed to be a surprise. and i knew you’d forget the day or something because you always do lose track of time - hey, don’t look at me that way, i even made a bet with minho on the way and i’m right - so i came early to force you to sleep for several hours before we go out.”

okay, that’s fair, but chan’s lips curve downward into a pout anyway. “i didn’t forget,” he protests. “well, i forgot today, but i still have something for you! i got it last week.” he looks around frantically, then drags a box out from underneath his bed. “here!”

a wide smile splits your face and you pull your own present from behind your back, a red-wrapped box that chan begins to open as you cuddle the teddy bear he’s handed over to you. “chan, you sap,” you say, words muffled in the bear’s fur. “god i love you.”

“and i love you too,” he replies, pulling out a box of his favorite candy. “kiss?”

laughing, you press your lips together once, twice before pulling away. “sleep time,” you announce. “no kisses until you’ve gotten at least three hours.”

chan all but lunges into bed, trapping you with him between his arms. “sleeping now,” he says, voice muffled into your shirt. “goodnight.”

“good afternoon, more like.” you smile anyway, stroking his hair. “but good night.”

18. “oh my god, this chocolate tastes like chalk.”

minho is about to lose his shit in this tiny hospital bed with the sterile white sheets and curtains barring sunlight from streaming on his body. back when his ankle wasn’t broken to high hell, he really hadn’t given the sun enough appreciation. after three days of almost zero movement, though, he swears he’ll actually go outside voluntarily once he gets out of here.

the door opens. a head peeks in.

ah. there’s his daily dose of human sunshine.

a smile slides onto minho’s face as you come in, arms full of snacks and flowers. you place a bouquet of red roses on the little table beside his bed and dump the snacks onto his sheets. “happy valentine’s day, idiot boyfriend who broke his ankle just three days before today.”

minho scowls. “it’s not like i tried to.”

“i know. even you’re not that dumb.” you pat his head mockingly, laughing as minho’s scowl deepens. “sit up, idiot. here, i’ll help.”

he allows his frown to turn into a grudging smile as you help him sit properly in bed, careful not to jar his ankle before passing him one of the bags of chocolates in his lap. “jisung gave this to me for you and asked me to ask you if you would be his valentine.”

minho pauses in opening the bag. “what.”

“jisung for you.” you laugh. “his partner was right next to him laughing their ass off. try the chocolates.”

he picks one out. puts it in his mouth. chews. “oh my god, this chocolate tastes like chalk.”

“what - how the fuck do you know what chalk tastes like?”

“i don’t, what the fuck? i just imagine it would taste like this.”

you snort. “so my boyfriend first breaks his ankle dancing three days before we valentine’s, and on this romantic day i learn he’s definitely eaten chalk.” you sigh, snatching a bag of gummies from the sheets. “what a day.”

“i don’t eat chalk!”

“bet.”

he opens his mouth to reply, but you cut him off with a kiss. “eat your chalk chocolate,” you direct when you pull away. “or jisung will get upset.”

“ugh fine.” he rolls his eyes. “but i’m only listening to you because i love you.”

“cheeseball.” you smile. “i love you too.”

20. “babe.” / “since when do you call me babe?”

grinning, jisung picks up the bouquet of roses you were about to hand him before falling to the ground in laughter. “these for me?”

“no, they’re for my valentine.” you snatch them back, still wheezing. “which was going to be you, but you ditched me for minho, so now i need to find someone else.”

“aw, come on.” jisung pouts, pursing his lips actively even as you try to hide the smile on your face by turning away. “y/n! y/n. y/nnnnnnnnn. y/n, look at me. please? y/n. babe.”

“what the - jisung - since when do you call me babe?” your half disgusted, half amused face sends him into hysterics as he glomps you in a hug, laughing into your shoulder. “hey, sung! get away! you’re drooling on my clothes!”

“am not!” jisung pulls away, trying to pout but laughing too hard to do so. you just looked so fucking funny. “and what’s wrong with me calling you babe?”

“don’t do it again.” you push his shoulder. “do not. you won’t like the consequences.”

“consequences?”

“one, you don’t get these flowers. i’ll put them in my own room.” you wave the bouquet in front of him. “two, i give chan the all clear to play ‘wow’ on his campus radio station.”

“you wouldn’t dare -”

“three, no kisses for a week.”

jisung falls to his knees. “no, no, y/n, my beautiful and wonderful significant partner, i will never call you babe again, please don’t sentence me the barren world of no kisses for a week just because of my idiot mouth -”

“jesus christ, jisung, get up. you’re making a scene.” you laugh anyway, pulling him up before placing a chaste kiss on the corner of his lips. “i was just joking. but please don’t call me babe if you don’t want me to cringe to the next dimension.”

“done deal.” jisung holds his out his hands. “flowers?”

you roll your eyes, handing them over. he breathes in their scent, smiling widely. “they’re so pretty!” then he looks up and winks. “but not as pretty as you.”

at that, you laugh again, crushing the bouquet as you wrap him in a hug. “i love you so much, jisung,” you murmur into his ear.

his arms reach out to loop around your waist as he pulls you closer. “i love you too,” he replies, smiling.

for a moment, you two only stand, finding peace in each other’s warmth. then jisung’s mouth runs once more.

“you know, i wrote my lyrics for ‘wow’ thinking of you.”

“do you have to ruin every moment?”

14. “you’re seriously asking me out on valentine’s day?”

changbin doesn’t even bother to reply to the picture jisung’s just sent of the flowers his partner gave him. he’s too nervous, his stomach literally fluttering as he stops his motorcycle by the curb and wheels it into the shop.

“hi, welcome, what can i - changbin?” you raise an eyebrow. “did you seriously bang up your motorcycle on valentine’s day?”

changbin’s ears turn bright red. he knows it even if he can’t see them. you think he always comes here because something else has magically gone wrong with his motorcycle, but what you don’t know is that he’s been pretending things are wrong with the vehicle for months at this point just so he has an excuse to see you.

and now it’s valentine’s day. the day he chose to fess up and admit how he feels and ask you on a date.

heck.

“nothing’s... broken.” changbin scratches his neck. “uh...”

both of your eyebrows are now high up on your forehead. “so why are you here?”

“i...” he coughs, feeling his ears flare even hotter. “i wanted - i wanted to ask if you -” he looks down, unable to look at you. “i wanted to ask if you would go out with me today. like. on a date.”

silence. he doesn’t have the courage to look up.

“you’re seriously asking me out on valentine’s day?”

changbin shrinks behind his motorcycle. holy fuck, this was the worst idea, you’re about to reject him and his heart is going to shatter -

then you step forward, place a hand on the vehicle. “okay, that came out wrong.” you tip his chin up gently so he’s forced to look into your soft, teasing eyes. “what i meant is that i’d love to go on a date with you today. i just didn’t expect you to ask me out on valentine’s day. didn’t seem like a very you thing to do.” you pause. “though i guess considering that song you played for me last time, it isn’t that surprising.”

oh, god. on track. changbin wrote that thinking of you.

“wait, seriously?”

he really just said that out loud. changbin groans, slapping his forehead. “why am i dumb,” he mumbles into his hand.

you laugh, peeling his hand away with grease-covered fingers. “you’re not dumb, bin. just sweet.” as he melts from the use of your nickname, you wave your greasy palm in front of his face. “let me go wash and tell seungmin to close up early. i’ll be out in a second.” you grin. “looking forward to whatever you have planned.”

(later, when you wrap your now clean arms around changbin’s waist on his motorcycle, he smiles so wide it feels like his face is going to split.)

25. “i love you.”

with a relieved sigh, seungmin locks up the shop, wiping grease-stained fingers on a towel. despite the fact that he mostly only handles the register, dirt still manages to get everywhere, even when he tries to be careful.

doesn’t matter. seungmin likes his job, likes it even though it’s a little hard to be independent from his parents after so many years of living off their credit card. the freedom is sweet, though - now he can learn what he wants, do what he wants, and best of all...

now he can date whom he wants.

seungmin smiles, running up to his dorm so he has just enough time to change and shower before meeting you. he cleans up quickly before grabbing the singular rose in a glass on his desk and racing downstairs once more, hair still slightly damp, to meet you in front of the building.

god, you’re beautiful, standing against the backdrop of the afternoon sun. in the moment that you don’t notice him walking out the door, he runs forward, smiling, before engulfing you in a back hug.

“hey - oh, seungmin.” he can hear the smile in your voice as you clutch his hands hanging around your shoulders. “you scared me!”

“sorry,” he says, pulling away to spin you around. god, looking into your laughing face, seungmin knows everything was worth it. he may have lived in the lap of luxury before, attending parties every other weekend and drinking the finest champagne while dressed in the most resplendent clothing (courtesy of the kim family empire), but luxury doesn’t mean much when he was missing real, true love, right? you were one of the first, other than hyunjin, to see through his cold facade and break into the warm heart underneath.

as he hands you the rose, he’s glad, so glad that you gave him the courage to go head to head with his parents for the first time, to finally break away from their strangling control over every bit of his life. what did he need parties and designer clothing and jewels for, anyway? he’s still living, still able to support himself even if it means a little more work. and even if he’s tired, he has your lips to come back to, every day.

“i love you,” he murmurs, kissing you softly, sweetly. “i really do, y/n.”

“so do i,” you breathe, smiling against his lips in reply.

12. “valentine’s day... that’s the one with the bunny, right?”

hyunjin kind of wants to hit you, significant other or not. judging by your shit-eating grin, you probably know exactly how he feels, but you keep your eyes as soft and innocent as possible. “no, i don’t know what day it is, hyunjin. isn’t it just february 14?”

“y/n.”

“hyunjin.”

he groans, sinking dramatically to the ground. “it’s valentine’s day.”

“oh. right.” you adopt a thinking expression, raising your eyes to the sky. “valentine’s day... that’s the one with the bunny, right?”

“y/n!”

“i’m kidding, i’m kidding!” you finally laugh, reaching out a hand to pull him up from the university quad. “hey, get up, hyunjin. you’re going to get your designer clothes dirty.”

shit, he is. hyunjin accepts your hand, dusting grass bits off of his shirt. “you’re so mean,” he whines. “to think i had a whole evening planned and all, just for you to pretend to forget the entire day.”

“ah, but i didn’t forget. i only pretended to.” you grin, pressing a soft kiss to his lips. “and to prove it, i have something for you! close your eyes.”

eagerness and apprehension flooding his veins, hyunjin shuts his eyes. for a moment, he hears you digging around in your bag, and then you put something in his hand. “here!”

opening his eyes, hyunjin looks down to see a pair of elegant earrings in his palm. you made them, definitely - he can see the tiny mark of your initials etched in the metal of one earring, his initials on the other - and he smiles wide, so wide, all of your previous transgressions forgotten in this moment. “i love them,” he says, already unfastening the hoops currently in his ears to put the new ones in.

“i thought you would. hey, let me help.” your fingers take the earrings, deftly inserting one into each ear. “perfect.”

“i have something for you two, but you’ll get it later.” hyunjin pockets his old earrings before taking your hand. “right now, i’m taking you on a date.”

“what, i have no say in this?” your eyes sparkle.

“nope!” hyunjin laughs, swinging your arms in the air. “come on, i swear the evening’s going to be a lot of fun.”

“i believe you.” you stop him to kiss him once, softly. “everything’s fun with you, hyunjin.”

15. “shut up and kiss me.”

with the brownie box in his hands almost empty, felix makes every effort to dodge anyone who knows for fear that they’ll ask for one of the last few treats left inside. hyunjin took like five earlier, jesus christ, even when felix warned him he was saving some for you. ungrateful brat.

thankfully, no one accosts him, and he makes it to your meeting place without interruption. there you already are, mindlessly twirling a bouquet of roses around in your fingers. as he approaches, you look up, and felix is (once again) blown away by the intensity of your smile.

some people liken him to the sun. others, with his freckles, compare him to the stars. both, though, felix thinks are more proper descriptors for you and your lovely grin that’s as bright as the sun and the stars combined.

“felix!” you stand as he comes closer, handing him the roses. he passes over the box of brownies and you screech in delight, taking off the lid and popping one of them into your mouth. “oh my god, it’s so good.”

“don’t talk with your mouth full,” felix scolds, smiling anyway. “do you only love me for my brownies?”

“maybe” is the cheeky reply. you laugh as felix reels in mock astonishment, placing a dramatic hand to his chest. “i’ve been betrayed,” he wheezes. “stabbed in the back by my one true love who turned traitor to our romance, how will i live -”

“hey, felix?”

he looks up. “hm?”

your eyes sparkle. “shut up and kiss me.”

your lips taste like chocolate, sweeter even than the brownie you just finished. felix puts his arms around you, rose petals brushing against your back as he holds you close, close, closer -

“oh my god.”

a familiar voice makes felix pull away from your lips as he turns around. “jeongin?”

“nope, nope, nope,” the younger boy chants, eyes fully closed. “i saw none of that, jesus christ, come on, let’s go -”

too late, felix notices the person standing next to his friend, eyes also screwed shut. a smirk rises on his face. that must be jeongin’s crush, he thinks as they race away, the crush he’s been sweating over asking out for the last few weeks.

“aw, man.” felix frowns, suddenly coming to a realization. “jeongin probably wanted to confess here.”

“he’ll do fine,” you laugh, tugging at his arm. “now get back here. we’re not finished.”

felix smiles, pulling you close once more. “no, we aren’t.”

6. “no one’s ever given me something like this before.”

listen. jeongin did not need to see felix making out with his partner right before he was about to confess. not only did it completely ruin his plans to talk to you in the prettiest part of campus, but he also has an image seared into his mind that he really does not need.

“sorry,” he mutters, still unable to look at you.

“it’s fine.” jeongin can hear the second hand embarrassment in your voice. “it wasn’t your fault. uh.” you pause. “you said... you wanted to tell me something?”

right. jeongin squeezes his eyes shut, desperately trying to erase the previous images from his brain. “yeah. i did. um.” he swallows, then forces himself to look into eyes that sparkle in the fading sunlight, eyes that he fell in love with so many months ago when you two first worked on that project together.

thankfully, his words don’t fail him. “i just wanted to say i like you a lot, y/n.” jeongin keeps looking at you, even though all he wants to do is run away screaming. “as in... i want to ask you out. if that’s okay with you.”

silence.

then you start giggling.

jeongin frowns. why -

“oh my god, jeongin.” you double over on the bench, laughing even harder. “i’m so sorry.”

his heart sinks as embarrassment begins to burn his ears. “if you don’t like me -”

“no, no!” you straighten, wiping your eyes. “no, it’s not about that. it’s just -” you snort - “oh my god, you wanted to ask me out in the garden, right? but felix was there, and... jesus christ. jeongin, i’m so sorry.”

his cheeks flare red, but he also lets out a major sigh of relief that your laughter wasn’t a rejection. “yeah,” he says, a grudging smile climbing onto his face. “yeah, that’s pretty much what happened.”

you wipe your eyes again. “sorry for laughing. i didn’t mean to make fun of you or anything. i’d actually love to go out with you.” you smile. “really.”

“well, thank god for that.” jeongin huffs, cheeks still hot. “or i would’ve gotten this for nothing.” he holds out a small teddy bear. “this is for you.”

“oh.” you take it, eyes turning soft. “oh. no one...” you swallow. “no one’s ever given me something like this before.”

jeongin’s heart melts, it really does, seeing the slow, shy smile spread across your face as you hold the bear close. “thank you, jeongin.”

“you’re welcome,” he breathes, hardly able to find his words as the sun creates a stunning backdrop behind you as it begins to set. “happy valentine’s day, y/n.”

you smile wide, so wide. “happy valentine’s day, jeongin.”

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47-shades-of-hitman · 4 years ago

Text

Seven days of Valentine with Agent 47 | Day 4 | NSFW

Day 4 - Roses and other surprises | NSFW

Just because Agent 47 is unable to spend Valentine's Day at home doesn't mean he isn't thinking about you.

Warnings: Explicit sexual content, voyeurism, public sex

Link to my Hitman-related Discord server

The coffee in your mug was long cold, yet you threw it back in one gulp anyway, flinching at the bitter taste. Your need for caffeine was higher than your pride.

“Girl, are you alright?” Natasha appeared at your desk, plopping some folders on top of it. “You look like there was lemon juice in that cup. Cheer up will you, it’s Valentine’s Day! Have you bought something special for your handsome man?” She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively, hinting at something not safe for work.

You sighed, leaning back in your chair. “That’s the problem, Natasha. Forty- Tobias is away for work. There’s no way he’s going to make it home tonight…”

Natasha put her hand on your shoulder. “Oh no… That’s too bad! Perhaps you can celebrate it later, hm?”

Before you could respond, Tasha’s eye fell on something behind you. “Mother of…”

“I have a delivery for (Y/n) (L/n).” a stranger behind you said. Pivoting on your rotating chair, you came eye to eye with a young man holding the largest bouquet of red roses you had ever seen.

Your cheeks flushed at the sight. “That’s me…” you told him and he approached you, handing it to you as well as a letter and a small box.

“Despite him not being able to celebrate today, it seems like he’s thinking about you, (Y/n)!” Natasha beamed. You smiled shyly and signed on the clipboard for the delivery guy before he greeted you and left the room.

“Look at that!” Tasha laughed, “You’ve got a keeper!”

You rolled your eyes, smirking. “Oh, Tasha, please… We’ve been together for over five years now. Of course he’s a keeper.” You buried your nose momentarily in the flowers to sniff them and sighed happily.

“Here, I’ll put them in some water for you. You read that letter and check out what’s in that box.”

You gave her the bouquet with a thankful smile, reaching for the envelope in order to open it. In it was a beautiful Valentine’s card, and you quickly began reading.

My sweetest (Y/n),

I’m sorry that I can’t be there today. I hope you’ll enjoy the roses. I promise to make it up to you soon. Yours truly.

PS. Open the box in private and use it right away

Your heart swelled at his wonderful words, butterflies circling through your stomach. The last sentence on the card made you a little confused though, and when Tasha returned from the office kitchen after putting the roses in some water, she snatched it from your fingers without asking.

“Natash—” “Holy shit! That’s so romantic! You’re so lucky with a gentleman like that! I wish Leon was this thoughtful…”

You smiled and raised an eyebrow… If she only knew about his occupation…

“Wait, what does he mean with opening the box in private? Maybe there’s lingerie in there? I need to know!”

She already had her hands on the small pink box and was about to pull off the ribbon when you grabbed her wrist.

“Natasha, I’m going to do what the letter states and open it in private. After all, it’s my gift.”

She sighed and realised that you were right. “That’s true. I’m sorry, (Y/n). Sometimes I just get too enthusiastic about things and then I can’t control what I—”

“I know.” you interrupted her, smiling. “It’s okay.” Natasha was a wonderful co-worker, but she could be a bit much. It was a good thing that you loved her to death.

You took the present and disappeared to the bathroom for some more privacy. Carefully, you took off the ribbon and then lifted the velvety lid of the box.

As you saw what was inside, you gasped and felt your cheeks flame. Revealed to you, a bright pink love egg.

Use it right away, the letter had stated.

And then it hit you – there was no remote.

You cursed under your breath, your stomach a pool of excitement and butterflies. This man never ceased to surprise you. How strong was that remote, anyway? You guessed you were about to find out.

There was no real trouble in getting it into place, and you walked back to your working station as casually as possible. A few other co-workers had entered the office as well, much to your dismay. Alone time with Natasha was always the best, but your other colleagues proved to be a pain.

You sat down on your chair, squeezing your legs together as tightly as you could. Pulling out your phone, you sent 47 a text.

Y/n: Thank you for the roses, I love them <3 You received a reply right away.

47: I’m glad. Are you wearing your gift? Y/n: I am… Where are you?

“What was in there? Come on, spill!” Natasha urged, causing one of your older co-workers to hush her in annoyance.

“I’m not telling!” “Why not?” “Because it’s private!” “Ooh, kinky! Is it massage oil?” You smacked her arm and she cackled. “Go back to work, we’ve got plenty to do!” you whined.

Just when she turned away, a jolt went through you as the egg started vibrating. You jerked in your seat and stifled a yelp, causing Natasha to look at you. “Are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine! I ah… I just feel the need to sneeze, but it’s stuck.” “Alright girl. See you in a bit, alright?”

As she walked back to her own station, you let your jaw fall open a little. Looking at the window, you tried to see if you could spot 47 – after all, you had no idea where he was at this very moment.

He increased the intensity by one level and you had to suppress a soft moan of surprise, biting your bottom lip. You texted right away:

Y/n: 47, I need to concentrate! 47: Just try to relax, sweetheart. It’s Valentine’s Day after all.

Your fingers slightly trembled as you took your pen and tried to write down some notes. It was obvious in your handwriting that your mind was anywhere but on the paper in front of you. After managing to write a full sentence, you took your phone again, texting back:

Y/n: I’m at work. How about you use this tonight? 47: I’m at work too, so that’s no excuse. 47: I take it you like it then?

Gritting your teeth, you prevented yourself from rolling your eyes. After all, he knew you way too well to know that you were indeed enjoying this way more than you’d ever admit.

The vibrations now came in jolts several seconds from each other, almost in waves, and in turn, your pleasure increased. You bit down on the inside of your cheek, your back arching into your seat, slick escaping to stain your thighs.

47: You’re so beautiful looking like that.

Your eyes widened at the text and immediately looked around, sobered up at the confession.

47: You can stop looking, sweetheart. I’m not there.

Never before had your fingers typed a reply so quickly.

Y/n: What on Earth are you up to? Y/n: I can’t focus on my paperwork like this and it’s due at midnight!

The vibrator buzzed a bit firmer and you tried your best not to squeal, your straining clit brushing against the material of your undergarments painfully. You crossed your legs to ease some of the dull throb, but it worked only for a few seconds.

47: I may or may not have hacked into your webcam.

You gasped out loud, a few heads whipping your way, sending you annoyed glances. Cheeks aflush, you scooted closer to your desk. Your eyes went to the webcam, as if you could see him through it.

Y/n: 47! You’re spying on me! 47: Trust me, just for the occasion. I needed to make sure that my gift was used correctly. Y/n: So you just invade my privacy?

Your text was supposed to scold him, but the pleasure surging through you was too great to ignore. You gripped the edge of your desk, your phone hitting the table with a thud.

The vibrator caused pulses of electricity to travel up your spine all the way to your brain, sending you into a hazy bliss.

47: I wish I was there with you right now, sweetheart. You have no idea how beautiful you are.

Clenching your hand over your mouth, you tried to not whimper at both the sensation of your orgasm approaching and the incredibly sweet text he sent.

47: Don’t reply, (Y/n). Just relax and focus on me.

Your eyes flicked to the webcam and the intensity went up, and you tried your hardest to not moan out, instead swallowing it and exhaling deeply, as quietly as you could.

47: That’s it, sweetheart. Is your desk close to the bathroom?

Nodding, you sucked in your bottom lip.

47: OK. Now look at me. Look at me when you cum.

He didn’t need to tell you again – your eyes were fixated upon the camera, and once you did, the love egg hit your g-spot, perfectly – and sent you over the edge. Your knuckles turned pale at how hard you were squeezing your desk, legs trembling underneath it, toes curled in your shoes.

Arching your back slightly, you managed to quietly breathe through your orgasm, hoping to not attract too much attention at the creaking of your chair. The insides of your legs were stained with your juices, hopefully not too noticeable upon standing.

47: I’m proud of you. Y/n: You’re proud of me because you’re bullying me with that device? 47: Bullying you? Never. 47: Keep it in.

“(Y/n), do you have some extra paperclips for me?” You looked up like a deer in the headlights and saw one of your colleagues standing a little away.

“O-Oh, sure.” you stammered, reaching for your drawer and giving him some. “Thanks.” he replied. “Anyway, how about we go out for a drink tonight?”

“I don’t think so.” was your reply. “Oh, why? You don’t need to be shy, although you are cute when you blush.”

Right on that moment, the love egg started to vibrate again, intensely so. Your eyes widened and you gritted your teeth. “I’m taken.” you squeaked.

The co-worker rolled his eyes and huffed a “Whatever.” before stalking off again. You immediately reached for your phone, texting your lover on the other side of the webcam.

Y/n: Agent 47, I swear!

A few moments later, you received a reply.

47: Now you definitely have to keep it in.

#Agent 47 #agent 47 x reader #David Bateson #smut #reader insert #io interactive

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commander-hanji-zoe · 4 years ago

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Valentine’s Day Headcanons

Oh look some Valentine’s Day headcanons that I should have posted a few weeks ago (I still have two Valentine’s Day requests which I’m hoping to finish tomorrow along with my oldest other request.

This are very, very basic headcanons. Being honest, there wasn’t the same level of thought in these as my usual writing and I didn’t try to do anything flowery with the language. I just saw Valentine’s Day as an opportunity to write some quick thoughts down, hope you enjoy anyway! I decided to include Gelgar & Nile in this.

Levi

To Levi Valentine’s Day really is just another day and he doesn’t get the fuss around it.

That being said he’ll still buy his partner a card and something to go with it, usually a nice bottle of wine or some elegant flowers.

Thinks it’s silly he needs a day to say I love you - though he isn’t a man who says ‘I love you’ very often at all, he’d rather show it with actions.

If he’s single it doesn’t really bother him, he’s too busy with work to really notice what the day even is.

Gets annoyed at the younger cadets if they’re over excited and suffers terribly from second-hand embarrassment when he witnesses

Mike

Loves Valentine’s Day but more in a private way. He loves seeing others happy, but when it comes to his partner/someone he’s interested in, it’s more of a subtle affair in public.

Would much rather cook for his partner than go out to dinner, that way they can be as romantic & touchy/feely as possible without others watching.

Is big on Valentine’s underwear and has special outfits of his own - yup Mike is definitely one with a fondness for love heart boxers.

Will buy the biggest bunch of flowers, that even he finds a bit embarrassing when he sends them to his partner/the person he has a crush on.

Is into cute gestures he can repeat every year, like puzzles/a treasure hunt his partner will need to solve to find their gift.

Really loves the annual gifts from Hanji and agrees that it shouldn’t just be a day to celebration romantic love or sexual attraction, rather it’s a day to show love and gratitude to friends/family, all those who mean something to him.

Nanaba

Enjoys it but like Levi, Valentine’s Day isn’t the be all and end all and certainly isn’t a highlight in her calendar.

If she’s dating someone that she of course appreciates the card, flowers etc. And will always do her best to find the perfect card and make her partner something nice like a cake.

Will go a little easy on the cadets but is quick to put her foot down if they get too silly or carried away - romance isn’t an excuse to not pay attention.

Might wear something very small to hint at what the day is (like a love heart shaped nose stud). I don’t see Nanaba wearing red, but I think she’d enjoy having small pieces of jewellery set aside for holidays.

Blushes surprisingly easily, whether she’s with someone and they send her flowers or if she gets something from a secret admirer she might privately have a little ‘squeeee’ moments and then take a few deep breaths and it’s back to being calm and collected.

Hanji

Will buy little heart shaped chocolates to give to the other vets and makes cards by hand for all of them.

Hugs everyone they care about, extra hugs for Levi.

If waking up in bed with the one they love Hanji would be one to make Valentine’s Day breakfast in bed and return wearing nothing but an apron.

Definitely makes a card and ‘special meal’ for any titans they have in captivity.

Very much the match-maker and if they know two people like one another, but are being hopeless at showing it - they’re sure to intervene or nudge them in the right direction.

Puts in a level of effort into their outfit if on a date which other’s wouldn’t necessarily expect from them. Will actually get a little annoyed if anyone comments that ‘finally they’ve had a shower’ and explains rather abruptly that it isn’t that they don’t like showers/wearing nice scents, but work is too busy for such trivial matters!

Erwin

Timeless & classic when it comes to Valentine’s Day, he’s into old school romancing and will book a fancy meal out.

Definitely one to wear a smart suit and jacket out on a date, even if it isn’t really cold enough for a jacket he’ll wear one in case his partner gets cold so he has it to hand.

During the day he doesn’t pay much attention to it, he’s happy if others want to decorate the barracks and have an exchange of cards etc. That doesn’t mean he wants to be involved.

Is used to receiving numerous cards from secret admirers, after all he is Commander Handsome. He blushes quite easily at these and if teased by the other vets might get a little annoyed, but Erwin is good at playing it cool.

Moblit

Secretly he does look forward to Valentine’s Day, it’s not really something he’ll admit out loud, accept to Hanji of course. But dreads it in equal measures.

Is more about the home made gestures than buying lavish gifts for the person he likes.

Isn’t very good at keeping secrets, so if he sends a card to someone he likes from their ‘secret admirer’ he’ll probably tell them before the day is over.

Does work himself up a bit in the week leading up to Valentine’s Day. He has a tendency to play out scenarios in his head and for some reason they often end up as worst case.

Might style his hair slightly different for the day if there’s someone he likes, it’s a way to get their attention and a talking point.

Nile

Pretends he doesn’t care about Valentine’s Day, but if he doesn’t get any cards he will be sad.

If he gets a card he’ll shrug it off as mushy, he might even pretend to throw it away but secretly he’ll pick it up again later.

Practises pick-up lines in his mirror before approaching someone he likes.

Is very sweet on a one to one basis and is happy to take his partner/date out for a very romantic meal. Not afraid to show affection in public once he is with someone, it’s quite a spectacular shift.

Gelgar

He’ll find a pub/tavern somewhere to drink away his sorrows, probably.

I see him as being really clumsy when it comes to declarations of love - he definitely falls in love easily and when he falls he falls hard. Expect stuttering and stopping mid declaration to down whatever he’s drinking for a little more courage. The words don’t come out the right way and sometimes don’t make sense, but it’s easy to tell what he’s trying to say.

Sends over the top bouquets of flowers and a bottle of wine to the person he has a crush on, hinting heavily that the wine is to be shared.

A few modern headcanons

Those who enjoy snapchat/insta filters - Mike, likes to make himself look like a cat or a bunny with love hearts floating around him. Hanji also would enjoy them - Erwin tries to figure it out but ends up turning himself into a slice of pizza or something.

Who plans the Valentine’s Day ball? Hanji & Moblit make the best team for this particular task. Though it’s a ball at an ice skating rink or roller rink, they like to plan something super fun that everyone can enjoy with friends regardless of relationship status.

The person who gets to the card shop before it opens to avoid people? Levi 100 times.

Who buys the Valentine’s Day meal - 2 mains, a dessert and bottle of wine from the local chain supermarket? Probably Moblit.

Enjoys a cinema trip to see a chick-flick with their friends instead of worrying about dates. Nanaba

#snk vets #aot vets #headcanons #valentine's day #Levi ackerman #erwin smith #Hanji Zoe #Hange Zoe #Moblit Berner #Nanaba #Mike Zacharias #mike zakarius #miche zacharias #Gelgar #Nike Dok #my writing

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sickly-sweet-imagines · 4 years ago

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@mommymooze requested: “FE3h Valentines day Confession from Hubert x reader. He wants to be soft, but how do you be soft when all you ever do is threaten?“

I really loved this prompt- I might’ve gone a little off topic with it but I hope you still enjoy!

– – – – –

The day of love was rapidly approaching at the officer’s academy. Flowers could be spotted everywhere, from student’s desks to office doors. The whole monastery seemed to have a lighter feeling- seeing all the merchants with seasonal, heart shaped goods seemed to put everyone in higher spirits. Or, most people, anyway- Hubert was still maintaining his frightening exterior as strongly as ever. “You are allowed to enjoy yourself, you know.” Edelgard was once again repeating a sentiment she’d been trying to convince him of since the first bouquets started to emerge. “You do not constantly have to be so dreary when there is a festival to enjoy soon.” She wasn’t typically inclined towards holidays created by the church, but Petra seemed familiar with the day, meaning it must’ve existed before the church, or created individually from it, so she let herself enjoy it. “Dorothea has softened you.” “Hubert, I can enjoy a holiday without changing my resolve. And I implore you to do the same.” The conversation went about as well as it always does, with Edelgard excusing herself from the room and leaving Hubert to once again silently brood over everything going on. You, on the other hand, were in the middle of a conversation with Hilda, seemingly intent on finding out who you want to ask to be your valentine so she can... Push you in the right direction. You were not budging on the topic. “Come on, just tell me! I promise I won’t share it with a soul~” You both knew that wasn’t true. Besides- even if it was and she really would keep the secret, you weren’t about to tell Hilda of all people about your romantic interest in Hubert Von Vestra, local curse-giver and general frightening presence. She could see she was getting nowhere. “Fine, if you don’t want to tell me you don’t have to, but you’d better not ask for my advice later!” Her tone was playful, but you knew she was just a tad bitter about it. You returned to your quarters soon after, sitting at your desk and debating whether you wanted to write more unsent love notes or just daydream. Both seemed like very effective uses of your time. Before you can make a decision, the mental debate process is interrupted by a harsh knock on your door. You weren’t anticipating anyone stopping by- though unexpected visits were a side effect of the love in the air. After calling “who is it?” to no response, you walk to your door and try to gaze through the peephole. No one was there. A collection of black roses greet you when you open your door, accompanied by a card with nothing in it save Hubert’s signature. This wasn’t exactly encouraging. Black roses were associated with death. Hubert was associated with... Similarly scary things. Your mind was not filled with confidence. Had you been too obvious about your crush? Did he dislike your interest in him? Were you going to mysteriously disappear this month? Later that day, you walk past the greenhouse, peeking inside to see who was scouring the flowers to add to their bouquets. You spot Hubert in one of the far corners. You step inside to get a better look at what he was doing. Surprisingly, when you got close enough to see him he was not doing anything malicious or dangerous, but dethorning another collection of black roses. He seemed extremely focused on the task, eyes constantly scanning the stems to make sure he hadn’t missed any thorns. It was that moment, seeing him taking all the sharp edges off of the flowers, that it clicked in your head- he wasn’t trying to send you an ominous warning, he was just... Not one for bright colors. “Hubert,” He jumps when you say his name, too focused on his task to have noticed you there before. “I- may I ask you something?” He seems to hesitate, brushing thorns off of his clothes before standing up with the black roses in his hand. “Yes... Of course.” The intimidation factor really isn’t gonna make this easier at all, is it? You bite your cheek as you build your courage. “I was wondering if you would... You might want to be...” “If I might like to sit with you for the romantic festivities?” Well, not quite how you would’ve worded it, but he was right on the mark- you nod at him. “Ah... I believe I may have taken too long, then.” You hear him chuckle under his breath. “I intended on writing a more formal request to deliver with these, but if you’d prefer it in words... Yes, I would... Want nothing more than to join you.” He holds the bouquet out to you. You notice his hands are shaking. “Really? I- thank you, Hubert, I- I didn’t think you’d be interested in participating, much less with me-” You take the flowers from him and smell them to stop your nerves. “I admit, I do not typically see merit in these holidays, but I... My thought process has shifted, much thanks to Lady Edelgard’s advice.” His romancing was certainly not on par with some of the bigger flirts of the monastery. Then again, that’s probably why you like him so much.

#fire emblem #Fire Emblem Three Houses #hubert von vestra #hubert fire emblem #fire emblem imagines #fire emblem three houses imagine #hubert imagine #fire emblem x reader #fire emblem three houses x reader #hubert x reader #mommymooze

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hawkeish · 4 years ago

Note

Omg Handers flower shop + Person one: “It’s beautiful.” Person two, looking at person one: “Yeah, it is.”

so I was meant to save this for the dwc, but have the funnest/crackest thing I’ve written in a while, for the day that’s in it. I might make this my canon for a laugh. happy Valentine’s day everyone!

fhanders, Red Hawke walks into a florist, 1.1k, violence/death mention

“You’re still open? Thank the fucking Maker--”

“Excuse me—are you bleeding—”

“Oh, don’t mind that. Nose might be fucked, might not. I’ll take a bouquet! White lilies, white chrysanthemums. Or is that too much white? Hey, why not throw in some gladioli—”

“Are you—those are funeral flowers, ma’am—”

“Wonderful! It’ll really send the message that if he so much as tries to fuck with me again, he’ll be six feet under and I’ll be cackling as I throw the first shovel of dirt onto his coffin. Do you have one of those cards that says ‘I’m sorry for your loss’? No worries if not. I just thought it would be a nice touch.”

Anders usually has a lot to say. It’s usually about why a policy of radical leftism is the only way to create a fairer and more equal society, but still. He can be good at small-talk when the time comes, or when he’s serving one of the regular older ladies who like to spill all the scandalous gossip from their weekly book group as they pick out suitable memorial flowers for their most recently deceased enemy.

For once, though, Anders finds that words are escaping him.

“Uh, yeah.” Despite his better judgement, he automatically gestures to the wall of cards to the right of the shop. A small part of him wants to say something like this is my lovely, nice, serene place of work, why in Andraste’s name have you come in to bleed all over it? But the almost-qualified doctor in him—and the very large part of him that’s thinking what in the ever-loving fuck—just says: “Are you sure your nose is OK?”

“Huh, this?” Scanning the rows of demure sympathy messages, the woman prods it, then winces. More blood glugs from a nostril. “It’ll be grand.”

It will not be grand. Even from behind the counter, with a jungle’s worth of monstera leaves between him and this new customer, Anders can see that her nose is very much broken. “Listen, I’m in medical school, I can take a look—”

“Thanks but no thanks, pretty boy,” the woman breaks in, not even glancing back at him. Plucking a card from the rack, she flips it open. “Gone, but not forgotten,” she intones, with a mock-severity that almost makes Anders laugh. “A bit gauche? Hm. See, I’m on a time limit. Need to get these to my brother before he sets off for Ms. Meredith’s School for Good Little Templars later this evening. Appreciate the offer, though.”

Brother. Brother? Anders almost drops the chrysanthemum in his hand. “These are for your—”

The woman turns and looks him dead in the eye. “You heard me.”

Anders opens his mouth to speak, lets out a breath, thinks better of it, and closes his mouth again.

“Yeah.” Wandering back towards him with a card in hand, the woman grins; the dried blood on her upper lip cracks. “Better not to ask. Anyway, what’s the damage? And are you going to do your job, or…?”

With one hand, she waves at him as he stands there doing admittedly nothing aside from holding a single stem and gawking at her, then waves at the buckets around them, bursting with flowers. With her other, she starts pulling shite—utter, absolute shite—from the pockets of her denim jacket and slaps it down on the counter between them. Old subway ticket stubs. Random coins. A lipstick with no cap. What looks like a rusted nipple bar, but Anders hopes is an earring that’s fallen out. An unused condom. Somehow, an already-smoked cigarette. Then, a card decorated with a colourful, cartoonish picture of a chihuahua wearing a sombrero and the word “¡Adios!”, beneath which is scrawled YOU FUCKING DONKEY.

For a long moment, there’s silence. Halfway through putting together her monstrosity of a bouquet as fast as his hands can work, Anders stares down at the card, then drags his gaze up to meet hers. Drumming her fingertips against the counter as she fishes something else from her pocket with her spare hand, she’s smiling the smile of someone who just watched a small child fall over. She’s pretty, Anders notices, against his will and better judgement. Pretty in the way that a bird of prey looks, before it tears your eyes out with its beak.

Finally, he manages something, frowning down at what must be her backup card. “So you’re telling me ‘adios, you fucking donkey’ was your first choice, but ‘gone, but not forgotten’ feels too gauche—”

“Will ten quid do?” She interrupts. She’s stopped drumming; instead, she’s holding something out towards him. A creased note, tucked between two fingers like you’d hold a smoke. “And a woman needs options. Who knows how I’ll be feeling when I get home? Still murderous, I imagine. But maybe I’ll fancy a laugh as I make a washing line out of his innards!”

She’s not attractive, Anders is telling himself, as he suddenly wonders why he finds her extremely attractive. Washing line, Anders is telling himself, as he pulls the silver bow on the bouquet tight. Innards. “I—we don’t work on a bartering service—”

“Delightful!” The woman grins, a shark-smile that’s all gleaming teeth, then starts to shove her belongings back into her pockets. “Ten quid it is! Oh, and you can even keep this as a token of my appreciation. You’ve been so helpful. Are they done?”

All alone on the counter sits the condom.

Maker, if this is how she flirts—

Anders feels a flush creep up his neck, bloom across his cheeks, but tries to ignore it, forcing the customer service smile back on. Taking the money from her, careful not to actually touch her, he takes a final look at the bouquet before handing it over. Somehow, it’s one of his best: perfectly arranged, smelling as though it was perfumed by Andraste herself, each flower blooming just so.

“Good choices,” he says mechanically, like he does with any other customer. Because this is any other customer. Normal. Fine. Not a woman he doesn’t want to find attractive, standing before him with an extremely broken nose, making threats of murder so casually that it’s as though she’s remarking upon the weather. Anders clears his throat. “They’re beautiful.”

“Yeah,” the woman replies. “They are.”

Anders looks up from the flowers.

Head cocked to the side, the woman’s staring straight at him, with eyes as blue as the Waking Sea. He gets the feeling that she has been for a while.

And then she takes the flowers and the bell on the door chimes and she’s disappeared into the evening like some kind of spectre, and Anders is left staring at a ten sovereign note and a condom that may or may not have expired, wondering why in Andraste’s blessed memory he wishes he’d asked her for her name.

#handers #hawke #anders #red hawke #dragon age 2 #modern au #flower shop au #violence mention #death mention #this was just so much fun #ish writes #midnightprelude #answered

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bangtanreadingcorner · 4 years ago

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the blind date • kim namjoon

PLOT ─ hoseok sets you up on a blind date with his best friend, namjoon, and it all goes up hill from there.

GENRE ─ college!au

WORDS ─ 6.3k

You attention is drawn to the entrance of the cafe as it opens yet again, your eyes searching for a man fitting the description your friend had given you. Although, right now, you weren’t exactly in the best mood. You didn't want to go on this blind date in the first place, but it was a lot better than trying your hand at it yourself on the internet and potentially getting yourself murdered.

You sighed when you looked the guy over, no way was it that scrawny kid with glasses - although Hoseok did say his friend wears glasses from time to time, according to him his best friend was rather large in form. It's ten minutes past when he should have been here, you see as you clicked the power button on your phone. You heard the bell of the cafe chime but you don't bother looking up, busy unlocking your phone and sending Hoseok a message to tell him that his best friend didn't show up.

Before you could press send, however, someone called your name softly, and it was a little contrasting with his deep voice. You lift your head, eyes scanning over the - admittedly very handsome - man and he ticked all of the mental boxes to the description Hoseok gave you on his friend. He was wearing a light blue polo neck and a pair of denim jeans. What was strange was that he had one arm tucked behind his back while his other was stuffed with books.

You raised an unimpressed brow, handsomeness did not excuse his tardiness. "Namjoon, I assume?"

He nodded, a sheepish grin slipped onto his face, revealing the most adorable pair of dimples. "Guilty as charged. Y/N, right?"

"Yeah, that's me." You nodded back to him, crossing your arms over your chest. "So, is there any particular reason you're late, or are you one of those who thinks it makes you more attractive?"

"What? No!" His eyes widened and you would have found it amusing or maybe even cute. If he wasn't almost twenty minutes late to your blind date. Speaking of, you are never letting Hoseok talk you into anything ever again.

"It's not like that. I just, I got you these." The hand behind his back came out and there was a small bouquet of lilies and lavenders. You felt something inside of you go very gooey like, because those are your favorite flowers. "And I know it might seem old fashioned but Hoseok mentioned that you like flowers and that these are your favorites, so I went by the flower shop three blocks from here but the queue was longer than I expected and then they had to make the bouquet because they didn't have any in this specific arrangement and I am really, really sorry that I'm late."

You stated at him, opened mouthed and a little in shock at the ramble of words that passed his lips so quickly and nervously.

"Well," You cleared your throat. "As far as excuses go, I have to say, that's the best one I've ever heard." When he still remained standing, looking at you unsurely, you gave a small smile. "This date isn't really going to go anywhere if you don't sit down."

"Yeah, okay, right." He mumbled to himself, holding the flowers out to you. You took it with a grin, and couldn't help but smell them. You don't think you've ever gotten flowers from one of your exes. Not even on Valentine's day. This was a nice, refresh change, especially given your love for flowers. He placed the mountain of five books on the table, hands fiddling with them to have an outlet for his nerves. You couldn't help the smile that spread on your lips.

"What can I get you today?" A waitress asked as she stepped up to you, handing menu's to the both of you.

"Chocolate milkshake for me, thanks." You told her, and you looked at Namjoon.

"I'll have a iced coffee, please." Namjoon smiled at her and you could see the girl swooning a bit. Not that you blamed her, those dimples are killer. Still, this is your date, so you cleared your throat lightly.

"Right," The girl snapped out of it, cheeks reddening a bit at being caught. "Anything to eat?"

"Uh, I'm not really hungry right now." You look at your date. "You want anything?"

"I, um, I'm," He stammered a bit. "Yeah. Actually. Would that be okay? Some people say it's awkward when you eat on a date but the other person isn't, but I've been studying all morning because I was really nervous and I forgot to eat, so it just sort of caught up to me now."

You smiled, not being able to help yourself, his rambles are cute. "Not awkward at all. Knock yourself out."

"Thanks." Namjoon smiled gratefully at you and your stomach flipped, cheeks heating up. He turned back to the waitress and placed his order. Then he turned back to you. "Sorry, I know this isn't exactly an ideal date. I was late and showed up with a bunch of my books."

"Yeah, but you're cute and you had a really good reason for being late, so I don't mind." You smile widened when you saw the tips of his ears turning red. "Plus, you didn't make a comment about my choice of drink, a definite plus for you."

Namjoon frowned, "What's wrong with it?"

"Oh, nothing for me, but so many guys has said to me that it's not healthy and I need to be careful of to many sweet things because I can get fat." You rolled your eyes.

"That's . . . stupid."

"Yeah, tell me about it." You snorted. Not really wanting to delve any further into your other dates in front of this beautiful man, you changed the topic. "So, Hoseok tells me you want to be a Marine Biologist."

"Yeah," Namjoon nodded, his eyes lighting up at the thought. "I mean, I like all kinds of creatures and animals, but I've always loved Marine life."

"That's so cool." You couldn't help but gush, excitement coming easy for you due to your love of the ocean or just anything to do with the outdoors, really. "Do you want to work out on the ocean or in aquarium?"

"Well, I'm not really sure yet. Right now getting my degree is my number one priority." He gave a little chuckle as the waitress comes along with your drinks.

"I hear you, man, I mean, I know most people think that we dance students don't put a lot of work in, but they really don't know shit." You took a sip of your milkshake before you could say something really mean. Like what you think of those judging pricks.

"I get it, I really do. I've known Hoseok since high school, and I know how many hours he puts into getting choreography just right and perfect. You guys have your struggles just like we do."

"Exactly!" You couldn't help but exclaim, feeling like something was lifted from your chest because, finally, someone else gets it. "And you should hear my parents. They do not approve, like, at all. Always telling me how dancing isn't going to be enough for me to live on and I should have gone into law, so I could take over their business and ugh, it's just so frustrating."

"Sorry." He gave you an apologetic look.

"Why?" You gave smile a little smile. "It's not your fault. Anyways, what about your parents?"

"They approve of my choice, supporting me all the way and in anyway they can. But I can tell they sometimes worry that it's to much for me. Maintaining a scholarship is not easy." Namjoon told you, rubbing his neck as he spoke.

"Wow, they must be so proud of you." You stated at him in awe, respect towards him forming inside.

"I'd like to think they are." Namjoon smiled, eyes lighting up when the waitress arrived with his food. He looked at you, "You can have half, if you'd like?"

"No, thanks." You denied, looking at the large burger and fries. "I might steal some of your fries, though."

He pushed his plate closer with a smile. "Feel free."

The rest of the date went by a lot quicker than either of you would have liked. Before you knew it, you two were standing outside the cafe, bill split in two, and ready to go your separate ways.

"I really enjoyed this." You said, smiling up at him, because wow, he is tall. You also wanted to prolong this for a few more seconds.

"Yeah, me too." He was smiling, too, and you hoped it was because he liked this date as much as you did.

You two stood there for a while, just looking at each other, smiles slowly fading, nerves rising between you. Until you both spoke at once.

"Do you maybe want to go out again?"

"Would it be okay to ask for your number?"

You two burst out into laughter, and even when you calmed down, you smiled so hard, your cheeks hurt. "I'd love to go out with you again."

"You can have my number." Namjoon nodded with a happy smile, those dimples were really making you weak. "On one condition." He added.

You raised a brow, "And what's that?"

"You have to give me yours, too."

You laughed, head thrown back as a giddy feeing spread through you. You looked back at him, stomach fluttering. "Deal."

* * *

"So, how was it?"

"Did you get laid?"

You looked at your two friends, head moving from one to the other, who pounced on you the moment you set foot in the dancing studio. You gave them a look of disbelief.

"Okay, first of all, no, Jimin, I didn't get laid. Second of all, isn't Namjoon your roommate and best friend, Hoseok? And third of all, Jesus Christ, you two are nosey."

Hoseok pouted, "Yeah but he wouldn't say anything other than that it went well."

"It did go well." You confirmed, smiling as a warm feeling spread through your chest as you thought of Namjoon. You guys have been texting all weekend and this morning he sent you a heart eyes emoji at the end of his good morning text. That was good, right?

"Come on, I want details. I was the one who set you up, I deserve details." Hoseok whined.

"Nope." You sing-songed with a grin.

Jimin was pouting as he crossed his arms over his chest, "I'm not telling you about any of my dates ever again."

You smirk, "Does that mean you've finally done something about your gigantic crush on Jungkook?"

"No, and I'm not going to until he's eighteen." Jimin repeats for what seems like the hundredth time.

"And then you're going to jump his bones." Hoseok said with a wide smile.

"A whole two years more of celibacy. Well, technically a year and a few months. You know, I'm really starting to respect you for holding out that long." You noted matter of factly, then you smirked. "Poor Jungkook isn't going to know what hit him."

"Why would you even think that?" Jimin whined, cheek going a hilarious shade of red.

"Because one, we've seen him before. And two, we've seen how you look at him." You reminded Jimin. Jungkook has come to see a few times at the studio and you and Hoseok never let him forget it.

Jimin narrowed his eyes at you, "He's like, four years younger than you."

"Three years." You corrected with a concealed smirk, loving how you were getting underneath Jimin's skin. "And age is just a number." Hoseok sniggers next to you.

"Yeah," Jimin grumbled. "I'll remind you of that when they lock you up for going after someone who's still underage."

"Nah, I got someone else in mind." You told Jimin honestly, just now he stresses himself into a stroke because of your teasing.

Hoseok perked up at this, "Is this someone maybe named Namjoon?"

You rolled your eyes, but let out a resigned sigh. These two weren't gonna let up until you told them. "Yes, as matter of fact, the someone is named Namjoon. You happy?"

"Not yet." Hoseok shook his head, curious smile on his face. "What did you do?"

"We both went to the cafe you said, although he was twenty minutes late at first because he brought me flowers and the queue at the flower shop was long, and I ordered a chocolate milkshake and he ordered an iced coffee with a large burger and fries. We talked and figured that if we can have this much fun in a cafe, we might as well do it again. The end." You walked past Jimin and Hoseok, who were both gaping at you. The followed after you, both with excited looks on their faces.

Hoseok was practically jumping with excitement, "Does this mean you're going out again?"

"Yeah, this Saturday." You nodded, heading towards the equipment room, where everything from students' bags to mats and old mirrors were stored.

"Where are you going?" Jimin asked, evidently just as excited as Hoseok about this.

"Dinner and a movie." You said, feeling a lot more excited by something so simple than you normally did.

"That's so cliché. And cute." Jimin grinned.

"Thanks." You grinned, knowing that he didn't mean anything by it.

"You know, I have this big urge to rub both your noses in the fact that this is actually working." Hoseok commented.

"How's that?" You asked, bending your upper body to the floor and stretching your hands to your feet.

"Because neither of you thought the blind date would go anywhere." His voice was a little smug.

"It hasn't gone anywhere yet. This is literally just our second date." You rolled your eyes. "But we have been texting all weekend and he sent me a good morning text."

Jimin gasped, "That's so cute, I want someone to do that for me."

"Don't worry, Jimin, we'll get Namjoon to house train Jungkook." Hoseok quipped just as you switched to the other leg.

Laughter burst out of you before you could stop it, and a glance at Jimin's once again bright red face only made you laugh harder.

* * *

It was deadly silent between you and Namjoon as you walked out of the cinema. Finally you couldn't take it anymore.

"I'm sorry but," You started, laughing a little. "That was one of the worst romantic comedies I have ever seen."

"Oh thank God," He breathed in relief. "I thought it was just me."

"Nope, that was such bullshit. She chose her childhood bully? Okay, I can see the appeal of someone becoming a better person, but really? She'd have been better off with the post boy that gave her advice."

"I know right." Namjoon grinned, moving his hands a little as he spoke. "I'm surprised she didn't need years of therapy after everything he did to her."

You snort, humming in agreement. "Especially that humiliation by dumping ice cream on her head. You know what, I think he needs therapy too. That was such a waste of perfectly good ice cream. What on earth did his mother teach him?"

"I feel worse for the best friends though. You could see that they really liked each other, but never did anything because the two main characters had the whole rivalry thing going on. Which turned out to be some really backwards courting." He said with a light frown.

You nodded, "Yeah it was kind of shitty that they left that opened ended, but I get it. That might just be the most realistic part of the movie."

“A sequel about them might be nice.” Namjoon said and you nodded.

You looked down at his hand, wondering it was to soon to hold it. Then you decided to just go for it. No one ever got anywhere by being scared anyways. So, you took his hand, holding your breath until he moved his hand a little to lace your fingers together. You looked up at him, returning the shy smile he gave you.

Your stomach was feeling fluttery and your heart beat just a fit faster than normal.

"Hey, do you want ice cream? All that ice cream in the movie has given me a craving."

Namjoon nodded, "Sure. I think there's an ice cream shop in the food court."

You two walked to the food court, chattering about this and that, entwined hands swinging lightly between you.

* * *

"So, how do you feel about the aquarium?" Namjoon asked when you two were eating lunch that next Tuesday. It is the first time you two has seen each other since your movie date the previous Saturday.

"Uh..."

His smile dimmed a little, "It's okay if you don't like it, I was just asking."

"No, no, it's not that." You were quick to assure him.

"Y/N, it's really okay. I was just asking." Namjoon placed a hand on yours, squeezing to assure you.

"It's not that. Seriously. I just - and you're not allowed to laugh at me, okay? - but I haven't been to an aquarium since I was like a really tiny kid. And I don't really know much except the obvious." You were the one to ramble for once.

"Okay, that's not a problem. I know enough for both of us." Namjoon smiled brightly at you. "So, do you want to go on Saturday? With me?"

"Can we do it on Friday, instead? Jimin has been on my ass because I haven't been out with him and Taehyung in weeks."

"Yeah, sure." Namjoon nodded, still smiling, but looking a little unsure. "So, how did you and Jimin become friends? I think Hobi's mention him before, he dances with you guys, right?"

“Yup.” You nodded, smiling at the memory of meeting Jimin. “We met at the beginning of the year. See, I was put in school by my over enthusiastic parents a year early, so I graduated a year early. Most people in my classes are a year older than me, and when Jimin came in this year, it turned out that we were the same age and we kind of bonded over that. And with Jimin comes Taehyung, they're like a package deal. Just don't ever ask them if they're a thing because I made that mistake once and never again."

"So, are they?" Namjoon frowned. "A thing, I mean."

"Nope, but they are platonic soulmates and there is a whole discussion about it that you are welcome to enter with them as long as I'm not anywhere near." You told him. "And Jimin is in love with this high school junior who is really shy but really cute, and Taehyung has a lot of girlfriends. Not in the more than one at a time kind, more like a new one each time you see him. Anytime someone asks him about it, all he says is that he’s a very passionate person, but he never hurts them, so I mind my own business."

"Sounds nice." He commented.

"It is and they are." You grinned as an idea suddenly hit you. "Do you want to meet them?"

"What?"

"Yeah, like meet my friends. You can bring Hoseok and your other friends too."

"You sure?"

"Absolutely. It'll be fun." You clapped your hands in excitement.

"Okay."

* * *

"I can not, for the life of me, understand why either of you are so interested in my love life." You deadpanned, shaking your head at Hoseok and Jimin - the three of you laying down on the dance floor, sweaty and breathless.

"Because Namjoon won't tell me anything." Hoseok whined, passing the water bottle to Jimin.

"And I'm tragically single, so I have to live through you." Jimin added before gulping down water.

You sighed, "What do you want to know?"

"I heard that you two ate lunch together yesterday, is it true?" Hoseok asked, wide smile on his face.

You frowned at him, "How do you- you know what? Nevermind, I don't want to know. Yes, it's true. And he asked me out again." By the time you were finished talking, your smile matched Hoseok's.

"Nice," Jimin handed the bottle to Hoseok, who handed it to you. "Where's he taking you?"

"The aquarium." You answered dutifully, gulping down some of the water.

Hoseok tensed next to you, sitting up right, you and Jimin following suit. "Uh, are you sure that's a good idea? I mean, don't get me wrong, or anything but Namjoon can get a little overexcited when near anything with marine life."

"I don't understand what you mean." You frowned, a little confused.

"Well, he's a genius. Like, literally. He remembers nearly anything he reads and he reads a lot about marine biology. And he will most likely talk your ears off about anything he sees." Hoseok said, biting his lip. "Most people don't like it, or they find it rude because he talks to much. It's why his last girlfriend broke up with him, she said he talks more about it than her."

"Isn't that's kind of the point of going on dates? To get to know someone and decide from there if you like them and want to know more." You asked, shrugging a little.

"Yeah," Hoseok smiled widely, clearly relieved. "Yeah, it is."

Jimin looked at you with a smirk, "Does this mean you like him already?"

"Oh, piss off." You groaned as Jimin and Hoseok burst out laughing.

* * *

"Are you sure this is okay?" Namjoon asked as the two of you stood in line to buy your tickets to enter the aquarium the next Saturday. He was wearing a loose grey v-neck with a pair of black skinny jeans and more than once had your attention been drawn down to his long legs ever since he showed up in front of your dorm room. He had enveloped you in a tight hug, the moment you opened the door and didn't let go until your phone dinged, signaling your Uber arrived. You liked it very much.

The question made you look at him with a light frown, "Why wouldn't it be?"

"Most people wouldn't really think of an aquarium as a date location." Namjoon said, looking a little put off by that fact.

"You bring all the girl's here then?" You teased, wanting him to relax a little, but all it did was make him tense up even more.

"No. Well, I guess, but not in the way you think. I mean, I did take my last girlfriend out to one but that was just to show her what I'm passionate about. I just," He stumbled over his words, not sure how to phrase it. "It's not something I use to get girls. It usually scares them off, as a matter of fact."

"So, you're trying to scare me off, huh?" You couldn't help your dry tone, mostly teasing but a smidgen of worry climbed into your heart.

His eyes widened, panicking a little. "No, no, that's not what I'm trying to do."

"Really?" You asked, an unexpected surge of hope going through you.

"Yeah, really. Look, I like you. And I just thought that I need you to know this side of me before I can like you even more and you end up getting scared off by it." Namjoon told you and to stared at him, stunned.

Then you smiled and blurted, "I like you too."

"Good, that's really good." He sighed in relief.

"Also, if I didn't want to come, I wouldn't have. Nobody can make me do anything I don't want to." You tell him, smiling when his shoulders finally relaxed.

You two buy your entrance tickets and go inside and just like Hoseok said, Namjoon starts talking your ear off about most of the marine animals you come across, but instead of feeling annoyed or irritated, you just feel an enormous amount of fondness. Which was a little surprising. And every time he turns to look at you, that sparkle in his eyes, your hearts speeds up a little and your stomach flip-flops pleasantly.

"So, why dancing?" Namjoon asked out of the blue, when you guys made your way to the outdoors food court at lunch time.

You looked at him in surprise, this was the first time that he's said something that wasn't marine related. Not that you minded. He has a really soothing voice, very nice to listen too. You took a deep breath, "Ever since I was little, I've loved to dance. I just, I would hear a beat and my body would move with it. I decided pretty young on that I want to spend my whole life doing this. My parents always hoped that I would grow out of it, they never approved because it's not a proper career. We had a big fight when I left last year and I haven't spoken to them ever since. But it's my passion, it's what I love. I have hope though, that one day they'll accept it. They haven't cut me off yet and they are still paying my tuition, so I guess they don't completely hate me."

"That's rough." He said sympathetically as you two walked to a food truck. The conversation between you comes to a halt while you order and wait for your food. When you're seated at a picnic table, across from each other, Namjoon says, "You know, they're your parents, they could never hate you."

"Okay, yeah, maybe not hate." You agreed with a nod. "But they’re definitely disappointed."

"I don't know why though. I can't talk about your dancing, because I've never seen you dance, although Hoseok is always full of praises and awe, but you as a person, I do know. Kind of. And you are one of the best people I've ever met and they should be proud of who they raised."

"Thanks, Namjoon, that's really sweet and I wish it was that simple, but unfortunately it's not." You smile at him, a little sad.

"Why can't it be?" He asked, and you can tell he's a little confused.

"My family, uh, how to phrase this without sounding arrogant?" You give a humorless chuckle, deciding to just say it. "They're rich. Really rich. My parents owns one of the biggest law firms in the country and I am an only child. I was supposed to take the reins over from them, but I've never wanted to do that and if they haven't forgiven me by now, I don't think they're gonna do it anytime soon."

Namjoon's expression falls a little during your explanation, but you don't notice, keeping our eyes down cast on your meal.

"I don't know what to say." He admitted, voice soft and gentle. "I do hope it gets better though."

"Thanks." You look up from your food to smile at him. "Sorry, this isn't exactly second date conversation material."

He raises a brow, "Oh yeah, and what exactly does the dating manual say when is the right time to talk about what?"

You can tell by his tone that he's teasing and it works because a smile breaks through on the corners of your lips. "Fair enough."

After that, you notice that Namjoon has become more subdued. It gets a little better once you're back inside the aquarium and he's telling you all sorts of facts about sharks and stingrays, but some of the shine of the sparkle in his eyes has definitely dimmed. It isn't until he has walked you all the way up to your dorm that you ask him about it. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong." Namjoon gives you a smile and you see right through. It terrifies you a little, how much you know of him after just two dates. "I just don't think we should see each other again."

Your stomach drops, so does your entire face. It feels like someone knocked the wind from you.

"Why?" Your voice is surprisingly steady, not showing any of what you are feeling.

"Hoseok must have not told you, but I'm not like you. I don't come from money. My parents works hard to make ends meet and to take care of my siblings. I am here on a scholarship and I have a shitty job at an ice cream parlor. We don't fit, Y/N."

You look at him like he's grown a second head, "Who the fuck even cares about that stuff?"

"Your parents do, remember." He says, giving you a pointed look and reminding you of your conversation earlier that day.

"I don't care!" You voice raises a little and you take a breath to calm down. "It's my life and I get to choose and I choose you."

Before he can go on any further, you stand on your tiptoes and pull him down by the neck to kiss him. He doesn't hesitate to kiss back and you melt against him when he wraps his arms around you. He pulls away first, both of you are breathless and you feel like you might float away if it wasn't for his hold on you.

He whispers your name and you just know that you're going to fall in love with him. If you haven't started too already.

* * *

The next day it was the big day. Okay, maybe it's not that big of a deal, but it's been a while since you've introduced someone to your friends and strangely you don't remember ever being this nervous about it.

"It's going to be fine." You mutter to yourself, looking in the mirror one last time before grabbing your jacket and leaving your dorm. You all but skip down the stairs and then quickly make your way to the nearest bar where you, Jimin and Taehyung usually hung out. It wasn't to far the dorms and it wasn't expensive either - the perfect place for broke students to hang out. You smile widely when you see Namjoon waiting for you outside, like the gentleman that he is. He hasn't noticed you yet and you decide to look him over. Maroon button up, tucked into a pair of dark grey form fitting jeans with a pair of sneakers. As you neared him, you let out a wolf whistle.

His head, along with a few others who were loitering outside the bar, turned to you and you watched as a smile lit up his face. You stopped in front of him, grinning, "You look hot."

"Thank you." He ducked his head, smile turning sheepish as his ears burned. You barely resisted the urge to coo at him. "You look very pretty. I mean, beautiful."

"Thank you." You returned the sentiment with a light chuckle. "Come on, let's go inside before Taehyung comes out here." You smiled at him, taking his hand, warmth making your heart beat spread up a bit when he laced your fingers and squeezed your hand.

Inside, you were tackled into a hug. You let go of Namjoon's hand to hug back, laughing at your hyper friend. "Nice to see you, too, Tae."

"I missed you, it's been a while." He said, pulling away from you and stepping right in front of Namjoon. You resisted the urge to facepalm because while they are almost the same height, Namjoon is like twice Taehyung's size. "You hurt her, I hurt you."

"I'll let you." Namjoon said, expression unwavering as he didn't brake Taehyung's stare.

Finally, Taehyung grinned. "In that case, it's very nice to meet you. I'm Taehyung."

Namjoon cracked a smile and relaxed, "I'm Namjoon."

"Oh, I know." Taehyung quipped with a smirk. "I heard all about you from Jimin, who heard all about you from our dearest Y/N here."

"Shut up, Tae." You groaned, cheeks burning, grabbing Namjoon's hand and looking around the bar, sighing in relief as you spotted Jimin and Hoseok, pulling Namjoon along with you.

"So, you talk about me?" Namjoon asked, a slight smirk on his lips.

Ignoring your burning cheeks, you gave him a deadpan look. "I like you. Is it really that much of a surprise to you that I talk to my friends about you?"

"No," He shook his head. "I do it too."

"Then why is Hoseok always complaining that you never tell him anything?" You retorted with a raised eyebrow.

He snorted, "Because I don't tell him. I love him, don't get me wrong, but he knows you and he is terrible at keeping things to himself."

"Y/N! Namjoon!" A familiar voice exclaimed.

"Speak of the angel..." You sing-songed. "Hey Hoseok."

"Hey." He was grinning, like always, and fixed his gaze on Namjoon. "The guys are already here. I mean, my friends is your friends, so I just joined everyone together."

Next to you, Namjoon looked highly amused. "How many drinks have you had already?"

"Not much." He said and that's when you saw it. The flushed cheeks plus the drink in his hands. "I just got a few shots from some of my other friends from other facilities."

"Uh-huh." Namjoon nodded disbelievingly.

You arrive at the table, Jimin standing to give you a hug as Taehyung sat down next to a girl. You smiled at her, "You must be Hye-ji."

She frowned at you, "No, I'm Yeona."

“Oh, I'm sorry.” You grinned apologetically, elbowing Jimin, who was snickering next to you. You lowered your voice to a whisper as you glared at him, "I thought the latest one was Hye-ji."

"It was, they split two days ago because she hates cats." Jimin was still snickering, so you elbowed him again.

"Jesus Christ." You muttered and glared at a smirking Taehyung.

Shaking it off, you looked at the four new faces at the table, who must have been Namjoon's friends. You smiled at them, waving. "Hi, I'm Y/N."

Namjoon took a step forward. "Well, these are my friends, Jin, Yoongi, Jackson, Mark and you already know Hoseok."

"Nice to meet all of you." You said, hoping that they'd like you.

Two hours later, it certainly seemed like your friends getting along perfectly – the alcohol was definitely helping. You and Namjoon were sitting next to each other, holding hands. You were giggling, well on your way to tipsy, as Jimin, who sat on your other side, told the story of how you and Taehyung got stuck in an elevator together a few weeks ago. It was just before you met Namjoon.

"It's wasn't my fault." Taehyung pouted.

"Rightttt." You drawled. "Because it was me who wanted to see what happened when you press every single button at once, even the emergency one."

"What can I say, I'm curious by nature." He smiled and you scoffed.

"I should have taken the stairs with Jimin." You said, leaning against Namjoon as the rest of them laughed.

"Why didn't Jimin take the elevator?" Namjoon asked, his hot breath hitting your ear and neck. A shiver climbed up your spine and you cleared your throat, suddenly feeling hot all over.

"He's afraid of elevators." You answered, turning to Namjoon and noticed how the space between you wasn't much.

"Why?" He asked, wetting his lips with his tongue. You're eyes followed the motion.

"I don't know," You answered distractedly, leaning closer and closer. "He didn't want to talk about it when I asked."

Namjoon's lips were just in your reach, when suddenly icy cold went down your back.

You reared back from Namjoon with a loud yelped, "Jesus, fuck. Park Jimin, I'm going to kill you."

You pulled your shirt away from your back, shaking out the ice cubes he poured down your back. You could hear the laughed from the rest of the table and if it happened to someone else, you might have found it funny too.

Jimin, the idiot, was smirking at you. "I thought you might want to cool off a bit."

"Oh, fuck off." You scowled, grabbing one of the stray ice cubes and launching it at his forehead.

Later that night, Namjoon was walking you back to your dorm, both of you a little tipsy, but not drunk. Your hands were joint and swinging between you as you walked, the cool night air heaven against your warm skin.

"So, that went well, don't you think?" You grinned at him, completely giddy.

"Yeah, very well." He agreed, smile matching yours.

You hummed happily, mind bringing up something you’ve been thinking about earlier that day while you worked on some projects while doing laundry in-between. "Have you ever been ice-skating? I was thinking that we could go for our next date."

"Will you be my girlfriend?" He blurted suddenly and you stopped in your tracks, turning to him with wide eyes. It took you a second to decide.

"Yes." You nodded, no hesitation in your tone as you leaned forward to do what you've been wanting to do all evening. You kissed him, and he kissed back, long and deep.

"I could get used to that." You murmured when you pulled apart, out of breath, heart thumping wildly in your chest.

"Me too." He said, both of you smiling widely.

You realized that for the first time in a long while, you weren't just happy or content with life, you were euphoric. And it was all thanks to this man in front of you.

“So, ice-skating?” You asked, still holding hands with your new boyfriend. Boyfriend. It made you want to squeal out loud.

“We could try.” Namjoon nodded, grin matching yours.

You two start walking again, sometimes chattering, sometimes silent, but always happy to be around each other. You look up at the night sky.

The stars was gleaming above, you knew, even though you couldn’t see them because of the city lights. Just like you knew your and Namjoon’s relationship could only get better from here.

the end.

#namjoon x reader #namjoon x you #namjoon x oc #namjoon x y/n #namjoon #kim namjoon x you #kim namjoon x y/n #kim namjoon x reader #blind date #strangers to lovers #bts fic #bts namjoon #bts #bangtan #bangtan fanfic #kim namjoon

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yukiobeyme · 4 years ago

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Okay but hear me out... Flower Shop/Tattoo Shop AU with DiaLuci (Spoiler I only really want to write one scene with this idea but have the full lore and world build of it)

Lucifer owns the flower shop, Lucifer’s Crocosmia (Maybe Devildom’s Crocosmia because Lucifer’s Crocosmia could honestly mean Lucifer’s Lucifer and while a moon moon reference would be funny...). But anyways, Lucifer has been there for years at this point. His brothers stop by, mostly Beel for muscle help and Belphie usually tags along for “moral” support. Mammon just comes to complain and Levi is usually dragged there. Asmodeus loves going and checking out all the flowers and buying bouquets for himself. Satan comes in with unusual request, “How would I make a bouquet that says I could have loved you but we are enemies.” but at least he got spirit and will help Lucifer during Holiday seasons when the story gets more requests.

The Building beside the shop has seen many tenants, most only lasting for 3 months. It’s been a bakery, coffee shop and the last owner made it a tattoo shop. It actually last the longest at a year and a half, something Lucifer is still surprised by. Though when the for sale sign showed up Lucifer wasn’t surprised either. But he was surprised how quickly the place was bought and now during his quiet mornings are filled with loud music and construction noises. Lucifer tried to breath through it but the music was against the shared wall and he hated it. He turns up his classical music and has the speakers facing the wall. Satan stops in that day, bringing coffee and just laughing at Lucifer.

Diavolo owns a tattoo shop, Royal Art and Design (No me reusing my own headcanon material) and is quiet happy he finally has a shop in Devildom sector of town. Diavolo makes notes of where the local non corporation coffee shop is and then notices the flower shop beside his store. He only looked in the windows because he saw movement, he almost spills his coffee everywhere because of the gorgeous man inside. Raven-Color hair, red-eyes, tall and practically meeting all of Diavolo’s standards. Diavolo quickly goes back into his shop when he thinks the man is going to look out the window. Diavolo definitely talks Barbatos ear off about the man. Diavolo ends up buying coffee and baked goods to bring to the flower shop on the Tattoo’s shop opening day, to say hi to the neighbor, because honestly Diavolo has meet everyone else on the block and he wants to see the man again.

Lucifer is surprised someone coming into his shop so early and is taken back when he sees a tall broad shoulder man, covered in tattoos and with face piercings. Lucifer can’t help but check him out a little, the man is right in front of him.

“I’m Diavolo, owner of the tattoo shop next door, Royal Art and Design,” offering Lucifer a coffee then his hand to shake, Lucifer is able to collect and introduce himself. He tries not to gag on the first sip of coffee, it was overly sweet and Lucifer bets the coffee has almost a cup of cream. They talk about lots of generic stuff, stuff Lucifer isn’t for, but it seems like Diavolo just doesn’t want to leave.

Anyways that isn’t the last Lucifer sees of Diavolo. If his shop is open when Diavolo walks by, Diavolo always pops in to say hello and then Mammon decides to get a tattoo from their and they somehow landed on the topic of Lucifer. Diavolo gets to go over and talk about meeting Lucifer’s brother, honestly just an excuse to see Lucifer. The Mammon is rambling about Diavolo and how good his tattooing skills are.

“I brought coffee,”

Lucifer is dreading it because as much as he wants coffee, he doesn't want Diavolo’s oversweet drink he calls coffee. But he is surprised to taste bold and bitterness of the beans. Lucifer hums contently before he realizes it

“Mammon told me you take it black, no sugar, you should have told me sooner!”

Lucifer just mumbles a thank you but from then on when Diavolo brings a coffee for him its just the way he likes it and it brings a smile on his face.

“You have to try these plum sugar pastries”

“Those are my favorite,”

Diavolo is beaming when Lucifer takes a pastry and happily munches on it. Queue Diavolo bringing over Barbatos’ deserts and pastries for Lucifer to try.

“He made too much Lucifer just take them,”

Then one day Lucifer is swamped with Valentine’s day orders and Diavolo stops by and is confused/surprised to see Lucifer so flustered. He has books scattered everywhere and seems to be looking for something. That’s when Diavolo learns that flowers have meanings and Lucifer has been given vague messages to put into bouquets that are just standard roses. Diavolo then starts asking more questions about flowers meanings.

“What do Crocosmia mean?

“hm? Crocosmia?”

“Yea you know Devildom’s Crocosmias?”

“Oh well, Crocosmias are Lucifer’s flower but also represent confidence, feelings of love and deep emotions,”

“ah interesting, what other flowers mean love?”

“countless, you need to be more specific,”

Lucifer isn’t upset to find out Diavolo is in love for someone or that what he tells himself. he can’t help but feel jealous, it was silly of him for thinking Diavolo bringing him coffee, food, and making sure to say hello whenever he could.

That is until he sees Diavolo enter his shop all nervous and even stumbling over his words before Diavolo thrusts a bouquet at Lucifer. There are Red tulips (declaration of love from someone who is begging the recipient to believe them when they confess their love), crocosmias, and Purple Roses (enchantment). Lucifer can tell it wasn’t made by a professional and then Diavolo confesses he tried to look up what he wanted to say but he isn’t Lucifer. The best he could do was get flowers that said You have enchanted me and I am confident I love you/ have deep feelings for you and I hope you believe me.

“I’m hoping I am speaking a language you understand,”

Lucifer doesn’t even know how to reply, he is beyond touch. He displays the flowers proudly and shushes any of Satan’s comment on the poorly made bouquet because it was made with love.

Lucifer being Lucifer has a hard time expressing his feelings, and most times Lucifer defaults into sending Diavolo Flowers, which are always displayed at the front of the shop. After Diavolo looked up all the flowers meanings and melted from what sweet words Lucifer decided to tell him.

#flower shop AU #obey me Dialuci #has this been done yet?#someone take my computer and au away from me #calling this Speaking your Language #cause Lucifer would totally talk in flowers to Diavolo instead of words #long post #yuki rambles

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litniche · 4 years ago

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For as Long as We Both Shall Live

Damie Fic, Read on ao3

From a few pews back on the bride’s side of the aisle, Flora didn’t look at all splendid. She looked perfect. She was beaming. Her eyes shone and her grin split her features as the groom recited his portion of the vows.

“I take you to be my lawful wife.”

Jamie balanced too many things in her hands as she tried to unlock the door upon arriving home. Like her, the thing was stubborn. Ultimately, she gave up and jammed the manila envelope she held in one hand into her mouth, holding it gingerly between her lips as she finally managed to twist the key and the knob at the same time--the trick to it.

“Well the queue was shite!” she called into the home, knowing Dani will have been home by now, “but I’ve got it. Our union is officially civil.” The gardener smiled at the notion, and tossed the documentation onto the catch-all by the door.

“To have and to hold,”

Dani had put on that movie again--the one Jamie couldn’t remember the name of, but knew had Audrey Hepburn. Dani couldn’t seem to get enough of the woman. Jamie might be jealous, but she wasn't the possessive type. Besides, as she curled up next to Dani, weaving their legs together as she opened a book, it turned out she needn't be. Audrey was good, but she couldn’t make Dani laugh the way Jamie could. As Dani grinned and chuckled at the movie, Jamie felt a small smile find its way to her lips. She planted a gentle kiss to the former au pair’s chest before leaning further into the woman to rest her head there. She felt Dani’s head rest atop hers. Dani’s heartbeat was strong and steady, and at peace.

“From this day forth,”

Jamie shook her head. She was already halfway home from the Manor. There was no point in turning around to go back now. She’d see Dani tomorrow or soon enough. Why go back now? Besides, the woman was clearly not ready to start anything. Though, if Jamie were being honest with herself, she knew that wasn’t true. The au pair was haunted--literally haunted. Her ex was taking up space in her life that he no longer had claim to. That wasn’t Dani’s fault. Jamie found herself thinking she would gladly chase away his dark shadow. Because Dani was ready. Every brush of Dani’s hand, every smile, every laugh, every mind-blowing kiss, and every tangential remark about a certain pub located just below a certain flat, was a gesture. Dani was ready. She’d made it pretty clear, in more ways than the gardener could count.

The problem remained: was the gardener ready? Up until now, Jamie fancied herself a lone wolf of sorts. People simply weren’t worth it. Plants took your devotion, your time, and they showed you something for it. From leafling to bloom, they rewarded your every effort. People, on the other hand, were more likely to punish you for it. Right now, her life was good. Boring. Dull. Of little consequence. But good.

So why turn around? Why go back to Bly Manor? Why ask Owen to stick around (because, let’s face it, Hannah was less and less there these days and someone needed to watch the kids if Jamie was going to steal Dani away)?

At last, the gardener paused on the road, because she finally knew the answer to her questions. Why go back? It was simple: it had been a rough day. Maybe Jamie’s life was good because it was boring, but what about Dani? The au pair could use a bit of boredom-- a break from far too much excitement that life was determined to send her way. From this day forth, Jamie had a strange feeling she’d fancy being that bit of boredom.

“For better,”

“‘I’ll have no problem setting up the bed, Dani!’” the former au pair quoted the gardener, eyeing her with accusatory daggers and gesturing toward the very-much-unfinished bed setup.

The gardener was busted. She had zero excuses. Quite simply, she’d forgotten to set up the bed, distracted by the far more interesting needs of their new shop, The Leafling. By the time she’d remembered the bed, and read the paltry leaflet of instructions, she’d discovered the bed's setup was more of a two-man job. Or, two-woman job, as it were.

“I’m sorry,” she started, giving Dani a sheepish, pleading look. She stepped forward, encircling the blonde in her arms and going for that spot on Dani’s neck that she knew Dani couldn’t resist. Before long, Dani giggled and the gardener could practically feel Dani’s eyes rolling, but her arms wrapped around Jamie’s shoulders as she laughed. The gardener held the woman even closer, slipping one leg between the other woman’s as one of Dani’s hooked around her hip.

“I’m sorry!” Jamie said again, chuckling.

“Better be,” Dani laughed out the empty threat.

“For worse,”

Something was wrong. Something had been wrong for a while, but Dani wasn’t telling her what it was. Here they were, about to be ‘officially civil,’ and Dani was pulling away. Jamie could feel it. She could feel every inch of Dani slipping away from her, but the woman wouldn’t tell her what was happening. And Jamie was afraid to ask. But that wouldn’t do, would it?

“ Are we going to talk?” Jamie finally managed to say, drying a pan Dani had handed her as the blonde scrubbed at a plate.

Dani was silent, scrubbing harder and refusing to look at Jamie.

Jamie closed her eyes for the briefest of seconds, disallowing the hurt to sink in. “I’ll take that as a ‘no’,” she said, and turned to put away the dish.

The gardener turned back to look at Dani, but the blonde didn’t appear to be staring at the water to ignore her--she looked possessed. Suddenly, Dani gasped and stood back, dropping the plate so that it shattered all over the kitchen.

“Jesus!” Jamie stepped toward the blonde, her brows furrowed with worry. “What’s going on? Are you okay?”

Dani was still staring at the sink; her breathing was irregular and heavy, like she was running from something, and tears trailed down her cheeks. “I saw-- I saw her,” she whispered. “She’s there.”

No. Not yet. No.

Jamie checked the sink and then looked back at Dani. “What did you see?” she asked.

“Her,” Dani whispered still. “I keep seeing her.”

“Okay,” Jamie nodded slightly. “Right.” She stepped over the larger shards of the plate and hurried to turn off the sink, letting the water drain. “Okay, it’s gone,” she said, hoping to reassure Dani. Everything would be fine. It had to be.

“Is it?”

“It’s okay.”

Dani just shook her head as she finally made eye contact with Jamie, a horrible expression of fear written all over her beautiful face.

Jamie shook her head, too. She refused to let this happen--to stand idly by. “You’re going to be okay,” she said. “You can’t think the worst, all right? Okay?”

“Jamie,” Dani whispered, unconvinced, and her gaze drifted once more.

“We don’t know what this means!” Jamie said with desperation now. “We--We could have so many more years together.” She held Dani’s face, trying to regain eye contact. “Dani,” she scanned the woman’s face, “we could have so many more years.”

The gardener didn’t know whether she was trying to convince Dani or herself at this point, but at last, Dani nodded.

“Okay? We’ll keep an eye on it,” Jamie said lamely, “and it’ll be fine.”

Dani breathed more easily now, and watched Jamie’s words form on her lips, as if concentrating on them would make them true.

“Okay? It’s going to be okay,” Jamie reassured her. She held Dani’s face in both hands, then rubbed her shoulders in an attempt to soothe away her fears. “I’ll do the washing up from now on. Yeah?” She cocked her head, saying “You’re shit at it anyway.”

Dani laughed. She laughed, and it was as if the air returned to the room. It would be okay, just like Jamie had told her. It had to be. They could have so many more years.

“For richer or for poorer”

Dani was biting her lip and carding her fingers through her bangs as she bent over receipts and invoices atop the counter in The Leafling . Her eyes - one brown, one blue - scanned her notepad as she double-checked her work and a smirk started to tease at her lips. “I can feel you watching me.”

Jamie’s brows arched as she played with a bit of baby’s breath, not really doing anything. “Oh you can, can you?”

Dani made a final swipe at their bank book with her pen before closing it, evidently finished. “Yep,” she said with a pop at the end. Her smirk was fully on display now and was downright devious. Jamie might have to figure out a way to wipe it off that beautiful face. For the moment, she watched as Dani crossed one leg over the other on her stool, her legs on full display beneath a little black velvet skirt.

Jamie’s eyes trailed their way from those far-too-tempting limbs up Dani’s form until their eyes met each other. Dani was practically grinning now. The Yank knew exactly what she was doing to the poor gardener. “And what if I like staring at you?” Jamie asked.

Dani’s grin disappeared beneath her teeth as she bit her lip in response. Anyone save Jamie might not have noticed that her eyes became darker and her chest moved up and down a little quicker as her breathing sped up.

It was the middle of the day and though things hadn’t picked up in the shop just yet, Jamie was expecting a rush. It was Valentine’s Day, after all, and Americans loved spending their money to show each other how much they care. At any moment, they might have been interrupted, and that was the only reason Jamie was still only staring. She could feel her own breath quicken and she made a conscious effort to remind herself that as soon as they closed, it was her and Dani’s Valentine’s Day, too.

“You seem in good sorts,” Jamie said and flailed to change the subject, “are the books looking good?”

Dani sighed, carding her fingers through her hair before leaning onto the counter. “They’re fine. We’re not poor, but we’re not rich.”

The gardener shrugged. “I’ll take it,” she said, turning back to one of their ready-to-go Valentine’s Day bouquets of red roses and baby’s breath to fiddle with its arrangement for the eighteenth time. Idle hands.

Jamie shiverred when a pair of arms wrap around her waist from behind. Dani caught one of her ears between her teeth gently before she whispered, “I’ll take you,” in a teasing manner.

Laughing and scrunching her nose in mock disapproval of the lame word play, Jamie stopped to hold Dani’s arms in place. They rocked back and forth, and Dani sprinkled soft kisses across Jamie’s shoulders. “I love you,” she whispered.

They could have watered the entire shop’s worth of flowers from the puddle those words had just made Jamie. “I love you, too, Poppins.”

“In sickness and in health,”

Dani looked ready for war. Upon returning from the drug store and banging around in the kitchen, she appeared armed with vapor rub, cough drops, nasal spray, warm wash cloths, honey and citrus tea (made under strict instructions Jamie had once left on a note on the fridge), tissues, and most of all, very big and very worried eyes. Jamie almost felt more sorry for Dani than for herself.

“You know, it’s just a cold, Poppins,” she said from the bed.

“You don’t get sick,” Dani said, and she frowned. She sat beside Jamie on the edge of the bed. “We’ve had The Leafling for years and I don’t think I remember you skipping one day of work before this.” She worried her lip as she looked down at the warm wash cloth she was folding.

Humoring her, Jamie closed her eyes and let the woman dampen her forehead. Then she let Dani apply the pungent vapor rub to her chest--that bit wasn’t so bad. Pillows were fluffed and her temperature was taken. Jamie drew the line, though, when Dani made as if to apply a tissue to Jamie’s nose for her to blow.

“I’m fine, Poppins. Honestly. I just need a day taking it easy. I’ll be back down in the shop tomorrow, love.”

The former au pair shook her head. “Only if you’re better.”

“I’ll be better,” Jamie assured her. She reached for Dani’s hand and linked their pinkies before bringing them to her lips so she could kiss her own thumb in a promise.

“Well, it’s a Tuesday. The shop shouldn't be that busy anyway, so I’ve left a note with our number in case anyone needs something. Meantime, I’ll keep you company.” She smiled and tucked a strand of Jamie’s hair behind an ear. “Can I get you anything else?”

The gardener nodded her head and curled a finger to direct the woman to come closer. Concern in her eyes, Dani hovered above Jamie as she waited for instructions. Instead, Jamie pulled her down on top of her, grinning when she heard Dani giggle with an “oof!” It made her laugh and that caused a bit of a coughing fit that made Dani spring back as if she’d scorched the gardener with a hot fire-poker. “I’m so sorry!”

“Oh baby, come here,” Jamie managed. She patted the spot next to her. “I swear to you, I’m fine.”

“Well, I think you should rest.” “Good, you’re my favorite pillow. Don’t make a sick woman ask again.”

Dani rolled her eyes, but climbed into bed after removing her shoes. After settling against the headboard, she guided Jamie to rest on her chest. “Do you want me to put something on? A movie?”

Jamie nodded as she nuzzled further into the woman, closing her eyes. “You pick.”

“I’ve already got a good one in. I’ll just play that one?”

“Sounds perfect,” Jamie said in a haze. She could feel herself drifting.

At some point, Jamie woke up, but it was dark out. She couldn’t tell if it was late evening or the middle of the night. She looked up to see that Dani was still awake. “How long was I out?”

“A few hours. You hungry?”

“A girl could get used to this,” Jamie smiled. She kissed Dani’s chest. “A bit of pasta with butter would sit right, I think.”

“I’ll go make it,” Dani said eagerly. She kissed the top of Jamie’s head and gently extricated herself.

“Dani?” Jamie called.

Dani stopped just before leaving the room. “Hmm?”

“Thank you.”

Dani’s expression softened. She leaned against the doorframe of their bedroom as she smiled at Jamie. “Anytime.”

“...for as long as we both shall live.”

The groom finished his vows and Flora’s grin was still brilliant. It was her turn now, and Jamie remembered all those years ago at Bly Manor--how Flora so enjoyed reciting her own lines. She was surprised Flora hadn’t written her own vows, in fact, but then again it had been many years since the budding theatre artist had written and performed anything as far as the gardener knew.

“She’s beautiful, isn’t she?” Jamie imagined saying to Dani. “Doesn’t she look happy?”

“Like us,” Jamie imagined Dani saying in return. Then she would have weaved their arms together as she leaned in close to her side.

“Like us,” Jamie nodded in agreement with the phantom Dani. She caught Owen’s tear-glistened eye and smiled fondly. The poor sap.

“He’s such a romantic . Always has been ,” Dani would have told her. Jamie could almost imagine the feel of Dani squeezing her hand. “Such as shame he never found anyone again,” Dani might have said.

Jamie disagreed with that. “The vows are ‘for as long as we both shall live,’ love. I don’t think anyone would measure up to Hannah for him. No one could ever measure up to you.”

Dani would have tsked and told her she hadn’t really tried. In truth, Jamie hadn’t. People were exhaustive. Every great once in a while, you might find the walking personification of a moonflower, but she’d already done that. She had experienced so many years of beauty and devotion and love. It hadn’t been enough, but it had been more than she ever thought possible.

The rest of the day blurred from one aspect of ceremony to the next. Before she knew it, Jamie was back in her hotel room. She checked the mirror, then the sink, and even the tub, but knew she would only see herself. With a crack in the door and the lights turned off, she was ready for bed. Or, rather, she was ready for a nap in the chair facing the door. On the off chance Dani might decide to join her, she would be waiting and ready. For as long as she lived.

#bly manor #thobm #dani x jamie #jamie x dani #damie #damie fanfic #damie fic #fanfic #fanfiction #ao3 #damie ao3 #thobm fic #bly manor fic #wlw #lgbtq+#wedding fic #flora wingrave #owen sharma

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leviackermanscleaningbuddy · 4 years ago

Text

BTS DRABBLE

Request: Celebrating Valentine’s Day with BTS

Tags: BTS, Bangtan Boys, Bangtan Seonyeondan, Bulletproof Boyscouts, Beyond the Scene, BTS drabble, Valentine’s Day, BTS x you, Fluff, Boyfriend Au, Husband AU, Seokjin x you, Yoongi x you, Hoseok x you, Namjoon x you, Jimin x you, Taehyung x you, Jungkook x you

Genre: Fluff

Title: Happy Valentine’s Day

KIM SEOKJIN

“I can’t believe we didn’t even get to do anything on Valentine’s this year!” You complain into the phone, as you struggle to adjust your backpack on your shoulders, fumbling for the key to open your apartment door.

“I know, jagi. I’m sorry we were both so busy.” Your boyfriend’s apologetic voice sounds through the phone, as you finally locate the right key and unlock your apartment.

Pushing the door open with a sigh, you adjust the phone at your ear, as you fumble for the light switch on the wall beside the door. “It’s not your fault, Jin. I had school and exams all day and you had practice. The timing just didn’t work out.”

Flipping on the overhead light, you glanced up from setting down your backpack and let out a loud gasp.

“Kim Seokjin! What the hell is this??” You squealed, partly surprised and partly ecstatic, as you glanced around your living room.

The walls of your small apartment were covered in pictures of Jin, from concerts and shows and selfies, and littered among them were pictures of the two of you, pictures you had taken of him and pictures he had taken of you, from dates and nights in and awards shows.

Everything was covered, from floor to ceiling, with mementos of your time spent with Kim Seokjin.

“Jin?” You questioned, mouth still open slightly, as you walked to get a closer look at the pictures, realizing he hadn’t answered your first initial outburst of questions. “When did you have time to do this? And what is it??”

“Surprise?”

You whirled on your heel and dropped the phone in surprise as none other than the man himself sounded from behind you, standing in your open doorway, sheepishly grinning at you, as he held out a gift bag and a large bouquet of roses.

“Holy shit.” You exclaimed in shock, suddenly feeling a little choked up, as you darted across the room to throw your arms around his middle, burying your face in his chest. “I didn’t think I’d get to see you today!”

“I know. Me too.” Jin laughed, the sound rumbling beneath your ear, as you pulled back to look up at him in awe. He leaned over to kiss your lips briefly, before he flashed you another bright grin. “Happy Valentine’s Day, love.”

MIN YOONGI

“Yoongi.” You whine, as you step blindly, your husband’s hands covering your eyes. “I thought we agreed that we don’t do Valentine’s Day.”

“I know, I know.” You hear Yoongi huff from behind you, his breath tickling the back of your neck, as he pulls you to a sudden halt. “But this is different, I promise.”

“What, so you got over your thinking that Valentine’s is just a commercial holiday and now you’re in the holiday spirit?” You grumble beneath your breath teasingly, as you feel him come closer behind you, chest pressed warmly against your back through your jackets.

“Shut up will you?” He mutters good naturedly, before he drops his hands from your eyes to reveal your surprise.

You gasp as your eyes fall onto the small yacht docked before you, glimmering with strung lights, music wafting over the waves toward you, the smell of something cooking drifting to your nose over the smell of the river.

“Min Yoongi, what have you done?” You ask, glancing over your shoulder at him in shock, as he grins at you, the gummy expression sending warmth pooling in your stomach.

“Look, do I need an excuse to plan a romantic evening for my wife?” Yoongi asks, pressing his hand into the small of your back as he steers you down the dock toward the waiting boat. “I don’t believe in this holiday, sure, but I sure as hell believe in spoiling you.”

“No, but seriously.” You stop once more, steps faltering just short of the boat. “What are we doing?”

“Baby.” Yoongi sighs, the sound laced with suffering amusement, as he comes to stand in front of you, eyes dark beneath the brim of the beanie he wears. One side of his mouth quirks up into a soft smile, revealing his teeth and gums once more. “We’re gonna go have a romantic evening on this yacht. Just the two of us. Someone’s gonna cook us dinner, we’re gonna relax, and we’re not gonna worry about anything. Get it?”

You nod, swallowing down another question, as you glance past him once more to the boat, glittering in the dark of the evening. “Okay.”

Yoongi nods, before taking you hand and pulling you with him once more toward the boat, as he says gruffly, “Good. That’s my girl.” He glances at you over his shoulder as he takes the first step up onto the boat. “However, I know you have a dozen more questions, but try to keep them to yourself at least until we leave the dock, okay?”

JUNG HOSEOK

“Listen, woman.” Hobi says, trying to be serious, as you stumble leading him up the stairs blind, giggling as you tug excitedly on his hand. “I don’t like surprises.”

You scoff as you reach the top landing, pushing open the door as you glance over your shoulder at your boyfriend. “That is a downright lie, Jung Hoseok. You’re the biggest damn fan of anything surprise that I know.”

He laughs, grin wide and heart shaped beneath the blindfold you had tied across his eyes earlier when you got out of the car. “You’re right. You got me.”

Pulling him inside the room beyond the door, wooden floor squeaking beneath your sneakers, you bounce in place as you come to stand before him, excitement coursing through you, as you reach up to finger his blindfold.

“Ready?” You ask, glancing over your shoulder at the woman who watches the two of you from in front of the long wall of mirrors, a smile on her features.

“Come on, baby.” Hobi whines, his long fingers covering your own where they hover over the blindfold. “You know I’m not patient.”

Laughing, you rip the blindfold from his eyes, and he blinks several times to clear his vision, glancing around the large, empty dance studio with surprise, before he asks, “A dance studio?”

“Okay, hear me out.” You hold your hands out at your sides, looking at him imploringly, as he focuses back on you. “You’re a great dancer. Everyone knows this. But.” You motion to yourself, as you pull your hoodie over your head to reveal your workout tank beneath, causing Hobi to raise a curious brow in your direction. “I’m not so great. So I thought we could take a couples dance class.”

Hobi’s face lights up, as he catches sight of the dance instructor waiting behind the two of you next to the mirrors. “Really?”

“Really.” You nod, determination on your face. “Dancing is your passion, baby, it’s not mine. But I’m willing to learn so we can do something you love together.”

“Yah!” Hobi sweeps you up into his arms, spinning you around as you start to laugh and beg him to put you down. “This is the best Valentine’s gift I could ask for!” He finally sets you down, steadying you as you regain your balance, as he flashes you a grin full of sunshine. “Thank you, baby. And next, I can take one of those cooking classes with you.”

You chuckle, pulling him toward the mirrors. “One thing at a time, one thing at a time.”

KIM NAMJOON

You glance up at the glittering strings of lights lining the darkened street, still surprisingly bustling for the time of night, before your gaze drifts to the man beside you, large hand held in your own.

“I cannot believe we did this.” You voice again, for the third time that night, as you sigh and lean your head against Namjoon’s shoulder as you walk leisurely down the street.

“I can.” Namjoon says, flashing you a smile, as he shrugs beside you. “You always wanted to visit London. What better day than Valentine’s Day?”

“I know but.” You pull him to a stop, looking at him with a raised brow, as you bite back a smile. “Taking the company’s private jet? Just coming out here on the spur of the moment? That’s kind of ridiculous if you think about it, Kim Namjoon.”

“Well.” He shrugs again, dimples deepening with his lopsided grin, as he pulls you against his side and starts walking once more. “We can do it, so why not?”

There is a comfortable silence for a moment as you continue to walk, the old architecture of downtown London drawing your gazes, the sound of soft music and warm yellow light drifting across the street from a local pub, bustling with late night customers celebrating the weekend.

You sigh again, fingers clasped tightly in your boyfriend’s, and you have to admit, it had been the perfect way to spend the holiday.

“Namjoon.” You say his name softly, the atmosphere of the warm, still night causing your voice to be subdued.

“Hmmm?” He hums under his breath, fingers stroking nonchalantly across your knuckles, as you near the water of the river, the cooler air accentuating the sound of the waves splashing against the concrete wall.

“Thank you for making life so special.”

He looks down at you as you come to a stop beside the river, standing in front of a lone bench, dark and welcoming in the calmness of the night. “You don’t have to thank me, jagi. I could say the same to you.”

You pull him down onto the bench beside you, his arm going around you as you once again rest your head on his shoulder. “Well, thank you anyway. Happy Valentine’s Day, Joonie.”

“Happy Valentine’s Day, jagi.” He responds in turn, brushing a fond kiss across the skin of your forehead.

PARK JIMIN

“Jiminie.” You complain, flopping down onto your bed, letting out a long suffering sigh as you hold your phone up above your head, the video of your boyfriend filling the screen. “It’s not the same without you here.”

“I know, and I’m sorry, baby girl.” Jimin’s voice breaks up over the phone as the facetime video lags momentarily, and then he is back, clear and as beautiful as ever, as he runs a hand through his blonde hair and pulls his full lips into a pout. “Trust me, there’s nothing I’d rather be doing right now than snuggling with you.”

“Nothing?” You ask mischievously, raising a brow at him, as you turn to lay on your stomach, propping your chin up with one of your hands.

“Well, I mean.” He grins dangerously, eyes flitting down the screen to where your pajama shirt gapes slightly, revealing the start of your cleavage. “There’s something else I’d rather be doing, but I can’t talk about it. Jungkook’s here.”

“Hey!” Jungkook’s voice rings out from where he lays on his bed in the background of the video, and you laugh, as he flips Jimin off without looking up from his phone screen. “Get a room, hyung. Preferably one that I’m not in.”

Jimin grins, before turning back to the screen, ruffling his blonde hair once more, as his silver rings glint in the lamp from the bedside table. “Anyway. Did you do anything fun with your roommates? Since I’m not there to spoil you?”

“Ugh. Don’t get me started.” You whine, rolling your eyes. “Lisa had a date and Jennie was here all day with her boyfriend, making out on the couch. I wanted to puke.”

“Ah, baby.” Jimin chuckles, leaning in closer to the screen, pursing his lips as if he’s giving you a sympathetic kiss through the phone. “I’m sorry. But have you considered the fact that maybe you’re simply salty because it’s Valentine’s Day and your boyfriend is millions of miles away?”

“Um, yes.” You say heatedly, trying not to notice how hot said boyfriend looks right now, reclining on the hotel bed, loose white t-shirt showing off enough tan chest that you can imagine everything else in perfect detail. “I had thought of that. But thanks for reminding me once again, Park.”

“Sorry.” He shrugs, before he grows serious, staring at you through the screen of the phone, and suddenly, you feel as if he’s there, even though he’s on another continent. “I swear I’ll make it up to you, baby. Only two more weeks.”

“I know.” You sigh, before mustering up a smile, blowing him a kiss. “I love you, Chim. Happy Valentine’s Day, lover boy.”

He manages an eye crinkling smile for you and returns the kiss. “Happy Valentine’s Day, baby girl. I’ll be back before you know it.”

KIM TAEHYUNG

“Holy shit, Tae, I’m so scared right now.” You whimper, clenching his fingers even more tightly between your own, as you screw your eyes shut and try not to focus on the fact that you’re hundreds of feet above the ground right now.

“Hey, baby.” You feel Taehyung scoot closer to you, his hip brushing yours, fingers never leaving your own. “Look at me, baby.”

You manage to open your eyes, and taking a deep breath, ignoring the faraway ground beneath your feet, you glance over at your boyfriend, who offers you a comforting, boxy smile.

“Listen, okay?” He reaches out to swipe a loose strand of hair back from your forehead, the ropes and equipment of the bungee jumping harness that connects the two of you jingling with his movement, and making your body clench up. “You can do this. I’ll be with you the whole time.”

You take in a deep breath, eyes watering from the wind that is whipping across the platform suspended above the river, and force yourself to keep looking at him and not look down. “I thought this was great idea. Now I’m regretting all my life choices.”

Taehyung waves to the man waiting several feet back on the platform, and your fingers instinctively clench harder onto his, as you feel the rope begin to raise and tighten above your heads, as he shoots you another grin and a wink. “All your life choices?”

“Well.” You gulp, as Taehyung moves closer to you, and the man behind you shouts out that you can jump whenever you’re ready. “Not you, of course.”

“That’s good. I’m relieved.” Taehyung teases, and you wonder, briefly, how he manages to be so jovial and carefree when you’re about to jump blindly off a platform that’s hundreds of feet above the ground. “Baby, listen, okay?” He reaches up, tugging your chin in his direction, so you have to focus on him. “I’m going to count to three.”

“Tae.” You say warningly, heart pounding in your chest, as your fingers reach up to tangle into the straps that stretch across his chest, thinking, vainly, that if you can tug closer to him, maybe you won’t be so terrified.

“I’m going to count to three.” He repeats firmly, hands going up to cover the arches of your cheekbones, long fingers tangling into your hair. “And then I’m going to kiss you, okay?”

“What....” You start to ask, caught off guard, but before you can voice the rest of your question, he has already begun the countdown.

“One.”

Your fingers scrabble at Taehyung’s harness, and one of his hands drop from your face to snake around your waist, pulling you tightly against his body.

“Two.”

His other hand finds purchase on your jaw, lifting your face to his, and you can feel your panicked breaths brushing across his skin.

“Three.”

Taehyung’s mouth covers yours, and then you’re falling into space, the breath sucked from your lungs, and as the bungee cord snaps taut, you’re suddenly swinging across the river below in a wide arc, and Taehyung is releasing you, and all you can feel is exhilaration, as the wind whips your hair and you splay your arms wide.

The arc of the swing dies down, and Taehyung glances over at you, eyes wide and bright with exhilaration and delight, as he asks you, “You okay, baby?”

You nod, still slightly breathless. “Let’s do it again.”

JEON JUNGKOOK

You pull your paddle board up onto the shore beside Jungkook’s, and pushing wet hair back off of your forehead, you grin and say, “That was so fun! Seriously, Kook, this has been the best Valentine’s ever.”

Jungkook glances at you shyly from beneath dark, wet bangs, bunny teeth appearing as he returns your smile, before he replies, “It’s not over yet.”

You look at him curiously, as he carefully moves to wrap a towel around your shoulders, hand finding your own as he leads you back in the direction of the campsite where the warmth of the tent and campfire are waiting.

Shivering slightly now that the sun has set and the air has cooled down, you take a seat on a log that Jungkook covers with a blanket for you, and watch him, as he silently begins to dig through a cooler you hadn’t noticed before in the back of the truck bed.

“What are you doing?” you ask, reaching out of the safe warmth of your towel to grab a handful of chips from one of their bags.

“Cooking.” Jungkook shrugs casually, as he crouches before the fire, breaking up a pack of ramen noodles and placing them into the pot of boiling water he had been preparing.

“You’re cooking for me?” you ask in slight surprise, as he blushes, and nods, before moving to stir the cooking noodles with a wooden spoon. “Kook, that’s so sweet.”

He shrugs once more, glancing at you with a grin before he moves to dump some more things into the pot. “Yoongi hyung has been teaching me a few things so I could prepare.”

Warmth fills your stomach at his words, knowing he has been using his free time to learn how to cook for this special occasion, free time which Jeon Jungkook does not have a lot of.

Jungkook stirs the noodles once more, the ramen starting to scent the air, and nodding to himself, he places the lid back onto the pot and comes around the fire to sit beside you where you’re not leaning against the log, the warmth of the fire having broken the remaining chill left from the lake.

He places his arm around you, and you snuggle closer to the heat of his body, burying your face into his chest as you close your eyes briefly, enjoying his presence and the warmth of the fire and the quiet of the dark forest around the two of you.

“Kook.” You break the silence, and he glances down at you in question, dark eyes reflecting the firelight. “Thank you for today. It was perfect.”

He offers you a soft smile, ducking his head under your praise, before he leans into you, nose going into your hair as he says, voice slightly muffled, “You’re welcome. Thanks for coming with me.”

You laugh, and he grins against your hair, fingers clasping yours warmly beneath the tent of the blanket, as the fire crackles and the soup bubbles in the background.

“Happy Valentine’s day, jagi.” He murmurs, balmy breath stirring your hair.

“Happy Valentine’s day, Kook.” You reply, snuggling deeper against his side if possible as you sigh with contentment. “I love you.”

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