#anyway. they’re roommates and they hate each other | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

starlightkun · 2 months ago

Text

⇢ word count: 16.3k ⇢ genre: fluff, college au, brother's best friend trope, christmas/holiday themed, baseball player!jisung, rich kids!reader and chenle, part of my 2024 hallmark movie marathon ⇢ warnings: chenle and reader are annoying as hell together lol (they love each other but would die before saying ily), everyone’s parents suck!, only minor proof-reading bc i wanted to post for christmas, FAKE pro baseball players mentioned (idk anything abt baseball and was not going to research any real baseball players and be wrong abt them ok) ⇢ extra info: this is part of my 2024 hallmark movie marathon, three short, unrelated fics starring jisung all with cheesy hallmark christmas movie-esque premises. there’s no continuing plotline between fics in this series, they’re all standalone fics ⇢ author’s note: ok so this one isn’t exactly “short” but as always, i got carried away. im just happy i got this one out in time and it didn’t end up being 20k+ lmao. anyway, this is my last fic of my 2024 hallmark movie marathon, and of 2024, and i hope you guys had as much fun reading them as i did writing them! happy holidays and i will be back with even more fics in 2025! ⇢ 2024 hallmark movie marathon

“I know what you’ve been trying to do this whole time. You’re not ‘very into baseball,’ you’re into Jisung.”

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 20

Clicking the ‘submit’ button for your last final paper of the semester, you let out a sigh of relief. You were done, for now. The time in the corner of your laptop read 10:58 p.m. You’d submitted with an hour to spare. Usually, you hated cutting it so close, but four of your five classes this semester had assigned fifteen-page papers, and you wanted to take your time researching, outlining, drafting, and editing all of them before the deadlines.

There were only a few other students scattered around the library so late on the last academic day of the semester. One table away from you was another student, a boy who had also been hard at work on his laptop for the greater part of the past four hours. You had seen him around campus, not in any meaningful way, but enough that his face was familiar to you. And tonight, you had been stealing glances at him—when he let out a groan or a sigh that rang a little too loud in the dead silence, pushed his hoodie off his head to reveal his dark hair and handsome features, or stood up from his chair to go to the vending machine around the corner and walk around the library to stretch his obscenely long legs. Yeah, you’d done a bit of ogling, you also needed a break every now and then.

He was still typing away at his laptop when you had packed up for the night and were heading out, your path taking you right by his table. You were never usually this bold, but maybe it was the rush from finally being done with finals week, or how late it was, but you found yourself stopping next to the end seat the cute boy was occupying.

Upon realizing that you were there, he looked at you with wide, uncertain eyes, slowly taking his headphones off. “Hm?”

“Are you going to be here till closing?” You asked him knowingly, a playful smile on your lips and bag of gummy candy in your hands. You had bought it during a vending machine break earlier in the night but never ended up opening it.

“Oh, I don’t know,” he smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. “I’m hoping only another thirty minutes…”

“Here.” You offered the candies out to him. “I’m done for the night.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.” You set them down next to his laptop. Not wanting to take up any more of his waning time left to submit his assignment, you started off towards the exit again. “Good luck. Have a good break.”

“You too…”

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 21

“You didn’t get his number?!” Your roommate gasped in horror after you told her about the cute guy from the library. She had been asleep when you got home last night, and now the two of you were packing in preparation for your respective winter break plans. Sooyoung was heading back home while you and your brother would be driving to meet your parents at your family’s winter house in the mountains.

“Or his name,” you confirmed sadly. “I mean, the poor guy only had an hour left of the semester to submit whatever he was working on, there was no way he would’ve wanted me wasting it.”

“You have got to find him when we get back.”

“I’ll try,” you agreed.

There was a long honk from outside your dorm, and you rolled your eyes before peering out your window. Sure enough, your brother’s sleek black SUV was outside.

“Alright, I’ll see you in two weeks, Soo.” You hugged your roommate goodbye. Before you could even grab your bag, there was another obnoxiously long honk, followed by a series of shorter honks.

You immediately videocalled your brother.

Chenle picked up, already complaining. “Y/N, hurry up! You always take forever—”

“Shut the fuck up!” You retorted, flipping off the camera. “You’re so fucking annoying, I swear to—”

He laid on the horn again, and you could hear complaints start up outside from other people yelling at him to shut the fuck up. Then, you swore you heard another voice in Chenle’s car, quietly suggesting that he stop, but it was too indistinct for you to properly identify.

“Who was that?” You squinted at him suspiciously.

“I told you I was bringing a friend—”

“I know, I meant which one?”

“Get your slow ass down here and find out, or we’re leaving you!” With that, he hung up.

You pocketed your phone with a quiet scream, then turned to your roommate. “Ugh! Can you believe we’re related?”

“Yes,” she answered immediately, not even looking at you.

Hauling your stuff downstairs by yourself, you were a little out of breath by the time you shoved the front door of your dorm open. Your duffel bag started slipping down your shoulder, and as you readjusted that, you weren’t even looking out for the uneven slab of concrete that you knew stuck up in front of the entrance. Your toe caught on it, and you let out an unfortunate ‘eep!’ as you tripped forward. Your bag slid off your shoulder again, catching on your elbow and swinging around, the weight making you stumble a little more. You stayed upright, and you were thankful that only your brother and his friend saw all that. Yeah, Chenle was going to tease you for the entire three-hour car ride, and Mark or whoever was coming with would definitely get in on the ribbing, but you had plenty of dirt on them too. It was the natural order of things.

“Clumsy ass,” Chenle yelled at you from the car, the driver’s side window rolled down. You flipped him off on instinct. “Jisung, go help her before she hurts herself.”

Jisung. That was a new one. Admittedly, you didn’t know all of your brother’s friends, you two ran in different circles at school. You were usually introduced them in passing if you happened to run into each other at events, or some you knew from before college, like Jeno and Jaemin, the twins who lived next door to you guys growing up, or Mark and Donghyuck, who you all went to high school with.

A car door opened and closed before a tall figure was walking around the front of the car to meet you on the sidewalk. You blinked in surprise as you recognized Chenle’s friend that was approaching you, and not because of your brother. The cute boy from the library was standing in front of you, seemingly having a similar sense of déjà vu as he froze, hand already outstretched, reaching for your duffel bag.

“Hey again,” you chuckled, putting your bag strap in his hand. “Did you get everything turned in on time?”

“Yeah, I did.” Jisung unfroze and smiled at you, and you swore the sun seemed dim in comparison. “Thanks for the candy, by the way. Completely forgot to tell you that.”

“It’s okay, you were busy.”

“I’m Jisung, by the way.”

You nodded towards your brother’s car. “I had guessed.”

He rubbed the back of his neck. “Right.”

“I’m Y/N.”

“I had guessed,” he quipped back.

Chenle honked again, then yelled, “Come on!”

You rolled your eyes. “Pain in the ass.”

Chenle popped the trunk for you from his seat, and Jisung put your duffel bag in among their things that were already packed, then he took your suitcase to put away as well. As you opened the passenger door, your brother immediately shook his head.

“Nuh-uh.”

“What?” You looked at him incredulously. “I always get shotgun!”

“And Jisung gets carsick in the backseat.” He pointed at the boy standing awkwardly behind you. “I’m not having him puke all over my car. You’ll survive the backseat for once.”

Hating his condescending tone, but with no other option, you graciously stepped aside. Jisung gave you a quiet ‘sorry, thanks’ as he opened the back door for you. After buckling yourself into the middle seat and Chenle starting his music, everyone was ready to go.

“Y/N, Jisung,” Chenle made introductions over his shoulder, jabbing his thumb between you two. “Jisung’s on the baseball team and was in my bio lab last semester. Y/N is my annoying little sister.”

You kicked the back of his seat. “By ten months. As soon as you popped out, Mom and Dad were so disappointed they immediately decided to have another kid.”

“Regret saying yes yet, Jisung?” He asked his friend smugly.

Jisung, meanwhile, had been staring straight ahead at the road, clearly feeling uncomfortable as he didn’t want to get in the middle of your typical bickering.

“Ignore him, Jisung.” You leaned forward between their seats over the center console, your tone much more friendly. “So you’re on the baseball team? Do you have an athletic scholarship or something?”

“Yeah, yeah, I do,” he answered hurriedly. “Uhm, it’s the only way I could afford to go here. Full ride as long as I keep my grades up.”

You all did go to a rather expensive private university—your parents were alumni, they wouldn’t have sent you anywhere else, of course.

“Wow, so you must be really good, then.”

“I mean, I don’t know—”

“A full ride, I would think they only give those out to the best players, right?”

“Well—”

Chenle cut in, “You’re making him nervous, Y/N. Back up, for fuck’s sake.”

You didn’t back up. “Am I making you nervous, Jisung?”

“No, it’s fine,” he rushed to reassure you, finally turning around in his seat to face you. He let out a squeak as soon as he did, probably not anticipating that you’d be as close as you were. He sat back in his seat, propping himself up against his seatback on his forearm. “Uhm, it’s just that this is only gonna be my second season. Still a rookie, you know. I don’t think I’m that good.”

Jisung sort of reminded you of a little hamster when he was nervous like this, and your lips twitched with amusement. He really was cute.

“When’s baseball season?”

“Practice officially starts in January, first game’s in February.”

“Don’t you get cold out on the field?”

He shrugged self-consciously. “I mean, we’re moving around a lot. And we have hand warmers and stuff for when we’re on the bench.”

You kept eagerly asking him questions. “What position do you play?”

“Pitcher. I’m a switch pitcher—I can pitch left or right-handed—so they like that.”

“So it’s a surprise for the other team?”

“No, you have to declare which hand you’re going to pitch for each batter beforehand,” he admitted, then quickly tacked on, “But it still kinda throws them off!”

You hummed thoughtfully. “What about when you’re hitting the ball?”

“I could do either, but I prefer my right.”

“You’re never this interested in my friends,” Chenle interrupted accusatorily.

“Because I already know like, way too much about the twins, Hyuck, and Mark. Wish I could unlearn some of it, actually,” you snorted. “And you’ve been trying to get me into sports for our whole lives. What’s the problem?”

“Basketball,” your brother corrected you. “I’ve been trying to get you to watch basketball with me. Jisung plays baseball. Wrong sport.”

“Stop talking to me like I’m five,” you snapped, kicking his seat again.

“Stop kicking my seat like a five-year-old and I might,” he retorted.

You scowled at the back of his big head.

“I can see you pouting in the rearview mirror.”

You rolled your eyes and crossed your arms, flopping back against your seat.

“Saw that too.”

“Wasn’t trying to hide it!” You snipped back childishly. Turning your focus back to Jisung, who was looking out the passenger window, you asked, “Is he like this to you, Jisung?”

“Don’t answer that,” Chenle directed him before the other boy could open his mouth. “She’ll tire herself out.”

“Oh, you’re insufferable!” You spat. “Talking about me like I’m not even here! Or like I’m Daegal!”

“Well, Daegal is actually trained.”

“Pull the car over, I’m going to beat your ass!”

“Hey!” Surprisingly, it was the soft-spoken Jisung who raised his voice over the sounds of you two fighting, shocking both of you into silence. He continued, “Chenle, you’ve been antagonizing Y/N ever since we pulled up in front of her dorm, man. Then you act like she’s crazy for being pissed off at you. It’s honestly pissing me off.”

Chenle huffed loudly, drumming his thumbs on the steering wheel, before he finally said, “Fine. Sorry, Y/N.”

“Yeah, whatever. Thanks for apologizing because Jisung told you to.” You unbuckled and scooted over to the seat behind Jisung, buckling back in and looking out the window at the scenery rushing by.

The car was silent other than Chenle’s music, which he turned up as you pulled out your phone.

[you: i found out cute library guy’s name]

[soosoo: omfg the cia has nothing on u]

[soosoo: SPILL]

[you: i didn’t stalk him, turns out he’s my brother’s friend. his name is park jisung and he’s on the baseball team]

[soosoo: your brother’s friend that you’re going to be ALL ALONE WITH in the mountains for the next TWO WEEKS???]

[you: not ALL ALONE, chenle will be there, remember?]

[soosoo: unfortunately]

[soosoo: WAIT i found him on the team’s roster online and WHEW GIRL]

[soosoo: attached image.]

It was a screenshot of Jisung’s athlete profile on the university’s sports page. The small ID photo he had on there honestly did him no justice.

[soosoo: how is ur brother always friends w the HOTTEST GUYS who ALSO PLAY SPORTS????]

[soosoo: i need him to hook me up fr]

[you: don’t tell me ur thinking abt jeno and jaemin rn]

[soosoo: always]

[you: u don’t need chenle to hook u up if u rlly want, im friends with them too??]

[soosoo: YOU WOULD????]

[you: but you’d have to pick one]

[soosoo: god i am not your strongest soldier]

[you: exactly what i thought]

At the mountain cabin, you three were the first ones there, of course. You parents wouldn’t be arriving until Christmas Eve due to their work schedules. The house was already decorated like something straight out of a Hallmark movie—lights, red and green bows, candy canes, baubles, and other decorations all throughout.

“Wow,” Jisung breathed out, stopping in the foyer and turning around, his eyes wide as he took it all in. “Your parents are really into Christmas, huh?”

“Not really.” You had also stopped to watch his slow circle of awe. “They pay somebody to set it up.”

The wonder dropped off his face and was replaced with confusion, his brow furrowing. Chenle yelled for him from further in the house, and you jerked your head for him to follow. Your brother was at the threshold of the hallway where all your rooms were located.

“Yours is there,” Chenle pointed Jisung to one end of the hallway as you slipped by him to head to the bedroom at the other end. “Y/N’s is on the other side.”

“We share a bathroom,” you called over your shoulder as you opened the door. “Don’t use all the hot water in the morning!”

“And I’m upstairs.” Your brother indicated to a small ladder between Jisung’s room and the bathroom in the middle. “I got the loft. Won it in rock-paper-scissors almost two decades ago.”

“You cheated!” You reminded him loudly from where you had started unpacking your things in your room.

“Sore loser!”

“Sore winner!”

“Anyway, holler if you need something.”

You were still unpacking when there was a soft knock at your open door. It was Jisung leaning in your doorway.

“Hey,” he greeted you quietly.

“Hey.” You smiled at him brightly. “Bathroom’s the middle door. We both have doors that connect to it, so knock before we go in? Even if the light is off?”

“Yeah, sounds good.”

Jisung continued silently watching you unpack, then finally blurted out, “You egg him on.”

“Huh? Who?”

“Chenle.” He held his hands up in front of him defensively as you opened your mouth. “I know he started everything back in the car, but you didn’t help.”

You sat back on your feet in front of your open suitcase and dresser drawers. “Yeah, I know I’ve got a temper problem. I need to work on it.”

“I didn’t say anything in front of him because I kind of got the feeling that he was being extra mean because I was there.”

“When we’re hanging out with friends that we kinda share, like Jeno and Jaemin or whoever, it’s fine. You know, they met both of us at the same time. But I think when we’re with people that are his friends, it’s different,” you explained, gesturing to an armchair in the corner for Jisung to sit in while you talked. “We were always in the same grade and stuff, so obviously people assumed we were twins. That’s also why he really gets on the ‘little sister’ thing. When we got to college, we were both relieved to finally be different people, you know? Have different friends, different things that were ours.”

“You seem to understand him really well.”

“Known him my whole life,” you pointed out. “And just because I understand why he acts like this doesn’t mean it still doesn’t piss me the fuck off.”

“To answer your question from the car, no, he doesn’t treat me like that. He’s sarcastic, sure, but not like that.”

Zipping up your empty suitcase, you started on your duffel bag that was on your bed. “Sorry you had to deal with us like that, even more so that you had break us up. I’m sure the next two weeks were flashing before your eyes, huh?”

“Honestly, I’m just glad you didn’t actually start beating him up,” he chuckled.

“Me too, that would’ve been embarrassing.” You added, “For him. To get his ass beat in front of one of his buddies.”

He looked out the room down the hallway, checking to see if Chenle was coming, then admitted, “Don’t tell him, but I was sort of calculating how many swings to let you get in before it would look unreasonable for me to not intervene.”

“Oh really? And how many would you have ‘let me’ have?” You grinned, using finger quotes over ‘let me.’

“One good punch and a hair pull, I think.” He looked to be sizing you up, a teasing glint in his eye. “You seem like you fight dirty like that.”

“Could claim you didn’t want to hurt your friend’s little sister, let me get a few more in.” You mimicked punching and kneeing the air. “At least let me knee him in the balls.”

“I’ll consider it in the event you two do actually brawl while we’re here.”

You looked up at the ceiling, thinking about your brother up there somewhere. “Eh, we’ll make up properly soon. One thing about us, we fight a lot, but it’s never for that long.”

“Okay, now I’m worried about the next two weeks.”

You laughed, maybe a little harder than his joke warranted, but you couldn’t help it—he was cute, he was funny, and he was making your chest feel tighter and your head spin faster the longer you were around him.

“Why are you in here?” Chenle had appeared in your doorway, looking genuinely perturbed at the visage of Jisung sitting in your chair.

“Because we’re talking?” You answered for him. “Or is he only allowed to talk to you while he’s here and I have to take a vow of silence?”

“Pretty much, yeah,” he snickered, walking in and flopping on your bed.

“You first.”

“You want to do lunch in town then get the tree?” He checked the time on his phone. “Mom and Dad know how much you like Christmas tree shopping so that’s the only thing not done.”

“Or is it just another responsibility to pawn off on someone?” You snorted, opening the door into the adjoining bathroom to put your toiletry bag away.

Your brother’s distant voice called after you, “Even if it is, we can still have fun!”

You took a deep breath, and came out of the bathroom with a smile on your face. “You’re right. Let’s do it.”

“Ew, stop that, it’s creepy.” Chenle threw a pillow at you.

You caught it and chucked it right back at him. “What? Smiling?”

It hit him in the face before falling to the floor. “Yeah, exactly. I’m done trying to cheer you up, keep being a little Grinch, it suits your face better.”

You climbed on the bed and grabbed a pillow to smack him with it. “Quit being fucking rude!”

He laughed and cackled, rolling away from your pillow attack until his eyes went wide with panic as he went right over the edge of the mattress and landed on the floor. It was your turn to burst into laughter at the sound he made, and when he started groaning and complaining, you knew he was fine. Jisung was also laughing from his seat.

You finally gathered yourself enough to peer over the edge of the bed, looking down at where Chenle was sprawled out dramatically like a cartoon character that had been crushed by an anvil. As soon as he looked at you, he started giggling too.

“What about this one?” Mr. Song, the elderly man who had run the Christmas tree farm in town for as long as your family had been coming for the holidays, was showing you around to the various trees they had for sale.

“Ah, too skinny.” You shook your head. “We have a lot of ornaments. And a vaulted ceiling too, so we can get a taller one.”

“Right, of course. How could I forget?” His eyes crinkled fondly as he walked you around by the elbow. “You and your brother have gotten so big, Y/N. I remember when you two were up to my knee. Always playing hide and seek in the trees.”

“We used to think you were Santa Claus,” you giggled, gesturing to his big, bushy beard. “We told everyone we knew that we got our Christmas tree from Santa every year.”

“Good to see that Chenle and your boyfriend get along so well.” He nodded to where Chenle and Jisung were throwing snowballs at each other. More accurately, Jisung was pelting them at Chenle with scary precision, and Chenle was doing his best to throw some back in between peals of laughter.

“Oh, Jisung is Chenle’s friend from school, he’s not my boyfriend,” you clarified quickly.

“My mistake.” Mr. Song patted your arm.

After circling the next one Mr. Song showed you, you were content, inspecting how dense the branches were, the height, and general shape.

“Guys!” You yelled out to get Chenle and Jisung’s attention. They ceased their (unfair) battle, meandering over to you. “What do you think?”

Chenle gave it a once-over before nodding. “Great pick as always, Y/N.”

“Is that going to fit through the front door?” Jisung asked skeptically, trying to fit his arms around it to gauge the size.

“It will,” you promised as Chenle pulled out his checkbook.

Two of Mr. Song’s grandsons brought the tree up to the cabin in their truck, and you had to open both front doors all the way for them to carry it in. They got it set up in the corner for you, and you sent them on their way with an extra cash tip.

“We’ve got to let the branches settle before we can decorate it,” you advised Jisung. “So we’ll do that tomorrow.”

“Y/N’s got a whole thing about the tree,” Chenle added from one of the couches, turning the TV on.

“Smells nice,” Jisung piped up.

“Did your family have real trees or artificial ones?” You asked, taking up the other couch.

Jisung seemed to momentarily panic about where to sit, before taking the empty space at the end of Chenle’s couch, facing you. “A fake one. It came with the lights already on. Easier for my mom to set up.”

“One or two?” Chenle asked abruptly.

“What?”

“Two!” You answered, and Chenle immediately played a movie from whatever streaming service he was scrolling through. You went to fill Jisung in, “It’s a game we like to play. One of us will assign numbers to things in our head without telling the other, and you have to reply with a number without really knowing what you’re picking.”

“I couldn’t decide which movie to watch,” Chenle added.

“So, instead of a coin flip, you used Y/N?” Jisung clarified.

“Sort of. You can do it for more than two options. Like…” You tilted your head back and forth as you tried to think of one on the spot. As soon as you had, you perked up. “One, two or three?”

“Three?”

“Hot chocolate it is.” You stood up from the couch and headed towards the kitchen.

Jisung turned in his seat to keep you in his eyesight. “Wait, what were the options?”

“That’s part of the fun.” You smiled. “Sometimes you never know.”

A few minutes later, you came back into the room with three mugs of hot chocolate, and handed one each to Chenle and Jisung before sitting back on your couch.

Several movies, rounds of various video games, and large pizzas later, you were beat. Standing up from your couch, you stretched and started grabbing everyone’s plates.

“I’ll get these if you guys put the food away?”

Chenle gave you a thumbs-up, his eyes locked on his phone screen.

“Night!” You tossed back over your shoulder as you traipsed out of the room.

“Night!” Your brother echoed.

“Goodnight!” Jisung replied.

As soon as you were bundled up in your blankets in your room, you videocalled Sooyoung. She picked up, the familiar scenery of her childhood bedroom in the background.

“Hey!” She beamed. “How was day one? Kill Chenle? Make any moves on cute library guy?”

“We know his name now, Soo!” You laughed.

“But a nickname is so fun and mysterious!”

“I did almost kill Chenle in the first ten minutes of the car ride,” you groaned. “Jisung surprisingly came to my defense.”

“Your brother’s friend took your side against him? Wow…”

“He’s really sweet, he’s making an effort to be my friend too.”

“Friend? Or something else?” She waggled her eyebrows.

“I don’t know, it’s been one day,” you giggled, rolling over onto your back. “Anyway, how’s your family?”

You stayed up chatting for another hour before finally going to sleep, giddy with thoughts of what could happen tomorrow.

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 22

In the morning, with no alarm for class to get you up, you woke up, rolled over, and went back to sleep several times. Eventually, you decided that it was time to get up, and slowly shuffled out of your room. Chenle was already up, by the stove cooking something. Jisung was nowhere in sight, probably still sleeping.

Upon hearing your footsteps, he looked over his shoulder. “Morning.”

You grunted back.

“Mom called.”

You made another noise of acknowledgment, still rubbing sleep out of your eyes as you lumbered over to your seat at the table. Your brother set a plate of pancakes down in front of you, and you squinted up at him suspiciously. Typically he would’ve made you get your own plate, or more likely, make your own food. Actually, it was kind of weird that he was up before you. He must not have gone back to sleep after talking to your mom. It wasn’t unusual for her to have called early in the morning—your parents’ work took them all around the world, and often the only free time they could find had them calling at odd hours.

“They’re not going to make it for Christmas, Y/N,” he told you softly, still standing next to your chair.

“Of course,” you scoffed, lip curling with distaste as you picked up your fork.

“They’ll be here on the 26th, and we can do everything with them then.”

“Are they staying for New Year’s?”

His silence was all the answer you needed.

“Of course,” you repeated with more venom in your tone than before, dropping your utensil back down onto the table. “What the fuck else should we have expected? Honestly, why do they even fucking bother?”

He put a hand on your shoulder. “I’m sorry.”

“No, Chenle, don’t apologize for them.” You patted his hand. “It’s not your fault.” Pushing your chair back, you stood up. “I’m not hungry right now. I’m going out back.”

“I’ll save your plate.”

Shoving boots on your feet and pulling a heavier coat on, you opened the door in your bedroom that led directly out onto the back patio. It had snowed last night, so you had to shuffle through the fresh layer to get to the swing seat back here. The cold morning air bit at your nose and cheeks, and you tucked your hands into your pockets to keep them warm—you’d forgotten gloves. Sighing, you watched your breath fog up in front of your face, until your tears overtook your vision and you couldn’t see anything past them.

You pulled your knees to your chest on the porch swing, pushing your face into the thick material of your pajama pants. Why did it still hurt so bad? They did this all the fucking time.

The sound of feet crunching snow came to your ears, and you wiped at your face as you looked up at who was approaching you. It was Jisung, two steaming mugs in his gloved hands.

“Uhm, Chenle said you weren’t hungry. Does cider count?” He offered one out to you.

You chuckled, accepting it, grateful to have something warm to wrap your chilly fingers around. “No, it doesn’t. Thanks, Jisung.”

“It’s pretty out here,” he commented, looking around at the scenery. “Or not, if you want me to go back inside.”

You laughed again, gesturing to the empty half of the porch swing next to you. “You can stay.”

Jisung brushed off the snow from the rest of the porch swing before sitting down. He wedged his mug of cider between his legs and you watched him curiously as he started taking his gloves off. He offered them out to you, making you shake your head.

“I’m fine, I’ve got the cider—”

“So do I.”

“Then how about this.” You plucked one glove from him and put it on your right hand, which was holding the handle of the mug. Your left cradled the body of the mug, where all the warmth was. “Glove goes on the colder hand.”

He chuckled, slipping his remaining glove on his left, and wrapping his right hand around the mug. “Innovative.”

“Thank you.”

The smile faded as he turned more somber. “I’m sorry to hear that your parents’ plans changed.”

You took a sip of the cider, staring out at the still landscape of snow-covered trees and mountains. “Me too. You think I would be used to it by now.”

“Chenle was talking about maybe going to this ice-skating place later. If you’re feeling up to it.”

“That’s what’s nice about having him. No matter how much stupid shit we fight about, we’ve at least got each other when they do stuff like this.” You half-smiled to yourself. “You know, sometimes I think they did that on purpose. Had two kids instead of one so they wouldn’t feel guilty about leaving us alone all the time.”

The tears had come back, and you wiped at them with your bare hand, not wanting to soil Jisung’s glove that he had given you. Shaking your head at yourself, you said derisively, “I’m sure I seem pathetic to you. Rich girl crying in her family’s winter vacation home because mommy and daddy won’t make it for Christmas.”

“I don’t think you’re pathetic.”

You turned your gaze to Jisung to find him already looking at you, so sincerely, too. Swallowing down more tears, you asked, “Why aren’t you home with your family? I’m sure you’d much rather be with them than stuck here with us.”

“My parents are divorced. Every year, my dad and his wife go on some cruise for Christmas, and my mom spends it with my stepdad’s family. They say I’m welcome there, but they’re all strangers, except my mom.” He shrugged half-heartedly, blowing across the surface of his cider. “I know it’s kinda my fault too, I’m not making an effort to get to know them or whatever. But I just… don’t want to.”

“How’d you end up coming along with Chenle then?”

“Last year I stayed at school for Winter Break. Met Chenle in the spring, and when Winter Break plans came up this year, he was appalled at the idea of me eating at the dining hall for Christmas dinner.” Jisung chuckled, and you smiled fondly, able to imagine your brother’s horrified face. “It wasn’t even an offer, he decided for me.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re here instead of eating dining hall food by yourself.”

“Me too.”

“And I’m sorry your parents suck too.”

“Shitty parents club.” He held his mug out to you.

You clinked your against it in a commiserative toast. “We need Chenle out here for our full membership.”

“Yeah, but this swing only fits two people…”

You smiled a little as you sipped your cider. “Then I guess it’s just us for right now.”

Jisung smiled back. “Guess so.”

That afternoon, as promised, you three went ice skating. The local nature reserve had a lake that always froze solid, and would rent out ice skates and sell hot chocolate and other treats to earn a little extra income—free admission if you brought your own skates. You were the first one to get your skates on, and shuffled onto the frozen lake excitedly. There were a few other people out here—couples, families, groups of friends—but the area cordoned off for ice skating was big enough that everyone had plenty of room to spread out. A wide smile immediately spread across your face. Chenle knew you well, which was a blessing and a curse. He knew exactly how to push your buttons and cheer you up.

Speaking of, your brother smoothly skated up next to you, smug look on his face. “Better?”

“With a head that big, I’d hope you’d have a good idea every so often,” you teased, lightly bopping him through his beanie.

“Ungrateful.” He snapped one of your earmuffs against your head, not hard enough to hurt.

You two had been milling back and forth waiting for Jisung, and you looked back over at the bench where you’d all been tying up your skates to find him still sitting there, fiddling with the laces.

Chenle followed your gaze. “What is he doing? He had them tied when I got up, I thought he was right behind me.”

You shrugged, exiting the ice to stop in front of Jisung on the bench. “You alright?”

“Yeah, I just—” Jisung swallowed, squinting and scrunching up his nose nervously. “I’ve only been ice skating once, and I was a kid, so…”

“You don’t know how,” you finished.

“I mean—Yes.”

“Come on.” You offered out your arm out to him.

He waved his hands as he refused. “I’m going to do something stupid like fall and end up breaking your arm or—”

“No, it’ll be fine,” you assured him. “Seriously, I did ice skating lessons as a kid.”

“You did?”

“You’re in good hands, I promise.”

Jisung grabbed your arm, and using both you and the bench as leverage, stood up. He looked around warily as you patted his back.

“There you go, you got it. Now, you get to walk until you get to the ice.” As you coached him through the basics of operating his skates, you slowly guided him closer to the edge of the ice. You stepped onto the ice first, keeping a hold on both of his gloved hands for him to cautiously join you, one foot at a time.

“You didn’t think to tell us you’ve never skated?” Chenle questioned dryly as he joined you two.

“I have!” Jisung defended himself. “Once…”

“Well Y/N can teach you,” he offered you up. “She used to do lessons, till she got kicked out.”

“Wait, for what?”

You rolled your eyes at your brother just having to bring that up. Nudging Jisung forward to start moving his legs, you began relaying the story, “I called my coach a bitch to her face and refused to apologize.”

“Just because or…?”

“First of all, I was seven, so impulse control wasn’t even in my vocabulary. Second of all, she called another little girl in the class fat to her face! She had just gotten a new competition dress, it was this really pretty purple one with sparkles and stuff all over it, and the teacher told her she shouldn’t wear it because something about the pattern made her look bigger or something ridiculous. A seven-year-old! She’s just lucky she didn’t get an ice skate to the face!” Your rant picked up steam and volume as you continued, feeling freshly pissed off as you recalled the incident.

Jisung frowned, looking troubled as well. “That’s awful.”

“I know! Honestly, I’m glad I got kicked out. I hated that woman.” You pulled him away from a divot in the ice. “Watch out. Don’t want your blade getting caught in that.”

“Thanks. You seem to have retained a lot.”

“I didn’t get very far before I was booted,” you scoffed. “But I guess we still went to rinks and out here pretty frequently, so I haven’t lost the basics, at least.”

“So are we decorating the tree later?”

“Yep, should take the rest of the day.”

“Seriously?”

“We’ve got a lot of ornaments.” You snickered at his wide eyes, looking to your other side where Chenle had been skating for confirmation. Instead, your brother had disappeared. Confused, you scanned the figures on the ice, finally spotting him far ahead of you, skating backwards at an impressive speed. “He left us.”

Jisung finally detached his eyes from where they’d been glued on his feet, chuckling when he saw Chenle as well. “He’s not very patient, is he?”

“Not a virtue he was born with, no.” You turned your attention back to Jisung. “Think you’re getting the hang of it?”

His grip tightened on your arm. “If I say yes, are you going to let go of me?”

“No,” you laughed. “Not until you’re ready.”

“Oh, thank God.”

“But let’s try this.” You moved to hold both his hands, skating backwards in front of him. “Okay?”

“You can’t see behind you,” he said, nervously glancing between your face and over your shoulder.

You checked over your shoulder. It was clear, and you redirected your path to make sure you weren’t heading directly at the next closest people. “I’ve got it.”

“I feel like I’m leaning forward too much, how do I—Wah!” The distinct clank of Jisung’s skates hitting each other rang out, and he fell forward.

Not wanting him to faceplant into your skates or the ice, you braked and tensed your arms to try to keep him up. However, since you had braked and he obviously did not, his forward momentum sent him catapulting directly into you. His arms wrapped around your waist as his legs scrambled against the ice trying to find his footing again. You readjusted your hold on him to clutch him under the arms in an attempt to keep him up, but with all the layers that you were bundled up in and the slippery ice, it was a losing battle. You were a good skater, but you couldn’t haul him back to his feet like this. So you decided to just let the two of you slowly descend, squatting down until you could plant your butt on the ice and kick your feet out on either side of Jisung, careful not to hit him with your blades.

“You alright?” You asked him, pulling his beanie back from where it was entirely obscuring his eyes.

“Please tell me I’m dead,” he groaned, the half of his face that you could see was completely pink and his eyes were squeezed shut. His head was pressed against your middle as he was still clinging onto you.

“No, you survived that,” you laughed. “And so did I. No broken arms or other bones.”

“Will you kill me anyway?”

A spray of ice showered both of you as Chenle stopped next to you guys, proceeding to double over with laughter. “Clumsy ass.”

“Nice, thank you,” you scoffed, wiping off the cold ice from your face, then a couple drops that had gotten on Jisung’s cheek. “Anytime you’d like to quit being an asshole and help us up.”

“I don’t know, you two look pretty cozy to me.”

Jisung somehow turned even redder, squirming in your grasp. “Y/N, I’m sorry!”

“Chenle, shut up!” You scolded your brother. “You’re making Jisung freak out and he’s going to hurt himself!”

“You make him sound like a scared prey animal,” he snickered. Letting out a sigh, he patted his friend’s back. “Alright, Jisung, come on.”

With Chenle’s assistance, Jisung got to his feet, and you were then able to stand back up on your own. Brushing snow off your legs, you shivered, and saw that the entire front of Jisung’s pants were soaked through thanks to the ice, and you could feel that the back of your own had suffered a similar fate.

“I think that’s enough ice skating for today,” you declared. “My ass is quite literally going to freeze off if we stay out here any longer.”

Jisung nodded quickly from where he was clinging onto Chenle to stay upright now. “I’m skated out.”

“Good thing my car has heated seats then,” Chenle said, beginning to drag his friend back towards the exit.

After a hot shower and in a fresh change of warm pajamas, you were in front of the Christmas tree with all of the boxes of decorations for it. You had already wound the lights around it when Jisung joined you in the living room, hair still damp from his shower—he’d given you first shower out of guilt.

“Hey, you know where Chenle is?” You asked, flipping open boxes of ornaments. Chenle’s loft bedroom had a private bathroom, so you figured he’d be out by now.

“He got a call—Mark, I think,” Jisung informed you.

“Oh, that’ll take an hour,” you snorted. “You can help me. Put any ornaments that have Chenle’s name on them aside, he gets to put those up whenever he’s done.”

“Any ornaments with your name are yours to put up?” He guessed, reaching into a box and pulling out an ornament in the shape of a bear with a Santa hat on. The white band of the hat had ‘Chenle’ written in cursive.

“Yep. Everything else is fair game for you. Quick tip, any bear ornaments will be Chenle’s. That’s his parent-assigned motif.”

“Got it. And what’s yours?”

You held up the honeybee ornament that you’d just fished out, letting it dangle and twist in the air, the yellow gems catching the light. “Bees. They had a theme, kind of.”

“I’ll keep an eye out.” He reached up to hang a blue and gold ornament on a higher branch, though you could feel his eyes on you as you put your own up on a middle branch. Finally, he blurted out, “Are you sure you didn’t get hurt earlier?”

“Yeah, Jisung, I’m okay,” you chuckled. “Really, we were both wearing so many layers we were practically bubblewrapped.”

He visibly relaxed. “Okay, good.”

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah. But I crashed into you, not the other way around.”

“True, but you had a much less graceful descent.”

He visibly grimaced, a bashful smile on his face. “Mm-hm. Thank you for bringing that up again.”

“Pretty sure you brought it up again,” you teased, nudging his arm with yours as you reached in front of him to hang an ornament.

“And I would love to change the topic now.” He grabbed an ornament in the shape of a snowman.

“What’s your major?” You decided to save him this time. “You and Chenle had bio lab together, but I know he took bio for non-majors, so you’re not a STEM major either…”

Jisung made a buzzer noise, and you blinked at him in surprise. He cracked a grin as he said, “Cybersecurity.”

“Ah, so you’re a baseball jock and a little computer geek…” You nodded slowly, grabbing another ornament. “The duality of man, truly.”

“Geek?” He repeated incredulously.

“What? I think it’s cute.” You giggled and put up the glass snowflake in your hand. Then, you turned back to him hopefully. “Ooh, actually, my laptop gets possessed sometimes ever since Chenle clicked on one of those sketchy porn pop-up ads when we were fourteen. You don’t think you would be able to take a look at it sometime, would you?”

Jisung visibly sustained whiplash at your words, his head jerking back and eyes going wide before he furrowed his brows. “Wait, what? How old is your laptop? He did what to it? What do you mean it gets possessed? What exactly does it do?”

“Uhm… it’d probably be easier to show you.”

“Y/N, this thing is old enough to drive.”

You put your hands on either side of your laptop’s screen as if you were covering its ears, giving Jisung a stern look. “Sh! You’re going to hurt her feelings!”

He continued to look at you over his glasses, entirely unamused. This was the first time you’d seen him wear them—even in the library, he’d had contacts in. Now, with him wearing his casual clothes, glasses, sitting on your bed and attempting to fix your laptop, you felt like you were going to lose it, truly. Especially when you’d catch a whiff of his shampoo, and you’d have to stop yourself from leaning in to follow the smell of cinnamon.

“Seriously, why do you still have it? Chenle has the newest Macbook,” he asked, fingers flitting across the keyboard.

“Because it works fine!” You insisted, removing your hands. “I get the internal stuff cleaned out regularly, and make sure all the software is updated and everything.”

“It still gets software updates?”

“It just… gets possessed every so often.”

“I wouldn’t call the occasional possession ‘working fine.’”

“When it’s not possessed, it works great! And it doesn’t even happen that much, only like, once a month.”

“Once a month since you were fourteen?” He squinted at you in disbelief where you were sitting on the opposite side of the laptop screen. “And you kept the damn thing?”

“No, once a month now,” you clarified. “It happened the first time when Chenle clicked on that porn ad, then maybe once a year for a few years after, and slowly started happening more and more often.”

“And he was watching porn on your computer because…?”

“So it wouldn’t be on his internet history.”

He snorted. “Of course. I should’ve realized.”

“Can I watch?”

“Oh, uhm, sure?” He readjusted to make room to his left side on the mattress, angling the laptop that way as well.

You shuffled around to the other side of the computer, dropping to lay down on your front, propping your chin up with your elbows to observe. Tilting your head, you rested it against Jisung’s knee that was next to you. His hands froze over the keys, and you lifted your head back up, looking up at him through your eyelashes.

“Sorry—Is this okay?”

“Y-Yeah, you’re fine.” He nodded quickly and pushed his glasses up as he returned his attention to the screen.

Leaning your head back against his knee, you settled in to watch him work on your laptop. You couldn’t follow what exactly he was doing to the computer, opening and closing different windows, folders, and applications. You zoned out, watching his hands and fingers deftly move over the keys instead. He was muttering to himself under his breath, his low voice pleasant to listen to even if you couldn’t make out the words he was saying. This close to him, you could smell the cinnamon better, and were starting to think that maybe it was actually a body wash or cologne.

“Y/N?” He said your name, making you snap out of a daze as you realized he was calling for you. “Hello?”

“Hm?” You perked up a little.

“We need to do an exorcism.”

That woke you all the way back up. “Wait, what?”

“Complete reset. Wipe everything and redownload the OS.”

“But I have everything on there!” You pleaded, stretching your hands over the keyboard to prevent him from doing anything else. “We’ve been through so much together! You can’t kill her!”

He sighed regretfully. “Is there an electronics store or something around here? We can get an external hard drive to back up all your personal stuff.”

“There’s a mall like an hour away. Chenle and I need to go gift shopping anyway so we can go tomorrow!”

“Why did I hear my name?” Chenle’s voice came from further down the hallway. He must have finished his call with Mark. Your brother poked his head into your room, briefly pausing when he saw you and Jisung. “I thought you guys were decorating the tree…?”

“Remember how you downloaded a virus trying to watch porn on my computer in high school? Jisung is fixing it for me,” you said pointedly, never missing an opportunity to bring that moment up. “But we need to buy something. I was telling him you and I need to go gift shopping anyway, so we can all go to that mall tomorrow.”

“Please tell me the thing you’re buying is a new laptop.”

“Never! She’s going to outlive you if I have anything to do with it!”

“Based off the fact that it sounds like a jet engine taking off right now, I’m pretty sure that was a threat on my life.”

MONDAY, DECEMBER 23

“Okay, so you’ll need at least this much storage for the files that you have right now,” Jisung explained, motioning to a few different options of hard drives that the electronics store had. He then gestured to a few more. “But if you really want to have her until Chenle’s dead, you might want to consider some more storage.”

You grinned, bumping his shoulder affectionately. “You said ‘her.’”

He covered his mouth as he let out a sputtering laugh, his cheeks turning pink. “Oh God—I didn’t even realize. That’s—Ah, you’re rubbing off on me.”

“I like that one,” you declared, pointing to one hard drive that was a similar colorway to the laptop case you had.

“Yeah, that’s more than enough storage.”

After purchasing your hard drive, you and Jisung headed out of the electronics store together. Chenle had already gone off to gift shop on his own so you and Jisung couldn’t see what he bought you.

You turned to Jisung. “Want to help me shop for Chenle?”

“Sure.”

The two of you meandered around the mall, popping into stores that seemed promising from the outside. As you passed by a jewelry display in a window, you tapped on the glass in front of a pair of earrings.

“Those are cute,” you commented, slowing down but not stopping entirely.

“You think so?” Jisung questioned, looking at them over your shoulder as you kept walking.

“Mhm.” You nodded, then clicked your tongue. “I’d get them, but I already have a pair like them.”

“You do?”

“Yep.” Keeping your gaze on the passing storefronts, you said levelly, “I don’t want to assume anything about what you think of me, Jisung, but I want you to know that I don’t expect a present from you. We only properly met two days ago.”

“Yeah, that’s… really reasonable,” he chuckled, the relief evident in his voice.

“Seriously, if you fix my computer, that’ll be the best Christmas present I get this year, hands-down. I don’t care what expensive crap my parents get me or surprisingly thoughtful, niche thing Chenle somehow manages to find.”

“I didn’t realize how much my computer exorcism skills were worth.”

“To me, they’re priceless,” you assured him. “I wish I had something to offer in return.”

“Hey, you already taught me how to skate,” he insisted, nudging your arm.

You tilted your head side-to-side contemplatively. “One could argue whether I was successful at that…”

“Completely my fault that the lesson got cut short, not yours.”

“Alright, alright. I suppose a computer exorcism can be our quid pro quo for ten minutes of ice-skating lessons.”

“I didn’t pay much attention in my high school history class when Mr. Yoo was talking about the bartering system, but I’m pretty sure those two things are equivalent, yeah.”

You burst out laughing, covering your mouth and squeezing your eyes shut as you started to go a little light-headed from how hard you were laughing. You were still walking forward alongside Jisung, and felt him grab your arm and tug you towards him at the same time he warned, “Watch out.”

You couldn’t see whatever you must’ve almost walked into as you were still trying to sober up from your chuckle fest, covering your face as more giggles bubbled up every time you tried to close your mouth. Jisung kept you right next to him, guiding you through the mall crowd with a gentle but steadfast grasp on your arm, not letting you bump into anybody or trip over anything.

“Are you really still laughing?” He asked, and though his words were exasperated, his tone was overly fond, letting out a soft laugh of his own at the end. “I don’t think it was that funny…”

You narrowed your eyes playfully at him, shook his hand off you, and suppressed your giggles to say, “Fine. I don’t think you’re funny at all and I hate you, actually.”

Jisung’s mouth parted as he stared at you in shock, and you couldn’t keep the bit going for very long when faced with his adorable look of being totally caught off-guard and floored, even if both of you knew it was all a joke. You grabbed his arm this time, your laughs getting muffled in his sweater as you buried your face in his shoulder and leaned against him for support.

“Oh my god, you looked like I ran over your dog or something!” You gasped for air between guffaws, apologetically rubbing his arm.

“You’re…” He trailed off, letting out a sigh instead, reaching for your purse that was on your arm and now awkwardly crushed between you two with you holding his arm. “Here, I’ll take that.”

He had already been carrying your shopping bags that you’d been acquiring from the various stores, and you now stopped to wordlessly shimmy off your purse for him to shoulder on his opposite side from you. You reattached yourself to his arm that you had been holding, and though his cheeks were turning pink, he had a small smile on his face as he looked down at his phone to check the time.

“Did your family assign you an animal too?” You asked him, your eyes getting caught on a kiosk of Christmas ornaments as you continued your journey through the mall.

“What?”

“Like how my parents decided when we were born that Chenle’s a bear and I’m a honeybee,” you explained, quickly looking back over to Jisung. “Did you ever have an animal or something that was like yours?”

He scrunched his nose as he thought, then shook his head. “No, not that I can remember. I always had a bunch of different stuffed animals.”

“I think you look like a hamster,” you informed him. “Especially when you do that with your nose.”

“Do what with my nose?” He questioned, his nose unintentionally twitching and scrunching up again as his eyes flitted around nervously.

You giggled, squeezing his arm tighter as you couldn’t help but coo over how cute he was. “That!”

He covered his nose with his hand, and though it obstructed half his face, you could tell he was pouting behind it.

“I didn’t mean to make you self-conscious, I’m sorry!” You apologized, grabbing his hand and trying to pull it away from his face. “I think it’s really cute!”

He stubbornly kept his nose concealed. “You still haven’t told me what it is…”

“You just scrunch up your nose sometimes, like this—” You imitated it, doing your best not to make it look like you were mocking him. “Seriously, it’s adorable! Please don’t ever stop, I might die!”

Jisung’s eyes crinkled and he dropped his hand back down as he chuckled. “Well we can’t have that.”

Your phone buzzed in your hand then, and you saw that it was your brother calling. “Mm, hold on, it’s Chenle.”

“Hey, where are you guys?” Chenle asked on the other end.

“We’re still on the first floor,” you told him. “By the pretzel stand. Where are you?”

“What have you two been doing? I’m on the third floor; I’ve been through the whole mall already. I’m done,” he scoffed. “Stay there, I’ll come to you.”

“I had to get my hard drive first, remember? You got a head start.”

“Anyway, are you done?”

“No, I have a couple more people to find gifts for.”

“Alright, hold on, I see you.”

You craned your neck looking for Chenle, still with your phone to your ear. “Damn bitch, how many old ladies did you take out on your way here?”

“Only two,” Chenle’s voice came through your phone and from directly beside you at the same time. He was loaded up with shopping bags on both arms.

You jumped out of your skin before rolling your eyes and hanging up the call. “Did you see a place that sold bath bombs and stuff?”

“Yeah, second floor, directly to the left off the escalator.”

“That’s my next stop, SooSoo loves that stuff,” you declared.

“There’s a baseball specialty shop on the third floor,” Chenle stated, eyes lingering on where you were still holding onto his friend’s arm. “If you want to go check it out, Jisung?”

You perked up, giving him an enthusiastic smile. “That sounds awesome! You totally should.”

Jisung turned to Chenle and nodded. “Yeah, sounds cool. Let’s do it.”

“I’ve still got a couple people on my list, so I’ll call you guys when I’m done so we can meet up and go,” you said, reaching for your purse that was still on Jisung’s shoulder. He handed it back to you, and you hurried off to take care of your final errands.

Back at the house, you watched on with bated breath as Jisung performed his laptop exorcism. The screen turned on, which already was good news. After a few more progress bars, you eventually saw your homescreen and looked at him with guarded hope.

“I still need to transfer your personal files back over. And you won’t know if it worked unless it just never gets possessed again, but…” Jisung gestured to your laptop with a certain finality.

“Ahh, thank you! Thank you!” You cheered, hugging him.

“O-Oh, you’re welcome,” he mumbled, hesitantly hugging you back.

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 24

Christmas Eve was ushered in with a fresh snowfall overnight, and maybe the Christmas spirit finally possessed you, because all three of you were outside playing in it like little kids. A rather lumpy snowman had already been built and decorated with various rocks, sticks, and kitchen utensils. Snow angels were scattered around, and Chenle had just thrown the very first snowball, hitting Jisung squarely in the back of the head.

You laughed incredulously as the pitcher turned around and calmly started packing snow between his hands.

“Are you stupid?” You snickered at your brother, who was also preparing another snowball.

Before he could finish readying that one, Jisung wound up and launched his snowball, nailing Chenle in the face. You weren’t even focused on your brother as he desperately wiped the snow off his face with both hands, however, your eyes still watching Jisung, who was chuckling to himself. You’d been too preoccupied at the Christmas tree farm to really watch any of their snowfall fight that had happened there, and obviously hadn’t gone to any of Jisung’s games before, so this was the first time you’d seen him really use any of his pitcher skills. While it wasn’t a proper pitch, the practiced ease and skill that he clearly possessed even in doing something as silly as throwing a snowball was admittedly really attractive.

Chenle had taken his loss and grabbed a stick to start writing something in the snow, a good distance away from where you and Jisung were, his back to the two of you.

Stepping deliberately closer to Jisung, you said, “That was really cool, Jisung.”

He fidgeted with making sure his beanie was down over his ears. “Ah, I mean, it wasn’t a real pitch or anything—”

“Then can you teach me how to pitch for real?” You requested sweetly. “I’m very into baseball these days.”

“Uhm, y-yeah,” he agreed, clearing his throat and nodding. He stooped down to pack more snow between his hands into a round sphere, then held it out for you. “Here, that should be the right size.”

You graciously accepted it, then looked at him expectantly.

“Do you prefer to throw with your left or your right?” He asked.

You held up your dominant hand holding the snowball, and he nodded.

“Okay, uhm, you should stand with your feet like this.” He demonstrated the correct positioning himself, and you copied.

Jisung went through the basic steps with you, making minor adjustments here and there, and you were actually finding it sort of interesting, outside of the cute boy teaching you something he was passionate about. Learning a new skill or something to that effect. When he was showing you how to actually move your arm when throwing, you were genuinely trying to do it per his verbal instructions, but apparently there was still something wrong with the way you were doing it. And so he walked behind you, covering your gloves hand with his. You could feel his warm breath on the back of your neck, and his other hand grabbed your opposite shoulder to correct your posture as he manually moved your arm through the correct motion. Slow at first, talking through it.

“Feel how it’s different than what you were doing?” He asked, doing it again, a little faster this time.

But you were long gone, your brain white noise and your vision blurring a little bit (but that was mostly due to the cold wind hitting your eyes). He still smelled like cinnamon, and you wanted to listen to his voice all day. Jisung could read you a car manufacturer’s manual for all you cared.

“Mm, mhm,” you agreed absentmindedly.

“Alright, I’m going to step back and let you throw your first pitch.” He patted your shoulder and did just that, leaving you feeling even colder.

You momentarily panicked as you grappled in your short-term memory for anything that he had just been saying. Taking a deep breath, you closed your eyes, deciding that you would probably suck anyway, and to just fucking do it. Trusting your gut and muscle memory of what Jisung had just been walking you through, you did your damndest to throw that snowball in something akin to a pitch.

Amazingly, the snowball actually hit the trunk of the tree that you had been aiming for, and you stared at it in disbelief, hands hanging down by your side. Jisung clapped, the sound dampened by his gloves, but his cheers were surprisingly upbeat for how soft-spoken of a guy he was.

“Wow! That was a really good first pitch!” He congratulated you, holding up both his palms for you to high-five. “So awesome…”

You high-fived him, but stayed holding onto his hands, wide smile overtaking your features. “Thank you.”

“I—You’re welcome.” He held onto your hands too, throat bobbing up and down as he swallowed.

“Jisung!” Chenle yelled out, reminding the both of you of his presence. “Can you get my phone? I made Daegal out of snow and I want to take a picture. It should be charging on my bed.”

“Yeah!” Jisung called back. He gave you a regretful look, letting your hands go to trudge back up to the cabin.

Rounding on your brother, you stomped over to him, observing the admittedly cute snow-Daegal for a moment before addressing him.

“You can get your own phone,” you scoffed, crossing your arms.

“I thought I might hurt Jisung’s feelings if I told him to leave to his face,” Chenle replied nonchalantly. He looked at you over his large-framed sunglasses. “I feel like I have to warn you, as your big brother—”

“By ten months.”

“—about Jisung.”

You gave him a sour look, knowing that he knew that you wouldn’t be able stop yourself from asking a follow-up question to a statement like that. “What about him?”

“I know what you’ve been trying to do this whole time. You’re not ‘very into baseball,’ you’re into Jisung.”

You immediately got fired up, hands balling into fists at your sides. “Don’t you dare start pulling the ‘my friends are off-limits’ card now. You’ve never—”

“Hey, I like Jisung.” He held up his hands defensively, an amused smirk on his face. “If I had to make a tierlist of my friends for you to date, he’d be like, the only one in S-tier.”

You snorted and rolled your eyes. “Do you have a fantasy draft of boyfriends for me too?”

“I’m genuinely trying to help you here, alright?”

“So, what? Does he have a girlfriend or something?”

“Not exactly…” Chenle sighed. “Right before we left, during finals week, he met this girl in the library and just absolutely fell head-over-heels, okay? Like, he’s never even looked once at all the girls who show up to his games, but this one says three words to him and gives him some candy and he’s a goner. I don’t get it.”

It took everything in you to suppress your giddy grin and instead cock your head, playing dumb as you asked, “Wait, did he even get this girl’s name?”

“No, he never got a chance since they were both working on finals stuff,” he answered. “Anyway, I’m just trying to warn you. You’ve got to compete with the romanticized version of mystery library candy girl that he has in his head.”

“Mm. Tough competition,” you nodded with mock solemnity.

“I’m serious, Y/N. He called me at like midnight walking back from the library to tell me about it. He’s got it bad.” As if suddenly realizing everything he had just told you might dampen your spirits, Chenle’s entire demeanor shifted, and he gingerly patted the top of your head. “But uh, you’ve totally got this. I’m rooting for you, lil sis.”

“Right. Thanks… big bro,” you replied with intentional stiltedness, softballing a punch to his shoulder.

That night after dinner, you all sat down around the Christmas tree for your family tradition of opening one present on Christmas Eve. You sifted through the presents under the tree, some of which were ones that had been shipped here ahead of time by your parents or other extended family, others from Chenle.

“Hmm… one or two?” You asked, your eyes on two particular gifts.

“One,” Chenle and Jisung answered unanimously.

You grabbed the one that had been under your left hand, returning to your seat next to Jisung. Chenle had already picked his box, and fished out a gift bag, plopping it in front of Jisung. He seemed surprised, blinking down at it.

“But—”

“I got you more than one gift, dummy,” Chenle cut him off, already guessing what his confusion was about. “Go ahead.”

“No!” You stopped Jisung. He looked at you with alarm as you snatched the gift bag away, putting it back under the tree and replacing it with a different, much smaller one instead. “Open mine.”

Jisung looked even more confused, and slightly betrayed. “I thought we agreed we weren’t doing gifts…?”

“Yeah, but then I saw this and…” You smiled sheepishly. “Just open it!”

Shaking his head, he pulled out the tissue paper, then removed the object at the bottom of the bag. It was wrapped in more tissue paper to protect it, which he carefully wrapped, revealing the ornament that you had bought yesterday while you were split up. It was in the shape of a hamster popping out of a present box, and as soon as you saw it at the mall kiosk, you knew you had to get it for him.

Jisung turned it over his hands, looking up at you still a little confused, but with a smile. “Wait…”

“It looks just like you!” You giggled, taking it from him to hold it up next to his face. Aiming your next question at Chenle, you asked, “Doesn’t it?”

Your brother started laughing, reaching forward to tweak one of Jisung’s cheeks. “Ha, she’s right. How adorable.”

Jisung pushed his hand away, rolling his eyes. His gaze softened when he looked back over at you. “Thank you, Y/N. It’s great.”

“Hang it up!” You urged, giving it back to him and gesturing to the tree.

He got up on his knees to reach forward and affix it to an empty branch, between a bear ornament and honeybee ornament.

“Okay, Y/N, you next,” Chenle directed.

Ripping the wrapping paper off the small box, you were met with a small jewelry box, and took that lid off. Inside was a pair of ornate, bejeweled earrings, a little flashy for your taste. You checked the card.

“Great-Aunt Ying,” you announced, and Chenle let out an ‘ahh’ sound in understanding. You put the lid back on the box and set it aside. “SooSoo will love those.”

“Who’s that?” Jisung asked curiously as your brother started unwrapping his present. “Not your great-aunt.”

“Sooyoung, my roommate since freshman year,” you explained. “She’s also like, my best friend. And those earrings aren’t really my style, but I know she would wear them like, all the time, so I’ll just give them to her when we get back.”

Chenle’s box was a bit larger than yours had been, and was similarly stylish. He turned it over to shake the lid off and make the contents fall out all in one go, catching the fabric that fell out in his hand. Holding it up, it was a tie in what looked like a nice material, a monochrome and not exceptionally busy pattern on it.

“Another tie, wonder who it’s from…” he snorted, picking up the card. “Oh, Great-Uncle Feng. Surprise.”

“Does he think you’re eating all the ties he gives you or something?” You snickered.

“I think he’s so old he forgets he’s given me a tie before and thinks I don’t own any.” Chenle then offered it out to Jisung. “You need a tie? If not, I’ll ask the other guys.”

“I would need a suit first…” Jisung admitted, rubbing the back of his neck.

Chenle stared at him in disbelief, then sighed. “Okay, so we’re getting you a suit when we get back to school.”

“What do I need a suit for?”

“Don’t you have formal stuff that you have to go to for baseball? Awards or press conferences or something?”

“That’s maybe once a year. I just rent a suit!”

“Jisung, don’t say another word, you’re going to kill me.” He put a hand over his heart as if it were going to give out any second.

You chuckled at their antics, starting to clean up the trashed wrapping paper. “Christmas movies?”

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 25

You felt like a little kid, unable to sleep the night before Christmas morning. It was after midnight, so it technically was Christmas now. And even thought you knew that neither Santa nor you parents were coming, you were still oddly giddy. You had already videocalled Sooyoung to recap the developments of the day, but you were still replaying everything in your mind, kept up with thought of Jisung. How it felt being that close to him when he was teaching you to throw a snowball, the information that apparently he was just as smitten with you after the library as you were with him. Even Chenle’s unofficial blessing put your mind at ease—not because your brother determined who you dated, but he knew Jisung better than you did and was brutally honest, so if he said that he liked Jisung for you, you knew he meant it.

Pushing your covers off, goosebumps immediately popped up on your legs that were now exposed to the cool air. You treaded over to the bathroom door. The light was off, but you still knocked. When there was no response, you opened it. You didn’t stop there, however, continuing on to the opposite door, which you knew led to Jisung’s room. Taking a deep breath, you knocked softly on that one too.

You heard the rustling of sheets and quiet padding of footsteps before the door handle twisted and opened, Jisung on the other side. He looked down at you, nose scrunched up in bewilderment.

“Hey, is everything okay?” He asked, rubbing one of his eyes behind his glasses.

“Yeah. Uhm, sorry, did I wake you up?”

“No, I uh, I couldn’t sleep, actually.”

“Me neither.”

“Oh.”

There was a pause, and you fidgeted with the ends of your longsleeve. “Do you want to hang out for a bit? Since we’re both up…”

“Oh! Y-Yeah, sure.” He stepped back from the door, motioning you in. “Uhm, come in.”

“Thanks.” You stepped inside, and he closed the door behind you.

The bedsheets were rumpled on one side, so you sat down on the other side, pulling the blanket over your chilly legs. Jisung watched you, frozen halfway from the bathroom to the bed for a second.

“I’m cold,” you told him, turning your phone on.

“Of course, right,” he breathed out, snapping out of his trance.

He climbed under the covers as well, putting a headphone in his ear opposite from you and pressing play on a video on his phone. Curious, you peeked over at his screen to see what he was watching. It looked like a bunch of clips of professional baseball pitchers.

“It’s my favorite pro pitcher,” Jisung blurted out, pausing the video again. He had apparently noticed you snooping at his screen. “Well, that’s currently active. He’s a lefty, and he does this thing on some of his pitches where he gets this spin and—”

You blinked as he had abruptly cut himself off in the middle of his sentence. Tilting your head, you asked, “What? Why’d you stop?”

“You’re not really interested in baseball, are you?” He questioned, turning his eyes down to his lap. “You’re just being nice.”

“Hold on—”

“It’s okay, you can go back to what you were doing, I don’t want to bore you.”

“Jisung,” you giggled, turning over on your side fully to face him. “You really haven’t figured it out?”

His brow furrowed and he pouted slightly as he seemed to genuinely be confused. “Figured what out?”

“I’m interested in baseball because I’m interested in you,” you said bluntly, watching the gears turn in his head before his eyes widened.

“Wh—Oh. Really?”

“Mhm. But Chenle did warn me that apparently you’re head over heels for some mystery girl that you met in the library during finals week who gave you candy,” you teased, letting out a wistful sigh. “So I have no chance…”

Jisung dropped his phone to cover his face with both hands, letting out a noise of embarrassment from deep in his chest, shaking his head. “Oh my God…”

“I told SooSoo about you too,” you informed him. “After the library.”

He opened his hands to peek at you meekly. “Really?”

“Really.”

Jisung glanced upwards, and you snickered.

“Chenle’s not like that. He’s not going to care unless you’re a dick to me.”

“Because only he gets to be a dick to you?” He joked, slowly removing his hands all the way from his face.

“Yep. Same for the girls he dates. Nobody gets to be a bitch to him except me.”

“So, now what?” He asked nervously, glancing around the room.

“Now, you’re going to finish telling me about your favorite pitcher,” you stated, scooting over until you were snuggled into his side, head resting on his shoulder so you could see his phone screen better.

Jisung grabbed his earbud case from the nightstand, bringing the other one out. He offered it to you, and you put it in as he turned his phone back on. He restarted the compilation, but didn’t press play yet, instead launching back into his explanation from before, excitedly talking faster now.

“So this is Hwang Myungjun. Like I said, he’s my favorite pitcher that’s in the league right now. He’s a lefty and—you’ll see it in this video, but—he does this really cool thing on some of his pitches where he can get this certain spin on the ball and…”

You listened to him go on and on with a smile on your face, breathing in the warm smell of cinnamon.

In the morning, you stirred a little, sighing and pulling the covers up to your nose. Covers that smelled like cinnamon. Opening one of your eyes, you were greeted with Jisung already wide awake, sitting up against the headboard, staring at you from behind his glasses.

You rubbed your eye and yawned. “Christ—Did you sleep at all?”

“Yeah, we get up early for baseball conditioning, so I don’t really sleep in even on days off.” He rubbed the back of his neck, ears turning pink. He cleared his throat awkwardly. “Good morning…”

“Morning,” you mumbled, yawning again. “Sorry for falling asleep here.”

“It’s okay. Sorry for talking you to sleep.”

“No, it was nice. I like your voice.” You pushed yourself into a half-sitting position. Pecking his cheek, you added, “Merry Christmas.”

His face flushed as he smiled down at his hands. “Merry Christmas…”

Climbing out of bed, you stretched your arms over your head, then wrapped them around yourself. “Anyway, I should emerge from my own room. Just because he doesn’t care if we date doesn’t mean Chenle needs to think something other than watching baseball compilations happened in here last night.”

Jisung squeezed his eyes shut and nodded his head. “Good idea.”

“See you in a few.” You bid him a momentary farewell, opening the door to the adjoining bathroom.

Shuffling back into your own bedroom, you almost screamed when you saw a figure sitting on your bed in the dark. You grabbed for the closest thing in your reach, a candlestick on the dresser next to you, ready to swing. The figure turned on the lamp next to the bed, and you saw that it was Chenle, still contemplating hitting him anyway. You decided to set your weapon down, however.

“What the fuck?!” You hissed, stalking up to your bed and grabbing a stuffed animal to chuck at him instead. He caught the stuffed bee, holding it to his chest as he smirked at you.

“Something you want to tell me?” He raised an eyebrow. “About where you’ve been?”

You followed his line of sight between you and the bathroom door that you just came out of. “What are you, the piss patrol? Can’t a bitch pee in peace around here?”

“Toilet didn’t flush, sink didn’t run,” he immediately shot back. “Also, I’ve been in here for the past hour.”

“Don’t be weird about it—” You held up a finger in his face threateningly, and a victorious grin immediately spread across his features. “Jisung and I talked about how we felt, and I fell asleep in his room. Nothing else, okay?”

Chenle gave you a look that told you he didn’t entirely believe you, but he didn’t press you any further. “God, how am I going to choose between being your brother of honor and his best man?”

“We haven’t even gone on a date!” You grabbed a pillow and tried to pushed it over his face to shut him up. He narrowly saved himself from being smothered, cackling as you resorted to smacking him with it instead. “As if I’d even ask you to be my whatever you just made up! You’ll be lucky if you even get an invite, I swear to—”

The door to your room was thrown open from the bathroom, Jisung looking around the room wildly. “Y/N! Are—”

You stopped your assault on your brother to smile breathlessly at Jisung. “Oh. Hi.”

“I heard you yelling, I wanted to make sure…”

“I’m fine,” you reassured him. “Thanks, Jisung.”

“I know!” Chenle announced loudly. “I know everything, Park Jisung! Last night, you and my little sister—”

You succeeded in smothering Chenle this time, muffling whatever obnoxious things he was about to spew.

After breakfast and opening presents in the morning, Jisung excused himself to go call his parents. Chenle tsked, turning the gaming console on to start up one of the new games he’d gotten and tossing you a controller.

“He tell you how he ended up coming with us?” Your brother asked, his gaze on the screen.

“Yeah. His dad goes on a cruise and his mom is with his stepdad’s side of the family. So he would’ve just been at the school if you didn’t bring him,” you replied, only paying half-attention to the opening cutscene.

“At least ours pretend to make an effort,” he scoffed. “His mom didn’t even offer to pay for his plane ticket.”

“Hm?”

“His mom and stepdad live on the other side of the country. They technically ‘invite’ him to Christmas every year, but he’d have to get himself there and back.”

“So it’s hardly a genuine invite.”

“And you know what his stepdad does?”

“What?”

“CEO of that logistics company that Mom and Dad are always talking about. The big one.”

“Shit, really? And he can’t be bothered to pay for his wife to see her own son once a year?”

He clicked his tongue. “Apparently not.”

A few levels into the video game, Chenle’s phone lit up with a text. He paused the game, and sighed upon reading the message. “Jisung says we can eat lunch without him. He’s suddenly not feeling well.”

You winced. “I take it his phone calls didn’t go well.”

“You go check on him. You can handle crying people better than me.”

You nodded in agreement, getting up from the couch. Outside of Jisung’s bedroom door, you listened carefully first, just in case he was still on a call. It was quiet, and you knocked softly.

“Jisung?” You called out. “Can I come in?”

“Sure,” he replied, his voice sounding far away.

Opening the door, you saw him laying on the bed on top of his covers, his back to the door. You stayed in the doorway, asking, “Do you want to be alone?”

“No.”

You sat down on the bed behind him, still giving him his space. “Do you want to talk or do you want quiet?”

“My dad didn’t even pick up,” he muttered. “And my mom—God, I got to tell her about school for all of five seconds before she started gushing about how her grandbabies are learning how to write or whatever. I’ve never even met those kids, honestly, I don’t give a fuck about them. They’re not even her grandkids, they’re her husband’s. Apparently, one of them is on a little league baseball team. When she started saying I could teach him how to pitch when I come to visit for summer, I pretended the call was dropping and hung up. ‘When I come to visit’—I live with my dad in the summer because he didn’t move away from me.”

“I’m sorry, Jisung,” you said, feeling the hurt in your heart as his voice tightened and cracked.

“It’s funny, they used to have these-these blowout fights every year about who got me for Christmas,” he sniffled. “And now that they moved on and got their new families, they couldn’t care less about me.”

“Lucky for me and Chenle, then. Because we got you this year.”

He laughed, finally rolling over to face you. He wiped at his eyes, but you still saw the tears that had run down the side of his face. “You really mean that?”

“Of course I do.” You gently stroked his hair, brushing some of it out of his face.

Jisung scooted closer, until he could pillow his head in your lap instead, his eyes fluttering shut as you resumed your ministrations. “I’m glad you guys got me too…”

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 26

A knock on your bedroom door woke you up. It opened, and somebody who was neither Chenle nor Jisung peered in.

“Merry Christmas, sweetie,” your mother hummed lightly. “Are you up?”

“Mm, yeah,” you grunted, pushing yourself up against your pillows.

She came over to press a kiss to your forehead. “Good morning.”

“Hi, Mom. Merry Christmas,” you smiled up at her, letting her take your hand in hers. “Did you and Dad just get here?”

“A few minutes ago. Your father’s getting Chenle.”

There was a loud thunk from above you, followed by a yelp and two very familiar and similar laughs that you recognized as your families’. You chuckled as your mom rolled her eyes fondly.

“I think he was successful,” you snickered.

“We’re going out for breakfast when you’re ready,” she informed you, squeezing your hand before letting it go.

“Mmkay.” You yawned as she headed for your door. “I’ll let Jisung know.”

She paused, tilting her head. “Who?”

“Didn’t Chenle tell you his friend was coming? Park Jisung?” You pointed at the room next door.

“Oh, I thought he was bringing Mark for some reason.” She looked at you with concern. “Does Jisung like basketball too?”

“I… don’t know? He plays baseball?”

“Oh. Hm.”

“So, what are you studying, Jisung?” Your mother asked, stirring sugar into her coffee.

The five of you were at a diner in the small town at the base of the mountain, you, Jisung, and Chenle packed into one side of a booth and your parents on the other. The car ride had been filled with you and Chenle filling your parents in on your various happenings from this semester, but now your parents seemed to have zeroed in on the newcomer.

“Cybersecurity,” he rushed to answer.

Both your parents seemed impressed by that. Your dad spoke next, “And what do your parents do?”

“He’s got an athletic scholarship, Dad,” Chenle cut in before you could. You both knew what he was really asking about.

“Full ride,” you added proudly. “Baseball. He’s the pitcher.”

“Really?” Your dad’s interest was piqued—he was a bigger sports fan than your brother.

“Yes, sir,” Jisung replied.

“The school doesn’t give out full athletic scholarships frequently. You know that?”

“No, sir, I-I didn’t know that.”

Your dad took a sip of his own coffee, regarding Jisung like he was evaluating his investment portfolio. “So what makes you so valuable?”

“W-Well, uhm, I-I don’t—”

“He’s ambidextrous,” you answered for him. “He can pitch with both hands.”

“Switch pitcher?” Your dad hummed thoughtfully. “You know who the best switch pitcher in the history of the league is, right?”

“Kim Beomjin, sir,” Jisung replied firmly.

“Has he passed your test, yet, Dad?” Chenle scoffed. “Come on, stop treating him like he’s interviewing at the company.”

“I was trying to get to know—”

“You were being a bit much, dear,” your mother interrupted your dad’s attempts to defend himself.

“Alright. My apologies, Jisung.”

“It’s fine, sir, really.”

You didn’t understand why your mother had asked if Jisung liked basketball until you got back to the house. Your parents had brought a few more presents with them, including, kindly, a couple for Jisung. Except they hadn’t been expecting Jisung, they had been expecting Mark, which evident in the gifts. Both Chenle and Mark loved basketball, so the matching jerseys for their favorite team would’ve made the perfect present, if it had been Mark receiving it.

“I’m so sorry, Jisung,” your mother kept apologizing, clearly embarrassed at the mistake.

“No, I-I like basketball too, ma’am,” he tried to reassure her.

“It’s a requirement for being my friend,” Chenle helped him out. “If only I could’ve made it a requirement for being my sister.”

“If we got to pick, I would’ve made not being annoying as fuck a requirement for being my brother,” you retorted.

“Language!” Your mom scolded you, at the same time that your dad warned Chenle to “Be nicer to your sister!”

Your parents were gone again after dinner, leaving in a flurry of hugs, kisses, and promises of celebrating Christmas together properly next year. As soon as he’d shut the door behind them, Chenle turned to you, cynical disbelief on his face already.

“No way,” he chuckled and shook his head. His phone rang then, and he tutted. “Gotta take this. I’ll be in my room if you need me.”

Jisung was already in the living room, and you plopped down next to him on one of the couches, dropping your head into your hands.

“Your parents seem nice,” he said quietly.

“Mhm, they’re really great when they’re here,” you agreed bitterly. “Sort of makes it hurt worse. It’d be easy to just hate them if they left us all the time and changed plans last-minute and were awful when we did see them. But they do all that shit, and then I see them and it’s good. And it makes me start thinking that maybe it’ll be different, maybe they’ll really keep their promises next time.”

“I get that.” He seemed to be choosing his words very carefully. “But maybe this time you just don’t get your hopes up. Might be easier on you.”

“Yeah, probably.”

With a sigh, you sat up, turning into Jisung’s side and snaking your arms around his waist. He wrapped his arms around you as you buried your face in his chest, one hand cradling the back of your head. His other hand slowly rubbed your back, encouraging you to relax into his embrace even more.

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 31

The morning of New Year’s Eve, the three of you were sitting around the kitchen table silently eating breakfast scrounged together from various leftovers and the singular grocery store trip you’d taken since Christmas. Then, there was a knock at the front door, and with your cereal spoon sticking out of your mouth, you gave Chenle and Jisung a bewildered look. They, however, didn’t seem put off at all.

“Y/N, can you go see who it is?” Chenle asked you, returning his gaze to his phone screen.

“Are you expecting someone?” You retorted. “You go answer it.”

The knocking came again, more insistent this time.

“Y/N! Just get it!” Chenle demanded loudly.

“Fine! Fine!” You got up, stomping over to the front door.

Opening the solid wood door, your jaw dropped when you saw six figures on the other side, before you were tackled in a hug by the one at the front.

“Surprise!” Sooyoung squealed, nearly squeezing the air out of your lungs.

“Soo!” You gasped, hugging her back. “What are you doing here?”

“We were invited!” Jaemin informed you cheerily, grabbing you for a bear hug next.

“We’d never pass up an invite to a Chenle-Y/N party,” Jeno’s eyes twinkled as he pecked the crown of your head.

“Especially a New Year’s Eve party,” Donghyuck added.

“Since when have we been throwing a New Year’s Eve party?” You spluttered, still in delighted shock as you took in all of your friends standing in your foyer.

Mark hugged you too. “Chenle texted us a couple days before Christmas to see if we could make it for New Year’s.”

You grabbed your roommate’s hand, bewildered the most by her presence. She wasn’t friends with Chenle or any of the other guys standing there, to your knowledge. “But how did you…?”

“Jisung’s idea,” Chenle had joined you all, standing at the threshold of the foyer with the baseball player. “We figured out that Renjun and Sooyoung were in a study group together this semester and…”

You’d spotted Huang Renjun, one of Chenle’s friends from college whom you’d met several times before, hanging back on the fringes of the group. You smiled at him before beelining for Jisung, throwing your arms around his neck and kissing his cheek a couple times in your excitement.

“Thank you!” You were smiling ear to ear, so much that your cheeks hurt, but you couldn’t help it.

“You’re welcome, Y/N.” Jisung returned the hug, rubbing your back. “My late Christmas present to you.”

You let him go to hug your brother next, hooking your chin over his shoulder and squeezing him so tight you felt like your chest might burst, and you hoped he could feel how much all of this—how much he—meant to you. Despite everything you may say or do to each other. “Thanks, Chenle.”

“Of course,” he whispered, hugging you back just as tight.

“SooSoo, I’m serious, not that much has happened!” You promised, laying on your bed to watch as she got settled in your room. She had of course insisted that you filled her in on every details of everything that’s happened between you and Jisung, including things that she had already heard before since you two talked almost every night. “It’s only been like a week, and my brother is literally here.”

“We all saw those little cheek kisses earlier,” she replied pointedly. “You’re at least going to kiss him at midnight, right?”

“Maybe,” you giggled, quite literally kicking your feet as you thought about it. “Onto you—You just spent three hours in a car with them, have you figured out if you want me to set you up with Jeno or Jaemin?”

“We took two cars. I was in Renjun’s with Donghyuck,” she informed you with a desolate sigh.

“Why did you—”

“He offered because he knew I didn’t know anybody except him, and I didn’t know how to explain why I wanted to go in the other one!”

“Foiled once more by empathy and kindness.”

“I’ll figure it out before we go back to school!”

“Maybe you can get one of their numbers on your own before then.”

Despite the reputations that ‘Chenle-Y/N’ parties carried amongst your friends, and your friends also bringing enough alcohol to host a full-blown kegger, the event itself was pretty low-key. You’d gotten the firepit on the back porch going, food ordered, music going throughout the house, and had already completed several different games.

You were fixing yourself a cup of eggnog in the kitchen when you spotted someone out by the firepit. Pouring another mug, you took both out with you. Jisung looked up when he heard the back door open. He smiled as he recognized that it was you, scooting over on the bench to make room for you to sit with him.

“Eggnog?” You offered a cup out to him. “I didn’t spike it, but I can go add something in if you really want.”

“No, this is perfect,” he chuckled, his laughs rising as white wisps in the cold air. “I’ve been thinking…”

“About?”

“Were the three options hot chocolate, cider, and eggnog?”

It took you a second to catch up, but once you had recalled your first night in the mountains, you burst into laughter, nodding. “Yeah, those were the three options when I made you pick a number.”

He smiled, taking a sip of his drink. “There was something else, that I was thinking about.”

“Oh?”

“Are-Are we going to kiss at midnight? Do you want to? I know we haven’t gone on a real date or anything—”

“I do want to kiss you,” you admitted. “Do you?”

He nodded hurriedly. “Yes, god.”

“You still seem… fidgety. We can wait, if you—”

“That’s not it.” He set his cup of eggnog down, and you did as well. “I want to kiss you. I just don’t want the first time I do to be in front of a bunch of our friends.”

You smirked, tilting your head curiously. “Are you asking to practice before?”

He blinked. “I don’t think I was before, but I definitely am now.”

You snickered a little, leaning in and gently touching your lips to his in a feather-light kiss. He let out a small sigh against your lips, one of his hands coming up to cup your cheek and pull you closer, sealing his mouth over yours. Everything was warm, no matter the fire or the cold wind or the thick jacket you were wearing, you were being heated from the inside out.

When Jisung pulled back, he had such a dazzlingly soft smile on his face that you couldn’t help but stare, wanting to burn that image in the back of your eyelids forever. He moved to duck his head shyly, but you grabbed his face.

“I think we might need some more practice before midnight,” you teased, nuzzling your nose with his affectionately.

“Mm, of course,” he agreed humorously, kissing you again. And again, and again, and again.

⇢ 2024 hallmark movie marathon

TAGLIST

@annenakamura @bee-the-loser @lotties-readings @ppddpjdr @reiofsuns2001

@classicroyalty @giirlfriendd @shaqs-oatmeal @sofipolii01

@tearinka @yoursyuno @yutasputa69

@winkeuu

621 notes · View notes

joeyfranchise · 2 months ago

Text

𝟙𝟚 𝕕𝕒𝕪𝕤 𝕠𝕗 𝕗𝕚𝕔-𝕞𝕒𝕤: 𝕕𝕒𝕪 𝕠𝕟𝕖

under the mistletoe

lsu!joe x fem!reader

summary: you and joe can’t stand each other. what happens when your stubbornness meets his head on… underneath the mistletoe.

warnings: minors dni, 18+. cocky joe is always his own warning, kissing, spitting, p in v, semi-public sex.

word count: 4.3k

note: happy first day of fic-mas! what better way to start than with lsu joe <333

“yeah, i’ll be able to make it… i think,” you say into your phones receiver, struggling to slide your uggs on and talk on the phone at the same time. “sorry margot! i’m scrambling this morning!” you tell your roommate, turning her on speaker and laying your phone on the counter.

her cheerful voice fills the kitchen as she responds. “it‘s okay babe! i just heard about this party and we have to go to it before we go home for christmas this year! can you write it on the fridge calendar?”

as you listen to margot talk, you pop a k-cup into your keurig and begin brewing it, sliding your trusty travel mug underneath to catch all of the delicious liquid that you can only hope will get you through this day.

“yep, i’ll put it on there! december 21st?” you ask her, popping the cap off the dry erase marker that your white-board calendar holds.

“yes, that’s right. we’ll just have to watch our alcohol intake that night since we both have an early flight the next morning.” she laughs.

you write the event down and close the marker, placing it back in its holder. you fix up your coffee as margot continues talking, filling you in on the campus drama she’s already seen this morning.

“so anyways girl,” she raved, the smirk on her face evident in her tone, “i saw justin and joe this morning talking to the same girl. like get a grip. they’re probably having another weird competition again.”

you scowl immediately as you hear joe’s name. the quarterback and his best friend chatting up the same girl, how cliché. “god i cannot stand them!” you reply with an eye-roll, annoyance present in your voice.

you weren’t sure why you hated joe so much. maybe it was the incessant flirting he did with you and every other girl you knew. maybe it was how his friend group always made bets on who could “bag bitches” first, or maybe it was just the overly confident attitude that seeped from his pores. every class that you took with him, you dreaded, because you knew he’d be right there on his bullshit the whole time.

over time, he grew to dislike you as well, especially when he realized his advances wouldn’t work on you. you tried your best to avoid and ignore him, but he always made it difficult for you. he’d bump you as you passed by, knocking you and your books over into the floor. he’d stick his foot out in hopes that you’d trip. he’d send unsolicited dick pics just because he knew it’d piss you off. the joke was on him when you’d reply with laughing emojis or even the shrimp emoji.

margot laughed at your anger. “joe’s honestly kinda funny.” she says, only making you scowl even more. “oh am i?” you can hear him ask her, it becomes obvious to you that he’s made his way over to your best friend. “mhmmm.” she draws out, and you gag. you can imagine her twirling her hair around her finger as she flirts back with him. puke.

“hey princess, comin’ to the party?” he asks, clear that he’d taken margot’s phone. hanging up the phone on him is your answer. how could she be talking trash about him flirting one minute, and then flirting back the next. you roll your eyes for nobody but yourself.

you grab all your things and leave your flat, locking the door behind you as you head to class, ready to get the last few days before winter break over with.

☆ ★ ✮ ★ ☆ ☆ ★ ✮ ★ ☆

the days seem to fly by, which you’re thankful for, and you pack your bag at the end of your last class before break with a smile on your face. the party is tonight, which you aren’t really excited for, but you’re going for margot and to get at least a little tipsy.

you sling your bag over your shoulder and head out of the class, your stomach growling as you think of what you should have for dinner.

you’re lost in thought as you walk, and soon you’re running straight into a hard body. as you look up to apologize you realize it’s joe, so you close your mouth as quickly as you’ve opened it.

“damn, princess.” he chuckles, grabbing your elbows to steady you. “if you wanted a hug i could just give you one.” he winks.

“no thanks.” you say, shoving him off you. “i’m too afraid i’ll catch chlamydia or something.” his friend ja’marr laughs at your words and joe throws him a scowl.

“that’s not how that works.” joe snarks, raising an eyebrow at you. “but then again, you probably wouldn’t know, you’re probably a virgin.”

you stomp down hard on his toe. “actually no, i fucked your dad.” you retort, blowing him a kiss as you walk past, and farther down the hallway.

you don’t see justin and ja’marr losing their minds at what you said, falling into each other with laughter. you also don’t see how joe stares as you walk away, a mix of anger and pride written all over his face.

when you make it home, you can barely get your keys out before margot is throwing open the door and dragging you in, headed straight for her closet. she has about ten different outfit options laid out, and even some she’s selected for you, including a beautiful strappy red dress.

“help me pickkkkk.” she whines, rifling through all the clothes she’s strewn over her bed. you pick up a navy bodycon dress with shiny silver accents and hold it up to her frame, followed by a long, dark green dress.

“i’ve always liked how these two look on you, marg. pick one of them!” you say, trying to sound as chipper as possible. she holds them both up as she turns to look in the floor length mirror, examining them and trying to make a decision.

“ughhhhh, i don’t knowwww.” she whines again, and you’ve had enough. you snatch the red dress off the bed and race out of her room, headed for your own. you lock the door behind you, and you hear margot laughing as she knocks at the door.

“bitch!” she yells, amused at your antics. you step into your bathroom, hanging the dress on the back of the door as you slip your clothes off and turn the hot shower on. you tie your hair up, not wanting it to get wet, and you step under the hot stream.

the water hits your back pleasantly, the warmth working at the knots of stress you’d been holding in your shoulder blades. you lathered your body wash onto your loofah and began scrubbing, washing away the ick of your day.

you quickly check your body, rinsing before turning the water off and stepping out of the shower to dry off with your favorite fluffy towel. you lotion up, put on some perfume, and apply a quick layer of makeup - concealer, mascara, and lipgloss - before sliding the dress on and letting down your hair. the red fabric hugged your shape in all the right places, and you posed in the mirror as you admired just how good you looked.

you plugged the curling iron in and as you waited for it to heat up you ran out into your room to slide a thong underneath your dress, followed by putting on a pair of sparkly silver heels. you began curling your hair shortly after, and then you applied some hairspray, then a few accentuating pieces of silver jewelry.

once you were satisfied with how you looked, you spritzed on some extra perfume and unplugged the curler, wrapping the cord around it and shoving it back under your bathroom cabinet. you unlocked your door and went out to the kitchen to try and find a quick snack before the party. you settled on toast, popping a piece of bread into the toaster and pushing the button down.

margot stepped out of her room and joined you in the kitchen just as you were spreading peanut butter on your bread, and she spun around so you could critique her look. she wore the navy dress with black heels, and she looked incredible.

you took a bite of toast before speaking, “it looks great babe!”

she gagged as you spoke with your mouth full. “i can’t believe you’re eating that in a dress, my dress no less!” she scowled playfully.

“i like living life on the edge.”

you finished your food and washed your hands quickly, margot was ready to get out the door. you grabbed your phone and locked up, heading to her car so she could drive to the party. you left your phone in her car as you arrived, knowing you’d be staying sober and driving back home tonight. you had originally planned on drinking, but you changed your mind. leaving your phone was against your better judgment, but you did it anyway.

margot left her phone as well but she gave you her keys, knowing you’d be dragging her ass home tonight since you had to fly out in the morning.

as you walked into the party, you laid down the game plan.

“alright, let’s try to stick together, no unnecessary hook-ups. and please don’t drink too much. i’d also like to get home in enough time to sleep a little, and finish packing a few things.” you tell her.

she rolls her eyes and calls you a procrastinator before reluctantly agreeing. you head into the party, the loud music was already bumping through the house and making the floor shake. you knew this was a “christmas” party, but you didn’t expect anything less than rap music to be blaring throughout the frat house.

you stuck by margot’s side as she waded to the kitchen, ready to indulge in a few drinks. you politely declined all that was offered to you, and you kept a close eye on your friend as she began downing shots. after a few sips of liquid courage she finally wanted to dance, so she pulled you along until you were passing through the doorway into a giant room that had been transformed into a dance floor. red lights created a sexy scene, and a disco ball was hung from the ceiling, swirling around and creating a beautiful pattern along the walls.

unfortunately, you didn’t make it past the door. as you were headed one way, joe was headed another, and his friends blocked you both so neither of you could pass.

“the fuck are y’all doing?” joe asked irritatedly, shooting pointed glares toward his friends and to you. “seriously, move and let me through.” you said, just as angered.

justin and ja’marr laughed and smirked at each other, and you noticed margot giggling too as she pointed up to the top of the door-frame. hanging there, of course, was a bit of mistletoe.

joe spoke first. he shoved at justin, “dude, fuckin’ move.” he said.

you tried pushing past ja’marr, but he wouldn’t budge. joe shot you a dirty look. “come on, let’s get it over with then.” he said, annoyance very clear in his tone.

“hell no.” you refuse, crossing your arms in front of your chest. “i’d rather stand here all night than kiss you.”

joe’s face turns to what seems to be a genuinely offended expression, and he mirrors your pose as he challenges you. “oh yeah? alright then.” he says, sticking his bottom lip out and furrowing his brow as he shakes his head. “let’s stand here all night.”

you firmly place your back against the door frame as you make eye contact with him, and he does the same. margot is standing by with his friends, and all three of them are laughing hysterically.

“literally the two most stubborn people i’ve ever seen in my life!” she giggles, leaning on ja’marr’s shoulder.

“you think we need to stand and watch ‘em?” justin asks, looking over at margot. ja’marr answers before she has the chance. “nah, if there’s one thing i know about 9, he ain’t backing down from a challenge.”

“y/n’s the same way. she’d argue with a brick wall if it meant she could prove a point. she won’t budge until he does.”

justin laughs at their answers before ushering them off to the dancefloor, leaving you and joe alone to stare at each other with utter disgust.

you huff as you look at joe, and he smirks back at you, unfazed by your little display of attitude. people pass between you and stop to kiss under the mistletoe, on the lips, cheek, or forehead. the two of you also earn many dirty looks.

standing there is honestly easy - at first. the sheer amount of dislike you have for joe is what’s holding you upright, it has to be. you continue to shoot dirty looks at him, all of which he returns, but after a while your legs start feeling weak. you slouch, eventually falling into a sitting position, and you fix your dress along your thighs so nobody can see under it. joe takes the opportunity to tease you.

“just a quick peck,” he smarms, making a kissy face at you. “that’s allll it’ll take.”

you gag, mostly jokingly, at the thought. “i don’t wan’t your lips anywhere near me, burrow.” he laughs and shakes his head, continuing to stand there with his arms crossed.

you sit there for what feels like hours - it has to be hours, people are leaving the party now… and joe is still across from you, still crouched against the doorway. people have resorted to stepping over you both to get through to the kitchen, pecking each other happily as they cross. some of joe’s friends have tried to come save him, they’ve offered to kiss you so he could come play beer pong or hangout, but you won’t let them. you made this bet with joe, and you have to see it through.

you figured joe would break whenever a girl would come offer herself up to him, but he didn’t. he declined everyone that wasn’t you, and brushed all his friends off. you pretended that didn’t affect you… but the fact that he was doing all this because of some stupid rivalry you had with him turned you on as much as it pissed you off, not that you’d ever admit that to him.

as the crowd starts to dwindle down you get nervous, you really need to get margot and head home, but there’s no way you’re breaking and kissing joe. you look over and see her kissing ja’marr in the corner and you roll your eyes. joe seems kinda proud of his friend and a tiny smirk falls upon his lips.

you scoff.

“what’s your problem?” he asks you, sticking his foot out and kicking yours. “i really need to get going. margot and i have to fly out early and she’s over there sucking face. and i’m over here…”

“not sucking face?” he laughs, tilting his head slightly. “exactly.” you agree.

“look, if it’s bothering you that bad,” he shrugs, “i’ll give you a peck to get it over with. then you and margot can leave.” for a moment you think you can see a crack in that ‘fuckboy’ exterior. you aren’t sure you want to take him up on that offer, but you know neither of your friends will let you move from this spot if you don’t.

you think about it for a brief second, and reluctantly agree to let joe kiss you. you try to talk yourself down. i mean, it could be worse. at least he isn’t ugly.

“okay… fine. but you have to tell everyone you caved.”

“whatever you say, princess.” he lilts, already leaning in toward you. “don’t call me that, i hate it.” you snap, looking him firmly in the eye.

“why?” he teases, inching closer, “it’s what you act like. even now, getting your way so you can go home instead of standing here all night. you’re a spoiled little princess.”

you reach out your hand and place it on his chest, you definitely don’t want to kiss him now. that doesn’t stop him, though. he’s already almost there until finally, his lips are touching yours as his frame towers over yours a bit. you’re both still sitting on the floor, but joe stands up quickly and yanks you up with him.

your immediate reaction to the kiss is to squirm away, but joe doesn’t let you. he wraps his arms around your smaller frame and pulls you into him, caging you against his chest. his lips start moving against yours and after a moment, you start kissing back.

all the alarms in your head are going off, but you can’t force yourself to care now. joe is a really good kisser. your hands find their way to his hair, tugging slightly. joe pulls away for a quick breath.

“went from not wanting my lips near ya to tugging on my shit real quick, huh?”

you slap his arm, earning yourself a laugh. you wait for joe to lean back in, but he never does, and for some reason you feel hurt by it. you look over and see margot still occupied with ja’marr, and then you turn your attention back to joe. he takes in your expression before laughing, you look like a kicked puppy.

“what’s wrong, princess?” he teases again, sliding his hands back around your waist. “didn’t realize you liked me so much?”

“fuck off, joe.” you retort, but you’re laughing as you say it. you stand on your tiptoes to meet his lips again, and he obliges you. you move together in sync, and this time he keeps his hold on you, pulling you even closer.

“always knew you liked me, could fuck you under this mistletoe if i wanted.” he rasps. you moan at the thought. you aren’t sure what’s come over you. you didn’t drink anything… you aren’t usually desperate�� maybe it’s something to do with the fact that joe said he didn’t want this just as much as you said you didn’t, but here you are both reveling in each other’s touch. it felt like you couldn’t get close enough to each other. he pushes your back against the doorway, finally moving his hands off your hips and tangling them in your hair.

the tip of his tongue dips into your mouth slightly, and you push yours back against his, sliding it along the roof of his mouth as you slip past his lips. before you know it, joe’s dragging you down the hall and into the first vacant room he can find before he’s throwing you down onto the bed and towering over you. you push up to unzip your dress, realizing you might want this just as much as he does, but he stops you by holding out a hand.

“nah, keep it on. slide it up.”

you do as you’re told, sliding your dress over your legs, wiggling your butt and arching your back so you can get it up over ass and hips. joe drinks in the sight of you, your smooth legs and gorgeous body. you’re insecure about yourself a lot, but he’s looking over you like a man starved as he licks his lips.

he doesn’t bother closing the door as he stalks toward you, pulling a condom from his back pocket with one hand while unbuttoning his pants with the other. you slide your panties down your legs and spread them open for him with confidence.

“fuck,” he gasps, watching as you dip your fingers down between your folds to gather some of your wetness and then you rub them in tight circles on your clit. you gasp as you touch yourself, your eyes following joe as he finally pulls his pants down far enough, fisting his hand along his admittedly large length. you always teased him about it in pictures, but it was big. he knew it, you knew it, half of the state of louisiana knew it. and to your dismay, it was prettier in person.

joe finally makes it to the edge of the bed, still watching you as you work yourself. you figured you’d be cringing at the lack of foreplay, or how his pants aren’t even all the way off, but you can’t bring yourself to care as he continues stroking himself before ripping open the condom and sliding it on. he gets on the edge of the bed by his knees and comes toward you a little, a hand extending out to run a finger through your heat and gather some of the wetness pooling there. he smears it all over his cock, and even though the condom is there, it still drives you crazy to see. “joe, come on before i back out.” you tell him, and you almost don’t recognize your fucked out voice.

the heat of the moment is so enticing to you both. his clothes are still on, pants down his legs halfway, and your dress is hiked up while you dig your high heeled shoes into someone else’s mattress. he finally leans forward and slides into you. you take a sharp breath, feeling more full than you ever have as he pushes in to the hilt.

joe barely gives you any time to adjust before he’s thrusting into you roughly. his lips find yours again and you gasp into his mouth. he pulls away slightly, allowing a drop of spit to fall from his lips into your mouth, which you take happily. you’re both moving sloppily against each other, but as joe brings his hand to your clit to flick his fingertips against it gently, you can’t bring yourself to even care. you’ve had sex with plenty of people and you’ve had orgasms before, but you’ve never experienced the euphoria joe is making you feel.

the warmth starts at the top of your head and it spreads throughout your extremities, into your fingertips and toes. you arch into him, your lips still moving together, and joe’s hips are still pounding into yours, shaking the bed against the wall. you cringe as you hear margot’s keys jingling in your bra. it doesn’t seem to bother joe.

with a few quick slips of his fingers over your clit, you’re cumming against him without warning, and harder than you ever have in your life. the tight squeeze around his cock as you cum is the catalyst for his own orgasm as he spills into the condom.

he pulls out of you with haste, ready to tie off the condom and discard it as fast as possible, hating how slimy it feels. just as soon as he’s moved you dart off the bed, grabbing your panties and slipping them up your legs before attempting to make a run for it.

joe pulls his pants and boxers up, tucking himself in and then runs after you, making it to the door before you. “pretty good, wasn’t it?” he jokes, and you roll your eyes at him before pushing past and walking back down the hall, headed for margot. he chases after you.

“okay, didn’t last as long as i normally would, but i mean, we could do it again, i could prove it. that was… you were…”

you press a finger to his lips as you pass through the very same doorway that got you into this predicament. your eyes study joe’s face as he nervously worries his bottom lip between his teeth. you’ve never seen him like this before, he’s shaken up, and you like that you’re the cause of it. you’d hate to admit it, but you would like to do this again. you point up at the mistletoe and joe takes the hint, pulling you in for another short yet sweet kiss.

“text me.” is all you say before walking over to margot, grabbing her by the arm, and dragging her out the door and to the car. you pull her keys from your bra and unlock it, opening the passenger door and shoving her in before going to the drivers side and starting the ignition.

margot slurs her words as she speaks to you. “wha’ happened? did’ya kiss ‘im?”

“i’ll tell you later, marg.” you say, eager to get home as quickly as possible. you park as quickly as you’ve pulled into the space and you help margot out, grabbing both your phones before you go inside, taking margot right to her room. she insists she’s okay enough to take off her makeup and undress, and she promises she’ll drink water before she falls asleep. you head to your room, shocked to see the clock on your phone reading 1:00am already.

you set yourself an alarm for six, and you undress quickly before sliding on some pajamas and settling in bed.

when you wake the next morning it’s to margot beating on your door. “wake the hell up, we missed our flight!”

you scramble out of bed, unplugging your phone and running out into the hall. margot stands next to her door, laughing at you as you panic.

“don’t just stand there, marg!” you shout, your voice laced with panic. “we’ve gotta get dressed, load our bags, call the airport—“

she cuts you off with a loud laugh. “relax, y/n.” she says between giggles. “we aren’t late. i just wanted to get back at you. how dare you sleep with the quarterback and not tell your best friend?” she shoves your shoulder.

you look down at your phone, realizing it’s only 6:10am. “bitch.” you laugh, running back into your room. you lock the door behind you again, and margot continues her laughter. ��i need all the juicy details! literally every last second of it, you have to tell me everything!”

you weren’t sure how she even knew, even though you’re sure ja’marr probably texted her.

you roll your eyes at her even though she can’t see it as you head to your bathroom, ready to take a quick shower. you check your phone one last time before hopping in the water, noticing a text notification from joe, who you’ve affectionately saved as “fuckface.”

you don’t open it just yet, but you crack a smile knowing he’s messaged you already. what have you gotten yourself into?

all photos and dividers used are not mine. all credit to owners.

taglist: @slimshiesty @starsinthesky5 @kykysinlovewithafairytale @burrowdarling @joeyb1989 @loveyatopluto @toterry @unhingedfangirl @superheroprincess22 @burreauxsworld @definitelynotdomanique @samanthamark5 @superstarshitblog @fa1ry03 @wickedfun9 @xbriexx @venic-bxtch @burrowdarling @angels555 @idbe-theman @yelenasbraid @ladyluvduv @joeburrowshaircurl @joeybisbootiful @livinobx @blairsworld22 @jarring-behavior @joeyburrrow

672 notes · View notes

lupinqs · 3 months ago

Text

hi hi hi!!!!!!! with the end of take me to church right around the corner, i want y’all to vote on which upcoming series you’d like to see first. imma be honest my favorite is the second one but i have so much lore for all of them that it would be easy for me to write any!!! vote pls!!!!

WNBA Paige x Upper East Side Princess OC:

paige plays for the liberty; she’s in her rookie season

oc is in her last year of college at columbia—her parents are very rich (like billionaire type rich) and she’s grown up on the upper east side

enemies to lovers hella because oc is a bitch lowkey and paige def matches that energy towards oc

despite being so young, oc also already has a fiancé that she’s kinda been expected to end up with her whole life because he’s a family friend and the son of another rich millionaire/billionaire but they’re more just friends if anything

oc’s finacé’s parents are huge funders towards NY sports (including the liberty) which is kinda why oc and paige see each other a lot

oc’s parents def don’t approve so angst there too

oc is also an ex basketball player who was forced out of the sport at a young age despite being talented and paige kinda helps her get back into the sport and start loving it again because at the beginning oc HATES basketball

very reminiscent of gossip girl

UCONN Paige x Teammate OC:

paige is in her junior year, oc a freshman (only a year and a half age gap yall don’t be weird)

oc was the number-one recruit in her class coming into college just like paige was so she’s got a lotta pressure on her

paige and oc are roommates

oc tore her ACL her junior year of high school so when paige tears her, oc is there for her because she’s been in that position before—paige and oc have had a lot of similar experiences which makes them really understand each other

paige really channels her inner coach p into oc because oc is gonna have to have a huge role in this season due to paige’s absence and then even more so with azzi’s injury

oc also has had a bf for like ever and i’m saying she’s been in love with this boy since she was a kid because they lived next door to each other—that type of thing. so oc has never even really thought about being gay or liking girls because she’s always been so infatuated with that boy but when she and him start having problems because he’s at a different college and when paige starts comforting her through that and she and paige start spending more time with each other, oc starts… realizing lots of things about herself and her feelings

lots of self-discovery

end goal is for paige to basically coach and encourage oc and team to a natty

WNBA Paige x Ex-Bestfriend Actress OC:

paige plays for the sparks; she’s in her rookie year

oc is a well-known and successful actress

paige and oc were childhood best friends (yes ik i just did this with tmtc) and had a hella homoerotic friendship that ends up falling apart paige’s first year of college after …. certain events

oc is more open about her sexuality but paige has always been very overthinking about it and has severe internalized homophobia which helps lead to the crumbling of their friendship before

oc has been really really successful these past few years in the acting industry; her first movie came out in paige’s sophomore year of college which was sort of a wake up call for her then because she hadn’t even known that her best friend was actually legit in acting now

paige’s junior year college is when she realizes that yeah, she is gay and she was in love with oc basically her whole childhood but she’s ruined it and she doesn’t even think she has a chance anymore

paige is completely chill and confident within herself and her sexuality by her senior year of college

anyways in the present oc and paige meet again at some after party in la and it’s so weird for paige because oc seems so confident and at ease and she’s with all these famous people now but she used to be so shy and reserved

cameron brink and oc’s best friend are good friends and since paige and oc’s closest friends in la are good friends, they start running into each other a lot more

lots of angst fs and learning the new versions of each other vs remembering the ones they grew up with

#paige bueckers #uconn wbb #paige bueckers fic #uconn huskies #wbb #uconn #paige bueckers x oc #paige bueckers x reader #paige bueckers fluff #paige bueckers smut #paige bueckers series #wlw #lgbtq #wcbb #wcbb x reader #wnba

73 notes · View notes

wonbriiize · 1 year ago

Text

pairing; wonbin x reader

genre; fluff, comfort (in a way)

warnings; none

note; idk what to think about this but i hope y’all will like it anyway !!

all at once

in which you convince your boyfriend wonbin to make bracelets with you and he ends up making one specifically for you…

“i can‘t believe you’re making me do this,” wonbin sighs while he sits down on the floor, next to you.

“oh, don’t act like you don’t love this,” you grin, taking out your beads, and everything else you need to make bracelets, from the bag you brought with you.

“you know what i love?” wonbin smirks, suddenly pulling you closer to him.

“hmm.. no, i don‘t think i do?” you tease him, smirking against his lips.

wonbin plants a kiss on your lips and you fight off every desire to take this any further because wonbin’s roommates are all at home and you don’t want them to just burst into the room out of nowhere.

“let’s get to work,” you let go of wonbin and start collecting out the beads that you want to use for your bracelet.

wonbin does the same, but he’s struggling to find colors that he wants to use. for him, this isn’t just making any bracelet. he wants to make one for you. and it needs to be perfect, because in wonbin’s eyes, you deserve nothing but the best.

you wonder why it’s taking him so long to search out the beads, but your worries get brushed off once shotaro enters the room and sits down on the floor.

“i want to make a bracelet too,” he says, not really asking you for permission to use your beads, but you don’t mind. out of all the roommates wonbin has, shotaro is your favorite.

wonbin doesn’t even notice shotaro coming into the room, he’s too busy thinking about the bracelet that he’s making for you. he‘s putting all his focus into it. wonbin doesn’t even get mad when shotaro makes you laugh so hard that you almost start tearing up (because he is the only one who’s allowed to make you laugh like this), no, he’s too invested in the bracelet. right now, he’s deciding what he should use to make it more special. more meaningful.

“shotaro, your bracelet looks so cool,” you say, admiring his work. even though shotaro just started it, he’s halfway done already.

“yours doesn’t look that bad either,” he grins.

“can you two stop flirting? i‘m trying to concentrate,” wonbin glares at shotaro and you which makes you both laugh.

“hey, look who finally acknowledged my existence,” shotaro throws a bead at wonbin’s head, which just annoys him even more.

“if you keep flirting with my girlfriend, my fist will also acknowledge your existence.”

your heart jumps at the mention of ‘girlfriend’. wonbin and you have been dating for a long time, but everytime he calls you his girlfriend it still feels like the first time. it makes you feel so happy, excited, loved… it makes you feel so many things all at once.

wonbin makes you feel so many things. no matter what he does or say.

“wohooo, how scary,” shotaro grins even more.

he knows wonbin would never actually hurt him, they’re best friends. he just likes to tease him from time to time so he can loosen up.

“if you’re done with your bracelet can you leave?” wonbin points to the door and shotaro rolls his eyes. “no, i‘m not done yet.”

“i think you are,” wonbin raises up his eyebrows.

“i‘m literally not,” shotaro looks confused, not understanding why wonbin is pushing this so much.

“you can finish it up somewhere else.”

“but the beads-”

“god, shotaro, just leave so i can have some privacy with my girlfriend!!”

this conversation between the two of them makes you laugh. seeing wonbin and shotaro bickering with each other is your happiness.

“you could have just asked nicely instead of forcing me,” shotaro pouts, standing up.

now wonbin feels bad.

“dinner is on me,” he says and shotaro starts grinning. “i wasn’t actually sad, i just knew you’d say this if you’d think i am.”

with that, shotaro happily jumps out of the room, leaving wonbin shaking his head with a big smile on his face.

“i hate him.”

“you love him. but not as much as me i hope,” you slip closer to wonbin and wrap your arms around him.

“there‘s no one i love as much as you,” wonbin leans in to kiss you, but he stops right before his lips land on yours. your heart sinks a bit, you were really anticipating the kiss.

“what’s wrong?”

“before i kiss you, i want to give you this,” wonbin pulls out the bracelet that he has been working on the whole time.

“it’s for you.”

your jaw drops a little and you’re shocked at how beautiful the bracelet is. you can tell that wonbin put in a lot of thought while making it because in the middle of the bracelet, he put in a bead which represents an inside joke that the two of you have.

“you didn’t have to do this,” you say, feeling sad because you didn’t make one for wonbin.

he softly grabs after your wrist and puts the bracelet on.

“i wanted to.”

then he looks up to you again, his eyes scanning your lips.

“and now i want to do this.”

seconds later, his lips intertwine with yours. you wrap your arms around his neck, pulling him as close to you as possible.

at this very moment, you don’t care about wonbin’s roommates being at home and the high possibility of them suddenly coming into the room.

no, all you care about is wonbin.. and the beautiful bracelet he made specifically for you.

and once again, wonbin does it ; he makes you feel so many things.. all at once. all indescribable. all beautiful.

430 notes · View notes

lunarrumor · 1 year ago

Text

random valgrace headcanons

- leo cooks for jason all the time because he likes it (it reminds him of his mom and when she taught him how to make his favorite dishes) and his love language is most definitely gift giving because he’s not so good with words

- but one day leo was up all night working on some new machine (again) and jason decides he wants to give him a break so he tries to make some simple pasta. butttt they didn’t really have cooking lessons at camp jupiter and the water overflows and he burns the sauce and when leo gets back jason’s hair is mysteriously red and the kitchen looks like something exploded (it did. the sauce bubbled up and went everywhere)

- however they go camping together once and leo makes a fire and by the time he gets back from going to use the restroom jason has caught a wild bird and is frying it up

- leo makes jason random little trinkets all the time

- when leo and jason are having meals with the seven + reyna and nico they’ll tap messages to each other back and forth in morse code until annabeth gets annoyed by all the banging

- leo loves horror movies and jason hate hate hates them

- when jason gets drunk he likes using a lot of big words except he’s too drunk to use them correctly so he just hopes no one notices (leo does but doesn’t mention it…. without fail he’ll look at him and go “how r u so smart even when so drunk” and jason will give him a dopey smile)

- they go to college in new rome together and visit piper at her mortal school all the time

- they also got an apartment together because yeaa it might be moving fast but they totally didn’t move in together because they’re soulmates or whatever. naaaa it would js be silly not to right ? they shouldn’t *both* be paying rent when they’re gonna be at the same place *anywayss* and jason doesn’t cook and leo doesn’t clean so really it’s just a responsible roommate setup rigggght (aka the lie they tell themselves bc they really js wanna have the security of seeing each other everyday and live a wholesome life where they don’t have to worry if the next time they visit the other they’re not gonna be there anymore)

- but they’re both still worried to ruin the relationship because it’s so new and they’ve been pining for so long so they get separate rooms. except leo is always crawling into jason’s bed at night or jason is playing a movie in leo’s while he works (leo’s barely paying attention but jason likes doing it so he can sneak him snacks because leo has a habit of forgetting to eat while working. and every so often leo will make a goofy joke about the movie n he gets so amazed by how smart n funny leo is. n leo likes the background noise and jason’s little snorts when a character is being dumb. and mostly he just likes his presence. how they can just sit in silence together and without leo having to say anything jason will know how much he cares. how much he appreciates jason caring about him)

- and eventually leo just stops going back to his room, unless he’s working on something, because he likes the smell of jason and waking up with him and bothering him while he does schoolwork. his things slowly start appearing in jason’s room until he’s basically moved in and one day he comes home to jason rummaging through his drawers and he’s like uhh ??? and jason’s like ah rats i was gna surprise you….. i cleared out my closet and got a dresser so that you don’t have to keep going back and forth and i can totally put it back if u don’t want that i just thought maybe you might want to because you haven’t rlly slept here in so long anyway and…. and leo kisses him n grabs the pile of clothes and carries it off to *their* room. and so leo’s old room becomes his new work space

- on this same vein leo will get so distracted while he’s working on a new project that he’ll forgot all about time and sometimes he’s doing this n jason comes in and tells him the time and he drops everything and makes dinner bc his stomach grumbling is fine but when he realizes jason probably hasn’t had a real meal since the last time he cooked now *thats* motivation

- of course jason doesn’t always need him to cook (in fact leo starts trying to teach him no matter how disastrous it is at first. i guess multitasking in battle doesn’t equate to handling the chaos of a kitchen ? but jason actually gets pretty good as long as he’s looking at a list of instructions) but leo just likes all the compliments he gets from jason about his food and how he’ll sit with him in the kitchen and come up behind him with his hands on his waist (jason gets really excited whenever leo asks him to do something like bring him some seasoning or a ladle because he likes being helpful)

- jason also started picking up food after his morning class and bringing leo breakfast because he is *not* a morning person. he’ll also order food when leo’s been cooped up in his room for some time and he knows he wants to keep working so jason brings his lil surprise in along with his laptop and they eat together (with jason making sure leo takes a bite every now n then and eats enough before it gets cold)

- jason wakes up at 6 am everyday to go to the gym, shower, and go to classes meanwhile leo doesn’t have class till 1 and even then he’s late sometimes. because as u could assume leo stays up late at night and jason has trouble staying up past midnight (he always falls asleep during their movie nights even though he tries his very hardest not to but leo is so toasty he just can’t help it. and leo always tucks him in and takes off his glasses)

- also neither of them like waking up alone on the couch in the middle of the night (which is fine when leo falls asleep first, jason just picks him up and carries him to bed. but leo isn’t exactly built for dragging 6 ft men across an apartment floor) so they get a pullout sofa for this exact reason (not a bed pullout couch. he would still have to lift jason off and jason is a heavyy sleeper. he had to sleep through a lot of chaos at camp jupiter. they get one of those couches that extends into more couch and pile a bunch of blankets on it for movie nights. and leo makes popcorn with an ungodly amount of butter)

- leo runs warm and when his emotions spike his powers act up so he stress sweats and everytime it happens jason will cool him off with a nice breeze

- on the flip side jason is always cold so he’s always snuggling up to leo (totally the only reason. definitely not that he’s touch starved) and in the winter they’re literally attached at the hip. jason will not let him go no way no how he *will* stand/walk/lay/sit with his arms around leo at all costs (the cost is piper grossing out at their gushiness)

- jason’s bear hugs are leo’s favorite things in the world he could stay wrapped in those arms forever

- jason and leo live in the same apartment complex as frank and hazel and they become a lot closer

- percy and annabeth live down the hall and leo loves to ding dong ditch them

- annabeth randomly knocks on their door sometimes because she wants leo’s help figuring out the logistics for an architectural project of hers and jason will follow so he can play video games with percy (yeah i said it, percy and leo teach him how to play and he likes it more than he thought he would)

- every week they all get lunch together with reyna, piper, and nico

- nico comes over at first to hang out with jason but he still finds leo…. odd but eventually they bond over their love for horror movies and laughing at jason

- leo loves to sketch when he gets bored in class and he’ll be spacing out drawing until he realizes that his whole page is full of jason’s face from every possible angle

- leo fell first but jason said i love you first (after a lot of coaching from piper)

#i thought this would be a short list of hcs but i just can’t shut up about them obviously #rrverse #valgrace #thunderforge #leo valdez #jason grace #leo valdez x jason grace #jason grace x leo valdez #the lost trio #hoo #heroes of olympus #riordanverse #the lost hero trio #tlh trio

190 notes · View notes

psychedelic-pebble · 5 months ago

Text

Seven Minutes in Heaven

Warnings: NSFW content - mdni.

Pairing(s): College!Stanford Pines x Reader

Summary: You hate parties, but somehow get roped into the biggest one at Backupsmore University. Luckily for you, things take a turn in your favor.

If there’s one thing you’ve always hated, it was parties. They’re crowded, stuffy, and loud. But this was college, and despite your evident discomfort around them, you’re easily peer pressured. You received an invitation to a house party, a house that one of the rich kids owned. His parents were gone for the weekend, and no matter how hard you protested, you were somehow roped into going.

Apparently, they didn’t really care who they invited; they just wanted to have a lot of people there. You don’t actually have that many friends to go with; in retrospect, you actually only had one friend at college, who happened to be the reason you were roped into this whole ordeal.

You don’t know what to wear; you don’t really go to parties. You don’t “party.” You decide to keep on your day clothes: ripped jeans and a baggy sweatshirt. Sitting at the couch of your dorm thinking of any excuse to ditch, you hear a knock at your door. Fuck. Too late. You begrudgingly open the door and smile awkwardly.

“Hey, Fidds.” You give a nervous half-smile, placing a hand on the base of your neck.

“Hey! Ya decide not to back out after all?” Fiddleford, AKA your only friend at uni, beams at you. He’s also not dressed in anything fancy: just his normal sweater and jeans.

“Too late to back out now anyway.” You sigh, closing and locking the door behind you. You place your keys in your pocket and follow him down the hallway. “I’m not really the partying type, you know.”

He gives your shoulder a light punch. “Aw, c’mon, it’ll be fun!” He leans down a little, just enough to lower his voice and whisper, “Plus, I dragged Ford inta coming.”

You’re not as close to Ford as he was, but Fiddleford could definitely tell how you felt about his roommate. He was pretty much the only one you’d opened up to about your feelings towards Stanford. You two were friends, but not much more than that.

As soon as you hear Fiddleford say that, you choke a little and glare at him.

“You didn’t.”

“I sure did! It’ll give y’all a better chance to get to know each other, too!” God, if it weren’t for the fact he was your friend, you would’ve strangled this farm boy.

With a rough clearing of your throat, you two begin walking down to the house where this party is supposed to be happening. It isn’t far from campus, maybe a fifteen minute walk. Most of it is spent making idle chit-chat with Fiddleford and talking about trivial things.

You can tell this is the right house from the get-go, if the blaring music is anything to go by. Looking around the small crowd scattered around the front lawn, you make out a figure standing by the curb seemingly waiting for you. It hits you that it’s Stanford after a moment, and you feel your face embarrassedly flush. He grins and approaches the two of you.

“Hey, you made it!” He smiles at you and Fiddleford, keeping both hands in his pockets. “I was starting to wonder if you had set me up.”

Fiddleford laughs, sparking up a conversation while you silently panic and stare off into space. Ford was wearing a white button down that hugs his form a little too nicely, and a pair of black slacks. You find yourself idly staring at his chest more than once.

God, you need a drink.

“Hey, uh, not to be a buzzkill and ruin the curb-party,” you say, disappointed with the way your voice wavers, “but shouldn’t we head inside?”

Both men stop their conversation and nod at you. You give an awkward grin in return and start walking inside, with both of them following suit. You push open the front door and immediately your ears are assaulted by the blaring music; you wince and continue forward, trying not to let it overwhelm you just yet.

“I’ll, uh, just be over here.” You gesture towards the drinks, trying your best to play it cool.

“Sounds good. We’ll be here if ya need us.” Fiddleford winks at you and you flash him an uneasy smile in return.

Your feet move faster than your thoughts, and before you know it you’re pouring yourself a drink, with more alcohol than juice. Just to ease the nerves a little, you think. You take a large swig from your red plastic cup, choking a little but swallowing it down and coughing loudly. This really was not going to be a good night for you.

As the party continued, you basically just hover around from corner to corner trying to find your friends. They’ve completely disappeared, and it didn’t help that you were more than a little tipsy.

“Hey!” Some girl suddenly shouts, causing everyone in the room to turn around to find the source of the call. “We’re playin’ seven minutes in heaven, who wants in?”

Great. You really don’t want to stick around for that, but before you know it, you’re being dragged along with the crowd. You stumble, clumsily looking around before realizing everyone is starting to sit in a circle. It’s too late to leave without further embarrassing yourself, so you sit too. You look around nervously, trying to take in the options for who you might be forced into a closet with. Your heart drops when you see Stanford sitting right across from you on the other side of the room, right next to Fidds. He looks just as nervous as you feel. You’re regretting going to this party more and more.

“A’ight, here’s the rules!” The girl from earlier yells, grabbing an empty beer bottle and holding it up. “We spin this and whoever it lands on has to go into that closet together.”

You are not drunk enough for this.

A couple rounds pass with most people opting to flirt, talk, or make out in the closet and then it's suddenly your turn. You’re passed the bottle and stare at it with malice, clutching it in your hands before the crowd starts urging you on to spin it. You notice Ford looking at you; he gives an awkward smile and looks away.

Okay, fuck it, you think. You place the bottle down and give it a good spin, and once it slows to a stop, you follow the direction of the neck and freeze. Once again, Stanford. Fucking, Pines. What are the chances??

You swallow nervously and look around at everyone, wondering if it’d be too late to back out. Fiddleford gives Stanford a shove, causing him to stumble forward a bit and look at you. He gives you a nervous look, standing up and waiting for you to follow.

Despite everything screaming for you to run, flee, and get away, you stand up and brush yourself off. You wobble a little with the alcohol in your body still prevalent. You’re suddenly being shoved towards the closet before you can protest, with Ford not far behind having Fidds pushing him on.

You’re both pushed into the closet and the door shuts behind you. You let out an embarrassed groan as your eyes adjust to the dark. You can make out Ford standing close by, fidgeting with a button on his shirt. There was barely enough room for both of you to fit in here.

“Ford,” you sigh, defeated, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have even come out tonight.”

He looks at you and swallows nervously. “It’s okay, I know Fidds probably pressured you like he did with me. People like us don’t get invited to parties very often.”

It's deafeningly silent for a few moments while you gather your thoughts.

“You don’t seem like the partying type.” You shrug, leaning back against the wall.

“Neither do you,” he laughs, “yet here we are.”

You’re so close you can smell the alcohol on his breath. Seems like he’s been drinking too. Your face burns a little; thank god it’s dark in here.

“What do you want to do?” Ford asks, leaning against the other wall.

“What is there to do in this situation?” A sigh escapes you and you can’t help but cover your face. “Most people get drunk and have drunk sex in a closet. It's stupid.”

Ford grimaces and looks away. “Even if it’s someone they don’t know. I mean, at least we know each other, and I wouldn’t be completely opposed to it, but-“ He cuts himself off. Oh God.

You feel like you’re gonna explode. What did he just say?? The two of you share a flustered glance and you bite your lip in thought.

“Stanford, I, uh.” You try to think of something, anything to say. He grits his teeth and covers his face in shame.

“Sorry. I think the alcohol is getting to me.” He frowns, dragging a hand down his face.

You can’t think of anything to say, so you let your body speak for you. You walk forward and grab his button down, yanking him down into you and smashing your lips into his. He squeaks in surprise with his hands trembling and hovering just above your hips. You pull away and look at him, embarrassed.

“Sorry,” you mumble, backtracking and attempting to pull away.

His hands find your waist suddenly and pull you closer, a huff escaping him when you press up against his torso. “It’s- It's fine.”

You share an embarrassed look, and you feel him shift nervously, but he doesn’t let go. You look down and your jaw almost falls off; he’s completely hard in his slacks.

“Holy shit.” You breathe, looking back up at him. Ford averts his gaze to the other side of the closet, slightly releasing his hold on your hips, but before he completely lets go you decide to let yourself be bold. “Want me to uh, help with that?”

He blinks and turns back to you, seemingly taken aback. “What do you-?”

Not giving him a chance to answer, you reach your hands down and fumble with his belt. He flinches slightly, obviously not used to the contact, and you stop, looking back at him.

“Is that okay?” You bite the inside of your lip nervously, wondering if you’ve just screwed the whole thing up.

“I mean, I, uh.” He sighs and lets out a small groan. “I don’t really do flings. I want there to be something behind it.”

“What if there is something behind this?” The words come out faster than you can think them over. Ford feels his breath catch in his throat and he looks at you with an almost pleading expression.

“What’re you saying?”

“I’m in love with you, dumbass.” You laugh nervously, attempting to downplay the situation.

Stanford swears under his breath and looks everywhere but you. “I, uh, I have feelings for you too.”

Your heart swells in your chest and you grin dumbly, clumsily unbuckling his belt with shaking hands. You look up at him with an expression that asks, “is this okay?” and Ford looks down at you and nods his head.

“Please, I need you.” That's all it takes for you to sink down to your knees and pull his slacks down along with his boxers. His dick nearly smacks you in the face as it springs out of his boxers, already hard and leaking. You hadn’t even touched him yet.

“Oh, wow, uh,” your breath hitches and you blink a couple times, “that's, wow, haha.”

He covers his face with a hand embarrassedly, too scared to look down at you. You smile at his shyness, determined to break it and make him into a mess for you.

You wrap a hand around his cock and give an experimental tug, causing him to hiss through gritted teeth and whimper softly. You think over your options, eventually landing on taking it further and wrapping your mouth around him. You take the head into your mouth and he straight up moans, slapping a hand over his mouth and running the other through your hair.

“Shit,” you hear him whisper, trying to keep himself quiet so as to not alert anyone else at the party, “that’s- God, that’s good.”

Your chest swells with pride and you take him a little deeper, experimentally pressing the flat of your tongue against the underside of his cock. His hand trembles and grips your hair. You pull away , looking up at him.

“You can be rough, Ford. It’s okay.” You pant, taking him back into your mouth. He nods and moves his hips forwards ever so slightly while gently pushing the back of your head trying not to hurt you. How cute.

You move suddenly, taking the whole thing down your throat, and he lets out a strangled cry, sinking his teeth into the soft flesh of his bottom lip to try and quiet himself. He can’t help himself anymore; he fucks your mouth a little harder and begins moving your head with his hand; you don’t mind.

He’s never felt this way before; his heart is pounding and he feels like he’s on fire. He can’t control himself; his fingers grip your hair hard and pull you down onto him while he starts fucking your throat like he’s gone feral. You place both hands on his thighs while he does so, feeling the way they tense and relax with every thrust.

The noises he’s making go straight through you, causing you to heat up and moan around him. The vibration makes him groan and fuck your throat faster- he’s getting close, you can tell.

“C..Can I cum in your mouth?” He asks shakily, slowing his thrusts to give you a chance to respond.

You nod feverishly around him; you let him take control as he loses himself and shoves your head down in a fast-paced rhythm while thrusting his cock into your mouth. The whine he lets out is downright pornographic, biting down on the palm of his hand to silence it while he shoves himself as deep as possible and cums down your throat. You nearly choke but manage to keep it together as you feel it down your throat, filling your mouth and dripping down your chin.

He stays there for a second before pulling back to let you breathe, and you cough slightly at the movement. You wipe off your mouth with your sleeve, not caring if it’s gross at the moment.

“Sorry, did I hurt you?” Stanford leans down and places a hand on your shoulder. You shake your head.

“No, just not used to that.” You weakly say, your throat still raw.

It’s just then that you realize there’s been someone banging on the door for the past few minutes that neither of you picked up on.

“It’s been like, fifteen minutes, are y’all okay?”

It’s Fiddleford’s voice. You and Stanford exchange a glance and you stifle a laugh.

“Yeah, we’re fine.” You call back, standing up and brushing yourself off. Stanford fumbles with his pants, pulling them up and tucking himself back into his boxers. You open the door and look at Fiddleford with a sheepish grin, while Stanford exits the closet behind you and clears his throat. Fiddleford raises an eyebrow and looks at the both of you. Everyone else at the party is staring.

“Y’all look like hell.” He jokes and punches Stanford’s shoulder gently. “What’d y’all get up to in there anyway?”

You glance away and Stanford gives him an awkward smile. You hear the crowd watching you collectively give an “ooooh!”

“You don’t wanna know.” You eventually manage to say. Fidds gives you a knowing look and grins.

“Y’all together now?” He crosses his arms and surveys the both of you.

Stanford shrugs, looking at you and back to Fiddleford.

“I guess you could say that.” You laugh a little, shoving your hands in your sweatshirt pockets. You’re gonna have to wash it when you get home.

Thanks for reading!! I also uploaded this on AO3 if you’d like to read it there.

divider creds to @cafekitsune !!

59 notes · View notes

bigtreefest · 11 months ago

Text

Chapter 5: From the Ground Up

From: You Catch More Bees With Honey Series

Pairing: Mob! Bucky x Farmer! Reader

Summary: It’s time for Bucky to take charge in your absence.

Word count: 4,065

Content/warnings: Interrogation, restraints (not in the sexy way), allusions to violence, swears, name calling, pet name usage, female reader, kissing, horseback riding?

Author’s Note: I REALLY loved writing this chapter. This is where we start to see the other storylines of the Outta Nowhere AU emerge, so keep an eye out as those get released.

Dividers by @firefly-graphics

< Prev | Series Masterlist | Next >

Bucky was mad-no, he was seething as he paced back and forth in your home office. It was in the wee hours of the morning when his private jet had landed on the local airstrip. Within that same hour, Sam had personally escorted in the little nerd responsible for a good third of the turmoil going on in Bucky’s head: Jake.

Sam had taken the liberty of pre-binding his hands and duct taping his mouth shut. Bucky was going to enjoy ripping the goatee straight off his mousy little face.

Five hours ago

As soon as Steve had gotten off the phone with Bucky, he called the construction crew. They kept them on call for things like this, but the two of them never thought the stakes would be this high. It wasn’t often that someone important and non-expendable was put in this type of danger, let alone someone Bucky cared about. As he was finishing up the call and directing them towards your house, Sam reached out to him with a sticky note.

On it was a name and the address to an apartment in the city, along with Sam’s scrawled ‘pick her up on your way over.’ Steve nodded as he hung up his call and placed another, grabbing the duffel bag he kept packed by the door and heading out.

Three Hours Later

Bucky hadn’t left your side since the rocks collapsed. Luckily, the two of you had been able to find a small gap in the rocks where you both sat. It wasn’t large enough to keep air circulating, but it was big enough to at least allow the two of you to talk with each other. You and Bucky had shared so much, from him sharing his first business operation with Steve, to you detailing crazy college stories of when you, your roommate, and Curtis would hang out.

Bucky laughed along. There was a whole side of you he never knew. He had studied intently what showed up on paper, and he knew the hardships you’d faced from your deep conversation last week, but this? This was a whole new, more playful side. He was surprised to see your spirits so high despite the situation.

“I do not believe that one bit. No way you were climbing up clock towers at school just to steal the clock hands, or a random brick or whatever. You’re too straight-laced.”

You laughed and rolled your eyes as you leaned your head back against the stone wall. “Oh please, people already pay so much to go there, if anything, I had more than the right to do it. Our money pays for that stuff. Technically we owned it. Not the school.”

Bucky snorted. “You didn’t even pay tuition. Didn’t they pay you to go there?”

“That’s besides the point, Bucket. Fight the man. And anyway, if you think I’m straight laced, you should meet my roommate.”

Bucky grimaced. “Yeah, about that. She’s on her way here right now.”

Your ears perked up. “Decks is on the way? Oh, that’s good. She’ll be super helpful. She’s so organized, although, I can’t imagine she took well to whoever had to interrupt her beauty sleep. Who’s the poor guy?”

Bucky sharply inhaled. “Steve.”

“Oooo hooo hoo.” You laughed. “That’ll be a fun one for both of them. They’re either gonna love or hate each other. What are all the rest of the ETAs?”

Bucky looked at his watch. Well, really, he had been checking his watch this whole time to monitor his pulse, which was over 100 consistently since the tunnel buckled. He was shaking with concern for you, but kept his voice level to keep you calm, a trick he and Steve had worked tirelessly to master. “Ummm… looks like the construction crew should be here within the hour. And I’ll bet Decks and Steve will be pulling up any minute.”

You hummed in acknowledgment. “Anyone else coming that I should know about? So I can figure out where they’ll best fit around the farm? Decks is great with the animals.”

You hadn’t heard all of Bucky’s or Curtis’s phone calls earlier since they stepped out of the cave to make them with better reception. Bucky didn’t want you to know Jake was on the way, mostly because he knew you’d make him promise not to hurt the rat, and he didn’t want to have to make that promise with the high likelihood it would be broken. He decided a better move would be to change the subject.

“So where did the nickname ‘Decks’ come from anyway?”

“Oh! Well it’s actually-“

Bucky heard footsteps near the mouth of the mine. He did his best to politely cut you off. “Wait, Honey, I’m so sorry, quiet for one second.”

He sat there and silently listened, the rustling becoming closer and clearer until he identified it as hooves clopping gently against the soft ground. He heard Curtis’s voice say something vaguely before he moved to get his feet underneath him and brush off his pants.

“I think Curtis is here with Steve and Decks. I don’t want anyone else to come in, just in case it’s still too unstable. Can you tell me exactly what you need them to do?”

You nodded, even though you knew Bucky couldn’t see it and began to lay out the instructions. Decks and Steve weren’t here to clean out the tunnels, they were here to help keep the farm running until you were freed, and no one knew how long that would take. It was best to keep only those who could be closely trusted around until this was all figured out. God forbid the authorities come knocking, or worse yet, Cole. Bucky held onto your every word before briefly leaving the tunnel to relay the information.

Bucky returned to you shortly after instructing Curtis to take Steve and Decks back to the house so they could rest before their long day tomorrow. Everything needed to run as smoothly as possible to not raise suspicion from your absence, which they were going to claim was due to a corn crop farmer’s conference out in Iowa if anyone asked.

After another hour with you, Bucky let you know the construction company arrived and was starting to stabilize the ceiling so they could dig you out. “I’ve gotta go deal with some business, so I’ll be back soon. Plus, I can’t get in the way of these vehicles. But say the word to one of the crew and I’ll be back here in a minute flat. I promise.”

Bucky’s promises meant a lot. That was something you had learned in your conversations. He never said something unless he had a plan to deliver. A man’s word was everything in his line of work.

“Okay, I’m going to hold you to that!” You yelled back.

Bucky chuckled. “I’m going to send Sam back here as soon as he arrives. He’ll keep you company.” And with that, Bucky made his way back to the house.

So this is where Bucky found himself, walking back and forth menacingly behind Jake, who had been tied down to the guest chair in your office. Jake’s eyes shifted back and forth with nervousness as he tried and failed to hold back whimpers and near-hyperventilating breaths.

Bucky had been silent for only ten minutes. He liked the way it made them squirm. He could sit and stare all day, completely unbothered, as anyone he interrogated slowly lost their mind. Of course, there were other, more fun ways, to get information, but he wouldn’t dare mark up your home. He’d never let the one they called ‘The Winter Soldier’ be unleashed in your sanctuary. This is the closest he would ever get, though, and it would never be seen by you.

Bucky stalked around Jake and crouched in front of him. “A milk maid came in here and told me that you’d given him information about this farm. Care to share?”

Jake shook his head vigorously and whined through the duct tape over his mouth. Bucky leaned in closer. What was more terrifying than being yelled at by him? Bucky with an alarmingly level voice.

“Sorry, I couldn’t quite catch that. I can help you talk a little better, but you’ve gotta be quiet. There are people upstairs sleeping, and I can’t guarantee they’ll be as nice as me if you wake them. Promise to be good?”

Jake nodded carefully and slowly. Bucky reached for the tape at the corner of Jake’s mouth and ripped it off quickly. Jake’s head lurched forward, his mouth open with a silent scream between gasping breaths. Bucky examined the sticky side of the tape. There was no hair on it. The steam from Jake’s mouth must’ve reduced the stickiness just enough that it didn’t cause damage. Shame.

Bucky slammed his hands over Jake’s on the armrests of the chair. “Tell me everything.” He gritted out between clenched teeth.

Jake giggled uncomfortably. “Uh….there’s not really much to know, mister…sir….does this have to do with Peach? I thought she owned this farm now. Where is she?”

Bucky growled. “That’s not important right now, but yes, this is about this farm. Tell me everything you told the guy with the soft hands and the jackets that were too crisp to indicate a day of work in his whole life.”

Bucky had no intention to associate that with his own designer crisp suits that he wore everyday back in the city. That was different, it was a totally separate line of work, plus, he wasn’t trying to pose as something that he’s not when he wore them. Anyway, he’s not the one on trial here.

“Oh! You mean Cole? Fucking prick.” Jake mumbled looking down and to the side. “I can promise whatever he said to you was a lie. That guy’s always been awful. He hides a demon face behind his handsomeness.”

Bucky didn’t want to be on Jake’s side, but he couldn’t argue with that. But to keep him talking, Bucky leaned in closer, moving his hand towards the knife on his belt loop. Jake flinched and raised his hands in surrender as much as he could with his wrists tied down.

“Okay, okay, I promise I didn’t say much. At least not on purpose. I was at an investors party up in San Francisco when Cole bumped into me. He was bragging about how he had just inherited his parents’ company and it was way bigger than when we were in high school. Frankly, I didn’t care, I make an effort to forget about a lot from back then, mostly him, so I tried to disprove him by saying that there are still nice little farms around despite his family’s efforts. I told him I still had my mom buy me honey that Peach makes, herself.” He hung his head in shame.

Bucky huffed as he leaned back against your desk and crossed his arms. “Well, way to go. You know, they painted you to be some genius, but you’re an absolute idiot.”

Jake looked up and scrunched his nose. “Well I actually prefer the term loser, bu-“

Bucky raised his hand to stop Jake from talking. “I really don’t care. What matters is that you’ve made a mess for Honeybee that inconveniences all of us. I’ve gotta be the one to work on cleaning this up while she’s otherwise occupied.”

Jake cocked his head to the side and furrowed his brow in confusion. “Who the fuck is ‘Honeybee?’ Are we talking about the same person?”

Bucky sighed and wiped a hand over his face, stopping with it covering his mouth. He looked at the helpless man in front of him. How had you ever dated this guy? If he used to be great, what on Earth happened to him? “God, you’re slow to catch on. Yes, it’s the same person, but I don’t think the sweet peach you used to know and love is in there anymore. Not after you abandoned her. And especially not after you gave up her operation on a silver platter to Cole.”

Jake swallowed as he caught on. He had seen the devious glint in Cole’s eye when they had run into each other, but just thought it was a product of Cole’s braggadocious success. Not his complete hunger for domination. Despite the way Jake left, he still cared for you. He didn’t want to see the thing you loved taken away, especially by the guy who caused him so much grief. The guy your family defended him from on so many occasions. He felt awful. You’d taken care of Jake when he was around, but when the opportunity came for him to do the same for you, he failed.

Tears began to well up in his eyes. “I’m so sorry. Whatever I can do to help, I will, please, misterrrr…….”

Bucky’s shoulders pushed back in arrogance. Jake squealed all the information he had and didn’t even know the name of the man interrogating him. That wouldn’t do, especially if Bucky wanted to eventually release Jake back out into the wild once this was all over. He made a mental note to have someone coach Jake on how to not give up sensitive intel so easily. But for now, Bucky would take advantage of the ease of informational access.

“Barnes. You get to call me Barnes.”

“Ooh! So like a cool nickname only I get to use? I feel so special.”

Bucky chuckled dryly at that. Jake really was clueless. “No. Not at all like that.” Bucky leaned forward, elbows on his knees as his face inched closer to Jake’s.

“Now tell me everything you know about the mines.”

Jake’s eyebrows raised. “Oh? Those old things? Yeah, Peach and I used to make out in the-“

Bucky waved his hand again as he closed his eyes, unable to look at Jake for another second. “No. Skip that part. What else?” He quickly said, dismissively.

“I know they’re old? Like crazy old and probably prone to collapse at this point. But Pe- I mean, your Honeybee does some occasional civil engineering contracting work. She could probably easily whip up a plan to reinforce them.”

Bucky looked at Jake more intently. He liked the way Jake said his Honeybee, but he couldn’t let that distract him right now. And anyway, you were very much your own person. Far from his. If anything, he was yours. He knew about all your business endeavors, but not those kinds of specifics. “Keep talking.”

“Yeah, I kept up with her after school-well, more like I asked my mom to keep up with her. Apparently she’s like, designed bridges for town and stuff. Why? What’s going on with the mines?”

“That’s not technically your business.” Bucky stood there, debating on his next move.

Jake’s eyes lit up as he gasped loudly. “Oh my gosh. Is she in trouble!? Did she get hurt in a mine!?”

Bucky slapped his hand over Jake’s mouth and whisper yelled at him. “What did I say about keeping it down?”

Jake winced and whispered back. “Sorry. Does Curtis know?”

Bucky nodded. “Yes. And he’s upstairs sleeping. Don’t. Poke. The Bear.”

Jake nodded again. He was being so compliant, Bucky figured he could let a few more details slip. Maybe Jake was a little smarter than Bucky gave him credit for. “She’s trapped in one of the smaller caves. I’ve already got a construction crew digging her out.”

“Wait wait wait. You guys have a proper plan for this, right? You’ve gotta put supports in first and then calculate the load-bearing rocks. You can’t just go willy-nilly digging or it could get worse.” Man, based off that language, Bucky had no doubt Jake truly did grow up around you.

“Good observation, Jakey. That’s where you come in. I know I could’ve just called you if I wanted to know what you told Cole, but I needed you in person to know how serious I am. Grab your little computer and we’ll get going so you can run the calculations while Honeybee talks you through them. You can still ride a horse, right?”

Jake moved to get up, only to be stopped by the restraints. Bucky turned around from the door, voice dripping with fake sympathy. “Oh, that’s right, my bad. I’ll get you untied and then we can go.”

Sam was talking with you about where to put which construction vehicles when he heard hooves make their way to the entrance. Bucky dismounted the back of a horse holding a laptop, followed by Jake who was riding ahead of him on that same horse.

“Not a word of this, Samuel.” Bucky growled lowly into Sam’s ear with clenched teeth. “I’ve already threatened the kid with the same.”

Bucky still had no idea how to ride a horse on his own, but would never admit that, so he was actually extremely grateful that Jake could take the reins. Sam had taken the other horse to get to you, leaving only one back at the house for him and Jake to use.

Bucky handed Jake the laptop and patted him on the back harshly, making it more of a shove. This led him to the small hole where you and Sam had just been talking.

Bucky followed at a quicker pace, reaching the area just before Jake could and held his arm out in front of the blond to bar him from going any farther. “Hi Honey, it’s me. I brought you a little present to help out, I hope you’re not mad. It’s your old friend Jacob from high school. Say hi.”

“Jake? Like… Jensen?” You responded, trying to look through the small hole unsuccessfully.

“Yeah, Peach, it’s me. I’m here to get you out. A-and Mr. Barnes wants you to know he’s been nothing but kind to me.” Jake clutched his laptop firmly to his chest, leaning over to be heard better through the small opening.

Bucky gave a stern nod to Jake for already responding well to his coaching on the way over here. Jake sat down by the hole where Bucky had sat before and got to work.

“Okay, Bee. Like I told you before, you say the word and I’ll be here in a minute. You can time me.”

“Where are you going?” He could hear the slight worry in your voice.

“To run a farm. And by that, I mean listen to Curtis.”

You giggled. “Okay, Bucket. See you soon.”

He looked back and smiled before turning towards Sam and pointing into his chest. “You tell me the second she’s close to getting out. I’ll be there.”

Sam nodded. “Sure thing, boss. Need help getting back up on your horse?”

Bucky was already turned away and heading back to your house. He waved a hand dismissively. “No. I’m walking.”

Sam chuckled as he watched the mob boss trudge away. He knew something had shifted in Bucky’s feelings. And he definitely had his suspicions that Bucky couldn’t ride a horse.

When Bucky returned to your house, he didn’t go upstairs. He feared the creaking of the steps would wake Decks, Curtis, and Steve. Plus, he knew he wasn’t going to sleep. Why would he when there was so much to do to help you? He would just get in the way at the mines, so he went into your office. He pulled out the files and article you had planned to show him the previous night regarding Cole from the kitchen, and as he sat down in your chair, he saw a contract with a familiar watermark. Shit.

Fuck. Shit. Bitch.

The letterhead was from ‘Turners Farm Corporation,’ which he had expected, but the associated law firm was ‘Hansen & Co.’ Bucky had his fair share of law firms in his back pocket, but this was not one of them. In fact, it was quite the opposite.

Lloyd Hansen was something of Bucky’s rival in the city. He was an unhinged lunatic. Where Bucky ran things with honor, poise, and calculated movements, Lloyd was messy, unpredictable, and reckless. He’d been trying to make multiple steps into Bucky’s territory, geographically and business-wise, but Bucky had done a decent job at shutting it down thus far.

And now Cole was in cahoots with Lloyd, well, not him directly on paper, just his bitch-ass sister who ran the firm. Bucky couldn’t believe-well, actually he could. He could believe that Cole would have teamed up with Hansen to build enough power for a takeover, especially considering it didn’t add up if Cole was making these moves on his own.

Fired by frustration that more than supplemented the sleep Bucky lacked from not just tonight, but this whole week, he snapped a picture of the contract and sent it to Sam. Sam would make sure it made its way through the right channels and contacts still back in the city. For now, Bucky had a more important priority than personally dealing with business: You. He had never been so grateful for Sam.

As he skimmed through the final page of the contract Cole had proposed to you, the first rooster crowed. Bucky got up to gather the eggs and make breakfast like any other day in the routine he’d grown so familiar with over just the past two weeks. But instead of cooking for you, he was cooking for the small army that came to your aid.

Curtis came barreling down the steps first, followed by Decks, and then eventually, Steve, who slumped and slinked down the stairs, reminiscent of Bucky’s first day doing the same. At least they were able to get themselves up.

Bucky plated their food, Curtis eyeing him with a small smile that Bucky failed to notice, and he sat down in his normal spot to start eating. He honestly didn’t have the appetite to do so, but he knew he’d crash without food since he already wasn’t sleeping, so he forced it down, preparing to go over the assignments with everyone once again.

Steve would be doing what Bucky had last week to set up the farmer’s market since it was scheduled to go again. Decks would be taking over the tasks you had, feeding the animals, and then doing sales with Bucky since people already knew his face. No need to raise more suspicion by introducing two new people to an event you were usually at.

Once everyone cleared their plates, they got to work, doing everything they could to be of assistance for the mob boss who was very evidently on edge.

It was early afternoon when Bucky got a call from Sam. He immediately picked it up.

“We’re close, boss. Only a couple more large boulders to go before there’s a big enough gap to pull her through.”

Bucky dropped the empty crates he was carrying onto the floor of the storage shed where he was returning them from the farmers market. Lucky for him, the storage shed was much closer to the mines than the barn.

Bucky was full-on sprinting in a way no one had ever seen. He never had to once he rose to power. All he did was walk, his long strides alone commanded enough respect. But this wasn’t about pride. It was about you.

He arrived at the mine entrance, breathing heavily, just as Sam was holding your hand, helping you step over a pile of sand and pebbles. Jake stood awkwardly to the side as you looked up from your feet to see Bucky quickly moving toward you. A smile took over your face and you sighed in relief. He scooped you up and spun you around before setting you down again and using his large hands to frame your face. Bucky didn’t care about the dirt and grime that had built up on the two of you. All he cared about was your safe return to his arms.

You watched as his eyes darted between yours and down to your lips. You wouldn’t hold back anymore. He had put all his resources into saving you, helping you. Without wasting another second, you leaned up on your toes and smashed your lips into his. When you pulled back, Bucky lost consciousness, collapsing in your arms.

Next >

Bonus A/N: Thank you so much for reading! Tbh I thought some moments in here were so funny, but I’d love to hear your thoughts!! Likes, comments, reblogs, and asks are sooooo appreciated!!! If I could, I’d make a secret handshake with you through the phone for following this plot line with me. 😉🤠

Series Taglist:

@scuzmunkie

@openup-yourmind

@vicmc624

@hawkeyes-queen

@blackhawkfanatic

133 notes · View notes

bubooo · 7 months ago

Text

↬ rock candy

prev | 2 ↬ tomfoolery | next

cw: unserious death threats, kys jokes

✧ rocking facts :

the roomies have sleepovers pretty often! despite living together they’re all college students plus they work or have volleyball so all their schedules clash and they can rarely all five hang out together

kuroo and yn like to pretend they hate each other soooo much

don’t mind me slipping some sakuatsu in here,,, what can i say they’re silly

omi is at the same college + on the volleyball team with the rest of the guys he’s just not in the vb gc (there is a different gc with all the members of the team and probably another one atsumu made with omi and a few others in it, this one is just these five since they already knew each other via yn or being roommates) ((as much as i’d love to add him to the story he will not be getting a twitter or put into a gc, too many characters + i don’t feel like it 😓 but he’ll probably be mentioned a bit!))

yn and noya are so down bad for each other,,, they should kiss,,,

↬ a/n : guys i’m so fast like sonic making these updates. also i’m so torn on how long to make it bc i think like ten chapters is a reasonable amount for me but i feel like it’s too short idk what to do hrmdbdhdbhd anyways part three is like practically done so!! enjoy lovelies <3

# taglist : @eujoana89 @loveelylacey @walllflowerrrsss @le000xxgrd @punkhazardlaw @csbnova @jaynawayna @hyenagoated @lvtilzs @nbcvs @nyxlai @kazunish @dawnisatotalqueen (send an ask to be added !! for my sanity LMAO)

#rock candy !#smau !#nishinoya yuu #nishinoya #nishinoya yuu x reader #nishinoya x reader #nishinoya yuu x you #nishinoya x you #smau #haikyuu smau #nishinoya smau #nishinoya yuu smau #haikyuu nishinoya #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu

59 notes · View notes

lightshiningforth · 6 months ago

Text

Maybe the way to have saved the world was to stay in the 1960s at the end of season 2. After the last battle, the Hargreeves all slip away and live quiet lives. Yes, they’re wanted criminals… but it’s also prior to a lot of technology that would make them easy to track. They could skip town, change their names, lay low.

What real reason is there to go back to 2019? Five believes that if they go back, the original apocalypse will not happen, but there’s no basis for that other than the Handler’s word, and the Handler is untrustworthy. The Commission wants them to go back, since they don’t belong in the 1960s, but they just defeated the Commission in battle. They’ve already mucked up the timeline, anyway - they met Hargreeves before any of them were born and told him things he wouldn’t have known, otherwise. They’ve also caused several national incidents. Going back to 2019 will NOT bring them back to the 2019 they knew. Five, of all people, should know that (and it always bothered me that he didn’t, and that everyone was shocked to find a new reality in season 3). They’ve changed history. It’s too late.

So, why not exist in this timeline? I think it would be hard for Allison, who would have to give up on the possibility of ever seeing Claire again. But this time, she would have Ray with her. This time, she would be able to mourn safely, and wouldn’t spiral.

Luther would find a new job, move on from his unhealthy fixation with Allison, come to care for her in a normal brotherly way and love Ray as his brother in law. Maybe he and Diego would live together as chaotic roommates.

Diego would get twitchy trying not to do things that draw attention to himself. Maybe he’d be a vigilante again. Maybe he’d be a small town cop. But when Lila comes back (and she will come back, there’s no reason she couldn’t try her trick with Stan in the 1960s), they work things out and build a life together.

Klaus would struggle for a while, absolutely. No Ben. No Dave. Freshly relapsed. But he would come out of it, too. Maybe Diego would help him, like he does in the first season. Or Allison would, like she does in the fourth. But he won’t be alone again. Perhaps Dave survives the war - don’t we see him join a different military branch at the end of the season? Perhaps Klaus changes the timeline just enough that he lives. Perhaps they meet again, by chance. Perhaps they hit it off.

Or perhaps not. Maybe that’s too much of a paradox (if Dave joins a different branch and never meets Klaus and lives, then how can Klaus have met him and lost him and gone back to warn him?). That wouldn’t stop Klaus from meeting another nice young man and living together as “roommates.” He still remembers his relationship with Dave. That’s real, that matters, he mourns it. But he moves on and he’s happy.

Five retires. Sure, he’s twitchy for awhile. Still waiting for the other shoe to drop. But finally he relaxes, puts on the retiree hat he does in season 3. Goes fishing and road tripping. Jumps in to see his family whenever he wants. He and Lila hate each other, but they agree not to kill each other for Diego’s sake. Hate eventually morphs into begrudging respect.

Ben is gone. It’s tragic. But he saves Vanya, and he crosses over. He’s at peace.

Vanya, Sissy, and Harlan would run away together. Vanya would become Viktor, making them all the more difficult to track. They would realize Harlan has powers, but it wouldn’t ruin his life with Viktor there to help him manage. He’d also help him cope with the guilt of having caused the death of his abusive father - who knows more about destruction and guilt than Viktor Hargreeves? Maybe Viktor would even remove the powers, and let Harlan be a normal little boy who grows up to be an ordinary man.

Now for the fun part. Since Harlan isn’t out of control in this reality, he’s not going to accidentally kill the mothers. So, all seven Umbrellas will still be born. Now what? Five is adamant that they don’t meet each other, but when have the others ever listened to Five?

The real question… will Reginald Hargreeves adopt the Umbrellas, or will he adopt the Sparrows? If he adopts the Sparrows, there’s the difficulty of watching another superhero team (plus Ben! A Ben who looks just like their brother!) go through their traumatic childhood. Plus wondering how their other childhood selves are doing out there. But if Reginald adopts the Umbrellas… oh boy. Now the clock is ticking on another apocalypse.

Imagine the Umbrellas, old now, trying to stop their younger selves from causing an apocalypse. When do they intervene? Do they try to stop Five from leaving? Save Ben? Tell little Vanya that she has powers? Threaten Reginald into being a better father? Or is it Leonard they try to stop? Or each other - does Viktor talk down Vanya, does Luther talk down Luther, etc.? Is this now another potential paradox - for if they prevent the apocalypse, then these versions of themselves won’t jump back in time, so how are they now here and elderly and preventing the apocalypse?

Anyway. This would be fascinating to me. And I’d like it more than whatever season 4 was.

#the umbrella academy

41 notes · View notes

peachyteabuck · 1 year ago

Text

sword & shield (fallon carrington x reader)

↪ summary: you have a meltdown. luckily, fallon knows just what to do

a commission for @devillskettle

↪ pairing: fallon carrington x reader

↪ words: 1,032

↪ trigger warnings: fluff, angst related to it being a meltdown, unspecified neurodiversity in reader

ask box / masterlist / commission info / ko-fi

The inside of your chest feels like a balloon being filled with helium by a careless child. Everything—from the hairs sticking to your forehead, to your extra-dark sunglasses atop your head, to the itchy tag at the back of your shirt—everything grates on your nerves as though they were large blocks of cheese. Two tables behind you, a man is telling a woman off for taking too harsh a tone during a pitch meeting. A table in front of you, a couple is professing their love for each other after the woman’s pregnancy test came back positive last night. Your waiter has on cologne you think expired the same time Britney publicly shaved her head.

Next to your heart and your lungs you can feel the latex pressing on your vital organs; you can’t inhale enough, and you can feel your heart muscles fending off the flimsy material. Some of it seems to pass into your trachea, too, blocking any air from passing in or out.

You don’t say anything when you leave the restaurant, simply standing up as Fallon rambles on about someone at work who accused her of using her Daddy’s money to get by. It’s not that you don’t care that she cares about her reputation—but, more importantly, if you had to hear one more second of literally any noise, you were going to start screaming and flipping tables.

It’s not too hot outside, but not too cold, either. One of those end-of-summer days where the light jacket you’d refused to take off when you’d entered the restaurant would keep you perfectly content. Now you wish you’d brought the heavy blazer you’d tossed aside at the last second. You would’ve hated lugging it around, but at least you’d have something to hide under as the world shrunk around you.

It's easy to know that Fallon is the one coming to stand next to you. She’s got that confident air about her that you’ve envied since undergrad—that kind of energy that guys in your profession were born with; the kind you hated until you saw it dressed in a hot pink pantsuit with a matching Prada purse.

Fallon doesn’t bother to ask if you’re okay. She and the few strangers passing by know you’re not okay just by looking at you—hunched over, hands over your ears, eyes screwed shut. She also knows how easily touch can set you off in these moments, as if you had become trapped inside the belly of a territorial dog, ready to bite at the slightest move.

She doesn’t say anything, actually. Not to you, anyway. Your hands are only so-so at blocking noise, and you can hear her going they’re fine, don’t worry to the occasional concerned civilian troubled enough to ask your companion about you.

You can feel something in front of your face and open your eyes just a bit. It’s her phone, a message typed out in her notes app.

Leave or stay here? It says.

You lean your head to the left a bit.

Fallon takes it back. My place or yours?

Your head snaps left once more. Your roommate works from home and, while she’s sweet, if you have to listen to one of her horrible meetings you think you’ll explode.

You look down again and read the next line.

Let me pay for the food, grab our coats, and call the driver. Stay here.

You nod just a little, hands still over your ears. You knew you should keep a pair of earplugs in your pocket.

Fallon does just as she said she would (or, at least you hope so, given all you can verify is that she’s holding your coat and ushering you into the black Suburban. You like that restaurant, and the last thing you need is for them to put you on their “do not seat” list for nonpayment). The driver, who’s always been understanding of your needs, keeps the car silent as he takes you and Fallon down backroads and through the suburbs.

He doesn’t even say anything as he drops you and Fallon off at her expensive condo, giving her a nod in the rearview mirror that she returns equally silently.

You know lots of people don’t like Fallon, that much has been clear since you were paired for a project in one of your advanced marketing classes. But the parts of her everyone seems to dislike (or worse, actively hate) are all the things you admire most about her; her drive, her stubbornness, how she gets whatever she wants. When you first met, you’d spent your whole life denying yourself anything slightly out of the ordinary. You’d deny yourself anything your mother would’ve considered frivolous and followed every rule placed upon you.

It was horrible. You had felt trapped, walking into that marketing class. Every day an anvil would settle itself atop your chest, painfully crushing your ribs. Meeting Fallon was a true breath of fresh air. She helped you, in her own way, helping to stand up to professors with bones to pick and fellow students who tried to take advantage.

In that same strange, wonderful way, she guides you up the steps of her home, silently instructing you to lay on the couch. There, she piles fancy blankets on top of you (three, to be exact), from thickest to thinnest. She then grabs you a glass of water, cold, from her fridge dispenser.

“You want to watch something?” Fallon asks. You nod, just a little. “Blink once for something you’ve seen before, twice for something irrelevant to your interests.”

You blink once.

She follows your request without comment, sitting so that the side of her thigh presses into your head.

“Thank you,” you say after a while, voice small. For a moment, you’re not sure Fallon hears you. The thick blankets surely muffle your voice, the sound barely audible as the sounds of some television show you’ve seen a thousand times play on her flatscreen television.

Fallon’s hand, once dropped over your shoulder, comes down to cup your face. The position is awkward, but that doesn’t stop her thumb rubs over your heated cheek. “Anytime.”

#fallon carrington x reader #fallon carrington #fallon carrington fanfic #fallon carrington/reader #lukis writes stuff #lukis does commissions #id apologize for not writing for so long but ill be honest.#it is a miracle i am alive

105 notes · View notes

silvervioletvalentine · 2 years ago

Text

🖤it’s been a long time coming but…🖤

Pairing: Quinn Hughes X Cherrie!

Word count : 10k

Summary : in which his roommates sister is staying for the summer. And he promises not to fall in love with her.

Or- Quinn hates being told what to do. And cherries a mean little bitch with the face of an Angel. How was he supposed to not fall in love with her?

Warnings- fluff? There both little bullies to each other cause they’re in love. Duh. Kind of a , he fell first thing. She’s blunt and mean. He’s also dishes it back. Her brother is dumb and wondering what the f is going on. Thats it I think. I don’t even know if it’s any good or makes any sense cause I wrote it at 3am last night soooo…yeah. Lemme know what u think xoxo oh yeah and Quinn’s a swiftie because I said so. I finally got my era( with blood sweat and so many fucking tears) tickets so expect a lot of Taylor song themed oneshots lmfao.

Quinn knew that something was wrong the moment he woke up that morning to find his roommate and close friend , Roman, pacing the front room with his hand running stressfully through his hair , what looked to be a permanent grimace on his face as he stared down at his phone , free hand texting a Mile per minute away.

He eyed him warily as he grabbed himself a bowl and poured some cereal, plopping himself down at the breakfast table to eat .

He yawned "you good?" He mumbled around a spoonful of cereal, barely even awake and kind of wishing that he had just stayed in bed.

It wasn't like he had anything better to do anyway , and really looking at the darkened shade of his eye bags in his spoon, he could really do with some more sleep anyways.

Roman paused , looked down at his phone, looked over at Quinn and then sighed loudly . "No. My sister is coming stay for the summer." He told him, not exactly looking very happy about the fact either.

Quinn rose a brow in confusion , this being the first time he was being told of such plans . Fighting back a groan of misery at the thought of their apartment being invaded by somebody else when all Quinn really wanted was to relax in peace , not invite more people into his man cave.

"Sister?" He repeated barely remembering Roman mentioning his family at all to him "i don't recall ever meeting her." He muttered, wishing that he didn't have to at all.

He wasn't the most sociable of people, he had his small group of friends and quite frankly he just couldn't handle anymore. He was at his limit with people in his life , he didn't want to add anymore onto that small number . He had enough Christmas cards to write out each year as it was.

Roman scoffed , looking a little peeved as he let him know sourly "of course you haven't. She's been living in Milan . Then before that L.A...then Madrid. My little sister can barely be caught...I haven't seen her since last Christmas ." He did Honestly sound upset about it, she was still his baby sister after all.

"And the only reason she was there at all , is because of my mother threatening to axe the credit cards. And even then..she was gone the next day. The little asshole didn't even say goodbye!" He huffed, having been trying to wrangle her for a while now. But every text he sent was put on seen and every call they had usually ended up with them arguing and refusing to speak to the other for months again.

Quinn just frowned , trying not to fall back to sleep face first in cereal.

“So why is she coming here then? Doesn't exactly sound like she wants to be around you at the moment." He snorted a little , amused.

The thought of social , bubbly Roman trying to befriend his moody little sister and getting told to get fucked was hilarious . I mean, he loved his friend but sometimes his 'a friend to all' attitude was a little too much for him, it would be amusing to see him getting humbled like that.

It seemed like Roman wasn't the boss between them at all. How interesting.

Roman laughed "oh she's not coming cause she wants to. She's coming because our mother is making her." He told him with a small smirk , recalling the call from his furious mother letting him know that she would be heading his way soon and that he better make sure that she doesn't wildcard her way out of this again.

"She got involved with mother's hairdressers , husband and well.." he whistled long and hard, amused by the growing list of his sisters fuck ups.

She didn't ever do anything by halves , he would tell you that. "Mother's hairdresser found out and it all blew up. So the family's not too happy with Cherrie right now.." he chuckled.

Quinn looked at him in disbelief , fighting back the grin that wanted to escape, not sure if this was something that he was allowed to laugh about.

"Cherrie? That's her name?" He repeated testing it out on his tongue once Roman nodded his head yes , he then hummed a little "sounds like trouble. You couldn't put her up in a hotel?" He blurted out.

Roman looked at him with a look of shock "Quinn! That’s my sister! Just because she's a bit of a wild child doesn't mean that I'm gonna send her off on her own! God!" He exclaimed , dramatically throwing his hands on his air.

Quinn just rolled his eyes and focused back on his cereal , sighing in misery.

Great. He was going to have a female Roman hanging around , As though one of them wasn't already energy draining enough.

"What does she do?" He asked Him curiously "-besides sleeping with other women’s husbands." He couldn't help himself. Really he couldn't.

Roman glared at him for that comment, Quinn just laughing beneath his breath as he grinned down at his bowl. More than amused with it all.

"She's a model. That's why she travels around." He told him , bringing up his phone and picking a photo of his sister from one of her recent shoots to show him.

Quinn looked up from his bowl , down to his friends phone, then back to his bowl before doing a double take .

His eyes widening in disbelief as he choked on his cereal, spluttering loudly as his face flushed red.

"That's your fucking sister?" He croaked out between his coughs , banging on his chest with his fist , unable to take his eyes away from the phone. Breathing deeply as he tried to fucking breath normally again.

Unable to believe what he was looking at.

He knew her.

Well. He didn't know her personally but he had seen enough of her pretty face on almost every magazine and billboard to know who she was.

She was fucking stunning. Like out of this world , how could it not be plastic surgery , it's so not fair, she must be a siren..it should be illegal to be that hot , kind of beauty.

He looked at the picture of her on vogue Italy , face bare for the stripped down , el natural shoot. Dressed in just a cut up white shirt , shiny hair hanging over her tanned shoulders as she looked straight at the camera with a soft, pouty look on her sun kissed face. Freckles dotted her nose, and if he looked close enough there was a heart shape mole just right beneath her right eye.

Quinn found it hard to breath. Clearing his throat a little as he tried to mask his awe into something more nonchalant instead.

But he glanced back up at his friend to see his act wasn't fooling him at all.

Roman pocketed his phone with a slight frown, eyeing him suspiciously . "Yeah? What's that supposed to mean? Of course she's my sister , where did you think she got her good looks from?" He motioned towards himself with a arrogant grin.

Quinn laughed, harder than he should have giving the offended look he received in return.

"Definitely not you man." He snickered , still slightly in shock over just who his sister was and just what she looked like.

“I just-she doesn't look like the terror you're describing her as." He muttered , getting up off his chair to put his now empty bowl in the sink. More for self distraction than anything.

Roman groaned , shaking his head at him. "That's exactly the problem! She looks like some angel but she's the devil in disguise. Like that Taylor swift song." He started humming the tune of it to him "Darling I’m a nightmare dressed like a -"

Quinn's groan cut him off "yes! I get it! She's the devil. Hot but insane . Okay. I got it." He rushed out not wanting to hear anymore of his terrible singing and butchering of Taylor's songs. It was far too early for it and there was no amount of coffee in the world that could make him sit through the torture of Roman singing at him.

Roman looked offended for a moment "hey!" Then he paused and squinted his eyes at him "did you just call my sister hot?" The disbelief was apparent in his voice . Enough to make Quinn freeze.

He slowly turned to look at his friend, mouth opening and closing several times before "no. I didn't." He denied. Laughing it off. Because he knew what a big deal he would make out of it.

Just like now. Roman laughed loudly "yes you did! You said she's hot but crazy!" He exclaimed.

"No! You did! I was just .. just summing it up!" Quinn argued.

Okay. Just because he wasn't a fucking player and almost permanent single didn't mean he didn’t recognise real beauty when he saw it.

Roman sofffed "bullshit. You think my sisters hot! I can't believe this! Maybe the hotel idea was a good one.." he bemoaned .

Not wanting his sister to sink her claws into his poor friend, he liked Quinn and he didn't want to add the hockey player to the long list of men that Cherrie had broken into pieces for her own entertainment . No thank you.

Quinn once again rolled his eyes at him, annoyed. "Dude. The whole world thinks your sister is hot, it's not news to you. And I'm not fucking blind." He snapped at him shoving past him to throw himself on the couch, hoping for a nap. "It's doesn't mean anything.” He added .

Roman with his Hands on hips just looked at him lazing out on the couch, a bored look on his face as he put on modern family for some background noise. Looking like he was done with the entire conversation.

"So you won’t fall in love with my sister then?" He challenged him. Knowing exactly what she did to men. She was his sister after all and he had the exact same affect on woman. Accidental heartbreakers If you will.

Quinn couldn't have snorted any louder If he tried, he even laughed. "No fucking way! Me?" He scoffed in amusement "falling in love? I don't fucking think so. You should be a comedian man." He said.

Roman just shot him a look, not believing him at all. Because if that was his reaction to just a photo of Cherrie, how was he going to feel when she arrived , prettier in person and staying with them for the whole summer?

He crossed his fingers and hoped that his sister would have some mercy at least. Or to at least pick a different Brother.

By the time that Cherrie arrived at her brother place, she was already getting a lecture from Roman as they walked up the stairs to his apartment . Rolling her eyes as he went on and on , sounding a bit too much like their mother for comfort .

"I'm serious Cherrie. I don't want any drama this time.. the last time you hung out with my friends it ended up in tears!" Roman exclaimed, still having ptsd from that horrible weekend .

Cherrie just groaned at Him, waiting impatiently by the out of service Elevator as she watched her brother haul up her two massive, bright pink suitcases up the stairs. With a large juicy couture rucksack on his back too , she only had her small purse with her phone and money in it on her arm.

Choosing to play with her freshly done nails as she replied amusedly "I didn't shed a single tear."

Roman glared over at her, face sweaty as he huffed and puffed his way to the top. Almost tripping over her ridiculously large suitcase as he did so.

"I wasn't talking about you. I was talking about the guys. I could have become a swimmer with the fucking ocean of tears you made them cry! I don't want any of that shit this time!" He warned her seriously "I mean it."

Bored, tired and grumpy from her flight. Cherrie just sighed and flicked her hair over her shoulder in annoyance.

"Okay. So no hooking up-"

"No!" Roman looked horrified just at the thought "you can do whatever you want on your own time but not with any of my friends. They’re hockey players-" maybe not the best thing to tell her seeing as she loved sporty guys.

She paused at his door, looking over her shoulder at him quietly for a moment before "hockey players?" She hummed out with a small smirk , already picturing them in their jerseys , all strong and talented on the ice.

But the glare her brother shot her shut her up real quick.

"Don't even think about it. They’re good guys Cherrie, and my roommate Quinn . He's really nice but likes his life drama free okay?" He told her as he unlocked the door.

Cherrie scoffed amusedly "he's gonna hate me then. Surprised he likes you at all. You're worse than I am." She tried to rile him up.

It worked.

By the time he had dragged her suitcase into the hallway, the siblings were bickering loudly and shoving at each other like little kids.

"You're such a fucking bore! You can't even take a joke-"

"Oh excuse me if I don't find fucking other people's husbands on a dare funny-"

Her voice went shrill , effectively waking Quinn up from his nap on the couch. But neither of the siblings noticed him yet.

"That was one time! Shut up! Like you haven't had your fair share of fun-"

He blinked his eyes open, yawning as he slowly pulled his body up into a sitting position. Turning his head to look at the noise, he rose a brow in both concern and amusement as he watched her kick at her brothers shin like a child. Roman kicking her right back.

Taking in the sight of the model, Quinn bit down on his bottom lip without even realising it.

Swallowing a little as he looked at her, all tan and worked up, dressed in tiny shorts and a crop top that barely covered a thing. Gucci flip flops that went flying across the room as she threw them at her brother, cursing him out in Spanish now.

She looked way hotter in real life than she did on the magazines. He wasn't sure how it was possible, but she did.

He ran a hand through his hair, managed to straighten out his old sweatshirt just as she turned her head to finally see him sitting there.

Then silence.

Cherrie looked at him, he looked at her. Roman held his breath.

Then she frowned at Quinn , looking unimpressed.

"I thought hockey players were supposed to be sexy." She complained .

Looking him over as she made her way to the couch, distracted from her bickering with her brother. She has a new target to annoy now.

Her brother sighed long and hard "be nice." He snapped at her as he started dragging her suitcases to her room, leaving them alone for a minute .

Offended and a little stung, Quinn eyed her up and down just as judgmentally . "I didn't know models looked like hookers these days either ."He threw back at her just as quick.

There was a shocked pause, having not expected him to dish it back out to her before she laughed, eyes lighting up as she got herself cozy on the tub chair. Eyes never leaving him. Taking in his flushed cheeks, scabbed nose from the last injury , hair a overgrown mess behind his ears , dressed in a huge black sweatshirt and basketball shorts.

He was not her usual type at all.

Yet something buzzed in her chest, a strange excitement building in her as she thought of all the ways she could get underneath his skin and make him react. Annoying guys was her favourite thing to do after all.

"Honey. You couldn't even afford this hooker." She replied smoothly , crossing her long, tanned legs over each other . Smirking to herself as she watched his eyes briefly flicker down to them before they quickly looked away.

Clearing his thirst, he muttered blandly "I'm glad i could save my money. I've been told I need to stop spending money on stupid things anyway."

Cherrie inhaled sharply at the jab, having a feeling that he had been fully filled in on all of her stupid activities as of lately. Her brother Had always been a snitch after all.

"That's ironic coming from a hockey player." She muttered as she got up to get something to eat , stomach rumbling after hours on a plane without any food. There was no way in hell she would eat anything on a plane or god forbid... airport food.

But as she opened the fridge and saw nothing but beers and leftover pizza, she realised with horror then that she was going to be living with guy. Stupid guys who didn't know a healthy salad or a fucking fruit if they saw one.

How was she supposed to survive? She had gone from five star luxury to... she glanced around the messy apartment with barely any decor . The biggest thing in there was the pool table and tv, not even a fucking clock on the wall!

She felt a little like crying then. Maybe because she was tired. Hungry and had spent the last weekend being scolded by her mother like she was a naughty child again. Her exploitation's gossip for everyone to hear.

So excuse her if she was feeling a little on edge, having at least expected her brother to have gone out shopping before she arrived . He knew that she was picky.

Was this...was this revenge for telling him that those stupid white pants he wore made him look like a Walmart version of a member of backstreet boys ?

"Where's the food?" She cut Quinn off befor he could dish a returned insult for her stupid hockey player comment. Making him frown over at her .

"There's pizza from last night left in there." He informed her like that was helpful.

Raising a brow as he heard her let out a little sound, between a squeak and a huff.

His lips twitched. "Not good enough for you princess?" He said.

She looked straight at him, face cold and replied bluntly "not it isn't. So unless you want me to make sure that you lose all your teeth , without a puck or a stick being Involved . I suggest you and my brother head to the nearest store and get some real fucking food in. Before I kill the both of you !" She hissed at him .

Then she picked up a throw pillow, launched it at his head before stomping away to her room. Pushing past her confused brother on the way, slamming the door behind her with a angry bang.

There was a tense silence in the room for a moment where both men just looked at where she had been stood, Roman slowly looking away from her slammed door , blinking at Quinn curiously.

"I think we should go get some grocoises." Was all Quinn muttered. Clearing his throat as he hauled his ass up from the couch, stuffed his wallet in his pocket and headed straight for the door.

Roman following behind him in confusion "we've got left over pizza-"

Quinn pulled a face , yanking the door open with a long exhale . Her furious, very hungry face imprinting in his mind as he hurried her brother along.

"Yeah. No man. I mean real food." He said.

Roman didn't look any less confused . But the look on Quinn's face made him not question it again.

Two hours later. The fridge , freezer and cupboards were full with real, fresh food.

Cherrie came back out again. Smile lighting up her pretty face as she pulled out some chicken and made herself a salad while the guys scoffed on a takeaway on the couch.

She didn't thank him verbally but she slapped the top of Quinn's head on the way back to her room , he took that for something instead.

Later that night, Cherrie dragged herself back out of her room with the blanket wrapped around her head, a scowl on her tired face as the voices got louder and louder.

Hearing her brother and Quinn laugh loudly, the sound of video games filling the room as she stomped in there to get them to stop.

Quinn was the first to notice her hovering by the couch like a grumpy gremlin, raising his brow at her as he played with the controller in his hand, her brother paying her no mind at all. She could hear another guys voice on the tv , playing along with them but she ignored it in favor of glaring at the both of them angrily.

"It's nearly one o'clock in in the morning." She snapped at them. Looking at Quinn like he was the devil.

He just snorted "glad you know how to tell the time." He muttered , smirking as he clicked away at the buttons. One eye on the tv and the other one subtly watching the way she stomped her food like a child, making it harder for him to hold back his grin at seeing how easy she was to rile up.

"Roman!" She complained . Getting his attention finally.

Her brother looked over at her with a Frown "what? Why aren't you asleep? You've had a long flight. I thought you'd be out already." He said obviously .

Cherrie looked at him like he was an a idiot . He was. But still. "Are you fucking serious? How can I sleep when it sounds like a fucking a bar in here? Turn that shit down!"

"Yeah. Grandma here wants an early night." Quinn muttered . Grinning. Sipping on his beer , content with pissing her off even more.

The look she shot him would have had any other guy Pissing his pants with fear . But Quinn just grinned up at her , enjoying it far too much.

"Would you prefer to be smothered by a pillow or drowned in the bath?" She simply responded to him while picking up a pillow from the couch as she approached him quickly .

He looked down at the pillow then back up at her in amusement . "Both sound a little too intimate princess. We've only known each other for a couple of hour-" his teasing got cut off by his own startled gasp as she suddenly launched herself at him.

Pillow pressed against his face as he let out a shocked laugh, grabbing ahold of her arms to stop her from actually killing him. While she huffed and puffed, slapping him with the pillow instead when she failed to smother him with it.

Ignoring her brother scolding her , she hit Quinn with the pillow again. "Asshole! Trust me , no one wants to be intimate like that with you! Fucking-ah!" She squealed as she was suddenly pulled off Quinn , Roman carrying her over to her room over his shoulder while she kicked and cursed him out.

Quinn just laughed as he pushed himself back up to his sitting position , pushing his hair out of his face as he caught back his breath. Grinning widely as he wiggled his fingers at her glare .

"Well. Everyone's been intimate with you . Have you met the landlords husband yet?" He called over the couch. Roman shaking his head at him scornfully.

"Not helping Quinn!"

He just laughed. Hard. Before hearing his brothers voice coming through the system, confused to why they had suddenly paused the game.

"Is that Romans sister?" Jack asked him curiously , amusement on his face as they listened to her cursing like a sailor at him.

He tried not to grin "yeah. She's crazy."

"Can I meet her?" His sly question had the grin dropping right off his face.

"Why?" He simply responded. Suspicious.

Jack shrugged slyly "she's hot. And sounds like fun. I bet Trevor would like her.."

Quinn cut him off before he could say anything else, his amusement quickly fading away just like that.

Instead he scoffed and snapped "she's not fun. Now shut up and let's play the game." Despite that, he turned down the volume anyway. She needed her sleep after all.

For the next few days, Cherrie and Quinn tried to stay out of each other's way. Well. More like Quinn stayed out of her way while Jack and Trevor took over and became her new best friends despite Quinn telling them to fuck off mulitple times.

Neither of them listened and he was more than peeved to see them greeted with a sweet smile and hang out invitations from her right off the bat.

While all Quinn got was multiple 'get fucked you fucking fuck.' And his favourite 'get out of my way before you become my new doormat.'

She was getting wildly creative with her insults, and each one she snapped made it harder for him to control his laughter. Not wanting her to know just how much their bickering amused him.

It was Friday night, and Quinn was holed up in his room listening to some music. Sick and tired of seeing his brother and Trevor laughing and having fun with Cherrie all day, the three off them having went to the beach and come home and spent hours playing video games and just hanging out.

Jack had tried to get him to join in but one look at Cherrie, sun kissed with wet hair and sunburn on her pretty face had him declining so quickly that even Cherrie looked at him funny.

But then it started getting dark and he was brought out his thoughts by Cherrie casually walking into his bedroom like it was her own. Kicking the door shut with her foot as she balanced several dresses over her arms.

Ignoring his shocked look, she held up a white silk dress to her body

"This looks good on me , no?" Looking at him Impatiently for an answer. Hair blow dried, still dressed in a small dressing gown after the quick shower she had taken. Not bothered at all.

Quinn swallowed. Eyes flickering down to her bare legs before looking down to his bedcovers . "Er-I don't know." He mumbled "I'm not the one for fashion advise. Try Jack." He bitterly added.

Cherrie just scoffed "I did. He's no help. He thinks I look hot in everything. I need honesty. Brutal. Okay?" She instructed him.

Quinn barely had a chance to breath before she suddenly dropped her silk dressing gown onto the floor. Giving him the sight of her stood there, in front of his bed , dressed in a matching pale pink lace set before she was pulling the dress over her head.

"Fucks sake Cherrie!" He hissed at her , wide eyed and flushed red.

Unable to look away from her as he watched her smooth the silk over her body, turning to look in his mirror. Twisting side to side, only to give him an even better view of her ass in the figure hugging dress.

She ignored his shock and simply frowned at her reflection. "Is this see through at the back?" She asked him. Turning her ass to him fully, not warnting to go out in a dress like that.

Quinn gulped, hesitated . Eyes flickering to her face to make sure that she was serious , then he trailed his gaze down to her ass and hummed a little .

Breathing a little shakily as he mumbled "yeah. I can -I can see the thong. And can see right through." He let her know. Not knowing where to look.

Cherrie decided that for him. He choked on his breath again as she huffed and whipped the dress over her head, grabbing another one this time as she talked casually to him while she put it on

"It's so annoying. I like this one but it has a slit..too high or no?" She smoothed the red velvet dress over her body, then put her leg up on the bed so he could see the slit that ran up her thigh to her hip bone when she moved.

Quinn felt a little faint .

Taking deep breaths , mouth running dry as he looked at her tanned leg , oiled up with moisturiser in front of him. He felt his heart beat in his head. That couldn't be good, could it?

"You look-" incredibly sexy. He didn't say "that's not the one." He didn’t want her wandering out anywhere in that dress. Selfish reasons, he knew. But he wouldn't ever admit it.

Cherrie nodded like she agreed "I was a little worried. I don't want my pussy out in the night ya know? It's an easy access desss but.." she trailed off with a shrug.

Forgetting just who she was talking to for a moment. Instead she treated him like one of her girlfriends whenever they got ready for nights out together.

“I think this might be the one." She said slyly as she pulled on a simple , little black dress. Tight and hugging with lace holding up her chest, making her tits seem even bigger than they were. It hugged her like second skin, the back low, so she unhooked her bra and pulled it off easily.

She then threw her bra at Quinn who caught it with a heavy blink, brain slugging as he looked down at the lace in his hands then back up at Cherrie again. Wondering dazedly if he was dreaming.

"Yeah.." was all he could mumble out. "I guess that ones okay." He said. Speechless.

Rolling her eyes, she laughed. Having already had a few too many glasses with Trevor when he had decided that they needed a night out .

"This will get me free booze all night baby!" She cheered at her reflection. Fixing her hair and letting out a pleased hum at what she saw.

“Are you coming?" She then asked Quinn , turning to look at him after she was done.

Sitting down on the end of his bed to put on her sparkling heels, she looked up at him Impatiently when he didn't answer.

He shut his gaping mouth and exhaled "where are you going?"

"The bar. With Trevor and my brother. We're gonna meet some more of their friends There. Jacks not going though , still hungover from yesterday." She told him in amusement. Having spent the night at the club with them last night too.

Quinn scoffed and shook his head "no way." A night in a stuffy bar watching his friends hit on her? And her flirt back? Sounded like a fucking nightmare.

Cherrie felt weirdly disappointed , but she tried not to let it show. Instead she let the disappointment turn to Annoyance , standing back up once her heels were on and scoffing down at him.

"Whatever , You're so boring!" She glared down at him, wondering why she even bothered inviting him at all. She didn't like him. What the hell was she doing?

Quinn scoffed too, sitting up to glare back at her. "Yeah well. We'll see how fun you are when you come back pregnant and regretting ever going!" He snapped back at her.

She huffed , picked up a random shirt from his floor and hauled it at his head.

“Fuck you! You asshole!" She shouted at him, yanking open the door, blood boiling . Regretting ever speaking to him willingly.

Jack paused in shock, plate in his hand with a sandwich halfway to his mouth , about to knock on Quinn's door to see if he wanted to play some video games. Only to blink in disbelief as the door swung open and Cherrie stormed out of his brothers room, face red and pissed off. Not even sparing him a glance.

"No! Fuck you!" Quinn yelled back. Then the slam of the front door rattled the apartment .

Leaving Jack to slowly enter his brothers doorway in shock, eyes blowing wide as he looked at Quinn's red cheeks and scowling face . A lace bra in his lap.

"Dude!" Jack couldn't believe it "what happened to being nice to ladies?" He had never heard Quinn speak like that to anyone, ever. Never mind a woman.

Quinn let out a strangled sound, cheeks on fire as he looked at where she had been stood, flustered.

"She is not a lady! She's a fucking siren or -she's a ! Fuck! - " he huffed, struggling for words. Barely able to look his brother in the eye as he shoved him out of his room. Wanting to be alone.

“-that's the kind of woman that if you look at her too long she snatches your fucking heart out and never gives it back!" He shouted , muttering curses before he then slammed the door in his face with a huff.

Leaving Jack to stare at the closed door for a minute in disbelief, then he snorted .

Then he grinned widely in amusement

"Oh no. He likes her." He realised. Chuckling to himself as he quickly ran to get his phone to tell their friends of the latest development.

By the time half past one in the morning rolled around and Cherrie was still not back yet, Quinn finally emerged from his room , trying to act

Nonchalant as he asked his brother about their whereabouts.

"Dunno." Jack just shrugged hiding his smirk behind his drink "she's out with Trevor . So she might not come back tonight at all." He couldn't help but add, just to rile him up. To see how he would react.

Quinn stood there with his hands on his hips, looking over at the front door as though she was going to suddenly burst through it.

Then he felt his heart sink deeper in his stomach as realised that his brother might just be right, the thought of her out there cuddling up with Trevor or worse, some Random asshole at the bar , made him restless on his feet for a reason he didn't want to admit.

"I can't sleep." He blurted out instead.

Hands In his joggers pockets as he tried to stop himself from fidgeting , eyes drifting over to the loveseat that she always curled on. Her blanket still there, he slowly walked over to the chair , unease growing.

What the hell was wrong with him? And why the hell did he even care about what she did?

He didn't.

He didnt. She could do whatever and whoever the fuck she wanted. He tried convincing himself but his hand snook out of his pocket and began fiddling with the edge of her blanket and he knew that he was fucked.

Jack peered over at him in amusement "obviously." He stated with a smirk, "tried shutting your eyes?"

I have. He wanted to snap back. But every time I do I see Cherrie in situations I would rather not see. Some horrifically including Trevor and now he felt sick.

Instead he muttered casually "I could go for a drink." Trying to act like it was no big deal.

Jack looked at him like he was insane "now? But you said you didn't want to go out tonight!" He exclaimed.

Wide eyes watching his older brother pick up his jacket and wallet , not bothered that he was dressed in sweatpants and a sweatshirt, hair a mess around his head.

He just grabbed a cap from the wall and placed it backwards on his head, shrugging at him casually.

"Well I've changed my mind. Let's go." He simply said.

Cherrie couldn't believe what she was seeing as she stood by the pool table watching the guys mess on, drunkenly placing bets on who would win.

She glanced over to the bar and had to do a double take as she saw the two brothers walking over to them , eyes going wide as she looked at Quinn , in full lazy sweats , giving her a small smirk.

She frowned "what the fuck?" Almost falling over as she gripped trevors arm, nudging him to look over at their new guests of the night.

He looked just as surprised, but welcomed them with a happy grin. "Dudes! Want a drink?!" Be passed them both a bottle of beer from the table .

Quinn slowly saddled up next to her , not even glancing at her as he watched the guys suck at playing pool. So close that their arms brushed.

Missing the looks that Trevor and Jack shot them as his brother muttered something to him in amusement, both friends shaking their heads at him in amusement .

Cherrie was still scowling at him , nudging his side a little too hard . Cocktail glass tight in her hand "what happened to not your scene?" She sarcastically said, yet there was no denying the pleased feeling rising beneath her skin at the sight of him.

He just shrugged, sipping on his beer before answering . "Couldn't sleep." He muttered the same excuse that he had to his Brother.

It didn't work on her either.

She just rolled her eyes at him playfully "no shit. You look like an asshole." She commented, smacking the backwards cap on top of his head. Liking the look on him. Not that she would tell him that.

He just chuckled , looking her over with a small smirk. "And you look like a drunk idiot. What perfume are you wearing? Vodka." He snarked back at her . Tugging at the ends of her long hair , grinning when she slapped his hand away with a glare.

Squinting her eyes up at him, she leaned into his side so he could hear her better over the loud music and chatter surrounding them. Both of them lost in their own world together . He leaned closer to her too, neither moving away.

"You wished you smelt and looked this good." She muttered while giggling , throwing the rest of her drink down in one go.

Then she passed him her Empty glass and said "buy me another one?"

He rose a brow at her in amusement "missing a word there princess." He replied. Nudging her along with him to the bar anyways.

Digging his free hand into his pocket for his wallet, hiding a smile as he felt her clutch onto the back of his sweatshirt to keep herself close as they pushed through the crowd.

"Now?" She guessed. Grinning up at him cheekily.

Quinn just rolled his eyes and ordered her drink "please." He muttered passing his card over, ordering one for him later as well.

She snorted "please what hockey boy?" Before he could bicker back with her , he stilled when she suddenly let out a loud gasp , head snapping over to makeshift dance floor.

"Oh my god!" She exclaimed happily as she started to loudly sing along to the song blaring around them

"Romeo save me I’ve been feeling so alone! I've been waiting for you but you never come- is this in my head I don't know what to think-" she tugged at his hands as she danced around him happily .

Only stopping short when his voice lowly joined in "-he knelt to the ground and pulled out a ring-" he sang quietly grinning at the look of shock on her pretty face as she gaped up at him .

Heart fluttering in her chest, she gripped onto his arms and beamed brightly "you’re a swiftie?" She breathed out in amazement .

He chuckled, nodding his head as he pulled her closer and twirled her around . Smiling a little as she giggled and fell against him "mmm. Of course. I'm not deaf." He muttered before looking at her beaming smile and scrunched up nose and sighed longingly

"not blind either." He added.

"It's a love story baby just sayyy.." she sang while holding out a pretend microphone to him as she lifted up her arm, making him twirl beneath it.

Both of them too busy laughing and dancing together to see the looks of shock and disbelief from their friends, Jack slowly lifting his phone up in shock to film them for evidence later. Unable to believe the sight in front of him. Gaping at the sight of Quinn twirling around with her while singing Taylor fucking swift.

"Yes." Quinn muttered finishing the lyric as he chuckled, almost crashing into the stool behind him as she suddenly twirled him again. "Okay! Okay!" He laughed nodding over to their drinks at the bar "come on ."

She followed him easily, still singing as she clutched his hand without even relaxing it.

"Can we make a Taylor swift playlist to play on the ride back?" She looked up at him hopefully , too drunk and happy to realise that she was staring. She tugged off his Cap and placed it backwards on her own head, making Quinn hide a smile behind his glass.

"Obviously."

Three o'clock in the morning and they stumbled back into the apartment , shoving at each other like little kids as they playfully argued about which type of shoes were better.

"Boots make every outfit have a little bit of ..spice ya know?" She argued , a dr Martin lover through and through.

Quinn scoffed at her amusedly "yeah in 2010. You gonna wear your wide brim hat and moustache tshirt as well?" He teased . Tugging on her hair again like a child with a crush .

She rolled her eyes at him with a grin, laughing loudly "no! You wear slides like everywhere! You can’t speak!" She countered back. Cheeks flushed from the alcohol and just having fun with him.

"Can too. No laces, no hassle. Just the way I like it." He said.

Letting her hold onto him as she pulled off her heels, grabbing onto her arm when she wobbled , giggling beneath her breath. "You should try it. Better than those weapons." He nodded at her poor ankles.

Straightening back up, she sighed dramatically "no. They make my legs look so good. I'll look like an idiot wearing a mini dress with slides ." She slurred as they stumbled down the hall to their rooms.

Quinn just shook his head with a small smile, hand hovering over her back in case she stumbled again, not wanting her to fall flat on her pretty face .

"No you won't. That's not possible." He muttered, yawning loudly . He ran his fingers through the ends of her hair again just because he could, in awe of how soft it felt between his fingertips .

Cherries eyes fluttering as she leant against her doorframe , yawning as well.

“Why not?" She struggled not to fall asleep right there and then. Enjoying his company so much, she kind of didn’t want him to leave her at all. Weird.

Quinn shrugged lazily , drunk and happy "cause it's you." He simply mumbled. Meaning it.

It wasn't possible for her to look bad, or stupid or like an idiot. She could wear a trash bag and she Would still look Beautiful .

She didn't say anything. Just bit down on her bottom lip . pushed away the giddy feeling in her chest and sighed dramatically .

Squeezing his bicep gently before finally letting go "night Quinn. Maybe you'll sleep and wake up as beautiful as me." She joked.

He chuckled, pushed her a little to get her through her door, unable to tear his eyes away from her toothy grin.

She was so fucking beautiful , it made it hard to breath.

"Get some sleep and maybe you'll wake up less of a bitch." He countered back , kicking his foot up to kick her gently in her ass.

Snickering a little when she shot him a playful glare over her shoulder , kicking him back in his ankle without missing a beat.

“Maybe you'll wake up and be Sidney Crosby." She shot back, both grinning despite their petty words.

Quinn shook his head in amusement , flicking her forehead with his fingers , before finally backing away towards his own bedroom before he did something as stupid as kiss her .

“Fuck you." He said instead.

She bit down on her bottom lip to hide her besotted grin "fuck you too."

They both went to sleep and dreamt of dancing together to Taylor swift underneath the stars , body as aligned as the planets above.

The next week passed by quick with Quinn sticking to cherries side, both of them insulting each and picking at each other like little kids. But despite their teasing, they never left each other's side for very long.

Quinn insisting that he come along to her shopping trips in case she picked something hideous , despite her being a model who dressed like one too.

Cherrie making up excuses to get him to come along with her to see movies, to the bar , to get her nails done and Quinn always sliding them his card before she could pay for herself . Resulting in them bickering until she finalllt gave in, insisting on buying him ice cream to make up for it.

Everybody knew what was going on, everybody but her brother Roman who got the surprise of his life as he watched his sister walk out of Quinn's bedroom with him casually, like it was no big deal.

Jack not even blinking an eye, simply lifting his hand to high five Cherrie as she passed him, eyes not leaving the tv. Used to the two of them constantly being attached to the hip now.

Quinn headed into the kitchen and picked out two water bottles, handing one to his sister without saying a word.

Running a hand through his hair, he mumbled "golfing?" To her quietly. Roman watching their interaction in disbelief . Wondering what the hell he had missed.

Cherrie hummed while typing on her phone, pulling herself up to sit on the counter beside him. Both doing their own thing but still in their own bubble together .

"I'm shit at it. I told you." She muttered back to him as she scoffed at a text her friend sent her, briefly lifting her phone in front of Quinn to show him the photo of her friends new boyfriend.

“That's the one I was telling you about." She said.

He glanced at the picture and muttered "looks like a finance bro." Smiling a little when she huffed out a laugh. Pride filming him that he could make her laugh like that.

"Looks like a dickhead you mean." She corrected, both of them snickering meanly between each other.

Then Quinn got back on to the golfing topic "I'll teach you. It's not serious. Just hitting some balls into some tight holes." He heard what he said a second too late. Immediately glancing over at her with narrowed eyes "don't even say it."

She laughed loudly , slapping his shoulder with a grin on her face. "It's too hard! I can't!" She giggled.

Quinn groaned "don't. Don't make me say it."

She wiggled her brows "come on. You know you want to." She sang.

He sighed in defeat , fighting back ahinst a grin as he muttered "that's what she said." Ashamed of himself for giving in to her childishness , he shook his head amusedly .

Cherrie just ruffled his hair with her hand , oblivious to her gaping brother on the couch. Jack amusedly watching his reaction with a grin , used to it now.

He then picked up his jacket and picked up his car keys, heading over to the front door without even glancing back.

“There's a five star food bar there." He simply told her. Knowing it would do the trick.

Cherrie came running, shoving on her slides that Quinn had gotten her after all their bickering about his own . They had a matching pair now.

Quinn then grabbed his cap and placed it on her head, then wrapped her up in his jacket too.

"Tacos?"

"Tacos." He confirmed. Then they were gone.

Leaving her brother to Gape at the front door in disbelief. Mouth opening and closing Several times before he turned to look at Jack in shock

"She hates him?" He didn't sound so sure now. Confused to how his sister had went from cursing out Quinn to going golfing with him while wearing his jacket .

Jack smirked knowingly "does she?" He rose a brow at him waiting for him to catch up.

Roman blinked dumbly "she doesn't?"

Jack just laughed and laughed and laughed "think my brother lied to you man."

Roman thought back to the first day when he had told Quinn not to fall in love with her, how Quinn had scoffed and told him 'that was never going to happen.'

He groaned in disbelief . Jack laughed loudly . He really should have seen this coming.

Cherrie found herself sat at one of his games, wearing Quinn's jersey as she sat beside Jack, munching on popcorn as she watched the players come out . Eyes wide with excitement , having never seen a hockey game live before.

"So.." Jack looked at her with a grin as he eyed the jersey she was wearing with his brothers name on the back "hate him still?" He teased knowingly.

Cherrie just hummed with a serious resting bitch face "can't fucking stand him." She blandly replied.

Sticking up her middle finger at Quinn when he skated past where they were sitting, making him grin to himself in amusement before he focused back on his game.

His brother shook his head in amazement "is fuck you ..like your guys ‘okay’?" He wondered out loud. Having seen the both of them always swearing at each other with smiles on their faces. It was weird.

Cherrie just looked back at him in confusion "huh?"

He sighed loudly "it's a film- never mind. You two are weird." He stated in amusement, knowing he would never understand their dynamic . But his brother was happy, and that was all he cared about.

"do you like my brother Cherrie?” He decided to just go right ahead and ask her instead .

She looked at him, looked at Quinn then hid her grin behind her popcorn. "No. He sucks." She muttered.

Jack couldn't help himself "thought you were the sucker in your relationship." Earning himself a smack to his arm, he just giggled like a naughty child in return .

Rolling her eyes at him, she ignored the flush in her cheeks and replied quickly "their is no relationship. I don't like him. I don't care about him-." Obviously Lying through her teeth.

And Jack could only watch in absolute disbelief as Quinn got slammed against the boards by another player, watched the way Cherrie immediately jumped out of her seat in a rage.

"Fucking cunt!" She yelled loudly , scowling darkly as she watched him shove Quinn down again until he fell flat on his ass.

“Fucking get him Quinn! Break his legs!" She was a little too passionate.

Jack was tugging at the back of her jersey with a nervous laugh to get her to calm down as those surrounding them looking at them judgmentally.

Well. Looked at Cherrie banging on the glass telling his brother to pound the dickheads face in, getting creative with her ideas of revenge.

“ Cherrie! Shhh!" He giggled while Watching his brother shove the player back, snarling something at him.

He saw the other player respond and look their way, directly at Cherrie, knowing exactly who he was chirping about to get a rise of of his bier. He winced in sympathy for him .

The guy motioned towards Cherrie and smirked, muttering something to him. Then Quinn spat something back and threw off his gloves before slamming him to the floor, hitting him without any hesitation.

Cherrie yelled excitedly "woooh! That’s it baby!" Grinning widely as she watched the referee separate them.

Quinn still yelling shit at the other player. Then he looked towards them to see their reaction to his behaviour , saw Cherrie's proud smile and found his shoulders relaxing even as he skated towards the penalty box. Glad that she wasn’t pissed off or turned off by him fighting. Fighting back the twitch of his lips at how proud she looked as she gave him a thumbs up, eyes glittering.

As she finally retook her seat , there was a moment of amused silence between them as she fought back her breath from all her shouting .

Then finally "so. Don't care about him?" Jack repeated her words with a smug smirk on his face.

Cherrie just rolled her eyes with a easy Grin "shut up." Was all she could reply.

Heart racing in her chest, unable to take her eyes off Quinn as she watched him pull off his helmet to wipe his face . Glaring angrily at the player still.

She then sighed in defeat.

Fucked. She was completely fucked.

Quinn rose a brow in surprise when he came out of the locker room to find Cherrie waiting for him , unable to stand still as she fidgeted with the sleeves of his jersey she was wearing.

Making him hide his grin behind his hand at the sight of her in his shirt , his number and name on her back. Feeling his heart race just at the sight of her there. Waiting for him.

God. It felt like a dream. Walking towards her and seeing her face light up for him.

She ran over to him as soon as she saw him coming , shaking her head with a loud exhale.

“That guy was a asshole!" She exclaimed . Shaking her head in amazement . Still filled with adrenaline from watching it all go down.

Quinn chuckled , grabbed her elbow and pulled her into his side as they passed some people to get down to a quieter corridor , leading towards the exit where his car was parked.

"Complete dick." He agreed easily before grinning as be recalled her yelling and her proud grin when he finally took him down. "You seemed to enjoy yourself." He said amused.

She tried to school her excitement but couldn't , instead she nudged him and grinned "I didn't know you had it in you."

Then she looked at him, really looked at him, wet hair from his quick shower , all rugged, roughened up and pretty.

Recalling the way he had slammed that guy to the ice, she blurted out before she could stop herself “that was really hot." Not regretting it either .

She wasn't the kind to back out. She was committed now, there was no turning back.

Quinn froze and tugged her to a stop , blinking down at her slowly as he wondered if he heard her right.

Inhaling deeply as he looked at her wide eyes and flushed cheeks , the way she couldn't take her eyes off him. Fingers squeezing his hip as she nudged him with a cheeky grin on her pretty face.

She meant it.

"Really?" He breathed out in shock "me?" He couldn't believe it. Even going as fair as pointing a finger at himself . Like there was anyone else around.

Cherrie just nodded her head, hooked her elbow through his and bit Down on her bottom lip till it hurt.

“Yeah. Kind of want to fuck you now." She told him bluntly , the only way she knew how.

She wasn't good at feelings. Wasn't the kind of girl to sit there and proclaim her love through poetic words and sweet gestures . That just wasn't who she was. That was Taylor swift’s job. Maybe she could sing a song to him later instead .

Quinn knew that. And He heard her loud and clear.

He went bright red, scratching at his burning neck sheepishly , his eyes darting to the ground, to Cherrie and then to the exit doors before darting back to her again.

He swallowed nervously "I mean- you can-" he stammered shyly "if you want to I mean- we could-"

She cut him off quickly "Yeah. I do want . You I mean." Eagerly tugging him along with her as her heart hammered away in her chest, belly hot and head spinning.

She wanted him so bad.

He nodded his head eagerly , letting out a overwhelmed laugh. "Yeah. Yeah. Cool. Okay-" he ran his free hand through his hair nervously

"home?" He muttered , breath catching in his throat when she looked over at him quietly for a moment

Then she shook her head with a soft smile and agreed quietly "home."

They barely managed to stumble to his car before Quinn was pushing her up against the door, body pressed tightly against her own as he leant his head down and kissed her.

Moaning against her mouth as he felt her slide her hand into his back pocket and squeeze his ass, roughly pulling his hips up against her own as she bit down on his bottom lip hotly.

"Shit. Fuck.." he breathed out , eyes dark as he panted breathlessly against her mouth. Pulling back to kiss down her neck, marking her , tongue soothing over the sting as he held her as close as could possibly be .

Dipping his head to kiss her again and again and again, he exhaled shakily "you know right?" He mumbled begween kisses.

Cupping the back of her neck and stroking her ear gently, heart feeling like it was too full too handle. Goosebumps breaking out on his skin when she pulled away just enough to smile up at him, lips now the same colour as her name that he muttered out in awe.

“Cherrie…”

She laughed breathlessly against his jaw, kissing up to his cheekbone as she ran her fingers through his hair, tugging at it until he was moaning aginst her mouth shamelessly .

"I do." She didn't give a shit anymore . Tough girl act gone out of the window.

All she felt was her heart racing beneath her skin , then the feeling of his hands slipping beneath her shirt and the trembling of his lips as he laid his heart out on her sleeve, for her to do whatever she wanted with it.

"You’re gonna be my Taylor coded boyfriend now Quinn. Alright?" She let him know.

Lips pressing all over his face , lipstick print covering his skin as she left a red stain on his heart. He didn't wipe it away, he planned to keep it there forever.

He laughed shyly against her, eyes fluttering with bliss as she kissed his eyelids , then kissed his nose, kissing downwards till she reached his lips again.

"Sounds cool." He mumbled , licking the roof of her mouth as they made out aginst his car like teenagers.he couldn't wait to get her home.

"Can I say it?" He whispered pleadingly , hand on her hip and the other in the back pocket of her shorts as he held her close to him.

Breathless , overwhelmed and utterly fucked in the best way. She smiled knowingly

"You can tell me everything." She said. Meaning it. She wasn’t afraid anymore.

He looked at her and knew, and he knew that she knew it too. It was there right from the start , when she had crashed onto his place , made it her own. When they had argued, had bickered, had pushed and shoved, and pulled at each other's hair and clothes . Had challenged and dared eachother to do it.

So he did "I love you." He admitted to her, honesty flowing as freely through him as his love for her did.

"I think I always will." He said. Kissing her again.

She laughed softly against his lips "I know." She hummed, eyes sparkling as she grinned up at him

“I love you too. Stupid thing for us to do huh?" She said.

He laughed breathlessly "so stupid. But- hockey player so.." he shrugged his shoulders jokingly as he pulled away from her.

Opened up the passenger seat door and kicked her ass with his foot, making her giggle as he nudged her into the seat. Laughing with her.

"What's your excuse?" He teased her as he ran around to his side of the car, slipping in and turning on the engine. He pulled up his phone and put in their playlist they had made in the bar.

She looked at him, looked at his shy smile and his rosy cheeks, his flustered laugh as he leant over to buckle her in.

She sighed happily "stupidity is contagious. Remember?" She simply replied.

He laughed as Taylor swift sounded from the speakers , both of their hands reaching out to turn it up as lover played loud and clear.

Cherrie shook her head with a playful wince "this is all Taylor's fault. I mean-it's like she plans it. You're my song. All those songs I've sang along to.." she groaned , head resting on his shoulder as she kissed him there. Wanting to be close.

“I was singing about you all along!"

Quinn picked up her hand and kissed her knuckles , then held it in his own. Sighing blissfully

"Actually. It's your brothers fault really." He muttered , chuckling in amusement at how the tables had turned. "He made me swear that I wouldn't fall in love with you." He told her.

Cherrie exhaled long and hard , sharing a amused glance with Quinn.

He tutted "I don't like being told what to do. So..it's all his fault."

She nodded her head along seriously "complete dick. All his fault."

He nodded too , grinning against her knuckles as he kissed her hand again just because he could now.

"Complete asshole."

"Fuck him."

She looked over at him slyly "fuck me?"

He smirked contently "for the rest of our lives."

It's been a long time coming but..

He wouldn't change a single thing. And they could put the blame on Taylor and her brother anyways.

#quinn hughes fic #quinn hughes oneshot #quinn hughes imagine #nhl imagine #nhl oneshot #nhl fic #hockey oneshot #ice hockey imagine #hockey imagine

160 notes · View notes

neowinestainedress · 2 years ago

Text

𝐆𝐋𝐈𝐌𝐏𝐒𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐔𝐒 — 𝐂𝐇. 𝟐

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐎𝐍𝐄 — 𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓 — 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐖𝐎 — 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐄 𝐏𝐀𝐈𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆: lee haechan x oc ; na jaemin x oc 𝐆𝐄𝐍𝐑𝐄: fluff, smut, childhood best friends to lovers, strangers to lovers, exes to lovers, lovers to exes 𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐘: jaemin arrives in korea, and he and hyejin immediately get along. But while he tries to settle in, new doubts creep into his mind, keeping him hooked on her relationship with haechan more than he should. 𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒: smut, oral s*x (f receiving), unprotected s*x 𝐖𝐂: +5k 𝐀/𝐍: the second chapter is here. things are getting more interesting, so i hope you'll like it! feedback means the world, whether it's a comment, a reblog (it helps to boost the fic so more people can see it), or an ask, please send your thoughts! enjoy ♡

When Friday came, Hyejin had completely forgotten about this new friend, honestly, she couldn’t care much about him. Between her job and other things assaulting her mind, worrying about whoever was going to live with Haechan was the last thought in her mind. They were already friends, so he couldn’t be a bad person, but did she care about knowing him? Not really.

But maybe he would’ve been a good thing. If Haechan decided to go back to being friends with Zoya, she would’ve visited his place, met his roommate, fell for him, and Hyejin could sleep at night without the lingering fear of Zoya stealing her boyfriend.

To be honest, Hyejin hated the word ‘stealing’, people aren’t objects, you can’t steal them, but you can draw them to you, and if you know the power you have over them, maybe the wiser choice would be to leave them alone, especially if you already did it once and hurt them.

But even with that fantasy of setting the new boy up with Zoya, Hyejin still didn’t remember that he was already home when she barged inside Haechan’s place as if it was her own.

“Honey!” The brown-haired screamed, closing the door with a loud bang as she pushed it close with her feet, “I’m home. Brought grocery.”

“Oh, I thought it was just two of us, here.” A male voice echoed through the place. A tall man with dyed dark blonde hair was standing in front of her, dressed in casual clothes, with a rather surprised expression on his handsome face.

“Shit!” She screamed, bags full of stuff almost falling to the ground if only the stranger didn’t grab them promptly. When their eyes met, she could feel her heart throb in her chest, the eggs, God, the eggs, what if they broke anyway?

“Are you okay?” The man questioned, standing up, doing the favour of still keeping the bags in his arms that were surely stronger than hers.

She nodded, shaking her head and brushing her hair back while a look of panic still painted her face. “The eggs.”

“The eggs?” His brows raised in perplexity as his head tilted to the side.

“Yeah, can you see if the eggs broke? I wanted to make a cake and now no cake, and no ramen too with no eggs.”

The blonde stared at her for a few seconds, studying her eyes and the nervous movements of her fingers before he coughed and shook his head. “I’m sure they’re fine,” he voiced, walking to the kitchen followed by her.

“I think you crashed them,” she said, lightly jumping up and down on her tiptoes by his side, apprehensively waiting for him to find the containers with the eggs.

“I think you scare yourself too easily,” he commented with a hint of sarcasm in his husky voice.

“Excuse me?”

The man chuckled, and a beautiful, breathtaking, smile appeared on his face. “Didn’t you know I was coming? If you live here, you surely agreed to me moving in, right? You know about me?” He asked while his voice broke into a high-pitched tone full of worries with each question. Haechan couldn’t be so damn dumb to don’t warn his roommate, right?

“Oh! Oh, shit, it’s you! Yeah, I know about you, you slipped my mind, I’m sorry, but yeah, yeah,” she blurted out, running a hand in her hair before cupping her face. Why was she so forgetful? And why she couldn’t avoid making a fool of herself for once?

“Great,” he smiled, letting out a breath of relief before grinning at her antics. “And I’ll pay for the eggs if they’re broken.”

“No, no, it’s fine,” Hyejin reassured, moving her hand in a dismissive move. “And I don’t live here, by the way.”

“Oh,” he whispered while he was still intent on placing everything on the table to find the eggs and make sure they weren’t crushed. “You… don’t?”

“No, I’m Haechan’s girlfriend, I just grocery-shopped for me and, while I was there, I thought about doing it also for him.” She quirked a brow when she saw his reaction to her words. Was that a weird thing to do? It was just a nice gesture, and to her, it was pretty normal, just like ten thousand other things she would do in his place.

“You’re nice…?” He said, letting the phrase hang, waiting for her to fill him in about her name.

“Hyejin,” she greeted with a bright smile that turned into a shy laugh when she realized they had been talking for so long and did everything but introduce each other. “You?”

“Jaemin, Na Jaemin, for my friends Nana,” he greeted, his 32 teeth smile on his face again.

“Nana, that’s pretty,” she said. “So, do you mind helping me?”

Jaemin smiled and then nodded. “The least I can do after I almost gave you a heart attack for your eggs.”

“Wow, you already became friends,” Haechan exclaimed, entering the kitchen and seeing how close Hyejin and Jaemin were already, chatting about something he couldn’t grasp.

“He helped with the food. I passed by the mall and thought of you. You would die without me,” she finished jokingly, leaving Jaemin’s side to reach Haechan, and wrapping her arms around his shoulders before kissing him gently. “Missed you.”

“It was a tough week,” he whispered, pulling away from the kiss, and walking around the table to see what was left in the bags. “Bought some things,” he joked.

“You would starve without me,” she said. “Don’t have to thank me, by the way.”

Haechan rolled his eyes and grabbed a bag of his favourite biscuits before walking back to her. “Thanks,” he said, doing pouty lips. “How much do I owe you?”

“I don’t remember, we can settle it later. Or I could gift this to you, a welcome gift for the new boy,” Hyejin said, turning to Jaemin that was staring at them with an expression she couldn’t name. But he only smiled before looking away when their eyes met.

“Whatever you prefer,” Haechan shrugged, bringing her attention back to him, “by the way, I’m going to the skate park with Jeno, are you coming?”

Her eyes darkened and a frown formed on her face. “But, we were supposed to hang out?”

“I know, babe, but…” he sighed, “I forgot that I promised to him and Yangyang before I promised it to you.”

She sighed but nodded without complaining further. “It’s fine, you had a long week with the moving in and then your job,” her lips curled in a smile and her hand lifted to caress his cheeks. “Have fun and don’t hurt yourself like last time.”

Haechan chuckled. “It was a mistake and it was Yangyang’s fault.”

She raised a brow and then laughed. “Sure, whatever. Can we eat together, though?”

“Sure, I’ll be home before 7. If you want, I can grab something while coming back.”

“No, I’ll cook something.”

“Okay, bye,” he said, waving to them and leaving the house.

When Haechan left, silence filled the room, and Hyejin wouldn’t have found it nerve-wracking if it only wasn’t for Jaemin’s persistent gaze on her.

“Excuse me, everything alright?”

Jaemin didn’t comprehend she was talking to him right away and hesitated before answering in a mumble, “yeah, yeah, I was just… thinking.”

“Oh, you wanted to be alone?”

“What?” He asked, brows furrowing. “No, no, I can’t kick you out of the house,” he said, words followed by a light laugh, “not that I would. I have no reasons; you are so nice.”

Hyejin’s eyes crinkled up and a small dimple poked her right cheek while a whispered thanks slurred from her lips. “You were thinking about what? If you want to tell me.”

“No, it’s nothing,” he shrugged, leaning against the kitchen counter and watching as she moved around as if that was her place, cleaning up as if it was her duty, and sure, Jaemin knew nothing about them and their dynamics but something about everything felt off. Maybe it was the jet lag, or the Korean air after years of America, yes, it had to be that.

Her soft giggle brought him back to earth. “What’s so funny?”

“You,” she said. “Are you tired?”

“Do I look that horrible?”

She shook her head while she folded the bags and then placed them under the sink, ready to be used again. “You look shaken. Is your room already set up?”

Jaemin shrugged. “Partially, the truck with most of my things got lost and I have no idea when I will have my piano, my guitar, and my bed.”

She gasped, signalling him to follow her on the couch. “Your bed?”

“Yep, and while you’re here,” he coughed, “did you and Hyuck have plans for a spicy night or can I sleep with him tonight?”

Hyejin laughed and shook her head. “I’m sorry but that’s hilarious.”

“My tragedy it’s hilarious? I spent years giving that mattress my shape, if I don’t get it by tomorrow, I will cry.”

His voice and expression only made her laugh more, to the point of tears. “Sorry, it was bad luck, but the good news is you can sleep with my boyfriend.”

“Great, I hope he stopped kicking with time.”

She chuckled. “He doesn’t kick me when we sleep together.”

“So, you’re sure you won’t hate me? He already cancelled plans with you today.”

“No, don’t worry, I’m used to it,” she said light-heartedly but then her expression changed when she saw Jaemin’s furrowed eyes.

“You’re used to it?”

“Yeah, you have no ideas how many times Haechan says we will do something and then forgets about it or changes it to something else like staying at home or… staying at home.”

While her voice was light and playful, Jaemin didn’t find it so funny but, once again, it had been years he had been with Haechan so maybe he was like this with everybody, maybe he simply changed and also she seemed fine with it, so who was he to judge?

“What about you? I’ve been friends with Hyuck since we were crawling, but I can’t remember you.”

“Do you know all his friends?”

“Mostly,” she said, bringing her knees to the couch and turning to the side to look at him better.

“I used to travel a lot, so probably that’s why you don’t know me. Also, I was his friend from his grandparents’ town, that’s where we met.”

“Oh, yeah, it makes sense,” she said. “And why are you here now?”

“Studied in America and then decided to come back here to see if Korea had something magical for my future, we’ll see if this will be the dumbest idea I’ve ever made or the best.”

She chuckled, eyes softening. “Are you afraid?”

Jaemin sighed, rubbing his neck. “Aren’t we all? Shouldn’t we? Fear is not necessarily bad, right?”

Hyejin hummed. “Well, I’m not sure.”

“What is it?”

She chuckled nervously. “The future.”

“Oh, if you look at it that way, it is scary.”

“Yeah, but I can’t find a job. I mean I have a job, I work in a library and I managed to create a small book club every Tuesday with adults and another on Friday dedicated to little kids, but my art degree has led me nowhere. I’m losing my passion for painting, I don’t have time for painting, I feel like a failure because my parents warned me about it,” she sighed. “I’m sorry, shit, that’s not what I wanted to show you of me.” Not even Haechan wanted to listen to her rant most of the time, why would a stranger be okay with it?

“No, keep going,” he reassured her, touching her hand, stopping her nervous movements, and unconsciously rubbing his thumb on her palm. “I love listening.”

She gulped, briefly looked at their hands and his eyes, and then went on. “I fear I won’t find my place in this world, and I know I’m only 22 and I have time, but… everything spins around so fast, everyone seems better than you, at everything, and… it sucks.”

Jaemin chuckled, “It sucks.”

“Are you making fun of me?” She huffed, pulling her hand away and crossing her arms.

“No, I agree. It sucks. But I’m not sure you want to listen to my talks against capitalism and its damages to people and the environment or other talks about economies and how humans are not made for this stressful, time-ticking life and how at this point it’s just surviving and not living, right?”

A smile spread on her face, cheeks heating up. “Maybe one day, I’d love to listen.”

“One day,” Jaemin smiled widely, perfect white teeth in view and eyes full of a hopeful warmth. “Now, any other fears?”

Haechan.

It lingered in her brain. All the fears about their future. How everything she dreamed of seemed to be secondary to him. How the future she pictured for them seemed so different from the drawing he had in mind. Incompatible. And somehow, they always found a way to never talk about it.

“Nothing,” she whispered, swallowing the gulp in her chest. “Just that.”

“Great,” he beamed. “I can tell you one thing my grandma said to me, you have a place in this world, you just have to find it, but you have it, and one day, you will discover it, get comfortable in it, and you’ll realize that everything you had to face had led you to the highest place in your life.”

She swiftly wiped away a tear and smiled. “Thanks, I will try to remember it when I have my lowest moment. Want to help me think about something for dinner?”

“Sure, I love cooking!”

“Really? I love it too!”

Hyejin had no idea if Jaemin would’ve been a perfect match for Zoya, but for now, that thought didn’t cross her mind, for now, it only looked like she could’ve found a new amazing friend, and that was something that had been missing for a while in her life.

“What do you mean boiled chicken with no seasoning?” Hyejin asked speechless, stirring the food in the pot while Jaemin finished setting the table.

“I’m not kidding, that’s when I learnt to never accept invites at other people’s houses,” he laughed, but the thought of that dinner sent shivers down his spine.

“Well, you’ll eat well here,” she promised.

“Because you are the chef of the house?”

She grinned, humming after tasting the food. “Most of the time.”

“Wait, do you live here?”

She shook her head. “Nope, but we’re both very busy and I try to spend more time as possible with him. And I love this made-up sense of domestic life I dream to have one day.”

“And he never comes to your place?” Jaemin didn’t want to pry, but since he arrived there, Haechan didn’t talk about her as much as she talked about him. He wasn’t even sure his friend told him he had a girlfriend. And in the last few hours, he got to see that she acted like a wife.

“Not as much as I am here, but if you don’t want me around, we can —”

“No,” Jaemin stopped her instantly. “You care about him… a lot, it’s nice.”

Her face heated up and she looked away. “Is it so evident?”

“Mhh, yes?”

“What’s so evident?” Another voice asked.

“Haechan!” She exclaimed, rushing to the kitchen door to hug him.

“Babe,” he groaned, pulling back, “I’m all sweaty.”

“I don’t care,” she said, hugging him anyway. “I missed you,” she pouted, cupping his face before bringing her lips to his.

“Missed you too,” he smiled, leaving a small peck on her lips before looking behind her to stare at the pots. “Mhh, it smells delicious here, is it all from you?”

She scoffed, flicking her ponytail in a bragging motion. “It’s always me.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know, without you I’d be dead,” he laughed. “I’ll go take a quick shower and then we can eat, alright?”

“Yes, we’ll wait for you.”

Jaemin coughed. “You don’t really come here every day to feed him?”

“Oh my god, why do you say it like that?” She laughed but Jaemin’s serious face made her stop another time. “I’m not a maid.”

“I know, but…”

“I just love cooking, and my roommates usually have different shifts, so they are home later than me, and I’d rather eat with my boyfriend than alone.”

Jaemin hummed, lips pressed together as he helped with the other two pots and brought them to the table.

“Are you sure you’re comfortable with me around?”

“Yes, I told you, I like you. I mean, I don’t know you much but… I think we get alone, right? At least for now.”

Hyejin nodded. “I like you too, but if anything makes you uncomfortable don’t be afraid of talking to me.”

“Yes, sure.” Jaemin smiled warmly, grabbing even the last pan and setting it on the table before placing a hand on her shoulder. “But I don’t think you’ll ever make me uncomfortable.”

“Jaem, it’s not possible you don’t remember her. Come on, I had a fake phone with her photo on it and I used to always be on call with her, you thought I was crazy and I made her up,” Haechan said. It was mid-dinner, and after talks and talks, the topic focused on their childhood and how strange it was Hyejin and Jaemin didn’t meet before when they were so close with Haechan.

“Now that I think about it, I remember him talking about you,” Jaemin said, pointing a finger at her. “He really looked insane, and you seemed too perfect from his talks so I thought he made you up and that photo was cut out of a journal or something.”

Hyejin laughed. “Too perfect? So you really loved me all along?”

Haechan gulped, eyes dimming a bit of their happy light, but smile still pulled in a line. “I guess.” He wasn’t sure it was love back then, not like what they shared now, at least. They were each other’s half since the start, always there for each other, in the good and bad, and he truly wouldn’t have survived without her, but when he found out how she loved him all along, he felt that what he always felt for her wasn’t enough.

“Wait, you’re not dating since forever?” Jaemin asked, bringing him back on earth, and making her blush brightly.

“We were kids,” Haechan huffed, rolling his eyes.

“Yeah, but you’ve dating for a while, now, right? At least until high school, you used to talk about your girlfriend back then, you were head over heels just as you are now.” Jaemin hyped tone didn’t meet the energy that fell in the room, time freezing and awkward fits of cough coming from Hyejin’s mouth.

“I wasn’t dating her in high school… well, we started to date during the last year, but I don’t think I’ve ever talked to you about her,” Haechan said awkwardly, and Jaemin’s face filled with sorrow.

“Oh, I’m… I’m sorry, I just… I made assumptions and I made them wrong,” he tried to joke about it, hoping it would ease the tension, and it worked, making Hyejin giggle and tell him to not worry with a wave of the hand.

“It’s fine, our story is weird,” she explained, but her mind was going down a completely different path. She wasn’t surprised hearing Haechan was head over heels for Zoya, she was there, witnessing it with her eyes, hearing him rant about how much he loved her. But it had to be a good thing that Jaemin thought Haechan shared the same love for her, too, right? If Haechan talked about her the same way he talked about Zoya, if he looked at her the same way, she was sure he loved her a lot.

Jaemin wanted to say something more but only limited himself to a fake smile and a nod of the head before hiding behind the glass of wine.

“What about you?” Hyejin asked, deciding it was better to change the topic and shine the light on him.

“About me or my dating life?” He asked, placing the glass down, and smiling at her.

“Your dating life, you look like a heartbreaker,” she joked, tucking a fallen strand of hair behind her ear.

Jaemin snickered, leaning back against the backrest of the chair. “I’m pretty lame actually. I think I break hearts because people fall for me and I rarely love them back.”

Haechan scoffed. “If only you weren’t so damn hard to please.”

“Me, hard to please? Have you taken a look in the mirror?” Jaemin retorted playfully.

“Uh, uh, I’ve got her,” Haechan replied, indicating Hyejin with a nod of the head.

“It sounds as if you two gave it a romantic shot and it didn’t work out,” she said, trying to suppress the laugh but when they both turned to her glaring at her, she broke out laughing. “I’m sorry but why did it get so personal?”

“Because I’m not hard to please, I like simple things,” Jaemin explained, shrugging. “As long as I’m with the one I love, I’m happy.”

Haechan rolled his eyes, sipping from his glass before leaning into her ear and whispering, “Don’t believe him.”

“Ugh,” Jaemin gasped offended. “If only I didn’t respect our friendship I’d tell her to put me on a test.”

Hyejin shook her head, snickering. “You two still act like children, trying to make it up for the lost years?”

“If he lies, I’m afraid I’ll have to report it to the teacher,” Jaemin joked before poking his tongue out to Haechan.

“God, you are unsufferable, I had forgotten about it.”

“Maybe you’ll find love here,” Hyejin said, cutting their bickerings, and bringing a hand under her chin.

“Who knows, life is unpredictable,” Jaemin smiled tenderly, playing with the shaft of the glass.

“I hope you will settle in here.”

After a month, Jaemin was more than settled in Seoul and in that house. It wasn’t easy to get accustomed to a new life, find a job and meet new friends, but it wasn’t even that hard.

Haechan was still the usual social butterfly he was back in time, and his friends were nice, so soon enough Jaemin started to hang out with them too. Life was pretty erratic, but at the same time, something felt cosy about everything when he came home after a long day at work.

At first, he thought it simply was the warm color of the living room, or the candles scattered on the shelves, or the smell of food that filled the place most of the nights when he returned home. But after two months, he understood that warm feeling was Hyejin.

At the start, he found it odd that she was at their place so much, it was even annoying because he had imagined having some time and space alone with his best friend after so many years of being away, but he couldn’t hate her even if he tried.

Something wasn’t quite right, though.

Jaemin had been studying them for a while; he wasn’t a creep, and he truly didn’t want to get in their personal business, but it was rather impossible when they were always in front of his eyes. Hyejin always made sure to pass by even for a quick hello and a kiss, rare were the days when she couldn’t because she was too busy or too tired from work, and Jaemin had learned that on Friday they had their special night together, that consisted in having a different type of date. And if it was possible, during the weekend, it was as if she moved in with them.

But if he quickly drew a map of their relationship, he could also easily see all the things that jarred in the picture.

Hyejin truly was the light of the house, a warm presence, a reassuring hug. She was all over Haechan, and every time Jaemin stopped to stare at the way her eyes would look at Haechan, he could swear he had never seen a person more in love than her. If heart eyes were real, they would belong to her. He couldn’t even not notice her lingering touches, her slim fingers looking for Haechan’s hands, almost shyly, as if for some reason she couldn’t, as if that wasn’t her place. Her fingertips would run on his hand, or his thighs, tracing patterns while she listened to him talk with a lost, in-love, smile on her face, or she would run them in his black hair, playing with it until Haechan glared at her for ruining his style.

But all that love seemed to meet a cold wall when Jaemin’s eyes landed on Haechan. He was sure his friend loved her too, Jaemin could hear the tender tone behind his ‘babe’ and ‘honey’, and how happy she was when he randomly gifted her something unexpected. For some reason, though, his love didn’t seem just as strong. And sometimes Jaemin wondered if Haechan truly loved her or not.

He tried not to focus on it, it wasn’t his problem, he probably should’ve focused on finding somebody on his own instead of analysing his best friend’s relationship, but his brain couldn’t help but run miles when they were in front of him.

Haechan started pushing her gentle touch away, stopping her with a colder tone when she brushed her hair and swiftly pulled away from the kiss. And Jaemin wouldn’t have cared about it if only he didn’t witness her eyes saddening with every rejection.

“Don’t you think Haechan has been acting weird?” He dared to ask one day. They were alone at home since Haechan went out to buy some drinks. Jaemin wanted to mind his business and stay locked in his room, but when he went downstairs and saw her on the couch, he couldn’t bite his tongue.

Hyejin lifted her gaze from the phone to him, a cute wrinkle forming on her forehead as she tried to understand what he meant by that. “What are you referring to?”

Jaemin sighed, walking in fast steps to sit next to her. “Doesn’t he seem more distant and cold?”

“Oh,” she whispered, locking her phone to let it drop at her side before turning to face him. “A bit…”

“And… you’re fine with it?”

“I mean, he’s probably just stressed because of work, he’s going insane over it, so I don’t feel like blaming him. Why? Did he answer you badly? I know it’s not nice, but he tends to get easily triggered when he’s stressed.”

Jaemin wanted to slap himself. Of course, he was just making things up in his brain, reading too much between the lines. It had been too long since he had been so close with Haechan and he didn’t know him as much as Hyejin did. It had to be just stress. “No, you’re right, he told me the new shifts are screwing him and the boss is making him go through hell, I’m just… dumb.”

“But why? If he said something to you, I can talk to him.”

“No, no,” Jaemin reassured her, trying to comfort her with a smile. “It wasn’t about me.”

Hyejin smiled. “Wait, you were worried about me?”

Jaemin’s eyes widened and she chuckled at his expression. “I wasn’t worried,” he stopped her immediately, “it’s just that… you, oh, never mind, he’s just stressed anyway, you don’t need to hear my useless rants about imaginary stuff.”

She laughed. “Okay, fine, I won’t torture you. But I think that’s a sign you haven’t found anybody if you’re so worried about me.”

He pressed his lips together, sighing undefeated. “I don’t know if I want to add a relationship to the mix of moving to another country and starting a new job and obsessing over my best friend not treating my half-roommate like a princess even when his brain is fried.”

Hyejin chuckled, playfully hitting his shoulder. “Let’s change the obsessing over my boyfriend and me with having time for a relationship?” She teased, placing her hands on his shoulders and batting her eyes at him.

“Why does it sound like you’re trying to set me up with someone?”

“Because I am,” she replied resolutely.

Jaemin rolled his eyes. “Fine, but just because it’s you.”

“I told Jaemin about Zoya,” Hyejin whispered, hot breath hitting Haechan’s chest, covered in the t-shirt he used as pyjamas as they laid in bed.

“You did what?” He asked, looking down at her, not able to hide the shock behind his voice and eyes.

“I didn’t murder anybody, I told him he could meet Zoya,” she explained, not getting his reaction.

“I know but she will get him killed,” he said. “They will never match.”

“You don’t know. Jaemin’s sweet and Zoya’s a nice girl, so, why not?”

Haechan chuckled. “Oh, so you compliment her sometimes?”

“Shut up, I’ve never said a bad thing about her.”

Haechan raised a brow, silently questioning her words.

“Fine, maybe I did, but only when she broke your heart,” our hearts, “and I just called her out for the things she did to you, never went past that. And when she doesn’t break my boyfriend’s heart, she is nice.”

He chuckled, shaking his head before leaving a peck on her forehead. “You’re cute when you get riled up, but try to keep it down. Come here,” he ordered, pulling her closer to start a heated kiss, surely not with the intention of turning it into hands roaming on skin and whimpers filling the room.

“We can’t… Jaemin,” Hyejin whispered against his lips when he rolled her over to make her lay on the mattress.

“We’ll keep quiet,” Haechan reassured her, leaving one last kiss before he started removing her clothes, right before his met the same fate.

“You’re so pretty, you know?”

She hummed, watching as he leaned down to kiss her bare breast before his lips reached her nipples to suck on them. She pushed down a moan while her nails scratched the bedsheets. “Can I make it up for making you mad?”

“You didn’t make me mad, but I’ll pretend to be very offended by what you say, so yes, make it up,” she joked, making him smile.

Haechan moved down until he reached between her legs and then leaned in, breath hitting her pussy, already sending shivers down her spine. Haechan didn’t add other words, he never did, only started leaving kisses on her inner thigh and slowly dragged his mouth closer to her centre.

“Please, don’t tease me,” she huffed.

“I’m not teasing, I’m taking care of you,” he retorted, going on with his soft touches. “Just relax, it was a stressful day, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah.”

“Good, so let me take the stress away.” While his lips kept kissing her skin, his hands moved up to touch her body, smiling as he felt her tremble under him, and when enough time passed, he felt like starting to take care of her like she wanted. His tongue laid flat on her pussy, wetting it before he started concentrating on the clit. Haechan was thoughtful and methodical, always following his usual pattern of long strokes of his tongue followed by careful sucks on her clit. And, when he felt generous enough, he even added a finger, just like now.

“Haechan,” she breathed out, voice shaky as her head rolled back, and fire rushed in her veins.

“Feels good, doesn’t it?” He hummed against her, staring at her, only seeing her boobs raising fast, and part of her neck.

“So good.”

“’S good? Then come all over my tongue,” he encouraged in a low groan, quickening his movements while his hands moved to cup her thighs and spread her more. “Show me how good I make you feel, baby, come on.”

And it took nothing for her to come, shaking like a leaf while her legs closed around his head, as he never stopped his movements, teasing his tongue inside before going back at her throbbing clit to suck it.

“Mhh, fuck,” she moaned, feeling breathless when he pulled away, the high slowing down. “Want you.”

“Not caring about Jaemin anymore?”

“I can keep silent,” she pouted, grabbing him to push him close to her.

Haechan chuckled and then moved her up on the bed to fix her better before he aligned his hips to hers. “Want you so badly, since he’s around we stopped fucking like rabbits.”

“Haechan! You’re so vulgar.”

“But we were used to it, you can’t deny,” he said, kissing her neck.

“Never denied, there are ways and ways to say things.”

“Mhh, can I be inside you or is it vulgar?”

“Just fuck me, please.”

“Boo, vulgar.”

“Hae — shit,” she cursed when he pushed in, hands reaching his shoulders for support while her legs wrapped around his waist.

Haechan chuckled, starting to thrust his hips into her. “I’m not going anywhere.”

A moan rolled from her mouth, eyes parting to stare at him. A cute furrow on his forehead while his eyes stared at her face. “You’re beautiful, you know?”

She didn’t reply, only smiled widely before turning her face to the side to hide the blush on her face. But Haechan placed two fingers under her chin and moved her face again, kissing her softly.

She felt all the stress of the long day leave her body as the pleasure incremented with every snap of his hips, not hard but rhythmic enough to push her closer to her climax.

“Hyuck,” she whimpered, nails digging into his back, dragging a hiss out of his mouth.

“Yes, babe? Are you close?”

She hummed, eyes squeezing shut as she felt the orgasm approach. She never had anybody but him, but she was sure nobody else would ever be able to read her like he could. She wished she wouldn’t ever have to feel other hands on her skin, or lips on her body because only his could feel this right. And now that his lips were gently teasing one of her nipples, while his hand was between her leg to stimulate her clit, and he whispered praises right against her ear, she truly felt like nobody else could get her.

“Fuck, you feel too good,” he moaned, lips leaving her sensitive bud so that his face could drop in the crook of her neck. “Come with me.”

She hummed, sounds muffled into her mouth as she kept her lower lip trapped between her teeth to don’t be too loud. This time the pleasure rushed over her with more force as her hips raised from the mattress to rut against his and chase the high. Haechan had this tendency of being a bit too loud when he came, so she was quick at trapping his lips on her, and kissing him throughout the orgasm, muffling his whimpers and moans, mixing them with hers.

“Fuck,” he exhaled after a minute, pulling out of her and collapsing to the side. “Look at you,” he whispered, laying on his side while he caressed her hair, pushing it back on her forehead, leaning in to kiss her cheek. “you always look so hot after sex.”

She chuckled, shifting to hide against his chest. “Shut up, I look like a mess.”

“A mess I made, so you’re hot,” Haechan said, pulling her closer. “Shower? Then I could use a snack, you know?”

Hyejin rolled her eyes jokingly, “You already had one.”

© neowinestaindress; all rights reserved. do NOT repost, modify, or translate any work from this blog on any other platform and claim it as yours. you can find my works on ao3 (neowinestaindress) and wattpad (winestaintedress_; currently inactive).

𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓: @smwhirnthehaze ; @liliansun ; @moonstar127 ; @novawon ; @neosdaisy | comment under the masterlist to be added | general taglist: @froggyforyoongi , @wingsss45 ; @tddyhyck

#nct fanfiction #haechan fluff #haechan angst #haechan smut #jaemin fluff #jaemin angst #jaemin smut #nct dream fluff #nct dream angst #nct dream smut #nct 127 fluff #nct 127 angst #fic: glimpse of us

155 notes · View notes