#because i was half asleep when i read the chapter it was like 9 am i think but yeah ummm

[verycherry1]

Pike Roast. {Carmen Berzatto | Final}

Part One | Part Two | Part Three

an: Highly recommend listening to "I'm In Love With You" By The 1975 while reading this final piece. I hope when reading this chapter you experience the layers of falling in love and remembering the small moments you share when finding your person. Thank you for all the love you've submitted to this series and the confidence you've given me as a writer. Enjoy your closure with Carmy.

XO

His palm reached for you, still half asleep. Patting around multiple spots on your side of the bed, his heart sunk when he discovered you already left for work.

He didn’t want to live in his head anymore, he wanted to exist in every moment with you. It’s not something he fully registered until you both “reconciled”.  Or maybe Carmen just overstepped his own boundaries at this point. 

Before, Carmen would have scolded you for disturbing his sleep. Reminding you he didn’t work a 9-5 like the rest of society. That his time was precious because his day started at 3:30pm and ended when the dish pit decided to finish up on time. Now, he wished you had interrupted his routine to kiss him goodbye or ask him to make your lunch before you fled. (Carmen always criticized you for Doordashing lunch to work) 

He thought to himself maybe this was a slip-up, and that he didn’t convince you enough exactly how sorry he was. Or worse, you found your attention in the backwards hat man. Even while waking up in your bed, he couldn’t tame the nagging anxiety that tugged at his thoughts. There was no note, text, or any form of communication of reassurance that things were back to normal. That you and Carmen picked up exactly where you left off. 

He considered showing up to your office with roses but the thought of how fucking tacky that sounded repulsed him. He knew he wanted to ask you to be his, only his. He felt so childish thinking of ways to ask you without actually having to ask. Carmen was so foreign to anything romantic, this was a new territory for him. The only way he knew how to put words in effect was through his craft, food.

Pizza. You fucking loved pizza. 

He bolted out of your sheets when the idea came to him. His time was limited before you were on your way home but he knew that he could manage to whip up something. That was until he ransacked your entire kitchen for the ingredients. Nothing. Not even fucking olive oil. 

Peaking over at the clock, he cursed silently when it mocked him you were off in 3 hours. That still wouldn’t be enough time to race to the store, let the dough rise, and prepare your favorite meal. He contemplated making your second favorite dish but you didn’t deserve second best. Carmen knew he was long overdue to treat you like his girlfriend. Like a real girlfriend. Label and all. (The thought of calling you his girlfriend made him chuckle for the first time) 

He pushed any other alternative dishes aside, his heart raced at the idea of excitement you would have when you came home. That was more than enough for him to sprint (literally run like he was in a marathon with how much time was running out) to the nearest market to pick up the ingredients. 

—

You were simple with your toppings which he mentally praised you for because the absolute diligence he was putting into the damn crust sacrificed more time than expected. (You loved the crust, he remembers the rant you went on about how criminal flatbreads and thin crust pizzas are.) 

“It’s like… a second meal!” You hiccuped to him, dipping your crust in a garlic butter sauce he had whipped up for you at 2 am. He specifically remembers this night because somehow you charmed him into grabbing drinks with you after his shift. This was also the first official night he slept over when you revealed your display of coffee cup mugs from different cities you traveled to. He rolled his eyes at how ~*quirky*~ you were, teasing that at least it wasn’t a collection of shot glasses. 

 He placed his creation on the rack of the oven and then bolted towards your shower, praying you didn’t discard his body wash. Though, he was left disappointed when he realized you had by the time he had stepped inside and under the shower head.

That intense, heavy, feeling stalked his common sense. The idea of you throwing every trace of him away triggered his anxiety further. 

What was he doing? This is stupid. He couldn’t persuade you to be his partner over a slice of pizza, not when he remembers how he treated you. Not when he knows someone could be so much more for you. His thoughts were swirling down the drain of your shower, his heart spiraling down with it. 

Then the echo of your front door slamming shut startles him, dissolving his thoughts.

“Carmy?” Your voice calls out from the other side of your apartment. 

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. 

He quickly reached out from the curtain to retrieve a towel, swiftly draping it around his waistline as he jumps out of the tub. For the first time, it was him opening a door on you, eyes widened seeing your figure. 

“What’re you doing here?” 

“It’s..my apartment? I live here.” 

He closes his eyes, realizing his format was out of context with what he was actually asking. “No, I know that. But what are you doing here? You weren’t supposed to be off for another hour.” 

You raise a brow at him, more so in shock, he was still here. Any other time Carmen would be under a tight schedule, telling you that he was too busy for downtime. “I took the rest of the day off, I was going to see..” you pause, finding yourself becoming somewhat distracted by the beads of water dripping from his hair down to his sculpted chest, you shake your thoughts back on track. “I was going to see if you were at the restaurant but Richie said you took the day off because you weren’t feeling well. Are you alright?” 

Before he can answer you, the oven suddenly goes off at the most inconvenient time. You turn your back not even realizing it’s been on, let alone food has already been prepared for you. 

“God dammit..” He whispers, gently brushing past you trying not to slip. 

Completely flustered, and still soaked. He’s spewing his vomit of words to you about how he feels fine, that you weren’t supposed to be home just as of yet and how it was meant to be a surprise. 

You can’t help but find yourself blushing at the sight of Carmen in a towel becoming frustrated you don’t own an oven mint. Slamming draws and cursing under his breath about how this is all going wrong, and this isn’t how it was supposed to go. 

“So what’s the occasion?” You ask, watching him fling the pan onto the top of the stove with a rag. 

He sucks in his cheek, embarrassed. Not only is he half naked but an absolute terrible romantic. “Doesn’t matter anymore, it’s fucking spoiled.” He grunts, hurrying back to the bathroom to hide but you’re hot on his heels. 

“I think it smells delicious.” You reassure him, leaning against the doorframe. 

“Yeah? Well, it’s on the house tonight, enjoy.” He tells you sarcastically, irritated he can’t find his boxers to cover up. “I’m sure your other boy toy will love it, I’ll be out of your hair shortly.” He mumbles, defeated. 

With a furrowed brow, you push from off the door reaching for his arm with a gentle pitch. “Hey.. what’s going on?” 

Your tender tone immediately seizes his anxiety, causing his emotions to spiral out of control. “This is why I don’t even fucking bother.” He tells you, absolutely restlessness. “I was brainstorming all afternoon on how to ask you out.” 

“Ask me out?” You question, with a breathy laugh. 

“Ask you to be my girlfriend.” He corrects you before continuing on his rampage of rambles not even realizing what he was saying because he’s so out of touch with reality on getting you to understand how anxious he’s been to perfect this moment. 

Much like before, you hush his words by grabbing his face and pressing your lips to his. Still tense, he’s stuck momentarily. Mostly confused by your sudden urge to be so.. understanding. No matter how many mistakes Carmen made,  it was a mystery to him why you were so forgiving with him. Let alone wanting to kiss him. 

You release his face, finding his eyes. “Yes, chef.” You tell him. 

Cocking his head, as if you hadn’t confused him enough, you can’t help but blush at his inexperience with this new territory. “Yes, chef. I will be your girlfriend” 

—

It’s a memory that still sticks with you even when you finally get to flash the shiny cut rock around your left finger. How the Carmen Berzatto, Food & Wine’s Best New Chef, and owner of the successful restaurant, The Bear is capable of stressful environments but asking you to be his girlfriend. To be fair, it did gave him practice when asking you to be his fiancé 3 years later. (Kind of, we won’t mention how he dropped the ring while purposing because of how sweaty his hands were)  

{Trying to practice my cursive B’s, it’s a lot harder than you think.}

C: {Wanna practice over Pike roast? Wanted your approval on the wedding menu before I sent it over to Syd.} 

[spnexploration]

Pack chapter 10

Pairing: Alpha!Dean Winchester x Omega!Reader, Alpha!Sam Winchester x Omega!Madison

Series summary: Omega!Reader is thrown into a world she's not expecting when her mate turns out to be a hunter, and she's not used to Alpha & Omega Pack dynamics.

Chapter summary: Dean gets out of hosptial.

Chapter warnings: none

Word count: 1k

Series Masterlist | Supernatural writing masterlist

Part 9 <- -> Part 11

I was woken a few times in the night by nurses taking Dean's vitals, but fell asleep quickly each time I snuggled back into him.

Dean smelt better in the morning. Not back to normal, but definitely better. One of the nurses commented on it, “Amazing what having your Omega with you can do for healing.”

Dean responded with a non-committal noise, a slight frown on his face.

“Omega,” Dean said once we were alone, an edge to his voice, “What is on your wrist?”

“It’s, umm, my tag.”

“When did you get injured to require a hospital tag?” he demanded, clearly annoyed that he thought I’d been hiding an injury from him.

“It's not that kind of tag,” I mumbled, spinning it around so he could read it.

He made a choking noise. “Why- why do you have a tag with my name on it?”

“They said I couldn't stay unless I wore an Omega tag.”

He growled. I tensed and he stopped. “Sorry, ‘mega, it's not you I'm annoyed at. You shouldn't have to wear a tag like I own you, and like you couldn't just tell them who you are when they asked.”

I shrugged it off, “It's ok.”

Sam and Madison arrived shortly after. “Alpha!” Madi said happily, “You look a lot better!”

“Thanks, sweetheart,” Dean replied.

“You want some help getting out?” Sam asked me, coming around to the bed rail behind me. I nodded and he put the rail down, helping me jump down from the bed. I stretched and headed for the bathroom.

---

They agreed to let Dean go home that morning. He tried to take the car keys from Sam, who gave him an incredulous look. “Dean, your arm is in a sling. You got shot. You are getting in the backseat and you are cuddling with your Omega and I am driving.”

Dean growled.

“Oh, really?” Sam said with a smirk. “You wanna make me make this a challenge, do you? Because I’m pretty sure you’d lose right now, as soon as I press my fingers into your gunshot wound.”

Dean glared, clearly unwilling to back down but not wanting to fight his brother right now either.

Sam’s voice softened, “Just let someone take care of you, for once.”

Dean huffed and headed to the backseat, “Bitch.”

“Jerk.”

“Can I drive?” Madison asked with a bounce in her step.

“NO!” Dean responded.

“You can have a turn when we’re on the highway,” Sam said. Dean growled again. Sam turned to him, “If you want to get home in one go, you’re going to have to let her drive at some point.” Dean sighed.

Madison turned to me, clearly seeing my confusion on my face. “Dean thinks I drive too recklessly,” she laughed. “He doesn’t normally let me drive unless it’s a boring old highway.”

“He’s not wrong,” Sam muttered, a smirk on his face.

“Dean is reckless when he drives too!”

“Yeah, but Dean is good at it,” Sam said, kissing her forehead and then lightly smacking her butt as she walked away to the other side of the car. She looked back and winked at him.

I got in the backseat with Dean. We drove off, starting the long trip home.

---

Dean slept part of the way home. I cradled his head in my lap, stroking my fingers through his hair. He practically purred.

I could see what he meant about Madison’s driving.

---

Finally, we got back to the bunker. Madi made dinner, refusing my help and telling me to just look after Dean. There wasn’t much to do for Dean though, he seemed determined to show that he was fine. He didn’t even ask for help to take his jacket off, even though I could see on his face that it hurt him to do it himself.

We ate quickly and then everyone headed to their rooms, tired from the day of driving. Even Dean, who had spent half the trip sleeping, looked ready to sleep again.

I went to the bathroom and then into Dean’s room, finding him struggling with his sling and his shirt. He growled in frustration. “Can- can I help? Or I could get Sam, if you’d prefer?”

“Sorry, ‘mega, didn’t mean to scare you.”

“It’s ok,” I said, feeling a little braver. I went to him and gently touched his side, where he couldn’t get the sling off. “Do you want me to take this off you?”

He sighed. “Yes, please.”

I quickly helped him out of the sling and then the tee. I grabbed his normal sleeping t-shirt and he nodded his head, so I helped him put it on. He looked pained the whole time we were doing things. “Are you ok?” I asked him, worried.

“I’ll be fine, sweetheart,” he said, always trying to downplay his pain.

We crawled into bed. I was worried about hurting him, but he pulled me closer. “I’m ok,” he said lowly, “and besides, they said having my Omega with me was healing.”

---

The next day passed slowly. Dean was clearly in pain a lot of the time, but tried to stoically hide it. I kept trying to get him to eat and drink more, but he didn’t seem very hungry. We watched some TV and he napped for a bit in the afternoon.

I felt on edge most of the day, which I assumed was because my Alpha was hurting. His scent still wasn’t what it should be, and towards the evening even smelt a little sickly again. I kept worrying I was in his way, wasn’t doing enough to help him, wasn’t doing enough of everything.

Sam let me help him cook dinner. I think he could tell that I was looking for something to do, for some way to contribute. I was a little surprised again that the cooking duties seemed to rotate through everyone in the house, but I supposed I should stop being surprised when this Pack didn’t follow my stereotypical expectations.

Dean and I went to bed shortly after dinner. Dean was looking tired and ill, but said it was just because it was the end of the day and his pain meds had worn off. He told me to stop worrying.

---

I woke up to Dean shaking, drenched in sweat. He smelled terrible.

“SAAAAM! MADI!!” I screamed.

.

.

.

.

Taglist:

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@waynes-multiverse

@leigh70

@malindacath

@ellie-andthemachine

@iprobablyshipit91

@123passwort

@muhahaha303

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@deans-spinster-witch

@kazsrm67

[bcofl0ve]

what started in beautiful rooms pt.3 | an austin butler x priscilla actress!reader story ❀˖°

part 3/? • (part 2) | RATED M MINORS DNI

summary: “what happened between you and austin?” is a question you dread. it makes your gut twist, even if only proposed through a pointed look. the short answer is “a lot”. the long answer is more complicated.

word count: 3,420

warnings: implied past infidelity, age gap (reader is 21 when the story starts, austin is 28), unhealthy relationship dynamics, explicit smut, rough/angry sex, crying after sex

chapter summary: you knew acting out on him wouldn’t feel good in the morning, but certainly that was nothing you couldn’t retcon.

chapter soundtrack

i live for comments and love talking about my writing! pls feel free to come chat via anon (or off anon!) anytime. more than happy to share headcanons and what not (-:

xxx

January 5th, 2020 | Queensland, Australia

You’d almost forgotten what you did when you first woke up, until you turned your phone on to so many notifications it felt hot in your hand. There was a missed call from your manager, five texts from Bebe and four from Austin. You opened Bebe’s first, biting your lip as you read her encouragement not to dwell on what your Instagram comments were saying because she knew you’d crawl across broken glass before you helped someone cheat.

Right, Instagram. You opened the app before looking at the missed texts from Austin, holding your breath as you clicked onto the comment section. It was more or less what you’d expected, down to people saying crueler things about you than they were about Austin.

Speak of the devil, a fifth text came through from him before you could even open the others.

I get done at 9:00 tonight. Your place or mine but we need to talk and you can’t ignore me forever. 

You clicked it open, reading the messages he’d sent last night and earlier in the morning.

Hey- not that you don’t look cute but I don’t think the photo in my shirt being up on your Instagram is a good idea.

I’m calling Vanessa first thing in the morning about a breakup statement, I promise.

??? Did you fall asleep?

Vanessa just ripped my fucking head off. Is your phone even on? Your manager is trying to get a hold of you too, called me and I told her I’m just as clueless here. What the fuck Y/N?

Squeezing your eyes shut and opening them again like it would make all of this magically go away, you opened Instagram back up and deleted the post. Tossing the phone off the side of your bed, you rolled back over and stuffed your head under your pillow. 

You’d know what to do after a few more hours of sleep, surely.

---

Unfortunately three more hours of sleep didn’t magically equip you with an idea of what to do, or the guts to do anything short of ignoring everyone- save for shooting your manager a text about deleting the post. 

You forced yourself out of bed to move into the living room, throwing on Netflix to distract from the notifications, grateful you hadn’t been needed at set today.

Austin called at 9:03, sounding almost a little surprised when you answered.

“Oh hey, not like I’ve been trying to get a hold of you all day or anything.” He said, voice tight. You bit back a sigh, poking at the box of takeout food you had sitting on your lap that you suddenly weren’t hungry for anymore. Austin kept talking even though you didn’t respond.

“I’m pullin’ out of the set lot right now, am I comin’ to yours?” He asked, and you bit the inside of your cheek for a second before giving him a half mumbled “Sure.”

He hung up after a clipped “Kay, bye.” and you tossed your phone down onto the couch, running a hand over your face.

Austin brushed past you without a greeting when he arrived, kicking off his shoes in the direction of the rack by the door, the boots landing against the floor with a thud. You had a half a mind to tell him not to stomp into your house like a pissed off toddler, but stopped short. 

"I deleted the post." You said and Austin looked up, hand coming up to tug through his black locks, face hardened. "Coulda' done that last night instead of siccing my ex and everyone that's ever been a fan of her on my ass."

You hadn't poked around much for what anyone had been saying about Austin. And it wasn't that you didn't believe he was getting a tongue lashing, you just didn't have it in you to care. Turning to walk in the direction of the living room, you picked up the remote and turned the TV off, still holding it when you turned back to him to talk. 

"You said that if something came out you could release a statement and it wouldn't be a problem." 

Austin didn’t seem to like the sarcasm, rolling his eyes with a huff.

"Yeah- and that wasn't a free pass to go nuclear Y/N,” He replied, eyes wide as he gestured- talking with his hands. “Not just on me either, what you did was disrespectful to Vanessa and you know it."

His voice was bordering on a yell, and you were a combination of jarred by that, and pissed off about the deflecting. 

"I disrespected Vanessa? You were her partner- you owed her your loyalty Austin, not me."  You replied, matching his tone. "When she was ripping your head off- did you tell her about Novemberr?"

He seemed to deflate a bit at that, which answered your question before the flat "No,” he gave even left his mouth.

 "Yeah- and I'm the one without respect." You scoffed, and Austin looked like he wanted to say something else but he just pressed his lips together in a tight line, arms folded. You quirked an eyebrow up at him.

"What? If you have something to say to me, let's hear it." 

He shook his head, looking at you through narrowed eyes. “You’re a piece of work, you know that?’ 

Taking a step closer and uncrossing your arms, you looked at him squarely. You didn’t know if what you were about to do would translate, and it crossed your mind that it would be humiliating if it didn’t. But you were taking the shot while you had it.

"You have somewhere else to be, another secret girlfriend?" You asked, trying not to let the look that crossed his face steer you off path. "Or are you gonna stick around if I tell you you can take this," You continued, bringing a hand up to gesture at him. "Out on me."

Austin’s eyes widened for a moment, and he rubbed his chin- looking away for a second before he responded.

"I'm pissed- doesn't mean I wanna hurt you." He said cautiously, and if you weren’t after something here you probably would’ve found that sweet. 

“'s okay, I think I earned it.” You tried. bobbing your head to the side as you softened your voice from the tone you’d just been taking with him. 

His pupils darkened as he seemed to come around.

“You have the shirt around here somewhere?” He said, and you motioned to your bedroom with your head as you took a few slow steps backward in that direction, running a hand through your hair. He looked past you, voice low when he spoke again. “Put that on and nothin’ else, I’ll be there in a minute.” 

---

You heard the bathroom door open and shut from your bedroom as you stripped down and grabbed his shirt from your laundry hamper, spritzing some of your perfume over it before you slipped it on and got into bed. 

What felt like hours, but was probably closer to ten minutes, passed before Austin came into your room stripped down to his boxers, setting the rest of his folded up clothes on the dresser before you got a good look at him. His hard cock was pushing through the thin fabric of his Calvins, and you assumed he’d started without you when he was in the bathroom.

He swallowed thickly when he saw you sitting up against your headboard in just the Hawainn shirt, crossing the room and crowding into your space as he got in bed- pushing you down against the pillows.

“Who knew this shirt would cause all this trouble,” He whispered, rubbing the fabric between his fingers before he dove in to kiss you. He pushed your shirt open to grope your boobs as he tugged on your bottom lip with his teeth, his erection pressed against your thigh.

He pinched your nipple between two fingers, yanking his hand back abruptly when you whined into his mouth.

“You think you’ve earned that?” 

You shook your head, Austin pulling back to tug down his boxers and discard them to the side. He stroked himself, smearing precum around with his fingers before bringing two of them up to your mouth, tapping on your bottom lip. 

Opening your mouth just enough to suck on his fingers, you felt your sex throbbing as your gaze fell to where he was jacking himself off with his free hand, little breathy moans leaving his mouth as he watched you. 

He pulled the digits out of your mouth when he was satisfied, trailing them down your body to your center, brushing over your clit enough to elicit a slurred “Aus,” before he pushed his index and middle finger into you. He was barely deep enough for you to clench around him, but just far enough that you writhed at the sensation when he gestured inside of you in a ‘come here’ motion. 

When he pulled them out after a minute, he brought his hand up the base of your neck. 

“All the prep you’re getting tonight, pretty girl, that okay?

So sweet even when you’d given him your blessing to be a dick, you thought absentmindedly.

“Said to take it out on me, I meant i-” You started, cut off by your own yelp when he pushed all the way inside with one swoop. It was overwhelming, bordering on painful, but you shifted your hips under him and tried to adjust. Inhaling sharply, you exhaled suddenly when he grabbed both of your wrists up in one hand and pinned them above your head.

He started to move without warning, his pace faster from the start than it normally was. You still felt impossibly tight as he drilled into your pussy relentlessly, grinding up against his pelvis, needing friction on your clit that wasn’t coming. 

Austin chuckled, grabbing your chin with his hand that wasn’t occupied.

“You need something baby?” He muttered, slowing his thrusts enough to be able to talk, but slamming into you harder to make up for the change in pace. “Should’ve been good, good girls get their clit touched.” 

You choked out an apology through moans as he fucked you into the matress, unable to keep from writhing underneath him- your body moving on it’s own accord.

“Stay fuckin still.” He muttered harshly, hand drifting down from where he’d been holding your face to your neck. And you tried your best to lay still, but even the slight pressure on your airway went straight to your arousal. Doing anything consciously, even willing yourself to not move- felt impossible.

You’d been expecting some reaction to that, and Austin pulled out, yanking you up by the wrists onto his lap as he sat back. He pushed you up so that you were on your knees straddling him, his own legs spread open.

“You wanna move?” He asked roughly, smacking the side of your hip. “Ride me then, show me how sorry you are for being a little brat.”

You squeezed your eyes shut as you sank onto him, your breath stuck in your throat as he pushed you down till you were filled to the hilt. He didn’t protest when your arms wrapped around his neck and for that much you were grateful, your grip on him tightening as you tried to readjust- and refind the angle he’d just been nailing you at.

He grabbed your hips to drive up into you and found it himself, groaning when your walls tightened around him as you started to move. Loud moans flew out of your mouth as you rode him- and you tried to grind your clit into his pubic bone.

Which took notice of that after only a few seconds, squeezing your hips so hard that his nails digging into your skin made you wince in pain. If he noticed, he didn't seem to care.

“Did I say you could get yourself off on me?” He huffed. “I’ll tell you when you can come doll.”

Swallowing, you tried to slow down your movements to keep yourself away from the edge. But how hard Austin was jackhammering up into you left no room for that- especially not when he brushed the pad of his thumb over your soaking clit. 

He only stayed there for a few seconds before he yanked his hand back, wiping your arousal off on your cheek as he pulled you in by the neck to kiss him.

Growing overwhelmed, you paused to take a breath, about three seconds passing before Austin had his fingers wrapped around your throat, mumbling a harsh “Keep movin’” into your mouth. He pulled his hand away after a minute to kiss down your neck, grabbing a handful of your ass as he left a trail of marks you knew you’d have to put a pound of makeup on in the morning.  

And you wanted to be good, wanted to wait until he gave you permission to come. But the combination of his dick pounding against your cervix and his fingers coming back down to circle your throbbing bundle of nerves made the coil in your stomach spring undone- completely out of your control.

“Fuck- Aus I can’t- ‘m- Oh,”

Your body shook as you climaxed, your release making a mess of the both of you as you moaned his name to your ceiling. Your walls hugged his cock and you heard him groan as he followed right after you, shooting off inside the condom with an animalistic growl.

Chest heaving, you almost flinched when he pulled his hand off your ass and grabbed your chin, turning it towards him- fingers pressing into your cheek.

“Dad- I told you to wait. You know how to listen?”

Managing a little nod, you felt tears pooling in your eyes, the grip he had on your face that was preventing you from looking away taking you from feeling bad to worse- and quickly.

You’d meant it when you asked him to take it out on you, but seeing him look at you with so much resentment now that you were starting to crash just made your chest tight.

“‘m sorry.” You croaked out and you saw realization- alongside guilt flash in Austin’s eyes before he dropped your chin like he'd been burned.

He moved back to pull out and you crawled off of him- swiping at your eyes.

“Shit- honey you should’ve told me if I was goin’ too far,” He said, looking almost scared to touch you.

“Austin I consented, I’m fine,” You started, taking a breath as you got out of bed and onto your feet. Austin let out a little sigh, scooting to the edge of your mattress, looking at you seriously. “You’re about to cry, you’re obviously not fine.”

You were touched that he cared- truly. But the longer he looked at you like a wounded baby deer the closer you got to really crying in front of him- something you still had enough shame to want to avoid.

“Just a little overwhelmed,” You said, grabbing your phone before taking a step closer to kiss him, nails coming up to lightly scratch at his cheek as you pulled away. “I promise.”

He didn’t look like he quite believed that. But you added something about wanting to shower and he let you grab pajamas out of your dresser and leave without protest, your head starting to hurt as you shut your bedroom door behind you.

--

You flicked the shower on the second you closed the bathroom door but didn’t get right in- taking a shaky breath and leaning against the sink counter as you looked at your phone. The first notification you saw was a text from Bebe, a follow up to missed call.

saw you deleted the post. everything okay? i’m in town for another few days if you want to come crash at mine and watch stupid movies and forget about austin while you still can. love you!

The notification under that was a DM message request from Instagram, the lump in your throat growing like a weed when you saw the username attached to it. 

Vanessa. 

The nausea that rolled through you was so strong it outweighed the curiosity in regards to what exactly she had to say to you and you swiped the notification away, putting your phone face down on the counter. You felt your chin wobbling as you got into the shower- and let a little sob escape into your hand as the water ran down your back.

It wasn’t that Austin had pushed too hard- if you were being completely honest you’d been into what you goaded him into, really into it. 

It was that on top of the guilt about November you still hadn’t shaken, that had been inching it’s way to the front of your mind since Bebe told you to ignore your comments because she knew you’d never do that. On top of knowing Vanessa had been hurt enough to say God knows what directly to you. On top of your last few days of normalcy before Elvis really kicked into gear going to hell in a handbasket.

A part of you wished you could just will it all away, hop in a time machine and go back and stop yourself from auditioning- or even responding to the email from your manager about the casting notice. 

But you couldn’t do that- or stay in the shower forever. 

When you’d at least halfway collected yourself you got out and towel dried your hair before putting on the t-shirt and shorts you’d brought into the bathroom with you, glancing at your reflection in the mirror. Your eyes fell to the hickies littering the base of your neck and you ran your finger over them tenderly, your lips tugging into a bit of a smug smile. There was an upside to every down, afterall.

You padded back down the hallway to your room, and weren't exactly surprised to discover that Austin hadn’t left. In your absence he'd gotten redressed into the joggers and t-shirt he showed up, looking up from where he was scrolling on his phone when you came in. 

"You can kick me out if you want. Just felt like it would be a douche move to leave when you were upset." He supplied, the anger that had been in his eyes just an hour ago replaced with something softer. You gave a little shake of your head, crawling into bed and sitting up next to him.

"I really am sorry- about the post." You started quietly, and he put his phone onto your nightstand as you talked. "Stupid of me to do something like that when I've been the one worrying so much about this," You gestured between the two of you. "screwing the movie over."

Austin nodded, waiting a second to make sure you were done before he spoke. “You’re not stupid,” He said softly, reaching out an arm to wrap it around your shoulders. You scooted a little closer to him on instinct, allowing your head to drop to his shoulder. 

“And I'm sorry you felt like you had to do all that to get what you needed from me.” He continued, pressing a kiss to your hair as he squeezed your shoulder where his hand had come to rest. 

“You’re my girl, don’t ever want you doubtin’ that.”

When the first three words left his mouth it felt familiar, and you realized after a moment it was because they echoed a scene in the movie, his voice slipping into a southern drawl that made it sound exactly like it had at the table read just a week ago.

And you weren’t sure how you felt about that. But it was sweet.

He was trying- and that’s what mattered. Mattered more than how the thought that he sounded more like Elvis Presley than the Austin you’d spent the last few months with made you feel.

You hummed an affirmative “Mhm,” into his skin as he reached around you to turn your bedside lamp off, laying all the way down and taking you with. Coming to rest with your head tucked into his neck, a leg wrapped around one of his, you closed your eyes as you listened to his heartbeat through his shirt- saying a silent prayer that the past day would be the closest you ever got to losing him.

xxx

tag list (tags don’t always work, i do my best!): @flwrs4aust @eliseinmemphis @burningpeacebasement @pennyroyalcreep @karamelcoveredolicity @gabrielajimenez @butlerslovebot @fallinlovewithurlove @l0v3lydes @slowsweetlove @houndogsblog

[zee-has-commitment-issues]

I'm 100% stealing this from @pagegirlintraining

AO3 wrapped (writer’s edition)

I had a long year, so I didn't get to write as much as I would have liked to, but we still got a ton done.

1. How many words have you written this year? 180,453 words.

2. How many works did you publish this year? Somehow the answer is eleven.

3. What work are you most proud of (regardless of kudos/hits)? Reckless Abandon. Hands down. It took so much time to plan and so much energy to write and I am so proud of it. I'm writing the ending of the first draft right now and I'm sad to leave it behind.

HOWEVER I also very much enjoyed The Last Time, which is my Nilcent fic. I think just in terms of quality, this is one of my most beautifully written fics.

4. What work of yours has the most hits? The fics I have with the most hits is Reckless Abandon, but I think that's because it's the only one from this year that had more than one chapter.

5. What work of yours got more feedback than you expected? Dress Up As ! I wrote that in like 30 minutes while half asleep and then didn't edit it, so I didn't think anyone would read it at all lol. It's not my most popular fic by any means, but more people read it than I thought would.

6. Favorite title you used? Wilhelm's Frog Addiction because it's so ridiculous. It implies that Wilhelm needs a rehab for frogs, and I think that's great.

7. If you use song lyrics, which artist’s songs did you pull from the most? I used the title of The Last Time from a Taylor Swift song, but I think that was the only one.

8. Pairing you wrote the most for this year? Wilhelm/Simon Eriksson with 9 out of 11 fics being about them or containing them in some way. (damn thats an unfortunate statistic)

9. Favorite pairing you wrote for this year? Obviously Wilmon. I feel like that's a given at this point.

10. What work was the quickest to write? Dress Up As... again, I wrote it in 30 minutes while half asleep💀

11. What work took you the longest to write? If we rule out the one that's multi-chapter for fairness sake, then the fic that took me the longest to write was probably Not Entirely Screwed (But Almost). But take that with a grain of salt.

12. How many WIPs do you have in your docs for next year? Two or three that I actually plan on finishing. I have others that are started, but I don't know if I have enough plot to actually get through them.

13. What’s your longest work of the year? Reckless Abandon, containing 123k of my 180k words this year 💀

14. What’s your shortest work of the year? A Fool Proof Guide - 507 words.

15. What WIP are you taking into next year with you? Finishing Reckless Abandon! One chapter to edit and an epilogue to finish writing, and then it's done. I just can't finish it in the two days I have left of the year 😭

16. What’s your most common “Additional Tags” tag? Simon Eriksson Loves Wilhelm, followed by Wilhelm Loves Simon Eriksson

17. Your favorite character to write this year? I simply cannot answer this. My mind has been so consumed with Reckless Abandon and the switching POVs that I literally cannot choose one.

18. What’s one pairing you want to explore next year? I think I might like to write more of Felice's platonic pairings next year. I feel like I neglect her because I don't really ship her with anyone.

19. Which work of yours have you reread the most? The Thing In The Mirror. It's kind of a love letter to my grief, so sometimes I go back and read it when I'm feeling down.

20. How many kudos in total did you get this year? 2,754

21. Which work has the most comments? Reckless Abandon, but again, it's the only one with more than one chapter so that makes sense.

22. Did you do any collaborative works this year? Not this year! Maybe next year. Dani and I don't write "together" per se, but we do bounce a lot of ideas off each other, so if that counts then yes, but nothing plotted and written and posted together.

23. Did you write any gifts this year? I did! I wrote for YR Week, which wasn't a gift, but an event. And I wrote a Christmas gift for Nic!

24. Did you receive any gifts this year? Yes yes yes! A beautiful, perfect Christmas gift from @pagegirlintraining I enjoyed every word of it.

25. What’s your most common category? M/M

26. What do you listen to while writing? Not much, actually. I have the Reckless Abandon Playlist, but I only really used that when outlining.

27. Favorite work you wrote this year? For the sake of not repeating myself, out off the ones I haven't mentioned yet, Isn't That Your Thing? and Patience Is A Virtue are my favorite little crack fics.

28. Favorite line/passage you wrote this year? Oh jesus, that's impossible. I don't think I can choose just one. I can give you one that makes me think "holy shit I can write" though:

This piece of work — the one staring Stella in the face — was a revolution made of oil paint. 

29. Biggest surprise while writing this year? I can write smut. And people don't hate it somehow.

Thank y'all for a fun year. Can't wait to see what my brain does to torture us all in the next one.

[lulubelle814]

Just Dizziness - Chapter 9

I had an odd dream the following night. In my dream, Tom was there but asleep. He was curled up around me, holding me close.

This fantasy warmed my heart until I noticed the exhaustion on his sleeping face. He had large, dark circles under his eyes. It looked as if he had been fighting a one man war.  I so badly wanted to comfort him, but my limbs felt as if they were filled with lead. That's when I noticed I was in a hospital room. From what I was able to see, it was a nice room, and it became clear quickly that the bed was larger than the standard hospital bed.

It was frustrating not being able to move or at anything.  Even with that, I felt comfortable being with him. His scent, his warmth. It was more than I could ever hope for.  But this was a dream, wasn't it? No one was here or awake to pinch me.  Sadness overtook me, and I felt tears starting to fall from the corner of my eye. I wasn't dreaming. This was a nightmare.

That was when I felt a hand touch my cheek, the thumb wiping away the tears.

"You're awake!"

I was so overwhelmed by everything that I found myself succumbing to some version of sleep.  As I unwillingly drifted away, I heard him begin to cry. "Please, please don't go!  Stay with me?"  He was distraught, his voice strained and pulled at my heartstrings.  I shed another tear as I heard his voice get further and further away.

When I woke up, I was in my own bed, but my face was wet. I realized I had been crying.  It still seemed like I could feel him holding me, hear him crying and calling to me, begging me to open my eyes once more.

As much as I wanted to return to him, it wasn't real. It wasn't. It couldn't be, but the nagging feeling persisted  that something wasn't right.  I didn't know what, where, or who, but something was wrong and I couldn't put my finger on it.  Maybe I really was just losing my mind.

Looking at the clock, it was almost 11 am.  The apartment was quiet meaning Sarah was out.  Venturing into the kitchen, I saw a note she left.

Had to head into the office for some more meetings. Didn't want to wake you. Will pick up food on the way home. Eat something in the meantime please? If you do, I'll pick up your favorite dessert tomorrow.

Appreciating her concern, I found there was still some chicken salad in the fridge.  I pulled out a bit and ate some.  That's when I spotted a box of cheez-its on the counter. I poured some into a bowl and snacked on them slowly over the next few hours, curled up in the large overstuffed chair in the living room while reading a book.

By the time she got home, my bowl was empty. She could tell I had eaten due to the amount of missing chicken salad (though what was missing wasn't much but it was still better than nothing) and the crumbs in the bowl.

What really surprised her was that I was in the living room, but she wasn't going to push it.  She wanted me to come out of my shell and heal at my own pace, and this was progress.  What she didn't know was that the real reason for the change of scenery was because of that dream, and I needed some kind of escape away from it. I couldn't, however, bring myself to leave the apartment today. So the living room would have to do.

She made dinner which was really heating up some delicious soup I loved.  When it was ready, she gave me about half a bowl which I finished. She gestured to the soup, silently asking if I wanted more, but I shook my head.  Overall, this was the most food I had eaten in some time, and it made her extremely happy.

That night, I was a little afraid to go to sleep, not wanting to go back to that dream. It was too much to dream of my celebrity crush but not be able to move or do anything.

I watched a couple of movies, but sleep could only be avoided for so long.  Reluctantly, I went to bed when sleep could no longer be avoided.

Chapter 10

[sungvis]

Taste

Lee Felix x afab! Reader

Contains; fluff,smut,angst

Story; fluff & angst

Proof read?; Nope

Next chapter

9:45 Am

"Felix, do you have the same class as me which is math or a different one?" You and Felix were best friends ever since 7th grade, Felix had the biggest crush on you you made his flutter every time he was around you, and of course you gave him butterflies. "Felix..hello?" Waving your hand In front of Felix wasn't anything, once you stopped to put your hand against your body he snapped out of it "huh"Felix mumbled, his eyes moved to eyes to your lips but before you say anything about it he quickly looked back at your face "...Felix are you okay?" "Yea uh..just tired" you knew Felix was just coming up with excuses but you didn't really care...for now at least. "Let's go to class, wait do you have math lix?" "Yea I do" Felix answered with a plain tone, "okay let's go now" when you grabbed Felix's hand Felix felt really nervous he used to hold your hand a lot when you guys were younger but for some reason he never felt that way.

You were now sitting at your desk with your hair down waiting for the teacher you felt eyes on you (Felix) but you just ignored it. A few minutes later the teacher came, she dropped her books on her table to talk after "Okay class, we are gonna do math in our math books!" Once she said that everyone groaned in disappointment "now now everyone, we have an exam coming up soon and if you don't wanna learn and you fail it's your fault!" The teacher explained ” everyone get a partner!" Everyone started to get their partners except for you and Felix until some girl came up to Felix you lifted your head to see that girl was liea (a random character) she had a "little" crush on Felix you hated her she used you only to get closer to Felix, you didn't really like Felix like he was your crush..I mean you actually had a tiny crush on him "lixiee~ wanna be partners?" She put her hand on his shoulder making him jump a bit as he looked at liea "sorry bu-" before Felix could finish his sent the teacher interrupted him "y/n, liea, and Felix, you guys can be in a group because everyone is taken and I don't want y/n to be alone!" Liea rolled her eyes as you walked up to Felix's desk "let's just start" Felix said while pulling out the chair for you to sit down as he ignored liea's chair "thank you lix" you say smiling at Felix "welcome" Felix said back liea sat down acting like a 1 year old and to be honest about liea she's a pick me when it comes to Felix.

"lixie can you hang out with mee?" Liea is always desperate to talk to Felix but when it comes to you shes always rude but you never say anything about it "sorry but I'm gonna hang out with y/n today" "Felix come on you can dump her!" You were so irritated by her you didn't know what to do "Liea can't you just leave Felix alone for once it's not that hard if wants to hang out with me let him because he obviously doesn't want you to hang out with him so just stop and leave. him. alone." "Damn who hurt you y/n" "you obviously!" Liea stayed quiet looking at you she never did that she always had a comeback but they were bad comebacks not gonna lie "y/n it's okay" Felix grabs your hand comforting you. The bell rings which caused everyone sighing in relief, all of you guys had to do three pages of math + math textbooks it was boring and frustrating since you guys are in college work was harder then you thought "come on n/n let's go" Felix dragged you outside the classroom " you okay? " "Yea lix I'm okay it's just she gets on my nerves''.

8:22 Pm

"n/n, Are you awake?" You were taking a nap peacefully , the tv shining on the wall and the bed, Felix poked your cheek until he realized how pretty you looked sleeping. You woke up to Felix Infront of you "oh, hey lix" you said slowly opening your eyes"oh hi y/n uhh, I was wondering if you would like a brownie I just baked them" he offered you "of course lix I'm in the mood for a brownie actually" You were half asleep but more awake then sleep if you know what I mean "okay be right back" Felix left the room to bring you a brownie, you stretched to feel more awake? You sat up as Felix came back, Felix gave you the brownies and you just ate it "thanks lix" "no problem" Felix exists the room to go to his room, Felixs grabs his notebook to write

"should I confess?"

A/n; sorry it's kinda short but I might make the other one longer but hope you enjoyed it!

[written-by-jayy]

Whumpcember, day 2: Sickness-

From this prompt list

Chapter 1 pt. 1

CW: Fever, Illness,

Word count:

Characters: Rowan = Caretaker | He/They, Adam = Whumpee | He/Him

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rowan sleepily lifted his head and rubbed his eyes with his right hand, his left arm still stuck between his roommate's body and his own.

By the looks of it, the romcom Adam had put on had ended quite some time ago. The sun was already rising through the window across the room. He grabbed his phone and looked at the time.

6:32 AM

What time had he fallen asleep? Adam had only been home no more than an hour... then it couldn't have been any later than 9:00 PM.

He glanced at Adam, still asleep on his shoulder, and frowned.

The calm, peaceful, trusting look that he had the night before, when had first fallen asleep was gone. Replaced by furrowed brows, a clenched jaw, and a single tear in the corner of his eye, waiting for its time to drip down his cheek.

Slowly and carefully, Rowan moved his left arm up and around to rest on Adam's far shoulder, and like this, Rowan held his friend close.

He wondered what was wrong...

Was it just a fever dream?

Was he in pain?

Rowan began gently rubbing Adam's arm, trying to wake but not startle him.

"addy?" his voice was barely audible. Definitely not loud enough to wake even the shallowest of sleepers, "hey, Adam," he tried again, only slightly louder.

This time, Adam jolted awake and pulled away from Rowan. He wiped the tear from his eye and sweat from his forehead.

"Sorry, Adam... you okay?"

Adam jumped slightly and blinked at Rowan, as if just realizing he was there, "oh," he cleared his throat, "yeah. 'm fine."

"Nightmare?"

"Uh, n-no. Why?" Adam sniffed.

"Oh. Did I wake you for no reason, then? I'm so sorry."

"Don' be, i's alrigh'," he sniffed again, "...do you know if we have any kleenex?" he glanced around the room.

"Yeah, in the linen closet. I'll grab some," Rowan stood and walked across the room, to the open closet. He must have forgotten to close it last night. He dug around on the top shelf, realizing how badly it needed to be cleaned out and organized- a job that could wait until another day- and grabbed the last box of tissues. He turned around and saw Adam stretching his arms out.

Rowan giggled at this, "I'm not gonna toss it to you. The last thing we need right now is you getting a corner in your eye."

Adam frowned and dropped his hands, sniffing again.

Rowan opened the box, handed him a tissue, and set the rest on the center table.

Adam blew his nose and got up, heading into the kitchen.

"Anything else I can do for you?" Rowan asked kindly.

"No, fanks. 'm alrigh'."

He sounded like if death had been warmed up in a microwave and then stuffed into a dryer just for the fun of it.

"Okay. Just let me know if that changes, alright? I don't have work until noon."

"Kay."

Adam disappeared into the kitchen. Rowan heard the clumsy opening and closing of cupboards. What in the world was that delusional, half-awake sickie doing?

He shook his head and went into the kitchen after him to see what was happening.

"I can' find the trash..." Adam admitted when Rowan rounded the corner, almost as if reading his mind.

Rowan pointed to the bin next the fridge. Right next to Adam. Right where it had always been.

"Oh. Oops. Sor-"

He was cut off by an awful coughing fit, dropping the tissue, which Rowan could now see had blood in it.

Rowan ran to his friend's side as he coughed and gagged and gasped for air. He sat Adam down, grabbed a glass from the clean dishwasher and filled it with water from the tap. He knelt down next to Adam, holding the water in one hand and brushing hair out of Adam's face with the other.

Adam reached for the glass with trembling hands and Rowan helped him lift it to his mouth. He took a sip and immediately choked on it. He couldn't breathe. He had stopped coughing, but only because he couldn't breathe. There was sweat dripping down his temples, tears in his eyes, and a look of desperation on his face.

"Shit! Adam, hey, hey... oh god," Rowan was panicking. He quickly set the cup off to the side and wrapped his arms gently around his friend, pulling him close and holding him.

Adam leaned into him and finally coughed up the water onto the floor, thankfully not getting any on Rowan or himself.

Now, he was left gasping for air and wheezing in Rowan's arms.

Rowan breathed a sigh of relief, "Christ, Adam... are you okay? You scared me there."

Adam nodded, "..s'rry," he muttered weakly into Rowan's shoulder.

"Adam, you have nothing to be sorry for, okay?"

He nodded again, now pulling away from Rowan's grasp.

And Rowan let him. He knew Adam didn't like physical touch, and he always did his best to respect Adam and his boundaries, despite Rowan's struggle with it. No matter how hard he tried, he'd occasionally forget, as physical touch was always something he had found comfort in. Though he never understood, and he didn't always remember, Rowan always did his best.

And Adam knew that. He couldn't deny the fact that he was slowly growing used to it and even warming up to the occasional, gentle touches. Only Rowan's touches though.

He still flinched away when anyone else even tried holding his hand or patting him on the back. But whether or not Rowan knew it, every day he was actively helping Adam get better and feel more normal and more human. And for that, Adam was endlessly thankful for. Even if he might never be able to express it.

Adam glanced at the cup of water, at the tissue, and then at Rowan. Rowan looked concerned. Adam hated that. Great. He was being a burden. He quickly looked away, grabbed the bloodied tissue, shakily stood up and stumbled toward the trash can.

Rowan stood up quickly and reached a hand out to try and help Adam, but he dodged the hand, flinched away. Rowan retracted it.

"Do you need help?"

"No," he dropped the tissue in the bin and as he turned back around, he gagged. In an instant, Adam was back over the trash, now heaving and coughing. He was shaking again and now leaning on the fridge.

Rowan was immediately by his side. He kept his hands to himself this time but was prepared to help if he needed to.

After a few moments, a mix of bile, blood, and even the soup from the previous night all came up, burning Adam's throat and pouring into the garbage.

Adam coughed a few times after it finally ended and dropped to his knees, shaking and now crying.

He couldn't be a burden, he couldn't be pathetic, he couldn't be weak and he couldn't be sick.

If he was any of those things, then he'd be abandoned again. Rowan would leave without a second thought. Adam would be alone and forgotten all over again. He couldn't let that happen. He couldn't be a sick, pathetic burden.

And yet he was. He was all of those things. And for some reason, Rowan was still right by his side. Still pretending to care. But why?

Rowan picked up the water again and sat next to Adam, offering it to him.

Adam took it and drank it as slowly as he could, not wanting to choke again.

When he finished, he had gathered himself and looked at Rowan. They held eye contact for a moment, Rowan reached a hand out and Adam watched as Rowan slowly placed it on his shoulder. Adam looked back up and into Rowan's oak wood eyes. After another moment, Adam not only leaned into the touch but went farther by slumping into Rowan.

Rowan wrapped his arms around Adam and held him. They stayed like this for several minutes, until Adam finally caught his breath and his whole body relaxed into Rowan's.

"Are you okay?"

"..."

"Addy?"

"...I don't know," it was barely audible. But it was honest. More honest and more vulnerable than he had ever been with Rowan.

That was the last thing Adam was able to get out as his consciousness faded

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Authors note: I apologize if the pacing is off. I’ve had a busy weekend. Hence why I’m behind. Will probably edit this later. ALSO I NEED A NAME FOR THIS SERIES IF YOU HAVE IDEAS PLEASE LMK

Chapter 2

[mikaharuka]

Last Words... for Feb 9, 2023

(tagging for reference - @tsunderewatermelon, @mrsmungus, @axolotlsupremacyowo, @bleepbloopbotz, @alpaca-clouds, @lena-hills, @udaberriwrites, @danceswithdarkspawn, @aislinnstanaka - I know y'all love femslash, but I just started so nothing happens... yet)

[I tagged y'all, but let me know if you want to be tagged, and if so, then on what posts. Also, I realized I don't have a tag list for my official fic posts, so let me know if you want to be on that as well]

-

Normally, I just work on one fic (Prithvi, the earth element and first trio of chapters of Mahabhuta)... but this week was wild.

First, there was that nine-fold drabble I wrote 3 days ago in 7 hours (A Study in Hands). I thought that was an exception... but then, I get a brief flash of a Rose/Elle prompt and I started to outline that. Then I woke up today, possessed by a femslash take on the Azure Mystique erotic dream sequence (chapter 11 of Apricity), and now here I am.

Knee deep in Azure Allure! (also for Miranda's 'bergamot' prompt)

Although the high-level "plot" and themes are the same between Mystique and Allure, the sensory details, actions, and execution will be different. After all, the characters (Carlisle/Carine, Beau/Bella) are "only" 90% or so similar. I mean, Mystique is very masculine and Allure will be very feminine (no kidding...), so yeah! I have a plan!

That being said... I'm also quite nervous because this is my first attempt at a femslash-centric fic. I know, I felt the same way three years ago when I wrote slash-centric fic for the first time, but still >.>

-

As always, this is a raw, no-edit draft, so SPAG errors are likely.

Also, if you've read Mystique, this first part will likely feel similar, since this is the opening exposition with the scene setting pieces.

(for those who want to play compare/contrast: Azure Mystique)

...also, I got excited and shared all of today's 540 words... so all of it?

-

[From Azure Allure]

Cool, comfortable, calm. 

All of the pieces needed for Bella to smoothly shift in place and return to sleep. The metronomic lull reverberating through the air would make that incredibly simple. 

Only something was off. Why was her room so noisy? 

True, she usually ran a melodic white noise track in the background before drifting off to sleep. Something like the crash of a waterfall or the low whistling of a wind, set to the backdrop of a soothing, lovely tune played on a piano. 

But those sounds weren’t all Bella heard.

There was this incessant crinkle popping off like fireworks near her ears, every time she so much as made herself comfortable. Eventually, the grating sound woke Bella from her half-dazed state and she moved to sit up. She stretched her stiff arms to the sky then slowly opened her eyes, letting them adjust to the mostly dark surroundings, lit only by the few rays of azure-tinged moonlight that diffused through the light mist.

Had she really fallen asleep outside? 

After adjusting her headband and pulling her hair back into a loose ponytail, Bella stood up and stretched her body again, before lifting her gaze to take in the world around her.

The ancient forest, with all its majestic pines, firs and spruce trees reaching out to the dark dusk sky, hummed with this vibrant energy so full of life - energy that soothed Bella’s spirit with every deep breath she took. Despite the mist and limited light preventing her from getting a clear view of the land, that familiar sharp, yet sweet scent of the evergreen trees whistling through pine needles, star-shaped leaves, and dried-out bark lining the forest floor - all of it was so very familiar to her.

The forest along the shores across Akalat.

Though Bella had no idea why she woke up on the forest floor, she wasn’t about to waste any more time lingering around - not with the final rays of daylight set to fade away. She didn’t know where in the forest she was, but that hardly mattered - once she arrived at the beach, she would be able to navigate her way home from there.

Feeling a wave of that grounding energy rush by her sense, Bella slowly closed her eyes and let her body and mind fall in tune with the symphony surrounding her.

The gentle breeze grazing her skin.

The light mist settling closer to her.

The pine and petrichor filling the air.

The rhythmic waves pulling her along.

—

Bella was not sure how much time had passed since she began walking, but the sun had already set and it didn’t feel like she was any closer to the beach. She was no stranger to these woods, but somehow, she couldn’t recognize any of the glades she passed through. 

No, even beyond that, somehow the woods looked exactly the same as they had before.

That couldn’t be possible, though.

That had to be a trick of the hazy, azure moonlight.

And yet… that same moonlight grew brighter and stronger - then, within a flash, the mist from earlier vanished mysteriously into thin air, leaving only the azure moonlight and the bright stars dotting the now-clear midnight sky to help guide her way forward.

[shameaboutthedilettantism]

2022 Writing Year in Review

1. Number of stories posted to Ao3: 1, plus 2 chapters of a story I started in 2020...ugh, can I even call myself a writer?

2. Word count this year: 15,807 not counting all the ones written for stories that were never published

3. Fandoms I wrote for: Avatar: The Last Airbender

4. Pairings: Aang/Katara, Zuko/Mai

5. Stories with the most:

Kudos:

Bookmarks:

Comment threads: 

Word count:

Since I only published one story this year, it's obviously So I Wait for You with 50 kudos, 28 comments (oh wait, that said 'threads'..let's just say half that because I responded to most of the comments before I just ran out of steam for everything), 6 bookmarks, and 10,860 words.

6. Work I’m most proud of (and why): 

Well, I am a bit proud of the completed fic I published because now I believe I can complete a multichapter story. Some day I will finish The Only Way to Hold On!

7.   Work I’m least proud of (and why):

Umm, same I guess, since I only published one story. I find typos and stuff I hate every time I look at it. The last chapter was so bad the first time I posted it that I took it down and reworked large swathes of it before posting it again.

8.   Share or describe a favorite review you received:

Y'all, @coyotelemon is the kind of friend I wish everyone had. She is so kind and encouraging and every time I feel down on myself, I go back and read the final comment she left on my story

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

FUCK I LOVE THIS SO MUCH

Dilly!!!!!! DILLY?!?!?!???!!!!

This was— and I mean this with my whole everything— a perfect story from start to finish. It’s amazing, it’s hot, it’s hilarious!!!

She says a bit more, but it's maybe spoilery, so I'll leave it out. It's so comforting and serotonin-boosting to get a review like that, ya know? Get you a friend like Coyote, folks.

9.   A time when writing was really, really hard:

2022? Okay, mostly post July. I got a promotion at work then and the imposter syndrome and drowning sensation have been intense. Between work and some family stuff, I haven't had the focus or mental energy to write much.

10. A scene or character you wrote that surprised you:

The fight scene in chapter 17 of OWTHO. I hadn't planned for anyone to get really hurt, but I started writing and suddenly Mai's dress was on fire and Li was lying in a pool of blood.

11. A favorite excerpt of your writing:  

I was really happy with my introduction of Meng in So I Wait for You

“Hey, Katara, why are you still asleep?” came the annoyingly perky voice of her roommate, Meng.

Katara surfaced slowly from sleep, where she'd been dreaming something warm and pleasant that dissipated so quickly it was gone by the time her eyes squinted blearily open. “Huh?” she queried, voice slumber-roughened.

Then she bolted upright. Her room was bright with morning, each corner illuminated by sunshine. A golden glow surrounded Meng's darkened silhouette and slashed bars of light across the wall behind her. What time was it? Why hadn't her alarm gone off? She patted her nightstand desperately, trying to find her phone so she could figure out how late she was.

Meng's snort of laughter stilled her hand. Katara growled, low and long, the sound rumbling in her throat and soothing her irritation. When would she learn?

After heaving a disgusted sigh, Katara asked “It's Saturday, isn't it?”

12. How did you grow as a writer this year:

Ugh. I don't think I did. My growth this year was professional.

13. How do you hope to grow next year:

I'd like to try to write some every day. Though I wish I could say something more profound like Choco and Northern did, but dang I really need to get more words out before I can focus on using metaphor and foreshadowing. Baby steps.

14. Who was your greatest positive influence this year as a writer (could be another writer or beta or cheerleader or muse etc etc):

I have to pick one? @coyotelemon, then. She helped me come up with so many ideas for So I Wait for You and cheered me on when I did writing sprints and left amazing comments. (but @flameohotwife, @princessofnewcorona, and Nettie Sprinkle helped so much, too, with joining me in sprints as well as cheering me on while I sprinted and having unhinged reactions to the bits I shared. I have such incredible friends!)

15. Anything from your real life show up in your writing this year: 

Soju. That's all I will say on the matter. I plead the fifth.

16. Any new wisdom you can share with other writers: 

Make fandom friends who will encourage and advise you, maybe even beta read for you.

17. Any projects you’re looking forward to starting (or finishing) in the new year: 

An' it please the Lord, finishing OWTHO.

Thanks for the tags, @chocomd @flameohotwife and @northerngoshawk

[empressofthesunwriter]

Nothing is True

… Everything is permitted.

What is real?

What is not?

Is she just turning crazy or are other powers at work?

One thing is clear Kohana will get to the bottom of this and maybe change the whole Ninja-World at the same time.

S.I. Third Shinobi World War 

!!!!PLEASE READ AND REVIEW!!!

The song we “hear” in this chapter is from Alt J called Something Good from the masterpiece of a game Life is Strange!

I recommend listening to it while reading the chapter.

Happy reading!

Chapter 9: Everything changes 

It was early morning.

A fresh breeze was entering Kohana's room from her half-open window.

The nine-year-old girl lies half awake-half asleep on the cover of her bed.

She heard from somewhere in the house a radio playing.

Probably Kizashi who listens to his music.

The song was good she had to admit.

Its melody was catchy.

Kohana hummed along to the tune, feeling a sense of comfort in the music.

“Something good

Oh, something good

Oh, something good

Oh, something good tonight

Will make me forget about you for now”

She slowly sat up and stretched her arms, feeling the warmth of the sun on her face.

As she looked out the window, she noticed a group of birds flying in formation. Mesmerized by their synchronized movements, Kohana wondered if they were communicating with each other.

The birds continued to fly in formation, their wings flapping in unison. The girl watched them until they disappeared from her sight.

“Get high

Hit the floor before you go

Matador

Estocada, you're my blood sport”

Deciding it was time to get out of bed she walked over to her window. Her simple pink nightgown swayed in the light breeze.

“But something good

Oh, something good

Oh, something good

Oh, something good tonight

Will make me forget about you for now”

She leaned out the window and took a deep breath of the fresh morning air.

“48 thousand seats

Bleats and roars for my memories of you

Now that I'm fully clean

The matador is no more and is dragged from view”

The sun was now fully risen, casting a warm glow over everything it touched.

Kohana felt grateful for this moment of peace and tranquillity before the hustle and bustle of the day began.

She closed her eyes and listened to the sounds around her: the lyrics of the song, the chirping of birds, the rustling of leaves in the wind, and in the distant talking of people.

“Get high

Hit the floor before you go

Matador

Estocada, you're my blood sport”

The moment felt like it could last forever, but Kohana knew that it wouldn't. She reluctantly let go of the window sill and turned to face her room.

“48 thousand seats

Bleats and roars for my memories of you

Now that I am clean

The matador is no more and is dragged from view”

The song ended as she looked at the mess of her room.

“But something good

Oh, something good

Oh, something good

Oh, something good tonight

Will make me forget about you for now”

Her new room.

It was still hard to grape that the Harunos had been moved to this little clan compound.

And that all because Kohana had awoken a Kekkai Genkai.

A few weeks ago as Minato-Sensei and the rest of her team had discovered her Eagle Vision, Kohana didn’t know what do to. Every ninja knows that if you awoke a new Kekkai Genkai you had to tell the Hokage.

Something she had missed on purpose. She didn’t want the world to know that Eagle-Vision had returned. The first and last one in her family who had this gift was her ancestor Haruno Sakuya.

A mysterious Miko, who was actually an assassin named Carina Auditore from a different world.

She still grappled long with all this and yes, she wanted to keep it as long as a secret as she could, till she could make more sense of it.

In the end, after she had been caught in the act of using it, she admitted to Minato-Sensei that she had awakened the Kekkai Genkai of her family.

Minato-Sensei had been understanding, but he had insisted that they inform the Hokage. Kohana had been nervous about it, but when she met with the Hokage, she found that he was also understanding.

Actually, he was more prepared than her.

Hokage-Sama had known Sakuya since she had been a close friend of his senseis the first and the second Hokage.

He had seen Eagle Vision in action when he was a young boy.

Also, Sakuya had prepared something for her family if one of them would someday wake Eagle Vision.

The diary and Hidden Blade that Kohana had already found were only a part. Sakuya had arranged that her family would be given clan status and a clan compound when a descendant would awake her Kekkai Genkai.

That her parents and her brother had been shocked was the understatement of the century.

From a normal ninja family to being raised to a clan was...mindblowing. Even Kohana herself was still reeling.

She had thought that it would cause problems if someone found out she had Eagle-Vision and in the end her ancestor had them all set already.

So they had lived at the Haruno Clan Compound for a few weeks now.

It was probably the smallest one in all of Konohagakure. It had one main house, where Kohana, her parents and brother lived, and two other houses. The rest was still forest, but when the clan would get bigger one day, they would be cut and new houses be built.

Their symbol was the Assassin Brotherhood one in the middle a little cherry blossom.

Kohana would lie if she said it was not weird to wear a clan symbol on all her clothes.

The white circle her family had used before was a family crest, nothing special, however, a clan symbol was something else.

The thought of her family now being a clan still felt surreal to Kohana. She couldn't help but wonder what the future held for them.

Would they become a large and powerful clan, or would they remain small and unknown? Either way, she was grateful for the new opportunities that had been presented to them.

But at the same time, she knew that with this newfound status came great responsibility. They would have to work hard to maintain their reputation as a strong and honourable clan. Kohana vowed to do her part in upholding their legacy and making her ancestors proud.

As she made her way out of her room and towards the kitchen, Kohana couldn't help but hum along to the tune of the song that had been playing earlier.

It was a reminder that even in times of uncertainty and change, there was always something good to hold onto.

***

“Chuunin-Exams?!”, shouted Obito surprised.

Team 7 was done with their mission for the day, guarding the borders of Konohagakure, and had gone to their training field to enjoy lunch together.

Even Kushina was with them.

Since the first time she trained with them, the Uzumaki had started to join them more often for training.

Especially with Kohana. She had actually a mentor-ship with Kushina.

The Eagle Vision made her understand Fuin Jutsu in an outstanding way that Kushina and Minato-Sensei had started teaching her in it.

The green-haired girl felt honoured that Kushina shared her Uzumaki Clan Fuin Jutstu with her. It was the highest honour one could give another, sharing with them their clan jutsus.

Also, she really likes Kushina.

She was like a fun older sister.

When they were alone Kohana called her Kushina-Nee.

“Chuunin-Exams.”, repeated Minato-Sensei with a smile at his flabbergasted Genin, well all beside Kakashi. The Hatake seemed calm. “In the last months, all four of you have made incredible progress. In my eyes, you are more than ready to take on the next Chuunin Exams in Konoha.”

“You are gonna wipe the floor with the others, Dattebane!”, encouraged Kushina with a fist bump.

Rin made a little bow.

“Thank you for having such fate in us, Minato-Sensei.”

“Yeah, thanks!”, chorused Obito and Kohana, bowing too.

“So I can assume you all want to join up.”

Of course, the four Genin wanted to.

Kohana felt excitement bubble up in her. If she managed to pass the Chuunin Exam the first time she would be the first in her family to, do it on the first try and second, being so young.

That would make a great start for the legacy of the Haruno Clan.

The team was thrilled at the prospect of participating in the Chuunin Exams. They knew that it would be a tough challenge, but they were ready for it. Kohana felt a sense of determination wash over her as she thought about what lay ahead. She knew that she had to work hard and stay focused if she wanted to succeed.

As they finished their lunch and headed back to the village, Minato-Sensei reminded them of the importance of teamwork and trust in each other. He stressed that they needed to rely on one another in order to make it through the exams.

The Chuunin Exams would be a test not only of their skills as a ninja but also of their character and resolve. Kohana was determined to prove herself worthy of being a Haruno Clan member and make her ancestors proud.

***

Her Eagle Vision burned in her eyes, her Hidden Blade was sharp and ready, her sense awake and alert.

Whatever her brother Kizashi would throw at her, she would overcome it.

Kizashi grinned at Kohana.

“Are you sure you want to fight me, Imoto-Chan? I’m 19, you are 9 years old. There is a gap between us.”

“And I will surpass it!”

With that, both siblings run up to each other trading punches.

Kohana dodged Kizashi's first punch and countered with a swift kick to his side. Kizashi stumbled back, but quickly regained his footing and lunged forward with a series of jabs.

She blocked each one with ease, her training in the assassination technique of Sakuya had made her faster and more flexible. As Kizashi went in for another attack, Kohana saw an opening and used her Hidden Blade to disarm him.

Her brother looked surprised but impressed as he retrieved his weapon from the ground and resumed their sparring match.

The two siblings continued to trade blows, each pushing themselves to their limits in order to become stronger and better ninjas.

Kohana felt grateful for this opportunity to train with her brother, knowing that it would only make her more prepared for the upcoming Chuunin Exams.

As their training session came to an end, both siblings were exhausted but satisfied with their progress. Kohana knew that she still had a long way to go before she could truly surpass her brother, however, she was determined to keep working hard until she did so.

***

“I’m so happy we found time for a sleepover.”, signed Rin happy, while Kohana was sitting behind her, combing her brown hair.

Both girls were on Kohana’s bed, in their sleepwear, enjoying time only real best friends could do during a sleepover.

“Me too Rin-Chan.”, agreed Kohana. “It seems like we are only, training, training and training these past weeks for the Chuunin Exams. It’s like we forgot being just girls too and not only ninjas.”

Rin nodded in agreement. "Yeah, it's nice to just relax and have fun sometimes. We should do this more often."

Kohana smiled and continued to comb Rin's hair. She enjoyed these quiet moments with her friends, where they could just be themselves without any pressure or expectations.

As they chatted about their favourite things and shared stories from their childhood, Kohana felt a sense of warmth and contentment wash over her. She knew that no matter what happened in the future, she would always have Rin by her side.

“Sooo, how it’s going with Obito?”, asked Rin a while later as they ate ice cream.

Rin had strawberry and Kohana chocolate, both with a massive amount of cream and sprinkles on it.

As an answer, Kohana just took a massive spoonful in her mouth.

The brunette winced.

“That bad, mmh?”

“Rin, he is obsessed with you!”, shouted Kohana, raising her arms up. “Like I try to flirt or do something sweet for him and his mind goes to you and how he should do it to YOU! I think he thinks I’m trying to help him to get you, aargh!”

Rin laughed, "Oh, Kohana. You know Obito is just clueless when it comes to these things. He probably doesn't even realize that you're interested in him."

Kohana rolled her eyes, "I know, but it's frustrating. I don't want to come off as desperate or anything."

"Don't worry about it too much.” " the Nohara patted her friend's hand reassuringly. “Just be yourself and if he's meant to notice you, he will."

Kohana smiled at Rin's words of wisdom.

She knew that her friend was right and that she shouldn't stress out too much about Obito. She decided to just enjoy their sleepover and not think about ninja stuff for a while.

After all, they were still just girls who wanted to have fun.

So in that case.

“You and Kakashi seem to get a bit more chummy, or did I hear wrong how you both talked about a book you both read.”, wiggled Kohana her eyebrows and her blushing friend.

“I think it’s too far to say that Kakashi-Kun likes me this way.”, mubles Rin. “But I have a feeling we are forming a good friendship with each other and this makes me really happy.”

Kohana smiled at Rin's response. She was happy for her friend and glad that she was forming a good friendship with Kakashi.

The two of them seemed to have a lot in common, especially when it came to their love of reading.

"I'm glad you have someone else besides me to talk about books with."

Rin nodded, "Yeah, it's nice to have someone who shares my interests."

The two girls continued their conversation, talking about everything and anything that came to mind.

They laughed and joked around, enjoying each other's company.

As the night wore on, they eventually drifted off to sleep with smiles on their faces.

The green-haired girl felt grateful for this moment of peace and happiness, knowing that she would need these memories to hold onto during the tough times ahead.

But for now, she was content just being a girl having fun with her best friend.

!!!!PLEASE READ AND REVIEW!!!

This a short chapter, but we will dive into the Chuunin Exams in the next ones, I can’t wait to write for them :D

Also, not Naruto-related, but have you played Life is Strange?

If so, did you sacrifice Chloe or sacrificed Arcadia Bay?

I’m course if you have done the same as me and why you choose this. ^^

Until next time! 

[minnierevercez]

Did someone ask for romance ?

Because here's some romance for you ! Dear people, chapter 9 of Patch Me Up (my Hunter x OFC romance and adventure fanfic) is now available on AO3 and I am SO EXCITED that's it's finally out there after months of brewing in my mind !

Before I give you a snippet of Romantic Hunter, have my amazing beta's comments without context because they made me crack up as I read it :

"Lol love it"

"Suuuuuuuuure"

"Oh my god. Didn't see that coming."

"Hunter on the other hand.... :p"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOO"

"Oooooooooooh !!"

Can you guess where these fit :p ?

Patch Me Up

Hunter x OFC

Current word count : 48,799

Warning for triggering themes in this chapter : mention of death and violence/torture.

“Tracker. Hey, Tracker.”

Hunter slowly blinked awake to the sound of Patch's whispers, and hummed softly in response, trying to shake off his sleepiness. Everything felt warm and fuzzy ; night had fallen on Ord Mantell, covering half the ship in shadows, but the dull lights they had left on still hurt his eyes.

“You're holding me.”

That statement helped his mind break through the fog. He gazed at Patch's face, so much closer than he remembered before falling asleep ; close enough that he'd felt her soft breath on his skin when she'd spoken. Her hazel eyes were wide awake, fixing him with an intensity that made his heart race.

He didn't dare move, not even a toe ; for her feet were no longer on his, instead tangled between his ankles, as were the rest of their legs. In fact, there wasn't much space left between them at all, one of his arms keeping her close with a hand on her back, the fingers of his other still entwined with hers between their chests ; her free palm rested on his hip, the barest touch, but there nonetheless. His body was on fire but his brain had frozen.

“So I am”, he blurted, dumbstruck. Patch's eyes still searched his face, glowing and beautiful and right in front of his face.

“Isn't it... uncomfortable ? For you ? Erm... should I... let go ?” she asked softly, but her fingers pressed just a bit harder on his flesh, contradicting her words ; the goosebumps that ran up his spine and all over his skin made his head spin.

Usually, he would have wanted to let go. He would have let go already, even. Her body was so close to his that he could feel her presence like a second skin, solid and warm ; every point of contact had his skin tingling and his hairs standing on end ; her hand on his hipbone, her questioning eyes, the smell of her – it was overwhelming, but also completely overpowering, and he couldn't make sense of the mixed signals, caught between the conflicting urges to break both this unsettling contact and the remaining distance between them. His heart was beating so hard it hurt.

He forced himself to breathe, to ease the tension in his body. Whatever was happening, he knew one thing : he didn't want to let go.

[yutadori]

jjk spoilers //

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gooooood evening i love yuuji so much i absolutely adore him im so glad that we get to see more of him in the recent chapters and i love that we get to see him be silly omg i was so worried that post shibuya his behavior would change because of like... Everything that happened u__u

but he’s been SO FUNNY in the recent chapters like small moments where he makes a ??? face or when he’s making silly expressions... im crying... and when he mentioned that he Can’t drink while he was talking to hakari during this chapter... i wonder what that meant ? because initially the reason he gave to hakari was that he’s underage, and then he followed up by saying that he Can’t... i wonder if it would have to do with sukuna in any way...?? or is it something that they’ll  explore a little bit later on....? or is he just allergic or something?? gfdgfdgd

omg also im crying when he was trying to get hakari to LISTEN to him he was just like fuck it and straight up grabbed hakari’s face and headbutted him AHAHAHA I LOVE HIM SO MATCHA.... 

[bluenpjm]

bad decisions — kth x you x pjm

© bluenpjm | all rights reserved. do not repost, translate or claim as your own.

synopsis. there are people who say that high school is one of the best times of your lives: where you find your first love, where you might lose your virginity, where you get to go to your first party, where you meet your friends for life. all they ask is that you live day after day, decision after decision… you try your best to avoid bad decisions and deal with your emotions at the same time.

genre. high school au + fluff + angst + smut

pairing. taehyung x you x pjm

rating. M

wordcount. 5.7k

warnings. light smut and foul language; teens being teens; high school drama; dna taehyung

a/n. big big shout out to my girls @singguks and @socksjinie for helping me edit this. i will cherish the moments we spend together forever! ♡

chapters. 1 × 2 × 3

How can a bad decision be declared a bad decision?

That was the thing that kept on running through your mind as you lay half-naked next to your best friend. You sigh as you run your hands through your hair. Carefully, you turn on the bed, now facing him directly.

Fuck, he’s handsome.

You had never really paid much attention to his looks before. Before today. His chest lifted up and down softly as he was asleep. You noticed the way his bangs fell onto his eyes, the mole on his nose, his parted lips.

Fuck. Fuck.

You turn again, this time your back facing him.

The door is right there.

But at the same time, how bad would it be for you to leave now? While he’s asleep? After what you did? Without even a goodbye?

I could say…

You could, but he always knows when you’re lying. Even by text.

So I’ll wake him.

And say what?

This was a bad decision. That part is settled. And sadly, not the last one of the day. What matters now is how you get away from it. What matters now is how you deal with this situation. Because one wrong move — a wrong word, a wrong look, a simple hesitation — your comfort zone is destroyed.

You turn again.

“Tae,” you whisper. He doesn’t move. “Tae.”

He takes a deep breath, your voice bringing him back to planet earth. “Hmm,”

“I’m gonna go-”

His eyes shoot open. “I’ll take you home.”

“No, no. You don’t have to.” You feel yourself blush. Fuck. How did you get into this situation? Things will never be the same.

You have already begun to gather your clothes from the ground, putting them on the best you can considering your priority now is speed over decency. Taehyung sits up on the bed. He can’t see your face but the way your body moves makes him nervous. He decides not to press on it and keeps quiet, fidgeting with his fingers. This is new territory to both of you.

“I’ll text you when I get home, yes?” You face him again. He’s trying to read you, and you’re trying to read him. But you almost feel like strangers.

“Don’t forget.” He gives you a serious look and you hand him a weak smile in return. “Please.”

“I won’t.”

— 9 hours earlier —

9 A.M.

As Archie once said, only those who are in high school really live the triumphs and defeats, the epic highs and lows. Now, if he was talking about football, yes. And if Riverdale is painful to watch, also yes. That’s not the point. The point is that today was one of those epic lows that Archie mentioned to the boy that had quit school while in fourth grade to go sell drugs in order to support his grandmother.

“What the hell are you talking about?” Your brother arched his eyebrow, an extremely confused look on his face.

“Haven’t you been listening, Jungkook?” You asked with a tone. “I have a math quiz.”

“And she stayed up until 3 am watching Riverdale.” Taehyung mocked, leaning against your locker.

That had been your first bad decision of the day. You could’ve stopped when you checked your phone and it was nearly 1 am. But what harm one more episode would do? You would soon find out.

“Weren’t you saying that you would rather die over watching another second of that show?” Taehyung chuckled at your brother’s comment. You glare at him.

“I got curious.” You confess, eyes stuck to the ground as you feel a little embarrassed for being caught watching that terribly-almost-comedic show.

Jungkook laughs, pulling his backpack over his shoulder. “Well, guess I’ll see you in math class next year, dumbass.”

You were ready to hit his head, but he made a run for it. If it weren’t 9 am, he would be dead.

“Learn to respect your elders!” You scream and the entire hallway looks at you, which you ignore. “Shall we?”

“We shall.” Taehyung offers you his arm but before you could lock it, someone gets in the way.

“Ah, just who we were missing.” You glare at the blondie as he winks at your comment.

“I tried to stay home, but my mom made me come.” Jimin pouts. “On the bright side, she had to drive me here.” His expression is quick to change to a proud smile.

“So I guess you’re as ready as we are?” Taehyung asked.

“Wai-,” Jimin forces a speechless look. “You mean I can’t cheat? I thought you were going to help me, Y/N.”

You notice as Jimin’s right arm that was embracing Taehyung falls to his side, but his left remains tightly around your neck. “Ah- yeah. I don’t think you’ll be in much luck.”

Jimin doesn’t move his arm until you reach the door where your first class of the day will be.

Your dynamic was strange.

You weren’t dating. You didn’t even know if Jimin had a crush on you. And it was quite fuzzy on your head where he stood. And that was because of who he was and how he placed himself.

Every time he could, he would hang out with you, Taehyung, and some of your other friends. Both boys had been friends since childhood. You had only met Tae a couple of years ago when you transferred schools and, in consequence, Jimin. They were like those supermarket deals, pay for 1 and get 2.

Now, while Taehyung was extremely art-oriented, Jimin was a jock. He was the guy you saw on tv shows about high school when they’re played by people in their 20s or 30s. But Jimin was 17 and had amazing abs and was kind and sweet and fucking handsome. So, everyone at your school had a crush on him.

“Don’t you think, Y/N?” Jimin’s eyes find yours.

“Huh?” You weren’t listening to the conversation and had learned long ago that it was better to look dumb than to agree to something you most definitely didn’t agree with.

“Maddie has a crush on Tae.”

“Maddie Thompson?” Your face is a mix of surprise and disgust.

“Yeah,” Taehyung nods, his eyes never leaving your face. While yours might’ve been saying a lot, his face wasn’t saying anything at all.

“And what about it?” You arch your eyebrow.

“I arranged a date. Today. After class. At the Breakfast Club.” Jimin says proudly.

Huh. This was new. Let’s just-

“Their waffles suck.” You say.

“They do not,” Jimin argues, scoffing at your answer.

“Oh, they do,” You stop leaning against the wall to go stand right beside Taehyung. “Tae?”

“And they only sell Pepsi.” Taehyung backs you up but is immediately confused as you hit him in the arm.

“Not the point.” You say through gritted teeth.

“Whatever. You’re not going there for waffles either way.” Jimin makes a devilish smile.

“Nah, bro.” Taehyung laughs lightly.

“You’re gross.” You roll your eyes.

“Y/N!” Jimin whines, as he calls out for you as you enter the classroom, but the only response he gets is your middle finger up in the air.

Your second bad decision of the day: not staying home. And it really worked out in a complete snowball effect. Because if you hadn’t gone to school, none of the other bad decisions would’ve happened.

You take your usual seats on the third row; Taehyung by the window, you to his right, and Jimin beside you. As soon as the teacher drops the sheets of paper, you begin to feel sick, a burning feeling in your throat. There is no way you will be able to pass this test. Ever since they introduced letters to simple 1+1, it had ruined your life. You went from having math as your best discipline to it being your first C and D. Why would you need to know all of this when you could hire an accountant? Your parents didn’t even do their own taxes.

Math is pointless.

So, you had no doubt that you would fail this test.

You finished fast, not wasting too much time trying to figure out what was the right route to resolving the problems Mr. Tanner had come up with. You glanced at him. His glasses fell all the way down to the tip of his nose as he stared deeply into the white box of that ancient computer the school provided. You could imagine him making the test, evil laughs escaping through his thin lips as he reckoned most students would squirm and sweat as they read the sentences of his elaborate problems.

Tae was already sleeping on his table after 45 minutes into the test. Jimin, on the other hand, kept on trying to help you and make you help him.

But you were both in deep shit.

— 2 hours earlier —

4 P.M.

Fridays were supposed to feel fun. Right? But this year, yours was just catastrophic. You started off early with Math. It was only October but you had lost count of how many times you had gotten detention for being late to the class. Then, you had Geography. A different kind of hell. Two hours of lunch to have enough time to drown the sorrows of the morning just so you could stress right after the bell rang.

Creative Writing was an elective you had chosen. You had always loved to write but were never really that great at expressing yourself. Having to write college applications, the school’s counselor thought it was a good idea to enroll. Taehyung joined you, of course. But he was extremely more talented than you would ever be.

Your mind was simple, and so were your words. After a month of mediocre writing, you were never called out front to read your pieces.

But today the class hadn’t started like it usually did. Miss Harlow was late. She was never late. So you took the time to turn back and watch some TikTok videos with Taehyung. At first, you mocked him for spending so much time on such a stupid app. Now, you were worse than him.

“Sorry I am late!” Miss Harlow rushes into the classroom. Her cheeks are a little red and you could tell she had to rush on her uncomfortable high heels to the classroom. “I was talking to the Dean,” she explains. “I have two good news!”

The entire classroom begins to whisper.

“First, you’ll have a new colleague!” She squeals in excitement as she peeps outside the classroom door. “Everyone, please welcome Maddie Thompson!”

You fight the urge to look back to see Taehyung’s reaction. Instead, you control your facial expression.

Miss Harlow gestures for the girl to come inside.

“Weren’t you in Psycho 101?” Angela, one of your good friends from this class, asks.

“I was,” Maddie says simply. “It wasn’t challenging enough.”

You can’t help but snort, gaining a few looks. How can creative writing be more challenging than psychology? But who were you to talk, you couldn’t even write a single good essay.

“You will definitely exercise your mind and skills here!” Miss Harlow speaks excitedly, as she gestures once more for the girl to move, now to find her seat.

She walks past your row, her eyes never even glancing at your face.

“She is absolutely obnoxious.” Angela, or better, Angie whispers to you.

“Right? Such a pick-me…” The other girl in front of her comments, as if the conversation was with her.

You decide not to respond, keeping the comments you wanted to make locked in your head.

Miss Harlow gives a brief explanation of how the classes work and how important they are to your future and to your college life. You doze off for a moment, pen in hand drawing random doodles on your notebook, having already listened to this boring speech once.

“Now, second good news,” Miss Harlow elevates her voice tone, catching your attention. “Today our class will be outside! I want you to grab your notebooks, make groups of 3, and head out into the school. I will assign each of you a different location and I want you to go there and write.”

Ah yes, another oblivious assignment. But it’s fine. You turn on your seat. Tae will nail this.

“Team?” He asks.

“Team.”

Angie joins in on your group. You might actually be the only person in the class that didn’t enroll in it because of your love for writing. And it showed. At least now you had Maddie. She was one of the smartest students in your school. Although intelligence wasn’t exactly the same as creativity.

“Hold on-” Miss Harlow stops your group from exiting the class. “Taehyung,” she grabs his shoulders, moving him far away from you. You begin to lose any hope you had left for this assignment. “Camille, trade with Taehyung here. ”

Taehyung was her best student. Of course, she would pair him with Maddie.

“I want you to write with Maddie today. I guarantee you she won’t slow you down any more than any other student would.” The teacher quickly glances at you. Ouch? “Just help her with any doubts she might have.”

She pats his back and you leave to the stairs, while Taehyung follows in the opposite direction, towards the gym.

You feel annoyed. If you had little interest in today’s project, now it was lower than none. You didn’t have to do everything with him… but it sure made it a lot more fun. Hell, he was your best friend. And everyone knows that if there’s one thing you don’t do in high school is to separate best friends in projects. It should be a damn rule.

Your group wasn’t that bad. Cami was a sweetheart and Angie would always fill you in on the school’s gossip. Somehow, she always knew the dirtiest scoops. So, instead of writing when you got to the left-wing stairs, you all sat in the steps, as Angie rambled on and on about a girl you had just passed on the hallway and how — and she swore on her life — was on her way to the bathroom to meet with Steve Jones, a sophomore that was starting to make some competition for Jimin in the football team.

You all laugh. It was harmless gossip. You were in the age of experimenting and Angie was a wild one. Sometimes you would think she was lying. The stories she told were straight out of tv-shows. But who knew, really?

Time had passed while you talked and the conversation eventually had run down, being substituted by the phones in your hands. Camille had tried to make you write, but noticing how unmotivated the both of you were, it rubbed on her and she was quick to give up. Noticing the time, it wasn’t likely that you would present anything to the class today, so she just figured she could write something once she got home.

“Look at this,” Angie sat right next to you. “Let’s do this trend!”

Angela didn’t even give you time to see the entire video on TikTok. Instead, she was already applying a filter to her face. A square popped up on top of her head and as soon as she started recording, that square that displayed the tv-show Euphoria’s logo was quickly replaced by different images, switching from one to the next too fast for you to be able to read what they said.

A photo from one of Euphoria’s episodes pops up on top of Angie’s head and she squinted her eyes so she could read the quote. Why is everyone, like, so dramatic?

“No, this one is no fun. I say this at least 3 times a day.” And she clicks on the screen again, the filter generating a new quote as it reads her features.

I’m not sure it’s a good thing we met.

“Oh snap. This was the one that the girl from the video got.” She gets a little serious but quickly brushes it off. “Now, you send it to your best friend and see how they react!”

“What if they react… you know… bad?” Cami asks silently.

“Then they’re not your real best friend.” Angie shrugs. “I am expecting nothing less than a punch from Jennie when she reads this.”

“But-”

“Wanna do it?” Angie asks, cutting Cami during her existential crisis.

“Y/N can do it first.”

“Deal. I’m going to send you the video. Do it through there.”

You don’t even get a say. But that’s how Angie works. She is chaotic. You wait for the notification as you watch her text her best friend with no fear of the expected scenario not coming true.

“Now you.” Angie looks excitedly at you.

You quickly follow the notification to your inbox, clicking on the video and then on the filter. Your front camera opens and Cami quickly moves from behind you as she sees herself on the frame.

“Just click on the screen,” Angie says eagerly.

You do as she says and you wait as the images keep changing quickly. You notice how your eyeliner was starting to fade and was a little smudged on the corner of your eyes. And the little pimple that was growing on your right cheek.

Why don’t you kiss me?

You get startled by Angie’s scream.

“I want to do it again.” You cry.

“No way!” Angie laughs out loud. By the end of the first period on Monday, everyone would know that you sent this to Taehyung.

“But you changed yours!” You whine.

“Yeah, cause the first one sucked! The second one causes chaos. Your first is going to cause chaos.” It was that simple for Angie.

“It will be weird!”

“Only if you make it weird!”

“Or him,” Cami adds, completely not helping your nerves.

“C’mon. It’s a joke.”

“Fine…”

You sigh and open your texts with Taehyung. Both girls lean in close as you type the words.

“I can already see the new power couple!” Angie laughs loudly again, jumping on the steps of the stairs.

“And he’s super handsome,” Cami comments as she laughs at Angie’s figure. “Do you like him?”

“Wha-”

You don’t get to finish your sentence. In a matter of a split second, Miss Harlow is standing right in front of you, questioning all the commotion you were causing, blaming you three for disrupting nearby classes. As soon as her eyes lie on your phone, she sticks her hand out. Fuck. Sending this text was yet another bad decision. Before that one was not writing the damn essay like Miss Harlow had told you to. Snowball effect, yeah.

“You can pick up your phone after class,” Miss Harlow smiles ironically. “First thing, Monday morning!”

Fuck Riverdale.

— 1 hour earlier —

5 P.M.

If you had your phone now, you would be walking through the hallways as everyone rushed home, Billie Eilish’s Happier Than Ever playing on your earphones. But instead, you were bothered by the noise everyone was making on the hallways, girls laughing, lockers being slammed, the excitement of the weekend being felt high.

Today sucked. And it was hard imagining it getting any worse. Oh, but it was most certainly possible. After the karma you had just been served, you would definitely start your morning emanating good vibes. That attraction law bullshit.

You had your head inside your locker as you grabbed all the books you needed for the weekend. Your stomach felt upset. You pretended to not know why, but not having your phone with you right after what you did… was driving you crazy.

And he’s probably on the way to his date. Yeah.

Not awkward at all! Just ask him why he won’t kiss you and then don’t say a thing for the next 48 hours. Yup. Cool. Cool, cool, cool.

“Penny for your thoughts?” You’re startled by Jimin’s voice.

“Jesus Christ! You scared the living shit of me.” You place your hand on top of your heart as if stopping it from escaping your body. For a moment, you thought it was Taehyung. “Aren’t you supposed to be in practice?”

“There’s no game this weekend, only next. So I was thinking about skipping practice and we could go out.”

You furrow your eyebrows instinctively. Jimin’s caught off guard as he lets out a big laugh, his eyes almost closing. He would do this often when he got nervous.

“I mean, to spy on Tae’s date.”

“Has he left already?” You ask, ignoring his quirky habit.

“He better have.” He laughs. “Didn’t you have class together?”

“Yeah, but we had class outside and got separated.”

“And he didn’t text you?” Jimin tilts his head and intuitively checks his phone.

“Miss Harlow confiscated my phone, actually.” You shrug.

“Ah, that sucks, but do we have a date?” Jimin looks at you expectantly, but you don’t notice nor focus on his words.

“Actually I-” You look over Jimin’s shoulder and can’t finish the sentence. “I have to go. See you Monday!”

You turn on your heels, slamming your locker’s door and leaving an extremely confused Jimin behind.

“Text me,” You hear Jimin’s faint and confused voice over the loud conversations of the people in the hallway but don’t turn around to him. Instead, you fasten your pace.

You weren’t running from anyone. Not at all. It had actually just crossed your mind that you had a thing. Yeah, that thing. And it really couldn’t wait. Imagine making it wait. The thing. You are 5 steps away from the school’s front gate and can almost breathe from relief. Your house is in the exact opposite direction of his.

Why are you running?

“Y/N!” You immediately recognize the voice but your body doesn’t allow you to stop walking.

The voice keeps calling and you keep walking.

“What the hell?” You’re finally facing Taehyung, his hand wrapped around your wrist in an attempt to stop you. “Why didn’t you stop?”

“What?” Bad decision number 5: playing dumb with Taehyung.

“Why weren’t you answering your phone?” His usual cheerful self wasn’t present.

“Miss Harlow took it from me.” You decide to stare at the floor as you fidget with your fingers.

Taehyung doesn’t say anything. His mind is rushing, a million things he wants to say but doesn’t know how to. He sighs, hand massaging his temples as he tries to think. But it’s too busy. You still hadn’t found the courage to look at him.

Fucking Angie and Cami. Of course, it was going to be awkward.

Then say something. Do something. What’s one more bad decision?

But you don’t.

Seeing you not being able to face him, Taehyung grabs your hand as he pulls you in the opposite direction of your home. You don’t stop him and also don’t say anything. You knew from the moment you had pressed send that it was a bad idea. Being friends with boys was different from being friends with girls. You had no problem with being sweet to your guy friends. But you wouldn’t go around hugging them or kissing them. People would say you were dating. That wasn’t normal best friend boy and girl behavior. And even though you didn’t think that way, you knew others did and it bothered you. Because Taehyung never had problems with being sweet to you in public. You, on the other hand, not so much.

“What about your date?” You stop in your tracks. The sudden stop makes his hand fall from yours.

He sighs before answering. “Do you think that matters now?”

“Of cour-”

“Let’s just go.” You frown but have no time to protest as he grabs your hand once again and continues walking.

You walk in silence the rest of the way to Taehyung’s house, hand in hand. As you enter it, you quickly greet his mother, who was sitting in the living room. She tries to make small talk with you, offering you something to eat or drink, but Taehyung is quick to dismiss her.

You go up the stairs to Taehyung’s bedroom. You have been here a million times. He closed the door and dropped his backpack on the floor. You take a seat on his bed but refuse to move more than that.

You and Taehyung only fought once and it was one of the worst days of your life. While you were explosive when arguing, letting all of your feelings out, Taehyung was quiet. He would shut himself out, knowing that if he spoke his mind he would end up saying something he really didn’t mean and hurt your feelings. But you preferred it that way. Not knowing what he was thinking made you feel uneasy. The thought of losing him over a dumb joke made your heart hurt and you were feeling like the room was closing in on you, making it harder and harder to breathe.

“Are you mad?” You force the question out. As soon as your eyes meet, you look back down to the floor. He is standing right in front of you and the only thing you can see are his feet.

“Mad?” He asks, a dry laugh escaping his lips. “I can’t wrap my head around it. Why would you say that?”

It was a joke. That’s what you want to say but don’t.

It’s quiet for a while.

“Were you jealous because of Maddie and just wanted to fuck with me?”

“What? Jealous?” You laugh at his dumb supposition. “Of what? Her?”

“Of me with her.” He says. “Because I don’t see any other reason for you to send me what you sent.”

You scoff. “I couldn’t care less.”

“What the fuck, Y/N.”

“What, Taehyung?” You roll your eyes at him, irony filling your voice tone. “What can I fucking say?”

He doesn’t answer.

“I don’t feel mentally challenged about your new fucking relationship.” You mock.

“Real mature, Y/N. Keep going.”

“I really don’t understand why you didn’t just let me go my way and went on your fucking date.” You say and you notice how his jaw clenches. You know you sound jealous and that was the last thing you wanted, but once you begin, you can’t stop yourself, never giving him the chance to intervene. “Or perhaps you didn’t even need it. You know, after two hours of creative writing together to create a masterpiece about a fucking gym, I would be head over heels too!”

“So Maddie clearly isn’t the problem,” Taehyung says ironically.

“Clearly she is. You were the one asking if I am jealous of her. Do I need to be?” You ask but is rhetorical. “Should I be concerned this random girl just comes out of nowhere and fucking steals my best friend away from me? Is that what’s going to happen?”

“Is that what I am?”

“Stop acting dumb.”

He laughs at your comment. “Why do you need to make this so hard?”

“What do you expect me to do, then?” You spat. “Huh?” You press. You can see his expression change to a desperate one. Taehyung is reaching his limit with this conversation and you can see it from a mile away.

“I don’t expect you to act like this,” He says coldly and you feel the upsetting feeling that has consumed you leave. Taehyung’s facial expressions were killing you.

“I’m sorry. I- I didn’t mean it,” Your eyes fall back to the ground.

For a moment, the only sound you could hear was the cars passing by on the street outside.

“Look at me,” Taehyung asks and you hesitate for a second. Your eyes meet. “Do you want me to kiss you?”

“What?” Your hearing is muffled and you feel like your heart is going to jump from your throat at any second.

“Cause I want to kiss you.”

You don’t really hear that last part, still baffled by his initial question.

Slowly, he leans in, his hand finding your chin and lifting it up. Time begins to move slowly and you can already feel his breath on your skin.

“Can I?” He asks again, your lips almost touching.

You don’t answer. Instead, you’re the one closing the gap between you. The kiss starts off hungry as if both of you wanted to do this for a really long time. Taehyung’s hand falls from your chin all the way down to your waist and he pulls you in closer to him. You quickly find yourself lying in the bed, Taehyung pinning you underneath him, hands playing with the hem of your shirt, your legs parted by his thigh.

“Taehyung,” You coo, parting the kiss. He wanted to kiss again so badly, his eyes focused on your lips rather than your eyes.

“Yeah?”

“This is a good decision,” You say but mean it to sound like a question. Your senses were muffled by his cold fingers that had begun to brush your skin.

“Undoubtedly.” He looks into your eyes as he answers.

Despite the epic state he was in, he would never do anything to make you feel uncomfortable. Seeing no regret or second thoughts on your features, he kisses you again, this time more eagerly. Slowly, he bites your bottom lip as he stops kissing you and moves to your neck, leaving gentle bites and marks. You can’t help the soft whine that escapes your lips. Taehyung chuckles as he keeps on placing kisses on your neck, his hand running through your side.

You push him away from you, standing on the bed as you remove your shirt.

“Oh, fuck.” Taehyung watches in awe at the end of his bed, taking in every single inch of your body that was revealing itself to him.

You crawl to him, hands finding the hem of his shirt and removing it for him, as you sit on top of him. You can feel his cock throb as you rock back and forth as it is now your turn to kiss his neck. Taehyung hisses, thrusting up to meet your touch.

“You are such a tease, Y/N.” His voice is raspy and his breath uneven.

“Should I stop?” You move a little away from him, an innocent look on your face. You even tilt your head a little to the side.

Taehyung licks his lips, hands grabbing your hips. He picks you up and is quick to change your positions, you falling back on the bed.

“Isn’t this better?” He grins.

He doesn’t kiss you, his focus being on removing yet another piece of your clothing. He leaves your panties on, before going back for a kiss. You take advantage of his approach, hands reaching out to the bulk on his pants. You feel him smile into the kiss, obviously pleased.

His hand stops massaging one of your breasts and you feel Taehyung’s long fingers running up and down your clothed slit. Your eyes fluttered shut for a moment, his movements making you moan his name.

You bite your lip, suddenly Taehyung’s mother who is just a floor below you crosses your mind. Your breath is shaky and you can’t hold another moan when you feel his middle finger inside you.

“Oh- fuck, Tae-”

Taehyung was satisfied just listening to you moan his name as his fingers came in and out of you. Parting from your neck, his thumb finds your clit and he watches as you roll your eyes in pleasure.

“F-fuck, you’re beautiful,”

— 1 hour after —

7 P.M.

It takes you double the time it would to reach home. You felt like you were wandering aimlessly, a million thoughts going through your head. You don’t regret what you did with Taehyung, but it kept on lingering on the back of your head, making it impossible for you to relax.

What the hell have I done?

Your head kept on being filled with horrible thoughts. When you moved, Taehyung was the first friend you made. He was kind to you and wasn��t bothered to be friends with the new girl. He was the one that showed you all the cool spots around town. The best liquor shop to buy some booze without having to show your ID. He had been your comfort zone for the past 2 years and a half. Losing him, losing your friendship, would be heartbreaking.

Still, it was inevitable. The numerous bad decisions that you had made throughout this day alone were enough to define your friendship going forward.

You had no clue what was the right move to do here.

You weren’t even certain of his feelings for you.

If only you hadn’t sent that text.

You sigh, restless and defeated.

“Sup’ nerd,” Jungkook calls out. He is playing basketball in your front yard.

Your father had installed the plastic hoop when he was 4 years old right on top of your garage. Throughout the years, you had lost count of how many times Jungkook — and sometimes, you — had missed the hoop and made the ball crash right on top of the hood of your parents' cars.

“Where have you been?” He asks when he gets no snappy comeback from you.

You ponder before replying. Should you lie? “At Tae’s.” You decide against lying.

“Well, you could’ve given me a heads-up. I waited for, like, 30 minutes for you in front of the school.” Jungkook sounds annoyed. You really don’t have the patience for this now.

“I don’t have my phone.” You glare at him. You turn, walking towards the front door. “Actually, can you text Taehyung and tell him I’m home? Thanks.”

“Did you lose your phone?” Jungkook rushes after you. “Y/N.” He calls out. “Mom and dad are going to be pissed if they have to buy you a new phone.” He mocks you.

You can only slam the door on his face as you feel your blood boil. Were all siblings this annoying? Jesus fuck.

That night you don’t have dinner with your family. You don’t even bother sitting at the table with your family. You can barely sleep that night, too afraid of what might be brought up by your subconscious during your dreams. Seeing Taehyung, even if in your dreams, would be too painful now.

Deep down, you feel relieved that Miss Harlow confiscated your phone. Taehyung was a problem you only had to face on Monday. You had 48 hours to figure out this mess.

next chapter.

[headoverheelsforramsey]

The Seal Of Zeal (2/3)

Book : Open Heart (set post book 3)

Pairing : Dr. Ethan Ramsey x F!MC (Dr. Meera Bose)

Series Summary : Ethan Ramsey and Meera Bose do not back down from challenges. But what happens when they challenge each other?

Chapter Summary : Ethan and Meera find it difficult to schedule a date night because of the demands of their new roles, until Meera proposes a plan.

Category : Fluff

Warnings : None

Rating : General

Word Count : 1209

Trope : And they were in the Office...

A/N : Hello and welcome back everybody! I so wanted to post this last week but it got very hectic, so better late than never. This is also my early submission for @choicesmonthlychallengejune2022 day 9 : date. Hope you all enjoy this one as well. Happy Reading! ❤️

Catch up on part 1!

Meera got into the car almost half asleep and let out a long sigh. 

"You look like you had a rough night," Ethan said pulling out of the apartment garage. 

"Says the man who has dark circles deeper than the Grand Canyon." 

"Ouch! That was rude!" Ethan tried feigning offense but ultimately broke into a laugh. Meera joined in a few seconds later.

"I feel like I haven't laughed this much in forever," she said regaining her breath. 

"Yeah tell me about it. Everyday I open my eyes and dread going into work because I'll have to see the fake smiling faces of the board members, and paperwork keeps getting more and more everyday!" 

"Ahh! Paperwork. Is. Literally. The. Worst. I have reached the point where I can't bear the sight of my own signature. Is it possible? Can you be disgusted by your own signature?" 

"Hmm, I think it is," Ethan chuckled. 

"You know, this reminds me we haven't had a date night in ages." 

"Really? Didn't we check out that food carnival like last week?" 

"It's been three weeks to that old man." 

"Wow! Three weeks is a really long time. We should rectify that at the earliest tell me when you are free this week?" Ethan said pulling into the hospital driveway. 

"I am not on call Tuesday and I think I get off early Friday," Meera checked her calendar. 

"No, that doesn't work with me, I can move around somethings and get out on Saturday and maybe Thursday if I am lucky." Ethan checked his. "I'll see if I can reassign some of your cases so that you can get Saturday off." 

"Sorry, won't work, I have a consult at Mass Gen and they have been trying to have me over for weeks. Why don't You make things work for Friday." 

"I would if I could, but the CEO of this med-tech company will be in town only on Friday and the board wants me to have dinner with him." Ethan pinched the bridge of his nose getting out of the car. 

"Great so my boyfriend is now going on dates with some CEO?" Meera chuckled following suit. 

"Come on Meera, meet me halfway here." 

"Halfway? I am dealing with life or death here!" 

The couple walked into the busy hospital atrium. 

"Hey round with interns in five," Jackie shouted walking past Meera. 

"Will be there!" 

"Chief Ramsey someone from HR has been asking for you," Ethan's assistant Margaret walked upto him. 

"I'll see them in my office in ten." 

"Hey I have a new pro-Bono case for the DT I wanted to discuss with you," Harper said crossing the atrium to meet Meera. 

"Let's assemble the team after rounds, will go through it then." 

"Sir Mrs. Wilson's lawsuit has been settled we just need you to sign the paperwork." 

"That's great! Keep it ready for me in my office." 

"Meera I need a consult for a kid up in peds, you can't say no," Sienna said handing both of them coffee and cookies. 

"How can I when your cookie is my breakfast? I'll page you when I'm done with the DT." 

"You are the best," Sienna smiled curtly at them and dissappeared. 

"Medicure pharma wants to let you know that their offer stands if you change your mind." 

"Margaret let them know that Ethan Ramsey doesn't change his mind." 

Margaret nods running up the stairs. 

Ethan and Meera get into the elevator, and let out long sighs. 

"So you ready for your day?" Meera asks. 

"Doesn't leave me with a choice of not being ready," Ethan replies. 

"You know I was thinking why don't we add a little more fun into our day?" 

Ethan looked at his girlfriend puzzled. 

"Whoever finishes with their itenary and clocks out first can decide the day for the date night and the other has to make time for that." 

Ethan's blue eyes sparkled mischievously, "you are a freaking genius." 

"Well I know, thank you very much," Meera gave a little bow as the elevator stopped at her floor with the familiar beep. Ethan cupped her face and pressed his lips to her one last time before parting ways. 

Meera stepped out, "just so you know this genius brain is going to figure out all of her cases in no time and make you change your schedule." 

"We'll see about that," Ethan said just as the elevator doors closed. 

Meera walked toward her office with newfound motivation and joy. 

The day zoomed by. Meera's brain was working at its fullest. She went through rounds, met with the DT and completed Sienna' s consult in no time. She returned to her office and started with paperwork without stopping for coffee. She didn't need coffee when the adrenaline from her impending win was pulsating through her nerves. 

Soon the sun had set over the Boston horizon and Meera put her signature on the very last paper. She threw her hands in joy and looked at the time, it was half past eight and there was no way Ethan was done before her.

Without wasting a single minute Meera packed up her belongings and made her way to the elevator, doing a little happy dance to the elevator's music. Only to come up to an empty Chief's office. Ethan's assistant had informed her that he was almost done with the day's work when he got called into an emergency board meeting thirty minutes ago. This was maybe the first time Meera felt grateful for Bloom. He had ensured her win, but she missed being able to rub it in Ethan's face. 

She walked over to Ethan's empty desk, overflowing with paperwork. She looked at the framed picture of her in the dog park that was kept on one side of the table. This man was whipped, she thought. 

On the other side she noticed a huge white box with a leading pharmaceutical company's name on it. Filled with curiosity she opened it to reveal a huge spread of donuts. Being chief came with its perks, she chuckled. 

Her stomach growled, reminding that the adrenaline of the day made her forget to take a break for lunch. She picked up the box of donuts and walked over to the couch, making herself comfortable. 

A couple of hours later Ethan walked out of the conference room, head throbbing with pain. He looked down at his wrist watch taking quick steps towards the elevator. There was no way he was beating Meera now. 

Ethan walked into his office and was welcomed by a soft musical snoring. His eyes made a quick scan before finding the source, his girlfriend, asleep on the couch with an almost finished box of donuts laying on the ground. 

He smiled, she looked so peaceful and cute, but he couldn't help but click a few quick pictures which he knew Varma and Lahela would definitely appreciate. He nudged Meera awake. It took her a few seconds to break the trance before groggily saying, "I won, you lost." 

"I know," he replied, "but let's get you home first," he put down an endearing kiss on her forehead, already cooking up an excuse for the board on missing the dinner with the CEO.

Thank you so much if you have read till here, it means the world to me. Hope to see you go on other different adventures with me, Ethan and Meera, till then sending love and hugs your way! ❤️

Taglist : @starrystarrytrouble @mm2305 @charisworld @choicesfanaf @potionsprefect @genevievemd  @shanzay44 @little-flowers-on-heaven @schnitzelbutterfingers  @coffeeheartaddict  @gryffindordaughterofathena @chemist-ana @adiehardfan-deactivated20211021 @custaroonie @ireneadlerisseggsy @takemyopenheart @natureblooms24 @mainstreetreader @lawyerlies @a-crepusculo @quixoticdreamer16 @starryeyedrookie @sincerelyscarring @thebluestonedpendant @kit-rookie-princess @wanderingamongthewildflowers @peonierose

+ @openheartfanfics, @choicesficwriterscreations, @choicesmonthlychallengejune2022

Please let me know if you want to be added or removed. 💜

[writersrealmbts]

Clearwater Springs: Part 9

SDescription: ot7 x reader, reader’s choice, fairy/supernatural/soulmate au. The choices you make influence the story! In this world, war-torn and ragged, you’ve been offered a home and a job working as a librarian. Will you meet your soulmates? Will you ever find the shelves behind the piles of books? Who knows.

Warnings: idk

Posted: 08/18/2021

Tags: ot7 x reader, supernatural bts, soulmate au

3,463 words

A/N: Okay! Remember, two free-write and one survey chapter, which means the next survey chapter will be chapter 11 (technically they all are at this point), which means that the survey at the bottom of this post will be on part 10 as well. Sorry for the wait.

Previous ~ Next

You were in a warm cocoon, and you weren’t about to disturb it.

Yoongi was in cat form again, stretched out against your back, purring now and then in his sleep.

Namjoon was snoring, but you didn’t care because he was warm and his heartbeat was strong, and he was well-built. Strong enough to make you feel safe, soft enough to keep you comfortable. He was your haltija.

You lay in a comfortable doze for a while, smiling when Yoongi moved so you could pet him and he fell asleep again.

But then someone was sneaking in and over, fluttering above the ground and peering at you.

You yawned a bit, then turned to reach out both hands to him.

Jimin smiled and took your hands, gently pulling you from between the other two and into the air.

You grinned as he set you down on the floor by the bed, admiring his wings. His feathers looked shinier already, and the colors of his feathers seemed more vibrant. Happiness made such a difference in fairies.

Jimin tugged your hand gently, pulling you out of the room and down to Jin’s room.

The door swung open silently, revealing the most adorable sight of Jin and Jungkook cuddling. Jungkook’s arms wrapped around Jin, and head on Jin’s shoulder but still tucked close to Jin’s neck. Both of them looked so peaceful.

Jimin shared your smile, then tugged your hand again as he carefully closed the door.

Taehyung was being bearhugged from behind by Hoseok, drowsily watching some cartoon show that had the volume down as low as possible without muting it.

Hoseok murmured now and then, and pressed airy little kisses just barely into Taehyung’s hair--probably completely unfelt by the dryad. But he glanced over and smiled contentedly at you before whispering something that got a sleepy smile out of his companion.

You tugged on Jimin’s hand this time, drawing him into the kitchen. “Help me make them breakfast?”

He nodded.

You weren’t an exceptional cook, but you could make basic foods, and the boys didn’t seem to mind basic foods. “Did you sleep well, ma mignonne?”

He nodded emphatically. “Yesterday was tiring.”

Yoongi stalked in, scowling tiredly at you. “You left.”

“Sorry, mon chat minou,” You apologized, leaning over to peck his lips.

His eyes widened.

Jimin huffed, latching onto you again.

You leaned back into his arms and tilted your head back for a kiss.

He hesitated, but did kiss you—softly. As though you were a bubble that would pop at any moment. His lips soft against yours.

You brushed his cheek with your fingertips, keenly away of two more sets of eyes on the three of you.

Hoseok, probably already knowing the outcome, came over and claimed his kiss. “Morning, aluemdaun.”

You hummed happily at his casual compliment, curling your fingers around the neckline of his shirt. “Darling.”

Taehyung’s eyes were wide, and he slowly came forward.

You watched him with a soft smile. “Good morning, Taehyung. Did you sleep well?”

Taehyung nodded slowly.

You kissed his cheek, brushing over the spot where you kissed him with your thumb as you looked over his face. “Good.”

“So...does everyone know...about….” He gestured vaguely to your arm.

You nodded, smiling a little more. “Everyone knows. You can ask them anything about being soulmates that you want. You can touch them, hug them, kiss them, and they’ll have no room to complain because they’re stuck with all of us for the rest of our lives—provided all goes well.”

Taehyung started to get hints of excitement in his eyes. “Hugs?”

“As many as you like. Jimin gives especially good hugs.” You nodded toward the fairy, who was still cooking under your instructions.

Yoongi took Taehyung’s hand. “After we’re out of their way so they can make breakfast.”

Taehyung didn’t seem to accept that, turning and hugging onto Yoongi despite the werecat’s protests—loud as they were.

But Yoongi waddled himself and Taehyung out of the kitchen, and out of your way. And Taehyung forced his hugs on the werecat without avail.

You returned to your fairy, directing his actions with little gestures, happy when the food turned out well—just as Namjoon, Jin, and Jungkook joined everyone downstairs.

Jimin greeted them with a chirpy ‘Good Morning!’ while ushering them to the table. “We just finished making breakfast!”

Jungkook looked like he was still half-asleep, movements languid as Jin helped him to a spot at the table.

Yoongi was still trapped by Taehyung. “Stop it. Stop it. Let’s not do this. Stop it.”

Taehyung ignored him, nuzzling the were-cat’s neck until suddenly the were-cat shifted and escaped. Then he pouted, looking hurt and sullen.

Jin chuckled sleepily. “Come here, Taehyungie, we’ll catch him later for you to cuddle. Sit next to hyungie to eat.”

Hoseok easily claimed the seat on the other side of Taehyung. “Yoongi-hyung was probably just hungry, Taehyung. He’s not very forthright, but—” he dropped his glass, eyes glazed and far away. He frowned, hands hovering shakily over his plate.

You glanced at Jin for a moment.

Jin got up and went around to Hoseok’s side.

Hoseok’s gaze cleared slightly, but he looked shaken. “I need my crystal ball. Need to get upstairs.”

“I’ll help you,” Jin whispered softly, helping him up. “Even breaths, Hoseokie. Keep calm.”

Hoseok nodded, leaning into Jin. “Need to look. Need to see.”

You watched them go with a little worry, but you knew Hoseok would be fine as long as Jin was with him.

Today, you had work to do.

After you had made sure that Taehyung, Jungkook, and Jimin had ingested an adequate amount of food—and helped Yoongi make plates for the two that were absent—you went to your room, silently asking your waters for some good working clothes.

Your waters ignored you and gave you a dress, but at least the dress wouldn’t expose your body every time you moved.

Jimin was waiting with Parsley by the front door. “You’re going to the library, right?”

You smiled and nodded. “I have work to do. Are you coming with me?”

“You can’t go alone,” He said nonchalantly. “Too dangerous. Especially with a dark mage about.”

“True. But I wouldn’t like it if you didn’t want to come with me.”

“I want to,” He answered quickly, looking a little sheepish. “I really like it there. High ceilings. I can fly even though it’s raining.”

You smiled. “Alright, then.”

You peeked into the living room, noticing that Taehyung had ‘captured’ Yoongi again and that both were watching a movie with Jungkook and Namjoon. “I’m off to the library with Jimin. Be back later. Someone check on Jin and Hoseok if they don’t come down in an hour?”

“Mm’kay,” Namjoon answered distractedly, but you saw Yoongi look over at you and nod.

Rain didn’t bother you that much, it was just water after all, but Jimin seemed a little averse to it, so you made sure he had the umbrella. Not that it was much of a rainstorm, the gentle pattering drops far more soothing than harsh. Pleasant and somewhat warm.

There was a truck sitting in front of the library, and Valina was under the overhang of the doors, glaring at another person.

Jimin gently touched your shoulder and took off to watch from a distance, a distance from which he could easily intervene if he needed.

You carried the closed umbrella up to those waiting, wondering what was going on. “Hello Valina, how may I assist you?”

She glanced at you, eyes widening slightly, panicked a little.

“Ah! You must be the librarian, I am Grendel,” The dark mage said, turning toward you and bowing.

You froze, but tried not to display your panic. “A pleasure, I’m sure.”

“Yes, well, you see, as well as conducting my own business, I was asked to convey this load of books to this…charming town’s library.” He eyed you. “I had not realized that this library was run by a xana.”

“I had not realized my species could be of any interest to any being other than my own kind,” You answered evenly. “There is a room around the side of the building for after-hours book deliveries and donations, and the sign is right there, as well. I believe that lettering is large enough for any to read.”

“Ah, but I have…certain donations that need special care, and I wished to convey the instructions in person—as I was telling this…fiery, young woman.”

“That’s witch to you! And I told you I could have given her the instructions.” Valina crossed her arms.

“And I told you, there are certain things that only a librarian can understand. This place has special vaults for…dangerous tomes, does it not?” He turned to you.

“We would have to ask the owner of the library,” You answered vaguely. “I have not been informed of any. If you would be so kind as to deliver the rest to the side room, I will call the owner and have him come and talk with you.”

“I was specifically instructed—”

“I understand,” You cut him off. “However, I have no answers as to security for dangerous tomes, and for that, the owner is required. Once he has answers in regards to the safety of such tomes, then we may further discuss the tomes staying here. Until then, please patiently wait in the delivery room around the side of the building. I shall not ask again.”

“But—”

“You have about five seconds before I start singing: can you bare it, mage?” You asked, eyes narrowing in a challenge.

His mouth clamped shut and he bowed stiffly. “As you have asked, so shall I do.”

You nodded firmly and moved to the front doors, waiting until he was pulling the truck to the side of the building before unlocking the front doors and ushering Valina inside.

“Are you crazy? He’s a dark mage!” She hissed the moment the door closed.

“I am…very…aware…of…that…,” You said in between trying not to hyperventilate in the ensuing panic.

Jimin landed and quickly wrapped his arms and wings around you, forcing Valina to back up. “You’re crazy. You’re absolutely crazy.”

You just hugged him back with all of your might. “Need to call Jin.”

“I’ll do that,” Valina said, regarding you and Jimin and just a tiny bit disconcerted.

“It’s a trick, right? He’s just trying to get to you, right?” Jimin asked, sounding panicked.

Parsley twined around your feet, mewling.

“Where’s his pheonix?” You whispered.

You saw Valina look up sharply.

Jimin let go of you and shrunk, darting off to look.

You went to the desk slowly, sitting down and beginning your work. “He stop at your shop first?”

“Not exactly. Had a feeling.” Valina leaned against the counter, frowning. “A faun pointed him out to me, and my brain worked from there. My coven will ward the town. We’ve already been setting up protection wards on people’s houses, so most people should be safe at night. Except your house. But you have a haltija.”

“And a were-cat, and a djinn, dryad, seer, incubus-fairy mix, and a human that I swear has magic in his blood.”

“Mr. Kim definitely has magic in his blood,” Valina said, eyes flashing pink. “Ancient magic, but it is there. His family tree is made of touched and clearsighted.”

“Touched and clearsighted?” You asked.

“Touched people have a sort of intuition, they get a sense for things quickly—especially in regards to the magical. They tend to become fighters, people who protect others from…less-savory magic. Clearsighted folk can see through all magical protection that would confuse other humans. Why do you think he didn’t become a slobbering fool upon seeing you? Yes, he sees you’re hot as hell, but, because he has clearsight, he is able to resist that pull and instead focus on you as a person. Me? I have special charms to resist folk like yourself and stay a decent witch.” She looked you over and quickly looked away. “Though, I think it’s about time I recharge them.”

“I appreciate the effort,” You murmured, thinking about Jin and grateful for the distraction that she had been trying to give you. “There’s still so much I don’t know about the world and about people. I only knew my people.”

“Might help if you came into town more often.”

You looked at her quietly until she met your gaze with a little regret.

“Nevermind, that would be mass chaos and not pleasant for you. Forget I mentioned town. Let me ward it for your protection first.”

“Don’t go to any extra trouble on my account.”

“I won’t. My coven planned on putting up warding to protect from…unwanted behaviors.”

“You’re the police of the town, aren’t you?”

Valina grinned. “Yup! But don’t worry, we have people we answer to as well. Now, if we could get real town status, then we’d probably elect Mr. Kim as mayor—”

“Never gonna happen,” Jin said firmly, walking quickly over to you. “Are you okay?”

You nodded, standing up. “I sent him around the side to the drop-off area and Jimin is looking for the Pheonix, but he’s been gone since Valina called you.”

Yoongi shifted and ran out to see if he could track down the fairy.

Hoseok was looking a little…out of breath.

Jungkook seemed to be visually assessing you.

Namjoon was talking to the doorway.

Taehyung was looking around, awestruck. “Hyung…this place is so beautiful….”

Jin kissed your forehead and then glanced at Valina. “Got any extra protection charms?”

She patted her pockets demonstratively. “I was in a bit of a rush, toots. Apologies. Take the Djinn with you, he can use magic to protect you and it’s stronger than even a dark mage’s. He can protect you if he wishes.”

Hoseok gripped Jungkook’s arm. “No.”

Jungkook looked both surprised and hurt. “I can do it, hyung.”

“No, it has to be…” Hoseok looked desperately at him, then at you. “It has to be you. I…can’t tell you why…but I know….”

You could tell it was killing him to say it, tearing him up inside. “Okay. If you say it must be so, then it must be. Jungkook could protect us from here, correct?”

Hoseok considered for a moment, then nodded. “Yes.”

“Okay, now please sit down. You look so pale,” You pleaded softly, gently, touching his arm.

He relaxed a bit and pliantly let you guide him to your chair.

“Jungkook, Taehyung, Namjoon; please look out for Hoseok, I have a feeling he’s going to be having a rough day,” You asked, picking up Parsley and setting her in Hoseok’s lap. “Pet the kitty.”

Hoseok let out a small breath of an amused laugh, then did as told.

Then you and Seokjin went outside to meet the dark mage.

Grendel was waiting, looking patient, casually unloading boxes from the truck, but he quickly set aside the box he was carrying as he noticed your approach.

“This is Mr. Kim, the owner of the library. Mr. Grendel had inquiries about secure vaults for…dangerous tomes.”

Jin nodded. “I am only allowed by the government to approve of certain types of tomes. What is the nature of the tomes?” He pulled out some paperwork.

“One is a necromancers guide made with dragon leather,” Grendel said, looking worried.

You couldn’t help the gasp that escaped you.

Grendel nodded. “Dark magic that must be locked away and never let out again. And that one…that one should remain off-record if possible.”

Jin was quiet, partially frozen. “Where is that one?”

“Still on the truck. I didn’t want to unload it if it couldn’t stay here.”

Jin nodded slowly. “I know a place where it can go. I’m assuming you don’t want to know it’s final location either.”

“That would be correct.”

“Okay. And the other tomes?”

“A Demon Book, a Crimson portfolio, and the notebook of…Fausto Vilareyo,” Grendel finished, not meeting your gaze.

Your heart seemed to stop.

Jin was looking to you. “Fausto Vilareyo?”

“The first dark mage,” You answered, trembling.

Jin nodded slowly. “All of these fall within what I am able to take in. I will care for the notebook and the necromancer’s guide.”

You nodded. “I….”

“Can you go get me some notecards?” Jin asked, providing you with a brief escape. “And a pen?”

You nodded, turning and fleeing the presence of such an evil book.

The others startled when you hurried in.

“Everything okay?” Yoongi asked, pausing in his task of what appeared to be drying Jimin’s wings.

“Yes. Did you find the pheonix?”

“No,” Jimin said, drooping. “No sign of it.”

“That’s fine,” You said hastily, grabbing some things for yourself.

“Slow down,” Valina advised, “before you drop everything you’re trying to pick up.”

You just nodded and raced out again, pausing before the corner and composing yourself.

Grendel conveyed the instructions for the last two books, then bowed. “I thank you for guarding these relics. It has been a long journey to find a safe resting place for them.”

You dipped your head very slightly. “War makes many things difficult, though they be difficult to begin with.”

“Very true. I must be off. Many more false trails to lay,” Grendel said, bowing once more. He hesitated in leaving, though. “I know it may not mean much, but I apologize for the wrongs that have been committed toward your kind. I had never seen one of your kind in person before now and I regret not knowing. I do what I must, though, and for that I know I would never be able to listen to your songs. Thank you for your benevolence toward me, even knowing I am of the kind that is dangerous toward yourself.”

“If you continue to remove dangerous things from those who would abuse them, then I wish you luck,” You said, meaning it. Not just anyone would turn over what they had found to be locked away. And while his dark magic was fresh and potent, perhaps it was because he needed it to get those items. “May I ask, what were you doing in the forest?”

He blinked in surprise. “The forest? Oh…I…I’d actually heard that the forest was quite nice and I have this stupid pheonix that’s bound to me and he goes and gets into all sorts of trouble if I don’t properly exercise him.” He looked around. “Thinking of…you haven’t happened to see a pheonix?”

You shook your head rapidly.

Jin shook his head as well.

He sighed. “He probably went after the dragon magic, the stupid fledgling. Well. Either he gets eaten or he learns a lesson. Thank you for your time.” He bowed again and hopped into the truck.

“Dragon?” Jin asked, eyes wide.

“The river dragon, probably,” You offered.

Jin looked at you like you’d grown a second hand.

“Jungkook and I ran across him when we were passing the time before going to look for you. He’s my river-kin, apparently.”

Jin shook his head, showing you the vaults for the books you would care for, how to access them and such. “Of course he is.”

“Hoseok looked pale.”

“Yeah. He’s not as strong as he likes to convey.”

“Are any of us?”

Jin kissed your cheek. “Probably not.”

You ran your fingers along the mortar between the bricks. “Do you think he had an ulterior motive?”

“I don’t know. I guess we’ll find out. You want to stay at the library?”

You nodded. “I have work to do. Jimin will probably stay with me.”

He nodded. “I don’t think Taehyung will leave now, either. Is that okay?”

“He’s cute. Jimin and I can keep an eye on him.”

“Okay. I’m going to take the others home, then. Make sure Hoseok gets some water, food, and rest.” Jin kissed your cheek. “Don’t speak a word to the others about what books are hidden in the vaults. Or about the books I will be hiding. It’ll be safer.”

You nodded firmly. “Agreed. It’s for their own well-being. Hoseok knows.”

He nodded. “Probably.”

Yoongi stalked up in his black and grey form—his largest form—and then paused, getting ready to leap into Jin’s arms.

Jin stroked Yoongi’s head. “Hey. We’re okay. Thanks for worrying.”

Yoongi just snorted and rested, acting like he’d intended to fall asleep in Jin’s arms.

You reached over and scratched his head, then went into the library to finally do the work that you hadn’t been able to get done in the past three days.

–

Post-Chapter 9 Survey

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Masterlist.  Clearwater Springs Masterpost.

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[onigiri-dorkk]

One of the things I feel most proud of and had the most fun writing out in Microcosmos was Levi and Mikasa's romantic journey (because duh, this story is a Romance before it is Adventure, etc). As I read back at beginning chapters and onwards (I'm trying SO hard to read it through without a critical eye, and without editing), it's actually really fun and sweet to see their progression. I hope that it felt realistic to you all! Here is a fun breakdown:

(Spoilers, obviously if you haven't read my story yet!)

Chapter 1: Levi places his jacket on Mikasa when she's cold. Mikasa feels a flutter in her heart with Levi/realizes it is beginning to fight with her feelings for Eren. Levi realizes he's loved her. Mikasa contemplates on Levi's promise to her that he'll stay with her.

Chapter 2: Levi makes tea for Mikasa that night. Mikasa makes a silent promise to make tea for Levi every night on the ship. They like each other's company.

Chapter 3: Ackerhug! First actual physical embrace. Mikasa realizes Levi is really, really important to her -- like Armin and Eren level. First ~sexual tensions~ experienced that night. But Mikasa pushes off her feelings by trying to hurt Levi and running away from him.

Chapter 4: They don't see each other in this chapter, but they both have contemplations about how much they miss each other. Levi chooses to keep following her.

Chapter 5: The reunion! Levi kisses her forehead. <3

Chapter 6: Mikasa begins to feel jealous around Levi/Carmen. More sexual tension!!! They got STEAMY by the fireplace hooooo but they only got as far as him kissin' a lil bit of her body, about to undress her before he runs away from her.

Chapter 7: Levi falls asleep sitting on chair/leaning on Mikasa's bed. Peak Mikasa jealousy about Carmen misunderstandings. Levi finally admits a hint of his fears of getting too close to Mikasa; she starts to understand.

Chapter 8: Levi and Mikasa finally open up to each other about their inner-demons. Levi tells Mikasa she deserves better than Eren. Mikasa asks Levi about his past loves. Mikasa begins to wonder if learning to love again is possible for them, individually. She realizes that's what she wants for Levi, and for herself. The first "What am I to you?" / she begins to really wonder and notice how he feels. Levi pushes her away to keep her safe from danger and from himself.

Chapter 9: Mikasa goes to help/save Levi from danger. More sexual tension in the closet!! Mikasa kisses Levi/first kiss!!! He saves her from bullet. She saves him by safely leave the palace.

Chapter 10: Levi and Mikasa begin to hope for a future together. He kinda-sorta implies asking Mikasa on a future date. Mikasa gives up a safe exit from Marley to save Levi's life. They are taking turns saving each other.

Chapter 11: Another Ackerhug. <3 More sexy tension; Mikasa helps him bathe hehe. Ackertalk -- deep, deep talks. Levi kisses Mikasa; it's become harder for him to hold back his feelings. Mikasa realizes she might not be in love w Eren anymore. She asks "What am I to you" once more; Levi says she needs clarity on her feelings for Eren before he can answer her.

Chapter 12: In the face of Eren, Mikasa realizes she's in love with Levi!!! Realizes she can grow away from Eren. Levi still loves her enough to know that whatever happens between Eren and Mikasa, he'd still love her.

Chapter 13: Mikasa realizes Levi is in danger because she's bait -- she would rather take on the death than Levi saving her and coming into danger.

Chapter 14: Levi confesses he loves Mikasa :') He says the healing words "you don't have to fight anymore" to Mikasa and saves her mentally from a dark place (she has always been driven by Eren telling her to fight; opposite words). He carries an exhausted/sickly Mikasa to safety.

Chapter 15: Mikasa confesses her first attraction/fascination of Levi since the beginning. He sings her to sleep. They finally technically sleep together innocently. Then peak sexual tension looool half-naked Mikasa tried to initiate, but Levi still pulled away. She confronts him and tells him to stop being afraid, she begs him to love her and to be honest about what he wants. THEY DO THE LOVE MAKIN' and it's symbolic of both of them getting over their fears of loving each other. Mikasa confesses that she loves him, too. FINALLY

Chapter 16: They've become comfortable with expressing their love to each other. Mikasa is way more bold hehe. The begin to desire a safe life together. Levi receives a ring for the future; he reluctantly begins to hold onto hope for a long future w Mikasa. Mikasa and Levi establish that they love each other even in the messy parts; they are totally transparent w each other. They share sweet moments together in Marley before they safely escape.

Chapter 17: They love each other, and their love is fully secure. They hide their relationship from everyone because they want to preserve getting to be with each other in secret. Levi continues to contemplate if marriage is even possible. He finally decides to ask. Mikasa finds the ring and decides upon herself that her answer is already yes. Levi's original promise to stay with her becomes permanent jsdkljaksldjlasdkjsa

Man. I just love them. I LOVE THEMMMMM. I'm so happy I completed this! I wish this type of development was canon. *sigh*