#bet you thought you were gonna get fish eye wes

[micromime]

doom

wes feet

[slu7formen]

luke castellan x fem!reader

Luke has been making fun of your ‘unnecessarily absurd beauty routine’ —as he liked to call it— for the past week, so, you decide to drown him in it, just to see how much he can handle.

warnings: just a single use of the word b1tch, fluff at the end <3, little use of yn

reminder: english’s not my first language so I apologize for any spelling mistakes

₊˚⊹♡

i. the eyebrows

“Ow, ow, ow! That hurt!”

“No it didn´t!”

“Yes, it did!”

“Shut up and hold still”

“Ow! You´re pinching my skin, you bitch!”

“That was fully on porpuse”

A chorus of laughter erupted from the nearby bunk beds. Most of the boys, Luke´s half-siblings, gathered around you both, enjoying the show, eyes gleaming with mischief as they witnessed their usually stoic and confident counselor reduced to a whiny mess. Luke´s head was leaning on your thighs as you plugged his eyebrows with some dangerously sharp tweezers.

“See, that´s what you get for making fun of a girl” Travis Stoll, the elder of the Stoll brothers, joined in, a smirk on his lips. "We all warned you about messing with her” he pointed towards you.

“Shut up, Travis!” Luke spat.

You enjoyed the way his face was turning red, from embarrasment and because he was trying so hard to hold back his tears.

“You know, Luke” you started, plugging on another thin hair which earned you a little curse whispered from his lips. “You can always just, give up on the bet”

You found yourself enjoying the sight immensely. The perfect Hermes´ cabin counselor who'd spent the past week mocking your beauty routine,– here he was, sprawled across your lap, a prisoner of your tweezers.

“There´s no way in hell I´m letting you beat me that easily" he declared, though his voice lacked its usual conviction.

You couldn't help but smirk. The bet had been born out of sheer frustration. For the past week, Luke had been relentless in his teasing about your beauty regimen. He'd mocked the meticulous way you cared for your eyebrows, the endless battle against unwanted body hair, the whining about the occasional pimples even when you spent a good twenty minutes locked in the bathroom cleaning your skin. He'd called you high-maintenance, a slave to societal expectations, and everything in between.

Finally, you'd snapped. "Alright, Castellan" you'd declared, eyes blazing. "How about a little bet? If you can handle a full day of 'girl stuff,' I'll clean your cabin for a week"

The look of surprise on Luke's face had been priceless. He'd scoffed, of course, overconfident and utterly clueless about the sheer torture involved in waxing, tweezing, and mud masks. But fueled by his arrogance, he'd readily agreed.

Now, here you were, watching him squirm on your lap like a fish, a testament to his underestimation of the situation. A wave of satisfaction washed over you. It wasn't just about winning the bet, though that was certainly a perk. It was about showing him, in a slightly sadistic way, that there was more to "girl stuff" than he thought. It was about proving that self-care wasn't about vanity, but about feeling confident and comfortable in your own skin.

“As you wish, little baby”

Chris suddenly appeard in your vision, the satisfaction on his face plagged as if he was enjoying this more than you did. “You know, yn” he called out, you momentarily stopped, accidentally giving Luke a break. “Luke has a little hair situation going on under his arms”

“What!?” Luke blurted out. His siblings laughed again.

“He does?” you asked Chris, looking down at Luke and patting his head like a little kid.

“Oh, yeah” Chris smirked. “Maybe that could be the next step, don´t you think?”

“I´m gonna-” Luke tried to get up from his bed, hands reaching out towards Chris. He took a step back just as you grabbed Luke by his shoulders and pushed him down again towards your lap.

“I´m not done with you yet, tough guy. But Chris´ right. Get your hairy armpits ready”

ii. the waxing

You pulled out a box of waxing stripes. Luke, oblivious to the impending torture, was too engrossed in examining his newly sculpted eyebrows in the hand mirror you'd provided. A satisfied smirk played on your lips. The eyebrows looked fantastic – perfectly groomed without being overly feminine. Because yes, he asked you to keep them as close to their natural shape as possible.

“Shirt off” you declared.

His head whipped towards you, eyes wide with horror and disbelief. His half-brothers, mirrored his action, erupting in a chorus of whistles and catcalls.

"Excuse you?" he sputtered, h is voice a touch higher than usual.

"Damn," Connor drawled to you. "at least ask the guy out first"

You rolled your eyes. Luke shot him a withering glare, but beneath the bluster, you could see a flicker of nervousness.

You held up the waxing strips. “It´s time for your armpits, champion” you announced with a playful lilt in your voice. You began rubbing the strips together to warm the wax.

He whined, pulling his camp t-shirt over his head, revealing his well-toned torso, and throwing it over a nearby bunk. You stole a glance at his body for a microsecond, a slight red blush coloring your cheeks. His brothers were quick to start a echo of whistles.

He flopped down heavily on the bed, one arm raised awkwardly above his head. To your surprise, there wasn't as much hair as you'd anticipated. But that didn't diminish the sheer terror radiating from him. You stifled a laugh. "Relax, Luke" you said, your voice gentler now. "The tenser you are, the worse it'll be."

His brothers leaned in closer, their eyes glued to the scene unfolding before them. You carefully pressed the strip against his skin, smoothing it down with the practiced ease. He held his breath, his entire body tensing in anticipation.

You inhaled sharply yourself, then you ripped the strip off in one swift motion. Luke let out a yelp that would have made a banshee proud. His face contorted in pain, and his free hand clenched into a fist. His brothers erupted in laughter, their amusement fueled by his pain.

"Alright, alright" you said, trying to sound sympathetic despite the laughter bubbling in your throat. "Deep breaths, Luke. If you don´t relax, it´s gonna hurt more"

He glared at you, his voice laced with a hint of betrayal. "Easy for you to say."

Ignoring his grumbling, you ripped off another strip. A chorus of gasps filled the room, and Luke let out another yelp, his face turning an even deeper shade of red.

"See?" you said, holding up the strip adorned with a few stray hairs. "Not so bad, right?"

He wanted to murder you.

"Don't you use anesthesia for this?" he wheezed after a particularly harsh pull on his other armpit, his eyes watering slightly.

“We´re not babies, Luke” you replied, shaking your head. "Just good old-fashioned grit and determination. Besides, you wouldn't want to miss out on the full 'girl stuff' experience, would you?"

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity —at least for Luke—, you finished. His armpits were as smooth as a baby´s butt. His brothers, unable to resist themselves, reached out and slapped the freshly waxed skin, earning them a swift kick each from a now-furious Luke.

iii. the skincare

"Skincare? Seriously?" Luke asked, sitting down on your bed, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

You all went to your cabin to continue his so claimed ‘girl´s day´. You would´ve paid to take a picture of your sisters´ faces when they saw you walk in with a bunch of boys following you behind.

“Just lay down, princess” you declared “I´ll bring my stuff”

He leaned back against the your pushy pillows, getting comfortable.

“First time on a girl´s bed?” Chris asked, earning a few laughs from his siblings.

“Shut up” Luke spat.

You came back with your washbag, full of different products that nearly gave Luke a heart attack. You had to assure him that this time, this wasn´t gonna hurt. At least not the first part, but you kept it a secret.

"Alright, beautiful” you teased. “Let’s get started. First thing’s first. “Cleansing”

You dipped a soft washcloth in warm water and began gently wiping away the dirt and sweat from his face. Luke closed his eyes, a look of unexpected serenity washing over his features. You noticed him get loose under your touch, a slight smile playing on his lips, and crossed his arms over his chest in a gesture of surprising compliance.

“Wow” he said. “This is actually quite nice”

"See?" you said softly. "This isn't so bad"

He opened one eye, a playful glint mirroring your own. "Not bad at all" he admitted, a hint of amusement in his voice “Guys, you should try this."

The Hermes´ cabin boys leaned in closer, their usual boisterousness replaced by a quiet attentiveness. They watched as your fingers moved with a practiced ease, cleansing Luke's skin with a tenderness they hadn't seen before. They saw you take some cleanser, and rub it softly against Luke´s skin.

They all exchanged glances, a new kind of curiosity flickering in their eyes. Usually, the sight of anyone touching Luke, let alone his face, would have elicited a barrage of teasing. But seeing you, your movements gentle and practiced as you gathered a gentle cleanser, they found themselves strangely mesmerized.

"Well, he looks chill" Connor added. "Could you clean my face sometime, yn?"

You chuckled, throwing a playful glance thorwn at him. "Maybe later, Connor. Right now, it's all about Luke's glow-up."

Next came the toner, followed by a light moisturizer. Luke remained surprisingly still, his eyes closed, a contented sigh escaping his lips from time to time. His brothers, bored by the lack of drama, started to get bored.

Just as you were about to get some eye patchs, your eyes drifted on a little tool inside your washbag; your blackhead remover. An idea came up to you.

"Alright, Luke" you announced, a hint of warning in your voice. "Time for the fun part."

You reached for a steaming hot towel and pressed it gently against his nose and forehead. He inhaled deeply, the steam opening up his pores.

"This feels so nice" he mumbled, his voice muffled by the towel.

A slow grin spread across your face. "Oh, it gets better" you said, an evil spark in your eyes.

You grabbed the blackhead extractor and, with practiced ease, began gently removing the unwanted blemishes.

Suddenly, Luke's eyes flew open, a look of pure horror replacing his previous serenity. "Wait! What are you doing?" he shrieked.

"Shh" you hushed him playfully. "Relax. These little guys gotta go. Trust me, it'll be better for your skin in the long run."

"But it hurts!" he whined, swatting your hand away with a surprisingly weak attempt.

"Just a little pinch" you reassured him, your voice a mockery he hated. "Besides, if you don't remove them now, they'll grow bigger and poppier, and that will hurt even more."

Luke opened his mouth to protest, but the words died on his lips as you expertly extracted another blackhead. This bet was getting a little harder to beat than expected. He winced slightly, then a defeated sigh escaped his lips.

“So, Connor” you called. “You wanted to be next, right?”

iv. make up

"So," you began, a sly smile playing on your lips as you settled into the chair across from Luke, "you think makeup is easy, right?"

"Shouldn't be that hard, I guess" he mumbled, trying to sound confident. Inside, however, his stomach churned with fear and worry.

You gestured towards your desk, which was now overflowing with an array of colorful tubes, palettes, and brushes – an arsenal of beauty products foreign to the boys' eyes. "Alright then," you declared, a playful lilt in your voice. "Here's a little game. I'll show you each product and you have to guess what it's for. Every one you get wrong? Goes on your face."

Luke's eyes widened in horror.

"Wait, what?" he sputtered, a nervous tremor in his voice. "You can't be serious!"

You raised an eyebrow, feigning innocence. "But Luke, you just said makeup was easy. This is your chance to prove it!"

"This is cheating" he mumbled, looking betrayed. "You never mentioned makeup in the bet!"

"Technically," you countered, holding up a finger, "it's still 'girl stuff’, as you call it”

A groan escaped Luke's lips. He shot a desperate glance towards his brothers, hoping for some kind of intervention. Charles Beckendorf, who allegedly decided to join the fun, just grinned towards him.

"Don't chicken out now, Luke" he said, arms crossed over his chest. "You can always give up on the bet and let her win”

Luke glared at his friend, silently cursing the day he ever agreed to this ridiculous wager. He sighed dramatically, slumping back on the bed. "Fine" he mumbled, defeated. "At least try your best to make me look decent."

“That´s not gonna be on me, dear”

You couldn't help but laugh at his misery. You reached across the desk, picking up a sleek black tube with a silver cap. It felt cool and smooth in your hand.

"What do you think this is?" you asked, holding it up for him to see.

Luke squinted at the tube, his brow furrowed in concentration. He recalled seeing something similar in movies, actresses applying it with a flick of their wrist. An idea flickered in his mind.

"Eyeliner?" he ventured, his voice laced with a hint of uncertainty.

You arched an eyebrow, feigning surprise. "Huh, correct”

You set the eyeliner aside, a mischievous glint returning to your eyes. Next up, you picked up a thin, wooden-looking tool with a pointed tip. There was a small, round piece of what looked like colored chalk attached to the end.

"Alright," you announced, "round two. What is this?"

Luke studied the object carefully. It did resemble a pencil, but the colored tip threw him off. He wracked his brain, trying to recall anything similar he'd seen in the vast array of makeup products on your desk.

"Uh… a pencil?" he finally ventured, his voice lacking conviction.

You burst into laughter, the sound echoing through the cabin. Tears welled up in your eyes quickly, blurring your vision slightly.

"A pencil, Luke?" you wheezed, wiping a tear from your cheek. "It’s a lip liner"

Luke's cheeks flushed crimson.

"Lip liner?" he echoed, his voice barely a whisper. "For what? Do I need to draw on a bigger mouth?" He gestured to his own lips, a hint of self-consciousness creeping into his voice.

You shook your head, stifling another giggle. "No, no need for a bigger mouth. Lip liner helps define the shape of your lips."

With a shake of your head, you said, "Now the fun part begins. Bring those lips here, handsome."

Luke leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, his face hovering a few inches from yours. The air got filled with a strange tension, probably because his brothers walked closer so they could get a better look. His breath hitched slightly as your fingers brushed against his skin, sending a shiver down his spine.

“You´re lucky this is the same shade as your natural lip color” you whisper.

“Yeah” Chris adds. “Maybe you should wear it more often, handsome” he reaches out his hand to squeeze Luke´s cheeks, but he´s quick enough to slap his hand away.

“Shut up”

The minutes that followed were filled with a more lighthearted energy. You continued the game, Luke surprisingly getting a few things right – foundation, and even a surprisingly good guess on a shimmery eyeshadow palette.

But he wasn't without his misses. The concealer, a light, creamy formula designed to camouflage blemishes, ended up being applied liberally under his eyes, leaving him with a ghostly pallor that had his brothers doubled over in laughter. Then came the blush. A delicate peach shade, turned his cheeks a comical shade of fuchsia thanks to your deliberately exaggerated application with a fluffy brush.

His brothers, fueled by this new display of comedic gold, howled with laughter. Charles, wiping tears from his eyes, wheezed, “He-, he looks like a baboon in heat”

"Oh man" Travis howled, clutching his stomach. "This is even better than the armpit wax"

Next came the eyelash curler, that strange-looking contraption that promised to create dramatic, fluttery lashes. The moment you held it up, Luke's eyes widened in suspicion. He snatched it from your hand before you could ask him what he though it was.

"What the hell is this!?" he exclaimed, his voice laced with a mixture of disgust and fear. "You girls like torturing yourselves with these things?"

You reached out and gently took the curler back. "No torture involved" you replied. “And since you know absolutely nothing about it…"

He tried to look defiant, but a flicker of uncertainty betrayed him. "I know what it is" he mumbled, avoiding your gaze.

"Oh really?" you challenged, raising an eyebrow. "Then what is it?"

You handed him the curler and watched as he fumbled with it, his big hands clearly not designed for such delicate work. He eventually gave up with a defeated sigh.

"Okay" he grumbled, handing the curler back to you. "Do your worst."

The final touches were a disaster, a glorious, hilarious disaster. Every fiber of Luke's being screamed in protest as you handed the brushes over to his merciless brothers.

“Come here, Lookie-Pookie” Travis cooed, his voice dripping with mock sweetness as he leaned in with a thick brush loaded with sparkly eyeshadow. Luke recoiled, swatting his hand away with a glare.

"Don't touch me!”

“Come on Luke, give us those pretty little lips. We need to make sure they're nice and kissable” Beckendorf joined, opening a little lip product tube he wasn´t sure what it really was.

Luke wanted to melt into the floor, his face burning hotter than the volcanic eyeshadow now smudged across his eyelids. The audacity, the betrayal! His own brothers, the supposed bastions of masculinity, were gleefully participating in this humiliation.

“Maybe some of this highlighter will make him look prettier”

He couldn´t believe his own brothers knew what highlighter was except for him.

As he looked at his reflection in the mirror, a mix of horror and amusement washed over him. He never thought he'd feel so violated by makeup. But somewhere amidst the frustration and embarrassment, a strange sense of camaraderie bubbled up. His brothers, usually his biggest tormentors, were doubled over with laughter, tears streaming down their faces. And you, the leader of this whole mess, were practically glowing with barely suppressed mirth.

Despite himself, a smile tugged at the corner of Luke's lips. Maybe this wasn't so bad after all. Sure, he looked like a technicolor disaster, but the shared laughter, the fun, it felt strangely… good. He glanced at you, your eyes sparkling with amusement.

"Gods” he breathed, shaking his head in mock disbelief. "This is the best day of your life, isn't it?"

You couldn't help but laugh, a genuine, unrestrained laugh that filled the cabin. "Hell yeah it is" you replied as you offer him make up wipes.

v. the reconcile

Night had fallen, painting the sky with shimmering stars. The campfire illuminated the campers´ face, its flames dancing higher as the Apollo cabin filled the air with joyful camp songs. Laughter mingled with the strumming of guitars and lyres, creating a symphony of pure summer camp bliss.

The fire itself danced in response to the campers' emotions. It roared a little higher with every burst of laughter, dimmed momentarily during a quiet story, and flickered with a playful intensity as the Hermes boys, fueled by their mischievous exploits, recounted their version of the day's events.

You sat by the fire, poking a marshmallow with a stick, watching the scene unfold. Their narrative, of course, focused heavily on your supposed "torture" of Luke. Specially the Stoll brothers; they painted a picture of you as a ruthless makeup artist, a waxer who pealed Luke´s skin off and left his face shining like marble. Meanwhile, Luke simply sat there, a faint smile playing on his lips.

You noticed the Hermes boys regaling other campers with their story, punctuated by bursts of laughter. And yes, you didn´t like to admit it but, you'd lost the bet. Technically. But watching Luke handle their teasing with surprising grace, a hint of amusement in his eyes, filled you with a strange satisfaction.

You were there by yourself for a few more minutes. The camp sounds filling your ears as you tried your best not to stuff your face in all the toasted marshmallows your sisters offered you. Your hands felt tired, because yes, even though what you did was not too much for you to handle, Luke squirmed and behaved like a worm covered in salt, which only made your work harder.

Just then, a figure settled in front of you. Luke. He held two sticks, each crowned with a perfectly toasted marshmallow. He offered one to you, his usual smirk replaced by a genuine smile.

"Truce?" he asked, his voice laced with a playful challenge.

You couldn't help but grin, accepting the marshmallow with a playful jab. "Truce"

He sat beside you, the marshmallow on his stick disappearing in one swift, hungry bite. Suddenly, you leaned in closer, feigning seriousness. "Oh dear" you said, your voice laced with mock concern.

Luke raised an eyebrow, a playful smile tugging at the corner of his lips. "What is it now?"

"You've got a blackhead. Right, there" you declared, pointing to a non-existent imperfection on his nose.

His eyes widened in mock horror. "No way! I´m not letting you touch my face again" He swatted at your hand playfully, but you were quicker.

"Hold still, you wriggly worm" you teased, pretending to grab his nose. A playful fight ensued, a flurry of limbs and laughter. You managed to land a swipe at his cheek with a gooey bit of marshmallow.

Finally, breathless with laughter, you both settled back down, enjoying the warmth of the fire and the quiet camaraderie. As you bit into your marshmallow, a comfortable silence settled between you.

"So, about that bet" he began, wiping his marshmallow-streaked hands on his cargo pants.

You turned to look at him, still chewing on another marshmallow and a piece of melted chocolate. "Yeah?"

"I don't want you to clean my cabin" he explained.

"Why not? I lost the bet" you replied, surprised by his sudden declaration.

He looked at the sky, a hint of pink dusting his cheeks. "Yeah, but… We're kind of a mess, actually. I would feel bad if you did it alone."

"Aww, Castellan, are you worried about little ol' me?" you teased him, squeezing his cheek playfully. He blushed a deeper shade of red, looking positively flustered.

"Maybe" he mumbled, avoiding your gaze.

"Okay, here's a deal" you continued, trying to cover your own blush. "I'll clean your cabin, but you have to help me. I really don't wanna get into dirty-underwear-business."

Luke considered this for a moment, then a grin spread across his face. "Deal. But I'm warning you, there might be some things you shouldn´t even try to touch with bare hands. And I mean Travis´ and Connor´s bunks”

From a distance, a group of campers — a mix of Hermes, Apollo, and Hephaestus cabins —watched your exchange with keen interest. The playful teasing, the way your hands brushed as you made your deal — it was all too much for their already overactive imaginations.

"I bet you fifteen bucks he's gonna ask her out by the end of the week" an Apollo camper, Lee, declared.

Chris snorted. "That's weak. Twenty bucks says he does it tonight."

hiiya, just thought I could write something different to what I usually do. hope you enjoyed <3 🩷

[josiesullysblog]

Not so Small Now?

~AGED UP Neteyam x Na’vi reader

~Fluff, breast play?, touching

~Proofread?-yes

~Summary-You are older then Neteyam by a year, Neteyam is a love sick fool and you tell him the only way you mate is if he grows taller then you.

You were 365 and one whole days older than Neteyam. So, your whole life you felt like you had an advantage. In your tiny four-year-old mind you could tell him what to do because you are the oldest. And he blindly listened, “Neteyam go fetch me some beads for my hair!” He’d send you a toothy smile, “okay!” “Neteyam can you find me the biggest fish, please!” “okay, Nova!”

Now, Neteyam was in love with you the minute he met you. Always followed behind you, you were the only person he let walk all over him. You found it fun having the boy wrapped around your fingers, but you never asked too much of the boy.

When you were nine and he was eight, he brought you a handful of flowers, “my Nova!” You had been playing with some older kids when he came running. The older kids started snickering as they noticed his eyes were glued on you, “are these flowers for me?” You smiled and took them in your hand, “can you be my mate?”

Hope was laced in his eyes as the kids behind laughed harder, “she can't mate with you!” You shot them a glare, “I can do whatever I want,” you walked off with the flowers in hand and Neteyam on your trail. “So, does this mean we can mate?” you shook your head, “thanks for the flowers, but we can't mate! We are far too young!” Neteyam frowned, “when we get older will you mate with me?”

You pretended to think a bit, “I’ll mate with you when you become taller than me!” He smiled big, “I've found a mate! I’m going to tell Lo’ak!” he ran off quickly while you sighed, in your little mind he was never gonna become taller than you because you were older.

Neteyam ran all the way home with the biggest smile, “I’ve found a mate!” Neytiri turned quickly looking at the boy crazy, “son, you are far too young to think of such things,” Neteyam shook his head, “I and Nova are promised in the stars! I just have to become taller than her!” Neytiri snickered a bit laughing at the boy. “Well, I can't wait for that day,” Neteyam nodded before finding Lo’ak and telling him the same thing.

Long story short, you were wrong. Very wrong. You had completely forgotten about the bet. You had picked up many new hobbies, one being drawing, so your mind was moving too quickly to even stop and look at the boy. To notice the now twenty-year-old is no longer a child, but a man. Neteyam didn’t forget, he was waiting till after his ceremony to trap you. Not in a weird way, just when you two can be alone. So he can finally confess how he truly feels. How for the last year, since your ceremony, that no man attempt to court you. Your beauty to him was something he only should cherish.

As the months came by quickly, Neteyam’s ceremony was coming quickly. You didn't think much of it, but for some reason, a pain hit your heart when you thought of Neteyam with another. But that's crazy because he was just the boy who followed you around. Right?

You sat in complete silence as you drew the scenery around you. Besides the movement of the wind and the slight rustle of the trees, you were in such a peaceful state you didn't notice Neteyam lurking. You got up leaving your work on the floor to go get some water by the river. You hummed a song as the boy matched your pace, unbeknownst to you.

You bent down carefully feeling the water, you sighed with contentment, “feels good?” Neteyam said coming out from the bushes. You quickly turned as you heard the familiar voice, “teyem I told you to stop scaring me!” the boy simply smirked as he joined you, “well, that wouldn't be much fun.”

Your eyes stuck on the boy as he took his place next to you. Was this the same boy you grew up with? Because the boy in front of you made a slight blush cover your face, and your heartbeat go up a little. “What are you doing this deep in the forest anyway? Don’t you need to be preparing for your ceremony?” you gave the boy a playful smile. “I wanted to see you,” you stood up causing the boy to. He gently grabbed your arm pushing you onto a tree. It was then that you noticed how much the boy had grown. How he was much stronger than you, how held be able to do anything to you.

He chuckled as a noticeable blush covered your face, “not so small now, huh?” you looked away from the boy who was quick to grab your chin. “Aw, the baby can’t keep eye contact?” you crumbled under his gaze, “shut up, Neteyam,” his gaze only intensified, “I've been quiet about how I've felt for the last year, baby.” his hands trailed down your body as he spoke, causing small gasps to fall out. “For the last year, ever since your ceremony, I’ve prayed to Ewya that you may never find another. Or I don’t know what I'd do,” his words caused a feeling in between your legs. His hands stopped on top of your breast, softly touching the nipples, he squeezed the nipple hard, a loud moan coming out as a result. “Dear Ewya, even now I'm so tempted to bend you over and fuck you.”

He dragged your hand over his hard cock, “feel this? This is what you do to me, pretty girl,” your eyes were locked with the boy’s as he continued his assault on your breasts, you gently placed a hand on his face bringing it closer to you. “If you don’t stop now, we’ll get in trouble,” your words of reason were true, but you wanted him to continue going.

“Listen to me, the minute we are finished with that ceremony, I'm going to fuck you.” he let go of you, helping you off the tree. The whole walk home, your mind was going crazy. You could not wait till after that ceremony.

***

Lazy ending ik:( I’ll definitely try and update this, but thankfully I was able to write! I have an important test coming up so I won't be able to write till this weekend but hope you enjoy it!!

[starlightandfairies]

Hiiii I hope you don’t mind me requesting again! I love the one you did for me! It made me incredibly happy.

May I request a Lorenzo St. John x female reader? This time I was thinking of a lot of fluff and hurt/comfort? If that’s okay of course. Again, human reader please. This time reader is very stubborn and always acts tough. She dislikes supernaturals a lot. She’s friends with Elena and her group.

One day reader gets kidnapped and threatened by an enemy vampire if the Salvatore’s. The brothers save her, but once she gets home she starts to panic and cry because she’s had enough and doesn’t know if she can take anymore of the supernatural drama. But Enzo stops by her house to ask for a favor and the reader acts like she’s fine but it’s obvious she’s been crying and he tries to comfort her, despite her not liking him much.

Ahhh sorry this is long again! I just have so many ideas….um ignore this if it’s too much. I hope you have a wonderful full day and night!!

Description: The reader is kidnapped by an old enemy of the Salvatores and as tries to pretend that everything is okay but fails at doing so.

Warnings: she/her pronouns, fluff, swearing

*Requests are open, please send through as many requests as you want, check my character list and requesting rules.*

I honestly got so excited when you requested Enzo! Thank you for requesting again and yay! I'm so happy the other one made you happy. I'm glad! I'm honestly not happy about how this one turned out but I hope you still enjoy it regardless.

Key: Y/N = Your Name, L/N = Last name, POV = Point of view

Word Count: 1,358

First Person's POV

Once I turned 18 I promised I would leave Mystic Falls for good. This town is a goddamn beacon for chaos and danger. I wouldn't even be surprised if a hole to the end of the world opened right in the centre of town. One thing I hated more than maths was the supernatural beings that thought the world revolved around them. Of course, I loved Caroline, Bonnie and Elena. I tolerated Stefan and Damon but the others... the others it depended on who they were and what they've done. I tried my best to stay away from the chaos that the group got themselves into, sometimes it was relatively easy and other times it was damn hard. 

Every day I make a bet with myself about if it's gonna be an easy day or a damn hard day. I made a bet that it'll be a damn hard day. I don't know what gave me that feeling, it was just that uneasy feeling when I woke up this morning and considering that the Salvatores had been kidnapped and beaten the last few days, I just assumed that the streak of unpleasantness would continue. 

Heading towards the town square, I stood, waiting for the girls to show up, putting myself on edge due to the sudden paranoia that someone would be out to get me. 

I don't know how it happened, or when it happened but I woke up, tied up and sitting on a mattress laid across the ground. I refused to cry, I would not let myself be seen as weak and give whatever asshole decided to use me as fish bait. 

"Y/n... Y/n... Y/n..." I stared angrily at the figure, recognising the person as a Traveller, I rolled my eyes and stared at the figure flabbergasted as he slapped me. 

"I need the Salvatores to come here, I see them with you, so here we are," I grunted through the rag, groaning as he pulled it from my mouth and went to speak but was literally hushed by the twit. He put his damn finger on my lips with a tut to silence me. 

"Listen here... I don't care about how you want to run your damn mouth, I don't have the time, all I care about is bringing the Salvatores here and following the plan." 

"And that would be?" 

"Noneya." 

"Oh, how mature," I muttered, hissing in pain as his fist collided with my face, I took another breath and smiled at the man showing that I didn't care and that it didn't faze me at all. I grunted as he shoved the rag back in and proceeded to pace the room. I couldn't help but flinch as the door slammed open and within the blink of an eye the Salvatores easily dealt with the guy and the adrenaline seemed to take away my thought processing and I ended up back home without really realising it. 

I took a shower, got into my pyjamas, plopped down on the couch and that's when it all came out. I could feel my hands begin to shake, a tightness in my chest formed that made it hard to breathe. The tears came cascading down, the whole room seemed to spin and I couldn't stop my sobs from escaping. I do not want to go through that again, I do not want to be kidnapped and hurt. I can't go through that, this is all too much, maybe I should just move away? Get away from the town of death and suffering. 

I couldn't tell you how long I had been crying for, I couldn't even tell you how the panic attack stopped or if it even stopped. I was sitting in a pool of tissues, I had already nearly gone through an entire box, I don't think I've cried this much before, I can't think of a time when the pain has been this bad. 

I jumped hearing a knock on my door, I quickly and roughly rubbed my eyes doing my best to make the tears go away and hope that whoever it was wouldn't need anything from me. I forced a smile to my lips as I opened the door, surprised to see the lovely Enzo there, he was a vampire I liked and I will admit there are times when I prefer him over the Salvatores but also just like most of the supernatural my tolerance normally ran low. 

"Enzo- hi."

"Hello, gorgeous... listen I need a favour-" The vampire cut himself off, he glanced around to the living area and then back at me. I did my best to keep smiling, not wanting to let my guard down. 

"Gorgeous, what's going on?" 

"I'm fine Enzo, listen I've got a busy day tomorrow and as much as I'm sure the favour cannot wait I cannot help you today." I tried closing the door on him, groaning as he easily stopped it and slipped into my home. I bit the inside of my cheek, finding it harder and harder to continue pretending that I was okay. 

"You've been crying..." 

"N-no I haven't. I said I am fine." I tried to make my words more pointed, hoping he'll truly believe that I was 'fine' but Enzo is smart and it was clear that my bullshit lies weren't enough to convince him. 

"Talk to me, please." I wrapped my arms around myself, shaking my head, the tears inevitably coming, I could feel my lips quivering and my body shake as the sobs escaped my lips. I could feel Enzo leading me to the couch, he brushed away the tissues and sat beside me. 

"Y/n... what's going on? What happened." 

"I- one of the travellers took me and used me as bait to draw in the Salvatores... I can't deal with the supernatural any longer... I don't want to go through that again. This- this anxiety, I can't... I won't go through that again. I'm so scared Enzo, I can't keep pretending that I'm fine because everyone looks to me because they think I'm tough but the truth is-" I let out a sob that would prevent me from going on any further without struggling to voice my concerns. I shook my head, angry with myself for blubbering in front of Enzo. 

I felt him wrap an arm around me, he lightly rubbed my shoulder, against all my wishes, I let myself curl against him. At that moment I didn't care about who was comforting me, all I cared about was seeking someone who would offer me the comfort I clearly needed. 

"I can make it easier for you- I can... if you're comfortable, I can compel you... I can make it go away." I considered, that maybe it would make it easier to just disappear... make it easier to get away from all of this. I was about to allow him to do that but then I thought of Bonnie and Caroline and Elena... I couldn't do that to them. 

"N-no, no. Thank you." 

"If you ever change your mind... I know we aren't close, I think you don't like me at all but I'll make it go away. If you ever want." I took a few deep breaths, nodding and appreciating that Enzo would do this for me even after knowing that I wasn't his biggest fan. 

"I don't not not like you but- it's not important right now." 

"You know, you know gorgeous... I still think you are pretty tough, you know it's okay to cry and it's okay be worired." It felt reassuring to know that, I never wanted to let anyone down and I wanted them to know that I am strong and I am tough. That these things won't bother me or effect me.

"Means a lot to me."

[malestransforming]

Chronivac Twins

The moment I saw this AI image, I knew I had to write something. Probably one of the hottest things I have ever seen.

Special thanks to @octuscle for the image inspiration. Here is a link to their original story.

- - - - - - - -

Empty beer cans filled the table in front of the two men. The room was silent, the TV showing the console home screen, and darkness was creeping in from the night. The night was winding down, and the two friends were enjoying peaceful moment before the night truly wrapped up.

Mason breathed a heavy sigh, comfortable in his current state. He was clearly drunk, but happily drunk. He fished around in his pockets, feeling for the recent purchase he had received that day: a brand new Chronivac tablet. He pulled it out of his pocket, powering it on for the first time, watching the screen suddenly brighten, flashing the Chronivac logo. 

“Check it out!” Mason suddenly exclaimed, surprising even himself with his boldness. “I got this new Chronivac in the mail.”

Beside him sat Chris, Mason’s best friend since grade school. Chris was drunker than Mason was, with his eyes closed and his body still, but he too was in happy state of intoxication. 

“Oh yeah? What is that?” Chris slurred from the other end of the coach. The back of Mason’s head was resting on the top of the sofa, leaned back in an almost unnatural position. A massive drunken grin was plastered on his face, highlighting the comfortable state he was currently in.

Mason held up the sleek tablet to an oblivious Chris. A loading screen flashed again as the system booted up. 

“Yeah, it’s a tool that lets me change a part of my body. Actually it will change a part of both of us. They had a deal on the twins package.”

“Cool…” Chris breathed.

“Yeah. I know you have been feeling down lately, so I thought it would be nice to spice things up for you. Plus, you know you’re my bro. We’ve been buds since we were five years old. I figured it was time we made it official.”

Mason began tapping at the screen, swiping at different sliders and dials. There were dozens of different settings with labels like “Hair”, “Muscle Levels”, “Race/Nationality”… Mason balked at the overwhelming choices and options, but forced himself to stay focussed; this was a change he had wanted for a while.

“So I was thinking of doing some kind of mixed race. Hmm. Japanese and Mexican? I don’t think I’ve ever seen that before. I bet that would look hot. With jacked muscles, like body builders. And since we’re gonna be twins, you’ll get it too. Sound good to you Chris?”

Chris only smiled and laughed to himself, the way drunk people often do. It was clear he was not fully present in the moment. Mason took Chris’ drunken laughter as a sign of agreement and continued with the settings page. He slid up the muscle slider to the max, added jock personalities and details such as personal trainer and fitness influencer. He double checked the ‘Race’ tab, making sure that Japanese and Mexican were both checked off. Pleased with his work, he continued on to the last section, “Target Selection” and “Transform”. He allowed the device a few moments to calibrate before confirming the two bodies in the room. He double checked that the “Twins” button was selected and hovered over the Transform button.

“All right bro. This is it. See you on the other side!”

And with that he tapped the button. The screen went blank for a moment, creating a quick sense of panic in Mason’s heart, but reappeared with a white, animated progress bar.

Mason looked down at his hands and arms. “I don’t feel any different,” he said. 

He checked the screen again. The progress bar had moved up by one pixel and showed a time remaining of 1440 minutes. 

“Oh shoot! I set the transformation duration to be 24 hours. Well that’s okay. When we wake up tomorrow, we’ll definitely see some changes! Next time you see me Chris I’ll be be a huge muscled-out bro. And a completely different race. And so will you! We’ll be twins. Pedro and Miguel. We’re gonna be so fucking hot.”

A gentle and rhythmic breathing came from the other end of the couch. Mason turned his head and grinned at Chris who had passed out on the couch. 

“See you in the morning, Miguel,” he whispered. 

-

Bright sunlight was pouring into the apartment. The morning was late, but the day was still young. Chris stirred on the sofa; he was now lying horizontally on the couch, shirtless and in his underwear. He blinked his eyes in the sunlight, rubbing his eyelids with a balled up fist, and stretching against the soft cushions of the sofa. His broad feet pushed against the far armrest, and his arms stretched off behind him. He sat up, and noticed his first change.

Looking down at his chest, Chris saw his pectoral muscles had ballooned out in front of him to a God-like proportion. He cupped his chest, making note of how his nipple had slipped down below his eye line, and squeezed the new muscle. 

“What the fuck?” He exclaimed. “Why do I have tits?” 

Mason launched himself off the sofa and dove into the bathroom. The flickering fluorescent light clicked on, revealing the extent of Mason’s initial changes. Below his chest were the unmistakeable beginnings of 6-pack abs. Mason ran his fingers over top of his stomach, remembering the slight beer gut that had been there the night before. 

He leaned in closer to the mirror and begin poking and prodding his face. His nose seemed wider and his eyes were narrower. His lips were plumping as well, into two thick pillows. He ran his meatier fingers through his darkening hair; it seemed thicker, curlier and shorter than it had before. He pulled a strand and watched it bounce back into place on his scalp. 

The sound of a door slamming brought Chris out of his trance. He stepped out of the bathroom and back into the main room.

“Bro!” Mason called from the entry-way. “Are you up?”

“Yeah! What the fuck is happening to me?” Chris replied in anguish.

Mason came around the corner and Chris immediately became aware that the changes he was going through were also happening to Mason. Mason appeared to be several inches shorter, and Chris noticed that he was roughly eye-level to himself now. His chest and abs were similarly large and muscled as Chris’ were, except Mason’s shoulders and arms were much wider. Veins pulsed across Mason’ skin and over his bulging biceps. His nose and eye shape seemed strangely familiar, as did the plumpness of his lips. Mason noticed that Chris’ hair was shorter on top with a shaved, faded appearance on the side.

“Mason, what the fuck is happening? I pass out drunk and wake up all top heavy like this! And then you waltz in looking like that! What the fuck?”

“Chill out bro,” Pedro said. “And my name isn’t Mason anymore. It��s Pedro. And your name isn’t Chris, it’s Miguel. You’re turning out to be such a hot twin.”

Chris/Miguel was unable to get anymore words out as sharp pains coursed through his arms and legs. He hunched over, wrapping his growing limbs around his torso. In front of his eyes he saw the muscles in his arms and legs double, triple and quadruple in size, into massive slabs of muscle. His trap muscles ached and burned as the fibres inside re-stitched themselves, growing to match the mass of his arms and chest. Across the room Pedro grinned in anticipation, as his adonis belt thinned out, becoming lean and chiselled, into his tight pelvis and butt. 

“Miguel, we’re going to be so hot!” Pedro’s voice was deeper and more coastal sounding. His jock-instincts were bubbling in his brain, overwriting whatever personality he had before.

“Don’t call me that. My name is Miguel. I mean Chris.” Chris stammered. “How did you even do this?”

“Bro, it was the Chronivac. I told you last night. Just embrace it. I paid good money for this twins package.”

“I need to call them. There has to be a way to reverse this.” 

With a wide stride, Chris/Miguel walked over to where his phone was, but doubled over as a burning pain seared through his stomach. He squeezed with his hands, feeling the muscles underneath swell and grow under his touch. Before his eyes his abs went from flat and empty to being completely ripped. His waist got tighter as his adonis belt and hip muscles also tensed and flexed, just like Pedro’s had.

“Bro, I have a six pack!” Chris exclaimed, his voice cracking as it matched the timbre of Pedro’s.  

“They match mine, bro!” Pedro said.

Chris shook his head. If he could just call the company and explain what the problem was, then he figured he could stop the changes. He found his phone and brought it to his face, waiting for Face ID to unlock. The phone vibrated in his dark and meaty hand, refusing to unlock. In the black mirror of his phone, he saw a completely different face than the one he was used to. His nose was wider, and his jaw was leaner. His eyes had narrowed into Asian-like features and his hair was shorter and darker than before. His face was looking identical to Pedro’s, right down to the plump lips.

In a panic, Chris typed in his passcode and Googled the number for Chronivac. The phone began ringing.

“Hello?” said a voice on the other end.

“Hello, is this support? My name is Miguel, I mean Chris. My name is Chris. I don’t own your product, but my brother Pedro — I mean my best friend Mason does. He used the Chronivac on me last night and I woke up with big muscles and my face is looking Japanese and Mexican? And the same thing is happening to him! He says we’re becoming twins. This has to be against your Terms of Service! I didn’t agree to this.”

A dark skin spot formed on the back of Chris’ hand, spreading across his skin and up his bulging arms. His skin was darkening, to match his new ethnicity. 

“It sounds to me like it might be too late to intervene. Our records show Pedro and Miguel Watanabe.”

“That’s right,” Miguel interjected. He was Miguel, not Chris.

“Yeah,” the agent continued. “So your brother got the Twins Package, and since you are legally twins now, there’s nothing that can be done to change back the transformation. But it’s going to be great being a pair of super hot Latino-Asian influencers, right?”

“Yeah,” Miguel replied absent-mindedly, and in a voice that was deepening. “Thanks anyway. Peace.” 

He hung up and tossed the phone aside. Pedro wandered over and wrapped his hand around his twin brother’s shoulder. 

“It’s at ninety-nine percent,” Pedro said, indicating the transformation process on the Chronivac. 

Miguel felt another spasm in his thighs and legs and saw his skin was now completely browned and tanned now. His legs were thick and bulging, and so was the rest of his body. A wave of emotions came feelings rolled over his brain, and Miguel stood silently in place as his brain and personality adjusted to match his new physique. Pedro stood still for a moment too, as the twenty-two year old twins realized they could speak English, apanese and Spanish and had a long history of lifting weights and posting work-out videos on TikTok. The transformation progress bar clicked up one last pixel to one-hundred percent, snapping the twins out of their daze. 

“Bro,” Pedro said. “You wanna get a workout in?”

“You know it!” Miguel said, high-fiving his twin brother with a grin. 

[fanofstuff01]

HERE I AM! Here I am with a little writing of mine!

Before we get started, this AU belongs to @woah-why-i-am-here and they have pretty cool drawings about it. GO CHECK IT OUT!

Considering the show itself is 16+, this is aswell, know it then read this, also it has Valentino.

DEAR TUMBLR! PLEASE DONT TAKE THIS DOWN!

A little summary: Adam fell to hell, needed money, and Valentino was the only one hired him. He owned his soul, and it was too late when Adam realized what he agreed to work on. He is one of Valentino’s top whores now. And of course, Adam and Angel met, in fact, more than ‘met’. Their films sure sell a lot. They slowly become friends and Angel convinces Adam to come to the hotel. This is after these happened. Also not shipping Angel x Adam.

ENJOY! (Also since you love holydust @rius-cave , tagging you!)

“And cut!” Valentino said proudly, ending the scene. “One hour break and we’re here till 8!”

Adam panted as he tried to collect his mind. He slowly backed away from the fish demon gal, wore his robes back and got up to go to his dressing room. This was the third demon he was on top of that day, and sure enough she was not gonna be the last. Today was gonna suck. Val was planning to work on eight fucking movies, not to mention six of them were gay and two of them were with Angel. He was glad the one-hour break came.

“Addie~” He heard someone behind him and felt that certain ‘someone’ gripping his shoulders.

Valentino. Awesome. Just who he needed.

He attempted to not show the fear and hatred he felt to his face and mask. Too bad the fucking thing was programmed to show every emotion on his face, and sometimes they didn’t even needed to be on his face, him feeling them was enough. Angel had a -probably true- theory about it, he thought that it was ‘connected’ to his brain when he wore it. Adam was already regretting that he put the “I will only work with a mask” in his contract. He didn’t like the idea of showing his face on films, but this was much worse. He couldn’t fucking took it off till his shift ended!

“Yes, Val?” He asked, trying to avoid the movements he was doing to his chest. Yes, prick? he corrected himself in his brain.

“You were so, so good in the last one, babe” he chuckled.

“Thank you, Valentino.”

“Go ahead. Rest, baby.” He thought he was gonna leave him, but instead, he leaned in and kissed his cheek, completely disgusting the sinner. He didn’t flinch or resist though, he knew what’d happen if he did. “Oh, I can’t wait to see you and Angie on stage together.” he let out another one of his creepy chuckles and finally let the first man go. Adam almost runned to his dressing room, closed the door behind him and threw himself on the couch.

“Fuuck.” He groaned and tried to grab his wine bottle without getting up.

“Adam?” A familiar voice came from outside.

“Door isn’t locked!” He yelled.

“Hey, dickmaster.” A pink spider demon came inside and sat down beside him, tilted his head back and watched as the demon managed to grab the bottle and drank it without standing up, like his life depended on it.

“Y’know you can choke yourself doin’ that, right?”

“Meh, who the fuck cares.” He get up dazedly and looked inside the bottle with one of his eyes.

“I don’t recommend dying on work hours, Val punishes the ones who do.”

“Unholy shit, that actually happened?!” Adam asked, his pupil-les eyes went wide.

“I saw three accidents.” Angel shrugged. “Any left for me?”

“Sorry, I guess that bitch camera guy sneaked up here again and stole my stash.”

“It’s fine. Wanna eat your food? We’re gonna need energy.” Angel asked and took out two containers out of his bag. “I made lasagna yesterday.”

“Oh, you bet I do then.” He smirked and took his own. Angel knew the best ways to make it.

They chatted together until their break ended.

“Adam! Get your ass here or there will be consequences!” A little window appeared in Adam’s mask, almost like a pop-up ad. It was their costume designer. “And bring Angel with you!”

“Fine, fine! Ugh.” He groaned, swiped the page to make it dissapear and get up. “Who’s idea was putting this shit on this again?” He mumbled to himself. “Let’s go cocksucker, we have another job to do.”

HOW IS IT!?

By the way, Adam’s mask in this is practically based on his original mask, a Voxtech product just for Adam. Like Vox’s screen, it’s like a screen-face.

I’ll continue this

[yongbokkk]

by the waters, part 1

pairings: lee know x m!reader

genre: fluff, mermaid au

a/n: hi im back i think... my apologies

stray kids had been waiting forever for their vacation, so they decided to spend all their peaceful time on an island. not many people were touring and the water was still fresher than ever. not to mention, the nature here looked amazing.

the eight of them have already gone to their chosen rooms, beginning to unpack. minho went to the balcony to stare at the scenery, the ocean waves crashing into each other as the water sparkled.

jisung came up to him, "yah, i bet you there's a mermaid out there." he leaned on the glass fence, joining minho.

"mermaids? you're crazy." minho shook his head.

"can't be always wrong." the younger one lightly gasped, "how about you drown, and then a mermaid would come and save you!" he teased.

"you want me to die or something? it's so unlikely they exist, it's just a fairy tale." minho kept denying.

"hmm, okay, believe whatever you want ~" jisung waved him goodbye and went back inside the house.

the older sighed, before heading back in since it was getting late.

it was the morning, and minho went out for a long stroll outside on the island. the breeze was cold but very refreshing. this island was such a good pick for them.

the brunette found two stray cats, which was weird for them to be here. nonetheless, he fed and played with them for almost an hour.

it was a struggle for him to not scoop the kittens up and adopt them, he felt bad he had to leave the two cuties. minho eventually got bored and decided to go fishing, not the best, but he liked to try.

minho went by the waters with a fishing rod, he tied the hook on with the fish bait and threw it into the water.

After a few minutes of waiting, there was a huge tug on the string. he must've caught a big one, he'll definitely tell this to the members.

but as he was pulling it up, streams of crimson blood were found at the surface of the water. did the fish bleed that much?

he was wrong, it wasn't a fish he had caught.

minho's eyes widened as he pulled up a bleeding man, with fishtails for legs.

jisung was right, mermen and mermaids were real.

minho panicked, watching the person hiss at the hook painfully attached to his skin. he couldn't just sit there in shock, he needed to do something.

he quickly unwrapped the scarf that was on his neck, rushing to the merman. minho carefully took the hook out and wrapped the scarf around the boy's bleeding arm.

"i'm sorry, i'm sorry, i'm sorry..." minho kept apologizing for hurting the person, but all the merman did was stare at the human.

finally, he took the time to look at the merman, and boy, he was the most beautiful thing minho's eyes ever laid down on.

"it's okay, you didn't mean it. right?" the merman was unsure whether to trust the human or not.

"never in my life will i hurt anyone intentionally." he finished tying the scarf around the arm securely, "..are you fine with getting medical help?" he looked around, trying to see if he could find anyone.

"no! don't let them discover me!" the merman sounded scared and nervous. minho understood and dropped calling for help.

"how are we gonna patch that up, then?" he questioned, pointing at the deep wound underneath the cloth.

"the water helps me heal, it'll take a while but you don't have to worry." the h/c put a reassuring smile, which the dancer found ethereal.

"ah, alright." minho was still shocked that he had witnessed a real-life merman, he thought it was all a fairy tale. "do you have a name?"

"y/n, what about yours?" y/n's mesmerizing eyes sparkled in minho's view.

"minho." he smiled, wanting this moment to last forever.

"...promise you won't tell anyone about me?" y/n practically begged, making a stern and serious face.

"of course, i wouldn't tell the world."

minho kept his word and never told anyone about the encounter. when they asked about the missing scarf, he made the excuse of accidentally leaving it somewhere.

jisung wasn't that convinced, he couldn't have just left the scarf somewhere.

"i don't believe you, bet you left it in someone's bedroom." jisung smirked suggestively, making minho scrunch in disgust.

"no, i'm telling the truth." he rolled his eyes, returning back to cooking for the members.

"have you seen a mermaid yet?" jisung asked, catching minho off guard as he made a cut in his fingers with the knife.

"ow!" minho hissed. "l-like i said, mermaids don't exist." he said, causing jisung to sigh loudly.

after eating a delicious meal, all eight of them went to their bedrooms for slumber, except for minho.

his mind was stuck on a certain merman from earlier, he still couldn't believe there were actually living mer-creatures, and that he was lucky enough to meet one.

that next day, minho told the members that he'd be going for another walk again. they didn't care much but to wish him safe.

well, his heart had other intentions. he found himself sitting on the tough but comfortable rock, staring off at the far sea, waiting for y/n's arrival.

since it was unplanned, it was very unlikely for him to show up. so why did minho feel the need to come by?

he waited, and waited, to the point where the said 'walk' he told the other members was now considered a lie. minho slightly had his hopes up for the beautiful creature to pop up.

seeing as it has been almost an hour, he was bound to give up. minho stood up from his seat on the rock, but before he could turn away, the water sparkled.

he was there.

[wabatle]

𓆩⚝𓆪 — Happy Birthday Reo!

𓆩⚝𓆪 — Synopsis: spending Reo's birthday with him!

𓆩⚝𓆪 — Warnings: None!

𓆩⚝𓆪 — Contains: Might be implied fem!reader but mostly gn!reader, fluff, some fluff, and more fluff.

𓆩⚝𓆪 — A/N: HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY SCRUNKLY SPLOINKLE BABYGIRL BEAUTIFUL AMAZING REO!!!! I LOVE HIM SO MUCH QOAIRKAIUS

Today is your boyfriend’s birthday.

You've been trying to come up with what to do for weeks now, simply because he's so rich, you couldn't think of what to get him.

Slowly waking up, Reo immediately noticed the lack of your warmth beside him, as you had already gotten up. Sleepily, he got out of bed to find you, just as you were walking back into the bedroom.

“Ah. Good morning, gorgeous.” He wrapped his arms around you.

“Good morning, love.” You replied, hugging him back.

“What's the plan for today?” He asked.

“That's for you to find out,” you smiled, “now go get ready. I have a lot of things I want to do today.”

“‘Kay.” He kissed your cheek, heading to the bathroom.

A few minutes later, he finished quickly.

“You ready?” You asked, walking over to him.

“Yeah.” He said, wrapping an arm around your waist.

You took his hand and led him out the door.

“Now will you tell me what the plan is?” He asked.

“Nope! You just have to wait and see.”

He sighed, and then smiled. “Oh, I see how it is.” He smirked.

“Well, here's one of the first places I thought we could go.” You pointed to an amusement park.

“Woah.”

“Come on!” You pulled his hand. “Let's go!”

After a little while of running around, you decided to play some of the games there.

“Hey, you think I can win a fish?” You asked, pointing to a fish bowl toss game.

“I bet you could,” he said, admiration deep in his tone, “my (name) can do anything.”

Your face reddened, but you shrugged it off with a scoff and an eye roll. “You bet I can.”

After multiple tries, you still couldn’t make it. “Ugh…”

Reo laughed. “Let me try.”

His first fucking try, he won a fish.

“Oh my god.”

“Did you want this?” He asked sarcastically, offering you the fish.

“Shut up.” You grumbled.

Somehow, along the way, Reo had lost the fish by giving it away to a kid that was struggling more than you were.

“Why are you so good at everything, Reo?”

He laughed. “I don’t know. Natural talent, I guess.”

You rolled your eyes. “Uh-huh.” “Are you really getting salty over that?”

“Nope. Nuh-uh. Not at all. No way. Couldn’t be me.” You said sarcastically.

“Okay, well, I know how to cheer you up!” He said, grabbing your hand. “Let’s go check out some of the rides!”

You somehow managed to go on every single ride the park had to offer, within four hours. You had to admit, it was mostly the way Reo paid your way to the front of the line, with fast passes and other things. Finally, it was time for the final rollercoaster, the one that was said to be the most extreme.

“Ah…” You looked up at the tracks.

“What, you getting cold feet now? When we're right here?”

“N–no! Okay, yeah. So what?”

Reo laughed. “Okay, come on, let's get in line.”

He took your hand, his grip gentle as he felt your hand shaking. “Are you really that scared?”

“A little.”

“Don't worry, it'll be fine!” He smiled. “Besides, maybe you'll be like those people in the viral videos who faint on rides!” He said, pointing a finger.

“Not helping.”

He laughed again. “Sorry.”

Moments later, you were strapped into your cart.

“I'm so scared!” You finally confessed.

“Want me to hold your hand?” He asked, offering you his hand.

You nodded and put your hand into his.

The coaster slowly started making its incline.

“Oh, come on! Can't we just get this over with so I can stop shaking?!” You cried.

Just as it reached the top, you breathed in, preparing for the fall.

Then, the cart plunged, and all you could hear was the sounds of people screaming and the wind hitting your ears. Quickly, you realized, this wasn't as scary as you thought it was gonna be.

“Reo!” You called over the wind. “This is fun!” You smiled. And god, somehow you were able to look even more gorgeous, even when he could barely see your face through your hair. Reo felt a blush creeping at his cheeks.

“I'm glad!” He called back.

Later, you started making your way towards the exit, the evening air crisp. “Well, we've been here for long enough. Ready to go?” You asked.

“Sure.” Reo replied.

“You can pick where we go for dinner.” You said.

“‘Kay. Thanks.”

Obviously, you ended up going to an expensive restaurant.

“Get whatever you like,” Reo began, “I'm paying, after all.”

“Uh-huh.” You shrugged, checking out the menu. “Let me guess. Steak?”

“You guessed it.” He winked at you. “What're you getting?”

“Uh, I'm thinking either this, this, or this.” You pointed to things on the menu.

“Get that one. That one's really good.” He told you.

“If you say so.”

Once your food arrived, you started eating (obviously).

“Y’know, babe, I love spending time with you like this. We should do it more.” He smiled.

“Yeah. But if you want to, then you have to cut down on the time you spend with Nagi.”

“Ah, fine.” He said, feigning distress.

“Anything for my love.”

You felt your cheeks heat up, so you took another bite. Reo took notice of this, and smiled to himself.

After paying the bill, you walked outside.

“So, anything else you want to do tonight?” Reo asked.

“Yeah, one more thing.” You replied. You removed a small box from your pocket. “Okay, so. I know that you're rich and are fully capable of getting whatever you want for yourself, no matter what it is. So, I figured I would make something for you. Something that you couldn't buy because it's special from me.”

Reo smiled sincerely.

“Uh, here.” You handed him the box, smiling nervously.

He opened it, revealing a handmade, heart shaped pin with your eye color on it.

“I made one for myself, too.” You pulled out your own heart shaped pin, with Reo's purple eye color on it.

“(Name)…” Reo hugged you. “I love it. I love it so much. And I love you.”

“I love you too, Reo. Happy birthday.” You kissed him, but as soon as you stepped back Reo just pulled you back in.

Reo proudly wears his pin on his chest every day.

𓆩⚝𓆪 — thank you for reading!

𓆩⚝𓆪 — Taglist (ask 2 be added): @mariaace

𓆩⚝𓆪 — Blue Lock masterlist || masterlist

[mytheoristavenue]

Day 4 -

SE Soul 'Eater' Evans - Holiday Light Show

Summary: After losing a bet, Soul is 'forced' to take you on a date to a holiday light show.

Warnings: tsundere!soul, no pre-established relationship, angst, reader has a crush on soul, pity date, fluff

"Aren't you ready yet?" Soul scoffed, lounging on your couch.

"Almost!" you called from the bedroom, nervously grooming your hair and smoothing out your outfit. "Just one second!"

The albino rolled his eyes, groaning something about how all women take hours to get ready. "C'mon already! I wanna get this over with."

Not at all disheartened by his complaining, you stepped out into the hall, beaming, waiting for his response. "How do I look?"

Behind the scenes, Soul was taken back. He'd never seen you in much else apart from your daily uniform and athletic clothes. Though he could never admit it to you or anyone else, you cleaned up nicely. "Fine. Now can we please go? I'm hungry."

Of course we can!" you flashed him a sweet smile, grabbing your purse and stepping toward the door, opening it for him. "After you."

Soul ducked out of the doorframe, not bothering to wait for you to do the same before descending the stairs of your building. This would be a very long night.

-----

You could hardly contain your excitement as the two of you neared the Death City Square. Billions of neon lights polluted the evening fog, making the sight visible for miles. Suddenly, you spotted vendors lining the streets near the entrance of the square, prompting you to grab Soul's hand enthusiastically. "Hey, look! Food trucks, you said you were hungry right?"

"Yeah," he responded nonchalantly, silently rigid under your soft touch. "Practically starving."

"C'mon," you chirped pulling him along. "How about you pick!"

"Obviously," he scoffed, cradling his chin in his hand, weighing his options. "If I'm gonna pay, I should pick the place."

"You were gonna pay?" you glanced up at him in awe.

"Well, yeah?" he retorted, deciding on a humble burger stand. "It wouldn't be cool for me to pay for myself and not pay for you too."

"I guess so..." you mused, giggling.

Walking up to the stand, Soul approached the window, giving the attendant his order, prompting you to do the same. "$15.32, please." The attendant said, scribbling down the order before handing off the ticket. Your date fished out a $20 out of his wallet and turned to hand it over, only to find the woman dropping change into your hand.

"What the-?" he asked, confused. "Did you pay?" Grinning, you nodded and dropped the change loosely into your purse.

"It's the least I could do." you answered, reaching up to the window to grab your drinks, before handing him his and stepping out of line.

"But why? I said I'd do it." he protested, taking the bag of food and carrying it to find a place to sit. "You made me look so uncool."

"I'm sorry, Soul." you apologized genuinely. "I only meant to be nice. Like I said, it's the least I could do."

"What do you mean by that?" he asked, taking a bite of his burger, which in turn, caused it to leak mustard on his shirt. "Ah damn..."

You giggled, fishing a napkin out of the bag and leaning forward to wipe it away. "I know you don't want to be here, the least I can do is buy you dinner for your troubles."

His eyes widened as he paused and lowered his food. "You know about the bet?" You nodded, taking a fry into your mouth. "For how long?"

"Since the day after you asked me. Black Star told Kid, and Kid told Liz and she told Patti and Patti told me." You explained nonchalantly.

"Does...it bother you?" he asked, guilt filling his stomach fasted than any street food could.

"A little, but I promised myself I wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth." you confessed. "Just because it's not a real date, doesn't mean I can't enjoy it."

Your words had officially ruined Soul's appetite as he wrapped his burger back up and dropped it in the bag. "Sorry, guess I wasn't as hungry as I thought. I'll have it later." You nodded in acknowledgment. "You should hurry up and eat though, I wanna go see the lights." With that, you scarfed down your remaining food and disregarded of your trash before heading towards the entrance.

The entryway was a beautiful arch, decorated with twinkling lights that tangled every which way. Looking down into the exhibit, you were wonderstuck, until you suddenly felt a hand slip into yours. Glancing down, you found your bare hand enveloped in Soul's gloved one. Without meeting your gaze, he could feel your staring and responded. "Look's pretty big in there. I'm not gonna risk you wandering off and getting lost." Not wanting to ruin the moment, you simply nodded with a smile.

The light show itself was a maze of sorts, a twisting, winding tunnel of lights strung between trees and structures. Some lights blinked, and some softly faded into other colors. Others simply stayed the same. A few topiaries littered the path, each wrapped up with twinkling yellow stars. Needless to say, you were in awe of the sight, giggling and squealing with delight, dragging Soul to each new thing and forcing him to take photos of you.

Despite himself, the sythe was...actually having a nice time. The scenery was pretty, the weather was to his liking, and though he'd dreaded having to spend time with you all week, he found himself smiling, watching you dart around so excitedly. You were like a kid in a candy store. It was almost adorable.

As all good things do, the night eventually began to draw to a close, the chill beginning to bite and most visitors long gone. Soon the lights would be powered off for the night. It was time to go home. "C'mon," he said grumpily. "I'm about to freeze my ass off."

You turned back to him, slumping your shoulders. "Can't we stay a little longer?"

"No," he stayed firm, digging his hands into his pockets. "We got school tomorrow and it's already late. 'Sides, if I'm not home by midnight, Maka'll probably beat me to death." You caved, knowing he was right, and jogged up to his side.

"You're right." you sighed, bundling up into your coat. "Anyways, thanks for taking me out, Soul. Even if you didn't have much of a choice. I had a lot of fun."

The boy went rigid for a moment, before relaxing again with a faint smile.

"No problem. I guess it wasn't as painful as I thought it'd be." His taunts were finally beginning to wear down your chipper mood if only a bit.

"I'm sorry you didn't have much fun." you confessed, breath caught in your throat as the two of you walked. "I didn't think you would, but I was hoping I could find a way to get you to like spending time with me."

Soul paused for a moment, stuck in his tracks. "So, wait..." he began, swallowing a lump of feelings. "You've just been pretending to be all bubbly just to get me in a better mood this whole time?"

"Mostly," you answered bluntly. "I really did like going out with you, but it was kind of exhausting having fun for the both of us. I'm glad it's over." you laughed half heartedly.

Oh man, did he feel guilty. Taking someone who really likes you, only to be a jerk the whole night? So uncool. As you began to walk again, his hand snuck into yours and pulled you back. "Hey, wait," he protested, a slight blush dusting his cheeks. "I uh...I actually had a lot of fun with you, (Y/N)." Worldlessly, you tilted your head, prompting him to continue. "I guess...I just never really saw you that way and knowing you had this huge crush on me kinda put me off, ya know?"

You nodded in acknowledgment. You knew how you could be. "I know I tend to come on a little strong. It's just difficult for me to disguise my emotions. I'm sorry for making you uncomfortable."

"Well, listen," he started again, keeping your fingers in his grasp while itching the back of his neck with his free hand. "I haven't been very cool tonight..." he gulped, glancing away from you, clearly embarrassed. "How about we try again next week? I'll take you on a real date. Just so you know I'm a cool guy. Deal?"

Your eyes glossed over as you tried to hold in your tears. "I-I'd love that." you stammered, sniffling a bit. Swallowed by emotion, you stepped forward and hugged him, burring your face in his coat. To your delight, you could feel his arm wrap around you in return.

"And just for the record, you're little trick worked." he pulled back, flashing his signature sharky grin.

"What do you mean?" you tilted your head in confusion.

"Somehow you got me to like spending time with you."

[darksigns-exe]

and suddenly, i had a valentine - nicholas ruffilo x laurie (ofc)

warnings: none, pure fluff

word count: 2.2k

note: for @deathblacksmoke who wanted to our boy Nicholas Ryan to be taken out on a cute date <3

set immediately before remember where we started out

dividers: @saradika-graphics

masterlist | series masterlist | taglist sign-up

The call of his name makes Noah perk up. Laurie calls for him again, and this time his body actually kicks into action. He closes the lids of his and Laurie’s water bottles before taking hers with him. 

“Where?” He calls through the mostly silent house. 

“Bedroom.” The reply comes seconds later. 

He climbs the stairs two at a time, maybe a little too eager. 

Noah finds her in front of the mirror, bending to try and reach the zip of her dress. 

“Oh.” He can’t stop the sound from leaving his lips. 

“Like it?”

He places her bottle on the little dresser next to the door before he steps up behind her. 

It’s a tight little number, soft fabric that clings to her body perfectly. 

“You’re gorgeous. This is— I like it a lot.” He stumbles around the words, as if he hadn’t buried his face between her thighs just hours earlier. 

“I’m taking Nicky out on a little date. Thought I’d dress up a little.”

There’s a pang of disappointment in his chest. It dissipates before it gets to form fully, though. 

“Oh, he’ll love it.”

“You think? It’s not too much?”

Noah shakes his head, “I bet he’s gonna do that thing where he gets all flustered and looks like a fish out of water for a moment. You know what I mean.” 

He mimics the expression perfectly. Wide eyes and stilted breathing included. 

Noah wraps his arms around her middle, so that he can rest his chin on her shoulder. 

“He’s gonna love it. Where are you going?”

“That new place that does the Neapolitan pizza. We can all go together sometime if you want?” Laurie fixes him in the mirror. 

“I’d love that.” He presses a soft little kiss to the side of her jaw, “But tonight is not about me. So you go and treat our boy right. I think he’s starting to run tracks into the carpet. Jerry’s getting annoyed with him pacing around like that.”

“Gotta zip me up first.” She says then, “Can’t reach it.”

Noah does as she asks, one gentle hand placed on her waist while he drags the zip up the length of her side. 

“Thank you, dear.” Laurie says with the softest little smile.

He stays and watches while she puts on her perfume and what he assumes to be lipstick. It’s not as colourful as her usual one is, but it makes her look so very kissable. He’s almost tempted to steal a kiss from her before she goes down to wrap her arm around Nicks. But Noah knows that she’ll scold him for messing up the colour, and so he settles for a chaste kiss against her cheek. 

He stays up on the landing, quietly watching Laurie descend the stairs and calling for Nick. He does exactly what Noah had prophesied a few minutes earlier. Noah forces the bitter sting of jealousy back down his throat as he watches Nick gaze at her so lovingly. Nick gives him the same attention, looks at him with that same soft look on his face, but at that moment Noah wants to worm his way between them so desperately. They deserve the night out, though. Nick’s been working a lot and hasn’t had nearly as much time with her as Noah had. They deserve this. 

The two are out of the door a moment later. Nick calls a Bye Noah over his shoulder as they leave. He waves when Laurie turns back to blow a little kiss his way. 

It’s not like they never go out. 

Even when it’s already been a few years since they became a couple, Nick had always made sure that they went out regularly. Sure, Laurie had initiated date nights too. But something about her asking him out like this – flowers included – had made his heart leap with that feeling of falling in love with her again. She’d come by the shop while he’d been locking up. That itself hadn’t been unusual. Laurie would usually come around when they were both working late so that they could head home together. Especially after they’d moved out of her little apartment. 

That day she’d come with flowers and a pair of jam filled donuts somewhat reflecting one of their first dates. 

To see her now all dressed up, wrapped into a pretty satin dress, fills his head with even more fuzz. Sometimes, he can’t quite believe that he gets to call his woman his girlfriend. He does feel a little bad for Noah, although the younger has made it very clear that he’ll be fine. Nick, above all else, wants both of his loves to be happy. 

Tonight is all about them, though. 

Laurie has been surprisingly secretive about her plans for the evening. He knows that it’s usually so very hard for her to keep secrets from either of them. She’s a horrible liar, and watching her trying to dodge questions about presents is an absolute delight. 

He feels horribly underdressed next to her. Somehow this woman manages to look incredible in everything she wears, but when she gets all dressed up like this she’s entirely out of his league. 

“Take a left here.” 

She still hasn’t told him where they’re going, which is a little impractical when he’s the one driving. 

“Park where you can, we can walk the rest of the way. It’s not far.”

“You’re really not going to tell me where we’re going?”

“You’ll see when we get there. I can’t drive you there, so I’ll have to be secretive about it.” She says with a little giggle, “Won’t have to wait long.”

Laurie drops her hand to his thigh, giving it a gentle, comforting squeeze. 

She holds his hand while they walk to wherever she is taking him. Laurie was right, it’s only a short walk until the red and white striped canopy comes into view. They’d talked about this place before, made plans to go some time, but never really got around to it. 

“You got a table?” he asks, trying to hide the excited edge in his voice. 

Laurie squeezes his hand, “Of course. Thought I’d give some of what you do for me – us – back. Treat you as nice as you always treat me.” 

And she does. Nick feels flustered and on edge with nerves from the moment she holds the door open for him. He’s done it for her so very often, and to suddenly be at the centre of her attention is very new. Laurie’s always been so very sweet and caring with him, but this is new. Her hand presses against the small of his back, mirroring the way he would guide her when they enter a location. And it makes him feel so fuzzy and warm inside. 

They’re seated in a comfy little corner, shielded from most of the commotion. The waiter lights the candles set between them on the table, casting Laurie in gorgeous, warm light. It reflects of her hair, the soft skin of her cheeks. 

Miles out of my league, he thinks. 

Sometimes, he can hardly believe that he gets to call Laurie his – let alone her and Noah. 

Her hand curls around his, manicured nails tracing across his skin just barely. 

“Nicky?” she asks softly, squeezing his hand just so gently.

Nick shakes himself back into focus. 

“What’s on your mind, dear? You look lost in thought.” 

He turns their joined hands over, allowing him to see the little sweetheart tattoo with his initials in the centre of it. They’d been together for a little over a year when it had come up as a joke. A week later, when Laurie had come to pick him up from the studio, he’d shown her sketches he’d made. 

“I think I could fit a second one next to it.” he says idly, not quite looking at her, “There’s space for him there.” 

What he really wants to say is that there’s space for Noah between them, that he fits between them so perfectly. 

“Would be nice. I’d have both of you with me, even when you’re off doing your thing.”

She’s smiling at him when he looks up at her, that gentle little smile that makes his heart race a little. 

Nick feels a little like he did when they had just started going out. He’d taken her out on a date to a little pizza shop. The place had been so small that they’d been seated so close that their knees kept knocking into each other. It feels nice to know that they could afford a little more than that now. That place hadn’t been bad – they still stop by sometimes – but he likes knowing that all of their hard work has paid off. And it’s not as if they’re swimming in it now, but things are going well and this is a well deserved treat. 

Laurie had been adamant that he should let her pay tonight. They’re not very strict about this normally, but he can’t argue with her when she looks at him with that little stern edge. Laurie always says that he takes care of them, but deep down they all know that she is the one who keeps them in order. Laurie’s the one who reminds Nick to drink water, who tells Noah to be a little easier on himself. She’s the one who kisses him so sweetly when she tells him how proud she is of him. 

He tries to give as much of it back as he can, but somehow it always feels more profound when she says it. 

Her attention is entirely on him throughout the evening, and for a brief moment he forgets that Noah is waiting for them at home. 

“Didn’t you say that the other one looked good when we looked at the menu online?” Laurie asks when they discuss what they want to get. 

“Didn’t see how expensive it was.” Nick replies meekly. 

Just because she’s paying doesn’t mean that he wants to empty her pockets entirely. 

“Nicky.”

“This is just as fine. I’m —”

“Do you want the other one?” She reaches out for him again, places her hand atop his so carefully. 

“It does look good.”

“Get it. We got a little bump in our wages and there’s no one I’d rather spend it on.” 

Nick can’t shake this feeling. There’s no denying that Laurie is his person, but so is the boy waiting for them back home. Perhaps they were always meant to be a trio. He can’t imagine himself without either of them, and he hopes that he’ll never have to think about that. 

He stares a little love struck when the waiter wants to hand the check to him, and Laurie tells him very sternly that she asked for the check and that she intends to pay. The wink and smile she shoots his way afterwards sends a shock of warmth through Nick’s body. 

She holds his hand when they walk back to the car, and Nick still has that first date buzz in his belly, even though it’s been years already. 

“They were awfully stuck up.” Laurie comments as they walk, “It’s not that unheard of that the woman pays, right? I mean, come on. I should be able to treat my boyfriend to a good dinner without having to justify it. I don’t know if we should take Noah to that place. If they can’t take me paying for one of you, what’s that waiter going to do if I pay for both of you?”

His heart flutters a little a that. 

“I think Noah’d be fine if we go to that little place we usually go to.” he finally replies, giving a gentle squeeze to her hand that says don’t get too riled up about these idiots. 

“I know.” She says firmly, “But I want to give both of you the treatment you deserve. And I love that little pizza parlour, but I want nothing but the best for my boys.”

The house is quiet when they get home. Nick closes the door behind him as gently as he can, but even then it still gives its horrid squeak. Laurie steadies herself on his shoulder when she moves to take off her shoes. Without the heels, she reaches up to his shoulder. Laurie reaches up, placing her hand against his cheek. Nick feels himself melt into her touch. He meets her in the middle when she guides him down for a kiss. Nick feels the residue of her lipstick linger on his lips when they part. 

“Bed or –” Laurie trails off.

He’s tempted to drape himself over her on the sofa, but he can see the exhaustion on her face, even if she tries to hide it. 

“Bed sounds good?” he offers instead. 

The relief on her face is evident, “I love you, but I was hoping you’d say that.” 

When Nick cracks open the door to their bedroom, he finds Noah curled up in the middle of their bed. The sight makes him feel all soft and gooey inside. Noah has been slowly warming up to his touch, and he’s found his way between them like this more and more often. 

With the way Noah has positioned himself right in the middle of the bed, they’ll have to fit themselves around him somehow. Nick slots himself behind Noah, wraps an arm around his middle. The young moves in his sleeps, presses himself against Nick’s bare chest. Laurie joins them a moment later. She curls herself against Noah’s front and Nick knows that at some point during the night they’ll untangle their limbs from each other, but right now he feels so very comfortable and safe.

taglist: @deathblacksmoke @circle-with-me @sitkowski @ladyveronikawrites @baddestomens

@malice-ov-mercy @chels3a-smile @ferduttini @somebodyels3 @itsafullmoon

@shilohrosechicken

[discount-shades]

Sleepy Baby Part 17

a/n: Only one part left! I’m excited and sad.

Pairing: Jake “Hangman” Seresin / Reader

Warnings: None, 

Word Count: 2100 ish

Summary: Bachelor / Bachelorette  party shenanigans 

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It’s Saturday morning and everyone is gathered for breakfast at the restaurant Grace had booked, the Dagger squad is there, as are Jake's sisters and their partners. A few of the friends you have made hiking have also joined the bachelor/bachelorette kickoff breakfast. The plan was to split up and meet back together for dinner Sunday evening.

“Cheers, everyone,” Grace says as everyone raises their glasses to toast. “I hope everyone has fun today. Don’t do anything that can’t be undone.”

“So what are you guys doing?” Jessie asks Jake. “Because if there will be strippers I would prefer joining your group.” 

Jake’s ears turn red and he sputters, “I’m…I’m not going to watch strippers with my baby sister.”

“Oh so there will be strippers?” Julia asks, and you catch her shooting a grin at Jessie. “I don’t think that is appropriate Jacob.”

“What would Granny Seresin say?” Jessie demands in a scandalized voice. 

“You wanted to join us! And I don’t know if there are strippers!” Jake says in indignation. “Rooster planned it!”

Julia turned a withering glare to Bradley. “Well?” She demands and he quails under her gaze.

“We’re going deep sea fishing!” 

“Oh, ok.” She immediately returns to her food like nothing happened, leaving Bradley scared that he had done something wrong. You hide your grin at the exchange, already used to Jake’s family. 

“Well I’m out,” Natasha says in disappointment. “I get seasick.” She had originally planned on joining Jake's group, being closer to him than she was to you. 

“Phoenix I’ve seen you on an Aircraft Carrier.” Bradley huffs. “You didn’t look seasick to me.”

She rolls her eyes, “that’s a big boat Bradshaw. I only get sick on little ones.”

“You can always join us,” you offer, “we’re going paddleboarding, it should be less wavy.” One of your group had canceled last minute so there was an open spot for your weekend. Natasha looks at you for a minute before agreeing. 

After breakfast you are standing with your arms around Jake’s neck, kissing him goodbye. “Are you gonna miss me?” His dimples are on full display as he smiles down at you. 

You hum in response and lean up on your toes to give him another kiss. “I can't miss you until you're gone.” 

Jake’s hands slip under your shirt, thumbs slowly moving over your soft skin. “That’s true love right there.” You giggle and kiss him again.

“Hangman!” Bradley shouts. “Let’s go!”

Jake goes to pull away and you pull him in for one final kiss. “Be safe,” you tell him, “wear a life jacket.” He salutes you as he goes to join his friends. 

– – – 

You paddle over to where Natasha is seated on her board taking a break. You have been at it for an hour and feel pretty secure on the board while moving but you wobble a little as you sit down on your board beside her. 

You could never get a read on how Natasha felt about you. She was always friendly but never went out of her way to befriend you like Bob did. “I’m glad you came.” You tell her as you dangle your feet in the water on either side of your board.

She smiles at you from behind her aviators. “Me too.” You close your eyes behind your own sunglasses and turn toward the sun. “Jaws!” Natasha calls out as your paddleboard lurches to one side. You gasp, jerking your feet out of the water and clutching the sides of your board. Eyes frantically scanning the water around you, heart pounding.

Her snort of laughter has you glaring. “I can’t believe you did that!” You tell her before breaking into your own giggles. “I thought we were going to die.” She uses her paddle to give you another little push.

She sighs beside you. “It’s good being around women.” She says as she lays back on her board. “I’m around those men all day long and today was nice.”

“I bet,” you agree.

“I’ve worked so hard to get where I am. To be counted as an equal.” 

“Jake doesn’t treat you like an equal?” You say frowning. “At home he says you are one of the best pilots he knows.”

You can tell she is rolling her eyes by the way her head moves. “Hangman doesn’t treat anyone like an equal. But he is way better than he was,” she amends. 

“This has been the first team I’ve been on where I feel like I don’t have to constantly prove myself.” She waves her hands at the other paddle boarders in your group. “I don’t usually hang out with the wives and girlfriends of the group. It makes it harder to be seen as a fellow pilot.” 

“That must be a little lonely.” You lay back beside her on your board. “I mean, Jake is the love of my life, and all of the team have been great but that is a lot of testosterone in one place.”

She snorts with laughter. “You have no idea.”

“You are welcome to join us when we go hiking.” You say, offering friendship.

“You know, I might do that.”

– – – 

After paddle boarding you had gone to a wine and paint afternoon. “Wine is not good for me.” you say as you finish your forth glass of wine gazing at the slightly wonky tree in your painting. The paintings are all lined up back at the beach house you had rented for the weekend.

“What are you talking about,” Julie said as she put on her high heeled shoes. Everyone was putting the finishing touches on their outfits before you went out to dinner and then dancing. 

“It makes me all mopey.” You say with a long sigh. Smoothing down the hem of your short red dress. “And a little sleepy.”

Grace plucks the empty glass out of your hands. “Lady, you have a smoking hot fiance who is embarrassingly in love with you.” She squeezes your hands. “What do you have to be mopey about?”

“I miss Jake.” Julie blows a raspberry at your response. “Are they back safe yet?” Grace walks over to check her phone. One of the rules of the night was that neither you nor Jake could text each other. Grace had even taken your phone from you.

“Yes, Bradley says they made it back.” You make a grabby motion and she walks over to let you read the text. 

“Yay,” you smile dreamily, “ok let's go eat.” 

– – – 

“Why can’t we go to that bar?” You point to the bar across the street. You had been sticking to whiskey for the rest of the evening and had lost the mopey feeling wine gave you but were unable to completely shake off the sleepy feeling. If you were dancing it was fine, the minute you sat you felt like you could nap. The cool night air was refreshing.

“Because,” Grace breaks into giggles as she helps catch Kate, and between her and Jessie, they pull her back to her feet. “That’s the boys bar for the night. Bradley and I divided up the bars so we wouldn't meet.” You make a soft noise of understanding, unable to help feeling disappointed. You had been scanning every bar for Jake all night hoping to see him. 

“I thought Javy was Jake’s best man. Bradley sure did a lot of planning.” You say looking around at the other people out tonight.

“Javy delegated.” Grace laughs. “Plus Bradley grew up here. It was easy for him and I to plan together.”

You all pause on the sidewalk. Letting Kate get her feet under her. You gaze over at the bar across the street. The door opens and a number of people spill out. One of them is Jake and you feel your heartbeat catch.

– – – 

“Where’s Hangman?” Javy walks over to the group with Mike, carrying the next round. They had switched bars a little while ago and he couldn’t see the groom. 

“Bathroom probably.” Rooster says, grabbing his beer and leaning back. They carry on talking for another few minutes before Javy starts to feel uneasy. 

“Did he come in with us?” Everyone around him shrugs. 

“He must have.” Bob says, “I remember him following me out as we left the last place.”

Rooster laughs, “The last I saw him he was talking to a couple of coeds.” Mike chokes on his beer and coughs. 

“He was what?” He sputters.

“Relax,” Rooster says casually as Mike shakes his head in horror. “It’s Hangman, he’s fine, he spent over two months turning down women after he spoke to her for a half hour. He won’t do anything.”

“No, Jules told me to keep an eye on him, that he is a really susceptible drunk and will agree to anything.” Mike's voice rises in panic as he speaks, pulling out his phone to text Jake. Rooster’s pocket chimes. And he holds Jake's phone up guiltily. 

“I didn’t want him texting her.” Javy groans and clutches his temples. You would kill him if he let something happen to Jake.

Javy stands up taking charge. “Everyone fan out, check this entire bar, text if you find him and meet back here in five.”

“I couldn’t find him,” Fanboy says five minutes later when they all meet back, everyone else shakes their heads when he looks at them. 

“Fucking Hangman,” Javy mutters under his breath as they rush to the previous bar. When they get there the bouncer won’t let them in.

“We are just looking for our friend.” Rooster begs, pulling out his wallet. “I’ll give you $200 if you let us in.” The bouncer takes the money and goes to motion them through when Rooster shouts, “that's them!” pointing at two women exiting the bar. He goes to ask for his money back but at the bouncers look, reconsiders

They all turn and run toward the women who shrink back in fear. Javy grabs the back of Rooster's shirt, slowing him, and a few others who are still sober, and self aware enough, do the same. 

Bob steps forward, hands out in a placating manner. “I am sorry we frightened you,” he says calmly, “but we are looking for our friend.” He holds his phone out with a picture of Jake. “You spoke to him earlier and now we can’t find him.”

The women step away from the door and one takes Bob’s phone. “Oh I remember him,” she says giggling while showing the picture to her friend. “He bought us drinks and spent the whole time talking about his fiance and how excited he was to marry her.” She hands the phone back. “It was cute.”

“Do you know where he is?” Javy asks in desperation. “Is he still inside?”

They shake their heads. “I don’t know, we haven't seen him in a while, I hope you find him.” Rooster groans in frustration, running his hands through his hair.

“Hey boys!” Rooster freezes. He knows that voice. Looking across the street he can see the bachelorette half of their party waving. Grace is grinning at them. “Did you lose something?”

– – – 

45 minutes earlier

Jake is the last to leave the bar, but when he goes to follow his friends down the street you catch his eye. You are standing across the street in a little red dress that does something to his imagination. He glances at his friends' retreating backs before he makes up his mind and crosses the street to you.

Your smile widens as he starts heading your way and he knows he made the right decision, his smile matching yours. “Hello Kisses,” he says sweeping you into a hug. You throw your arms around his neck and pull his lips to yours. He can taste the whiskey sours you have been sipping all night. “I missed you,” he murmurs before pulling you back in for a kiss. His hand stroking the skin of your lower back. When Jessie clears her throat loudly you pull your lips away and lean against him with a sleepy smile.

“Take me home Jake,” you mumble into his shirt, he can feel your breath against his neck. 

“Umm,” he says suddenly feeling awkward. “I think we are going to call it a night.” Grace just rolls her eyes and laughs.

“I expect you to drop her off at the beach house tomorrow at 10:30.” Jake nods in agreement and she hands you your phone back and you stick it in Jake's pocket. 

“Oh shit,” Jake says, “Rooster has my phone.” 

“Don’t worry,” Grace says, “I’ll let him know where you’ve gone.” Jake guides you into one of the cabs and you head home.

– – – 

“How long do you think it will take the guys to notice they lost Hangman?” Natasha asks with a forced innocent tone. Everyone laughs and settles in to wait.

[sunrisemill]

✮From the start✮ pt.3

Chris and y/n have always been inseparable, they’ve always relied on each other but what happens when one of them falls?

Pt.1 Pt.2 Pt.4 Finale

Chris’ pov

(2 months ago)

I toss and turn in my bed but can’t shake off this horrible feeling. She's been acting weird and distant lately, I feel like I don't know her anymore…are we still friends? The other day we were watching a movie on my couch, and she looked so sleepy. I couldn't help myself, I put my arm around her and the only way I could describe the look on her was pure horror. Did I do something wrong? Did I go too far? Did I smell or something? I groan into my pillow as those thoughts flood my brain. I have to talk to her. I rip the blanket off of my body and slowly sit up “Alright Grandpa. Do you need help with that?” I feel my lips curl up into a small smile at the memory. She never did give me a break, god forbid I'd let out the TINIEST noise bending over “You okay Grandpa?.” “Do I need to take you to the nursing home already?” Her voice rings through my head as I stand up, I glance over at the alarm clock on my bedside table, 12:22 it reads. God, I hope she’s awake. I can't go on like this anymore.

~~~~~

“Y/n.” I whisper-shout as I stand below her window. I know she’s up cause she has her lamp on “I bet she’s blasting her music, that girl’s gonna go deaf.” I grumble to myself. I smirk as an idea comes to mind, I pick up a small pebble and throw it towards her window creating a small tap noise. “Oh, my precious Y/n. I cannot bear another second without your gracious company.” I say in the most dramatic tone I can come up with. Not long after that I hear the sound of a squeaky window being opened. “Now what the actual hell was that?” I grin as she pokes her head out of the window. God, she looks beautiful… “what? I thought you liked corny shit like that. You're always making me watch that cheesy ass rom-com, what was it now… 12 going on 22?” I ask in a teasing voice. Of course, I know it's 13 going on 30, how could I ever forget her favourite movie? I even watched it without her so I could memorize the wedding scene that she does not stop talking about. “Haha, Chris. You're so funny.” she replies with a PAINFULLY sarcastic tone. “Why are you here anyway?” I take in a deep breath. “I wanted to talk to you, could you maybe…come down here, my neck hurts.” I watch her let out a soft chuckle as she retreats her head back, she's gonna come outside and I'm gonna have to do one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. She can't hate me…can she? I mean, she could after this. Y/n hasn't always been the best at expressing her emotions or telling me how she feels, she just shuts down. My thoughts get interrupted by the sound of her back door sliding open. I don't know how she does it, she could be wearing a trash bag for all I care and she would still take my breath away. “Hey…” I whisper as my voice fails me. “Hi?” I watch as she hugs her body to shield herself from the cold. “I was just- I was wondering…are you okay?” Her body stiffens and I just think…oh shit. “I'm fine, Chris. Why wouldn't I be?” The coldness in her voice could send a chill down anyone’s spine “Y/n, I can tell when there’s something wrong. Why can’t you talk to me?  Im here for you.” I take a step toward her but she steps back. C'mon Y/n, don't do this to me. Let me in. Just talk to me. I silently plead to her as her face contorted into a look of annoyance. “I've told you a hundred times already. I am fine. Why can't you comprehend that I don't need a saviour. It's 1 am, go home and sleep like a normal person for once in your goddamn life.” My breath catches in my throat as her tone gets more and more cold as she speaks. What happened to the Y/n that I know? The one I fell in love with… “you know what…” I swallow as I feel tears brimming my eyes. “Im done dealing with this. I care about you but you couldn't give two shits even if you wanted to. Do you know what you are Y/n? A fucking coward! Oh, how dare somebody show even the littlest bit of concern for you. I bet you’ll just forget about me, You'll get a new best friend and fuck it up the same way cause you're too much of a pussy to confront your feelings. I tried helping you but you're hopeless.” I wipe away the tears that fell from my eyes and huff before storming off in a fit of rage. I slam the gate to her backyard behind me, leaving a shivering, startled Y/n behind. Even after all of that…I cant help but still love her.

(A/N: Omg this took so long to come out cause my laptop decided to break but I finally got it fixed YIPPEE!!!! I hope you'll like this cause I feel like I cooked with this. Don't ruin my confidence)

Tags: @guccifrog

[one-vivid-judgment]

Hi hi! An aquarium date h/cs with Joongi and Tomi pls! Thx! <3

My baby boy and my wife whom I love dearly 💙💙 (and want to see get destroyed in a sexy way)

Joongi Han

- He probably has never been to an aquarium himself. Only ever seen it in movies and thought it looked pretty, but never actually gone to one because work always comes first. He doesn't even take that many days off to begin with. 

- His face visibly lights up when you ask if he wants to come to the aquarium with you. "Oh, of course, I'd love to" he says, but you can tell he is vibrating from excitement when you hand him the ticket. 

- Get ready for him to start infodumping if he sees a fish he has eaten before. He can go on and on about nutritional value and health benefits for hours if you let him, and even if he has never eaten a specific kind, he can always start speculating. You'll have to beg him not to ask for clownfish next time he goes to the fish market. That is NOT food, Joongi. 

- Absolutely fascinated by the sea creatures. He never had a proper childhood, never did any activities like this ever and only really started doing fun things when he met Kasuga. Needless to say, he LOVES it. Expect him to ask to come to the aquarium again. He probably loves the dolphins—they are beautiful, but also very fucking unhinged. Sounds like someone you know, actually. 

Eric Tomizawa

- He knows his way around Hawaii like the back of his hand, so you bet he knows an aquarium or two. He used to go with Marie all the time, since she loved it so much, but to be honest, he always paid more attention to her reactions than he did the animals, the lovesick fool. 

- It doesn't go any differently with you, honestly. He knows he is supposed to be watching the jellyfish show, but he'd always end up looking at you instead. You're so fascinated by the little guys, and really, if he wants to see jellyfish, he can swing by Aloha Beach whenever, so why not get his fill of your beautiful face? 

- The type to get super offended if you point at a random fish and say "This you". Like, okay, a putterfish is cute, kinda? But also, just why? Does he have bug eyes too? Or is it the 'small but deadly' part? Then again, he's probably gonna join in on the "Hey, this fish looks like someone we know" game. That orca is Yamai, that clownfish is Ichiban. You? An angelfish. But only after jokingly saying you were an aggressive ass piranha. 

- Take him to an animal encounter experience and feed penguins or stingrays. He'd be extra cautious at first, because hey, it won't kill him but that stingray over there may not like his face, and that could get dangerous. After that though? He has the time of his life. Those little guys are so cute. You still have a pic you took without Tomi knowing of him petting a penguin with the biggest grin on his face.

[hunted-moth]

 Just Like Him Chapter Two: Swimmin' With The Frogs

Wordcount // 8k

Summary // When Lori's husband and Carl's dad show up after being thought dead, everything changes. 

Warning // Language, Talks of death, violence, violence against women(Carol&Ed), the killing of walkers, 

OTHER STUFF//It is really dialogue-heavy with a lot of it coming straight from the show

A/N // This was gonna be one chapter but I just couldn't physically do it anymore lol. Good lord this took forever to edit, the fact that i wrote the other chapter, had school stuff, and WORK! jesus guys. So sorry this took forever lmao 

***: Major time Skip/scene change

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~The Quary Day Four~~~

The sun shown through the tents windows waking you up finally. You sat up, rubbing your tired eyes and looked around expecting to see Carl or Lori but their beds were empty. You stood up and put your shoes on and walked out of the tent walking down the small tral to camp fires.

There you saw Lori sitting down doing something while Carl played by himself by a car not to far away.

You walked up and sat down by her “Morin’ Lori” you said in a tired tone.

“Moring hun, how did you sleep?” she was checking on something in a cast iron pot.

“I slept okay I guess” You rubbed your eyes while sitting down beside her.

“Yeah I bet we couldn't wake ya up so we just let you sleep” she teased. You noticed a girl walking up to you two holding a red bucket.

“Any luck?” Lori asked, putting the lid on the pot. As she was walking up Lori grabbed a small metal bowl and a wooded spoon. The girl poured mushrooms into the bowl.

“How do we know if they’re poison?” Lori gave an unknowing look, you knew though.

“Uhh, there's only one sure way I know of” You waited for her to tell her, but she just started to fiddle with one.

“Ask Shane when he gets back?” The girl said Lori nodded “Yeah you got it” Lori got up taking the red bucket with her “Umm, I'll be right back Y/n, you think you two could keep an eye on that for me?” you both nodded your heads while she walked away.

You just kinda sat and looked at the fire when a voice interrupted, “I don't suppose you know if a mushroom is poisonous or not huh?” the blonde girl had asked you.

“Oh umm, yeah I do,” you said awkwardly, you grabbed the bowl and sat next to her “If a mushroom has white gills or white spots on its camp it's more than likely poisonous” You looked at her before you picked up a Mushroom.

“see this one is good because it has brown gills and doesnt have a bulb at the bottom” you sat it aside, and picked up a different one “but this one is bad, see? It has white gills and a bulb”

You looked at her again “Okay so these ones are bad?” She picked out four of them and showed them to you, you nodded your head “Yeah” she smiled “Wow, how do you know this stuff?” she gleamed at you.

“My dad taught me,” Her eyes seemed to light up “My daddy taught me and my sister how to fish” She smiled at the memory of her father “OH I never introduced myself, Im Amy” she smiled “and my sister is Andrea, were from Florida” 

“Im Y/n, im from western Georgia” You smiled at her, and you looked up at the sky to see it was a cloudy morning “You think it’s gonna rain?” you asked her, she looked up to the sky.

“I don’t know, it could” She looked back down and started stirring the pot, she looked sad and like her mind was somewhere else now. You decided to wander around camp eventually ending up by Dale’s side, watching him work on the RV.

“What are you doing Dale?” you asked, he lifted his head to look at you. He smiled a little bit.

“Oh nothing, me and Jim are just working on the radiator hose on the RV” who you guessed was Jim waved at you before going back to work. “It likes to quit on us a lot, which isn't good if we need to leave for whatever reason.” he explain to you.

“Oh, hopefully, we won't need to leave soon” You watched him as he poked and prodded at the thing, trying to figure out why it wouldn't work.

“Hey uhh, Y/n could ya hand me that wrench?” you looked down at the small amount of tools he had and reached down for the wrench.

“Yeah, here you go” he took the tool from you “Why do you have little tools?” you asked, you'd figured he’d have a lot more 

“Ahh well, I let the supply people barrow them, but now I kinda wish I just kept them, but they’re supposed to be back today so it’s not a big deal” You nodded your head in understanding “So how’s that book coming along Y/n? You like it so far?” he turned his head to face you 

“It's okay, im almost done with it, maybe a chapter or two left” You read a few chapters last night while you tried to fall asleep, maybe thats why you slept in.

“Dale got you reading that Case of the missing man?” Jim spoke up, you nodded your head when he looked at you, and he laughed “Dale been getting people to read that book since he’s got here” Dale rolled his eye while Jim moved closer to you “Between you and me, I think he’s been trying to get rid of it” he laughed and so did you.

“Alright, alright get back to work” Dale waved his hands dismissively with a smile. You watched as he continued to mess with the engine “Boy, this hose isn't long for this world is it?” Dale commented 

“No, sir” Jim responded dejected

“Where the hell are we gonna find a replacement” Dale said with an annoyed tone, in the background, you could see Amy pacing back and forth. She looked antsy 

“It's late” her voice was full of worry “They should've been back by now”, you and Dale looked up at her as she paced back and forth

“Worrying won't make it better” dale said but she just stormed off in anger, you got up to go find Lori, to see if Amy's fear was justified and if you guys should go out looking for them.

You found her taking clothes off the line and stood by her, she was watching Shane and Carl do something but you couldn't see due to their back being to you, but they were laughing.  

“He–” you were cut off by another voice coming over a radio 

“HELLO, BASE CAMP! CAN ANYBODY HEAR ME”

Shane and Lori walked off toward the RV where another radio system was, Dale was already on the RV by the time you all got there

“BASE CAMP! THIS IS T-DOG, ANYBODY HEAR ME?”

Dale got on the radio “Hello, Hello, reception bad on this end, Repeat Repeat” 

“SHANE IS THAT YOU” t-dog’s voice carried over the radio

“Is that them?” Lori asked, the radio crackled before T-dog's voice came over again

“WERE IN DONW DEEP SHIT RIGHT NOW, WERE TRAPPED IN THE DEPARTMENT STORE,” “he said their trapped” Shane committed the obvious

“GEEKS ALL OVER THE PLACE, HUNDREDS OF ‘EM WERE SURROUNDED” T-dog voice cut out

“T-dog, Repeat that last, Repeat” All he got was static. Everyone stood around in silence, not knowing what to do.

“He said the department store” Lori repeated what he said, Dale agreed with Lori and so did you. Shane looked defeated like he knew what was gonna happen “Shane” Lori started but Shane interrupted her

“No way, we do not go after them” he looked around at everybody “We do not risk the rest of the group, y’all know that” Lori looked at him with eyes of disbelief. But Amys was worse

“So we're just gonna leave her there?!” Amy looked pissed and Shane could sense she was gonna blow up, “look, Amy, I know this is not easy–” Amy cut him off “she volunteered to go, to help the rest of us” Shane just nodded his head in some kind of mock understanding.

“And she knew the risks, right?” Amy just looked at him with wide eyes “See if she’s trapped, she’s gone. So we just have to deal with that, there's nothing we can do” Her wide eyes narrowed at him in rage.

“She’s my sister, you son of a bitch!” she stormed off giving him the side eye. Lori and Shane stared at each other before Lori ran off to find Amy. 

It was quiet around camp, the not knowing if they were gonna live, and the fact no one could do anything about it. You were torn yourself, obviously, you wanted them to come back but sending people to get them could be for nothing, and in turn, endangering them instead. 

*

A few hours passed and everyone was still at a standstill on what to do. Amy sat in her and Andreas tent, still pissed at about not being able to go and help, with Lori trying to console her, at some point Lori gave up because she came out with an exhausted look on her face.

You were sitting with Shane, Carl, and Lori. She was giving Carl a haircut while you tried to finish your book, you only had a handful of pages left before you were finally done. You looked and saw Jim stringing up cans on some barbed wire around the camp. 

“Baby the more you fidget, the longer it's gonna take, so don't okay” she lectured Carl, 

“Im trying, but why do I have to get a haircut? And why doesn't Y/n have to?” he pointed to you “Well Y/n is a girl, so she can have her hair,” she countered his argument, “and if she wants a haircut she can ask” You shook you head playfully when she looked in you direction.  

“You think this bad, wait till you start shaving” Shane was cleaning his gun “That stings, that day comes when you wishin’ for one of yer momma’s haircuts” Carl just rolled his eyes

“I'll believe that when I see it” Shane and Lori just laughed, “Tell you what, you get through this with some manly dignity, and tomorrow I'll teach you and Y/n something special” he leaned in like he was telling a secret, so you leaned in to “I will teach you guys to catch frogs,” your face dropped in disappointment though.

“I already know how to catch a frog,” you said “Yeah, I already caught frogs” Carl agreed with you. 

Shane just laughed “I said Frogs, plural” he straightened his back “And it is an art form, my tiny friends, and is not to be taken lightly” You smirked at his cockieness “There are ways and means. Few people know about it. I'm willing to share my secrets.” you and Carl looked to Lori.

“Oh im a Girly girl, you talk to him” She directed your attention to Shane again “it's a one-time offer, guys... not to be repeated” he continued to clean his shotgun like he didnt care for your ansrew, but you saw his little smirk. 

You got a curious look on your face as a thought popped into your head.

“Why do we need frogs Plural?” you asked with a confused voice. Shane had a mischievous look on his face.

“You guys ever eat frog legs?” Carl got a disgusting look on his face. “They’re okay, not a lot of meat on ‘em” you shrugged.

“EWW, you’ve eaten frog legs?” he replied, you nodded your head when Shane responded.

“NO, yum!” he tried to counter but Lori agreed with Carl, “No, He’s right eww” Shane just laughed some more, elbowing you to join in

“When you get down to that last can of beans, you're gonna be loving those frog legs, lady. I can see it now” Shane began to tease Lori, putting on a girl's voice "Shane, do you think I could have a second helping, please? Please? Just one?" you and Carl began to laugh at his impression of lori.

Lori just gave him a look with shocked laughter “Yeah I doubt that”, she continued cutting Carl's hair “Yeah, don't listen to her man, you, me, and Y/n will be heroes! We’ll feed these folks cajun-style Kermit legs” you shook your head and tried to finish your book

“I would rather eat Miss Piggy” You looked up from your book and laughed “Yes that came out wrong”

“Heroes Kids, spoken of in song and legend. You two, Y/n and Carl.” he winked at Carl and you, “Think about it” You guys were laughing quietly when in the distance you heard, what sounded like a car alarm. 

Shane got up and so did you and Lori. you all rushed to the main area to see Dale ontop of the RV “talk to me, Dale! What do you see?”

“Can't tell yet” he yelled down to Shane, Shane took his rifle and walked over to look at the quarry ridge. A hopeful Amy asked if it was the supply group. “I'll be damned” Dale looked through his binoculars.

“What is it?” Amy asked, you tried your best to see but the trees and rubble made it hard from where you were “A stolen car is my guest” Dale thought aloud. The alarm got louder and louder before it finally pulled up into camp. It was a red sports car, an expensive one you guessed. 

The door opened to reveal the driver, who happened to baseball movie guy, he had a huge smile on his face, not knowing people were about to be yelling at him.

“Holy crap, will you turn that thing off” Dale badgers him, He just laughs it off “I don't know how to”

Then Amy and Shane are on him, “My sister, Andrea” “Pop the hood Please, POP THE DAMN HOOD PLEASE” “Is she okay? IS SHE OKAY" they both end up yelling at him.

“What? Okay okay. Yeah yeah yeah. Yeah yeah!” he got in the car popping it open but Amy wouldn't leave him alone about her sister “YES, shes okay, shes okay” you could tell he was already getting overwhelmed “Is she coming back?” amy persisted “yes” Glesnn said with a heavy sigh.

Shane managed to shut it off when he slammed the hood shut with annoyance.

“Why isn't she with you?” Amy was getting desperate “Where is she? She's okay?” he gave a final yes “Everybody is okay” he gave a cringing face “Well Merle not so much” glenn whispered under his breath. Now that everybody calmed down Shane could finally unleash on Baseball guy.

“Are you crazy, driving this wailing bastard up here? Are you trying to draw every Walker for miles?” Shane scolded Glenn but Dale came to his defense “I think we’re okay” but that just irritated Shane more “You call being stupid okay?”

 Dale, being levelhead, explained to Shane that the alarm was echoing all throughout the hills, so it be hard to find the origin of the noise for them, Shane gave him an annoyed look. So Dale did end up chewing out glenn.

“Sorry” he looked around awkwardly “Got a cool car” he tried to lighten the mood, but all he got were flat faces. From behind him, you saw a huge truck pull in, it looked like a movers truck. He looked back and gave a sly grin.

You were standing close by Dale when the truck pulled in. The first person you saw was who you assumed was Andrea 

“Amy” they ran towards each other with tears in their eyes. A man appeared and two younger children ran to him hugging him too. 

All the people who went eventually came out of the truck, and from the corner of your eye you saw Lori take Carl aside to talk to him, he looked like he was holding back tears. 

“You are a welcomed sight for sure,” Dale said as he hugged the father, “I thought we had lost you folks for sure”. Shane kept his eyes on Lori and Car.

 “How y’all get out of there anyway?” Shane asked, the baseball guy piqued up “New guy, he got us out” There was someone else new, maybe you won't feel so alone now. Shane gave him a strange look “New guy?”

“Yeah, crazy Vato just got into town” the father explained “Hey, helicopter boy! Come say hello” he yelled to the “new guy”.And oiut came a man dressed in a sheriff's uniform, he had an uncertain look on his face “Guys a cop, like you” the dad continued. Shane looked at him with disbelief, like he just saw a ghost. 

New guy also had a look of disbelief. His eyes were watery too. “Oh my god” he started to walk forward and Carl started to run towards him, Lori not too far behind. “DAD, DAD” you could hear Carl's shrill voice yell, this new guy was Carl's dad, the same man he told you was dead.

They meet in an embrace, hugging each other like their lives depended on it. He picked him up and walked over to Lori who stood there shell-shocked. She eventually hugged him with tears in her eyes. The new guy and Shane locked eyes and they smiled.

***

“Disoriented.” he exclaimed  “I guess that comes closest. Disoriented. Fear, confusion… all those things but”  he licked his lips “Disoriented comes closest.”. It was night and you watched as Lori and Carl were in Ricks– as you come to learn– arms. Everyone was in their family's arm, it just made you feel even lonelier now without yours. 

“Words can be a meager thing” Dale explained, “sometimes they fall short”. Rick nodded his head and continued “It felt like i was ripped out of my life and put somewhere else” you gazed at the fire “For a while I thought I was trapped in some coma dream, something I might not wake up from ever.” Lori was brushing Carl’s hair, like your mom use to do.

“Mom said you died” Carl spoke up in a quiet voice, rick nodded his head in understanding when he looked at his wife “She had every reason to believe that” he looked at his son “Don't you ever doubt it” Lori spoke up about it after looking around

“When things got really bad, the hospital told me that they were gonna medivac you to Atlanta, but it never happened,” she said in a small sad voice.

“Well im not surprised after Atlanta fell,” Lori nodded “and from the look at that hospital it looked like it got overrun” he had a disgusted look on his face, if it looked anything like that super market you'd probably have the same face to.

“Yeah,” Shane scoffed “Looks don't deceive I barely got them out” Shane spoke up. Rick smiled gratefully at Shane, “I can't tell you how grateful I am to you, Shane. I can't begin to express it.” Rick exclaimed Greattfully, Dale laughed “There go those words falling short again, Paltry things” Dale committed, things got quiet again as the Grimes family embraced each other. 

“Hey Lori, I think im gonna sleep outside tonight” Lori looked at you “Why is that hun?” you shrugged your shoulders “Just feel like it, its nice out you know” the truth was, you would feel like an outsider sleeping in their family tent.

Lori's face scrunched up “Are you sure you want to sleep outside?” you  nodded your head, but Dale spoke up “Why don't you sleep in the RV hmm?” you looked at Dale with big eyes.

“You sure?” he nodded his head, “thanks” you smiled at him. He reminded you of your grandpa.

In the distance you could hear wood clattering and then wood being thrown into a fire, you looked behind you to see a big man sitting back again with a bigger fire,

“Hey Ed, you want to rethink that Log?” Shane yelled to him. The big guy just yelled back, still sitting down “It's cold man”. The more you looked the more you realized that was Sophia's family. “Cold doesn't change the rules does it?” Shane shouted back “Keep out low, just embers so we can't be seen from a distance, right?” 

It was a good rule to have, but Ed didn't seem to care “I said it’s cold, you should mind yer own business for once” he shouted back, Shane got up and walked over to Ed. The air was tense and everyone was quiet. You couldn't hear what was said since he was whispering. 

When he came back to his spot Dale spoke what was on his mind, “Have you given any thought to Daryl Dixon?” Daryl was still on his hunting trip in the woods so he didn't know anything yet “He won't be happy to hear his brother was left behind.” you agreed with Dale, if your brother was left behind you'd be pissed as well.

T-dog spoke up, saying he’d tell the other Dixon what happened, which turned into a debate on who should tell him between T-Dog and Rick, but Glenn spoke up about how it would look better if Rick told him since he was white, as opposed to T-dog who was black. 

“I did what I did, Hell if im gonna hide from it” You gave props to T-dog for being brave. But Amy spoke up “We could lie” That was also a good idea you thought, but Andrea thought otherwise “Or tell the truth, Merle was out of control,” she brought up “Something had to be done or he’d have gotten us killed” andrea leaned forward to talk to Lori.

“Your husband did what was necessary, and if Merle got left behind it was nobody's fault but Merles” she finished her thought. But Dale disagreed 

“And thats what we tell Daryl?” you looked around dumbfounded “I don't see a rational discussion to be had from that, do you?” he looked to Andrea “Word to the wise we’re gonna have our hands full when he gets back from his hunt” Dale was being realistic, which was good, cause either way the outcome would lead to an upset Daryl.

“I was scared and I ran, im not ashamed of it” T-dog stated, Andrea just agreed and asked why it was relevant “I stopped long enough to chain that door. Staircase is narrow. Maybe half a dozen geeks can squeeze against it at any one time. It's not enough to break through that” he explained “Not that chain, not that padlock.” he rambled on “My point Dixon's alive and he's still up there, handcuffed on that roof. That's on us” T-dog walked away, probably to his tent to go to sleep.

*

After a while everyone went to sleep, before you went to the RV you stopped by the tent and grabbed all your stuff, you said goodnight to Lori and walked to the RV. When you walked in Dale called you back, walking down the hall you stopped in the doorway to see Dale setting up a bed for you, “it's not much but it's something, I uhh even put up a curtain for ya here” Sure enough you saw a curtain split down the middle separating the room in half.

“Thanks,” you smile. You set your stuff down and lie on the stiff bed. Outside you could hear the thunder roll in again from earlier. You looked outside the window to see the rain hit the window. The sound of the rain helped you drift off to sleep.

~~~The Quary Day Five~~~

The next morning you woke up early and looked for Carl and Sophia. You wanted to explore the area a bit more and you got the okay from both Lori and Carol. You found both of them at a little round table.

“Hey do you guys want to go explore?” they looked at you with wide faces “I already asked your moms, and they said it was okay” they both replied with ‘yeah’s’, they got up from their spots and followed you. You decided to go through a trial that leads to the woods, you were hoping to find some deer or any kind of bigger game.

As you three walked the trail you started to smell something awful, your first thought was an animal died nearby, but the closer you got the more you started to hear the horrible gurgles of blood from an eater. You pulled back the leaves to see an eater feasting on dead deer.

Carl and Sophia screamed and backed away, they yelled for their parents as you backed away grabbing an arrow from your quiver, notching it in your bow aiming it at the eater to make sure it didn't attack you or the other kids. 

“Stay behind me” they continued yelling, you were shocked the eater wasn't drawn to the screams.

You heard Lori's cries and looked back to see everyone running towards you three. The men had weapons and ran past you when you pointed in the direction of the thing. You followed not far behind. They all circled the eater with weapons ready, they pushed you back to protect you but if you needed to you could still shoot it.

The thing finally seemed to notice you all and stood, it stared at Rick before it lunged at him, but someone batted it away. The thing fell to the floor and everybody started beating on it. All taking turns. Finally, Dale took an axe to it, cutting its head off. Everybody seemed to calm down after that.

“Thats the first one we’ve had up here” Dale exclaimed with an exhausted voice “They never come this far up the mountain” he looked around shocked.

“They’re running out of food in the city, that's what” Jim replied.

Everyone just looked at it in disgust and confusion when they heard rustling in the forest. You aimed your bow in the direction of the noise as it got louder and louder.

When out from behind a tree you saw Daryl walking out with his crossbow. Shane just scoffed when he saw him. 

“Son of a bitch.” he cursed “That's my deer! Look at it.” he walked up to it, then looked at the eater “All gnawed on by this” he started kicking it “Filthy! disease-bearing! motherless poxy bastard!” 

Dale tried to calm him down “Calm down son, thats not helping” but it just pissed him off more.

“What do you know about it, old man?” he got up in Dales's face “Why don't you take that stupid hat and go back to "on Golden Pond"?” he insulted him, you wanted to laugh but it wasn't the right time.

“I've been tracking this deer for miles. Gonna drag it back to camp, cook us up some venison.” He keeled down to take his bolts “What do you think? Do you think we can cut around this chewed-up part right here?” he asked looking at the others.

“Would not risk that” Shane replied, Daryl just sighs “That's a damn shame. I got some squirrel” he grabbed the rope holding them “about a dozen or so. That'll have to do.”. He began to walk off when out of the corner of your eye you saw the rotter's head move “Oh god” Amy and Andrea walked off.

“Come on people” Daryl noticed this and shot it in the face “it gotta be the brain, don't y’all know anything?” he walked off with his now bloody bolt. You all followed him back to the main area. You could see Lori and Carol comforting Carl and Sophia.

“Merle,” nothing “MERLE, get yer ugly ass out here” Dayrl continued walking “I got us some squirrel lets Stew ‘em up” he began to look around for his brother, and the other caught up to him. “Daryl, slow up a bit, I need to talk to ya” Shane called out to him

“About what?” he stopped in front of the RV, Shane continued to walk up to Daryl “About Merle. There was a” he paused “There was a problem in Atlanta.” Daryl froze, and looked around, “He dead?” he asked. Shane shrugged his shoulders “We're not sure” he looked at Daryl. You could begin to see Daryl get mad

“He either is or he ain't” he began to circle Shane, with the rest all catching up. 

Rick decided to speak up “No easy way to say this, so I'll just say it” Rick started but was cut off by Daryl “Who are you?” he said with snark as Rick walked up to Daryl.

“Im Rick Grimes” he introduced himself, Daryl scoffed a bit “Well Rick Grimes, you got something you wanna tell me?” Rick stood in front of Daryl “Your brother was a danger to us all,” he started “So I handcuffed him on a roof, hooked him to a piece of metal. He's still there” You moved closer to Dale, more like behind him just in case 

“Hold on. Let me process this.” he began to pace back and forth a bit “You're saying you handcuffed my brother to a roof and YOU LEFT HIM THERE?!” he yelled at Rick, who just stood there, taking it. Rick hung his head low “Yeah”

Daryl stepped back, looking rick up and down, with a scowl that could scare an eater. With a grunt, he threw the squirrels at Rick and started to charge him but Shane intercepted it. T-dog noticed it and came running. While on the ground you noticed Daryl pull his knife out and get up

He began to swipe at Rick, before Rick grabbed his arm and made him drop the knife Shane came up on him from the other side. They rustled him down to the ground “BEST LET ME GO!” he yelled, trying to fight the hold Shane had on him. Shane eventually got him in a chokehold, one that Daryl said was illegal.

Daryle eventually stopped fighting, rick got into his face “I'd like to have a calm discussion on this topic. Do you think we can manage that?” he looked to Shane “Do you think we can manage that?” Shane nodded his head, and after a minute Daryl mumbled the best yes he could before Shane let him go. 

Daryl was still on the ground when Rick got up close with him again “What I did was not on a whim. Your brother does not work and play well with others.” he explained when T-dog spoke up “It's not Rick's fault. I had the key. I dropped it” he admitted

“Couldn't pick it up” Daryl retorted back to him with snark.

“Well, I dropped it in a drain” T-dog admitted, daryl rolled his eyes and scoffed before he stood up, throwing dirt at T-dog “it supposed to make me feel better it don’t!” 

“Yeah well, maybe this will” T-dog stood by Shane, it made you wonder if he stood there in case Daryl tried to lunge at him too “I locked the chain to the door so the geeks wouldn't get at him” he looked at Daryl “with a padlock, that's gotta count for something right?”

Daryl just looked around, and wiped his eyes, “the hell with all y’all” he cursed you all “Just tell me where he is so I can go get ‘em” he looked to Rick but Lori was the one to answer 

“He’ll show you, isn't that right?” they both looked at Lori, her voice and tone were almost taunting, but you guessed Rick didn't see it like that

he looked around for a moment, “I’m going back”, Lori just stormed back into the RV. daryl scoffed and walked away. Everybody just stood around, not knowing what to do. Rick walked off to his tent, picking up his clothes on the way.

*

You tried to comforter carl but you have still shaken up yourself. You made sure to never be that close to an eater since you got split from your family. You would jump at evey small noise coming from the woods, every heavy breath sounded like one of them, and when lori grabbed your hand it made you jump.

“Its just me hun, You're okay” She rubbed your arm gently and spoke softly “what you did was very brave but its okay if you’re scard” you reflected on what she said and looked away ashamedly.

“I didnt even do anything though, Daryl was the one that killed the ‘poxy bastard’” you huffed and crossed your arms. You were a coward, you couldn't even kill it when it’s back was to you. 

“You're still a kid, I didn't expect you to kill the thing, but you made sure Carl and Sophia were safe, and that's brave” You nodded your head and smiled softly. From down the hill, you could hear Shane talking to someone, he seemed to be heated

“Could you throw me a bone here, man? Could you just tell me why?” Rick and Shane came into view “Why would you risk your life for a douchebag like Merle Dixon?” Daryl looked at Shane with annoyance 

“Hey, choose your words more carefully,” Daryl warned him but Shane just rolled his eyes “No I did, douchebag is what I meant” he stared at Daryl with judgment “Merle Dixion, The guy wouldn't give you a glass of water if you were dyin’ of thirst.” from what you experienced when you first met merle that comparison checked out.

You looked to Lori again as they continued fighting. You could tell she was getting more and more annoyed, but you were to engrossed in the conversation.

“so you and Daryl,” everybody looked at her “thats your big plan?” Rick looked at Glenn “Oh come on” he sighed, 

“You know the way, you've been there before, in and out no problems” Rick explained “You said so yourself. It's not fair of me to ask” he paused “I know that, but I'd feel a lot better with you along. I know she would too” rick looked to Lori.

Shane went on about how Rick was risking three men now, but T-dog spoke, about how he wanted to come to. Daryle just scoffed at him, asking why, T-dog just said he wouldn't understand.

“That's four,” Dale said aloud, Shane just paced back and forth “It's not just four. You're putting every single one of us at risk. Just know that, Rick.” He pointed a finger at Rick “Come on, you saw that Walker. It was here. It was in camp. They're moving out of the cities.” he proclaimed  “They come back, we need every ablebody we've got. We need 'em here. We need 'em to protect the camp.” 

rick started going on about how he had a bag of guns, and how he dropped them in the city. All kinds of guns, from shotguns to handguns. And about 700 rounds of ammo.

“You went through hell to find us” Lori started, her voice getting angrier “Yo-you just got here, and now you gonna turn around and leave!?” you could tell Carl was getting worried about his dad, “Dad I-I don't want you to go” rick looked conflicted now. 

“To hell with the gun. Shane is right. Merle Dixon? He's not worth one of your lives, even with guns thrown in.” Rick walked closer to you guys, stopping at Lori as she stood up “Tell me. Make me understand.” Lori argued, 

“I owe a debt to a man I met and his little boy. Lori, if they hadn't taken me in, I'd have died.” He explained the best he could to her “It's because of them that I made it back to you at all. They said they'd follow me to Atlanta. They'll walk into the same trap I did if I don't warn him.” Rick pleaded with Lori

“What's stopping you?” She crossed her arms and looked down.

“The walkie-talkie, the one in the bag I dropped.” Lori couldn't even look at him “He's got the other one. Our plan was to connect when they got closer.” he finished

Shane asked if it was ‘our walkies’, and Rick said yes. Andrea asked why he couldn't just use the CB they have. But Shane just explained that their walkies were old, from the seventies, and only worked with each other, not even on scanners. 

“I need that bag” Lori nodded her head, and Rick walked around her to keel down to Carl, you still had a hand on Carl's shoulder “Okay?” he asked him, and he nodded his head. He looked at you and nodded his head. 

You all watched as they left in the truck, taking Dale's bolt cutters with them. It was quiet for a bit, Carl went to their tent to lie down, and Lori followed him.

*

You tried to finish your book, on your last chapter, and it was actually getting good when Shane and Carl came up to you “Hey Y/n, you want to catch some frogs, plural, with us?” you shut your book and stood up,

“Yeah!” running with carl to the quarry. 

You and carl waited for Shane by one of the banks where you saw some of the women washing clothes. 

“Okay, so the plan is,” Shane began “were gonna rile up the water and wait fore ‘em to swim out and catch ‘em, got it?” he looked to you two for understanding, and you both nodded. You were excited but after about thirty minutes you couldn't catch or even find any frogs.

“Im not gettin’ anything” Carl announced in a flat tone. You waded through the water towards carl as you nodded your head in agreement. 

“Yeah. Being all wily, staying submerged. Little suckers, they know something's up. That's what's going on. Just going to have to do this the old-fashioned way.” Shane got up from his rock, and motioned you over to him, “So here's what we gonna do” You stood by Shane as he told you guys what the new strategy was 

“me and Y/n are gonna scare the frogs your way Carl,” he handed Carl a net “And you’re gonna catch them with the net, got it?” he looked at both of you, and you both said yeah “You are the key in all this, okay?” Carl nodded “All we’re gonna do is go after one of them, all right, scare the rest of them off. They're all gonna scatter.” he patted your shoulder “And we’re gonna drive 'em his way, okay?” 

“Yeah,” you got into your position and Shane laughed

“What you need to do is you need to round up every bad boy you see, all right? Are you with me?” he spoke to Carl

“Yeah. Yeah.” Carl exclaimed excitedly 

“Hell yeah. Give me your mean faces.” you and Carl gave him your best mean game faces “Are you ready?” he exclaimed one last time, “YEAH” 

He got into position, he looked at you, and you looked at him, Then he started to thrash in the water so you did the same, trying to kick up rocks from the quarry floor, thrashing your arms. Carl had his net in the middle of it. You and Carl laugh while Shane bobbed in and out of the water. He even began to lightly splash you

“All right, they're coming your way. They're coming your way. Go on, get 'em, get 'em. They're coming your way, come on.” he shouted excitedly “Catch them frogs. Catch them frogs. They're coming, little man! Get 'em! Get that net in there and get 'em!” 

You trashed around some more before Carl brought the net close to him

“Just dirt” Carls face dropped, “maybe they’re somewhere else?” you said. Shane just shrugged his shoulders “All right, we've got to start over. Come on, let's find this bucket” You helped Shane with the bucket, plunging yourself underwater

When you came back up you saw Lori coming down the path and stopping in front of Carl “Hey, Carl, what did I tell you about not leaving Dale's sight?” you waded over to them and sat down on a rock

“But Shane said we could catch frogs, remember?” Carl argued “Yeah, we were just about to move to another bank,” you told her as you ringed some water out of the bottom of your shirt.

“It doesn't matter what Shane says. It matters what I say. Go on back to camp” she guided him up and out “I'll be right behind you, and you can stay if ya want Y/n” As Carl walked away you just looked at yourself self “I  think im gonna ask for a towel first” you waded through the water trying to get to the women washing clothes

You could hear Shane and Lori, talking but could only make out bits and pieces of it “You stay away from my son. You don't look at him. You don't talk to him” You heard Lori say “hell you should stay away from Y/n”, the more you moved the less you could hear. Finally, you made it to Amy, Andrea, Jacqui, And Carol. With Ed, not far away.

“H-hi, do you guys have a towel?” Jacqui looked at your soppy wet clothes.

“my lord child, you look like you just walked through a hurricane” She put the piece of clothing down and began to look around “All we got is a wash rag sweetie” You took the rag from her, thanking her, and began to dry your self the best you could so you weren't sopping wet when you went to change

Juqci went right back to work, and Ed was right behind them smoking. You could feel his eyes on you “Hey, why don't ya maker yer self useful and start washin’ them there clothes” he pointed to a pile by Jacqui. You looked at them and noticed Andreas' face was full of annoyance

“Ed tell you what,” she got up, walking towards him “you don’t like how your laundry is done, you're more than welcome to pitch instead of telling a kid to” She threw some clothes at him “Here”, he caught them and threw them back at her face

Amy got up trying to stop Andrea from blowing her lid “aint my job missy” he took a puff of his smoke.

“What is your job Ed?” at this point, you stopped to watch Andrea fight with Ed “Sittin’ on your ass all day smoking cigarettes?” he flicked his smoke by her feet 

“it sure as hell ain't listening to some uppity smart-mouthed bitch tell ya what” he looked at Carol “Come on, let's go” Carol got up meekly, with an apologetic look on her face. You didn't know her super well but she always looked small and scared

“I don't think she needs to go anywhere with you, Ed” Andrea got in carols way, blocking her from Ed 

“And I say it's none of your business. Come on now. You heard me.” Carol walked up trying to pass Andrea but she tried to convince her to stay, but Carol just didn't listen “Hey, don't think I won't knock you on your ass just 'cause you're some college-educated cooze, All right?” he pointed his stare at carol “Now you come on now or you gonna regret it later.” he gritted through his teeth

“So she can show up with fresh bruises later, Ed” Jacqui stated, your eyes widened from shock “Yeah, we've seen them.” they all started to surround Ed while he laughed, getting angry by the second 

“Stay out of this. Now come on! You know what? This ain't none of y'all's business. You don't want to keep prodding the bull here, okay? Now I am done talking. Come on” he ranted, he grabbed carols arm and started to walk away with her 

You all started to protest, you even grabbed onto her shirt, pulling it lightly “Carol, you don't have-” All of a sudden Ed yelled

“YOU DON'T TELL ME WHAT! I TELL YOU WHAT!” then he struck Carol across the face. All hell broke loose as they started to grab at Ed, trying to get him away from Carol as he tried to get at her. Eventually, you and Amy pull Carol away, and you can hear her sob in Amy's arms

Then all of a sudden Shane came in and started to drag Ed away. Jacqui pulled you behind her, shielding you. Shane threw him on the ground, he started to punch him, standing over him. You could hear Carol yelling for him to stop. Even the others were yelling at him to stop, saying he was going to kill him.

You watched in shock as he pummeled the guy. His face was all red and swollen by the time he was done “You put your hands on your wife, your little girl, or anybody else in this camp one more time, I will not stop next time. Do you hear me? Do you hear me?!” he yelled at him, Ed gave a weak yes. “I’ll Beat you to death Ed, I’ll Beat you to death!” he punched him one last time before he got up

Carol was crying as she ran to her “husband”. Apologizing to him like it was her fault he got beat for hitting her, even though he struck her first starting all this. Shane walked away, and you followed him, not wanting to hear any more of Carol's sobs.

*

It had been about an hour since you saw Shane beat Ed, you'd been hiding in the RV. Shane did come by to apologize, saying you shouldn’t have seen that. You just shrugged, saying he deserved it for hitting her.

Eventually, you left the RV and climbed the ladder to the roof to sit with Dale

“Hey kiddo, I see you got some dry clothes on?” you smiled and sat in one of the deck chairs closest to him, “how are ya, kid? I heard you saw what happened down at the quarry” 

“Im okay, rather not talk about it” You brought a knee up to your chin “I finished the book though!” you looked at Dale with a smile.

“Ohh, and what did you think of it?” he was looking off into the distance, since that rotter came into camp, more people were on high alert.

“It was okay, i kinda predicted that the man would come out of nowhere, helping the crime bosses” you started to explain “Then turn around and help him then disappeared again, never to be seen again,” you said in that ‘spooky’ voice people do

Dale chuckled as he looked around, his eyes stopped in one area. He brought his binoculars up to his eyes, you noticed this and walked up beside him “What is it?” he looked down at you, handing you the binoculars 

“Im not sure, it looks like Jim is diggin’ something” You look through and it is as Dale told you, Jim was hard at work digging something over the cliff overlooking the camp “We should probably check it out” he started walking towards the ladder so you followed him

When you walked up to Jim, he was hacking away at the dirt, it was hot as hell outside, making you think he was crazy, but dale was worried for him.

“Jim? You okay? You keep this up, you're gonna keel over out here. Drink some water at least.” you stepped over to him “I brought you some water.” you offered him but he just kept digging, didn't even look at you or Dale as you spoke.

You turned to Dale not knowing what to do. 

You and Dale began to walk down the path deciding to tell people about it, scared for Jim's safety. You got the camp to see everyone surrounding Amy and Andrea. They went fishing earlier, and from what you could see they caught plenty of it.

“Hey Dale” Andrea called to him “When's the last time you oiled those line reels? They are a disgrace.” she joked. But you and Dale still kept your concerned faces

“I, uh, I don't want to alarm anyone,” he started “but we may have a bit of a problem.” he pointed towards the cliff Jim was at.

“He’s been at it for hours, based on how many holes he dug” you pointed out to Shane as he came up to see for himself “We tried to offer him water but he didn't respond or even look at us” you added, Shane just hmmed, “lead the way” he started to walk so you and Dale showed him, some other decided to follow to.

When you got up there you could see that Jim was already starting a new hole.

“Hey, Jim.” he tried to grab his attention “Why don't you hold up, all right? Just give me a second here, please.” Jim looked at Shane with an annoyed look on his face.

“What do you want?” he asked with an aggressive tone, he noticed all the people staring at him with concerned looks, you still had the water in case he wanted some.

“We’re all a little concerned, thats all man” he stopped his shoveling and looked at all of you, “Dale and Y/n say you’ve been up here for hours” Moreles interjects “I tried to offer you water but you just ignored me” you walked up to Jim and offed the water again.

Jim just gave a strange look, like it was normal “So?” Shane countered “So, what ya diggin’?” Jim looked down, trying to find his answer, the air was thick with worry and Shane tried to fix “Are you trying to head to China Jim?” he joked.

“What does it matter? Im not hurting anyone” he went back to digging his hole and Dale stepped up to talk to his friend. 

“Yeah, except maybe yourself. It's a hundred degrees today.” he gestured to the woods “You can't keep this up.” his voice was laced with concern for his friend. But Jim just scoffed and kept up with his digging “Sure I can, Watch me.”

Lori walked up from behind, standing next to Dale with her arms crossed “Jim, they're not gonna say it so I will. You're scaring people. You're scaring my kids and Carol's daughter.” you were taken aback when Lori described you as her kid.

But Jim didn't share your reaction, instead, he got defensive “They got nothing to be scared of. I mean, what the hell, people? I'm out here by myself.” he started to get more and more defensive as he talked “Why don't you all just go and leave me the hell alone?”

He got back to digging once again as Shane exchanged glances with the others. 

“We think that you need to take a break, okay? Why don't you go and get yourself in the shade? Some food maybe.” he put his hands on his hips like he didn't know what to say.

“I'll tell you what… maybe in a little bit I'll come out here and help you myself. Jim, just tell me what it's about. Why don't you just go ahead and give me that shovel?” Jim stopped again, giving Shane an attitude when he talked.

“Or what” he stared at Shane with annoyance.

“There is no or what. I'm asking you. I'm coming to you and I'm asking you, please. I don't want to have to take it from you.” you could tell things between them were getting tense. Jim stood in front of Shane, with the shovel on his shoulder.

“And if I don't, then what? Then you're gonna beat my face in like Ed Peletier, aren't you?” he looked around at all of you “Y'all seen his face, huh? What's left of it.” he yelled “See, now that's what happens when someone crosses you” he leaned into Shane's face. Shane looked like he wanted to yell at Jim

“That was different, Jim.” Shane started to defend himself before you and Amy started defending him 

“You weren't there. Ed was out of control. He was hurting his wife” Amy spoke up first “Yeah, he hit first, Shane was just helpin’ Carol” Jim started yelling at you all

“That is their marriage. That is not his.” he pointed in Caroal's direction, and she looked away in shame “He is not judge and jury. Who voted you king boss, huh?” Shane just shook his head and walked up to Jim, he asked Jim to hand over the shovel but Jim just kept it away, walking away from Shane

Jim pushed Shane away and began to try and hit Shane, but he ducked just in time. You gasped and jumped away, and hid behind Dale. he put an arm in front of you shielding you in case. When Jim missed Shane got up and tackled him to the ground. 

Jim started yelling at him, saying he had no right, as he subdued him to the ground. He pinned his arms behind his back like he was arresting him. Shane tried to calm him down the best he could but nothing worked as Jim continued to freak out.

“Jim. Jim, nobody's gonna hurt you. You hear me? Shh. Jim, nobody is gonna hurt you, okay?” Shane tried and tried but nothing worked. Instead, it sparked Jim's fear more.

“That's a lie. That's the biggest lie there is. I told that to my wife and my two boys. I said it 100 times. It didn't matter.” you could see from behind Dale that jims eyes were getting wet, from tears 

“They came out of nowhere. There were dozens of 'em. Just pulled 'em right out of my hands.” you couldn't help but relate to him, it’s how to ended up here in the first place “You know, the only reason I got away was 'cause the dead were too busy eating my family.” he was so quiet, and sad. You walked away and headed down the path. You felt tears stroll down your cheeks thinking of your momma.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Next // We Ate Some Fish And Things Got Crazy

Previous // I Met Two Old Guys In The Woods

Taglist // @your-shifting-gurl, @underrated-jellygirl

// Masterlist //

[giggly-squiggily]

The Elephant In The Room (Blue Lock)

Heyo! You know who's been on my mind alot lately? Reo. I don't write enough of him- and given what went down in this past season I figured he'd need some good ol tickles so that's what I did :D This got a fair bit angsty at times but like- Second Selection Reo is angsty. It kinda fits. I hope you like it!

Cloud 9 (Taglist)

@myreygn @cupcake-spice13

CW: Swearing, Angst, Blue Lock Spoilers (Second Selection)

Summary: It's about time they addressed the whole "Nagi situation". Reo's resistant and Kunigami's worried. Interestingly enough it's Chigiri who finds an effective solution.

“You don’t smile a lot, do you?”

Reo’s already existing scowl deepened, violet eyes glaring daggers into crimson as he curled up further in his bed. “What’s it to you, anyway? Not like you care whether I smile or not.”

“Ooo, moody.” Chigiri leaned into his hands, unfazed. It wasn’t the first night they were all staying together, but it was the first time any of them addressed the elephant in the room. “And here I thought I was bad.”

“You are.” Kunigami pointed out with a small grin, earning an eye roll and a less than kind gesture sent his way. “Really though- I don’t think you’re the person to really point that out, Princess. If I recall correctly, you barely smiled once when the team was first coming together.”

“Had a lot going on.” Chigiri shrugged, though his voice softened when addressing the hero. Turning back to Reo, he tried again. “Kay so- are we just gonna pretend the Nagi thing didn’t happen.”

“Yes.” Reo began just as Kunigami said. “Nope.”

Now he was glaring at the ginger, extra irritated. “Drop it will you? It’s got nothing to do with either of you.”

“Sure, but you’re our teammate. Not to mention our roommate. Can’t deny it gets a little tense when you’re glowering over there.” Kunigami shrugged, trying for a smile. “Besides- we’re in the same boat with Isagi-”

“It’s not the same.” Reo cut off, voice sharp. Chigiri raised brows as they shared a look.

“Okay- my bad. Just trying to feel it out.” Kunigami held up a hand in apology, not sure whether to push or let it be. Ideally if they were to make it to the end, they’d have to start getting along. They were fine on the field, but this uncomfortable eggshell dynamic was starting to wear on him. Maybe it was the altruist in him, but he wanted to show Reo that they were there for him.

“Lover’s quarrel?” Chigiri on the other hand seemed to want to antagonize the other. He flopped forward on the lower bunk and tucked his chin against his arms, feet kicking behind him like he was a girl at a slumber party. “That explains a lot- were you two dating before Blue Lock or…?”

“Chigiri..” Kunigami began, but he was cut off when Reo sat up, eyes scary.

“Drop it. Now.” He growled.

“Or what?” Chigiri asked back, boldy hopping out of his bed and flopping into Reo’s. “You’re gonna sulk more?” He reached out, poking Reo’s side. “You know- whenever the hero over there and I fight, it’s super dramatic. Lots of yelling and drama- one time I set his sweatpants on fire.”

“When’d you do that?” Kunigami blinked. Reo’s mouth was twitching, though the ginger suspected it was more from the relentless pokes Chigiri was giving in directly into his side.

“He forgot already. Don’t you know that’s what we fight about the most?” Chigiri kept poking, starting to grin when Reo’s lips wobbled, leaning away from the touch. “He’s got the memory of a goldfish. I bet you he’d already forgotten our anniversary.”

“I don’t ca-are! Ugh, go aw-way!” Reo leaned further from the pokes. Interestingly enough, he wasn’t climbing off the bed. Kunigami started to smile too.

“Oi, you said you loved my goldfish memory.” He got up and kneeled beside the bed, poking Reo’s other side. “You said I was the nicest fish you’ve ever won at the fair. Crazy one, this guy. He kissed me, and boom! I turned into a human! It was like a budget version of the Princess and the Frog.”

“Oi, who are you calling the budget version?” Chigiri raised a brow, still poking Reo. “I like to think I’m rather expensive.”

“Yep, a whole 2000 yen worth.”

“Motherfu-”

“Gohohohd, you two are annohohoohying!” Reo blurted out, unable to keep the giggles out of his throat. He doubled over, trying to block out the hands poking and prodding his sides and waist. At some point Chigiri shifted from pokes to grabbing, squeezing his side with gentle pressure while Kunigami increased the amount of fingers poking his ribs. “Goohohoohoho awhahahhay, I waahhahahant to brhohoohohhoohohod!”

“Nah, you’ve been brooding enough. We’re running out of toothbrushes.” Chigiri pointed out, bringing another hand in so he could squeeze Reo’s hip. That got a reaction- the purple haired striker doubled over with a cackle, rich sounding laughter exploding from his lips. “It’s bad enough you destroyed your own, but you even snapped mine in half! I had to get a new one from Ego-sensei!”

“Yeah- plus we don’t like seeing you so down.” Kunigami bailed on tickling his ribs to grab his other hip, squeezing and massaging it like Chigiri and increasing Reo’s laughing fits. “We want to help, Reo! Or at the very least- we want to be there for you. Talk to us!”

“GHEHAHHAHHAHAHAHAHA!” The purple haired teen let out a loud squeal, slapping at their hands as he squirmed, torn between guarding and elbowing them. His face was flushed red, and his eyes were squeezed shut with mirth- tears brimming the corners as he wheezed. “FIHHIHIHINE FIHIHIHIIHNE I’LL TAHAHAHHALK! NOW STAHAHHAHAHAHAP!”

“Hmm..should we, hero?” Chigiri asked, raising a brow at Kunigami. The ginger looked between him and Reo, considering.

“Yeah, let’s let him breathe, princess.” They released him, watching Reo fall back as he gasped for air. His bangs fell in his eyes, hiding them as he sucked in heavy breaths, legs twitching from remaining sensation. Chigiri hummed happily as he got comfortable, stealing Reo’s pillow and tucking it under his chin. Kunigami readjusted so he was sitting on his knees, arms folded against the bed as they waited for Reo to talk.

“Fihihirst….fuuhck you.” He grumped, earning a snort from Chigiri and a grin from Kunigami. Reo pushed his hair away, voice tired. “You two suck.” When they didn’t respond, he crossed his arms over his chest, closing his eyes. For a moment, it seemed like he was falling asleep.

“It’s not the same. You two- you found each other and that was that. Sure, you might be mad at Isagi for going on ahead, but at least you have one another.” Reo sounded so sad that moment, knuckles whitening as he shook with- what, tears? Anger? “You didn’t have to watch the person you care about abandon you after everything you’ve done for them. Nagi just- he didn’t even hesitate! He left me to join up with them and didn’t look back at all. It was like I didn’t exist…” He blinked rapidly, shaking his head so he wouldn’t cry. “Call it what you want- lover’s quarrel, my pet abandoning me, me being dramatic- I don’t care! It just really fucking hurt what he did.” A tear escaped. He refused to let the rest fall. “It really, really fucking hurts.”

The pair were quiet, letting Reo’s words fall over them as he struggled to wipe away the tears in his eyes. After a moment, Chigiri poked his arm, voice soft.

“Hey…sorry. About the pet comment.” He sounded like he meant it. “And about Nagi.”

“Don’t- I don’t care about him.” A lie and they all knew it.

“It’s okay to care. I’d be hurt too if Princess did that to me and vice versa.” Kunigami reached out, taking one of Reo’s hands, squeezing gently. “You don’t have to pretend you don’t care about him.”

“I d-don’t-” Reo sniffed, but he didn’t pull his hand away.

“Good. In that case let’s run him over.” Chigiri decided. That shocked a laugh out of Reo, startling him out of his tears.

“Where the hell are you gonna get a car? And besides- you can’t drive.” Kunigami blinked, shaking his head with a grin.

“Neither do half the people in the K-drama’s my sister watches but they still find a way.” Chigiri shrugged, giggling when Reo let out a snort, covering his face. “Fine- we’ll hit him with a shopping cart. Or maybe with a shoe. Covered in-”

“Ew stop!” Reo shoved Chigiri over, nearly sending him off the bed. He was smiling though- the first real one they’ve seen since they teamed up. “Ugh, you’re awful!”

“You knew that already.” Chigiri smiled cherublike, making Reo laugh more as he shoved his discarded pillow at him.

“I’ll take care of Nagi. It’s…fine.” Reo sighed, though this time it lacked its usual heaviness. “I’ll kick his ass in our next match against him, and that will be it. But erm…” He averted his gaze, neck reddening. “Thanks for eh…helping I guess.”

“Of course.” Kunigami nodded, standing up. “That’s what hero’s do.”

“And Princesses I suppose. Gotta help the little folk out every one and a while.” Chigiri rolled off the bed, making his way towards the bottom bunk across the way before face planting into it. “Man, I’m tired. Wake me up when the next match begins.”

Kunigami snorted as he pulled the discarded blanket over Chigiri, climbing up and into his own bed. Reo wiggled into his own just as the lights went out- bedtime across the entire stadium. His heart still hurt- a pain he knew wouldn’t go away until he and Nagi had words, but it didn’t hurt as bad now. He didn’t feel so…bottled up.

Maybe opening up to people wasn’t so bad. With people like Kunigami and Chigiri- he could see himself doing it more.

Thanks for reading!

[petalsofyouth]

properly together | ran haitani x reader

tw: friends with benefits, implied cheating, implied underage illegal activities (lol), unestablished relationship (obviously) aaand that's it i think | if i missed something and it's worth mentioning here please do tell me.

wc: 6818

~

The windowsill in the boys’ bedroom of Haitani’s apartment is wide enough to fit three people and for that you are very grateful. 

The room is dark. The only light here is the streetlamp and that of the lit cigarette. Ran’s “Hero” smells bitter and they taste even worse. You wish he had bought menthol “Seven Stars”, but he said there were none of those in the vending machine and he was too tired to go somewhere else. You pout and he laughs, but you know that it’s the thought that matters and so you smoke “Hero”. The three of you share it together. 

It’s not really the smoking that you like. Quite the opposite. It’s the atmosphere that covers the entire world when Ran fishes out a pack out of his sweats, jeans or a cupboard. It’s the way he is the first one to light it and then he always gives it to Rindou - ladies first rule doesn’t work here - and only then it’s yours. Usually it already has a sweet taste to it. Of energy drink and something else that you can’t quite tell. You don’t mind it. And they don’t mind a stain of lipstick or gloss on it. 

You think, it only adds to experience. 

One after one, you smoke the whole pack. It’s a long night and neither of you wants to go to bed just yet. Ran had a bad day. He didn’t tell you that, but his body is tense as he lays between your legs, his back on your chest, and you can see how Rindou eyes him every now and then. Maybe something went shitty on the streets. It always does. Or maybe he had an argument with his mother again. They always have something to quarrel about. His way of living or her morals. 

You don’t pry though as prying never works with Ran. It only gets him angry. 

“Do you think we’ll miss this time when we get older?” It’s Rindou. The dawn won’t come if he hasn’t asked or said something pretentiously deep. Despite the teasing and snorting he gets from you and Ran, you genuinely love his questions. They make you think. “I mean. We won’t be sixteen. Like ever again. And I can’t imagine us sitting here in our thirties. Sharing a whole pack of cigarettes. That’s what teenagers do.”

Ran’s lips quiver and not from crying. With half-closed sleepy eyes he looks at his younger brother as if he is the dumbest person alive. You can’t see Ran’s face, but by the immediately offended look on Rindou’s, you can imagine it well. 

“You wouldn’t understand.” Rindou mutters, snatching a last cigarette out of Ran’s fingers. He gives it away easily. He laughs. 

“You are dumb. Why wouldn’t we be able to sit on the fucking windowsill and smoke some dumb cigarettes? Who’s gonna tell us no? They tell us no now and we are still doing it. So I don’t see why you are being sappy.” Ran raises his head that lays on your shoulder and tilts it to the side so he can see your face. “What do you think?”

The words are dead on your tongue. You don’t really know what to say or better how to phrase what you want to say. Everything seems not quite right. You blame the time and the fog of cigarettes that is overflowing your brain. You shouldn't smoke that much. 

The expectant look on Rindou’s face is what gets you talking and taking his side. If Ran is your best friend, Rindou is your soulmate. You love him a little more. “I do get you. It’s like we can’t ever get back to this. We might do whatever we want later, but this is not going to happen ever again. I think it’s sad too. I’ll miss these times.” 

“You are silly. When we get older I’ll be hella rich. I’ll buy us a penthouse and we’ll smoke the whole day by the open window if we want.” Ran’s hand reaches out for the cigarette and Rindou obediently gives it to him. Before he brings it to his mouth and finishes it off, he lets you take the last drag for this night. “I bet we also will smoke something better than this crap.” 

“There’s no windows in penthouses, dumbass. You can’t open them.” 

They bicker for some time and you tune out of it, appreciating the raw beauty of the moment instead. It’s summer and you don’t have school tomorrow and Ran promised he will take you to the party this weekend with him. And Rindou promised you will go to Kujukurihama beach to swim and sunbathe and if some of your female friends come too or covers for you, you can even stay overnight there. [You believe it’s stupid of your parents to tolerate your sleepovers at Haitani’s all the time, or rather they know you are here, but you tell them you aren’t and they are forced to believe you and you are also living on the same street which is another factor for them worrying much less. Still, you think it’s stupid. Not that you can do anything about it, either way.] And this summer is full of promises that are so basic for the people your age, it finally feels normal. 

Because before that was juvie and you were waiting for your best friends to get released. And after that was a lot of gangs and street fights and Ran dropping out of school with Rindou following him and them - but mostly Ran - trying to sustain the remains of their family. Their mom, a drinking shadow of what she once was. Their father, long forgotten. We are just kids, you think, and there’s a possibility they won’t even make it to their mid-twenties. What about the penthouse and windowsill and sharing a pack of cigarettes? What about it then? 

“What’s wrong?” Ran’s face is millimetres from yours. His body is a dead weight on you, pinning you down. You shove him in the shoulder as a signal to get off you, but he doesn’t get the memo. He presses his lips to your forehead. “I think you need to go to bed. You are tired.” 

Behind Ran’s back you can hear rustling of clothes and a small masked yawn which sounds more like a knowing sigh. Rindou’s feet spank the wooden floor and he winces. His legs are probably numb from sitting in a crumpled position for so long. He kisses your cheek goodnight. “Where are you sleeping today?” 

“Auntie said I can take the couch.” 

“Nah. Stay here. I’ll sleep there. You and Ran won’t wake up before noon anyways.” 

You want to stop him and say that he shouldn’t and that you all know you won’t really sleep in Rindou’s bed, but in Ran’s, because that’s what you’ve been doing for the last year and a little before that too. You want to catch Rindou’s wrist and stop him and tell him that you have no idea how it happened and why. That it has no meaning. That it’s just you and Ran comforting each other in a way no one ever can comfort either of you. Not even him. Their brother and a best friend. The soulmate. 

And so you let him go and he slips out of the room, winking at you before he closes the door. You think that he might do it for himself too, because it’s awkward listening to your and Ran’s whimpers, grunts, small giggles and moonlight promises that mean nothing in the light of the day. You think that’s the main reason. There’s no way Rindou doesn’t know.

It’s silent for a while. Ran’s laying on his side, his head on your chest and arms around your waist. You are afraid he’s fallen asleep. If he is there’ll be no way you could wake him up and be doomed to sleep on the windowsill with his weight stealing your every other breath away. 

There’s only one way to know. 

Gently you brush the long hair away from his face. You tuck them around his ear. A blonde strand, his natural hair colour that you love so much, gets caught in his earring. It’s a new one. The one he bought because the stripe on it was a purple colour. No way he wouldn’t have an earring that matches his eyes. “So. Wanna tell me what’s wrong?” He asks, opening his eyes. He grimaces when you tug on his hair a bit. 

“Should I take it off?” You are referring to the earring and when he nods a ‘yes’ you quickly work out the lock. It’s harder than you thought so it takes you a while. He patiently waits for you to be done.

When you don't speak he chuckles and you feel his smile on your skin, through the old worn out T-shirt you are wearing. “Was it your way to change the topic?” 

“Not really. No.” You shrug, finally done with his earring. You take it in your palm, caging it inside, so it won’t fall. “I mean I was thinking about what Rindou said and then I think I got overwhelmed. That’s it. Do you want to tell me what was bothering you? Another gang issue I won’t understand?” There’s much more to that simple “overwhelmed’. He’s well aware of that, but he also knows that you aren’t explaining it further for his sake. 

Because you don’t want to guilt trip him. 

Because you don’t believe he is to blame for anything that happened and will most definitely happen again. 

Because you don’t see him the way most people see him. 

Because you care. 

Because you love him in whatever way it is that you do. He’ll accept it. 

He accepts it then and reaches out to kiss you on this little spot under your jaw. 

“Not because you won’t understand, but because I don’t want you to think about it. Don’t want you to worry about me and Rin. We’ll be fine.” At this moment you are the same. You smile at him and hook your hands under his arms, bringing him closer to you, hugging him. Kissing his soft hair. “Get in bed. Let’s fall asleep while it’s still dark.” 

That night you don’t do anything besides sharing lazy sloppy kisses where he says i swear it’s the last one and then it never is and he steals another one and another one and another one. You giggle into his mouth and he smiles and you never want this to end, because you after all understand Rindou. 

You’ll never be sixteen again.  ***

The first time it happens Rindou is not around. He’s out on his very first serious date. He didn't tell you it was serious, but he asked for Ran’s black turtleneck, polished his motorcycle and before hopping on it checked his wallet to make sure he got enough money. He told you not to wait for him and Ran shrugged saying you guys weren't going to. He was too quick to speak though because you were ecstatic to learn how it all went and what they did. In all your fifteen years you’ve never been on a date once. 

The evening was supposed to be spent quietly. You threw a small dinner from whatever leftovers they had in their fridge. Ran was talking the whole time. He was in those rare moods of his where he would tell you about what the gang were up to. 

Nor he nor Rindou would particularly go into details with you around. Yes, you knew some of their friends. Yes, you sometimes hang out with them. But that’s it. You knew almost nothing about their activities. And all you knew were not coming from their mouths. 

It was when you munched on oyakodon with his strangely sober mother that got home from another date just in time for food, the doorbell rang. You couldn’t see who it was and Ran didn’t let the person come in. He sprinted upstairs, came back dressed in his gang uniform and ignored his mother telling you to wait for him to come back. He promised not to be long. 

And just like that he was gone. 

You looked at his bowl with food. It was half-empty. Your heart sank. As if it would make him return you stared at the door, but it wouldn’t be opened until well into the night. You of course couldn’t know that.

“Do you think I can have it?” His mother, sometimes a stranger in her own house, brought the bowl closer to her, inspecting it. “Oh. That boy. He ate all the chicken. He was always like that. Eating what he liked first. You know, I…” 

Her words fell dead on your ears. You didn’t listen to her, but that small, not remarkable in any way fact, that he ate chicken and left only rice brought you enough comfort to not obsessively think about his whereabouts for the next few hours. 

When Ran shows up, his eyebrow bloody and split, he finds you on the couch with a book in your hands. Before you close the book he sees the cute cat on its cover and reads the name of the author and title of the book. “I am a cat” by Soseki Natsume. He wonders if you brought the book along with you or stole it from his mother’s bedroom. Back in the days she used to read a lot. Just like you. 

“Ran…” You start, standing up from the couch. Your voice is small and you sound like you are sorry, but he has no idea why you should be. “Let’s get you to the bathroom. Are you hurt or…?” 

He interrupts you, wrapping his arms around your shoulders and falling with you to the couch. He takes a deep breath. “I am just tired. That’s all. Let’s sit here a bit.” 

“Okay. If that’s what you want. If that will make you feel better.” 

He hums and closes his eyes, absorbing the calm air of the house and your body warmth. His ears are ringing. He still hears shouting and he so desperately wants it to stop he is ready to do anything. But the voices won’t leave him alone until a certain time passes. He knows that well. He’s been there before. 

“Ran?” You raise your head to look at him and all you see is blood and drained beauty. He is in pain. You can tell that much. You can feel that much. Your hand reaches out to his face and soon your fingertips are red with his blood, but the voices in his head have stopped and he flashes his eyes open, staring at you in confusion. “I am sorry. I know you don’t really like it when someone touches your face. You just looked so uncomfortable I thought I could make it better. I made sandwiches for you and Rindou. He isn’t home yet, though.” 

You are spurting out nonsense and Ran hopes it’s not because you are afraid of him or because you think he might get angry because you touched him. He dreads the reason so he allows you to talk to your heart's content and you don’t stop for a very long time. Not until you notice his soft gaze and small quite smile. 

“What is it?” You ask as if you weren’t throwing a word after word at him that barely made any sense. 

He doesn’t reply. There’s no need and there’s no answer. He leans in and pecks your lips. It’s gentle at first. Barely there. Somehow, he isn’t afraid or nervous. Somehow, you are the same. But everything seems so achingly right, you kiss him back and it’s a mess of teeth and tongue and he knows he’s the first man you’ve ever kissed and therefore he is patient with you. And he is careful. And when his hands dip down to fondle your breasts and then inside your panties to play with you, he is considerate enough to ask you if you really want to do it with him. If you don’t it won’t change a thing between us. 

Ran takes you right there on the couch and then he takes you to the shower where he licks every sore part of your body under falling warm water. 

It’s in his bed between the kisses when he tells you. “When I wake up, you'd better be here. I won’t regret this and I don’t want you to either. Ever. We are still best friends. We always will be. Right?” 

“Right.” 

Right. Right. Right. 

***

The first big fight with Ran or as he would later say a simple misunderstanding happens a week after your seventeenth birthday. 

As usual you spend it with your close family and friends of your parents who they invited over to your house for dinner. It’s not really that big of a celebration and there’s less than ten people in all, yet, as a centre of attention it feels as if you are some sort of relique everyone is praying to. You don’t despise it, but at the end of the table there’s Rindou who coughs every time someone says something that only adults in their mid-thirties say in a proud voice as if they just discovered how to eliminate everything evil on this planet. And then, of course, there’s this certain evil that stares at you the entire day since they got there. 

You try your best to not get caught in him and everything he is. However, it’s too tempting and you look at him as he tilts his head and mouths a small what. You frown and his lips quiver in a smile. With his hair down, he looks exceptionally handsome today. You are almost not mad at yourself for sparing him attention. 

Your unnoticeable to anyone - or so you think - exchange is cut short when your father’s best friend asks you if you have a boyfriend, because, of course, he is sure that you do, since you are so beautiful and extremely smart. And if not a boyfriend, maybe you do have someone you like? The timing is divine, you think. 

“No. Not really.” You say and Ran’s gaze makes you burn. 

The dinner carries on till the end calmly. 

It’s when the three of you join your friend to celebrate you in a proper way that things take an ugly turn. Ran’s first thought is that you are a liar, because no way this boy, your so-said friend from school, doesn't like you. No way you don’t notice it. His heart is fast to assume and his brain is a little bit slower to stop him. 

The whole night he doesn’t speak to you. His downturned eyes narrowed watching your every movement. The way you laugh with the boy and how you touch his arm so gently and how he whispers something into your ear and you nod. So happy and so content.

Ran fucking hates it. He hates the guy and the rest of the night is spent trying to prove it. 

Too caught up in mutual joy you don’t pay attention to his mood swings. It’s Ran. He’s always been like this. He never liked your friends and he never tried to befriend them. [For that there was Rindou.]

Before four in the morning Ran disappears. He takes a call, makes sure you’ve heard that it was from a girl, and never returns. You and Rindou go back home alone. He stays over at your house. Your parents laying out a mattress in your room. It has two pillows and two blankets, but Ran obviously won’t need any today. The sight of it fills Rindou with unbearable sadness. 

For the next five days Ran avoids you as best as he can and when you come to his house to confront him about it and about his rude behaviour at your birthday party, like what do you have against Kage he didn’t do anything wrong, the switch inside him breaks and he goes insane. Not only you are on a first name basis with that boy, you also came here, to Ran’s house, to defend him. Ran’s mouth tastes bitter and the words that he spits at you are bitter too. 

“So fucking desperate for someone to fuck you.” It would be easier if he was screaming. If he would let his rage run wild, but he doesn't. He speaks through gritted teeth and for the first time ever you are genuinely scared of him. You wonder if that’s what he looks like in fighting. Calm, collected and so intimidating. There’s something eerie about this new Ran you are seeing before you. You step back as he comes closer. “You are always like this. Always willing to hand your body to anyone who would have you.” 

On the stairways to the second floor is his mother sitting with a bottle of cheap wine. Today is a bad day because she is drinking it straight from the bottle. The corners of her lips twitch as she watches the drama unfolding before her feet. It’s unclear what she is really thinking and if she’s thinking at all. Her eyes are cloudy and there’s tears in their corners. Rindou who’s in the room too is afraid Ran might snap at her. 

He tries to intervene. “Ran. You better stop it right now.” 

“Really? Defending her? Did she let you hit too?” He turns to his brother, sees his calm, serious expression and doesn’t like it. Doesn’t like it one bit. So he returns back to you, because looking at you upset hurts him better than anything else can. “One Haitani isn’t enough for us anymore? Need two? That’s why you were so loose the other day. I couldn’t even…” 

When Rindou takes off his glasses you panic. They’ve never physically fought before and you don’t want them to breach this small achievement. If they lay a hand on each other it would alter their relationship forever. 

You don’t want that. 

Not over something so stupid. 

Not over you. 

You try to slide in between them - because you know neither of them would willingly hurt you; not even Ran in his present state - but Rindou grips your arm and puts you behind him. He’s grown taller over the last few years and his shoulders are insanely broad. And despite him being shorter than Ran he looks massive and more developed. Still, you have a feeling if they do fight he won’t win. It’s a shameful thought, but it’s there and you can’t brush it aside. So you plead. Once again.

“Rindou please. I don’t care. I’ll leave.” The desperate tone to your voice and the tears that can be heard in it as well don’t work on Rindou as you might have thought it would. He gets angry. He pushes Ran, his large palms coming in contact with Ran’s grey sweatshirt and Ran stumbles, taking a step back. The next punch is landing on Ran’s face and you swear you can hear the skin being torn open. You see the red blood gushing out blotching Ran’s fair skin and you sob. 

Your first instinct is to rush out to him and treat his wound, unafraid of the dirt and spears he smudged across your heart earlier, but you don’t move. You accept Ran’s anger and you accept Rindou’s anger as well, and you bleed open, your cuts invisible, until the muddy clammy blood forms puddles around you and you are in them, suffocating.

“Get the fuck out of here, Ran.” Rindou says, his breath uneven, when Ran doesn’t strike back. “Go get some fresh air. I don’t fucking know. Just go the fuck away.” 

As Ran leaves, their mother laughs. She says you chose the wrong Haitani, not knowing that there was never a choice. 

You spend the night on the couch talking with Rindou. You both cook a simple meal to lose yourself in the simplicity of routine and then steal a cheap alcohol from his mother’s cupboard. You both doubt she would even notice. That night you confess to Rindou about everything and he listens calmly. Half he knew, half was just revealed. He doesn’t comment on your special relationship with his brother. He wouldn’t dare. The only thing he says is that he always knew it would end up like this. You and Ran and the absurdity that you both are. He doesn’t understand it and he probably never will. He just hopes the three of you will make it to that promised penthouse. To a better life. Together. 

“Are you gonna wait for him?” Rindou yawns, stretching his hands as he stands up from the couch. “If you want, you can sleep in my bed today. I can crash here.” 

“It’s okay, Rin. You don’t have to.” 

He nods. There’s no point in arguing with you and he’s too tired to do so anyway. Before he goes to sleep he brings you a blanket and a pillow. As to say he doubts Ran would return today. 

But he does. He does return when the night turns blue. You sit on the couch wrapped in a blanket and stare at the ceiling. Your eyes are glossy and your brain hurts from the crying so much, you can feel it pulsating. You don’t react when he opens the door and you don’t when he quietly closes it behind him. He sees you immediately and he sighs, his lips parted. Ran hoped you would be asleep when he’s back. It’s not that he didn’t want to see you. He just wasn’t ready to have a talk with you when the worms of guilt still eat him alive. 

Of course, he can go upstairs and not say a word to you. Ignore you. He’s not going to lie. He’s still mad at you. Still mad at you being all over that guy [you weren’t really] and still mad that you don’t see it as something he could be upset over. But he is also mad at himself. And the relationship he has with himself is even more painful and messier than the one he has with you. So he takes off his shoes and with a conbini bag in hands walks towards the couch, where he sits next to you. 

There’s a distance between the two of you and neither wants to be the one to rupture it. The guilt that didn’t let him abandon you a few minutes before now won’t let him speak. 

“Ran…” You start and your voice in the empty house, with two people asleep and two awake, sounds too cold. He rolls his head on the couch headrest and looks at you. “I never wanted you to feel upset about my birthday party and I never would do something intentionally with the other guy when you are around. I know that what we have is not exclusive and we both can do whatever we want, but I’ve never been with other people besides you yet. And I don’t want you to feel bad about it, because I know that you have and I…” 

“Come here.” He interrupts you mid-sentence, because what you just said hurt him more than all the punches and wounds he has received in his life and he doesn’t know how to cope with this pain if he doesn't have you everywhere around him. 

You let him take your hands and tug you toward him, and by the way he spreads his legs you understand he wants you in his lap. You throw one leg over his hips and settle down, straddling him. Usually it would work him up in seconds, but today, right now, there’s nothing sexual about it. It’s sadness all around you. 

“I am sorry. Look me in the face, please.” Your hands are now in his and he keeps them locked, intertwined together, near your belly. “I am really sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything of what I said. I don’t think about you that way. You are the most precious pure thing in my life and what I said was not about you. It was about me. Oh, please. Don’t cry. Don’t cry.” 

There’s panic in his eyes as you tremble, crying silently, and he doesn’t know what to do. How to stop you from whatever nasty emotion he planted in you today. He kisses the corners of your lips and nudges your cheek with his nose. He cradles your face and his thumbs smoothes your eyebrows. He holds you so close to him and whispers sweet nothings along with earnest sorries. And he is so tender, so soft, so young at this moment you forgive him everything. You realise you have long before he even did something wrong. 

“I brought you strawberry sando.” He whispers in the crook of your neck. You sniffle, your fingers in the web of his long long hair. “Do you wanna share?” 

“Always.”  Always, if it’s with you. 

***

His first girlfriend doesn’t change anything and neither does your first boyfriend and all the girls and guys you both date after. 

You still kiss every given chance, you still have sex and you still run to each other if something goes slightly wrong. 

Bad argument with parents? Ran’s arms. 

Lost fight? Your bed. 

Failed exam? A long make out session. 

Can’t come to a decision about something? A good head would solve all the problems. 

Your last guy dumped you? He wasn’t worthy of you anyway. He wasn’t the one, I swear. 

It’s an irony in itself. It isn't healthy and Rindou is the one constantly pointing it out. To you. He wouldn’t say anything to Ran about it. For he gets very defensive when spoken about you. A few arguments they had about it didn’t end up too well and Rindou was too smart to try to straighten his older brother. It was an ungrateful work Rindou didn’t want to commit to. 

Besides, they now - a few arrests later and in a new gang - lived on their own. A shiny new large apartment in a posh area of Roppongi. Not the penthouse Ran promised you two, but something close to it. If younger Rindou doubted they would make it, now he was almost sure they would. The trust in them was never that strong. 

You, a university student now, still lived with your parents on their childhood street. You too wanted to move out, but the rent was too expensive and other than freelance jobs here and there, you had no income. So you were doomed to linger around old ghosts for a bit longer. You didn’t mind it that much and if you want to get out from there you could always crash at Ran’s and Rindou’s place. You did that quite frequently. 

“What are you gonna do if he starts seeing someone seriously?” Rindou asks as he watches you cut the cabbage in half. 

It’s an expected question. He asks you this all the time when you speak about Ran and you and whatever you two have. Still, the unpleasant burn in your chest rings a bell and you shrug which Rindou interprets as i don’t care. In reality it’s a weak attempt to shed the thorns this question prompted. 

“I don’t understand how you can do it daily…” “We don’t do it daily.” He squints. “Yeah. Anyway. Don’t you at least feel something for each other?” You set the knife aside and think about it for a bit. There’s nothing to think about, really. You know very well how you feel. You just don’t want Rindou to know it as well. 

“He is one of the closest people I have. It's understandable that I feel something for him.” You leave it at that. Rindou is not satisfied with your answer, but it will do for now. As he picks up the other knife and starts helping you with the cabbage, he tells you about the new DJ setup he wants to buy and you talk about it for the rest of the evening. 

For now everything is well. 

Days later, though, you walk in on Ran making out with his new girlfriend and even if you’ve seen him kissing other girls before this one is like a breath of fresh air, sobering you up. The only difference is that the air is venomous and there’s hands around your neck, choking you. You feel dead. 

“Oh God.” You say, apologetically, covering your eyes. You’ve been saying something the moment you opened the door to their apartment with your own key [because of course you do have one, just in case]. Something about how much you hate your university and how much you want to drop out. Now, the words are stuck in your throat and you wave your hands at them, apologies leaving your mouth. 

Ran understands that something is wrong with you immediately. He hopes it’s not what he thinks it is. He hopes it’s not the end of you. 

He is wrong. Because it is. 

Because while he slaps the girl on her butt urging her to get off him, you are already at the door, putting your shoes back on. He catches you there. He asks you to stay and you do. Your hands tremble as he holds them, his grip is painful, but he needs to clasp on you to feel that you are still there. With him. You let him do it. 

Neither of you notices the girl leave. 

“I don’t want to sit there. I…” Your eyes are everywhere, but not on him and he thinks that even if you look at him, you won’t see him. Not now. Not ever again. You smile sheepishly, suddenly afraid and foreign. “Can we sit at the table instead?” 

Instead, he takes you to the bathroom. Sits you on the toilet and fills the bath. He adds scented salt you bought and lights a candle that you so like to have lit when you are soaking together. For whatever reason, he wishes he was at his old house. There they have shower. Somehow, Ran thinks standing and having you in his arms would be better than sitting opposite of each other or him facing your back, that’s if you let him hug you now. He believes you won’t. 

He believes you are already far far away from him and the mundane routine and stupid false idea that it would be different, that he still could’ve made you stay, would you be in his old childhood house is what keeps him together. 

Ran clutches to it as if it could save him, when he knows so well, no one but you have this power over him. 

In the bath you sit opposite him, your knees pressed to your chest, you don’t touch him as if you are avoiding him, but when he reaches out you slip your hands in his. It kills you that it doesn’t feel like anything, but burnt sugar. Like something sweet that is already buried. 

“Remember that time Rindou said he never wanted to get older?” 

You nod. Curious as to why he had remembered this particular insignificant moment of your life. But maybe, the significance of the moment is exactly in its insignificance. You rarely miss something with that deep ache in your heart that is obvious to miss. You always long for fragments of your life that are small and tiny. The way he drinks his water. The way his lips curl before he laughs or how he always pecks you before kissing you fully. 

Before your eyes is cloudy blue-ish water. Your vision gets blurry. It’s how you understand you’ve been crying for some time now. 

“I do think I understand him now. I don’t want to get older, because it means you will leave me.” 

“Ran…” 

“It means I will spend the rest of my life killing the need I have for you.” 

“Ran, please…” 

“It means I will always regret how this is my confession to you.” You rush to him, your hands around his neck and you are everywhere. Inside this apartment, inside his arms, inside his beating heart. Inside his very being. You are him and you are his and kilometres away you still will be. 

“Don’t go somewhere I won’t find you.” He whispers as your lips fall near his temple above his eye. He takes off his chunky silver ring off his finger and puts it on yours. It’s the first jewellery he ever bought in his life. He was sixteen back then. It has the meaning of his whole self. “Don’t go somewhere where I can’t follow you. Promise me, love.” 

“I promise, Ran. I’ll always be within your reach.” 

The next day you drop out of the university. Without telling anyone anything you move from Tokyo to Kumamoto where you work as a freelance photographer and a waitress for roughly more than a year before moving abroad. 

No one looks for you. 

The world is silent. 

***

Life doesn’t stop when you turn twenty six as you always thought it would. Age doesn’t crush you or diminish the person you once were. To be completely honest, it didn’t do shit. You don’t feel especially different. Life went on the same it always went and the same it always would. There’s a raw prominent beauty in this phenomena, you can’t quite put into words. It makes you feel very small, in an extenuating kind of way. 

You don’t hate it, but you don’t like it either. 

It is as if you are waiting for the wave that might never come. 

Lately, you’ve been dreaming a lot. The dreams are usually the same. It’s the floor to ceiling windows, the smell of cheap cigarettes that are now long discontinued and a presence of two people that never ever left you. The other one has the small street where your childhood house is and this one is full of cicadas chattering. It’s always summer in this one and you are always young and loved there. You are always happy. 

You don’t differentiate these two dreams, because they are about the same things. It would be naive to think they aren’t. 

Today, it’s the first time this week that the sun decided to show up and warm this wet groggy city. It’s been raining for the whole month almost non-stop and  you lock the door to your apartment rather hurriedly, wishing to get out of your box even for an hour, before it rains again. The key hits the ring on your ring finger and the metal sound it produces echo in the hallway. Until it bumps at something. You freeze. 

“I didn’t know what apartment was yours.” He says and you are so desperate to turn around and you are so so so afraid he won’t be there when you do, because his voice sounds exactly as all those years ago and it should be different, shouldn't it be? Shouldn’t everything be different now? But it’s not. You are the same. The burn in your chest and the tie in your belly are the same too. And suddenly you are sixteen again. You drop the keys and you run to him; the only person you would’ve run to. 

You bury your face in his neck noticing how there’s no braids, no hair. He has cut it short. But it’s still him. The smell, the laugh, the way his palms feel on the small of your back. The way you love him and the way he loves you. Only you. It’s never been anybody else. 

“I bought the penthouse and now I came to take you home. Would you come with me? There’s no windowsill, but we can smoke in the kitchen. Rin was right after all. He is so smug about it. You can’t imagine. He’s in the car now waiting for us. Do you wanna go see him?” You do. 

I do, I do, I do, you say, and he relishes in the sound of your voice. Bathing in the substance that is you and in this moment Ran wishes he could go back to his old bedroom in his childhood house with blue nights in Roppongi and promise all of you that everything is gonna be alright, that you will make it out together and that there's so much more to your stories. Even now, six years later, you still have your lives ahead of you.

And your stories are still not finished. Not even close.

There’s still so much more to come. To live. And this time properly together.