#but 'jokingly' calling us idiots for not coming to them with every single little question wrt character building is uh not it chief

[angel---eater]

kinda really disillusioned with this campaign now just bc the DM is so rude and overfamiliar but we'll try anyway. we'll give it 2 sessions and if we're not vibing then we're out. sunk cost fallacy is fake and predatory

[lunaekalenda]

𝖓𝖚𝖒𝖇𝖊𝖗 𝖋𝖎𝖛𝖊

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eren x fem!reader

suggestive conversations, teacher x student mention, smoking, alcohol, mention of love triangle, reiner doesn't have an easy life, characters are aged up and they correspond to the last season, modern au, eren being a tease, nsfw once they get to the party, dirty talking, reader may have a degradation kink, slapping, finger-sucking cause that's my sign, neck grabbing, rough composure, really long fic and really long warnings, size kink, wall sex, consensual relation, reader is tiny next to eren, kneejob (does that exist?), use of words like fucktoy, doll, slut; dom!eren x sub!reader, goddess i’m getting scared bc of the quantity of warnings, unprotected sex (don’t be like eren), oral (m receiving), consensual filming,, author is horny half of the drabble, please correct me in any errors! sex scenes are really bad written sorry

a/n: yeah... i don't know what i'm doing someone pls tell me to stop. as always, very welcome criticism and minors please do not interact!!

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"Jaeger, Eren." The teacher says his name and he gets up, loose clothes and his lazy bun on the back of his head giving him that attractive visual he has. Girls look at him with interest and boys with envy. After all, they all want to be like him, date him, be his friends. Be near him is something to be grateful for half the university students. What a bunch of idiots.

His tall body reaches the professor table, were he leans on, receiving the paper that acredites his graduation. A smirk on his face, directed to your young teacher, makes your friend Pieck sigh on the chair next to you. "He has for sure fucked her." she says. You look to the teacher expression, a smile just for him while he raises just the corners of his lips to her. You look to the paper on your hands. It's your last day. You're finally graduating. University is just another closed door for you. The last people take their diplomas quickly, the teachers giving their typical emotional discourses before releasing you to the campus yard. Reiner gets closer to your group, his arm around your shoulders as he smile for all of you.

"Today. Tonight." he corrects himself. "There's a party and, as the captain of the Waterpolo team, I'm the host." he says, a smile on his lips reaching his kind eyes. "You're all invited, of course. VIP invitations" Winking to all of you and gaining a giggle from Pieck, Reiner moves his head to a whistle. Bertholdt calls him from the door of the swimming pool, and Reiner leaves, smiling at you.

"I'll see you there?" he asks, a huge smile on his face. You can't help but smile back at him while you nod. Reiner leaves running the yard and Porco smiles at you, a joke about to escape his lips. You two have been friends time enough to know every single expression of the other.

"He does like you." he says, instead. Something serious for the first time in your friendship. Someone hits him with a paper when he was about to add something.

"You're finally out." Porco's big brother, Marcel Galliard, who works as the waterpolo trainer, takes his brother by the arm. "And out of the pics if you stay here, come on." He takes Porco with him, both of them leaving in Reiner's direction. Pieck smiles at you, about to comment something about Reiner, and you search your phone. It isn't there. Fuck.

"Pieck, I've lost my phone." you say, her face changing to a concerned expression. You touch every pocket and every place you've could have put it, without gain. Even she searches on the little handbag she's carrying. You remembered to take a pic with Pieck on the terrace and had to fix your shoes. You probably forgot it there. "Shit. Is the Uni still open, right?" Pieck nods quietly. Annie turns around to look at you. "Coming back real quick, wait for me here, please."

You make your way upstairs to the latest floor of the Univeristy, a terrace where teachers liked to go and smoke or drink their coffees between classes. "How can I forget my phone there? Am I dumb?" you think for yourself. There are just a few stairs left. You find Armin on your way. His short blond hair and his big blue eyes are recognizable everywhere.

"Congratulations." he says, that gentle smile on his face. "We finally graduated." You smile at him back, nodding.

"We did, Min." you say. Armin was in the same class as you, and he's really nice to you. Being paired in a couple works has made your friendship grow little by little, and you can consider him a friend now. It's ironical how he's Eren's best friend, even when the two of them have been seen parted for a while. He looks at you, his eyes following your way. "You go to the terrace?" he asks. You nod. He hums and looks upstairs, as if he was making sure something.

"Forgot something there, but it will take a minute." Armin nods and you keep going. Opening the big door, that is casually still open, the wind shakes your hair and your dress. You see your phone on the chair you sat earlier, while taking the pic, and you're fast to take it. Fortunately, it does have battery and it seems as nobody has touched it. You turn around, ready to go down to meet your friends, when you listen femenine giggles and sound of wet kisses. Gross. Is somebody using the rooftop to fuck? In the university? You shake your head. But your legs don't move. Your head searches unconsciously the place where the voices are coming from. You want to know who they are. Another giggle. Another kiss. A quiet sigh, the sound of fabrics. "Come on, move, move." You say to yourself. The woman speaks. "Now that you graduated..." Isn't that your teachers voice? With a student? You remain silent, trying to hear him. You hear a sigh. A manly and long sigh.

"Now that I graduated I have no reason to come here." You know that voice. That deep, raspy tone and that way of talking. Your brain searches quickly who does that voice belong to.

"Come on, Eren." even when you where about to figure who was the mysterious boy, she says his name. You move your hand to cover your mouth, your phone ringing in that moment. Pieck's ID showing on the screen. "Fuck, fuck." you try to silence it in vain. They heard you. Eren sighs, a long sigh that is followed by high heels steps. She's searching you. You're there, on the middle of the rooftop, and she's going around, near the door, no way to escape for you. You search quickly a place to hide. Then, he talks again. "They probably left, hm?" he says. His tone is way deeper now. "But we should as well. Search another student next year. I won't come back here for you." he says. With angry steps, she leaves. You can see her shadow from behind the little maintenance shed. You hear then calm steps, a lighter and the combustion of a cigarette. Eren palms the shed metallic roof, scaring you.

"Having fun spying the others?" he says. The smoke comes out of his mouth when he kneels next to you. "I can bet you're wet with just hearing us making out." you look at him in his green eyes, without avoiding his gaze. He raises a brow, putting the cigarette again between his lips.

"This is a public space. It isn't for you to bring every single girl you want." you say. Eren lets out a little laugh.

"I had the teacher's permission." he says, jokingly. "Who do you think you are to question her permissions?" his lips part, letting the smoke escape quietly. He gets up, his tall body resting against the structure. He's attractive, and he knows it for sure. But, the moment he opens that damn mouth of his... He loses all his attractiveness and charm. You take your phone, ready to go down with your friends.

"I hope you have a good future, Eren Jaeger. See you."

"Later, baby. On Reiner's party." he says, a little smile on his lips. "I guess he had invited the girl he likes." you didn’t like that joking tone. 

"And why the hell would he invite you?" you ask. Eren slides his eyes down your body when you get up, your light dress moving with the wind, your hair getting messy and your challenging eyes looking directly at his. He entertains himself on your legs, how they looked smooth and good under the dress. And, surprisingly, he finds himself thinking of the sweet thing upper, covered by the dress and your underwear. 

"Because I'm on his waterpolo team." he says, his green irises going back to yours. Damn, true. He’s the point of the team. The offensive. The strongest one between them. 

"Then I hope we don't see each other." you say. Eren gets closer to you, smoke leaving his lips while he smiles jokingly at you again. You can smell the tobacco from your position, but you don’t want to move. You want to show him you can also keep his gaze. That you’re not intimidated by him.

"I'll be searching for you." he whispers. "After all, you stayed up here to see who I was making out with. Maybe you're jealous. But don't worry, i'll gladly show you what I did to her" You raise a brow this time, giving a couple steps back to put distance. You cross your arms on your chest. Eren smiles, taking the cigarette away from his lips.

"Search another girl. I'm sure a lot of them want your attention." you say. That makes Eren smirk. He walks a couple steps back, his back resting against the shed again. He throws the cigarette and steps on it. 

"You have a strong personality, not like all the others. I like it." his eyes are on yours, and you're not afraid to keep the visual contact with him. "You're different." he says. You take a couple steps near him, heading to the door. Palming his shoulder, you smile.

"Good job reading all that cliche books where you took that phrase. Now, I have to go." his hand grips your wrist. With a shake, you get free and, false smiling at him, you leave. Your heart is racing while you go downstairs, Eren is still on the terrace, giggling for himself. He found such an interesting one. You keep going downstairs until you reach the yard, Pieck's black hair and Annie's bun can be seen. You walk towards them, your phone ringing on your hand. It's Pieck again. She sees you a hangs up, walking towards you.

"You took forever, y/n" she says, showing you her phone. "I calles you a hundred times. What were you doing?" she asks. You don't want to discover the teacher and Eren and less on the campus. "I'll tell you later." you say. Pieck told you to have dinner and get ready for the party at her home, so the two of you start to walk, waving your hands at Annie, who was waiting for Armin. Eren comes out of the university as well. His gaze finds yours and he smiles at you, but it isn't a sweet smile. It’s a teasing one. You turn around and follow Pieck.

"Eren? I told you those two had something!" she says. You're tying your shoes while she applies rimmel on her lashes. She looks beautiful, with that golden tight dress that shines when she moves. You wanted to go with your graduation dress, but she quickly corrected you. "No, no, that dress is too beautiful for this type of party. You have to show what you have." she said. She lended you a red dress that fits you. It is beautiful, and you look good on it. She turns around. "Were they in the middle of it? What happened!" she asks. You blush.

"They were just kissing, i think. They kinda broke up." you say. Pieck nods quietly and looks again to the mirror, taking blush to her cheeks. You explain her that Eren talked to you after that.

"Oh, so he's going to the party?" she asks. You nod. "Porco told me he wasn't that interested, so he'll probably pass." You really hope Porco is right while you two walk to Reiner's house, a big duplex near the campus. You can hear music and people talking from the corner of the street. Reiner opens the door for you.

"Y/N!" he says, quickly hugging you. Pieck waves her hand at him. "Come on, girls, enter." he lets you in. There isn't a huge amount of people. Jean and Connie from the Waterpolo club are playing beer pong and Bertholdt is serving some drinks. You look around, but you don't know if you want to find him or make sure he isn't there.

It seems like Eren isn't there, for your luck. Bert gives you the drink you asked for and you thank him. There's a couple people talking near a speaker, another ones are playing on Reiner's TV and another ones are dancing. Reiner smiles.

"If you need anything, the rooms and the living room are up. There's a bathroom in that door and another one upstairs." he says. You smile at him. "I'll be around here if you need me." he says. You nod and he disappears, giving your arm a soft squeeze. Pieck tells you that she's going outside and you decide to stay inside. The juice with a little bit of vodka is kinda strong, but it tastes sweet. You hear a hum near you.

"What are you drinking?" you roll your eyes, turning around. Eren's tall body is there, smiling at you. He looks into your cup. "Juice?" he asks. You raise a brow.

"Do you care?" he lets out a melodious laugh. "Don't you have friends?" you can almost feel all the gazes in you. Envy gazes, surprise gazes. You know they're commenting. "How did she get his attention?" "Sure he's playing with some bad toys" You look at Eren.

"I do. But my interest tonight is in you." he tells. "After all, you deserve private representations of what we were doing, since you were that curious."

"Get lost, please."  you ask him. He smirks. Taking your cup, he smells it. He gives it back to you.

"Don't drink that much." he says. You look at him. Is he now giving you orders? Taking the cup to your lips, you drink under his gaze. He raises a brow when you take the cup away from your mouth. You weren’t going to get orders and less form a dork like him. Surprisingly, his thumb takes a drop that slides from your lips. He licks it.

"Tastes sweet." it's all he says, before disappearing. Did he just licked it? You put the cup on a near table and follow him outside. He's lighting a cigarette. He smiles at you when you arrive.

"What was that. What you did inside." you ask. He laughs.

"We can't waste alcohol, can we?" he says. He walks closer to you. His bun is still low and loose, and he's wearing his waterpolo team t-shirt with ripped black jeans. A big 5 in his t-shirt. The number he uses on the water. "Do you smoke?" he asks, offering you the cigarette. You shake your head. He raises a brow. "Wanna try?" he asks. You're not into that type of things but, maybe, the way his green eyes challenged you makes you nod. You want to show him you're capable. He gives you the cigarette. "Want me to teach you?" When he ended the phrase, you're coughing. He laughs. "Such an impatient girl, hm?"

 He takes the cigarette again, taking a puff, his lips right on the spot you stained with gloss. He gets closer. "Let me show you." his lips touch yours quietly and you feel the smoke flowing between your mouths, entering yours. You’re unable to move, even when he’s kissing you. It feels nice, feels warm and soft against your mouth, the smoke entering right from his parted lips. You want more. More of him. He parts. "Breath out quietly." Why are you following his orders now? You do it softly, his gaze on your lips while you do it. "Good girl." 

That was hot. You can't deny it. The way he passed the smoke to you, how he looked at you. Oh, goddess. He smiles, stepping on the cigarette. Your legs feel like jelly and your heart races when he gets closer.

"You liked it?" he asks, a sweet purr on your ear. You nod. You did. Now you get why everyone is always around Eren. He's naturally magnetic, attractive. He’s the type of person that bewitches, that makes you follow his orders even when you don’t want you. He can make you weak for you from just a single peck. "I know more tricks with my mouth than passing smoke" he says. That makes you cringe a little, get down of your bubble.

"You're so dirty minded." You say. Maybe he was starting to attract you, to make you fall for him. You won't. You need to go out. Far from him. Far before you fall.

"I was starting to have fun." he whispers. You start to walk, heading to Reiner's house again. Eren follows you quietly. You've seen enough romantic films to know every single way he has to take you to his bed. You sigh. Inside, a lot of people is dancing. You also want to. Eren follows you quietly while you enter the improvised dance floor, a empty space between two sofas, moving to the song. It's hot inside Reiner's house, a stupid amount of people dancing together, bodies close and teasing movements. Maybe Eren tries to seduce you outside, but it is your time to make him beg for you. Moving your head and your body, you see him from th corner of your eye. He's there, behind you, his hands tingling. He wants to touch your body, that tiny red dress and that velvety skin. He wants to mark that exposed neck with his bites, tangle that hair with his fingers, feel you against him. You take one of his hands, putting it on your hips. He swallows.

"You're not that brave now." you whisper, without letting him hear you. His other hand finds your belly, going up to the low cut of Pieck's dress. His hand touches your skin, making you gasp. He gets close. "You won." he whispers on your ear, his hands sneaking, touching every showing skin he finds. You smirk, turning around. You're not aware of Reiner's sad gaze. "I won?" you ask. He smiles, his face getting closer, as if he wanted to kiss you. "Hmh." he hums. You smile at him, letting your body meet his really close, making you feel every part of Eren’s body. You raise a brow. "There's evidence of my win." you joke, Eren's lips curving on a teasing smile.

"You should take responsibility of your trophy." he feels your hands on his arms, making him sigh. He takes your hand and guides you upstairs. "Wait, Eren, wait!" you ask him. People look at you, going head to the second floor, your hand jailed on his. Almost everybody knows now what you two are going to do. "Eren, everybody will..."

"Let them talk. We can have a good time while they spend their last braincells making rumors." he says. He's kinda right. You shouldn't care of what people say or what people think. "But it is Reiner's house." you tell him. He smiles. 

"He lets me use the guest room to sleep. It's almost my room. My brother doesn't really like my company, I guess." he says. You feel bad for Reiner. He's such a sweetheart with you, and everybody thinks he likes you. And there are you, about to make out with Eren on his house. But you're drunk of him, of his smell and his skin, his deep voice and his green eyes. You can't help. You need him. He opens the room and lets you in. You don't have even time to see the room, feeling his lips on yours as soon as he closes the door, his hand sneaking behind your back to lock it. One of his arms rest above your head, against the wood, and the other pulls you closer to his body from your low back. His hand grabs your ass roughly, making you jump a little. He giggles against your mouth. His lips taste like tobacco and mint bubblegum. He parts.

"Are you drunk?" he asks. You shake your head. You take his hair on your hand, trying to make him cover your mouth again with his. He gives you a peck. "You want this?" he asks. Your hands search his chest, defined muscles under the team t-shirt. 

"I want you, Eren." you don't even know who you are. He has you crazy, begging for him and his kisses, feeling his hotness in your body. You want it. You want him. "Please.". His superiority smirk covers your lips again, your body arching to feel his closer, the grip on you harder, his other hand still on the door. He parts your lips quietly, the softer action of all he has done until now. You feel his tongue caressing yours quietly. It feels nice. His hand takes the border of your red dress, lifting it, asking for your consent. You nod at him, his hand moving it to your waist. He parts to look down, your underwear on his vision camp. He passes his tongue on his lips while his eyes scan that cute black panty you’re wearing. He likes it. Simple, something a cute innocent girl like you would wear. The thought arouses him. He’s going to ruin you, the sweet little girl that seems too tiny for him.

“What a precious panty, doll.” he hums, his knee going up until it meets the black fabric. Then, with a smirk, he makes pressure up, your body feeling his knee hot and hard against your wetness. You gasp and he smiles. “Such a desperate fucktoy.” he whispers, his lips near your open ones, your sighs every time he moves his knee against you. He likes that expression on your face. The way your cute lips are open in silent pleasure signs. He would love to watch them open around another thing, but he takes his free hand to your mouth, his long thumb caressing your lips before entering your mouth, pressing your tongue while you keep making that expression that has become his favorite. “Suck.” he asks. You obey, your mouth gently sucking his thumb, your tongue playing circles around it. He keeps that game on your cunt, making you lose your concentration on sucking his finger. He puts his knee down, you feel the emptiness between your legs. He takes his phone, tobacco pack and a lighter from his pocket, putting them on the near bed. Then, he takes your hands, guiding them to the fabric of his jeans. You understand what he wants and take the button off, then, unzipping his pants. They fall around his ankles, his muscled legs and his underwear is revealed. He sighs when your hand finds the bulge. You look at him again, spreading kisses on his jaw. His hand covers yours while you try to sneak it in his underwear. He sighs when he feels your cold hand against him, fine and elegant fingers taking his shaft softly. His head rests against the arm on the wall, your kisses going down his body. When you were about to kneel, he takes you up again.

“I’ll let you take a taste of it later.” he sighs again, your hand squeezing harder, making him gasp. His hand closes around your neck, not hard enough to choke you, just a grab. A way to make you know who’s in charge. He kisses you. “Now.” he says, out of breath. His fingers take your panty, sliding it down your legs. He looks at your half- naked body, the dress covering just your thorax. “I want to fuck you right”. He takes your body, pinning you against the wall, your legs around his waist and your hands gripped to his t-shirt. He takes his hand down, the other one holding you in place. His hand strokes his shaft a couple times, also making sure you’re ready enough to take him, before starting to put it in. He feels excited. How your body seems so little between his and the wall. How you’ll struggle to take all of him in. His cock twitch in anticipation. He can’t wait to be deep in you, to know how much of him can you take, but he wants to make it right. Make this something you’ll beg for. Make him feel superior. He pushes slowly, feeling every squeeze and every movement your walls make against him. You moan and he lets out the deepest groan. He doesn’t wait that much to move against you, even when he’s not fully inside, your lips parting to the sensation of him caressing your insides. He puts you against the wall, making the hold easier for him. He thrusts into you with such a power and strength that you feel your head dizzy. He keeps moving, lewd sounds and mixed heavy breaths leaving your mouths. He feels how he’s going deeper and deeper. He smirks.

“That’s it. You’re taking it so good, like the cockslut you are. You struggled to take all of me in that little cunt, all stuffed by me. Such a doll, hm?” he says, out of breath. You nod while he keeps moving against you, you hand taking his hair as his mouth bites your neck. “You were a brat this morning, a fucking tease, but now you’re behaving like a good girl.” he whispers, before bitting you again. One of his hands sneak to the part you two are connected, and he caresses you gently, his fingers knowing perfectly were to touch. You gasp. “You like it, don’t you?”. Your back starts to hurt a little, the wood door is too hard to be resting against. Eren doesn’t mind, his muscles flexed while he keeps moving you up and down his length. “You’re about to, hm?” he asks. “You’re squeezing me. Hard.” He groans. It's true, you're feeling it as well, the knot on your belly that announces your end, pleasure maximized by Eren’s fingers. His lips cover yours, a strand of spit connecting your mouth when he parts, your mind unable to make a coherent sentence. You take your hands to his back, helping him with your movements, reaching your end faster. He isn’t going to edge you. He feels merciful today. He’ll let you cum after all you did for him, after how good you’re squeezing him, after the pretty expressions you made. You fall on his arms with a long sigh,  juices dripping down the two of you as you keep shaking on his arms. He smirks. "Oi, you came really hard." He puts you down on the floor again, quietly sliding out of you. He's still as hard as he was. "I'm that good at it?" he asks. Then, he grabs your jaw, making you look at him. "Or maybe you're just a slut for me?" 

You blush. You did. He knew where to bite, where to touch and where to thrust. You couldn't help, he’s good at this. He pats your head softly. "Now, in reward, since you didn't wait for me, you could use that pretty little mouth you used to tease me this morning in something more interesting, hm?" he asks. You know what he's asking for. Before you kneel, he sits on the bed, tying his hair again while a cigarette hangs from his lips. Then, he pushes softly by your shoulders. You hear him inhaling the smoke. Taking his phone, he makes you look at him, pulling your jaw quietly. “Do you mind if i film you?” You shake your head. Filming is quite interesting, and hot, definitely hot. “Promise me that those videos will never leave your phone”. He smiles, a soft and genuine smile, offering you his hand. You shake it. 

“Promise.”

The image is quite hot, your face resting in his tight and your hands caressing him, while his parted lips let go moans mixed with smoke. He takes two fingers to your mouth, the other hand taking the phone. He films your hands, your expression, his words.

"You look pretty with your mouth full of my fingers, but I prefer another thing, doll." he says, quietly pushing your head, making an intrusion in your mouth. He sighs. "Fuck. Show the camera, pretty." You try to wipe the tears away and he caresses your jaw, making you look to the phone filming you. “Show it how you suck me.” You think about him, watching this video in the loneliness of his dormitory, no light, his hand sneaking into his pants. "Do it alright and we'll be done in a second." he says, taking a puff again. He smokes too much for your preference. His fingers, still full of your saliva, impact against your ass. "Faster, doll." he asks. Slap again. Again. You feel your skin tingling under his slaps, hot and red. "I would also like to ruin that pretty ass you have." He grabs it this time, the camera pointing at his big hand squeezing your buttock. You keep sucking under his sighs and gasps, helping yourself with your hand. He smiles. "That's it, I'm already." he moves his hips against you, strong enough to make you feel it. Tears come again to the corners of your eyes as he keeps moving, stronger, the camera pointing everywhere while he loses himself. "You want it? Should I let you have it on your mouth? Or maybe on your pretty face?" he gasps at the thought of your face full of his seed, and maybe that's what makes him pull it out and paint you. With a final sigh, Eren pauses the video, putting out the cigarette against an ashtray. You rest again near his legs as he looks at you. His hands grab your neck again, making you sit on his lap. “You should clean that mess. Don’t want everybody to know how much of a slut you are for me.” he says, his fingers outlining your lips. “And I’ll keep this.” he says, taking the panties he throw away earlier. “You know where to find me if you wanna get them back. Or maybe give me new ones.”

[hqcult]

21ST ## the miya twins

you visit hyogo to celebrate your 21st birthday with your extended family. you met atsumu and osamu, who were oh so excited to meet you.

. tw manipulation, pseudo-incest, noncon, cunnilingus, masturbation, exhibitionism, voyeurism, mindbreak, implied double penetration, dark content . wc 4.3k

looking back, the twins are good fucking actors. they deserve some oscar-level award with how much they smiled those sweet honey smiles and lured you into a sense of security before baring their fangs and pulling you down to hell with them. but they never would’ve gotten the chance to act if you hadn’t been there as their audience. so, the truth remains the same—this is all your fault. you never should’ve insisted coming to hyōgo in the first place.

ever since getting adopted at the tender age of thirteen and moving to tokyo, you’ve seen everything there is to see, ate at every restaurant with a 5-star review on google. you’ve done them all at least thrice by now and it’s getting boring.

so, when your adoptive father had jokingly talked about coming to hyōgo to meet your extended family for your 21st birthday, you perked up in your seat and your eyes twinkled like stars. 

your mom didn’t want to go at first, of course, claiming you’ll get carsick but your parents eventually gave in after seeing the pleading look in your eyes and the genuine excitement in your stance.

long story short, you did end up getting carsick. quite a few times too, actually. but you were already driving along the expressway and your mom’s sister was already expecting the three of you. so, naturally, you guys pushed through, your dad making sure he drove as smoothly as possible in order not to trigger another barfing session from you.

it was twilight by the time your dad pulled up on his sister-in-law’s driveway and the first you see were two identical faces—twins? for step-cousins? well, now that was something. you’ve never really met twins before so it was a whole new experience and it excited you greatly. 

not to mention how you and atsumu instantly hit it off, your personalities aligning. yet when you sat next to osamu during dinner, the younger twin found it wasn’t as hard talking to you compared to his brother. in fact, he found it interesting how easy it was to converse with you, the words flowing out his lips. you were just so painfully compatible with them that why oh why did the universe have to make you their half-cousin?

the shift in their behavior wasn’t at all gradual but can you really blame them? you were such a good daughter, such a beauty. and they guess the whole ‘pseudo-incest’ taboo thing amplified your appeal all the more. 

well, at least in their defense, atsumu and osamu genuinely wanted to get to know their new cousin in the most innocent, platonic way and not this weird thing they’re feeling right now. but you were so damn irresistible that they couldn’t keep their feelings in check.

how kind of ‘samu to grab the coffee container at the topmost shelf for you during breakfast, not knowing he purposely puts it there every night so he can “accidentally” rub his morning wood against your ass.

your ‘tsumtsum is such an angel when he doesn’t hesitate to take off his outerwear and lends it to you whenever you forget yours, not knowing he snatches them from the laundry basket and leaving you no choice but to use his. the sweet scent you leave on the jacket is enough to throw him off the edge and have him climaxing as he fucked his own hand.

nobody noticed, everyone was distracted by their achievements at such a young age. all their mom had to say is how osamu yet again made it to dean’s lister or how atsumu got scouted for a national team.

your mom and dad didn’t notice, lost in the daydream of always wanting to have their own son only to end up with you. blinded of their dazzle that the rotten pieces of them were fully camouflaged by the glow.

it all came to a peak when the twins were pulling all-nighter playing games like always. 

atsumu needed to use the restroom, and just as he’s passing by your door, he heard a questionable sound that made him stop, frozen and unbelieving.

carefully, he tiptoes closer to place his ear against your door, praying to whomever that the floorboards don’t creak and disrupt whatever you’re doing. silence, seconds of it. then click, a switch turning on, he hears low vibration and a shaky whimper, a slick sound that reminded him of—

you were touching yourself.

holy fucking crap.

atsumu can only stare at the door with a knowing curl in his lips as he quickly pushes down his boxers. the risk of getting caught masturbating so out in the open making all the blood rush south.

“guess yer not as innocent as i thought ya were,” he mutters, spitting on his palm before wrapping it around his dick.

he shut his eyes close, clinging desperately into the imagination of how it would feel like to fuck your cunny instead of his hand. how the view would be like as he forces your legs up and into a mating press as he rutted his hips into you. at least you were loud, the moans he can hear as clear as day and he’s thankful he needn’t depend on his imagination anymore like all the other times.

you better be fucking thankful that the rest of the rooms were downstairs or else your parents and their mom would’ve heard by now. eh, atsumu didn’t mind. he got off on the risque idea of getting caught in the act.

when your pitch grows whinier and he hears your quick rufflings on the bed, he knows you’re close. he can hear the frantic and changing levels of the vibrator as you fucked it into your walls. 

“fuck,” he hissed, the mental image of you masturbating and putting on a show for him making him teeter over the edge.

he grunts, low and animalistic, as spurts of his cum stains his hands and the floor. he didn’t care. he pumped himself through his orgasm and it was the best he’s ever got in a while. who knew all he needed to hear was his little step-cousin lewdly touching herself? naughty, naughty girl.

when he heard your panting after cumming against your little toy, he took his cue and speed-walked towards his and osamu’s bedroom to get a cloth he’ll use to clean the front of your door. but just as he caught you in the act, he caught his own brother red-handed, too.

the tiny specks of cum on the wall where osamu stood is a ghastly sight but atsumu couldn’t care less. 

silently, the twins exchanged a knowing glance.

“ya heard ‘er too?”

someone knocks on your bedroom door on the eve of your birthday. 

osamu was tasked to wake you up while atsumu started the car. you didn’t respond. were you… he slowly opens the door, he spots you immediately in the bundle of blankets atop your bed. when he stalks closer, you looked so cozy that osamu almost got tempted to ditch the idiot and come snuggle with you under the blankets instead. 

but he has two heads and the one he’s using to think is located south.

he wakes you up with a gentle shake on the shoulder. “‘samu?” you mutter, voice low and croaky from your deep sleep when you see a blurry tousle of gray hair.

“let’s do a countdown for yer birthday, angel. come on, put on a jacket. ‘tsumu’s already startin’ up the car.”

osamu’s blunt nails dug half-moon crescents into his palms as he saw your tiny pajama shorts and the slip top when you shoved the blankets away. he swore his palms would’ve bled, especially after seeing you bending over to look for a hoodie inside your luggage. 

he stared so openly, it was almost predatory in a sense. 

as you scamper down the stairs with the younger twin’s hands dangerously grazing the top of your rear, you thought it’s plain old protective ‘samu being worried you’ll make a misstep and break your neck.

“where’s everybody?”

“just us three, angel. ‘lil cousin bonding before yer big party tonight, y’know?”

you giggled. how sweet, you thought.

you didn’t sense a thing. didn’t see a single red flag even if it was being waved across your face like what they do in bullfights. osamu felt a little sorry for how they’re blatantly manipulating you but it’s too late to back out now, much less let the guilt eat up his insides. he shouldn’t be a hypocrite considering he jacked off to your moans, too, that night. 

he’s really no different than atsumu and it’s a tough pill to swallow.

“shotgun!”

it wasn’t osamu that stops you, but atsumu, from scampering into the front seat. the older twin quickly locks the door before lowering down the passenger side’s window. 

“nuh-uh, birthday girl. ya can’t sit here or the surprise’ll be ruined!”

you grumble, frowning as you scoot yourself in the backseat of the car. atsumu twists his torso towards the back, asking you to wear the blindfold he’s handing you. it was a little tough with how stubborn you are but ‘tsumu’s just too good with his words.

you drove for thirty minutes before the car pulled up somewhere. the world is tranquil outside, so you couldn’t have driven to the nearest city. your initial guess is a beach, but there were no splashes of water. maybe a cliff-side or a forest?

the car’s ignition turns off and you call out to the twins. 

“‘tsumu? ‘samu? where are we? can i take my blindfold off now?”

“just a moment, doll.” there’s an excited lilt to atsumu’s voice and you can’t help but fidget in your seat, feeling the excitement crawling up your spine as you think of what their surprise could be.

you hear them clamber out the car. you scoot closer to the door just as the backseat opens, a silly smile on your face. “you guys didn’t have to do this, you know, but i appreciate it so mu—”

someone tackles you to the seat and the air gets knocked out of your lungs. he’s heavy and you felt the muscles underneath his shirt as you tried to push him away but to no avail—you know it’s a man, it has to be because you felt the broad shoulders and something poking at your thigh. you feel him nosing the side of your neck and his hands crawling under your shirt. his freezing skin against your own is what snapped you out of it.

“atsumu! osamu!” you cried, calling for help.

you inwardly gasped, realizing something. maybe they were hurt! maybe your assaulter had creeped up behind the twins just as they opened the door for you, knocked them out cold, before trying to have their way with you. at the thought of the twins getting hurt, you thrashed, fought, and screamed with newfound fervor.

“couldja calm down and shut yer fucking trap?”

when the blindfold flies away and you see the man straddling you on the backseat of atsumu’s car, how you wished your assaulter had never taken it off.

atsumu had never looked this scary from your point of view, then again he never straddled you like this in the weeks prior. never looked at you like how he’s looking now—there’s clear hunger and lust in those eyes. you’ve seen that look one too many times from boys back in your university when you had your one night stands. but it had all been consensual and you loved them looking at you that way but this is different.

so, so different.

you can’t look at him in the eye, not when he’s staring at you like that. it felt like you’re pushed into a corner, vulnerable and bare even with the clothes you’re wearing.

“please, get off of me.”

“get off ya?” he repeats, mirth in his eyes as he hauls you up to a sitting position. he finally shuts the door behind him. “but i’ve been wantin’ to do this for weeks.”

to further emphasize his point, he grounds his hips against yours, making sure the tip of his already erect cock grazes against the bud of your clit. his boxers and the thin fabric of your shorts isn’t helping. he groans wantonly, angling his hips to do it again until you slipped out from under him and maneuvered your way to the other door.

osamu! osamu will stop him, you thought with teary eyes as atsumu growls and quickly pulls you back by the forearms, your back to his chest as you try to claw your way out of the athlete’s grip.

“‘samu! ‘samu, help me!”

but when the said twin opens the door and slips inside the car with little to no surprise present in his face, a type of fear you’ve never felt before runs up your spine. the look in osamu’s eyes reflected that of his twin’s and with sinking realization, you knew he wasn’t there to help you.

“happy 21st birthday, angel.”

and then he’s ducking down to kiss you. his lips are soft and they moved tenderly, in contrast to the barbaric way they tore at your clothes, the cold making you shiver in your underwear.

dealing with one sick person is enough, but with two, you’re not so sure. you only had two hands, if you pushed osamu away, atsumu would have free access and vice versa. your legs couldn’t move either, thanks to the cramped space of the backseat.

while holding down your hands, atsumu marks every inch of untainted skin he could see as osamu swirls his tongue inside your mouth. you’ve never felt so disgusted and dirty, but above all, betrayed. even if it was a few weeks since you’ve met, you still saw them as family. sure, you weren’t technically blood-related but in the papers it’s a different story.

when osamu pulled away, you averted your eyes but his hand reached up to hold your chin, forcing your eyes to meet. you feel his other hand trailing up your thighs, fingers dangerously close to your clothed sex as he watched you like a fox. he wanted to commit this moment to memory. every twitch and small gasp you make as his cold fingers pinched at your clit and traced your pussy lips.

“staying quiet, princess?” atsumu comments, hands snaking around front to squeeze and grope your breasts over the bra you wore. “ya weren’t like this when i caught ya touchin’ yerself last week.”

your eyes widened. when you tried turning your head to look over your shoulder towards the other twin, osamu shoved two fingers inside you.

your reaction was immediate. the pleasure and pain mixing as a loud gasp escapes your lips. “eyes up front,” he murmurs, the firm hold on your chin going higher to encase your whole jaw.

“oi, ‘samu, didn’t think you’re the possessive type,” atsumu says, teasingly placing his chin on your shoulder as he smiles that lazy smile you know osamu hates. “not that i’m going to lose.”

the older twin slips your bra off just as osamu takes his fingers out to lewdly lick up your slick. he moans, keeping his eyes trained on your horrified face. “sweet. but not wet enough for us, angel.”

“what—no—!”

“let me have a go.”

before you could even react, atsumu’s spinning you around to face him as he shoves your shoulders down. due to the cramped space, your head collides with osamu’s thighs, narrowly missing the tent in his joggers. the weight in his thighs makes the younger twin fidget and squirm as he hastily reaches for your hand, pulling his bottoms down just enough for his cock to spring out. you wince when it hits the side of your face. osamu loved the disgust in your face when he spat at your hand and used it to get himself off as he started stroking his cock.

meanwhile, in one swift motion, atsumu is pulling your panties down and licking a stripe up your cunny, the tip of his tongue prodding at your clit as his hands come up to slap your pussy. “how dare ya be so quiet,” he hisses, sucking harsher on your clit to pull a reaction out of you. “let me hear ya whine and moan, babe. i’m fuckin’ sure as hell my tongue is better than some cheap ass vibrator ya used.”

but your lips are stubbornly sealed as you arched your back. like hell you’d play into their wants and sick fantasies. they were your cousins! forcing you to enjoy this is just downright wrong. and knowing they’ve eavesdropped and silently lusted over you while having those innocent little smiles on their faces… were they not in the least bit guilty for deceiving you? deceiving your parents?

“give ‘er somethin’ bigger. i think she’s askin’ for it.” osamu says, kneading one of your breasts and tweaking your nipples as he continued to pump himself using your hand. 

because he lost to rock paper scissors, he’s going to fuck you after atsumu and no matter how furious he was, a deal’s a deal.

like an idea switching inside his head, atsumu falters, staring right at you with sparkles in his eyes before his lips curled into a devious smirk.

“no, no, no,” you scramble, trying to sit up in order to push him away but osamu is quick to pin you down. “atsumu—no—you don’t want to do this, please—!”

“shut it, princess. i know what i want and that’s to fuck yer sweet little cunny right ‘ere,” he mocks by planting a sweet kiss against your lower lips.

“can ya stop with the dirty talk my dick’ll go soft, ya scrub!” osamu hisses, his hands wrapped around yours getting tighter as the lewd sounds of his slick gets louder. 

no matter how much osamu denies it, he’s getting off on seeing you squirming under atsumu and god he never thought to have a voyeurism kink but here we are.

atsumu shoves his boxers down and you turn away from glancing down at his cock, osamu had to ruthlessly pull your hair and make you look as you slowly start tearing up. he was bigger than most guys you’ve met in college and you dread the painful stretch it’ll take for him to shove that dick inside you.

“shh, princess. don’tcha worry, yer all prepped to take me.” he scissors your pussy lips, the sticky wetness creating lewd sounds before pushing his stained fingers into your mouth. “hear that? go on and taste yerself.”

he gave you no choice, fingers pushing your tongue down until you obliged to his wishes. from behind you, you hear a low grunt and a pant as osamu throws his head back. he was close, you could tell and you surely didn’t want your face to be near his cock once he cums.

“‘tsumu, god damn it! hurry and fuck ‘er already!”

osamu was close and his mind was clouded. he needed to see you get railed in order for him to teeter towards that delicious edge of pure ecstasy. needed to hear the noises like the ones you made that night.

“i got it, i got it. fuckin’ impatient bastard.”

“atsumu, stop—!”

but he doesn't bother to listen, pushing his cock deep all in a single thrust. you were right. the stretch slightly stings and you bet it would’ve hurt more had he not bothered to suck and lick at your pussy earlier. “it hurts,” you sob, trying to curl in on yourself while keeping atsumu from leaning in.

but your strength is no match for him as he peppers light kisses down your neck, osamu helping with pushing your hair away to expose more skin. “shh, shh,” the faux-blond coos. “it’ll get better, i promise ya. yer gonna love it so let me move, okay?”

“no, wait, take it out, wai—!”

he starts thrusting, timed and rhythmic as his hands reach under your thighs, slightly raising your lower body to meet the angle of his hips. you couldn’t deny that it felt good like he said. the heavenly drag of his dick inside your walls, feeling you squeeze around him just as he nearly pulls out, only to thrust it all back in again. he wanted to keep this “making love” pace as long as he wants but he’s getting irritated but how you still wanted to keep your pretty lips shut.

that’s when you truly felt the vehicle jolting back and forth, brought by the sudden way atsumu manically fucks you like some animal. the change of pace surprised you greatly, choking on your saliva and letting out a pornographic “ah!” as he started railing you in the backseat of his car. you were way past the point of no return as immense pleasure spiked your nerves. all thoughts of somehow fighting their advances being shot out the window.

“that’s it,” atsumu pants, swinging your legs up against your chest to fuck you even deeper. “come on, make some noise, princess. i want people to hear how good i make ya feel even if they’re miles away.”

after all this is over and the lustful haze they forced you under is gone, you’ll regret the way you moaned and groaned and whined like how you’re doing now. embarrassing, how even as atsumu leans closer to kiss you, you don’t push him away. a mess of saliva and sweat mixing as his pace doesn’t relent and the fierce jolts of the car only adds up to your pleasure.

“‘tsumu!” you screamed, one hand holding onto his hair and the other scratching at his back. “i’m close—shit!”

he replies with a moan of his own, drawn out and whiny, feeling your walls suffocating his cock as he continues to drive it in and out with a speed you’ve never experienced with your past rendezvous. perks of being an athlete, you guess. “don’tcha dare fuckin’ cum until i tell ya to or else.”

but that little devil is making it harder for you to obey him as one of his hands snakes in between your bodies to start toying with your clit, drawing firm circles and figure 8’s to draw in that eventual release. “no, no, ‘tsumu don’t!” you tried reaching down but his hand only tugs it back, firmly holding your wrist as he continues his ministrations.

it’s too much. you were feeling it all too much and in the heat of the moment, you forgot everything else—you arch your back and felt your climax crashing over you as your cum steadily makes a mess off the backseat with every thrust atsumu made.

he stops.

his head hangs low, looking at the view of your interconnected bodies before scoffing in disbelief. menacingly, he raises his head to make eye contact with you. “didn’t i fuckin’ tell ya to cum only if i tell ya to cum?”

the faux-blond grabs at your hair, ruthlessly tilting it back as you feel a sticky sensation running down your nether lips. you shake your head, eyes wide like a deer in headlights.

“but—!”

“i don’t care. i warned ya, didn’t i? so don’t fuckin’ hate me after all this is over.”

suddenly you feel your fight surging through you again like a tidal wave. this is wrong. how dare they do it even after you said no. how dare they do it and make you enjoy it?

“aw, cute. angel’s still got some fight in ‘er left.”

you thrashed against atsumu as soon as he swiftly pulls out of you. he doesn’t even break a sweat while restraining you with his bare hands.

“let me go! you fuckers! i’ll tell—”

“tell who? our parents? this isn’t elementary school, princess. ya get what ya fuckin’ deserve and it’s not our fault ya like swingin’ that pretty ass so much.”

you growl as a retort, attempting to bite atsumu’s hand off as he swiftly spins you around to lay on your stomach. you cringe, feeling your sticky essence against your skin. you didn't have time to feel humiliated, not as you came face to face with osamu’s still erect and angry dick.

you weren’t dumb, you knew why the faux-blond made you face his twins’ way—this is to be your punishment, he said, all the while feeling him scramble about behind you. it wasn’t only ‘til you feel atsumu’s tip prodding at your ass did you realize what’s going to happen.

“go on and give our ‘samu a nice suck, yeah? put on a show and if ya dare use yer teeth, i’ll personally make sure ya regret ever coming to hyōgo.”

you came back at dawn, during the sunrise. it’s glow basking the whole house in a nice orange tint. “what are you guys doing up so early?” your mom asks when she sees the three of you piling in from the front door.

she was too busy rubbing the sleep out of her eyes that she missed everything—the way osamu’s oppressive arm wrapped around your shoulder got tighter, the way atsumu gave you a nasty side eye, and especially the fearful expression on your face.

“no - nothing, mom. they just wanted to have a birthday countdown for me.”

“oh, right! happy 21st, sweetheart.”

[antiadvil]

Sparks Fly

Summary: Dan and Phil’s vacation after Vidcon is going well, until a mistake from Phil sets the whole thing up in flames. Rating: PG-13 wc: ~2.2k A/N: written for the @phandomreversebang! Shoutout to my team ( @schnaphan as the talented artist and @catboydan as my incredibly tolerant beta who did not mind me getting the fic done a day before posting) for being incredibly helpful and supportive of the weird direction I decided to take a “sparks fly” prompt in. You can see @schnaphan’s art here.

Read on ao3 or beneath the cut.

Phil was proud of this one. An airbnb cabin, far away enough from the rest of the world that they would get some space to themselves for once, but close enough to civilization that it had broadband internet. The perfect place to wind down together after Vidcon. He stretched his feet out onto the glossy wooden coffee table and turned another page, trying to focus on his book.

“Ah!” Dan jumped back a bit as he entered the living room. “Did we really need to keep the cutout?”

“It’s funny,” Phil insisted. He wasn’t sure what exactly had inspired him to stuff the cardboard cutout of Dan into their suitcases when the man from the convention asked if they wanted to keep it, but it annoyed Dan to see a replica of himself stand in the cabin’s living room, so stand it did.

“It keeps scaring the shit out of me.” Dan glared at it, somewhat resentfully.

“Even better.” Phil attempted a wink.

Dan rolled his eyes. “Just wanted to say I’m tired. Going to bed.”

Phil looked up from his book, trying to suppress his disappointment. “So early?”

“Tired.” Dan leaned over the back of the sofa to try to reach Phil’s face, reaching out with his hands to pull him closer when Phil jokingly pulled away.

“Good night,” Dan said, kissing Phil on the forehead, and then on both cheeks when he pouted. “Do your best to survive without me. You’ll have your book to keep you company. Very intellectual.”

Phil rolled his eyes, turning back to his (somewhat trashy) horror novel. “Good night. Sleep well.” It was good that Dan was going to bed early, probably, he hadn’t been sleeping well recently. Hopefully he’d be able to catch up on some sleep tonight and feel better.

The cottage was quieter than Phil expected with Dan in bed in the other room. It was a bit eerie, so far away from the rest of the world, alone in the woods, and Phil found scenes from the axe murderer horror novel in his hand flitting through his head a bit more vividly than he would have liked.

He needed something to calm him down, ground him, and he remembered from the advice he had absorbed through Dan’s therapist. A scented candle, maybe? It would be cozy and warm, and you never saw scented candles in books about axe murderers. There were scented candles already provided on the coffee table, he’d just have to find the matches.

There were probably some in the kitchen. He stood up and moved to the kitchen, searching the cabinet until he found the matches. He struck one, absentmindedly, before remembering the candle was in the other room. The flame was already flickering down—he didn’t have long to get there before it burnt out.

His resolve strengthening him, he summoned extra reserves of strength from deep within him to start a sprint back towards the living room. He was just rounding the corner when he noticed a human figure looming ahead of him. “Ah!” He jumped slightly before realizing it was just the cutout. God, Dan was right. It was terrifying. He looked for the candle, then paused. The match. Where was the match?

A flickering, growing glow in the corner of his eye answered his question. “Oh fuck,” Phil whispered. “Oh fuck, DAN, oh fuck-” he ran towards their room. “DAN,” he shouted again, swinging the door open.

Dan was sitting up in bed, massaging his head. “What the fuck did you do, Phil?”

“Fire,” Phil managed, “fire!”

He was starting to smell the smoke. Dan must’ve too, because his eyes widened. “Phil, you idiot, we can’t get out this way.”

Dan was sort of right, he supposed, the living room was between their bedroom and both the front and back doors, and a large chunk of it was on fire right now.

“You idiot, you should’ve gotten out.” Dan sounded scared now.

Phil wished he could say he had gone back out of some deep seated need to save Dan, but if he was being honest, it was just instinct at this point to run for Dan every time he made a mess. “It’s fine,” he said, looking around for an exit. The window. Phil silently thanked his past self for booking an Airbnb with only one story.

Dan’s eyes followed Phil’s gaze, and he must’ve had the same thought, because he grabbed Phil’s arm, dragging him over to the window and wrenching it open. “The screen-” Phil said, before Dan let go of his hand to push at it until the screen came loose, falling onto the ground on the other side of the window.

“Come on,” Dan said, swinging a leg over the side. He hopped awkwardly down, dragging his other leg after him. “Come on.”

Phil’s legs seemed to seize up, but with enough of Dan’s tugging he made it over the windowsill, his foot catching and sending him tumbling into the sweetly scented, but somewhat thorny, flowerbed. “Ow,” he muttered, looking at the scratches running their way down his long, pale arms. He found himself staring at them, transfixed, as a single drop of blood welled up and trickled down his arm.

Dan pulled at his arm again. “Phil, move-”

Phil stumbled to his feet and out of the flowerbed, following Dan until they were about 20 feet away from the house, just where the grass turned into woods. Oh god, Phil could just see the headlines about how two British idiots were the cause of the latest California wildfire—

“Call 911,” Dan said, sounding just a little less frantic now that they were out of the house.

Phil patted his pockets, looking for his phone. He found a phone-shaped lump in the left one, and pulled it out, his hands shaking as he tried to pull up the phone icon and type in the numbers. It took him a couple of tries, but he finally got the number in right.

A woman’s cool voice sounded from Phil’s phone speakers. “911, what’s your emergency?”

“Right! Emergency. I’m here with my—um—friend,” Phil said awkwardly. “We’re on vacation, from the UK, well, vacation after a convention—you don’t care about visas, do you?” he said, suddenly remembering Dan’s Bahamas fiasco from a few years ago.

Dan glared at him. “The fire,” he prodded.

“Right!” Phil said. “My house is on fire.”

“Do you have an address?” the woman on the other end asked in the calmest voice Phil had ever heard.

“Address,” Phil motioned to Dan with a gesture he hoped clearly communicated, “get me the address for this airbnb,” but Dan didn’t seem to understand. He just looked confused.

“What?”

“What’s the address of this place?”

“Oh!” Dan said, digging out his phone (Phil was suddenly grateful that neither of them could be separated from their phones for long enough to lose them in an emergency). He stared at his screen anxiously, as if he was waiting for something to load.

When it finally did, he didn’t even read it out loud, just shoved the email in front of Phil’s face so he could read it to the dispatcher.

“Alright, sir, help is on the way,” the woman on the phone said. “Are you and your friend a safe distance from the house?”

Phil looked around. “Um, I think so.”

“Perfect. And there’s no one else in the building? Any pets?”

“No. Just us.”

“We’ll be sending an ambulance around just to check that everyone is alright, just so you know.”

Phil hoped he wouldn’t be charged for that. He missed the NHS. “Okay.”

“I’m just going to need you to sit tight until then, okay? Now, can you answer a few questions about the fire?”

She asked a few vague questions about how the fire started, and Phil was grateful that he didn’t have to actually explain what happened, just say it was an accident. Her questions seemed more designed to keep him on the line and calm him down until the fire truck came than to get any actual answers about the fire from him. Phil tried not to look too hard at the growing flames, glowing in the window.

After a few minutes, he could hear sirens in the distance, and a fire truck and ambulance pulled up in his driveway. A few figures in bulky suits hopped out of the truck, immediately getting to work unrolling a hose and aiming it towards the windows of the living room, where Phil could see flames flickering.

“Right,” a very tall man in firefighter gear strode over to them. “I just have a few questions about how the fire started. I don’t suppose you’d be willing to help?”

“You should probably talk to Phil about that, I have to make a few calls,” Dan said, ducking away and patting Phil’s hand before leaving him alone to face his interrogation.

“Yeah,” Phil gulped. “I was there.” He forced himself to look up to make eye contact with the firefighter.

“Right,” the man said, writing something in a notepad. “You saw it start?”

“Yes,” Phil said. “I, uh, was carrying a match.”

The man raised an eyebrow and wrote something down again. “You were carrying a match,” he repeated.

“Yes,” Phil said, finally breaking eye contact. “I was carrying a lit match and I dropped it.”

“Hmmm.” Some more writing. “Why’d you drop it?”

“Well, um, me and my-” Phil hesitated for just a second. “Me and my friend kept this cardboard cutout from this convention we went to, and when I walked back into the living room it startled me and I dropped it.” He didn’t dare look up and risk making eye contact again, but even the other man’s pen scribbling seemed judgemental.

“Right. So then something caught on fire from that?”

“I think it was the carpet. I’m not sure.”

“Well,” the man said, clearing his throat. “You and your friend are lucky you’re safe. I hope you’ve learned to be more careful with matches next time.”

“I have. Sir.” Phil cringed inwardly, hoping it didn’t show on his face. Sir? Was he a child being scolded at school?

The firefighter seemed to accept Phil’s assurance, though, nodding once before turning away and moving back to the truck, just as Dan emerged from the ambulance and jogged over.

“Your turn.” Dan nodded towards the ambulance.

Phil sighed. At least the paramedics probably wouldn’t ask him any questions about how he had managed to start a house fire.

When Phil’s exam was done and he got out of the ambulance, Dan was waiting for him. “I found us a hotel,” he said.

“I love you,” Phil said.

“As you should.”

“What about our stuff?” Phil asked, anxious.

“They let me go in to get our suitcases. Nothing else, though I’m not sure I’d be able to find anything else if I was allowed to try. The living room looked pretty bad.”

They hadn’t gotten a chance to unpack much yet. Just having their suitcases should be fine, though Phil missed his horror novel already. But still, Phil groaned. “Are we going to be in trouble with the Airbnb host?”

“Nope,” Dan said. “I called already, they have insurance for idiots like us.” He smiled as he said it. Phil couldn’t help but appreciate that he had lumped the two of them together, as if this whole mess hadn’t been entirely Phil’s fault. “We’re not getting our money back, though.”

Phil sighed. “Understandable.” It was probably the best outcome he could ask for, especially with he and Dan safe… and how expensive US medical bills could get. “How far is the hotel?”

“About half an hour.” Phil opened his mouth, but Dan cut him off. “I’ll drive. You’ve caused enough damage for today.”

He was smiling, just teasing, but Phil couldn’t help the flush of shame that came over him anyway. “I’m sorry.”

Dan threw an arm around Phil’s back and pulled him closer. “I know,” he whispered. “Now come on. Let’s get out of here and get some rest.”

The hotel room wasn’t as nice as their cabin had been. It was on the smaller side, and the carpet was scratchy and gray. The mattress on the equally gray bed was a bit lumpy, but Phil couldn’t bring himself to care as he dragged himself into it.

Dan collapsed next to him. “How is it that I’m the one functional in an emergency?” he asked. “I’m the one crippled by existential despair all the time.”

“I don’t know,” Phil confessed, wringing his hands. “I just… I panicked.”

“I know,” Dan sighed, patting Phil’s face fondly.

“Nothing like a near death experience to solidify a relationship, though, right?” Phil joked weakly.

Dan patted his face again, a bit more clumsily. “Nothing like a near death experience to make me tired.”

He lapsed into silence then, and Phil listened to him fall asleep, counting every breath, matching them with his own until his eyes drifted closed and he fell into a dark, dreamless sleep where, finally, he could no longer smell the wood smoke.

[yuta-nakamots]

santa tell me - l.yy

Pairing - Yangyang x Reader

Genre - Fluff, Angst

Warnings - None

Summary - Growing up, your wishes to Santa were always things like a doll set, a pretty outfit, or a Nintendo gaming system. You didn’t know if he would answer to a wish that was not tangible, like wishing for a person, but it didn’t hurt to try.

Word Count - 4.2k

Taglist - @danishmiilk @dearyongs​

A/N - bolded phrases are song lyrics taken from the songs listed in the prompts. special appearance by @orange-nimon-cross​. 

Written for the Walking In A Winter Wonderland Collab hosted by @suh-insane​ and @neocitybynight​. 

Prompts:

“Come and kiss me baby, we don’t need no mistletoe” - Ariana Grande (Wit it This Christmas)

“Santa tell me if you’re really there. Don’t make me fall in love again if he won’t be here next year.” - Ariana Grande (Santa Tell Me)

When you had first started off in university, one of your biggest worries was not being able to make new friends and fit in with them. Granted, you chose to stay home and go to one of your local schools meaning that some of your high school friends would still be with you but you also wanted to meet new people so you’re not stuck with the same idiots for the rest of your life.

Such idiots being Na Jaemin and Lee Jeno who had stuck with you all through high school. Both of them had told you that they too would be staying at home and would be going to school with you, which you were secretly extremely thankful for, though you knew they too were probably itching to make new friends.

Luckily, you three were all majoring in the STEM field so many of your classes coincided with each other. You stuck with Jaemin as biology majors on the pre-med track while Jeno majored in engineering. Somehow, Jeno, one of the most quiet and intimidating people at first glance, had managed to connect with the other freshmen, introducing you to Yangyang and Renjun, both of whom he met in his calculus class.

Yangyang was majoring in bioengineering, a quite daunting major to say the least, while Renjun was going into computer science. Much to your surprise, Yangyang was actually local. It's just that he had gone to one of your rival high schools which was why you hadn’t yet met him unlike Renjun who actually flew in from a different city.

Like this, your little friend group was complete for your first year of college. With all of you being in the STEM fields, group study sessions were a must, especially for Renjun who felt the need to be over prepared for every quiz or exam though he claimed that the rest of you were just ‘underprepared’.

“So who can tell me what the values of N(0) and N(9) are?” Renjun asked, standing in front of the whiteboard in the study room you all booked to prepare for your calculus exam the next day.

Everyone was silent as they analyzed the problem. “Oh, N(0) is 41 and N(9) is 325, right?” Yangyang answered.

“Correct, they’re simply the values given to us in the problem,” Renjun explained as he wrote the numbers on the board, “and so from here, what do we do if we want to find the unknown relative growth rate?”

“Is that the equation with all the letters and stuff?” Jaemin chimed in. “You know, the one with all the P and the t and the-”

“The exponential growth equation.” Jeno interrupted, playfully rolling his eyes at Jaemin who proceeded to throw his eraser at the former.

“Hey, we’re here to study, not for us to babysit you two,” Renjun scolded, “anyway, which values will we be plugging in?”

“9 for the t, 325 for the P(9), and 41 for P(0),” you stated, pretty much unphased by the antics of your friends, “then you divide the 325 by 41 and multiply both sides by the natural log to get rid of the e.”

“Very good-”

“Wait slow down-”

“I don’t get it-”

Renjun, Jeno, and Jaemin all spoke at the same time, shooting each other looks as they fought to decide who should speak though Yangyang beat them all to it. “We’re trying to find the growth rate which is why we divide the final value by the starting value, it’s like finding the rate of change, you know?”

“God, at least I know three of us won’t fail the test,” Renjun muttered.

“Hey,” Jeno complained, “I understand it, I just need more time to write it all down, don’t be so mean.”

“Yeah okay, whatever, let’s just finish up this problem already because I’m hungry and I swear, if we don’t end before the cafeteria closes-”

“Multiply both sides by 1 over 9 to isolate the k constant and from there plug it into a calculator and solve to get the unknown relative growth rate,” you commented, your own stomach growling the tiniest bit at the mention of food.

“Oh my baby is so smart! I’m so proud of you,” Jaemin exclaimed as he reached over to try to squish your cheeks though you were quickly pulled out of his reach as someone moved your chair, “hey! Don’t take my baby away from me.”

“She’s not a baby, she’s already 18,” Yangyang reasoned.

A loud sigh came from the front of the room, effectively interrupting all conversation. “Jaemin, can you at least try to put in some effort?” Renjun whined.

“I did! Look, the k constant is equal to 0.23003 and I have everything written down here,” Jaemin defended, sliding his paper closer to Renjun who was struggling to see it from a distance.

Renjun made a noise of both content and confusion, “then why did you say that you didn’t get it?”

Jaemin shook his head, “oh no no no, I didn’t say that I didn’t get it, I was going to say that I don’t get how our y/n is so smart already. She’s going to be such a good doctor!”

“That’s your goal bro, not her’s.” Yangyang interjected.

There was a loud sound of a book shutting and everyone looked over at Jeno who was packing up his stuff. “What?” He questioned, when he noticed everyone's eyes on him. “Aren’t we going to get dinner?”

The rest of you started following suit after doing one last check that everyone was good on all of the material for the test tomorrow. “What score do you think you’ll get on the exam?” Yangyang asked as the group of you headed over to the cafeteria.

You let out a hum as you thought to yourself. “Maybe like an 85 or something around there.”

“Nah, I’m pretty sure you’ll hit at least a 90, or even a 90 exactly,” he responded with a cheeky giggle.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“Because I’m the 10 that you need.”

Sure enough, you scored 90 points on the exam, prompting Yangyang to excitedly treat you for lunch that following weekend. One small date became two and eventually three which was when he asked you to be his girlfriend.

When you told the rest of the guys that the two of you were together, Jaemin let out a whoop before turning to the others, “you both owe me twenty.”

You raised an eyebrow at them, asking for an explanation. “We made a bet on when Yangyang would finally get the guts to ask you out. Turns out it was a lot faster than we thought,” Renjun explained dryly as he opened his wallet to hand Jaemin the bill.

The rest of your first year in college went by in the blink of an eye jumping from spending Christmas with Yangyang, Jeno, and Jaemin, to submitting your registrations for the next school year, then to finals to wrap up the term.

If there was one thing about freshman year that you’d keep dear to your heart, it would be the little Christmas party the four of you had at Jeno’s house. You had each brought a gift as each other’s Secret Santa, yours was a cute pair of pink socks with strawberries on them for Jaemin who you knew hated strawberries though he’d wear them anyways because they’re from you.

Supporting your predictions, Jaemin changed his socks right then and there with a smile on his face because “they’re so cute, just like my baby” causing your boyfriend, who was in fact your Secret Santa, to jokingly make a gagging sound at Jaemin’s affection towards you.

The gift Yangyang gave you was a thin bracelet with a single little sheep charm dangling off of it. “In Korean, yang means sheep so I thought it would be cute to give you something that could be a reminder of me when I’m not with you.” Now it was Jaemin and Jeno’s turns to make the sounds of disgust as you kissed Yangyang’s cheek to thank him.

So I think you should give your love to me. Baby, let me know

Sophomore year was when things started to change starting with Yangyang leaving to continue his studies in China where he was accepted into one of his dream universities. He had told you about his plans beforehand and you celebrated every milestone with him like when he first submitted his application, when he got his acceptance letter, and then a scholarship. Here you were finally, sending your boyfriend off at the airport before the beginning of fall semester.

“I love you so much, stay safe and don’t get sick,” you told him as you held him in a tight hug, not wanting to say goodbye just yet.

Yangyang laughed as he felt you trying to nuzzle into his chest. “I’ll be back sooner than you know it. Just four months and I’ll be back for the holidays.”

Even as your tears began to fall, you still smiled, not wanting his last moments with you to be sad ones. “Promise?”

“I promise.” He locked pinkies with you, sealing the deal.

It was difficult to be in a long distance relationship, especially when it seems like the time zones are working against you. When you’re awake and going about your day, Yangyang is winding down and finishing up his work, about the head to sleep. There was never a good time for you to call each other, especially as the semester progressed and your workloads only increased.

“I really miss you, you know. I miss getting to hold you in my arms and mess up your hair only to have you hit me all the time.” You paused the voice recording he had sent you a few days ago, wanting so badly for time to go by faster and for Yangyang to return home sooner.

You sent him a voice recording back. “I passed that test I was talking about last week! I didn’t really do too well but it’s okay because apparently Jeno and Jaemin didn’t do all that great either. I miss having you here to help me study and tell me that I’m doing well. How did your ochem lab go? I’m sure you aced it.”

Sending each other voice recordings was the next best thing after calling because you could still hear each other’s voice while also still doing it at a time that was comfortable for you. It was like texting but with your voice instead of typing out words. Though sometimes it left you anxious because it wasn’t like a call where the other person is responding in real time. Yangyang would often leave you on read and would take a few days to respond so you inadvertently began doing the same thing.

It wasn’t until one weekend when both of you had free time that Yangyang finally snapped during a call. “It’s like you don’t want me anymore.”

“What? No, what do you mean?” You questioned.

“You don’t respond all the time and it’s like I’m not a top priority anymore,” he rambled.

“To be fair,” you began, “you don’t respond to me all the time either-”

“Yeah because I’m busy.” Yangyang interrupted.

You let out a sigh. “I’m busy too. We’re both college students majoring in some of the hardest fields, we know how hard we have to work for our education.”

“I know but like, you can still text me back. You don’t have to send voice recordings so often if you’re really that busy-”

“No, don’t make it sound like I’m exaggerating how busy I am. You are a top priority, but you’re not my number one and that should be common sense.” You tell him, feeling your own temper starting to go.

You could practically see Yangyang rolling his eyes at you. “I’m not trying to downplay your work at all. I’m just saying that it’s not that hard to put effort into our relationship.”

“Then how about you give me something to go off of first instead of making me change for you. You barely respond to me either so I can say just the same thing for you,” you argued.

“Look, I think we need some time away from each other to clear our heads and figure this out when we aren’t being weighed down by all our other problems,” he reasoned.

You let out a laugh. “You say that as if we haven’t already been separated from each other for two months already but okay.”

“Goodnight, y/n.” You heard the line go dead. He didn’t even end with an ‘I love you’ or anything like that though you chose not to think too hard about it because he was probably just as tense as you.

When Yangyang came home in December it felt like everything was right once again. He got to be reunited with the original group along with meeting the two newest additions, Haechan and Shotaro who were both business majors and were roped in by Jeno who had a shared class with both of them.  

Yangyang had gotten you a second charm, the number 10 to go on the bracelet he had bought you the year before which you still wore almost constantly. “Ten because I’m the ten you need, remember?” You nodded as you smiled up at him, glad to finally have him back in your arms.

He had to go back to school sooner than the rest of you so your time with him was short-lived and things went back to the way they used to be, except even more distant this time around. Normally Yangyang would be sure to call you back if he ever missed a call from you, but he didn’t. He’d go days without responding to you, opening your messages but never sending anything back.

But it’s hard to tell if this is just a fling or if it’s true love that he thinks of

That semester, the two of you decided to break things off after yet another fight in hopes to preserve the friendship that you had before things got any worse. It was like a breath of fresh air for a moment, getting to finally focus your energy on your work and not worry about having to respond to messages from a boyfriend who didn’t really seem like one. Only when you slowed down did things really start to hit you.

When Yangyang came back during summer, your group was torn on how to handle the situation, wanting to hang out with both of you but not wanting to make things uncomfortable knowing how rocky things were between the two of you. You ended up pulling yourself back and encouraging them to go out with Yangyang since they could see you during the school year whereas he was in a different country and it only seemed fair.

That was really the last you saw or heard of him as you chose to bury yourself in work for the next year, not wanting to let yourself fall behind in school because of your emotions. It was, by far, one of your most productive years. Not only did you take some of your grad school tests and applied for many scholarships, you also earned yourself a spot on the Dean’s list and took part in a notable marine biology study done on the effects of pollution on the local animals.

Between balancing all of your current works and goals along with things to prepare you for your potential future careers, the mere existence of Liu Yangyang slipped your mind for just that short time. It was only a year later, during the summer before your senior year, did you hear from Jaemin that Yangyang was planning to come back.

“Yeah he was asking Jeno what we’re planning on doing for housing next year and if he could join us.” Jaemin informed you as the two of you were running an experiment and working on tracking the carbon output of the little plants in front of you.

“So what did you say to him?” You asked as you placed the oxygen gauge inside the chamber of the first plant.

Jaemin paused to see if the gauge was sending data to the computer. “I told him that the six of us were looking into getting one of the campus apartments in the fall so we might not be able to accommodate him.”

“Wait, six? Aren’t there five of us?” You started listing the names of your friends in your head.

“Haechan is going off-campus and Jeno’s girlfriend is joining us,” Jaemin corrects, “so next semester it’s us, Jeno and Yunha, Renjun, and Shotaro. Six. We probably won’t have space for him unless someone backs out.” You stared at the rising and falling of the line on the computer graph, not really sure if you were happy or sad at this. “Would you have liked it if he were to join us?” He questioned after seeing your silence.

“I don’t know, it’s not that I’m ‘uncomfortable’ around him…” your voice trailed off as the computer finished collecting data and indicated for you to reset and move on to the next plant, “it’s just that we didn’t really have a clean end to our relationship, if you know what I mean.”

Jaemin nodded in understanding as you moved the gauge to the second plant. “Would you like to get back together with him if given the opportunity?”

“Well, yeah but not if we’re both as busy as we are right now.” You explained, looking over at the screen to see if the oxygen was tracking.

“Try inserting it a little further,” Jaemin instructed when you both saw that the line was running a bit low, “but anyway, you guys are both going into the medical field, there’s no escaping being busy.”

“Yeah that’s exactly wh-”

“No, listen. What I’m saying is that you don’t have to both see each other all the time. Think about it. There’s tons of people out there who don’t even understand their partner’s job but they still make it work-” He rambled

“And who’s to say you can group me in with a majority?” You interject.

Jaemin looks away from the screen to roll his eyes at you. “That’s not the point. I’m just saying that maybe you should think about giving him another chance whether he lives with us or not.”

“I mean, I’ll think about it. That doesn’t mean I will.” You decide, wanting to get back to the experiment.

Santa tell me if you’re really there. Don’t make me fall in love again if he won’t be here next year

Truthfully, you hadn’t really gotten over Yangyang, you had merely forgotten about him for a while with all the stuff you were doing, which was what you had planned to do. A part of you wanted to see if things could still work out again but the other part of you didn’t want to put yourself in that same situation again, especially now that both you and him would probably be even more busy than before.

You didn’t know if he’d be coming back for good or if he’d be leaving again to go somewhere else and you didn’t want to take the chance of falling for him only to lose him shortly after. Thankfully the other guys didn’t ask too much about it seeing as how the housing situation was already settled.

It was just your luck and misfortune that you went in to work on a research assignment on the day you did. As you walked down the hallways of the lab building, you heard that one familiar voice ringing throughout the halls from an open door. You paused in your tracks, diverting from your course through the building to see if your suspicions were true as you peeked into one of the labs.

As you looked in, you saw his back towards you while he talked animatedly with one of your colleagues about how different it was to go to a university in China. You quickly ducked away when your colleague waved in your direction, not wanting to be seen by Yangyang.

“Who was that?” He asked, his voice getting fainter as you sped away from the room. You heard your name mentioned followed by an “oh” but that was about it as you got into the elevator to head to the archives.

And I’m trying to play it cool but it’s hard to focus when I see him walking around the room

Senior year progressed just like any other year, though you were glad that you got to live with your closest friends and at least see them for meals when you were all too busy to actually hang out. If anything, it was just the slightest bit more calm since there was no longer stress about passing general classes now that you were in more specialized biology courses that were actually enjoyable.

The annual Christmas party came up much faster than you expected but now that the six of you shared an apartment, it was only that much more convenient and because it would be your last year all together, Jaemin insisted that it be an actual get-together for your friends.

He invited Haechan and some of the guys he was now living with, though they were all older too. Renjun brought over some of the other computer science grad students that he had gotten close to recently, similar to Jeno in the engineering field.

As more people showed up and you worked on keeping all of your guests entertained, you hadn’t managed to keep track of everyone who set foot into the door, trusting Renjun to not let anyone in who had no business with you guys. It wasn’t until dinner started that you saw a face you hadn’t seen in a while.

“Hey,” Yangyang began as he almost ran into you exiting the kitchen with a plate full of food in his hands.

“Hey,” you said back, startled and unsure of how to actually react.

After you had gotten your food and returned to the living room, you say that he had taken up a seat next to Jeno and Jaemin as some Christmas movie started playing and you opted to sit on the sofa next to Jeno’s girlfriend Yunha, who gladly scooted over to make room for you. “Who’s that?” She asked, nodding over to where her boyfriend was.

“That’s, uh, Yangyang. He was one of our close friends during our freshmen year but he left to study at a school in China,” you inform her, glad that she accepted the simple explanation.

You successfully avoided him for almost the rest of the night, not because you didn’t like him but because you were scared of talking to him after so long. It was nearing the end of the night when Renjun had yelled for everyone to “sit your asses down in a circle” with the present they brought for the white elephant game gift exchange game.

The apartment was filled with laughter and cheers as the game progressed and people opened the gifts they chose, finding things outrageous as a whisk or backscratcher or even a bag of clothespins. The best one was the gift Jeno, a cat lover opened, pulling out a box of dog treats.

“Aw, our big samoyed!” Jaemin cooed. “Do some tricks for us!” Jeno shot him a glare before allowing the game to continue on.

The gift you decided on keeping was a small red envelope sealed with a shiny golden sticker. When you opened it, you pulled out a postcard from Shanghai and you felt a wave of emotion hit you. You held it up to show the people around you what it was before quickly slipping it back into the envelope and placing it on the ground beneath your crossed legs.

Once everyone had opened their gifts and a few people were starting to leave, you decided to get a head start on cleaning up in the kitchen as your roommates bid everyone farewell and wished them a safe drive home.

“I think it’s kind of funny how you got my gift,” a voice said from behind as you transferred the leftover dumplings from the plate they were on into a tupperware container.

You shrugged your shoulders. “The minimum price requirement was $5 and I’m sure you couldn’t have spent more than $2 on that.”

“The envelope and the sticker made up for the other $3,” he stated, his playful attitude ever so present, “so how have you been lately?”

“Pretty good, I guess. Got accepted into grad school, finishing up my remaining courses, just normal college stuff, how about you?” You finally make eye contact with him as you have to nudge him out of the way for you to open the refrigerator. He looks nearly exactly the same as when he first left but somehow more handsome and less boyish.

“Oh, I’ve been doing just about the same I could say. I decided to stay home for this school year, though I suppose you already knew that seeing as how you were spying on me at the beginning of the semester.” He shot you a wink as you returned back to the counter to start working on another dish.

You let out a gasp, “I was not spying on you.”

“Then why did you just peek into the lab and leave before I got to see you?” He inquired.

“Because I had other things to do,” you respond quickly.

“Well what if I told you that I actually wanted to see you and was disappointed that you ran away?” He took a step closer to you.

You secured the lid on a container of fried rice. “Then I guess you’re not the only one.”

“Hm, so you really did miss me then,” Yangyang chuckles.

“Will the two of you stop talking and just kiss already?” Jaemin shouts from the hallway.

Yangyang lets out a laugh. “You heard the guy. Come here.”

You gave in to your heart as you closed the refrigerator again, turning to face him and taking only two steps until you were in his arms once again as his lips met yours.

Come and kiss me baby, we don’t need no mistletoe

[stillbandofbrothersthirsty]

I feel like Harry doesn’t get enough love and attention in the fandom 🥲 and since it is The Summer of Harry, could we get a small fic or headcanons about being best friends with Harry and getting into shenanigans with him?

xoxo

Omg yesss I love Harry, I agree he does not get enough love!!!

Here’s my unsolicited preamble: I truly adore him. In all honesty he’s the character I relate to most, personality wise. SO I had to do both a few headcanon’s and then a short lil fic that played those out. Not sure if this was exactly what you had in mind but this is what I picture being besties with Welsh would be like :) (p.s. sorry for any typos, I didn't do a lot of re-reading and I'm dyslexic sooo free pass)

- I feel like Welsh would be a very affectionate and physical love kind of friend because he seems really sure in his body language and physical space.

- He would be the kind of bestie you could cuddle with without any sort of apprehension over it being anything more than friendship.

- Welsh is the kind of friend that will lead you straight into trouble but charm your guys’ way right out of it.

- Welsh is the kind of friend to give really good advice but never the kind to pressure you or judge you if you don’t take his advice.

- At the same time he’s a bit of a hot mess himself but in such a confident, surly way that keeps him from becoming a basket case. Which means he’s not an exhausting friend to have. He gives energy to his friends.

There was a good chance that those who didn’t know you and Harry well would assume you had a flirtationship. Everyone knew about Kitty, especially after three months of having Harry as an Easy Company officer. So a judgmental look from an onlooking stranger wasn’t uncommon. But those who knew you well knew things could not be more platonic between you two. You and Harry had bonded from the beginning; like long-lost twins. You filled in each other’s gaps. You met each other note for note in every situation, from teasing Winters to sobering conversations about core values. Most dangerously, you fed off of each other’s mischief (much to Winters’ chagrin). That night wasn’t much different from the many you shared with Harry. The difference was that it was preceded by a particularly terrible day.

You were exhausted by the day's work. You had had the privilege of being singled out by Sobel who had berated you at length without real cause. You had very little energy to do anything except take a shower and go to bed. But it was a Friday, and Harry wasn’t about to let you get away with that.

“Good evening!” Harry skipped through the doorway of your barrack. He was cleaned up and dressed neatly in his khaki uniform.

“Hi Harry,” you said unenthusiastically from where you were stretched out.

“What’s up, cookie?” he kicked the side of your cot, trying to elicit a jolt of action from you.

“Crappy day.”

��Well come out and we’ll at least make sure it ends well.”

“Not in the mood.”

“Aw come on,” Harry whined, “I want to go have fun.”

“I’m in a bad mood, Harry,” you protested.

“Who put the bee in your bonnet?” he sat down beside you.

You wriggled slightly out of the way to make room for him. “Sobel.”

Harry rolled his eyes, “the guy’s a yuck, don’t let him ruin your night.

“Too late.” You knew you were just being a brat at this point. But Harry knew he was going to win you over.

“Come on, you’re getting up and we’re gonna have a great night. Dick’s coming out for an hour or so, you can’t miss that.”

“Is he drinking?” you sat up in shock.

Harry huffed, “pff, no, of course not. Still, it’ll be good to chat with him. Come on, get up.”

The pub was full of soldiers from all of the Airborne companies. Harry was leading you to the bar when you spotted him, Sobel.

“The hell is he doing here?” You asked.

Harry followed your eye line. “Gross,” he muttered, “come on.” He pushed forward.

“Harry,” you said reluctantly.

“Trust me,” he grinned mischievously. You recognised that glint in his eye and you couldn’t help but smile in excitement.

“Captain,” Harry addressed Sobel formally as he approached. The haughty officer barely acknowledged them with a nod but Harry began to spin his web.

“So rowdy in here,” he leaned on the bar conspiratorially, “so much reckless drinking.” He paused to make sure you were in on the conversation. “We were just discussing how drinking should only be done in fine taste, with quality liquor.” Sobel seemed to be listening despite his silence.

“We were,” you jumped in, “the ability to appreciate quality is a mark of superiority.” You matched Harry’s buttery tone, careful not to appear too direct with Sobel.

“That’s why Colonel Sink has all those beautifully decanted scotches in his office! Have you seen those?” Harry directed to you, across Sobel.

“Beautiful!” you enthused.

You two let those words hang there. Sobel had obviously taken in your words, you wanted them to settle.

“Anyways,” Harry said cheerfully, “can I buy you a drink, Captain?”

“Oh uh-,” Sobel stumbled, “I uh-,”

“I’m gonna get your strongest scotch, neat please,” Harry grinned charmingly at the bartender. Then he turned to Sobel, “should I make that two?” There was a challenging look in your friend's eye. You suppressed a grin but relished in the situation.

“Sure,” Sobel said curtly, then as an afterthought he turned to you, “are you getting one?” Had it been anyone else it would’ve considered him thoughtful.

“Oh no,” you said you said nonchalantly, “can’t stand the stuff. It’s wicked strong.” You swelled with sadistic delight as you watched Sobel’s eyes widen in fear.

“Cheers!” Harry handed the officer the dark brown drink with a mischievous smile.

To Sobel’s credit, he did take a generous sip of the liquor with only the slightest of flinches.

The two of you posted up at a table with Winters, Nixon, and a few of the other officers who had distanced themselves from the enlisted men. You sat chatting and drinking and generally having a good time. After a drink or two, you spotted Joe Liebgott in the crowd. He smiled over his drink at you and you couldn’t help but smile coyly back. He always seemed to catch your eye on nights out. Though nothing ever came from it you enjoyed the attention from the handsome man.

Welsh caught the exchange between you and Joe. “That boy is trouble.”

“What? I thought you liked Joe!”

“I do, great soldier.”

“But trouble?” you asked jokingly.

“Yeah, part of why I like him. Why don’t you go for someone sweet?” Harry scanned the crowd, “like Carwood?”

“Lipton’s married, Harry.”

“Oh right, Shifty then!”

You sighed, “you know I adore Shifty but..”

“You’re right, he’s too sweet for you. Better stick with, Joe.”

You and Harry stared at each other until you both broke into laughs.

“Thanks for the romantic advice,” you teased.

“Anytime,” Harry laughed into his drink.

The night progressed. Winters left early and eventually, Nixon retired as well. Soon enough, you and Harry were left alone at a table playing tiddlywinks with coins. Between the alcohol and the company, you were feeling good. The pains of the day had melted away.

Smokey Gordon, with the assistance of George Luz, began to lead the crowd of soldiers in song. It was a darkly humoured Irish ballad that Harry seemed to know well. From beside you at your table he belted out the words off-pitch, a cigarette burning away between his fingers, momentarily forgotten.

“You’re shit!” you laughed over the music, “you’re a terrible singer!”

Harry paused quickly to say, “shut up, I’m singing,” before launching his voice back into the chorus.

You laughed as the Easy Company men wrapped up their song in cheers. You smiled to yourself, grateful to be a part of such a great group of men.

You were feeling intoxicated late into the evening but nowhere near as intoxicated as Harry. He had had a fair amount to drink but luckily he held his alcohol well. He wasn’t a sloppy, sick or angry drunk. The alcohol only exacerbated his most questionable traits; characteristics you had grown to appreciate.

“You hungry?” you asked him as he polished off another beer.

“I can always eat,” he responded.

“Do you think they’ll serve us something here?”

“I don’t know,” Harry said, “I bet they’ve closed the kitchen. Probably hours ago!”

You eyed the bar. Things had died down slightly. Many people had gone home and the patrons who hadn’t were losing their energy. Conversational groups furnished with half drunk pints peppered the pub. “I bet we can make them serve us something. Surely something!” you said.

Harry looked deep in thought before saying, “you know, you’re right.”

“What’s the harm in asking?” you said with an alcohol-induced sense of confidence.

“You’re right! Let’s go!” Harry pulled you up from the table and the two of you made for the bar.

Harry leaned across the wood counter. “Can we get anything to eat? One of those pies maybe?” he asked the bartender.

“Ooh or eggs and bacon!” You interject. The thought of breakfast made your stomach rumble.

“Oh yeah, that sounds really good! Good call,” Harry turned his attention back to the exasperated bartender, “can we can some eggs and bacon please?”

“You think I got bacon?” The bartender asked dryly. “It’s midnight…during a war,” he explained like he was talking to idiots, which he kind of was.

“Mm good point,” you were quickly defeated in your inebriated state.

“Ah come on, Fred,” Harry said, “I know you have food! Please, for one of your most loyal patrons.”

It was true, Harry was a loyal customer. He had quickly become a regular at this pub. You had dragged him off a barstool more than a few times when he was meant to be elsewhere.

The bartender Fred eyed the grinning, gap-toothed man. “Fine, but you gotta eat it in the back. I don’t want everyone seeing I’m serving food or they’ll all want some.”

“Ah thank you Fred!” You thanked him exuberantly. He shot you both a stern look as you scrambled around the bar.

You two of you waited patiently perched upon apple crates in the back kitchen as Fred fried you up a couple of eggs and slices of ham. It wasn’t exactly bacon but it hit the spot. You had never tasted anything so good in your life.

“I could eat this for the rest of my life,” Harry said through a mouthful of food.

“Mm s’good,” you responded with equal impropriety. You swallowed, “thanks for forcing me out Harry.”

“Aw,” Harry wrapped an arm around your neck and gave you a sloppy kiss on the forehead, “anytime, cookie.”

[redqueen-hypothesis]

duo dates ➳ mlqc

KIRO

⤞ visiting animal rescue shelters together

it’s obvious that kiro has quite the soft spot for furry animals from the sheer number of strays he’s picked off the streets one way or another. both amused and inspired by how excited he gets from being around apple box and cello, you decide to feature him in one of your documentaries about abandoned pets, allowing him to work with a rescue shelter for a day. you’ve never seen him so excited, giggles and delighted laughter falling freely from his mouth as puppies and kittens crawl over him, nosing and licking at every part of him. he gets very emotional when he hears about the number of animals that get abandoned and have to be euthanized once they stop being ‘cute’, and the staff lets out a collective sniff from behind the cameras when they see his own eyes filling with tears.

so, it’s no surprise when kiro decides to head back to the animal shelter on his own, and he invites you along with him too! the two of you become longtime volunteers at the shelter, and kiro absolutely loves the animals there (you’d jokingly told him that you’re jealous before, to which he showered you with loud kisses and ardent declarations of love until you were dying of embarrassment). he names all of the animals there with some of the weirdest names, like ‘triangle ears’ and ‘fur tail’, but tends to forget them and mix them up with each visit. will wear the animal mascot suit and stand outside to encourage volunteers to sign up, and gives monthly anonymous donations but the staff all know it’s him. he complains they only treat him extra nice during that time, but you know all the staff adore him (and honestly, who doesn’t, with that pure heart and bright smile?)

not afraid to get down and dirty with the animals! you and the rest of the staff watch with varying degrees of admiration (and horror) as he throws himself into the mud along with the animals, stealing squeaky toys and toy bones alike from right under their noses and running for his life as a pack of dogs chase him from behind. when kiro’s exhausted himself playing with them, he’ll come into the shade damp with sweat and immediately flop down with his head on your lap, pretending to snore loudly, although he really does fall asleep sometimes. refers to himself as the dad and you as the mom, and will sometimes tell the pups to ask you for permission to wolf down their dog chow. “it’s practice for taking care of our future family!” he insists, wrapping his arms around you right after he’s finished chasing the dogs in the rain. when you shake your head and ask him where on earth you’re going to find a family as chaotic as this, he slyly winks and says he wants as many kids as there are dogs in the shelter. you aim a kick at him.

GAVIN

⤞ learning self defense from him

it had started for a multitude of reasons. first of all, you had mentioned wanting to get into shape and shed some excess some way, and had been looking for a way to get fit quickly. secondly, there had been a stalker who had been following you home for a few nights when you left the office late, although that had been quickly put to an end when gavin came over to pick you up on a late night food run and promptly made the guy eat pavement. he’d been worried about you, and suggested learning a form of self defense in order to better protect yourself in case he wasn’t there. lastly, you wanted to see gavin sleeveless, sweaty and... yeah. that’s it. that’s the reason.

the first few lessons, you’re so distracted by that tight fitting black tank top and dear lord those arms and abs that you nearly get your nose broken by your dear teacher gavin, who panics for a good entire hour and won’t stop apologising. he suggests stopping the lessons, but you insist on continuing, determined to actually focus this time round (you can ogle his body another time when there isn’t a fist flying at your face). it starts off as a way to spend more time with gavin and allowing him to do what he likes at first, but then your competitive side quickly starts to take over and you find yourself becoming more and more interested in the sport itself. gavin never really goes very hard on you, but he isn’t an easy coach either. he works with you to improve your fitness levels, going to the gym with you, following you on your jogging rounds whenever you want him to, and letting you punch him all you want (your hands probably hurt more than his rock hard body does anyway).

your favourite part, though, is watching gavin truly sink into his element, because he looks extra hot when he’s in the fighting ring squaring off in a practice match against another opponent. there’s a calm, composed expression on his face, but his eyes shine with a dangerous light that remind you of a starving wolf. when he does go toe to toe with his opponent, you rarely have a second to blink before gavin’s already moving lightning quick to take his him down. it’s a side of him you rarely get to see since he’s always so sweet and tender with you, but you can’t help gushing to him about how sexy he is and watching as his ears burn bright red with barely suppressed (but pleased) embarrassment. in the fighting gym, you’re the only one who’s managed a takedown on him before so you’re somewhat of a legend, but you had played dirty, kissing him full on the mouth when he wasn’t expecting it and he had promptly frozen on the spot.

suffice to say no one else has dared to replicate the technique on him.

VICTOR

⤞ teaching him the ways of an arcade

he would have never agreed to this if he had known just how awful he was at these. victor li can conquer the financial business scene in less than five years straight out of college but can’t for the life of him pass a single level of dance off, much less win against a child less than half his age. he looks so... uncomfortable stepping into that noisy space playing all sorts of loud, upbeat music at once, ear splitting hollers from kids playing other games punctuating the mishmash of songs - it’s only then that you realise that victor has never, in his entire childhood, set foot into an arcade before.

you collect your card at the counter before dragging him to the racing games, sitting him firmly down in your seat before teaching him how to customise his own car. he would have spent hours doing this until you nudge him to the next section, the actual race, and that’s when he starts panicking in typical victor fashion, trying to act calm but asking all sorts of funny questions. demands to know what’s the difference in the game for auto and manual steering, protests repeatedly that “this isn’t how a car works”. it’s even more hilarious seeing him try out the dance games, in which he had faced off against a ten year old and promptly lost. it hurt his pride, but you had laughed so hard your face turned red, so maybe it’s worth it. but only a little bit. and he’s still not doing this again. awhile into the arcade he begins to relax a little and his competitive side starts to shine through, he’s no longer worried about looking like an idiot and instead puts his all into every single game. in fact, you find yourself increasingly distracted by that very endearing expression of focus on his face as he awkwardly tries to navigate his long legs according to the beat, and the childish excitement plain on his face when he finally passes a level makes you smile so hard your cheeks hurt.

at this point, he’s calling the claw machine a complete scam and is ready to sue the entire arcade chain when you’ve decided enough is enough and pull him from the arcade. the two of you end up cramped in a photobooth with your prizes, a totoro hood for him and a rabbit ear headband for you, and you keep the polaroids in your wallet ever since then. you don’t realise that he’s stolen one for himself, and now it sits buried deep in the drawer of his work desk where he looks at it secretly when you aren’t there.

LUCIEN

⤞ horror house/escape room to find his weakness

lucien’s practically unflappable in any situation, seemingly able to respond to any crisis or chaos with the same, serene smile. when you ask him what he’s afraid of, he gives you the same cheesy answer he always does: losing you is the only thing he’s fearful of (to which you just don’t stop blushing, no matter how many times he says it. is it the way he looks at you, or the way his voice just drops to a genuine, low whisper whenever he says it?) as such, you had challenged yourself to find out what his weaknesses were, and tried a variety of the strangest ideas on the internet such as sticking toy cockroaches in the kitchen, only to get terrified yourself at the sight of a forgotten dummy you’d left on the shelf and had nearly broken a cup in the process. after that, lucien had suggested taking your attempts out of the house instead - and thus, horror houses and escape rooms it was.

going to horror houses with lucien is probably the best and worst idea you’ve ever had. in terms of effectiveness of achieving your goal, it’s completely useless - even the most terrifying and renowned of horror houses have lucien walking out completely unfazed, or worse, carrying you in his arms bridal style because your legs are shaking too much to walk straight. the only upside to this is that when you’re terrified, you cling to lucien and he just whispers soothing words into your hair, explaining how the horror house uses mist and smoke dispensers here and there, how the lights change colour and where the actors hide. the poor actors have probably gotten tired of being repeatedly exposed and having to change positions, so many of the horror houses just give the two of you complementary coupons and beg you not to come back. the photos you get of the two of you always include you with the strangest expressions, while lucien’s face just looks like a ctrl+c ctrl+v of his usual expression.

in the end, you give up trying to scare him and just enjoy the horror houses with him, clinging to his arm when you’re scared and letting him calm you down. from the content smile on lucien’s face you see in the pictures, he looks like he’s rather enjoying this. you don’t know this, but he actually buys all the pictures and puts them in his own personal photo album. you’ll probably die of shame if you find out.

SHAW

⤞ busking together on the streets

you had mentioned being extremely nervous about your first time performing live at the live house with the band, so shaw had dragged you along with him to go busking on the streets with him. at first, you had been extremely resistant to the idea (it’s on the streets!! where people can just!! take videos of you and the entire world will know if you screw up!!), but shaw had encouraged you in his own strange way that included a lot of teasing, goading and actual breaking down of how the process would go before you felt confident enough to go with him. “don’t worry,” shaw had said standoffishly as he helped you set up your keyboard, not looking at you the entire time. “i’m way more handsome, so i’m sure they’ll be looking at me the entire time and won’t even notice if you play a completely different song.” offended, you had pulled at his ear, but you were smiling secretly to yourself the entire time, and whispered a ‘thanks’ under your breath. he pretended not to have heard it, but from the way his smirk seemed just a hint happier the entire evening, he must have.

you love little moments that lead up to the actual busking sessions every weekend, sending each other songs and working out the keys over the duration of the week. practicing together and watching as your chemistry falls more and more in sync until the two of you can do perfect runs without any words spoken between you, until you can read the little subtle cues in the way he flexes his fingers on the fretboard before going in on a particularly difficult solo, or the way he turns back to glance at you when your parts are coming up. perhaps the best thing of all is the test covers he sends you to discuss the song flows, because you (secretly) love the sound of his voice when he sings and keep every recording, listening to them when you fall asleep at night (little do you know he does the exact same thing, although he would rather die than let you find out).

shaw covers up for you when you play wrong notes, but he relentlessly teases you for them afterwards. throws hands if any hecklers in the audience insult your playing, and you have to drag him away, apologising for the rudeness while trying not to smile too hard as shaw swears loudly behind you. the money you make from the busking is usually spend on a late night supper after your busking sessions in small food joints whose owners and customers all seem to know shaw somehow, calling him a little rascal and thanking you for mellowing him out. shaw retorts by calling them old men spouting nonsense, hiding a fond smirk behind the cup of his pepsi-coke mix and stuffing food in your mouth when you laugh at him.

[catsandstrawberries]

Proud of You

Pairing: OT7 BTS x graduating reader PLATONIC! (also could be seen as 8th member)

Summary: Due to the coronavirus, your whole senior year has been destroyed, chewed, and spit out by the universe. You start to get depressed once your robes come, but the boys know just how to make you feel better.

Warnings: The reader kind of gets depressed, Americanized because American graduation and Korean graduation are a little different, like 2 swear words, but nothing else. Lots of fluff!

A/N: This is intended to be for high school seniors but words for college seniors as well, could be a stand alone read or a continuation of Real Family. 

“(Y/N), your package came!" 

I ignored Namjoon’s yell and cuddled back into the multitude of blankets that swaddled me in a large cacoon. 

Quarantine was not faring well with me. 

In retrospect, I had it a lot better than most people. I was surrounded by my seven brothers who I loved unconditionally and didn’t have any issues with food shortages or internet issues, but I wouldn’t be able to graduate. That was hard to come to terms with. After twelve long, hard years working at school, and only to be denied all of my senior privileges, seeing my friends, and the top of the cake, graduation. It honestly sucked. But, instead of facing my feelings, I’ve camped out in my bedroom listening to Lo-fi and pretending as if my mental health wasn’t suffering. 

”(Y/N)!“ I groaned with protest, rolling out of bed with no care about my ragged appearance. My hair stuck up at odd angles, and my baggy t-shirt and sweatpants weren’t the most attractive outfit I’ve worn. I trudged towards Namjoons shouting voice, ignoring the flambergasted look Jin gave me, and Yoongi’s voice shouting at me to take a shower and that I smelled like Hoseoks dirty socks. 

"Oh, you look…” I gave Namjoon an annoyed look, 

“dead to the world? Depressed? Annoyed? Sad?” I finally looked down at the package, a medium-sized box shipped from the school. 

I frowned, a sneaking suspicion about what it was creeping up on me. I picked up the box and carried it to the kitchen island, quickly grabbing a pair of scissors from the closest drawer and cutting open the top of the cardboard. My frown only grew as I spotted the robes and cap inside the box, the robe that I would never wear because my diploma was going to come shipped to me, like a useless piece of paper. 

I ignored the crowd watching me from the sidelines and crawled back to my dark hole of depression, otherwise known as my room. Little did I know the boys were setting a plan into motion before I even shut my door.

Netflix seemed to be my only saving grace. My little kid floaties as I attempted not to drown in the big kid pool. I was just about to finish one of the most important cinematic moments in history, Jane giving birth in the tv show Jane the Virgin. But the show all of a sudden started to buffer, and soon a notification on my computer was telling me the wifi connection failed. Aggravated, I tried to re-type the password only for my computer to tell me it was wrong. I stomped to my door, ready to scream at Jungkook for messing with the wifi only to find the exact boy and Jimin standing in front of my door.  

“Uh, hi?” The two looked very suspicious and both their hands were behind their back as if they were hiding something. 

“Is something wrong?” Jungkook asked, trying to bite back a smile as if he knew he was messing with me. Before I could interrogate him Jimin was elbowing him in the ribs, 

“don’t be a brat, Koo.” Jungkook grumbled, and suddenly Jimin was shoving a cardboard box into my arms, the same cardboard box with my graduation outfit. 

“Wha-" 

"You should try it on.” Jimin pushed, a gleaming look behind his eyes that told me he was planning something. 

“Why-" 

"If you don’t try it on and come show us, then we won’t tell you the new wifi password.” My jaw dropped as Jungkook let a sly smirk cross onto his face. Those sly dogs. I sent a harsh glare to the two of them, 

“fine, but I’m choosing dinner tonight.” Jimin exchanged a glance with Jungkook then ruffled my poor excuse of hair, patting down some of the large knots.  

“You drive a hard bargain, deal.” I couldn’t help but smile at their ridiculous antics but before Jimin could shove me back into my room Jungkook was adding, 

“be sure to brush your hair though, you look like the walking dead." 

The door shut before the hairbrush I threw could hit his head.

——–

The body length mirror in front of me only made me more anxious and sad as I looked over my uniform. The robes weren’t exactly attractive, but they fit, and the sad memories of never being able to walk with my friends or give a speech, fully appreciate the process of graduation only soured my mood. I ran a hand through my freshly brushed hair, I styled it slightly in preparation of being included in a V-live or some other event that showed my face to the public. I wasn’t an idiot, the boys wanted me out of my room, and to look nice so I assumed they would show me off to Army to try and lift my spirits. I didn’t want to do this. A part of me wanted to crawl back into my bed and snuggle under my fluffy blankets, call Jin and tell him that I wasn’t feeling well. They might buy it if I lie and say I’m on my period. Even though I was close with the boys, that was the one thing that always freaked them out, and got them off my back. Just mention blood coming out of their younger sister’s vagina and you’re no longer being teased, a full proof plan. I sighed and leaned against the cool wood of my door, my hand hovering over the metal doorknob. Maybe this wouldn’t be such a bad idea, just smile and take a few pictures then you can go back to your room, yeah 30 minutes tops, then I’d be out of there. 

With that final boost of confidence, I opened the door only to find Yoongi standing at the end of the hallway, dressed in the fancy blue sweater he only wore to important events. 

"Is this a blue sweater event?” I questioned jokingly, but his gaze was still locked on my outfit, and once I got close enough he fiddled with the tassel on the top of my cap.

“I’m so proud of you.” I snorted at his cheesy words, raising an eyebrow, 

“for what?” He shrugged as if it was no big deal and offered his arm out to me,  

“for being you.”

Yoongi led me into the dark living room, and my eyes barely had a moment to adjust before the lights were blasted on. My own eyes winced at the onslaught of light, but once they adjusted my heart did cartwheels at the sight in front of me. Gold and silver balloons and streamers hung around the room, inflatable letters spelling out graduation hung at the front of the room where Namjoon stood in front of a pedestal, the other boys lined against either side, creating a clear pathway for me. They were all dressed in nice clothes and once I got close enough they each handed me a slip of paper, diploma, written in crayon or colored pencil highlighted at the top of each paper. A personal message below each of them. I couldn’t help but laugh at that, especially after seeing Hoseok misspell graduation in crayon and have to cross it out to rewrite it. Once I was finally in front of Namjoon, he looked at me with one of the proudest and genuine smiles I had ever seen. 

“Wow, (y/n) looks so much better in her graduation robes then you did Jungkook,” Taehyung whispered cheekily and an embarrassingly loud laugh erupted from my chest at his words and the comedic look of betrayal that crossed Jungkooks face. Namjoon cleared his throat and then glared at the two before turning to face me, 

“Dear class of 2020, It is my greatest honor to be your commencement speaker as you head off to do great things in your lives, as you face graduation day, ready to take on a life full of brand new colors, a palette of opportunities and-” Namjoon filtered off and loosed the bow tie around his shoulder before walking around the pedestal and standing in front of me. “(Y/N), I am so proud of you. I can only imagine how hard this must be for you, balancing all the things you do, from school, to work, living with us, I know we aren’t the easiest family-" 

"Excuse you I’m fucking fantastic and (Y/N) appreciates me and our relationship,” Jin spoke up unashamedly, but a grin spread over his face and he was suddenly showing us two thumbs-ups which transferred into hearts. 

“As I was saying before I was rudely interrupted, we just want you to know that we’ve seen how hard you’ve worked and that we will always be here for you. Even after you get your diploma, and face other big events in your life.”

I couldn’t hold back, and my arms were instantly wrapping around Namjoon in a bone-crushing hug, tears forming in the corners of my eyes as Namjoon spoke, 

“congratulations (y/n), you graduated." 

I’ve been through a lot with the boys, a lot of good memories. From concerts to hangouts, to awards, that time Jin got his tonsils out and thought Namjoon was Britney Spears, but this by far was my favorite memory with them. Or at least a close tie to the Britney Spears moment. Before I could wipe away the tears forming in my eyes Hoseok popped a confetti launcher, the loud bang scaring me out of Namjoons arms as Hobi attacked me in a hug. 

"Our strong girl graduated.” He wrapped his arms around me and jumped up and down excitedly, forcing my body to jump with him. 

“Let her go Hyung, I want a hug too.” I jumped into Tae’s arms as soon as Hobi let go of me, and smiled while he gently wiped away the tears trailing down my face. 

“You better be hungry (y/n), because I made every single dish you ever remotely mentioned you liked.” At the mention of food, I suddenly became aware of the onslaught of smells coming from the kitchen, sensations that made my stomach growl in hunger. Jimin pinched my cheek adoringly and I swatted his hand away, 

“I know we said you could pick dinner, but Jin-Hyung really wanted to cook for you-” I cut him off and stood on my tippy toes to kiss his cheek, 

“thank you Jimin, really." 

"Don’t thank Jimin, this was all my idea!” Jungkook shouted from the other room while Jin smacked him for trying to get into the food without the rest of us. 

“Excuse you! This was a joint effort, don’t try and get all the attention.” Yoongi joined in on the shouting while Namjoon sweated, 

“if anything I should get extra credit for giving the speech-" 

"You begged to do the speech!" 

I chuckled while Tae wrapped an arm around my shoulder, 

"Congratulations graduation girl, you deserve it.” Before I could thank him, shouting erupted from the kitchen, while Tae blanked in front of me. 

“Shit, they got into the silly string.”

[mayraki]

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

“everything happens for a reason”

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

SERIES MASTERLIST

MY MASTERLIST

who is max belinsky?

summary: Max Belinsky and JJ Maybank are the two troublemakers of Outer Banks. Going to parties, getting into trouble, having an attitude and being the two people you don’t mess with are the perfect ways to describe them. What would happen when the two people who seem to have trouble follow them around meet? One thing is for sure, they didn’t expect this outcome.

The last month that Max spent with her mom passed more faster than she ever thought it would. Her relationship with her mother grew up even stronger than before and those little conversations they had every night she’d cherish them forever. But it was time to go back, it’s not like she was sad to come back to her house and see her friends and family, the opposite, seeing those people was the only thing that was keeping her from the thought of her birthday coming up.

All those ugly memories of the car accident that that day would bring up to her were almost impossible to avoid. She would try everything to let it go, enjoy her day with her friends and family, but somehow her chest would close up and that feeling of her throat closing wouldn’t miss a single minute.

At one point, she learnt how to ignore it, but this time she felt like she didn’t have the energy. Having a chill day was all she wanted.

It was the day before her birthday when she was at the ferry with her mom next to her, they were getting closer and closer to the main dock of the island. She could even see the little people that were on there becoming even more bigger as they got close, and that’s when she noticed all of her friends waiting for her and a little smile escaped her lips.

“Welcome baaaack!” Sam yelled while running towards Max once Gianna and her were out of the ferry. The tight hug of Sam became even bigger when the rest of the Pogues were now in the hug.

“We missed you!” Kie yelled once the hug was over. Max couldn’t erase the smile she had on her face once she saw her friends. It was only a month that she spent away, but it felt way more than that.

“Did Max behave?” Ben asked with a smile once the family hugged Gianna.

“She didn’t even get into trouble once.” Gianna said looking at Max.

But she let out a tiny sigh and then turned to her friends. “It was a nightmare.” They all let out laughs. But when JJ and Max locked eyes with each other, they all went in silence.

“Hi.” He said with his hands in his pockets.

“Hi.” Max let out a tiny smile.

“Uhm, guys, I think I forgot to.... organise the rocks at The Chateau.” John B said. JJ and Max both turned to him. “Would you guys, Pope Sarah Kie and Sam...” He said the names quickly “help me? Please?” They all nodded expect for Pope, who turned to John B confused.

“Rocks?” He asked but John B slapped him in the arm and then did a little nod with his head towards Max and JJ. “Oooooh. Right, rocks!”

“Very discreet, guys.” Max did a thumbs up. “Well done.”

Max turned to her family to see that, unfortunately, they all saw and heard that.

“We’ll wait for you in the car.” Fred said with a smile, trying to prevent Ben from intervening and ruining the little reunion Max and JJ wanted to have. They all left the two teenagers on the dock but still gave little excited looks at them before they were out of their sights.

Max let out a tiny laugh while shaking her head. “They’d die as undercover agents.” She said and JJ nodded.

“Yeah, not even survive the training.” They both let out tiny laughs before staring a each other for a couple of minutes, enjoying what they missed over this month. “So, how’ve you been?”

“Good. I missed you guys a lot, to be honest. Pope freaking out or Kie’s and Sam’s wild dancing at the parties.” She let out tiny laugh before JJ spoke.

“We missed you too, Max.” They both stayed locking eyes trying to think of their next words. All the communication they had over the past month was only texts, and most of them where on the group chat they had with the rest of the Pogues. Neither of them knew what to do after their last encounter, or what to say if they wanted to talk about it. So they did what they do best, forget about it. And “forget about it” in their book meant: not actually forgetting about it, because they could never do that, but instead pretend like it never happen even though it was really hard for them since it was the only thing they could think about when they saw each other and overthink what the other is thinking until it’s 4 am.... simple.

“This is not awkward at all!” Max said sarcastically trying to lose the tension that was on the air.

“No!” JJ quickly shook his head. “Not at all!” JJ bit the corner of his lower lip trying to say those words that he practiced since she left for the main land. But somehow, he felt like his tongue was wrapping itself and his mind forgot all the words in the English language.

“Well... my family is waiting for me. So I guess I’ll g-”

“Wait!” JJ said louder than he intended to.

“You good bro?” Max let out a tiny laugh at JJ’s sudden behaviour.

“Yeah- I just... I heard it’s your birthday tomorrow.”

“Oh.” Max did a slow nod before looking down.

“Are you planing on doing something?”

You idiot! Tell her that you want to take her out! JJ’s mind was screaming at him, but he tried to ignore it.

“Not really, I don’t like celebrating my birthday.” Max looked up and that’s when JJ remembered her story... the accident.

“Oh. Ok.” JJ slowly nodded. DUMBASS! Your plan is NOT a celebration! It’s a date! Invite her and see what she says!

“Yeah, it’s not my favorite day, if I’m being honest.”

SAY TO HER THAT YOU’D LIKE TO MAKE IT BETTER! NOW!

“Because I was thinking-” JJ was saying but Max let out a tiny laugh.

“You think?” She asked jokingly and then tried to control her laughter but failed enormously.

She’s so fucking cute- BRAIN! SHUT THE FUCK UP!

“Ha. Ha. Very funny.”

“Oh, c’mon! I was gone a month! I have to keep my throne of bullying you.” Max playfully punched JJ’s arm before saying “you were saying...”

“Right.” JJ nodded. “I was thinking, that maybe if you wanted... you could, you know-” c’mon, say it! say it! “If you don’t want it’s totally fine, I’ll get it-” JJ was so nervous he started to rock his body back and forward with his hands on his pockets.

“Oh my god.” Max said with a smile. “Is JJ Maybank asking me on a date?” She asked with a girly voice. “Oh my god! Giiiiirls, I’m going to faint!” She waved her hand dramatically in front of her face jokingly, while JJ was staring at her with a smile admiring how cute she was.

Stop being a simp and end the fucking question, you dumbass. “Yes, I am asking you on a date. Tonight. At what hour do I pick you up?” The sudden wave of confidence came back to JJ’s body, that’s all he needed.

“I never said yes, Maybank.” Max said crossing her arms around her chest.

“Well hurry up then, because the time that I want to pick you up is close.” He looked at his wrist like he had a watch.

“Oh, so you have a plan for us already?” Max asked with a smirk.

“I may or may not have been preparing this since Sam told me your birthday was coming.”

Max’s heart skipped a beat and then melted at the fact that JJ had been planing something for them, no one has ever done that for her. But she controlled everything she felt inside perfectly, to keep the smirk on her face.

“Really?”

“Are you impressed, Belinsky?”

Max took some steps to end up real close to his face and then said almost in a whisper. “It takes a lot more than that to surprise me, Maybank.” JJ let out a tiny smirk while looking at her lips, before she started to walk to the road at the end of the dock.

“I’ll pick you up at eleven, then. I want to start your birthday with you.” He said behind her. A smile escaped her lips, but then it turned to a smirk once she turned around to face him.

“Don’t be late, Maybank.”

“So, wait wait wait wait wait WHAT?!” Sam yelled on the phone and Max moved it away from her ear. “He finally asked you out!? KIE! JJ FINALLY ASKED MAX OUT! (...) YEAH! THE FUCKER FINALLY DID IT.”

“Is Kie there too? You two DO ANYTHING without the other?” Max let out tiny laugh.

“What? We love doing things together.” Kie talked for the first time on the conversation.

“I would be gagging right now if I wouldn’t find you two extremely cute and love you with all my heart.”

“No, you don’t love us with your whole heart. Don’t lie, you bitch.” Sam complained.

“What?! What do you mean?!” Max asked confused leaving the phone to her side on the bed after hitting the speaker button.

“JJ stole a part of it, can you believe that?! That fucker. I’m going to kick his ass for stealing my best friend’s heart without talking to me first.” Sam said and Max did a fake gag.

“Yeah, there it is.” She said. “And with that thought, Kie?! I’m going to kick your ass then!”

“Uh, uh. Don’t pull me into this weird dynamic you two are having.”

“ANYWAY.” Max said after letting out a laugh. “JJ didn’t steal anything, nobody can steal this heart of mine. It’s sealed with million locks. And my surf board has the key.”

“Then call JJ a magician, because he unlocked those locks without the key.”

Max did a fake gag, again. “If you keep going, I may vomit.”

“Max and JJ, sitting on a tree..” Sam and Kie started singing, Max slapped herself in the face but a little smile escaped her lips, she couldn’t help it.

“I’m going to hang up!” Max yelled but her two friends were still singing. “You guys suck!”

She heard laughs on the other side of the phone and then Kie spoke. “C’mon, Max! It’s loooooove, nobody should be embarrass of that.”

“I’m not embarrassed! It’s just- fuck! Nothing. Can we just drop it and talk about something else, please?”

After talking about some news that happened while Max was gone, the girls ended the call and Max closed her eyes enjoying th sound of silence that now surrounded her room. But then her phone vibrated, letting her know a message was recieved. She turned her head and once she saw the name “Punching bag” on her screen, she picked it up quickly than intended.

“Change of plans, I’ll meet you next to the Chateau at eleven. Don’t be late, dumbass.”

She read the message and that’s when she realised it was over for her, since a smile escaped her lips and her heart skipped a beat. Yeah... it was game over.

As the time was getting closer, JJ said goodbye to John B and Sarah since both decided to leave him and Max alone, leaving to have a little “date” of their own at the beach.

JJ watched how the lights were perfectly illuminating the little picnic he made for her. He made all of this for her. He never thought that he would be into a girl so much that even the little details mattered. His heart was beating a little bit faster as the seconds were passing and he couldn’t wait any longer for her to walk towards him and see what he made. He wanted to see that smile that he loved so much, and then probably her making fun of him for being her little bitch... with her joking tone.

He looked at his phone to see the hour and the numbers ‘10:57’ where showing on the screen. He bit the corner of his lower lip nervously, but when he heard someone walking towards him he quickly turned around expecting to see Max, but instead there was a blonde girl standing in front of him.

“Hi JJ.” She said with a smile. It was weird, because she knew his name but he didn’t recall seeing this girl in his life.

“Hi?” He said confused. “Can I help you?”

“You don’t remember me?” The girl said pretending to be offended but then a little smile escaped her lips. “Maybe I can bring back your memory.” The girl took some steps closer to him but he stepped back. “What? I’m Samantha! We met last summer.” The girl said with a flirty tone. “You told me that when I came back I should look for you in this place.”

“Did I?” JJ didn’t want to sound rude, but he didn’t remember that girl at all. Maybe he was extremely gone at a Kegger.

Samantha nodded. “Yes, you did. Maybe we can go inside and relive that lovely night.” She contienued to step closer to him but this time he didn’t step away, he was too focus trying to remember her and that night. But he couldn’t. On the moment he noticed that Samantha was really close to him, ready to unite her lips with his, but he quickly pushed her away. “C’mon! We had such a good time last time. I have to be honest, I couldn’t forget about you. You were the best.”

“Sorry, but I can’t. I like someone else.” JJ took some steps away from her but she grabbed his arm.

“I don’t see her.” Samantha said with an innocent smile.

“She’s going to come any second now, so I’ll suggest you to leave, Samantha.”

“C’mon, we had such a great time. I just want to do it again.” The girl said and then quicker than the wind united her lips with hers, but he pushed her away.

“What the fuck?!” JJ asked.

“C’mon-” she was saying but was cut off by some car driving away, so fast that it made a really loud noise.

JJ’s heart dropped to his ass when he recognised that old white Jeep. She saw. Max saw him kissing Samantha.

“Wait, Max! Wait!” JJ yelled once he dropped his motorcycle after getting out of it and seeing Max getting out of her Jeep and quickly walking to the front door of her house.

“I’m not mad JJ.” Max said with her back facing him without stopping.

“Then why are you running away from me?” JJ asked more loudly after noticing that Max wasn’t stopping.

“I don’t know! Just leave me alone.” Max said once she was trying to grab the keys of the door on the back pocket, but JJ grabbed her arm to stop her from searching.

“Just wait! What you saw it was not what I looked like.” JJ said with heavy breathing.

“Then what was it?” For the first time, Max turned to face JJ to see those eyes that were clearly hurt, but not as much as hers. “Are you fucking kidding me right now? Because I know what I saw!”

“Fuck! I don’t have an explanation for it! It just happened!” JJ said frustrated and with his heart going full speed.

“Yeah.” Max nodded. “I was there, JJ.”

“She just came and started to talk with me about a night and next thing I know she’s all over me. It all happened so fast, and the kiss lasted not even a second and that’s what you saw! Please, you have to believe me.”

Max looked down once she felt some tears fighting to come out. “JJ, you say words that you don’t mean and then you ask me to meet you but you’re with another girl!” She looked up at him and once he saw her eyes getting wet, his heart skipped a beat.

“I know! I know!”

“Then what am I supposed to think?!” Max said more loudly than she wanted to.

“I don’t know! I don’t know what is happening here with this... with us!” JJ let out big sigh trying to control his heavy breathing but it wasn’t working.

Max swallowed with the intention to control the tears that were trying to come out, but it was too late, a single tear came down her cheek but she quickly wiped it away. “This is way too complicated. And... I’m tired.”

“I’m sorry.” That’s JJ felt he could say. He felt like everything was getting lose, and the fact that he didn’t know that to do made him feel worthless.

“I’m not mad at you.” Max shook her head. “What happened, happened. It’s done.” She said more softly this time.

“Then what is it? What are you tired of?” JJ said trying to get the answers to fix this, but the way Max looked at him made his heart and chest close up even more.

“Getting hurt.” Max said and then looked down biting the corner of her lower lip. “And I’m so fucking scared. Terrified.” She said almost in a whisper.

“I am too.” JJ said softly taking a step closer to her. “But I can’t take control of what happens. This is my life, bad things happen all the fucking time.”

Max quickly looked at him and that made him stopped getting closer. “Maybe this is happening for a reason.”

“What is?” JJ asked confused.

“This! We’re both terrified, and the this happens! Your dad, my family, that girl- maybe, maybe something is trying to tell us something.”

JJ swallowed. “What are you saying?”

Max took a deep breath when tears started to come out of her eyes and going down her cheeks, and then said even if those words were going to completely destroy them both. “Maybe we’re not meant for each other.”

JJ felt his chest get even tighter and his heart beating faster. “And... do you believe that?”

“I don’t know.” Max said in a whisper shaking her head.

“Do you want to?” JJ asked quickly even if he knew the answer was going to kill him on the inside.

“All I know-” Max said looking up at him. “is that I’m done. I’m done getting hurt. And I’m sure you are too.” She said before grabbing the keys from her back pocket. “I’m not mad JJ, I just- I can’t anymore. I’m sorry.” Her voice cracked and before breaking down in front of JJ, she opened her door to quickly walked inside her house, leaving JJ with his heart almost leaving his chest and tears going down his cheeks, hurting like he never hurt before.

Max let her back rest on the closed door and that’s when she noticed the time on the living room clock.

“Happy fucking birthday to me.” She said almost in a whisper before sitting down and letting the tears go down fast from her cheeks.

one chapter left my friends!

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[sweetchup]

The Hard Path

Type: Oc Story request

Word Count: 4K words

Warnings: Past abuse and PTSD

Author Note: I know I’ve been gone for a while. Not really any excuse except school has been beating me up. I hope @lelewright1234 likes her OC request.

“Oh, Great Gods from above. The ones that protect us and our families every day…”

Leah kicks the man to her right and attempts to escape. Though it was proven to be futile as she was preceded to be thrown back into the harsh muddy ground.

“Please accept this child as a worthy sacrifice…”

“No, let me go! Stop!” She shouts as the men forcibly drag her up the wet stone staircase to the altar, “Please anyone! Help me!”

Leah’s pleas and cries fall on deaf ears. She couldn’t tell if it was the sound of the downpouring rain drowning her out or if the citizens chose to ignore her. Though, she soon believed it was the later as the citizens from her village began chanting in unison with the great priest.

“Wang-go, Monster of destruction and creation. Please accept this child as your sacrifice and new holder.”

The great priest holds up a ruby dagger he took from his pocket. As he showed it off to the crowd, they roared with excitement. Though as soon as he lifts up his palm they fall into a deadly silence. Taking one last look at Leah, he swings the dagger above his head before plunging it into—

“Leah!”

Leah is startled awake and pants heavily. She realized she wasn’t there. She wasn’t back at her village.

“G-Gon.” The curly haired girl chokes out. Gon gives her a concerned look as he proceeds to sit down next to her. Leah tries to say something else in response but stops short of answering when a cold feeling hits her clammy forehead. Very startled, she looks up to see Killua on the other side of her pressing a cold water bottle to her forehead.

“What are you doing startling us like that, idiot?” Killua says jokingly. Though his face didn’t reflect that as he looked at her serious and slightly concerned.

“Startled you?” Leah slowly repeats mumbling. Using a napkin from the dinner they had a while ago, she attempts to wipe some of the cold clammy sweat from her forehead. Ever so slowly she seemed to be coming back to reality. She wasn’t back in her wicked village. No, she was on a blimp with Killua and Gon going to York New City. She wasn’t some sort of kid anymore, she was a hunter learning Nen.

“Yeah, you kind of started to fight in your sleep while mumbling something and all of a sudden a gigantic storm started to form.” Gon explains sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Oh. I’m sorry about that.” Leah apologies, though  it comes out almost robotically. Unconsciously, she traces her chest over where her heart was, the whole reason she got chosen for her “gift”. Killua and Gon look at each other concerned before Killua lets out a soft sigh. Leah feels Killua ruffle her puffy hair making her look at him.

“Don’t apologize idiot. It’s not your fault you have some ancient disaster god or whatever in you.”

“I know you are right Killua. But still—“

“If you’re thinking of saying something about how you should have been able to control your powers better, don’t. Remember Gon and I are Hunters. Leah, we aren’t going to go down that easily.”

“Yeah!” Gon shouts, finally back in an enthusiastic mood. “Plus you’re our friend Leah. I don’t think you would ever hurt us.”

Killua and Leah blink together before Leah breaks let’s out a small giggle and Killua lets out a sigh.

“W-what? What did I say?”

“I swear you’re an idiot sometimes.”

“Hey! No I’m not!”

“Yes you are! After you went and fought Hisoka, you might actually be counted as a mega idiot.”

“I—“

“Killua. Gon.” Leah interrupts, grabbing the two’s attention. Giving them both  a warm smile, she ever so gently says. “Thank you. Thank you very much”

Both burst out into a bright red blush with Gon letting out a cheeky laugh and Killua mumbling something unheard under his breath.

The cute moment is disturbed however, as all of a sudden a crackling sound comes over the intercom and the pilot's voice is heard throughout the blimp.

“Thank you for joining Blimps-RS for this trip. In about 15 minutes we will be landing in York New City. Please remain seated and remember to fly safe with Blim—“

“Hey guys look at this!” Leah looks over to Gon’s loud call and her eyes widen. Her and Killua scramble over to the window. Looking down the three wowed at the great lights of the city. Leah had never ever seen a city so gorgeous before. She had only heard in books at how magical cities were but she had never imagined, nor dreamed such a sight as this one.

Ever so slightly Leah smiles to herself. Maybe this trip wouldn’t be that bad.

“Ok so you remember what to do right?” Killua says for what felt like the 108th time in a row. Leah lets out an exaggerated sigh as she repeats what she had been saying for the last 20 minutes.

“I have to disappear for 2 hours around town while you guys help Kurapika with the phantom troupe. If I get into any trouble make sure to call Leorio. I also will make sure I don’t converse with any strange people because they will only have bad intentions for me.” Leah repeats, sassily imitating Killua’s voice at the end.

“Killua. I think Leah gets it. Let’s go.” Kurapika says, dragging Killua out of the restaurant.

“You better stay out of trouble, you hear me!” Killua shouts one more time before he disappears out of sight. Leah sticks her tongue out towards him in response before shaking her head. Here she was thinking this trip to get some video games would be fun but all she has been doing is being forced to hide from these “phantom troupe” people while the others go on a manhunt to try and kill them. She didn’t even have a moment to spare to check if there were any special books up for auction.

As she was grumbling to herself in misery about her bad luck, she feels a hand on her shoulder. Looking up she sees that Leorio hasn’t left with the others yet. Watching closely, she sees him reach into his pocket and take out some cash.

“Hey Leah. I know things haven’t been great for you, having to hide for most of the time on this trip. Why don’t you go buy something nice on this trip? Maybe a souvenir or something?”

Leah hesitantly grabs the money from him, “Are you sure? You don’t have to give this to me. I have a hunter license just like you and can use some of that money.”

“True but think of this cash as my thank you for being the only sane person on this trip.” Leorio says, slightly grumbling in self misery at the end.

“Okay then. But don’t think of asking for anything back later. I’m not giving you a single cent~” Leah teases out to the tall man. Leorio only shakes his head before leaving the restaurant to catch up with the others.

“Bye leorio. Stay safe!” Leah shouts out before quickly turning back to the cash in her hand. Counting it, she realizes she has more than enough to get a new needed book. Now just the question was where could she find one. Letting the thought sink in, she leaves the restaurant and begins to walk around the streets of York New.

She knew any new book would solve her thirst of knowledge, but it would be much more convenient if she found one about her powers. The books explaining her village gods and the chosen ones to hold them are few and far to find. Especially hers,.... Wang-go.

Wang-go, The god of destruction and Creation. Originally locked away by his brothers and sisters who feared him. He was locked up for centuries on end until eventually the chains that kept him trapped down began to slowly snap and break. Fearing for the worse, the people of her village offered the gods a vessel to lock him in. A woman with a type of heart defect, a husk empty heart. Now, per tradition, anyone who is born with a husk heart bears the burden of having Wang-go sealed away in them.

Herself was the most recent holder with the last being almost 6 generations ago. This makes the information Leah seeks few and far between. However,...

Sneakily smiling to herself. Leah searches through the auction menu. In no ways is she giving up. She will be able to master her powers and not just a little bit, no, she will figure out a way to perfect them.

“There you are..” Leah eyes a specific item on the auction menu. Zaviers’ ancient artifacts and wonders. On the menu, the store had just auctioned off a scroll yesterday that was only just 30 kilometers away from her village. So there is a high enough chance that the store had a book or artifact about her village gods.

Now all she need is to get there and search those shelves.

“Damn it…” Leah sighs, slightly frustrated. An hour had gone by being in this store and there was still nothing about her gods. “All I need is one book about Wang-go, just one book.”

“Wang-go huh~?”

Leah freezes up as someone blows on the shell of her ear. The next thing Leah knows, she is half away across the room and feeling slightly nauseous. She thanked her stars for practicing her teleportation power recently.

“Oh~ how exciting. You never do fail to amaze me, don’t you, Lele?”

“Hisoka…” Leah mumbles angrily under her breath. This wasn’t good, she remembered Gon and Killua mentioning to her that they found out he’s part of the troupe. Plus after seeing him fighting in the arena against Gon, she doubts she can stand a chance against his Bungee gum. Shifting her feet slightly, she gets into a readied stance, ready to bolt out of there when she has a chance.

“Now, now, I’m not looking to fight you. I’m actually here to ask for your help.”

“Help? Not a chance. Give me one good reason I should help someone like you.”

Hisoka let’s out a chuckle as he pulls a clear bag out from behind his back. He twirled them around with his bungee gum as he waits for Leah’s response.

“Wait a minute…T-those are…”

“Wang-go scrolls? Why yes they are, Lele.”

“How in the world did you get your grubby han—“

“Now, now~ I’m on a tight schedule. How about we chit chat more about this…” Hisoka takes the bag back into his hand before waving it around. Making it disappear in a cloud of smoke like magic, “... later~.”

Leah pauses for a moment, taking in her options before sighing. “Fine. But, I swear to god if any of this plan has to do with hurting any of my friends I’m out, you hear me?”

“Crystal~”

“Okay… so I know I agreed to help. But, why the heck is Illumi here as well?” Leah groans, scooching more into the corner of the backseat of the car. Hisoka lets out a small chuckle from the passenger seat but he chooses not to respond and continues to toy with his cards.

“Chrollo paid me some money for a Job and I need to pick up the rest in person.” Illumi says, his bug like eyes trained on the road ahead. Does this man just not blink?

Leah just decided the best option would be to ignore Illumi’s presence for now. Looking out the car window, she decides to somehow entertain herself by watching the little water droplets racing down the transparent surface. It was strange, the rain in New York. Mostly due to the fact that the city bordered a Desert.

Letting out a sigh, Leah thinks of the possible scenarios as to why Hisoka would need her. Well, she actually didn’t exactly need to guess why, she knew that he needed her for her powers. It was actually more for what. She just— Suddenly she feels her phone go off in her pocket.

Hesitantly, she sneaks a glance at the two men sitting in the front and sees them occupied in a conversation. Leah, determining it was safe enough, unlocks her phone. She bites her lip as she opens the missed messages from Killua.

From: Killua Hey where are you? The plan fell through.

From: Killua Get back here as soon as possible.

Leah blinks and knits her brows in confusion. What is Killua talking about? They planned to track the base to tail a specific member. How did that fall through?

Sent: Leah

What do you mean it fell through?

Leah’s blood ran cold as she read the next message.

From: Killua

The troope has already left York New. Kurapika also got a message from Hisoka saying that their partnership is over with.

Sent: Leah

Killua. Hisoka hasn’t left, I’m with him right now.

Before Leah could see what Killua could send back, a card splits the screen in half. Flinching she drops the phone on the car floor, watching it glitch and fizz out.

“Now. Now, Lele~. Let's pay attention to the situation at hand shall we.” Hisoka tells the young girl with a smile. Leah lets out a shaky breath and decides the best option would be to not test her luck for now. Fighting Hisoka right now would be a bad option especially with Illumi here as well to back him up if need be. Watching carefully, she observes as they drive through the maze-like outskirts of the city. After a couple of turns, they come to a stop in front of a train station.

Looking around confused, Leah mutters out “Why are we here?”

Illumi and Hisoka both ignore her again as they get out of the car. Hisoka comes around to the back doors to let her out.

“Hisoka! I’m serious. Tell me why we are here?”

Hisoka stares at Leah as she glares back at him. Somehow seeming to contemplate his answer, he finally says. “You're a gift.”

“Excuse me?” Leah stutters out as Hisoka grabs onto her wrist, pulling her out of the car. Hisoka begins to explain as he forces her to walk with them into the station.

“You’re a smart girl aren’t you? I’m sure you can understand this quite well. The boss has found out that I’ve had some connection with the chain user. So I’ve lost some… trust… with him per say.”

Illumi signals to Hisoka to go through a specific doorway, causing the three of you to enter an empty hallway with hardly any people. Even with the lack of people, Hisoka doesn’t relax his grip against Leah’s wrist as they continue to walk.

“I thought I was at a loss you see. I had lost the boss’ trust and lost a chance in getting so close to fighting him. But then I remember, your cute little face—“

“Don’t call me cute you narsistik clown.” Leah snaps back as the three of them return to a crowded area. Though after a quick look around, Leah realizes they are back outside yet this time on steel platforms with many trains coming to and from.

“Some just don’t know how to take a compliment.” Hisoka laughs unbothered by the girl’s offhand insult. He just continued on with his task of yanking Leah onto one of the train cars. “It’s just I remembered the Boss being so disappointed when he couldn’t find the chosen ones from the tribal areas of Aruni. Thankfully, I realized quickly that since I knew you are one of those chosen ones, the boss will surely find you interesting and in return, hopefully forgive me.”

Catching Leah off guard, Hisoka suddenly harshly pushes her into one of the private train cars before closing the door.

“Hey Hisoka!” Leah yells, stumbling up rather quickly from being thrown on the ground and tugs at the door handle. Though she curses under her breath as soon as she finds out it is locked shut, “Open this up righ—“

“A Child?”

A shiver goes up Leah’s spine as she hears a male’s voice from behind her. In a flash, maybe due to her instincts or maybe her training, she leaps to the other end of the cabin. With a hammering heartbeat, she observes the black haired male in the same room as her. The train car was not that large, so it gave her a rather good glimpse at him. Some being the cross-like tattoo on his forehead or the crystal blue earrings poking out from the tufts of his hair.

“Oh my. How interesting.” The man seemed to marvel at something and take a step closer. “What sort of power is going on with your hands?”

Quickly, Leah takes a short glance around and gasps as she sees her hands glowing and sparkling. She wanted to practically bang her head on the wall for making a stupid mistake as to activate her powers.

“Oh I see.” Leah takes a step back from the man as he continues to approach, “That’s not a Nen ability is it? I guess Hisoka wasn’t bluffing this time around.”

Ever so suddenly, the man pauses his approaching movements and instead takes a seat at one of the booth chairs. Gesturing to the seat across from him, he unnervingly smiles and says “Please, take a seat.”

Leah breath and heart stutters in unison. There was nothing friendly about that man's smile. It was like staring at the teeth of a poisonous viper, ready to sink its teeth in and go for the kill. Taking a gulp to hopefully moisten her dry throat, she knows she has to force herself to move. That man was not asking her to take a seat, it was an order. Cautiously she makes her way and sits down from across the man.

A thick silence enters the room as the man pours himself and Leah some tea. He takes a light sip of his tea but Leah doesn’t copy his movements. She can only stare at the hot dark black water in front of her. Even with her throat as dry as sand, she doesn’t attempt to drink it.

The man opens his mouth to speak but a loud whistle cuts him off. The main lights of the cabin suddenly shut off and the train begins to slow chug forward, now leaving the station. Leah turns to look frantic out the window.

“I need to go.” She breathes out, her heart beating faster the further they get away from the train station.

“Pardon?”

“My friends. They are still in York New City. I can’t—“

The man lets out a chuckle causing Leah to pause. Crap, what was she thinking. She can’t let her emotions get carried away. This isn’t some normal person she is conversing with, it’s the leader of the phantom troupe. A person with a class A bounty on his head.

The man takes another sip of his tea, finishing it off, before looking back at Leah. “I’m going to ask you some questions. Answer them if you can.”

Leah slowly nods her head. She knew she didn’t have a choice in the matter.

“First, What’s your name?”

“Leah.” Her voice cracks a little as she speaks causing an uncomfortable feeling in her throat. In order to sort the discomfort, she grabs her cup of tea and takes a sip. Surprisingly, the man waits patiently before asking another question.

“What’s your god?”

Hesitant, she decides to answer it simply and vaguely. “Wang-go”

“Ah, The God of destruction and creation. Though most considered him to be a Monster due to him being predicted to look as a ugly mix of boar, man and crane.”

“How do you know that?” Leah speaks out. Such information was only known by city elders and holders such as herself. The man ponders for a little, taking a quick glance at the desert scenery that has come to view now that they have left the city, before getting up and grabbing something. Coming back, he places the bag down and takes out a scroll.

“Though I can’t read your native language, I had a native translate bits and pieces of it to me a long time ago.” He seemed to skip over the obvious part of slaughter some to get the scrolls, but Leah decided to not press into that topic.

“Do you know what’s in these scrolls, Leah?” Leah shivers. The way her name rolled off his tongue like they were old time friends was extremely disturbing to her.

“I’d have to read them. I was never allowed to look through them.”

“I see. Then, who taught you your powers? I heard they had to be trained and practiced over many years to use on command.”

“Well, I do have a book that I got a while ago…” Leah pauses for a second. She was in a tough spot. If she revealed that she hasn’t mastered her powers, she could be considered useless and killed. Though, she could also be let go instead. Was it a good idea to take that risk though…

“I see, so you're not well versed in your abilities yet.” Leah freezes. This was going horribly for her right now. She in no way was stupid or trying to make it obvious in her hesitation, it was just this man always seemed to somehow be one step ahead of her.

Being extremely on guard, Leah watches as the man leans his hand over to her. He strangely extends his pinky out to her. She gives him a confused look as a sudden lightning strike flashes on both of them.

“How about we make a deal, Leah.”

“A deal…?”

“I will allow you to use all of the scrolls and books I have to help you gain your powers.” The man pauses for a second and a serious look comes onto his face, “However, in exchange you will become the troope’s temporarily new number 11 and I will personally be in charge of observing your progress.”

Knowing she has no choice, Leah reaches over to agree but stops short when he speaks up again.

“I want your honest commitment. Not to force this on you.”

“Why? Won’t you just kill me if I don’t agree?”

The man hums in agreement, “Usually I would but in this case it would be such a waste to kill you. As well as the fact that it would be an honest nuisance if you agreed and tried to escape every chance you got. So it would be beneficial if you agreed willingly.”

Leah thinks for a moment. She knew the right choice was to go back with Gon and Killua as well as the rest. It was so obvious, they were her friends. Yet,... why couldn’t she just do so.

“Leah! Stay here! Killua and I can take care of this.”

“Idiot. You have to be careful, you aren’t as strong as us yet.”

“Don’t worry Leah. I’ll make sure to retrieve those idiots, just stay here and read a book.”

“Trust me, Leah. I don’t want you to come. You aren’t fast enough yet to go against the troope. You’ll just end up being an easy target.”

Oh… she knew why. She was just tired of being left behind again and again. She wanted to prove she was just as strong as her friends. She wanted to join them on their adventures as well.

Gon…. Killua….Leorio. And Kurapika. I’m sorry but… I can't continue to be left behind anymore.

“I-I. I accept.” Leah says, hesitatingly connecting her pinky with his. She shivers at his strangly cold hands touching hers. Even more strangely, like out of a movie or book, thunder and lightning crashes throughout the sky in that moment

“Excellent. I realized I haven’t formally introduced myself. My name is Chrollo Lucilfer but you can just call me boss.”

Standing up from his seat, he gestures for Leah to get up as well which she does as well. Lightly, Chrollo places a hand on her shoulder and begins to lead her out of the private train car. “I say we go introduce you to the other members.”

“Of course…

...Boss.”

[jung-snoopy-woo]

How I Met Your Grandfather

~Chapter 5~

(I feel like Seungmin also deserves to be in a gif for this chapter 😂🙈 gif credit: @ lottawijma via weheartit)

Other Chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 (coming soon!!)

Pairing: Bang Chan × Fem! reader, twin brother! Felix

Genre: fluff, a bit angsty.

Word count: 1.8k+

Warnings: mentions of insecurities? (The reader being unhappy with her body/the way she looks etc.)

Summary: Felix decides to finally tell Y/N about Chan’s feelings for her and asks her if she feels the same. When she says she does, Felix lets his friend know, so Chan finally finds the courage to ask Y/N out :)

Special thanks to @vernonvsblog​ and the anon from this post for encouraging me to keep writing and for making me feel motivated!! ❤️❤️

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You didn’t know when was the last time you saw Felix’s eyes worried like this.

Maybe it was when you fell down the stairs a few years ago… Your whole thigh had bruises in every possible color, and you couldn’t walk properly for a whole week. He couldn’t bare seeing you getting hurt (and of course- you felt the same).

“Lix… What’s going on?”, You finally asked, looking at him. His eyes met yours, still troubled. What is it that’s bothering him so much?

You giggled, jokingly hitting him, trying to light up the mood. “It’s because of practice, huh? You can’t stop thinking about work even during the last days of break? Come on, just go to sleep and don’t think about it”.

He sighed.

Oh no, you thought. The smile leaving your face, changing to a worried look. It’s important.

“Y/N..”, he started. “What do you think of Chris hyung?”

Chris, your heart skipped a bit from the mentioning of his name. You weren’t prepared for this question. What do you think about Chris? Well, in short, you liked him. You liked how nice he was to you, you liked his voice and his smile, and so many more things about him. You had a big crush on this boy.

But this was before Felix told you that Chris wants to date someone. You thought you were over these feelings for him, but after hearing his name again… and this question… What even is this question? You thought, your brows now furrowed. Felix’s worried look and this weird question, so out of the blue… They had a fight, didn’t they?

As much as you liked Chris, if they actually did fight, you were ready to take your twin’s side no matter what. The sweet guy with the cute dimpled smile can go to hell.

“Well, he’s nice.. I guess?”, You finally said, avoiding eye contact with your brother. You hated the thought of Chris, who was always there for your brother, hurting him in any way. “But if he did something to you, I swear–”

“No no…”, He assured. “It’s just that… I really want to hear your honest opinion because.. well…”, he tried, his eyes now looking at the floor.

“Felix…”

“He likes you”, he said, finally letting the words out. “Chris hyung likes you, Y/N”. He sighed again, then turned to look at you, trying to read your now surprised face.

You didn’t know how to react. You were screaming inside, but you weren’t sure if it was from the happiness of being liked back by your crush for the first time, or the relief you felt knowing Felix’s friendship isn’t ruined, as you knew how important Chris is to him.

“So now I’m asking you, Y/N”, he started again, his eyes now meeting yours. “What do you think of Chris hyung? Do you.. do you think of him this way too?”

You were quiet. A little too quiet for Felix’s liking.

So many thoughts were racing through your head. You knew there could be consequences, and you didn’t want Felix to get hurt because of it. You were also 100% sure the same thoughts were on your twin’s mind too, as the look in his eyes just said it all. Chris has been his best friend for so long, being there for him from the very first moment, he was like a brother to him.

Felix could see you were deep in thought. He felt sorry for overwhelming you with this information now, as you all had such a great night together, after so long. He was about to tell you that it’s okay, and that he was against the whole idea anyways.

But then, you started nodding, a smile starting to form on your lips again.

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(a/n: I thought this photo can make it more clear, and easier to imagine what’s going on lol… Also, Chan used to be on the top bunk of Minho’s bed so that’s why in previous chapters Seungmin was the one to see him struggling, but from what I know, these days Chan sleeps with Changbin and Felix 😅😅)

(The next day)

“Now what?”, Seungmin asked excitedly as Chan hung up the phone.

Chan and Minho were sitting on Minho’s bed, in the dorm room, along with Seungmin and Hyunjin who were sitting on Hyunjin’s. They decided to get back to the dorms 2 days before break was over, as it was their turn to clean up the place and they thought doing it beforehand would leave them some time to work on other stuff too.

They all heard Chan’s phone call. It was Felix, who told him that he talked to his twin sister, Y/N, and asked her about her feelings for him.

At first, they were all tensed, worried about the answer. They knew Felix didn’t approve of this relationship, and they already thought of every single scenario and every way this could go wrong… But when they heard Felix’s deep voice saying that you actually like their hyung back (and semi-jokingly threatening to kill him if he ever hurts you), despite the worry they could sense in his voice, they almost let out their screamings of joy.

“Gosh, I don’t even know what to do”, he put his phone down on the bed, ran his hands through his hair with a smile, as he got up and started walking around the room, stopping himself from jumping around like an idiot.

Now that Felix couldn’t hear, Hyunjin finally started showing his excitement, as Seungmin tried to calm him down but ended up laughing, just as excited. They wanted the best for their leader, who also happened to be their best friend. He always cares for them that he sometimes forgets about himself. Thinking of the idea of him being happy, made them even happier.

“You can take her to the movies..”, Minho started, but after seeing the others’ faces, changed his mind. “Or you don’t?”

“It’s a bit traumatic”, Seungmin said and scratched the back of his head, then faced Chan. “Hyung, what do you have in mind?”

“Well…”, Chan said. “You guys know how much I love going to the beach, right? so I thought maybe it could be a pretty cute place for a date…?”.

The boys nodded and Hyunjin smiled. “I think that’s a great idea”.

“Okay, so now I should think of what I am going to do”, Chan started walking around again. “I have to think of something, I have to prepare something, I have to–”

“This can wait”, Minho said, handing Chan his phone back. “Go call her first, before she changes her mind!”.

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A date on the beach??, You thought. Now that’s not the best idea…

You were standing in the middle of your room, after hanging up a phone call with Chris. 

You loved going to the beach, of course. But on a date? With someone you liked? Him seeing you in a swimsuit??

No no no.

But you couldn’t tell him “no” because he sounded so excited, nervous and cute on the phone, and the way you could hear how happy he was when you said “I’d love to”, imagining his smiling looks, you just couldn’t do anything about it. You too got so excited, that you didn’t even think about your insecurities at that moment. 

All your life you felt like this- seeing models on tv or the magazines, you always wished to have a body like theirs, but no matter what you did- you just couldn’t change the way your body looked. That’s why you hated swimsuits so much and tried avoiding going to the beach when there were a lot of people. 

A knock on the door shook you out of you thoughts.

“Can I come in now?”, You heard Felix’s voice from behind the door. When you saw Chris’s number on your phone screen, you asked Felix to wait outside so you could talk to him in private (”Faster, Felix!! Before he hangs up!”, to which he could only giggle and quickly leave the room).

“YES!!”, you said, and he opened the door and made his way to sit on the bed. He saw your troubled eyes, and wondered whether or not he should plan his friend’s murder.

“Did it go badly? Did he say something that hurt you?”, He asked. “Because I can–”

“NO! No, no, it was great, actually. And he asked me out!”, you said, trying to smile.You’re going out with such an amazing guy, you told yourself.

“But…?”, He asked. “I can sense something’s wrong, Y/N”.

You let out a sigh. “It’s a beach date”, you finally said and looked at him.

“Oh”, Felix said. He knew you better than anyone, and you both knew each other’s worries, fears, your likes and dislikes and basically almost everything. He knew how ashamed and insecure you felt about your body. He never understood why though, but never questioned it, hoping someday you’d understand how amazing you are. “And you couldn’t tell him ‘no’, right?”

You nodded.

“But I guess I’ll just do what I always do”, you said after a thought, now showing him a small smile. “So… everything will be okay”.

He nodded. “So when is it?”

“Thursday, at 5pm…”, you said, now more excited as you thought of it. It was 3 days away from today. So close.

Felix gave you the best smile he could pull. As long as you’re happy, he can save his disapproval and his worries to himself. “Okay, cool”, He said as he got up. “Good luck, sis!”, he added as he left the room. 

Everything will be okay, he told himself on the way to his room, repeating your words in his head over and over again.

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4am. Chan read from his phone screen.

After his phone call with you, he got really nervous, so he tried looking for things you can do on a beach date, and tried planning how it’s going to be etc. The boys made fun of him for doing that, of course, and tried assuring him that he’s going to do great. “When you’ll be with her you’ll know what to do”, Hyunjin said, and the others agreed. “She’s really nice and fun, there’s no need to read these stupid articles and plan so much… just let it be”, Minho added. He knew they must be right, but he just couldn’t stop thinking about it, and every new picture or article brought new thoughts and worries.

“Hyung…”, Seungmin’s sleepy voice made Chan jump a little. He forgot he was sleeping in their room tonight, so he doesn’t sleep alone. “Please, just go to sleep”.

Chan turned to look at Seungmin. “How can I? I’m so nervous, I think I’m going crazy…”

“She likes you back, hyung! She’s probably just as excited as you are”, Seungmin said tiredly, and added, “You’re such a great guy and she seems to be really nice, you have nothing to worry about”.

Chan sighed. Seungmin’s right, he thought. “Thank you..”, he said, but when he turned to look at Seungmin, he saw his friend was already fast asleep.

He smiled. 

Everything will be okay, He thought, and finally let his eyes close.

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A/N: because it’s a bit long, I decided to write this at the end 😅😅

I wanted to say I’m really sorry for taking so long to write this chapter. I was so busy with university stuff at first, and then I had so many things to do djsbsidjsi but now I’m backkk 🥰🥰 and I’m so glad I could finally post this!!

I really hope you enjoyed this chapter! From this one forward, it has nothing to do with my grandparents’ story, as they got married pretty fast so… 🙈

Big thanks to anyone who actually reads the series, I love you all so much, it really makes me feel so warm and happy ♥️♥️

Have a good day/night! :))

P. S. I thought of maybe making the next chapter more angsty? soooo yeah haha stay tuned!!

[alpaca-writes]

Mystics, Chapter 5

When Arch becomes hired on at Mystics, by Lyrem, everything seems to be going well- their life nearly becomes perfection. Soon enough, however, Arch realizes that perhaps not everything is as good as it seems…. Directory: [chapter one] [chapter two] [chapter three] [chapter four] Tag list: (Oh wow I have a taglist!?)@myst-in-the-mirror CW: kidnapping, threatening, knife, car crash.

CHAPTER FIVE: A BLUE TRUCK AND A BIG KNIFE There was a calmness to the halls of Strathford High School that hadn’t been felt by Arch in their entire time the had been attending it. English and Math passed them by in the morning without hardly any difficulty; they were even able to concentrate on The Tempest by William Shakespeare without zoning out every two minutes. Their heart was calm. Arch ate their lunch with their friends, talked about the newest episodes of Stranger Things, shared stupid memes, and complained about their homework. It wasn’t until their third period in chemistry that Arch began to sense a familiar dread. They took a deep breath before entering the room, seeing the divided rows of shining white tables, Arch took their usual spot near the back. They avoided allowing others to sit behind them as much as they could. It prevented hair pulling and stray gum, spitballs, and that lingering sense that they were being watched. As well, looking forward, it was easier to catch others staring; if that was what they wanted to do instead of concentrate on formulas. The classroom filled up steadily, and it looked a little bit sparse. It was then that Arch realized exactly what was different- exactly who was missing. Off to the side and ahead of them, Arch heard a conversation between two students as they set down their book bags. A few words in and Arch was already experiencing a shameless elation- one might even say it was hope. “- called my mom last night crying because she didn’t know where Jess was.” “Really? Crying?” “Apparently, Jess told her mom she’d be over at my place for a sleepover”- “Pfft, no way,” the one friend sputtered. “She was totally banging Kyle.” “Right?! Like I wanted to say something to my mom, but like, how would that even sound? Oh, sorry Miranda, Jess wasn’t here at all, she was just fucking some kid you barely know. I can’t say that. It would be cruel.” “Well, Kyle isn’t around today again either. Neither’s Marc”-

The classroom filled with more chatter. Some talking about anime, and others continuing the gossip of what could have happened to Jess, Marcus, and Kyle. None of the students could say they were able to reach them. One mentioned knowing that Marcus was downtown a couple nights ago which prompted a response from another friend-

“I know he has hockey practice tonight. He’ll be there even if he’s really sick.” Jordan spouted. “He’d never leave the Strathford Flyers hanging.”

Finally, Ms. Peters shut the conversations down. Arch was getting tired of hearing the chatter anyway. They may have been a tad curious of the three’s sudden disappearance, but ultimately, they didn’t want to become too hopeful. Their disappearance was a blessing. Arch would take it as one for as long as it would last.

Days turned to weeks, and still, no one had seen or heard a single thing from any of the three missing students. Police officers came into the school, probably too late to really score any reliable interviews from other students. They spoke to friends, to teachers, but not to Arch.

No one really cared what Arch had to say- and for that, they were quite thankful. They wouldn’t need to justify why they seemed happier, why they seemed more relaxed, why they were suddenly free more-so than they ever had been before. If given the opportunity, Arch probably would have told them every horrible thing Marcus, Kyle, and Jess had ever done to them, and every horrible thing they said to them until the constable would also agree: this world was a much better place without them here to spoil it for everyone else.

With less than a month left in their grade twelve experience, Arch boosted their marks in every subject. It was as though, since the disappearance, even the act of thinking became easier. Everything became easier. Arch was finally succeeding, just as they had always deserved to.

Lyrem was paying them well, as he had promised; not once, had a check bounced. Soon, Arch would have enough saved to rent a place of their own anywhere in the city, from there they would get their own car and finally be free. Out of school and out of the house of horrors, as they would jokingly call it.

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

“What about a dress? Have you thought about a colour?” Their mother’s black hair fell in front of her face as she loaded the dishwasher.

Arch stared at her from the table in the kitchen. They remained calm. It wasn’t an unexpected question, and they had been preparing their answer for some time.

“Rompers are more comfortable,” they said casually. It was as far as they were willing to go to appease the masses for prom night.

Their mother laughed with a strangled amusement.

“A romper? Where on earth will you find a bedazzled romper!?”

Maleficent cried out a whine for more food, distracting the conversation, and muted Arch’s response. Their mother continued.

“We’ll head out tomorrow morning then, find you something just right.”

“Tomorrow’s Saturday, I work tomorrow.”

“Sunday then. End of story. Pass me your plate, girl.”

Seething, Arch handed over their dishes and left the kitchen in a huffed silence. It was a warm night. The front door shut behind them with a screech, and Arch breathed in the cool night air that left them feeling purified.

Their small, well-worn, house was between several sets of condominiums, shaded by maples that glowed in the twilight hues. Arch walked on until they saw the glimpse of downtown buildings and neon lights of convenience stores that would stay open as long as people were out drinking late and needing a pick-me-up.

Lost in thought, and in some rage, Arch turned down twenty-third avenue. Another several blocks and they would reach the outside of Mystics- not that they particularly wanted to be reminded of work. The shop would have been closed over an hour ago anyway. Lyrem would have been long gone by now. There wouldn’t be any harm peering in as they passed on by.

The streets slowly emptied. Soon, Arch was walking alone. Even the cars that passed became sparse in number. The sun dipped further down, and streetlights clicked on overhead as a roaring thunder carried on from an indiscernible distance to the east.

Narrow alleys passed them by without care. If Arch weren’t so high strung, they’d likely have avoided the area at this time of night. Unfortunately, though, their mother always had this lingering effect on them. An effect that would push them to do great things out of spite. In a way, Arch had to thank her. If it wasn’t for her constant callous preaching, Arch wouldn’t have looked for work so desperately. Perhaps they’d never have met Lyrem.

Speaking of the weird old man, his shops’ lights were still glowing on, glinting against a black street-side car parked near the door. The lights flickered, and shut off.

Arch felt something move behind them. Two steps, then a hand covering their mouth, and a strong arm wrapped itself around one of their arms and their waist. In a panic, Arch threw out one of their elbows, jabbing into the side of the assailant, just under their ribs. Keeping their grunts to a minimum, the assailant lifted Arch off of the ground and pulled them into an alley a couple stores back from the spiritual accessory shop. Knowing they had little weight, Arch continued to use their elbow, as well as their legs, and when they had a split-second chance, Arch bit down painfully hard on the gloved hand that put itself around their mouth.

The assailant couldn’t help but cry out, and he curled his fingers in. Keeping a grip tight around their waist, pulled his hand away and shook it off as it throbbed beneath the gloves.

“You idiot!” The voice hissed. “I’m trying to help you!”

“Get off of me!” Arch commanded them. “I swear to God, man I will rip your throat out next! Let me go- HELP! FI”-

The assailant panicked by throwing Arch against the side of the brick wall and they fell quiet after the sudden smacking sound that their body made. They couldn’t be sure that Arch hit their head, but at least they were stunned enough to stop shouting.

“Are you still awake?”

Arch was piled up in a heap beside the brick wall. Whoever put them there clearly didn’t think they’d do much damage, but they felt a popping sensation in their shoulder, and now a searing pain when they tried to lift it. A bruise was currently forming on their brow bone over their right eye, and a warm sensation was travelling from there and dripping down to the side of their cheek. The assailant tried lifting them to their feet but was met with a strained, tearful cry as they did so.

“I’m sorry. I know I hurt you, but if you want to stay safe, I need you to come with me.” They almost said it like they meant it, Arch thought.

Trying to keep the worst thoughts from their mind, Arch began to bargain with what small amount of coherence they currently had as they were being pulled further into the alleyway to who-knows-where.

“I- I don’t have anything on me, okay? No money- Look, you- you can have my phone, my sneakers whatever, okay, dude? Just leave me alone- don’t hurt me”-

“I need you to be quiet,” he said. “If you’re too loud you’ll attract his attention.”

He led them to a small blue truck, pushing them to the passenger’s side and opened the door.

“Get in.”

Arch’s eyes darted from the seat, to the man and back and forth until the man furtively glanced down the alley.

“I said get in, Arch. Now.”

He drew a knife from his belt. A hunter’s knife. A well-used Bowie; long and wide, and now receiving small raindrops as he stilled it in his hands threateningly. Arch blinked through the onslaught of tears covering their face as they stood there, cornered between the knife and the truck.

The man wasn’t looking at Arch at all. They were looking down the alley, searching for any possible sign of movement. With a push from his forearm, Arch was against the side of the cloth seat. The inside smelled like old leather and rotted wood, and despite everything in their mind telling them to keep fighting, Arch hoisted themselves into the passenger’s side, and winced as the man slammed the truck door beside them.

“Finally,” the man exclaimed as he climbed into the other side. He started the truck.

The darkness was too great still to make out many discernible features of their captor- but even in good lighting, Arch wasn’t brave enough to look at them for too long. The knife was still out, gripped tightly by the driver in his right hand. For some reason, Arch’s mind drifted as the truck began to turn from the alley and onto the main road- they put on their seatbelt.

The man stared at them oddly. He sped up to the speed limit, just slightly going over. The truck fell into a deeply threatening silence as it drove on leaving many questions unasked.

“Where…” Arch started bravely, “are you taking me?”

The man checked his rear-view mirror, and it seemed like he was ignoring the question until he let out a short, relieved breath.

“Somewhere safe.”

It was a silly question, Arch realized this just as they were finished asking it. Any serial killer worth their salt wouldn’t reveal such a thing. Arch sniffed, and used their good arm to test the wound formed over their eye. They pulled away fingers now coated in fresh blood.

The rain was falling harder now. The wipers turned on, rhythmically groaning, keeping time for the two silent guests. The man was taking a turn out of the city, exiting off of one highway and onto another. Lighting struck in the distance.

“Did… Did you take a girl named Jess too?”

Arch was finding their bravery again. The man shook his head.

“No. It was too late for her. Lyrem is usually more meticulous about who he takes and when. Her, and her friends were… unexpected prey.”

Arch’s brows knit together in deep thought, and turned to confusion.

“I- I don’t understand,” they said. “Lyrem from Mystics?”

“It’s not exactly a popular name, kiddo.”

“What are you saying? You think Lyrem took Jess and Kyle and Marcus? Him?” It was almost funny to think about Lyrem trying to lure kids away to some undisclosed location. Hilarious even, if Arch wasn’t just threatened and lured away by knifepoint and being driven to some undisclosed location at that very moment.

“No, I am saying that I know that Lyrem took Jess and Kyle and Marcus. He’s probably killed one of them already. Maybe two after tonight. And you know this too…” the man glanced over to Arch. A look of sympathy stretched across his tired face. “You just don’t remember.”

“I would have remembered that.” Arch determined quietly. The knife rested lightly in the man’s hand now. He was relaxing… slowly. He continued talking to Arch like they were familiar with each other.

“You don’t believe me, and that is perfectly understandable. But haven’t you noticed? Missing time? Confusion? His magic depends on you being compliant. I just don’t know how far he’s gone with you yet. Until I know that, we won’t be able to retrieve the memories you need.” He sighed. “I know it doesn’t make sense to you now, but I promise it will. Have you noticed any injuries on yourself? Any you don’t recall getting from some place else?”

Arch met their gaze and shook their head. They hadn’t really been listening, just eyeing the blade beside them.

“Damn.”

Any further turns and Arch would find it difficult to find their way home. If they were going to make a move on this insane son of a bitch, then they would have to do it now.

Their right arm was useless the way it was sitting, half out and half in the pocket of the joint. Their left hand might be unreliable with aim, but Arch was certain that it would get the job done. Straightening in their seat, they winced. Another bolt shot down from the sky blindingly and shook the vehicle with its power.

In the distraction, Arch pulled the knife up an out from the man’s hand- and with one quick motion, forced themselves over the middle seat. Arch brought the knife down into the top of the man’s right thigh.

He shouted angrily, cursing at them wildly and lost control of the truck. As the blade sank in with a rude amount of force, all care for the current business was abandoned. His leg pressed on the gas as it stretched out for relief of the searing wound, and swerved along the rain-slicked road with frightening speed. Arch released the knife, and braced themselves as the truck spun around, and then launched itself straight into the dark and muddy ditch.

[selenaurrr]

Breathe

REQUESTED: Yes PAIRING: Matt Casey x Reader WARNING(S): Sexually Assault, Swearing & Violence

—

The soft glow of the sunlight peaked through the cracks of the curtains, meanwhile in the background my alarm kept ringing and ringing, I slowly stretched, my body was so comfortably warm under the comforter that covered me, I reached over and grabbed a hold of my cell phone to turn off the alarm. “Where’s Mommy?”

“Hi,” I whispered slowly adjusting from waking up, “She didn’t sleep with you?”

“No,” She softly spoke.

I furrowed my eyebrows together, it isn’t like Sarah to come home, “Okay. Sarah?” I rose my voice to see whether she would answer me or not, “I already checked. She’s not here.”

“Well, we’re just gonna have to figure this out, won’t we?” I replied smiling, trying to assure my niece that everything was fine. “Go get dressed, hon. I’ll take you to school.”

I took a quick shower and got dressed, walking out of my sister’s bedroom calling her, “Sarah, it’s 7:00 in the morning. Where are you? I need to get to work. Can you call me?” 

Not a single phone call received from her, this isn’t like her at all, something is way off here. I shrugged it off, made Isabelle breakfast, helped her brush her teeth; and then drove her to school where I said have a good day. Then drove to the district 21.

I held my black duffel bag over my shoulder as I walked side by side with Adam, “It’s just not like her. Sarah would never just not come home.” I said checking my cell phone once again, “Maybe she got lucky.” He jokingly smirked, “My conservative sister?” I questioned.

“She’s been married to that  pretentious idiot for ten years. She deserves a little luck.” Adam replied walking over to his deck, “Okay. Okay, fine. Then why isn’t she answering her calls? It keeps going straight to voicemail.” I said feeling unease with overthinking.

“[Y/N], when people go out all night, their phones die. Happens to me all the time. Happened to me one time. Just once.” He said placing his coat over his chair as he sat down looking up at me.

Phone buzzing.

I sighed with relief as I saw the caller ID, Sarah.

“There you go.” Adam told me, nodding his head before taking a sip of his coffee mug. “Where the hell are you?” I asked pissed off and annoyed.

“Help me. I’m in trouble.” Her voice croaked, trembling.

“Sarah? What’s the matter? Sarah?”

“[Y/N]...”

“Sarah?” I rose my voice with worry, the call ended. “What happened?” Adam asked, worried as well.

“She said she was in trouble. I don’t...” I trailed off, redialing her cell number; “Hey, it’s Sarah. Please leave a message.”

“Sarah, where are you? Call me.” I spoke, “What’s the matter, [Y/N]?” 

“It... It keeps going to voicemail.” I said, shaking.

“Who?” Voight asked, “My sister. She went out with her girlfriends last night and never came home. She just called. She said she was in trouble. The call cut out, and now she’s not answering, and she sounds really scared.” I said.

“Well, let’s ping her phone. Take somebody. Go look for her.” Voight ordered, “I’ll go.” 

“Thanks,” I whispered, “Come on.”

I grabbed a hold of my winter coat, placed on my beanie and gloves, Adam drove calmly down a couple of blocks before reaching to our destination, coming to a halt. I climbed out, pulling out a yellow folder, “Okay, the call logs show she made three calls from Lake Street, two to 911 that were disconnected, hitting off two different towers... there, there.” I spoke, looking up and pointing here and there, walking side by side with Adam. “Like she was in a moving car.” He replied, “Yeah. Or a train. Her call to me this morning... It had the weakest signal.” I pointed at the subway.

“The weakest signal would be from inside of the station.”

Adam and I picked up our pace and started to jog inside the subway station.

Indistinct P.A. Announcement.

I ran down the staircase, slightly jogging and that’s when I spotted her, “Sarah?”

“Sarah! Oh, my god.” I yelled out, bending down to her level on the bench; She freaked out, eyes wide open. “Hey, No... Hey, it’s me. It’s me. It’s just me. It’s just me. Are you hurt?” 

“What happened? Sarah, what happened? I said trying to hold back the tears that I had not let go yet, “Sarah?”

She breathes heavily, “I was raped.”

I glanced down and saw she was indeed raped, blood stains completely covered her jeans. Immediately I felt horrified. She broke out and cried, “Okay. She’s losing a lot of blood. Call an ambulance.” I stood up and calmly told Adam, who nodded his head and turned around, “Okay, I’m here. I’m here. I’m here. It’s okay.” I reached out and gave her a tight hug, she quickly wrapped her arms around my waist and sobbed.

“I’m here, okay?”

I deeply breathe in and out,”The X-ray showed free air in her abdomen, which means her bowel was perforated. It’s why she’s in so much pain.”

“From a rape?” I asked, “We haven’t gotten the results from the SART exam, but everything I’ve seen is consistent with a vicious assault.”

“[Y/N]!”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m here. I’m here.” I snapped out of my trace of thoughts and came rushing towards Sarah’s side, “I’m scared.”

“I know. Trust me. You’re in really good hands. They’re gonna fix you up, okay?” I spoke trying to assure her, “Where’s Isabelle?” 

“She’s at school, and she’s fine.”

“Does she know?” She asked, I shook my head, “No. No.”

Elevator Dings.

“Sarah, can you remember anything that happened? Even the smallest detail would help.” I asked, “I can’t remember.” She whispered, unable to answer me.

"I’m sorry. They’re waiting in the OR.” Dr. Manning said.

“I love you.” I spoke up as I watched the elevator doors closed shut, leaving me standing by myself.

I walked over the precinct floor towards the intercom buzzer, once I buzzed myself through the gate and I disappear for a momentarily, walking up the staircase where I was greeted by my colleagues, “How’s Sarah?” Voight asked, all eyes on me.

“She’s still sedated. The doctor said she was sodomized. That’s why the blood-” I paused, the room filled silences. 

“Uh, tox report came back. Her blood alcohol was .12, which is not enough to make her black out, but she had enough ketamine in her system to knock out a horse.” Jay said opening up the yellow folder, I walked over quickly grabbing it out his hands and into my own.

I glanced at him then back to the folder.

“All right, get the names of the woman at the birthday party. Find the bars they hit. Let’s go.” Voight ordered walking to his office, “Serge?” I called out, “Yeah?” He whispered spinning around on his heels, “Thank you for taking this on.” 

“An attack on your family is an attack on our family.” 

I slightly nodded my head in agreement.

Alvin and I road in silences in the vehicle as we approached one of Sarah’s friends office buildings, “So, you’re the kick-ass sister. Sarah was bragging about you last night.” 

“Yeah?” I replied back, “It’s one of the few things I remember. My head feels like a World War II documentary today.”

Alvin sighed, which she looked at the both of us, “What’s this about?” 

“Well, Sarah was sexually assaulted sometime late last night or early this morning.” Alvin said in a calmly tone. “Oh, my god. What happened?”

I shake my head, “She doesn’t remember. Jasmine, can you walk us through the evening, please?”

“I don’t know what to tell you. Uh, there were six of us. We had dinner at the Pump Room. It was my birthday. Lots of wine, lots of laughs.” She shake her head.

“Did any men come around?” Alvin asked.

“You know, there was this one kind of creepy guy at the bar. Sarah swore he was giving her the eye.” I cut her off, “Can you describe him?”

“White guy, wore a hat, but he never came over.” She said, “And then what?”

“I went home. But they all went to Jinx’s. I’m too old for Jinx’s.” She shook her head and furrowed her eyebrows together, “I’m so sorry, [Y/N]. Sarah was having such a good time.”

“Yeah. Thanks.” I clicked my pen, “Al?”

I sat beside my sister as I tried very hard to maintain my composure,"I remember it was last call. These guys bought us drinks.”

“Can you describe them?” I asked holding a pen and my notepad in one hand, “White. Twenties, I guess. They looked like every other guy in the bar. One had dark hair. The other was kind of blonde.”

“Okay.” I whispered writing everything down, “He invited us to a party. There was something about balloons.”

“Balloons?” I questioned, glancing up at her.

“Yeah. There were all these balloons. The whole thing is like a nightmare I can’t remember.” She spoke as her tears glistening in her eyes, I stroked her hair softly, “Uh, do you remember the train station?”

She slightly nodded her head, “Okay, how’d you get there, babe?”

“It was, uh- it must have been later. We were- we were in the car. I was waking up. I was sick. There were sparks in the sky. They were coming from the train.”

I continued to write on my notepad, “Denise was screaming. That’s what woke me up. She was screaming, and she was pulling me from the car.”

“Okay, so you and Denise- you got out of the car.” I stumbled over my words, “No. I couldn’t move. I think she ran away. You- you have to talk to Denise.” She said, looking discreetly into my eyes.

“Sarah, Denise is missing.” I paused, “She never came home, and, um, we can’t find her.” 

“How could I have been so stupid?” She sobbed.

“Look at me. You are not stupid. You were drugged and you were assaulted.” I stroked her hair ever so softly, tears rolling down her cheeks. I tried my best to keep a brave face on for her. A faint knock, snapped me out of my trace of thoughts coming back to reality to see Matt standing there in the doorway. I kissed Sarah’s forehead and told her I’ll be back.

He followed me closely behind, as we found a quiet place to chat among-st ourselves, I told him that Sarah was sexually assaulted. And it felt like her lungs were filling up with water, so she just sat back and let herself drown. “Are you alright?” Matt asked, a concerned look on his face. I just nodded, trying to force a smile onto my face, before bursting into tears. “It’s okay,” He whispered, pulling me into his arms, I wrapped my arms strongly around him. He pressed his lips to my forehead while he ran his fingertips through my hair to comfort me, reassuring that everything will be okay, even if it isn’t right now.

I asked him to stay with my sister and let me know if anything changes, he nodded his head. I left the hospital and drove to the 21st distract, opening the door wide open walking over onto the precinct floor where I met eye contact with Sergeant Platt who gave me the warmest smile, I smiled back. Walking over towards the intercom buzzer, and buzzing myself through the gate, I found myself at my desk once more.

“Sarah and Denise were at the Thirsty Raven at roughly 1:30 a.m. They were approached by two white males: 20s, 30s, one dark hair, one blonde, Which doesn’t narrow it down much.” I spoke lowering my voice down, annoyed with our evidences.

“Atwater and I found Denise’s phone about a mile away from the Thirsty Raven. It was wiped clean. No prints. Patrol’s canvassing the area looking for witnesses, but they got nothing yet.” Adam added in, playing with his pencil.

“Yeah, they tossed the phone so she couldn’t call for help.” Kevin said, throwing his hands in the air.

“[Y/L/N], your sister said that she saw sparks from a train, right?” Jay asked, I spin around on my heels to face him, “Yeah.”

“I worked a beat on Lake Street, and the L train there throws sparks. It’s the same line that runs to the station where we found your sister.” Jay said, Voight spoke up catching everyone’s attentions, “All right, run all in-service calls around Lake Street. We got anything on those cars?”

“Yeah. The DMV lists 18 black Audi Q7 owners in Wicker Park, one was accused of aggravated rape last year. Guy by the name of Rex Goldwin.” Erin chipped in, I walked away from the whiteboard and stood beside her. 

“Goldwin. No, I’ve read about that douchebag. He’s like a local pickup guru. He teaches guys how to get laid.” Adam said, “Well, he was arrested by Area North. The victim said that Goldwin approached her in a bar, slipped ketamine in her drink, and then took her phone.” Erin said, glancing away from the computer; “Same MO.” Alvin spoke quietly.

“Yeah. State’s Attorney couldn’t make the case, so Goldwin beat the rap.”

“All right, dig up everything on this Goldwin.” Voight ordered, “I want to pay this guy a visit.”

“Hey. Any luck?” Erin said, coming out of the lounge room with a cup of coffee in one hand. “I showed Sarah the photo array. She couldn’t pick out Goldwin. But she doesn’t remember any faces.” I said.

“I got something here.” Jay spoke up, catching both of our attention’s now, “So, I ran all the in-service calls around the Lake Street L station. Patrol responded to a distraught woman wandering the 4300 block of Maple at 3:22 in the morning, okay? They showed up. She was already gone. Um, it’s mostly abandoned warehouses in the area. Hardly any surveillance cameras, but they were able to pull POD footage.”

Jay pointed at his computer before clicking onto the footage, “Is that Denise?”

“That’s her.” I deeply sighed, “There’s no cameras after that.” 

Matt texted me through the day to keep me updated on my sister’s condition in the hospital, I thanked him multiple times for being there when I couldn’t most of the time, he said it wasn’t a problem and that he’ll do it in a heartbeat. 

“All right, the ME came back with the preliminary exam on Denise Miranda. Unlike Sarah, no signs of sexual assault. No defense wounds. But, like Sarah, alcohol found in her blood, and high levels of ketamine.” Jay said, pinning a photo of Denise onto the whiteboard.

“How’d she die?” I asked, already knowing the outcome. “Hypothermia. She got knocked out by the ketamine, and then she froze to death.”

Erin glanced at me whether to see if I was okay or not, “Hiding from the predators.”

“I’m telling you this has Goldwin written all over it. I’ve been reading blogs written by other woman who have been victimized, and they all have the same story. They get taken to apartments, drugged, their phones disappear, and after they’re assaulted, they get dumped at subway stations.” Erin said, rising her voice up with anger. 

“I hear you, but the crime lab went through Goldwin’s car. It’s clean, and his alibi checks out for last night.” Adam shook his head, “Right. I’m not saying he’s personally responsible for this assault, but he’s trained an army at these seminars of his.” Erin said, walking over towards the whiteboard.

“Whoever assaulted Sarah was following Goldwin’s blueprint.” Erin pointed at his mugshot photo.

“Put a microscope on Goldwin’s organization. Get a list of all the men who have attended his seminar.” Voight ordered the team.

Sergeant Platt slowly made her way the staircase leading up to the intelligent’s unit, “[Y/L/N], Isabelle’s father is downstairs.”

Without hesitation I closely followed Sergeant Platt down the staircase, she opened the gate, “Where’s Isabelle?” I asked, “I kept her in the back.”

“Thanks, Trudy.” I replied back.

“Hello, [Y/N]. I came as soon as I heard. It’s just awful what happened-” I grabbed the collar of his coat and through him against the wall, “What the hell?” He grunted in pain.

“You hired a private eye to spy on my sister?” I said with venom, “Hey! Hey.” 

I pinned one of my forearms against his throat, “You think she’s having affairs like you?”

He stumbled on his words, “She’s the one who started this. I wanted to mediate, but she hired a lawyer. “

“Because you are a scumbag.” I shot back, as my blood boils with anger.

“You think your sister’s a saint? Just look at what happened last night.” He said, I released my forearm from his throat, giving him a chance to breathe.

“Last night?” I asked, “Yeah. She’s getting wasted in pickup bars. What kind of a mother puts herself in that position, huh?” He bluntly said.

“Get out.” 

“Fine. Where’s Isabelle? I’m taking her with me.” He said fixing his coat looking for his daughter.

“Isabelle stays with me until her mom gets out of the hospital.” I replied back, “But she’s not your daughter.”

“She is my blood, and I’ve got 85 cops in this building who have her back.” I shot back, reaching over at him and fixing his tie; while wiping that smirk off of his face. I turned around on my heels, “This isn’t over.” He called out, “Yeah? It is for you.”

“Keith Tasker and Andrew Latimer. We got their names off the Effective Pickup registry. Latimer is a barista, and Tasker works for a tech startup and leases an Audi Q7.” Erin said crossing her arms over her chest, “Yeah, just like his hero, Rex Goldwin.” Alvin added.

“The Effective Pickup organization only has four official employees. These guys are not among them. But they acknowledge that so-called ‘graduates’ take on side jobs mentoring other men.” Jay said.

“Hey, thanks for coming, Ana. You all know Ana Valdez.” Voight shook hands with her then turned around, “I brought the State’s Attorney’s office up to speed. We want to make sure we can make this case.”

I wasn’t understanding this, “Wait a second. We own these guys. Why don’t we just grab them?” 

“You could certainly question them, but short of a confession, it’s a very high bar to prove rape when alcohol’s involved.” Ana said, “They were drugged.”

“Or they willingly took a party drug.”

I chuckled, “Willing?” 

“My sister wasn’t wiling. She didn’t-” Adam cut me off, “Hey, [Y/N], she’s on your side.” 

Anger filled my veins.

“Look, this whole case turns my stomach. I’m just making the argument their lawyer would make. We have two victims. One of them’s dead and the other one can’t ID her attackers, and there’s no physical evidence tying them to Sarah’s rape.” Ana said, “Okay. This is not a first time for these two. I mean, they have an MO.” Erin backed me up.

“Great. If we can prove an MO, it’s easier to hang assault charges on them.” Ana said, “You know, one thing about these guys is they don’t know that Denise is dead. I mean, she ran from the car. As far as they know, she went home.” Alvin shrugged his shoulders.

“That’s true. I mean, these guys can be out right now or tonight on the hunt like nothing ever happened, Serge.” Kevin chipped in.

“Erin, go down and talk to Platt. Find a female officer to partner up with. The rest of you meet in the roll up. We’re going undercover.” Voight ordered everyone, I watched as Erin disappear down the stairs. “Thank you for coming.”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t do more.” Ana spoke glancing over her shoulder at me.

I wasn’t going to drop this whether or not, “Serge?”

“Yeah?” He said grabbing a hold of his coat, “I want to go undercover with Lindsay.”

“I don’t think it’s the right fit, [Y/N].” He shook his head, “It’s the perfect fit. I know the case, I work well with Lindsay, and I’m the right gender.”

He placed his hands onto my shoulder, “You’re too close to this.”

“Like you were too close to Justin?” I struck a nerve, “Careful.”

“Just because it’s our family does not mean we can’t do our job.” I said, he sighed, knowing damn well I wasn’t going to drop this; “So, go get changed.”

Dance Music.

Erin and I stood beside each other at the Thirsty Raven bar holding onto our drinks, as someone approached us, “I want to buy you a drink.”

“Oh, we’re good. We’re waiting for someone.”Erin calmly said, turning him down. “Oh, okay. Cool. Well, I will keep you company.” 

“She said we’re good.” I shot him down harder, “Whatever.” He grumbled before winking at Erin.

“Is this what single life is like?” She questioned, “On Division Street at 1:00 a.m. it is.” She nodded her head and took a sip from her drink, “Great.”

“You girls look lonely. And thirsty.”

“Is it that obvious?” Erin asked, “What have you been up to tonight?” He asked, holding onto his drink.

“Oh, we had our girlfriend’s bachelorette party.” I faked, “Cheers to being single.” Erin chipped in, cheering our drinks together.

“Last call.” The barterer yelled out, “Uh, if you two are still at the bar, I’m guessing that you don’t want the night to end. Am I right?” He asked, “I don’t know. What do you have in mind?” I dumb-play, “We know a party in Wicker Park. That’s close. You girls down?”

“I don’t know. We’ve had a lot to drink already, so-” Erin brushed it off, “You’re fine. Come on. We can keep this party going all night long.”

“Do you wanna?” I flirty asked her, “Kind of.”

“Let’s go.” I smiled, “Okay.”

Erin and I followed the guys leading up towards the apartment, “Is this your place?” She asked looking around the place, “Share it with some friends.” He said taking off his coat, “Uh, let me take your coat.”

“Wait, where’s the party?” I drunkenly chuckled, “Uh, we’re the party. We got drinks. We got music. We got whatever you may need. Go ahead. Why don’t you make yourself comfortable?”

“Okay.” Erin drunkenly shrugged off, “All right.” I chuckled.

I set down my purse on the counter tops, that way the camera was pointing at us in the living room, “All right. I’ll make the drinks.”

Hip-Hop music playing.

“What are those?” Erin asked, ‘“Kamikazes.”

“Well, aren’t you guys gonna have one?” She questioned them, “We just did. They’re awesome.”

“Why don’t you try one for us?” He turned to look at me, “Mm...” Erin laughs, “What’s the matter?”

“Nothing. I think I’d rather smoke pot. Do you guys have any pot?”

“Oh, come on. Drink it for me.” He asked once more, “I’m not getting a good feeling about this.” His friend said unease, “What’s going on, guys? Do you girls want to party, or don’t you?” He got up from the couch.

“Yeah, totally. I just-” She trailed off, before glancing at me picking up the shot glass, and gulping down the drink.

He smirked, “That’s my girl.”

I drunkenly giggled, “That was, uh, really strong.”

“Well...”

“You okay?” Erin asked me, “Yeah.”

I felt a wave of nauseous, “Do you have, like, a bathroom or something?”

“Yeah, yeah, just down the hall.”

I reached and grabbed a hold of my purse, “Okay, we’ve had so much to drink.”

I glanced over my shoulder to make sure I was in the clear, then processed to walk down the hallway and opening the closest door, revealing the bedroom with the balloons.

“I was wondering where you went.” He said, shutting and locking the door behind him. “Let’s have some fun.”

I shook my head, “I don’t want this.”

“Oh, sure you do.” He said moving closer and closer towards me, “Stop.”

“What? Why are you so uptight?” He grabbed a hold of me, “Didn’t you hear me say no?”

“I heard you. I just don’t believe you.” He through me against the wall hard, “Aah!” I screamed in agony, “Bluebell!”

I grunted trying to push him off of me, but he wouldn’t budge, leaving me to my last resort; the lipstick knife. Without hesitation, I quickly stabbed him in the shoulder blade, “Aah!”

 “[Y/N]!” Adam yelled out my name, I shouted and grunted.

I finally unleashed my inner vengeance on the man who sexually assaulted my sister, one after another blow to the face, I kept it coming; I wanted him to suffer. He helpless laid on the bedroom floor, as I continued one punch to another directly at his bloody face, blood smearing all over my bare chest, Adam and Alvin stood in the bedroom as they didn’t know what else to do or whether they wanted to get involved into the cross firing. “[Y/N]. [Y/N]. [Y/N]! We’ve got it. We got it. We got it.” Alvin said pulling me away from the scumbag, as I kept kicking him.

He spits out blood, breathes heavily.

“[Y/N], hey, are you all right?” Erin came rushing to my aid, I mumbled underneath my breathed, “I need to get to Med.”

“She’s got to have her stomach pumped.” Erin called out, leaving with me.

A nurse wheeled me into Sarah’s room, “Why are you in a hospital gown?” Matt and Sarah questioned at the same time. Oh, boy.

“It’s a really long story. Um... We got the guys who attacked you, so they’re never gonna hurt anybody ever again.” I said, sitting down onto her bed. She started to breakdown again, tears rushing down her cheeks. “Hey. Hey, hey, hey, hey.”

“[Y/N], what am I supposed to do now?” She asked, “You’re gonna get better, and you’re gonna put it behind you.”

“How? How?” She replied back, “And how am I supposed to take care of my daughter when I don’t even feel safe leaving the house?”

“Sarah, I’m gonna help you through this. I will.” I said patting my heart, “Yeah.”

“Mom?”

Sarah let out a cry, “Hi. Hi, sweetie.”

Matt held onto my forearm as he carefully walked me out of Sarah’s hospital room, where she and Isabelle can have alone time between them. “I’m sorry,” I said looking down as my eyes glistening with tears, “Hey, come on, it wasn’t your fault.” Matt spoke softly, all of a sudden tears begin to roll down my cheeks, “Baby, please don’t cry.”

Matt held me tightly as I leaned my head into the corner of his neck and shoulder. “I love you.” I whispered, “I love you too.” He said kissing my head gently.

[wvttvk]

We Shouldn’t — Natalie Mariduena

a/n: just some natalie with a sprinkle of david drama lmfao smut&language warning. Word Count: 3.3k (sheesh) enjoy :)

Someone once told Natalie that some things—both good and bad— can happen with such a precise gradual increase that by the time it’s truly noticeable, it’s far too late to do anything about it. And it’s true.

Natalie knew she was lucky. She really never could have dreamed that by 23 she would be practically running a million dollar company with her best friend. Working with her best friend was not always pretty but it was one of the biggest blessings she’s ever gotten. David knew her just as well as she knew him and they were able to create what almost felt like a little dynasty. Nat was able to refute David’s impulsive extremes with her analytical reasoning. It worked well for her.

But things can’t always stay perfect. Things happen in life that can truly uproot what you have been working to grow. Unfortunately for Natalie, that was you.

You had just begun hanging out with the infamous vlog squad. After drunkenly making out with Corinna in a vlog, David took a liking to you. He always made sure to have Natalie invite you to wherever the group was hanging out, occasionally having just you at his house.

Natalie couldn’t seem to take her eyes off of you. She hadn’t noticed it happening, how whenever you would walk in the room her face would heat up. Every time she texted you, her mind would race with thoughts of what you felt when her name lit up your phone. She wondered what you were thinking of when you looked at her. But at first, Natalie wouldn’t call it a crush, she told herself that it was her way of seeing your intentions. David had been telling Nat about his crush on you, how infatuated he was with your whole personality. Natalie was used to this with him. He gets attracted to people and makes it very known so that others wouldn’t dare pursue them.

Natalie would never admit it to David but she wanted you. Natalie normally didn’t want much, she was fine being single, she knew how to take care of herself in more ways than one. But when Natalie touched herself, her mind always found your face. She thought of your kiss with Corinna, how you had been the one in control, your tongue making its way into Corinna’s mouth. Natalie wishes it could’ve been her, but things don’t always work out that way.

David had been planning a way to make a move on you and Natalie felt sick. Every time he spoke your name, her eyes rolled and she bit back with unhelpful remarks. It didn’t take long for David to realize the change in her temperament.

“What the fuck is up with you, Nat?” He walked into Natalie’s room where she was on her laptop, both working and trying to avoid David.

Natalie took a deep breath, “I am fine, Dave. I have a headache and you’re not helping.”

“Fine, sorry.” David responded, taking that as an invitation to lay on her bed. She rolled her eyes again, the silence resuming as he played on his phone. It was short lived however, when he turned the phone towards her, a photo of you lighting up the screen. The butterflies in Natalies stomach did front flips and she tried to push away that feeling.

“Y/N is just so different. Ugh I just wanna hold her and fuck-Nat she’s so hot. I—“ Natalie couldn’t take it anymore. The constant reminder from him that she couldn’t have you.

“Enough about Y/N.” She snapped, David’s head turning to her in shock at the outburst. “Fucking enough Dave, if you want her so bad go talk to her. I’m tired of hearing you whine.” She finished, getting up from the bed and leaving him alone in her room.

“Are you jealous Natalie?” She heard David’s voice from behind her and she froze. She didn’t think she made it obvious that she had feelings for Y/N. She swore she tried to push those feelings so far down, to keep things okay. The last thing she wanted was her and David fighting over a girl. But you weren’t just any girl to Natalie.

“E-Excuse me?” Natalie whipped around to face him, trying to remain expressionless.

“If you’re upset that I like Y/N, I’m sorry I didn’t know.” He was awkwardly scratching his jaw as he looked at you with what looked like pity. “I didn’t know you liked me that way, Nat.”

She stopped breathing. She couldn’t tell if she wanted to laugh or scream or slap him in the face. She let out a dry laugh, “Hah, you’re a fucking idiot.” She headed further into the kitchen and David remained where he was.

“Okay fine, but if not that, why are you so irritated with Y/N?” He continued, sitting down at the counter. You looked at him, an inquisitive and soft smile on his face as he waited for you to explain. In that moment Natalie wanted to tell him everything. She wanted to say that she wanted you more than she’d wanted anything in awhile. That whenever she spoke to you, she couldn’t help but admire every detail of your face. From the way your eyes raced with a childlike glee when you talked about something you loved, or the way your lips would curl into a coy smile when you would tease. The way all she wanted to do was taste your lips. But Natalie couldn’t find the words. So she said the only words she could find.

“I—I don’t have a problem with her.” Natalie began with a sigh, her fingers lifting to pick at her lip, her nervous habit showing. “I like her, she’s great. I just want you to be careful about jumping into something new, you have a history of being impulsive, Dave. And I don’t want to see anyone get hurt.”

Natalie was hurting. She was hurting so bad, but she wouldn’t show it.

“You don’t have to worry about that, Nat. I’m a big boy.” He responded with his goofy smile, David was back to being unsuspecting as he circled the counter to jokingly hug Natalie, smushing her against him. Natalie tried to shove him off, a smile breaking through as she grumbled, “Gross.”

Natalie thought her talk with David would buy her time. Time to get over the crush she told herself she didn’t have. But 24 hours was certainly not enough time to get over you.

~

You had been texting David all morning. He was insistent on you coming over to hang out. Unfortunately, it wasn’t until you got to his house that you saw messages from him pour in.

WAIT

I won’t be home for like 2 hours idk

Jason is dumb

I’ll explain later

I’m sorry

Please tell me you haven’t left yet

Y/N

You smiled down at the screen, telling him not to worry. He didn’t need to know you were already at his house, you didn’t need to make him feel worse. Natalie’s car was in the driveway and you wondered if anyone was home. You hoped she would be as you walked to the front door, you were hoping you wouldn’t have to drive back to downtown LA just to come back later.

You couldn’t fight the smile that formed as you saw Natalie come to answer the front door. She looked shocked but happy and you hoped you weren’t being a bother by showing up at their house. As she greeted you, you took in her appearance. She was wearing spandex leggings and a cropped crew neck. It was something so simple but even you couldn’t deny the way she made everything she wore her own. Her hair fell loosely around her face as she pulled you into a hug. You could smell the sweet fragrance of her perfume, inhaling as your cheek just barely grazed hers.

As you both pulled back from the hug, there was a strange energy in the air. You noticed that Natalie’s cheeks were tinted pink, her eyes refusing to meet yours.

“So what’s up? Dave’s not home, if you were looking for him.” She began, leading you further into the house.

“Oh, yeah I know. Right when I pulled up, he texted me that he won’t be home for a little while.” You sat down with her on the couch, turning to fully face her. You took it as an opportunity to really look at her. Her brown eyes moved back and forth between yours, you could tell she was trying to read you. “Thank God you were home, though.” You flashed her a smile and you saw the pinkness of her cheeks begin to bloom again. You couldn’t help but smirk at it.

“No-yeah of course.” She fumbled over her words, her eyes once again refusing to meet yours. As the TV played quietly in the background, you wanted to break the silence between you. You wanted to know more about Natalie, there was something about her that made you so curious.

You noticed that Natalie kept her distance—at least when it came to you. Until now, you had never gotten the chance to talk to her one-on-one, just the two of you, without the prying eyes and ears of the others. But when you had talked to her, you noticed how she listened to you so intently, as if she was hanging on to every word. You noticed the way her eyes would fall to your lips, then try to meet your eyes again before she could be caught. But you always saw. You saw the way her body shifted when you were around. You loved it. And right now all you wanted was to learn more about her.

“So you and David...” you began slowly, testing to see how she would react to your questioning, “you guys grew up together, right?”

She smiled at you, nodding. “Yes, neighbors to best friends to roomies.” Her voice light as she joked with you.

You chuckled back at her, your elbow coming to rest on the back of the couch, your head resting in your hand. “Sounds like the start of a beautiful rom-com.” You teased back at her, and she playfully rolled her eyes at you.

“Oh God no.” She stated bluntly, the two of you falling into a fit of giggles. As the silence fell around you again, you saw as her smile slowly fell, her eyes seeming dimmer than they were seconds ago. She cleared her throat.

“Y’know, David really likes you.” She spoke softly, she looked almost sad as she said it, her eyes meeting yours for a moment before falling to her hands. “Do you want anything to drink, by the way?” She asked rising from the couch, walking to the kitchen. All Natalie wanted was to put more space between the two of you, your proximity to her being far too much.

“Sure,” you began rising from the couch and following her to where she stood in the kitchen. “And yeah, I know he likes me. He’s not very good at being discreet.” You answered with a lightness in your voice, you tried to see how she reacted to everything you were saying. She chuckled in response.

“Sounds like him.” She smiled at you again, but this time it didn’t reach her eyes. You wanted her to say something. Something that would let you know how she was really feeling, but Natalie’s walls were up high.

Natalie didn’t know what to say or do. It was already taking all of her will power to refrain from reaching across the space and finally getting to feel your lips on hers. She did the only thing she thought she could, she continued to play the role of the perfect best friend.

“So how do you feel about our golden boy?” She asked with a laugh that felt forced. You took a step closer to her and you noticed as Natalie shifted the slightest bit backwards. Interesting.

“He’s really sweet… charming, and hilarious, obviously.” You started, toying with the cap of the water. “I’m just-I don’t know yet if I see him in that way though... you know what I mean?” You questioned back, watching Natalie’s expression shift with the new information she was just given.

“I get it.” She said softly, she didn’t know what to say. Natalie tucked a piece of hair behind her ear as she nibbled on her bottom lip. You couldn’t stop watching.

“I think, when you find the person you want to be with, you’re sure. There’s something chemical and physical that draws you to that person, y’know?” You watched as Natalie visibly swallowed, her cheeks burning at your words.

Natalie mumbled back in agreement, you watched as she tried to discreetly wipe her palms on her thighs. You were loving how easy it was to get a reaction from her. How bad Natalie was at hiding how flustered she truly was. She released her bottom lip from where it was held between her teeth. Her mouth was already swollen and deep pink as she lifted her glass of water to her lips.

You slightly moved closer. “I just think I’ll know when I’m with him,” you paused, “or her.”

Natalie seemed to choke, some water sputtering out of her mouth. You smiled, chuckling at her reaction. Her eyes finally met yours, she was trying so hard to read you. You stepped closer into her space and Natalie took a sharp inhale, her hand reaching behind her to grasp the counter. Natalie couldn’t breathe, she saw the way your eyes were fixated on her lips. She didn’t know what to do.

You moved closer to her, your hand coming up to brush into her hair, twirling the stands through your fingers before letting it fall back on her shoulders. You felt her breath on your cheeks and you needed to be closer.

Your nose brushed hers as you rounded her face, your lips now grazing the shell of her ear. “Natalie.” You were tasting her name on your tongue and Natalie had never thought her name to be so beautiful until she heard it slip from your lips.

You moved your hand to gently tilt her jaw back, your thumb pushing upwards on the underside of her chin. Her lips were so much closer to yours. Just a taste, you told yourself as you moved to brush your lips just slightly against hers, Natalie almost whined.

“We shouldn’t.” The words came out as a whisper from Natalie’s lips. Her eyes flitting shut and her eyebrows pulling together in frustration. Natalie was trying so hard to be a good friend. The heat between her thighs making her want to cry.

“Nat, hey, Natalie,” you began, your hand cupping her cheek now. Her eyes finally opened again, they were watery and conflicted as they raced across your face, “when’s the last time you did something you wanted to do? Without thinking about consequences or everyone else’s needs but your own?”

She just kept staring at you. The brown of her eyes seemed to light a fire in the pit of your stomach.

You wanted her to do something, say something. Anything would be better than the piercing silence around you.

She reached up to where your hand was placed on her cheek, wrapping her fingers around your wrist. Now it was your turn to read her.

“Fuck it.” She spoke quickly, pushing her lips against yours. You couldn’t help but smile into the kiss, her doing the same.

The kiss turned from something curious to desperate, lips moving feverishly against each other. With your hand in her hair, your rings tangling the strands, the slight pulling caused Natalie to moan into your mouth. You took it as an invitation to skillfully slip your tongue past her lips.

Her hands gripped the exposed flesh of your waist, her hand slipping under your shirt to fondle with your bra.

You took back the control. You loved the way she tasted so sweet, all you wanted to do was feel more of her. You pushed her against the fridge, your free hand pushing her hip against the cool surface and she hissed at the contact. You detached your lips and Natalie immediately began to trail kisses across your jaw, slowly moving down your neck.

Natalie felt you pulse racing as she bit against your skin, her tongue following to sooth your neck. You reached your hand between your bodies, rubbing her through her leggings and she let out a groan.

“Please.” She begged, your fingers lightly brushing her heat through the material. Natalie shifted against your hand, needing more pressure.

You looked down between your bodies with a smirk, watching as your hand disappeared into her pants. Your middle and ring fingers immediately found her entrance, teasing in a circular motion as Natalie continued to squirm. You watched her whole body, her chest rapidly rising and falling, her knees just barely shaking.

You were interrupted by Natalie’s hand pulling your jaw back to face her, her lips fitting themselves between yours urgently. You finally gave in to her, your digits slipping in and out. Her moans tumbled into your mouth, and you swore you’d never heard something so beautiful. Your thumb circled her clit and her hand reached up to caress your breast.

You both were acting so primal and you tried to get as close as possible. Natalie felt like she was rushing against time, trying to savor every touch, every taste, before you might disappear.

The kitchen was filled with a chorus of moans as skin pressed against skin, your tongues brushing against each other. Natalie never wanted this feeling to end. But all things end, leaving only memories in their wake.

With your lips still attached you heard the front door open, followed by quick footsteps. You and Natalie pushed apart, the space between you leaving you both cold.

“Nat, we’re back!” David’s voice echoed through the front hall, you and Natalie increased the distance, trying to fix your disheveled and flustered appearances. “I saw Y/N’s car out front, is she—“

David stopped, rounding the corner to see you and Natalie on opposite sides of the kitchen. Natalie’s eyes were locked on his, as she tried to hold in all of her emotions, the throbbing between her thighs not ceasing. You looked between David and Natalie, keeping your expression calm as you discreetly wiped your fingers on the back of your jeans. All you wanted was to taste her on your fingers but that would have to wait. Your eyes fell back to Natalie, how she couldn’t look at you, her cheeks still bright red.

“Hey David.” You spoke, as he walked into the kitchen greeting you with a hug. You watched Natalie over David’s shoulder, her eyes meeting yours before looking down to her feet. “How was the shoot?”

“Not worth Jason’s bad mood, that’s for sure.” He joked, leading you toward the sofa. Natalie just trailed behind, she needed to not be in the room.

She fumbled over her words as she spoke, “Well, I’m going to go shower. Um it-it was nice talking to you Y/N.” You smiled at how even now her body’s reactions were controlled by you.

“We’ll talk soon, yeah?” Your eyebrow lifted, your eyes glinting with a playful expression. Natalie knew what you meant so she nodded and smiled, fleeing the room.

“Is she okay? She looks kinda sick.” David asked, plopping himself next to you on the couch.

You smiled back at him. Only you and her knowing that Natalie was more than okay. But you nodded at him, “Yeah, she just got a little hot.”

He accepted the answer letting the conversation flow to wherever his mind wanted to go. You smiled at him but the smile wasn’t for him. You could taste Natalie on your lips still, and fuck you couldn’t wait to do it again.

[lgcseojin]

@lgcjueun

jueun realizes it’s a little–a lot–sad thinking about how normal couples would spend their birthdays together in the same place, most likely side by side. but she and seojin weren’t - normal that is, in the sense that they were two regular citizens of seoul and not a newly debuted idol and member of a band.

but the reality of it is that they are which means it’s not out of the ordinary for them to spend more time apart than with each other. it sucks, yeah, but this is what they wanted and what they’ve been working hard for so… they manage. they have to if they wanted to make their relationship work in some way.

it’s still sad though, there’s no doubt about that. she knows it; seojin knows it. but it’s pointless to keep saying that when they’re both well aware. what’s more important is conveying how they feel and making the most out of what they can which is why this year, jueun plans something different for her boyfriend’s birthday.

she’s somehow found some free time to carry out her ‘surprise’ and although it’s only half a day of it, she again, makes the most out of it that she can. with her parent’s permission, she takes over one of the private rooms they have in their cafe and sets up everything: streamers hanging from a wall to form a sparkly background, big letter balloons hung up spelling out seojin’s name, more balloons on either side of those balloons, and to finish it all off, a birthday cake in the center of table right in front of the display.

after making sure the entire scene is visible in the frame of her phone camera (tilted horizontally, of course, so everything can be seen clearly), she presses the record button and rushes to stand behind the table and cake, facing the lens with a little party hat on top of her head.

“hi, dummy,” jueun starts the video off with, waving at the camera with a cheeky grin on her face. “i know we can’t spend your birthday together this year but i still wanted to celebrate so… ta da!” she raises her arms to gesture at all the decorations around her. “since you can’t see this in person, i’m sending you this video instead.”

then, she picks up the small cake she had purchased earlier that day, a single, lit candle stuck into the middle of it and begins singing the ‘happy birthday’ song.

“happy birthday dear seojin~ happy birthday to you!”

jueun looks up from the cake and into the lens with the brightest smile possible and holds it out like seojin can blow it out himself. obviously he can’t so she does it instead after a few moments (to let him make a wish if he wanted to) before setting it back on the table and cheering.

“it’s hard for us to really talk these days, or like… in general, isn’t it?” she chuckles, referring to their bad habit of not verbalizing their true feelings and thoughts. however for seojin, and the occasion, she could try harder to say what’s honestly on her mind. “but since its a special day–and don’t try to tell yourself it isn’t!–i just want you to know that i’m glad you were born and that you came into my life. we obviously had our troubles and issues and we’re still working through them to this day but i’m happier now that we’re together again and i hope you are too! if not, i’ll punch you when you get back,” she adds on jokingly, a pout on her face to match. she really couldn’t pass up an opportunity to tease him.

“really though… thank you for existing, and thank you for loving me even after all these years. i love you too, possibly more than i could ever express, and i hope we can stay together for a long time!”

jueun ends the video with another wave and right as the recording looks like it’s about to stop, she leans in and pretends to kiss the screen in a spur of the moment. she doesn’t literally do it but the thought is there and although she wants to delete it right away once she reviews the clip because it’s so freaking embarrassing, she sends it to seojin’s number without a second glance - because she knows if she did give herself a chance to re-consider, she might not have sent it at all.

♡ sent to: big idiot 💕     ↝ [video attached]     ↝ happy birthday ❤️ 

--

Seojin never expected anything on his birthday. He vehemently insisted no one spend money on him or “waste their time”. In spite of the confidence he boisterously wore on his sleeve, within him hid a child with diminished self-worth. He felt himself unworthy of any praise or well-wishes from the people in his life. Whether they considered him otherwise proved irrelevant to him. Being away on tour with the other band trainees gave him something of an excuse to avoid the constant barrage of in person wishes and boxes being shoved into his hands. He had no use for material objects like nice jewelry or instrument accessories from people who had obvious little knowledge of them.

By the time he arrived back in his room, his emotional energy hit rock bottom. Too much thinking, too much holding back the true negativity brewing within him. He wanted so badly to scream into his pillow. Instead, he directed his immediate attention to his phone. Unusual behavior for a young man who typically swore himself off of being overly attached to it. It was all he could think of. His eyes lingered over the missed phone calls from the same number, the voice mail, the singular time he actually picked up. His finger hovered over the block button, hesitating for the first time in his life.

Another notification interrupted him from doing so. It seemed to be the theme of the day.

Seojin’s expression immediately brightened seeing the contact name. Someone he knew. Someone he loved wholeheartedly and knew for certain he did. He pressed the video as if second nature. It wasn’t far off from their typical routine; sending voice and video messages back and forth in their time away from each other, but this one was ... different. Staged.

His gaze flickered over Jueun’s surroundings first. Birthday decorations lined the walls behind her, his name spelled out in balloons. However, she caught every bit of lighting better than the flashy bells and whistles she spent time preparing. Before she could even utter a word, an overwhelming stinging sensation overcame Seojin’s eyes and obscured any modicum of vision he had left. All he had the strength to focus on was her voice coming in through his headphones.

The darkness in his room became a blessing as the tears flooded down his cheeks like a cascading waterfall. It was not something that would normally bring him to such a state. He would mentally make an excuse. That day had been far from easy on his heart. How was he meant to cope with the cacophony of emotions barraging him so relentlessly?

He replayed the video a few more times, his smile grew and yet his tears did as well. 

Without a moment’s hesitation, Seojin pressed record. It didn’t matter if his eyes and cheeks were red. Jueun happened to be one of the few witnesses of him at his lowest points. There was no use in holding back with her.

At first he shyly concealed his face, allowing his voice to do most of the work. ( In a hushed tone, of course. ) “I got the video. It was really, um... nice.” It was obvious he was having difficulty being sincere again with his spoken words. He didn’t want to come across too cheesy, too weak. Finally, he moved the camera closer to his face so she could see that awkward, lopsided smile of his. “I didn’t think you’d do all of that for... well, me. I saved it. And watched it a lot. I made sure to make a wish on the candle even though you blew it out. Not telling you what it is though, obviously. Otherwise it won’t come true.” If only he had the guts to tell her things like this in person. The things he wrote to her in his letter in person. Would he be considered a better boyfriend if he managed to do that?

“I’m so ready to come back and see you. Fucking hell you know I’m gonna use the free day so we can see each other. I want to go on an actual date with you.” How long had they been together now? By this time last year he was still questioning why she forgave him for his past transgressions. “Mark my words! New years will be something. To make up for all the time we’ve been losing. Promise.” He held his pinky up to the camera and smiled. A full one this time.

“I love you, too.”

↻  JUEUN 🐞

[ video attached ] thanks

[dracula-in-purple-story]

Romantic Idiots

How to confess to your crush(es)?

Option 1 : Do not let your brain and heart clashes together and give you mixed signals. Then confess.

Option 2 : Give him/her/them an Applin or any shiny Pokemons. Then confess.

Advice : Panic if fail. 

“Panic if fail? What’s that supposed to mean, Grandpa?” Hop glanced up hesitantly as he finished noting down the old man’s advice. His ex-champion brother nervously clenched around his Charmander plushies. 

The grandfather smiled coyly as he went to the kitchen to pour himself a cup of tea while the brothers tried to follow behind him. Their mother chuckled at this silly scene before the grandmother answered for her husband, also smiling coyly.

“Panic as in running away like an idiot. I swear to Arceus, when I was at your age, Leon, your grandpa over there tried to asked me out by throwing a Poke Ball at my window. Poor Appletun dearie got a fright that time and refused to acknowledge him for a decade.”

“Hush, sweetheart.” the blushing old man ruffled his wife’s hair before settling down. “Our daughter-in-law got it worse than you. Am I right, Helen?”

The said woman just sighed blissfully before snorting out loud, almost making the brothers laughed if they weren’t asking for some love advices. Standing up, she shuffled through the living room to picked up her wedding photos and was reminiscing the moment.

“Mom?” the older brother asked gently as to not interrupt the moment.

“Yes, Leon?”

“How did Dad confess? It can’t be worse than Gramps’ attempt.”

“Yeah!” the younger brother butted in while grinning at the offended-looking man, “What was it like? Could it be he try to serenade? Bet he sounds goofy and passed it down to Lee!”

“Hey! I sound amazing, Hopscotch! You are just jealous!”

“Boys,” the mother smiled at her sons’ playful banter. When they finally stopped, she smiled even wilder as she recounted the fateful evening.

“Well, he didn’t serenade, for starters. But he did tried to make an A Capella with Rotoms and Dittos. Never worked out since he first practised it at the Lake of Outrage. The Rotoms snitched on him with the Dittos were making ‘He love You’ letters while I saved his arse.”

“Oof, ouchies.” Hop scrunched up his face jokingly while Leon laughed as he imagined the scenario over and over. They pulled out their own RotomPhones when they were done though. 

“You better not snitch on me, dude. I must do this myself.” The ex-champion pleaded with his little bro nodding beside him.

“You got it-Roto! Don’t stutter when you confess-Roto!”

“We make sure to taped you guys so we can see who’s got the worst end of the stick-Roto!”

“ROTOMS, NO!”

The purple-haired brothers panicked as they chased their cackling phones, leaving the amused adults behind. 

“I bet two thousand PokeDollars that they would failed terribly and cutely at the same time.”

“No need to bet, Mother. It’s obvious that their ability to confess is still strong in their blood.”

“Rude, ladies. Very rude.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Now back at their shared apartment at Wyndon City, Leon was pacing around. His little bro had already went out to find his crushes. The new chairman wished he had this kind of courage. He wished, just not gonna happen. He and Raihan are just friends with a healthy rivalry of ten years! How is he going to react if he just confess out of the blue?! That’s why he got a perfect plan! Sonia had helped him devised a lot of plans. Plans related to shiny Pokemons were quickly rejected due to him being a natural shiny repellent. Flowers were also a big no, Raihan’s Pokemons tend to gobbled up flowers from his fans. Chocolate was supposed to be part of the plan, but Sonia rejected that idea because it was overrated. So this is the result. Just ask Raihan to go out with him and make sure he knows it’s a date and not a Valentine’s Day hangout. Solid A+ Plan! “Over a phone call? So outdated, Master Lee. Not gonna lie but that’s so last season,” the RotomPhone floats around in front of Leon while showcasing the contact details of his master’s dream man. “I don’t want Raihan to see my face if I ask him face to face! It’s too obvious!” “Ain’t that the plan?” “No!” “Okay, okay! Geez, you humans are so overly complicated. What happen to mating calls? It’s so much easier.” “Shut it, Rotom...” With a heavy sigh, he slouched over the single-seat coach. Maybe it’s a bad plan, but it’s the only foul-proof plan he could ever execute. “Okay,” Leon sat up and slapped both side of his cheeks to concentrate, “I’m ready! All I have to say is ‘Go out with me this evening’!” Snatching RotomPhone from the air, while apologizing, the purple-haired man pressed ‘Call’ with confidence. It rang for a few times before the Dragon Gym Leader picked up with his smooth, husky voice. The voice he should still get used to but still melt every time he heard it. “What’s up, ex-champ? Feeling lonely on Valentines?” Let’s be boyfriends. Leon’s mind went on short circuit for a bit. He didn’t respond for a minute, making the silence unbearable. “Uh, Leon? Are you there?” “LET’S DO BOYFRIENDS’ DATE!” Unfortunately, his mind ended up fusing what he initially going to said and his current thoughts. Freaking out, he ended up the call without hearing the reply. He just screwed up. He managed to screw up the only foul-proof plan. This is not what it should happen and yet, here he was. Leon stomped his way to his bedroom, slammed his door open and threw himself onto the bed in frustration. He really shouldn’t take Option 1. ~~~~~~~~~~ Arriving at the Hammerlocke Gym, Hop quickly strode towards the lift, and quickly slid his access card. He went in but not without getting bumped by Raihan, who never seems to noticed him as the top Gym Leader dashed outside with the biggest grin plastered on his face. Leon succeed, huh... The lab assistant shook his face to focus on his mission. He really put a lot of effort finding these Pokemon after all. Gramps’ advice always worked! Reaching his destination, he walked out slowly towards his so-called Rival Gang. They were grooming and playing with Zacian and Zamazenta. The Legendary Pokemon was really ease up on Victor and Gloria real quick. Hop let out his own Legendary Pokemon partner, Eternatus, scaring the occupant in the room, especially the albino-haired boy. “Hop! You idiot! Are you trying to scare me half to death?!” I wanna smooch you til I melt though. Grinning characteristically, he settled himself down between the girls, who now switched their focus on Eternatus. Victor, the new chairman’s secretary, smiled gently at him as greeting. Arceus, I would love to see your smile everyday, every time. “So, how’s the research coming up, Hop? Having such a rowdy Pokemon like this dragon must have damage the lab a few times.” Marnie smirked at Hop while throwing a Heavy Ball for it to catch. Such a graceful badass. With a super effective smirk. “Natus can shapeshift to a smaller size to roam freely so it’s not a problem,” the lab assistant answered before side-glancing his Legendary partner, “the problem would be giving Sonia a hard time to examine it.” “Typical. Seems like giving you Eternatus is the right choice. After all, I don’t think I can handle two huge responsibilities at the same time. Am I right, Zacian?” Gloria, the newly-crowned champion, winked at the Sword-wielding Warrior Pokemon. Zacian huffed out a pleased grunt, almost indicating it agreed with her. Are you trying to faint me with your adorable wink?! Finding the right time, Hop waited for the opportunity as they talked and played around. Occasionally battling or betting matches, making curry at this unusual location, talking about work. Hop had to thank Arceus when Victor popped the question. “So... today’s Valentines Day, ain’t it? You guys got some confession to make?” Silence taking over the room. Marnie and Bede tried to hide their blush but failed miserably while Gloria was looking embarrassed for once. Hop took a deep breath. “I do.” Shocking his gang again, he took out four Love Balls. Each of them had their unique designs that Hop took the time to do. “It makes me sound crazy but I think... I have a crushes on you guys. Super, duper big ones,” he slowly exclaimed as he handed them each of their own unique Love Balls, which they took it gladly. A good sign. Victor had Sobble with heart-shaped eyes drawing; Gloria had Scorbunny with its ear forming a heart-shaped drawing; Bede had a heart-shaped Solosis drawing; Marnie had Morpeko with heart-shaped cheek pouches drawing. “Hop, I hate you,” the Fairy Type Gym Leader started scowling. While Hop thought he was already damaging their friendship, the blushing albino head also threw him and the others a Love Ball. “You make me look so underprepared that it hurts.” “Me too.” The Dark Type Gym Leader joined in as she too had four Love Balls. “Me three.” The secretary chimed in, also with another four Love Balls. “I’m an idiot,” Gloria was flushed red as she took out four boxes of chocolates. The gang bursted out laughing at their rightfully-called lover. Lovers... that rings nicely to my heart. Our heart.