#but I’m very upset that white lily lost too

[waffleslashermaster]

I can’t believe he actually beat him. GLORY TO THE KING

[moonyflesh]

Special Agent PETER STRAHM — [Valentine’s HC].

WARNINGS: brief descriptions of PDA, oral sex, kissing, name-calling, sub/dom dynamics, and cursing. LOTS of fluff and angsty comments, though.

CHARACTER: [special agent] PETER STRAHM — (SAW/JIGSAW)

AUTHOR’S NOTE: Hey! I know this is nearly 48 hours late, but I’m going through a Peter Strahm phase currently (since I’ve just finished rewatching the first six Saw movies), and hadn’t seen a version of this for him!

[If you’re interested in more, I have a SAW MASTERLIST for my Saw writings.]

.*•°🧩

‘V’ — VASE (what flowers does he buy you?)

• Strahm is not the type to buy flowers. It’s impractical, they die too fast, and he doesn’t see the point. If anything, he’d think it’s a waste of money. But… he also knows that’s what people do on Valentine’s, and he’s not a complete asshole.

• If he does end up getting flowers, it’s an afterthought—something he picks up from a gas station or bodega, grumbling under his breath about it. He’s standing there, scanning the cheapest options.

• It’s either red roses or white lilies.

• “They looked the least annoying.”

• You call him out for it, though?

• “What? You wanted some big, frilly, pink bullshit? You like these, don’t you?”

• But there’s a hint of uncertainty in his voice. He wants to have picked the right ones.

‘A’ — AFFECTION (how does he care?)

• Strahm’s affection is subtle—and usually comes out as frustration. If he’s worried, he sounds pissed.

• “Why the hell didn’t you text me back?” (Translation: I was thinking about you, and I didn’t like not knowing where you were.)

• He’ll never admit it, but he’s hyper-aware of your habits. Did you forget your keys? He already has them in his pocket. Did you say offhand that you wanted to try that new café? He’ll grumble about it but show up with your favorite order.

• If you’re upset, he’s horrifically bad at comforting you.

• “You want me to, uh… beat the shit out of somebody for you…? — Ah, no. I’m not going to beat myself up… wait— you’re mad at me?”

• “Okay. That sucks. You wanna go get food?”

• “You can be pissed off. Hell— I would be too… I’m not very good at this, am I?.”

‘L’ — LOVE LANGUAGE (what’s his way of loving you?)

• Acts of Service, hands down. He’s not good at saying how he feels, but he’ll do things.

• You’ll wake up and find your car filled up with gas. You’ll mention offhand that you lost your favorite earrings, and a new pair will mysteriously appear.

• If you call him out on it—“You take care of me a lot, you know that?”—he’ll deflect instantly:

• “Don’t start.”

• “Somebody’s gotta make sure you don’t die.”

• “If I didn’t, then who the hell would? Hm?” (That one slips out a little softer than he means to).

‘E’ — EAT (where and how does he dine you?)

• He hates fancy restaurants. He’s the guy who looks at a menu, sees tiny portions with ridiculous prices, and mutters: “Thirty bucks for this bullshit? Christ.”

• Valentine’s dinner is at a real place—a steakhouse, a diner, maybe an old-school Italian spot where the portions are big. No frills, just good food.

• If you want fancy, he’ll tolerate it—for you. But he’s the ordering the simplest thing possible, arms crossed, trying not to look miserable while people drink overpriced cocktails around him.

• If you tease him about it, he leans in, voice low:

• “If you think I’m puttin’ on a suit and eating some tiny-ass meal with foam on top next year, you’re out of your mind.”

• Oh, and don’t worry. You’re his dessert when he gets home— And he can’t help but think you taste extra sweet after such a small-portioned, bitter meal— he gets all he wants plus some right in the comfort of his apartment— settled between two plump thighs and a fistful of ass.

• “Jesus Christ- been waiting for this part of the meal all night, sunshine.”

‘N’ — NICKNAMES (what does he call you?)

• Strahm isn’t a pet name guy. You get your actual name, or maybe something simple like “Babe”—but only when he’s feeling soft.

• When he does use nicknames, they’re blunt and teasing:

• “Trouble.” (Because you usually are.)

• “Smartass.” (When you get the better of him in an argument.)

• “Kid.” (When he’s being exasperatedly affectionate.)

• “Sunshine.” (Said sarcastically if you’re grumpy.)

• If you give him a nickname, expect an immediate groan:

• “Pete? God, that sounds like I work in a damn hardware store.”

• “No. Absolutely not. Try again.” (If you try something too sweet— he secretly adores it.)

‘T’ — TACKY (how cliché is he?)

• He doesn’t mean to be cliché—he just sticks to what’s easy. Classic dinner, maybe a small gift, nothing fancy.

• If he tried to be romantic, it’d be clunky as hell. Picture him standing there awkwardly, holding a heart-shaped box of chocolates, still in his work uniform— badge and all.

• “This is what people do, right…?”

• Only to be humiliated by your fit of giggles and eager tug on his tie to pull him inside for a feverish exchange of greedy kisses.

• The worst part? He acts annoyed about it, but deep down, he wants to get it right. If you seem happy, he won’t admit it, but he’ll feel like he did something right.

• If you try to get him to do something super cliché—like, say, a cheesy couple’s ride at a theme park—expect immediate resistance:

• “Hell no. I didn’t even know you could draw a line as far as you just did.”

‘I’ — INNOVATIVE (how to fix a date gone wrong?)

• If something goes wrong—a reservation gets canceled, a plan falls apart—Strahm doesn’t panic. He just..adjusts.

• “Alright. New plan. Burgers and beers instead. Better food anyway.”

• If you’re upset, he’s not the best at comforting, but he tries— not hesitating to cup your face and wipe off the glittery mascara dribbling down your cheeks— and press a few wet kisses to lipstick-smeared mouth.

• “Look, it’s just a dinner. It’s not like—we got fucked up— well, you might at some point tonight— but…that’s what matters, right?”

• If the whole night goes to shit? He shrugs, pulls you into the car, and mutters:

• “C’mon. Let’s just drive. No plan, no bullshit. Just us.”

‘N’ — NAUGHTY (how/when/where does he want you?)

• Public? He’s decent. He’s not one for PDA, but he’ll throw in a low murmur against your ear just to watch you react.

• “You keep lookin’ at me like that, pretty girl, and we’re gonna have a problem.”

• Private? Different story. He’s rough, teasing, intense. Hands gripping your waist, voice low, eyes sharp.

• If you call him out for being possessive?

• “You see me lookin’ at anyone else like this, sunshine? No? Exactly. Take that damn thing off and let me see you.”

‘E’ — ENDING (how does he finish the night?)

• He’s not sentimental, but he wants to make the night feel like it meant something.

• Maybe it’s a drive with the windows down, music playing low. Maybe it’s just silence, sitting close, neither of you needing to say anything.

• The closest he gets to a grand gesture? A quiet, offhand confession when he thinks you’re not listening:

• ”…You know I’d do anything for you, right?”

• “This—us—this is good.”

• “God, I feel like I fall in love with you all over again every time you look up at me like that.”

‘S’ — SONG (his love ballad to you.)

• Classic rock and gritty. nothing sappy.

• His Valentine’s playlist?

• “Simple Man” - Lynyrd Skynyrd

• “Born to Run” - Bruce Springsteen

• “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking” - The Rolling Stones

• If he ever played a love song for you, it’d be by accident. And if you caught him?

• “Shut up, smartass. It was just on the radio.”

[sykestarot]

angel messages

1-2-3

I DO NOT OWN THESE IMAGES

hi guys i felt called to do an angel message this week and it was so many uplifting messages and I hope you guys feel the support I channeled. remember to like and reblog! thanks for stopping by!

Pile 1

“i’ll keep your, keep your best interest” (7 of wands (rx); 3 of wands (rx); 6 of pentacles (rx); 10 of cups; 7 of wands; The Moon (rx)) Hi pile 1! I hope you guys are doing well! For you guys I feel like the angel message is take time to focus. I had a really hard time focusing or even starting your reading. So maybe you guys are trying to escape reality and not face the real issues in your life. Which is totally understandable, sometimes life is really hard and we just need to escape. However I feel like your angels are trying to tell you that you have been escaping too much recently. I feel like you are running away from your emotions or something that happened in your life that is bringing up big emotions for you. Maybe you are considered the strong one in your family and you feel like you can’t face your emotions because so many people are relying on you. This energy reminds me of when Kim K was talking to Kris about Kanye and she said “for once can everyone else have their shit together so I can have a bad day?” I feel like that’s how you feel and you don’t allow yourself the space to feel your emotions and when you do feel emotions it’s a huge reaction to a small thing because you bottle it up. Your angels want you to know that they see and acknowledge your pain and even when you feel alone you are not. They are always with you and just want the best for you, always. They know you need to cry and lose it, they’re saying that even of you have to let it out alone in a parking lot that that’s okay too. Some of you might benefit from seeking out professional help but you can decide that on your own based on your own circumstances. Your angels want you to know that even though they are not there physically you can always speak to them. They are always listening to you and will help you from the other side as best as they can! Stay strong pile 1 I believe in you guys <3 Signs: koi fish; lily pads; pink lotus; blurry vision; lack of focus; daydreams; clouds; blue sky; mushrooms; meadows; super mario bros?; princess peach/daisy?; nintendo; cigarettes; church?

Pile 2

“I care for you still and I will forever that was my part of the deal, honest” (The Devil (rx); 10 of pentacles (rx); Knight of Cups (rx); 9 of swords (rx); 10 of swords; 7 of swords) Hi Pile 2! For you guys it was really easy to tap into your energy. Did you guys just go through a break up? Or maybe lost a friend? I feel a significant amount of loss in this pile however you seem to be handling it very well considering. I feel like you have a sense of optimism around this loss. For example, “it’s for the better we we’re incompatible anyways,” or “I’m grateful that I even had this person in my life.” And while yes, that is a great way to think about things, are you processing the loss or are you trying to mask it with love and light? I feel like you truly believe those things but I do feel like you’re using them as a bandaid for a bullet hole. Your angels are proud of you for dealing with this so gracefully, however they do hope you are careful because toxic positivity can lead you down a road where you don’t acknowledge the other person’s mistakes. Your angels want you to acknowledge that life is not just black and white, there are many shades of gray. And sometimes even when something was great there are reasons it came to an end. I feel you keep this person on a godlike pedestal and your angels want you to know that they were just human. Nothing better or worse. Just human. Not that they are asking you to villainize this person but giving you the okay to be angry and upset. They don’t want you to dismiss the bad things this person did to you even if they are small because you still deserve so much more than what they gave you. They might’ve been a good partner or friend but you deserve a great partner or friend. Your angels want you to work on some self worth issues you might’ve been dealing with since before this relationship. There’s a level of you feeling like you deserve people leaving you, like you are not good enough and that is so far from the truth pile 2. I feel like a lot of you are aware of these problems and are doing your best to fix them. I feel like you are in contact with your angels often so this might not be a new message to you. I believe in you pile 2 keep up the good work! Signs: panther; raven; starfish; beaches; ocean sounds; seashells; the birth of venus painting; california?; surfing; early mornings; jungle cruise (lol); disneyland?; the jungle book; Bagheera; 44; 66; Capricorn

Pile 3

“now that your here with me” (Justice; 6 of swords; 2 of swords; 7 of cups (rx); The Star; Ace of Swords) Hi pile 3! I hope y'all are doing good. For you guys I feel like your angels are kind of nudging you to start something new. I see you guys feeling like you have no options, but you know you have a couple, maybe they’re just not what you would want to do? I feel like your angels want you to try to start something new because you don’t know how much you’ll enjoy it if you don't try it. I feel a really youthful energy on you guys. Did you just get out of high school or college? There’s and energy of indecision on you, where you don’t know where to go. I’m getting a Disney's Pocahontas reference in the what’s around the riverbend song where she says, “or do you still wait for me dream giver? Just around the river bend?” I feel like you know and feel that your close to achieving your dreams and maybe you’re scared of failing to achieve them? I feel that your angels want you to know they are here to support you no matter what and that you should give everything a shot while you’re still young. The last thing you wanna live with is regret you know? I feel you guys probably have a form of catastrophic thinking and don’t attempt because you feel like the failure will be the end of everything. But because you don't try you never find out if the failure is the end of the world. Your angels are afraid that if you continue to quit while you’re ahead you will regret the things you never tried. Your angels know you are so very capable and can do all things you want to. I also feel like you know they have been trying to talk to you and that you’ve dodging them. Which is so funny that they chose that line in the song but they just want the best for you and if you feel pressure from them it’s because they know you can do it. Don’t count yourself out pile 3! You got this fs!  Signs: bat; turkey; orange cat; barns; small town; knee high socks with stripes; black hair; piercings; tattoos; video games; foggy; pacific northwest; cold water; ocean spray; 777; danzig

[engie-ivy]

For the request: "I was wondering if you could write one where Harry reveals that Sirius has a crush on Remus or vice versa? He could either be a toddler or big already but Lily and James are both alive cause screw canon!" from @tugabooos! So happy I got a request, hope you'll like it!😁

Five-year-old Harry overhears his uncle Pads say mean things about his uncle Moony, and he's gutted.

To Harry’s surprise, uncle Pads hides his face in his hands and lets out a groan. “Stupid Moony with his stupid smile! ‘You’re such a good friend, Pads.’ I don’t want to be his bloody friend!”

Such a good friend

Quietly, five-year-old Harry slips into the room.

He’s quite finished with playing outside, and wants to see what his uncle Pads is up to.

His parents are visiting aunt Petunia and uncle Vernon, but Harry had begged if he could go play at uncle Pads’ instead. Last time they visited, his cousin Dudley had tried to push Harry in a mud pool. Harry isn’t sure what happened, but somehow, Dudley had ended up with his head buried in the mud. Aunt Petunia had screamed and called him a freak, and uncle Vernon had looked like his head was going to explode. His dad had been incredibly proud of his magic already showing so strong at only five years old, and had hugged him excitedly, which did nothing to ease aunt Petunia and uncle Vernon’s temper.

Needless to say, his parents were all in favour of him going to uncle Pads’ instead.

Harry can hear voices coming from the kitchen and realises uncle Moony is still here. Uncle Moony came to say goodbye to Harry because he had to leave like half an hour ago, but mum always says that when uncle Pads and uncle Moony get to talking, they completely lose track of time and can go on forever.

Curious what his uncles could be talking about, Harry crouches down in front on the kitchen door and spies through the crack.

Uncle Moony is standing with his coat on, and uncle Pads is leaning against the kitchen counter, looking at him with a smile.

“... check it out next time we’re in the area!” Uncle Moony just finishes his sentence.

“Yeah,” uncle Pads replies. “Definitely. That sounds great.”

“Oh, Merlin,” uncle Moony says. “Is that really the time? How have we been standing here for forty-five minutes already?”

“Story of our life, eh?”

Uncle Moony chuckles and moves to disapparate, but then turns back around again. “Oh, before I forget! Fabian’s birthday is coming up, and I wanted to buy him a record or something. You have somewhat the same taste in music, mind helping me pick out something?”

“Oh,” uncle Pads says, staring at his feet. “Everything okay between you and Fabian, then?”

Uncle Moony shrugs. “I guess? I’ve kind of decided I should worry less about whether I feel like he could be ‘the one’, and just take it day by day. I mean, we’re still young, as long as we’re having fun, right?”

“Right.”

“So will you help me?” Uncle Moony urges. “Please, Pads? I need you! You know I’m pants at buying gifts,” he adds with a sheepish smile.

“That you are,” uncle Pads agrees with a tight smile. “Yeah, of course I help you, Moons. Anything for you.”

Uncle Moony beams at him. “Thanks, Pads! You’re the best! You’re such a good friend, I’d be lost without you.”

Uncle Moony disapparates with a loud crack, and uncle Pads drops down in the kitchen chair.

To Harry’s surprise, he hides his face in his hands and lets out a groan. “Stupid Moony with his stupid smile! ‘You’re such a good friend, Pads.’ I don’t want to be his bloody friend!”

Shocked, Harry steps away from the door. Half in panic, he flees back into the backyard. He can’t believe his uncle Pads would say such mean things about uncle Moony! He loves his uncle Pads to bits, and really looks up to him, but he also loves his uncle Moony! And now uncle Pads doesn’t want to be friends with uncle Moony anymore?

Harry has to bite his lip not to cry.

Of course his parents have to invite both uncle Pads and uncle Moony over for dinner that very evening.

Harry just sadly stares at his plate, picking at his food. His mum gives him a concerned look from time to time. “Harry, love, are you feeling okay?” She eventually asks.

Harry’s bottom lip starts to wobble, and now everyone is looking at him in concern.

“Hey, little man, what’s wrong?”

“Prongslet, you know you can tell us everything!”

“Oh Harry, what’s bothering you?”

“It’s...” Harry sniffs. “Uncle Pads...”

All eyes shift to uncle Pads, who’s eyes widen in surprise. “Harry if I did anything to upset you, please tell me. You know I’d never purposely make you sad!”

“You said uncle Moony was stupid!” Harry blurts out.

Everyone blinks at him in surprise.

“Harry,” his mum says carefully. “That’s not something you can just say. I’m sure uncle Pads would never-”

“Mum, I’m not telling lies!” Harry’s eyes widen in shock.

His mum looks doubtfully, but then uncle Pads scrapes his throat. “Ah, Lils, I think I can explain. Harry must’ve overheard me say something, and misunderstood.”

Uncle Moony raises an eyebrow. “Do explain, Padfoot. How did such a misunderstanding come to be?”

A blush creeps over Padfoot’s cheeks and he rubs the back of his neck. “Well, ehm, you see... You asked me for a favour and when I see that smile of yours you know I can’t deny you anything.” He laughs awkwardly. “So I think said something like ‘Moony and his stupid smile’... In a joking manner!”

“Oh.” uncle Moony blushes as well.

“See, Harry?” His dad ruffles Harry’s hair. “Uncle Pads and uncle Moony have been friends for ages, and they’ll always like each other!”

Harry shakes his head. “But uncle Pads said he doesn’t want to be uncle Moony’s friend!”

“I’m sure he also has a good explanation for that?” His dad says, looking at uncle Pads pointedly.

“Yes,” his mum adds. “I’m sure he doesn’t want to teach our son those are the kind of jokes you should make about your friends?”

“And if he really doesn’t want to be my friend anymore,” Remus says in a rather cold voice. “Then I’m sure he can say it to my face?”

“Well, Padfoot?”

“Padfoot, care to explain?”

“Let’s hear it, Padfoot.”

“I meant I didn’t want to be just friends!” uncle Pads bursts out. “‘Such a good friend’, while sodding Fabian... Never mind. The point is, I don’t dislike Moony, of course I don’t. I like him so bloody much, I wish I could be something more than a friend!”

There’s a silence.

Uncle Padfoot’s face is bright red and he hides behind his hands. “Oh, Merlin.”

Uncle Moony looks flushed as well, staring disbelievingly at uncle Pads, his mouth opening and closing. Harry’s mum and dad’s eyes have widened. Harry looks from one person to the other, not really understanding what’s going on. Uncle Pads still likes uncle Moony, so that’s a good thing, right?

“Ehm, Harry,” his dad eventually says. “You see? There’s nothing to worry about,” but he sounds worried nonetheless. “Why don’t we go upstairs together with mum to read a story, eh? And give your uncles a moment to talk.”

Quietly, fourteen -year-old Harry slips into the room.

Uncle Pads looks up from where he’s standing in front of the dress mirror, trying to decide whether he should leave another button open or not. “Harry! To what do I owe the pleasure?”

Harry grins as he lifts himself on top of the table next to the mirror, and starts swinging his legs back and forth. “Just hiding from dad. He’s gone full-on-crazy best man-mode.”

Uncle Pads chuckles. “Why do you think I sent him away? I hope he’s not bothering Moony, though?”

“Nah, last I saw him, he was yelling at uncle Wormy for wearing a red tie while the theme is silver and gold.” Harry rolls his eyes.

“Oh, Merlin.”

“Yeah,” Harry says. “He has already sent aunt Marls home to change, as she was wearing a white dress. ‘For Godric’s sake, Marlene, you can’t wear white to a wedding!’” Harry gives a perfect imitation of his father. “Her protest that none of the grooms is very likely to be wearing a white dress to no avail.”

Uncle Pads shakes his head fondly. “Oh, Prongsie.”

Harry shrugs. “Mum says to be patient with him, as this is his big day, that he’s been dreaming of ever since he was a boy.”

“That’s true,” uncle Pads agrees.

“So we know my father is completely losing it as best man, but what about you?” Harry nudges uncle Pads with his foot. “Are you nervous?”

Uncle Pads thinks about it for a while. “No. I’m marrying my best friend, what’s there to be nervous about?”

Harry gasps in pretend-shock. “And I thought you didn’t want to be uncle Moony’s friend!”

“Watch out, you little rascal!” Uncle Pads laughs. “I haven’t forgotten what you put me through!”

Harry huffs. “I shall hope not! Thanks to me you finally confessed your feelings. I’m expecting a thank you in all speeches of today.”

“We’ll see, Prongslet,” uncle Pads says with an amused twinkle in his eyes. “We’ll see.”

“But siriusly,” Harry says in a more sincere tone of voice. “I’m really happy for you, uncle Pads. And for uncle Moony too.”

Uncle Pads smiles, and then wipes at his eyes. “Merlin, Harry, what are you doing to me? I thought I’d at least keep it dry until I saw Moony walk down the aisle.”

Suddenly, Harry’s dad’s voice sounds in the hall. “Harry! Where are you? I need somebody to sort through the rose petals, to make sure none of them have any brown spots!”

Harry’s eyes widen in horror. “I was never here,” he whispers, before slipping out of the room.

[lyallblacklupin]

My other half.

Sirius is very upset because his other half, James Potter, has been taken away from him. The James who used to hold Sirius after a nightmare has Lily Evans in his arms one particular night, which angers Sirius a lot. He thinks that he has lost his friend. Little does he know, there is a certain perfect Marauder who understands him more than he understands himself.

“And then what I got to see was Evans! You just don’t care about your best friend anymore because of her!”

“Sirius, I can’t take care of you all the time! And I want you to be supportive here, be my best frien—“

“Whoa, whoa, what do you mean by ‘I can’t take care of you all the time’?” Sirius almost yelled at James, his chest heaving violently. James sighed and rubbed his temples.

“Pads, how many times I have to tell that Lily is now my girlfriend—“

“And what about me!?” Sirius knew that this was an unhealthy act of friendship and that was: Possessiveness. But he wanted to get this unsettling agitation off his chest that had been clinging him since the last night he had found Lily Evans buried in James’ embrace. Sirius had never felt so furious, and betrayed in his life. He wanted to lash out on his best friend, who was just like a brother to him. A non-biological brother who’d always been there for Sirius when his blood family sent him a shitty letters, and reassured him that he was not alone because the Potters were his family now, the same brother who’d been there to hold him when he had nightmares so he’d tuck him in his embrace and he could sleep a dreamless slumber till dawn, and then he’d go to his own bed. However, last night had been an exception, because the two brothers had an intervention after almost six years of inseparability, in the name of Lily Evans who had just started coming and going in their dorm, and Sirius felt like his privacy was assaulted.

“Sirius, don’t make this hard, please…” James flopped down on his bed, holding his head in his hands. Sirius hated that look because it reflected the exhaustion he was feeling, and it felt like a verification for Sirius that James was done taking care of him. Sirius knew that James had been taking extra care of him since they were eleven that even Remus and Peter had been annoyed and hated him for favoring Sirius more than he needed. Sirius didn’t want to feel like a child when he was a hopeless sixteen who didn’t have a girlfriend or anyone of his roommates to take constant of care of him. He knew that he was unfair with James. He knew that how much James wanted to date Lily Evans, and he also knew that he was being a pathetic friend and a mean brother to him for ruining his happiness by fighting him.

“Sirius?” James asked softly when Sirius was gazing hard on the floor, his mind in the trance of endless thoughts, and they just spiked up the guilt inside him.

But there was just this unnamed emotion of bitterness sitting at the top of his chest that denied him from acknowledging all of those facts about James Potter.

“It was the first nightmare I had without having you with me.” He blurted out, not looking at James at all. He believed that there was no one in the dorm except the two of them because if there were, he’d have been hearing gagging or huffing noises from the rest of the two marauders.

“Pads, I know. But what do you want me to do?” James’ voice sounded helpless.

“Nothing…absolutely nothing.” And with that, Sirius turned around to walk out of the dorm. He was reaching for the doorknob when his eyes side-caught Remus Lupin sitting on his bed, who had witnessed the entire conversation between them. Sirius thought his heart had stopped beating for a second. He fought back the embarrassment and scurried out of the room in a flash, hoping Remus hadn’t seen his flushed face.

Sirius spent his whole day with the rest of the Marauders, because James and Lily had gone to lake, hand in hand, together. He knew that James was giving him space. Peter was serving detention, so technically, Sirius got to hang out with the only Marauder and that was Remus Lupin.

Both of them were sitting under the tree. It had been an hour since they had been relishing the double free periods, and none of them had spoken a single word. Remus had a reason to stay quiet because he was reading a book of poetry, while Sirius was playing with the thorns of the grass, plucking and brushing them. It wasn’t like he didn’t have a reason to stay silent but because it was a ridiculous one that his best friend had finally gone out with the girl of his dreams, and he is being an absolute prat about it. Yeah, great one, Sirius! He internally mocks himself.

“Padfoot?”

Sirius praised himself that he didn’t yelp because he had almost believed that he was alone until Remus called him out.

“Moony?”

“You okay?” Remus’ amber eyes bored into him. Sirius had to look away for a bit. Remus Lupin was another story in his already chaotic life. In short, he was a mystery, even after he had revealed himself as a werewolf, who had a dying mother, and was miserably poor. Yet still, he was like a treasure residing in the depths of an island, and it never failed to tempt Sirius.

“Yeah, why?” He cleared his throat, but Remus was still gazing him.

“You are sulking.” Sirius could feel the smirk on his face without having to look.

“No, I am not.”

“I can tell.” He sighed, and Sirius thought he was done asking, and must have gone back to his book but he continued, “Your head is dangling low, your eyes are blinking a little too much, and your hands…well they don’t take a break from causing a wreckage like you are doing right now…”

Sirius looked down and saw that a palm-sized patch was created on the ground because of the plucking of grass. He looked back at Remus whose eyes were smiling more than his mouth.

“Congratulations, you just won the house cup for studying Sirius Black’ sulking postures.” Sirius said with a deadpanned face, and Remus laughed amusingly, putting away his book. It was a precious thing he did, because Remus rarely put his book away for anyone. Maybe Sirius was not just anyone for him.

They spent the afternoon talking and laughing, and Sirius felt warm and blissful to realize how much he enjoyed Remus’ company. He really underestimated him, and it made him feel all blue. He was gone back to sulking when James and Lily arrived for the dinner, while Remus was gone back to sit with Peter as usual.

The midnight was emerged upon Sirius as he had woken up from another nightmare. His vision was blurry, and he sat up on his bed. He was shivering and the covers were not helping him because he could feel the perspiration on his back and arms. James was sleeping alone because his curtains were not drawn shut, and Sirius was craving the human warmth but he wasn’t feeling right to go to him after their argument. He gathered his knees and pulled them close to his chest. He felt like crying because now he was recognizing that agonizing emotion inside him, and that was: Loneliness.

The reason he never had a proper relationship with a girl was because he never wanted to have a girl in his life. He had thought that his roommates were his only family, and they were the only ones he wanted to be with for the rest of his life. He loved them so much. He let his tears fall, and slipped into his cover again anyway, curled up in a ball. He knew that sleep was nowhere near him.

Just when he thought he could change into Padfoot, he heard the rustling sound of curtains. He felt alerted and, in all honesty, scared. He knew that his mind was deceiving him. They were just the aftershocks of the nightmares, but then he felt footsteps approaching. He squeezed his night shut. And then—

“Sirius?” It was not James.

“Moony?” Sirius turned around to find Remus standing in his pajamas. His hair were sticking out in every directions.

“Can I sleep with you?” His voice was hoarse, and he looked uncomfortable.

“Of course, you can. Hey, you okay?” Sirius scooted to make some space for him.

“Nightmares.” He replied, and it instantly broke Sirius’ heart.

They both laid together with a respectful distance, facing each other. Sirius could hear Remus’ teeth chattering. The half-moon’s light was landing on Remus, and Sirius could see his knuckles turning white as he fisted the blanket close to his chest. His eyes were screwed shut. Sirius was able feel every move of his body. He placed a hand on Remus’ cheek, and those amber eyes snapped open. Sirius decided that it was definitely the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. Remus smiled weakly at him. He was reaching to hold Sirius’ wrist of that same hand before Sirius grabbed his shoulders, and shoved him in his embrace.

He thought Remus would protest. Instead, he melted. He buried his face in the crook of his neck, wrapping his own hands around Sirius’ waist, pulling him impossibly closer, while Sirius did the same by enveloping his torso by his own arms.

“I’m here for you, Pads.” Remus whispered in his skin, and it made Sirius smile.

“I’m here for you, too, Moony.”

Both of them fitted perfectly into each other’s bodies. After when they were relaxed in their positions, Sirius looked down to see the Remus sound asleep, a contenting smile tugging his lips, and suddenly that emotion of loneliness inside Sirius dissipated like it never existed.

[fallenlightsif]

"Can you hear me?" and/or "What was I supposed to do?" for my lovely celestial prince Florian 🥺

Feel free to tear my heart out, dear 😊🥰💞

My imagination's been going absolutely haywire ever since I played the demo and found out MC dies AND comes back. Y'know, as you do. 😂

Thank you for writing such a fascinating story and giving us such a wonderful older brother, I adore him and would not hesitate to die for him–

Good luck with Chapter One and don't forget to take care of yourself!!!💕💕💕💕

"Can you hear me?" and "What was I supposed to do?" for Florian.

(This is a scenario in which Florian and the MC had a less-than-stellar relationship pre-resurrection but Flor had a crush on MC and MC was dating E but is falling for Flor post-resurrection.)

(Their relationship can be very nuanced depending on your choices in-game.)

Also, I'm so glad you enjoyed the prologue! This ask really made my whole week 10x better!

Florian's footsteps were quiet, but the click of his boots still echoed in the near-silent room. He approached you cautiously, and you could feel his hesitance from all the way across the office.

Your office. Your old office, at least.

"You came back." His voice was quiet, the remark less a question and more a statement.

"I did." You sigh, running your fingertips over the hardwood of the desk.

Emil took this office after you were banished. Your heart twists at the thought of him, but you couldn't forgive and forget. Not this time.

Not after all he did, everything he took advantage of. Your eyes meet Florian's again, and he frowns slightly, a concerned pinch between his brows.

His concern is so genuine, so pure. So different than anything you'd experienced before; people who hid behind layers of intrigue and masks so brilliant you never saw their true faces until it was too late.

You'd been unpleasant to him before. You thought he was perhaps foolish, to rebel so needlessly. Too emotional, too attached. He cared too much.

You realize now these are not his faults, but instead his virtues.

"I almost didn't think you would." He gives a nervous smile, lips tilting up ever so slightly.

The words hurt, but you know they aren't unfounded. You'd never been fond of him; why would you leave the opportunities you'd found beyond and return to his side?

You look at his eyes, brilliant and golden, and wondered why indeed. You remember that, even when you dismissed him out of hand, he used to look at you like you hung the moon. He'd gaze at you when he thought you wouldn't notice, but you always did.

Never before had you sought that look from him, but you did now. You are left wondering if you'd ever see it again, wondering if this prince turned king still holds the same affection for you.

A bitter smile twists your lips, "I don't blame you for thinking so."

"Not to say I think you're disloyal." He rushes to say, "You aren't. You never were, and you paid the price for our mistakes. That is why I'm surprised you came back."

"What was I supposed to do?" You shrug, "Leave Ebia? Never return to my home? The prospect is just as gut-wrenching as it was years ago."

He's quiet for a moment, "Emil is still out there. You could go to him."

The words are sour in his mouth, even though he tries to hide it.

Blood roars in your ears for a split second and you close your eyes. Pain and relief are at war in your chest; regret over what you lost so cruelly and relief that Florian still cares enough to be upset.

You open your eyes to his concerned face, and everything snaps back into perspective.

"Can you hear me?" He asks, looking seconds away from snapping his fingers in front of your face to startle you from your melancholy.

"I can." You assure him, sparing him a small smile.

He freezes for a moment before returning the gesture.

"I returned because I wanted to." You gaze at the office, "You were excited when your mother named me your advisor. Why?"

"You're brilliant." The words seem to slip out before he realizes he's said them.

You open your mouth to respond, but no words escape. His face flushes a deep red, but he carries on regardless.

"You're second to none when it comes to magic. The way you navigated the court even made the nobility envious. You were suited for the position in every way." He pauses, "You still are."

There's an awkward pause that hangs in the air until-

"You still haven't named a new advisor." You note, "Not after Emil."

"None have lived up to the precedence set." He responds.

The precedence set. Your precedence.

"Is that so?" You muse quietly, looking out the large window behind the desk.

The wind makes the flowers of the royal garden sway in the wind. You had seen the white lilies dedicated in your name, the brass bell to invoke your spirit. Far beyond any honor given to a mere advisor before, let alone one as apathetic to their monarch as you.

"The position is yours." He speaks into the silence, "If you so desire."

"I do." You say, "Desire."

And you do desire. You don't long for intrigue anymore; you have no want for shadows and politics, rivalry and struggle, any longer. You have seen death, you've been subjected to the abyss that comes after, and you're cold.

You still wake up shivering, fingers brushing over the scar just beneath your belly button, exhaling ice and death as you sob your way back to the land of the living.

You're so tired of the cold.

His hand brushes against your shoulder, the touch just short of shy. He gives you plenty of time to withdraw if you want, to pull away. You don't.

He's warm, and you're so tired of the cold.

You do desire, despite the fact that you shouldn't. You don't deserve him, never have, but he still sees fit to hold you in his heart. Maybe you can work to earn your place there.

Perhaps you don't need to work for it, you realize as you meet his gaze. It might be the most reliving and confusing thing you've confronted yet; Florian's affection is freely given, nothing needed in return.

You don't have to be anything other than yourself for him, and it's a scary thought.

He smiles again, the expression becoming increasingly familiar, and this one is much wider than the others.

"Then, advisor, you should get some rest." He motions to the quarters attached to the office through the double doors, "I'll send for you in the morning."

He pauses to dismiss the mage light by the door but glances back at you and refrains.

After all this time, he remembers you fear the dark. He knows instinctively it's worse after what you've been through. He also knows you'd never admit either of those things, so he doesn't make you.

The relief you feel at the gesture is overwhelming and the flickering gold light illuminates him as he leaves.

Maybe you do deserve happiness after all, and even if you don't, maybe that doesn't matter.

[tomsrebeleyebrow]

Can u do a dad boxer!tom holland x mom reader were they have a 2 month old baby girl and she suprises him at his boxing match and he gets kind of upset because she doesn’t want the baby there for safety and the environment. And he opponent says some disrespectful stuff about the baby and reader and long story short Tom gets kicked out the ring . Angst but a happy ending 

ouuh yes! thanks for giving me some boxer!tom with dad!tom as a bonus darling 💞

slight angst, language and fighting under the cut

｡･ﾟﾟ･ clearing my inbox… slowly ･ﾟﾟ･｡

During his successful boxing journey, Tom finally reached his goal at being the youngest participant in his category thanks to all these endless hours spent at the gym. It finally paid off. Nonetheless he wouldn’t be here without you, his best supporter, who never got scared about his quite peculiar job and the first to treat his wounds after a match. You, the mother of his child, a two-month healthy baby girl. The thought of being a dad never crossed Tom’s mind but you gifted him with something he never thought he deserved. And here he was now, living from his passion next to the ones he loved the most because he wanted to give his family the best.

And tonight was the night. But he was really stressed.

Alone in the locker room, Tom sat on a bench while keeping his head between his hands, his boxing gloves resting on his thighs. It became his ritual before every match to get mentally prepared by himself, to get “in the zone” as he always said. Once done he stood to bandage his hands before putting his gloves on when he heard three knocks on the door before it opened.

“Ready, Tom?” asked his coach fully appearing at the door, hands in his jeans pockets.

Tom nodded, a slight frown on his face showing he was indeed ready. “Yes, coach.”

“Good. But before that, your little fanclub wants to see ya.”

The words from the coach confused Tom for a second, just like the grin he gave him right before slightly moving to the side, letting a very familiar figure make its way in the room. Tom’s face lightened up at the sight of you – as beautiful as ever with that candid and gorgeous smile of yours – and he got ready to take you in his arms to welcome the good luck charm kiss you always gave him before his matches.

“Babe! You made it–”

But he suddenly stopped, the words blocked in his throat, as he saw another presence he was not expecting to see at all. His smile instantly vanished to be replaced with one of confusion.

“What is Maya doing here?”

Maya, your two-month daughter. His little bubble of joy and pride. The baby was nicely wrapped around a white fluffy blanket to block the cold air from the place, a cute pink beanie poking out of it while she was peacefully sleeping in your arms.

You softly kissed your baby’s forehead then looked up at your partner, smiling. “Lily wasn’t able to babysit her tonight, so I just decided to bring Maya with me so she will cheer for you too. I also saw your mum in the bleachers, she kept a spot for us and–”

“Maya has nothing to do here, (Y/N)!”

Tom’s voice startled you, he never raised his voice at you. “B-But I thought you’ll be happy? I-I didn’t know you would be this upset–” You blinked a few times, slightly confused but before you could add anything else, Tom spoke again.

“That’s not a place for a baby, of course I’m upset!”

Again you got startled by his voice. Tom’s coach was still standing at the doorframe of the room, clearly uneasy at the scene going on in front of him, but decided to not say a single word since he had no right to interfere in his protégé’s private life. Still, a sudden tension rose and was obvious in the lockers.

You brought Maya closer to your chest, eyeing her down hoping she didn’t wake up. You thought you acted with good intentions, never thinking a second about upsetting your lover right before the most important match of his career. Your eyes diverted from Tom’s, looking down at your feet as your entire frame started trembling, trying your best to not cry by biting your bottom lip hard because it was not the time to make a scene.

“Fuck,” whispered Tom, finally back to his senses when he saw you shut yourself away like you often did during stressful situations. “I’m sorry, love, I shouldn’t have raised my voice at you.”

He approached you with big steps, his arms gently embracing you and his daughter against his strong frame and proceeded to kiss your temples to soothe you. “Shhh, it’s alright, baby. I’m not mad at you at all, I love y–”

“Well well well, would ya look at ‘dis!”

Fuck, not him.

A baritone voice echoed in the hallway behind you, the sarcastic tone making Tom’s body tense as his look automatically fell onto the one person he didn’t want to see right now. Or at least before the actual match. His tonight’s opponent. Tom’s coach clicked his tongue while arranging his cap, hoping desperately that nothing would go wrong.

You turned your head towards the voice, Tom making sure to keep you and your daughter as close to him as possible, his hands tightening around your hips as he took a step back, bringing you with him.

“Tommy brought his lil’ family here!” the opponent said with a dirty smirk painted on his face. A simple glance at him brought shivers down your spine, applying a slight pressure of Maya’s face to hide her against your chest. You swallowed with some difficulties, your mouth now dry as you also felt tension invading your lover’s body. “Thought it was a friendly family show, boy? Want ‘em to watch how much I’m gonna destroy ya not even your lady will recognize ya?”

Tom’s jaw tensed and his coach had the good reflex to somehow peacefully step between them both, also trying to take you away from being in the middle.

“Don’t worry, I’ll give ‘er a go once I’m done with ya, loser. Gonna shag ‘er good like real men do–”

You were brought to the side with Maya by the coach just in time before Tom stomped his way on his opponent, almost jumping on his throat as he succeeded at punching him in the face the way he deserved it. Tom was seeing red, adrenalin invaded his body and boiling in his veins at such inappropriate comments made to you, the love of his life.

Before this could go even further, Tom’s coach and his opponent one quickly stepped in to separate and calm the two men. Insults were of course thrown at each other, Tom still badly determined to give one or two more punches to this despiteful human being but thankfully, his coach succeeded at holding him down.

Once all the chaos died in the locker room, Tom also calmed down then quickly came back at you, his body in desperate search for you and his daughter. He muttered so many “sorry”’s in your ears, his face nestled in your neck while embracing you against him. All you could do was hug him back, the harsh words from that rude man still resonating in the back of your head as a sob broke from your lips. Tom gently rocked you side to side, hoping to also soothe his little Maya who just started to whine lightly in her blanket. You stayed like this, the three of you engulfed in each other’s warmth until they called him to join the boxing ring, you and your lover exchanging words of love and encouragement in soft whispers.

But tonight, Tom lost the final.

All the stress he accumulated before the match didn't help for sure, but it was never your fault. He admitted it himself when his coach was treating and stitching some of his wounds back in the locker room. His opponent was definitely stronger than he was. Nonetheless the match promoted Tom in another way, still giving him good publicity as one of the best new talents in the boxing field.

After he took a shower, Tom wrapped a towel around his hips and got back to his locker to get fresh clothes when he saw you sitting on the bench. Aware of his presence you stood up, a worried look on your face and decided to wait for him to walk to you. You must have left Maya to his mum since he saw no stroller in the room. He opened his arms as he approached you then welcomed you back in his embrace, your arms wrapping themselves around his waist and still careful to not apply too much pressure to the spot he got hit on.

He let out a long sigh, this time more relaxed, and pressed a few kisses on the crown of your head. You looked back up at him, chin resting on his torso as one hand gently rested on his cheek to caress the bruise slowly darkening on his cheekbone. Your eyes locked with his in silence.

“I lost, I’m sorry,” Tom whispered before leaving another feather-like kiss on your forehead.

“I’m the one who should be sorry.” Your soft eyes appeased him, just like your big innocent eyes did. “I never intended to upset you, a-and I’m sure that’s why you lost tonight–” Once again your lips pressed tightly in a thin line to stop any sob to leave. “A-And you also got injured, I’m so sorry Tom, I–”

Tom interrupted you with a deep kiss – at first he wanted to give you a soft one but your distressed look pained him too much. He cupped your face in his still moist hands from the shower, making sure to not let you go. When you finally parted to catch your breath, your lips stayed close to one another, still bruising and sharing the same air.

“It was not your fault, baby,” Tom said while gently caressing your cheeks. “It’s my stupid ass to blame here. I got carried away by too many things but the worst was I almost made you cry, when I promised I would never. You and Maya are the most precious things in my life that I should protect at all cost and even if I lost the match tonight, at least I gave this asshole some good well-placed punches in his face.”

You slightly giggled at Tom’s cheeky comment, clearly to caml the atmosphere. He pecked your lips once again before you nuzzled your face against his still naked torso, the natural scent of his skin relaxing you.

“No one messes with my family, or death is what’s waiting for them.”

… I should write more angst 😂

Tagging some mutuals and cuties✨ @allegra-writes @queencharry @tom-holland-is-spiderman @parkerpeter24 @thollandss @worldoftom @spideyspeaches @chaoticpete @tetralea @londonspidey

[blue-writes-things]

Loved By A Heartbreaker | Chapter Two

Sirius Black x Reader | Fluff

“…You know sometimes I still get afraid of what’s around me, but I feel safer when I’m with you.”

| Masterlist | Series Masterlist |

Words: 1743 A/N: the 3 written chapters are all up here! just working on the mastlist post now (doing a few of them) chapter 4 is coming alone! I’ve jsut been kinda busy so I can’t write much new stuff, but I’m going to be posting all my old stuff here! Inspo Playlist

Feedback is always appreciated! - Blue

Lily and James dating was cute

Remus being genuinely happy single was sweet

Peter trying to date was disturbing at best

Sirius trying to date you was tiring

You and Lily were the first out of your friend group to get to the great hall for breakfast.

But the calm chatter in the hall was disturbed as The Marauders came racing into the room and sat down as fast as they could.

“Ha! Wormy you lost” Sirius taunted as Peter finally sat down “Have fun cleaning under James’s bed” Peter didn’t seem to care in that moment, he was more focused on not passing out, he was quite the sight, sweating, red faced and panting (Even though it’s not even that far from the Gryffindor Tower to the great hall)

“Seems we got three dogs here by the way he’s panting” James laughed getting playfully shoved by both Sirius and Remus.

“And good morning to you” You and Lily laughed.

Sirius wrapped his arm around your shoulders “Good morning, marshmallow” 

No one in the group wasn’t laughing.

“I think that’s the worst one yet Pads” you said as everyone started calming down “Do you even know what a marshmallow is?”

Since Sirius grew up in a very pureblood environment he didn’t know much about the muggle world, cause if he even looked at something not ‘drenched in abracadabra’ he would get punished. So the little he knew mostly came from you and Lily.

“Yes! You use them to make s’mores” He looked rather proud of himself for knowing that “And I call you marshmallow, as I want s’more of you” He winked, everyone at the table was groaning at the pun.

“You’re driving me wild with these nicknames Siri” You shake your head, shrugging his arm off you “And you’re driving me wild” he smirks and winks, he loves twisting your words into a flirt.

“You walked into that one Y/n” James laughed, making the group laugh along with him. The conversation continued cheerfully. Sirius slipping his hand to your knee, you had raised your eyebrow at him, but didn’t move his hand. Just to tease him. Not because it felt nice, cause it didn’t. Right?

A familiar owl flew down to your group, it was The Noble and Most Ancient House of Assholes’s owl, as Sirius untied the letter getting a small nip from the owl, the rest of the group were exchanging knowing looks.

“You don’t have to open it Sirius” Remus gave a smile, everyone went back to their food and didn’t stare or intrude on the conversation.

“I know I don’t have to, and I probably shouldn’t, but what if it’s important?” Sirius turned the letter over, looking at the family's wax stamp. You quickly snatched it from his hand and slid it into your robes

“Important or not, you can read it later. We have History Of Magic in three minutes, and it’s on the other side of the castle, so we better haul ass if we wanna get there in time and not get a detention”

Sirius was about to object but before he could, James called “Pads! Wormy! last too class has to clean under Peter’s bed”

And he took off, Sirius going after him straight away “Oi! Tosser that’s cheating!” He calls after him laughing. Peter, who’s face had only just turned back to sickly white. “Why am I always roped into this?” he sighs before taking off as well.

You, Lily and Remus smile standing up walking out of the hall “Do you think they’ll realise we have half an hour till class?”

The three of you laugh “Ok, but question for you, why are the consequences cleaning under eachothers beds?” Lily asked 

“There’s some scary shit under them, socks are even too scared to go under them” He almost shudders.

“What do you mean ‘scary shit’? What’s under them?” Lily asked as you turned a corner “You don’t wanna know Lily, I’ve been in there, the beds growl at night”

“Wait, why were you in the boys dorm?” She smirks, her mind went to you and Sirius ‘having fun’ yeah no, that will never happen. You and Remus look at eachother, knowing the real reason

You know about Remus’s ‘furry little problem’ and have helped him at night several times, mostly on bad nights when the other boys are exhausted too. You’ll stay there till Remus is asleep and sneak back to your dorm which is difficult, since it looks like Filch’s office is on their floor (It probably is)

You really didn’t want to give Sirius the letter, knowing it would upset him, you just hoped he forgot about it. As curfew hits and the gang are all ‘winding down’ which is doing what you all normally do, just in the common room.

You and Sirius were sitting rather comfortably together, you were on a single armchair and he was on the floor in front of the chair so you could tie his hair up for bed, so ‘My lushes locks aren't a mess in the morning’ although he just liked you playing with his hair though (But he would never admit it out loud) . You were the only person he would let touch his hair.

“Hey Y/n? can I have my letter?” He tilted his head up to look at you “Say please” You tease with a smirk, he playfully rolls his eyes at you “Pretty please” he gives you puppy dog eyes, something you could rarely say no to. You pass it to him, pulling his hair out of it’s bun and starting again, giving him head scratches every so often, knowing he loved it when you did that.

He opened it and the classic Sirius grin face fell slightly. He scoffs, throwing the letter into the fire before sitting back against the chair.

“You ok- “ James started after seeing the whole scene play out but Sirius cut him off “Yeah, I’m all good Prongs, just the normal shit, nothing interesting” he shrugs.

The group goes quiet for a moment before Lily fills the silence. “Everyone finished the Herbology paper? It’s due tomorrow” Everyone nodded, except you, your eyes went wide “It’s due tomorrow?”

“Yeah?” Lily questions

“I thought it was next week! Oh merlin” You slump forward “Welp, I’m going to be up past 3am”

Looking at the clock above the fireplace “Urg, you guys should head to bed. Don’t wanna be around when I have my breakdown” everyone chuckles

“You sure you don’t want someone to stay with you?” Remus frowns “I could stay up and help if you want?”

“That’s very kind Rem, but I promise I’ll be ok” You smile “Now go to bed!” You shoo everyone away and summon some parchment, a quill and your Herbology book, before shuffling over to the coffee table by the fire. Sirius came over and sat next to you, before you could object he put his finger to your lips, shushing you “I’m not leaving, don’t bother trying” he smiles with a wink.

The two of you talked for a bit while you did your work, before falling into a comfortable silence. It was nice to have Sirius being chill, not flirting or touching you. Strangely, it made you a bit nervous, something about his postuare, how his hair was a mess. Even though you had just put it up he seemed like he was off in a far away land and not next to you.

“Sirius?” You said softly but he just continued to stare into the fire “Siri?” You repeated a little louder. Still nothing.

“Padfoot?” You used his nickname, maybe that would help bring him out of it quicker but he didn’t even flinch. At this point you were getting scared.

You knew in the back of your head this would be a dumb thing to do. But the stressed out front of your brain was screaming at you to help him. “Pads?” You slowly and gently place your hand on the one Sirius had laid on the table next to you and that snapped him out of it.

He instantly jolted, letting out a snarl and grabbed your wrist in a death grip, his nails digged into your skin, leaving indents on your wrist from his nails. “Siri, It’s just me, Y/n” His brain seemed to be trying to process who you were, but something was clouding his mind.

“Sirius, you're at Hogwarts. It’s just me and you. You are safe”

Those last three words seemed to clear his vision. His eyes softened, the tight grip he had on your wrist changed from ‘I’m going to break your wrist’ into ‘I’m going to break’

“Safe?” Sirius whispered so softly you almost missed it.

“Yes safe, you’re safe with me” Moving slowly you take his hand, removing it from breaking your wrist and intertwining your fingers together, giving his hand a soft reassuring squeeze. “I’m safe.”

This time it was more like he was making a statement to himself. You gave him a gentle smile and nodded your head.

You placed your other hand to his cheek, he flinched at first but when he realized you weren’t going to hurt him. He leaned into your hand closing his eyes.

That gesture is what made a tear fall down your cheek. That this hurt and scared boy trusted you enough to close his eyes. Knowing you weren’t going to hurt him in any way. Knowing you would only do the opposite, keep him safe from harm, you pull him into a hug, he buries his face in the crook of your neck and bunches your shirt in his hands.

“You know sometimes I still get afraid of what’s around me, but I feel safer when I’m with you.“ He mumbled as he started to settle down, it was clear that he was still shaken by whatever he was thinking about, but being in your warm embrace, mixed with your words, he felt safe.

“You know, Sirius, I’m gonna be real with you. Sometimes I find you a real pain in the arse, but you are one of my closest friends. And I hope you know I’m always here for you” you gave him a small kiss on his temple, you knew he didn’t want pity, in fact he hated being pitied, he needed a friend.

Sirius Black is going to be safe with you

[aonogifreactions]

Minecraft headcanons no one asked for

a/n: olcvfgmlkfm this hit me so randomly i dont even know. enjoy!! under the cut due to length!

★ Characters: Rin, Yukio, Mephisto, Amaimon.

★ Words: 1,6k.

Rin:

this sweetheart loves playing with you whenever you ask him to! it relaxes him a lot, plus just having fun with you is making him really happy.

he stays somewhere near you, ALWAYS. he’s way too embarrassed to admit he’s scared (same Rin, same), so whenever he yelps or jumps on his bed because he heard a zombie growl, you can laugh as much as you want, but don’t be surprised if he shoots a glare at you and pouts.

he’ll bring you whatever you want. wood? fine. iron? no problem, he’s already on his way to find a cave (even if he’s afraid of caves.. he’ll do it for you).

he’s not very good at building, so usually he leaves it to you, and it doesn’t really matter whether you live in a “house” made out of dirt or a full ass mansion; no matter what your building skills are, he’s gonna praise you anyway.

sucks at parkour. DON’T ask him to play a parkour map, he’s gonna whine and barely make one jump.

speaking about bad jumping, he’s really clumsy and somehow always ends up with the highest death streak. for example, he’s sprinting to kill a pig, but somehow doesn’t notice a fucking lava pool below him and jumps right into it. accidentally hits a zombie piglin (or pigman, depends on what version you play on) and he’s dead.

HOWEVER, he’s the guy who gets really lucky. do you remember/have a person/friend that always manages to get diamonds first? yep, it’s him. gets the best enchants. both on books and tools or armor. he also gets the ender dragon kill first too.

he won’t play without optifine and texture pack other than the default one. he hates it. his fave is faithful and if it doesn’t work, he’s constantly commenting on how the default one is hurting his eyes.

he will NOT survive listening to both disc “11″ and “13″ he hates it. don’t play it unless you want him to cry.

hasn’t played alpha nor beta versions, but he likes watching vids of it! he gets very nostalgic, which honestly bewilders him because he started playing way after beta. sometimes you can catch him listening to the old soundtrack all teared up, or falling asleep to it.

LOVES GREEN PARROTS. one of them is named after you.

MAY I INFORM YOU, HE DOES PLACE HIS BED TOGETHER WITH YOURS.

Yukio:

unlike rin, he’s always complaining about you asking him to play, but he’s obviously gonna do it (because he loves u,, even if he says he doesn’t). it also relaxes him, but mostly, he likes it because he’s able to get his mind off of “adult things” and finally get some rest.

wooo, he’s the brave one. he isn’t afraid of zombie gurgles or anything like that, so he’s always going to caves first (and gets lost because he’s literally going deeper and deeper FDMKFMV). however, there’s one thing that always startles him... cave sounds. he doesn’t scream, but if you’re near him, you can sometimes witness his character spinning or jerking his head in another direction because of it vcxkvnjhbv

don’t, i repeat, dON’T make fun of him afterward. he’s gonna go all the way back to you and kill you (and then go back mining.. like nothing happened).

the perfectionist. always mines all the resources he sees; during building something he also always makes sure everything’s proportional. gladly counts blocks for you, if your brain can’t work anymore.

now, building! not very skilled with building houses, but he likes building simple decorations, like fountains, gardens or farms. despite him always claiming it’s bad, his work always looks very detailed. not very good with ideas of those things at first, so mainly at the beginning he always finds some inspirations on the internet, but later gets the hang of it and builds his own ideas!

his favorite place to have a house in is somewhere near the ocean.

likes default textures. too used to have anything else.

doesn’t like listening to in-game music, unless it’s something from beta or alpha versions (like “Haggstorm” or “Wet Hands”). Usually listening to his own favorite songs on Spotify.

His favorite disc is “Far”. It used to be “Cat”, but due to him obtaining it like 3000 times he stopped liking it. nor hearing it anywhere near.

when he goes out to get resources and/or food, he comes back with full inventory and shulkers, just like a father that’s about to feed his kids. minimum 10 stacks of iron, coal blocks and food. the nearest 10k chunks of caves is already explored, so you better be ready for a long, lONG WALK to get something new.

he’s also fond of beta versions, but rarely plays them without you.

Mephisto:

this motherfucker wants to literally speedrun every fucking game. meanwhile you’re busy making a wooden pick, he’s out there typing “can’t wait to beat the dragon and get elytras~! ★”

remembers literally every recipe for all items and alchemy. personal minecraft wikipedia right there.

he MUST have a fucking mansion, otherwise, he isn’t playing. fortunately, he’s tried building before, so he’s perfectly capable of building one himself. it’s all made out of pink wool and concrete, along with white concrete accents here and there. 

adding to the previous one, he also has a great decorating sense. the rooms look very good, space is filled nicely and is both pretty and practical. the mansion itself looks very good on outside and inside.

of course, the main bedroom that’s designed especially for you two looks WAY TOO GOOD. I'm not even gonna start on him messing with plugins and making it even prettier.

his skin is a random, pink anime girl.

master with redstone. everything’s automated, there also might be hidden rooms with surprises. there’s a hidden shrine dedicated for you. he hasn’t told you about that though... >_>

even though he gets many useful things from the swamp biome, like lily pads or that cyan flowers, he hates this biome with a burning passion. if he sees it anywhere near his render distance he’s spasming and immediately voicing his annoyance. hates that specific, “dirty and unsightly” green water and grass color.

he doesn’t do much mining, but happily goes with you if you ask him to. even if he has no armor on, he never dies. NEVER. there might be 6 creepers but he somehow survives their explosion.

not scared at all. he knows this game like the back of his hand. he might, however, attempt to scare YOU instead. on purpose. or accidentally hit you so you fall from a large height and die. if you get upset at him afterward, he’s gonna give you even better stuff you’ve had before.

HE LOVES PLAYING ALPHA AND BETA. he started to play probably around very early alpha, so coming back to such simpler times is making him somewhat nostalgic (even if he denies it). on those versions, he builds things that used to be popular back in the day, like simple towers of cobblestone or houses inside mountains. it hits him hard when old soundtrack plays.

Amaimon:

he’s very, very confused. first off, he’s not used to the game at all, but then, he googles almost any recipe or asks you thousands of questions about how to make things. after some time, he finally figures out that there’s a book with recipes in game.

he might steal your items, but usually, he gives you back better items. for example, you notice your iron pickaxe is missing, but suddenly he sprints into the house and throws at you diamonds.

oh, he’s aware of the existence of chests, but for some reason, he likes throwing various items at you. he runs off afterward, leaving you with everything on the ground.

don’t introduce him to bedrock edition, he hates playing minecraft with a gamepad, and will smash it immediately. java edition is the only help for this man.

he’s also clumsy, like Rin. he manages to do that less than him somehow, but he tends to die pretty often anyway. his deaths are the stupidest, sometimes he doesn’t even bother explaining it. he literally can die with gravel suffocating him.

once he goes to the nether, he doesn’t wanna go back to the overworld. he says something along the lines of it being similar to gehenna or whatever, but. no matter what version it is - pre- or post- update 1.16, he likes it and that’s it.

his favorite biome in the overworld is jungle - mostly because of the lively color of grass, but also tall trees. he likes having there treehouses and always asks if you can build one (because he sucks at building. even worse than Rin >_>). his fave in the nether is blue forest or basalt biome - however, he becomes mad quickly on the second one due to frequent gaps filled with lava and magma cubes.

he likes normal slimes though. he even has a pet slime!! QwQ

he named his pet slime after Behemoth. keeps it safe in a glass cube and checks on it regularly. Behemoth doesn’t know about it doe.

he bullies every single villager that’s within his sight. burns their homes. the only thing that survives is the iron golem because he thinks it’s cool.

plays with the basic Steve skin. partially because he doesn’t know how to change it and that he isn’t determined enough to look for any.

forgets that crouching exist and falls off almost every cliff or anything that’s considered high.

[futurebicon]

No Control Part 2

Part 2. I'm actually managing to write these faster than I thought I would be able to. Part 3 will probably take a little bit longer considering I had more time during the weekend. But I hope part 3 will be out as soon as I can write it.

Warning- hospital, mentions of car accident, semi and brief panic attack (?), no medical knowledge

Remus didn't know what to do as he sat in the cold metal chair of the hospital waiting room.

Leo was frozen. Staring blankly at the wall in front of him. His pupils were wide and his skin was a ghostly pale. His chest was rising and falling quicker than it probably should be.

He was 19 years old. He had never lost someone before and now he was in danger of loosing one of the loves of his life. No wonder his mind was trying to protect him.

Shock

Finn was pacing the room and would of punched the wall about half a dozen times if Dumo hadn't stopped him.

Anger

Remus didn't know what was going on. He kept looking towards the doors thinking Sirius would walk through them with his bright smile and kiss him with his soft lips. "Ready to go, mon loup? Doctors said I'm fine so you can stop your worrying. Lets go home and cuddle and maybe later I can prove to you just how fine I am."

Denial

+++

The team trickle in quickly.

James and Lily first. James wanted a play by play of what happened as Lily ran over to Remus with tears on her face. She pulled him into her side and let him cry.

Regulus was next. Pale and frantic. He went over to Leo after squeezing Remus's shoulder in a desperate attempt to comfort. He sat beside his best friend and didn't say anything, just let him process what was happening while hoping his presence help enough.

Remus must have zoned out because when he blinked again the entire team had filled the small waiting room.

"What happened?" James asked again.

"Uh-" Remus explained how they got the call with stuttered and hitched breaths.

+++

"Sirius Black?" The doctor walked into the waiting room.

"Is he okay?" Remus jumped up.

She smiled kindly. "Have a seat."

That can't be good.

"Sirius is in surgery right now to fix severe internal bleeding in his head and to remove his spleen which was ruptured in the crash."

"Oh god." James breathed.

"Now I know it sounds extremely bad but he can survive without a spleen. The only long lasting effects will be a weakened immune system." She calmed their nerves only slightly.

"He does have severe head trauma, the extent of which we won't know until he wakes up. He broke four ribs, one of which punctured his lung. Along with that he also broken both his tibula and his fibula on his left leg. And has severe whiplash. It might not seem like it but he is suspected to make a full recovery. I'll be back if anything happens and when he's out of surgery." She left the room, passing a man in a matching white coat on the way out.

"Logan?" Leo choked.

The doctor nodded and sat down. "His injuries are extensive but he will be able to make a full recovery."

They all let out a sigh of relief.

"He has severe internal bleeding in his chest, abdomen, and head. He also has severe whiplash. His kidney's were mildly damage and he has bruising on his heart. I know it sounds terrifying but all it means is he needs to take it slow and not move around too much." He told them. "You'll be able to see him once we get him stable."

"He- he's not stable?" Finn stammered.

"His vitals are taking a while to get under control." He hesitated. "But it's nothing too concerning considering the trauma his body went through."

They two didn't say anything and the doctor left the room to silence.

+++

Logan was awake when they came in.

"Hi, loves." He rasped out.

Finn sobbed and had to stop himself from flinging himself into his injured boyfriend.

"Shh. I'm okay. I'm okay." His words were slow but held comfort as he cupped his face with a bandaged hand. "I'm okay."

"Lo" Leos voice was gasped and choked. He made no attempt to hide the fear.

"Hey Peanut." Logan smiled. "Come here"

Leo took a step towards him and stopped. "I dont- um- what if I-"

"You're not gonna hurt me. I'm okay."

"But I could." He scanned the room like he was trapped.

"Hey" Finn stood up and walked over to the teenager who hadn't fully come out of his shock yet and seeing his love like this made his mind want to hide away again.

"Here." He gently led him over to the hospital bed. "He's okay."

"Hi, my baby." Logan smiled and grabbed Leo's hand.

"You're okay?"

"I'm okay." Logan nodded.

"Promise?" His voice was broken and his eyes never stopped their sweep of the room.

"I promise."

"Okay." He breathed out and finally calmed down enough to sit beside Logan's bed.

+++

"Hey, Loops" Logan nodded at the pale man as the team walked in. "Any updates?"

"He's still in surgery." His voice was rough with tears and misuse. "How are you feeling?"

"Sore and in pain but I'm alive." He shrugged.

"Thankfully." Dumo walked over.

"Hey, Dumo." Logan hugged him as well as he could.

"Scared me for a while there, kiddo."

"Sorry about that."

"So what happened exactly?" Kasey asked.

"We were gonna go get something to eat and Sirius turned at a greenlight. Someone ran the light and hit Sirius's side. We spun out and then rolled, fuck I don't even know, a lot of times. I think I blacked out on the six or seventh roll. Maybe the second. It felt like forever. I don't know when, or if, Sirius blacked out." Logan explained.

"Kept saying your name though." He looked up at Remus.

Remus's hazel eyes filled with tears and he let out a sob into his elbow.

"Sorry."

"No, no it's okay." Remus sniffled back the tears. "Just, uh, just worried. You know?"

"He'll be alright." Logan told him before smiling. "We just have to come up with some new nickname for him now that he doesn't have a spleen or an immune system."

"Spleenless."

"Captain of the sick ship."

"Sniffles"

"Captain Spleen."

"No mo munie."

They all threw around names.

"He's gonna be more upset about the fact that he won't be able to hide when he's sick than he'll be about the missing organ." James laughed.

"Probably." Remus nodded.

Their laughs were cut off by a knock on the door. "Remus Lupin?" Sirius's doctor, Dr. Gemma, walked in.

"Yeah. What's going on? Is he alright?"

"He's out of surgery and awake." She told them with a kind smile.

"So he's okay?"

"He is showing signs of very, very slight amnesia. Just not remembering the accident at all which is completely understandable and no cause for concern."

"Can I see him?"

"Of course." She nodded.

Remus followed after her with whispers to update them on how he is.

+++

"I do have to warn you about the possible side effects he could start to show or is already showing." Dr. Gemma said as they walked down the long hallways.

"Like what?"

"As I said he does have slight amnesia. He seems to either be having hearing problems or is having a hard time understanding speech. Possibly both. He might also be having difficulty thinking. There is other symptoms that he hasn't shown yet but might in the future, headaches, seizure, nausea, vomiting, fever, and more. If any of these happen or anything concerning, page us immediately."

They finally turned down the hallway that seemed to be his.

"I'll let you two be, and again, page us immediatly if anything happens or if you need anything. Okay?" They stopped outside his door.

"Okay, thank you."

"No need for thanks." She smiled. "Now go see him. You were the first thing he asked about when he woke up."

Remus smiled at that and pushed the door open. He tried hard not to react to all the wires surrounding him but it was hard not too. All he could do to try was hurry over to his lovers side.

"Hi, baby." He smiled through tears as his hazel eyes saw grey. "Hi" He gripped his hand tightly.

"Re" Sirius said slowly.

"Yeah. yeah. It's me, baby. I'm right here. You're okay. You're okay." He kissed his forehead to hide the tears.

"Don't- cry- mon loup." It took him a while to say.

"Sorry. You just scared me for a little while." Remus smiled at him. "Are you feeling okay?"

Sirius gave him a confused look.

"What? What's wrong? Are you okay? What do you need?" Remus rambled in concern.

"Shh" Sirius set a hand on Remus's. "Okay" He talked about himself. "Just, too many."

"Too many what, love?"

"Words. Can't know. Don't think." He was begining to get frustrated.

"It's okay." Remus said slower. "I know. It's okay."

Sirius nodded and relaxed against the pillows.

"Said Logan- with- hurt?" the words were chopped and Remus could see the frustration in his eyes.

"Logan was in the car." Remus nodded. "But he's okay. The team is with him."

"Team?" Sirius furrowed his eyebrows and blinked in confusion.

"Your hockey team." Remus tried to keep the panic out of his voice. "James, Dumo, Logan, Leo, Finn, Kasey, Walker, Kuny, Olli-"

"I remember." Sirius cut him off. "Just forgot."

"That's okay. The doctors said that would happen."

"See them?" Sirius asked hopefully.

"See the doctors?"

"No. Team."

"Oh, yeah. Yeah. I'm sure the team will be here soo-"

As if they heard them, a group of hockey players knocked on the door and walked into the hospital room

I really don't like this part compared to part one.

Thank you @lumosinlove for letting us take your happy, lovely characters and make them be in pain

[girlmeetsliv3]

Lilies of the Valley III

A/B/O!BTS x Reader

Flowers can have different meanings depending on the flower shape, color, and method in which they are presented. Lilies are my favorite for such a simple flower can have so many distinct meanings.

In the language of flowers, yellow lilies are said to represent both deception (perhaps tied to the notion of concealment) and graciousness.

Release Date: 05/25/20 @ 7 pm

previously ~ next

        Yoongi shook his head, black fringe swaying slightly. “That’s ridiculous. You’re staying with us.”

        “Absolutely not!”

        The refusal was out of her mouth before she'd even thought about it. Both men flinched at her rejection but didn't look surprised. YN however was beginning to be upset, of course they would try to take advantage of the situation. I shouldn’t have expected any different. The tension was beginning to rise between the two and YN suddenly remembered that Yoongi liked to provoke people. Suddenly Jimin raised his hands as if to show no ill will, "We don't mean it like that." His hands raked through his perfectly styled hair, "It's just that you're our mate. Legally now too."

           “It wouldn’t look right. Plus it would be dangerous.” Yoongi finished for him, leaning forward and uncrossing his arms. He tentatively reached across the table, placing his hand over hers. It was warm and softer than YN would’ve imagined, she didn’t remove it and she couldn’t quite understand why. Maybe because it was meant to comfort her and it had been a long time since YN had been comforted. She almost found herself getting lost in its warmth until she reminded herself of who she was with and stopped herself. Sensing her discomfort the betas rushed to speak again. “We have this small cottage in the back, it’s newly refurbished and has plumping and everything. All it would need is a bed.”

           “I don’t know if I would feel comfortable living with all seven of you...it’s a lot.”

           Yoongi sighed, “We understand, though it isn’t like you have much of a choice. No place will take a mated omega. The law won’t permit it. Only...” He didn’t have to finish for her to know what he meant.

           Only the boarding house.

           YN looked up at the men and spoke as clearly as she could, "I'm not your mate. I'm not your omega," she saw how every word was spoken physically deflated them. "However, thank you for helping me. It's only temporary until I find another solution." Something flashed quickly in both men's eyes, but it was far too fast for YN to comprehend what it was. They only smiled and nodded with jovial excitement. Jimin began to talk about furniture that would be added while Yoongi pulled out his phone and seemed to text someone. She realized her hand was still under his and tried to retrieve it, Yoongi didn't allow her too. Before YN could say anything he gave her hand a quick squeeze and released it. Putting his left hand into his jacket’s pocket.

           “So it’s set. We’ll be by later to pick up your things .”

           YN nodded feeling a numbness spreading throughout her body, as she finished her tea and placed the cup down. Her eyes met theirs, dark empty pools, and she wondered if their inner scale was tipped. Were they more animal than human? Beasts? YN would soon find out.

            “Swear you’ll be okay?” Rosé asked, her fingers intertwined into YN’s. They swung back and forth, their arms shaking slightly. The air was silent, save for the things left unsaid.

             "I'm sure. I'll be safe. They won't hurt me." The smile hurt YN, but she forced her lips to spread open for her best friend's sake. She couldn't possibly leave Rosé out for the wolves, even if it meant she would be jumping right into their den.  

           “Don’t forget to text me. Oh, and call me every night.”

YN rolled her eyes but laughed. "Yes, mom. I'll make sure to write you a letter every day."

           “For a year?”

        The two girls giggled and embraced as YN willed herself to stick to her word. Just as she was beginning to doubt herself, someone knocked on the door. When the door opened, it was Yoongi and Jimin again; both with smiles on their faces - ones a little too big to be done out of politeness. They stayed by the door, if they entered their scents would linger and that wouldn't look good on Rosé. Betas did have a scent, but unless they were purposefully trying to emit it, only other betas would sense it. "Are you ready to go?" Jimin spoke after he had waved at Rosé. YN nodded, grabbing her bags resting by the door and handing them off to the two waiting betas. Feeling like it would be a while until YN saw her again, she turned around and gave Rosé one last hug. Rosé leaned deep into their embrace and whispered into YN's ear, "If anything happens. Call me, I'll be there immediately."  

           Tears almost welled up in YN’s eyes but she fought them back, merely giving her a reassuring squeeze before walking out and closing the door.

           Wow, what a fucking house. YN's jaw slackened at the sight of it, though her parents were well off it hadn't compared to this. Then again, combining the wealth of seven of the richest families in Seoul was bound to bear its fruits. Judging by the smirk on the two men's faces, they enjoyed her reaction. So, she did her best to school it immediately. There hadn't been any words exchanged by the three of them in the car, thankfully, and YN hoped it would remain that way. Instead of taking her to the front entrance, Yoongi and Jimin guided her to the side of the house. It once they reached the backyard that her breath was truly taken away.  

           The area was huge with a swimming pool, patio area, and botanical garden. However, it was the tiny home in the back with a garden of lilies that called to her. “It’s like the one at school.” Was the first thing she noted. It wasn’t as large, but it seemed to have similar flowers and evoke the same feeling.

           “Do you like it?” Yoongi asked, looking at her from his peripheral.

           “I love it.” There was no hesitance in her words, they were sincere.

They guided her to the tiny house; which the closer she got wasn't so tiny at all. It was one floor with a large bed, a television mounted on the wall, a small closet, a kitchenette, and a bathroom. There was even a small bookcase filled with familiar books: they had been the assigned reading when she was in school. Probably filled with annotations and other such things. YN wished she still had her copies, but she had donated all but her favorites to school when she graduated.

           Jimin cleared his throat, “Sorry the closet isn’t bigger, but we can expand it later.” YN shook her head, “No, that’s alright. I’m sure it’ll be fine.” Yoongi placed his hand on her shoulder, “Dinner will be served in about an hour. You can meet everyone then.” Meet them again. YN felt her throat dry up, she wasn’t sure about how she felt being a room with all seven of them just yet. She had wanted to delay the inevitable, but considering she was staying in their home - it was the least she could do.

           “Sure.”

The two of them seemed pleased at her lack of resistance. Jimin smiled, "Go get cleaned up and we'll come to pick you up when it's time." YN felt it was more of a command, then a suggestion but she didn't care. Once the two of them left, she jumped on the bed and decided to take a small nap. The pillow smelled fresh and clean, only lulling her faster into sleep.

       "I'm very sorry for what's occurred to you, YN. But I want you to know it isn't your fault and that we are here to help." Officer Kim sent a comforting smile, trying to ease YN's nerves. YN remained silent, her grip on the blue blanket thrown around her shoulders was so strong her fingers were white. The officer sighed, tilting her head slightly to send a look to the people behind the screen. When she looked back at YN, all she saw was the teenager's glassy widened eyes. It had been an accident, a terrible one, but teenagers tended to be reckless. If the gruesome bite on YN's neck was anything to show for it.  

           “Do you want to press charges?”

           YN shook her head, caving in on herself even more. Jungkook’s sorry wails still echoed in her head. It didn't matter, what's done is done. YN looked up to meet the officer Kim's warm golden eyes. Her lips parted and she could see the anticipation building up in the cop's face only for there to be a disappointment once YN actually spoke.

           “I just want to go home.”

           Loud knocking tore her away from her dreams, as she saw a shadow-like figure standing outside the doors.

         The door opened slowly, only once he'd stepped in could YN recognize him. "Sorry I didn't mean to startle you. I didn't know you were asleep." Kim Taehyung had probably undergone the most significant change out of all of them: transforming from a lanky teen to an able man. YN didn't realize she had been gaping at him so openly until he smirked. "Um, no don't worry." She scrambled to get off the bed and smooth down her clothes, getting rid of any creases her short sleep might have caused.  Taehyung tilted his head, his eyes roaming her body until they landed on her poorly concealed mark. YN flinched when he stepped forward, but instead of grabbing her Taehyung held out his hand.

           “Dinner is served and it’ll get cold if we wait any longer.”

            As attractive as he was, truthfully they all were, and as much as something inside her willed her to grab his hand - YN refused. Walking past him and outside the double doors to the garden of lilies. The sun had long set and now the half-moon shined brightly in the night sky. Casting a beautiful glow on the garden, the lilies, and YN herself. Perhaps, that is why it took Taehyung such a long time to step outside her room, the man still in the shadows. He was simply basking in her glory. Or perhaps, he was trying to control his rage at his mate's reaction in a way that would frighten the already tense YN.

           When he stepped out a charlatan smile was present on his features, “Let’s go then.” Together the two of them walked side by side until they reached the house. Faintly YN could hear the sound of jazz music and muffled voices, goosebumps rose on her arms as her stomach twisted and turned. Here we go. YN’s hands balled into fists as she dug her nails into her skin, trying to remain calm despite the voices growing louder and louder. Eventually, she could pick on the scent of one...two...four alphas and hear the soft bell-like nature of Jimin’s laugh. They were all here. Now’s the time.

          The conversations began to die down and YN knew it was because they sensed her. She prayed to whatever god's existed that everything would go well. They turned a corner and YN suddenly saw them. All seven of them were wearing what could be deemed business casual attire. They were all littered across the room, but all seemed to be in a circle surrounding a red velvet chesterfield where the lead alpha was seated. His dark hair combed back, a white button-down, and tight black jeans. One by one they all turned to face her, but he was last. His warm chocolate eyes lingering on the glass of wine in his hand before they slowly traveled to meet hers.

           YN finally realized what situation she was in. A prey in a predator's territory and sadly, she'd already been branded. She remained frozen on the spot, unable to look away from the alpha's eyes, she didn't know if it was courage or brazen recklessness. Then he smiled, a warm charming smile that reminded her of the early days. When the two would speak in hushed whispers and aid each other in assignments and tests. Times when YN looked at him with admiration, care, and maybe a tiny bit of love. She did have a small crush on him back in those days, nothing to act upon since she knew he was destined but enough to make her feel happy to be around him.

           He stood up and crossed the room, a steady stride which was a blend of natural yet calculated. As if he was measuring how close he could get without scaring her, it was when he was two feet away that YN slightly stepped back. The action caused him to stop, as he finally spoke.

           “Welcome. It’s been a while.”

Soon they all crowded around her offering kind smiles. Their scents were strangely muted now, YN guessed that was being done on purpose in order not to frighten her - or send her into a pseudo-heat. Not that it would occur considering the suppressants she was on. Conversations started back up again, but YN didn't participate in any. She noticed Jungkook was strangely quiet too but didn't pay him much attention for fear he might get the wrong idea. It was a couple of minutes later that a worker announced the food was served, YN went to follow him but someone tugged at her hand pulling her back.

           “Mind if we have a chat?” Namjoon asked, a hint of mirth in his smile.

           "Sure," YN noted how most of them walked away, Seokjin was the only one who remained but stayed near the threshold.  

           “Wow, you’ve changed. Grown, I mean.” His awkwardness caused a slight chuckle to escape YN’s lips. “Says the person who is now seven feet tall.” At that his smile grew. The glass of wine in his hand was placed on a top nearby and now that his hands were empty, Namjoon took a hold of hers. His large warm hands cradling hers, as his thumbs ran soothingly across her knuckles. “How do you feel?” YN didn’t know why she was so at ease around Namjoon, maybe because they’d known each other before everything happened. He had demonstrated that he was a good person, who had simply made a mistake. As opposed to the other’s who she only knew vaguely and had been forced to get to know because of what happened.

           “Fine. Good.” YN smiled gently, her heart didn’t race as it did before but she felt comfortable around Namjoon in a way she didn’t around the others. It might’ve been that he was the leader: the one who could make everyone fall in line at his command. It might’ve been that she trusted him. YN didn’t want to dwell on it for too long. “Thank you for letting me stay.” She spoke to both him and Seokjin who straightened up.

           “It’s no problem, YN. Your welcome as long as you’d like.” Seokjin’s words were polite and YN was thankful he didn’t mention anything about mates. In fact, she hoped the whole conversation would be avoided the entire evening.

           Namjoon drew her attention back to him, “What’s ours is yours. Whatever you need, don't be afraid to tell us.” Before YN could say anything, he pulled her towards the exit. “Come. Everyone is waiting for us.” He sent her a flirty wink before Seokjin joined them, walking on her other side.

            “So YN, what did you study?” Hoseok wiped the corners of his mouth with a napkin.

           “Sociology.”

           “Sounds interesting. Did you like it?”

           “Yeah, it was interesting.” YN wasn’t the most social person, not to mention she found it difficult to speak when all eyes were on her.

           “Did you get the flowers we sent for your graduation?” Taehyung asked, beside her. He was less intimidating in the warm yellow lighting of the dining room. Ah the flowers. Her parents had delivered the flowers when they went to visit and though YN had been all smiles, she’d thrown them in the trash the second she’d gotten back home.

           “Yes, they were lovely. Thank you.”

           It all seemed too perfect, too surreal, nothing bad had occurred yet and it had YN on the edge of her seat. This wasn’t how she was expecting the night to go at all. It had been years since the incident and though YN was aware that people could change, they seemed so different. People are different during heats. It’s more animal instinct than anything. That may be true, but it felt like she was at a reunion rather than a dinner with her supposed ‘mates.’ It seems the jovial atmosphere was beginning to be too much for someone else because Jungkook finally broke.

           “Aren’t we going to talk about it?!” His hands slammed down against the table, causing everyone to turn and look at him. Jungkook was near the end of the table, right next to Seokjin which faced Namjoon at the head. Talk about what? It seemed his question was more intended for his pack members than for her, but it still left YN curious. Seokjin who seemed unfazed continued cutting his meat, “Kookie, stop it.” This seemed to only anger the youngest more.

           “No, we agreed -” Just as Jungkook was standing up, Hoseok pulled him back down to his chair. Oh no. Alpha’s butting heads was never a good sign. She might’ve assumed this was normal but seeing how tense Yoongi, Taehyung, and Jimin were this was clearly unusual. The sudden growl that Jungkook let out was all the proof she needed.

           Adrenaline began to pump through her blood, as her instincts were about to kick in. If there was going to be a fight, she wanted no part in it. It was then that Taehyung and Jimin both placed their hands on her knees, keeping her still.

           “Calm down, Jungkook. Stop being a brat.” Seokjin scolded him once more, his jaw now locked. The young alpha wasn’t listening, didn’t care to. Suddenly all his attention zeroed in on YN as he spoke. “We have to complete the mating bond.” Anxiety began to trickle into YN’s mind and body. No. no. no. no.

           “No.” YN pushed the chair away from the table and stood ready to walk out and leave the house. She should have known better than to trust them. This had been their plan all along, to get her into a situation where she couldn’t escape. As she passed by Namjoon his hand shot out, gripping her wrist, tugging her towards him. The lead alpha had remained silent during the whole ordeal, as YN looked at him with irritation. Namjoon spoke in a calm mellow tone, “Down.” Just like that Jungkook dropped to his knees and began to cry.

           “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to scare you.” Now YN was even more terrified. What the fuck is going on.

    Rosé: Hey, how’d your first day go?

    YN: Terrible, I don’t even want to talk about it.

     Rosé: Did something bad happen? Did they do something to you?

     Rosé: Are you okay?

     YN: I’m okay. Things are just really strange here. I don’t know how to describe it.

     YN: It's like everyone's on edge, but they're pretending they aren't.

     Rosé: I mean isn’t that kinda normal. You are their mate and you did reject them, so it makes sense.

      Rosé: You never did tell me why you rejected them though.

      YN: It’s a long story and I’m tired. Ttyl. Night.

      Rosé: Good night.

Hope you enjoyed the story. Tag list is in the comments.

[engie-ivy]

Yes, it's great that Sirius finally dared to ask Remus out. But... maybe next time don't do it in the midst of a Death Eater attack?

@wanderingbandurria here it is!

(I keep hurting Sirius in all my fics lately! What's wrong with me?!)

It's a date!

“We should have dinner.”

Sirius speaks without pausing the rapid succession of curses he’s firing. Remus gives him a quick look, but almost immediately has to turn his attention back to the darkness in front of them, as a beam of light flies right past his head. He fires a cure back, and three curses come soaring at him in return, only to be deflected by Sirius’ quickly casted Protego Charm.

Before more curses can come their way, Sirius and Remus duck behind a rock on their right.

“Sure,” Remus says. “Let’s tell the Death Eaters to wait here while we go on a food break. Hey, maybe they’d like to join, and we can all go to McDonalds together.”

Suddenly, a particularly nasty curse blows a piece of the rock away, just centimetres from Sirius’ head. Sirius doesn’t hesitate. Using the dust as a cover, he Stupifies the approaching Death Eaters with three well-aimed curses. Then he turns around to follow Remus, jumping and rolling over the floor into the shelter of a battered, but at least still standing, wall.

“I didn’t mean now,” he says, rolling his eyes. “After this.”

Remus peers past the wall, and smoothly disarms the Death Eater trying to attack them on his side.

“Sure,” he says. “Do you want to make a grocery list, or...?”

A beam of light hits the seam of Sirius’ robes and sets them on fire. He spins on his heels and first somehow manages to take out two Death Eaters with one curse, before pointing his wand to his robes to extinguish the flames.

Suddenly, Remus pushes him away so roughly that he trips and falls flat on his back. In front of him, the top of the wall has come crumbling down and large pieces of rock cover the spot he had just been standing.

Remus grabs his hand, pulls him up, and they sprint away again. This time, they end up crouching down behind a low wall that can hardly be called a wall.

“I meant,” Sirius says slowly. “We should have dinner, at a restaurant, together, just the two of us.”

Remus’ eyes widen in surprise and he opens his mouth to speak, but at that moment a flash of green light flies right past his head.

Sirius’ mouth tightens in anger and he jumps to his feet, sending of a rapid succession of curses. Not without effect, judged from the grunts coming from the Death Eaters hidden in the darkness. He feels something scrape his cheek and turns in the direction it came from, but Remus jerks him down just in time before three curses at the same time fly towards where Sirius’ head had been just second ago. Blood is dripping from a deep gash in Sirius’ cheek.

“Padfoot,” Remus says disbelievingly. “Are you asking me out? Now?”

Sirius shrugs. “Seems as good a time as any.”

A shrill, familiar voice echoes through the darkness. “Where are you, you filthy blood traitor? I’m gonna make you regret the day you shamed our family, you foul disgrace!”

Sirius and Remus send a red beam into the direction of the voice almost automatically, which is followed by a loud shriek.

Remus raises an eyebrow at Sirius.

“Alright, maybe not as good a time as any,” Sirius reluctantly admits. “But still, the question stands.”

Sirius’ eye catches two stone pillars, that look like better hiding places than the almost falling apart wall. He motions for Remus to follow him and once again they sprint through the night, dodging curses here and there.

“Since when...” Remus jumps to one side of the pillar to avoid a curse and then quickly jumps back again to avoid another. “Do you even want to date me?”

Sirius casts a Protego on his left and Remus’ right, so they can first focus on the Death Eaters at the other side.

“Couple of months maybe,” Sirius replies. “I found out I rather fancy you, and as much as I enjoy being friends with you, I was hoping it could be something more.”

Remus gapes at him, but even more surprising is the sudden force that blows them both backwards, landing flat on their backs a few metres away from the pillars. From their new position though, they are able to spot a ditch in the ground, and staying low, they manage to crawl in that direction and roll themselves in the ditch.

They take a minute to catch their breaths. Sirius’ face is bruised and Remus has sprained his wrist.

Suddenly, a glowing white deer appears in front of them.

“Padfoot, Moony.” James’ voice sounds grave. “The Prewetts had to give up their position. The Death Eaters who were fighting them are almost certainly on their way to reinforce the group attacking you.”

Remus curses under his breath.

“You have to get out of there as fast as you can,” Prongs’ voice urges, before the deer disappears again.

“Shite!” Sirius looks over his shoulder to where he knows the Death Eaters must be approaching.

“What do we do?” Remus asks anxiously.

“We have to get that piece of parchment to Dumbledore.” Sirius gestures at the folded parchment tucked away in the pocket of Remus’ robes. “Whatever information it contains, he said it may be essential for Lily’s, James’, and Harry’s safety.”

“I know that much,” Remus says. “But how? The anti-apparition zone stretches out for at least another half a kilometre, if not more. We won’t make it like this, but they’re too many to stop and face in a standstill, with even more on their way! And if we turn around and run, one of their curses will surely hit us in the back.”

“I might have an idea,” Sirius says thoughtfully. “You run to the end of the anti-apparition zone, while I hold off the Death Eaters and cover your back-”

“Sirius.”

“No, hear me out. I’ll stall them only as long as to give you a good head start. Then, I’ll turn into Padfoot and follow. Padfoot’s smaller, darker, closer to the ground, and therefore much more difficult to hit, and let’s not forget much faster! I’ll have a much better chance.”

“Alright,” Remus says reluctantly. “But don’t be a stubborn idiot, Sirius! I know you. I know how you get carried away. Don’t think you can take down all Death Eaters on your own. Stall them for a bit, and then follow!”

“I will, I will. Just get ready to run.” Sirius is already turning to climb out of the ditch.

“Wait.” Remus grabs Sirius’ arm and turns him back to face him. “Tuesday night. That Italian place with those almond cookies I like so much. Pick me up at seven, and wear your leather jacket.”

Sirius blinks and then breaks out in a grin. “It’s a date!”

Sirius loves duelling. There’s a reason he was the best duller at Hogwarts. It’s addictive to him, the constant alternation between evading, shielding and deflecting, and attacking. He loves the adrenaline rush when an enemy’s curse just barely misses him and the thrill when he hits his target.

The knowledge that each Death Eater he takes out is one less to hurt Remus spurs him on even more, and he soon gets lost in the sensation.

Suddenly, he hears a chuckle on his left, and sees a hooded figure standing right next to him. It’s more instinct than anything else that makes him Stupify the figure before it can hurt him.

He blinks. Right next to him? How did he let that happen? When did they get so close? How long has he been duelling?

He turns, meaning to change into Padfoot mid-turn, but before he can transform, something hits him between his shoulder blades. A sharp pain spreads through his body and the world around him goes black.

Sirius slowly blinks his eyes open and groans at the throbbing pain throughout his entire body.

Suddenly, James’ face is occupying his entire field of view.

“Padfoot? Padfoot, are you there? Padfoot, can you see me? Can you hear me?”

Sirius turns his head away. “Yes Prongs, and I can smell you too! Merlin, what’s the last time you brushed your teeth?”

But James just responds by wrapping his arms around him and pulling him into a tight hug.

Sirius hugs back as good as he can. “Close call, huh?” He mutters.

“Much too close,” James confirms as he releases him again. He looks a bit shaky. “Mad-Eye called us sentimental fools when we went back. We thought we were just bringing back your body, so we could at least give you a proper-” He shakes his head and runs a hand over his face. “Merlin, Padfoot.”

“Sorry,” Sirius winches.

A silence falls, before Sirius asks “What day is it?”

“Friday,” James replies, and Sirius groans.

Downstairs, the front door opens, and Lily’s voice drifts up.

“Hi, Moony. James is with him right now, but I just finished cooking some dinner. Would you like some?”

“No, thank you, Lily,” is Remus’ flat reply. “I’ll be going right upstairs.”

“Remus, what’s the last time you’ve eaten anything? Or slept, for that matter.”

“He’s been taking it very hard,” James whispers.

“Yeah,” Sirius replies. “We were supposed to have Italian.”

James frowns at him. “I honestly don’t think he’s been so upset because he missed out on pizza night.”

Before Sirius can reply, however, the door opens and Remus is standing there. His mouth is slightly parted and his eyes widen as his gaze fixes on Sirius, who’s staring back at him.

“I’m sorry I missed our date,” Sirius says in a raspy voice, and he wants to ask for another chance, but the words die in his throat as Remus strides forward, cups Sirius’ face in his hands and just kisses him.

Sirius doesn’t particularly mind this turn of events, and participates as best he can, his hands clutching Remus’ sweater as he loses himself in the feel of Remus’ lips insistent against his own.

“So,” James says with a raised eyebrow after they’ve pulled apart. “That’s... new. Are you two together?”

“Not yet,” Remus says, without taking his eyes off Sirius. “But as soon as Padfoot is well enough to walk, he’s going to make up for being a stubborn idiot by taking me to a fancy restaurant for a candlelit dinner, and he’ll better have asked me to be his boyfriend before dessert.”

Sirius’ face breaks out in a grin. “It’s a date!”

[bisexual-inuyasha]

Xingese Gold

Prompts: pining/hands/nature. “Please just hate me already.”

Wrap your arms and hold me still

I don't wanna think about what I will

Speak in tones that I can't hear

And tell me how no one knows anything in here

-- Jade Bird “What Am I Here For”

A young boy with black hair and dark eyes sat in his mother’s field. His face was serious, mouth twisted into a frown. He was a very stern child, hair pulled severely back into a bun.

For most kids his age, the object of their concentration would be something colorful and loud. Or maybe even ants crawling along the dirt or the dried out carcass of a worm. For this child, scrawny and tired, it was the flowers. His fingers--nimble, gentle, fleeting like tiny birds--brushed over the golden strands. Petals remained safely caged behind spindly stamen. His pants were soaked at the knees, his bare feet covered in broken grass and mud. 

His mother had taught him about these flowers. It couldn’t have been more than a month ago, after a similar heavy bout of rains. The lesson came after the worst news in his young life. She had died only a few days later, protecting him from one of his brothers from another clan. Forty one siblings would be easier to kill than forty two. He’d written the name down in a book, tucked that book into his shirt, and watched his mother be buried in the only silk his clan could muster. It had not been a good season.

She had called these flowers Xingese gold. According to her, they were the only flowers of their kind in all the world. Other places had yellow, red and white. But only the Yao clan from Xing had golden spider lilies. They were proof, she’d said, that he was meant to ascend to the throne. Only the Emperor could wear gold, after all.

He glanced around the field and  rocked back on the balls of his feet to get a better look. When he was sure the coast was clear, he plucked a flower and tucked it into the middle pages.

The list of the names in the book grew longer as more and more clans fell to assassination attempts. His mother’s children, his half-siblings, resented and revered him as their downfall and their only possible salvation. For many years, he had no true friends.

And then Lan Fan found him, visiting the now overgrown field, plucking Xingese gold. And she swore, for the price of a single flower, she would protect him. Her hands were clean and her clothes neat when he took him to the humble house she lived in. Her grandfather’s face was hard. His lessons were harder. But his kindness reminded Ling of a childhood wrapped and buried in silk. And with the old man’s guidance, and Lan Fan’s friendship, Ling’s body hardened into a weapon.

His personality sharpened like a knife, quick and cutting and so unassuming.

But it was his instincts that set him apart. He lived with his finger on the pulse, twisting around the existence of others like a hesitant snake. Curious and fleeting, never lingering long, taking only what he needed.

And this is how Ling Yao became a teenager who crossed the desert, determined to find the key to immortality. 

**Amestris, before the end of the world.**

Ling lay on hot tiles, tapping his toes against the burning roof. He was waiting for the right time to drop through the open window. This golden haired alchemist was well known around this country for his search for the philosopher’s stone. The philosopher’s stone was well known for being the only alchemical way to achieve immortality. If Ling believed in fate, he’d almost think they were meant to find each other. 

That wouldn’t do right now.

Ed had all the cards. Every scrap of information Ling wanted existed behind those golden eyes. Whatever Ed didn’t know about the philosopher’s stone, he knew how to find. Ling sensed that maybe, this stone and Ed’s life, were intrinsically linked. Linked in a way far more certain than fate.

Al left the room. The metal man had taken to leaving when he could tell Ed needed to rest. It was less lonely for him to spend those hours exploring the city. Or at least that was the reason Al gave. But it didn’t take the dragon’s pulse to see that Edward Elric was thinning out.

Not physically. His body was fit as ever, though no taller for having increased his intake. But Edward himself seemed more and more distant. Al may be afraid of disappearing inside his armor, but Ed was disappearing into himself. The golden hair alchemist was becoming lost in a maze of problems and responsibilities that seemed to grow new walls and corridors every day. Ling had his own knots to untangle. He couldn’t help lead Edward out of his.

“I wasn’t sure I’d get the chance to talk with you.” Ling slid through the window, grinning. 

“You don’t have to do that, you know.” Ed’s metal arm was over his eyes. Ling had noticed he did this when he was too warm. The metal had to be cool against his skin.

“Do what? You can’t even see me.” Ling sidled down onto the couch. Ed’s bed was clear across the room. He could have sworn the set up was different when the boys had first settled into this room, but he wouldn’t complain. “Lan Fan and Fu want me to stay hidden for a couple of days, until Bradley loses interest.”

“What, did you get bored?” Ed snickered. “Or did they just run out of food?”

Ling patted his tummy forlornly. “Do you mean to say you have food? I do feel a little faint, now that you mention it.” He went limp, feigning unconsciousness. His stomach growled for good effect.

 Ed’s footsteps padded on the hardwood floors. The metal clunk of his foot was muffled by the sock he wore over it, but it was still an unusual gait. Distinct, and comforting. It had been a signal to Ling that he was safe, since Gluttony. Since he’d listened for those footsteps in the dark, and the blood. Ling opened his eyes and stared at the moonlit ceiling. Just the thought of Gluttony made him feel slimy. Filled his nose with the scent of blood. Suddenly his appetite was gone.

He still accepted the bowl of scallion chicken soup when Ed handed it to him and took a large spoonful. “Cold.”

“Yeah, well, that is what an icebox does.” Ed pulled his hand through his hair. “Still good though.” 

Ling took another large spoonful. His stomach clenched. He put the food down. He tried not to look revolted but Ed was watching him all the same. “Good, but maybe not what I’m hungry for tonight.” 

“Hm.” Ed tapped his fingers against his chair. His mouth was tense, body full of restless energy. He opened his mouth, closed it, and opened it again. “Do you ever think about how we’re just… kids?”

Ling waited for the horror to cross Ed’s face at what would usually be a difficult confession, but tonight seemed to be a night of honesty. 

“I haven’t been a kid since before I met Lan Fan. I don’t contemplate those kinds of things much any more.” Ling leaned forward to rest his chin on his hand. Ed was still in his black tanktop and work pants. He’d taken to sleeping in them more often than not. “What makes your mind so heavy today?”

Ed didn’t answer for a long moment. Outside, Ling could hear the never sleeping cars of Amestris trotting along the cobble streets. Ling followed the line where Ed’s hair met his jawline. It looked so different outside of the braid.

“I saw Al’s body. It’s just. So young.” Ed stood, pacing. Ling listened to the pad-thunk-scrape-pad-thunk of Ed’s steps. “We’re all so young. I can see it in the Colonel’s eyes when he gives me orders. I can feel it when Riza talks to me and there’s all this… this sorrow. Like she’s stealing something from me. Something I’ll never get back. And some part of me knows she’s right.”

Ling could taste the metallic stain of blood on his tongue. His fingernails still had some of Gluttony stuck in the beds. When he closed his eyes, he could still see Envy’s souls calling out to him, begging him to free them. “I’m tired, Ed. Have you been sleeping?” 

Ed’s eyes narrowed. His arms crossed. In a small, miffed voice he admitted that no, he hadn’t really been sleeping. “Don’t see what that has to do with anything.”

“You’re too young to be contemplating loss of youth.” Ling grinned. It was full of too many teeth. “Come on, lighten up Ed. You probably just need a nap.”

“I don’t want to nap. I just. Want to feel like I’m going somewhere.” Ed flopped back into his seat. Ling’s response seemed to have deflated him. “I’m just trying to get back to where I was before I lost Al’s body. But what do I do then? Most people spend this time figuring that out, but I’ve just determined I don’t want to stay a State Alchemist.”

“That’s a good start.” Link chuckled, and despite his best effort, it was not as lighthearted as he usually managed. “Being able to decide you don’t want to do something is a luxury some of us don’t have.”

This was an unusual visit. Since Ling and Ed’s day spent in the belly of Gluttony, Ling had gone to see Ed whenever the sun went down and the smell of blood filled his nose. Usually, Ed gave away his leftovers and they snarked back and forth at each other until Ling fell asleep on the couch. The next morning, Ling would sneak away through the window he snuck in from.

Ling’s chest felt tight. The room was too hot. He didn’t want to think about lost childhood, lost time. He didn’t want to think about fate and choosing his destiny. Ed’s problems weren’t his problems. Ed was upset he hadn’t been utilizing his time choosing what to do after he inevitably succeeded in his goal of finding Al’s body.

If Ling didn’t succeed in becoming emperor, all of his clan's people would die. And whoever became emperor could kill a lot more than that. His success depended on a goal so outlandish that most people dismissed it as a childish fantasy. Success meant a long life of being more responsible for more people than he could count in ten lifetimes. 

A heavy touch landed on his shoulder. Ed must have been talking to him, but he hadn’t heard anything at all. 

“Are you ok, Ling?” Ed’s earlier anxiety was replaced by worry. Now that Ling had been pulled out from his thoughts, he could feel Ed’s other hand on his knee. Anchors to the present. 

Ling smiled. He opened his mouth to assure Ed he was fine and maybe he’d take a nap since Ed wouldn’t, but Ed was already shaking his head.

“You don’t have to do that.” Ed let go of Ling’s shoulder and leaned back against the couch. He laid his head back, staring up at the window Ling came in. “I don’t have anyone I can actually talk to either, you know. Everyone expects something of me.”

“I expect something from you, too.” Ling leaned back beside Ed. Their shoulders bumped into each other on the couch, skin against skin. The smell of blood receded. Ling’s stomach growled again.

“No, you want something from me. That’s not the same as expecting something of me.”

Ling turned to look at the alchemist, surprised. “Explain.”

“Winry expects me to keep her and Al safe, to keep all my promises and then return home. Al, of course, expects me to get his body back. And I will. I want to. He should expect it of me. The Colonel and Hawkeye expect me to be an amazing alchemist, but they also expect me to be ok. Compared to all of that…” Ed sighed. “Compared to that, telling you about the philosopher’s stone is just a conversation. Just me telling you about Alchemy and my research.”

“So you’re saying you would have told me about the philosopher’s stone without me blowing up Gluttony’s head?”

Ed scoffed. “Don’t pretend you didn’t feel like a badass.”

“I was terrified. I'd like to see you stick your whole arm in that thing’s mouth.” They both laughed. Though truly, Ling was terrified of Gluttony. And Envy. All of the Homunculi who had too many souls. He thought Ed probably was, too.

“Well, you certainly looked confident. And fast, too. You’ll have to teach me some moves. Maybe I'll finally beat Al in a fight.”

They didn’t talk for so long that Ling drifted into sleep. His side pressed against Ed’s. Their legs touched hip to knee. Ling could feel the jutting edge of the automail through Ed’s jeans.  To his surprise, Ed’s head leaned into his, stirring him. Ling turned to see if Ed was asleep and was greeted with a face full of golden hair.

Ling moved carefully. Ed was fast asleep. He didn’t even seem to notice Ling’s arm move to circle around his shoulders. 

The memory of the dark, and the blood, and the souls crying out dimmed. Quieter, until Ling could almost convince himself those monsters had just been a bad dream. He ran his fingers through Ed’s hair and considered.

They’d grown closer, since their run in with Gluttony and the desperate run from Father’s base below Central. Since his introduction to Ling, both Envy and Wrath had been relentless in hunting him down. And still, he came here. Still, he waited out the nights with an anchor that told him the darkness was safe.

“You know, I’m going to use that stone eventually.” Ling kept his voice low. He didn’t actually want to confess anything to Ed. Not while the shorter man was sleeping so soundly. “No matter how it was made, I can’t let all my people die.”

Ed didn’t stir. Ling hummed. A thought twisted through his chest. “It would probably be better if you hated me now instead of later. But I just can’t bring myself to warn you. I’m a selfish, selfish man.”

Ling drifted off again eventually. It was hard to sleep on the couch without ending up awkwardly wrapped around Ed or falling off onto the hard wood.

When he woke in the morning, he was surprised to find Ed still leaning on his shoulder, fast asleep. The sun flooded the window and suddenly Ling was back in Xing, in his mother’s field. Strands of gold spilled between his fingertips.

“Xingese gold…” Ling murmured.

“What?” Ed yawned and sat up. “God, your breath stinks.”

Ling snorted. “You’re one to talk.”

Ling’s face burned. Every time he’d done this before, Ed had slept in his own bed. They’d come dangerously close to cuddling. With Ling’s increasing dependency on his visits with Ed, he wasn’t sure how to interpret the new developments. 

“What’s Xingese gold?” Ed stood and stretched. 

Ling smiled, remembering his mother sitting among the flowers. He pulled his book from his pocket. “I’ll show you.” 

The flower was faded and fragile. Ling didn’t dare move the flower off the paper. “Only my clan in Xing can grow this specific shade. My mother called it Xingese gold.”

“That’s… random.” Ed shrugged. 

“Just a dream, that’s all.” Ling stretched his grin wide again. “Though, your hair is the exact same shade.”

Ed’s cheeks tinged pink. “Hey, about last night…”

“No one has to know Edward Elric thought I looked cool when I fought the homunculus.” Ling patted Ed’s head, a motion he knew the short alchemist would hate. Ed fumed, but didn’t shout like Ling expected.

“Just so you know, Ling. If you accept that stone, I’ll fight it out of you.” Ed turned, picking up a new set of clothes for the day. “And if it kills you, it won’t make it to Xing to rule with your body.”

The anxiety in Ling’s chest burst. Fear, anger, worry splashed around his insides, coating his thoughts with an existential dread. Ed had heard him last night. Had heard him and rejected hating him.

Ling climbed into the window. 

Edward didn’t look back to see him leave.

Besides, no matter how Ling felt about what Ed had said, they both knew he’d be back when the darkness came.

[procrastinatorimagines]

Okay Part 4

Fandom: One Chicago

Series: Okay

Part 1 // Part 2 // Part 3 // Part 4 // Part 5 // Part 6 // Part 7 // Part 8 (Final)

Pairing: Halstead!Reader x Casey (eventually)

Warning/s: talk of death, arson, burns

Word Count: 1,722

Summary:  After narrowly escaping certain death you decided to turn your life around and become a firefighter, and although it wasn’t easy, you survived your first week at 51. Now, the strange circumstances of your very first fire lead you to a second, deadlier act. As you dig deeper, aided by your brothers and your new firehouse, you begin to realise just how in over your head you might be.

Tags: @alievans007​ // @louiselikeswriting

Jay was waiting for you as you and Casey pulled up outside of the hospital, heart pounding in your chest as you rushed out of the car towards him, mind racing. You weren’t at all surprised that Will had called him as well; someone was deliberately targeting this family. 

“Where are they?” You asked as you reached him, all three of you heading into Med together as Jay explained the situation. He looked tired, and frustrated, and you knew your brother well enough to know that he was angry with himself for not being able to do more in the beginning to help this case.

“Lily’s upstairs, she’s burned pretty bad on her arm but other than that, Will says that she’s going to be okay, they have her upstairs for observation, she took in smoke,” he explained and you swallowed hard, that little girl had just lost her mother and had barely made it out of her second fire in a week, she was anything but okay.

“What about the friend?” Matt asked, the look on Jay’s face being enough of an answer. 

He clenched his jaw and shook his head. “She didn’t make it, lost her soon after Will called you,” he told you, watching the look of horror you shared with Matt as you all got into the elevator. 

“Do we have, anything?” You gestured in the air with your arms, voice shaking with the same frustration you’d seen in your brother only moments before. As much as it horrified you, you knew that this wasn’t over. The mother hadn’t been home when the first fire was set, and Lily had been put somewhere she couldn’t escape, and now this fire... Someone was trying to kill this child, burn her alive. Who would do such a thing?

“The friend gave us something in the ambo, a black dodge charger drove the block a couple of times throughout the day, only stopped once just before the fire started,” Jay informed you. 

“License plate?” Matt asked, but you knew that it would be too good to be true before Jay even answered.

“Not yet, but we’re canvasing and checking cameras around the area,” he tried his best to sound optimistic, but you could tell it was waring thin.

Your blood was boiling as you got to the PICU, your hands in fists as Jay flagged down Will and Nat. Boden was there too, you realised, talking in hushed tones with Goodwin off to one side.

Matt and Boden shared an acknowledging nod before squeezing your shoulder, offering you a reassuring smile before heading off to talk to the chief. You headed straight for your brothers and Nat, trying your best to take some calming breaths. Getting worked up wouldn’t help Lily.

“Glad you made it,” Will said, following your eyes to where they landed on Lily in a room off to the left. 

“Where else would I be?” Lily was lying in the hospital bed, left arm bandaged up and the right maintaining a death grip on the stuffed bear you’d first found her with. Her hair had been burned too, currently in choppy and mismatched lengths, and with her white hospital gown she looked like a ghost.

Your heart was breaking as you watched her, only half listening to Will and Nat discuss her condition and situation. DCFS had been called obviously, but she hadn’t spoken to anyone and she wasn’t in a state to be discharged yet, not that they knew who to discharge her too at the moment. If she really was the target - who would she be safe with?

The conversation going on around you was probably one you should have been listening to intently, but you zoned out more and more as you watched Lily, barely blinking as she stared a head of her, softly crying to herself. She looked in shock, unsurprisingly. 

You still hadn’t gotten over the trauma of your first brush with death, the suffocating heat and blind panic woke you up in the middle of the night, panting and sweating, so tangled in your own sheets that it felt like you were tied up again. But you were a grown woman, and Lily was a 7 year old girl who, on top of now surviving two fires, had just lost her mom. 

Before you realised it, you’d gravitated away from the conversation towards the door to Lily’s room. The others didn’t stop you, no one else had had any luck getting her to talk but you thought that you might, remembering the way she’d clung to you during the first fire. 

She looked up when you knocked, looking even smaller than you remembered, and although she didn’t say you could enter, she didn’t tell you to leave either, so you slowly made your way inside, offering her a small smile and sympathetic eyes.  

“Hey Lily,” you greeted her, talking and moving slowly so as not to scare her, “do you mind if I sit?” You gestured to the end of the bed and although she still didn’t say anything, her eyes continued to follow you and she curled her legs under herself to give you more room. Sitting, you watched her carefully, her frightened movements, hollow and distant eyes, shallow breathing... 

You wanted to pull her into a hug, wrap her in your arms and keep her safe from the world. She didn’t deserve this, and whoever had done this wasn’t going to get away with it, you’d make sure.

“Do you remember me Lily? I’m Y/N.” You tried, her chin tilting a little in a slight nod. 

“Found me...” she managed to mumble, her voice tiny and hoarse. It was the first time you’d really heard her speak, her bottom lip trembling as she did.

You saw the door open out the corner of your eye and Matt slid in, smiling softly as he took a seat next to you on the bed. Lily didn’t object, she actually looked a little less afraid, definitely recognising the both of you.

“Hey Lily,” Matt said, “how are you feeling?” He was good with kids, you’d seen it in the few calls you’d been on involving children so far, and Lily seemed to visibly relax in his presence. 

“My arm feels funny,” she told you both, looking to the bandages on her burned arm. She must have been on some kind of painkillers, you realised, which might explain why she was still a little out of it.

“How about teddy? I don’t think I caught her name the first time we met,” Casey leaned over you slightly and bopped the bear on the nose. Lily gave the faintest smile, but it was something as Matt leaned back, still very close to you as you both tried to sit on the bed and give Lily her space.

“His name’s Matty Bear,” she hugged the bear closer to her, pulling it right up to her cheek. 

Matt grinned at the name, “you know, my name’s Matt too.” The little light that came back into her eyes warmed your heart as your eyes flicked between her and Matt.

“Really?” She asked, her voice getting a little louder and more confident. Matt nodded and she smiled, satisfied with his answer.

“My mommy gave her to me,” she explained, “do you know when she’s coming to get me?”

Your face fell and you turned to Matt, watching the smile disappear from his face. She had been told, you’d heard Will say that much at least.

“This sometimes happens in shock,” Matt whispered to you, “it’s probably best not to upset her now, she needs her sleep.” You knew he was right, but it was still hard to hear, this whole thing was hard. 

You did your best to plaster on a smile as you stood with Matt. “You know what? I’m not sure, how about we go check and you can get some rest okay?” You suggested, squeezing her leg as she nodded, eyes already fluttering closed as Matt held the door open for you looking glum.

When the door was closed you too a deep breath, meeting Jay and Will in the hall. “Did she give you anything?” Jay asked but you shook your head.

“She needs rest,” Matt told him and Will very much agreed.

“I don’t want to leave her,” you said to no one in particular.

“I know, but we have shift in the morning and you need to get at least some sleep,” Matt advised. You knew he was right, but still, you knew you weren’t going to sleep anyway.

“I’ll leave an officer with her just in case, and I spoke to Boden before he left, we’ll head to both crime scenes again tomorrow, go over everything step by step, hopefully we’ll have a lead on this charger by then too,” Jay told you, patting you on the arm as he left to answer his phone.

“And I’ll keep an eye on her tonight,” Will promised, leaving you with Matt, who was regarding you cautiously again. You knew why, while this wasn’t by any means a typical case, Matt had been doing this job a lot longer than you, and he was the only one who’d seen your panic attack during the first fire.

In all the commotion of this case, you weren’t even sure if he’d told Boden or anyone else about it or not, and you certainly hadn’t talked about it again, but you knew he was thinking about it now.

“I’m okay,” you insisted, standing up a little straighter.

“No you’re not, and I don’t expect you to be, I’m not okay Y/N,” Matt said, meeting the defensiveness in your eyes. “How about we go see Lily during shift tomorrow? If not, we can both go straight after, yeah?”

“Yeah,” you replied, grateful that Matt was facing this case with the same energy as you. 

“Now come on, I’ll drive you home,” he put a hand on your shoulder in comfort and support as you wandered back towards the elevator. 

You were exhausted, and you knew your shift tomorrow was going to be long, but you were determined; someone had tried to kill this little girl twice now, and you weren’t going to let it get to a third.

[taehyungs-perm]

strawberry girl pt 2

taehyung x reader; college au; childhood best friends to lovers au; jock!fratboy taehyung

genre: fluff; major angst lol

word count: 11k

summary: i can pretend i don’t miss you. i can pretend i dont care. all i want to do is kiss you. what a shame you’re not here

part 1 here  part 3 here; part 4 here; part 5

playlist vibes 

electric | alina baraz ft khalid

goodnight n go | ariana grande

here | alessia cara

teenage dream | katy perry 

floating | alina baraz ft khalid

singularity | bts

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------You woke up in a panic to the shrill sound of your phone alarm. You turned over to your side to shut off the alarm, briefly glancing at your roommate’s empty bed. 10:34. You rubbed your eyes while yawning, you had a restless night of sleep. You couldn’t stop thinking about Taehyung. You felt butterflies in your heart when you thought back to last night: the way he called you cute, the way he hugged you, the way he nuzzled the crook of your neck. But those warm feelings were immediately squashed when your phone buzzed. 

Tae: hey so i got a bit held up but i just need to shower and ill be at lilys! I’m sorry!! 🥺

Then, you remembered what actually went down last night. Jennie telling you Taehyung would never even look at someone like you, some girl grinding on Taehyung, and, oh yea, the fact that he fucked some girl last night and that’s definitely the reason why he’s late this morning. Your mind was swimming with thoughts. You exhaled deeply and sat up in your bed, staring at your wall covered in polaroids. Taehyung doesn't like me. Why would he like me? You’ve seen the girls he’s been with. They are so beautiful. How could someone like you even compare? 

You fell back into your pillows and wrapped your arms around your fluffy white pillow, hugging it. And you don’t like him either. You can’t. Because you can’t handle all the pain that comes with it. Your phone buzzed again.

Tae: should be there in 10

You: same

It was definitely a lie but you doubted Taehyung would be on time.

Tae: ur lying. Ur def just lying in ur bed. Bet ur still in pajamas 

How the fuck did he know you so well. 

You: 🖕🏽 

Tae: 🥰

God, he is such a headass you thought, shaking your head. You managed to pull yourself out of bed but all the while you got ready, you kept thinking about him. You wondered if he thought about you as much as you thought about him. Probably not. 

You were definitely 20 minutes late but you really didn’t care since it was just Taehyung. You pulled open the door of the diner and inhaled the scent of freshly cooked waffles and fried eggs. You scanned the restaurant and saw Taehyung sitting in a corner booth. He was wearing a light grey sweatshirt. You loved that sweatshirt. You thought he always looked adorable wearing it. You walked over and sat across from him. He was so absorbed in his texts that he didn’t notice you sit down. 

You stared at him and he still didn’t look up. Annoyed, you huffed loudly but he still was preoccupied in his phone. 

Fine. He’s being a little bitch then. You leaned over and flicked his forehead and he yelped loudly. 

“Ow! What the fuck was that for?” He said whining.

You huffed, “Oh shut up. I’ve been sitting here for like ever and you've been just staring at your phone.” 

He was rubbing his forehead, “Sorry I didn’t mean to ignore you. It’s just like there’s a lot happening at once.” 

You were about to ask him what was going on but then the waitress came by to take your orders.

You ordered chocolate chip waffles and Taehyung ordered 4 different dishes. You glared at him as the waitress took your menus away. 

“What? I’m hungry.” he said innocently.

“Whatever. You're paying. Anyways, what’s going on?” 

“Oh yea, so like we just have this huge game coming up next week. It’s against our rival school and it’s the championship game.”

You interrupted “It’s the championship game already?”

He gruffed, “You would know if you came to any of my games.” 

Oh shit. Taehyung had been asking you to come to at least one of his games, but you had been brushing it off. You had been giving him the excuse of having too much school work. The truth was you didn’t really want to go to his games and see his personal cheerleading squad on their knees for him. Hana went to a few games to see Jungkook play and she told you about them. Jennie was the leader of the group of the three girls and they were at every game, wearing their cheerleading uniforms, screaming Taehyung's name. The very notion of it made you feel nauseous so you just avoided going to any of his games just so you didn’t have to witness it. It’s not that you had a direct issue with the girls themselves but they were just a reminder that Taehyung would never look at you the same way he looked at them. 

“Oh sorry. I told you it w-“

He interjected, “Yea, I know you said you needed to study.” He looked upset. Fuck. The words came out of your mouth before you realized, “I promise I’ll be there for the game next Saturday.” 

His eyes lit up, “Really?”

You nodded, “Okay so continue.”

“Yea, so we are all really stressed about the game and like Hobi hyung wants us to practice everyday for like 3 to 4 hours until the big game. But like I’m trying to take school more seriously now, and I don’t know how I can manage that much soccer on top of school. Namjoon hyung is on my side but like there’s just this huge argument in our group chat right now.” Taehyung was rubbing circles on the temples of his head. 

His phone started buzzing, like he received a chain of texts. Then he growled. You were in shock. You had never seen Taehyung this pissed off before. 

“Then this fucking girl won’t leave me alone.”

You were kind of scared but you asked in a calm voice, “What girl?”

“The girl from last night. She keeps fucking texting me. She won’t stop.” 

“What’s she saying?”

“She keeps asking to hang out. And I don’t want to. I told her last night before anything happened that this was just a hookup. Just sex. And if she wanted something more or if she wasn’t okay with that, then I would stop. But she said she was fine with it. Then it took me forever for her to get out of my room this morning.”

“Taehyung!”

“What? “

“You kicked her out? That’s so mean!”

“I didn’t kick her out. I just said I had shit to do so I needed to get ready. But she wanted to stay and I thought she wanted to fuck again and like we did which is why I was late. But she’s still texting me. And I told her nicely that I just wanted to stay friends, but she’s relentless!”

“If she’s bothering you that much, just block her number.” 

“Can I? Would that be mean?”

“Well...kinda but like if she’s causing you stress then it’s fair.”

“Okay bet.”

He instantly looked relieved. He was about to say something but then the waitress arrived with your food.

After hearing about Taehyungs fuckboi antics from last night and apparently this morning, you suddenly lost your appetite. You started slowly cutting small pieces of your waffle. 

Taehyung asked in a concerned voice “Hey. Why aren’t you eating?”

“Oh. I’m just stressed. About school.”

Taehyung pointed his fork at you with his mouth full of waffles, “You need to find a stress outlet.”

You rolled your eyes, “I do have a stress outlet. I bake.”

He covered his mouth with his hand, laughing, “Clearly that’s doing jack shit. You need something better.”

You threw your hands up, exasperated, “What then? What do you suggest for a stress reliever?” Even though the cause of your lack of appetite wasn’t stress, you did feel like picking up new habits could help with your overall anxieties. 

Taehyung looked you straight in the eyes and said confidently, “Dick.”

You choked at his bluntness, “Excuse me?”

He shrugged and continued to shovel waffles in his mouth, “You need dick. You’re so tightly wound up. You just need some dick to relax”

You scoffed at his words, “Taehyung, unlike you my life doesn’t revolve around sex okay? I’m honestly doing perfectly fine on my own.”

He looked at you with serious concern, “Okay, tell me this when’s the last time you got laid.”

Oh god, you were not going to tell Taehyung about your completely nonexistent sex and romantic life. 

You forced your eyes to the table, looking at the marble pattern, “Uh it’s been awhile.”

He asked curiously, “How long like 2 weeks? Or..”

You moved your eyes to your plate and said quietly, “I don’t know.”

You were staring at the syrup patterns in your waffle and Taehyung seemed to be getting fed up, “Cmon _____ I tell you about my life, just tell me.”

You snapped, angrily glaring at him, “Taehyung it’s really fucking hard to get laid when you haven’t even kissed a guy yet.” 

You saw his eyes widen in shock. 

This is so fucking embarrassing. You covered your face with your hands, mortified.

Great now he thinks I’m a prude or a weirdo. With your million thoughts running through your mind, you realized that Taehyung was silent this whole time.

You couldn’t take the awkward silence anymore, “Okay, I’m going to leave since like it’s really fucking awkward now.” You began to slide out of the booth, but then Taehyung grabbed your hand, “No! Sorry I didn’t mean to make it weird. I’m just shocked I guess.”

You sunk back down into the booth seat and snatched your hand away from him. 

“I don’t really think it’s a big deal that you haven’t done anything but like is there a reason why?”

“I dunno. School is just like all I focus on so it’s kept me busy.” 

“That’s such bullshit. School doesn’t occupy every waking moment of your life so there’s obviously more to it.”

You racked your brain. There were many reasons why. One of them sitting across the table in front of you. You could give him a partial truth. You sighed and fiddled with your fingers, “Because I want my firsts to be with someone I love. I’m so scared of regretting it if I just gave away those special moments to someone who didn’t actually care about me.” You paused then continued, “It’s dumb I know.”

Taehyung smiled, “That’s not dumb at all. I had no idea you were a romantic.”

You squinted at him, “Yea well if you tell anyone I will personally see to it that Hoseok makes you run laps until you puke.”

Taehyung rubbed his forehead with his hand, “You give a fucking headache you know that right? There’s this one side of you that’s like an innocent naive romantic and there’s the other side of you that will start a fight with anyone who underestimates you.”

You took your straw wrapper, crumbled it, and flicked it at Taehyung, “Fuck off. I’m not that complicated.”

He, of course, dodged it, “It’s okay cause I’m the only who knows both sides of you” he said with a wink. 

You internally winced because he had no idea how right he was.

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

You left the diner about 20 minutes later as Taehyung said he had soccer practice soon and you needed to get some work done. You were going through your mental checklist of things that needed to be done: I need to go to the grocery store and pick up some actual food I need to revise for chemistry because there’s an exam coming up. You were so invested in your thoughts that as you unlocked your room door you didn’t hear the distinct voices coming from inside. 

Your thoughts of your checklist were interrupted as you saw Hana and Jungkook laying in her bed (fully clothed thank god).

Your eyes widened and your jaw dropped at the sight. At the beginning of their friends with benefits relationship, Hana made it very clear to Jungkook, they would never hook up in her room. As a result, Jungkook had never been over. You knew Jungkook from your writing course. You and him worked together sometimes, but you two weren’t close friends. 

“Hey _____,” Jungkook said from the bed, in a casual voice.

“Um hey Jungkook,” you tried to say as calmly as possible because, internally, you were freaking out. If he was here, it meant something had definitely changed with Hana and Jungkook’s relationship at the frat party last night. You made eye contact with Hana and her face was completely red.

“So where were you this morning ________?” Hana said, trying to maintain a calm demeanor.

You set your purse on the swivel chair next to your desk and held up your bag of uneaten waffles, “I was at breakfast with Tae.”

“Oh nice. Are those.... leftovers?” Jungkook said in an innocent voice.

You threw the bag at him and he caught it, “Go for it. I didn’t really have much of an appetite.”

“Bet thanks,” he said, opening the paper bag and pulling out the cardboard box containing your chocolate chip waffles.

Hana looked disgusted and exclaimed, “You are not eating on my bed and getting crumbs everywhere!” Before Jungkook could retort, Hana pushed him to the ground.

“Ouch!” He said rubbing his leg that he bumped against the side of the bed. 

The room was awkwardly silent because you and Hana were both staring at each other, trying your best not to laugh at the situation. 

Jungkook broke the silence in a careful tone with a mouth full of waffles,”I thought Taehyung was...ya know..with someone.” He looked back and forth between you and Hana.

You said quietly, “Yea...he was.”

Hana folded her arms across her chest and said forcefully, “I don’t get him, _______. Like he literally doesn’t make any sense. I saw him last night. He was being so flirty with you. But then he goes and fucks some random girl? He’s just making things so confusing for you.”

You sighed and looked at the ground, “There isn’t anything to be confused about. He doesn’t like me. And I don’t like him. We’re just friends.”

“Well, why do you sound so sad then?” Jungkook asked from the ground. Fuck I forgot he was here.

You snapped, “I’m not sad. I’m fine. I don’t give a shit about who Taehyung hooks up with.”

Jungkook raises his hands in defeat, “Okay okay. But like I want to say, I’ve spent a lot of time with Taehyung these past few months and I’ve never seen him happier. And I know it’s cause you are in his life again. I don’t really know what his feelings are but I do know that you mean a lot to him.”

What does that mean? Does that mean he could maybe like me? No that’s crazy. He’s still fucking different girls every weekend. He couldn’t do that if he had feelings for me. 

Hana shook her head, “I don’t know. This all feels really weird to me. Boys are so fucking oblivious. Men are trash.” Jungkook looked up at her and pouted. 

“Except for you...I guess” she said looking down at him

You were so shocked at what was happening in front of so you just blurted out, “Okay I really need to ask because I’m so fucking weirded out right now, but are you two together?”

Jungkooks jaw dropped and he turned to face Hana. He said, hurt, “You didn’t tell ________ about us?”

“Oh shut up Jungkook. We’ve literally been together since last night. When would I have told her?“

You cleared your throat, “Wait wait just to clarify....you two are dating?”

Jungkook stood up and wrapped his arms around Hana tightly,“Yep she’s my girlfriend.”

Hana nodded weakly, “Yea I’m dating this idiot.”

You clapped your hands together, “Oh my gosh I’m so happy for you two! I’ve been rooting for this since Jungkook sent you that candy bouquet.”

Jungkook's phone started ringing and he looked at you, “It’s your man.” He answered the call before you could say anything.

 “Hey man, what’s up?” Jungkook paused before his eyes widened in realization, “Oh fuck I completely forgot. I’ll be there now.”  

He hung up the call and quickly started putting on his shoes and jacket, “I forgot we had a practice scheduled for today. I’m so fucking late.” 

Hana rolled her eyes, “You are so clueless” 

Jungkook was about to leave but he walked over to Hana and planted a kiss on her cheek, “I’m your clueless boyfriend now.” 

You saw her cheeks turn red and you knew she was head over heels for Jeon Jungkook. 

“Ugh just go to practice,” she said trying to remain cool. 

“Bye ______! Bye, love! I’ll text you when I’m done.” he slammed the door shut.

You turned to Hana and smiled widely teasingly, “Someone’s in loveeee.” 

“God I hate this,” Hana said, drowning her face in a pillow. 

“You’re so whipped. But good thing he’s a simp too. You’re both perfect for each other.”

She removed her face from the pillow and looked at you with a love struck gaze, “I am so whipped. I really like him ________. And I really like being with him. I never thought I would say this but he makes me really happy.”

Your heart melted at her words. Hana was only this sappy when she really meant it. You felt a sudden ping of sadness in your heart. It’s not that you didn’t want it. You wanted love. You wanted romance. But in order for any of that to happen, someone has to like you back. Someone has to want you in that way. And that’s only something that could happen in your dreams because you had always been the girl no one had a crush on. So your fairytale romance was something that was unattainable for you. You knew if you voiced these thoughts to Hana, she would tell you that you needed to try first. That you needed to actually tell that special someone that you liked them. But you couldn’t do that because you were so afraid of rejection, so afraid of letting someone in and having them walk right out.

She noticed your change in expression softly, “Hey. What’s actually going on with Taehyung?” 

You laid flat on your bed and exhaled deeply, “I don’t know. I just know I feel really unsure but I really don’t think I like him. I also think I need to stop hanging out with him.” 

She didn't press further, “If you think that’s what you need, I’ll support you.”

“Thank you Hana.” You were glad she didn’t start any arguments with you. She just listened to your wishes. 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------You had been sitting in the library all morning trying to avoid Taehyung. Just all of the things that he did this past week had been making you feel ~things~ but you felt sure that you didn’t like him. You knew if you hid out in the library Taehyung would never find you mostly because you were certain he had never stepped foot in the library. You told Hana where you were and made her promise to not tell Taehyung so you were quite surprised when you heard a chair pull out in front of you and there was Taehyung and his mischievous smile.

“Hey strawberry girl,” he said plopping down in the chair in front of you.

You asked in a concerning tone, “Taehyung.... you realize you’re in the library right? Like you aren’t lost?” 

He was wearing black sweatpants with a plain white t-shirt. He looked like the dictionary definition of a fuckboi with his backwards black SnapBack on. With a confident smile on his face as he took out his laptop from his bag he stated, “Nope I’m exactly where I need to be.”

Alright what game is he playing? “What the fuck are you doing here?” you said in a harsh whisper. 

“You know what I realized? Everyone thinks you’re this naive innocent girl but I swear we have not had a single conversation where you didn’t say fuck.” He saw your pissed off face and then went on to say, “But if you are so curious, I’m here to do work. You’ve bailed on me all week claiming you had ‘work’ so here I am. You’ve really forced my hand. Bringing me to the library to study. Imagine that.”

“Taehyung, I came here to do work alone because you always distract me.”You looked up from your books and noticed the sly glint in his eye and realized what you had done. But it was too late. 

Taehyung broke out into his signature huge smile and said, “Oh so you find me distracting?”

“That’s not what I meant Taehyung. I mea-”

He ran his hand through his hair and raised his eyebrow at you, “Is it because of my insanely good looks or because of my witty charms?”

You dropped your head against the notebook lying out in front of you and then looked Taehyung directly in the eyes saying, “God, I hate you”

He raised his eyebrow in a cocky manner with a wide grin on his face, “You're lying.” 

“Oh fuck off.”

“It’s okay cause I know you love me.”

Your stomach did a flip flop. You caught yourself; he didn’t know anything because there was nothing to know. 

“How the fuck did you know I was here?” you said exasperated.

“Your best friend has a weak will. Maybe don’t trust her with secrets.” He then did his annoying wink that always sent chills up your spine. 

Why did Hana tell him? Whatever. It was too late now. You resumed taking your notes and luckily Taehyung was able to do his work quietly. 

You became absorbed in your biology textbook until you heard a squeal, “Taehyung!”

You looked up and saw a really pretty girl standing by your table. She looked vaguely familiar but you couldn’t place where exactly you had seen her. She had a huge smile on her face as she was intently staring at Taehyung. 

Taehyung looked up from his laptop with a bit of a shocked expression on his face. He glanced at you quickly and then looked at the girl, “oh hey Eunjae.”

She was twirling the front strand of her hair with her finger and giggled, “What are you doing here at the library? I’ve never seen you here before.”

He chuckled nervously and nodded his head to you, “I’m here studying with _________.”

She turned her head to you and flashed a gorgeous smile. You gave a smile back and then went back to looking at your notebook. “So what are you studying?” She said leaning her hands on the table, craning her neck to see his laptop. 

“Um I’m working on a paper. It’s due next week so I’m trying to work on it before I get busy with practice,” Taehyung said, typing on his computer. 

“Oh yea! The championship is next Saturday. I’m so excited to be there to cheer for you! I've been to every game this season so I would never miss your biggest game!” Eunjae said gushingly.

“Oh wow. That’s really nice of you to come to every game.” Taehyung said.

Ugh. If he’s going to flirt, why does he have to do it in front of me? You tried hard to focus on your biology notes but the conversation between Eunjae and Taehyung was especially distracting. You were hoping she would leave soon so you could study in peace but once she pulled out the chair next to Taehyung to sit down, you knew she wasn’t planning on leaving anytime soon. 

You tried to tune out their conversation but something Eunjae said caught your attention. You weren’t sure exactly how Eunjae and Taehyung knew each other. You figured it was because she came to every game but even Taehyung didn’t know that. Then she said softly, but definitely loud enough for you to hear, “You know, Tae, I had a really good time with you last weekend. I was wondering if we could maybe hang out this weekend or something.”

Last weekend? Then it clicked. Eunjae was the girl at the frat party. She was the girl who was sitting on Taehyung's lap. I guess Taehyung never actually blocked her number. Of course he wouldn’t. She’s a really pretty girl giving him attention. You internally rolled your eyes. 

You heard Taehyung clear his throat, “Uh yea. That sounds good. But like this would be just as friends?“

She gave a high pitch laugh “Of course! I just want us to be friends. And then I mean, whatever happens, happens right?”

Taehyung said, “Yea I mean that’s fine with me.”

You hoped the conversation would end there because it was becoming excruciatingly awkward for you since both of them were blatantly ignoring your presence. But of course it didn’t end there, and Eunjae began talking about the cheer team to Taehyung. 

You didn’t want to be rude but you honestly felt yourself losing brain cells at this conversation. 

You had enough of their flirting because it was distracting you from doing your work. Not because you were jealous or anything. You closed your notebook and started packing your stuff. The sound of your backpack zipper caught Taehyung's attention and snapped him out of his conversation with Eunjae. 

“Hey _______ you're done studying?”

You didn’t really wanna want to get into a conversation with Taeyhyung so you simply nodded.

But of course Taehyung wasn’t satisfied, “So what are you doing now?”

You rolled your eyes. Why couldn’t he for once mind his own business? Eunjae desperately wanted his attention. Why couldn’t he just give it to her and not involve you?

“Back to my dorm.” you said not looking at him. “Bye Eunjae. Bye Tae.” And you stalked off.

You didn’t look back at him. 

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

You were going to murder Hana. You told her specifically not to tell Taehyung where you were. But what did she do? She told taehyung.

You burst your room dorm open and there she was laying on her bed, with her laptop balanced on her knees.

You smiled sweetly at her, “Hana, I'm going to kill you.”

“Perfect, because I’m really sick of studying for chemistry and if you could kill me before our exam next Wednesday, that would be great.” she said excitedly. 

You dumped your stuff on the ground and jumped onto your bed, “Maybe then I won’t kill you, so you can suffer.” 

She laughed, “Okay okay but what did I do?”

You tapped your index finger to your cheek, pretending to think, “Um...lemme jog your memory. Did a certain headass ask where I was today?”

Her smile dropped from her face, “Oh fuck.”

“Yea oh fuck. I told you that no matter what, Kim Taehyung was to not find me. What happened?” you exclaimed as you slammed your head against your pillow. 

Hana sat up straight in her bed, crossing her legs beneath her, “I’m sorry okay! I really did try to keep it a secret but he came over here because you weren't answering your phone. And I told him you were busy and he just kept on badgering me. I ended up telling him to shut him up.”

“Ugh. He actually came here? That’s so gross. Did he say what he wanted?”

“No he just said he needed to see you. Did he ask you anything at the library?”

You thought about it for a minute, “No he didn’t ask me anything.”

“Well then,” Hana said in a smug voice, crossing her arms. 

You turned your head to face her, “What?”

“It’s obvious _______.”

“What’s obvious?”

“Oh my gosh how are you this dense? He likes you.”

You scoffed in disbelief, “He doesn’t.”

“Cmon _______. When he came in here he was begging for me to tell him where you were, it was annoying but he was so genuine. I can tell there’s something.”

“There’s nothing.” you said flatly, turning away from Hana.

She said insistingly, “Why are you being so negative about this? He’s trying so much with you!”

You closed your eyes and took a deep breath, “Hana, I can’t fucking like him. I did once and it fucked me over.”

She went quiet. “What happened?”

“When we were highschool, I liked him. I’m pretty sure I loved Tae. And I was so sure he felt the same way. He gave me so much attention just like now. He cared about me so much. I was so convinced he liked me too. And when I was going to tell him, he said he started dating someone. And that someone became his forever for highschool. It fucking hurted so much, seeing him with her. It broke my heart over and over. And I just needed to get the fuck away from him. Because the worst part was, he had no fucking idea I was hurting so bad. So yea, I don’t think he likes me and even so, I don’t like him anymore. I honestly don’t have the emotional capacity to fall in love again.”

Hana whispered, “I’m sorry. I think you’ve moved on and I don’t want you to go through it again. Whatever it is, I’ll be there for you. I’ll help you keep your distance from Taehyung.”

You opened your eyes and looked at her. You were so grateful to have such an understanding friend like Hana,  “Thanks. You’re such a good friend.” 

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

Your plan to keep distance from Taehyung was going down the drain really quickly. It started off with an unlikely text.

Jimin: hey ________ this is last minute but i had an idea. This is jimin btw.

Jimin texting you was a bit out of place. You had only exchanged brief hellos and words when you encountered each other. 

You: hey jimin. whats ur idea 

Jimin: taes birthday is during break so I was thinking we could surprise him and celebrate it early. 

You: when were you thinking 

Jimin: this Saturday. That way we can all have some fun before finals and the soccer match 

This Saturday was a bit soon but you figured if anyone could pull it off, it was Jimin. 

You: sounds good. But we better start planning right away

Jimin: already on it. Jin hyung said we could use his apartment 

Kim Seokjin. You hadn’t personally met the guy but you knew he was on the soccer team and in the BTS frat. However, since he was a senior, he lived in an apartment off campus. 

You: bet. We need to figure out food, desserts, and invites 

Jimin: do you want to meet up tonight to figure out all the details 

You: sure. 

Jimin: you can come by the frat tonight. Taehyung will probably be out.

After finishing some homework, you grabbed your jacket and walked over to the BTS frat. As you approached the door, you saw Jungkook and Hana leaving. 

“_______? Are you here to see Taehyung? I think he just left,”  she said with concerning eyes.

“Hey Hana. I’m actually here to see Jimin.”

Her mouth gaped open but before she could ask you any questions Jungkook pulled her along.

“Sorry, love, but you can interrogate ______ later. We’re going to be late!”

“Bye Hana! “ you called as she waved bye.

You walked into the house and saw Jimin sitting there with Namjoon and Hoseok. You knew Namjoon because he was your biology lab TA. He had helped you with many frustrating biology labs and he was probably the only reason why you were passing the class. You only heard about Hobi from Tae’s stories of soccer practice. 

“Hey_____!” `Jimin called motioning for you to sit down.

“Hey,” you gave a little wave to all of them. 

Hobi smiled brightly “I don’t think we’ve met properly but I’m Hobi. “

You smiled and introduced yourself to him. 

“Finished with your biology lab presentation?” Namjoon said with his dimpled smile. 

You chuckled nervously and brushed your hair behind your ear “Uhh working on it. It’s taking much longer than I thought it would.”

“Phylum Nematoda is definitely a hard topic because there’s not that much information,” he said understandingly.

“I know and it’s jus-“

Jimin interjected your incoming rant, “As riveting biology lab is, we are here for a reason.”

“Right! So Yoongi is taking care of the catering. He has a family restaurant that he claims served the best korean food in the area so we don’t need to worry about that,” Hobi said reading off his phone.

“And Jimin knows all of Taehyung's friends so he will take care of all the invites,” Namjoon said.

“And all there’s left is the theme and desserts,” Jimin confidently stated.

You were confused “Theme? Why do we need a theme?”

“It would be fun ________!” Jimin said. “It can be lowkey but I was thinking we should do a formal theme. To appeal to Taehyung's bougie side.”

You thought for a moment and nodded, “Taehyung honestly does love getting dressed up.”

Hobi stood up from the couch and said, “Okay so then it’s settled. Everything is planned.”

Namjoon laughed and you chimed in, “Not yet. But I can take care of the last part. I’ll order a cake for Taehyung and have it delivered to Jin’s apartment.”

Jimin stood up and stretched his arms, “Okay, now everything is planned.”

You got up and said goodbye to Namjoon and Hobi as Jimin walked with you to the door. 

Jimin smiled at you, “Thanks for coming and helping us plan this. Taehyung’s going to love it. He’ll definitely surprised”

You both stepped outside and stood on the porch. “I mean I’m not sure how much I’m doing but I'm glad to help,” You said with a light laugh. 

“Well we’ll try to clean up Jin hyung’s apartment and decorate it on Saturday before the party. If you're free, we could definitely use the help then.”

“Yea I’ll be there. You can text me the details.”

You were about to head down the steps and say bye to Jimin when you saw Taehyung and someone else walking up to the house. 

You were trying to see if there was maybe a way you could hide from him or leave from a side path but it was too late. Taehyung had seen you.

“_______! You’re here? You didn’t tell me you would be coming over” he said walking onto the porch. You didn’t recognize the girl he was with but with her arms wrapped around Taehyung, it was clear that they were going to hook up. 

You gave Jimin a panicked look. Before you could say anything Jimin put his arm around your shoulder, just like how Taehyung did at the party, and said, “Well she wasn’t here to see you. She was here to hang out with me.”

You smiled weakly ,“Yep. Jimin and I were just studying chemistry. We have an exam coming up/”

“Yep chemistry,” he said nodding.

Taehyung had a weird look as if he were mad or something. His eyes lit up with a dangerous, angry glint that sent a shiver down your spine, “Oh. That’s nice. I didn’t realize you guys studied together.” 

You knew Taehyung well enough to know that he was using his fake polite voice. Jimin glanced at you and you realized he also knew that Taehyung was angry.

“I just was having some trouble and _______ said she would help.” 

Taehyung's eyes narrowed, “Maybe you should just get a tutor next time.”

You could sense the tension escalating, “Yea that’s probably for the best. I don’t think I was very helpful anyways.”

Taehyung opened his mouth to say some retort but the girl by his side whined, “Taehyung, can we please go inside?”

You smirked. Taehyung had been kind of irritating you with his weird interrogation so you plastered a fake smile and said in a fake sweet voice “Yea Taehyung. You should go inside. It’s getting cold out here. Bye Jimin.” You waved bye to Jimin and gave a glare to Taehyung.

God, boys give you a fucking migraine.

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

You and Taehyung had been in that weird fight for about a day before things went back to normal. He just texted you as if nothing happened 

Tae: are you busy Saturday night?

Saturday evening was Taehyung's surprise party so hopefully he wasn’t making plans then.

You: uh not sure yet. What’s up?

Tae: the guys are having a dinner to like get hyped for the game next week. Do u wanna come?

Ah. That must have been the excuse to get Taehyung to Jin’s apartment.

You: lolll no way. but try to have fun and not stress out about the game 

Tae: ugh ig. wish you wanted to come tho :(

You: we can hang out some another time. 

Tae: you say that EVERYTIME.

You: i mean it this time 

Tae: i’m holding you to it 🍓 girl

You turned off your phone and tried to fall asleep but the warm fuzzy feeling in your heart kept you awake. The sound of your phone ringing woke you up. 

You answered the phone groggily “Hello?”

“_______? Did you just wake up? I told you I was going to pick you up at 9:30!”

You looked at your phone. 9:21. Fuck. 

“I’m up and ready Jimin. No need to freak out.”

“Good cause I’ll be there in five.”

Hana groaned from her bed, “Why are you up this early?” 

“I have to go help set up but I should be back by 4.”

“You better. We have to get ready together.”

You quickly brushed, washed your face, and pulled on sweatpants and a hoodie. By the time you had your shoes on, Jimin was texting you to come outside. You said bye to Hana and raced out the door. You spotted Jimin waving in his black Audi and jumped in the car. You and Jimin chatted on the way there. You found yourself actually enjoying Jimin's company. He was very smart which you already knew since he was taking the same pre-med courses as you but he was also very sweet and funny. He pulled up to a very tall apartment building and you both got out of the car. You helped take out some of the boxes from Jimin's trunk that had tablecloths, plates, and other silverware. You two made your way up to the 7th floor where Jin lived. Jimin led you to his door and knocked. The door swung open and there was Kim seokjin. 

“Jimin! You’re late! It’s 9:41 and you said you would be here by 9:40.”

“Shut up, hyung,” he said, shaking his head.

You got a good look at Jin and he looked like he came off of the vogue runway with his blue button down tucked into brown slacks. Were all of Taehyung's friends seriously good looking? You finally understood why there was so much hype around them. They were all hardworking, handsome, but also genuinely kind, funny, down to earth guys. 

Jin took the box from your arms and said, “You must be ________. Nice to finally meet you. I’m Jin. I’m the most handsome and funny one of the BTS frat.”

You were taken aback by his forward ness but went along with his comment, “I mean your only competition is Taehyung and Jimin so no wonder that is.”

He laughed loudly, “See even she agrees and she just met me Jimin.”

Jimin rolled his eyes as he put down the boxes, “You can’t encourage him. It’ll only get worse”

Jimin, Jin and you cleaned his apartment and began to decorate. After listening to what it seemed like the 30th dad joke from Jin, you heard the doorbell ring. Jimin went over to the door and it was a guy who looked like Jin’s age carrying foil covered trays. He was wearing an oversized flannel and black skinny jeans. 

“I brought the food but there’s still a shit ton more trays in my car,” he said as he entered. 

He placed the trays in the kitchen and looked at you, “Who are you?”

“I’m _______” you said as you took the tray Jimin handed to you.

“Ah you're Taehyungie's girl. I’m yoongi, one of his hyungs on the team.”

You placed the tray on the table, “Nice to meet you. But I’m not Taehyung's girl. Just a friend.”

He laughed, “Maybe you should tell him that. He’s constantly talking about you. ________ made me cupcakes. ________ helped me study. ________ went to breakfast with me.“

You fought back a blush and said in a bored tone, “Yea well, We’re just friends. He doesn’t like me and I don’t like him. I’m so sure at this party he won’t even talk to me. I bet he’ll be busy with Jennie or something.” You felt like Taehyung always got distracted with other people whenever you guys went out. That’s why it always ended with you ditching Taehyung. 

“Really? I’ll take that bet. $20?” Yoongi stuck out his hand.

“Bet,” you said, shaking his hand. “He has to imitate the conversation and it can’t be small talk.”

Yoongi nodded in agreement picking up a tray and putting it in the oven,“Can’t wait to make $20 tonight.”

“In your dreams.” you said as you helped him put another tray in the oven.

The cake you ordered got delivered and Jin placed the large strawberry chocolate cake in the fridge. 

Since everything was ready, you and Jimin were about to head out from Jin's apartment. 

Hobi called from the kitchen in a stern voice, “You both have to be here by 7:30 otherwise I will make you run laps.” 

You and Jimin laughed and said goodbye to Hobi.

By the time you got to your dorm, you were kinda exhausted but Hana wouldn't hear it.

“Get up!” She said tugging your arm as you laid on your bed. You reluctantly got up and got ready with Hana. Hana had to force you to actually buy a nice outfit for Taehyung's birthday because you had left most of your nice clothing at home. You helped lace up the back of Hana’s dress and looked at her in admiration. She was wearing a satin navy blue dress that coordinated perfectly with Jungkook's navy suit. 

You opted for a floor length skirt that was black with dark pink and white flowers and simple black top. 

Once you and Hana were finally ready your phone read 7:15. Hana and you raced out the door after putting on your shoes and found Jungkook leaning against his car outside. 

He walked up to Hana and placed a kiss on her cheek and smiled, “Wow, love, you look...so beautiful. I mean you always do but wow.”

Hana gave a shy laugh ,“You have such a way with words. You look handsome too, I guess. C'mon we have to go! Hobi is going to kill us.”

Jungkook opened the door for Hana and looked at you and smirked, “Wow ________ not wearing jeans. It’s a fucking miracle. But I guess she’ll do anything for Tae. Am I right?” 

He opened the door for you and you narrowed your eyes at him, “I suggest you watch it Jeon Jungkook if you still want me to proofread your next essay.” 

He smirked at you as he hopped into the driver's seat and drove to Jin's apartment. 

You hadn’t realized how many people Jimin invited until you went up into Jin's apartment. Jimin had invited, of course, Jennie and the cheerleading squad, some guys from some other frats like EXO and ATEEZ and sororities like TWICE and LOONA. It honestly felt like way too many people but Taehyung was a social butterfly.

By 8:00 Namjoon arrived at Jin's apartment with Taehyung in tow. The surprise went well but you couldn’t really see much as you lingered in the back of the crowd with Yoongi. 

“You know you can’t actively hide from Taehyung. That’s not a part of the bet,” Yoongi said as he shoved his hands in his dress pants pockets. 

“I’m not actively hiding. I just don’t like crowds,” You said shrugging your shoulders. 

Yoongi nodded, understanding the feeling. You got a glimpse of Taehyung and he looked like he just got off of a photo shoot for GQ with his black curly hair and silver earrings. He was wearing a fitting black suit with white shirt and black Tie. Instead of a handkerchief, he had a dark pink carnation pinned to his suit jacket. He was saying hello to everyone, greeting all of his guests in a friendly manner and genuinely chatting with them. You really liked that about Taehyung. He obviously had his people he didn’t like but he was always kind to everyone. He was heading in your direction but Taehyung got pulled aside by Jennie. She pulled him to the couch and practically sat on top of him. Jennie looked really pretty wearing a short satin dark green dress. You sighed, once again feeling those familiar feelings of insecurity. You knew once Jennie got to Taehyung, he would be completely distracted by her. Well at least I’ll get $20 out of it. You sat down on the opposite side of the couch and looked around.

Hana was dancing with Jungkook. Hobi and Jin were trying to get more people up and having fun. Namjoon was with his girlfriend, talking with Yoongi and a couple other guys. 

You were wondering where Jimin went but then you felt someone sit next to you on the couch and heard his voice, “Hey _________ why aren’t you dancing?”

You turned to Jimin and saw his beautiful smile flashing at you, “Not really one for dancing I guess. Hana’s the one who dances.”

“Bullshit. Everyone dances. You just gotta be comfortable and have fun.”

“I guess.” You shrugged “There’s just a lot of people here.”

He smiled sheepishly, “Yea I guess I went overboard with the invites.”

“Well I mean as long as Taehyung is enjoying himself,” you said trailing off and glancing in the direction of him. Jennie was still on him, with her hands traveling on his jacket and his tie. You felt a bit nauseous at the sight. 

“I think Taehyung is having a good time,” Jimin said laughing at him and Jennie.

You felt that Jimin might have sensed a bit of sadness from you at the fact that you had worked hard on this party for Taehyung and he wasn’t even talking to you as Jimin spent the next hour or so sitting and talking with you. 

You could totally understand how Jimin got so many girls with his enchanting smile and charming personality. Your conversation about the stupidity of learning about the cow digestive system in biology was interrupted by Hobi calling everyone over to cut the cake.

Jin placed the cake you had specially ordered for Taehyung in front of him. Taehyung glanced at you for a second because who else would get him a cake covered in your shared favorite fruit. Jennie clung to his arm and squealed, “Okay let’s sing!” 

After singing happy birthday, Jin sliced the cake while you and Yoongi took out the food. 

“Seems like you’ll be giving me $20 tonight,” you said softly to Yoongi. 

“Hmm, I'm still pretty confident. A little hindered for sure, but I do think you’ll be the one losing twenty bucks,” he said smoothly, uncovering the foil from the trays.

You shook your head and resumed sitting on the couch while everyone got food and cake.

You were scrolling through Instagram and suddenly felt your arm being pulled.

By the time you fully registered what was going on, you realized you were being dragged to the guest bedroom in Jin's apartment. 

“Ow what the fuck!” You exclaimed, yanking your arm from the person's grip. You looked up and you saw Kim Taehyung.

He closed the door of the bedroom and walked right up to you. You had to almost crane your neck to look up at him. He looked pissed off. It was kinda hard to tell because his curls covered his eyes slightly but you could tell by his silence he was mad. But you were annoyed at his behavior: him ignoring you all night, Jennie being all over him, and him physically dragging you from the party.

You crossed your arms, “What’s your problem Taehyung? Why did you do that?”

Probably not the best way to start off a conversation with the birthday boy but you didn’t really care.

“Excuse me? You’re asking me what my problem is?” Had his voice always been this deep or is it because he’s angry?

“That’s what I fucking said, right?” You said back aggressively. 

Then he growled. You had never been particularly intimidated by Taehyung but right now, you were questioning all of that. 

“How about the fact that you didn’t talk to me all night? It’s my party for me and you spent the entire night eye fucking Park Jimin. You were talking to him all night and didn’t say a word to me!” He leaned his face closely to yours. His eyes were a fierce obsidian. You could smell his cologne, your knees went weak.

Why the fuck was he acting like this? Was he being jealous or was he actually just mad his friend didn’t say hi? Probably the second one.

You put crossed your arms defensively and stabbed your index finger into his chest, refusing to back down, “Okay Taehyung, chill the fuck out. I was just talking to Jimin because he sat next to me and actually talked to me. You literally went and said hi to everyone but me so it seems like you were ignoring me. Also, how could I come and talk to you when Jennie was sitting on your dick the entire party?”

He scoffed at you, “She wasn’t sitting on my dick. You could have walked over and just said hi. I don’t get why you’re hanging out so much. You’re mine.”

You widened your eyes at his words but before you could say anything He cleared his throat, “I mean you’re my friend.”

You were getting fed up with Taehyung's childish behavior, “Okay first of all, we are just friends. And I’m allowed to have other friends that aren’t you. And you don’t get to say anything about me talking to Jimin because that’s more than you did. Sometimes, I don’t understand you, Taehyung. I never say anything about the way you live your life so why are you saying shit about mine. But I guess if it isn’t clear enough, Jimin and I are friends and if your whiny male ego can’t handle that, then maybe we shouldn’t be friends.” You narrowed your eyes at him and then left the room.  

You were furious. How dare he say anything about you when all you do is try to be a good friend? This just reaffirmed your feelings about Taehyung: you didn’t like him. He was completely reckless. He was being so weirdly possessive and jealous even though you two were not dating and didn’t have feelings for each other. 

You put your face in your hands and sighed deeply. You felt completely drained and just wanted to go back to your bed to curl up and watch a documentary. These past couple weeks had been so busy that you barely stress baked other than the cookies you made on Monday.

You felt someone sit besides you on the couch and you peeked out of your hands. It was Taehyung. His head hung low with his curls completely covering his eyes.

He whispered in a hoarse voice, “I’m sorry. I'm a dick. And inconsiderate. And a jerk. And I shouldn’t have said those things. I don’t know why I did but I did. And I’m sorry.”

He looked at you and you saw his puppy dog eyes and melted immediately. How the fuck does he have so much control over you?

“It’s okay,” you said quietly

“No it’s not. You didn’t deserve that. You literally planned this party for me. You’re such a caring friend and I’m an asshat.”

You laughed softly, “I mean that’s true but it’s okay cause I know you're sorry.”

“Do you wanna get out of here?”

“What? Like leave?”

“Yea. I like this party and all but it's getting a little hard to breathe in here,” He said tugging on his shirt collar.

You laughed, “I’m always down to ditch a party.”

He pulled you up by the hand and led you through the crowd. He grabbed something from one of the coats hanging by the door and walked out of Jin's apartment with you in tow. You honestly had no idea where you were going but Taehyung kept a firm grip on your hand as he pressed the G button on the elevator. 

“Taehyung where are we going?” You said insistently. 

“Just relax. Don’t worry. I’ll bring you back to his apartment in one piece,” He said with that iconic mischievous glint in his eye. He led you to Jimin's black audi and opened the door for you. You got in and then he got into the driver's seat.

“Does Jimin know you took his car?” you said pointedly. 

“Jimins has been pissing me off and it’s my birthday so he’ll be fine,” Taehyung said as he put his hand behind your chair looking to the rear view window to back up.

You kinda forgot about the destination part of the journey as Taehyung drove. You got lost in the moment of chatting with him about his friends while The Weeknd played in the background. You snapped back to reality when Taehyung put the car in park and you looked around. He had parked in a vacant parking lot overlooking the sea. You stepped out of the car and heard the soft crashing of waves. The scent of salt water immediately relaxed you.

“Nice right?” Taehyung said, making his way to the hood of the car. 

You nodded, taking in the beauty and calming scenery, “How did you find this place?”

“I came out to take photos this morning and I drove around the area and stumbled on this place. I knew you would love it.” He sat on the hood of the car and patted the space next to him. You hopped onto the hood of the car and stared at Taehyung. You were always aware that Taehyung was insanely good looking but moments like this where you two were alone and you could clearly see him made you really appreciate everything about him. His boyish innocence, his kind nature, his ability to actually apologize for his actions. It only took the words ‘I’m sorry’ from Taehyung to make you forgive him. 

Your eyes drifted to shine that caught your eyes. It came from the rings on his hands. His fucking hands. How the fuck did Taehyung make hands look attractive? You loved the way he wore simple silver rings on his long fingers, the way he always wore the same three bracelets on his wrists, and his vintage Cartier watch on his right hand he received from his parents. You realized you had been staring at his hands for quite some time because he waved his hand in front of your face and said, “Hello? Earth to _______? Why are you staring at my hands?”

You felt a blush creep over your face.“Oh sorry. I just was looking at your rings. It’s cool,” You tried to say as nonchalantly as possible. 

“Thanks. I saw Jimin wearing rings the other day and it looked really good so I decided to incorporate it into my style.“

You cleared your throat, trying to change the subject, “So are you and Jennie like together or?”

He chuckled nervously and started to mess with hair like he usually did when he was getting nervous, “No. I mean like we fuck occasionally but like we aren’t an official couple.”

“Oh. That makes sense. I just wasn’t sure with the way she was acting today. It seemed like you guys were a couple. Other than the fact you weren’t matching.” You said with a small laugh.

“Yea. I’m honestly not sure why she’s like that. Whenever she sees me when there are other people around, she gets so clingy. And I don’t really know what to say to her because I’ve made it clear that it’s just sex,” he said, adjusting his watch on his hand. Then he looked at you, “Why do you ask?”

“Oh no reason. Just wanted to make sure.”

“Why? If I said we were together, would you ditch me again?” Taehyung said in a serious tone. 

You realized he was referencing how you two became distant once he started dating Yejin. 

“Taehyung, it’s more complicated than that.”

“Why is it complicated? You gave me a completely bullshit answer when I asked you.”

You sighed and turned your gaze away from him to the blue sea in front of you, “Because Tae, you can’t have a girlfriend and a girl best friend. Your girlfriend should be your girl best friend. Having both makes things complicated and I didn’t want to fuck anything up between you and Yejin. It was just easier to become distant from you.” That was partly the truth. You didn’t want to be that girl in the relationship and you truly felt that Yejin and Taehyung's relationship deserved to grow without any obstacles. Because that’s what you were: an obstacle in their love. 

Taehyung gently placed his hand over yours, “I wish you told me that. I thought you hated me or something.”

You tore your gaze from the crashing waves and looked into Taehyung's dark eyes “I could never hate you.”

He smiled  and winked, “Don’t worry. I know that strawberry girl. It’s comforting to know you’re just as whipped for me as I am for you.” 

You pushed his shoulder, “Shut up. I’m not fucking whipped for your dumbass.”

He went quiet for a moment and looked deep into your eyes, “I think it’s really sweet you're waiting for love. That you want to experience your firsts with someone you love.”

“You don’t have to say that. It’s really fucking lame.” you said, playing with the ends of your hair, twisting the strands around your fingers. 

“I don't think so. It actually makes perfect sense for you.”

“What do you mean?” you said confused, not understanding what he was saying.

“I mean there's a lot of different types of girls. Some like to fuck different people and some would rather not. And that's all fine because everyone has their preferences and a right to live their life the way they want to. I think girls like you are meant for something lasting, girls like you are meant for love.” 

You wish you could tell him all of your insecurities about love and romance; that you couldn't possibly fathom someone liking you back but of course, you had insecurities about talking about your insecurities. 

All you said was, “One day.”

“I think you’ll find the love of your life soon. You better introduce me to him right away.” He said chuckling, bumping his shoulder against yours.

It was getting really dark but you and Taehyung kept talking as if you had all the time in the world. 

“Okay, what’s your favorite quote?” Taehyung excitedly asked. He always came up with the most random but interesting questions to ask you. 

“Like from a movie or book or show or poetry?”

“Anything. I know you watch and read a lot of stuff so you must have some lines that have stuck with you.” 

“Um. Lemme think. You have to do yours too.”

“Okay bet. Well mine is ‘I wish they would only take me as I am’. Van Gogh said it,” he said in a soft tone. 

“Why do you like it?” 

“I just...feel like everyone has this perception of me you know? And I have to live up to it.”

“What perception do you think people have of you?”

“I guess the perception that I’m some stupid frat boy who only cares about soccer. I can’t have things I care about like photography or school. I constantly have to be this upbeat happy guy. I can’t have other feelings than that. I can’t have people I care about like my hyungs or you. And I’m automatically a douche for sleeping around. I mean I just wish people understood that I never try to fuck with feelings and I’m always upfront about everything. And no one ever wants to talk to me and get to know who I am. It feels like everyone wants something from me. I just wish” he exhaled deeply, like all of his anxieties were coming out of him, “that people took me as I am.”

You were quiet for a moment. Taehyung had a lot of expectations weighing on him and you had never really considered this internal conflict he was having. You said sincerely, “I hope you get to a point in your life where you don’t have to pretend for other people.”

“I don’t have to pretend when I’m with you.”

You smiled at him “I like the real Taehyung. The one who likes sitting by the ocean and taking pictures of his friends.”

He leaned back on his arms “I’m hoping other people will too. Okay, your turn.”

“Um okay, so mine is from a book. ‘Each of us is more than the worst thing we’ve ever done’. It’s from the book Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson.”

“Why do you like that quote?” 

You thought for a moment carefully choosing your words, “Because so many people are hard on themselves. Myself included. And we like to beat ourselves up for the mistakes we made. Just dwell on it and let these mistakes define us. It’s hard to pick yourself back up and move forward. But I guess that quote gives me hope. For myself, for humanity.”

Taehyung nodded “I agree. It’s beautiful. I think, humans as a whole, we just are wired to constantly critique ourselves.”

You added, “And also, as a society, we tend to dehumanize anyone who does make a mistake. Like with our system of law and order. Our entire justice system is fucked and is a form of systemic racism that cultivates a binary understanding of morality. It punishes individuals who make mistakes rather than working on reform. It’s just-” you realized you had been talking for a while and turned red, “Sorry I kinda just went off there”

Taehyung just stared at you with awe, “No I like hearing you talk. You’re so fucking smart. Keep going, I wanna hear more about how our justice system is fucked.”

You felt your heart flutter at his words. You continued to explain to Taehyung about the internalized racism in the American justice system and the contemporary issues that are rooted in the systemic oppression of people of color as he listened intently. 

After talking for a little while longer, Taehyung glanced at his watch. “It’s almost midnight. We should probably head back.” 

You agreed and went to the car. The drive back was peaceful, with you two just enjoying each other’s company. Taehyung parked Jimin's car and you guys headed up to Jin’s apartment.

Before you knocked on Jin's apartment door, Taehyung pulled you to the side. He was holding your hand gently, “Hey. I’m really sorry for how I acted today. It was really bad and you had every right to be mad at me.”

“Tae I told you. It’s okay I’m over it.”

“I know. Thanks for making this night fun.” Then he leaned and planted a kiss on your forehead. You felt his warmth envelop you. Your cheeks turned red immediately and you felt your heart pounding. It felt like time had slowed down as his eyes completely entranced yours. Completely mesmerized, you thought, All I really want to know is what’s running through your mind when you look at me.

You tried to ignore the feeling of your heart melting so you crossed your arms defensively and retorted, “Even though you ditched the fucking party I planned.”

He smirked and knocked on Jin's door, “We both know you wanted to leave.”

Yoongi opened the door and when he saw the two of you standing at the door, a huge smile spread on his face,  “Well. Look who it is. I guess the lovely matching couple finally decided to join the party.”

You and Taehyung looked at each other. Fuck. It does look like you’re matching. Taehyung's dark pink carnation pinned to his black and white suit coordinated perfectly with your pink and white flowered black skirt. 

“Fuck off,” you glared at Yoongi.

Taehyung just laughed and entered the apartment. As you brushed past Yoongi, he snarked “So where’s my $20?” 

You flipped him off, “You’ll get it later.”

You saw that most people were gone which was a bit strange but it made clean up easier. It was just the BTS guys, Hana and you at Jin's apartment from what you could tell. You got to helping Hana clean up all the trash lying around. You were pretty absorbed in cleaning up and didn’t notice all the snickering coming from the direction of the BTS guys.

You looked at Hana in confusion and she shrugged her shoulders, also confused what they were talking about.

You heard Jimin and Hobi laughing really hard and looked over. You saw them doubled over in laughter and a very angry Jin. 

“Why the fuck is this happening to me?” He grumbled. 

Jungkook patted his shoulders, “Hey hyung. You just gotta let it go. It’s his birthday.”

Then it clicked to you that you hadn’t seen Taehyung since you guys entered the apartment. Hana and you walked over to the kitchen where they all were standing. 

Hana, with her hands on her hips, stated, “What in the world is going on? Why are you guys laughing and why is Jin mad?”

They all go silent and look at you. 

You furrow your eyebrows, “What? Why are you all looking at me?”

Then you hear it. A very loud and clear moan of Taehyung's name by none other than Jennie. Somehow you manage to remain emotionless and maintain a stone cold face but internally you felt your heart sink to the ground. 

“So you guys were laughing over the fact that Taehyung is fucking Jennie in Jin’s guestroom?” You scoffed, “How old are you guys? Five? I’m trying to go home as soon as possible so if we could all hurry this all up, it would make my life infinitely easier.”

You turned your back to the group and hope they bought your indifferent reaction. You continued to clean the apartment and tried to breathe shallow breaths. You tried to ignore the sounds coming from the room as much as you could but Jennie and Taehyung were being very vocal. You felt sick, with waves of nausea hitting you. After 20 minutes, you felt like your head and heart were going to explode. 

“Hey Hana. I’m really tired so I’m going to head back.”

She had a concerned look on her face, “Do you want me to come with you?”

“No, no I’m fine. I’m going to crash as soon as I get back.”

She nodded, “Okay text me when you reach.”

You gave her a hug and waved bye to the guys. You somehow were able to find the strength to make it back to your dorm.

The second you closed the door to your dorm, you sunk to the ground and the tears you had kept in came pouring out.

It hurt.

Fuck it hurt. 

author’s note: thanks for reading! lmk if ur enjoying the fic so far and if u would like to be tagged. pt 3 will be up soon!

tags: @fleurmoon @tangledsparkles @chocolatebelievercrusade @brokenobserver @ncitydreamies @soulstaes @bonnyskies @thelilbutifulthings @busansgloss @imluckybitches @xlectrahearts

[wxlfstxrx]

i’ve asked you like way to many asks already but cAn U iMaGiNE Finn bringing flowers home for his boys because aaaAAAAA

OK i’m quite sure you meant flowers as in,,, bouquets of roses/sunflowers etc. but i had a slightly different idea. i’m honestly too tired to proofread this so i’m sorry if this is a mess LMAO. once again thank you @shinymooncolor for your ideas you have no idea how much i love them

one morning, a couple of days before their first anniversary, finn’s awake at the crack of dawn, long before leo and logan are due to wake up beside him. he’s subconsciously tracing over the small fleur-de-lis tattoo on logan’s hip, trying to decide what to get for them because he’s a complete hopeless romantic and he wants them to know how much they’ve given him over the past year, he wants them to know that they’re the best thing that has happened to him, alongside with joining the league, and he wants them to know he loves them more than anything

his eyes start scanning around the bedroom to get inspiration but his bedroom is honestly, a mess. there’s always clothes strewn all over the floor, and they haven’t really done much decorating over the past year because they never really stay in one fixed room anyway, they just hop around depending on mood, though finn’s room is a hot favourite because it’s the closest to the living room so whenever they’re in a *cough* hurry, they stumble into his room. basically, it is not a good place to search for inspiration in

he has absolutely no clue what to do, and he panics for a bit, until he figures he should ask kasey and sirius for help

the next day, after training, he drags kasey and sirius out for lunch, distractedly telling logan and leo something along the lines of natalie, kasey, birthday, and quickly rushing out of the rink, leaving the two boys completely baffled because natalie’s birthday was two months ago

they head to sid’s for lunch, and finn launches into a whole rant about not knowing what to get for logan and leo, and sirius and kasey, the Ultimate Bros, are throwing ideas at him, and then sirius suddenly goes why don’t you just get them flowers? and kasey retorts that flowers are so cliche THOUGH we already have better ideas on the table, but finn is nodding and his brain is running a hundred miles an hour as they eat. after lunch they head to the nearest garden centre a couple of miles away

he loves the idea of getting flowers, but he also doesn’t want to get them cliche rose bouquets. he, kasey and sirius walk around and kasey has his hands in his pockets, one of them closed around a small box that he’s been carrying around for a couple of days now. he’s looking around as well, and he and finn trade opinions on the different species of plants and flowers that they see as they stroll down the aisles

sirius stays silent, lost in his own thoughts, the image of light brown eyes and windswept golden curls burned into his mind. he smiles to himself, his silver eyes sweeping across the room as he waits for something to catch his eye

finn suddenly remembers the tattoo his fingers had been tracing over the day before, and he makes a beeline for the fragrant white species somewhere in the corner of the large room. kasey follows him, and takes an immediate interest in the yellow flowers, as big as his girlfriend’s heart and as bright as her personality, in the aisle opposite. sirius is wandering a little bit away from them, having stopped by a section of gorgeous blue flowers with yellow centers. forget-me-nots. his fingers brush over the petals of one of the blooms, and the corner of his lip lifts slightly

finn’s giving himself a pat on the back because he thinks he’s quite the genius for picking out lilies for logan, but then he thinks about leo and he’s stumped again. he turns around and casts a quick glance around the room. several pots of bright orange flowers catch his attention and he makes his way over

leonotis leonurus, the sign reads. lion’s tail. finn laughs to himself and picks one up before heading over to where kasey and sirius are standing around the sunflowers. kasey seems nervous, arms folded across his chest and leaning his weight on one foot, but sirius has a wide grin on his face, his eyes bright and dimples showing

finn quirks an eyebrow as he approaches the pair, and kasey shyly pulls the box out of his pocket. finn’s eyes widen and he steps in, throwing his arms around kasey, not needing any words to convey his congratulations and approval. the trio eventually make their purchases and finn drops them both at their places before driving back to the apartment

thankfully, leo and logan are still out so he tries to make quick work of carrying the flowers he’s gotten into the apartment and hiding them. unfortunately, finn o’hara is the kind of guy who’s capable of killing a cactus, so he naturally makes a huge mess. the plants are huge and he’s struggling to carry them safely in and no surprise there but he accidentally drops one of the plants and soil is getting everywhere and he’s trying to clean it up with the roomba they have in the apartment

but the roomba somehow hates him and he practically chases it around for awhile and on hindsight he thinks he should have just swept it up but he’s lazy as fuck and look where that got him. he’s sweaty as heck and he has soil all over him and he’s just a mess. the roomba lazily bumps into his foot at one point and he’s so close to screaming in frustration but then he realises how stupid he looks threatening a goddamn roomba

not ten seconds later the door opens and finn startles. he tries to clean up the mess as best as he can but logan and leo step out of the entryway into the living room and they just stop their convo about thanos and captain marvel halfway, their eyes widening at the sight of finn standing guiltily in the middle of the room with two practically uprooted plants in front of him and soil all over his hands, face, legs and even his… hair? on top of that, the blasted roomba is still going at it, making loud noises to signify that it needs to be cleaned

logan and leo can’t help but burst into laughter while finn just pouts, very petulantly. suddenly though, leo starts sneezing, a few times in succession, and he mentions that he’s allergic to pollen. finn gets very upset, feeling so bad for basically getting pollen around the whole house and quickly, logan and finn clear up the mess and move the flowers to the balcony, shutting the door tightly while leo has already retreated to the bathroom. they find him back in the living room after their shower, and he’s sitting on the now clean couch and smiling at the flowers on the other side of the glass door

finn awkwardly clears his throat and explains himself and leo and logan’s smiles just grow wider even if they’re laughing and shaking their heads in disbelief because finn is just that much of a disaster but they love him anyway. finn is halfway apologising for the pollen when leo just stands up and pulls him in by the waist, kissing him to shut him up and he mumbles against finn’s lips, telling him it’s okay, thank you for the flowers though, i’ll just admire them from in here and finn finally finally relaxes in leo’s arms. logan comes round to hug finn from the back, humming in agreement and he squeezes him tightly because he’s such an idiot but he’s their idiot. their idiot sweetheart

leo then bodily hauls finn up and he wraps his legs around leo’s waist as the three of them retreat to the bedroom and amidst their kisses of gratitude and love, leo and logan worship finn like he’s their god, because he is