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monsterenergysimp · 4 years ago

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Permanence

corpse husband x fem!reader

summary: you meet corpse on a stream and you’re surprised when he reaches out to you

warnings: cursing, mentions of tattooing

word count: 1.9k

notes: This is proof read but could have missed some stuff. This is my first corpse fic and my first time writing fanfic since I posted that super cringey book on wattpad when I was like 12 or something. I’d appreciate feed back so please reach out to me :)

main blog @itsmysleepover

read part 2 here!

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　　 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

You were cleaning up your station so you can get home and stream. You loved your day job as a tattoo artist but you also really enjoyed streaming. It started as a way to promote yourself as an artist and the shop you worked at but it eventually became a really fun way to destress at the end of the week (or day if you were really itching to stream). “Hey Y/N was that your last client?” your boss, KC, asked as she walked to the front of the shop and put new flash drawings on the walls.

“Yes ma’am!” You said back excitedly. You finished cleaning your station and tossed your black gloves in the trash. “And you can’t trick me into staying and taking walk-ins,” you joked with her. She rolled her eyes and walked back into her office “It was one time,” she said as you slid on your jacket. As you walked out your phone buzzed in your pocket and you checked to see who had texted you. It was a message from Sean asking if you were free to play Among Us with him and some other streamers. You replied that you were on your way home right now and totally down. You were excited to see who was playing this time around since their Among Us streams are super entertaining and have gotten really popular.

On your way back you tweeted and posted to your Instagram story that you’d be streaming soon and set up all your stuff once you made it home. After a few minutes, you had a couple of thousand people watching. You entered the discord chat and Sean spoke up. “Everyone this is Y/N she’s sensitive so be gentle.”

“It’s nice to finally meet you guys and I’m not gentle, I'm ruthless,” You say into your mic and notice the chat calling you a liar. Everyone was in the lobby waiting for the game to start. “You sound way too sweet to be ruthless,” Corpse said. The countdown started and you were imposter with Charlie.

“This should be fun,” you told the stream. Yout tried playing strategically but after such a long shift your brain was mush. You saw Poki in nav and killed her then vented into shields. Not long after the body was reported and you were sure you were going to get voted out or at least sussed.

“Where was the body?” Felix asked. “Nav and I didn’t see anyone near there so whoever is imposter must have vented,” Corpse responded. Felix spoke up again. “I think I saw Y/N walk that way and I haven’t seen her since.”

Shit, shit, shit shit. “I’m in shield right now so-” you said trying to defend yourself but Charlie spoke up. “I was doing tasks with her earlier and I saw her walk into shields so she’s safe but I’m still not sure about Rae.” Everyone discussed a bit more and some people, including Corpse, voted for you but Rae got the majority vote and was ejected. You released your breath and kept playing being extra careful.

“Okay, guys that was super close. Corpse knows and is out to get me,” you said to the chat. You were eventually voted off but one round later victory was written across your screen with your ghost and Charlie’s avatar. “Good game guys,” Corpse said.

“I told you guys I was ruthless!”

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　　 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

You sat at your station doing nothing because a client had canceled a four-hour session. You were listening to music and sketching some stuff but you were bored out of your mind and you didn’t want to leave in case you got a walk-in. The music got quiet as you received a twitter notification saying someone had messaged you. You reached for your phone and saw you had gotten a dm from Corpse.

C: hey :)

You didn’t know what to respond. You were mostly confused as to why he decided to message you out of the blue. Did he want something? But what would he want?

Y: Hii! This is sudden

C: was i bothering you?

shit sorry!

Y: Youre fine I wasn’t doing anything rn

C: how has your day been

i dont usually do stuff like this

Y: Im glad you did im doing better now I was so bored

C: what were you doing that was so terrible

Y: NOTHING! thats the problem :(

C: im sure youll find something to do

You stared at his message. Unsure what to respond.

Y: Im gonna give myself a tattoo

C: what?

NO!

You tossed the needles you used for your tattoo into the sharps box. “Oh my god you didn’t,” KC said. She noticed the wrap on your calve from the tattoo you just gave yourself out of boredom. “It’s not my fault I didn’t have anything else to do!” You said trying to defend yourself. She sighed and just shook her head. “Just go home business is slow today.” It was raining so the shop probably wasn’t going to get a walk-in anyway and you didn’t have any more clients for the day. It was only 2 pm but you drove home and after making lunch for yourself decided to stream. You weren’t expecting too many people so it was bound to be super chill. Your leg felt sore reminding you of the tattoo. You snapped a quick pic of the fresh jack-o-lantern on the side of your calve and messaged it to Corpse.

Y: [image] it came out nice!

C: thats super cool actually

i was concerned why you would just give yourself a tattoo but i found your instagram and youre super talented

Y: Thank you!

For some reason, it felt strange to just have that be the end of your response.

Y: Im about to start streaming if you wanted to watch

[link]

C: ill be watching ;)

What’s that supposed to mean?

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　　 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

You sat in your apartment watching tv, hand lost in a bag of Doritos, and scrolling through twitter. You had stopped paying attention to the anime playing on the screen since you’ve watched it a hundred times and knew you wouldn’t miss anything. It was Saturday and you usually take those days off. Take the time to do chores or meet up with some friends but today you felt like not doing any of those things. As you continue your endless scroll (not helping the twitter addiction you told yourself you’d try to get a handle on) you got a message from Corpse.

C: wanna talk?

You looked down at the message unsure of how to answer. It was a simple yes or no and the obvious answer was yes. You and Corpse had started talking more regularly. You still didn’t have each other’s phone numbers but it was fine. Your conversations weren’t too big-- just you sending him memes, tiktoks, and telling him how much you liked the songs he would drop. Or him complimenting a tattoo you did. Sometimes he’d message you during streams telling you funny stuff his fans would say in the chat and you’d do the same. You learned a bit about each other but nothing too deep or serious. Like how you two lived a few cities away and you both really liked Donnie Darko. When Sean first invited you to that game out of everyone else there you were most excited to meet Corpse. He’s just so sweet and funny. Of course, you’d love to talk to him but you were also itching to talk to him and the last thing you’d ever want to do was make him uncomfortable.

Y: Yeah id love to talk

Here goes nothing.

Y: Wanna facetime or something?

No pressure or anything it could even be a regular call

I think facetime is just my default lol

You sent those last two messages quickly after you had sent the first. You wished you could know what he was thinking. It was killing you to think you had turned him off from talking to you completely. You put your phone down on the couch and went to wash your hand of Dorito dust. When you got back from the kitchen you turned off the tv and tossed yourself onto the couch.

Still no message.

Why am I so fucking stupid?

Just as you were standing up to stretch from sitting on the couch all day your phone buzzed. You reached for it fast and looked to see that it was him. You became super excited still not even knowing what the message said. It could have told you to never talk to him again for all you knew.

C: sure lets facetime

xxx-xxx-xxxx

You had his phone number. You added him to your small but growing contact list and called. You sat on your couch waiting for a response when he finally picked up the screen was black. It didn’t upset you; you kind of expected it and didn’t care what he had to do to make himself more comfortable during this call.

“Hey,” he said. His voice was raspier than usual.

“Did you just wake up?” You asked and looked at the time. It was about a little past noon and you had only eaten Doritos all day. Shit, you should probably make a decent meal.

“Not that long ago but yeah,” he responded and giggled. That giggle.

“Well, I’ve eaten nothing but Doritos all day while rewatching Ouran High School Host Club, so you’re welcome to join me as I make myself something to eat.”

“Sounds like fun; what are we eating?”

“I don’t know yet,” You said as you stood up and made your way to the kitchen. You opened the pantry and looked. You noticed a can of diced tomatoes and reached for it then checked the expiration date. It was still good. On your counter were some onions and garlic. “How about some tomato soup?”

“Sounds delicious.” you smiled at Corpse and your phone screen not knowing if he was also looking at his screen or not. “You’re really pretty-- you know that?”

“Thanks, but you don’t have to--”

“I’ve already told you what an incredible artist you are so many times I bet you’re tired of hearing it, but you already know what a talented artist you are.”

“That is very kind of you Corpse,” you said to him bashfully as you chopped the onion and opened the can of tomatoes. “But once again you don’t have to reach so far to compliment me.”

“I’m not reaching you are talented and beautiful and--”

“I thought I was pretty.” You could hear him chuckle with a smile on his face. “You’re both,” he said. You could feel your face getting warm from blushing.

“Fuck you you’re making me blush. My face is all hot and stuff.”

He laughed at how flustered you got. “That’s the cutest thing ever.”

You didn’t know how to respond so you just put some olive oil in a pot and tossed in your onions. It became silent but it was a comfortable silence. You turned the stove on and watched the flame for a few seconds. “If it was dark we could pretend we were together and having a bonfire or something,” you said to the phone as you turned the camera to show him the flame (still not 100 percent sure if he was looking at you or not).

“I’ll put it on the list of things to do when you visit me someday.”

#corpse husband #corpse husband x reader #corpse husband imagine #corpse husband imagines #corpse husband x y/n #youtubers #caffeinated ramblings

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satorihub · 4 years ago

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hey bestie 😌💅🏻 i was wondering if u could do some hcs for tsukishima, kuroo and asahi where they have a gf who is very artsy and good w paintings ??? thank u ily

𝖆𝖗𝖎'𝖘 𝖓𝖔𝖙𝖊: hi bestie ✨✨😼 omg this is my first request so I hope it isn't bad 😔

𝖈𝖍𝖆𝖗𝖆𝖈𝖙𝖊𝖗𝖘: tetsurou kuroo, kei tsukishima, azumane asahi

𝖜𝖔𝖗𝖉 𝖈𝖔𝖚𝖓𝖙: 1192

𝖜𝖆𝖗𝖓𝖎𝖓𝖌𝖘: fem!reader, fluff

KUROO, TSUKISHIMA & ASAHI WITH A PAINTER S/O

𝖙𝖊𝖙𝖘𝖚𝖗𝖔𝖚 ��𝖚𝖗𝖔𝖔 ⋆

─ ok so he doesn't know at first

─ but don't think he doesn't cares! he does, really, but yk, he's almost finishing high school and finals are tougher 😔😔

─ so I hc that kuroo really likes study dates, bc: 1. he's studying (probably chemistry, ew) what is something he likes; 2. he's with u!! that is someone he likes. so boom! win-win for tetsu 😌

─ so one day u had a really hard chemistry homework, but u reminded of your chemistry genius bf, tetsurou kuroo himself

─ so u decided to text him:

"hey babe, I got a big chemistry hw today. can u come over?"

─ but that day u were feeling inspired and decided painting meanwhile kuroo wasn't there

─ when he saw the message u sent him, he was happy! he likes helping u and kenma with school stuff, and he also likes challenging things yk. so hard homework? kuroo will NOT hesitate 😼😼

─ so the practice finished and he went to your house, he decided to take a shower on your place as well

─ he rang the bell and waited some seconds until he saw, you, with some paint in your cheeks

⋆

"what's this?", he asked pointing to your left cheek.

"what's what?", you replied, confused.

he used his thumb to swipe the paint and some of it stayed on his finger.

"this", he spoke, showing you his finger with a little bit of paint on it. "why is your face covered with paint?"

"oh", you finally realized what was happening. "I was inspired today, so I decided to paint", you explained. "wanna see it?", you asked.

⋆

─ if he wants to see it?? OF COURSE HE DOES! 🤩

─ and once he sees your paintings, bruh, he feels like he fell in love with u again

─ he thinks is so cool! he asks things like "when did u start painting?", "do u think is hard?", "can i buy one of these??"

─ like, kuroo, chill 💀💀

─ he probably says something like "i want u to paint me like one of your french girls ✨" and u are like "WHY are u such a DORK? but yea, sure babe"

─ he 👏🏼 brags 👏🏼 about 👏🏼 it 👏🏼 to 👏🏼 the 👏🏼 team 👏🏼

─ kuroo: DID YOU GUYS KNOW THAT-- kenma: kuroo, if you're going to talk about the fact that your s/o is an artist, yes, we do know. kuroo: b-but, guys- 😿

─ coach nekomata is also full of kuroo simping for u lmao

─ he just can't help it!! he loves u

─ anyways, kuroo is your number 1 simp AND supporter ✨✨💅🏼

𝖐𝖊𝖎 𝖙𝖘𝖚𝖐𝖎𝖘𝖍𝖎𝖒𝖆 ⋆

─ kei knows about it already, but he doesn't do anything about it lol

─ he's a very observant guy, so even before you two started dating he knew that you were into artistic stuff

─ he first noticed it when u guys went on a date and you had a paint brush behind your ear and didn't even realize it was there ??? like bruh

─ he's going to pretend like he doesn't care or something, but he just want to keep his salty boy reputation even if u both are dating

─ but once u decide to give him a little painting with some dinosaurs (on his bday or valentines day), u can slightly see him blushing

─ he'll pretend he didn't blush and will compliment u in a ✨ tsukki way ✨

⋆

"you know", he said as he slid his slender fingers though the details of one of the dinosaurs. "you could tell me where you brought this because-"

"tsukki!", you exclaimed.

"ok, ok, I was just messing with you" he spoke as he laughed softly. "thank you, brat. it means a lot", then he looked at you with a genuine smile on his face.

⋆

─ the painting is now on his room, in a place where he can easily see it, doesn't matter the angle

─ once akiteru sees it in his room, he's like "👀 what is this kei?"

─ tsukki will probably just murmur a 'tch' and ignore him LMAOAOAO 😭😭💀

─ yamaguchi also sees it, but instead of asking anything he grabs it and says "did y/n do this?? that's amazing, tsukki!"

─ he'll just reply with "shut up, yamaguchi", and yams reply with "GOMEN TSUKKI !!✨" (yes this is a yamaguchi tadashi lovebot)

─ but, he won't tell, but his ego boosts when someone says that you're talented

─ bc he thinks "hey, that's my s/o. I have an talented and amazing girlfriend, I'm so lucky"

─ he also loves rating your art!! if he could he would give all them a 10/10, but he needs to be realistic for u to improve

─ when he's at your place and u are painting or just sketching, he will make u listen to lo-fi, bc he thinks that it will make your art look prettier (even if he thinks your paintings are the prettiest thing that he ever saw)

𝖆𝖟𝖚𝖒𝖆𝖓𝖊 𝖆𝖘𝖆𝖍𝖎 ⋆

─ babyboy asahi knows it bc u slipped about it once before u two started dating

─ u two had a project for school and decided to meet in the library

─ so asahi waited for u for 30 minutes and then he sees u opening the door with clothes with a little bit of white paint

⋆

"sorry, asahi-san!", you apologized. "I was so focused on my painting that I forgot about our meeting"

"oh...", he doesn't really know what to say. actually, you're not that late, and you both still have time to do the project.

"don't worry, y/n, is not a big deal", he tries calming you.

⋆

─ he doesn't bring up that until later bc there was a ✨ silence ✨ between u two and he decided to say someting

⋆

"so, y/n", he starts, nervous. "I didn't knew that you were into arts."

"oh yeah, I am!", you answered happily. "I mean, I know I'm not the best painter in the world but, it still makes me happy, you know?"

"yeah, I know", he says while he admires your excited expression. maybe it was in that moment that he fell in love with you.

⋆

─ after y'all started dating, he will always but you new materials and other stuff

─ he can't help it, u seem so happy with what you're doing and he loves to see your smile (and your works, ofc)

─ if u want to kill him make him flustered, ask him stuff like "hey, asahi, would you mind being my inspiration for a new work?" PLSS I CAN SEE HIM DYING RN 😭😭

─ asahi isn't that impressed with your works, and it isn't because he thinks it's bad or simple, no, it's because he knows you're amazing and talented 😌😌

─ if u start selling your art, well too bad for asahi, bc he will buy everying

─ you: asahi u don't have to- asahi: YES I DO !! u can have all my money just take it 😭

─ in asahi's pov, you = leonardo da vinci

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cloudywriter · 4 years ago

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vanilla pudding cups - 2

~~~

A/N: hey guys, sorry i changed the name but i really hated the first one, it didn’t really fit. in a few chapters you’ll get the new title, but anyway i like it much better! im sorry if this chapter isn’t the best, i kinda pumped it out bc y’all were liking it & i like making people happy ya know, enjoy luvs

masterlist & AO3

~~~

Feyre woke up with a surprising amount of energy, usually she felt fatigued and spent most of her days lounging in her bed with earbuds in and a sketchbook laying in her lap. She decided she would use this new found energy to tape up her accumulating pile of various sketches she wanted up on her wall.

She threw on a pair of loose, grey sweatpants and white t-shirt, stained with her attempts at using charcoal, soon setting out on her voyage to acquire a ladder.

Surprisingly, it was an easy task. All she had to do was sweet talk the maintenance guy a little bit, throw in the whole I have cancer and she had a ladder leaning against her wall in no time.

Rhys, however, had a less pleasant start to the day. Alis had let herself in that morning with a plate in one hand and the same clipboard in another.

She informed him that unfortunately his day would consist mostly of testing and scans to determine just how bad it was. She left Rhysand to get ready and eat his breakfast of rubbery, bland tasting eggs and one of those nasty little plastic cups of mixed fruit.

As the day went on, Rhys lost count of how many needles punctured his skin and how many cups of contrast solution he had to gulp for his scans.

Finally, he fell back into bed later in the evening feeling drained, though he had barely lifted a finger. But the mass amount of poking and prodding he endured only cemented in his mind that he was truly right back where he started a year ago. The realization was mind-numbing.

He hadn’t even called Mor, Cassian, Az, or Amren to ask for their support. He didn’t feel like he had had the time to truly mourn the life that had become his over the last few months, the life he was losing. He needed a moment, when he got a moment he would let himself fall apart. For only a moment before he would have to put back on the mask of the Rhys his family had come to know. The Rhys that wasn’t afraid of death, the Rhys that still had faith that he could make it, that this new battle wasn’t a lost cause.

In truth, Rhysand was terrified of the idea of death, of leaving them behind. To think of the lives they would live without him was like a punch to the stomach, the kind that leaves you sprawled on the ground struggling to suck in air.

Just as his mask began to crack, just as the tears began to prick his eyes, as the sinking feeling in his stomach intensified, and the air felt heavy, too thick to breathe properly, the faint sound of a violin captured his attention. It was a small tether keeping him anchored to reality and he felt the pull.

Before he could fully comprehend what he was doing, he had slipped out of his door and was outside of another; the one that was undoubtedly the source of the violin.

It felt as if he was watching himself in a dream as he pushed open the door.

And there she was.

A nostalgic feeling as if he were reliving a fever dream took root. A girl was sitting atop a metal ladder. The setting sun sent light streaming in through the floor to ceiling window, illuminating her; her long, honey-colored hair was glowing gold. Her skin was pale, without any hint of a tan but her arms were dotted with faint freckles as if she had once spent all of her days basking in the sun. Strips of tape lined her fingers and she held the dispenser between her teeth, her free hand holding a piece of paper to the wall.

Rhys found himself staring at her rather than making his presence known. The combined sound of soothing classic music emitting from a laptop on the bed and her sun-lit silhouette had him mesmerized. She honestly looked like an angel in the flesh, if angels wore sweat pants and oversized, charcoal stained t-shirts that is.

As soon as Rhys started to regain his wits a screech came from behind him.

“FEYRE ARCHERON, GET DOWN FROM THERE!”

Rhys and the girl, Feyre, both spun to face Nurse Alis who stood in the threshold.

He heard the ladder groan behind him, the patter of bare-feet on tile, and the warmth of a body came to rest next to him.

His head pivoted to look at her to find she was already examining him herself.

She looked him up and down then met his gaze. Her eyes were vivid, so blue with a ring of grey around the pupil and they were so full of life. The same soft freckles that decorated her arms danced across the bridge of her nose. Her left cheek had a smear of charcoal across it. A small smile came to her lips as their eyes meet. He thought she really was an angel.

“Feyre, what the hell do you think you’re doing?”

She broke eye contact, “I’m hanging up some of my sketches.”

“Using a ladder? Alone? You could fall and crack your head open! And I��m your assigned nurse! They’d blame me and then I’d have to scrap your brains off the floor while looking for a new job!” Alis cried, eyes wide.

“I guess that sounds like a less than pleasant afternoon for you,” Feyre considered.

“Uh huh, less than pleasant. Where the hell did you even get a whole ladder?”

Feyre shrugged, “Tarquin, the maintenance guy, and I are pretty cool.”

Alis rolled her eyes. “You guilt-tripped him with the cancer card.”

“Works every time,” Feyre looked satisfied with herself.

“Yeah, well, next time guilt him into supervising you too.”

As their short exchange came to a close, Alis’s face lit up, “I see you met our newest resident, Rhysand.”

Feyre gave me another glance. “If you count meeting as found him staring at me then sure.”

Rhysand felt his cheeks and neck heat as the embarrassment that that is literally what he did set in.

“Sorry,” he began to sputter, “I-I heard the music and just ended up in here, I’m sorry, I swear I wasn’t trying to be a creep.”

Feyre gave him a playful smile and held out her hand.

Rhys hesitated only a moment before taking her smaller hand into his.

Instead of usual, mundane introductions, Feyre ripped off the bandaid.

“So, you’re dying too?”

Rhysand’s stomach didn’t drop as he heard the raw words, he felt weirdly at peace in her presence.

“That’s what they tell me.”

Alis cleared her throat, “I hate to interrupt this heart-warming exchange but I was actually here to grab Rhysand for a moment.”

Feyre tore her gaze from Rhys. “Oh, okay,” her shoulders slumped a microscopic amount.

Quickly, Rhysand found himself being led down the hallway, the calm aura dissipating. He wasn’t fully listening as Alis explained that they needed to draw a little more blood, his mind just kept wondering back to you know who.

He tried to focus his attention to his hands as he always did when getting blood drawn when he noticed: a smear of charcoal had been left across palm.

His lips tugged up at the corners ever so slightly.

~~~

hope this is alright! kinda cliche but what are you gonna do? also leave a reply if you wanna be tagged in updates i think that’s a thing people do lol.

#feysand fanfiction #feysand #feysand fanfic #acotar #acomaf #acotar fanfiction #a court of thorns and roses #acotar au #feysand au #feyre x rhysand #feyre archeron #rhysand #feyre x rhys fanfic #vanilla pudding cups #are you dying too?

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rhubarbbaby · 4 years ago

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Strawberries and Art 3

Jihoon x Y/N

Genre: College AU, Fluff Word Count: 5k Summary: Like every passionate art student, you spent most of your time immersed in your drawings and paintings. The day you meet Jihoon, your everyday life suddenly gets a lot more exciting…

All chapters: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5

Chapter 3

You woke up to the exaggeratedly loud chirping of a bird that seemed to be sitting right on your window sill. What was it even doing there? Rude. Rolling to your side, the first rays of sunshine fell onto your face. Not wanting to open your eyes just yet you let the warmth linger on your face. As your consciousness slowly tore itself free from the claws of the dreams, you wouldn´t be able to remember in a second, you realized you were still wearing the jeans from last night. Last night…Last night…Jihoon. Suddenly everything that happened hit you like bricks.

Did Jihoon really walk you home? Had he really held your hand? For a moment you thought you were messing up remaining pieces of your dreams with reality but then you remembered the text he had sent you before you fell asleep. Prying your eyes open you looked at your phone. The text was still there, staring back at you, still unanswered. (You also had 4 unread messages from Jo but you couldn´t care less right now)

Unknown: I just got home. Goodnight, Sweetie. Don´t forget to drink lots of water!

Sweetie. You knew you wouldn´t be getting used to that soon. When he had called you Sweetie last night you felt so taken aback because maybe for the first time in your life, you had enjoyed a guy calling you by a pet name. He had sounded so honest, in a certain way even serious, he had sounded so different from all those boys who were calling girls by all those sickly sweet things just to get into their pants, belittling them in the process. He had been so incredibly considerate. The way his voice had seemed to have gotten a tad bit deeper when saying it, the way you could practically hear him smirking, it was sheer impossible getting used to something like that.

After you had saved his contact you stared at your phone. Simply seeing his name on your screen made your heart, not jump, but it did make a distinct little hop. With a big sigh you let yourself fall back onto your mattress. What crazy ass romantic movie parallel universe have you stumbled into? Meeting a guy you were interested in, was already a rare occurrence. But meeting a guy you were interested in, who was also showing interest in you (AND CALLED YOU SWEETIE) was something that only happened once in a blue moon.

You knew you had to send him a reply. It didn´t help that you were reading his message over and over again, hearing his voice in your head. You needed to focus. Just because you didn´t have to look him in the eyes, and didn´t have to actually form words with your mouth, just because you simply had to type it, you did only spend about 5 minutes coming up with a (you hoped) funny text.

You: Hey! I fell asleep yesterday. With my clothes still on! Like I actually wore jeans to sleep. That´s like fucked up. Anyways, thank you for texting me :) I had so much fun last night.

After hitting send you instantly threw your phone onto your bed. You were scared of him answering right away. Scared but also excited but also scared. Giggling to yourself because you were aware of how dramatic you were handling the entire situation you decided to get up and start with your day. It was only eight and you made an agreement with yourself not to think about him until after breakfast because having a crush on a (extremely beautiful and funny and handsome and hot) boy who you had just met two days ago was ridiculous, or so you told yourself. Taking a shower, brushing your teeth, putting on clean clothes… your undertaking was going well, you hadn´t thought of him, at least not directly. You had thought of not thinking about him…and you counted that as a win. During breakfast you decided to check Jo´s messages.

Jo: Did you use condoms??

Jo: Did you get home safely?

Jo: Is he staying over?

Jo: Are you ok?

You couldn´t help but laugh at how excited she was about the whole situation. She probably had been annoying Hansol with it all evening. Poor man.

You: Yup I got home very safely. And no he didn´t stay over.

You: We had so much fun tho.

You: Did you get home safely?

She answered within two minutes.

Jo: Don´t you dare make this about me. I NEED TO KNOW EVERYTHING.

Jo: Did you kiss?

You: No we didn´t. But we held hands.

Jo: CUTE. When will you see him again?

You: I don´t know yet. I hope soon.

Jo: I hope so too. I´m already planning the marriage.

You: omg stop it…LOL

Just after you had hit send, you felt your phone vibrate with a new text. Of course it was from Jihoon. Without an ounce of hesitation you practically threw your phone next to you on the couch. You did not want to look at it. Actually, you did. But you needed to physically prepare yourself for reading what he had messaged you. You could feel your heart oh so clearly in your chest. How ridiculous it was that you reacted this way just because of a goddamn text…Calm down. You took a deep breath in and out.

Before reading his new message (and it wasn´t just one!!!! There were three of them) you reread what you had last written.

You: Hey! I fell asleep yesterday. With my clothes still on! Like I actually wore jeans to sleep. That´s like fucked up. Anyways, thank you for texting me :) I had so much fun last night.

Deep breath in. And out.

Jihoon: Hahahahaha yes Y/N, that is fucked up.

Jihoon: But I´m pretty sure you still looked cute.

Jihoon: You wanna get lunch tomorrow after class?

HOLY FUCK. This was real. You just got asked on a date by one of the most beautiful boys you had ever seen. Yes, you had already held hands yesterday, but there had been alcohol involved and people do a lot of things when they´re drunk. But all of your past overthinking just turned out to have been utterly pointless because Jihoon wanted to see you again. And he had called you cute. Your entire face was burning and your stomach seemed to do some weird gymnastic exercises.

You did not have to think long before typing your answer.

You: I´d love that :)

Jihoon: Awesome. I´ll show you my favorite place.

He actually wanted to show you his favorite place. Your heart was still beating way too fast and the blush on your face was still very visible but at the same time you felt a calming warmth spread through your stomach. You remembered you had felt so comfortable talking to him last night and for some dumb cliché romantic movie reason you felt like you had already known him for years. And now he wanted to show you his favorite place. That was a big hell of a deal. You couldn´t stop smiling.

After dumbly grinning at the ceiling for several seconds you scolded yourself. You couldn´t just be lying around all day daydreaming about a boy. Sighing you remembered that today, you had to finally start with your portrait assignment. It was already due on Wednesday. You needed it to be good. Your professor was very supportive and had been pushing you to become better. Disappointing her was the last thing you wanted to do. But you didn´t even know who you wanted to draw yet…some random celebrity was just boring…a family member maybe? But you had all drawn them before already. Burying your face in your hands you sat on your couch. After about fifteen minutes you reluctantly started sketching your mother´s face. You´ve drawn her face so many times already, it was nothing special. You weren´t satisfied with your choice at all but you couldn´t think of someone better at the moment.

When you realized it was already getting dark outside you stared down at the lines you had been working on for basically the entire day. You didn´t like it. Far back in your head you knew that other people would label your work as good, maybe even great, but you just couldn´t bring yourself to like it. The facial features you were trying to portrait just didn´t seem right to you. You only had so many good pictures of your mother and remembering every single wrinkle and mark on her face was harder than you thought. The way the lines were flowing over the paper didn´t look right, it didn´t look like you had drawn them. You were aware that every artist had days like this, but the deadline was next week and you simply didn´t have the time to start over. Also you had a date tomorrow. How the fuck were you going to survive the next days?

Before going to bed you forced yourself to lay out the clothes you wanted to wear for tomorrow. You weren´t exactly a morning person and you knew you´d panic if you had to find an outfit to wear right after waking up. An outfit Jihoon was going to see you in…

You fell asleep thinking of tomorrow, a mixture of anxiety and anticipation making your stomach feel weird.

The first thing you did, after waking up the next day, was to check your phone:

Jihoon: You still up for lunch today?

Jihoon: 1pm in front of the arts building?

You: I´ll be there!

After having typed an answer, you got dressed, grabbed all your things and left your apartment. You weren´t one of those people who got up an hour earlier to do yoga or whatever bullshit normal people do in the morning. Every day you woke up only twenty minutes before your first lecture started. Every single second of sleep counted.

While you were walking you got a message from Jo.

Jo: You up for breakfast after the second lesson? You need to tell me everything!!!!

You knew she was probably already dying from curiosity. She was too nosy for her own good. But you had mercy.

You: Sure!

You were actually looking forward to telling Jo everything. You still couldn´t believe what had happened yourself, maybe it would become more real through finally saying everything out loud. Your first two lessons you spent listening to the professor talk about Paul Cézanne and, for some reason, reciting every last unnecessary detail of his private life. You decided that the only important piece of information from this lecture was that some of Cézanne´s landscape paintings were sort of pretty.

When you finally sunk down in the chair opposite of Jo´s you were already grinning. You simply could not wait for her reaction to everything. She immediately leaned forward while leaning on her elbows. “Start already” “Oh my god. Can´t I just relax for a second.” “NO.” You had to giggle at her urgency. “Alright, alright…”

After you had told her everything, from the long talk the two of you had had, over the way he had made you blush continuously, to when he had walked you home and had given you his phone number she just said, “That´s so unbearably cute and romantic it´s disgusting.” You couldn´t help but laugh out loud at her remark. “You two are so sickeningly romantic I wanna die. Why can´t you be as cool as me and Hansol?” she was grinning. “First of all, we´re not a couple and second of all, you two are at least as disgusting!” you were laughing. “You realize mine and Hansol´s first date was when I drank too much and he had to hold my hair while I was throwing up?” “Yeah. I know the story.”, you were still laughing. She continued anyway “And then he drove me home. And he kissed me even though I had just thrown up minutes ago. Ok, now that I think of it, maybe our first date was even more disgusting. I´ll shut up.” Both of your laughter was carried through the entire cafeteria. The other people, who were most likely just trying to have a calm morning were probably already, annoyed by the both of you but you couldn´t care less. “Also. I kinda maybe have a lunch date with him later.” “You´re kidding!!!!!” You just shook your head and smiled. “Oh my god, I´m dying this is the cutest shit. I´m sooo happy for you. Are you nervous?” “So fucking much. But I can´t wait to see him again.”

The rest of your classes passed rather quickly. Not being the biggest fan of auditory learning you were happy about it, but at the same time you couldn´t help getting more nervous every time the hand of the clock on the wall moved. Rationally you knew you were being silly. There was nothing to worry about. You were only going on a date with the most attractive guy you´ve ever seen, who is able to make you blush with just a raise of his eyebrow. There was totally nothing to worry about. Fuck.

When you classes had ended you still had fifteen minutes before you were meeting Jihoon. You were so nervous, your hands were shaking and you didn´t have the faintest clue how you would be able to form a straight sentence later. You slipped through the door into the girl´s bathroom. You washed your hands with cold water while staring at your own face in the mirror. The last time you had spoken to him, you had been drunk, there was no doubt the alcohol had helped you with your anxiety. Today you were on your own. Why did you always have to be so nervous? With one long breath and a last look in the mirror, you were actually happy with how your hair fell today; you pushed yourself away from the sink and made your way to your meeting place.

Through the glass front of the building you could see him standing next to that weird sculpture, which the seniors from last year had designed, in front of the building. He was looking at his phone. Every step you took made you even more nervous (how was that even possible?). How were you going to greet him? Hug him? Shake his hand?? NOoo, what the fuck that´d be way too formal. Why were you thinking bullshit like that? You took a deep breath, put a loose strand of hair behind your ear and opened the door. He still hadn´t seen you.

“Hey.” You called softly, loud enough for him to realize it was meant for him. “Hey you.” He looked up and if you weren´t mistaken, his eyes lit up when he saw you, a sparkle that you were sure you could watch all day. But maybe it was just the sun reflecting in his eyes (it was not). You were now standing in front of him, unsure what to do. He smiled at you; put his phone away in his back pocket and then he pulled you into a hug. Your first hug. And holy fuck, a hug shouldn´t be a big deal but it definitely felt like it. It wasn´t one of those hugs people gave because they thought it was expected of them. His hug was tight and you could actually feel his hands on your back. Jihoon´s embrace was so soft, so affectionate. You actually felt like you were stuck in one of Claude Monet´s paintings. Gentle, colorful, overwhelming, so beautiful, yet realistic and real. You smiled, thinking of that comparison. Neither one of you noticed the students leaving the building smiling at you because the hug was obviously too long for a hug to be considered normal. He felt so warm and safe, and when you wrapped your arms around him even tighter you briefly touched his hair, and goddamn it, it was so soft.

“It´s good to see you again.” He finally mumbled against your shoulder. “You too.” He pulled away and looked at you. He was grinning like a kid in a candy store, his eyes had disappeared and small wrinkles had appeared around his nose. It was absolutely precious. You had no choice but to smile back at him.

“You hungry?” he finally broke the silence. “A bit.” At that moment your stomach growled. (It must´ve been destiny) “A bit? I see…,” he laughed. Your cheeks flushed with a light tone of red. “Come on.” he took your hand, not giving you enough time to be embarrassed about the situation. “Where are we going?” you asked. “I promised I´d show you my favorite place.” He gently started pulling you away from the building while still looking at you, smiling. Your body still felt like there was electricity running through your veins and your face must have been still flushed red but it felt so right to hold his hand. You smiled back.

He took you to a little ramen restaurant, close to town. The front door seemed so inconspicuous that you had probably walked past it without noticing it in the past. As the two of you entered he was still holding your hand. He led you through the interior of the restaurant, where some people were already having lunch. You knew you already liked the place when you saw how diverse the clientele was. At one table sat two boys, approximately your age, stuffing their mouths full of Ramen, while at another table two businesswomen seemed to have a heated conversation. Jihoon dragged you past them, and only stopped when you were standing in a small backyard with a few tables of which only one of them was occupied by an elderly couple who were sharing a plate of what looked like Gyoza.

You chose the table for two that was the furthest away from the door and took a seat. On the way here, you had been overly focused on Jihoon, on how tightly he pressed your fingers, how he occasionally stroked the back of your hand with his thumb, the quick glances he threw at you, your undivided attention had been all on him but now that you were sitting here in this absolutely adorable backyard, you allowed your brain to briefly focus your attention on your surroundings. Climbing plants were growing up the wall of the house, carrying small pretty blue blossoms, the blue of the flowers looking especially pretty in front of the beige colored wall plaster. In the corner, where two walls from two different buildings met each other, the blue and beige mixed with a white from the neighboring wall and a light pink of some petals that were growing on bushes that were planted there. The colors alone went so beautifully together you just couldn´t help but stare. When you saw the little clay-figure of a frog in a suit sitting on the ground, as if he had to guard those bushes, you had to giggle.

“What is it?” Jihoon interrupted your thoughts. He was beaming at you as if you had just found the cure for cancer. You couldn´t have known it, of course, but Jihoon would´ve been able to watch you look at those flowers for hours on end. He was sure the way your eyes started to sparkle when looking at something beautiful was the cutest thing he had ever seen in his entire life.

“Nothing really. It´s just, that frog there looks so adorable.” “What frog?” he turned his head to look at the figure himself and then continued “Oh that frog. That´s just Ferdinand.” As you were laughing at his remark, he smiled fondly at you, proud of himself for being the one bringing those sounds out of you. “Ferdinand? You serious?” you grinned, finally having caught your breath again. “Yep. He´s like my best buddy. We always have very interesting conversations whenever I come here.” “Ferdinand does seem like an intellectual to me, I bet your talks are always incredibly exciting.” At that Jihoon joined your laughter. His laughter reminded you of vacation, of secluded beaches, of evening sun, of a loaded ice cream cone, of not worrying. “Can I tell you something.” you already knew from the tone in his voice that he wasn´t going to say anything serious. “Always.” “I don´t even know Ferdinand. This is the first time I noticed him. We´re basically strangers. Hell, I don´t even know if his name is Ferdinand.” Your stomach already hurt from laughter while you held your hand in front of your mouth, trying not to laugh out loud again. “Jihoon, you are so silly.” “Oh, I know sweetie, I know.” he smiled knowingly, almost cocky as he leaned back into his chair and locked his arms behind the back of his head. You were still laughing but you had no choice but being You stunned over how easily he could go from being the sweetest and cutest human being to making you blush like crazy. It was simply not fair.

“So tell me, how was your day?” he came to your rescue. He was still smiling, enjoying the effect he had on you. When you started talking, it took you a few sentences to gain back your confidence and certainty in your voice. Your conversation was light and easy but not at all shallow. He listened to you attentively and even asked for details, you seriously felt like you were telling him the most exciting and fascinating stories he has ever heard. Maybe you really were living in a romantic movie now because he honestly was making you feel like you were the most important girl on earth right now. You only were interrupted by the waiter who quickly took your order. Talking to Jihoon felt so familiar while at the same time not. You did have the feeling of having known him for years, but you also felt like you didn´t know anything about this boy sitting in front of you. Both in a good way. He made you comfortable and curious. And because people who have a crush are blind to some things you wondered if he was feeling the same way about you.

When the waiter had dropped off the two plates of food in front of you, and you both had just taken your first bite, neither of you had to say anything. You even closed your eyes briefly and let out a short sigh. The food really was that good.

“It tastes like heaven, doesn´t it?” he cocked an eyebrow at you. “It really does. How have I never been here, I´ve been missing out on this for so long.” You sighed dramatically which made him grin. “Thank god you met me, huh?” Your gazes met, and although his remark had definitely contained a hint of cockiness, he now looked at you, as gently as if you were the most beautiful, most delicate thing he had ever seen in his life. Looking into his eyes, your heart skipped a beat, and even though you were flustered, you could simply not turn your eyes away. Because, yes, he was right, you were really happy you had met him. “Thank you so much for showing me this place. Seriously.” You finally said, your voice way too hushed to sound confident. “You´re very welcome, Y/N. I´m happy you´re here with me.”

You quickly fell back into a conversation about music. You absolutely loved listening to him talk about his passion. He got so excited talking about his work and when you mentioned that he finally had to show you some of his work, he even got a little shy. As fellow artist you understood the insecurity that came with showing other people personal works. Nothing was more relatable to you than the fear of not being able to convey to other people what you had tried so hard to express through your art, or the fear people wouldn´t even understand your kind of expression. But you also knew that any kind of art is always, in a way, a portrait of the artist himself. And when you were looking at Jihoon, listened to the way he talked, you already knew that his music was going to be just so goddamn beautiful.

The minutes you had spent talking to him had disappeared like the wind carries away seeds from a dandelion clock. The time had gone by so quickly, you hadn´t even realized that the two of you had been talking for over two hours. When the waiter came with your bill, you wanted to grab your wallet, because fuck gender roles but Jihoon was faster. You looked at him aghast, ready to tell him he really should´ve let you pay. The words already on your lips, Jihoon didn´t even let you start “I know, I know”, he held his hands up defensively “You wanted to pay and I´m sorry, well actually I´m not…” he laughed. “You didn´t even give me the time to look at the bill!” you were smiling now too but you still tried to keep your tone at least somewhat serious. “I´m sorry, sweetie.” He took your hand “What if I just let you pay next time?” You felt like the floor had been pulled from under your feet (and you were still sitting on your chair). He really wanted to see you again. You weren´t completely oblivious (only a bit) and you knew the date had been going well, but hearing him say those words was a totally different story. You nodded; he was still smiling at you. “Yes, I can live with that.” Your voice was a bit shaky. “Deal.” He was still holding your hand over the table, brushing his thumb over your knuckles.

He shortly looked down before posing his question “Ok so the thing is, I really enjoyed this and I kinda wanna keep talking to you so, do you wanna go for a walk?” And fuck you really really really really wanted to. Like REALLY. But the thought of your portrait assignment made you hesitate. You knew you still had so much work to do, hell you probably had to redo everything you drew yesterday. “I…” you started when he cut you off. “You don´t have to, Y/N. I don´t want to pressure you into anything.” he smiled softly but you could see a tiny bit of disappointment changing his features, he must´ve noticed you were a bit hesitant to answer him.

“No! I´d really love to. I love talking to you too. But I should go home to work on an assignment. It´s due on Wednesday and I´m kinda panicking because I haven´t even really started yet.” You looked down at the table where your hands were intervened. “Oh I get it. What´s the assignment?” “Basically I just need to draw a portrait of someone but I really really want it to be good. I started drawing my mom yesterday but I don´t like it. I think I don´t have enough good photos to draw her realistically and I´m not that great at drawing from memory.” “So you basically need someone to model for you.” You laughed softly, “I guess so.” “Why don´t you draw me then?” he winked at you. You blinked. Once, twice. Had he actually winked at you?? This man was going to be the death of you. Your eyes slightly widened, a blush was creeping up your neck again “You´re kidding.” “I am. Unless…” he was grinning from ear to hear. He really was enjoying your embarrassment way too much. “Also I´d say my face is pretty.” If he wasn´t holding your hand you would´ve tried hiding your face but that wasn´t an option now. “It is.” You stammered. “Did you just call me pretty?” he smirked. That was the last straw. You couldn´t take it anymore. You pulled your hand out of his grasp and hid your blushing face. “Maybe.” “I see. But I do think your face is even prettier.” He chuckled. You looked at him, that goddamn cocky grin on his slips. He knew what he was doing. Gathering all your left confidence you replied, “I can´t draw myself though.” “That´s why you should be drawing me.” “Wait, are you actually being serious?” “I´m not not serious.” He was still grinning but you could hear the earnestness in his voice. “I don´t even know what to say…” “Just say: yes Jihoon I´d love to draw your pretty face and I´ll even make your eyes a bit bigger so you´ll be even prettier than in real life.” You momentarily forgot about your heart beating this fast and your still cherry red face. You loved his eyes and how they disappeared whenever he was smiling. “What? No! Your eyes are perfect just the way they are.” “I appreciate the compliment, sweetie.” He smiled warmly at you. “But I really think we should go now, you still have to draw my portrait today.” You giggled. “I didn´t even agree yet!” He was getting up from his chair “Oh come on,” as soon as you were standing up too he reached for your hand again, “no one would turn down an offer like this.” “Jihoon, you are so full of yourself.” you laughed heartily. He over dramatically clutched his heart with his free hand. “Ow, don´t hurt me like that Y/N when I´m just trying to trick you into spending more time with me.” His blatant honesty made you speechless. You just looked at him and if you weren´t completely mistaken a tiny bit of red was covering his cheeks now too. “Fine. I´ll draw you.” “I am disproportionately delighted to hear that.” You giggled at his choice of words while squeezing his hand a bit tighter. And then the two of you were walking to your apartment, side by side, hand in hand, wearing matching grins.

Hi! It´s me, Jo. I´d like to thank you for reading my stuff! I really hope you enjoyed it. If you have any feedback, comments, requests, questions please let me know!

#jihoon x reader #woozi x reader #seventeen x reader #seventeen ff #seventeen #seventeen fluff #jihoon fluff #woozi fluff #kpop ff #rhubarbbabywrites

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hysterialevi · 5 years ago

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Red Dead Rising | Chapter 3

Fanfic summary: 12 YEARS BEFORE RDR2 - Greed, money, and larceny. These are the only things Arthur has ever known; the only things he’s ever been taught. But when Dutch decides to hit a town called Harlow, what started out as nothing more than a plan to rob the local bank ends up igniting the events that lead to RDR2, and a 24 year-old Arthur is forced to confront his morality while the gang faces a terrifying enemy of their own making.

Point of view: third-person

This story is also on AO3 and Wattpad

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Author’s note: Apologies for any spelling/grammar mistakes. It was really late when I finished this and I don’t have the energy to review it lol. Hope you enjoy regardless though :)

TWO MONTHS LATER

APRIL, 1887

INDIGO PEAK

Scribbling down a few more lines into his journal, Arthur added some last-minute touches to his sketch of Indigo Peak, doin’ his absolute best to capture what was in front of him.

There was a whole array of purple mountains just sitting in front of this camp. They all sat in a majestic, uneven line right above the horizon and towered over a gathering of evergreen trees, separating the sky from the wildlife that lived in the fields and meadows below.

The white sun also hovered above the mountains in a thick blanket of blue-tinted clouds, and provided the landscape with an abundance of rays. They passed through the space between the summits like something out of a painting, and touched the ground in a scattered pattern, giving the grass a dotted look.

It was extraordinarily beautiful, in Arthur’s opinion. He had seen nature’s beauty many times before, but... it was just one of those things that never got old.

Unfortunately for him however, he absolutely despised his drawing.

“Dammit...” Arthur muttered, smudging some of the graphite out.

How did people do this? Arthur originally got the idea to try it from Thomas who was constantly sketching away in his own journal, but the man made it look so easy. His “doodles” were always so detailed and lifelike, and in the meantime, Arthur’s looked like someone drew them in the midst of an earthquake. Or, at least, that was how he saw it.

The young outlaw let out an annoyed sigh and shut the journal closed, deciding to take a break for now as he relaxed on a nearby tree stump.

He was planning to visit Mary, anyway. The woman sent him a letter not too long ago, and apparently, she was in the region with her family. They were attending the wedding of one of her cousins and were staying at a farm that her grandparents owned, just outside of Harlow. Arthur figured he may as well stop by and say hello before they left.

He just hoped he could avoid Mr. Gillis.

None of the people in Mary’s family really liked him to begin with, but that man was an absolute menace whenever Arthur was around. The young outlaw didn’t know what the hell it would take to please Robert, but the fact that the one person who wanted him dead was the father of his fiancée worried him, to say the least.

Arthur understood Robert’s concerns about letting his daughter marry someone who was a criminal -- any good father would -- but at the same time, he thought he had more than proved himself during his time with Mary.

Arthur never put her in danger, or allowed her to get involved with the gang’s activities. He kept her well away from anything Dutch or Hosea did, and even promised to leave that life behind once he and Mary finally tied the knot. There was also the fact that little Jamie seemed to enjoy having Arthur nearby.

He just didn’t know what else he could do to show Robert that he would be a good husband. Maybe he thought Arthur wouldn’t keep his promise? Or that he was too incompetent?

Well, whatever the case was, Arthur had a bad feeling that Robert was going to be more of a headache than he originally expected. He assumed the man would’ve warmed up to him by now -- the wedding wasn’t too far away, after all -- but that obviously hadn’t happened yet.

He supposed he would just have to keep trying. Mary always told Arthur to have hope, but the young man wasn’t so sure that’d be enough anymore. Mr. Gillis was probably the most stubborn man he’d ever met in his life, and if things didn’t work out between the two of them -- well, that was a bridge they’d have to cross when they got to it.

Arthur just prayed he wouldn’t ever have to worry about that.

Breaking the silence, the sound of people arguing suddenly drew Arthur’s attention away from the landscape and cut off his train of thought, leading him to see what all the commotion was about.

It looked like Thomas and Mac were currently stuck in a spat about something at the moment, and the latter seemed to cling to his companion while he strode around camp, desperate to get away from the quarrel.

“--I’m just saying,” Mac reiterated, “we can’t wait forever!”

“And we won’t,” Thomas replied, clearly vexed. “But we need to be careful.”

The two of them came to a halt, carrying on with their argument not too far away from where Arthur was.

“C’mon, Mac. We’ve been robbing stuff with Hosea for nearly a year now. You know how this works. We make a plan, we wait, and when the time comes, we strike. It’s always the same.”

The other man crossed his arms. “Yeah, but we ain’t never robbed a bank before!”

Thomas placed his hands on his hips. “All the more reason to make sure we do this right. We only have one chance to pull this off, Mac. You understand that? One chance. Ain’t no way we can come back from this if we fail.”

Mac let out a sigh, still not convinced.

“It’s been two months, Thomas. How much longer are we gonna wait?”

Moreau leaned against a tree, shrugging. “I don’t know.”

“And what happens if the law finds out we’re here? We gonna move camp again?”

“I don’t know.”

“Well, what about Shaw? Has he made any progress with Farley?”

“I don’t--!” Thomas took a breath, calming himself down. “...I don’t know.”

Arthur jumped into the conversation before the two of them could argue any further and glanced over his shoulder, trying to defuse the situation.

“Hey, uh... you boys alright?” He called out.

Thomas dismissed the question, evidently just wanting to walk away from this.

“We’re fine, Arthur,” he answered, his tone saying otherwise. “Just... a tad anxious about the upcoming robbery.”

Mac scoffed. “If it ever comes.”

That caused Moreau to snap somewhat. “Yeah, well, you got any better ideas, Callander? Maybe you think we should just run up to the bank and shoot our way through the front door? In broad daylight. Oh, and while we’re at it, we could say hello to Sheriff Farley on the way back to camp! Maybe stay at his place for a cup of tea.”

“You know what, Frenchy,” Mac fired back, “you can be a real pain in the ass sometimes. Why Hosea even bothers puttin’ up with your bullshit is beyond me. He shoulda left you in New Aubertin as far as I’m concerned.”

“My bullshit?” Thomas repeated. “If I recall correctly, it’s always me who’s cleanin’ up after you and Davey! Like that hell y’all raised back in Mercy when Hosea first found you.”

“Oh, you’re really gonna pull that one out now--”

“--Gentlemen!”

Bringing the dispute to an abrupt halt, a guttural voice suddenly cut Mac and Thomas off right before things started to get heated, causing everyone to fall silent as a third party joined the scene.

Sauntering in their direction, Dutch casually walked up to the pair of outlaws with an amused grin on his face as he took a long drag on his cigar, chuckling at their behavior.

“You know, gentlemen, while I do appreciate a good ol’ fashioned fight like no other man alive...” he breathed out a puff of smoke, “...I’d rather you saved the killin’ for Farley’s boys. We got enough of a storm comin’ our way as is.”

Thomas sighed wearily. “Sorry, Dutch. It’s just... folk are gettin’ restless. We been sittin’ on this bank robbery for two months now, and Shaw has yet to give us the all-clear. Some are worried that we’re never gonna pull this off.”

Dutch smiled, pointing with his cigar. “Now, listen to me son, if there’s anything you’re gonna learn from your time with me, it’s that losin’ faith never did no one any good. This robbery is going to happen, and it’s going to happen soon. In fact, I actually received a letter from Benjamin yesterday evening. He thinks we can make our move at any minute now..”

Mac’s expression lit up with a newfound interest. “What? Really? When?”

The other man didn’t promise anything just yet. “I don’t know, but I’m planning to pay him a visit in Harlow. We’ll speak to him face-to-face, and see when we can get things rolling.”

Arthur picked up on that. “We?”

Dutch turned to him. “Yes. I need you to come with me too, Arthur. Apparently, Ben’s got a job for you to do. He asked for you specifically.”

Well, it looked like Arthur wasn’t going to see Mary as soon as he thought. The young man concealed his disappointment. “...Alright, I guess.”

“Good. Then you and I will take a trip down to Harlow, see what Benjamin wants, and in the meantime...” Dutch brought his gaze to Thomas and Mac, “make sure the camp stays in one piece while we’re away, would you?”

Thomas nodded. “Things’ll be fine when you get back.”

“That’s what I like to hear.”

Dutch put out his cigar and headed for the horses, beckoning Arthur. “Come on, son. We got a job to do.”

Slipping the journal back into his satchel, Arthur removed himself from the tree stump and followed Dutch at a brisk pace, sticking close-by while Thomas and Mac returned to their business.

It looked like the two of them had calmed down by now, and to finish things off, they exchanged some final words before parting ways for the afternoon.

“Hey...” Mac murmured apologetically, “sorry for, um... what I said back there. Y’know I didn’t mean it.”

Thomas let out a fatigued breath. “...Sure. I know.”

The hot-tempered outlaw threw in a quick offer. “...Wanna head down to the saloon later?”

Thomas repeated his answer, although a bit more relaxed this time. “Sure.”

Arthur grinned at the sight and chuckled quietly to himself, shaking his head in amusement. He supposed he and Marston weren’t the only ones who had a relationship like that.

There was no doubt that the little boy drove Arthur insane sometimes, but deep down, the young man knew he could never really hurt John. The kid was like a baby brother to him, after all. Dutch and Hosea pretty much raised them like siblings, and underneath all the havoc, Arthur couldn’t deny that he loved Marston.

He just wished he could get some alone time once in a while. Lord knew John loved getting attention.

“I hope I didn’t interrupt any plans you had,” Dutch suddenly remarked, bringing Arthur back to the task at hand. “I know I dragged you into this rather quickly.”

Arthur decided to be honest with him. “Well, I was gonna visit Mary, actually. She’s in the region right now, and wanted to see me before she left. But it’s like you said, we got a job to do first.”

Dutch approached Belle-Dame, unhitching her from the post. “Mary’s in Harlow?”

“Not Harlow,” he corrected. “On a farm outside of it. She’s stayin’ there with her father and grandparents.”

“Ah. Well, tell you what -- we’ll just have a short chat with Benjamin, hear what updates he’s got for us, and afterwards, you can go on and see Mary. Sound good?”

Arthur mounted Abitha, readying himself for the ride. “Sounds good.”

Dutch smiled at him, climbing on top of his own horse. “Thank you for bein’ patient with me, Arthur. I know this process has been long, but we are gonna do this. We just gotta push a little bit more, and soon, that bank’ll be ours to pillage. Now, c’mon. Harlow awaits.”

~~~~~~~~~~

THE GALLOWS, HARLOW

Falling with a sudden drop, the criminal collapsed beneath the gallows’ surface and dangled morbidly in the air, causing the noose’s rope to go taut while the crowd watched in both horror and fascination.

Harlow was normally a peaceful town, and even prided itself on having such a low crime rate, but recently, things had changed for the worse... and everyone could feel it.

No one knew exactly where this feeling came from or why it was appearing so suddenly, but for the past couple of months, a peculiar sense of dread loomed over the town like a dark cloud that just wouldn’t leave.

There were more thefts, more break-ins, more fights... and even more murders. The people of Harlow were either vanishing or dying one-by-one, and as a result, the entire town was on edge. Though, no one was quite as stressed as their beloved sheriff, Ronan Farley.

The man had the population of a small city depending on him. Harlow always looked to him for answers whenever things went wrong, and normally, he was able to provide.

With everything that was going on though, the sheriff was at a loss for words. Ronan truly had no idea why the town’s overall safety had deteriorated so quickly, and the possibilities of what could’ve been at the heart of all this made him shudder.

Farley had been dealing with outlaws for long enough to know that crimes like this didn’t just fall out of the sky. There was something bigger going on here. Something lurking in the shadows... but he couldn’t act on pure speculation alone.

If Ronan was going to get to the bottom of Harlow’s turbulent situation, he’d have to hope that the people responsible would expose themselves eventually. His hands were full enough as is, and without any proper evidence to conduct a thorough search, there was really nothing more he could do.

Farley’s hands were tied.

~~~~~~~~~~

A FEW MINUTES LATER

SHERIFF’S OFFICE

“That’s the third execution this week...” Deputy Leighton said with a discouraged sigh, gazing out the window. “What is happening to this town?”

Ronan removed his hat and placed it down on the desk, offering some reassurance to his friend.

“Keep it together, Andrew,” he reminded the young lawman. “This ain’t the first time we’ve dealt with this.”

“True,” the deputy conceded, “but lately, it just feels like... the wind’s shifted in Harlow. Like our luck’s run out. There are more criminals hangin’ from the gallows than there are bounties on our wall, and this idea that we can’t do our job as lawmen anymore is startin’ to propagate.”

Andrew took a seat at the desk, leaning back in exhaustion. “...Everything’s just a mess.”

Andrew Leighton was the youngest out of the four deputies, and also happened to be the newest, apart from Deputy Shaw. He had only been working with Ronan for about six months, whereas Buchanan and Sommer had been at the sheriff’s side for a couple of years.

Andrew was twenty-one years old, and in contrast to his fellow lawmen, carried a slightly more gullible demeanor to him, often making him a target.

He wasn’t naive, necessarily. Andrew had seen more than his fair share of violence in the past, but he had also been blessed with the curse of wanting to believe the best in people. He tried to maintain the idea that no man was truly evil, and that good nature was reflected in his appearance.

Leighton had a clean-shaven face, a pair of kind blue eyes, and a head of short blond hair that he always kept in a neat style. He wore a slate-blue Classic Frock coat on top of a white shirt and black vest, and adorned a black Paragon Town hat to go with his boots.

Sheriff Farley, on the other hand, sported a much rougher temperament. The hardy man had loose and short brown hair, a full beard, and a noticeably wounded look in his eyes. He was only in his late-thirties, but had a few extra wrinkles creasing his face due to all the stress and lack of sleep.

Ronan’s usual attire consisted of a somewhat weathered Gaucho hat, a dark-brown duster coat, and a scarlet-red vest that he wore on top of an opened white shirt. His boots were nothing fancy and bore no sort of design, but they were sturdy enough... sort of like the people he worked so hard to protect.

Gazing blankly at the empty jail cells, Andrew decided to put professionalism aside for a moment and posed a more colloquial question to Ronan, hoping to get his honest opinion.

“Hey, sheriff...” he said, “can I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

Andrew softened his voice a bit, not wanting to announce their conversation to anyone in the vicinity.

“...What d’you think is really goin’ on in Harlow?”

Ronan paused at the vagueness of the question, not entirely sure what Andrew was getting at.

“What do you mean?”

The deputy took a second to clarify. “The deaths, the disappearances, the sudden lack in morale... Harlow’s had its rough patches, sure, but nothing quite like this. You think it’s all just a coincidence?”

The sheriff didn’t crack his shell just yet. “Coincidence or not, we’ll get through it.”

Andrew didn’t buy it. “...With all respect, Ronan, I’ve known you long enough to know you’re not that dense. I’m sure you out of all people can sense something’s wrong in Harlow. Something that... we might not be ready for.”

Ronan took a seat across from Leighton, hoping to relax for just a second.

“It ain’t our job to speculate, Andrew. When there’s a problem, we’ll deal with it. But we can’t go searchin’ for trouble when we don’t even know what to look for.”

“I know,” the deputy agreed, “it’s just... I hate this feeling, y’know? This feeling of sittin’ around, not being able to help the folk ‘round here. Everyone’s worried that we’ve got a rough road ahead of us, and they expect us to solve all their problems, but... we can’t even do anything without solid proof. I suppose I just wish I could do more.”

Ronan leaned forward in his chair, resting his arms on the desk.

“You’ve got a good heart, Leighton, but we’re the last people this town needs to be gettin’ paranoid. Stay vigilant, and remember to use your head. If anything does happen to Harlow, it’s gonna need all of us to protect it.”

Andrew nodded in reassurance, deciding to drop the subject for now. “...You’re right, you’re right. I can’t go startin’ trouble when there might not even be any. I gotta keep my head on my shoulders. It’s just... it’s difficult when you don’t actually have a target to shoot at yet. But... you’re right. We’ll be okay.”

The deputy stood up from his seat and headed for the door, leaving Farley to his thoughts.

“...Anyway, thanks for listenin’ to me ramble, sheriff. I didn’t mean to put all that on you. You’re a rock for more people than you realize. I just hope I can repay you someday.”

Ronan’s expression remained flat, but it was still clear to Andrew that he appreciated the remark.

“You don’t owe me anything, Andrew.”

Opening the door with a firm pull, the deputy wasted no time in getting back to work and headed out into the open, only to stop in his tracks when he found someone blocking the doorway.

It was a woman. She was about ten years older than Andrew, and a head of black hair that had been tied into a loose bun.

The dress she was wearing appeared rather simple in terms of design, but it still carried an elegant shape regardless. The upper part was a soft shade of white, and the bottom had been dyed mahogany brown. As a way to top it all off though, the woman had also tied a yellow scarf around her neck, and let most of it hang off her back like a miniature cape.

The young deputy recognized her immediately upon seeing her, and gave her a brief greeting.

“Afternoon, Mrs. Farley.”

The woman smiled in response. “Hello, Mr. Leighton.”

Allowing Mrs. Farley to step in first, Andrew waited off to the side until she was in the office before finally making his way out, shutting the door closed behind him.

As for Ronan, the man got up from his desk almost as soon as he saw his wife and approached her, concerned about what she might be doing here.

“Annabelle? Is everything alright?”

“Yes,” she replied calmly, sensing her husband’s uneasiness. “Everything’s fine. I just wanted to check up on you. You haven’t been home much lately.”

Annabelle glanced out the window, lowering her head in fear as a grim expression spread across her face.

“I... heard about the execution today. That’s the third one this week, isn’t it? Or is it the fourth?” She let out a sigh. “I can never keep up. The days seem to blur together now with all these hangings. Are you... doin’ okay, Ronan? All of this pressure can’t be easy on you.”

Ronan sat on the desk’s surface, sliding a hand down his face.

“I’ll be honest, Annabelle. I’m... I’m worried.”

Annabelle stepped in front of him and gently held his hand, rubbing it in a comforting manner.

“Worried? About what?”

The sheriff gestured to the door. “Well, Andrew was talkin’ about this just before you came in, but... he feels like Harlow’s luck has run out. As if our time as a safe hamlet is over. And I’m inclined to agree with him.”

That sparked Annabelle’s interest. “Really? Why? Has somethin’ happened?”

Ronan shook his head. “Nothing in particular, but it don’t take a genius to see that Elijah, Curtis, and Suzanna’s murders are connected. Accordin’ to the evidence we found, they were three separate cases with three different killers -- and we hanged all of ‘em -- but... something just doesn’t feel right. Even after all that chaos, it feels incomplete.”

Annabelle took on a more steadfast tone. “Well, what do you think is happening? Forget the evidence. Forget what people are saying. What does your gut tell you?”

The sheriff fell silent for a moment, gathering his thoughts.

“...I think there’s more goin’ on here than we can see. I think somethin’ big is coming our way. I dunno what, or how, or even when... but I believe the true killer is still out there. The murders just seemed too similar. Too easy to solve. It all felt contrived to me, and I believe Harlow won’t be safe so long as the real murderer is still roamin’ about. I believe it’s gonna get a whole lot worse before it gets better.”

The woman furrowed her brows in anxiety, mindlessly tightening her grip.

“...You’re frightening me, Ronan.”

The man snapped out of his suspicions for the time being and put them aside, bringing a loving hand up to Annabelle’s face.

“I’m... I’m sorry, darling. I didn’t mean to scare you. Things have just been tense around Harlow these past couple of months. I guess I needed to get that off my chest more than I realized. But don’t you worry. I’ll be home tonight. Before you go to bed.

Annabelle beamed at that, afterwards pecking a kiss on Ronan’s cheek. “Good. I miss you.”

The sheriff chuckled softly at that. “I miss you too.”

Mrs. Farley took a step back, still grinning from their conversation. “Well, I’ll let you go now. I’m sure you have many things to attend to. Just... be careful, okay? Harlow needs you now more than ever. And so do I.”

Ronan nodded firmly. “I will. The same goes for you.”

“Of course.”

Annabelle wandered closer to the door, offering some last-minute advice to the troubled sheriff before she left.

“These are strange times, Ronan. The only way we’re gonna get through them is with each other. Don’t forget that.”

~~~~~~~~~~

A WHILE LATER

THE BLUE BRONCO SALOON, HARLOW

Sitting on top of a barrel, Arthur avidly sketched in silence while Dutch slowly paced around in boredom as the two of them stayed patiently behind Harlow’s saloon, waiting for Benjamin to turn up.

It had been quite a long time ever since Arthur last saw Ben. The man visited their camp occasionally to keep Dutch updated on things, but Arthur couldn’t remember the last time he and Ben actually sat down together and just... talked.

He wondered what he looked like now. What he was doing. How he was getting on.

Sure, Ben wasn’t always the nicest man, or even the most righteous, but as strange as it sounded, that was one of the reasons why Arthur liked him. To him, it made Ben seem to more genuine.

He may not have always been the most eloquent with his words, and sometimes he straight-up tried to avoid people, but Arthur knew that deep down, Ben never worried about hiding behind some sort of pretense.

He said what he meant, and he meant what he said, so there was never any doubt whenever Benjamin expressed his thoughts. Ironically though, he was the one Dutch chose to act as somebody else.

Arthur didn’t know why Dutch thought he’d be the best person to work as a mole. Ben never struck him as somebody to go undercover like this, but despite Arthur’s concerns, Dutch seemed to have no skepticism surrounding Benjamin’s capabilities. According to him, he was the “perfect” man for the job.

Arthur just hoped everything would turn out okay. The gang had worked so hard and for so long to get this robbery done, that for something to go wrong now would’ve been a major setback.

The folks back at camp were nervous enough about robbing a bank for the first time, and Arthur didn’t even wanna think about the chaos that would ensue if their plan failed.

It was like Thomas said. They only had once chance to get this right, and there was no room for impulse. They needed to focus.

“Whatcha workin’ on there, cowboy?” Dutch asked, making Arthur pause mid-sketch.

“Drawing.” The boy answered simply.

His companion smirked. “Oh? Drawing what?”

Arthur shrugged. “...Things.”

“That so? What kinda things?”

The young man gestured aimlessly at their surroundings, admittedly somewhat shy to talk about it. “Y’know, stuff. That we see. Horses, people, trees.”

Dutch chortled humorously at that. “Oh, okay.”

Arthur sighed. “Look, it ain’t nothin’ fancy, alright? I just do it when I’m bored.”

The other man’s grin only grew wider at his annoyance. “Well, please, don’t let me disturb you. Carry on with drawing your... ‘things.”

The young outlaw mentally groaned to himself, returning to his work.

Just before he could start sketching again however, a third person walked into the scene, causing both of them to divert their attention.

“Gentlemen.” Benjamin Shaw greeted flatly, strolling in their direction.

Benjamin was a scraggly-looking man with sunken cheeks due to his growing addiction to alcohol, and displayed a collection of small scars on his face, the most prominent one being a thin, horizontal gash that sat just above his left brow.

As for his hair, it was chocolate-colored and reached long enough to touch his shoulders. In terms of style though, the strands were rather tangled and messy, and his facial hair wasn’t anymore tame.

Benjamin had nothing more than a prickly layer of scruff sticking to his jawline, but there was a slim gap in his mustache from another scar that sliced downwards across his mouth.

On the topic of clothes though -- at the moment, Benjamin was wearing a black Collar Overshirt with a hickory-colored leather jacket that made his badge stand out like a beacon in the night, and he adorned a dark pair of trousers as well as some Sleeked Riding boots to match the Stalker hat that he always wore.

Overall, he looked pretty much the same compared to when Arthur last saw him, and that made the young man happy.

“There you are!” Dutch replied excitedly. “How the hell are you, my boy?”

Benjamin didn’t appear to return the enthusiasm. If anything, he looked exhausted.

“I feel like shit and I look like shit, but I got some information you might be interested in, Dutch. Though, it ain’t all good news, I’m afraid.”

Dutch’s expression dimmed instantly at the news. “Straight to the point, I see. Very well, then. What is it?”

Benjamin lowered his voice. “Well, the good news is I think we’ll be able to hit the bank soon. Ronan and his deputies trust me. It took some convincing, believe me, but they finally see me as one of their own.”

“Extremely well done, Ben. I knew you was the right feller for this job. When do you think we’ll be able to rob the bank?”

The “deputy” thought for a minute. “Give me... one more week. I’ll be able to get things rollin’ by then.”

Dutch switched to a more serious tone. “Just one more week? Are you certain? We don’t wanna rush this.”

Benjamin insisted. “I’m certain. I’ve got the whole town on edge with a string of recent crimes, and tensions are startin’ to build. Now is the time to do this. If we wait too long, this may not work.”

The other man nodded in understanding. “Okay, then. I trust your judgement. One more week and then we’ll finally hit this goddamn bank. I’ll let the people back at camp know. Now... what’s the bad news?”

Shaw leaned in a bit more, making sure that no one else could hear them.

“I did some investigatin’ into Sheriff Farley, and it turns out, that ain’t even the man’s real name.”

“What?” Dutch questioned, taken aback. “Then what the hell is it?”

Benjamin was quiet for a second, almost like he was worried to see his friend’s reaction.

“O’Driscoll.”

Arthur’s eyes popped wide open. “You’re shittin’ me. The sheriff of this town is an O’Driscoll?”

“Not just any O’Driscoll,” Ben clarified. “He’s Colm’s older brother.”

Dutch’s face scrunched into a glower. “How d’you know this?”

“I overheard Ronan and his wife talkin’ about it,” Benjamin explained. “Apparently, he changed his name to ‘Farley’ many years ago ‘cause he didn’t wanna be associated with the O’Driscolls no more. Sounds to me like he and Colm didn’t get along.”

“So, he’s not working with the gang?” Arthur asked.

“No. I don’t think so. Ronan’s got a strong hatred for outlaws. I highly doubt he’d ever work with them.”

“Still,” Dutch added, “it’s something to think about. When we first arrived at New Aubertin, Thomas told me there had been rumors of the O’Driscolls being in this region. If Colm’s got any affection left for his brother, and he finds out what we’re doing -- we need to be extra careful from here on out.”

“Agreed.”

“Well,” Dutch said, heading back to his horse, “I’m gonna return to camp. Let ‘em know about the plan. In the meantime, Arthur will help you out with that job you mentioned. Stay safe, you two. And keep a low profile. We’re this close to robbin’ that bank. We ain’t botching it now.”

Taking his leave, Dutch removed himself from the saloon’s vicinity and rode back to camp like a bat out of hell, eager to deliver the good news to the gang as the sun steadily began to set.

Meanwhile, Arthur stayed behind with Benjamin and simply remained seated on his barrel while the other man found a comfortable spot next to him, leaning against the saloon’s wall in a casual manner.

“So...” Arthur began, “what was that job you had for me?”

Ben took off his hat, wiping some of the sweat off his forehead. “There was no job.”

The young man raised a brow. “What? So why’d you ask Dutch to bring me here?”

“Because you’re one of the few people I like to talk to, and I need a break from this mess.” Benjamin quickly lit a cigarette, offering one to Arthur. “Anyway... how’ve you been? Things goin’ good at camp?”

Arthur took the cigarette and waited for Ben to light it, continuing the conversation. “As good as they can be. I’m plannin’ to visit Mary later. Apparently, she’s in the region.”

The other man’s face sagged with obvious disapproval. “Ms. Gillis is here?”

“Yes. You mean to tell me you still don’t like her?”

Benjamin put out the match. “It ain’t that simple, Arthur. Mary’s a sweet girl -- I ain’t suggestin’ otherwise. I just don’t know how serious she is about marrying you.”

Arthur couldn’t deny that he struck a nerve. “What do you mean by that? She said yes, didn’t she?”

“Well yeah, but how long before that dusty, old shithead father of hers gets in the way? You really think he'll have no influence on Mary? He’s already tryin’ to put your head on a pike as it is.”

The young man let out a cloud of smoke. “Mary loves me, Ben. And I love her. Nothing’s separatin’ us. Besides, what her father does ain’t her fault. I really don’t understand why you and Grimshaw dislike her so much. ”

Benjamin sighed in defeat. “We’re just lookin’ out for you, Arthur. You’re a good man. Much better than a lot of us. We don’t wanna see you get hurt. But... if you trust her, then I guess it wouldn’t hurt if I did too. Just don’t expect me to weclome her with open arms anytime soon.”

Arthur picked up on Benjamin’s agitated tone, suddenly worried about his friend’s well-being. This wasn’t just about Mary... was it?

“Hey...” he said, speaking more softly, “r’you good, Ben? I mean, you’ve always been an angry bastard, but you seem especially irritated today. What’s goin’ on?”

Thinking to himself for a moment, the deputy remained quiet and ignored Arthur’s question as he thought about what to say next, clearly conflicted about something.

It was unusual for Ben to be so reserved. He wasn’t a social butterfly by any means, but... even then, this sort of behavior was odd for him. Normally, he’d crack a joke or two -- maybe throw in a hint of sarcasm here and there, but today, he was completely serious.

It made Arthur suspect that this whole job was having more of a toll on Benjamin than anyone in the gang truly understood. Dutch did kind of force him into this, after all, and Arthur really had no idea what sort of experiences Ben was going through in order to get the gang where they were now.

Arthur just hoped that Ben wasn’t angry with him personally. It was no secret that Dutch favored the young man over anyone else in the gang, and part of Arthur couldn’t help but feel as if that was what got him out of doing this job, despite the fact that Hosea originally planned to send him or Thomas.

Just what was going on?

“...Y’know what, Arthur,” Benjamin finally said, sounding far more drained than before, “I won’t lie to you. These past two months with Ronan and his men... they’ve opened my eyes to some things. Things that... that make me question everything I’ve done in my life.”

Arthur turned to face him. “What d’you mean?”

Shaw looked at him with a guilt-ridden gaze, taking a drag on his cigarette.

“...I’ve done some terrible stuff throughout the years, Arthur. Stuff that even you don’t know about. I’ve hurt people like it was nothing, killed others for the sake of money, and even turned my back on a few folks who loved me just like you and Dutch do. But... after workin’ with Farley, I’m not sure that’s the man I wanna be anymore.”

Arthur quirked a brow at the statement. “Wait, are you sayin’ you wanna become a lawman for real?”

“Not a lawman,” Ben corrected, “but I dunno if I’m gonna be returning to the gang after this robbery. I’m thinkin’ of maybe going my own way. Starting a different life with the money we take, while I still have the chance. I’m... I’m sorry, Arthur. I probably should’ve said something sooner.”

The young man protested. “You can’t leave, Ben. We need you in this gang. Not only are you one of the best people we’ve had, you’re also my friend. It wouldn’t be the same without you.”

Benjamin flipped the subject to him. “And what about you? You’re gonna be a husband soon, Arthur. Possibly even be a father someday. You can’t stay in this life forever. It’s gotta be left behind eventually if you wanna be there for your family.”

Arthur felt admittedly somewhat cornered by the response.

“I-I know. And I’ll leave it behind when the time comes, but I still owe it to Dutch to stick with him throughout this whole thing. He saved my life. Yours, too. You’ve said it yourself.”

“Yeah, but my life wasn’t worth savin’ when he first found me. I wanna make sure that it is before I go.”

Somewhat overwhelmed by Benjamin’s sudden confession, Arthur gave the man nothing but a concerned gaze in response and simply sat there with a cigarette in his hand, watching the smoke dance from its tip as it slowly burned away.

Meanwhile, Benjamin threw his to the ground and swiftly stubbed it out with his boot, marking the end of their conversation.

“Do me a favor, Arthur,” he said before returning to his work. “Don’t become the same man I was. When the time comes, make sure you do what’s right.”

Arthur wasn’t sure how to take that advice. “It ain’t always that easy, Ben.”

“I never said it would be easy,” he countered. “In fact, it’s probably gonna be a goddamned nightmare before any of this blows over... but it’ll be worth it. So long as you do the right thing. Remember that.”

With that being said, Benjamin walked off into the busier parts of town just as more people started pouring out of the different establishments around Harlow, ready to go back home for the evening.

He threw a casual wave over his shoulder, saying one last goodbye.

“Take care of yourself, Arthur. Lord only knows what the future holds.”

#red dead redemption 2 #red dead redemption #rdr2 #arthur morgan #dutch van der linde #hosea matthews #rdr2 fanfic #rdr2 story #rdr2 prequel #rdr2 oc

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gottalovetheletos · 7 years ago

Text

Love without shame. Jared Series. Ch 9.

Authors note: Sorry it’s taken so long. I’ve had a bad case of writers block. This is the best I can do at the moment. I still hope you like it even if I don’t lol.

Warnings: SMUUUUTTTT. (Masterbation/ phone sex), Daddy kink also (Kinda)

Word Count: 1,094.

Love without shame. Chapter 9.

If you haven’t read it here’s : CHAPTER 8

I stared at the picture for a while wishing it was Jared and me. I sent a text back.

“Okay, Daddy! I wanna play a dirty game. A Simon says type game. Where you tell me to do something and I do it 😈😈 xxx” I waited for a reply.

“Daddy likes that idea. Ring me on Face time and we’ll go from there you dirty girl. 😛 xxx”

So I did as I was told and he picked up. He was laying on the couch after his show and I knew it was now my turn to put on a show for him.

“Daddy wants you to strip down to your underwear Princess”. I slowly and seductively peeled away my clothes for him. “Take yourself into my room and place your Ipad on the chest of drawers at the end of the bed, then get on the bed and wait for you next instruction”. He bit his lip. I walked upstairs into his bedroom and placed the Ipad down. I was now on the bed. “Ready Daddy”.

“Right baby girl, start by taking off that lacy bra of yours” Slowly I unhook the clasp at the front. Luckily I was wearing it. He loves it when it unclasps at the front. “Next baby girl I want you to roll those perfect nipples in between your finger” I used my fingers to slowly caress and squeeze one at a time making them peak on top of my chest. “Mmm you’re so perfect” I got so carried away I almost forgot he was there. “Next princess, move you hand down towards your panties” I did, gently running my fingertips down my middle they reached the hem of my panties. “Pull then off, show me that pretty pussy”. I could see he was as turned on as I was. He reached for his throbbing cock. I pulled away my panties exposing myself to him. “Show daddy how wet you are” I ran my finger down my core and brought it up to the camera. “I’m very wet daddy”. I didn’t realize I was soaked. How can one man make me this horny? “Good girl. I want you to run you hand just below the base of your belly and pull taught so you clit is exposed from the hood, trust me. I’ll make you feel amazing without even touching you”. “Now use some of that wetness to lubricate your middle finger and slowly run little circles on the tip of your clit”. I slowly ran circles and my clit was ridiculously sensitive. I carried on for a few minutes when I felt the brink of an orgasm approaching.

I couldn’t help but watch Jared as he stroked that long cock that I desperately wanted. “Uhh, daddy I need to cum. Please”. “Do it baby girl. Cum for me”. The words of encouragement helped push me over the edge. I kept teasing my clit until I couldn’t take it anymore and I was left a quivering mess on the bed. “Mmm.. good girl. But we’re not done yet. I want you to find the black box in my closet and pick out a dildo”. My legs were weak as I walked into the walk in wardrobe and found the box. I picked out a dildo that resembled Jared’s dick. It was long and thick. Back into the bedroom I sat at the end of the bed and licked up the shaft making him moan as he watched me through the screen stoking his own shaft. I pushed myself back so I was in full view. I ran the dildo around my nipples and down to my core. I slowly eased it in making sure Jared could see everything. “You wishing that’s daddy’s dick?” he asked. I bit my lip. “Yes daddy”. I was pumping as he watched and the pleasure began to rise again. I couldn’t take my eyes off of Jared as he stroked himself. He was smirking. My guess was, even though we’re far apart he knows he’s still in charge. His moans were turning me on even more “Daddy, I need to cum again please”. “Not yet” he growled. I started pumping faster and my other hand running circles around my clit again. It felt like I was inside a pressure cooker and the steam was rising. I needed to let go. “Please, J let me cum, please” I begged. “Oh Princess you’re so hard to resist when you beg. You can cum”. I lost myself once again I could hear Jared in the background also releasing. “Baby, that was perfect. You are perfect. I love you” he looked deep into the camera. “I love you too, but I want you to know that was nothing compared to the real thing. I miss you” I confessed. “I miss you too”. He replied. “Baby, I hate to climax and leave but I’m really tired”. My comment made him laugh. “That’s fine baby. I’m gonna get some sleep too. Love you Princess”. “Love you too daddy”.

In the morning I woke up... Alone.. Obviously. I missed Jared so much. I check my bank account. I’d received my last paycheck of $3000 and the $2000 from the people renting my apartment was finally in my bank plus their $1000 deposit. I had $6000 in my account plus my savings. I looked at the calendar to see where Jared would be. I pulled out my laptop and looked for flights and well... I was going to see Jared next week and there was nothing stopping me.

I had a few days to go until I was heading off to surprise Jared so I decided to start the journey of finding myself. I went out to the closest art store and bought some supplies. Jared said I could decorate the rooms he’d given me however I wanted. All I knew is that I wanted to paint.

I started exploring different art forms. I liked the paints because if you go wrong you wait for it to dry, paint over it and try again. I like a simple sketch pad, pencil and eraser for the same reason. As the few days passed I sent multiple pictures to Jared of my new found ‘talent’. I didn’t even know if I could call this a talent. But i’d never thought seriously about art before. I was too busy working. But now I had time to enjoy the little thing. The littlest things in life are often the most beautiful.

CHAPTER 10: COMING #SOON

_______________________________________________________

@dance4angels

@meghan12151977

@pheenixpeterson

#jared leto #jaredleto #Jared Leto Fanfic #jared leto fanfiction #jared leto imagine #jared leto smut #jared leto imagine smut #Love without shame series #gottalovetheletos

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dengswei · 5 years ago

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(1/4) mmmm okay omg i hadn’t thought about this when i sent the message hahah. 1) i think i’d like to go to an amusement park with jaebeom and yugyeom because based on the hard carry eps they seem like they like extreme activities (i mean the dudes literally went skydiving) and i need some partners like that in case i chicken out lol. maybe we’d bring jackson along bc he’s a coward lol. 2) going shopping with bam yes i agree!!!! i'd like to have jinyoung there too. i love his style

(2/4) he dresses simply but it works really well. i’d like to see if he’d let me choose outfits for him as well. 3) i’d love to cook with jinyoung as well, but i’m gonna pick jaebeom for this one too (biased much?). he knows how to cook but he’s a korean food supremacist so i’d like to show him western dished he’d love. maybe he’d teach me how to cook his favorite korean dishes, so it’d be a win win situation(¾) 4) i agree with you about bringing yugyeom over to a concert. i’d like youngjae to come as well bc he’d be singing along beautifully while i scream my lungs out. we’d film videos and you’d be able to hear me howling, youngjae harmonizing and yugyeom dancing his as* off. 5) play board games with mark and jackson, definitely. they give me competitive vibes lmao. imagine beating jackson? he’d be so angry i love the thought(4/4) okay so now let’s do something different now. i see that you stan a lot of groups, and i’m looking to spice up my playlists… have you got any recs (kpop or otherwise) for me?? i accept lists, songs, artists, rants about any groups that you love lol feel free to go off in the reply 😉 – secret santa 🎅🏼

i agree with everything you said omg yes taking youngjae to a concert just to hear him singing sounds like THE BEST idea, jaskdsdlsds jackson loosing omg why didn’t i think of that

you gotta strap yourself up tight for this because do i have recs of course i do, i’ll put it under the cut for length reasons lmao

better day by 100%— the reason why i recommend this song is because this was their first comeback after a 2 year hiatus and boy did they come to fight, they were telling top media that they weren’t going anywhere, that they couldn’t silence them any longer, it was a new start for baekpo and boy did it work in their favour after so long not hearing from them they came back with a bop that not only never gets old but also showcases their vocals

too very so much by myname — ever need a song to just brighten up your mood? something that’s light hearted, and just a great song to act silly and dance around too? this is that song, plus the mv is silly & cute too

why by onf — this song became my most played song in 2019 which is a bit of a shock given that it topped 100%’s still loving you & onf’s we must love that were released earlier in the year. why as a mv continues the story of we must love and that part where wyatt starts rapping oof still not over it

here i am by victon — i can’t put into words what exactly it is that i love about this song but i knew from the second i heard it that it would be one of my favourite songs of all time, maybe it’s the vocals, or their message that they’re conveying through their lyrics & emotions even though i haven’t yet looked up the translation

i also really just recommend these 4 groups as a whole

rise by taemin — there has yet to be a song that has shocked me (in a good way) as much as this song did, it starts off really simply and how any song would but that moment it hits the chorus damn, he didn’t have to snap that hard but he did we gotta appreciate that

some honourable mentions that i just really love or thought deserve more love:

our dawn is hotter than day by seventeen are you ready? by d-crunchnot that type by gugudanwhat by dreamcatcherdumb by bvnditremember by 100% freesm by hashtagempty by jung daehyun feat jaehan (from spectrum)timeless… by nct ukilling me by ikononly u by imfactsketch u by 100%i’m sorry by vavthe loneliest girl from the carole & tuesday soundtrackdo you feel me by mr. mr. super special (acoustic ver.) by veriveryfeel special by twice sandglass by the heal (wanna one subunit) excuses by next/nex7my life by qian zhenghao (it’s listed as 由我 by 钱正昊 on spotify just in case lmao)electric kiss by exoi’m not over you by ryeowookreminisce about all by onewethe truth is by 100% baby i’m sorry by myname

i’m stopping here before i recommend my whole music library 😂

#ahgasesecretsanta #ahgase secret santa #long post #Anonymous #replies

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woahdeclan-b · 7 years ago

Text

The Day We Met || Zachlan

Takes place on 11/6. Finallyee.

Zach had been crazy excited about starting at Degrassi. First of all his favorite cousin was in some of his classes, but mostly he was excited to finally get to meet Declan. He had gotten to the class a little early as Simpson had been showing him around and wanted to introduce him to Lacey. After talking for a bit she had him sit in a seat in the back corner as it was the only unassigned one. Sliding into the seat, he looked around for a bit before taking out his sketchbook and opening it up to a new page. Biting his lip, he put his hood up, hoping people wouldn't bother him as they started to fill into the classroom, before he started to draw.

Declan walked into English class, already fussing with some of his friends. "That's so stupid! I think Brennan just acts like an asshole because he's an asshole, not because he's gay." Declan rolled his eyes, "He's doing...stuff...with your sister. I mean...he could be bi...but, I totally don't get that kind of rage from him. This is like....typical jock rage...I don't know. Don't ask me. Why am I supposed to have awesome gaydar? I have a girlfriend." He sat his stuff down at his table and sat down, looking up at the board as Lacey wrote "THE GREAT GATSBY" up on the board. He sighed, opening up the book he kept his lyrics and melodies in, staring at lyrics he'd scribbled down after texting Zach the other night. All the line said was "Take a selfie for me..." Why couldn't he get anything else out of that? Why did that line sound so cheesy? The boy closed the book and then let his head come to rest on top of his folded arms on the desk.

Zach glanced up when he heard a slight commotion of people entering the room, his eyes immediately falling on Declan. Unable to keep from grinning, he pushed his sketchbook to the corner of his desk and turned his attention to the boy, unable to look away. He was somehow cuter in person and he didn't think that could be possible. Gavin shook his head at Declan. "First of all don't say that that's gross. Second of all my gaydar is perfect and you need to agree with me because of that..." He was about to continue when his eyes fell on Zach in the back of the room. Who was this kid and why was he staring at his best friend? "Third... there's some kid in the seat that Lacey makes me sit in after I do something awesome she doesn't agree with... and he's staring at you... wait! THERE'S SOMEONE IN MY SEAT SHE CAN'T MOVE ME! But also why is that guy staring at you. Staring at you is my job. Should I fight him?"

Declan looked up at the sound of Gavin yelling. He looked up in just enough time to see Lacey whirl around, the dry erase marker still in her hand. "Do you wanna bet? I'll call another teacher to bring me a desk. Sit down, Gavin." She huffed. Declan chuckled under his breath, about to put his head back down when Gavin mentioned some guy staring at him. What? Why would some guy stare at him...well, other than Gavin. Declan turned all the way around in his seat to face the seat that Chloe had recently dubbed 'Azkaban'. He could've sworn his heart stopped beating in his chest. He took a hard swallow. No way this was real. He had to be seeing things. He blinked a few times, as if this would change anything. Zach was here, in his class, in person. This was very, very real and he couldn't breathe. His mouth opened and closed a few times before he took a long sigh and then smiled at him awkwardly, not sure of what else to do. "Hey..." he finally mouthed. He would've sat there, just staring at the other boy until he heard Lacey call his name. "Dec, turn around for me." she said, "We're about to get started." He whirled around in his seat, "Yeah, uh, I'm sorry." He said. He quickly dug down in his pocket to withdraw his phone, hissing in pain from his hand being shoved into his jeans, grazing the cut on his palm. He pulled his phone out and hid it under the table before quickly texting Zach. "Oh my god, what are you doing here? How? When? Why? I'm sorry I'm so awkward, I'm about two seconds from an asthma attack."

Zach couldn't help but let out a soft chuckle at the boy being told off. He wasn't surprised at all when Lacey eventually called him Gavin. He perfectly fit Declan's stories of him. Gavin huffed, sliding off of his desk and into his chair. "But where are you going to put another desk," He shot back mostly to himself. Zach kept his eyes on Declan, his smile growing when the boy turned around to look at him. The smile quickly faded into a smirk at Declan's reaction, loving how nervous he seemed to have made the boy. "Hey," He mouthed back. He frowned slightly when the boy turned back around and immediately reached for his phone. "I told you I got kicked out of my school... I had to be sent somewhere... surprise!"

Declan looked around to make sure no one was looking before texting back, "I know! I just never imagined here! Wow...you're like...real...here and in person...and not just the homescreen on my phone." He sent it and then typed back quickly, "I'm sorry. That's weird, I guess. I promise, I'm not a stalker. I'm just really nervous and literally saying everything that comes to mind. I'm so sorry." Declan couldn't help himself. He had to keep peering over his shoulder to keep looking at him. He was beautiful...even more so in person, and on top of that...he was here. He was here, and he didn't even have to wait until Christmas.

Declan turned back around just in time for Lacey to stand up from behind her desk. "Okay, guys, we have a new student joining us...his name is Zach James...let

Declan let's make him feel welcome...and not in the way that you guys welcome me into class everyday." She chuckled, "Zach, come up here and tell us a bit about yourself."

Zach 's smile kept growing as he read the texts popping up on his phone. "Lol you're fine don't apologize," he sent back. When Declan looked back at him, he smiled at the boy again. "But yeah I'm here now... permanently." He was waiting for a reply when he heard his name. Head shooting up, he shoved his phone into his pocket and slid his hood off his head, running his fingers through his hair quickly to fix it. "Uhm hey," He said, hoping that would be it. He furrowed his brow as he watched some of Declan's friends clapping obnoxiously and shook his head. Sighing when she asked him to come up, he pushed himself onto his feet and slowly made his way to the front of the classroom. "Uhm, I'm Zach... I'm actually Cassie's cousin so that's why we have the same last name," he pointed to his cousin in the room and gave her a little wave. "I'm from Australia which is why I sound like this... This is my ninth school in the past 3 years. I was kicked out of the other eight so that's a fun fact." He let his eyes fall on Declan for a moment and smiled, making sure not to make it obvious to everyone else, but also making it obvious to him that the next part was directed towards him. "But yeah, I'm excited to be here and don't plan on getting kicked out of this one." He nodded to himself, before turning to Lacey. "Well that was sufficiently awkward, can I go sit down?"

Declan watched as he got up, watching his every move and ignoring the random comments that came from Gavin across the table. As soon as the boy said hey, and he could fully hear his accent, Declan actually swooned. He then caught himself, though. That has never happened before. He looked around, looking to see if anyone else noticed it before turning his attention back to Zach. He listened to his whole speech and then smiled. Lacey looked at him, "That was great, Zach. Totally, you can go sit down now." Declan then watched him walk back to his seat and sit down before pulling his phone out again. "I'm so glad you're here, and I can't wait to actually hang out with you!" he said. He waited a moment before texting again, "I've needed to kiss you for a while now." He blushed at his own words and then sent the text.

Zach put his hood back up before making his way back to his seat. He made a point of passing Cassie's desk, flicking her shoulder with an innocent grin before sitting back down. He didn't waste any time pulling his phone back out. He smirked bigger than he had before at Declan's text, glancing up at him for a moment before replying. "...you should meet me in the bathroom after this class ;)" he sent back.

Declan blushed even harder at Zach's reply. It took him a moment to realize exactly what the boy had said, but when he did, that's when he started internally screaming. Was he really about to go makeout with a boy in the bathroom? This was so unlike him, but he wanted to so badly. All he could think about over the last few days was what it would be like to feel the other boys lips on his. He bit his lip before texting back, "Okay!" with a blushy and smiley face emoji. Suddenly, that's when Declan became fixated on the clock. It seemed to be moving too slowly, and the sound of Chloe and Gavin kicking and nudging each other under the desk was just seeming to make it drag on longer. "I need class to end right now." Declan sent to Zach, ending the message with a laughing emoji.

Zach grinned at Declan's reply. There had been a part of him that was afraid when he got there Declan wouldn't actually want anything to do with him but that proved otherwise. When the boy stopped texting, he put his phone back into his pocket and turned to a new page in his sketchbook, starting on a sketch of Declan, looking up at him often. When his phone vibrated again, he read the text, laughing to himself. "Same. Maybe we could just leave."

Declan read the text with a grin, "That'd look too suspicious...maybe time will just pass quicker. In the mean time, write up an 'Out of Order' sign for the bathroom! lol." He sent the text before before glancing back over his shoulder, taking in the boy's focus as he drew, biting his lip. He then turned and opened up his notebook again. "Can you take a selfie for me? Post it up real sexy for me." He scratched the line out. That was entirely too much...even if it were pretty true.

Zach chuckled and sent him a thumbs up emoji before putting his phone back into his pocket and going back to his drawing. He was so into what he was doing, he didn't even notice Declan looking back at him. When the bell finally rang, he quickly shoved his stuff into his backpack and made a beeline out of the room and to the nearest bathroom. He made sure it was empty, before jumping up onto the sink to wait for Declan. When some random guy came in, he quickly shook his head. "Someone took a nasty poop in there, I would go to another bathroom," He laughed, smirking when the other guy walked out.

Declan watched as Zach ran ahead once the bell rang. He chuckled under his breath before turning back to Gavin and the rest of the group. "Hey, I'm gonna...go pee and then I'll catch up with you guys!" He then calmly walked out until they couldn't see him until he ran into the nearest bathroom. As soon as he got in, he smiled seeing Zach perched up on the sink. "Hey..." he smiled brightly, shifting his bookbag off in a way to avoid it coming in contact with the bandages on his hands. He dropped it into the floor before kicking down the doorstop on the inside of the door. "Oh wait, hang on." He stepped into one of the stalls and grabbed the maintenance sign that was left behind from a previous cleaning and stuck it outside before shutting the door, putting the stopper down to make opening the door that much harder. "Jackpot." he chuckled stepping up closer to Zach. "So..."

Zach looked up when the door opened again, expecting to have to tell some other guy a lame reason he needed to leave. However when he saw it was Declan he grinned and pushed his hood back down. He watched as he put up the sign and laughed. "I was just gonna lean against the door so nobody could come in but that makes more sense," he laughed. He didn't jump down from the sink though, biting his lip when Declan walked towards him. "So..." he repeated, looking at the other boy.

Declan smiled, walking up closer to the boy. He awkwardly fumbled with his hands, wringing them together, unsure of what to do with them. Shit. Why were they stinging so badly? Oh yeah, they were cut open and sweat was now rolling into the wound. He clenched and unclenched his hands a few times before stepping in closer until he was almost completely settled between the other boy's legs. "I kind of think we owe each other a kiss..." he said quietly, nerves getting the best of him. He'd never kissed anyone before...not even Gavin, shockingly. He ran his tongue across his lips, praying they weren't chapped or broken from gnawing on them as much as he frequently did.

Zach kept his eyes on Declan's unable to keep from smiling at his nervous the other boy seemed. When he stepped closer, he let his hands move to rest on the boy's sides. "Well we have been talking about that," he agreed. As cool as he tried to come off, he was pretty nervous as well as he had never kissed anyone either. His eyes flicking downward when Declan licked his lips, he instinctively did the same before moving one of his hands up to cup the side of Declan's face. At the same time as he was doing that, he ducked down and pressed his lips to Declan's, kissing him softly.

Declan took another hard swallow as Zach's hand came up to rest on his face. As soon as his lips were on his, Declan practically melted into his touch, leaning against him more, putting his hand down on his leg. He sighed into the kiss before letting it break, already wanting to reconnect his lips with the other boy's. His heart was pounding in his chest and he felt light, unable to stop smiling. The crush was real and it was solid now, and he was so beyond gone. "Woah...that was...way better than anything I've imagined...you're better than what I imagined. Pictures don't give you enough justice. You're actually perfect." he smiled.

Zach grinned bigger than he ever had when the kiss broke. He let his thumb stroke Declan's cheek for a moment before dropping his hand. "Id say that was a pretty great first kiss," he smiled. Chuckling, he shook his head. "Who are you to call anyone else perfect?"

Declan nodded in agreement, closing his eyes as he felt Zach's thumb caressing his cheek. "Yeah, it was...so good." he smiled, opening his eyes again to look at the boy. At his compliment, he blushed, smiling widely. "I'm not perfect, but thank you." He leaned in and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek before letting his head come to rest on his chest gently, his forehead resting against the spot gently. One kiss, and Declan was totally ready to just cuddle up with him forever,

Zach smiled softly at the reddening of Declan's face. "You are though. Don't fight me on it you'll lose," he laughed. Grinning when the other teen kissed his cheek, he moved his hand back to his waist. "Oh hi," he whispered, letting Declan lean against him before kissing the top of his head. "I know I'm not supposed to skip anymore but can't we just skip the rest of the day?"

Declan smiled as his hand came down to his waist and he pressed a kiss to his head. "I wonder if I'd get in any trouble, because I really want to. I want to find a place and just kiss you and lay around with you." he said, "I actually cannot believe you're here. It should totally be an excused skip for that." He chuckled, sitting up to lean in and steal a kiss.

Zach laughed. "You probably wouldn't but I would. They're like watching me or something because of my record," he sighed. "And I really don't wanna get kicked out of this school too. But I would take the kissing and laying around if I could." He grinned when Declan kissed him again. He went to reach down to take his hand, frowning when he saw the bandages. "You didn't tell me you hurt yourself. What happened?"

Declan nodded understandably. "I don't want you getting kicked out either. I just got you here with me. At another school, you could find a cuter guy." He chuckled, "Well, maybe this weekend we could do the whole kissing and laying around thing. You could come over." He smiled, but his smile faded once Zach went to take his hands. He flipped them upwards, where the bandage was already getting dirty and worn from the wear and tear of the day. "My friends and I made a blood pact Friday night." he said, "Like...we all ended up holding hands in a circle with our hands bleeding into each others. It sounds gross and it sounds like a cult but I swear it's not. Now, we'll all have matching scars too."

Zach shook his head quickly. "There are no cuter guys," he promised. At Declan's suggestion he quickly nodded. "I would say you could come to my place but my cousins are all there and I'm not sure how well that would keep it a secret," he said before frowning. "Wait the weekend is so far away..." looking at The boys hands, he raised his eyebrow at the story. "It does sound gross," he laughed. "And very cult like." Despite his words he carefully lifted Declan's hands one by one and kissed each, being careful not to actually hurt him.

Declan smiled when he accepted the invitation to hang out. "Oh, true...we'd be way safer as far as that goes at my place." he said. When the boy frowned, his whole face fell as well, instantly feeling bad for the boy's face falling so fast. He stood up on his tip toes again and leaned in, pressing a comforting kiss to his cheek. "I know. It sucks. My mom probably wouldn't care if you came over earlier. You can come over tonight or tomorrow, if you want. I was just thinking of the weekend, because we wouldn't have to get up and go to school the next morning." He said. "But either...or better yet, both...work for me." He smiled. Declan smiled at the boy's comments, but his heart practically melted and a sigh escaped him audibly as he brought both hands up and kissed the spots on his palms. "You're....amazing....I don't know what I did to deserve this honestly, but I'm not complaining." He chuckled, leaning in to steal another kiss.

Zach pretended to think about it for a moment before laughing. "Both. Definitely both," he finally said with a grin. "But I'll keep being sad if it means more kisses." Smiling softly, he shook his head. "I'm nothing special," he whispered back, smiling into the kiss. "I don't mean for this to come off rude because I love it. But you're so tiny," he laughed. "It's cute."

Declan smiled, nodding in agreement. “Yeah, both sounds good. Both sounds really good.” He laughed softly. When he mentioned being sad to get kisses, Declan frowned, “I’d rather see you smile, though. You have a really great smile. I kinda hope I can keep it on your face more often.” The boy scrunched his face up at the compliment, blushing bright red before hiding his face in Zach’s chest again. “Ahhh, stop. Being tiny isn’t cute. I get picked on for being small.” He sat back up, “plus, it’s because I was premature. My mom did drugs while she was pregnant. Now, I’m super tiny.” He smiled, “I’m glad you think it’s cute, though.”

Zach let his finger absently trace over Declan's side, looking down at the boy as he spoke. Without second thought at the mention of his smile he pulled a goofy grin before laughing. "You can't tell me that's nice," he teased. He couldn't help but frown as Declan spoke, wishing he didn't have to deal with a mom like that. "Its cute because it's you. Plus I can put you in my pocket and that sounds nice," he smirked. "I'm kind of tall though for our age so it makes you smaller."

Declan chuckled at the boys response before reaching up to poke him in the cheek. “You’re a dork.” He smiled, leaning in again to kiss his cheek right where he poked it. He sighed as Zach spoke, feeling completely at ease for the first time in a while. “As long as you don’t use me as an arm rest like Gavin.” He grinned, “I like height difference. It’s cute. Chloe and Gavin’s is cute and so is Regina and Corbin’s. Ours is too.” He smiled before leaning in to kiss the other boy again. The kiss was slow and soft and it made the shaky feelings in his hands go away. He then reached up and cupped the boys face in his hands to bring him closer.

Zach grinned at the comment, the grin growing when Declan kissed his cheek. "No armrest you're just gonna go into my pocket," he said again with a laugh. He wanted to make another comment but he was silenced by Declan's lips. Kissing back just as softly, he somehow pulled the boy closer, his hands moving to the small of his back.

Declan sighed against Zach’s lips as he was pulled in closer. He wrapped his arms around his neck and let his chest gently collide with Zach’s. Declan kept kissing him until he felt like he needed to finally take a breath. He pulled back, breathing a little harder than before, but with a soft blush on his cheeks and a shy smile on his face. “I don’t know how I’m going to be able to go to class. I just want to stay here kissing you.” He smiled. Immediately after speaking, the bell rang, and Declan let out a disappointed sigh.

Zach smiled when Declan pulled back, resisting the urge to just pull him in for another kiss. "Class is stupid," He said even though he knew he couldn't skip any of them. "Kissing you should be a class..." When the bell rang, he frowned, reaching over to run his fingers through Declan's hair. "...we can just meet back here during lunch?" He offered with an innocent smile.

Declan chuckled, “um, you’d get an A, so...” He smiled contently as the boy ran his fingers through his hair and then nodded. “Yeah, id like that a lot.” He then scooted back and grabbed his backpack, putting it on his back before turning back to Zach. “Bye...” he smiled and then leaned in and kissed his cheek gently.

Zach chuckled. "My first A," He hummed, sliding off the sink and putting his bag on his shoulders. "Bye," He repeated, grinning when Declan kissed his cheek. He was about to let the boy walk out first before shaking his head. "Wait!" He said, grabbing Declan's wrist. In one motion, he slid the leather braided cord bracelet he was wearing off his wrist and onto Declan's, being careful of the bandage on his hand. "There."

Declan had started walking to the door when Zach stopped him. “Huh?” He questioned before turning around. Zach had grabbed his wrist and Declan watched closesly as he slid the cord bracelet onto his wrist. His whole face lit up and he tried to keep from looking too weirdly smiley, but he couldn’t help it. It was impossible for him not to smile in his presence. “Thanks...” He grinned, “So...after school at my place, right?”

Zach looked at the bracelet and smiled. "It looks better on you than me," He said simply. He let his fingers linger a moment longer than they had to before dropping his hand. "Yeah," He smiled. "Just text me your address."

#TDWM #para #// yee yee yee

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